Eph 4:12 For the perfecting of the saints, for the work of the ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ:
The work of the ministry,WHOSE ministry.
Whose Ministry Is It?
by Fred G. London
We hear so much about being called to serve; the emphasis, the honor, the glory of being called to serve. Why by age fifty, most "in ministry" are just heading into their prime. After all, the past thirty years have been spent investing in this pursuit, and now, "I am being rewarded with the fruits of my labor, my faithfulness to the call."
However, it would often appear that it is far easier to submit ones's life to the Cross than one's ministry. We can pray and sing, "Take My Life...," without so much as batting an eyelash, but "Take My Ministry?" Much like the rich, young man, who went away grieved, that's something we may not have bargained for.
The apostle Paul didn't risk all to help plant thirteen churches in order to build his own ministerial kingdom, nor to leave a monument, as King Saul did, to himself. The last thing he wanted to hear was, "I am of Paul!" He labored in order to leave his ministry, or rather, Christ, to others, that your faith might not rest in men. He labored in ordered to make himself ultimately expendable. "And I will most gladly spend and be expended for your souls." (2 Cor. 12:15a)
John the Baptist actually labored to personally decrease in order that His Lord might increase. Jesus laid both His life and ministry down in order that His Father's purposes might be accomplished. "And at the end of the age, the Son Himself will hand over rule of The Kingdom to His Father." (1 Cor. 15:24)
If the "Lord's work" is truly the Lord's work, then it cannot be "my work." If we are truly entrusted with a stewardship, then it is not our own. It, by all rights, belongs to its owner. It is his, or His, to give, to utilize, and yes, even to take away as he pleases.
To take what is not yours is robbery. To use what is not yours, as if it were yours, is fraud. To refuse to give up that which does not belong to you is covetousness. "For it is God who is at work in you, both to will and to work for His good pleasure." (Phil. 2:13)
And he gave the apostles, the prophets, the evangelists, the shepherds and teachers, to equip the saints for the work of ministry, for building up the body of Christ, until we all attain to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to mature manhood, to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ...
1 Timothy 4:12
Let no one despise you for your youth, but set the believers an example in speech, in conduct, in love, in faith, in purity.
2 Timothy 2:15
Do your best to present yourself to God as one approved, a worker who has no need to be ashamed, rightly handling the word of truth.
2 Corinthians
We put no obstacle in anyone's way, so that no fault may be found with our ministry, but as servants of God we commend ourselves in every way: by great endurance, in afflictions, hardships, calamities, beatings, imprisonments, riots, labors, sleepless nights, hunger; by purity, knowledge, patience, kindness, the Holy Spirit, genuine love; by truthful speech, and the power of God; with the weapons of righteousness for the right hand and for the left;
2 Timothy 4:1-5
I charge you in the presence of God and of Christ Jesus, who is to judge the living and the dead, and by his appearing and his kingdom: preach the word; be ready in season and out of season; reprove, rebuke, and exhort, with complete patience and teaching. For the time is coming when people will not endure sound teaching, but having itching ears they will accumulate for themselves teachers to suit their own passions, and will turn away from listening to the truth and wander off into myths. As for you, always be sober-minded, endure suffering, do the work of an evangelist, fulfill your ministry.
Yes you are correct,EACH and EVERY believer is called to edify one another,yet look at the names of these ministries,and the ONE which receives the accolades.
When a person says,'This is my ministry',they are correct,because it is THEIR MINISTRY,not GOD Almighty's ministry.
