In pastoral calling, One must be sent into the harvest by God alone Matt. 9:38 KJV.
Who Is A Pastor?
As I also make my references to the life and implication of our contemporary ministers.
A minister (pastor) is God’s or Christ’s representative in this world. He is called out and separated from the world to carry the divine message of Christ to the world (lost souls) and to lead the people of God towards the path of righteousness as he prepares them to fulfil their ministry and reach their destination in life. A minister must be one who thirsts for righteousness and always hunger to save lost souls.
This should be his first assignment. A minister should not glory in his past achievement as every day is evidence that a minister should fight more, for his past victories are not enough. An understanding of life. History and Ministry of Apostle Paul will help ministers to understand better and be able to analyze the life of a true man of God.
This will also humble the minister for our reference apostle Paul said in Phil. 3:13 “Brethren I count, not myself to have achieved; but this one thing I do, forgetting those things which are behind, and reaching forth unto those things which are before.
Apostle Paul saw his achievements as not enough and yet struggle confidently to meet the standard of Christian living, even in the face of threats, dangers, and sickness. He faithfully disagreed to be stopped, not even his past achievement should slow him down. Rather, he kept pressing towards the mark for the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus.
The minister must always realize that he is primarily a servant. Apostle Paul described himself both as a servant of God and man. This work also deals primarily with the minister and his contemporary social ministry and character and problem.
Today ministers have been so busy looking for the lost coin. They don’t have time to be out looking for the lost sheep. My purpose for writing this project is in three folds since we are living in a day in which Christian morals and ethics as taught in the Bible and held by our church fathers have been largely abandoned and our philosophy of humanism, secularism, and existentialism has predominated in this generation.
My purpose is to prevent in this project those things lacking in most ministers as I hope that God will change us (ministers) into vessels of honour. The ministers should also know that they should not set their hearts on the earthly advantages, offered by the ministerial office.
They should beware of covetousness as a minister, for a man’s life consists not in the abundance of the things which he possesses. Let’s always look at Apostle Paul’s lifestyle, character, and ministry as we also emulate and live as our Lord Jesus Christ to the glory of God the father.
DEFICIENCIES OF HERMENEUTICS
(LACK OF KNOWLEDGE OF BIBLICAL INTERPRETATION)
It is no more hidden the way the ministers of our time live their lives in their way. Christ must be our standard both in ethical living and morals. We should know that suffering for the gospel is part of our calling for Christ himself suffered for us, leaving an example that we must follow in his steps 1Peter 2:2 (KJV). At times, we see ministers without genuine repentance and good theological background in hermeneutics being tempted as they become general overseers and presidents of churches, neglecting and refusing to serve, teach disciplined, coach, and followed up their members because their eyes are on the wealth coming from the flock forgetting to show themselves approved of God whether favoured or not.
Also, all incessant accusations and irregularities seen in the lives and ministers of many ministers in our society have led to the withdrawal and in some cases, the backsliding in the faith of some believers and also poised dangers and multiple problems to many upcoming young ones and called ministers of God. This bitter news has spread vastly in our generation causing great damage to some unbelievers considering giving their lives to Christ.
The ministers of Jesus should be emulated as Paul imitated Jesus 1Cor. 11:1 KJV. Jesus’ ministry was without spot and blemish and so lives and ministry of ministers such as Paul, John, Daniel, and others who had a successful ministries.
These ministers did not involve themselves in nasty and wicked behaviours like rape, fornication, adultery, acquiring fame, or power from the devil for signs and wonders, rather they rebuked and preached openly against such evil acts. In hermeneutics, they correctly interpreted the bible whether it attracted the favour of the people’s anger. How many ministers of our time can do these?
God used Apostle Paul a man like us and born of a woman, clothed with flesh to show us clearly that it is possible to have a good and spotless life if we are willing to follow Him. Therefore, I wish every minister of God should imitate and emulate Jesus Christ and His faithful ministry in our dispensation.
THE PURPOSE OF THIS POST IS TO:
1. Portray Apostle Paul’s life and ministry as a critical example of a man of God relying completely on HERMENEUTICS as he commands Timothy to follow suit; 2timothy 3:15-17 (…15 From infancy you have known the Holy Scriptures, which can make you wise for salvation through faith in Christ Jesus. . 16 All scripture is God-breathed and is useful for instruction, conviction, correction, and training in righteousness.
17 so that the man of God may be complete, fully equipped for every good work.…). Here Paul is demonstrating the power of correct interpretation (HERMENEUTICS) and living with God’s word in view.
2. To produce an acceptable work that will perfectly inform the young ministers in BIBLICAL INTERPRETATION.
3. Ministers of God live a dedicated life as they imitate the life and ministry of Christ as a module Operandi through Apostle Paul’s writings, life, and ministry. This will also build in ministers the love and care for the flock which the Holy Spirit has made them overseers Acts 20:28 KJV.
4. To correct the irregularities and the damage was done in the past by shepherds who devour the sheep kept under their custody, Matt. 7:20-23 KJV. Lacking the knowledge to rightfully divide the word of truth (2tim. 5:15- Study to show thyself approved unto God, a workman that needed not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth).
5. To let ministers of God know they didn’t call themselves but God did, so they can adore, teach and follow the doctrine of our Saviour r at all times Titus 2:10 KJV.
6. To equip for apologetics. A systematic study of the source of ministerial values and moral duties will enhance, clarify and equip ministers to defend the Christian faith in this world that is becoming more permissive.
NOTE CLOSELY
We have many books on the life and ministry of a man of God, but not specifically on the critical analysis of a true man of God with Apostle Paul as a case study. Particularly, this is to bring the realities in the life of Paul as a critical analysis of a true man of God. This is also to challenge the fallen ministers to awake and live a life acceptable and to present their bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable unto God which is their reasonable service, and not to conform to the world Rom. 12:1-2 KJV.
Question To Be Answered By Every Pastor.
1. Many great and true men of God succeeded in fulfilling their ministry because they studied, believed, and suffered for the gospel.
As a man of God, have I striven to fulfil ministry by believing and suffering for the gospel?
2. Every true man of God experiences hard times, hardship, persecution, trials, and temptation in their struggles to make heaven.
As a man of God, do I experience hard times, hardship, persecution, trials, and temptation in my struggles to make heaven?
3. Ministries and churches grow stage by stage (sometimes forward and sometimes backward) accompanied by great needs only met by total reliance on God Himself.
As a minister, is my Church growing stage by stage (sometimes forward and sometimes backwards) accompanied by great needs that are only met by a total reliance on God Himself?
4. Only God does the calling of a minister.
Is it God that calls me to be a minister?
5. A minister’s call is his Authority for exploits.
Do I rely on my call as authority for exploits?
6. Ministers fall sick and die young in our time because of disobedience to the Holy Spirit’s leading, spiritual deafness, and lack of knowledge (wrong biblical interpretation) Hosea 4:6.
Disobedience, spiritual deafness, and wrong biblical interpretation are part of the causes of sickness and untimely death in the life of ministers of our time?
7. The lack of proper theological education, and strive for wealth, position and fame have led many ministers to source for evil powers so they can do miracles, signs, and wonders, instead of waiting on God and remaining on their call.
Have lack of proper theological education, and the strive for wealth, position, and fame led many ministers to the devil for evil powers for miracles, signs, and wonders instead of waiting on God and remaining on their call?
The Importance Of Hermeneutics In The Call, Life And Ministry Of A Man Of God, Using Apostle Paul As A Figure.
{Understanding Pastoral call (A BIBLICAL SKETCH OF APOSTLE PAUL’S LIFE AND MINISTRY).}
According to Britannica.com, the young man holding the clothes of the Hellenists who stoned some of the apostles was a Jew named Saul, known as Paul today. He was from the city of Tarsus in the Roman province of Cilicia, in Asia Minor (today Turkey).
He was believed to have been around the year 3 AD. When he was born, his strict Pharisee parents dedicated him to the service of God. From age five to ten, he studied under his father a Jewish Pharisee as was the tradition of his time.
His father taught him the scriptures and traditions of the Jews. He was later sent to Jerusalem at about ten years old to attend the rabbinical school of Gamaliel who was the most famous rabbi of his time mentioned in the new testament (Acts 5:34). Gamaliel himself according to Wikipedia.org was a grandson to Hillel Hazeken Hanasi descendant of King David of Benjamin and Patriarch of the great Sanhedrin of Jerusalem and a great rabbi and woodcutter in his time.
During Paul’s mid-twenties, he went home to Tarsus. He was a strict Pharisee who never believed in Jesus Christ as the messiah. As an enemy of the gospel, mid-twenties, he went home to Tarsus. He was a strict Pharisee who never believed in Jesus Christ as the messiah. As an enemy of the gospel, during the persecution following the stoning of Stephen, Paul laid waste the churches and entered house to house, he dragged off men and women committing them to prison (Acts 5:3).
Sometimes later still breathing threats and murder against the disciples of the Lord, he requested that the Jewish authority send him to Damascus to persecute believers. It was only on his way to Damascus that the glorified Jesus appeared to him and Saul became as convinced as all Disciples of Christ (Acts 9:31) KJV. Following the high level of persecution of Christians and continuous imprisonment of Paul, he believed that Nicopolis (city of victory) also known as Achia Nicopolis the capital city of the Roman province of Epirus Vetus which is located in the western part of the modern state of Greece will be a perfect centre for spreading Christianity and stayed there for the winter and wrote Titus at Crete to join him there (Titus 3:12). In the year 67AD when Nero blamed the Christians of Rome for the great fire in the city, Nero ordered all Christians arrested and killed. While in Nicopolis, Apostle Paul was recognized by a roman officer as a leader of the Christian faith and he was arrested, and sent to Rome to be Martyrdom.
THE HISTORY OF APOSTLE PAUL’S MINISTRY
According to Britannica.com, this is the beginning of the Christian life and missionary career of the man better known to us as Apostle Paul, who became the father of the gentile mission and author of nearly one-fourth of the New Testament. For more than twenty years following his conversion was of the greatest importance to the life of the church. In these years, Paul made the following three very significant contributions:
A. On the three extension missionary journeys he made, he established the gospel in Asia Minor, Macedonia, and Greece. Among the churches he founded are: Ephesus and Corinth stand out both for their strategic situation and the length of time Paul laboured in them. While under arrest in Rome between AD 60 and 63, he was allowed to live in his own house. As a result of his long imprisonment and finally his martyrdom in Rome, Paul undoubtedly influenced Christianity in Rome also.
B. This preaching of the Gospel began as we have seen in a wholly Jewish situation. The first Christians were Jews and they were confirmed to live and worship in fa ew gatherings. The main difference between the Christian Jews and the traditional Jews was that the one who believed in Messiah who has come, was crucified, raised from the dead, ascended to heaven and that will come again.
The other believed in a Messiah who was still to come. The Christian Jews continue to observe temple worship, circumcision, the Sabbath, and all the other matters of the Mosaic Law. When the gospel went to the gentile, the Jewish Christians expected the gentile believers to receive circumcision before they will receive baptism. In short, they demanded that the gentiles become Jews before they could become Christians, to this, Paul did not accept this Jewish view, he held that gentile believers could be baptized as gentiles (Acts 15:1).
This disagreement between Jewish Christians and the gentile Christians lasted until the failure of Jerusalem to the Romans in AD70. Paul, therefore, did not live to see the failed triumph of his missionary theology. Throughout his ministry, he was opposed by the Jewish Christians. His letters to the Galatians show how great his work was endangered (Gal. 1:6-9). Sometimes he seemed to stand alone, nevertheless, he persisted to the end. A few years after his death, the breakdown of Jewish Christianity in Palestine and the increasing progress of the gospel outside Palestine removed the Jewish threat.
From then on, the church pushed its way to gain new victories and to face new enemies. Among Apostle Paul’s contributions to the universal church is his body of letters. Paul’s letter to the Romans is concerning teaching (from chapters one through eleven) and with conducts in chapters twelve through sixteen. Paul’s first letter to the Corinthians on the other hand is chiefly devoted to conducting, while also discussing important teachings like the resurrection of the dead and church unity.
PAUL’S MINISTRY AND EXPERIENCES
Reading online through watchristianswantoknow.com 3rd September 2012. I can exegetically state here that the great mysterious secrets of the amazing spirituality, power, knowledge, and success in the gospel work of Apostle Paul were his suffering for Christ.
There was a man who has not only counted all things for losing Phil. 3:7-8. He hungered, he thirsted, was naked and buffeted has no certain dwelling place worked with his own hands, was reviled, persecuted, defamed 1Cor. 4:11-13. He seems to glory in afflictions, for there are many long passages of the Bible that described what he suffered for Christ’s sake. Afflictions, infirmities, necessities, persecution, distress, reproaches, stripes, imprisonment, turmoil, fasting, stoning, ship-wrecks, and perils are set fort in 2Cor. 6:4-10, 11:23-30 and 12:5-10. All these left marks in the body of Apostle Paul which he referred to in Gal. 6:17.
His life was in line with the Gospel as we read that all they will live Godly life in Christ Jesus shall suffer persecution 2Tim. 3:12. This gospel passage then means and implies a charge to us either that our lives are not Godly enough to provoke persecution or there is no Godliness in our lives at all if it does not provoke persecution.
Could it be that in our failure to suffer for Christ’s sake, we have closed for ourselves the doors into greater knowledge, effective preaching exercise of the gifts of the spirit, and the supernatural signs and wonders accomplished in Paul’s life and ministry? In his last epistles, he rejoiced that he was delivered from Nero’s power and declared that it was by him the preaching might be fully known 2Tim. 4:17.
Another tactic which Paul employed was to go into areas where the gospel has not yet been preached Rom. 15:20-23, 2Cor. 10:13,16. He also explained to his converts every doctrine and phase of the gospel which was committed to him Acts 20:20,27, 1Thess. 3:4-2, 2:5. These are methods used by Apostle Paul which are still appropriate and effective in the propagation of the gospel today.
thanks for joining this intense study. I shall stop here for now till the next update.
From this part of the world, It is all thanks and be rupturable, from pastor Godstrong.
I SHALL STOP HERE FOR NOW, TILL THE NEXT UPDATE.
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