Prerequisites For Spiritual Ministry: Leading God's people, #16

By Zacharias Tanee Fomum

Spiritual ministry is the personal knowledge of God, the possessing of God, being possessed by God and imparting God to others. If true spiritual ministry is the impartation of God, then, all who would be effective ministers of God must have what it takes to be approved by God, and be useful to men. That is what Professor Fomum, in this book, calls the prerequisites for spiritual ministry. In order to elucidate this point, the author makes use of Biblical icons like Jesus Christ, the prophets Elijah and Elisha, the apostle Paul, Timothy, and others, to assert that spiritual ministry that satisfies the heart of God comes after the price has been paid. It is not just what works, but what God wants, that matters for true spiritual ministry. In this light,

• sincere faith, like Timothy's,
• an indispensable revelation of God,
• grave parental responsibility, like that of Eunice and Lois,
• a fixed gaze, like that of Elisha on Elijah
• spiritual gifts identified and employed,
• the discipline of a soldier or an athlete,
• producing builders of men,
• and many other factors are indispensable for a God-approved spiritual ministry.

Do you desire a spiritual ministry that is approved by Heaven? Then, read this book.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Books4revival
• Release date: Feb 24, 2020
• ISBN: 9798215898093

Zacharias Tanee Fomum

For FREE books from Zacharias Tanee Fomum: https://books.bookfunnel.com/ztf-free-ebooks. Professor Zacharias Tanee FOMUM was a man of uncommon spirituality, a leading voice for revival, a workaholic, a prophet-teacher, and a world-shaping spiritual genius. He was a bestselling Christian author (with over 350 books, over 10 million copies in circulation in over 100 languages) and a professor of Organic Chemistry (with over 160 published scientific works of high distinction (earning him the award of a Doctor of Science degree from the University of Durham, Great Britain). His books and the millions of people he influenced in more than 40 years of Christian ministry continue to impact the world with the Gospel today. He founded Christian Missionary Fellowship International (CMFI), a missionary movement that has planted churches in more than 120 nations on all continents. He believed in a life of simplicity and with the support and dedication of his wife and their seven children, his all—time, money, heart, and soul— was dedicated to spreading the Gospel. He carried out exploits for God through the making of disciples for Christ, planting of churches, building spiritual leaders according to the model of the Bible, and serving the body of Christ, especially as a teacher on prayer. Learn more and read exclusive excerpts at: https://ztfomum.org

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PREFACE

Spiritual ministry is the personal knowledge of God, the possessing of God, being possessed by God and imparting God to others. If true spiritual ministry is the impartation of God, then, all who would be effective ministers of God must have what it takes to be approved by God, and be useful to men. That is what Professor Fomum, in this book, calls the prerequisites for spiritual ministry.

In order to elucidate this point, the author makes use of Biblical icons like Jesus Christ, the prophets Elijah and Elisha, the apostle Paul, Timothy and others, to assert that spiritual ministry that satisfies the heart of God comes after the price has been paid. It is not just what works, but what God wants, that matters for true spiritual ministry. In this light,

sincere faith, like Timothy’s,

an indispensable revelation of God,

grave parental responsibility, like that of Eunice and Lois,

a fixed gaze, like that of Elisha on Elijah

spiritual gifts identified and employed,

the discipline of a soldier or an athlete,

producing builders of men,

and many others factors are indispensable for a God-approved spiritual ministry.

Do you desire a spiritual ministry that is approved by Heaven? Then, read this book.

May the Lord Jesus Christ reveal Himself to you and make of you an approved soldier who does not get entangled in civilian pursuits.

God bless you.

1

WHAT IS SPIRITUAL MINISTRY?

Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus by the will of God, according to the promise of the life which is in Christ Jesus. To Timothy, my beloved child: Grace, mercy, and peace from God the Father and Christ Jesus our Lord.

I thank God whom I serve with a clear conscience, as did my fathers, when I remember you constantly in my prayers. As I remember your tears, I long night and day to see you, that I may be filled with joy. I am reminded of your sincere faith, a faith that dwelt first in your grandmother Lois and your mother Eunice and now, I am sure, dwells in you. Hence, I remind you to rekindle the gift of God that is within you through the laying on of my hands; for God did not give us a spirit of timidity, but a spirit of power and love and self-control (2 Timothy 1: 1-7).

Spiritual ministry is the personal knowledge of God, the possessing of God, the being possessed by God and the impartation of God to others. Only those who know God, who possess God, and who are possessed by God are true believers. These are able to minister to God. However, those who minister to God will soon be sent by the Lord to minister to others. They will therefore go forth to give to others the God whom they have possessed and the God who has possessed them. Spiritual ministry then is not just the impartation of some ideas, thoughts, doctrine, and so on to others; it is the impartation of God. Only those who can impart God to others are true ministers, for true ministry is the impartation of God.

PREREQUISITES FOR MINISTRY

If true ministry is the impartation of God, then all who would be ministers must have what to impart—God, and have what it takes to impart Him to others. As far as Timothy was concerned he had to possess a sincere faith and a spiritual gift. The sincere faith talks of his possessing and being possessed by God and the spiritual gift talks of what it takes to impart the sincere faith to others.

2

PREREQUISITE ONE

A Sincere Faith

We know that the Apostle Paul received a direct revelation of Jesus Christ from God without any human intermediary. That is wonderful. However, others have come to the same knowledge of the Lord Jesus by having the facts of the gospel communicated to them by some human agency and the Holy Spirit using this to create faith in Him. It is in the purpose of God that the Gospel be communicated from one person to another.

Timothy possessed sincere, genuine faith. The Apostle said that, that faith first dwelt in Timothy's grandmother and then in Timothy's mother and he was sure it dwelt in him. Timothy had a heritage of genuine faith. So, Timothy's grandmother heard the gospel and believed in the Lord Jesus. She allowed this knowledge of the Lord to grip her whole life and to transform her. The word dwelt means that the gospel had a total grip of her total person. She grabbed God and allowed God to possess her completely. Her daughter Eunice heard the same gospel and saw the impact of the gospel in her mother's life. She too believed in the Lord and allowed the Lord to possess her completely as she laboured to totally possess Him. She too came into a real and mature experience of the gospel. She believed the Lord, was rightly related to Him and proclaimed Him. The apostle Paul was not only sure that Timothy was a believer. He was sure that the quality of faith that was in his ancestry was in him. Paul was saying something that was very serious. He was saying that genuine faith is transmittable from one person to another: from father to children and from mother to children.

THE PATHWAY OF THE GOSPEL

What does this mean? It means that your immediate environment will affect you very profoundly. This is readily discernible for, as someone has said, "Show me your friend and I will tell you who you are.’’ We know that those who are deep or who long for deep things, will seek the company of, and cling to, the deep, while superficial people will seek the company of the superficial.

The worldly will seek the company of the worldly. Those who are sincere will seek the company of the sincere. Each person carries with him a certain aura that is a deep reflection of what he is inside. Unconsciously, that aura flows to people. Those of like nature and those who want the atmosphere that the person creates will labour to be around that atmosphere. It will often not be a conscious thing but spontaneously, one will move towards the one who best provides that which satisfies his inward desire. The Bible says,

Deep calls to deep (Psalms 42:7).

You may just stop at the moment and examine yourself a bit. Ask yourself the following questions:

Who is the person or who are the persons whose presence I desire the most?

What is the overriding passion of the life or lives of these people?

Are they heavenly-minded or are they earthly-minded?

Are they totally committed to the Lord or are they not?

Are they rapidly making spiritual progress or are they very slow in spiritual growth?

What is central in their future plans: money, fame, worldly honour, marriage, children or the kingdom of God, how to win people to the Lord, how to further the gospel, how to help others grow?

After analysing these things about that one person you desire the most, you should know that that is what you are. That is what you want to become and that is what you will become. That is why friendship must be a conscious commitment of two people to each other. They must both accept to be friends and establish their goals each knowing what the other one will influence him to become.

3

PREREQUISITE TWO

Grave Parental Pesponsibility

In later years, each one will choose his associates, friends, companions. He will choose them depending on what he is and depending on what he wants to become. However, before a person gets to that age, he has already undergone one of the most far-reaching determining factors of his life about which he has no choice. He should have been in a home. There are some things in life that are imposed on us by God in His sovereignty. These include in an unchangeable way, who our parents and our brothers are going to be. It also includes who our grand and great grandparents are going to be.

To a very great extent, you will resemble your parents physically and character wise. Physical resemblance is not a problem although many would wish they were different. It is the character elements that are more serious. Your children will behave like you.

If you are tender, they will be tender.

If you are harsh, they will be harsh.

If you are aggressive, they will be aggressive.

If you speak softly, they will speak softly.

If you are generous, they will tend to be generous.

If you are greedy, they will tend to be greedy.

If you are moody, they will tend to be moody.

If you are hardworking, they will tend to be hardworking.

If you are lazy, they will tend to be lazy.

If you are undisciplined and disorganised, they will be lazy and undisciplined.

If you eat too much, they will tend to eat too much.

If you lie, they will tend to lie.

If you are honest, they will tend to be honest.

If you are unstable, jumping from one thing to another without completing any, they will tend to be like that.

If you are serious about emotional affairs, they will tend to be that but if you are the type that changes your mind with the weather your children will resemble you.

If you easily forgive, your children will tend to forgive easily.

If you do take the Lord most seriously, they will tend to take the Lord most seriously.

If you are a person who prays and reads the Word, they will tend do the same.

If you are a hypocrite, they too will tend to be hypocrites.

If you are genuine, true and transparent, they will tend to be so.

The truth is that parents transmit to their children what they themselves are inwardly. Of course, children see what the parents do and how they do it and that to them is the standard. It is the first standard and the one that is most difficult to wipe off. But children do not only receive what they see. They receive also what is hidden deep down in the parent’s personality that is not allowed to come out. Even things that are done in secret so that no one ever knows are passed on to the children. I repeat that, what is passed on to the children is not only what the parents do. It is what the parents are, that is passed on. Take as an example, a woman may not love her husband. She knows it but decides to act differently. She flatters him and tries to give the impression of a woman in love. The truth is that she does not love her husband and that will be passed on to the children. We know of children whose parents died immediately they were born. Such children had no opportunity to copy the behaviour of the parents but they behaved like them. In giving the children origin, the parents imparted their characters to their offspring.

As we know, the child will receive from both parents, although the child’s character will not be 50% of the mother’s and 50% of the father’s. The percentage will vary considering the fact that, in the formative years between zero and seven years, the child spends more time with his mother and is therefore more influenced in his way of doing things by the way the mother does things. Nevertheless, both parents contribute. It is for this reason that only a fool will marry just because he likes someone’s nose. The question of character is paramount. You must ask, What will he hand over to our children?

Each parent ought to ask, "What am I like? What is the quality of my faith? Where is my heart lodged? To what is my heart hooked? Do I love the world? Do I love the Lord and His Word?

Each parent must ask these questions not only because of his personal standing with God and the reward that he will receive from the Lord Jesus on that Day. He must also ask these questions in the light of what he is handing down to his children. My dear brother and sister, think about your character. Think about what you are inside. You are handing that to your children. Will it be a blessing to them or a curse when they become grown-ups and become inwardly what you are, and when they think your thoughts, speak your words and do as you do?

Will they be a blessing to themselves, the kingdom of God, the Church, the world?

Many people struggle to ensure that they provide land, houses, bank accounts, education and diplomas for their children, but oh, how perishable these things are! Will you not labour to leave them with something far greater and much deeper? Will you not labour to leave them with

a radical commitment to Christ?

a total commitment to living out the Christian gospel?

a radical commitment to making Christ known?

a total commitment to that which satisfies the heart of God?

These are unpurchaseable wares. They are true riches. They can never be taken away from them. They will bless them in this world and more when time will give way to eternity. But you cannot just give these things to your children by telling them what the Bible says. They will have to see them lived, in your life. It will destroy their faith in the Word of God, if you tell them one thing from the Word and in your life they see a different gospel lived.

So, a living faith dwelt in Lois and then in Eunice and then in Timothy.

A WORD OF ENCOURAGEMENT TO GODLY MOTHERS AND FATHERS

There are couples where one partner believes and the other one does not believe or where one party is consecrated and the other one is carnal and worldly. I want to tell you not to despair.

The genealogy of victorious Christian faith which we see here of Lois - Eunice - Timothy is a genealogy along the female line. No mention is made of the faith of Timothy’s grandfather. He was probably an unbeliever. What of his father? He was a Greek unbeliever. So, we can say that Lois’ husband was an unbeliever and Eunice’s husband was certainly an unbeliever. Nevertheless, these women soared to the heights of the Christian faith, undeterred by their unbelieving partners, and made a significant contribution through Timothy to the Christian cause. Their unbelieving husbands must have transmitted negative influences but these women by a very deep and radical commitment to the Lord poured out their whole selves, neutralized the negative impact and built