Friday, May 6, 2005
Ephesians 4:11-12 And He Himself gave some to be apostles, some prophets, some evangelists, and some pastors and teachers, for the equipping of the saints for the work of ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ.
AN ASCENSION GIFT FOR US
The early Christian church had the opportunity to hear the Word of God through the mouths of the apostles, prophets and evangelists. Those were extraordinary gifts that were given out by Christ in those early days -- to be able to hear the apostles Peter, James and John or the evangelists Luke or Mark. What a wonderful thing that would be ... But we can!
Those gifts have not been taken away, they are just found in a different form. Instead of in person, we have those same gifts inspired by the Holy Spirit and written down in the words of the New Testament! Right now the apostle Paul stands before us giving us the gospel message about our ascended Lord.
But Christ has also given other gifts as well -- "pastors and teachers, for the equipping of the saints for the work of ministry." Each apostle had individual gifts. Each prophet and evangelist had various gifts. The same is true for every pastor. Gifts vary from pastor to pastor. But no matter what the gifts are, each pastor has the same purpose: the equipping of the saints for the work of ministry. Gifts also vary from one believer to the next, but we each have our own work of ministry. We are all called in some way and we have to be prepared, we have to be properly equipped.
For each job that has to be done, you need to have certain tools. For example you wouldn't tear out the old plumbing in your house, unless you had a torch and solder, or cleaner and glue to put it back together again. Each job is different and various tools are needed to equip us for those jobs. As saints, every one of us has a part to play in the work of ministry and our tools for this work are not the same ones we use at our places of employment. The equipment we use in the work of the ministry comes from the Word of God. We are being equipped for this work every time we come to church, in Bible Class and through our Bible readings at home. This equipment has been given to us in the words of the apostles, prophets and evangelists through the working of the Holy Spirit as a going away present from our Savior. He has given us all that we need!
