Ministering to Jesus
"...according to their ability, yes, and beyond their
ability, they were freely willing, imploring us with much
urgency that we would
receive the gift and the fellowship of the
ministering to the saints. And not only as we had
hoped, but they first gave themselves to the Lord, and
then to us by the will of God."
2
Corinthians 8:2-5
"Then
the righteous will answer Him, saying, ‘Lord, when did we
see You hungry and feed You, or thirsty and give You drink?
When did we see You a stranger and take You in, or naked
and clothe You? Or when did we see You sick, or in prison,
and come to You?’ And the King will answer and say to
them, ‘Assuredly, I say to you, inasmuch as you did it
to one of the least of these My brethren
[those who are part of His
family through faith in Christ],
you did it to Me.’"
Matthew
25:37-40
"Jesus
said, 'Let her alone. Why do you trouble her? She has
done a good work for Me. For you have the poor with
you always, and whenever you wish you may do them good;
but Me you do not have always.'"
Mark 14:6-7
Trusting
in His sufficiency
"I, brethren, when I came to you, did not come with
excellence of speech or of wisdom declaring to you the
testimony of God. For I determined not to know
anything among you except Jesus Christ and Him crucified. I was with you
in weakness, in fear, and in much
trembling. And my speech and my preaching were not
with persuasive words of human wisdom, but in
demonstration of the Spirit and of power, that your
faith should not be in the wisdom of men but in the power of
God."
1
Corinthians 2:1-5
"...clearly
you are an epistle of Christ, ministered by us, written not with ink but by the Spirit
of the living God, not on tablets of stone but on
tablets of flesh, that is, of the heart. And we have such
trust through Christ toward God. Not that we are sufficient of ourselves to think of
anything as being from ourselves, but our sufficiency is
from God, who also made us sufficient as ministers of
the new covenant, not of the letter but of the
Spirit; for the letter kills, but the Spirit gives
life."
2
Corinthians 3:2-5
"... in all things we commend ourselves
as ministers of
God: in much patience, in tribulations, in needs, in
distresses, in stripes, in imprisonments, in
tumults,
in labors, in sleeplessness, in fasting; by purity, by
knowledge, by longsuffering, by kindness, by the Holy
Spirit, by sincere love, by the word of truth, by
the power of God, by the
armor of righteousness on the
right hand and on the left, by honor and dishonor, by
evil report and good report; as deceivers, and yet true; as unknown, and
yet well known; as dying, and behold
we live; as chastened, and yet not killed; as
sorrowful, yet always rejoicing; as poor, yet making many
rich; as having nothing, and yet possessing all things."
2 Corinthians 6:4-10
Different
gifts for ministry
The main
focus in on building up the believers -- by preaching and
teaching the Word, living in the Spirit, exhorting and
serving one another -- until, together, all are part of into
a body in which all the members know and follow Jesus.
"He
Himself gave some to be apostles, some prophets, some
evangelists,
and some pastors and teachers, for the equipping of the
saints for the work of ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ, till we all come to the unity of
the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God,
to a perfect man, to the measure of the stature of the
fullness of Christ; that we should no longer be
children, tossed to and fro and carried about with every
wind of doctrine, by the trickery of men, in the
cunning craftiness of deceitful plotting, but, speaking
the truth in love, may grow up in all things into Him who
is the head, Christ, from whom the whole body,
joined and knit together by what every joint supplies,
according to the effective working by which every part does
its share, causes growth of the body for the edifying of
itself in love."
Ephesians 4:11-16
"...you
are the body of Christ, and members individually. And God has appointed these in the church: first
apostles, second prophets, third teachers, after that miracles, then gifts of healings, helps,
administrations, varieties of tongues...."
1 Corinthians 12:27-28
"For I say,
through the grace given to me, to everyone
who is among you, not to think of himself more highly
than he ought to think, but to think soberly, as God has
dealt to each one a measure of faith. For as we
have many members in one body, but all the members do not
have the same function, so we, being many, are one
body in Christ, and individually members of one another. Having then gifts differing according to the grace that is
given to us, let us use them: if prophecy, let us
prophesy in proportion to our faith; or ministry, let
us use it in our ministering; he who teaches, in
teaching; he who exhorts, in exhortation; he who
gives, with liberality; he who leads, with diligence; he
who shows mercy, with cheerfulness."
Romans 12:3-8
"Though
I speak with the tongues of men and of angels, but have not
love, I have become sounding brass or a clanging cymbal.
And though I have the gift of prophecy, and understand
all mysteries and all knowledge, and though I have all
faith, so that I could remove mountains, but have not
love, I am nothing. And though I bestow all my goods
to feed the poor, and though I give my body to be burned,
but have not love, it profits me nothing.
"Love suffers long and is kind; love does not
envy; love does not parade itself, is not puffed up; does not behave rudely, does
not seek its own, is not provoked, thinks no evil; does not rejoice in
iniquity, but rejoices in the truth; bears all
things, believes all things, hopes all things,
endures all
things."
1
Corinthians 13:1-7
Ministering to the saints
"...they
have devoted themselves to the ministry of the saints...."
1 Corinthians 16:15-16
"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." 2
Timothy 4:2-5
"I am going to Jerusalem to
minister to the saints.
For it pleased those from Macedonia and Achaia to
make a certain contribution for the poor among the saints
who are in Jerusalem."
Romans
15:25-26
"We... sent
Timothy, our brother and minister of God, and our fellow
laborer in the gospel of Christ, to establish you and
encourage you concerning your faith, that no one
should be shaken by these afflictions; for you yourselves
know that we are appointed to this. For, in fact,
we told you before when we were with you that we would
suffer tribulation, just as it happened, and you know. For this reason, when I could no longer endure it, I sent to
know your faith, lest by some means the tempter had
tempted you, and our labor might be in vain."
1 Thessalonians 3:1-5
"If you instruct the brethren in these things, you will
be a good minister of Jesus Christ, nourished in the words
of faith and of the good doctrine which you have
carefully followed. But reject profane and old wives’
fables, and exercise yourself toward godliness."
1
Timothy 4:6-7
"God is not unjust to forget
your work and labor of love which you have shown
toward His name, in that you have ministered to the
saints, and do minister. And we desire that each one of
you show the same diligence to the full assurance of hope
until the end, that you do not become sluggish, but
imitate those who through faith and patience inherit the
promises."
Hebrews 6:10-12
"...let
us not grow weary while doing good, for in due season we
shall reap if we do not lose heart. Therefore, as we
have opportunity, let us do good to all, especially to
those who are of the household of faith."
Galatians
6:9-10
Ministering the gospel to Gentiles
"...that
I might be a minister of Jesus Christ to the
Gentiles, ministering the gospel of God, that the
offering of the Gentiles might be acceptable,
sanctified by the Holy Spirit. "
Romans 15:16
"Now
the Lord spoke to Paul in the night by a vision, 'Do not
be afraid, but speak, and do not keep silent; for I
am with you, and no one will attack you to hurt you; for
I have many people in this city. ' And he continued there a
year and six months, teaching the word of God among them."
Acts
18:9-11
"...you,
who once were alienated and enemies in your
mind by wicked works, yet now He has reconciled the body of His flesh through death,
to present you
holy, and blameless, and above reproach in His sight if indeed you continue
in the faith, grounded and
steadfast, and are not moved away from the hope of the
gospel which you heard, which was preached to every
creature under heaven, of which I, Paul, became a
minister."
Colossians 1:21-23
The heart
of giving
"He who
has two tunics, let him give to him who has none; and he who
has food, let him do likewise."
Luke 3:11
"He saw also a certain poor widow putting in two mites.
So He said, 'Truly I say to you that this poor widow has put
in more than all; 'for all these out of their abundance have
put in offerings 'for God, but she out of her poverty put in
'all the livelihood that she had.;"
Luke 21:2-4
"Then
[Jesus] turned to his host. 'When you put on a luncheon or a
dinner,' he said, 'don’t invite your friends, brothers,
relatives, and rich neighbors. For they will repay you by
inviting you back. Instead, invite the poor, the crippled,
the lame, and the blind. Then at the resurrection of the
godly, God will reward you for inviting those who could not
repay you.'''
Luke
14:12-14
Deceitful workers masquerade as God's ministers
"...
that I may
cut off the opportunity from those who desire an opportunity
to be regarded just as we are in the things of which they
boast. For such are false apostles, deceitful
workers, transforming themselves into apostles of Christ.
And no wonder! For Satan himself transforms himself
into van angel of light. Therefore it is no great
thing if his ministers also transform themselves into
ministers of righteousness, whose end will be according
to their works."
2
Corinthians 11:12-14
"But there were also false prophets among the people, even as
there will be false teachers among you, who will secretly
bring in destructive heresies, even denying the Lord who
bought them, and bring on themselves swift destruction. And many will follow their destructive ways, because of whom
the way of truth will be blasphemed. By covetousness
they will exploit you with deceptive words; for a long time
their judgment has not been idle, and their destruction
does not slumber."
2 Peter 2:1-3
"Now the Spirit expressly says that in latter times some
will depart from the faith, giving heed to deceiving
spirits and doctrines of demons, speaking lies in
hypocrisy, having their own conscience seared with a hot
iron..."
1 Timothy
4:1-3
The
fruit of His life in us
"But
the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace,
longsuffering, kindness, goodness, faithfulness,
gentleness, self-control. Against such there is no law.
And those who are Christ’s have crucified the flesh with
its passions and desires. If we live in the Spirit, let us
also walk in the Spirit. "
Galatians 5:22
"He has
shown you, O man, what is good;
And what does the Lord require of you but to do justly, to love mercy,
And to walk humbly with your God?"
Micah 6:8
"Let
love be without hypocrisy. Abhor what is evil. Cling to
what is good. Be kindly affectionate to one another
with brotherly love, in honor giving preference to one
another; not lagging in diligence, fervent in spirit,
serving the Lord; rejoicing in hope, patient
in tribulation, continuing steadfastly in prayer;
distributing to the needs of the saints, given to
hospitality."
Romans 12:9 -13
"Bless
those who persecute you; bless and do not curse. Rejoice
with those who rejoice, and weep with those who weep. Be of
the same mind toward one another. Do not set your mind
on high things, but associate with the humble. Do not
be wise in your own opinion."
Romans
12:14-16
"Are
they ministers of Christ? .... I am more: in
labors more abundant, in stripes above measure, in
prisons more frequently, in deaths often. From the
Jews five times I received forty stripes minus
one. Three times I was beaten with rods; once I
was stoned; three times I was shipwrecked;
a night and a day I have been in the deep; in journeys
often, in perils of waters, in perils of robbers,
in perils of my own countrymen, in perils of the
Gentiles, in perils in the city, in perils in the
wilderness, in perils in the sea, in perils among false
brethren; in weariness and toil, in
sleeplessness often, in hunger and thirst, in
fasting
often, in cold and nakedness --- besides the other
things, what comes upon me daily: my deep concern
for all the churches. "
2
Corinthians 11:22-28
His brethren (or brothers) are those
who have been joined to Jesus by faith through the cross.
Unbelievers are not His brethren:
"But He
answered and said to them, 'My mother and
My brothers
are these who
hear the word of God and do it."
Luke 8:21
"For it
was fitting for Him, for whom are all things and by whom
are all things, in bringing many sons to glory, to
make the captain of their salvation perfect through
sufferings. For both He who sanctifies and those who
are being sanctified are all of one, for which reason
He is not ashamed to call them brethren, saying:
'I will declare Your name to
My brethren;
In the midst of the assembly I will sing praise to You."
Hebrews 2:10-12
"He
looked around in a circle at those who sat about Him, and
said, 'Here are My mother and My brothers! For whoever
does the will of God is
My brother
and My sister
and mother."
Mark 3:34
"For
whom He foreknew, He also predestined to
be conformed to the image of His Son, that He might
be the firstborn among many
brethren."
Romans 8:29
"....as
they went to tell His disciples, behold, Jesus met them,
saying, 'Rejoice!' So they came and held Him by the feet
and worshiped Him. Then Jesus said to them, 'Do not be
afraid. Go and tell
My brethren
to go to Galilee, and there they will see Me."
Matthew
28:9-19
"Jesus
said to her, 'Do not cling to Me, for I have not yet
ascended to My Father; but go to My brethren and say
to them, ‘I am ascending to My Father and your Father,
and to My God and your God.’"
John
20:17