THE FIVE FOLD MINISTRY and THE CHURCH

God has put the knowledge of Himself out to us through Jesus Christ (His word) and He campaigns for this knowledge till now (through the Holy Spirit). 

It is our responsibility as believers to seek out what is true about God, believe it and act on it for the fulfillment of God’s purpose for our lives. 

What you hear or are exposed to about God is what you believe, what you believe is what you act on which in turn determines how you end up. This is why Jesus said to Take heed what/how you hear (Mark 4:24, Luke 8:18) and take heed lest any man deceive you (Mark 13:5b). 

God already took His own heed by telling us what we must do and giving the Holy Spirit to guide and help, we are expected to take our own heed!

Satan also knows that what the believer hears or is exposed to (ideas) about God determines where he/she ends up and he will rather have the believer end up in his trap. He thus works to put out falsehood about God to achieve his aim. 

This falsehood is what the bible refers to as false teachings, false doctrines, doctrines of devils, heresies, wrong teaching, teaching of the letter rather than the spirit etc and all the names fit. However, you do not have to fall into Satan’s trap. 

What will mark you out when you are taking the heed is that firstly you will have peace in your spirit about things concerning God that you have heard, confirmed from God’s word and believed. Secondly as you act on what you have believed, you will get results consistent with what the bible says a believer’s life should be. This peace in your spirit comes from the witness of the Holy Spirit who dwells in your spirit (John 14:17, Romans 8:11, 16).

FROM JESUS’ EARTHLY MINISTRY TO THE CURRENT CAMPAIGN

You will notice that during Jesus’ earthly ministry He preached and taught the word more than anything else. Demonstrations and manifestations of the Holy Spirit were to drive home the point about God’s knowledge and meet needs as may be necessary. 

Jesus knew that for man to experience God, we must believe Him and act on that belief. Romans 10:14 says How then shall they call on him in whom they have not believed? and how shall they believe in him of whom they have not heard? and how shall they hear without a preacher?. You hear, believe and act accordingly, whether it is for salvation or any other matter regarding the believer and God.

Now, when Jesus rounded up on earth and went to heaven to continue at the right hand of God in another capacity, He made arrangements for His work on earth to continue. 

Part of that arrangement was to give ministry gifts to men and women (on a recurrent basis till He comes back) to serve the Church in the capacity of perpetuating the knowledge of God. 

These men and women are to primarily continue preaching, teaching and living His word (as examples/ambassadors) 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 fullness of Christ (Ephesians 4:12-14). 

The word ‘perfect’ here means mature, referring to growing into maturity in the knowledge of Christ. First the believer must grow spiritually, a process which then enables the believer to do the work that causes the entire body of Christ (the Church) to be built up. 

What causes spiritual growth (maturity) in the believer is the knowledge God’s word (1 Peter 2:2). The New International Reader’s Version puts Ephesians 4:12 this way; He did it so that they might prepare God's people to serve. If they do, the body of Christ will be built up. 

BUT THERE ARE HICCUPS…

Problems however arise in this set up firstly when people who are not called take upon themselves the work of the five fold ministry. Secondly, it comes also when the called do otherwise than they have been called to do. These form the foundation for falsehood regarding propagating the knowledge of God.

You see God’s people, the ministry gifts are specialized tools in the hands of God through whom He intends to equip His people (by the administration of the knowledge of His word) so He can use His people to build His Church. 

Every member of the body works the work,(Ephesians 4:16) that is why all must grow up spiritually. The ministry gifts were not sent to replace Jesus but to be vessels through whom Jesus will perpetuate and expound the knowledge of the word of God. 

In the course of their work, the Holy Spirit will both manifest and demonstrate God’s power to drive home God’s point regarding the preaching and teaching of His word (Mark 16:20) and also help the babies in the house but it is not God’s intention that believers should remain spiritual weaklings in perpetuity and be at anyone’s mercy for miracles. 

The ministry gifts are to teach God’s people to know God, walk with Him and learn how to obtain their miracles from God personally in the course of their daily walk with Him as they grow.

We should understand that the call is a supernatural ability administered by God through a believer who is called and this ability only glorifies God who called and it gets what God wants in His Church done. 

While being born again is a prerequisite for the call, it is beyond the ability to preach to and get somebody saved or ability to explain/teach God’s word to someone else (abilities which all believers posses). It is a supernatural ability to expound the word beyond the ordinary. While it may appear that it is the called that is doing it, it is actually Christ working through him/her by reason of the call. Remove the call and the called is just any other believer.

The call is also not the ability to ‘do’ miracles, in fact, nobody can do any miracles but God through His Spirit who would manifest Himself through any believer (1 Corinthians 12:7) as He wills or based on their faith i.e if they believe God’s word concerning the matter.

The called have no influence over their being called any more than you had influence over being born as male or female or coming into the world at the time you did. 

The call cannot also be made by man, neither the gift given by man on the basis of any consideration whatsoever. It is also not a title neither is it a badge of greatness or being better or preferred over other believers before God. The call is exclusively at the discretion of God and His Christ.

When the call (and therefore the divine enablement) is there, it is apparent first and foremost in how it helps the people of God know Him more, draw closer to Him and get Him to help them more personally and then others too.

The call is strictly for the benefit of the Church and not for the benefit of the called (Ephesians 4:12). If the called does not do what he/she was called to do, it is as good as not being called in the first instance or what is the essence of the ministry gift if it is not equipping the saints to work the work of building the entire body?

One of Jesus’ description of this arrangement, among others, is that of shepherd and sheep (John 21:16-17), only that the shepherd in this case is also a sheep, but the gift of the ministry, God’s supernatural working in/through them, enables them fulfill that role of a shepherd, otherwise they cannot. Everybody in the Church is Christ’s sheep to begin with. 

Christ owns His Church and has not delegated that ownership to anybody. Jesus died for everyone including the shepherd, we are all the sheep of His pasture (Psalm 79:13, 95:17, John 10:16).

When God’s people are not being fed the knowledge of God, they do not grow spiritually and thus are unable to walk in the fullness of God’s benefit for them or do their bit in the body as expected. Then, the purpose for the ministry gifts being given is frustrated.

WILL CHRIST’S INTENTION FOR THE CHURCH BE ACHIEVED?

Christ will achieve what He intends in the Church but the buck stops at the desk of every believer. Are you being equipped with God’s word which is maturing you spiritually personally and enabling you to do service to God as expected in the body of Christ? If you are not, first you must desire to be so equipped and then secondly you must ensure that you expose yourself only to ministers that feed you the knowledge of God’s word appropriately and adequately, for there is always a remnant who are indeed called by God and have not deviated from His purpose. 

Take this heed, grow spiritually and ensure that your life is consistent with what God’s word says the life of a believer should be.

Meditate upon these things; give thyself wholly to them; that thy profiting may appear to all (1 Timothy 4:15).

Pastor Gboye Omolayo is the Resident Pastor of Church@Allen, Allen TX, USA. He is a prolific writer and preacher who believes the efficacy of the word of God and the potency of the works of the Holy Spirit are still available to the Church today, as were at the Church’s infancy. He is the publisher of this blog.