Will you turn with me tonight, please, to Ephesians chapter 4? Lord, it is my chief complaint that my love is often weak and faint, and yet we come to the one who is able to increase that love by His Spirit, by His grace poured out. Indeed, it is the will of God that we love Him more. It's the will of God that we love Him as He loved us. And may God's grace cause us to increase in that way. The book of Ephesians chapter 4, we're going to read the first 12 verses. The Apostle Paul said, I, therefore, the prisoner of the Lord, beseech you that you walk worthy of the vocation wherewith you 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 you are called in one hope of your calling. one 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 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 for the perfecting of the saints, for the work of the ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ. We'll ask the Lord now, please, to help us in our study this night. Let's bow in prayer. Father, what a joy it has been for us to be in this service tonight already. We have been conscious of the nearness of the Lord, We are thankful for these hymns we've been able to sing to Thy praise. We are thankful for the Word of God that we have heard already from Psalm 68, for Thy servant as he led in prayer, and for the privilege we have of just fellowshipping in the things of God. Lord, tonight we ask special prayer for our sister Margaret as she grieves the loss of her husband. Be near her, we pray, and bless her. We pray for our sister Anna here tonight. As her mother is in hospital, we pray, Lord, that you would bring her to consciousness long enough that she might call out unto the Savior for salvation. We pray for Anna and the rest of her family at this time of difficulty. We're thankful for Nora. Bless her, Lord, we pray, and give her grace as she goes through the treatment. We think of others who are suffering. We think of Dave Herlihy facing surgery very soon for cancer. We remember him and bless him also and his wife and the rest of their family. Lord, undertake for us in all of our needs how thankful we are we can bring every care, every concern, every difficulty unto the throne of grace. And we find grace abundant, plenty for us in the time of our need. Lord, I pray now tonight for this evening time as we study the Scripture. Open it to our hearts. Open it to my soul, I pray, and fill me with the Spirit of God so that I can speak the Word clearly. Don't let anyone misunderstand, Lord, I pray. And may there be the Spirit in abundance to open the understanding of each one Lord, I need the infilling to speak, and everyone here in the congregation needs it to hear and understand and to apply the Word. Lord, give us grace to do that in our lives, we ask. So hear us now, we pray tonight. Be with us. In Jesus' name we pray. Amen. So let me ask you, are you walking worthy for the body of Christ. Are you walking worthy for the body of Christ? When our Lord Jesus said, it is more blessed to give than to receive, He was not speaking hypothetically, but personally. as God is the giver of all things. Our God gives, and he gives, and he gives again. And he provides for us an example of how we are to operate in a very cruel and selfish, self-centered world. The example is for us to be those who are givers, the grace that we have received from the Lord. What has God given to us? Why he's given to all life and breath to all his creation. He's given us an abundant supply of all our needs. The promise that seed time and harvest will continue until the world comes to an end. He has given to us minds and wills to think and to decide, family and friends, fellowship and support that we have. He's given to us talents and skills and He has given understanding that we can invent and manufacture and see things developing in this world, but of course the greatest gift that God has given to us is his only begotten Son, for he gave the Lord Jesus that we might have life and that we might be brought from our darkness, from our sin and corruption into the light, the liberty, the fellowship of the sons of God, and to look forward to the fact that we will be in glory with Him forever. We are seated in heavenly places in Christ Jesus. He has promised to us the guide of the Holy Spirit to strengthen us as we progress in our daily walk. Our God gives to us, and He gives, and He gives, and He gives again. God gives to us personally, not so that we can receive something of ourselves, but that we might receive in order to give back, and to give with a generous heart. We cannot outgive the Lord, you know. He is no man's debtor, as he said to young Samuel. Now, the giving of God is not to spoil his people, but it's for our use and our edification. And not for ours only, but he loads his children with gifts and talents for the building up of the body of Christ. Let us not forget that whatever blessings or talents that we have been given by God, and therefore we have no right or warrant to boast in them, but rather we are to use these gifts for the advancement of the local body and of the church of Christ at large. Now, we have already noticed that the distinctive teaching in the Ephesian book is that the church is the body of Christ and that the unity there is to be pursued and to be carefully protected by every single member. In the opening chapter, the Lord is the head. He is the ruler of the church. In chapter 2, he is the foundation. He is therefore the rock upon which the church is built. In the third chapter, Christ is the wealth for his people. He is the richness of the church. And in the fourth chapter, he is the unifying principle that holds everyone together. He is the reinforcement. And if you have done any kind of construction or building, you will know that when you're pouring concrete, you must have reinforcement in order for it to be strong and to endure the tests and the struggle that we put against it. So, so far in chapter four, what have we noticed? Well, we have been thinking about the theme of working toward the perfection of the body of Christ seen in the image and the person of Christ himself. And the opening verse helps us by teaching us that we are to walk worthy of this high calling. We are to walk worthy of the body of Christ because the Lord Jesus is worthy of our attention to that matter, because he has saved us by his grace from our sins. That's why we should walk worthy of the body, and because we need to be concerned for each other, concerned for the entire temple or body. Then also we noticed we are to walk worthy in the body because God has given to us traits, the traits of lowliness and meekness, which we are to receive from him and use for the betterment of each other. There's a task that we notice also as we are walking in the body, and the task is to keep that unity of the spirit and the bond of peace, and the teaching that flows from that we see in the earlier verses, the evidence of united, a unified nature and the example of God himself, the oneness of the Lord, the oneness of Christ, the oneness of our salvation, the oneness of our faith, the oneness that we have being baptized into Christ in salvation and faith. then we're able to take that unity and see it's so vital for us. So here we are tonight looking from verse 7 to the 12th verse and to walk worthy for the body of the Lord. And the first thought I leave with you is the general gift of grace to all believers. Verse number 7, the general gift of grace to all believers. But unto every one of us is given grace according to the measure of the gift of Christ. What grace has the Lord given to us as part of his body? why He has given to us the grace of salvation that has brought us into the body to begin with. We at one time were out of the fold of God. At one time we were strangers and foreigners from that unity of being brought into the family and fold of God. But by the grace of the Lord, He has given to us an understanding of our own sin and an understanding that Christ is the only Savior of our sin. And my, that's a great gospel message to proclaim. And friend, if you're here tonight and you have never tasted of the grace of God in salvation, you haven't come to receive him as your own, then I admonish you, I exhort you by the authority of God's word, flee from the wrath that is to come. flee from your sin and destruction, and flee unto Christ, for He will save you. His arms are open to receive you tonight. His grace is full and free, and the grace of salvation, He is able to draw you unto Himself. For by grace are ye saved through faith, and that not of yourselves. It is the gift of God, not of works, lest any man should boast." How far away is this from the teaching of a man like Karl Barth? who taught universalism. He taught that God is a God of love who will accept everyone fully and freely. He will accept everyone. Everyone will at the end be saved. My friend, that's not an accurate explanation of the doctrine of God's love, nor of the free grace of the Lord. His sovereign and unmerited grace and the fact that the Lord in that grace and through it has chosen us in Christ before the foundation of the world. He revealed to us that we have a need and our sinful hearts are not able of ourselves to latch hold of that, but it is the very grace of God that gives us the faith to believe and draws us savingly into that relationship with God. We have nothing to boast in of ourselves. For if we were left to ourselves, we would never have chosen the Lord. Jesus said to those Pharisees, "'Ye have not chosen me, but I have chosen you. "'Ye have not chosen me, but I have chosen you, "'that ye might have life.'" because natural man refuses God. He is not seeking out unto the Lord, but he is only seeking for himself and his own selfish endeavors. When Martin Luther wrote that book, Free Will a Slave, he was making his polemic, his argument against Erasmus, who said that, yes, man has his own free will in which he was enabled to choose God as he saw fit. But Luther argued and said, no, no man left to his own free will will always seek to himself away from God and oppose to the Lord's free grace. Yes, my friends, it is by God's rich grace that he has given to us the grace of salvation, but he has also given us the gift of faith. Once we have been brought into the Lord by that gift of faith, he gives us faith to live each day, to believe and to receive the promises. Because you see, if we did not have that ongoing gift of the Lord's faith to us through his grace, then we would be left to dry up and wither. No, God grants to us every day. His ongoing grace of faith that we read His Word, we take the promises of the Lord's Book, and we are able to apply them to our own life, and we are able to grow in grace. The Lord manifests to us that gift to believe in His own precious Word, the promises. And He has also given us the grace of sanctification. Have you stopped to think that we could not even contemplate a holy thought, apart from the grace of God operating in our lives. Friends, we are without God, without hope, and left to ourselves. But when the Lord comes to us with the grace of salvation, with the grace of faith, and the grace of sanctification, whereby we are being changed into his image more and more each day, You say, I don't really see that I am changing that much in the Lord's sanctification day by day. In fact, I see very often the opposite almost going in reverse. Ah, but friend, don't give up because by the very trial and the chastening of God and the hard knocks that come to us, God is working in us. And he's working in us that we might be conformed to the image of his son. Do not despise those things, do not despise those days, but pray that God will take them and use them in our life day by day. But then we think for a moment about the amount of grace that the Lord has given. Look back at our verse 7 again. It says, but unto every one of us believers is given grace according to the measure of the gift of Christ. The measure. abundance, the specific quantity that the Lord deems suitable to be given to his own individual people, sectors of the church, gifts and measure of the gift of Christ for the advancement of the local work. Matthew Poole, who was a contemporary with Matthew Henry, he wrote this, in that measure in which it pleaseth Christ to give them, who gives to some one gift, to some another, to some one degree of grace, and to some another, all have not the same, but need the help of those that have what they want or what they lack. And so for God's sovereign reasons, friend, there are times when a people may have supplies of grace, of the gift from Christ, and you might say, well, it doesn't seem really fair. How come that person has more than what I seem to have? My friend, don't think that way. The Lord deems what he deems best for the church. And when we see a lack in ourselves, perhaps there is an abundance in someone else that we might depend. Did you understand that? that you and I will depend on one another in the body, as the arm will depend upon the leg, as the foot will depend upon the hand. Because there are certain gifts and talents that the Lord will bless the church with, and let us not be envious or jealous of another, but to realize that by the Lord's sovereign purpose, he gives to one a certain amount. John Gill, the commentator, wrote this. It may be observed that every member of Christ and minister of his receive more or less grace and gifts from him. and that what they receive is all of free grace and in measure, as though they may have gifts differing one from another, yet all are useful, so that there is no room for pride, envy, contempt, which would break in upon the unity of the Spirit. You see, if we are thinking about boasting ourselves, if we feel we have more than someone else, just a minute. Because what we think we have more of, another believer has an abundance in another area that we have need of. And it is using the dependence, one of another, that we can work together for the cause of the advancement and the development of the local church and of the church of Christ in its entirety. And notice, please, from verses 8 to 10 of Ephesians 4, we have a vital connection to the cross and the resurrection of Christ. And I want to take a few moments to look at verses 8 to 10 as they will apply to what we're talking about here in the grace of the Lord. It says, "'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 or fulfill all things. I'd like you to keep your finger there and then turn back with me for a moment to Psalm 68 that we read. Psalm 68 and verse 18. I don't know if your soul was blessed as much as mine was just in the congregational reading through that psalm, but what a glorious testimony of God's working for his people and working through them. And the church of the Old Testament was the recipient of the grace of God as much as those in the New Testament. My, the Lord has profited and prospered his people by the dissemination of his word and his grace. But notice what is spoken in the 18th verse. David is speaking here about Christ, about the Messiah. This is a messianic prophecy here. Thou hast ascended on high, Thou hast led captivity captive. Thou hast received gifts for men. And then what Paul is doing, he is taking this psalm, this verse from the Old Testament, and he is bringing it out by the development of the Holy Spirit. It's a New Testament commentary upon this Old Testament verse. Because in Ephesians 4 and verse 8, when Paul says, Wherefore he saith, Who is he referring to? Why, he's referring back to David in the psalm. Wherefore David saith, speaking prophetically of Christ and his resurrection and his ascension unto glory, and he talks about the Messiah who is going to lead captivity, captive, Now, those are unusual words, and they have caused some people to have a little bit of confusion, perhaps, or misunderstanding as to the meaning of those words. The words, led, captivity, captive, they are actually used in other places in the Old Testament. For example, in Judges 5 and 12, where it says, awake, awake, Deborah. Awake, awake, and utter a song. Arise, Berak, and lead thy captivity captive, thou son of Abinoam. Lead thy captivity captive. It is similar to words that were used to express victory of a conquering army, one that was returning back to their home in victory with the enemy in chains to be on display. And as Paul would pick this up in Ephesians, you could picture it very well of the Roman army, of the legions of Rome returning back into their home, and they have all the prisoners in chains behind them, which putting them on display shows that we are the conquerors, we are the victors over those who we have fought against. And so in Psalm 68 and Ephesians 4, they speak about Jesus Christ, who is the mighty conqueror, who was victorious over Satan and death and sin and the grave, and all these are enemies in chains being brought as prisoners, led toward judgment. the Lord is giving to us here by way of explanation of this prophecy that's so strongly connected to the cross, the burial, and the glorious resurrection of Jesus Christ. The Geneva Bible which was a Bible that was really put together by William Tyndale, the Bible of the Puritans before the authorized version was translated. The Geneva Bible was noted for its comments in the margin, and some of them are very profound and helpful. This one on Psalm 68, 18 says this, and as God overcame the enemy of his church, took them prisoners, and made them tributaries. So Christ, which is God, manifest in the flesh, subdued Satan and sin under us, and gave to his church most liberal gifts, the gifts of his Spirit. Matthew Henry, a commentator, said this, Jesus Christ, our blessed Redeemer, having risen from the dead, is gone to heaven. where he sits at the right hand of the Majesty on high, which completed the proof of his being the Son of God. As great conquerors, when they rode in their triumphal chariots, used to be attended with the most illustrious of their captives, led in chains, so Christ, when he ascended into heaven as a triumphant conqueror, led captivity captive. Captivity is here put for captives and signifies all our spiritual enemies who brought us into captivity before. He conquered those who conquered us, such as sin, the devil, death, and indeed he triumphed over these on the cross. But the triumph was completed at his ascension when he became Lord over all and had the keys of death and of hell put into his hands. You see, my friend, The Lord led captivity captive. He defeated Satan and death and all of the enemies that would cause us to have stumbled and fell and would have brought us into hell. Thank God they've all been destroyed and we are living in the victory of the glory of Jesus Christ. And that's how we are to walk each day. Then come back to Ephesians 4 and note verses 9 and 10. you will see the bracket that begins at verse 9. And what this means is that the Apostle is giving some New Testament commentary on this psalm. Now that he ascended, what is it that but 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. The one who ascended up to heaven as the apostles witnessed is the one Paul is speaking about here. It's the same one who first descended into the lower parts of the earth. Now, what does that mean, the lower parts of the earth? It is the Greek word that sometimes refers to Hades, a place of the departed dead, subterranean areas, and also the word is connected with our word catacomb. In fact, the word catacomb comes from that Greek word that we have translated lower. And we know that the catacombs were places that were underneath. They were tombs underneath a city or an area specifically around Rome. I want you to consider also that the Savior said of himself that as Jonah was three days and three nights in the belly of the whale, so the Son of Man would be in the heart of the earth for three days and three nights, in the heart of the earth. The Lord was really and truly dead for those three days. And when the apostle is talking about the Lord going into the lower parts of the earth, I believe it's simply talking about the Lord going into the grave where he was buried. And so when we think about the Lord descending into the grave, he is the same one that ascended up high into the heavens. Some people have thought that this refers to the Lord descending into the lower parts of hell itself. But I don't believe that is true at all and not what this is referring to. I want you to turn also over to 1 Peter chapter 3. 1 Peter chapter 3. This portion from verse 18 to 20, well let's read it first of all. It says, for Christ also has suffered for sins, the just for the unjust, that he might bring us to God, being put to death in the flesh, but quickened by the Spirit. By which also he went and preached unto the spirits in prison, which sometimes were disobedient, when once the longsuffering of God waited in the days of Noah, while the ark was a preparing wherein few, that is, eight souls were saved. Now these two portions, 1 Peter and Ephesians 4, Some people have made the mistake of drawing a parallel between them, as if there is something similar, and they have interpreted this as the Lord going down into hell at the time of his burial and preaching to the saints that were in hell, or pardon me, to those people who were in hell at that time. But upon closer examination, I believe you'll see that these are two distinct passages. And John Calvin noted this. He said, common has been the opinion that Christ's descent into hell is here referred to, that is in 1 Peter, but the words mean no such thing. He explains that it has always been Christ's spirit that empowers his servants in every generation to preach to an unbelieving world. If you come back to 1 Peter again, in that portion, it says that in the flesh he was put to death, but he was quickened by the Spirit, by which also... so by the same Spirit by which also he went and preached unto the spirits that are in prison. Theodore Beza, who was contemporary with Martin Luther, he holds that the reference is to what was done in the time of Noah. That is, that Christ, by his Spirit, employed Noah as a preacher of righteousness, though with no success during that time, as the spirits of men to whom he preached were in prison, they were in that sense bound up in the prison house of their own sin. And so much were they in the prison of their own sin, which is not a very strange parallel for us to see, because all men outside of Christ, in the darkness of their own sin, are held tight by the devil, held captive by the devil at his own will, held in chains. And so every unbeliever and ungodly person could fit into that category. And so as Noah, filled with the Spirit of Christ as a preacher of righteousness, went about to proclaim the message of salvation and repentance, but as far as we know, they did not hear. And if some did hear and were saved, they died before the door of the ark closed, because there were only eight that were saved. And that is made very clear to us. Geneva Bible again notes regarding this, comments, Christ has showed his power in all ages, in the preservation of the godly, were they never so few and miserable, and in avenging the rebellion of his enemies, as it appears by the history of the flood. For Christ is he who in those days when God through his patience appointed a time of repentance to the world, but they rejected, he was present not in a corporal presence, but by his divine power preaching repentance even by the mouth of Noah himself. who then prepared the ark to those disobedient spirits who are now in prison, waiting for the full recompense of their rebellion. And he saved those only eight by water. When we think about this, back in 1 Peter 1, verses 10 and 11, Peter said this, of which salvation the prophets have inquired or they searched diligently into. prophesied of the grace that should come unto you, searching, note this, what or what manner of time the Spirit of Christ which was in them did signify." So this is not a strange thing. Peter noted that the Spirit of Christ was as much active and in the Old Testament saints as the Spirit of Christ is active and in us today. And so, my friend, when we think about these things, I wanted to make that clear to you because there is some confusion about the bracketed part in Ephesians chapter 4 and what it really meant by the Lord ascending up, first of all, having descended, and the text in 1 Peter. The two need to be kept completely separate. I believe as further you study that, you'll see that they are two very distinct portions of the Word of the Lord. But as we come back to the 10th verse, we see the exaltation of our Lord Jesus Christ back in Ephesians chapter 4. He has now ascended far above all heavens that he might fulfill things. This verse brings us once more to the exaltation of Christ, being raised up from the grave, having ascended up into the heavens, and now is magnified far above all principalities and powers, all might, and all dominion, and above every name that is named both in heaven and on earth. And my friend, one day every knee will bow before him. And every tongue will confess that Christ is Lord to the glory of God the Father. May I ask you, to what extent did our Lord go to redeem you, to give you the grace of salvation, to give you faith, to give you hope? And every name that is named, both upon heaven and earth, that will bow before Him will do so either in submission, in joy, in trust, or they will do so in their own rebellion, and yet they will be submitted. What do we owe Him? And how can we ever repay the Lord? I want you to notice secondly and briefly the specific gifts for the ministry. Now think in mind, keep in mind, we're talking about walking worthy for the body of Christ. And what is he given? Why he is given certain gifts to the church, and verse 11 has this for us. He gave some apostles and some prophets and some evangelists and some pastors and teachers. And we are informed in the book of Corinthians a fuller list of the positions and the responsibilities of the gift of administration, the gift of giving itself, and other gifts the Lord has blessed the church with. But specifically here we have these four areas. The apostle is mentioned first. The apostle simply means a sent one, one with a special commission. And that's really what an apostle was in the New Testament context. These refer to the official name of the 12 disciples that Christ separated to be with him in that inner circle. And he directed them and he taught them and trained them for those four years. And as he was teaching them, very often they did not get what he was telling them, and they certainly didn't seem to understand about the crucifixion and the resurrection of Christ until afterward. But it was those also who saw the resurrected Christ and who witnessed the Lord having returned again to them as they were gathered in Jerusalem. And then it was those who were marked as being the foundation, as Ephesians chapter 2 tells us, the prophets and the apostles being the foundation of the New Testament church. Now, Rome claims that Peter had supremacy over the other apostles, and they claim that he had something called apostolic succession that went on from Peter. He, in one sense, passed the scepter to the next one and the next one, and there has been an unbroken stream of popes from that time until now. And, of course, that is nowhere spoken of in the Scripture, nor is it evidence that Peter had supremacy over the other apostles that were there. In fact, it's interesting, in Acts 15, it was James who was chairing or overseeing the council in Jerusalem at that time that gave direction to separate Paul and Barnabas for the preaching of the gospel. Then we notice that the gift of, oh, one more thing I wanted to comment about the apostles is that the apostolic age, it went from the day of Pentecost, primarily, right through until the death of the apostle John, who was the last one near the end of the first century. And so this time period was only for the New Testament church, and it has been closed and finished. Therefore, there are no more apostles. They were for a period of time. And then you think about prophets. Well, in the Old Testament and in the New Testament, the term designates a spokesman from God. And the prophet's main task was to faithfully relay the message that God had given to him without any mixture of personal opinion. He was one who was to foretell. He was a preacher of the Word, really. He was to foretell the Word, but he was also, under some circumstances, to also foretell a message, a prophecy that he had received from God. At times God revealed what would happen in the future, either near to the time that the prophet lived or maybe after he had died and had gone away. And the simple evidence of validity was if the message was true or not. Did it come to pass? If it did, the guy was true. If it didn't, he was a false prophet. Without doubt, the main purpose of the Old Testament prophet was to prepare the way for Messiah to come. He was to make the way of the Lord straight. That was the purpose of John the Baptist. He was a preeminent prophet coming into the New Testament era to span the old and the new, and the New Testament prophet was to speak about the fulfillment of the word of Christ. With the closing of the canon of scripture, the putting together of the Bible, there was no longer a need for the office of the prophet, and it mainly ceased during that period of time. And yet, the follow-on from that of pastors and preachers, of those who continue to foretell the Word, continues on to this day, because he deals with those next two aspects, both of evangelists and pastors and teachers. So, who make up the evangelists? The word means one who announces good news. In fact, the word euangelion is the word that we get our word gospel from, which simply means good news. So the spreading of the evangel is the spreading of the good news. The spreading of the euangelion is that Christ came into the world to save sinners. And in the New Testament, This was someone who moved from place to place preaching the good news of salvation. Primarily it was to the unconverted. Philip, you will remember, was made a deacon. He was one to care for the church in Acts chapter 6. But also we note that he was an evangelist in Acts chapter 21 and verse 8. So Philip the evangelist was also a deacon. So here is a case where these two parts overlapped each other. But it's also evident in the New Testament that the evangelist was a part of a work It was not an office as the elder or the deacon is an office in the New Testament, and both the elders and deacons were also called evangelists. So that was a ministry that had to do with spreading the gospel, preaching primarily to the unconverted. And here's the point for us today. Every one of us are called to be evangelists. Every one of us have the evangel in our hand. All of us have the gospel to proclaim and to teach and tell. Now you're not all going to be pastors and teachers. You're not all going to be missionaries. But my friend, you are all an evangelist because you have the word in your heart and you have the opportunity to give that word. When was the last time you shared your testimony with someone? Have you ever shared your testimony with someone? Have you ever told them of their need of Christ? Have you ever shared the heart of the gospel that Christ came to save? My friend, you are an evangelist, and you are to use this talent and gift that God has given. And I know that there are some who have that talent in a specific way. There are some preachers who are naturally gifted evangelists. That is true. But in one sense, we all have this. And you know, it is a gift that God has given to the church. It is that which Christ has bestowed upon us, apostles and prophets and evangelists. And the next one would be pastors and teachers. And these are one and the same, two aspects of the same office. If the evangelist was used to lead people to conversion, then the pastor was to build them up in the faith of Christ. You will note that there is a two-fold task here of the pastor and teaching, and here the Lord specifically sets apart men for this New Testament office, because in the eldership you have the ruling elder and you have the teaching elder, and the teaching elder would be under the aspect also of the pastoral responsibilities in the New Testament church. I want to encourage you to pray that God would raise up such men in our congregations and in our denomination. This has been a burden. We need to have men who are called of God to this most important calling, men who are willing to serve, men who are men of prayer and men of God, men who are sure that God's hand is upon them for this purpose of the advancement and of the health of the body of the Lord Jesus Christ. And then finally, the purpose of all these gifts in verse 12, it is for the perfecting of the saints, for the work of the ministry and for the edifying of the body of Christ. By the word perfecting is one that means complete. We are told to be perfect in the Lord. We are told to be complete in Christ. And it has also this connotation of adjusting to make something fit. And that's so suitable, isn't it? When we think of ourselves as bricks in the building of Christ, and sometimes we don't have the best fit And there needs to be the hammer and chisel to come out and take the rough edges off in order that we will fit properly into the building. And that's the idea of the perfecting of the saints. And that's how you and I will assist each other, and how the pastoral work and the preaching work, as you hear the word and you take it to your soul, you say, Lord, that was a word to my heart today, and I felt the sharp cutting edge of the scripture to my soul. And that is why the Lord has blessed the church with these ministries. because it is to be the perfecting. Notice back in Ephesians 2.21, it says, "...in whom all the building fitly framed together groweth unto an holy temple in the Lord." And so we are growing, being framed together, and there is that necessary work. Once saved, we have a long way to go, don't we? Until we take on the image of Christ. If you've ever put a puzzle together, one that has a lot of pieces to it, you start by putting the perimeter around, and you get all the square pieces, and you put them all together, and now you begin to fill in the center. But if you didn't have a picture of the puzzle, you'd be nearly lost trying to put that together. Or you can maybe get the frame together, the outside, but putting the inside, you can't tell what this puzzle is going to look like. Ah, but every time another piece goes in, Another piece goes in, it comes a little bit clearer, until you begin to see faintly what this image is all about. And that's what it is with you and I being made more like unto the image of Christ, being fitted into the work of the Church, all of us working together. And of course, the aspect of for the work of the ministry, both in general and specific areas, the work of the ministry that every congregant has to do in a general sense, and then the specific area for the work of the ministry for the edification, the building up of the body, which is inclusive of the next point, the edifying of the body in Christ. The majority of the New Testament is written for the edification of the believer in Christ. It is for the church being built. And I believe that each one of us need to be careful that we don't allow anything in our lives which are gonna hinder the growth or hinder the edification of the body of the Lord. And to ask each other the question, what more could I do? Or what more could I be doing for the great purpose of keeping the unity in the bond of peace? and endeavouring to build up each other in the things of the Lord. You know it will only be done by the love of Christ being shed abroad in our hearts. It's only going to be done by us dealing with each other in a spirit of love in Christ, and that has to be the case. And so, friends, as we think about this study tonight, may the Lord give us grace to walk worthy for the body of the Lord. Let's bow in prayer. Our Father, I pray tonight that, Lord, you would take every believer in this congregation and that we would be daily filled with the Spirit of God, that there would be a hungering and a thirsting after righteousness, that we would be kept from sin, kept from temptation that so easily draws us away Lord, don't allow the foxes that spoil the vine to be in our lives. Give us victory over the world, the flesh, and the devil. And we pray that each of us will earnestly and diligently seek out ways in which we can build up the local church, to build up the body. Give us grace, Lord, to this end. Help us to realize that we are not all hands and not all feet. and that we need to serve each other and to help each other. Our Father, I pray tonight that for any who are not saved, that they would be convicted by the Spirit of God and be drawn unto the Lord to say, God, be merciful to me, the sinner. So part us now in thy fear, and with thy rich blessing, We pray that the light and the glory and the beauty of Jesus would be upon us each day of this week. We ask in his precious name. Amen.