The Equipping Spiritual Gifts (foundational gifts) APOSTLES, PROPHETS, EVANGELISTS

The Equipping Spiritual Gifts (foundational gifts)  APOSTLES, PROPHETS, EVANGELISTS

Ephesians 4:11-13
“And He gave some as apostles, and some as prophets, and some as evangelists, and some as pastors and teachers, for the equipping of the saints for the work of service, to the building up of the body of Christ; until we all attain to the unity of the faith, and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to a mature man, to the measure of the stature which belongs to the fullness of Christ.”

APOSTLES (Greek = Apostolous) “Sent Out One” “A Messenger of Christ

Mark 3:13-19 “And He went up on the mountain and summoned those whom He Himself wanted, and they came to Him. And He appointed twelve, so that they would be with Him and that He could send them out to preach, and to have authority to cast out the demons. And He appointed the twelve: Simon (to whom He gave the name Peter), and James, the son of Zebedee, and John the brother of James (to them He gave the name Boanerges, which means, “Sons of Thunder”); and Andrew, and Philip, and Bartholomew, and Matthew, and Thomas, and James the son of Alphaeus, and Thaddaeus, and Simon the Zealot; and Judas Iscariot, who betrayed Him.

Matthew 4:18-21 “Now as Jesus was walking by the Sea of Galilee, He saw two brothers, Simon who was called Peter, and Andrew his brother, casting a net into the sea; for they were fishermen. And He said to them, “Follow Me, and I will make you fishers of men.” Immediately they left their nets and followed Him.”

Acts 9:3-6 “As he was traveling, it happened that he was approaching Damascus, and suddenly a light from heaven flashed around him; and he fell to the ground and heard a voice saying to him, “Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting Me?” And he said, “Who are You, Lord?” And He said, “I am Jesus whom you are persecuting, but get up and enter the city, and it will be told you what you must do.”

Galatians 1:15-16 “But when God, who had set me apart even from my mother’s womb and called me through His grace, was pleased to reveal His Son in me so that I might preach Him among the Gentiles,”

1 Timothy 1:1 “Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus according to the commandment of God our Savior, and of Christ Jesus”

2 Corinthians 12:12-13, “The signs of a true apostle were performed among you with all perseverance, by signs and wonders and miracles.”

Acts 1:21-23 “Therefore it is necessary that of the men who have accompanied us all the time that the Lord Jesus went in and out among us beginning with the baptism of John until the day that He was taken up from us, one of these must become a witness with us of His resurrection.”

Ephesians 2:19-22 “So then you are no longer strangers and aliens, but you are fellow citizens with the saints, and are of God’s household, having been built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Christ Jesus Himself being the corner stone, in whom the whole building, being fitted together, is growing into a holy temple in the Lord, in whom you also are being built together into a dwelling of God in the Spirit.”

Matthew 10:2-4 “Now the names of the twelve apostles are these: The first, Simon, who is called Peter, and Andrew his brother; and James the son of Zebedee, and John his brother; Philip and Bartholomew; Thomas and Matthew the tax collector; James the son of Alphaeus, and Thaddaeus; Simon the Zealot, and Judas Iscariot, the one who betrayed Him.

PROPHETS (Greek = Prophetas) “A Foreteller” “An Inspired Speaker”

Ephesians 3:1-6 “For this reason I, Paul, the prisoner of Christ Jesus for the sake of you Gentiles — if indeed you have heard of the stewardship of God’s grace which was given to me for you; that by revelation there was made known to me the mystery, as I wrote before in brief. By referring to this, when you read you can understand my insight into the mystery of Christ, which in other generations was not made known to the sons of men, as it has now been revealed to His holy apostles and prophets in the Spirit;”

Mark 16:20 “And they went out and preached everywhere, while the Lord worked with them, and confirmed the word by the signs that followed.”

Hebrews 2:3-4 “…how will we escape if we neglect so great a salvation? After it was at the first spoken through the Lord, it was confirmed to us by those who heard, God also testifying with them, both by signs and wonders and by various miracles and by gifts of the Holy Spirit according to His own will.”

EVANGELISTS (Greek = Euangelistas) “A Preacher of the Gospel”

Ephesians 4:11-2 “And He gave some as apostles, and some as prophets, and some as evangelists, and some as pastors and teachers, for the equipping of the saints for the work of service, to the building up of the body of Christ;…”

Acts 21:8 “On the next day we left and came to Caesarea, and entering the house of Philip the evangelist, who was one of the seven, we stayed with him.”

2 Timothy 4:5 “But you, be sober in all things, endure hardship, do the work of an evangelist, fulfill your ministry.”

Matthew 28:18-20 “All authority has been given to Me in heaven and on earth.”Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age.”

Overseers and Deacons
1 Timothy 3: 1 It is a trustworthy statement: if any man aspires to the office of overseer, it is a fine work he desires to do. 2 An overseer, then, must be above reproach, the husband of one wife, temperate, prudent, respectable,hospitable, able to teach, 3 not addicted to wine or pugnacious, but gentle, peaceable, free from the love of money. 4 He must be one who manages his own household well, keeping his children under control with all dignity 5 (but if a man does not know how to manage his own household, how will he take care of the church of God?), 6 and not a new convert, so that he will not become conceited and fall into the condemnation [d]incurred by the devil. 7 And he must have a good reputation with those outside the church, so that he will not fall into reproach and the snare of the devil.

 2 Timothy 4:2 preach the word; be ready in season and out of season; reprove, rebuke, exhort, with great patience and instruction. 3 For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine; but wanting to have their ears tickled, they will accumulate for themselves teachers in accordance to their own desires, 4 and will turn away their ears from the truth and will turn aside to myths. 5 But you, be sober in all things, endure hardship, do the work of an evangelist, fulfill your ministry.

Serve God Willingly
1 Peter 5:1 Therefore, I exhort the elders among you, as your fellow elder and witness of the sufferings of Christ, and a partaker also of the glory that is to be revealed, 2 shepherd the flock of God among you, exercising oversight not under compulsion, but voluntarily, according to the will of God; and not for sordid gain, but with eagerness; 3 nor yet as lording it over those allotted to your charge, but proving to be examples to the flock. 4 And when the Chief Shepherd appears, you will receive the unfading crown of glory. 5 You younger men, likewise, be subject to your elders; and all of you, clothe yourselves with humility toward one another, for God is opposed to the proud, but gives grace to the humble.

 Concerning Elders
1 Timothy 5:17 The elders who rule well are to be considered worthy of double honor, especially those who work hard at preaching and teaching. 18 For the Scripture says, “You shall not muzzle the ox while he is threshing,” and “The laborer is worthy of his wages.”

 Hebrews 13: 7 Remember those who led you, who spoke the word of God to you; and considering the [a]result of their conduct, imitate their faith. *** 17 Obey your leaders and submit to them, for they keep watch over your souls as those who will give an account. Let them do this with joy and not with grief, for this would be unprofitable for you.

THE CHURCH THAT DIED

By Michael K. Farrar, O.D.

© God’s Breath Publications

Revelation 3:14-17

“To the angel of the church in Laodicea write: ‘These are the words of the Amen, the faithful and true witness, the ruler of God’s creation. I know your deeds, that you are neither cold nor hot. I wish you were either one or the other! So, because you are lukewarm — neither hot nor cold — I am about to spit you out of my mouth.’”

There’s a story told of a man who graduated from seminary and was asked to accept a pastorate at a small church in Texas. The deacons who requested that he come to their fellowship stated that their church had been very dynamic in the local area but over the years had shrunk in size and influence due to poor attendance and involvement of the Christians in the community. The pastor, anxious to serve his Lord, accepted the position.

Upon arriving at the church and through some investigation the pastor discovered that unfortunately the assessment of the deacons was very much true. Attendance had dropped from hundreds to only a half a dozen dedicated saints. After much prayer the pastor decided to hold a funeral service for the church. A date was set, preparations made and announcements printed in the local newspaper and mailings. All the community received an invitation to come to the funeral of the local church.

The day of the funeral came and hundreds of Christians flocked to the church they had once attended. Anxious to see how the preacher would conduct the service, Christians who used to teach Sunday school, served meals to the homeless and sang praises to God in this church gathered together in this house of God to witness a commemoration of its death. All those who entered the building could not help but notice the casket at the front of the church draped in black.

The pastor walked up to the podium and greeted everyone in a very solemn tone and asked them to bow their heads while he led them in a prayer. After saying amen, the pastor began his eulogy for the church. He shared how he had interviewed members of the community and researched the history of the church. He proceeded to share about how the church had ministered over its lifetime. He covered the influence the church had upon not only the Christians in the community but also the non-Christians as well. He listed all the ministries that had at one time been in place to serve the homeless, the abused and the orphaned. The pastor shared that unfortunately that over the years the church had died a slow and agonizing death. When he was finished, the pastor walked down and stood by the casket. He shared that now to pay last respects to the church everyone would pass by the open casket.

The pastor turned, opened the lid of the casket and asked the first row of people to proceed. The people rose and walked along the edge of the casket to view its contents. Women cried and men wept as they looked inside. Many Christians could hardly remain standing after they had looked within the ebony tomb that held the dead church. What had these people seen within the casket to bring upon them such deep emotion?

Within the open casket lay a mirror so that whoever looked inside would see a reflection of themselves staring back at them. The pastor knew that the church had died because the spirituality of the people had died. He knew that the church was only alive when the people allowed God to work in their lives through studying His Word, listening to His Holy Spirit, sharing the gospel and ministering to those in need.

We are told in Ephesians 5:23 and Colossians 1:18 that Christ is head of the church which is His body. This church that belongs to God is made up of every believer who has accepted Him as Lord and Savior. Local church fellowships are gatherings of servants of Jesus who live close to one another and who wish to serve and worship God together. While local churches can wax and wane and possibly even die at times, God’s universal church will never die. We are told this in Matthew 16:18. But as the story above illustrates a local fellowship of Christians will become ill when those who belong to it do not strive to live as servants of the most high. In 1 Peter 2:9 we are told that every believer is a member of a royal priesthood. Belonging to a priesthood carries with it responsibilities. Priests are expected to dedicate themselves to their Lord. They are to seek to obey what God says. They are expected to serve others and follow the pattern of behavior and actions that reflect the Lord they serve. Priests are expected to know something of spiritual matters and develop in wisdom as they grow in the knowledge of their Savior. Each Christian in a local church is a priest and is expected by God to follow the calling of the priesthood that is laid before them as servants of Christ. A church fellowship grows weak and dies when Christians do not follow the path of the priesthood.

In 1 Corinthians chapter 12 we are told that there are spiritual gifts and ministries that are given to Christians, members of God’s royal priesthood. These gifts are given for the common good. That is, these gifts are bestowed upon Christians by the Holy Spirit for the purpose of serving one another and others in the community in the purposes of God. Accepting Christ as one’s Savior grants salvation to that person but it also brings with it a responsibility. Each Christian is given specific spiritual gifts to be used to serve others in the body of Christ. The Holy Spirit distributes these gifts to be used. When we fail to use them as intended others in the body suffer. Spiritual gifts are meant to be expressed so that people can be ministered to and God can be glorified. A church fellowship withers and dies when people do not seek to use their spiritual gifts.

In Hebrews 10:25 there is an issue addressed by Paul concerning church attendance. Apparently there were those in the Christian community who felt it was not important to attend a local fellowship on a regular basis. Their invalid reasoning led them to believe that they were fine not to fellowship with other Christians on a regular basis. Paul is stating here that nothing could be further from the truth. When we fail to attend church regularly we miss out on the teaching of God’s word, corporate worship of our Lord and service opportunities. We also fail to be able to express and grow our spiritual gifts. We are not giving opportunities to others to express their spiritual gifts towards us when we fail to fellowship with them. Attending a local fellowship places us in a position of accountability for how we live. We all need accountability to continue in our growth as Christians. A church dies when members fail to attend church and prevent their spirituality from growing to maturity.

In Acts 2:42-47 we are given the recipe for a living church that avoids death. The guidelines of the early church were to devote themselves to the apostle’s teaching, fellowship and prayer. When the first Christians lived according to these truths dynamic things happened. They were filled with awe. God worked in their midst. They saw their lives and the lives of others changed. They witnessed miraculous signs of all sorts because the power of the Holy Spirit could be manifest in such a healthy body of believers. Through their fellowship they shared with one another and met each other’s needs. They were dedicated to meeting together on a regular basis. They grew closer together in their relationships because they were based on the love and truth of God. Out of this fellowship and dynamic church life arose a praise and worship of God. In addition; the non-Christian community thought highly of them for what they stood for and how they served the needy. It is true that the reputation of a living and growing church influences society’s perception of the nature and character of God. Because of this dedicated behavior of first-century Christians the church grew by leaps and bounds. A local church will never die when following these guidelines. Your local church will never die when YOU follow these guidelines.

Ephesians 3:20-21

“Now to him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us, to Him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, for ever and ever! Amen.”

Disclosure: Much of what is in my posts are things I have compiled through the years and I do not know if they have copyrights. What I do know about origin or website I give credit and have tried to always post a link to the origin. I do not market anything in any way on this blog -- I merely hope it will encourage and inspire others.