Ministers Face Stricter Judgment
- Michael E.B. Maher
- 2 days ago
- 5 min read
Ephesians 4:11 “And He Himself gave some to be apostles, some prophets, some evangelists, and some pastors and teachers.”
In this section we will discuss the judgment that those who are called to the ministry can expect to receive on that day. The reason that I have dedicated a separate section to their judgment is because their judgement will be very different to the saints’ judgement. In the passage of scripture quoted above we see that the ministry gifts given by the Lord Jesus are the gifts of apostle, prophet, evangelist, pastor and teacher. There are other ministry gifts mentioned in the bible but nevertheless these five are the main ministry gifts in the church.
Galatians 1:15-16 “But when it pleased God, who separated me from my mother's womb and called me through His grace, (16) to reveal His Son in me, that I might preach Him among the Gentiles, I did not immediately confer with flesh and blood.”
As revealed by the apostle Paul in the passage of scripture quoted above, all ministry gifts are separated to the Lord from the time they are born into the earth. They may only answer their call very much later in life, as in the case of the apostle Paul, but nevertheless God chooses them to be ministers of His gospel before they are born and they have no choice in the matter. God confirms the truth to us that His ministry gifts are called before they are born when He says to Jeremiah the prophet, “Before I formed you in the womb I knew you; before you were born I sanctified you; I ordained you a prophet to the nations." (Jeremiah 1:5).
Mark 10:29-31 “So Jesus answered and said, "Assuredly, I say to you, there is no one who has left house or brothers or sisters or father or mother or wife or children or lands, for My sake and the gospel’s, (30) who shall not receive a hundredfold now in this time--houses and brothers and sisters and mothers and children and lands, with persecutions--and in the age to come, eternal life. (31) But many who are first will be last, and the last first.”
You will recall that our Lord Jesus on numerous occasions in His earthly ministry spoke of those who are last in this life becoming first in the age to come and visa versa. When Jesus made that comment it was mainly in relation to those who would be called by Him to the ministry of His gospel. In the passage of scripture quoted above we have an example of our Lord making that same comment, and we can see that He made it in relation to His ministry gifts. We have seen earlier that there are five main ministry gifts and that the apostle is listed first among the five. And so if you study scripture you will see that whenever the ministry gift of the apostle is mentioned in relation to the other ministry gifts, it is always listed first and there is a reason for that. Of all the ministry gifts, the office of apostle is the one that is the most important to the body of Christ. When I say that this ministry gift is the most important to the church I am not speaking in worldly terms of importance. What I mean is that the anointing that God places on this gift is greater than the other ministry gifts, because of which the ministry gift of the apostle has the potential to have the greatest impact on the church (for more detail on this point see my series “Ministry Gifts”).
1 Corinthians 4:9 “For I think that God has displayed us, the apostles, last, as men condemned to death; for we have been made a spectacle to the world, both to angels and to men.”
In light of the fact that, because of its importance, the office of the apostle is always listed first in scripture, it is important to note the comment made by the apostle Paul in the above quoted passage of scripture. In this passage Paul stated that God has displayed the apostles last of all in this life. So why did God do that? You will recall that our Lord stated that those who wanted to be first in the age to come had to become servant of all in this present age (Mark 9:35). And so we can see that it is God’s intention that His apostles be displayed last in this age as examples to the rest of us of what it means to be servants of all. God does that so that he can reward His apostles as first in the age to come. This same principle can be applied to all of the Lord’s ministry gifts, i.e. He expects His ministry gifts to walk as examples of what it means to be servants of all. And He does that so He that He can reward them as being first in the age to come. Sadly however, not all of the Lord’s ministers live up to the call of being the servants of all in this life and will therefore forfeit the Lord’s intended reward for them on that day.
Ephesians 4:7 “But to each one of us grace was given according to the measure of Christ's gift.”
So is the Lord unjust to those called to the ministry, because in this life He expects them to walk as servants of all? The answer to that question is no, if we understand the proportional grace given to the Lord’s ministry gifts. As quoted in the above passage of scripture, every member in the body of Christ has received grace from the Lord according to the measure of the gift He has given them. And so the ministry gifts have received a greater measure of grace from the Lord because their gifts are greater, for their gifts have a far greater impact on the church than the other gifts in the church. And so because the Lord has given them more grace than their brothers and sisters, He is completely just in requiring His ministry gifts to walk as the servants of all in the church.
Luke 12:48 “For everyone to whom much is given, from him much will be required; and to whom much has been committed, of him they will ask the more.”
The context of the above quoted passage of scripture is that our Lord was teaching on various aspects of the ministry gifts, and in this passage the Lord stated quite clearly that because they have been given much, that His ministry gifts will be required to account for more. In other words the ministry gifts have received more grace than their brothers and sisters in Christ, because of which they will be held to a higher degree of account for their lifestyles on the earth and also for the amount of fruit that they have produced for the kingdom.
Michael E.B. Maher
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