MINISTERING TO JESUS, SERVING MEN

It’s a wonderful privilege to minister to Jesus. So many people assume the title ministers of God. But who is a minister of God and what are the duties of ministers of God? Minister of God is usually used today as a title of honour rather than a description of our duties to the Lord. For example we use the title ministers of God to describe those who preach teach or prophecy the word of God. The word minister comes from the Greek word, diakoneo pronounced Dee-ak-on-eh’-o. This word means to be an attendant, that is to wait upon. It also means to serve usually used for the office of a deacon. Ministers in a broadly sense means servants. And even though this word minister is used in the church to describe the office of the deacons or pastors, in a general sense when it comes to our relationship with Christ, we are all ministers that is servants of Christ. In fact the Lord made it clear in Mark 10:43, that the way to be great in the kingdom of God is to take the position of servants, ministers.  The Lord warned His disciples against following the pattern of the world whose way is to exercise lordship and authority over the ones under them, Mark 10:42. He told them that their importance comes from serving others and not by lording over them, Mark 10:44. He pointed to Himself as an example in this regard, Mark 10:45. Jesus Christ hath taken the position of a servant among His disciples.

Today we are looking at how we can actively fulfil our responsibilities as servants to Christ. Jesus our Lord warned in our textual reading today that His final judgement will be based on how we fared in this office. First we are told in Matthew 25:31, “When the Son of man shall come in His glory, and all His holy angels with Him, then shall He sit upon the throne of His glory.” This is a reminder that in one of these days, the Lord Jesus will come back to this world. So many people have forgotten this all important truth. Many are living their lives as if the Lord is no longer coming back. Many have become mockers as apostle Peter wrote in 2 Peter 3:4; “And saying, where is the promise of His coming? For since the fathers fell asleep, all things continue as they were from the beginning of the creation.” But as we read this scripture today, let us be reminded that the Lord is coming back. We have an assurance from the book of Hebrews 10:37 saying, “For yet a little while, and He that shall come will come and will not tarry.” The beloved apostle James enjoined in James 5:7-9 to be patient unto the coming of the Lord. He asks us to be patient like the husband man who took time to wait for the precious fruit of the earth. Apostle Peter warned us against focusing on time as one day is with the Lord as a thousand years, and a thousand years as one day, 2 Peter 3:8.

After announcing the return of the Lord for the final judgment, we are then told the manner of the judgment of all the people all over the earth. First, it talks about separation. The Lord will separate them one from another, as a Shepherd divided his sheep from the goats, Matthew 25:32. The Lord hath always been interested in the separation of those who are His from those who are not. In 2 Corinthians 6:17, The Lord called on all His chosen ones to live a life of separation. We are called to come out from among those who are not the Lords. As God children we have been sanctified made clean and so should not touch the unclean thing. God’s children are the children of the light and light and darkness do not mix together, 2 Corinthians 6:14. We should not be unequally yoked together with unbelievers because there can never be any fellowship between righteousness with unrighteousness, and no communion between light and darkness. We are told in 1 Thessalonians 5:5, that as God’s people we are the children of light and the children of the day, we are not of the night nor of darkness. It is therefore remarkable that the Lord will begin His final judgment with separation. We will make this work of separation easier for the Lord if we hath lived a life of separation unto Him here on earth.

Then we see that the Lord separates the people under two sections, the sheep on His right hand and the goats on His left. So in this life, we are either sheep or goats. Sheeps and goats differs in character. Sometimes they may look alike but what distinguishes them is their character. What makes us a sheep or a goat is our character. The Lord in John 10:27, the Lord describes the character of the sheep, “My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me.” So the sheep are those who take time to listen to the Lord. They are followers of the Lord. They are those who have the ability to discern the voice of the Lord from that of a stranger, John 10:5. They are the obedient followers of the Lord. While the goats are those that may look the look, but they do not listen to the Lord neither do they follow Him. They are the hypocrites who look religious but inside are ravenous wolves.

Now after the separation, the Lord called the sheep, those on his right hand to proceed to inherit the kingdom prepared for them of the Father from the foundation of the world. He told them that the Basis of their reward is due to the service they offered to Him while on earth. All through their lives on earth they found time to minister to Jesus that is serve Him. When they enquired to know how this was possible since they didn’t have the Lord practically with them. The Lord reminded them that the services they rendered to the needy ones among His family are services rendered to Him. In other words when we serve others especially God’s people we are serving the Lord. This is where all of us are called to be God’s ministers. Every service we give to one of the Lords people is a service done to Him and a service that will be rewarded of the Lord. Many times we do not do good to people because we are thinking that our good will not be seen nor rewarded but here the Lord makes it clear that everyone of those good we do to others are been recorded and will be rewarded in time. We are encouraged in Galatians 6:9 and 2 Thessalonians 3:13, not to be weary of well doing for in due season we shall reap, if we faint not. We are also told in 1 Thessalonians 6:10, “For God is not unrighteous to forget your work and labour of love, which ye have shewed toward His name, in that ye have ministered to the saints and do minister.” God takes keen interest in our work and labour of love towards the saints. Not only will God reward our services here on earth, but there is an eternal inheritance awaiting each one of us. Christianity is a practical act of love. That is what God showed us when He gave His only begotten Son to die for the world, John 3:16. We are to portray these acts of love to one another by practically serving them. James the beloved reminded us in James 1:27, “Pure religion and undefiled before God and the Father is this, To visit the fatherless and widows in their affliction, and to keep himself unspotted from the world.

Today I encourage you to become a servant of the Lord by giving your services to men