The citizen. [volume] (Berea, Ky.) 1899-1958, 1914-04-23

deemed and re-
generated IN n
and women On
such as these the Lord Jesus Chrisy
bes.ows spiritual gifts according to
His grace. as the rest OF the verse
says These "girts" are for the use
and blessing OF the whole church. and
are described In general terms In
the following verse as apostles. proph-
cts, cvangelists. 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 aud 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 tho
imposition. A true apostle. prophet.
evangelist. pastor or teacher Is the
gift OF the Great Head OF the Church
In his body. lie 10 a Spirittaught and
Spirit-endowed man. and when the
church sees or hears such an one II
recognizes his divine commission
whether he has the imprimatur OF .
school OF not
What Ministers Are For.
Now. specifically. what are these
gifts bestowed upon the church fort
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 n saint the moment he so be-
lieyes. But when the saints are thus
perfected enlightened. strengthened
In the knowledge Of the Lord. what
are they to do? The answer 10 TO
engage In the work Of ministering
for the edifyins building up) OF the
body OF Christ Verse i2.)
Here comes In the question OF Chris.
tian vacations for young people who
may not have the gift of apostles.
prophets. eyangelists. pastors or teach
ers There Is a work OF ministering
for them to do nevertheless. when
they are perfected" for Il by those
who have been truly set apart for that
task
What is the nature Of this work. IL
the student output OF the Moody Bible
institute may be taken as a criterion.
there is a wide variety In II. We have
been taking a census OF 5000 TO 5000
young men and women who have passr
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 IL a calling
for which Christian young women
need a distinct training Some are
evangelists or evangelistic 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 pKr
fesslonal 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 10.
where. keeping up the figure Of the
church being the body OF Christ, he
says. From whom the whole body At
ly Joined and compacted by that which
every joint supplieth maketh
increase OF the body" In other words.
every single joint In this spiritual or
ganism 10 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 II may
be. The smallest visible joint In the
human body may be that OF the little
finger. II seems OF comparatively lit
tie worth. but let II get "out Of Joint"
for a while. and what happens? The
whole body soon becomes aware OF IL
and In time may be put out OF com
mission" because OF II. SO you and
may have a small opinion OF ourselves
In the organism OF Christs spiritual
body. and from one point OF view Il
less II is necessary that we do our
part or else AL the members suffer-
We may not be apostles. evaDgelista
prophets. pastors or teachers, but we
are that which is represented By Q
Joint" and need to be always In
union with the Head. and with the
other members OF the body II de
whole shall be profted and increased
The vital question. however. 10 tAss
suggested at the beginning. are ysa
included In the word "USr n y
not enough to live in Christian ispA
not enough to be a church member.