In the church some brothers serve as deacons (Phil. 1:1; 1 Tim. 3:8) and some sisters serve as deaconesses (Rom. 16:1). The word “service” in Romans 12:7 denotes the service of the deacons and deaconesses in the local churches. The English deacon is an anglicized form of the Greek diakonos, which means a serving one. Deacons and deaconesses are the serving ones in a local church under the direction of the overseers, the elders. The overseers take care of the church, and the deacons and deaconesses serve the church by taking care of many practical matters. Those who serve as deacons and deaconesses need to have a serving spirit and a serving attitude, and they should keep themselves always in service.
Acts 13:1a says, “Now there were in Antioch, in the church that was there, prophets and teachers.” This verse indicates that in the church some saints who have the adequate growth in life serve as prophets and teachers. The prophets and teachers speak the word of God, releasing the divine revelation and teaching the saints. The prophets and teachers are very useful, especially in the church meetings. In the church meetings we need the proper speakers to speak the word of wisdom and the word of knowledge. The word of wisdom is spoken mainly by the prophets, and the word of knowledge is taught mainly by the teachers.
In order to understand the service of the prophets and the teachers, we need to know the difference between prophesying and teaching. In the Bible as a whole and in the New Testament in particular, the word “prophesy” does not mainly mean to predict. In both the Old and New Testaments to prophesy means to tell for, that is, to speak for others; to tell forth, that is, to speak things forth; and to foretell, that is, to predict, to speak things before they happen. Mainly prophesying is a matter of speaking for the Lord and of speaking the Lord forth. It is the speaking for God under His direct inspiration. In his Word Studies in the New Testament (vol. 3, p. 156) Marvin Vincent says, “In the New Testament, as in the Old, the prominent idea [concerning prophecy] is not prediction, but the inspired delivery of warning, exhortation, instruction, judging, and making manifest the secrets of the heart. See 1 Corinthians 14:3, 24, and 25. The New Testament prophets are distinguished from teachers by speaking under direct inspiration,” Therefore, the main idea of prophecy in the New Testament is not prediction but speaking for the Lord and speaking forth the Lord under His direct inspiration, that is, to speak according to the revelation the Lord has imparted.
To prophesy in the sense of telling for and telling forth requires much growth in life. For this, we need to know God and we need to experience Christ. If we do not have the adequate knowledge of God and experience of Christ, we do not have anything to say for Him, and we cannot speak Him forth. To prophesy in the sense of foretelling, of predicting something before it happens, is miraculous and does not require the growth in life.
Teaching is different from prophesying. Teaching is the speaking based upon prophesying. Certain brothers may take what is given in others’ prophesying and teach the saints according to it. This is teaching. The prophets are those who speak for God and speak forth God by God’s revelation and who sometimes speak with inspired prediction (Acts 11:27-28). Teachers are those who speak the truths according to the apostles’ teaching (Acts 2:42) and the prophets’ revelation. Both prophets and teachers are needed in the church.
Whereas only certain saints serve in the church as elders, deacons, deaconesses, prophets, and teachers, all the believers should be good stewards of the varied grace of God, ministering it to one another. First Peter 4:10 says, “Each one according as he has received a gift, ministering it among yourselves as good stewards of the varied grace of God.” According to the New Testament, grace is what God is to us for our enjoyment (John 1:16-17; 2 Cor. 12:9). Grace is not mainly the work God does for us; grace is the processed Triune God Himself dispensed into our being and experienced by us as our enjoyment. In brief, grace is the Triune God experienced and enjoyed by us. In 1 Peter 4:10 the varied grace of God, as the all grace in 1 Peter 5:10, is the rich supply of life, which is the Triune God ministered into us in many aspects (2 Cor. 13:14). As good stewards, by the gift we have received we should minister to the church and the saints such grace, not merely doctrine or any vain thing. In the church we all should serve as good stewards of the varied grace of God, ministering this grace to one another.
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