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Ephesians 4 | The Upward Way | Bible Study with A. Z. Adams — Transcript

by Heritage Press · 2,700 words · 465 segments · language en · Watch on YouTube

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0:00So, Paul is praying that God's eternal
0:02purpose will finally emerge in the
0:04church. What is that eternal purpose?
0:07That the grace that started at the
0:09[music] cross will become an
0:10administration,
0:11meaning a meaning a way of ordering all
0:14of life under the headship of Jesus
0:15[music]
0:16through the church. The church is that
0:18administration. The church is the
0:20kingdom. [music]
0:21Administration is a synonym for kingdom.
0:24That's what Paul's talking about. And
0:26he's he's praying that this will be
0:29uh a three-dimensional
0:32measurement of the body of Christ,
0:34height, depth, width, and breadth, and
0:37[music] that we will be able to
0:38comprehend together with all the saints
0:41this reality.
0:42And Paul has prayed that to him be glory
0:45in the church, that this will be from
0:47generation to generation,
0:49world without end. Chapter 4, verse 1.
0:53Therefore,
0:54because I want something that doesn't
0:57stop, because I want something
0:59generational,
1:00therefore, I, the prisoner of the Lord,
1:04implore you to walk in a manner worthy
1:09of the calling with which you have been
1:12called.
1:14So, the big danger
1:17is that you won't walk
1:20in a manner worthy of the calling and
1:23you will miss the calling.
1:25You've been called to be kings and
1:27priests, but you can still become slaves
1:29and losers.
1:31So, please walk in a manner worthy of
1:34this big calling. Because when a church
1:38does it, when the body of Christ does
1:41it, the Lord's going to return.
1:44Worthy of the calling with which you
1:45have been called. What does worthy look
1:47like? Verse 2, with all humility
1:54and gentleness,
1:56with patience,
1:59showing tolerance for one another
2:02in love,
2:04being diligent
2:07to preserve the unity of the Spirit
2:09>> [music]
2:10>> in the bond of peace.
2:14Okay? So, he's just given us six seven
2:17things
2:19that look like worthiness.
2:22The first way to be worthy is to be
2:24humble
2:26and therefore not to become sharp and
2:28bitter and angry, but gentle toward one
2:30another.
2:32And patient. This temple's going to take
2:34some time to build.
2:36Showing tolerance.
2:38Not acting like you got to fix
2:39everything the first time you see it.
2:42In love.
2:45Being diligent to preserve the unity of
2:49the Spirit
2:51in the bond of peace.
2:54So, he's just said, "Here's what
2:55worthiness looks like, but you need to
2:57work
2:58to be united." Cuz if you're not united,
3:01then the world will not know.
3:03If the world doesn't know,
3:05then the our principalities and powers
3:07going to be confounded? No.
3:09If the church can stay fractured in its
3:13disunity,
3:15then the devil wins.
3:17The principalities and powers are
3:19laughing at the disunified church.
3:24So, he says, "Be diligent to preserve
3:26the unity of the Spirit in the bonds of
3:27peace. There is one body
3:30and one spirit, just as you were called
3:32in one hope of your calling. One Lord,
3:36one faith, one baptism, one God and
3:38Father of all, who is over all and
3:40through all and in all."
3:44So, he says, "I want you to work at
3:45unity because there's only one one one
3:47one one right way.
3:50And you can get there, but it's a
3:52journey. One Lord, one
3:54God doesn't have five different minds or
3:56opinions on something.
3:59He's got one.
4:00And it's going to take diligence to work
4:02to know it.
4:04One Lord, one God and Father of all, who
4:06is over all and in you all. But,
4:11he just says God is in you all.
4:14But,
4:16to each one of us grace was given
4:18according to the
4:19measure of Christ's gift.
4:22So, in this he says, "God's in you all,
4:24but you don't have everything. You have
4:27the first fruits of the Spirit. That's
4:29the measure of Christ's gift. That's a a
4:32limited portion.
4:34You have the Holy Spirit, but you don't
4:35have all the Spirit you need."
4:38That's what Paul's saying here.
4:41You have grace, but you don't have all
4:43the grace you need.
4:45But, you're not alone.
4:47You need to be able to comprehend
4:49together with all the saints.
4:51Okay? But, to each one of us grace was
4:54given according to the measure of
4:56Christ's gift. Therefore,
4:59it says, "When he ascended on high, he
5:02led captive a host of captives and gave
5:05gifts to men."
5:08Because you don't have an unlimited
5:11supply of the Spirit.
5:13You're not Jesus, who had the Spirit
5:15without measure.
5:17All the fullness of the Godhead does not
5:19dwell in you bodily, but only a tiny
5:21portion and piece
5:24for each and every one of us. Because of
5:26that,
5:27it says, "When he ascended, he gave very
5:30specific gifts."
5:33And those gifts will create the
5:35administration
5:37that will help the grace of God reach
5:39everybody.
5:40Because we don't have enough to be
5:42complacent.
5:44But, we do have enough to be united.
5:47And in our union, we can comprehend
5:49together with all the saints what is the
5:51breadth and width and height
5:53so much more than what we could
5:54comprehend alone.
5:57So, it says when he ascended, he led
5:59captive a host of captives and he gave
6:01gifts unto men.
6:03Now, this expression he ascended, what
6:05does it mean except that
6:07he
6:09also had descended into the lower parts
6:11of the earth.
6:14So, he who descended is himself also he
6:16who ascended far above all the heavens
6:19so that he might fill all in all.
6:22And he gave some as apostles
6:25and some as prophets
6:27and some as evangelists and some as
6:29pastors and teachers
6:32for the equipping of the saints, for the
6:35work of service to the building up of
6:38the body of Christ.
6:41The body doesn't get built up unless you
6:43walk worthy.
6:45You want to walk worthy and you've got
6:47God in you, but you don't have it all.
6:49You've only got a portion. But he gave
6:51these gifts so that we can keep building
6:54each other up and create a context where
6:56we can share the the grace of God that
7:00has been given to the whole and not just
7:02that which was given to me.
7:04Do you get it?
7:05And when he says that he descended,
7:09what is he talking about?
7:11Well, he's talking about how Jesus said
7:13before he ascended, he said, "I will not
7:16leave you orphans. I will come to you."
7:19And when did Jesus come to the
7:21disciples?
7:22He told them, "Tarry in Jerusalem until
7:25you receive the promise of my father."
7:27But that promise was Jesus coming to
7:29them.
7:30"I will come to you."
7:32And that promise, that coming of Jesus,
7:34ended their orphan status. So, it was
7:36the Father coming to them.
7:39It was the Holy Spirit. On the day of
7:40Pentecost, Jesus descended
7:44like Moses descended from the mount of
7:47Sinai with the tablets of stone to form
7:50a new covenant of the law. Well, on the
7:52very birthday
7:54that celebrated Moses coming down from
7:57the mountain, that's what Pentecost
7:58celebrated. It was their 4th of July
8:01sort of equivalent when they said, "This
8:02is the day when Moses got the tablets."
8:05On that very day,
8:07Jesus came upon his people
8:10and they became a corporate dwelling of
8:14God by the spirit.
8:16That was a stupendous event. There
8:18appeared divided tongues, one resting on
8:21each of them, and they all spoke in
8:23tongues as the spirit of God gave them
8:25utterance. They were all filled with the
8:28Holy Spirit. That was the indwelling
8:30event. Amen.
8:33But, he didn't just give them each a
8:34personal blessing. He also gave gifts to
8:38create an administration.
8:40And the main five gifts of ministry that
8:43he's pointing to are the fivefold:
8:46apostles, prophets, evangelists,
8:48pastors, and teachers. And that purpose
8:50is to build up the body.
8:53That's the hope of our calling to not be
8:55separate, to not be stones piled in a
8:58corner, but to become a house fitly
9:00framed together.
9:02Until we all attain to the unity of the
9:05faith
9:07and the knowledge of the Son of God to a
9:10mature man, to the measure of the
9:13stature which belongs to the fullness of
9:16Christ. So, we've got measure now in
9:19three forms.
9:20The first measure he mentions is in
9:22chapter 3. He says, "I want you to know
9:25the length and breadth and height and
9:26depth."
9:27That's the three-dimensional measure
9:29that you understand with all the saints.
9:31The next time he uses the word the idea
9:34of measure is in chapter 4. We've only
9:37been given a little measure, a portioned
9:40each of us individually. But because
9:42there's a fivefold ministry, we're going
9:44to know the measure that belongs to the
9:47fullness of Christ. Now, here's what
9:50Paul is not saying, Tina. He is not
9:53saying that you, Tina, are going to
9:55attain to the measure of Jesus.
9:57He says, "We all may attain to the
10:02measure of the stature that belongs to
10:04the fullness of Christ, a perfect man."
10:06So, it's a composite Christ. It's a
10:09composite, a body of Christ where all
10:13[snorts] of us together start to find
10:15that measure that belongs to one new
10:18man.
10:20Until we all attain to the unity of the
10:21faith and the knowledge of the Son of
10:23God to a mature man, to the measure of
10:26the stature which belongs to the
10:28fullness of Christ. As a result,
10:31as a result, because the fivefold
10:33ministry is working to help us grow up
10:36and and achieve this corporate measure,
10:38as a result,
10:41we are no longer to be children, tossed
10:44here and there by waves and carried
10:47about in every wind of doctrine.
10:51Paul is describing shipwreck here.
10:55The only time things get tossed like
10:57this is when a boat goes under and the
10:59contents start scattering and the waves
11:02start deciding where they go.
11:04Okay. So, that's a that's a bunch of
11:07individualistic salvation.
11:10That's people trying to make it without
11:12a church.
11:13But as a result, we are no longer to be
11:15children, tossed here and there by waves
11:19and carried about by every wind of
11:21doctrine, by the trickery of men, by
11:25craftiness and deceitful scheming. What
11:27protects us from this?
11:29The fivefold ministry is equipping the
11:32saints so that we would no longer be
11:34this.
11:35But, so we're not going to be that, but
11:38we're going to be something else.
11:40And when we are this something else, we
11:42will realize the measure. We will come
11:44together. But,
11:46speaking the truth in love,
11:50we are to grow up
11:52in all
11:54aspects
11:56into him who is the head,
11:59even Christ.
12:01So,
12:02several key phrases. We're to grow up
12:06in all aspects. That's the manifold
12:09wisdom of God again. Do you understand?
12:12All aspects into him who is the head,
12:15even Christ, from whom the whole body
12:18being fitted and held together
12:25the body holds together
12:28fitted and held together by whatever
12:31joint supplies according to the proper
12:34working of each individual part. This is
12:37what the fivefold ministry does. It
12:39helps you speak the truth in love. It
12:41helps you grow up in all aspects. It
12:43helps you move toward the headship of
12:46Jesus.
12:47It helps fit and hold you together
12:51by whatever joint supplies according to
12:53the proper working of each individual
12:54part
12:55causes the growth of the body for the
12:58building up of itself in love.
13:01That's what the fivefold ministry does.
13:04So, this I say and affirm together with
13:06the Lord
13:07that you walk no longer just as the
13:10Gentiles also walk in the futility of
13:14their mind.
13:16So, you can walk with the fivefold
13:18ministry
13:19and you can fulfill your calling
13:22or you can be a Gentile.
13:25You It's time to leave your Gentile
13:27thinking, your independent thinking.
13:30That you walk no longer just as the
13:32Gentiles also walk in the futility of
13:34their mind.
13:36Everything that's wrong with the church
13:38has been made wrong through the futility
13:41of the mind instead of the coordination
13:43of the fivefold ministry by the spirit.
13:47Being darkened in their understanding,
13:49excluded from the life of God
13:52because of the ignorance that is in them
13:54because of the hardness of their heart.
13:58You stay in the futility of your mind
13:59because your heart is hard.
14:01You don't dare trust, you don't dare
14:03believe, you don't dare risk. Your heart
14:05is hurt.
14:07And they, having become callous, have
14:09given themselves over to sensuality for
14:12the practice of every kind of impurity
14:14with greediness.
14:16But you did not learn Christ in this
14:18way.
14:20This isn't how you came and it's not how
14:21you're going to become the body of
14:22Christ, either.
14:24If indeed you have heard him and have
14:26been taught in him, just as truth is in
14:28Jesus. Notice that he says to a church
14:31that was born long after Jesus ascended
14:34that they have heard Jesus.
14:37Not heard about him, not read scriptures
14:38about him. They've heard him
14:40because they've heard the body.
14:42They've heard the spirit through the
14:43body.
14:45That in reference to your former manner
14:46of life, you lay aside the old self
14:50which is being corrupted in accordance
14:51with the lusts of deceit and that you be
14:54renewed in the spirit of your mind and
14:55put on the new self.
14:58The literal here is put on the new man.
15:01And that doesn't refer to the new
15:02version of you.
15:04That refers to this one body that we are
15:07growing up into.
15:08So, put off the old you and put on the
15:11one new man of Jesus.
15:14Put on the new man
15:16which in the likeness of God has been
15:19created in righteousness and holiness of
15:22the truth. This one new man, this body
15:24of Christ,
15:26is supposed to be in the likeness of
15:27God. Therefore, laying aside falsehood,
15:30speak truth each of you with his
15:32neighbor, for we are members of one
15:34another.
15:36What's going to get us across the line?
15:38What's going to bring us together is if
15:39we'll speak the truth to each other and
15:41stop playing games.
15:44Be angry and yet do not sin.
15:47He's saying you need to be indignant at
15:49what's wrong. You need to engage and
15:51correct it.
15:53Do not let the sun go down on your anger
15:55and do not give the devil an
15:57opportunity. You need to speak truth and
16:00you need to be angry.
16:01But I don't want you to let your
16:03indignation become this long-term
16:05problem that you have with people in the
16:06church.
16:08Because that is giving the devil an
16:10opportunity.
16:11Resolve it before the sun goes down.
16:14And he who steals must steal no longer,
16:17but rather must labor, performing with
16:20his own hands what is good,
16:22so that he will have something to share
16:24with the one who has need.
16:26So apparently there were problems
16:28in this church.
16:29Paul's saying the problem is you don't
16:31correct each other.
16:33You've lost nouthetic ministry. You've
16:35lost Matthew 18. You need [music] to
16:37speak truth each of you with his
16:38neighbor. It doesn't say the pastors
16:41need to go correct everybody.
16:42It says the neighbors need to deal with
16:44it.
16:45Let no unwholesome word proceed from
16:48your mouth, but only such a word as is
16:51good for edification,
16:55literally building up, still a temple,
16:58according to the need of the moment, so
17:00that it will give grace to those who
17:02hear.
17:03You're supposed to minister grace to
17:05each other because
17:07it's only together that we comprehend
17:08everything we need.
17:10Do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God,
17:13by whom you were sealed for the day of
17:15redemption.
17:17Let all bitterness and wrath and anger
17:19and clamor and slander be put away from
17:23you along with all malice.
17:27Be kind to one another.
17:29Tender-hearted.
17:30Forgiving [music] each other just as God
17:33and Christ also has forgiven you.
17:37This is how [music] you walk worthy.
17:39These are the attitudes, these are the
17:41ambitions, these are how you deal with
17:43problems. If you walk like this and you
17:45submit to the guidance of the five-fold
17:47ministry, you will become a temple that
17:50knows the measurement, the
17:51three-dimensionality
17:53of the body of Christ. You will grow up
17:55into all things into him who is the
17:57head.
17:58But if you don't,
18:00it's a pipe dream and it'll never happen
18:01in your midst.
18:13>> [music]

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