Abbeville progress. (Abbeville, Vermilion Parish, La.) 1913-1944, 1913-09-27

are described in general terms Ia
the following verse as apostles, proph
cts, evangelists, pastors and teach
ers.
Note this. that while we all believe
in education and especially in an ed
ucated ministry, yet all the colleges,
and seminaries and Bible institutes
in the world can not make such apOs-
tie, prophet, evangelist. pastor or
teacher. They have tried TO make
them and have turned out graduates
that looked and acted like them, per-
haps, but they were not the real thing.
and the church has suffered by the
imposition. a true apostle, prophet,
evangelist, pastor or teacher is the
gift of the Great Head of the Church
in his body. He is a Spirit-taught and
Spirit-endowed man, and when the
church sees or hears such an one it
recognizes his divine commission
whether he has the imprimatur of d
school or not
What Ministers Are For.
Now, specifically, what are these
gifts bestowed upon the church for?
The answe~ of the text verse is, For
the perfecting of the saints which
means all true believers, for every be-
lever on the Lord Jesus Christ be-
comes a saint the moment he so be-
leves. But when the saints are thus
perfected" enlightened, strengthened
in the knowledge of the Lord, what
are they to do? The answer is TO
for the edifying building up of the
body of Christ" Verse 12.}
Here comes in the question of Chris
tan vocations for young people who
may not have the gift of apostles.
prophets, evangelists, pastors or teach
ers. There is a work of ministering
for them to do nevertheless, when
they are perfected" for it by those
who have been truly set apart for that
task.
What is the nature of this work? II
the student output of the Moody Bible
institute may be taken as a criterion,
there is a wide variety in it. We have
been taking a census of 5000 to 5000
young men and women who have pass
ed through our hands, and have found
that some are pastors or assistant
pastors, and some are wives Of pas
tors. for the last named is a calling
for which Christian young women
need a distinct training. Some are
evangelists or evangeiistic singers,
both men and women; some are home
missionaries; some are teachers in
Young Mems and Young Women's
Christian associations; some are su-
perintendents of missions and hos
pitfalls; some are matrons, deaconesses
and nurses, while still others have
simply gone into commercial or pro-
fessional pursuits, and. in the case
of women, are occupied in home du-
ties.
Every Joint Of Value.
This brings us to the closing words
of Paul on this topic, in verse 16,
where, keeping up the figure of the
church being the body of Christ. he
says. From whom the whole body fit
ly Joined and compacted by that which
every join, supplieth maketh
increase Of the body" In other words.
every single joint in this spiritual or
ganism is Of value to the whole, which
means that not one of us Christians
can be spared in the exercises of our
vocation whatever or wherever il may
he The smallest visible Joint in the
human body may be that of the little
finger 1t seems of comparatively lit
tie worth, but let it get "out of joint"
for a while, and what happens? The
whole body soon becomes aware of 1t,
and In time may be put out of com
mission" because Of it. So you and
may have a small opinion of ourselves
in the organism of Christ's spiritual
body, and from one point Of view 1t
is becoming that we should, neverthe-
part or else all the members suffer-"
We may not be apostles, evangelists,
prophets, pastors or teachers. but we
are that which Is represented by a
Joint" and need to be always In
union with the Head, and with the
other members of the body if the
whole shall be profited and increased.
The vital question, however, is that
suggested at the beginning. are you
included In the word "US?" Ii is
not enough to be church member