Faithful Unity Is Christian Maturity

Introduction & Series Review

Looking back over Ephesians 4, even though we spent three weeks in verse 5, and two weeks in verse 6, we have absolutely flown through this text. I don’t want us to think that just because we’ve dug down deep into each section that somehow we mined it for all its worth.

One of the great mysteries of Scripture is that as the inerrant Word of the infinite God, the Scriptures are inexhaustible. I find over the years that the more I meditate on God’s Word, the more I realize I have left untapped, and that’s certainly true of Ephesians 4.

Verses 1-6 zoomed in on our common calling as one Body, united by the Holy Spirit in service to the one Lord, Jesus Christ.

Verses 7-10 turned to Christ’s victorious work of salvation, by which He gave gifts to His people - every single one of us - in order to fulfill His purposes.

Verses 11-12 zeroed in on the gift of leaders to equip every one of us for ministry - to build up one another.

And today, in verses 13-16, we find out why.

Why is unity so important? Why are Gospel-obsessed, Scripture-soaked leaders so important? Why should you, why should every single Christian consider his or her calling to Christ’s mission so important?

Verses 13-16 point us back to our purpose and answer the question,

Q. Why should every one of us care about unity, and gifts, and ministry?

3 points - PURPOSE, PERIL, POWER

I. The Purpose of Your Ministry: Christlikeness (v13)

Explain: <<READ v13>>

“UNTIL” - the goal - EACH individually given grace by Jesus for the building up of the BODY - the whole - to keep building until all have reached two kinds of UNITY:

Unity of the Faith and of the Knowledge of the Son of God

This is the great ambition of Paul

Philippians 3:8–11 ESV

8 Indeed, I count everything as loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. For his sake I have suffered the loss of all things and count them as rubbish, in order that I may gain Christ 9 and be found in him, not having a righteousness of my own that comes from the law, but that which comes through faith in Christ, the righteousness from God that depends on faith— 10 that I may know him and the power of his resurrection, and may share his sufferings, becoming like him in his death, 11 that by any means possible I may attain the resurrection from the dead.

This is personal, transcendent knowledge of Jesus.

To KNOW the Son of God in this way is to see His gracious hand everywhere you look, to hear His words echoing in everyday things, like a song that you know so well that you can hear every instrument in your mind.

In one sense, we must know Christ to be saved - we must come to recognize our need of salvation and believe He is the Savior, to repent and believe and receive His Spirit, and no one who has His Spirit is a stranger to Him.

But in another sense, we are only beginning to get to know Him, even now.

The knowledge of the Son of God is both a gift, and a goal, like unity.

The goal of your ministry is to participate in Christ’s own revelation of Himself. As you have come to know Him, make Him known in word & deed.

“How would we know if we’ve achieved this?” - This is where the next phrase comes in -

Another statement of our PURPOSE - Until we’ve all reached:

MATURE MANHOOD

ILLUST: Consider the difference between immaturity and mature manhood. When things get difficult, an immature person gives up, makes excuses, runs away, avoids responsibility. The mature person buckles down, makes a plan, steps into the situation, and does what needs to be done.

The mark of maturity isn’t always what you do, but what you avoid.

“Mature manhood” -

Idea of rootedness and fruitfulness

Psalm 1:1–3 ESV

1 Blessed is the man who walks not in the counsel of the wicked, nor stands in the way of sinners, nor sits in the seat of scoffers; 2 but his delight is in the law of the Lord, and on his law he meditates day and night. 3 He is like a tree planted by streams of water that yields its fruit in its season, and its leaf does not wither. In all that he does, he prospers.

This is the kind of man Christ is, and this is the kind of manhood He has set before us as our goal.

Colossians 2:6–7 ESV

6 Therefore, as you received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk in him, 7 rooted and built up in him and established in the faith, just as you were taught, abounding in thanksgiving.

UNTIL we all attain to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ

The measure of Christian maturity is Christlikeness.

Luke 6:40 ESV

40 A disciple is not above his teacher, but everyone when he is fully trained will be like his teacher.

In Rom 8:28-30, Paul says that God’s purpose is for us to be conformed to the image of Christ.

Verse 13 says that this is the purpose of our shared ministry.

To be pursued until all attain it. Until He returns, the mission continues.

And verse 14 tells us why, and this is our second point:

II. The Peril of the Immature: Deception (v14)

Explain: <<READ vv12-14>>

A vivid picture - children / storm-tossed

Key characteristic of spiritual infancy is vulnerability. Pictures a boat in a raging storm. The whirling, unstable ship, driven wherever the wind or waves dictate.

Kids: Do you like making yourself dizzy?

Parents: Ever pick up your kid & spin around… What does the KID say?

Verse 14, “carried about” — spun round and round till you’re dizzy.

A kid being spun around by their mom or dad is having fun. A kid being spun around and tossed to and fro in the waves is in PERIL.

The PERIL of a Christian stuck in infancy is that they can’t escape the whirlpool and they don’t know which way is north.

Jesus Christ has given you and me to one another to use our gifts in service to Him and one another, to build each other up, because the alternative is perilous for every one of us.

The peril in verse 14 false comes in the form of false doctrine, human cunning, and deceitful schemes.

This is not a danger only for some of us (Sermon on the Mount shows - Pharisees - best/brightest teachers susceptible).

Later in his ministry, Paul sent Timothy back to the Ephesian church, and wrote him two letters, known to us in our Bibles as 1-2 Timothy, and in them, Paul once again takes aim against false and deceptive teaching.

1 Timothy 1:3–7 ESV

3 As I urged you when I was going to Macedonia, remain at Ephesus so that you may charge certain persons not to teach any different doctrine, 4 nor to devote themselves to myths and endless genealogies, which promote speculations rather than the stewardship from God that is by faith. 5 The aim of our charge is love that issues from a pure heart and a good conscience and a sincere faith. 6 Certain persons, by swerving from these, have wandered away into vain discussion, 7 desiring to be teachers of the law, without understanding either what they are saying or the things about which they make confident assertions.

False doctrine is a sinister thing. Not every false teaching sounds false. The most effective heretics are the ones that sound thoughtful and plausible.

False teaching trades Biblical truth for a veneer that looks authentic. But it can’t be consistently Biblical. Either it will retain some Biblical ideas, and then depart wildly from what the Bible says about humanity, God, or salvation while trying to convince you it’s biblical; or it will attack the integrity of Scripture itself in order to convince you that you need it to correct what the Bible gets wrong.

APPLICATION: Points us in direction of one kind of answer to the PERIL of the Immature: Knowledge of God’s Word.

Specifically, our collective pursuit of Biblical knowledge protects us against the peril Paul’s talking about here. Because the maturity we’re aiming for is Christlikeness, a mind trained by God’s Word is a defense against falsehood.

YOUR MINISTRY is also part of God’s plan to protect all of us against the deceitful schemes of false teachers.

False teachers rarely enter a church openly. They are deceitful after all. They try to hide their behavior from the shepherds God has given to the church. But a well-equipped congregation committed to search the Scriptures to evaluate teaching will sniff out a wolf in the fold.

OUR SHARED MINISTRY is to keep watch over one another, to embody the gifts that Christ has given to each of us, to keep one another’s hearts turned to to the Lord. When a brother or sister is in a particularly vulnerable place, an infant in Christ, the gift of HOSPITALITY helps foster his growth and maturity. The gift of wisdom or words of knowledge helps a vulnerable brother or sister step back and say, “I never thought about it like that. Now that you say it, what that guy said does seem a little off from what God says.”

The PERIL of immaturity is a serious problem even for folks that have been Christians for a long time. Paul warned the Corinthian church that they needed the milk of basic Christian truth even though they thought they were wise and ready for solid food. The author of Hebrews says the same kind of thing in

Hebrews 5:11–14 ESV

11 About this we have much to say, and it is hard to explain, since you have become dull of hearing. 12 For though by this time you ought to be teachers, you need someone to teach you again the basic principles of the oracles of God. You need milk, not solid food, 13 for everyone who lives on milk is unskilled in the word of righteousness, since he is a child. 14 But solid food is for the mature, for those who have their powers of discernment trained by constant practice to distinguish good from evil.

The tragedy of ignoring Paul’s warning here is that it leads to churches full of vulnerable infants in Christ. Whole denominations have slid into apostasy through a lack of discipleship.

That’s a word we haven’t used very much in this series. Discipleship is the process of learning to walk with Christ. Jesus gives us a perfect definition of discipleship in the text I mentioned a few moments ago,

Luke 6:40 ESV

40 A disciple is not above his teacher, but everyone when he is fully trained will be like his teacher.

This is the purpose of our ministry to one another and the goal of our life in Christ - to be like Him. For his thoughts to shape ours; for His purpose to be our purpose; for His mission to be ours.

And verses 15-16 tell us how, and this is our third point:

III. The Power for Growth: Christ Himself

EXPLAIN: <<READ 15-16>>

If the PERIL comes in the deception of the vulnerable, the POWER is found here - in Christ Himself. He IS the truth we are to speak to one another. It is Christ who disarms powers and principalities. It is Christ who defeats our enemies. He is the truth that defeats the deceitful schemes launched against the vulnerable.

Our hope is not in self-effort or human power. Our hope is Christ Himself in us.

In Colossians, Paul says that to the believers:

Colossians 1:27–29 ESV

27 To them God chose to make known how great among the Gentiles are the riches of the glory of this mystery, which is Christ in you, the hope of glory. 28 Him we proclaim, warning everyone and teaching everyone with all wisdom, that we may present everyone mature in Christ. 29 For this I toil, struggling with all his energy that he powerfully works within me.

He is the One who accomplishes what He calls us to do in one another.

Christ Jesus did not redeem you from slavery to sin to leave you to fight against it alone.

This is the sweetest truth for Christians who feel like infants in a storm-tossed sea, dizzied and disoriented by the lies of the world, the devil, and the sin that still clings to them.

His purpose for your ministry, the protection of His people from the peril of spiritual immaturity, and the growth and fulfillment of His purposes in you - to attain to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ - are under HIS power.

But that also means that there is no power that can finally conquer us, either. If you belong to Jesus Christ by faith, then hear these promises from the Word:

Philippians 1:6 ESV

6 And I am sure of this, that he who began a good work in you will bring it to completion at the day of Jesus Christ.

And

Romans 8:37 ESV

37 No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us.

We’ve seen in verses 7-12 that every one of us has been given to one another for the building up of Christ’s Body. Today, we conclude our series with the glorious truth that He has not only given us to one another, but He has given Himself to us in love, so that we can pour ourselves out for one another in love.

Everything He has called us to, He has provided.

So friends, consider how Paul concludes this section of Ephesians, and set your eyes on your Savior.

John 13 - washed the disciples’ feet.

John 13:12–14 ESV

12 When he had washed their feet and put on his outer garments and resumed his place, he said to them, “Do you understand what I have done to you? 13 You call me Teacher and Lord, and you are right, for so I am. 14 If I then, your Lord and Teacher, have washed your feet, you also ought to wash one another’s feet.

and

John 13:34–35 ESV

34 A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another: just as I have loved you, you also are to love one another. 35 By this all people will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another.”