Church Life – Pt. 2

would take their Bibles and turn
back once again to the book of Ephesians. We are returning there
in a passage that we began to consider last Lord’s Day, Ephesians
chapter 4. And when I left off, I left off
encouraging the saints, challenging the saints with the observation
that I have made in recent months that we have become a Sunday
only church, and not just a Sunday only church, but a Sunday morning
only church. But I also informed the saints,
some of whom are new to our church, some who weren’t there in previous
days, that it hasn’t always been this way. There was a season
in this church where we had all kinds of things going on. Many
different life groups. We had the institute going. It
hasn’t always been this way. And there was a reason and a
purpose for, I guess, the calming, if you will. It’s not as if nothing is taking
place. I suggested to you last week
that we are making great use of the men’s trainings. If you
haven’t had opportunity, men, to partake of those, I would
encourage you to do so and to bring a friend. But we can’t
just be content with the men’s trainings in Greeley. The four
churches coming together, those are great things, but in the
end, I hope that they are in addition to what we would do
here. And I challenged you with the statement that it’s time.
We need to do some additional things. We need to consider perhaps
a Wednesday night study, Bible study, prayer time, something
for the young people. We need to consider men’s breakfast. We need to consider rekindling
the life groups. But as I suggested to you in
closing and as we will make the primary point today, Much of
ministry must come from the saints. The shepherds cannot possibly
do it all. And so in addition to our need
of assistance from you, we need additional elders. We need additional
deacons. At the very minimum, we should
be praying for the Lord to raise up men like that. We need teachers
every year. teachers, we need outreach. We need people to look to their
neighbors, to look to their friends, to apply even what we considered
several years ago in our Sunday school class, just that outreach
kind of evangelism that just seeks to befriend with a purpose
the lost in our community. And then if nothing else, invite
them to church, hand them a booklet, Encourage them to come and to
participate. Well, I don’t know the reason
that we are at, I think we are at an upswing, but I don’t know
all of the reasons that we reached a low ebb. I suggested to you
last week that there are two tendencies. One is pride that
really seeks, basically comes to an overestimation
of one’s gifts and really puts a damage in the church when because
of their pride and their overestimation, it’s as if they could do church
alone. We don’t want to live like that.
At the other end of the spectrum, there is the tendency to underestimate
one’s gifts and therefore to neglect them. I don’t know the
reasons. But it’s time. It’s time that we search out
how the Lord would have us to be used, how God would use us
here in this particular place, who God would have us to reach
out, to touch, and to appeal to, to come and to visit, who
to share Christ with. You see, Paul in this passage,
Ephesians chapter 4, has a completely different perspective on gifts. There aren’t gifts that are elevated
beyond measure above others, and there aren’t gifts that are
so insignificant that they are unimportant. There aren’t those
kinds of gifts. The gifts that God gives are for the use in the church. It’s the greatest institution
on the face of the earth, greater even than marriage. In fact,
later on in chapter five, when in the same context, Paul is
talking about the husband-wife relationship, he illustrates
it with the relationship between Christ and his church. It’s the
greatest institution on earth, and it is our privilege, having
been gifted by the Lord to serve in the local church. Last week
we looked, we saw that at the very minimum a church could be
considered as a gathering of Christians regularly and formally
for the purpose of glorifying God. That’s what the church is. And when we come together we
edify one another, we proclaim Christ, we glorify God, we worship
Him. That all of those things are
to take place in a healthy church, the bottom line is gifted people
serve. They not only serve one another,
but they serve ultimately their Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ.
If you would, I want to go back to the passage. We’ll take it
in full. We’ll review just a bit, and then we will move headlong
into the new section this morning. Look at verse 1. where Paul writes,
I therefore, the prisoner of the Lord, entreat you to walk
in a manner worthy of the calling with which you have been called,
with all humility and gentleness, with patience, showing forbearance
to one another in love, being diligent to preserve the unity
of the Spirit in the bond of peace. There is one body and
one Spirit, just as you were called in one hope of your calling. one Lord, one faith, one baptism,
one God and Father of all who is over all and through all and
in all. But to each one, to each one
of us, grace was given according to the measure of Christ’s gift. Therefore, it says, when he ascended
on high, he led captive a host of captives and he gave gifts
to men. Now this expression, he ascended,
what does it mean except that he had also descended into the
lower parts of the earth. He who descended is himself also
he who ascended far above all the heavens that he might fill
all things. And he gave. He gave some as
apostles and some as prophets and some as evangelists and some
as pastors and teachers. for the equipping of the saints
for the work of service to the building up of the body of Christ
until we all attain to the unity of the faith and the knowledge
of the Son of God to a mature man to the measure of the stature
which belongs to the fullness of Christ. As a result, we are
no longer to be children tossed here and there by waves and carried
about by every wind of doctrine by the trickery of men, by craftiness
and deceitful scheming, but speaking the truth in love, we are to
grow up in all aspects into Him who is the head, even Christ,
from whom the whole body, being fitted and held together by that
which every joint supplies according to the proper working of each
individual part, causes the growth of the body for the building
up of itself in love. Paul begins by just using that
common metaphor that he uses plentifully throughout his epistles,
a walk. It’s a metaphor of our course
through this life, and he calls us to a walk, a Christian walk
that is worthy, that measures up. And having described this
Christian walk, He provides these seven powerful motives to maintaining
a walk that is cultivating unity in the local fellowship. Look
at verse four. There’s one body. There’s one
body of Christ among which we are all part. There is one spirit. It’s one
Holy Spirit. There is one hope of our calling. Each one of us was sinner and
yet in time God moved in our lives drew us to himself in repentance
there’s one hope of our calling and now we look up longing hoping
for it with a settled confidence in our soul that one day we will
be with Christ forever in glory that’s a common longing one hope
of your calling one Lord one Lord Jesus Christ, one faith,
one common commitment to Christ. Every one of us has fallen on
knees of repentance and expressed faith, belief in the Lord Jesus
Christ and in His finished work on the cross. One of the opportunities
to express that faith was baptism. One Lord, one faith, one baptism,
and He rounds it out by saying, one God and Father, of all, who
is over all and through all and in all. He is a sovereign God.
He is an active God. He is a God that worked and drew
us to himself through the Lord Jesus Christ. What a call to
unity. What powerful motives to the
Christian walk these are. And any one of them would have
been enough as we considered them. But Paul layers them on
one after the other, calling us to an active Christian walk
that cultivates unity in Christ. Well, we saw that not only is
the church gathering believers, as he points here, that live
to glorify their common Lord, but secondly, we saw that they
are gifted to serve the body of Christ. We saw this. Look at verse 7. To each one
of us, grace was given according to the measure of Christ’s gift.
And we noted that there is a striking transition here because he had
just finished for the first six verses talking about unity. And now he wants to talk about
diversity. There’s not a contrast here.
There’s a change. There’s a change in focus. But
the two things are not incompatible. Unity with diversity is not incompatible,
especially in Christ. The church even as we’ve already
noted, is a gathering of individuals. A gathering of individuals who
individually came to Christ, reconciled with God through Christ,
and now corporately are drawn together for the purpose of worship,
for the purpose of evangelism, for the purpose of building up
each other. Look at the passage to each one
of us. It’s all encompassing. Every
single believer has been granted what I deemed last week a gift
package, a group of gifts with which to serve the church. No Christian is overlooked. And
it’s given according to the measure of Christ’s gift. God is the
one who sovereignly decides. Jesus dispenses those in measure,
which means some get all kinds of gifts and others get only
a few. Some get stupendous gifts in
the church’s eyes. Others get what are seemingly
obscure gifts. All of them are important. All
of them are gifts of God. The bottom line is there’s a
diversity. We’re not all the same. We’re all very, very different. But because they’re distributed
according to God’s sovereignty, we can take it in faith, we receive
the gifts that God has given us in faith, and we serve according
to His grace with that same faith. Jump down, if you would, to verse
4. Pardon me. If you would, boy, 1 Peter, if
you would turn to 1 Peter chapter 4, I wanted to spend just a second
looking at another verse this morning. 1 Peter chapter 4, we’ve
already noted these gifts have been sovereignly distributed
by God’s design. They have touched every single
believer, but they have a purpose. And God, having given these gifts,
has prerogative to command the use of them. Look at 1 Peter
4, just look at verse 10. As each one has received a special
gift, he doesn’t wonder, he doesn’t say, if you have received a special
gift, or perhaps if you’re good enough, or perhaps if you walk
faithfully long enough, He doesn’t say cultivate your natural God-given
talents. As each one has received a special
gift, a grace gift, employ it. Put it to use. Essentially, Peter says, get
busy using the gift with which God has equipped you. As each
one has received a special gift, employ it in serving one another. That’s what service is. It is
doing something on behalf of another. But note this. As each one has received a special
gift, employ it in serving one another as good stewards of the
grace of God, the manifold grace of God, the variously given grace
of God, the grace that is sovereignly bestowed and hits one with all
kinds of gifts in his gift package and others only a few, perhaps
even only one. It’s the manifold grace of God,
but it’s overwhelming and it’s adequate. It’s adequate for the
church. When you consider the sheer number of people in this
church, and the sheer number of gifts that is no doubt bestowed,
it is absolutely adequate. We cannot afford to sit around
and wait for the Lord to bring in other foot soldiers, perhaps
with other giftedness. I think the Lord would say, right
now, it’s enough. It’s enough. Get busy and be
a steward. That idea of stewardship is important
to consider. One pastor said it this way,
the Lord’s people are not to look at themselves as owners
of any of the gifts they have. They are stewards who ought to
use them according to the mind and the direction of the giver. We don’t have the prerogative
to sit on the sideline. We don’t have the prerogative
to say no to the Lord Jesus. I don’t. We don’t have this prerogative
to pout if we don’t have the particular gift that we would
like to administer. We’re called to serve and we’re
called to serve because Christ has given us a gift. We’re called
to exercise a stewardship. One commentator made great note
of considering these gifts, considering your calling in Christ as a trust. It has been entrusted to you.
Now, much like the parable of the talents, what are you going
to do with the trust that has been given to you? John Eady,
arguably my favorite commentary of all, any book that he comments
on, I only wish that he had commented more. Certainly one of my favorite
commentators on the book of Ephesians, John Eady said this, and it’s
a lengthy quote, just settle in. The gift is measured. The gift that Paul is talking
about, that Peter is talking about, the gift is measured,
and while each individual receives, he receives according to the
will of the sovereign distributor. And whether the measure be great
or small, whether its contents be more brilliant, or of humbler
and unnoticed talent. It is all equally Christ’s gift,
all equally indispensable to the union and edification of
the body. Did you get that? Your gift is
indispensable. The exercise of your gift, which
only you can perform, is absolutely indispensable for this church
to be what it’s called to be in Christ. He goes on, why should
the possession of this grace lead to self-inflation? There’s
no cause for pride here. It is simply Christ’s gift to
each one and its amount and character is possessed by others ought
surely to create no uneasiness or jealousy. For it is of Christ’s
measurement as well of his bestowment and every form and quantity of
it as it descends from the one source is indispensable to the
harmony of the church. We need each other desperately. We will not measure up to what
Christ wants us to be without the exercise of every saint. And so I wrap up our review. just with that second point,
that the church is a gathering of believers, a gathering of
individual believers who are gifted to serve the body of Christ,
point three. This is where we left off last
Lord’s Day. The church is a gathering of
believers, first, living to glorify their common Lord. Secondly,
they are gifted to serve the body of Christ. And thirdly,
they are equipped to grow personally and Corporately look at verse
11 He gave some as apostles and some as prophets and some as
evangelists and some as pastors and teachers For the equipping
of the Saints for the work of service to the building up of
the body of Christ until we all attain to the unity of the faith
and the knowledge of the Son of God to a mature man to the
measure of the stature which belongs to the fullness of Christ We just barely introduced this
last week. When he mentions apostles, those
were the first rank, the immediate messengers of Christ. They were
to go out and bear witness of Christ, not just the original
12, but Barnabas and others, Paul. Some as prophets, the occasional
spokesmen of God that are empowered by God. They are given a message
by God. They’re sent by God. They’re
divinely inspired. There are evangelists that are
given to the church, itinerant preachers, as we considered them.
There are then pastors and teachers, and I would couple those together.
That’s one office. Pastors and teachers. And the
word, as I shared, should be translated as it is everywhere
else in Scripture, shepherd. These are the shepherds that
watch out over the flock to protect it. to feed it and nourish it,
to lead the flock, to pray for the flock, to counsel individual
members, to care for them, whatever the need may be. Pastors and
teachers, it’s one office. There’s gonna be a diversity
in how those things play out from man to man. There are gonna
be some that are more given to teaching and some that are given
to more shepherding. But both of those functions are
their divine mandate. With regards to teaching, what
an overwhelming mountain of evidence is given to the church with regards
to the calling of elders to teach. Jesus initiated the command,
but Paul modeled it. Paul modeled it when he said
that he He did not hold back from teaching anything that was
profitable when he made his comments to the Ephesian elders there
in Acts chapter 20. And he said he went about teaching
them publicly and from house to house. He went about unfolding
the scriptures and imparting information. So great is this
calling that Paul says the scope Who do we teach? The scope is
every single believer. Colossians 1.28, it’s kind of
our church verse. We proclaim Him, admonishing
every man and teaching every man with all wisdom so that we
may present every man complete in Christ. It’s the calling of
pastors and teachers to teach. They not only shepherd the flock,
but they teach. And why did God give all these
gifts to the church? This is where I want to dial
you in this morning. If you would, look at verse 12. Why apostles? Why prophets? Why evangelists? Why pastors
and teachers? For the equipping of the saints
for the work of service. to the building up of the body
of Christ until we all attain to the unity of the faith and
the knowledge of the Son of God to a mature man. Let’s pause
for a minute and just look at that first phrase, for the equipping
of the saints. That’s why they’re given. That’s
what the apostles who laid the foundation were given for the
equipping of the church. The prophets came along. I would
say that in some cases the New Testament writers came along
to impart truth, to give God’s mind on various topics for the
equipping of the saints. And then along came evangelists
that came into the world, into a fallen world, into a sinful
world, and they called out by God’s grace believers, believers
in the Lord Jesus Christ, for the equipping of the saints.
There would be no saints, right, without evangelists? And then
came the pastors and teachers. And the pastors and teachers,
they shepherd the flock, they watch over them, they look for
sinful tendencies, they look for idleness, they look for all
kinds of things that stand in the way of their equipping. They teach them. They teach them. This word equipping was used
to describe the furnishing of a house. The house was incomplete
until it had furniture in it. We can imagine that, can’t we?
The word was also used of mending a net. The net gets a hole in
it and it’s really rather worthless for catching fish. In fact, it
will go quickly from bad to worse unless it is mended, equipped. And so in that sense, the word
almost takes on this meaning, to make perfect. That’s what
God has gifted all of these particular offices to do, to perfect the
saints. So the God-given purpose for
all of these special offices, and I would believe only one
of which is active today, that of pastors and teachers, The
reason God has given all of these is for the purpose of perfecting
the church, perfecting the saints in the church, equipping them,
making them ready to function fully. For what? Paul tells us absolutely
plainly. What are they equipped for? For
what are they perfected? for the equipping of the saints
for the work of service. It’s the saints who do the service.
It’s the saints, really and truly, in a very real way, who do ministry.
We tend to think just the opposite, that only the professionals do
the ministry. Only those that are ordained
do ministry. Only pastors, only elders do
ministry. The bottom line is, here Paul
says, no, that’s not the case. The pastors Equip the saints. The saints do the work of service. The saints really carry out the
ministry. The illustrative, amazing word
here is diakonia. You hear it. It’s a word from
where we get our word deacon. And in a very real way, he says
that pastors and teachers equip the saints in order to be deacons,
servants, all of them. He’s not suggesting that the
church is to be full of men who hold a particular office, that
of deacon. The word means service. When you talk about deacons,
you should be able to look at them and say, there goes a servant
of Christ. That’s what deacons are, but
he’s taking a much more, he’s talking rather much more generally
here. He’s talking about the church
in general. He’s talking about service. And
all of the church, all of the saints are called to be servants
in the church. They’re all in ministry. When was the last time you introduced
yourself? What do you do? I’m a minister. You are. That’s what
God just called you. Service is doing something for
another person. And in a very real way, whatever
it is, I don’t know in every case, but if you have placed
your faith in Christ, God has gifted you through His Son, the
Lord Jesus, God has equipped you through the leadership of
the church, and God has set you free to serve. What a privilege
we have to serve Christ. When you first fell on knees
of repentance, right? You would have given everything.
You would have given all your money, You essentially verbally
declare that no matter what, I am sold out. Thank you for
saving my soul from eternal damnation. I am willing to do anything for
you now. And then that sentiment begins
to fade, doesn’t it? And then we begin to get about
life and we begin to get about our business. And then we see,
perhaps in our own estimation, how feebly we’ve been gifted.
Perhaps we pout. But this isn’t just any service
that Christ calls us to, but it’s spiritual service. It’s
the exercise of our God-given gifts. It’s legitimate, official
service from the least to the greatest, no matter what it is,
no matter how grand or how puny it is viewed in the eyes of others. It is the service of Christ.
It’s the very thing that we declared on knees of repentance that we
would do. One pastor said it this way,
this service, the business or use of the Christian ministry,
the spiritual advancement of the church is the ultimate design
of the Christian pastorate. So in other words, our whole
effort should be to equip you. It labors to increase the members
of the church and to prompt and conform their spiritual progress. Our whole goal should be, you
know, where are we lacking? How do we equip them? Paul is
speaking of the readiness for service of all believers, every
single one of them. And I would even say that that
includes young people. If they have placed their faith
in Christ, In some capacity, they should already begin to
be about the service of Christ. He’s talking about a readiness,
a willingness, an active service of the Lord Jesus Christ from
the seemingly mundane to the most spiritual undertaking in
the church. One dear saint said it this way. He said, the ministry preaches
and rules to secure this, which is, at the same time the purpose
of Him who appointed and blesses it. so that the more the knowledge
of the saints grow and their piety ripens, the more vigorous
their faith, the more ardent their love, the more serene and
heavenly their temperament, the more of such perfecting they
gather to them and enjoy under the ordinances of grace, then
the more do they contribute in their personal holiness and influence
to the extension of the revival of the church of Christ. From
time to time I hear this, I hear it all the time. I’m just, I’m
in a low ebb. You know, I just can’t find a
church, and I’m really not plugged in, but I’m just not there right
now. That’s the problem. You see,
if we engaged, if we plugged in, if we began to serve and
find some way to be an outlet for the gifts that Christ has
given, that’s where the energy comes from. That’s where The
wheels begin to turn. The shepherds take them and equip
them and set them free. But even that has a God-given
purpose. It’s not just that we come to serve for service sake.
Okay, I’m just an outlet. I’m just getting it out of my
system here serving in the church. There’s a purpose. There’s a
God-given purpose. Look again at verse 12. He gave. apostles and prophets and pastors
and teachers for the equipping of the saints for the work of
the service to the building up of the body of Christ. That’s
the main point. That’s what it’s all about. Christ
gave all this, these various gifts to the church to train
and ground fellow Christians who are themselves gifted. And
Christ did so because he wanted all the believers in his church
to be built up. Christian ministry is not the
exclusive duty of the pastors and or the deacons. It excludes
the infinitely varied saints, God’s people. All believers are
to be in the process of being trained so that they can be used. The building up of the body is the duty of each and every
Christian. each in turn doing their part
according to their giftedness, drawing in others and building
up those who are already in our midst. Now, knowing that this
is the place where a Christian comes to be trained, the church
is the place where a Christian comes to be trained so that he
can be equipped for usefulness, the particular ministry of building
up the body of Christ, his church, Somebody might ask the question,
how long? How long do shepherds have to
build these saints for service? And once they’re in service,
how long do saints have to do this service? How long do we
work on this whole church building program? Look at verse 13. How long? until we all attain
to the unity of the faith. Uh-oh. And the knowledge of the Son
of God. Uh-oh. To a mature man. Uh-oh. To the measure of the stature
which belongs to the fullness of Christ. Do you see what’s
going on here? Paul gets going and he picks
up momentum. And he says, look, the church is not complete. The
church is not complete. The church is not complete. So we measure up to Christ’s
standard. Until we all attain to the unity
of the faith, it’s not just the unity that’s basic to Christianity,
that’s to be expected, but the unity of the faith, each and
every child of God should come to faith in Jesus Christ. There
are those in our midst who are not in Christ. And that ought
to be our goal every Sunday when we gather together. All week
long we should be praying for these young people, people that
have come for a long time, praying for them, appealing to God that
He would save their soul until we all attain to the unity of
the faith and the knowledge of the Son of God. Beyond just basic
faith, I would call this doctrinal groundedness. Well, you could
look around and you could say, Yeah, we’re not quite there yet,
are we? Many people have all kinds of questions, all kinds
of different questions, some that are very basic questions. I would say we need to get busy,
wouldn’t you? Until we all attain to the unity of faith, the knowledge
of the Son of God, to a mature man. And I would even say that
doesn’t need to be considered sexist there. It’s every last
individual needs to become spiritually mature. Well, I would say you
just take a look around. We’ve got a long way to go, right?
We need to grow. We need to become mature. We
need to get over our worry. We need to get over our excuses. We need to get over our weaknesses
and failings and foolishness and grow up. And the only way
we do that is by the exercise of everybody’s gifts to help
us to grow up. Until we all attain to the unity
of the faith, the knowledge of the son of God, to a mature man,
to the measure of the stature which belongs to the fullness
of Christ. It’s a, it’s a high standard. It’s an exceedingly
high standard. It’s glorification ultimately,
but we ought to be pressing on in that direction, shouldn’t
we? We can’t rest on justification by faith and forget it completely
about sanctification. If we see sin in a brother’s
life, we should encourage him to be rid of that sin. To the building up of the body
of Christ. And so I would ask you, how is
the Lord now? How is the Lord even right now
actively using you in the building up of the body of Christ. Because
I would say that if you can honestly say, and I think you must, if
you honestly say, at the moment he’s not using me in the building
up of the body of Christ, it’s time. It’s time. Time to get busy. It’s time to
serve your Redeemer, the one that ransomed your soul from
the devil himself. It’s time. Now, if verse 13 answers the
question, how long? And I think it does. Verse 14
gives us the purpose. Why build? To what end? What’s the use? Why bother? Why should I concern myself with
getting trained? Why should I use my gifts? Why
should I serve Christ? Now watch this. Paul answers
this question, why, in a really simple but amazing way. Essentially, he says, not that,
but this. God desires, as you’ll see, not
a shipwreck waiting to happen, but a fully mature, fully functioning
body, a body of Christ. That’s why. That’s why we labor. That’s why we exercise our giftedness. That’s why we serve Christ. Look
at verse 14. Now it says, if you’re reading
the New American Standard, as a result, I think it’s far better
to translate this here, that, so that. It gives us the purpose. To what end? That we are no longer
to be children, tossed here and there by waves, carried about
by every wind of doctrine, by the trickery of men, by craftiness
and deceitful scheming. I would say that describes most
Christians, wouldn’t you? They’re reading this book this
week and they’re all caught up in this and they’re in a dither
because they’re reading this book and then next week it’s
something else. God himself doesn’t want the
church, the people of Christ, to be characterized as a bunch
of babies, but watch this, aboard a storm-tossed ship. bound to
founder on the rocks. Do you see what Paul’s saying
here? This is one of the most horrific images, I think, in
all of the New Testament. It’s the image of an impending
shipwreck, not an illustration that Paul was unfamiliar with,
right? That he had suffered shipwreck on numerous occasions. But it’s
an apt image that’s drawn from real life experience. And is
there any image more terrifying than a boatload of children on
a stormy sea? That’s the image. And his point is that only a
very sick child remains perpetually dependent on others for nourishment. It’s a boatload of sick children.
It gets even worse. God’s desire for the church is
maturity, not infancy. God’s desire for the church,
for His people, is to be trained, and to be wise, and to be strong,
and discerning, and capable, and God-honoring. And so, as
I suggested, Paul says, not this. Not a shipwreck waiting to happen.
an immature, untaught, untrained, aimless gathering of people.
Not that, but this. Look at verse 15. But speaking
the truth, we are to grow up. I mean, let’s just park there
for a minute. It’s time. It’s time to grow up. It’s time
to set aside foolish things and set aside childish things. The
world is a very serious place, getting more so every day, isn’t
it? It’s time to grow up. Speaking the truth in love, we
are to grow up in all aspects. You see, there are some areas
where perhaps some of us have achieved some measure of maturity,
and well we should, in order to serve Christ. But other areas
of our life, perhaps the parts that people
don’t see, they’re puny, they’re weak, they’re
feeble, they’re immature. Paul says it’s time. It’s time to grow up in all aspects
into Him who is the head, even Christ. that every member needs
to mature, every member needs to become what Christ would have
them to be, who is the head, even Christ. And then I want
you to note verse 16. Because here’s how, here’s how
it really lays out. We are to grow up, verse 16,
from whom the whole body, skip to the bottom, causes the growth
of the body. The whole body causes the growth
of the body. The first thing to note here
is just how much the saints of the church are intertwined. They’re
utterly dependent on one another in order to become what God wants
them to be, what God desires them to be. We cannot go it alone
in Christianity. We are to be intertwined. And the fabric is made strong
each time we thread a new believer into that. Paul says it the same
way in Romans. Just as we have many members
in one body, and all the members do not have the same function,
so we, who are many, are one body in Christ, and get this,
and individually members of one another. The whole body causes the growth
of the body. We cannot go it alone in Christianity. Those, I’ve heard of those lone
ranger Christians who, you know, I call them victims. It’s a matter
of time. Live up in the mountains, don’t
need the church, don’t need other believers around you. That’s
a disaster waiting to happen, isn’t it? John Calvin, in his
inimitable style. He doesn’t mince words about
this. John Calvin says, they therefore are insane who neglecting
the ministry of the church hope to be perfect in Christ. You
see what he says? You think you want to try and
go it alone and yet be perfected and grow into who Christ wants
you to be without the church? You’re crazy. They therefore
are insane who neglecting the ministry of the church hope to
be perfect in Christ as is the case with fanatics who pretend
secret revelations of the Spirit and the proud who content themselves
with the private reading of the scriptures and imagine that they
do not need the ministry of the church. You’ve lost your mind,
Calvin says. The basic thought of the whole
concluding section here is that in order for the church to achieve
maturity, in order for the church to be what Christ wishes it to
be, the whole body causes the growth of the body. But look
further at verse 16. The whole body being fitted and
held together by that which every joint supplies. According to
the proper working, of each individual part. Here’s how you do it. You say one particular individual
part doesn’t want to be part of the fabric. Now the joints
are disturbed and now the entire body is not what the body is
supposed to be by God’s design. But when every believer When
every part of the body is working properly, they individually supply
their portion. They contribute to the building
of the body. It’s small in their own eyes,
but they’re part of it. They’re part of the fabric. Their
particular element of the body, the joint, if you will, their
individual part is doing its part. And the church now becomes
the training ground for maturity. I recently had the privilege
of attending a performance of the Messiah. And I sat before
the performance started, and I just watched the orchestra
warming up. And I could hear, if I watched
a particular instrument, and I focused on different things,
different instruments, I could hear the violin over here. And
then I could hear the oboe. And now the trumpet. And then
the big timpani drum, I could hear him in the background kind
of tuning it. All the various instruments. But then the conductor came out
and took the stage. And from the moment the orchestra
began to play, I couldn’t discern one instrument from another because
it now became a symphony. And now, they now were doing
their God-given function together, and it became what God designed
it to be. In thinking of this particular
verse, I wondered, what if one horn were out of tune? What if
one musician just decided, I’m going to skip it tonight and
not play my part? What a noisy mess it would be. Brothers and sisters in Christ,
it’s time. The Lord has given us this incredible
facility. He’s given us, to me, what we lack in quantity, we
make up with in quality of the saints of this body. And it’s
time. It’s time to grow up into all
aspects into Him, even Christ. Let’s pray. Our merciful King, we humble
ourselves in your glorious presence. And I pray for the saints of
this body, that you would embolden them and stir their hearts, that
you would encourage them. If they’ve tried things in the
past and failed, grant them encouragement to try again. Lord, if there
are needs, we pray that you would just cause them to share those
needs that others may come alongside. Father, we pray that you would
grant us the grace as shepherds to watch over our flock faithfully
and to teach them according to their need, to watch for areas
where we can equip the saints. And Father, grant the saints
a hunger, a thirst to be used for your glory in the exercise
of their gifts. Father, what a beautiful symphony
it will be in the end when all are functioning according to
their God-given giftedness. Lord, we thank you. We thank
you for this passage. We pray for your direction and
guidance in it. We pray all of these things in
Jesus name. Amen.