The Ministry and the Christian
THE MINISTRY AND THE CHRISTIAN
11 And he himself gave some as apostles and some as prophets and some as evangelists and some as pastors and teachers 12 for the equipping of the saints, for the work of the ministry, for building up the body of Christ,
11 And he himself gave some as apostles and some as prophets and some as evangelists and some as pastors and teachers 12 for the equipping of the saints, for the work of the ministry, for building up the body of Christ,
I. THE CALL TO THE MINISTRY
I. THE CALL TO THE MINISTRY
A. Calls in the past
1. The call of Moses—.
2. The call of Joshua—.
3. The call of Isaiah—.
4. The call of the disciples—.
B. Calls in the present
1. Called the challenged—.
2. Called and charged—.
II. THE COMMISSION OF THE MINISTRY—
A. Preaching—v. . Preach the gospel to all people. This is the responsibility.
B. Power—v. . Those who believe will be saved. Those who don’t believe will be lost.
C. Promise—vv.
1. They would cast out devils.
2. They would speak with new tongues.
3. If they pick up serpents (by mistake), they will not be hurt. If they drink anything poisonous (by mistake), it would not hurt them.
4. Lay hands on the sick, and they would recover.
D. Proof—vv. . If we obey the commands of Christ, we will also have these results.
III. THE CHALLENGE OF THE MINISTRY
A. To evangelize—. Having people accept Christ as their Saviour is the main ministry of the church.
B. To educate—. After a person is saved, we must teach him how to live for God.
C. To edify—. To build up Christians in the faith.
IV. THE COST OF THE MINISTRY
A. Study—. Knowing God’s Word fully.
B. Sacrifice—. Denying self, taking up your cross daily.
C. Sorrow—. Shedding tears over the lost souls of man.
D. Stedfast—. Being a minister is like being a good soldier of Jesus Christ.
The ministry is not the place for a person seeking ease. It takes much patience and hard work.
The story has been told of a believer, Frederick Nolan, who was fleeing from his enemies during a time of persecution in North Africa. Pursued by them over hill and valley with no place to hide, he fell exhausted into a wayside cave, expecting his enemies to find him soon.
Awaiting his death, he saw a spider weaving a web. Within minutes, the little bug had woven a beautiful web across the mouth of the cave. The pursuers arrived and wondered if Nolan was hiding there, but on seeing the unbroken and unmangled piece of art, thought it impossible for him to have entered the cave without dismantling the web. And so they went on. Having escaped, Nolan burst out and exclaimed:
“Where God is, a spider’s web is like a wall,
Where God is not, a wall is like a spider’s web.”1108