Ministry Offices - The Pastor
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.
Ephesians 4:11-16 (NLT)
Ministry Offices - The Pastor
David’s Notes from Bible College
THE PASTOR
EPHESIANS 4:11
11 And he gave some, apostles; and some, prophets; and some, evangelists; and some, PASTORS….
The office of pastor is the most widely recognized office in Christian ministry today.
The Greek word translated "pastor" literally means "shepherd .”
Example of a true pastor or shepherd:
11 I am the GOOD SHEPHERD: the GOOD SHEPHERD giveth his life for the sheep.
HEBREWS 13:20
20 Now the God of peace, that brought again from the dead our Lord Jesus, THAT GREAT SHEPHERD of the sheep....
25 For ye were as sheep going astray ; but are now returned unto the SHEPHERD AND BISHOP of your souls.
1 PETER 5:4
4 And when the CHIEF SHEPHERD shall appear, ye shall receive a crown of glory that fadeth not away.
Jesus is the Great Shepherd, the Chief Shepherd, of all God's sheep . A pastor is a shepherd of God's sheep in the local body.
God calls men and women and equips them to shepherd, or pastor, a flock. Shepherds are necessary for the maturing and equipping of the saints.
In New Testament days, as believers began to gather together in recognized local churches, groups, or assemblies, they needed certain people to exercise a position of loving oversight and care. That's the position of the pastor or the shepherd.
Jesus had compassion upon people "scattered abroad, as sheep having no shepherd" (Matt . 9:36).
This office is a more settled or a stationary office .
A person called to be a shepherd or pastor will live in a local city. The shepherd (pastor) has oversight of the people God gives to them. Jesus is the Great Shepherd. He is the Head, the Overseer, of the whole Church - the Body of Christ. The pastor is the undershepherd. He is the head or the overseer of the local flock or group.
It is the Holy Spirit who makes men overseers, not man.
God has provided supernatural equipment for the pastor. The pastor should be equipped with supernatural equipment.
1. The gifts of the Spirit (1 Corinthians 12) can be manifested in the lives of individual members of the Body of Christ.
2. The pastor is equipped by the Holy Spirit with the word of wisdom, the word of knowledge, and with tongues and interpretation to help the congregation. If they will ask God for that spiritual equipment, they will get it. God wants to help people in the church through you as a pastor.
3. Sometimes these gifts on the pastor are not as spectacular in display as they are through the prophet, although they are in operation .
Pastoring supernaturally.
We should look to God for supernatural equipment in ministry. It is God that furnishes supernatural equipment to the pastor.
Paul wrote a letter to the Church at Corinth and said, "...desire the best gifts…"(1Cor.12:31). He told the whole Church, "desire spiritual gifts ." (1 Cor. 14:1).
If a body of people, the church, will earnestly desire the supernatural demonstration of God, then as the Holy Spirit wills, He will manifest Himself through different people in the local body, particularly through this pastoral office.
The Spirit of God has equipped the New Testament Church with supernatural ability, supernatural power, and supernatural gifts. He has called men and women to the ministry, and He equips them to stand in their offices supernaturally. Expect God to help you. Train your spirit to be sensitive to the Holy Spirit . Expect the Holy Spirit to manifest Himself through you and to use you for His Glory. Listen to Him. Yield to Him. The Holy Spirit wants to help you pastor supernaturally.
The Pastors Heart.
The most outstanding characteristic of a pastor is a shepherd's heart. The shepherd's heart is a gift from God to the local body. Thank God for those who have a shepherd's heart and who love people. They are loyal to the flock, sometimes even at the expense of depriving themselves of some of the simple pleasures of life in order to serve their congregations.
It takes the shepherd's heart to take care of baby Christians - to love and nurture them, to nourish them with the Word of God, and to help them when they first start trying to walk spiritually.
People will always understand love. And you have to prove to people that you love them. Pastors must love people.
The greatest example of a shepherd is the Lord Jesus Christ Himself. Remember what Jesus said: "I am the good shepherd: the good shepherd giveth his life for the sheep" (John 10:11).
The good shepherd gives their life for their sheep.
The Gift of Prophecy vs. The Office of the Prophet - Kenneth Hagin
The simple gift of prophecy should not be confused with the prophetic office or with prophetic utterance that may come forth in the prophet's ministry. Paul said, "But he that prophesieth speaketh unto men to EDIFICATION, and EXHORTATION, and COMFORT" (1 Cor. 14:3).
Thus, we can readily see that in the simple gift of prophecy there is no revelation. The simple gift of prophecy is given for edification, exhortation, and comfort. In the office of the prophet, however we very often find that revelation or foretelling does come forth, even through the vehicle of prophecy.
It is also interesting to note the difference between prophecy in the Old Testament and prophecy in the New Testament. In the Old Testament prophecy was essentially foretelling, but in the New Testament we see that the gift of prophecy shifts strongly to forth telling. Prophesying Is More Than Preaching
Some people think that "to prophesy" means to preach. All inspired utterance is prophecy in some form or another, but the spiritual gift of prophecy isn't preaching. Sometimes there is an element of prophecy in preaching when a person is anointed by the Spirit and is inspired to say
things spontaneously that come from his spirit rather than his head. But that is only one phase of the operation of the gift of prophecy.
I have heard people say, "I was witnessing to someone about the Lord and I said things to them that were in line with the Word but that were beyond my own thinking. I didn't think it and it didn't come out of my mind. I was just inspired by the Holy Spirit to say it." That is a part of the operation of this gift of prophecy because prophecy is inspired utterance. The gift of prophecy goes beyond speaking by our own reasoning processes and intellect.
"To preach" means to proclaim, to announce, to cry, or to tell. The scriptural purpose of the gift of prophecy is different from the purpose of preaching.
For example, Jesus didn't say that men would be saved by the foolishness of prophesying, but by the foolishness of preaching (1 Cor. 1:21). The supernatural gifts of the Spirit are given to arrest people's attention, not to save them. Even on the Day of Pentecost when people were speaking in tongues, none of those standing by listening got saved until Peter got up andpreached to them (Acts 2:14-41).
The Gift of Prophecy vs. The Office of the Prophet
As we have said, the gift of prophecy should not be confused with the prophetic office. The simple gift of prophecy has no revelation in it. Rather, it speaks unto men for their edification, exhortation, and comfort (1 Cor. 14:3); it is to edify the Church (1 Cor. 14:4).
Notice that in First Corinthians 14:1, Paul was telling the whole Church at Corinth to covet to prophesy and to desire spiritual gifts, ". . . but rather that ye may prophesy." Yet in First Corinthians 12:28, Paul said that all are not prophets. If prophesying made a person a prophet, then Paul would be contradicting himself. In other words, the fact that the gift of simple prophecy operates through a person doesn't make him a prophet.
For example, a rich man has money. Most of us have at least some money, even if it's only a few cents, but that doesn't make us rich. By the same token, a prophet would of course prophesy, but a person who prophesies wouldn't necessarily be a prophet.
Also, a prophet would have more of the gifts of the Spirit in operation than just the gift of prophecy.
He would have revelation gifts operating along with prophecy for the simple reason that Paul says in First Corinthians 14:29 and 30, "Let the prophets speak two or three, and let the other judge. If any thing be REVEALED to another that sitteth by [that is, another prophet], let the first hold his peace."
Here Paul is talking about revelation. "If any thing be REVEALED . . ." (v. 30). Therefore, the prophet would have other revelation gifts operating in his ministry, as well as the gift of prophecy.
To constitute standing in the office of the prophet, a person needs to have at least two of the revelation gifts operating on a continual basis in his life and ministry, plus the gift of prophecy. In other words, for a person to stand in the office of the prophet, he would need to be called to the fivefold ministry as a preacher or teacher of the Word (Eph. 4:11,12), and have two of the three revelation gifts — the word of wisdom, the word of knowledge, or the discerning of spirits ¦— plus prophecy operating consistently in his ministry.
Therefore, we should not confuse the office of the prophet with the simple gift of prophecy which we are all told to covet: "Wherefore, brethren, covet to prophesy . . ."(1 Cor. 14:39). We can all have the gift of prophecy because God wouldn't tell us to covet something that wasn't available to us, nor to desire something that we couldn't have (1 Cor. 14:1,5,39). Yet all will not have all the gifts of the Spirit operating in their lives and ministries.
1 CORINTHIANS 14:1,5,39
1 Follow after charity, and desire spiritual gifts, but rather that ye may PROPHESY....
5 1 would that ye all spake with tongues, but rather that ye PROPHESIED: for greater is he that PROPHESIETH than he that speaketh with tongues, except he interpret, that the church may receive edifying....
39 Wherefore, brethren, covet to PROPHESY, and forbid not to speak with tongues.
We can all prophesy, but we can't all be prophets. And although we can all prophesy, we must also realize that prophecy through the office of the prophet carries more authority than the simple gift of prophecy would operating through the laity.
New Testament Example Of the Gift of Prophecy
In Acts chapter 21, we see a scriptural illustration of some believers who had the gift of prophecy operating in their lives.
ACTS 21:8,9
8 And the next day we that were of Paul's company departed, and came unto Caesarea: and we entered into the house of Philip the evangelist, which was one of the seven; and abode with him.
9 And the same man l Philip i had four daughters, virgins, WHICH DID PROPHESY.
All four of Philip's daughters had this simple gift of prophecy operating in their lives. They must have prophesied in the services held in their house because otherwise Paul and his company would not have known that they prophesied.
Philip's daughters spoke to the whole company to edification, exhortation, and comfort (1 Cor. 14:3). However, when the prophet Agabus came, he had a message from the Holy Spirit on a higher order, which brought revelation.
New Testament Example of The Prophet's Ministry
ACTS 21:10,11
10 And as we tarried there many days, there came down from Judaea a certain prophet, named Agabus.
11 And when he was come unto us, he took Paul's girdle, and bound his own hands and feet, and said, Thus saith the Holy Ghost, So shall the Jews at Jerusalem bind the man that owneth this girdle, and shall deliver him into the hands of the Gentiles.
Agabus wasn't necessarily prophesying here in the sense that we normally think of the gift of simple prophecy. He just had a message from the Holy Ghost. He had a message that had some revelation with it — the word of wisdom.
However, no definite direction was given to Paul in this message in the sense that Agabus didn't tell Paul to go or not to go to Jerusalem. That decision was left up to Paul. Agabus just told Paul what was going to happen in the near future should he go to Jerusalem.
There are two possible ways of interpreting the word of wisdom that Agabus had for Paul. One, it was a word of wisdom delivered through the vehicle of prophecy. Two, Agabus was just reporting the word of wisdom he already knew by the Spirit of God.
Therefore, we see that the prophet may prophesy, but the message he brings may not be simple prophecy at all. In other words, the message the prophet gives may come through the vehicle of prophecy (inspired utterance), but the message may actually be the revelation gifts in operation, such as the word of wisdom or the word of knowledge.
Or the prophet may just speak what he has already previously received from the Lord, reporting, "Thus saith the Lord," and the message may actually be other gifts of the Spirit in operation, such as the word of wisdom.
Therefore, in Acts 21:10,11, one of the revelation gifts — the word of wisdom — may have been manifested through the gift of prophecy. In that case, prophecy would just be the vehicle through which the word of wisdom came.
As I said, the other possibility is that when Agabus gave the word of the Lord to Paul, he was only reporting the word of wisdom he already knew by the Spirit, saying, "Thus saith the Holy Ghost," and was not literally speaking under the unction of prophecy.
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