Address—G.H. Hayhoe
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I just like to read part of this chapter. Ephesians chapter 4 beginning at the first verse.
I therefore, the prisoner of the Lord, beseech you that ye walk worthy of the vocation wherewith ye are called, with all lowliness and meekness, with long-suffering, forbearing one another in love, endeavoring to keep the unity of the spirit in the bond of peace. There is one body and one spirit, even as ye are called, in one hope of your calling. 1 Lord.
One faith, one baptism, one God and Father of all, who is above all, and through all, and in you all. But unto every one of us is given grace, according to the measure of the gift of Christ. Wherefore he saith, when he ascended up on high, He led captivity captive, and gave gifts unto men. Now that he ascended, what is it but that he also descended first into the lower parts of the earth?
He that descended is the same.
Also that as ended up far above all heavens, that he might fill all things. And he gave some apostles, and some prophets, and some evangelists, and some pastors and teachers, for the perfecting of the Saints, for the work of the ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ, till we all come in the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God.
Unto a perfect man, unto the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ.
That we henceforth be no more children, tossed to and fro, and carried about with every wind of doctrine by the sleight of men, and cunning craftiness, whereby they lie in wait to deceive, but speaking the truth in love, may grow up unto Him in all things, which is the head, even Christ, from whom the whole body fitly joined together, and compacted by that which every joint supplieth, according to the effectual working in the measure of.
Every part maketh increase of the body unto the edifying of itself in love. Well, there's a tremendous contrast between law and grace under the laws. We know it was given out at Mount Sinai and the mountain was on fire. Moses said I do exceedingly fear and quake as God made known his demands to his earthly people. The law didn't give them a new life. It didn't give them a, shall I say, a motivation.
For their walk it just addressed man as a responsible creature and as to what he could do. And we know everything broke down because the law worketh wrath. If there had been a law given which could have given life, verily righteousness had been by the law. But there was no possibility for the natural man to fulfill the demands and claims of the law. But oh, how different it is, brethren, in Christianity.
God begins.
With himself, with his own heart of love, the work of redemption is completed. God has given us a new life. He has given us a new power. And so that every exhortation in Christianity is founded on what God has done for us. And we're exhorted because of what he has done. And we have a true motivation, a power in our Christian life if we're really looking to the Lord.
And so in this beautiful epistle to the Ephesians, it doesn't begin with exhortations, but it begins by carrying us right back into eternity and telling us about those councils that were in the heart of God long before man was created and placed upon this earth. God had purposes to have a people around himself and blessed with all spiritual blessings in the heavenlies in Christ.
Sin came in, but sin would not.
Hinder the fulfillment of the purposes in the heart of God. And so we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of sins. And the 1St chapter brings before us the riches of His grace. That is the depth from which He picked us up, and the glory of His grace, the place into which He has brought us. And all this is brought so that we might see that it's all those counsels and purposes of God.
Carried out through the work of redemption or become.
Because of the work of redemption which the Lord Jesus wrought.
And that in the 2nd chapter we see the kind of material God picked up Sinner's dad in trespasses and sins like we were. And the whole thing is of God. Not only the work of redemption brethren, but the very faith to believe. Everything comes from His heart, everything originated in Him.
And then he makes known in the 3rd chapter those councils and purposes to us that he had, that there should be that one body of which Christ would be the head. And then in the end of this third chapter, he sets before us that love that is toward us, the love of Christ which passeth knowledge. Oh, how wonderful, how unchanging that love that is toward us. And brethren, all this comes before.
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Exhortation.
The exhortations don't begin until his 4th chapter. But I say again that God is telling us of those purposes of redemption, of what we were as dead and trespasses and sins, of all His counsels now made known to us by the Spirit, and then to love as that which motivates our whole conduct as Christians. And how precious this is I say again before any exhortation.
As to our own responsibility.
So different from the law where man.
Asked, He said, All that the Lord has spoken we will do and be obedient, but found himself unable to fulfill them. But God has given us all things that pertain unto life and godliness. And so in this epistle to the Ephesians it has been stated that in Ephesians it's what Christ is to the church.
Or rather what the church is to Christ, I meant to say. And in Colossians it's what Christ is to the church. And so we see here in these.
Chapters here what He is to what He has done for us, the provision that has been made so that we might go on happily in the enjoyment of what He has imparted to us. And this would affect every part of our lives, would affect the relationship between husband and wife, would affect the relationship of fathers with their children and children with their parents.
Would affect the servants and so.
It's all telling us what what the church is to Christ and the full and blessed provision that he has made. Whereas in Colossians, as I say, it's what Christ is to the Church. I sometimes thought of it this way, as if the husband was saying what his wife means to him. And in Colossians it's the other wife we're saying what her husband means to her.
And so here in this epistle, it's this abundant provision that has been made.
The enemy does his very best to keep us from enjoying the provision that has been made. He doesn't want us to enjoy those eternal councils. He doesn't want us to enjoy that love. He doesn't want us to enjoy the place that we have been brought into as members of the body of Christ.
But God by His Spirit would seek to lead our souls into the enjoyment of these things.
And here our chapter begins by telling us that Paul was a prisoner. This is the true character of Christianity. That is, it isn't something that's popular in the world. The one whom God used to bring all these things before us was a prisoner under the powerful Roman government at that time. But he doesn't call himself that. He says the prisoner of the Lord.
Isn't that lovely?
Everyone of us can ask our own hearts, are you and I in a very difficult and trying situation? Have we said to ourselves, it isn't that brother, it isn't that sister, it isn't a set of circumstances that put me in this, It's the Lord, It's the Lord. He was the prisoner of the Lord. And you know there's peace in our souls, brethren, when we can take it in that way. It's the happy way, it's the blessed way to receive things.
Even at times when we might be in the circumstances.
Through our own fault and failure. Yet the Lord can turn even those things into blessing in spite of everything we know that God is able to undertake. Even when we even when we fail, He can turn the circumstances where our failure has placed us into blessing when we receive them from Him.
So Paul calls himself the prisoner of the Lord. Perfect submission to the lordship of Christ, to his will and his life. And you and I will never have either the power or desire in a practical way in our lives unless there's first of all that submission. Brethren, I'm not saying that I am always that way, but I believe it's the secret of blessing. Did you ever notice in first Peter 5?
That verse, casting all your care upon Him, for he careth for you, is preceded by the verse. Humble yourselves, therefore, under the mighty hand of God, that He may exalt you in due time, casting all your care upon Him, for he careth for you. And moreover, it's all one sentence.
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That is, the whole sentence begins with humble yourselves under the mighty hand of God.
In a practical way, let us put it something like this, and I've had to do this to myself. Sometimes you find yourself in a very difficult situation. You want to leave the situation with the Lord and cast your care upon Him. And you say, I can't seem to do it. It just seems impossible. I get on my knees and pray, but I seem to carry the difficulty away with me. Sometimes I've had to say to myself something like this.
As though the Lord came and said Gordon.
You don't like the circumstances that I've put you in.
I could change them and make them just the way you'd like them.
And what I look up and say, Lord, please do I want them to be the way I would like them? Or what I say, Lord, please give me grace to accept them from thee. And you will find when you do that, the Lord will remove the care. The carer, brethren, is because our wills are at work. Our wills are at work. And it's when we learn that submission, then we can cast our care upon him. Why? He cares about you, He cares.
About you. Maybe some friend doesn't care about you. Maybe your employer doesn't care about you. But the Lord does. He cares about everything that concerns you.
He'll perfect what he has planned and purpose concerning you. But in this world, sometimes we just have to leave it to his perfect wisdom and love. So here was Paul a prisoner, and he takes that position. And then he says, I beseech you that ye walk worthy of the vocation wherewith ye are called.
What is our position in this world?
That were called out, were citizens of heaven, were blessed with not all earthly things, but all spiritual blessings in the heavenlies in Christ. And how do we walk worthy of the vocation wherewith we are called? Well, a little hymn puts it nicely, called from above. And heavenly men by birth, who once were but the citizens of earth, once we understand our place and position.
Then we understand what our responsibilities are, but we must.
First, understand that we really don't belong here. We're just passing through. We're strangers and pilgrims, and so walking worthy of the vocation really means that.
In everything in our lives, we are never to forget that we belong to the Lord Jesus at such a price were members of His body, and we have the blessed hope before us that we're going to be with Him and like Him.
Well, then, it says immediately, with all lowliness and makeness, because he is about to exhort us about, perhaps should I say, the first thing connected with walking worthy of our vocation. Later on, as I say, we have a great many exhortations about not getting into the things of this world and into its evil ways, exhortations about husbands and wives.
But first of all, He brings before us what we should always remember.
And that is that we're members of the body of Christ, members one of another. And so when He brings before us walking worthy of the vocation wherewith we are called, He is saying like this, where every believer is a member of the body of Christ. How do you think if every member of the body of Christ was in perfect submission to the will of God, that there would be all the divisions and everything that there is in Christendom? Is that not?
Of man at work.
We see a little.
Picture of it at the very beginning when the disciples were together. It says they were of 1 heart and one soul.
And so there was a great testimony in Jerusalem. All believers were in fellowship with one another and with the Lord. They were united in their gospel testimony. It was a testimony to the truth of what God had done, for by the Spirit they were all baptized into one body.
But it takes a great deal of grace to belong together, brethren.
Often when you speak to people of the world there with a certain group, I'm Speaking of Christians in the world, you speak to them and there was a certain group because they like the preacher or they like the group that go to that particular association and that's why they're there. But you ask any person who is truly gathered to the name of the Lord Jesus, why are you there?
And I don't think most of us would say, well, I'm there because it's a nice group. I'm there because they have a lot of fellowship. No, I think that if they're really enjoying their position, they'll say, well, I believe that's where the Lord would have me to be according to His word. And I'm there because the others are members of the one body and we meet as members of the one body.
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And so I believe that we need to have this settled in our minds. Brethren, we'll never be content.
And happy in the position that we are, unless we are there because the Lord has gathered us around Himself as members of His body. But I say again, it's going to take lowliness and meekness.
That is, we're going to have to learn to bear with one another.
I thought a lot about those disciples whom the Lord Jesus chose. You know, there was a great variety of dispositions among those disciples.
If you or I had been choosing them, we probably would have chosen ones that were much more compatible in those 12 disciples. But as I look at them and think of their different characteristics, I think of Peter as being an impetuous person.
Constantly speaking out of turn. And then I think of James, who was perhaps a legal person, John who was perhaps a loving person, Thomas who seemed to be full of doubts and different ones than we even have.
Simon Zelotes. And that word Zelotes means that he was a zealot. I understand those zealots once LED an insurrection against the Roman government and the Lord saved him, but he was still his elodie. And you know, we find that some of our brethren, perhaps ourselves were zealots. And you know, we, we were able to try and oppress our point. And we need to learn brethren, forbearance with one another.
Lowliness, meekness, long-suffering.
What is lowliness? It's taking a low place. And what is meekness? Not resenting it when we're put in the low place.
It's strange, brethren, that we often at least pretend to take a low place, but resent it tremendously when our brethren put us in a low place. We tell people that we're just poor, weak, failing things, but we're very resentful when our brethren talk that way about us, so that we're pretending to be lowly.
But we're really not meek but lowliness and makeness. Let's not resent it when we are put in a low place. Just think of our blessed precious Savior when they said of him say we not well lower the Samaritan and hasta devil. Did you notice the Lord Jesus didn't reply to both those things, just one.
Say me not. Well, lordy Samaritan, that was a personal insult.
The Lord didn't reply to that at all, but when he said, thou hast a devil that concerned the glory of his Father, he replied to that.
And it's fine for us to stand for the glory of God, but we can let a lot of personal insults just Passover our heads. God has allowed them. And Jimmy, I cursed David. David said the Lord hath bid him to curse. And sometimes we just have to say, well, the Lord has allowed it. He saw some need in me and we just accepted this from the Lord. So this is the beginning of going on together.
Lowliness, meekness, long-suffering.
Forbearing one another. But it doesn't stop there. It says forbearing one another in love. Forbearing one another in love.
You know, we bear with an awful lot from our children.
And we're slow to bear with things in our brethren. It's amazing how much we bear within our children. They say and do things that hurt us quite a lot, but we just hug them and love them. And yet sometimes we don't show that same character with our brethren in Christ. And that's a far nearer and blessed and more eternal relationship. So there needs to be with us that forbearing one another in love.
I sometimes wondered if that's why it says that the overseer in the assembly.
Was to have children, because I think that God teaches us in dealing with our own children how we should deal with other people's children. And if we're going to be patient with our own children, then we ought to be just as patient with other people's children. And I think the Lord fits us in our home life for these responsibilities and intends us to profit by those things we go through.
And now another exhortation, endeavoring to keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace.
It has often been remarked that.
We're never told to keep the unity of the body because God has formed that unity and God will preserve that unity. That is, as it says in First Corinthians 12, by 1 Spirit. We're all baptized into one body, whether we be Jews or Gentiles, whether we be bond or free. We had nothing to do with forming the one body of Christ.
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And we have nothing to do, brethren, with maintaining the members of the one body of Christ.
In their place in the body, that is a sovereign work of God. And so we're not told to keep the unity of the body. Every true Christian in this, in San Diego and in this whole country, they're members of the one body. We didn't introduce them into the body of Christ, and it's not our part to keep them there, but we are told to endeavor to keep the unity of the Spirit.
The unity of the Spirit is that we seek to go on in that spirit of love and obedience to the Word of God. And so we seek to walk together in the path that God has marked out in his Word with this forbearance and love and.
Long-suffering, you seek to go on in that path and I just quote a little.
Saying My Father used to have, He said, never introduce anything into the assembly that disturbs its peace unless it's necessary for God's glory. And I believe that's an important thing for us to remember, that the assembly was to be a place of peace. First thing the Lord did when he appeared in the midst of his own was to say, Peace be unto you. He wanted those disciples to enjoy the peace that he had made. He wanted them to go on.
And when there was trouble in the assembly at Corinth, Paul could say God is not the author of confusion, but of peace. As in all the churches of the Saints in Israel, pray for the peace of Jerusalem. Blessed are the peacemakers. Now, I'm not saying that we shouldn't be faithful. We have to stand for truth and holiness. But sometimes we introduce things to upset our brethren quite unnecessarily. And I believe it's very.
Important for us to endeavor to keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace. Ye part of the armor in this epistle is that our feet are shod with the preparation of the Gospel of peace.
So we see here the responsibility that we have, endeavoring to keep the unity of the Spirit, seek to go on walking in the truth, seeking the good and blessing of our brethren, bearing with them in love.
And endeavoring, as far as it's possible, to walk together in peace.
Then we have the clear statements here in this fourth verse. There is one body and one spirit, even as ye are called in one hope of your calling.
Here we see a stated fact. There is one body. Not there should be, there is. And as I say again, every true believer in dwell by the Spirit of God is a member of the one body. There is. That's a fact. It will always be so as long as the church is here. There's one body. The body is looked at as being on earth, we know, and the head in heaven.
And so there is one body and one spirit. I think this a little expression.
Is important too, and one spirit because.
The Spirit of God always gathers on that ground and gathers to a person, and that's perhaps why it says 1 hope of your calling. If I asked you what is your hope, perhaps you would reply, And I believe rightly, when the Lord Jesus comes, all his own will be gathered to him.
Says in Second Thessalonians chapter one, I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, pardon me.
Brethren, by the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ and by our gathering together unto Him, that is when Paul thought of the Lord's coming. He thought of the gathering together of the Saints. Did you ever stop to think, amid all the weakness that you see in Christendom today, that if the Lord Jesus gave the show?
But right now, every Christian would be gathered to him. That's our hope, brethren. And what is the Spirit of God doing now? He's gathering to a rejected Christ. In that time, we'll be gathered to a glorified Christ. There were a few people that were gathered around David in the time of his rejection, and he valued the fact that they wanted to be with him, even though it wasn't an easy path.
But he and all his followers were looking forward to a time when all Israel would acknowledge him as rightful king, And the time came when they came in vast numbers, and they all gathered around David and crowned him king. Well, brethren, I believe that you and I ought to value the privilege of being gathered to him now in his rejection.
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And when that day of glory comes by, then all.
His own will be gathered around him. And so it tells us here there is one body and one spirit. And to me it makes it very simple that the Spirit of God cannot be gathering to anything but one person. He won't be gathering 2 systems of man. He won't be gathering to human organization. He'll be gathering to a person. And that person is the Lord Jesus, the same one that we will be gathered.
Around up there in the glory, we have the privilege of being gathered around him never.
In this the scene of his rejection.
So it's a rather interesting fact that the only time that the Lord's Table is spoken of is in 1St Corinthians 10. In the New Testament, that's the only time it's spoken of. And you notice that it's in connection with being gathered as members of the body of Christ. And I think that's important because what is the Lord's Table? It's the expression of that truth. For in 1St Corinthians 10, the loaf is a symbol.
Of the one body of Christ.
And so I believe these are statements of fact. One body, 1 spirit, 1 hope of your calling. And we need to lay hold of this so that we see that this truth of one body and the one spirit and the one hope of Our Calling are what we enjoy in our souls. Even if there's only a few that are gathered, still we can gather on that ground as members of the body of Christ.
And then I believe in the fifth verse we have profession 1 Lord, 1 faith, one baptism. That is, it's what we might call as the circle of Christian profession, for one, is introduced into the circle of Christian profession by baptism. I believe that's the meaning of the verse that says.
That says as many of you as were baptized unto Christ have put on Christ. That is, when one is baptized, he enters the sphere of Christian profession on earth and he becomes responsible as bearing the name of Christ. You say, well why are those things introduced here? Well, I just mentioned this because I think it helps to see the the line of truth the Spirit of God is bringing before us.
It's the testimony that God has given.
As to the fruit of the work of Christ. And where is that testimony rendered?
It's rendered to all those who are true children of God. It's rendered in the world to profession. It's rendered also to the whole world in the form of the gospel. And so you have the three circles here. You have the circle of reality, you have the circle of profession, and then you have the whole world because there's a testimony that is rendered in this whole world to what Christ has done.
And I believe this is brought before us, so here we have.
The circle of Christian profession in the fifth verse and then in the sixth verse one God and Father of all who is above all.
Then he returns to the inner circle and through all and in you all.
That is, God is the source of life to all mankind. God breathed into man's nostrils the breath of life, and man became a living soul.
And so it tells us when Paul preached on Mars Hill, he said.
For we are all saw his offspring man has looked upon as being responsible to God, and that is the testimony is rendered to that part of creation that stands in a position of responsibility to God. Animals don't.
God breathed in the man's nostrils the breath of life, and man became a living soul. So he's talking about what God has done as a result of the work of Christ to render a testimony in this whole world as to the truth of what Christ has done, the place of blessing that we can be brought into. And so I believe in what follows here. We have this brought before us. But I say again, we have the circle of reality.
One body, 1 spirit, 1 Hope of your calling.
Everyone in this room who is truly saved, indwelled by the Spirit of God, is a member of the one body, has one blessed hope that when the Lord Jesus comes, we'll all be there, gathered around him. And then we render testimony to what we call professing Christendom, those who have entered that place of profession by baptism. But baptism is only an outward thing.
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Baptism doesn't save the soul, it just brings a person into the sphere of Christian profession.
Because profession is not enough, baptism is not enough. There must be reality. And then, as I say, the whole world. Thank God for those who go out to heathen lands and proclaim, as Paul said, not where Christ is known, but go into all the world and preach the gospel to every creature. How glorious and how full is the work of Christ. And the one who has overcome death wants the announcement to go to this whole world.
Of the blessing that flows as the result of that work.
But in the end of the sixth verse when it says and in you all. Now he's talking again of what is real. The only person who can and an intelligent and known relationship called godfather is the believer. Because ye are sons. God has sent forth the spirit of his Son into your hearts crying.
ABBA Father, for how blessed to enter into and enjoy that relationship.
So we have the whole Godhead for us. We have the Father in his eternal purposes. We have the relationship we've been brought in, able to call God our Father. We have a Spirit uniting us to Christ and to every other believer and shedding abroad the love of God in our hearts. And then we have that blessed and glorious person, the Lord Jesus our Savior. What a place we have been brought into.
And now we each have a function in connection with this, and I believe the apostle is bringing before us the responsibility in that way. First of all, as I say, and we wish every Christian would feel its responsibility, that if there is one body, that there is a scriptural way that we can gather and give expression to that truth. And if we are gathered, brethren, let's never forget this truth.
One of another, and we have a responsibility to one another to seek to go on in the endeavoring to keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace.
But then there is the place that each one occupies in the body of Christ, the seventh verse. But unto every one of us is given grace according to the measure of the gift of Christ. That is in the body of Christ, as we know, in our physical body. Their hands, their feet, their ears, their eyes, they're all those different members of the body.
And this hand is made to function as a hand. It has a certain work to do differently, different from my.
Foot the eye has another function, and God has given to each one of us a place in the body of Christ, and He gives grace to fulfill that place.
Perhaps you or I might say, but he's put me in a difficult spot. Well, brethren, I can say this. If he's put you in a difficult spot, he'll give you grace for that spot he puts you in.
Some of us have never faced what others of our brethren in other parts of the world are facing. We might say, I don't know how I could face the situations that some of our brethren are facing, perhaps in Peru or perhaps in the communist lands. But I want to tell you this, if God puts you there, He'll give you the grace for it.
And some of those Christians in those other lands are far more bright testimonies for Christ than some of us who have all the favors that we have in this land. And to me this is a great comfort if God has put you alone in some place, if the gathering where you are is small, if you have a great deal of difficulty and perhaps hardships as you seek to serve the Lord.
Remember, if God has put you there, He'll give you the grace.
For the possession He's put you in, just as God, when He formed my physical body, He gave what was necessary to this hand to perform the functions that He intended this hand to perform. And He'll give you grace. And I think this is very precious for us. Let's never say I wish I was in somebody else's place. Look to the Lord for the grace to fill the position He put you in. And if you're in an assembly where things seem kind of difficult, remember he put you there and He'll give you the grace.
To be a help. As dear Mr. Darby said, Christianity is known by what it brings, not by what it finds. That's always been a blessing to me, because we get too occupied with what we find. I've heard brethren say, oh, our assembly is in such a a bad state, but Christianity is known by what it brings. What do you and I bring?
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When we come, do we bring the spirit of Christ, the love of Christ?
Seeking to help and build up our brethren? Or are we depressed by what we find?
Well, God gives grace to each member to fulfill the God-given place according to the measure of the gift of Christ.
Then he quotes from the Old Testament. This is as we know in the book of Judges at the time when there was a great battle and Cicero was overcome in the battle.
And the victory was announced and it's taken up in the Psalms to refer to the Lord Jesus. I think it's 110th Psalm and is taken up to refer to what the Lord Jesus has done. As we know, Cicero was oppressing the people of God and God raised up Barack and Deborah and Barack went out and there was a great victory.
And they came back singing, announcing the victory they had.
Have been one sister was dead, his mighty army had been overcome. The Spirit of God uses this here and applies it again to the Lord Jesus. What victory did he win? Well, I believe sister is a picture of Satan and the Lord Jesus has overcome all the power of Satan as it says in Hebrews 2 That through death he might destroy or annul him that had the power of death, that is the devil and deliver them who through fear of death.
For all their lifetime subject to *******. I believe that's what Paul means when he says in Second Corinthians chapter 2. Now thanks be unto God, who always leads us in triumph in every place, and makes manifest the savor of his knowledge. And that is, Paul visited A heathen city and there was a lot of opposition, but he compared his visit there to a March of triumph in that city.
That's always been a help to me, brethren, when I read that because.
Because in Rome long ago, when there was a victory that was won and there was a March of triumph through the streets of Rome, and the spoils of the victory were seen before all the people. And so Paul said, when I visit Ephesus or when I visit Colossi or when I visit Corinth, he said, we're holding a March of triumph. People don't know that Satan's power has been overcome, and we're leading a March of triumph to tell them about this victory that has been won.
And so just as those singers came back when Cicero was overcome, and they sang and announced about the victory that had been won, brethren, we have an announcement to this world. Most people don't know that there is one who has come into this world who has overcome all the power of Satan and has provided freedom and blessing to everyone who will receive the Lord Jesus and will receive what He has for them.
And isn't it lovely that Christ is up on high? But who's going to announce?
The victory, well, he gives us that privilege, and that's what it means here. He led captivity captive, and he went up on high, and all power is given to him. He said to the disciples before he went up, All power is given unto me in heaven and in earth. And then he said, glory, and he sends them out. And so the Lord Jesus is up there. Who's going to tell this world about the victory that was won?
Isn't this a blessed thought God has given to each one of us a lot.
Heart in announcing the victory of Calvary and so he's LED captivity. Captive Satan is defeated. Those were his cap who were his captives are now set free and the one who has won the victories up there and he fills all things as it says in the 1St chapter of Ephesians. He's had over all things to the church, which is his body. Peter says he's gone on high and angels and authorities and powers are subject to him.
Hello, brethren, we have a glorious announcement to this world. Sinners don't know the victory. They're in ******* under Satan, and we carry this announcement of a victory that's won. We're not asking them to do something. We're just as it were saying to them about a victory that has been won and won so perfectly, so completely and totally that all those who believe that share in the victory. And so he fills all things. And now it says.
The 11TH verse. And he gave some apostles and some prophets.
I might say that in the new translation there is not a comma after the word some, so I'm going to read it the other way. He gave some apostles and some prophets, and some evangelists and some pastors and teachers. We might say that the apostles and prophets were the ones who laid the foundation. We learned that in the 2nd chapter of this epistle. It says and are built upon the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Jesus Christ Himself.
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Being the chief cornerstone, and Paul speaks of it too, in first Corinthians 3. There he says, as a wise master builder, I have laid the foundation, and another buildeth thereupon you find in the end of Romans that the truth of what Christ has done is made known by the commandment of God through the prophets, that is, through the New Testament prophets. So, brethren, the.
The foundation of Christianity has all been laid and put down in this book for us. We'll never learn any new doctrine beyond what's in this book. Other foundation can no man lay than that is laid which is Jesus Christ and the apostles and the prophets, they laid the foundation. Those systems that try to add something to this blessed book destroy the foundation it has been laid.
Saw that the apostles and prophets laid the foundation, but there's a superstructure that's going on, and a superstructure is carried on by the evangelists, pastors and teachers.
That is, God has given those who were evangelists. We read about Philip the Evangelist, and while I'm not suggesting that anybody would officially take the place of being an evangelist, I believe that we have a promise.
From God, that those gifts that are raised up of God to tell about what Christ has done will remain with us until the Lord comes, because it says, till we all come in the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God. So the evangelist goes out and announces the glad tidings of the work of Christ upon the cross, the blood that cleanses from all sin, the setting free from the power of sin, he announces.
In the gospel and then God has also raised up those who have a godly care for the Saints, the pastors. And then too he has raised up those who He uses to teach us so that we would be established in the present truth, so that we would know.
Supposing those singers came back after Cicero had been overcome, and they didn't know whether Cicero was dead or not. They knew a victory had been won, but they didn't know whether Cicero was dead. Well, they wouldn't have a very full message, would they? But if they could and did announce that Cicero the enemy was dead, God's people were free.
Grand thing this was for the people miles from the battlefront to here about the.
The full victory that had been won. And brethren, there are thousands of real believers that don't know the security of the believer. They don't know the truth of the church. They don't know deliverance from law. They don't know the wonderful things that God has given in His word. And God has raised up those to announce the glad tidings, and all ministry ought to be announcing the glad tidings of what Christ has done.
And as I say again, all exhortation.
Are founded on what we possess so much of Christendom is you do this and you get that. In other words, it's by their own efforts that they get this. They get into a high spiritual plane or a victorious life or something. Or they can be sure if they keep on living the way they should. Oh brethren, isn't it lovely? God starts by telling us. Now you just sit down. I'm going to tell you what I've done. I've taken care of the whole case for you.
The question of your sins, the question of the nature that produced them, the law, your position in Christ, all this has been taken care of. And you just sit down and listen to this. And then knowing that, why we go out in perfect liberty to announce the glad tidings. So we have the evangelist telling the gospel, the pastors. And as dear Mr. Darby said, there's a lack of that pastoral care.
I'm afraid, brethren, we don't have sufficient love and interest for one another.
And Mr. Darby's prayer was that the Lord would raise up pastors, those who care for the Saints of God. You remember what the Lord Jesus said to Peter. Shepherd my sheep, Shepherd my sheep. Brethren, I feel we don't have enough interest in one another, how many lonely souls there are among the Lord's people. And they just feel that their brethren aren't concerned about them. But the Lord cares, and He wants us to have that care.
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Perhaps you could just turn for a minute back to.
Acts 11 and you see a little example of the.
Three things right before us, the evangelist, and the pastor, and the teacher, Acts Chapter 11 in verse 19. Now they that were scattered abroad upon the persecution that arose about Stephen, travelled as far as Phoenix, and Cyprus and Antioch, preaching the word to none, but unto the Jews only. And some of them were men of Cyprus and Cyrene, which when they had come to Antioch, spake unto the Grecians, preaching the Lord Jesus.
In the hand of the Lord was with them.
A great number believed and turned unto the Lord.
Then tidings of these things came unto the ears of the church which was in Jerusalem, and they sent forth Barnabas that he should go as far as Antioch, who, when he came and had seen the grace of God, was glad, and exhorted them all that with purpose of heart they would cleave unto the Lord, for he was a good man, and full of the Holy Ghost and of faith. And much people was added unto the Lord. Then departed Barnabas to Tarsus, for to seek Saul, And when he had found him, he brought him unto.
Antioch and it came to pass that a whole year they assembled themselves with the church and taught much people and the disciples were called Christians first in Antioch. There you see the three they preached the Lord Jesus, and a great number believe. Then Barnabas comes down, and perhaps he was not primarily a teacher, but he was a good man, and that word good man.
Is not the thought of our standing in Christ, but it's a practical thing.
The Bible says peradventure for a good man, some would even dare to die. The thought in a good man is a kindly, thoughtful person, like it says about the Lord Jesus. He went about doing good. He went about doing good. So this man was a man that if you were just saved, you'd say, oh, that man cares. He's interested. He's he was such an encouragement to me. Well, did you learn a great deal? Nobody really encouraged me. I can look back to my life and think of people and.
Know that they taught me a great deal that I can remember to this day, little words of encouragement that they spoke. And so that's the pastoral care. But he knew to Barnabas knew they needed teaching to and so Barnabas got Saul, who was a teacher of the Gentiles and faith and Verity, the Bible says, and he comes down and the two of them work together and they taught much people. There was the evangelist and the pastor and the teacher.
God has provided those in the Church for the good of his people and his people. As we see, they're not just enablements, they are gifts that God has given to the Church. They're people whom God has raised up and fitted for the perfecting of the Saints, for the work of the ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ, till we all come in the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God.
Unto a perfect man, unto the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ.
What is the object of all ministry? Well, it's to draw the Saints together to Christ, and to produce Christ, Christ likeness in them. And that ministry ought to have that character, brethren, for the perfecting of the Saints. That is when it says perfecting the thought there is full growth.
Someone has said God doesn't want us to remain babes in Christ.
All our lives Paul felt grieved that the Saints in Corinth, although they were really saved, they were still babes. And he said, I fed you with milk and not with meat, for hitherto you were not able to bear it neither. Yet now are you able. They remained babes we don't like. We love to have a baby born into our family, but we don't want them to remain babies forever. We like to see them grow, we like to see them develop.
And God likes to see his children.
And grow too. And so there is the thought of full growth here, for the perfecting of the Saints, for the work of the ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ.
Can I believe, brethren, if I might speak plainly, that whatever part we take in the meeting, that we ought to remember the need of edifying the Saints? It's not just stating facts. We can state a lot of facts that don't really edify.
Sometimes said to the.
Young people up at Outer Lake, supposing we sat down to the meal table and before we started we said, now let's all listen for a few moments and we'll tell you how many slices of bread are on the table, how many ounces of butter, how many minutes it took to prepare this meal and how many, how many pounds of meat there are and how many potatoes there are. And who did all appealing. I think I can hear them all saying, oh please, please, let's eat. Let's eat, please.
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I've read and somebody needed to know those things.
Things but I believe when we come together it's important that we feed the flock of God. Now I'm impressed with that as I read in the Old Testament that there may be meat in my house and the Lord saying to Peter feed the Saints Peter again saying feed the flock of God Paul saying to those elders at Ephesus to feed the flock let's let's seek brethren we all know and we have company to our hosts we'd like to.
We like to feed them with some good food. We we don't just have them to the house do a lot of talking, give them a lot of information and no food and so I believe it's important when we come together that's each one who takes part the exercise feed the flock of God and what is the what is the desire till we all come in the unity of the faith, not schools of opinion.
And in the knowledge of the Son of God unto a perfect man.
Unto the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ. Isn't it nice to go away from the meeting feeling? I think I know the Lord better than I did before.
You know when when you meet somebody.
Who is a very nice person, You perhaps say, oh, I'd like to know that person better. Well, brethren, there's one who's altogether lovely, and the more you get to know about him, the more you love him. And ministry ought to lead us to a better acquaintance with the Lord Jesus. And that's why it says here the knowledge not of truth, but of the Son of God unto a perfect man, unto the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ.
Then we recognize too, that the enemy is busy.
That we henceforth be no more children tossed to and fro, and carried about with every wind of doctrine by the sleight of man, and cunning craftiness, whereby they lie in wait to deceive, but speaking the truth in love, may grow up unto him in all things, which is the head, even Christ.
You remember when the Lord Jesus spoke in the 16th chapter of John about the Spirit of the Spirit of God coming, He said, He shall lead you into all truth, He shall glorify me, for he shall receive of mine, and shall show it unto you. And 1 is often made this little comment, that you can make a simple test of any doctrine that is presented by asking one question.
Does this line of teaching.
Exalt Christ, or does it exalt man?
And you'll find that false teaching always points you to yourself. That which is from the Spirit of God occupies you with Christ. Now, I don't mean that we don't have to judge self, but I mean not to occupy us with ourselves or our own attainments or anything like that. It points us. It occupies us with Christ. Let's speak of this teaching that you can be saved and lost. What is it the basis of that?
Well, something in yourself, isn't it? The Lord saved you, but you have to do things.
Things to keep saved? Doesn't that point it to yourself?
Supposing I say that a person can't have their souls saved and be fit for heaven unless they're baptized, what am I really saying is this? I'm saying that the work of Christ was not enough. There had to be some man do something to you or you couldn't be in heaven.
To see at the bottom of all these false teachings is something that points you to yourself. Take these ones who teach that the church goes through the tribulation. What are they doing but keeping you from the present hope of looking for the Lord Jesus At any moment they're occupying you with world events and so on, instead of saying you might come at any moment.
Further than I say again, the truth of God points you to Christ.
In the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God. And again, speaking the truth or the margin says holding the truth in love. I think if we're holding it in love, we'll speak it in love. If you have good feelings towards somebody and you really want to show your kindness, then you speak in love. And so it's holding the truth. And if we're holding it, then we'll speak in love.
And that may grow up unto him in all things which.
The head, even Christ.
Now, he's spoken a little bit about the gifts, but I think this 16th verse reaches out beyond those special gifts that are mentioned in the 11TH verse and shows us that the body functions as a whole. Not just the hands that you can see and the feet that you can see and the eyes that you can see, but there are a great many hidden members of my body.
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And I wouldn't say that they're performing a less important function than my hand.
Perhaps even more important, although you've never seen them and probably never will, but they're doing a very, very important service in my body and in the function of my body properly. And brethren, you might think, well, I haven't been given the gift to preach. Sisters might feel, well, we're not doing very much because we're not in a public place. But brethren, sometimes the hidden members can be so important we were talking about.
Barack when he went out to fight against Sisera, But who was it that stirred him up? Who was it that encouraged him? It was Deborah, and God gives Deborah a place of honor. She didn't lead the army, but she fulfilled a very important place. We were noticing the other day in the 45th Psalm there's a a view of coming glory, and then in the 46th Psalm we have a chorus of female voices singing and celebrating. God is our refuge and strength.
A present help in trouble. So brethren, let's not think that because.
A person's not on the platform that they're not important. I've often said the more our service puts us in the public eye, the more danger there is of doing it for the eyes of men. But to carry on a function in the body of Christ that is not noticed, that is not seen by the eye of man takes a lot of spiritual energy. But I believe in that coming day of manifestation, we're going to have many surprises to find out that some people that we didn't know anything about.
Hidden members, as it were, in the body of Christ were performing a very important function. And oh, how wonderful it is to know that God is making a true appraisal of all. The Lord is a God of knowledge, and by Him actions are weighed as my body functions. As I say, I have hands and feet and eyes and ears, but I have a lot of hidden ones.
And if one of those hidden ones goes out of order, the whole rest of the body is going to be out of order too.
Just because that hidden one in those little things that we might say or do that seem hidden from the eyes of others can be a help or a hindrance. Well, brethren, I believe there's something. It certainly speaks to my heart as I read this chapter. God opening up in the first 3 chapters all that He's done for us. And then he says, I've done all that for you. You have the privilege of walking worthy of the vocation. You have a part that you can fill in the functioning.
Of the body of Christ here in this world, among the Saints, and it now reached to those who were lost too. May the Lord give us the grace that we need. He's able. He gives measure. He gives grace according to the measure of the gift of Christ. We only have a little time left. And what a privilege to serve so worthy a master.
When we think of all that He has done, how when He was here in this world, as someone has said, He never did one thing to please himself, May the Lord help us to seek His glory and the blessing of His people and the blessing of sinners until the Lord comes again.