(Ephesians 4:11-12) "It was he who gave some to be apostles, some to be prophets, some to be evangelists, and some to be pastors and teachers, to prepare God's people for works of service, so that the body of Christ may be built up"

 

Apostle

I will start by introducing the apostolic ministry. In terms of rank, the Apostlic office appears in Scriptures like the highest office amongst them all as it is normally mentioned first and others like Paul and Barbabas who initially were recognised amongst Prophets and Teachers were later addressed as Apostles after their release into their assignment, reflecting a movement to a higher office. As per the words of Jesus Christ much is also expected from those who occupy higher offices and have received more grace and we remember the Lord said he who is the greatest should live like the one who is the least.

Being highest in terms of rank does not mean displaying greatest miracles or sermons, for example, we note that according to Jesus Christ, John the Baptist was the greatest prophet above Elijah, Isaiah and others who lived before him but he never displayed any miracles. His mandate was to prepare people and usher them into a new dispensation of the coming Christ. We also have mighty preachers like Phillip in the Bible who later was recognized as an evangelist demonstrating great power of God, he was not an Apostle. Therefore displaying great works of power is not what defines a ministry gift since the Holy Spirit can empower anyone to do the works of Christ. I also want to say that these ministry gifts were given not just to start the early church or to complete the New Testament writings but to build up the body of Christ as highlighted in Ephesians. All the offices are thus still operational and work together, being complementary. It is still possible to function in more than one ministry gifts though someone will still have a distinct primary ministry office.

The call of an apostle is a personal revelation from God and the one who is called into this ministry office clearly knows his or her mandate. This is a call into leadership and the individual with this calling is sent on a specific mission to accomplish a specific task. Leaders called into this ministry office have a role to minister change and reformation to a particular group of people, or are sent to put in place a system in the Body of Christ which will impact many people who are marked for such an apostolic mission. They are spiritual entrepreneurs who are raised to do things differently, and they burn with a different vision. 

It is necessary to note that those who were called to function in apostolic office in the Bible were sent to evangelize and establish believers in the truth. Preaching and planting of churches can, however, be carried out also by evangelists or any other preacher of the Word. This is evident in the Book of Acts where Philip preached and planted God’s work in Samaria whilst the apostles were still mostly operating in Jerusalem. 

Many others who had been scattered as a result of persecution in Jerusalem went around preaching and spreading the gospel to many other places. They might not have had any titles in some instances. They had the Spirit of God and they just knew they had to let others know about Christ. The apostle, however, is also a doctrinal and foundational minister who champions a new cause and sets things in order according to the pattern given to him. He may also include overseeing or having a heart for large communities of believers. Jesus as a great Apostle was to champion a new cause taking people from the Old Covenant way to the New Covenant way, Peter and his colleagues were apostles to the Jews to minister change and reformation from the old way to the new way, whilst Paul and colleagues championed a new cause to the gentiles (Galatians 2:8). 

There are signs associated with this calling and they are signs, wonders and miracles that follow the preaching and teaching of the gospel; and even the personal revelation of Jesus Christ who commissions into ministry. It is very important to note that apostles are doctrinal ministers who lay the foundation of Christian faith and practice. 

It is possible for an apostle to function in other offices and gifts. In the Bible, it is evident apostles like Peter, Paul and John had powerful prophetic ministries. Paul and Barnabas were actually recognized among a group of Prophets and Teachers at the Antioch Church. Their titles changed when they went out on a major apostolic mission when the Holy Spirit sent them out on the task God had laid upon them. The task was an apostolic task mandated way before they had come to this point. 

The call to apostleship is thus clear and there is no guess work. Paul knew it the moment he met Jesus Christ because it was pronounced to him. People just started calling him apostle later in the Book of Acts as he began to function in his calling but he had received the call earlier. It takes God’s time and anointing for a called minister to start functioning in any ministry office.

 

Prophet 

The prophet of God is someone called and assigned by the Lord Jesus Christ in the Church to be a link between the physical and the spiritual. In fact, the prophet has the role to reveal supernatural revelation or relay supernatural information to the Church. 

Prophets thus guide, encourage, comfort and strengthen the Body of Christ since they carry a timely message from God. Prophets have the special ability to hear from God and have the authority to speak the Word of God into existence according to God’s will and purpose at a particular time. They thus function as foundational ministers as they lay the spiritual foundation in the Body of Christ and set in order the lives of believers with their authoritative word. 

Prophets, because of their ability to know certain things before they happen, also help a lot in interceding for the will of God to be accomplished and can warn believers of certain dangers that need preparation and attention. The Bible has certain incidences where God would want His Prophets to be in His presence and get counsel from Him for them to speak the exact Word of God. 

It is possible for a true prophet to speak presumptuously the words that have not come from God but self. Thus prophecy needs to be judged before it can be accepted. Some prophets like Barnabas in the Bible were recognized as apostles when they undertook apostolic missions as predetermined by God for them. Some prophets like Agabus and Silas were traveling prophets who also delivered timely messages and strengthened churches.

I would want to clarify here for the sake of those who will need to know their responsibility as Prophets as well as those who will have to benefit from Prophetic ministry. The Old Testament order is different from the New Testament order in that Old Testament Prophets appeared to be almost the sole voice through which God spoke to His people. Thus it was common for people to look for Prophets when they needed to hear from God. The New Testament has a different set up in that Prophets work together with other ministry gifts. 

God can now speak through other ministry gifts and the general believers. Philip who preached in Samaria had the Holy Spirit and Holy Angels speaking to him giving him instructions and guidance but he never took this to mean he was a Prophet. He was later referred to as an Evangelist. The Bible, in 1John2:27 states that every believer has the anointing that ministers to them hence any other ministry gift will just come to affirm, confirm or assure but not to compel.

Thus it was not common for believers in the New Testament to move around looking for Prophets but Prophets were the ones mostly sent with God’s assignment. Paul in the book of Acts refused to be stopped by certain Prophetic voices when they hinted trouble awaited in Jerusalem. Agabus who was operating in the Prophetic office later came and simply confirmed what would happen to Paul without stopping him from experiencing what God had been warning Paul every time. 

Infact, the Prophets in the New Testament set up were to work together with Apostles in a set up where apostles were team leaders. This is the order in the Bible because Apostles are doctrinal and hold the whole ministry set up together. This does not mean Prophets cannot be Pastors or cannot have great administrative abilities but it simply calls for Prophets to work together with other ministries and as much as possible seek Apostolic guidance. Apostles would in turn benefit from Prophetic guidance in the arrangement.

There are different graces of manifestation of Prophetic ministry with some prophets raised to speak to individuals whilst not all prophets would major in miracles or healings. As we discuss the Prophetic grace, we want to highlight that there were incidences in the Book of Acts (Chapters 8 and 16) where some people were viewed as having God’s great power yet they were operating with ungodly spirits of divination which also sought to acknowledge God hence holding people in captivity. Any prophet who does not point people to Christ but to self should not be taken seriously.

 

Evangelist

An evangelist is someone who has the burning fire to preach and win the lost souls to Jesus Christ. The evangelist is an uncompromising minister of the gospel whose heart burns within him and works as a hunter before the Lord. 

The role of the evangelist is to tell the unsaved about Christ and bring them to the knowledge of salvation. The evangelist normally has the ability to communicate the message of salvation; and as they preach, the Lord has promised to confirm the gospel with signs, wonders and miracles where there is faith and belief. It is also important to note that all believers, besides evangelists, can experience signs, wonders and miracles when preaching the gospel if they believe.

We have Philip in the Bible in the Book of Acts who ministered well as an Evangelist. He also had the Holy Spirit and Angels guiding him in the ministry. It is possible that many evangelists today have assigned themselves titles of Apostles or Prophets yet they are settled in the office of an Evangelist. Many churches in the Bible during the early church were planted by evangelists who mostly went out to preach and got believers in certain places.

 

Pastor

The pastor is a Shepherd of the flock brought into God’s Kingdom by the Lord. Pastors normally have a real compassionate and loving heart which makes them agonize and sacrifice a lot for the sake of the flock. In the early Church, the Church initially had apostles and or elders also functioning as pastors to look after those who turned to Christ. The ministry office of pastor, however, is a gift to the Church of Christ on its own, and in the Bible there were those who were gifted in this area like Timothy, Titus, Philemon and others who could effectively take care of congregations of believers. 

The role of the pastor is to minister the love of Christ to the believers. They can do this by attending to the needs of believers in giving guidance, spiritual and physical support, visiting them and making sure those who are straying are brought back to the Chief Shepherd who is Jesus Christ. It is possible that the role of Pastor can be accomplished by certain respected individuals who are appointed by the churches or other leaders but the distinct ministry office is a responsibility directly from God. Those appointed by leaders in the Church were normally recognized as elders or bishops, and they would then be committed to God who would then help them to execute their duties. 

The pastoral office is mentioned together with the Teaching office like a combined ministry office; and it appears like the Pastor and Teacher offices function hand in hand. We thus expect a Pastor to be able to teach /feed believers with the nourishing truth. In the same scenario, the Teacher must also have that pastoral heart towards those who are taught making sure they receive everything good for their spiritual growth and are safe from strange doctrine that can poison their spirits.

 

Teacher

The role of the teacher is to make the gospel clear to God’s people. They have much knowledge, revelation and understanding of God’s Word; and such ministers have the ability to interpret and communicate the truth in a way that can be understood by others. Teachers have such an anointing to bring profound revelations from the scriptures, and they tend to be ever learning and coming up with new knowledge and exposition of scriptures. 

Like Jesus Christ, teachers of the Word have to do so with the power of the Holy Spirit and authority. This will make what they teach effective and people will be able to accept the teachings and live by them. The teacher thus should continue to learn more and accept new ideas that are in line with the truth. In doing this, teachers are mostly able to answer many Christian questions and clarify on different subjects in the Body of Christ.

 

My Remarks

The ministry gifts are not for personal glory and those who are called into these offices are servants of Christ and of the Church as illustrated by Christ and the early apostles. They are not given so that one can have the personal respect and honour of man.