Ministry of the Word

What is the ministry of the word? Who is the minister of the word? Can sister be minister of the word too? These were questions fellowshipped over with the responsible brothers of the church in Delhi and Gurgaon with an elderly and experienced brother. 

Quotation from brother Watchman Nee's speaking was a great help in this regard:

• If we are willing to humble ourselves and accept everything under the discipline of the Holy Spirit, the result will be the ministry of the word.
• The fruit of the work of the Holy Spirit is the ministry of the word. 
• Where there is the discipline of the Spirit, there is the ministry of the word through the New Testament ministers. Everyone who is used by God is beaten and molded by God. 
• Once we acknowledge the discipline of the Spirit we will have fruit; we will have the speaking, the ministry of the word, and we will be able to supply others with Christ. 

All the environmental circumstances were and are sovereignly ordained by God. If one learns a lesson out of such a discipline of the Holy Spirit, one will be constituted with the ministry of the word to be the minister of the word.

I was enlightened to learn this precious truth about the discipline of the Holy Spirit producing the ministry of the word. This brings me to my attention of all the experiences the Lord is gracing me to gain Him and be beaten, shaped, and perfected to be the minister of the ministry of the word. 

Even sisters, like brothers, are also under the discipline of the Holy Spirit to become the minster of the word. Though they may not function in violation of the Lord's in 1 Timothy 2:12 "But I do not permit a woman to teach or to assert authority over a man, but to be in quietness."

Note on "teach" here: To teach here means to teach with authority, to define and decide the meaning of doctrines concerning divine truth. For a woman to teach in this way or to exercise authority over a man is to leave her position. In God's creation man was ordained to be the head, and woman to be in subjection to man (1 Cor. 11:3). In the church this ordination should be kept.

Still sisters can function among sisters themselves and still be minister of the ministry of the word.

This fellowship was so enlightening to this extend that I shared the same to a brother who has been undergoing some kind of serious dealing especially in financial matter. I forwarded the original message by brother Watchman Nee to him and encouraged him to seriously read and pray over the message, and text him further.

...., I sent a mail that has been a great help to many saints. Please find time to seriously read and pray over your situation that you are going through. 

All the environmental dealings of the Lord are aimed at beating us, shaping us, to become the minister of God's word. We must learn the lesson that God has ordained for us. Not willing to submit to the Lord's discipline will be a great loss. We should not let any "sufferings" go in vain. Rather, we must learn what needs to be learned and become a minister of the word. 

Much grace to you my brother.

Coincidentally, another brother posted a message on the same line:

We should learn to redeem the time to study the New Testament. When Brother Nee was a college student, he decided to read the New Testament fifty-two times in one year, that is, once a week continually for a year. He studied diligently and was one of the top students in his class. Nevertheless, he also endeavored to redeem his time in order to read the New Testament. Similarly, I can testify that although as an elderly man I need to rest for my physical health, I endeavor to redeem every moment so that I may fulfill my responsibility in the ministry of the word. (Witness Lee, Collected Works, 1984, Vol. 1, Living Stream Ministry, Anaheim, California, U.S.A. 2016, p. 65)  www.ministrybooks.org

My innate response was:

Yes brother. 

May we love the Lord and love His word; study the truth, pursue the truth and be constituted with the truth as revealed in the Bible through the help of the ministry. And may the truth becomes us that we be the ministers of the ministry of the word!

And later in my study of the Bible, a verse from 2 Timothy 4:5 further strengthened the burden.

But you, be sober in all things, suffer evil, do the work of an evangelist, fully accomplish your ministry.  

Footnote on "ministry" from the Recovery Version, the Holy BibleThe ministry of the word, which is to minister Christ in all His riches (Eph. 3:8) to both sinners and believers for the building up of the Body of Christ (Eph. 4:11-12). Such a ministry is desperately needed to counter the trend of decline, as prophesied in vv. 3-4.

Praise the Lord for His continuous speaking through different means on the matter of becoming a minister of the ministry of the word! This is the Lord's calling and His heart's desire. 

Lord, grace me to be a normal and proper minister of the ministry of the Word!

SOS Calls

After all the day's work I was on my prayer walk, to pray and fellowship with the Lord, when I received a missed call from an unknown number. I sensed that it could be an important call as the timing was not that of a general call. I called  back, and a sister panicked and requested me to visit them as they were in a hospital in South Delhi because her husband temporarily fainted with breathlessness. Her husband before being administered oxygen asked her to call "brother Palmei" immediately. Later, when he recovered from the temporary breathlessness he spoke to me over the phone narrating his critical situation. I took that as the Lord's sovereignty and told the brother that it was the Lord's wake up call to him to be revived in his Christian life and be recovered back to the normal church life. For this brother had come to Delhi for some mechanical training and had not been in fellowship with any saint nor with the church in New Delhi. Even while back home in Manipur, he was not regular either, though nominally was still in the church life. After a brotherly nourishing word, I cherished and comforted him not to be anxious but turn to the Lord in prayer instead. I prayed with him over the phone and promised to visit him the next day.

As I visited his family the following day, I released the burden of shepherding them to live a normal Christian life in the normal church-life. I encouraged them to enjoy the Lord every day in prayer, in reading the word of God, in family prayer together as husband and wife, and in fellowshipping with the saints in the church. They both agreed readily and amened my brotherly fellowship. As an exercise, we pray-read a verse, John 6:63, together and prayed together. After such fellowship I realised it was all the Lord's arrangement for them to be recovered back to the church life.  They both also confessed that the Lord had caused such circumstances because He loves them and wants to recover them. The ambiance of the group meeting was full of peace and satisfaction. It was truly indeed a wake up call to both of them, and they both realised it fully. Of course, I also advised them to do a proper medical check up too and offered my help to introduce them to a good doctor. 

Another emergency call came as I still was spending time for prayer. A brother called to apologize first, as he had taken a long leave officially due to his family problem, and also requested for further help in accommodation for him and his mother when they would get back to Gurgaon after their hometown visit to handle family matters. As a brother caring for another brother in the love of Christ, I encouraged him not to worry about my feeling even officially or otherwise. I told him that I understood his situation and would render all necessary help. Then I offered to pray together over the phone. As I prayed for him and his family that Christ would be magnified through him, and that Christ would gain the whole family,  and that the peace and rest of Christ may rest upon them, He amened all the phrases and sentences of my prayer. But after I finished my prayer, when he was about to pray, he just could not. Rather he broke down in tears and could not even complete a sentence of prayer. I waited and waited for him to release all his burdens, though without words, but will weeping and groaning. I sensed the deep agony and pain he has been through in his life. My only response was, comforting him with the fact that that the saints in the church in Gurgaon are praying for him and standing one with him. He was so gladful for the grace of Christ in the Body. The following day in my time with the Lord in the word, I felt led to encourage him with the verse I just enjoyed, and texted him this verse. 

And indeed all who desire to live godly in Christ Jesus will be persecuted. 2 Timothy 3:12

Both the distress calls, though serious in nature, were all the Lord's sovereignty for the gaining of Christ all the more. What was meant to be an SOS, save our soul, turned out to be SWOS, the Spirit with our spirit, for the exercise and enjoyment of Christ as grace. 

The Lord is exercising His multifarious wisdom to gain His beloved. And so He does things in the way He deems best. And to this, what can we say but Amen! 

Spiritual Discernment

And this I pray, that your love may abound yet more and more in full knowledge and all discernment, Philippians 1:9

Spiritual discernment is a necessity in serving the Lord, without which one can easily be fooled by the tricks and traits of the enemy resulting in unnecessary pains and losses. One often is rendered useless for lack of spiritual discernment. I need such a strong and sensitive spiritual discernment in my service. I confess I have wasted so much time and energy just because of my deficiency in spiritual discernment. As a serving one of the Lord, my love must abound in full knowledge and all discernment. 

An elder brother who I deem so highly for his sharp and sensitive spiritual discernment has fellowship this matter of spiritual discernment and it was such an eye opening to me. As he fellowshipped I was so convicted of my lack for spiritual discernment. Many incidents were brought to my memory in which I fell short in proper discernment and wasted my time and energy. I regretted deeply and wished that I could have exercised more wisdom. In may cases, I felt being cheated or played fool by the enemy for lack of spiritual discernment. Thank God for the Lord's timely speaking that awakened me. Some point of the brothers' fellowship are:    

We need to have a pool's eyes, meaning broad eyes, to see things clearly. The four living creatures in the Bible are full of eyes. We need such eyes with spiritual perceptions which are keen. In fact, this is a spiritual function. Without which, much of our service will be in the dark, as it was already in the dark. Because our experience and understanding are inadequate, our discernment could be raw, one sided, imbalanced or even outrightly wrong. Such wrong perception is because of wrong experience and wrong concepts. 

We have been fooled by self deception. How to live in full knowledge and all discernment? The yardstick for spiritual discernment is the knowledge of life and experience of life; the books on the same titles are guides for us to understand life. In our church life and service we need to have a keen discernment and understanding. Many things we cannot discern because we are color blind. If we have no discernment the world is just black and white. Spiritually we are affected by color blindness because of ignorance. Discernment must go hand in hand with discipline, to understand different condition.

What then is the panacea for lack of spiritual discernment? The Lord's dealing. The Lord's dealing makes one able to understand the real situation of people; one must go through a sever dealing and learning to be able have the full discernment. Another lesson to learn is, a need for listening to a lot of proper messages, to receive all the ingredients of the Lord's speaking, to be constituted with it, and live by it.  

In Mathew 13, the second kind of soil exactly explains the reason for lack of discernment. There must be a thorough dealing with the hidden rocks within, a thorough consecration. The deeper the root of the seed is, the stronger the plant will become. All hidden rocks in the soil must be dealt with one by one to clear off all obstacles to be able to have a proper spiritual sight and discernment.

This fellowship was very useful particularly to me. As I have been experiencing different situations in which I felt I should have exercised more wisdom before I made certain decisions. Every time a matter was decided I realised that I had been fooled to some extend. I am not too sure either if I were actually fooled or not, though I felt being fooled. But the point is, I need more spiritual wisdom and discernment. And thank the Lord for sending an elderly wise brother to minister on the same subject, especially to me.

Lord, grace me the spiritual wisdom and discernment I need. 

Bodily Exercise

For bodily exercise is profitable for a little, but godliness is profitable for all things, having promise of the present life and of that which is to come. 1 Timothy 4:8

An elder and experienced brother from Hong Kong came to fellowship with some brothers yesterday. On seeing some of us, he was burdened to speak on taking care of our physical health for the Lord's sake, though he originally intended to speak on the divine and mystical realm. His speaking, though down to earth, was to me the Lord's speaking. I need such a speaking lest I care less for physical health with the overemphasis on spiritual health. 

I have been quoting 1 Timothy 4:8 again and again to release my burden on the importance of exercising the human spirit with special emphasis on "godliness is profitable for all things." Every time I contrasted with the "bodily exercise," and hardly gave any important on physical exercise. Godliness will be of no use if the person who is godly is physically unwell or bedridden or die. For the expression of godliness, a healthy body is needed. In fact, the two are equally important. 

I was so enlightened to see this point from a brother's fellowship: The Lord has invested so much on you, saving you, working on you, training and perfecting you, for so many years. What if for health sake you die so soon? All the years of training and perfecting will be wasted!

He even cited a real life example of some useful brothers who died so young. Their usefulness have not really been utilized for health's sake. One crucial area of health care is a proper, normal, timely, and balanced diet. The food habit of Indians are not healthy in general. No wonder the general life span is very low. The serving ones in India should not be a victim of negligent or ignorant healthcare and die so young. 

That was a warning to me too. And I was freshly reminded of my need to take care of my health. In fact, it was a confirmation of what my wife has been reminding me over and over again. Generally, when the meal of my taste was cooked I tend to eat more, and that definitely was not healthy. My food habit needs "revival" too.

Besides the food habit, there is also a need for regular bodily exercise. This also has been neglected at least on my part. Though I used to do an evening walk with prayer, I have to do more exercise to keep my body healthy and strong for the Lord's interest. Definitely, I do not want to die prematurely because of ill health.

As much as I maintain my regular spiritual exercise, I have to do a regular bodily exercise as well. This time I was deeply convicted of my negligence in healthcare and looked to the Lord for grace to be able to care for my physical health as well. Perhaps, now I am still young and my real health condition has not been manifested yet. Before its too late, I better be wise, learn from the learned brothers, and heed to the Lord's speaking.

Bodily exercises does profit, thought a little. And that "little" can make all the differences in my service to the Lord.

My prayer these days has been, "Lord, grant me a strong spirit, a renewed mind filled with the mind of Christ, a transformed emotion that loves You, a subdued will that obeys You absolutely, and a healthy body to be able to serve You all the days of my life.

Lord, grace me a healthy body with a strong spirit. 

Care for God's Need

An elder  brother from the church in Singapore came to visit us, the church in Gurgaon, with whom we had a time of fellowship together. The Lord used our brother to address the lack in our service, I believe particularly me. His speaking was so apt and so timely. Though he knew nothing about the real situation of the church we have been going through, he addressed the need of the church, especially in the matter of gaining increase in number. 

We have been shepherding many new ones who have not yet been recovered to the Lord's table meeting, but rather are enjoying fellowshipping with them in their homes. In all my shepherding visit to the new ones, I have been addressing their specific need and they were very nourished and cherished. So they liked me visiting them as much as possible. Yes, its good to meet their need, that's what a normal and proper shepherd should do. But much more, I should also minister to them God's need. God has a need too which far superseded our human need. God's need for Christ and the church must be wrought into the believers' being. In fact, they should be properly educated on the truth concerning the gathering together of the saint as God's flock, the significance of the Lord's table meeting, the importance of blending and building up with one another.

There are also some other needs like language. A group of new ones are all Hindi speaking ones and they obviously could not fully enjoy the meetings in English. This is another practical issue that need to be addressed. Other issue is the timing of the meeting, and practical human care.  All these needs properly addressed should deliver all the new ones into the flock of God.

As much as God care for our need, we must also care for God's need. In fact, God meeting our need is to meet His need as well. If our needs were not met, we could not meet God,s need either. And vice versa; if God's need were not taken care, our needs will not be taken care either. Working together with the Lord must be in mutuality. There are human responsibilities in meeting human needs, and there are also human responsibilities and meeting God's need. 

My view, burden, and goal of shepherding has been renewed by the Lord's speaking through a member of the Body. Praise the Lord!

Henceforth, may the Lord grace me to shepherd the new ones with God's need apart from their specific needs.

The Lord does speak and he has been speaking through the members of His Body. Amen.

If You Believe

Jesus said to her, I am the resurrection and the life; he who believes into Me, even if he should die, shall live; And everyone who lives and believes into Me shall by no means die forever. Do you believe this? She said to Him, Yes, Lord; I have believed that You are the Christ, the Son of God, He who comes into the world. John 11:25-27

Jesus said to her, Did I not tell you that if you believe you will see the glory of God? John 11:40

New ones, gospel friends, saints, and we ourselves are going through different situations. Many times, the many things one goes through in life are so cumbersome that it feels as if one is entangled in his own viscous circle of life like a captivated bird caged in a cage. Day by day, month by month, and year by year this hidden chain of bondage seems to bind one with seemingly no hope of deliverance. Spiritually, its almost like a death case with no hope of recovery. But the Lord's word here is so lively, "I am the resurrection and the life." What one goes through in deadness can surely be delivered by the Lord who is the resurrection and the life. But with a condition that one believes into the One who is resurrection and life. The Lord Jesus Christ is such a one. What a hope in Christ!

As I have been praying for and are burdened to shepherd many new ones with different "impossible cases," I was reminded by the Lord that He is the Lord and He is the resurrection and the life. I simply have to believe into Him and also in His word. Then, hopeless cases will become hopeful. 

I believe in the Lord and His word, therefore, I dare not easily give up the burdens the Lord bestowed upon me. I still exercise my faith to continue to pray for them, and pray I will, until the burdens within me are fully released and the points prayed for are fully answered. How longer it takes is all up to the Lord. My job is simply to believe in the Lord and His word.   

This speaking of the Lord happened while I was in a train on my way back from a week long trip at the end of last month. Whatever the situation of the ones I have been praying for may be, I still believe in the Lord that many of the "dead ones" will actually be "resurrected" by the Lord who is the life and the resurrection. Yes, I do believe. O how I long and hope to see that day! The day of the manifestation of the Lord's glory even through the many ones of these I have been praying for, in faith.

Lord, I believe, and so shall it be.

The Gospel to Keikhu

The Gospel of Jonah has confirmed the burden within me for many years for the salvation of my villager, Keikhu, in Imphal. When I was a boy my maternal grandfather encouraged me to study hard and become a respected officer and then preach the gospel to my villagers. Yes, I did study hard and got the best education, and followed the Lord’s leading to serve the living God. Though I never became an officer of his dream as I rather chose to follow the Lord. I have traveled to many parts of India, and have participated in the gospel preaching and raising up of the Lord's testimony in many localities. Now the specific burden is for my own village. For this, we pray and intercede almost on a daily basis. The salvation of Keikhu is drawing near. 

It was the 19th of May 2017 while in fasting and praying, the Lord clearly confirmed the burden for Keikhu and the many Nagas, my fellow tribesmen in the flesh, who are still living as Gentiles even after a century of the arrival of the gospel to their land. They simply rejected it by clinging on to the customs and traditions of the forefathers. Time has come, and indeed it is now, the gospelization of my tribesmen should commence, as it has been in prayer so shall it be in the actual salvation of them all. This burden is not merely for salvation from eternal perdition but also for the fulfillment of God's eternal purpose in the building up of the Body of Christ. Half way works of Christianity must be avoided, but we must usher in God’s complete salvation. Not merely bring them to salvation but also shepherd them and usher them into the church life for the building up of the Body of Christ.

The epicenter for this burden of the salvation of my tribesmen is Keikhu. From here the many Rongmei villages of Manipur, Nagaland, Assam and Myanmar, and the other unbelieving Naga tribes will be gained. This is the burden and this is also the faith the Lord imparted into me. Now is the time for the preparation of the vessel, perhaps like Jonah, "in the belly of a fish under the sea." 

In Nineveh, the number of people saved through Jonah was 120,000 people. This is the same amount of people not saved yet among the Nagas in general as per census. May the Lord bless this burden and bring it into fruition. 

Now in Keikhu about ten families have come to the faith, half of them in the church life, and real spiritual battle is raging in the heavenlies; this has been manifested among the saints and also among the villagers themselves. Many youths have been spoiled by lack of education and the illegal means of livelihood they have been practicing by brewing and selling country liquor. The end result is, the youth themselves became addicted to the very liquor that brewed for livelihood. Only the Lord has to rescue the people of Keikhu physically and spiritually too. This is the burden the Lord has been imparting to me these days.

 

As a preparation I have also shared this burden to some brothers from the same background. In fact, the Lord has raised a dozen of brothers and sisters who have gone through the training of the truth in the Lord's recovery. May the Lord gain all of us for the gospelization, truthization, and churchization of the entire community and the localities. 

The gospel to Keikhu has drawn near. Salvation be sooner than latter. 

Lord, save Keikhu!