In this edition of Forms & Patterns™, we will be looking at something very important for everyone in the work of ministry. It is something we must be reminded of as we continue our journey swerving the Lord as His ambassadors, as His ministers on the earth, wherever we are planted and in whatever denomination that we are located. Our focus today is: The Ministry of Fools. We want to consider a situation when anointing or gifts is not enough for growth and for advancement. So, we want to begin from the book of Ecclesiastes chapter 10:12-15. The Bible says:
Listen To Podcast: Ministry of Fools: When Anointing Is Not Enough for Growth And Advancement”>THE MINISTRY OF FOOLS: WHEN ANOINTING IS NOT ENOUGH FOR GROWTH AND ADVANCEMENT
The words of a wise man’s mouth are gracious,
But the lips of a fool shall swallow him up;
13 The words of his mouth begin with foolishness,
And the end of his talk is raving madness.
14 A fool also multiplies words.
No man knows what is to be;
Who can tell him what will be after him?
15 The labor of fools wearies them,
For they do not even know how to go to the city!
One thing is very clear, whether we are talking about a man, a woman in the work of ministry, you must not forget that being a fool or being wise has nothing to do with the physical attributes of a man or a woman in ministry. And so, a man could be fair and be wise, or could be fair and foolish. A man could be dark and wise or dark and foolish. Dressing or packaging notwithstanding, it is not about the effect. To some degree, it is not even about mere words that are spoken. A man, a woman could be a fool, a man, a woman could be wise.
Now, the Bible is clear about it in verse 12. It says: “the words of a wise man’s mouth are gracious, but the lips of a fool shall swallow him up.” So, it means that even fools, they talk. That a man is talking does not mean he is wise. You don’t need to be wise to talk and the fact that you are quiet does not mean you are a fool. That must declare to us, perhaps some of us that happen to have been under ministrations of some men and women who have actually spoken so much; but there was a troubling water within us, a troubling question within us, we were probing and we were asking; "have we been truly edified by such men and woman, haven listened for so long? Have I received any wisdom or have I been bestowed with more folly?"
Now, the issue is not whether the person have spoken or have not spoken. One thing is clear: When the wise speaks, the word of the wise are laden with grace. However, when the fool speaks, their own words swallow them up. That is not where we are going to. In verse 15 of the same Ecclesiastes chapter 10, the Bible says “the labor.” Another word for that labor is “the work”, “the sacrifice”, or you could even say “the ministry.” So, the Bible says “the labor of fools.” So, it means we are not dealing with an entity here, we are not dealing with a random or one special or one standing occurrence that is isolated from the rest. We are looking at patterns, we are looking at trends that are possible in any generation.
It says “the labor (the work or the ministry of fools) wearies them.” Instead of edifying them, it wearies them. I am sure you have been meditating and wondering about the cause of the state, the comatose state of many believers and many churches across the world. Why is it that we keep on starting new churches and yet the spirituality of believers is nothing to write home about? The issue, which you and I must meditate on is that when men and women, boys and girls are subjected to the ministry of fools, they are wearied. Instead of growing, they don’t grow. They experience stunted growth. Now Bible says because they do not even know how to enter the city. If you note the word “even”, it shows that that is the least of the things they ought to know, yet they don’t know how to enter the city.
Another thing I want us to note about the ministry of fools is written in the same book of Ecclesiastes chapter 5 and I will read verse 1. It says:“Walk prudently when you go to the house of God; and draw near to hear rather than to give the sacrifice of fools, for they do not know that they do evil.” The first one says “for they do not even know how to enter the city.” In this place the Bible says “they do not even know that they do evil.” See the sequence! The Bible says you should walk prudently when you go into the house of the Lord. When you want to become a servant of God, when you want to make yourself available as a vessel in the house of God, when you want God to be glorified in your life, in your marriage, in your ministry; the Bible says you must walk prudently. And how should you do that?
It says “when you draw near to God, draw near to hear.” Don’t draw near so that you can do any sacrifice of fools. What is the opposite of drawing near to hear? The opposite of drawing near to hear is drawing near to speak. The issue with many people is not “do we pray? Do we spend time to meditate? Do we have quiet time?” Many of us don’t have difficulty observing our quiet times. But the challenge is every time we come before God, we don’t come to hear, we come to tell God something. There is something that is not right with us or in our church or with somebody in our family or about our friend or our country that you always want God to attend to. You are always talking to God and many of us could spend minutes or hours doing that.
Now imagine a man who prides himself or who boasts in his repetitive attendance of God’s presence on a daily basis but instead of coming to God to hear God, he comes to God to make God hear him. What happens is: whatever you know, God will get to know it. However, whatever God knows, you will leave His presence fully ignorant of it. That is why the Bible says when you want to come to the house of God, when you want to become a minister and start the work of ministry, when you want your life to be identified with God, then there is a pattern that you must follow. You must walk prudently and this is how you will do it. Come to God to learn. Come to God to listen to Him.
You cannot continue to come to God, talking and babbling as if God must listen to you while you may not listen to Him. Many people come to the presence of God to tell God millions of things and then as soon as they are done, off they go. And God is like “wait, I want to tell you something.” And many people have been endangered in different generations, simply because as soon as they were done talking to God, they left. They were not opened to hear warnings, they were not opened to get directions, neither were opened to gain wisdom. Yet, the foundation of wisdom is knowledge, and you cannot have knowledge when you do not hear.
The Bible says when you come to the house of God, draw near to hear. That means come near to the presence of God to learn and until you have learnt something, you are not expected to offer any sacrifice to God. When you offer sacrifice in knowledge, that is no longer a sacrifice of a fool, it is the sacrifice of a wise man because it is rooted in knowledge and it will produce results. See what the Bible says in the latter part of that Ecclesiastes chapter 5 verse 1. It says:for they do not know that they do evil.”And so, there are people who don’t really know that they are fools actually, there is another dimension of foolishness where somebody does not even know the consequence of the things he or she is doing.
Many people are in ministry making a mess of the ministry. Yet, they do not know the implication of the mess that they are creating. What has led to their mess is their ignorance, and what has led to the perpetuity of their mess is their perpetual ignorance even in the same mess. When a man does not know, and he makes an error, if he should know more, then he will realize the error he or she has made and then retrace his or her step. But when men and women remain in their ignorance, then their errors and mistakes are even institutionalized. In the book of Matthew chapter 7 verse 21-23, there is a Scripture I want us to learn from as we move away from the ministry of fools into the ministry of the wise. It says:
“Not everyone who says to Me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ shall enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of My Father in heaven. 22 Many will say to Me in that day, ‘Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in Your name, cast out demons in Your name, and done many wonders in Your name?’ 23 And then I will declare to them, ‘I never knew you; depart from Me, you who practice lawlessness!’
The question is: Can a man do the will of God in heaven when a man does not spend time to hear God in the quiet place? You cannot do what you do not know. If you must do the will of God, it is because you have first known the will of God and then you are doing it. The Bible says “Not everyone who says to the Lord Jesus Christ: ‘Lord, Lord,shall enter the kingdom of heaven, but only those who have done the will of God in their own lifetime.“Many will say to Me in that day, ‘Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in Your name(and I am sure you know that is ministry) cast out demons in your name and done many wonders in your name?
If you see any human being today in any church, in any fellowship or ministry who prophesies, any man or any woman who casts out demons, any man or any woman who is able to do wonder, I am sure you know that every human being around such a person would acknowledge that he or she is a servant of God, especially when such is mentioning the name of God in the course of the miracles. When a man says “in the name of Jesus, rise up” and the person rises up, everybody watching the event assumes and believes that such a person has been sent by God and God is happy with such a person.
Jesus says:“Many will say to Me in that day, ‘Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in Your name, cast out demons in Your name, and done many wonders in Your name?’23 And then I will declare to them, ‘I never knew you; depart from Me, you who practice lawlessness!’” And that is what ministry of fools represented. It is the ministry of lawlessness, it is the ministry of ignorance, it is the ministry that has no blessings of God upon it. Many people are getting some results now thinking “God is fully aware of them.”
Now one thing I have realized is that if you continue in your ignorance of God, you will also be acknowledged by God as a man, a woman whom the Lord does not know. You see, if you continue not to know the will of God for your life, God will also say to you “He does not know you.” And that is very funny. Imagine the situation where the Bible is saying “the labor of fools wearies them for they do not know how to enter the city.” And we also saw in Ecclesiastes chapter 5 verse 1 that we read about those who do not know the consequences of their actions. While a people in ministry could begin with not knowing, they ultimately end up becoming a people who are unknown by God, and that is the worst state any man could be, a state where a man, a woman whom the Lord says “He does not know.
I am sure we know when the Lord uses the word “you are not known”, does not mean God is ignorant. It only means that you have not been so sent for the assignment that you are carrying out. God said “I have not sent these people yet they have gone.” They are running. It is not enough for you to have great ministry; you must be able to ask yourself: is this great ministry of mine a ministry of fools or a ministry of the wise? Is my ministry rooted in the knowledge of the will of God for my life? Is my ministry rooted in the perpetual listening and learning under God or my ministry is efforts of men?
The Bible says in the book of Proverbs chapter 3 verse 5. It says:“trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding. In all your ways, in all your ministry expressions acknowledge Him and He will direct your paths.” It says in verse 7: “Do not be wise in your own eyes, fear the Lord and depart from evil.” And that is very important. “Do not be wise in your own eyes.” So, it means ministry of fools are actually ministry of the wise men on the earth. You see, the fools that the Bible is talking about here represents a crop of people who believe they are wise in their own eyes. So, when God sees you as a fool, you could be seen yourself as a wise person. And that is very, very instructive for us.
It is not enough to be telling yourself that you are rich. You remember that church in Revelation that says “they are rich and they have no need of anything” and God said to them “you do not know that you are wretched, you are poor.”Don’t fool yourself. Don’t deceive yourself. If you understand that your ministry has not been built on the foundation of the will of God, and the perpetual submission to the knowledge of God, and the perpetual followership of the Spirit of God, then that ministry, no matter the prophesies, no matter the casting out of demons, no matter the amount of wonders that takes place in such ministries, it is a ministry of fools.
You should know that if you are going to have prophesy in a ministry, casting of demons in a ministry, working of wonders in a ministry, then there must be manifestation of anointing. The gift must be demonstrated. So, the Scriptures is showing us that it is not enough to be anointed, it is not enough to have gifts. You require knowledge and most especially, the knowledge of God. It is the knowledge that comes when a man walks prudently in the presence of God, when a man draws near to God to hear Him, and not to offer sacrifices of fools.
I pray that even as you subject your ministry, your life to the knowledge of the will of God for your life, as you submit yourself to the followership of the Holy Spirit, I pray that the Lord will continue to show Himself strong in your behalf, and you will not be tossed to and fro by every wind of doctrine, you will be established in the truth and you will offer sacrifices in righteousness. The sacrifices of your lips, the sacrifices of your mind will be acceptable to God and God will be pleased with your life, He will be able to tell you “you are a good and faithful servant, take inheritance that God has prepared for you even before the foundations of the earth.”
Thank you for the gift of your time, my name is Gboyega Adedeji and you have been listening to Forms and Patterns. I hope to connect with you again next week but till them, I want you to review your life, review your ministry. Have you been offering ministry of fools? Have you been offering sacrifices of fools? Have you been doing the work of fools? Have you been laboring in foolishness or have you been rooted in the wisdom of God? As you ask yourself these questions, my prayer is that the Lord will come through for you and you will fulfill your ministry, and God will be glorified in your life, in Jesus’ name.
God bless you!
