The ministry is an office of service that a person is
called to by God. “To minister” means “to serve.” A minister is one who serves
the people with the gospel.
Ephesians 4:8 says, “Wherefore He saith, When
He ascended up on high, He led captivity captive, and gave gifts unto
men.”
Ephesians 4:11-2 says, “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.”
I Corinthians 12:28 says, “And God hath set some in the
church, first apostles, secondarily prophets, thirdly teachers, after that
miracles, then gifts of healings, helps, governments, diversities of
tongues.”
Miracles and gifts of healings is the evangelist’s office, that
is, the equipment that verifies that an evangelist is an evangelist. Helps,
governments, and diversities of tongues is the pastor’s office, that is, the
equipment that verifies that a pastor is a pastor. Since the Word of God says
that miracles and gifts of healings come “after” thirdly, they must be
“fourthly.” Since helps, governments, and diversities of tongues come after
that, they must be “fifthly.”
So we have two passages of scripture that
mention the five different offices of ministry in the New Testament church.
Since Ephesians 4:8 says that these people are “gifts” that God gave to men, and
Ephesians 4:12 says that these people are given “for the work of the ministry,”
these “ministers” that God has set in the church, are called “ministry
gifts.”
In the New Testament church there are five--and only five--types
of ministers. There are apostles, prophets, teachers, evangelists, and
pastors.
In the New Testament church there are five--and only five--types
of ministries. There is the apostolic ministry, the prophetic ministry, the
teaching ministry, the evangelistic ministry, and the pastoral
ministry.
Apostles have apostolic ministries. Prophets have prophetic
ministries. Teachers have teaching ministries. Evangelists have evangelistic
ministries. Pastors have pastoral ministries. (Pastoral ministries are usually
called “churches” or “local churches.”
I teach my congregation the
acronym “APTEP” (pronounced with a short “a” and a short “e” with the accent on
the first syllable: “AP-tep”).
Because
there are five types of ministries, this is often referred to as “the five-fold
ministry.” In order to be a minister of the gospel, a person must stand in at
least one of these five offices of ministry.
Only ministers can be in the
ministry. There may be other people who “help with” the ministry, or “work for”
the ministry, but such people are NOT IN the ministry. In order for a person to
be in the ministry, he (or she) must meet certain criteria, and then be placed
in the ministry by God.
First of all, the person must be “called.” The
person must be called by God into at least one ministry office.
Second,
the person must actually be a Christian. The person must be “born again” or
“saved” according to Romans 10:9-10. (see What
is a Christian? )
Fourth, the Spirit filled
Christian must be counted faithful by God, and then be put in the ministry by
God. In I Timothy 1:12, the apostle Paul says, “And I thank Christ Jesus our
Lord, who hath enabled me, for that He counted me faithful, putting me into the
ministry.”
Let’s examine each of these in
detail.
The Person Must be
Called
The person must be called by God into at least one ministry
office. The ministry is a “calling.” The ministry IS NOT a career. The ministry
IS NOT a career choice. A person who is called into the ministry does not have a
career choice in life.
Most of the people that we see “in the ministry”
today are not really called. They should not be out there “being ministers” or
“having ministries.” Because they are not called, they are not true ministers of
the gospel. God does not recognize them as ministers. God does not acknowledge
that they have ministries. They are fakes. They are frauds.
The Bible
says in Romans 11:29, “For the gifts and calling of God are without repentance.”
This means that a calling is unchangeable. (Once called, always called; Not
called, never called.) If a person is called to the ministry, he is called to
the ministry. There is nothing that can happen or that the person can do to
change it.
By the same token, if a person is NOT called to the ministry,
he is not called to the ministry. There is nothing that can happen or that the
person can do to change it.
A person who is NOT called to the ministry is
free to choose any career or job that he wants. He can change careers or jobs as
often as he likes. He can live anywhere in the world that he wants to. He can
move as often as he likes.
A person who is called to the ministry has
only two choices: to obey God and fulfill his ministry; or do something else and
be in sin. He cannot choose a career. He cannot live anywhere he wants to. He
cannot move anytime he would like.