All Hands On Deck
Notes
Transcript
Introduction
Introduction
The Church is like a Royal Navy composed of battleships:
Flying the colors of the King
Beat to quarters by the captain
Tasked to follow the chartered course
I. Flying the Colors of the King (vv. 1-6)
I. Flying the Colors of the King (vv. 1-6)
A. Why do people follow leaders?
They share common values
They share a common purpose or goal
They need encouragement or direction
Ephesians 4:1 begins with the word therefore, instructing the reader to bring to mind something previous. In chapters 1-3, Paul expands upon the nature of Christ and all He has done for His Church.
We have redemption through His blood (Eph. 1:7)
We are made holy and blameless in His sight, adopted as sons of Jesus Christ (Eph. 1:4-5)
We have power in Christ; the same mighty power by which God raised Him from the dead (Eph. 1:19-20)
We are the workmanship of Christ, created for good works (Eph. 2:10)
We were once strangers, but are now citizens of God’s family (Eph. 2:19)
We are part of the generation witnessing the mystery of Christ revealed and acted out in the world (Eph. 3:4-5)
We serve a King who is able to do abundantly more than all we ask or think (Eph. 3:20)
Because of all this, and so much more, Paul begs the Church to lead a life worthy of your calling.
We serve the King and accept our calling not because we are worthy, but because He is worthy.
We gladly offer our service, not to earn His favor, but because we have begun to understand, as Ephesians 3:18-19 (NLT) says, “How wide, how long, how high and how deep His love is … though it is to great to understand fully.”
B. What does a leading a worthy life look like aboard this battleship that is the church?
We are to be humble and gentle
Paul reminds his readers, “Guess what? The Church isn’t about you!”
We are to be patient (NKJV uses longsuffering)
This might come as a shock to you, but even Christians will wrong and hurt each other.
21 Then Peter came and said to Him, “Lord, how often shall my brother sin against me and I forgive him? Up to seven times?” 22 Jesus said to him, “I do not say to you, up to seven times, but up to seventy times seven.
22 The faithful love of the Lord never ends! His mercies never cease. 23 Great is his faithfulness; his mercies begin afresh each morning.
1 Therefore be imitators of God, as beloved children; 2 and walk in love, just as Christ also loved you and gave Himself up for us, an offering and a sacrifice to God as a fragrant aroma.
We must make every effort to keep ourselves united in the Spirit
Jesus has created the unity, but we are tasked with keeping it.
Notice it is a spiritual unity, united in the cause of Christ and as members of His body.
It does say every church should look the same, feel the same, or sound the same.
It does not say the vast multitude of Christian denominations is wrong. While there are sometimes slight doctrinal differences, the majority of denominations differ in preferences and styles of worship. In this we see diversity, not disunity.
Problems can arise from our preferences though:
11 For some members of Chloe’s household have told me about your quarrels, my dear brothers and sisters. 12 Some of you are saying, “I am a follower of Paul.” Others are saying, “I follow Apollos,” or “I follow Peter,” or “I follow only Christ.”
4 For when one says, “I am of Paul,” and another, “I am of Apollos,” are you not mere men? 5 What then is Apollos? And what is Paul? Servants through whom you believed, even as the Lord gave opportunity to each one. 6 I planted, Apollos watered, but God was causing the growth.
C. For there is One.
The Church, the body of Christ, is not united by a particular pastor, style of worship, or membership to a body. They are united under the colors of Christ.
II. Beat to Quarters By the Captain (vv. 7-13)
II. Beat to Quarters By the Captain (vv. 7-13)
A. We are united in Christ, yet we each have different gifts, talents, and spheres of influence.
Each of us has at least one spiritual gift given to us by the grace of God.
15 And to one he gave five talents, to another two, and to another one, to each according to his own ability; and immediately he went on a journey.
God knows exactly what each of us is able to handle and gives gifts to us accordingly. It does not matter how many gifts we have. What matters is how we use the gifts God has given to us.
Sadly, in the Church today, there are far too many people who have buried their talent(s) in the sand, being unwilling, afraid, or feeling it useless to be used.
But Who gives the gifts?
Jesus! He is the man in the story who entrusted His gifts to His servants. No matter how great or small you deem your gift(s) to be, it was given to you by the Creator of the heavens and the earth. What gift could possibly be more valuable than that?
20 But now there are many members, but one body. 21 And the eye cannot say to the hand, “I have no need of you”; or again the head to the feet, “I have no need of you.” 22 On the contrary, it is much truer that the members of the body which seem to be weaker are necessary;
By the mighty power of God, Jesus Christ, who descended down to earth (important because in no other world religion will you find a god that humbles himself to the lowest form) ascended into heaven. In doing so, He poured out gifts and talents so that He might fill the entire universe with Himself.
7 “But I tell you the truth, it is to your advantage that I go away; for if I do not go away, the Helper will not come to you; but if I go, I will send Him to you.
B. Specific gifts given to the Church.
Apostles
Apostles — In the NT, those qualified to bear Spirit-filled witness of Christ (i.e. the twelve, Paul, Barnabas, James)
apostles — Today, the gift of apostleship is seen in leaders who Spirit-commissioned individuals, messengers, or missionaries sent out to establish church and plant churches.
Prophets
In the OT, tasked with speaking the word of God by the Spirit in order to encourage the people to remain faithful in their covenant relationship. At times, the Spirit also reveals future events to them.
Today, the gift of prophecy is seen in individuals who are called by God to warn, exhort, comfort, and edify. Many pastors also possess the gift of prophecy.
Evangelists
Individuals who are especially anointed to proclaim the Gospel message of Christ to those who unsaved so that they may be awakened to the faith.
Pastors/Teachers
The task of a pastor is clearly defined in Acts 20 and 1 Peter 5 as safeguarding the apostolic truth, God’s flock, and watching out for false doctrine and teachers.
As teachers, pastors clarify, expound, and proclaim God’s Word with effectiveness and power with the help of the Holy Spirit to build up the body of Christ.
C. What is the purpose of these gifts? Who does the real work of ministry?
In the 19th century, the captain was the highest rank in the navy. At sea, he was expected to always have the ship battle ready and was responsible for training the crew. All decisions ran through him, and he would direct the entirety of operations on the vessel.
When an engagement began, the captain would order the crew beat to quarters — a drum beat which signaled and directed each man to his particular station.
In the same way, it is the Holy Spirit speaking through pastors and leaders within the church proclaiming and teaching the Word to Christians which serves as the spiritual drum beat that is the call to arms. It’s all hands on deck folks.
The pastors, elders, and various leaders within a church act like the captain and officers aboard a navy ship. Their responsibility is to equip God’s people to do His work and build up the church.
If a captain had not trained his men, they would not understand or complete their tasks.
If a crew had members who failed in their duties, the well-oiled machine would quickly grind to a halt.
A man-of-war ship in the 19th century might take 450-500 men to correctly operate. Yes, decisions ran through the captain, but it required a unified body of working members to complete the task.
It is the same in the church. The church is not a cruise ship where a few do the work. The church is a battleship, with each member of the body using their gifts and talents to wage war against the enemy, the spiritual powers of darkness, and proclaiming the light of Christ to a blind, unbelieving world.
D. How long are we in this battle mode in the church?
Until Jesus Christ returns. Paul says, this will continue until we all come to such unity in our faith and knowledge of God’s Son that we will be mature in the Lord, measuring up to the full and complete standard of Christ.
Until we are home with the Lord, praising Him in His presence, there is still work to be done.
We are constantly at war. We are not at war with our brothers and sisters who may worship a little differently down the street from us. As long as they believe the core doctrines of Christianity, they are merely are on another battleship flying the same flag. We are not at war with those who oppose the gospel message of Christ. They are those for whom our hearts should burn that they may know the truth and the light of Christ may bring them out of darkness. No, my brothers and sisters,
12 For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the powers, against the world forces of this darkness, against the spiritual forces of wickedness in the heavenly places.
E. What are we to do then?
III. Tasked to Follow the Chartered Course (vv. 14-16)
III. Tasked to Follow the Chartered Course (vv. 14-16)
A. Who charters the course?
The King. Every church, every battleship in God’s heavenly Navy, is a group of believers who has been entrusted to a captain, a pastor and leaders, who are to follow the battle plans of Jesus Christ. If a church is listening to the Spirit, it is Jesus Christ who is directing all the maneuvers.
This is why Paul writes, then we will no longer be immature like children. We won’t be tossed and blown about by every wind of new teaching.
The church that is unified under Christ; the church that responds to the beating drum of the Holy Spirit to man their battle stations; that church will not be blown of course. They will be a formidable foe used by the King in the battle over truth and lies, over darkness and light, over death and life.
B. What is our course?
I’m glad you asked, because Paul lays it out clearly at the beginning of his letter to the Ephesians.
9 God has now revealed to us his mysterious will regarding Christ—which is to fulfill his own good plan. 10 And this is the plan: At the right time he will bring everything together under the authority of Christ—everything in heaven and on earth.
You and I, as members of the Church of Jesus Christ, are God’s plan A to bring the Gospel message of salvation to a lost and unbelieving world, that everything may be brought together under Him. And we do this by proclaiming the Truth.
By proclaiming the Truth in love, we grow in every way more and more like Christ.
Our course has been set, our plans have been laid, the banner of Christ flies over His Church, and the drum of the Spirit spurs us to immediate action. It is our responsibility to man our stations. It is all hands on deck, for Christ
Ephesians 4:16 (NLT)
16 Makes the whole body fit together perfectly. As each part does its own special work, it helps the other parts grow, so that the whole body is healthy and growing and full of love.