ICS Daily Devotions
We Are Equipped
Eph 4:11-13 And He Himself gave some to be apostles, some prophets, some evangelists, and some pastors and teachers, for the equipping of the saints for the work of the ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ, till we all come to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to a perfect man, to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ;
Scripture tells us that God designated some to be apostles, prophets, evangelists, pastors and teachers. This is called the Fivefold Ministry.
The teacher has the ability to teach the truth systematically and with clarity, whereas those who have the apostolic anointing are the ones who plant churches, give directions, evangelize, show pastoral care and teach at the same time. Pastors are those who love their sheep and are willing to lay down their lives for them; they teach their sheep according to their needs. The evangelist’s passion is in the area of saving souls, while prophets are those who receive the inspired word of God. However, none of these gifts can work independently, because the building up of the church is the work of a body ministry!
Eph 4:16 From whom the whole body, joined and knit together by what every joint supplies, according to the effective working by which every part does its share, causes growth of the body for the edifying of itself in love.
One of major roles of the Fivefold Ministry is to equip the saints for the work of the ministry, because every joint and every part of the body has a unique part to play in order for the body of Christ to grow in numbers and in strength. This includes sharing the gospel, ministering to the sick, casting out demons, and teaching believers to be disciples of Jesus Christ.
All believers are called to share the gospel, for nobody can get saved if they don’t hear of the good news. In Luke 10:2, Jesus said to His disciples, “The harvest truly is great, but the laborers are few; therefore pray the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers into His harvest.”
Mark 16:17-18 And these signs will follow those who believe: In My name they will cast out demons; they will speak with new tongues; they will take up serpents; and if they drink anything deadly, it will by no means hurt them; they will lay hands on the sick, and they will recover.
Then in Mark 16:18, we are called to minister to the sick by laying hands on them and praying for them so they will recover. Many Christians feel ill-equipped in praying for others to be healed, but we are simply asked to operate by faith in praying for someone based on our theological conviction that God heals — we let ourselves be a channel for the power of God to flow through into that person. God is the healer, not us!
Finally, we are also told to cast out demons. Many of us feel a bit nervous hearing that we are called to do this, but we need to believe that we are ministering from a position of vested authority in Christ — He has overcome!
Luke 9:1 Then He called His twelve disciples together and gave them power and authority over all demons, and to cure diseases.
Be encouraged that Jesus did not leave His saints unequipped when He ascended on high. He made sure that His Church has all it takes to carry on His ministry, and do even greater things!
Sermon Series: Equipping The Saints
