333. Co-workers

Paul exhorts his co-workers not to receive the grace of God in vain. He proved himself to be a minister of God in much patience, in tribulations, in needs, in distresses. Think about all the different situations the apostle was led into, and yet he remained in God’s grace as a minister of God. When tribulations, needs, and distresses come our way, it is difficult enough to keep the faith as a regular Christian, let alone as a co-worker with Christ, one who is able to comfort and help others. And not only that, he proved to be a minister of God in stripes, in imprisonments, in tumults, in labors, in sleeplessness, in fasting, by honor and dishonor, by evil report and good report, as deceivers, and yet true.

Imagine yourself in all of these situations and search yourself as to whether you would still be able to keep your balance as a minister of God in all of it, so all those who saw you would be able to say, “Yes, this is truly a minister of God.”

Unbelievably much is required of a minister of God if he is to be a servant in spirit and truth.

“As is the fat taken away from the peace offering, so was David chosen out of the children of Israel.” Sirach 47:2. Jesus stood in the boat and pushed off a little from land when He spoke to the people. This separation from those whom you are to serve is vital if you want to keep yourself pure. The captain of a ship loses respect in the eyes of the crew if he gets involved in the small details. He must keep himself at a respectful distance and issue his orders from there.

Not just anyone was worthy to be one of David’s confidential counselors. We can read about Benaiah. He “was the son of Jehoiada, the son of a valiant man from Kabzeel, who had done many deeds. He had killed two lion-like heroes of Moab. He also had gone down and killed a lion in the midst of a pit on a snowy day. And he killed an Egyptian, a man of great height, five cubits tall. In the Egyptian’s hand there was a spear like a weaver’s beam; and he went down to him with a staff, wrested the spear out of the Egyptian’s hand, and killed him with his own spear.”

David gave Benaiah, the son of Jehoiada, a place among his confidential counselors. 1 Chr. 11:22-25.

This Benaiah had a lifetime of experience in the wars of the Lord. He was not an inexperienced novice.

God’s co-workers must not take inexperienced people fully into their confidence. They must first be tried to see if they are faithful. Otherwise they can suddenly turn against you and become your enemy. If you have taken them into your confidence, they will take your own words and turn them against you like a sword. Paul also encountered false brethren, and among them he was in peril. It is extremely dangerous to take such people into your confidence, for you never know who is genuine and who is false. For this reason you should let their own deeds prove that they are worthy to be taken into your confidence.