Transcript

The story is told about a small-town church. This small town had experienced rapid growth, and the local church congregation had outgrown their building. The members formed a committee to plan and build a new church.

The committee told the minister to take care of the flock and they would handle the details of church construction. The minister complied with the request and kept his distance.

As the new building was nearing completion, the committee chairman invited the minister to view their new house of worship.

Entering through the main doors, the minister noted only the last row of pews had been installed. At first he was confused. The chairman of the board said, “Since people always fill the last row of pews first, we had a special feature installed.”

He pressed a button on the wall and the pew moved forward and another popped up. He pressed the button and the same thing happened. The minister was impressed.

The big day finally arrived for the first service in the new church. The minister watched as the pews filled from the back and then moved forward. He was ecstatic.

When the time came for the sermon, the minister was so filled with joy and goodwill, he delivered his prepared message and then some.

At 12 o’clock, he was still sharing the Word when the church bells began to ring…and at the same time the pulpit and the minister slowly descended from view.

Some might like to have this feature installed for their local church, because of long-winded pastors. Paul speaks of the gift of a pastor here along with other gifts of apostles, prophets, and evangelists. We’ll examine these gifts and their purpose in this episode.

Ephesians 4:11 says, “And He gave some, apostles; and some, prophets; and some, evangelists; and some, pastors and teachers.”

When Paul wrote, “And He gave,” this is the Head of the Church, the Body of Christ, who is the Lord Jesus Christ.

Verses 7-10 of this chapter teach how Christ has the sovereign right and authority to give gifts to His Church, and that it is He who “gave gifts unto men” and fills “all things.”

Christ gave gifts to men, and He gave gifted men to the church, people who are enabled and empowered by Christ for various leadership ministries in and to the church.

These gifted men are those who, for the good of the Body of Christ and all men, proclaim the truth of His Word, and who point toward the One who, by His grace, descended to this earth from heaven to die for our sins and rise again,
and then He has risen again and ascended up on high, the Lord Jesus Christ.

At the end of Verse 8 it reads that Christ “gave gifts unto men.” Then there is a parenthesis and verses 8 and 9 are a parenthetic thought and explanation.

If you skip the parenthesis in Verses 9 and 10 and go straight from verse 8 to verse 11 you find Christ gave gifts unto men, and the gifts He “gave” were: “some, apostles, some prophets, some evangelists, and some pastors and teachers.”

Regarding “apostles” and “prophets.” Ephesians 2:20 explains how the Church is “built upon the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Jesus Christ Himself being the chief corner stone.” Apostles and prophets had a foundational ministry to the early Church.

“Apostles” is the Greek word, apostolos. “Apo” in the Greek speaks of separation, being separated. This speaks of a person separated out, and sent forth by another, sent out on a mission with the authority of the one who sent him.

And an apostle of God was one who was separated out by God and sent forth by Him with His authority.

In John 13:16 our Lord said, “Verily, verily, I say unto you, The servant is not greater than his lord; neither he that is sent greater than he that sent him.” The words, “he that is sent” is the Greek word, apostolos, and defines this term. But this verse also reminds us that an apostle was one who was under the authority of the One who sent him.

This gift was authenticated in the early church by signs and miracles, verifying that they were indeed sent by the Lord. As 2 Corinthians 12:12 says, “Truly the signs of an apostle were wrought among you in all patience, in signs, and wonders, and mighty deeds.”

God revealed His Word and message of grace supernaturally to apostles in the early Church, the Body of Christ.

Speaking of this message, the revelation of the Mystery, Paul wrote in Ephesians 3:5 that it “in other ages was not made known unto the sons of men, as IT IS NOW REVEALED UNTO HIS HOLY APOSTLES AND PROPHETS BY THE SPIRIT.”

These apostles do not include the 12 apostles of the kingdom, but rather refer to secondary grace apostles, such as Timothy and Silas, and also men with this foundational gift of apostles for the early church.

These apostles spread God’s truth with God’s authority abroad, established local churches, and revealed His new message of grace and instruction for the early Church that we find in Paul’s epistles and completed revelation.

“Prophets” were those who proclaimed God’s Word. They were spokesmen or mouthpieces of God. Like apostles, God revealed His Word and message of grace supernaturally to them during the formative stages of the Church, the Body of Christ.

These are grace prophets, not prophets for the earthly kingdom of Christ.

The revelation given to them was the grace truth for the Body of Christ. Those with the gift of prophets supernaturally, by the Spirit, spoke and made known the revelation of God for this dispensation of grace without error and with perfect accuracy.

They spoke directly by the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, making known the truths that are now recorded in Paul’s letters.

I Corinthians 13:2 says of “the gift of prophecy,” that it entailed the ability to “understand all mysteries, and all knowledge.” I Corinthians 14:3 says of this gift, “But he that prophesieth speaketh unto men to edification, and exhortation, and comfort.”

Those with the gift of prophets understood and had all knowledge concerning the revelation of the mystery. And their message, as we find and read in Paul’s epistles, was one of edification, exhortation, and comfort.

When Paul wrote Ephesians, the gifts of apostles and prophets were still being given. But apostles and prophets were only foundational gifts for the church (2:20).

Once that foundation was laid and the Scriptures were completed there was no longer a need for these gifts. Thus, once they fulfilled their purpose, they ceased.

As Paul wrote of the gift of prophecy in 1 Corinthians 13:8-10: “Charity never faileth: but whether there be prophecies, they shall fail…For we know in part, and we prophesy in part. But when that which is perfect is come, then that which is in part shall be done away.”

The other two gifts remain to this day. The gift of “evangelist” speaks of one who is the messenger of good news. They are divinely equipped and gifted to win the lost to Christ.

Those with this gift boldly, plainly and powerfully speak forth the gospel of grace by which the Spirit brings about new birth in the hearts of the unsaved hearers.

Those with the gift of evangelist proclaim the Word of God as it relates to people’s need for salvation.

The message of the evangelist today is the good news of Ephesians 2:8-9, presenting Christ’s offer of the gift of salvation by grace thru faith alone in His finished work.

We are all to “do the work of an evangelist” according to 2 Timothy 4:5, but God has also given gifted people to the church who are gifted in the area of evangelism.

Evangelists function in a local church and they also include our missionaries, who pioneer and have been given a strong call and burden by God to go into unreached areas to reach the lost for Christ.

Evangelists have the special ability to probe the conscience, answer objections, encourage decisions for Christ, and help the convert find assurance through the Word.

Evangelists not only preach the gospel themselves, but they also help equip and inspire the Church in this important ministry for each of us to faithfully carry out.

The gift of “pastors and teachers,” is one gift here according to the construction of the Greek, and also, as you can see in King James translation, because of the word “some” not repeated in front of “teachers.”

It is one office with two ministries, a pastor-teacher. According to Romans 12:7, there is a gift of teaching. But Paul speaks here of a pastor-teacher, which is something different.

My father, Pastor Paul Sadler, once said: “While every pastor is a teacher, not every teacher is a pastor.” He’s right, and we see that in the church.

The word “pastor” means “shepherd.” “Pastors and teachers” speaks of the gift of one who like a shepherd, oversees, cares for, protects, guides, and serves the flock. A pastor-teacher leads and feeds his church; he shepherds and trains. And he does so by the Word.

The Word is the food which gives His flock nourishment. The Word is his staff that guides and protects those in his care. And this is why the pastor must teach.

The pastor-teacher is to ENRICH the church’s knowledge of God and His Word, and ENCOURAGE the church to “walk worthy of the vocation wherewith ye are called,” and to be an EXAMPLE to the flock (I Peter 5:3).

One author wrote this about the connection between the ministries of the evangelist and the pastor-teacher: “The evangelist deals with the beginning of Christian life while the teaching pastor is involved with the development and growth of that life.

“Evangelists are much like obstetricians, helping to bring new Christians into the [Church]. Teaching pastors are like pediatricians, seeing that these Christians have a healthy spiritual ‘diet,’ that their ‘diseases’ receive proper attention, and that they get plenty of spiritual ‘fresh air’ and ‘exercise.’”

Each of these gifts was and is involved in some way or another with the proclamation of the Word of God. Through apostles and prophets the Word was revealed to the Church, and through evangelists and pastor-teachers, the Word is declared and taught.

Also, Christ has given these gifts His Church, and Christ is the perfect illustration and goal of every spiritual gift.

If ever there was an apostle, one sent on a commission from God with God’s authority, it was Christ. If ever there was a prophet, a Mouthpiece of the very words of God, it was Christ. If ever there was an evangelist, a messenger of good news, it was Christ.

If ever there was a pastor-teacher, a shepherd who guided and protected and taught God’s Word, it was Christ.

The supreme example of these gifts is Christ. Christ is the One who gives the gifts, He is the goal of the gifts; His grace provides the enablement to do the gifts. It’s all about Him.

Ephesians 4:12-13 says, “For the perfecting of the saints, for the work of the ministry, for 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 fullness of Christ.”

The purpose of these gifts is also clear. It is that God’s people might be equipped for the work of ministry, so that the body of Christ would be built up.

Paul wrote that the gifts spoken of verse 11 are “for the perfecting [or equipping] of the saints.” The Greek word for “perfecting” was used to describe the mending of nets.

The gifted leaders given to the church work together to produce strong, mended, equipped, mature believers, in order to prepare the saints for the work of the ministry.

The King James Version, with the three sections set off by commas in verse 12, makes it look like the purpose of the gifted men of verse 11 is three separate things. But they are actually three links in a chain.

The construction of the verse is that as gifted leaders are responsible for equipping the saints by the Word of God, the well-equipped saints are responsible to do the work of the ministry, and then the result is that the Body of Christ will be built up and encouraged.

Evangelists and pastor-teachers, of course, are engaged in the work of the ministry. But the point is, they don’t do it by themselves.

All the saints are called to participate in ministry. Every believer is truly “in the ministry.” Evangelists and pastor-teachers equip the Body of Christ to work and serve the Lord in accordance with their various spiritual gifts.

The saints are equipped for the work of the ministry through the Word, through being trained and established in it. The Holy Spirit works through His Word in our hearts, and the Word motivates us to serve and minister to others like our Savior.

2 Timothy 3:16,17 says, “All Scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness: That the man of God may be perfect, thoroughly furnished [or equipped] unto all good works.”

There’s a story told about 4 people in the church named EVERYBODY, SOMEBODY, ANYBODY and NOBODY.

There was an important job to be done and EVERYBODY was sure that SOMEBODY would do it. ANYBODY could have done it but instead NOBODY did it. SOMEBODY got angry about this, because it was EVERYBODY’S job.

EVERYBODY thought ANYBODY would do it but NOBODY realized that EVERYBODY wouldn’t do it. It ended up that EVERYBODY blamed SOMEBODY when NOBODY did what ANYBODY could have done.

“Every one of us” has been gifted for ministry. NOBODY is left out. EVERYBODY is called to do “the work of the ministry.” This is all done in view of “the edifying of the body of Christ,” so that EVERYBODY and ANYBODY is built up in the Church.

Next, we’re told that the gifts of evangelist and pastor-teacher, and this process of equipping, working, and edifying is to continue “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 fullness of Christ.”

Because these verses won’t be fully realized until the Rapture of the Church, this is God’s way of telling us that His people need to continue being equipped, and the saints need to keep doing the work of the ministry, and the Body of Christ needs to be edified faithfully until that day.

We see here that God wants all His Church to attain unto “the unity of the faith.” Oneness is reached when the body of doctrinal truth for today, or “the faith” is adhered to, and there is a shared understanding of it.

The “unity of the faith” in this context is the seven-fold unity of the Spirit mentioned in verses 4-6: “There is one body, and one Spirit, even as ye 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.”

God wants His Church united under this unity of the Spirit and the truth of grace for today, as revealed in Paul’s epistles. That is “the faith,” the “one faith (4:5).

And God wants the process of equipping, working, and edifiying to continue “Till we all come in…the knowledge of the Son of God.” The word “knowledge” is the Greek word “epignosis,” and means “full knowledge.”

This “full knowledge” points to the knowledge of Christ according to what He is doing today under grace, in His present heavenly ministry and office as the Head of the Church the Body of Christ.

The Spirit wants the Church to know Christ, and to know Him fully, with a full knowledge of Him and how He is working under grace in His exaltation.

So we are to continue to equip, work, and edify so that the Church may know “the preaching of Jesus Christ, according to the revelation of the mystery, which was kept secret since the world began” (Rom. 16:25).

Coming to the unity of the faith and the full knowledge of the Son of God will lead us towards being “a perfect man,” or spiritually mature.

Like Paul wrote in Colossians 1:28, “Whom [or Christ] we preach, warning every man, and teaching every man in all wisdom; that we may present every man perfect [or mature] in Christ Jesus.”

And Paul defines what he means by “a perfect man”: “unto the measure of the stature of the fulness of Christ. He wants His church to radiate and reflect Christ and His stature, fulness, and character in our lives.

The fullness of Christ is God’s goal for His Church. We are to continue laboring in the Word and equipping, serving and edifying God’s Church to this end.

The purpose of Christ’s gifts is so that people will grow by leaps and bounds in being more like Christ. Growth is the target of the gifts, not numerical growth, but deep spiritual growth in Christ resulting in changed lives, love for the lost and fellow believers, and a drive for evangelism and ministry.

Ephesians 4:14 says, “That we henceforth be 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.”

As we grow out of spiritual infancy and into greater maturity in Christ and are united in the understanding of the faith for today and in our knowledge of the Son of God, it will keep us from being tossed to and fro and carried about with every wind of doctrine

God wants us as 1 Corinthians 14:20 says, to “be not children in understanding: howbeit in malice be ye children, but in understanding be men.”

For our spiritual safety and well-being, God wants a solid, mature understanding of His Word, and for us to be firmly anchored in Christ.

God does not want us to be immature and easily swayed, unstable, restless, forever changing our minds, subject to every sort of counterfeit truth, and carried away from the truth by every gust of popular or appealing teaching that comes down the pike.

False teachers create winds of doctrine. Much false teaching, Paul tells us here, is the result of men, who dishonestly, deliberately and deceitfully scheme, and cleverly manipulate error to make it look like truth.

Those who do not mature in Christ or in the Word are targets of deceivers, who are effective, dangerous, and numerous. And God wants us to know here that there are people who purposely deceive and ensnare people by their teaching.

The word “sleight” speaks of loaded dice-throwing. It speaks to how many knowingly cheat and deceive for their own gain and advantage. “Cunning craftiness” reminds us that they do it with skill and they have clever ways and arguments in their deception.

And “lie in wait to deceive” refers to a deliberate planning or system of error. They have methods and are organized, and like a lion stalking its prey, they lie in wait ready to attack when the opportunity is right.

All this together reminds us of the importance of the gifted leaders Christ gives to the Church, “for the perfecting of the saints,” and it further reminds us to be vigilant and always on the lookout and always personally maturing in Christ and staying close to the Word so we are not deceived.

Ephesians 4:15 says, “But speaking the truth in love, may grow up into Him in all things, which is the Head, even Christ.”

The word “But” here has the force of “but rather” or “but on the other hand.” Or, in contrast to false teachers or being misled by false doctrine, God wants us to be proclaimers of truth, firmly rooted in truth and not swayed by error.

And as people of truth, God wants us to speak His truth “in love,” like Christ, out of a concern and burden for others.

Our knowledge of the Son of God, our understanding of God’s Word and the gospel of the grace of God, are not things to be kept to ourselves, but things to share.

The world needs Christ; it needs the truth. It needs to hear it from the Body of Christ.

Truth and love go together. Some think it is love to shield the truth from someone when the truth may hurt them. Others harshly speak truth without love. But the balance of “speaking truth in love” is God’s desire for His church.

As we proclaim the truth and stand for it, this verse reminds us that this causes us to grow spiritually. It’s been said well that “This fundamental concern for the truth is the secret of maturity in the church.”

Our physical growth from a child is about growing up. And our spiritual growth is about growing up too. We grow “up” into Christ, our Head. He is the aim of the believer’s growth, He is the goal; to be like Him.

Ephesians 4:16 says, “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.”

As we grow up into Christ in all things, we the Body derive its life and power to grow from Him, our living Head. He is the aim and source of our growth.

And for the Body to grow also, Paul says the Body is “fitly joined together” by Christ. It is carefully and harmoniously fitted together with no one out of place. And it is “compacted” or we are firmly knit together with one another.

Christ has put the Body together perfectly, putting us where we are and can be used of Him most effectively according to His perfect will, giving us different gifts, and giving us His life and power to enable us in our various ministries.

We are all members of one another, we all have our own gifts and duties to perform, and we all need each other’s ministry and gifts for the Body to function properly.

And the Body is dependent on “that which EVERY joint supplieth, according to the effectual working in the measure of EVERY part.”

In other words, the spiritual growth of the Body as a whole is dependent on “every” member doing their part, using their gifts, and serving one another.

As it’s been said, “every member helps and is helped, strengthens and is strengthened, whereby the whole body grows and ‘increaseth with the increase of God.’”

We all belong to each other, affect each other, and need each other. Every member has a ministry to other members.

And as each member faithfully and obediently performs their function in God’s power, it “maketh increase…unto the edifying of itself in love.” It results in the growing up in maturity and the building up of the Body in love.

Every member of the Body is joined together by Christ and is vital to the health and harmony of the Body.

D. Martyn Lloyd-Jones states it so well, “In the Body of Christ every single member has responsibility, has a function, and matters.”