The Grace of Fellowship

Good morning

Recount sermon series - “We are in the 4th week of our series on the ordinary means of grace…”

And our focus has been to look into those things that God has prescribed in his word…

They are ordinary in that they are not flashy

But because the Spirit of God is present in and with those who follow Jesus, they are a means of grace

Definition of Grace: God’s self-giving favor that gives undeserving sinners unhindered access to Him, with all the benefits of life with Him.

So the means of grace are those things by which we can experience that access to God.

They are the means by which we grow in life with him

Word

Prayer

But listen… If we stopped there… we might get the idea that we grow on our own

I got my Bible and the Holy Spirit - I don’t need anything else

[Hook/FCF] Individualistic nature of culture leads to an individualistic view of Christianity

(Personal relationship with Jesus becomes private relationship with Jesus)

“I can follow Jesus on my own”

“I don’t need to go to church to have a relationship with Christ”

But let me just tell you: That idea is foreign to your Bible…

So… we are going to move this week to the third means of Grace… “The Grace of Fellowship”

And we will be in Eph. 4:1-16

Fellowship = The personal, relational interaction with one another

Not superficial, but meaningfully living out the Christian life together

What Paul is going to show us that the Christian life is meant to be lived together

And if we take Eph. 4:1-16 seriously, it will mean that we will grow in God’s grace as we fellowship with one another

So let’s give these words our full attention

Ephesians 4:1–16 “I therefore, a prisoner for the Lord, urge you to walk in a manner worthy of the calling to which you have been called, with all humility and gentleness, with patience, bearing with one another in love, eager to maintain the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace. There is one body and one Spirit—just as you were called to the one hope that belongs to your call— one Lord, one faith, one baptism, one God and Father of all, who is over all and through all and in all. But grace was given to each one of us according to the measure of Christ’s gift. Therefore it says, “When he ascended on high he led a host of captives, and he gave gifts to men.” (In saying, “He ascended,” what does it mean but that he had also descended into the lower regions, the earth? He who descended is the one who also ascended far above all the heavens, that he might fill all things.) And he gave the apostles, the prophets, the evangelists, the shepherds and teachers, to equip the saints for the work of ministry, for building up the body of Christ, 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, 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. Rather, speaking the truth in love, we are to grow up in every way into him who is the head, into Christ, 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.”

These are God’s words for us as his people - May we have ears to hear them and hearts to obey them

Big Idea: Fellowship is the means by which we grow together. [8:00]

The Christian life is not one of isolation… by design it is not.

God is a relational God by nature

And all mankind, created in God’s image, is therefore relational in nature.

And as we live together as a church family, we are grown together in the grace of God

And we are going to see 4 ways that we grow through fellowship

Fellowship grows us through…

A shared calling (1-3) [10:00]

Ephesians 4:1 “I therefore, a prisoner for the Lord, urge you to walk in a manner worthy of the calling to which you have been called,”

v. 1 begins with “Therefore” and we always need to ask, “What is that therefore there for?”

Paul is marking a transition in the whole book here, so what is in mind for him is all of ch. 1-3

Summary

God is the architect of your salvation (ch. 1)

God is the cause of your salvation (ch. 2)

God is the object of your salvation (ch. 3)

What is the calling to which you have been called?

To live like you belong to him - And all of us who are in Christ have this calling

We have a shared calling in how we live because we have a shared identity in the one who saved us

And Paul is urging them to “walk according to that calling”

Walking is biblical language for how you live

But notice - Walking is not a stroll in the woods by yourself

Ephesians 4:2 “with all humility and gentleness, with patience, bearing with one another in love,”

Paul assumes our walking is with one another - We are living the Christian life together

So, how will we know that we are walking in a manner worthy of our shared calling?

How will we know that since we belong to God, we are living like it?

Paul gives us three relational virtues that will mark us as God’s people

Humility - A disposition to not seek your own way

Gentleness - Engaging one another from a place of compassion

Patience - A willingness to put up with each other because of the love that unites us

“Bearing with” - modifier

And he goes one step further

Ephesians 4:3 “eager to maintain the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace.”

In our current cultural landscape, what we are eager for is to point the finger - Eager to show how they are wrong and I am right.

As God’s people we will be different precisely because of how we relate to one another in unity, pursuing peace, as we show mutual humility, gentleness and patience through love

“The world will know you are my disciples by your love for one another”

Paul is saying - “When we share the same calling, it should be evident in how we walk with one another

Because you share the same Spirit of God… you should pursue unity in peace.

Now, we need to pause here - Because since it is call too common to make my Christian life a personal and private one, since it is all too common to see my walking as individual

And since the current climate of our nation is so fixated on the self…

We are in constant danger of living contrary to v. 1-3 and still calling it a Christian…

Throughout my life, especially in the past decade or so, and even in our midst as a church family…

I have seen…

Here is how I see it… if you disagree, then you are wrong, and it is up to you to figure that out

And Paul’s words confront us

Growing grace is not about getting everyone to see it your way

Growing grace is growing together as we pursue the unity of Spirit together as we walk together in our shared calling

When I am humble, I will seek to understand more than I will seek to be right

When I am gentle, I will remember that we are all in process, including myself…

When I am patient, I will be slow to get frustrated with you

Why? Because of my love for you

[Love believes all things]

Grace is experienced when we stay engaged with imperfect people because what we share is the same Spirit and the same calling. [REPEAT]

[Transition] - “But we don’t always agree…”

I often ask people who are more concerned with being right than pursuing unity

“Where is there a place for disagreement in your Christian life?”

Which leads to the next point

Fellowship grows us through…

A shared reality (4-6) [17:00]

Paul gives 7 unifying truths for us in v. 4-6

In Scripture, the number 7 is used to denote wholeness, completeness

So in v. 4-6, Paul is telling us that God has ensured our complete unity

Ephesians 4:4–6 “There is one body and one Spirit—just as you were called to the one hope that belongs to your call— one Lord, one faith, one baptism, one God and Father of all, who is over all and through all and in all.”

Why would he move from the unity of the Spirit to these 7 truths?

Well, it is in our differences that we find conflict

And when we maximize our difference, conflict will be the result

When we maximize the complete oneness that God has given us, finding our identity in those truths, fellowship that grows us will follow

Do that mean this shared reality means that there is no such thing as differences?

No, it means that what guides us should be the unifying truth of God, not the ways we are different.

Biblical fellowship as a means of grace is anchored in a shared reality that helps us to walk together in unity, even in disagreement.

Illustration: Think about any family

A family is united in a shared name, not in shared tastes or personalities

What is it that will divide a family?

Not disagreement, but a displacement of what is most important.

Families are not divided because they disagreed about an issue

They are divided because that issue became more important than their identity as a family.

And so it is for us as a church family

When we keep the unity of faith central, we can totally work through our differences as we fellowship and grow together in the grace of the truths that unify us

Now, I think it is helpful to talk about what this looks like at a practical level, since we have to live with one another in a practical way

When it comes to prioritizing the truth that unifies us, it is helpful to think of issues that we might disagree over as 4 tiers

(These came from Mark Dever… I didn’t come up with them on my own)

Preferences - Those things that I like that have very little impact on us if we disagree

Opinions - Those things that I think there is a right way to do it, but if we disagree, I can just deal with it… But I still think I’m right

Persuasions - Those things that I feel strongly enough about that if we disagree about it, it will be tough for us to participate in that thing together

Convictions - Those things that if we disagree, one of us at best is in sin and at worst likely isn’t a Christian

Think of them as a pyramid [explain]

[Show how it works and why we get off track when we disagree]

[Bring it back around]

Paul is showing us in v. 4-6 that these 7 truths are our shared convictions

Everything else is either a preference, an opinion, or a persuasion.

Now, this is where it presses on us:

How often do we let lesser issues override these shared convictions?

We will be a growing church when we grow in grace through fellowship as we keep these 7 truths as our shared reality.

So a shared calling keeps us together, a shared reality keeps us grounded in the truth…

[Transition] But how will we know that we are growing together?

Third point: Fellowship grows us through…

A shared participation (7-12) [25:00]

Look at v. 7-10

Ephesians 4:7–10 “But grace was given to each one of us according to the measure of Christ’s gift. Therefore it says, “When he ascended on high he led a host of captives, and he gave gifts to men.” (In saying, “He ascended,” what does it mean but that he had also descended into the lower regions, the earth? He who descended is the one who also ascended far above all the heavens, that he might fill all things.)”

In v. 8, Paul is quoting Psalm 68, in which the psalmist says that God descending to dwell with a rebellious people and then ascending in victory, distributing gifts among them.

And then in v. 9-10, Paul says: that psalm finds its fulfillment in Christ.

Christ is the one who descended.

In His incarnation, He entered our world. In His death, He went all the way down into our sin and rebellion.

And Christ is the one who ascended.

In His resurrection and exaltation, He was raised in victory. He now reigns over all.

And from that exalted position, Paul says, He gives gifts to His people.

Look back at verse 7:

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

Because Christ is the God descended and ascended, because he is the God who dwells with his people, the way we grow is by participating in fellowship with the gifts that he gives us as he dwells with us.

And remember what grace is:

Grace is unhindered access to God with all the benefits of life in Him.

It is a participation in life with God.

So when Christ gives gifts, He is not handing out tools disconnected from Himself.

He is sharing His own life with His people.

That’s why these are called elsewhere “Gifts of the Spirit”

Because when we are unified in the Spirit of Christ

And when we are unified in the truth of Christ

We participate together in the life of Christ with the gifts that he has given ecah of us

Every person who is in Christ has the Spirit of God dwelling in them.

Which means every person who is in Christ has been given grace.

And that grace takes shape as a gift meant to be used for the good of the body.

and Paul names some of those gifts here

Ephesians 4:11–12 “And he gave the apostles, the prophets, the evangelists, the shepherds and teachers, to equip the saints for the work of ministry, for building up the body of Christ,”

Some are gifted in particular ways to train up the church

But everyone participates in the actual ministry of the church

Now, I want you to notice: What Paul lists here are specific roles that instruct

One of the ways Christ grows His church is by giving leaders who will train the church

Paul is very clear here: Christ is the head of the church. Leaders are not the head. Leaders do not create growth. Leaders do not define truth. Christ does.

But Christ chooses to care for His body by giving shepherds who are accountable to His Word and tasked with equipping His people.

This means that our growth together is not possible when we don’t come under the leaders that Christ as has appointed by his grace

When I was in high school, I played every sport I could… and there was always the same dynamic on every team

There we those who listened to their coaches…

and there were others who thought they were too good on their own to listen

And what happened?

The players who listened to the coaches actually grew and the team was better because of it

The players who wanted to do it their own way, slowly became less and less a part of the team.

And they also didn’t grow

Paul is saying that it is the same for us as a church

Jesus gives gifts for us to be built up together

Some teach

Others do the work of the ministry

And we all grow together.

Now, here is where it gets practical for us

It is all too common, when we have an individualistic view of our role in the church, to say something like, “I know our leaders say this is important, but I disagree, so I am not going to participate in it.”

I know my leaders say it’s important for me to be in a small group, but I don’t think it’s very important so I’m not going to do it

I know that my leaders say that I should become a member, but I don’t think I need to so I’m not going to

I know that my leaders say that I need to serve in the church, but I don’t see the value in it so I’m not going to do it

Paul is saying, “No… Christ gave those leaders to the church to equip you… and by listenign to what they say and participating, we will all grow together.

[Application]

We are not a church of consumers… we should all be participating in the work of the ministry

We are not a church of individuals, we are a church family that should be growing together.

And as we participate together, we will grow together.

And we will all grow toward the same outcome

Which moves us to our final point…

Fellowship grows us through…

A shared outcome (13-16) [34:00]

What is our end-goal of fellowship? It is to look like Jesus together

Look at v. 13

Ephesians 4:13 “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,”

Right after saying that we grow by participating together

Paul connects that participation to a goal = Looking more like Christ

Our goal as a church family should not anything less than that we would increasingly embody and display Jesus Christ to the world

And Paul’s point in this passage is that that will not happen without one another

Because it is God’s design to use one another in fellowship to grow us together.

Illustration: Doctoral class

I felt like the dumbest person in the room… I don’t belong here

But what happened?

I was challenged in my thinking

I was taught things I didn’t know

I was corrected where I was wrong

I built friendships that encouraged me

And Paul is saying here: it is no different for the church

Our growth in Christ is inseparable from our togetherness in Christ

When I have a shared calling and we live in a shared reality and we are sharing in participation… we are grown by God’s grace as we pursue the shared outcome of looking more like Jesus

We challenge one another

We teach one another

We correct one another

And we grow together

You will look more and more like Christ, together.

But if we miss this… and we separate ourselves from fellowship because we don’t want to be challenged, and taught, and corrected…

Ephesians 4:14 “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.”

Notice the contrast - Participation leads to growth in Christ

The opposite then leads to perpetual immaturity and being deceived

When I think I am right and I avoid God’s design for my growth through fellowship

And I isolate myself, thinking that I can grow on my own…

I am deceived and I don’t grow at all

This is why Proverbs 18:1 says “Whoever isolates himself seeks his own desire; he breaks out against all sound judgment.”

The one who thinks he can grow on his own… doesn’t grow at all

I have had conversations with people over the years who push back against church leadership, aren’t involved in fellowship in the church, and all the while they think that they are the ones who see it rightly.

And Paul’s word in v. 14 say, “If that is you, you’re deceived.”

God’s design is that we grow together toward the same outcome of looking like Christ

Ephesians 4:15–16 “Rather, speaking the truth in love, we are to grow up in every way into him who is the head, into Christ, 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.”

Our goal as God’s people is maturity

Our means of growing is fellowship with one another

And we do this by being rooted in the truth as we love one another.

When we embrace God’s design for our church to grow in his grace through fellowship, we grow up in every way

And look at who gives the growth

“we are to grow up in every way into him who is the head, into Christ, 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.”

It is Christ himself who grows us in grace as we embrace his design for the church

Remember: Grace is unhindered access to God with all of the benefits of life in him

And fellowship is a means of grace, because it is God himself, in Jesus Christ, who grows us as we live together in the church

[Conclusion]

I don’t think I am overstating it when I say that there is no meaningful growth for the Christian that is found in isolation from the church

It is by God’s design that we grow in his grace together as we fellowship with one another through…

A shared calling

A shared reality

A shared participation

A shared outcome

So what does this mean for us?

Some are attending periodically - You need to attend weekly

Some are only attending weekly - You need to engage during the week

Small groups

Some are engaging during the week - You need to remain committed, even when it is tempting to pull back

Some are satisfied to participate, but not fully commit

Membership

For all of us, we need to take inventory on where we are at in our fellowship, and we all need to take the next step forward into fellowship

Because fellowship is the means by which we grow together.

And may we be a church that is not just a growing number of people, but a church that is a number of growing people.

Amen.