The Book of Ephesians Pt. 30 Gifts that Correct Deficiencies, Do the Work of Ministry & Build up the Church.

 In our last post we learned about some specific gifts God gave the church, including apostles, prophets, evangelists, pastors and teachers. There are no more apostles because they all died. There are no more prophets because God gave us His complete New Testament revelation. 

However, the gifts of evangelists, pastors and teachers continue to be supplied by God, until the church age draws to a close. We briefly explored how these various gifts functioned in the New Testament. Now we come to the reason that God gave us apostles, prophets, evangelists, pastors and teachers. 

The purposes of God for giving us Evangelists, Pastors, Teachers.

Ephesians 4:11,12  And he gave some, apostles; and some, prophets; and some, evangelists; and some, pastors and teachers; 12) For the perfecting of the saints, for the work of the ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ: 

God has a three fold purpose for giving the church evangelists, pastors and teachers. The word "For" means with a view to do this particular thing. 

First, they are given for the perfecting of the saints. 

The word "perfecting" is only used once in the New Testament and it does not refer to achieving perfection in this life. The word actually has the idea of furnishing a home or having the proper equipment to do a job well. 

The word "perfecting" has the idea of correcting a deficiency, or making sure all of the necessary parts are present to construct a building. It has the idea of giving what is necessary for full development into spiritual maturity and for living a godly life. 

Romans 15:2  Let every one of us please his neighbor for his good to edification. 

Second, these gifts are given for the work of the ministry. 

Paul used a different Greek word translated "for" in Ephesians 4:12. This word focuses upon the immediate object and is the same word in the text from Romans 15. In that text, what the believer is doing is for his neighbor, for his good and edification. That is the sense that we understand the word "for" paired with "the work of the ministry." 

What an evangelist, pastor or teacher does with regard to ministry needs to have a sharp focus upon the work of the ministry and its immediate impact upon believers in his care.  The word "work" reminds us that all ministry for God requires us to invest time, energy, thought and prayer into our service to others. The word "ministry" refers to those men who by the command of God proclaim and promote the gospel among men.  

It is the labor or "ministry" of those who serve others in the body of Christ. Every local church has work to be done. Some work is behind the scenes like cleaning the facility, mowing, preparing outlines. Some work is focused on sermon preparation, study, prayer, and preparing for worship on the Lord's Day. Some work seeks to provide godly counsel to people within or outside the church body, engaged in soul winning and witnessing, and visitation. 

Evangelists, pastors and teachers help believers in the church understand the scope of ministry needs, so that the Spirit of God might lead church members into service, thus meeting needs within the church and community. 

Third, these gifts were given for the edification of the body of Christ. 

The word "edification" means the act of one who promotes another’s growth in Christian wisdom, piety, happiness, holiness. It helps to remember that each believer is a living stone placed by the Holy Spirit into the temple of God, composed of living stones. 

"Edification" means building someone up with Biblical morality, growing in the knowledge of God our Savior. It means having our minds renewed, our thinking transformed so that we seek those things which are above. 

1 Corinthians 3:9-10  For we are labourers together with God: ye are God's husbandry, ye are God's building. 10) According to the grace of God which is given unto me, as a wise masterbuilder, I have laid the foundation, and another buildeth thereon. But let every man take heed how he buildeth thereupon. 

Paul used the same word translated "edification" in his letter to the Corinthians, where it is translated "building." This text really brings together the purposes of God in giving us evangelists, pastors and teachers with how this is to impact our lives. 

The gifted men of God working in ministry today are "working together with God." God is leading them, granting them strength, giving them direction and they are reading His Word, praying to Him, seeking to be changed into His image and living in dependency upon God. 

Paul then spoke of the church, the body of Christ as being "God's husbandry" which is a picture of a field that has been plowed, disked and cultivated, planted with seed and awaiting growth and a harvest. This image of the church being a cultivated field connects with Jesus' teaching about the Sower and the Seed in Matthew 13. Each local church is being cultivated by the Word of God in anticipation of meeting ministry needs, forming spiritual growth and having a productive harvest of souls one day. 

Paul also used the term "God's building" which describes His church. This is our word "edification" here translated "building." Apostolic teaching is the foundation that believers are built upon, the glorious gospel of Christ. Pastors, teachers, evangelists, and individual believers are to carefully build their lives upon this solid foundation. 

Thoughts to Ponder...

Evangelists, Pastors and Teachers are vital gifts God gave to His church. They are not supposed to do all of the work. Rather, they are to teach, lead, guide and direct the sheep of God's pasture so that we are able to assume functional ministry such as visiting the sick and elderly or witnessing to a neighbor. This allows the evangelists, pastors and teachers to concentrate on spiritual responsibilities like prayer and the word of God, so that they might faithfully feed the flock with God's truth. 

Are you currently helping meet ministry needs within your church? If not, ask your pastor to tell you what the needs are and pray, asking the Lord if He can use you to serve. 

Pray for our evangelists, pastors and teachers because they have great responsibilities and all too often, no one expresses gratitude for their efforts. Pray to the Lord to show us how we can serve and relieve our pastors and teachers of some of the weight that they carry. 

May the Spirit of God speak to each one of us and show us where there are needs to be met within our local church.

Bob