The Church to the Glory of God

Ephesians 4:1–16 NASB95

Therefore I, the prisoner of the Lord, implore you to walk in a manner worthy of the calling with which you have been called, with all humility and gentleness, with patience, showing tolerance for one another in love, being diligent to preserve the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace. There is one body and one Spirit, just as also you were called in one hope of your calling; one Lord, one faith, one baptism, one God and Father of all who is over all and through all and in all. But to each one of us grace was given according to the measure of Christ’s gift. Therefore it says, “When He ascended on high, He led captive a host of captives, And He gave gifts to men.” (Now this expression, “He ascended,” what does it mean except that He also had descended into the lower parts of the earth? He who descended is Himself also He who ascended far above all the heavens, so that He might fill all things.) And He gave some as apostles, and some as prophets, and some as evangelists, and some as pastors and teachers, for the equipping of the saints for the work of service, to the building up of the body of Christ; 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. 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; but speaking the truth in love, we are to grow up in all aspects into Him who is the head, even Christ, 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.

What a great day! Today, we celebrate 183 years of God’s blessing and ministry in the Little River community through this church. I can honestly say that I am grateful and indeed honored to be a part of this church.

On this occasion, I thought it appropriate to peel off our study in Genesis and answer some questions about the church from Scripture. For instance:

Why does the church exist?

Why do we do what we do? Why meet each week?

Why be a part of a local church? And what does that look like?

So, today, we turn to the book of Ephesians and hope to re-assert our purpose and priority as the body of Christ.

Thy why of the church is referenced in the first verse of chapter 4. Paul begins with the word, “Therefore”. A good rule of Bible study is that when we see the word “therefore”, we ask the question, “What is it there for?” To answer this question, we simply go back to the previous verses, in this case,

Ephesians 3:20–21 NASB95

Now to Him who is able to do far more abundantly beyond all that we ask or think, according to the power that works within us, to Him be the glory in the church and in Christ Jesus to all generations forever and ever. Amen.

We can draw from this a simple purpose statement for the church. That is, the church exists to bring glory to Jesus Christ; to make much of Jesus.

In other words, we do not exist to make a name for ourselves, to bolster our programs or the talented singers and musicians we have. It’s not even to ‘make the world better’ or solve the problems within our community. These are all good things, but our purpose is to glorify our Lord.

We have explored on many occasions WHY we want to do this. He alone is worthy, just as the angels and saints proclaim. He is Infinitely good, powerful, and loving. He is all-knowing and merciful. Indeed, through his death, burial, and resurrection, Jesus has proven his love for mankind and brought salvation to the world.

Even so, there are times when the church loses sight of God’s intention and design to bring Him glory.

So, if you picked up a bulletin, I invite you to use the enclosed sermon guide and follow along with me this morning as we see 3 ways the church brings glory to God. As always, I encourage you to take the discussion questions and further your study throughout the week. Let us learn together, The Church for the Glory of God.

The first observation we make in our passage is

The Church Brings Glory to God By Uniting in Worship (1-6)

Now, before we dive into this point, let me explain that worship is more than the songs we sing and the time we spend in Scripture. Indeed, worship is our walk of life that reflects God’s goodness and Lordship. Look at verses 1-3 with me (READ).

As Paul encourages the Ephesian church to walk in a manner worthy of their calling, he calls them to walk that walk TOGETHER. Notice how he instructs them:

walk with all humility and gentleness

with patience

showing tolerance for one another in love

preserving unity in peace

These are all instructions on walking the Christian walk together. Relationships with other Christians are vital. “It’s hard to worship God when we are at war with each other”

BTW, There are no instructions for doing this alone.

Note: There are no “lone-ranger” Christians in Scripture.

ILL: I’ve heard people say, “I don’t have to go to church or belong to a church to be a Christian.” Yeah, ok… you don’t have to wear a parachute in order to jump out of a plane either, but it makes more sense!

God’s design and intention is that his people would walk together, united in the Gospel of Jesus Christ. Let’s read again verses 4-6 (READ)

Let me draw our attention to how Paul paints this picture:

We offer our worship to the same Lord. We have surrendered to His rule and reign in our lives, and this is reflected through our walk as a church.

The reason we can’t worship alongside other religions is because they are offering worship to false gods. You can’t lump all “people of faith’ in the same pile because many folks out there simply have ‘faith’ that God will save all people or that God does not judge sin or that they have live a ‘good enough’ life.

We are trusting in the same hope, that is that Jesus is the Way, the truth and the life. No man comes to the Father except through Him.

We are unified in the hope of the cross. We are unified in the hope of salvation through Christ. Through the hope of a new heaven and new earth in eternity future. We are looking to the same future, and thus the same hope.

We are confessing the same truth through our baptism and testimony.

We confess that we have died to the old self and live in newness of Christ.

We are under the same authority- that of Jesus Christ.

We live by the same set of values and principles.

DISCUSS: Are you worshiping in unity with the body? Or are you trying to do the Christian life on your own?

When we walk out this life together in worship of our Lord, we bring Him glory. Next, we see that

The Church Brings Glory to God By Uniting in Service (11-13)

Paul explains that each person in the church is gifted by God for the work of the church. In fact, one of the reasons we come together each week is to be encouraged and equipped to fulfill the Great Commission.

I have a coffee mug from SEBTS that says “We come together, preparing to GO”

God has given gifts- some as preachers and teachers to equip the saints (that’s you) to serve and work in unity for the advancement of the Gospel and the building up of His Kingdom and church.

This happens through programs and through missions. It happens in prayer and encouragement. It happens in meeting needs and counseling each other.

The list of “HOW” goes on and on, but we have all been gifted to serve and build up the body. And this happens in a grand harmonious effort of all the saints using all their gifts so that the church is healthy and the Gospel is lived out and proclaimed.

ILL: How many of you have ever been to a gym? You see the different levels of folks who work out- There’s that one guy/ lady who works out regularly and probably eats healthy. You can tell they are doing the workouts for each muscle group. Now compare this to the guy who only works out upper body… he comes in looking like he’s riding a chicken. You can tell he skips leg day! And what about the guy who comes to the gym, but just hangs out- never really works out. You can tell… And when these folks are in their workplaces, their homes, the neighborhood, etc., they can demonstrate their strength.

It takes all the church working for us to be healthy. It’s not just a single program or event. It’s all the saints doing all the work of the Gospel.

How will we know that we are unified in service? When, instead of begging for volunteers, we are reaching more people- our neighbors and our community with the good news of Jesus. And doing more gospel-work, serving the needy, ministering to the sick and broken, speaking up for the voiceless, and caring for the lonely - Because the saints of God are convinced that the God of Creation loves them, and has rescued them and you come together hungry for the Word of God and to be equipped so that we can GO and make disciples of ALL nations!

DISCUSS: How are you using the gifts God gave you to build up the church through service?

Friends, the church brings glory to God when we unite in worship and in service. Finally, we see that:

The Church Brings Glory to God By Uniting in Spiritual Growth (14-16)

There is a popular belief that being a Christian- part of God’s family, is simply about having your name on a church role. Like, because God loves us so much just the way we are, there is no need for us to change or grow.

Yet, this goes against what Scripture teaches. It is true that God meets us where we are. Indeed, He will lift us out of our deepest valleys, forgive our most heinous sins, and cleanse us through the blood of Christ. But he does not save us simply to leave us where He found us.

Paul says in verse 14, that we are no longer to be children in the faith.

ILL: My kids are 14 and 7. And as challenging as it is to go through these stages of growth, it would be ludicrous for my 14 year old daughter to behave as if she were still 3. The same is true for us as Christians. Yes, we begin as babies drinking only milk, but at some point, we take to solid food, then we take to being able to dress ourselves, and care for ourselves.

Our growth as Christians should be evident in that we are not led astray by false teaching, but instead should know Christ so intimately that we are unwilling to accept any imitations. We hear those prosperity preachers, “progressive” preachers, liberal preachers, and we know that these are off base. We aren’t led in by our own lusts and weakness, but instead wield the Sword of Truth.

This spiritual growth, Paul explains, is intended to take place in the context of the local church. Let’s look at v. 15-16 (READ)

We are called to speak the truth in love to one another- encouraging and supporting each other, challenging one another, holding each other accountable as we pursue Christ-likeness.

This means that we all have a role to play in each others spiritual growth. Listen to me church, we will not see spiritual growth if we are unwilling to take an active role in walking with others through temptations and hardships. We need to grab the hand of our neighbor and take the steps toward Christ together!

The thing about a church is that we are part of something much bigger than any of us. We are the bride of Christ, set apart to bring glory to our Lord by uniting in worship, service, and growth.

And on this homecoming Sunday, I want to issue a challenge.

Will you commit or recommit to taking an active role in this church in order that we would bring glory to Jesus Christ?

For some of you, that might be the commitment to join this body. If God is leading you to do so, you can come forward during our invitation and we’ll get you started on that process.

Maybe you’re here and you need to be baptized. Or maybe you’ve never surrendered your life to Christ. It’s a great day to make that decision.

Or maybe God is leading you to serve somewhere- there are plenty of places to plug in.

Following our prayer, we are going to have a time of invitation. If God is prompting you, will you respond and commit to His church today?

Pray

DISCUSS: What does it mean to speak truth in love? How are you walking alongside others in their spiritual growth?