- The minister is first called to minister to the Lord.“Now take Aaron your brother, and his sons with him, from among the children of Israel, that he may minister to Me as priest…”(Exodus 28:1).
- The minister is anointed and consecrated.“And you shall anoint Aaron and his sons, and consecrate them, that they may minister to Me as priests”(Exodus 30:30).
- The minister can minister through music.“They were ministering with music before the dwelling place of the tabernacle of meeting, until Solomon had built the house of the LORD in Jerusalem, and they served in their office according to their order”(1 Chron. 6:32).
- Ministers are appointed.“And he appointed some of the Levites to minister before the ark of the LORD, to commemorate, to thank, and to praise the LORD God of Israel”(1 Chron. 16:4).
- Ministers are ones who are set apart for God’s service.Aaron was set apart, he and his sons forever, that he should sanctify the most holy things, to burn incense before the LORD, to minister to Him, and to give the blessing in His name forever”(1 Chron 23:13).
- Ministers are authorized to receive offerings.“For the children of Israel and the children of Levi shall bring the offering of the grain, of the new wine and the oil, to the storerooms where the articles of the sanctuary are, where the priests who minister and the gatekeepers and the singers are; and we will not neglect the house of our God”(Nehemiah 10:39).
- Ministers are a cause for rejoicing.“…Judah rejoiced over the priests and Levites who ministered”(Nehemiah 12:44).
- Ministers are to give God pleasure.“Bless the LORD, all you His hosts, You ministers of His, who do His pleasure”(Psalm 103:21).
- Ministers should be on-fire for God.“Who makes His angels spirits, His ministers a flame of fire”(Psalm 104:4).
- Ministers stand as intercessors between God and His people.“Let the priests, who minister to the LORD, Weep between the porch and the altar; Let them say, “Spare Your people, O LORD, And do not give Your heritage to reproach…”(Joel 2:17).
- Ministering to the poor is like ministering to Jesus.“Then they also will answer Him, saying, ‘Lord, when did we see You hungry or thirsty or a stranger or naked or sick or in prison, and did not minister to You?”(Matthew 25:44).
- Women ministered to Jesus’ needs.“And many women who followed Jesus from Galilee, ministering to Him, were there looking on from afar”(Matthew 27:55).
- Ministers are called to “minister the word.”“just as those who from the beginning were eyewitnesses and ministers of the word delivered them to us”(Luke 1:2).
- Being called to minister to others begins with a time of ministering to the Lord.“As they ministered to the Lord and fasted, the Holy Spirit said, “Now separate to Me Barnabas and Saul for the work to which I have called them.”(Acts 13:2).
- Paul was personally called by Jesus to be a minister.“But rise and stand on your feet; for I have appeared to you for this purpose, to make you a minister and a witness both of the things which you have seen and of the things which I will yet reveal to you”(Acts 26:16).
- The call to ministry is a gift given by grace.“Having then gifts differing according to the grace that is given to us, let us use them: if prophecy, let us prophesy in proportion to our faith;or ministry, let us use it in our ministering; he who teaches, in teaching; he who exhorts, in exhortation; he who gives, with liberality; he who leads, with diligence; he who shows mercy, with cheerfulness” (Romans 12:6-8).
- Politicians and rulers are “ministers” of God.“For rulers are not a terror to good works, but to evil. Do you want to be unafraid of the authority? Do what is good, and you will have praise from the same.For he is God’s minister to you for good. But if you do evil, be afraid; for he does not bear the sword in vain; for he is God’s minister, an avenger to execute wrath on him who practices evil” (Romans 13:3-5).
- Ministers minister Jesus Christ and the Gospel.“that I might be a minister of Jesus Christ to the Gentiles, ministering the gospel of God, that the offering of the Gentiles might be acceptable, sanctified by the Holy Spirit”(Romans 15:16).
- Ministry is more than spiritual enlightenment, it is also physical help.“For if the Gentiles have been partakers of their spiritual things, their duty is also to minister to them in material things”(Romans 15:27).
- God uses ministers to bring people to salvation.“Who then is Paul, and who is Apollos, but ministers through whom you believed, as the Lord gave to each one?”(1 Corinthians 3:5).
- We are ministers of the new covenant.“…who also made us sufficient as ministers of the new covenant, not of the letter but of the Spirit; for the letter kills, but the Spirit gives life”(2 Corinthians 3:6).
- God has given us the “ministry of reconciliation.”“Now all things are of God, who has reconciled us to Himself through Jesus Christ, and has given us the ministry of reconciliation”(2 Corinthians 5:18).
- We are ministers of Christ.“Are they ministers of Christ?—I speak as a fool—I am more…”(2 Corinthians 11:23).
- We become ministers according to the gift of God’s grace.“I became a minister according to the gift of the grace of God given to me by the effective working of His power”(Ephesians 3:7).
- We are ministers of the Gospel.“the hope of the gospel which you heard, which was preached to every creature under heaven, of which I, Paul, became a minister”(Col 1:23).
- The ministry is a stewardship.“…I became a minister according to the stewardship from God which was given to me for you…”(Col. 1:25).
- We must “take heed” to the ministry God has given us.“Take heed to the ministry which you have received in the Lord, that you may fulfill it.”(Col. 4:17).
- God wants to put faithful men into ministry.“I thank Christ Jesus our Lord who has enabled me, because He counted me faithful, putting me into the ministry”(1 Timothy 1:12).
- It is possible to be a “good minister.”“If you instruct the brethren in these things, you will be a good minister of Jesus Christ, nourished in the words of faith and of the good doctrine which you have carefully followed”(1 Timothy 4:6).
- God will not forget our ministry.“For God is not unjust to forget your work and labor of love which you have shown toward His name, in that you have ministered to the saints, and do minister”(Hebrews 6:10).
- We are to use our gifts to minister to one another.“As each one has received a gift, minister it to one another, as good stewards of the manifold grace of God”(1 Peter 4:10).
- We are to minister to the best of our ability.“If anyone speaks, let him speak as the oracles of God. If anyone ministers, let him do it as with the ability which God supplies, that in all things God may be glorified through Jesus Christ, to whom belong the glory and the dominion forever and ever. Amen.” (1 Peter 4:11).
ABOUT DANIEL KING
Evangelist Daniel King, D.Min is on a mission to lead people to Jesus. He has visited over seventy nations preaching good news and he has led over two million people in a salvation prayer. He is often called “The Evangelism Coach.” To support King Ministries in our quest for souls, click here!