1. We have spent the last four lessons showing how the need for full-time Christian

workers is actually diminishing, while the need is growing.

2. We have also studied some of the causes behind this Satanic diversion, like secular

self-interests, upward mobility parents, WAGAPS Christian dayschool teachers,

the blitzkriég call, and Eli syndrome pastors.

3. Last week we began to study the particular attitudes necessary for people considering

lifetime ministry:

#1. The Attitude of Commitment

#2. The Attitude of Compassion

4. Today we continue with The Attitude of Pliability.

*******

1. This is the ability to be molded, to be pressured, to be fashioned into

whatever God wants us to be, and to be so with a right attitude.

2. The Word of God teaches us about the principles to be found in the

Potter and the clay.

Let’s look at five great truths from this illustration:

#1. God is the Potter; we are the clay.

1. Isaiah 64:8...

and we all are the work of thy hand.

2. The Potter is also our Father and that is a relationship worthy of

our notice. The Potter takes special care with the clay, because we are His children.

3. The Creator of all the universe is "OUR" father...very personal.

4. As our Potter, He does the forming and shaping---He calls the

shots, not us.

#2. The Potter molds the clay as He wills.

1. Romans 9:21...

and another unto dishonour.

2. The potter does with the clay exactly as he wishes. It can go from

a tall, slender vase to a round, broad pot.

3. As we are moistened with the water of the Word and softened by

the Spirit of God, the Potter forms us as He sees best.

4. According to HIS perfect will.

5. If He wishes to make us into a lifetime servant, are you ready?

#3. The clay must not question the Potter’s plan.

1. The potter has a mental image of what he wants the clay to look

like when he finishes, and he doesn’t reveal this to the clay

beforehand.

This plan is the potter’s plan---not the clay’s plan.

2. Isaiah 45:9...

He hath no hands?

3. Pliability is the attitude that we will not question why the Potter

does as He does.

4. Inflexibility is the opposite of pliability.

5. A beautiful, Biblical example: The Prodigal Son

The younger son demanded of his father, "GIVE ME."

saying, "FORGIVE ME."

6. Are you to that point in your walk with God?

#4. The Potter remolds the clay as He wills.

1. Jeremiah 18:4...

as seemed good to the potter to make it.

2. God has the prerogative to REDESIGN THE CLAY.

He can make it into another vessel if He wishes.

3. This is where a successful businessman one day just walks away

from it all to prepare to serve the Lord as a pastor or as a

missionary.

We have seen individuals quit lucrative secular positions

so that they might be able to teach in a Christian day

school.

4. This is what our Father---Our Potter---can do...but only with

PLIABLE clay.

#5. Only when the clay hardens is it breakable.

1. As long as the clay is soft, it is moldable. But if the clay hardened, then it was damaged greatly when it was dropped to the floor.

2. Hardened clay is destined for the potter’s field...never to be

molded again.

3. If I am stubborn and inflexible, unwilling to listen to the voice

of God, then I am destined for the junkyard.

4. Paul said it this way:

I myself should be a castaway.

[I Cor.9:27]

So, how’s your attitude towards God and lifetime service this morning?

Are you calling the shots? Or are you pliable in God’s hands?

*******

1. We live in a day when most servants of the Lord are concerned about
burnout, not being expendable. As the attitude of expendability

disappears, so does the ministry.

2. Expendability: the quality of being used up, of being consumed.

a) Burnout can be a real problem, but there is a "burnout cop-out,"

where people just want to do less, to be required of less, and

to take the easy road.

b) Expendability means that we are willing to lay aside our self-

interests, our own desires, and our short-term service plans.

c) Yes, even in the ministry you find people who talk of and cling

to their RIGHTS.

3. There is a natural part of us that resists being used by someone. We say,

"You’re not going to use me."

Sadly, many carry this mentality into their relationships with Christ,

but real fulfillment comes from the Savior using us.

4. The prophets of old viewed their lives as something to be totally consumed by God. The prophets of today view their lives as something to be totally enriched by God.

5. The person who is truly expendable always gives more than he receives.

a) Read II Corinthians 12:14...

I seek not yours, but you...

b) Paul wasn’t interested in their things...nor was he interested in

being appreciated by them....he was looking to be expended

for them.

c) In fact, that’s what he says in the very next verse:

And I will very gladly spend and be spent for you

1) Paul is willing to burn out for them...to be consumed for them...willing to die for them...and he would do it gladly.

2) He wasn’t looking for a church to be named after him,

nor for their praise.

3) Paul knew being expendable meant giving without

getting.

d) There’s another lesson to glean from this in verse 15...

...though the more I love you, the less I be loved.

e) Even though Paul was willing to die for them, they were not

willing even to love him for it.

2. Pastors, missionaries, dayschool teachers, and other full-time workers

a) Some cry, "It isn’t fair!"

And it isn’t.

b) But Christians understand they were not saved to perpetuate a

FAIRNESS DOCTRINE.

Five brave missionaries went to the Auca Indians in 1956, but they

were not best characterized by their bravery...nor by their availability... but by their attitudes of expendability.

And God determined that they were expendable.

Do you think that these five missionaries would come back from

glory today to tell us how unfair all that was?

*******

1. If the answer to this question is anyone other than the Lord Jesus Christ,

then it doesn’t matter if you have the other four attitudes or not.

2. Our culture extols words like, "You don’t own me!"

3. There is a difference between authority and ownership. Some people

have authority over other people, but they don’t own them.

a) Illustration: The Centurion

Matthew 8 Jesus tells the centurion that He will go home

with him to heal his sick servant. But the centurion knows

b) Authority alone should be enough to motivate us to do what

God wants, but there is another motivation... God does

OWN us.

4. The Bible says a lot about ownership and HOW ownership must

be obtained:

#1. It must be expressed PUBLICLY.

It must be in full-view of a watching world.

See Ruth 4:9.

#2. It must be RECORDED or SEALED.

See Jeremiah 32:10-12.

#3. It must be PAID for.

If it is not paid for, it is not a purchase, but a gift.

See Genesis 23:16 and II Samuel 24:21-24.

5. And isn’t this what Jesus did at Calvary?

#2. Salvation is recorded in Heaven & sealed by the Holy Spirit.

We are the possessions of Jesus Christ; therefore, since He owns

us, He can do with us as He desires...to be used as HE wills.

6. Talk to the average high school senior today in Christian schools and

you will find very quickly what they think about God’s ownership

of them.

What makes us think that we can ignore what our Owner desires

of us and get away with it?

7. Young people today should never consider a career based on their likes

or interests.

Would my Master call me to "a career" that I had no interest in?

Absolutely. Isn’t that what happened to Paul? He had been a real

persecutor of the church and God called him to be a church planter!

God knows how to change our minds, when we have the mind of

8. Where did we get this idea that God formulates His plan for our lives based on our goals and interests? Who is the real god here? We are NOT our own, we are bought with a price and that means ownership. I do not do what I want...I am only to be happy when I do what my Master wants...He must mold my life...including my interests.

*******

1. God wants workers...full-time Christian workers.

And He wants workers with the right attitudes and right hearts.

2. If there is any hope for our own nation, it will come from the ranks of young people who truly understand these attitudes SERVANTS must have.

Don’t look for revival if our sons and daughters are not entering the fields of

full-time Christian service.

3. When God’s people experience personal revival and are right with Him, there won’t be a need for recruiting soldiers. The volunteers will overwhelm us.