SUCCESS IN MINISTRY
I have seen ministers rejoicing because of success in ministry and that's great. But those success rest in things that would fade away or that cannot stand the test of eternity. This success in ministry rest in large congregation, big amount of money that is entering, large estate, expansion of ministry in home and abroad. Can these be true success in ministry?
Success in ministry in God's perspective is quite different from success in ministry in man's perspective, but the one we have most is success in ministry in man's perspective.
It's bad success in ministry if when God will look down and examine the fruits, members of those ministries and found them wanting of the substance worthy of His Kingdom.
Are they built according to His pattern or according to man's pattern? Is the teaching there according to the Sound Word of God or the combination of lie and Truth that's common today?
It's not good success if God should examine the works and found no fruit that is perfect therein because they are all tainted with various sins or say, "AND I SOUGHT FOR A MAN AMONG THEM AND I FOUND NONE". And bad success is when the ministry is shouting and rejoicing because of great success but they have pushed Christ behind the door by their worldliness, worldly affinity and mammonism like the Church of Laodicea.
Good success is very rare and men rarely desire it because it doesn't suit their taste. The Lord Jesus Christ will not be deceived by large congregation of thousands running after Him after He had fed them with bread and fish, but He moved further to test them with the Bone and Meat of the Kingdom of God, which sent them away, and only eleven of them remained. That eleven people are true success of the Lord Jesus Christ, not the large crowd who were not willing to partake in the Life of the Son of God.
It's good success when the Lord examined the Church of Philadelphia and found them keeping His Word. That angel, I mean, the overseer of that Church of the Church in Philadelphia truly had good success, worthy of God's commendation.
Let us remember that, that which is highly esteemed among men is an abomination in the sight of God and as heaven is far away from the earth, so His Way and Thought different from our way and thought.
The ministers who are sparing some part of the scriptures because it's too hard to chew for him or his members cannot have be said to have good success, no matter the crowd following him or no matter what they have acquired through it. Those who are giving false prophecies to deceit the innocent, merchandizing them, compassing sea and land to make proselytes but teach them doctrine of devils cannot have good success in ministry no matter the wealth of influence and materials they have gathered from it. Those who are permissive with doctrine of Jezebel cannot have good success in ministry but bad one. The prosperity preachers who goals is to build the kingdom of the world cannot have good success in ministry.
Without preaching the Sound Word of God, building the people with Gold, Silver, and Precious Stone of the Word, there would be no good success but hay, stubble and wood that will be burned eventually.
TEST YOUR SUCCESS AND KNOW WHAT SORT IS IT
MAY THE LORD DIRECT OUR HEART TO HIS PERFECT AND ACCEPTABLE WAY IN THE PRECIOUS NAME OF JESUS. AMEN
