Preaching Series: The Tie That Binds
The Purpose of the Church
Text: Ephesians 4:7-16
Introduction: We live in a day and age when it seems that the church is becoming less and less important in our society. Many argue that the greatest challenge the body of Christ faces is not in becoming extinct (Remember: Christ will build his church, so that the gates of Hades will not prevail against it--See Matthew 16:18), but irrelevant. By the way, this is not all the fault of the new generation which by and large has come to believe that they have better ways to spend their time on Sunday mornings. We are told that only 17% of all Americans regularly worship. Assuming this number is accurate, this means that 4 out of 5 people do not feel the need to attend a church of any kind. Much of the responsibility for our current spiritual condition falls squarely on the shoulders of those of us old enough to have molded and shaped Christianity over the years. What God intended to be a dynamic relationship with Him that would transform our lives and relationships, has in some circles, become nothing more than the practice of religion with little or no bearing on the way we live. I’m reminded of the mom who was trying to persuade her seven-year-old son to go to church with her. "Daddy doesn’t go," the boy said. Thinking quickly the mother replied, "Well, when daddy was your age, he went every Sunday." "Is that true?" the boy asked his father. He was assured it was. "All right, I’ll go," he said, "but I don’t think it will do me any good either."
Perhaps this insightful seven-year-old has identified the main reason why so few people value the church anymore. It just doesn’t seem to make much difference in the lives of those who participate. I will not discourage you with any more statistics, but we all know that survey after survey seems to validate this point. (If you’re interested in numbers, check out the research of George Barna.) What’s gone wrong? How is it that we have come to find ourselves in this spiritual condition? Many would say that we have drifted away from a biblical portrait of the Christian faith, constantly redefining it in light of our experience rather than the unchanging, always relevant Word of God. If this is true, and I believe it is, then in order to fix the problem, we need to refocus on what the Scriptures teach about God’s purpose for the church.
This brings us to Ephesians 4:1 where the Apostle Paul sheds some light on the subject. He tells us that the purpose of the church is to walk in a manner worthy of our calling. To understand what he means by this we need to take a look at some of the preceding verses. In Ephesians 3:10 we’re taught that the church, (lit. ’called out ones’) is meant to display the manifold (i.e. able to manifest itself in many different ways) wisdom of God in that He brought us Gentiles, together with Israel, into the body. This wisdom was revealed to Paul (See Ephesians 3:2-3; Acts 9:15), to the holy apostles and prophets (See Ephesians 3:4-5), to all mankind (See Ephesians 3:8-9) and ultimately to the rulers and authorities in the heavenly realms (See Ephesians 3:10-11). In redeeming us, God has undeniably demonstrated His great wisdom which we evidence by our inclusion as His people, called out of the world and into His kingdom. Further, as the church we are meant to continually display the glory of God (See Ephesians 3:21) along with Christ who is the head of the church (See Ephesians 1:22). Having no capacity to work our way to heaven, we are nothing less than trophies of His boundless grace. So how do we, as the church, display the wisdom and glory of God? Paul tells us that we do so by walking (NIV--"live") in a manner worthy of our calling. Then he begins to describe this lifestyle as it is practiced in the church. Here are three thoughts for you to consider.
I. We walk in a manner worthy of our calling (and so display God’s wisdom and glory) as we maintain the unity of the Spirit (See Ephesians 4:2-6). The word "keep" means to stand guard over something (For an example see Acts 16:23). Paul is not telling us that it is our responsibility to produce unity in the body. Rather it is our duty to maintain the unity that is already ours because we are one body (See Ephesians 2:14-15). This verse is sandwiched between others that shed further light explaining how we can maintain the unity of the Spirit and why it is important.
A. How do we maintain the unity of the Spirit? (Christian Practice--Verse 2) Paul answers this question for us. "Be completely humble (See Mark 1:7-8) and gentle (i.e. meek -- See 2 Samuel 16:5-10); be patient (See James 5:10-11a), bearing with one another in love (See 1 Corinthians 13:7)." We are urged, in short, to let the fruit of the Spirit be seen in our lives.
B. Why do we maintain the unity of the Spirit? (Christian Theology--verses 4-6) Again, the Apostle Paul provides the answer. "There is one body and one Spirit- just as you were called to one hope when you were called--one Lord, one faith, one baptism; one God and Father of all, who is over all and through all and in all." Just as the Father, Son and Spirit work in union with each other so that believers are baptized by one Spirit into one Lord according to the sovereign purposes of one God, so we are called to be one. To be otherwise is to attempt to mock God (See Galatians 6:7). Application: It is very easy to find reasons to be critical of others in the body. We all have feet of clay, even those of us who don’t realize it. Yet God commands us to maintain unity with one another, modeling the same humility, gentleness, patience and forbearance that He demonstrated in bringing us into one body. This makes for relationships that so appealing to outsiders that they cannot help but crave the same. Illustration: An evangelist spoke at the Indiana State Prison where only weeks earlier Stephen Judy had been electrocuted. An execution always creates a special tension in a prison, and on this day it was no different. After his message, the warden took them on a tour of the prison. Finally, they were ushered through two massive steel gates into the secure area where those condemned to die spent their last days. The inmates were allowed out of their cells to visit with the evangelist and his co-workers. It was a beautiful moment for those condemned men as they sang together "Amazing Grace." As they were shaking hands and saying good-bye, one of them, James Brewer, walked back into his cell with a volunteer. As everyone else filed out, this volunteer remained in Brewer’s cell; the two were standing shoulder to shoulder, together reading the Bible. As time passed, the evangelist attempted to hurry things along. "Just a minute, please," the volunteer replied. "Sorry, time’s up," the evangelist said. "Please, please, this is very important," came the reply. "You see, I am Judge Clement. I sentenced this man to die. But now he is born again. He is my brother and we want a minute to pray together." The evangelist stood in the entrance to that solitary, dimly lit cell, frozen in place. Here were two men--one black, one white; one powerful, one powerless; one who had sentenced the other to die. Yet there they stood grasping a Bible together, Brewer smiling so genuinely, the judge so filled with love for the prisoner at his side. Impossible in human terms! The condemned man should have despised this judge. Only in Christ could this happen as they lived out what it means to walk in a manner worthy of their calling.
II. We walk in a manner worthy of our calling (and so display God’s wisdom and glory) as we serve the body (See Ephesians 4:7-13). Within the unity of the body, each of us has a specific ministry to carry out. Paul provides an illustration to help his readers understand what he’s saying. It’s the picture of a military leader returning to Jerusalem in a triumphal entry. Preceding him is the ark of God, representing His presence. Following the military leader are his men who have won the victory under his leadership. Lastly are those who were taken captive during the campaign. He makes his way to the temple to offer a sacrifice of thanksgiving from the tribute he received from his conquered foes. This tribute is referred to as "gifts" that the victor received from "among men." When Jesus descended to the earth (See John 17:5) he conquered death and released men and women from bondage to sin. When He ascended He sent the Holy Spirit (See Acts 2) to indwell and empower us so that we have the capacity to serve the Lord. In the exercise of the sovereignty of His will he has given gifts (i.e. apostles, prophets, evangelists and pastor-teachers) to the church to prepare us for works of service. He does this so that we may be edified and grow into mature believers who demonstrate Christlikeness. Application: Failure is the likely outcome when those whom God has appointed to equip the church neglect their duties or when those who have been trained aspire to be served rather than to serve (See Matthew 20:28). God did not give us these gifts that we might sit idly by while others serve the body. Illustration: A baby camel asked his mother, ¡§Mom, why do I have these huge three-toed feet?¡¨ His mother replied, ¡§Well, son, your toes help you stay on top of the soft sand when we trek across the desert.¡¨ A few minutes later the baby camel asked, ¡§Mom, why do I have these long eyelashes?¡¨ His mother replied, ¡§Well, son, your eyelashes help keep the sand out of your eyes on our trips through the desert.¡¨ A few minutes later the baby camel asked, ¡§Mom, why do I have these great big humps on my back?¡¨ His mother, who was getting a little impatient with her son, replied, ¡§Well, son, your humps store water for our long treks across the desert, so you can go without drinking for long periods of time.¡¨ ¡§That¡¦s great, Mom,¡¨ the baby camel said. ¡§We have huge feet to stop us from sinking, long eyelashes to keep sand out of our eyes, and humps to store water. But...Mom?¡¨ ¡§Yes, son?¡¨ ¡§Why are we in the zoo?¡¨ Too many of us are like camels in a zoo. We have everything we need to live the way God intended, yet we play it safe and fail to put ourselves in a position to use our God-given gifts and talents in keeping with His purposes.
III. We walk in a manner worthy of our calling (and so display God’s wisdom and glory) as we speak truth in love (See Ephesians 4:14-16). Literally the phrase should be translated "truthing in love." As the body matures through the faithful service of its members, we find that we are less likely to drawn in by the crafty and deceitful scheming of others. The NAS translation captures the meaning of these words better than the NIV. They imply that someone with evil intentions is attempting to fool or trick another--for an example see Luke 20:20-25. We learn to function as a body of believers that (1) work obediently (Christ is the Head of the body) (2) work interdependently; (3) and work collectively (each one works!). Application: Truth matters! It exposes falsehood and shows it to be in error. As D. L. Moody said, "The best way to show that a stick is crooked is not to argue about it or to spend time denouncing it, but to lay a straight stick alongside of it." Christians are truth tellers. We lay down the straight edge of God’s Word and challenge others to conform to it. Equally important to the proclamation of truth is the attitude with which we share it. When we walk in a manner worthy of the Lord, we speak truth in love.
Conclusion: What happens if we don’t walk in a manner worthy of our calling and demonstrate the wisdom and glory of God in the church?
ľ We become a divided body.
ľ We become a self-centered body.
ľ We become an unstable body.
