Christ Gave Gifts - Apostles, Prophets, Evangelists, Pastors and Teachers

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Ephesians 4:8-16 (NKJV)

Therefore He says: “When He ascended on high, He led captivity captive, And gave gifts to men.”  (Now this, “He ascended”—what does it mean but that He also first descended into the lower parts of the earth? He who descended is also the One who ascended far above all the heavens, that He might fill all things.) And 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, 15 but, speaking the truth in love, may grow up in all things into Him who is the head—Christ— 16 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.

Ezekiel 34:1-10 (NIV)

The word of the Lord came to me: “Son of man, prophesy against the shepherds of Israel; prophesy and say to them: This is what the Sovereign Lord says: Woe to you shepherds of Israel who only take care of yourselves! Should not shepherds take care of the flock? You eat the curds, clothe yourselves with the wool and slaughter the choice animals, but you do not take care of the flock. You have not strengthened the weak or healed the sick or bound up the injured. You have not brought back the strays or searched for the lost. You have ruled them harshly and brutally. So they were scattered because there was no shepherd, and when they were scattered they became food for all the wild animals. My sheep wandered over all the mountains and on every high hill. They were scattered over the whole earth, and no one searched or looked for them.” Therefore, you shepherds, hear the word of the Lord:  As surely as I live, declares the Sovereign Lord, because my flock lacks a shepherd and so has been plundered and has become food for all the wild animals, and because my shepherds did not search for my flock but cared for themselves rather than for my flock, therefore, you shepherds, hear the word of the Lord:  This is what the Sovereign Lord says: I am against the shepherds and will hold them accountable for my flock. I will remove them from tending the flock so that the shepherds can no longer feed themselves. I will rescue my flock from their mouths, and it will no longer be food for them.

Prayers:

• Lord Jesus, thank You for Your gifts to men. I thank You because You saw our need to be built up and You sent us what we need. Thank You Lord for the gift of Apostles, Prophets, Evangelists, Pastors and Teachers.

• Lord, what have we done with Your gifts? Your precious gifts have been abused, misused and misappropriated by Your stewards. Your gifts to men have not done what You planned because of our selfishness. I confess this evil today, I come in sincere repentance today. Lord, have mercy on us.

• Lord, Your gifts were given to men, but the stewards has consumed them on her lusts. Lord, I confess this evil today, I come in repentance today. Lord, have mercy and forgive us.

• Your gifts were given to equip your people – we do not see Your people equipped, instead we see men deceived, abused and help in servitude and bondage. Lord, I confess this evil today. Please, Lord have mercy on us and forgive us.

• Lord, Your precious gifts were given so that Your body can be built up to a position of strength and maturity. Today we don’t see the church in her position of strength and maturity because Your gifts have been misappropriated by Your stewards. Lord, I confess this evil today. Have mercy and forgive.

• Lord, Your gifts were given so that Your people will not be babies, tossed to and fro by every wind of doctrine. Yet today we see a church that is overtaken by deception, selfish ambition and doctrines of demons, instead of the cross-centred gospel, sound doctrine, concerted discipleship and missions. Lord, I confess this evil today.

• Lord, Your gifts, if properly administered, should have resulted in a church that is growing up into Christ but because we have deviated from preaching the correct and complete mysterious gospel, we have not seen this happen as it should. Lord, please have mercy today as I confess this evil and repent today.

• Lord, I ask that You bring the stewards of Your precious gifts to a place of acknowledgment, confession and repentance of these evils. Raise up Your Ezras who will take a posture of godly sorrowful repentance and inspire other leaders to do the same.

• Lord, I ask You to visit the stewards of Your precious gifts in Your mercy and restore to Your church the correct ministry of the apostles, prophets, evangelists, pastors and teachers. Let us begin to see Christ the apostle, Christ the prophet, Christ the evangelist and Christ the pastor and teacher expressed powerfully again as in times of old. This is the only hope of glory that the church has.

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Faithful Stewards of the Christ Life

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Matthew 25:14-30 (NIV)

“Again, it will be like a man going on a journey, who called his servants and entrusted his wealth to them.  To one he gave five bags of gold, to another two bags, and to another one bag, each according to his ability. Then he went on his journey. The man who had received five bags of gold went at once and put his money to work and gained five bags more. So also, the one with two bags of gold gained two more. But the man who had received one bag went off, dug a hole in the ground and hid his master’s money. “After a long time the master of those servants returned and settled accounts with them. The man who had received five bags of gold brought the other five. ‘Master,’ he said, ‘you entrusted me with five bags of gold. See, I have gained five more.’ “His master replied, ‘Well done, good and faithful servant! You have been faithful with a few things; I will put you in charge of many things. Come and share your master’s happiness!’ “The man with two bags of gold also came. ‘Master,’ he said, ‘you entrusted me with two bags of gold; see, I have gained two more.’ “His master replied, ‘Well done, good and faithful servant! You have been faithful with a few things; I will put you in charge of many things. Come and share your master’s happiness!’  “Then the man who had received one bag of gold came. ‘Master,’ he said, ‘I knew that you are a hard man, harvesting where you have not sown and gathering where you have not scattered seed. So I was afraid and went out and hid your gold in the ground. See, here is what belongs to you.’ “His master replied, ‘You wicked, lazy servant! So you knew that I harvest where I have not sown and gather where I have not scattered seed?  Well then, you should have put my money on deposit with the bankers, so that when I returned I would have received it back with interest. “‘So take the bag of gold from him and give it to the one who has ten bags. For whoever has will be given more, and they will have an abundance. Whoever does not have, even what they have will be taken from them. And throw that worthless servant outside, into the darkness, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.

14 “Again, it will be like a man going on a journey, who called his servants and entrusted his wealth to them (NIV)

• The Lord has entrusted His most valuable possession to me and it is nothing less than His very life. I am a Steward of the Life of Jesus!!!! It is a trust. I must understand it and place the highest value on it

18 “But the man who received the $1,000 dug a hole in the ground and hid the money for safekeeping. (LB)

• What the Lord has committed to me is NOT for safe keeping. The kingdom labour is Not about keeping this Christ life; it is about multiplying it.
• We are not doing ourselves or our Master any good by carefully hiding what He has entrusted us with.
• God is in the ‘business of multiplication. He ‘sowed’ His only begotten Son and has been reaping a harvest of ‘Sons’ ever since. Jesus’s ministry was a ministry of multiplication of men who carry His life - He started with 12, who had become 120 by the day of Pentecost. These 120 became at least 3,120 that day and multiplied further. (Acts 6:1 & 7)
• Why is this multiplication important to God? The more ‘Christ Life’ carriers there are, the more the life that is light will transform nations by dispelling darkness. This is why Jesus said in John 12:24 (MSG), “Listen carefully: Unless a grain of wheat is buried in the ground, dead to the world, it is never any more than a grain of wheat. But if it is buried, it sprouts and reproduces itself many times over”. This multiplication was God’s plan from the beginning.
• This is why as a steward of the Christ Life, I cannot resort to just safe keeping it with a view to handing it back to the Master just as He gave it to me. A steward who does this, the Master considers as a ‘wicked and lazy’.

 24-25 (MSG) “The servant given one thousand said, ‘Master, I know you have high standards and hate careless ways, that you demand the best and make no allowances for error. I was afraid I might disappoint you, so I found a good hiding place and secured your money. Here it is, safe and sound down to the last cent.’

24-25 (Living Bible) “Then the man with the $1,000 came and said, ‘Sir, I knew you were a hard man, and I was afraid you would rob me of what I earned, so I hid your money in the earth and here it is!’

24-25 (AMP) “The one who had received one talent also came forward, saying, ‘Master, I knew you to be a harsh and demanding man, reaping [the harvest] where you did not sow and gathering where you did not scatter seed. So I was afraid [to lose the talent], and I went and hid your talent in the ground. See, you have what is your own.’

•  The 3^rd steward, crippled by fear, did nothing with what his master entrusted to him. Fear is often the reason for not putting in the effort required to multiply the Christ Life in us.
• The above translations highlight three main reasons for this fear-

1. Fear of disappointing the Master- the fear of not meeting up to His standard
2. Fear of losing what is produced as a fallout of the Christ Life in us
3. Fear of losing what has been entrusted to us by the Master

• The master did not acknowledge nor address this fear at all in his response to this steward.
• Fear indicates an absence of faith, and without faith it is impossible to please God (Heb 11:6).
• Wicked and lazy servant:

1. Wicked because he failed to understand his master’s mission and the value of the trust bestowed. What is the value of the Christ Life I carry? It cost my Master His life, His deity, His innocence and dignity!
2. Lazy because the steward made no effort at all. One definition of lazy- ‘disinclined to work or exertion’. Too lazy to pray, too lazy to give what is required to disciple another, too lazy to exercise faith in God!

•  Actually, there’s no need to be afraid. What has been entrusted to us by our Master, His very life, has its own inherent ability to reproduce and multiply. All that is required of me is faithful action.

 1 Corinthians 4:1-2 (KJV) – “Let a man so account of us, as of the ministers of Christ, and stewards of the mysteries of God. 2 Moreover it is required in stewards, that a man be found faithful.”

1 Corinthians 4:1-2 (Phillips Modern English)- “You should look upon us as ministers of Christ, as trustees of the secrets of God. And it is a prime requisite in a trustee that he should prove worthy of his trust”

1 Corinthians 4:2 (MSG) – “We are guides into God’s most sublime secrets, not security guards posted to protect them”

1 Corinthians 4:1-2 (Good News)- “You should think of us as Christ's servants, who have been put in charge of God's secret truths.  2 The one thing required of such servants is that they be faithful to their master.”

1 Corinthians 4:1-2 (AMP) – “So then, let us [who minister] be regarded as servants of Christ and stewards (trustees, administrators) of the mysteries of God [that He chooses to reveal]. 2 In this case, moreover, it is required [as essential and demanded] of stewards that one be found faithful and trustworthy.”

1. I am a steward, a trustee and administrator of the Christ Life.
2. I am a steward of the mysteries of God, the mystery of the gospel of Christ
3. I am not a security guard posted to protect this life by hiding it away in a safe place.
4. It is required, as essential and demanded, that stewards be faithful.

 Prayers

• Lord, thank You for taking the risk to entrust to me Your precious life. Thank You for choosing to reveal Yourself in my earthen vessel.
• Lord, help to understand that what You have placed in my life is a trust so that I do not mismanage or abuse it. Lord, let the responsibility of my stewardship dawn on me daily.
• Lord, help me to deal with fear by walking in faith in this stewardship. Help me to know that this stewardship is a walk of faith. Don’t let the devil cripple me with fear.
• Help me to see that Your life in me is not meant to stop with me. Lord, let me see beyond myself with eyes of faith and see what You see. Help me to understand that You are looking for multiplication of disciples out of Your life in me. Make me a fruitful branch for You.
• Lord Jesus, my old life has been nailed to Your cross when You died. Please declutter me quickly of laziness- a disinclination towards work and exertion. Don’t let me a lazy servant in this stewardship. I carry Your heart now, Lord, so I cast off laziness in every form. I bring sincere repentance for every sluggishness and laziness. It is not part of my new life.
• Help me to understand that both Your life in me and the produce of it ALL belong to You. Don’t let me be like that 3rd steward who did not multiply because he was afraid that his master will take his profit. Lord, help me to understand that I have nothing to claim as my own in this stewardship.
• Lord, help me to be counted as faithful to the stewardship You have entrusted to me. Let me be a faithful steward of Your life in me.  As a faithful steward, Lord, let Your life in me produce total commitment, dedication and surrender to Your kingdom’s cause.
• Lord, raise up for Yourself faithful stewards in these our days. Raise up stewards who understand Your heart for multiplication of correct lives and are diligent, committed and totally dedicated to Your kingdom. Lord, raise them up in homes, families, churches, government establishments, prisons, schools, colleges & universities, in nations and in all tribes and tongues.

 Grace, Thy Grace Alone

Grace!  Thy grace alone

Has brought me into Thy will,

Stranger and Alien I had been

'Till grace brought me so nigh.

Grace, Thy grace alone

Is all I plead for

Grace to serve Thee aright Lord,

O! Grace to love thee more.

‘Tis grace that teaches me

Thy path for me to know

And Grace day by day leads me on,

My call not to let go.

I long for this grace Lord,

To be faithful a steward,

To lay my all down for the Church,

Till her glory bursts forth.

Make me a battle axe,

Kept Lord in thy quiver,

Tried, Trimmed, sharpened in thy furnace

Meet for my Master's use.

Ira D. Sankey

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Fishers of Men

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He said, “Son of man, have you had a good look? ”Then he took me back to the riverbank. While sitting on the bank, I noticed a lot of trees on both sides of the river.

He told me, “This water flows east, descends to the Arabah and then into the sea, the sea of stagnant waters. When it empties into those waters, the sea will become fresh. Wherever the river flows, life will flourish—great schools of fish—because the river is turning the salt sea into fresh water. Where the river flows, life abounds. Fishermen will stand shoulder to shoulder along the shore from En-gedi all the way north to En-eglaim, casting their nets. The sea will teem with fish of all kinds, like the fish of the Great Mediterranean.

Ezekiel 47:6-10 (TLB)

 He told me to keep in mind what I had seen, then led me back along the bank.   And now, to my surprise, many trees were growing on both sides of the river!  He told me: “This river flows east through the desert and the Jordan Valley to the Dead Sea, where it will heal the salty waters and make them fresh and pure. Everything touching the water of this river shall live. Fish will abound in the Dead Sea, for its waters will be healed. Wherever this water flows, everything will live.   Fishermen will stand along the shores of the Dead Sea, fishing all the way from En-gedi to En-eglaim. The shores will be filled with nets drying in the sun. Fish of every kind will fill the Dead Sea just as they do the Mediterranean!

Ezekiel 47:6-10  Easy-to-Read Version (ERV)

Then the man said to me, “Son of man, did you pay close attention to the things you saw?” Then the man led me back along the side of the river. As I walked back along the side of the river, I saw many trees on both sides of the water. He said to me, “This water flows east, down to the Arabah Valley. This water flows into the Dead Sea so that the water in that sea becomes fresh and clean. There are many fish in this water, and all kinds of animals live where this river goes. You can see fishermen standing by the river all the way from En Gedi to En Eglaim. You can see them throwing their fishing nets and catching many kinds of fish. There are as many kinds of fish in the Dead Sea as there are in the Mediterranean Sea.

• The gospel of Jesus Christ is the gospel of life and its effects will bring healing to people of every tongue and tribe.
• The effects of the proclamation of the gospel of Jesus Christ may start as a trickle but the prophets Isaiah and Habakkuk prophesied that, “the earth shall be filled with the knowledge of the glory of the Lord as the waters cover the sea”. (Isaiah 11:9, Habakkuk 2:14). The end time revival that will come as a result of the preaching of the cross-centred gospel of Jesus Christ will soon become a river that cannot be crossed, manipulated nor controlled by men.
• Then everywhere that this river goes, ‘the dead shall hear the voice of the Son of God; and those who hear will live’. (John 5:25)
• Where this river goes, there will be abundance of ‘fish’ to catch – fish of all sorts and varieties. There are people of every tongue and tribe- young and old, rich and poor, black and white, male and female, educated and un-educated who are waiting to be brought into the fold and be discipled. They are waiting for the fisher men. Jesus said, “lift up your eyes and look at the field, for they are already white for harvest!” (John 4:35)
• Where are the fishermen of God? Where are those who are supposed to be positioned along this river casting their nets ready to catch all kinds of men for God? Fishermen standing shoulder to shoulder to make sure no one escapes the net.
• We are fishers of men! This is what the Lord’s hand wants to make out of us. This is the essence of all that the Lord is doing to us now.
• This is what the early church understood. “Therefore those who were scattered went everywhere preaching the word.” Even as they fled from persecution, they were fishers of men!
• We know that the mystery of the gospel of Jesus will have great impact in our day but where are the fishermen strategically positioned along the river to catch men?
• Jesus said to the men He chose and still says to us today-
• “Follow me, and I will make you fishers of men” (Matthew 4:19)
• …”From now on you will catch men”  (Luke 5:10)
• “Follow me, and I will make you become fishers of men.” (Mark 1:17)
• Our responsibility is to follow Jesus in concerted discipleship so that He can make us fishers of men.

1 Kings 19:15-17

Then the Lord said to him: “Go, return on your way to the Wilderness of Damascus; and when you arrive, anoint Hazael as king over Syria. Also you shall anoint Jehu the son of Nimshi as king over Israel. And Elisha the son of Shaphat of Abel Meholah you shall anoint as prophet in your place.  It shall be that whoever escapes the sword of Hazael, Jehu will kill; and whoever escapes the sword of Jehu, Elisha will kill.

 Prayers

• Thank You Lord, for calling me into Your labour and for working in me to will and do of Your good pleasure
• Lord, help me to understand Your calling upon my life. Help me to see that no matter .what You have called me to do, it is ultimately to be a fisher of men for You.
• Lord, help me to follow closely enough for You to work on my life and make me a fisher of men. 
• As the gospel of Christ is bringing life where there has been death, help me to be strategically positioned as Your fisher of men, catching men for You
• Lord, whatever You did in the lives of men and women in the early church, do it to me too.  Let the mystery of the gospel affect me so thoroughly and deeply that I cannot but be fisher of men.

         New hearts, more love, more passion

         For souls in satan’s train

         With hook or net use me still

         Make me fisher of men

• Lord, do not let me be blind or indifferent to the harvest of men that is white and ready around me.
• Lord, position Your fishermen strategically along Your river who will stand shoulder to shoulder, no shoving or pushing but working with one purpose in mind, ensuring that no soul escapes.
• Lord, position Your fishermen in churches, families, hospitals, schools & colleges, universities, prisons, market places. Position Your fishermen ALL the way along Your river, let there be no gaps so that those who escape the gospel in their families can be caught in church and so on. (1 Kings 19:17)

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