I, therefore, the prisoner of the Lord, beseech you that ye walk worthy of the vocation wherewith ye are called, with all lowliness and meekness, with long suffering, forbearing one another in love, endeavoring to keep the unity of the Spirit and the bond of peace. there is one body and one spirit given as you are called in one hope of your calling one lord one faith one baptism one god and father of all who is above all and through all and in you all but unto every one of us is given grace according to the measure of the gift of christ wherefore he saith when he ascended upon high He led captivity captive and gave gifts unto men. Now that he ascended, what is it, but that he also descended first into the lower parts of the earth? He that descended is the same also that ascended up far above all heavens, that he might fill all things. And he gave some apostles and some prophets and some evangelists and some pastors and teachers for the perfecting of the saints, for the work of the ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ. Till we all come on the unity of the faith, out of the knowledge of the Son of God, onto a perfect man, onto the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ. But we henceforth be no more children, tossed to and fro and carried about with every wind of doctrine, by the sleight of men. uncoming craftiness whereby they lay and wait to deceive, but speaking the truth in love, may grow up into him in all things, which is the head even Christ, from whom the whole body fitly joined together, uncompacted by that which every joint supply it, according to the effectual working in the measure of every part, make it increase of the body, unto the edifying of itself in love." And God had his blessing to the reading of his own precious word. For the sake of those who haven't been here on previous occasions, And we know there are some here tonight for the first time who just like to intimate that we have been looking at the teaching of the Word of God concerning the person and work of the Holy Spirit. We were looking at the Old Testament scriptures and looking at the overall picture there concerning the work of the Holy Ghost. And then, going into the New Testament, we have been looking at John's Gospel, and then at the Acts of the Apostles, into the Epistle to the Romans, and on two occasions we have been looking at the first Epistle to the Corinthians. Now, tonight, I thought, I would like to look at this high point of teaching concerning the Holy Spirit of God on the Epistle to the Ephesians. It has often been pointed out that the Epistle of the Ephesians is the high point of doctrine in the New Testament. On looking at the teaching concerning the Holy Spirit of God in the Epistle of Ephesians, you have noticed immediately that there are two mentions in each chapter. There are twelve occurrences altogether. of the Holy Spirit of God in the epistle to the Ephesians. And here the doctrine is brought to a climax, it's brought to a high point. Now, it will be impossible to look at the other chapters here tonight, but I'm going to occupy my time for a little while tonight in speaking of the unity of the Spirit that we find at the commencement of this magnificent chapter. The Apostle here in the practical part of the Epistle, he said, I have a seat here that you walk worthy of the vocation for with your call. And then verse three, endeavoring to keep the unity of the Spirit in the uniting bond of peace. Now here we get the unity of the Spirit. And you notice a little further down in the chapter in verse thirteen, We read another expression. We read there, till we all come in the unity of the faith, unto the knowledge of the Son of God, unto a perfect man, unto the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ. At the beginning of the chapter it's the unity of the faith. And at the end of this section, it's the unity of the Spirit is at the beginning, and the unity of the faith at the end. And we get the means whereby this two-fold unity can be brought together. And that is that the risen Christ has given certain gifts and it's their responsibility to bring the unity of the Spirit and the unity of the faith and join them together. So this is what we have before our minds for a little while tonight. During these meetings we have been speaking a good deal about the charismatic movement. It's something that's occupying people's minds in every part of the Christian world. They believe that God is working among his people today, but at the same time, wherever you find God working, you'll find Satan working as well. And I personally believe that there's an awful lot of spurious work, particularly in relation to the work of the Holy Ghost. Tremendous lot of confusion. distortion of the Word of God. And I think that every evangelical believer should get done again to the study of the Word of God along the line of the operation of the Holy Spirit of God. Now we've been looking a good deal and in some detail at the charismatic movement. But there is a second movement in the Christian world today that's just as widespread. And that is what is called the Ecumenical Movement. And it's this that I want to speak about tonight. You know, in nineteen forty-seven, Pope John XXIII, I think a very nice old gentleman, he had an idea that he would like to unite the whole of the Christian world together. And he called an Ecumenical Council. And there were representatives not only of the Church of Rome, But in many Protestant denominations they came over to Rome, some of them as observers, and others taking a practical part in that ecumenical council. And from that time on, there has been a movement in the Christian world to unite the different denominations under one head. Now this is something that's characteristic of the day in which we live. And personally I believe that this will grow and it will spread. And I believe that it will end up in what is called in the book of Revelation Babylon the Great, the mother of harlots. You know the ecumenical movement as we find it today is based on compromise. That means to say of the some truth that you have learned from the Word of God, and someone doesn't agree with you. Well, for the sake of peace, You drop your convictions and let's get onto the one umbrella, drop anything that we hold as vital, something that we hold as very important. Let's drop it and let's not quarrel about things that we find in the Word of God, but let's get onto the one umbrella and let's unite together in this great ecumenical movement. You know, it used to be that it was the Iron Fist. And a person who didn't believe in the authority of the church, they were burned at the stake. That was the iron fist. But instead of that today it's the velvet glove. And instead of being heretics, those who don't go along with the leaders of the church and the world today, instead of that we're our dear separated brother. You know, I think that the second idea is a good deal more subtle and a good deal more dangerous than the former one. Well, it was the iron fist. And men were willing to give their lives for what they believed, the truth of the Word of God. You know, the church was purified at that time. But whenever it's the velvet glove, People are liable to be deceived, and they're brought into a movement that is not according to the Word of God at all. Now, I believe if Christ were to come tonight, only me, I don't think there's a single thing in the Word of God that would prevent the Lord Jesus Christ coming before this meeting is over. And if He did, every true believer in the world. Everyone who has been born again by the Holy Spirit of God and united to the risen head, united to Christ, would rise to meet him in the air. And all that would be left would be the unclean residue of formalism. And what we find in the ecclesiastical world today would be all united. at that time, but it would be formalism on everything true and genuine would be lifted out of this scene and taken up into the presence of God. Now, what is left in the book of Revelation is called Babylon the Great, the mother of Harlots, on the sense that God will judge. And God says in his word, to come out of her, my people. And I believe that every true believer today should understand what the acumenical movement stands for on how it is going to end. It will be judged by God. It's called Babylon the Great, the mother of Harlots. But all thanks God, when we look into God's Word, we find a true acumenical movement, the genuine and the real, on assist that I want to occupy my time in talking about tonight. There is such a thing as divine unity among God's people. And I want to look at it in a threefold way. First of all, in the great high priestly prayer of the Lord Jesus, in John chapter seventeen, we have already been looking at the high priestly ministry of our Lord and John's Gospel. But in John chapter seventeen we get the basis of unity, its basis in that great high priestly prayer of the Lord Jesus. I just want to think about this in a moment or two. Secondly we get the bond of unity in the chapter that we have read together. Endeavouring to keep the unity of the Spirit in the uniting bond of peace. And then when we look at that lovely Psalm, Psalm one hundred and thirty-three, there we get the beauty of unity. Behold how good and how pleasant it is for brethren to dwell together in unity. It was like the oil that came upon Aaron's head. that flowed down upon his beard and then to the collar of his garment. I don't think it was the bottom skirt of his garment, but it was the upper collar. It was what united the head and the body. That oil, that anointing oil that was placed upon its head, and there we get the fragrance, the fragrance of unity. And then it was like the Jew. The Jew that came from the mountains of, that came from Mount Hebron and then came down over the mountains of Zion, it was there that the Lord commanded the blessing, even life forevermore. There we get the beauty of unity. Now for a few moments tonight we want to think of the basis. of this great ecumenical movement, the genuine thing in the Bible, the basis of it in the prayer of our Lord, and then the bond of unity in Ephesians chapter four, and then the beauty of unity among God's people in Psalm one hundred and thirty-three. Among other things when our Lord was praying, just before he went to Gethsemane and before he went to the cross, whether he's praying, for the apostolic band, or whether he's praying for those that would believe on him through their name. He said, that there may be one, that there may be one, that there may be one. And if we were to take time to look at that great high priestly prayer, he speaks about a three-fold unity. And first of all, it's based on the unity between the Father and the Son. He said that unity that exists is between him and God the Father. This is the unity that he prays for that may characterize the people of God. That is the basis of it. It's an organic unity. And when a person believes in the Lord Jesus Christ, they're brought into that great unity, and it's preferent on the unity between God the Father and God the Son. But then he speaks of his second unity, and praying that there may be one, he says, that the world may believe. Now here is a visible unity. The first one is the unity of life, and it's preferent after the unity between God the Father and God the Son. But secondly, it's a unity that the world wants to see it that they may believe. Wherever you see a company of God's people in love and harmony and fellowship, working together shoulder to shoulder for the faith of the gospel, there's something very attractive about it. The man on the street can recognize that. And when you see God's people really loving one another, on that harmony and fellowship being manifested in a public visible way, there's something so attractive that people would be attracted to it. That is a visible unity. But then the third mention in John chapter seventeen is that there may be perfected in the one. And you know, that will happen when Christ comes back again. And thank God on that day, all the divisions and sections and factions among the people of God will be forever done away with, and will be brought into the presence of God, and we will be perfected into one. Now, this is the basis of unity that we find in God's precious Word. Now, looking at the chapter that we want to consider tonight, Here we get the bond of unity. And the Apostle prays here, and he gives this an exhortation, endeavoring to keep the unity of the Spirit in the uniting bond of peace. There are four terms that are used immediately previous to this, and here we get the foundation of it. great with all loneliness and meekness, with long suffering, forbearing one another in love. And these four great Christian virtues are the fourfold foundation on which this unity of the Spirit is based. The unity of the Spirit. You know, the unity of the Spirit is something that we can neither make nor break. It's something that God has already done. And in God's estimation that people of God are one. Robert C. Chapman, many years ago, he converted it to a golden vessel that God held in his own hand, the unity of the Spirit. Now, this is ideal. And God holds that in his hand. But he has committed a fragile clay vessel to you and to me. And he says, now you endeavor to keep it. We can't make it, and we can't break it. This is something that's intact in God's hand, but God says, endeavor to keep that unity. You know, I have made up my mind about one thing. As long as God leaves me down here, I hope I will never be responsible for dividing a company of God's people. I would rather that the Lord would take me home tonight on this platform than I ever would be responsible of introducing anything among the people of God that would split and divide them. Here is one of the most important exhortations in the Word of God. God has done something, and it is intact in His hand. But, oh, as we look at men and what they have done with it, that fragile vessel that has been committed to man has been smashed into a thousand pieces. That is the tragedy of the Christian world in which we live today. But here's the exhortation, endeavoring to keep the unity of the Spirit in the uniting bond of peace. Now immediately after this we get a seven-fold example of what unity really is. And notice the term was used. There is one body and one spirit, even as you are called in one hope of your calling, one Lord, one faith, one baptism, one God and Father of all who is above all and through all and in you all. Now here is a seven-fold example, a model of what unity really is. Now looking at the passage, you would see that three of the sentences that are used here, three of the words that are used here, it brings before us the unity of the Godhead. Really, first of all, there is one Lord, one Spirit, and then one Lord, and then one God and Father of all. So right in the heart of this beautiful example, this beautiful model of unity, we get these three terms, the unity of the Godhead. One Spirit, one Lord, one God and Father of all. And the great model that's held up to it, held up to us, is the unity of the Godhead. Now, associated with this, with the Holy Trinity, in this great example of unity, we get four other terms that are used. And notice, these are the very things that man have used in splitting up this unity. Notice what the terms that are used. First of all, one body. And then secondly, one hope. Thirdly, one faith. And fourthly, one baptism. And a light here with the Holy Trinity are four great truths. And I want to look at them just for a moment tonight just to see what men have done with them. The first is the one body. We mentioned this morning that as far as Protestantism is concerned, it is divided into about three hundred different denominations. But the one body of Christ, it's intact. It's absolutely secure. It's ideal, it's perfect, united to the risen head and united to one another. But think of what men have done with this unity, the unity of the body, divided up into all these different sects and parties in the ecclesiastical world today. Some time ago I was over in my native land in Ireland. I spent some time in Dublin. And I thought I'd like to do a little bit of investigation research in connection with the movement with which we are associated. About a hundred and fifty years ago, there were a number of young men, all of them in their early twenties, that were living around Dublin. And Lady Parr Scott, her husband, he had died, but formerly he was a Vicar, had a seat in the House of Lords. Lady Parscourt was a title lady, truly born again, very much interested in the study of the Word of God. She invited a number of young men to come to her home, Parscourt Castle, just outside the city of Dublin. But all of these young men in their early twenties, they gather together for the study of the Word of God. Now, among them was a young man called John Nelson Darby. He was twenty-six years of age at the time. He had been an honour student in Trinity College in Dublin, but he became a minister of the Church of Ireland. He ministered in a little church called Calry, and while I was over there, I went out to the church where he ministered and was able to see the place. Inside, there's a little pulpit, and there's a brass plate on the pulpit, and on that brass plate are the words, Sirs, we would see Jesus. where as we would see Jesus. And as I looked at that plate and think of that dear man, a young man at the time, ministering in that little church, it gave me a tremendous thrill. But you know, sitting at a table in Davy Pariscourt's home with a number of other young men, he learned one great truth. And the first truth that he learned was that there's only one body. And there's only one head of the church. And that head is not in Rome. That head is not in Canterbury. That head is not in London. That head is not in New York. But the risen head of the body, the risen head of the church, he seated at God's right hand. Now, Mr. Darby at the time was taking orders from a bishop. And that bishop was a whiskey-drinking man, a man who hunted foxes on Sunday, and yet he was taking orders from him. And Mr. Darby, when he read this, and when he learned this great truth in the Word of God, he put it into practice. And one Sunday morning, along with three other young men, all in their early twenties, one was a man called Hutchison. The second one was John G. Bellett, a lawyer. A third was Dr. Cronin, a dentist. And the fourth was another man who later had a seat in the House of Lords. His name was John Parnell. Later became Lord Congleton. And these four young men sat down at a table in nine Fitzwilliams Square in Dublin. And with a loaf of bread on the table and a glass of wine, they remembered the Lord. And they recognized the truth of the one body of Christ. Darby was still wearing the Roman collar. He was still wearing the vestments of a clergyman of the Church of Ireland. He later got rid of that. But in any case, there in that home sitting down and studying the Word of God, he learned this great elementary truth. It may be elementary to us. It was something that was absolutely new as far as he was concerned, and he put it into practice. And sitting at that table, they'll recognize the fact of the one body of Christ, and the risen head is the head of the church, and we are members of that body. What have men done with this? Oh, they have split and divided. They have divided over men's names. They're divided over church art, and it says. They've divided over church government. They've divided over the question that we were looking at this morning, spiritual gift. And here we find at the present time, unfortunately, in every part of the world, God's people divided up into sects and parties and divisions, the one body. Now here is an example of what unity really is. The great unity here is the one head in heaven, our Lord Jesus Christ, and you and I, if we are believers in the Lord Jesus Christ, we are members of the body and we're linked to every saint that loves his name because we're linked to the risen head. That is the first great truth here. And think of what men have done with it. Now the second one is the one hope. I believe the one hope here is the hope of the second coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. What have been done with that? Do you believe in the imminent return of the Lord Jesus? Or I think that possibly most of us here tonight would say, thank God we do. We do believe that He's coming and that He's coming soon. But you know, some of my friends will come to me today and they say, are you pre-millennial, post-millennial or a millennial? And then somebody will come again with a queer look on their eye and they'll say, are you pre-trib, mid-trib or post-trib? And these are technical terms that men ask. And unfortunately today there are good men in this country that argue and fight over the Lord's coming. Can you imagine anything more sad? And you know, they're outstanding men today in the Christian world, and they don't believe there's going to be any millennial at all. We're in the millennium now, as far as they're concerned. And then there's others believe that the preaching of the gospel is going to spread right around the world. And when everybody's converted, then the Lord will come. They're post-millennialists. Now, let me say, by way of testimony, as far as I'm concerned, I'm a convinced pre-millennialist. And I don't believe that the church is going to go through the tribulation. I believe that the church will be lifted out of the sea before the tribulation takes place. It's not our place tonight. And there's no time to do it, to go into the proofs. Why do we believe this? But these are the things that men argue and fight about today. There are many minor points that possibly we can disagree about. We have been discussing recently, who is the Antichrist? In Revelation chapter thirteen. Will he dare about the first beast that comes up out of the sea, on the second beast that comes up out of the land, and then behind the two of them we get the devil himself. And they form a trinity. The first beast, the head of the Roman Empire, the head of the ten nation confederacy, was its headquarters in the city of Rome. And then another that will arise in the nation of Israel, there in the land of Palestine, the religious head of the nation. But behind these two men we get the devil himself. My person I believe that the first man in Rome is the man of sin. And I believe that the second man is the Antichrist, the head of the Jewish nation. I don't believe that that first beast is the Antichrist at all. And yet some of the popular books today say that he is. And when you read them today, they talk about the Antichrist, the Antichrist that's going to set up his image in the temple there in Jerusalem. But the image that will be set up there is the man of sin on his image. image will be set up. The Antichrist to me is the head of the Jewish nation. But as some of my dear friends would come and say, I don't agree with you. I would say, Brother, you're perfectly welcome. To your opinion, I have mine. And I think of some reason for it and could give some proofs why I believe that. But I'm not going to argue with you. But as far as the second coming of Christ is concerned, the premillennial coming of Christ or the pre-tribulation coming of Christ, I am absolutely convinced that that is the teaching of the Word of God. But all think of what has happened. What has happened today? The one hope. But you know, when Christ comes, what does it say? We read that he will come, and that gathering shark, the voice of the archangel and the trump of God, and the dead in Christ shall rise first, and we which are alive and remain shall be caught up together, shall be caught up together, to meet the Lord in the air, and so shall we ever be with the Lord." We're to comfort one another with these words. This again is something that men have divided over, the interpretation of these prophetic events that we find in God's word. Now the third one is the one faith. Law again as we look around us today. and see some of the things that people are teaching about the faith. And by the way, when we get the term the faith, it means that body of Christian teaching that we call fundamental doctrine. I think the term occurs about twelve times in the pastoral epistles. The faith, the faith, the faith. This is not saving faith. What we get here is the body of Christian doctrine. It's called the good deposit in Second Timothy chapter one. The faith. that body of Christian teaching, fundamental teaching concerning the person of Christ and the Word of God that has been committed to you and to me to have and to hold intact until Christ comes back again. What have men done with it? I sat on a seat at a conference up in Canada a couple of years ago. There was a young man sat beside me and he told me he had been the superintendent of a Sunday school in a town in Ontario, and he said they had just had a young man who came in, who had just finished this theological training in the seminary. And then Sunday morning he got up and he said, Mark, I want to tell you what I believe. And he went over the different fundamentals of Scripture. He said, I don't want to be a hypocrite. I want to tell you that I do not believe in the virgin birth of Christ. He said, it's a biological impossibility. I don't believe in that. And then he went on to other fundamental doctrines. I don't want to shock your ears. I feel uncomfortable even in talking about it. But practically every fundamental doctrine and holy scripture he denied. And after he was finished with a sermon, this young man told me that there were thirty people stood up. and they protested against what that young man had said, and they walked out, and they said, they will never be back again. They're looking for a spiritual home today. And he said, I was one of them. He said, I was the superintendent of the Sunday School. And they said, today I have no spiritual home. And he said, I'm looking for one. With the privilege of sitting down and telling him that there were some who still held very, very dearly the faith. the great fundamental doctrines of Christianity, but the world in which we are living in today, the faith, is something that's being denied on every hand. And then finally, we come to a controversial point, the one baptism. Now I know that many of my dear friends would say the one baptism here is the baptism of the Spirit. Personally, I don't think so. I believe that the one baptism here is water baptism, the baptism that we were speaking about the other night in Romans chapter six. And I'll tell you why. Wherever we get the word baptism in Scripture without any qualifying phrase, it just means baptism. It means water baptism. But wherever there is a qualifying phrase, then we know it is the baptism of the Spirit. When it is the baptism of the Spirit of God, it says so. But for there's no qualifying phrase in just the word baptism by itself, I believe it is baptism as we find it. Believers' baptism, the initial rite in Christianity when a person believes in the Lord Jesus Christ. But again, can you think of anything that has divided the people of God more than the ordinance of baptism? You think, for instance, the meaning of it. The Roman Catholic Church, of course, believes in baptismal regeneration. that a person is regenerated by baptism. And then there are others that would say that it's introduction to the kingdom. And there are others, and by the way, this is what I believe myself. It's just simply identification with Christ in his death, his burial, and his resurrection. Now there are different ideas about the meaning of baptism. And then the method. Some would take an unconscious infant and sprinkle them, and they would say that that was baptism. There are others who believe in a fusion. I was at a meeting some time ago, and a man there was baptizing two adults. that had made a profession of faith in Christ. He had a little bowl, and he had a little silver vessel, something like an egg cup. And he took the egg cup and dipped it in the bowl and dashed the water in the face of the person, and then took a towel and wiped it off. That is what they call a fusion. That was the method of baptism that he used. And then, of course, there is immersion. And there are some who would say a person must be baptized three times in the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Ghost. There are others who would say that today we must not use the formula in the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Ghost. But we should baptize in the name of the Lord Jesus. Now these are different ideas that people have. And you know, if you get into certain areas and in certain environments you could argue your head off about not only the meaning but also the method of Christian baptism. Now these are four things that the Lord holds up to that should unite us. The one body. Oh, what a precious, precious truth that is. The one hope, the hope of the coming again of Christ, that third issue united together, and the one faith, that precious, precious body of Christian teaching in the Word of God, fundamental doctrine, and then the one baptism. That baptism, that as we go down into the water and are baptized and come up out of the water, we are identified with our Lord Himself. Now these are very, very precious things, but unfortunately, these are the very things that men have divided over. Now looking at the passage a little further down, we read here in verse... Verse thirteen, till we all come in the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God unto a perfect man, unto the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ. First of all, the unity of the Spirit, and here it is the unity of the faith. Now the first is spiritual, and the second one here is doctrinal, the unity of the faith. Now how can these two be brought together? Well, we get the answer. in the intervening verses in this chapter. You know, God has a wonderful way of working. On the way that these two unities can be brought together, we read here about gifts that has been given by the risen Christ. On to every one of us has given grace according to the measure of the gifts of Christ. Wherefore he said, when he ascended upon high, he led captivity captive and gave gifts unto men. Now that he ascended, What is it, but that he also descended first into the lower parts of the earth? He that descended is the same also that ascended up far above all heavens, that he might fill all things. And he gave some apostles, some prophets, some evangelists, some pastors and teachers for the perfecting of the saints, with the hint of the work of the ministry for the edifying, the building up of the body of Christ. Now, there are five great gifts here that Christ has given. On their great object, their great ambition should be to bring these two unities together. This morning we were speaking about gifts that were in the foundation, the apostle and the prophet. And again, I would like to ask the question, do we have these two gifts among us today? Well, primarily we don't. I think that the Apostle and the Prophets were in the foundation of the Church. They have passed away. The man who actually saw the Lord in the flesh and who were commissioned by him, long since they have gone back to heaven. And the Prophet, the man who was inspired by God to give us the complete canon of Holy Scripture, that again has been completed, and the perfect thing has come. a complete mind and will of God in Holy Scripture. And that leaves us three great gifts. And just for a minute or two, I want to think about them. If there's one thing that we pray for today, and we pray very earnestly that on the day in which we live, you'd raise up the evangelist, on the pastor, on the teacher. Oh, this is what we badly need. These three great gifts are still in existence today, and wherever we see them, we thank God for them. Now, the first one is the evangelist. He is characterized by mobility. His face is towards the world. He goes out into the quarry, out into the world to preach the gospel. He is characterized by mobility. The pastor, he is a gift that is given to the local church for shepherding in the local church. And he is characterized by stability. And then the third is the teacher. And he has his full ambition towards the whole church of God. That is the teacher of the word. And he is characterized by ability. Now think of these three gifts. First of all, the evangelist. You know, today it's becoming very uncommon to hear a real good rising gospel message. We were talking to some folk today and they were telling us about a certain assembly up in the park where we live, and somebody came there to take the gospel meeting. And you know, it was very discouraging to listen. Just a little homily on how to behave yourself. that, oh, that good old gospel message whereby people are really aroused and convicted of their sin and brought to Christ, we certainly do need the evangelist today. The man that is characterized by the Holy Ghost sent down from heaven and that can really preach, that can really preach the gospel. And wherever we see a young man with a gift of an evangelist, we bow our head and thank God. May God raise up more of them today. We have had them. In days gone by, but they're fast, going home to be with the Lord. And among our young men today we long to see the evangelist raised up. How bad do we need him today? You know, in Africa sometimes there's a difficulty in getting a word to describe a certain idea. In the early days when the word of God was being translated into African languages, it was rather difficult to get a word for a pioneer or an evangelist, a man who would pioneer with the gospel. You know, we have a habit over in Africa when we go out traveling, at least we used to in the bygone days before the days of automobiles. And we used to start off with a string of porters, a string of carriers, each man carrying a sixty pound load. We would walk about twenty miles a day, sleep on the ground at night beside a fire and then go on. It was the usual method of travel. But you know, in the dry season, it starts about the month of May. The rain stops. And on the plains, the grass, we call it elephant grass, is about ten feet high. And on the top of that elephant grass, there's a tuft of seed about the size of your fist. And in the dry season, during the night there's a very heavy dew, it falls. And that grass is completely saturated with dew. And the Africans, they get a little boy, maybe about ten years of age with hardly a stitch of clothing on, poor naked little fellow, and they get him a stick about eighteen inches long and they push a mark at the head of the caravan, or the head of the safari. And that little boy, when he gets right onto the plane, He takes that stick and he pushes it in front of him. And every time he hits the grass, he saturates it with dew from head to foot. It can be quite chilly in the early morning. And he pushes the grass in front of him and every step that he takes, he saturates it with dew from head to foot. We call him the dew dryer. And you know, if there's a hungry lion or a hungry leopard in the wild, he meets it first. And that's the word they've used for a pioneer, the Jew-dryer. You know, I take off my hat to the man who goes ahead, who goes into virgin soil, goes into nature's quarry, and it's only the Holy Ghost can raise up men like this that really can preach the gospel. that have that evangelistic gift. And by the way, if you have only one or two men in your assembly that have that gift, give the platform to them. Don't put anybody up there that don't have the gift. But when a man has really the gift of preaching the gospel, encourage him on any young man, any young man that's developing that gift, give him all the encouragement that you possibly can. We badly need him today. We need the Jew dryer. We need the pioneer. We need the evangelist. But secondly, the pastor. What does this word mean? It means a shepherd. Oh no, if ever there's a day when we need men of this type among us, it's the day in which we live. You know, we were speaking the other night about church government. On the word that's used here for pastor, there are actually three different words that are used in the New Testament for men of this type. First of all, there's the elder and then there's the overseer. And then there is the shepherd. These are three terms that are used for the same individual. An elder, a shepherd, and an overseer. Now these are not synonymous terms. What is an elder? An elder is a man who is characterized by spiritual maturity. He is not a novice, but is developed in the word. He is characterized by spiritual maturity. And secondly, the overseer is characterized by spiritual authority. The local church is not a democracy. It's not a place where people can do whatever they please. God has put certain people in the assembly with delegated authority. He's the overseer. And that man has authority that has been delegated to him by Christ himself. And when discipline has to be exercised, and it has to be investigated, it's not done by some child or some young person. It's done by a man who's called an overseer. And unfortunately today, very often this has to be done. But then thirdly, the word that's used here is the shepherd. I know what a lovely term this is. What characterizes him? He's characterized by spiritual capacity. spiritual maturity, spiritual authority, and spiritual capacity. And oh, when we see a godly older man in an assembly with a heart of love for Christ, on a heart of love for the people of God, we do thank God for it. Some years ago I was in the city of Toronto, and as a brother there were two brethren there at that time that were both professional men. And those men they gave one day a week to visitation among God's people. Now one of them, I have stayed in his home on a number of occasions, and he was in his office at seven o'clock in the morning. And when I would come home from a meeting at night, he was in his office at eleven o'clock at night, a very, very busy man. But Thursday of every week he gave that day to the Lord. He did no secular work at all. He had another friend in the city who also was a professional man, and the two men met together on Thursday of every week, and they carried a little notebook, and if ever they heard about any case of trouble or difficulty, not only in their own assembly, but on any other, they would make a little note of it. And on Thursday morning they met early in the morning, had a little word of prayer, and then spent the whole day in visitation. On two occasions, he asked me to go with them. And to me it was a spiritual education. Sometimes it was the hospital. Sometimes it was the jail. And in other times it was the home. And the problems and difficulties among God's people. And as I sat with those men and listened to the godly counsel and the advice and reading of the word of God and prayer in the homes of God's people. And as I looked at those men, I thought, oh, may God raise up men like this. A few years ago, one of those men died. His name was Albert Kitcher. His name may be known to a number here tonight. You would seldom find Albert Kitcher on the platform. and going into the homes of God's people and sitting down and reading the word of God and counseling and praying and helping. I was asked to take his funeral. And when I went to the funeral parlor and found him lying there in the casket, I bowed my head and I said, Oh Lord, raise up a thousand men like Albert Kitcher among God's people. Beloved brethren, we do need men of this type, the shepherd, the godly overseer, the elder, The man who is able to lead and to guide and to counsel God's people is what we so badly need today. And then thirdly, the teacher. You know, again, here is something that we badly need. We've had them and days gone by. I thank God in my early life. I sat at the feet of men like C.F. Ha. Mr. Harald Senge, another's over in my native land. The very memory of these men to me as a benediction tonight. And all as I look into the faces of God's dear people here in this meeting, many a time we pray that from among our brethren that God would raise up the teacher, men that are able to open up the Word of God and expound it carefully and accurately. I think that this is what is badly needed everywhere today. How can the unity of the Spirit and the unity of the faith be justified?