Apostolic Culture Ephesians 4:7-13 NLT In our text, we are introduced to what is commonly known as the Five-fold ministry gifts.. These gifts include the office of apostle, prophet, evangelist, pastor and teacher. These gifts are also referred to as the Five-fold ministry gifts. The purpose for these gifts being bestowed upon the Body of Christ is to perfect equip and prepare each individual Christian [saint] to become all that they were created to be in Christ and to make their contribution toward maturing and multiplying the Body of Christ. Eph 4:11-13 NLT, Now these are the gifts Christ gave to the church: the apostles, the prophets, the evangelists, and the pastors and teachers. 12 Their responsibility is to equip God s people to do his work and build up the church, the body of Christ. 13 This will continue until we all come to such unity in our faith and knowledge of God s Son that we will be mature in the Lord, measuring up to the full and complete standard of Christ. Statement: When the church comes to authentic unity in the faith and the true knowledge of Jesus it will becomes a fully developed, exact representation of Christ on the earth! You see we were saved not just to go to heaven but to be conformed to the likeness of Christ! Romans. 8:29 1 John 4:17 - because as He is, so are we in this world. We are little Christ's. We are to walk as He walked 1 John 2:6 and do what He did John 14:12. He left us on the earth to display His glory and manifest His power and grace to the nations! Jesus was the Second Adam. When He was on the earth He exemplified what Man was created to be. The Bible says that we were created in the image and likeness of God. Colossians 1:19 For it pleased the Father that in Him all the fullness should dwell, Ephesians 1:23 Amp, Which is His body, the fullness of Him Who fills all in all [for in that body lives the full measure of Him Who makes everything complete, and Who fills everything everywhere with Himself]. 1
Five-Fold Grace Statement: It is impossible for the Church to develop to fully develop and grow up into our destiny without the input and contribution of all Five-fold ministry offices! Five-full ministry is the maturity mechanism of the Church! Apostle Governs Prophet Guides Evangelist Gathers Pastor Guards Teacher Grounds Acts 4:33, And with great power the apostles gave witness to the resurrection of the Lord Jesus. And great grace was upon them all. In the Scriptures. the Number Five is symbolic for grace. The reason why the Early Church was so powerful in the First Century is because they were experiencing the full measure of God's grace! Without the involvement and impartation of all five-fold ministry, the Body of Christ will in fact become asymmetrical. We see this all the time: Churches that make emphasize evangelism, but do not teach and disciple others in the deeper life! Some churches emphasize prophetic, at the exclusion of evangelism and teaching and are constantly seeking the next word from God but never fulfill the last words of Jesus Go into all the world and preach and demonstrate the Kingdom of God. Other churches teach and teach and yet the people never witness the signs and wonders that are manifested through the ministry of the apostle! There is a better way! Through the input and of Five-Fold Ministry the Manifold grace of God is released! 1 Peter 4:10 As every man hath received the gift, even so minister the same one to another, as good stewards of the manifold [multi-faceted; many sided] grace of God. 2
A diamond has many-sides to it but a single side alone does not constitute a diamond. You must have all the facets to have a whole diamond! Foundation of the Church APOSTLES & PROPHETS The New Testament declares that these dual offices are foundational to the Church: Ephesians 2:19-20 - Consequently, you are no longer foreigners and strangers, but fellow citizens with God s people and also members of his household, 20 built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, with Christ Jesus himself as the chief cornerstone. 1 Cor 12:28 - And God has appointed these in the church: first apostles, second prophets, third teachers, after that miracles, then gifts of healings, helps, administrations, varieties of tongues. Why are the offices of apostle and prophet given the preeminence in the New Testament? This is because they literally create the environment from which all other ministries emerge as we will see in our further studies. They are the seed-bed of the church! APOSTLE = Gk. apostolos, lit., "one sent forth" (apo, "from," stello, "to send"). Foundation/Demonstration: (1 Cor 3:10; 2 Cor. 12:12). PROPHET: signifies "the speaking forth of the mind and counsel of God" (pro, "forth," phemi, "to speak") Prophecy = Revelation/Proclamation - Know the mind of God and declare it! Today, most churches in North America are not GOING reaching the lost. In fact, 70-80 % of our churches are in decline or recline [plateau]. Among the 20 % percent that are growing, less than 5% per cent are growing as a result of reaching the unsaved. In other words, they are growing through Transfer growth. What is the problem? It has taken us over 2000 years and we still have not reached the world with the Gospel even in a season of profound technological advancement in media and communication. 3
Most of our churches are ingrown and insular. Our faith has become all about us and not about fulfilling God s agenda of demonstrating His glory and salvation to the world. We have an escape-mentality that has paralyzed us from fulfilling the Great Commission. We are waiting for Jesus to take us to heaven while along He is waiting for us to evangelize the earth making disciples of all nations (Cf. Matt 24:14; Matthew 28:18-20). I submit to us this day that we are guilty of creating a religious climate that has stifled the church from fulfilling her one true purpose. We have embraced a Bless-me, event-oriented, entertainment model that has resulted in church becoming a place where people are merely spectators and are not released to advance the Kingdom of God on the earth! It is my contention that the church return and embrace a New Testament ecclesiology that that results in a paradigm shift from pastoral led churches that are maintenance oriented to apostolic churches governed by Five-Fold ministry elders that are mission focused! Apostolic Governed Churches The Early Church was a governing church. They preached and demonstrated to the people of their time a Kingdom and a government. Often we have been guilty of preaching an incomplete salvation message that focuses merely on forgiveness of past sins, but does not raise up people to walk in the overcoming life and to do great exploits for God on the earth! God is restoring to the Church today a government that will get the job done! Isaiah 9:7 describes this government as good government. It is an administration that not only will cover the earth, but will bring peace and execute justice to it s subjects, Of the increase of His government and peace there will be no end. Upon the throne of David and over His kingdom to order it and establish it with judgment and justice. This government is foundationally apostolic and prophetic with Christ Jesus being the cornerstone that holds the building together! Repaired and Prepared In Ephesians 4:12, we are taught that God gave us the five-fold ministry for the purpose of perfecting, preparing or equipping the saints. 4
The term equipping literally means, to thoroughly furnish, to set in order, It is also translated prepare as well as repair. In Matthew 4:21, the word is translated mend when referring to James and John fixing their torn fishing nets! Peter's Mother In Lawlessness Mark 1:29 31, As soon as they left the synagogue, they went with James and John to the home of Simon and Andrew. 30 Simon s mother-in-law was in bed with a fever, and they immediately told Jesus about her. 31 So he went to her, took her hand and helped her up. The fever left her and she began to wait on them. We must recognize that God repairs us from our misery, in order to prepare us for our destiny! He mends us of our fractures to move us into our futures! We must allow God to deal with our hearts - our inner man, healing us and changing us from the inside out. We must permit the Holy Spirit to renew our thinking, harness our emotions, and captivate our will! He must truly be the King of our hearts! Otherwise, we will are unfit vessels, incapable of serving in an honorable manner! Fishing Stories There are two stories in the Bible that illustrate my point! Both have to do with fishing! The first is found in Luke chapter five; the second in John 21: In the first story, Simon Peter and his team had been fishing all night in vain! Jesus shows us and tell them, Launch out into the deep and let down your nets for a catch." Initially Simon hesitated, however, he eventually complied! The result: Verse 6 And when they had done this, they caught a great number of fish, and their net was breaking. Now we must remember that the purpose of this fishing miracle was to illustrate to the disciples how God would supernaturally bless their efforts as they fished for men's souls! However, I want you to notice that verse six states that the net tore! The Fruit of Three Years Later... Three years later there would be another supernatural fishing miracle. This would be 5
performed through Jesus after his death and resurrection! We read in John 21 that the disciples once more were completely unsuccessful in their efforts to catch fish. Jesus cried out to them from the shore, "Cast the net on the right side of the boat, and you will find some." So they cast, and now they were not able to draw it in because of the multitude of fish. Verse 11, Simon Peter went up and dragged the net to land, full of large fish, one hundred and fifty-three; and although there were so many, the net was not broken This time the net is not broken! It speaks of the fact that the disciples were nor both repaired and prepared to launch out and succeed at their life calling! Conclusion: Little Bo-Peep vs The Good Shepherd Most churches today are maintenance oriented and not mission-focused. They have replaced the Good Shepherd with Little Bo Peep. The Good Shepherd goes after the Sheep (Luke 15:4); Little Bo Peep modus operandi is, Little Bo Peep has lost her sheep And doesn t know where to find them. Leave them alone, And they'll come home, Wagging their tails behind them The New Testament is clear that the purpose for God giving His church power is for mission (Acts 1:8). 6