Transcript
It’s time to start our services. I am so glad to have you here with us today. I want to send special greetings to all our friends in Canada, especially from the churches around New Brunswick: in Saint John, Moncton, and the saints living in Bath and Frederickton. God bless you all.
Also, special greetings to all our friends in Norway. It was so good to have the opportunity to speak to the different ones over the past week, and also our friends in Germany and Switzerland – we send you our greetings. And of course, all the friends here in the local area and around the world. I appreciate everyone who reaches out. I don’t generally say any names because I know that can bring harm to people. But I appreciate you all and your kind words.
Let’s also keep in our prayers all the brothers and sisters who are walking this same path we are.
And as we begin today, if this is your first time tuning in and you wonder who we are and what we are up to: I and most of our listeners here are formerly members of the cult following of William Branham known as The Message. The Message is a global doomsday cult that started right here in Jeffersonville, Indiana. I am formerly the associated pastor of the second oldest message church in the world, the original sister church of the Branham Tabernacle. And this is a little mission we operate to offer encouragement to the many people who are exiting the message and to also take some time for a look at the plain reading of scripture. As we seek to understand the difference between the lifetime of indoctrination most of us endured and what is actually written in scripture.
And we have been working our way through the book of Ephesians. This is, I believe, our 28th lesson on the book of Ephesians. And we have just been working our way through a few verses at a time. And we are in the fourth chapter today. I invite you to join, turn your bibles there, and follow along. And I will be reading from verse 14 down to verse 16. Paul writes:
“So that we may no longer be children, tossed to and fro by the waves and carried about by every wind of doctrine, by human cunning, by craftiness in deceitful schemes. Rather, speaking the truth in love, we are to grow up in every way into him who is the head, into Christ, from whom the whole body, joined and held together by every joint with which it is equipped, when each part is working properly, makes the body grow so that it builds itself up in love.”
Ephesians 4:14-16 ESV
Let us pray. Lord, as we approach the scripture today, we thank you for the vision which we see presented to us. As we come to this passage, it is our desire to understand. Grant us the understanding, in Jesus’ name we ask. Amen.
Introduction
Introduction
Well, brothers and sisters, I said this is our 28th lesson in Ephesians, and this is our seventh lesson here in the fourth chapter of Ephesians. And we are probably going to spend more time in chapter four than the rest because of just how important this chapter was to us in the places we come from. So, taking a nice slow look here, with time to digest it all is important, I believe.
Let me give us just a little reminder of where we are overall within chapter 4. The apostle Paul, in these verses we have read, is ending a digression he started in verse, and he is connecting his digressions back to the initial point he started the chapter with.
And I think you probably understand what I mean when I say a digression. But if not, let me explain what a digression is. A digression is something you do when you are speaking or writing. You might have a main point you are making, a main topic. And then, at a certain point, you make a digression. And you start to talk about a related topic, or some background information, that is not really part of your main topic. That is a digression – it’s a digression away from your main topic in order to bring in some related information. And that is what Paul has been doing since verse 4. He has been on a digression from his main topic.
And before we examine these verses, let me just walk you through that so that we have all this in proper context.
Back at the start of chapter 4, Paul began talking about how we should behave as Christians. His main point was that we should all get along with each other, that we should bear with one another in love, and that we should be eager to maintain peace in our Christian community.
And those instructions to love each other and get along with each other are Paul’s main objectives here. Don’t miss that. Everything Paul has said, through his digression – the ultimate point is to provide more context and information about his main point, which is that we should all get along with each other.
And so, in our last few lessons, we have gone deeper into the weeds about the gifts of ministry and speaking unity. But today we are beginning to come back to the overarching point he was seeking to make. His explanation of the gifts of ministry, his explanations of unity, what he has said about the work of the ministry and our differing measures of grace – all of that is part of the case Paul was building as to why we should all show each other love and kindness and keep peace in our relationships.
And so, we could ask the question: what is a key purpose of this ministry Paul has spoken about? And the answer is, the key purpose is to encourage us to get along with each other, to encourage us to love each other, as Christ has loved us, to encourage us to keep peace and harmony with each other. That is how Chapter 4 started out, and that is the point Paul is returning to here as he ends his digression.
Now let me summarize Paul’s digression. We covered this in the last five messages. And the summary is this: Paul explained that one of the reasons we should all get along is the fact that we are united with each other through the Holy Spirit, into one body. And because we are united, because we are one body, we should care for each other and love each other, because we are part of each other.
And there are certain things which we are united on: One Lord, One Baptism, One Faith, One Spirit, One God and father of all. There are certain doctrines and beliefs that are fundamental, and which we all hold in common from the moment we are saved. But even though we are united in those ways, we are still different from each other. Paul begins explaining those differences in verse 7. Although we are alike in some ways, we are still different in other ways. And those ways in which we are different can be very many. And Christ has given us grace to cover those things. Christ has given us each a unique measure of grace to fit our specific circumstances, and we also have different gifts and talents as individuals.
And from there Paul starts to speak about the gifts of ministry that were given to the first generation of the church, and he explained how ministers, who had already been called before the book of Ephesians was written, had a mission to perfectly equip all the saints who would come after them to continue the work of the ministry after they were gone. And of course, we know they did do that. That first generation of ministers left us their New Testament writings. Mark, the evangelist, left us the book of Mark. Silas the prophet co-authored 2nd Peter and 1st Thessalonians. Timothy the pastor co-authored some of the Epistles of Paul, and so on. And so those five gifts of ministry left us the writings we have today in the Bible.
And just like verse 11 and 12 say, the ministers Christ gave the church after his resurrection perfectly equipped all of us saints who would come after, and from their writings, and from their teachings, we are able to carry on the work of the ministry today. We don’t need to add anything else to it. They perfectly equipped us for the work of the ministry. And that work is what we read about in verse 13. True Christian ministers are out to see everyone be united with Christ by saving faith, so they can come to the knowledge of Jesus as their Lord and savior, and we are uniting all these people to Christ, so that the body of Christ can be completed, so that all missing parts can be added in, so that it will be perfect and complete, such that there are no missing parts. And when that happens, when each part is added to the body of Christ, then the church will have reached the fullness.
And that leads us to the passage we are looking at today. The true ministry of the church, to the present day, is seeking to unite people with Christ, seeking to complete the body of Christ. And it is an ongoing mission. The mission is probably not going to finish in our generation. The truth is, we don’t really know how much longer it will take. Only God knows, and it will take as long as it takes because God is not willing that any should perish. He will keep this thing going until he reaches every last soul who is to be part of his church and his kingdom. And it is very likely true that there are many people who will be added to the kingdom who have not even been born yet.
We don’t know exactly who or when, but God knows.
And it’s not our job to close the door and say it’s all over with. That is not our job. Our job is to reach those who still need to be added to the body of Christ. And when that is finished, when the gospel is published to the entire world, when the body of Christ comes to fullness or completion, as Jesus said, then the end will come.
And there is, as yet, not a single clear and definitive sign that we have reached the end. Not a single one. There is no clear evidence that the second coming is upon us. Anyone who tells you that is a deceiver. You will hear of wars, and rumors of wars, there will be pestilence in diverse places, earthquakes, and so forth. But see that ye be not troubled. All these things must happen, but the end is not yet.
That is what Jesus told us. Those sorts of things are not reliable signs of the end. And all the wicked men who trick innocent people into believing those sorts of things are signs of the end are the false prophets and false teachers Jesus warned us to avoid.
Now there are clear signs of the end, but it’s not the fake stuff the leaders in the doomsday cult are obsessed with. And those clear and unmistakable signs which are in the Bible, those signs have not manifested yet.
And so, because the end is not yet come, we continue the mission Christ has given us. We continue the work of the ministry which the first generation of Christian preachers perfectly equipped us to do.
The Point of Paul’s Digression
Now as we come to verse 14, the very first word here is SO.
“S-O”
“So.”
That is a really small two-letter word, but it means something important. Paul here is wrapping up the digression he started in verse 4. This is wrapping everything up, Paul here is declaring what his main point was. He is explaining why he went into this digression.
And we can see this very clearly just by reading here in this chapter. Let me point it out to you. Look at verse 1 with me. In the very first verse, Paul says – I urge you to walk worthy. Paul is talking about Christian conduct, our Christian walk.
And now jump down to verse 17. Paul says, Now you must no longer walk as the Gentiles do. So you see, Paul is in verse 17 coming back to the point he started making in verse 1, how we should walk, which is how we should conduct ourselves as Christians.
And if we back up to verse 14, he says SO. And in verse 14, Paul starts wrapping up his digression because he is preparing to return to his main topic, which he stepped away from starting at verse 4.
So, why did Paul make this long digression? Why did he talk about unity? Why did he explain about the first generation of preachers perfectly equipping the church for the work of ministry? Why did he say the work of the ministry was uniting people to Christ through saving faith, so they can come to know their Lord and Savior? Why did Paul make that big long digression? Verse 14 through 16 tells us why he made the digression. It tells us the main points Paul was seeking to convey. So let me read our passage again. Paul says,
14 so that we may no longer be children, tossed to and fro by the waves and carried about by every wind of doctrine, by human cunning, by craftiness in deceitful schemes. 15 Rather, speaking the truth in love, we are to grow up in every way into him who is the head, into Christ, 16 from whom the whole body, joined and held together by every joint with which it is equipped, when each part is working properly, makes the body grow so that it builds itself up in love.
So this is what Paul is after, with all that he said. After speaking of unity, and ministers, of the work of the ministry, this is the objective of it all that he is after. And we can clearly see that Paul is lining this back up with how he stated the chapter, in verse 2 and 3 and 4. Paul is encouraging the Ephesians to love each other, to bear with each other, to get along, and to have peaceful relationships with each other.
Now as we look at this objective Paul has in mind, I want you to notice Paul gives both a negative example and a positive example. He gives a negative example of what this ministry and this unity should not produce, and then he gives a positive example of what it should produce.
Tossed To and Fro
And the negative example, the thing that should not be produced, is that it should produce people who behave like children, in that they are tossed to and fro by doctrines, and human cunning, and schemes of people.
The ministry and unity Paul is speaking of will not produce that. It will not produce people with all kinds of ideas, combatively tossing people around, from one camp to another, from one idea to another idea. This ministry and this unity Paul is speaking about will not produce people who can be carried around that way.
And as we think about that, if we have been perfectly equipped by the first generation of ministers to carry on the work of ministry, then we have the foundation to build on. We have the framework, we have the basis, we have the pattern. We have everything we need in that respect to carry on the work.
And so, there is no need to chase new doctrines. There is no need to chase new exciting things. There is no need to be taken with new ideas because we have the Bible. The Bible is a finished book. We have no need to go chase other things because we are already perfectly equipped with everything we need, right here in the plain reading of the Bible.
And as Paul writes these words to the Ephesians, we realize that in Paul’s day there were false apostles, and there were false prophets, and various other false teachers, and they were coming around with new revelations, new doctrines, new ideas. And if we read the New Testament, we can read about those kinds of false preachers.
And people were being carried away with their ideas. People were getting carried away with what they were saying. In Colossians, Paul talks about some of them, how they are always talking to angels, and always coming up with new ideas and new teachings. But he explained how that was worthless, it was meaningless. Though an angel from heaven come and preach another gospel – let him be accursed – Paul said. We don’t need something new. What we have here in the plain reading of scripture is enough.
And I think it is important for us to realize here that Paul is putting limits in place, as he writes this passage here in Ephesians chapter 4. He is truly limiting and narrowing down the scope of doctrines and beliefs that are important to the church. And he is telling us that it is safe for us to stick with the teachings of the very first generation of preachers appointed by Christ around the time of his resurrection. He is telling us, there is enough there to perfectly equip us. And that is enough for us to settle on. We are not looking for some new doctrine, or some new revelation, or a new special preacher to show up. Paul is letting the Ephesians know this thing is settled. He is telling them to settle down on what the first generation of preachers taught, and to not be tossed to and fro chasing new revelations and new doctrines.
And make no mistake, that is exactly what Paul is conveying here in chapter 4.
Not that don’t mean we won’t understand the Bible more clearly with time. Because, as we grow in our walk with Christ, as we read and study scripture, we will understand more clearly, we will see more deeply. That is true.
But we don’t need to look to any other authority to equip us for our Christian life – beyond what they left us here in scripture. If you cannot get it from the plain reading of their writings, then you don’t need it. It is superfluous, it is unnecessary. What they left is not only sufficient – but it is perfect and complete. And we have no need of anything else. So we have no need to be tossed to and fro like the waves, we have no need to fall prey to the cunning craftiness of schemers with their new doctrines and new revelations, because the full compendium of everything we need is right here in plain reading of scripture.
And you may wonder why I say the plain reading of scripture. And I say that because lots of people say what they believe is in the Bible, but it’s not plain, it’s not really in there, even though they say it is. People like to stray into realms that cannot be understood from the plain reading of the Bible, people who are coming up with new doctrines and new revelations. Paul calls it here – winds and waves and cunning crafty schemes. I want you to know that you can safely ignore those sorts of people. If it’s some new thing that the historic church never taught or believed and it’s not in the plain reading of scripture, you don’t need it. And in fact, that thing may just kill you. So you better stay away from it.
Jesus said no man knows the day or the hour that he will return, but some man says – yes that is true, we cannot know the day or the hour, BUT we can know the year and the month. Get away from them. They are deceivers. There is nothing in this book that says we will know the month or the year. They are speculating, they are adding to the Bible.
Now scripture does say we will know the season, but it also tells us we will not know it until it’s right upon us. And so if someone tells you the season far in advance – they are deceiving you. There is not going to be some long advance warning. And if someone tells you it is the season, and it is upon us – well give it a few months – and if it don’t happen, they were a deceiver – and get away from them.
Stop being carried about by winds and waves. Stop falling into their crafty and cunning schemes. They are liars. Get away from them.
Message Children
And if we think about this negative example in relation to the place we come, it fits them to a T, doesn’t it? They have more bizarre doctrines than we can count, more new ideas and new revelations than you can shake a stick at. And most of it cannot be found in the plain reading of scripture. Most of it, at the root, lies in people having dreams or visions or prophecies of their own, and they apply that to scripture, and they read between the lines, and they say this symbol means this, or that symbol means that, and then they arrive at their elaborate concoction of a doctrine, and they carry people around with it, which is exactly what Paul is speaking of here in verse 14.
Maybe let me use one example, one simple example. We believed in the places we come from, that the black horse rider was the power of the pope in the dark ages. More or less, that is what we believed it was. Now, does the Bible actually say that is what it is? And the answer is no. Very solidly no. The Bible does not plainly say that the black horse represents the power of the pope in the dark ages. It just does not say that. Now the Bible does tell pretty plainly what black horse does represent, if you go read it, but it doesn’t include that plain description that it is the power of the pope in the dark ages. So what is the basis for us to even believe the black horse is the power of the pope in the dark ages? Honestly – what is the basis to believe that? Because the Bible doesn’t say that. What was our basis to believe that in The Message? The answer is a simple one. Our basis to believe that was because an angel came to William Branham’s room before he preached the third seal, and the angel told him what the black horse was all about. And that was our basis for believing the black horse was the power of the pope in the dark ages. It didn’t come from the Bible. It came from what an angel told William Branham. And come to find out – William Branham never actually met an angel. He made it all up. And that was actually what this verse is talking about. It was a crafty scheme, it was a cunning plan, it was a wind of a doctrine, it was a wave to carry people, and it sure did. It carried a lot of people. And there are people out there who will fight you to the death over that. They will fight you to the death over something that simply is not in the plain reading of the Bible. In fact, they will tell you, unless you believe that an angel came to William Branham and told him the black horse is the power of the pope in dark ages, unless you believe that, you are going to burn up and die a tortuous death in the tribulation. They will do that, over something that is not even written in the Bible. And there are thousands upon thousands of more things like that in the places we come from, from William Branham on down to many ministers who came after him, and it produces exactly what we see in verse 14. It produces being tossed to and fro, all caught up in crafty deceitful schemes, all because they failed to recognize the very things Paul said here in chapter 4.
And here is what is so sad. The Message can never, and will never, produce what it is looking for, because it is impossible. What they are after is an impossibility. And 75 years of trying to produce it so far has been nothing but failure. They are no closer than when they started. The entire framework of The Message religion is built on ignoring what Paul really said in verse 11 and 12. It is built on ignoring the fact that the Bible tells us the first generation of ministers perfectly equipped us. And by ignoring that fact, The Message ends up with verse 14. The Message is verse 14. Normal Christianity is verse 11 and 12 and 13.
And I will say that again. The Message is verse 14. It is patently verse 14. We can observe and see it with our eyes, and our ears, and our five senses. The Message is verse 14.
The Message is… children, tossed to and fro by the waves and carried about by every wind of doctrine, by human cunning, by craftiness in deceitful schemes.
And while they all aspire to be this perfected church, they have rejected the only thing that can actually do it.
And it is so so sad. They are chasing the hidden revelation, they are chasing the secret mystery, they are chasing the deep understanding they think has been lost.
I could spend a long time just going down the list of nonsense pointless waves and winds that tossed us around in the places I come from. The blood moons, and the shemitah, and the jubilee, and President Trump was Cyrus, and the Abraham accords was this, and the North American Union was that, the they was sacrificing babies at the White House, the restoration of polygamy in the millennium, and the two days, and the third day, and the 2004 ½, and the miracle war, and a whole host of other absolutely pointless things that did nothing at all, and was nothing at all, and never will be anything at all. But they sure caused some divorces, and drove some people to suicide, and made some people go crazy, and caused plenty of divisions, and they harmed more people than I can count.
The Message people are living in verse 14, and they failed to recognize that verse 11 and 12 and 13 are telling us the first generation of preachers already gave us everything we need.
Stunted Growth
At the start of verse 14, Paul likens this to being children, people who are in this frame of mind and this mode of operation. People are being tossed to and fro, chasing mysteries, revelations, and new doctrines. They are like children. And so, we don’t say that people like this are not saved. It is possible they are saved. It is possible we will all be together in heaven. I don’t take that away from them. But what it does mean is that people living in verse 14 are spiritual children.
The truth is, growing up and becoming a mature Christian is not something we do by chasing hidden mysteries. Growing up is something that happens when we get settled in the gospel message taught by the apostles. Growing up and being mature is based on us reaching a place where we don’t get carried around by all those kinds of bizarre ideas that are not really in scripture.
It’s not a message of the hour, every hour, on the hour. It’s the gospel message, it is Jesus Christ the same, yesterday today and forever.
And you can’t say Jesus Christ the same yesterday today and forever and then say the message of your hour. Those are opposites. You cannot have both. You can only have one or the other. Either he stays the same, or he changes. You can’t have it both ways.
And here is the thing. Which of those two things are in the plain reading of scripture? Is the message for your hour in the plain reading of scripture? Or is Jesus Christ the Same yesterday today and forever in the plain reading of scripture? Which is it? Because they cannot both be true. They are opposites.
And what could we call this? What could we call getting stuck in verse 14 for your entire life? We could call that stunted growth. We could call it Peter Pan syndrome. We could call it never growing up.
And that is where, so sadly, the overwhelming majority of the Message community lives. They live in a state of perpetual spiritual immaturity. They never grow up and become mature Christians. And most of them are quite open about it. They never get there. They chase it their entire life. Some of them have been chasing it for 75 years now. And many died chasing it. They failed to realize that they already had everything they needed to become stable and mature. And so they chased things that kept them trapped in verse 14.
When you think about children, they get bored pretty easy. They are always jumping from one thing to the next. The Message people are like that. I think the sad truth is that many of them are bored with Jesus. They are bored with the gospel. So they got to keep jumping around. Preach the gospel message to them a few times, and they will complain. They want something fresh. They want something exciting and new. They don’t want that old milk. They want something they can sink their teeth into. And it’s not Jesus. It’s not the gospel message. Because they got bored with that a long time ago. Because they are children.
You know what else is true about children? They are gullible. They are easily tricked. And people in the Message are the same way. They are terribly undiscerning. They fall for scams. They follow nonsense. They even fall for the same tricks over and over. Gullible children.
And another thing about little children is that they lack an appropriate fear of danger. And it is because they have an innocence about them. And the innocence is good. But the lack of awareness of danger is not good. They take candy from strangers. They get too close to the edge and they fall off. There are people in the Message today who are in extreme danger. And they don’t recognize it. And like that little child who falls off the ledge or takes the candy from the stranger, it is easy for something bad to happen. And it does happen to them, quite a lot.
It is so sad. It breaks my heart. And I was once right there going along with them for the ride. But thanks be to God, brothers and sisters, we are finally growing up.
Love
Now I want to take just a little time to look at verse 15 and 16 before I end this lesson. And we will come back and look at those verses some more next time.
But as we turn our eyes to verse 15 and 16, let’s notice that this is Paul’s positive example of what the ministry and union with Christ should produce. Verse 11 and 12 and 13 should produce verse 15 and 16. Let me read it.
“15 Rather, speaking the truth in love, we are to grow up in every way into him who is the head, into Christ, 16 from whom the whole body, joined and held together by every joint with which it is equipped, when each part is working properly, makes the body grow so that it builds itself up in love.”
On this side of the doomsday cult, brothers and sisters, it is incumbent on us to grow up. We desperately need to put verse 14 into the rearview mirror. We got to get away from that. All the tossing to and fro over stuff that really doesn’t matter when it’s all said and done. We can lay that down.
That doesn’t mean we don’t read prophecy and parables. That doesn’t mean we don’t preach on those things or treat them as unimportant. But it does mean that there are limits. And when we exceed those limits, and we start producing verse 14, that is not demonstrating maturity. And we need to stop acting like children and realize what this thing is all about. We need to realize what the main point is.
At the end of chapter 3, Paul prayed a beautiful prayer over the Ephesians. He prayed for them to have a true and deep love of Christ in their hearts. And he said it was only then, when their hearts were full of love, that they could understand what this is all about.
And then how did Paul open chapter 4? He opened it by telling the Ephesians that loving each other was what they needed to do to walk worthy of their calling. He put love front and center, along with the rest of the fruit of the spirit.
And what do we find when we arrive here at verse 15 and 16? We find love, yet again, as Paul explains what all this long digression was about. We see it was about love. It was about people loving one another and caring for one another. And through the expression of that love, the body of Christ will grow to completion.
What is the main point? The main point is love. Jesus said, “A new commandment I give you: As I have loved you, so love ye one another.” The scribe said, “Jesus, what is the greatest commandment?” Jesus replied, “Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart and all thy soul and all thy might, and thou shalt love your neighbor as yourself. Upon this hangs all the law and the prophets.”
“For God so loved the world, he gave his only begotten son, that whosoever would believe on him might have eternal life and shall never perish.”
“Be ye therefore perfect as your Father in heaven is perfect.”
“Love,” the apostle John wrote, “I tell you once again to keep the commandment. The one ye have heard from the beginning, that ye love one another.”
Paul said, “If there be any commandment you need to keep, it is covered under love your neighbor as you love yourself.”
This all comes back to love, something we never believed in the doomsday cult. The centrality and importance of love are something the Message does not know or understand. Love is the centerpiece of a Christ-like character, and verse 15 and 16 tells us that it’s not chasing new revelations and hidden mysteries and new doctrines that are going to wrap this thing up. What is going to wrap it up is love. Love grows the body.
Not fake message love. Not plastic big smile love. Not throw you away the moment you cease to be useful love. Not destroy you for telling the truth love.
But real love. The love of God. The love of Christ in our hearts. The love of Christ defining our lives.
Amen. I look forward to examining these verses with you next time.
But for now, let me close in prayer.
Prayer
Lord God, thank you for showing mercy on us when we were as children, blinded by the delusion of a false message. You loved us. You made a way for us to escape. You delivered us from being tossed to and fro. And you settled us in the firm knowledge of Christ as our Savior.
Now, Lord, we pray that you grant discernment to the people trapped by the delusions of the message. We pray that they might see that they are living in verse 14, that they might see that as a sign that clearly they do not have what verse 11 and 12 and 13 are speaking of. May that awaken them to ask questions and seek answers. And may you deliver them to a knowledge of you as their savior and deliver them from the bondage of their wicked and corrupt leaders.
This we ask, in Jesus’ name. Amen.