November 28, 2014

Ephesians 4:11-16

(All scripture is from the New King James Version unless otherwise indicated.)

We have been looking at the question, “Are the miraculous gifts and offices valid today?”  The title of this series, What Is The Perfect To Come? is from I Corinthians 13:10, “But when that which is perfect has come, then that which is in part will be done away.”  The context states that “…prophecies…tongues…[and] knowledge…will vanish away…” (I Corinthians 13:8) – three of the nine miraculous gifts mentioned in I Corinthians 12:8 through 10 – when the “…perfect has come….”  Many, and perhaps the majority of Christians identify with the theological position that The Perfect To Come is the completion of God’s revelation to man when the New Testament was accomplished at the end of the first century AD.

I disagree!  And two blogs ago, we looked again at Ephesians 4:1 through 15 – the featured scripture for the recent series Maturing In Christ.  Today I am including verse 16:

      …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 the
      ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ, till we all come to the unity of
      the faith and the knowledge of the Son of God, to a perfect man, to the mea-
      sure of the stature of the fulness of Christ; that we should no longer be child-
      ren, tossed to and fro and carried about with every wind of doctrine, by the
      trickery of men, in the cunning craftiness, by which they lie in wait to deceive,
      but speaking the truth in love, may grow up in all things into Him who is the
      head — Christ — from whom the whole body joined and knit together by what
      every joint supplies, according to the effective working by which every part
      does its share, causes growth of the body for the edifying of itself in love.

In Monday’s blog, we looked at verse11 through 13:  Jesus gave His Church “…apostles… prophets…evangelists…and…pastors and teachers… till we all come to the unity of the faith…”  I gave one example – and we can look around at today’s Church and see many more examples – that we certainly have not yet reached “…the unity of the faith…”!  We have instead in our churches cliques, disagreements, arguments, bitter fighting, and splits galore!  We have a long way to go until “…we all come to the unity of the faith…“!  Remember, Jesus’ goal for His followers is plainly spelled out in His prayer recorded in John 17:  “…that they may be one just as We are one:  I in them, and You in Me; that they may be made perfect in one, and that the world may know that You have sent Me…” (verses 22 and 23).

God has given us all the Spiritual offices and gifts to be in effect until that unity is complete! And that unity will not be complete until our Lord returns in glory!

Let’s go on.  All the Spiritual offices and gifts are in effect until we reach several more things:

•      “…the knowledge of the Son of God…” (verse 13) – of which knowledge we have a lot to gain to reach what Jesus again prayed to the Father in John 17:3:  “…that they may know You, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom You have sent.”  And the idea here is to know God fully!  C. S. Lovett writes in his commentary on John, “…the Greek word for ‘know’ goes beyond mere intellectual knowledge to include the ideas of seeing and understanding as well as meeting the true God.”

•      “…to a perfect man, to the measure of the stature of the fulness of Christ…” (verse 13) – Have we reached perfection in our Christian walk?  Are we yet so much like Jesus Christ that it can be said, “We are ‘…the stature of the fulness of Christ…’”?

•      “…that we should no longer be children, tossed to and fro and carried about with every wind of doctrine, by the trickery of men, in the cunning craftiness, by which they lie in wait to deceive…” (verse 14) – Are we as Christians no longer immature?  Have we so grown up in the faith that no longer can we be deceived by false doctrine?

•      “…but speaking the truth in love, may grow up in all things into Him who is the
head — Christ…” (verse 15) – Do we always speak to brothers and sisters – as well as to the unsaved – “…truth in love…”? Have we so grown “…in all things…” Christian that we are just like our “…head — Christ…”?

•      “…from whom the whole body joined and knit together by what every joint supplies, according to the effective working by which every part does its share, causes growth of the body for the edifying of itself in love.” (verse 16) – Have we reached the point where we – every member of Christ’s Body, the Church – are so working together in harmony that we are the embodiment of love, lifting one another to ever-higher planes of the Christian life?

And has all this been accomplished by the end of the first century?  Has all this been manifested in the world for the last 19 centuries following?  If this has not happened yet, then what Christ has given His followers as gifts and offices – even miraculous gifts and offices – is still in effect and to be in use today – until He comes again!

November 26, 2014

Luke 17:12-19

(All scripture is from the New King James Version unless otherwise indicated.)

I will take a break from the series, What Is The Perfect To Come? because tomorrow is Thanksgiving Day.  This blog is called 10% Thankful.  So your first thought might be, “Oh, this is about tithing – about giving one tenth of your income to the Lord.”  But no, it is not.  Yes, I believe in tithing – even giving more than 10% to God’s work.  My wife and I have been practicing tithing plus for more than 46 years now, and God has always met our needs – not always our wants, but our needs!  After all, Paul wrote in Philippians 4:19, “…my God shall supply all your need according to His riches in glory by Christ Jesus.”  And Jesus said in Luke 6:38, “Give, and it will be given to you: good measure, pressed down, shaken together, and running over….”

But I am getting away from today’s theme.  And that theme is found in Luke 17:12 through 19:

      …as He [Jesus] entered a certain [Samaritan] village, there met him ten men
      who were lepers, who stood afar off. And they lifted up their voices and said,
      “Jesus, Master, have mercy on us!” So when He saw them, He said to them,
      “Go show yourselves to the priests.” And so it was that as they went, they
      were cleansed. Now one of them, when he saw that he was healed, returned,
      and with a loud voice glorified God, and fell down on his face at His feet, giv-
      ing Him thanks. And he was a Samaritan. So Jesus answered and said,
      “Were there not ten cleansed? But where are the nine? Were there not any
      found who returned to give glory to God except this foreigner?” And He said
      to him, “Arise, go your way. Your faith has made you well.”

One out of ten gave thanks to God for the gift Jesus had bestowed upon them.  And this was no small gift!!!  Leprosy, in Bible times, may not have been what we call leprosy – or Hansen’s Disease – today.  But whatever it was, it was a life-changing and rarely-cured disease.  The diagnosis and treatment of the disease in Bible times is described in Leviticus chapters 13 and 14.  How life-changing was it?  In Leviticus 13:45 and 46 it is written:

      Now the leper on whom the sore is, his clothes shall be torn and his head bare;
      and he shall cover his mustache, and cry, “Unclean! Unclean!”  He shall be
      unclean.  All the days he has the sore he shall be unclean.  He is unclean, and
      he shall dwell alone; his habitation shall be outside the camp.

These ten men whom Jesus encountered in Samaria were outcasts – socially and literally!  The only social interaction they were allowed to have was with other lepers.  In John 4:9 we learn “The Jews have no dealings with Samaritans.”  They were considered dirty foreigners or despised half-breed Jews at best!  It is said that devout Jews would spit when referring to ‘Samaritans’ to show their disdain for them.  But, apparently, these lepers – implied by the text to be nine Jews and one Samaritan – were bonded together by their common disease.

But – also apparently – they had heard about the miracle worker, Jesus.  And when they met Him they pursued their chance to be healed:  “Jesus, Master, have mercy on us!” (verse 13).  And they were healed – by the mercy and power of Almighty God through His Son Jesus Christ!  They were healed as they went in obedience to Jesus’ command and Leviticus 14:1 through 32 – to “Go show yourselves to the priests.” (verse 14).

But only one came back to thank the Lord – one despised foreigner, one Samaritan!  Only one was thankful enough to show it!  The other nine – nine of God’s covenant people, mind you – just continued on their thankless way!

If we take the ten lepers to represent each individual one of us, are not we also like them?  Do we too often fail to thank God for our blessings?  Do we thank Him for only one out of ten? Are we not then only 10% Thankful?!!

God’s blessings are manifold.  Psalm 68:19 says, “Blessed be the LORD, who daily loads us with benefits, even the God of our salvation!”  Johnson Oatman wrote in 1897 the famous hymn Count Your Blessings.  In the refrain it says,

                                Count your blessings, name them one by one,
                                       Count your blessings, see what God hath done!
                                Count your blessings, name them one by one,
                                       And it will surprise you what the Lord hath done.

Someone has stated that it should say, “Count your blessings, name them ton by ton…”!

God surely has blessed us!  So this Thanksgiving Day – and every day for the entire year! – let us not just be 10% Thankful!  Let us be thankful every day, fulfilling what is written in Hebrews 13:15:  “Therefore by Him [Jesus] let us continually offer the sacrifice of praise to God, that is, the fruit of our lips, giving thanks to His name.”

November 24, 2014

Ephesians 4:11-15

(All scripture is from the New King James Version unless otherwise indicated.)

The controversy rages of whether the miraculous gifts of I Corinthians 12 and the first two offices of Ephesians 4 are valid for today.  Due to the influence of the Pentecostal and Charismatic movement over the last hundred years – and according to the Center for the Study of Global Christianity, there are about 279 million Pentecostal Christians and 305 million Charismatic Christians worldwide.  That’s a total of 584 million – almost 27% of the total Christian world population of 2 billion, 179 million!

•      The miraculous gifts generally in question are “…gifts of healings…the working of miracles…prophecy…discerning of spirits…different kinds of tongues…[and] the interpretation of tongues.” (I Corinthians 12:9 and 10).  The first three Spiritual gifts listed in verses 8 and 9 are generally accepted as valid for practice today (although they are often misunderstood):  “…the word of wisdom…the word of knowledge…[and] faith….”

•      The first two offices listed in Ephesians 4:11, “…apostles…[and] prophets…,” are also too often relegated exclusively to the first century of Christianity.

But what about the scripture we used in the four-part series Maturing in Christ – Ephesians 4:11-15?

      …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 the
      ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ, till we all come to the unity of
      the faith and the knowledge of the Son of God, to a perfect man, to the mea-
      sure of the stature of the fulness of Christ; that we should no longer be child-
      ren, tossed to and fro and carried about with every wind of doctrine, by the
      trickery of men, in the cunning craftiness, by which they lie in wait to deceive,
      but speaking the truth in love, may grow up in all things into Him who is the
      head — Christ….

We discussed in that study why Jesus gave us these offices:  “…for the equipping of the saints, for the work of the ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ…”  (verse 12).  But when did He intend for these offices to be in effect?  The answer is in verse 13:  “…till we all come to the unity of the faith and the knowledge of the Son of God, to a perfect man, to the measure of the stature of the fulness of Christ….” Has that happened yet?  Consider…

…Stephen Rowland wrote an article for the Columbia (Tennessee) Daily Herald, November 10, 2014 edition, entitled “Splitting Hairs.”  He talks about church splits, especially frivolous ones:

      My personal favorite story (if church splitting can be considered a “favorite”!) is
      the Presbyterian church splits in the little town of Centerville, Ga., — population
      of around 5,000 people.  It all started with one original Presbyterian church that
      had an internal conflict around 1911 over whether to take up the offering before
      or after the sermon.  The splitting-off church became the “Centerville Reformed
      Presbyterian Church.”  Just four years later another church split occurred over
      whether to have flowers in the sanctuary or not.  The church that split off was re-
      named “Trinity Reformed Presbyterian Church of Centerville.”

      A total of seven more splits happened between 1915 and 1929 over various issues,
      and by 1931 the latest addition was named “Third Westminster Trinity Covenant
      Presbyterian Reformed Church of Centerville.”  More church splits occurred be-
      tween 1931 and 1975 over the conservative/liberal bifurcation within that denom-
      ination.

      Since 1975 a few more church splits over various issues has brought the total num-
      ber of church splits in that one town for that one denomination to 48 — apparently
      a record.  The last one was over whether or not it was a violation of the Sabbath Day
      to check your email on your personal computer.  The church split over that “issue”
      — some folks left the Second Street First Ninth Westminster Covenant Reformed
      Presbyterian Church and renamed their new church “The Presbyterian Totally
      Reformed Covenantal Westminsterian Sabbatarian Regulative Credo-Communionist
      A Millennial Presuppositional Church of Centerville.

      …A teaching elder (Paul Davis) in the PTRCWSRCCAPCC was quoted as saying
      “I think we’ve finally got it right now, we have a church with 100 replacement doc-
      trinal purity. We’re up to 6 people on Sundays now — I know that numbers are not
      important, but we’re hoping to grow a little more.”

Is this reflective of God’s goal in Ephesians 4:13?  “…till we all come to the unity of the faith and the knowledge of the Son of God, to a perfect man, to the measure of the stature of the fulness of Christ….”

More on this subject, What Is The Perfect To Come? in Wednesday’s blog.

November 21, 2014

I Corinthians 1:4-8

(All scripture is from the New King James Version unless otherwise indicated.)

I began my search 40 years ago to see if the Charismatic Movement was of God or not.  The movement got its name from the Greek word charisma meaning spiritual endowment or grace gift.  By the time I was exposed to the movement, it had then been going on for about 14 years, from its beginnings on April 3, 1960 when the Episcopal priest Dennis Bennett announced to his Van Nuys, California congregation of Saint Mark’s Episcopal Church that he had experienced a Pentecostal outpouring of the Holy Spirit in his life.

My wife and I got to know a Roman Catholic couple who lived near my first church in Johnsonburg, Pennsylvania, and who were active in The Catholic Charismatic Renewal.  This Roman Catholic movement had started in February 1967 at Dusquesne University in Pittsburgh.  Through this couple’s influence, my wife and I experienced enough of the Charismatic Movement to impel me into my studies – was the Charismatic Movement Biblical or not?

Charismatics where not the first to emphasize Spiritual gifts.  Pentecostals had been a growing part of the Christian scene for over five decades – ever since the Azuza Street Revival in Los Angelos starting in April 1906.  But Pentecostalism was often considered on the fringe of mainstream Christianity.  The Charismatic Movement brought the emphasis on the work, empowerment and manifestations of the Holy Spirit into mainstream denominations.

I had been trained in a fundamental Baptist seminary which was decidedly anti- Pentecostal and anti-Charismatic!  We were taught that the miraculous manifestation gifts of I Corinthians 12:8 through 10 and the first two offices of Ephesians 4:11 were not for Christians today, that they had been discontinued by God by the end of the first century when the New Testament was completed – “…when that which is perfect has come, then that which is in part will be done away.” (I Corinthians 13:10).  If the miraculous gifts such as healings and speaking in tongues were practiced today, we were told they were of the devil!

But I needed to find out for myself.  I decided the best place to start my studies of the Charismatic Movement was in the book of the Bible which listed the nine miraculous gifts – I Corinthians.  So I started at chapter one and verse one!  I still have almost 200 pages of notes I took in those studies!  It didn’t take me long to make my first important discovery – I Corinthians 1:4-8:

      I thank my God always concerning you for the grace of God which was given
      you by Jesus Christ, that you were enriched in everything by Him in all utter-
      ance and in all knowledge, even as the testimony of Christ was confirmed in
      you, so that you come short in no gift, eagerly waiting for the revelation of our
      Lord Jesus Christ, Who will also confirm you to the end, that you may be
      blameless in the day of our Lord Jesus Christ.

This was an eye-opener!

•       In verse 5 Paul thanked God that the Christians in the Corinthian church “…were enriched in everything by Him in all utterance and in all knowledge….”  Was this a reference to two of the gifts mentioned in chapter 12:8 and 10, “…the word of knowledge…[and] different kinds of tongues…”?

•      If it is a reference as suggested above, then those gifts – and other miraculous gifts of the Holy Spirit – were given to confirm in these early Christians, “…the testimony of Christ…” (verse 6).

•       Paul wrote that the Corinthian believers “…come short in no gift…” (verse 7). It is the same word – charisma – that he uses in I Corinthians chapters12 through 14 as he describes the miraculous gifts and their use.

•       But it was the last part of verse 7 and verse 8 that really caught my attention!  The Corinthian Christians were to “…come short in no gift…” as they were “…eagerly waiting for the revelation of our Lord Jesus Christ….”  And Paul adds that such gift manifestation “…will also confirm you to the end….”  “…the revelation of our Lord Jesus Christ….[and] the end…” have not come yet!  So that must mean the miraculous gifts – and the offices of apostle and prophet – are still valid and to be practiced today!

In our next blog on Monday, we will go back to the scripture I used in the recent Maturing In Christ series – Ephesians 4:11 through 15.

November 19, 2014

I Corinthians 13:8-12

(All scripture is from the New King James Version unless otherwise indicated.)

The controversy among Christians still rages over the validity today of the miraculous Spiritual gifts listed in I Corinthians 12:8 through 10 and the first two of four offices God gave to the Church and mentioned in Ephesians 4:11:

•      I Corinthians 12:8 through 10 – “…the word of wisdom…the word of knowledge…faith… gifts of healings…the working of miracles…prophecy… discerning of spirits…different kinds of tongues…[and] the interpretation of tongues.”

Only the first three gifts here, “…wisdom…knowledge…[and] faith…” are considered valid by many believers today.  That is because these three are mis-named and/or wrongly described! But more on this subject in a future blog in this series.

•      Ephesians 4:11 – “…apostles…[and] prophets….”

Much of the argument against the validity of these gifts and offices today hinges on the interpretation of I Corinthians 13:8 through 12:

      Love never fails. But whether there are prophecies, they will fail; whether
      there are tongues, they will cease; whether there is knowledge, it will vanish
      away. For we know in part and we prophesy in part. But when that which
      is perfect has come, then that which is in part will be done away. When I
      was a child, I spoke as a child, I understood as a child, I thought as a child;
      but when I became a man, I put away childish things. For now we see in a
      mirror, dimly, but then face to face. Now I know in part, but then I shall
      know just as I also am known.

I Corinthians 13 is what is known as The Love Chapter.  And it tells us that “…prophecies… tongues…[and] knowledge…will fail…[and] vanish away.” (verse 8).  But when?   “…when that which is perfect has come, then that which is in part will be done away.” (verse 10).  The question then becomes, What Is The Perfect To Come?

Much hinges on the Greek language. There are three genders of nouns, masculine, feminine and neuter.  “…that which is perfect…” in verse 10 is to teleion, “the perfect thing.”  It is an adjective used as a noun in the neuter gender.  If “…that which is perfect…” means the fulfillment of the New Testament at the end of the first century, then it would be in the feminine gender – because the words scripture or scriptures are always translated in the New Testament from either grapha (ending in long a) or gramma (ending in short a), and both words are in the feminine gender.  And if “…that which is perfect…” refers to Jesus Christ – either His first or second coming – it would be in the masculine gender, as His name and pronouns always are in the Greek.

So being in the neuter gender, “…that which is perfect…” can present a problem.  But I believe Lange’s Commentary On The Holy Scriptures, the Corinthian volume, p. 271, clears this up beautifully:  “By ‘the perfect’ …he means the consummation of the kingdom of God which is to take place at the appearance of Christ….”  And then Lange points to the fulfillment of Habakkuk 2:14 as proof:  “For the earth shall be filled with the knowledge of the glory of the LORD, as the waters cover the sea.”

Paul wrote in Romans 8:18 through 23:

      For I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to
      be compared with the glory which shall be revealed in us.  For the earnest
      expectation of the creation eagerly waits for the revealing of the sons of
      God.  For the creation was subjected to futility, not willingly, but because
      of Him who subjected it in hope, because the creation itself also will be
      delivered from the bondage of corruption into the glorious liberty of the
      children of God.  For we know that the whole creation groans and labors
      with birth pangs together until now.  And not only they, but we also who
      have the firstfruits of the Spirit, even we ourselves groan within ourselves,
      eagerly waiting for the adoption, the redemption of our body.

All creation was put under God’s curse because of sin (see Genesis 3:14 through 19).  And so “…tears…death…sorrow…crying…pain…” (Revelation 21:4) have been a major part of all creation ever since.  But there is coming a day when “…the revealing of the sons of God…into the glorious liberty…” (Romans 8:19 and 21) will take place.  When Jesus Christ returns in glory, we will be with Him (see Zechariah 14:5 and Revelation 19:14), “…we will be like Him…” (I John 3:2) and we will be manifested to the whole world!  And according to Romans 8:21 and 22, “…the whole creation…also will be delivered from bondage into the glorious liberty of the children of God.”  As Lange implied, all creation will enter the consummation of the kingdom!  No wonder “…that which is perfect…” is neuter!  “…the whole creation…” consists of all sorts of masculine, feminine and neuter named things and their pronouns!  And “…the whole creation…” will be made perfect !  So to cover such a wide swath, such an adjective as perfect used to refer to “…the whole creation…” would be rendered in the Greek in the neuter gender!

Now, if this is the correct interpretation of “…that which is perfect…,” then according to I Corinthians 13:8, “…prophecies…tongues…and knowledge…will fail…[and] vanish away…,” not at the end of the first century, but at the return of Jesus Christ at the end of this age!

November 17, 2014

I Corinthians 13:8-12

(All scripture is from the New King James Version unless otherwise indicated.)

In the last blog we touched on what Paul wrote in I Corinthians 13:10, when he said, “But when that which is perfect has come, then that which is in part will be done away.”  This verse is crucial in understanding the gifts and offices of the Holy Spirit given to Christ’s Church and its individual members – especially the miraculous or manifestation gifts listed in I Corinthians 12 and the first two offices in Ephesians 4.

•      I Corinthians 12:8 through 10 – “…the word of wisdom…the word of knowledge…faith… gifts of healings…the working of miracles…prophecy… discerning of spirits…different kinds of tongues…[and] the interpretation of tongues.”

•       Ephesians 4:11 – “…apostles…[and] prophets….”

I quoted Oliver B. Greene from his Ephesians commentary in Friday’s blog:  “The apostles are all gone….We have no prophets in the church today.” (page 150).  And in his commentary on I Corinthians, he wrote,

      We must distinguish between the gifts of the Spirit which were bestowed upon
      the apostles, and the gifts of the Spirit which are permanent and will continue
      through the Church Age.  Some of the gifts were given at a specific time for a
      specific purpose, and lasted only during the apostolic testimony….During the
      transition period and in the first century of Christianity, God gave specific gifts
      according to His own will, testifying to the true salvation through the blood of
      Jesus:  “…When that which is perfect is come, than that which is in part
      shall be done away” (I Corinthians 13:10).  Therefore, when “the faith once
      delivered unto the saints” was complete and the perfect law of liberty was given
      in full, there was no longer need for signs and wonders….We need no signs and
      wonders today to prove what we find in the Word of God. (p. 394).

Although Mr. Greene may not be counted by some among elite Bible scholars, he is representative of those who believe some of God’s gifts and offices are not valid in today’s Church.  And if they are practiced by Pentecostal or Charismatic Christians, some go so far as to say such practices are of the devil!  But Mr. Greene has succinctly put forth the ideas of the side with which he stands – and since I have the two of his commentaries that are relevant here – I have quoted his writings on the subject.

As a young Christian training in seminary for the pastorate, I was taught such anti- charismatic views.  I still have an early sermon called Charismatic Confusion which I preached to my first church. I proclaimed from the pulpit, “The gifts of tongues, prophecy, healing, the working of miracles are all sign gifts.  They were used to establish the authority of God in the early Church before they had the completed scriptures.”  I have always had a yearning for the truth and diligently sought it out.  And as Jesus prayed to the Father in John 17:17, “Your word is truth.”  Studying the Bible for over 30 years for the answers to the validity of the gifts and offices of the Holy Spirit, I have ‘outed’ myself as a charismatic Christian – one who believed all the Spiritual gifts and offices are valid for the Church today.  And as God leads me, I now practice whatever gift is necessary for the occasion.

So What Is The Perfect To Come?  We haven’t even gotten to our featured scripture! Here is I Corinthians 13:8 through 12:

      Love never fails.  But whether there are prophecies, they will fail; whether
      there are tongues, they will cease; whether there is knowledge, it will vanish
      away.  For we know in part and we prophesy in part.  But when that which
      is perfect has come, then that which is in part will be done away.  When I
      was a child, I spoke as a child, I understood as a child, I thought as a child;
      but when I became a man, I put away childish things.  For now we see in a
      mirror, dimly, but then face to face.  Now I know in part, but then I shall
      know just as I also am known.

The question we will continue to address in future blogs is based on verse 10:  What Is The Perfect To Come?  Read and meditate on the full Corinthian passage above as well as Romans 8:18 through 23; I Corinthians 1:4 through 8; I Corinthians 12:4 through 31; and Ephesians 4:11 through 16 (the scripture we used for the last four blogs, Maturing In Christ).

And please pray for me as I research and write these coming blogs.  This is a deep and controversial subject, and I want to present God’s Word in a true, logical and precise way – as Paul said in II Timothy 2:15, “…rightly dividing the word of truth.”

November 14, 2014

Ephesians 4:11-15

(All scripture is from the New King James Version unless otherwise indicated.)

Let’s conclude our study of Maturing In Christ from Ephesians 4:11 through 15:

      …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 the
      ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ, till we all come to the unity of
      the faith and the knowledge of the Son of God, to a perfect man, to the mea-
      sure of the stature of the fulness of Christ; that we should no longer be child-
      ren, tossed to and fro and carried about with every wind of doctrine, by the
      trickery of men, in the cunning craftiness, by which they lie in wait to deceive,
      but speaking the truth in love, may grow up in all things into Him who is the
      head — Christ….

In the last blog we looked at three of the gifts – or offices – given by our Lord to His Church: “…apostles…prophets…[and] evangelists….”  We covered the first three, and started on the last office mentioned:  “…pastors and teachers.”  Although some scholars identify five gifts, I believe there are only four – the fourth being the combination of the last two:  “…pastors and teachers….”

According to I Peter 5:2 (KJV), a pastor/teacher is to, “Feed the flock of God….”  The New King James Version says, “Shepherd the flock of God….”  Even today a good shepherd in Israel will love, lead, feed, care for and bring healing to his flock.

Paul, in Titus 1:5 through 9 and 2:1, gives a succinct list of qualifications of an ‘elder’ (verse 5) or a ‘bishop’ (verse 7).  These words were applied to the position of pastor/teacher in the early church. Paul told Titus to…

      …appoint elders…if a man is blameless, the husband of one wife, having
      faithful children not accused of dissipation or insubordination.  For a bishop
      must be blameless, as a steward of God, not self-willed, not quick-tempered,
      not given to wine, not violent, not greedy for money, but hospitable, a lover
      of what is good, sober-minded, just, holy, self-controlled, holding fast the
      faithful word as he has been taught, that he may be able by sound doctrine,
      both to exhort and to convict those who contradict….But…speak the things
      which are proper for sound doctrine….

So this pastor/teacher (elder, bishop) – called by God and given to His Church – will both set a good Christian example and properly teach his flock the Word of God.  This one will certainly help those under his authority to be Maturing In Christ!

Let’s briefly explore a controversial subject:  Many Christians, including respected scholars, say that two of the above-mentioned offices are not valid for today.  These are the first two mentioned – “…apostles…[and] prophets….”  They also negate the validity of most of the miraculous gifts put forth in I Corinthians 12:8 through 10:  “…the word of wisdom…the word of knowledge…faith…gifts of healings…the working of miracles…prophecy …discerning of spirits…different kinds of tongues…[and] the interpretation of tongues.”

•      Apostle – means ‘one sent.’  We are told in Eerdmans The New Bible Dictionary:

      The apostle, it is assumed, will be someone who has been a disciple of Jesus
      from the time of John’s baptism (‘the beginning of the gospel’) to the ascen-
      sion. He will be someone acquainted with the whole course of the ministry
      and work of Jesus (Acts 1:21, 22).  And, of course, he must be specifically a
      witness of the resurrection.

If this is true, then obviously, apostleship would be limited to a select few first century Christians – ending with the death of John around 100 AD.  But there are 19 individuals in the New Testament who are directly called apostle or implied to be one.  Also in Hebrews 3:1 it is written, “…consider the Apostle and High Priest of our confession, Christ Jesus….”

•      Prophet – As said in the last blog, “A prophet is both a fore-teller and a forth-teller.  Chosen and endowed by God, a prophet in the Bible often predicted the future.  But more often he or she spoke forth – or powerfully proclaimed – the Word of God.”

Evangelist and Bible teacher Oliver B. Greene wrote in his Ephesians commentary, “The apostles are all gone…. We have no prophets in the church today.” (page 150).  When the New Testament was completed – it is argued by those such as Mr. Greene – the miraculous gifts of I Corinthians 12 and the first two offices of Ephesians 4 ceased and are no longer available to today’s Christians.  The proof-text is I Corinthians 13:9 and 10 – “For we know in part and we prophesy in part.  But when that which is perfect has come [the New Testamant], then that which is in part will be done away.”  Many Christians and churches follow this anti-charismatic theology.

I am a charismatic believer.  I believe all Spiritual gifts and offices are to be an active part of the Body of Christ today.  In throwing out miraculous gifts and half the offices given to the Church, we do ourselves – and our Lord Jesus Christ – a great disservice!  And we cut off so much of God’s power to accomplish His mission on earth in these last days!

Our next blog on Monday will be entitled, What Is The Perfect To Come?  I will show why I believe ‘The Perfect’ is not the New Testament as so many say it is.

November 12, 2014

Ephesians 4:11-15

(All scripture is from the New King James Version unless otherwise indicated.)

Let’s continue our study on Ephesians 4:11 through 15 with some observations about what the Lord has given us to accomplish the task of Maturing In Christ.  Here again is our scripture:

      …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 the
      ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ, till we all come to the unity of
      the faith and the knowledge of the Son of God, to a perfect man, to the mea-
      sure of the stature of the fulness of Christ; that we should no longer be child-
      ren, tossed to and fro and carried about with every wind of doctrine, by the
      trickery of men, in the cunning craftiness, by which they lie in wait to deceive,
      but speaking the truth in love, may grow up in all things into Him who is the
      head — Christ….

God’s goal for Christians is “…to be conformed to the image of His Son…” (Romans 8:29), to such an extent that Jesus Christ will again have a physical body upon this earth – us!  We are to be His eyes, ears, mouth, arms and legs multiplied many times over because of the great number of obedient believers.  “He is the head of the body, the church…” (Colossians 1:18) – the head housing the brain that contains the mind – and He being omniscient, controls His multiplied Body by means of the Holy Spirit given to indwell every believer.  But to be properly led by our Lord, we are to “…grow up in all things into Him who is the head — Christ…” (verse 15).  Only as Maturing Christians can we be used to fulfill God’s work in the world.

So what does our Lord give us to facilitate Maturing In Christ?  “…He…gave some to be apostles, some prophets, some evangelists, and some pastors and teachers, for the equipping of the saints, for the work of the ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ…” (verses 11 and 12).  These are ministry gifts – offices given to the church.  They are not to be confused with the seven motivational gifts listed in Romans 12:6 through 8, or the nine manifestation gifts of I Corinthians 12:7 through 10.  By the way, the best study I have found on Spiritual gifts – concentrating on the seven motivational gifts – is by Don and Katie Fortune in their book, Discover Your God-Given Gifts.

Here, in Ephesians 4, four offices or ministry gifts are named: “…apostles…prophets… evangelists, and pastors and teachers.”  Some identify five gifts, but I agree with those who say the last gift mentioned is the combination of pastors and teachers, for pastors are also teachers!

•      Apostles – From Strong’s Greek Dictionary Of The New Testament – “a delegate…an ambassador of the gospel…a commissioner of Christ…[translated] apostle, messenger, he that is sent.”  Strong adds in parentheses, “…with miraculous powers….”

But according to Mark 16:17 and 18; John 14:12 and other scriptures, ‘miraculous powers’ are not limited to apostles!  And the title of ‘apostle’ is not limited to twelve special disciples of Jesus!  There are 19 people in the New Testament that are called apostles!

Examining the lives of the early disciples of Jesus Christ, apostles are much like missionaries today – chosen by God and sent out by other members of the Body of Christ to bring the gospel to the ends of the earth.

•      Prophets – A prophet is both a fore-teller and a forth-teller.  Chosen and endowed by God, a prophet in the Bible often predicted the future.  But more often he or she spoke forth – or powerfully proclaimed – the Word of God.

In Deuteronomy 18:21 the question is asked, “How shall we know the word which the Lord has not spoken? ”  The answer is in the next verse:

      When a prophet speaks in the name of the LORD, if the thing does not hap-
      pen, or come to pass, that is the thing which the LORD has not spoken; but
      the prophet has spoken it presumptuously; you shall not be afraid of him.

A true prophet of God – if he or she is predicting a future event – has to be 100% correct!

•      Evangelists – Strong defines an evangelist as “a preacher of the gospel” or good news.  The one occupying the office of evangelist concentrates on gospel proclamation.

•      Pastors and teachers – a pastor/teacher certainly will preach. But I Peter 5:2 (KJV) says, “Feed the flock of God which is among you, taking the oversight thereof… willingly…of a ready mind….”  So a pastor/teacher is a shepherd to the flock.  And like a Middle Eastern shepherd, he will love, lead, feed, care for and bring healing to the flock.

We will conclude this study on Maturing In Christ on Friday.

November 10, 2014

Ephesians 4:11-15

(All scripture is from the New King James Version unless otherwise indicated.)

Let’s continue to examine Ephesians 4:11 through 15:

      …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 the
      ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ, till we all come to the unity of
      the faith and the knowledge of the Son of God, to a perfect man, to the mea-
      sure of the stature of the fulness of Christ; that we should no longer be child-
      ren, tossed to and fro and carried about with every wind of doctrine, by the
      trickery of men, in the cunning craftiness, by which they lie in wait to deceive,
      but speaking the truth in love, may grow up in all things into Him who is the
      head — Christ….

God’s goal for us to be Jesus Christ.  Notice I did not say we are to be like Jesus Christ.  God wants us to be Him upon this earth.  When the Lord walked this earth, His purpose was to show forth the Father.  As He told Philip in John 14:8, “He who has seen Me has seen the Father….”  In Hebrews 1:3 it says Jesus is “…the brightness of His [God’s] glory, and the express image of His person….”  And Paul wrote in Colossians 2:9, “For in Him dwells all the fulness of the Godhead bodily.”  So not only did Jesus project a clear image of the Father, He also manifested the Holy Spirit.  As He told the disciples in John 14:16 and 17, “…I will pray the Father, and He will give you another Helper, that He may abide with you forever, even the Spirit of truth….”  The Greek word another means another of the same kind – the same kind as Jesus!  So Jesus shows forth to us the Trinity – Father, Son and Holy Spirit!  If you want to know what God is like – God in His fulness – take a good look at Jesus!

But Jesus is no longer upon this earth.  Or is He?  In our scripture, verse 12, we are referred to as “…the body of Christ….”  Paul summarizes the idea for us in Colossians 1:18:  “And He is the head of the body, the church….”  We are the only physical body that Jesus Christ now has on earth! “ And He is the head….”  We are to be in complete submission to Him as Jesus leads us.  The head contains the brain which controls the body in our physical being.  The body – if it is working properly in relation to the brain – just follows orders, carrying out the brain’s directions.

Jesus Christ knows exactly what to do with His body, the Church.  We are to simply follow His directions.  Ideally, we are to have no say in such matters, just obedience.  It is not that we are to be mindless automatons.  We, moment by moment, make our decisions.  He, Himself, showed us what to do when He prayed to His Father in the garden, “…nevertheless, not My will, but Yours be done.” (Luke 22:42).  If we consistently do this, Jesus will have His physical body on earth – us!  And, by the way, the more we submit to His Lordship, the more free and abundant our lives will be! (see John 8:32, 36; 10:10).

So we are to be Maturing In Christ.  As Paul said in our scripture, verses 14 and 15, “…we should no longer be children, tossed to and fro and carried about with every wind of doctrine…but…grow up in all things into Him who is the head — Christ….”  You can convince a young child of almost anything.  If you tell a three-year-old, “I have an elephant in the basement!” they would probably say, “Let’s go and see!”  But a mature thinking adult will discern between what is true and what is false.

There are many who use “…trickery…[and] cunning craftiness, by which they lie in wait to deceive…” (verse 14).  Or they themselves are deceived and pass on false information.  Jehovah’s Witnesses and Mormons who come to your door are usually totally convinced the false ways they are propagating are true and correct.  But such belief denies the Lord Jesus Christ as God’s Son, the Son of God, and denies our reliance upon His work He wrought on the cross for our redemption.  They may be very sincere, but error – even if sincerely believed – will take one to hell!  Too many church members fall for such error!  They are not well-enough grounded in the truth to discern false doctrine when it is presented!

How are we to grow up and be Maturing In Christ so we are not taken in “…with every wind of doctrine…?”  How do Secret Service agents train to spot counterfeit money?  Tim Challies who blogs on Challies.com, interviewed an expert on currency at the Bank of Canada.  He had questioned the old adage that agents concentrate first on real currency so they can then spot a phony quickly.  After receiving some basic training during the interview, he wrote, “It turns out that John MacArthur is correct.  Training in identifying counterfeit currency begins with studying genuine money.”

Study the real thing!  Get familiar with the truth!  Read, study, meditate upon, even memorize the Bible – God’s Word, the Truth revealed!  You will be Maturing In Christ, and you will be able to discern error when it is presented.

In Wednesday’s blog, we’ll consider what God has provided for His Church so Christians can be Maturing In Christ.

November 7, 2014

Ephesians 4:11-15

(All scripture is from the New King James Version unless otherwise indicated.)

Paul’s letter to the Ephesian Church was written to encourage believers to become all they could be in their Lord Jesus Christ.  He ministered in Ephesus longer than any other city during his thirty years of missionary ventures.  The Apostle was on his last trip – traveling by sea past the coast of Asia Minor.  At Miletus, just south of Ephesus, he called for the Ephesian church elders to meet him at the docks. He testified to them:

      You know, from the first day that I came to Asia, in what manner I always lived
      among you…how I kept back nothing that was helpful, but proclaimed it to you…
      testifying to Jews, and also to Greeks, repentance toward God and faith toward
      our Lord Jesus Christ….I have not shunned to declare to you the whole counsel
      of God…remember that for three years I did not cease to warn everyone night
      and day with tears…. (Acts 20:18, 19, 21, 27 and 31).

Three years in Ephesus!  The church there was strong, and the believers serious about being followers of Jesus.  So Paul – when he wrote them – went into more than the basics of the faith.  Here is part of his letter – Ephesians 4:11 through 15 – reminding the Christians of Ephesus about the gifts the Lord gave to His Church, and what the members of His Body should be doing to be Maturing In Christ:

      …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 the
      ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ, till we all come to the unity of
      the faith and the knowledge of the Son of God, to a perfect man, to the mea-
      sure of the stature of the fulness of Christ; that we should no longer be child-
      ren, tossed to and fro and carried about with every wind of doctrine, by the
      trickery of men, in the cunning craftiness, by which they lie in wait to deceive,
      but speaking the truth in love, may grow up in all things into Him who is the
      head — Christ….

I once was invited into the home of the mayor in whose town I was a pastor.  He wanted me to meet his daughter Melanie.  It was not often this man invited others to meet Melanie because, at 21 years of age, she was still in a crib, diapered, and no more physically and mentally developed than a newborn infant.  I was deeply moved as I prayed for this young women and her family.

We think a newborn is so cute, kicking and cooing in a crib.  And yet, when 21 years have passed, and that one has made no advances physically or mentally, we would see it as a tragedy!

Is it not also a tragedy when one who has accepted Jesus Christ as Savior is still years later spiritually kicking and cooing and feeding on pablum?  In the epistle to the Hebrews, the author pens this rebuke in chapter 5, verses 11 through 14:

      …we have much to say, and hard to explain, since you have become dull of
      hearing.  For though by this time you ought to be teachers, you need some-
      one to teach you again the first principles of the oracles of God; and you
      have come to need milk and not of solid food.  For everyone who partakes
      only of milk is unskilled in the word of righteousness, for he is a babe.  But
      solid food belongs to those who are of full age, that is, those who by reason
      of use have their senses exercised to discern both good and evil.

He goes on to say in Hebrews 6:1, “Therefore, leaving the discussion of the elementary principles of Christ, let us go on to perfection….”  And what does he say is elementary? The following foundation principles:

•      verse 1 – “…of repentance from dead works….”
•      verse 1 – “…of faith toward God….”
•      verse 2 – “…of the doctrine of baptisms….” (Notice that baptisms is plural!)
•      verse 2 – “…of laying on of hands….”
•      verse 2 – “…of resurrection of the dead….”
•      verse 2 – “…of eternal judgment.”

The author of Hebrews is saying that all these topics – and what the scripture says about them – are part of elementary teaching!  And I have met too many Christians – and I am familiar with too many churches where so little is known about such “…elementary principles of Christ…!”

What about you?  Are you studying God’s Word so you can be Maturing In Christ, and mastering “…the elementary principles of Christ…?”