Who is a minister under the New Testament? /
John the Baptist was a forerunner heralding the first coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. He came in the spirit of Elijah. John the Baptist was sent by God as His messenger to prepare the way of Jesus Christ on his first advent. Luke writes in his gospel that as it is written in the book of the words of Isaiah the prophet, saying:
“The voice of one crying in the wilderness:
‘Prepare the way of the Lord;
Make His paths straight.
Every valley shall be filled
And every mountain and hill brought low;
The crooked places shall be made straight
And the rough ways smooth;
And all flesh shall see the salvation of God” (Luke 3:4-6)
Those days John was in the wilderness raising his lone voice against the sins and iniquities of the people of Israel. He did not spare Herod the king, and told him on his face that it was not lawful for him to have his brother Philip’s wife” (Matt.14: 3-4). He did not preach any sermon to please the people or the king. He used the toughest language, and addressed the Pharisees and Sadducees, “Brood of vipers!”
John exhorted the people to prepare the way of the Lord, and to make His paths straight. When the president of a nation visits another nation, the government of the host nation makes necessary arrangements to receive him. It makes elaborate security arrangements, and such other arrangements that would make his visit convenient. Like the first advent of Christ Jesus, the Holy Spirit is anointing a small group of God’s people for carrying on a ministry similar to that of John the Baptist. This ministry is not of a single man but is of a small group. This small group of people prepares the hearts of the people of God for the second advent of Christ Jesus. They are in the wilderness, raising their voice against the sins and iniquities of the people of God. The Holy Spirit has taught them in the school of sufferings in the wilderness. They do not come with some new revelations or end-time revelations as you may think.
These days, some ministers claim themselves to be the end-time prophets. Some people had already come with some end-time revelations, which were not based on the Word of God. Their ministries misled the people of God. Let us be careful about these end-time prophets. But, the people likened to John the Baptist do not come up with end-time revelations. They come with the same old message of John. In those days John the Baptist came preaching in the wilderness of Judea, and saying, “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand!”…. “Therefore bear fruits worthy of repentance…” (Matt.3: 2 & 8). Today, the same message of John holds good for the churches of God. The churches have to simply “repent” and to “bear fruits worthy of repentance”. They do not need long sermons or many days of convention in which lengthy sermons on many doctrines other than on repentance are superfluously given.
Every valley shall be filled. There are some humble people in our midst, who would be filled with His power and anointing. Every mountain and hill shall be brought low. There are many ministries, which are exalted as the mountain and hill, above Christ and His Body. A dear member of our group Evangelist Steven Pyle, Arkansas, USA, had seen a vision of billowing smoke, which emanated from burning buildings. These man-made buildings mean the self-centered ministries which are exalted in the House of God. “And whoever exalts himself will be humbled, and he who humbles himself will be exalted” (Matt.23:12). Jesus warned Capernaum “who are exalted to heaven” that it would be brought down to Hades (Matt.11:23). The judgment of God would devour all such ministries, which are self-centered and exalted, because the judgment begins at the House of God. These ministries shall be brought low.
The crooked places shall be made straight and the rough ways smooth. There are indeed crooked places and the rough ways in the lives of those who live godly lives. In India, there are a number of God’s servants who are very sincere in their ministries. But there are crooked places in their mission fields. They face severe persecutions and paucity of funds. The Lord shall make these crooked places straight. The rough ways faced by them in learning the new languages of the inhabitants of the mission fields or translating the Word of God into the languages of the inhabitants of the mission fields today will be made smooth.
All flesh shall see the salvation of God. In these last days, there is going to be great revivals all over the world, and all flesh shall see the salvation of God.
Who is a Minister under the New Testament?
Who is a minister under the New Testament? Jesus said, “whosoever will be great among you, let him be your minister; and whosoever will be chief among you, let him be your servant; even as the Son of man came not to be ministered unto, but to minister, and to give His life a ransom for many” (Matt.20: 26-28).
What is prevalent today in our churches? We find ministers occupying positions of authority and power over the people to whom they are supposed to minister. They expect their congregations to serve them with their tithes. Though the Levitical priesthood was done away with by Christ Jesus, His ministers still perform the Levitical duties, and seek services from their congregations.
This trend is also visible in evangelistic circles and conferences of ministers. The evangelists or the ministers who are called to minister covet prominent places on the dais. They love the best places and the best seats (Matt.23: 6). At times, we find a large number of seats placed on the dais just to please them. They do not want to sit in the audience. They want themselves to be introduced to the audience.
When the true revival breaks out, we will hardly perceive the line of demarcation between those “on the dais” and those “in the audience”.
In this regard, I want to testify to a dear minister of God who is no more today. He was my spiritual leader in the 70s. He is the late Bro.Glady Easwararaj. God used him mightily in our country and in USA. He was a man of simplicity and humility. He used to emphasis on the body ministry, the five-fold ministry etc. Whenever we arranged the evangelistic crusades in the North India, he used to be one amongst us, putting up tents, and arranging chairs, etc. The people in the audience would see him emerge from amongst them when the time for delivering his messages came.
A pastor’s ministry does not end with giving a long sermon on Sundays or taking a long Bible Study on other days. He is a servant to the people of God. He is also their shepherd, representing the great Shepherd. He has to visit their houses, pray for them, counsel them and physically help them in times of need. In case there are some poor saints in the church, he should collect contributions from other members, and minister to them.
In some churches, the designations of the worldly organizations have sneaked into the churches of God. A pastor is designated as Assistant Pastor, Sr. Pastor or Chief Pastor. No minister wants to call himself/herself a servant.
“But who is greatest among you shall be your servant” (Matt.23: 11).