Esteemed By God

A servant of God should not be considered lightly. He is a servant of the Most High, since he is chosen by Him to perform His will. He alone has the access to God like no one else. In other words, his work permits him to have greater access to God. His work is to glorify God, gather men for His glory and to serve them that they inherit His blessings. Though all men that believe in God can approach Him freely, he who ministers to God has greater opportunity to approach Him. For a minister’s sole work is to fulfill the ministry of God. There is nothing else that God wishes from him. He is called and anointed by God in such a way that the work he performs becomes a soothing aroma to Him. This one is God’s servant or minister. He is a man of God. To him God gives in whatever measure necessary so that he could lead men and women to His house. He is highly esteemed by God. God regards him as His friend. He gives him the authority to lead and to make decisions through Him. Therefore, he does not fail nor slumber. Every work he does has its beginning from God and the end of it is realized by God receiving all the glory. God indeed listens to him.

Of such man no one should speak lightly. No one must oppose him or make false accusations against him. It is indeed dangerous for them to take action against him. “Now Korah the son of Izhar, the son of Kohath, the son of Levi, with Dathan and Abiram, the sons of Eliab, and On the son of Peleth, sons of Reuben, took action” (Num. 16:1). It is the envious nature of men that opposes a minister of God. Conversely, if a minister is indeed not of God, their nature does not have an effect on him as they are of the same spirit. As it is, they both never perform works that have their beginning from God. The whole congregation, whatever their number, is vulnerable. They are vulnerable to the thoughts and works of sin. They no longer differentiate between the glory of God and the glory of men. Soon they become the people that oppose the work of those that truly minister to God. They mock them, insult them and question the position that God bestowed upon them. They invoke the anger of God.

When Korah and the rest, the rebellious group, came up to Moses, it was indeed their envious hearts that came up against him. This had an effect on Moses, the minister of God. Just as the Spirit of God cannot stand the spirit of the devil, so too, Moses could not stand their hearts. The anointing of God in him did not allow him to stand their nature. This produced a result. When Moses utilized the access he had to God, they along with their two hundred and fifty people perished. Their tents were swallowed up by the earth and fire from the Lord devoured the rest. They could not understand that their opposing was not just against Moses, but against a minister of God. Herein is the greatness of a minister of God – God lives in him. When the hearts of men are filled with the fruit of sin, they do not realize the glory of God. A minister of God is His glory. He reveals Himself through him that men may come to know God. Or else, why does one suppose that God appoints apostles, preachers, teachers, workers etc in the church? Are not all these called to minister to God? The word is revealed through them and God rejoices in His design.

Because God lives in them, they do not speak false. “Sing to Him, sing praises to Him; Speak of all His wonders” (Ps. 105:2). Yes, they sing praises to him and lead men to do likewise without hesitation, grumbling and confusion. They speak of all His wonders i.e. of those He performed in the past for His sons and of those He performed for them. They admit His greatness and do not conceal His mighty attributes. They realize that the world was created wonderfully by His word and the word existing among men is by His wonder. They cannot nullify the glory that is due God because of the mere speculations that arise from men. The holiness of God in them does not lead them to indulge in the thoughts and works of sin. They often receive from God and rejoice when those who believed in their word receive from Him. This is the fulfillment of their work for God. Who is the one who does not sing praises to God except the one who did not receive from Him? And, who is the one who does not speak of all His wonders except the one who denies that He performs wonders? He who denies His works is as good as the antichrist. He is like the one who denied Jesus coming in the flesh, a wonder of God. His resurrection, a wonder, does not bring fruit in him. He has no portion from God.

“The holy allotment shall be for these, namely for the priests, toward the north 25,000 cubits in length, toward the west 10,000 in width, toward the east 10,000 in width, and toward the south 25,000 in length; and the sanctuary of the LORD shall be in its midst” (Ezek. 48:10). Know that the holy portion is only for those that minister to God. It is specifically given to them to glorify God and to serve His people that they inherit His blessings. One must be a minister appointed by God to receive the allotment. They received it for the kind of work they performed. By what God allotted to them they were able to serve Him. He placed His sanctuary in the midst of the allotment that it would be kept holy. To this day the Lord’s desire to allot to His ministers has not changed, though the Law and the things that come through it has. He continues to allot to His ministers by heavenly measures for heavenly glory. In fact, it is a dependable saying that God Himself is the portion to His ministers through His Son. Therefore, what belongs to Him is theirs. Know that only he who is a priest of God that is His minister. This one shall surely receive His portion. His portion is made known by God as it was in the case of those priests. There it was of the earth; here it is of the Spirit. They were priests through Levi; he is a minister of God to the church through the Son of Man whom God glorified. God performs His works through him. The church of the Lord is kept holy by the portions He allots to His ministers. “Then he left there and went to the house of a man named Titius Justus, a worshiper of God, whose house was next to the synagogue” (Acts 18:7).

The Lord knows how to keep His church holy. He does not add to it men that do not believe in Him. When Paul preached the gospel to the Jews, they rejected and blasphemed. They thought they were rejecting him. But, they were rejecting and blaspheming the Christ living in Paul. Therefore, Paul, after having heard their blasphemy shook out his garments and had to say that their blood be upon their heads. They had been judged. He left them to preach Christ to the gentiles. At this juncture, he entered the house of Titius Justus, the portion which the Lord allotted to him. As the text says, he was a worshipper of God living next to the synagogue. The impact of God upon of the believing is unfathomable. From this house Paul gathered to God as many as believed in the Lord, whether the Jews or the Gentiles. Though there are many ministers in many churches with countless Christians around the world today, not all are His church. Those who are with envious hearts, who are unwilling to praise God apart from absurdity and those who cannot speak of His wonders do not belong to Him.

This is the true sign of a minister of God. “Paul, an apostle (not sent from men nor through the agency of man, but through Jesus Christ and God the Father, who raised Him from the dead)” (Gal. 1:1). And if one has been called by God to serve Him, he has known his position. Many have spoken concerning a minister of God, but the underlying truth is that he must be called by God to minister to Him. If Paul calls himself an apostle neither from men nor through the agency of man, can a minister who serves God be from man or through the agency of man? If it is not so, is not a minister of God magnificently called? Yet, some assert that God does not wonderfully call men to minister to Him. It is because they do not consider the word as the power of God. By the way, Paul, by his confession, was a preacher, teacher and a minister besides being an apostle. If these works are performed by a magnificent calling, then each work by itself must also be performed by a magnificent calling through Jesus and the Father. Or else, God is not glorified; and, men who call themselves Christians cannot be the church of the Lord. But if one is not willing to accept this, he shows the lack of portion from the Lord. He did not reject any man, but the Lord. “And He is the radiance of His glory and the exact representation of His nature, and upholds all things by the word of His power. When He had made purification of sins, He sat down at the right hand of the Majesty on high” (Heb. 1:3).

When by the word of God’s power Christ upholds all things, He upholds all things by the word, which is God’s power. This ought to be believed. To uphold means to sustain or bear and Christ sustains all things of God. When He calls men to become His ministers, He bears it through the word. Therefore, Jesus, who called Paul, still upholds His calling by God’s power. Never has He disapproved of such calling nor dampened it. He cannot disapprove it, as it is the only way to ensure His ministers or servants possess the holy portion. Such a portion will not nullify the work He performed for the purification of sins. His authority is not demeaned and God is glorified without disruption. Nevertheless, when men and women have not understood God’s power that brings forth ministers for His glory, they have become the mockers of the last days. “For when they maintain this, it escapes their notice that by the word of God the heavens existed long ago and the earth was formed out of water and by water” (2 Pet. 3:5).

Posted in 2011, Archives.