Rather than merely a branch of labor for a handful of specially-gifted church members, Personal Ministries is a heaven-born initiative representing God’s ideal for all His people. In this seminar series, we’ll discover the biblical foundations of Personal Ministries and give practical instruction for how you can help transform your local church into the soul-winning organization the Lord intends it to be.

Michigan Camp Meeting 2018: As a Witness, Matthew 24:14

<p>Rather than merely a branch of labor for a handful of specially-gifted church members, Personal Ministries is a heaven-born initiative representing God’s ideal for all His people. In this seminar series, we’ll discover the biblical foundations of Personal Ministries and give practical instruction for how you can help transform your local church into the soul-winning organization the Lord intends it to be.</p>

<p>Free sharing permitted under the Creative Commons <a rel="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/3.0/us/">BY-NC-ND 3.0 (US)</a> license.</p>

Michigan Conference of Seventh-day Adventists

The Doctrine of Personal Ministries

Kameron DeVasher

Part 1 - Heaven on Earth

Dear Heavenly Father, thank you so much for this beautiful morning here at Camp Meeting.

Thank you for the privilege of not only knowing you personally, but sharing you with others.

And Lord, we're here to learn about personal ministries and the doctrine of personal ministries.

Help us to see that this is not just some man-made idea or organizational construct for efficiency that we develop, but this is actually the very heartbeat of heaven is for every created being to be a minister for others.

So Lord bless us as we study today for we pray it in Jesus' name, amen.

You may have noticed in my prayer there that we gave kind of an overview of where we're headed.

In this series, I mean it's titled the Doctrine of Personal Ministries, I'm surprised that there's many of you here as there are.

I tried to come up with as stale a title as possible, right?

But seriously, because the doctrine of personal ministries, you think of a doctrine as going to be a laborious, tedious, nuts and bolts, A leads to B leads to therefore C kind of thing.

And in a sense there is that element to it.

But what I want to lay out for you is a biblical and spirit of prophecy and by the time of the end of it even Adventist policy case that personal ministries is not just an interesting notion, it's not just something made up in a boardroom somewhere, but this is actually how heaven itself operates.

This is God's expectation for the whole universe.

And if we're gonna be followers of him, we have to come in line with his plans and principles.

Like I said, this is gonna be a Bible study, spirit of prophecy study class.

And we will talk about some practical application, especially as we go.

I like to present from a funnel perspective, get the broad philosophical theological foundation and walk to the therefore let's go and do this type of presentation, okay?

And we're going to do that over this series, not particularly in this lesson today, but we're gonna start that.

But as we go along, it will get more and more practical.

But it's my prayer that we don't have to point out all the this leads to this.

You should be able to have, between you and the Holy Spirit, see these biblical principles and say, how would this apply in my life, in my local church?

Okay, so hopefully you'll be thinking along those lines as we go forward.

But let's go to Revelation, the book of Revelation.

Every good Adventist Bible study starts in the book of Revelation.

Revelation chapter 4 if you would please.

I only have the piece of paper that I absolutely need right here but there's a spare right there.

Revelation chapter 4, you are likely familiar, although I, what time we end at?

Revelation chapter 4 is a picture of heaven.

In fact, it's a picture specifically shown to the Apostle John while he was on the island of Patmos.

And it says here, you look at this description, it says, starting with verse 1, after these things I looked and behold a door standing open in heaven and the first voice which I heard was like a trumpet speaking with me saying come up here and I will show you things which must take place after this.

Immediately I was in the spirit and behold a throne set in heaven and 1 sat on the throne.

1 practical application I like to draw from this, kind of facetiously, but if a door ever opens in heaven and a voice says, come up here, go.

Immediately says again, I was in the spirit and behold a throne set in heaven and 1 sat on the throne.

And he who sat there was like a jasper and a sardius stone in appearance and there was a rainbow around the throne in appearance like an emerald.

Around the throne were twenty-four thrones.

And on the thrones I saw 24 elders sitting, clothed in white robes, and they had crowns of gold on their heads.

And from the throne proceeded lightning, thunderings, and voices.

7 lamps of fire were burning before the throne, which are the 7 spirits of God." 1 of the things I want you to take note of as we're reading through this is notice that there's a, not just a description of the quality of things, like the nature of them, but notice there's a quantitative element.

There were 7 lamps burning, which represents, of course, the perfection of God, the Holy Spirit before the throne of God.

You have the 24 thrones, but we're not done with that.

Verse 6, before the throne there was a sea of glass like crystal and in the midst of the throne and around the throne were 4 living creatures full of eyes in front and in back.

The first living creature was like a lion, the second living creature like a calf, the third living creature had a face like a man, and the fourth living creature was like a flying eagle.

The 4 living creatures, each having 6 wings, were full of eyes around and within.

They do not rest day or night, saying, Holy, holy, holy, Lord God Almighty, who was and is and is to come." So you get this picture that John was shown, and he writes it here in Revelation chapter 4, of the vision of heaven itself.

It starts right there in the middle with the throne of God and there's God himself sitting on that throne and Then around that throne it describes other creatures in their number and in their position Okay, so you have the 24 elders you have the 4 living creatures and it's giving you a kind of a logistical overview of the throne room of God.

You have God the Father there and of course you have the Holy Spirit there, the 7 spirits of God, and you have the 24 elders and the 4 living creatures but what important divine person is missing in Revelation chapter 4?

There's only the 2 members of the Godhead.

And I saw in the right hand of him who sat on the throne a scroll written inside and back sealed with 7 seals.

Then I saw a strong angel proclaim with a loud voice, who is worthy to open the scroll and to loose its seals?

And no 1 in heaven or on the earth or under the earth was able to open the scroll or to look at it." Now it's not the burden of our passage study today, but if you'll notice, not even God the Father, in whose hand the scroll was sitting, was deemed, and this is a biblical language, worthy to open.

Now that doesn't make him less God, Let's be clear.

But he has a different role as God than does the Son.

So I wept much, because no 1 was found worthy to open and read the scroll or to look at it but 1 of the elders said to me do not weep behold the line of the tribe of Judah the root of David has prevailed to open the scroll into Lucet 7 seals and beautifully in verse 6 and I looked and behold in the midst of the throne and of the 4 living creatures and in the midst of the elders stood a lamb as though it had been slain having 7 horns and 7 eyes which are the 7 spirits of God sent out into all the earth this is a picture of Christ returning to heaven mission accomplished with the scars to prove that he has indeed fulfilled the type of the Lamb, and he is that Lamb slain from the foundation of the world.

Well, interestingly enough, only 2 stay there.

What earthly event is this a reflection of?

This is the sending out of the Holy Spirit, which in Acts chapter 2 you see the other side of Pentecost, the earthly side, when the Holy Spirit comes down.

And they say, this is the sign that Jesus now sits at the right hand of God.

It's a beautiful balance here that we see.

And most of the sermons I've ever heard on Revelation 4 and 5 focus on exactly what we just talked about.

Either the Father on His throne, the Holy Spirit being poured out, the Son returning triumphant.

They've even heard sermons about the 4 living creatures and the 24 elders.

But as was mentioned earlier, skip down to verse 11, there's 1 other group of beings that we've just passed by and most of the attention goes on the ones we've already mentioned.

Then I looked and I heard the voice of many, what's the word?

Part 2 - Who Fed the 5,000?

Dear Heavenly Father, thank you so much for another beautiful day at Camp Meeting.

Thank you for the opportunity you give us to be alive at all, and to be redeemed, and to be co-laborers with you.

Help us now to understand how you work, and to find our place in it by your grace for we pray it in Jesus name amen very quickly is there I don't want to put anybody in spot but is there anybody here who was not here yesterday okay there's a small handful all right well Let me very quickly review because I only got through a portion of the notes from yesterday and I wanted to kind of pick up on that as we begin today.

The idea that we're going for yesterday is very simply this, that God has a way of working in His government, in his kingdom of heaven and on earth that is delegation.

God does do some things himself directly.

Creation, redemption, giving of the law of God on Mount Sinai.

There are certain things that he doesn't delegate out for somebody else to do.

But most of the time, in his work for his creatures, he uses other creatures, right?

We looked at that in the courts of heaven.

And then we looked at the Old Testament, what the Bible calls the church in the wilderness, and we saw that the nation of Israel was supposed to be a reflection of that working order of God in their encampment, in their laws, and their all the workings.

And so that basically just as the Lord had the host of angels as his ministering spirit sent out to minister for those who inherit salvation.

That's what every member of the Church of God is supposed to be here on the earth, right?

And so I want to establish that mentality as we go forward, that personal ministry's work is not just a novel idea, it's just some Adventist invention or some traditional thing we just keep doing.

That this is actually a mandate, a theological structure that God himself has given us in his Word.

So that when we do this work we're actually following God's blueprint that He has given us, okay?

Now, what I didn't share with you, just a couple of statements here.

I'm going to give you Patriarchs and Prophets, page 376, And again, I'm going to get away, we don't have it quite yet, but I'm going to get some sort of like link or something I can give you that you can push that button and download all of these notes, you know, digitally.

We'll make sure you have access to that, okay?

I just don't have a copy machine that I can make off all these reams of copies right now.

But anyway, it says this, Patriarchs and Prophets, page 376, God is a God of order.

Everything connected with heaven is in perfect order.

Subjection and thorough discipline mark the movements of the angelic host.

Success can only attend order and harmonious action.

God requires order and system in his work now, no less than in the days of Israel.

All who are working for him are to labor intelligently, not in a careless, haphazard manner.

So, let me be clear, I'm fine with random acts of kindness.

But we need something systematic if we're going to truly reflect the working order of heaven when you structure.

He would have his work done with faith and exactness, that he may place the seal of his approval upon it.

There was order in the church when Christ was upon the earth, and after his departure, order was strictly observed among his apostles.

And now in these last days, while God is bringing his children into the unity of the faith, there is more real need of order than ever before.

For, as the Lord unites his people, Satan and his evil angels are very busy to undo this unity and to destroy it.

Have we seen any examples in recent Adventist history, or current Adventist history, where disunity is a threat to God's kingdom?

Have you thought about Satan studying something?

It is Satan's studied effort to lead professed Christians just as far from heaven's arrangement as he can.

Therefore, he sometimes deceives even the professed people of God and makes them believe that order and discipline are enemies to spirituality.

I'll give you an example of this in my own life.

I'll print off a thing and I know if I do it well, about a year in advance, when I'm going to be preaching.

And in recent years, I've gotten so nerdy with it that I'll know what the opening hymn's gonna be, I know what the scripture reading for the day is gonna be, I like the whole thing.

And what that does for me as a pastor is it lets me breathe easy.

It's like cooking all your meals in advance and you stick them in a freezer.

Ah, That's a day I don't have to think about that.

But then people have said to me, well, wait a minute, that's not spiritual.

Because shouldn't you just kind of wait for the leading of the Holy Spirit to impress you in the moment?

Is not the same Holy Spirit there when I created that structure in the first place to make sure I'm not riding on a hobby horse and make sure that all the bases are covered and make sure that people...

Couldn't he be there in the planning as well?

Furthermore, if the Lord needs to override something, I give him every veto power, right?

If he wants to change it on the spot, he's free to do that.

Of course, I'm not limiting his power, but I want to cooperate with all of my ability with his working order so that a better work is accomplished, right?

It's neat that my husband does that, too, and it's so neat to see how God works through that.

Because 6 months after you planned it and someone comes that needs exactly what you said.

Right, and you say, like, it's an evidence that God is leading when you see his, you know, his conclusions with this.

It is Satan's studied effort to lead professed Christians just as far from Heaven's arrangement as he can.

Therefore, he sometimes deceives even the professed people of God and makes them believe that order and discipline are enemies to spirituality, that the only safety for them is to let each pursue his own course.

But if we see no necessity for harmonious action and are disorderly, undisciplined, and disorganized in our course of action, angels, who are thoroughly organized and move in perfect order cannot work for us successfully.

They turn away in grief for they are not authorized to bless confusion, distraction, and disorganization.

Is it possible that there's more that the angels would like to do but they don't have our cooperation and they are not authorized to sanction that mess?

I'm sorry, that was Review and Herald, October 12, 1905.

And this is going to be the conclusion of yesterday to segue us into our introduction to today.

And we, I would typically start with verse 5 and talk about the irony of all the ways that he says not to pray are a lot of the ways that people say to pray today.

Like verse 7, don't use vain repetitions.

And then he gives the Lord's Prayer and what do we do?

We turn the Lord's Prayer into a vain repetition.

So there's irony there that we already appreciate, but let's go right to the prayer itself.

Verse 8, it says, therefore do not be like them for your father knows the things you have need of before you ask him.

Then he says in verse 9, in this manner, no he didn't say this is the script, but he says This is the manner, this is the template, this is the style, this is the format, right?

And we could probably recite this, but look very closely at verses 9 and 10 particularly.

Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name.

Now look at verse 10, after acknowledging the Father, where he is and who he is, the very next thing that Jesus says we should pray, your kingdom come, your will be done.

And now look at that next line, on earth, how?

Now you could read as it is to be like, at the same time, as it is in heaven, But I don't think that's what Jesus meant, at least primarily.

Part 3 - The Church of Acts

Dear Heavenly Father, thank you so much for this beautiful, wonderful day that you've given us.

Thank you that we're alive for it at all, but thank you that beyond this day we have the hope of never-ending days in your kingdom through Jesus Christ.

And so Lord, we want to be part of your kingdom and we want to know how to work on earth as it is in heaven.

Help us to not only understand the message but by your grace apply the message so that we can be that reflection of heaven and hasten the coming of Jesus for we pray it in Jesus name amen.

Again we've had we have several people who are new to our group today welcome to all of you just let you know what we're doing here the title of the series is the doctrine of personal ministries and I meant that seriously because there is an actual doctrinal position on, you know, you won't have a fundamental belief for, you know, personal ministries, but it is a theology in the Bible that there is truth biblically in this motif of every member being a missionary.

And we started on day 1 by looking at how that is how God operates His heavenly kingdom.

He sits on the throne, of course, and in Revelation 4 and 5 you see that with the 7 lamps burning, the Holy Spirit, and you have Jesus enters as the lamb slain and you have the 24 elders and the 4 living creatures, but beyond that there's a sea of literally millions of angels.

And the Bible says of those angels, are they not all ministering spirits sent forth to minister to those who inherit salvation.

So heaven's government is full, not of watchers, but of workers, right?

That they're not just standing there gazing, watching God do everything.

He's deploying them, he's delegating authority for them to go and work in his name for his cause.

Then we saw, moving down to the Old Testament, the church in the wilderness that God called out of Egypt, he not only fed them the manna and gave them water from the rock and then gave them the 10 Commandments and the sanctuary structure, but He also gave them this organizational structure that we found Jethro starting off in Genesis chapter 8, Exodus chapter 18, I apologize, where he says, what you're doing is not good, Moses.

You are the 1 running everything and micromanaging.

This is not how the church should operate.

You should teach them the laws and statutes and the work that they would do, right?

And then we see the further organization of it, and we went through this whole thing to show how the, not just the sanctuary tent God's dwelling is built on a heavenly blueprint, but the whole encampment of Israel was supposed to be a reflection of heaven.

And the same thing then what God sees in the angels as they're all being his ministering spirit sent forth, right?

That's what the church is supposed to be, full of not watchers but workers in the cause of God.

We look at the instruction in the Old Testament.

And then yesterday we looked at the ministry of Jesus, that he came to teach and embody that particular truth.

That he didn't come just to minister, but to train ministers, right?

He understood that his mission was more than just what he was gonna do, but that in his name, the church would be built again.

And interesting enough, just like they had the 12 children of Israel, the 12 tribes of Israel and the 70 elders in the Old Testament, he has his 12 disciples who are then sent out as the apostles and there's the 70 others also.

Because he says, the harvest truly is what?

Great, but the laborers or workers are few.

He said that's been the problem all along.

We're trying to get everybody in the working order of heaven that every member would be a missionary for Jesus Christ.

That's what the Old Testament was supposed to be and now Christ and his ministry knew that he's not going to reach everyone.

Now I know that sounds crazy to say but personally, directly, face-to-face, the overwhelming majority of Earth's population have never met Jesus in the flesh.

But they can hear the message of Christ and His representative and understand His character from His word and His messengers who they will meet.

And remember the story of the feeding of the 5, 000?

That was our title yesterday, who fed the 5, 000?

Jesus could have just done it so much more efficiently, so much more, we figure, effectively, but he had a teaching moment available.

He said, I want to try to train you for how things should work.

And he deployed every, and he organized them into groups of hundreds and fifties and they were in ranks and the miracle came from God.

Christ distributed it to the disciples and the disciples went to those group leaders and gave out and they passed it along And Mrs.

She says, So we can very clearly lay out the case, truthfully so, that the overwhelming majority of people that day did not get their food directly from Jesus or his disciples.

And she makes the lesson, she says, just in the same way, there's a deep spiritual lesson, she says, wrapped up in this parable.

For all of God's workers, any time we receive, we now have the obligation, the expectation from heaven to go and give to someone else, right?

So that's the doctrine of personal ministry.

So all we've done is chronologically walked through the Bible's teaching on this format of ministry.

We started in heaven, we went to the Old Testament, then we looked at the life of Christ.

Now we're gonna pick up and see, all right, those people that Christ trained, how did they organize the early church?

And drumroll please, it looks exactly like God intended it, right?

So we're gonna learn from God's Word today.

I think we already had opening prayer, yes?

Okay, well let's just take our attention to the study itself.

Also, I want to draw your attention, if you just came in, if you'd like the seminar notes, not just the ones we've already done, but even the ones coming forward.

Now, if you want to go ahead and spoil your fun, you can read ahead and then it can be Mr.

But All 5 of the lecture notes are going to be at this link, so you can download them at your leisure.

Let's go to today's message, which is the Church of Acts.

Now it's a good thing to segue from that Mark 6.

Let's go back to Mark 6 and double-check what we had just studied yesterday because it's the introduction to where we're going today.

We kind of just went through it for a moment there.

Mark chapter 6, we'll start with verse 35.

When the day was now far spent, his disciples came to him and said, This is a deserted place, and already the hour is late.

Send them away, that they may go into the surrounding country and villages, and buy themselves bread, for they have nothing to eat.

But he answered and said to them, what was the phrase he said?

Now that's interesting because as we just studied, when it was all said and done, Did the disciples give them something to eat?

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Series

The Doctrine of Personal Ministries

Part 1 - Heaven on Earth

Transcript

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Parent Series

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