Psalm 68 highlights God's powerful interventions in military expeditions, illustrating that victory comes not from human might but divine power. The sermon draws parallels between Israel's deliverance from Egypt and Deborah's victory over Sisera, where God used natural elements like rain to defeat a superior enemy. This theme is extended to historical examples like Napoleon's and Hitler's failed invasions of Russia, emphasizing God's sovereignty over earthly powers. Ultimately, the message connects these historical and biblical accounts to the ascension of Christ, who, after conquering sin and death, bestows spiritual gifts upon believers, underscoring the importance of discovering, developing, and exercising these gifts for the edification of the church.
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shelvery together in the sixty-eighth song. Psalm sixty-eight. By the way, in this song there are four great military processions, four great military expeditions on a song about war from beginning to win. I'm not going to read the whole chapter, or at least the whole song. I just want to read two of the expeditions that are mentioned here and a few words about them. But there's a beautiful, messy, emmy passage in the second one, and I want to concentrate on that.
So we'll read it in sixty-eight Psalms. By the way, the first six verses is an introduction, and I'm not going to read that. But we'll start to read it in verse seven. And by the way, the military expedition here is when the people of Israel were delivered from the land of Egypt under Moses and under the blood of the land, or brought out of the land of Egypt and brought some insania. So this is the first one. It commences at verse seven. O God, when thou wentest forth before thy people, when thou didst march through the wilderness, Sela, the earth shook, the heavens also dropped at the presence of God.
and Sinai itself was moved at the presence of God, the God of Israel. Now that is a very brief little outline of the tremendous expedition that left the land of Egypt and came to Mount Sinai. The hand of God was behind it all, and God in a marvelous way delivered his people by blood and by power. Our verse nine, and by the way the description we find here again is a tremendous war that Luke plays that's described in the book of Judges chapter four and chapter five. You may remember that at that time the Canaanite was in the land and the one that was the prophet at that time was a woman.
Her name was Deborah. You remember there was a man along with her called Barak and there were two great military men in that land at the present time at that time. at that time that was oppressing the people of Israel. One was a man called Jabin. And the second one was a man called Cicera. Anyone that has read the history of the nation of Israel, and especially in the book of Judges, in the book of Joshua, they know that at that time there was a tremendous oppression of the people for twenty years, but God raised up a woman at that time.
Wonderful woman. Her name was Deborah. And she was a prophetess. And the people came to her for advice. Now that shows a weakness. There wasn't a man in the country that was able to do that job. And God raised up that woman to do it. But there was a man along with her. And when these two great military officers oppressing the man made an invasion into the northern part of the country, God spoke to Deborah. And you find an account of it in detail in Judges chapter four, and then the beautiful song that she sang after the victory over that great military might that came in to oppress the people.
Now, we get an account of it here, and just a word or two about it. This man, Cicero, he had nine hundred chariots of iron, an armored column. And he invaded the land, the northern part of the land. He invaded it with that great military might. As far as the people of Israel is concerned, they didn't have a shield or a spear. And they had nothing to fight with. But God spoke to Deborah and he spoke to Barrett. And with ten thousand men, they decided that they would meet up.
to this military expedition and see whether they were able to overcome it or not. It was God who sent them. And in a marvelous way, God delivered them. It's rather a remarkable thing the way He did it. And you get a little indication of it in the first verse here connected with this military expedition right here in the sound. We read, Thou who God did send a plentiful rain for by or it is confirmed by an inheritance when it was weary. You know, if you read the accounts in the Book of Judges, you find that these two men, Cicera and Jabin, with that military expedition coming in, with that tremendous power, and when they came to a certain spot, at the river Kishon, we'll read that the rain came down, and it came down, and it came down, and it came down, And the result was that this military expedition with nine hundred chariots of iron, they got stuck in the mud and they couldn't move.
And it was God Himself who intervened. And the result was that Cicera had to get out of his chariot and he had to flee on its feet and leave the place. And that was the opportunity for Deborah and for Barak to go in and follow them up. and the result was that there was a tremendous military victory and God intervened for his people. Now, I just want to read the passage and with these details in life, let's look at what it has to say here in the psalm. Verse nine, "'Thou, O God descend a plentiful rain whereby thou didst confirm thy inheritance when it was weary.
Thy congregation hath wilted in, thou, O God, hath prepared of thy goodness for the poor. The Lord gave the word. Great was the company of those who published it. Kings of armies, out of these few men that we have mentioned, Kings of armies did flee a faith, and she retired at home, provided the spoil. Though ye lie among the sheep's woes, yet shall ye be like the wings of a dove, covered with silver, and her feathers with yellow gold. When the Almighty scattered chains therein, it was white like snow and salmon. The hill of God is like the hill of vision, a high hill like the hill of vision.
Why leap ye ye high hills? This is the hill which God desires it well in. Yea, the Lord will dwell in it forever. The chariots of God are twenty thousand, even thousands of angels. The Lord is among them, as in sally I. in the holy place. Shishra had nine hundred chariots of iron, but the reason that God here had twenty thousand chariots and then a mighty army of angels as well. You know, some people get the idea today, as far as military strategy is concerned, God blesses the big battalions. We must have superior numbers, like all men.
And the more equipment we have, and the more armor columns we have, then we're able to win a battle. Now the lesson of history is that that is not true. When God is behind any movement that's going on, God is in control. And we find that not only in that expedition that described in Judges how God intervened by sending rain, and those chariots were stuck in the mud. And the result was that the tremendous victory that day, it was God himself who intervened. Now that's the lesson of history. on the big battalions, on equipment, on armored columns, and all the rest.
If God is not with it, it's absolutely futile. But thank God when God is behind any movement that's taking place, we know that there will be complete victory. And that was what happened in that tremendous chapter, chapter four of the book of Judges. Same thing has happened in human history. I would like to pause for a moment and look at some of the things that have happened just very briefly. You may remember, reading history, that Napoleon, he had the desire to conquer the world. He was a tremendous general. His army was absolutely superb. There was nothing like it in the world at the time.
And not only in Europe and going over to Egypt and in other parts, he made a tremendous impression And the result was that Putin disappeared, like Alexander the Great, that he was going to conquer the world. But you know, Napoleon made a mistake. And just before the winter set in, with the flower of the French army, he invaded Russia. And he took those men right in almost as far as Moscow. And then it started to snow, and it snowed, and it snowed, and it snowed, and it snowed. And the result is that they were completely immobilized. And the result was that there was a retreat.
And one of the most pathetic things in the history of Europe is Napoleon with a flur of the French army retreating from the walls of Moscow and coming back into Europe. You know, that was the end, as far as he was concerned. Later in Napoleon, he spent his time, he spent the end of his life in exile, exile, on the island of St. Helena. So God intervened at that time. God was behind it. And natural forces were what destroyed the French army at that time? You know, in our day, practically the same thing has happened.
I can well remember when the last World War II broke out and when the adult hits where he started. with the flora of the armies of Germany and some of the most clever generals that have been found anywhere in the world at that time were under his command. And it looked as if he too was going to conquer Europe. I can well remember those days, went to some detail about it, but it would take far too much time. But it looked as if we had gone together with what he did. And he boasted, that he was going to found an empire that would last for one thousand years.
But instead of coming down and taking Gibraltar and sailing off to the Mediterranean, although that's what his generals wanted him to do, he wouldn't listen to them. And he used to sit with his eyes closed, waiting for some punch. The man was demon possessed, and he was under the power of Satan, we believe. And instead of coming down and taking Gibraltar, he started to invade Russia. And he made exactly the same mistake that Napoleon did. Now, that's just a matter of history. You remember that time when he went in and surrounded Stoning Square. And the group is simply who's going to get away with it.
But then the winter came on, and it snowed, and it snowed, and it snowed, and it snowed. And the result was... he had to leave Russia at that time under a tree. That terrible, terrible stain where he died in that bunker there when he was surrounded by people that have come in for it, and they take it over. Now that's a matter that has happened in our day. And you know, not only that, but exactly the same thing happened in the nation of Israel. I believe we're living in a tremendous day. And anybody with any common sense, that with Saddam, and look at history and how God has intervened again and again to work out his purposes.
You remember in nineteen sixty-seven the army there in Israel was surrounded by about a hundred and one as far as soldiers and equipment were concerned. And there was Israel that looked as if they were going to be pushed into the Mediterranean and completely wiped out. And in six days, in a six day war, God intervenes. My husband had died in my mind that God was behind it. Don't go away with the idea that it was Moshe Diane and his military strategy that was the means of conquering that tremendous war of enemies that surrounded them at that time.
It was the Almighty God who did it. And again and again it has happened as far as Israel is concerned. I'm perfectly aware that Israel is back in the land in unbelief. And they're there at the present time. Anyone that would go out into the street and start and preach the gospel would be in prison. And anyone that would hand a track to a person on the street would be arrested. But at the same time, they're back in unbelief. And I believe that Almighty God is intervening to see that they're not destroyed. And we believe that at the end, God will triumph as far as us people are concerned. That is the day that we're living in at the present time.
Now, this is what we find in this wonderful chapter. And again, let me read down what it has to say about that second great military expedition in Judges chapter four and five. Thou, O God, send a plentiful rain, for by that is confirmed my inheritance when it was weary. My congregation hath built the rain. Thou, O God, has prepared. of thy goodness for the poor. Now down through verse seventeen, the chariots of God are twenty thousand, even thousands of angels. The Lord is among them, as in Sinai, in the holy place. Now here is the passage that I want to concentrate on, and look at it in the epistle to the Ephesians where it is quoted.
Verse eighteen, Thou hast descended on high. Thou hast laid captivity captive. Thou hast received gifts for men, yea, for the rebellious also, that the Lord God might dwell among them. Blessed be the Lord, who daily loatheth us with benefits, even the God of our salvation." Now that verse eighteen, leading captivity captive, is lifted out bodily from the psalm of Deborah in Judges chapter five. And here we get this tremendous, tremendous messianic passage. that's quoted by the Apostle Paul in Ephesians chapter four. Now shall we turn over to that passage please by the fact that I want to concentrate on?
Ephesians chapter four. And we'll read from verse seven. But unto every one of us is given grace according to the measure of the gift of Christ. Wherefore he said, when he ascended up on high, he led captivity captive, and gave gifts unto men. Now this is the passage quoted from the Sixty-Eight Psalm. Wherefore he said, when he ascended up on 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 part of the earth?
He that descended is the same also that ascended, up part of all heavens that he might fill all things. And he gave some apostles, some prophets, some evangelists, and some pastors and teachers for the perfect thing of the same, for the work of the ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ, 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, and the fullness of Christ. And we got out his blessing to the reading of his precious words. I just want to point out from the passage in Psalm sixty-eight, Paul Celeste, three clauses from it, and he misses his teaching here on spiritual gifts from that wonderful passage in the Psalm.
The first point is, he ascended on high. That is the ascension. And captivity he carried kept it. that is the second one. And thirdly, he gave gifts unto men. Now what I have in mind tonight is to speak a little bit about spiritual gifts and what the Word of God has to say about it. And it's based on the passage that we have read in the Psalm and Paul's quotation of it. Now the first sentence that he uses here is he ascended on high. We have been endeavoring to speak about the death of Christ and these meetings, and also His glorious resurrection.
And we thank God for that. But here we get the ascension of the Lord Jesus. He ascended on high. You know, there are sixteen passages in the New Testament concerning the ascension of Christ. Three of them are historical. You get three passages concerning the historical account of the Lord Jesus when He ascended. and thirteen of them are doctrinal. And if we were to look at these sixteen different passages concerning the ascension of the Lord Jesus, it could occupy all our time tonight and then some. The ascension of Christ is very, very important. So let me mention, first of all, the historical account that we get in particularly in the Gospel according to Luke.
Dr. Luke is very careful to give some account of the ascension of the Lord Jesus not only in his Gospel, but also in the first chapter of the Acts of the Apostles. And he uses three things. He says three things about the ascension of Christ. The first thing he mentions in the Gospel is the location where it took place. You remember what he says about it? He left the mark as far as the Bethany. And he lifted up his hands and blessed them. You know, he is the only one that tells us where the ascension took place. He led them out as far as the Bethany.
I've been in Israel twice. And I went up the Mount of Olives to what they call the Church of the Ascension. And we had a guide with them. A very fluent man. He made lots of information. And he took us up to that church on the top of the Mount of Olives. And he said, this is the place where Christ ascended and went back to heaven. And there's a stone in the middle of the floor with what looks like a footmark in it. And he said, this is the footmark of Jesus when he went up to heaven. And there was some of the people that were listening to him, the smile. And do you know the reason the smile? That man had never read Luke chapter twenty-four.
We're told here he led the march as far as to Bethany. Now, Bethany is on the Mount of Olives. but certainly it's not the spot that the guy will show you. And that church is in the wrong place completely. Why do you think that the Lord led his disciples out to Bethany? Have you ever thought about that? He was about to leave this world and go back to heaven. And he deliberately selected the place where he was going to leave them. He led them out as far as to Bethany. You know, their force... four places associated with the ministry of Christ down here. And on all four places, he was rejected. You remember he was born in Bethlehem, born in the end.
No room for him in the end. You remember Herod tried to destroy him. And when Jesus was born in Bethlehem, there was no room for him there. Born in a stable and cradled in a manger. Certainly as far as his birth is concerned, he was rejected. If he had been one of the greatest of earth, well, they would have had a very salacious place for him. But oh, thank God, the Creator of heaven and earth was born in the stable, a lowly place. And by the way, to go into that place where he was born, you would have to bow your head to go in. Rejected in earthly head.
And then when he came back from Egypt along with his parents, he spent the first thirty years of his life he spent in Nazareth. And at the end of thirty years he went into the synagogue in Nazareth and picked up the prophet Isaiah and he started to read, Spirit is of the Lord is upon me. He has anointed me to preach the gospel to the poor, to heal the brokenhearted, to give deliverance to the captive, sight to the blind, and to release those that are in prison. and the priests acceptable hear of the Lord. And he said, this day this passage is fulfilled in your ears. That was a claim that he was the Messiah and one of the elders who took him outside and took him to a precipice and tried to push him over to try to kill him.
Actually, the place where he was brought up, he was rejected. And then Capernaum that was the center of a Galilean ministry, where he had spent almost three years there in Capernaum, backwards and forwards to the place. At the end of that time he said, Oh, Capernaum, Capernaum, Thou killest the prophets, stonest them that are sent unto thee. How often would I have gathered thy children together, and the hen gathered their chickens under a wing, if you would not? He was rejected in Capernaum. And the final place was Jerusalem. the city of the great king. Uncertainly, if he should have been received anywhere, it should have been in Jerusalem, the city of David, Mount Zion.
He should have been received there. That's what happened. Outside the walls, there he was crucified. All these four places had no place for the Lord Jesus Christ. He was rejected, but there was a little place where he wasn't. A place of kindly, gracious hospitality. And I believe that that is the reason he took them out of Bethany. And it was there he was parted from them. And they left them behind. And that place where it was always welcome. And when there was kindly, gracious hospitality. That is what Luke tells us. The location. And it's only he who tells us the location from which the ascension took place. Another thing he tells us in the first chapter of the Acts of the Apostles.
He tells us about a cloud. that receive him out of their sight. I believe that that was the Shikana cloud. He's the only one that tells it that. You get the Shikana cloud of glory and the Transfiguration, we read about the cloud there. But when the Lord left that scene, we read that a cloud received him. You know, I believe that when he comes back again, he comes back with clouds. It would be interesting to trace the Shikana cloud of glory, both in the Old Testament and in the New. But it's only look, after look, that tells us that a cloud received him out of their sight. And the third thing he says, he speaks about two men that appeared and said, ye men of Galilee, why sent you gazing up into heaven, this same Jesus which is taken from you, shall so come in like manner as you have seen him go.
It's only he who tells us about those two men. And by the way, they were men. I wonder who the where. was Elijah and Lawton? I don't know. We're not told their names. But they were the witnesses, that the one that went up is the one who's coming back again in glory in the coming day. Now, these are three different things given by Dr. Look historically about the ascension of Christ. But then there are thirteen different passages concerning the ascension of the Lord Jesus. And there's some very, very important teaching connected to the ascension of Christ. You know, when they went up to heaven, he went up with our great high grace.
And not only is it the priest up there, but it also our advocate. And he is the one who was responsible for pouring out the Holy Spirit of God on the day of Pentecost. But the third thing is that when he went up, he gave gifts on the man. And that is what Paul is speaking about here. And spiritual gifts is something that I want to just mention very briefly here tonight. You know, beloved, here this evening, every single believer has a spiritual gift that has been given to them. There's no such thing as a member of the body, the height, that does not have a gift given divinely.
That is the teaching of the Word of God. Now, just to be brief about it, there are four passages that mention spiritual gifts. And I think that it's very necessary to get an outline of these four passages on the eighteen different gifts that are mentioned. That is eliminating duplication. There are about eighteen different gifts that are mentioned that are given to members of the body of Christ. And my beloved friend here tonight, have you ever discovered what your gift is? Are you exercised about it? Are you developing it? Because a gift has been supposedly given to you, and it can be wasted. Or it cannot be exercised.
And the important thing is to discover what your gift is. But there are four passages. And just let me mention them. In Romans chapter twelve, we'll read there of seven gifts that are given. And the person that gives them there is God the Father. If you read the portion, you'll find that. Christ has gone up and he too is giving gifts. That is Ephesians chapter four and the gifts that are mentioned here are five. We read here about apostles and prophets and evangelists and pastors and teachers. Here are five gifts that are given and they're given by Christ himself. And then in first Corinthians chapter twelve we read that it's the Holy Spirit of God that is the one that has spent his gifts there And if you read the passage, First Corinthians, twelve, at the beginning we find nine gifts that are mentioned, and at the end of the chapter we find nine other gifts are mentioned.
So these are three passages. First of all, God the Father in Romans chapter twelve. The Lord Jesus Christ at the dispenser of gifts in Ephesians chapter four. On the First Corinthians chapter twelve, it is the Holy Spirit of God. All three members of the Holy Trinity are involved. in the dispensation of gifts to the body. Now, Simon Peter in chapter four, he mentions two gifts there, mentions only two, and one is speaking, and the other is serving. If any man speak, let him speak at the articles of God. That is what Peter has to say about public speaking.
If any man speak, let him speak at the articles of God. You know, every time I look at that passage, it makes me tremble. The man that stands upon a platform with a book in his hand and proposes to minister the Word of God, for the moment, is God's my priest speaking as the oracles of God. It's a tremendous responsibility. I've been preaching now for seventy years, and I must confess that at the end of that time, every time I stand up before the night and I can feel my knees trembling one against the other. It's a tremendous responsibility to open the Word of God and to minister the Word of God.
If any man speaks, let him speak as the Oracle of God. I have read a number of books about preaching, what they call homiletics and hermeneutics. And I have put a number of books written by experts on some of the more modern books that have been written about preaching and giving advice to preachers, this is what they say, always when you start to tell a few jokes. Get the people laughing. Get them into a good mood. And then after that, and after you have told your joke, then go ahead with your message. You know, that makes me feel awfully sad.
The preaching of the Word of God is a very strong business. And I believe that the preachers instruct and start to tell jokes before he starts to minister the Lord. He's completely out of order. Mind you, I believe in humor. And there are times and places for everything. I can enjoy good, sanctified humor. I really enjoy it. And I'm not a sarcophagus by any means. But at the same time, the ministry of the Word of God is something again. My beloved friends, here's a mic. Simon Peter, in speaking first of all about speaking, he said, you're speaking as the Oracle of God.
What a tremendous responsibility that is. It's not the time for making fun or telling jokes or anything of that kind, but we have to do it in a way that we feel would reach people's hearts and consciences online. Someone would say that any message should be directed at three different things. First of all, of the mind. I think it must be something that people understand. If you start and talk about something that people go over people's heads and they don't understand what you're talking about, well, that's not real preaching. It's first of all directed to the mind in the simplest of language, without using terminology that people don't understand.
You know, sometimes people, when they hear these long, great theological words, they say, what's the man talking about? They don't know what they mean. We have to be as simple as we possibly can and put it over to a person's mind that they understand. But then secondly, it should be directed to their conscience. That is, it should awaken a person's conscience. If there's anything wrong, it has to be put right. It will direct us to the conscience. But then thirdly, it should be directed to the heart. It's something, I believe, that should influence a person and take possession of them, open their mind, and in their conscience, and also in their heart. So here, Simon Peter, when he's speaking about spiritual gift, he said, if any man speaks, let him speak as the oracles of God.
And I hope I never forget that. And the second thing is he speaks about serving and ministry. You know, it's a lovely thing that a person can minister among the people of God. It just simply means to serve, to be a servant, and to seek to be a help among people of God. These are the only two gifts that Peter mentioned. But the other three, from God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit, there are about eighteen gifts. And it's this that I want to mention just for a few minutes here this evening. I believe that these gifts are divided into three categories. First of all, that's what you might call fundamental or foundational gifts.
And I believe that the two that are mentioned here in Ephesians chapter four the apostle and the prophet. I believe these are foundational. I would like you to ask you, do we have apostles in the primary sense among us today? I don't think we do. The apostles were men who had actually seen the Lord and were commissioned by him. We don't have men like that today. And then prophets. The prophet here in the primary sense is a man who's inspired by God to write Holy Scripture and in the foundation of the church there were men of that type thank God we have their work in the epistle on the book of Revelation under the gospel men who were inspired by God carried along by the Holy Spirit and inspired to write Holy Scripture they were the prophets that is in the primary sense now these are two gifts mentioned by the Apostle Paul and they are in the foundation we do not have them today now the second is what you might call temporary gifts now I know I'm treading on controversial ground here but I
believe with all my heart that those great Pentecostal gifts that were given at the commencement of the church I don't believe that by and large they are in existence at the present time there are four of them I just want to mention They are mentioned in First Corinthians chapter twelve. And the first is miracles. And the second is healing. And the third is tongue. And the fourth one is the interpretation of tongue. Now these are four gifts that were in the church at the beginning. And personally I believe that they are temporary. You know at the commencement of every dispensation And by the way, I believe in dispensational truth.
On a different period of time, throughout time, when a new dispensation was inaugurated, they were always authenticated by special gifts. You remember when they came out of the land of Egypt? At the time of Moses, we find there at that time, there were those special gifts. And again, as far as the prophets are concerned, the time of Elijah and Elisha, there were miracles that were performed at that time. They were special gifts. And again, when our Lord came to this earth, when it was here below, He performed miracles, they were divine, they were absolutely supernatural, the gifts that the Lord performed.
On the Pentecostal day that the commencement of the church, these four gifts were in evidence. First of all, miracles. and then healing and then tongue and then the interpretation of tongue now I'm perfectly aware that in the charismatic movement at the present time there are those who said they would say that those are still in existence now I believe that God can work miracles we've had that in our own life we've seen that again and again and there's such a thing as divine healing we've had that As far as professional faith healing is concerned, I don't believe in that.
I believe there's an awful lot that is forming. Anyone that has investigated the things at the present time, I think we'll come to that conclusion too, are as far as the gift of tongues is concerned. Every time the word is mentioned in the Acts of the Apostles and also in First Corinthians, every time tongues are mentioned, It is real languages that were spoken. Real languages. You remember in the Acts? Every man heard in his own dialect. The wonderful words of God. It was a genuine gift. And it was a gift to those that were witnessing.
It had the purpose of witnessing to the wonderful words of God. And it was real languages that were spoken. And whether it is the Acts of the Apostles. or whether it first went in, it was all these languages that were spoken. But the kind of thing that proposes that is treating the tongues today is a baby dog. Now, there's some things I would love to mention here. I don't want to continue on at any length. But the only time I've heard tongues spoken in Africa that was done by a witch talk. I was sitting in the level hat, I was preaching from John three sixteen in the Chokwe language.
By the way, if you want to hear a sound in Chokwe, John three sixteen, this is the way it goes. Mō mō, mō, say, kōtō, zambi, wazang, gili, a kōrashi, I was preaching in John three, sixteen, trying to make the glass on as simple and thin as I possibly could. And on the other side of the fire, a little fire burning in the middle of the floor, there was an old witch doctor sitting there. And I noticed that he wasn't paying attention. And suddenly his eyes started to bleed and his lower jaw dropped down. And he started to speak.
Now he wasn't speaking with his vocal cords. It was coming from the tip of the stomach. The children that were sitting there on the people too, as soon as he started, the old started to shiver. The whole air seemed charged with satanic activity. And he started very slowly, but he got louder and louder and louder. And finally he was shouting at the top of the voice, and he was not speaking in the language of the people there. I understood that line. I sat in medicine to do it for a while, and finally, I couldn't spend it any longer. And I went over and I touched him. And I asked him what he was doing.
And by the way, even possession, the only thing to do is to pray. And pray in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ. The full title. And also always mention the blood. The blood of Christ. That is why. And someday the man sent out. what he was doing. And he came back to his night with him. I said, Friend, I said, What are you doing? We said, That's my familiar spirit. And he said, At the most unexpected time, he said, It comes and takes possession of it. He was speaking a tongue, but he was speaking a tongue under the power of the demon. Now, I'm not going to suggest at all that some of these dear friends that profess to have the gift of tongue are speaking under the power of the demon.
I wasn't the last one to say that. I wouldn't want to say it because many of them are truly born-again people. But I believe, if you see, it's a psychological thing. And I believe that when they lose control of their mind and start this up, you know, again, it's something that's not logical at all. It's not something that anybody could understand. This is the kind of baby talk. And a repetition over and over and over and over again. It's not the gifts of tongues that we find in the New Testament. And therefore, it must not be genuine. The genuine gifts of tongues were real languages that had a purpose. And that purpose was to declare the wonderful works of God.
And it was a sign not to the believer, but to the unbeliever. That is what the Word of God had to say about it. And then the interpretation of tongues, I believe that that has passed away to. First Corinthians chapter twelve. says this, chapter thirteen, it says that as for tongues they shall see and I believe after they had both built their purpose in authenticating the message at the commencement of the church's existence I believe that they were withdrawn. So I would say that these four gifts that have mentioned by and large I believe the heart of the cross. Miracles, healing, tongue, on the interpretation of some sacred, temporary gifts that were given for the purpose of the commencement of the church, and I believe that by and large they're not in existence of the present time.
But then there are gifts that are in existence. And there are three of them here in the passage of this verse. The evangelist of the pastor and the teacher. Oh, thank God we have these gifts among us today. The evangelist, what does that mean? The man who has a gift of the preaching of the gospel. And mind you, that is a scarce gift at the present time. I wish I had that gift. You know, there are men among us who have been gifted in the preaching of the gospel. And when they preach, you can feel them. The Holy Spirit is working through them.
But you know, men of this character are very scarce at the present time. Sometimes people go to college. and they go to seminary, and the whole context they have is about them a pastor-teacher. They want to be a teacher, but ask for the gift of evangelism, the preaching of the gospel. Oh no, and that is discouraged at the present time. Beloved, here tonight, I believe that one of the great necessities of the Church of God today is a man who can preach. Preach the gospel with the Holy Spirit sent down from heaven. our beloved brother who's speaking with the children the night, I listened to the other night.
You talk about building up assembly or planting assemblies. The men to do it are men that are evangelists, that have been divinely gifted by the Holy Spirit of God to preach the gospel. Well, it's not everybody that has it. Sometimes that our family Bible are we get a little homily on how to behave ourselves. Well, that's all right. All of the circumstance. But I believe that what we need today, especially in our family's Bible, are when people come in to listen to the Word of God, what we need are men that are able to preach the gospel and get souls and see people brought to Christ. Oh, the evangelists, on the gift that's given to us.
We have had the men like that among us. I've heard names mentioned since I came here. I'm not going to repeat them, but we do thank God for any man who has that marvelous gift of the preaching of the gospel and is able to speak in such a way that people are convicted of their sin and there's true repentance and that they're brought to Christ and truly born again, regenerated by the Holy Spirit of God. That is the first permanent gift here, and I believe it's very, very necessary. Now, the second is the pastor. And by the way, this is the only place in the New Testament where the word pastor is used as far as the word is concerned.
In every other place it means a shepherd. It just simply means a shepherd. And what is a shepherd? Well, thank God we have had shepherds among us. I don't need to tell you the type of a man that he is. The man that is a heart full of love for Christ and for the people of God. We do thank God for men that have that gift. Sometimes they're called elders, other times they're called overseers, but other times they're called shepherds. Those are not synonymous terms. What is an elder? An elder is a man characterized by spiritual maturity.
What is an overseer? It's a man characterized by spiritual authority. A New Testament church is not a democracy. God raises up men in the church that have the authority, the delegated authority from Christ himself. And you know, sometimes when sin takes place, and you find someone who has fallen into sin, and here I want to speak very carefully. You know, those terrible sins that are mentioned in First Corinthians chapter five. But unfortunately, The devil is working overtime and sometimes something happens in the New Testament assembly and it cannot be swept under the rug.
Discipline must be exercised. And the man who does that, he has delegated authority from Christ himself. It has to be investigated and after it has been thoroughly shown that the sin has taken place, then he communicates with his fellow overseers or his fellow elders. And then the whole church is gathered together and then discipline this exercise. And if it's the whole church collectively, that is responsible for discipline. I have been present some time when this has taken place. And there's always a sad occasion. And by the way, I believe that when a task takes place, it should be done with a broken heart on a weeping hour.
Every time I have seen a time that has happened, A dear brother, he has to get up and inform the assembly what has taken place. And without going into the sordid details of what has happened, he has to tell the assembly what has happened, and then his head is barred. And with a weeping eye, he has to say that that person is no longer a member of a assembly. They have to be communicated. That is First Corinthians chapter five. But always when it happens, It always has the object of the restoration of the person who has sined. Always. That is the object that the person might be brought under the discipline of God and brought back again in true restoration and repentance into assembly fellowship.
Now this is the word here in the center. That is the shepherd. Or you can call it the pastor if you like. But by the way, there's no such thing in the Bible as the pastor of the church. Pastors, yes. But the pastor is an anomaly. It's not mentioned in Scripture at all. Always the government of any local assembly, it is a plurality of elders or shepherds or overseers. It's always a plurality. And to say, the pastor of the church, that is something that is all known in Holy Scripture. You examine the New Testament carefully, and you'll find that that is perfectly true.
So first of all, We get here the evangelist, the preacher of the gospel, and he is characterized by no validity. I'm a general. I'm going around preaching the gospel and getting going. And then the shepherd, he is characterized by sympathy. But the last man, the teacher, he is characterized by ability. The man that's able to take the word of God, and open it up. and speak to the hearts and consciences of God's people and through light on the meaning of holy scripture that is the teacher so here we find these three permanent gifts but there are some others that are linked with it now as far as I'm concerned there's one little gift that I would love to have and it's a very simple little word and there's just five letters in it and The way it's spelled out in Romans chapter twelve is H-E-L-Z-S, helps.
Now that's a gift that some people don't go after, but all beloved, we can all go after them. A help, a help, a help. You ever know that the place where it's mentioned in the Acts of the Apostles? It's not the same Greek word that you find in Romans chapter twelve. We read about a ship and a storm. You remember Paul was on his way to Rome. And there was a terrific storm. And you remember the first thing they did, they got rid of the cargo. They threw the cargo overboard on the light of the ship. And then we were going to lower a boat. And some of the men on the ship that wanted to abandon the ship. And then the next thing we read, we used helps undergirding the ship.
You know that little word helps. Many of them have spoken very largely to my heart. I happen to have served in apprenticeship in shipbuilding. By the way, that's a long time ago. I was sixteen years of age. When I went into the largest shipbuilding firm in the world at that time, Harlan Wolf, the firm that built the Titanic, and I was sixteen. And I went in there, and I was there until it was twenty-one years of age. And I served a five-year apprenticeship in shipbuilding. And some of the old men, that I was with at that time, they had served their apprenticeship in the time of the old wooden wing jammers that used to go to China in the China Sea trade.
And very often, I would listen to these old men talk, what the dinner are. And again and again, I heard them using a word about when they were going around Cape Horn in a storm. And the fact is that the ship was going to the bottom, a word they used was frapping, frapping. F-R-A-P-P-P. Ing traffic. By that word traffic, it means to undergird the ship. That was what happened here. What they did, when the ship was in a storm, and it started to spingulate the old wooden windjammers, and the seams started to open. So it would take a steam hosser, and holding the two ends of the hosser in the ship, so it would go up to the four feet of the ship, and drop it over the bar.
And that is the look. and drop it down under the forefoot of the ship and hold it the two ends of the answer answer in the ship and we pull it to the center the center part of the ship and then they would put it on a turnbuckle and then with a marlin smack they would turn it and turn it and turn it and tighten it and they called that trapping the ship to hold it together in case the thing would fall apart and go to the bottom that's what it means to on the journey of the ship. We use tests on the journey of the ship. Beloved, that's the kind of a man I'd like to be. You know, very often in an assembly, it gets into a storm.
And I don't need to tell you that sometimes there are things that are introduced that never should be introduced. And things that are controversial, that are introduced into an assembly. And before you know where you are, the assemblies divide it right on the middle. by these things. I'm not going to mention what they are. You know as well as I do. Different things that can divide an assembly and split it right down the middle. And it's going through a storm. But I would like to be a man to put my arms around the ship and ponder about the ship. Instead of getting on board the boats and lowering it from the David's down on the landing the ship or taking the cargo in the ship and that is the precious word of God and throwing it over the side.
I would like to put my arms around it and fold it together. Those who are the type of men that we need, I have made up my mind about one thing, that as long as I live, I will never be responsible for dividing a people of God. If I can't help them, if I can't be of some little blessing to the people of God, rather not the very God, some people have no conscience at all. about the fight and the unassembly. But as far as I'm concerned, without the grace of God, I never want to either say anything or teach anything or do anything that would cause disruption in a church of God.
Oh, beloved, what we need to do is to build and to bind and to beautify God's people. And I think that is a little slug, and we should all take hold. To build and to bind and to beautify God's feet. And I tell you, we'll make that an okay of our life. You'll never get into any trouble. What a joy it is, these spiritual gifts that have been given to the church. Our every single believer has a gift. And again, just a little word of exhortation before I sit down. We find in First Corinthians twelve to desire a gift. Desire a gift.
And then secondly, to discover what your gift is. Have you discovered what your gift is, the gift that has been given to you? You have a gift. And the plain thing is that you have to discover what it is. And then after you discover what it is, then you have to develop it. You know what Paul said a term of thing? He said, the gift that has been given to you, he said, blow it into a flame. Blow it into a flame. It has to be exercised. And generally that gift that God has given to you, when you exercise it, it can develop and develop and develop, and it can be a real blessing to the people of God.
First of all, desire, and then discover, and then develop that gift. And if you do that, I believe that God can make you a blessing wherever you are. What are desired today? Deceived the little assemblies right across this country, little groups of believers, going on with love, with love, with love. And not only that, but to see men raised up with these wonderful gifts for to help and bless the people of God and to build up the body of Christ. That is the object of the Holy Spirit of God in dispensing gifts of the present time. May God bless his word through our hearts for his name.