David Alsobrook - Fulfill your ministry

Fulfill Your Ministry

David Alsobrook

Table of Contents

1 Fulfill Your Ministry
2 Calling and Election
3 The Talents and the Pounds
4 Guidelines
5 Enablings
6 The Gifts
7 Hindrances to Functioning
A Special Prayer to Be Used of God Today!

"Take heed to the ministry which thou hast received in the Lord, that thou fulfill it" (Colossians 4:11).

1 Fulfill Your Ministry

At recent meetings where I have been speaking, the Holy Spirit has led me to take an unofficial poll. I have asked these questions: "How many of you know what your function is in the Body of Christ?" "How many of you know the work God has called you to perform?" Whether the gatherings have numbered fifteen people or a thousand people, the percentage of those who know their calling has been about eight percent! If only eight percent of a natural human body were functioning, that body would probably be asleep!

Certainly it would be at ease, with most of its functions quiescent.

The Scripture makes it very plain that we are to minister to one another; we are to be faithful stewards of the manifold grace of God; we are to occupy until He comes; we are to give meat in due season; we are to watch. In addition to the Great Commission itself, we are to perform many more works in our Father's kingdom. We are to do greater works than Jesus performed while here on earth; we are to run a race, fight a good fight, complete a course, overcomeand win a crown. We certainly cannot accomplish any of these goals without an understanding of the will of the Lord concerning us.

What is our problem? Why is the Body of Christ functioning at such a low ebb? According to the parables of the talents and of the pounds, one main problem is fear ; another obstacle is a wrong concept of God and what He is requiring. Lack of knowledge and teaching on the subject of ministry is partially to blame, as is the lack of opportunity or encouragement of personal ministry in most Christian congregations.

Once during a meeting I had a vision. I saw the people in a room praising and worshipping God, and I saw within each person a beautiful gift. The gifts were all wrapped in gorgeous paper with beautiful ribbons and bows and ornaments. I thought the gifts were lovely. The Lord spoke to me saying, "Yes, these people have had these gifts, some of them for years and years; but, son, they have never unwrapped them. They have never opened their gifts." In the vision I was seeing dormant ministries, potentials never realized, opportunities never explored, chances to experience the operational power of God in their lives never witnessed. Functioning in the proper place in the Body brings with it a unique sense of fulfillment that nothing else in this life can bring.

Throughout this booklet we will be talking about "your ministry," or "my ministry," and in one sense this is proper. However, at the onset let us understand that there is no ministry except that of Jesus. In Acts 1, Peter mentions "this ministry" twice. All ministry is part of "this ministry" which began with the apostles and is continuing today. There is only one ministrythat of the Lord Jesus Christ, which He began and which He continues through His Body, the Church, and through its various members.

By several stratagems the enemy has robbed us of something God has given us and, what is more, of something for which God is going to require an accounting. Each of us has been given a deposit of divine grace over which we are to exercise stewardship. Most of us think of "unmerited favor" as the only definition of GRACE; however, the word GRACE also means "the operational power of God." Each of us has received a divine enabling to serve the members of the Body. This portion of grace is unique to each individual. No other member of the Body can fulfill another's function. If any member defaults on his/her particular job in the Body, that job will not be done.

2 Calling and Election

Before we talk about specific gifts, specific functions, and parts of the Body, let us take a look at two stories Jesus told: the parable of the TALENTS (Matthew 25) and the parable of the POUNDS (Luke 19), and at II Peter 1:10:

"Wherefore the rather, brethren, give diligence to make your calling and election sure; for if ye do these things, ye shall never fall. For so an entrance shall be ministered unto you abundantly into the everlasting kingdom of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ."

What exactly is our "calling" and what is our "election"? Paul referred to his apostleship as his "calling" in more than one Scripture. Your calling is your ministry, whereas your election is your personal relationship with the Father. The parable of the TALENTS refers to our calling; the parable of the POUNDS corresponds to our election. Because of the obvious similarities between these two, many people think they are simply two accounts of the same teaching. However, a careful study shows their differences are just as striking and enlightening as their similarities.

3 The Talents and the Pounds

"For the kingdom of heaven is as a man traveling into a far country, who called his own servants and delivered unto them his goods" (Matthew 25:14).

Jesus travelled into a far country called "earth," and He has delivered to us, His own servants, His goods. He has told us we are joint heirs with Him, that all authority is given to Him in heaven and on earth and that we are to "go, therefore, and teach all nations...." He has given us His authority. As He is so are we in this world. In Mark 4:28 Jesus said that "the earth bringeth forth fruit of itself," and James 5:7 confirms this thought. Jesus has left behind everything necessaryall the seed and all His goodsand now the earth brings forth fruit of itself.

In Matthew 25:15 one servant is given five talents, another two talents and another one talent; to every man according to his several ability. This is the clue to the parable.

A major difference between this parable and that of the pounds is that in the parable of the talents, the goods are distributed to the servants according to each servant's ability.

(The portion of His goods which has been distributed to you is your ministry.) First Peter 4:11 says that "if any man minister, let him do it as the ability that God giveth."

The word TALENT in this parable does not mean a musical or artistic ability or a particular trait or adeptness.

The word means "a weight of silver." One authority says the weight was about 75 to 80 pounds. So, a talent of silver is a considerable amount of capital. Certainly in Jesus' day it was wealth. Jesus' hearers understood Him to mean that the man delivered differing units of at least 75 pounds of pure silver to each servant. It was a vast treasure with which to earn additional wealth.

The Lord's own goods have been delivered to each of us for our ministry. Herein lies stewardship. There will be an accounting for each ounce of this "silver"; He requires us to return to Him those goods. He receives all things that in all things God may be glorified by Jesus Christ. It all goes back to God. A steward must give an account. First Corinthians 4:2 says,

"So let every one of us give an account to God as a good steward; moreover it is required in stewards that a man be found faithful."

Note in the parable of Matthew 25 that the greatest amount given was five talents. No saint has received more than five talents. Paul received five. Luther, Wesley, and other spiritual giants were probably five-talent men.

However, any six born-again Christians in the local congregation will have a greater amount of spiritual wealth collectively than any one of these men, because any group of six Christians will have a minimum of six talents of Jesus' goods.

We see that the five-talent servant and the two-talent servant both traded and doubled the wealth they received, but he that had received only one talent dug in the earth and hid his lord's money. Verse 19: "After a long time the lord of those servants cometh and reckoneth with them."