Ephesians chapter 4

 

Memory verse: Ephesians 4:5

 

Ephesus was a major port city, and was located in what is now Turkey. It was the site of what was called one of the seven wonders of the world – the temple of Artemis, or Diana (Acts 19). The city declined when the Cayster River silted up the harbor. The church of Ephesus was started through Paul in Acts 19:1-6 when he found 12 disciples of John, re-baptized them in the name of Jesus Christ, and they received the Holy Ghost with the initial outward evidence of speaking with tongues. Apollos had preached there prior to Paul’s arrival (Acts 18:24-26). Timothy was the pastor there (1Timothy 1:3, 2Timothy 1:18). Paul had been arrested, and was now in prison (Ephesians 3:1, Ephesians 4:1). He was writing from his captivity in Rome. Later, John wrote to the Ephesians as one the seven churches Revelation 1-3 was addressed to. Ephesians 1-3 are about the glorious place of the church in God’s plan for the ages. Ephesians 4-6 are about practicing the faith. The first half of Ephesians 4 is about the oneness of God reflected through the oneness of the church. This is what Jesus prayed for the last night before His death (John 17).

 

Day 1 – one Lord, one faith, one baptism

Verses 1-6

A vocation is not just a job. It is a calling. Vocation in verse 1 and calling in verse 4 are the same word in the Greek. Being a Christian is not just a duty, although we must understand that we do have a duty. It is a calling. It is an honor and privilege, and we need to act accordingly – with humility, gentleness, endurance, bearing with each other in love. We need to understand the power and essentiality of unity, and place it above our personal issues. The word for bond here is literally the ligaments that hold the human body together (Colossians 2:19). Peace binds the church together so we can be united in God’s purpose, which is greater than ourselves. There is only one body of Christ. This is not ecumenical. It is the opposite. The Lord only started one church, and He only gave them one doctrine to preach. There is only one faith. We need to “earnestly contend for the faith which was once delivered unto the saints (Jude 3)”. There is only one baptism. The only place in the Bible where we read accounts of people responding to the gospel by being baptized is the book of Acts. There they were always baptized by immersion in water in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins (Acts 2:38, Acts 8:12-17, Acts 10:44-48, Acts 19:1-6, Acts 22:16). A head only has one body. Jesus is the head, and the church is the body (Romans 12:4-5, 1Corinthians 6:15-17, 1Corinthians 10:16-17, 1Corinthians 11:29, 1Corinthians 12:12-27, Ephesians 1:22-23, Ephesians 3:6, Ephesians 4:4 & 12 & 16, Ephesians 5:23 & 30-32,  Colossians 1:18 & 24, Colossians 2:17-19, Colossians 3:15). All of the parts of the body must be working together in harmony in order for the whole body to do its job. In the New Testament, when the word spirit is capitalized, it is talking about the divine Spirit. There is only one divine Spirit. You can call Him God, Father, or Holy Ghost. It is the same Spirit. Jesus was that one Spirit (2Corinthains 3:17) manifested in one body (John 1:1-3 & 14, John 14:7-11, 2Corinthians 5:19, Colossians 2:9, 1Timothy 3:16). He is the one Lord. Now that He is ascended into heaven, the church is to be the body of Christ through which God manifests Himself. There is only one God the Father, who is above, through, and in all of His people. We do not have persons in us. We have the one divine Spirit in us.

 

Day 2 – for the perfecting of the saints, for the work of the ministry, for the edifying of the body

Verses 7-12

God measures to each individual in the church a portion of faith and grace for each person’s responsibility within the body (Matthew 25:14-30, Romans 12:3, 2Corinthians 10:13, Ephesians 4:16). God gives gifts to individuals, and then equips them to fulfill their purpose by His grace (Psalm 68:18). “For unto whomsoever much is given, of him shall be much required (Luke 12:48)”. When Jesus ascended, He led the things that held us captive from fulfilling God’s purpose into captivity, and gave us gifts of ministry to fulfill. Before He ascended, He descended. We talk much about the physical suffering Jesus did for us, and we should. Yet what He went through spiritually is not emphasized enough. He who was sinless took our sins, and became sin for us (2Corinthians 5:21). It was not just the cup of suffering He struggled with in the garden, it was the cup of sin. He took our place as a sinner who must face hell. He went through what it is like to be separated from God by sin (Isaiah 59:2, Matthew 27:46). Yet He rose with the keys of hell and death (Revelation 1:18). He not only purchased our souls, He bought us gifts of purpose and ministry, and He gives them without changing His mind (Romans 11:29). Verse 11 lists 5 offices He gave to the church – apostles (leaders of leaders), prophets (foretellers and forthtellers), evangelists (those who preach to the lost), pastors (shepherds of local churches), and teachers (those who educate Christians in the word of God). He lists 3 things these offices do for the church. They are for the furnishing and equipping of the saints, the work of the service of the church, and for the building up of the body of Christ.

 

Day 3 – speaking the truth in love, may grow up into him in all things

Verses 13-16

The goal and purpose of the ministry is to help the church arrive at or attain to the unity of the faith, and of the knowledge of the Son of God. We are not to all have our own private interpretations of scripture (2Peter 1:20-21), especially on essential areas of doctrine. We should all be moving toward becoming mature and complete in Christ. This is not arbitrary. There is a specific standard by which we can measure this. It is the state of maturity of spiritual growth which comes from being filled with everything that is in Christ (Romans 15:14, Ephesians 3:19, Philippians 1:11, Colossians 1:9), like a ship that is fully laden with cargo. The weight of the cargo helps stabilize a boat and keep it from being tossed around on the water. Ships carry ballast to provide balance. There are many doctrines of men out there seeking to toss us around and destabilize our walk with God, especially on the internet and television. Some men are like gamers who use sleight of hand to trick people when playing a dice game and cheat them. They pretend to have the wisdom of God. They are crafty to teach things that appear to be Biblical, but are not (2Peter 2:19). This is what Satan did to Eve (Genesis 3:1-5), and he attempted to do to Jesus (Matthew 4:1-11). He uses false teachers to try to do it to us. That is why we must study the Bible for ourselves, and pray for truth. We cannot build a solid relationship with God based on false doctrine (Matthew 7:13-29). Only the truth will cause us to grow up into Christ, which is the head of the body. When the body is properly attached to the head, then all the parts can also be properly joined to each other, so they can be one unified body supplying the needs of each part by the supernatural power of God that flows in and through the connected body. Each part has its own standard of measure as to what its contribution to the body is, so that the whole body can be built up.

 

 

 

Day 4 – put on the new man

Verses 17-25

There should be a clear distinction between how Christians walk and how others walk. The mind of the unbeliever is dark and estranged from God (Ephesians 2:12, Colossians 1:21). This happens because of ignorance. Ignorance is not caused by an inability to know. It is to ignore what can be known (Acts 3:17, Acts 17:30, 1Peter 1:14, 2Peter 3:5). They blind themselves (Matthew 13:15, John 9:39-41). They desensitize their conscience, thinking that if they don’t feel the pain sin causes it, it doesn’t matter anymore, and they can give themselves over to it. It still matters to God. He does not change, and His truth is absolute, not relative to time, place, or the culture of man. The apostles did not teach the early church to take that approach to spiritual matters, but it is very popular today because it appeases the lust of the flesh. God teaches us to get rid of our old behavior as if we are taking off some dirty old clothes that cannot be cleaned anymore, and throwing them away. We should be made new in our minds, and put on the new man which God made for us to live in with righteousness and holiness. We should throw off lying and speak the truth.

 

Day 5 – be ye kind one to another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another

Verses 26-32

It is not automatically a sin to get angry. God gets angry. It depends on what we are getting angry about, and how we behave. Uncontrolled anger does not produce good fruit (Galatians 5:20, Colossians 3:8, James 1:19-20). “He that is slow to anger is better than the mighty; and he that ruleth his spirit than he that taketh a city (Proverbs 16:32).” We need to try to settle arguments by the end of the day, and not let them go unresolved. That is how bitterness can take root (Hebrews 12:13-15). We do not need to give the devil that opportunity. A work ethic is a Biblical value (2Thessalonians 3:10-15, 1Timothy 5:11-15). We need to guard the words that we speak (Proverbs 10, Proverbs 12:13-25, Proverbs 15-16, Proverbs 18:4-23). “Set a watch, O LORD, before my mouth; keep the door of my lips (Proverbs 141:3).” Also see Matthew12:36 and James 3). We need to speak that which builds people up, not what tears them down. Let us not make God sad because He placed a seal on us with His Spirit to keep us until He comes. A seal is a mark of authenticity (John 6:27, 2Corinthians 1:22, Ephesians 1:13). Let us put away fighting and arguing, and rather be pleasant, compassionate, and forgiving – like He forgave us (Matthew 6:12-15, Matthew 18).