“Musts” in the Master’s Ministry

Excerpts from the sermon by Lester Roloff

Turn in your Bible to Luke 2:49. Here we will find the little word that will be our focus tonight. We are near the beginning of Luke’s Gospel, which records the details of Jesus’ birth, His life, and especially His ministry. Our first passage comes from when Jesus was left behind in Jerusalem by his mother, Mary—and His foster father, Joseph. As you know, they eventually found Jesus in the temple:

And He said unto them, How is it that ye sought Me? wist ye not that I must be about My Father’s business? –Luke 2:49

I want to speak tonight about the musts of the Master’s ministry. I wonder if we’ve come to the place where we feel like dedicated living is optional. Do we still believe that it is necessary to follow where the Lord leads? Do we still believe that it is possible to be like Jesus in such a crooked and perverse world? The question for us tonight is simple: are we going to have any musts in our ministry? Do you have any musts in your schedule? Do you ever come to the place where you say, “I just must do such and such.”? This is the burden of my heart tonight. I want to show you that Jesus lived under a constant ministry of must.

At the age of 12, Jesus began a must ministry. Even as a 12-year-old boy, Jesus had a great sense of responsibility. He said, “I must be about My Father’s business.” Joseph wasn’t the Father Jesus was worried about doing business for— Jesus knew who His Father was. Folks, we will never get started into a must ministry until we recognize Who our Father is. I’ll never forget the day that I realized I was obligated to my Heavenly Father more than I was to my earthly father. I believe there comes a time when every Christian— and especially every preacher—has to stand on his own feet. Turn with me next to Luke 4:43.

And He said unto them, I must preach the kingdom of God to other cities also: for therefore am I sent. –Luke 4:43

Is preaching optional with you preachers, or do you live to preach? Do you breathe to preach? Is preaching absolutely the most important thing in your life? Would you rather preach than to eat, or to do anything else in all the world? If only we could have a great spiritual revival of excited preachers—excited to tell the sweet story. I believe that would get the Church excited again. There are two things that make a preacher a great preacher. Number one: he’s got to first know the truth and preach the truth. And number two: he’s got to have the right spirit—a must spirit.

Let’s go a little bit further. The Bible is full of musts, but the next one for tonight is in Luke 19:5. We are still in the ministry of Jesus, and it is a strange must:

And when Jesus came to the place, He looked up, and saw Him, and said unto him, Zacchaeus, make haste, and come down; for today I must abide at thy house. –Luke 19:5

Jesus didn’t go to this man’s house to get his money— He went to get the man. Jesus knew that Zacchaeus was a sick and dying man in need of the great Physician. Jesus knew that Zacchaeus was about to be criticized and misunderstood, and that he desperately needed a Friend. If only we would go where we are needed the most. I mean, work with the people who have the most desperate need. Think of how many people could be won to Christ if we could only invest our time like Jesus did!

Now then, turn to John chapter 3. We’ve come to the most meaningful must in the Master’s ministry. A ruler of the Jews, Nicodemus by name, comes to Jesus by night. And here is what Jesus told him:

Jesus answered and said unto him, Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God….Marvel not that I said unto thee, Ye must be born again. –John 3:3, 7

A man can never go to Heaven unless he experiences this must. Our generation has gotten completely away from this must, but it is the only way for a person to get saved. Jesus said, “That which is born of the flesh is flesh; and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit” (John 3:6). We’ve begun to think that this is something we can do instead of trusting God to do it. And many think this is something one can do without! Until a man is born again by the Spirit of God, he is still a helpless sinner without hope.

Nicodemus was a religious man, but that wasn’t enough. Jesus said, “you must be born again.” And later on we read, “even so must the Son of man be lifted up” (John 3:14). Jesus was on a must mission from Heaven (Luke 9:22).

There is yet another must here in John chapter 3—the must of maturity. This must came from the lips of John the Baptist, and it is the secret to Christian growth.

He must increase, but I must decrease. –John 3:30

The greatest danger you and I face is self-righteousness. This sin has haunted me, cursed me, and dwarfed me. The Christian should be like a bar of soap—the more he is used, the smaller he gets. But when a man gets bigger with use, it is because he has been inflated. Any kind of success can bring self-righteousness. The blessings of God and the goodness of the Lord can bring us to a place of pride which will bring us to a place of destruction. The greatest enemy that we face—and it is in this building right now—is pride. Talent, ability, and education are all dangerous achievements unless we let Him increase while we decrease! Now we will turn to John chapter 4.

And He must needs go through Samaria. –John 4:4

Jesus got up one morning and said, “Fellas, we must go through Samaria.” He knew they wouldn’t be welcome there. Jesus knew that the Jews had no dealings with the Samaritans, but He also knew that a ragged, ruined woman needed a wellspring of spiritual water that day. Listen, our churches are full of people who have lost their spring. When it’s time for visitation, only a few people show up, because they have no spring in their step. They aren’t excited to meet people who need Jesus, because nothing is springing up out of them. We’re never going to get our people to spring out until something first springs up. We can push them and pull them and prize them and beg them and plead them and force them and condemn them and build fires under them. But until we can get them to spring up, we will never be able to get them to spring out. You will never get a mule to pull the plow until you feed him. He’ll never make it through a good day’s work until you feed him. I believe the greatest need that we face today is to feed our people the Word of God. Jesus so instructed this woman about the water of life that she immediately went out to find more converts. Before the sun could go down, the Son had already come up in the lives of the people she witnessed to. Why? “I must go through Samaria.”

Now then, would you turn to John chapter 9? This chapter has meant about as much to me the last 20 years of my life as any chapter in the New Testament. This was when Jesus passed by a man who had been blind since birth for a wonderful reason—so that the “works of God should be made manifest in him” (John 9:3). But before his eyes were opened, the Master gave us our next must:

I must work the works of Him that sent Me, while it is day: the night cometh, when no man can work. –John 9:4

In other words, “God has some work for me to do. He’s already got it all mapped out—I must work!” I wonder if anybody here feels this way tonight. I know that one of these days old Lester Roloff’s working days will be over, and I will stand before Him to Whom I must give an account. Maybe God has called you to His ministry. Do you realize the urgency that’s upon your life today?

By the time Jesus got the work done in this blind man’s life, all he had left was his testimony of Jesus—he lost just about everything else. His parents were embarrassed. His rabbi was embarrassed. His little synagogue was all embarrassed. His friends were surprised, to say the least. And this man wound up completely outside the gate, because he had an experience with Jesus. I’d rather have an experience than an argument! There’s nothing that will put you outside the gate like a genuine experience with the Lord. Don’t worry about giving up the world—they’ll run from you. This man lost his membership but kept his testimony! Now we will move along to chapter 10 of John:

And other sheep I have, which are not of this fold: them also I must bring, and they shall hear My voice; and there shall be one fold, and one Shepherd. –John 10:16

Friends, Jesus has many more sheep that are not yet in the fold. Only God can open the door, but we had better be ready for when He brings them! If we have the right spirit, there will always be people who need our kindness and fellowship. Jesus said, “I must bring them—I’ve got to bring them.” That’s a wonderful must to me. Yes, from all the nations and levels of society—Jesus will bring them in!

Listen, dear friends, as it is nearly time to close. We’ve got to have a must salvation and we’ve got to have a must ministry. But you can never have a must ministry until you have a must salvation!

Neither is there salvation in any other: for there is none other name under heaven given among men, whereby we must be saved. –Acts 4:12

And brought them out, and said, Sirs, what must I do to be saved? And they said, Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved, and thy house. –Acts 16:30-31

But without faith it is impossible to please Him: for he that cometh to God must believe that He is, and that He is a rewarder of them that diligently seek Him. –Hebrews 11:6

Obey them that have the rule over you, and submit yourselves: for they watch for your souls, as they that must give account, that they may do it with joy, and not with grief: for that is unprofitable for you. –Hebrews 13:17

I close by asking this question: “Do you have real spiritual victory in your life tonight?” Do you know what it is to say, “I must needs go through Samaria. I know that I must work the works of Him that sent me while it’s day. And I’m going to do as He tells me to do.”? Are you able to say, “I know that I’m in His will right now, walking down the middle of the trail—nothing to be afraid of.”? Dear friends, it is wonderful to be secure in Him!