The Anointing on the Ministry of Helps
From The HeartPublish date: 03/28/1999
Foundation Scriptures: Luke 4:14-19
If you are faithful, and follow God's plan for your life, He will put a desire in your heart to help in the ministry. God is not looking for pew warmers, but for people who will be used of Him to touch the lives of others.
Acts 6:1-4 (NAS)
1 Now at this time while the disciples were increasing {in number,}a complaint arose on the part of the Hellenistic {Jews} against the {native} Hebrews, because their widows were being overlooked in the daily serving {of food.} 2 And the twelve summoned the congregation of the disciples and said, “It is not desirable for us to neglect the word of God in order to serve tables. 3 “But select from among you, brethren, seven men of good reputation, full of the Spirit and of wisdom, whom we may put in charge of this task.
4 “But we will devote ourselves to prayer, and to the ministry of the word.”
The ministry of helps is anything that helps the five-fold ministry get the job done. Of those seven men who were chosen, we hear later only of Philip who became an evangelist. Stephen was a man full of faith and the Holy Ghost and did great wonders and signs among the people. He became the first martyr of the Church.
Who falls into this category of the ministry of helps?
The ministry of helps includes psalmists, intercessors, deacons, and elder among others. The ministry of helps—helps to get the job done. We see this in the ministry of Jesus when He fed the five thousand. He instructed the twelve to seat everyone in groups. Then He broke the bread and the fish and gave it to the disciples. They, in turn, gave it to the multitudes. They helped Jesus do the job.
The moment the ministry of helps ceases to be a help anymore, is the moment it becomes a hindrance instead. It is a fact that deacon boards hinder many churches instead of helping, or there are elders who don’t support the vision of the pastor. They are not a help at all. Deacons should hold up the pastor’s hands as Moses’ helpers supported his hands, but instead of lifting the hands of the pastor—they tie them! Financial boards or administrators, who control the finances as though they were their own, create the same problem. Instead of working to support and facilitate the vision of the church, they work to control and limit it.
Negative incidents have arisen because of psalmists who get lifted up in pride and who think that their music ministry is more important than the ministry of the Word. Instead of working together to compliment the pastor’s ministry, they compete with it. They cause problems for the pastor and some even end up splitting the church.
Notice in Acts 6, that the prerequisite for being a deacon is to be a person full of faith and the Holy Spirit. I believe that this applies to everyone in the ministry of helps. There is nothing worse than having people alongside you in the ministry, whom you have to carry. They are a dead weight because they are full of doubt and unbelief. You have probably heard the saying, “It is hard to soar like an eagle when you are surrounded by turkeys!”
Some people are anointed psalmists, intercessors, administrators, deacons and elders, and they are such a blessing when they effectively lift up the hands of the minister and help him to function in his place of ministry. But, oh, what a dead weight they are, when they are blinded by a negative attitude and cannot see God’s plan. Many that might even have been called to be a godly check and balance to the minister, have ended up being a dead weight around the neck of the servant of God.
Many an anointed man has fallen, because he surrounded himself with people who were not led by the Spirit. Some were just working in the ministry as a job and had no anointing to stand in that place of ministry. They were a hindrance and not a help. Some were “yes men” that agreed to everything that he said. Instead of giving him a godly warning, they watched as he was led astray, out of the plan and the purpose of God for his life and ministry.
Different Kinds of Anointing
We see that in the Word of God there are different kinds or types of anointings given to man. Ephesians 4:7 says, “But unto every one of us is given grace according to the measure of the gift of Christ.” The word “grace” means enablement, ability, or anointing. The anointing is the supernatural equipment to get the job done, whether it is for the ministry of helps or the five-fold ministry.
God graces you to do the job He has called you to do. It is up to you to supply the faithfulness and the good attitude.