Prophets Pitfalls Principles THE 10 MS FOR MATURING

Prophets, Pitfalls, & Principles • THE 10 M’S FOR MATURING AND MAINTAINING MINISTRY AND DISCERNING TRUE AND FALSE MINISTRIES

The 10 m’s for maturing & maintaining ministry & discerning true & false ministries 1. Manhood (Womanhood) 2. Ministry 3. Message 4. Maturity 5. Marriage 6. Methods 7. Manners 8. Money 9. Morality 10. Motive

1. Manhood (or Womanhood) With Jesus in mind as the pattern, God had to make Adam and Eve first in His own image and likeness before they could perform their “ministry” in the garden of Eden. This is true for us: God wants to make us like Jesus before we can minister like Jesus did. God must make a man or woman before He manifests through him or her in a mighty ministry.

The Church race We aren’t destined to become God, as new age teaching would have it. But we are predestined to the image of Christ Jesus (Rom 8: 29). God created the man Adam to be the father of the whole human race. Abraham was called to be the father of the Hebrew race. But Jesus came to be the spiritual father of a new race of humankind called the “Church race. ” God made humanity in the garden of Eden the way He wanted the race throughout eternity: with a spirit, soul, and body conformed to God’s own image and likeness. God never intended for humankind to evolve into angels, cherubim, seraphim or God Himself. We will never become angels or God Himself, but we are called to become like the perfect man, Jesus Christ. Blood-washed, redeemed humankind is destined to be joint heirs with Christ (Romans 8: 17). There is no higher calling in all the universe than to be a new-creation member of the eternal Church race.

Make Christlike Character Your Aim For us to be godly – that is, like God – means for us to be like Jesus, who is our perfect pattern as believers and as ministers. That means we must be fully human as well. What does that mean? It means knowing how to walk in a natural way on the earth while walking in a supernatural way in the Spirit. Our flesh and bones, when cleansed by the blood of Jesus, move from being ‘sinful’ to ‘sanctified’ and become a dwelling place for the Holy Spirit. 1 Cor. 14: 1 “Follow the way of love and eagerly desire gifts of the Spirit…”

Make Christlike Character Your Aim “Make love your aim. ” We must make Christ’s character our primary aim, our ultimate goal as we minister. When Paul was telling the Romans about God’s ultimate intention for us, he didn’t talk about our position, our message, or our ministry. He spoke instead of our character: Rom. 8: 29 “For whom He did foreknow, He also predestined to be conformed to the image of His Son, that he might be a firstborn among many brethren. ” Our transformation into Christ’s image is what God is primarily after, so whatever happens to us, it is working together for our good toward that goal. (Rom. 8: 28)

Judging Ministers In judging true and false ministers, the quality of manhood or womanhood must be judged. We must evaluate ministers apart from their ministry, position, title, or gifting. IN such evaluation, we should ask ourselves, is the kind of person I would want to be my friend, neighbor, or co-laborer in God’s kingdom throughout eternity? People can have mighty ministries, yet operate in un. Christlike attributes that would very much make you not want to be around them. Character – Christlike Character is key! We are transformed by the “renewing of our minds” which brings the continual change into His image – taking us from glory to glory.

Romans 12: 2 2 Do 2 Corinthians 3: 18 18 And we all, who with unveiled faces contemplate the Lord’s glory, are being transformed into his image with ever-increasing glory, which comes from the Lord, who is the Spirit. not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is—his good, pleasing and perfect will.

2. Ministry The second area to which we must give attention if we are to mature in ministry is the fruits of that ministry. Jesus pointed to this area as He warned the disciples about false prophets who would come to them as ferocious wolves in sheep’s clothing. He said of true ministers that “by their fruit you will recognize them. ” (pg. 72 -74)

Matthew 7: 15 -20 True and False Prophets 15 “Watch out for false prophets. They come to you in sheep’s clothing, but inwardly they are ferocious wolves. 16 By their fruit you will recognize them. Do people pick grapes from thornbushes, or figs from thistles? 17 Likewise, every good tree bears good fruit, but a bad tree bears bad fruit. 18 A good tree cannot bear bad fruit, and a bad tree cannot bear good fruit. 19 Every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire. 20 Thus, by their fruit you will recognize them.

Function in Full Authority As New Testament ministers, it is time for us to function in the full authority given to us in Christ Jesus. 2 Corinthians 3: 6 6 He All that the Holy Spirit has been commissioned to be and do for the Church, the New Testament minister can minister to God’s people. Ministers who understand this truth, and are ministering Spirit the same they minister the letter of the Word are “prophetic ministers”. has made us competent as ministers of a new covenant—not of the letter but of the Spirit; for the letter kills, but the Spirit gives life.

Function in Full Authority All New Testament ministers need to become able ministers in the Holy Spirit to prove that they truly manifest the kind of ministry God intends for them. In light of this application of Paul’s words, all Christian ministers should be prophetic ministers, and all saints should manifest prophetic ministry. This is one reason Paul commanded the Corinthian Christians to “desire spiritual gifts” (1 Cor. 14: 1) and “covet prophesy” (v. 9), for we “may all prophesy (manifest prophetic ministry) one by one” (v. 31). Let’s all obey the admonition of Paul to make full proof ministry by properly ministering both the Word and the Spirit of God.

3. Message The Bible says we should be “speaking the truth in love” (Eph 4: 15). Paul tells us here that the message of a mature minister should first of all be life -giving present truth. It should present the Word of God in a way that is thoroughly scriptural, doctrinally sound, and well-balanced in the light of the full testimony of the Bible. Second, Paul says, the message should be spoken in love. Not just the content but also the spirit of the message should be right. It is possible to be doctrinally right, but spiritually wrong. For example, the Pharisees had the right doctrine, but their spirit, their attitude, and their relationship with God were all wrong. They were full of pride, narrowmindedness, and self-righteousness.

4. Maturity The Bible warns us not to place new Christians in places of leadership, but to wait until they have a chance to be proven and to mature (1 Tim. 3: 6). Even so, maturity does not come automatic with time. Traits of maturity in the Christian life are listed by Paul when he recites for the Galatians the fruit of the Spirit: love, joy, peace, patients, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control. (Gal. 5: 22 -23) In addition, we can add to this list the fruit of godly wisdom mentioned in James. Sadly when it comes to maturity, too many of us have missed the mark by not letting God change our hearts or learning from past trials and circumstances.

James 3: 13 -17 (NIV) Two Kinds of Wisdom 13 Who 17 But is wise and understanding among you? Let them show it by their good life, by deeds done in the humility that comes from wisdom. 14 But if you harbor bitter envy and selfish ambition in your hearts, do not boast about it or deny the truth. 15 Such “wisdom” does not come down from heaven but is earthly, unspiritual, demonic. 16 For where you have envy and selfish ambition, there you find disorder and every evil practice. the wisdom that comes from heaven is first of all pure; then peaceloving, considerate, submissive, full of mercy and good fruit, impartial and sincere. 18 Peacemakers who sow in peace reap a harvest of righteousness.

James 3: 13 -18 (TPT) Wisdom from Above 13 If you consider yourself to be wise and one who understands the ways of God, advertise it with a beautiful, fruitful life guided by wisdom’s gentleness. Never brag or boast about what you’ve done and you’ll prove that you’re truly wise. 14 But if there is bitter jealousy or competition hiding in your heart, then don’t deny it and try to compensate for it by boasting and being phony. 15 For that has nothing to do with God’s heavenly wisdom but can best be described as the wisdom of this world, both selfish and devilish. 16 So wherever jealousy and selfishness are uncovered, you will also find many troubles and every kind of meanness. 17 But the wisdom from above is always pure, filled with peace, considerate and teachable. It is filled with love and never displays prejudice or hypocrisy in any form 18 and it always bears the beautiful harvest of righteousness! Good seeds of wisdom’s fruit will be planted with peaceful acts by those who cherish making peace.

Truly Mature The truly mature person manifest the characteristics of the agape love of Christ. The love Paul describe to the Corinthians: patient, kind, not envious, not boasting, not proud, not rude, not self-seeking, not easily angered; not keeping a record of wrongs; not delighting in evil but rejoicing with the truth; always protecting, trusting, hoping, persevering; never failing (1 Cor. 13: 4 -8).

God is Looking for Faithful Servants - Faithfulness is also an important quality of maturity -

Theological Maturity Emotional and social maturity are only part of the picture. We have to grow in maturity in our theology and in our understanding of the Scripture. You have to ask yourself – Are we still ”infants, tossed back and forth by waves, and blown here and there by every wind of teaching and by the cunning craftiness of men in their deceitful scheming” (Eph. 4: 14)? Hebrews says that we must go beyond feeding on the “milk” of elementary teachings to the teaching of righteousness that is “solid food” for the mature, “who by constant use have trained themselves to distinguish good from evil” (Heb. 5: 12 -14).

Loving Jesus is the Key What is a mature person? Mature people are those who have overcome their character flaws. They have been delivered from their weed-seed attitudes and they are no longer subject to the ‘prophet syndromes. ’ We will never reach our full potential unless we allow God to bring our manhood or womanhood to maturity. The Bible reminds us of the necessity of continually growing until we reach full maturity. The Bible makes it clear that the key to maturity is loving Jesus Christ with our whole being and allowing Him to be the Lord of every area of our lives.

5. Marriage Another critical area that deserves our attention as ministers is our marriage and family life. God’s Word is clear: Our marriage is to reflect the kind of loving relationship we find between Christ and the Church (Eph. 5: 22 -33). Wives must respect and submit to their husbands even as husbands respect and live considerably with their wives (1 Peter 3: 1 -7). And husbands must love their wives with Christ’s kind of love – not lording it over them, but treating them as fellow heirs of the grace of God. Otherwise, our prayers – and our ministry in general – will be hindered (1 Peter 3: 7).

Our spouses should be our best friends. If we find that someone else is growing closer to us than our spouse, then we are in danger of an “emotional adultery” that could lead to worse things. Our home must be in biblical order. Our children must be well-disciplined and well-cared for (1 Tim. 3: 2 -5). But at the same time, we must not take our concern about our children’s behavior to the kind of extreme that demands they provide perfect models all the time “for the sake of the ministry. ” This kind of unrealistic expectation can lead to our children resenting and rebelling against local church, especially if they are also expected to make continual sacrifices “for the sake of the ministry. ” This is part of what Paul meant when he said: “Fathers, do not exasperate your children” (Eph. 6: 4).

Ministry Must Not Compete with Family (pg 80 -82) We must not allow the ministry to deny us adequate time and energy to build a healthy relationships with our children, as is all too often the case with ministers. If that happens, them we’re likely to learn the truth of a common formula for family disaster: Rules without relationship lead to rebellion. This takes us to the matter of priorities. The proper order of priorities in our lives is God first, spouse and children second, and ministry third. To keep this order intact, many times we must simply draw a line and decide that on a particular occasion, when ministry to others threatens to encroach on our ministry to our family, we must choose to favor our family.

This is true even in seemingly small matters. Take the telephone, for example. When we’re in the middle of dinner, a serious conversation with our spouse, or some other important family time, if the phone rings do we automatically jump up to answer it? If we do, then we may be saying to our family that the phone – and the people we minister to on the other end of the line – are more important to us than they are. There may be times when we must simply choose to let the phone ring. Otherwise, we may end up spending more time fathering others than being a true husband father to our wife and children– a true wife to our husband mother to our children. (page 81 -82) If we can’t care for our own household, how can we care for the household of God.