The Son of God took on Himself
our nature, came into this world to fulfill all things. to fulfill all things written
in the scriptures. He lived here for 33 years, the
full age of a man, in perfect obedience to the triune God,
perfectly conformed to God's will, perfectly obedient to God's
law. And then he came to Jerusalem
at the appointed hour to be crucified and slain as our substitute in
anticipation of his horrid, horrid death at Calvary. We find him
in Gethsemane praying and his heart broken in the anticipation
of being made sin for us, forsaken of God. his clothes on his back,
soaked with his own blood. He cries, nevertheless, not my
will, thy will be done. And he says, now, Father, glorify
thyself. Glorify thyself. Determined to
suffer and die in our stead. He met his enemies in the garden
and gave himself to the hands of Roman soldiers who had no
power over him as he clearly demonstrated. Gave himself into
the hands of Pilate who had no power over him as he clearly
demonstrated and became the object of man's most brutal cruelty. was nailed to the cursed tree
and suffered all the fury of God's holy wrath and justice
until sin was put away by the sacrifice of himself, until he
had drowned our sins in the infinite ocean of his own sin-atoning
blood forever. And when he died in our stead,
he was buried. Can you imagine how perplexed,
how troubled, how sorrowful his disciples must have been as they
prepared his body for the burial and laid him in the tomb? You
and I look back at those men and women whose hearts were filled
with unbelief too severely. because we look
at them with hindsight and we look at them with all that they
should have known. Now, how come they didn't see
this? How come they didn't know this?
How come they didn't anticipate this? Well, we're reading a long
ways past where they lived. The disciples on the road to
Emmaus said, we thought this was the Christ. Those disciples,
those disciples. Their hearts were filled with
grief. They were confused. They didn't know what to do.
They didn't know what to do. And then the Lord appeared to
his disciples. Can you imagine their joy? Can
you imagine their delight? When the Lord appeared in their
midst, he who died in their stead, now standing in their midst and
says, come, grab hold of my hands. Put your fingers right here,
Thomas. Don't doubt anymore. Blessed are those who have never
seen and yet believe, but you're blessed too. You who now see
and feel and touch me, you're blessed to me. How excited they
were to see the risen Lord. And he walked with them for 40
days. For 40 days. and gave them proof after proof
after proof that he had accomplished his mission. Proof after proof
after proof that he had fulfilled all things written in the scriptures.
Proof after proof after proof after undeniable proof that he
is indeed the Christ who died in our stead and has risen again. And just as they were getting
comfortable, He takes him out to the Mount of Olives and ascends
up into heaven. And this is how they stood. Just dumbfounded. Just dumbfounded. Shocked. Astonished. until the angels appeared in
glory and said, why stand you here gazing into heaven? He's
coming again, go to work, like he said for you to do. Those
disciples then went home, still confused, still confused. Had they had their choice, they
would never have let him go. They would have chosen His bodily
presence. You and I would too. Oh, how
comforting it would have been to them in their times of trial
if they could, as they, as those of whom the scripture speaks,
they went and told Jesus. If they could just go tell it.
Just go tell it. Isn't it comforting to you to
find someone who has some power, some strength, some authority
that you seem to be lacking in a time of difficulty? Just to go tell them. Just go
tell them. Tell them what's on your heart.
Share with them the burden of your heart. Just to tell somebody
who can help you carry the load. But now the king's gone. The
master has ascended into heaven. Their troubles, their adversities,
their afflictions, their trials, their heartaches, their burdens.
He's not here now for them to lean on. His physical presence
been taken up to glory and there's so much to do. There are multitudes
yet to be called by his grace, sheep yet to be sought and found
by him. We're given a commission to go
into all the world and preach the gospel. How much better it
would be if he were here present with us. That's the thinking
of flesh and blood. But our thoughts are not his
thoughts. And our ways are not his ways. That is always the case. Our
thoughts are never his thoughts. Our ways are never his ways. You remember what he told his
disciples just before he left them? Just before he was about
to be crucified on the eve of his crucifixion? He said, it
is expedient for you that I go away. It is expedient for you
that I go away. If I go not away, the Comforter
will not come. If I don't go away, if I don't
go back to my Father, having fulfilled all things, if I don't
go back to my Father with the merit of my blood, my obedience,
my sacrifice. If I don't go back to my father,
God will not send his spirit to you and call out his elect
in this world. There'll be no salvation, no
redemption, no everlasting glory for you, no heavenly reward for
you. It's expedient for you that I
go away. To our unbelieving minds, we
think it's expedient to have him present with us. physically
hearing his voice, physically seeing his figure, physically
touching him. And if to this day, if this very
night we had our choice, we would pull him back again to the earth
and hear his voice physically and touch him physically and
see him physically. It is indescribably better for
us that he's not here. Indescribably better for us that
we hear him through his word, by his spirit. Indescribably
better for us that he walks in the midst of his churches and
yet is not seen or heard in any physical, tangible way, but only
by his grace, by his spirit, by his word, by faith that he
alone can give. I want this evening to speak
to you on the subject the fulfilling of all things. You'll find my
text in Ephesians chapter four. Having obtained eternal redemption
for us, our Lord Jesus with his own blood has entered now into
the heavens, into the holy place. And our Lord Jesus has taken
his seat upon the throne of the universe from which he rules
all things. for the saving of his people,
for the glory of God, for the building of his church. Let's
read our text, Ephesians chapter four, verse seven. Here God the
Holy Spirit shows us precisely how the ascension of our Lord
Jesus is the fulfilling of all things. But unto every one of
us is given grace according to the measure of the gift of Christ. Each of you who believe, have
grace from God, grace from the Lord Jesus Christ, grace by the
power of God the Holy Spirit, not according to the measure
given to you. but rather according to the measure
of the gift of Christ. God poured out his spirit without
measure upon his son. And out of that same measureless
bounty of grace from God the Holy Spirit, you have grace.
Wherefore he saith, when he ascended up on high, he led captivity
captive and gave gifts unto men. 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. Now watch this,
that he might fill. If you have a marginal translation
in your margin, that he might fulfill all things. And he gave
some apostles and some prophets and some evangelists and some
pastors and teachers for the perfecting of his saints, for
the work of the ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ.
He gave these special gifts to his church. These gifts that
will reside with and in his church till we all come in the unity
of the faith. and of the knowledge of the Son
of God, that is, until the very last of God's elect is called
and Christ is revealed in them unto a perfect man, under the
measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ, until Christ's
whole body has been saved by the grace of God, his whole church,
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 whereby they lie in wait to deceive. But speaking the truth in love
may grow up into him in all things, which is the 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. Now don't fail to remember the
context in which these verses are found. Paul is speaking to
us and to God's saints everywhere, calling for us to walk worthy
of the vocation wherewith we've been called, to walk before God
in this world, to walk with one another in this world in the
unity of the Spirit. in the bond of peace, to walk
together as one man, to walk together as one body, to walk
together with one mind, one heart, one purpose, one spirit, as the
men and women called and born of God, saved by his grace and
redeemed by the precious blood of Christ, to walk worthy of
our high and holy calling in Christ Jesus. Now here is the
motive, here's the motive. You walk with God. You walk together with God. You walk as one, bound in peace,
in unity, in the Spirit of God, in Christ Jesus the Lord, because
Christ has fulfilled all things. He, by redeeming our souls, He,
by the sacrifice of himself, has fulfilled everything written
in the Old Testament Scriptures. All the prophets, all the promises,
all the types, all the law, all the figures and ceremonies of
the law, all the commandments of the law, He has fulfilled
His mission as the Messiah of God, as the Christ of God, as
our Redeemer, as our covenant surety. He's fulfilled all righteousness. He's made an end of sin. He's
brought us into the saving union with Himself by the power of
His grace. He's fulfilled all things. Having
fulfilled all things with His own blood, our Savior took His
seat in heaven. and sits there to rule the universe
from his lofty throne for the everlasting salvation of his
people, giving eternal life to whom he will. Now let's look
at this portion of scripture together in Ephesians four, and
I'll call your attention to just two things here, just two things.
These two things will give you the teaching of the Holy Spirit
in these verses of scripture. First, in verses eight, nine,
and 10, We're told plainly that our Lord Jesus has now ascended
to heaven. That is a fact, plainly revealed,
plainly stated, that cannot be disputed in any way. Our Lord
Jesus has ascended into heaven. And second, in verses 11 through
16, the ascension of our Lord Jesus is indescribably beneficial
to our souls. First, we're assured of this
blessed, blessed fact. The Lord Jesus Christ, our Savior,
has now ascended into heaven. Hold your hands here in Ephesians
4 and turn back to Psalm 68. The Apostle Paul is expounding
to us the meaning of David's words in Psalm 68. There David
made a plain prophecy of the ascension of our Savior long
before he came into this world. Let's look at verses 18, 19,
and 20 for just a minute. This Psalm is a prophetic declaration
of Christ's resurrection, his ascension, and his glory as our
substitute. Verse 18, thou hast ascended
on high. having accomplished all that
he came here to accomplish, having fulfilled all his father's will.
He was sent to save his people from their sins, he did it. He
was sent to put away sin, he did it. He was sent to bring
in everlasting righteousness, he did it. He was sent to fulfill
the law, he did it. He was sent to magnify the law
and make it honorable, he did it. And now he ascended on high. Ascended on high because his
elect had been saved from their sins. because he has made an
end of sin. Thou hast led captivity captive. Now we don't have to guess what
those words mean. The Apostle Paul writes by divine
inspiration and tells us exactly what they mean. Everything that
once held us in captivity, our Redeemer has taken into captivity. Every foe of our souls, our Redeemer
has conquered. Every enemy, our Redeemer has
vanquished. Everything that opposes us or
ever has opposed us or ever can oppose us, our Savior has taken
into captivity. Listen to this. Our Lord Jesus
blotting out the handwriting of ordinances that was against
us. What's that? All the commandments
of God. all the commandments of God.
The handwriting of ordinances that was against us. God gives
us those 10 commandments and men nail them on walls and say,
we live by the 10 commandments. Oh no, you don't. You don't even
come close. You don't even come. Those 10
commandments were written of God to declare your sin, not
your goodness. To declare your damnation, not
your salvation. They were sent of God to be a
ministration of death to you because they're handwriting of
ordinances against us. What did the Lord Jesus do? He
took them, I wish I had a post and a hammer, and nailed them to his cross.
And when he died, they died. When he died, they died. They
have no more power, no more ability, no more strength to curse, condemn,
or damn. He blotted them out, took them
out of the way, nailing it to his cross, having spoiled principalities
and powers, and he made a show of them openly, triumphing over
them in his sacrifice. Ancient conquerors. when they
would come back from battle, would come back from battle dragging
a train behind them. They'd have wagon loads of spoils. They'd have herds of cattle.
They'd have slaves. They'd just bring a parade of
captives behind them saying, look what we've won. And when
the Lord Jesus died in our stead, he took every foe to our soul. and leads them in a captive train
up to glory and says, look what I've done for my people. The
Son of God took captive every enemy, even Satan himself. Read the 20th chapter of Revelation
and understand how that our Lord Jesus, the mighty angel of the
covenant, came down here and laid hold on that old dragon,
the serpent, the devil, and he bound him with a chain that he
should deceive the nations no more. Next, look at this psalm. Thou hast received gifts for
men, yea, for the rebellious also, that the Lord God might
dwell among them. The ascended Christ, who entered
into heaven as a forerunner for us, received gifts from the triune
God for men. He who is the God-man received
gifts for men, on the behalf of men, in the stead of men. It might be understood this way
most clearly. He received gifts and we received
them in Him. When He ascended, we ascended.
When he took his seat in heaven, we took our seat in heaven. He
received gifts, and we received those gifts by the merit and
efficacy of his obedience, that the Lord God might dwell among
them. What are these gifts? Salvation,
righteousness, forgiveness, grace, mercy, peace, even for the rebellious. For you and I, who by nature
are children of wrath, just like everybody else. Yea, for the rebellious also. I'm so glad God put those words
in that psalm. Yea, for the rebellious also,
that the Lord God might dwell among us. As a result of this, He daily
loads us with benefits. Look at verse 19. Blessed be
the Lord who daily loadeth us with benefits, even the God of
our salvation. And then he has that long poetic
pause, Selah. This is how we ought to read
this. Blessed be the Lord. who daily
loadeth us with benefits. He just every day opens the windows
of heaven and pours out benefits on our souls. He daily heaps
upon us loads of benefits. Even the God of our salvation. Now stop and think about that. Stop and think about that. Next time you get upset with
what he's doing, Next time you get overly concerned about what
he's accomplishing, next time you want him to do something
different, next time you're angry at God. That's what it is to
be angry with God's providence, is to be angry at God. Remember,
stop and think about this, Merle. That bum leg of yours, and the
other one's almost his bum, He daily loads you with benefits. These are benefits, benefits. He doesn't give us anything else,
just benefits. Read on, look at verse 20. He
that is our God, this Savior, who's ascended on high, who's
led captivity captive, he that is our God, he's the God of salvation. He's the only one who is God,
and he's the God of salvation. And under God the Lord belong
the issues from death. Now, let me tell you something
that might surprise you. I don't think it will, but it
might. When you die, there won't be anything issuing from your
death. When I die, nothing will issue
from my death. When we die, we die. Nothing
comes from death, just death. There is only one man who ever
died from which something issues. And that man is the God-man,
our mediator, the God of salvation. To him belong the issues of death. What issues? Life. Life eternal. Righteousness,
forgiveness, grace, grace, grace, grace, grace. To him belong the
issues from death and he gives it to whom he will. by the measure
of the Spirit that's in him as our mediator. Let's go back to
our text in Ephesians 4. Our blessed Savior, the Lord
Jesus Christ, is ascended to glory. When Paul says he ascended
on high, ascended up on high, he speaks both of a place and
of a state. Our Lord Jesus went from earth
to heaven and took his seat at the right hand of the majesty
on high. That's a place, but it also speaks
of a state. What does it mean for him who
died at Calvary, was buried, rose again, now for him to ascend
on high and take his seat in heaven? It means that Jesus Christ,
our Redeemer, is a victorious king. He conquered death, hell,
and the grave. He is victorious over all his
foes. Read the 139th Psalm. I've been
working on this, Brother Larry and Alan were down at Taylor
with us, Brother Darwin, Saturday morning, I think it was, no,
Sunday morning. I read the 139th Psalm and said, I wish one of
you men preach on this. You go back and read the 139th
Psalm, and read it like it ought to be read, as referring to Christ
our Redeemer. And understand that He is the
great King, and He rules everything. as a result of His obedience
unto death as our substitute. Yes, He's King because He's God. Yes, He's King because He's Creator. Yes, He's King by divine decree. But in the covenant of grace
before the world was, the Lord God, the triune Jehovah, trusted
Him with everything. And when he finished his work
upon the earth and ascended up on high, visibly, manifestly
ascending up on high, having poured out his spirit upon his
church, the Lord Jesus was demonstrated to be that one who is the Messiah,
the King, into whose hands the triune Jehovah has put everything
that he might give eternal life to as many as God has given him
so that he rules the universe as a king with the right to rule
and everything shall eventually be put under his feet and brought
in subjection under him. He, I repeat, led captivity captive. The world wherein we were once
bound, is the domain of Christ our Savior. The curse of the
law by which we were condemned is forever consumed in Christ
our Redeemer. The sin which once enslaved us
is forever drowned in the sea of Calvary's blood, and that
same sin which enslaved us is made to be to us a blessing in
the revelation of Christ and his redeeming grace. Satan, who
once took us captive at his will, is in captivity to King Jesus
in his omnipotent grace. Death, which once held the power
over all flesh, is now defeated by Christ. He arose crying, O
death, where is thy sting? O grave, where is thy victory? And God's saints, looking on
Him, believing Him, look at death and cry, oh death, where is thy
sting? And they walk over top of the
grave and they say, oh grave, oh grave, where is thy victory? The ascension of our Lord Jesus
means that the gates of heaven are open for poor sinners. Some
years ago, Herman Moore was pastor at Rosemont
Baptist Church in Winston-Salem. Brother Mahan and I went down
there for a meeting and the next summer Brother Henry had Brother
Moore come up and preach for him at the Ashland Conference.
It's the only time I remember ever hearing Brother Moore preach
that the Lord took him. But I don't think I'll ever forget
the message. His subject was, there's a man in glory. There's
a man in glory. If one's there, may be another.
Because one is there, that's assurance that another shall
be. The Lord Jesus, that man, who ascended up on high, opened
the gates of heaven, and he sat down, a man, on the throne of
God, testifying that the gates of heaven are open for men. He
gave gifts to men, gifts of salvation and grace, yea, to the rebellious
also, that the Lord God may dwell among them. The ascended Christ
means that God, the triune Jehovah, is satisfied. He's satisfied
with the obedience of his Son. Satisfied with the death of his
Son. Satisfied with all things accomplished
by his Son. Satisfied with his Son. And satisfied with us in his
Son because of his Son. His delights, were with the sons
of men from everlasting. And his delights are with the
sons of men today in his darling son. Now, look at verses nine
and 10. There was something that was
necessary to make the ascension of Christ possible. Before he
could ascend, he had to descend. Now he that ascended, what is
it but that he also descended first into the lower parts of
the earth. And Lord willing, I'll come back to this, but in
case I should drop dead or couldn't speak anymore after this, I'm
gonna be sure that you hear it. That's not talking about Christ
going to hell. He never did. That's not talking about Christ
going to hell. That's what papers teach, and
that's what Schofield Reference Bible teaches. That's not what
this book teaches. What's he talking about? He's
talking about our Lord Jesus descending into the virgin's
womb and descending in humiliation as a man and becoming obedient
unto death, even the death of the cross. He that descended
is the same also that ascended up far above all heavens for
this purpose, that he might fulfill all things. Here's another of the many proofs
of our Lord's eternal deity. He who is God the Son was the
Son of man long before he became a man. Long before he descended
into the lower parts of the earth in the virgin's womb. Turn back,
hold your hands here and turn back to John chapter three. John
chapter three. Listen to what the Savior says
about himself. No man hath ascended up to heaven,
but he that came down from heaven, even the son of man which is
in heaven. Here he is standing on the earth
in a body, just like the one you're looking at here, just
like the one you're sitting there in, in a body. And he's standing
here on the earth and he's talking to men who can see him with their
eyes. And he says, this man talking
to you is the son of man who descended from heaven. And he's
in heaven, even though he's standing here talking to you. Our Lord
Jesus was the son of man from everlasting as our covenant surety. And that one who is the son of
man is the son of God. In time, he descended here and
took on himself our nature and really became one of us so that
he might bear our sins in his body on the tree and put away
sin by the sacrifice of himself. The son of God, the Lord of glory
descended into the womb of the virgin and said, my substance
was not hid from thee when I was made in secret and curiously
wrought in the lowest parts of the earth. And then he humbled
himself unto death as our savior. And having descended, he ascended,
having fulfilled all things. Now, briefly, let's look at the
second thing. The ascension of our Lord Jesus is indescribably beneficial to
our souls. In verse 7, we're told that every
believer receives the fullness of grace from the ascended Christ. so that everything we get, everything
we need, we get freely from him by the measure of the gift of
Christ. Then in verses 11 and 12, we're
told that we have the blessed established ministry of the gospel
as the gift of our ascended savior. He gave some apostles, apostles, Those were men, according to Joel's prophecy
in Joel 2, who were given distinct, distinct signs. by which to declare
evidently, manifestly, that Jesus of Nazareth is indeed the Christ
of God. Signs declaring that Messiah
has come, that David has been seated on his throne. Not David
physically, no, no, no, no, no, no. He who is David's son. David's Lord has taken his place
on David's throne and the proof is he poured out his spirit and
gave gifts and signs by which he confirmed himself as the Messiah
publicly so that those apostles being inspired of God gave us
his word with infallible inspiration. With infallible inspiration. They had the ability to speak
in tongues they had never learned. They had the ability to lay hands
on men and those men be healed of sickness and disease. They
had the ability to handle serpents. Paul was bitten by a viper, a
deadly viper. So the people who saw it said,
that man's gonna die. Nobody survives that. Paul just
shook it off in the fire. He shook it off, went about his
business. They had supernatural gifts.
Today, there are many who pretend to have those same gifts. They
pretend to have a word from God. They pretend to be inspired of
God. They pretend to have a word of prophecy. They pretend to
be able to speak in tongues. They pretend. They pretend. They
pretend to be able to cast out devils. They pretend to be able
to heal your bank account. They pretend they can take care
of this, that, and the other thing. And they're only mocking
your souls, deceivers of souls. You say, aren't they sincere?
No, they're not sincere. No, they lie in wait to deceive. We read right here in Ephesians
chapter four. They're deceivers. They're only
pretenders. If I stand up here and say, boop,
boop, boop, boop, boop, boop, boop, boop, boop, boop, boop,
boop, boop, boop, boop, boop, boop, boop, boop, boop, boop,
boop, boop, boop, boop, boop, boop, boop, boop, boop, boop, boop,
boop, boop, boop, boop, boop, boop, boop, boop, boop, boop, boop, boop, boop, boop,
boop, boop, boop, boop, boop, boop, boop, boop, boop, boop,
boop, boop, boop, boop, boop, boop, boop, boop, boop, boop, boop, boop,
boop, boop, boop, boop, You're a fool if you believe
me. Those men, those men, read 2 Thessalonians chapter 2. Those
men confirmed themselves as messengers of Antichrist. It's exactly what
God tells us in 2 Thessalonians chapter 2. But God our Savior
ascended on high and he gave us his apostles by whom he's
given us his word with infallible, infallible inspired faultless
accuracy, and some prophets. Prophets, those are men like
the sons of Issachar, especially gifted of God to understand God's
providence and the day in which they live, who have understanding
of the times and know what Israel ought to do. They're men God
puts in his church, who have distinct gifts to understand
the situation we're in and know what we must do in the day. And
some evangelists, missionaries, men who go from place to place
and establish gospel churches, and pastors, teachers, pastors
to feed his church with knowledge and understanding. Why did he
give us these gifts? For the perfecting of the saints.
for the maturing of God's saints, so that you might grow in the
grace and knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ. For the work of
the ministry, the work of serving your souls, the work of serving
your souls by the gospel, the work of serving your souls by
the word of God. There are many things by which
we serve one another. And pastors are trained to do
lots of things that folks call serving the church. Trained to
do things that to men will approve of and say, we'll move you up
to a bigger church, we'll have you do this, we'll have you do
that, because you're good at this, you're good at that. Pastors
who are trained to do lots of things to get your approval and
your applause and your money. That's not the work of the ministry.
Bill Raleigh, if I serve your soul. I serve your soul in my
study, seeking a word for you and give it to you by the Spirit
of God. That's the ministry of the Word. That's the ministry of the Word.
Well, but there are other things pastors do. No, they're not.
No, they're not. That's the reason you get deacons.
Deacons to take care of things that pastors don't have to be
bothered with. Just don't have to be bothered
with. You men and women take care of other things so that
your pastor can give himself to study and prayer, the ministry
of the word. That's all there is to ministry. Did you hear me? That's all there
is to ministry. Everything else is just beating
the air. Everything else. What's this
for? For the edifying. The building
up of the body of Christ. The building up of the body of
Christ. That's the reason Christ promised
to give his church pastors, according to his own heart, to feed them
with knowledge and understanding. Now look at verse 13. till we
all come, till all God's elect come into this blessed unity
of the faith. Till everyone of God's elect
is saved by his grace. and of the knowledge of the Son
of God. That's what it is, to have faith in Christ. The knowledge
of the Son of God unto a perfect man. That is, till all God's
elect are saved, the whole body of Christ has been saved, all
or every member of the body brought into union with the body under
the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ. We had
this very same thing in Ephesians chapter one. You who are members
of Christ are the fullness of Christ, the fullness of him that
filleth all in all. Why has God given these men? We had the privilege of hearing
Brother Gabe Stonerker preach on salvation at sea, on stormed
off sea and out of Galatians 2.21, A young man God's raised
up in Kingsport and it just thrills me. It just thrills me. God's still setting men in his
church to do this work. For what purpose? That we henceforth
be no more children tossed to and fro and carried about with
every wind of doctrine. Folks, Brother Don, have you
heard this stuff? Have you read about this? What
about this new fellow down here? What about this new church? What
about this new denominator? What about this doctor? Don't be so foolish. Don't be
so foolish. What do you do with those folks?
You ignore them. Don't listen to them. Don't study
them. Don't seek to know their ways.
If you do, you'll soon start following their ways. that we
be not tossed about with every wind of doctrine. Now I'll tell
you what, you set yourself under the faithful ministry of the
word, the faithful preaching of the gospel. I've been pastoring
now for 45 years. That's hard to imagine, for 45
years. And over the years, I've had
a lot of folks come to my office or call me or write me letters.
These days, send you email. Get a ton of that. And ask questions
about everything. And it doesn't matter, I could
stand up here and preach to you for 45 minutes or an hour on
the wonders of redemption. I mean just, as well as I've
ever preached. Preach on the wonders of redemption
and somebody come up and they say, what do you think the meaning
of Miriam being turned to leprosy is back there? And I look at
them and say, Where have you been? What have you been listening
to? Why is your mind on that when
it could be on the Redeemer? I'll tell you what I've never
experienced. I've never had folks write to me, call me, come to
visit, and want to discuss trivial, meaningless, mystical, imaginary
controversy. Doctrinal things Bible things
they call them spiritual things Have lots of I've never I've
never had him come mark with tons of questions who were sitting
right where you're sitting Under the faithful ministry of the
word. I've never had it happen not in 45 years the only folks
tossed about with every wind of doctrine are folks who jump
from here to there, go from here to there, and go nowhere. They're
the only ones. Tossed to and fro, carried about
with every wind of doctrine by the slights, the underhanded
cunning craftiness whereby they lie in wait to deceive. But rather,
speaking the truth in love, The gospel of God's grace and love
for God, his glory, his people, his gospel, his son. We speak
the truth. Folks get mad, but we speak the
truth. Folks get upset, but we speak the truth. Folks wanna
fight, but we speak the truth in love, in love. It's love to the souls of men,
and to God, which inspire men to speak with boldness, with
dogmatism, without compromise, the word of truth to your souls,
that you may grow up into Christ in all things, which is the head,
even Christ, from whom, that is, from the Lord Jesus, the
whole body fitly joined together, fitly joined together, and compacted
by that which every joint supplies. So that we are all united, compacted
together, and this one's supplying, this one's supplying, that one's
supplying, every joint supplying every member according to the
effectual working. Whose effectual working? Christ's
effectual working, by His Spirit, in the measure of every part.
He maketh increase of the body unto the edifying of itself in
love. The Lord Jesus will continue
this work through the ministry of the gospel until his church
is brought to perfection. One of the reasons for Christ's
gift of pastors to his church is that his saints may be established
in the faith. that his church may be built
up and grow into mutual family love. And for that purpose, our
Savior intercedes in heaven on our behalf, declaring to us,
it is expedient for you. It's best for you that I go away
and I send my spirit by my word to comfort you and to teach you. And he will be with you always
until I come again to comfort you and teach you by my word. May God be pleased effectually
to work in us his good pleasure that we may be mutually beneficial
to one another. by the effectual working of His
grace, that He may give us grace, every joint and member, supplying
something to the next one that only you can supply, that only you can supply. I said
to Shelby, when you drive down the road and spend a lot of time
silent and then think and talk, I said it'd be horrible, it'd
be horrible to get our age, come the end of our days, and realize that we never contributed
anything, done anything for anybody that was of any benefit. Wouldn't
it be horrible? Wouldn't it be horrible? in a
spiritual sense even worse. Our business as members of the
body of Christ is to strengthen and help and edify and supply
one another with that which God distinctly gives us the ability
and the opportunity to supply his church. God will you do that
for us? Make us a blessing to one another,
a blessing to your church, a blessing to your kingdom, for the glory
of your name. Keep us from hindering one another,
hurting and injuring one another, and make us a blessing. Bridal
our tongues, bridal our thoughts, bridal our hearts, govern our
lives to that end for the glory of your son. Amen.