The Living, Active and Growing Body of Christ
The Priesthood of All Believers • Sermon • Submitted
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10 He who descended is the one who also ascended far above all the heavens, that he might fill all things.) 11 And he gave the apostles, the prophets, the evangelists, the shepherds and teachers, 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,
Ephesians is one of the General Epistles and that, like most of these general letters, it was circulated among the house churches in the region of Ephesus. This is important to note at this point because it means that this letter provides insights into Paul’s general teaching and practice in all the churches, not just one. This has implications for all churches everywhere, and we would add, at all times.
The good news for all of us this morning is that you are part of the church of Christ.
Why is that good news? ask.. (bride of Christ, you have been redeemed by the blood of the lamb, there is an eternity of blessing…etc)
There was a sense of awe, amazement and discovery that has been lost in the church of our time.
We lost this sense of discovery of the mystery of God hidden from men for ages.
Why must we be excited as members of the church?
Christ is the head of His body.
Christ has gifted the church.
Christ wants to grow the church into maturity.
Last time we talked about you belonging to God’s royal priesthood and how you should look at yourselves in Christ - your identity found in Him.
Now we have to look highly at ourselves collectively , in the context of belonging to the church!
Your life in Christ flows from you being a member of the living, active and growing body of Christ!
Christ remains to be the head of His body.
10 He who descended is the one who also ascended far above all the heavens, that he might fill all things.)
He descended,,
Jesus ascended to the Father to give us the Holy Spirit..
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 go, I will send him to you.
Jesus has not abandoned us, He may be seated at the right hand of the Father but He remains to be the head of the church and actively working in us through the Holy Spirit at work.
“The Mother Church”
a place you go and belong to
the arbiter of truth
led by someone and people in a hierarchy structure
Nowhere is the concept of “Mother Church” taught in the Bible.
The church is a living, active and growing organism that you are members of.
The Word of God is the source of all truth pertaining to life and doctrine. The Holy Spirit is the teacher of this truth, and He empowers the function of each member of the church by the gifts that have been given us.
2. Christ has gifted the Church.
11 And he gave the apostles, the prophets, the evangelists, the shepherds and teachers, 12 to equip the saints for the work of ministry, for building up the body of Christ,
Remember these two verses because these are central to our direction as a church.
Jesus’ wonderful act of gracing or gifting the church for the work of ministry.
Definition of charismatic (talk about misconceptions) - thought of as attractiveness, manifestation of gifts, is an endowment or a gift — by the Holy Spirit.
The church’s ministry is fundamentally charismatic by nature.
Jesus gave APEST to the church for what purpose? To equip the saints - (Remember that in the New Testament, a saint is not a dead person beatified or canonized to be holy above those who are living - a saint is a living follower of Jesus)
So to equip the saints for what? For the work of ministry. Equipping is not only for our personal growth..
For the work of ministry, for what? to build up the body of Christ.
For the Body of Christ to be built up, every saint should become a minister.
Let’s talk about the word minister:
The Fivefold ministry:
Apostles
Prophets
Evangelists
Shepherds
Teachers
Fivefold ministry ==> APEST
Among the APEST ministry, which are typically present in the local church? The shepherds and the teachers.. not so much apostles, prophets and evangelists (explain apostle, usages of the word — 12 apostles, “sent out” or ambassadors, describes a certain gifting - apostolic)
for the saints to be equipped for the work of ministry and for the church to be built up, there should also be apostles, prophets and evangelists — not just the pastor teacher.
Secondly...
For centuries, the institutional church has taken this fivefold ministry to mean offices. Explain. Leadership matrix. Is Paul just describing just the leadership of the church or the whole church?
But since the ministry of the church is charismatic, it is empowered by the giftings of the Holy Spirit, we should move away from looking at APEST as offices to function, or roles.
12 to equip the saints for the work of ministry, for building up the body of Christ,
The APEST ministry has been given to equip the saints for the work of what?
ministry — specifically APEST ministry..
For the body to be built up we have to reproduce APEST..
But Pastor, I am not ordained to do the work of the ministry — it is the gifting of the Spirit
We need content for equipping — Equipping iTIM
Examples of ministry matrix..
Ask are you any of the following?
apostolic gifting - start or jumpstart something.. start a pioneering work? Entrepreneurial?
prophetic - disturber, questioner, anyone can receive the word of the Lord and give a word of encouragement and warning to the body.
evangelist - recruiter, communicator, not grabbing the mic or a bullhorn and standing on a street corner.. friendship evangelism (Philip and Lilly)
shepherd - not necessarily to become a pastor — humanizer, gift of nurture — a tender and caring heart — (food bank, hospitals, facilities)
teacher — systemizer, good grasp of the truth..can be a good facilitator.. iTIM
Show the diagram from Hirsch and Frost here.
3. Christ grows the church into maturity.
Paul’s theme of unity in the church, One Lord, One Faith One Baptism cannot be divorced from the APEST ministry of the church.
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,
We attain to true unity - synergy and harmony as members fill up these roles that we become actively united
The Knowledge of the Son of God - not only intellectual, but we become like Him as we do the work of service according to our gifts.
To mature manhood --
A lot of times, we are guilty of this.. we talk of spiritual maturity only in terms of personal walk.
We must see ourselves as a member of a body that needs to mature.
— we together must grow to the stature of the fullness of Christ.
The body as it functions cannot run on its own. The body to function cannot be separated from its head.
Christ is the head of the body. We grow into full maturity as a church when we experience Jesus in His fullness.
Story. Scott and Paul.
We are members of one another under one head!