The Dark Side of a Preachers Life — Keith Malcomson

The Call to Approved Preachers

I want you to turn here this morning to 2 Corinthians chapter six again for our third and final message, I think, but you never do know on approved preachers. I was only gonna preach one message on this, but it's suddenly in the message turned into three.

And this is a scripture, never think these are spontaneous messages. This scripture, especially of 2 Corinthians chapter six, verse four, I would say is a verse that has weighed on me heavily for at least three decades.

This scripture I have thought on and considered it, never preached on it, never once, and yet it weighs on me. I meditate, I think on it, I ponder, I live it out, I prove it, I put it into my lifestyle.

That's what I've done for 30 years before I ever put it on my lips to preach to you. Woe unto the preachers that fill our pulpits in this hour, that preach things that they know nothing about. They have never lived, never buy a book from a young preacher never buy books from men who have not mature experience.

A man shouldn't print a book or publish a book or even stand in a pulpit until he's proved it and lived it and walked it out. You know why it's so, so empty? And so a scripture like this, don't think I'm preaching a theology, I'm preaching what I have lived and breathed and put into practice in ministry way before I even attempt to preach it or to exhort you on it.

But reading from 2 Corinthians chapter six and reading from verse one here, we then speaking of preachers are those in the ministry as workers together with him. And I want you to mark that so carefully.

A real preacher is a worker together with him or with God. Beseech you also that you received not the grace of God in vain. For he saith, I have heard thee in a time accepted and in the day of salvation have I succored thee.

Behold now is the accepted time, behold now is the day of salvation, giving no offense in anything that the ministry be not blamed, but in all things approving ourselves as the ministers of God, in much patience, in afflictions, in necessities, in distresses, in stripes, in imprisonments, in tumults, in labors, in watchings, in fastings, by pureness, by knowledge, by long suffering, by kindness, by the Holy Ghost, by love unfound, by the word of truth, by the power of God, by the armor of righteousness on the right hand and on the left, by honor and dishonor, by evil report and good report, as deceivers and yet true, as unknown and yet well-known, as dying and behold we live, as chastened and not killed, as sorrowful yet always rejoicing, as poor yet making many rich, as having nothing and yet possessing all things.

Let's pray together. Father, I thank you, Lord God, for what you're doing in our midst, Lord God. We want real, genuine, Lord God, preachers that have character. Lord God, we're asking of you, Lord God, that even in this nation of Ireland, that again, that you'd restore unto the villages and the towns and the cities.

Lord God, the nations of the world, those countries and cities we pray for. Lord God, those online who listen to us. Lord God, again, that you'd raise up shepherds after your own heart. Lord God, this is a work of God, not a work of man.

They can't be trained in a theological school or a Bible college, but oh God, it's you that grants to the body of Christ, men, after your own heart. And oh God, we're asking of you in this desolate, bankrupt, apostate age, that you would again raise up many shepherds, that you would multiply shepherds upon the hills of Israel, that we would see them come from the highways and the byways.

Lord God, that we would see them again rise up to lead your flock back to pure streams and the green pastures. Lord God, we are asking of you, our hearts are burdened, that again, that you bring a restoration in your church of true godly character, of a genuine, pure message.

Lord God, of the reality and the power of a living Christ in the pulpit. Lord God, we ask that you bless your word this morning in Jesus' name, amen. Part three, approved preachers. Our preachers who can stand and prove to you the day of the right.

No more than that, the day of the character, the qualifications, the hard attitude, the mind, the action. All of these things and much more, to actually approve to you or to commend to you that they're real preachers.

We have already dealt with this in two messages and I wanna come to the final message. It says again in 2 Corinthians 6 and 4, but in all things approving ourselves as the ministers of God. What a big task to approve yourself or to commend yourself that you're a true servant of the Lord Jesus Christ.

That a preacher will have to stand and say, I can prove to you that I've got all the qualifications. I can prove to you from my life, my character, private, personal, inward, outward, I can actually prove that I'm a God called preacher.

That as a preacher, I'm a servant of God. I can show you by how I've lived my life, how I've preached, how I've served in the church, that I'm not a servant of man, I'm not self-servant. This isn't all about me and my ministry, but I'm actually a servant of God.

What a remarkable thing. You know, he goes further in verse one and he says, we preachers, those in the ministry are workers together with him. It doesn't say God works with us. And I think a lot of ministries like that.

It is God has to mold around us. We are the ministry. We are the preacher. We are the ones doing this. Paul doesn't write that. He says, we are workers together with him. Do you know what that means? It is his message.

It is his church. It is his work. It is his labor. What we're doing is coming along and we're joining ourselves. We labor with him. You know what? Let me tell you, you that aspire to ministry are in ministry.

God was here before you. He'll be here long after you. God buries his workmen, but he carries on the work. You know what? He's been doing this a whole lot longer than you or I or anyone in the body of Christ.

He'll just bury you and carry on without blinking. That's God's work. The ministry is God's work. And so Paul says a true preacher is a worker, a labor, someone who joins himself to God and joins God's work.

He doesn't create this. He doesn't create the message. He doesn't decide how to run the church. He doesn't decide what the church looks like. He doesn't decide what a preacher is to be in his life or attitude.

All that is settled 2 ,000 years ago. The word of God gives us all of that. A preacher who does not align himself with this is not a preacher. You cannot tell God or tell the church what your marriage is to be.

Away with these foolish men who have filled the pulpit. One of those top men I sees recovered again, grown a beard, make himself look a bit more mature. He's got a bit grayer along the way. Last time I seen him, he was being thrown out of his church, one of the most popular ministries in America and the Western world.

Everyone reading his books, everyone watching his messages. Sure you could only watch him once and tell there's something seriously wrong. He went and taught on the Song of Solomon. And he said, well, this is all about me and my wife.

We relax with a bottle of wine. This is all to help us in our marriage. I want to tell you, men like that are dangerous. They are self-serving. They are not working with Christ or for Christ. They're not servants.

And yet he's made a comeback. And now everyone is posting his snippets of preaching. Have you forgotten what sort of man this is? Yes, with a reputation. Have you forgotten he got put out because of his handling of money and power in his church?

Does no one care about these things? And so Paul says, we are workers together with him, with God, with the Lord. Do you think we've got a right to mold this or I have a right to create a ministry and this is my style of church?

God help us. We have no rights to do that. And so Paul stands and says, but in all things, every single area, preacher, you've got no right to be a preacher if you don't want every area of your life scrutinized, your marriage, your attitude towards money, how you conduct yourself on your time off.

You think that your life isn't to be an open book? You better go to a different occupation. Paul says, in all things, in every area, I can improve myself or command myself or gather up all of the evidence together and present it to you to show I am a real preacher.

Ambitious men are dangerous in the church, ambitious for fame, ambitious for notoriety, ambitious to get in the pulpit. Any young man covets this pulpit, you're disqualified from ministry. Those that come into the church, they're saved a year and they wanna be preachers.

You haven't even got a clue what the ministry is about. That's why the Bible forbids you to be a preacher or to be allowed in leadership in the church. You're not even allowed to be. I don't even have the right to give you a position because scripture forbids a novice to be in leadership in the church.

What has happened through all over the church? You old timers, you all need to move out. We are the young generation. We are bringing in young people, teenagers. The young 20-year-old pastor with slick hair, and I've got nothing wrong with slick hair.

I've got nothing to slick. I'm running out of anything to slick these days. It's getting worse. But I'm telling you, when we move in the youth church or you get older ones saying, we're just gonna hand it over to the young, you don't even know what the church is.

You're denying scripture and you're damaging the church of Christ. And so these three messages are a call to preachers, not all preachers, many will not listen, but to those that desire God. As we said in the past two messages, Paul here gives seven verses packed with facts, contrasts, evidence, or proof to show he is a genuine minister or servant of Jesus Christ and also a preacher.

In those seven verses, he gives 28 distinct things. I don't think this is the only list in the Bible. It's not this only one list. Paul's great at giving lists. I love them. They're easy to preach from.

You just go through all the points. He loves to list things very clearly, concisely, and he heaps them one on top of each other. He has no problem in a space of seven sentences. People can speak for an hour and they say nothing, not Paul.

In seven verses a minute, he says so much it'll take you a lifetime to work out. And so he gives 28 distinct points. Remember in part one, we looked at the nine couplets or 18 things that he contrasts in the pastor's life.

That was part one, the contrasts of a preacher's life, thing they could be known yet unknown, and yet they carry this together. In part two, we looked at the nine positives of the ministry or last week, the substantial blessings of a preacher's life.

Nine positive or good things. This week, I'm gonna give you 10 as we close, and I'm giving you the 10 negatives of ministry. These are the things preachers don't tell you about. Say, come in the ministry, stand and preach.

You really think that's what preaching is all about? You think that's the qualification of a preacher is your ability to expound the text. I haven't found once where it says that, but I have found other certain qualifications.

And so here this morning, I'm gonna give you these 10. And I've called this the dark side of a preacher's life. The dark side of a preacher's life. Let me give you the backdrop of why Paul listed these 28 things.

Let me give you a sit rep or a situation report on the city of Corinth. The reasons why he gave these 28 points, the contrasts, the positives, the negatives, why did he give all of these? He's actually, when he writes this in the great city of Ephesus, raising up a remarkable church, and he's writing to the church of Corinth.

Remember Corinth, he stayed in Corinth two years and raised up a large, remarkable church. Now he's moved on to Ephesus, and he's in Ephesus. This is about the mid 50s of the first century. And it is Titus who takes the letter of 2 Corinthians and delivers it to the church at Corinth.

Why did Paul commend himself? Listen very carefully. Why did Paul, when at other times he said it wouldn't be good to do that, to boost on yourself or talk about yourself, why here does he begin to talk very deeply about himself and his trials and his troubles?

Why is he writing to Corinth in this way and commending himself to a church that he raised up? He saw them born again, baptized in water, filled with the Holy Ghost, operating in the nine gifts of the Spirit.

He established them, he raised them up and left the function in church. Why now is he feeling he has to commend himself? This is the reason. A small, vicious anti-Paul group had arisen in the church at Corinth.

When certain men newly arrived into the church in Corinth and they began to exalt themselves, promote themselves, boost on themselves, their ministry, their eloquence, their gifts, their calling, and they began to affect some people in the church at Corinth.

And you know what? These men were opposed to Paul. They accused Paul of being a false apostle, not like the 12 Jerusalem apostles. They began to critique his letters. They critiqued his preaching, his style, his manner of preaching.

They even critiqued his appearance. And they said he didn't really look like much. They began to question everything about Paul, his character. They questioned his authority. And they even began to say he's got a proneness to change his mind.

They even began to say he's a liar. He tells lies and he writes lies when he writes to you as a church. They were basically saying Paul is changeable. He's untrustworthy. He is untruthful. You can't rely on him.

In 2 Corinthians, when you read this letter, Paul's dealing with two groups. At times, many times, he's encouraging, exhorting, pleading with the real body of Christ. But then at other times, he becomes very pointed, very brash.

You know why? He's dealing with rebels. He's dealing with certain men who have come into the church and they're causing real problems in a church that he has raised up. In chapter 11, he calls these men who have come in and are influencing a church he raised up that he prayed for, he labored for, he preached to.

He now calls them false apostles, deceitful workers, basically calling them servants of Satan. Remember he said, I'm a servant of the Lord Jesus Christ. They are servants of Satan. And he says they transform themselves as ministers or servants of righteousness.

So these men have been sent into Corinth to preach, have been sent by Satan, but they make themselves look like ministers of righteousness. We're bringing a message of righteousness. He also says they preach a different gospel, one totally unlike mine.

They preach another Jesus, not the Jesus I preach. They minister another spirit, not the real Holy Spirit that I have. And they boast commending themselves, lifting themselves up as if they had no faults or imperfection.

They are proud of their Jewish heritage. They are men of the spirit. This is what they claimed. They're pneumatics, basically meaning spiritual people. They believed in miracles. They claimed the use of miracles, the gifts of the Holy Spirit, power, eloquence.

And they actually said, Paul cannot speak with eloquence like we do. We get the best insight in this letter, 2 Corinthians, the best insight to Paul in his trials of any other book or area in the entire Bible.

You see Paul to be most personal in 2 Corinthians. He is intimate. He is open-hearted. He bears his heart. And we read that in 2 Corinthians 2 and 4, that this letter was a letter of tears. Literally, listen to what he said at the beginning of this letter, 2 verse 4.

For out of much affliction and anguish of heart, I wrote on to you with many tears, not that you should be grieved, but that ye might know the love which I have more abundantly for you. And so Paul in 2 Corinthians opens his heart.

See, in this message, I'm finishing. I've given you the positives. I've given you the contrast. Now I'm giving you the negatives. And in 2 Corinthians, Paul opens up throughout the entire letter, the negatives, the trials, and the troubles he went through more than anywhere else.

I would exhort you when you leave here, maybe tonight, maybe some other time, study three chapters in this book. Study chapter 4, chapter 11, and chapter 6. And you will see what Paul suffered with his trials and his troubles in a remarkable way.

And so last week, for the sake of Brother So's mommy, we dealt with the substantial blessings of a preacher, nine in number. Now we come to 10 points on the dark side of a preacher's life. You see, there is a dark side, but that doesn't make me draw back from ministry.

This is a vital part of ministry. Let me go further. I'm gonna give you 10 negatives of being in the ministry. And I wonder if you still wanna be in ministry after I finish. But see these 10 points, they're not just telling you about 10 negatives.

Paul is holding forth these 10 points, 10 dark things about ministry that prove that he's a real preacher. These 10 dark things prove, so he holds them forth gladly as evidence that he's a real preacher.

They're not just dark things. They're not just negatives. They are proof or evidence to show he's a preacher. Why is it there's an utter absence amongst preachers and ministers today sharing with you about their personal trials?

I maybe tend to go the other way because throughout my entire life, it's been absent that preachers talk about their trials. And so I have tried, and I don't wanna go too far that way because there's wonderful things in ministry.

But the reason I do this is because I'm a student and have been from my youth of the Apostle Paul. So that's what I think of ministry. Most people in ministry, I don't have a clue what they're talking about or how they conduct themselves.

It's foreign to me, but the Apostle Paul, he's a close, intimate friend of mine. And when I see him at the portals of heaven one of these days, it's gonna be like meeting an old friend. He's helped me a lot.

And so my message, the dark side of a preacher side or the dark side of ministry, about 35 or 40 years ago, Sandy Thompson, a man who preached, I got baptized in the Holy Ghost under his hands, under his ministry and one of his meetings.

I got called to the ministry in the midst of those meetings and his preaching. He was a godly, godly man. I've got an old audio cassette at home called The Consequence of Being God's Servant or the Dark Side of Ministry.

You wanna know where I got the seed thought for this? I got it from him 35 or 40 years ago. And you know what? I went and looked out that old audio yesterday. I went, I know I've got it somewhere, but I've got like about 5 ,000 audio cassettes, but the Lord led me straight to it.

Literally, it was the second tape I picked up. And here is it. I knew I had it somewhere. And I began to listen to it yesterday afternoon. And I began to weep and to weep and to weep. I thank God that there's men like that.

And that was very unusual in my entire lifetime that I could look back to that man, a man of God, Sandy Thompson, a man filled with the gifts of the Holy Spirit. I seen him operating the gifts like few men in my entire lifetime.

He saw miracles. He saw the power of God. He knew what it was to be led of God and used of God. And so saints of God, I wanna give you these 10 points. The first four in this list are generalities defining every dark trial in Paul's life.

Every dark trial, patience and afflictions and necessities and distresses. He lists four things that you could say cover his entire life, all the troubles and the trials he went through. These are general.

The next three are very specific and we're gonna get into specifics. But let me show you that a preacher ought to be able to stand forth and say, when I look back over my entire ministry, there's four things have marked my life.

You see, I worry about a preacher who hasn't been in the fire. And I understand a younger preacher has this ahead of him. I understand that. You see, there was a day when Joseph had a pure heart. He lived to 17 years old.

He had dreams and visions from God. He walked with God. He was blessed of God, but he's never been in the fire. He is a real vessel, a God forged vessel. But oh boy, Joseph, what you don't realize, you're just about to be put in the fire.

And you know what? God's gonna leave you there 23 years before he can even use you. You know, he'd done the same with King David, the young shepherd boy, 17 years old. Samuel the prophet comes looking for me, prophesies over me.

Man, he anointed me with oil. The Holy Spirit came on me. I get songs of worship to the Lord. God inspires me. I killed Goliath. You're not ready for ministry, David. Do you know what? You can kill a Goliath and be the most noted individual in the nation, but I'm just about to put you in the Bible school.

You know what it is? Rejection. And King Saul, the man with the power and position, for years is gonna chase you with a spear trying to kill you. And when you get to the point, you go, God, what are you doing with me?

What point is there even in me living? Here I am in the cave of Dullam. Something has gone wrong here. I used to be the most popular. I killed Goliath. And now I'm hiding in a cave running for my life.

What went wrong? Nothing went wrong. God is getting you ready for ministry. Any volunteers for ministry here this morning will make an appeal and alter call again. And if you're a volunteer for ministry, well, I'll pray that God prepares you for ministry.

Endurance in Patience

Let me deal with these 10 points. Number one, patience. Now that's different than what we dealt with before long suffering. Remember long suffering was the heart attitude. It was a good thing that amid suffering, you keep your joy.

This word patience is different. It's the word endurance. It means to stay under the weight of something, stay in your position. It means in the art when troubles and trials and hard things, dark things come are things you don't understand.

You just keep standing in the position. Never move when it gets dark. Never make your decisions in the day of trial. Never ever do that. Wait until you're back in the daylight again. Wait until you're rejoicing in the Lord again.

Never ever move or make a decision when all is dark around you. That's what patience is. Patience isn't sitting back with your arms folded, waiting on God doing something. Oh no, it's more. It is endurance.

It's when everything is forcing you to move. All the pressure is on you to change direction. Everything comes against you to stop you preaching. And believe me, I know what I'm talking about. When everything resists you being in the ministry, you just keep enduring.

You stay the course. It takes submission to the will of God. It takes discipline in your mind, your emotions, your body. It's telling your body, you are gonna get up. You know, on Friday night, I think it's the first time in the history of this church, I didn't wanna come to meeting.

I was so, so tired. And I come so, so close to just messaging the brothers and saying, I'm not gonna make it tonight. I am right in the midst of it. Not because I wanna rest, but because so much is going on.

I'm getting so much done. But then I know there's a brother who needs anointed with oil, who's gonna stand on this altar. And I go, I'm going to the prayer meeting. Saints of God, I'm talking about building this into your life.

This is one of the evidence that you're a preacher. This is one of the proofs that you're called to the ministry. If you don't do this, you're not ready for ministry. You're not fitting for ministry. I'm tired, I'm weary.

The pressure is on me. I'm not gonna do the song. I'm not gonna do the music. I'm not gonna do the soup. I'm not gonna do whatever in this church. You don't know what I'm going through. Well, fine, that's okay.

But a preacher doesn't have that right. When I wake up early in the morning on Sunday and I go, I'm not sure I can do this. You know what a real preacher does? I'm gonna endure. I'm gonna be in my position.

I'm gonna play my part. And so Paul can show forth and commend himself. I am a real preacher. See, I don't believe false preachers are like this. Everything has to be good. The crowd has to be for them.

Everything has to be working smoothly for them to operate. But a real preacher, he has seen, he has known, he has marked that when everything is against him, he's still in his position. He will not move from that.

You see, he would not move, he would not normally stay on this course, Paul the apostle, or endure these things, but he's a preacher. Because he's called of God and God put him there and he's a preacher, these troubles come because of preaching the word.

And you know what he says? I've gotta stay in my position. In Acts 20, 24, Paul says, and this was at a time where every church he went to every time, those who operated in the gifts would prophesy and say, Paul, do you know you're on your way to Jerusalem?

Do you know that bonds and afflictions abide you or wait for you in Jerusalem? Do you know you're heading? You're gonna be chained. Imagine going to every church I went to preaching and here comes someone again.

Brother Keith, chains are awaiting you, troubles, heartache, everything's gonna be black when you get to Jerusalem. I think I would change direction. I'm not going to Jerusalem. But do you know what the apostle Paul, listen to what he says.

None of these things move me. Some years ago when I read that, I went, Paul is a super man. He is super human. Here are trials facing him. And he says, none of these things move me. I go, I'm not of that caliber.

I'm a preacher. But I go, I know how my fears arise and my thoughts and I worry about things and I get worried about suffering or opposition or someone betraying me. I would move. And here I am saying, how can he not be moved?

Because I thought that was his thoughts and his emotions. But it doesn't say that. You know what it means? I never move from my course. You know, Paul got scared at times. Do you know, Paul feared at times.

You know, Paul got bowed down with anxiety at times. You know, at times Paul thought, I wonder if I'm even gonna survive this. But do you know what he done? He kept in his position. That is actually patience.

It's not that you're not scared inside or don't even get tempted to give up, but you actually say, I'm gonna stay the course. I'm gonna keep going forward in the will of God. Notice something that says much patience, not patience, but much.

That means many diverse or different kinds of patience at many different times. Much patience is the mark of a real preacher. He has a great ability to stick, no matter what comes against him, he is still in his position preaching.

I say by the grace of God, because I know my past, by God's grace, no matter what happens, I don't care what happens in society or my life, you're gonna find me here faithfully preaching the word of God.

The Greek word for patience was used of the ability of a plant to live, survive, and then thrive under very hard circumstances. My plants at home have been given the hardest task of all. They're left in my hands.

And I wanna tell you, if anything survives in our garden or inside my house, those plants, I'm going, yous have fallen into a sore trial. Some of them are perishing. Some of them are still growing. And I'm going, that is some patient plant because under my hands, either over-watering it, under-watering it, never feeding it, neglecting it, staring at it with dismay, and yet those plants still thrive or survive.

I'm amazed at them. They are very patient plants with this owner. Do you know it says in Hebrews 12 and two, it uses the same word patience of the Lord Jesus Christ, who for the joy that was set before him, endured the cross.

That's patience. It wasn't easy to endure the cross. Do you think, do you know what it says in the Bible? He set his face as a flint towards Jerusalem. Do you know why? There's a cross. There's a Judas.

There's suffering. There's rejection. There's shame. The Lord Jesus had to set his face as a flint. This is patience. Do you think that's easy or comes naturally? You know why he's doing that? For the joy set before him.

What's the joy? You're the joy. You're gonna get saved. You're gonna get redeemed. That's what a preacher has to do. He has to set himself. He has to endure. That's the first quality Paul holds forth.

You see, not many preachers today are gonna hold forth patience. Oh, I'll give you the history of my patience over the years. And this is evidence I'm a real preacher. I've never heard it in my entire life.

Preachers don't do this. Look at the miracles. Look at the churches. Look at the souls. Look at the books I've written. What about patience? Do you know that when everything was against me, I just kept enduring for the joy that was set before me?

Affliction as a Mark of Ministry

Number two, in afflictions. This word afflictions, again, generally of his life and career, ministry. It's the word phlepsis. It's the word used in Matthew 24 concerning the great tribulation. No greater word could be used for the great tribulation than phlepsis or afflictions.

And Paul here says, it's not only what's gonna happen in tribulation, it's one of the qualities of a real servant of the Lord Jesus Christ, of a real preacher. The word means, of course, tribulation, troubles, intense pressure, to be afflicted, to be crowded in on every side, to experience anguish and distress.

That's what afflictions are. And Paul gives us a second thing here. Afflictions is the mark of a real preacher. He can hold forth and show you when he was afflicted. You say, I don't believe it's possible to be a preacher called of God and to serve him for a long time.

I can tell you Hannah's getting worried right now as I speak. Do you know what? I know God preserves and protects. He'll never put you where you cannot endure. But I wanna show you in this hour and generation, you will not be called to the ministry and serve God effectually without somewhere in that journey, you're gonna face afflictions.

You don't create these. You don't say, well, I don't have many attacks, not many Judas's, not much betrayal, not many scars on my back. So let's go look for it. You don't do that. You don't pray to be qualified by afflictions.

You don't ask God for it. But like Joseph, David, Moses, Paul, Peter, James and John, God does that work. You come as a vessel, as a servant. But do you know what? Along the way, there's gonna be afflictions.

Many people leave the ministry because they say, they spoke about me wrongly. They didn't treat me right. Somebody hurt me. I can remember being at a conference in Scotland, many preachers there. And someone stood up and they said, I believe I've got a word from the Lord.

It was all preachers there. And they said, I've got a word from the Lord. There's a preacher here and he's been hurt. A word from the Lord, a prophecy. And I looked at my friend and we burst out laughing together and we said, that wouldn't take much of a prophecy.

And that didn't take much insight. I go, if there's any preacher here who hasn't been hurt, please make yourself known. And we'll tell you, you mustn't be called to the ministry or you're very young in the ministry.

Do you know what this word, afflictions, lipses, also means? It means to be squeezed beyond measure. It means to be crushed. The word is used of what you do to grapes, to get wine out of it, or to olives, to get olive oil out of it.

You don't get olive oil or wine without squeezing the grapes. This is the lipses. So I believe with a real preacher, you will not get quality anointing, quality wine, quality ministry until they're squeezed.

Yes, you may have knowledge. Yes, you may have a pure heart. Yes, you may have a real call. But do you know what? God is gonna allow afflictions to come in around. You know why? Because what comes out of you then will be a very beautiful, pure ministry, squeezed beyond measure.

Necessity and Pressure in Ministry

The third thing, in necessities, I approve myself or show you I'm a real preacher in necessities. You say, show me a man under pressure and I'll show you the real man. Anyone can stand here and preach, anyone.

And you say, what a preacher. No, no, no, no, no. I wanna see him in patience, in afflictions, in necessities, in distresses. Then I'll tell you if he's a real preacher. Don't show me the man in the pulpit.

I wanna see him squeezed. I wanna see his nerves squeezed. I wanna see his face squeezed. I wanna see his ministry squeezed. Then I'll tell you what sort of preacher he is. Some, they get a rough Sunday and they wish they were on a holiday.

Is that all you can sustain? You're not up to much. In necessities, you know this word necessities, you know what the Greek means? It means to have your arm bent up your back. It means to be forced, compulsion, to be in a situation of no choice where things come into your life, where you're being driven in a certain direction.