Ephesians 4:11 - Teacher

[Jim Watt]

  "*TWO ARE BETTER THAN ONE" MINISTRIES*

*Jim & Marie Watt*

*PO Box 25116 -- Federal Way WA 98093-2116*

*Tel: 253.874.4265 -- Email: jmbetter at gmail.com*

*Web: www.2rbetter.org** - 2008.08.31*
<http://www.2rbetter.org/>



   * TEACHER** - diDASka-los, 58x, (from #1321, to teach, 97x) from Strong #
1320*

*This word means a teacher and in the NT one who teaches concerning the
things of God, and the duties of man. (1) one who is fitted to teach, or
thinks himself so, Heb 5:12; Rom 2:20; (5) of those who in the religious
assemblies of the Christians, undertook the work of teaching, with the
special assistance of the Holy Spirit, 1 Cor 12:28; Eph 4:11; Acts 13:1; (6)
of false teachers among Christians, 2 Ti 4:3. *


 *1. John 3:1-2 (1-15) TEACHER FROM GOD: HOW NICODEMUS RECOGNIZED JESUS.
"Now there was a man of the Pharisees, Nicodemus his name, a ruler of the
Jews: 2 the same came unto him by night, and said to him, Rabbei, we know
that you are a teacher come from God; for no one can do these :signs which
you do, except :God be with him." *Jesus is the *Master-Teacher!* He is the
*teacher* sent from and approved by God, and in 3 times God vocally
confirmed from Heaven His approval! He demonstrated the true role of a *
teacher* in front of His 12 disciples whom *He* chose to be apostles. (They
did not make this choice themselves, nor did any other.) Jesus acknowledged
that they called Him *Teacher*. He approved of this. It was Jesus' signs and
wonders that confirmed to Nicodemus that He was sent from God as *Teacher*.


 *2. Acts 13:1 (1-3) **TEACHERS**: SHARED WITH PROPHETS IN PRESBYTERY. "Now
in the church that was at Antioch were prophets and **teachers**, both
:Barnabas and Symeon :called Niger, and Lucius of Cyrene, and Manaen
foster-brother of Herod the tetrarch, and Saul."* It was not too long - just
following their first missionary journey - that Paul and Barnabas (in that
order) returned as *apostles*. They formerly moved as Prophetic-*teachers*,
just as Evangelists Stephen and Philip formerly functioned as deacons. It is
good to ponder on the above.


 *3. 2 Peter 2:1 (1-22) FALSE TEACHERS: PETER WARNED AGAINST. "But false
prophets arose also among the people, as among you also shall be false
teachers, who shall privately bring in destructive heresies, denying even
the Master that bought them, bringing upon themselves swift
destruction." *Notice
that *many* shall follow their lascivious ways! Do we not see a similar
deception even in our day? Ministers with lives not cleansed from evil and
sin and lasciviousness - their spirit will contaminate and corrupt their
hearers. And do not allow such to lay hands upon you, for there is an
impartation more than possible from such. And - lay hands in approval and
ordination suddenly upon no man - lest you also be partaker of his sins.


 *4. 1 COR 12:28 (12-31) TEACHERS: SET BE GOD IN THE CHURCH. "And God has
set some in the church, first apostles, second prophets, third teachers,
then powers, then gifts of healings, helps, governments, kinds of tongues."
*We need to well understand the significance of what God has done here.
There is a fuller explanation of this in the *Note* below.


 *5. EPH 4:11 (1-16) TEACHERS: A GIFT OF CHRIST TO THE CHURCH. "And HE gave
some as apostles; and some, prophets; and some, evangelists; and some,
shepherds and teachers." *This is quite parallel to the reference above. Yet
it has differences we need to note. It is *Christ* here doing the *giving*,
and it places the 5-fold offices in a unique position *above* the fuller
list in 1 Cor 12:28. It is these 5 *alone* who perform the "spiritual
chiropractic adjustment" on the body of Christ - not the fuller list in 1
Cor 12. Here we find the "Presbytery" or Eldership that functions in a
many-faceted manner.


 *6. HEB 5:12 (5:11-6:8) TEACHERS: MUST BE QUALIFIED. "For when by
reason ofthe time you ought to be
teachers, you have need again that some one teach you the rudiments of the
beginning of the oracles of :God; and become such as need milk, not solid
food." *The *teachers* in these Messianic Jewish Congregation addressed in
the book of Hebrews, had backslidden from their original sharpness. They had
lost the "fire" of their first love. They were no longer capable of
functioning capably in the *teacher* role. They needed a "repeat" course on
NT Foundations, the milk of the word, the *beginning* of the oracles of God.
The last point of the 6 foundations of Heb 6:1-2 is "being borne unto *
perfection!"* Don't repeat over and over again courses on Foundation Truths!
- Go *on* to perfection!


 *7. 1 TIM 1:7 (3-11) TEACHERS OF LAW: OFTEN A FLESHLY OR CARNAL GOAL. "Some
having swerved have turned aside unto vain talking; desiring to be teachers
of law, though understanding neither what they say, nor whereof they
confidently affirm." *There are *many* in the office of *teacher* - indeed
in *all* of the 5-fold ministries - who are neither qualified for this
office, not called to it! Only the Lord Jesus can call us to these offices,
and it then must be confirmed by other mature members of the 5-fold
ministries. *No man* can take this honor unto himself. The average person
called to this office seeks to get out of the call - just the opposite to
the above.



 *NOTE**: * In the late 60's and 70's of the last century, there were many
special *teachers* in the land. Some designated these as Apostolic *teachers
*. In 1971 and 1972 through Father Dennis Bennett of St. Luke's of Seattle
and Bob Mumford, a gathering of 30 of these *teachers* met on these two
successive years in Seattle. Some factiously called these meetings "Seattle
I" and "Seattle II" after Vatican I and Vatican II.


 For one week of each of these years, 30 plus 8 local pastors met morning
and afternoon each day in closed session to discuss at least four subjects
causing controversy between these 30 and their larger group of 50 *teachers*.
Dennis Bennett chaired these closed sessions both years.


 Then at night these 30 *teachers* visited in succession 5 different
churches in the SeaTac Metroplex, divided into 5 groups of 5-6. Those who
attended one of these venues would in 5 nights hear all 30 of these "name" *
teachers* from various denominations. It was like a panorama of "Who's Who!"


 Through Derek Prince, these 30 *teachers* plus the 8 local pastor-*teachers
*, signed a covenant that no longer would they speak against an absent
brother either publicly or privately, without first contacting either this *
teacher* first - or the leadership of the local church that gave him
covering. This was much in line with the standards set for the 70,000
attending Wesley's "Class Meetings" of some 250 years ago. These pledges
were kept on a high standard until the "Discipleship-Shepherding"
controversy broke out, at which time the heatedness caused these fine
standards to go by the board.


 So in this decade or so of the *Teachers* in the last century, we saw God
bringing to the forefront the restoration of understanding of this office
that Christ gave to the church in the beginning. This decade was soon
followed by one of the "Prophets," and currently we are witnessing an
emphasis on "Apostles." The "Healing" decade that preceded these three,
restored an understanding of the "Evangelist," and how his ministry in the
beginning was enhanced by the strong accompaniment of "signs and wonders,"
just as Jesus and his early apostles also experienced.


 Some say, "But all that ceased with the early church!" We can challenge
such statements by asking, "And where in the Bible does it so state?" It
doesn't. This conclusion is but man's theological premise, not based on the
Word of God.


 Greek is often called the "language of the Aorist." It is worth repeating
that "gave" in Eph 4:11 and "set" in 1 Cor 12:28 are in the Aorist tense. It
is unique to Greek, and forthrightly asserts that these two verbs in the
"Aorist" incontrovertibly set forth the offices and ministries of these two
verses as being God's will to continue throughout the entire church age.


 Back to "*Teacher*." Consider again the 7 references above. Take a Strong's
Concordance and look through the entire list of references to this from
which these 7 have been selected. Jesus as the *Master-Teacher* lends great
dignity to this office, as did also his 12 chosen apostolic-*Teachers*.


 We need a yet clearer content for *teachers* for these last days. We need
the clarity, boldness and fruitfulness of a Paul's *teaching* once again. It
was a a combination of thorough understanding of the Hebrew and Greek
Scriptures, *plus* the balance of a most unusual revelation of the Spirit by
the Lord Jesus in his 3 years in the desert following his conversion. This
our *teachers* of today also need to understand and walk in. Then the sheep
of today will not be gullible with *false teachers* and a mixture of signs
and wonders, with *lying signs and wonders*. Jim Watt



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