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NASB | Ephesians 4:11 And He gave some as apostles, and some as prophets, and some as evangelists, and some as pastors and teachers, |
AMPLIFIED 2015 | Ephesians 4:11 And [His gifts to the church were varied and] He Himself appointed some as apostles [special messengers, representatives], some as prophets [who speak a new message from God to the people], some as evangelists [who spread the good news of salvation], and some as pastors and teachers [to shepherd and guide and instruct], |
Subject: What Does a Text SAY? |
Bible Note: Kalos, your instructive post regarding how to handle the word of truth properly recalls to mind a set of personal experiences of days gone by, one involving my wife and the other involving me. When I was a child growing up under the nurture of my parents and the church, it was my understanding that when the hymn, "Bringing in the Sheaves" was being sung in worship service, they were saying "Bringing in the Sheep." My wife thought (she told me after we were married) that they were saying "Bringing in the Sheets." Both of us were mistaken, of course, but then the words we thought we heard made at least some sense to us because I knew what sheep were and she knew what sheets were, but neither of us at that tender age had any idea what sheaves were. Even if we had, it wouldn't have contributed much of anything to our understanding of the spiritual implications of the phrase, "bringing in the sheaves." We were young, we were immature, we were lacking in language skills and, most important of all, we didn't at that time possess the ability to understand the concept sufficiently well to discern the spiritual message that the hymn's author intended by the hymn. ...... To a greater or lesser degree we all of us, young and old, spiritual babes and spiritually mature, are like that. None of us I suspect will ever reach a plateau, a spiritual utopia, in which everything in the Bible becomes perfectly clear to us. In a recent post to this Forum I observed that though we spend a thousand years in arduous and diligent study of God's word, we would have just begun to skim the surface. ....... But two things come to mind that can help us immeasurably in our study of Scripture. I believe the most important guidance we can ever obtain comes through the illumination by the indwelling Holy Spirit. And second to that is the collective wisdom of the saints who have trodden the same path we now trod. It is unwise indeed to ignore this source of help in understanding the Bible. It is vain of us to think that the illumination of the Spirit is a gift uniquely ours and not a gift given also to other saints through the ages. Their insights are often quite able to deepen our own. ...... One reads on this Forum from time to time the accusation that the Bible contradicts itself. Little do the authors of such absurdities realize the breadth of ignorance and shallowness of mind they display to the world by their foolish talk. Likewise, neither do they who are so full of their own opinions that they have little capacity left in their heads to absorb the truth. --Hank |