"... That the man of God may be perfect, throughly furnished unto all good works." 2 Timothy 3:17.

God`s Skilled Craftsmen

The calling of God is a distinctive calling. His commissioning is always personal. Its object is always precise. i.e. God does not just give us the Service but to accomplish through us something definite towards attaining of His goal. So every ministry should be a 'specific ministry'. Since God does not call each of us, His servants to precisely identical tasks, neither does He use precisely identical means for their preparation.

In the N.T we can recognize three distinctive emphases in ministry, represented by the particular historical contribution of three leading apostles. The distinctiveness of their three ministries is in part chronological, each apostle bringing, in the course of history, his own fresh and timely emphasis to the fore.

ALL the many and diverse ministries of the N.T.- those for example, of Philip and Barnabas, Silas and Apollos, Timothy and James- together with the countless more that should follow in history contain in differing proprtions of the distinctive elements of these three-Peter, Paul & John.

PETER: "Casting a net into the sea" : Mk 1:16,17; Ac. 2:14, 10:11. The Peter-in Mark's gospel, two epistles in other gospels and Acts.

Jesus using the term 'fishers of men' while calling Peter. He was to bring men urgently and in great numbers, into the Kingdom. Jesus gave him the 'keys' to Peter.- Matt. 16:19. Key implies a beginning, an entry- to let others in to open the door. Peter's task was to initiate something. Ordained by God to make the beginnings. The burden of Peter's message was 'Salvation' with a view to the Kingdom fullness. Peter was called under circumstances quite different from Paul and even of John. While casting a net- his trade- gave character to his ministry later on.

Due to Peter's preaching on the day of Pentecost, like casting a net, three thousand souls were gathered into the Kingdom. His work was that of an Evangelist- to win souls, in large numbers.

PAUL: "They were tent-makers": 2Corinthians 12:2-4; Ephesians 3:2-10; Acts 18:3;1 Cor. 3:10; Romans 15:20. Paul's task was to construct- the work of building His Church- the task of presenting Christ in His fulness to men, bringing those men as one into all that God had in His mind for them in Christ. Colossians 1:28,29.

The sheet in Peter's hand (Acts 10:11) becomes a tent in Paul's hand- giving shape and form. Something taking a definite form. No conflict in the ministries- Galatians 2:7-12.

God's goal and object in Redemption is the Union of Christ, the Head and the Church, His Body so that the whole, Chirst and His Church, make up together His New Man- "the Christ" 1 Corinthiasns 12:12.

The special ministry of Paul was to set forth this mystery and to bring His people into it, is the necessary complimentary to that of Peter. Paul goes beyond Peter and not to Peter's destruction or discredit. Peter realized this in his letters. 2 Peter 3:15.

Paul did not stop at with the first effect of his preaching but always followed it through to its further purpose in the saints. He was essentially a builder. 1Corinthians 3: 10.

All Pauls' writings have this one end in view: that Christ might have for Himself the glorious Church for which He died. Acts 20:28.

JOHN: "mending their nets": Matthew 4:21; Mark 1:19,20.

But at the last there came set-backs and disappointments. Philippians 2:21.- all seek their own. To Timothy, Paul says, 'All in Asia have turned away'. 2Timothy 1:15.

All the churches of the N.T period seem to have departed from God's standard, in the eyes of God, and missed something of the divine purpose.

At this point, God calls John. In the beginning the Lord used him only alongside Peter. John was not personally or uniquely commissioned to originate something nor entrusted with the task of making known the mystery of the church, though he was concerned like all other apostles. Ephesians 2:20.

At the end of the N.T period, the enemy of souls found entry into the house of God, and caused God's people to turn aside from His ways. Even the Ephesians- look at the first letter to the Ephesians and the second in Revelation 2:1-7. Something terrible has happened and now John is brought in and commissioned- not to lead further, but to restore.

What concerns John, whether in gospel, epistle or Revelation, is his concern to bring the people of God back to a position they have lost. Always bringing us back to God's original.

As he was engaged in the work of 'mending the nets', the Lord used him to 'mend His Church' in the last days. He was like a Repairer, Restorer and Mender of the broken, backslidden, and lukewarm Church.

Peter--the Ingatherer of Souls.
Paul--the Wise Master-Builder.
John--the Restorer & Mender.

It takes these three complimentary and interrelated ministries to make the Church perfect. Even today, God is using His people like this to gather, build, and mend His Church. Amen.