God-Appointed Ministries
Scripture: Ephesians 4 v 11 - 12:
"And He gave some, apostles; and some, prophets; and
some, evangelists; and some, pastors and teachers:; for the perfecting of the
saints, for the work of the ministry, for the edifying of the body of
Christ."
1 Corinthians 12 v 28: "And God hath set some in the
church, first apostles, secondarily prophets, thirdly teachers, after that
miracles, then gifts of healing, helps, governments, diversities of
tongues."
When we examine the structure of the Body of Christ we
find the functions and offices of the ministries needed to effectively tend the
needs of its members. Helps, Exhorters, Evangelists, Pastors, Teachers,
Prophets, Apostles, Intercessors. Then governments - these are not the state
rulers but the people who run the church, do the books, organise the choir or
musicians etc. Gifts of healing are for the sick, there is no specific healing
ministry.
God calls the followers of Jesus Christ, living stones.
We are the stones He builds His Church with, which rests on the Rock of Jesus
Himself. He is the foundation stone and if you do not have this foundation, He
says you are building on sand and the first storm will sweep it away.
As He said to the Prophet Jeremiah in Jeremiah 1 v 5 -
Before I formed you in your mother's belly, I knew you and ordained you a
prophet to the nations! And the prophecies of Jeremiah are still valid and true
thousands of years later. He was a
God-appointed prophetic minister.
The office of a prophet is to stand in God's presence and
hear His Words accurately and convey them to where God wants them heard. They
must be 100% true and will come to pass when the Lord God chooses. His Word
never returns to Him without accomplishing what He sent it to do.
In today's church there are many self-appointed prophets
and they are satisfied if 60% of their prophecies hit the mark. The trouble is,
how can anyone trust them or believe God if they are only partly true? Which
part of the 60% is right? It brings
condemnation on the whole church.
An apostle appointed by God is a "sent one"
which has been interpreted as missionaries being sent to bring the knowledge of
Jesus Christ to peoples of the world in mainly third world countries. This is
not true. Missionaries are really evangelists who preach the gospel to the
unsaved sinners. They also learn the language and create Bibles for them a
process which takes about 25 years.
God's sent ones, true apostles, where appointed by Him
before this world was formed, when He knew them in Heaven. Paul, the persecutor
of the early Christians, trying to escape his calling, ran out of steam on the
Damascus Road and became, through guilt, the strongest apostle of them all.
Just like Moses the prophet and deliverer of Israel, fled
from Egypt to Midian for forty years until the time appointed for Israel to
leave egypt for the Promised Land. His reminder of his calling was through the
Burning Bush, where God told him, "Say that I AM sent you!" I AM that I AM you knew in Heaven. And Moses
knew and was anointed to deliver Israel from her oppressors.
The evangelist cuts the dead stones out of the quarry of
sin and unbelief. Through miracles and healing he draws people to Jesus to be
turned into Living Stones. The Pastors and Teachers take the stones to tend
their needs and open up the Bible to them. Pastors are also called Shepherds,
Elders or Bishops, overseers of the flock of God.
The ministry of Helps is given to all those who use their
God-given talents to do service to the needs of people. Stephen was appointed
to help as a deacon serving tables.
People who tithe or bless the church with donations are also called
Helps. They do those things that are behind the scenes to help the ministers do
their spiritual labour.
The Intercessors who are also called Watchman are
continually alert for outside danger forming an attack against the Christians.
The enemy is always on the prowl looking for a chink in the armour, so the
intercessors guard the sheep and warn of serious problems arising. They work
together with prayer warriors who fight the battles on their knees.
Everything false ie false prophets, false apostles, false
doctrines, wolves in sheep's clothing, false anointings, are a danger to the
flock of Jesus. The gift of discerning of spirits of good and evil; word of
knowledge; word of wisdom; visions, dreams; and a very close walk with Jesus,
are part of the arsenal that keeps the church holy and pure.
There are many very prominent men and women who preach on
TV but who are high up in Freemasonry, a Luciferian cult; or who are in covens;
worshipping idols or involved in satanism. They are secretly working to destroy
the true believers and forming the one world religion under the power of
Antichrist. One of them preaches that the Cross was God at His weakest and that
he could have died on the cross with the same effect. This is gross
blasphemy.
When all the God-appointed ministries work in harmony,
unity will come and the body of Christ will flourish. There is only one church
made up of believers scattered in denominations world wide. Not every church
goer is born again, and many were only christened as babies in a false
tradition that causes conflict when they get saved and should be baptized in
water. In some churches anyone who has
the "Second Baptism" is excommunicated from the church.
These divisions and errors and traditions make the
Doctrine of Christ ineffective and rob people of a dynamic experience of God.
It is time to put aside all our differences so we can stand together and fight
our common foe. Jesus is coming for a united Body, which will be changed into
His likeness in the twinkling of an eye. Make sure you are ready and waiting
for the time is near.