Dakota Community Church
March 16, 2013
Grace at Work - 17
Unmasked
Ephesians 4:1-14
As a prisoner for the Lord, then, I urge you to live a life worthy of the calling you have received. 2 Be completely humble and gentle; be patient, bearing with one another in love. 3 Make every effort to keep the unity of the Spirit through the bond of peace. 4 There is one body and one Spirit—just as you were called to one hope when you were called— 5 one Lord, one faith, one baptism; 6 one God and Father of all, who is over all and through all and in all.
7 But to each one of us grace has been given as Christ apportioned it. 8 This is why it says:
“When he ascended on high, he led captives in his train and gave gifts to men.”
9 (What does “he ascended” mean except that he also descended to the lower, earthly regions? 10 He who descended is the very one who ascended higher than all the heavens, in order to fill the whole universe.) 11 It was he who gave some to be apostles, some to be prophets, some to be evangelists, and some to be pastors and teachers, 12 to prepare God’s people for works of service, so that the body of Christ may be built up 13 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.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.
Grace at Work Part 1: Unity - According to our passage unity depends upon four primary things:
1. How we treat one another
2. Understanding and respecting gifts and service
Distinguishing between true and false teaching/teachers - WE ARE HERE!
Growth and maturity
Distinguishing between true and false teaching/teachers
Is there too much being made of this issue in the church today?
Have discernment ministries and bloggers gone too far in naming names and posting sermons and book and sermon reviews?
A few familiar passages on the topic at hand:
From Paul to his beloved “son in the faith” Timothy - as he prepares to die!
2 Timothy 4:1-6
I charge you in the presence of God and of Christ Jesus, who is to judge the living and the dead, and by his appearing and his kingdom: 2 preach the word; be ready in season and out of season; reprove, rebuke, and exhort, with complete patience and teaching. 3 For the time is coming when people will not endure sound teaching, but having itching ears they will accumulate for themselves teachers to suit their own passions, 4 and will turn away from listening to the truth and wander off into myths. 5 As for you, always be sober-minded, endure suffering, do the work of an evangelist, fulfill your ministry.
6 For I am already being poured out as a drink offering, and the time of my departure has come.
From Peter:
2 Peter 2:1-3
But false prophets also arose among the people, just as there will be false teachers among you, who will secretly bring in destructive heresies, even denying the Master who bought them, bringing upon themselves swift destruction. 2 And many will follow their sensuality, and because of them the way of truth will be blasphemed. 3 And in their greed they will exploit you with false words.
Exploiting others for the sake of greed with false words.
Jesus warned us in Matthew 7:15 “Beware of false prophets, who come to you in sheep's clothing but inwardly are ravenous wolves.” and when the disciples asked Jesus what would be the signs of His return in Matthew 24:4-5, the first thing out of His mouth was a warning. “See that no one leads you astray. 5 For many will come in my name, saying, ‘I am the Christ,’ and they will lead many astray”.
We need to beware of false teaching and false teachers.
This will be worse as the return of Jesus draws near.
We must hold to sound doctrine - And be discerning of false gospels!
From our text today:
Ephesians 4:14
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.
Clearly Paul sees false teachings and teachers as a problem; all he has shared on the ministry gifts has the solution to this problem as its end - “Then we will no longer be infants, tossed...”
Which is the greater problem, to much discernment/critical ministry or too much wide spread swallowing of everything presented as “Christian”?
Galatians 1:6-9
I am astonished that you are so quickly deserting him who called you in the grace of Christ and are turning to a different gospel— 7 not that there is another one, but there are some who trouble you and want to distort the gospel of Christ. 8 But even if we or an angel from heaven should preach to you a gospel contrary to the one we preached to you, let him be accursed. 9 As we have said before, so now I say again: If anyone is preaching to you a gospel contrary to the one you received, let him be accursed.
Evangelicalism is full of teachers that will turn us to a different Gospel, not the gospel of grace but a troubling distortion of the true gospel.
A gospel of salvation that depends upon you.
Who is causing division?
What is the source of disunity and conflict amoung believers?
Romans 16:17–20
I appeal to you, brothers, to watch out for those who cause divisions and create obstacles contrary to the doctrine that you have been taught; avoid them. Such persons do not serve our Lord Christ, but their own appetites, and by smooth talk and flattery they deceive the hearts of the naive. For your obedience is known to all, so that I rejoice over you, but I want you to be wise as to what is good and innocent as to what is evil. The God of peace will soon crush Satan under your feet. The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you.
1. Watch out for those who cause divisions
Jesus desires unity in the Body of Christ, this entire section of Ephesians is about Unity and how to establish and maintain it.
There are those in the church who seem obsessed with doctrinal purity and those who say that unity and love supersede doctrinal issues.
At first glance it would appear that Paul is saying to avoid those discernment bloggers - they only cause division. Is this correct?
Consider first this scenario:
You attend a large church but find yourself at odds with the recent changes being introduced by the “vision casting” pastor.
The Bible is conspicuous by its absence from the services, the cross is removed and Jesus is barely mentioned except as a kind of life coach & creator of solid principles and keys for successful living.
You mention your concerns to a few friends and bring it up in your small group. Soon you find yourself on the outside looking in and wearing a label that reads: DIVISIVE
Now another and equally ugly scenario:
You are a lover of truth and a studier of God’s word. Many of the teachings of the reformers have begun to come alive for you and you enjoy subscribing to numerous podcasts and blogs with conservative teaching as you find it difficult to find anything but fluff in the arena’s of your own affiliation. In a chat room you offer the idea that you do not believe that you contribute anything to your salvation but that you think there is still room for human choice, to accept the gift offered or to reject it. You are immediately told you are going to hell, you are not a Christian and never have been, and that you should take your pelagian heresies and get lost.
Which are we to choose, unity or doctrinal purity? - This is a FALSE DICHOTOMY
It is possible to love truth and desire unity!
The love of truth is not popular in our society today because people believe that in a pluralistic society like ours the only path to peace is to agree that there in no correct “way”.
So then: Watch Out for Those Who Cause Divisions
The first command is to watch out for those who cause divisions and create obstacles or stumbling blocks.
“I appeal to you, brothers, to watch out for those who cause divisions and create obstacles.”
It is clear that Paul is concerned about unity. He wants to promote unity.
Watch out for those who cause divisions. These are enemies of unity. Watch out for them.
I don’t want them to have that effect on you. - Avoid Them
The second command is to avoid these people.
The last phrase in the verse is: “Avoid them.” Stay away from them.
These two directives sound contradictory, the first is a call for unity, the second is, in fact, a call for division.
When you spot such a division-causing person, divide from him. Avoid him.
2. Notice the cause of the divisions we are to be watching out for
Romans 16:17
...watch out for those who cause divisions and create obstacles contrary to the doctrine that you have been taught; avoid them.
Doctrinal integrity is the dividing line for Paul between inclusive unity and avoidance.
Why avoid them? Why divide from them?
Because they are promoting doctrine contrary to the gospel Paul taught them.
Notice that Paul does not respond by saying, “Well, nobody has all the truth, everybody has a little piece of it, and no one’s opinion is more important than anybody elses.”
That is not how this goes.
Rather, for the sake of unity—truth-based unity—Paul calls for truth-based division.
Avoid them.
How Paul relates doctrine and unity could not be clearer; for Paul, doctrine is the basis of unity. Without the common doctrine they had been taught, the unity would not have been Christian unity.
Paul calls for disunity - “Avoid them.” “Divide from them.”- for the sake of truth.
In other words, when a person departs from the doctrine that the apostles had taught, Paul sees this as a greater threat to unity than the disunity caused by avoiding such people.
How can dividing from a false teacher who rises up in the church promote unity in the church?
The only unity that counts in the church is rooted in the truth handed down in the gospel.
Isolating, even exposing and denouncing false teachers is Paul’s strategy for preserving unity that is based on truth.
3. Avoid these people
Not stop caring about them, not stop talking to them. Rather avoid the kind of contact that communicates life can go on as usual between us. It can’t. If a professing Christian, persists in departing from sound doctrine, it cannot be business as usual.
Watch Out
So watch out for smooth talkers who pastor large churches, write many books, lead wide ministries, and do not manifestly prize above their earthly good the whole counsel of God.
“For such persons - that is, the persons who depart from the doctrine - do not serve our Lord Christ, but their own appetites, and by smooth talk and flattery they deceive the hearts of the naive.”
PowerPoint available (Free of charge) on request dcormie@mts.net
Follow Dan on twitter: @DanCormie
