[0:00] Sunday school hour, we're going through verse by verse through the book of Ephesians, and halfway or better, through the book into chapter 4. Last week we came into verse 11.
[0:12] We ended in verse 11 with these offices that are given as gifts to the body of Christ. And from verse 7, what God has given to every one of us is grace.
[0:27] And He's given grace to every one of us. In Romans, He's given a measure of faith to every one of us. But to the body as a whole, He's given gifts as in given offices.
[0:39] And we'll see right away the purpose for this. I'll back up just to verse 11 and read. He gave some apostles and some prophets and some evangelists and some pastors and teachers.
[0:50] And then He rolls right into a threefold purpose in verse 12. For the perfecting of the saints, comma. For the work of the ministry, comma.
[1:00] That's number two. And then thirdly, for the edifying of the body of Christ. And now Paul carries the thought. He goes all the way to the end of verse 16 until you finally see a dead end or a period.
[1:14] And there's the threefold thought there or purpose for these offices. You know what that tells me right away? For the perfecting of the saints. It tells me that the body needs help.
[1:27] That the body of Christ needs help. And God has given to the body specific offices. And these offices are, they're just men.
[1:38] Men that have been touched or if you want to call it that. That have been called or led by God and grown by God and just burdened and convicted by God.
[1:50] That this is what I want you to do and be. And there's two sides to that. I might as well start with the one side. Is if you're that man. Any man that's called to be in this office.
[2:03] The office is to help. The office is for the body. The office is to give yourself to God and to others and to the work of the ministry. And to the edifying of the body.
[2:14] And to the perfecting of the saints. And never is it about the man. Never is it about the man getting accolades or getting his name out there. Or getting into the publications.
[2:24] Or writing the books and being out in popularity and building himself up a name. And that certainly is a temptation. You see it from the beginning with Lucifer. When he was exalted to a position.
[2:36] It turned into his downfall. And he sought a following. And men are no different. And so he gives gifts. And the gifts are to help the body. It shows us not just that those men.
[2:48] And those callings and gifts. As offices are not about them. But about helping. About ministry. About ministering. So the man is to be a servant above all.
[2:59] And to serve as a minister. Like Christ came to be. But it also shows us that the body is in need. You don't just get saved. I trust Christ my Savior. And then fast forward to this complete Christian.
[3:11] Of just knowing it all. Having it all. Everything is great. It never happens that way. And it will never happen that way. And along the way. God sees you. He knows you have need.
[3:23] And he gives men and positions. Within the body of Christ. To help in that very thing. And so you will do well to submit to those men and positions. You will do well to find this.
[3:34] I don't want to call it a hierarchy. I hate that word in this light here. It is kind of the opposite of that in one way. But what God set up and established. You do well to follow it.
[3:45] You do well to submit to it. And get in on it. It is for your good. He gave. Verse 11 says. He. God. This was his plan. His doing. He gave some. These. That and the other.
[3:55] For the perfecting of the saints. Now the word perfecting means. To complete. To mature. To grow. It never means the thought of. Like this sinlessness or something.
[4:07] That's not the. For the sinlessness of the saints. That's not the term. And let me show you a little bit of that in the Bible. Just so you know. Go to Hebrews chapter 2. This is a complete different case. But it's the use of the word.
[4:18] In a light that you'll understand. How the word's used. Hebrews chapter 2. And sometimes.
[4:30] If not all the times. Best to go to the Bible. To see how the Bible uses the word. Versus the dictionary. Which can. Sometimes not be the.
[4:41] The biblical. Or spiritual use. Hebrews chapter 2. I'll start in verse number 9. This is about the Lord Jesus Christ. And him coming to earth. And suffering the death.
[4:52] On the cross. Verse 9 says. But we see Jesus. Who was made a little lower than the angels. For the suffering of death. Well that means. He was made into a human body. To taste death.
[5:04] So he was made a little lower than the angels. For the suffering of death. Crowned with glory and honor. That he by the grace of God. Should taste death for every man. For it became him. For whom are all things.
[5:14] And by whom are all things. In bringing many sons unto glory. To make the captain of their salvation. Perfect. Through suffering. Perfect. Through sufferings.
[5:25] Does that mean that Jesus sinned. And now he needs to be made perfect. So he had to die for his own sin. No. Has nothing to do with that. It's speaking to him. A complete. There's something missing. And I know that's even almost.
[5:37] In your mind. A paradox. Of thought that. With Jesus Christ. He's God. He was made lower than the angels. To taste death for every man. What's missing. In Christ.
[5:47] Well something is. Apparently. Because. He had to taste death for every man. He had to. It became him. For whom are all things. And by. You know. He created all things.
[5:57] But it. It was something that he didn't know. Or hasn't experienced. And what is that? Suffering. And it made him perfect. Now look at chapter 5 of Hebrews. I'll show you this again.
[6:08] And we'll put it together. Hebrews 5. Hebrews 5. And verses 8 and 9. Though he were a son.
[6:20] Capital S. The son of God. The word. That was made flesh. Though he were a son. Yet learned he obedience. By the things. Which he suffered. And being made perfect.
[6:32] He became the author. Of eternal salvation. Unto all that obey. Them that obey him. So what did Jesus Christ. Have to learn. He had to learn suffering. He had to learn.
[6:42] How to submit. To the father. When he did not want to. When he cried out. Let this cup pass from me. And in a moment. You could see as a man. He didn't want to deal with it.
[6:54] That's the truth. He didn't want to go through with it. He was sweating. As it were great drops of blood. This. His physical body. Was resisting. Rejecting. What was before him.
[7:04] This suffering. But he submitted to it. Against his own will. Submitted. Submitted to God. He learned something. In going to the cross. He learned what it's like. To submit.
[7:15] When you don't want to do it. He learned obedience. Is what the passage says. And now he can expect us. To obey him. Because he knows. What it's like. To not want to. But to do it.
[7:25] Because it's the right thing to do. And it was necessary. And it pleased the father. And he learned something. And that. In that passage. It used the word. Perfection. Made him perfect. And so come back. To Ephesians 4.
[7:36] There is. There's. Tells me. There's things missing in us. There's sides of us. That need to be completed. There's.
[7:49] These offices are given. To grow. And to complete. And to mature. Believers. That make up the body of Christ. So that tells me. There's things lacking. In your life. And God's given you.
[8:01] Offices. Within the body of Christ. To help you with that. Keep your place in Ephesians again. But look to the left. A little bit. Back to 1 Corinthians 14. You are incomplete.
[8:25] To say it another way. There's something wrong with you. There's something missing in you. And it could be different. I'm sure it's different. If we could picture this.
[8:36] In a. In some kind of a chart. You know. You've seen those pie charts. I'm sure. And you've seen. Where there's a certain percentage of this. And a certain percentage. And if you. If we could all see our own pie chart. Of what's in us.
[8:47] For some of us. There's a whole lot of flesh. Or a whole lot of selfishness. And sin. And things like that. Where there's just little parts of grace. Or mercy. And love. These attributes of the new man.
[8:58] But. What needs to happen. Is certain things need to grow. And as that happens. Other things need to start to shrink. Now look at 1 Corinthians 14. Here's an example of this. In verse number 20.
[9:10] Brethren. Be not children. In understanding. How be it. In malice. Be ye children. But in understanding. Be men.
[9:21] Be men. There's the perfecting. The maturity. The growth. The completion. In this area of understanding. What a difference understanding makes. For all of us.
[9:31] If we have it. And we're grown. And mature. In our understanding. Understanding. We're told in Ephesians. Understanding. What the will of the Lord is. In malice.
[9:42] That's an easy one to be. To be strong in. To be grown in. Your flesh will just be that. Come back to Ephesians 4. No. Yeah. Ephesians 4. And look at the end of the passage.
[9:54] He talks about some of these words. Ephesians 4. And if you're picturing that pie chart. Of your life. And your mind. Then notice verse 31. Let all bitterness.
[10:05] And wrath. And anger. And clamor. And evil speaking. Be put away from you. With all malice. And be ye kind. One to another. Tender hearted. Forgiving one another.
[10:16] Even as God for Christ's sake. Hath forgiven you. There's some things that need to be put off. Verse 22. And put on. Verse 24. For the old man. The new man. So in other words.
[10:27] You need help. You need work. You're not complete. You've got a problem. There's things wrong with you and me. And so for that purpose. God gave offices to the body of Christ.
[10:39] And Paul says. Be ye followers of me. And there's elsewhere. We won't take the time. But there's a handful or more. Of scripture references. That point to this very thought. Of whether it's Paul himself.
[10:50] Or some of the men that he sent out. He's telling them. You need to follow them. Watch them. They're an example for you. And these are. That's exactly what this is. They're. They're ministers.
[11:01] And they're appointed by God. Given to the body. And what the Lord does. Is he. He deals with a man. He deals with him in his heart. He deals with him about himself.
[11:12] His sin. And that man. As God puts that on him. That calling. Or that. I don't know. That just. Something. As he puts it on him.
[11:23] The man. If he. Submits to it. He surrenders. He just. He lays his life on the altar. And says. God I give you everything. Whatever you want. I'm yours. Do with me what you will. If it means I'll go to Algeria.
[11:34] I'll go. If it means I'll just be a. I'll minister on the streets. Or in the missions. I'll do that. If it means I'll just. Whatever. God. I'm yours. And God does it. He calls a man.
[11:46] And then he. He fits that man. Or he grows that man. He burdens that man. He convicts that man. And inwardly. He starts to grow. As the Lord leads. And. And they're all different.
[11:57] We're all different. In this way. Some are gifted with just. Musical ability. Just a super friendly. Warm nature about him. That just draws everybody to him.
[12:09] And that's a gift. And God. Gives him that for the ministry. Others. He gives other thoughts. Other ways. They see things differently. The Lord. Shapes his men. The way he chooses to. And he does all this.
[12:20] For the perfecting of the saints. Number one. For the perfecting of the saints. These are gifts of God. To the local church. To grow. His saints. And to get them.
[12:32] Away from what they were. To being something better. Then the second thing. Here in verse 12. He says. For the work of the ministry. He's giving these men.
[12:42] And in positions and offices. To the body of Christ. For the work. Of the ministry. Now. Keep your place. Let's look at Acts chapter 6. And I want to point out something.
[12:55] From this passage. Acts chapter 6. Some local churches. Have the idea. That we pay the pastor. And it's his job. To just. To take care of everything.
[13:07] He does it all. The plumbing. He does it all. See. And that's why I said that. And some have that idea.
[13:21] And I was. Where was I at recently. Or here it is. I don't know where I was recently. I heard. I heard a. A guy teaching on that thought. And. He didn't even go to Acts 6.
[13:32] But I think this will really. Shed light on it. His thought was no. No. And no. That's dead wrong. For a church to feel like. There you are.
[13:42] That's your job. You take care of everything. We pay you. And that's. That's dead wrong. To think that the pastor. Is supposed to be. The jack of all trades. And fix and minister. And do everything everywhere.
[13:53] And I don't just mean. Construction wise. Because I don't mind. Some of that. I love that stuff actually. Keeps me busy. I mowed the grass yesterday. I enjoy doing that. That doesn't bother me at all.
[14:03] I don't want to do it every week. But. I like it. I really do. I'm getting off track here. Coming to Acts chapter 6. Look at verse number 1. And in those days.
[14:14] When the number of the disciples. Were multiplied. There arose a murmuring. Of the Grecians. Against the Hebrews. Because their widows. Were neglected. In the daily ministration. See the word ministry. And at the end there.
[14:25] Ministration. They're ministering. Something to these widows. And the term is. Serving tables. In verse 2. And then the 12. Called the multitude. Of the disciples unto them.
[14:36] And said. It's not reason. That we should leave the word of God. And serve. And this ministry. We shouldn't leave this ministry. For that ministry.
[14:46] There's a priority. Verse 3. Wherefore brethren. Look ye out among you. Seven men of honest report. Find somebody else to do it. Full of the Holy Ghost. And wisdom. That we may appoint over this business.
[14:58] But we will give ourselves continually. To prayer. And to the ministry of the word. So there's two different ministries. Mentioned there. In this chapter. One's the ministry of the word.
[15:10] With prayer. Spiritual things. For the body. And then the other one. Is this daily ministration. Serving tables. And doing the carnal things. That need to be done.
[15:20] To take care of the people. They're both ministering. But the one. Finds its priority. The one. The men. That are. The disciples. That are the called positions. Here. Find that.
[15:31] We have to keep our priority. On this one. We can't leave that. To do that. Come back to Ephesians 4. The work of the ministry. The primary work.
[15:42] Of the ministry. For the offices. Is ministering the word. And prayer. There are certainly other things. But I'll call that the primary. There are certainly other things.
[15:52] That come into play. In the. In. In. Where was. Where did we read that last week? We're talking about a pastor. Or was that.
[16:08] That was a Peter. Wasn't it? I'm just going to peek. Don't worry about going there. Let's see if I'm right here. Yeah. In. First Peter 5. He says. Feed the flock of God. Which is among you. And he says. Taking the oversight thereof.
[16:20] I don't know. We could probably put a lot of things. In this. Taking the oversight thereof. Not by constraint. But willingly. So there's. There's certainly more things. That fall into the position.
[16:31] And. It can depend on. The locality. On the size of the church. And you. You can. Figure out a lot of things there. Ministries that are there. The work of the ministry.
[16:43] So verse 12 says. These. These offices are given for. The perfecting of the saints. Because they need help. They need examples. They need to grow. For the work of the ministry. The ministry of the word.
[16:55] Predominantly. And then. Thirdly. Says for the edifying. Of the body of Christ. The edifying. These positions are given. To edify the body of Christ. What's that mean? To edify. To edify.
[17:06] Is to instruct. In the way of right. Or righteousness. Or truth. It's to. Improve. Morally. Spiritually.
[17:16] It's. It's to edify. Come back to. First Corinthians. Chapter 14. And you'll see. In this passage. Some. Some of this. Prophecy.
[17:27] Going on. Back in the. Earlier. Days of the church. And back when they were.
[17:39] Speaking. In an unknown. Tongue. And interpreting. By the way. Both of which. Are.
[17:51] Unnecessary. Today. First Corinthians. 14. And notice. Verse. Three. Speaking of. Prophecy. Says. But he that prophesieth.
[18:02] Speaketh unto men. To edification. And exhortation. And comfort. He that speaketh. In an unknown tongue. Edifyeth himself. Well that's not what the positions are given for.
[18:14] They're to edify. The body. The. The edifying of the body of Christ. But he that prophesieth. Edifyeth the church. So in this passage. He's saying.
[18:25] If you're going to do one or the other. I want you to prophesy. And. And let's just backtrack a little. So this doesn't sound too weird. Or spooky to you. Remember. There's no. Complete revelation.
[18:36] Of the. Of the word of God. And this church at Corinth. Doesn't have revelation. They don't even have a copy of. The gospel of John. They don't have Galatians. Ephesians.
[18:47] They don't have any of this stuff. They have perhaps access to the words. Of Isaiah. And Jeremiah. Maybe. If they have a copy of that. But that's not necessarily in every church. And so.
[18:59] What do they have? They have. They have the word of God. Being revealed. And delivered to them. Through prophets. Through. Men. And even. Ladies. It says. Remember in Acts.
[19:09] Agabus. His daughters. I think it was. Or Philip's daughter. Philip the evangelist. His daughters. That prophesy. The Lord is. Moving. And using people. To deliver his truth. I don't know what it sounded like.
[19:20] I don't know what it looked like. I'm going to. To presume. Delicately. That. That it was. It looked like the word of God. Like we have today.
[19:31] I'm going to presume that. They would have. They would have. Edified the church. In ways of being kind. One to another. Tender hearted. Forgiving one another. I would imagine. That they would have. Used that same thought.
[19:43] That he wrote to the Philippians. Of humbleness of mind. Of. The mind of Christ. The teachings that Paul gives. To the local church. I can't imagine that.
[19:53] I don't. They weren't talking about. Daniel's. A ram. That was moved with color. Against him. And. That's not the prophecies. We're talking about. When they're. Dealing with these. New born Christians.
[20:04] In brand new. Local churches. That have. Strife. And envyings. And divisions. Among them. So the prophets. Are probably. Prophesying. Or preaching. The words of God.
[20:14] To them. That matches. What we have. As scripture today. Maybe I'll work for word. Maybe not. I don't know how to. What it looks like again. But. Nevertheless. They're. Edifying. Verse number three.
[20:26] And exhorting. And comforting. With their prophecy. Prophecies. So they're not just. Talking about some mysterious stuff. And I bet you their prophecy. Is nothing to do with the Old Testament prophecies.
[20:37] About the Messiah. And about Israel. And about the kingdom. It has probably everything to do. With delivering the word of God. To that people. And even. Exhorting them.
[20:47] That the day of Christ. Is coming. And be ready. And be clean. And be sanctified. And all right. Verse. Where did I stop at? Verse four.
[20:57] Says that he prophesieth. Edifyeth the church. Verse five. Says I would. That ye. All spake with tongues. But rather that ye. Prophesied. For greater is he. That prophesieth. Than he that speaketh. With the tongues.
[21:08] Except he interpret. That the church. May receive edifying. That's what it's about. Later on. Look at verse 12. In the same passage. First Corinthians 14. 12. Even so ye.
[21:19] For as much as ye are zealous. Of spiritual gifts. Seek that ye may excel. To the edifying. Of the church. That's what it's all about. Come back to Ephesians.
[21:31] Tell you what. On your way. Hit 2nd Corinthians 12. On your way back. 2nd Corinthians 12. Here's something that needs to be made. Clear as well.
[21:44] About this thought of edifying. Paul does all things to edify. In 2nd Corinthians chapter 12. Verse 19. There's some problems.
[21:56] And he's threatening. That I'm going to show up. And if you don't get this figured out now. I'm going to figure it out when I get there. And so in verse 19. He says again. Think ye that we excuse ourselves unto you.
[22:08] We speak before God. In Christ. But we do all things dearly beloved. For your edifying. And what he's fearing. Is that he's going to show up.
[22:19] And ream them out. For the way they're acting. Their strifes. And backbitings. And whispering. Swellings. Tumults among them. Their uncleanness.
[22:30] At verse 21. Fornication. Lasciviousness. What he's saying. What I'm saying with this. Is the edification. The point of this stuff. These offices. Are for the betterment. Of the church. And sometimes.
[22:42] It may even mean. Giving it to them. Or rebuking them. To edify them. To drive them. To righteousness. And to truth. To improve their morality.
[22:54] And spirituality. So that's what these are about. The edifying of the body. Of Christ. When. Look back at Ephesians 4. And notice this. That when the church.
[23:05] Is matured. And grown. And is. And is. Doing. This the way God. Established them. To do this. The body is going to. Edify itself. Look at the end.
[23:16] Of verse 16. You see that last. Phrase. Says making increase. Of the body. Unto the edifying. Of itself. In love. We're going to edify. One another. It's not just going to.
[23:28] Have to come from. An office. Or a position. Or having preachers in. And things. I spoke with a guy. That was. I told you about. On Wednesday night. A little bit. But he talked about. His. Their setup.
[23:39] Of elders. Are just. A different. Kind of setup. Than we would have here. And what he did. They brought in. Outside people. To try to. Get the. The.
[23:49] The. The. Spiritual. Well-being. Of the flock. Or. Do you think. Everything's going okay. And do you. And it's just a. Bringing an outside source in. That was kind of like. Connected to the network.
[23:59] Or something. Which we're not any. Way shape or form. Part of. They're not as autonomous. As we would be. But they brought somebody in. To try to check it out. And see if they're doing it right.
[24:10] And. When he talked about it. I said. You might be asking for a can of worms there. For your people to just. Blast you. To everybody else. And.
[24:21] And we talked on that lines a little bit. But. The body. The offices are there. To grow the church. To. To. To perfect them. To do the work of the ministry.
[24:32] Three. But to edify this body. And to. Point them a certain direction. So that body can grow. And then. Edify itself. All right.
[24:42] Come back down to verse. Where were we. 13. 13. You'll notice the word unity. Something that showed up. Back in verse three. And it continues.
[24:52] Carrying the theme. Till we all come. In the unity of the faith. In the unity of the faith. Remember there's one faith. In verse five. There's one truth.
[25:03] The truth from the scriptures. Until we all come to the unity of the faith. Which says that. When you get saved. You're just not. All on board. And everybody's not on the same page. When it comes to the faith.
[25:15] And to the truth. That the scriptures teach. And so that needs to be taught. And the body needs to be edified. And grown. And perfected. So that we can come to that unity. We can be unified.
[25:27] Knowing the truth. And that's why that's so important. With the understanding. I mentioned earlier. That we all have the same understanding. Of what's true. It's not up to your opinion. And it's never up to your emotions.
[25:38] And how you feel about it. And that's one dangerous thing. About having little cell churches. All over the place. At different times. Like we're going to break up. And you're going to go here. You're going to go here. You're going to go here. And what's happening over there.
[25:49] Is it the same thing happening over here? Is it the same thing. That this guy is teaching over here? Is this man leading it? Or is his wife leading it over here? Or are they even doing anything. But just having coffee.
[26:01] And hanging out. Is there. We need to be unified. Under. Or together. That's why it's important to stay here. And not to break off into these little branches. And then everybody starts giving their opinion.
[26:14] About what they feel. What they think. And it's not to say that I'm perfect. And that I always deliver the absolute best. And perfect and true. Sometimes I'll come through a passage or a message.
[26:24] And maybe you in the pew says. You might have better understanding of it than I do. And you'll just have to have some grace with that. And then we can move past it. The idea though is. We got to be unified.
[26:35] Till we all come in the unity of the faith. And of the knowledge. Of the son of God. We're not going to come to the unity of the faith. If we don't have the same Bible. There's. There's. Something that needs to be remembered.
[26:47] And put forth. We might take it for granted here. That we know the truth. We have the King James Bible. We're not deceived. But as you talk to other people. And even if they're spiritually minded. And have a Bible that.
[26:58] A different version. As they quote the scripture to you. You're like. Doesn't sound right. That's not right. Oh. There's. Oh. It's. And you're. And I'm always in the back of my mind.
[27:08] Thinking. How is it actually worded? And what does that. What is missing? What's different about that? And I'm not looking to attack people with it. If that's not the case. But you'll not have the unity of the faith.
[27:21] If you don't have. The unified word of God. The word of God. The King James Bible. You won't come to the unity of the faith. If you don't have a final authority. That's. That's probably the better way to say it.
[27:32] So thank God. We have one. For we've all. Till we all come to the unity of the faith. Unto the knowledge. Of the son of God. Unto a perfect. Man. Unto the measure of the stature.
[27:44] Of the fullness. Of Christ. Christ. So. Consider this. And plug this into your mind. Is when. In verse 12. When this. They're the perfecting of the saints.
[27:56] When. When the body is trying to be. Changed. And groomed. And growing. To a specific thing. The specific thing. Or person. Is the Lord Jesus Christ.
[28:07] The perfect man. We're trying to get complete in him. The measure. Is the stature. Of the fullness of Christ. Christ. And so. One local church.
[28:18] Ought to. Ought to resemble. Another local church. If we're both doing it right. Now. Culturally. Not necessarily. Some church.
[28:30] That's up in the northwest. Is just going to look different. Than a church. That's down in. In North Carolina. They're going to look completely different. In certain. Aspects. But of the doctrine.
[28:40] It ought to be the same. Of the worship. The spirit. It ought to be the same. You ought to be able to go on vacation. Or go travel. And find a good Bible believing church. And walk right in those doors. And feel like you're at home.
[28:53] Even if they. Wear cowboy ties. And boots. Even if they dress differently. Or have a little different haircuts. Or just something.
[29:03] But if they've got the book. And the spirit of God's bearing with you. You ought to feel right at home. It's a blessing. To get around to some other churches. Sometimes. And to just meet other brethren. And one reason.
[29:13] Is it just encourages you. That you're not alone. That you know. When Brother Spurgeon says. That comes out here. He says. I love it. I love coming out here. To find that there's good men. Good brethren.
[29:25] That love the Lord Jesus Christ. And his word. And you're not all kooks. Out here in California. That speaks to me. That ministers to me. I'm thankful for that. I remember the first trip. My wife and I took out here. That I.
[29:36] I enjoyed hearing the singing. And I mentioned that to her. I'm like. Oh thank God. These people sing. What a blessing. That they sing. I felt comfortable. In that environment. That people are not.
[29:47] They're not. They're not afraid. They just. I was like. There's some joy. There's some zeal. There's this good spirit about. That's. That's incredible. That's good. It felt good. And.
[29:57] Hey man. I've been in some churches. All over the states. Here and there. And. You get in a good one. You ought to be. Because. Why? Because we're. We're all to be.
[30:08] Going to that perfect man. That. That body is supposed to be going. Toward. Its head. The Lord Jesus Christ. Under the measure of the stature. Of the fullness of Christ. Now. Come to verse 14.
[30:19] And. Let's see if we can move a little bit here. That we henceforth be no more children. Tossed to and fro. So that's what you are. When you start. You're a child. In Christ.
[30:30] You get saved. You're just a child. You don't belong in the pulpit. You don't belong teaching the Bible studies. You're not a Sunday school teacher. You're a child. Spiritually speaking. Now.
[30:40] As you're saved five years. That's up to you. You don't have to stay a child. If you're saved 20 years. Come on. You should not be a child anymore. You should be doing something.
[30:52] You should be growing. That we henceforth be no more children. Tossed to and fro. And carried about with every wind of doctrine. By the slight of men. And cunning craftiness.
[31:04] Whereby they lie in wait. To deceive. So there are men. That want to deceive you. You don't get that unless you get in your Bible. And you better have your eyes open.
[31:16] Once you get some Bible in you. You're understanding. You become grown men in understanding. And you. You hear. You perceive. Whether this is of God. Or this is of men.
[31:27] Whether they're trying to pull me aside. Where this is some cult. You see these guys. I said it the other week. And I keep seeing them. I saw them again the other day. On Glen Oaks. I think they're Jehovah's Witnesses.
[31:38] I think so. But I haven't stopped to talk to them. But they have. Have you been seeing them around or not? I've seen them in four or five different spots here. Around Silmar and over Mission Hills.
[31:48] Where they stand with a little cart. Standing up beside them. They just stand there. Dressed nice. Just like this. They got their little gospel cart. Not gospel. Their little kingdom cart.
[31:59] I don't know what it is. But I see it says something about Bible studies in Spanish. And I don't know Spanish. That's their fault. And so I don't know what it says. I'm just driving by. But I've seen them.
[32:09] They're dressed nice. They were trying to get attention. And they're trying to do something. And they're lying in wait to deceive. They don't even know it. They're being. They're deceived and being deceived.
[32:20] Deceiving and being deceived. Is the way it's worded. And that's real. And they look nice. Ladies dressed well. Well they're innocent right? I mean. They don't.
[32:30] They don't personally want to take me to hell do they? Is that their drive and motivation? No. You wouldn't assume that. But little do you know. That they're led by a devil.
[32:42] And a deceiving spirit. And they will. They will take men to hell. Telling them the good news of the kingdom. So we don't need to be children.
[32:54] We need to be grown in our understanding. And in the scripture. And making use of what God puts in front of us. And gives to us. So that we're not tossed to and fro.
[33:07] So babes in Christ. Children are the ones that get tossed to and fro. I may have told you this before. I feel like I have. But when I was in Bible school. I was able to help lead a co-worker of mine to the Lord.
[33:20] And he tells me. He didn't come to church that weekend. That Sunday. But on Monday morning. I said why don't you come to church with me. I was really trying to push him to get to church that first week.
[33:30] And he's like. Oh blah blah blah. He goes. But you know what. Some guys came to my door on Saturday. Which was like a day after he got saved. Some guys came to my door on Saturday. And they were talking about this and that.
[33:41] And I was like. You know what. That doesn't sound right. They were Jehovah's Witnesses. The first day after he saved. Some cunning crafty men.
[33:55] Show up at his door. Don't tell me that's just by chance. And of course he didn't come to church. But he had been hearing enough preaching from me. And from the guys I had on the radio in the truck.
[34:07] It's nice to be in the south. Where you can actually have good preaching on the radio. I don't know if that exists out here. But who needs it. You got YouTube now. So he got so much preaching and stuff throughout the weeks.
[34:17] That he had enough sense already. That these guys aren't telling the truth. They're offering me something that I don't need. Anyway. There they are. They're there. They're active.
[34:29] And it's time to grow up. So that's not the case where he pulls you aside. And deceives you. How many men are lost and on their way to hell today. Because of right up here.
[34:39] In their mind. They're pretty sure I'm okay. How many? How many of your family. Or friends. Think they're okay. But they don't know what God has already said.
[34:52] To them. He that believeth not is condemned already. How many of them don't know that. How many of them don't even think about that. Because they think they're okay.
[35:03] They're deceived. And we better watch out ourselves. But then of course understand that. That spirit's alive. And it's doing its job. Our job then in verse 15.
[35:14] Is speaking the truth in love. But speaking the truth in love. May grow up into him in all things. Which is the head. Even Christ. We've already seen Christ being the head earlier.
[35:25] In this book even. And in Colossians. Speaking the truth in love. May grow up into him. I want you to notice that it's the truth. That causes or permits the growth.
[35:36] Not the love. Speaking the truth in love. But it's the truth that's being spoken. Is what grows. Which gets inside. Inside. The Bible says in Psalm 51.
[35:49] I think it is where God desires truth. On the inward parts. That's what he wants to see. That's what needs to get on in the inside. It's not the love. Speak the truth in love.
[36:00] And then you can grow up into him. In all things. Another maybe words to underline in that verse. Is that you're growing up into him. That's where you're growing.
[36:11] You're not growing in your. You're you know people. You're following. You're not growing in your ministry. You're growing up into him. In all things. And as you do that.
[36:22] The Lord will use you. As you grow up into him. Which is the head. Even Christ. We're going to stop there. And take a 10 or 15 minute break here. And because of the heart. The first father?
[36:34] Thank you very much. Now you're what God. I think we do love this. Could be lovely. We're going to start living here. Leon. Let's look over. Let's look over.