Ephesians 4:7-16, Body Building: Essentials For Growth

tonight we're going to be looking at Ephesians chapter 4 we have a fairly significant chunk of passage of Scripture and it's so rich and so full of information that my goal can't be to tell you everything that it says it just has to tell you at least some of the most important things that it has to share so but I could spend the next three weeks only on this passage of Scripture but in in the interest of being able to actually get through the book of Ephesians I'm gonna have to I'm gonna have to pace myself so let's pray Heavenly Father we do commit this time to you Lord we are so grateful that you've given us a Bible and you've given us instructions Lord we know that the walk and the service of the believer is outlined here and Lord we know that the great theme of this chapter is unity and that unity is available because of humility and gentleness and patience and bearing with one another in love these are the ingredients that make unity possible and so Lord again we pray that we would not be content to just simply understand the passage but that we would understand it in such a way that we would want to live it in our life in our relationships with one another and what it means to have a healthy church and so Heavenly Father again we invite your Holy Spirit to reveal to each and every person the specific gifts that you've given to them and the opportunity to employ them and so father I pray for these men and women I pray that you would stir in their hearts a deep desire not only to know you but to serve you in their service to one another and so father again we thank you for the gospel of grace we thank you for salvation in Jesus we thank you for redemption and Reconciliation in Christ we pray these things in Jesus name Amen tonight we're gonna be looking at bodybuilding essentials for growth in Ephesians chapter 4 beginning in verse 7 all the way to verse 16 in Ephesians chapter 4 beginning in verse 7 we read but to each one of us grace was given according to the measure of Christ's gift therefore he says when he ascended on high he led captivity captive and gave gifts to men now this he ascended what does it mean but that he also first descended into the lower parts of the earth he who descended is also the one who ascended far above all the heavens that he might fill all things and he himself gave some to be apostles some prophets some evangelists some pastors and teachers for the equipping of the Saints for the work of ministry for the edifying of the body of Christ till we all come to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God to a perfect man to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ that we should no longer be children tossed to and fro and carried about with every wind of doctrine by the trickery of men in the cunning craftiness of deceitful plotting but speaking the truth in love may grow up in all things into him who is the head Christ from whom the whole body joined and knit together by what every joint supplies the effective working by which every part does its share causes growth of the body for the edifying of itself in love Paul's theme in the chapter is unity and remember when the opening verses we talked about he said I therefore the prisoner of the Lord beseech you to walk worthy of the calling with which you were called with lowliness that's humility gentleness long-suffering which is patience putting up with each other endeavoring to love one another these are the ingredients that make unity possible and so in the midst of this subject of unity Paul is going to now talk about diversity in the midst of unity how do we experience unity we embrace humility remember which leads to gentleness remember which leads to love remember and verses 1 through 6 we're Christians in the body of Christ we have a lot in common but like a real human body there are a lot of complex and unique functions within the body elsewhere Paul will write that we being many are one body that were joined and were fitted together so Paul shifts gears and we'll discuss God's gifts and then God's goals for the believer in the body the Lord Jesus is the one who unifies us and again Paul will write that these gifts were given in verses 9 and 10 and what these gifts are in verse 11 in these gifts we discover Christ goals for the believer in the body that they be equipped in verse 12 and that they mature at the end of verse 12 all the way to verse 16 you know over the years I've known men and women who were professional bodybuilders in order to develop their muscles they go through a deliberate regimen of diet and exercise they target specific muscles in the body now it's my understanding that they have specific weights for the 640 named muscles in the body bodybuilders pay close attention to their muscles but I'm gonna ask you a question do you know what the strongest muscle in the body is any idea it is the jaw that's exactly right now it's my understanding that muscle accounts for 40% of the total body weight but the masseter muscles in the jaw are located on the side of the face and I further learned today that they're divided into what's called the deep masseter and the superficial masseter they're the muscles in your jaw that make biting possible a person has recorded a bite strength of 975 pounds that's amazing so when my bodybuilding friends show me off their muscles I just grind my teeth there are five passages in the New Testament that lists some 20 plus gifts that are recorded and I'm sure that these gifts aren't the only gifts but they're found in Romans chapter 12 verses 6 through 8 first Corinthians chapter 12 verses 8 through 10 and then again in verses 28 through 30 first Peter chapter 4 verse 11 and here in Ephesians chapter 4 verse 11 in this section of Scripture Paul is going to focus on body building it's the building of the body of Christ and so he's going to give a description of graceful leadership in verses 7 through 11 encouraging discipleship at the beginning of verse 12 and then maturing fellowship at the end of verse 12 all the way to verse 16 so what are the ingredients for a healthy church body when I was a kid growing up we had a television commercial that some of you are young enough to remember you'll remember Wonder Bread it helps build bodies in 12 different ways that's what we were sold and that's why my mom bought Wonder Bread unless she was gonna buy bunny bread which I preferred but human bodies need nutrition human bodies need exercise human bodies need rest and so the people in Ephesus must have been asking the question well okay what are we to do as a local church as the body of Christ how are we to function do we exist in this world to present the gospel to a lost world or provide hope for the hurting a place of worship a place of discipleship for the saints do we exist to comfort the grieving feed the hungry make a provision for the needy again we certainly believe that all of those things are a part of what a church should do and all of those things are worthwhile but in the end the chief reason to exist as a church is to glorify God in Christ that's our primary function Paul writes about it in 1st Corinthians chapter 10 verse 31 when he says therefore whether you eat or drink whatever you do whatever you do do all to the glory of God that word glory is interesting the word glory and glorify are closely linked to one another in the Old Testament they had a word to describe that word and I I think I've defined this word for you in the past remember the word glory is the sum and the substance of all of the attributes of God if you were to take all of the attributes of God and put it in a box all of those attributes combined together would add up to that one word glory in the Old Testament it was the word Shekinah or Shekinah it's spoken of in Exodus chapter 40 verse 34 when it says then the cloud covered the tent of meeting and the glory of the Lord filled the tabernacle the glory of the of the Lord was that presence of God in the wilderness wanderings God guided the children of Israel with a pillar of cloud by day and then a pillar of fire by night when the tabernacle was built his presence rested in that place it took the form of a brilliant and blinding bright light so whatever it means to glorify God whatever that means it must mean to invite his presence it must mean to acknowledge his attributes it must mean to elevate the Living God and magnify the Lord if I were to put us as simply as I can it is to gather together and make him more and then make us less you'll remember John the Baptist when he was speaking of Jesus he said that he must increase and I must decrease so Paul begins with spiritual gifts in general and gifted and graceful leadership in particular Paulding encourages personal discipleship followed by mature fellowship these are the essentials for church body building Paul doesn't mention numbers of believers she seems to be more increased more interested in their maturity so it isn't the volume of people in the body that makes it important it's the maturity and so it begins with graceful leadership look what it says in verse 7 but to each one of us grace was given according to the measure of Christ's gift in order to understand that I want to just refer just very quickly back to verse 6 one God and Father of all who is above all and through all and in you all Paul turns from the all in verse 6 to each in verse 7 but to each one of us grace is given the grace that he's making reference to here almost certainly refers to gifts the word grace has a number of different meanings depending on its context and its use we think of grace in the salvation sense God's riches at Christ's expense but there is a grace that accompany salvation we're saved by grace it's the unmerited favor of God but now there is the grace of gifts and and I think that here the grace that is that is being spoken of is not just simply the grace that accompanies salvation but the grace or the gifts that accompany salvation within the body of Christ so Paul's point seems to be that each and every person is given a spiritual gift all spiritual gifts have a common source God the Father God the Son God the Holy Spirit in 1st Corinthians chapter 12 verses 4 through 6 we read in verse 7 but the manifestation of the Spirit is given to each one for the profit of all whatever the spiritual gift is and however it's to be used your spiritual gift doesn't exist for you it exists for the benefit of everyone so if you have a spiritual gift and you're not using it the way God intended it then you're not using it right in Romans chapter 12 verse 6 we read having then gifts differing according to the grace that is given to us let us use them if prophecy let us prophesy in proportion to our faith so when Paul notes that in Romans chapter 12 or 6 having then gifts differing according to the grace you each and every one of you have a different gift then Paul encourages the Romans to use them so if spiritual gifts are given when we're saved and then they're used to fulfill God's calling for the reason of building up the body as a whole Paul is convinced that each believer has been given a gift and that you should use them and since Paul is convinced that each and every one of you have a gift I'm convinced that each and every one of you have a gift so the issue isn't whether or not you have a gift the issue now becomes what is that gift how can I identify that gift how can I use that gift years ago we posted a a gift inventory on our website and I think I might just repost that so that if for whatever reason you're struggling because you hear me speaking and you heard what I just said that Paul said about you and you go okay you've convinced me that I have a gift but I'm not convinced what that gift is well then guess what we should find a way to discover what that gift is the measure of God of Christ's gift verse 7 may refer to the Holy Spirit who in turn gives the specific gift and so it is okay for you to ask the question what is my spiritual gift how will you discover it how will you exercise it when you became a Christian you got graced I know that that doesn't sound right because your thinking is grace a verb is it a noun but in a way it's both it's like the Texas word fixing it can be a noun or a verb or an adverb depending on how you use it and the word grace is related to a word that seems almost like a charm that you would put on a bracelet that has meaning so when you become a Christian you get grace and you probably heard the expression that somebody got slimed you know what happens when a person gets slimed but you may not know what happens when a person gets graced it means that they have been given and empowering by the Holy Spirit to function in the capacity that they were called to function in and so when you become a Christian you get grace if you don't believe me again look at first Corinthians chapter 12 verses 6 through 11 we're each given a calling by god that's Christ's gift and then the power to fulfill that's Christ's grace Chuck Swindoll writes quote we need both Christ's gift and His grace to exercise our individual spiritual gifts unquote and so Chuck Swindoll further defines a spiritual gift as quote the supernatural ability Christ gives to his believers that enable them to perform functions in the church with effectiveness and skill unquote and I think that that's right gifts are given by the Holy Spirit for what purpose for the building of the body so gifted people are given by God to the church I'm gonna repeat this Christ gives gifted people to the church they're never given a gift on their own for their own purpose that would be a meaningless gift there they're not this gift isn't given by the church that can be acknowledged by the church but it's not the church that bestows the gift it's not given by a college it's not given by a Bible School it's not given by a college of higher learning or or whatever way that you get preparation and there's nothing wrong with getting preparation preparation is good but preparation isn't the same as a supernatural gift the gift can't be purchased with money you can't go up to the pastor or go up to a leader and go I'd like to become an apostle or I'd like to become an evangelist or I'd like to become a pastor teacher it doesn't work that way the gifts aren't mere human talents or human abilities somebody might have a predisposition towards learning languages but but that isn't the supernatural gift of speaking in tongues warned where's me rights quote a spiritual gift is a god-given ability to serve God and other Christians in such a way that God is glorified and believers are edified this becomes a clue concerning your gift because if whatever it is that you do God is glorified and believers are edified chances are you might have this supernatural gift if you have a Bible study and 30 people show up and then 20 people show up and then 10 people show up and then it's just you and your wife the chances are you don't have that gift if you have the supernatural gift of teaching then people will be taught if you have the supernatural gift of evangelism people will be saved now that doesn't mean that you are exonerated and you go when I teach nobody's taught or when I share the gospel nobody's ever saved that doesn't exonerate you and say that you don't share the gospel that's not the point the point is that human or fleshly talents are never adequate for the work of ministry and because human or fleshly talents are never adequate for the for the ministry if a person tells you you know how are you ordained well you know I I saw an ordination thing at the back of the magazine that said if I would if I would send in ten dollars that I could be ordained to the Church of what's happening now well again that's not a supernatural empowering or gifting and I need to bring something up which I'm going to repeat later non-believers aren't gifted by the Holy Spirit an unbeliever can't by very definition have the gifts because they're not believers and so in verses 8 through 10 look what it says therefore he says when he ascended on high he led captivity captive and gave gifts to men now this he ascended what does it mean but he also first descended into the lower parts of the earth he who descended is also the one who ascended far above all the heavens that he might fill all things now before I get into what that's saying cuz you're reading it going what in the world does this mean let me preface it by saying again we each possess a spiritual gift the origin of the gift is Jesus himself now Paul is going to borrow a line from Psalm 68 verse 18 Paul is going to present a scripture and then he's going to tell us what it means now you might want to go there to Psalm 68 and if you turn in your Bibles there you'll see in verse 7 that God is pictured as marching and triumph before all of Israel after the exodus from Egypt when the Lord comes to Sinai the earth shakes under his feet and in chapter 68 verse 8 of Psalm so Psalm 68 8 all the kings and the armies flee before him while the children of Israel slumber and sleep he leads a train of captives and then they become his spoils the treasures of the universe belong to the Lord Paul the rabbi is singing this song and quoting this scripture that when a conquering King would capture enemies they were all owned and became the property of the king they became the spoils of war now even though it's a kind of an unpleasant analogy you are the spoils of war you were taken captive by sin and Satan you were in bondage when Jesus saved you he rescued you for sin and from death he rescued you from hell and from from eternal damnation that's what Jesus did he rescued you he saved you and when Jesus ascended into heaven he regained control of the universe the question then how did the Messiah ascend into heaven so Paul and speaking of this verse as a picture as a messianic picture of what Jesus did for you he professes it by saying okay if Jesus ascended into heaven what did he first do well before he ascended into heaven he came to the earth Jesus descended from heaven to Bethlehem's manger where he was born of a virgin Jesus came down from heaven occupied a human body became the savior live the perfect life that you could never live died on the cross for your sins and then he rises from the dead he so he dies a horrible death on Calvary's cross the lower parts of the earth have sometimes been interpreted as Hades or hell is that what this means in its context I suspect nod I suspect that Jesus didn't go to the place of the unrighteous dead but rather when Jesus dies Jesus goes to the place of the righteous dead in Luke chapter 23 verses 43 through 46 so Jesus dies on the cross Jesus says to the thief on the cross this day you will be with me in paradise Jesus goes to the place of the righteous dead all of the people from the time of Adam forward who were in Abraham's bosom he releases them he Springs them from jail he is going to reconcile them to the Father so Jesus comes and he fills all things look at verse 10 he phil's all things in what sense Paul is saying because Jesus came down to the earth because he ascended into heaven he fills all things in what what since he is the source of every blessing he is the source of every good gift remember James is going to write and he's going to say that the father who there's no shadow or turning within him that means no matter which way you turn no matter which way you go the father is immutable he's not subject to change Jesus is the source of all blessing in what sense of the gifts that are given for the edification of the body are Kant Hughes writes the gifts and enabling grace which we have has been given to us by Jesus he apportioned them they come from the conquering King they are given with great expectation on his part for he expects us to use them to bring power and victory to the church unquote pause I want you to think about that and let it sink in for just a moment Jesus gives you the gift Jesus expects you to use that gift Jesus has given you and he expects you to use it and he's going to give you all of the resources necessary for you to use it in verse 11 look what it says and he himself gave some to be apostles some prophets some evangelists some pastors and teachers quote in the believers Bible Commentary it says the names of the gifts are now given apostle prophet evangelist pastor teacher William MacDonald writes to our surprise we find they are men not natural endowments or Tao these are human beings these are gifted men and women you see the gift is more than just the supernatural ability to do something it's the supernatural ability to be something for the church Jesus goes to heaven the Holy Spirit bestows the gifts here I believe that the emphasis isn't so much on the office that these people occupy but the gifts that they exercise and in order for you to understand that I need to probably explain I believe that there's the office of apostle there's the office of profit and evangelist and pastor teacher but then there's the supernatural gift of apostles prophets evangelists and pastors and teachers let me try and give you an illustration in our constitution in order to be the president of the United States you have to be a natural-born citizen and you have to be at least 35 years of age now in order to be the president of the United States do you have to be elected the answer's yes you have to be elected to the office now if a person walks like a president and talks like a president and campaigns like a president and tries to tell you stuff about policy like a president does that make her or him a president no you they can walk like a president talk like a president act like a president and campaign like a president but in order to be the president you have to occupy the office so there are things that apostles evangelists pastors and teachers do but that doesn't mean you a Q PI the office I think that again the emphasis here is on the gifting and so an apostle by the way is someone sent like an ambassador so the word apostle apostle the loss means a man or a woman who's appointed by Jesus and I'm gonna suggest to you that it means appointed by Jesus in a two-fold way there was the primary apostolic calling of Jesus for the twelve and then there's a unique calling appointment by Jesus to plant churches to preach the gospel to teach the word so the Twelve Apostles I suspect occupied a unique office I suspect that they were called and commissioned by Jesus himself they're called and commissioned by Jesus for a specific task in order to be an apostle called by Jesus for that specific task we later discovered that they had to be eyewitnesses of Jesus's earthly ministry they had to hear him teach they had to witness his physical resurrection and so for the person to occupy that office seems remote to me since there's nobody alive who saw Jesus in his earthly ministry heard him with their own ears and witnessed his physical resurrection from the dead but I believe that the Apostolic gifting does exist my friend Don Stuart defines the function of the apostle this way he writes quote the special ability to introduce the message of Jesus Christ to a particular group perhaps a different culture and then to disciple those who have believed' unquote and I believe that this is true that God gifts men and women to go to specific cultures he gifts them he gives them a supernatural ability to love them he gives them a supernatural ability to care about them and to present the gospel to them and we might think well what if they don't respond Hudson Taylor went to China and if we were to measure the impact of his ministry exclusively exclusively on the number of decide bawls we would think that he's a gigantic failure but Hudson Taylor gave his life on the mission field he he dressed like the people and he learned there a lot language and he adopted their ways and even though he didn't see the fruit of his ministry in his own lifetime if it weren't for him the incredible outreach to the Chinese people wouldn't be what it is so God calls people to India he calls people to tribal groups in Africa he calls people and gives them a supernatural ability to love these people and to minister to these people I believe that that's a gift there are those people who self-described or self proclaim as apostles but I don't think they fit the biblical description if they've never exercised or manifested the gift of the Apostle so I believe that there must be some sort of apostolic gifting because Paul warns against false apostles why would he warn against false apostles if there was no such thing as true apostles again I suspect there there can't be a category for false apostle unless there is a category for true apostle prophet is a reference to a spokesperson or the mouthpiece of God prophets receive direct revelation from God prophets receive direct revelation and then they pass this information on to the church but I again I think it would be wrong to think of New Testament prophets in the same way as Old Testament prophets a prophet can speak to an individual or a group or a church prophets in this sense isn't again the focus on the future it isn't a person who reveals the future or tells the future I think that this is the supernatural ability to tell the truth to tell the truth about Jesus and the gospel and the revelation of Jesus and the revelation of the gospel and all that that means so again in 1st Corinthians chapter 12 verses 29 through 31 it says and God appointed these in the church first apostles second prophets third teachers after that miracles then gifts of healing helps administration's varieties of tongues and in verse 29 he says are all apostles and the way that the word appears in the Greek text it implies that the answer must be no are all prophets the answer must be no are all teachers the answer must be no are all workers of miracles the answer must be no do all have gifts of healing the answer must be no do all speak with tongues the answer must be no do all interpret the answer must be no but in verse 31 he says but earnestly desire the best gifts and then he gives us a clue into what the best gift is and yet I show you a more excellent way in 1st Corinthians chapter 12 verses 29 through 31 and then he repeats the love the chapter that all of you are familiar with and as you fast forward through the love chapter you come to chapter 14 verse 1 and then Paul writes pursue love desire spiritual gifts but especially that you may prophesy so out of all of these gifts Paul hones in like a laser on one particular gift and it isn't something glamorous or you know where you get your own radio program or or TV program or any of those things he says that that you should want to prophesy and what does he mean by that again I think what he means by that is tell the truth about Jesus tell the truth about the gospel and again the sum and the substance of the body of Revelation that's given to us concerning who he is and what he has done and we also know the word in general was a preacher who proclaimed the Word of God was acting in a prophetic role so the Prophet speaks for God but note not all people who exercise that gift of prophecy occupied the office of the Prophet the Bible speaks of both men and women who prophesied how do we know Acts chapter 21 verse 9 you'll remember it says now this man speaking of Philip had four virgin daughters who prophesied and so apparently this isn't a gift that you unique or restricted to gender but it is a gift that is given by God supernaturally in order to glorify himself prophecy in the Bible had a universal and eternal application prophecy today more likely has a specific and temporal application unless it is a reiteration of the Word of God do you realize you're acting in the role of a prophet every time you say something like this for God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son that whoever believes in Him wouldn't perish but have everlasting life for God didn't send his Son into the world to condemn the world but that through him the world might be saved when you open up your Bible and you the words that it contains and you convey the truth that it reveals your acting in the role of a prophet and so evangelists these are the obstetricians in the church these are the baby doctors evangelists comes from a word which means to proclaim the good news to tell the good news and so again I'm gonna suggest to you that there are self-described apostles and there are self-described prophets and there are self-described evangelists what makes a self-described apostle prophet or evangelist different from a real one the real one usually doesn't have to wear a button or a little sign on their chest that says I'm a I'm an apostle I'm a prophet I'm an evangelist because they're real ministry reveals their real gift and so here an evangelist is a person who preaches the gospel in such a way that people get saved so what is the proof that you're an evangelist if the proof that you're an apostle is that you go to a people group and they hear the gospel and they respond to it the chances are you really are called to be a missionary if you preach the gospel and people respond to the gospel they hear the gospel and they repent of their sin and they turn to the Savior then the chances are you may have a gift of evangelism we think of people like Billy Graham we think of my friend Greg Laurie or raw Reese I remember when I was in South America with Rahl and we were speaking to a group of Colombian soldiers these are police officers and soldiers raw gets out there and in Spanish he begins to lay the gospel out he talks about the love of God how Jesus came to the earth how He loves them and how he died for them how their sin can be forgiven and their hearts can be cleansed and they can be given a new life and that if they want to receive Christ as their Savior that Jesus will come into their heart he will wash them and cleanse him and he will save them and I watched two hundred police officers and soldiers give their life to Jesus right on the spot it's a supernatural gift Billy Graham can preach the gospel he preaches the gospel says God loves you and has a plan for your life do you realize you're a sinner in need of a savior see now I can talk like Billy and I can even say the words like Billy says them it but you still fall asleep there are people who have the ability to make the gospel plain and relevant and easy to understand and they get saved these are people who have a supernatural ability to peer into the human conscience to probe the heart to answer objections encourage people to respond to the Holy Spirit to trust and believe the gospel evangelists are willing to go out into the unbelieving world and preach the message of hope and salvation they are willing to appeal to people to hear the gospel and to respond to the gospel to reach the lost and then bring them into the church my friend Tom Stipe is a wonderful evangelist he would say to me I'll catch him you clean him each one of us has a gift each one of us has a calling there are going to be people who do things way better than you way better than me it's really funny to me and Graham Lotz is the Bible teacher in her family my friend Franklin he's a wonderful evangelist Evangelos but Anne Graham Lotz can preach circles around him she's such a wonderful Bible teacher and so we see that all Christians are commanded to evangelize but not all are given this supernatural ability and that people respond the final thing is pastor teacher that he talks about these if if evangelists are the obstetricians the baby doctors the pastor teachers the pediatrician the internal medicine specialist in the Greek language it seems to suggest that this is one unique gift of Pastor / teacher it's a pastor teacher the word pastor means Shepherd first Peter 50 says be shepherds of God's flock that is under your care and so the title pastor suggests a person who is gentle tender encouraging a person who's able to care and so this role requires strength and character the Shepherd guides the Shepherd guards but the but the Shepherd must be able to teach all teachers are not pastors but all pastors are teachers let me help you with a category all mothers are women but not all women are you understand they occupy this category but just by virtue of the fact that you're a girl doesn't make you a mother you have to give birth to a child all pastors must be teachers but not all teachers must be pastors so the church needs pastors and teachers and pastor teachers I was told of a pastor who prepares a sermon from his easy-chair and watches TV on Saturday night guess what this person may have all of the intrinsic abilities to speak and to communicate but that doesn't mean you necessarily have the supernatural ability to be a pastor teacher some pastors have a stable of sermons that they recycle but the pastor teacher should be able to prepare bread and when you eat that bread it tastes fresh and not stale one of the things that I loved about my Pastor Chuck Smith wherever I was and whenever I was when I would hear him speak do you know what it was like - have you ever gone home for Thanksgiving and there's fresh baked bread there's something about fresh break baked bread when you break it open and you put butter on it it tastes good every time when Pastor Chuck would break the bread of the word of God it doesn't have to be fancy schmancy it's not The Cooking Channel but every time you put it in your mouth it tastes delicious the Apostle the Prophet the Evangelist the pastor teacher you know what they all have in common a supernatural gifting by God the second thing that they have to have in common is a love for an understanding of and the commitment to the Word of God just because an evangelist is an evangelist doesn't exonerate the Evangelist from not knowing the Bible the Apostle has to the the church planter and the missionary has to know the Bible the pastor teacher has to know the the Evangelist has to know the Bible the Apostle the Prophet the Evangelist the pastor teacher have to be skilled familiar with God's Word and the true church of Jesus requires a healthy steady constant presentation of the word and a feeding on the word so the pastor teacher combines counsel and console and comfort and correction and confrontation a Bible teacher should be able to explain what the Bible says and then be able to apply it to our life no unsaved person can be a gifted apostle prophet evangelist pastor teacher and so someone might say well is it possible that an unbeliever or even a false prophet or a false teacher can give the true gospel and people be saved the answer is yes do you want to know why because it's not the false prophet and it's not the false teacher that saves it's the gospel that saves it's the gospel that saves people you can hear a person and this person may not have integrity this person may not have decency this person may be the biggest hypocrite that you have ever come in contact with and you might think well how is it possible that people can be saved under their ministry it's because it's the gospel that saves Jesus saves people so the Word of God belongs to the church it's for the edification of the church it's for the protection of the church and so the Word of God provides the rod and the staff that guides and disciplines the people of God so frills and fads and entertainment and good fellowship and social standing and religious ritual and richer and religious activity for some reason there are people who who gravitate to religion and they gravitate to to ritual but religion and ritual can never replace the Word of God and the Spirit of God and the worship of God and for those of you who are on Sunday remember the worship isn't something that you get it's something that you give worship requires you to love the Lord to speak to him to praise him to glorify Him and then encouraging discipleship look at the beginning of verse 12 for the equipping of the Saints for the work of ministry gifted leadership is essential to church health and church growth follow Paul's reasoning gifted people equipping the Saints for the work of ministry encouraged disciples are essential to health and growth gifted leadership exists to prepare the Saints for the work of ministry here when Paul uses the term the work of the ministry what he means is the work of service another way of putting this is the service that you perform for one another the reason why this is important is because this single statement explodes all the false ministry models that envisions the church is a pyramid with the pastor at the top of the pyramid pastors aren't many Pope's pastors aren't at the top of the heap in order to rule the the church is not a bus with the pastor as the bus driver and with the congregation along for the ride that's not the biblical model the pastor's role the minister's role the leaders role is to equip the Saints for the work of the ministry we prepare people for service here's the way I would put it my job is to prepare you to serve each other my second job is to prepare you for heaven so that when you get there you know who you are and you know where you belong and you know what you're supposed to do it's so that when you get there when we go through the book of Revelation you go oh I remember Geno's talked about this and and in Revelation chapter 4 and chapter 5 in chapter 6 in Chapter 7 and you can go there and you can listen to all of that stuff it's so that you know when you get there as a young Christian I taught Bible studies I taught children's church I had a ministry to the poor the bottom line is this all of you without exception there's not a single exception no one is an exception each and every one of you has a ministry of service to someone who's not you I don't know how to make it any more plain than that you have a ministry maybe God's called you to the inner city maybe God's called you to minister to the poor maybe God's called you to a campus ministry maybe God's called you to prisoners maybe God's called you to help with adoptions or single mothers or homeless shelters maybe God has called you to minister to people who are broken who are hurt who are helpless in some way to evangelize the loss to youth work to shut-ins to the elderly gifted leaders serve the Saints the Saints are gifted to serve everyone inside the body outside the body of Christ the Saints serve each other and the world so again it could be it who knows what it is but it's going to involve someone other than you and it's going to probably involve you telling them about Jesus living Jesus in your life so the Saints serve each other the body is nourished the bodies built up every Christian is a minister every Christian is given the gift and then every Christian is empowered to serve do you realize that when you neglect your gift or shun your gift or ignore your gift the whole body suffers and so the pastor should be a person not so much that you count on you you should be able to count on your pastor to love you to teach you to feed you but the good pastor the truly good pastor isn't going to point you to himself but to the Lord Jesus it is the Lord Jesus who is your sustenance he is your love he is your Savior he's the source of your gift he's the one who empowers you you're not to become dependent on the pastor you're to become dependent on the Lord Jesus so jesus never intended service to be limited to a few servants or even a few select men or women unlike the Marines we are not the few we are not the proud we are not the brave that's not who we are I love Marines Semper Fi marine but the body of Christ are the saved the humble the gentle those who are saved to love we serve the saints professional pastors and spectators Saints have done more to stunt the body of Christ and the church than almost anyone else with the possible exception of Satan himself and false prophets and false teachers I'll throw them in the church grows in health and effectiveness when you do exactly what you're called to do and equipped to do and then we see the maturing fellowship look what it says quickly for the edifying of the body of Christ for the building up for we till we all come to the unity of the faith and the knowledge of the Son of God to a perfect man to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ pause I want so bad to spend the next two weeks just on this passage but let me make it a simple and short as I camera are you ready we begin by asking a question how long am I supposed to preach how long am I supposed to teach how long am I supposed to evangelize how long am I supposed to disciple how long do I have to keep doing this verse 13 till we all come to the unity of the faith and the knowledge of the Son of God to a perfect man to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ how long until your mature pure perfect means mature to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ how long I'm supposed to do this until we experience a state of unity maturity conformity to Christ when you are unified and when you are mature and when each and every one of you perfectly reflect the character of Christ I'm done so what do you think the chances of me losing my job anytime soon are because here's what what we have to come to grips with when the Lord takes us home in heaven we're gonna be in full agreement some of you can't wait to get there and go I told you so I knew you would agree with me eventually I just didn't know that it would mean that I'd have to die and you would have to die but one day one day one day we are going to be in complete unity complete faith complete knowledge of Jesus Paul says now we see through a glass darkly but then we will see face to face John writes in 1st John chapter 3 behold what manner of love the father slavish tapaa NASPA stowed upon us that we should be called the children of God and such we are and it does not yet appear what we shall be but we know this that when he shall appear we shall be like him there's going to come a time of unity and maturity and conformity it's gonna happen and Paul says there's something that will hold us back verses 14 and 15 that we should no longer be children tossed to and fro and carried about with every wind of doctrine by the trickery of men and the cunning craftiness of deceitful plotting but speaking the truth and love may grow up in all things unto Him who is the head Christ from whom the whole body joined and knit together by what every joint supplies according to the effective working by which every part does its share causes growth of the body for the edifying of itself in love when you do what you're supposed to do unity maturity conformity the believer discovers and develops their gift by fellowshipping in a congregation of believers I like what Warren wears me says he says quote gifts are not toys to play with they're tools to build with elsewhere he says they're not weapons to fight with or toys to play with but tools to work together he says and if they are not used in love they become weapons to fight with when gifts operate in their god-appointed manner men and women serve each other by the gifts Jesus gives them and then he gives three quick dangers to be avoided in those words from verse 14 to 16 he says Red Alert red alert [Music] avoid immaturity instability gullibility immaturity that we should no longer be children by the way the word used here for children are nursing infants there's a very specific word for children like under the age of three years old these are nursing children few things are more creepy than when you see an 8 year old or a 9 year old still nursing this is what he's talking about children nurse they don't become aggressive in service they remain small children they become stunted their growth is limb elsewhere Paul says by this time you should be teachers but you still need someone to teach you the most basic thing unstable in mature spiritually fickle they ride the bandwagon of every new and usually false fad that blows into town they fall prey to the shepherding movement to unhealthy to prosperity doctrines that they want to talk about demons and UFOs and holy laughter in the shack and the emergent Church and whatever the latest thing that comes down the pike they look for something new and novel and exciting some Christians are like spiritual gypsies they wander from fantasy to fantasy to the next fantasy so they go from immaturity and instability to gullibility what are the dangers of deception young Christians and even older Christians fall prey to religious quackery did you hear about this that's not in the Bible that's not what the Bible says that's not what the Scriptures teach but it sounded so beautiful and sounded so right and it sounded so elegant people are unbelievably gullible and again we can expect the immature to experience being taken in and I would be lying to you if I said oh by the way I get it right every time and no one has ever told me anything and I didn't bow and I thought and I thought oh this is great yes I too have been doomed as Pastor Chuck would say I was snookered taken in by what seemed like what was right a so-called missionary once invited himself to a church to get donations what group are you with the church said I'm a member of the end group of the invisible church what churches that the invisible church whose your pastor the missionary said well your church isn't the true church I'm a member of the invisible church well the church said well then here's some invisible support for your invisible church we've got to come to grips and I've got so much and I we need to stop but in verses 15 and 16 it says but speaking the truth and love that you would grow in all things unto him who is the head Christ from whom the whole body joined and knit together by what every church supplies according to the effective working by which every part does its share causes growth of the body for the edifying of itself in love you probably understand something what is the process of growth in the body it comes from a commitment to Christ it comes from a commitment to sound doctrine Paul says speak the truth you can't speak the truth unless you know the truth and you can't speak the truth in love unless you go all the way back to the beginning of the chapter I beseech you that that you walk worthy of the calling by which you were called humility gentleness patience long-suffering remember all of these things encourage the other you can't speak the truth and unless you know the truth and you can't speak the truth and love unless you really love if it's spoken in any other way it results in a false testimony it's been said that truth without love is brutality and loved without truth is hypocrisy I think was Greg Laurie who said too much truth I'm gonna get it wrong and you blow up too much love no way too much love blow up too much truth dry up that's what he said you need both you need love and truth love without truth is hypocrisy so like children truth and love are difficult to blend for the immature it's a sign of health and maturity if you can speak the truth and love later Paul will write to another group and he'll say have you become my enemies because I told you the truth he's making it every conscious effort to speak the truth and love and proverbs 27:6 it says faithful are the wounds of a friend but the kisses of an enemy are deceitful in a very real sense the body produces growth in the body think about that for just a moment just like you focus on muscles to build the body it's the church that builds the body members feed on the Bible they feed on prayer and worship and witness for Christ in addition to growth in size then they experience maturity and love so bodybuilding it requires graceful leadership encouraging discipleship maturing fellowship I should have done one passage for each one of those but we're gonna stop let's pray Heavenly Father Lord we know that if we're going to be mature instead of immature stable instead of unstable thoughtful instead of gullible that Lord it's going to require that we grow up and so Lord we pray that maturity would mark our lives and that what makes unity possible and even diversity and unity is that we understand recognize and embrace the gift that you've given to us and then exercise it in the body that you called us to and so again Lord even now lord I pray that like these elements that were about to take Lord you crush the grape and you crush the grain that it's it's the grape that's stomped into its liquid form and it's the grain that's crushed in order to make grained the bread that we can eat Lord that sometimes we ourselves have to be brought to a place of humility and lowliness so that we would be gentle so that we would be patient so that we could exercise love and Lord again as we partake of this communion we're reminded again what the Bible says that on the night that Jesus was betrayed he took bread and he broke and he gave it to his disciples and he said take this and eat it all of you this is my body which will be broken for you and again he gave thanks and praise and he took the cup and he said take this and drink it all of you this is the cup of My Blood the blood of the new and the everlasting covenant which will be shed for the forgiveness of sin broken shed sacrifice Lord these are the characteristics that make salvation possible these are the characteristics that make unity possible these are the things that make gifted men and women able to exercise their gift in the context of a body so that it grows healthy strong and vibrant so Lord minimum we pray we pray we pray for those who don't know their gift lord I pray that you would reveal it to them and for those who know their gift that they would exercise it until we all come to maturity to the fullness of the measure of the stature that's found in Christ Lord we pray that this juice and this bread would not just be a simple religious act but that Lord we would obtain spiritual nourishment from the sacrifice of Jesus so that we would be able to grow mature in Jesus name Amen let's partay

Channel: Calvary South Denver

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Keywords: Calvary Chapel, Gino Geraci, Christianity, Bible Study, Calvary South Denver, Calvary CSD, Church, Denver, Colorado

Id: YDSsHM81cwk

Length: 75min 39sec (4539 seconds)

Published: Thu Nov 02 2017