The Lord himself gave apostles, prophets, evangelists, pastors, and teachers. Provision is thus made for three great objects.

I. THE FOUNDATION OF THE CHURCH. It needed a special order of inspired men to lay the foundations. Hence believers are said "to be built upon the foundation of apostles and prophets" (Ephesians 2:20). The foundation, however, had only to be laid once for all, and these apostles and prophets passed away in the first age of Christianity. There is no place, therefore, now in the Church for either class; for the "apostles" of the Irvingite sect possess no single qualification of the original apostles of Christ. As the apostles wrote nearly the whole of the New Testament Scriptures, which supply the literary foundation of Christianity, they may thus be regarded as still identified with the progress of the gospel in all lands and all ages.

II. THE EXTENSION OF THE CHURCH. Evangelists were specially designed to preach the gospel in districts where it had not been previously known. They are on this ground distinguished from pastors and teachers. They itinerated from place to place, carrying with them the wonderful story of the cross, and were quite exempt, as such, from the labors of organization or discipline. Our missionaries in modern times do the work of evangelists.

III. THE CONTINUANCE OF THE CHURCH. Pastors and teachers were stationary ministers appointed for the continuous edification of the flock. They represent, not two classes of office-bearers, but two aspects of one and the same office. They are distinguished alike from prophets and from evangelists, and had to do with the permanent instruction and guidance of the flock. The existence of such an order of teachers proves that the Christian Church was not to be propagated or maintained by mere gifted persons. Why, in that case, should the Lord have appointed such ordinary officers at all? The pastors of Ephesus and Corinth were distinct from the prophetically gifted persons in both Churches (1 Corinthians 14.; Ephesians 4:11). Private persons, no matter how gifted, were not allowed to take the place of apostles and prophets at Corinth, and therefore net of pastors and teachers. If they could not take the place of the one, they could not take the place of the other. If all believers were to exercise the gift of ministry in the Christian dispensation, why should not the apostles have started with this arrangement from the first? Why should the Lord give pastors and teachers to one generation - and that a generation provided with at least two inspired orders of teachers - and make no similar provision for all future generations? - T.C.

I. From this passage we learn, THAT THE INSTITUTION OF THE CHRISTIAN MINISTRY — the appointment of pastors and teachers — is from God, IS OF DIVINE AUTHORITY. The object which the Christian ministry is designed to effect is the conviction and conversion of sinners, and the edification and consolation of saints; but these are effects which no human, and, indeed, no created, power is able to produce. The office of the Christian ministry — that is, the institution of a separate order of men to attend, more peculiarly, to the religious instruction of others — is admirably adapted in its own nature as a means to effect the object intended, and its adaptation is evident even to the eye of human wisdom; but it was not devised by human wisdom, and it must not be judged of, or regarded, solely from its extrinsic fitness.

II. Since, then, the text informs us, in the first place, that the appointment of pastors and teachers is a Divine institution, intended to be instrumental in accomplishing certain objects, and of course deriving all its efficacy from the blessing of Him who appointed it, we shall now consider WHAT OBJECTS IT WAS DESIGNED TO EFFECT. For what purpose did God give pastors and teachers? It was "for the perfecting of the saints, for the edification of the Body of Christ." The "perfecting of the saints" may here mean the completion of their number. It may also mean, making them perfect in holiness. We are further informed by the apostle, that God "gave pastors and teachers for the edifying of the Body of Christ." "The Body of Christ" is an expression often used in Scripture to denote the Church of Christ. And the great object of this figurative mode of speaking is to represent the absolute dependence of believers upon their great living Head at all times for nourishment and strength, and, indeed, for existence or vitality, as well as the close and intimate connection that subsists between the Head and all the members — that is, between Christ and His people — and between the members with each other. The word "edify" properly means to build; and it is taken from another figurative idea, sometimes given us in Scripture, of the Church of Christ, or of true Christians in their connection with and dependence upon Christ, namely, that of a building or temple, of which Christ is the foundation, and in which all His people are represented as stones. And in this work of edification or sanctification, pastors and teachers whom God has appointed are master builders, whose great duty and privilege it is to be employed as instruments in edifying the Body of Christ — in building up the saints in their most holy faith — in carrying on the great work of which our Saviour laid the foundation while He lived upon the earth — in not only bringing men to the knowledge and belief of the truth, but also in leading them to walk in the paths of holiness — to walk in harmony and in love — and to contribute to one another's spiritual progress.

III. We would now CONSIDER THE STATEMENT WHICH THE TEXT CONTAINS OF THE MORE COMPREHENSIVE AND ULTIMATE OBJECTS FOR WHICH THE CHRISTIAN MINISTRY WAS INSTITUTED, AND WHICH THE LABOURS OF PASTORS AND TEACHERS ARE INTENDED TO SERVE, namely, that Christians may grow up in "all things unto Him who is the Head — that they may all come in the unity of the faith, and of the knowledge of the Son of God, unto a perfect man — unto the measure of the stature of the fulness of Christ." And here we would notice the description the apostle gives of the direct objects and effects of the labours of pastors and teachers, namely, that Christians "speak the truth in love." "Speaking the truth" is contrasted with being tossed to and fro like children, or carried about with every wind of doctrine; and as the appointment of pastors and teachers, with their regular and faithful ministrations, are intended by God to preserve the Church, or Body of Christ, from the latter of these, so they are also fitted to produce and secure the former. "To speak the truth" means here to hold and to maintain sound and correct views of Christian doctrine — of the great principles of the oracles of God. And this is an acquisition of great importance, lying at the very foundation of all true religion, which is built upon right views of the Divine character, and of the Divine plans and purposes with regard to the human race. But, besides this, it is also necessary that men "speak the truth in love" — that is, that their assertion and maintenance of the truth, even against its opposers, should never lead them into any violation of the great law of Christian charity and love. Not that either ministers or private Christians are bound to speak or to think more favourably of opposers of the truth than the fair and impartial examination of their conduct may seem to warrant and to require. But when our opinion is really and sincerely fair and impartial, it is no objection to it that it is unfavourable; for that must just depend upon the grounds and merits of the case. Our opinions upon all points should be exactly conformable to truth — to the intrinsic merits of the subject; but the expression of these opinions, and the conduct which they may lead us to adopt, should be at all times regulated by love. The great terminating object of the Christian ministry — and indeed of all God's dealings with His people — is stated by the apostle in the eighteenth verse — "that we may all come in" — or rather into — "the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God — unto a perfect man — unto the measure of the stature of the fulness of Christ." This describes the state of the Church in its collective capacity — when the objects of the Christian ministry, and indeed of all other means of grace, shall have been accomplished. At present, there is nothing like complete unity of faith and knowledge. There is reason, however, to think that times are in reserve for the Church, even upon earth, when these evils shall be greatly lessened, if not altogether removed — when the Church shall indeed resemble a great and a holy Society, founded upon one rock, and that rock Christ: — devoted to the one great purpose of manifesting the glory and making known the manifold wisdom of God. But whatever degree of harmony and purity the Church of Christ shall attain upon earth, when God shall pour out His Spirit upon all flesh, and introduce the glory of the latter days, certain it is that there will be a time when all His people shall come into the unity of the faith, and of the knowledge of the Son of God, when there shall be nothing whatever to hurt or to offend, when His people shall be all righteous — freed from everything that may pervert either the judgment or the conduct — made perfect in holiness, and altogether restored to the lost image of their great Creator and their living Head.

(W. Cunningham, D. D.)

I. A REMARKABLE INSTANCE OF OUR EXALTED LORD'S LIBERTY TO HIS CHURCH in bestowing divers gifts upon her.

1. The gifts.

2. The Giver.

3. The act of donation.

4. The time to which it relates.

II. THE END OR DESIGN OF THIS GIFT.

1. In respect of the saints, these who are in Christ already, the ministry is to perfect them, πρὸς τὸν καταρτισμὸν. The word signifies the restoring and setting dislocated members again in their proper place. It signifies also, the perfecting and establishing them in the restored state. So the Corinthians, who by their factions and divisions were rent asunder, and as a disjointed body, are exhorted to be κατηρτισμένοι, perfectly joined together, as a joint well knit (1 Corinthians 1:10). The saints being, by reason of remaining corruption, so ready to turn aside both from Christ the Head, and from their brethren fellow members. God gave ministers to be spiritual surgeons to set them right again, and to fix them in nearer union to Christ by faith, and to their brethren in love.

2. In regard of themselves, for the work of the ministry. It is for work that they are appointed. This work, for the kind of it, is διακονία, a ministry or service, the first excluding idleness, the second excluding a lordly dominion.

3. In respect of the Body of Christ; it is to edify, viz., the mystical Body of Christ.

(T. Boston, D. D.)

The text is clouded by a wrong punctuation. If a single comma be dropped, so as to make the text read, "He gave some, pastors and teachers, for the perfecting of the saints for the work of ministering," it will clearly express what some expositors believe is its meaning, and be in harmony with what is taught elsewhere in the New Testament as to the duty which is owed by the Church to the world. "The saints" have a ministry if "the Body of Christ" is to be "edified." The Church is not to be as a lake without any outlet — a mere glass in which the sky is reflected — but a reservoir that yields what it receives for the health of mankind. Every member has something to do. Every Christian is to be a channel of blessing to others, "even as the Son of Man came, not to be ministered unto, but to minister, and to give His life a ransom for many."

I. In the development of this theme let us consider, first, THE DISPARITY IN CIRCUMSTANCE AND CONDITION BETWEEN OURSELVES AND THE VAST MULTITUDE OF OUR FELLOW MEN; THE CONTRAST BETWEEN OUR AND THEIR MORAL EXPERIENCE. If there be anything approaching the truth in our oft-repeated confessions, we have entered, through Christ, upon an ample inheritance of privilege and honour and power. Our sins are forgiven; a new life has been given us; we live in God's fellowship. "All things are yours," says the apostle, "whether Paul, or Apollos, or Cephas, or the world, or life, or death, or things present, or things to come; all are yours." And what deed ever conveyed riches like these? "Why am I, honest and industrious, harassed and tormented, while dishonesty thrives, and has the world, cap in hand, at its feet? Where is the evidence of the love, or the wisdom, you preach? Where even is justice? It is a bad world; and the best thought about life is, that it will soon come to an end."

II. This brings us, second, TO THE PRINCIPLE WHICH IS EXPRESSED IN THE TEXT, AND ON WHICH ALONE THESE INEQUALITIES CAN BE JUSTIFIED. Every variety implies in some sense superiority or inferiority. But who would wish for a mere uniformity, which would be the destruction of all that is interesting, of all that is beautiful, of all emulation, of all excellence? Who cannot see that to receive from one another and to impart to each other what we mutually lack, is a far better thing than to be born to an exact equality of advantages? Variety is essential to the proper development of society; and whilst God alone can explain why the obvious advantage is with one man, or with one class instead of another, still He takes from it all that is invidious by associating with privilege the responsibility of service. Turn, for illustration of this, to the account of the calling of Abraham. He was chosen out of the ranks of his countrymen, and out of the world of his day, for special enlightenment; to hear a Divine voice that was unheard by all others, and to realize a communion more elevated and purer than theirs. And why? Did it denote that he monopolized the Divine favour? that those who were left in the dark had no part in the thoughts and the purposes of Jehovah? On the contrary, he was elected for their sakes; in him, who was thus favoured and quickened, all the nations of the earth were to be blessed. And this is always the end which God has in view in the appointment of any to superior possession and privilege. Their endowment is to bring good to the many. Every great movement in social or political life may be traced to some individual, or to some company of men, who have been privileged to originate the high enterprise. The diffusion of truth is not by the equal instruction of all men at the same moment, but by circles and schools who have found out the truth, and through whom it spreads out until it becomes the possession of all. The preference is shown to the few in the interest of the many. And it is the same in respect of the Church. Those in its fellowship are to serve; for it exists not for itself, but for man, for humanity at large; because man is comprehended in the great love of the Father and in the scope of the redemption which Christ came to accomplish.

(Chas. De Witt Boardman, D. D.)

For if no prince will send a mechanic from his loom or his shears in an honourable embassage to some other foreign prince, shall we think that the Lord will send forth stupid and unprepared instruments about so great a work as the perfecting of the saints and perpetual dishonour of that wicked king Jeroboam, who made no other use of any religion but as a secondary bye thing, to be the supplement of policy, that "he made of the lowest of the people" those who were really such as the apostles were falsely esteemed to be, the "scum and offscouring of men," to be the priests unto the Lord.

(Bishop Reynolds.)

In the church of San Zeno, at Verona, I saw the statue of that saint in a sitting posture, and the artist has given him knees so short that he has no lap whatever; so that he could not have been a nursing father. I fear there are many others who labour under a similar disability: they cannot bring their minds to enter heartily into the pastoral care.

(C. H. Spurgeon.)

On one occasion Kingsley was visiting a sick man suffering from fever. "The atmosphere of the ground floor bedroom was horrible, but before the rector said a word he ran upstairs, and, to the great astonishment of the people of the cottage, bored with a large auger he had brought with him several holes above the bed's head for ventilation. And when diphtheria, then a new disease in England, made its appearance at Eversley, he might have been seen running in and out of the cottages with great bottles of gargle under his arm, and teaching the people to gargle their throats as a preventive."

(Life of Charles Kingsley.)

Father Taylor said of a certain member of his flock who kept continually falling back into drunken ways, "He is an expensive machine; I have to keep mending him all the time; but I will never give him up."

(C. A. Barrel, D. D.)

St. Francis, reflecting on a story he heard of a mountaineer in the Alps who had risked his life to save a sheep, says, "O God, if such was the earnestness of this shepherd in seeking for a mean animal, which had probably been frozen on the glacier, how is it that I am so indifferent in seeking my sheep?"

(W. Baxendale.)

Colossians, Ephesians, PaulEphesusApostles, Appointed, Care, Evangelists, Gifts, News, Pastors, Preachers, Proclaimers, Prophets, Shepherds, Teachers, Teaching1. He exhorts to unity;
7. and declares that God therefore gives various gifts unto men;
11. that his church might be edified,
16. and grow up in Christ.
18. He calls them from the impurity of the Gentiles;
24. to put on the new man;
25. to cast off lying;
29. and corrupt communication.

Ephesians 4:11

     1055   God, grace and mercy
     1432   prophecy in NT
     1444   revelation, NT
     2212   Christ, head of church
     4065   orderliness
     5489   rank
     5886   individualism
     7028   church, life of
     7709   apostles, authority
     7725   evangelists, identity
     7789   shepherd, church leader
     7793   teachers
     7942   ministry
     7967   spiritual gifts, responsibility
     7968   spiritual gifts, nature of
     8235   doctrine, nature of
     8496   witnessing, importance

Ephesians 4:7-13

     3275   Holy Spirit, in the church

Ephesians 4:7-16

     7026   church, leadership

Ephesians 4:8-13

     2336   Christ, exaltation

Ephesians 4:11-12

     7755   preaching, importance
     8329   readiness
     8422   equipping, spiritual
     8437   giving, of talents

Ephesians 4:11-13

     4942   fulness
     5034   likeness
     5217   authority, in church
     6182   ignorance, human situation
     7027   church, purpose
     7110   body of Christ
     7142   people of God, NT
     7943   ministry, in church
     8028   faith, body of beliefs
     8130   guidance, from godly people
     8206   Christlikeness
     8349   spiritual growth, means of

Ephesians 4:11-14

     1614   Scripture, understanding
     8236   doctrine, purpose

Ephesians 4:11-15

     5904   maturity, spiritual
     8162   spiritual vitality

Ephesians 4:11-16

     7757   preaching, effects
     8413   edification
     8443   growth

January 14. "Unto the Measure of the Stature of the Fulness of Christ" (Eph. Iv. 13).
"Unto the measure of the stature of the fulness of Christ" (Eph. iv. 13). God loves us so well that He will not suffer us to take less than His highest will. Some day we shall bless our faithful teacher, who kept the standard inflexibly rigid, and then gave us the strength and grace to reach it, and would not excuse us until we had accomplished all His glorious will. Let us be inexorable with ourselves. Let us mean exactly what God means, and have no discounts upon His promises or commandments. Let …
Rev. A. B. Simpson—Days of Heaven Upon Earth

July 27. "The Building up of the Body of Christ" (R. V. , Eph. Iv. 13).
"The building up of the body of Christ" (R. V., Eph. iv. 13). God is preparing His heroes, and when the opportunity comes He can fit them into their place in a moment and the world will wonder where they came from. Let the Holy Ghost prepare you, dear friend, by all the discipline of life; and when the last finishing touch has been given to the marble, it will be easy for God to put it on the pedestal, and fit it into its niche. There is a day coming, when, like Othniel, we, too, shall judge the …
Rev. A. B. Simpson—Days of Heaven Upon Earth

June 15. "Grow up into Him in all Things" (Eph. Iv. 15).
"Grow up into Him in all things" (Eph. iv. 15). Harvest is a time of ripeness. Then the fruit and grain are fully developed, both in size and weight. Time has tempered the acid of the green fruit. It has been mellowed and softened by the rains and the heat of summer. The sun has tinted it into rich colors, and at last it is ready and ripe to fall into the hand. So Christian life ought to be. There are many things in life that need to be mellowed and ripened. Many Christians have orchards full of …
Rev. A. B. Simpson—Days of Heaven Upon Earth

The End of Religion
EPHESIANS iv. 23, 24. Be renewed in the spirit of your mind; and put ye on the new man, which after God is created in righteousness and true holiness. This text is exceedingly valuable to us for it tells us the end and aim of all religion. It tells us why we are to pray, whether at home or in church; why we are to read our Bibles and good books; why we are to be what is commonly called religious. It tells us, I say, the end and aim of all religion; namely, that we may put on 'the new man, which …
Charles Kingsley—Discipline and Other Sermons

The Likeness of God
EPHESIANS iv. 23, 24. And be renewed in the spirit of your mind; and that ye put on the new man, which after God is created in righteousness and true holiness. Be renewed, says St. Paul, in the spirit of your mind--in the tone, character, and habit of your mind. And put on the new man, the new pattern of man, who was created after God, in righteousness and true holiness. Pay attention, I beg you, to every word here. To understand them clearly is most important to you. According as you take them …
Charles Kingsley—Discipline and Other Sermons

Seventeenth Sunday after Trinity the Christian Calling and Unity.
Text: Ephesians 4, 1-6. 1 I, therefore, the prisoner in the Lord, beseech you to walk worthily of the calling wherewith ye were called, 2 with all lowliness and meekness, with longsuffering, forbearing one another in love; 3 giving diligence to keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace. 4 There is one body, and one Spirit, even as also ye were called in one hope of your calling; 5 one Lord, one faith, one baptism, 6 one God and Father of all, who is over all, and through all, and in all. …
Martin Luther—Epistle Sermons, Vol. III

Nineteenth Sunday after Trinity Duty to New and Old Man.
Text: Ephesians 4, 22-28. 22 That ye put away, as concerning your former manner of life, the old man, that waxeth corrupt after the lusts of deceit; 23 and that ye be renewed in the spirit of your mind, 24 and put on the new man, that after God hath been created in righteousness and holiness of truth. 25 Wherefore, putting away falsehood, speak ye truth each one with his neighbor: for we are members one of another. 26 Be ye angry, and sin not: let not the sun go down upon your wrath: 27 neither give …
Martin Luther—Epistle Sermons, Vol. III

The Calling and the Kingdom
'I beseech you, that ye walk worthy of the vocation wherewith ye are called.'--Eph. iv. 1. 'They shall walk with Me in white; for they are worthy.'--Rev. iii. 4. The estimate formed of a centurion by the elders of the Jews was, 'He is worthy for whom Thou shouldst do this' and in contrast therewith the estimate formed by himself was, 'I am not worthy that Thou shouldst come under my roof.' From these two statements we deduce the thought that merit has no place in the Christian's salvation, but all …
Alexander Maclaren—Expositions of Holy Scripture Ephesians, Peter,John

The Goal of Progress
'Till we all attain unto the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God, unto a full grown man, unto the measure of the stature of the fulness of Christ.'--Eph. iv. 13 (R.V.). The thought of the unity of the Church is much in the Apostle's mind in this epistle. It is set forth in many places by his two favourite metaphors of the body and the temple, by the relation of husband and wife and by the family. It is contemplated in its great historical realisation by the union of Jew and …
Alexander Maclaren—Expositions of Holy Scripture Ephesians, Peter,John

A Dark Picture and a Bright Hope
'That ye put off, concerning the former conversation, the old man, which is corrupt according to the deceitful lusts.'--Eph. iv. 22. If a doctor knows that he can cure a disease he can afford to give full weight to its gravest symptoms. If he knows he cannot he is sorely tempted to say it is of slight importance, and, though it cannot be cured, can be endured without much discomfort. And so the Scripture teachings about man's real moral condition are characterised by two peculiarities which, at …
Alexander Maclaren—Expositions of Holy Scripture Ephesians, Peter,John

The New Man
'And that ye put on the new man, which after God is created in righteousness and true holiness.'--Eph. iv. 24. We had occasion to remark in a former sermon that Paul regards this and the preceding clauses as the summing up of 'the truth in Jesus'; or, in other words, he considers the radical transformation and renovation of the whole moral nature as being the purpose of the revelation of God in Christ. To this end they have 'heard Him.' To this end they have 'learned Him.' To this end they have …
Alexander Maclaren—Expositions of Holy Scripture Ephesians, Peter,John

Grieving the Spirit
'Grieve not the Holy Spirit of God, whereby ye are sealed unto the day of redemption.'--Eph. iv. 30. The miracle of Christianity is the Incarnation. It is not a link in a chain, but a new beginning, the entrance into the cosmic order of a Divine Power. The sequel of Bethlehem and Calvary and Olivet is the upper room and the Pentecost. There is the issue of the whole mission and work of Christ--the planting in the heart of humanity of a new and divine life. All Christendom is professing to commemorate …
Alexander Maclaren—Expositions of Holy Scripture Ephesians, Peter,John

The Threefold Unity
'One Lord, one faith, one baptism.'--Eph. iv. 5. The thought of the unity of the Church is very prominent in this epistle. It is difficult for us, amidst our present divisions, to realise how strange and wonderful it then was that a bond should have been found which drew together men of all nations, ranks, and characters. Pharisee and philosopher, high-born women and slaves, Roman patricians and gladiators, Asiatic Greeks and Syrian Jews forgot their feuds and sat together as one in Christ. It is …
Alexander Maclaren—Expositions of Holy Scripture Ephesians, Peter,John

'The Measure of Grace'
'But unto each one of us was the grace given according to the measure of the gift of Christ.'--Eph. iv. 7 (R.V.). The Apostle here makes a swift transition from the thought of the unity of the Church to the variety of gifts to the individual. 'Each' is contrasted with 'all.' The Father who stands in so blessed and gracious a relationship to the united whole also sustains an equally gracious and blessed relationship to each individual in that whole. It is because each receives His individual gift …
Alexander Maclaren—Expositions of Holy Scripture Ephesians, Peter,John

Christ Our Lesson and Our Teacher
'But ye have not so learned Christ; if so be that ye have heard Him, and have been taught in Him.'--Eph. iv. 20, 21. The Apostle has been describing in very severe terms the godlessness and corruption of heathenism. He reckons on the assent of the Ephesian Christians when he paints the society in which they lived as alienated from God, insensible to the restraints of conscience, and foul with all uncleanness. That was a picture of heathenism drawn from the life and submitted to the judgment of those …
Alexander Maclaren—Expositions of Holy Scripture Ephesians, Peter,John

Of the Church
"I beseech you that ye walk worthy of the vocation wherewith ye are called, with all lowliness and meekness, with long-suffering, forbearing one another in love; endeavouring to keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace. There is one body, and one Spirit, even as ye are called in one hope of your calling; one Lord, one faith, one baptism, one God and Father of all, who is above all, and through all, and in you all." Ephesians 4:1-6. 1. How much do we almost continually hear about the Church! …
John Wesley—Sermons on Several Occasions

The Ascension of Christ
It seemed expedient for him to stay, to accomplish the conversion of the world. Would not his presence have had an influence to win by eloquence of gracious word and argument of loving miracle? If he put forth his power the battle would soon be over, and his rule over all hearts would be for ever established. "Thine arrows are sharp in the heart of the king's enemies; whereby the people fall under thee." Go not from the conflict, thou mighty bowman, but still cast thine all-subduing darts abroad. …
Charles Haddon Spurgeon—Spurgeon's Sermons Volume 17: 1871

Forgiveness Made Easy
At this time we wish to speak a little concerning the duties of love and forgiveness; and here we note, at once, that the apostle sets before us the example of God himself. Upon that bright example we shall spend most of our time, but I hope not quite so much as to forget the practical part, which is so much needed in these days by certain Unforgiving spirits who nevertheless assume the Christian name. The theme of God's forgiving love is so fascinating that we may linger awhile, and a long while …
Charles Haddon Spurgeon—Spurgeon's Sermons Volume 24: 1878

Grieving the Holy Spirit
I. The few words I have to say UPON THE LOVE OF THE SPIRIT will all be pressing forward to my great mark, stirring you up not to grieve the Spirit; for when we are persuaded that another loves us, we find at once a very potent reason why we should not grieve him. The love of the Spirit!--how shall I tell it forth? Surely it needs a songster to sing it, for love is only to be spoken of in words of song. The love of the Spirit!--let me tell you of his early love to us. He loved us without beginning. …
Charles Haddon Spurgeon—Spurgeon's Sermons Volume 5: 1859

The Prison-House.
(Seventeenth Sunday after Trinity.) EPHESIANS iv. 1. "The prisoner of the Lord." This is what Paul the aged called himself in writing to the Ephesians. He had appealed unto Caesar, and he was a captive at Rome. But he does not style himself Caesar's prisoner, but the prisoner of the Lord, whose he was, and whom he served. Let us think first of the place and manner of St. Paul's imprisonment. The place was Rome, the capital of the world. A city full of glorious memories of the past, and famous …
H. J. Wilmot-Buxton—The Life of Duty, a Year's Plain Sermons, v. 2

The Authority and Utility of the Scriptures
2 Tim. iii. 16.--"All scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness." We told you that there was nothing more necessary to know than what our end is, and what the way is that leads to that end. We see the most part of men walking at random,--running an uncertain race,--because they do not propose unto themselves a certain scope to aim at, and whither to direct their whole course. According to men's particular …
Hugh Binning—The Works of the Rev. Hugh Binning

Of the Creation 0F Man
Gen. i. 26, 27.--"And God said, Let us make man in our image, after our likeness, and let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over the cattle, and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creepeth upon the earth. So God created man in his own image, in the image of God created he him, male and female created he them."--With Eph. iv. 24.--"And that ye put on the new man, which after God is created in righteousness and true holiness."--And Heb. …
Hugh Binning—The Works of the Rev. Hugh Binning

The Central Sun
(Sunday after Ascension, Evening.) Ephesians iv. 9. 10. Now that he ascended, what is it but that he also descended first into the lower parts of the earth? He that descended is the same also that ascended up far above all heavens, that he might fill all things. This is one of those very deep texts which we are not meant to think about every day; only at such seasons as this, when we have to think of Christ ascending into heaven, that he might send down his Spirit at Whitsuntide. Of this the text …
Charles Kingsley—Town and Country Sermons

The Truth in Jesus.
But ye did not so learn Christ; if so be that ye heard him, and were taught in him, even as truth is in Jesus: that ye put away, as concerning your former manner of life, the old man, which waxeth corrupt after the lusts of deceit.' [Footnote: That is, 'which is still going to ruin through the love of the lie.']--Eph. iv. 20-22. How have we learned Christ? It ought to be a startling thought, that we may have learned him wrong. That must he far worse than not to have learned him at all: his place …
George MacDonald—Unspoken Sermons

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