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Let's see #24 on the back of the book.
Nothing but Christ is only bread, a gift on Christ, God's living bread, with staff in hand and keep well shod. Nothing but Christ, the Christ of God. 24 in the back of the book.
Nothing but Christ.
And we can.
Find.
My name is Scott and I have a little bit of.
No, they don't grow.
So.
I think that's right.
That one.
No thank you. Save him.
After every place.
My name is all the same and all right and lazy to love and pray.
Our whole rain of the Lord's, our own God Rd.
05485.
Very shortly, perhaps.
And, uh, when he brought the driver.
Evergreen Park while we await my cousin's entertainer and, uh, have that less important support.
Lead to each one of us here and that we might be scraping and uh, that we must be well grounded in the truth and that, uh, there might be liberty in the spirit of God to take the things of God and make the Lord clear it to us. And so we ask you for this and that looks like enjoy this kind of selection overnight work together according to sun mine and that we'd like to be prepared to walk in the truth of over here. We have fixed this thing in the cases together in a second stage of our Lord.
Well, reading uh, Ephesians chapter 4 and umm, what would you think brother Walt? Uh, in the game reading at verse 7?
And maybe for the sake of time, we could just read down to verse 16 again. I don't think we'll get farther than that. And then perhaps with liberty to refer back to the 1St 6 verses if necessary.
Ephesians chapter 4, verse 7.
But unto everyone of us is given grace, according to the measure of the gift of Christ. Wherefore he saith, 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 lowest parts of the earth? Either 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 profits, 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 tossed to and fro, and carried about with every wind of doctrine by the sleight of men, and cunning craftiness, whereby they lie and wait.
00:05:24
To deceive, but Speaking of 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 supplier, according to the effectual working in the measure of every part, make it increase of the body unto the edifying of itself in love, might be helpful to clarify, as we spoke in the last meeting, a little bit about baptism is that there are different types of baptism that are spoken of in Scripture. Some of them were mentioned in our meeting.
In our last reading meeting and the baptism of the Spirit that took place on the day of Pentecost took place once the church was formed on the day of Pentecost. The baptism of the Spirit in that way informing the church, only took place once. And then we have the baptism of John. That was the baptism of repentance for the nation of Israel as the Messiah was presented. And so they were to be baptized and separate themselves from the.
Untoward generation that was in the process of rejecting the Messiah and had really, uh, walked in defiance of the truth of God even in the day that they lived in. And then we have Christian baptism and so we, that we get baptized. It's a figure of identifying ourselves, associating ourselves with Christ in a public way. It doesn't need to be done publicly. The Philippian jailer, he was baptized, perhaps it says at midnight.
Uh, shortly thereafter, perhaps, but in the middle of the night and just his family there, perhaps in the household servants and so on. And the Ethiopian, Munich, uh, he was baptized in the desert. It doesn't mean it has to be a public thing. It's nice when there's occasion and it can be public, but, uh, we don't need to be, uh, forcing someone in that regard. But the point is that we're baptized and so we have these.
Different things that are told to us in connection with profession. 1 Lord, 1 Faith, one baptism.
Helpful to uh, know that whenever the Scripture speaks of the baptism of the Spirit, it says so.
There's never a time where it just says baptism.
That it's not, uh, that it's the Spirit, the baptism of the Spirit, if it's the baptism of the Spirit always says so that's, that's very helpful. So the other references to baptism generally are baptism with water. Uh, could be other things too. The Lord says, I have a baptism to be baptized with, right? That was not Speaking of water baptism, but the sufferings of the cross. But if it's the baptism Spirit, it says so. So that's, that's, uh, very helpful.
However, quite a clarity perhaps is in connection with keeping the unity of the Spirit. It says, uh, in Mr. Darby's translation, using diligence.
And Brother Steve mentioned that in the last meeting, using diligence to keep the unity of the spirit in the uniting bond of peace. And so we're responsible for that. So umm, as he was speaking in the last meeting in connection with that unity.
When there is an act of an assembly and an act of discipline, then that discipline took place in every assembly. And so, umm, the authority of the Lord, that action was taken in the with the Lord in the midst. And so we act on that basis and we submit to it and we recognize the authority of the Lord, and we go on together. And not to submit is really an act of rebellion against the authority of God.
And so it's a serious thing. So This is why he speaks here of the responsibility in chapter four, chapter 5. Chapter 6 brings in the practical responsibility and practical testimony of what it is to be gathered to the Lord's name on the ground of the one body. So it's not theory, it's the truth of God. And then now he begins in verse seven and he begins to tell us about these gifts.
00:10:02
That have been presented from a risen Christ on high, the hidden glory. And he presents gifts to the church, not just to the assembly individually or locally. The assembly or the church is spoken of in two ways in Scripture. One is in the local aspect and the other is in the universal aspect in connection with the whole church. Christ loved the church and gave himself for it. He's speaking universally, but when he speaks of those that were a part of the church.
Of God in Ephesus, he's Speaking of the testimony that was there in that local place that represented the whole, and they acted for the whole. And her brother mentioned, umm, discipline perhaps in First Corinthians. Uh, and So what they did in First Corin, in Corinthians, they acted on behalf of the whole testimony. And so it was bound. What was bound on earth was bound in heaven, and it's seen as rebellion against the Lord and the authority of the Lord.
Not to bow to that action. And so these are very practical things.
He takes up the subject of gift. It might be, uh.
Helpful to notice some distinctions.
And 1St Corinthians 12 we get the subject of gifts as well. And there is manifestations of the Spirit, and he gives as he will severally various members of the body, yes, for the mutual edification of the Saints of God. And in Romans chapter 12, we see gifts, uh, in connection with.
Uh, SER the service of God.
And, uh, in the body of Christ, and he gives abilities as he will in his service in the body.
And every believer in both of those chapters, as a member of the body of Christ, has been given a gift to be used in the power of the Spirit of God.
As servants of God in the assembly, Ephesians 4 is a little different.
And it's not.
Uh, gifts given to each person?
Each member of the body. I believe the gifts mentioned here are few in number.
And they do not take in every member of the body of Christ. They are not gifts given.
To a member of the body of Christ. But they are gifts given from an ascended Christ to the Church. The gifts are the persons themselves that He gives.
He gives these persons, now they have the gift associated with who they are is being given. That's true, but that's not the subject.
It's the person themselves that are actually given. And it's, it's, I believe it's really fairly limited. Apostles and prophets and teachers, evangelists, pastors, umm.
When we go a little further in the chapter and we get, umm, the whole body in verse 16 and we get joints and those joints, uh, have us, uh, two actions. The whole body is joined together and so it has joints. And when we have, we didn't have any joints, Our head might have a lot of things to direct our body and our body couldn't do a single thing.
Because we'd be just stiff as award.
But joint lend mobility to the body so that the body can give expression to what's in our heads. So here it's the whole body and every member has a joint action, so to speak. Every one of us in some way allows expression to be given from our head in heaven. And it speaks of us as every joint supplier joints of supply might be called. So just like the blood vessels or whatever else in our body.
00:15:01
There are channels of supply, so each one of us has a joint action.
And we have a supply action. We, we give mobility to the body and we in some way we're a channel of supply to the body from our head in heaven. I just want to mention that before we get into it, because sometimes we can get right into the weeds and we begin to talk about the gifts in first Corinthians 12, uh, context or Romans 12 Context, instead of saying that the gifts here are the person and really they're, they're limited, you might say in number, they're not every member of the body of Christ, every member of the body is really taken up then in verse.
UH-16 as well as verse 7 where we're starting, but in between we get the gifts, the individual persons and that's more limited, uh, scope.
Verse seven, everyone.
You might, uh, remember as well, it's he ascended in verse nine and he is ascended and as the risen head, he has given some gifts and you need to read it that way. In verse 11. He gave or he has given. I think Mr. Darby's translation says he has given.
Some gifts, and so he gave some apostles, and we should take the comma out from behind the thumb. Umm, it makes it sound like, uh, he's giving some assemblies apostles and he's giving some assemblies evangelists, but that's not the truth. He gave the church, He gave some apostles, he gave some prophets, He gave some evangelists and some pastors and teachers. And so he gave them at the beginning of the church period. But he's also giving them, I believe, some of these other gifts at the present time.
And justice in this connection it might be good to point out in Acts chapter. I think it's Chapter 11.
Those four gifts were given at the beginning of the church and they're presented in this chapter, Acts Chapter 11, and the four main gifts to the church working in unison.
Now, our brother Dave, I believe mentioned Joshua at the beginning of the last meeting and it's a good, uh, analogy, umm, Joshua and the elders that overlive Joshua chapter, uh, Joshua chapter two, I think it is, goes over that.
There were those that were used of God when the children of Israel went across into the land of Canaan. They crossed the river Jordan and they were used to help to establish the testimony of Israel in the land and to enter into the inheritance and to enjoy the inheritance and to defend against the enemy. The apostles were used in the same way they were used of God to as a first line of defense, you might say, against the corruption and the evil of the day that they were living in.
And the way the enemy was seeking to destroy the young testimony. And so in Chapter 11 of Acts, we find that there were first there were evangelists that says in verse 19 that, uh, they were preaching the word at the end of the verse, preaching the word to none. But under the Jews only. And some of them were men of Cyprus and Cyrene, which when they were come to Antioch, spake unto the Grecians preaching the word of the Lord Jesus, preaching the Lord Jesus and the hand of the Lord was with them great number believed and turned unto the Lord. So you have the evangelist at work.
And then you have, uh, the news of this work of God going on.
In the work of the Gospel, it comes into the knowledge of the Saints in Jerusalem, and they sent forth Barnabas in verse 22.
I believe he was a shepherd, a pastor, and that's really what the Word means, a shepherd or pastor. And so he came and exhorted them and uh, verse 23, all that with the purpose of heart they would cleave unto the Lord. And then in verse 25, he went and he sought for tar, uh, for Saul. He went to Tarsus. And Saul was a teacher. They needed teaching and he knew that they needed more than he could give them. And so Barnabas as a shepherd.
Went and he went to get the teacher and the teacher came and they talked there. It says much people in verse 26 and the disciples were called Christians. First in Antioch there was fruit for God and then we find prophets in verse 27 down to the end. And so it's interesting God has given us this little illustration, this little picture in the book of the Acts to recognize that these gifts labored together in harmony and there was fruit for God.
00:20:04
And with the God that there was harmony in the laboring.
Together in the assembly and in the work of the gospel, and so on, according to the truth of God, and as our brother brought before us in separation from what is evil in the sight of the Lord, that there might be fruit for God, acceptable fruit for him.
Helpful if we look at Hebrews chapter 2 and verse umm.
Uh, verse 14.
Know these verses here.
We take up the Lord when he went into death for us.
And here it's umm, verse 14. For as much then as the children are partakers of flesh and blood.
He also himself likewise took part of the same that through death he might destroy him that had the power of death that is the devil, and deliver them who through fear of death were all their lifetimes subject to *******.
And then back in our chapter here, where we started from verse 8. Wherefore he says, when He ascended 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.
It seems to me that what God is bringing before us here is what the Lord did in order to bring about redemption for you and me.
And the depths of his that he went to.
Where he came and he went down into death. And there he said he tells us another scripture. He bound a strongman, and that was Satan. And as our brother pointed out in the meeting this afternoon.
Umm, that when sin came into the world, we all became captives of the enemy.
And if the Lord hadn't come?
And gone into depth to deliver you and me. Where would we be?
We would be bound by the strong man still, but the Lord in his death, umm took away that sting of death.
That belong to us. I don't know exactly how to how to say these thoughts. Perhaps others can help in connection with it. But he delivered us from the power of death and we were all our lifetimes subject to ******* and we've been released from it. But what did he do then?
He takes and he gives gifts unto men. Can I say that the prime example would be the apostle Paul. Look where he was, he was a captive of the enemy. And what did the Lord do in Acts Chapter 9? He picked them up and he gave gifts unto men and he used him all through his life there for the glory of God. And and so the the, the church, the one that's brought before us in this book of Ephesians.
Year the church that is so precious to the heart of God. He's provided gifts that we might be nurtured.
And I, I, I just think these verses to enter into them. I, I thank God for the ministry. I look back as a, as a young fellow and you know who, the ones I'm thinking of quite a bit who were such a help to me when I was young and in the ministry that God has given through the books that we have up here and, and other ministry books. It's wonderful the care that God has for his people.
And for each of us and, uh, to be able to sit into in meetings like this today and enjoy the, the, the umm, to think of the one who's behind the gifts.
The one who is behind. No, we need to be careful not to make too much of the gift. It's a giver who gave it. I think of in the Old Testament where it speaks of, of, uh, where God told Moses to take him to, to build the Tabernacle. Now he says, I'm going to give you the people who are able to do, do the building of it.
00:25:05
Yells above and so on. Moses couldn't do it all the God gave him gifts and we're very privileged to have an open Bible to have the, to have the, uh, the mind of God for our day and age and others to help some of us who don't understand things too well, It's, we're very blessed, aren't we?
So he.
Give those gifts.
In order to set others free.
The evangelist, right? Yeah. And that they might go on and be established and grounded and built up and edified and the truth of God. And, uh, so he has a, he has a wonderful purpose. Paul became his chief instrument in his warfare against the enemy that once held Paul captive, Saul of Tarsus. And so it was a wonderful turnabout and, uh.
Now he uses those who are once captives given as.
Gifts of love to his church to build up and edify.
Just saying it's really verse 12. The first, the first thing, the perfect thing of the Saints is his chief object and what he is doing in this part of the chapter. It's called when it brings in all of us because we're all joints with supply, though not all gifts of Christ to the church. He says every one of us has given grace. Why? Because in our particular responsibilities and privileges.
Uh, we all in some way help on.
The, uh, building up of the Church of God and that's his grace, isn't it? So he sums it up with that word grace. It's his grace to do that. And so he tells us that, uh, how he did it, but also stresses not only that he descended.
He came down to this earth and he went into death, but he also ascended and through Christian ministry flows from Christ at the right hand of God who was from there. The Spirit of God was sent down and formed the body of Christ and that's where true ministry comes from and exercising recently young brother brought up the local assemblies said we often speak of the Spirit of God leaving.
And the meetings, but you know, he said that listening to an old tape was, uh, he ho and some others. And uh, he said they were stressing how it's the Lord that leads by the Spirit of God. And so we have meetings sometimes we say for ministry, not as the Spirit would leave, but as the Lord would lead. He's the head. He does it by the power of the Spirit of God, but he's the leader. He's the leader.
And the ministry?
Of that to the assembly. It's by the power of the Spirit of God, but it's his leading. He is the Head. He is the one from whom all true Christian ministry flows down to every member of the body of Christ.
What's the thought on verse 10? Why does it put it that way? He that descended is the same also that hastened us.
It's as a glorified man at the right hand of God that this.
That he sends out the Spirit down and the church was formed and we really have the beginning of true Christian ministry then. So it's it's not only that he came down and went to the cross, but that he has ascended up in righteousness now, and God having highly exalted him.
Umm and glorified his beloved son, uh, sheds forth this as Peter says, which he now see in here. He didn't become head until he ascended.
Not till he ascends it. That's when he became head of the church, and that's when the union of the members on the head took place after he was glorified. And it's from there. Christian ministry has its origin. It's a heavenly ministry, heavenly ministry. So I, I, maybe there's other thoughts, but I tend to think that that's the emphasis, that the origin of this ministry is from Christ exalted, that God's right hand glorified and it's heavenly.
00:30:21
Character.
So this ministry, this service edifies the Saints, but it glorifies Christ. And so the purpose, as you mentioned a little earlier, it says in verse 12 for the perfect thing or for the full growth of the Saints.
For the work of the ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ. And so his intention was that there would be full growth, that there would be maturity on the part of all of us. And God has made provision that we would all be mature Christians. That means that we would know, we would have an outline of Paul's doctrine. We would know the heavenly character of the church, and but we would not only know that the church is heavenly.
But we would know some of the aspects or not, or all of the aspects of the heavenly character of the church that's given to us.
In the epistles. And so we should, and so he gave gifts to the church so that we could all be mature believers and know and understand and enjoy the heavenly part that is ours. And so he gives this, umm, this list, not, I suppose it's uh, the list is in a particular order and he gives the apostles first. They were used of God as the foundations were laid for the church.
As we mentioned a little earlier, and then there were others that were going to build, we could look at First Corinthians chapter 3 just to give the little picture there. First Corinthians chapter 3 and umm.
Maybe, uh, we can read verse 11 for other foundation can no man lay that is laid which is Jesus Christ. Now if any man build upon this foundation, gold, silver, precious stones, wood, hay, stubble, every man's work shall be made manifest, for the day shall declare it, because it shall be revealed by fire, and the fire shall try every man's work of what sort it is. If any man's work be abide which he has built there on he shall receive reward. If any man's work shall be burned, he shall suffer loss, but he himself shall be saved yet so as by fire. And so we have.
A good builder. Paul himself was a good builder and he was building and, uh, we have, uh, a poor builder who's, uh, he suffers loss. He uses the wrong kind of material. And then we have a little later on, a corrupt builder. He actually uses corrupt material. And so God used the apostles as those that, uh, could, umm, build upon the foundation, which was Christ, and they began to lay that foundation.
As soon as Christ rose from the dead and the church was formed.
This the Lord had to rise from the dead. He had to ascend into heaven before the Spirit could descend. And then when the Spirit descended, the Church was formed. And now He's made every provision that there would be maturity in the Saints.
The picture, let's see it in a little different ways, but the picture is one who has gone into battle and has come.
Home Victoria. He's defeated Satan. Satan is a defeated Pope.
The One who led us captive is now captive himself, and as the victor He can share as He will the spoils of His victory. What are the spoils of His victory? All the Saints of God are the trophies of His grace, and He has taken some of them and given them as gifts to His Church, He who is the victim.
And he gives.
Yeah, that's really no, that was clear and what we had before, but I think that's really the thought.
I think that expression there in the eighth verse, that He led captivity captive, that we were the captives of the enemy, and now we are captives of Him, and no man can serve 2 masters, and therefore we now belong to him. Is that the thought there? I've heard it both ways, but I my own feeling I think, is that it's the one who helped us captive is now himself captive.
00:35:22
But.
Uh, he's leading many sons to, to glory, captain of our salvation, but we're more, I would say, in the, the spoils of his of, of his worries. We're the trophies of his grace of his victory. And he takes some of them and he gives them.
Umm gets to the church.
I think it may be quoted from a little bit from, uh, judges.
And, uh, chapter.
Four or five.
You know get all of it there but and the victory of Deborah and Barrick first well chapter 5 verse 12. Thank you 512 awake awake Deborah awake awake and utter a song. Her eyes barrack and leave thy captivity captive of some of them and so I think that.
When he defeated the foes there he they have been under captivity to the enemy, to Cicero, Jaden and his captain of his little sister. But now the tables have been turned.
Not a complete quote from that.
There's another.
Scripture I might look at in Haggai.
That's a nice illustration of what?
Umm, we have.
When God sought to stir them up to.
Umm, yeah.
The work of the Lord.
Well, maybe it's uh.
Actually, maybe I want to.
Ezra, which actually took place.
Haggai, chapter one, verse 7.
No, no.
Umm, I'm thinking of the verse where they prospered through the processing of Haggai and Zechariah.
Thank you.
All of chapter 6, verse 14.
Excellent. Thank you. And the elders of the Jews build them. They prosper through the prophesying of Haggai the prophet, and Zechariah the son of Ido, and they build it and finish it according to the commandment of the God of Israel. And so there were different types of, uh, build builders. There were bearers of burdens, there were Masons or whatever there might be needed to set forward the work in the House of the Lord.
And build it. But they prospered through the prophesying of Haggai and Zachariah. They were encouraged to go on to that work. And I think that's the picture here. And giving gifts to the church. There is a work that's going on.
And Christian service.
And so in verse 12 of our chapter, you get for the perfecting of the Saints. That's the chief thing. They're edifying. They're being built up. And then I think Mr. Garvey translates it this way with a view too, with this in view, with a view.
To the work of the ministry with a view to the edifying of the body of Christ. So the Saints need to be stirred up and encouraged.
Through the ministry of the Word of God, by those gifts given from an ascended Christ, they being perfected, will each take up their own labor and set forward the work of the ministry, and the whole body of Christ will be edified. And so he takes these gifts you a number, and through them he stirs up the workers at large to go on in their work, and the whole work goes forward, and the body of Christ is edified.
00:40:28
And so I believe that's the picture. So there weren't everyone wasn't a prophet and and Ezra's day, but he took two and he specially gave them a work to stir up the Saints of God. And what happened when they got edified, when they were perfected, then the work that they had to do was set forward. It went on and the whole thing grew. And that's the same with the churches blocking. That's what you have in Acts 11.
There was progress and it was a work of the Spirit to use those different gifts. And the assembly in Antioch was just one example, that Gentile assembly, and it was established and the Gentiles were first called those Gentile believers. Converts were first called Christians, not the Christians in Jerusalem.
They had gifts too, and there were gifts given to the church, and there were some of those gifts there in Jerusalem, but there was a work of God and the Gentiles. That work was so significant.
The Lord records that the Christians they were first called Christians in a Gentile assembly means Christ ones.
We also have a thought here on this, uh, eleventh verse where it says it's plural. It gives and he gave some pauses and.
And some problems and some advantages. And some pastors.
The gifts weren't all centered in one individual.
And there was. It was plural in connection with each one and.
And uh, uh, it's good for us to realize the.
You know, if God has given you a gift, giving me a gift, to find out what that gift is, to use it for him.
Umm, and don't try to go beyond what your gift is.
The comments made on each one of these gifts, but I would just like to comment on the one that's given in connection with teachers. It says that he gave teachers.
And a teacher has the ability to lay out the truth of God in a very orderly fashion. He understands it himself and he has the ability to present it to others and to teach the truth. And so we have a little example of it in connection with Timothy. I believe that perhaps he had the gift of being able to teach. And it says in, umm, second Timothy, uh, chapter 2 and verse two, it says.
The things that thou hast heard of Maine among many witnesses, the same commit thou to faithful men who shall be able to teach others also.
And so there were those that were raised up of God in the early testimony that were teachers, and they taught the Saints of God. And there are teachers among the Saints now. And when the truth was recovered in the early 1800s, there were teachers. And what did they do? They taught the Saints. They learned the truth, and it was recovered by the gracious work of the Spirit in these men. And they wrote the writings that they wrote because they were writing down their teachings.
And so you and I are responsible to read the teachings of what, uh, God gave to these men in the power of the Spirit. And so it's not that individually we all have the ability to.
Understand all scripture and we don't need teachers. He, I've just referred to this, uh, in first John chapter 2, uh, verse 20, it says you have an unction from the Holy one and you know all things.
I've heard this verse of scripture used and some say that we don't need to read ministry. It's not true. We need the teaching of the Spirit of God and we need the teachers. God gave the teachers so that the Saints would be established.
What's he Speaking of here? He's Speaking of the unction of the Spirit or the anointing of the Spirit that gives us discernment to be able to discern between evil doctrine and true doctrine, doctrine that exalts Christ and is the truth that which was from the beginning or ministry that is as our brother alluded to in the previous meeting that would bring in air. And so you and I have an unction of the Spirit. And if we walk in communion with the Lord and we know the Scriptures.
00:45:29
We don't need to know a lot. We need to know the Lord and He will give us a discernment. We have the power of discernment to discern what's evil and what's correct. But we do need the teachers. We need to be taught and we need to come to reading meetings, addresses. We need the teachings of the written ministry that we have and we ought to be thankful for it. Brethren, there are in other cultures not the written ministry that's available that we have.
In Korea, they don't have the ministry that we have. They have precious few books that are translated, and so they rely heavily on oral ministries. Similar situation exists in Brazil with Portuguese. They have maybe a hundred, 110 titles that are translated from the old writers and other materials as well. And they're busy working on translating because they don't have the written ministry. The teachers, what they taught is being translated into these other languages so that the testimony can be built up and so that they.
Can be well taught, established in the truth, and so we ought to be thankful for the teachers. They work largely inside the assembly.
Why is it that in that verse chapter verse 11, that they're all individual except the last two?
Pastors and teachers are grouped together. The others are singular evangelist prophecy. Why is it that?
It put their pastures.
And teachers or shepherds teachers.
Often, umm.
They're one and the same person.
One who the shepherd is often has some ability to teach the Saints too, and, uh, vice versa. I think that's kind of why they're linked together. They go very, uh, close together and, uh.
In their service rendered on behalf of the Lord Jesus to the Saints of God.
Search 320 before that, because the evangelist, his work is outside the assembly, generally speaking, and he brings, uh, the gospel message out to the ones that need it. And his work is in hobby class work, uh, gospel track distribution. Uh, perhaps, uh, he rents a hall and has gospel meetings. Uh, he's given the, umm, meeting room and uh, he holds gospel meetings, that sort of thing, but largely his work is outside the assembly.
But the work of the one that is in the assembly, generally speaking, is the pastor and the teacher.
Enjoyed it in this way that uh, uh, a shepherd.
Or a farmer. He's got to know what his flock needs.
You've got to be among them.
And, uh, he senses the level that they're at.
And so it's uh, posture and teacher shepherds and teachers and when we, uh.
When we minister, we need to keep in mind the.
A ministry that is suited for the Saints of God.
Agree with that one.
I think there's another way, uh, it could be enjoyed too, and that is, uh, the thought of a trellis.
Uh, maybe all of us have seen a trellis on the side of a building and there's a framework there and then they plant the flowers just below and they grow up on the trellis. But I've likened that to.
Uh, teaching without some application with it tends to be more like just a hard cold framework.
By the same token, if you only have some ideas about some application you might have, maybe that's like a pile of flowers on the ground that aren't really supported by anything. So there needs to be the two things, and if you have them together, it's a pretty sight. But if you have just the one, it can be hard and cold, or the other can be pretty and not much substance to it. So I just enjoy that with the pastors and teachers working together, perhaps in the same person.
00:50:15
But it's so nice to have a blending of the two things and not just the one or the other.
That, uh, the Lord gives the Church, uh, his, uh, Saints, the gifts. He gives these various gifts for the perfecting of the Saints. And then he has an objective that we all come in the unity of the faith and of the full knowledge, it should say of the Son of God unto a perfect or mature man, unto the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ.
It's a high, high, umm, bar, you might say, but, uh, not one that, uh, is unattainable. Every one of us, uh, will be learning all of the rest of our lives as we have Christ before us. And that's the purpose. God had a, an objective in view until we all come in the unity of the faith. And then he has really the, umm, inverse UH-14, the.
What the Lord what was Paul was really working with in connection with the the Saints at that time, is that they would be defended from the error that was around them, and that they would be able to identify the error that we henceforth be no more children tossed to and fro and carried about with every wind of doctrine by slight of men and cunning craftiness whereby they lie in wait to deceive. And I know we should probably read that in the new translation. It's much more clear.
But umm, This is why we need those gifts. There is an immediate objective today.
That everyone should know what Paul's doctrine is, what the truth of God is. And so he says, Umm.
In verse 14, in order that we may be no longer babes, and tossed and carried about by every wind of that teaching which is in the sleight of men, in UN unprincipled cunning, with a view to systematized error, but holding the truth in love, we may grow up to Him in all things, who is the head of Christ.
So isn't that wonderful to have the word of God and to have the teaching of the Apostle Paul and to have the revelation of, uh, God by the Apostle Paul and how he says he didn't want us to be taken up with systematized error and he didn't want us to remain babes, not just saved by the grace of God, but that he was looking for full growth, growth. And we're either growing in our souls, we're growing in the knowledge of the truth and the appreciation of the work of Christ.
And the, uh, all that he has won for the glory of God and for our blessing, or we're going backwards. There's no such thing as just staying still in the things of God. In business, we used to say, uh, you're either going up or you're going down. And in a, a competitive business, if, uh, you didn't improve your product and improve the manufacturing processes didn't continually improve, then your competitors started to eat your lunch.
In spiritual things, we need to be.
Umm, if I could put, uh, put it this way, we need to be engaged and we need to take our Christianity seriously and we need to learn the truth and walk in the truth. We need to know what the truth is so that we won't be turned aside and really, umm, deceived by the enemy.
13 at all a reference to the Lord's coming.
Till we all come in the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God, unto a perfect man, under the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ.
It's a contrast with the children.
Childlike state of soul, Umm, that isn't grown up in the truth. So I think it's more presently here, not resurrection and glory, but uh, grown up here is is more the thought I think.
00:55:01
In the unity of the faith and the knowledge of the Son of God, perfect are full grown man. Now what is the measure?
The stature of the fullness of Christ.
We're gonna be learning our whole lifetime.
And be learning our whole lifetime. But I think it's here that it's the.
Thought that we would be grown up in in, uh, faith.
In one Corinthians chapter three he says, And I, brethren, could not speak unto you as unto spiritual, that is, unto carnal. They were earthly minded, even as unto bathes in Christ. I have fed you with milk, and not with meat, for hitherto you were not able to bear it, neither yet are you now able, for ye are yet carnal.
And so.
We need to lay aside every weight and the sin that the so easily beset us and to run with patience the race that is set before us. We are in a race. The race is from earth to heaven, and none of us is exempt. We're running the race. And so we need to know about the Savior and we need the Lord's desire is that we wouldn't run in ignorance, that we would know what the race is and who the objective is. Christ is the objective.
And so we're going to present.
To him at the end of our lives, really what we thought of him.
It's important to say that it's the knowledge of the Son of God, it's with himself as a divine person, the Son of God, that, uh, we become more intimate and acquainted with. And it's by the, the knowledge of the Lord. And we find that through the epistles, uh, Peter lays emphasis on that. That is by the knowledge of him that we grow. That's the means. It's, we never can divorce the truth from the person.
And uh, so it's kind of growing.
And increasing acquaintance with him that this growth really is achieved because he's the one who said, I am the way, the truth and the life. He's this living embodiment we get later in the epistle of the truth is in Jesus as he walked here below, he was a perfect display of it. And, uh, it's from him that, uh, ascended Christ that that ministry flows and it himself.
That we need to become more and more acquainted within our souls. There's the real means of growth, and it's remarkable.
Expression, the knowledge of the Son of God.
When the Lord was going to introduce the truth for the first time of the church, not in all the detail of the mystery as was given to Paul, he, uh, asked the disciples in Matthew 16, Who do you say that I am, you know?
Thou art a crime, the son of the living God, Peter says.
Oh, the Lord, uh, commends him. He says blush and blood hasn't revealed this to to thee, but my father, which is in.
And then he goes on to say that I'm going to Jerusalem and I'm going to suffer.
And uh, we crucified Peter says all of them. This be not to me. You know, the Lord says, Peter, you've had a wonderful revelation from the fallen, but there's a path of suffering that goes with that knowledge. Peter says, I don't want that.
From that point on, Peter, never in his ministry or apostleship, rises back up completely to Matthew 16 and the verse 15.
Power to Christ with someone.
And.
When God chose to pick up solid tarsus, Paul looks back and says when he.
Called me for the purpose of revealing his Son and me. He picks up where Peter left off in Matthew 16, and upon his conversion immediately he was in the synagogue's preaching that Jesus is the Son of God.
01:00:01
It was the very first subject of his preaching that Jesus is the Son of God.
And you will find the Lord referred to very often in Peter's ministry and his epistles. But I don't know that you see very many references to the wonderful truth that was revealed to him by the Father in chapter 16.
When he ascended up on high.
And was glorified. He gave gifts unto men. He gave some apostles. When did he give them? When he was ascended. None of these gifts.
And verse 11 were in existence before his ascension, while there were apostles, not in this order of apostles.
Not this order of apostles.
This was him.
This came from an ascendant Christ. The apostles in the gospels were called by Christ on earth and had an apostleship more connected with this earth and Israel. And so when they offer went out to Israel to repent, and Christ would be sent by God from glory and come down and establish the Kingdom. If they would repent, the testimony was given by the apostles.
All the way up through until you come to Chapter 7 where God now uses someone who's not an apostle, and that's Stephen. They stone him. And that's a turning point in Acts. The disciples are scattered. They go everywhere. Doing what? Preaching the gospel. Now it's not just the apostles. What do the apostles do? They remained at Jerusalem, that earthly order of things. And he called Saul a Tarsus to reveal his son and him.
And he reveals there's a new order of things that has come from an ascended Christ.
It's a it's so to me, there's much more depth connected with the knowledge of the Son of God here than we might first immediately see. Umm And so he takes up that one who God chose to reveal his summit, the preaching that Jesus is the Son of God.
From Acts chapter 8 onward, really the full gospel begins to be preached, not immediately, but really Paul was used of God that the truth of the gospel of the grace of God in connection with the finished work of Christ and the glorification of Christ and the gospel going out to the Gentiles was really connected with the apostle Paul and Paul was the.
Center and the focus of the energy of the Spirit of God in connection with that the full gospel going forth throughout the world before Paul, before Chapter 7, there was still repentance being preached to the nation of Israel and they could have received him and if they had received him, we've often heard that he would have come and I believe he would have, but they didn't receive him. And so now God was at liberty. You might say the gospel went forth first to the Jews and then it could go beyond.
And God's chosen vessel was the apostle Paul.
It's good to know too, in verse 13 that it speaks of the faith. What does it mean when it speaks of the faith? It's a term that's used in Scripture, and it's used to denote the entire body of Christian truth, the faith. And he says here in verse five that there's one faith.
You often hear people saying, well, I'm of the Catholic faith or I'm of something else. Uh, but God says there's only one faith and there's only one body of truth in connection with his son that glorifies his son and that magnifies God as the father and ex and reveals the father in relationships. There are hours in Christianity. And so he terms the term the faith to include the whole, entire body of Christian truth that is taught.
And so that expression is very significant.
We'll never know any truth of God except in an increasing acquaintance of the Son of God.
01:05:05
It will grow in the truth as we see how it relates to him.
You know, we get uh.
Uh, for instance, in, uh, in Isaiah, we get the vineyard and we get the, the prophet song about the vineyard and how he had, uh, taken that vineyard, put a choice line in a hedge that about and so on, but it produced wild grapes. And so we get some truth about the vine there and, uh, being fruit being produced, but you know, we get the fullness of it when we get to John 15. I am the true life.
And so we see every truth and its fullness.
When we see it in relationship to the person of the Lord Jesus Christ. So we'll grow in the truth as we grow in our knowledge of, of himself and uh, as the truth, uh, relates to him.
Verse 15 is holding the truth that shouldn't really be speaking the truth, but holding the truth in love may grow up into him in all things, which is the head. I was thinking of the Psalm 119. It says in verse 11 by word have I hid in my heart that I might not sin against thee? And so there is, uh, a proper affection for Christ, affection for the truth, affection for what relates to the person of the sun.
Of God what is suitable to his dignity and his honor and his glory. And if we have affection for the person of the sun, then we're going to hold the truth the way it ought to be held, because it has to do with the glory of the Son of God.
In, uh, in the book of Ephesians that there are six times we have that expression in love. And this is one of them in the 15th verse, Speaking of holy name, truth and love. And without taking too much time, I frankly don't know if I can put the, my finger on, on every one of them in the, in the first chapter. And they, uh, and they, uh, fourth verse that we should be holy.
Without blame before him in love and umm.
Piece of.
Few others here in the in actually the next verse from our chapter 4 and 16.
Working in the measure of every part, making increase of the body in the edifying itself and love. And then the 5th chapter in the second verse walk in love. And I gained there six times. I think what I've wondered about is uh, you know how it says in umm, in uh, Revelation chapter 2, I have a few things against thee because thou has left my first love. And I wondered if the umm.
Apostle Paul when he was in prison here.
The sense that the, the Ephesians were losing their affection for the Lord and in, in love and the first love. And, uh, I think we all know that in our own lives. I, I, that, uh, it's a dangerous thing when we, when we lose the freshness of the love of the Lord in our lives.
If it, if, umm, if Christianity, if I can use that term becomes a habit.
It may be a good habit, but you need to be careful. And that's where I really think that the value of the remembrance of the Lord particularly is a place where we are to be reminded week in and week out of the Lord's love to us.
No, uh, conference out West, they, they were enjoying the verse.
The love of Christ constrains us.
And it's not our love for Christ, but it is his love for us. And.
When we realize that on A7 day week basis of the love of Christ for us, that goes on with us. Some of us were talking about diverse in Deuteronomy where at the end of Moses life, why he said, yeah, he loved the people, all his Saints are in his hands and uh, the Lord bore with those children of Israel for 40 years in the wilderness. I know it's not exactly a subject here, but.
01:10:05
You know, I wondered if the Apostle Paul didn't sense.
That the Ephesians were losing their affections for the Lord.
I'll just tell you, brother. Mr. FG Patterson says it's much the same thing. His ministry.