Apostles, Prophets, Evangelists, Shepards (Pastors) and Teachers

[TRB]

These are 4 groups, not 5, that have what is considered the Ministry which is the "work of the ministry" in Eph. 4.12. Many people do the work of God but only one group of people is entrusted to the work of Ministry.

The gifts mentioned in Eph. 4.7,8,11-13 the gifts to the Church. These gifts are different than the miraculous gifts or the gifts of grace, but they are the gifts of men for the church who work fo the Ministry. They are instruments in the Hand of God.

These gifts of men for the church are not those of 1 Cor. 12.11 which He divides severally as He wills. No. These are individual gifts, not the persons who the Lord sets up in the Church for her edification.

One kind of gifts are given to persons individually, and the other kind for the church corporately.

What is really interesting about this is that only Apostles are to minister abroad while the the latter three groups are to minister only locally. As we say Philip travel abroad as an evangelist, he still needed the Apostles to lay on hands.

Any evangelist who ministers abroad will still need apostles to complete the necessary work.

Apostles and Prophets set the foundation and the pastors and evangelists build on that foundation.

The evangelists and the apostles minister the gospel, whereas the prophets and the teachers (and pastors) teach the Word.

These are very special principles.

 

[NoLaity]

We have apostles ?

 

[TRB]

Yuppers, they are around somewhere, though not always easy to discern who they are. They have received the appointed commission.

1 Tim. 2.7 "I was appointed...an apostle"
2 Tim. 1.11 "I was appointed...an apostle".

Though apostles are gifted they are not appointed based on some apostlic gift, but they have delegated authority for they are the only ones that can really travel abroad to do the Work of the Ministry whereas the other 3 ministries for the Ministry must stay close to their own locality. A locality would be chuch in Jerusalem or church in Corinth or church in Smyrna based on local ground and a manageable population for assembly and fellowship of several thousand. The largest biblical city locality was at most 40,000 in Jerusalem. Note Rome was not considered the church in rome with a million people, but it when referred to the church it was referred to as "saints in rome". Therefore we must conclude today that modern day cities do not comprise a locality, but something much smaller. If a city is a million people, then it can easily be broken up into 20 to 100 different localities.

This is exactly the way it was portrayed in the Scriptures and so it is our guidemap for today also.

 

[Polycarp1]

Useful point. What Paul speaks of is particular gifts, and of men to whom those particular gifts have been given.

A prophet is not one who predicts so much as he is one who speaks forth the word of God. A pastor is one who cares for his flock. An evangelist is one who proclaims the Gospel, generally with the intent of calling people to repentance and the following of Christ. And a teacher is one who edifies those who turn to him for teaching.

What's an apostle? One who provides leadership in the life of the Church, a person sent by God to proclaim the Gospel and guide and oversee the Church's following of it, combining the other roles as appropriate.

Any pastor plays an element of all these roles, and it is for him and his advisors to discern which are his particular gifts, and to provide for the ministry of those which are not. In a church I once attended, there were two clergymen: one who was a very competent administrator and preacher, but who quite bluntly sucked at giving pastoral care -- and was aware of it. He was the Rector (senior pastor in our denomination's terminology), and he caused the church to hire the other man, who was an excellent small group teacher and amazingly good at providing pastoral care, but was only passable at preaching and terrible at administration. Together they carried out the ordained ministry of that church, equipping the laity to do the work of Christ, each recognizing in the other the gifts he lacked and working together to provide the fullness of ministry.

 

[Andry]

The evangelists and the apostles minister the gospel, whereas the prophets and the teachers (and pastors) teach the Word.

These are very special principles.

Thanks TRB. Can you eloborate between 'minister the gospel' and 'teach the Word'? How would you distinguish them?

 

[NoLaity]

I do not see why apostles are the only ones who can go abroad. Timothy is a good example of this, he went abroad to minister and was said to be an evangelist in 2 Timothy 2:5, likewise Philip in 8 he is called an evangelist yet "when to the church in Samaria" and preached abroad.

Im unclear what you mean by apostles anyway, I gather not in the same way as the 12 apostles ?
I am of the opinion the apostles listed are the apostles gave to the church [ matt

and Polycarp, wouldn't it be better to have a plurality of leadership in every church, plural priests and elders ? Why have a [ or any position ] given to just one man ?

 

[Starcrystal]

Missionaries to foreign lands can be considered Apostles if they are church planters.
Also, I finally see someone else brings up the 4 ministries that everyone always calls 5fold ministry. Pastors and teachers are one category. Although you can teach without being a Pastor, you can't be a Pastor without being a teacher. And I think in most cases, those who find themselves in teaching positions eventually sense the call to pastor, whether its assistant pastor, interim pastor, youth pastor, etc.

"apostolos {ap-os'-tol-os}

Outline of Biblical Usage
1) a delegate, messenger, one sent forth with orders

a) specifically applied to the twelve apostles of Christ

b) in a broader sense applied to other eminent Christian teachers"

(From Strongs dictionary & Greek Lexicon)

Ephesians 4:11 refers to #1 & b.

 

[TRB]

Polycarp,

All good points.

One consideration is that the pastor, who is the "shepard" in the Eph. 4. is not an apostle usually.

To basically repeat before, the apostle and the prophet though set the foundation of the Word and the teacher and pastor (shepard) build on it. It is really about travelling abroad in that only the apostle does the travelling, for he is equipped in a higher position of authority. The apostle appointed by God knows his appointed by God position and office, which may include different gifts and powers, and other roles as pastor or evangelist or other, but a pastor or prophet or evangelist is usually not an apostle, for these there are many more of. A prophet is mentioned more than teachers and pastors and evangelists, in that his prophesying is both of the the gifts of grace (Rom. 12) that is ordinary as well as the supernatural gifts (1 Cor. 12) which are more miraculous.

 

[TRB]

Thanks TRB. Can you eloborate between 'minister the gospel' and 'teach the Word'? How would you distinguish them?

To minister the gospel is to minister the basic principles of the 4 gospel books with the highest authority of an apostle to travel abroad. To minister the gospel has the aspect of traveling abroad which the apostles do, but evangelists do this too but to a much lesser a degree requiring the followup of an apostle as Philip (evangelist) needed the apostles to come after him to lay on hands, then the outpouring the Holy Spirit came. Evangelist, little is said of them, usually stay in their locality, though.

To teach or prophesy (having aspect of present and future) the Word is to touch on all subjects whether through prophesying of a prophet or teaching of a teacher. Evangelists position is not explained. It is left unexplained. He ranks 3rd on the list of the 4 classes in the Ministry that do the Work.

It is a perfecty symbiosis or harmony like a symphony and it won't stop until the whole world follows Christ which will require His return at parousia and Tribulation, His reigning with an iron rod in the millennium and the last revolt before the resurrected bodies enter the new city and the bodies of flesh and blood are transferred livingly onto the new earth.

There is no longer a body of Christ in the milllennium by the way so what we are learning now as apostles, prophets, evangelists and teachers is for this church age that ends at the 7th trumpet.

How God will set up the resurrected and the nations in the millennium is not said, but He will do it and it will be all of Him, but first we must see a 1/3 of the inhabitants of the earth die in a Tribulation (today that would be about 2.5 billion).

 

[TRB]

I do not see why apostles are the only ones who can go abroad. Timothy is a good example of this, he went abroad to minister and was said to be an evangelist in 2 Timothy 2:5, likewise Philip in 8 he is called an evangelist yet "when to the church in Samaria" and preached abroad.

Im unclear what you mean by apostles anyway, I gather not in the same way as the 12 apostles ?
I am of the opinion the apostles listed are the apostles gave to the church [ matt

and Polycarp, wouldn't it be better to have a plurality of leadership in every church, plural priests and elders ? Why have a [ or any position ] given to just one man ?

An apostle can be the gift to the church in other aspects too like that of a teacher or an evangelist, or just a prophet, but his apostleship is not limited to church local, for it directly tied to church universal (1 Cor. 12.28, 8 or 9 different ministries to the church).

Within the church local there is harmony of prophet, evangelist, and teacher shepard pastor.

The reason why the church local is for non-travelling prophets and teachers is because of this verse - Acts 13.1, church in Antioch, where these two classes of men are recorded as being there.

The 3 classes for Ministry are based on their receiving gifts whereas an apostle is not based on gifts but position. This is not to say that the apostle doesn't have gifts, but that his position is commissioned and not an apostolic gift, for Christ appointed them as He does today by His Spirit.

All 4 classes are gifted persons for that is why they are in the Ministry, and so they are gifts of men to the church.

For example, the reason you get promoted in your job is because you are a gifted person at that job, and you excel based on such gifts. But the apostle is different, though he has gifts, his position is most prominent in that he was appointed a commission not based on his giftings, but based on his authority and position.

The very fact of his being in the position already proves his delegated authority by God as one of God's delegated authorities whom the church recognizes already.

The only question is, who is the church, for many men say they are the church, but they are not.

 

[TRB]

Missionaries to foreign lands can be considered Apostles if they are church planters.
Ephesians 4:11 refers to #1 & b.

Many missionaries go when they should stay if they have not been commissioned but if they do go and the going is good (Evangelist), they still need to be followed up by the delegated authority of God (apostle) whose ministry is for church universal, not church local.

Apostles specifically in 4.11 refers to #1 who are both a and b.

 

[TRB]

I find that the message of all this is that you do not go abroad half-cocked in the Ministry. It is reserved for the apostle always.

It is like sending your best delegate to a convention or sending your best athelete to the olympic games. The reason that person goes abroad is not because he may be very gifted, for he still may not get to go. The only reason he goes is because he was appointed by God. This is a very special principle.

As in all things in Christ God has his harbingers, or advanced parties showing His best foot forth. Just like at first rapture there is the rapture of the overcomers (and 144,000 Rev. 14 firstfruit virgins) in Christ raptured alive not having to go through the time of testing for they washed their robes white and were ready to be received to the throne. 7th trumpet resurrections is the for the rest.

 

[TRB]

The special ministry is that of an apostle. No one else has it. Not even the prophets, nor the evangelists, nor that of shepards (pastors) and teachers.

It is all based on church universal and church local. Let's not legalize this but see its spiritual application, not make it a manual service. We should really fear this the most of those who would do that.

 

[Starcrystal]

I lost my post here last night because CF went down...

I agree with the last few posts. There have been abuses with "apostles' ~ or rather self appointed apostles & prophets.
A true Apostle is commissioned by God and sent out with orders. An evangelist goes and gets the harvest, the Apostle follows up to be sure churches are planted, qualified pastors are installed, and the doctrine stays true.
Apostles are not apostles because some church board votes for them, or they want to be an apostle for selfish motivations. They are Apostles only by Gods choosing and commissioning, which is then confirmed by others in the body. Apostles should only go when and where if God specifically leads them to go.
Self appointed apostles can often go astray, lead others astray, and cults spring up. The Apostle, Prophet, & all ministries must live by the Word and the Holy Spirits leading in their lives.

 

[TRB]

Why do missionaries call themselves missionaries? Are they of so little faith in their work?

"Missionary" means the very same thing as "apostle", i.e. "the sent one." It is the Latin form of the Greek equivalent, "apostolos." Since the meaning of the words is exactly the same, I fail to see the reason why the true sent ones of today prefer to call themselves "missionaries" rather than "apostles".

When an apostle is sent forth there is evidence of his labours. Whenever you have a commission from God, you have authority there, and whenever you have authority, you have the power of God, and wherever you have the power of God, there you have the fruits.

In 1 Cor. 9.1-2 Paul's thought is not that apostleship implies numerous converts, but that it represents spiritual values to the Lord, for He could never send anyone forth with a lesser purpose. And the apostle is out to secure them.

A proof of a and b, Crystal, is 1 Cor. 15.5-7. Besides the Twelve Apostles there was a group known as "all the apostles."

All the apostles are sent forth by Divine Commission to be Body-building apostles in the Word of the Ministry.

A very special principle is that in 1 Cor. 15.5-9, seeing the Lord is not qualification for being an apostle since these various groups and people, not all are apostles, yet they all saw the Lord in his manifested spiritual state.

 

[TRB]

What does an apostle have?

Two-fold power: endurance is the greatest proof of spiritual power (Col. 1.11) and miraculous power. Miraculous power to change situations in the physical world is a necessary manifestation of our knowledge of God in the spiritual realm, and this applies not to just hethen lands but every land.

Not all who can work wonders are apostles. To profess to be sent ones of the omnipotent God, and yet stand helpless before situations that challenge His power, is a sad contradiction. 1 Cor. 12.28, healing and miracle working are given to the members of the Body who have no special commission, but miraculous as well as spiritual power is part of the quipment of all who have true apostolic commission.

 

[starry emzy]

i recently did a spritiual gift test and apostle scored highish :S scary stuff

em