 |  |
we are concerned primarily with one of these only, we never lose anything by
getting our subject well placed as regards its context. This is what we
find:
A
Eph. 4:3 -6. The Sevenfold Unity of the Spirit.
B
4:7. The Measure of the gift of Christ.
C
4:8 -12.
The Ministry for adjustment and building.
A
4:13.
The Sevenfold Unity of the Faith.
B
4:13.
The Measure of the ... fulness of Christ.
C
4:14,15.
The Ministry of growth.
A
4:16.
The Sevenfold Unity of the Body.
B
4:16.
The Measure of every part.
C
4:16.
The Ministry for increase and building.
The attainment of this unity of the faith is the second great step in
this walk that is worthy. The first unity was followed by a measure (Eph.
4:7), the second unity, that of the faith, is followed by a measure (Eph.
4:13) and the third unity, that of the Body fitly joined together, is
followed by a measure (Eph. 4:16). These features are too obviously designed
to be ignored by any lover of the Word.
It is impossible to commence our study at Ephesians 4:13, starting as
it does with the word `till', for this looks back to the ministry of verse
12, and this verse flows out of verse 11 as the word `for' indicates and so
on and on back to the opening verse of the practical section. We shall have
to go back as far as verse 7 which opens with the disjunctive `but'. `But'
suggests that some contrastive teaching is in hand, and if we look at the
passage we shall see that the apostle after speaking of a Unity, now turns
from the Unity to the Unit, saying, in effect:
`But, although I have stressed "all" and "Unity" let us not forget that
a Unity is composed of units, and a unity can contain no more than the
sum total of its parts, so therefore remember that unto every one of us
is given grace according to the measure of the gift of Christ'.
This statement is followed by a quotation from Psalm 68:18 and is
concerned with two things. (1) The Ascension. (2) The gifts received from
the Ascended Christ by men. Before specifying these gifts the apostle pauses
to make sure that we shall appreciate in some measure the high glory of the
Giver, so that His gifts shall be the better received. In the course of his
explanation, he tells us that when Christ ascended, He ascended up far above
all heavens. The gifts therefore that are here mentioned are peculiar to the
Mystery, for `far above all' whether `principality' or `all heavens' is true
of that calling only. These gifts are now enumerated:
`And He gave some, apostles; and some, prophets; and some, evangelists;
and some, pastors and teachers' (Eph. 4:11).
The words `some ... some' translate the Greek men ... de ... de and
call attention to the distinctive character of each gift. Alford translates
`He gave some as apostles, some as prophets, etc'.. A reference to the gifts
of an earlier dispensation will reveal the value of keeping strictly to the
Divine enumeration. In 1 Corinthians 12:28 we read:
`And God hath set some in the church, first apostles, secondarily,
prophets, thirdly, teachers, after that miracles' etc.