The Impact of the Ascension Gifts

The Lord Jesus Christ gave gifts to men after His resurrection and ascension to the Father. Thus, the gifts are often referred to as ascension gifts or ministery gifts.

“Wherefore he saith, when he ascended up on high, he  led captivity captive, and gave gifts unto men…And he gave some, apostles; and some, prophets; and some, evangelists; and some, pastors and teachers (Ephesians  4:8,11).

Therefore, we have the apostolic gifts, prophetic gifts, evangelistic gifts, pastoral gifts and teaching gifts, operating in the Church.

Christ Jesus gave these gifts to men for the purposes of rendering services to His Church and Kingdom on earth.

In the following paragraphs, I wish to explain the impact each of the ascension gifts makes on the Church.

Apostles

The Apostolic gift is widely known to break grounds, pioneer new works and establish spiritual foundation in the body of Christ.

The apostolic unction also  takes territories for Christ Jesus as soon as they stepped into new areas. No territorial force can stand on the way of the apostolic unction.

This ministry is misunderstood by many, considering its militant nature. It is always in charge of operations. The apostles arguably speak their mind often with harsh words as they always want to break hard grounds for kingdom exploits.

See how Paul, the apostle, for example, addressed  the church of Galatia at a point in his ministry.

“O foolish Galatians, who hath bewitched you, that ye should not obey the truth, before whose eyes Jesus Christ hath been evidently set forth, crucified among you? (Galatians 3:1).

It is not stated how the Galatians received these words from Paul, but a local church in this age may collapse or disintegrate if a minister uttered these words to it.

The apostolic ministry is also a  fighting ministry. Paul the apostle fought and conquered the beast of Ephesus (1 cor 15:32).

Wherever you see  apostles fighting, you may  see either there is lack of truth or spiritual immaturity among the people because, the assignment of the apostle  is to  defend  the faith and to establish spiritual truth among the heart of men to build them up in the body of Christ.

Prophets

The prophetic unction gives  directions and corrections to the church and establishes the destinies of people in the body of Christ.

It is important to state that the prophetic operates under judgemental anointing. That is why we often hear judgemental prayers being said from prophetic churches.

Prophets do the bindable and looseable.

At times, some  prophets are quick tempered because of the grace on them to engage in spiritual warfare. Thus prophets are criticized for being aggressive.

Now without the prophetic ministry many Christians will visit shrines to see fetish priests, diviners or necromancers for directions in search of solutions to life’s problems.

Evangelists

The evangelistic unction is city takers and movers as it mobilizes men and women to Christ Jesus through the preaching of the gospel.

The evangelist knowns what kind of message to preach by the leadings of the Holy Spirit to soften the hearts of men whose hearts are as hard as stones to Jesus christ .

The evangelist carries tangible anointing to perform divers miraculous signs and wonders as he ministers the word of truth, the gospel of salvation.

Without the evangelistic gift many souls would not be saved.

Pastors

The pastoring unction shepherds, nurtures and mothers the church. The pastor feeds souls in the church with spiritual food for their spiritual growth .

The pastor has great patience to attend to the needs of the people even in their weakest state.

Without the pastoring unction, many souls would be living as wanderers, running to  and fro.

Teachers

The teaching anointing impacts knowledge and revelation for the edification of the body of Christ.

The teacher brings out clarity and understanding as he or she takes time to explain and expand scriptures.

Without teachers, there will not be spiritual growth among souls to stand in the place of discipleship.

Now, all these ascension or ministry gifts are given for the perfecting of the saints and bringing them unto the place of maturity through the knowledge of the Son of God (Ephesians  4:12).

As we have been endowed with these gifts through Christ our resurrected Lord, let us use them sincerely and serve out of love for the benefits of the Church.

In conclusion, a minister of the gospel ought to know which of the five-fold he has been given so that he or she can work effectively without any competition for the advancement of the Kingdom of God.

By Samuel Sarfo Antwi

H.C.C & H.C.B.C