Well, we are in Ephesians chapter 4. And in chapter 4, Paul has begun to apply this doctrine that he had set forth in chapters 1, 2, and 3. And let's be reminded, he's exhorted his readers to walk in a manner worthy of the calling with which they have been called. With which we have been called. It exhorted us to cultivate in ourselves these qualities, these fruits of the Spirit, humility, gentleness, patience, forbearance of one another, all motivated by a love for one another. Now the objective here in this chapter is the unity of the body, a harmony in the body of Christ. Paul listed seven elements of that unity that all true believers share with one another. There's one body, one spirit, just as you were all called and one hope of your calling. One Lord, one faith, one baptism, one God and Father of all, who is over all and through all and in all. After Christ ascended to his Father's, what we've seen over the last couple of weeks, is that he began distributing gifts among his people. And each believer has received from Christ a measure of some gift in accordance with a measure determined by Christ to be used for the benefit of the whole body. We're called to serve one another. And the exercise of these gifts plays a key role, a critical role really, in maintaining unity and harmony in the body, which is the objective here. That we may all grow to a spiritual maturity. So it's important to remember that whatever our gifts are, all of them are given by Christ for the common good and for the benefit of the whole body. Christ is now seated at the right hand of the Father. And He gives these gifts from that place. The gifts are given for the building up of His church. And these gifts that He's talking about tonight are for the purpose of equipping the saints for ministry, to do the work of service. Now, verse 8, Paul drew on Psalm 68, verse 18, and then he applied it to the ascended and exalted Christ. He accomplished his redemptive mission. He returned to heaven victorious. And now he blesses his church with these gifts that we're speaking of. They're gifts to his members and gifts for his members. So verse 10, he ascended above all the heavens so that he might fill all things. Christ has ascended above everything to the place of highest supremacy, and He from there fills the universe with His goodness, with His glory, with His love. And we read here that the purpose of Christ having been exalted above the heavens is so that He might fill all things. All things will ultimately be summed up in him, Paul wrote in chapter 1. So Paul's reminding us right early on here that while he's presently removed from us bodily, Christ fills all things through his Spirit. And that by His ascension and exaltation, He's entered into a sovereign rule over the universe. Over both the natural and the spiritual realms. Over all the beings who inhabit both the natural and the spiritual realms. He is King. He is Lord of the universe. And as such, He has the right to do as He pleases, as He wills, and that includes the bestowal of these gifts. And remember, this is all a result of His work on the cross, His incarnation, His willingness to humble Himself, come down to earth, suffer and die on the cross to win this people, His church. And so it's through his church that he's going to fill the world with his glory, with his message of love. So now, tonight in verse 11, Paul speaks of five of the gifts that Christ has bestowed on his church. And he gave some as apostles, and some as prophets, and some as evangelists, and some as pastors and teachers. In verses 12 and 13, Paul explains the purpose of Christ's giving of these men as gifts to His church. For the equipping of the saints for the work of service, to the building up of the body of Christ, until we all attain to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to a mature man, to the measure of the stature which belongs to the fullness of Christ. The whole objective is the conformity of his people to Christ. So here in verse 11, we see Paul teaches that God gave certain ministries and ministers to the church. Five of them we've just named. And these are all offices which deal with the proclaiming, the revealing, the preaching, and or the teaching of the Word of God. All of these are to reveal God's will and His Word to His people. Two of these offices, apostles and prophets, were for the purpose of receiving new revelation from God. Remember, there was no New Testament as Paul sat down to write this letter. Maybe a couple of the letters or a couple of the Gospels had already been written and received. Maybe some of Paul's letters had begun to circulate by that time. But right now, Their canon was not closed. Canon had not been received throughout the church. And so God revealed His will to apostles and prophets. And the purpose of that was for them to communicate what God had said to the people. And for the purpose of laying the foundation of the church. Ephesians 2.20. Foundation laid by the apostles and the prophets. And though there are some who disagree, these two gifts, apostle and prophet, ceased by the end of the first century. For our purposes, what makes them different is they were receiving new revelation from God. And once the canon was closed, the New Testament was completed, that was the end of God's revelation to us. His revelation is now in His Word, not through some man in addition to His Word. Now, most hold that all five of these speak of offices in the church. And that doesn't mean a hierarchy. It doesn't mean status. It means positions with a duty attached to them. And while men of all five offices, apostles, prophets, evangelists, pastors, and teachers, while all five are gifted in some way by Christ, it's important to understand here that Paul is not speaking of them as recipients of these gifts here. He's speaking of these persons as gifts to the church. Now, that men receive these gifts or offices does not elevate them above others in the body. But they do come with the gift to teach and the authority to teach. While apostles and prophets received new revelation from God, evangelists, pastors, and teachers do not have authority to change or add to Scripture in matters pertaining to doctrine or church practice. Evangelists, pastors, and teachers do not receive new revelation from God. And Paul is not establishing a church hierarchy here. These are all offices of service, not of status. No man should boast of having any of these gifts. They've all been given by the grace of God, by the grace of Christ. He's the source of whatever giftedness any of us has. He's the source of whatever possessions any of us has. So we must understand, he's talking about these offices. The men who fill these offices as gifts to the church to teach it, to edify it, to shepherd it from the earliest days until today. Even though some of these gifts are no longer present. But it's so critical that we understand this. These five gifts are given to the body, as are the gifts of Romans 12, and the gifts in 1 Peter 4, and even the manifestations of the Spirit that we read about in 1 Corinthians 12. All are given to operate for the common good. for the oneness of the body, to help it grow as a body, to help each individual grow in spiritual maturity until we reach this unity and harmony and the spiritual maturity in each one. That's the purpose here. It's that there be constant growth in each of us and in the body. This isn't help when we've got the Church of England trying to decide if God is actually a male. It doesn't help when we have so many doctrines of Scripture just outright rejected in places that call themselves biblical or Christian. The purpose here of all of these gifts and of all gifts that Christ gives is the equipping of the saints for the work of service. We are all to be servants of Christ and to build up His body. And the other obvious reason for these offices being given to the church are to guard against her being misled into heresy and error. Now, again, I said these aren't the only gifts Christ has bestowed and continues to bestow on His church. His gifts are listed in four places in the New Testament. And every time I come to one of these four passages, I feel obliged to at least touch on this fact. We must understand, Paul is not speaking here of manifestations of the Spirit, of supernatural manifestations or supernatural giftings of the Spirit. Those are things he wrote about in 1 Corinthians 12. And though some hold a different position, many who hold that the gifts of the Spirit listed in 1 Corinthians 12 ceased at the end of the apostolic age. Now I know others take a contrary position. They're welcome to do that. I don't believe they're correct. I believe they all ceased. And the reason, more than anything else, is that we understand those gifts were given to authenticate the Word being preached at the time. God was validating His message and His messengers through the use of those supernatural works of the Spirit. Once the canon was closed, once we had the Scripture, the whole New Testament, the purpose for which those gifts were given and for which He gave the power to some to heal and do miraculous things ceased. those gifts, that supernatural working of the Spirit in the first century was given to authenticate what was then the oral presentation of the gospel. And I would mention, as I think I mentioned earlier, only in Corinth do we see these so-called spiritual gifts exercised. They weren't church-wide. There's no mention of them in any other of Paul's letters with the exception of prophecy in Romans 12.6. So I want us to understand we're not talking about that. We're talking about offices of teaching and preaching. Offices through which, in the case of apostles and prophets, God revealed Himself to men to be revealed to others. Now Peter, he talks in 1 Peter 4, 11 about two kinds of gifts. Speaking gifts and serving gifts. Again, those are obviously the kind of gifts that are still with us today. So while there are a number of reasons why the majority of Reformed theologians and commentators and ministers hold to the view that all of these spiritual, supernatural gifts ceased, the most important reason is our belief in the sufficiency of Scripture. We believe the Scripture is infallible and complete and adequate for the salvation of man. And similarly, the offices of apostle and prophet also ceased when the canon of Scripture was completed. Remember, when you think apostle and prophet, what you're thinking about is God making new revelation to men to be put down, to be preached in those days or be put down in Scripture. Once the Scripture is completed, the reason for such men is fulfilled. Now, apostles, who were they? Who were the apostles? 11 disciples and Paul, and that's a pretty good position. But who sent them? Jesus sent them. And where did he send them? Everywhere, all over the world. And why did he send them all over the world? To spread the good news, the Great Commission, yes. These are men, apostles, are men sent by Christ, personally, all over the world, to preach this gospel. There were 11 left after Judas betrayed Him. All of those were commissioned as apostles before Christ departed. And then, after Christ departed, and as they were praying and waiting for the Spirit to fall, they drew lots. And Matthias, the lot fell on Matthias, and he became the twelfth apostle. Paul became a thirteenth. Does anybody recall what Peter and the others had required of a twelfth apostle? What conditions he must meet? Had to have known Christ and been with Him during His earthly ministry. And what's the other one? What else would He have had to know about Christ or of Christ? Had to be a witness of His resurrection. Had to have been among them as one of those wider group of disciples. And He had to have been a witness of the risen Christ. Matthias fit that bill. Did Paul fit that description? Not exactly. He felt part of it though, didn't he? He certainly saw the risen Christ, although he was blinded the first time he saw him. He saw light. But he was sent by Christ directly. Now, I keep talking about the cessation of gifts in these two offices because those men received direct communication from God. Now, and I also keep saying, when the canon of Scripture was closed, the revelation by God to man was complete. Why do I say that? Is there a passage in Scripture that says that? Is there a passage in the New Testament more particularly that says that? The very end of Revelation, Now here's what Jesus said in Revelation 22, 16. I, Jesus, have sent My angel to testify to you these things for the churches. I am a root and the descendant of David, the bright morning star. The Spirit and the Bride say, Come. And let the one who hears say, Come. Let the one who's thirsty come. Let the one who wishes to take the water of life without cost. I testify to everyone who hears the words of the prophecy of this book, if anyone adds to them, God will add to him the plagues which are written in this book. And if anyone takes away from the words of the book of this prophecy, God will take away his part from the tree of life and from the holy city which are written in this book. Now what does a prophet do? Brings new revelation from God. an apostle do? He's sent by Christ with a message from Christ. Well, those messages and those revelations are now all contained in the New Testament. And we dare not add to them. That's why there are no longer apostles or prophets. And most of the guys who go around calling themselves apostle or prophet have found a way to make an awful lot of money by putting those titles to themselves. Even in the Old Testament, Proverbs 30, verse 6, "...do not add to his words, or he will rebuke you, and you will be proved a liar." So we've been looking at the London Baptist Confession, and just think about it. The very first sentence in the Baptist Confession, the Holy Scripture is the only sufficient, certain, infallible rule of all saving knowledge, faith, and obedience. So the purpose for which God gave these men, apostles and prophets, and the purpose for which He gave supernatural gifts is ended. It was to validate His Word, remember, and to reveal His Word. The purpose which was then filled by the apostles and prophets is now fulfilled where? I don't want to leave this without making sure we get this. Where is that purpose now fulfilled? The Bible, the New Testament, now fulfills the role that the apostles and prophets fill. Because Christ is building His body, and because that building is so closely linked with His filling of the universe, with His glory, with His message of love, and since His church is the instrument through which He does that, He's given her gifts. In other words, Christ has given the church a mission, and He's also equipped her to carry out this mission. Apostles, prophets, evangelists, pastors, and teachers to help the church, to teach the church. And again, these five should be received by the church as gifts from Christ. Now Hendrickson said this, and I wouldn't say this myself, but I'll quote Hendrickson. They should be the objects of the love of the entire church. If, though they truly represent Christ, they are rejected, Christ is thereby rejected. And on the other hand, there's also here an implied admonition for leaders themselves, namely that these gifts were not given to them for their own sake, but for the benefit of Christ's body, the church. So here, the gifts are the persons themselves, given by the ascended Christ to His people to enable them to learn and function and grow as they should. The five listed here are all ministers of the Word, through whom the gospel is first revealed, then declared, and then taught. The words, when we look back, He gave gifts to men, aren't restricted to these gifts. But all these gifts are one, they're the result of Christ's victory over Satan, sin, and death, and they're all for the benefit of his church. So, taking these one by one, apostles, in a general sense, apostle means one who is sent. The Greek word means one who's sent. But here Paul is using this word, apostle, apostolos, in its most narrow sense, as one sent by Christ with a message and with a task to perform. Remember, the apostles were sent to lay the foundation of the church. Christ sent eleven men, as Ron said, all who were with Him during His ministry on earth, and who saw the risen Christ as His witnesses in the world. Why would it be important to send men as apostles who had seen the risen Christ? I'm sorry? Yes, and what would, if you weren't a first-hand witness, what would the hearers, some of the hearers say? You didn't see him, right? Yes, I did. I saw him. And they were getting their heads cut off for refusing to recant as time went on. After Christ ascended, then the eleven, as we were talking about, they drew lots and added Matthias as the twelfth, and later Jesus personally called Paul. And he sent him into the world. All of them were sent into the world to tell the world about him and about eternal life through believing in him. Now, some limit the idea of apostle to those 12. But the others, on the basis of some passages in Scripture, add a few others who may be regarded as apostles, whose main service, again, was to establish churches in areas that had not been reached by the others. Among these are Barnabas. If you turn to Acts 14, verse 14, Barnabas appears here to be identified as an apostle. But when the apostles, Barnabas and Paul, heard of it, they tore their robes and rushed out into the crowd. Well, Barnabas is identified by Luke here as an apostle. You turn to 1 Corinthians chapter 9. 1 Corinthians 9. Beginning in verse 5, do we not have a right to take along a believing wife, even as the rest of the apostles and the brothers of the Lord and Cephas? Or do only Barnabas and I not have a right to refrain from working? So the idea of Barnabas as an apostle is alluded to there, although not clearly stated as it was back in Acts 14. James, the brother of our Lord, in Galatians chapter 1. Galatians chapter 1, verse 18. Then three years later, I went up to Jerusalem, Paul writes, to become acquainted with Kaphos. And I stayed with him fifteen days, but I did not see any other of the apostles except James the Lord's brother." Now Paul identifies James, the brother of our Lord, as an apostle. So that's two who are identified in this way. And others, possibly Apollos. I mean, again, it's not clear. Silas in 1 Thessalonians 2. Titus in 2 Corinthians 8. So there may have been others who came to fill this office of apostle. And we say that in the case of Barnabas and James on the basis of they're called apostles here in Acts and in Galatians. But nonetheless, the number was very few. Their office was to spread the good news throughout the world, to plant churches, and erect the kingdom of Christ, and to preach the gospel wherever they were sent by Christ. You see why Christ gave them power to work miracles. I mean, what would people say when they came with this message? If you will believe in this man, we saw him risen. They'd never seen him. They may have heard of him. They may not have. If you will believe in this man, you can have your sins all wiped away. You can have eternal life. Forget about Zeus and Apollo and all of them. And what would a person say maybe? Wait a minute. Why should I believe in this guy? And so, that's why God gave these supernatural powers for a time to the apostles to work miracles. And we read in Acts, they were working miracles to validate that message, to authenticate that message. Now, prophets in the Old Testament, these were men who were called and sent by God, given a message to affirm to the sons of Jacob the blessings and the protection of God if they would obey Him. But they were also there to warn of the loss of God's blessing if they continued in idolatry and to disobey Him. And they were also sent to affirm the promise of Messiah. I mean, what is the book of Isaiah but a promise of Messiah, an assurance that Messiah is coming. In the New Testament period, the office was not really different. Prophets were also those to whom God made direct, special revelation to be communicated to the people. Turn to Galatians, or Ephesians, chapter 3. Look at verses 4 and 5. Ephesians 3, 4, and 5. He's talking about the mystery of Christ. And he says, by referring to this, when you read, you can understand my insight into the mystery of Christ, which in other generations was not made known to the sons of men. Well, who was going to make it known to men? as it has now been revealed to His holy apostles and prophets in the Spirit." First it's revealed to the apostles and prophets, and they revealed it either verbally or in writing or both. As in the case of Paul, for example, and all of the New Testament writers. So the mystery of Christ was revealed to these men. And as in the Old Testament, New Testament prophecy often carried with it a prediction of future events. We're going to see that in a moment here. Now, there wasn't a requirement of a prophet to have been a follower of Christ during his earthly ministry or to have been a witness of the resurrected Christ. So that distinguishes them from apostles. But these were men who had received enlightenment from the Holy Spirit. And they were called to help lay the foundation of the church and direct the path of the church as it was growing. And they were more localized, we believe, than were apostles who were all over the world. These men, apostles and prophets, were necessary for the building up of the body of Christ prior to the completion of the canon. The prophets, along with the apostles, were God's means of communicating his revelation until the scriptures were complete. Now, as was the case we saw with Barnabas and James as apostles, some in the New Testament are expressly identified as prophets. Turn to Acts 13, in verse 1. And we see the most clear of these passages. Acts 13, 1. Now the word Antioch. Now this was a central location of the church in the earliest days. There were at Antioch, in the church that was there, prophets and teachers. Barnabas and Simeon, who was called Niger. Lucius of Cyrene and Manaan, who had been brought up with Herod the Tetrarch and Saul. So we see Barnabas and Saul both identified as both prophets and apostles. Look what Luke writes. While they were ministering to the Lord and fasting, the Holy Spirit said to them, Set apart for me Barnabas and Saul for the work to which I have called them. You could almost miss those words at the end. The work to which I have called them. That's the Holy Spirit speaking. The Spirit of Christ. So I think it's fair to say Paul was not only an apostle, but a prophet. And we see that. Turn back to Galatians 5, verse 21. He's talking about the deeds of the flesh. And he speaks there of envying, drunkenness, carousing, and things like these. Of which I forewarn you, just as I have forewarned you, that those who practice such things will not inherit the kingdom of God. Turn to 1st Thessalonians. And we'll see Paul as prophet in even clearer terms. 1st Thessalonians 3, verse 4. For indeed, when we were with you, we kept telling you in advance that we were going to suffer affliction. And so it has come to pass, as you know. Chapter 4, verse 6. The Lord is the avenger in all these things, just as we also told you before and solemnly warned you. And then, of course, in 414, he speaks of the Lord's return, 414 and following. We believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so God will bring him with those who have fallen asleep in Jesus. So there's prophecy contained within Paul's writings. Now there were others who are identified as prophets in the book of Acts. Agabus in Acts 11 and 21, he had predicted a famine in Acts 11. And then in Acts 21, he predicted the arrest of Paul in Jerusalem. We also, in Acts chapter 21, see the daughters of Philip, the evangelist and the deacon, identified as prophetesses. Turn to Acts 21, and I'll just read two verses which speak of both of these. He came to Caesarea and entered the house of Philip the Evangelist. That's Acts 21. He was one of the seven, the deacons of Acts 6. And they stayed with him And then Luke writes, Now this man had four virgin daughters who were prophetesses. As we were staying there for some days, a prophet named Agabus came down from Judea. And coming to us, he took Paul's belt and bound his own feet and hands and said, This is what the Holy Spirit says. In this way the Jews of Jerusalem will bind the man who owns this belt and deliver him into the hands of the Gentiles. Prophets like Agabus, we don't see them holding a fixed office and we don't see them bringing revelation relating to divine doctrine. They were called prophets because, at times, some minor revelation would be given through them. First of a famine, and then in terms of Paul, his being taken into custody in Jerusalem. He's not viewed as a man who held the office of prophet, though he did prophesy. And he is called generically a prophet. We don't know anything about the daughters of Philip, by the way. We're simply told they were prophetesses. In the apostolic age, there were some, though, who were called to the office of prophet. And there were some who were not called to that office, but who had received, as we see in 1 Corinthians 12, the gift of prophecy. Some in Corinth were not called to the office of prophet, as was Isaiah, Jeremiah, Zechariah, but they were given the gift of prophecy. by the Holy Spirit. Again, these were manifestations of the Spirit to validate the Word being preached. So one might speak a prophecy on just one occasion, or more occasions even, as in the case of who? Zacharias. Now we don't think of him, he's identified in the Gospel of Luke as a priest. Not as a prophet, but we're told he prophesied. And he prophesied, of course, that his son John would be a forerunner of the Messiah. And the Messiah was going to come to bring salvation to the people. So there's a distinction between an Isaiah who holds the office of prophet, and some of the New Testament prophets, and then some of these others who had a gift of prophecy or who prophesied on one or two occasions. We also know it has always been the case that not everyone who presents himself as a prophet is a genuine prophet. When you see somebody come on the TV on Saturday night, early Sunday morning and say, and now the prophet so-and-so. He's not. He's not. He's a TV performer. And there have always been false prophets. So, we've looked at apostles and prophets, those who were sent by Christ who laid the foundation of His church. Their role was foundational. They were the recipients and proclaimers of the mystery of Christ, as Paul wrote in Ephesians 3, 4, and 5. And while some insist on a contrary position, the role of both those apostles and prophets ended with the laying of the foundation of the church and the completion of the canon. Now what about evangelists? These are not men who received new direct revelation from God. Evangelists did not receive new revelation from God. Rather, what were they sent to preach? As received from? Yes, the evangelists were sent into the world to proclaim the message, the good news they had received from the apostles and the prophets. Salvation to faith in Jesus Christ. Yes, the gospel. They're seen by many as serving a role similar to modern-day missionaries. How many times does the term evangelist appear in the New Testament? We only see it in the case of Philip and in 2 Timothy 4-5. Paul tells Timothy, do the work of an evangelist. And we know Timothy was a pastor as well. We saw Philip the evangelist going down to being carried by the Spirit to the Ethiopian eunuch and baptizing him. We think of apostles as traveling the world. We think of prophets as being more localized. Evangelists We believe work both inside the church and out on the road, like modern missionaries do. The early church, they were thought of as either auxiliary to the apostles, as helpers of the apostles, or as successors to the apostles after the apostles began to die off. But evangelists, what's an evangelist do? He spreads the word. He proclaims the gospel. They brought the gospel into cities and nations and towns and villages that had not yet been reached by the apostles. And these were among those who appointed elders in those places. We know that because Paul tells Timothy to do the work of an evangelist and he also tells him to raise up elders to follow after him. And then they would move on. They were itinerant. They were closer to the itinerant preachers of today. Paul Washer, for example. Richard Owen Roberts, for example. Now finally, pastors and teachers. These are those called to shepherd the flock of God and to teach the Word that God has given in Scripture. These are still with us. Evangelists may still be with us in the form of modern missionaries as we see. But we have one article here and one connecting conjunction, pastors and teachers. They're not separated as the other three are. And that leads some to believe that Paul's talking about one group of persons here, pastors and teachers, men serving both roles. Others disagree with that and say these are distinct. And though the functions of the two are distinct, they're both given to lead the local body in caring for and shepherding and teaching. And these clearly remain today. Calvin says these are the only two that remain today. Others add evangelists. Few in the Reformed circles would see apostles or prophets as existing after the first century. But many say this, they say all pastors or shepherds are teachers, but not all teachers are pastors. These two groups do not receive new revelation from God. They're not apostles. They're not prophets. Man in a pulpit is not a prophet. He's a preacher. But they teach what has been revealed by God to the apostles and prophets and written down in Scripture. Pastors and teachers teach the Bible. Or they should be teaching the Bible. That's the calling. It's not to teach social justice as some see it. And there's no predictive role as part of the ministry of pastors and teachers. Pastors of local congregations were commonly called elders, and we see that in Acts 20, 17, or overseers. And they still are today. I think the terms pastor, elder, and overseer are all virtually synonymous. Every elder is not a pastor, but most are. Paul, Acts 20, 28, told the Ephesian elders to be on guard for yourselves and for all the flock to shepherd the church of God. That's the job of a pastor. That's the job of an elder. This is the duty of all who are called to any of these offices. Remember, what did Jesus say to Peter shortly before he departed this earth when he was talking to him up by the Sea of Galilee? He said, Peter, do you love me? Peter, do you love me? Tend my sheep. Tend my lambs. Peter was an apostle, and yet he was called to shepherd the sheep of Christ. First Timothy 5.17, Paul speaks of elders or pastors, as having authority in the church. And he also affirms that part of duty of some of the elders is to preach and teach. Look at 1 Timothy 5.17. You see the overlap of pastors and teachers here in Ephesians 4.11 with what Paul says to Timothy in 1 Timothy 5.17. because he says the elders have to preach and teach. The elders who rule well, now there's the authority, are to be considered worthy of double honor, especially those who work hard at preaching and teaching. And as we saw with the case with shepherding, teaching was also a duty committed to the apostles, wasn't it? Anybody remember where Jesus told the apostles to go out and teach? Right in the Great Commission, Matthew 28.20, make disciples of all men, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. They were to teach. So were evangelists and so are pastors and teachers today. Peter, 1 Peter 5.1, exhorted the elders to be shepherds of God's flock. 1 Peter 5.1. Therefore, I exhort the elders among you as your fellow elder and witness of the sufferings of Christ. Notice Peter refers to himself as an elder. John referred to himself as an elder. And when you hear that word elder, the first word that should come into our minds is shepherd and teacher. And that's exactly what Paul's talking about here, pastors and teachers. 1 Peter 5, 1, Therefore I exhort the elders among you, as your fellow-elder and witness of the sufferings of Christ, and a partaker also of the glory that is to be revealed. Hallelujah! Shepherd the flock of God among you, exercising oversight... There's authority. ...not under compulsion, but voluntarily, according to the will of God, not for sordid gain, but with eagerness. Now when we see so-called preachers driving around in Rolls Royces, what do we then make of what Peter said here? Nor yet as lording it over those allotted to your charge, but proving to be examples to the flock. This is why a pastor who commits some moral failure must be driven from the pulpit. There's no ifs, ands, or buts about that. The ministry of pastor, elder, teacher is so important for the building of the body that Christ, through Paul, makes provision that it be continued for all generations. As Paul approaches his own death, I don't know if you're anywhere near 2 Timothy. 2 Timothy chapter 2, verse 2. Here's what he says to Timothy. Now Paul's about to die. He's about to be beheaded by Nero. Second Timothy 2.2, the things which you have heard from me in the presence of many witnesses, entrust these to faithful men who will be able to teach others also. There are preachers, and some very fine preachers, some very faithful preachers, who don't avail themselves of commentators and theologians. I do, because I believe that as Timothy was instructed by Paul to relate the things Paul had taught him to others, I believe there's so much we can learn from those who've gone before us. Now the offices, as we've seen, of pastor and teacher speak of the same duties as committed to the office of elders. And that is another office. And they're still with us today. As for evangelists, in the sense that Paul spoke of them, there are those who hold that that office no longer exists. I tend to agree with those who would say that the modern-day missionaries who bring the gospel to untapped places are the equivalent of those first-century evangelists. Christ established these offices in the early church to lay the foundation of His church. I can't say that enough. To help it grow, not just in numbers, but to help it grow spiritually and in fidelity to the message that Christ had sent through the apostles and prophets. To grow in unity and harmony so there would be one truth, not many truths. Everybody doesn't get to have their own truth. And we saw those first two sent directly by Jesus, apostles and prophets. You know, when the second century rolled around, there were no longer any witnesses to the risen Christ. There were only those who'd heard from others that they'd seen him alive after he was dead. But by the end of the first century, there were four Gospels, there were 13 letters from Paul, there were three letters from the Apostle John, two letters from the Apostle Peter, and one each from two of our Lord's brothers, James the Apostle and Jude. And there was also the letter to Hebrews. and the apocalyptic vision of John in the book of Revelation. They had all of this. And from that point, God's revelation of himself to his people was only through this written word and the proclamation of this written word taught in our hearts and minds by the Holy Spirit. This is our source of the knowledge of God and of ourselves and of the way of salvation. The Holy Spirit has awakened us to know the divine saving truth. But the details are here. And Christ still gives us pastors and elders and teachers to shepherd and teach those he calls. Finally, Paul wants us to understand. He's not focused here, again, on the giftedness given to certain men. though they have been endowed with gifts. But he's speaking of men given to the church in certain offices for the spiritual maturity and edification of the body. Calvin states this matter rightly here, I believe. He said very briefly, when men are called by God, yes, gifts are necessarily connected with their offices. But God does not simply confer on men the name of apostles or pastor. He also endows them with gifts without which they could not properly discharge their office. And we're going to pick up there next week. But understand, all of these are given as we look at verses 12 and 13. All of these gifts are given for the equipping of the saints for the work of service to the building up of the body of Christ. Well, let's take a moment that this Word of Christ may dwell in our hearts. And let us reflect on what our Lord has taught us by His Spirit this evening. And then we'll close in prayer. O Lord, thank you that you've shown us the way of the truth. Thank you that you've opened our eyes and minds and hearts to know where it is we find you, where it is we meet you, where it is we are taught by you. Grant that we would be guarded from untrue, unfaithful doctrines, that we would be protected against error and heresy. And Lord, may you fill our hearts and minds with the truth and equip us to be effective witnesses of your goodness, your grace, and your glory. In Christ's name, amen.