And He Gave Some...

0:10Thank you for listening to the Sermon Audio Podcast for Crossroads Reformed Baptist Church in Rockdale, Texas. Crossroads Reformed Baptist Church is a reformed confessional Baptist church that meets every Lord's Day at 10 a.m. for Bible study and 11 a.m. for corporate worship. For more information about our church or for directions, you can visit us online at www.crbcrockdale.org. Grace and peace to you from our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.

0:40But you can turn now to the book of Ephesians, chapter four. Yes, you read that right. If you looked in your bulletin, we are only going to cover one uh one verse uh this morning. Uh we'll read a few more verses looking back, but we are only gonna preach from one uh verse. And as we look uh into this text this morning, I want to give you a little advanced notice or perhaps warning that this will be uh more teaching than is perhaps uh typical. But we do need to um look at these offices uh that Paul outlines this morning so that we can get to next week and the application and um and the gospel implications of these offices. And so this really is a kind of a part one of what will be at least two parts, considering why the church exists, um, why there is this unified body of Christ, what the ultimate purpose or end of the church is, and these church offices that Christ has given to the church. Um but to get there, we have to consider first those offices that Paul mentions, and that is what we will do today. And some of this will be a bit of a review for us, but Lord willing, uh, we will have some applications and that will hopefully give weight to these words from Paul this morning. Also pray that we are encouraged this morning as a church, that we are assured that there is a structure and there is an order that God has designed within his body. And as we begin, then let us consider once more how we got here. And because of the great and awesome and gracious things that God has done for us in Christ, that is the whole of chapters one to three, we are called then to walk in a manner that is worthy of this great calling to which we have been called. That was the beginning of chapter four. And because he himself, that is the Godhead and Christ, has done it all, all for his glory, our call in all things is to be humble and to be grateful. And to help us in this call, then, to walk worthy and to live humbly and gratefully, our God created the church. He created this unified body to be one as the Trinity is one, to be a reflection of himself and to be in unity with one another. And in that unity, then he provides varied gifts, varied offices, varied callings, so that he creates not uniformity, as we said last week, but he creates unity in and through diversity. He does this, that is, supplying all of these varied gifts, so that each member of the body has a valued and vital part to play in the body. And so that each member contributes to the body, that it may be supported, that it may grow, and that it may be maintained and matured. All of that then was thought of by the Godhead, was prepared by him, was foretold through the various Old Testament prophets, was ultimately fulfilled and completed by and through the Son, the one who descended and then ascended to distribute these gifts by the Spirit. Paul now focuses in this morning on those offices, those gifts which Christ gave specifically for the foundation laying and the administration of the word, that is the building up of the church. These are the offices of the Catholic universal church. This morning, then we're gonna look at each of those offices and see the purpose, the function, and the gospel connection of each of these callings given by Christ. I'm gonna give you a spoiler right from the gate. These are the only offices that the church has ever had. This is the only offices that the church ever will have concerning the administration of his word. And further, I believe, as I will hopefully, Lord willing, demonstrate, that there are only there are only four offices mentioned in the text here, not five as is typically taught. And I will endeavor to show why I believe the Bible teaches that all but one of these four offices have ceased and are no longer in operation today. I do pray that this is beneficial and that the Lord uses these words and his teachings this morning for the building up and the edification of his body. So stand with me once more then as we read. This is the word of the Lord. Therefore it says, when he ascended on high, he led a host of captives, and he gave gifts to men. And saying he ascended, what does it mean, but that he also descended into the lower regions of the earth? He who descended is the one who also ascended far above all the heavens, that he might fulfill all things. And he gave the apostles, the prophets, the evangelists, the shepherds and teachers. This is the word of the Lord. Lord, we thank you again for your word. We pray and ask, Lord, would you speak to us, Lord, by and through this word? Lord, open our hearts. Let us receive this word in humility and gratitude or teach us and grow us. We ask all these things in the name of Jesus. Amen. We begin then with the consideration of the apostles. Who were they? And I think that's a pretty easy question to answer, as we will see. What was the function of this office and why did it cease? And to answer who were they, we have to look to the tenth chapter, the Gospel of Matthew, and conveniently for us there is listed all twelve. And he called to him his twelve disciples, and he gave them the authority over the unclean spirits to cast them out and to heal every disease and every affliction. The names of the twelve apostles are these. First, Simon, who was called Peter and Andrew his brother, James, the son of Zebedee and John his brother, Philip and Bartholomew, Thomas and Matthew the tax collector, James the son of Alpheus and Thaddeus, Simon the zealot, and Judas Iscariot, who betrayed him. These are the twelve, the original twelve. And as we look into the qualifications of this particular office, I will demonstrate why I believe Paul filled the spot left vacant by Judas and not Matthias. And first, to be an apostle, you must have seen the risen Lord Jesus Christ. Paul says in 1 Corinthians 9, verse 1, Am I not free? He says. Am I not an apostle? He says, Have I not seen Jesus our Lord? Are not you my workmanship in the Lord? If to others I am not an apostle, at least I am to you, for you are the seal of my apostleship in the Lord. So Paul is grounding then his apostleship in the fact that he saw the Lord Jesus Christ. He saw him. And further, he does it again in the 15th chapter of 1 Corinthians, when he lists off all the people to whom Christ appeared to. If you remember that section, he says, the words of Paul, last of all, as to one untimely born, he appeared also to me. So Paul did indeed see Christ. And it is quite clear that seeing Christ was the validation or a validation for his apostleship. Please hear then from Paul's own inspired speech from that fifteenth chapter of 1 Corinthians, Paul was the last person on earth to ever see the resurrected Christ until he returns again. As Paul says, last of all, as to one untimely born, he appeared also to me. Let me pause there and say that that fact alone demonstrates the cessation of the apostolic office because no one else has ever seen Christ. So no one claiming to have seen Christ in bodily form can be telling the truth because Paul says he was the last one to see him. And no one claiming to be an apostle today can be telling the truth because they haven't seen the risen Lord Jesus Christ, what scripture demonstrates was a requirement for apostleship. And the next feature for apostleship is that they have and must have been called directly by Christ. Not called through the church, not called through man or by man, but called to this high and special office by the person of Christ himself. We have churches today who are commissioning apostles or passing down the apostolic authority, but this is not supported by Scripture. And it is for that reason that I would argue that Paul is and was the twelfth apostle and not Matthias, as Matthias was called through man and not directly by Christ. And that's no shade thrown to Matthias. He will be far nearer to the throne of grace than I ever hoped to be. But if we are trying to be faithful to Scripture, we can and must say that Paul was the twelfth, and there is none other after. The other feature of the apostles, I'll go through these very quickly, is that they received supernatural revelation about the nature and the plans of God that were unknown or that were unclear to previous generations. This is Ephesians chapter 3. We went through this. Verse 3, Paul says, How the mystery was made known to me by revelation, as I have written briefly. When you read this, you can perceive my insight into the mystery of Christ, which was not made known to the sons of men in other generations as it has now been revealed to his holy apostles and prophets by the Spirit. So there was some divine or special revelation given to the apostles to fill in the gaps and to complete this mystery of the gospel, the fullness of God's plan of redemption. Again, we say, once that mystery has been revealed, and the plan of redemption has been fully given, what need is there for further revelation about that which has already been fully revealed? These apostles were also given special authority. Their inspired speech and writing was infallible. It was without error, it was scripture. As the apostle Peter says of Paul, his writings were holy scripture. Their words must be obeyed. They contain no error. And surely this can be said of no one today. And finally, these apostles, they were given supernatural abilities to validate their message and support this revelation. They were given gifts, supernatural gifts. Hebrews 2, verse 4 says, While also God bore witness by signs and wonders and various miracles and by gifts of the Holy Spirit distributed according to his will. This is the witness that God is bearing through them about the revelation that they are giving. Even Christ Himself said that these signs and wonders that he did were for the purpose of validating and confirming his authority and his message, specifically his message of forgiveness of sins, salvation. So the signs and wonders were a required feature of the apostle because those signs were necessary to validate that revelation. Without the signs, how can we trust that what they say is not from a demon or from their own imagination? But with the signs, we can be sure that the revelation is valid and that it was from God. Scripture makes that clear. John chapter 3, verse 1 and 2. Now there was a man of the Pharisees named Nicodemus, a ruler of the Jews, and this man came to Jesus by night and said to him, Rabbi, we know that you are a teacher from God, for no one can do these signs that you do unless he is from God. So the signs, again, were a validation of the message. So I would say, and I think we can all say to all those apostles, I'm putting that in air quotes today, who claim authority and revelation, show me a sign. Show me a sign. If you really are from God, and you really are an apostle, in obedience to the testimony of Scripture, you have to do something to validate that revelation. Show me something. Raise someone from the dead, give someone back their sight, cause a crippled person to walk. If they can't, they aren't speaking from God. Let me also note here that Revelation 21 makes clear that there will always and only be twelve. And the wall of the city had twelve foundations, and on them were the twelve names of the twelve apostles of the Lamb. This is at the end. There's twelve. Always and only. Okay, but why is that important? Man, what's the point of that? Why is it important for us to know this? Why is what are the gospel implications there for us? It's important for us to know the truth so that we follow the truth. It's important for us to encourage others to follow the truth. It's important for us so that we have a defense against those who wish to undermine or subvert the completed work of God. To add to it, or to take away from it. It's also important for our faith and our assurance to have a finished and completed word. To have something that we can look to and depend on. We can have a grounding of our faith and our life so that we are not tossed to and fro by every whim and every idea and every new revelation that man may bring along. So that we ground our lives on the finished word and the authority of Christ and his word alone. A great comfort that we have. This is not just a concern to be addressed within fringe groups or even charismatic groups of Christianity, but the continuation of apostolic authority or apostolic succession, as it's called. This is a fundamental teaching of the Roman Catholic Church. The Pope, they say, has the succession of apostolic authority and can speak infallibly and can speak with authority and has the authority to give teaching and to give new revelation apart from Scripture. This is the teaching of the Roman Catholic Church. This puts man then, or amen, and his teaching at least on level ground with the apostles. It compromises the once-for-all faith delivered to the saints. It compromises the very foundation on which we stand. So the apostolic succession or secession, not succession, we teach apostolic secession. It absolutely has gospel implications. There is no further apostolic succession. And further, we know that there was never an intent to continue the apostolic authority, and I'll give you an example of the reason why is when James, he was an apostle, the brother of John, the apostle, when he was put to death by Herod in Acts chapter 12, you can read it when you get home this afternoon. When James was put to death, he was never replaced. His spot was left vacant. So I'll be honest then again. The Roman Catholic Church's teaching on apostolic succession is very dangerous. We would say it's wrong on this issue. Church, you can trust the finished word. You can trust the word that you have in front of you. This is given to us by Christ through the apostles and the prophets, which we'll look at next. Not only can we trust it, we can trust that what we have been given is sufficient. It's all that we need in terms of our revelation of God and his plans. It's all we need for life and godliness. This word that we have in front of us is sufficient. And anything more is attempting to lay again a foundation that has already been laid. Okay. He gave the apostles, and he also gave the prophets. And the prophets were given to the church by Christ to support the apostolic work in the giving of revelation and in the apostolic teaching to the church. Their authority was and had very strict guidelines, and their authority was always under the apostles, as they were not called directly by Christ Himself, but rather empowered by the Spirit and through the apostolic revelation. Further, even the prophets were empowered and they were gifted with various signs and wonders to validate their words and their message because they were too giving revelation from God. And this was clearly a grace of God. This was clearly a temporary calling, though. The apostles were laying the foundation. But this took time in the pre-modern world without the technology and the things that we have. This took time. And scripture had not yet been fully completed. And twelve men couldn't be everywhere all the time. So it pleased the Lord for a time, as he has done in seasons in previous human history, to support the revelation of his gospel and the mystery of the church, to give the prophets to supercharge the giving of the gospel message and the laying down and the foundation of his revelation. And we know this was a temporary season in the church, because as we move into the later pastoral epistles given by Paul and others, there is no mention at all of the prophets or their function in the church as a continuing administration of the word. They're not mentioned at all. The opposite is true, actually. And do you know what John says that is a test to determine whether or not these false prophets are from God? Does he say there to test them with signs and wonders? He says this they are from the world, therefore they speak from the world, and the world listens to them. We, John says, are from God. Whoever knows God listens to us. Whoever is not from God does not listen to us. By this we know the spirit of truth and the spirit of error. That is to say, those who are from God will close their mouths and listen to the apostolic and the prophetic teaching that has already been given, was already being taught, and was already validated by God. And the teaching is to guard what was already been given. This is what Paul says to Titus, to Timothy, what John says there in his epistles. To guard what has already been given, to protect the teaching and the foundation that has already been laid, not wait for new teaching. The emphasis is to preach and teach the word that has been given. And we can see that progression happen in the New Testament. And we would expect then, as that transition happens from revelation to teaching and to preaching, that there would also be a cessation or a stoppage of those signs and wonders that ordinarily accompanied the giving of the new revelation. And no surprise, this is exactly what we see. Our brother Timothy was suffering from some kind of stomach ailment. We don't know exactly what it was, but Paul's advice to him was what? To take a little wine for his stomach. Not, hey Timothy, next time I see you, don't worry about it. You can touch my cloak or get near me. We'll fix that stomach right up. But rather, we see the transition to working within those ordinary or natural means of healing. Since those supernatural means were clearly beginning to fade. Further, 2 Timothy chapter 4, verse 20, Paul says that he leaves behind Trophimus in the city of Miletus because he was ill, it says. Paul didn't take him with him because he was sick. He left him behind. And we read it earlier in Matthew 10, but it says that the apostles were gifted with the ability to heal all diseases. All diseases. And this gifting was allowing them to heal through their handkerchiefs, through their garments, even walking through Peter's shadow was healing. But why now do we see that such abilities clearly are fading because Paul does not heal Prophemus? Because the work of the apostles and the prophets and laying the foundation of the gospel and the revelation and the mystery of the church and the redemptive plans of God, this was completed nearly. So such gifts were no longer necessary. And as a result, these offices and the accompanying gifts were passing away. 1 Corinthians 13, verse 8. Love never ends. As for prophecies, they will pass away. As for tongues, they will cease. As for knowledge, it will pass away, for we know in part, and we prophesy in part. But when the perfect comes, the partial will pass away. Have you heard this before? By teaching the cessation or the stoppage of these gifts and these offices and those accompanying miracles, signed gifts, and that we are limiting what God is able to do. We are putting him in a box. I fully reject such arguments and would say that what does put God in a box is to say that he must continue to operate in that specific way that we want him to, despite the fact that Scripture teaches and demonstrates something contrary to that. This goes with not just this topic, but with many other topics. When we claim that we don't want to limit God by leaving the door open for or outright supporting something that we want to be true about God, but that are not supported by the testimony of Scripture, but instead we say we just want to not limit him. This sounds to me like those people are trying to fit God in their box while we are simply trying to take him as he reveals himself to us in Scripture. Also note that this doesn't mean that we don't believe that God still works miraculously and supernaturally, not at all. Perhaps the most supernatural thing that our God can ever do is to regenerate a dead man's soul back to life again. And to work supernaturally through his providence and even through man's will to accomplish his purpose in all things, even in and through sin. This is a supernatural act. But such a work from a holy and gracious God is not flashy enough for us. But I say, on the authority of God's word, this is the supernatural work of God in man in this present age, to resurrect dead souls and to work in and through his providence. So we thank God for giving the apostles, we thank him for giving the prophets, we thank him for validating their work through signs and wonders, and we thank him for his supernatural work. And using that word applied by the Spirit to resurrect his church, his body from death to life. Foundational for us then is that we have here in front of us the words of life, the supernatural words of life. We carry with us the power of the gospel. And we have the assurance that God is indeed working in us with the same supernatural and providential power to grow and keep his church. This is his work. Let's move to the evangelists. As I alluded to in the introduction, why would I say that this office of evangelists has also ceased? Why is this a temporary office? Aren't there still evangelists today? Surely we believe that. There are indeed evangelists today, in a broad sense. They are not or should not be operating under this office, though, nor were we given any specific guidance on this office in the New Testament. We're not given its function, its qualifications, nowhere in the New Testament. I think this will become clear when we define what Paul was meaning by this word evangelists and who these men were. These evangelists were the early church planters. They were called and commissioned by the apostles themselves. 2 Timothy 4, 5, Paul says to Timothy, but as for you, always be sober-minded, endure suffering, do the work of an evangelist, fulfill your ministry. So clearly there are distinct callings, there's a distinct ministry that Paul had given to Timothy. The same could be said for Titus and Silas, there's many others. Barnabas, perhaps, could be in that category. These were not apostles, they were not prophets, but they were clearly had a very important and foundational role in the establishment of the early church. We can further see in Scripture that Timothy, an evangelist, as noted by Paul himself, Timothy is given very clear instructions on the direction and the appointment of evangelists? No, of overseers, of elders, bishops, pastors, if you want to use that word. We're not given any guidance on the appointment of further evangelists. If this office was intended by God to continue, we would expect him to give us some guidance on how we continue it. But he is silent. And from the testimony of Scripture, we can conclude then that this evangelist office also ceased. The apostles then, receiving the mystery of the gospel and the revelation of God, the prophets were also given revelation. They act as like force multipliers for the gospel early on. The evangelists that were sent out by the apostles to establish those early churches. They were building the foundation of the church. They were establishing the order and the model of the church, since that was very new. And that order and that model then moving forward was to call and to appoint qualified men who would oversee the church, who would guard the gospel as it is brought into its fullness in Christ. What we have and what we see today is these self-appointed evangelists who operate independently of any church authority, they circumvent the clear order of the church. Or, perhaps even more common, is we have a generation of young people who feel a call to run off to Africa and to be an evangelist to do to a little reached tribe in Africa. They have little training, they don't meet the biblical qualifications, to lead a church, yet they are trying to start churches. And rarely are they ever operating under strict authority of the church. These are self-called, self-appointed missionaries that have no biblical basis for such an office, nor is there any guidance for such an office in the New Testament church. And it is for those reasons that I would argue that this specific office has ceased. And it was our it was the intent of God in the organization of his church to transition all the governance and the work of the church through a singular office that would continue until the church is brought into her fullness. And it is through this office alone that the present work of the church is being stewarded under. So that means that we don't evangelize anymore, right? Is that what I'm saying? Of course not. But only in proper order do we do things. Through the calling and through the oversight of the church. And those who have been called and who have been gifted to oversee the church would then call and commission those missionaries. To be a missionary or to go and be an evangelist even in your workplace, preach the gospel. This is good and commanded in Scripture. But that is not to hold the office of an evangelist. Finally, then very briefly, I'll mention the final office, which is the shepherd teacher. And the NASB wins this one as it translates the Greek much closer. My translation says in verse 11, and he gave the apostles, the prophets, the evangelists, the shepherds and teachers. If you have the NASB or the KJV, it will say some apostles, it will say some prophets, it will say some evangelists, and then it finally will say some shepherds and teachers. But even with the ESV where it uses the word the there instead of some, we see that it's only used in front of the word shepherd. It's not used some shepherds, some teachers, but some shepherds and teachers. The omission is without question by design, and it is to communicate that this fourth office, the one that remains, is the one in which we are given clear guidance in and through the rest of the New Testament. And that is the office of shepherd teacher, or elder, or overseer. And perhaps both words are used there by saying some shepherds and teachers, because there is a varied emphasis on this continuation of the office, whereby some shepherds are more shepherdy and some are more teachy. But it's still the same office. We err when we think that some are called to be a pastor and to lead a church, and others are called to just teach. Such a splitting of this office is not demonstrated in the New Testament, nor is the guidance given in the New Testament that we should split this office or minimize one role over the other. But this is the only office that remains. It is one office, and it must be held by men only, as we are given guidance in the New Testament, and we are given clear guidance on the qualifications of this in the New Testament by Paul. And there is a reason for this. And much of that explanation is what we will get to next week. But what about deacons very quickly? Where do they fit in? Isn't that an office? Scripture does give us a clear office of the deacon, guidance for that office. But the reason why Paul doesn't mention it here is that he is concerned with the building up of the church through the preaching and the teaching of the word, the equipping of the saints, he says, the spiritual maturity of the body, the guarding of the gospel, the protecting of its doctrines, these New Testament offices then were in succession and with some overlap, the apostle, then the prophet, and the evangelist, and now the overseer and the deacon, while it is a function of the church, it is a function of help. It does not bear the responsibility of the word and the gospel, so Paul does not address it here. Okay, I think that's clear. In conclusion, then we see that Paul is laying out these gifted offices to point us to how Christ has built his church. How Christ is building his body. And Christ is doing this in a very systematic, as we've seen through the all of the New Testament, very systematic, very orderly. And this is very reassuring for us, church. It should be. It should be very reassuring and comforting for us. We have a body that is shaped and formed in a structure that we can know, we can see, and we can depend on. A form and structure that is stable, that is unchanging. It is in good order, that reflects the good order of our God. This supports our communication of the gospel, doesn't it? And what is our communication of the gospel? That we have a God, we worship a God, we can depend on a God who is stable, who is ordered, who is verifiable, who is dependable, a God that we know, a God that we can rely on, a God that we can get to know more and more. Imagine a workplace with no structure. Imagine a workplace with no order. Imagine a workplace with no hierarchy, no leadership, no policy, no handbook, no finished handbook. What would that look like? It would look like everyone doing right in their own eyes, according to their own inward convictions. Church, that is judgment. It's not the gospel. This is not our God. This is not our gospel. Yes, the gospel is mysterious, yes, it is miraculous, but it's also grounded, it's also dependable, it's also knowable. There is no confusion, there is no disorder, it is truth, it is love, it is faithfulness, it is order. It is the word of God. And it was by grace given to us. So then next week we'll look at the fruits then, or the calling of this order, when we embrace this unity, when we follow that structure that Christ has so graciously given to us. And that's what we'll look at next week. Amen. Let's pray. Lord, we thank you, Lord, for giving to us these gifted men, the apostles and the prophets and the evangelists, Lord, in times past, that you gave them your word, you gave them your truth, you gave them your revelation, you verified and validated them with various signs and wonders, Lord, so that we can know that we have a word that is verified, it's dependable, it's trusted. And it is from you. We thank you, Lord, that you have completed that word and that worked, and you have preserved it for us and printed it beautifully for us, that we can have it and hold it and read it and know it. But help us to not be like those men who John warned that would not listen to him and that prove themselves to be false because they would not hear his words. But let us not neglect the word that you have given to us. Let us not be foolish, but let us be humble. Let us submit to ourselves to your finished word. Help us to listen to your word, to hear your word, and by your spirit teach us the word that we may grow in maturity. That we'd be guarded by your spirit. This church, Lord, with the office that remains, Lord, help us, Lord, as overseers, as shepherds, as teachers, Lord, continue to guard this word to equip the saints for the great work that you would have, Lord. Help us. Help us, Lord. We ask all these things in the name of God. Amen.