Now to the exposition of God's holy word and congregation. Let's take our Bibles out together and let's turn back to Ephesians. Ephesians chapter four, as we continue in our exposition of God's word looking today. And I want to read again, verse 11, reading down through verse 13. We see here these gifting of gifts and this maturity that results. Paul writes in Ephesians 4 in verse 11, and he gave apostles and prophets and evangelists and the shepherds and teachers to equip the saints for the work of ministry for building up the body of Christ until we all attain to the unity of the faith and the knowledge of the Son of God to mature manhood to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ. Let's now join together in prayer. Our gracious Heavenly Father, we bow before you as we come before your Word. And Father, as we come to your Word today, we pray that you would grant to us eyes to see and ears to hear. Those who are not in Christ today, we pray that in accordance with your mercy, your grace, your sovereign pleasure, you would draw them to your son, that they would accept Christ as their savior, and that they would be given those eyes and ears to see and hear and believe and trust in him and in your word. Father, may we as your people be found ready and eager and humble to receive your word, the word of truth, which is inerrant and infallible, the word that never changes, the word that is all sufficient, the word that calls us to live in accordance with what you have revealed to us. Father, we pray that you would bless your people, strengthen your church, and extend your kingdom. And we pray this all in Christ's holy name, amen. As you'll recall, last time we looked at verses 11 and 12, and we considered there this statement about the distribution and the design of spiritual gifts. We noted in verse 11 those distribution of gifts, those offices which are grace gifts to the church. There are four different offices we identified in verse 11. First of all, there is the apostles. The apostles were marked by that direct commissioning by the Lord Jesus Christ. They were eyewitnesses to the risen Christ, and they had a special gifting from Christ. They were able to perform those supernatural miracles, signs, and wonders which authenticated their very identity. This, we said, was a first century office. We do not have apostles anymore. Secondly, we noted in verse 11, the office of prophets. Prophets were those who were gifted with the supernatural revelation of God's Word and then the communication or declaration of that word. The idea of prophecy here is that what they received was on par with Holy Scripture. that it was supernatural, direct, and divine revelation. Not merely an impression or an intuition, but direct revelation. That, of course, also has ceased in the first century. Thirdly, we noted the office of evangelists. And we pointed out that there are differences of opinion as to exactly what this office is. We said that some have taken this to refer to modern day missionaries and others and many within the reform tradition have held that they were kind of an apostolic assistant. That is, they went alongside the apostles. They had that gifting commensurate with the apostles, and they worked alongside them and helped in that first century proclamation of the Word of God. This, again, if you understand it in that capacity, would be an office that was connected with the apostles, so no longer present in the church age. Fourth, we talked about pastor and teachers, the continuing office. We said in verse 11, those two words, shepherds and teachers, It should be understood as a single office. It's not that you have the office of the church of shepherds and then another office of teachers. No, this is pastor-teachers. And we noted that there are only two offices in the New Testament church. You have pastors and you have deacons, and the qualifications and the functions of those two offices are clearly expressed in the New Testament. Pastor-teachers are to do what? They are to lead. They are to give leadership in the church. They are to watch and they are to warn and admonish the flock against false teachers and false teaching. They are to feed the flock the Word of God, the exposition of God's Word. That is their function. You'll notice in verse 12 we said that the design of this there is this purpose, is for the preparation of God's people to do the work of the ministry. He says in verse 12, to equip the saints, that is these offices of verse 11, are to equip the saints for the work of ministry, resulting in the building up that is the edifying of the body of Christ. So we said last time that it is not that the ministers do all of the ministering, that is the pastors or the deacons, but that we all, as God's new covenant priesthood, are called to do the work of the ministry. And it is the office of pastor and teachers to equip us so that we're prepared and equipped to do so. So basically you have in verse 11 the men, then you have the ministry, that ministry of equipping, ministering, edifying. And then notice in verse 13, and this is where we want to focus today, the motivation, the ultimate goal of maturity. So we notice in verse 13, until we all attain to the unity of the faith, and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to mature manhood, to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ." I briefly read this verse last week, but we really didn't look at it in detail, so let's go back today and let's look in verse 13 specifically, because this is the motivation for the ministry. This is the ultimate goal of that equipping ministry so that God's people are thoroughly furnished for every good work. We see here that it is, verse 13, until we attain. The idea there of the word until, it indicates a specific point in the future. That need of mutual ministry, stated in verse 12, is a continuing need until this goal is reached. It isn't that we come to a place where we no longer need this ministry unto each other, unto maturity. No, it is something that must continue until a certain time. until there is this maturity found among God's people. And notice in verse 13 how he identifies the universal need for this among all of God's people. He says, until we all attain, that is, all of God's people, all of the redeemed, all believers in Jesus Christ are on that path of ministry that leads ultimately to maturity in the body. Now interestingly, he uses this word in verse 13, attain. The King James translates this as come in. I'm not sure if you have a different translation what word is used there for attain. Katentao is the word. It means to arrive at or to attain unto something. It was a Greek word that was used in the New Testament, and we see it often in the travel narratives, where it talks about Jesus traveling, or the apostles traveling in the book of Acts. And then when they got to their destination, they arrived at that location. They attained, or they arrived at that place. They came to that place. Paul uses it even eschologically in Philippians 3 and verse 11, speaking of the resurrection. He says that, by any means possible, I may attain the resurrection from the dead. Here, the idea is arriving to a particular state. It isn't a literal location, but it is a place of full maturation to that unity, maturity, and conformity that we are called to as God's people. So let's look specifically at what it is that we are to attain to. He says we are to attain to the unity, and then he says two phrases. Notice both of them. The unity of the faith. Secondly, the unity of the knowledge of the Son of God. And that word unity actually goes to both of those phrases in the syntax of the Greek grammar. Unity of the faith and unity of the knowledge of the Son of God. Here again, Paul speaks of this idea of unity. Look back in verse 3 of this chapter. We've already dealt with the topic of unity. And in verse 3, we recall he says, eager to maintain the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace. So here he invokes that idea of unity again. but it is in the context of this growing to this place of attaining full maturity in the body. And certainly unity is the byproduct of maturity among God's people. Notice, if you will, this unity is of the faith, and it's a definite article in the Greek New Testament. It is not subjective belief that he is referring to, but to the objective content of what is believed, a unity in faith. The faith, that is, our beliefs as God's people. Listen to what John MacArthur says in his commentary, and I'll just quote him. He says, quote, the ultimate spiritual target for the church begins with the unity of the faith. Faith does not here refer to the act of belief or obedience, but to the body of Christian truth, to Christian doctrine. The faith is the content of the gospel in its most complete form. As the church at Corinth so clearly illustrates, disunity in the church comes from doctrinal ignorance and spiritual immaturity. When believers are properly taught, when they faithfully do the work of service, that is the work of ministry, and when the body is thereby built up in spiritual maturity, unity of the faith is the inevitable result. Oneness in fellowship is impossible unless it is built on the foundation of commonly believed truth. The solution to the divisions in Corinth was for everyone to hold the same understandings and opinions and to speak the same truths. Now, you'll recall we looked at that already when we looked at the topic of unity, but I'm going to ask you to turn back And look with me again in 1 Corinthians 1, because this is how Paul introduces this idea of unity. And again, we're not going to spend much time here, but just note with me, please, in 1 Corinthians 1, in verse 10, This unity. Now, of course, we know the context here. We talked about it several weeks ago. The church at Corinth was divided. It was very immature. It was infantile. People were kind of siding up to different ministers and saying, well, we're following this one. We like this one better. He's the one we like. And it was that kind of factional issue that was a real issue in the church. And so Paul says in verse 10, as he begins this topic of their disunity, of their factionalism, and he says, I appeal to you, brothers, by the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that all of you agree and that there be no divisions among you. but that you be united in the same mind and the same judgment." Notice here, he says, verse 10, they're all to agree. Then he says, this issue of being united is to be of the same mind. What a strong statement. And having the same Judgment. This is the essence of unity, spiritually speaking. And this is that unity that is fostered, having the same mind, agreeing, must have at its foundation agreement in doctrinal truth. That is the foundation from which our unity arises. A church that does not have a unified doctrinal position is a church where you will have much confusion and potential division. This is the reason why we hold to a specific statement of faith, the 1689 London Baptist Confession, because it is a very exhaustive and definitive statement of our beliefs. Now, we believe that our confession arises directly from the Scriptures. We do not hold our confession above the Bible. Amen? We believe that the Bible is our ultimate authority. But congregation, you can have a lot of people who say they believe the Bible and come up with all different kinds of theology. You think about the Mormons and the Jehovah's Witnesses and other cults and false teaching who claim that they believe the Bible. Well, we're just following the Bible. And yet they have false teaching and often even a false gospel. And yet they claim to believe the Bible. We hold to the 1689 Confession because it is in terms of Baptist history, the most definitive, the most exhaustive, the most carefully worded document of a statement of faith in all of Baptist history. And we believe it even more so than that is a helpful, useful, and faithful representative of the teachings of Holy Scripture. Yes, there are areas our confession does not address. It is a summary of biblical teaching. This is where unity is found. It is in our beliefs. There are many churches that have kind of homemade statements of faith. They don't even hold the historic statements of faith. Many Baptist churches, and they have like, you know, 12 bullet points. We believe in Jesus and God. And there could be anything believed among God's people in that kind of a situation. Our church is very definitive for the sake of having the same mind, of agreeing, of having this spirit here, of a unity in our understanding of Christianity. We read in Amos 3 and verse 3, Can two walk together unless they are agreed? And that is famously a verse that is quoted when you talk about unity among brothers. The idea of walking together is being on the same path and the idea of having the same goal or the same destination in mind. If you're not on the same path, if some are going in one direction and some want to go in another direction, well, you're not shooting for the same destination, are you? And that calls disunity within the body. People who have differences of their expectation, belief, and their goals that they want to fulfill. Look with me, if you will, over in 2 Timothy, again talking about this issue of a unity of the faith, not just faith, personal faith, but unity related to doctrinal truth. Timothy chapter 1, and let me just pick up reading in verse 8. Here, Paul is admonishing Timothy. He says, you need to guard and protect the faith. Verse 8, therefore, do not be ashamed of the testimony about our Lord, nor of me, his prisoner, but share in suffering for the gospel by the power of God, who saved us and called us to a holy calling. not because of our works, but because of his own purpose and grace, which he gave us in Christ Jesus before the ages began, and which now has been manifested through the appearing of our Savior Jesus Christ, who abolished death and brought life and immortality to light through the gospel, for which I was appointed a preacher and apostle and teacher, which is why I suffer as I do. But I am not ashamed, for I know whom I have believed, and I am convinced that He is able to guard until that day what has been entrusted to me." And then notice verses 13 and 14, His instructions specifically about guarding, protecting, upholding the faith. He says, follow the pattern of sound words that you have heard from me in the faith and love that are in Christ Jesus. By the Holy Spirit who dwells within us, guard the good deposit entrusted to you. In verse 13, he says that he is to hold to and follow after that pattern of sound words. The word there, sound, could be translated as healthy words. It's referring to doctrine, doctrinal truth. It is to be sound doctrine, healthy doctrine, scriptural doctrine. That's what you are to follow. And verse 14, that is what you are to protect and you are to guard against all who would come against it and try to undermine it or question it or try to lead people astray from it. You're to be committed to guarding it and protecting it and following it. Look with me, if you will, over in Jude, Jude 3. And we studied the book of Job last year, and we noted in verse 3 that statement that is given here, this strong statement related to this guarding of the faith. Jude, and verse 3, Beloved, although I was very eager to write to you about our common salvation, I found it necessary to write appealing to you to contend for the faith that was once for all delivered to the saints. He says in verse 3 that initially he would like to have spoke to them about more practical matters related to their faith and their salvation. Those things they hold in common practically speaking. But he says, in the present situation, with false teachers arising, it is necessary for me to remind you of something. And what I am reminding you of is that you are to contend for the faith which was once for all delivered unto the saints. Notice again, it is the definite article, contend for THE faith. Not contend for faith, that is contend that people get saved, but contend for THE faith. Speaking of Christian faith in all of its doctrinal truth. It is a faith, notice in verse 3, that has been once for all delivered unto the saints. The Christian faith, that body of doctrine that we hold to, it is not invented by the church, it is entrusted to the church. We have a sacred responsibility not to recreate or refashion or update or refresh the faith, but to be entrusted with upholding the faith. It is not developing, it is not changing, it is not Evolving. That's why whatever the Bible says, on whatever topic it speaks to, it is absolute authoritative. Amen? Now, no one in modern culture may agree on what the Bible says on certain topics. That's irrelevant. Because the Word of God is the truth. Amen? And let God be true, and every man a liar, the Scripture says. We may even ourselves wrestle with some of the teaching of Scripture. But even in our wrestling with it, we are to nevertheless bow before it and accept it as the inerrant, infallible, never-changing Word of Almighty God. So now, turning back to Ephesians chapter 4, He says that this idea of maturity is attaining to the faith. And that is the bottom-level foundational reality of having maturity among God's people. And of course, the church at Corinth is our example, which we just briefly alluded to. Notice in verse 13 the second phrase that he uses. It is not only a unity of the faith, but a unity of the knowledge of the Son of God. The word there, knowledge, is the word epigonosis, and it has to do with full knowledge, knowledge that is accurate, knowledge that is correct, knowledge that is full-orbed and comprehensive. Now here you have a contrast. First he says we are to have unity in the faith, and I said that's not talking about in faith, believing, subjective faith, but in objective truth, that is, the faith. Now, he says, secondly, we are to have this unity of knowledge of the Son of God. And this knowledge of the Son of God is not referring to salvation knowledge, but of that personal, practical, experimental knowledge that we have as we walk with the Lord. So you see here how this is a full-orbed concept of unity. Unity of the faith and unity in our deep knowledge of Jesus Christ, the Son of God. Notice, if you will, turning back in Ephesians to chapter 1, this is what Paul spoke of that he prayed for them to have. This knowledge. Verse 15 of chapter 1, he says, For this reason, because I have heard of your faith in the Lord Jesus and your love toward all the saints, I do not cease to give thanks for you, remembering you in my prayers, that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give you the spirit of wisdom and of revelation in the knowledge of Him. having the eyes of your hearts enlightened, that you may know what is the hope to which He has called you, what are the riches of His glorious inheritance in the saints. Notice in verse 15, he says, I've already heard of your faith. That is, you have faith in Jesus Christ. And I am praying that you would have, verse 17 and 18, more knowledge of Him. More understanding of Him. That deep experimental knowledge that comes as a result of a relationship with the Lord Jesus Christ. In fact, this very reality is the reality. Paul says, this is the very motive of my ministry. That God's people would have this growing maturity. Look with me over in Philippians. Turn to Philippians. And notice that in chapter 3 of Philippians, Paul speaks of this reality. We're very familiar with the statements of the Apostle Paul as it relates to this striving he had in his Christian life. He says that, I press on for the gold, the prize of the upward call of Christ. And he says, notice in verse 8 through 10, he says, this is my personal pursuit, this deeper knowledge of the Lord Jesus. He says, indeed I count everything as loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. For my sake I have suffered the loss of all things, and count them as rubbish, in order that I may gain Christ, and be found in Him, not having a righteousness of my own that comes from the law, but that which comes through faith in Christ, the righteousness from God that depends on faith." that I may know Him and the power of His resurrection and may share His sufferings, becoming like Him in His death." Now, Paul, of course, says when he thinks about his former life and all the things that he previously had, and he surveyed that, he was a Jew of the Jews. He was a Pharisee of the Pharisees. He says, I've counted all of that loss. in what I am striving for, in what I desire, in what I long to have more and more, and increasingly, verse 10, is to know Him. Paul already knew the Lord Jesus. He was converted on the road to Damascus. He was commissioned as an apostle, and yet he says, I want to know Him more. I want to know Him more intimately and deeply and in my personal experience. And everything else is nothing to me. That's what I long for, is to know Him more. Congregation, is that your heart desire today? Is it your desire to not just have a knowledge of the truth, that abstract, objective truth of our doctrine, but to know Christ? personally, practically, experimentally, in a deep, real, growing, living reality. That's what Paul says I desire. That's what I'm striving towards. That's what I want to have more and more, increasingly. We do not add to the faith. That's once for all delivered to the saints. But we are to be increasing always in our knowledge of Christ, the one who is the object of our faith. Notice now, turning back to Ephesians 4, how he describes this deep knowledge specifically. He says that I may have this unity of the knowledge of the Son of God. The knowledge of the Son of God. Do you realize, congregation, this is the only place in all of the book of Ephesians where Jesus is called the Son of God. The phrase there, Son of God, has messianic connotations. It points back to the Old Testament. And back to 2 Samuel chapter 7, and the Davidic covenant, and the reality that Jesus is the Son of God, Son of David, who will enjoy and is enjoying that special honor and place associated with that rule of God through His Son. He is that Son that we read of in Psalm 2. Kiss the Son. He is the Son of God. It has messianic significance. It has significance in terms of the Gentile world because emperors in that day would often be called the Sons of God. So this even had a political connotation in the Greek world. And here we see that Paul is speaking of this knowledge. This knowledge that is growing, that is deepening, that is our goal in knowing evermore the Lord Jesus. And he uses this term, Son of God. He uses the term Son 17 times, Paul does, in his writings. But he only uses the full title, Son of God, four different times. It is found in Romans 1, verse 3, 2 Corinthians 1, verse 19, and in Galatians 3, 20. What is the significance of saying that Jesus Christ is the Son of God? And we've already said it has messianic connotations. But it has even more still importance in terms of Christ's identity. That's at the essence of its understanding. Let me quote to you again from Dr. Joel Beakey. I often quote from him. He's a fine, fine theologian. And in fact, very trusted. Although he's not a Baptist, we would agree on many, many things. And he has a systematic theology I would recommend, and he is solid almost always on many points. He says this about this idea of Son of God. He says, the title Son of God both reveals Christ's deity and underscores his unique personality in distinction from the Father. While Son implies, in some sense, He is of the Father, it also implies that He has the same nature as the Father, sharing the divine glory. The Father shares with the Son one divine activity, knowledge, power, life, and will. Christ is the Son not merely in His temporal mission, but as to the eternal identity of his person. He was not adopted at his baptism, but was already God's Son before he was sent into the world." So, congregation, whenever we think about this title, the Son of God, Yes, it speaks of that messianic reality and place. But it speaks a word as to Christ's deity. To be the Son of God means that He has this very unique relationship. The only begotten Son of the Father. For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son. And it speaks of His deity. It is a title of deity and a title of that connection, of that relation with our Heavenly Father. Paul is saying here it is the duty of pastors and teachers to equip the saints, enabling them to do the work of the ministry, so that in doing that work of the ministry, they attain to the unity of the faith, that is, Christian truth, and the unity of this knowledge of the Son of God, this deep, growing knowledge of Jesus Christ. Now, look at verse 13 again and notice a second element that is stated concerning this ultimate goal of the ministry. And it is, number two, not only unity in Christ, but obviously maturity in Christ. He says, verse 13, until we all attain to the unity of the faith and the knowledge of the Son of God, to mature manhood, mature manhood. The word there mature is the word teleos, and it is the idea of being full grown. It's the idea of being complete or perfect. I think that's how the King James renders the term. It's the idea of complete, full grown maturity. The next word there is the word manhood. Interesting, this choice of words. It is the Greek word aner, or aner. It is a specific word in the Greek New Testament. It speaks of adult male persons. The age and the gender is specific here. And that's why the ESV translates it not as mature personhood, but mature manhood. The word anthropos is another word, of course, for man, and that's a more generic word. Paul doesn't use that word. He uses the word mature manhood. Not just a male, but a mature male, an adult male. You say, what is the significance in all of this? Well, I think that we wouldn't press this too hard, but I believe the essence of it is that he is going to be drawing a contrast with what we're going to see down in verse 14. And we're not there yet, but look in verse 14. In verse 14, he says, 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 and deceitful schemes. So I think the contrast between mature manhood is, in verse 14, being a child. The word there for child, we'll look at this more in detail later, but it has the idea of being an infant. That's the concept. So there is this very broad, extreme chasm from an infant to a mature man. And that is the wording that the Apostle Paul uses. Listen to what Charles Hodge says. He says, perfection is the end, perfect manhood. When used of a man, it means an adult, one who has reached the end of his development as a man. When applied to a Christian, it means one who has reached the end of his development as a Christian. And the church is perfect when it has reached the end of its development and stands complete in glory. The standard of perfection for the church is complete conformity to Christ. So that's the idea being conveyed. There is this maturity not adolescence, not teenage years and awkwardness that comes with that, but of mature manhood, which is in this contrast with being an infant in verse 14. Finally, notice if you will, in verse 13, we have a third element, and these things all go together. They all speak to this idea of maturity. You have this unity in Christ, maturity in Christ, and then finally conformity to Christ. He says, the very end of verse 13, to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ. And so that is the ultimate goal, the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ. One commentator, Arnold, says this, Paul wants all believers not only to grow but to attain the size of Christ. That is, to reflect His virtues and likeness in their lives. That is our ultimate goal. Reaching full spiritual stature is the stature not of any mere man, but of the man. Amen? And the man is the Lord Jesus Christ. He is the ultimate goal, conformity to Jesus Christ. Look with me, if you will, over in Colossians. Turn with me, please. And notice in Colossians, Paul is saying to the church at Colossae something very similar. And he says he is working, he is teaching, he is engaged in ministry, and it is his goal. that this would be a reality in the lives of God's people. Colossians 1 in verse 28, he says, him we proclaim. And of course, the him is Jesus Christ. Him we proclaim, warning everyone and teaching everyone with all wisdom that we may present everyone mature in Christ. There is our ultimate goal of maturity, and that is the maturity of Jesus Christ. For this I toil, struggling with all His energy that He powerfully works within me. Paul says here that this is the thing that I am struggling with and that my goal is all about, and it is about leading God's people to that maturity that is found in Jesus Christ. So, congregation, as we look at verse 13 today, we note here in the flow of the passage, of course, he's speaking of spiritual gifts, that's the context of this. The idea that God distributes these spiritual gifts. They have a design to them. He gives us in verse 11 these various office of giftings. Some have ceased. Pastor, teachers, they remain. They are called for this purpose of equipping the saints for the ministry so that they may exercise this ministry for the building up of the body of Christ unto this maturity is attained in the church." And what is that maturity? Well, verse 13 tells us, as we've looked at today by summary, Maturity involves, number one, doctrinal stability. It is that unity of the faith, the truth of Scripture. It does not merely inform us of facts. It transforms us in our lives. It is transformative. And so we ask ourselves the question as we conclude, are we committed to the faith once for all delivered to the saints? Are we committed to the scriptures, whatever they teach and wherever they go? Or do we stand over the scriptures and kind of call balls and strikes on the Bible? Well, I don't really agree with that. I don't really like that. Well, I'm not comfortable with that. Or do we just bow before the scriptures and say, whatever the Bible teaches, that is the faith and that is the essence of our unity and of our maturity. To have that humility to embrace the truth of God wherever it goes. May God give us hearts where we say, oh God, let your word smash idols in my heart. Amen. May Your Word be like a hammer, as the Scriptures themselves call it to be so. And a sharp, double-edged sword. Because I am in the flesh, living in a Christless world, and I am influenced all around me with all kinds of iniquity and false understandings. And oh God, may Your Word slice up and divide and remove all of those things. that is not consistent with the Word of God. Maturity involves this doctrinal stability. We must be committed to that. Secondly, maturity involves this enlarging, deepening, personal and practical knowledge of the Son of God. True maturity is not completed when we have a lot of head knowledge. Amen? It's not just being able to repeat abstract theological propositions. Head and heart always go together. And that's where maturity is found. It isn't simply the truth or simply our walk. It is both all the time. It is this knowledge of the Son of God. It is this personal, practical, growing, and deepening in our knowledge of the Lord Jesus Christ. It is a knowledge that brings this unity, this maturity in our Christian experience. Thirdly, maturity involves not only doctrinal stability, not only deepening knowledge of Christ practically, but thirdly, maturity involves a real conformity to Christ Himself. That's what he says at the end of verse 13. To the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ. That is the goal. Simple. That is the goal. The goal is to be like Jesus. Amen? That's what we're striving after, to be like Jesus, Christ-likeness. Not the Jesus of our imagination, not the Jesus of our concoction, but the Jesus revealed in Holy Scripture. Because those things do not always compute as to the same thing. We are to see the Jesus presented in the Scriptures, and He is the goal. We are to be like Him. Jesus is the goal. Jesus is the standard. Jesus is that full stature of that mature manhood that God is calling us to. My friend, do you know Christ Jesus today? Have you trusted in Him personally? Is He your Lord and Savior? Before you can mature in the faith, you need to accept the Master, the Lord Jesus Christ. Turn to Him. Trust in Him. Believe in Him. Rest in Him as the Savior who will deliver you from your sin. And then you will be placed on a track whereby you grow and mature into the maturity in Jesus Christ. Let's bow together in prayer. Our gracious Father, we are grateful as we look into your word and consider these marks of what it means that we are attaining unto. Help us, Lord, with a true humility. Acknowledge that we have not yet arrived, that we have not become perfect, but that we are a work in process and that we need this ministry mutually among God's membership that we might be built up as the body of Christ. Help us, O God, that in that building up and in that maturity, there would be this unity that is found in doctrinal stability. This unity in our knowledge personally and practically of the Lord Jesus Christ, which will issue forth in the reality of being like your Son. Oh Lord, we thank you for Jesus Christ. We thank you for His salvation. We thank you for that relationship we have with Him. And may we be ever more, and with larger and larger experience, be molded and fashioned in conformity to the image of Your Son. O Lord, call sinners to Yourself today. And in all things may You be glorified and honored. For we pray this all in Christ's holy name. Amen. Amen. Let's all stand together now as we prepare to be dismissed. And again, we read the words of Holy Scripture. The Lord bless you and keep you. The Lord make his face to shine upon you and be gracious unto you. The Lord lift up his countenance upon you and give you peace. And all of God's people said, amen, amen.