The Pulpit Commentary — Ephesians — Section 183

being a. supreme authority in all matters of adrninistra.tion. Many questions would come up at the fi~st about the right working of the Church, and they were there on the sprJt ag thou&h Christ had been there to settle them decisively. (/3) They had exli'ao1·di11ary teaching power. '£here were developments of doctrine without which the Church con Id n_ot be es~~lished, a.nd for a time the Church had in the apostles the gift of inful- ltble exposition. It was thus exceptionally helped through the most critical period. It was especially in connection with the founding of Ohurches that the apostolate was exercised. Andj in connection with this, on its teaching side, the apostolate was separated into two offices. (i.) Prophets. These were inspired like the apostles, and seem to have come in after them, in the way especially of cxpoundin~ apostolical teachings. While the apostles planted, the prophets watered. They would be useful to Churches, in the way of continuing the benefit when the apostles had to pass on to found others. (ii.) Evangelists. These had the same itinerant character that the a.postles and prophets had; but their distinctive fea.ture was that they brought the gospel, especially as a message of pardon, to bear upon the ignorant, or careless, or mquiring. Philip did the work of a.n evangelist in directing the Ethiopian eunuch to Christ. They would be able to render valuable assistance to apostles in the founrling of Churches. Christ still gives these to the Church, in the more or less <listinctly recognized order of evangelists, i.e. men who have a. special power in awakening the careless, as distinct from feeding believers with knowledge. He also gives them, in the order of missionaries, in so far as they have to do converting work. There are added, in conjunction, pastors and teachers. (i.) These are in connection with Churches as settled, and as distinguished from the other orders are stationary. (ii.) They are the ordinary office-bearers, after the extraordinary have ceased from the Church. (iii.) They represent the two sides of the apostolate, without its infallibility and supremacy. The pastors represent the administrative side, the care which is to be exercised over mem- bers of a. Church, similar to the care which the shepherd exercises over his flock. The teachers, again, represent the teaching side, the exposition which needs to be given of truth founded on the teachings of the Bible, and specially of Christ and his apostles. And, as it is not said as before, some, pa.stors, and some, teachers, but some, pastors and teachers, it is rightly held that there is contemplated a combination of the two functions in one order. (b) For what end given. "For the perfecting of the saints, unto the work of ministering, unto the building up of the body of Christ." (11) The ultimate end of the gifts is the perfecting of the saints. This is placed first, though we might have expected it last. For it is well to remember that all that is done in the Church or gifted for the Church is to be judged by this-how far it serves the per- fecting of the saints. There is a perfect form after which nature strives; so there ,:1 a. perfect form to which the saints are designed to come, and it is most emphatically the province of the Church to help saints toward their perfection. What that perfection is we shall see more particularly in the following verses. (/3) The gifts specified agree in being connected with a work of ministering. 'l'he apostolate, we know, ww,i not a sinecure; it meant work, and to Paul it meant har<l work and suffering. What Christ still continues to the Church implies the work of ministering to the souls of others, a work than which none should be more arduous. (-y) The way in wliich the worlc of ministerin,q is to reach the perfecting of the sciints is by the building up of the body of Christ. To do the work of an evangelist i.13 not enough. Men, after thoy have been converted, must be looked after. They must be brought into connection with the Church. And the Church must be thoroughly organized, must have all Ruitable insti- tutions, must be strong and vigorous in its working, in order that the perfecting of the saints may go on. It follows (i.), as against the Plymouthists atHl others, that there is a special pastoral and teaching order in the Church ; and (ii.) there is this in the interests of unity, which is not broken by the diversity thero is, seeing all are gifted to the Church by Christ. (c) Goal up to which the gospel ministry has been given. (11) Goal characterized as ihe unity of the faith, and of the knowledge of the Son of God. "Till we all attain unto the unity of the faith, and of the knowledge of tho Son of God." There is a difficulty with which wo are confronted here. It has already been Aid in this raragraph (ver. 4) that Christians have "one faith." We must have some "beginnin"' of faith in us, else we cannot be numbered among tho "all" here, How, th"', can it be said that we are to have "the unity of the faith" as our goal? H is not  THE EPISTLE TO THE EPHESIANS. [cu. xv. 1-32.