Ephesians 4:11-16
Notes
Transcript
Handout
First of all I just want us to be in awe together for a moment. When you study this book and start to take stock of the overwhelming provision of grace that has been poured out on us who make up the Body of Christ…it is arresting. I say arresting because as I was working on this message this week I had a ton of burdens on my heart. I sat and my mind was spinning and my heart was troubled by the cares of this life. I felt anxious and nervous and vulnerable to spiritual attack while studying for this sermon and I felt overwhelmed.
And then, although all those feelings didn’t go away...God opened my eyes to see how incredibly giving He has been to the collected assembly of called out ones.
I was arrested by that reality. In that moment I felt like crying from exhaustion, but I also felt like crying from thankfulness. Do you ever have those varied emotions and feelings swirling around in you?
I had that as I was looking at the text and God just opened my eyes to get a glimpse (like probably just with peripheral vision), I don’t think I even saw it head on, as to how much God as supplied us with opportunity for God’s children to be united in collective praise for Him. When you take stock of what God has done to set us messed up people on a straight and narrow path to declare His excellencies…we should all be arrested…we should all be seized and taken into His custody and collectively say…thank you. Thank you. Thank you Jesus for your wonderful gifts you have so graciously given us.
Ok…that’s off my chest…now onto the text.
What we will see in the text today is the way in which God’s church is matured into a more accurate, authentic expression of the physical hands and feet of Jesus in this world. Before we get into this text, let’s take 30 seconds to consider this reality. The church is the Body of Christ. Awkward pause…we don’t like silence…but silence is golden when it can be filled with staggering beauty. Is this simply an analogy or is it a reality? Reflect for a moment on this truth…the church IS the Body of Jesus Christ.
In what was is the “Body of Christ” an analogy? In what way is it a reality?
Let’s read the text...
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.
Isn’t this staggering…some of us may have consoled our souls at some point in our lives with the thought of the fact that some day we will see our Savior face to face. This is a hope filled thought that sustains us in days of difficulty.
For some in this room, you will see Jesus face to face, but He won’t be your Savior in that moment He will be your Slayer because He will be accompanied with a two edged sword that He will use to slash you into pieces at His judgment seat. My urgent warning to you right now is to, “get right with him now…today could be the day of your salvation.”
But, some of us long to see our Savior face to face. The second last verse in Holy Scriptures is, ‘Amen, come Lord Jesus.”
Or maybe we have had thoughts run through our minds at times like: “oh, I would believe more if I could just see him…then it would be easier to live for him.” “If I could just go visit Jesus or have Him over for dinner or show up at a 1st century synagogue and listen to Him teach…then it would be so much easier.” If Jesus was somehow localized…and physical…then it would be so much easier to walk in His ways or to walk worthy of the calling with which I have been called.
If you think those thoughts your not alone…I’ve had those thoughts. I know my wife has had those thoughts. They are very enticing to play out in your mind.
Have you ever teased this question out in your mind: Would it be easier to believe in God if you lived during OT times when the prophets walked the earth, or when Jesus was present in physical form or in the NT when we have the indwelling of the Holy Spirit? If you haven’t ever thought about it…think about it now and discuss your thoughts.
We just want a localized, physical Jesus that can counsel us, or consul us. To admonish us, or to hug us. To weep with us or to side with us. To pick us up when we are down or just to get down on the ground with us in our moments of despair.
We want a tactile, tangible expression of Jesus. Haven’t you wanted that? I am not alone right?
If you have wanted that at anytime of your life…I want you to realize that what you are describing is the local church.
The local church, the assembled called out ones in a specific location, where two or three are gathered, is where Jesus is in a tactile, tangible way.
Think about how much of a beautiful provision from God…the local church is. You can come to this gathering and have the arms of Jesus embrace you. You can have the hands of Jesus extend to you a welcome. You can have the eyes of Jesus set upon your fragile demeanor and know how to extend care to you. You can come hear the words of Jesus…coming out of His ordained mouthpiece as words of encouragement or warning come to you from the pulpit to administer care for your soul and give light to your path.
Have you ever sensed the manifest presence of Jesus in the local assembly of called out ones? If so how?
The local church is the physical, tangible expression of Jesus that we are all longing for…and all of what we are doing here when we assemble is just a foreshadowing of what is to come…when His Kingdom comes in its fullness and we feast around the table.
What a beautiful provision from God.
It goes to show you how vitally important our unity is. If the local church is messed up, then the “body of Christ” is messed up. And our mission to be an expression of Jesus to one another and to those who observe us and are in need of the “actual expression of Jesus”…that mission is compromised.
We have to grow into maturity…and by God’s grace He has provided all that we need in order to grown into a more accurate expression of who He is...
Textual Idea: We have been thoroughly equipped to grow into an accurate expression of our Savior.
Textual Idea: We have been thoroughly equipped to grow into an accurate expression of our Savior.
The aim of this passage is to help us “called out ones” arrive at a more mature expression of Jesus as we relate to one another and to those who are not part of our fellowship currently.
Here is just a smattering of words that are in our text that are there to lead us to this textual idea.
Equip, work, serve, building up, attain, mature , measure, stature, fullness, grow up, every way, whole body, joined, held together, equipped, working properly, grow, builds itself up in love.
Do you hear this? Some of these words are words that you would be tossed around in a conference table between an architect as he is discussing construction plans with a general contractor am I right? These words are incredible…but they don’t apply to a temporary building that will be here today and gone tomorrow…these are words that are describing the tactile, tangible expression of Jesus Christ in this world!
Do you know what these words tell me? There is a lot of work to be done. These are words that were written by Paul in the first century and the construction project is still going on! We might grow weary and tired in this endeavor…but we won’t lose heart because God has supplied all the building supplies and the plans that we need to do this project.
We have been called to walk worthy of the calling we have been given and that is a massive undertaking…but God has provided us with the right attitudes as we practice humility, gentleness, patience and forbearance with one another. God has graciously given us a 7 fold experience of grace as He has called us to Himself…so although you might not feel unified with other people in this room…you at your core foundational level are more united than you think. God has gracious given each one of us a specific enablement of the Spirit called our “spiritual gifts” that was given to us when we were invited to the “Praise Yahweh Party,” and those party favors are to be used for other peoples benefit.
This week we are going to see God has given us specific people to occupy specific offices in the local church so that they, as gifts themselves can be utilized by the masses for the building up of the Body.
Wow! - all the stops have been pulled out…we have been thoroughly equipped…no excuses…let’s be an accurate tactile, tangible expression of Christ to one another here at FCC.
Q. How have we been equipped?
Q. How have we been equipped?
There is a very simply answer to that question. We have been equipped with people who occupy the offices found in Ephesians 4:11.
11 And he gave the apostles, the prophets, the evangelists, the shepherds and teachers,
It is pretty clear here. Jesus GAVE. The word gave here means: to assign a person to a task as a particular benefit to others.
There is a Greek expression that doesn’t really come across clear in our translations. It carries the idea of setting different items up to contrast one another. It is like the expression on the one hand _________, but on the other hand ________. It is an attempt to make a panoramic picture where you can capture and showcase something enormous.
One the one hand I like eating Cheetos, on the other hand…it makes my fingers turn orange and I feel like a slob. Both are true statements, they just showcase a more wholistic experience of eating Cheetos.
That is what Paul is recognizing here with the people God has given as gifts to lead HIs church. This isn’t a structure of hierarchy as if one office is better or more beneficial than another one. I don’t think He has in His mind that one set is temporarily utilized for a certain time period of the church, (like apostles, prophets, evangelists) and one set is more long lasting let’s say the shepherds and teachers. Paul is not making that type of distinction here, He is simply trying to demonstrate the varied way Jesus as the Head of the Body has gracious assigned specific people to specific tasks for the benefit of His Body.
I think more important than taking a bunch of time to dig deep into these distinction of these various offices that the Lord has sovereignly given to His Body, is the reason for which they were given in the first place…that is for the unifying and maturing of His Body. We could certainly take 5 weeks to look at the intricacy of each of these offices and ask dozens of questions about each of these specific offices and how they play out in real time today or if they even play out in real time today, but I think it better we simply acknowledge their existence from a 30,000 foot flyover and then land the plane in the second half of our passage to see what we can see at ground level as to why they were given to the church in the first place.
What we see when we get off the plane is that, God’s aim is to unify and mature His body through the various ways in which these people equip each member of the Body to do the work of the ministry.
Last week we talked about church membership and church attendance in the local assembly. Although the application fell on all of us, it was primarily directed to those who aren’t in church leadership. This week, we will see that those who occupy the offices of church leadership that King Jesus has designed as gifts to the church must lead in a way that unifies and matures the Body as a whole.
I have been involved in round table discussions with fellow pastors and elders that have gone late into the night multiple times a month for that last 17 years. Sometimes those late nights turned into early morning meetings because we flew past midnight while praying, discussing and attempting to discern the Lord’s will on how to handle hundreds of nuanced dilemmas the church body was facing. Church leadership is not for the faint of heart. And trying to lead a group of 300+ people who are united at a foundational level spiritually, but varied in their real world convictions concerning health, safety, politics and pandemics has proven to be daunting and disheartening at times. At least it was for me…and I assume it was for the church leadership here as well.
Will you commit to upholding your leadership team in prayer on a consistent basis throughout the summer as we seek to discern the Lord’s will regarding our future ministries?
And now I am here with a new group of godly men who want nothing more than to honor the Lord and follow His lead because wherever the Head goes the Body follows. Now the people around the table are different, but the meetings are still going late into the night and they still prove to be somewhat daunting and disheartening…but we do not lose heart because we know that we are to consider it pure joy when we face trials of various kinds.
With each revolution of the planet it seems that new information is being presented to the masses concerning current events. That information is legitimate to some and bunk to others and we are trying to be sensible in how we, as church leaders, shepherd the flock entrusted to our care. Pray for us. Hold us up before the Lord as we seek to follow His lead as we engage in discussions concerning protocols, guidelines and proceeders that threaten to literally divide us.
We are quick to admit and offer an apologize because what is currently in place here is inconsistent and rarely practiced. This is somewhat by design, but also by duty in order to keep the main thing the main thing as we seek to make decisions that unify and mature the Body.
This is tricky stuff…and we are continuing to monitor our own hearts and consciences and searching the Scriptures and seeking the Lord to discern what we are to do here in the next few months to prepare for the fall as our intentions are to roll out a thorough slate of programs that will facilitate disciple making to every age of the church.
Pray for us…but let’s go back to the text...
12 to equip the saints for the work of ministry, for building up the body of Christ,
The job of local church leadership is too, “equip the saints for the work of ministry.”
First of all…how amazing is it again that Paul refers to those in Ephesus as “saints?” This is now the seventh time Paul has described them in this way in this letter. Those who were once dead in there trespasses and sins and children of God’s wrath are now “set apart” for God and this was done by God, not our own doing!
This is a word located in a phrase that is bursting with potential beauty because what we see is that these “saints” are to be “equipped” for the “work of ministry.”
To equip: to make someone completely adequate or sufficient for something—, to cause to be fully qualified.’
This word “equip” is the same word we find in Paul’s writing to Timothy as he is encouraging the young pastor at Ephesus to do what he has been called to do there.
16 All Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness, 17 that the man of God may be complete, equipped for every good work.
What we see here and what we can reasonably assume in our passage in Ephesians is that those who occupy certain places of leadership in the local assemble, equip the members of the local assembly by making the “word of God fully known.” That is also the exact phrase Paul used to the church in Colosea (Col. 1:25) and it is also the same idea that Paul encouraged the elders in Ephesus with right before he got on a ship to sail away. He said...
27 for I did not shrink from declaring to you the whole counsel of God.
The saints are thoroughly equipped by what the leadership teaches from the authoritative word of God.
Whose job is it to do the “work of ministry.”
Okay great…we are equipped, but.
Q. What do we do with our equipping?
Q. What do we do with our equipping?
You busy yourselves in the “work of ministry.”
12 to equip the saints for the work of ministry, for building up the body of Christ,
There is “work”to be done…not just knowledge to be attained. When Paul talks about maturity or being brought to completion in the NT, he is most often pointing to faith that is accompanied by actions and deeds.
The word that is translated as “ministry” is the word:
Greek-English Lexicon of the New Testament based on Semantic Domains 35.19 θεραπεύω; ὑπηρετέω; διακονέω; διακονία, ας
διακονία
which means:
διακονία: to render assistance or help by performing certain duties, often of a humble or menial nature—‘to serve, to render service, to help’
We gather here in order to be instructed by God authorized messengers who explain from God’s authorized book, how we are to do “humble menial tasks of services to others.”
Who wants to sign up to be a member here? Doesn’t this sound so backwards to our nature? We rarely think…man I just wish there was a place that I could go where I can be told by someone in authority how to do menial tasks of service for other people. Some of you are thinking…man you just described my 9-5! We laugh at how backwards this is and it is backwards...but do you know what Jesus, the MASTER did on the night He was betrayed? He did the menial job of washing His disciples feet. His disciples. His μαθητής (His learners…His apprentices)…HE scrubbed THEIR feet.
This is what has been modeled for us…and this is my job and church leadership shared responsibility. We are to model for you and instruct you how to do more selfless acts of service so that we can...
12 to equip the saints for the work of ministry, for building up the body of Christ,
Build up the Body of Christ. This is what we all long for right? This is what the world needs right? We are craving an authentic, tangible expression of Jesus in this world. We are that authentic, tangible expression of Jesus to each other and to the world.
Q. How long should we do this work of service?
Q. How long should we do this work of service?
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,
For those of you who have been listening to the sermons, you will see something in this text that seems to contradict what I have been saying for a few weeks now.
It was said that, “it is not our job to “attain” the unity, it is our job to “maintain” the unity that was given to us by Jesus.”
But this passage says that we are to keep doing these acts of service to one another, I.E. “the work of the ministry” until we “attain to the unity of the faith.” So what’s the deal?
If you are thinking these thoughts…first of all, thank you for listening! Let me try to explain what I think Paul is indicating here.
In Eph. 4:3 Paul says we need to be “eager to maintain the unity.” and here it says that we need “attain to the unity.” What gives? Are we united and need to maintain our unity or are we divided and therefore seek to attain unity?
The answer is yes! Unity has been attained for us and we need to maintain it…but our unity comes in degrees.
Let me explain. I think we see a progression of our unity.
Look at the context. Unity here is attached to what we collectively “know” about Jesus the Son of God. I don’t think our unity can become more rich without us collectively growing in our knowledge of Jesus together on a regular basis. I think we know this to be true…that is why we don’t really like having two gathering times on Sunday for corporate worship. We would much prefer to all hear the same words at the same time.
If you think of Christian unity in a two dimensional sense with Jesus at the top of the triangle and you and your Christian buddies anywhere along the bottom line of a triangle…they closer you individually move toward King Jesus…the more unified you are with your buddies.
So yes…unity has been attained for us, and we need to maintain it and as we grow up in Him, we attain more complex dimensions of our unity! Does that make sense?
The rest of this verse and the rest of this section (v. 14-16), Paul is going to showcase how the local assembly should be an accurate representation of Jesus Christ. Or to actually use Paul’s language, the church should be the, “measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ.”
What does the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ look like? Paul will show that it is exemplified in the following ways:
When we are properly equipped, we will not be swayed by that which is not true.
When we are properly equipped, we will not be swayed by that which is not true.
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.
In these verses Paul is going to make a distinction between that with is false and that which is true.
The way you think matters. What you believe to be true impacts how you live and it can also impact what happens to you. The tragic reality is, is that we have an innate ability to believe things that are false. It started in the garden. Satan is old school. He is still up to his old school tactics that were depicted in Genesis on the first pages of Scripture. We are easily tricked by crafty schemes. If we allow ourselves to fall victim and we believe lies, whatever lies they might be (maybe its our perception of suffering or maybe what we identify ourselves with or as), whatever lies we might believe…we can rest assured we will not escape the consequences of our thinking.
When we allow ourselves to be duped in our thinking…we will be helplessly tossed to a fro by the waves and we will take a pounding.
Thankfully, God has made a way for that to not be our case even though that is what comes natural to us…here is the alternative
When we are properly equipped, we will proactively allow ourselves to be instructed in all things that are true.
When we are properly equipped, we will proactively allow ourselves to be instructed in all things that are true.
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.
This is a much healthy alternative to being tossed to a fro by winds of change. Do you agree? Look at how positive this alternative reality is!
We can speak truth to each other. We can hear truth being spoken to us by someone else when we come together so that we can “grow up” in “every way into him.”
I know that some of us don’t want to grow up in certain ways, we just want to be big kids! Me too, but we can remain childlike in our faith, and express simple trust in Jesus, but we also need to grow up in certain ways. We need to be like the grown up Jesus.
Do you know who what the most satisfied person to ever walk this planet? It was Jesus! Was he acquainted with sorrows? Yes, of course read the Gospel accounts of His life, but when you do that please pause are allow the words He spoke in John 15:11 confound you…
11 These things I have spoken to you, that my joy may be in you, and that your joy may be full.
The Body of Christ is a finely tuned mechanism that can be used to bless others. There is a lot at stake. The good of the world is at stake. We have to do this right.
Textual Idea: We have been thoroughly equipped to grow into an accurate expression of our Savior.
Textual Idea: We have been thoroughly equipped to grow into an accurate expression of our Savior.
Let’s be the hand and feet of Jesus serving in His stead.