Shamelessness is a result of Lordship. Paul was surrendered to the Lordship of Christ as seen in his embracing of a life calling. 2 Timothy 1:11-12 “for which I was appointed a preacher and an apostle and a teacher. For this reason I also suffer these things…” such as found in 2 Corinthians 11:19-28.
Faithful ministry in the Lord’s service is always bittersweet. It brings joy and suffering, gratitude and disappointment, satisfaction and regret.
Charles Spurgeon gave a vivid illustration of the overriding satisfaction that comes from selfless, godly service. A man shall carry a bucket of water on his head and be very tired with the burden; but that same man when he dives into the sea shall have a thousand buckets on his head without perceiving their weight, because he is in the element and it entirely surrounds him. The duties of holiness are very irksome to men who are not in the element of holiness; but when once those men are cast into the element of grace, then they bear ten times more, and feel no weight, but are refreshed thereby with joy unspeakable.
The Christian who is obedient to his duty under the Lord can say with Peter, “If anyone suffers as a Christian, let him not feel ashamed, but in that name let him glorify God” (1 Peter 4:16).
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Jason Robertson is a husband and a father and a pastor. He is dedicated to leading and equipping his the Church with God’s word and biblical theology for life ministry, using a combination of pastoral, church planting and evangelism experience. He holds a Master of Divinity from New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary. He is experienced in church planting, evangelism, missions, and the training of pastors and Bible teachers.
Jason has been preaching the gospel since 1985, serving the first ten years of ministry as a Southern Baptist itinerant evangelist out of Milldale Baptist Church in Zachary, LA which ordained him in 1993. He has preached in hundreds of churches in over 30 States and 4 countries. He planted churches in Siberia, Russia in the summers of 1993 and 1994. He founded Murrieta Valley Church in California, which he planted in cooperation with the SBC NAMB in 2001. He also teaches ministry students at California Baptist University.
You can hear his sermons and read his manuscripts on sermonaudio.com. Just follow the link to "sermons" at the top of this page.
Jason,
Great post.
Unrelated, but this morning heading into work I saw a large LSU decal on the back window of an SUV.
That must have been one of our football scouts in The Sunshine State.