Ephesians 4:7-16; Romans 12:1-8; I Peter 4:10-11; I Co 14:12 Colossians 1:27-29
Intro: Ephesians 4:11-16
It was he who gave some to be apostles, some to be prophets, some to be evangelists, and some to be pastors and teachers, to prepare God's people for works of service, so that the body of Christ may be built up until we all reach unity in the faith and in the knowledge of the Son of God and become mature, attaining to the whole measure of the fullness of 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. Instead, speaking the truth in love, we will in all things grow up into him who is the Head, that is, Christ. 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.
Isn’t it great how God builds His Church? In ways that people don’t often realize, God is displaying His wisdom through the way He put together His Church. Look back through that text with me and see how God has goals for how He wants His Church to be. Did you notice them?
1. United (13a)
‘…until we all reach unity in the faith and in the knowledge of the Son of God…”
There’s a greater reason for unity than you!
Jesus prayed for you and me – for His Church -
John 17:21-23
…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.
…May they be brought to complete unity to let the world know that you sent me and have loved them even as you have loved me.
When we talk about unity in the Lord’s Church, we’re not just talking about some preference that someone has. It’s the very thing that Jesus prayed for before He faced the cross. It’s the very thing that the HS commanded through Paul when He told us to make every effort to keep the unity of the Spirit through the bond of peace. We’re part of an over 200yr old movement that especially concerns itself with that unity. God wants His Church united. Amen? That has to start right here, in this place. How do we get there?
Ill - Being together doesn’t make a unity. Tying 2 cats’ tails together does not a unity make.
The same is true in the Church. Putting people together in a building, even in an auditorium, or in a fellowship hall doesn’t make a unity either.
We could list all day what our differences are and what leads to disunity – that’s easy. What is it that unites us? What is it that makes it possible for a diverse group of people not only to be gathered together in a group, but also to be a united group? Sure, we all may have some ideas that may even help. But, just for this morning, let’s look at this text:
“…until we all reach unity in the faith and in the knowledge of the Son of God…”
Unity is going to happen in 2 places:
Faith – Ill - Imagine a vanload of students in southern IL on their way home from some field trip. It has been a long trip, and everyone’s on their last nerve. They’re in the same van, but there’s nothing even resembling a unity there. In fact, they can’t stand each other. As they drive, they find themselves heading into an intense blizzard. The driver can’t see in front. The van pulls over and gets stuck. They’re stranded. Their situation is suddenly very serious. Guess what happens. All at once, they begin to work together, to think together, to care about each other. A sense of unity out of necessity changes the entire atmosphere, because now they’re struggling for their lives, together, instead of just fighting over petty problems.
Once in a while, we’d do well to remember that we’re all in the same boat, and it’s sinking. The Church is a life-saving station for people who’ve come to realize the seriousness of our situation. We all need a Savior! So, we’ve put our faith to be saved in Jesus Christ – you, me, together. Unity. Today, when the Christians of the underground Church in China are trying just to escape prison and torture, they aren’t fighting among themselves over what songs they should sing or who should chair some committee. They’re united in their faith in Jesus. “…until we all reach unity in the faith…”
The 2nd place is…
Knowledge of Jesus – The more you know Him, the more you’ll love and become like Him. The more you love Him, the more you’ll care about what He cares about. The more you care about what He cares about, the more you’ll work for what He wants – and unity of His people is high on His list.
If you’re someone who really is concerned about unity in the church family, I urge you to look for it in the places God says we’ll find it. We should care about it. It’s what God wants for His Church. “…until we all reach unity in the faith and in the knowledge of the Son of God…”
2. Mature (13b)
Ephesians 4:13b
…and become mature, attaining to the whole measure of the fullness of Christ.
It literally says to become a completed man, a mature man – a person who fulfills what he’s designed to become. We should grow up.
Everyone begins as a baby in Christ, no matter how old you are. And once you become a Christ follower, something’s supposed to happen. With the passage of time, you’re supposed to mature. The writer of Hebrews says to his audience,
Hebrews 5:12-14
In fact, though by this time you ought to be teachers, you need someone to teach you the elementary truths of God's word all over again. You need milk, not solid food! Anyone who lives on milk, being still an infant, is not acquainted with the teaching about righteousness. But solid food is for the mature, who by constant use have trained themselves to distinguish good from evil.
God has plans for His Church, and it includes a lifelong journey of growth toward spiritual maturity. Sometimes there are people who’ve been in the Church for years, who’ve known Jesus for years, but who stopped maturing in their faith several years ago. That’s not God’s plan.
Our standard is Jesus. Once you’ve made it to that level of maturity, OK, you can stop growing! But if you’re like me, you haven’t made it there yet.
3. Stable (14)
“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.”
Immaturity causes instability. There are far too many unstable believers – people who are easily swayed by someone else’s ideas.
Do you find yourself unsure of what you believe? Or do you find yourself saying, “I don’t care what you say, I just believe what I believe because I choose to believe it and that’s it.”? God has better in mind for you.
God’s plan for His Church will prevent that instability. If you’re a person who’s easily tossed around by false ideas, that can be stopped. His plan is for His people to be stable in what they believe.
4. With Real Relationships (15)
“…speaking the truth in love, we will in all things grow up into him…”
Speaking the truth in love. What’s that?
First, it’s speaking, not brooding. When there’s a problem among members of the Lord’s Church, there needs to be speaking. This isn’t the place where you pass each other in the halls and look the other way because there’s some unsettled issue between members. This isn’t the place where one person attempts to strike up a conversation and gets the cold shoulder because there’s a grudge being nursed. You can’t remain silent about it and expect the Church to look and act like the Lord intends, or expect Him to bless it if that’s the way you treat it.
Next, it’s speaking to someone rather than speaking about him. Matthew 18 is one of the most blatantly ignored sections of Scripture in the Church. It’s there that Jesus says that when there’s an issue between yourself and someone else, you’re to go to that person and address it directly to him or her. I know that the way the world handles it is to go around to everyone else and get them to side with you, or to make sure that you look good by making someone else look bad, or wait around until the other person comes to you first. That would be fine in the Church too, if we were just like everyone else. We’re not. The Church isn’t ours, and God has other plans for His people. If you have any issue with a person, the first thing you’re to do is go to that person and try to get it resolved. If there’s some reason you’re not practicing that, quit making excuses and start doing what God has flat-out told you to do.
Next, it’s saying what’s true. Speaking the truth. No need to spend a lot of time on this. Love rejoices with the truth. That’s what I Co 13:6 says. Jesus said that when the devil lies he’s speaking his native tongue. You can speak several languages here, but falsehood is one language that just can’t be tolerated. It’s the devil’s language. The Lord has other plans for how His Church will look and sound.
Finally, it’s saying words that build up rather than tear down. There’s a way to speak the truth so that it can be very hurtful. You could turn around to the person singing behind you and say, “You know, your singing is so bad it could probably be used to drive the rats from the building.” Or you might say, “That dress you’re wearing really looks hideous on you.” And it may all be true. Sometimes, how we speak can have as much impact as what we say. We’re commanded, commanded…
Ephesians 4:29
Do not let any unwholesome talk come out of your mouths, but only what is helpful for building others up according to their needs, that it may benefit those who listen.
I’m not just making this up. It’s just what God tells us to be as His Church.
Real relationships don’t happen by accident or coincidence. The fact that we see each other once a week for a few minutes isn’t going to get that done. It takes work – hard work, to have relationships that are real like God has designed.
5. Mutually Supportive (16a)
“…the whole body, joined and held together by every supporting ligament…”
Have you ever wondered how some of those NFL wide receivers take the hits they take and still get up in one piece? (Usually, anyway.) Ligaments. Ligaments are the stringy, tough parts of us that hold all our bones together. You even have ligaments that connect your teeth to your jawbone. Without them, you’d literally fall apart. When a ligament is detached or torn, it’s a bad thing.
One of my favorite Gary Larson cartoons helped me understand where boneless chicken comes from. You ever wonder about that? Larson made a picture of a boneless chicken ranch. There’s this driveway and gate and farmhouse, and lying all around are these droopy, floppy chickens. Sure enough, boneless chickens! That’s what it would look like.
God has put the Body together to be mutually supportive. It’s my job, and your job, to concern ourselves with holding the Body together. If some part of it goes out of joint, that affects me and you. God has designed the Body to be mutually supportive.
6. Growing (16b)
“…grows and builds itself up in love, as each part does its work…”
Not only should the Body mature, it should also grow. It builds itself up in love. Yeah, numbers.
It’s time. It’s time we honor God’s desire that His banquet hall be full of guests. It’s time we give some more talk and attention and directed action to growing the body. That’s what God has in mind for His Church. It happens, notice, as each part does its work. That’s also what God has planned His Church – that it grow because me and you and the person sitting next to you are all doing our parts.
What will happen if we get too full? Well, we could start another congregation somewhere. It would be OK! That’s another kind of growth the Lord desires.
Now, we’ve started with the goals this morning. These are what God has designed His Church to be: united, mature, stable, with real relationships, mutually supportive, and growing. Right? OK. Now to the “how do we get there?” part. To do that, we go back up to the previous verses where Paul explains what God has given us to get this done. Gifts.
Ephesians 4:7-12
But to each one of us grace has been given as Christ apportioned it. 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.) It was he who gave some to be apostles, some to be prophets, some to be evangelists, and some to be pastors and teachers, to prepare God's people for works of service, so that the body of Christ may be built up
Getting the Church to be the way God wants it to be is about the proper use of the gifts He gives His Church. So, let’s finish with a look at Spiritual gifts and what we’re supposed to do with them.
1. Spiritual Gifts - what they are
Spiritual gifts aren’t just natural abilities. Someone can be a “gifted” singer, or “a natural” in the boxing ring, but that doesn’t mean they have a Spiritual gift. The Bible talks about gifts that come from God, and that are given to people who have His Spirit living inside them – that’s Christ followers. They’re God-given abilities that accomplish some Spiritual end. Several of them are named in the Scriptures, like showing mercy, leading, giving, teaching, serving and encouraging. Every Christ follower has at least one. I find that in…
1 Peter 4:10
Each one should use whatever gift he has received to serve others, faithfully administering God's grace in its various forms.
That brings up another very important feature of the gifts:
2. Spiritual Gifts - what they’re for – To Serve Others!
Twice Peter says that God is building us into a priesthood. So, if you’re a Christ-follower, welcome to the priesthood! And now that you’re there, let’s talk about what it means to be a priest. I could look at the OT priests, and all the work they had to do. I could search through the Bible and find that the words “priest” and “serve” occur together 27X. We could listen to what Jesus said about Himself when He said that He didn’t come to be served, but to serve.
As I understand it, there are 3 basic ways people approach what they do with their personal resources in life, like Spiritual gifts and a number of other things.
1) Self-focused
One approach is where you take all of your resources and use them for…yourself! Everything – your abilities, your experiences, your job your relationships, and you just use them for you. It’s all about you. And in the end, the person who does this is self-focused, empty, and unfulfilled.
2) Earth-focused
Another approach is where you take all of your resources and use them for good things, but for shallow reasons. You give them away, because it makes you feel better. You take up a cause, and contribute to it, because so many people around you are. And you give and give. It’s not all about just you, but it’s all poured into things that are temporary and earthbound. In the end, it gets frustrating and draining, especially when you realize that when you’re gone, it’s over.
3) Eternity-focused
Another approach is to take the resources God gives you and use them for others, for things that will last forever. You take your Spiritual gifts, your talents, your time, your energy, your emotions, and you give them away, constantly, but God keeps refilling you with them as He wants you to give them away. So, you never run out, and in the end, you’ve laid up treasure in heaven that won’t pass away. It’s fulfilling, it’s 1st-rate, and it’s God’s design. It’s what Paul describes about himself in
Colossians 1:28-29
We proclaim him, admonishing and teaching everyone with all wisdom, so that we may present everyone perfect in Christ. To this end I labor, struggling with all his energy, which so powerfully works in me.
OK, let’s finish with a few words about…
3. How to use them
1) Romans 12:6-8 We have different gifts, according to the grace given us. If a man's gift is prophesying, let him use it in proportion to his faith. If it is serving, let him serve; if it is teaching, let him teach; if it is encouraging, let him encourage; if it is contributing to the needs of others, let him give generously; if it is leadership, let him govern diligently; if it is showing mercy, let him do it cheerfully.
2) I Peter 4: 10-11 Each one should use whatever gift he has received to serve others, faithfully administering God's grace in its various forms. If anyone speaks, he should do it as one speaking the very words of God. If anyone serves, he should do it with the strength God provides, so that in all things God may be praised through Jesus Christ.
3) Participate in GIFTS Sunday
The purpose of today’s GIFTS expo is to make Jesus the focus of this church family. Today, by showing, highlighting, explaining, recruiting, we’re trying to help everyone reach that 3rd approach to God’s gifts – to identify what gifts you have and to give them away as God intends.
No kidding, today we want to encourage everyone here to make sure that Jesus is Lord of His Church as each member gives Him the driver’s seat in their lives.
Conclusion:
So today, for decision time, we want to challenge every person here to make a commitment to use those gifts for the Lord NOW. They aren’t yours to keep. They’re yours to give away. Maybe you already are, that’s great. Maybe you’ve been holding back. Today is a day to commit to allow God to use your gifts.
