By Apostle Isidore Agoha
The ministry of Jesus is God’s benchmark. No person in the human history can lay claim to any kind of service to God that can compare with the ministry that Jesus the Son rendered to God the Father by the Holy Spirit. God’s servants in the Old Testament were called to primarily foretell the unique ministry that God had anointed Jesus to fulfill in the fullness of time. Likewise, all of God’s servants in the New Testament, beginning from early church till the end of the age, are called not develop new ministries or standards of ministry but to build on the ministry of Jesus. Thus, the ministry of the Lord Jesus is God’s solid foundation for all present and future ministries called to the service of God and God’s people.
Human involvement in Christian ministry is only a manifestation of God’s grace, the endowment of a human vessel with the power of God to do something that only God can do. The only person who is qualified on the basis of His own personal merits to do ministry for God is Jesus. But out of His love and grace, He invites and shares His ministry with redeemed humanity. This vision of grace was not fully grasped by believers in Corinth to the extent that Apostle Paul had to sternly address this shortsightedness 1 Corinthians 3:1-10.
The Lord Jesus Christ is indeed God’s foundation and God never hesitated to testify to this at every critical point in His earthly life and ministry. Consider this incident which occurred at Transfiguration. Jesus had just being transfigured before three of His apostles, Peter, James and John., when two of the most outstanding prophets of the Old Testament, Moses and Elijah appeared. Peter, basking in the excitement of the moment, suggested that three tabernacles be built, one each for Moses, Elijah and Jesus. This would have implied the building of the foundations of the law (Moses), the prophets (Elijah) and of grace and the kingdom (Jesus. It also indicates an equality of these three persons and ministries, which Peter thought was correct. However, God’s response clearly defined the uniqueness and divinity of Jesus as His Son. Moreover, it sets apart the ministry of Jesus as most pleasing to God, "This is my beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased; listen to Him" - Matthew 17:5.
Notice that God had to interrupt Peter and overshadow all that were present with a bright cloud, which was a manifestation of the Holy Spirit. Furthermore, God’s attestation about Jesus was made in the presence of an unusual audience, the combines gathering of Old and New Testament saints.
If, therefore, we want to understand God’s purpose, plan and method for any form of biblical ministry, Jesus is our perfect, unchanging pattern. The ministry of Jesus, while He was on earth was both broad in its scope and deep in its intensity and degree.
Contemporary Christian ministry, therefore, should not depart in any way from the pattern and methods employed by the author and finisher of the Christian faith, the Lord Jesus Christ. Unfortunately, in numerous ministries and in many sections of professing Christendom, there have been grave departures form the ministry methods and patterns of Jesus. There are many possible factors that could lead to such fruitless departures. The most common are unbelief, dependence on the flesh or self, fear of man (the desire to be accepted by others), ignorance about the promises of God in His Word and also pride. Interestingly, all these attitudes are motivated by demons.
No one can improve upon the ministry of Jesus. And since Jesus is the author and finisher of our faith, wisdom demands that we learn from Him and continue to use the blueprints He designed, tested and proved in His earthly ministry. It was His lifestyle of obedience and desire to do God’s will in His personal life that gained Him God’s approval, abiding presence and supernatural attestation.
Apostle Isidore Agoha is the Senior Pastor at Triumphant Life Church in the Bronx, N.Y.
www.tlcny.org | http://twitter.com/apostleagoha
By Apostle Isidore Agoha
More than amazement expressed by the synagogue audience, the incident of the deliverance of the man with the unclean spirit by Jesus generated great news far and wide. It was so great that it propelled the ministry of Jesus from obscurity to fame in the whole region of Galilee within hours. The ramender of the Lord’s itinerary for that day, which included the healing of Peter’s mother-in-law and climaxed in the evening with an evangelistic service, was characterized by many miraculous healings and deliverance. The impact of the news was so effective that it drew the whole city to Peter’s door and paved the way for miracles - Mark 1:28-35.
In spreading the news of the Lord’s work, the people magnified His name. Through the people’s testimonies, many in need were drawn to Him. The lesson magnified here is that when people in need are drawn to Jesus, their needs are met, their burdens are lifted and they come into His rest. In this rest, they receive their inheritance - God’s provision for their needs, "Come unto me all who are weary and heavy laden and I will give you rest" Matthew 11:28.
It is the Lord who gives the invitation, and it is Him also who provides the salvation, healing and deliverance. However, it is we, His servants, who have the honor of publishing the invitations and the works of the Lord. The people in the days of the Lord’s earthly ministry were effective in publishing His work notwithstanding the technological handicap of their era. This, therefore, poses a great challenge to those of us who live in our present high-tech age, abundantly blessed with a polyglot of communication facilities. In the case of the event that took place in the Capernaum synagogue, the whole district was reached in one day by word of mouth communication. It appears that those in the synagogue audience who, having witnessed the miracle performed by Jesus, were struck with such awe that led them to proclaim the good news far and wide.
The life and power of Jesus impacted those unbelievers to such an extent that they not only believed but also immediately began to tell the news of God’s power through the Lord Jesus Christ. Likewise, we, as the Lord’s servants can impact our world with God’s power through our cultivation of the fruit and the gifts of the Holy Spirit so that those who do not believe will not only believe but will testify that God is real. When the world sees the reality of God and His power in the church, the world will reject humanism, Satanism, new age philosophy, occultism, false religion and the theory of evolution. They will come to the church’s door with their needs for an answer from Jesus.
One more aspect of the fame of Jesus that requires consideration is that this fame centered on Him. The news of what happened in the synagogue made neither the doctrine of deliverance nor any other man famous. Nor did that particular synagogue building become an object of veneration or a pilgrimage spot. Rather, the fame was about Jesus, His name, person and ministry. It is only in this perspective that God gets glorified.
Jesus ascribed all the glory to the Father, who in turn glorified Jesus for all eternity. Jesus, being God, did humble Himself to a shameful death, but God exalted Him and gave Him a name above all names - Philippines 2:7-10. We, likewise, as the servants of Jesus, do partake of the Lord’s fame; but we should not allow ourselves to be sidetracked by personal fame and glory.
There is no doubting the fact that many believers have received ministry gifts from God characterized by regular manifestation of the miraculous with a tremendous potential for power, fame, money and other forms of material rewards. However, we must resist the temptation to use these trappings for personal aggrandizement and instead glorify the Lord, focus on Him and publicize Him. Let us lift Him up so that He might continue to draw other sand us unto Him
Apostle Isidore Agoha is the Senior Pastor at Triumphant Life Church in the Bronx, N.Y.
www.tlcny.org | http://twitter.com/apostleagoha