Sermon Tone Analysis

It probably won’t surprise you to learn that I was a rather lanky kid all through my growing up years.

I often tell people that I was bullied throughout elementary school because my ears were the same size they are now, only on a much smaller head.

You don’t believe me, let me prove it to you: [SHOW PICTURE].

By the time I got to 9th grade, I had grown into my ears at least a little bit more… but I was 6ft tall and 100lbs soaking wet...

and let’s just say tripped over my own feet and stubbed my toes a lot and had a lot of growing pains...

My body parts didn’t all grow into maturity and didn’t start working together properly until I was a full grown adult...

This is a pretty common experience for a lot of teenage boys… but it is a good picture of something that must happen in a church too…

Our church body must grow into what it really is… the body of Christ.

It must grow to maturity.

As we study through the book of Ephesians, Paul has laid out this big, cosmic vision of what Christ’s church is...

He’s shown us that God has made dead people alive and brought hostile people together in his church...

And God wants to fill his church with all of his glory so that his wisdom in salvation would be seen to the furthest stretches of the heavenly places...

So that the demonic forces, even, would be forced to see their inevitable defeat.

But if we’re honest, when we look at the church, what we SEE doesn’t always appear that glorious.

Just like my adult-sized ears on my 7-year-old head, the church can look kind of strange.

Just like my lanky bodily frame when I was in 9th grade, it can seem awkward… like some parts of the body is not working quite right.

We may even have some parts of our body that are unwell or diseased and need treated or nursed back to health.

And the reality is that while we are fully Christ’s body, we need to grow into all that means.

Our muscles of faith need strengthened…

Our joints need to learn how to work together…

Our bodies need to fill out...

Our sick parts need to be restored to health.

And all the parts are there… but we need to grow into the fullness of all that they are.

THAT’S what Paul is revealing in the second half of Ephesians… he is showing us how to grow into the glorious truths that we have already studied in the first half.

He is making this turn from the big and cosmic vision... to how that plays out in the seemingly small and tedious interactions we have on a regular basis in the church.

And Paul wants us to know that we EACH have a part to play.

We each MUST play our part for Christ’s glory to be evident in his church.

Here’s our big idea for today:

Big Idea: Play your part in our church as we grow together into full Christlike maturity.

READ Eph 4:7-16.

Last week, David preached the transitional passage between the main theological section of the book to the main application section of the book...

By the way, in saying that, I’m NOT saying that chapters 1-3 don’t contain any application or that chapters 4-6 don’t contain any doctrine… don’t press that distinction too far because the whole book is meant to work together where part 1 lays out the theology and part 2 applies it.

But chapter 4 verses 1-6 serve as a transition between writing that is MOSTLY theological explanation to writing that is now MOSTLY practical application...

And all that goes before runs like a current that powers all that lies ahead.

So Paul starts chapter 4 by saying “I urge you to walk in a manner worthy of the calling to which you’ve been called...”

In other words, you’ve been called into this great heavenly reality of new relationship with God and new relationship with God’s people… now live it out.

Live consistent with your spiritual reality.

And that starts with pursuing unity beyond imagination like David so wonderfully preached last week.

Paul points to the ONENESS of our confession that leads to the ONENESS of Christ’s church...

And we need to FIGHT to maintain unity.

But then in verses 7-16, Paul goes from very broad… ONE UNIVERSAL, GLOBAL, INVISIBLE CHURCH… to very narrow… EACH ONE OF US.

Look at verse 7 again: “But grace was given to each one of us according to the measure of Christ’s gift.”

EACH ONE… every true believer in Jesus Christ has a part to play...

BECAUSE “Grace was GIVEN… according to the measure of Christ’s gift...”

If you are going to play your part in our church as we grow together into full Christlike maturity, you must first...

1) Look to the Source of Maturity: The Ascended Christ (4:7-10)

Explain: In verses 7-10, Paul is emphasizing that the ascended Christ is the SOURCE of our spiritual gifts.

Now you might think, “Wait a minute, I thought the Holy Spirit gave spiritual gifts?”

And you would not be wrong.

1 Corinthians describes spiritual gifting in that way.

But in the oneness of our Triune God… and because Christ is described in the scriptures as SENDING the Spirit… it is also accurate to say that CHRIST gives the spiritual gifts.

He gives them to EACH ONE… every believer is equipped with a spiritual gift… And he gives them according to the MEASURE of his gift.

The measure of his gift is referring to the fullness of himself that he gives to the whole church… and each one of us is given a measure of the whole.

It’s sort of like if I’m using a measuring cup to complete a recipe…

If I’m making a pie like I did yesterday with my boys, and I need 2 cups of flour, I would have to measure out 2, 1-cup portions...

OR I could measure out 4 half-cup portions...

OR I could measure out 1 cup and then four quarter cup portions...

It would be MY CHOICE… but the FULL MEASURE would be 2 cups when it is all put together...

And the same is true of Christ’s body...

We grow into FULL maturity together as Christ gives the FULL measure of himself in divided portions among EACH PART of his body...

The parts TOGETHER make up the whole… and each part needs the others to grow to maturity.

That’s the point of Spiritual Gifts.

That’s very important and you will see it as we unfold this passage.

Now, Paul wants to make sure that we understand how important these gifts are to God’s overarching plan...

So he reaches back into the Old Testament to reveal how these gifts within the church are part of the mystery that was once hidden but now he is bringing to light.

And to be honest, these next verses (8-10) are kind of confusing…

and even people who study the Bible for a living find them them confusing and there’s a lot of debate over them.

But there is some really rich stuff here if we take the time… and I want to encourage you to take the time on your own… hopefully you did that as part of the reading plan this week.

We’ll take some time here now to mine these verses for their rich truth.

Paul references Psalm 68:18 saying… “Therefore it says, ‘When he ascended on high he led a host of captives, and he gave gifts to men.’”

The only problem is that when you go back to Psalm 68:18, it actually says, “You ascended on high, leading a host of captives in your train and RECEIVING gifts among men, even among the rebellious, that the Lord God may dwell there.”

Do you see the difference?

Paul seems to change the quote from “you” to “he”...

and even more, from “receiving gifts among men”... to “giving gifts TO men.”

What’s up with that?

Is Paul allowed to do that?

And WHY did he do that to prove his point here?

Well first, Paul never says he is directly quoting the verse.

He is generally referencing the verse.

And when he references it, it seems as if he is doing so in a way that summarizes the whole Psalm.

Psalm 68 is all about the YHWH having victory over his enemies.

And so he rides out from Mount Sinai where he first gave Moses the law and made Israel a people… and he rides through the desert in his chariot like a great warrior King.

He conquers his enemies at Bashan, which was considered THE stronghold of the demonic heavenly beings… the rulers over the nations...

He plunders their spoil, and then parades them through the streets on his way to Mt. Zion, the Holy City of Jerusalem.

And when he gets there, he sets up a dwelling place for himself among his people.

And all along the way, Psalm 68 describes God leading his people (those who were formerly prisoners of his enemy) into prosperity.

It describes him as dividing the spoil of his victory with the widows.

It describes him as giving power to his people.

And so Paul summarizes Psalm 68 by saying, “Yes, God in the flesh… YHWH… Jesus Christ... plundered his enemies and paraded them in open shame as he ascended to the right hand of the Father… AND he didn’t just take their spoil for himself…

No, he LAVISHED his own people… who were formerly prisoners of his enemies… with RICH, gracious, empowering gifts.

And isn’t that a beautiful picture of the gospel: Christ rode out of heaven… came to earth… defeated the rulers and authorities in the heavenly places by DYING on a cross for our sin and canceling the record of our debt...

And he rose again, parading his victory, which is now made known through those who believe… through the church.

Remember back in chapter 3, the CHURCH is the evidence of Christ’s victory to the rulers and authorities in the heavenly places… Satan and his demons.

And the church is now how Christ is storming the gates of Hell and crushing the final acts of rebellion as we advance the gospel forward.

And when Christ empowers us through his grace according to the measure of his gift… when he gives us SPIRITUAL GIFTS… it’s all part of him proving his victory and demonstrating his wisdom THROUGH THE CHURCH.

I want you to understand: THAT is what is at stake in you using your spiritual gifts to build up the body or choosing not to.

If you don’t exercise your spiritual gifts in the church, it’s not just that some work doesn’t get done... or some ministry needs don’t get fulfilled… or certain people have to do more work...

It’s that the VICTORY OF CHRIST in your life is not displayed as it ought to be.

If you aren’t using your spiritual gifts, you are not reflecting the POWER AUTHORITY of Christ in your life.

If you don’t build up the body with your spiritual gift, you STIFLE the evidence of Christ’s victory in our whole church body… even to the furthest reaches of the cosmos.