A L M A C I A S

AND THE LORD GAVE GIFTS UNTO MAN

It is truly an honor and a privilege to hear brethren who have the ability to expound the Holy Scriptures. We have men who are so experienced and prepared in quoting the scriptures, that they just simply have much to offer to the brotherhood. When these brethren are asked how they came to be so proficient in the scriptures, they all seem to respond in much the same way ­ "just a lot of hard work!" In the first century, the brethren were not as fortunate as we are today, in that it took some forty to fifty years to complete the New Testament scriptures. Because of this, the Lord, before ascending back to Heaven, gave some men certain gifts so that the brethren could be prepared to do what was expected of all of those who had become servants of the Lord. We read in Ephesians 4:11-15 concerning the reason the Lord gave thse gifts.

The first thing we read in Ephesians 4:11 is that the Lord gave some to be apostles, some to be prophets, some to be evangelists, some to be pastors, and some to be teachers. Man, on his own, is not capable of knowing the mind of God; he needs to be taught by those who know more; and those who know more have gained their knowledge from the Word of God. Today we have the scriptures where we are able to find all that is necessary for life and godliness, but such was not the case in the first century. That is why the Lord gave gifts to men, so that they would be able to accomplish what we are capable of accomplishing today with the full revelation of God. It was through the guidance of the Holy Spirit that these men were able to prepare the brethren unto perfection, unto the work of the ministry, and unto edification. The Lord expected all Christians to become mature and not to remain babes in Christ. The Lord expected all of those who wore His name to make the greatest effort to be like He was, that is spiritually mature. It is the spiritually mature who are better able to handle the problems that might come their way, as well as the temptations Satan might try to put in their path. Also, these men were given gifts so that they could prepare the brethren for the work of the ministry, and this was all the various tasks that sometimes are needed to be done by every given congregation. Some things that could be included here were things like feeding the hungry, waiting upon the sick, and relieving those who were in sorrow and distress. So, as we all can see, there was a great need for teaching the brethren to do all of this, and it is still the case today. How are we helping today in the accomplishing of this tremendous responsibility?