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 of 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.
Michael E.B. Maher
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