Ephesians 4:1-31

Ephesians 4:1. I therefore, the prisoner of the Lord, beseech you-

Paul puts force into the argument by his manner of speaking; you can hear in his words the rattle of his chains. Here is a man who, for Christ's sake, has lost his liberty, and who for that reason pleads with his fellow Christians: «I therefore, the prisoner of the Lord, beseech you»

Ephesians 4:1. That ye walk worthy of the vocation wherewith ye are called,

«Do not dishonour the good cause, let not your lives bring disgrace upon Christ; if you are called Christians, be Christians.»

Ephesians 4:2. With all lowliness and meekness, with longsuffering, forbearing one another in love;

This is the very spirit of Christianity, to be able to bear and forbear, to be gentle, not to be selfish or self-seeking, or angry and passionate, but full of lowliness and meekness. Brethren, do not seek the highest place. If you do, you will at least have a contested election, for many want that position; but if you choose the lowest place, you, shall have it, and nobody will try to run in opposition to you. There is always plenty of room in the lowly places, and there is peace there, and, let me whisper to you, they are really the highest places in the Church of God. If we will go down, we shall ascend; but if we are striving to be great, and to be masterful, we shall not gain the ends we are seeking, and we shall not honour our Master.

Ephesians 4:3. Endeavouring to keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace.

That is a living ligature which binds the members of the body together. Try to keep in one spirit, united by «the bond of peace.»

Ephesians 4:4. There is one body,

Christ never had two.

Ephesians 4:4. And one Spirit,

There never were two Holy Spirits. The one Spirit that quickened the whole Church of Christ is by himself, alone.

Ephesians 4:4. Even as ye are called in one hope of your calling;

You have only one ground of confidence, and you have only one heaven in which you hope to meet all your fellow believers.

Ephesians 4:5. One Lord, one faith, one baptism,

There is only one Lord in the Christian Church; and there is only one faith. There may be many forms of faith, but there is only one true faith. «One baptism.» There may be many baptisms so-called, but there can be only one that is the true baptism.

Ephesians 4:6. One God and Father of all, who is above all, and through all, and in you all.

So that, if we are one in all these things, we ought to be one in a hearty affection towards one another.

Ephesians 4:7. But unto every one of us is given grace according to the measure of the gift of Christ.

That is, to every one of us who are members of his mystical body. The living members of the living body receive according to each one's function and place in the body a measure of grace for the benefit of the whole.

Ephesians 4:8. 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.)

When he received gifts for men, and gave them to men, what did he give?

Ephesians 4:11. And he gave some, apostles; and some, prophets; and some, evangelists; and some, pastors and teachers;

Different gifts to different races.

Ephesians 4:12. For the perfecting of the saints, for the work of the ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ:

The early Church could not have been without apostles, and we cannot do without evangelists. May the Lord send many faithful men who will range over the whole country preaching the Word! Neither can we do without pastors and teachers; and it is idle to attempt to do so. Would God we had many more of the sort that Jesus gives! Those whom men make are worth nothing, but those whom Jesus gives are worth everything.

Ephesians 4:13. 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:

When all Christian people shall be well developed, mature, then the whole body of Christ will come unto the stature of a perfect man. When will that be? There are some who are always looking for the perfect Church of Christ; but they have not seen it yet. When Eve was in the making, Adam did not see her; it was only when she was complete that she became visible; and today, the real Church of Christ is only in the making, and when she has been fashioned out of the side of Christ, then she will be presented to him without spot, or wrinkle, or any such thing. All the various agencies which God has appointed are working together for the fashioning of this perfect body of the Church. Meanwhile, it is equally true that all believers are intended to grow «unto the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ.» Some of them are yet in spiritual things only like children of a span long, others are but as boys and girls in the streets of Jerusalem, while some are half-developed men and women. Oh, that we could all come «unto the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ»! You know how the servants stand the recruits against a wall, and then measure them to see whether they are up to the army standard. Now stand upright, and see whether you have come» unto the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ.» Alas! how very short we are! Oh, that we could grow! Spirit of God, make us more like Christ!

Ephesians 4:14. 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;

There are plenty of so-called Christians of that sort, nowadays, who are too weak to know anything for themselves. They are not settled and grounded, the last person who comes near them, and pulls their ear a little hard, turns their head his way. The next person, who will pull their ear a little harder, will turn their head another way. Be no longer children, I beseech you, brethren, but be men; know what you do know, hold it with the tenacious grip of a divinely-implanted faith, and God help you to escape from those who lie in wait to deceive!

Ephesians 4:15. But speaking the truth in love, may grow up into him in all things, which is the head, even Christ: 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.

Every part of the body supplies something that is essential to the whole. There are certain sacs and vessels the use of which we cannot tell; even the best anatomist does not know what are their uses, but he does know that, if they are not there, health cannot be maintained, and, in some instances, life itself would expire if some vessel, quite insignificant, should be taken away. Let us believe that all God's people are essential to the completion of the body of Christ, and that all the workers and all the sufferers, too, are needed to make up the Church of which Christ is the Head.

Ephesians 4:17. This I say therefore, and testify in the Lord, that ye henceforth walk not as other Gentiles walk, in the vanity of their mind, having the understanding darkened, being alienated from the life of God through the ignorance that is in them, because of the blindness of their heart: who being past feeling

That is a dreadful condition for anyone to reach; let us pray to God to save us from that terrible state of heart.

Ephesians 4:19. Have given themselves over unto lasciviousness, to work all uncleanness with greediness.

Oh, dear friends, we must come apart from everything that is impure and unclean! May we never, by any conduct of ours, give countenance to unchastity and impurity! Christian people must be clear of these things.

Ephesians 4:20. But ye have not so learned Christ; if so be that ye have heard him, and have been taught by him, as the truth is in Jesus: that ye put off concerning the former conversation the old man, which is corrupt according to the deceitful lusts; and be renewed in the spirit of your mind; and that ye put on, the new man, which after God is created in righteousness and true holiness. Wherefore putting away lying, speak every man truth with his neighbor: for we are members one of another.

They who lie in jest will find out that God puts it down as sinning in earnest. Let us never attempt to deceive. In the East, in olden times, and I might say as much of the present day, it was not usually reckoned a great sin to lie; the great evil was when the liars were found out. Oh! but the Christian man must be true in every word that he speaks, he must faithfully keep his promises, and be known to be a trustworthy, reliable man. If you are not true, Christ will not own you as belonging to him.

Ephesians 4:26. Be ye angry, and sin not: let not the sun go down upon your wrath:

If ever angry, be only angry with evil, and never retain anger in your heart. It must not last more than a day. They say that a wasp's sting dies at night; so, let every resentful thought die away as the sun sets.

Ephesians 4:27. Neither give place to the devil.

He will knock at your door, and try to get in; but do not offer him a chair. If he forces his company upon you, let him know he is not welcome.

Ephesians 4:28. Let him that stole steal no more:

If he has only been a petty pilferer, «Let him that stole steal no more.» He that steals a pin will one day steal an ox if he can.

Ephesians 4:28. But rather let him labour,

If he must have something that he does not at present possess, this is the way to get it, not by stealing it, but by labouring for it.

Ephesians 4:28. Working with his hands the thing which is good, that he may have to give to him that needeth.

Observe that our trade must be a right one, not one that injures others: «Working with his hands the thing which is good.» But what a remarkable verse this is! A man has been a thief, and he is to go and get to work; what for? To supply his own necessities? Yes, but he is to rise to something higher than that. He is to work «that he may have to give to him that needeth.» What changes the grace of God makes in a man! He who once took from other people is taught to work that he may give to other people. This is indeed a turning of things the right side uppermost.

Ephesians 4:29. Let no corrupt communication proceed out of your mouth,

Do not utter a dirty or corrupt word, nay, though it has a merry jest appended to it, do not speak it. «He pares his apple who would cleanly feed,» is a good proverb. Take away all that is corrupt about the story.

Ephesians 4:29. But that which is good to the use of edifying, that it may minister grace unto the hearers.

What sweet talking there would be if we all spoke in this way, to «minister grace unto the hearers»! Ah! then, my dear friends, it would not matter how much we talked, if every word was salted with salt.

Ephesians 4:30. And grieve not the holy Spirit of God, whereby ye are sealed unto the day of redemption.

The Holy Spirit's being in you is your seal that you are the child of God, and the power by which you will be preserved till the resurrection; therefore, do not grieve that blessed Spirit.

Ephesians 4:31. Let all bitterness, and wrath, and anger, and clamor, and evil speaking, be put away from you, with all malice: and be ye kind one to another,

«Kind» is a good old Saxon word; it means kinned. Be ye kind, like men who are akin to one another; look on all men as your brothers.

Ephesians 4:32. Tenderhearted, forgiving one another,

You will have something that will need to be forgiven, and your brother will have something which you will need to forgive.

Ephesians 4:32. Even as God for Christ's sake hath forgiven you.

The Lord write all these words upon our hearts, for Christ's sake! Amen.