Precious Hungry Hearts
The image above could be used to illustrate that fact that if someone tries to shoot at the entire flock of ducks, they will hit nothing. They have to focus on shooting a “specific” duck within the flock if they want to bring something down.
In the same way, Levites must realize that there are certain people who will love and appreciate the word of God that they bring but typically only a few of such people can be found among the masses of people. These people can be called “Precious Hungry Hearts” because they are more valuable than fine gold and more rare than a precious gem stone of great value!
It is important that a Fivefold Minister focus on those who are spiritually hungry and not waste too much time with masses of people who have no ears to hear. Typically, out of a large crowd of people there will be only a few can be found who have hungry hearts.
Evangelism is like this as well because out of a big crowd maybe only a small portion of them will make a decision for the Lord. Then out of that number there could be a small remnant that will display hunger for God’s word and will seek to have more and want to grow spiritually. It is this “remnant” of hungry hearts that should be the focus of the Fivefold Ministry.
Acts 19:9-10 (NIV)
9 But some of them became obstinate; they refused to believe and publicly maligned the Way. So Paul left them. He took the disciples with him and had discussions daily in the lecture hall of Tyrannus.
10 This went on for two years, so that all the Jews and Greeks who lived in the province of Asia heard the word of the Lord.
When people began to malign the gospel in hard-hearted manner then Paul left them and he took with him disciples and had discussions daily at a lecture hall. These disciples are those who honored the word of God and were eager to learn and wanted to hear more. These are the people who are a rare and precious treasure and only these types of people are worthy of the time of a Fivefold minister. But generally, the masses of people are not typically going to receive the message. Only a few out of a big crowd of people will indicate that they are “disciples” by displaying spiritual hunger and a desire to learn more and a willingness to support those who feed them spiritually.
Luke 8:9-10 (NIV)
9 His disciples asked him what this parable meant.
10 He said, “The knowledge of the secrets of the kingdom of God has been given to you, but to others I speak in parables, so that, “‘though seeing, they may not see; though hearing, they may not understand.’
The disciples of Jesus were distinguished by the fact that they had spiritual eyes to see the revelation that Jesus brought to them from the word of God. The knowledge of the secrets of the kingdom of God were given to these disciples because they were counted worthy by God to see spiritual things. But those who were unworthy remained spiritually dull and were blind and could not see the revelation which Jesus brought. It was only those whose eyes were opened spiritually which were counted worthy to be his disciples.
This same principle still applies and those who have “spiritual eyes” to see will be able to see and understand revelation that a Fivefold Minister brings to them. These are distinguished as “disciples” because they get excited about the word of God and are thrilled to receive new revelation. This is entirely different than most people in the masses who are too dull to see the value of the revelation that a Fivefold Minster brings. In fact, it is a waste of time to continue to preach to people who have no ears to hear. As soon as it is evident that people have no spiritual interest then the Fivefold Minister should withdraw from them and spend his time only with those who distinguish themselves as being “disciples” by their desire to learn more.
Advice from a Senior Levite
If I could give some wise counsel to young Levites of the Fivefold Ministry, I would warn them to always stick with those people who are proven disciples and do not waste too much time with the masses or with large crowds. It is true that an Evangelist is called by God to reach unbelievers and they will typically have large crowds in their Evangelistic crusades. But people will sort themselves out by displaying their spiritual hunger and these are the people which the Fivefold Ministry Levites should spend most of their time with. Anyone else will generally be a waste of time. As soon as it is known that they are spiritually dull then the Levite should separate himself from such people.
In my own ministry travels I would find that most of the people in general were not disciples and so are not worthy of my time. But on a rare occasion I have met a group of people who were spiritually hungry. If I could do my life over again, then I would have spent the majority of my time with those who were interested in the word of God and who received my ministry with gladness and even displayed their gratefulness by their financial support of the ministry. Such people are a rare treasure and if a Fivefold Ministry Levite finds people like this, he should drop everything else and spend all of his time feeding such hungry people. This would be the best use of his time and it would also be the most productive.
Apostle Paul separated out disciples from the general crowd and taught them privately in a lecture hall and this was greatly productive and caused the gospel to spread throughout the entire region. There is no better use of a Levite’s time than to conduct a bible school or to spend time teaching those who are spiritually hungry. People who come for such instruction are those whose hearts are right with God and their spiritual eyes are open to the revelation of God’s word.
Heart Types
Luke 8:11-15 (NASB)
11 “Now the parable is this: the seed is the word of God.
12 “Those beside the road are those who have heard; then the devil comes and takes away the word from their heart, so that they will not believe and be saved.
13 “Those on the rocky soil are those who, when they hear, receive the word with joy; and these have no firm root; they believe for a while, and in time of temptation fall away.
14 “The seed which fell among the thorns, these are the ones who have heard, and as they go on their way they are choked with worries and riches and pleasures of this life, and bring no fruit to maturity.
15 “But the seed in the good soil, these are the ones who have heard the word in an honest and good heart, and hold it fast, and bear fruit with perseverance.
The people will sort themselves out according to their own heart conditions. Those whose hearts are hardened like the hard-packed ground of a foot-path will not last long because the enemy will steal the word of God from their hearts without the word of God taking effect in their lives.
Those whose hearts are like stony ground do not last because even if they receive it with joy they have no root in themselves of “staying power” to last as believers.
Those whose hearts are like thorny ground have the word of God choked out of them by the worries of the world and by seeking riches and pleasure in life so that they bring nothing to fruition of the word of God.
But the seed that fell on good soil represents those who are disciples who have a spiritual hunger for God’s word to hear and receive it and they are zealous about applying God’s word in their lives. If a Fivefold Ministry Levite should even happen upon good people with a good heart condition of a good soil type, then they should pour everything that they have into them. Only good soil-type people are worthy of their investment of time. Everyone else is a waste of time because they will never produce any good fruit no matter how much time and labor is invested by the Levite upon them.
Never be Run Off
In the course of my ministry travels I came across several congregations of people who had good soil-type hearts. When I taught the word of God to these people they immediately responded with zeal and enthusiasm and wanted to hear all of the teaching I have and they were willing to support the ministry because they saw it as a valuable treasure to them. But there was some laymen hirelings who had assumed themselves as a pastor over these groups. These men were not feeding the people spiritually and when I visited the church and gave the congregation just one sermon, they responded wholeheartedly like they were starving people eating some good fresh bread! They cried out for more and I saw these people as being a great “treasure” for this reason.
But at the same time, the laymen hireling ministry intruders who were assuming themselves over these people felt threatened by me because my gift of Apostle/Teacher was able to feed the people and satisfy them spiritually. These hirelings however had degrees in a seminary but no gift to teach God’s word so the people were spiritually starving. Therefore, I have had a number of occasions where fake laymen hireling pastors would seek to run me off only because they felt their position of control was being threatened. The people however enthusiastically supported me but it was only the hireling that wanted to get rid of me!
As I look back upon my traveling ministry, I would no longer allow anyone to run me off like that again. As long as the people wanted me, I would stay there and feed them as much as possible. To find such people with good soil types is a rare and precious treasure. If I ever found a bunch like that again I would be willing to fight for them and their rights to receive spiritual feeding.
In the past, I was more immature and I thought that I did not want to cause strife so if I was resisted by a fake hireling pastor, I would just leave to keep peace. But now I see what a tragedy it was for those who were spiritually hungry who were denied feeding only because a layman hireling was insecure and felt intimidated and decided he needed to run me off. Now as I am more mature, I see things differently and I would no longer be run off like that by anymore. If the people want me, I would remain with them and pour myself into them as much as possible. Finding hungry hearts like that is a rare treasure indeed and I would fight for their right to receive feeding if I ever had the chance to meet people like that again!
What I am saying now is that if any young Levite happens to come across a group of hungry people who love and appreciate and support his ministry then he should carefully consider staying with them as long as possible and give them all that he has. Only people with good hearts like this are worthy of his time. He would be wasting his time if he spent years teaching dull people who have no ears to hear.
After traveling for several decades in a traveling ministry I only found a few congregations like this and if I had the opportunity to find anyone like that again I would stick with them and give them everything I have. I would never be run-off by insecure laymen hirelings because of their jealousy. This is a warning to young and inexperienced Fivefold Ministry Levites that if ever they find a group of people who are spiritually hungry and have good soil times then they should cancel all other traveling plans and stay with them and give them everything they have. There is no other type of people who are worthy of an Apostle’s time and ministry than those disciples who have a good soil-type of heart condition.
Another option also is if a Levite has opportunity to give only one sermon in one place but he finds hungry people present then he can give his website address from the pulpit. Then they can feed spiritually using his teaching website even after he leaves (in those situations where he is unable to remain there in that one location).
Trash a Schedule Created in the Flesh
Once when I was in Leyte Island in the Philippines I was sent out by another missionary with a van and projection equipment and an interpreter to show evangelistic movies. The guy who set this up had a new place scheduled every night so we had to pack up and move daily to a new location. But what occurred in one of the places was that a move of God manifested. After the movie presentation I had my interpreter give the evangelistic call for salvation. I then decided to experiment with a theory based upon the fact that when a natural baby is born, the newborn infant is immediately given the mother’s breast milk. Before a baby tastes the milk, they will not cry out for it but once they sampled milk, they will crave for it. So, with that analogy I thought to myself that these people in this evangelistic crusade just got saved like new born babies. Therefore, I decided to give them some milk of God’s word (simple baby-type doctrines). So, after the altar called was completed, I stood up on the platform and gave them a teaching about “Faith” which was as simple as I could make it to feed newborn infants the spiritual “milk” of God’s word. It was amazing that these newly saved people were thrilled to hear the teaching of God’s word and their response shocked me! They put down their beer-bottles and cigarettes and began to applaud showing that they were pleased and wanted to know more! I knew in my heart at this time that if I would remain there and continue teaching, I would have had a church develop from these new converts! They were really spiritually hungry and I never saw such a response in any other place we had visited before this. But the denominational guy had setup his “human-schedule” and it could not be interrupted because things were announced in advance and we had to be at the next location at the prescribed time. With a heavy heart I was forced to leave these hungry people who were a “rare-treasure” because I was driving the van belonging to someone else and was operating under his schedule also. He would have been furious if I disrupted his plans to remain in the place where a move of God had just manifested!
But again, if I could do things over again, I would have stayed in that place and poured myself into those hungry hearts even if it meant facing the “wrath” of this denominational guy who arranged all of these “human-made” schedules. It is better to flow with God when God is moving than to have to leave a move of God to fulfill human man-made schedules.
I want to warn any young Levite that if he happens experience a move of God and finds hearts of people are hungry for spiritual things then he should remain with them and invest his time and energy with such people and “hang-the-human-plans!” I have always regretted that I was too immature to resist human-schedules in order to stay and flow with a move of God when it was evident.
If someone had warned me of this in advance, I would have recognized the move of God and abandoned the rest of these human-made schedules and would have remained with these hungry people and fed them everything I have and brought them to a place of spiritual maturity.
Acts 4:18-19 (NIV)
18 Then they called them in again and commanded them not to speak or teach at all in the name of Jesus.
19 But Peter and John replied, “Judge for yourselves whether it is right in God’s sight to obey you rather than God.
This is an example of humans trying to assert their authority over Apostles by commanding them not to teach in the Name of Jesus. But Apostle Peter responded that they had to obey God rather than these old religious men giving out these orders from their own human-insecurity. Such men were afraid the people would follow others instead of them and then they would lose their position of control.
See the link “Religious Vultures” for more details.
The thing to teach young Levites is that it is more important to obey God than it is to obey humans. If humans stand in the way of a move of God then it is better to disobey and displease these humans than to disobey or displease God. Never should an Apostle allow any humans to assume authority over them and command them what they can and cannot preach or to whom. If people are hungry and have open hearts then an Apostle should stay with them and pour himself into them and resist any laymen hirelings who might try to run them off out of their own insecurity as a religious vulture.
Sheep Stealing Not Possible
I have often heard the old and worn-out accusation of someone being accused of “Sheep-Stealing” as referring to someone who has members of another congregation come to him for spiritual feeding. But in fact, this is erroneous and no one can steal a human sheep. In fact, sheep go where they are fed and insecure laymen hireling intruders are quick to accuse anyone of “sheep-stealing” whenever their congregation goes to someone else to have their spiritual needs met. But if these same people were being fed spiritually, they would not look somewhere else for their feeding. If people are forced to remain in a church that does not feed them it is like keeping sheep locked in a pen with no food. Standing in the mud and manure without grass is a depiction of being forced to remain in a church that offers them nothing spiritually. Only starving sheep leave a dead church looking for something better and those who are not called into the Fivefold Ministry are laymen who cannot feed the sheep because they have no gift or calling from God. Having a degree from a seminary has nothing whatsoever to do with feeding people spiritually.
Therefore, my advice to young Levites is that if they find a congregation of spiritually hungry people then they should stay with them and give them everything they have. If a hireling wants to accuse them of stealing sheep, then so be it. In fact, it is their duty to “steal” every sheep that they can get – meaning that the Levite is to feed them spiritually and not let some hireling try to intimidate them or shame them by accusing them of “sheep-stealing!” But in fact, these people do not belong to that hireling and they can go where they are fed so it is really impossible for anyone to steal any human sheep!
If I could do my life over, I would refuse to allow any hireling to run me off and if I find any congregation with spiritual hunger no one would make me leave them until I have given them everything I have! It is therefore my advice to all young Levites to stay with any group of people who display spiritual hunger and never allow anyone to run you off no matter what!
Judge Themselves Unworthy
Acts 13:45-48 (NLT2)
45 But when some of the Jews saw the crowds, they were jealous; so they slandered Paul and argued against whatever he said.
46 Then Paul and Barnabas spoke out boldly and declared, “It was necessary that we first preach the word of God to you Jews. But since you have rejected it and judged yourselves unworthy of eternal life, we will offer it to the Gentiles.
47 For the Lord gave us this command when he said, ‘I have made you a light to the Gentiles, to bring salvation to the farthest corners of the earth.’”
48 When the Gentiles heard this, they were very glad and thanked the Lord for his message; and all who were chosen for eternal life became believers.
When a group of people show themselves unworthy of having the ministry of an Apostle then they should be abandoned and the Apostle should go where he can find hungry hearts. The Gentiles were thrilled to have the ministry of God’s word through Apostle Paul. The Gentiles were fruitful soil for this reason and Apostle Paul would be wasting his time trying to reach the hard-hearted Jews who did not receive his message.
Those who Honor God’s Word
Acts 13:48 (NIV)
48 When the Gentiles heard this, they were glad and honored the word of the Lord; and all who were appointed for eternal life believed.
This scripture says that these people honored the word of the Lord and this means that an Apostle will find good ground among people who honor God’s word. Those who honor God’s word will be eager to hear it and apply it.
Presence Alone Changes Lives
Also, I have experienced that my presence alone can change lives. This was evident when I was a new believer and my bible-knowledge was lacking and my sermons were poor but nevertheless the youth group I was working with was being transformed. Parents reported that their children began to display good and obedient behavior at home and the parents were thrilled about the positive change they saw in their children. But this even occurred when the teaching I had was of little value as an immature Apostle.
Lester Sumrall also had the same thing happen when he went out to preach in county churches as a boy preacher. His sermons were poor and he had little bible-knowledge at that time but his presence alone as an Apostle caused people to be saved and changed and lasting works were started through this young man.
Therefore, it should be noted that an Apostle can manifest the fruit of his office even before he is fully mature and even when he lacks knowledge. It is an amazing thing because from all outward appearances it would seem that there would be no fruit whatsoever from such an immature and ignorant preacher! But it is the calling which can produce the fruit despite any shortcomings or lack of knowledge or even a lack of preaching ability by a novice.
Therefore, I recommend allowing a young Levite man to try because if he harbors a call of Apostle then he will see fruit even before he is fully mature and gains knowledge. This fruit testifies that he is born with a Fivefold Ministry gift. I believe in mentoring young Levites by having them paired with a senior Levite of the same calling who can advise them and counsel them along the way in how to flow with their gift and calling from God.