Equipping the Saints for the Work of the Ministry Conclusion: The Outcome
Speaker: Steve Little (Pastor)
Date: September 28, 2025
Over the last few weeks, we have looked various aspects of ‘Equipping the Saints for the Work of the Ministry’. We started with:
· He gave us apostles, prophets, evangelists, pastors and teachers
These functions in the body of Christ were never to get people to focus on them and follow them – they were appointed by God to point people to Jesus and the relationship He has for them. In 1st Corinthians Paul exhorts the church there for their childish behavior. Why? Because they have been bragging, “I am of Apollos”, “I am of Cephas” or I “am of Christ”. Then he writes, “Is Christ divided”, was Paul crucified for you?
To equip people with the knowledge of what Jesus has done for them.
The whole outcome of their life’s work was and is to turn our focus on Jesus and follow Him.
Hebrews 13:20-21: "Now may the God of peace who brought again from the dead our Lord Jesus, the great shepherd of the sheep, by the blood of the eternal covenant, equip you with everything good that you may do His will, working in us that which is pleasing in his sight, through Jesus Christ, to whom be glory forever and ever. Amen."
Definitions
1. Equip: Preparing, and making something perfectly whole or ready for its intended purpose.
2. Ministry: Service or Aid: In this specific passage, it refers to the work of bringing God's message and salvation to people.
We are equipped with a new life in a new kingdom
2 Corinthians 5:17 states: "Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has passed away, behold, the new has come!".
Philippians 3:20 For our citizenship is in heaven, from which we also eagerly wait for the Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ…
Jesus one day said to the people He was talking to, “The kingdom of heaven is at hand.” It has not changed. In fact in the Lord’s prayer He urges us to pray, that in this day ‘His kingdom come His will be done on earth as it is in heaven.’
· We are equipped with two helps in this world, His Spirit and His church
John 14:16-17 He will give you another Helper, that He may abide with you forever— the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it neither sees Him nor knows Him; but you know Him, for He dwells with you and will be in you.
Ephesians 4:2-3 Be completely humble and gentle; be patient, bearing with one another in love. Make every effort to keep the unity of the Spirit”.
· We are equipped to engage in everyday life
Equipped us to deal with sin
Equipped us to recognize temptation
Equipped us to do the ministry of Jesus
Equipped us to live lives that show the difference
· He has equipped us with an example of how to follow
John 5:30, Jesus says, “I seek not My own will but the will of Him who sent me.”
The Son of God, equal with the Father, humbling Himself to obey. He chose the Father’s will over His own.
The early church chose to follow Jesus instead of their own wants and ways
Justin Martyr who lived between 100-165 AD wrote to the Roman emperor:
“We who formerly hated and murdered one another now live together and share the same table, and we pray for our enemies and try to win over those who hate us without just cause.”
Luke 9:23 Then He said to them all, “If anyone desires to come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross daily, and follow Me.
· So, what is the outcome of being equipped
When I was in business, we implemented a program called Six Sigma. Six Sigma is a data-driven quality management program that uses statistical methods and a systematic approach to identify and eliminate defects and reduce variability in business processes. The goal is to achieve near-perfect quality, with a target of 99.999% accuracy leading to improved efficiency, customer satisfaction, and profitability.
Paul in his writing to the Ephesians about the role of the apostles, prophets, evangelists, pastors and teachers ended with an expectation of the church, an outcome:
Ephesians 4:15-16 …..but, speaking the truth in love, may grow up in all things into Him who is the head—Christ— from whom the whole body, joined and knit together by what every joint supplies, according to the effective working by which every part does its share, causes growth of the body for the edifying of itself in love.
Outcomes
· That we would grow up in all things pertaining to Christ
· Remember that Christ is the head of the church – We follow Him
· Everyone does their own share in the working of the body
· In doing the above, it unifies us as a whole in love
Benediction Scripture
Romans 15:5-6 Now may the God of patience and comfort grant you to be like-minded toward one another, according to Christ Jesus, that you may with one mind and one mouth glorify the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ.
