Ministry Ordination, Impartation through Laying on of Hands and Good Reasons to Avoid It?
Q: Is there any place in the Word of God that discusses a spiritual impartation through the laying on of hands of spiritual leadership with regard to being ordained? If so, is there any circumstance wherein we should not receive an ordination. Aside from the obvious open sins etc.
A: Yes, according to the word of God both in the Old Testament and New Testament Spiritual impartation happened when the God ordained leadership laid hands on God's chosen vessels who were trained to take the reigns to the next generation. Spiritual Impartation through the laying on of hands is a God ordained way of ordaining people in to ministry and to make people receive spiritual blessings that will start to manifest in all the five realms of existence [i.e. spiritual, soulish, physical, financial and social].
For example when Moses transferred His reigns of authority and rulership over the nation of Israel to Joshua who was his spiritual-son in the Old Testament, this is what the Bible says had happened when Moses laid hands , "Now Joshua the son of Nun was full of the spirit of wisdom, for Moses had laid his hands on him; so the children of Israel heeded him, and did as the LORD had commanded Moses." (Deut 34:9). The impartation made Joshua to be filled to the full with the spirit of wisdom in such a way that the words of Joshua was heeded by the children of Israel.
Then in the New Testament Paul reminded his spiritual apostolic-son about the impartation that tangibly happened when he laid his hand on him in the past by saying, "Do not neglect the gift that is in you, which was given to you by prophecy with the laying on of the hands of the eldership." (1 Tim 4:14). This preceding verse shows that this impartation of the gift for a powerful ministry happened when Timothy was ordained publicly by Paul and the apostolic eldership group in the Church. Two things supernaturally happened to Timothy when he was ordained for his ministry, first when they gathered together to ordain Timothy by faith, the Spirit of God moved upon Paul and the team of apostolic eldership, that they all gave prophecies regarding the type of ministry, his gift and his future ministry that God has planned for him. Then secondly, they laid hands on Timothy by faith to impart the gift spoken by them already through prophecy and empower him like in the case of Joshua by Moses in the Old Testament.
How can we be sure that Paul and the team of eldership spoke about Timothy's type of ministry, his gift and his future ministry that God has planned for him? Because in 1 Tim 1:18-19 Paul said, "18 This charge I commit to you, son Timothy, according to the prophecies previously made concerning you, that by them you may wage the good warfare, 19 having faith and a good conscience, which some having rejected, concerning the faith have suffered shipwreck." In other words Apostle Paul was saying, "My beloved spiritual son Timothy, I give to you the apostolic commission to reach this generation for Jesus, through the prophecies that I have already spoken over you to achieve greatness in your apostolic ministry. The outline of God's pre-planned future blue print that I gave you through prophecy, wage good warfare through prayer so that you might be empowered to succeed in all of God's fore ordained-plans for you. Don't forget to keep believing for God to fulfill His promise and also make sure that your motives and the means through which you fulfill God's plan are right before God and men. Some people who have received prophecy have tried to fulfill it through their own soulish strength, without right motives and legal God-ordained means, and have thus caused extreme damage to their whole eternal destiny in God."
When Timothy was discouraged greatly because of all the opposition that came against him within the Church, he felt inadequate to minister to the saints. At the point of time, Apostle Paul again encouraged him saying, "6 Therefore I remind you to stir up the gift of God which is in you through the laying on of my hands. 7 For God has not given us a spirit of fear, but of power and of love and of a sound mind." (2 Tim 1:6-7). Here Paul was saying Timothy to meditate upon the word of God and remember his prophecies that God had given to him personally, so that the power to fulfill God's destiny for himself within the Church might take over his life. This clearly reveals that New Testament way of ordaining people in to ministry happens through the Apostles and the Church eldership. The supernatural means the Apostles and the Church eldership should use for ministry ordination is to prophecy about their future and impart the gift of ministry through the laying on of hands by faith. This is the legal apostolic vehicle for impartation.
The circumstances we should not receive an ordination is when,
1) People do it with a spirit of Balaam in covetousness which is absolutely wrong in the sight of God. These people will ordinate people in to ministry more as a means to increase in wealth. It is a wrong doctrine that influences and deceives these people. These people will say and allow licentiousness as long as they can swindle and milk much money from God's people (Rev 2:14). Avoid these people with improper motives.
2) People have a God-given gift but do not have the maturity to guide people in to their destiny. For example, they will be able to prophecy to you accurately about your future which God has for you, but when you approach them to guide you in to it when you are discouraged in ministry like Timothy, they will have not much wisdom to encourage you or to make you grow in to maturity. These people will always be ready to put you in to ministry as long as they feel that their ministry is growing rapidly. They will not care whether you are growing spiritually or not, but will be much concerned about the size and the wealth of the flock. The warning to such people was given by Apostle Paul nearly two thousand years back itself, when he gave this advise to his spiritual son Timothy saying, "Do not lay hands on anyone hastily, nor share in other people’s sins; keep yourself pure." (1 Tim 5:22). In other words, Paul was telling Timothy not to ordain people in to ministry without making sure that they are growing well spiritually to be stable and humble before God, the five-fold ministers and eldership team in the Church, saints of God and those who are outside the Church (Eph 4:11; 1 Peter 5:5-6). Otherwise if they ordain without checking the maturity of the saints, they will be kept accountable by God for other people's sin which they do and misuse under the anointing that was imparted through them. It makes their whole ministry impure before God.
3) People who does not exhibit fruit of the Spirit in their lives and might not be a genuine born-again person, these people will have an anointing to ordain people because of the Call of God over their lives (Rom 11:28-29), but they themselves might not have a genuine experience of receiving Jesus as their Lord and Savior (Matt 7:15-23). There are two types of people who are in this category. They are (a) People who do not have the basic "doctrines of Christ" right (2 John 9-10), and therefore can easily be identified as false teachers and prophets and be avoided. (b) People with right doctrines but have no fruit at all. These are the people who use smooth and subtle godly language to deceive people that they are genuine, but they will deny the power of God to take hold of their hearts to convict them that they are sinners in need of a Savior (2 Tim 3:5). These men will practice sin in their lives without a single bit of remorse for doing it (Gal 5:19-24). They will have no conviction of sin because of a hardened state of their heart (John 16:8-9; Matt 13:18-19; Prov 1:24-32; 28:14; Rom 1:28-32; 2 Thes 2:11-12). Be wise by depending on God and from such people turn away! It is our responsibility to test people and find the spirit and motive behind them (1 John 4:1; Heb 5:13-14).
4) People who do not exhibit the power of God but have only tradition and talk to deceive and make people think that they are great men. They might be at times be great men before people, but not before God. This is the reason Apostle Paul challenged the men who opposed him and his ministry in the Corinthian Church, and also spread false rumours about the authenticity of his apostolic ministry, he refuted saying, "18 Now some are puffed up, as though I were not coming to you. 19 But I will come to you shortly, if the Lord wills, and I will know, not the word of those who are puffed up, but the power. 20 For the kingdom of God is not in word but in power." (1 Cor 4:18-20). May God's mighty power to be a witness, be the witness for us to receive ordination from men (Acts 1:8; 6:1-7).
5) If you are not able to establish a good fatherly connection with those who will ordain you, it is better you avoid them before you end up in a mess, trusting that they will lead you in to the destiny God has for you. First be humble enough to learn from them, if it is God who has brought you under a spiritual-father. But at the same time, if they try to control and use you for their own fulfillment without exhibiting the pure unconditional love of God, it shows that they cannot lead you in to the destiny God has for you (2 Cor 12:14-15; 1 Thes 2:6-8). Be innocent with much humbleness in you and at the same time also be shrewd and wise in God (Matt 10:16)! If you don't fit in to a place and are not joyful doing the ministry of God in freedom, move on and be in the place where you feel great satisfaction, freedom to dream big in God and where you grow spiritually mature in love. Sometimes God may keep you under a teacher for a particular time who might not be a spiritual-father and then he might move you further in to your own ministry, recognize the season and move on by faith without any remorse for what people might think of you. But be thankful to God and the people if they ever had been a blessing to you.
On the other side of ordination, if there is no spiritual maturity in the person who receives the ordination, and he has no concrete faith and conviction that he is called in to that particular ministry that he is going to be ordained, it is better to delay himself in to getting ordained until God confirms to him clearly through His word, vision and dreams, circumstances, people and His peace with a small still inner voice of clarity. When God gives the confirmation, he can start to wage warfare through faith to fulfill his ministry. Blessings......
A: Yes, according to the word of God both in the Old Testament and New Testament Spiritual impartation happened when the God ordained leadership laid hands on God's chosen vessels who were trained to take the reigns to the next generation. Spiritual Impartation through the laying on of hands is a God ordained way of ordaining people in to ministry and to make people receive spiritual blessings that will start to manifest in all the five realms of existence [i.e. spiritual, soulish, physical, financial and social].
For example when Moses transferred His reigns of authority and rulership over the nation of Israel to Joshua who was his spiritual-son in the Old Testament, this is what the Bible says had happened when Moses laid hands , "Now Joshua the son of Nun was full of the spirit of wisdom, for Moses had laid his hands on him; so the children of Israel heeded him, and did as the LORD had commanded Moses." (Deut 34:9). The impartation made Joshua to be filled to the full with the spirit of wisdom in such a way that the words of Joshua was heeded by the children of Israel.
Then in the New Testament Paul reminded his spiritual apostolic-son about the impartation that tangibly happened when he laid his hand on him in the past by saying, "Do not neglect the gift that is in you, which was given to you by prophecy with the laying on of the hands of the eldership." (1 Tim 4:14). This preceding verse shows that this impartation of the gift for a powerful ministry happened when Timothy was ordained publicly by Paul and the apostolic eldership group in the Church. Two things supernaturally happened to Timothy when he was ordained for his ministry, first when they gathered together to ordain Timothy by faith, the Spirit of God moved upon Paul and the team of apostolic eldership, that they all gave prophecies regarding the type of ministry, his gift and his future ministry that God has planned for him. Then secondly, they laid hands on Timothy by faith to impart the gift spoken by them already through prophecy and empower him like in the case of Joshua by Moses in the Old Testament.
How can we be sure that Paul and the team of eldership spoke about Timothy's type of ministry, his gift and his future ministry that God has planned for him? Because in 1 Tim 1:18-19 Paul said, "18 This charge I commit to you, son Timothy, according to the prophecies previously made concerning you, that by them you may wage the good warfare, 19 having faith and a good conscience, which some having rejected, concerning the faith have suffered shipwreck." In other words Apostle Paul was saying, "My beloved spiritual son Timothy, I give to you the apostolic commission to reach this generation for Jesus, through the prophecies that I have already spoken over you to achieve greatness in your apostolic ministry. The outline of God's pre-planned future blue print that I gave you through prophecy, wage good warfare through prayer so that you might be empowered to succeed in all of God's fore ordained-plans for you. Don't forget to keep believing for God to fulfill His promise and also make sure that your motives and the means through which you fulfill God's plan are right before God and men. Some people who have received prophecy have tried to fulfill it through their own soulish strength, without right motives and legal God-ordained means, and have thus caused extreme damage to their whole eternal destiny in God."
When Timothy was discouraged greatly because of all the opposition that came against him within the Church, he felt inadequate to minister to the saints. At the point of time, Apostle Paul again encouraged him saying, "6 Therefore I remind you to stir up the gift of God which is in you through the laying on of my hands. 7 For God has not given us a spirit of fear, but of power and of love and of a sound mind." (2 Tim 1:6-7). Here Paul was saying Timothy to meditate upon the word of God and remember his prophecies that God had given to him personally, so that the power to fulfill God's destiny for himself within the Church might take over his life. This clearly reveals that New Testament way of ordaining people in to ministry happens through the Apostles and the Church eldership. The supernatural means the Apostles and the Church eldership should use for ministry ordination is to prophecy about their future and impart the gift of ministry through the laying on of hands by faith. This is the legal apostolic vehicle for impartation.
The circumstances we should not receive an ordination is when,
1) People do it with a spirit of Balaam in covetousness which is absolutely wrong in the sight of God. These people will ordinate people in to ministry more as a means to increase in wealth. It is a wrong doctrine that influences and deceives these people. These people will say and allow licentiousness as long as they can swindle and milk much money from God's people (Rev 2:14). Avoid these people with improper motives.
2) People have a God-given gift but do not have the maturity to guide people in to their destiny. For example, they will be able to prophecy to you accurately about your future which God has for you, but when you approach them to guide you in to it when you are discouraged in ministry like Timothy, they will have not much wisdom to encourage you or to make you grow in to maturity. These people will always be ready to put you in to ministry as long as they feel that their ministry is growing rapidly. They will not care whether you are growing spiritually or not, but will be much concerned about the size and the wealth of the flock. The warning to such people was given by Apostle Paul nearly two thousand years back itself, when he gave this advise to his spiritual son Timothy saying, "Do not lay hands on anyone hastily, nor share in other people’s sins; keep yourself pure." (1 Tim 5:22). In other words, Paul was telling Timothy not to ordain people in to ministry without making sure that they are growing well spiritually to be stable and humble before God, the five-fold ministers and eldership team in the Church, saints of God and those who are outside the Church (Eph 4:11; 1 Peter 5:5-6). Otherwise if they ordain without checking the maturity of the saints, they will be kept accountable by God for other people's sin which they do and misuse under the anointing that was imparted through them. It makes their whole ministry impure before God.
3) People who does not exhibit fruit of the Spirit in their lives and might not be a genuine born-again person, these people will have an anointing to ordain people because of the Call of God over their lives (Rom 11:28-29), but they themselves might not have a genuine experience of receiving Jesus as their Lord and Savior (Matt 7:15-23). There are two types of people who are in this category. They are (a) People who do not have the basic "doctrines of Christ" right (2 John 9-10), and therefore can easily be identified as false teachers and prophets and be avoided. (b) People with right doctrines but have no fruit at all. These are the people who use smooth and subtle godly language to deceive people that they are genuine, but they will deny the power of God to take hold of their hearts to convict them that they are sinners in need of a Savior (2 Tim 3:5). These men will practice sin in their lives without a single bit of remorse for doing it (Gal 5:19-24). They will have no conviction of sin because of a hardened state of their heart (John 16:8-9; Matt 13:18-19; Prov 1:24-32; 28:14; Rom 1:28-32; 2 Thes 2:11-12). Be wise by depending on God and from such people turn away! It is our responsibility to test people and find the spirit and motive behind them (1 John 4:1; Heb 5:13-14).
4) People who do not exhibit the power of God but have only tradition and talk to deceive and make people think that they are great men. They might be at times be great men before people, but not before God. This is the reason Apostle Paul challenged the men who opposed him and his ministry in the Corinthian Church, and also spread false rumours about the authenticity of his apostolic ministry, he refuted saying, "18 Now some are puffed up, as though I were not coming to you. 19 But I will come to you shortly, if the Lord wills, and I will know, not the word of those who are puffed up, but the power. 20 For the kingdom of God is not in word but in power." (1 Cor 4:18-20). May God's mighty power to be a witness, be the witness for us to receive ordination from men (Acts 1:8; 6:1-7).
5) If you are not able to establish a good fatherly connection with those who will ordain you, it is better you avoid them before you end up in a mess, trusting that they will lead you in to the destiny God has for you. First be humble enough to learn from them, if it is God who has brought you under a spiritual-father. But at the same time, if they try to control and use you for their own fulfillment without exhibiting the pure unconditional love of God, it shows that they cannot lead you in to the destiny God has for you (2 Cor 12:14-15; 1 Thes 2:6-8). Be innocent with much humbleness in you and at the same time also be shrewd and wise in God (Matt 10:16)! If you don't fit in to a place and are not joyful doing the ministry of God in freedom, move on and be in the place where you feel great satisfaction, freedom to dream big in God and where you grow spiritually mature in love. Sometimes God may keep you under a teacher for a particular time who might not be a spiritual-father and then he might move you further in to your own ministry, recognize the season and move on by faith without any remorse for what people might think of you. But be thankful to God and the people if they ever had been a blessing to you.
On the other side of ordination, if there is no spiritual maturity in the person who receives the ordination, and he has no concrete faith and conviction that he is called in to that particular ministry that he is going to be ordained, it is better to delay himself in to getting ordained until God confirms to him clearly through His word, vision and dreams, circumstances, people and His peace with a small still inner voice of clarity. When God gives the confirmation, he can start to wage warfare through faith to fulfill his ministry. Blessings......
Posts
No comments:
Post a Comment