EPHESIANS 4:1-16
September 17, 2006
New Covenant EPC
“KEEP THE UNITY OF THE SPIRIT” Part 2
Body Life - The Book of Ephesians
I. Last week we began this passage “Keep the Unity of the Spirit”
A. (vs 1-3) Live up to your calling - humble, gentle, bearing with one another, keep unity of spirit bond of peace
B. (vs 4-6) Unity because of the Reality of our oneness in God
II. (vs 7-11) Unity with diversity of gifts, talents, experiences.
A. verse 7 But to each one of us grace has been given as Christ apportioned it.
1. “But to each one” We can not say we do not have something to give in service to Christ’s church.
a. If we are a believer in Christ, we have been gifted by God.
b. Why does He entrust each of us with at least a gift?
c. It is so we use it for His body.
d. apportioned means a limited measure
e. No one has all the gifts. Christ is in control, He is the only source of all gifts.
2. Billy Waters, Teacher Touch (Colorado Springs: Cook, 1999)
a. After an accident in which she lost her arm, a girl named Jamie refused to go to school or church for an entire year.
b. Finally the young teen thought she could face her peers.
c. In preparation, her mother called her Sunday school teacher and asked that he not call attention to Jamie.
d. The teacher promised, but when he got sick and a substitute did not know the deal.
e. The lesson about inviting friends to church,
f. At the sub led the class in doing the hand motions to the old church poem: Here’s the church Here are the people Open the door See all the people.
g. Jamie’s eyes filled with tears.
h. A 13-year-old boy realized how she must be feeling. He knelt beside her. With one hand apiece, they supported each other, making the church, steeple, and people.
i. Together they illustrated what real church is.
B. Verses 8-10 This whole passage speaks of Christ victory over the all other forces.
1. He is the King and the victor.
a. Because of His victory, we are no longer victims.
b. Empowerment comes from the King to His servants.
2. We are not measly ill equipped slaves.
a. Christ, who descended to this earth, died to pay our sin, was buried and rose again, is now the one who shares the spoils of His ascension.
b. Because of King Jesus’ victory, we His servants are filled with all we need to do His service.
C. Verse 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,
1. Diversity is God’s design.
2. Richard P. Hansen, "Unsolved Mysteries," Leadership
a. Consider a tuning fork.
b. It delivers a true pitch by two tines vibrating together.
c. Muffle either side, even a little, and the note disappears.
d. Neither tine individually produces the sweet, pure note.
e. Only when both tines vibrate is the correct pitch heard.
3. Diversity is God’s way of building and God’s way of accomplishing His work and will.
a. Hallelujah! Not everyone thinks like me.
b. Can we truly say that with enthusiasm?
c. Do we invite differing views, approaches and emphases?
4. We neither will do the exact same thing nor will we do the same thing the same way.
a. A pastor is often expected to be a jack of all trades and master of all things.
b. Each church session will do some things extremely well because of the gifts of the elders.
c. But the board of elders, the board of deacons, the fellowship ministry team will only be equipped to do that which God has gifted them with.
5. It is the responsibility of every believer to listen to the Lord’s call to service.
a. Right now the Nominating Committee has received various suggestions for elder and deacon.
b. They have prayerfully come up with a list.
c. They have begun asking people to consider serving.
d. If the Nominating Committee comes to you and asks you to serve, will you prayerfully consider if this is God calling.
e. We serve not because it is easy, but because it is tough.
f. We serve not because we want cudos but because Christ is our King and He calls us to serve.
6. If we are a believer then we are His servant. How can you deny His call.
a. Every cabinet member, staff member, officer makes this statement, “I serve at the pleasure of the president”
b. Do we serve the church at our pleasure or Christ’s?
c. Do we serve when it is convenient to us or when Christ calls?
7. The likelihood in the church, especially one not relying on the spirit of unity and the bond of peace, is criticism of the pastor, boards, leaders because they are not doing everything everyone wants.
a. But God has in gifted each congregation with the gifts its needs to do what God want done.
b. The probably is only a few are using their gifts while the other hide their gifts and become only observers.
8. Burn out often happens in the church when there are too many critics on the sideline judging the works of those who are using their gifts for God.
D. Philip Yancey, Rumors of Another World (Zondervan, 2003), p. 204
1. Jesse Jackson tells the story of a visit to the University of Southern Mississippi.
a. While touring the campus with the university president, he noticed a towering male student, six-feet, eight-inches tall, holding hands with a midget coed barely three-feet tall.
b. His curiosity piqued, Jackson stopped to watch as the young man, dressed in a warm-up suit, tenderly picked up the midget, kissed her, and sent her off to class.
c. The president explained that the student was a star basketball player.
d. Both parents had died in his youth, and he made a vow to look after his sister.
e. Many scholarship offers came his way, but only Southern Mississippi offered one to his sister too.
2. Jackson went over to the basketball star, introduced himself, and said he appreciated him looking out for his sister.
3. The athlete shrugged and said, "Those of us who God makes 6’ 8" have to look out for those he makes 3’ 3"."
III. (Display vs 12-13) Purpose of diversity and unity is for the body to do works of service and the building up the body to become the fullness Christ intended.
A. Abraham Lincoln, Leadership, Vol. 8, no. 1. "You cannot help men permanently by doing for them what they could and should do themselves."
B. Layne A. Lebo. From the files of Leadership "Nothing grows under a banyan tree."
1. This South Indian proverb speaks of leadership styles.
a. The banyan is a great tree.
b. It spreads its branches, drops air-roots, develops secondary trunks and covers the land.
c. A full grown banyan may cover more than an acre of land.
d. Birds, animals, and humans find shelter under its shade.
e. But nothing grows under its dense foliage, and when it dies, the ground beneath lies barren and scorched.
2. The banana tree is the opposite.
a. Six months after it sprouts, small shoots appear around it.
b. At twelve months a second circle of shoots appear beside the first ones, now six months old.
c. At eighteen months the main trunk bears bananas which nourish birds, animals, and humans, and then it dies.
d. But the first offspring are now full grown, and in six months they too bear fruit and die.
e. The cycles continue unbroken as new sprouts emerge every six months, grow, give birth to more sprouts, bear fruit, and die.
3. Some leaders are like the banyan trees.
a. They have great influence and their ministries are widely productive and beneficial.
b. However, they do not prepare for the transitions which will allow for the emergence of other leaders.
c. They only equip followers, not leaders.
C. Notice in verse 11, what the gifted ones, are gifted to do? They are to prepare God’s people for works of services.
1. Leaders do and help others to step up to the plate and work as well.
2. Those who are doing are most times too busy to worry what others are doing or not doing.
3. It is the idle spectators and critics have time to pick apart the leaders and the workers.
D. The goal of service is to build up not tear down.
1. The goal of the church is to build people up, not embarrass them or tear them down.
2. Even when one sins, we are to reconcile them not tear them down.
3. The Greek word for build up is oikodome is the notion of building until the roof is on.
a. The belief that the building continues until it is complete and perfect as it was intended.
b. How long should it take to build up a church? 1 year, 2 years, 10 years?
c. The church is always in the process of being built up in Christ.
E. “until we all reach unity in the faith” -
1. We will not have perfect unity within the church until Christ returns. Right now it is a goal. It is what we must strive for, yearn for, diligently seek.
2. We will not become fully like Christ until the second coming or until He takes us home.
3. But we are still yielding to the work of the Spirit in our lives.
4. When you hear a word repeated within a passage you know this is an emphasis.
a. Unity in the faith.
b. Churches which have a common belief and what their belief calls them to do, will always be more unified.
c. EPC motto, In Essentials unity
d. Many have felt the sting of battle within churches which do not hold to the essentials of the Christian faith.
e. Those churches were not unified and they were not move forward in Christ.
F. The purpose of our God given spiritual gifts is to strengthen the church and other believers in their knowledge and relationship with Christ.
1. Each of us have spiritual gifts and talents.
2. How are you helping others within the flock grow in a relationship with Christ.
a. Are you using your gift of hospitality to invite believers into your home to fellowship?
b. If you can teach, are you making the sacrificial preparation and the dedication to a Sunday School Class, TLC or other group?
c. We are called to this church not to just receive edification but to edify others.
IV. Next week we will conclude this passage “Keep the Unity of the Spirit”
