Now we're going to go right ahead with our little
heart -to -heart talk, and I'm going to begin
exactly where I left you when I walked out of
your home during the last broadcast, and we were
discussing that person, the Word of God, as found
in the fourth chapter of Ephesians. And Paul
here is talking to members of the body of Christ.
to you and to me, those of us who had been born
again, having been adopted of the Father, having
been baptized into His body by the Holy Spirit.
The Father, having given Jesus gifts to be Stow
upon those of us who are members of his body.
And these wonderful gifts that are being operated
by the Holy Ghost in the church today. Oh, to
me, that's one that's marvelous. All right, here
we go now. We shall begin, if you will please,
with the 11th verse of the 4th chapter of Ephesians.
And he gave some apostles, some prophets, and
some evangelists, and some pastors and teachers.
Now he goes on to tell the purpose of these gifts.
for the perfecting of the saints, for the work
of the ministry, for the edifying of the body
of Christ, till we all come in the unity of the
faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God
unto a perfect man, unto the measure of the stature
of the fullness of Christ, that we henceforth
be no more children. tossed to and fro and carried
about with every wind of doctrine by the slight
of men and cunning craftiness whereby they lie
in wait to deceive. But speaking the truth in
love, may grow up into him in all things, which
is the head, even Christ. for whom the whole
body fitly joined together and compacted by that
which every joint supplieth according to the
effectual working in the measure of every part
maketh increase of the body into the edifying
of itself in love Oh, that's beautiful. Pause
a minute and just remember to whom you belong.
No wonder he admonishes us to remember how we
act, how we live, what we do. We should constantly
remember the vocation into which we are called.
You and I be deemed members of his body. Active,
living, vital members of the body of Christ.
Now, let's go to the gifts which he bestowed
and bestows today. And that's recorded in the
11th verse of this chapter. And he gave some
apostles, some prophets, some evangelists. Some
pastors and teachers. And we see the purpose
in each one of these gifts. First, let's take
apostles and prophets. Do you want to know something?
We still have apostles and prophets in their
writings. Paul is just as much alive today through
his writings. as he was in person when he walked
this earth. He's just as vital to all of us.
That's right. He's just as real. We've seen from
former studies of the word that these precious
apostles and prophets have laid down the great
doctrinal foundation. propounding in their writings
in Christ and the doctrines concerning Christ.
And in these inspired writings, today these precious
prophets and apostles still speak to us. Take
the second gift, evangelists. of the evangel,
or the carrying of good news concerning salvation
through faith in the shed blood of the Son of
God. Evangelists are especially prepared by the
Spirit of God to reach the unconverted, to reach
unconverted men and women with the message of
life. And I believe that if... Any man, any woman
who has the gift of an evangelist, who has been
called to be an evangelist in the true sense,
who has received that gift from Jesus, from the
Lord, I believe that that one will have a passion
for souls, a burden for souls as no other. other
living being on this earth today. Now, there
are a lot of folks going around calling themselves
evangelists who've never been called of God,
who have never really received this gift. And
they're bringing an awful reproach upon the ministry
and upon Jesus Christ and upon something that
is very sacred. and very precious in the sight
of God. When a man or a woman, I repeat, has
received the gift and has been called of God
to be an evangelist, there will be with that
gift a burning compassion, a zeal, a burden for
lost souls as no other human being has today.
I believe that. That's right. For how can you
win men and women of the Lord Jesus Christ without
a great compassion, without the burden for their
lost souls? The two go together. Now the work
of a pastor, the work of a pastor is not the
same as that. of an evangelist. It is a separate
gift. A pastor is a shepherd, and God especially
prepares certain members of his body to shepherd
the flock, to minister to them in sickness, in
sorrow, in death, in bereavement, as well as
to feed them on the bread of life. Oh, a good
pastor. A good pastor is the most precious, the
most vital thing in the world. The shepherd of
the sheep. And to be a good pastor is literally
a gift that Jesus bestows on certain men. A precious
gift. Now we come to the gift of that of a...
teacher. Now, a pastor may not have the gift
of a teacher. Neither is a teacher a pastor or
an evangelist. You know, some people expect all
of this in one person. They're looking for the
whole thing in one person. You'll never find
it in one person. Each of these is a separate
gift. given to one individual in exactly the
same way that we have the Trinity, the Father,
the Son, and the Holy Spirit. They are a whole,
a unit, yet the work of the Father is separate
and apart from the Holy Ghost. And the work of
Jesus is not the same work as the work of the
Holy Spirit. Yet one never works separate and
apart from the other. Neither should the evangelist,
the pastor, the teacher, work separate and apart
one from the other, yet each has a distinct and
separate work to be done. One just as vital,
just as important as the other. A teacher is
one to whom God has given special insight into
great... truths of the word of God, one to whom
God has given the gift of imparting the same
to the members of the body of Christ in order
that they might become rooted and grounded in
the doctrines whereby they may be shielded from
false teachers and false prophets. And I'll tell
you, that's certainly one thing we need in the
church today. We need teachers to whom God has
given special insight into the great truths of
the Word of God. We need to be taught these deep
truths where members of His body know what they
believe. A lot of folk don't know what they believe.
That really, that's the reason they're swayed
by every wind of doctrine. They become so deceived.
Somebody can come along with a false doctrine
and they fall for it, hook, line, and sinker.
Why? Because they have never been taught. They
have never been rooted and grounded in the truth,
in the word of God. It's just like that. And
God has called certain folk and have given them
the gift of a teacher. He has revealed to them,
by the power of the Holy Ghost, the secret to
the deep truths of the Bible, the Word. They,
in turn, are to impart these deep truths to members
of the body of Christ. order that the members
of the body of Christ might become rooted and
grounded in the doctrines whereby they may be
shielded from false teachers and false prophets.
God has thought to make every provision for members
of the body of Christ. Oh, to me that's marvelous.
Now, pause just a minute, and let's go a little
deeper into something that I hope will be as
thrilling to you as it is to me. The gifts to
the church, evangelists, pastors, and teachers,
are beautifully set forth in type in the service
and worship of the tabernacle and Solomon's temple.
The buildings, of course. The tabernacle and
the building of Solomon's temple. as we've already
seen, were shadows of the church. The present
inhabitation of God through the Spirit. Everything
about these two buildings was in keeping with
what we have in Ephesians as shadows of the body
of Christ. There were three divisions in the
tribe of Levi. Let's say, and it's more understandable,
that there were three families of the tribe of
Levi. To each, a part of the tabernacle was entrusted.
The first family cared for the silver sockets,
made of atonement money, the boards, the pillars,
and the bars. cloudy pillar rested, meaning that
the twelve tribes were to camp, to cease on their
journey toward Canaan. The members of this family
were called upon first to erect the tabernacle.
They were the ones who laid the silver sockets.
The bars were then put upon the boards, thus
holding the tabernacle together. Now, we'll see
the work of the second division, or the second
family of the tribe of Levi. They were the ones
who carried the beautiful curtains, the coverings,
the hangings, and the cords to spring them. Oh,
they had a very marvelous work to do. Then we
have the third. family or the third division
or the tribe of Levi. They followed the second
family carrying the holy vessels, the ark for
the holy of holies, the table of showbread, the
candlestick, the golden altar of incense for
the holy place. They had a very definite work
to do. Their work was separate and apart from
the second family. And the second family had
a work separate and apart from the first family.
But watch something. To me, this is very beautiful.
In these three families of Levites, we have foreshadowed
the evangelist, the pastor, and the teacher.
The evangelist carries the silver sockets and
by the spirit of God causes men to be built upon
that redemptive foundation. The pastor strengthens
and beautifies the work thus accomplished. Oh,
sure. Watch. And here comes the teacher. bearing
the vessels of the sanctuary, foreshadowing the
great doctrines of scripture. There you have
the three, each one with a very definite and
distinct work to do. All working together for
the erection of the tabernacle in the wilderness
until it was completed and sold the gifts to
the church. the evangelists, the pastors, and
the teachers. Why? For the perfecting of the
saints, for the work of the ministry, for the
edifying of the body of Christ, till we all come
into the unity of the faith and the knowledge
of the Son of God unto a perfect man. unto the
measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ.
Testimated, it is worthy of notice that these
three families of Levi did their work under the
supervision of God's high priest, Aaron. He was
their supervisor. All their work was done under
his supervision. Aaron, God's great high priest,
and so beloved, the avengers, the pastors, and
the teachers today are to work under the supervision
of our great high priest. The one who stood at
the right hand of God the Father. Aaron is no
longer in position of great high priest. Today
we have in person the very son of the living
God in position of man's high priest. And all
of us, whether he be evangelist, pastor or teacher
are to work under one supervision, the supervision
of that one great high priest, the son of the
living God, Jesus Christ. Make this real, I pray
to our waiting hearts. Amen.