The five-fold ministry - apostles, prophets, evangelists, pastors, and teachers - is a God-ordained structure for equipping and maturing the body of Christ. When these gifts function in unity, we see: activation of believers, edification of the church, unification of the faith, revelation of God, and maturation of believers. The five-fold ministry has often been neglected, but we are seeing a restoration as the church embraces this essential, God-ordained blueprint. Without the five-fold equipping, believers remain spiritually stunted and the church fails to reach its full redemptive potential.
Kingdom Community TV Podcast
The Five Fold Church
- It's such an honor to be here. Thank you for having me and obviously to your leadership, to Pastor Peter and to Adam and Grace. Thank you so much, guys. And all of you and the fivefold, amazing. What a journey that we're on in the body of Christ right now. There is a fresh move of the Holy Spirit, but there's also something that's happening in terms of leadership is catching the vision, really what the Holy Spirit is saying. You go back to the New Testament. It's very interesting, you know, when we mentioned that passage, actually, Adam did in one Corinthians 12, 28, talks about God has put in the church firstly, apostles, secondary prophets, and it continues in it. It actually mentions miracles, workers, miracles, and administrators. And so, admin is such a critical part of what happens. And it's not just because we live in an age where churches are registered with a government and there's legal compliance and all that kind of things. But it's also because it's part of ministry. And ministry needs those who can help organize and structure and, you know, develop systems and all those type of things to be able to see things move ahead fluently. And we read in Acts chapter six that the apostles were busy doing administration. And what happened was they weren't able to give themselves continually to the ministry of the Word of God in prayer. And so, the Holy Spirit inspired them to choose. There were seven that were chosen. They're kind of the prototype of deacons. But really, they were administrators and their role. So, what is happening here is really critical. And, you know, at Numa Church in Melbourne, Australia, I serve as the global development pastor. And so, all things, global church planting, networking with the body of Christ and leaders around the world, it's such an honor. But we have that structure as well in place and it's really changed things. And I wanna encourage you, scripturally, you know, what the Word actually says about the five world ministry. So, we're gonna jump in at Ephesians chapter four verses 11 through 16. You guys have probably heard quite a bit of teaching from this passage, I'm assuming. But we're gonna go there. And by the way, if you're like, where is your accent from? Who do you think? Where do you think? Canada, you asked both. How's that? It's a hybrid accent. It really is. I was born in Toronto, Canada, but I lived in the United States for many years. Most recently in Dallas, Texas, y'all. So, yeah, come on. And just moved to Melbourne in the end of May, my wife and I had come on team at Numa Church under the amazing leadership of pastors, Corey and Simone Turner. Those guys are incredible. And God's doing amazing things all over the world, such an honour and privilege. So, Ephesians 4, 11 through 16, I'm gonna actually read from the new living translation. The reason why is because it's really important sometimes that we don't become too familiar with the passage of scripture. You know, the verbiage, the language, the style. Sometimes we miss the significance of the meaning because we read it and we kind of, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, I know, but when you hear it differently, sometimes that really has an impact on you to bring a greater level of clarity. So, here we go, Ephesians 4, 11 through 16, the NLT. Now, these are the gifts Christ gave to the church. Are you ready? Apostles, the prophets, evangelists, pastors and teachers. Their responsibility, very significant, is to equip God's people to do His work and build up the church, the body of Christ. This will continue until, until. So, for all the cessationists, they don't believe, five-fold for today, it passed away in the first century. This verse is very clear. This will continue until what? 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. That hasn't happened yet, obviously. So, it's gonna continue until. That's an amazing truth right there. Then it says that we will no longer be immature like children. We won't be tossed and blown about by every wind of new teaching. We will not be influenced when people try to trick us with lies so clever they sound like the truth. So, there's safety in the five-fold. Instead, we will speak the truth and love growing in every way more and more like Christ. God wants you and I to grow every way, more and more like Christ Jesus in every way. Who is ahead of His body of the church, He makes the whole body fit together perfectly. Listen to this. As each part does its own special work, it helps the other parts grow so that the whole body is healthy and growing and full of love. Sounds like a church that I'd like to attend. How about you? A church where the fullness of Jesus Christ, all who He is, is present and evident. So, I wanna just unpack some things related to the five-fold ministry. I really want to address this morning more why we need that. And let me just start off by saying, this isn't just like the newest cool thing to do. Like, you know what I mean? Like, everything's retro, right? I mean, retro comes back, I mean, guys, so what you all are wearing? Like, we wore those same stuff in the '70s. I mean, yeah, I'm that old. So, and the truth is, like, there's a lot of stuff. Like, I used to play music that is considered vintage today. It was in vintage. It was cutting edge. Okay, so that's how old I am. But the point is, God is doing something today that's fresh and He's restoring the original blueprint. It's all about us, not just like, oh, wow, this is so novel. This is awesome. You know, everybody's starting to embrace this. Let's kind of be ahead in the curve. And we're gonna be on the five-fold train, and, you know, because it's really just cool thing to do. No, no, there is something very powerful about this. And it's not just like, well, let's embrace a structure of plurality of leaders. It's more than just sharing leadership. You know, often, as was mentioned, you've got the CEO model, and then you've got the others who are part of that leadership team in the exec level. That's all fine and good, but there's more to it than that. It's not just saying, well, we need to share responsibility. We need to be efficient in our management and that we need to really be able to do things to scale the ministry. It goes way beyond that, guys. This is all about something profoundly spiritual. Because the Bible says Jesus is the one who gave these gifts to the church. So why would we reject or even neglect what he has given to the church? Why would we try to substitute for a knockoff, a counterfeit, something that's second-rate? Why would we say, well, you know what? That's all great back in that day, but today we do it this way. No, what the Bible tells us here is that the five-fold ministry, the ascension gifts, the single ministerial for any Spanish-speaking people, it literally is to equip the whole body of Christ. It's not so we can go, hey, we've got an apostle. Like we have a prophet, an evangelist, a pastor, and teacher, aren't we amazing? No, it's so we can see the whole body equipped. The whole body mature. Really, when the five-fold is functioning optimally, we will see the following five characteristics. Number one, activation. Believers are gonna be equipped to use their gifts. Number two, edification. The church is gonna be built up. Number three, unification. There will be unity of the faith. Number four, revelation. People are going to come into the true knowledge of God. Really knowing Jesus Christ, really knowing God, not just knowing about Him, but knowing Him personally. And it comes through the revelation that is released through the five-fold. Fifthly, maturation. There's a place of maturity of becoming more fully developed and mature in the Lord that takes place and will not happen apart from the five-fold. Think about this way. There is grace in each one of the five-fold ministry offices. So on a good day, when all cylinders are fired up and working, on a good day, an apostle contributes 20%, a prophet 20%, an evangelist, the other 20%, a pastor and teacher. So if all we have is one or two or three, we're not experiencing the full measure of the grace that God wants us to, and knows that we need in order to develop. The Bible says in Acts chapter four, verse 33, that the apostles bore witness to the resurrection with great power. And then it says, speaking of the believers, the gathering, the echolice of the church, and great grace was upon them all. Great grace was upon them all. The word that is translated great in English is the Greek word mega, mega grace, mega grace. This isn't just a measure of grace, but this is the full expression of grace. Great grace is upon them all. And as the five-fold is in operation and it's imparting and disseminating that grace, it causes us to grow. It causes us to become more like Jesus. It enables us and equips us to be able to do things that help one another as well. We already said what verse 16 speaks about. Imagine this, the church where everyone is growing into Christ's likeness, where people are being conformed to the image of Jesus and they're becoming mature, they're stable, they're grounded in the word of God, they're grounded in their identity in Christ, and they have been filled with the Spirit, and they're using the gifts that God has given to them to be able to serve one another. And it says that he actually makes the whole body fit together perfectly. So there's no rivalry, there's no competition, there's no jealousy. Well, hey, you know what? We've got too many apostles in this house. We've only got two spots open here. You need to leave, no. I mean, really, seriously, it's like, no, guys, no matter what happens, God sets in the body. He knows exactly. And when we follow the Holy Spirit and the evidence of that grace is there, we can see clearly how it fits together. And what takes place is each part does its own special work. It helps the other parts grow. Helps the others grow so that the whole body is healthy and growing and full of love. Wow, what an amazing atmosphere and environment. So this calling that the fivefold has is really summarized by one single word in English and it's the word equipped or equipping. The purpose of the fivefold is the equipping of the saints. And when the saints are equipped, they do ministry and they build up the body of Christ. But what does it mean to be equipped? Well, it's a very interesting term. It's actually found only this one time in the New Testament. It's the word, sorry, for those who are not geeky. It's cotter teasmas. And cotter teasmas has another term. It's a derivative. It's cotter teasol. And cotter teasol is a very common word found throughout the New Testament. It's used in many different places. Let me give you some examples. In Hebrews 11, verse three, the word cotter teasol is used of bringing the universe into order. We're talking about the word equipping. So it speaks of bringing something that is in chaos into cosmos, into order. Secondly, of equipping someone to live a life pleasing to God doing his perfect will. Hebrews 13, verse 21. Thirdly, of bringing individual parts together to work collectively and in unison as a unit. And it's translated in one Corinthians one, verse 10, perfectly joined together, the word cotter teasol. In Luke six, 40, Jesus said this, the student is not above his teacher. The disciple is not above his teacher. But when the disciple has been perfectly trained, cotter teasol, he will be like his teacher. He'll be like his mentor when he's perfectly trained. So Jesus is our teacher. We are the disciples. And if we allow him to equip us through the fivefold, the end result is we'll be like the teacher. The church collectively will be like the teacher. And what the world needs to see today is not another church, not another expression of religiosity or churchy entity, but Jesus himself alive in the midst of his people. Revealing Jesus to this generation. And then lastly, it's used of mending a broken fishing net in Matthew four, 21, James and John, who are fishermen are mending the fishing net that was torn after they had returned from a fishing trip. Now, interestingly, the analogy of fishing is used by Jesus several times in the New Testament to really teach us what this process of equipping is all about. Now, this is something the Holy Spirit showed me several years ago. It's very interesting in the beginning of Jesus' ministry on the earth that's recorded in Luke chapter five. Jesus sees Peter. Peter had been out fishing all night, but he hadn't caught any fish. It's very unusual because he was a trained fisherman. He was a commercial fisherman. But yet as he applied skillfully his knowledge, nothing resulted. But Jesus says, "Peter, let's get into the boat "and launch out into the deep, let down your nets for a catch." Peter was resistant. It's kind of like, "Jesus, hey, no offense. "You're a carpenter. "I'm a fisherman. "I know how to fish. "I've tried that. "It's not working. "But just to appease you and get you off my back, "I'll do what you say." And so he does what Jesus told him to do. Boom, there's this amazing catch of fish. And the Bible specifically tells us in Luke's account, verse six, and when they had done this, they caught a great number of fish and their net was breaking. The net was breaking, the net broke. Interestingly, at that point, they leave the catch of fish and they come and follow Jesus. Think about that. Do you know how long that catch of fish could have funded them? For ministry? They didn't care. They left it all. They forsook it to follow Jesus. And Jesus tells them, "We read this in Mark's gospel." He actually says, "Come and follow me "and I will make you fishes of men." It's a process, in other words. It speaks of a work that brings you to a place you're not yet arrived at, a state that you're not at currently. So the idea here is I'm gonna make you fishes of men. And then later on, after three and a half years of being with Jesus, they've been discipled, they've been trained, they had been even corrected by Jesus lovingly, and he had sent them out, he had done so much to prepare them. Jesus now goes to the cross, he dies and he leaves them. And here they are, wondering what's next. Jesus was clear that they were to wait in Jerusalem until they're in dude with power from on high and they would preach the gospel to all the nations, but they were disillusioned, they were disappointed. So what happens is one day they make this suggestion, "Hey guys, let's go fishing." And again, we don't know why they wanted to go fishing where they're economic motives behind this, like they were commercial fishermen, right? Maybe they needed some money. But the point is here is they said, "We're gonna go fishing." They jump in the boat, they go out into the sea and they try to catch fish and the same thing happens that Peter had experienced three and a half years earlier. No fish. Now this time a voice calls to them from the seashore. Hey, have you any food? Have you caught any fish in other words? No, nothing. Let down the net on the right-hand side of the boat and you will catch an abundance of fish. Interestingly, they listened to the council they received, let down the net on the right-hand side of the boat and boom, there's this amazing catch of fish. The scripture says 153 large fish. What's significant about that, 153? Well, St. Jerome, his theory is that at that time there were 153 identifiable species of fish. So the 153 represented all of the nations of the earth, all of the people. So what has happened here is he's saying, "Okay, we're gonna do something." Now, I want you to understand, sometimes we say the devil is in the details. Can I tell you that God is in the details? We need to redeem that. God is a God of specificity. He's a God of details. And the Bible tells us in John chapter 21, where this particular story is actually recorded, that they began to drag the net into the seashore. And as I mentioned, 153 large fish, but yet it specifically says in verse 11, the net was not broken. In Luke 5, 6, the net breaks. In John 21, 11, the net is not broken. What's up with that? Jesus was demonstrating to the disciples the need, guess what word it is? Caught artizo for mending. There's a need for preparation. Sometimes we just wanna jump in. Sometimes we think we're the answer. We are the gifted one. We have what it takes. But Jesus calls the disciples into a lifestyle of equipping in the context of a community. Now remember Jesus himself was the epitome. He was the full expression of the fivefold embodied in one person. Guys, you'll never become the person God has created you to be without the input of the fivefold. There is an equipping process that every one of us has to undergo in order to become transformed and prepared to do what God has created us to do. God wants to use you to do wild things, crazy things. But there's a process that you have to partner with. There's something that God wants you to do. And as you engage in that process he will take you in all of your brokenness and he'll begin to mend your life. He'll begin to put the pieces back together. He'll begin to change you and transform you so that you can go forth in due time with a net that literally will not break. God wants to mend you so he can send you. He wants to heal you of your brokenness so he can prepare you for your purpose in his kingdom. God is awesome. So when you look at this we see this work taking place in the disciples' lives, preparing them, dealing with, come on, family of origin issues. Dealing with who knows?