Dr. Zella Berry Case Ministries, Inc.
Doctor of the
Five-Fold Ministry Restoration
TEACHING ABOUT,
TRAINING FOR,
REACHING OUT,
BELIEVING IN,
AND
TRUSTING THROUGH
THE WAYS AND WORDS OF
JESUS CHRIST
The FIVE-FOLD Ministry Explained
ARE
YOU
BEING
CALLED
BY Christ
INTO
THE
GIFTING OF
THE 5-FOLD MINISTRY?
WHO ARE THE "SOME"?
In Ephesians 4:11-16, the word "some" indicates that Christ has given certain people to the church with specific gifts to equip the saints and build up the body of Christ. These gifts include apostles, prophets, evangelists, and pastors/teachers.
The "some" in this context emphasizes that these gifts benefit not just the individuals who possess them but also the overall growth and maturity of the church.
THE FIVE-FOLD MINISTRY IS ONLY FOR "SOME"
Ephesians 4:11-16
11 So Christ himself gave the apostles, the prophets, the evangelists, the pastors and teachers, 12 to equip his people for works of service, so that the body of Christ may be built up 13 until we all reach unity in the faith and in the knowledge of the Son of God and become mature, attaining to the whole measure of the fullness of Christ.
14 Then we will no longer be infants, tossed back and forth by the waves, and blown here and there by every wind of teaching and by the cunning and craftiness of people in their deceitful scheming. 15 Instead, speaking the truth in love, we will grow to become in every respect the mature body of him who is the head, that is, Christ. 16 From him the whole body, joined and held together by every supporting ligament, grows and builds itself up in love, as each part does its work.
Jesus knows what is needed to grow His church - He gives us what is required.
The active work of grace in the church is given in five parts:
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leadership and fathering (activation)
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spiritual insight (clear eyes and righteousness)
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mission (outward focus or mobilization)
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care (stabilization
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biblical wisdom (maturation)
Let’s LEARN
BEFORE WE MOVE FURTHER IN EPHESIANS 4:11-16
THERE ARE RISKS INVOLVED IN THIS TEXT!!!!!!!!
So there is a risk and a goal in this passage.
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According to verse 14, the risk is that we, the people of God, don’t get built up, grow up, or become mature and unified…
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But instead, the people of God end up being like infants, tossed around by people who would mislead us in their deceptive scheming.
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So the risk is that if we don’t have a good, faithful, 5 fold ministry, we will be led astray!
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But the goal is something remarkable… that the body of Christ gets built up, and the people of God grow, mature, and attain fullness and unity.
THE GIFTS FROM CHRIST ARE STILL ALIVE
And the reality is that history is full of stories of the people of God getting blown off track.
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Every move of God seems to eventually splutter out, TO THOSE THAT DO NOT VIEW HIS MOVEMENTS THROUGH SPIRITUAL EYES. God's moves and church growth movements become museums and monuments to glories past, but He moves in His time and with His ways and methods.
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People get deceived, landing in heresies, or even worse, than false teachings… they form committees… argh!
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But it's true. Without Jesus' gifted ministry leaders, false teachings can come into the church
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Name a church movement that has embraced progressive, liberal theology that hasn’t gone into terminal decline.
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And also, momentum in the Kingdom can be stopped by committees and inward thinking.
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Right? Jesus didn’t die on the cross to start a bureaucracy. Think on THAT!!!
But there is a way that God has ordained for us to achieve the goal of building up the body of Christ.
Ephesians Chapter Four and Verse 11 tells us that God has given certain people to the church with gifts to equip the saints… Indeed, it says Jesus has given these gifts!
These gifts are often referred to as the
Five-Fold Ministries.
The idea is:
If we become unified, loving, and growing, God's people, hand-picked by HIM, with unified leadership, all working together in the church, will develop and progress correctly!
So we have Apostles, Prophets, Evangelists, Pastors, and Teachers.
And the point isn’t that these people do all the ministry and all the saints (that is you) sit back and watch…
No… instead, these leaders (verse 12) equip the saints (that is, you) for service.
Think about it like this - using the analogy of a football team playing a game and there are people watching the game, we will call them "fans.".
The church is like a football match—42,000 fans desperately in need of exercise while watching twenty-two players desperately needing a rest, because they have been playing so hard to win the game or the match…
But, there is a need for the players to be flipped… 22 leaders cheering on 42,000 participants… doing the stuff of Jesus and the Kingdom.
So, who are these people? (THOSE ARE THE "SOME!") get IT?
And how do you know if you are cut out for this role…
Aside: we can all, as the children of God, play our part and reflect attributes of these roles…
You can still be a teacher of the Word of God without having the title Teacher.
You can Pastor people without being a Pastor. You can be prophetic without being called a Prophet!
Right?
However, Paul’s idea here is clear: there are leaders in the church who equip the saints for ministry.
GOING IN THE REVERSE IN EXPLAINING THESE GIFTINGS/ROLES
REMEMBERING
These people aren’t perfect… Paul describes himself as the worst of sinners in 1st Timothy. You do know that he is an Apostle… some might say that is the highest office in the church. In this passage, it’s the church that is called the saints! But these are the supernatural gifts Jesus has given to people to grow his church!
TEACHERS
First, teachers are those who make the truth and knowledge of the Word of God accessible to all.
They can dispel confusion and misinformation. Often trained, they bring clarity and revelation from the scriptures! They are gifted in helping people understand God's truth and how it applies to their lives.
Their favourite verse is usually 2 Timothy 3:16: “All scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting, and training in righteousness.”
They love the Word of God!
And you know you are around a Teacher because they are always sending you a meme of some verse… or asking you how your quiet times are going. They just love opening the Word with you… And there are great teachers…
They are wise and are insightful, revelatory, refreshing, and correcting with their information!
PASTORS
Secondly, Pastors – the Greek word is poimenas, which literally is the noun for shepherd… Therefore, Jesus gifts people in the church to be like a shepherd, to look after and care for the flock…
Pastors are instrumental in guiding people through brokenness back to wholeness and healing their souls from wounds that keep them stuck where they are. Pastors are gifted to create a safe atmosphere in the church of belonging. They bring life and healing to God’s ministry, making people feel part of a greater family. Most pastors favorite verse is usually something like Matthew 9:36 which says;
“When he saw the crowds, Jesus had compassion on them, because they were harassed and helpless, like sheep without a shepherd.”
So these people say "Amen" to that and take on Jesus' compassion for the people of God. Pastors just love the sheep… they love you! And they want you to be healthy and come back…
Pastors are just gifted at loving you, love you, love you… You know, “Tell me how you are… no, tell me how you really are.”
In our brokenness, we need shepherds to care for us, love us, and nurse us back to wholeness…
So the church desperately needs Pastors, but they are not necessarily cut out for leading churches!
But Jesus gifts leaders in the church to care for the children of God… and we get built up!
EVANGELIST
Thirdly, we have Evangelists, which literally means messengers of Good News. These are those Jesus has gifted to make the good news of salvation and stories of Jesus’s remarkable goodness and love famous. They are the carrier and proclaimers of good news and partner with Jesus in celebrating people’s transformation. They stir curiosity and a desire to know Jesus. They have a remarkable gift to extend the invitation to all to join the Family of God. Maybe their favorite verse would be something like Romans 1:16
“I am not ashamed of the Gospel, for it is the power of God for the salvation of all who believe.”
Or maybe Romans 10:15
“How beautiful are the feet of those who bring good news.”
And the thing is, you know an Evangelist because they want to go… go preach good news. S
PROPHETS/PROPHETESS
Fourthly, we find the Prophets!
Prophets reveal God’s heart for His people wherever they go. They can accurately discern God’s heart for a situation. They help people experience God’s voice, maybe for the very first time, and help them develop the ability to hear God's voice in their own lives.
And time and time again, I’ve seen how God uses them to get people’s attention and reveal what God is doing amid our mess.
Maybe the Prophets' favorite verse is 1st Corinthians 14:1, which says,
“Eagerly desire the gifts of the Spirit, especially prophecy.”
They love that one! Jesus gifts leaders in the church to prophesy and reveal the heart of God… and we get built up!
APOSTLE
Now you get those in the church who say we had the Apostles in the New Testament, but not today. They are those who were with Jesus, who wrote scripture and now that we have the Bible we don’t have Apostles anymore, or at least that is what they think. Of course, no one with Apostolic anointing I know today is claiming they can write scripture… But those who say we no longer have Apostles are using too narrower definition of the word Apostle.
Apostle simply means “sent one” or one “commissioned with a message.” Therefore, apostles are merely those who forge new paths for the Kingdom and are a catalyst for bringing the Kingdom and establishing the church wherever they go. These are your church planters, missionaries, and those whose hearts beat for Jesus' prayer, “your kingdom come, your will be done.” It is believed by many today that there are leading ministries that are influencing and planting churches/ministries. Like Paul, who never settles, true Apostles are always on the move, dreaming and initiating the next move of God.
So there we go… Teachers, Pastors, Evangelists, Prophets, and Apostles. And you can see how, if those leadership roles are in place, the church grows and builds itself up!
It is taught the Word, cared for, proclaims the good news, is supernaturally tuned to God, and pioneers new ground for the kingdom! What the Apostle Paul is saying in Ephesians 4 is that the leadership gifts that Jesus has given His church are to be exercised by humble servants. To prevent you from becoming an organization… or from falling into strange teachings, this is what moves of God are initiated, nurtured, and the saints grow!
We need teams, and we need to release all the gifts! We have been particularly good at cutting the Apostolic and Prophetic from the church. So we need a rediscovery of all the roles that Jesus has gifted people in the church to exercise. As long as the church is not unified, mature, growing, and demonstrating fullness, we need more than ever these Spirit-given gifts alive, active, and equipping the saints for growing the church.
And finally, we need both men and women to fulfil every one of these roles, not just men. We need all races, not just a particular race of men. Part of the reason I am giving this information is that there are also women in the New Testament who fulfil every single one of these roles in the Five-Fold Ministry.
-In Romans 16, Paul greets the female Apostle Junia, whom he calls outstanding amongst the Apostles.
-In Luke 2, we meet Anna the prophetess; in Acts 21, we meet Philip’s daughters who prophesied…
-In Acts 18, we read about Priscilla, who explains the way of God to Apollos. So, an amazing teacher. And she and others are clearly
described as leading church households. Some pastoring families of churches.
-And who was the first evangelist in the Gospels to announce the good news that Jesus was risen… Mary Magdalene! Think on these things!!!!!!!!!
(See "The Five is Still Alive" - By Bishop Dr. Zella Berry Case, which gives more exciting information about this divine mandate left for us in Ephesians 4:11-16 - for the perfecting of the saints of God.)
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Contact - Dr. Zella Berry Case - zellacase@mebtel.net
