'The ministries and gifts of the Body of Christ'
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God has provided a variety of ministries and gifts of the Holy Spirit by which the Word of God can be brought to the mind and heart of the disciple.
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: (Ephesians 4:11,12)
If we are to have the milk and solid food of the Word of God we must have the full set of ministries God has provided. It is necessary that there be apostles and prophets as well as evangelists and pastor—teachers ministering to us in these days so that Christ can be formed and brought to full development in each disciple.
Christians must pray without ceasing that God will restore all the ministries to the Church of Christ and that every saint will be brought into the fullness of the image of Christ and into the complete knowledge of Christ and union with Christ.
The Christian churches of our day are pouring almost all of their resources into gaining new converts. This is not a balanced emphasis. While some resources should be pointed toward preaching the Gospel toward those who never have heard, the major effort should be to bring to maturity those who already believe.
Because of the imbalance in the distribution of effort the world is full of baby Christians. They present little or no threat to Satan’s empire. Many of them do not continue to make a profession of Christianity after a few years, falling back into sin. Those who do continue in the churches soon become filled with the various sins and failures that plague church people. We may have enough evangelists but we have a sore need for apostles, prophets, pastors, and teachers. How else are we to come to the measure of maturity as measured by the fullness of the stature of Christ?
Mature Christians are not always in evidence in the Christian churches, as numerous pastors understand only too well!
The plan of God is as follows: as the several different types of ministry in a variety of ways bring the Word of God to our heart and mind, two aspects of our personality are affected: (1) we grow in the ability to minister to the Body of Christ and to mankind in general; and (2) Christ is formed in our personality. As these two aspects operate and develop in each member, the Body of Christ is brought to unity and maturity in Christ.
The Substance and Life of Christ (His body and blood) are added to us when the Holy Spirit reveals Christ through the members of the Body of Christ. Our mind is renewed as the Word of God creates in us the mind of Christ. Understanding of the purposes and methods of the Lord grows in us. Also, we gain wisdom and knowledge that enable us to better meet the practical daily needs that arise while we Christians are making our journey through the wilderness of this life.
Christ is formed in us by the gifts and ministries given us by the Holy Spirit (I Corinthians 12:11). Each Christian has his or her own ministry by which he can build up himself and also make his individual contribution to the perfecting of the whole Body of Christ.
There is no instance in which a member of the Body of Christ has nothing to give. If we are not aware of our own role in the building of the Body of Christ we should present our body a living sacrifice that we may "prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God" for our life (Romans 12:1,2).
Chapters 12 and 14 of I Corinthians discuss the subject of the gifts and ministries of the Holy Spirit and the exercise of the gifts and ministries in the assembly of the saints. The purpose of the gifts and ministries is to build the Body of Christ—that Christ may be brought to full stature in the Church (I Corinthians 12:12, Ephesians 4:13-16).
Christ is the Cornerstone of the living, eternal Temple of God. The Temple of God is being constructed as each member of the Body of Christ exercises the ministries and gifts given to him or her by the Spirit of God.
The Spirit of God has given to every Christian a spiritual enablement so that he may be adding to the building of the Body of Christ.
From whom the whole body fitly joined together and compacted by that which every joint supplieth, according to the effectual working in the measure of every part, maketh increase of the body unto the edifying of itself in love. (Ephesians 4:16)
The Holy Spirit has distributed a wide assortment of gifts and ministries to the members of the Body of Christ that the Body may be brought to full stature.
Now there are diversities of gifts, but the same Spirit. (I Corinthians 12:4)
These gifts are given to us by the Lord with the understanding that we are to learn from the Holy Spirit how and when they are to be used. The members of the churches, for the most part, do not know what their gifts are. Many who do possess functioning gifts do not understand how or when to use them.
Because the gifts and ministries are not operating properly the Body of Christ remains to this day a valley of dry bones. The gifts and ministries must be functioning if the Body of Christ is to be brought to maturity and unity.
But the manifestation of the Spirit is given to every man to profit withal. (I Corinthians 12:7)
The ministries and gifts that the Lord gives us are the money, the talents of the Kingdom of God. It is Christ’s understanding that we shall spend His money in the marketplace and show a profit. If we do not use the Lord’s money in a profitable manner (in the building of the Body of Christ) He will, at His coming, take away the responsibility that He has given us and will entrust it to another Christian who has been wiser and more diligent (Matthew 25:26-28).
The Spirit of God apportions the ministries and gifts as He has determined in His own sovereign counsel, although it is wise on our part to covet ministries and gifts and to pray for them (I Corinthians 12:31,14:13,39, Luke 11:5-13).
But all these worketh that one and the selfsame Spirit, dividing to every man severally as he will. (I Corinthians 12:11)
Each of us has a unique set of spiritual abilities and a ministry in the Body of Christ that we are to perform. No one else has been assigned the task that is ours to do. The Body of Christ depends for its unifying and maturing on our performing the job, on adding the part, that has been delegated to us by the sovereign purposes of the Holy Spirit. God wastes nothing and He makes no mistakes.
The only way in which we can find what our ministry is and start to perform it is to present our body a "whole burnt offering" on the altar of God (Romans 12:1,2).
At first the presentation of our body as an offering to God may seem like an unreasonable demand by the Lord in that we are prevented because of it from pursuing our own life as we consider to be desirable.
When we remember that God in His love has set us aside (and this is true of every member of the Body of Christ) as a priest and deliverer so we may represent Him to His creation, the offering of ourselves to His will is viewed by us as no more than reasonable and appropriate.
We Christians must grasp the importance of the assignments of the King and hasten to give ourselves to the offices to which He directs us. His gifts of service are far more important than any sacrifices we are invited to make.
In the event that we as an individual do not build the Body of Christ with our gifts and ministries, God will follow another route in order to provide the part for which we were responsible; for the Body of Christ shall become a enlargement and counterpart of the Son of God, Christ. God already has spoken that fact into existence.
We ourselves will be stripped of our assigned office, now or at the coming of the Lord, and it will be given to another.
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