We have learned from the first three chapters of Ephesians that Christians are those who believe and receive Jesus Christ as their only God and Savior. Christians are saints, have every good thing in the heavens, alive with God forever, indwelt by God the Holy Spirit, and are being built together to be a temple for God.
Please note that, if you’re not a Believer of Jesus Christ, the opposite of these things for Christians are true! If you die today and never made a complete decision for Jesus Christ, you will be eternally dead in your sins, completely separated from God. Let us all claim Romans 10:9, That if you confess with your mouth, "Jesus is Lord," and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved.
Please grab a Bible and open it to Ephesians 4. Ephesians was written for all Christians. And so, let us read it as a personal message to each one of us. Ephesians 4:7-16……
You and I as Christians are being built together to be dwelling place for God. In other words, not only does God live in each Christian, God’s plan is to live in the Body of Believers, the church. Ephesians 4:7-16 affirms this with 4 major truths.
First of all, we can note from verses 7 and 11, Each Christian has been given a gift according to Jesus Christ.
And we can note 2 things from this truth:
a. If you’re a Christian, you have a spiritual gift!
b. A Christian’s spiritual gift is according to Jesus.
We’ll talk later what this all means to us today.
Let us note the second truth from v7-16.
Look again at v11-12…..
Jesus gives spiritual gifts for a purpose.
2. The purpose of spiritual gifts is to serve and build the church!
Verse 11 gives us examples of the types of spiritual gifts God gives. Sometime this week, I encourage you to look at other spiritual gifts described by God in Romans 12 and 1 Corinthians 12.
And according to v13, we as a church body are to,
3. serve one another and build the church until we mature in unity. And God makes it clear for us in v13 what type of unity we are to reach. The church is to be united in the faith and in the knowledge of Jesus Christ. What does this mean to the church?
The church must be in agreement in 2 areas:
a. in the faith in Christ; in other words, the church must be united in trusting Jesus Christ alone; or as stated in Ephesians 5:23, “Christ is the head of the church, his body, of which he is the Savior.” The church must always acknowledge that there is no other leader but Jesus Christ! If a church chooses to follow anyone or anything else except Jesus Jesus Christ, that church will never truly be united!
b. in the knowledge of the Son of God; in other words, the church must be united in knowing who Jesus is. The church must agree to study the Bible and truly know Jesus Christ. Yes Jesus Christ is Savior, but the Bible reveals the fullness of Christ, including that Jesus is the Son of God (a person in the Holy Trinity), Teacher, Master, the Good Shepherd, the Vine, the Great Physician, the Only who can lead the way and take people to heaven!
We are to know Jesus Christ!
The fourth truth we are to know from our passage today is in v14-15. When we mature as a church, united in faith and in the knowledge of Jesus Christ then, we will no longer be infants, tossed back and forth by the waves, and blown here and there by every wind of teaching and by the cunning and craftiness of men in their deceitful scheming.
In other words, when we are mature in Christ, we will not be fooled! Jesus said, “I am the Way, the Truth, and the Life!”
4. When everything is given to Jesus, we have confidence in talking about truths!
Truth comes from Christ and love comes through Christ. And so, the first thing we really have to share with people is Jesus Christ! If people do not have Jesus Christ, they really don’t have the truth do they?
And God tells us to share the truth in love. And again because Jesus Christ is truth and love, we are to share the truth as Jesus would share the truth.
How do you share truth in love?
Think of how Jesus would do it.
How do we apply all these biblical truths to our lives today? The instruction to the Ephesians in verse 16 is a good summary. Look at that again with me, v16………….
Jesus Christ is the originator of the body, the church!
If you ever notice something we are doing here as a church not coming from Jesus Christ, please speak up and tell me or any of the Elders.
We as a church will only be successful in God’s eyes if we do things from Jesus Christ.
From Him, from Jesus Christ, the whole body, the church, is joined and held together by every supporting ligament.
We the church come from Jesus Christ and we are joined together by Christ. And God tells us, the church is held together by every supporting ligament.
What does a ligament do??
What connects us together as a church??
- the Word of God
- worship
- fellowship
- prayer
What are the core values of All Nations Bible Church??
The church will only be successful in God’s eyes if we do things from Jesus Christ and be held together with God’s core values!
And the end of v16 tells us, the church will grow and build itself up in love, as each part does its work.
Yes, the church is being built by Jesus Christ. But what does v16 indicate? The church will not grow and build itself in love if the members of the church do not do their part!
The church is God’s plan and part of that plan is that every member of the church be involved.
The church will grow and build itself up in love not because of what the pastor does but what all the members do! And as we noted earlier, God gifts Christians for service to the church.
And so, here’s what we need to think and pray about; As a Christian, do I know my spiritual gift and am I using it for building the church?
If you don’t know what your spiritual gift is, I encourage you to do a Bible study of spiritual gifts.
God is calling each one of us to believe in Jesus Christ. Say yes to Christ always, especially at church.
Saying no to Jesus Christ separates you from God for eternity!
God is calling Believers of Christ to know and use their spiritual gifts. Have you responded?
Please take a moment to quietly pray about these things.
