Metaphors for the assembly in Ephesians

Now, our brother has mentioned truth regarding the assembly. I want to look at that for a little while from the Ephesian epistle. Look with me, first of all, at chapter 1, verse 18, the middle of the verse, that ye may know what is the hope of his calling and what the riches of the glory of his inheritance in the saints and what is the exceeding greatness of his power to usward who believe, according to the working of his mighty power, which he wrought in Christ when he raised him from the dead and set him at his own right hand in the heavenly places, far above all principality and power and might and dominion and every name that is named, not only in this world, but also in that which is to come.

And he put all things under his feet and gave him to be the head over all things to the church, notice that, the church, which is his body, the fullness of him that filleth all in all. Now look at chapter 2, verse 20, and are built upon the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Jesus Christ himself being the chief cornerstone in whom all the building or every several building is fitly framed together, groweth onto an holy temple in the Lord and whom also ye are builted together for a habitation of God through the spirit. Now chapter 3, for this cause I Paul, the prisoner of Jesus Christ, notice he doesn't say he's a prisoner of Nero, he's a prisoner of Jesus Christ.

For you Gentiles, if you have heard of the dispensation of the grace of God, the word is stewardship of the grace of God, which is given me to you word, how that by revelation he made known unto me the mystery as I wrote afore in few words, whereby when you read you may understand my knowledge in the mystery of Christ, which in other ages was not made known unto the sons of man, as it is now revealed unto his holy apostles and prophets by the spirit that the Gentiles should be fellow heirs and of the same body and so on. Now look over to chapter 4, verse 11, and he, that's the Lord, 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 building of the body of Christ. Do we all come in the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the son of God unto a perfect man, unto a measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ, that ye be henceforth be no more children tossed to and fro and carried about with every wind of doctrine.

Now look please at chapter 5, verse 22. Wives, submit yourselves unto your own husbands as unto the Lord. For the husband is the head of the wife, even as Christ is the head of the church, and he is the savior of the body.

Therefore, as the church is subject unto Christ, so let the wives be to their husbands in everything. Husbands, love your wives as Christ loved the church and gave himself for it, that he might sanctify and cleanse it with a washing of water by the word, that he might present it to himself a glorious church, not having spot or wrinkle or any such thing. Now finally, chapter 6, and verse 10.

Finally, my brethren, be strong in the Lord and in the power of his might. Put on the whole armor of God, that you may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil. For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, that's evil powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness.

There it is again in high places. Wherefore, take unto you the whole armor of God, that you may be able to withstand in the evil day. And having done all to stand, stand therefore having your loins girt about with truth, having on the breastplate of righteousness and your feet shod with the preparation of the gospel of peace.

Above all, taking the shield of faith, wherewith you shall be able to quench all the fiery darts of the wicked or the wicked one. And take the helmet of salvation and the sword of the spirit, which is the word of God. Praying always with all prayer and supplication in the spirit, and watching thereunto with all perseverance and supplication for all saints.

And Paul says, and for me. Now the Lord will bless what we have read from his word. We are reminded that this is the inspired word of God.

Holy men of God speak as they were moved by the Holy Ghost. I appreciated what my brother McLeod emphasized this morning, that the authorized version cannot be improved on. There's multiple versions out there, and if you read them, you'll get confused.

But there's a something about the authorized version. It's the easiest of all to memorize. There's a rhythm, almost a musical rhythm to it.

And we appreciate it. We think of men like Whitecliffe and those men away back in the early centuries that gave their life for this book. I wonder how much we appreciate it.

Let me ask you, did you read any of it before you came to the conference this morning? We all had breakfast, but did we look into this book? That's what we need to survive. The word of God, not conferences and ministry meetings, which we appreciate, but we need the daily application of the word to our own hearts. Just as at NANA, you remember that they had to gather every day, daily.

Now what I have before me for a few minutes is to briefly touch on some of the figures or metaphors that the Spirit of God uses about the local assembly in this epistle. Now I'm aware that when Paul writes to the Ephesians, he's talking about the universal aspect of the church composed of all believers from the day of Pentecost until the rapture. There's only two occasions in the Bible and in the world that the church universal was all together.

One was in chapter two of the Acts on the day of Pentecost. You remember there were 120 gathered there in that upper room. I like to ask my brethren, where were the other 380? Because Paul tells us he was seen of above 500 at once.

Where were they when the 120 gathered on that first day to remember him? The inception of the church. And then at the rapture, for the first time again, the church will be one, all united together, and we shall be taken home. But I want to look at a number of principles that I have read of and apply them to the local company of believers.

That is, those that gather simply to the name of the Lord Jesus. We read in chapter three that Paul says it was revealed to him, the mystery, revealed, made known unto him, he says. And then after that, it was made known by the apostles and prophets that I take to be New Testament apostles and prophets.

And so in chapter one, he refers to it as a body. Gave unto him to behead over all things to the church, which is his body. Now, when you think of a body, you think of something living.

It's alive. That's what the assembly should be. It should be alive.

It shouldn't be static or stagnant. It should be growing. And it's wonderful to hear of God saving souls here and there and being added to the church.

It's living, a living organism. Christ is the one that is over the creation in chapter one, head over all things. And then he says he's the head over the church.

So our heads in heaven, part of the body is there and part of the body is still here. But without the body, a head would be a monstrosity. And we thank God for the day when the body and the head will be one.

When the Lord comes again, they'll be complete. And so the church is what adds complement to the head. And the head is what gives completeness to the body.

Now, enough about that. In chapter two, I want you to think of it as a building fitly framed together. Every building fitly framed together groweth onto an holy temple in the Lord.

And Paul says to these Ephesians, you were put into that building at conversion. And so they're a member of a local company at Ephesus. Now in chapter two, he tells us that this suggests to us our worship, our praise.

We're gathered to bring praise to him. It's a holy temple, the naos, the dwelling place of God. Just as your body and mine is, Paul tells us when he writes to the Corinthians, know you're not that your body is the temple, the dwelling place, that's the same word of the Holy Ghost.

Then he tells us again that every individual linked with a local company, it's the dwelling place of God. The whole body fitly framed together groweth. Now that's something that's still ongoing.

He tells us in this chapter about that temple that as we gather to worship, we're reminded that there's no longer a distance from God. We've been made nigh. There's no longer divisions.

They've been made one. There's no longer distinction. The middle wall of partition is abolished.

It's broken down. And he says, you're made one new man. More than that, not only what's negative, he tells us what's positive.

He says, we've been reconciled. That's, I didn't read it, but down in verse 16, we've been reconciled unto God in one body. Then he says, he is our peace, verse 14.

And in verse 15, he tells us that he has made peace. And then in verse 17, he's proclaiming peace. And we have access to the father because we're part of the body.

And we're in the local assembly. Now I want to say without any fear of contradiction, the only place in this world where God gets his rightful place of worship is from assemblies gathered to the name of the Lord Jesus. Now, I know there are people saved and christened up.

I know that. But they don't appreciate local church fellowship. And they don't have the privilege of worshiping God as you and I do.

Then in chapter three, I want you to notice quickly that he says, this is a mystery. As I have said, it was revealed to Paul. In fact, he tells us down in verse nine of that chapter, it's a stewardship, a dispensation of the mystery, which from the beginning of the world had been hidden.

More than that, it brought suffering. He tells us that when this was revealed to you, you were far off. You had been persecuted, but now you've been brought nigh by the blood of Christ.

And so Gentiles and Jews are joint heirs. It was hard for a Jew to understand that a Gentile that they despised, they called them Gentile dogs. They couldn't appreciate that they're brought into the same realm where they can worship God.

They had a job understanding that. But Paul tells us that's what took place. Then in chapter four, where we read, he talks about the family, brought into the family.

And he's talking now about unity, harmony, maturity, conformity, made like onto his image. As my brethren have made it in the announcements, the devil is busy today. He's recognizing that his time is short and he's seeking to divide assembly fellowship.

You know what the Lord said? His desire was in John 17, that you all might be one. God hates division, but the devil loves it. Don't forget that.

That's what he's bent on doing. But Paul is saying that the day is coming when these believers, they're going to be brought into this area of what he calls full growth. The measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ, no longer like children cast to and fro, acting just like little children.

But you see, he tells us too that God has given gifts to the church. This chapter that we read from, chapter four, says that they were given by the Lord himself, some apostles, some prophets, some evangelists. There are some men that have a dual gift.

There are some evangelists that I know are good gospel preachers. But when it comes to the pastoral work, that's a different area. Then I know some good teachers.

I heard Mr. A.M.S. Gooding say, a very able teacher of the word of God. He said, how is it that when I preach the gospel, nobody gets saved, and when Mr. Paisley preaches, people get saved? Well, Mr. Paisley didn't save them. It's God's work.

Remember that. It's all his doings. But there's variety of gifts, and we believe that God gives gifts to man to function in the church.

Now, I'm not saying that our sisters don't have gifts. A sister can get closer to a four- or five-year-old child than a brother ever can. But there's a gift that has been given by God, and it's wonderful when we see it function.

The Lord gave the gift, Romans 12, God gave the gifts. When Paul writes to the Corinthians, he said, it's the Holy Spirit that giveth to every man severally as he will. So, gift is from God, and from the Lord, and from the Spirit.

And gift must be recognized. Maybe you're a young brother, and you say, well, I don't know what my gift is. You know, Solomon the wise man said, a man's gift maketh room for himself.

And gift is recognized by brethren. And I would say to brethren in place of responsibility in the assembly, if you see a young brother, and he has ability in the gospel, you encourage him to preach the gospel. I don't believe the gospel platform should be open to anybody and everybody.

I believe there are those that God has gifted, and they're the ones that should preach the gospel to unsaved who come. So, in chapter four, he's talking about a body. In chapter five, very quickly now, he's talking about a bride.

And if in the body we see life, and in the family we see subjection, when we think of the bride, of course, you know, it suggests love. And that chapter tells us about Christ being the head of the church. Not only that, he's the savior, the savior of the body.

He protects it, guards it from outside influences. And then that same chapter tells us he's the presenter. He's going to present the church without spot or wrinkle or any such thing.

Absolutely perfect at the marriage supper of the lamb. We'll be presented to him. You know, weddings in our day, it's the bride that everybody wants to see.

The ladies all want to see what kind of a gown is she wearing and what color are the bridesmaids wearing. But in the coming day, it'll be the bridegroom. At our weddings, the husband just has to be there.

But in the coming day, the Lord himself will be the focal of interest. And if you would go to Revelation in chapter 19, you would read this, that they'll have white linen garments that are attained by themselves. You see, we're weaving down here what we're going to wear up there.

When we get to heaven, our realm will be dependent on our interest in God's things right now. Don't ever get the idea that when we get to heaven, we're all going to be the same. That's not right.

We're going to be there. My wife used to say to me, as much as she loved me and I loved her, there's times she would say, you're not even going to get near my mansion. And I would say, well, you'll let me just peek in, won't you? I want to tell you, when we get there, we'll be so occupied with him that everything else will be secondary.

And I believe, according to the teaching of this epistle, that in the ages to come, he might show the exceeding riches of his grace and his kindness toward us through Christ Jesus. There always will be ages to come. There's no end to it.

God will never come out wringing his hands and say, there's no more to unfold to you. There may be kingdoms and universes that we know nothing about, and there'll be no problem for God just to speak them into existence as he did this world of ours. He spake and it was so.

He commanded and it stood fast. So he speaks of it as the bride and that emphasizes our love to Christ. Then not only at the marriage supper of the lamb, you go to Revelation 21, and again, we'll be presented in that coming day to the nations.

All the nations of this world will recognize that that day has arrived, and then there'll be that glorious millennial reign. Now in chapter six, I'm going to finish two things I don't like, long prayers and long preaching. In chapter six, I want you to think of the church as a warrior.

There's a conflict on. You see, Paul says he's wrestling, not against flesh and blood, that would be bad enough, but against principalities and powers. You see, the devil was against him, and the devil is against his servants.

You remember what Paul wrote to the Thessalonians? I wanted to visit you once and again, but the devil hindered me, and the devil is out to destroy every vestige of reality. He attacks leaders in the assembly. Be on your guard.

There's a book I read years ago. Mr. Hal Lindley wrote it. It was titled, The Devil is Alive and Well on Planet Earth Today.

Worth reading, but don't read it. Go on to bed. It'll keep you awake.

It's true. The enemy is busy, but we have been told that there is protection available. Paul says, put on the whole armor of God.

We're combating the world, and the flesh, and the devil, and evil forces. But Paul is like a military officer here. You notice he says, be strong.

And again, he says, put on. And again, he says, take up. Four times in the chapter, he says, stand.

Stand. Put on the whole armor of God. The girdle of truth, guarding our service.

The breastplate of righteousness, guarding our affections. Our brother mentioned the mind this morning. That's what the devil attacks, is the mind.

Sow a thought, reap an action. Sow an action, reap a habit. Sow a habit, reap a character.

Sow a character, reap a destiny. And it all begins in the thought life. You know, it was Moody that said, you can keep the birds from flying over your head.

He was talking about thoughts, applying it to birds in the air. He said, you can keep them from flying over your head, but you can't keep them from building a nest in your hair, if you have any. You see, we have to guard our thoughts.

That's what the devil is attacking. But he says, there's a helmet of salvation. That's what guards our thought life.

The shield of faith for our protection. The sword of the spirit. The word of God.

Put on the whole armor of God. It's available. The armament is there.

Put it on. I often tell about the days near the end of World War II when some of us were working for Uncle Sam, some of us against our wishes. It was either that or jail and never appealed to me to go to prison.

But in the Pacific, the islands were being taken one after another by the Japanese. And General MacArthur called his men together, and he said, gentlemen, the greater the recognition of the enemy, the greater the potential of ultimate victory in the end. The greater the recognition of the enemy.

In other words, recognize them and face them and don't flee. Fight. And that's what happened.

The day came when those Japanese Naval and Air Force officers lay down their swords on that mighty battleship, the Missouri, that I've seen. And there they were brought to their knees, and the terms were unconditional surrender. And that's what God wants you and I to know.

Put on the whole armor of God that we may be able to stand. Young people need the armament. And this book is what gives you that armament.

You can't improve on the protection from the of God. The Lord bless his word and what will follow for his name's sake.