What Happened to All the Prophets and Apostles?

There are many people in the global Church that don’t believe apostles and prophets are for today. In a time that has been inundated with resounding opinions on what still carries significance I’d like to highlight a few statistics found in scripture on the roles of the five-fold ministry. 

• The word pastor is used one time in the New Testament (Ephesians 4:11).
• The word teacher is used 68 times in the New Testament and 52 of those times was in reference to Jesus. 
• The word evangelists was used three times in the New Testament. 
• The word prophet was mentioned 122 times just in the New Testament alone
• The word apostle was used 70 times in the New Testament. 

Now to dig a little deeper — there are 25 named apostles in the New Testament, one named Evangelist, and not a single named pastor. Now let me be clear, I am not saying that just because there weren’t any named pastors in the New Testament that there weren’t any pastors in the early Church. It is very likely that pastors were a core of the early Church. Lastly, there are nine named prophets, and four named teachers in the New Testament. 

Isn’t it interesting that in the early Church we had all five offices present and the most widely used name was apostle and the second was prophet? Yet, we seem to call nearly everyone in leadership today a pastor, even though there were none mentioned by name in the Bible. Following this line of reasoning, why do we think that apostles and prophets are destined to fade away in the time of the modern Church while pastors, teachers, and evangelists are destined to arise and lead the Church in this day and age? 

Ephesians 4:11-13 says, “And He gave some as apostles, and some as prophets, and some as evangelists, and some as pastors and teachers, for the equipping of the saints for the work of service, to the building up of the body of Christ; until we all attain to the unity of the faith, and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to a mature man, to the measure of the stature which belongs to the fullness of Christ.” Did you catch that? It says UNTIL we all attain to the unity of faith…I’d propose the entire body is not unified or looks like Christ, therefore, the office of a prophet and apostle are still essential in the Body of Christ today. 

I share more in depth on this topic in this video below:

In the questioning of purpose and importance in the office of a prophet and apostle, it is crucial to understand the difference between office and gifting. Here are just a few takeaways to better understand the differences: 

A five-fold calling: 

• The office is your identity, it is who you are. 
• You cannot earn the call of the five-fold ministry . It is a gift given to men from Christ. ( Ephesians 4:7-8)
• The office is not for your own benefit. The purpose of the five-fold ministry is to equip the body of Christ. “And He gave some as apostles, and some as prophets, and some as evangelists, and some as pastors and teachers, for the equipping of the saints for the work of service, to the building up of the body of Christ.” 
• The gifts given by Christ are irrevocable. You cannot get fired because you didn’t get hired; it is who you are. 

A gifting: 

• 
  There are nine spiritual gifts listed (1 Corinthians 12). However, I’d propose there are more giftings than just these nine.
• Spiritual giftings are a gift from the Holy Spirit, but we have also been instructed to earnestly seek them. Therefore, you can ask to grow in spiritual giftings. 
• Spiritual giftings are not a reward; you cannot earn or achieve them. They are simply a gift. 
  

I am passionate about bringing clarity and understanding to every office within the five-fold ministry, because when I first had an encounter and was shown the call of a prophet that was on my life, I was left uncertain of how to live this out. I was not surrounded by other prophets and did not know how this role was supposed to play out in the Church. If you have found yourself questioning whether or not you have been called to an office or are worried you won’t be given crystal clear direction, I want to encourage you to take a deep breath — the Lord works beyond our confined time lines. If you have been called to the office of a prophet, but impatiently waiting to see this play out in your life I’d propose there is always a journey from the promise to the palace that prepares us for our God-given destiny. It was 20 years after my private encounter with the Lord that I was publicly acknowledged as a prophet. 

It was out of this passion to see prophets equipped in their calling and highly prophetic people accelerated in their gifting that School of the Prophets was birthed. If you are a prophet, highly prophetic person, or a Church leader who wants to discover how to operate with prophets, I want to invite you to School of the Prophets, August 8-12, 2022. You can now learn more and register for both in-person and online here.