Growing Up

Ephesians 4:12-16

Growing Up

Prepared by Dr. John E. Marshall

 

Eph. 4:12 (Holman) . . .for the training of the saints in the work of ministry, to build up the body of Christ,

 

          This is the task assigned to the four officers (4:11). "Training" referred to a craftsman who fashioned something into what it was meant to be. Our task is not to entertain, but to teach with a mind to help people fix what's wrong in their lives.

          Preachers assume something is lacking in their every listener. Each has a need--a sadness to touch, a hurt to heal, a bitterness to uproot, an anger to soothe, a complacency to rouse, a sin to condemn, or a question to answer. People's ongoing presence at preaching indicates they feel needs that must be met by the preacher.

          A Pastor's role is to train the saints that they might do well "in the work of ministry." Every member has "work" to do, a gift to manifest, a ministry to perform.

          In a church, Pastors do not boss members. Nor are we a bus where clergymen say to slumbering parishioners, "Leave the driving to us, but do buy your ticket."

          Pastors are servants, not kingpins. A congregation is not called to help the Pastor do God's work; a Pastor is to help the congregation do God's work. Pastors are influencers, and the way we lead people into humble service is by going there first. Sam Rhodes shared with me, "Delegating works when the one delegating works."

          When Pastors train, and members minister, we "build up the body of Christ", a church increases and each member improves. Do not be deceived by Satan's lies. He wants us to think doing nothing is the way to happiness. No! If Christians do not work, they shrivel. We are most fulfilled personally when we contribute to the whole.

          Our work is to be done first and foremost in "the body." It is fine to do good deeds in other charitable settings, but a believer must always have a ministry in a local church. Deeds done elsewhere often chart a path that eventually detracts from Jesus. We start out giving a cup of cold water "in Jesus' name," but eventually give a cup of cold water. . .period. Our best work for Jesus is done in the church.

 

Eph. 4:13-14 . . .until we all reach unity in the faith and in the knowledge of God's Son, growing into a mature man with a stature measured by Christ's fullness. Then we will no longer be little children, tossed by the waves and blown around by every wind of teaching, by human cunning with cleverness in the techniques of deceit.

 

          A church is to be built up; the question is, built up to what? It is important to know God's blueprint, the master-plan we are to pursue. It is easy to forget the goal; we must ever remind us to what we build. Our text offers three construction goals.

          One, unity. Cliques should not exist in a church. Close friendships are good, but dangerous. They easily become closed to outsiders. When we gather with church friends, include at least one new person. Fight exclusiveness. Our goal is unity.

          Two, maturity. In a church, we mature collectively and individually. A church develops a level of spiritual maturity each member contributes to by becoming a spiritual adult. Collective development depends on individual development.

          Three, tenacity, the refusal to stop striving for perfection. Our goal, when rightly understood, is the highest standard in the Universe. The level of maturity we strive for is nothing less than all the perfections found in the Lord Jesus Himself.

          Christianity does more than try to make us better; it seeks to make us perfect. We do not achieve it here, but neither do we arrive at respectable, and then stop. We press on, to "make progress till death" (Calvin). There is always another hill to climb.

          Christ wants Christians who act like Him. He yearns for bodies to live through again. Florence Nightingale once bent over a badly wounded soldier who said, "You are Christ to me." May Springfield say of Second's members, "You are Christ to me."

          Our goal is total Christlikeness. If we lower the standard, we lower our quality of Christian living. The Bible never hints we can cease striving to attain God's ideal.

          By doing this, "we will no longer be little children, tossed by the waves." Paul not only pointed toward where we ought to be; he also dealt with where we are. We ever eye the goal of perfection, but do not be deceived. Much immaturity can cling to us.

          We all start the Christian life as spiritual children. As time passes, we should be able to see changes in our walk before the Lord. We have not yet arrived at full maturity, but should be distancing ourselves ever further from infancy.

          We too often find ourselves slipping back into childish behavior. If we do not grow, if we are not focused on increased maturity, we become susceptible to false teachers' destructive influence. "Tossed by the waves" was a vivid metaphor to Paul. He had recently experienced this sensation on his trip to Rome for imprisonment (AC 27:27). He knew what it meant to be in a ship totally at the mercy of surging waves.

          "Blown around" refers to violent, circular motion which makes a person dizzy. If a boat is whirled about enough, it begins to ride the tops of boisterous waves, and can, like a leaf in the breeze, be blown about by the wind at will.

          Notice, false teachers are but "wind," fleeting breaths. They howl, but their teachings lack substance. Holy Writ alone has sure, steady words. Stay anchored in the Bible. Otherwise, we are subject to every sort of counterfeit truth--humanistic, cultural, pagan, superstitious, demonic, etc.--dangers as bad as the wildest hurricane.

 

Eph. 4:15-16 But speaking the truth in love, let us grow in every way into Him who is the head—Christ. From Him the whole body, fitted and knit together by every supporting ligament, promotes the growth of the body for building up itself in love by the proper working of each individual part.

 

          "Speaking the truth in love", a worthy motto for Christian living, deals with two widespread dangers believers ever face: compromise with error, and a lack of compassion. Truth and love belong together by divine right. Never separate them.

          Beware love without truth. Truth is intertwined with the essence of being a Christian. Truth is so much a part of our being that we all are expected to become teachers of it in some way (HB 5:12).  Every Christian is expected to be able to explain the basics of the faith, whether they have the spiritual gift of teaching or not.

          Beware truth without love. Truth must operate in the atmosphere of love. Arrogance is disallowed, as are sarcasm, rudeness, and holier-than-thou smugness.

          Apart from love, truth freezes. "It is an important thing to stand for the fundamentals, but as we seek to bear witness to the great fundamental truths, let us never forget that the greatest fundamental of all is love" (Ironside). We are servants of God only to the extent we speak truth "in love." May God keep us from speaking His truths with the devil's tone in our voices, or with Satan's motives in our hearts.

          Humility helps us here. Always remember, Holy Writ is infallible, but we are fallible. A well-known principle first enunciated in the early days of Church history still says it well, "In essentials, unity; in nonessentials, liberty; in all things, love."

          "Speaking the truth in love" is difficult to do, but we are never excused from doing our duty because it is hard. God gives us strength to do any task He requires.

 

Ephesians 4:7-11

Ephesians 4:7-11

Growing in our Gifts

Prepared by Dr. John E. Marshall

 

Eph. 4:7  (Holman)  Now grace was given to each one of us according to the measure of the Messiah's gift.

 

          Paul's emphasis now shifted from similarity to diversity. The Church's seven-fold unity is not uniformity. Christian unity exists in the midst of infinite variety.

          Believers are not identical, cookie-cutter, look-alikes. We are united, unique ones. God never quenches individuality, and does not want us to be boring replicas of each other. God loves variety--a fact verified by even a casual glance at His creation.

          This and the following verses tell us how the Church, the world's most im­por­tant society, is to function. It is an organism, a unity permeated by one life. It must accomplish God-given tasks. To do this efficiently, the organism needs organization based on gifts, special abilities, God has given "to each one of us".

          Every Christian has a threefold duty. First, we are to retain close fellowship with God. To please Him is ever the essence of our existence. Holiness matters most.

          Two, we are to witness to the lost. Many err at this point, saying "I do not have the gift of evan­gelism." Evangelism is not a gift given to some; it is an assign­ment given to all believers on behalf of unbelievers.

          Three, we are each given a gift to be used to benefit the Church, to help fellow believers. However feeble or unknown, each believer has received a gift to help all other believers. No boasting is allowed. Our abilities are "gifts" from God. We don't earn them, or beg for them in prayer. We only give what we are given. All is grace.

          We need one another. No believer is an island. An important part of body-life is mutual dependence among its members. Infinitely wise, God boosts unity in the church by mak­ing each of us not only helpful to, but also dependent on, the others.

          He gives all of us not only gifts, but also various needs. God lets no member be self-sufficient, above needing help from others in the body. By giving all of us needs and gifts, God made us all mutually dependent on each other. Each member needs the others, each member can help the others. All depend, all contribute.

          "Measure" means Jesus shows true concern for details in dispensing the gifts. He takes time to mete out the gifts, singling out each of us for unique usefulness.

          Jesus Himself takes time to examine our sit­u­a­tion. No one receives too much to do, or too lit­tle power to achieve. We are all precisely enabled for an assigned task.

          To be saved is to be gifted. Our only adequate response to this love is to give what we were given. Since Christ took time to give us a gift, we must take time to exercise it. Anything less dishonors Jesus and harms His beloved bride, the Church.

          No Christian is to be a spectator. Often, a lo­cal church is like football--22 players on the field desperately in need of rest, 2200 fans in the stands desperately in need of exercise. For the sake of the Church, let us find our place of service, our gift.

 

Eph. 4:8-10  For it says: When He ascended on high, He took prisoners into captivity; He gave gifts to people. But what does "He ascended" mean except that He descended to the lower parts of the earth? The One who descended is also the One who ascended far above all the heavens, that He might fill all things.

 

          Paul, stating what right Jesus has to give gifts to believers, referenced Psalm 68:18, which honors YHWH as the victorious God of battles, who defeats His enemies, and then ascend­s His throne in a victory procession. Paul believed this verse prefigured Jesus' Ascension as a triumphal parade for the conquering Christ.

          Jesus took captive those things that had held us captive. His Ascension publicly displayed His conquest of death, sin, the world, demons, and Satan.

          In olden days, conquerors rode a triumphal chariot into town, sharing spoils of war by casting prizes to the cheering supporters. Jesus, having vanquished His and the Church's enemies in battle, received spoils of war to distribute among His people.

          In His incarnation, Jesus descended to the earth; in His burial, into the earth. He came down to wrestle our captors in their own foul realm. The Ascension was God's eternal seal stamped on the victory Christ won in His descent.

          The Ascension means the Church is Christ-filled, not Christ-deserted. He did not ascend to leave us. He did not lose the battle and quit the field. It is better for us that He ascended. Due to His physical absence, we better sense the Church, in every member, word, and deed, is filled with Christ. He is active everywhere among us.

 

Eph. 4:11  And He personally gave some to be apostles, some prophets, some evangelists, some pastors and teachers,

 

          Paul had emphasized "all" (4:6) believers, and each "one" of us (4:7), now he highlighted "some" believers, those who hold leadership offices in the church. The Church is first an organism enlivened by God's Spirit. To do assigned tasks, this organism functions as an organiza­tion that for peak efficiency operates under lead­ers.

          "Apostles," ones sent forth, were Jesus' original heralds. "Prophets" worked closely with the apostles (2:20; 3:5). Many people came into Christianity from heathenism before the New Testament was writ­ten. As problems arose and decisions had to be made, someone had to speak with authority. Apostles and prophets did this.

          The offices of apostle and prophet are closed forever. All belie­v­ers "are built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets" (2:20). As "foundation," their work by definition is once done and then com­pleted. The New Testament fulfills their role.

          "Evangelists" is not the gift of personal evangelism. All Christians are required to evangelize. This word "Evangelists," meaning "ones who preach good news," refers to those who have the extraordinary gift of public speaking to the lost.

          Evangelists went from city to city, preaching the good news to the lost. Their office, still open today, carries on the vital task of penetrating a lost and dying world.  Many missionaries who infiltrate regions dominated by unbelievers fill this office.

          The evangelists preach to the world outside, break new soil, have the mission­ary spirit, bring the good news. When they rise to speak, their hearts are filled with a fervent love for the lost that helps them speak the gospel freshly and with power.

          Philip was an evangelist. The 12 dragged their feet in fulfilling Jesus' world-wide commission, but Philip went to Samaria, and preached Christ to them (AC 8:5).

          The most widely used man of our era, as best we can determine, has been Billy Graham, an evangelist. The name is borne with honor by others also. Where would the Church be without men like Whitefield, Moody, Finney, and Sunday?

          "Pastors and teachers", referring to one office, are often hyphenated as pas­tor-teacher, thereby accenting a pastor's ministry of teaching. "Pastors" translates the Greek word for "shepherds," which in itself implies a particular flock to be tended.

          As the only non-itinerant officers listed here, pastors have the day-to-day duty of building up a local church. The pastor is to be a leader who cares, who carries God's people on his heart. "Shepherd" denotes nurturing. It en­tails resolute strength and protection of a flock. Pastors are not weaklings, but guardians who fight wolves. They must have the heart of a lamb, and the hide of a rhinoceros.

          Barclay calls the pastorate the most important task in the whole church. Pope, prelate, cardinal, vicar--none of these find their job mentioned in Holy Writ, but the humblest pastors of the smallest churches find the name of their office in the Bible.

          The pastorate is an honor, but our verse highlights the duty assigned to it. The sheep, ever in danger of infection from a heathen world, must be protected via good teaching. Sound doctrine must be main­tained. Teach­ing is the duty of all pastors. In I Timothy 3:1-7 all qualifications of a pastor deal with character, except "apt to teach."

          All four offices mentioned in this verse highlight the importance of teaching. The main ongoing, in-house, work of the Church is teaching. Nothing is more needed to build up believers. Teaching is a vital part of discipling. This is why we include Bible teaching in our one-on-one discipleship method. We will not love God and each other, pray, or evangelize as we ought for very long without proper teaching.

          Teaching is so important to the Church that every believer, even if he or she does not have the spiritual gift of teaching, is expected to do it in some way (Heb. 5:12; MT 28:19-20). Nothing we receive is to be horded. We are to pass it to others; this is true even of knowledge. Intellectual selfishness is disallowed. We all learn; thus we must all teach. If uncomfortable teaching adults, focus on youth or children.