Four Components of True Ministry

What is true ministry? What is it comprised of, and how is it accomplished? 

1. True ministry is accomplished by the work of the Holy Spirit.  

Without the work of the Holy Spirit, nothing is accomplished. The Holy Spirit is not to be thought of as a necessary ingredient that is added to our efforts to prosper our ministry. The Holy Spirit is the only one who can minister to people's souls, and He uses our efforts in the work He is doing. We do not accomplish ministry; we participate in God's work.

"I am the vine, you are the branches; he who abides in Me and I in him, he bears much fruit, for apart form Me you can do nothing." John 15:5

"It is the Spirit who gives life; the flesh profits nothing; the words that I have spoken to you are spirit and are life." John 6:36

2. True ministry is accomplished by prayer.

Since we have no power in ourselves to minister to people's souls, we must pray for an outpouring of the Spirit. We must pray that God would do what only He can do: change hearts, give strength, provide comfort, and build up His Church. Prayer is the key to joining the ministry God is doing. In prayer we intercede on behalf of our fellow men, and God does the work.

3.True ministry is accomplished through sharing the Word.

People do not need our wisdom or our ideas. They need God's Word and His wisdom. "The grass withers and the flower falls off, but the Word of The Lord endures forever." God's Word is never outdated. It is"the power of God unto salvation." It is sufficient to revive men's souls and to sustain them after salvation. "Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceeds form the mouth of God." Scripture is sufficient for ministering to others' various spiritual needs, and it is an indispensable tool in ministry.

"For the word of God is living and active, sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing to the division of the soul  and the spirit, of joints and marrow, and discerning the thoughts and intentions of the heart." Hebrews 4:12

"All scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness, so that the man of God may be complete, equipped for every good work." 

2 Timothy 3:16-17

4. True ministry is accompanied by ministry to physical needs.

Jesus set an example of caring for people's spiritual and physical needs. God also cared for His people's physical needs in the Old Testament. God knows our physical and spiritual needs and cares for both. We should do likewise. We are told to love our neighbors in Scripture. Man is both spiritual and physical. We should love their their soul and care for their body. 

Ministry to men's souls and physical needs is important. One should not be without the other. 

"If a brother or sister is without clothing and in need of daily food, and one of you says to them, 'Go in peace, be warmed and be filled,' and yet you do not give them what is necessary for their body, what use is that?" James 2:17

"We know love by this, that He laid down His life for us; and we ought to lay down our lives for the brethren. But whoever has the world's goods and sees his brother in need and closes his heart against him, how does the love of God abide in him? Little children, let us not love with word or with tongue, but in deed and truth." 1 John 3:16-18

May we be faithful ministers of the gospel, and may we faithfully minister to our fellow men through the power of the Spirit and the Word of God, praying on their behalf and caring for their physical needs.

The Word of God

I wrote this poem with the intentions of encapsulating all the main points that the first article of the "1689 Baptist Confession of Faith" makes. I wanted to exhibit the rich doctrine in the article in a beautiful and poetic way. I hope this blesses you!

The word of God is  complete.
No other book can compete.
The Holy Scriptures do suffice
For salvation, doctrine, and daily life.

God's existence is proved by nature,
But nature is quite a limited teacher.
God's plan of salvation and will for man,
Aren't understood by the works of His hand.

Before He spoke in many ways,
But scripture is His method today.
Sixty six books do compose

The entire cannon that is now closed.

Scripture needs not explanation,

Nor man's approval or recommendation.

God's Word makes the simple prudent.

Every believer should be it's student.

It doesn't matter what churches say. 

It's God's word we're bound to obey.

If any man's teachings contradict,

We must follow scripture, holding fast to it.

The Bible is God breathed.

It's contents to pure to be man conceived.

Nature is in one accord

With the testimony of God's word.

The proofs without and proofs within,

Can't convince minds darkened by sin.

Unless a man be born again,

God's kingdom he can not enter in.

Not all things are equally plain,

But essential things need not be explained.

Whenever things are hard to grasp,

We must read scripture in light of the rest.

When controversies o'er doctrines arise

Scripture is to be our guide.

While others turn to their opinions,

We will trust in God's declarations.

The Power of The Word of God

The Word of God
"As the rain and the snow come down from heaven, and do not return to it without watering the earth and making it bud and flourish, so that it yields seed for the sower and bread for the eater, so is my word that goes out from my mouth:  It will not return to me empty, but will accomplish what I desire and achieve the purpose for which I sent it." Isaiah 55:10-11

Do Not be Discouraged!
If you have been trying to share the gospel with others but have not seen them place their faith in Christ, Satan wants to discourage you. He wants you to feel like a failure, but if you are sharing the word of God, God will accomplish His will through it. You are not responsible for whether or not others repent and trust Christ. You do not need to convince them to become a Christian. All you have to do is proclaim what God has said and done. 

Beware of Worldly Wisdom!
If you are relying on your own words and man's arguments when you share the gospel, that may be your problem. However, If you are speaking God's words, you can be sure that God will accomplish His purposes through it. 

We can learn form the apostle Paul's example who said in 1 Corinthians 1:17-25, "For Christ did not send me to baptize, but to preach the gospel, not in cleverness of speech, so that the cross of Christ would not be made void. For the word of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God. For it is written, 'I will destroy the wisdom of the wise, And the cleverness of the clever I will set aside.'  Where is the wise man? Where is the scribe? Where is the debater of this age? Has not God made foolish the wisdom of the world? For since in the wisdom of God the world through its wisdom did not come to know God, God was well-pleased through the foolishness of the message preached to save those who believe. For indeed Jews ask for signs and Greeks search for wisdom; but we preach Christ crucified, to Jews a stumbling block and to Gentiles foolishness, but to those who are the called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God and the wisdom of God. Because the foolishness of God is wiser than men, and the weakness of God is stronger than men." 

When sharing the gospel, we don't need to debate or try to present worldly wisdom, but we need to present the wisdom of God and the word of God.

Enough!
God's word is sufficient for everything. It is sufficient for us to preach when sharing the gospel. Am I saying dump apologetics? No, but we must rely on the word of God not the wisdom of men. God's word must be our primary source for witnessing. Scripture is sufficient.

Powerful and Reliable
Scripture says that the word of God is living and active. Think about what God's words have accomplished in the past. He spoke everything that was created into existence. It was at His command that dead men were raised! Can we not rely on His word to create new hearts in men and to raise them up from their bodies of sin and death? God's words always accomplishes the purpose for which He sent them. We can depend on them because we can depend on God. Romans 1:16 says,"For I am not ashamed of the gospel, for it is the Power of God for salvation to everyone who believes, to the Jew fist and also to the Greek." The gospel is the power of God for salvation not our words and our wisdom. We do not need skilled speech or an apologetics degree to share the gospel. God's word is enough!

Where is Your Confidence?
It was when Adam and Eve doubted the word of God that the first sin was committed. Satan does not want us to trust in the word of God. He has been trying to make man doubt it from the beginning. I believe that when Christians put their confidence in the word of God and proclaim it though, that God will accomplish His will through it, and we will see a great revival among the hearts of men.