Kingdom Guidelines For The Lord's Minister #1

God has called you to be His ambassador to the world. He has given you the ministry of delivering the message of God to the whole world, the message of reconciliation. No greater call could ever be issued; no higher position could ever be held. Note two significant points.

a) You are given the highest of titles: you are an "ambassador for Christ." The "ambassador" (presbeuomen) is a person who is sent forth as an official envoy to represent the Sender and to announce the message of the Sender. Four things are always true about the ambassador.

• You belong to the One who sent you out.

• You are commissioned to be sent out. You exist only for the purpose for which you were sent.

• You possess all the authority and power of the One who sent you out.

• You are sent forth with the message of the Sender. The message is not your own.

b) You are given the greatest of messages: "Be reconciled to God." The message is so critical that you are to "beseech" (deometha) men: beg, intreat, cry, and plead with them to be reconciled to God.

Note that it is "for Christ’s sake" that you are to plead with men. Christ has paid the ultimate price to make reconciliation available to men: He has taken the sins of men upon Himself and borne the condemnation for them. Because He has done so much, every person owes his life to Christ—every person should be reconciled to God. For Christ’s sake, a person should give himself to God.

What Your Aim as a Minister Must Be

As a minister, the aim—the target and mark—of your life is clearly spelled out in Scripture. You are to set your life upon these goals. You are to adopt these goals and be utterly consumed with reaching them.

1. You must know, believe, and understand God.

"Ye are my witnesses, saith the LORD, and my servant whom I have chosen: that ye may know and believe me, and understand that I am he: before me there was no God formed, neither shall there be after me" (Isaiah 43:10).

This is the reason God created you, saved you, and called you into the ministry: that you may know, believe, and understand Him.

a) Your aim must be to know God: know Him personally and intimately—grow to know Him more and more as you walk day by day.

b) Your aim must be to believe God.

• Believe His love for the world.

• Believe His salvation and call.

• Believe His promise of eternal life.

• Believe His Word, the Holy Scriptures.

• Believe He is with you no matter the trial or temptation: that He will never forsake you, that He cares for you and is looking after you.

• Believe He has called and commissioned you to proclaim His Word to a lost and dying world, a world reeling in desperate need.

c) Your aim must be to understand God.

• Understand that He alone is God, the only living and true God, the Sovereign Lord and Majesty of the universe.

• Understand that God is loving as well as holy and righteous—that God is merciful and gracious as well as just—that God will forgive sin as well as judge sin.

• Understand that God loves and cares for man, that He has demonstrated His love in the most supreme way possible: He has given His Son to die for sin so that whoever believes in Him might not perish but have everlasting life.