Ephesians chapter 4 and reading from verse 1. I therefore the prisoner of the Lord beseech you to walk worthy of the calling with which you were called, with all lowliness and gentleness, with long-suffering, bearing with one another in love, endeavoring to keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace. There is one body and one spirit, just as you were 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 to each one of us, grace was given according to the measure of Christ's gift. Therefore, he says, when he ascended on high, he led captivity captive and gave gifts to men. Now this he ascended, what does it mean? But that he also first descended into the lower parts of the earth. He who descended is also the one who ascended far above all the heavens that he might fill all things. And he himself gave some to be apostles, some prophets, some evangelists, and some pastors and teachers for the equipping of the saints, for the work of ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ, till we all come to the unity of the faith, and of the knowledge of the son of God to a perfect man to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ. So in verse three of this chapter, we're told that each of us should personally endeavor to keep that unity of the spirit in the bond of peace. Each of us who is a believer in the local church has the responsibility in relation to the Holy Spirit's working to do this. And the reason for this is so that the whole Church of Jesus Christ, not just individual churches, will grow up. into the stature of Christ, spiritually speaking. So let's see if we can discover more of what this means to us personally and to the church that we are a part of. Christ gave his church pastor teachers for the following three reasons. First of all, he's given his pastor teachers their gift in relation to their equipping. the saints for the work of service. I went over this truth with you in my last message on verse 11, but I would like to build on it here now. I said to you that the apostles, prophets, and evangelists were given to the church by Christ for the purpose of laying the foundation of the New Testament Church, and when the apostles had completed their work, and the last apostle, that is, John, died, that the revelatory gifts ceased, and the only office which was left and which would continue throughout all the rest of the church age would be that of pastor-teacher. We're not given a list of qualifications concerning any local church raising up apostles, prophets, and evangelists because those offices were all related to the foundation building of the church. And so we should understand that they're no longer necessary to the completion of the building. because we have the completed canon of scripture. So we can say, however, that what the evangelists were then, even so in their calling and work now, we find that God does call missionaries to foreign lands and other people to spread the gospel far and wide. There should be those who are sent out by a constituted local church. if churches are to be planted in those fields, whether at home or whether abroad. Furthermore, we should glory in the work which the apostles did in laying the foundation of the church and in giving us the holy scriptures. That mighty work stands to this day and it will stand to the end of the world. But in regard to the office of pastor, teacher, we should know that this gift will be given and has been given and will be given until Christ's second coming. We know this because a list of qualifications for that office is given to us in 1 Timothy 3, Titus 1, and 1 Peter 5. We're told here in verse 12 that the pastor teacher's job is to equip the saints, the believers in that church for the work of service to that church. He also equips them for their service in good works to other people in the community that they live in. The word equip in verse 12 is katartisman. In the King James, it's translated for the perfecting. of the saints. That's a good translation for this word, as it is what takes place in our sanctification by the Holy Spirit in our everyday lives as we go about our duties and responsibilities. So the best of God's saints are imperfect, but they are being perfected. They have faith and hope. and love, but those graces are being perfected in relation to the various situations that the Lord providentially brings you into. By his grace, Christ is perfecting you as one of his people. He gives you his Holy Spirit to show you your need of grace in all of your thoughts, in all of your actions. And through this Holy means, He leads you into the truth and He teaches you. I want you to look with me over at Hebrews chapter 13 and verses 20 and 21, Hebrews. Chapter 13 and verses 20 and 21, it says here, now may the God of peace who brought up our Lord Jesus from the dead, that great shepherd of the sheep, through the blood of the everlasting covenant, make you complete in every good work to do his will, working in you what is well-pleasing in his sight, through Jesus Christ to whom be glory forever and ever. The words make you complete in the New American Standard Version are equip you. And in the King James that is rendered make you perfect. The word in the Greek is katartisai. The same word, essentially, as we have it in our text in Ephesians 4. So it is Christ, the chief shepherd, who makes each saint complete. It is Christ who equips and perfects us. In this holy work, he uses the pastor of the church in many ways through his teaching to show you, the saints, what the truth is. And the pastor will explain to you what you need to do in relation to the truth. And the pastor will explain to you from the word the kind of graces and attitudes which you as one of God's saints will need to manifest. The pastor will teach you the way that you should go about to do your good works. He will explain that each member in the body needs to consider others in the church in relation to themselves. He will exhort you to think carefully about your words and your works so that true unity is preserved and it's promoted amongst all of us. In this holy way, then, the whole church advances in truth and righteousness, each one according to your faithfulness. And so then you'll become useful to Christ himself in this holy way that we are speaking about here. We will strive together as believers to extend Christ's kingdom by promoting the truth of the Bible in whatever ways we possibly can. So the pastor in using his gift of preaching and teaching will be delivering to you everything that is profitable to you. in biblical truth. He's going to be exhorting you to engage in good works and to use your spiritual gift in doing those good works. The pastor and the people together will consciously then engage in this good work together. They will together be learning to keep all of God's commands and further Christ's purposes in the community that we live in. A local church of Christ's saints should honor God in their worship. They will consciously strive together to please Christ by their taking the initiative to do good works. So we're not simply to live to ourselves. and our own interests or to only do things from our own selfish perspective. But we are to consider what God has given to us each individually. What gift has he given to me and how should I use it? So the pastor will take the lead in this And he will encourage all of you, the people in the church, to do the same by setting a good example. I want you to look at Paul in this regard in the book of Acts chapter 20 and verses 17 to 20. It says here, from Miletus, it says he's sent to Ephesus and called to the elders of the church. And when they had come to him, he said to them, you know from the first day that I came to Asia, in what manner I always lived among you, serving the Lord with all humility, with many tears and trials, which happened to me by the plotting of the Jews, how I kept back nothing that was helpful. but proclaimed it to you and taught you publicly and from house to house, testifying to Jews and also to Greeks, repentance toward God and faith toward our Lord Jesus Christ." So Paul was a good under-shepherd of the flock, of Christ's church. He was a good example to all pastors in all generations of this church age. He says in verse 27, for I have not shunned to declare to you the whole council, of God, therefore take heed to yourselves and to all the flock among which the Holy Spirit has made you overseers, to shepherd the church of God which he purchased with his own blood." So Paul knew, and he wrote in the verses that we're studying, that God has given to each of us as saints in the church a certain amount of knowledge and a certain amount of giftedness. And so he will teach us to consider how we might use those things in such a way that our church might be united in our vision of the Christian life. And we can learn and we can grow together in this, in our spiritual strength. and ability to minister our gifts in a way that would be righteous and most effective for the Lord. So second, Christ has given his pastor teachers their gift for the edifying of the body of Christ, the equipping of the saints for the work of service is for the edifying of the body of Christ, Paul says in verse 12b. The word in the Greek for edifying is oikodomen. The pastor's teaching and preaching of God's Word is intended to edify the saints, to build them up in their faith, and to encourage them in their service to Christ. They should become more spiritually discerning under his ministry, and they should love learning from him all the truth of the Word of God. The pastor will be preaching to you all of the principles of truth which flow from the knowledge of Christ, how all of the promises of God are fulfilled in him, that they are all yes and amen in him to the glory of God, and He will be teaching you to observe all that Christ has commanded you, and He will remind you constantly that it is Christ with you who helps you to obey Him. It's important to realize that the pastor's gift of preaching and teaching is meant by Christ to edify you, or build you up to build up the whole body of Christ, that is, although he is a gift to a particular church and as a particular ministry to them, to build them up by his preaching and teaching, that his gift is for the whole body of Christ, his universal church. Since this is so, If he is a writing pastor, for instance, his gift may be useful to the church in all generations to come. until the end of the world if his writings or the recordings of his messages are preserved. He may actually be able to build many people up in many places of the world and help people who are in various denominational and non-denominational settings to better understand the Word if God blesses his ministry in this way. The pastor who would be lastingly useful in building up many Christians will be the man who will speak and explain many things related to Christ. and his person, Christ and his kingdom and glory and Christ and his sovereignty, both in salvation and sanctification, he will open up many things that are said about Christ in the writings of the apostles. He knows that the preaching of Christ and him crucified will bring people to Christ. He will edify many, by showing in his preaching how absolutely essential it is to have Christ richly dwelling in your heart by faith. I want you to see this from Ephesians chapter 3 and verses 17 to 19. It says here, Paul says here, that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith, that you, being rooted and grounded in love, may be able to comprehend with all the saints what is the width and length and depth and height to know the love of Christ which passes knowledge that you may be filled with all the fullness of God. So the pastor will equip you in this good way by preaching Christ himself first and foremostly. You see this also in 2 Corinthians chapter 4 and verses 5 and 6. It says here, this for we do not preach ourselves but Christ Jesus the Lord and ourselves as your bond servants for Jesus sake for it is the God who commanded light to shine out of darkness who has shown in our hearts to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ. So the object of every pastor ought not to be to become great in the eyes of men through the use of his gift, but rather that in the use of his gift, he will magnify what the grace of Christ has done for him personally. Now you see this often in the Apostle Paul's life as he went about preaching, that he would give his testimony of how he came to faith in Christ. That even though he didn't preach himself, he preached Christ in relation to what Christ had done for him. This is what I want you to see because this is what you should do. with people around you. You should be preaching Christ to them, sharing Christ with them in terms of what Christ has done for you personally. So I'm trying to show you that preachers ought not to be desirous to become great in the eyes of men. What they ought to desire is that Christ would be lifted up in such a way that people around who hear them would be drawn to Christ, to think more of Christ, to understand more of Christ and what he died to bring to us. So what I'm trying to show you here is that the pastor, if he's a good pastor, will continually be directing the attention of his hearers to the glory of Christ. And if he does this, their faith in Christ will be built, it will be strengthened, and God will be glorified. In Philippians 1, you can turn over there with me if you want to, Philippians 1, verses 15 to 21, the apostle Paul is writing from prison, and he says, some indeed preach Christ even from envy and strife, and some also from goodwill. The former preached Christ from selfish ambition, not sincerely, supposing to add affliction to my chains, but the latter out of love. knowing that I am appointed for the defense of the gospel. What then? Only that in every way, whether in pretense or in truth, Christ is preached, and in this I rejoice. Yes, and will rejoice, for I know that this will turn out for my deliverance through your prayer and the supply of the spirit of Jesus Christ, according to my earnest expectation. and hope that in nothing I shall be ashamed, but with all boldness as always. So now also Christ will be magnified in my body, whether by life or by death, for to me to live is Christ and to die is gain." So we see here that Paul is using his gift wisely in relation to the way that he speaks of himself. The whole emphasis is upon Christ and the way that he is preached by other men while he was in prison. He knew that he was appointed for the defense of the gospel, but he wanted the Philippians to see the importance of preaching Christ out of love, not out of envy or strife or some other base motive. He rejoiced that Christ was being preached. And he knew that this would turn out for his deliverance from prison when those who he wrote to would pray for him. He says that the supply of the spirit of Jesus would be what sustained him and would help him to continue to preach Christ wherever he was. His prayer was that Christ would be magnified In his body, whether by life or by death, that's what he wanted. In the things that he did with his body, in word or deed to promote the truth of God's Word and the glory of Christ. This was so, he says, so that in life or in death that Christ would be magnified. in him would be made to seem great and greater and greater, both to him and people around him. And then third, Christ has given his pastor teachers their gift so that we all might come to the unity of the faith. Verse 13 says, till we all come to the unity of the faith and the knowledge of the Son of God to a perfect man in the measure and stature of the fullness of Christ. This phrase, till we all come to the unity of the faith, it has a threefold application. There is an individual and a corporate and a universal application, I believe. On the individual and local church level, it is that each of us who are Christians must strive for a better and better understanding in regard to our knowledge of the Son of God. According to the Word of God, we must pray and listen carefully to the preaching. We must apply the truth to our lives. We must press on together as a church toward the perfection which is found in Christ alone. We strive toward that perfection. in living our life to Him and having fellowship together in the local church. And in doing this, we must remind ourselves that we have a personal responsibility to the local church, the body of Christ to which we belong, to preserve the unity of the faith, it says here, in the bond of peace. That is, that we will, in an ongoing sense, hold to a mutually agreeable confession of faith. We will not compromise it for those who are willing to water down the truth or the gospel. We believe that every believer should fully investigate the claims of truth which are found in the doctrinal statements of the Word of God. And at the same time, on the level of the universal church, we will want to do our best in our attempts to relate to other believers in other churches to strive to come to the unity of faith in our interaction with them. We can do that by our promoting our knowledge of the triune God, that is one God, in one essence, and that there are, subsisting in the Godhead, three blessed persons, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. It should also be our desire to promote the knowledge of the Son of God, our Savior, He who is our Lord Jesus Christ, In him there are two natures, in his one blessed person. As our confession states, there are two whole, perfect, and distinct natures, which were inseparably joined together in one person without conversion, changing of the natures, or composition, making up each nature, or confusion, mixing together of each nature, which person, which person, one person, Christ is very God and very man, yet one Christ, the only mediator between God and man. So in our confession of these important blessed truths, we may find that we are not able to agree with all other people in all other denominational settings in regard to some of the finer points of doctrine. But let us strive to promote the unity of the faith as much as we can with those who are willing to study more carefully the Bible in relation to all the essential truths of the doctrine of God and Christ the mediator. And let us reach out to others in this way, in this good way that I'm talking about, and be willing to speak of the doctrine of the fall of man. We need to tell people around us that they are fallen creatures. because of Adam's sin. We need to explain to them the reason why there's so much sin in people's hearts, so much sin in the world. We can't do that without explaining the doctrine of the fall of man or the covenant of works and the covenant of grace and the work of the Holy Spirit in the new birth. We should all be able to hold to the truth that salvation is by grace. through faith and that it is not of ourselves. It is the gift of God. We should all be able to come to the truth that sanctification is by the spirit and that God's grace to us is the basis of our growing up into Christ likeness. We should be, all of us, able to acknowledge that it takes the supply of the spirit of Christ Jesus to live the Christian life. and grow up in holiness and righteousness and truth and that we all need wisdom from God in relation to the scriptures to live them out in our lives. All the commandments which God has given to us to be able to grow up into the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ. But this is what we should consciously strive to do. The pastor of the local church should promote this holy attitude toward other believers and other Christian churches which believe that the Bible is the Word of God. He knows that Christ is the only perfect man. And he will preach that it is to the measure of Christ's stature towards which we will strive together as a congregation, not only individually, not only on our own by ourselves, but together corporately as a local church. When we are united in this pursuit of consciously striving to be perfect, even as He is perfect and holy, as He is holy, we will find that we will be coming closer to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ here in our own church. We pray that this will also be true of churches around the world. We should be praying this way. We pray that in generations to come, the universal, visible church will grow up to make progress in discernment of doctrine and holy practice to the stature of the fullness of Christ. That over the generations of church history, this has taken place, but it will take place in a greater sense in the time to come. in the time of the millennium, the latter day glory of the church, for it says in Isaiah 52, Verses seven to 10, how beautiful upon the mountains are the feet of him who brings good news, who proclaims peace, who brings glad tidings of good things, who proclaims salvation, who says to Zion, your God reigns, your watchmen, and he's talking about the pastor teachers here, your watchmen shall lift up their voices. With their voices they shall sing together, for they shall see eye to eye when the Lord brings back Zion. May it be so. To the glory of God. Let's pray together. Father, we thank you for this passage. And we see that there is so much here in truth for us to receive. This good truth of how we can have unity on the local church level, on the interpersonal level, on the universal church level to the degree that other people hold to the truth of the Bible and the truth of the major doctrines of the faith. Father, help us to be those who promote this unity. You have given us this unity, this good unity in and by your Holy Spirit. Oh, Father, come now and enliven our hearts by your grace, and O Holy Spirit, come and make our unity a practical unity where we can work together and grow up together in you, O Christ, and show forth the truth of your word to many people around us, to the glory of your name and to the benefit of many eternally. For we pray and ask these things in your precious name, Lord Jesus, amen.