(Song of Sol. 5:13), and when we realize that the mouth speaketh out of the

abundance of the heart, we may well pray that our 'meditation of Him shall be

sweet', for only so shall we become sweeteners of others.

Among the gifts given by the ascended Lord to His church in Ephesians 4

we find 'pastors and teachers' mentioned (Eph. 4:11), and the apostle Paul on

two occasions couples the office of 'teacher' with that of 'preacher' and

'apostle' (1 Tim. 2:7; 2 Tim. 1:11).  Even in Old Testament times the teacher

had his place.  We are apt to think that the Levitical priesthood was wholly

taken up with offerings and ceremonials.  These certainly occupied a great

amount of time, but the value of these offerings and ceremonials lay in their

typical teaching, for the blood of bulls and goats could never in itself take

away sin.  Consequently we find that the Levite was a teacher as well as a

priest or server of the tabernacle:

'He said unto the Levites that taught all Israel ... Put the holy ark

in the house' (2 Chron. 35:3).

'And of Levi he said, Let thy Thummim and thy Urim be with thy holy one

... They shall teach Jacob thy judgments, and Israel thy law: they

shall put incense before thee, and whole burnt sacrifice upon thine

altar' (Deut. 33:8 -10).

The close association of ceremonial and teaching is evident; the holy

ark, the incense, the burnt sacrifice, and teaching are all spoken of in the

same context.  The words of 2 Chronicles 15:3 are significant in this

'Now for a long season Israel hath been without the true God, and

without a teaching priest, and without law'.

It is possible to have a life full of ceremonial, offerings, incense,

washings and fasts, and yet to be without 'the true God'.  Only as these

ceremonials and offerings are explained and their meaning appreciated will

God be really known.

Further, we must recognize that Ephesians 4:11 does not indicate that a

teacher today is endowed with any supernatural gift, such, for instance, as

prophecy or tongues.  Nevertheless, the teacher himself was a gift to the

Church and as such must have possessed some fitness for his work.  When the

apostle instructs Timothy in the difficult task before him, he writes:

'The things that thou hast heard of me among many witnesses, the same

commit thou to faithful men, who shall be able to teach others also' (2

Tim. 2:2).

'The servant of the Lord must not strive; but be gentle unto all men,

apt to teach' (2 Tim. 2:24).

'A bishop then must be blameless ... apt to teach' (1 Tim. 3:2).

It is only reasonable to believe that anyone sent by the Lord to teach

will have an 'aptitude' for teaching.  If he has to speak, he will be able to

speak plainly, and will be able to make himself heard and understood.

However good the message may be, it is valueless if it is inaudible or