Grace Bible Church
Pastor-Teacher
Robert R. McLaughlin
Sunday,
December 10, 2017
IThe Third Commandment which is found in Exo 20:7 which says "You shall not take the name of the Lord your God in vain, for the Lord will not leave him unpunished who takes His name in vain.
The Doctrine of Ambassadorship.
Point 1. Definition and description.
Point 2. The Profile of the Ambassador.
- An ambassador does not appoint himself. We are appointed by God Himself at the moment we believe in Jesus Christ. God also gives use the power and ability to handle the job.
- The ambassador does not support himself. The Church-age believer, as an ambassador for Christ, is provided for by logistical grace.
- The ambassador's instructions are always in written form, so he has no doubt as to what he should do. We have the policies, problem solving devices, instructions, principles, doctrines, and concepts in written form in the scripture.
- The ambassador does not belong to the country to which he is sent.
Our citizenship and home is in heaven.
We are also citizens of a client nation to God. - The ambassador does not live in the foreign country for his own personal interest. We live here on earth solely to serve in the interest of our Lord.
- (6) The ambassador does not treat any insult to himself as personal or most important. This is the royal ambassador's function in both spiritual self-esteem and impersonal love for all mankind.
- (7) When an ambassador is recalled, his recall is tantamount to a declaration of war. This is analogous to the Rapture of the church. The Tribulation is analogous to the period of war.
Point 3 is where we pick it up. The Royal Ambassadorship is Specialized and Intensified in the gift of pastor‑teacher.
All communication gifts (evangelists, apostles, pastor‑teachers) become critical and specialized functions of the royal ambassadorship because they communicate spiritual truth.
Point 4. The Royal Ambassadorship is Directly Related to the Evangelism of the believer, 2Co 5:20.
We are not to witness only through our lifestyle - but more importantly through our words.
This is why I say to those who say "I don't say I'm a believer, I live like I am one" = stop being a coward!
An atheist can be moral.
A Muslim can quit certain sins.
A Buddhist can refrain from immorality.
For many it means, "I don't have enough courage to live like I should".....
The apostle Paul asked the believers at Ephesus again in Eph 6:19 to pray on his behalf, that utterance [expression, articulation, verbalization] may be given to him in the opening of his mouth, to make known with boldness [confidence] the mystery doctrines of the gospel,
Point 5. The Royal Ambassadorship mandates the function of spiritual self‑esteem and impersonal love, Philemon 9.
Phile:9 "Yet for love's sake, I rather appeal to you, since I am such a person as Paul, the ambassador, and now a prisoner of Jesus Christ."
Virtue‑love is the greatest of all problem-solving devices.
When your momentum takes you to personal love for God, you now have spiritual self-esteem. And with this spiritual self-esteem comes impersonal love for all mankind.
While personal love for God is the function of our royal priesthood, spiritual self-esteem and impersonal love for man are the function of our Royal ambassadorship.
Every believer, therefore, makes a pulpit out of his circumstances in every area of life.
Your ambassadorship is basically made up of two factors: How you live, and what you say as a result of what you think.
In private, you function under your priesthood;
In public, you function under your ambassadorship.
Point 6. The Royal Ambassadorship is also related to the Angelic Conflict.
Angels observe and rejoice when ambassadors lead others to Christ, Luk 15:3‑10.
Fallen angels are organized to resist and oppose your ambassadorship and your growth in grace, Job 1:6, 2:1‑3; Eph 6:12.
The fact that angels are watching you as an ambassador is also found in 1Co 4:9 For, I think, God has exhibited us apostles last of all, as men condemned to death; because we have become a spectacle or a theatron] to the world, both to angels and to men.
The isagogic translation would look something like this: 1Co 4:9 "For I think God has exhibited us apostles last of all as men condemned to death [last ones into the coliseum], for we have become an amphitheater to the world, both to angels and to men."
Eph 3:10 "In order that the manifold wisdom of God might be made known through the church to rulers and authorities in the heavenlies [angels]."
1TI 5:21 I solemnly charge you in the presence of God and of Christ Jesus and of His chosen angels, to maintain these principles without bias, doing nothing in a spirit of partiality.
1Pe 1:12 "Things into which angels are watching intently."
Point 7. The concept of the believer‑ambassador.
While the priesthood of the believer emphasizes the daily function of PMA of BD and advance to spiritual maturity, the ambassadorship of the believer emphasizes the production of the Christian way of life.
The priesthood is the means by which you advance; the ambassadorship is for the purpose of production.
Since maximum production involves spiritual maturity, it is obvious that the attainment of spiritual maturity results in maximum effectiveness in the area of your royal ambassadorship.
The filling of the Spirit is an absolute necessity in the function of the ambassador.
Any Christian service or works apart from the filling of the Spirit is human good, the enemy of the procedure and policy of the royal ambassador.
Everything the believer does in life becomes a part of his ambassadorship, for in effect the believer makes a pulpit out of his circumstances.
Every believer is in full‑time service; this is a decision god made, not one that you make.
Your circumstances are your full-time Christian service whether you work in the military, in labor, or in management.
Every believer is in the plan of God and lives his life under the principle of full-time Christian service.
Pro 13:16-17 "Every wise believer acts with knowledge of doctrine, but a fool [believer] spreads foolishness.
an evil messenger falls into adversity [the law of volitional responsibility], but a faithful ambassador brings healing."
Point 8. The prerequisites for the function of the royal ambassadorship.