Luke 12:41-44 “Then Peter said to Him, "Lord, do You speak this parable only to us, or to all people?" (42) And the Lord said, "Who then is that faithful and wise steward, whom his master will make ruler over his household, to give them their portion of food in due season? (43) Blessed is that servant whom his master will find so doing when he comes. (44) Truly, I say to you that he will make him ruler over all that he has.”
The context of the above quoted passage of scripture is dealing with those called to the ministry, for our Lord is responding to Peter’s question as to whether our Lord was speaking to everyone or only to the apostles on this occasion. I want you to notice the great reward that our Lord bestows on His ministry gifts, for He clearly tells them that those who are faithful in fulfilling their ministries in this life will be made rulers over all He has on that day. This passage clearly shows us what blessing the Lord has in store for His ministry gifts that walk as He has called them to walk in this life, i.e. as servants of all. He will make them first as rulers over all in the age to come.
Philippians 4:1 “Therefore, my beloved and longed-for brethren, my joy and crown, so stand fast in the Lord, beloved.”
In the above quoted passage of scripture the apostle Paul stated that the believers that he had ministered to in this life would be his crown on that day. And so we see that it is the eternal work done by the ministry gifts in the lives of believers which will result in the ministry gifts being rewarded with their relevant crowns on that day. You will recall that earlier we looked at the scripture where Paul spoke about how the ministry gifts built the Lord’s house with either silver, gold and precious stones or wood, hay and straw (1 Corinthians 3:12). The silver, gold and precious stones that he was referring to are the eternal materials used for which each minister will be rewarded on that day, while the wood, hay and straw are the temporal materials used for which each minister will suffer loss on that day. We also saw in an earlier quoted scripture that the apostle Peter stated that those called to shepherd the flock of God and were faithful in their ministries, would receive the crown of glory on that day. And so there can be no doubt that the ministry gifts that prove to be faithful in this life can expect great reward from the Lord Jesus in the age to come.
2 Timothy 1:15 “This you know, that all those in Asia have turned away from me, among whom are Phygellus and Hermogenes.”
There are numerous “ministries” today that operate in extreme wealth and have vast followings in the church. Sadly many in the church are deceived into thinking that such ministers will receive great reward from the Lord Jesus on that day. What they do not realise however is that most of those ministries operate in deception because they refuse to teach the full counsel of God. So why would certain ministers refuse to teach the full counsel of God? The answer is quite simple. The full gospel is not a popular message among carnal believers and therefore ministers that teach that message will not have large followings in the church and will also never become wealthy in this life. And so desiring to be first in this life instead of being servants of all, the “ministers” that teach a distorted gospel reflect a lifestyle that is completely opposite to the Lord’s requirements for His ministers in this life. The apostle Paul experienced exactly what it is like when the Lord’s ministers teach the full counsel of God. In writing to Timothy in the passage of scripture quoted above the apostle Paul tells us that he was no longer welcome to preach in the churches of Asia, even though he had planted many of those same churches. So why did that happen? If you read the epistles you will see that many of the churches began to oppose Pauls’ ministry because that which he taught was not appealing to the carnal believers in those churches (Galatians 4:16). I am fully convinced that if the apostle Paul were alive today that there are many churches that would not allow him anywhere near their pulpits, simply because the gospel that he teaches in his epistles is far too uncomfortable for many in the church today. And so we can see that there is clearly a price to be paid in this life for the minister that chooses to teach the full counsel of God, i.e. they will not have large wealthy ministries.
Michael E.B. Maher
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