“And He Himself gave some to be apostles, some prophets, some evangelists, and some pastors and teachers, for the equipping of the saints for the work of ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ, till we all come to the unity of the faith and the knowledge of the Son of God, to a perfect man, to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ;” Ephesians 4:11-13 NKJV.
For completeness, a church should have these fivefold offices in place. The principle guiding all however is consistency. They are ‘Gifts’, not ‘works’. It is not because you go to theological school to step into any of the offices. Or that you inherit it from your natural father. They are to be received in humility and exercised graciously, in love
The purpose of these spiritual offices is to equip the saints for the work of ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ. The goal is the maturity of saints for the work of the work:
- we all come to the unity of the faith,
- knowledge of the Son of God, to a perfect man, to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ.
The Spiritual Offices
We are going to use the early Church as an example so that we understand the original intent and approach of the Spiritual offices.
Apostles: messenger, one sent with a message, a representative of another person.
And when it was day, He called His disciples to Himself; and from them, He chose twelve whom He also named apostles (Luke 6:13). In Mark 3:13 And He went up on the mountain and called to Him those He Himself wanted. And they came to Him. 14 Then He appointed twelve, [d]that they might be with Him and that He might send them out to preach, 15 and to have [e]power [f]to heal sicknesses and to cast out demons: 16 [g]Simon, to whom He gave the name Peter; 17 James the son of Zebedee and John the brother of James, to whom He gave the name Boanerges, that is, “Sons of Thunder”; 18 Andrew, Philip, Bartholomew, Matthew, Thomas, James the son of Alphaeus, Thaddaeus, Simon the Cananite; 19 and Judas Iscariot, who also betrayed Him. And they went into a house.
The twelve became the leadership. Apostles are leaders in the body of Christ. They gave themselves continually prayer and the ministry of the word. They developed, sustained, and set in order.
We saw in Acts, the early Apostles act: they would pray for new converts, lay hands on them to receive the Holy Spirit (Acts 8:15), set rules of fellowship, healing and miracles too but this was not limited to Apostles. Other called Apostles: Barnabas and Paul (Acts 14:14). They were sent out by the Holy Spirit from Antioch (Acts 13:2, 3). They went on missionary joining, preaching, evangelising, setting up believers – appointing elders in every church (Acts 14:23), setting order/rules of fellowship (Acts 15) – the dispute about gentile circumcision.
Prophets,
It is Yeshua who appoints some to be Prophets, not human beings. The gift of the prophet will speak for them. They will prophesy and it shall come to pass. People are obsessed with knowing the future, especially when they have problems. They will go seeking a prophet to tell them, to reveal things etc. And many are duped. Because of what Yeshua did, we have direct access to the Father. We can come boldly to the throne of grace to receive mercy. We have the Holy Spirit, the spirit of truth in us to reveal the heart of Yeshua. Prophets declare the whole counsel of God (Acts 20:27). They seek Elohim God first through prayer. Yeshua is our number one Prophet
Examples of prophets are Noah, Moses, all the Old Testament prophets. When you understand the books of the Prophet, the fear of the Lord will rise in your heart. The heart of Elohim they revealed about His people, is scary, and it is encouraging.
In the New Testament, Acts 13 :1 Now in the church that was at Antioch there were certain prophets and teachers: Barnabas, Simeon who was called Niger, Lucius of Cyrene, Manaen who had been brought up with Herod the tetrarch, and Saul. 2 As they ministered to the Lord and fasted, the Holy Spirit said, “Now separate to Me Barnabas and Saul for the work to which I have called them.” 3 Then, having fasted and prayed, and laid hands on them, they sent them away.
Another example was Agabus in Acts11:27 And in these days prophets came from Jerusalem to Antioch. 28 Then one of them, named Agabus, stood up and showed by the Spirit that there was going to be a great famine throughout all the world, which also happened in the days of Claudius Caesar. 29 Then the disciples, each according to his ability, determined to send relief to the brethren dwelling in Judea. 30 This they also did and sent it to the elders by the hands of Barnabas and Saul. And in Acts 21 10 And as we stayed many days, a certain prophet named Agabus came down from Judea. 11 When he had come to us, he took Paul’s belt, bound his own hands and feet, and said, “Thus says the Holy Spirit, ‘So shall the Jews at Jerusalem bind the man who owns this belt and deliver him into the hands of the Gentiles.’
We can understand this office by studying about these people in the Bible:
- They were called by Jehovah
- The source of their revelation was Jehovah
- They lived their lives consecrated to Jehovah
- Their audiences (Individuals, leaders, whole nation even gentile nations e.g. Jonah to Nineveh) was as instructed by Jehovah.
- They made a prophetic declaration and Jehovah backed them up.
- They also did signs, miracles and wonders
We see those in these offices spoke the mind of Yeshua by the Holy Spirit
Evangelists.
All saints are called to do evangelism, but there are those with unique gifts and zeal for evangelism. They are concerned mostly with preaching the gospel, not about religious organisation, administration etc
Pastors head or shepherd a church congregation. They are responsible for the spiritual well-being of the saint. Jesus, was the perfect shepherd and pastors are under-shepherds, to feed the saints. Pastors have gifts of caring heart, encouragement, compassion. They feed and tend to the sheep as Jesus instructed Simon. It is interesting to note that in the early church, it was a council of elders that oversee the church, not an individual, From Miletus, he sent to Ephesus and called for the elders of the church… 28 Therefore take heed to yourselves and to all the flock, among which the Holy Spirit has made you overseers, to shepherd the church [g]of God which He purchased with His own blood. (Acts 20: 17, 28)
Teachers receive a deeper revelation of both the Spirit and letter of the Word and use the same to teach others and instruct them in righteousness. Teachers have this deep hunger and thirst to dig deep and wider, to understand what, why, how and when. They will link from genesis to revelation. They see the dots and the connection. They do not stay on the surface but go deep. They take the word precept upon precept. Teachers are important for grounding the saints in the word not just to call for salvation but to grow them into maturity.
We can see the manifestation of spiritual gifts in each office. I find it difficult to put the gifts in a box and apply it to specific offices. However, some gifts are very evident in the office. Example
- Apostles – the gift of leadership
- Prophets – the gift of prophecy
- Evangelists – gifts of healings, miracles
- Pastors – the gift of exhortation
- Teachers – gifts of teaching
These gifts are not just limited to the offices. The Holy Spirit gives to everyone as he decides.
How do I know which office I am called to?
There are different ways including directly from God, the disciples were selected and made Apostles by Christ, same as Paul. One can be ordained as Apostles under the direction of the Holy Spirit by other Apostles. Your spiritual gifts would also make your office very clear.
Can I move from one office to another?
It is possible to operate in more than one office. Apostle Paul is a perfect example. In Acts 13, he was counted among the prophets and teachers. Then after being sent out, he was referred to as an Apostle. From my practical observation, even if you are an Apostle, you will still see some leaning in the gift of other offices e.g. evangelism or teaching. That would not put you in the office of a teacher or an evangelist. This is where the subtle difference between an office and a spiritual gift.
Your gifts and the office will be perfectly aligned. Making a human decision will misalign the two. The pastor office is one of the five offices, not the only one. Some evangelists are wrongly called pastors. Your gift will always speak for you.
Conclusion
Did you recognise any of these gifts in you? Your gift has been given to you by grace. You are to use them. If you have not recognised your gift, start praying today for the revelation of the Holy Spirit. However, you must have a relationship with Yeshua Christ Jesus first, this is simple to do:
Acknowledge: you have sinned and come short of the glory of God
Repent: of your sins and be determined to turn away from them
Confess: and declare Jesus as the Son of God, and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead (Romans 10:9)
Accept him as your Lord and Saviour
Declare openly your faith and become a new creature in Christ, old things have passed away
Follow: Jesus in all areas of your life
And start that wonderful journey with Him immediately. I encourage you to search for a bible teaching fellowship near you to support your spiritual growth.
PrayerfortheWeek
Almighty Father, thank you for the gift of my life. May we stir up our spiritual gifts and use them for the glory of Yeshua Christ Jesus. Amen
If you accept Jesus or turn back to him, please get in touch. I am so excited! You give me hope and joy and are my proud reward and crown when I stand before our Lord Jesus when he returns. Yes, you are our pride and joy (1Thessalonians 2:19-20 NLT).
Inbox me, email me, just get in touch. I want to join you in prayers every day
My email is info@adeolaakintoye.com
I pray that this inspires you to reflect on your relationship with Elohim and be determined to be more and do more for Him each day.
#AdeolaAkintoye©
#ajourneytospiritualmaturity2021
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