“Body Building - 101”
Ephesians 4:7-16
OPEN: So we’ve gone through the first opening verses of Eph 4 which has given to us the very basics of learning how to walk like a believer. We’ve begun to discover how different the church is supposed to be in comparison to the rest of the world. We act different because we think different. What we trying to do is throw off all the old vestiges of the old life. The old worldly way of thinking. This is difficult to do for a good many people. They want to hang on to their old way – but when we become a Christian we learn how to walk a new way – a worthy way in light of what has come our way through Jesus Christ. Ill – of a child learning how to walk – stiff arms and legs – look like Frankenstein as they take their first steps. We’d think there was a major problem with a person if they spent their entire life walking like that. An infant walks like and infant. A mature adult walks like a mature adult. A baby Christian walks like a baby Christian. But a mature Christian should walk like a mature Christian – right?
5 non-negotiable defining characteristics attitudes of a Worthy Walk – all internal attitudes. Without these kinds of Christ-like qualities there is no way that unity can be maintained. Humility, Gentleness, Patience, Forbearing Love, Unity
7 non-negotiable Defining Characteristics of Christ’s Church Ill. - Of large church – has this massive beautiful building. As you approach the building you notice there are seven massive white columns supporting the portico of the building. Engraved on those columns are the statements: 1) One body, 2) One Spirit; 3) One hope; 4) One Lord; 5) One Faith; 6) One Baptism; 7) One God and Father. That comes right from this section of book of Ephesians.
In Eph. 4:1-6 the issue is all about unity. Paul’s first pressing concern is the establishment of unity in the Church. Romans 12:5, “So in Christ we who are many form one body, and each member belongs to all the others.” What church we are talking about? Which church is it? Is it the Baptist church? Is it the Methodist Church? Is it the Catholic Church? Is it Presbyterian Church? Is it the Pentecostal Church? What is the “one church”? Salvation is not in a denomination. Salvation is in Jesus Christ and Christ alone so, there is one body the body of Christ. There of course won’t be lines for Baptists, or Presbyterians or Methodists or Congregationalists in heaven. But there is a membership roster. It’s called the Lamb’s Book of Life. And you can read about it in the book of Rev. All kinds of believers are listed in that book. So – here’s the issue: People will say “hey as long as my name is listed in that membership roster in heaven, why do I need to concern myself with a local church down here?” It’s a fair question. Look at the verse. The first part of this verse underlines the fact that if you are saved, you belong to the Church universal. But what about the second part of this verse? It says we belong to one another. There are two realities for the believer revealed in this verse. One reality has to do with the Church Universal. The other reality has to do with the church local.
Unity is planned in eternity but lived out in community. Notice the word connecting the two concepts – It’s “AND” We not supposed to pick one or the other. We belong to One body - The Church universal. And we belong to one another – The Church local. We recognize that it echoes the exact same thing that Paul says back in Eph. “One body” That’s what it says right? “Many form one body”
How do we respond to the teaching of this verse? Do we have to do anything to live the first part of this verse out in our lives? Yes. We recognize that our church, our little group – our denomination, is not the only expression of the Body of Christ on earth. When you hear people saying things like, “We are the only true church.” Be afraid. Be very afraid. Scripture declares “many form one body” The “many” can at times be very diverse, very different, they may go about worship in a very different way – but we are all part of one body. If you are saved, you are a part of the “One body” How about the second part of the verse? Do we have to do anything in response to that part of the verse? It says “each member belongs to all the others.” How is that supposed to be expressed in our lives? You can’t really choose whether or not you belong to others, can you? The diversity we have is to be lived out in the context of oneness. How does the individual live out oneness? How is unity expressed? – by being united with one another. Is there is a flaw in what I’m saying here?
Why am I belaboring this point? Because there is this movement in the Modern American Church that questions whether or not church membership is necessary or by some even biblical. Just like last week we explored the idea that there are some who say “I like Jesus but I just don’t like His church” It’s totally impossible not to like His Church. If you love Jesus you are going to have to love the things Jesus loved. There are those today who say ‘I like the Church I just don’t like belonging to one.” It’s totally impossible to say that. Scripture says you do belong to one another. How is unity expressed? By being united right? How is belonging expressed? By belonging to one another right? You see this all about thinking biblically and living biblically before the world. Doesn’t it make sense to live a life in front of the world that demonstrates what Scripture teaches? Ill as a pastor I’ve come to realize that I minister to three groups – One group who already makes up the church. Second those who are not in the church. And then the third group are people who have been in a church and have experienced woundedness or disappointment or in some cases bad teaching and for one reason or another have just taken the position, “I will be involved in a church but I’m not going to step over the line and say I belong to anybody – because I don’t want to place myself in a position of going through a bad experience again.” Ministering to all of these groups all at the same time can be a difficult process.
They all have different needs. And they all have different expectations from the minister. One groups says – (the ones in the church – “Hey you’re here to shepherd us and care for us.” And they are right. The second group – doesn’t really understand church and they need to be introduced to new concepts and cared for and shepherded in a different way. And they should. And the third group can be all over the map. Some are still nursing wounds from bad experiences. Some are still caring ideas that are not really grounded in Scripture because they’ve never been taught certain things or have been taught improperly and they’re processing through them. So how do you respond to all that? And the only thing that I know to say to all of the groups is, “while there are certainly a lot of options of how we live out Church – there are certain non-negotiables. Among them is the issue of unity.” That’s the foundation. When the church compromises on that – it’s already defeated. Oneness is a big issue to Jesus – it should be at the very top of our priority list as well. We belong to one another – we must live in a way that demonstrates that to the world.
Jesus is the process of building His Church today. And the verses we are looking at today deal with that. How many people have ever gone through a program focused on body building? I don’t know if you knew this but there was a time in my life when I was a body-builder. I’m going to throw a picture up on the screen that shows me in my younger years when I was in training. – this is a totally un-retouched photo by the way – NOT!
If you really want to see what my body building program looks like – it’s actually more like this.
Jesus is building his Body but it has nothing to do with a weight lifting program. It’s more an equipping program. Now the passage we are exploring this morning is not a real easy passage to understand – first time through it can be a bit puzzling. So what I want you do is hang in there are we go through it and hopefully we’ll all come out on the other side knowing what it says and knowing how to apply it to our lives.
But to each one of us grace has been given as Christ apportioned it. NIV
But to each one of us grace was given according to the measure of Christ's gift (NASB)
- The Emphasis is on what Christ has done for His Church.
- he has given to us grace. Christianity is not just what we do for God. Not at all- it is a response to what God has done for us. The core of the Gospel is bound up in one word and that word is grace. Our faith is not defined by what we do but what God has already done for us. Grace is the heart of the Gospel and grace is an expression of what God does.
Now let me give you a little definition. We all know the standard clichés: Grace is God’s unmerited favor given at Christ’s expense. Grace by definition is an act of giving. There is no grace unless there is the act of giving. Grace is expressed by giving freely. God puts in us his life. He grants to us his kingdom, He gives us his inheritance. He gives us his riches and his kindness. He puts his power in us. He places His Spirit within us.
But grace gives more than that – In grace God gives us himself. Grace gives everything there is to give.
It holds nothing back. God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten son.
Grace is the giving of self Jesus gave himself that's the heart of the Gospel. – that’s the real meaning of grace. Ill - when Jesus met the woman at the well and first announced that he was the Messiah, the very first message he ever gave was a message of giving. He looked at that lady who was an evil woman who had had five husbands and was living in a state of adultery and he said to that lady, “lady, you know what I'd like to do, I'd like to give you some water and you'll never thirst again.” And you know who that water was? It was him, wasn't it? And later on in John 7, he said, “I am the living water.” Grace holds nothing back – grace is the giving of self.
If the world is ever going to believe we got something that’s real – we’ve got to give grace away the same way grace has been given to us. The world looks at us as people who want to get rather than people who want to give. They'll never comprehend the God of grace if they see a whole lot of Christians who are trying to receive rather than give. Grace recipients are called to be grace givers. What we receive – we give away. God wants to put his grace on display. – the very reason he raised Christ from the dead - in order that in the coming ages he might show the incomparable riches of his grace, expressed in his kindness to us in Christ Jesus. (Eph 2:7) For you know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that though he was rich, yet for your sakes he became poor, so that you through his poverty might become rich. (2 Cor. 8:9) – God’s purpose was to empty himself to make us rich.
According to the measure of Christ’s Gift Notice the word “measure” -the Greek work metron from which we get metric or meter. It has to do with quantity. In otherwords, each one of us has a measured out gift, a certain quantity, a certain definition with certain limitations, parameters and capabilities. He’s saying Christ has measured out a particular gift for every follower. The NIV says Christ has apportioned it. If you are a Christian – Jesus has measured out a gift for you. There’s no Christian that has been left out. No such thing as an ungifted believer. He measures a grace gift out for everyone.
Now to each one the manifestation of the Spirit is given for the common good . . . All these are the work of one and the same Spirit, and he gives them to each one, just as he determines. (1 Cor. 12: 7,11)
The word manifestations = phanerosis (making known or clear) - the gifts of the Spirit make the Spirit of God public or clearly known. Notice here it emphasizes “each one” No ungifted people in the Church. What is the purpose of the gift? “the common good” some translations say “for the building up of the Body.” In the passage in 1 Corinthians he lists some of the gifts: wisdom, knowledge, faith, healing, miraculous powers, prophecy, discernment, tongues, interpretation of tongues – but look what he says in verse 11 “He gives them as he determines.” God arranges His church as He wants he arranged. In Grace, God arranges His Church as He wants his Church to be. Ill – when Missy and I had a baby we didn’t say, “Lord, we'd like one with blue eyes. We'll put in our order, 6'3, whatever, blonde hair, 175 IQ, so he can make a big living for us and we can retire at 40.” You don't do that. You just take what God makes. Well friends, that's the way it is in the church. The same Jesus who died for the Church also designed the church. God knows who needs what in what combination to function in the world today. His church will function in accordance with his sovereignty. God sets the gifts differing according to his own sovereign grace – His plan – His purpose. But everyone has received from Christ, ennoblements for them to function within the Body.
Those gifts are specially designed for you – they are unique –and a gift from Jesus Christ. I mean that ought to lay a little bit of pressure on you to do something with it - shouldn’t it? Ill - I remember when we got married; we got a lot of gifts. And I always felt bad about the ones that sat in the garage for five years that we never used. Do you know what I’m talking about? I mean what do you do with four crockpots? - Besides waiting till someone else gets married and passing it on to them? Or donate them to someone’s yardsale. Those gifts sit on a shelf somewhere - sometimes for years. When Jesus by his grace and sovereignty gave you a gift and blended together certain areas of enablement under the power of the Holy Spirit, it was not only an act of love to you that he would give you such a gift, it was not only a way of him saying I love you so much I see you as unique. I see you as different. I see you like I see nobody else in this whole wide world. And this is just yours and this is just for you. The gifts God has given to you ought not sit on a shelf the entirety of your life.
But he was also saying and everybody in the church is going to need it so much would you pass it on to them? Would you use it for their benefit? And I guess maybe it would be a serious affront to the kindness and grace and generosity of Jesus Christ not to use the gift he gave me. And it would also be the loss of all those around me who so need what I have to offer.
I'm just at a place in my life where I’m not interested in spectators in Church. The purpose of Sunday mornings is not to come in here to stare at the back of someone’s head for an hour and half. We’re here to proclaim the glory of God, to enjoy His presence to be nourished by His Word and equipped to give away the grace that been given to us so that others will know. We got a lot of Christians who see Christianity as a spectator sport. They want to watch it happen. They just never get involved. Listen - we desperately need you because you are a uniquely designed part of the Body of Christ and there's nobody in the world like you. And if you don't do what God has enabled and gifted you to do then nobody's going to do it. If you don’t function – we loose it.
OK so let’s move on and look at verse 8 - This is why it says: “When he ascended on high, he led captives in his train and gave gifts to men.” (What does “he ascended” mean except that he also descended to the lower, earthly regions? He who descended is the very one who ascended higher than all the heavens, in order to fill the whole universe.) Now he’s quoting Psalm 68 – “This is why it says” If you were to study Psalm 68, you would see it as a picture of God like a conquering hero. God sets out in Verse 1 to make a war with his enemies and God wins by the way in case you want to know how it ended. God always wins. So God goes out to war and God is victorious. Now when God is victorious, he comes back, and it shows God as it were in Verse 18 ascending the hill of victory. And he's got all of the spoils and all of the captives with him.
“When he ascended on high, he led captives in his train and gave gifts to men.” OK, so here's the picture. When a king of Israel would go to battle, he'd go out to fight the enemy and if he would win, he would come back and when he came to the city, he would ascend the hills of Mt. Zion. Mt. Zion the great crowning hill of Jerusalem. The place of great victory. The place where God had established his people. And so the king would ride in – going up - ascending as it were to Mt. Zion. He would ride to the city and behind him he would have two things: He would have the spoils of victory – slaves from the conquered land, gold, silver – other precious commodities they had captured from their enemies. But there would be a second group. Some translations say, “he who would lead captivity captive.” He would recapture the captives. What does he mean? Many times other nations had Israelites in prison. Many times when the kings of Israel conquered that nation, they freed those captives and brought them back to their own land you see. He’s bringing back with him POW’s who had been set free. People who had been held in captivity. They march behind him in a place of honor and the crowd cheers for them. So you've got him with the people from that nation who are being brought back and you've got him with his own people who were free.
- So here’s the picture - Here comes the conquering hero. He has won the war, he is victorious, the victory is done and he's got the spoils on the one hands, people from that nation brought back to serve Israel and he's got his own people who were held prisoner there that he has released and set free. And they're coming back free and it's a joyous scene.
That is precisely what Paul sees here in terms of Christ. Now watch this - When Jesus Christ died on the cross, he entered into a battle with Satan and his demons and his hosts. And he won that battle. It looked like a loser on the cross, Christ was a winner. And after the cross, Jesus came back up as it were ascending the mount of victory and he had behind him the spoils of war and he led captivity captive. He really is talking about the ministry of Jesus Christ.
- if you're a little bit lost, that's alright stay with me-hopefully I’ll be able to get us where we need to be.
(1 Peter 3:18-19) For Christ also died for sins once for all, the just for the unjust, so that He might bring us to God, having been put to death in the flesh, but made alive in the spirit; in which also He went and made proclamation to the spirits now in prison, Peter is talking about the cross -right? He suffererd - the just for the unjust - he was put to death in the flesh but was alive in what? - the spirit. In otherwords, his outer man had died, but his inner man was alive. Now if you ever asked a question where was Christ for those three days? We know where his body was, it was on the cross for a while, then it was in the grave. Where was he? You ever wonder about that? I'll tell you where he was. He was descending. He went and preached unto the spirits in prison. He descended down to the prison of spirits. You say what's that?
In the Old Testament time, the place of the dead was known as Hades or Sheol. Now Hades had two compartments or two parts. Imagine a line across the middle of the circle. The upper part was the part where the righteous dead were their spirits, the lower part, the unrighteous and the bound demons. Okay? So there's this place called Hades or the grave - sometimes it's called Sheol. It's not really defined in the Old Testament anymore than that. And this is where dead people's spirits go. The righteous to the upper half which is good. It's bliss, it's happiness, and it's the righteous people, the people who believe God. The bottom category, the unrighteous, the evil. And also in that category were bound demons. Now there are really two kinds of demons. There are the loose ones and the bound ones, right? The loose ones are running around doing their thing. The bound ones are in that pit. You know how they got there? They're the ones in Genesis 6 who came down and cohabitated with the daughters of men and produced giants in the earth. A whole generation of them. And that's why God destroyed the world by water to flood out that terrible conglomerate demon man race that would have messed up the whole concept of the God man Christ's redemption. And so he flooded them and destroyed that whole civilization
He took those demons that did that and he put them in everlasting chains says Peter, “in everlasting chains.” He says that in 2 Peter. And Jude says it also. “And he kept them there.” So in that lower part of Sheol, it's also called Tartarus, the pit, the place of the dead ungodly, the place of the demons, not the final hell yet. But it's a place of torment, a place of unrighteousness, a place of evil.
Christ descended then into that place Verse 19 into that prison. And what did he do there? It says he preached, he proclaimed something. I could tell you what he proclaimed. He went down there and proclaimed that what looked like defeat was victory. In other words, while his body was in the grave, his spirit descended into the lower part of Hades and there he made a proclamation of triumph in spite of what it looked like he was the victor. He had triumph. On his way out of the bottom part he went through the top part of the righteous people. He ascended - And that's where we come to our text Ephesians. It says, “He led captivity captive.” You know who the captives were? You know who were kept in that place called Sheol even though they were righteous, all the Old Testament what? Saints. they could never be resurrected. They could never be taken to glory until Christ had purchased their redemption on the cross. It is not possible for the blood of bulls and goats to take away sins. Old Testament sacrifices covered their sins – but they had to wait for the triumph of Calvary. They had to wait for the victory that he would win that day. But when he won that victory, and he died for them and their sins were washed away and as Hebrews 10:14 says, “because by one sacrifice he has made perfect forever those who are being made holy.” When he did it, then after his announcement he just opened the doors of the upper part of Hades and he released the captives. And it was at that point that the spirits of the Old Testament Saints left whatever place that is and I can't define it anymore than that.
And they ascended to be with God in his place. He led captivity captive. You see the beauty of the picture? And so here comes the conquering hero Jesus Christ. He's got the demons, his enemies bound on the one side, they are bound on the one side and on the other side, he's got the people of his own that he has set free in his conquering and he releases them to the liberty and the freedom of the sons of God.
That's what it means. Now Church, listen. It was Jesus Christ act on the cross that allowed him to be the one who could give us the gift he gave us. And what I'm saying is this. You cannot treat the spiritual gift that you have lightly when you contemplate what price it cost for Christ to grant you that privilege. You see it was by his victory there that he gained the right to rule his own church. To be the one who fills all in all from the bottom of Sheol to the top of heaven. He fills it all and right at the cross he gained the right to give you the gift. Listen it isn't just that you can accept salvation you also have to accept that spiritual enablement to serve him because he died to gain the right to give you that as well That's how important it is to him. Jesus Christ died on the cross for you to save you. Secondly he died on the cross to enable you to serve him.
Ill - Dr. Charles Spurgeon, that great English pastor of the 1800s wrote about his visit to a very poor lady in what we would call “the poor house.” She requested a visit, because she asked the church to give her some money for food and clothing. Dr. Spurgeon visited this lady in the poor house and was praying with her. When he finished his prayer, he looked on the wall of her little space at a framed, signed certificate. Dr. Spurgeon said, “Ma’am, what is that?” She said, “Oh, it’s just a piece of paper that a man gave to me whom I nursed when he was sick and he died.” After much persuasion he finally convinced her to let him take that piece of paper to a solicitor, a British lawyer. They discovered it was the Last Will and Testament of the man she had nursed and it left all his riches to her, amounting to a fortune! Here was a woman living in poverty, the whole time she was wealthy, because she had not probated the will. She hadn’t appropriated what was already hers. What a shame! It’s also a shame that there are people in this room today who are born-again Christians whom God has gifted, and just like that woman, you haven’t done anything about it. It’s a gift you have not yet appropriated. Even though it has been given to you; you have not yet appropriated it. The body the church will not function unless you every member is willing to take that gift and put it into action and use it. It’s only then that the body of Christ moves the way Jesus wants it to move. That’s the delivery of the gifts. It is an ascension gift God gives all of his children. OK, So what’s our response going to be?
Close: Does your life reflect “unity” and “belonging” to other brothers and sisters in this room? Does it
make sense to try to serve Christ any other way? Don’t make light of oneness, and unity and belonging. If you would like to be part of a new membership class – I’d like you to check the appropriate box down at the bottom of the outline and turn that in as you leave today.
Are you exercising the gift Jesus has given to you? Do you know what it is? Does it make sense to live our faith out and not put our giftedness into play? If you don’t know - or if you would like help discovering where you can start putting your giftedness to work - I want you to check the appropriate response box at the bottom of your outline and turn it in as you leave today.
Memorize this verse: Just as each of us has one body with many members, and these members do not all have the same function, so in Christ we who are many form one body, and each member belongs to all the others. (Romans 12:4-5)
* PowerPoint slides may be available for this message. Some slides I use have copy write restrictions on them - others are slides, which I’ve created. If this sermon has slides I’ve created, I’d be glad to pass them on to you for your use. Please feel free to email me at: timvamosi@charter.net
