於2011-01-23發佈
既然這是2011牧師職事在新約中只提到一次─在以弗所書四章11節,這一節還列出其他賜給教會的職事。新約並沒有對這些職事做出定義或解釋,但牧師職事從第三世紀以來就掌管教會的領導階層。誠如我們在這節經文所看見的,真正新約職事是一個團隊事奉,我們需要領受所有的職事才能全然裝備教會。      

幾乎所有新教、福音派、五旬節派與靈恩派教會都受到具牧師頭銜的人領導,但根據聖經的概念,這些人中只有少數人被呼召為牧師。這並非意味他們不是真正的職事,只不過絕大多數可能是教師、傳福音的,先知或是使徒。然而,由於牧師是大部分基督教所認同的頭銜,當他們領導教會時只能以此為頭銜。這多少也管用,但在要來的時候,我們需要在教會領導階層方面更合乎聖經。 

要描述新約先知職分,我們需要五重職事團隊的一些測試,我們若不瞭解團隊的相互關係,就無法真正瞭解五重職事的任何一重。這對所有新約職事而言也是千真萬確的─要不是主將團隊服事的亮光賜給教會,我們便無法真正瞭解這些職事。 

許多人會以舊約先知模式來塑造新約先知,這是不對的。新舊約所擁有的先知性恩賜或許相同,啟示的型態可能也類似,但應用起來卻不一樣。在舊約時代,先知常常一人獨自挑戰國家背離神,甚至挑戰一國之君。然而,在新約時代,先知則是團隊中的一員,一起同工為要建造基督的肢體。在聖經中有一些新約先知以卓越方式被使用的例子,卻沒有任何他們帶出糾正的例子,如同使徒和長老所做的一樣。 

在以弗所書四章11節我們看見,教會五重職事的主要目的是裝備信徒─聖徒,為要各盡其職。所以先知性事工的主要功能在於裝備,此裝備必須與協助神的子民認識祂的聲音有關,甚至能夠發預言。哥林多前書十四章31節告訴我們:你們都可以一個一個的作先知講道(發預言)』。任何信徒隨時都可能被用來發預言,幾乎每一個人都有至少一次以上這樣的經驗。 

以諾是人類墮落以後第一位與神同行的人,聖經上說他曾發預言(參考猶大書14節)。在教會歷史上也有許多與主同行者發預言的好例子,我甚至認識一些不相信神仍以預言方式說話,卻準確發預言的人,只不過他們不會稱那是在發預言。 

先知性事工所涵蓋的範圍遠比得著對未來的啟示更多,但這也是此事工的一個重要元素。對所有與神同行的人,被賜予關於未來的先知性啟示一直是他們特別的遺產,此恩賜對要來的時候會越來越關鍵。舊約時代通常稱先知為『先見』『守望者』,因為這是他們的功能─觀看。聖經上有些地方稱先知為『眼睛』,如以賽亞書廿九章10節,他們被呼召成為基督肢體的眼睛。因為先知是基督肢體的眼睛,所以一個教會沒有先知性事工,在某些基本方面事實上等於是個瞎子。 

正如使徒保羅警告哥林多人,肢體的其中一部份不應該說不需要肢體的另一部份,但事實上這就是許多肢體所做的事,不僅關係到先知職分,也關係到其他職事。 

大部分教會可能不知道自己眼瞎了,因為他們並沒有行動,去到某個地方,所以他們不會在黑暗中跌倒。然而,倘若他們一行動,若沒有先知性異象,他們就會跌倒。他們可能仍能感覺到他們的方向,並朝著他們所要前往的地方緩慢爬行。然而,未來在教會、職事與宣教上,我們將看到擁有先知性異象和沒有者之間的重大不同。 

正如使徒行傳二章17-18節告訴我們,『在末後的日子』主要澆灌祂的靈,先知性啟示會以異象、異夢和預言的方式臨到。這『在末後的日子』是需要的,因為當我們更靠近這世代末了,我們將比以往更需要先知性的指引。

(摘自 喬納 word for the week, Week 2, 2011)


Seeing and Hearing, Part 2
Week 2, 2011

The ministry of a pastor is only mentioned one time in the New Testament—in Ephesians 4:11 where it is listed with the other equipping ministries given to the church. There is no definition or description given to this ministry in the New Testament, yet this one ministry has virtually dominated church leadership since the third century. True New Covenant ministry is a team ministry as we see in this verse, and we need to receive all of the ministries to be a fully equipped church.

Even though almost all Protestant, Evangelical, Pentecostal, and Charismatic churches are led by someone with the title of pastor, few of these are pastors according to the biblical sense. This is not to imply that they are not true ministries, but most are teachers, evangelists, prophets, or maybe even apostles. However, since pastor is the title most Christians relate to, they take this title when leading a church. This has worked somewhat, but in the times to come, we will need to become more biblical with church leadership. 

To describe the ministry of a New Covenant prophet will require some examination of the team that the New Covenant ministry is intended to be. We cannot truly understand any of these equipping ministries, including the prophet, without understanding the interrelationship with the team. This is actually true of all the New Testament ministries—we cannot truly understand them except in the light of the whole team of ministries given to the church.

Many have modeled New Covenant prophets after the Old Covenant model, which is a mistake. The prophetic gifts may be the same under the Old and New Covenants, and the type of revelation may be similar, but the application is not the same. In Old Covenant times, the prophet often stood alone to challenge the nation’s departure from the Lord or even challenge its kings. However, in the New Covenant, the prophet is a member of a team that works for the building up of the body of Christ. We have examples of New Covenant prophets being used in remarkable ways in Scripture, but there are no examples of one bringing correction as this is done through the apostles and elders.

We see in Ephesians 4:11 that the main purpose of all of the equipping ministries in the church is to equip the believers, the saints, who are to do the work of the ministry. So equipping is a main function of the prophetic ministry, and this equipping has to do with helping all of God’s people to know His voice and even to be able to prophesy. In I Corinthians 14:31, we are told that “you can all prophesy.” Any believer can be used to prophesy at any time, and almost all will be used in this way at least once.

Enoch was the first to have walked with God after the Fall, and it was said of him that he prophesied (see Jude 14). A good case can be made from church history that everyone who walks with God will prophesy. I have even known some who do not believe that God still speaks prophetically and have seen them prophesy very accurately, but they just did not call it that. 

The prophetic ministry is about much more than getting revelations of the future, but this is an important aspect of this ministry. It has been the special heritage of all who have walked with God to be given prophetic revelation into the future, and this is a gift that will become increasingly critical in the times ahead. Prophets are called “seers” and “watchmen” in the Old Testament because this was their function—to see. In places like Isaiah 29:10, prophets are called “eyes” and they are called to be the eyes of the body of Christ. Because the prophets are the eyes of the body, a church without prophetic ministry is in fact blind in some basic ways. 

As the Apostle Paul warned the Corinthians, one part of the body should not say that it has no need of another part of the body, but this is in fact what much of the body has done, not just in relation to the prophets but to other ministries as well.

Most churches may not know they are blind because they are not moving, going anywhere, and so they are not stumbling about in the dark. However, if they do get moving, they will stumble if they do not have prophetic vision. They may still be able to feel their way through and crawl to where they’re going. However, we will see a major difference in the times to come between the churches, ministries, and missions who have prophetic vision and those who do not.

We are told in Acts 2:17-18 that “in the last days” the Lord will pour out His Spirit, and the result of this will be prophetic revelation in the form of visions, dreams, and prophecy. This is necessary “in the last days” because as we draw closer to the end of this age, we will need prophetic guidance more than ever.