Ephesians chapter four, please.
Fourth chapter of Paul's letter to the Ephesians.
We'll just read the first sixteen verses.
Ephesians four, verses one through sixteen.
I therefore, the prisoner of the Lord, beseech
you that ye walk worthy of the vocation
wherewith ye are called, with all loneliness and
meekness, with long-suffering, forbearing one another in
love, endeavoring to keep the unity of the
spirit in the bond of peace.
There is one body and one spirit, even
as ye are called, in one hope of
your calling.
One Lord, one faith, one baptism, one God
and Father of all, who is above all
and through all and in you all.
But unto every one of us is given
grace according to the measure of the gifts
of Christ.
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
parts of the earth?
He that descended is the same also that
ascended up far above all heavens, that he
might fill all things.
And he gave some apostles and some prophets
and some evangelists and some pastors and teachers
for the perfecting of the saints, 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 of the fullness of Christ.
That we henceforth be no more children taught
to and fro and carried about with every
wind of doctrine by the slight of men
and cunning craftiness whereby they lie in wait
to be seized, but speaking the truth in
love, may grow up into him in all
things, which is the head, even Christ, from
whom the whole body fitly joined together and
compacted by that which every joint supplies, according
to the effectual working in the measure of
every part, make an increase of the body
unto the edifying of itself in love.
So I think we'll just stop there because
we probably will not get further than that
tonight.
Now, just by way of review, we might
look at the outline of chapter three.
We notice that chapter three was divided into
two parts.
First of all, there was a section on
the revelation of the great truth on the
ministry.
First of all, it was revealed through a
divine.
Secondly, we define the mystery, first of all,
in general, as a hitherto unrevealed truth.
But this particular mystery was Jew and Gentile
formed into one body with the risen Christ
as the head.
We saw that its messenger was the Apostle
Paul and that the message was given to
him by grace he didn't deserve.
His purpose was that now, under the principalities
and powers in the heavenly places, might be
known by the Church the manifold wisdom of
God.
And then we notice Paul's prayer for power
in verses 14 through 19.
A fourfold dimension, the breadth and length and
depth and height.
And we suggested that the breadth referred to
as taking in of Jew and Gentile into
the Church and the length represented the time
from eternity past to eternity future.
The depth was the depth to which Christ
came to win us to himself, where we
were dead in trespasses and in sins, and
the height is seated with Christ in the
heavenly.
Then he also prayed that the Ephesians might
know the love of Christ with passive knowledge
and that they might be filled with all
the fullness of God.
And the Apostle closes the chapter with an
inscription of praise to God for his grace.
Now we'll just turn the blackboard over and
write down our outline.
Now you'll remember at the outset we suggested
the epistle was divided into two parts.
The first three chapters we call the doctrines
of grace.
And you'll remember that the division of the
epistle comes here at chapter 4 and so
we call this Roman numeral 2, duties of
grace.
Chapters 4 through 6, the duties of grace.
In other words, the first three chapters tell
what we are in Christ and the last
three chapters tell what we ought to be
in ourselves.
God's purpose is that our state should increasingly
correspond to our standing.
God's purpose is that the believer's practice should
become more and more like his position.
Now our practice never will be perfectly like
our position until we see that but as
long as we live we should be exercised
to become more and more like him.
Now in chapter 4 you have first of
all a plea for unity based upon a
sevenfold unity.
And that verse is 1 through 6.
Now we might just look at those and
perhaps you'll want to list those, that sevenfold
unity as we come to it under that
heading.
Plea for unity based on a sevenfold unity.
Paul says, I therefore the prisoner of the
Lord.
Now this is interesting.
In verse 1 of chapter 3 he said,
for this cause I Paul, the prisoner of
Christ Jesus.
And now he says, I therefore the prisoner
of the Lord.
Now he uses the expression prisoner of Christ
Jesus in the section of the epistle having
to do with our position.
Remember we're seated with Christ in the heavenly.
But here where it becomes a matter of
practice, a matter of everyday living, he speaks
of himself as the prisoner of the Lord.
And of course that word Lord brings before
us our subjection and our obedience to the
Lord Jesus Christ.
Lord means master.
And it's quite significant that even such an
expression should be changed when he comes to
this portion of the epistle.
He says, I the prisoner of the Lord
beseech you that ye walk worthy of the
vocation wherewith ye are called.
Now it's characteristic of the grace of Christ
shining out in the apostle Paul that he
doesn't command them.
He beseeches them.
In a sense he could command them.
The things that he says are the very
commandments of the Lord.
And yet grace so shines out even in
his ministry that he uses the word beseech.
Now the exhortation is, you have been called
to a wonderful calling.
Now walk worthy of it.
It's a good thing chapters 4, 5, and
6 don't come first.
It's a good thing our standing isn't dependent
upon our obedience, isn't it?
It's a good thing that our Christianity isn't
dependent on what we do.
No, God puts us in the position and
then tells us to walk in the light
of the position he puts us in.
I beseech you that ye walk worthy of
the calling wherewith ye are called.
With all lowliness and meekness, with longsuffering, forbearing
one another in love.
So apparently the Lord knew that when he
called people of such diverse temperaments, backgrounds, nationalities
into the church that there was going to
be need of grace, need of lowliness, need
of longsuffering, and need of meekness.
And so hence the exhortation.
Verse 3, endeavoring to keep the unity of
the spirit in the bond of peace.
Now God never tells us in the word
of God to establish a unity in the
church.
He has already done that.
And the part of the Christian is to
recognize the unity that already exists.
And dear friends, it's one of the most
difficult things today to do.
A very difficult thing today for people to
witness to the unity of the body of
Christ.
But thank God it isn't impossible.
And all over the world there are people
who are seeking to do that very thing.
To show to the world a testimony that
all true believers in the Lord Jesus Christ
are one.
And a refusal to recognize anything that would
be a denial of the unity of the
spirit.
Now Paul has a sevenfold basis for this
appeal.
Why should we endeavor to keep the unity
of the spirit?
Well there are seven reasons.
First of all, there is only one body.
All true believers in the Lord Jesus Christ,
as we have said, are members of the
church.
I might just picture it to you this
way.
Supposing this were to picture the church universal,
composed of all those who have been sent
by the precious blood of Christ.
Doesn't make any difference what their affiliations on
earth.
Now God's purpose is that there should be
a miniature on the earth to the truth
of the church universal.
And every local church on the earth should
be a miniature of the church universal.
And no local church should deny, by practice
or precept, any of the great truths of
the church universal.
Now you say, what are some of those
truths of the universal church?
Christ is the head of the church.
Now nothing that a local church ever does
or says should contradict or deny the truth
of the church universal.
If Christ is the head of the church,
then we must carry that truth out in
Christ.
Truth number two, all believers are members of
the church.
All believers are members of the church.
The local church should seek to carry that
out.
Welcoming into its fellowship all who have been
cleansed by the blood of Christ, who are
holy in life, not under discipline from some
other church.
No unbelievers are members of the church universal.
Well then the local church should seek into
its fellowship any who are unbelievers.
All right, the Holy Spirit has been given
by God to govern the church universal.
That is to direct the worship and the
service of those in it.
And every local church should seek to give
liberty to the Holy Spirit to direct the
activities of the local church.
Gifts have been given to the church universal
that we're going to read about tonight.
Opportunity should be given for the exercise of
those gifts.
All members of the church universal are priests
of God.
Well then that should be recognized here in
the local church.
And in every great truth that you have
in the New Testament concerning the church universal,
it should be carried into practice by the
local church.
So that when the world looks on a
local church, it will see a true representation
of the body of Christ.
Now of course not everyone in the body
of Christ would be in this particular local
church.
But that particular local church should give witness
to the great truth.
Now is that what we have today in
Christendom?
I'm afraid if we were to draw what
we have today in Christendom, it would look
something like this.
We have all kinds of variations of it.
We're reading here there is one body.
Look about you in Christendom tonight.
Is that what you find?
Of course you don't.
You find Christians calling themselves by all kinds
of names.
And refusing fellowship to those who do not
bear the name.
Well I just suggest that for your consideration,
that there is only one body.
And that every local church should seek to
carry out that precious truth.
And refuse to deny it.
People say, well what are you?
Well the answer is, I'm a Christian.
Oh they say, I know, but you have
to be something else.
Well I am something else.
I'm a believer in the Lord Jesus Christ.
Oh but they say, you don't understand, that
isn't enough.
Oh isn't it?
What else do you want me to be?
Well you have to belong to something.
Well I do.
I belong to the church.
I belong to Christ, the head of the
church.
Yes, they say that.
Not satisfied yet.
They want you to take some ground that
scripture doesn't give you.
And that I steadfastly refuse to do.
Because the moment I do that, I'm on
vulnerable ground.
Christ has put me in the church.
I'm one with all true believers in the
Lord Jesus Christ.
And I refuse to adopt any label that
will separate me from any who love his
precious name.
Now I believe that God is calling his
people back to this truth today.
And thank God for every evidence of a
return to it.
There is one body, verse 4, and one
spirit.
And of course this spirit is the Holy
Spirit.
Only one Holy Spirit leading the church in
its prayers and praises.
Even as ye are called in one hope
of your calling.
Now here again you have the word hope.
And characteristically in the New Testament, the hope
refers to the coming again of the Lord
Jesus Christ.
And all true believers in Christ are looking
for his coming.
Now a lot of us who are Christians
don't agree on the exact details of his
coming.
But that isn't the point here.
And those little minor details shouldn't break fellowship.
The great thing is, are you looking for
his return from heaven?
Yes I am.
That's a mark of a true believer in
the Savior.
When I hear people denying the fact that
he's coming again, I begin to wonder.
One body, one spirit, that's the Holy Spirit.
One hope of your calling, that is the
coming of Christ, taking his people to be
with himself.
One Lord.
And here again the word Lord means masses.
One we look to for our direction, for
our guidance.
One faith.
And that's the Christian faith, isn't it?
It speaks of the faith once for all
delivered unto the saints.
And it's comprehended in this book we hold
in our hands tonight.
One faith.
The word of God given to us by
the Lord himself.
One baptism.
Oh.
Is there just one baptism?
I thought there were many.
I thought some sprinkled and some immersed and
I thought there was a baptism of the
Holy Spirit.
Well, right enough, there's quite a bit of
confusion about this particular verse.
Some folks believe this is a baptism of
the Holy Spirit.
Others believe it's Christian baptism.
I tend to believe the latter, that it
refers to Christian baptism.
And you say, well there are many different
kinds of baptism practiced today.
Yes there are, but there's only one in
the New Testament.
Only one in the New Testament.
You say, well why isn't it baptism of
the Spirit?
Well, the only reason I would suggest it
isn't baptism of the Spirit is that the
Spirit is already mentioned in verse 4.
One Spirit.
And it seems to me it would be
rather duplicating to mention him again in verse
5.
But I would suggest it's Christian baptism.
That rite by which we publicly identify ourselves
with Christ in his death and burial.
As you read in Romans chapter 6.
But if you disagree with me, that's perfectly
all right.
Verse 6.
One God and Father of all who is
above all and through all and in you
all.
Now Paul appeals on these sevenfold facts for
unity among the people of God.
Now the word of God never insists that
we be uniform in all that we believe.
There are a lot of things in the
Christian faith that Christians will never agree on.
But there are great fundamental truths that all
Christians should agree on.
And here you have them.
The great essentials.
The great fundamentals of the faith.
And these form the basis of fellowship.
Do they not?
And so you have first of all then
a plea for unity based upon a sevenfold
unity.
Now the next thing we have in this
chapter is God's program for the growth of
the church.
God's program for the growth of the church
from verse 7 to 16.
Verses 7 to 16.
And you'll find as we read these verses
that the subject of these verses is gift.
The way God has ordained that the church
should grow is through gifts the Lord Jesus
Christ has given to the church.
And so we'll just put down first of
all the source of the gift.
Number one, the source of the gift.
Verses 7 through 10.
All right, now let's just look at it
verse by verse.
It says, But unto every one of us
is given grace according to the measure of
the gift of Christ.
Now in verse 4 we read there's one
body.
And scripture in 1 Corinthians 12 teaches that
we're all members of that one body.
Every believer is a member of the body
of Christ.
And that means that every believer has a
function to perform in the body.
Just as every member of my body has
a very real function.
When it's gone, it's missed.
So every member of the body of Christ
has a function to perform.
Now verse 7 teaches that God not only
gives you a function to perform, but he
gives you the grace with which to perform.
Unto every one of us is given grace.
And grace here means undeserved ability.
According to the measure of the gift of
Christ.
Some gifts require more grace than others.
Well, if he's given you a gift, he'll
give you grace commensurate with the gift.
So there's no need to say, oh, there's
nothing I can do in the church.
I'm just a little nobody.
Nothing was ever further from the truth.
Every one of us who is a believer
should be exercised to know what our function
in the church is.
And we should always remember that it isn't
the most spectacular gifts that are the most
important.
Not at all.
Oftentimes the most lowly, the most menial service
is that which is of greatest price in
the sight of God.
I don't suppose you here have ever heard
of a man named B.C. Greenman.
But he was a devoted servant of the
Lord who labored for many years in Canada
and the United States.
And after he had been serving the Lord
for some time in Canada, he got very
discouraged.
And one night after his meeting, he decided
to give the whole thing up and just
go back home.
He was through.
And so he was walking along the highway
at night, no public transportation, and he was
walking toward his home.
And he saw a light in the distance,
and he came nearer, and it was just
a little humble cottage.
And when he got to the cottage, he
saw the light was coming from the shed
at the back of the cottage.
And as he got closer, he saw past
midnight, here was a dear mother out doing
the washing for her family, working into the
wee hours of the morning to keep her
little family going.
And as B.C. Greenman passed the window,
he heard her singing, Lamb of God, our
souls adore thee, while upon thy face we
gaze.
And he said to himself, B.C. Greenman,
you're a coward.
And he never did leave the work of
the Lord.
Now he never knew, or that woman never
knew, the ministry she had as a member
of the body of Christ that night.
She never knew what she was accomplishing by
just going about her humble duties in the
home.
God had a discouraged servant, an Elijah, going
by outside, and he heard her singing, which
he didn't have too much to sing about,
humanly speaking, and he kept on in the
work of the Lord.
It says, verse 7, therefore, but unto every
one of us is given grace according to
the measure of the gift of Christ.
Wherefore he saith.
Now, just in your thinking, perhaps you'd like
to change that to, wherefore it saith.
What?
Who saith?
Well, wherefore it saith in the book of
Psalms, because that's where this quotation comes from.
Wherefore it saith in Psalm 68, 18, when
he ascended up on high, he led captivity
captive and gave gifts unto men.
Now, this is a very difficult portion of
scripture, and let me just seek to explain
it in this way.
The subject is gifts, and the subject of
these immediate verses is the source of the
gifts.
Who gives gifts to the church?
Is it the ordination committee of the church?
No.
Paul's going to show here that only the
risen head of the church can give a
gift.
Men might educate, train, do everything else with
their fellow men, but in the long run,
only Christ can raise up a gift for
the church.
So it says, Paul says, I'm going to
quote from the book of Psalms, strangely enough.
And back in the book of Psalms it
says, wherefore when he ascended up on high,
he led captivity captive and received gifts for
men.
That's the way it reads in the book
of Psalms.
And the thought is this, the Lord Jesus
Christ is depicted by the psalmist as going
up to heaven, having triumphed over Satan and
his cohort, that's what it means he led
captivity captive, and received gifts for men.
That is, as a reward for his mighty
conquest, God gave Christ gifts for men.
He led captivity captive.
We could use the illustration, as we have
done, of the missionaries in the Philippines during
the last war.
They were held in Japanese prisons in the
Philippines as captives.
And then the American troops came in and
they broke that captivity.
They took the Japanese jailers and led captivity
captive.
Well, that's what the Lord Jesus did.
He defeated Satan and all his hosts at
Calvary, and ascended up and received gifts for
men.
Now Paul says here in verse 8, wherefore
it says in the book of Psalms, when
he, Christ, ascended on high, he led captivity
captive and gave gifts unto men.
He received gifts from the Father for men
and gave them to men.
Verse 9, now that he ascended, and perhaps
you'd want to write down that this means
now, when it says that he ascended, when
it says in the book of Psalms that
he ascended into heaven, what is it but
that he also descended?
What does it mean but that he also
descended first into the lower parts of the
earth?
And the thought is this, the psalmist is
speaking about Christ ascending up into heaven.
How could Christ ascend up into heaven?
Wasn't he always in heaven?
Didn't he dwell with God the Father in
heaven?
Well, Paul says that when the psalmist speaks
about him ascending, doesn't it mean that he
first of all had to come down?
And of course that's what happened at Bethlehem.
You'd never know it just by reading the
Old Testament, would you?
You'd never know it just by reading in
the book of Psalms, but it necessitates that.
Verse 9, now when it says that he
Christ ascended, what does it mean but that
he also descended previously into the lower parts
of the earth?
Now I know that many people make the
lower parts of the earth here to mean
Hades and Sheol and a lot of other
things, but I don't believe it means that
at all.
I believe it means the surface of the
earth and perhaps the grave, but I believe
it refers primarily to his incarnation.
That same expression, the lower parts of the
earth, is used in Isaiah 44 and 23,
and it can only mean the surface of
the earth there.
You might just turn to that, Isaiah 44
and 23.
It couldn't possibly mean Sheol or Hades.
It says in verse 23 of Isaiah 44,
Sing, O ye heavens, for the Lord hath
done it.
Shout, ye lower parts of the earth.
Break forth into singing, ye mountains, O forests
and every tree therein.
Now what Isaiah is doing is calling upon
the mountains, the forests, the trees, the valleys,
the lower parts of the earth, to break
forth into singing, the Lord hath done it.
And it couldn't mean Hades there, and I
would suggest that in Ephesians 4 it refers
to the Lord Jesus condescendingly coming down to
this earth, the lower parts of the earth.
Verse 10, He that descended is the same
also that ascended up far above all heavens,
that he might fill all things.
Now Paul is seeking to emphasize in this
portion that it's the risen, ascended, glorified Christ
who gives gifts to the Church.
Now let me just go over that again,
just so that it will be clear in
our minds before we proceed to the next
point.
But unto every one, verse 7, unto every
one of us is given grace according to
the measure of the gift of Christ.
That says that if the Lord gives you
a work to perform in the Church, and
He does, He gives you the ability, the
strength, the grace to do it.
And all He wants is obedience and willingness
of your part.
Wherefore it says in the book of Psalms,
when Christ ascended on high, He led captivity
captive.
He broke the power of Satan, leading him
captive, and gave gifts unto men.
Now when it says that Christ ascended, what
does it mean but that He must first
have descended into the lower parts of the
earth, that is the surface of the earth.
He that descended is the same also that
ascended up far above all heavens, that he
might fill all things.
And so the source of the gift is
the risen Lord Jesus Himself.
Now next in verse 11 you have the
names of the gifts.
And that will be number 2, verse
11, the names of the gifts.
It says, and He gave some apostles.
Now you notice these are special gifts that
He gave for the growth of the Church.
He gave some apostles.
And we pointed out previously that these apostles
were connected with the foundation of the Church,
the apostles and the prophets.
Now, chapter 2, verse 20, connected with the
foundation of the Church.
The apostles sent ones carrying forth the message,
establishing churches of prophets, spokesmen for God, speaking
by divine revelation.
We believe that the apostles and prophets, New
Testament prophets, are not with us today.
We now have the complete word of God,
which was not in existence at that time.
Now the other three gifts, the other gifts
we do have, He gave some evangelists.
And the evangelist is the man who goes
forth today with the evangel, the good news
of salvation.
It's a special gift.
Not all are evangelists.
All can do the work of an evangelist,
as Timothy was exhorted to do, but not
all are evangelists.
An evangelist has a real perception.
He can speak to a troubled soul.
God gives him the ability to diagnose the
case, to say the right thing, to lead
the soul to Christ.
He can discern people's attitudes and where they
stand, and he can give the suited message.
He gave some evangelists and some pastors and
teachers.
Now, you'll notice that the word some comes
before apostles, and it comes before prophets, and
it comes before evangelists.
But it doesn't come before teachers.
And a lot of Bible students feel that
this expression, pastors and teachers, refers to the
same person.
The pastor, of course, has the idea of
shepherding, and the teacher has the idea of
making clear the word of the Lord to
the people of God.
Explaining it, expounding it, making it clear to
their understanding and to their spiritual perception.
Be that as it may, perhaps pastors is
a separate gift.
I'll leave that for your consideration.
Pastors is used in the plural.
You'll notice not one pastor over a church,
but pastors in the church.
And so those are the names of the
gifts God has given for the up-building
of the church.
Now notice in verse 12, the work of
the gifts.
And this is very important.
The work of the gifts.
Verse 12.
Now, when you read this verse in the
King James Version, it sounds as if there
were three different reasons why the gifts were
given.
Notice.
One, for the first, don't write this down,
because I'm going to seek to show you
that it isn't the exact meaning.
One, for the perfecting of the saints, comma.
Two, for the work of the ministry, comma.
Three, for the edifying of the body of
Christ, period.
Or colon.
Now, in the original language of the New
Testament, there are no punctuation marks.
These punctuation marks were put in by the
translators of the Bible.
And in general, they're accurate, and just the
way we would want them.
But I'd like to suggest to you that
they confuse the meaning of the passage here.
And if you look at almost any other
version of the Bible, you'll find an important
change here.
For instance, if you look at John Nelson
Darby's translation of the Bible, you'll find it
reads this way.
He gave the gift, verse 12, for the
perfecting of the saints unto the work of
the ministry.
Unto the edifying of the body of Christ.
Does somebody have a Darby here tonight, just
to check on that?
Or a revised version, or any other version
of the Bible?
We all, King James, go through Bibles.
Let me just write that down.
For the perfecting of the saints unto
the work of the ministry.
Unto the edifying of the body of Christ.
Now, if you check the revised, or Weymouth,
or Darby, or I think almost any other
version, you'll find this change made.
Unto the edifying of the body of Christ.
Now, it's very important for this reason.
According to this verse, the purpose of the
gift is not that the saints of God
should be perpetually dependent upon this.
But rather is that the saints of God
might themselves be built up in the faith.
Now please, when you think of that word
ministry, don't think of public ministry necessarily.
Ministry is service in the New Testament.
And the thought is that the saints of
God should all of them be sole winners.
The saints of God should all be Bible
students.
The saints of God should all be built
up in their most holy faith.
Now perhaps I could just illustrate it this
way, to make clear the point.
Let us say here is a gift.
A gift Christ gave to the church, a
man, because the gifts are men in this
passage.
And here are the dear people of God
sitting in their seats.
And they come year in and year out,
and they enjoy the ministry of that man
of God.
We'll presume he's a man of God.
And that's all that ever happens.
They come Lord's Day, they come midweek, they
sit and enjoy the ministry.
They become servant-tasted, but nothing ever comes
of it.
Now I would suggest the word of God
never teaches that.
Never teaches that at all.
It never teaches that the people of God
should be perpetually dependent upon the gifts that
Christ has given to the church.
Upon any one gift, or any group of
gifts.
Rather, I would like to suggest that what
this verse in Ephesians teaches is this.
Here's a gift, and here are the people
of God.
They come, and they sit under his ministry.
It seems to be apocryphal, they sat in
Ephesus.
But they were being built up in their
most holy faith.
Then what happens?
Well, his man goes off here.
And he seeks to minister to others.
Not officially.
Perhaps over the back fence.
And this one goes off here.
And perhaps he has a Bible class in
his home.
And he seeks to minister to others.
And this man goes off and does the
same thing.
And you see the possibilities go through.
This is like the chain reaction that you
have in connection with atomic energy.
I think I read about it.
Supposing all of these people stay built up
in their most holy faith.
Exactly the way the Lord intended.
For the perfecting of the faith unto the
work of the ministry.
Now please turn to 2 Timothy 2.2.
In this same connection.
2 Timothy 2.2. Paul writing to Timothy,
and he says, And the things that thou
hast heard of me among many witnesses, the
same commit now to faithful men who shall
be able to teach others also.
Now look carefully and tell me how many
generations of Christians you can find in that
verse.
Can you find a son there?
Yes, I can find a son.
Can you find a daddy there?
Yes, I can find a daddy.
Can you find a grandfather in that verse?
How far can you go?
Well, I think if you go far enough
you'll find there's even a great grandfather there.
His name is the Apostle Paul.
Let me illustrate 2 Timothy 2.2 this
way.
Here's Paul.
He says to Timothy, And the things thou
hast heard of me.
We'll just put Timothy down here.
Among many witnesses.
Not only Timothy, but Paul entrusted these precious
truths to others.
The things thou hast heard of me among
many witnesses.
What?
The same commit thou to faithful men.
My blackboard isn't going to be long enough,
I warn you.
Paul, Timothy, and many witnesses.
The same commit thou to faithful men who
shall be able to teach others also.
And this is the divine way, I say,
for propagating the Christian faith.
Now, I couldn't possibly list the fourth generation
on that blackboard.
In fact, if that method were followed, the
whole population of the earth as it is
today would be reached for Christ in 30
years.
That's quite a few people.
Now, in case you don't think this is
the divine method, I'd like to suggest that
the reason those of you who are Christians
here tonight are here because of this method.
Because the Lord Jesus Christ himself spent a
night in prayer once.
And the next day he chose 12 disciples,
just 12.
And he taught them, he trained them, and
he sent them forth.
And you and I, saved by his grace,
are here tonight because of the efforts of
those 12 disciples.
Now, the Lord knows which is the best
way.
What has happened today?
Well, I'll tell you what has happened today.
I have a very good business.
I'm just speaking metaphorically.
And things are going very good and I'm
very prosperous.
And frankly, I don't have time to study
the word of God.
And I'm really too busy to witness for
Jesus Christ.
But I'll tell you what I do.
Here's a spiritual man in the church.
Look, I'll just pay you to perform my
religious duties for me.
You take care of it for me, will
you?
See?
And that's what has grown up down through
the years.
People shirking their own duties that are given
to them in the word of God, and
saying, well, I'll pay somebody else to do
it.
Well, dear friends, you won't before the judgment
seat is crossed.
You cannot pass off that responsibility.
God wills that every Christian be a student
of the Bible.
Every Christian be engaged in ministry.
Not publicly, but over the backbench, at the
workbench, in the office, at school, spreading the
faith in the many dear servants of Christ
today occupying that first position.
I've showed on the board.
Come and they say, what can I do
to get my people to pray, to get
my people to study the word of God,
to get my people to take an active
interest?
Well, the answer is they're paying somebody else
to do that.
But they don't want to be bothered.
But you can't improve on God's way.
Now, what would happen if this system were
followed?
What would happen?
Well, I'll tell you what would happen.
The faith of God would be built up
in their faith.
And that's what it says here, the latter
part of this verse, Ephesians chapter 4, says,
for the perfecting of the faith unto the
work of the ministry.
Who is to do the work of the
ministry?
The saints are to do it, under the
edifying of the body of Christ.
And edifying means built up not only numerically,
but spiritually as well.
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 of the fullness
of Christ.
Now, the church is the body of Christ.
And one day we're going to be with
Christ and be His complete body.
Be exactly what we should be for Christ.
And that is the goal toward which we're
pressing.
And this process should be going on today
with that goal in view.
Now, if you don't follow this plan, and
you make yourself perpetually dependent upon a man
or a group of men, the result is
that the saints themselves close the Bible.
It becomes a closed book.
And they become the willing prey of every
kind of false wind of doctrine that might
come along.
If you go to the false cults today,
the cults that deny the Lord Jesus Christ,
and start interviewing the people that are members
of that cult, one of the sad things
you'll find is that they were formerly in
so-called evangelical denominations.
It's a sad, sad thing.
But they didn't take this, they didn't follow
the pattern laid down for them in the
Word of God, and they became prey to
these false cults.
It says in verse 14 that, we henceforth
be no more children taught to and fro
and carried about with every wind of doctrine
by the slight of men and cunning craftiness
whereby they lie in wait.
As long as Satan can close the Word
of God, he has achieved his objective, and
he can lead souls into all kinds of
error.
But if every Christian is exercising his responsibility
toward the Lord, if every Christian is studying
the Word of God, and when he hears
something that doesn't sound true to the Word
of God, he challenges it, and he will
not listen to it, then Satan is defeated.
Verse 15, but speaking the truth in love
may grow up into him in all things,
which is the head, even Christ.
And it does the same for exercise in
this way.
Each one, individually, we grow up into Christ.
That is, into his likeness.
Just think of it.
Here is my body, and here is my
head.
And the Lord Jesus Christ says, You are
my body, speaking to Christians.
Now, the body of Christ on earth should
represent him.
My body is the vehicle through which I
manifest myself, the vehicle through which I act,
the vehicle through which I work.
And that's exactly what he wants his body
to be.
And he wants it to be an accurate
presentation of himself to the world.
And it is only so when we do
the work which he wants us to do.
But speaking the truth in love may grow
up into him in all things, which is
the head, even Christ, from whom the whole
body fitly joined together and compacted by that
which every joint supplieth, according to the effectual
working and the measure of every part, maketh
increase of the body unto the edifying of
itself in love.
What does that mean?
Well, let me just use this illustration.
Here's my body.
Supposing I put this arm in a sling
for the next ten years.
And then I try to use it at
the end of ten years.
What'll happen?
That arm will atrophy.
I'll lose the use of it.
Now, we're all members of the body of
Christ.
And the verse tells us, that last verse
we read tells us, that Christ has put
the body together.
He's linked the members of the body together
and he has a work for them to
perform.
And it's as all members of the body
of Christ are exercised to perform their function,
that the body increases, both numerically and spiritually.
Now, once again, I say you can't improve
on God's method.
I'm thankful to say that a lot of
people throughout the world are seeing this precious
truth and seeing that God's purpose is for
the church to be self-propagating.
Now, this same picture I showed you with
regard to individuals applies to little churches, too.
Here's a little church.
A representation of the body of Christ.
Well, it too should have a desire to
see itself propagated.
Perhaps a mission work here.
A mission, another one, into the surrounding area.
Well, is that what's happened?
No, no, we're very comfortable.
Please don't bother us.
But Paul said to the Thessalonians, For from
you sounded forth the word of the Lord
into the entire surrounding region.
And I believe that's God's method with churches.
Planted churches.
Paul went and planted churches in key centers
and then from those churches went out little
independent assemblies, little independent churches throughout the entire
region.
And so that's God's program.
I think perhaps there's a point we didn't
put on here.
The work of the gift, verse 12.
The ultimate object of the gift.
That is the building up of the body
of Christ so that it will be complete
and mature and perfect.
And that's the ultimate object of their work.
Verses 13 through 16.
Now that word perfect means mature.
It means full grown.
It's the opposite of being children.
God wants all his saints to be that.
He wants them to be full grown.
To be in the word and to be
useful for him.
Now the pathetic thing about this little picture
that I do here of the gift with
all his dear people sitting under him is
that these people become just like the Dead
Sea.
They're a dear Christian people and they might
be well taught in the word of God.
The Dead Sea is fed by the Jordan
River.
And the Jordan River flows into it all
the time but there's no way that's why
it's dead.
Because it's all intake and no outgo.
And the members of the body die spiritually.
And the trouble is that at the end
of ten years these saints are no more
able to stand in their own feet and
carry on than when they started.
And if this man leaves, another important man
another man with a name has to come
and take his place.
Well it isn't God's will.
God's will is that the saints might be
built up to carry on the work of
the ministry and thus spread the Christian faith.
Now I've transgressed five minutes tonight.
I hope you'll excuse me.
We'll just close with a word of prayer.