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New Testament Church Government

The Ministerial Gifts of the Holy Spirit

Ephesians 4:1-16

 The word charisma is a Greek word which means “spiritual gifts” – not natural or carnal, spiritual – freely given by God.  In its characteristic usage charisma denotes an extraordinary ability that is bestowed upon a human being by the infinite strength and power of the Third Person of the Trinity, Who is called the Holy Ghost.  This spiritual gift is bestowed as a special service to the Body of Christ.

This is a study of Ephesians 4:1–16 and the Ministerial Gifts” of Christ Himself to the church: “He Himself gave some to be apostles, some prophets, some evangelists, and some pastors and teachers” (v. 11). Evangelists, pastors and teachers are perhaps the best known and most universally accepted of all the gifts in the church. A couple of these gifts are even common titles: “Evangelist John Smith” or “Pastor Robert Jones.” In many ecclesiastical circles, apostles and prophets are a different matter, but we’ll save understanding these gifts for our upcoming study!

The Book of Ephesians is largely about the church. It deals with how God is bringing the church to her intended place in His kingdom. It is generally agreed that Ephesians falls into two sections, with chapter 4 heading up the second section. Having established the Christian’s position in Christ and the truth that Christ has only one church (chs. 1–3), Paul moves into practical exhortations of daily Christian life-style (chs. 4–6). “Walk worthy of the calling with which you were called … endeavoring to keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace” (4:1, 3). Doing so obviously requires great maturity, a maturity enhanced and strengthened as the various 4:11 gifts give themselves to “the equipping of the saints for the work of ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ” (v. 12).

The Model for each of the gifts is again Jesus Himself. He’s the “Apostle … of our confession” (Heb. 3:1), “a Prophet” like Moses (Acts 3:22), an evangelist “anointed … to preach the gospel” (Luke 4:18, 19), “the Shepherd … of your souls” (1 Pet. 2:25) and the “Teacher” (John 13:13). As the Model, He intends His multifaceted ministry to be carried on in the church by the various Office Gifts. They are invaluable to the kingdom of God. We need, therefore, to truly understand and appreciate these gifts, as well as the tasks to which they’re called.

Let’s proceed then with an open mind and heart. Some of what we explore may be new or even contrary to some of your church tradition. But let’s give Scripture a fresh and fair chance to speak for itself; we just may be surprised at what we discover!

Understanding the context of the Ephesians 4:11 gifts is crucial. Paul begins with an appeal to unity within the body of Christ that is the responsibility of each believer and is to be pursued earnestly.  Let’s explore Ephesians 4:1–16.

What is Paul’s appeal? (v. 1)What is to be the attitude with which we are to carry out this appeal? (v. 2) What should be a key desire of our hearts? (v. 3)  Why should we be “endeavoring to keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace”? (vv. 4–6)  Unity does not rule out diversity. Although there is but “one body,” what is true within that one body? (v. 7) What did Christ have to do to make the gifts in verse 11 available to humankind? (vv. 8–10) What is the purpose of the Ephesians 4:11 gifts? (v. 12a) What is the purpose of “the equipping of the saints”? (v. 12b)

The Office of Apostle

Apostles, apostolos. A special messenger, a delegate, one commissioned for a particular task or role, one who is sent forth with a message. In the New Testament the word denotes both the original twelve disciples and prominent leaders outside the Twelve. Marvin Vincent records three features of an apostle:

1) one who has had a visible encounter with the resurrected Christ;

2) one who plants churches;

3) one who functions in the ministry with signs, wonders, and miracles.  It is important from the start to distinguish between the founding apostles (Eph. 2:20; Rev. 21:14) and the office apostles mentioned here. To be a founding apostle meant a visible encounter with the resurrected Christ as well as a key revelation/authoritative role in establishing the church, including, in some cases, writing Scripture. “Beyond the distinct role filled by the original founding apostles … the New Testament mentions enough additional apostles to indicate that this office, with that of prophets, is as continuing a ministry in the church as the more commonly acknowledged offices of evangelists, pastors, and teachers (some make pastor-teacher one office).” This insight is also substantiated by the fact discovered above—namely, God plans to use all five ministries in verse 11 “till we all come to the unity of the faith” (v. 13).

“Apostles” in apostolic days referred to a select group chosen to carry out directly the ministry of Christ and included the assigned task given to a few to complete the sacred canon of the Holy Scriptures; it implies the exercise of a distinct representative role of broader leadership given by Christ; an apostle functions as a messenger or spokesman of God. In contemporary times it refers to those who have the spirit of apostleship in remarkably extending the work of the church, opening fields to the gospel, and overseeing larger sections of the body of Jesus Christ.

The Office of Prophet

Prophet, prophetes. From pro, “forth,” and phemi, “to speak.” A prophet, therefore, is primarily a forth-teller, one who speaks forth a divine message that can at times include foretelling future events. Among the Greeks, the prophet was the interpreter of the divine will, and this idea is dominant in biblical usage. Prophets are therefore specially endowed with insights into the counsels of the Lord and serve as His spokesmen. Prophecy is a gift of the Holy Spirit (1 Cor. 12:12), which the New Testament encourages believers to exercise, although at a level different from those with the prophetic office (Eph. 4:11).

As with the apostles, those in the ongoing Ephesians 4:11 office of prophet must be distinguished from the founding prophets (cf. Eph. 2:20; see also “Apostles” above). They are named among the normal New Testament ministries (1 Cor. 12:28; Acts 13:1; 15:32); they equip the saints as key spokespersons for the Spirit (cf. Amos 3:7).

Read the following and note what it says about prophetic ministry. Luke 2:26–28

Acts 11:28, Acts 15:32, and Acts 21:11 carefully read Acts 21:7–14. What do you notice about Paul’s reception of Agabus’s plea that he “not … go up to Jerusalem”? (v. 12) as a true prophet, what was Agabus’s ultimate concern, even if it was different than he perceived? (v. 14) See also under “Prophecy” in Lesson 8, since many of the aspects of the Romans 12 gift apply to those with the Office Gift as well. Prophets/prophecy is a very diffuse biblical gift. New Testament prophets, then, are specially graced speakers for the Spirit, making known God’s will for given situations from an ongoing church leadership perspective. Though authoritative, they are not above criticism, nor above taking exception with, as seen in the incident with Paul and Agabus above. They are subject to basically the same scrutiny as the manifestation of prophecy which will be examined in Lesson 13.

The Office of Evangelist

Evangelist, euangelistes. From euangelizo, to announce good news, especially the gospel, to declare good tidings. An evangelist is a preacher of the gospel. Evangelist occurs three times in the New Testament (Acts 21:8; Eph. 4:11; 2 Tim. 4:5); many in the early church were apparently itinerate. The message of the evangelist is naturally largely to unbelievers, unlike that of the prophet which is largely to the church. However, as noted above, part of the evangelist’s function is also “for the equipping of the saints for the work of ministry.” They are to keep the preaching of Christ constantly before the church while training and encouraging believers to spread the gospel message.

As one of the fivefold team members, the evangelist then should be inseparably linked to the local church; all evangelists should have a “home church” from which they operate and which they equip in a special ongoing way. But their field is the world. “Evangelist refers primarily to a special gift of preaching or witnessing in a way that brings unbelievers into the experience of salvation …. Essentially, the gift of evangelist operates to establish converts and to gather them spiritually and literally into the body of Christ.”

The Office of Pastor

Pastor, poimen. A herdsman, sheepherder; one who tends, leads, guides, cherishes, feeds, and protects a flock. The New Testament uses the word for a Christian pastor to whose care and leadership others will commit themselves (Eph. 4:11). The term is applied metaphorically to Christ (John 10:11, 14, 16; Heb. 13:20; 1 Pet. 2:25).

According to John 21:16 and 1 Peter 5:2, what else does a true shepherd do?

The pastoral duties are multifaceted.

The Office of Teacher

There is a slight variation in the Greek grammar construction before “teachers” (the definite article [“the” in English] is missing), which has caused some scholars to claim that the last two groups are identical—“teaching pastors.” Some therefore refer to the fourfold Office Gifts; others to the fivefold Office Gifts. Practically speaking, it is probably best that these two offices remain closely aligned. Those with the gift of pasturing should pay attention to developing sound teaching abilities; those with the gift of teaching should keep themselves within a pastoral environment.

Teachers, then, are those with the Office Gift of extraordinary teaching of sound doctrine. They are generally able to communicate well and display a profound depth of biblical wisdom and knowledge; experience shows that whereas not all those with the Romans 12:7 Creational Gift of teacher become Ephesians 4:11 Office Gift teachers, many Ephesians 4:11 teachers have as a part of their gift-mix the Romans 12:7 gift. God the Creator is also God the Redeemer and the God who calls to ministry.

In all the ministries of the church—pastoral, prophetic, evangelistic teaching, whatever the ministry is—there should be an attitude of gentleness as seen in Christ, whose dissension made possible His ascension and the giving of the gifts (Eph. 4:9, 10); of longsuffering, realizing that maturity does not come quickly to God’s people; and most definitely these should be the attitude of a servant’s heart. There is no room in the kingdom of God for Office Gift holders who emulate a primadonna-type attitude.

The Qualifications of Elders

The Office of Bishop (Elder) Acts 20:17-32 – 1 Timothy 3:1-7

First Timothy 3:1 states: This is a true saying, if a man desire the office of a bishop (or elder), he desire a good work.  It is good to desire the office of elder – not the title, but the ministry it involves.

First Timothy, the Evangelist in Timothy 5:17-22,  Acts 20:17 and James 5:14, 15 reveals how the elder is to function in the body of Christ.  Acts 14:23 states: And when they had ordained them elders in every church, and had prayed with fasting, they commended them to the Lord, on whom they believed.

These elders were men of the Church who were mature, both physically and spiritually.  Such men were ordained or anointed and set aside for service by the laying on of hands.  In Titus 1:5,6 Paul wrote:  For this cause left I thee in Crete, that thou shouldest set in order things that are wanting, and ordain elders in every city, as I had appointed thee:  If any be blameless, the husband of one wife, having faithful children not accused of riot or unruly.

Here Paul was showing us the responsibilities and qualifications of these elders.  It is good to obey the Lord in everything, especially when it concerns elders, because they are the one who function in the spiritual part of the Church.

The elders of the church should visit the sick and shut in,  God is able to bless and heal the sick through the elders.

Titus 1:7-9 say a Bishop must be blameless, as the steward of God; not self-willed, not soon angry, not given to wine, no striker, not given to filthy lucre (that is not a lover of money);  But a lover of hospitality (one who invites people into his home and ministers to them), a lover of good men (associates with good people), sober, just, holy, temperate; holding fast the faithful word as he hath been taught.

Notice the last phrase: …as he hath been taught.  The apostle, prophet, evangelist, pastor, or teacher whom God has set in the Church takes those in the Church and teaches them.  As verse 9 continues, an elder is taught that he may be able by sound doctrine (as he has been taught) both to exhort and to convince the gainsayers (those who come against the body).  This is the role of the elder: a spiritual overseer in the Church, involved in blessing the people spiritually.