Fulfilling your ministry 1

Colosians 4:17

And say to Archippus, Take heed to the ministry which thou hast received in the Lord, that thou fulfil it.

Every believer has received a ministry in the lord. If you have made the lord Jesus Christ the lord of your life then you have received a ministry in the lord. You may not be aware of this fact. This scripture was written to bring this awareness to you. What God said to Archippus, He is saying to you today.

The first step to fulfilling that ministry is to identify what that ministry is. The Holy Scritures provides insight for us concerning what our ministries are.

Indentifying the ministry which you have already received

2Corinthians 5:17-19

• Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new
• And all things are of God, who hath reconciled us to himself by Jesus Christ, and hath given to us the ministry of reconciliation;
• To wit, that God was in Christ, reconciling the world unto himself, not imputing their trespasses unto them; and hath committed unto us the word of reconciliation.

THE MINISTRY OF RECONCILIATION

Paul shows us here the every believers ministry. If any man be in Christ he is a new creation. Old things are passed away and all things have become new. All these new things which we have now come from God who has also reconciled us to himself.

To be reconciled means to restored to friendship or favor with God after estrangement; When man sinned in the garden of Eden, the whole human race was plunged into enemy with God. Through Adams transgression sin passed upon all men. Man fell out of favor with God and lost fellowship with his creator.

Romans 5:12

• Wherefore, as by one man sin entered into the world, and death by sin; and so death passed upon all men, for that all have sinned:

Man's sin had to be purnished. According to Romans 6:23 For the wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.

But God so loved the world that He gave his son Jesus to die for all men so that whosoever believes and receives Jesus as his substitutionary sacrifice would not perish but have everlasting life.

When you heard about Jesus, you believed on Him and your heart was recreated and you became a brand new man. Old things are passed away behold all things have become new. You were brought back into fellowship with your heavenly father.

Having now been saved, Our father has given us the job of taking the message of His love to those who are still in sin. This is the ministry of reconciliation.

Simply put, there are many people who are out of favour with God because of their sins. God does not want them to die. If they continue in their sinful ways, they will die not only physically but they will be eternally separated from God in hell.

Now God has given us an assignment to go and find these people and tell them God's provision for their salvation. Many of these people are living in sin because no one has told them about the consequences of living a life of sin. Our job is to go and tell them. This is the every believers ministry and like Paul wrote to Archippus, He is saying to you today

'Take heed to the ministry which you have received that thou fulfill it' God is saying take heed. So many people are not taking heed. They are living their lives without a purpose.

The message translation says

Col 4:17 And, oh, yes, tell Archippus, "Do your best in the job you received from the Master. Do your very best."

The question is are you doing your best on this job of soul winning?

Take heed implies pay attention. Make this soul winning business your daily priority.

Jesus said in Mark 16:15

And he said unto them, Go ye into all the world, and preach the gospel to every creature.

Look what the Apostles did after they received this commission.

Mark 16:20

And they went forth, and preached every where, the Lord working with them, and confirming the word with signs following. Amen.

They went every where. God wants us to go every where, taking this message to the unreached begining from our Jerusalem.

The spirit of God is saying today 'take heed to the ministry which thou has received in the lord that thou fulfill it'