The Man of GOD in My Life
Today we are continuing a series of teachings that are pertaining to relationships.
The topic for today is the Man of GOD in My life. I can ask myself who is the man of GOD in my life? And if I think hard enough, I would have to say it is Senior Paster Peter. Actually, it was a bit of a no brainer for me because we have been gathering together in the Lord’s name for some time. And not only this but I have had the pleasure of socially interacting at various times as well.
I can confidently state that if you do not have a man of GOD in your life today you are a lost soul. Firstly, we need Jesus to come into our lives and then we need his sustenance which he provides through His word and His church.
We can view the church of the living GOD as an eco-system. What is an echo-system? It is a living environment in which all of its constituent parts are needed to sustain life. How is life sustained in the Church today?
GOD being a GOD of order, as part of his eternal plan has set a certain order in his church. He is a living GOD and it follows that his church is a living church. I need to state that GOD himself is self-sustaining and does not rely on his church for sustenance. In fact, the church is totally reliant on GOD and his word.
For the majority of people, just as the head of the family unit is the husband so is the head of the church family unit the Pastor.
Ultimately Jesus being Lord of all.
When being provoked by the tempter, in Matthew 4:4 (KJV)
Jesus said, It is written, Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of GOD.
Enter the church.
The churches primary function is to save that which is lost and to sustain it.
How does the church of the living GOD do this, I can tell you it is not through the use of bombs and guns.
There are some words of wisdom which if you are attending any church you will need to keep close to your heart.
Hebrews 13:17 (KJV)
17 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.
Does this mean that the Pastor does not need to submit himself to anybody? No. Ultimately, he needs to submit to GODs will for all of us.
As it says in Hebrews 13:17 the Pastor is the one who is watching out for your souls as they that must give an account.
The apostle Paul states in
1 Timothy 5:17-19 (KJV)
17 Let the elders that rule well be counted worthy of double honour, especially they who labour in the word and doctrine.
18 For the scripture saith, Thou shalt not muzzle the ox that treadeth out the corn. And, The labourer isworthy of his reward.
19 Against an elder receive not an accusation, but before two or three witnesses.
Verse 19 here says that if there was an accusation made against the pastor, that you should not believe it unless there are two or more witnesses.
Now the ministry is placed in the church by GOD’s appointing and by His anointing.
When GOD gives a duty to someone, however unimaginable the task is, He always provides the necessary power to enable the task to be run through to its completion. This is known as GOD’s anointing or unction.
GOD is greatly involved in the details of this world, after all GOD created every detail of all that has been created. To the finest detail has He created the world we live in. Nothing has been left out.
It stands to reason then that GOD is the source of all good things.
GOD did not leave his church without any specific direction or help.
According to the Apostle Paul, he writes this in the book of
Ephesians 4:8-11 (KJV)
8 Wherefore he saith, When he ascended up on high, he led captivity captive, and gave gifts unto men.
9 (Now that he ascended, what is it but that he also descended first into the lower parts of the earth?
10 He that descended is the same also that ascended up far above all heavens, that he might fill all things.)
11 And he gave some, apostles; and some, prophets; and some, evangelists; and some, pastors and teachers;
These are the gifts from GOD to his church specifically to do with public ministry.
So how does that relate to me you may ask your selves?
It means that if you are totally committed to GOD’s service in His church you will automatically fall into one of these categories or offices that are needed to be active in the church service.
You would have heard pastor previously mention about the five-fold ministries. These ministries have been sanctioned by GOD himself. Every church must demonstrate these gifts in action which enables GOD to accomplish his work in the church.
It is the Holy Ghost that has made brother Peter and brother Brian Pastors specifically for this church.
You and I were perfectly matched by the Holy Ghost to be able to relate and get on with each other which enables His church to function as He planned it to function.
There is always a harmonious discourse that happens when we gather in the precious name of Jesus.
As for myself, when someone asks me why do I come to this specific church I cannot physically justify travelling here because there are so many churches near to where we live. It can only be the leading of the Holy Ghost which gives me the unction to be part of His church family here.
What are the responsibilities of the Ministry?
These responsibilities of the Ministry include, Feeding, watching over, Preaching, Instructing and Rebuking, Teaching, Equipping the saints for the work of the Ministry and lastly Edifying the Church.
I will take you through each one so that we can gain an appreciation of all that the ministers of GOD in our lives do for us.
1) Feeding the saints.
Acts 20:28 (KJV)
28 Take heed therefore unto yourselves, and to all the flock, over the which the Holy Ghost hath made you overseers, to feed the church of God, which he hath purchased with his own blood.
The apostle Paul was addressing this portion of scripture to the Pastors of the early church. He exhorted them to feed the congregation with the pure word of GOD.
It is only the pure word of GOD which will prepare us for heaven going.
2) Watch Over.
The Pastor needs to watch over the souls that are entrusted to him because he will need to give an account of the condition and quality of care, he gave to the souls that were entrusted to him.
3) Preach, Instruct, Rebuke
The avenue by which GOD has chosen to save those that believe is through the preaching of His word.
1 Corinthians 1:21 (KJV)
21 For after that in the wisdom of God the world by wisdom knew not God, it pleased God by the foolishness of preaching to save them that believe.
This is precisely how I came to be filled with the Holy Ghost.
I heard the preaching of the word, was convicted in my heart, repented and received the Holy Ghost. I have to say that Faith had a large part in this process.
All those that were present on that glorious day played a major role in my salvation.
A man cannot please GOD without faith, so where does this faith come from? Romans 10:17 says Faith comes by hearing the Word of GOD. So just being exposed to the word of GOD brings faith.
The Apostle Paul instructed the young preacher Timothy in these verses of
2 Timothy 4:1-2 (KJV)
1 I charge thee therefore before God, and the Lord Jesus Christ, who shall judge the quick and the dead at his appearing and his kingdom;
2 Preach the word; be instant in season, out of season; reprove, rebuke, exhort with all longsuffering and doctrine.
The messages that we hear being preached every Sunday are all Holy Ghost inspired and are pertinent for the congregation on the day.
4) Teach.
This advice is given to the teachers of the word:
2 Timothy 2:24-26 (KJV)
24 And the servant of the Lord must not strive[(quarrel)]; but be gentle unto all men, apt to teach, patient,
25 In meekness instructing those that oppose themselves[(who are in opposition)]; if God peradventure will give them repentance[(turn them)] to the acknowledging of the truth;
26 And that they may recover themselves[(come to their senses)] out of the snare of the devil, who are taken captive by him at his will.
5) Equip the saints for the work of the Ministry.
It is correct to say that GOD was and still is instrumental in the process of my salvation. But GOD used faithful people to bring about this salvation.
In other words, GOD uses those that have received his spirit to bring about the salvation of the lost souls.
Another way of putting it is that when you are born again, the process of salvation has just begun.
Just like when a baby is physically born, he or she cannot speak or walk or feed themselves.
So it is when one is born again of the spirit. In the spiritual sense we are like babes and we need to be taught in the spiritual sense about those things pertaining to the spirit.
It is the church of the living GOD that has been commissioned to do this.
As a person matures in the church environment, they begin to realise that some day they too will become the elders of the church. GOD then anoints or gives the unction to that person to pursue and adopt one or more of what we term as the fivefold ministries.
Clear as mud?
Through these ministering processes the child of GOD becomes equipped or perfected in Christ.
The equipped person is then able to fully support the church ministry thereby providing a continuation of the great commission to save that which is lost.
It is this continuance of the church ministry that is constantly edifying the Church and Jesus our Lord and saviour until his return. Also known as the body of Christ. In the spiritual and physical sense then, the church represents the body of Christ.
To edify means to build, to construct, to strengthen and to improve morally and or spiritually.
Jesus does not benefit from this because he is perfect, it is we his servants who are the true beneficiaries.
Jesus is the owner of the vineyard and his church is made up of those that are employed to firstly plant the seed, to water and then to ultimately cultivate the fruit. These are his ministers.
I had to ask myself, when is the harvest time? The answer came back,
it is when Jesus returns for the second time to rule.
The next verse of scripture is for the congregation on how they should conduct themselves:
1 Thessalonians 5:12-13 (KJV)
12 And we beseech you, brethren, to know them which labour among you, and are over you in the Lord, and admonish you;
13 And to esteem them very highly in love for their work's sake. And be at peace among yourselves.
How do we honour and esteem our pastor then?
I think many people understand that a church such as this one does not operate on thin air. So, one of the ways you are honouring your Pastor is by the giving of your Tithes and offerings.
This is not a payment for services rendered, because your and my salvation was not for free, there was a price to be paid and no amount of money is able to compensate for the price that was paid. But the gift of salvation is a free gift from GOD.
By attending to your Tithes and offerings not only are you honouring the Pastor by this, but you are giving GOD an excuse to bless you back. Here is what the Lord says about it:
Malachi 3:10 (KJV)
10 Bring ye all the tithes into the storehouse, that there may be meat in mine house, and prove me now herewith, saith the LORD of hosts, if I will not open you the windows of heaven, and pour you out a blessing, that there shall not be room enough to receive it.
Does the Lord always do what he says he will? You had better believe it!
Is there anything impossible to the Lord? I don’t know of anything.
We are also to submit and obey the Pastor. I must admit that the thought of obeying and submitting is a little foreign to the flesh, but it is not as daunting as it sounds.
Jesus said:
Matthew 11:29-30 (KJV)
29 Take my yoke upon you, and learn of me; for I am meek and lowly in heart: and ye shall find rest unto your souls.
30 For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.
The apostle Paul urged and encouraged his followers to follow him even as he followed Christ.
1 Corinthians 11:1 (KJV)
1 Be ye followers of me, even as I also am of Christ.
It stands to reason that if we follow Pastor that we would also be following Jesus since Pastor is also following Jesus.
We as the church are also to esteem pastor highly in love for his works sake.
The Pastor is called to teach the principles of Godly living in an ungodly world. He also has the job to equip those under him to work for the kingdom of GOD.
If we are able to bless the Pastor by making his Job that much easier, GOD has a blessing for us in return.
Thanks for your undivided attention.
