The Gifts Empower and Qualify the Offices

There is one body, and one Spirit, even as ye are called in one hope of your calling -Eph 4:4 The verses we just read in Ephesians 4 list the "fivefold ministry gifts" that we hear so much about. The nine gifts of the Spirit empower and qualify these five offices. You see, God meant for every person called to one of these ministry offices to preach the Word with signs following (Mark 16:20). God never intended for the preaching of His Word to seem powerless. The spiritual gifts empower the ministry offices much the same way a power plant supplies power to the various appliances in a home. Each appliance is designed to perform a different function, yet each is hooked up to the same power plant. In a similar way, one "wire" runs to the apostle, another to the prophet, and still another to the pastor, but each ministry office is hooked up to the Holy Ghost. When God's power is switched on, then just as surely as a toaster acts one way and a blender acts another, the Holy Spirit anoints different offices with particular blends of the nine gifts of the Spirit. These blends of spiritual gifts working in the fivefold ministry are what qualifies a person to stand in a ministry office and determines which office it will be.   The Eight Operations of God But the government of God extends itself much further than just the operation of the gifts of the Spirit and the fivefold ministry offices. These nine gifts and five offices are actually all encompassed in eight complete operations of God, which are outlined in First Corinthians12:28. These operations make up the structure of God's government and include everyone in the Body of Christ. "Now ye are the body of Christ, and members in particular. And God hath set some in the church, first APOSTLES, secondarily PROPHETS, thirdly TEACHERS, after that MIRACLES, then GIFTS OF HEALINGS, HELPS, GOVERNMENTS, DIVERSITIES OF TONGUES" — 1 Corinthians 12:27, 28 The eight operations mentioned in verse 28 are in divine order. In this listing, the government of God begins with the office of the mighty apostle, the first operation, followed by the prophet and the teacher. The evangelists and pastors mentioned in Ephesians 4:11 are then replaced in First Corinthians 12 with miracles and gifts of healings. These gifts of the Spirit are the primary ones that empower and qualify the evangelistic and pastoral offices. (The entry level into the fivefold ministry gifts is also at the level of working of miracles and gifts of healings because all five ministry offices — apostle, prophet, evangelist, pastor, and teacher — should be equipped with these two gifts of the Spirit.) Next is the operation of helps, which handles the physical and material aspects of the ministry. One very important helps calling is what I call the "entrepreneurship of the simplicity of giving." A person called to fulfill this operation is someone of means who has the capacity in his character and his calling to be used by God to pour thousands, if not millions, into the Kingdom of God for the governments of the Church. Helps is followed by governments or administrations, which includes the organizational skills and gifts needed in the Church. For instance, a person called to this operation may be able not only to organize a massive prayer meeting of ten thousand people, but to make sure that the little believer on the outer perimeter of the crowd has everything he needs to grow in his spiritual walk. Both helps and governments support those who minister the Word of God by doing many of the natural things that ministers don't have time to do, such as running businesses, etc. Undergirding everything else is the final and foundational operation, the diversities of tongues. So in these eight operations of God, we find not only that the fivefold ministries are all Included, but that the nine gifts of the Spirit are also poured out into all the operations, from the apostle all the way to the eighth operation of diversities of tongues.