The man of God has been defined as “God's emergency man.” In times of peculiar difficulty and need, such have arisen both in the church and in Israel. If the order divinely established were working correctly, there would be no necessity for the man of God. No persons thus described appear in the Spirit's records of the earliest days of Christianity. For a time all was well. There was indeed a moment when the whole church was “filled with the Holy Ghost,” and when it could be said that “great grace was upon them all” (Acts 4:31-33). But when first love declined and disorder set in, we read of the man of God; and Timothy is the first person thus designated in the New Testament scriptures (1 Tim. 6:11). There have, doubtless, been many such during the succeeding centuries, and their faithfulness is written on high, and it will be rewarded in the day of Christ.
There are openings today for the man of God. Gifts abound. These have been regularly given ever since the risen Head took His seat on high, and the supply will be maintained as long as the body of Christ continues on earth (Eph. 4:7-16). Such is His faithful love. But a Christian could be evangelist, pastor or teacher, or indeed, all three in one without being a man of God. The truth of this will hardly be disputed.