Acts 15:30-35 

³⁰ So the men were sent off and went down to Antioch, where they gathered the church together and delivered the letter. ³¹ The people read it and were glad for its encouraging message. ³² Judas and Silas, who themselves were prophets, said much to encourage and strengthen the believers. ³³ After spending some time there, they were sent off by the believers with the blessing of peace to return to those who had sent them. ³⁴ But Silas decided to remain there. ³⁵ But Paul and Barnabas remained in Antioch, where they and many others taught and preached the word of the Lord.

Rank Insignia

It was and is observed that military uniforms are patched with rank insignias sleeves and shoulders of the uniform to distinguish the rank or office. The commanding officer of a ship is called captain and there’s army captain. In the Philippine, a barrio or barangay leader is called captain. A military uniform patched with rank insignia appropriately serves to identify a soldier identity.

Paul describes the Lord’s servants as soldiers of Christ Jesus. There are also spiritual office designations like, apostles, prophets, evangelist, pastors, teachers, elders, or deacons. How could we identify them?

Interestingly, most people would identify a preacher as “pastor,” why?

Most preachers are pastors but not all preachers are called to be pastors. While prophets would preach to encourage and strengthen believers, they have a particular calling differently unique from pastors. Evangelists preaching the word of God are mislabeled and tagged as pastors, too.

Our passage helps us distinguish the activities of prophets and preachers.

1.  PROPHET

³⁰ So the men were sent off and went down to Antioch, where they gathered the church together and delivered the letter. ³¹ The people read it and were glad for its encouraging message. ³² Judas and Silas, who themselves were prophets, said much to encourage and strengthen the believers.

Judas and Silas were prophets; they affirmed the letter delivered from the elders and prophets in Jerusalem. The letter asserted that believers do not need to be circumcised to be saved. The exhortation of Judas and Silas encouraged and strengthened the believers.

The idea of encouragement here in relation to being a prophet is more of admonishing, begging, or appealing to the Antioch Christian not to be discouraged by those unauthorized people who previously required them to be circumcised.

It’s a common thought that prophets prophesy the future; Dr. Luke, the author of the books of Acts, identified Judas and Silas as prophets. They did not prophesy about the future, instead they expounded divine truth to encourage the believers. Prophets are not restricted or limited to prophesying the future.

Judas and Silas as prophets expounded divine truth to be more understandable.

In Ephesians 4:11-13, ¹¹ So Christ himself gave the apostles, the prophets, the evangelists, the pastors and teachers, ¹² to equip his people for works of service, so that the body of Christ may be built up ¹³ until we all reach unity in the faith and in the knowledge of the Son of God and become mature, attaining to the whole measure of the fullness of Christ.

Like Judas and Silas, the New Testament idea of prophets, is to help believers be united in faith and grow mature spiritually to be more like Christ Himself. Not just prophets, Christ gave apostles, prophets, evangelists, pastors and teachers also because each office has different unique responsibility and vocation.

While all of them are equippers, a prophet is called to encourage and make sure a believer grows stronger. The goal is to reach the fullness of Christ–live, think, and act like Christ.

TMEC Mission Statement

To reach out to people for Christ, nurture and disciple them to Christ-like maturity, equip them for their ministry in the church and mission in the world, for the glory of God.

When this church was established, God has revealed to the leaders whom He has chosen to formulate our church Mission Statement. All church activities should be aligned to our church Mission Statement.

Accompanying Paul and Barnabas, Judas and Silas were chosen among leaders of the believers in Jerusalem to be sent to Antioch because as prophets, they were expected to encourage, and strengthen the believers in Antioch. They expounded the divine truth even more.To expound is significant to preaching.

2.  PREACHER

³³ After spending some time there, they were sent off by the believers with the blessing of peace to return to those who had sent them. ³⁴ But Silas decided to remain there. ³⁵ But Paul and Barnabas remained in Antioch, where they and many others taught and preached the word of the Lord.

If Silas stayed behind when the believers sent them off, Judas might have some other companions when he went back to Jerusalem. Some manuscripts did not include verse 34; verse 34 explains the presence of Silas in the 2^nd missionary journey of Paul.

While Judas and Silas encouraged and strengthened the believers in Antioch, Paul and Barnabas, for their part, taught and preached the word of God.

What is the difference between teaching and preaching the word of God from encouraging and strengthening that Judas and Silas did?

Although both preaching and encouraging are similar kinds of admonition, their distinction comes with continue to obey and start to obey. Continue to obey exhibits that obedience has commenced while the idea of start to obey pictures the commencement from no obedience to God at all—non-believers.

The audience of Judas and Silas were believers needing encouragement. Paul and Barnabas taught and preached before non-believers; they admonished the non-Christians to obey God’s word. Paul and Barnabas admonished non-believers to start obeying the word of God whereas, Judas and Silas admonished believers to continue obeying God’s word.

The Great Commission

The Lord instructed us in Matthew 28:19-20, ⁹ Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, ²⁰ and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.”

When the Lord Jesus said that we are to teach them to obey, that was more of discipleship–encouraging and strengthening the disciples not the non-believers.

Evangelists bring people to Christ while prophets, pastors, and teachers encourage and strengthen believers to obey the Lord’s commands. Just as a sowers plants seeds, someone waters it, another may harvest, the church needs evangelist to share the gospel, prophets, pastors, and teachers to nurture and equip believers to become more like Christ.

Most importantly, the Lord who makes plants grow or have life, God’s Spirit regenerates the heart of believers. Therefore, the church needs evangelists, prophets, pastors, and teachers. Each ministry offices should be filled according to the leader’s calling.

If you find it urgent to evangelize, you’re an evangelist; if you find it urgent to disciple believers, you might be prophet, pastor, or teacher. If you find it urgent to plant a church, you might called to be apostle or missionary.

While there’s possibility for an evangelist to see the urgency of discipleship or planting a church, a prophet, pastor, teacher may possibly see the urgency for evangelism or planting a church, and a missionary may see the urgency of evangelism and discipleship, the level or intensity of urgency are not the same.

The Holy Spirit inspires urgency in your heart to determine your call. The strongest urgency that you sense in your inner self determines your call.

Are you called to evangelize, encourage, preach, teach, or plant a new church?

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