The Book of Ephesians Pt. 29 God Centered Leaders for His Church!
Paul began teaching us about the application of doctrinal truth presented in Chapters 1 through 3. He introduced the command to "walk worthy" of our high calling of God in Christ Jesus. We can praise God for clearly showing us His will for each Christian and because He has provided strong and clear examples of what a worthy walk looks like.
Paul explained many of the character traits being worked into believers by the Spirit of God. These include having a heart that is meek and lowly and an attitude marked by being longsuffering and forbearing in dealing with others. Christian character worked into us manifests itself by believers seeking to maintain unity and the bonds of peace within Christ's church.
Finally, we learned that spiritual gifts are given to all believers in proportion to their faith. Spiritual gifts from God are meant to be used for His honor and glory. They are never to be used for self promotion or self enrichment. The resurrection and ascension of Jesus Christ opened the doors for spiritual gifts being provided to the church of Jesus Christ.
Ephesians 4:11-12 And he gave some, apostles; and some, prophets; and some, evangelists; and some, pastors and teachers; 12) For the perfecting of the saints, for the work of the ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ:
This text is one list of spiritual gifts complete with the reason that God gave them to us. The two words "He gave" are emphatic in the Greek which means that Jesus Christ supplied the gifts by His supreme, overwhelming power.
Acts 1:21-22 Wherefore of these men which have companied with us all the time that the Lord Jesus went in and out among us, 22) Beginning from the baptism of John, unto that same day that he was taken up from us, must one be ordained to be a witness with us of his resurrection.
Who are apostles? The word "apostles" literally means a sent one, sent out by God with His message to mankind. The apostles are those chosen men who were with Jesus Christ from the beginning of His earthly ministry.
Peter was filled with the Spirit of God and he gave the qualifications for holding the office of an apostle. First, an apostle must be a male. Second, he must have been with the twelve throughout the ministry of Christ on earth, beginning from John the Baptist's preaching right up until Jesus returned to heaven in a cloud.
God authenticated the men who were His apostles by working many miracles and wonders through them, as they preached the gospel. There are no apostles today. Why? Because no one alive today can meet the qualifications given by God.
Acts 11:27-29 And in these days came prophets from Jerusalem unto Antioch. 28) And there stood up one of them named Agabus, and signified by the Spirit that there should be great dearth throughout all the world: which came to pass in the days of Claudius Caesar. 29) Then the disciples, every man according to his ability, determined to send relief unto the brethren which dwelt in Judaea:
Who are prophets? The word "prophet" means a foreteller, one who has heard from God about future things. In some instances, prophets spoke of an impending famine so that the church could prepare and those who had more could help believers located in the famine area.
In some instances, an apostle also prophesied. John, Peter, Jude and Paul wrote about future things concerning the second coming of Christ or about the Day of the LORD and its final judgment.
Other prophets were sent by God to fill in the gap until the New Testament was written. John was the last living apostle and he wrote his gospel, three epistles and the book of Revelation between 90 to 100 AD. The first book of the New Testament was written around 50 AD, so you see there was a 50 year gap.
As local situations arose God gave guidance through His prophets. However, He often used the apostles to prophesy or foretell about future things. The church needed some type of framework to see how the church age fit into God's eternal plans.
1 Corinthians 13:8-10 Charity never faileth: but whether there be prophecies, they shall fail; whether there be tongues, they shall cease; whether there be knowledge, it shall vanish away. 9) For we know in part, and we prophesy in part. 10) But when that which is perfect is come, then that which is in part shall be done away.
Notice what Paul wrote regarding the more "spectacular" of spiritual gifts. Prophecies, speaking in tongues and knowledge were going to pass away. Why? because they are temporary gifts given by God to fill that gap until the canon of scripture was completed.
The words "vanish away" mean to become inoperative, to make something idle or non productive. The words also mean to deprive of power, to annul or abolish. The idea is that apostles, prophets and gifts like a word of knowledge or a word of wisdom from God will pass away and lose their power.
At that time we had an incomplete revelation from God but now, we have a complete revelation. Therefore, the apostles all died mostly by martyrdom, and the prophets stopped receiving revelation from God because He sent His word to us.
The phrase "when that which is perfect is come" refers to the point in time when God fully communicated the New Testament to us. Because this perfect revelation from God has come, we no longer need tongues, words of wisdom, or prophecy.
Who are evangelists? The word "evangelist" literally means one who brings good tidings as those who proclaim the gospel of Christ. In one sense, each of the apostles were evangelists as they spread the gospel from Jerusalem, Judaea, Samaria and the uttermost parts of the earth.
We do have modern day evangelists who travel and seek to reach people with the gospel. Charles Finney, Dwight L Moody, Henry Ward Beecher, William Booth, are some of the well known evangelists. However, those who most closely resemble the evangelist Philip, would be our missionaries. They seek to bring the good news to places where the people have not heard. Some would say that those who are church planters are also evangelists.
Who are pastors? The word "pastor" means a herdsman or shepherd. A "pastor" is very much a shepherd in similar ways as God is described as our shepherd. A "pastor" is one who has committed himself to care for and guide other believers.
Pastors, like shepherds, must care for their flock.
Psalm 23:1-6 A Psalm of David. The LORD is my shepherd; I shall not want. 2) He maketh me to lie down in green pastures: he leadeth me beside the still waters. 3) He restoreth my soul: he leadeth me in the paths of righteousness for his name's sake. 4) Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil: for thou art with me; thy rod and thy staff they comfort me. 5) Thou preparest a table before me in the presence of mine enemies: thou anointest my head with oil; my cup runneth over. 6) Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life: and I will dwell in the house of the LORD for ever.
The Shepherd Psalm tells us that Jehovah will supply for the needs of His people. He will provide both physical and spiritual sustenance. He will revive us when we are weak and weary. He will strengthen us as we walk through dark times. He has prepared an eternal home for us and will pour out His goodness and mercy upon each believer forever!
Believers are the sheep in Jehovah's pasture.
Psalm 100:3 Know ye that the LORD he is God: it is he that hath made us, and not we ourselves; we are his people, and the sheep of his pasture.
Stern warning to bad pastors/shepherds.
Ezekiel 34:1-10 And the word of the LORD came unto me, saying, 2) Son of man, prophesy against the shepherds of Israel, prophesy, and say unto them, Thus saith the Lord GOD unto the shepherds; Woe be to the shepherds of Israel that do feed themselves! should not the shepherds feed the flocks? 3) Ye eat the fat, and ye clothe you with the wool, ye kill them that are fed: but ye feed not the flock. 4) The diseased have ye not strengthened, neither have ye healed that which was sick, neither have ye bound up that which was broken, neither have ye brought again that which was driven away, neither have ye sought that which was lost; but with force and with cruelty have ye ruled them. 5) And they were scattered, because there is no shepherd: and they became meat to all the beasts of the field, when they were scattered. 6) My sheep wandered through all the mountains, and upon every high hill: yea, my flock was scattered upon all the face of the earth, and none did search or seek after them. 7) Therefore, ye shepherds, hear the word of the LORD; 8) As I live, saith the Lord GOD, surely because my flock became a prey, and my flock became meat to every beast of the field, because there was no shepherd, neither did my shepherds search for my flock, but the shepherds fed themselves, and fed not my flock; 9) Therefore, O ye shepherds, hear the word of the LORD; 10) Thus saith the Lord GOD; Behold, I am against the shepherds; and I will require my flock at their hand, and cause them to cease from feeding the flock; neither shall the shepherds feed themselves any more; for I will deliver my flock from their mouth, that they may not be meat for them.
Ezekiel tells us about the role of a good pastor serving God and His people, and what a bad pastor looks like. A good pastor or shepherd will feed the sheep of God's pasture. Not with physical food, but with the milk and meat of scripture. A bad pastor will preach psychology, philosophy, and things that tickle believers ears. Men's musings cannot help anyone. Thus, a faithful shepherd/pastor will feed the sheep in his little flock with the life giving, life changing word of God.
A good pastor will care for his sheep who are sick, diseased, or have broken lives. He will minister God's truth and demonstrate God's grace to them in tangible ways. He will visit the sick and shut-in, make hospital visits, make sure the afflicted one's family needs are met and spend much time in prayer for each of his sheep. A good pastor/shepherd will go seeking for any of his sheep who are lost. He will seek to minister to those who stop attending, or who seem to have drifted away from the truth.
Ministry of a bad pastor results in God's people being scattered instead of united behind the cause of Christ. The scattered sheep are easy prey for false teachers and false prophets.
A bad pastor/shepherd will be held to account by holy God. He will judge those men who lead people astray with false teaching, self promotion, self enrichment, and sensuality. He will judge those pastor/shepherds who teach the sheep of God's pasture to live like the world lives, instead of living for the glory of God.
To those bad pastor/ shepherds, Jehovah has a message of warning. "I will require my flock at their hand." This means they will stand before God at the day of judgment and be condemned for their evil ways.
Who are teachers? The word "teachers" means one who teaches about the things of God and the duties of man. You can see that there is some overlap in these particular gifts. A pastor can also be an evangelist and teacher.
Christianity has been richly blessed by a strong heritage of many faithful pastor/shepherds, evangelists and teachers.
Thoughts to Ponder...
Such men of faith are sorely needed today because the church is engrossed with trying to be like the world in order to win the world. Yet God says that friendship with the world is enmity with Him.
We need to pray that God will raise up another generation of faithful men who are willing to commit to the heavy responsibilities of being an evangelist, a pastor/shepherd or a teacher.
If you have a good pastor, teacher or evangelist at your church, pray for that man. They carry a heavy load and are frequently unappreciated, ignored and often insulted. Pray that the God of glory will pour His reviving strength into them, so that each faithful pastor is filled with zeal to communicate Gods truth, passionate about living for the glory of God and greater love to care for the sheep entrusted to His care.
Remember, that each one of us can and should be ready to share the gospel of Christ with lost people around us.
May God be glorified as we learn from His Word and in our response to what we learned. May He keep changing us into the image of His Son, Jesus Christ.
Bob
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