When Paul was writing to the church at
Ephesus and teaching them concerning the
Church as the Body of Christ, he wrote of
those who were gifts to the Church and said
that the risen and exalted Christ had given "the
apostles, the prophets, the evangelists, the
shepherds and teachers" (Eph 4:11 ESV).
Notice that the English translators of the ESV,
like those of the KJV, JND, and NASB have not
placed the definite article "the" before the
word "teachers." We will come back to that
later, but notice the different men that were
given as gifts to the Church. It is important for
us to see that here it is persons who were gifts
to the Church whereas in the Corinthian
epistle, and elsewhere, gifts were given to
persons who then, using their gifts, served in
the local church (1Cor 12:7-8; Rom 12:4-8;
1Peter 4:10). Consider how these gifts to the
Church differ from each other.

The Apostles

The word "apostle" is from two Greek words
meaning "to send away from." Interestingly,
the word "disciple" refers to a learner and
follower. Every apostle was a disciple, but not
every disciple was an apostle. These special
messengers, the apostles, were emissaries,
ambassadors, sent out by the Lord Jesus to
carry His message to the world. They were
official representatives. The word is normally
used in a narrow sense of "the twelve," but
there are times when it has a wider sense as in
Acts 14:4, 14. "But when the apostles,
Barnabas and Paul, heard of it, they tore their
garments and rushed out into the crowd,
crying out." (Acts 14:14 ESV). The
requirements for apostleship in the narrow
sense of the word are delineated in Acts
1:21-22. Paul met the requirements as per
Acts 22:14. The apostles were in the
foundation of the Church. "So then you are no
longer strangers and aliens, but you are fellow
citizens with the saints and members of the
household of God, built on the foundation of
the apostles and prophets, Christ Jesus Himself
being the cornerstone" (Eph 2:19-20 ESV).
Needless to say, we are not now in the
foundation stage of the Church. It is
interesting to notice in the Acts the shift in
responsibility from apostles to apostles and
elders, as in Acts 15:4.

The Prophets

Prophets also were in the foundation of the
structure that is called a "habitation of God
through the Spirit" (Eph 2:19-22). They spoke
under the direct leading of the Holy Spirit.
Their Bible would have been only the parts of
the Old Testament Scriptures to which they
and the apostles had access. Essentially, a
prophet was a preacher without a Bible. A
teacher is a preacher with a Bible. You can see
then that the gift of the prophet was replaced
by the gift of the teacher.

The Evangelists

The evangelists were those called of God to
carry the message of the gospel to the
unconverted world. The word is from the same
root word as gospel, meaning "good news" or
"glad tidings." One of the words used for
"preach" in the New Testament is the verb
form of the same word. The evangelist, then,
is one who announces the good news of God’s
grace as seen in the Lord Jesus. Paul explained
the essence of the gospel in 1 Corinthians
15:3-4.
Evangelists were not in the foundation of the
Church but they are the foundation of God’s
work today. You will see this word used in Acts
5:42; 8:4, 12, 25, 35, and in many other
places. It is interesting that Philip "opened his
mouth, and beginning with this Scripture he
told him the good news about Jesus" (Acts
8:35 ESV).
There are other words for preach. There is a
word that means to be a public herald of the
message (Strong’s 2783-4). It seems to place
the emphasis on the public proclamation of
the gospel whereas the former word
(2097-99), puts the emphasis on the character
of the message - the good news. Both words
are used in Romans 10:15: "And how are they
to preach (2784) unless they are sent? As it is
written, ‘How beautiful are the feet of those
who preach the good news!’ (2097)" (Rom
10:15 ESV). Paul told Timothy to "do the work
of an evangelist" (2099) (2Tim 4:5).

The Pastors and Teachers

Those who are brought into the kingdom of
God through the work of the evangelists will
need to be shepherded and instructed. To this
end, the Lord has given to the Church "the
shepherds and teachers" ( JND, ESV). There are
reasons to believe from the grammar that we
should read this instead as "shepherds, even
teachers." Note the presence of the definite
article before apostles, prophets, evangelists,
and shepherds, but its absence before
teachers. The shepherds are those who teach.
There can be no true shepherding without the
Word. Study the two words the Lord Jesus used
in His charge to Peter concerning the sheep in
John 21:15-17: "When they had finished
breakfast, Jesus said to Simon Peter, ‘Simon,
son of John, do you love Me more than these?’
He said to Him, ‘Yes, Lord; you know that I
love you.’ He said to him, ‘Feed (1006) My
lambs.’ He said to him a second time, ‘Simon,
son of John, do you love Me?’ He said to Him,
‘Yes, Lord; you know that I love You.’ He said
to him, ‘Tend (4165) My sheep.’ He said to him
the third time, ‘Simon, son of John, do you
love Me?’ Peter was grieved because He said to
him the third time, ‘Do you love Me?’ and he
said to Him, ‘Lord, You know everything; You
know that I love You.’ Jesus said to him, ‘Feed
(1006) My sheep’" (John 21:15-17 ESV).
Perhaps you can "give food" (1006) without
"shepherding," (4165), but you can never
shepherd without feeding. These gifts to the
Church in Ephesians are men of the Book.
Note that their work is "to equip the saints for
the work of ministry, for building up the body
of Christ" (Eph 4:12 ESV).

Are there apostles today? No! Are there
prophets today? No! (Eph 2:20). Are there
evangelists today? Assuredly! Are there pastor-
teachers today? Assuredly! Do you see the
differences?

TRUE...

ONLY the PROPHET has no honour among his own people ...

Mark 6:4 But Jesus said unto them, A prophet is not without honour, but in his own country, and among his own kin, and in his own house.