Expect,
Receive and Do the Ministry of the Lord
by Rick Joyner
Certainly
our ministry titles have a place in helping the Church understand the ministry
we have. However, the overuse and misuse of spiritual titles has terribly
devalued our spiritual currency in recent times. It is hard not to meet anyone
in ministry now who does not claim to be an apostle, bishop, or prophet. It has
become so outlandish that when I see those whom just call themselves "pastor,"
I immediately have respect and trust for them just because of their modesty.
Even
so, we are in a time when these ministries are being restored to the Church,
and we would be missing the purposes of the Lord to not expect them. We should
seek to recognize and receive them. If we receive a prophet in the name of a
prophet, we will receive a prophet's reward, but if we receive a prophet as
just a teacher, then we will only get teaching. The same is true of all
ministries. If we receive an apostle as just a teacher, we will only get
teaching. However, if we receive a teacher as an apostle, we are likely to get
wrong or bad leadership. Because of this, there is a responsibility on the part
of leadership to "know those who labor among you."
Again,
there is a place, and even a need for using ministry titles, as even the
Apostle Paul resolutely defended his apostleship. Even so, he was doing it for
the people, not just for himself. There was no self-promotion or bombast in his
defense, but rather the spirit of a father instructing his children. It has
grace, dignity, and high wisdom that we come to know as a hallmark of the true
messengers who have been sent by the King.
He's Knocking. Will You Open the Door?
Likewise,
the revelations, dreams, or visions which come from Him have this same grace
and dignity. In this age, the Lord leads by calling more than commanding. He
has the authority to do what He wants, but, as we see in Revelation 3:20, He is
standing outside of His own Church and knocking to see if anyone will hear and
open up to Him. The reason for this is because we are in the age when He is
seeking out those who will be joint heirs with Him, who will obey because they
love the truth, not just under compulsion. For this reason, we should never
feel pressured into action by a true prophetic revelation, but rather called.
There have been times when we can receive a warning about something that
requires action, but even those should come in the dignity and grace of the
Lord, calling for a response, not pressuring, as we read in James 3.
I
have learned that whenever I was compelled to do something fast, it was not
from the Lord, and the action was usually a big mistake. The Lord, who sees the
end from the beginning, is not going to be caught off guard so that He will
have to rush us into something. I know of a number of biblical exhortations to
wait on the Lord and to be patient, but I do not know of a single one that
compels us to hurry. After much experience and many mistakes, I've learned
certain things about the way He speaks and leads.
Be Part of the Mixture
Now
here's an important principle that is essential for true ministry, but does fly
in the face of what many perceive to be the way we should operate. The Holy
Spirit is "The Helper," not "The Doer." When people say
that none of them are mixed into the ministry, they are mistaken if it is true
ministry. This "mixture" is not only okay, it is necessary. If the
Lord had wanted all ministry to be 100 percent Him, with none of us mixed in,
then He would never have left, and He would not have let anyone else do
anything.
As
we have discussed before, in Luke 10 we see the Lord sending His disciples out
two by two to preach the Gospel, heal the sick, and cast out demons. They were
so successful that when they returned, Jesus said that He saw satan fall from
Heaven like lightning. However, it is not until the next chapter, Luke 11, that
the disciples ask Jesus to teach them to pray. They did all of this and did not
even know how to pray yet!
These
disciples were obviously far from perfect, or even mature, when the Lord
trusted them with extraordinary authority. Yet, I doubt anyone who was healed,
set free, or who heard the good news of the coming Kingdom through them,
complained. Even just before Jesus was crucified, the disciples were arguing
over who was the greatest, and they were to be the leaders of the Church
through its most delicate formative times just a few weeks later. Many years
afterward, some of them were still making extraordinary mistakes, such as
Peter, who had to be rebuked by the youngest apostle at Antioch because
"he stood condemned."
We
are foolish if we look for perfection in ministry or in leadership, regardless
of how mature they are. Our hope should not be in the vessels, but in the
treasure that is in the vessels-the Holy Spirit. If we keep our trust rightly
placed in Him, we will not be overly dependent or disappointed by people. If
the ministries and leaders are true servants, they will not be seeking to build
people's trust in them, but in the Lord. Jesus, Himself, is the only foundation
that can be built upon that will last. If we build people's trust in ourselves
instead of the Lord, we have failed, and that foundation will fail too, because
no one but the Lord can carry that kind of burden.
This
is important because it is the perfectionist mentality that is based more in a
trust in ourselves than in the Lord, which hinders most from stepping out into
their calling and ministry. We do not get perfected so that we can be used by
the Lord; we get perfected by being used by Him.
Rick Joyner
MorningStar Ministries
info@morningstarministries.org