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ChristŐs Gift

Ephesians 4:11-12

 

Hearing the Word of God preached is so important that our risen Savior has specifically given the ministry of the gospel to his church as one of his chief ascension gifts (Ephesians 4:11-12; Psalms 68:18-19).

God has always gifted specific, chosen men for the work of the ministry, men he has specifically called to this great work to serve the souls of men. Jude tells us, that ŇEnoch, the seventh from Adam, prophesied (or preached) concerning the LordŐs coming with ten thousand of his saints to judgment.Ó Peter tells us that Noah was Ňa preacher of righteousness,Ó the righteousness of God. God never left himself without witness, even in those earliest times, but at sundry times and after in diverse ways, spoke to our fathers by the prophets.

After the giving of the law, the Lord God constantly separated to himself a certain order of men to pray for, preach to, and serve his people; to lead, guide, and rule his people by his Word. Israel always had her prophets and her priests. Though the Jews were often carried away into captivity, and because of their sins scattered abroad among the nations, yet God faithfully and graciously kept up a remnant of prophets and preachers, like Isaiah, Jeremiah, Ezekiel, Daniel, and others, to reprove, instruct, and call his elect to repentance.

      Great as those days were, we live in a better day with better provisions. Many talk about the old days and old preachers as if the men called, gifted, and sent of God to his church today are somewhat deficient. That is not the case. We have the complete Revelation of God in Holy Scripture. GodŐs church today benefits from more than 2000 years of gospel preaching. In our day, in spite of the rampant heresies of this apostate religious age, we are blessed of God with the clearest, fullest preaching of the gospel this world has ever known.

      When our Lord Jesus Christ, our great High Priest, had through the eternal Spirit offered himself as a full, perfect, sufficient, effectual sacrifice and satisfaction for the sins of his people, and after his resurrection had all power committed to him both in heaven and earth, gave commission to his Apostles, and in them to all succeeding gospel preachers, to Ňgo into all the world and preach his Gospel to every creature,Ó promising to Ňbe with us, (to guide, assist, strengthen, and comfort us always, even) unto the end of the world

      As it is the responsibility of GodŐs servants everywhere to preach the gospel (1 Corinthians 9:16), it is your responsibility to hear the message God sends his servant to deliver. But most people utterly despise GodŐs gift. They do despite to the Spirit of grace, crucify the Son of God afresh, and put him to an open shame by willfully refusing to attend GodŐs ordained means of grace. How terrible the end of such people will be! They despise the heavenly manna of the gospel, counting it a worthless thing. Our Savior declares that it will be more tolerable for Tyre and Sidon, for Sodom and Gomorrah, than for those who despise the gospel. Better that men had never heard of a Savior being born, than after they have heard, not to give heed to the ministry of those who are employed as GodŐs ambassadors to declare the good news of his free, saving grace in Christ.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Don Fortner

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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