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Ephesians chapter 4. We work 
our way through Paul's letter to the church in Ephesus. We 
find ourselves in verses 13 to 16, but I do want to begin reading 
in Ephesians chapter 4 at verse 1 to remind us of the context. So beginning in chapter 4 at 
verse 1, I therefore, the prisoner of the Lord, beseech you to walk 
worthy of the calling with which you were called. with all lowliness 
and gentleness, with long-suffering, bearing with one another in love, 
endeavoring to keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of 
peace. There is one body and one Spirit, just as you were 
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 to each one of us, grace 
was given according to the measure of Christ's gift. Therefore, 
he says, when he ascended on high, he led captivity captive 
and gave gifts to men. Now this, he ascended, what does 
it mean but that he also first descended into the lower parts 
of the earth? He who descended is also the 
one who ascended far above all the heavens, that he might fill 
all things. And he himself gave some to be 
apostles, some prophets, some evangelists, and some pastors 
and teachers, for the equipping of the saints, for the work of 
ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ. Do we all 
come to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son 
of God, to a perfect man, to the measure of the stature of 
the fullness of Christ? that we should no longer be children 
tossed to and fro and carried about with every wind of doctrine 
by the trickery of men in the cunning craftiness of deceitful 
plotting. But speaking the truth in love 
may grow up in all things into him who is the head, Christ. 
from whom the whole body, joined and knit together by what every 
joint supplies, according to the effective working by which 
every part does its share, causes growth of the body for the edifying 
of itself in love. This I say, therefore, and testify 
in the Lord, that you should no longer walk as the rest of 
the Gentiles walk in the futility of their mind, having their understanding 
darkened, being alienated from the life of God because of the 
ignorance that is in them, because of the blindness of their heart, 
who, being past feeling, have given themselves over to lewdness, 
to work all uncleanness with greediness. But you have not 
so learned Christ, if indeed you have heard him and have been 
taught by him, as the truth is in Jesus, that you put off concerning 
your former conduct, the old man, which grows corrupt according 
to the deceitful lusts, and be renewed in the spirit of your 
mind, and that you put on the new man, which was created according 
to God in true righteousness and holiness. Therefore, putting 
away lying, let each one of you speak truth with his neighbor, 
for we are members of one another. Be angry and do not sin. Do not 
let the sun go down on your wrath, nor give place to the devil. 
Let him who stole steal no longer, but rather let him labor, working 
with his hands what is good, that he may have something to 
give him who has need. Let no corrupt word proceed out 
of your mouth, but what is good for necessary edification, that 
it may impart grace to the hearers. And do not grieve the Holy Spirit 
of God, by whom you were sealed for the day of redemption. Let 
all bitterness, wrath, anger, clamor, and evil speaking be 
put away from you with all malice. And be kind to one another, tenderhearted, 
forgiving one another, even as God in Christ forgave you. Amen. Well, let us pray. Our Father, 
we thank you for your word. We thank you for this section 
in Ephesians. We pray for the ministry of the Spirit now to 
guide us as we consider what Christ has purposed with reference 
to gospel ministry. We pray that you give us ears 
to hear and hearts to receive these things, and that you would 
be glorified. Again, forgive us now for all 
sin and unrighteousness, and we pray in Jesus' name. Amen. Well, as we've moved through 
this particular book of the Bible, we have seen the doctrinal emphasis 
in chapters 1 and 2. The apostle teaches that we are 
saved by grace through faith in Christ Jesus. And that not 
of ourselves, it is the gift of God, lest any of us boast. 
We're not saved because we're good. We're not saved because 
we're on the right path. were saved because God is gracious 
and God is good, and he sent his son in order to live, die, 
and rise again. Chapter 3 is a bit transition-y. It does move from the doctrinal 
portion to the practical section, but in there, Paul highlights 
the mystery of Christ, the reality that Gentiles will be included 
in the covenant promises of God, and that in Christ Jesus, it's 
no longer two people groups, but rather the Jews and the Gentiles 
are united as one new man under Jesus Christ our Lord. And then 
in chapter four, he begins the practical section, which takes 
us to the end of chapter six. And we've been noticing how Jesus 
gives gifts to the church. You see that in verse 11. He 
himself gave some to be apostles, some prophets, some evangelists, 
and some pastors and teachers. And then Christ gave these particular 
gifts to the church for a specific reason. So what we've seen thus 
far is that there are purpose of the gifts in the church of 
Christ. So verses 11 to 16, we see the 
identification of the gifts in verse 11. This isn't like tongue 
speaking or prophesying or the gift of healing. These are particular 
men, men identified by the church, qualified in terms of 1 Timothy 
3 and Titus 1, who assume a teaching ministry in the life of the church. 
And then we saw the purpose for the gifts in verse 12. There's 
three coordinate phrases there that the teaching ministry is 
engaged in doing. They are to equip the saints, 
they're to engage in the work of ministry, and they are to 
edify the body of Christ. Again, they don't do that because 
they're great guys, and they love to entertain, and they're 
just wonderful specimens of human beings. They do it by preaching 
and teaching the Word of God. That's the emphasis with reference 
to the ministry. That's the emphasis with reference 
to these pastors, teachers that continue to serve the church 
until our Lord Jesus Christ comes again. Their task is to proclaim 
the truth in a particular way so that the people of God are 
edified and strengthened. Now tonight we come to verse 
13, which specifies the duration and the goal of the gifts, and 
then we'll see finally the effect of these gifts in verses 14 to 
16. But notice the duration in verse 
13. It says, "'Til we all come." 
It's not the case that it's just supposed to be a handful within 
the context of the local church. We see this emphasis on the corporate 
body. We see this emphasis on the people 
of God as a whole. And we see this emphasis on all 
of the people of God in a particular church, till we all come to the 
unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God, 
to a perfect man, to the measure of the stature of the fullness 
of Christ. The emphasis, in terms of the New Testament, is on the 
corporate people of God. I think this is an emphasis in 
the Old Testament as well. The word ekklesia, the New Testament 
use of the word ekklesia, which is translated church, it is congregation 
and it is consistent with the kahal, the Hebrew word form, 
in the Old Testament, the assembly of God's people. He never meant 
us to walk alone. He never intended us to be maverick 
Christians. He never purposed for us to try 
and make it between here and there without any help, without 
any assistance, without any teaching, without any instruction. He never 
intended for us to wave our Bible and say, well, all I need is 
my Bible and the Holy Spirit. As I mentioned this morning, 
the Bible and the Holy Spirit tell us we need the church. The 
Bible and the Holy Spirit tell us here in Ephesians chapter 
4, we need the teaching ministry of the church. There is this 
corporate emphasis in Psalm 87. The psalmist says that Yahweh 
loves the gates of Zion more than all the dwelling places 
of Jacob. That doesn't mean he hates the 
homes of Jacob. It doesn't mean he hates the 
people who live in individual dwellings. But he loves the gates 
of Zion. He loves it when the people of 
God sing those psalms of ascent when they come to the temple. 
He loves it when the people of God gather together to glorify 
God on his day, in his house, with one another. And so the 
emphasis of the apostle is till we all come. And again, we see 
that in the context, equipping the saints, edifying the body 
of Christ. The presupposition is that they 
all will attend to the ministry of the Word so that they may 
grow, so that they may understand, so that they may achieve knowledge, 
so that they may learn all the things that the Apostle Paul 
has for them. So the corporate focus in verse 12 is emphasized 
here, the equipping of the saints and the body of Christ. We see 
that in verse 13, till we all come. The corporate necessity 
is seen here. We're all supposed to be in church. 
We're all supposed to be attendance upon the preached word. And then 
the corporate existence is promised here as well. Remember back in 
chapter three, notice in verse 21, to him be glory in the church 
by Christ Jesus, notice, to all generations forever and ever. 
As long as there's generations, there's going to be a church. 
Now, there may be the ebbs and the flows, there may be the persecution, 
there may be the eradication, at least in some points in history, 
but there will be a church. Christ has promised in Matthew 
16, I will build my church and the gates of Hades shall not 
prevail against it. The gates of Hades are certainly 
going to try. The gates of Hades may win a 
few battles here and there, but the gates of Hades will not prevail. 
So long as there are generations, so long as there will be a church. 
And with reference to verse 13, the same emphasis is here. Till 
we all come. In other words, this corporate 
maturation is going to be achieved, and it's going to happen. Not 
perfection, not without blemish, not without spot. That waits 
for us on the other side in glory. But relative to the ministry, 
Hodge makes this observation. The ministry is not a temporary 
institution. It is to continue until the church 
has reached the goal of its high calling. So that's the duration. But now notice the goal there 
in verse 13b. Till we all come to the unity 
of the faith. And then he mentions three things. 
Notice first, the unity of the faith. And then secondly, the 
knowledge of the son of God. And then thirdly, the maturity 
of the church. Notice that unity of the faith. 
So the Christian ministry, the men specified or provided by 
Christ according to verse 11, help the church to comply with 
the exhortation that we see in verse 2. Notice that Paul starts 
chapter 4 verse 1 with an exhortation, with a calling. I beseech you 
to walk worthy of the calling with which you were called, with 
all lowliness and gentleness, with long-suffering, and then, 
notice, bearing with one another in love, and then endeavoring 
to keep the unity of the Spirit and the bond of peace. If we 
were to ask the question, well, how do we do that? Well, individually, 
we seek by the grace of God to kill our remaining corruption 
and to put others before ourselves. But as well, within the context 
of the Church, we're taught the Scriptures, we're taught the 
Word of God, we're taught what Jesus has spoken to His Church 
so that we can comply with these things. And you see the emphasis 
here. Till we all come to the unity of the faith. So the ministry 
helps the saints comply with that endeavoring to keep the 
unity of the spirit in the bond of peace. As well, the ministry 
instructs the saints in terms of the content of the faith. 
Look at verse 11 again, I'm sorry, 13, till we all come to the unity 
of the faith. That faith is not my subjective 
belief in Jesus. It's not your subjective belief 
in Jesus. It's the content of the Christian 
faith. In other words, the church is 
to be taught what the church is supposed to believe. And the 
ministry given by Jesus, according to verse 11, is supposed to undertake 
that specific task. She's not to be about entertainment. 
She's not to be about, you know, games and gimmicks and that sort 
of thing. It's about the proclamation of the truth. The final command 
given by the apostle in terms of corporate application is to 
preach the word, be ready in season and out of season, convince, 
rebuke, exhort with all longsuffering and teaching. So the apostle 
wants the church to be instructed by the ministers that the Lord 
Jesus has given to the church so that we can attain to the 
unity of the faith. The ministry is calculated to 
promote unity, not destroy it. It's to provide unity, not division. There's not supposed to be the 
introduction by the pulpit of those things that produce division 
among the people of God. Now, if people don't receive 
the truth, if people are rejecting the truth, if people continue 
to hate the truth, that's certainly a problem. But it shouldn't be 
because the minister has taught them bad things or those things 
that are incorrect. Notice he goes on to say, not 
only this, till we all come to the unity of the faith, but he 
says, and of the knowledge of the Son of God. The ministry 
teaches the faith which is summarized by the doctrine of Christ here. 
Notice, till we all come to the unity of the faith and of the 
knowledge of the Son of God. That's what's unique about our 
religion. Now, our religion shares in common other features that 
are seen in religions. You've got emphasis on golden 
rule. You've got emphasis on, you know, 
don't steal from one another. You've got emphasis on don't 
murder one another. All those things, or not all 
of those things, but most of those things are typical in the 
religions of man. What differentiates Christianity? What separates us from the rest? 
It's the Son of God. It's John 1, 1. In the beginning 
was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. It's John 1, 14. The Word became 
flesh and dwelt among us, and we beheld His glory. It's John 
1, 18. No one has seen God at any time, 
but the only begotten Son, who is in the bosom of the Father, 
He has declared Him. So it's not out of the norm that 
the apostle would basically summarize the faith under the heading of 
the knowledge of Christ. We are told in 2 Peter 3, verse 
18, to grow in the grace and in the knowledge of our Lord 
and Savior, Jesus Christ. In John's second epistle, you 
can turn there. This is the litmus test as to 
whether or not we receive people into the church. What? Thinking 
of Christ. In 2 John, specifically at verse 
9, whoever transgresses and does not abide in the doctrine of 
Christ does not have God. He who abides in the doctrine 
of Christ has both the Father and the Son. If anyone comes 
to you and does not bring this doctrine, do not receive him 
into your house nor greet him, for he who greets him shares 
in his evil deeds. There is a participatory effect 
when you engage in heresy. If somebody brings you heresy 
and you don't cast it out or reject it, John says you are 
sharing in his evil deeds. But the point back to Ephesians 
4.13 is that the very Christian faith itself can be summarized 
as the knowledge of the Son of God. There's other things we 
need to know about the tabernacle and the sacrificial system. But 
interestingly, what does the tabernacle and sacrificial system 
teach us? It teaches us about the Son of 
God. What do the prophets teach us in their announcements about 
the coming Messiah? They're teaching us about the 
Son of God. It's as if the entirety of the Bible has one central 
focus. The scope of Scripture is the 
Lord Jesus Christ. And so it's not out of the norm 
for the apostle to summarize that faith under the heading 
of the knowledge of the Son of God. And then look at what he 
says next. He talks about the maturity of 
the church at the end of verse 13. He says, "'Til we all come 
to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of 
God, to a perfect man, to the measure of the stature of the 
fullness of Christ.'" Now, this is a metaphor to a perfect man. That includes women as well. 
You're not being excluded by the Apostle Paul. George Bernard 
Shaw, the famous novelist, said that the Apostle Paul was the 
eternal enemy of women. Nothing could be farther from 
the truth. When we move into the household code in Ephesians 
chapter 5, you will see Paul's heart for the women of God. You will see Paul's heart for 
the women who are adopted children of God. But with reference to 
this, man includes women. We used to talk like this. We'd 
say mankind, and we would know that that meant man and woman. 
The contrast here is between the man, the perfect man, the 
mature man, the man formed into the image of Jesus Christ, corporately 
seen, the church as a whole. The contrast is with a child. 
There's nothing wrong with children. Paul's going to mention children 
in just a moment there in verse 14. But you have to see the contrast. He wants maturity. He wants growth. He doesn't want perpetual toddlers, 
perpetual infants, perpetual adolescents. He wants the church 
to progress. He wants the church to go forward. 
He wants the church to mature. That's the emphasis in the latter 
part of verse 13. It's the cultivation of maturity. Notice the standard that's involved. It says, to a perfect man, to 
the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ. In other 
words, we are being conformed unto his image. In Romans 8, 
the apostle deals with what we call the golden chain of salvation, 
or the ordo salutis, if you prefer the Latin, order of salvation. For whom he foreknew, these he 
predestined to be what? to be conformed to the image 
of his son. The ones he predestined, he called. 
The ones he called, he justifies. The ones he justifies, he glorifies. But there is this conformity 
to the Lord Jesus Christ. That's why I read beyond our 
section this evening. Verse 17 goes on to encourage 
the people of God to pursue those things that should be seen in 
new men in Christ Jesus. The new man in Christ, Jesus, 
has been saved. He's been born again. He's been 
justified freely by God's grace. He's received forgiveness. He's 
received a righteousness by which he can enter into the presence 
of a holy God. Well, now what? What do we do 
now? Well, you live in a manner that's consistent with it. Just 
like he says in 4.1, to walk worthy of the calling with which 
you were called. If one of the aspects or one 
of the goals of the Christian ministry is to produce or promote 
maturity on the part of the Church of the Lord Jesus Christ, it 
is through teaching, it is through preaching, it is through Sunday 
school, it is through Bible study, it is through encouraging home 
Bible study or individuals reading their Bibles, and family worship. So that all the things that he 
goes on to discuss in verses 17 in chapter 4, and then 5 and 
6, we are to become mature in Christ Jesus, whatever the relations 
we find ourselves in. Generally speaking, don't live 
like a Gentile, a godless wretch. with reference to our families. 
We're to live as husbands and wives, as new men in Christ Jesus. We're not supposed to be dead 
set on our own needs. We're not to be so dead set on 
our own desires. We're to put the other first. 
Why? Because we're new men in Christ Jesus. When it comes to 
employee-employer relations, Same sort of thing obtains there 
in chapter 6. Parent-child relationship. Fathers, 
do not provoke your children. Why? Because you're new men in 
Christ Jesus. And new men in Christ Jesus don't 
provoke their children to wrath. Rather, they bring them up in 
the training and admonition of the Lord. So you see, the teaching 
ministry in the church is supposed to preach and teach in such a 
way that the people of God mature, that they grow, that they learn, 
that they understand, and they see the application of God's 
Word to every jot and tittle of life. So we've seen the identification 
of the gifts, verse 11, the purpose for the gifts in verse 12, the 
duration and goal of the gifts in verse 13. Now notice finally 
the effect of the gifts in verses 14 to 16. There's a negative 
and a positive. Negative we see in verse 14. 
I'm going to call this the preventative maintenance for the church. And 
then in verses 15 and 16, we see the positive influence on 
the church. So again, we're in that context 
of the gifts given by Christ to the church for a specific 
reason. And if a functioning gospel ministry 
is doing its job, then we should see these things realized in 
the context of local churches. So notice the negative. Notice 
the preventative maintenance. Paul says there are three things 
that a faithful gospel ministry will hopefully help people to 
avoid. I remember hearing a story of 
a man, he was a retired pastor, and I think that things perhaps 
went sideways in his church. And he had made the observation, 
I spent all my ministry and all my time telling people what they 
were supposed to believe, but I never cautioned them against 
what they should have avoided. And you see those twin concepts 
in our text this morning, John chapter 10, verses four and five. What does the sheep do with reference 
to the voice of the shepherd? He hears that voice, and he follows 
the shepherd wherever the shepherd says to go. But in verse 5, the 
sheep doesn't hear the voice of the stranger. Rather, the 
sheep flees from the stranger, that thief or robber that is 
only going to fleece the sheep, only going to abuse the sheep. 
So we need to not only know what to believe, but there is a time 
when we need to be cautioned against what we ought not to 
believe. And the apostles do that. Jesus 
did that in John 10. He said these guys are fakes. 
They are thieves and they're robbers. And they like to indulge 
in stealing, killing, and destruction, according to John 10. Brethren, 
in many respects, that describes lots of leadership today. And 
remember this morning, I said it wasn't just ecclesiastical 
or spiritual leadership that the Sanhedrin provided in Israel. 
It was political as well. It's hard, very hard to read 
the gospel narratives and not see some politics, not to see 
some contrast between Jesus and the religious leaders. Do you 
really think those religious leaders were so bent on doctrinal 
orthodoxy? They were so pure in terms of 
the application of Yahweh's Word. They were so fastidious when 
it came to the truth. No, they hated Jesus. They opposed 
Jesus. They had enmity against Jesus. 
Jesus came and all the people started listening to Him. There's 
that instance in Luke's Gospel, Luke chapter 15. It says, all 
the tax collectors and the sinners drew near to Him to hear Him. Jesus. So what do the scribes 
and the Pharisees do? Well, this is great. We're so 
thankful that they have a willing ear to hear this new rabbi, this 
new teacher. No, they grumbled in their hearts. 
They grumbled amongst themselves. They said, if this man receives 
sinners and eats with them, They were bested. They were sidelined 
by the ministry of our Lord Jesus. That made them mad. That caused 
outrage. That produced enmity in their 
hearts, and they sought to vent it in the extermination of our 
blessed Savior. These were men that were about 
thievery, about killing, and about destruction. And so we 
need to know those kinds of men so we don't listen to them. Right? 
Makes sense. Well, look at what the apostle 
says in terms of three particulars with reference to preventative 
maintenance. First, they're to avoid spiritual immaturity. Second, 
they're to avoid spiritual instability. And third, they're to avoid spiritual 
susceptibility. Now notice the spiritual immaturity, 
that we should no longer be children. Again, if you're a child, God's 
not mad at you. It's a good thing to be a child. 
I mentioned this in our Sunday school hour this morning. When 
my two-year-old grandson acts out, I don't say, stop acting 
like a two-year-old. But I can see me to my 30-year-old 
son say, don't act like a two-year-old. Two-year-olds are fine. They're 
not bad, they're not horrible, but there is this expectation 
of maturity, of growth. They do their thing at two, and 
then they toddle. I guess they're already toddling 
by two. Then they walk solidly, and then they run, and then they 
get older, and they get more stable, they get more secure, 
they get more mature. The apostle doesn't condemn that 
sort of a mindset all across the board. Look at 1 Corinthians 
14. 1 Corinthians 14, specifically at verse 20. Brethren, do not 
be children in understanding. However, in malice, be babes, 
but in understanding, be mature. When it comes to sin and evil 
and vileness, yeah, be a babe, be an infant, be that harmless 
little cooing one that smells good and doesn't get into malice. 
Usually. As well, you've got Hebrews chapter 
5, specifically verses 13 and 14, where you see a bit of a 
contrast here as well. Hebrews chapter 5, verses 13 
and 14. Well, verse 12. For though by 
this time you ought to be teachers, you need someone to teach you 
again the first principles of the oracles of God. And you have 
come to need milk and not solid food. For everyone who partakes 
only of milk is unskilled in the word of righteousness, for 
he is a babe. But solid food belongs to those 
who are of full age, that is, those who by reason of use have 
their senses exercised to discern both good and evil. And then notice in 1 Peter 2, 
there's just this distinction between immature and mature. If you're a brand new Christian, 
great! You're going to grow up. You're going to get mature. You're 
going to get solid. You're going to pass through 
that toddle phase and pass through that barely able to walk phase, 
pass that running phase, pass that phase where there is this 
inability to grasp the truths and the doctrines of the Christian 
faith. Notice in 1 Peter 2.1, So back to our text, in verse 
14, he says that we should no longer be children. Again, it's 
not a condemnation of children. It's not a denigration of children. 
It's the contrast with the perfect man in verse 13. The perfect man is the end game. The perfect man is the result. The perfect man is sort of the 
goal. And yet, when it comes to the mindset with reference 
to some in the church, they're content to be infants. Now again, 
I'm not picking on anybody. Brand new Christians, praise 
God. We praise God for those saved by grace through faith 
in our Lord Jesus Christ. But we typically try and tell 
them, now grow in the grace and in the knowledge of our Lord 
and Savior Jesus Christ. Read your Bible, praise, attend 
church, go to Bible study, those sorts of things. Sermon audio 
is a massive catalog of sermons online that you could literally 
spend the rest of your life and listening probably to five a 
day. not get through them all. So it's not like, well, I don't 
know what they're at. There's plenty. If you have any questions, 
ask. We got plenty of resources with 
reference to that. But we are to avoid spiritual 
immaturity. The goal of the individual believer 
and the church as a whole is maturity. 1 Corinthians 16, verse 
13, in the old King James, the apostle admonishes the church, 
quit ye like men. Again, he's not saying that the 
women need to be manly, but he's speaking in terms of bravery, 
courage. The New King James renders it 
that way. It is, be brave. I like the way the NASB renders 
it, act like men. Again, the wives, you know, your 
husband doesn't want you to act like a dude. That's not the point. 
The point is be brave, express courage, be manly in your faith, 
be faithful, be persevering, and be ready to deal with the 
various things that God calls you to. So quit ye like men. 
The goal of the believer, the goal of the church, is maturity. So to avoid spiritual immaturity, 
that's one of the effects that a good preaching ministry has 
upon the people of God. Then notice, to avoid spiritual 
instability, verse 14, that we should no longer be children. 
Now notice the instability tossed to and fro and carried about 
with every wind of doctrine. The figure of speech is obvious. 
It's like a boat on the sea, and there's these winds that 
come, and it tosses the ship to and fro. Not a difficult sort 
of a figure. It's not a difficult sort of 
a metaphor to get one's mind wrapped around. James in James 
1.6 admonishes the people there, same way. Let him ask in faith 
with no doubting, for he who doubts is like a wave of the 
sea driven and tossed by the wind. There the wave, here probably 
a boat. You are not supposed to be tossed 
to and fro. A good faithful ministry, instructing 
the people of God in the Word of God, will hopefully inoculate 
them against that particular danger, that instability. That's not a good place to be. 
always learning and never coming to the knowledge of the truth. 
Paul says that will characterize life in the last days in 2 Timothy 
3, verses 6 to 9. He likens the false teachers 
to the magicians in Egypt, Janus and Jambres. They had a flash 
in the pan, but they didn't have the ability of God Most High. 
And so Paul says they come in and they pray on gullible women 
in such a way so as to exploit them and to do horrible things 
to them. So the figure of speech is clear. We're not supposed 
to be unstable. We're supposed to be stable, 
fastened firmly to the word of living God. Now with reference 
to the specifics, look at what he says, that we should no longer 
be children, tossed to and fro and carried about, notice, with 
every wind of doctrine. It's the truth that matters. 
It's the taught word that matters. It's a departure from that taught 
word. It's the voice of the shepherd 
or the voice of the stranger. So again, a faithful ministry 
is educating people as to what is true, perhaps along the way 
as to what is not true, avoid those things. But by and large, 
it's what is true. If you know the truth, if you 
know the real deal, you're able to spot the counterfeit. I don't 
have to study every, you know, counterfeit bill. Just study 
the right one, and then I know which is counterfeit and which 
isn't. Study the right Bible. Study the right teaching of the 
church. Study the early creeds and confessions. And again, I think that what 
we find in this particular passage kind of roots us or tethers us 
to the life of the church as a whole. He gave these gifts 
so that they could teach the church. So to say, well, I don't 
need the gifts that Jesus gave to the church is to repudiate 
Jesus and his ministry in terms of the church, or his government, 
rather, in terms of the church. So with reference to this doctrine, 
just consider a few passages. Matthew 7, 15 to 20, you must 
spot the false prophets by their fruits. Remember, Jesus cautions 
against the false prophets and he says, you will know them by 
their fruits. It's an interesting fact that 
the truth of God's word does produce good living. There is a doctrine that accords 
with godliness and a doctrine that accords with ungodliness. In Acts chapter 20, there's a 
few passages to illustrate the danger of heresy and the necessity 
on the part of the people of God to recognize that heresy 
so that they avoid it, so that they're not tossed to and fro 
by every wind of doctrine. so that they're not sort of out 
on the sea of professed Christianity getting blasted all about, but 
rather they're tethered, they're fastened, they're stabilized. Notice in Acts chapter 20, specifically 
at verse 30, well, verse 28. Here's Paul, not writing, but 
Paul preaching in the first pastor's conference. And look at what 
he says to these elders. These are elders. He's in Miletus, 
so chapter 20, verse 17. From Miletus, he sent to Ephesus 
and called for the elders of the church. So our particular 
letter. at a time when the apostle is journeying, and here he gathers 
these elders together, and he preaches to them. Again, I call 
it the first pastor's conference, because that's exactly what's 
happening. So notice what he says in verse 28, to shepherd the church of God. 
How do the overseers shepherd the church of God? Do they do 
it with an iron fist? Do they do it with authoritarian 
decrees? Do they do it by robbing you, by killing you, and by destroying 
you? No, they do it by preaching and 
teaching the word of God. That's the means by which shepherding 
is conducted. It's the word of truth. It's 
the emphasis upon the scripture as that which is formative in 
Christian character. So he says, shepherd the church 
of God, which he purchased with his own blood. Now notice the 
reason why he gives this in verse 29. For I know this, that after 
my departure, savage wolves will come in among you, not sparing 
the flock. Pretty bold imagery there. I mean, we can envision that 
sort of a thing. What typically happens when you've 
got a predator out on the plains there? They go after the weak 
one. They go after the separate one. They go after the isolated 
one. They go after the one that's limping. They go after the one 
that's tossed to and fro by every wind of doctrine. And what does 
that savage wolf do when he comes upon that hapless sheep? He kills 
him. He destroys him. He eats him, 
he ingests him, that's his function. And so Paul says within this 
body of elders, within this particular group that he is addressing, 
notice what he says in verse 30. Also from among yourselves, 
men will rise up speaking perverse things to draw away the disciples 
after themselves. Therefore watch and remember 
that for three years I did not cease to warn everyone night 
and day with tears. This is no joke. In the parable 
of the soils, or the parable of the sower in Luke's gospel, 
he describes that the devil, or he says that the seed that's 
thrown onto the shallow earth, it's easy prey for the birds 
to come and pick it up. We know that, right? I mean, 
we live in a farming community. We've all seen the birds canvass 
the fields when the seed has been thrown out there. It's a 
pretty normal thing. Those birds aren't vindictive. Those birds 
aren't full of malice. Those birds don't want to put 
the farmer out of business. That's not their intention. It's 
an analogy. It's a figurative way of speaking. But from that, Jesus says, the 
devil, he doesn't want you to go to church, he doesn't want 
you to hear the truth, and he doesn't want you to believe it. 
He is malicious. He is wicked. He is evil. And his minions function accordingly. Those religious leaders in John's 
gospel, these were not harmless, innocent men. They were men who 
robbed, They were men who killed and they were men who destroyed. 
Well, certainly those are the kinds of men you want to avoid. You don't want to be tossed to 
and fro by every wind of doctrine and then pray for somebody that's 
going to come in and dig their fangs into your neck. One other 
passage, there's many more, but you can turn to Jude, the book 
of Jude. As I said, many, many more passages 
in the New Testament. We can go to the Old Testament. 
It's not foreign there. God cautions Israel about going 
a-whoring from Him and going into those other idols. We see 
it there in Numbers 25. What happened? They already start 
to go after Baal before they even get to the Promised Land. 
They swore fidelity to Yahweh in terms of first and second 
commandment, along with the other eight, but they break that repetitively. They break it in chapter 32 of 
the book of Exodus, after having said in chapter 24, all that 
God has commanded we will do. So the Old Testament, along with 
the New Testament, is filled with admonition and warning so 
that we don't go astray, so that we're not tossed to and fro by 
every wind of doctrine. Now, I've cited Jude 3 today, 
probably twice. It says, Beloved, while I was 
very diligent to write to you concerning our common salvation, 
I found it necessary to write to you exhorting you to contend 
earnestly for the faith which was once for all delivered to 
the saints. That's a good rousing passage for the people of God. 
That's a good text to tell us what we ought to be doing in 
terms of contending earnestly for the faith, good military 
language, martial language. But why does he say that? Why 
does he do that? Verse four. Notice how verse 
four starts off. It starts off with a little word 
called for. This is the reason. This is the 
rationale. This is why you need to be on 
guard and to contend earnestly for the faith, which was once 
for all delivered to the saints. Notice in verse four, for certain 
men have crept in unnoticed who long ago were marked out for 
this condemnation, ungodly men who turn the grace of our God 
into lewdness and deny the only Lord God and our Lord Jesus Christ. You see what he says? I wanted 
to write you kind of a theology book about our common salvation. 
But I found it necessary to sideline or sidetrack that and say, I 
want you to contend earnestly for the faith that was once for 
all delivered to the saints. Why? Because these ungodly men are 
creeping in on notice to the churches. And when these ungodly 
men creep in on notice to the churches, they destroy them. 
They bite sheep. They hurt sheep. They kill. They destroy. They steal from 
them. They do all kinds of destructive 
things. So Jude wants us to contend earnestly for the faith that 
was once for all delivered to the saints. As we saw this morning 
in Romans 16, 17, and 18, you must know sound doctrine and 
avoid the heretic. Galatians 1, 6, and 7, the apostle 
tells us we need to know what the gospel is. The gospel is 
that faith plus works in order to be saved. It's grace alone 
through faith alone in Christ alone that results in sanctification. We need to understand that. We 
need to know that. We need to observe that. And 
then as I said this morning, or as we saw this morning in 
John 10, 4 and 5, the sheep hears the voice of the shepherd and 
follows him. The sheep doesn't hear the voice 
of the stranger, and he runs from him. He flees from him. 
So we need to avoid spiritual immaturity. We need to avoid 
spiritual instability. And we need to avoid spiritual 
susceptibility. That simply means we're susceptible 
to these particular men. Notice, in verse 14, the doctrine's 
not just sort of out there in an attack sheet. It's not just 
sort of, you know, ethereal. Oh, there's some, you know, bad 
doctrine, and it's gonna connect itself to my neck and infiltrate 
my head. No, it comes out of the mouths 
of wicked men. And notice how Paul describes these wicked men 
in verse 14. He says specifically that we 
are not to be susceptible to them, that we should no longer 
be children, tossed to and fro and carried about with every 
wind of doctrine by the trickery of men. The specific language 
there is dice playing. And it's not dice playing for 
a little bit of fun. It's dice playing with probably 
loaded dice so that you always lose the game. So that you always 
lose the game. It's a rigged deck, as we might 
say in our vernacular. So he says, by the trickery of 
men in the cunning craftiness of deceitful plotting. We're 
not to be susceptible to that. Now brethren, that is not saying 
that every gift given by Jesus to the church is perfect, is 
without blemish, never says anything untoward, never says anything 
off the cuff that is incorrect. There's always issues, you've 
always got you know, problems in terms of the gospel ministry 
because men are in the gospel ministry. They're not perfect. 
They're not without blemish. They're not, you know, the spotless, 
wonderful vessel. No, Paul says they are earthen 
vessels. They are cracked pots so that 
the power may be of God and not of men. When God blesses a cracked 
pot by preaching the gospel and sinners get saved, it's not so 
you can say, wow, what a great cracked pot. No, what a great 
God who uses cracked pots to bring sinners unto himself. It's 
a beautiful thing. He makes straight things out 
of crooked things. The Helvetic Confession speaks 
about the man preaching the Word of God. It says that he, even 
being an evil man, You're to receive that. Now, evil there 
is probably in the sense of remaining corruption, imperfection, not 
Jesus. There's only one holy, harmless, 
and undefiled. That's Jesus. So there's problems in every 
gospel ministry. There's shortcomings in every 
gospel ministry. So I've been thinking about this 
passage as I've been rolling it around in my own head. Believe 
me, there are shortcomings, brethren, not only in terms of individual, 
but in terms of ecclesiastical. There's no perfect church on 
the face of the earth. There's no church that's arrived. 
There's no perfect man in the sense that we've, yep, that's 
it, we're there, all right, now we can just chill out when we 
gather together on Sunday and drink coffee together. No, that's 
not gonna happen. But notwithstanding those imperfections, 
you've got to understand that if the ministry in a particular 
church is communicating the voice of the shepherd, then that man 
is to be listened to. Again, not because of him, but 
because he's communicating the voice of the shepherd. Now, there 
are men that are diametrically opposed to that. They're not 
communicating the voice of the shepherd. They are bad men, false 
men, men that don't know doctrine. That is why, in our church, one 
of our practices is to be a confessional church. And what does that mean, 
a confessional church? It means we subscribe to the 
Second London Confession. And that means we are tethered 
to the history of the church, just like those men were in the 
1600s. Do you think they just said, 
oh, we're going to invent the wheel. We're going to invent 
Christian doctrine. They said no to that. We have 
no desire. We have no itch to clog religion 
with new words. When they had that act of toleration 
passed, when they had the ability to confess themselves, to confess 
without imprisonment what they believed, they said, we're going 
to take the Westminster, we're going to take the Savoy, we're 
going to take the best insights out of that, we're going to change 
a few things that are indicative of our Baptist heritage, but 
we want you to know we're in the train or trajectory of the 
Christian church. This is why in 2nd London Confession, 
Chapter 8, Paragraph 2, when it talks about the hypostatic 
union of our blessed Lord, where do you think they go? Do you 
think they make it up? No, they go back to the Council 
of Chalcedon in 451. Brethren, there is safety to 
be tethered to the church of our Lord Jesus Christ. We don't 
believe everything every church father taught. We don't believe 
everything every medieval theologian taught. We don't believe everything 
every reformed theologian taught. We don't believe everything every 
post-reformation theologian taught. But there is this emphasis on 
the things most surely believed among us, and our confession 
is a wonderful summary statement of what the Bible teaches under 
those 32 heads. This connects us. This tethers us. And I think it's this that respects 
this passage. He ascended on high, he led captivity 
captive, and he gave gifts to men. Augustine was a gift. Cyril of Alexandria was a gift. Gregory of Nazianzen was a gift. Calvin was a gift. Spurgeon, 
those were gifts. for us to say, well, all I need 
is my Bible and the Holy Spirit. But the Bible tells us that Christ 
gave these men and we should take heed to what they said. 
Confessionalism is a great option in terms of being fastened to 
the church of our Lord Jesus Christ and not going astray, 
not wandering. Again, we're not perfect. It's 
not a perfect document. It didn't fall out of heaven. 
Oh, wow, this wonderful, no, no. That's not what happened, 
but it is a wonderful compendium, a wonderful summary statement 
of those things most surely believed among us. So we need to avoid 
spiritual susceptibility by the trickery of men and the cunning 
craftiness of deceitful plotting. Well, we'll get to the positive 
influence next week. I don't wanna wear out my welcome 
here. I just wanna summarize just a 
few things, and then God willing, next Sunday night, we'll close 
out this section in terms of the positive influence on the 
church. So again, verse 14, it's pretty 
negative. that we should no longer be children, 
that we should no longer be tossed to and fro and carried about 
by every wind of doctrine, that we should not be susceptible 
to the trickery of men in the cunning craftiness of deceitful 
plotting. Verses 15 to 16 give us a very 
positive emphasis, probably a good place to end our exposition, 
God willing, next week. But in terms of just some concluding 
thoughts, we've already, one, established the necessity for 
the gospel ministry. And in terms of the gifts indicated 
in chapter 4, verse 11, we know that there's no more apostles. 
We know that there's no more prophets in terms of the New 
Testament church. The prophets were given for a 
specific time to communicate the Word of God. Now that we 
have the written Word of God, there's no place for a prophetic 
ministry. Now, the prophetic ministry comes in part from preaching. 
I'm not going to get into all that debate here and there, but 
Prophet in the New Testament was a revelatory gift. You had 
tongue speakers and prophets that were communicating the Word 
of God at a time when they didn't have the New Testament. They 
didn't have published Cambridge Bibles with wide margins and 
calfskin leather. excuse me, goatskin leather. 
We should probably call Cambridge and say, goats aren't good in 
the Bible. We should have sheepskin. Anyways, we see this emphasis 
on evangelists. It was probably a temporary ministry 
in the early church. Again, this scholarship goes 
either way on that particular, is there still an office of evangelists? Some suggest there is. I lean 
toward there not being. I think Philip and Timothy are 
good examples in the New Testament, men that didn't have a particular 
church that they always labored in, had a bit of an itinerant. 
had a bit of a moving, had a bit of a more of a transient ministry 
among the churches of Christ. It's the pastor's teachers that 
God has instituted for the duration of the church until our Lord 
Jesus Christ comes again. Now that's not only stated here 
in Ephesians chapter 4 verse 11, but we see it as well corroborated 
in 1 Timothy 3. If anyone desires the office 
of a bishop or an overseer or an elder, it's a good thing. 
And then it specifies what this man must be in terms of virtue, 
in terms of characteristic, in terms of the way he lives. But 
it also specifies what he must do. He must be apt to teach. He must be able to teach. A man 
might have all the virtue. He might have all the godliness. 
He might have all those things in place, but he might not be 
able to teach. Therefore, he's not gonna be 
an elder. That's not a sin. That's not a bad thing. You're 
not to be put down for that. God doesn't equip everybody to 
teach. As Spurgeon said, if God wants 
a behemoth to fly, He'll put wings on him. He obviously didn't 
want behemoth to fly. He didn't put any wings on him. 
There are some men that are godly, faithful, righteous, holy, excellent, 
beautiful, wonderful men. But if they don't have the aptness 
to teach, they're not supposed to be elders. Titus 1 duplicates 
that list of qualifications for the elders in 5-9. And what does 
verse 9 say? He needs to be able to encourage 
the people of God with sound doctrine, and he needs to be 
able to refute those who contradict. So that teaching ministry is 
extant. It is still in play. It is still 
under the lordship and headship of Jesus Christ. Again, it's 
not fancy. It's not, you know, we just plug 
in our brains to the console and we sort of get this assimilated. 
No. It's just kind of an old-fashioned thing, preaching and teaching. 
Open your Bibles, look at the text, understand this in light 
of this text, and compare it with these other texts, and see 
it in the grander scheme of God's redemptive plans. That is to 
be in play until Jesus comes again in glory to judge the living 
and the dead. So that there is a gospel ministry 
should lead us, secondly, to pray for gospel ministers. In other words, if we don't have 
faithful, capable, and qualified men, we're not going to achieve 
the specified ends that we find in Ephesians 4. And so we can 
ask our blessed Savior, who is the Lord and the King and the 
Head of the Church, to raise up men, to fit and qualify men, 
to put it in the hearts of men to serve in this capacity. And 
not just men, but boys, boys that are brought up in the context 
of the local church. Have you ever thought, boy, it'd 
be nice to be in the ministry, not because they only work on 
Sunday, but because I'd like to serve God. I'd like to work 
in the word and doctrine. I'd like to do those things to 
extend the blessed kingdom of God. We can pray to the ascended 
Christ to give more gifts to the church. We have a need, Surrey 
has a need, Armstrong has a need, and certainly Dryden has a need. 
They seem to be blessed there in Siguitopeke, but they then 
might have a need to go plant more churches all throughout 
that particular community. And it's not just in our localized 
areas, not just in our country, but all over the earth today. 
There is a great need for qualified men to take the Word of God out 
and to proclaim it, to preach it. This isn't happening overnight. The thing specified here, It's 
not like one service and, oh boy, we're all perfect now. We're 
all mature. We're all able to see the bad 
and avoid. This is a lifelong endeavor. This is generational 
in nature. We need to pray to Christ to 
raise up men and to fit them for service in the churches of 
our Lord Jesus Christ. And then thirdly and finally, 
we need to recognize that the means by which they are supposed 
to do this is through study of the Word. It's through prayer 
to the God of the Word. It's through faithfulness in 
the exposition of it. Paul emphasizes this. Turn over 
to the book of 2 Timothy. 2 Timothy chapter 2. He has a 
vision for the church. And I don't mean... I'm just 
kind of speculating. He tells us what the church is 
supposed to look like. Notice in 2 Timothy 1. You therefore, 
my son, be strong in the grace that is in Christ Jesus. And 
the things that you have heard from me among many witnesses, 
commit these to faithful men who will be able, notice this 
next phrase, to teach others also. The ministry doesn't accomplish 
these ends or accomplish these goals, again, by their winning 
personality, by their spotless, blemish-free life, by their ability 
to just dazzle the aught. No, they do it through teaching. 
Notice in 2 Timothy 2.14, remind them of these things, charging 
them before the Lord not to strive about words to no profit, to 
the ruin of the hearers. Now notice in verse 15, be diligent, 
to present yourself approved to God, a worker who does not 
need to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth. See, that's 
the emphasis in the gospel ministry. It's not on the, you know, pep 
rally squad or the CEO or the fortune 500 guy is just gonna 
come in and he's gonna revamp the church. And we're gonna put 
program here and program here. We're gonna be so successful. 
And we did so many people. That's not what the Bible teaches. The Bible says, preach the word. 
The Bible says, teach these truths. The Bible says, emphasize this 
doctrine for the growth, maturation, and stability of the people of 
God in the church of God, so that God in that may be glorified 
and honored and praised. So brethren, pray, pray that 
God will raise men up, pray that God will bless men, and pray 
that God will send them out to proclaim His glorious truth for 
His ends. Well, let us pray. Our Father 
in heaven, we thank you for the word, we thank you for this section 
in Ephesians 4. We pray that you would bless 
our local church. We pray that you'd raise up more 
men in our context to function as elders. We pray for Mike and 
Suri and the brethren there, and for Ryan and Armstrong and 
the brethren there, and God give grace to the saints in Dryden 
as well. And we thank you for your goodness, 
and we thank you for the fact that Christ has given these gifts 
to the church for the building up of the church, for the maturation, 
and for these things specified in our text. We pray that you 
would go with us now, watch over us in this coming week, and be 
glorified in our lives. And we ask through Jesus Christ 
our Lord. Amen. We'll close with a brief time.