THE CHRISTIAN WALK

Ephesians 4:1-16

One of the most glorious books of the Bible is the Epistle to the Ephesians. It is a book which takes us into the heavenlies and which shows to us the wonders of our inheritance in Christ.

Ephesians 4 marks the pivotal point in this book. During the first three chapters, the believer is only told to do one thing - to BELIEVE what God has said about him. Throughout these first three chapters, God does all the work. You can do nothing. You can only learn about who you are in Christ. It is here that you learn that you have an identity in Christ Jesus. Because you have been identified with Him, you share in everything that He has.

• Because He is righteous, you have been declared to be righteous.
• Because He has eternal life, you share in that eternal life.
• Because He is an heir to the kingdom, you are a co-heir with Him.
• Because He rose from the dead, you will also have a bodily resurrection.

This is your position in Christ. You are reckoned to be seated right now in heaven with Christ. All of the privileges of heaven are yours now.

The plea throughout the first three chapters of Ephesians has been that you believe these things. But now as we come to chapter 4, there is a change. There is a call to action.

Notice how this passage begins. It begins with the word "therefore." This takes us back to the last three chapters that have gone on before. Don't miss this! Paul is about to give us some instructions for living. But he has already laid the foundation as to WHY we ought to live that way. Everything that he will say from this point forward is based upon the truths set forth in the first three chapters.

Paul refers to himself as the prisoner of the Lord. This is significant. It is significant because of where Paul was as he penned these words. He was a prisoner in Rome. And he had been a prisoner for a long time.

Picture the scene. Paul is in Rome under house arrest. An iron chain runs from a ring set into a wall to one made fast around his ankle. A soldier stands nearby on guard. It is his job to guard this old Jewish man. He is guarding a prisoner of the Roman Empire.

The old man is writing a letter. It is already several pages in length. Notice what he does not write. He does not call himself a prisoner of Rome. He sees himself as a prisoner, not of Rome, but of the Lord Jesus Christ. He realizes that God is in control of his circumstances. What are your circumstances? Have you come to the realization that, no matter what they appear to be, God is still in control?

Paul could have worded this in the terms of a command. After all, he was an apostle. He had the authority to command the church. But he does not do that. Instead he makes an entreaty. He pleads with these believers. His desire is that they live in a manner that is consistent with what they already are in Christ.

He has spent the last three chapters telling them what they are in Christ. Now he calls them to live according to what they ARE.

Ephesians 4:1-16 is organized in a large parallel known as a chiasm. The first part of this parallel (verses 1-6) deals with the unity of the church. The second part of this parallel (verses 7-16) deals with the diversity of the church.

You cannot make this unity. But if you are not careful, you can damage it. You can damage it when you do not show...

• All humility.

• Gentleness.

• Patience.

• Forbearance to one another in love.

• One body

• One Spirit

• One hope

• One Lord

• One faith

• One baptism

• One God and Father

Notice the three members of the Godhead who are mentioned throughout this unity.

This is the basis of fellowship between believers. What does "fellowship" mean? It means to have things in common. True Christian fellowship does not depend upon financial status or age or cultural background. We have something much greater in common with one another. What we have in common is eternal. It is our position in Christ.

Now we come to a crucial question. How are we to preserve this unity? What can we do to accomplish this preservation? It is first by being "in Christ." He is the source of our unity. As we have become united to Him through faith, then we have also become united to all of His people.

But that is not all. It is also by recognizing the fact that we are different. This is seen in the following verses.

There are two words here that go together. They are the noun "grace" and the verb "given." Grace is always something which is given and received. Grace involves the giving and receiving of a gift. You know what a gift is. A gift is something that you are given and which expects no repayment. You do not buy a gift or repay it. That would make it a purchase or a loan. A gift, by its very nature, expects no repayment.

When Christ died upon the cross, it was to provide us with the gift of eternal life. But that is not all. He also provided gifts for THIS life. This was promised in the Old Testament.

This is the language of a triumph. In ancient times, a conquering general returning home would enjoy the honor of a triumph, a tumultuous parade. He would come through the gates of the city riding upon a white horse. Behind him in chains would come all those whom he had conquered in battle. It was a joyous time; a time when gifts were given and received.

This picture is of Jesus. He is the one who has conquered sin and death. He is the conquering King. And at such a time, He has given gifts to His church.

Do you see it? He won the victory and we get to participate in the booty. He did the fighting and we get the rewards.

We will look at some of those gifts in just a moment, but first Paul takes a parenthetical excursus to further explain what Christ has done.

You've heard the old saying, "Whatever goes up must come down." But it is the exact opposite when you speak of God. You don't speak of God as being down here - you speak of Him being "up there." Indeed, the Hebrew word for "heaven" simply means, "Up there." When you speak of God ascending, that means that He had to have first DESCENDED. When it comes to God, whoever goes up must have first come down.

Here is the principle. The fact that God was described as ascending means that the Scriptures indicated that God would come to earth. He accomplished this in the person of Jesus Christ.

The reference to into the lower parts of the earth is simply a way of saying, "Down here" as opposed to "Up there." There was a time when Christ could not ascend into heaven. It was before the incarnation. He could not ascend into heaven because He was already in heaven. But then He came to earth to be born as a man.

After His death, burial and resurrection, Jesus ascended far above all the heavens. He who became the lowest has now risen to become the very highest.

Paul is not going to speak about spiritual gifts in general. Instead his focus is upon several very specific types of gifts. They are gifts involving COMMUNICATION.

1. Apostles.

2. Prophets.

3. Evangelists.

4. Pastors and Teachers.

In verse 12, we are given the REASON for these particular spiritual gifts. It is introduced by the word "for."

The immediate reason for the gifts of communication (evangelist and pastor-teacher) is to equip believers for the work of service. Most people do not seem to know this. Most people seem to think that it is only those who have the gifts of evangelism and pastor-teacher who are to do the work of service and the work of ministry.

The church is often run like a spectator sport. Football is a spectator sport - 22 men who desperately need rest being watched by 22,000 people who desperately need exercise. People come to watch the pastor "do his thing" and they think that their part is to be quiet and to listen and his part is to minister. But Christianity is not a spectator sport. All Christians are called to do the work of ministry.

The preposition which introduces the clause "for the work of service" is noteworthy. It is the preposition eis. It is normally translated "into." It is the equipped saints who are to go INTO the work of service. We often speak of one who is going into the ministry. This is wrong. All believers are to be IN ministry.

The ultimate purpose of this progression is to the building up of the body of Christ. This is a reference to the edification of the church. The church is involved in a building program. This building program is twofold.

• Initially, it involves bringing the unsaved to Christ. This is the area in which the evangelist is instrumental in equipping the saints.

• Then it involves the teaching and maturing of those who have come to Christ in faith. This is the area of the pastor-teacher.

The result is that we all attain to the unity of the faith, and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to a mature man, to the measure of the stature which belongs to the fullness of Christ (4:13).

We saw in verse 3 the plea to preserve the unity of the Spirit. It was to this end that the gifts were given to the church. This was their purpose - the attainment of a mature unity - that we be like Christ.

• Tossed here and there by waves and carried about by every wind of doctrine (4:14).

• We are to grow up in all aspects into Him who is the head, even Christ (4:15).

• From whom the whole body, being fitted and held together by what every joint supplies, according to the proper working of each individual part (4:16).