SERMON – SUNDAY, MAY 18, 2014
TEXT – EPHESIANS 4:1-13
TITLE – “CONTINUATION OF THE SERIES: TRUTH FROM EPHESIANS”. . . .”A HEALTHY BODY”
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Our physical bodies are a wonderful creation, intricately woven together in our mother’s wombs. The origin for each of us was however, not in the womb of our mothers but in the mind of God, who through His infinite wisdom, knew each one of us and planned for each one of us from the time of the creation of the earth. How vast is the wisdom of God! He is the one who according to Psalm 139, who knit us together in our mothers’ wombs and created us so fearfully and wonderfully, and who has ordained all our days and written them down in his book.
His plan for our bodies is for health and wholeness, but ever since the fall of mankind, when sin entered into the picture, we have been subject to the evils of disease and other things that can rob our health, preventing the human body from being the picture of health, which God intended for us. We were intended to live for ever .. . .not to age. . . . not to deteriorate. But when sin entered into the world, it changed everything and we now experience not only sickness and disease, but the sometimes painful process of aging. I will be glad when JESUS comes again and renews and restores all things. That could be a sermon in itself, but not for today.
A healthy body is vibrant, full of life, energy, joy and enthusiasm, because there is nothing robbing that body of that vitality.
So it is with the church. We are not an institution even though it is necessary to have certain elements of organization for the smooth functioning of the church.
We together as the church of the living God are the spiritual, visible Body of Christ on the earth. We are His eyes, hands, feet, etc. And we operate out of the heart. . .out of the Holy Spirit that indwells each one of us. When you become a believer and you know Christ in your heart, then you by natural process, receive the gift of the Holy Spirit who comes to dwell within you. This doesn’t mean that your physical body won’t wear out and die someday. It will. But it does mean that the spiritual life you have in Christ will continue to live on even when your body dies.
It is vital as a church that we recognize the real nature of the church. It is a spiritual body. . . . united and held together through our common experience of faith in Jesus Christ as Lord and Saviour, and through our shared indwelling of the Holy Spirit.
What are the characteristics of this spiritual Body? What makes the church unique from every other organization on the earth? What are the marks that distinguish us from other organizational entities?
Let’s take a look at those characteristics from Ephesians chapter 4.
Those characteristics are listed here in 2 categories as I see it: attitudes and giftedness.
Both attitudes and giftedness are marks of the Body of Christ.
First of all there are certain attitudes and a certain life-style that make us resemble Christ Himself.. . .that make us definable as the Body of Christ.
The first thing mentioned her by Paul the apostle, is that we are to “live a life worthy of the calling that we have received”, verse 1.
We have been called into a personal relationship with Jesus Christ. . . .into a saved position in Christ, having all our sins forgiven through His death on the cross.
Knowing the price He paid for our salvation, in that He laid down His life on our behalf, lays upon us the responsibility to respect Him and to live holy and upright lives in this world.
Not only is it a responsibility to do so, but it should also be a deep desire to live to please Him.
J.C. Sproul writes in the introduction to his book, “Essentials Truths of the Christian Faith”, that work against the Christian goal of maturity.
Lack of maturity among Christians is so prevalent today, and is due to a lack of the understanding and implementation of the essential doctrines of the Christian faith.
That is a problem among many Christians in our churches today, because we don’t study our bibles enough but instead, we give it a casual reading once in awhile.
Today, worldly standards have penetrated the church as a result, and become integrated into the lifestyles of many Christians. Sproul calls it “Easy Believism”, which is listed as cause no. 3. This is a modern form of the ancient heresy of antinomianism. “Antinomianism asserts that once a person makes a decision for Christ or prays to receive Jesus as Savior, it is not necessary to embrace Him as LORD. There are no requirements of law that bind the Christian.” Pg. xv, in the Introduction to “Essential Truths of the Christian Faith”.
In order to fend off antinomianism, here in this passage Paul is reminding the Ephesians to live a life worthy of the Christian calling. It looks different from worldly morals, and standards of behaviour, which we call humanism.
After reminding the Ephesians to live a life worthy of their calling. . . . then He goes on to list the way we treat one another. . . . .I suggest that we call these attitudes. . . .the attitudes that come from the heart and describe how we act toward one another.
There is the attitude of being completely humble and gentle.
This shows up as a Christian attitude in many places in the new testament.
We discussed it in our bible study on Wed. night, from our passage in 1 Peter, 5, concerning his admonition to the elders and young men of the church. Humility is one of the marks of a leader. It means to totally depend upon God for the ability to lead and shepherd a flock under their care. In 1 Peter chapter 5, humility and mutual submission went hand-in-hand.
Respect for the leadership of the church is expressed by saying, “Young men, .. . be submissive to those who are older.” In other words, we need to teach young people to respect their teachers and elders in the church. Pride gets in the way of that.
Human rights develops into pride. . . .which is so prevalent in society today, and it puts the individual’s desires and wishes first.
It erodes away any respect for elders and teachers in the church because most people who are filled with pride are unteachable.
Human rights erodes away biblical principles and standards as the basis of the Christian lifestyle. . . .all at the peril of the individual, whose God is self.
But we must remember that “God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble.” We can only learn if we humble ourselves under the mighty hand of God.
Generally speaking, humility is a hallmark of all Christians who comprise the Body of Christ.
“Humility comes before honour”, Pr. 15:33
Jesus taught in Matthew 23:11,12. . . “The greatest among you will be your servant. For whoever exalts himself will be humbled, and whoever humbles himself will be exalted.”
This extends the meaning of humility to include humble servanthood . . . .the willingness to do the behind-the-scenes work of the ministry, without the need to be seen or acclaimed, or given special honour. The need to seek public acclaim is called Pharisee-ism. Pharisees like to be seen and greeted in the public squares.
Therefore, humble service is the mark of the people who comprise the Body of Christ.
Paul goes on to say to the Ephesians that gentleness distinguishes the living Body of Christ.
Humility and gentleness go hand-in-hand. The fruit of the spirit from Gal. 5:22,23 (which we are presently teaching the children during childrens’ story), includes gentleness. We must be gentle with one another, because the world is sometimes the opposite. It is rough out there, and the main goal is to get to the top. . . .to get what people want. . . .and it often means tramping on others, and treating fellow human beings severely in order to get and to accomplish selfish ends. Money, greed, and selfishness drives the economy, and it doesn’t seem to matter who gets hurt in the process. But the church is the opposite. We are to gently help one another along.
Paul also includes the mark of patience, bearing with one another in love.
Patience is not a commonly held virtue in the marketplace today. Some CEO’s and managers of big business have lost the art of patience, because they only want those who learn quickly, so that they can expediate the training process of new employees so that productivity does not slow down.
I remember working for a man who owned a boat store where fishing equipment and licenses were sold. He breathed down my neck all the time and refused to let me wait on the customers alone. I would take my time at the cash register, but I wasn’t fast enough for him. If I left a customer alone while I ran to answer the phone, he would reprimand me for leaving the customer. If I answered the phone, and excused myself from the customer, in order to do so. . . . . I was reprimanded for leaving the customer. I quit. Nobody could work for that guy! . . He had no patience.
But in the Body of Christ, we exercise patience and bear with one another in love. That doesn’t mean that we ignore slothful discipleship among us, but that we encourage one another in love to do the right things.
Another mark of a healthy body of Christ here in this passage from Ephesians is to “keep the unity of the spirit in the bond of peace.”
Unity doesn’t mean that we will always agree on everything. That would be impossible. But there are the essentials that we must agree upon peacefully, and that includes unity regarding our purpose and calling as a church, and the basics of what we believe. . . .which, by the way are outlined nicely in the Apostles’ Creed.
Unity around what we see as our reason for existing within Wiarton is necessary.
Unity regarding our goals is necessary, if this church is going to be able to reach this community for Jesus Christ.
Each committee has its’ area of concentration and emphasis but it should all point in the same direction for the same biblical purpose.
Our common mindset is that we must point to Christ in all that we do and say.
Keeping the unity of the spirit in the bond of peace means that we need to be able to articulate clearly and concisely what we believe. . . and where we are headed.
This creates peace among the believers in a church, because we are in agreement as to where we are headed. Then the body with it’s many parts and it’s many-faceted ministries, can go into action sharing the same goals and purposes.
If the whole church was comprised as the Women’s Auxiliary, or the Men’s Fellowship, or the Churchlife Committee, or the Mission Committee, etc. . . .that would leave out a lot of people! But God has it arranged so that we serve where we fit and we serve where we know we will be happiest.
Unity is based upon our equality in the Body of Christ also. One believer is just as important as the other, because “You are all songs of God through faith in Christ Jesus, for all of you who were baptized into Christ have clothed yourselves with Christ. There is neither Jew or Greek, slave nor free, male nor female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus. . . .” . . . “all heirs according to the promise”. Gal. 3:25-29
Which leads to the next mark of a healthy Body of Christ.
We don’t all share the same gifts of the Spirit.
Our physical bodies are not all make up of a hand, or a neck, or a toenail, or an ear. . . you get what I mean. We are fearfully and wonderfully made to function as the one body with working parts. People who are born with limbs missing have to adapt and wear prostheses, because it is impossible to do certain things, like walking, without those limbs.
It is the same with the church.
When Jesus ascended into heaven he lead a host of captives.
Just as an aside. . . . .that means that he had freed souls from hell when he went into the lower parts of the earth, after he was crucified. . . .and then when he ascended into heaven, he took them with him to glory!
Now. . . at the same time, when He left, here’s the part for our purpose today that is important!
He gave gifts to men! (and women, if we consider the generic term ‘men’)
He gave gifts of the Spirit to the Body of Christ!!
These are supernatural enable-ings, which in the natural we wouldn’t be able to do.
In the flesh alone, we don’t possess supernatural abilities.
But when God gives a gift, that comes from heaven itself, we are enabled to accomplish the mandate of the church.
We are not a carnal institution, we are a supernatural entity!
Let’s look at some of those gifts that are mentioned here in the Ephesians passage, beginning at verse 11:
Apostles – people who plant churches and supervise a group of churches (i.e. Paul the apostle)
Christians with this gift of the Spirit have a passion for it and must do it.
Prophets- people who speak, not in order to predict the future, but to reveal the will and the Word of God in various situations, either locally or on the global scene. A prophetic calling is often a vocational call. Prophets are often free-lance speakers, who bring the word of God to bear upon the world scene. They are able to steer the church out of a mess, help it refocus, and get it going in the right direction if it has lost its’ way. They are somewhat like the rudder of a ship. Christians with this gift of the Spirit have insight. They can see the direction of the church when it is wrong and they bring words of redirection. They reveal the heart of God to churches.
Evangelists – These people love to share the gospel so that people can be save, and they do it easily. They are often career evangelists like Billy Graham, but every church has at least one evangelist who operates that way in their church, and is able to lead people to Christ for salvation.
Pastors – These are the shepherds. They oversee the flock by use of the staff and the rod.
The staff has two ends to it. The curved end rescues sheep who have gone astray or gone down into the pits of despair and withdrawal. The staff encircles the parishioner with love and protection and draws the parishioner closer.
The other end of the staff is straight. It is the rod of correction. That doesn’t mean that pastors beat up the sheep with it but that they utilize the rod of God. . .which is the word of God to correct and to bring back a person from the error of his/her ways. When a Pastor uses the Word of God, it shapes the conscience , “For the word of God is living and active. Sharper than a double-edged sword, it penetrates even to dividing soul and spirit, joints and marrow; it judges the thoughts and attitudes of the heart.” Hebrews 4:12
They combine love and caring with correction and discipline. It is a delicate balance. The foundation of good pastoring is the Word of God. Hear 2 Timothy 3:16: “All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness, so that the man (or woman) of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work.” A pastor must be able to share sound doctrine and also bring the comfort and love that brings about healing and encouragement to a congregation.
Teachers – Where would we be without those with the gift of teaching within the Body of Christ. These are the people who love to instruct not only children and young people, but instruct from the bible. Their natural gift is to teach and teaching is a passion for them because it is a spiritual gift.
There are other gifts of the Spirit lists in the new testament:
Romans chapter 12 lists prophesying, serving, teaching, encouraging, contributing, leadership and showing mercy.
Corinthians 12 lists apostles, prophets, teachers, workers of miracles, healing, helps, administration, and speaking in tongues.
Now all these gifts are supernatural enable-ings and I want to emphasize that. They are different from the fruit of the Spirit which are graces we all possess and should live by.
Every person who knows Christ Jesus personally possesses at least one of the supernatural enablings or gifts of the Spirit.
Paul explains in Ephesians that the reason the gifts exist is 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.” Ephesians 4: 12,13
If we don’t identify, and put our supernatural gifts to work, then we won’t mature as a church. We will flounder along and never get to the place that we are effective in growing the church. We don’t exist for ourselves alone here at this church, but for the purpose of sharing the gospel and the love of Jesus in Wiarton, Ontario Canada, and beyond.
If we fail to identify and serve within the areas of our individual giftedness, then we injure the church, and prevent it from operating effectively.
If we serve in a wrong area, then we deprive another Christian of offering his or her gift in that area.
Therefore, it is important that we must each know our calling and do it willingly, whether it is a visible up-front position or not.
I remember part of my interview for this position and I was describing my style of leadership and I described myself as an enabler. I love to enable people to step into the positions into which they are gifted. . . .to encourage them to fly!. . . .to grant the freedom to serve. . . .to bring out all the best in people.
I want to remind us that God does not value one gift over another.
All the gifts are necessary if the Body is to be the Body!
It has to be this way if we are to reach maturity in Christ and be set and ready to minister to the wider community.
Finally, I want to offer a word concerning the Head.
The Head of the Body is Christ Himself. . . as it says in Col. 1:17,18. . . “He is before all things, and in him all things hold together. And he is the head of the body, the church; he is the beginning and the firstborn from among the dead, so that in everything he might have the supremacy. “
In all we do, we honour and glorify the Head of the church who is Christ. To glorify means to enlarge. . .to make Him shine. . .to make Him visible.
Christ is head over us folks.
We must glorify Him. . not ourselves!
We must defer to Him in all things.
Without a head a body dies.
The head instructs the body and either consciously, or unconsciously telling it what to do.
We don’t have to think about breathing in our natural bodies. . . . It happens automatically.
Within the church, we should be so tuned in toward the Holy Spirit, so familiar with the Word of God. . .so in love with our Saviour. . . . that the Body, the church naturally and willing lives, breaths and imitates Christ.
The last bit of teaching for today comes from the closing paragraph.
If the gifts of the Spirit are functioning properly, “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.” Ephesians 4:14-16
I believe that all or most of the gifts of the Spirit are present here in this church and if there are any missing, the Lord will bring people here who will possess those gifts.
I believe that our heart is collectively in the right place and that we, because of our love for the Lord, are ready to spring into action, as servants of the most high God.
I believe that healing is taking place in this Body; there is more to be done, but for now there is sufficient healing to be able to look toward the future instead of the past.
I believe that the future is glorious for this church and we need not fear, for God has a plan.
We at Frank Street Baptist Church are the Body of Christ. God loves us all equally and has called us all to His service together.
Let us therefore, together exhibit the marks of humility, gentleness, patience and love. Let us maintain unity in a bond of peace. . . .around our purpose. Let us willingly operate in our respective gifts of the Spirit. And let us mature into Christ who is the Head of this Church.
To Him be the praise and the glory. Amen!
