True Ministry in the Body of Christ
In 2
Timothy 4:1-5, the apostle Paul wrote to his son in the Lord, Timothy, and
said, “I charge you therefore before God and the Lord Jesus Christ, who will
judge the living and the dead at His appearing and His kingdom: Preach the
word! Be ready in season and out of season. Convince, rebuke, exhort, with all
longsuffering and teaching. For the time will come when they will not endure
sound doctrine, but according to their own desires, because they have itching
ears, they will heap up for themselves teachers; and they will turn their ears
away from the truth, and be turned aside to fables. But you be watchful in all
things, endure afflictions, do the work of an evangelist, fulfill your
ministry.”
In 2
Timothy 3:13, the apostle Paul exhorted Timothy saying, “But evil men and
impostors will grow worse and worse, deceiving and being deceived.” 2 Timothy
3:16-17 states, “All Scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is
profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in
righteousness, that the man of God may be complete, thoroughly equipped for
every good work.”
Today,
believers must be aware that within the church there may be preachers, pastors,
and ministers of God’s Word who are of the same spirit and life as the corrupt
teachers of God’s law in Jesus’ day. In Matthew 24:11-24, Jesus warns that not
everyone who professes Christ is a true believer. Not all Christian writers,
missionaries, pastors, evangelists, teachers, deacons, and workers are who they
claim to be.
These
ministers will “outwardly appear righteous unto man” (Matthew 23-28), but they
come in “sheep’s clothing” (Matthew 7:15). They may base their message silently
on God’s Word, proclaiming high and righteous standards. They may appear
sincerely concerned about God’s work and kingdom, show great interest in the
salvation of the lost, and profess love for all people. They may appear to be
great ministers of God and commendable spiritual leaders anointed by His Holy
Spirit. They may perform great “miracles” and have great success, and
multitudes may follow them. (See Matthew 7:21-23, 24:11, 24 and 2 Cor.
11:13-15.)
In
Hosea 4:1, Hosea began to describe in great detail Israel’s sin, the root of
which was a lack of knowledge of God and the Scriptures. In Hosea 4:2, crime
and violence had reached a critical point. Fear and misery prevailed in the
land. An increased manifestation of violence always occurs when a nation does
not acknowledge God and His Word as its ultimate authority. Hosea 4:6 states
how Israel had rejected knowledge. The lack of personal knowledge of God was
destroying the people, but not because knowledge was unavailable. The people
were, in fact, willfully rejecting the truth God had given them through the
prophets and His written Word. Even within the church today some are being
destroyed by the sinful ways of the world because they do not know God and His
inspired word.
Hosea
4:9 states, “And it shall be: like people, like a priest.” Instead of leading
the people into paths of truth and righteousness, the priests (like many of our
modern-day false ministers, pastors, and evangelists) were following the people
and telling them what they wanted to hear. They no longer rebuked them for
their sins. Therefore, God would punish both the spiritual leaders and the
people for their wickedness. The priests (ministers) were using religious and
pious language to deceive the people and turn them away from the pure worship
of the Lord. False teachers know how to use Biblical language to communicate
unscriptural teachings. We must listen carefully to what is preached in order
to evaluate whether the ideas being expressed are a proper exposition of the
written Word of God.
These
imposters attain a place of influence in the church in the ways of Balaam. Some
false preachers/teachers began their ministry in sincerity, truth, purity, and
genuine faith in Christ. Then, because of their pride and moral depravity, they
lost their first love of Christ; thus their personal commitment gradually dies.
They are severed from the kingdom of God and become instruments of Satan, while
disguising themselves as ministers of righteousness. 2 Cor. 6:9-10 states, “Do
you not know that the unrighteous will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not
be deceived. Neither fornicators, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor
homosexuals, nor sodomites, nor thieves, nor covetous, nor drunkards, nor
revilers, nor extortioners will inherit the kingdom of God.”
Jesus
warned his disciples 13 times in the Gospels to be aware of leaders who would
mislead them and cause them to go astray. Elsewhere in God’s Word, believers
are exhorted to examine teachers, preachers, and leaders in the church.
The
following steps can be used to test who is a false teacher and/or false
prophet:
- Discern a person’s
character. Does one have a diligent prayer life and manifest a sincere and
pure devotion to God? Does one manifest the fruit of the Spirit (Galatians
5:22-23), love sinners (John 3:16), hate evil, love righteousness (Heb:
1:9), and cry out against sin (Matthew 23)?
- Discern a person’s motives.
True Christian leaders will seek to do four things: (a) Honor Christ (2
Cor. 8:23 and Phil.1:20); (b) Lead the church and its members into
sanctification (Acts 26:18); (c) Save the lost (1 Cor. 9:22); and (d)
Proclaim and defend the gospel of Christ and the apostles.
- Test the fruit of a
person’s life and message. The leaders’ fruit will often be found to exist
in the converts to whom they teach – especially those who are not totally
committed to all of God’s Word (see Matthew 7:16).
- Test a person’s integrity
with respect to the Lord’s money. Does one refuse large amounts of money
for himself, and handle all finances with integrity and responsibility?
Does he or she seek to promote the work of God in ways consistent with the
New Testament standards for leaders? (See 1 Timothy 3:6-9.) It must be
understood that in spite of all that a faithful believer can do in
evaluating a person’s life and message, there will still be false teachers
within the churches who, with the help of Satan, remain undetected until
God determines to expose them for who they are.
The
apostle John wrote in 1 John 4:1, “Beloved, do not believe every spirit, but
test the spirits, whether they are of God; because many false prophets have
gone out into the world.” Their teaching must be tested against the revelation
of God’s truth in Scripture. It is the spirit of the teaching that must be
tested. Does the teaching mirror the same kind of spirit and emphasis as New
Testament apostolic teaching? Beware of any teaching that a person claims to
have received from the Holy Spirit or an angel that cannot be supported by
sound Biblical exegesis. Truly, we are seeing many so-called ministers, both
men and women, who claim they have received a great revelation from God. They
proclaim that God has given them a divine mandate to gather together the body
of Christ from around the world. They claim to have a special revelation from
the Holy Spirit to begin a church, a fellowship, or a gathering together of
saints where they become the head. They give themselves titles such as,
apostle, prophet, evangelist, pastor/ teacher, and bishop.
Yet,
astonishingly, these same people do not submit to any authority or have any
other oversight. They propose to have a full revelation of God’s divine plan
and purpose for mankind. The first thing that you normally notice is that a
website has been put into operation. Invariably, it catches the eyes of those
who feel a kindred spirit with them. They always seem to have received a
revelation from God in which they are an instrument in the hand of God –
helping usher in the Kingdom of God in a manner that no one else is doing. Many
of these ministries are not from the Lord Jesus Christ. Some of these maverick
preachers once had a true calling of God upon their lives; but they went into
ministry before their time. They did not wait upon God for the word to go and
begin their ministry; and thus, they move ahead of God’s timing. They “went,”
but were not “sent” — because you can do the “right” thing, but at the “wrong”
time! It is the Holy Spirit who anoints us for service to God; the ministry
belongs to the Lord Jesus Christ, not to any individual, according to Ephesians
4:11-16.
Because
the ministry belongs to Jesus Christ, no one has the right to hijack His
ministry, and use it to further one’s own desires. Doing the right thing, at
the right time, in the right way, with the right help, will give you the right
results!
In these last days, the Holy Spirit is moving to take back the reins of
leadership in the body of Christ. The leadership of the body of Christ belongs
to Christ. The Lord is raising up true, anointed ministers with integrity and
accountability. “That He might present her (the church, which is His body), to
Himself a glorious church, not having spot or wrinkle or any such thing, but
that she should be holy and without blemish” (Ephesians 5:27).
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