Ephesians 4:11-12
11 And He gave (our Lord does the calling) some, Apostles (has reference to the fact that not all who are called to be Ministers will be called to be Apostles; this applies to the other designations as well; “Apostles” serve as the de facto leaders of the Church, and do so through the particular Message given to them by the Lord for the Church); and some, Prophets (who stand in the Office of the Prophet, thereby, foretelling and forthtelling); and some, Evangelists (to gather the harvest); and some, Pastors (Shepherds) and Teachers (those with a special Ministry to teach the Word to the Body of Christ; “Apostles” can and do function in all of the callings);
PURPOSE OF THE GIFTS
12 For the perfecting of the Saints (to “equip for service”), for the work of the Ministry (to proclaim the Message of Redemption to the entirety of the world), for the edifying of the Body of Christ (for the spiritual building up of the Church):
THE PERFECTING OF THE SAINTS
The phrase, “For the perfecting of the Saints,” refers to helping the Saints understand the Word of God.
“Perfecting” in the Greek is “kataritizo,” and means “to equip for service.” It also means “the restoring of anything to its proper place.” It is to “properly put things in order, to make complete.”
If the people are improperly taught, they will have an improper spiritual growth, which regrettably, is the case I think in many, if not most, Churches. Consequently, it is very, very important as to where the Saint attends Church. If they attend the wrong Church, they are going to receive what the Church gives, which can be extremely detrimental to their spiritual experience.
If the Believer attends a Church because it is of his particular Denomination, or because he likes the various different social or sports programs presented in that particular Church, or because this is where his friends go, or for any other reason similar, he is attending for all the wrong reasons.
The main purpose and reason that anyone should attend a particular Church, is because the Truth and all the Truth is preached behind the pulpit and there is a Moving and Operation of the Holy Spirit within that particular Church. Irrespective of the name on the door, or as to who attends that Church, these two things “Truth” and “Moving of the Spirit” should always be the criteria.
The old saying that the pew cannot rise any higher than the pulpit is true! Whatever is being taught behind the pulpit, is what the people are going to hear, receive, and live by. If it is error, to be sure it will have a negative effect on their lives. If it is Truth, it will have a positive effect and greatly so. The sadness is, Satan cloaks his error so subtly, with his method being “the barb embedded in Truth.” As someone has well said, “Error rides into the Church on the back of Truth.” The error then becomes palatable and digestible; however, it will wreak its intended result of destruction as always!
ERROR AND LEAVEN
The Word of God typifies error as leaven (Mat. 13:33). Leaven by its very nature if not rooted out, will ultimately take over the whole. In other words, the little barb of leaven in the whole kernel of Truth, will ultimately overrun the Truth, that is if it is not removed, with then nothing left but “leaven.” Unfortunately, millions are led astray by taking to themselves a small amount of leaven, which after a while corrupts the whole.
It is our business as Preachers of the Gospel to do exactly what the Holy Spirit said through Paul, “to perfect the Saints.” We can only do that as Ministers of the Gospel, by walking close to the Lord, properly understanding the Word ourselves, which means a lifetime devoted to the study of the Word, and at the same time having a strong prayer life. That’s exactly what the Apostles said in the earliest days of the Church, “But we will give ourselves continually to prayer, and to the Ministry of the Word” (Acts 6:4). Blessed are the people who have such a Pastor.
THE WORK OF THE MINISTRY
The phrase, “For the work of the Ministry,” is tied directly to the “perfecting of the Saints.” If the Saints are not perfected, which means to be rooted and grounded in the Word, there will be little “Work of the Ministry.”
What should this “work” consist of?
The primary purpose, the actual “work” of the Church, is to proclaim the Good News of the Gospel throughout the entirety of the Earth, and to every single individual. That should be its primary focus, its foundation, its thrust, its purpose, its work. That must be foremost, and if it isn’t, the Church soon dies. For every single person who does not know of Christ, as far as that person is concerned, Jesus died in vain. There could be no higher travesty, no greater travesty than that!
When the Church is on fire for God, its work will be the propagation of the Gospel, which falls out to the Salvation of souls.
THE EDIFICATION OF THE BODY
The phrase, “For the edifying of the Body of Christ,” refers to the building up of the Church, which can only come about if the Church is brought to maturity and engaging in the True Work of God. Otherwise there is no true edification.
If one is to notice, it is for the “edification of the Body,” instead of edification of one or two particular individuals.
~J. Swaggart
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