In fact all heros of faith in scripture had divine appointments of some sort, either with God, a prophet of God or an angel of God.
Divine appointments are God's acts of love to certain people He has chosen for a position,a post or an assignment.
Divine appointments are events God schedules into the life of an individual that happens suddenly within a 24 hour period. It could come in the form of an angelic visitation, a prophetic encounter, a divine direction that leads to a blessing, an encounter with God or an anointing. True men of God are called by divine appointments not planned ordination services. Eg. Saul, David, Moses, Jesus Christ, Gideon, Jeremiah, Paul the Apostle to name a few.
Ephesians 4:11 lists the various positions or offices God appoints His children to in His spiritual service, namely the place of Apostles, Prophets, Teachers, Pastors and Evangelists, the purpose of these positions is to create order in the Body of Christ. God is a God of order, thats why He puts structures in place.
The marital union is an example of a place where God has put a structure in place 1 Corinthians 11:3, this is the pattern for marriage according to God irrespective of which part of the world the marriage is in and the laws on marriage in that region.
It is God who appoints people into the five fold ministry, not man! 1 Timonthy 1:1
Unfortunately we have many self styled 'masters' in the body of Christ who appointed themselves or were appointed by men or their denomination. This should not be!
An ordination service is not wrong if it is instructed by God, but ordination services as we see it in the body of Christ now adays are planned, and are for the purpose of being seen by the public. Infact many people and almost anyone can aspire to spiritual offices these days without being genuinely called of God as if it is a career.
People can join churches, get close to the leadership there, calculate how long they have to serve to be appointed to the position of an elder or deacon, give large offerings so as to be noticed and position themselves strategically to be seen. After a while the church feels obligated to nominate them to a Pastoral position because he or she knows some passages of the Bible!
In was not like that in Bible days. Men who were in spiritual offices were genuinely called, and their call was not the ordination services we arrange these days. Ordination services these days are put in place for man to see us but people who are good students of the Bible will know that many times God operates in secrecy.
Many who were anointed with oil for Kingship or spiritual positions didn't not plan it, they woke up and were going about their day, doing their thing but it was in the plan of God for them that day to be raised and blessed. Afterall, God is a God who daily loads us with benefits.
Saul and David who became Kings as permitted by God did not plan it, Solomon did not plan it, neither did Paul plan his conversion. I'm not against being anointed with oil, there is a place for that if God instructs it for you, but realize that not everyone was anointed with oil before they occupied the offices God put them in, an example of this is our Lord Jesus Christ who is the primary focus of the Bible and the only man we should look up to in our Christian walk. 'Looking unto Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith'.
So how do we know a man or woman who is truly called to function in a spiritual office? They will have a histroy of at least one unexpected divine appointment in their lives that points them to the spiritual work they should carry out by God. So look out for the history of ministers
Secondly they will have spiritual gifts at work in their lives. At least one. I Corinthians 12:1-11
Anyone who doesn't have at least one of those 9 spiritual gifts listed in 1Corinthians12:1-11 is not called by God or fit to serve in a five fold ministry capacity
I've often taught that God's power follows His instructions. What we need are God's instructions for our lives.
We shouldn't do things just because another man or ministry does it. We should only take steps because God has instructed it for us, what God instructs us to do is where our blessing are if we do it.
Comments
Post a Comment