Ephesians 4:16 From whom the whole body fitly joined together and compacted by that which every joint supplies… Christian life in the truest sense is impossible apart from Christian activity. In other words, in the Church everyone has something to do. I. There must be a hearty conviction that BECAUSE WE CAN THEREFORE WE OUGHT TO DO SO. Power, you know, is a talent down to its uttermost limit, and as long as there is something which "every joint" can supply, alas for that joint's health and life, if it fails of its function. A Christian that does no Christian work, is an anomaly. Analogy teaches this. Nature is not receptive only: nature is a bountiful giver; rendering back again, thirty, sixty, and a hundred fold, that which man entrusts to her keeping. Social life teaches the same doctrine. We cannot, if we would, do without one another. II. ALL CHRISTIANS HAVE NOT THE SAME WORK TO DO. Every joint is to supply something, but every joint is not to supply the same thing. It is to be according to "the measure of every part." There is something to be done by all of us; but our work varies with our position in life. (W. G. Barrett.) Parallel Verses KJV: 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. |
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