We must learn how to minister the life and Spirit of the Lord. Ministry works because of the principle of transference. What we have from God can be transferred to someone else, if we know how, of course. The principle of transference involves two other principles: the principle of impartation and the principle of appropriation. Impartation is giving and appropriation is receiving. It is not quite that simple, of course, because there are other factors involved. If you are going to impart, you must first have something from God to impart. Then, you must know how to impart it to another, and the strength of your impartation depends upon the force of your spirit. Also, you must be able to direct the impartation to the person’s spirit. And, if you are doing everything correctly, how much the person receives depends upon their ability to appropriate. Even if they do not know how to appropriate they will receive something, but the ministry will be greatly enhanced if they can draw in what is imparted.
I Timothy 4:14 Neglect not the gift that is in thee, which was given thee by prophecy, with the laying on of the hands of the presbytery.
There are two channels for impartation. Impartation can take place through the prophetic word and through the laying on of hands. The spiritual gift that Timothy received came through both prophecy and the laying on of hands.
On another occasion Paul spoke of a spiritual gift that he transferred to Timothy using his hands as the channel of transference. Wherefore I put thee in remembrance that thou stir up the gift of God, which is in thee by the putting on of my hands. II Timothy 1:6. He doesn’t say that prophecy was used in the transference, although it could have been. Transference can take place by either one without the other, but it is more effective if both are used. And, of course, the ability of the other person to receive is a factor.
One doesn’t learn ministry overnight. And some of you will have questions that won't be answered in this message. However, my main goal here is to touch on something that tends to take away from ministry, and everything said so far just leads up to that.
Jesus said, The words that I speak unto you, they are spirit, and they are life (John 6:63). The most important aspect of ministry is the impartation of the life and Spirit of the Lord; information is secondary. However, there are times when the information takes preference, and that minimizes the transference of Spirit and life. It is difficult for a ministry to put the necessary force in the impartation of life when he is relaying a word of information to a person. He tends to focus more on giving the information. It is also difficult for the one receiving ministry to draw upon the life in the ministry when they are focused on the information, trying to understand what is being said.
Information in ministry has, too often, become more important than the impartation of Spirit and life. That needs to change. Just imparting a blessing to someone can be more advantageous than a word given and received as information. Real spiritual growth takes place when the life and presence of the Lord is transferred to our spirits. It is not necessary for a prophet to look like a prophet; it is only necessary for him to minister like a prophet.
Copyright © 2004 by Henry DuBose