Ephesians 4

Ephesians 4:1-6

THE APPEAL TO THE CHURCH Ephesians 4:1-32TO refresh the memory, let us recall the teachings of the Ephesian chapters over which we have already passed. We saw in the first chapter “The Three Authors of Salvation”—the Father, the Son and the Spirit. In the second chapter we studied “The Three Subjects of Salvation”—the Jew, the Gentile and the Church of God; while in the third, we saw “The Threefold Effect on Paul”— The Apostle’s Appointment, the Apostle’s Prayers, and the Apostle’s Praises. The fourth chapter records the threefold appeal to the Church. It is made by Paul the prisoner of the Lord; it is voiced in the most ardent way; he himself describing it as a “beseeching”, and it is grounded in the circumstance that they belong to the Church—or the called-out company. Furthermore it is suggested that their response to this threefold appeal should be “with all lowliness, and meekness; with longsuffering, forbearing one another in love”.And now for the appeal itself: It involves, The Unities in Grace, The Diversities in Gifts, and The Essentials in Growth.THE UNITIES IN GRACEDr. Scofield, in his reference Bible, declares that the unities to be kept, are, in number, seven. God so often makes use of that numeral to express perfection that one is tempted to believe that there may be something in Ivan Panin’s Bible numerics.The Unities include, (1) “one body”, (2) “one spirit”, (3) “one calling”, (4) “one Lord”, (5) “one faith”, (6) “one baptism”, (7) “one God”! I will not dwell upon these in separate discussions, but remind you, rather, of their threefold classification under the names of the Spirit, the Son, and the Father—the three authors of salvation!The unification is of the Spirit. “The unity of the Spirit”, employed in the third verse, reminds one of Paul’s Letter to the Corinthians, in which he takes occasion to remind the members of that church that though there be “diversities of gifts”, they are all of the same spirit (1 Corinthians 12:4). “The one body” is the result of “the one spirit”, and “the one calling” is but the voice of the same.

Lately we have come to believe that there are no schisms worthy the mention in the true body of Christ; and increasingly we are coming to feel that all those who have accepted Jesus—the Spirit’s revelation—as their God and Saviour, and the Scriptures—the Spirit’s expression—as their rule in faith and practice, are absolutely one; and the prayer of Jesus that they shall all be one, even as He and His Father were one, is answered.Some years since, Dr. Bridgman, Episcopalian, in New York City, speaking on this subject, said: “Christian unity is not to be secured through doctrine or ritualistic agreement.

An easier, more rational way is through spiritual experience. Burkhard, Pascal, Cramner, Whitefield, Wesley, Newman, represented different schools of thought, but all felt the throbbing of one religious life in the soul, loved the same Lord, bowed before the same Cross, and worked under the impulse of the same Divine life.” If one asks the reason, he will get it in the fact, and a fact it was, that they were dominated by the same Spirit, and under His dominion they discovered an essential unity.Who then, are my brethren? AH the people that bear the name of Baptist? No!Who then are my opponents? All those that practice sprinkling vs. immersion, and those that believe in autocracy or hierarchy vs. democracy in Church government? No!My true brethren in the Church are those men whose creeds and conduct are alike controlled by “the one Spirit”, even the Holy Ghost.

That does not mean that a man is guiltless when he adopts an unbiblical church administration; and it does not mean that he is excusable when he accepts a substitute for Scriptural baptism; but it does mean that these aberrations do not break the bond of brotherhood as between those over whom the one Spirit broods, since the unification of the Spirit is a thousandfold more real and more effective and results in a far sweeter fraternity, than any agreement in the externals of government, forms or ordinances can ever accomplish. True brethren in the Lord are in the bonds of the one Spirit.

By that Spirit the Jews and the Gentiles were brought together and “the manifestation of that Spirit is given to every man to profit withal”. “But all these worketh that one and the selfsame Spirit, dividing to every man severally as He will. For by one Spirit are we all baptized into one body, whether we be Jews or Gentiles, whether we be bond or free; and have been all made to drink into one Spirit” (1 Corinthians 12:7; 1 Corinthians 12:11; 1 Corinthians 12:13)The indoctrination is about the Son. “There is one Lord, one faith, one baptism” (Ephesians 4:5). The first of these three interprets the other two. So long as men retain “one Lord”, “one faith” is easy, and “one baptism” is certainly secured. The point of important debate, now, is not over the question of “faith”, nor the ordinance of “baptism”, but it is over Jesus of Nazareth! Is He the Lord?

That determined, you get your “faith” from Him. Is He the Lord?

That settled, the question of “baptism” is simple and certain; it is to be after the manner of His example and in keeping with His plain precept.But these are days in which men deny the Lordship of Jesus. They do not so much “divide Christ” as they divide about Christ. Who is He? Whom do men say that this Son of Man is? Some say He is a Prophet, the superior of Isaiah! Some say He was a social reformer, more dependable than Carl Marx. Some say He is the super-man, and it is doubtful if the centuries will produce His match. But Paul will have none of these!

He says, He is “Lord”. The “one Lord”, the only Lord, the Christ who died for our sins, who was buried and rose again the third day, who hath ascended to the right hand of the Father to make intercession for us, and who, completing His Priesthood, will come into His Kingship; and will reign solitary and alone, “from sea to sea and from the river unto the ends of the earth”. That is the Apostle’s Christ! No man from Nazareth, merely. He is that, but more! Paul would have joined in saying “Ecce homo”—“Behold the man”! provided we permitted him to add—“Ecce Deus”—“Behold God”!Dr. Samuel H. Howe asks the question—“What sort of a Christ does your theology give you?— a great redeeming Christ, bearing away the sins of the world; a Christ with all power in Heaven and in earth?

Or does your theology give you a little Christ, shorn of infinite power, unable to work miracles, unable to atone for the sins of the world, and, of course, unable to conquer, and guarantee His Kingdom?” It is a pertinent question just now, Paul’s Christ was the Christ of the Prophets, the Christ to be born in humility, I grant you; but to be exalted above all principalities and powers, angels and archangels; a Christ to be hated by the world’s governments, but a Christ to whom the kingdoms of the world were all promised; the Christ into whose face, sin-stained men would spit their contempt, and yet the Christ upon whose face John should finally look and see it shining with a brilliance above the sun; a Christ who would go to the Cross as a lamb before his shearers, dumb, and yet a Christ who would speak eventually with such a voice as to wake the dead; a Christ against whom “the rulers of the earth should set themselves”, and yet a Christ to whom every king of earth should be compelled eventually to hand over his scepter. That is the Lord of this text, and beside Him there is none other.Once in Hamilton, Ont., I called attention to Reginald Campbell’s employment of the word “deity” applying it to a man, and reminded the auditors that that was a breach of faith with every dictionary upon the face of the earth, whereupon a man came up to me, with a snarl, and said, “You don’t believe, then, in the divinity of man?” I said, “I do not!”“Do you believe men are gods?” I asked. “Yes,” he declared. “Pardon me for not falling at your feet,” I answered. “You are nearly six feet tall, but I should call you a poor specimen of a God; I should cover my face with shame at the thought of worshipping you!”There is “one Lord”, and just on that account there can be but “one faith”. Mohammedanism is not the faith; it is fancy! Buddism is not the faith; it is fiction! “To us there is but one God, the Father, of whom are all things, and we in Him; and one Lord Jesus Christ, by whom are all things, and we by Him” (1 Corinthians 8:6).The organization is from the Father. “One God and Father of all, who is above all, and through all, and in you all” (Ephesians 4:6). Paul says to the Ephesian Church what he had said to the Corinthian Church, and what he is still saying to every local body of believers. “There is one God and Father, of all”. “Diversities of operations, but it is the same God which worketh all in all” (1 Corinthians 12:6). Perhaps the reason the Apostle declares that He is “over all” is in the fact that He sent the Son; He gave the Spirit; He began the work of grace in the world, that out from its citizens He might call the Church; and He will complete that which He hath commenced, for while there is a dispensation of the Spirit and a dispensation of the Son, both dispensations come to an end, the Father’s will having been done of them; and both the Son and Spirit will yield up to God the Father, the glorious Kingdom that God may be all and in all, even as from the beginning He has been “above all and through all and in you all”.

It is a good thing for one to remind himself occasionally that the very God is over all, and in all; that the Creator and owner is the Keeper. A Southern woman tells the story of a slave who had to wash some dormer windows, and in order to get at them sat on the outer end of a plank pushed through from the inside of the room.

Being a bit fearful lest he fall, he said, “Missus, I will sit out thar and wash them winders if you will sit on the other end of the plank, while I’m doin’ it.” To this his mistress replied, “Won’t Mandy do? You would trust your wife, wouldn’t you?” “Well, I don’t know; she might forgit. But I belongs to you and you are not goin to forgit what you own. I had ruther you set thar yoself.” Oh, believer, that is the ground of your safety; your owner is your Keeper. “He that keepeth Israel shall neither slumber nor sleep”!THE OF GIFTS “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 ascended 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” (Ephesians 4:7-12). In the study of this Scripture there comes at once the suggestion:The gifts are attended by special grace. “Unto every one of us is given grace according to the measure of the gift of Christ”. It is a good thing!Gifts without grace would be dangerous! The world’s most gifted people, without the grace of God, are the world’s most dangerous people: think of Bob Ingersoll; and the Christian with gifts, but without special grace is a menace to the Church: think of Emerson Fosdick! Do you recall in the parable of the talents where Christ tells us concerning the man who is shortly to go into the far country, that he called his servants “and delivered unto them his goods, and unto one he gave five talents, to another, two, and to another one; to every man according to his several ability”? That was just! But God does better than that; He makes a special grant of ability to those upon whom He bestows His gifts.

Think of how Mr. Moody illustrated this.

Evidently God made up His mind that Moody could be trusted with ten talents, and straightway He took the uncouth, uneducated lad and bestowed upon him such special grace as to make the handling of all that He committed to him the work of a master. One can never think upon the name of this loved evangelist and easily forget the fact that he did not begin life with such natural ability, nor such favorable environment as did his contemporary, Robert G. Ingersoll. As some one has said: They were born about the same time. They died within a few months of each other. They died of the same disease. They were alike far-famed. But in character they were poles apart.

Moody believed in God and accepted Jesus Christ as His Son, and the Bible as His revelation. Ingersoll was an agnostic, denying the Deity of Christ, and disputing the authority of the Bible. Moody lived a life of prayer. Ingersoll lived a life of profanity.Moody taught his followers to love the God of the Bible. Ingersoll lectured upon Christian subjects in the sole interest of silver and gold. Moody established schools and gave all the money he could spare to the spiritual instruction and nourishment of young men and women. Ingersoll deliberately destroyed the faith of the youth and inveigled them into paying him for the devastation. Moody called men to Christ and to Christian living.

Ingersoll derided the Christ and sought to crush Christianity. When the end came the Dobbs Ferry home was dumb, desolate and dark; but the Northfield home was the gate of Heaven, and Moody’s last vision on earth included also the open gates of the Celestial City. Ingersoll died unwept save by the little circle of relatives and skeptics. The death of Moody baptized the Christian world in tears!What was the difference? Not in natural talents surely! Not so much in human environment! They were alike born of Christian parents. The difference lay in the circumstance that Moody had a gift from Christ and grace bestowed according to the measure thereof; and Ingersoll refused Christ and failed of the gift of grace.Christ’s gifts are men; not enablements!

The Christ who ascended on high, “gave some, Apostles, and some, Prophets, and some, Evangelists, and some, Pastors and Teachers”. Paul has noted the progress made in the parables of Jesus Christ and, by the pen of inspiration, expresses it. Do you remember in the Kingdom parables of Matthew 13, Christ begins in the nineteenth verse explaining the parable of the Sower by making “the seed” the Word of God, sown in the heart? But in the parable of the tares of the field, He reminds them that “the good seed” are “the children of the Kingdom”, or the Word incarnate in life. Exactly that progress is made in the Apostolic teaching here. The gifts of the Spirit to the individual are enablements, such as “the word of wisdom”, “the word of knowledge”, “faith”, “healing”, “working of miracles”, “prophecy”, “discernment of spirits”, “divers kinds of tongues”, etc.; but the gifts of the Son to His Church are men—“the children of the kingdom” —“Apostles”, “Prophets”, “Evangelists”, “Pastors”, “Teachers”, etc.

There is a reason for this, as there is for everything God does. You cannot give a tongue to the Church; you have to give it to an individual in the Church.

But you can give a Prophet to the Church, and Ephesians is a Church Epistle! To the Church you can give an “Apostle”, an “Evangelist”, “a Teacher”, and how rich the Church is in God’s gifts of men! How we ought to thank Him for the gift of Paul, for the gift of Peter, for the gift of Polycarp, for the gift of John Bunyan, John Calvin, John Wesley, for the gift of Martin Luther, for the gift of Fenelon, for the gift of Spurgeon, and Moody, and Parker, and Lorimer. Upon the individual He can bestow one gift or more, but upon the Church God bestows all these gifts—“Apostles”, “Prophets”, “Evangelists”, “Pastors”, “Teachers”, and they are all essential to its growth.They are the grant of the Son, not of the Spirit. Paul seems to make this clear distinction in 1 Corinthians 12 : the gifts are the Spirit’s gifts, and they are enduements, “for to one is given, by the Spirit, the word of wisdom; to another, the word of knowledge, by the same Spirit,” etc. Here it is not the descending Spirit’s grant, but, rather, the grant of the ascended Son. “When He went up on High, leading captivity captive, He gave gifts unto men”.

Every single Apostle of the New Testament was called by the Son; even Paul came to that vision by the special appearance of the Son, and by the voice of the ascended Lord. Gordon is right when he declares that it is not the province of schools nor yet of ordaining councils to determine the ministry of the Church.

The Master has retained that as His special prerogative, and no man has a right in any one of these, apart from the appointment of the Son.Paul further expresses this fact in the introductions to his Epistles. Writing to the Romans he speaks of himself as “the servant of Jesus Christ”. Writing to the Corinthians, he declares himself to be an “Apostle of Jesus Christ, through the will of God”. Writing to the Galatians, he declares himself an Apostle, not of men, neither by man, but by Jesus Christ and the Father, who raised Him from the dead. In other words, he never once mentions his commission as from the Spirit; but, rather, as from the Son—the second Person of the Godhead; whereas his enduements are all from the Spirit. It is as if there had been an agreement between these two Persons that the first should appoint and the second should endue, and Jesus, in keeping with that contract, besought His disciples to tarry in Jerusalem until they “should be endued with power from on High”; and reminded them that that was “the promise of the Father”.THE IN GROWTH Scofield, in his Bible, calls attention to the purposes of the ministry of gifts. According to Paul, the chief purpose was “growth”.Evidently he thought that growth could be quickened by its goal. The goal he mentions is “the perfecting of the saints”! It is to be accomplished by “the work of the ministry”, and its object is “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 fulness of Christ” (Ephesians 4:12-13). Beyond all doubt men are affected by the circumstance of birth and are influenced by breeding and environment; but even more potent still, in determining mature manhood, is the ideal that one puts before himself—the goal to be reached. You recall in Charles Kingsley’s “Hypatia” how old Miriam, the sorceress, after a conversation with Philammon, drew from her bosom a broken talisman exactly similar to the one which she coveted so fiercely, and looked at it long and kissed it, wept over it, spoke to it, fondled it in her arms as a mother would a child; and her grim, withered features grew softer, purer, grander, and rose, ennobled for a moment, to their long-lost “might-have-been,” to what Kingsley calls “that personal ideal which every soul brings with it into the world, which shines dim and potential in the face of every sleeping babe before it has been scarred and distorted in the long tragedy of life.” And Kingsley says of her, “Sorceress she was, pander and slave dealer, steeped to the lips in falsehood, ferocity and avarice; yet that paltry stone brought home to her some thought, true, spiritual, before which all her treasures and all her ambition were as worthless in her own eyes as they were in the eyes of the angels of God.” But what is such an ideal worth when the one who once entertained it is held in the grip of Satan, scarred and wrecked by sin, and incapable of high thought or holy endeavor?Paul does not speak to such, but to men set free in Christ; and who, because they are free, can work onward and upward toward that perfect man, “Unto the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ”; and such possibilities, with such a goal unite to create an inspiration that is adequate, viz., “Christ is formed in us the hope of glory”.

A clipping which came to my hand a while ago says: “When a girl adopts a plan of self-improvement she begins usually with her complexion or her figure, but let us in confidence betray a beauty secret that deals not in cosmetics or lotions, that does not tend to injure the skin or fatigue the body, yet which adds more genuine loveliness to a woman’s heart and mind than all the contents of the little jars and cut-glass bottles on many a lady’s toilet table could ever hope to effect.” And then the writer prescribes: “Take a culture course, become a reader. Seek out the best, poetry, fiction, history, and you may depend upon it that such a course will do more towards making you a charming and delightful companion for those who appreciate the beauty of intellect than the fleeting power of a beauty that is not backed by brains.” All of that is true, and all of that involves the betterment of self; but let us not forget the old German proverb, namely, that “The better is the enemy of the best.” And, if one wants to obtain the best, rather than the better, then let him cultivate reading, not books, but “the Book;” and not noble friends, but the noblest of all friends, and seek not the increase of mental brilliance but the stature of spiritual fulness.Years ago when the old Emperor was on the throne of Germany, he felt called upon to lecture the artists of Berlin Opera House and the Berlin Royal Theatre, on the dangers arising to their profession from materialism.

He informed his privileged auditors that he had been educated in idealism, and that the stage should seek to fashion mind and character and assist in educating moral conceptions. In concluding he said: “Let every one of you, in his own way, and firmly trusting in God, strive to serve the spirit of idealism and to continue the struggle against materialism and against those un-German ways into which so many German theatres have already unfortunately deviated.” It is a pity the old Emperor is not now alive to revoice the sentiment! It was the growth of the “materialistic” and “rational (?) idea” that flung Europe and portions of Asia and all the world into the late sea of blood. Oh, could we only have kept the ideal before men—faith in God—and the hope of Sonship, before the eyes of the professed followers of Jesus Christ and the knowledge of His Son, which should make for “a perfect man”, measured by the “stature of Jesus Christ”, how different would Europe look today and how different the world would be!The failure of the Church in this awful hour is as sad as the collapse of civilization. Where are the men, who in the knowledge of the Son of God, are measuring up to the demands of the moment, and who are the men that stand forth in the fullness of Christ? A few?

Yes! But how, feeble a company!

Why? Oh, the call of God’s Church has not been sufficient. Let us lift the standard; without accepting the unscriptural doctrine of eradication, let us remind ourselves God will be satisfied with nothing short of “perfected saints.” His word standeth fast—“Be ye perfect, even as your Father which is in Heaven is perfect”. That is our call! God pity us that we have so often forgotten it, and thereby lost the inspiration of the ideal.This growth expresses itself in grace. Those who have it will be henceforth“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 into Him in all things, which is the Head, even Christ, “From whom the whole body, fitly joined together and compacted by that which every joint supplieth, according to the effectual working in the measure of every part, maketh increase of the body unto the edifying of itself in love” (Ephesians 4:14-16). What beauty is therein suggested—the beauty of stability, the beauty of true speaking, the beauty of comely form as effected in Christ, to the end that the children—the body—the true Church of God— may edify itself in love.Years ago when I was in Chicago, a young woman died in the chair of an operator in a beauty parlor. A newspaper reporter, finding it out, ran into the parlor to make investigation; and, as he came out, he saw an old woman, well-dressed. She stopped him and asked him if the girl was dead. Being answered in the affirmative, she said “Do you think there would be great danger in my going in to take this treatment? I want to get rid of these wrinkles.” He told her the facts about the girl and that the treatment killed her. But the old woman answered, “I know; but I think I am strong enough to bear whatever pain may be inflicted upon me, and I must get rid of these wrinkles.” So women crave that beauty of complexion, of form, about which their brothers and lovers have talked until their heads have been turned, and no sacrifice is too great to make if only it can be secured.

Would God, spiritual perfection were equally prized. Then men would not be veered by every wind of doctrine that blows; then men would seek to know the truth that they might speak the same; and to grow in grace, that in Christ’s sight they might be comely.

Yea, as a part of His body to take their place in its upbuilding; as a part of His body they might be so fully joined together with their brethren and sisters as to provide for Him a glorious bride, whose beauty of holiness would become the Lamb’s wife.Finally, the consequence of this growth is goodness. Paul completes this fourth chapter by an appeal to the members of the body of Christ that they put away everything that could scar, and accept from the Spirit all that would add charm to the Church of God. They are to put away the Gentile lusts, the old life of ignorance and “lascivious living”, “all uncleanness”, “with greediness”; “the former conversation of the old man”, which was corrupt, according to the deceitful lusts, and “to be renewed in the spirit of their minds, which after God is created in righteousness and true holiness”, “speaking every man truth with his neighbour”, “letting not the sun go down upon their wrath”, “giving no place to the devil”, “engaging no longer in theft”, “voicing no further corrupt communication”, but seeking the good—exercising “all kindness”, being “tender hearted”, feeling only “the forgiving spirit” (Ephesians 4:17-32). It is a picture of approaching perfection. And as a man marks growth in spiritual things his life completes the picture.As a review of this chapter, with the one preceding it, and the one to follow it, I am led to conclude in the language of Dwight Hillis, in his tribute to Scripture Study:“Be our theories of inspiration what they may, this Book deals with the deepest things in man’s heart and life. Ruskin and Carlyle tell us that they owe more to it, in the way of refinement and culture, than to all the other books, plus all the influence of colleges and universities.

Therein the greatest geniuses of time tell us of the things they caught fresh from the skies, ‘the things that stormed upon them, and surged through their souls in mighty tides, entrancing them with matchless music;’ things so precious for man’s heart and conscience as to be endured and died for. It is the one Book that can fully lead forth the richest and deepest and sweetest things in man’s nature.

Read all other books, philosophy, poetry, history, fiction; but if you would refine the judgment, fertilize the reason, wing the imagination, attain unto the finest womanhood or the sturdiest manhood, read this Book, reverently and prayerfully, until its truths have dissolved like iron into the blood. Read, indeed, the hundred great books. If you have no time, make time and read. Read as toil the slaves in Golconda, casting away the rubbish and keeping the gems. Read to transmute facts into life, but read daily the Book of conduct and character—the Bible. For the book Daniel Webster placed under his pillow when dying is the book all should carry in the hand while living.”The ideal presented in this Epistle will be realized only by the men and Church that both know God, manifest in Christ, and study His will as revealed by the Spirit!

Ephesians 4:11-15

THE OF THE CHURCH Ephesians 4:11-15ONE’S early conception of the ministry involves preaching the Gospel, and but little else. In fact the prevalent opinion seems to be that the man who can preach effectively must be called of God to the ministry. In consequence of this idea the moment a young man reveals special ability as a spokesman there are those who advise him to think of preaching as his life’s calling. The time can never come when this element of the ministry will be despised. Paradoxical as it may sound, it is yet scriptural that it is through the “foolishness of preaching” that the world is to be brought into the light. But one’s more advanced experience reveals the importance of administrative ability on the part of the minister of the Gospel. There are many great orators in pulpits who fail as pastors; and there are in our sacred desks some very tame speakers who are yet eminently successful. The explanation is in the fact that the former have no ability for management; while the latter have revealed real generalship. The late Dr. Robert S. MacArthur was regarded as one of the successful pastors of America.

For more than forty years he held the same pulpit; and the work which he took as a mission became one of the strongest and best-known churches in the land. He says, “Much of the power of organization necessary to a successful leader of men in political life, or to the president of a great railroad, is necessary to effective leadership in the Church of God. God’s greatest work is not carried on by simpletons. Paul, Augustine, and Calvin would have been men of great mark in any walk of life. Luther, Wesley, and Whitefield were kings even among the kingly men of the earth. * * Mr. Spurgeon might have been Prime Minister of England, in another sense than that in which he was ‘prime minister’ of the land, had he given his attention to political life. * * * * In religious, as in secular work, a chief element of any man’s success is his ability wisely to organize the forces at his command.”In truth, if one consults the Book, Christ Himself believes in offices and in organization; and He appointed both for the development of the Church.

This text namesTHE OF ITS “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”. These agencies were Divinely appointed. “He gave”. They did not choose the ministry as their life’s calling; they were not advised to enter the ministry by errant counsellors. They were not made ministers by the laying on of hands; they were called to the ministry by the Christ Himself. “He gave”. That is the only way a good minister has ever yet been made. Peter made a mistake when by lot, Matthias was chosen Apostle. The after ministry of that man amounted to nothing so far as the record goes; nor is there anything in the Holy Scriptures to show that Peter was ever asked to hold that business meeting and exalt that layman to the ministry.We are not ready to say that no man should counsel a youth to enter the ministry; but we are always uneasy when we hear a man telling, either by pen or word of mouth, how other people, taking note of his talent, urged him to enter the ministry.

Every Old Testament Prophet rehearses his Divine appointment; the Divine calling of every New Testament Apostle is recorded in the Scripture, and is it not possible that the only true successors to Peter, Paul and the other Apostles are those whom Christ hath called and equipped and given to the Church?Then their commission was from Christ, “He gave some, Apostles; and some, Prophets; and some, Evangelists; and some, Pastors and Teachers”. The fact that a man is called of God to religious work does not necessarily determine what he is to do.

A clear commission is the ground of true courage. John Clough, the civil engineer, knew that God had called him to India as a missionary. Charles Spurgeon, England’s peerless one, knew that God had called him to preach the Gospel to the people of his own land. Dwight Moody perfectly understood that he was commissioned as an evangelist. Men do not know a minister when they see him; God beholds the minister when no one else catches even a glimpse of him. Think of Campbell Morgan as an illustration.

As a boy, belonging to the Methodist denomination, he felt the impulse of the Spirit, and heard a voice behind him saying, “This is the way: walk ye in it”, but when the Methodist Conference came together they saw no sign of a prophet in the appearance of the ungainly and half-educated lad, and so they rejected his appeal for ordination. They stood for “Standardization in the Ministry”.There is encouragement in the circumstance that when God truly calls a man to the ministry, and by His Spirit, equips him, no conference of his fellows can defeat his success.

God says to him as truly as he ever said to the local Church at Philadelphia, “Behold, I have set before thee an open door, and no man can shut it” (Revelation 3:8). The success of the Church must forever be associated with the leadership of commissioned men.Their vocations are varied and complimentary. They do not all hold the same office nor attempt to perform the same functions. One is a prophet; another an apostle; another an evangelist; another a pastor, and another a teacher. The opportunities of service in every church increase in number, importance and variety in accordance with its success. There is a place for trustees; there is a place for Deacons; there is a place for presidents of societies; there is a place for Sunday School superintendents; there is a place for teachers; there is a place for church evangelists; there is a place for committee men of all sorts; there is a place for the consecrated who hold no office.The offices of the church ought to mean something more than the mere exaltation of somebody to a nominal honor.

Any office that exists for its own sake, or that has no better occasion than adorning an individual’s name, were better dispensed with. The man who cannot preach Christ ought not to wear the title of “minister” but turn back to the corn field.

Billy Sunday, in an address before Philadelphia ministers, said, “You fellows stand up and sing, ‘Throw out the life-line’, and the most of you could not get out a clothes line, I believe in deacons who can ‘deak;’ and he might have added, in trustees who can be trusted to plan wisely the budget, and to lead the congregation in the giving to which they have called them; and in a superintendent of the Sunday School whose eye scans every class, whose mind plans for the institution and whose hand administers it; and in presidents who do more than preside on state occasions; and in committee-men who accomplish something between the times when they are called together.” Hugh Black once charged American churches with over-organization; and there is danger at this point. But just as long as an officer or an organization performs the functions that gave rise to the election of the one or the creation of the other, organization is a power.Sometimes people say that in the New Testament Church, with its congregational polity, there should be no such thing as the special council of a few officials, or the special direction of the Board in the administration of business; but let it be remembered that we have a Scriptural precedent for both. You are one and all familiar with the difficulty that occurred in the old First Church at Jerusalem; and with its adjustment. Paul, writing to the Galatians, evidently refers to this when he says,“Then fourteen years after I went up again to Jerusalem with Barnabas, and took Titus with me also. “And I went up by revelation, and communicated unto them that Gospel which I preach among the Gentiles, but privately to them which were of reputation, lest by any means I should run, or had run, in vain” (Galatians 2:1-2). Mark the phrase, “But privately to them which were of reputation”. If the Church wants to be distracted by divisions, or torn by discussion, let it present all its business without previous consideration; but on the other hand, if the Church wants its business meetings to be as delightful as those for praise, prayer or preaching, let its business first be brought before the officials and presented by them; and let what ought to be done by the Church, and the recommendation of what course ought to be undertaken, come from a competent and representative Board and the end accomplished will be as peaceful as progressive.THE OBJECT OF THESE To the text, “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”.The first object is the improvement of the saved. “For the perfecting of the saints”. The word “perfecting” employed here is a process and not a completion. The summer sun and the refreshing showers and the balmy air, in their effects upon an apple, are perfecting the same; but their work is only complete when that apple falls to the ground. This text does not teach the sanctification of “sinlessness”; but rather the sanctification of conquest. It is the ideal that is presented, not an attained experience. Perfection is the Christian’s ideal and goal; imperfection is his common experience.

The man of increasing conquest over self is the conqueror in Christ! I do not know how others may be impressed by the testimony of those people whose speech voices at one and the same time self-superiority and the criticism of others; to me it is the last needful proof against the profession of “eradication”!

It is the Pharisee in the Temple over again; it is the “I am holier than thou” spirit which Christ excoriated even beyond the most flagrant transgression of the holy Law. And, furthermore, I have never looked into the life of such “perfectionists” without finding there more grievous faults than they themselves had discovered in other people. Dr. Len Broughton, in a recent volume of sermons, says, “I have found that those people who are most exacting in their requirements of certain standards of their fellowman are very careless about the standards that they set up for their own lives. For example, I remember, on one occasion, a certain member took me very much to task for favoring our Lecture Course. After I had brought to bear every sort of argument upon him, saying that this was a part of our general educational system, he came back at me by quoting, ‘But if eating meat cause my brother to offend, I will eat no meat while the world stand.’ I said, ‘But my brother, you forget the fact that you work on Sunday; that almost every Sunday you put on your overalls, get on your engine and ride off.

There are other men who would not do what you do.’” And Broughton might have added, “And your brothers are offended by this violation of the Lord’s Day on your part.” Consistency is a jewel; and it is one I have never yet seen shining resplendent in the persons of the professedly perfect of the earth. And yet God’s plan is your perfection and mine.

The first object of these agencies is the improvement of the saints.The second object mentioned is the education unto service. “For the work of the ministry”, The word “ministry” here has no professional suggestion in it. It is not unto the work of being a Gospel minister! The word had the same sense as when employed by Christ in Matthew (Matthew 20:25-28)—“But Jesus called them unto Him, and said, Ye know that the princes of the Gentiles exercise dominion over them, and they that are great exercise authority upon them. “But it shall not be so among you: but whosoever will be great among you, let him be your minister; “And whosoever will be chief among you, let him be your servant: “Even as the Son of Man came not to be ministered unto, but to minister, and to give His life a ransom for many”. And Peter also says in his Epistle, speaking of those who had received a gift to “minister it as good stewards of the manifold grace of God”.We wonder how many people ever ask themselves the question, “Why do I go to church?” And how many Christians have ever received the Spirit’s answer to that interrogation? Some people evidently attend church because they get pleasure out of the song service, and pleasure from the preaching. But pleasure-giving is not the purpose of the Gospel service; it is only incidental! There are those who go because they regard the pulpit as one of the great educational forces of the land. They sit in the pew for thirty minutes and drink in what it has cost another many hours to originate, formulate and express. But education is not the primary purpose of the Christian service; it is only incidental!

Some go because they meet friends there, and it takes the form of a social occasion. They will tell you their social life is in the church.

The churches should be social centers, but this also is incidental!The real reason for going to the House of God is one and the same for going to the dining table. Now eating is a pleasant process; and some men live to eat; but it is certainly more humane, not to say Divine, to eat to live, to eat in the interest of a better mind and a better muscle, that both may be given to noble service. The man who goes to church just to see what he can get out of it, without any purpose of expending the strength resulting therefrom in the service of men and God, is animated by little higher motive than is the pig that pushes his way to the trough. And yet that men who are somewhat regular upon and ardent advocates of the pulpit, are not looking for a chance of service is made evident when they treat its opportunities as the Levite, on the way to Jericho, treated the wounded man, namely, go as far around as possible. Did you ever know a churchman who made it his business to be absent on days when missionary offerings were likely to be presented, or any other financial appeal was certain to be made? I noticed that once the Republican Committee put out a four-page folder entitled, “A Record Democracy Dare not Publish, but keep as Silent as the Grave.” In that they charged the Democratic representative with having voted against practically every moral law seeking adoption during his term in the Senate, and they record the fact that his opposing political confrere was absent on almost every one of these important occasions.

Now if it is a fact that the first dodged the vote when the question of the suspension of blind pigs, by state law, was up, and voted against the Wine-Room ordinance, and against a bill to close saloons on Decoration Day, and against another to prohibit the delivery of liquors on the Sabbath, and yet another which looked to the prohibition of saloons four hundred feet from school houses in the city, and fourteen hundred feet from school houses in the country, and against the anti-cigarette bill, as charged, his condemnation was just. But I have no better opinion of the man who, when these opportunities were presented, found it convenient to be absent.

And that churchman who is enthusiastic on days when there are no offerings to be taken, and conveniently absent on days when he knows they are to be presented, is nothing short of the dishonest steward whom Malachi calls “A God-robber.” A friend in the South said, “I know a prominent churchman worth thousands of dollars, who sometime since was found to be paying taxes on an old watch and a pistol. Yet he used to carry round the bread and wine and look as saintly as an angel.” But what was his sin beside that of the man who dodges the Divine tax, refusing to turn into the treasury God’s tithes?I read a little while ago a Catholic prelate’s statement as to the test of the true Church. J. H. Newman, in his work, “Development of Christian Doctrine”, trying to prove that the Roman Catholic Church is the only existing modern representative of the New Testament Church, says, “There are seven tests that demonstrate this—the ‘preservation of the idea,’ ‘continuity of principles,’ ‘power of assimilation,’ ‘early anticipation,’ ‘logical sequence,’ ‘preservative additions’ and ‘chronic sequence.’”But I have read the record of the New Testament Church in God’s Word, and if you will show me an organized body of baptized believers who “continue steadfastly in the Apostle’s doctrine and fellowship”; who come together to celebrate the Lord’s Supper, and to engage in prayer, and whose faith is of the sort that sacrifices until the treasury of the Church of God can meet the needs of the community, I will show you one that has far more certainly the brand of the true succession than anything suggested by the big words of the Cardinal.The third purpose mentioned is the exaltation of the Church of God. “For the edifying of the Body of Christ”. The figure is that of the rising structure, coming more and more to cupola and completion.

It rises as men make their contributions to it—one to lay a plank, another to apply the mortar, another may put in nails, but a completed house is the object to be accomplished. As with builders, in the material world, so with churchmen in the religious.

We do not necessarily work all at the same time, nor after the same manner. The janitor has a remarkable opportunity to help build the Church of God. Christianity thrives best in a house made comfortable with fresh air heated to 70 degrees Fahrenheit. An usher’s opportunity almost exceeds that of the pulpit. A writer says, “Strangers coming to a church judge the spirit of pastor and people by the man whom they meet in the vestibule or aisle. * * Many people have turned away from places of worship because of thoughtless treatment or unintentional discourtesy on the part of the usher; while on the other hand, many have enjoyed the entire service and determined to return, because of the opposite treatment on the part of this important personage.”But after all is said that may be said concerning the obligation of pastor, deacons, trustees, presidents of societies, superintendent of Sunday School, janitors, ushers, or any other official, it still remains for the people who commonly occupy the pew, to give to the world a proof that Christ is honored in the church, by revealing to every stranger entering it, a Christian spirit. Let us put cold formalities aside, and in the Name of Jesus, extend a hand.

I once asked a woman if she were acquainted with the Church people in her neighborhood, to which she replied, “No; they have never called on me.” I made answer, “Why should they, when you have lived in this neighborhood longer than any of them?” The story is told of a charming old man who had come from the South (and who believed in sociability in the Church of God) who went to his pastor one day and said, “Why does the man who sits behind me speak to me? I wish he would,” to which the pastor answered, “The gentleman behind you has expressed the same wish concerning you, and inasmuch as he has only been in the church three months, while you have been here six months, perhaps an advance on your part would be the proper thing.” It is positively amusing to find for how long a time people regard themselves new members.

Some who have been members of a church for three and four years are still sitting in their homes waiting for an old-timer to call on them; while hundreds, received since they entered, are wondering why they have not come to call.It has often been said that the prayer meeting is the thermometer of the church. But there is one thing better than a thermometer, and that is an atmosphere. A thermometer can register the condition; but the atmosphere is the condition itself. The church is not to be measured by any solitary feature of its life; but by all features combined. A preacher visiting in a little town in another state spoke of a congregation worshiping in a beautiful house, and his companion said, “I think that church there on the hill is the most important church in the town, because there are three millionaires in it.” My friend said, “What about its prayer meeting?” “Oh, I don’t know whether they have one or not.” “What about its Sunday School? You say you are an officer in that church, you ought to know!” “Oh, I don’t think much of the Sunday School.” In fact, he didn’t know anything about it.

All he knew was that there were three millionaires in the church and by that fact he measured it. No poorer measure was ever put up!

Let me enter the House of God and mingle with its attendants until I can sense the spiritual atmosphere. Then, and not till then, can I take its measure. The prayer meeting will be part of it; the attendance upon the Sunday service will be part of it; the interest in the Sunday School will be part of it; the activities of the Young People’s Society will be part of it; the sermons to be preached will be part of it; the character of the Board, and services announced, will be part of it. The measure of the church is the measure of the man. Not by one feature of his life; but by all parts of it. The church that is really embodying Christ in all that it does, in all that it is, is the true Church; and such is the object of Divinely appointed agencies.THE ENDS TO BE One may marvel that we make a difference between the object and the ends, and yet there is a distinction in this text.“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 fulness of Christ: “That we henceforth be no longer 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 into Him in all things, which is the Head, even Christ; “From whom the whole body fitly joined together and compacted by that which every joint supplieth, according to the effectual working in the measure of every part, maketh increase of the body unto the edifying of itself in love” (Ephesians 4:13-16). The establishment and growth of the individual. The Apostle wants him to be established in faith, “Till we all come in the unity of the faith, and of the knowledge of the Son of God, unto a perfect man”. I have sometimes feared that my Sunday morning audience would conclude that I had a hobby, and that hobby was the defense of “the faith once delivered to the saints”, and I confess to having ridden it, and I pledge by the grace of God, that I will ride it yet again. To me no more serious movement, looking to the death of the Church, and injury to the cause of Christ was ever imagined than that which attacks the authority and integrity of “the faith once delivered”.And yet my fear for the Bible is not so great as that which I fear for the critic of the Bible. I candidly believe that he will be a lost man, since Jesus, sending by the hand of His angel to His servant John, said,“I testify unto every man that heareth the words of the prophecy of this Book, If any man shall add unto these things, God shall add unto him the plagues that are written in this Book: “And if any man shall take away from the words of the Book of this prophecy, God shall take away his part out of the Book of Life, and out of the holy city, and from the things which are written in this Book”. What more serious result could ever follow that egoism of infidelity which is now current in all the world, cursing men who are still occupying Christian pulpits, than to have their names removed from the Book of Life? You know the history of the blank tablet in the chapel of the military academy at West Point. One recalls John Witherspoon’s great address before the Continental Congress, which resulted in the signing of the Declaration of Independence. Speaking of it one says, “On one wall behind glass, are Revolutionary flags, five of which belonged to Washington. On the other are tablets in memory of his generals. In an obscure corner, near the gallery, we saw a tablet where the date of birth was given, but the name had been erased.

We gazed long at it, not needing that any one should rehearse the miserable story. In the stillness of the old church, it seemed to me that the Muse of History drew near to justify her course.

Pointing to the tablet, she said calmly, ‘Yes, his name should have been there. Gates is there, and Gates was no braver man than he. Schuyler is there; he did good service, but did not languish with wounds as this man did. He had a name which means ‘blessed,’ but it is cursed by his countrymen, for his planning, on this very spot, the blackest deed of treachery ever known on this continent.’ Clio paused and we said under the breath, ‘Benedict Arnold.’ The shadowy shape seemed to grow taller, the stern voice deepened as it went on, ‘Oblivion is too merciful for such a man. It may seem harsh, but it is right that the youth who are being trained here should have this constant reminder that the first duty of a soldier is steadfastness’.”But if treason to one’s country is a sufficient reason for blotting his name from the page of that country’s history, what else shall we expect if one turn traitor to God and to His Word than that his name shall be removed from the Lamb’s Book of Life? No wonder the Apostle Paul links a steadfastness in faith with a possible attainment of manhood in Christ Jesus.It is a great thing for the Church of God to nurse and nurture her children until they shall have attained unto manhood and womanhood in Christ Jesus.

To look upon the well developed Christian is to be grateful for all the pangs of childbirth; for all the sacrifices essential to the proper nourishment of the child. In the city of Winnipeg I was invited one evening to the home of a great and good man.

Six sons, together with their wives, and Ralph Connor, and Mr. George Stevens, a prominent business man of that city, made up the company. The mother was radiant, and with good occasion. I said to her, “I should think you would be the happiest mother in Winnipeg as you look upon the faces of six such men as call you ‘Mother.’!” “Wouldn’t you now?” She answered, “And indeed I am you know!”I suppose there are times when the individual church feels the pangs of bringing men and women to the new birth, and grows a bit weary in the trials and expense incident to their spiritual development; but there is coming a festal hour when these children of ours shall flash forth in glorious manhood and womanhood in Christ, and as we shall look upon their radiant faces, and remember that they are immortalized every one, the pride and joy that shall fill our hearts will far exceed that any mother of earth ever knew in her successful sons and daughters; and we will only wish that we had travailed the more often, and given more time and thought and sacrifice, and even suffering, to their spiritual culture. “For what is our hope, or joy, or crown of rejoicing? Are not even ye in the presence of our Lord Jesus Christ at His Coming? For ye are our glory and joy” (1 Thessalonians 2:19-20).The testimony and fraternity of all saints.“That we henceforth he 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 in to Him in all things, which is the Head, even Christ”.

Upon first statement it may seem rather a strange combination that brings talking, or “speaking the truth in love” and growth in all things, together. But that is a natural law in the spiritual world.

Talking is a sign of the child’s development. If your child did not talk how distressed you would become; and there is occasion to be distressed over those Christians who bear no testimony either in word or deed, who say nothing; who give nothing; who do nothing! Fraternity with such men is almost impossible. Show us a witness-bearing, self-sacrificing Christian, and we will show you a man with whom fellowship is easy for all true saints. The one man whose fellowship we have the least hope of retaining permanently is that close-fisted churchman. You never knew two men in a church, equally ready to bear the word of witness to the glory of their God, and equally generous in their giving, to get at loggerheads.

The spirit of praise and of liberality will find its final expression in fraternity. David and Jonathan could never have been as good friends as they were, but for the fact that they both recognized God as the Giver of all Good, and were alike generous souls.

One day in Chicago, when starvation was the lot of hundreds and thousands of people, when down in the great heart of that city there had been opened supply houses by the Battle Creek and other people, a pale-faced, desperate-spirited fellow entered one and said, “Can you give me a bowl of soup?” “I am sorry,” said the attendant, “but the soup is one cent a bowl; our rule is not to give it away. The fellow turned to walk out, more dejected in appearance than when he entered, when one, with his bowl of soup, glanced into his face and said, “That fellow looks hungry. This is my last cent and I don’t know where I can get another, but I know just how he feels, and if I die of starvation I would give it to him. Now fill him up the biggest bowl of soup you ever gave for a cent,” and he put down his last penny. I don’t know much about that man’s vices, they may have existed; but if he had applied for membership in my church, immediately after this incident I should have admitted him without too rigid a censorship, believing that he had in him the essential quality of fraternity with all saints.Finally, the self-perpetuation of the Church of God. “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”. Success and successor—is it not the business of every true church to make both?

You will remember that when the Cuban rebels were without a victory, some one inquired if they were not ready to give up the fight, and one of their elders answered, “Give it up! We will die contending for our liberty!

If we never see it our children will take up the battle for us; and if they perish without the blessed vision, then our grandchildren will engage until the victory is won!”Shall I tell you what causes me more concern for the Christian churches of this land than almost any other circumstance? Not so much that they are lacking in success as that they are being poorly succeeded. I know a host of men of my own age and older who are great, generous souls, capable of making money, willing to contribute it to the Church of God, rejoicing in their victories won in the Name of Christ; but I do not know a dozen cases in which their own children exhibit the same spirit. Where is there a man after this manner whose son is his father’s equal? I recall a few such; but, oh, how many a time the son takes altogether another course, and looks upon his father’s gifts as little short of folly, and regards his father’s religious sentiments as almost senile. If it were not for the fact, that out from religious homes and homes irreligious there are coming children converted to Christ, whose spirit of sacrifice from the first day is beautiful to behold, I should be intensely discouraged for the future.

It is said that when the old Ulysses started on his voyage toward the setting sun and the happy isles, he turned to his eldest son and heir, saying, “This is my son, my own Telemachus, to whom I bear the scepter and the reign, knowing that he will fulfill this labor to the world.”Oh, young men—church-members—are you ready to receive the father’s mantle, and to reveal the father’s spirit in service to the Son of God? We have not forgotten the story of how one day a little drummer boy, a gamin, whom Desaix had picked up on the streets of Paris, and carried with him in the campaigns of Egypt and Germany, was standing near Napoleon in the awful hour when the great General’s forces were being sawn to pieces, and Napoleon shouted to him, “Beat a retreat!” The boy did not stir. “Gamin,” said the great General, “Beat a retreat!” The boy stepped forward and grasped his drumsticks, and said, “General, I don’t know how.

Desaix never taught me that. But I can beat a Charge; I can beat a charge that will make the dead fall into line. I beat it at the Pyramids once; I beat it at Mount Tabor, and I beat it again at the bridge of Lodi.” “Beat it then!” was the answer, and a moment later the corps followed the sword-gleam of Desaix, and keeping step to the furious roll of the boy’s drum, swept down the hosts of the Austrians. They drove the first line back on the second, and the second on the third, and though many of them died, they won!