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T h e K i n g ’ s B u s i n e s s
October 1932
had an easy time of it; and never will—until the millen nium. Moses spoke for God and would have been stoned by the congregation of Israel if the Lord had not protected him. Elijah prophesied and had to flee into the wilderness for his life. Jeremiah declared the message which God had given him, and he was put into a miry dungeon. Instead of- repeating the soft things o f the false prophets, Micaiah .told Jehoshaphat and Ahab the truth as given to him by God. The result was prison on starvation rations. Isaiah, the evangelist-prophet, was sawn asunder. The prophets o f the New Testament were mobbed and cast into prison. When Stephen told forth the Word of God, his face shone as the face of an angel ; but in spite of this, the ecclesiastical hierarchy stoned him to death. Throughout the history of the Israel of God and the church of God, the priests have been unmolested, but the prophets have ever been perse cuted. We need prophets in the church today. There are a few. May their number increase. E vangelists He gave “ some, evangelists.” Evangelists proclaim the glad tidings about Christ to the world. They exhort sinners to be reconciled to God. Philip was an evangelist. He led the Ethiopian eunuch to Christ. Many others found the Saviour through Philip. • The main work of the evangelist is extension. He is to go out into the highways and hedges and compel the lost to come in. The evangelist is not an evolution from be neath, but a gift from above. P astors He gave “ some, pastors.” This word is translated else where “ shepherds.” Paul, in speaking to the shepherds at Ephesus,, said: “ Take heed therefore unto yourselves, and to all the flock, over which the Holy Ghost hath made you overseers, ,to feed the church of God, which he hath pur chased with his own blood.” The shepherd is to feed the church of God. He is to lead the reborn into the green pastures o.f Holy Writ and by the still waters of profound meditation on the Word. “ Man doth not live by bread only, but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of the Lord shall man live.” To the under-shepherd, Christ, the Chief Shepherd, says, “ Feed My lambs, find pasture for My sheep, shepherd My flock.” Give the unadulterated milk o f the Word to babes in Christ and the strong meat o f heaven-sent revelation to the spiritually mature. In Acts 2 0 :29 and 30, we read, “ For I know this, that after my departing shall grievous wolves enter in among you, not sparing the flock. Also of your own selves shall men arise, speaking perverse things, to draw away dis ciples after them.” The shepherd is also to protect the flock from wolves in sheep’s clothing which enter from without. He is also to protect the sheep from foes within who speak perverse things, and who would draw disciples from Christ after them. David delivered lambs out of the paw of the bear and the mouth of the lion and was de clared a hero. Christ’s under-shepherds protect the flock from ecclesiastical bears and religious lions; and yet the faithful shepherd is often reckoned, a monster. But the “ well done” of the Master is sufficient reward. T eachers He gave “ some,. . . teachers.” The work of the teacher is to unfold the Word and to instruct the saved in the oracles of God. This gift is undoubtedly to be prominent as this dispensation draws to a close, although teachers have been in the church from its very foundation. In Daniel 12:3, we read, “ And they that be wise shall shine as the brightness of the firmament” ; in Daniel 11:33, “ They
that understand [that are wise] among the people shall in struct many.” Daniel here is speaking about the end of the “ times of the Gentiles.” Teachers shall abound among the Jews, just as teachers shall abound in the church of God toward the end of the dispensation of grace. Pastor-teach ers are also gifts from the exalted, glorified, God-Man to mankind. The ultimate end of these “ gifts” is the perfecting of the saints (Eph. 4:12 ). The saints individually shall be perfected and so shall the body of Christ. The immediate aim is to develop servants. Not the pas tor only, but pastor and people are to be trained ministers (servants). Christ “ came not to be ministered unto [served], but to minister [serve], and to give his life a ransom for many.” All saved ones are called to serve—- “ fervent in spirit, serving the Lord.” Christ gave the church "some, apostles, some, prophets, some, pastors and teachers,” and all as ministers (ser vants). One reason for confusion in the church is that those who are called to minister would teach, or preach, or prophesy. The result is chaos. Whom God gives to the church as a gift, He endows for the work to which he is called, and for that work only. No Spirit-filled gift is prophet, evangelist, and pastor-teacher. I know of no evan gelist who is a first-class Bible teacher. I do not know of one Bible teacher who is a first-class evangelist. I recently read an article written by an elder in which the author states that every pastor ought to be a first-class business man. Why not a first-class physician, dentist, lawyer, farmer, also ? In reply, the pastor states that every Christian busi ness map ought to be a first-class preacher-pastor. Both statements are absurd. These men were given unto the church also, to edify the body of Christ. The body is to be built up numerically and spiritually. The bodv is to grow into a holy temple o f the Lord. Evangelize! E d ify ! LA MARGARITA—THE PEARL [Continued from page 428] waves whose whitecaps shone so brightly in the night. Sometimes we are prone to be discontented with out lot, and feel that we have had to fight waves toa long. But if God, our Father, loves to give to such an unattractive thing as the oyster, away down out of sight where only He. can see, a lovely tapistried home, with pearl necklaces to wear always, shall we not remember that He is preparing a place for us in His own palace? May the Lord lay upon the hearts of many a burden of prayer for the souls on this and neighboring islands, that there may be thousands . of Margaritans enter the “ mar - garita” gates into the city where the Lamb is the light. “ He Careth for You” This is a divine revelation, a fatherly truth, a message out of God’s great heart. “ Casting all your care upon him, for he careth for you.” Observe the reasoning. He does not say, “ Casting all your care upon him, for he- is power ful ; casting all your care upon him, for he is wise; casting all your care upon him, for he is infinite.” These things never would have touched us. We could have escaped all that kind of reasoning. But when He says: “ Casting all your care upon him, for he careth for you,” sympathy is His challenge. “ He careth for you.” That is the ground of meeting. O my soul, why should I ever fret or be discour aged, when I can listen every moment, night or day, to His gentle word, “ Cast all your care upon me, for I care for you” ?-j~W. P. W .
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