The Twenty Fifth Sermon, Which is the Fifth Upon the Fourth Chapter - Ephesians 4:11-12.
The Twenty Fifth. Sermon,
Which is the Fifth Upon the Fourth Chapter.
11. And the very same hath given some apostles, and some prophets, and some evangelists, and some shepherds and teachers.
12. For the reparation of the saints, to the work of administration, and for the edifying of the body of Christ.
We have seen heretofore how our Lord Jesus Christ has not withdrawn His power far from us, though He is exalted above the heavens. There is a great distance between Him and us, in respect to the absence of His body out of the world, but yet we find Him always present by the power of His Holy Spirit, and by that means, He fills all things.
Now, Saint Paul shows that this manner of filling is to the intent that every faithful man should, with all lowliness, serve his own turn with the gifts and grace which it has pleased our Lord to bestow upon those whom He has set in His Church to govern it. And, on the other side, they that have received the larger measure should not advance themselves for all that, nor draw alone by themselves, but endeavor to do service to the common benefit, salvation, and welfare of all
God's children.
The sum, therefore, of what Saint Paul was minded to say is that Jesus Christ, having all riches in Him, has not dealt them out to every one of us equally, at least not so that we should all be thoroughly perfect (for He meant it not), but that He has distributed them by measure.
And indeed, the order which He has set in His Church shows it. For all are not prophets, all are not teachers, all are not evangelists. Then it follows that Christ intends to distribute His gifts by a certain measure. And upon this, we have to conclude that he who presumes of himself and imagines that he has all that is requisite, does foolishly deceive himself in two ways. For there is not any man who has received such perfection, but that he needs to profit still with his brethren. That is one point.
Again, he who is the most excellent of all others is most bound to do good with the things that God has committed to his charge, or to his trust as a patron. On the contrary part, the meaner and more ignorant sort must not envy those who go before them in learning and wisdom, because it is Jesus Christ's will to have it so, and so must it be, seeing He will have His Church governed by the means of men.
Now then, we see what the Apostle aimed at: namely, that we should allow ourselves to be filled with the spiritual gifts that belong to our salvation, and that none of us should refuse to be taught by the means of men. Let us not be like these fantastical persons who would have God send them some revelation from heaven, so that they might have no need of preaching or reading. Let us not be carried away with such foolish overweening, but let all of us, both great and small, submit ourselves soberly to the order that our Lord Jesus Christ has set.
That order is that those who have great skill and are well-versed in the Holy Scriptures and have the gift of teaching should strive to serve the whole Church as they are bound to do, for to that end, God has advanced them above others. And that the meaner sort and the ignorant be not envious because they see themselves not to have the
same portion, but consider that it is enough for them that God has not forgotten them, and that the dealing of His gracious gifts in that manner was for their profit and salvation. It was God's will that all things should be made common, and that every member of the body should have his part of them, so long as the order is always kept.
Now, Saint Paul, in saying that our Lord Jesus Christ gave apostles, prophets, evangelists, shepherds, and teachers, helps us to understand that the preaching of the Gospel and the gathering of people together to hear the Holy Scripture expounded is not a thing invented by men. Rather, God has so ordained it, and our Lord Jesus has set it down as a law, and we must keep it without breaking it.
For, in truth, were it not set down by the sovereign authority of the Son of God, men are so high-minded that many of them would shake off that yoke. "What have I to do," would every man say, "to be taught by my fellow? Seeing we have the Holy Scripture among us, ought we not to fetch from it whatever is fit for us to know? Why then should any one man be preferred before the rest of the company?" Thus, there would be a horrible disorder in the Church, so that no man would submit himself to be taught. No man would be a learner or have a master or teacher over him unless we were fully persuaded and resolved that this order was not devised by man but is a government set down for all the faithful by the Son of God, who will have them heard who have the charge of teaching, as men sent by Him, telling men that they despise Him, do Him wrong, and rebel against Him and His Father if they do not receive His doctrine with all humility. Whosoever will be taken for a Christian must also be a child of the Church.
And so you see, in effect, what we have to remember when Saint Paul attributes the having of prophets, teachers, and others to the person
of Jesus Christ.
Furthermore, to the intent that we should be more gentle and tractable, making no hesitation in receiving the doctrine that has been preached to us, and to be always learners in the school of our
Lord Jesus Christ, Saint Paul tells us also that when we have good and faithful teachers, and others who labor to show us the way of salvation, it is a sign that our Lord Jesus Christ has not left us nor forgotten us, but that He is present with us and watches for our salvation and welfare.
Therefore, let us not think that men can put themselves forth of their own head, for no one can speak one word to the glory of Jesus Christ except it is given to him from above and the Holy Ghost governs his tongue. Indeed, it is for this reason that it is said that the Holy Spirit is a wisdom that surpasses all human understanding, and that the natural man understands nothing of it, but that God must be the one to reveal things to us which are otherwise too high and hidden from us.
Now then, when we see the Holy Scripture truly expounded and rightly applied to our use, let us assure ourselves that God's Spirit gives us a record that He abides among us. Therefore, let us learn to receive so excellent a gift, assuring ourselves that it is the homage which our Lord Jesus demands at our hands.
That is also why the Gospel is called the kingdom of heaven (Matthew 4:17). For we reveal very clearly that we do not take God for our King, nor are willing to honor our Lord Jesus Christ when He is sent to us, if we do not allow ourselves to be governed by the means He commands and approves, which is the preaching of the Gospel.
We must yield such obedience to it as to receive its doctrine without gainsaying so that he who has the charge of teaching acquits himself faithfully, and the rest are not so high-minded as to say, "Tush, I can do without it," but instead receive willingly the things spoken to them and allow themselves to be taught, for fear that they should resist the Son of God. In this way, we may continue in them all the days of our lives, as shall be declared more at length again soon.
Now, besides this, Saint Paul, by mentioning the diversity of the offices which he sets down, further expresses how greatly our Lord
Jesus Christ has shown Himself to be concerned for the salvation of His own, in that He has left nothing lacking which was requisite and convenient to bring them to the heritage of salvation.
We must note here concerning these offices which Saint Paul mentions, that some of them served only for a time, such as the office of apostleship. For the apostles were not chosen to continue to the world's end but only to publish abroad the doctrine of the Gospel until it was received throughout the whole world (I mean in all kingdoms and countries), even though not everyone showed themselves obedient to it (Romans 1:5). There was a special reason why our Lord Jesus Christ ordained the twelve apostles (Luke 6:13), to whom Saint Paul was later joined to preach among the Gentiles; it was as an entry into the possession of His kingdom. But after the Gospel was once established in this manner, the office of apostleship ceased.
Yet, they had companions and helpers who were not of equal rank or commission with them, to spread the seed of the Gospel. These companions Saint Paul names evangelists or gospellers. According to this, in writing to Timothy, he says, "Do the work of an evangelist" (2
Timothy 4:5). These two offices, then, served only for that time.
Now, as touching the office of prophets: we do not have it so excellently nowadays as it was then, as men can see. For God has diminished His gifts because of the ingratitude of the world. Not that He does not show Himself as liberal as is necessary for our salvation, but because, however the world goes, we are unworthy to have His treasures poured out so abundantly as they were at the first rise of the Gospel. Therefore, He gives us but a small portion of them.
However, the prophets served to be, as it were, expositors of God's will and had a much higher understanding of the Scriptures than the common teachers, whose office was to instruct.
As for the shepherds of whom Saint Paul speaks, they are the ministers of the Word who have an ordinary charge to teach in some place. The same is to be said of the teachers, as we see by the example of the church of Antioch, in the thirteenth chapter of Acts
(Acts 13:1). It is true that none can be a shepherd unless he teaches, but the teachers have a separate charge by themselves: which is to expound the Scripture so that there may always be a good and sound understanding of it, and that it may serve its purpose in the Church, preventing heresies and false opinions, so that faith may remain steadfast and sure above all things.
Therefore, we see by the report of Saint Luke that the apostles were not tied to any specific place, nor did Jesus Christ ordain them to that end. "Preach the Gospel to all creatures," says He (Mark 16:15).
For this reason, according to the opportunities given to them and as gaps were opened to them for the preaching of the Gospel, they applied themselves accordingly and were not tied to any specific place. And why? Because their commission reached further.
You see, then, that the apostles were charged to go to and fro and had no resting place; that is to say, they did not have the charge of
any individual church committed to them, so that they might say, "Here will I remain." The same is to be said of the evangelists, for they traveled about the world too, except when they were called specifically to some place. In this way, Timothy had been chosen for a time; however, because he could not be spared from the office of an evangelist, he was forced to change his place, now one here, now another there. Titus was assigned to the Isle of Crete (Titus 1:5). It is true that he was not altogether settled there, but he was bound to that church, although he was moved to and fro according to the present opportunity and need.
Herein we see how those lewd folk who would pervert all order of government and seek nothing but confusion, despite God, saying that a man must not always stay in one place but follow the example of the apostles. But that is a flat mockery of Jesus Christ, as we see by this text. You see, then, how we must note that the apostles were like trumpets to proclaim the Gospel everywhere, and they had evangelists in like charge with them to accompany them. But in the meantime, there were also prophets who were more often found in one place than another, according to how it pleased God to distribute
His grace. Yet, nevertheless, there were prophets in every church, as we see that in the Epistle to the Corinthians (1 Corinthians 14:1-5), where Saint Paul strongly emphasizes that the gift of prophesying should be preferred before all other gifts because it is more profitable and serves more for the edifying of the Church.
Regarding the shepherds, we see how Saint Paul and his companion Barnabas ordained them everywhere (Acts 14:23), and also how he commands Titus and Timothy to ensure the churches are so provided that they might always have some shepherd to guide them; otherwise, there would be nothing but disorder. Now, since we see that the choice of ministers and shepherds was made by the
authority of Jesus Christ and that they had, as it were, their appointed places, such as saying, "You must look out here," as if a man were set in a bulwark or in some tower to keep it when it were in any danger, it becomes every man to keep his place and not to covet to wander here and there but to hold himself bound to the place where he is.
This, I say, is what we must observe when Saint Paul speaks of such a variety.
To be brief, let us learn that our Lord Jesus knew whatsoever was profitable for the welfare of His Church, and He showed it by having a care that the faithful might not lack anything, but that they might have sufficient and convenient means to draw them to the kingdom of heaven. Nowadays, we have no more the office of apostleship (as I told you before), nor do we have any ordinary evangelists. Yet, for all that, God nonetheless draws us to Him and gives us all the helps that are suitable for us.
Indeed, He chastises our unthankfulness, and because He sees His Word despised, He gives us things "with a wet finger," as they say, which we should have more fully if we had such zeal for them as were requisite. Yet, let us not think our state is worse because we have no apostles nowadays; for it were more than necessary. It was indeed necessary, considering the confusion and disorder of the papacy, that God should stir up men who were not chosen according to the order of the Church, but to whom He gave grace, and they served His purpose.
But now that there is order established both here and elsewhere where the Gospel is preached, we must return to the point previously mentioned—namely, that when God gives us such shepherds as labor to guide us faithfully, and furthermore, we have teachers who are
able to maintain the purity of the doctrine among us, to strengthen us in the pure truth of the Gospel, and to withstand all sects and errors, we must understand that such grace ought to be highly esteemed. We must not grudge against God.
Moreover, it is very certain that if the Gospel were received with such reverence and earnestness as it deserves, God would also be more bountiful on His side. Whereas now we see so few good preachers, and that there steps up a sort of dirt-daubers worse than naught, and far more lewd than the monks in the papacy, who are as ready to preach Muhammad's Quran as Christ's Gospel, so long as they may keep their livings, and when, besides these, we also see a sort of drunkards who have no more zeal than swine, but are like mastiffs that do not bark, never opening their lips but to confound light and darkness together so that all things might be put out of order, let us understand that God is executing just vengeance upon the despising of His Gospel.
For let us see for a moment what humility and submission men yield to God, despite hearing the sound of this doctrine and seeing the setting up of the scepter of His Gospel to show that He is minded to reign over us. We see that most men could find it in their hearts to have no religion at all. Again, those who make the fairest countenance would still very much like the Gospel to remain just a covering of ceremonies. And however the world goes, they are loath to bear any yoke; they cannot abide being rebuked for their vices but would have a beastly licentiousness. Provided they might do what they wish, they would be content for the Gospel to be preached, as if they would grant it to Jesus Christ by composition and covenant. But in the meantime, all is but hypocrisy, and they cannot so conceal their counterfeit behavior that the world does not well see that they are as shameless as harlots.
For doubtless, a man shall find more religion and fear of God in the papacy than among those who are in the places where the Gospel is preached. But the greatest mischief is that a sort of these wicked persons step up into the chair of truth, of whom some are drunkards, some whoremongers, and some blasphemers; to be brief, there is such wickedness among them as is horrible to see. Since we know this, let us cast down our eyes and condemn the unthankfulness and rebelliousness that is in us as the cause of all the disorder that we see. However the world may be with us, yet if our Lord is still so beneficent to us as to have His doctrine preached to us, therein we have a sure and infallible token that He is near at hand with us, and that He seeks our salvation by calling us unto Him, as though He spoke with an open mouth and we saw Him personally before us.
Then, we cannot fail or be deceived in assuring ourselves that Jesus Christ calls us to Him, and that He holds out His arms open to receive us as often as the Gospel is preached to us. And we need not seek revelations from heaven, nor wander abroad; for seeing that the Word is in our heart and mouth, what more would we want? "Who shall ascend into heaven?" (Romans 10:6) or "Who shall descend into the deep?" (Romans 10:7). Let us assure ourselves that God offers Himself to us in the person of His only Son when He sends us preachers and teachers.
And herewithal, let us still have an eye to that which I said before: that those to whom God gives most of His grace must consider that, by that means, they are the more bound to employ themselves in the place our Lord has assigned to them, and where it is His pleasure to use them. He, then, who has knowledge must not exalt himself for it but consider that he is a benefit to the whole body, and (thereupon) examine well how he may serve to the glory of God with the things that He has put him in trust with and make the gift which he has
received profitable, assuring himself that the use thereof is common to all men. Though God has committed it to his custody and will have him to be the keeper of it, yet must he not hold it as a treasure locked up in a chest, but impart it abroad to those who want it and have need of it.
Moreover, let us keep ourselves from envying those whom it is God's will to honor in that manner, so that there is no spitefulness in us to say, "Why, is it fitting that such a one should be preferred before me?" For in so doing, we spite God. Therefore, let each of us know his own state and degree and not stand in contention with our God, assuring ourselves that the things He has ordained in His Church are done by an irrevocable judgment. Wherefore, let us abhor those madbrains who would take away the order we see to be grounded upon the authority of the Son of God.
There are those who think the preaching of the Gospel is a needless thing, that it serves only for little children, and that they themselves have the Holy Ghost at their command to reveal things to them from heaven every minute of an hour. But it is certain that the devil blinds them in that overweening, and men know that he has won the goal if the means of our salvation were abolished and taken away. For as St.
Paul says, the preaching of the Gospel must serve to make the Church perfect, that we may be brought to the kingdom of heaven
(Ephesians 4:12). Conversely, when there is no more doctrine or shepherd, the devil must needs so overmaster us that we shall be scattered asunder, and nothing shall remain but ruin and destruction.
Seeing, then, that this order is not of men, let us learn to submit ourselves to it, and let all of us, both great and small, without gainsaying, suffer God to guide us by that means, seeing it has
pleased Him to appoint it. Also, we see how God's children are called the children of the Church. And St. Paul shows that our Lord Jesus will reign over us, with the condition that His Word is always in men's mouths (Colossians 3:16). He does not say that the angels will come to reveal to us the things that God would have us know, but that we must understand God's will by the means of those who have the charge and office to tell it to us.
For just as in the time of the Law, it was said that the priests were God's angels, and men ought to inquire at their mouth (Malachi 2:7), so now also, God will not have us flitter in the air after our fancies, but go to the fountain that is open for us when we wish to drink. If a man would seek the head and wellspring of a fountain (meaning as it is hidden in the earth) and would scorn to drink until he had found it, would not men take him for stark mad and beside himself? Yes, they would. But behold, God has provided for our infirmity in that He will not have us take too long windings to be taught His Word faithfully. For He makes the wellspring come home to us, which was hidden and far from us; He makes it come home to us as it were by conduits, so that we need do no more than open our mouths to receive it.
Just as when there are fine conduits that run with continual water abundantly, men will come to draw from them for their needs, so it was our Lord's will that His Word should be set forth to us by His ordaining of men to be the instruments of His Holy Spirit. Then, seeing it is so, let us learn to hold to it; and if we will be taught of God, let us receive the doctrine that is preached to us by the mouths of men. This, I say, is what we must remember upon this text so that we are not so foolish as to say, "Why has God not given me such grace or gift? Why is it His will to use such means?" Let us be content with this, namely, that His ordinance ought to suffice us, and if we
must fall to reasoning the matter, we shall ever be put to shame because there is no wisdom but only His good will.
Also, let us mark what is said immediately in this text: that it is God's will that there should be an order of ministry or service. As if it were said, God could well bring us to perfection by Himself, without any other means or help. However, forasmuch as He will be served by men, and He applies them to such use, making them ministers so that men perceive that the praise of our salvation is always due to Him, and that all goodness comes from Him, it behooves men to submit themselves to it.
But here it might seem strange why St. Paul, instead of speaking of the gifts of the Holy Ghost, brings us to offices. For he began with this matter, namely, that our Lord Jesus Christ gave gifts according to the measure which He knows to be fit for us and in diverse manners, by means whereof He fills all things. Now, to confirm this, he says that there are apostles, shepherds, teachers, and evangelists.
It might seem that St. Paul does not well continue the process of the matter he treated. But here we must note (as we see also more largely in the First Epistle to the Corinthians) that forasmuch as our Lord
Jesus has established the order we have spoken of already, and continues it still in His Church, so that it is His will that there should be shepherds, prophets, and teachers, He also furnishes them out of hand with the things that are requisite for the execution of their office.
For He does not deal in the manner of men. We, for our part, may choose one man to be in the office of magistrate and another to be a preacher, but in the meantime, we cannot give them what is requisite for them, for we cannot make a new man of him who is advanced to honor; he must remain the same that he was for all of us. Also, when
it comes to the election, every man gives his voice. Very well, he who is chosen shall be officer, but in the meantime, he shall remain still the same he was before. The same case is with shepherds. We may well choose a man, and he shall perhaps prove a beast, for we cannot cause him to be qualified as he ought to be.
But when men are of God's own choosing, so that He bears the whole sway, then the gifts are joined inseparably with their charge. When our Lord Jesus chose His apostles, He chose silly fishermen and such as were unlearned, yet He used them for publishing His Gospel—not to teach as yet, but to go abroad as His heralds to give warning that the King was come. But when He intended to send them forth to their office, He sent them the Holy Ghost (John 20:22), showing thereby (as is said in many other texts) that all things requisite for the welfare of the Church must come of His free gift, because it is well known that all things proceed from Him to the end that all praise should be given unto Him.
Then it is no marvel that St. Paul, speaking here of the diversity of gifts and of the measure it has pleased God to deal with every man, sends us purposely to the offices. As if he should say, "It is not without cause that God does not distribute His gifts alike to all, for He will not have all men be shepherds, prophets, teachers, apostles, or evangelists. He calls whom He thinks good and thereby tries our humility. Therefore, if we are willing to be subject to Him, let us not hesitate to accept all authority in good worth, which is grounded in Him and upon His ordinance."
Now, it is so: God leaves many men alone in a private state and, in the meantime, chooses whom He thinks good to preach His Word.
Therefore, men must hold themselves there.
Furthermore, let us mark that if men proceed to their elections with the fear of God and seek to obey Him, surely He also will show by effect that those whom He has called to teach, and to whom the charge of ruling the flock is committed, shall not be destitute of His power, but that He will furnish them with all things requisite, as experience shows well enough. It is witnessed to us that if we meet together in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ—so it be truly and unfeignedly—He will be in the midst of us (Matthew 18:20). Thus you see what we have to bear in mind.
Yet, notwithstanding, we see that the papacy has so contrived men and framed them to their own lure, that they have utterly departed from the order of our Lord Jesus Christ and from the manner of governing the Church, which was known to the Apostles.
Let us look back again to the matter that Saint Paul treats of here.
His meaning is to bring us to the unity mentioned before. Therefore, he will have us to be of one accord, to link together like brethren, and to shoot all at one mark, as having but one head which knits us all together so that there is neither envy, nor ill will, nor sects, nor anything else that may divide us. Now, to bring us hereunto, he says that there is but one God, and one Lord, to whom all sovereignty is given (Ephesians 4:5-6), and that there is but one baptism, and one faith, and that we are all called to one inheritance. After saying this, he adds that Jesus Christ, for the better ratifying of that unity, would have one man alone teach the rest, and that the company should give ear to him. Furthermore, he would have all of us—both he who speaks and those who hear him—have one and the same faith.
For as much, then, as all of us cannot be apostles, teachers, and prophets, He has chosen some of us to be in that state and office so that we might be brought to the said unity, and Jesus Christ be
acknowledged as our head, and all of us be gathered together under Him. This is how St. Paul speaks of it.
But now, if there had been any chief authority or supremacy, so that it had been God's mind to have assigned a seat in this world, the bishop of which should have had superiority over all the Church, and his commission have reached so far that his sovereignty must have taken place everywhere—surely, Saint Paul would not have forgotten it, or else if he had, it would have been a very grievous fault. Did he speak by the Holy Ghost, and yet leave out the principal and most necessary point of his matter? No, and therefore, if there were no more but this text alone, it would be enough to confound the shamelessness of the Papists when they say there must needs be an under-head in this world, and that because Jesus Christ is gone out of this world, He must needs have a vicar.
But it is certain that Saint Paul meant to show the thing which we have seen in other texts: which is that Saint Peter's apostleship extended not unto us. For he was appointed peculiarly to the Jews
(Galatians 2:7-8), as is declared in the Second to the Galatians. But however the case stands, we see here the continual order we must keep and to which we must hold, if we intend to be subject to our
Lord Jesus Christ. And that is not to have a Pope, but that every church should have its shepherds and teachers, according to their need, according to the number of the people, and according to what the place requires. When we are so knit into one body of a church, we may have a lawful government, which it is impossible for us to do without by reason of our rawness and the weakness of our faith. In respect thereof, it is necessary for us to have the remedy which our
Lord Jesus Christ has given us, that men may hold themselves to His saying and authority.
That is, in effect, what we have to mark upon this point.
Again, Saint Paul proceeds to show us the inestimable benefit we have by such order and the fruit that we reap from it. For (as I have touched upon before) men are so high-minded that every one would be a lord. Therefore, there is nothing better than to know that God works for our welfare by ordaining this order of government, namely, that there should be shepherds to teach us. For it is like fighting against our own salvation when we play the stubborn fools and do not like the thing that God has ordained for our supreme welfare.
Truly, if there were no more than this, namely, that God has so willed, woe to him who dares check against the majesty of his Maker.
Yet, notwithstanding, the world sees our naughtiness, and although we grant it to be good reason that we should obey God, we still cannot find it in our hearts to do it willingly and with a free heart unless we see immediately before our eyes that it is for our profit to do so and that God's intent was not only to humble us under Him, but also to advance us thereby by willing this order to be kept. And so, you see what Saint Paul aims at here. For it is not enough for us to reverence the thing that God commands or to tremble at it, only to do it half-heartedly and half-willingly. Rather, we must go to it with an earnest desire. And how may that be done? By knowing that it is for our profit.
Now, since we know it is so, and especially that it pertains to our salvation, we ought to apply all our wits to it. Otherwise, our unthankfulness will be less tolerable when we thrust away the thing that God offers us—not so much for any respect of Himself, but for our own profit. That, then, is the thing which Saint Paul intended in saying that the preaching of the Gospel and the appointing of men
expressly to that purpose is to link us together, so that there might be no dissension among us (Ephesians 4:11-12).
On the contrary, Saint Paul also declares that all fanatical persons who reject common order and would be so spiritual as if they were lifted above the clouds are separated from the body of the Church and, with that, renounce God. Therefore, they ought to be abhorred and shunned as deadly plagues because they set dissension in the Church. For even if we are most desirous of unity, all that we can do will be in vain if we do not hold to the thing that Saint Paul speaks of here, which is to say that our Lord Jesus intended to knit the knot fast and sure in His own body.
Therefore, if any man says he will withdraw himself from the obedience of the Church, it is all one as if he would cut asunder the sinews of a body. I may pretend, perhaps, to love some body, and yet nevertheless cut asunder the sinews of it everywhere, so that the whole body, being disjointed and dismembered, falls into a swoon and finally rots away. Even so stands the case with us. For we should link together, and God has provided very well for it. How? By giving us prophets, teachers, shepherds, and evangelists. Now, if we reject them, what else is to be said but that we are minded to break apart all the unity that our Lord appointed to be among us?
To be short, Saint Paul shows here that all such as do not submit themselves to the doctrine of the Gospel and yield reverence to the minister thereof are deadly enemies of God's people and seekers of their own confusion. Therefore, men ought to shun them as wolves, for they are utterly intolerable inasmuch as they procure the overthrow of the Church, despise God in the things that were well ordered, and forsake the perfection of all good things.
To be brief, Saint Paul adds immediately after that it is for the edifying (or building up) of the body of Christ (Ephesians 4:12). This also serves to make those who will not yield themselves to this spiritual government that our Lord Jesus has approved of more abhorred. For the body of our Lord Jesus ought to be precious to us.
Indeed, it would have been enough if he had said, "the Church." But by using this honorable title, Saint Paul shows us that it is a heinous treason for us to seek to rend the body of our Lord Jesus Christ into pieces. Now, it is so that it cannot be built up—that is to say, it cannot be brought to perfection nor continue in good state—but by means of the preaching of God's Word.
So then, if we are willing that God should be honored and served, and that our Lord should quietly have His royal seat among us to reign in the midst of us, if we are willing to be His people and to live under His protection, if we desire to be built up in Him and to be joined unto Him, and to continue in Him to the end—if, to be short, we desire our salvation, we must learn to be humble learners in receiving the doctrine of the Gospel and in hearkening to the shepherds who are sent to us as if Jesus Christ spoke to us Himself in His own person, assuring ourselves that He will approve of the obedience and submission of our faith when we listen to the mortal men to whom He gives that charge.
Therefore, let us show the desire that we have for God to be honored, and also the desire and care that we have for our own salvation and the common welfare and edifying of the Church, which will then come to pass when all of us, both great and small, give our consent that Jesus Christ shall have His instruments to speak to us and draw us to Himself. If we observe this order, He will so bless us thereby that we shall have cause to glorify Him, for we shall see how it has always been His will to procure the salvation of our souls and that He