"Unity, Liberty, & Peace"
Christians First • Sermon • Submitted
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· 20 viewsFocus: God, through Jesus, gave gifts to the members of the body (Church), in which we are to use for the purpose of growth and maintenance of the body. Function: For us to be reminded to use the gifts given for the purpose of growing the body and maintaining unity.
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Last week we examined the first half of the second portion of Paul’s letter to the Ephesians. Paul spoke to the Ephesian congregation about the unity of the Spirit. He spoke to them on how exactly they were to maintain this unity. He told them that the unity in which God had created by destroying the wall of hostility, was held together by peace. He calls for them to live a life worthy of their calling. He calls for them to show humility when dealing with others in the body. He calls for them to be meek when dealing with each other in the body. He calls for them to be longsuffering with one another in the body. And by doing so this would create peace within the body that holds together the very thing that God planned, Jesus carried out, and the Holy Spirit validates. I used the title last week “Unity Does a Body Good: Living Worthily”. This week’s title will be “Unity Does a Body Good: Being Grown”. As a child I would sometimes leak. My parents would have me to do something they saw to be important and if we didn’t share that view sometimes I would catch a leak and expel a forceful but short amount of air from my lungs. Many of us have suffered from this or other types of parent induced abnormality. Some have suffered from uncontrollable movement of the eyes, others have suffered from involuntary mumbling, and some even have suffered from the sometimes fatal violent outbursts! But there is something that we have all heard as children that stuck with us for a long time. That is the response that we can do what we want, when we want when we are GROWN! As a child we don’t want to hear that it’s time to go to bed. We don’t want to hear that we can’t do what our friend’s parents allow them to do. We don’t want to hear about how important school is to our future. It is not until we mature that we truly understand what it means to be grown. When we mature we understand that it’s more than staying up late, more than doing what you want to do, more than choosing not to go to school. We learn to be responsible, good stewards of time/money, and we learn that there will always be authority. Much in the same way that we mature into adulthood, we must mature into strong Christians. We must be Grown-up Christians!
eph 4 7-16
7 But grace was given to each one of us according to the measure of Christ’s gift. 8 Therefore it says,
“When he ascended on high he led a host of captives,
and he gave gifts to men.”
9 (In saying, “He ascended,” what does it mean but that he had also descended into the lower regions, the earth? 10 He who descended is the one who also ascended far above all the heavens, that he might fill all things.) 11 And he gave the apostles, the prophets, the evangelists, the shepherds and teachers, 12 to equip the saints for the work of ministry, for building up the body of Christ, 13 until we all attain to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to mature manhood, to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ, 14 so that we may no longer be children, tossed to and fro by the waves and carried about by every wind of doctrine, by human cunning, by craftiness in deceitful schemes. 15 Rather, speaking the truth in love, we are to grow up in every way into him who is the head, into Christ, 16 from whom the whole body, joined and held together by every joint with which it is equipped, when each part is working properly, makes the body grow so that it builds itself up in love.
(Liberty) What Jesus did: V7-10
This Message begins with both generosity and power! Paul begins by speaking of what Christ gave and the powerful way in which he did it.
Eph 4:7 - Christ has carefully given the infant church gifts. He gave gifts in a way that were handled with care.
7 But grace was given to each one of us according to the measure of Christ’s gift.
Candy being thrown out at a parade. Christ didn’t just take these gifts and throw them into a crowd. If this were comparable to the Christmas parade on Adams it would be the longest parade ever. Christ would stop and hand each person a gift. One here, two here, five to this person, etc.
Eph 4:8 - How Jesus went about giving of the gifts was done in a manner that was fitting of a king. Here Paul uses an OT scripture to explain how it is that Christ was able to attain and give gifts.
8 Therefore it says,
“When he ascended on high he led a host of captives,
and he gave gifts to men.”
Ps. 68:18- Psalm 68:18 (NRSV) You ascended the high mount, leading captives in your train and receiving gifts from people, even from those who rebel against the LORD God’s abiding there.
18 You ascended on high,
leading a host of captives in your train
and receiving gifts among men,
even among the rebellious, that the Lord God may dwell there.
Here we see a type of exegesis happening as Paul brings out the meaning of this scripture. While it doesn’t match word for word we see that the meaning is given. Christ makes a prisoner of war out of the state of being a prisoner of war.
Christ didn’t just go toe to toe with the bully! He beat up and erased the concept of being bullied itself. For the Christian there is no longer any fear of being held captive by sin, the devil, or death itself! Jesus took care of that! And in doing so he was able to give gifts to us! He had both authority and power!
Eph 4:9-10 - In these two verse I want to bring into High Definition that for this to happen our Lord first humbled himself and THEN was exalted! He descended first, and then ascended!
9 (In saying, “He ascended,” what does it mean but that he had also descended into the lower regions, the earth? 10 He who descended is the one who also ascended far above all the heavens, that he might fill all things.)
Within it’s context I believe that this was important for the Gentile congregation of Ephesus to hear. With their culture being influence by Hellenistic thoughts about the levels of heaven and their many gods, I think him telling them Christ ascended above the heavens showed that THIS one was THE ONE!
Gifts given in the infancy stage of the church: 11-14
Eph. 4:11 - Christ gave that some would be
11 And he gave the apostles, the prophets, the evangelists, the shepherds and teachers,
Apostles & Prophets- The first two, apostles and prophets, were already mentioned in 2:20 and 3:5 as the foundational gifts to the church[1]
Qualifications of apostles- Acts 1:21-22
21 So one of the men who have accompanied us during all the time that the Lord Jesus went in and out among us, 22 beginning from the baptism of John until the day when he was taken up from us—one of these men must become with us a witness to his resurrection.”
NT Prophets- New Testament prophets were gifts to the church to provide edification, exhortation, and comfort (1 Cor. 14:3). They probably revealed God’s will to the church when the biblical canon was incomplete.[2]
3 On the other hand, the one who prophesies speaks to people for their upbuilding and encouragement and consolation.
Since the apostles and prophets were foundational, they did not exist after the first generation of believers.[3]
1 Cor. 13:8- Apostles and Prophets will come to an end.
8 Love never ends. As for prophecies, they will pass away; as for tongues, they will cease; as for knowledge, it will pass away.
Evangelists- Evangelists were those engaged in spreading the gospel, similar to present-day missionaries.[4]
Pastors and teachers- Within this list these two are listed together. The definite article in the Greek links these two together. What I gathered from this, especially by looking at what qualifies one to be an elder, is that he is able to teach.
Elder as teacher: 1 Tim. 3:2
Teachers: James 3:1
Eph. 4:12-13 : The Purpose of the gifts
12 to equip the saints for the work of ministry, for building up the body of Christ, 13 until we all attain to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to mature manhood, to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ,
Equipping the saints for the work of the ministry
Matthew 28:19-20: DISCIPLE, BAPTIZE, TEACH
19 Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, 20 teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age.”
Building up the body of Christ towards maturity.
Directions given: V14-15
V14- We must no longer be children
νήπιος- a small child above the age of a helpless infant but probably not more than three or four years of age[5]
Eph. 2:1- Dead in your sins. UNABLE TO RESPOND
Tossed back and forth, being carried around every wind, by the deception of men, evil trickery, crafty scheming of deceit.
The use of positive homosexual images to desensitize
The use of majority peer pressure to shame those in opposition
THEY CAN DO WHATEVER THEY WANT TO DO AS LONG AS IT DOESN’T AFFECT ME! ATTITUDE HAD BY MANY CHRISTIANS
V15- Speaking the truth in love & Growing into HIM
Love must be kept.
Rev. 2:1-5: They abandoned the love in Ephesus
We must Grow into HIM
Ex. Myself having a big head and big feet as a child. Feeling as though I had a lot of work to do growing into my head.
Love (How it works): V15-16
15 Rather, speaking the truth in love, we are to grow up in every way into him who is the head, into Christ, 16 from whom the whole body, joined and held together by every joint with which it is equipped, when each part is working properly, makes the body grow so that it builds itself up in love.
The whole body joined and knit together by that which was given in measure by Christ.
As each part works properly…it promotes growth…in love
Who are you?
What measure of grace was given to you?
Are you trying to be an arm when you are a thumb?
Ex. Everyone wants to be important. Our eyes may tell us that the bicep is powerful. It is solid like a rock! The veins in the bicep make it look cool. The bicep can lift hundreds of pounds. But someone can have the mightiest of biceps, but if they have no thumbs they can’t change the channel on a remote control. Perception is everything!
Everyone is important!
Unity, Liberty, Peace
Conclusion: God, through Jesus, gave gifts to the members of the body (Church), in which we are to use for the purpose of growth and maintenance of the unity of the Spirit. We must use the gifts given for the purposes of growing the body and maintaining unity.
[1] Hoehner, H. W. (1985). Ephesians. In J. F. Walvoord & R. B. Zuck (Eds.), The Bible Knowledge Commentary: An Exposition of the Scriptures (Vol. 2, p. 634). Wheaton, IL: Victor Books.
[2] Hoehner, H. W. (1985). Ephesians. In J. F. Walvoord & R. B. Zuck (Eds.), The Bible Knowledge Commentary: An Exposition of the Scriptures (Vol. 2, p. 635). Wheaton, IL: Victor Books.
[3] Hoehner, H. W. (1985). Ephesians. In J. F. Walvoord & R. B. Zuck (Eds.), The Bible Knowledge Commentary: An Exposition of the Scriptures (Vol. 2, p. 635). Wheaton, IL: Victor Books.
[4] Hoehner, H. W. (1985). Ephesians. In J. F. Walvoord & R. B. Zuck (Eds.), The Bible Knowledge Commentary: An Exposition of the Scriptures (Vol. 2, p. 635). Wheaton, IL: Victor Books.
[5] Louw, J. P., & Nida, E. A. (1996). Greek-English lexicon of the New Testament: based on semantic domains (electronic ed. of the 2nd edition., Vol. 1, p. 109). New York: United Bible Societies.