A Poignant Contrast
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Good morning and welcome to Dishman Baptist Church. Please take your Bibles and turn them with me to Ephesians 4, Ephesians 4.
Recap where we’ve been....
Now grace was given to each one of us according to the measure of Christ’s gift.
For it says: When he ascended on high, he took the captives captive; he gave gifts to people.
But what does “he ascended” mean except that he also descended to the lower parts of the earth?
The one who descended is also the one who ascended far above all the heavens, to fill all things.
And he himself gave some to be apostles, some prophets, some evangelists, some pastors and teachers,
to equip the saints for the work of ministry, to build up the body of Christ,
until we all reach unity in the faith and in the knowledge of God’s Son, growing into maturity with a stature measured by Christ’s fullness.
Then we will no longer be little children, tossed by the waves and blown around by every wind of teaching, by human cunning with cleverness in the techniques of deceit.
But speaking the truth in love, let us grow in every way into him who is the head—Christ.
From him the whole body, fitted and knit together by every supporting ligament, promotes the growth of the body for building itself up in love by the proper working of each individual part.
A Book of contrasts
Dead now alive Ephesians 2:1-10.
Far away now brought near Ephesians 2:13.
Formerly two men now one Ephesians 2:15.
Darkness now light Ephesians 5:8.
This morning Paul is going to admonish the Ephesians and encourage them on to greater maturity through another contrast - that of being childish but now mature. He has just told them that the purpose of church was for the edification of the saints, building them up for the work of the ministry with the ultimate goal being unity and maturity in the believers - measuring up to the stature of our Head who is Christ.
Paul is now going to complete the thought that he began in this paragraph way back in verse 2 as he challenged the Ephesian believers to walk worthy of their calling. He is also going to complete this one long run on sentence that began for us in verse 7. He is going to instruct the Ephesian church and us under two main points - Don’t be childish and grow into maturity.
Don’t Be Childish
Don’t Be Childish
Then we will no longer be little children, tossed by the waves and blown around by every wind of teaching, by human cunning with cleverness in the techniques of deceit.
Paul does a brilliant thing here as he is about to introduce this hard statement to the church at Ephesus. Notice the shift in his language from the previous verses to now. In verse 11 he says that He Himself gave some to be apostles, some prophets, some evangelists, some pastors and teachers - what is implied here? You - He Himself gave some apostles, prophets, evangelists, pastors and teachers to you the church in Ephesus and every other church since. He gave them to you for your benefit, for your building up. Paul was an apostle and while that does not by necessity imply maturity, if he were to include himself in that statement it would be as the one given as a gift not as the recipient of the gift. He was the one tasked with equipping the saints as he was equipped by Christ. Remember back in chapter 3 he says “I was given made a servant of this gospel by the gift of grace that was given to me by the working of His power.”
Now I’m not saying this to say that those who have been equipped and given the enabling grace of Christ to serve His church in these roles are somehow super Christians and beyond the need for growth and maturity. Rather, my desire is to highlight the shift in Paul’s language now as he introduces a hard contrast to the Ephesian church between the maturity that all of them should aspire to and the condition that some of them were currently in. Look at what he says “Then WE will no longer be little children, tossed by the waves and blown around by every wind of teaching” - he includes himself in this statement implying that he was just as susceptible to being misled as they were. Even though he was an apostle and charged with preaching and teaching the Gospel, with making known these great mysteries, with planting churches and appointing elders, with travelling across the known world to serve Christ’s Kingdom he was susceptible if he did not persevere in efforts toward maturity.
It is interesting the contrast that Paul has drawn here. Looking back at verse twelve the picture gives us of what our aspiration is to be is that of a mature man - fully grown, fully developed, a person of full age and stature. The two greek words that make up our one word maturity here are aner and teleios - meaning man and mature. Aner can mean man or husband. Teleios actually carries with it the connotation of not just maturity but perfection. What a contrast now that Paul delivers as he challenges these believers to not be like children.
Think of the picture that is given here with respect to the challenges Paul has just issued to the church - they were to be equipped, to be brought into maturity, for the purpose of service. There used to be a time when the kind of mature man Paul is speaking of here was revered and looked up to. When our heroes were figures like John Henry and Paul Bunyan. Where having a work ethic was good and being strong and firm wasn’t looked down upon. Paul expresses this very sentiment in his closing words to the church in Corinth
Be alert, stand firm in the faith, be courageous, be strong.
The NASB translates it even stronger
Be on the alert, stand firm in the faith, act like men, be strong.
The word for that the CSB translates courageous is andrizomai. The root of that word is aner - man, the same word that Paul uses here in verse 13. But now in verse 14 he tells them not to be children. What is the picture of a child?
One who is always seeking to play. One who is not very often at work willingly. One who is idle. There used to be a saying that probably isn’t popular anymore that “idle hands are the devil’s playground”.
We are the most technologically advanced generation in the history of the world. We are the most educated. We have the most freedom. Most of us have more Bible translations on our phone than existed in the entire first century world. We can access solid Christian teaching any time we want from our phones, ipads, tablets or computers. And yet we are one of the most Biblically illiterate generations there is. We’re also one of the least active generations in the history of the church. Is it possible that one of the reasons for lack of maturity in the modern church is the lack of service to our King? When you’re busy serving you don’t have time to get distracted by all of the false and frivolous teachings that are taking place outside of your church body.
These fads and innovative ideas that assault the church. In recent years there’s been the Daniel Diet, the Prayer of Jabez, The Shack and many others - all distractions from real maturity. Today we have churches that remain closed or have chosen to embrace the meta-verse and now hold services in a virtual reality world. And I agree with Paul that we, meaning those in the pulpit are just as apt to fall victim to these waves of false teaching as others and the danger of that is that when we give in we exponentially exacerbate the issue. When the pulpit teaches from weakness, weak people are the result. Anemic, starving sheep are the result. Oh for men that would just preach the Word of God to equip the people of God so that we wouldn’t fall victim to all of these winds and waves of teaching.
I think of the feather at the beginning of Forrest Gump - what a delightful picture that gave at the beginning of that movie as the feather just floats this way and that on the breeze until it gently comes to rest at Forrest’s feet. The air of innocence and freedom. But we aren’t meant to be that way as believers - blown here and there always following the latest fad. And as you can tell by the movie reference we’re never on the cutting edge anyway. The church always lags behind the world in coolness by at least 20 years.
Paul probably had in mind the ship that he was on as he was travelling to Rome. Acts 27 chronicles the story of that ship’s ill-fated voyage and how it had been driven by the wind and the waves, tossed across the Mediterranean until it finally came to crash into the island of Malta. I remember being in a storm as a young sailor crossing the Atlantic. We could stand in the ship and watch as we rode up and down massive waves, counting the seconds of ocean and then the seconds of sky.
It is the image of wreckage and carnage - the view of those who have shipwrecked their faith the way Paul refers to it in Galatians 5:4 - when he writes that you have fallen away from grace. He is saying that they have shipwrecked their faith.
In the case of the church the wind and waves are the result of human cunning with cleverness in the techniques of deceit. The word for cunning is kybeia (cubea) from which we get the word cube. It was a word used for the dice that was used for gambling. The word should ring in our ears as the way that the serpent is referred to in the Garden - the serpent was the most cunning of all the wild animals. Paul uses this word in 2 Corinthians 11:3 to refer to Eve being deceived by the cunning serpent. The teachers Paul is referencing here have determined that their cleverness is better than God’s wisdom and so they attempt to grow and develop the church according to their own methods and ideas - and the church at large falls for it like the little children of Hamelin.
300 Quotations for Preachers (Inability to Discern Doctrinal Differences)
Inability to distinguish differences in doctrine is spreading far and wide, and so long as the preacher is “clever” and “earnest,” hundreds seem to think it must be all right, and call you dreadfully “narrow and uncharitable” if you hint that he is unsound!J. C. RYLE
These teachers - as like-able and affable as they maybe are servants of Satan. The question I always have in the back of my mind is do they know? Does Joel Osteen know that he is teaching damnable heresy or is he himself deluded and duped into believing his own teaching? Does Steven Furtick know that he is teaching false doctrines and heresy or is he also just deluded into believing a lie? Does Andy Stanley know that he is teaching a weak Gospel that leads people astray or is he just deluded into believing a lie?
These clever men with all their cunning are employing the techniques of deceit - the methodia - the same word that Paul will use later in chapter 6 to refer to the machinations of Satan. Ephesians 6:11 says to put on the full armor of God so that you can stand against the schemes (the methodia) of the devil. And oh he has perfected the method - just make it seem as loving as possible and you can sell anything.
Grow Into Maturity
Grow Into Maturity
Paul shifts gears now and returns to his charge to his readers that they grow towards maturity. He tells the believers that they are to speak the truth in love. This is something that unfortunately is often reversed in our world - it seems that it is the false teachers that are speaking with love and that, even if we might be speaking the truth, that Christians are anything but loving. There is such a thing among reformed theologians called the cage stage. The blogger Tim Challies defines cage stage this way - A Cage-Stage Calvinist is someone who has learned TULIP—the five points of Calvinism—and goes on a relational rampage. They attack, bludgeon, and judge their brothers and sisters in Christ who don’t line up with TULIP as they do. The problem isn’t that their theology is wrong - it is that their relational method is so confrontational that often they burn bridges and destroy relationships in a quest to get their truth across.
In many ways the world views all Christians as “cage-stage”. The struggle with this is that not only do we disparage ourselves but we often disparage the name of Christ as well. The German poet Heinrich Heine said “You show me your redeemed life and I might be inclined to believe in your Redeemer.” Mahatma Ghandi said “I like your Christ, I do not like your Christians. Your Christians are so unlike your Christ.” The life of the believer is so important - the great Scottish pastor Robert Murray McCheyne issued this charge pastors but I think it can apply to all believers
300 Quotations for Preachers (“Your Life Preaches All the Week”)
Study universal holiness of life. Your whole usefulness depends on this. Your sermon on Sabbath lasts but an hour or two; your life preaches all the week. Remember, ministers are standard-bearers. Satan aims his fiery darts at them. If he can only make you a covetous minister, or a lover of pleasure, or a lover of praise, or a lover of good eating, then he has ruined your ministry forever. Ah! Let him preach on fifty years, he will never do me any harm. Dear brother, cast yourself at the feet of Christ, implore his Spirit to make you a holy man. Take heed to yourself and to your doctrine.ROBERT MURRAY MCCHEYNE
Of course we recognize that what the world calls love and the love that the false teachers are demonstrating isn’t real love. It isn’t 1 Corinthians 13 love
If I speak human or angelic tongues but do not have love, I am a noisy gong or a clanging cymbal.
If I have the gift of prophecy and understand all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have all faith so that I can move mountains but do not have love, I am nothing.
And if I give away all my possessions, and if I give over my body in order to boast but do not have love, I gain nothing.
Love is patient, love is kind. Love does not envy, is not boastful, is not arrogant,
is not rude, is not self-seeking, is not irritable, and does not keep a record of wrongs.
Love finds no joy in unrighteousness but rejoices in the truth.
I could read more but I stop at verse 6 because that is the key isn’t it. Love finds no joy in unrighteousness but rejoices in the truth. That is what sets Christianity apart from the false teachings and false teachers that seek to dissuade it. They are comfortable finding joy and peace with unrighteousness but we cannot. Because we know the destination of those who continue to practice unrighteousness and so we can’t simply content ourselves with preaching a soft, easy believism Gospel, pray this prayer and your good for life now go your way and sin as much as you want. We can’t simply be content to say that same-sex attraction is okay and that abortion is fine. That sexual assault is good and that ethnic divides are healthy. We simply must speak the truth about these sins and call them what they are. We must speak the truth about the heresy of the prosperity Gospel that if you just try a little harder, if you just believe a little harder, if you just do a little more that you’re good.
But we must do so lovingly recognizing that those who are caught under those terrible lies are still subject to the darkness that we were once in. Surely our memories are not so short as to have forgotten how lost we were and how far away from God we were and how we were at war with Him to be the rulers within our hearts. Could we not muster some love and concern for those who are lost? Listen to the love in these words from Spurgeon
2,200 Quotations from the Writings of Charles H. Spurgeon: Arranged Topically or Textually and Indexed by Subject, Scripture, and People (Evangelism)
If sinners will be damned, at least let them leap to hell over our bodies. And if they will perish, let them perish with our arms about their knees, imploring them to stay. If hell must be filled, at least let it be filled in the teeth of our exertions, and let not one go there unwarned and unprayed for.
What a change would be wrought if we had this love for the lost and actually spoke to them our of this abundant love.
I’m a great fan of the Lord of the Ring movies. In the second movie Merry and Pippin find themselves amongst the Ents in Fangorn Forest. They awaken from a deep sleep and Merry has found that if he drinks from one of the springs in the forest that he grows taller - and he has been drinking so that he is now taller than Pippin. The point of this illustration is this - what if that happened whenever we spoke to someone from a position of love. Paul tells that Ephesian believers to speak the truth in love in order to grow into Him who is the head.
Now this isn’t some Mormon idea that we will all become little christs and become rulers of our own planets. No - this is the idea that we will grow more into His image - the image of our Captain, our Savior, our Head. What if we our shadows grew longer every time we spoke to someone out of the abundant love that Christ has lavished on us? What if your shadow were visible now - how long would it be?
This speaking the truth in love isn’t just about evangelism or relating to the outside world. Paul is going to get more into this in the next few verses that we’ll be looking at. This is also supposed to be a reflection of how we speak to each other. We are to be known for our love. And they will know we are Christians by our love, by our love, yes they’ll know we are Christians by our love goes the old refrain. We should certainly be challenging one another on our sins, spurring one another on to greater holiness but do we do so from a position of love or something else? We also have to leave room for the Spirit to work - because it is His work to do, we’re only tools that He uses.
Paul says “from Him” meaning that Christ is the power behind the growth that he is encouraging his readers and us towards. We need to make sure that we are not trying to do His work for Him or thinking that our power is sufficient and that His is unnecessary. Puritan John Owens said
300 Quotations for Preachers (We Have No Power of Our Own)
We can have no power from Christ unless we live in a persuasion that we have none of our own.JOHN OWEN
This is a hard concept for us in this day and age when technology abounds, we can splice atoms and send men and women in to outer space. But God’s power still transcends all of that. A.W. Tozer once said
It is hard for us sons of the Machine Age to remember that there is no power apart from God. Whether physical, intellectual, moral or spiritual, power is contained in God, flows out from Him, and returns to Him again. The power that works throughout His creation remains in Him even while it operates in an atom or a galaxy
And it is in Him, in His power that we are fitted and knit together. These two terms are synonyms meant to paint the same picture. The concept behind fitted is to join together fitly or tightly, to fit together in a coherent and compatible manner. It was used of carpentry work to describe how furniture was put together with tight joints and fittings. Knit means to come together as a unit or to combine. I don’t know anything about knitting but I was astounded by the picture that Nicole Burgess put on facebook this week of the scarf that she knit together. It was made up of all these different knitting stitches but when all of them were put together they made something beautiful.
What a picture of the church - all of us are different. We have different skills, different gifts. Some have different beliefs about this or that but when we’re all knit together by our Heavenly Father in His providential will and want we are something beautiful. When we demonstrate love in speaking the truth to one another we grow into something so unusual that the world is shocked. We are fit and knitted together by every supporting ligament - there are many discussions about what that phrase means. I simply think that it means the three tiered approach of prayer, study of the Word and the preaching and teaching of the Word. Those are the ways that we are grown to maturity.
And notice this there is no way that this growth can happen individually - there must be a corporate component. Joints don’t fit together if one swells super large and the other remains the same. Knitting doesn’t stay together if the stitches don’t remain in contact with one another - that illustration probably falls apart. There is no concept in Scripture of the lone Christian or the super Christian who grows into maturity on his or her own. And I would even venture to say that that extends to the virtual environment as well. There needs to be some organic human interaction that happens for growth to happen.
And that is simply internal growth - but there is an emphasis on external growth in this passage as well. That is the cycle of the church - evangelism happens and new believers are brought in to the body. Equipping happens through Bible study and teaching, through determining their God-given gifts for the purpose of serving the church and for further evangelism to happen. Then those equipped believers are sent out to evangelize and the process starts all over again.
For Dishman’s glory? No. For the SBC’s renown? No. For the glory of the One who called us, who saved us, who grows us and who is our Head. He is the one who descended, who became a man to serve as the sacrifice for sins that we could never render, who rose again from the dead and then ascended on high leading the captives, each of us, captive as His own possession.