As the series continues on what the Gospels show us on the Spirit, today’s post will focus on what Jesus taught about the Spirit in regards to ministry. What does it mean to minister in the Spirit? Many things can go into this ministry term. There are items like intercessory prayer, listening to the Father, obeying the Father, seeking God and obeying Him as He leads you.
These type of items lead us to think what is my ministry in my current environment? At the workplace or at home, what type of ministry has God called me to? This may change and there will be different seasons of ministry. One season, may be ministering to your family by encouragement, love, support, service, etc.
Maybe your ministry is at your workplace. My current situation, I work in an environment that is surrounded by people of the Hindu faith. I did not choose that type of ministry, but that is what God has currently called me to. It can be something grand like sharing the Gospel message with those around you. It could even be starting a lunchtime Bible study. Or inviting co-workers to church. But lets not forget the importance of the day-to-day and the minutiae of the daily grind. This is where the mission field comes alive. It is the being there for your fellow human, listening to their stories and what is happening in their lives. This is where the invitation to church and the sharing the Gospel message gets it footing. (Because I feel there may be some confusion on this sentence, let me explain. Anyone can go to a stranger and share the Gospel or invite someone to church without any problems. God will use that how He sees fit. For example, if on my first day [or week] of a new job, I invite people to church or share the Gospel, it could be met with some difficulty since the other person does not know me. But, as I do life with them and work with them, be an example, get to know them, it allows the invitation to have more traction because we have done some amount of life together. Their comfort with me and knowing I am not some weird person, will have them be more likely to listen to what I am presenting, plus it allows me to have that background on what their needs and struggles are. All that being said, when God calls you to something, it is best to obey and not delay).
God has put each of us in our current mission field. We may or may not have every expected this is what we would be doing. But as believers, we are all missionaries. We are all ministers. Ministry is not just for those in a church/parachurch organization. Ministry is part of our Christian faith. We are to follow God and obey Him in whatever our setting because He has put us there for a reason. As a believer, you are a minister. God has called you to something that He specifically designed you for. Let us live for God and embrace that ministry all in the power of the Holy Spirit. All we can do is obey, the results and the kingdom building is in God’s hands.
The first mentioned theme Jesus discusses about the Spirit’s teaching ministry is that of unveiling the prophetic Scriptures. “He will tell you what is yet to come.” (John 16:12-15). What also should be observed from this passage is the indwelling Spirit will glorify Christ rather than Himself. Also, the “all things” riches that are to be imparted are the things not only of Christ but also amplified to include the things of the Father.[1] A dominant theme in the John 14-16 discourse is Christ announcing that the coming of the Holy Spirit into the world would continue Jesus’ ministry.[2] When Jesus speaks of the Spirit’s coming, He is emphasizing the Spirit’s ministry of bringing truth to the saved (John 16:13) and the unsaved (John 16:8).
The promise and prayer of Christ to ask the Father to send the Spirit (Luke 11:13; John 14:16) to abide with believers forever is definitively answered. Christ introduces the theme regarding the work of the Spirit in this age that an unregenerate person cannot make an intelligent acceptance of Jesus as Savior until the preliminary work of the Spirit has enlightened an unsaved person’s heart (John 6:44).[3]
In order to enter the kingdom of God, one must be born physically (born of water) and spiritually (John 3:5-8). The second birth of the Spirit are evidence of the remarkable work that the Father does and continues to do in the regenerate person’s life.[4] “The words that I speak to you are spirit, and they are life,” (John 6:63; see also John 3:34) refers to the Spirit as a life giver and depicts Him as the source of spiritual birth. This section is important because it shows the Spirit active in Jesus’ proclamation and also necessary in the reception of the Christian message. John (7:39; 14:15-17) and Luke (11:13) present the Spirit as a gift of the Father conditioned upon belief in Christ in answer to His prayers. The Spirit indwells the believer and as He hears the divine instructions originating from Christ for the believers specific needs, the Spirit will convey that message to the one whom He abides in.[5] This includes the conviction of sin and call to repentance (John 16:8-11).
[1] Chafer, Systematic Theology, vol. 6, 223.
[2] Lewis Sperry Chafer, Systematic Theology, vol. 5 (Grand Rapids: Kregel Publications, 1993), 151.
[3] Ibid, 153.
[4] S. H. Mathews, “The Holy Spirit in the Gospel of John,” American Journal of Biblical Theology, accessed 25 January 2015, http://www.biblicaltheology.com/Research/MathewsSH01.pdf.
[5] Chafer, Systematic Theology, vol. 5, 156. Also see Chafer, Systematic Theology, vol. 6, 37.