STUDY: THE MINISTRY GIFTS
Lesson V VARIETY AND BALANCE
A. One of the most fascinating things concerning the ministry gifts of Christ is their variety.
1. Apostles. The apostle's office seems to embrace almost every type of ministry.
2. Prophets. The prophet's ministry is inspirational. He speaks by direct, divine inspiration and revelation.
3. Evangelists. The evangelist has a direct endowment from the Lord to PREACH the Word for the salvation of souls.
4. Pastors. Pastors are the shepherds of God's sheep.
5. Teachers. Those who fill the office of teacher teach the Word, not by natural ability, but by the divine ability of the Holy Spirit.
B. These ministry gifts have been given to the Church to bring a balance in the Church.
1. We see an example of ministry gifts working together in the church at
Antioch
(Acts 13:1).
2. The matter of a balance of ministry gifts in the Body of Christ is vitally important to be effective.
3. One ministry gift office alone cannot hope to effectively be able to minister to all the needs of the entire Body of Christ.
4. At the extreme are those who think a minister doesn't have a valid ministry unless he ministers mostly by manifestations of the gifts of the Spirit, rather than by teaching or preaching the Word.
C. The Body of Christ needs to realize that Christ gave a diversity of ministry gifts to the Church for a reason. All of them are essential in order for the Church of the Lord Jesus Christ to come unto full stature in Christ.
1. Teachers can sometimes think evangelists are too flamboyant and sensational.
2. Evangelists can think teachers are dry and dogmatic.
3. Evangelists and teachers often agree saying that prophets can sometimes be intense and extreme.
4. All such attitudes are wrong.
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5. There can be extremes in all usage of ministry gifts. Yet we must not repress the gift of God, for we may quench the Spirit of God.
D. It is God's divine plan that each ministry gift provide a check and balance to correct and complement the other.
1. The prophet is to inspire the teacher.
2. The teacher is to steady the prophet.
3. The evangelist is to continually remind us of the lost and dying world and its need for the gospel.
4. The pastor is to demonstrate to us that souls still need much nurturing and care after they have been won to the Lord.
5. And the apostle, above all, is to inspire and lead the way for gaining ground by establishing new works for the Lord.
E. The ultimate goal of all ministry is to unite — not divide.
Ephesians 4:13 reads, "Till we all come in the unity," and not, "Till we are a'.l divided into splinter groups."
F. A person can stand in more than one office; we separate ministry offices to define them.
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