Five Fold Ministry: Apostle

And He gave some, apostles; and some, prophets, and some, evangelists; and some, pastors and teachers. 

(Ephesians 4:11)

Although there are many different gifts, they all come from one source. That source is the Holy Spirit. We don't just wake up one day and decide to be an apostle.  The gifting has to come by way of God.  God has a specific place in the Church for each believer:

But now hath God set the members, every one of them, in the body, as it hath pleased Him. (I Corinthians 12:18)

Every member has a place which God has chosen for him. He is equipped to fulfill his special purpose in the church through the gifts of the Holy Spirit.

When each believer is filling the place God has chosen for him and using his spiritual gift, the church operates smoothly. God compares it to the operation of the human body in which each member...from the eye to the toe...knows and performs its function (I Corinthians 12:1-31).   Each gift is equally important in the Body of Christ just as each member of the human body is important:

And the eye cannot say unto the hand, I have no need of thee: nor again the head to the feet, I have no need of you.  Nay, much more those members of the body, which seem to be more feeble, are necessary. (I Corinthians 12:21-22)

Spiritual gifts are not natural abilities. They are abilities from the Holy Spirit to equip believers for Christian service.

The first group of spiritual gifts are what are known as the "Five Fold Ministry" mainly because they are special leadership positions in the church:

And He gave some, apostles; and some, prophets, and some, evangelists; and some, pastors and teachers. (Ephesians 4:11)

These leadership positions are sometimes called "offices" in the church. "Office" is defined as a position of authority or service. The special leadership gifts are:

¨     Apostles

¨     Prophets

¨     Evangelists

¨     Pastors

¨     Teachers

APOSTLES

Before you call yourself an Apostle:

And God hath set some in the church, first apostles, secondarily prophets... (I Corinthians 12:28)

And He gave some apostles; and some, prophets... (Ephesians 4:11)

An apostle is one who has a special ability to develop new churches in different places and cultures and to oversee a number of churches as a supervisor. Apostle means "a delegate, one sent with full power and authority to act for another". The apostle has a special authority or ability to extend the Gospel throughout the world by developing organized bodies of believers.

The Bible speaks of three different categories of apostles. Jesus Christ was called an apostle:

Wherefore holy brethren, partakers of the heavenly calling, consider the Apostle and High Priest of our profession, Christ Jesus; Who was faithful to Him that appointed Him... (Hebrews 3:1-2a)

The twelve disciples of Jesus were called apostles:

Now the names of the twelve apostles are these... (Matthew 10:2)

The twelve apostles had a special function. They were part of the founding of the Church. While they had a function which no other believers will ever have, there is also a general apostolic gift of the Holy Spirit:

And He gave some apostles... (Ephesians 4:11)

According to this passage, God is the one who selects apostles. Apostle Paul again confirms this:

And God hath set some in the church, first apostles...  (I Corinthians 12:28)

The Bible speaks of special signs which confirm that a person has the gift of being an apostle:

Truly the signs of an apostle were wrought among you in all patience, in signs, and wonders, and mighty deeds. (II Corinthians 12:12)

And by the hands of the apostles were many signs and wonders wrought among the people... (Acts 5:12)

The special leadership of apostles over the churches is illustrated in the book of Acts:

And certain men which came down from Judaea taught the brethren and said, Except ye be circumcised after the manner of Moses, ye cannot be saved.  When therefore Apostle Paul and Barnabas had no small dissension and disputation with them, they determined that Apostle Paul and Barnabas, and certain other of them, should go up to Jerusalem unto the apostles and elders about this question. (Acts 15:1-2)

And as they went through the cities, they delivered them the decrees for to keep, that were ordained of the apostles and elders which were at Jerusalem.  And so were the churches established in the faith, and increased in number daily.   (Acts 16:4-5)

Apostles extend the Gospel message by raising up churches. They give leadership to these churches and have special spiritual signs in their ministry. The calling and desire to be an apostle comes from God:

Apostle Paul, an apostle, (not of men, neither by man, but by Jesus Christ, and God the Father, who raised him from the dead. (Galatians 1:1)

This special gift is usually recognized by a local church who does the sending of the apostle to other places:

Now there were in the church that was at Antioch certain prophets and teachers; as Barnabas, and Simeon that was called Niger, and Lucius of Cyrene, and Manaen, which had been brought up with Herod the tetrarch, and Saul.  As they ministered to the Lord, and fasted, the Holy Ghost said, Separate me Barnabas and Saul for the work whereunto I have called them.  And when they had fasted and prayed, and laid their hands on them, they sent them away.   (Acts 13:1-3)

An apostle desires to minister in places where others have not worked:

Yea, so have I strived to preach the gospel, not where Christ was named, lest I should build upon another man's foundation;  But as it is written, To whom He was not spoken of, they shall see: and they that have not heard shall understand. (Romans 15:20-21)

To preach the gospel in the regions beyond you, and not to boast in another man's line of things made ready to our hand. (II Corinthians 10:16)

The apostle is willing to adapt to other cultures and lifestyles in order to win people for Christ:

For though I be free from all men, yet have I made myself servant unto all, that I might gain the more.  And unto the Jews I became as a Jew, that I might gain the Jews; to them that are under the law, as under the law, that I might gain them that are under the law; To them that are without law, as without law, (being not without law to God, but under the law of Christ,) that I might gain them that are without law.  To the weak became I as weak, that I might gain the weak: I am made all things to all men, that I might by all means save some.  And this I do for the gospel's sake... (I Corinthians 9:19-23)

The apostle develops churches with trained leadership that can carry on without him:

And when they had preached the gospel to that city and had taught many, they returned again to Lystra, and to Iconium, and Antioch.  Confirming the souls of the disciples, and exhorting them to continue in the faith, and that we must through much tribulation enter into the kingdom of God.  And when they had ordained them elders in every church, and had prayed with fasting, they commended them to the Lord, on whom they believed.        (Acts 14:21-23)

This verse reveals that follow up ministry and the raising up of qualified leadership for new churches are responsibilities of an apostle.

The seal, or evidence, of the apostolic gift is the spiritual result it brings in the lives of others. Apostle Paul wrote to the church at Corinth which he had organized:

...of the seal of mine apostleship are ye in the Lord. (I Corinthians 9:2b)

The ability to raise up communities of believers and organize them into a church body is the seal of the gift of apostleship.

The Bible warns of false apostles who are deceitful but can be recognized by their works:

For such are false apostles, deceitful workers, transforming themselves into the apostles of Christ.  And no marvel: for Satan himself is transformed into an angel of light.  Therefore it is no great thing if his ministers also be transformed as the ministers of righteousness; whose end shall be according their works. (II Corinthians 11:13-15)

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