Salvation is of God. This was held out from the first. The judgment pronounced upon the serpent was in view of salvation. By sin came death, and the first appearance of death was murder. But if the first death was a murder, the first soul that left the earth went straight up to heaven. Sin and death were there in terrible power, but God's mercy was there too. Self-righteousness, and its concomitants, hatred and murder, on the one side, and on the other, faith, righteousness, and divine grace. If Satan gave such early proof of the power he had acquired over man, God at the same time showed how salvation could come in long before the head of the serpent would be crushed. And all God's dealings with men shows that salvation is His purpose, though the fullness was necessarily not declared till Christ came. Man's utter ruin must first be proved; then was the due time. God is now declared to be a Savior God (see Epp. to Tim. and Titus): a name which has special reference to this present day, a day which began with the cross. He is saving, not judging. The world ignores this great fact, and is busy with its own purposes and plans, promising great things to itself, a millennium of its own making. Many of God's saints are occupied with its religious schemes and imagine they are promoting the happiness of the world, forgetting, and practically denying, that judgment already lies upon it. All Christians of course know that the unbeliever is eternally lost; but this regards only the individual. The truth is that the world as a system is judged and doomed to destruction; and God is now calling out and separating from it the heirs of salvation, i.e., all who believe. Hence His name—God our Savior.
Amid all the noise and bustle of men, the clashings of governments, the schemes of companies and of individuals, God is working quietly but certainly, and gathering souls for Himself out of every condition. Satan and men strive to hinder; but even as Jehovah has decreed that His anointed shall sit enthroned upon His holy hill of Zion, so also is it His purpose to have a redeemed people who are according to the same purpose called, justified, and glorified (Rom. 8:28-3028And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose. 29For whom he did foreknow, he also did predestinate to be conformed to the image of his Son, that he might be the firstborn among many brethren. 30Moreover whom he did predestinate, them he also called: and whom he called, them he also justified: and whom he justified, them he also glorified. (Romans 8:28‑30)). Let believers think of this and cease to be occupied with the advances of civilization and education, which are only a more refined way of committing sin, and very far from being a remedy (as some dream) for the evils of the world. On the contrary civilization and education bring their own special evils. Let us, consider this one great and immense fact—God is saving souls.
To be delivered from the wrath to come, through infinite grace, is only a part of God's salvation. The Salvation which we know is much more than being sheltered from the Judge by the blood sprinkled on the door-post, more even than the forgiveness of sins, though that is “according to the riches of His grace.” Forgiveness is only the first step in the career of glory to which we are predestinated. A far higher aspect in glory is the being conformed to the imago of His Son. And both the grace and the discipline of God are now in full activity in view of it. The inward man is renewed day by day; the Spirit's work in the soul is progressive, and so we grow in grace and in the knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. But one mighty word shall in an instant change these corruptible bodies into the likeness of Christ's body of glory; and so God's purpose concerning is will be accomplished.
It is now the daily renewal of the inward man, and for this not the voice of the archangel, and the trump of God, but moral means and instruments according to His will and wisdom.
“And He gave some apostles; and some prophets; and some evangelists; and some pastors and teachers; for the perfecting of the saints, unto the work of the ministry, unto the edifying of the body of Christ; till we all come, in the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God, unto a perfect man, unto the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ.”
The greater gifts, apostles and prophets, have ceased. They were the foundations of the household of God, “Jesus Christ Himself being the chief corner stone (chap. 2:20). They were men inspired of God. The peculiar mark of an apostle was authority to act fully and finally in the church for Christ; as a prophet's was, revealing new truth, or applying the word already revealed to present facts and to events yet future. Paul was both, and also Peter and John. They stand foremost. In their writings both functions are manifest: authority, as when Paul wrote to the Corinthians (1 Cor. 5; 2 Cor. 2); new truth, as in his Epistles to the Thessalonians (1 Thess. 4, &c) and in his other Epistles. So John in the Apocalypse. But if the foundation gifts are gone, others remain to carry on the building. Evangelists, pastors and teachers are the Lord's gifts, not to lay another foundation but to build upon that which is laid. “Other foundations can no man lay.” God's purpose in providing these workers. is for the perfecting of the saints individually, in ministerial work generally, and also that the body of Christ as a whole may be edified, till we all come to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ.
Pastors may be the least prominent and most rare, certainly not the least efficient and valued of the servants of Christ, nor the least needed. The pastor is a quiet and unobtrusive gift, his labor is with the individual saint, rather than with the assembly. He is qualified to enter into the more private sorrows and trials of saints. That which makes him a true pastor—one of the “gifts” is, that he is used of God to strengthen and administer comfort to the tried ones of the flock, and, also to rebuke where needed.
His is rather a secret work for the best part known only to the Lord, but which will have its public reward equally with the more prominent gifts.
Among teacher's are greater difference's than among pastors and evangelists.” The whole Word of God in its varied depths is their storehouse. Each according to His measure able to unfold and apply the word to the need of the assembly, braiding up in, faith, confirming hope, and raising the moral and spiritual tone of the Meeting. They who are thus used of God are truly His “gifts,” and the proof is that saints are edified and instructed; the church is consolidated by their ministry. Some are able to give the prophetic word its due place in the minds and hearts of the children of God. But we must remember that the Epistles are designated “prophetic writings” (Rom. 16:2626But now is made manifest, and by the scriptures of the prophets, according to the commandment of the everlasting God, made known to all nations for the obedience of faith: (Romans 16:26)). In a subordinate sense these might be called prophets, not as foretelling, nor as being “foundations,” but as helping believers to understand the drift and scope of the prophets, of the Old Testament as of the New. And the evidence of the Spirit's teaching in them will be that Christ is seen as the Object of all prophecy, His glory and exaltation the grand theme from first to last. Others teach in doctrine whether of the church and its calling and special hope, or of the first principles of our salvation. These last may be called teachers of the gospel; they are not necessarily evangelists. Nor is every talker in the meeting a teacher; the gift is known by the blessing which follows. So while there are some able to instruct in the higher truths (so to say) of revelation, there are others whose sphere is the unfolding of the simple gospel for the establishing of young converts, yea, sometimes also of old believers; and these are surely of not less, perhaps of more general, importance for assemblies—looking at their present condition—than those who soar higher in the region of revealed truth. But God suits His gifts according to the need of saints. He has one end in view, “Till we all come in the unity of the faith, and of the knowledge of the Son of God, unto a perfect man, unto the measure of the stature, of the fullness of Christ.”
Now the teacher of the gospel differs from the evangelist whose special field of labor is in the world among the unsaved. He is a fisher of men; the teacher of the gospel is for the feeding of the babes in God's household; and these, though closely allied, are distinct gifts, having different spheres. It not infrequently happens that the gospel teacher mourns on account of the absence of conversions when he addresses sinners, and similarly the pure evangelist has not his usual freedom when his hearers are for the most part believers. But each “gift” is for a special work, to which he is appointed. Let then the teacher wait on his teaching (see Rom. 12:4-84For as we have many members in one body, and all members have not the same office: 5So we, being many, are one body in Christ, and every one members one of another. 6Having then gifts differing according to the grace that is given to us, whether prophecy, let us prophesy according to the proportion of faith; 7Or ministry, let us wait on our ministering: or he that teacheth, on teaching; 8Or he that exhorteth, on exhortation: he that giveth, let him do it with simplicity; he that ruleth, with diligence; he that showeth mercy, with cheerfulness. (Romans 12:4‑8)), and the evangelist on his preaching. Rarely do we see both functions in the same servant. Paul was a “gift” in whom all these offices and qualities were combined; he was at once apostle, prophet, teacher, pastor, and evangelist, and most prominent and zealous in each.
What then are the marks by which the evangelist, as a distinct “gift,” may be known? Not necessarily by accurate enunciations of doctrine. His intense zeal for souls that sometimes carries him beyond the ordinary limits of earnestness is not conducive to, though not incompatible with, doctrinal accuracy of expression. The love of God to a lost world, the certainty of salvation to them that believe are his staple themes. And in urging faith on the lost, repentance is sometimes apparently lost sight of. But there is no true saving faith without repentance, Faith (so-called) without self-judgment is nothing more than the mere assent of the natural mind, not a Spirit-formed faith in the heart (see Rom. 10:88But what saith it? The word is nigh thee, even in thy mouth, and in thy heart: that is, the word of faith, which we preach; (Romans 10:8)). When the sun of tribulation arises, this kind of human belief withers away. Sorrowful instances of such cases recur to the writer's mind, as doubtless also to the reader.
Another mark of the earnest evangelist is his fearlessness; boldness in speaking to every one, as well in the public street as in private. What think you of a zealous preacher accosting a man “of reputation” in the common thoroughfare with, “If you were to die to night, where would you spend eternity?” Certainly the world will, and does, resent such interference with its ease and pleasure. But while all servants are told to be diligent, and “instant in season and out of season,” I doubt if such a case as is alluded to can find a warrant therein: especially when we have the example of Paul who spoke of full grace privately to them of reputation (Gal. 2:22And I went up by revelation, and communicated unto them that gospel which I preach among the Gentiles, but privately to them which were of reputation, lest by any means I should run, or had run, in vain. (Galatians 2:2)) of course in the church. Yet who of us would forbid the preacher? What are social proprieties in view of eternity?
But not the burning zeal, not the ever readiness to speak, nor boldness, however great (and the Pentecostal church prayed for boldness for the Lord's servants, Acts 4:2929And now, Lord, behold their threatenings: and grant unto thy servants, that with all boldness they may speak thy word, (Acts 4:29)), are the only, or even the essential, mark of the evangelist who is truly a “gift.” A man may have all these, be abundant in labors, and have a real love for souls, and yet not a “gift.” He who is, has souls for his hire, he is used for their conversion. He may be comparatively unready in speech, not over bold, not clear perhaps as to doctrine on many points (I do not refer to fundamental principles) but if men are brought to God through his preaching, he is a “gift” in the meaning of this scripture. God brings hundreds of men to hear him preach, and by the power of His own word gathers heirs from among them. In the judgment of men, yea, of saints, he may be accounted the weakest of preachers, but if God saves by his instrumentality, he is the one designated “evangelist” in the scriptural meaning of the word. There are preachers who are not evangelists.
The overflowing zeal which leads to a readiness to accredit the mere appearance of conversion, through his intense desire, unfits the evangelist in a measure to judge of the reality of conversions so as to bring souls into communion, and no one is more liable to be deceived than an evangelist in this. But receiving into fellowship is no part of the work of an evangelist, nor of any other “gift,” nor, of all the gifts combined. It is the assembly that must receive. It is the duty of the evangelist to bring those who have been converted to the church, that all, especially those best qualified, may judge, and that the assembly may receive into communion. The pastor, the teacher, and the evangelist, are of course part of the assembly, and have a voice as any other members. But the assembly, not the, evangelist, receives. Not even an apostle would receive or put away apart from the church. The apostle may, with the authority he has received from the Lord, command the assembly to put away or receive; and if Paul referred both these acts to the church at Corinth (see 1 Cor. 5, 2 Cor. 2) much more should a simple evangelist now defer to the judgment of the church. The Corinthian assembly was in a low condition, but it is commanded to act. Paul speaks by direct inspiration of the Holy Spirit: we are bound no less. The ruin-state of the church does not enfeeble the duty.
This solemn responsibility which rests upon the assembly needs calm and spiritual discernment. How sorrowful if through haste one is brought in whom the Lord would not; nor less so when one whom the Lord would, is kept out through want of the power of discernment on the part of those who visit the newly converted! To visit such wisely is pastoral work, but not every visitor is a pastor. The one seeking fellowship may be so unintelligent as to appear very unsatisfactory; he feels the change wrought in his soul, but can only say he is happy; professes to know his sins are forgiven, but has not yet learned how to express it to meet the approbation of his visitor. The true pastor can discern where there is reality, where the unintelligent and undiscerning visitor sees nothing but human feeling produced by sentimental preaching, and on the other hand is ready to accredit one who has nothing more than intellectual knowledge of the truth. This is the defect of those who assume the functions of pastor without being a “gift.” These “visitors” cannot be ignored; but after due time given, unintelligent objections must not be allowed to overrule the voice of the spiritual and discerning.
These gifts are men of like passions, and the brightest has to watch lest the wily foe use the position of the “gift” against communion and singleness of eye in his service. The evangelist, for instance, may feel aggrieved if his converts are not received upon his own testimony. But this would be taking from the assembly what it is responsible for to the Lord. The evangelist may be sound in his judgment of any given case, and the assembly wrong: nevertheless he must bow to the assembly and not relax in diligent service. Let him spread the matter before the Lord, Who will, at the right moment, make all plain. (To be continued.)