January 19th 2019 – Ephesians 4:8-16

“⁸ Therefore it says,

⁹ (In saying, “He ascended,” what does it mean but that he had also descended into the lower regions, the earth? ¹⁰ He who descended is the one who also ascended far above all the heavens, that he might fill all things.) ¹¹ And he gave the apostles, the prophets, the evangelists, the shepherds and teachers, ¹² to equip the saints for the work of ministry, for building up the body of Christ, ¹³ until we all attain to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to mature manhood, to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ, ¹⁴ so that we may no longer be children, tossed to and fro by the waves and carried about by every wind of doctrine, by human cunning, by craftiness in deceitful schemes.¹⁵ Rather, speaking the truth in love, we are to grow up in every way into him who is the head, into Christ, ¹⁶ from whom the whole body, joined and held together by every joint with which it is equipped, when each part is working properly, makes the body grow so that it builds itself up in love."

Ephesians 4:8-16

The reason why a deeply taught church becomes a 'sending' church is that such a fellowship has discovered the secret of true growth, as 16 proceeds to indicate. The translation of this verse in the AV is somewhat cumbersome, but its general meaning is quite clear. The essential idea is the inner harmony and coherence of the body and the common growth of its various limbs (we are members in particular) through individual connection with the Head (this is what 'fitly joined together and compacted' means). The phrase 'by that which every joint supplieth' has been variously rendered, but is probably best taken as 'through every contact with the supply' - i.e. through the union of every member of the body with the Head. This is further suggested in the next phrase, 'according to the proportionate working of each several part'. Each member of the body of Christ has his contribution to make to the harmony and wellbeing of the body, and will make that contribution when he responds without reserve to the ministry of the Word. And this will result in the glad, spontaneous and inevitable increase or growth of the body. Here is the true, New Testament conception of evangelical outreach - the Church as the body of Christ energised and vitalised by an unreserved reception of the word of ministry, healed, equipped, built up into maturity and balanced development, and thus made self-propagating and fruitful in the service of the gospel.

This, then, is the service for which the saints are to be equipped, this is the final purpose and goal of the ministry of the Word in the Church of Christ. Such a ministry, for Paul, meant the whole counsel of God, a full-orbed message (Acts 20:20, 27). As he wrote to Timothy, 'All Scripture is given by inspiration of God and is profitable ...' (2 Timothy 3:16), which tells us that we need all the truth of God for our balanced growth, not merely this or that doctrine, this or that emphasis. Christ is made unto us wisdom, righteousness, sanctification, redemption, and to get a whole Christ we need the whole Word. He is the life of the Word, and it all has sanctifying, edifying, upbuilding power. This is why undue emphasis on any particular 'line' is often productive of confusion, not to say tension and stress, in Christian lives. We need the whole counsel of God to make us what we ought to be.