And God has placed in the church first of all apostles, second prophets, third teachers, then miracles, then gifts of healing, of helping, of guidance, and of different kinds of tongues. Are all apostles? Are all prophets? Are all teachers? Do all work miracles? Do all have gifts of healing? Do all speak in tongues? Do all interpret? Now eagerly desire the greater gifts. - 1Corinthians 12: 28-31 (NIV)
Beloved, this is a list of giftings God has provided for the church, not offices. How do we know this? Because the end of the verses exhorts us to seek the greater gifts - not offices! Putting that aside we see that the first three are given in order of importance. First apostles and yes, some had an apostolic gifting but as we already saw in Ephesians, these were for the foundation. The apostolic gift passed with the writing of the New Testament. We know this because when the Apostles were replacing Judas with Matthias in Acts 1: 22-24 we learn that an apostle must have witnessed the resurrected Christ.
Therefore it is necessary to choose one of the men who have been with us the whole time the Lord Jesus was living among us, beginning from John's baptism to the time when Jesus was taken up from us. For one of these must become a witness with us of his resurrection." - Acts 1: 22-24 (NIV)
Second in order of importance was the prophet. This office was no longer needed once the New Testament was written and God had used them to lay the foundation of the church. Now this does not mean that the gift of prophecy does not still exist. It most certainly does because it is listed in the gifts of the Spirit earlier in the same chapter!
Now to each one the manifestation of the Spirit is given for the common good. To one there is given through the Spirit a message of wisdom, to another a message of knowledge by means of the same Spirit, to another faith by the same Spirit, to another gifts of healing by that one Spirit, to another miraculous powers, to another prophecy, to another distinguishing between spirits, to another speaking in different kinds of tongues, and to still another the interpretation of tongues. All these are the work of one and the same Spirit, and he distributes them to each one, just as he determines. - 1Corinthians 12: 7-11 (NIV)
1Thessalonians says to not despise prophecies. 1Corinthians 14 says to be eager to prophesy. There are too many corresponding Scriptures to say that the gift of prophecy is no longer in operation but the office is closed. Some may say this is merely parsing words but I do not think so. I think we need to take the holy things of God more seriously. Every time I have seen someone use the title of apostle or prophet it has always been for self promotion. Do you think the Apostle Paul introduced himself as such? Throughout his writings I see him refer to himself as a bond servant or even slave to the Lord Jesus Christ. Even when he does refer to himself as an apostle he is quick to clarify that he is the least of the apostles and does not deserve the title for he once persecuted the church. The seven sons of Sceva once thought they could call upon the holy name of Jesus without being in relationship with Him. The demons beat them so bad they ran away naked and bleeding. Ananias and Sapphira once thought they could lie to the Holy Spirit and because they profaned the holy, God struck them dead where they stood. Just like Uzzah before them. We need to get back to calling what is holy, holy and what is profane, profane. We need to stop making excuses for what we know is ungodly and placing ourselves where we ought not be. Eventually the oxen will stumble.
Reverend Anthony Wade - December 6, 2013
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