Uniquely Unified

Introduction

Greet Congregation

This morning, we will be in Ephesians 4:1-16, so go ahead and turn with me there in your Bibles as we think on the subject of being uniquely unified.

Most of you that know me well, know that I was a strength and conditioning coach for eight years before I took this role as Pastor to Students and Families in the Fall of 2021.

As a S&C Coach one of the things I learned was the importance of keeping the kinetic chain healthy and working properly for the athletes I worked with.

As you can see from the picture above, the kinetic chain consists of all the joints in the body. Some joints need to be mobile, while other joints need to be stable.

Injuries normally occur when one of the mobile joints, like the ankle or hip, becomes immobile and causes a stable joint, like the knee or lumbar spine to become more mobile than it was designed.

So, if any of you have injured your lower back or knee. . . it is probably due to a lack of mobility in your ankle or your hips.

But, one interesting thing about the Kinetic chain is that if one part of the chain is not working properly, it affects the rest of the links throughout the body.

The first part of the kinetic chain is the big toe, which is supposed to be mobile.

As small as the big toe is. . . if the big toe does not work properly it can cause plantar fasciitis, which can cause ankle sprains, which can cause ACL tears, which can cause hip labrum tears. . . and so on and so forth.

So much damage can be done to the body if one small part is not strong and doing its job.

If each part of the body is not growing and doing its job, it is impossible for the body as a whole to get stronger and perform the tasks is was made for.

This is not only the case with the physical body, but this is also the case with the body of Christ.

In their book “the Great De-Churching” Jim Davis and Michael Graham report that in the last 14 years over 40 million Americans who used to go to church no longer attend.

This raises the question. . . why is the church not growing. . . not just numerically, but also in maturity?

Why is the church today so easily swayed by false teaching?

Why do we personally struggle to grow in our faith and do the work of ministry God has called us to?

I believe the reason is because we as the church are not walking in unity. . . instead we are divided.

Instead of embracing humility, gentleness, patience, love and peace. . . we have given into pride, arrogance, anger, and hostility.

The church in Ephesus was facing some of these same questions and challenges.

After Paul had planted the church during his second missionary journey, he wrote to them while he was in prison in Rome for preaching the gospel.

The main theme of his letter to the Ephesians is the cosmic reconciliation that Christ has accomplished through his life, death, resurrection, and ascension.

Christ has reconciled all of creation to himself and to God. . . and Christ has united people from all nations to himself and to one another in his church.

After showing the Ephesians what God has done for them in Christ in chapters 1-3. . . he begins in chapter 4 with his practical application of how the church should now walk and participate in Christ’s triumph over all things.

In verses 1-16. . . he gives the Ephesians and us the answer to our struggles to grow up in maturity as the church. . .

Key Point: If the church is to grow and walk in Christ’s victory, we must utilize the grace he has given each of us to walk in unity through diversity and maturity.

1. Unity Through Diversity (v. 7-10)

We will spend our time in verses 7-16, but to understand the context, I want to briefly unpack the passage that Pastor Paul read earlier for us in verses 1-6. . .

So. . . Building off of all he has said in chapters 1-3, with the authority of the Lord Jesus in being his prisoner, Paul urges the church in Ephesians 4:1-6 to walk in a manner worthy of the salvation call they have received by faith.

As the church, we must no longer walk in our sins and trespasses, in the lusts of our flesh, or in our selfish desires (Eph. 2:2). . . but instead we must now walk in our new manner of life and in the good works God has created us for (Eph. 2:10).

Specifically, as new creations, we must walk in unity. . . and this walk of unity must consist of humility, gentleness, and patience.

After giving the means of unity in verses 1-3, Paul gives the basis and foundation of unity in verses 4-6. . . that is ultimately founded in the unity of our Triune God.

Building off this idea of unity, Paul then makes a shift in verses 7-16 and says that although we are unified together, this unity is expressed through the diversity of grace gifts God has given to each one of us as believers. . .

Ephesians 4:7 ESV

7 But grace was given to each one of us according to the measure of Christ’s gift.

God has given each believer ministry grace to utilize gifts to serve and edify the body.

Notice too. . . that we are given these gifts not because we deserve them. . . but they are according to the measure of Christ’s gift.

Therefore, these gifts should never cause us to boast in ourselves but only boast in our Lord who graciously gave them to us.

Next, in verses 8-10, Paul uses the OT to back up his belief that God has given grace gifts to each member in the church. . .

Ephesians 4:8–10 ESV

8 Therefore it says, “When he ascended on high he led a host of captives, and he gave gifts to men.” 9 (In saying, “He ascended,” what does it mean but that he had also descended into the lower regions, the earth? 10 He who descended is the one who also ascended far above all the heavens, that he might fill all things.)

In this verse, Paul quotes Psalm 68:18 and connects it to Jesus’s ascension.

Paul is true to the original meaning of the Psalm but adds a Christological application here in Ephesians 4:8.

In the original context of Psalm 68, God is a divine warrior who ascends to his throne after defeating his enemies.

Here in Ephesians 4:8, Christ is the victorious conquerer who ascends to his throne in heaven after defeating the spiritual forces.

Instead of receiving gifts from those defeated, Christ, having conquered his enemies by defeating death, sovereignly gives gifts to his followers.

Paul’s use of this Psalm shows us that the OT is still relevant today. . . Paul uses Scripture to interpret Scripture. . . a practice we should use as well when interpreting the Bible.

In verses 9-10, Paul offers a caveat to emphasize that Jesus has become triumphant in every domain.

He has declared victory in the lower regions of the earth in his incarnation and his death in the grave, and he has victory over all spiritual beings in the highest heaven.

Jesus therefore, is above all. . . he is supreme, and has victory and sovereignty over all things and fills all things. . . because all things are under his feet (Eph. 1:21-23).

Illustration/Application

When considering the need for unity to be expressed through diversity. . . I want you to think with me about the game of football.

Can anyone tell me who holds the NFL record for all-time rushing yards?

Emmitt Smith: 18,355 yards; 164 TD’s

Can anyone tell me who Emmitt Smith’s fullback was?

Daryl Johnston: 753 yards; 8 TD’s

Everyone remember Emmitt Smith. . . but very few remember Daryl Johnston.

So, for the church to grow and walk in Christ’s victory, we must walk in unity and this unity must be expressed through diverse gifts given to its members. . . but why were these diverse gifts given to the church?

Was it to create factions, power structures, and pride. . . no! But instead, we see in our second point that God specifically gave these diverse gifts to produce a greater unity and maturity in the church through each individual member.

2. Diversity for Unity and Maturity (v. 11-16)

After giving a caveat in verses 9-10, Paul picks up from verse 8 and explains the “gifts” that Christ has given to the church in verse 11. . .

Ephesians 4:11 ESV

11 And he gave the apostles, the prophets, the evangelists, the shepherds and teachers,

To produce unity in the church, Jesus, graciously gave diverse gifts to his people in the form of apostles, prophets, evangelists, shepherds and teachers.

Each one of the gifts listed are nouns, and so these gifts God has given to the church are not spiritual gifts, but persons given for the unity and maturity of the church.

Looking at each one of these offices. . .

Apostles refer to the 12 apostles who were appointed by Jesus and who were eyewitnesses of his resurrection, by whom the Scriptures were written.

Prophets refer not to OT prophets but prophets who spoke God’s truth to the church in Paul’s time.

Evangelists are the people who proclaim the gospel and way of salvation through Jesus Christ.

Philip and Timothy are called evangelists in the NT.

We can think of evangelists today as church planters, both domestically and internationally.

Shepherds and Teachers are best not seen as two distinct groups but as overlapping.

Shepherd is where we get our word “pastor” and it is the only time used as a noun in the NT.

In Acts 20:28, Paul is speaking to the elders of the church at Ephesus and tells them to watch over the flock (shepherd/pastor) which the Holy Spirit made them overseers to care for the church.

Overseers, elders, and pastors are used synonymously in this passage and represent the one leadership office of Overseer in the church.

Pastors should be seen as a subset of teachers because all pastors teach. . . but not all teachers are also pastors.

Therefore, in using the term Shepherd. . . Paul is referring to those who teach but who also have the added duty of shepherding God’s people.

One thing all of these offices have in common is that they involve teaching.

While there are no more apostles and prophets in our day. . . evangelists and pastor/teachers are still needed to teach the doctrines of God to the people of God.

But why has God given these gifts to the church?. . verses 12-14 give us the answer. . .

Ephesians 4:12–14 ESV

12 to equip the saints for the work of ministry, for building up the body of Christ, 13 until we all attain to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to mature manhood, to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ, 14 so that we may no longer be children, tossed to and fro by the waves and carried about by every wind of doctrine, by human cunning, by craftiness in deceitful schemes.

There are three things we need to grasp from these three verses. . .

Even though Christ has called specific men to be pastors who watch over and shepherd the church, Christ has called every believer to be a minister of the gospel to help the church grow.

Christ has given these leaders to the church for the purpose of equipping the saints for the work of ministry.

This means that ministry is not just for the pastors who are often labeled the “paid professionals”. . . but ministry is for every member of the body of Christ. . . and Jesus gave the church pastors to equip his saints. . . not just so the pastors can do all of the ministry work.

Every member is a minister. . . priesthood of all believers (1 Pt. 2:9-10).

Notice that Paul says the goal of the work of ministry is to “build up the body of Christ.”

“Build up” refers to the edification of a house and the Greek word “oikodome” is a combination of two root words for house “oikos” and roof “doma.”

The word communicates bringing something closer to fullness or completion; understood as if assisting in the construction of an incomplete building.

So, when we build up others, we are helping them complete their house by putting the roof on.

Essentially, when we build up one another, we are helping them become mature and complete in their faith like a finished house.

Verse 13 says the saints are to do the work of ministry to build up the body of Christ until we all reach unity and complete maturity in our faith.

We must continue this work of ministry until every member in the church is unified in their faith in Jesus, unified in their knowledge of Jesus, and unified in their maturity in Jesus.

If we are to continue the work of ministry until we all reach the same level of maturity that Christ has. . . that means we will continue this ministry until he returns! So, we all need to get busy!

Verse 14 says the saints must build up the body so each member will grow up into complete maturity in Christ so we won’t be led astray by false teaching.

If we do not do the work of ministry by building up each individual member until they reach maturity, then we will be an immature child who is easily swayed by the lies of the devil.

This is what Pastor Steve was referring to a few weeks ago in how Satan sows weeds in with the wheat to deceive the church.

So to keep us from being carried away by false teaching, we must grow up and be unified in our faith and knowledge in Jesus.

To summarize v. 11-14. . . The purpose of pastors and church leaders is to equip the saints for the work of ministry so that each saint can build up the church to allow the whole body to become spiritually mature so that we are not led astray by false teaching.

In contrast to being children and practicing deceit and trickery in our speech and actions for selfish gain. . . Paul concludes in verses 15-16 by going back to the need for each member to live genuinely and to grow up in Christ. . .

Ephesians 4:15–16 ESV

15 Rather, speaking the truth in love, we are to grow up in every way into him who is the head, into Christ, 16 from whom the whole body, joined and held together by every joint with which it is equipped, when each part is working properly, makes the body grow so that it builds itself up in love.

The phrase, “speaking the truth in love” refers not just to the way we should talk, but also how we should live.

1 John 3:18 ESV

18 Little children, let us not love in word or talk but in deed and in truth.

Essentially, we should not only speak the truth but also do the truth and be genuine in our actions.

And we must do this “in love”

Unlike the false teachers, we are called to love one another and think of one another more important than ourselves.

Verse 15 says, by speaking the truth in love with our words and actions, we will help one another grow up and mature in every way in Christ, who is the head and leader of the church.

Jesus himself is truth. The only way the body can grow is if it is attached and led by the head. . . just as the only way the branches can grow is if it is attached to the vine (John 15).

This is why Paul says in verse 16, that the whole body is joined and held together in unity by Jesus.

Using the metaphor of the body, Paul says in verse 16 that just as ligaments are the connective tissue that attaches bones to other bones and strengthens joints, when each member of the church is doing its role and “working properly,” which refers to becoming completely mature. . . like ligaments, they make the body grow and get stronger.

This means EVERY member of the body is important, not just the Pastors that are mentioned in verse 11. . . because if the ligaments are not strong, they will not be able to strengthen the joints which allow bones to move, nor will they be able to keep the bones together.

Every member of the body must “work properly” and grow into Christ so that they can strengthen one another and use the gifts God has given them to encourage, edify, and build up the body in love.

No maturity can take place without love. No unity can take place apart from love (Ephesians 4:2-3).

Illustration/Application

Body Analogy: for the body to grow and walk in victory, each individual limb must do its job and grow up and support the other limbs. One part of the body cannot do all the work. . . The hand cannot say to the foot. . . I have no need for you. . . we all need one another! (1 Corinthians 12:21-25).

So, diversity does not divide the body but the purpose of diversity is to promote further unity and allow the body to grow up, becoming mature and complete.

Response

As the body of Christ, we are uniquely unified and can grow and walk in the victory of Christ through practicing unity through diversity and maturity.

Knowing these truths. . . how does God desire for each one of us to respond to his word to us this morning?

I believe that there are three ways that we can respond to this text:

1. We Must Walk in Unity as One Body with One Lord.

Humility or Pride?

Gentleness (Meekness) or arrogance?

Patience or quick to get angry?

Love or apathy?

Peace or hostility?

We must Have the mind of Christ (Phil. 2:5-8).

2. We Must Be Thankful for the Diversity of Grace Gifts Christ has Given Each of Us.

We should not be prideful for the gifts we have been given.

There is only one head and leader of the church. . . the Lord Jesus Christ.

As Pastors, we are simply under-shepherds who serve and submit to the chief shepherd. . . and even though Jesus has called us to lead his flock. . . he has gifted us to equip you to do the work of ministry with us together. . . in unity. . . as we all seek to build one another up together as we serve Jesus who is the head of each of us.

We should not envy others for the gifts they have and covet their gifts.

We should not think we are unimportant because we have not been given the same amount of grace gifts another member has.

Without a diversity of gifts, unity and growth in the church would be impossible.

Everyone is important, we need each other!

Recognize the one who gave us our grace gifts.

The triumphant Christ!

The victorious Christ who defeated sin, death, and all the spiritual forces bestows his grace gifts upon us so we can walk in victory over all of these things as well!

3. We Must Utilize the Grace Gifts that Christ has Given each One of Us to Build up the Body in Love.

Every member is a minister.

Receive the teaching from Pastors each Sunday and Wednesday in order to be equipped to do the work of ministry to build up the body.

Are we doing this?

Every gift must be used to bring others to maturity in their faith. . . every gift must be used for discipleship.

Are we doing this?

We must be ourselves grow up and be unified in our faith and in the knowledge of the Son of God so we can reach maturity in Christ.

Are we doing this?

We must speak the truth in love with our words and with our actions.

Are we doing this?

Everything we do must be done in love. . .

Love for Christ and love for others is the synovial fluid that lubricates the joints to allow them to be strengthened and to work properly so each individual member can grow up in the faith and build up those around them.

Love for Christ and love for others is the lifeblood of the body that sustains its unity and its growth.

But for all this to happen. . . for us to be thankful for our gifts, to utilize our gifts, to build up the body, to grow up in our faith. . . we must first be connected to the head of the body. . . we must first actually be members of the body of Christ through repentance and faith in Jesus.

Proclaim the Gospel, call for repentance. . .

Pray. . .