I am sure you must have wondered, or asked the following questions; how do great men of God command results? What is their secret? How do they come about these great exploits? What is the formula they have applied to their lives and ministry that has generated this tremendous result? Today by the help of the Holy Spirit I will show you the secret, and if only you can adhere to it, you will also produce the same result in your ministry. The focus of this article is to remind us and to also open us up to a matter we have paid little or given no attention, and to make us see the need why we must come back to that consciousness. It seems like a light matter but it forms the basis for our authority and reign on the earth. Let us begin our meditation from Mark 11:27, it says; Then they came again to Jerusalem. And as He was walking in the temple, the chief priests, the scribes, and the elders came to Him. 28And they said to Him, “By what authority are You doing these things? And who gave You this authority to do these things?”

 

Jesus was confronted by three categories of people, it says the chief priests, the scribes, and the elders, all these are religious offices, officers or ministers who carry titles and ranks in the temple. Note that the offices are different but the purpose that has united them to come to Jesus in a group is the same. So, they were curious, then they asked Him two distinct question that the Holy Spirit would help us answer as we move along in this read. The first question is; by what authority are you doing these things? What principles, methods, or formula are you applying to produce these results in your ministry, was it tested? Is it trusted? We want to be sure of the authenticity of what you are using to produce these good works. Some may have wondered, perhaps He is doing these things by Beelzebub.  

 

And the second question was talking about the source, who gave you the formula, the task the assignment? This question they asked was a question of permission, approval, access, and power. They said who authorized you to teach these people a different doctrine from the one that was committed to us by our fathers?  We don’t understand your formula and we also don’t know who gave you this formula, where is it coming from? From these two questions you would realize that they were not ignorant of the fact that a man can have a task, or an assignment and also there is a secret to accomplishing or executing that task. So, they are very much aware that behind every result, something must be responsible for it. So, they want to know.

 

Now Jesus asked them a question that is very fundamental to our discussion. He asked in verse 30, “the baptism of John-was it from heaven or from men? Answer Me?”  Jesus acknowledged and made them to understand that ministry can either be given by men or by God. It also means that men can craft ministry for themselves and God can also give ministries to men. If it will be without result, then such a ministry is crafted by men. So, authority comes from two different sources, either God or from man. Do you remember when Saul went to the high priest to receive letter of authorization to go to Damascus and arrest the believers there? So, just as God could approve, appoint or hand over a ministry, men can also do the same.

 

So, they want to know whose authority have your ministry been licensed to function under? I have realized that one of the reasons why John’s ministry was accepted was not because his ministry was given from heaven, but because it was not posing a challenge to them. It somehow looks like a religion, more like a fulfilment of righteousness. None of these religious leaders would have had challenge with it because water baptism was not laying any serious demand on them.   

 

Now, see the statement Jesus made in John 5:36-37, it says; But I have a greater witness than John’s; for the works which the Father has given Me to finish—the very works that I do—bear witness of Me, that the Father has sent Me. Jesus pointed their attention to the Father and He simply said this thing you see Me do was given to Me by My Father. So, it is by His authority that I do these things. Jesus is simply saying to them and to you, that good works, results and execution are meant for only one category of people in ministry. They are the “called” and the “sent.” If you are not sent you have no authority, if you are not sent you can’t achieve results, you must be sent by the Father if you must complete and finish well, and if you will be sent you must first be called. The question is; how many of these category of people in the temple that challenged His authority were actually called and sent, the work they do was it given to them by the Father? So, the work you do, who gave it to you? The ministry that you are in, who put you there? This is what simply differentiated Him from the religious leaders of His days.

 

Now Jesus said “the works that the Father has given Me to finish”, not to stop it half way, or abort it, it must be finished. The Father does not assign the work and abandon it, he gives it to be finished, and by seeing those works, it is a testimony that He was sent. What is the point I have been trying to make? The works is always an evidence that the assignment and task was given to be completed and not abandoned. Because when the Father sends, He gives adequate resources for completing the task. This takes us back to the question the chief priest, the scribes and the elders came to ask Jesus. Because they had never seen this kind of result, what is the authority behind this work? And Jesus began to give them a break down. When execution becomes difficult in any assignment and task of God it is an evidence that the father has not given the work to be finished.

 

Now haven built this background this is the matter which by the help of the Holy Spirit I am going to lay more emphasis on. Let us read this verse 37 together; “And the Father Himself, who sent Me, has testified of Me. You have neither heard His voice at any time, nor seen His form.” As we have established earlier, the Father does not just send, He also testifies of the one whom He has sent, we could see that it happened at different occasions in the ministry of Jesus. The Father testified of Him, “this is My Beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased.” It is not in the character of the Father to send you and He won’t testify of you, even your works will attest to the fact that you have the full backing of the Father. Then Jesus highlighted two critical matters that is worthy of our attention. “He said you have neither heard His voice at any time, nor seen His form.”

 

What a statement! This is what makes the clear difference between religion and true assignments and mandate. Does this mean that religious leaders find it difficult to hear the voice of God, neither do they know His form? God testified about Moses in Numbers 12:8 He said “I speak with him face to face even plainly and not in dark sayings; and he sees the form of the Lord.” Did we see a similar statement being repeated here? What is it about hearing the Lord and seeing His form? Why is it so important for the execution of ministry task? The reason is because If you can’t hear God, you can’t represent God, you can’t talk about a God you know or hear about without encountering Him. See! God will use you to the degree in which he speaks to you. If God speaks to you once in a year, you will only be used or benefit from His word once in a year, and it ought not to be so. Psalms 62:11 says; God has spoken plainly, and I have heard it many times: Power, O God, belongs to you.

 

What you hear from God is so important. Jesus said you have neither heard His voice at any time nor seen His form. The chief priest, scribes and elders talk about the God they have never heard his voice, neither have they seen His form, and so the reason why so many ineffective and failed ministries are littered everywhere boils down to this fact. Joshua commanded the sun to stand still, over Gibeon and the moon in the valley of Aijalon; these two great lights have no option but to obey. What gave Him that confidence? He must have heard his God tell him something. He must have known that the God who has given him that assignment created the sun and the moon.  It was never recorded in history prior to the existence of Elijah that fire will literally fall from the sky to consume sacrifice and burn upon an alter that has been drenched with water just to prove the integrity, the sovereignty and the supremacy of God.He must have stood in the presence of God and must have come to experience God as a consuming fire.

 

When you see a man who is audacious, passionate and resolute about something, he is either backed up by a force or he is being compelled by a force he has either experienced or he has come to believe. See what Apostle John wrote in 1 John 1:1, That which was from the beginning, which we have heard, which we have seen with our eyes, which we have looked upon, and our hands have handled, concerning the Word of life. Talking about a firsthand experience, an experience that have altered certain things concerning them, an experience that has left them with nothing else but to testify of it. They have heard God and they have seen the form of God. What am I trying to say? You will hardly stand for God when you are not sure God will stand for you. And the reason is because you haven’t known God enough to stand for Him, and He doesn’t know you well enough to show up for you.

 

I am sure someone may be thinking, they did what they did by faith, I agree with you, but this faith does it not come by hearing? The reason why many ministers find it difficult to believe God is not far-fetched, they don’t have a single idea about Him or what He can do. Look at that Scripture again and give me a reason why such an Apostle will not go to any length even to the point of death just to testify concerning the things which his eyes have seen, the things his ears have heard, and the things which their hands have handled. Working for God is not automatic as many people think it is. It requires faith, but this also means that there are certain experiences you have come in contact with and issues you have addressed that you would rather die than believe otherwise. 

 

Please pay close attention to what God is saying to you.  The reason why people don’t see ministers and ministries to be relevant anymore is because they have continued to see mediocrity on a daily basis, and it now seems as if the Jesus that was talked about in the Bible is now different from the one we hear about. But that is not true, the Scripture says Jesus the same yesterday, today and forever. Jesus didn’t change, it is us that have changed. We have refused the call, yet we want to be sent, we haven’t heard God nor see the form of God yet we want to represent God.

 

God is saying come let me show you the things which your ears must hear, the things which you must look upon, the things which your hands must handle, but ministers are in a rush, there is a room for preparation, there is a need for preparation. Effective Ministers don’t fall from the sky, they don’t emerge from nowhere, it is you that think they have emerged from nowhere, they are products of preparation and brooding of the Holy Spirit over time. The place of hearing is the beginning of your exploits and authority in ministry. When Isaiah saw the form of God in Isaiah 6, that was the beginning of His exploit in ministry, see what Isaiah said in the book of Isaiah 50:4, according to the Berean Study Bible; “The Lord GOD has given Me the tongue of discipleship, to sustain the weary with a word. He awakens Me morning by morning; He awakens My ear to listen as a disciple.”

 

I am sure you would agree with me that humans by default have been wired to either act or not act upon something depending on their conviction, persuasion, confidence or assurance. Whatever lacks integrity is not worthy to be trusted or reliable. So, these men and many more others didn’t just do what they did because they felt like doing it, it because God has consistently proven Himself to them. They knew God and God knew them. You can’t do so much in ministry if God does not know you. They have known God so much so that they are sure God must definitely step in for them whenever it is required. So, until you are taught by God you cannot teach, until His words appear to you, you cannot prophesy. Ministers must strive to know God, and allow the arm of God to be revealed to them. Until that happens, results won’t be attainable.

 

So, do you not know? Have you not heard? Has it not been declared to you from the beginning? Have you not understood since the foundation of the earth? You must know, you must see, you must hear in order to represent God correctly. This is the pathway that navigates you towards true spiritual authority.

Thanks for the gift of your time, I am Apeh Francis Abah!

Feel free to share your thoughts or testimony in the comment box below. I promise to respond to them as soon as possible!