Unity of the Body (part 2)
Notes
Transcript
Introduction: Talk about basic training and how they equipped us (everyone gets the same gear) and then how we each used what we were given to go far or not so far. (Show pictures of equipment handout from web…)
This is the idea of what our passage for this morning is talking about.
7 But to each one of us grace was given according to the measure of Christ’s gift.
8 Therefore it says, “When He ascended on high, He led captive a host of captives, And He gave gifts to men.”
9 (Now this expression, “He ascended,” what does it mean except that He also had descended into the lower parts of the earth?
10 He who descended is Himself also He who ascended far above all the heavens, so that He might fill all things.)
11 And He gave some as apostles, and some as prophets, and some as evangelists, and some as pastors and teachers,
12 for the equipping of the saints for the work of service, to the building up of 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 a mature man, to the measure of the stature which belongs to the fullness of Christ.
14 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.
Transitional sentence: Just like Army basic training equips new soldiers for combat the church is here to equip the children of God for service.
Our passage begins with Paul saying that each child of God is issued or given Grace according to the measure determined by Jesus.
He gives this Grace to all in different measures according to what is needed.
(Apologize for “You should”)
There are so many definitions and uses for the word grace. One way is in speaking of divine grace toward mankind. Then it refers to the undeserved favor of God in providing salvation for those deserving condemnation. That’s the grace that God pours out on all those who believe in Christ Jesus.
Another meaning of grace is the undeserved acceptance and love received from another. This is the grace that we show to each other. This is the grace that appears when our tolerance of something comes to an end.
Paul says that grace has been given to all. Not only God’s unmerited favor but grace to each of His children that you might share it with others. Unfortunately it isn’t like Army basic training, we don’t all get the same amount. Some of you got more grace than others. It’s all based on the measure of Christ’s gift. In other words some can tolerate more than others and sometimes you might come to the end of your grace, unfortunately that’s when words can be said that hurt others.
Last week I talked about “you should.” As an example of how words can hurt people and their feelings. In so doing it may have seemed like I was personally chastising someone publicly so I would like to publicly apologize and ask that if you felt that way please forgive me. It wasn’t my intention to do harm but to illustrate a point. But that brings up another idea - when one person thinks of something one way and someone else takes it differently. My oh my how the tongue can start a terrible fire. It just goes to show that our words must be full of grace. Alright, I’m going to stop going on about this before I say to much and end up hurting someone else’s feelings without knowing it.
b. So, Christ Jesus also gives gifts and each gift needs a certain amount of grace. There is a very large list of Spiritual gifts that are specifically mentioned and in the Bible and others that are implied through actions of the disciples of Christ Jesus. All of the gifts are given so that each of you being a part of the body of Christ might have a function; a good work to do within the body.
There isn’t a single part of your body that doesn’t have a function. Even the tonsils and appendix have a function - even though doctors say they have no function or they have become useless through evolution. And just like every single part of the body has a function no part of the body is more important than any other.
So, what part of the body are you? Are you a foot, a hand, an eye or one of the many parts that are hidden inside, they are seldom seen, but have important jobs to do anyway.
Paul said it this way to the Corinthians:
14 For the body is not one member, but many.
15 If the foot says, “Because I am not a hand, I am not a part of the body,” it is not for this reason any the less a part of the body.
16 And if the ear says, “Because I am not an eye, I am not a part of the body,” it is not for this reason any the less a part of the body.
17 If the whole body were an eye, where would the hearing be? If the whole were hearing, where would the sense of smell be?
18 But now God has placed the members, each one of them, in the body, just as He desired.
Have you ever received a gift you didn’t really want? So, you put it on the shelf in the bedroom closet and forgot about it. It may be a wonderful gift and something very useful for you but you didn’t want it or think you can’t use it.
The Spiritual gifts can be like that. You get your gift but it isn’t the one you want so you ignore it and hope it goes away. Well, the Spirit gave you that gift so that you might serve Christ Jesus and be an active part of the body. If you stuck your gift on the shelf and are ignoring it you might want to get it off the shelf and put it to use. It isn’t doing Jesus or the body any good if its on the shelf.
You and your gift are important, all the parts of the body are important and all the gifts that the Spirit gives are important. The only wrong gift is a gift unused. And an unused gift isn’t the fault of the giver - it’s the fault of the recipient.
c. So, what are these gifts that He gives to men and why does He give them? 1 Corinthians 12:7
7 But to each one is given the manifestation of the Spirit for the common good.
The gifts that Paul is speaking of in this passage are called the manifestation of the Spirit. So, here is a non-comprehensive list of the gifts of the Spirit. These are some of the ways the Spirit manifests Himself through you.
Some of these you may know and some you may not know.
Administration, Wisdom, Hospitality, Prophecy, Serving, Exhortation, Giving, Pastor, Leadership, Mercy, Shepherd, Evangelist, Knowledge, Faith, Healing, Teaching, Tongues, Interpretation of tongues, Miracles and Apostleship.
Have you ever wondered which gift or gifts were given to you? Sometimes we think we do something well because that is what we were trained to do, but maybe you are actually good at it because that is how you were gifted by the Spirit and your training just enhanced what the Spirit does through you.
If you don’t know what gifts you might have there are ways of finding out. The best way is to take a Spiritual gifts survey. They are pretty comprehensive and can help you understand how you are gifted and how you might be able to use your gifts to serve Jesus and the body for the common good.
2. So, with this long list of possible gifts Paul points out five of them as specific gifts given to the church.
a. These five specific gifts according to our passage are:
11 And He gave some as apostles, and some as prophets, and some as evangelists, and some as pastors and teachers,
So let’s take a look at these five specific gifts.
Apostleship -
1. The status of being an envoy of Jesus Christ commissioned directly by Him or by other apostles; normally someone who has been taught directly by Jesus and who is invested with the authority to speak on His behalf.
2. The first successful Christian Missionary in a country or to a people.
3. Another answer is “A sent one.”
Prophecy, or prediction, was one of the functions of the prophet. It has been defined as a “miracle of knowledge, a declaration or description or representation of something future, beyond the power of human sagacity to foresee, discern, or conjecture.”
Evangelist, a “publisher of glad tidings;” a missionary preacher of the gospel.
Pastor, literally it is a shepherd or one who keeps animals but it is also used figuratively of those called by God to feed, care for, and lead His people, who are His “flock”.
Teaching, As teaching is both a condition and an accompaniment of disciplining, the word often means simply “to teach,” “to inform”. The glory of teaching was its harmony with the will of God, its source in God’s authority, and its purpose to secure spiritual obedience.
b. These five gifts were given to the church for a specific purpose.
Remember the story I used to introduce this message? Basic training and receiving all the equipment....
Well Ephesians 4:12 says:
12 for the equipping of the saints for the work of service, to the building up of the body of Christ;
The verse says these specific gifts or more specifically the people with these gifts were given to the church for equipping the saints. The idea of equipping the saints is the same as equipping soldiers to go into combat. (Photo of equipment) It takes a lot of equipment, at least you start out with a lot of equipment. Sometimes it comes down to just the weapon and as much ammunition as can be carried. Remember this is just an example. The saints do not need a lot of equipment. (hold up the bible) This is about it for actual physical equipment. Our actual equipment that we are issued is not physical but spiritual and we will talk about that more later (Spiritual Armor). However, there is training that goes along with the use of the physical equipment for everyday living and increasing in holiness.
This verse also says that the equipping is for the work of service and building up the body. Your work of service is what you do for the church, its your boots on the ground, as the Army would say. It’s how you use your Spiritual gift or even things that you do to try and see how you might be gifted. This is how God got through to Moses when He was speaking to Moses from the burning bush.
Exodus 4:2 “2 The Lord said to him, “What is that in your hand?” And he said, “A staff.””
Don’t be afraid to try new things. Try new things because your work of service is going to build up the body.
When you serve you help to build up the body in two ways.
1. The first is in growing yourself up. Your service helps you to mature as a Child of God and allows you to fill a place in the body using your gifts for God’s glory.
2. The second way is strengthening the body as a whole. As each new body part is placed in the body to perform its specific function the body grows stronger. Remember, you are important. No matter what function you are performing as a part of the body you are as important as any other part.
c. So what is the final expected outcome of equipping the saints and building the body?
13 until we all attain to the unity of the faith, and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to a mature man, to the measure of the stature which belongs to the fullness of Christ.
The final expected outcome is unity. Last week I talked about the unity of the Spirit through how each of you acts towards others, both in and outside the body. This week the unity is not in your actions but in your faith and knowledge of the Son of God.
According to the Pocket Dictionary of Theological Terms:
Faith is - A biblical word that refers both to intellectual belief and to relational trust or commitment. The biblical authors generally do not make a distinction between faith as belief and faith as trust, but tend to see true faith as consisting of both what is believed - that God exists, and that Jesus is Lord - and the personal commitment to a person who is trustworthy, reliable and able to save, that is, trust in the person of Christ as the way to salvation.
You see, we all have a different amount of faith. According to Romans 12:3
3 For through the grace given to me I say to everyone among you not to think more highly of himself than he ought to think; but to think so as to have sound judgment, as God has allotted to each a measure of faith.
God has allotted to each a measure of faith. Each of you has an allotted amount of intellectual belief, or head faith, and an allotted measure of relational trust or heart faith. However, the idea of verse 13 is that you all attain a unity of faith. A unity of faith means that none of you should have more or less faith than any other.
How is that possible?
Your faith is like a muscle in your body. When you use your muscles they grow stronger. So, when you use your faith it grows stronger. Your head faith can grow stronger through studying the word of God. As you study and learn more about Jesus your faith, or belief in Him will increase. Just make sure to pray that Jesus would increase the allotted amount of faith that you do have. He is very generous to those who ask.
Your relational faith will grow as you grow up in the body. As you grow up in the body you will see Christ Jesus working in your life. You will see Him answer prayers for those around you and for you. This will deepen the relationship you have with Him. As your relationship deepens you will trust in His faithfulness more. As you trust in Him more you will accept and desire that His will will be done in your life. And so, as each of you grow in faith you will each draw closer to having the same amount of faith for the Ones of Christian theology: One body, Spirit, hope, calling, Lord, faith, baptism and God and Father.
And then, we are to have a unity of knowledge of the Son of God. In this room right now are many levels of knowledge about Christ Jesus. Some of you know more than I know, some of you don’t know as much as I know. Some of you have been walking this Christian life a long time and some of you have not. You have all done a different amount of studying which grows your knowledge. The crazy thing is that there is always more to learn. Even the most knowledgeable can find something new to learn.
The idea with this is that all of you should strive to reach a level of unity of faith and knowledge equal to the most mature man in the body. And the most mature man in the body should strive to attain to the fullness of Christ Jesus himself. So be like Jesus.
3. The Final Result of increasing in maturity to the fullness of Christ is that:
a. You will not be tossed around like a child in the ocean waves.
How many of you have been to the ocean, especially someplace with a really big surf? I spent some time down in Key West, Florida. The surf can get really big there, big enough to knock people over, especially children, and drag them out to sea. A mature man is not as easily knocked around by the surf as a child would be. (Pictures of big surf)
Just as a mature man can stand in the surf so can a mature man stand up to the changing doctrine of deceitful and tricky men who want you to fail in your walk with Christ Jesus. The world wants to steal your faith. Fight and strive to become a spiritually mature man or woman.
To do that you need a role model.
b. So, grow up to be like Him.
Have you ever wanted to be someone else? Like when you were a kid did you ever think you wanted to grow up to be like someone. The only person I can remember wanting to be like when I was a kid is G.I Joe. The comic book series started in 1942. As a kid in the 60’s I didn’t think of him as only a character in a comic book. He was a real life hero - I guess I did grow up to be him (pictures).
Anyway - it’s easy to make a hero out of someone and want to be like that person. But you are different you are a child of God. A child of God should want to grow up to be like the Father or the big brother. In this case that Big Brother is Jesus. That’s a big order to fill.
1 Peter 1:16 says it this way:
16 because it is written, “You shall be holy, for I am holy.”
So if you grow up in all aspects into Him who is the head of the body.
c. Your spiritual growth and maturity will help fit the parts of the body together. Your continued growth will provide you opportunities to discover what your gifts are and how you can serve the Lord and the body. It’s through the use of the gifts that God has given each one of you that helps the body build itself up in LOVE. Even if the body doesn’t grow in numbers it will grow in Love when each of you does the work that God put in place at the foundations of the world.
Exit: If remember anything today, remember these three things:
1. God gives varying amounts of grace and gifts to each of you depending on your need for your service within the body. Each of you must use the gift that you are given for building up and bringing unity to the body. Remember also that He will increase your grace and gifts if you ask.
2. The Church is here to equip you to do the works of service that God has planned for you. The equipping and training of the church will help each of you to attain to the unity of the faith, and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to a mature man, to the measure of the stature which belongs to the fullness of Christ. Strive to be like Jesus.
3. When you start to think that the work you do for the church is of no account or maybe that no one even notices. That’s when you need to remember that you are doing your service for the Lord, He’s watching and He sees everything you do. So do everything for Him so that everything you do helps to build up the body in Love.
So, let’s get busy building up the body.
Pray!