THE CHURCH AS GOD INTENDED - Unity in the Spirit
Ephesians 4:1-16
INTRO
Paul's letter to the Church at Ephesus is a fantastic read. We have already spent some time in it during the month of January this year in which we gave some thought to the astonishing implications of what it means to be children of God the Father.
ILLUSTR
I read a lovely story this week of a memory a man had of when he was a little boy -- and he and his father were caught out in a terrible rain storm. He remembers his dad telling him to take his hand while he sheltered him completely beneath his huge coat. He couldn't see a thing all of the way, but when he finally emerged from under the coat he had arrived home.
POINT
That's how we began the year -- putting our own hand into the great hand of God the Father, and trusting him to lead us on into the year that lies ahead.
RECAP
But we've seen more:
* We've reflected on the special relationship with have with the Father -- and what the Father is truly like.
* We considered our security in Christ;
* that we are co-heirs with Christ;
* and our unique relationship with one another as the Family of God.
POINT
With this as the backdrop Paul now goes on to describe what God has been up to in all of this. In chapter 3 he explains that
God had a secret = a secret plan called a 'mystery' -- and that the 'mystery' was finally revealed = a mystery that had not been made known even to the likes of the great prophets Isaiah or Jeremiah -- something God was waiting to reveal.
And it was this:
Ephes. 3:10-11
His intent was that now, through the church, the manifold wisdom of God should be made known to the rulers and authorities in the heavenly realms, [11] according to his eternal purpose which he accomplished in Christ Jesus our Lord.
God 's plan was finally revealed -- a plan to make his Church an extraordinary exhibit before the whole angelic world in the heavenly realms -- and to make known his wisdom through it.
and we are an expression of that church!
POINT
In our Bible reading and sermon this morning we have a description how God's wisdom is to be expressed in his Church (in our Church too). We will have the opportunity to compare ourselves with the pattern God has given to us in his Word in order to follow it more closely.
READING Ephesians 4:1-16
1. A UNITY TO BE CONSTANTLY MAINTAINED v1-6
POINT
Unity among believers is clearly very high on God's agenda, and things can, and do go wrong in the Christian life that threaten to break our unity.
But God has shown us how to keep it.
Paul lists the things we have in common
One body = = the church
One Spirit. = the Holy Spirit
One hope = expectation of heaven
One Lord = not just one Saviour, but one Lord.
[whose authority we submit to]
One faith. =
= one body of truth that has been revealed.
One baptism,
[It is not the mode of baptism that is being presented here]
The one baptism everywhere agreed upon by the church is the baptism of the Spirit, the real baptism of which water baptism is always a symbol.
"One God and Father of us all, who is over all and through all and in all."
POINT/APPLIC
The unity we have therefore is not a unity to be created.
It is a unity we already have, and which is to be kept.
UNITY
Unity does not mean uniformity.
* We are not all the same.
* We have different gifts and different abilities.
But just as an orchestra can play a symphony with a huge variety of instruments, so there is a call for HARMONY within the church.
Ray Stedman:
Our unity derives from the fact that one Father creates the one family; the one Lord Jesus is the focus of the one faith, hope, and baptism, and the one Spirit creates the one body
How is this unity to be kept?
V2. By being completely humble and gentle; patient and by bearing with one another in love and by making every effort to keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace.
POINT
Paul picks up on the same theme in his letter to the church in Philippi -- 'your attitude should be the same as that of Christ Jesus'.
Humility -- like that of Jesus washing the disciples feet
Gentleness - strength that is under control.
Like that of an ox in serviceat the plough
Patience and bearing with each other
Determination to find a way to overcome our differences with one another in order to remain together.
Love -- the summary of it all.
APPLIC
These are basic truths, and the practice of them in our relationships with one another as absolutely fundamental to our being the kind of Church God intended.
Whenever the unity of our relationships is being challenged it is at that point we should read Ephesians 4 once again as a reminder of how we are to handle any given situation that challenges it.
In summary - BE MERCIFUL
2. UNITY IS STRENGTHENED BY THE RIGHTFUL PLACE OF SPIRITUAL GIFTS v7-13
POINT
I believe that one of the most damaging teachings -- most damaging to effective Christian mission today is the supposition that all the spiritual gifts, with the exception of the pastor/teacher gift, died out after the Apostolic Age.
POINT
There WAS something distinct and unique about the first Apostles and what they were called to do. However, the apostolic gift -- albeit on a different scale as that of the original apostles -- is still among the ministry gifts of the present day church -- along with the gifts of the prophet, evangelist pastor and teacher.
POINT
The Church functions at its best in Mission when recognition is given to all of these ministry gifts.
I agree with Alan Hirsch (The Forgotten Ways) when he writes:
"Without apostolic ministry the church either forgets its high calling or fails to implement it successfully. Sadly, in declining denominational systems, such people are commonly "frozen out" or exiled because they disturb the equilibrium of a system in stasis. This "loss" of the apostolic influencer accounts for one of the major reasons for mainstream denominational decline. If we really want a missional church, then we must have a missional leadership system to drive it -- it's that simple."
A Healthy Missional Church
POINT
The unity of the Spirit is a byproduct of being a healthy missional church that operates with the five ministry gifts:
Exponential change
It is not news to us that our society continues to undergo exponential social and cultural change.
God is more than a match for this. But we need to recognize the place of the five ministry gifts in making the Church continuously effective in mission to a changing world.
How it works
In times of exponential cultural change:
* Apostolic leadership and initiative emerges.
* Prophetic words are spoken to counter the challenge that confronts the church.
* Forms of evangelism emerge that are more than a match for the challenge.
* New Christians are born of the Spirit who need the ministry of pastors and teachers.
Problems arise with the erroneous model of having only a pastor/teacher gift.
The Canadian author Alan Roxburgh is quoted by Hirsch: 'in actual practice, a predominantly pastoral conception of the church and ministry now actually constitutes a major hindrance to the church reconceiving itself as a missionary agency......in relation to the institutionalization and dominance of the pastoral function embodied in ordination, that "the guild of the ordained will have to be removed; this is one social function that will not move us through liminality"(i.e.transition in the face of change)(Hirsch, The Forgotten Ways' p152)
APPLIC
The Church that follows the Acts 4 pattern is one that grows.
* It means giving recognition to Apostolic vision
* Listening to the prophetic word
* Evangelism in the power of the Spirit
* Pastoring and teaching new believers
With one flowing into the other.
QUESTION -- Who has these ministry gifts?
Ephes. 4:7
But to each one of us grace has been given as Christ apportioned it. 'to each one of us'
APPLIC/CHALLENGE
It is time to stop conceding to a theology that accommodates to our lack of faith in appropriating and using these gifts.
BE MISSIONAL
3. A UNITY THAT LEADS TO 'MATURITY'
POINT
God's plan for the church is that we grow up and become mature in our faith.
In the case of the Church maturity equates with attaining to the whole measure of the fullness of Christ.
= the same sort of unity that Christ experiences with the Father.
John 17:20-21
"My prayer is not for them alone. I pray also for those who will believe in me through their message, [21] that all of them may be one, Father, just as you are in me and I am in you. May they also be in us so that the world may believe that you have sent me.
Notice:
v3 -- keep the unity of the Spirit (in relationships and ministry)
v13 -- reach unity in the faith
How do we mature?
* by learning together
* by relating well
* by growing in the use of gifts
Ephes. 4:15-16
Instead, speaking the truth in love, we will in all things grow up into him who is the Head, that is, Christ. [16] From him the whole body, joined and held together by every supporting ligament, grows and builds itself up in love, as each part does its work.
BE MATURE
CONCL
I wonder how the Christians at the Church in Ephesus received the word of God through Paul's letter to them?
I trust that they observed what God was doing among them and how the Church was effectively engaging with the people around them and amongst them through the gifts given to them.
And I trust that we will continue to do the same.
