The Equipping Gifts to the Church
The Equipping Gifts to the Church
I can think of the NASCAR race and those on the sideline whose job it is to get the cars and drivers ready to run the race. They also quickly fix the cars when they brake and put them back into the race. I also can think of the coaches for many games that stay by the side to coach and encourage the players so they can do what they were meant to do – play and win games. That is how I would like to think of those whom God have given the Church to equip us to live out our lives for Jesus and run this race we have been called to.
In Ephesians 4, we see Paul giving us examples of four gifts and graces God has given the Church. These are just examples and not an exhaustive list namely Apostles, Prophets, Evangelists, Pastors/Teachers. Paul writes as follows:
7 But to each one of us grace was given according to the measure of Christ’s gift…
11 And He Himself gave some to be apostles, some prophets, some evangelists, and some pastors and teachers, 12 for the equipping of the saints for the work of ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ, 13 till we all come to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to a perfect man, to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ; 14 that we should no longer be children, tossed to and fro and carried about with every wind of doctrine, by the trickery of men, in the cunning craftiness of deceitful plotting, 15 but, speaking the truth in love, may grow up in all things into Him who is the head—Christ— 16 from whom the whole body, joined and knit together by what every joint supplies, according to the effective working by which every part does its share, causes growth of the body for the edifying of itself in love.
An Apostle is like our green berets. They are the trail blazers. The word apostle means, “One sent forth” and envoy, a missionary. It is not just a “messenger” but a delegate or representative of the person who sent him. I like the summary of the function and meaning of the apostles by J.C Lambert, as follows, “apostleship lay in the missionary calling implied in the name, and that all whose lives were devoted to this vocation, and who could prove by the issues of their labors that God's Spirit was working through them for the conversion of Jew or Gentile, were regarded and described as apostles”.To this, Paul and Peter and the rest of them fit this meaning.
Now there are in-house debates of whether there are present day apostles? Yes and no. I would say maybe no to the stature of the early Church apostles but yes to the function of apostleship. We have present day men and women who are risking their lives to go to people who have never heard the gospel to proclaim the good news. I must say that for any of these equipping gifts, apostle is not a title but a function and a calling to do what the Holy Spirit has inspired to do. Even in the New Testament, apostle was not limited to the 12 who were with Jesus (as some argue) otherwise Paul would not be called an apostle. Likewise, Paul referred many as apostles such as Barnabas, Apollos, Epaphroditus, Silvanus, Timothy and etc.
We must caution about the “so called” apostles of today who wear the big crosses on their necks and have never stepped out to proclaim the Gospel and liberate the unreached people of this world. They often look like and sound like “pimps” because they want to draw people to themselves and use them for personal gain. Let’s discern the true apostles by what the Spirit says of them like in the case of Paul. “15 But the Lord said to him (Ananias), “Go, for he (Paul) is a chosen vessel of Mine to bear My name before Gentiles, kings, and the children of Israel. 16 For I will show him how many things he must suffer for My name’s sake.” Acts 9:15.
Prophets are a great gift to the Church family. They hear from God, discern and encourage the saints with words of exaltation. In fact, Paul would said, “3 But he who prophesies speaks edification and exhortation and comfort to men. 4 He who speaks in a tongue edifies himself, but he who prophesies edifies the church. 5 I wish you all spoke with tongues, but even more that you prophesied; for[a] he who prophesies is greater than he who speaks with tongues, unless indeed he interprets, that the church may receive edification” 1 Corinthians 14: 3-5. Again, do we have prophets today? Yes. When you encourage the people of God, you are prophesying.
Evangelists are also another great gift for the Church. Easton’s Bible Dictionary has a good summary of the Evangelist as follows, “a "publisher of glad tidings;" a missionary preacher of the gospel (Eph 4:11). This title is applied to Philip (Act 21:8), who appears to have gone from city to city preaching the word (8:4,40). Judging from the case of Philip, evangelists had neither the authority of an apostle, nor the gift of prophecy, nor the responsibility of pastoral supervision over a portion of the flock. They were itinerant preachers, having it as their special function to carry the gospel to places where it was previously unknown. The writers of the four Gospels are known as the Evangelists.”
Next week we will look at the pastor/teacher gift to the Church. We must never forget the purpose of the gifts as some do and only pay attention to the gift itself. If I give you the most powerful cell phone (with all the latest buttons and functions) and you never activate it and use it to call someone, then it has not fulfilled its purpose. Here is God’s purpose for the gifts He has placed in all of us: “ 12 for the equipping of the saints for the work of ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ, 13 till we all come to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to a perfect man, to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ”.
Notice it said, “equipping of the saints (those set apart for God)” and not “equipping of some saints”. It is wrong to exclude oneself from needing to be equipped regardless of your title/function – bishop, pastor, apostle etc. It also said, “saints for the work of the ministry”. Again, not “some saints for the work of the ministry”. We are all in ministry for God and we are all “fulltime” ministers for God. Our lives are not separated into compartments. The grace of God that is on you at home is the same grace that is on you at work, at the grocery, at the games, at school, at “the church building” and etc. In every arena of life we are to minister Christ and all His “living water” will flow into us and through us to water the saints and “aints” (those yet to be saints and lacking the “s” saved and sanctified).
Let’s go “Saints” and use God’s gift of grace to proclaim Christ, encourage one another and help someone to a richer “knowledge of the Son of God”. Those who know their God do great things through Him and for Him. Amen. Father, grant us your grace today to be who you have called us to be and to live out your intent in our lives. We thank you for the past and present apostles, prophets, evangelists, pastors/teachers who you have used and still using to encourage and build us. May your grace abound much more in their lives and our lives for the sake of your name. Amen.
I can think of the NASCAR race and those on the sideline whose job it is to get the cars and drivers ready to run the race. They also quickly fix the cars when they brake and put them back into the race. I also can think of the coaches for many games that stay by the side to coach and encourage the players so they can do what they were meant to do – play and win games. That is how I would like to think of those whom God have given the Church to equip us to live out our lives for Jesus and run this race we have been called to.
In Ephesians 4, we see Paul giving us examples of four gifts and graces God has given the Church. These are just examples and not an exhaustive list namely Apostles, Prophets, Evangelists, Pastors/Teachers. Paul writes as follows:
7 But to each one of us grace was given according to the measure of Christ’s gift…
11 And He Himself gave some to be apostles, some prophets, some evangelists, and some pastors and teachers, 12 for the equipping of the saints for the work of ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ, 13 till we all come to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to a perfect man, to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ; 14 that we should no longer be children, tossed to and fro and carried about with every wind of doctrine, by the trickery of men, in the cunning craftiness of deceitful plotting, 15 but, speaking the truth in love, may grow up in all things into Him who is the head—Christ— 16 from whom the whole body, joined and knit together by what every joint supplies, according to the effective working by which every part does its share, causes growth of the body for the edifying of itself in love.
An Apostle is like our green berets. They are the trail blazers. The word apostle means, “One sent forth” and envoy, a missionary. It is not just a “messenger” but a delegate or representative of the person who sent him. I like the summary of the function and meaning of the apostles by J.C Lambert, as follows, “apostleship lay in the missionary calling implied in the name, and that all whose lives were devoted to this vocation, and who could prove by the issues of their labors that God's Spirit was working through them for the conversion of Jew or Gentile, were regarded and described as apostles”.To this, Paul and Peter and the rest of them fit this meaning.
Now there are in-house debates of whether there are present day apostles? Yes and no. I would say maybe no to the stature of the early Church apostles but yes to the function of apostleship. We have present day men and women who are risking their lives to go to people who have never heard the gospel to proclaim the good news. I must say that for any of these equipping gifts, apostle is not a title but a function and a calling to do what the Holy Spirit has inspired to do. Even in the New Testament, apostle was not limited to the 12 who were with Jesus (as some argue) otherwise Paul would not be called an apostle. Likewise, Paul referred many as apostles such as Barnabas, Apollos, Epaphroditus, Silvanus, Timothy and etc.
We must caution about the “so called” apostles of today who wear the big crosses on their necks and have never stepped out to proclaim the Gospel and liberate the unreached people of this world. They often look like and sound like “pimps” because they want to draw people to themselves and use them for personal gain. Let’s discern the true apostles by what the Spirit says of them like in the case of Paul. “15 But the Lord said to him (Ananias), “Go, for he (Paul) is a chosen vessel of Mine to bear My name before Gentiles, kings, and the children of Israel. 16 For I will show him how many things he must suffer for My name’s sake.” Acts 9:15.
Prophets are a great gift to the Church family. They hear from God, discern and encourage the saints with words of exaltation. In fact, Paul would said, “3 But he who prophesies speaks edification and exhortation and comfort to men. 4 He who speaks in a tongue edifies himself, but he who prophesies edifies the church. 5 I wish you all spoke with tongues, but even more that you prophesied; for[a] he who prophesies is greater than he who speaks with tongues, unless indeed he interprets, that the church may receive edification” 1 Corinthians 14: 3-5. Again, do we have prophets today? Yes. When you encourage the people of God, you are prophesying.
Evangelists are also another great gift for the Church. Easton’s Bible Dictionary has a good summary of the Evangelist as follows, “a "publisher of glad tidings;" a missionary preacher of the gospel (Eph 4:11). This title is applied to Philip (Act 21:8), who appears to have gone from city to city preaching the word (8:4,40). Judging from the case of Philip, evangelists had neither the authority of an apostle, nor the gift of prophecy, nor the responsibility of pastoral supervision over a portion of the flock. They were itinerant preachers, having it as their special function to carry the gospel to places where it was previously unknown. The writers of the four Gospels are known as the Evangelists.”
Next week we will look at the pastor/teacher gift to the Church. We must never forget the purpose of the gifts as some do and only pay attention to the gift itself. If I give you the most powerful cell phone (with all the latest buttons and functions) and you never activate it and use it to call someone, then it has not fulfilled its purpose. Here is God’s purpose for the gifts He has placed in all of us: “ 12 for the equipping of the saints for the work of ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ, 13 till we all come to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to a perfect man, to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ”.
Notice it said, “equipping of the saints (those set apart for God)” and not “equipping of some saints”. It is wrong to exclude oneself from needing to be equipped regardless of your title/function – bishop, pastor, apostle etc. It also said, “saints for the work of the ministry”. Again, not “some saints for the work of the ministry”. We are all in ministry for God and we are all “fulltime” ministers for God. Our lives are not separated into compartments. The grace of God that is on you at home is the same grace that is on you at work, at the grocery, at the games, at school, at “the church building” and etc. In every arena of life we are to minister Christ and all His “living water” will flow into us and through us to water the saints and “aints” (those yet to be saints and lacking the “s” saved and sanctified).
Let’s go “Saints” and use God’s gift of grace to proclaim Christ, encourage one another and help someone to a richer “knowledge of the Son of God”. Those who know their God do great things through Him and for Him. Amen. Father, grant us your grace today to be who you have called us to be and to live out your intent in our lives. We thank you for the past and present apostles, prophets, evangelists, pastors/teachers who you have used and still using to encourage and build us. May your grace abound much more in their lives and our lives for the sake of your name. Amen.
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