WHAT IS THE BIBLICAL MINISTRY? – Lesson 1

6 August, 2018 /

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Scope

What is Ministry?

The Great Commission

The Ministry within the local church

Work in the Ministry

Who does the Ministry?

WHAT IS MINISTRY?

  • The word “ministry” means service, a work.

Acts 1:17,25; Acts 6:4; Acts 12:25; Acts 20:24; Acts 21:19; Romans 12:7; 1 Cor 16:15; 2 Cor 4:1; 2 Cor 5:18; 2 Cor 6:3; Eph 4:12; Col 4:17; 1Tim 1:12; 2 Tim 4:5,11; Heb 8:6; Heb 9:21

  • The Hebrew and Greek word means the same thing:

Root word:

  • to run on errands as an attendant, a waiter (at table or in other menial duties);
  • The Greek Word – Diakonos has the idea of serving.
  • Same word as the word deacons used in Acts 6. This became an office in the New Testament in 1 Tim 3.

Numbers 4:47 From thirty years old and upward even unto fifty years old, every one that came to do the service of the ministry, and the service of the burden in the tabernacle of the congregation,

“Ministry in the bible therefore refers to God’s Work done in the local church in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ”

Question:

What services, work are we involved in our church in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ?

THE GREAT COMMISSION

Matt 28:18 And Jesus came and spake unto them, saying, All power is given unto me in heaven and in earth.

Matt 28:19 Go ye therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost:

Matt 28:20 Teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you: and, lo, I am with you alway, even unto the end of the world. Amen.

This is the work of the Church

  • Authority given by the God of Heaven and Earth, the Lord Jesus Christ
  • Authorised and commanded to Go
    • We do not need to pray about going evangelism but to plan when we need to go, and in dependence on the Holy Spirit to go and reach out to the lost
  • Authorised to baptise
    • This represents the believer’s willingness to be identified with Christ
  • Authorised to teach the bible to the converts so that they will obey Christ in all things
  • Assured of Christ’s protection, preservation and Presence

The Great Commission was given to the local assembly of believers represented by the apostles for the propagation of the gospel for the salvation to the world and for the transformation of each convert into a disciple of Christ. This is the work of the church, both in the evangelism of the lost and the edification of believers.

Question:

The 3 areas of the Great Commission are Evangelism, Baptism and Discipleship. How are these three happening in our church?

THE BIBLICAL MINISTRY WITHIN THE LOCAL CHURCH

Eph 4:11 And he gave some, apostles; and some, prophets; and some, evangelists; and some, pastors and teachers;

Eph 4:12 For the perfecting of the saints, for the work of the ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ:

  • God gives gifted men as helps to the church – apostles, prophets, evangelists, pastors and teachers
  • Plan of ministry
    • To equip Christians through the word in preaching, teaching, admonition, reproving, rebuking, exhortation (2 Timothy 4:2 Preach the word; be instant in season, out of season; reprove, rebuke, exhort with all longsuffering and doctrine. / 2 Tim 3:16 – 17) so as …
    • To do the work of the ministry – Ministry is a visible work of the church. (we will see what is the work of the ministry later)Revelation 2:2-3 I know thy works, and thy labour, and thy patience, and how thou canst not bear them which are evil: and thou hast tried them which say they are apostles, and are not, and hast found them liars: And hast borne, and hast patience, and for my name’s sake hast laboured, and hast not fainted. (It involves labour, it involves perseverance and involves tiredness.
    • To grow and build up the whole assembly for the glory of God

Ephesians 4:13 Till we all come in the unity of the faith, and of the knowledge of the Son of God, unto a perfect man, unto the measure of the stature of the fulness of Christ:

Ephesians 4:14 That we henceforth be no more children, tossed to and fro, and carried about with every wind of doctrine, by the sleight of men, and cunning craftiness, whereby they lie in wait to deceive;

Ephesians 4:15 But speaking the truth in love, may grow up into him in all things, which is the head, even Christ:

Ephesians 4:16 From whom the whole body fitly joined together and compacted by that which every joint supplieth, according to the effectual working in the measure of every part, maketh increase of the body unto the edifying of itself in love.

  • The purpose of these reasons is so that believers in an assembly:
    • Be united in the faith – they speak the same thing, they believe the same thing in the faith v13,14
    • Be united in the knowledge of Christ
    • To be mature becoming more and more like our Lord Jesus
    • To learn to work as a team – 1 Cor 12: 12 – 25

Questions we need to ask ourselves

  • How united are in the faith and the knowledge of Christ?
  • How mature are in becoming more and more like Christ?
  • How able are in working as a team?
  • How equipped are we for the ministry?

THE WORK IN THE MINISTRY

  1. Teaching and exhorting the believers in the word of God

Acts 6:4 But we will give ourselves continually to prayer, and to the ministry of the word.

Acts 12:25 And Barnabas and Saul returned from Jerusalem, when they had fulfilled their ministry, and took with them John, whose surname was Mark.

Acts 11:26  And when he had found him, he brought him unto Antioch. And it came to pass, that a whole year they assembled themselves with the church, and taught much people. And the disciples were called Christians first in Antioch.

Acts 14:22  Confirming (strengthening) the souls of the disciples, and exhorting (console and comfort and encourage) them to continue in the faith, and that we must through much tribulation enter into the kingdom of God.

  1. Ministry of serving other believers by ministering to their needs

1 Corinthians 16:15  I beseech you, brethren, (ye know the house of Stephanas, that it is the firstfruits of Achaia, and that they have addicted themselves to the ministry of the saints,)

Hebrews 6:10  For God is not unrighteous to forget your work and labour of love, which ye have shewed toward his name, in that ye have ministered to the saints, and do minister.

  1. Ministry of Caring for those in need

Titus 3:8  This is a faithful saying, and these things I will that thou affirm constantly, that they which have believed in God might be careful to maintain good works. These things are good and profitable unto men.

James 1:27 Pure religion and undefiled before God and the Father is this, To visit the fatherless and widows in their affliction, and to keep himself unspotted from the world.

  1. Ministry of Evangelism and Missions

Acts 8:25 And they, when they had testified and preached the word of the Lord, returned to Jerusalem, and preached the gospel in many villages of the Samaritans.

Acts 8:4 Therefore they that were scattered abroad went every where preaching the word.

Acts 20:24 But none of these things move me, neither count I my life dear unto myself, so that I might finish my course with joy, and the ministry, which I have received of the Lord Jesus, to testify the gospel of the grace of God.

  1. Ministry of reconciling sinners back to God

2 Corinthians 5:18 And all things are of God, who hath reconciled us to himself by Jesus Christ, and hath given to us the ministry of reconciliation;

  1. Ministry of Prayer

Col 4:12 Epaphras, who is one of you, a servant of Christ, saluteth you, always labouring fervently for you in prayers, that ye may stand perfect and complete in all the will of God.

Epaphras a Christian, a servant of Christ, prays regularly for the Colossians that they may stand complete in the will of God. We need to do what we can in the power of God, and in the wisdom of God, to help each other grow in Christ. If there is nothing we can do, we can labour in prayer for each other to grow in Christ.

Question:

What other ministries can we find in the bible?

How does our ministries in Ambassador parallel that in the Bible?

WHO DOES THE MINISTRY?

Ministry is a service, work – service in the bible is done by servants.

All believers are called servants.

  • Jesus calls the disciples servants

John 18:36 Jesus answered, My kingdom is not of this world: if my kingdom were of this world, then would my servants fight, that I should not be delivered to the Jews: but now is my kingdom not from hence.

  • The Lord Jesus is Himself a servant

Mark 10:43-45 But so shall it not be among you: but whosoever will be great among you, shall be your minister: / And whosoever of you will be the chiefest, shall be servant of all. / For even the Son of man came not to be ministered unto, but to minister, and to give his life a ransom for many.

Phil 2:6 – 7 Who, being in the form of God, thought it not robbery to be equal with God: / But made himself of no reputation, and took upon him the form of a servant, and was made in the likeness of men:

  • Apostles call themselves servants

Romans 1:1, 1 Cor 1:1, Phil 1:1

  • The believers are called servants by the apostles

Col 1:7 As ye also learned of Epaphras our dear fellowservant, who is for you a faithful minister of Christ;

Col 4:12 Epaphras, who is one of you, a servant of Christ, saluteth you, always labouring fervently for you in prayers, that ye may stand perfect and complete in all the will of God.

  • The saints in the churches of Revelation called servants

Revelation 1:1  The Revelation of Jesus Christ, which God gave unto him, to shew unto his servants things which must shortly come to pass; and he sent and signified it by his angel unto his servant John:

Revelation 2:20 Notwithstanding I have a few things against thee, because thou sufferest that woman Jezebel, which calleth herself a prophetess, to teach and to seduce my servants to commit fornication, and to eat things sacrificed unto idols.

  • The word Servant in the new testament is very meaningful background in the bible.

The Greek word for servant is Doulos which can also be translated as bondslave. In the New Testament, bondslaves are the permanent property of the owner and  have no right to leave their place of service.

  • Exodus 21:1 – 6

Exodus 21:5 And if the servant shall plainly say, I love my master, my wife, and my children; I will not go out free:

Exodus 21:6 Then his master shall bring him unto the judges; he shall also bring him to the door, or unto the door post; and his master shall bore his ear through with an aul; and he shall serve him for ever.

  • Servants / slaves work for 6 years for the owner
  • In the 7th year, the owners must let the slave go without any penalty
  • But at the end of the 6th year, if the servant say “I love my master – he has been good to me, and I am very comfortable to stay and work with him and be his slave forever”

“ There was a strict ceremony whereby a sharp object or with a needle that will be pierced through to the upper part of the right ear of the slave. The instrument used for the boring must be of metal; and moreover, that it is the master himself that must do it, and not his son, nor his messenger, nor a messenger of the Jewish council. Why the ear? The ear is an hieroglyphic (Egyptian pictorial language) of obedience, and the boring of it through to the doorpost denotes the strict and close obedience of such a servant to his master, and how he is, and ought to be, addicted to his service, and be constantly employed in it, and never stir from it, nor so much as go over the threshold of his master’s house.” (Edited from John Gill’s commentary)

From this passage in Exodus on slavery, we learn what it means to be bondslave in the Old Testament:

  • Love from the Master and Love to the Master
  • The service is voluntary
  • This service is forever – till the day the slave dies
  • The boring of the ear reflects the willingness to be always obedient to the Lord’s voice.

This is what Paul was referring to as a bondslave in the new testament.

Question

What kind of servant are we to the Lord Jesus?

Does our service align with the biblical teaching of a servant of God, a bondslave?

 

Assignment:

Complete the reading of the Acts 1 – 5  and be ready for a short quiz next week.

Memory Verse:

Eph 4:11 And he gave some, apostles; and some, prophets; and some, evangelists; and some, pastors and teachers;

Eph 4:12 For the perfecting of the saints, for the work of the ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ:

End of Lesson 1