Vital Signs

Vital signs

Ephesians 4:14-16

Whenever we feel sick, we go to the doctor, and the first thing the doctor does is check our vital signs. He takes our temperature, he checks our blood pressure, and our heart rate. He will listen to our heartbeat and our breathing through his stethoscope. He does that because he knows what the vital signs of a healthy person should be, and he compares our vital signs with the standard to determine just how sick we really are.

Well as the body of Christ, the church has vital signs as well. There are certain standards we should meet that determine our spiritual health. We need to know what those standards are, so we can determine if we are a healthy church or if there is a problem we need to fix.

Also, if you move to another city and you begin to look for another church, you need to know what to look for. And even though we know there are no perfect churches, we at least want to look for one that is healthy and headed in the right direction.

So, we need some kind of biblical criteria to evaluate the church. I mean just because a church calls itself “Christian” does not mean that it is a place that is worshiping God and growing in Christ. There are a lot of churches out there that are promoting things that have nothing to do with Jesus. We need to know how to spot them and how to avoid them.

What we learn from our passage Is, A healthy church has sound doctrine, truth balanced with love, and a desire to be like Christ. And while these are not the only tools we have to evaluate; Paul says these are the vital signs of a healthy church. (read Eph. 4:12-16)

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 in deceitful scheming;

15 but speaking the truth in love, we are to grow up in all aspects into Him who is the head, even Christ,

16 from whom the whole body, being fitted and held together by what 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. (Pray)

In our passage this morning Paul gives us three vital signs of a healthy church. And while this is not a complete list of what makes a church healthy, I can’t help but notice there are some things he doesn’t mention.

He doesn’t mention the quality of the worship music, even though that’s important to us. Paul never mentions a thriving children’s ministry, even though many people choose a church based on the children’s ministry. Paul doesn’t tell us to have a heart for missions, even though missions are very important to us.

The one thing that Paul really seems focused on in this passage is the teaching of the Word of God. In fact, this entire section is about the gifts of Christ given to those who minister the Word.

Notice our passage begins with the phrase, ‘As a result.’ Those words connect this passage back to the previous section where Paul was telling us that Christ has given us Pastor’s and teacher for the equipping of the saints. To prepare God’s people for works of service until we become mature Christians.

So, in this passage Paul is focused on the overall health of the body through the ministry of the Word. And Paul gives us three vital signs to determine our spiritual health.

The first vital sign of a healthy church is they have stability in the Word, Vs. 14. We are to understand sound doctrine. Notice when Paul is talking about the spiritual health of the church, knowing the bible is at the top of the list.

If we took a survey of all the churches in America and asked, “what makes a church healthy and strong?” I would be surprised if the Word of God even made the list. The American church doesn’t like sound doctrine because we live in a culture that doesn’t believe in absolute truth, and the Bible proclaims itself as absolute truth.

I was recently talking to a woman about church, and she said she likes going to church and feels good every time she goes, but she doesn’t like anyone telling her how to live her life, and I said, “well you wouldn’t like the Bible then because the Bible is God’s way of telling us how to live our life. How to get the most out of life.

So, what does it mean to have stability in the Word? It means that you spend time with God every day reading His thoughts and listening to His promises. It means you are seeking truth from the bible and not from the world.

Matt. 7:24-25 Jesus said, “Everyone who hears these words of mine and puts them into practice is like a wise man who built his house on the rock. The rain fell, the floods came, the wind blew and slammed against that house, but it would not fall because it was founded on the rock.”

In other words, it is important to have a strong foundation in the Word of God so that when the storms of life come, we don’t fall apart. We don’t give up and we don’t give in, but we stand on truth of God’s Word.

So, stability in the Word means stability in life. It means Deciding ahead of time that you are going to live by the teachings of scripture and not by the chaos of the world you find on the network news or the social media platforms.

We learn from Paul in Vs. 14, stability in the Word means no longer being a child. The bible says, we need to grow up. “When I was a child, I spoke and acted like a child but when I became a man, I put away childish things.”

Have you put away the childish things in your life? Do you realize that the selfishness and pride of your heart are far from the nature of Jesus?

Putting away childish things is being able to hear what God says to me and allow the convictions of my heart to change the behavior of my life. In other words, if God said it is wrong then I am going to stop doing it, and if God said that it is right then I am going to start.

You see when a child hears something they don’t like they refuse to comply, even if it is what is best for them. Children are gullible and easily deceived. They can be tossed about by every wave of doctrine. That is what Paul is warning us about here. He says, do not be deceived by the trickery of men.

The bible is full of warnings about false teachers. For example, in the Sermon on the Mount (Matt. 7:15), Jesus warned, “Beware of the false prophets, who come to you in sheep’s clothing, but inwardly are ravenous wolves.” In 2 Cor. 11:13-15 Paul warns us that Satan will disguise men as angels of light and servants of righteousness.

Now we know that is true because we have seen it throughout history. I think of a man named Charles Tazz Russel. He was known as carpetbagger in the 1800’s, or what we would call a snake oil salesman. He got rich by starting his own religion. We know it today as the Jehovah’s Witnesses.

I think of Joseph Smith who was walking in the woods and claims he received the book of Mormons from heaven and started the church of the ladder day saints. Jim Jones started the Peoples temple in California and talked a thousand people into committing suicide in the jungles of Guyana. And don’t think this isn’t going on today.

There are powerful waves of false teaching and worldly philosophies today that Satan is using to challenge God’s Word, but it is nothing new. Notice Vs. 14 Paul warns us not to be deceived by the craftiness of men. That word craftiness is the same word used to describe Satan in the Garden of Eden when he deceived Eve. He challenged God’s word and said, “did God really say that”? And he continues to challenge God’s Word today.

So, how can we be stable in the Word, and not deceived by men. Well, Jesus teaches us we need to know the scripture. In the wilderness of Temptation Matt. 4, Satan comes to Him when He is most vulnerable; He hasn’t eaten in 40 days. Satan twists the scripture to try and get Jesus to eat and to do what he wants Jesus to do, but each time Jesus corrected him with what God really said. So, we need to know what God really says.

Of course, that means reading your bible everyday and renewing your mind, but we have great advantages today. We are surrounded by solid Christian literature. I recommend your always in a book by a trusted author. I recommend being a part of a small group bible study. We do them so we can become stable in the Word, that is what makes us a healthy church.

The second vital sign of a healthy church is they have a balance of truth and love, Vs. 15 “but speaking the truth in love, we are to grow up in all aspects into Him who is the head, even Christ.”

Paul tells us mature Christians speak to one another with truth in love. In other words, all the doctrines that we have learned and all the truth of God we hold on to, must be used with grace and forgiveness. Someone once said, “the same fire that warms the house can burn the house down.” I have seen that, when Christians get out of control, they can burn down the house.

You can’t tell people the truth without love because truth by itself is condemning, and you can’t just show people you love them no matter what they do, because that is just tolerating sin. Paul says we need a healthy balance of both.

If you truly love someone you must tell them the truth, because If you don’t, you are an enabler and contributing to the problem. But the focus in this passage is on telling people the truth of the Word of God and Paul says it must be accompanied by love.

Jesus gives us the perfect example of this. I am reminded of the woman caught in adultery in the gospels, and she is chased by her accusers to Jesus, and they are getting ready to stone her. And Jesus says, “Let him who is without sin cast the first stone.” One by one, her accusers all went away.

Jesus says, “Woman where are those who condemn you?’ Neither do I condemn you, go and sin no more.” Notice He doesn’t say go back to your old way of life and be careful whose husband you sleep with. No, He absolutely calls out the sin, and He says, don’t do it anymore, but He doesn’t condemn her.

I think about the woman at the well in John chapter 4. Jesus told her she’s had five husbands and the man you’re with now isn’t your husband, but instead of rejecting her, He offered her the water of life.

What about Matthew. Matthew was a tax collector known as Levi. A tax collector was someone working for the Roman government and stealing from his own people. Well, Jesus said, ‘follow me” and Matthew became a disciple whose life was changed forever.

The same thing can be true in your life. It doesn’t matter what you have stolen. It doesn’t matter what you have destroyed. It doesn’t matter who you have slept with. There is forgiveness and grace found Jesus Christ that will set you free. So, Jesus is an example of how to speak the truth in love. We don’t condone the actions of anyone’s sin, but we don’t condemn them for it either.

Now, what does that look like in the church. All of us, are a part of the family of God, and we share the same level of salvation. But we don’t all share the same level of understanding. There are areas of my life that I fall short of God’s standards, and I need grace from you, and there are areas of your life where you fall short of God’s standards, and you need grace from me. None of us are perfect, we all make mistakes, and we all need God’s grace.

There is a more literal reading of Vs. 15 I want you to see. in the Greek it doesn’t say, “speak the truth in love,” But it says, ‘Truthing in love.” In other words, the truth is not just something we say but, it is something we do. We are to be a living example of truth.

We have all read the posts that say, “I don’t feel like adulting today.’ We know what that means, it means I don’t feel like acting like an adult. I don’t have any choice, but I don’t feel like it. Well as Christians we are supposed to be, “truthing in love,” whether we feel like it or not, it is not an option, it’s a requirement.

Harry Ironside tells the story of a man who asked him, ‘What is the best translation of the New Testament?’ Ironside said, ‘My mother’s.’ His friend said, “really I didn’t know your mom was a scholar. Did she translate the New Testament?’ Ironside said, “no my mother’s not a scholar, she can’t read Greek, but she translated the New Testament with her life, and that had the greatest impact on me.” That’s what “truthing in love” is, it’s living the Word of God.

Notice the end of Vs. 15, Paul says, “We are to grow up in all aspects unto Him who is the head; even Christ.” In other words, in every area of our life we are to become mature Christians under the authority of Jesus.

I’ll give you an example, we all live under the authority of the government, so we have to do what the government says, even if we don’t like it. And sometimes we want to rebel because we know these are imperfect people making rules and they don’t have our best interests in mind.

But Jesus always knows what’s best for us and He always has our best interests in mind. We might not like what He is telling us to do, but we know it is for our own good. A healthy Christian strives to live under the authority of Christ in every aspect of life, because that is what is best for us.

The third vital sign of a healthy church is they have a desire to become like Christ, Vs. 16. Nothing I say to you this morning will matter if you do not want to grow in a relationship with God. God’s purpose for bringing us together as a church is to become like Jesus.

Genesis 1:27 says, “That God created man in His own image.” Together as a church we are fulfilling that purpose as we grow to become like Christ, as we live out His commands in the world.

Everything that Paul has said up to this point is for that purpose. We live in a world filled with division and we are supposed to experience unity. We live in a world of darkness and lies, and we are supposed to embrace truth. We live in a world broken by sin, and we are supposed to love one another. Those are the things that make us Christlike, Unity, truth, and love, and the churches health depends completely on our relationship to Jesus Christ.

Notice Vs. 16, “from whom (Talking about Jesus) the whole body, being fitted and held together by what 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 goes back to his metaphor here of the church as the body and Christ as the head. But notice the emphasis on who we are both corporately and individually. He says, “the whole body, being fitted and held together by what every joint supplies.”

That means for us to be a healthy church we have to fit together and function together. The point is, maturity in Christ, is shown by our ability to work with other people in the church. Not just how we get along, that’s the basic element, but how we strive together as a team.

But don’t miss the individual responsibility here. He says, ‘Held together by what every joint supplies.” Every joint is speaking of every person in the church. The church is held together and built up, by what each one of us bring to the table, and I’m not talking about your finances, I’m talking about your relationship with God. Your desire to be like Christ.

The very first Christians experienced this in a way I think is important for us to see. And since I can’t say it any better than Luke, I just have to read it to you.

Acts 2:42-46 Luke says, “they were continually devoting themselves to the apostles’ teaching and to fellowship, to the breaking of bread and to prayer. Everyone kept feeling a sense of awe; and many wonders and signs were taking place through the apostles. And all those who had believed were together and had all things in common; and they began selling their property and possessions and were sharing them with all, as anyone might have need. Day by day continuing with one mind in the temple, and breaking bread from house to house, they were taking their meals together with gladness and sincerity of heart.”

Living for God is more than coming to church on Sunday. It means sharing our lives together and serving each other for God’s purpose in this world, and sometimes that can be a sacrifice. But when you are willing to make that sacrifice, you are the most like Christ.

Jesus is the suffering servant who gave His life on the cross so that the children of God, the church, might live forever. Now, that life that He lived and the life He gave on the cross is supposed to be manifested through us.

So, we have to ask ourselves, what kind of church are we going to be? What will people experience when they come to this place? Will they experience mature Christians who love each other and our growing in their faith? Or a people so consumed by the world that petty little things prevent them from living for God? What are the vital signs of Faith Baptist Church?

Paul gives us three ways to evaluate them. He says, “A healthy church has stability in the Word, truth balanced with love, and a desire to be like Jesus.” I pray that is who we are, and if not, I pray that is who we are working to become.