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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