Date: July 12th, 2009
Bible Text: Ephesians 4:7-16
Subject:
Complement:
Main Idea:
Intro: Imagine for a moment going to the doctor and after a battery of tests she comes out and tells you, “Look, you need to stop doing all the things you’re doing!” Your volunteer work in the community, your coaching little league, you’re on the PTA and teaching Sunday School to first graders at church, you’re on several boards of nonprofit organizations. You need to start focusing on yourself! Your health is getting worse and if you don’t take care of yourself, you’re going to die!
While it would be difficult to give up all those really important and good things, to continue on as you were would be devastating to your health.
Today’s Scripture is God’s Word to churches to be focused on building up the church to be mature and healthy! The Scriptures are directly telling us to focus on ourselves. Give attention to the church body and do what is necessary to make it healthier.
This is sometimes hard to accept. We look at the world and are burdened by the need for evangelism. We look at the poor and are burdened by the need to establish justice. We look at the suffering and are impelled to comfort and to care. So sometimes we slip into the trap of organizing the local church to undertake one or more of these tasks. We program evangelistic efforts and spend money to make evangelistic touches in the community and Missions around the world.
All too often we lose sight of the fact that the first function of the body is to build itself.
The main thrust of our Scripture today is to see the church become mature and healthy so it can do the other things God desires more successfully.
I. Lord Jesus Gives Gifts Of Grace To The Body of Christ. (vv. 7-10)
A. Grace is given uniquely to every believer. (7)
1. It is worthwhile to note the word “but” here.
a) It is used here in a adversative way to contrast what came before.
b) In verses 5&6 there has been a focus on the unity, the oneness of the Body of Christ.
c) Now there is a very intentional emphasis on the fact that this unity is not uniformity.
d) We have unity but are diverse in our make up!
2. Here in verse 7 the focus is on Christ’s giving each believer grace as He sees fit to do so.
a) Grace, as the word is used here, is an enabling Grace.
b) It is a giving to each person as they need and it works in each person’s life uniquely so as to allow each person the possibility of using all that they are for His glory.
3. What is clear is that this is not a cookie cutter outcome where every believer is given grace exactly in the same way. Were Unique!
4. This also means that we are not an accident in the body of Christ.
a) When we received grace, it was because Christ gave it in a measure suited to His good purposes for you and for the body of Christ.
b) "Each of us" is given grace not according to the measure of our worth or merit, but according to the measure that Christ decided to give.
c) Romans 12:6 says almost the same thing: "We have gifts that differ according to the grace given to us."
5. This verse also points to the fact that we have a place, a purpose given to us by God.
a) Going back to 2:10 we see that God made us, then hard wired us exactly as He wanted to do good works!
b) God has a longing for each of us to be and do what he has designed us to do!
c) He has given us all the tools, and as we see here, all the grace necessary to accomplish what He desires.
6. Jesus is the bearer of gifts that reflect His marvelous grace. (vs. 8)
Trans: Now this all comes about because of the head of the church, Jesus!
B. Jesus Is The head of the Church!
1. It is all His doing, bestowed according to His whim and His will.
a) That’s grace, if it was due to something special about us….well, then that’s not grace, that’s works!
2. See, Jesus, who we saw back in Eph. 1:22 and will see again in 4:15, is the head of the church and He knows best what is good for the body.
3. Paul spends some time here in verses 8-10 reminding us just who Jesus is!
a) The one who descended from heaven to earth being made in human likeness as Philippians 2 says.
b) The same Jesus who was resurrected and raised to be in heaven again.
c) This Jesus is God and He fills the whole universe.
Trans: After describing (in vv. 8-10) how Christ rose from the dead and ascended to heaven like a triumphant general with his wagons full of plunder, ready to distribute it to his troops. As we go on in our Bible study we see that Jesus not only gives grace to the body, but also that part of that treasure and bounty is the people He gives His gifts to.
II. Jesus Gives Gifted Leaders To The Body Of Christ. (11-12)
A. The church is gifted with people in various offices.
1. The Scriptures here refer to the various gifting in terms of what the manifestations look like.
a) In other words, the gifts explode in people’s lives in a certain way.
ILL. Example – Certain people we meet we learn very quickly how God has wired them up. They tend to see everything through glasses colored according to their make up of who they are. Engineering types approach everything from the nitty gritty details and must have everything all sketched out and planned thoroughly before they can move forward. They always colored inside the lines when they colored the color books as children. Then, there are those who are more free spirited and who not only colored outside the lines but made their own lines! The world needs the creative, free spirit types and the engineers!
We are so different. We are each created by God and we have likes and dislikes and ways of thinking about things. This isn’t bad, it is part of the beauty of God’s creation! We must celebrate the differences.
b) Verse 11 in our text today speaks to the variety of gifts and how these gifts are not only a gift to individuals but to the church as a whole.
1 Corinthians 12:7 (NIV)
7 Now to each one the manifestation of the Spirit is given for the common good.
2. We find that these offices are that: "some are apostles, some are prophets, some are evangelists, some are pastors and teachers.
a) Apostles – one sent with a commission; a divinely appointed representative.
b) Prophet – proclaimer of the Word of God.
c) Evangelist – bearer of the good news; these persons traveled from place to place preaching the gospel and leading people to know Jesus Christ personally.
d) Pastor and teacher – one office with two ministries. Pastor means shepherd. His responsibility is to feed and lead the flock. A teacher had the responsibility of telling the story of Jesus.
Trans: So, the body of Christ is given grace according to Jesus’ plan and will and the body is given gifted people. But for what?
B. These offices are for the purpose of preparing God’s People to be ministers. (vs. 12)
1. The word for preparing usually means fixing something that’s broken:
a) As when nets are torn, Matt. 4:21
b) Or supplying something that is lacking (as in 1 Thess. 3:10, "We desire to supply, or equip, what is lacking in your faith.")
2. Isn’t it remarkable that God’s vision of the body of Christ is that it needs so much work done on it.
3. It starts with people becoming believers and receiving grace according to the measure of Christ’s gift (v. 7).
4. Then all these saints need to avail themselves of leaders who equip them for ministry.
a) Then, as they are equipped, they are to minister first to the church body.
b) Make the church healthy then go help others.
5. Why all this ministry? What’s the goal? What are we all supposed to be doing here at Country & Town? What does it mean to be church? Or to do church?
a) This is what we have been studying together for these recent weeks.
b) Verse 12 sums it up in the phrase "building up of the body of Christ."
C. Every Believer is to have at least one ministry that will strengthen the church.
1. Think how significant this is for the health of the church.
a) Each of us is personally gifted by Christ with a uniquely measured out grace, and yet not so perfectly that we are not in need of ministry and help by apostles, prophets, evangelists, pastors, and teachers.
b) No one may say: "I am gifted and graced by Christ Himself, and I’ve arrived, I have it all and don’t need any help or teaching from the church.
2. The one proves that we are vitally needed by the church, and the other proves that the church is vitally needed by us!
Trans: So the point of verses 11-12 is that Christ not only gives varied grace to each believer in the church, He also gives leaders to the church whose job is to repair what’s broken and supply what’s lacking in the believers. What Paul wants to stress here is the aim of strengthening the whole, not just the parts.
III. The Purpose Of These Gifts Is For Building Up The Body As A Whole. (vss. 13-16)
A. The building up is complete when we become mature Christians. (13)
1. There is a building up of the body “until”
a) What that means is that the constant work of building one another up in the context of the church body is an ongoing endeavor.
b) The equipping, fixing, and building up is something that happens as a result of God’s People serving and ministering to one another and others.
c) This is to continue on forever until there is a point when we are all finally united in faith and the knowledge of the Son of God.
2. These are the signs of maturity in Christ.
a) The word here for mature is– Teleion – translated 17 of the 19 times used as “perfection”
b) In other words, this state of “maturity or perfection is a growth process that takes much time and energy.
c) We, the church, are to work together to help each other grow and be more like Jesus in our church and in life outside the walls of our church.
3. Please don’t miss this! The means, the pathway to maturity in our Christian experience is through the church!
a) It is not a Lone Ranger endeavor.
b) Apart from the church a Christian cannot mature and be everything that God wants for each individual and the church.
4. The rubbing shoulders with one another, the challenges of doing Kingdom Work together is the refining process that God uses to grow and mature us!
a) Sitting at the feet of good teachers, doing the work of the evangelist and reaching out to the lost world around us.
b) Sending missionaries, preaching Jesus Christ as the only way to know God and experience freedom from the slavery of sin.
c) Serving the kingdom of God!
5. These are all the means by which the church can mature!
Trans: So how do we know when we are attaining this maturity, this fullness we see mentioned here? Well according to God’s Word here, maturity is something we can see, something we can evaluate and celebrate or work harder towards. Verse 14 helps us see what maturity for a Christian looks like.
B. Maturity and fullness are reflected in discerning and standing on the truth. (14-16)
1. When the whole body is building itself up in the maturity of Christ, the effect is that the members of the body in that process become discerning and perceptive and stable.
2. The imagery here is very descriptive.
a) Imagine an infant floating in a basket on a rough sea – tossed all around with no possibility of moving in any one direction, no way to bring about any change of course, just washed along by the winds and tides.
b) Totally a slave to outside pressures and forces.
3. That is the word picture the Bible gives us of someone who is not mature, not behaving in a way that demonstrates unity of thought in faith and knowledge of Christ.
4. A mature Christian is someone who has been trained to see through the subtle, manipulative use of language that tricks people into affirming things that are not true or right.
ILL. An example would be this poster, which hung in one public school. It was very subtle and forceful. It said, "Respect sees no color, gender, sexual orientation, religion or disability." One major problem with this public morality statement is that it puts homosexuality in the same category with gender and race. In doing that it short circuits the whole issue of whether homosexual behavior is right or wrong, and it implies that it is right (it doesn’t say it outright). Acting like a male or a female is a matter of indifference; and acting like a black or a white person is a matter of indifference; so acting like a homosexual or a heterosexual is a matter of indifference as well. The endorsement is implicit and subtle, but very real and very powerful.
5. A sign of a mature Christian who is truly experiencing “fullness” in Christ is being someone who knows and stands for what is true.
a) Even when it is not the popular stance.
b) Even when it goes contrary to what everyone else seems to be doing!
ILL. I remember my coming to my mom or dad and rationalizing my poor choice by saying something like, “well, everyone else was doing it!” Hearing my parents say, “Well you’re not everyone else, you’re an Olcott! If everyone jumped off a bridge plummeting to their death would you do it too?”
We can hear God saying, “I know you are grown up, mature when you are willing to not go with the crowd.” When we say no to sex before marriage even though, in the world’s perspective, everyone is doing it! Or when we say no to dishonesty, false promises, cheating when it seems everyone just accepts such things as status quo. When we stand by our promises and let our yes be yes and our no be no. We don’t say one thing and do something else.
6. People are reaching maturity as they gain a good grasp of God’s truth and obey it and live by it!
Trans: And what is really great is that we are next told exactly how this level of maturity is evidenced in people’s lives.
C. Maturity is speaking the truth in love. (15)
1. The practical answer to how we grow into Christ—is seen in verse 15; “Speaking the truth in love is the sure sign of maturity.
2. This phrase does not mean for you to smile as you tell your neighbor that her dress is ugly.
a) Many people misunderstand the purpose of this chapter and interpret its meaning incorrectly.
b) This whole chapter is about unity of the body of Christ and spiritual growth.
c) Really, the main point is to instruct us to boldly proclaim the truth of the Gospel with love, not judgment, as our driving force.
d) We are never to apologize for or sugarcoat the truths found in the Bible. But, we are, also, never to be judgmentally pious or spiritually proud.
3. So again the issue is stability in true doctrine so that we will not be deceived by false doctrine.
4. In view of this context, "speaking the truth" in verse 15 must mean "speaking truth about God and about Christ and about the gospel."
5. In other words, it means speaking Biblical truth, spiritual truth, truth about life as God sees it.
a) The church is only really the church as we lovingly tell the truth to one another!
b) God’s truth, Biblical truth!
c) That is how the believers in a church minister to the body, by speaking truth about God and about Christ in love.
6. The other component here is love and that usually is tied to relationship.
a) If you are expressing truth to someone with whom your historical relationship is not good, how would you expect them to believe you, much less even want to speak to you?
b) Without the relationship, Paul would have had no basis; no foundation for the people to accept what he had to tell them.
ILL. Linda’s divorce was not final. Her husband just didn’t seem to care about her anymore. Her friend, John, however, was attractive and attentive. Although she wasn’t yet divorced, what started as a friendship with John grew into a very intimate relationship.
Christy, a godly woman, was only an acquaintance of Linda’s but was very upset by this situation. Christy went to Linda in private and told her that her relationship with John was not right. It was sin. Their relationship would never be acceptable to God. It had to end.
Christy spoke the truth. She even had pure motives. But, she had no relationship, no history of devotion or mutual esteem, with Linda that would encourage Linda to accept this difficult truth from her. Needless to say, Linda didn’t take Christy’s interference very well.
7. Both are crucial. Knowledge and love.
a) Knowledge without love puffs up, Paul said (1 Cor. 8:1).
b) But love without knowledge is confused and aimless, and disintegrates into sentimentality.
c) That’s why Paul prays in Philippians 1:9, "that your love might abound more and more in all knowledge and discernment.
d) “Love abounding in knowledge and discernment is what builds the body of Christ.
8. The end result of getting this right is that the church grows and builds itself up!
Conclusion: I read this quote this week:
I don’t think God is interested in our success. He is interested in our maturity.
I remember growing up back on the farm in upstate NY. My grandma had one of those old push lawn mowers which the blades moved only when the wheels moved, and the wheels were moved by people power. Well, as a young boy of perhaps 5, I pushed and strained—and finally found an answer. If I leaned on the handle, lifted the wheels off the ground, and easily moved the mower on just the back roller! Then I was moving! How busy I looked, chugging up and down across my grandma’s lawn. And how little grass I cut!
After a while, my dad explained. "Someday, Neil, you’ll grow, and then you’ll be able to make those blades turn. Then you can help a lot."
How often in the church we concentrate on organizing spiritual five-year-olds to push better lawn mowers, and wonder why so little of God’s grass gets cut! The church is called to "grow up into Him who is the Head, that is, Christ" (Ephes. 4:15). Maturing within the body, growing more and more like Jesus, is the believer’s first calling. To equip the church for service, believers must minister to one another and to the world.
Don’t misunderstand: this focus on building one another up is not "selfish." It is essential. Only as we grow toward maturity together can we respond fully to Jesus as He directs us to serve in the world. Only a strong and healthy body can carry out the tasks assigned to it. Our effectiveness in communicating the Gospel and the love of God to the world around us depends on our growth toward maturity. This kind of growth takes place as we—members together of one body—build each other up in love, each part doing its own ministering work
