Five Operations of the Holy Spirit Part 6
Notice that the four ascension ministries of Ephesians, Chapter Four (apostles, prophets, evangelists, pastor- teachers) are not repeated here in the same order, indicating that stress should not be placed on a certain pattern of ministry. The four ascension gifts are not to be considered superior ministries or heads of the Church. The most important ministry, the most important gift, is the one needed at the moment.
Works of power, gifts of healings, helps, governments, diversities of tongues, are placed alongside of the ascension ministries. The Holy Spirit has not specified four rigorously defined ascension ministries and nine precisely ordered gifts. Rather, the concept is more general—that God has lovingly and bountifully placed in His Church, the Body of Christ, various endowments so that all the needs of the Body can be fulfilled.
There may appear in the churches in these days some ways of ministering that we have not known. We can recognize those that are from the Holy Spirit in that they will bring love, joy, peace, and blessing to us. Through them the Lord Jesus will be made so present, so real, that every need for body, soul and spirit will be met and we all will be inspired to seek the Lord with renewed determination and patience.
If the ministries bring us into depression, bondage, anxiety, straining, we must be on our guard in order to distinguish between the true and the false ministers of Christ.
Are all apostles? are all prophets? are all teachers? are all workers of miracles? Have all the gifts of healing? do all speak with tongues? do all interpret? But covet earnestly the best gifts: and yet shew I unto you a more excellent way. (I Corinthians 12:29-31)
It is obvious from reading the Gospel accounts and the Book of Acts that every believer in Christ was not an apostle (Acts 5:13). Every Christian of the first-century Church was not a prophet or teacher (James 3:1).
What, then, was Paul asking? He was summarizing his main point in I Corinthians, Chapter 12—that the Body of Christ is one and the Spirit of God is one, and the oneness is enhanced rather than weakened by the diversity of ministries and gifts.
There also is the exhortation that we should earnestly seek after the ministries and gifts of the Holy Spirit. This line of thought is interrupted while Paul sets aside his discussion of means (gifts and ministries) and refers to the end product (love—the creation of the Nature of Christ in us and the flowing of that Nature through our motives, words, and deeds).
Then, having assured himself that his readers will not become so involved in the means the Holy Spirit uses that they forget that the end product is the possession of the Nature of Christ, the fruit of the Spirit, Paul continues with his teaching concerning the ministries and gifts of the Spirit of God.
Follow after charity, and desire spiritual gifts, but rather that ye may prophesy. (I Corinthians 14:1)
Again we find Paul directing us to begin coveting spiritual ministries and gifts. Sometimes the saints are under the impression that if the Lord wants them to be busy in the work of the Body of Christ He will strike them down as He did Saul of Tarsus. Meanwhile they become so involved in secular pursuits there is little time left for prayer, the study of the Scripture, or assembling with the saints. We become entangled in secular pursuits when we are not fervent enough concerning the things of Christ.
God commands us to covet earnestly the gifts of the Spirit. If we will begin using the one talent we have, meanwhile coveting earnestly an enriched ministry in the Body of Christ, God will behold our desire to be of service and reward us with an enlargement of opportunity and responsibility.
If we adopt the passive attitude that if the Lord wants us to work in the Kingdom He will arrest us with a vision or dream, and we do not seek His face each day with intensity of purpose, desiring an expanded area of service, God will turn to someone who is more diligent. He will take away from us the ability that we do possess and give it to the more interested brother or sister.
The Scriptures speak concerning ministries and gifts. They are God's talents, God's money. We are to exercise great diligence and wisdom in the use of them. Every believer in Christ has one or more of these talents, these spiritual endowments, and they are to be used in the Kingdom of God.
Many of us need much help from our brothers and sisters in the Lord in order to grow in our ministry. If such guidance is not available in our local church we need to pray that God will raise up in our church some ways of helping us become more involved in the work of the Kingdom. If all else fails, the Holy Spirit may lead us to another group that is more interested in seeking the Lord with fervency of heart and mind.
What are the "greater gifts" of I Corinthians 12:31? Paul seems to answer this in the fourteenth chapter. First he points out that in the assemblies prophecy may be more useful than tongues. Then Paul proceeds to exhort us concerning using our gifts and ministries for the sole purpose of building up one another in the Lord. This is the purpose of gifts and ministries of the Spirit. Therefore, the "greater" gifts are those that build up the Body of Christ.
If we keep first in our hearts, when we are seeking ministries and gifts, that our purpose is to build up the members of the Body of Christ until we all come into the unity of the faith, to the measure of (maturity as measured by) the stature of the fullness of Christ, the question of what gifts are "greater" will be answered. The greater gifts are those that build the Body of Christ by supplying the pressing needs of the situation in which we find ourselves. The purpose of the ministries and gifts of the Holy Spirit is that disciples can be obtained from every nation and that these disciples can be brought to perfection as the complete Body of Christ.
God's plan of redemption takes us from chaos of personality all the way to perfection in Christ. Salvation comes to us when we are lost and undone in sin. We hear the welcome of the Spirit of God and return to the Father's house, back to the fold, into the ark of safety.