Well, turn back with me to Ephesians
chapter four in your Bibles. Ephesians chapter four. We looked
at the first five or six verses last week. The epistle to the
Ephesians divides very neatly around the end of chapter three. The first three chapters are
the doctrine of the gospel, the teaching of the gospel, the principles
of the gospel that God has revealed. The last three chapters, four
to six, are all about the practical application of that teaching,
of that doctrine. The doctrine of the gospel is
the doctrine of sovereign grace. Don't just let those be words
that trip off the tongue, a phrase, almost becoming a cliche that
we know. No, sovereign grace means God. God, from start to
finish. responsible for, the author of,
all salvation, sovereign grace. And how is it achieved? How is
it applied? It's in satisfaction being made
to the justice of God. For in the sins of his people,
the justice of God is offended. It's violated. It must cry out
for justice to be established. And in the gospel, The Lord Jesus
Christ establishes, satisfies the justice of God, and saves,
as he came to do, his people from their sins, and gives his
people, by his Holy Spirit, quickening, which is making them alive, bringing
them from being dead in trespasses and sins to being alive, taking
them from being aliens, foreigners, enemies of the kingdom of God,
to being citizens, of the kingdom of God by the gift of faith and
built together into a holy temple built together in into a temple
which is the church which is not one made out of stones as
was the one in Jerusalem, which was the picture of the true Church
of Christ, which is built of living stones, as Peter tells
us. You are living stones, in whom
the building, as Ephesians 2.21 says, the building fitly framed
together groweth into an holy temple in the Lord, a habitation
of God in the Spirit. This is the gospel defined in
the first three chapters of Ephesians. And in it, we saw when we came,
therefore, to chapter four, how this is applied. And first of
all, Paul said in verse one, I therefore, because of this
gospel, I, though I'm a prisoner of the Lord, he was kept bound
at Rome. And he says, I, the prisoner
of the Lord, I beseech you. that you walk, you live your
lives worthy of the vocation, of the calling wherewith you
are called. Because you're called with a
gospel call, which is a high call, which is a call like you
could You could get a call from the Queen to go to a garden party
next summer. You could get a call from the
palace to go and be knighted, or be made a member of the British
Empire, or one of these honours. That would be a high calling,
wouldn't it? None of us would turn our noses up at that. That
would be a high calling. This gospel is a call from heaven,
from eternity. the vocation were with you are
called. Walk worthy of it. Live your lives worthy of it,
which is what he's going on to define in detail. And the first
thing he said was be unified. Do everything you can. Endeavour. Is it not talking about effort?
You know, when I preach sermons like this, and I start to get
into these practical precept sections of the epistles, I'm
always conscious, as somebody once many years ago wrote to
me, he said, you're just preaching law works. And all I was seeking
to do was to apply the precepts of the gospel as they are laid
out here. It says endeavor. With what do
I endeavour? I endeavour with what I've got,
which is me in this body. I know it's a sinful body, but
I have to endeavour to keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond
of peace. Now, there are fruitful ways
of endeavouring, and there are less fruitful ways. Fruitful
ways are by looking to Christ, because only in Him, only in
Him are we able by the works of the flesh, none of us can
be justified, none of us can do any good. As Paul said, in
me, that is, in my flesh, there dwells no good thing. But he
called for unity, unity. Biblical Christian unity. One
head, who is Christ, our God. One body, which is the church
of all its diverse members. But all together we make one
body. One binding together, like the
mortar between the bricks in the temple. And that binding
together, that mortar, is faith, hope and love. You see, salvation
is for eternity. But it's not just for eternity. It's to transform this life here
and now. If you turn back to chapter 2
and verse 10, we are his workmanship. We who believe are God's workmanship,
created in Christ Jesus, what for Paul? Unto good works, which
God hath before ordained that we should walk in them. Could
it be any clearer? Couldn't, could it? It makes
a difference If we claim the benefits of God's salvation,
it makes a difference how we live. Now what is Paul's objective
in this? You can see it summarized in
verse 16 of chapter four. From whom? He's talking about
Christ. From whom? From Christ. The whole body, the church, fitly
joined together and compacted by that which every joint supplies. It's a kind of a mutual support.
It's just like your upper arm muscles support your lower arm
muscles and your hand and your thighs support your knees and
your legs and your feet. It's talking about that kind
of thing, the way the members, the individual members, fitly
joined together and compacted by that which every joint supplieth
according to the effectual working in the measure of every part.
In other words, what God has given to every individual maketh
increase of the body unto the edifying of itself in love. That's it. Edifying, building
up itself in love. And so I've called this message
edifying gifts, edifying gifts. Increasing devotion to the cause
and service of Christ and his kingdom is what Paul is exhorting. Believers who believe that gospel
that he's defined in the first three chapters, if you believe
that this is what he's exhorting. Increasing devotion to the cause
and service of Christ and his kingdom. So how is that promoted?
Now look at verse seven. but unto every one of us, that's
members of that body of Christ, the church, is given grace. Grace, God's undeserved gift,
according to the measure of the gift of Christ, because Christ
gives gifts to different members according to his sovereign purpose. Gifts from Christ to everyone. Now what I want to do this morning
is look in verses 7 down to 16 at these gifts that God gives
by Christ to his church. Edifying gifts. Gifts for building
up. Gifts for fortifying. Gifts for
strengthening. And I've got three points. The
root of those gifts, the nature of those gifts, and the purpose
of those gifts. The gifts of grace that Christ
gives. So first of all, the root of those gifts. What is the root
of every gift that God gives to his people? What is the foundational
cause of every gift that God gives to his people? You know,
we saw all those blessings defined in Ephesians 1, 2, and 3. Great
blessings defined. What's the basis of it? The basis
of it is the finished work of Christ. The salvation of his
people that he has accomplished. Now, How do we know that his
work is finished? How do we know? And when I say
finished, you know, sometimes you start a job and you say,
oh, I've had enough for today, but you haven't finished the
job. Not really. We did some gardening yesterday
afternoon, some tidying up, and quite honestly, we got tired
and a bit weary and we packed up, but we haven't finished it.
How do we know Christ's work is finished? The answer is this,
the ascension. Look, verse eight, wherefore
he saith. When he says that, he's going
to quote another scripture, and we read it earlier in Psalm 68. Psalm 68, verse 18. When he ascended
up on high, he led captivity captive, and gave gifts unto
men. That's not exactly what Psalm
68, verse 18 says. Turn back to Psalm 68 and verse
18. Well, I'll read it out to you.
This is what, remember, Psalm of David, the Psalm of David,
written, what, thousand years or so, more than that maybe,
1200 years before Christ came, I've never been particularly
good with dates, but it's there or thereabouts. And he wrote
this, by inspiration of the Holy Spirit. Thou hast ascended on
high. Thou hast led captivity captive. Thou hast received gifts for
men. Yea, for the rebellious also,
that the Lord God might dwell among them. it says, gave gifts unto men.
He received gifts for men in order to give gifts unto men
when he ascended on high. Now, what's the significance
of this in terms of this being the root of the gifts that God
gives to his people? In John chapter 17, it's that
high priestly prayer of Christ And Christ, this is the night
before he goes to the cross, and he says, I have finished
the work which you gave me to do. I finished it. He came in
a body, a body was prepared. I have finished that work. And
he had. The next day, he was going to
the cross. On the cross, he cried when his blood had been poured
out, when His heavenly father had forsaken him because he had
been made the sin of his people. My God, my God, why have you
forsaken me? And then he cried out, it is
finished. What was finished? The satisfaction
of justice for the sins of his people. For the law says, the
soul that sins, it shall die. That's what the law requires.
Perfection or death. We're not perfect, so Christ
came and died in the place of his people. And he cried, it
is finished. What was finished? Redemption.
What is redemption? It's a purchase. It's a buying
back. It's a paying the price. He paid
the broken law's just demands for his people. That's what he
did. That was what was finished. I don't know whether you do it,
but sometimes it's possible to buy things on installments. And,
you know, you put down a deposit and you pay installments. Isn't
it lovely when you make the final payment? It's finished! You say,
it's finished, I've paid it. I've not just paid it in part,
I've paid it in full. It is finished. He finished paying
the debt. for his people on the cross of
Calvary. As Romans 4.25 says, he was delivered
for our offences when he was lifted up on the cross and he
was put in the tomb, but he was raised again from the dead for
our justification. What does that mean? The resurrection
of Christ was the vindication of what he accomplished in his
death. The fact that he was raised vindicated the fact that his
death had satisfied the justice of God. His resurrection was
proof of the efficacy of Christ's death to pay the penalty to the
law of God. But it was ultimately finished.
You see, he then walked the earth in a risen from the dead form,
appearing to his disciples on different occasions for 40 days
until the ascension. And it was ultimately finished
there when he returned to glory. Again, in that John 17 prayer,
verse five, Christ prayed this, glorify thou me with the glory
I had with thee before the world was. The Son, the Son of God,
Christ, is co-equal with the Father and with the Spirit. And
in eternity before the world began, had all the fullness of
the glory of God. And even as he walked this earth,
we read, in him dwelt the fullness of the Godhead bodily. He said,
restore to me that glory. At his ascension, he went back
to that glory. He went back to it, and as Psalm
68, 18 says, he received gifts for men. He received gifts on
account of the fact that he had redeemed men, his people, he
had redeemed them. Rebellious men, it says, sinners,
he had redeemed them. Those who deserve to die under
the law, he had redeemed them by dying in their place. Cursed
is everyone that hangeth on a tree. Cursed is everyone that does
not continue in all things written in the book of the law to do
them. But Christ has redeemed us from the curse of the law
by being made a curse for us. he received gifts for men that
he might give gifts to men as Paul renders it in verse eight
of chapter four you see the reason why Paul doesn't quote that psalm
exactly is this because Paul was writing under the inspiration
of the Holy Spirit he didn't get it wrong this is what the
Holy Spirit inspired him to write in interpretation of that psalm
He gave gifts to men because he had been given gifts for men. We're talking about how heavenly
gifts are bestowed upon diverse different members of Christ's
united body. He had to ascend to glory to
send, what's the primary gift that he gives to his people?
Is it not his Holy Spirit? In John 16 he said, I must go
away from you. Wouldn't it be wonderful, you
might think, if a bodily manifestation of Christ was here in our midst
today? Do you know something? No, it
wouldn't. He said, it's better for you that I go away. For if
I go away, I will send the comforter to you, the Holy Spirit. And
so we can gather here. And friends can gather in South
London and all over the world where there are companies of
people, believers, trust in Christ. worshipping Christ, and there
by the Holy Spirit he is with them in their midst, where even
two or three are gathered together in his name. But look what it
says here, verses 9 and 10. You see, you might read this
and you might think, what on earth is that talking about?
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 what does that mean? what's that talking
about there? it's talking about this he could
only ascend in completion, finishing, of the work that he came to do
in saving his people if he first descended to earth, if he came
down from glory, if he came down from heaven to do the work of
redemption, which meant being a man of sorrows, taking upon
him the form of a servant, being clothed in flesh being made of
a woman made under the law our God contracted to a span he could
only ascend in glory to glory having completed the work on
the basis of which he gives gifts to men if he first came down
he descended in order to complete the work of redemption turn to
that well-known passage you should almost be able to quote it off
by heart but Philippians chapter two and verse 5. Let me read
these verses again to you. Let this mind be in you, which
was also in Christ Jesus. Come on believers, let this mind
be in you, who being in the form of God, our Lord Jesus Christ
was very God of very God before he came to this earth. He thought
it not robbery. He wasn't stealing anything.
He wasn't taking anything that wasn't rightly, that's what robbery
is, it's taking that which is not rightly yours. Christ thought
it not robbery to be equal with God, because he was God. He is
God. Our Lord Jesus Christ is God.
But even as God, what did he do? What did he say to his disciples? I am meek and lowly of heart. Come unto me. I am meek I, the
one who reigns supreme over everything, I am meek and lowly of heart,
who, being in the form of God, thought it not robbery to be
equal with God, but made himself of no reputation. Did he? He certainly did. You read the
account in the Gospels as he walked this earth. What reputation
was he held in by the leaders and the rulers and the Stribes
and the Pharisees, no reputation. He was despised and rejected
of men. He took upon him the form of
a servant and was made in the likeness of men. He clothed himself
with our flesh and blood that he might be like us and that
in the process of being like us he might pay redemption's
price. Redemption's price is the shed
blood of people for the sins of the people. And he had human
blood, but his was without sin, and therefore his was precious
blood, as of a lamb without blemish and without spot. He made himself
of no reputation, and took upon him the form of a servant, made
in the likeness of men, and being found in fashion as a man, he
humbled himself. and became, no, they took him
and crucified him. No, he said, no one takes my
life from me. I lay it down of myself. I lay it down and I take it up
again. This was what he did in redeeming
his people. He humbled himself and became
obedient unto death, even the death of the cross. You know,
worldly religion has so venerated the cross as an icon of idolatry
that we go, oh, the death of the cross. No, when Paul wrote
this, it was the death of the cross. It was a cursed, vile
death. It was a shameful death. It was
the most shameful death you could die. It was, it was the death
of the abject Roman in the Roman system of justice. It was the,
it was the, the ultimate penalty. The death of the cross was a
cursed death. and he humbled himself to that
death. Wherefore, because he's done
that, God has highly exalted him. He's ascended. He's not
only risen from the dead, but he's ascended to glory. And he's
given him a name which is above every name, that at the name
of Jesus, every knee should bow, of things in heaven, and things
in earth, and things under the earth, and every tongue confess
that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.
I tell you, that day is coming. That day is hasting on when He
will have everyone, every knee shall bow to Him. We saw all
the blessings of salvation in chapters 1 to 3 bestowed when
redemption was finished and when Christ returned in ascension
to glory. Remember Revelation chapter 12,
do you remember that? It's very fresh in my mind because
I'm writing up the chapters of the sermons that I preached on
it about a year ago. But Revelation chapter 12, if
you remember, the vision was of a woman. And that woman was
the church. And that woman was with child.
That woman was the Old Testament church. And she was pregnant
with a child. And that child was the Lord Jesus
Christ who would come, would be born of that woman. But there
was a dragon. who was ready, ready there to
devour the child as soon as it was born, to kill that child,
because he knew in that child was the redemption of sins, and
he mustn't let that happen if his kingdom, Satan's kingdom,
was to prevail. But he came. and he accomplished
his purpose, and he was snatched up to heaven. It says in Revelation
12, 5, her child, the woman's child, which is the Lord Jesus
Christ, was caught up unto God and to his throne. And in the
process, Satan, the accuser of the brethren, was completely
disarmed. So Paul says in Romans 8, 33
and 34, who shall lay any charge to God's elect? Who shall accuse
you who believe, me, who believe the gospel, who is going to lay
any charge that will stand before the bar of God's justice in eternity,
before that judgment seat of Christ? Who is going to say,
aha, you cannot let Evelyn Clark in there, look at the sin, no.
Nobody shall lay any charge to God's elect, for Christ has died.
He's died. He's disarmed Satan. And then
the woman was placed in the wilderness. And that wilderness was a wilderness
separation from this world where God fed and sustained the woman,
the church, with gifts from God until Christ returns. Now these
are the gifts that we're talking about. So what are the gifts
given to his church for this, as Revelation puts it, three
and a half years or 1260 days, or a time, times and half a time. What are the gifts? You see,
that's the basis of it, is the finished work of Christ, and
the ascension is the mark of that finished work of Christ.
So second point, what's the nature of these gifts? Look at verse
11. This is where they're summarized. He gave some apostles, and some
prophets, and some evangelists, and some pastors and teachers. They're all ministry gifts. Every single one of them. They're
not material gifts. They're not gifts of a nice new
car, or a flashy home, or a posh holiday. They're not that kind
of thing at all. They're not nice new clothes.
They're ministry gifts, is what he gives. And they're all to
feed the church with the word of God. Why? Because when Satan
was tempting the Lord Jesus Christ in that literal wilderness in
his early days of his ministry, you know, he went into the wilderness
for 40 days and was tempted of the devil, it says, and he told
him to take the stones and make them into bread and eat them
because he was hungry. And Jesus said, quoting Deuteronomy, Jesus
said, man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that
proceeds from the mouth of God. That's what we need. Oh, it's
one thing to have a good meal, it's very enjoyable, but man
shall not live by bread. You'll sustain the body for a
while, until disease or old age overtakes it, but man shall not
live eternally by bread alone. Man shall only live eternally
by the word of God applied in the gospel of his grace. Essentially,
the written word. Sola Scriptura. But not just
that. It needs ministry gifts. Do you remember the Ethiopian
eunuch of Acts chapter 8? And he's been to Jerusalem, and
he's a devout man, and he's bought a book of the scroll of Isaiah,
and he's reading it in his chariot as he's going back home to Ethiopia.
And miraculously, God sends Philip to come alongside him. And Philip
hears him reading. he was led as a lamb to the slaughter
and as a sheep before his shearers is done he opened not his mouth
and Philip said to him do you understand what you're reading
and the Ethiopian said how can I unless a man explain it to
me now That's it. That's what God has done here.
He gave some apostles and prophets and evangelists and pastors and
teachers. It needs ministry gifts, ministry
gifts. In Romans chapter 10, again,
familiar verses, but nevermind. Verse 13, whosoever shall call
upon the name of the Lord shall be saved. But how do we get there?
How then shall they call? upon him in whom they have not
believed. Can't call, it doesn't believe,
you can't call on him. Can't appropriate the benefits
and the blessings of what he's done. How shall they believe
in him of whom they have not heard? They haven't heard of
him. How shall they believe in what they haven't heard? And
how shall they hear without a preacher? and how shall they preach except
they be sent as it is written how beautiful are the feet of
them that preach the gospel of peace and bring glad tidings
of good things you see these ministry gifts are God's way
this is the way that he has ordained the need for a preacher 1 Corinthians
1 21 for after that in the wisdom of God the world by its wisdom
knew not God it pleased God by the foolishness of preaching
to save them that believe. Let's apply this. Let's apply
it to us now. Should you implicitly trust everything
that anyone who claims to be a pastor or a teacher tells you? Oh, because, you know, they're
a pastor or a teacher, we've just got to listen to what they
say. No. No. If you read in the Acts of the
Apostles, chapter 18 is it? Might be around there. The noble
Bereans, 17. Nevermind, look it up afterwards. The noble Bereans, they were
more noble than the Thessalonians because they searched the scriptures
daily to see if what Paul and Silas preached to them was true. The true sheep of God, true believers,
listen for the good shepherd's voice. When they hear a preacher,
they listen for the good shepherd's voice because Jesus said, my
sheep hear my voice and they follow me. But a hireling, they
will not listen to. They won't listen to him because
he's got his other interests at heart. No, my sheep hear my
voice. So of course, every believer
should exercise discernment. But do not try to do without
God's ministry gifts, because that's why he's given them. There's
something divinely special. You know, if you knew how it
feels for me standing here preaching these words to you, you'd get
an appreciation of what I'm trying to say. There is something divinely
special about an earthen vessel. because that's all I am and that's
all any other preacher is is just a common earthly vessel
there's no fancy gold tankard here Just a common pot. I've got pots down the garden
that fall apart in the winter frosts when they get wet. It's
that kind of thing. Just an old earthen pot. But
there's something divinely special about an earthen vessel ministering
divine treasure. Because we have this treasure
of the gospel in earthen vessels. Ministering that treasure to
God's people. Be wary of any you hear say that
they worked the gospel out for themselves and didn't need a
preacher. God's word tells us you do need a preacher. God says
you must hear a preacher, whether it be in a live church setting,
like we are now, or on the internet, like so many people in these
days have to do, or in published sermons written down in books.
You can read Spurgeon's sermons, and Whitfield, and many other
preachers of the past, their sermons are written down. Philpott's
sermons, wonderful. Read them, it's preaching. God
sends a preacher. That is the way that pleases
God. What are they? The apostles.
Infallible definition of gospel truth is what they gave us. There
are no more today. There were just those at the
start. They defined it. When the scripture was closed,
when the last apostle, John, died around the year 95, 96,
something like that, The Scripture was completed. There are prophets,
I'm not talking about Old Testament prophets here, we're talking
about people, men, specially gifted to discern Scripture meaning. And I mean people like Tyndale,
500 years ago. Luther, Calvin, the Reformers,
Whitefield, Spurgeon. You know, I mentioned my Revelation
series just then. I was greatly helped by the commentary
of one Herman Hoxhamer. Excellent. Very, very clear.
What about Don Faulkner? I know people don't like having
their names mentioned, but there's nobody writing quite like he
is in these days, producing excellent material, excellent explanations,
applications of the gospel. His books, Finding Christ in
Ruth, wonderful, wonderful material. And that work of those prophets
helps evangelists and pastors and teachers to minister to their
people as it says in timothy one teaches another that he might
be able to teach another also we make use of it do i agree
with everything that they say no no no we always no there's
things that luther did that i think oh how on earth could he believe
that and do that or John Calvin, oh gosh, look at this rich wonderful
stuff, oh no I'm not sure about that. We used discernment, we
used the light that we have and we remember that they didn't
necessarily have the same light that we have now. Whitfield,
wonderful. Did anyone ever preach like Whitfield?
It seems unlikely. Spurgeon. I love Spurgeon's writing. But you know, every time he talks
about Sunday being the Sabbath day, I go, oh, I wish he hadn't
said that. But does that mean I'm better
than Spurgeon? Not at all, because he teaches so much. No, they're
not infallible. Hoxhamer, even. As much as I
loved his commentary, there were things about it in one or two
places I thought, no, not quite. Would you believe this? If he
was listening to this, you know, I don't think he'd mind if he
heard me say it. There's even one or two things
that Don Thornton has written that I don't 100% agree with.
So we can use discernment, but oh, what a blessing. People that
help. the pastors and the teachers
to understand and to minister God's word effectively, what
a help they are. Pastors feeding their local flock,
evangelists, our itinerant, people who go from place to place, teachers
helping with that instruction of the church through various
channels. This is what God has given. The greatest curse that
God can inflict on a people is to starve them of prophecy, to
silence his word. As it was in the days of the
judges, sometimes for a hundred years at a time, there was no
profit in the land, and everyone just did that which was right
in their own eyes. In times of idolatry in Israel,
the heavens were shut up and were quiet. As in these days,
except for the church being fed via the internet, etc. In Amos
chapter 8, verse 11, the prophet writes, Behold, the days come,
saith the Lord God, that I will send a famine in the land, not
a famine of bread, nor a thirst for water, but of hearing the
words of God. Pray We've lost Cody Groover,
and what a loss that must be to the ministry of the gospel
there in Mexico. But pray regarding Mexico. God
has promised to feed his people in the wilderness. Pray to him
that he will raise up new preachers to do that. So then, finally,
quickly, the purpose. What's the purpose? Look at verse
12. Let's just read down it. for
the perfecting of the saints. This is what he's given those
ministry gifts for. For the perfecting, that we might,
as Peter says, grow in grace and the knowledge of our Lord
and Saviour Jesus Christ. For the work of the ministry
to enable ministers to know and understand the gospel that they
might minister it to others for the building up edifying of the
body of Christ till we all come the church this body of which
were one with one head in unity of the faith and to the knowledge
of the Son of God and unto a perfect man does that mean that in this
life we become perfect no but we grow in maturity and in knowledge
of God and the gospel of his grace, and to the measure of
the stature of the fullness of Christ. This is it, the more
we look to Christ, knowing Christ by these ministry gifts, that
we henceforth be no more children, immature, tossed to and fro,
like a cork on a choppy sea, and carried about by every wind
of doctrine. The wind blows this way, whoosh,
off you go, the wind blows the other way, back you come again.
that we'd be anchored solidly, that we'd not be fickle and tossed
about in immaturity by the cunning craftiness of men, because there
are false teachers everywhere. The kingdom of Satan pedals its
ideas all of the time, they lie in wait to deceive, but what
are God's people to do because of these ministry gifts? Speak
the truth in love, speak the gospel in love, and grow up into
Him in all things which is the head, one 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. This is how God feeds and keeps
and strengthens and matures his body, the church, in its wilderness
separation from the world and the kingdom of Satan and the
kingdom of Antichrist. Question. Question for all of
us. Do you value God's ministry gifts
to the church as you should? Do you value them? Do you support
what God has given? The ministry gifts. Don't worry,
I'm not making a plea for money. I don't need any money. But you
know, we should. Well, like we do, we help to
support Munir in Pakistan, who is there ministering the gospel
of grace. And if we're serious about it,
We help towards the financial support of that man, who because
of his ministry has lost all other means of earning a living.
Yes, do you support it? Do you promote it? Do we give
it priority in our lives? Or do we just manage to squeeze
it into an hour on Sunday morning? Are we happy living most of our
week in the kingdom of Antichrist? and then just have this hour
on a Sunday morning. No, it shouldn't be so for believers. Christ,
if you believe, to you who believe, to me who believe, He is precious. And if He is, oh, we need to
value these gifts that He's given. To seek to grow in grace and
the knowledge of our Lord and Saviour, Jesus Christ. Do you
know, one of the you know a doctor will look at somebody look at
a patient and if he sees no appetite and no growing stronger the doctor
will be concerned for that patient because they're showing signs
of sickness of real sickness they're not thriving they need
to eat they need to grow in strength I remember a place we were at
up in the north of England and it called itself a church it
even called itself an evangelical church and some of the more spiritually
minded asked me at the time because there was nothing else happening
to start some bible studies and uh... we got one bill clark to
come along all those years ago and preach to us up there nineteen
nineteen eighty six something like that nineteen eighty six
and uh... do you know the people there
these so-called christians They had no hunger for it. They had
absolutely no appetite for it. They would have an appetite for
a party. Whenever somebody's birth, oh they'd have a party,
they'd have a barn dance, they'd do all sorts of celebrating,
they'd have fancy Christmas services and all sorts of stuff like that.
But if somebody, if a man sent by God to go and preach the gospel
of grace to them, they had no appetite for it. And do you know
what that told us? Here's a people that's sick and dying if they're
not already dead. Because they've got no appetite,
no appetite. How do you feel when you give
a gift to somebody and you sense it hasn't been appreciated? You
know, you don't want them bowing and scraping, but you know, when
you get the sense that, no, it's not appreciated, they really
didn't want, no, no, no. This is God's gift to us as his
church. Cherish it, exploit it, devote
your time and resources to it. You would do if you bought a
subscription to a fitness training regime, as Timothy says, for
bodily exercise profit a little. Yeah, it does, it profits a little.
But godliness is profitable unto all things, having promise of
life that now is, and of that which is to come. We've got plenty
of resources, plenty of resources. Not just our meeting here, but
all of that that's on the internet, when because of our busy lives
we can't get together in the week. Make use of it. It's God's
ministry gifts to his church. Amen.