INTRODUCTION
Paul’s first visit to Ephesus is related in Act_18:19-21. The work commenced then was carried on by Apollos. On Paul’s second visit he remained three years. Later, on his way to Jerusalem, he held an affecting interview at Miletus with the elders of the Ephesian church. This Epistle was addressed to that church about four years afterward, during the early part of his imprisonment at Rome, and immediately after that to the Colossians, to which it bears a close resemblance. The foundation, course and destiny of the Church are the sublime subjects with which the Epistle deals, and the style is of a correspondingly elevated character.
OUTLINE OF THE EPISTLE TO THE EPHESSIANS
The High Calling of God in Christ Jesus
FOR GOOD WORKS
THE CHRISTIAN IN THE CHURCH
Variety of Christian Service
Culmination of Christian Development
8.What are some of the different offices in the Church? What is their common purpose?
UNITY IN THE BODY OF CHRIST
And [His gifts to the church were varied and] He Himself appointed some as apostles [special messengers, representatives], some as prophets [who speak a new message from God to the people], some as evangelists [who spread the good news of salvation], and some as pastors and teachers [to shepherd and guide and instruct],
[and He did this] to fully equip and perfect the saints (God’s people) for works of service, to build up the body of Christ [the church];
until we all reach oneness in the faith and in the knowledge of the Son of God, [growing spiritually] to become a mature believer, reaching to the measure of the fullness of Christ [manifesting His spiritual completeness and exercising our spiritual gifts in unity].
So that we are no longer children [spiritually immature], tossed back and forth [like ships on a stormy sea] and carried about by every wind of [shifting] doctrine, by the cunning and trickery of [unscrupulous] men, by the deceitful scheming of people ready to do anything [for personal profit].
But speaking the truth in love [in all things–both our speech and our lives expressing His truth], let us grow up in all things into Him [following His example] who is the Head–Christ.
From Him the whole body [the church, in all its various parts], joined and knitted firmly together by what every joint supplies, when each part is working properly, causes the body to grow and mature, building itself up in [unselfish] love.
THE NEW LIFE
So this I say, and solemnly affirm together with the Lord [as in His presence], that you must no longer live as the [unbelieving] Gentiles live, in the futility of their minds [and in the foolishness and emptiness of their souls],
for their [moral] understanding is darkened and their reasoning is clouded; [they are] alienated and self-banished from the life of God [with no share in it; this is] because of the [willful] ignorance and spiritual blindness that is [deep-seated] within them, because of the hardness and insensitivity of their heart.
And they, [the ungodly in their spiritual apathy], having become callous and unfeeling, have given themselves over [as prey] to unbridled sensuality, eagerly craving the practice of every kind of impurity [that their desires may demand].
Comments by
F.B.Meyer
On
Ephesians 4:11-19
BUILDING UP THE “BODY OF CHRIST”
Apostles, prophets, pastors, teachers, evangelists, are the gifts of the risen Christ to His Church. There should be no rivalry among them. Each has his own work to do, as each wheel in a watch has its special function. None can do the work of another, and none should try to do it. The Apostles laid the foundations of the City of God, and the work of each is represented by a different stone. The pastor prepares the ground and sows the seed for the harvest which the evangelist reaps; but God will proportion the reward between them. The teacher is as much needed as the evangelist, but neither is so essential as God, who giveth the increase. Without that all labor would be in vain.
We learn from Eph_4:12 that the prime duty of all these agents is not to baptize, marry, and bury the saints, to comfort and console them, and to get them somehow into heaven, as the Arab guides get travelers to the top of the Pyramids. Their duty is to perfect, that is, to adjust the saints for the work of ministry, that they may contribute to the building up of the Church. A minister is a failure if he does all the work himself. The people must all be at work-in the quarries, or shaping the stones, or fitting them into their places.
Pastor Jeff Arthur.
The Purpose of Gifts
Put on the New Man
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