FOR THE EQUIPPING OF THE SAINTS

1. For The Equipping Of The Saints

a) Ephesians 4:11 NKJV
"[11] And He Himself gave some to be apostles, some prophets, some evangelists, and some pastors and teachers."

i) God has given the 5-fold gifts to the church and not the other way round. 

ii) They are actually functions (not necessarily positions) in the body of Christ.

@1. The apostles are primarily the sent out ones. They do church planting, break hard grounds in places where the Gospel is not being reached before.

@2. Then come the prophets who receive messages from God and point the way for the church.

@3. Then come the evangelists who primarily win souls with signs and wonders and miracles. Souls saved are then added to the church.

@4. Then the church needs pastors to take care of the sheep. If you have aligned yourself in this function and yet do not love the sheep even to the point of giving up your life for them, then you need to examine whether it is the call of God for your life. Your life is exemplary of Christ himself. This is the most difficult function yet fulfilling in the kingdom of God.

@5. Then the teachers feed the sheep with the word of God. They study to reveal the truth and thus, enable the church to grow in the Lord.

b) People are status conscious and make a clear distinction in the 5-fold gifts. It has become a hierarchy in the mind of people. Everyone seems to desire and seek for the highest gift of apostleship. It gives an impression of one above everyone else. Is this in the right context? Think about it!

c) Praise God that Christ is the only one who determines such gifts to the church. 

@1. Ephesians 4:7-8 NKJV
"[7] But to each one of us grace was given according to the measure of Christ's gift. [8] Therefore He says: "When He ascended on high, He led captivity captive, And gave gifts to men."

d) The purpose for the 5-fold gifts is obvious. All are needed solely for the church.

@1. Ephesians 4:12-16 NKJV
"[12] For the equipping of the saints for the work of ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ, [13] till we all come to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to a perfect man, to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ; [14] that we should no longer be children, tossed to and fro and carried about with every wind of doctrine, by the trickery of men, in the cunning craftiness of deceitful plotting, [15] but, speaking the truth in love, may grow up in all things into Him who is the head-Christ- [16] from whom the whole body, joined and knit together by what every joint supplies, according to the effective working by which every part does its share, causes growth of the body for the edifying of itself in love."