Laying the Foundations
CCCAG, April 24, 2022
Scripture: Ephesians 4:7-14
There was a man who knew nothing about cars.
He brought his car to the mechanic because it was shaking. It was a busy day in the garage, so he was told to sit in the waiting room until one of the mechanics was available. When his number was called, the man went to the desk to speak to the person would fix his car.
He told him that about a month ago, his car had started shaking, and it has been getting worse and worse and he can’t even go over 35 mpg anymore because the shaking is so bad. The mechanic nodded and went to go and check the car out.
In about 15 minutes, he came back and said your car is ready to go. Not only that, but because it was such an easy fix and you’re a good customer to us, we will just charge you for the part and let you go on your way.
The customer was amazed and asked what the problem had been. The mechanic said that there were 5 lugnuts on each of the tires, except for the front left tire only had 4 lugnuts, and the tire had been getting looser and looser, and that is what caused the shaking. He said he gave the alignment and suspension a quick check to make sure there was nothing damaged from the shaking, and everything looked good there, and they’d just charge him the $5 for the lugnut.
Isn’t it funny how one little part, not in its proper place, can cause so much potential shaking and damage to a car? You’d think the other four could take up the slack, but there is a reason that the engineer designed the car to take 5 lugnuts for that tire. They calculated out the weight of the vehicle, the strength of the suspension, the size of the tires, the torque that would be applied by the drive train and when they crunched all those numbers, the answer came to the number 5.
Just like the engineer designed that particular car to need 5 lugnuts to properly function, God has designed his church with 5 necessary positions with it.
Those positions form the foundations of the church that every Christian has stood upon since Paul’s day.
As we continue our Ephesians series today, we are going to look at those positions, their reasons for being, and their function and necessity.
Scriptures-
Eph 4:7-14
7 But to each one of us grace has been given as Christ apportioned it.
Skip
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.
NIV
Prayer
One of the things that we all have noticed is the decline of the influence of the church in the last 30 years. Some of it is because of scandals involving well known preachers. Some of it was the church trying to be openly influencing politics and then supporting very failed men in an effort to protects our rights and comforts.
Much of it thought was because of the increase of wickedness, the love of most grew cold. (Pause) Someone named Jesus predicted that would happen (Matthew 24).
There is a large documentary on a cable channel that says it “exposes” a very influential worldwide ministry essentially as being nothing more than a money and influence making enterprise that numbs it’s attendees with emotional music and then gives them essentially a pep talk before dismissing them for the next service.
It's the world system pointing at yet another possible failure and trying to call the whole church a fraud.
There is no question that the church worldwide is shaking right now, and part of the reason is we are missing some of the tools and positions within the church that Christ designed us to operate with.
Let’s start to break this down-
In verse 7
But to each one of us grace has been given as Christ apportioned it
When we see the word “Grace” in the bible, it means that God has given us a gift, unmerited gifts- meaning we didn’t earn it, and that it’s necessary for us to accept those gifts in order for us to be healthy members of His Kingdom.
That’s especially true in the church. The church worldwide was designed to operate in a very specific way, with very specific gifts operating within it’s day to day life.
One of the main reasons the church is wobbling and shaking today is that we are missing a few gifts that God has given us.
Paul warned us about neglecting any part of the body (speak on missing body parts). Eyes/versus feet, hands versus mouth
1 Cor 12:18-20
18 But in fact God has arranged the parts in the body, every one of them, just as he wanted them to be. 19 If they were all one part, where would the body be? 20 As it is, there are many parts, but one body.
NIV
So today we will be briefly discussing these gifts as vital parts of the body of Christ and what they mean for us today.
These gifts that we will be studying today are called the 5-fold ministry gifts.
These are gifts and and in some translations it says “offices” that Jesus Himself has set up to help the church run smoothly.
That word office in the Greek means “A person who serves.” It’s where we get the word “deacon” from in the church.
Now I want to make a huge point here and it’s extremely important that we see this truth-
This idea of anyone claiming any of these gifts for themselves is many will want the title, but not the respondsibllity or the consequences of it. The consequence is you are signing up for a life of service.
Not a life of fame, recognition, and prestige.
I make this point because we have wandered quite a bit from the biblical interpretation of these offices in the 21st century.
This lack of understanding that a spiritual office is a position of servanthood is one of the reasons the church is shaking so bad as it drives through this time.
Many in Christian leadership are more worried about big houses, luxury cars, and a cushy benefit package then they are about serving Jesus even in hardship.
It’s first and foremost a servant position- given by Christ! Is it not earned, but appointed.
Now, let’s look at the individual offices, or gifts that God has given the church-
The apostles- ones who go to the unreached and establish church’s. They are what the modern-day missionary represents functionally in today’s church, but the office also carries the weight and giftings of the other offices mentioned here.
(Hand illustration)
The prophets- those who carry supernatural messages from God. These messages are usually forthtelling meaning they are speaking to a situation occurring in the present that God wants to give direction, correction, or encouragement about. Biblically speaking, this was the main ministry of a prophet. However, they are most known for given messages that are foretelling future events.
One caveat about prophets in our day and age that is different from prophets in the bible-
Generally- they should be pointing out something already in God’s word.
I say that because the biblical canon was sealed in 325 AD- meaning nothing else will be added to it. If they attempt to add to that or worse subtract from that, then the message and the person should be ignored.
Therefore a prophet’s ministry should be to exhort people to follow the clear teaching of Scripture.
In our lifetime, probably the best example of a prophet would have been David Wilkerson.
Evangelists- Those who speak the gospel and have and have a usually strong Holy Spirit charismatic gifting that draws people to them. In the modern day, and especially in the Assemblies of God, we have diluted this title to mean a number of things.
What it does not means-
person on TV, even though they are called tele evangelists.
itinerate preachers who go from church to church holding crusades and such.
The evangelists whole being is wrapped around telling the unbeliever about Jesus.
The most famous evangelist of our time was Billy Graham.
Now we come to the title that most people use and know-
Pastor- One who cares spiritually for the flock. Interestingly, that word in the Greek is always translated as shepherd except here in Ephesians.
A shepherds, or pastor’s ministry is best described by King David’s description of a shepherd in Psalm 23, and I’ll let you read that for homework.
They are those who guide people into deeper relationships with Jesus and watch over us to keep the spiritual predators at bay.
In the modern church we have misused and misapplied the title of pastor to two extremes- either the ultimate authority over everything in the church, or watered it down to mean anyone who works full time at the church.
Tammie and I briefly went to a very large, practically a megachurch for 6 months. There they had Pastors of Information technology, pastors of finance, pastor of facilities.
Those are not pastors, but for some strange reason we give them that title anyway.
I will also say this- elevating any man or woman to a position of spiritual authority runs the danger of two things- one- filling them with pride and two, neglecting your role in serving the kingdom because you figure- “Well, they get paid to do that”.
Paul address that in these scriptures-
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.
In regards to the pastor-
A shepherd lives for the sheep- period. I’m talking biblically here- not how we are used to doing things, or what we grew up with, or how our fellowship operates- I’m preaching strictly the bible. The pastor is not a CEO, president of boards or chief financial officer. A person with a true pastoral gifting is not interested in these things, but only interested in the people and their spiritual health.
So you may ask, who is in charge then?
Let me very briefly answer that-
In the early church, there is was a position not mentioned in Ephesians 4:11, but is a position spoken about throughout the New Testament, particularly in 1 Tim 3 and Titus 1 is the position of elder. Elders (and there was usually more than one in a church) and pastor are fairly synonymous, with the exception being that when it came to authority, elder was usually the person who was the leader within the church, while the pastor cared for the needs of the congregation.
I know this idea is probably very new to some of you, but it is what the bible teaches.
The last office spoke about is-
Teacher- one who is gifted to understand and teach the truth of God’s word to the church. It is strongly tied in with the office of pastor, but it can be a separate function. In all honesty, teaching is more my gift then being a pastor. Teaching can be anything from the Sunday School teacher to the child care worker to a teaching pastor in a church.
Those are the five gifts or offices in the church-
The five fold ministry giftings are foundational, meaning the people in these offices form the basis in which the body can be built on.
That foundation should always be Christ Jesus. Period.
Paul gives this admonition to leaders in the church in 1 Cor 3
1 Cor 3:10-15
10 By the grace God has given me, I laid a foundation as an expert builder, and someone else is building on it. But each one should be careful how he builds. 11 For no one can lay any foundation other than the one already laid, which is Jesus Christ. 12 If any man builds on this foundation using gold, silver, costly stones, wood, hay or straw, 13 his work will be shown for what it is, because the Day will bring it to light. It will be revealed with fire, and the fire will test the quality of each man's work. 14 If what he has built survives, he will receive his reward. 15 If it is burned up, he will suffer loss; he himself will be saved, but only as one escaping through the flames.
This is why I don’t always teach what people may want to hear, but only that which is clearly taught in God’s word.
That’s the gold- preaching only that which is clearly seen in God’s word.
Silver is a clean heart dedicated to God and not using God’s pulpit and time to promote yourself or a political ideology.
Costly stones are the study and prayer that goes into biblical teaching.
Ultimately, the heart of one who stands behind this pulpit should reflect a heart and mindset that he or she isn’t preaching to you but giving an offering of work to God. If it’s anything other than that, their work will not survive the fire of HIS judgment that will come after the rapture.
That kind of heart attitude will build a foundation within the listener that will not be shaken by the events, the trials, or the tribulations of this life.
That’s how you build on a firm foundation- life up Jesus and the rest will fall in line.
If that foundation is met, then this promise will come-
“To prepare God’s people for works of service”
To bring the body into maturity
To obtain the full measure of Christ
To maximize our witness to show the world Jesus living in us and among us.
Then we will quit wobbling down the road of life, missing vital parts of who we are supposed to be in HIM, as Paul illustrates here-
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.
Landing Strip
I want to bring it all together with this thought-
When the disciples were crossing the Sea of Galilee and a storm blew in, they were fighting for their very lives as they were at real risk for capsizing the boat and drowning.
Then they see Jesus walking across the storm tossed water- walking over the waves and the wind.
Peter, seeing this, figured being with Jesus instead of in this boat is the better option so he calls out and asks Jesus if he can walk on the water with him. Jesus calls to him to come, and Peter begins to walk on the water- no longer subject to the wind and the waves but walking with Jesus over them.
Then he looks again the waves, and the wind starts to blow again and he grows afraid and starts to sink.
Notice what Jesus didn’t do-
HE didn’t toss him a piece of wood and say, “Just hold onto this and kick your legs until you reach shore”
He didn’t say, “Just take a pill and you won’t care about the storms”
Jesus didn’t say, “You need to pull yourself up by your bootstraps, suck it up, and carry on like a man Peter”
No- Jesus reached out.
There are many of us that need to reach out to Jesus again. We are getting tossed about by the wind and the waves of this evil time we live in. Many are struggling with their faith, and needing a fresh touch from HIM. Maybe, just maybe the love of some is growing cold because of the increase of wickedness we are surrounded by.
Many of us need to examine our own lives and see which lugnuts are loose, which are missing, and which are doing well. WE need our savior to give us a once over and so that we can run live this life in victory.
Prayer
Pray for food.
