All For One Because One Gave All

Doxology:

This is my Bible. It is God’s Holy Word. It is a lamp unto my feet, a light unto my path, and I will hide its words within my heart, that I might not sin against God. Amen!

Scripture Reference: Eph 4:11-16

We have been walking through a small series on Church Membership. Today is our third and final message in that series, but let’s do a quick recap.

Our first message spoke on the “The Purpose of the Church”. We discussed from Acts 2 how that the church is to be building T.E.M.P.O. God has called His church to Testify of Him and give Him glory, Equip Leaders for the work of Ministry, Perform the Ministry, Pray without ceasing, and be united in Oneness. If we do these things, we will indeed be building tempo.

Our second message focused on Church Membership itself and the biblical precedent for it. We looked at verses from Scripture that shows us how membership plays a role in defining the role of the spiritual leaders, providing a basis for church discipline, establishing connections for fellowship and communion amongst the brethren, and it constitutes who is available for certain positions within the church.

Today we want to move forward with our final thought, which is to speak on what the expectations look like after membership. After one becomes a member, what happens next?

Our topic for today is, “All For One Because One Gave All”

Ephesians 4:11–16 NKJV

11 And He Himself gave some to be apostles, some prophets, some evangelists, and some pastors and teachers, 12 for the equipping of the saints for the work of ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ, 13 till we all come to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to a perfect man, to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ; 14 that we should no longer be children, tossed to and fro and carried about with every wind of doctrine, by the trickery of men, in the cunning craftiness of deceitful plotting, 15 but, speaking the truth in love, may grow up in all things into Him who is the head—Christ— 16 from whom the whole body, joined and knit together by what every joint supplies, according to the effective working by which every part does its share, causes growth of the body for the edifying of itself in love.

Context

Before we exegete these verses, let’s back up a few verses first and get the context:

Ephesians 4:7–10 NKJV

7 But to each one of us grace was given according to the measure of Christ’s gift. 8 Therefore He says: “When He ascended on high, He led captivity captive, And gave gifts to men.” 9 (Now this, “He ascended”—what does it mean but that He also first descended into the lower parts of the earth? 10 He who descended is also the One who ascended far above all the heavens, that He might fill all things.)

Notice who it is we are speaking of here… it is Jesus.

Christ’s gift: vs. 7

He who descended is also the One who ascended: vs. 10

So we know we are speaking of Christ here. But why did He descend in the first place? It says that He descended “that He might fill all things.”

That word fill means complete, or full. In other words, Christ came to complete something. That something was the plan of God. Since the fall of man in the Garden, God has had a plan of redemption in place for mankind. In involved a sacrifice. We saw a picture of this in the sacrifice that was made in the Garden when God covered the nakedness of Adam and Eve.

Christ is the fulfillment of that plan. Christ came to make that plan complete. Christ died at Calvary so that mankind could be restored into fellowship with God. He came to make a way of redemption.

It is important to see this, because we need to know what price was paid so that we might not only become children of God, but also so that we might serve God with these spiritual gifts that we speak of. Christ gave everything so that we might come to know the Father. He gave all.

Notice that it says “When He ascended on high, He led captivity captive, and gave gifts to men.”

When Jesus ascended, He gave a gift to all men. It is called the Holy Spirit. When the Holy Spirit came, it fell like cloven tongues of fire in Acts 2, and these men were spiritually endowed to speak other languages in which they did not know and had not studied. After this, the Spirit also led them to achieve mighty miracles in the name of Christ.

Our giftedness comes by way of the cross, because if Jesus did not leave, then the Holy Spirit would not have come. And if the Holy Spirit would not have come, then we would not have the giftedness that we now possess through Him.

John 16:7 NKJV

7 Nevertheless 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 depart, I will send Him to you.

So all of this belongs to Christ. This is His church and we are His people. We say Amen to that, but that also means that if we are going to function properly, we must do it His way. He has laid out for us in the Scriptures what a biblical church looks like, and it is up to us to make sure we follow these instructions.

If you’re with me say Amen!

If you agree with that, say Amen!

Content

His Design

Ephesians 4:8 NKJV

8 Therefore He says: “When He ascended on high, He led captivity captive, And gave gifts to men.”

Ephesians 4:11–12 NKJV

11 And He Himself gave some to be apostles, some prophets, some evangelists, and some pastors and teachers, 12 for the equipping of the saints for the work of ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ,

Notice that the design of the church is all of Christ. Christ has determined how He will grow the church. We must make sure that we never lose sight of this. He has acquired the gifts, and He has distributed the gifts. He has chosen some to be apostles, and some prophets, and some evangelists, and some pastors, and some to be teachers. He did this.

And why did He gift us with such amazing gifts? So that we might equip the saints for the work of ministry and edify the body of Christ.

Please do not miss this.

Christ has designed the church to be constantly equipping His people for service. This means that when you become a part of the church, from the very start, the goal is for every single member of the body to be serving Christ. Notice that there is no age limit. Notice that there is no restrictions in place. Each and every single member of the body must do its part in order for the body to function properly.

So these gifts of leadership are given to equip and to edify the body for service.

Remember that in verse 10, it said that Christ did all of this so “that He might fill all things.” The word edify means to build up unto completion. The thought here signifies a constant growth. It is the picture of continuously adding something to the thing until it has been made complete.

As we move through life, our roles within the church might change. As we get older, maybe our bodies are broken down and we simply don’t have the strength to do the role we once did. Or maybe our minds begin to slip and we don’t have the mental capacity to do what we once did. This is normal, and this is perfectly ok. What is not ok, is when we sit down and quit.

When any member of your body quits working, what do you do? You remove it right… as long as it is a part that can be removed. Why does it get removed, because its presence as a defective part causes pain and burden. It’s deficiencies actually cause the rest of the body to operate at a lower quality. So we remove it.

As a child of God, I am called to bear the light of Christ in my life. The church has been deemed by Christ as the training grounds to equip me to do that. That is why it is so important for Christians to be in Church.

Sometimes you will hear people say, “I don’t have to go to church in order to be a Christian.” That is true. You can be saved outside of church. Matter of fact, many people get saved outside of church.

But it is also true that you don’t have to go to the gas station to be a car. The gas station does not define me, but it sure does equip me to operate. If I refuse to go it, I might still be a car, but I will only go so far before I am forced to pull over and stop.

As a Christian, you will only grow so much without the aid of the Church. The church is designed to fill you up, bring you into maturity, and equip you for the service that God has called you to.

So why did Christ design the church to be the major source of one’s growth? For Development.

His Development

His Design and then His Development

Ephesians 4:12–13 NKJV

12 for the equipping of the saints for the work of ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ, 13 till we all come to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to a perfect man, to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ;

So we are to constantly be equipping the saints for the work of ministry; we are constantly to be edifying, or building up, the body of Christ. How long are we to do this? How much are we to do this?

Verse 13: Until we all come into a unity of faith and knowledge of the Son of God. Until we become a perfect man, or a mature Christian. Until we measure up to the fullness of Christ.

In other words, the training is to never stop, and the growth is to never stop.

Growth in Christ is key. God uses this discipleship and growth to raise up more and more people for service, which is necessary if the church continues to grow and expand. With more people comes the need for more leadership and more training. With more people comes the need for more overwatch. With more people comes the need for more focus and guidance.

As we lean into the Word of God, God develops us, matures us, and equips us to serve Him.

I say this with love, but many people have never experienced what this is actually talking about. Many people have never been through a period of regular fasting, sleepless nights, pouring everything they have into church, showing up at every service, being on the altar every service, begging God for a Word in their lives, begging God for direction as to what God has called them to.

I am talking about a Jacob moment in their lives, where they grab ahold of God and say I won’t let go until you bless me… I won’t give up until you answer me… I won’t stop until you reveal to me. That type of moment changes a person. That type of moment costs a person. When Jacob finally released that angel, he got his blessing, but he also got a limp. For the rest of his life, he walked with a limp, a symbol of the night he wrestled with the Lord.

You might say, “But brother Thomas, is that really something that God expects of all of us? That sounds more like something that takes place in unique situations.”

That is exactly why we are saying less and less men qualified to stand behind the pulpit. Our seminaries are full of students, thousands of them graduating each and every year, but yet more and more churches are closing their doors every year because they have no one to fill the pulpit. Pastoring is not something you simply plan for, it is something you are called to.

If we once again adopted this mentality of wrestling with God to understand exactly what He wants from us and exactly what He has called us to, I believe we would see more and more men called to pastor. I believe that there could very well be some young men right here today who might one day stand behind the pulpit and share the Word of God.

You may think that I am crazy, but I will tell you this. If you would have told me a year before I was called by God to preach, that I was going to be behind a pulpit one day, I would have laughed in your face. I am serious. But all it took was one night, at a revival that I didn’t even want to be at, for God to speak into my life, break me to my very core, bring me to my knees in tears, and reveal to me that my life would never be the same. Some of you are just one message away from a completely different life. That is all it takes.

You might say, “But if we already have leaders, why is the development of the rest of the church so important?”

Look at verse 14:

Ephesians 4:14 NKJV

14 that we should no longer be children, tossed to and fro and carried about with every wind of doctrine, by the trickery of men, in the cunning craftiness of deceitful plotting,

As we go throughout our daily lives, we are constantly faced with the ideals and beliefs of this world. We are challenged verbally by others who believe differently than we do or who don’t believe at all. But then we are also challenged in other ways:

We are challenged by the subtle things placed within our favorite TV shows.

We are challenged by random comments made from our coworkers, neighbors, and friends.

We are challenged by what society supports and mandates.

We are challenged by the rules and laws our government passes.

We are challenged in a host of ways.

And here is the thing. All of these people are convinced that they are right. That means that when they share their position, they will do so with conviction. Regardless of the validity of an argument, when it is shared with passion and conviction, it makes it seem more believable.

If we are not careful, we will be persuaded to leave what we have been taught to be true to follow something that is not true at all.

Let me give you just one example that I heard the other day:

If next Sunday, I were to get up here in front of you to preach the message, and then about a third of the way through the message, I cursed the name of Jesus, or as we say it, took His name in vain… would that get your attention… would you notice?

And then a few minutes later, I cursed His name again. And then a few minutes later, I cursed his name again.

And then I called a young couple up here. And they began to make out as if you were not even sitting there. And then they proceeded to take off their clothes and pursue things further.

Would you not be outraged? I sure hope you would be. Would you not say that these actions are most sinful?

Yet 12 hours earlier on Saturday night, you watched these same things on a movie while sitting on your couch, and you call it entertainment.

My friend, it cannot be both. These actions are either entertainment at home and entertainment in the church, or they are horribly wicked and sinful at church and horribly wicked and evil at home. We must decide.

We need to be developed further in our walk with God. And as we are developed further in our walk with the Lord, we will cut off these sinful things from our lives, and we will stand firm on truth. We cannot fill our minds with all of this worldliness and expect to remain Godly. It is impossible.

A preacher told me the other day, “I have been in the ministry for around 50 years, and I have never seen a single person who could go play in the pit and not be scathed by what was in the pit.” No one is that spiritually sound. We all know the phrase, “If you play with fire long enough, you will get burned.”

When you play in the pit long enough, you will at some point begin to look like, and act like what is in the pit.

We need to know what we believe and why we believe it. It is only when we stand on the Word of God itself that we will be unshakable in our faith and stand firm with God.

This is not God’s desire! and that is our last point:

His Desire

Ephesians 4:14–16 NKJV

14 that we should no longer be children, tossed to and fro and carried about with every wind of doctrine, by the trickery of men, in the cunning craftiness of deceitful plotting, 15 but, speaking the truth in love, may grow up in all things into Him who is the head—Christ— 16 from whom the whole body, joined and knit together by what every joint supplies, according to the effective working by which every part does its share, causes growth of the body for the edifying of itself in love.

God’s desire is that we would not be tossed to and fro by the world, but that we would “grow up in all things into Him who is the head - Christ -”.

God’s design for church is that His people would be consistently developed further and further into their faith, growing spiritually in their walk with the Lord, so that we might all “speak the truth in love” with those whom God has placed under our influence.

And notice that God says in verse 16, that the whole body has been joined and knit together, and as each part does its share, it causes growth of the body for the edifying of itself in love.

If God has called you to be a part of this church, know this: the church needs you and you need this church. It is when we all come together and do our part that exponential growth takes place and each person learns to walk in fullness with Christ.

Let us all be encouraged by this. Let us be driven to live life together, to pray together, to pray fellowship together, to learn and grow together, to disciple one another through our strengths and weaknesses, and let us work together to reach Allons, TN with the Gospel of Jesus Christ.

Commitment

All for one because one gave all. It is because of Jesus’s work at Calvary that we are even able to have this conversation. As a result, let us devote ourselves to one another to accomplish the work of Christ and evangelize the world.

Amen!