May 20
31
Old Testament Reading: Psalm 1
“Blessed is the man who walks not in the counsel of the wicked, nor stands in the way of sinners, nor sits in the seat of scoffers; but his delight is in the law of the LORD, and on his law he meditates day and night. He is like a tree planted by streams of water that yields its fruit in its season, and its leaf does not wither. In all that he does, he prospers. The wicked are not so, but are like chaff that the wind drives away. Therefore the wicked will not stand in the judgment, nor sinners in the congregation of the righteous; for the LORD knows the way of the righteous, but the way of the wicked will perish.” (Psalm 1, ESV)
New Testament Reading: Ephesians 4:7-16
“But grace was given to each one of us according to the measure of Christ’s gift. Therefore it says, ‘When he ascended on high he led a host of captives, and he gave gifts to men.’ (In saying, ‘He ascended,’ what does it mean but that he had also descended into the lower regions, the earth? He who descended is the one who also ascended far above all the heavens, that he might fill all things.) And he gave the apostles, the prophets, the evangelists, the shepherds and teachers, to equip the saints for the work of ministry, for building up the body of Christ, until we all attain to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to mature manhood, to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ, so that we may no longer be children, tossed to and fro by the waves and carried about by every wind of doctrine, by human cunning, by craftiness in deceitful schemes. Rather, speaking the truth in love, we are to grow up in every way into him who is the head, into Christ, from whom the whole body, joined and held together by every joint with which it is equipped, when each part is working properly, makes the body grow so that it builds itself up in love.” (Ephesians 4:7–16, ESV)
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[Please excuse any and all typos and misspellings within this manuscript. It has been published online for the benefit of the saints of Emmaus Reformed Baptist Church, but without the benefit of proofreading.]
Introduction
Previously in Ephesians we have been strongly exhorted by the Apostle, based upon all that God has done for us in Christ Jesus, to now walk in a worthy manner, to be humble, gentle and patient, “bearing with one another in love, eager to maintain the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace” within Christ’s church. This is our reasonable and fitting response to the grace of God that has been lavished upon us. Having been called from spiritual death to spiritual life, we are now to walk worthy of this calling.
The Apostle has also encouraged our hearts by reminding us that God has not left us without supply. He has redeemed us by the shed blood of Christ, but in Christ he has also lavished us with gifts. We are well equipped, therefore. Indeed, “His divine power has granted to us all things that pertain to life and godliness…” (2 Peter 1:3, ESV).
The act of redemption does not necessarily guarente a rich supply. You can imagine a king providing salvation for a people in bondage, but then leaving those captives that he has set free to fend for themselves. That would not be unreasonable. A redeemer is not obligated to also be a generous benefactor, is he? And those freed from bondage would be grateful for their redemption, even if no other gift were given. But our heavenly Father is generous and kind. He has redeemed us from the curse of the law, from sin and from death. More than this, he has adopted us as his children. Think about that! Not only have our sins been washed away through faith in Christ, we have also been adopted into God’s family, though we were by nature children of wrath like the rest of mankind. And as his children he has lavished us with gifts so that we are well supplied to walk in manner that is worthy and to bring glory to his name. When we think about our salvation in Christ we must learn to think of it as involving much more than just the forgiveness of our sins. No, we have been forgiven so that we might be reconciled to the Father as sons. And as sons of the King we are very well supplied.
Christ has given gifts to all who belong to him by faith. All have spiritual gifts that they are to use for the edification of the body of Christ. And he has also provided the church with ministers of the word. This was the emphasis of the previous passage — God has gifted and called men to serve the church with the word of God so that “the word of Christ [would] dwell in [us] richly.” (Colossians 3:16, ESV). In the early and foundational days of the New Covenant church there were Apostles and Prophets who ministered the word in an authoritative and foundational way. After the age of the Apostles, evangelists, shepherd and teachers remain. And what to do all of these callings share in common? These are all ministers of the word of God. Evangelists, shepherd and teachers are to preach and teach the scriptures, they are “to equip the saints”, the are to devote themselves to “the work of ministry”, they are to labor for the “building up the body of Christ”, which is the church, the visible manifestation of the kingdom of God on earth today.
And what is the intended result of a faithful ministry of the word? In other words, Lord willing, and with God’s blessing, what will be accomplished as the word of God is proclaimed and taught faithfully within the Christian congregation? This is the question that the passage before us today answers. And in brief the answer is maturity in Christ. It is through the constant ministry of the word that the church will be moved along to maturity. And this maturity amongst the members will have many benefits indeed. Four byproducts of a faithful ministry of the word are mentioned in this passage. The primary byproduct is maturity. Believers will grow up to be mature in Christ as they come to know, believe, trust and obey God’s word. Stability within the congregation will flow from this. And so too will unity, Lord willing.
I say, “Lord willing”, because none of these things are automatic or guaranteed. Just as a farmer might work diligently to plant, water and tend to his crop, things beyond his control might threaten his harvest. And so too a minister of the word might labor faithfully only to see the fruit of his labor diminished or destroyed by circumstances beyond his control. Ordinarily, though, a faithful and constant ministry of the word of God within the Christian congregation will produce maturity, stability and unity in Christ’s church.
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Maturity
In verse 13 the goal or purpose of the minister of the word is established. The minister’s purpose is to lead the believer on to maturity. The Christian minister — that is to say, the evangelist, shepherd and teacher — is to have the maturity of the members as his aim. This was the goal of the apostles as they ministered the word in the earliest days of the church. Paul himself says so in Colossians 1:28 with these words: “[Christ] we proclaim, warning everyone and teaching everyone with all wisdom, that we may present everyone mature in Christ. For this I toil, struggling with all his energy that he powerfully works within me” (Colossians 1:28–29, ESV). What did the Apostle have his sights set on? Maturity in Christ! He proclaimed the word of God faithfully so that in the end he might present those who were under his care to God, “mature in Christ”.
Stated differently, the goal of the minister of the word — be they evangelists, shepherds, or teachers — is not conversion only. The gospel is to be preached. Men and women are to be urged to turn from their sins and to believe upon Christ for the forgiveness of their sins. But repentance and faith leading to salvation is not the end. It is only the beginning. When someone believes upon Christ to the salvation of their souls, they are to baptized in the name of the Father, Son and Spirit, and they are to be taught to observe all that Christ has commanded, for we are his disciples, which means “learner”. Again, cultivating maturity in the believer is to be the objective of every minister of the gospel.
Christ gave ministers of the word to the church so that believers might grow to maturity. But notice that Paul describes this maturity in three different ways.
One, those mature in Christ will “attain to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God”.
Here the word “faith” refers, not to personal belief or trust (as it often does in the scriptures), but to the body of doctrine that is contained within holy scripture. Notice the definite article. Ministers of the word of God are to do their work with the objective being that believers “attain to the unity of the faith.” The goal here is that we would all come to believe the same things and to be of the same mind as it pertains to “the Christian faith”. How is this possible? Well, it is possible because “the faith” has been delivered to us. God has spoken. We have his word in the Old and New Testaments. The apostles and prophets have spoken and written with authority. The evangelists, shepherd and teachers are to receive this word, and they are to preach it, building upon this foundation. And the church is to “receive with meekness [this] implanted word…” (James 1:21, ESV). And what is at the heart of this faith except “the knowledge of the Son of God”? The scriptures tell the story of our redemption in Jesus the Christ, who is the eternal Son of God come in the flesh. To be mature in Christ involves having firm grasp on Christian doctrine. In particular, maturity in Christ means possessing a true knowledge of the Son of God.
I have said this before, friends. Doctrine matters. Knowledge matters. Knowledge will not automatically produce maturity. There are certainly some who possess knowledge, but lack maturity. But knowledge is indeed a vital element of maturity. And this is the calling of the minister of he gospel — to preach and teach the word of God so that men and women, boys and girls, might grow in their understanding of “the faith” and in their “the knowledge of the Son of God”.
Two, Paul explicitly says that ministers of the word were given so that through their ministry believers will attain “to mature manhood”. Here I will repeat what I have just said — knowledge of Christian doctrine does not equate to maturity. No, but it is a vital component. The goal of the minister is to, by teaching the faith and by preaching Christ, move men and women on to mature manhood or womanhood. I am reminded of that rebuke that the writer to the Hebrews delivered to his audience, saying “For though by this time you ought to be teachers, you need someone to teach you again the basic principles of the oracles of God. You need milk, not solid food, for everyone who lives on milk is unskilled in the word of righteousness, since he is a child. But solid food is for the mature, for those who have their powers of discernment trained by constant practice to distinguish good from evil” (Hebrews 5:12–14, ESV). Here I want for you to see the connection that the author makes between knowledge of the “oracles of God” and maturity. Knowledge does not automatically produce maturity, but it does pave the way. We must be weaned off of milk and learn to eat solid food so that we might grow to maturity, having the “powers of discernment trained by constant practice to distinguish good from evil.”
Three, Paul describes maturity as Christ-likeness. The objective of the minister of the word is to move men and women on to maturity, until we all attain “to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ.” What does a mature man look like? Well, one way to put it is to say, look to Jesus Christ! He is the epitome of maturity, for he alone loved God with all of his heart, soul, mind and strength and his neighbor as himself. To be mature is to attain “to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ.”
The word “until” at the beginning of verse 13 indicates that ministers of the word must do their work until these things are accomplished. The apostles and prophets have completed their foundational work, and the church today builds upon this foundation. Evangelists, shepherds and teacher are still active. And they must minister the word of God — they must preach it and teach it — “until” we all attain “to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to mature manhood, to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ…” When will that be? Well, although progress will be made in this life, we will not truly attain to this maturity until Christ returns or takes us home. Therefore, these ministers of the word — evangelists, shepherds and teachers — must be diligent in the work of the ministry to build upon the foundation of the apostles and prophets until the end of time.
[APPLICATION: I would like to make just a few points of application before moving on to points two through four of this sermon, which will be brief.
There is obvious application for minsters of the word found in this text. They are to understand that God has called them and equipped them to serve within Christ’s Church. They are to be diligent, therefore, in the work of the ministry. They are serve Christ’s people with the word of God. It is the word of God that will produce maturity in the people of God, and the maturity of the believers is to be our objective.
But there is also application for the members of the congregation. I might ask you, are you pursuing maturity in Christ? Are you striving to grow in your understanding of “the faith” and “in your knowledge of the Son Of God”? Are you eager to arrive at “mature manhood”? Are you looking to Christ, not only for the forgivness of your sins, but also as your standard for Christian living? Are you pursuing maturity? And do you understand the means that God uses to bring about that maturity. One of the primary means that God uses is to mature his people is the ministry of the word of God faithfully discharged within the Christian congregation.
Friends, we should not forget that we are here reading Paul’s letter to the church in Ephesus. We are not reading, let’s say, Paul’s letter to Pastor Timothy. Paul’s purpose, therefore, is not primarily to instruct Pastors concerning their responsibility, but to instruct the entire congregation — officers and members together — concerning the vital role that the ministry of the word will play within the Christian congregation, until Christ returns to make all things new. Ministers are to be faithful. But members are also understand God’s purpose for, appreciate, and desire the ministry of the word in the context of the Christian congregation.
Let me make a couple of specific points of application.
Friends, if you understand God’s purpose for, appreciate, and desire the ministry of the word within the Christian congregation, you will not willingly forsake the assembly. There are good reasons to forsake the assembly. We have spoken enough about that in the past couple of months. But ordinarily the assembly is not to be forsaken, for, among other things, it is where the word of God is ministered in word and in sacrament. And no, friends, there is no substitute for being personally present. Mind you, Christ did not accomplish our redemption remotely and from a distance. No, the eternal Word of God took on flesh and tabernacled amongst us. And so too the living and active word of God is to be preached by a minster who is living and active, to a people who are living and active.
I wonder, are you eager to sit under the ministry of the word on the Lord’s Day? Do you understand God’s purpose for it? Do you appreciate and desire the ministry of the word in the context of the Christian congregation. And notice that it is the word that I am imploring you to desire. Brothers and sisters, develop an appetite, not for well crafted and eloquent sermons, but for the word of God. If the word of God is delivered in skillful way, all the better. But if the eloquent sermon is devoid of God’s word, then learn to reject it.
Do you have an appetite for the word? Are you teachable? Do you come being eager to learn and to humbly receive the implanted word which is able to save your souls? Do you desire substantial teaching, which will move you, along with the rest of the congregation, on to maturity in Christ?
Last week I revealed to you something that has been on my mind for some time now, namely, evening worship on the Lord’s Day. Our previous facility played a part in the decision to not move forward with the idea in the past. I am hopeful, though, that this new facility will enable us to begin to gather for evening worship. But I do not wish to impose this upon you, brothers and sisters. Instead, it is my hope and prayer that the congregation would be eager for it. It is my hope and prayer that you would see the value of assembling again at the conclusion of the Lord’s Day so that the word might be ministered again, but in different way, so that we might “attain”, ever more so, “the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to mature manhood, to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ” (Ephesians 4:13, ESV). There are many things that we will need to discuss before moving forward with this, but for now I am simply appealing to you to see the goodness of the thing. I pray that you would desire more of the ministry of God’s word.
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Stability
There are two more points to this sermon, but as I have already said, they will be brief. Remember that our question is, what will be accomplished as the word of God is proclaimed and taught faithfully within the Christian congregation? The principle answer is, maturity in Christ. But maturity will will bring about others benefits as well.
In verse 14 Paul communicates that the maturity will produce stability — stability within the life of the believer, and stability within the Christian congregation. Verse 14 begins with the words, “so that…” The words “so that” indicate that Paul is about to elaborate on the fruit of maturity — “…so that we may no longer be children, tossed to and fro by the waves and carried about by every wind of doctrine, by human cunning, by craftiness in deceitful schemes” (Ephesians 4:14, ESV).
The individual Christian, and the church as a whole, will always and forever in this life be assailed by violent winds and tumultuous waves. These storms which buffet the church take many forms. Indeed, we face trials of many kinds. But here Paul has in mind the threat of false doctrine, especially those that originate from human cunning, crafty and deceitful schemes. Sometimes false doctrine in the result of ignorance or honest error. But at other times it is the result of human cunning. Men are sometimes crafty and deceitful. They twist the truth to benefit themselves and to feed their own passions. And here Paul is warning that those who are immature in the faith — those who are children, spiritually speaking — will be easily “tossed to and fro by [these] waves and carried about by every wind of doctrine.” But the one who is mature in the faith, who has grown up in the knowledge of the Son of God, will stand steadfast and will be unmoved by the wind and the waves.
This stability in the individual believer will inevitably lead to stability within the Christian congregation. A congregation filled with spiritual children who are untrained in the faith, ignorant concerning the Son of God, and lacking maturity is prone to volatility. When the winds blow and the waves beat against that house, it will be easily shaken. But congregation filled with mature believers who have built their lives securely upon Christ and his word, will weather even the most violent of seas, and will stand against the fiercest of winds.
Christ’s words to the individual in Matthew 7:24ff. can also be applied to the local church: “[Every church] then who hears these words of mine and does them will be like a wise [church] who built [its] house on the rock. And the rain fell, and the floods came, and the winds blew and beat on that house, but it did not fall, because it had been founded on the rock. And [every church] who hears these words of mine and does not do them will be like a foolish [church] who built his house on the sand. And the rain fell, and the floods came, and the winds blew and beat against that house, and it fell, and great was the fall of it.” (Matthew 7:24–27, ESV)
The minister of the word is to be faithful in his ministry so as to produce maturity in the believers, and this maturity will produce stability.
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Unity
Thirdly, this maturity and stability will promote unity within the Christian congregation. And we should remember that this is what Paul has exhorted us to be eager to maintain — unity within Christ’s church. He urged us “to walk in a manner worthy of the calling to which [we] have been called, with all humility and gentleness, with patience, bearing with one another in love, eager to maintain the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace” (Ephesians 4:1–3, ESV). Now he reveals one of the ways in which that unity is maintained, namely, through the ministry of the word which will cause us to grow up to mature manhood and to a stable existence.
Unity was already mentioned in 4:13 where Paul identified “unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God” as a byproduct of the ministry of the word. And here in 4:15 Paul contrastes the volatile existence of the untrained and immature with the preferred alternative. He writes, “Rather, speaking the truth in love, we are to grow up in every way into him who is the head, into Christ, from whom the whole body, joined and held together by every joint with which it is equipped, when each part is working properly, makes the body grow so that it builds itself up in love.” (Ephesians 4:15–16, ESV)
Notice a few things about verses 15-16.
One, notice the contrasting word, “rather”. Instead of persisting in a childlike state of instability we are to, “rather”, choose a different path.
Two, instead of being tossed around by every wind of doctrine we are to “[speak] the truth in love”. To speak the truth, is to speak the truth of God’s word into the situations of our daily existence. Ministers of the word are to do this. And in fact, all Christians are to do this for one another. Paul put it a little differently to the Colossians, saying, “Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly, teaching and admonishing one another in all wisdom, singing psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, with thankfulness in your hearts to God” (Colossians 3:16, ESV). The wording is different, but the meaning is essentially the same. The word of God is to dwell richly in the midst of the Christian congregation. We are to speak the truth to one another. But notice the phrase, “in love”. We are to be moved by our love for one another when we “speak the truth”. It is common for people to withhold the truth and to appear loving. And it is also common for people to speak the truth but to lack love. The Christian is called to speak the truth, but always in love.
And notice that unity will be the result. By speaking the truth in love we will [verse 15] “grow up in every way into him who is the head, into Christ, from whom the whole body, joined and held together by every joint with which it is equipped, when each part is working properly, makes the body grow so that it builds itself up in love.”
Here Paul uses the metaphor of a body to describe the church. When the truth of God’s word is the lifeblood of a congregation, the church grows up into Christ who is the head of the body. Christ is the central and unifying part of the body. He is the head. He is the one joins and holds every part of the body together. Every unique joint and every unique part of the body is held together by Christ and by virtue of our union to him. And when ever part is united to Christ and working properly, the body grows and builds itself up in love.
[APPLICATION: Friends, I hope that you can see that there is no substitute for membership within the local church. There is a lot of good preaching and teaching available online. And I have no problem with you making use of that (but discernment is needed). But there is no substitute for pastors who are present with you, living and active. There is no way to recreate the benefit of living in the midst of a Christian congregation where the truth of God’s word is spoken to you in love. That cannot be replicated online. How crucial it is to be joined to a body of believers with Christ as the head.]
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Conclusion
Truly, the word of God is the lifeblood of the Christian congregation. It is through the word that each individual Christians is nourished and strengthened to grow up to maturity. And it is the word of God which binds us together so that we might “attain to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to mature manhood, to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ, so that we may no longer be children, tossed to and fro by the waves and carried about by every wind of doctrine, by human cunning, by craftiness in deceitful schemes” (Ephesians 4:13–14, ESV).
Ministers must be faithful to preach and to teach the scriptures, therefore, if we hope to see the church grow in maturity, stability and unity.
Indeed, we all must learn to “[speak] the truth in love” so that we together might “grow up in every way into him who is the head, into Christ, from whom the whole body, joined and held together by every joint with which it is equipped, when each part is working properly, makes the body grow so that it builds itself up in lov” (Ephesians 4:15–16, ESV).
