PARABLE OF THE INSPIRED MINISTERS

By Marceal Clark

There was a time when the Father called His ministers together and bestowed upon them gifts of inspiration according to their individual burdens and abilities.

To one, He gave two; and to another, five sermons to preach; to another, He gave one sermon to preach. He told them, “I am entrusting each of you with My words of wisdom and comfort. Go and preach these messages so that My salvation story can reach the lost.”

The Father went away, and the preachers were left to carry out His wishes.

After a period of time the other returned and once again assembled together His ministers, checking on their progress.

To the one who had been given five sermons. He said, “I entrusted you with five messages. Give Me a report on what you did with what I gave you.”

The preacher said, “Father, you gave me five sermons to preach. I went to my home church where I am pastor and preached these five messages to my people. Then after preaching them, a burden for the lost compelled me to go to the evangelistic field, where I again preached these five
messages. Therefore Your five sermons were turned into ten, doubling what You gave me.”

The Father said, “Well done good and faithful preacher. Because you have been a wise steward over My gifts and have increased by twofold what I gave you, I will bless your ministry by filling your mind to overflowing with new ideas and thoughts for many sermons, thereby increasing your effectiveness to a lost and dying world.”

Likewise, to the preacher who had been given two messages to preach, the Father said, “Give Me a report on what you did with the two sermons I entrusted to you.”

“Father I too preached the two messages You gave me to my home church. Then, one of the neighboring pastors heard about the impact of these two sermons on my city and invited me to come and preach them to his congregation. Therefore the two sermons You gave me were turned into four, thereby increasing their effectiveness twofold.”

The Father said, “Well done good and faithful preacher. Because you have been faithful over a few things, I will bless your ministry by filling your mind with many more creative thoughts for new sermons, whereby you will be able to reach out and win many souls for My kingdom.”

Then, to the preacher who had been entrusted with one message, the Father asked, “And what did you do with the one sermon I gave you?”

“Father, I wrote the sermon out just like You gave it to me but because I was afraid of rejection if I preached it, I put it in a desk drawer and saved it until Your return, knowing that You are wise and merciful and would understand. See Father, here’s the sermon You gave me neatly typed and still intact,” said the preacher waving a sheaf of papers.

The Father said, “Oh, you unprofitable preacher! I entrusted you with My words of salvation, comfort, and inspiration, but because of your fear of rejection you buried them in a desk drawer. This message I gave you was so powerful that, had you preached it, your church building could not have contained the new people that would have flocked there. It had such a drawing effect that, had you preached it, your city would have been turned upside down for the gospel.

“Unfortunately, because your fear of rejection was greater than your trust in Me I will empty your mind of any creative thoughts. Then I will take this one message from you and give it to the preacher who turned five sermons into ten and to the one who turned two sermons into four. Their ministries will flourish and receive acclaim and recognition, not necessarily because they are more talented, but simply because they are more willing.”

The above material was published by Marceal Clark)

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