Sermon Tone Analysis

Good morning and welcome to Dishman Baptist Church.

Whether you are joining us in person or online I am truly grateful that you would spend your time with us this morning.

Please take your Bibles and turn with me to Ephesians 4, Ephesians 4.

We’ve jumped back into this book following the Advent season and we’ve thus far looked at what Paul has begun to teach regarding the conduct of church.

At the beginning of chapter 4 we saw what the church is to look like on the micro level as Paul instructs them on the conduct of interpersonal relationships admonishing the Ephesians to walk worthy of their calling with humility, gentleness, patience and bearing with one another in love - what a marvelous change would be wrought in our lives if we simply abided by these words in our daily relationships as well as those in the church.

Then Paul looks at unity on a macro level as he tells them that they are not individuals but a part of something greater, something that shares one body, one Spirit, one hope, one Lord, one faith, one baptism and all of this is through the grace of the one God and Father.

Then he tells them about the gifts that have been given by our magnanimous King who took us captive rescuing us from captivity and bestows upon us gifts for service in His Kingdom.

I’ve repeatedly said that Paul is teaching a sort of Church 2.0 - an upgraded version of church that we should be following.

But this morning I’d like to retract that statement - this isn’t an improvement on church, rather this is the way that church is supposed to be.

We’re the ones who are guilty of seeking to improve on church and to achieve a sort of church 2.0.

The church in the 21st century - and really its been going on for longer than that but this is where we are and so we must deal with today - is in a bit of an identity crisis.

We don’t know who we are and we don’t really know what we’re supposed to be doing.

In an article entitle “The Rise of Paganism” in the New York Times in December 2018, columnist Ross Douthat writes these words about the church “perhaps instead of secularization it makes sense to talk about the fragmentation and personalization of Christianity - to describe America as a nation of Christian heretics, if you will, in which traditional churches have been supplanted by self-help gurus and spiritual-political entrepreneurs.

These figures cobble together pieces of the old orthodoxies, take out the inconvenient bits and pitch them to mass audiences that want part of the old-time religion but nothing too unsettling or challenging or ascetic.

The result is a nation where Protestant awakenings have given way to post-Protestant wokeness, where Jonathan Edwards and George Whitefield have ceded pulpits to Joel Osteen and Oprah Winfrey, where the prosperity gospel and Christian nationalism rule the right and a social gospel denuded of theological content rules the left.”

And in places where this hasn’t happened its quite possible that something worse has.

We’ve been lured into a life of consumerism where the goal is entertainment or cultural attendance because it is what we’ve always done.

How many of you know someone who, if asked why they attend a particular church will answer “because their youth group is so fun and my kids really love it.

The teaching isn’t much here but my kids just love the youth group.”

The greatest secret in the church is that we have become a church of observers rather than participants.

We have pew warmers rather than prayer warriors.

All across the nation - well in some places - there are people who are getting ready to attend or are already in attendance at a football game - worshipping at the altar of commercial sporting enterprises.

Without getting too far down that rabbit hole - in each of those stadiums there are 92 players who started with their respective teams back in September with a goal in mind.

To reach the Super Bowl.

Those players every effort has been to reach that pinnacle achievement.

What is it that the church is seeking to accomplish?

That is the question that Paul will pose for us this morning as he tells us the purpose of the church - and the question is how are we doing at accomplishing our mission?

Do we have a purpose for what we’re doing here?

Specific Gifts

The first two categories have been superceded by the second two.

Despite what some modern movements would have us believe there are no modern day apostles or prophets.

After Christ setting the cornerstone, the apostles are the foundation of all that we believe.

They were charged as Christ’s representatives with laying that foundation through planting churches, receiving revelation from the Spirit leading to the written Word of God and were attested to their validity through the performance of signs and wonders.

One requirement for these men was that they had been with Jesus - after Judas died when they sought to replace him one of the requirements was that the man had been with Jesus from the very beginning

But after the cannon had been established the need for the Apostles diminished and they passed from the scene of church history.

One example that I read was that of a constitutional convention - once the purposes of the convention have been completed then the delegates are no longer needed.

This is the case with apostles and is the reason why we don’t have apostles in the church today.

Prophets

Prophets in the New Testament were to work alongside the apostles to interpret and teach the mystery of Christ’s coming and the salvation that was subsequently offered through His death and resurrection.

Paul told us earlier in Ephesians this was the purpose of the prophets

The prophets were found in local churches whereas the apostles were sent to the church at large.

The prophets would often interpret the apostles teaching for the local congregation not necessarily impart a direct message from God.

In this way the prophets and the apostles worked hand in hand to deliver the foundation of the faith - the apostles message was doctrinal and general whereas the prophets message was more personal and practical - taking the truths taught by the apostles and applying them to their specific context and situation.

Once the foundations of the church had been laid though the purpose of the apostles and prophets had been fulfilled and they left the stage of church history to be replaced by the evangelists and pastor-teacher.

Evangelists

There are men within the church that have the gift of being an evangelist.

These men have the unique ability to explain and preach the Gospel in such a way that people are brought to Christ.

James Boyce puts it this way in his commentary “An evangelist is one who possesses a special ability to communicate the gospel of salvation from sin through Jesus Christ.”

That doesn’t let any of you off the hook from seeking to share the Gospel with neighbors, coworkers, friends, etc. but it is important to recognize that there are those who are singularly gifted in this area.

This term “evangelist” is used only here in the New Testament and in all of the New Testament only one person is directly referred to as an evangelist - Philip is called an evangelist in Acts 21:8

And his efforts towards evangelism are recounted for us in Acts 8. Timothy is charged in 2 Timothy 4:5 to do the work of an evangelist.

We should certainly be seeking to cultivate and develop this gift in men who are capable of going out and speaking the Gospel to the lost and to teach others how to evangelize.

We could certainly use someone with those giftings here as we seek to reach Spokane Valley for Christ.

This may get me in trouble but I believe this is an office that does not encompass just men the way pastor-teacher does.

This is a gift often given to both men and women and can be used by both for the effective equipping of the saints and the growth of the church.

One commentator called the evangelists the obstetricians of the church.

This gift has been heavily maligned in recent years because there are many self-styled “evangelists” who use the opportunity to simply scream people down and to try and scare them into the kingdom.

There is no other way to bring someone into the Kingdom except to preach the name of Christ and to allow the Spirit to do His work in their hearts - do we tell them of sin?

Of course.

Do we warn them of Hell?

Certainly.

But if I only preach the “you don’t want to burn do you?

Well then you better get saved!”

gospel then I’m not preaching the beauty and gloriousness of Christ - and that is a sad message.

Evangelists must seek to proclaim the same message that Paul taught

Just as a new born baby has to be passed on from the obstetrician to the pediatrician, so must new believers be passed from the evangelist to the pastor-teacher.

Pastor-teacher

Evangelists may or may not be itinerant.

The role of a pastor-teacher is anything but itinerant.

There are many opinions as to whether Paul is speaking of two offices here as in pastor and teacher or a combination of both roles in one person.

It is true that there is an aspect of teaching in each of the previous three roles named.

It is also true that there are those who are capable of teaching that are not called to the pastorate.

I think though, that the grammar suggests that Paul has in mind both roles in one person here.

That the person charged most with equipping the saints in this new entity called the church must bear the marks of both pastor and teacher.

The word for pastor here is most usually translated shepherd in the New Testament.

In fact of the eighteen times it is used in the New Testament, only here is this word translated pastor.

Twice the shepherd referred to is Christ himself - in both Hebrews 13:20

and in 1 Peter 2:25

A key text in the Bible for understanding the role of a shepherd in the life of the church is Ezekiel 34 - where God is calling out the poor spiritual leaders of Israel for mistreating His sheep.

What we find here is the primary responsibilities of a shepherd of God’s flock.

They must feed the sheep (verse 2), they must care for the sheep (verse 3-4) and they must lead the sheep (verse 5-6).

The pastor of a church is not simply a hired hand who is merely to stand here on Sundays and pontificate on a text to you - although that is a significant part of feeding the sheep.

When I was hired I told the committee that they were hiring me as your preacher only time would tell if I was to earn the right to be called your pastor.

You will each have to determine for yourselves how I’m doing in that arena - whether you are being fed, adequately led in the ways of Christ and whether or not you are being cared for.

It is in the arena of feeding the sheep that the skill of teacher most comes in to play.

It is also critical to understand at this juncture that there are very few teachers who expound on their own material.

In fact even those who teach a class based on their own book aren’t really teaching something new - they’re only teaching their understanding of something old.

Pastor-Teachers in the church are not to stand up in the pulpit and try and explain or give their own ideas or opinions.

No - we have been given the manual it is our role to explain it to the body for the purpose of their edification.

“The task of a pastor is to ensure that his congregation is anchored in the Word of God and grounded in the work of Christ.”

One thing Paul is not doing is setting up these offices as the official team that does all the work in the church.

He is not listing the directory of those who are meant to accomplish every task and saying - these are the guys you go to when you need something done.

He’s saying that Christ has not left you bereft of help in figuring out what gift you have and how to use it - these are the guys who are going to help you do that through the preaching and teaching of the Word - but their purpose is to equip you so that you are capable of using your gift.

Equip for Service

The first concern of the leadership of the church should be for the filled seats, not the empty ones.

So how are we equipped for service?

How are we built into this entity called the church that is meant to offer service to our King?

The first way is through the preaching and teaching of the Word of God.

Word

I have a watch face on my Apple watch that reminds me of the central tenet of our Christian walk and my calling as a pastor.