God’s Helpers
“And He gave some, apostles; and some, prophets; and some, evangelists; and some, pastors and teachers; For the perfecting of the saints, for the work of the ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ: Till we all come in the unity of the faith, and of the knowledge of the Son of God, unto a perfect man, unto the measure of the stature of the fulness of Christ:” Ephesians 4:11-13
Just before Jesus ascended back to His Father in heaven after completing not only the work of salvation by His sacrifice, death, and resurrection, He appointed men to carry on the work of the gospel in order that men and women would come to receive Christ as Lord and Savior and that the gospel would go forth to each new generation. The highest office that Jesus appointed was that of an apostle. They were the ones who were closest to Jesus and His ministry and thus the most qualified to carry on His work on earth. Jesus’ original disciples with the exception of Judas, the betrayer, were all appointed as apostles. Matthias was appointed with the eleven to fill the slot left by Judas Iscariot. Later, Paul was chosen to be an apostle even though he did not walk with Jesus literally. He did meet Jesus personally on the road to Damascus, and prior to that time, he was a serious student of the law. His prior zeal to persecute Christians became a zeal to bring others to Christ. One of the main tasks of the office of apostle was church planter, and Paul definitely fit that bill. Of the twelve disciples/apostles, Peter, James, and John were the most mentioned in scripture while there is little mention of the other nine after Jesus’ ascension. We would assume that they all were diligent in their call to spread the gospel to the known world at that time.
Next on the list of offices appointed by Christ are prophets. They are the ones whom God has chosen to communicate His will to His people and give them revelations of the future. There were many Old Testament prophets–Moses, Samuel, Daniel, Isaiah, and Jeremiah among them. Their prophecies all pointed toward the coming of the Savior. The New Testament does not contain very many prophets. John the Baptist was the first prophet mentioned in the New Testament. He is called the “forerunner of Christ” because it was his mission to point people to Jesus Christ. He was a second cousin to Jesus, born six months prior to the birth of Jesus, and began his ministry shortly before Jesus began His ministry. When John the Baptist began to call people to repentance and to look to Christ, there had not been a prophet to speak to Israel since Malachi some 400 years prior to John’s prophecy. The main purpose of prophecy is to furnish light and hope to the faithful in order to strengthen their faith particularly in times of doubt and/or despair. In the Old Testament, prophecy was often used to warn God’s people of their disobedience to God and to call them to repentance.
Third on Paul’s list are evangelists. These are those who are called to preach the gospel to those who are lost in sin, who do not know Christ in the forgiveness of sin, and thus have no relation to God the Father. All believers are to be evangelists, not necessarily to preach, but to be a witness of the transforming power of the gospel. Jesus also created the office of pastor, the one who is responsible for leading a body of believers, the church, and setting an example of one who follows and is committed to Christ. His main task is to preach the word, but he also counsels church members individually using the principles found in scripture. He must have a tender heart and a tough exterior. His is not an easy life. He deals with situations that you and I know nothing of. Jesus also appointed various men and women to be teachers of His word. They usually oversee smaller groups arranged by age in order to reinforce and supplement preaching and personal Bible study. While preaching is designed to bring lost sinners to Christ and to strengthen the faith of those who are saved in the setting of corporate worship, the teacher is privileged with the task of discipleship, that is, leading those who are born again into a closer, more committed walk with Christ.
All of these offices work together to edify, that is, build up the faithful (the saints) in order for them to grow spiritually and find their place in the body of Christ. Each member has his or function to help the body grow in love of and service to the Lord. God is a God of order. Everything He does or commands others to do is according to His well-planned purpose in order that many will come to worship Him and do good to one another. This work of edification will continue until every believer is unified in the Spirit of Christ and understands why he or she was saved, that is, not to just escape hell and spend eternity in paradise, but to be like Christ as much as humanly possible in order to represent Him well to the lost world, to show that living for Him is the best life possible, and is the only way to God, the Father. A person who has reached maturity in Christ denies himself or herself and is entirely devoted to Christ and His gospel, being filled to the full with Christ and His righteousness, but true perfection in Christ will not be achieved until we “graduate” from this training ground we call “life on earth” and enter our ultimate destiny of heaven.