Necessities in Personal Work Matt. 10:16 CLICK TITLE FOR AUDIO

Personal work is a vital part of the ministry.  Personal work involves telling others, usually individually, about the gospel of Jesus Christ.  In personal work we must be:

Spotless as lambs – Matt 10:16 – the Lord sent his disciples out as sheep (we follow our Shepherd) in the midst of wolves [Matt 7:15; Acts 20:29].  As the Lord’s sheep we are to be spotless [Jas 1:27 keep (yourself) unspotted from the world].  In 2 Pet 3:14 Peter said, “be diligent that ye may be found of him in peace, without spot, and blameless.”  We must be spotless because we must approach God on behalf of men and because our lives must match our testimony of salvation through the shed blood of Jesus Christ.

Wise as serpents – Matt 10:16 – we aren’t serpents (Matt 23:33) but we are to be wise as serpents.  We must have the wisdom to know how to speak.  Personal work takes common sense, tact, and diplomacy that are often learned through the experience of dealing with people.  Ultimately, our wisdom comes from reading the Bible and working with people.

Harmless as doves – Matt 10:16 – we aren’t killers.  We don’t threaten or terrorize people into belief like the Roman Catholic Church did with the inquisition and the crusades or like Muslims do with Islam.  We don’t harass people like the Jehovah’s Witnesses or subvert them like Mormon’s and 7th Day Adventists for example.  We lead them through Jesus to the Father where they have a relationship with him as Father and child [Jn 1:!2].  We must remember that we cannot have a personal stake in the outcome of their decision [like bragging that we won another soul to Christ].  They are not saved for our personal benefit.  Don’t trample the harvest.

Bold as lions – Prov 28:1 – the righteous are bold as a lion.  Boldness comes from spending time with Jesus [Acts 4:13]; from the Holy Spirit after praying and asking him for boldness [Acts 4:31]; and from others praying for you to have boldness [Eph 6:19-20].  We must be bold with the gospel so that those with whom we visit will know that these matters are serious, indeed.

Conclusion: These four types are necessities in personal work.  Consider them.  Follow them.