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Or you can turn in your Bibles 
to the book of Ephesians, Ephesians chapter four, as we work our 
way through this epistle of Paul to the church at Ephesus. Remember 
the first three chapters, the emphasis is on doctrine, specifically 
the doctrine of the gospel. In chapters 1 and 2, we see that 
emphasis on how men are saved. Men, women, boys, and girls. 
It is by grace alone, through faith alone, in Christ alone. 
If you are a rebel against God, a transgressor in terms of his 
law, lacking conformity under that law, Or, as Paul describes 
in Ephesians 2, 1-3, your debt and your trespasses and sins, 
there is hope. And there is hope according to 
the riches of God's grace, for God sent His Son into this world 
sinners to save. So the emphasis of the apostle 
in that first section is on that salvation. and then he moves 
from the individual salvation to the corporate solidarity of 
God's people. Jew and Gentile, one new man 
under Christ, according to chapter 2. He then goes on into chapter 
3 to indicate that this was always God's purpose, it was his plan. 
He describes it or calls it the mystery of Christ, where Gentiles 
participate in the salvation that God promised. Gentiles participate 
in the covenant of grace that God made with sinners. And then in chapter 4, he gets 
practical. And we'll see that emphasis in 
the very first verse, and then it continues on to chapter 6 
and verse 20. But I want to read chapter 4 
as a whole tonight, and then our focus will be on verses 15 
to 16. So beginning in 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 and 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, 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. 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 
in Heaven, we thank You for Your Word. We thank You for this section 
of Scripture and its application in terms of church life. We pray 
that we would be closely regulated by passages like these, that 
we would understand not only the worship of God is regulated, 
but who functions, who serves, and the reason for which they 
serve in the Christian ministry is governed by our blessed Savior. 
Give us obedient hearts, give us grace to receive these things, 
and again, Father, help our church to be aligned with what we find 
in passages such as these. To that end, guide us by the 
Holy Spirit now, and help us to glorify You. And we ask in 
the name of the Lord Jesus Christ, amen. Well, I know that we've 
been going slow through this particular passage. I'm really 
trying to invoke that you bear it with one another in love, 
that exhortation in verse two, but it does seem to be, I mean 
with me, because we're going so slow through here, But it 
seems to me that when you look at the church, this is one of 
those areas of departure with reference to the gospel ministry, 
whether it's the Romish magisterium or it's the cheerleader in the 
evangelical world that just rallies up the people of God to a particular 
end. We see departures relative to 
the Christian ministry, and it has an adverse effect upon the 
church as a whole. We've often heard the statement, 
as men go, so goes the family. As men go, so goes society. As men go, so goes the church. And I am using that in terms 
of men leading in those particular areas. Well, when it comes to 
the Christian ministry, we're not left wondering. We're not 
left to say, well, whatever it is we think we ought to do, we 
can go ahead and do that. Now, as I said, we take seriously 
the regulative principle of worship. That means in terms of what we 
do in worship, it must be commanded by God. But a corollary of that 
is the men who serve in gospel ministry must do so according 
to the mind of Christ as it comes to us in the Word of God. So 
again, departures here has an adverse effect upon the church 
as church. And I'm not suggesting we have 
all this. I'm not suggesting this is us. I am suggesting, however, or 
I'd like to think, we at least know what we should be striving 
for. We at least know, based on passages 
like Ephesians 4, what ought to activate us in terms of our 
pursuit. This isn't a free-for-all. This 
isn't the Romish magisterium, on the one hand, or the evangelical 
pep rally. We need to be governed by the 
Word of God at this particular place in terms of leadership 
in the church. As well, you'll notice the strong 
connection or the inextricable connection between the Christian 
ministry and their function relative to the life of the church and 
what follows in verses 17 and following. Now, Paul is writing 
as an apostle. He's under the inspiration of 
the Holy Spirit. And from 417 on, he is giving 
very particular instructions on how to conduct ourselves as 
individuals, how to conduct ourselves as family members, husbands to 
wives, fathers to children, children to fathers, employees to employers, 
employers to employees. He then ends the epistle on the 
note of, stand fast, put on the whole armor of God. Well, the 
object of Christian ministry is to instruct the people of 
God in these things. Maturity along the border, along 
the line. Maturity as individuals, maturity 
as family members. maturity in your life, maturity 
in your church, maturity in your society, maturity as God's people 
shining as lights in a crooked and perverse generation and holding 
forth the word of truth. To that end, our blessed Christ 
ascended on high. He let captivity captive. He 
gave gifts to men. And those gifts in context are 
teachers in the church for the good of the body. So where we've 
been thus far, we've noticed the provision of God's grace 
in verse 7, we've noticed the provider of God's gifts in verses 
8 to 11, and we've been considering the purpose of the gifts in the 
church in verses 11 to 16. And under that, we've identified 
the gifts. Apostles, prophets, evangelists, 
pastors, teachers. We've noted as well the specific 
purpose for the gifts in verse 12. Notice three coordinate thoughts 
there. For the equipping of the saints, for the work of ministry, 
for the edifying of the body of Christ. Each of those coordinate 
statements is a function of the Christian ministry. A lot of 
modern Bibles and a lot of modern interpreters see it a different 
way. They say that the ministry exists for the equipping of the 
saints for the work of the ministry. Equip the saints so they can 
do the work of the ministry. Now, that's not foreign to the 
context, as we'll see specifically in verse 16, but that's not the 
emphasis in verse 12. The emphasis in verse 12 is on 
the three things that the Christian ministry is to be about. For 
the equipping of the saints, for the work of ministry, for 
the edifying of the body of Christ. Again, the division of labor 
suggests that. Imagine you working 70 or 80 
hours a week, and on Saturday, me calling you and saying, you 
need to go do the work of the ministry. What do you mean, go 
do the work of the ministry? We are the men of God, set apart 
by the Word of God, vetted by and qualified with reference 
to the church. They're to engage in the work 
of the ministry. So that purpose, equip the saints, do the work 
of the ministry, edify the body of Christ. We note it as well 
in verse 13, the duration and goal of the gifts. Notice in 
verse 13, no man left behind, till we all come. Now, brethren, 
there is a reciprocal obligation on the part of the members of 
the church. As I mentioned, if C. H. Spurgeon 
dropped down into a pulpit and there was no one there to hear 
him, it would be to no avail. It's not only faithful preaching 
that must go forth in the kingdom of God, but it must be faithful 
hearing as well. So you might have a whole host 
of faithful men, qualified men, engaged in the particular task, 
but the till we all come puts some onus of responsibility on 
members, on attenders, on those who need to gain from the means 
of grace. But notice what the specific 
goal of the gifts are. Till we all come to the unity 
of the faith. That's not my subjective belief 
in Jesus, but it's a right understanding of the Christian faith, objectively. So we all come to the unity of 
the Christian faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God. 
A good way to summarize the faith is a knowledge of the Son of 
God. That is one of the primary distinctives between, well, it 
is the distinctive between our religion and all others. We have 
the religion of the triune God, the Father who sent the Son, 
and that summary statement of the knowledge of the Son of God 
basically encompasses Genesis to Revelation. And then he says, 
to a perfect man, and there it doesn't mean sinless, without 
any imperfection in terms of our ethical approach to life, 
but to maturity. That's the high note. That's 
the emphasis throughout. He says, to a perfect man, to 
the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ. And then 
in verses 14 to 16, he highlights the effect of the gifts. So the 
gifts given by Jesus in verse 11 for the purposes specified 
will have this effect upon the body. It will have this effect 
upon the people of God. And we broke this down into two 
heads. Verse 14, the preventative maintenance for the church. And 
tonight we'll take up verses 15 and 16, the positive influence 
on the church. But by way of review, by way 
of reminder, notice the preventative maintenance for the church. The 
apostle wants us to avoid spiritual immaturity. Paul doesn't have 
a problem with kids. Paul has a problem with adults 
acting like kids, just like we do. You don't have a problem 
with your two-year-old acting like a two-year-old. you probably 
have a problem with your 22-year-old acting like a 2-year-old. There's 
a big difference. And you notice the specific contrast. 
The perfect man of verse 13, and then in verse 14, that we 
should no longer be children. Maturity is the goal. Growth 
is the goal. Not perpetual adolescence, not 
perpetual childhood, not perpetual infancy. You come into the church, 
sure, as a brand new babe, but the whole idea behind the ministry 
of the church is to feed you in such a way that you don't 
stay a babe, that you grow, that you mature, that you become the 
man or woman that God has intended and as is specified from 417 
and following. Again, we're not left scratching 
our heads. What does he mean by all this? Well, 417 and following 
tells us what he means. He tells us we're not supposed 
to steal. We're not supposed to lie. We're 
not supposed to hate our wives. We're not supposed to not submit 
ourselves to our husband. We're not supposed to exasperate 
our children. We're not supposed to defy our 
parents. All these are concrete applications of what Paul is 
saying in this general statement concerning the Christian ministry. 
So we are to avoid spiritual immaturity that we should no 
longer be children. We're to avoid spiritual instability 
tossed to and fro and carried about with every wind of doctrine. 
Those men in 2 Timothy chapter 3 that load down those gullible 
women, it says of them that they're always learning but never coming 
to a knowledge of the truth. What is that but an unstable 
man? What is that man who for 20, 25, 30, 40 years has some 
familiarity with Scripture but really has no understanding whatsoever 
of Scripture? That man either A, has absented 
himself from the corporate means wherein he could have been educated, 
or B, he has put himself in corporate means that are less than stellar. 
Because it ought not to be the case that after a 30-year track 
in the footsteps of Jesus that we're as ignorant as the day 
that we were born again. And so there ought to be this 
avoidance of spiritual instability. But then notice thirdly, to avoid 
spiritual susceptibility. He says, by the trickery of men 
in the cunning craftiness of deceitful plotting. We need to 
be able to recognize not only a true minister, but we ought 
to be able to spot a false minister. We ought to know our Bibles in 
such a way that if we put ourselves under a particular preacher, 
and that particular preacher is a heretic, that we don't long 
continue there. Now I'm not suggesting every 
preacher is always at the top of his game. You know, preaching 
or pastoring or filling the pulpit is much like your job. You probably 
have good days, you probably have off days. I've often said 
when people are looking for churches, give it a couple of months. You 
could have wandered in to the day when he had an especially 
bad day. People have bad days at work. 
Ministers oftentimes are off. They're shoveling gravel instead 
of speaking the words of honey and truth. So when it comes, 
though, to this reality that you're sitting under a heretic, 
you're susceptible to every wind of doctrine, you're tossed to 
and fro, you are lorded over by the trickery of men, this 
is not good. And so a functioning, properly built ministry by our 
Lord Jesus Christ is conducive to prevent these kinds of problems. Now that brings us finally in 
the section to verses 15 to 16, the positive influence on the 
church. So basically he's tying it all 
up. Basically he is revisiting or 
reasserting things that he has said along the way. And he mentions 
three things. First, the spiritual maturity 
of the church. Boy, imagine that. He emphasizes 
this. He hits this nail on the head 
over and over and over again. Why is that? Because Paul wants 
you to grow in the grace and in the knowledge of our Lord 
and Savior, Jesus Christ. Paul wants the church to function 
in such a way that she's not an embarrassment in society. 
Society may hate her. Society may oppose her. Society 
may despise her. But may it be for the right reasons, 
because she preaches accurately the cross of Christ. She preaches 
accurately the offense of the cross. Not because she's moronic, 
not because she's just like the world, not because she couldn't 
argue her way out of a paper bag. The apostle wants you to 
be mature. Secondly, he wants the church 
edified, 16a, and then finally underscores that this is the 
goal of Christ's government of the church in 16b. So again, 
themes or emphases we've already seen in this particular section 
that he's bringing home now and tying it up in a particular package 
and presenting it to us, and then he transitions into this 
conduct of the new man. What is the unstated application 
or implication? If this is the goal of the Christian 
ministry, and it's not just their function, but your function as 
a recipient of Christian ministry, and then Paul says you need to 
live in this particular manner, you ought to make the connection 
that I need to be under preaching that faithfully teaches me how 
to do these particular things. We need to emphasize the gospel, 
the means by which sinners are saved, by grace through faith, 
in our Lord Jesus Christ. You get this both-and, an either-or 
approach in churches today. Well, that church only ever preaches 
the gospel. That church only ever preaches 
duty. That church only ever preaches the imperative. This is indicative. 
This is imperative. The Bible envisages that we do 
both and. The Bible envisages that we preach 
the gospel, the doctrine of justification by faith, the means by which 
sinners come into saving contact with our God through faith in 
our Lord Jesus Christ, and then tell them how they ought to live. 
Isn't that the structure in the book of Ephesians? Chapters 1 
to 3, the emphasis is upon the doctrine of the gospel, the way 
that man is saved by grace through faith in Jesus Christ. He doesn't 
stop at chapter 3. There's a chapter 4 to 6, so 
that the justified by faith man can live in a manner that is 
consistent with the word and will of God. So it's not an either-or. Well, you go there for the gospel, 
you go there for your duty. It ought to be a both and. It 
ought to be a one-stop shop. Every single church ought to 
be emphasizing the truth of justification and the truth of sanctification, 
making the clarification, making the qualification. You're not 
justified by your sanctification. You're not justified as a result 
of your... No, we make those distinctions, 
but we nevertheless emphasize the reality that the God who 
saved us saved us so that we could live in a manner that is 
specified by him. So 4.17 and following is the 
concrete maturity that the apostle envisions for the people of God. So notice, when it comes to the 
positive influence at verse 15a, Once again, the spiritual maturity 
of the church. Notice the means by which this 
growth occurs. Verse 15, but speaking the truth 
in love may grow up in all things into him who is the head. So 
the emphasis is on may grow up in all things into him who is 
the head, but the manner in which that is done is by speaking the 
truth in love. There's a parallel between the 
preceding section and this one. Verse 14, notice that we may 
not be children subject to the lies of deceivers. Verse 15, 
that we may grow up to maturity by speaking the truth in love. 
See, children deceived, children tricked, children capped down 
by false teachers are going to remain children. But those who 
are in a context of speaking the truth in love are going to 
be the people that grow, they become mature, they do what Paul 
is saying in this particular passage. Now, in terms of this 
speaking the truth in love, certainly there's a general application, 
and Paul's going to deal with that later on in this particular 
chapter. Notice in verse 25, for instance. Notice in verse 29, let no corrupt 
word proceed out of your mouth, but what is good for necessary 
edification. And then again in verse 31, let 
all bitterness, wrath, anger, clamor, and evil speaking be 
put away from you with all malice. So there's a general application 
of what it means to speak the truth in love, the way that we 
speak to one another. We don't lie to each other. Hey, 
man, at work this week, I sealed a $5 billion deal. Oh, really? 
No, that's false. It's fake. So there's a general 
application in terms of speaking the truth in love. But I think 
we need to be fixed to this context. The ministers who preach the 
truth, who speak the truth in love, because ministers do that, 
even when they raise their voices or when they get a little animated, 
it is not detached from or devoid of love. What's the purpose of 
faithful ministry? It is to convey the truth in 
a spirit of love. And so Paul says this is the 
manner by which we gain maturity. If we have no truth, we're going 
to be perpetually adolescent. If we have no truth, we're going 
to be perpetual children. If we have no truth, we're not 
going to grow and mature. That is absolutely key. And again, 
an emphasis throughout the passage. So notice this emphasis on truth 
and love. 1 Corinthians 13, 6, the great 
love chapter of the Apostle Paul, he tells us that love rejoices 
in truth. It doesn't rejoice in lies. It 
doesn't rejoice in deception. It doesn't rejoice in falsehood. 
It rejoices in the truth. Machen commenting on Galatians 
5.16, he makes the observation, love, according to the New Testament, 
is not the means of salvation, but it is the finest fruit of 
it. A man is saved by faith, not by love, but he is saved 
by faith in order that he may love. So there's a natural sort 
of a reflex here that when it comes to maturity in Christ, 
the gifts given by Christ speak that truth and love for the maturation 
of God's people. Lincoln says, at the heart of 
the proclamation of the truth is love, and a life of love is 
the embodiment of truth. And back to the text, speaking 
the truth in love, that's the manner by which the specific 
emphasis is made grow up in all things into him who is the head. This constant emphasis on Christian 
maturity is something that over the last hundred years the church 
has lost. Now, I don't want to pick on 
the church. I don't want to blame the church for everything. I 
don't want to say the church is the worst institution on the 
face of the earth. The church is glorious. The church 
is the bride of Jesus. The church is magnificent. It 
is that entity for which our blessed Savior died, and He was 
raised again. But in terms of, you know, a 
couple of generations past, there's been a lack of emphasis upon 
the truth. There's been an emphasis upon 
emotion and upon experience. There's been an emphasis upon 
entertainment. There's been an emphasis on a 
whole host of things that are not emphasized here by the Apostle 
in a letter that is regulating the Church's ministry. Now brethren, 
it seems to me at some point we need to scratch our heads 
and say, how about we return to the owner's manual? How about 
we return to the documents? How about we uncover what the 
apostles' meaning is in terms of going forward as the Church 
of Jesus Christ? Now, I'm not suggesting that 
every well-ordered, every regulated church, every obedient church 
is going to have a positive effect upon the world. There'll be no 
more communism. There'll be no more theft. There'll 
be no more sorrow. There'll be no more pain. I'm 
not suggesting that at all. But I am suggesting, out of obedience 
to Jesus, out of compliance with the Word of God, and out of the 
benefit of our own church, this ought to be something that we 
pursue. We want to grow up. We want to 
be mature. We want to avoid being little 
children. Again, if we're little children, 
fine, embrace it. But if you're not, then grow 
up. And then notice the vital connection with reference to 
our Lord, with reference to our head. Verse 16, I'm sorry, verse 
15, but speaking the truth in love may grow up in all things 
into him who is the head, Christ. into him who is the head Christ. I think what Paul is saying there 
is that there is this organic connection, this mystical or 
theological connection between the head which is Christ and 
the body. Now brethren, your body typically goes where your 
head goes, doesn't it? Your body typically follows where 
your noggin goes. It's just inextricably connected. 
Your head doesn't go there and your body doesn't go there. Well, 
yet, when you look at the body, the professing body of Christ's 
church, you don't always see that obedience. You don't always 
see that connection. You don't always see that intimacy 
in terms of the head and the church. And so Paul is suggesting, 
Paul is saying that we have this vital union with our Lord Jesus 
Christ, and that it's by virtue of that that we follow his leadership. We follow his governing. We follow 
the head who has bid us to follow him. And then notice, in terms 
of the next emphasis, the edification of the church in verse 16. Notice 
the source of the church's growth. It's not detached from Christ. 
He mentions the head Christ, verse 15, and then in verse 16, 
from whom? From Christ, the whole body, 
joined and knit together by what every joint supplies, according 
to the effect of working by which every part does its share, causes 
growth of the body for the edifying of itself in love. So there is 
this vital communion, or rather union, with our Lord. We don't 
do this detached. Well, you know, we have pastors, 
and we have elders, and we have deacons, and we have all these 
things, so we're gonna just go under them. Well, no, they function 
under Christ. The government of the church, 
brethren, is Jesus. The government of the church 
is Christ ruling His church. The government of the church 
is about His headship, His leadership, His kingship, His sovereignty, 
and we ought to be very thankful for that. Because if he left 
it up to us, we'd be in some pretty bad places. I mean, early 
on in the life of the church, I think there was a group of 
fathers talking. I don't mean fathers earthly, but some of 
the church fathers, and they were musing on that reality. 
If it was up to us, the church would be gone. If it was not 
up to the one who promised, I will build my church and the gates 
of Hades shall not prevail against it, would we have lasted? Would 
we have made it here without Christ? Without his building? 
Without his aid? Without his benefit? Without 
the gifts that he has given? We need to understand that in 
terms of church government, it's Christ who is the head. Now, 
ministerially, he uses these gifts to legislate in terms of 
preaching his word. And so Paul's emphasis here is 
on the edification of the body. The source of that is from our 
blessed Savior. John Gill makes this observation 
concerning our union with Christ and our dependence upon him. 
She has her being and form from him. and all her blessings as 
her life and light, righteousness and holiness, her grace and strength, 
her joy, peace and comfort, her fruitfulness and final perseverance, 
and her dependence is upon him for subsistence, sustenance, 
protection and safety, and for grace and glory, and her union 
to him is very near, strict, and close, and indissoluble. 
So you see what he's saying? We're in vital connection with 
the head. We don't do this detached. But as well, we do this in dependence 
upon Christ. So as I mentioned last week, 
when we're in this particular passage, we pray to Christ for 
a supply of elders. We pray to Christ for a supply 
of qualified men. We pray to Christ that the church 
would be discerning, that the church would apply the qualifications, 
that the church would vet potential candidates to Christian ministry, 
that we would take this aspect of church life seriously. So 
again, when it comes to worship, we are regulated. When it comes 
to ministry, we are governed. We are called by Jesus to function 
in a particular way. He doesn't leave it up to us. 
He's never said to a church body, okay, how do you want to lead 
yourself? When you get to Ephesians chapter 5, when he deals with 
husband-wife relationships, he doesn't say the husband is the 
head of the wife as long as they both are in favor of that. The 
husband is the head of the wife insofar as they both vote on 
that. The husband is the head of the wife insofar as he's just 
a great guy. The husband is the head of the wife. Has that ever 
been up for debate? Has that ever been put to a vote? 
Was there ever a referendum on that? Now, understand, you're 
either a good head of your wife or you're a bad one. There's, 
you know, I guess you could be an all right one. But in terms 
of the actual act, the husband is the head of the wife. The 
wife is to submit to and honor her husband. Again, referendum? 
How many ladies would have signed up for that? Oh yeah, I want 
to be submissive and I want to just esteem him and revere him. 
Yeah, sign me right up for that. Why do you think Paul commands 
what Paul commands? Because it's not always the sort 
of things we want to do. But my point is that God doesn't 
check with us on how to structure family. He doesn't say, you know, 
if the woman has the better gifts, she's got more financial savvy, 
she's just, you know, more of a mover and shaker, she should 
be the head over the... He doesn't do that. He doesn't 
do that in the church either. He doesn't ask us. He doesn't 
check with us. There's no referendum. Church 
government is very simple under Jesus Christ. He is the head 
and he gave some to be pastors, teachers. He gave some to be 
deacons. And why does he do that? For 
the government of his church ministerially, not magisterially. They don't lord things over the 
people of God. So edification is in view here. And again, you see the comprehensiveness 
of the church's growth. From whom the whole body. See, 
Paul doesn't want just a handful of people that are willing to 
get up at O-Dark 30 and show up for a theology meeting, for 
them to grow. No, he wants the whole church 
to grow. 2 Peter 3, 18, but grow in the grace and knowledge of 
our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. That wasn't a shameless plug 
for the Saturday morning thing, by the way. That was not. There 
was no manipulation there. You better show up, because that's 
where the really... No, no, no, no, no. It felt like 
it sounded like that after it came out. So I want to apologize. 
That's not the spirit in which I said it. I'm simply saying 
that there is that mindset among some in the professing church 
that, you know, theology's not really for me. I'm not really 
given to the study of the Bible. I'm not really into that kind 
of thing. I just want to love Jesus. At some point, you need 
to ask the question, which Jesus are you loving? Are you loving 
the Jesus of the Mormons? Are you loving the Jesus of the 
Jehovah's Witnesses? How do we know we're not? Well, 
it's the Word of God. It's the doctrine of Christ revealed 
in Genesis to Revelation, which informs us. So it is imperative 
for us to have an understanding. Remember, unity of faith and 
2A what? knowledge of the Son of God. That's a litmus test. 
You can get into heaven without knowing how big or how long the 
south wall of the temple was. But you can't get into heaven 
without confessing Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior. As I said, 
it's a summary statement concerning the Christian faith, this knowledge 
of the Son of God. So the apostle wants the entirety 
of the church to grow. Now, again, if Spurgeon falls 
out, preaches the word, and no one's there to hear him, it's 
not gonna be growth as a result. Now, that's not me, Spurgeon. 
I'm just giving, again, an illustration. You need to avail yourselves 
of the means that God's ordained. It's so obvious in the physical 
realm. I just don't feel good. Well, 
what's your life like? Well, I eat sugar 20 out of 24 
hours a day. I don't sleep. I drink a pot 
of coffee right when I'm supposed to go to bed, but it just doesn't... 
I don't know why I stay awake. What do you mean you don't know 
why? Really? You're gonna take that posture? You don't know why you can't 
sleep? You don't know why you've got 
some physical issues? It's pretty obvious. Why is it 
in the church, in the spiritual realm, we think we're actually 
fooling people? I don't know why I've got such 
struggles. I don't know why I don't seem 
to be growing in the grace and knowledge of the Lord Jesus. 
Do you read your Bible? Well, you know, I'm a busy guy. Do you come to prayer meeting 
or church or Bible study? You know, I'm a busy guy. Why 
do we think we pass then when we wouldn't think we'd pass with 
the 20 hours of sugar and the coffee pot right before bed? 
I mean, none of us would think we'd want to try to hide. Well, 
no, I don't drink that much coffee right before bed. I don't eat 
that much. We try to hedge our bets. We 
try to present ourselves. Well, brethren, this isn't to 
pick on anybody. This isn't to say, oh, you horrible 
person. I am, from the bottom of my heart, 
not trying to do that. I'm encouraging you to grow, 
to learn, to study, to understand what we just read in Psalm 111. 
The works of the Lord are great. They are studied by all who have 
pleasure in them. Do you know there are people 
that busy themselves studying plants? I'm not against that, 
it's just not my thing. There are people that busy themselves 
studying animals. Again, wonderful endeavor. People 
that busy themselves studying numbers and finance, whatever 
it is, whatever floats your boat, you do it. But if the heathen 
or the pagan or even the Christian spends all this effort and energy 
to memorize every guy that ever scored a goal for the Canucks, 
certainly the works of the Lord are great in terms of redemptive 
blessing. And yet we have to cajole and 
harangue the people of God to read their Bibles and show up 
at church. There is a connection between 
the use of the means and our health. It's just that obvious. You see it with eating, you see 
it with exercise, you see it with sleeping. If those things 
are off, your physicality is off. Same thing in the church. 
You neglect the Bible, you neglect prayer, you neglect the means 
of grace, Guess what's going to happen? You're going to be 
off. So the apostle emphasizes not 
just a handful in the life of the church, but he wants all 
the body, the whole body. And then notice the particular 
means of the church's growth. Here's your every member ministry. 
As I said, verse 12 is coordinate, the equipping of the saints, 
the work of the ministry, edifying the body of Christ. And then 
you see that that does avail, that does trickle down, that 
does mean that the people of God, the body of Christ, edify 
one another. They encourage one another. They 
talk after the services. They exhort one another. They 
call each other during the week. They try and hold each other 
accountable. They pray for each other. Look at what he says, 
from whom the whole body joined and knit together by what every 
joint supplies. Joined and knit together by what 
every joint supplies. You've got that passage in 2 
Corinthians 12. You can turn there. 2 Corinthians 
chapter 12. I'm sorry, 1 Corinthians chapter 
12. 1 Corinthians chapter 12, verse 
15. He's talking about the diversity 
of the gifts in terms of the unity of the church. There's 
unity, that's the pursuit, that's the goal, that's the desire to 
a perfect man, a unified man, a mature man, a man that's edified 
and all that sort of thing. There's diversity in terms of 
the gifts. There's a whole lot of ways that people function 
and serve in the context of the church so we can achieve that. 
Notice in verse 15, if the foot should say, because I am not 
a hand, I am not of the body, is it therefore not of the body? 
And if the ear should say, because I am not an eye, I am not of 
the body, is it therefore not of the body? If the whole body 
were an eye, where would be the hearing? If the whole were hearing, 
where would be the smelling? But now God has set the members, 
each one of them, in the body just as he pleased. And if they 
were all one member, where would the body be? But now indeed there 
are many members, yet one body. And the eye cannot say to the 
hand, I have no need of you, nor again the head to the feet. 
I have no need of you. No, much rather, those members 
of the body which seem to be weaker are necessary. And those 
members of the body which we think to be less honorable, on 
these we bestow greater honor. And our presentable parts have 
greater modesty, but our presentable parts have no need. But God composed 
the body, having given greater honor to that part which lacks 
it. that there should be no schism 
in the body, but that the members should have the same care for 
one another. And if one member suffers, all the members suffer 
with it, or if one member is honored, all the members rejoice 
with it. So back to 4.16, here's your every member ministry, from 
whom the whole body, joined and knit together by what every joint 
supplies. It is a most blessed and wonderful 
thing. He goes on to say, according 
to the effective working by which every part does its share. You 
see, there is responsibility here for the ministry, obviously, 
but here for the membership. Show up, learn, glean, understand, 
get taught, so that you can take what you've been taught and reflect 
it upon others. So that it's not just that we 
have all this knowledge, we have all this data, all this theology 
and all this Bible, and we just go sit on our couch. No, we shine 
it upon others. We love others. We speak the 
truth and love to one another. We help them. We encourage them. We pray for them. We befriend 
them. We do those things that foster 
that growth. This is a very similar passage 
to Colossians 2.19, in which is a warning against mystical 
legalism. Paul says, "...and not holding 
fast to the head," if we get caught up in that mystical legalism, 
"...from whom all the body, nourished and knit together by joints and 
ligaments, grows with the increase that is from God." So it's ultimately 
from God, but it's in concert with the people of God receiving 
the word of God and putting that word into practice. Again, not 
rocket science. It's not brain surgery. It's 
not like anybody here should be going, man, I never thought 
that. I never saw that. It's pretty 
obvious. that this is the flow of the 
Apostle. You're saved by grace through faith in Jesus. The ministry 
was instituted to educate you in terms of what Jesus calls 
you unto. Now these are some particular 
concrete applications. So receive the word, put the 
word into practice, and live in a manner that is consistent 
with that blessed word. And then notice finally, this 
is the goal of Christ's government of the church. Notice, it causes 
growth of the body for the edifying of itself in love. There's that 
emphasis on maturation, that emphasis on edification, and 
it summarizes or brings to completion all that he has done in this 
particular section. Now, in conclusion, just a couple 
of thoughts and then we go. In the first place, in terms 
of the ministry of the church, The ministry of the church. I 
think that if we get this down, it will hopefully be formative 
and shape the way we view the ministry in the church. That, 
you know, an emphasis on entertainment or emotions or feelings or all 
that sort of thing will be repudiated. We want the Word of God. We want 
the preaching of the truth. We want that which God has determined 
is best for His people. We want the unity of the faith. 
We want the knowledge of the Son of God. We want that maturation 
into a perfect man. And we're not going to get there 
through our feelings. We're not going to get there 
through an emotional response. Now, I'm not saying there's no 
feelings or no emotions connected to true religion. I am saying, 
however, do not let that be the governing factor in your religion. Because as Luther so wisely said, 
feelings come and feelings go, but feelings are deceiving. My 
warrant is the Word of God. None else is worth believing. 
You can't leave a church service, this church, any service, and 
say, you know, I just didn't feel it. Well, was the Word preached? Did God's gospel go forth? Were you instructed accurately 
from the text of Scripture? Well, yeah. Well, then it really 
doesn't matter what your feelings are. In fact, I'd suggest you 
need to repent because your feelings should be regulated by that truth. I don't know that I would say 
that, but that might well up or be a tendency or temptation 
for me to say. Emotions and feelings and all 
that sort of thing has more connection to Baal worship in the Old Covenant 
than it does with Christian worship or the worship of Old Covenant 
religion. So the ministry of the church 
is to be regulated by our blessed God. Secondly, I would suggest 
there is a threat to the church with reference to sort of pursuing 
this strategy for church life. Now, they are two. There is an 
internal problem and then an external threat. Now, I call 
it an internal problem because I don't want to sound too bad, 
but the persons that are content to remain children, I'm not suggesting 
they're not believers. I'm not suggesting that a newly 
born again person that has believed on the Lord Jesus Christ, I'm 
not suggesting that they're not a believer. I'm not suggesting 
that they're a threat to the church, but I am suggesting it 
can be problematic. If you're content to stay in 
your spiritual diapers and not grow up to manhood, Now, brethren, 
that's not the goal that we see in this passage of Scripture. 
We're not supposed to be children tossed to and fro by every wind 
of doctrine. So the internal problem are the 
kinds of people that simply want sugar. They simply want treats. 
They simply want emotions. They simply want feelings. They 
simply want entertainment. They don't want the true meat 
of God's holy word. They don't want what Scripture 
calls us to want. And so I would suggest that that 
is an internal problem. Now, the external threat are 
the sort of men that prey on weak believers. You all know 
how predators hunt in the, I almost said the tundra. What's the big 
sort of desert wilderness out there? Serengeti, let's just 
use that one. They don't go after the biggest and the strongest 
in the herd. A predator tries to get the one 
that has the bit of a gimp. The predator goes after the one 
that's isolated. The predator goes after the one 
that's weak. Because the predator is smart 
enough to know, I don't want to tangle with the biggest and 
the baddest. I'd rather go after the easy, 
low-hanging fruit. Where do you think false teachers, 
or who do you think false teachers prey upon? Well, it's gullible 
women loaded down with various lusts, according to Paul in 2 
Timothy 3. It's the kind of person that 
is always learning but never coming to a knowledge of the 
truth of God's Holy Word. This sort of perpetual weakness 
opens oneself up to this kind of a predator. So when it comes 
to spiritual savvy and strength, you need it to guard against 
these men that would take you down. And then the final observation 
is that the government of the church, as I said earlier, is 
about Jesus Christ. The Lord Christ is the head. 
The gifts are ministerial. That means they serve the people 
of God. Those three coordinate statements 
for the equipping of the saints, for the work of ministry, for 
the edifying of the body of Christ. Not for the building of their 
own kingdom, not for the building of their own bank account, not 
for the building of their own celebrity status. That is not 
what Paul says. Paul is very specific that those 
things are not the purview of the Christian ministry. Paul 
is very specific that the focus of the Christian ministry is 
just that, it's ministerial, it is to serve. And then in terms 
of the conduct of the church, it is to be regulated by Christ, 
both our worship and the ministry. And I would suggest relative 
to what we find here, again, not that we've achieved it, not 
that we've arrived, but hopefully we're all singing off the same 
page and saying, you know, That is what ought to determine the 
direction that we pursue in terms of church life. So three things, 
and then we close. And they're three short things. 
First, the use of the ordinary means. Brethren, you know, standing 
at the flagpole and praying. You can stand at flagpoles and 
pray. You can do that. I remember years ago when the 
kids were in the Christian school, they would go to a conference, 
and after the conference, they'd stand at the flagpole and pray. 
Great! Stand at the flagpole and pray. 
You can pray in your church too. Your church meets for prayer. 
That's a good place for you to pray. It's a good time for you 
to join along with them. The corporate body of Jesus Christ 
coming to the Father through the Son and the Spirit. That 
might be a good time to gather together as well. The use of 
the ordinary means. We like the extraordinary. We 
like the sensational. We like the sort of, you know, 
jaw-dropping, you know, exhibition of the power of God. Do you know 
that most of the Christian life is regular and ordinary and normal? When you look at the Bible, it's 
filled with miracles. It is, but in times of revelation, 
God reveals himself and he confirms his revelation through the miracles 
of Moses, through the miracles of the prophets, through the 
miracles of the apostles, through the miracles of Jesus. What's 
the point? The emphasis is upon the confirmation 
that they were speaking the revealed Word of God. It's the Word of 
God that's formative. It's the Word of God that shapes. 
It's the Word of God that we need to attend to, and we need 
to engage in a due use of the ordinary means of grace. Secondly, 
I would suggest there ought to be the consistent use of the 
ordinary means of grace. So not only a use, but a consistent 
use. 2 Timothy 4, the apostle says, 
preach the word. He gives as the first reason, 
for the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine. 
But according to their own desires, because they have itching ears, 
they will heap up for themselves teachers, and they will turn 
their ears away from the truth and be turned aside to fables. 
Huh, kind of like he was thinking about the 20th and 21st century. 
Kind of like he was thinking about these pastors that repel 
in from wires and have their headset on and they, you know, 
do their thing. Kind of like he's thinking about 
people that would rather have entertainment, you know, Metallica 
in the front of the church engaging in riffs for Jesus. You think 
that's what Paul had in mind? Or do you think that the people 
or professing people of God have always sort of manifested the 
same disposition? We don't want dry old stuffy 
theology. We want to feel. We want to live. We want the emotional response. The time will come when they 
will not endure sound doctrine. What's Paul's response? Give 
them sound doctrine. Notice it's not, well, find out 
what they really want. Find out how they connect. Find 
out what they like and tailor your life and ministry to that. 
No, preach the word. What's the reason? The time will 
come when they won't want to hear the word. Oh, well, I'm 
sorry. Let's just abandon ship and abandon 
the headship and government of our Lord Jesus Christ and have 
puppets, ponies, and programs and repelling pastor. Let's do 
that. Let's have the pastor ride in 
on his motorcycle, his Harley Davidson. Get out of that motorcycle 
and bring us to Jesus. Let's have the pastor move the 
pulpit and sit in a big easy chair. His audience, his hearers, 
they don't like sermons. They like stories. So he gets 
rid of the pulpit, he puts the big cushy chair there, and he 
just speaks to them as dad speaks to the kids. Brethren, the last 
thing in the world that you should want is to me, me sitting in 
an easy chair speaking as a dad to my kids. How repulsive to 
think that that is conduct fitting in the church of God Most High, 
the pillar and ground of the truth, the household of God. That's the marching orders. And then the third observation 
here is the persevering use of the ordinary means. Use them, 
use them consistently, and use them perseveringly. What does 
that mean? It means the temptation to turn 
from these things is always present. Oh, did you hear about this guy? He rides his hog in and then 
he tells you about Jesus. Ooh, that sounds good. Did you 
hear about the repelling pack? Oh, wow, that sounds good. We 
need to go there. A persevering use of the ordinary 
means, even if it seems at times to be dry and stuffy. Now in 
terms of ministers and preachers of the gospel, if you were all 
that, I would exhort you to preach in a way that people want to 
hear it. Be interesting. You're preaching the most interesting 
book that has ever been printed, that has ever been written. Don't 
bore the people of God to tears. Teach them. Preach to them in 
a way that esteems the written word of the living and true God. 
Spurgeon says on Matthew 4.9, may the church never yield to 
the world with the idea of setting up the kingdom of Christ in a 
more easy and rapid manner than by the simple preaching of the 
gospel. Perseveringly use the ordinary 
means. B.B. Warfield, he lived in the 
19th century, he made this observation. In the 19th century, 1800s, not 
repelling pasture time, not hog time, not big couch time. No, no, no. He's in the 1800s. Warfield said, if the minister 
comes to be thought of, for example, fundamentally as merely the head 
of a social organization from whom may be demanded pleasant 
manners and executive ability, or as little more than a zealous 
promoter, the minister's whole function is summed up in these 
or such things. If the whole function of the 
minister is inspirational rather than instructional, then no doubt 
we may dispense with all serious study of the scripture." Isn't 
that what he said? If the ministerial function is inspirational versus 
instructional, then throw the Bible out. Get rid of it. And I think he was right. And 
I'm not saying these guys were prophets or the sons of prophets, 
but whatever they saw in their day has come home to roost in 
our day. It has come home in spades. Lloyd-Jones, 
in his time, made the observation. He says, the world expects the 
Christian to be different and looks to him for something different. 
I remember, I don't know, well, it was billions of years ago. 
No, it was 10 years ago. There was this movement, you 
know, we just got to connect. We got to be all things to all 
men. We got to, you know, come up here with holes in our jeans, 
you know, holding our latte so we can, you know, have that Starbucks 
connection and we can just tell them a little bit about Jesus. 
Listen to what Lloyd-Jones says, the world expects the Christian 
to be different. If you're a worldling and you 
wander into one of those hipster churches, it looks like something 
that you would find is odd, I would think. I kind of think that worldlings 
expect to see this, fuddy-duddies, dry sermons, long sermons, loud 
sermons. That's kind of what I think they 
expect, right? Not the cool cat with his Mickey 
Mouse shirt or the picture of Jesus on his shirt doing his 
thing. The world expects the Christian 
to be different and looks to him for something different. 
And there in it often shows an insight into life that regular 
church goers often lack. The churches organize west drives. That's something they do in England. 
Fates, kind of like a fair. Dramas, bazaars, and things of 
that sort so as to attract people. We are becoming almost as wily 
as the devil himself, but we are really very bad at it. All 
our attempts are hopeless failures and the world laughs at us. Now, 
when the world persecutes the church, she is performing her 
real mission. But when the world laughs at 
her, she has lost her soul. And the world today is laughing 
at the church, laughing at our attempts to be nice and to make 
people feel at home. My friends, if you feel at home 
in any church without believing Christ as your personal Savior, 
then that church is no church at all, but a place of entertainment 
or a social club. For the truth of Christianity 
and the preaching of the gospel should make a church intolerable 
and uncomfortable to all except those who believe. And even they 
should go away feeling chastened and humble. So even they better 
not be too happy or you're not doing your job as a preacher. 
Brethren, these men were prescient. These men saw things. These men 
saw the attack on the church at the place of worship in terms 
of conduct, a regular principle of worship, but in terms of ministry, 
in terms of the preacher, in terms of the cheerleader, the 
pep squad rally, the CEO, the manager that just makes sure 
everything gets done. That's not the calling. He must 
be apt to teach. He must study to show himself 
approved unto God, a workman who need not be ashamed, rightly 
dividing the word of truth. He must be that devoted soldier. 
He must be that footman of the Lord Jesus Christ. He must be 
faithful in ministry, in terms of the word, in prayer for the 
people of God, and in speaking the truth in love to all the 
saints for the glory of God, for their maturation, for their 
growth, and for their mutual edification. And if you are not 
a Christian, look at what Christ has done in terms of saving sinners 
from their sins. Voice thought passages like these 
ought to prevail upon a sinner's mind. Typically, I mean usually, 
we think of a John 10 10. I tried to exploit that text 
or press that text this morning. Not exploit, drill down, I think 
is what my son says sometimes about that sort of thing. Drill 
down on John 10.10. That's an evangelistic text. 
He's come that they may have life and they may have it more 
abundantly. We don't think of Ephesians 4 
as an evangelistic text, but the fact that God has given gifts 
to his church for the express purpose of preaching his gospel 
for the salvation of sinners shows us something concerning 
the mind and the heart and the love of God towards sinners. 
He loves us so much that He gave His only begotten Son. He loves 
us so much that He gave a class of men that are fitted to preach 
and teach His Word so that the people of God can grow and so 
that the non-people of God can hear that truth and by His grace 
be relieved and be saved. This, my brothers and sisters, 
is a gift of the ascended Christ to the church, and may we again 
pray for more, and may we again pray that we will be hearers 
and recipients and engage in the persevering use of the ordinary 
means. Well, let us pray. Our God and 
Father, we thank you for this section in Ephesians 4. We thank 
you for the apostles' emphasis on practical religion. We'll 
see that coming in the next several weeks in terms of 4.17 to 6.20. 
We thank you that after you save us by grace through faith, after 
justification, you call us to live in a particular manner, 
and you don't leave us to ourselves to try and figure that out. You've 
given us the scriptures of both the Old and New Testaments, and 
we praise you for that. Help us to love that word. and 
help us to grow as a result of that word. Go with us now, watch 
over us in this coming week, and be glorified in each of our 
lives. And we pray through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen. We'll 
close with a brief time of meditation.