Ephesians 4:1-16 ( Same Same But Different)
Sermon • Submitted
0 ratings
· 5 viewsNotes
Transcript
Same Same But Different
Same Same But Different
Ephesians 4:1–16 (NIV)
As a prisoner for the Lord, then, I urge you to live a life worthy of the calling you have received. Be completely humble and gentle; be patient, bearing with one another in love. Make every effort to keep the unity of the Spirit through the bond of peace. There is one body and one Spirit, just as you were called to one hope when you were called; 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 has been given as Christ apportioned it. This is why it says: “When he ascended on high, he took many captives and gave gifts to his people.” (What does “he ascended” mean except that he also descended to the lower, earthly regions? He who descended is the very one who ascended higher than all the heavens, in order to fill the whole universe.) So Christ himself gave the apostles, the prophets, the evangelists, the pastors and teachers, to equip his people for works of service, so that the body of Christ may be built up until we all reach unity in the faith and in the knowledge of the Son of God and become mature, attaining to the whole measure of the fullness of Christ. Then we will no longer be infants, tossed back and forth by the waves, and blown here and there by every wind of teaching and by the cunning and craftiness of people in their deceitful scheming. Instead, speaking the truth in love, we will grow to become in every respect the mature body of him who is the head, that is, Christ. From him the whole body, joined and held together by every supporting ligament, grows and builds itself up in love, as each part does its work.
Question: What is a mark of maturity?
Answer: Unity
Themes: Unity, Peace, Hope, Faith, Grace, Love, Maturity
How do we remain in Unity?
Living a worthy life - 4:1-6
Letting grace triumph - 4:7-11
Living out truth in love - 4:12-16
1. Living a Worthy Life
Story:
Vietnam and their saying ‘same, same, but different’
My time over there observing them
Very peaceful lives, but why considering poverty, pain and persecution? The reason is Unity
As a prisoner for the Lord, then, I urge you to live a life worthy of the calling you have received. Be completely humble and gentle; be patient, bearing with one another in love. Make every effort to keep the unity of the Spirit through the bond of peace. There is one body and one Spirit, just as you were called to one hope when you were called; one Lord, one faith, one baptism; one God and Father of all, who is over all and through all and in all.
V1-6)
Turning from theology to ethics (morals)
There is approximately 33 Imperatives (commands) in the book of Ephesians
If we just teach the imperatives we will breed legalists and not Christians. This is why context is so important
When we see a therefore, we must ask why is the therefore there for? This connects all that Paul has said previously (Chapt. 1-3)
Last 3 chapters share what God has done for us, and so as a response we live a life worthy.
So what has God done for us, here is a list that I saw when reading through
Chapter 1
He is Jesus’ Father and ours through Christ
He has blessed each one of us with an abundance in spiritual blessings
His jas loved you and I before the foundation of the world
He has legally, forensically adopted us into his royal family
He is rich in kindness towards us everyday
He has forgiven us our sins, past, present and future
Through adoption and his love, we have recived an inheritance
He has given us his Spirit as a down payment
We ahve been given the same power that raised Christ
Chapter 2
His love is so powerful that through christ we have been set free from God’s righteous anger
He us given us life in full
He has given us grace upon grace
He made us his master piece
He unified us through his Son and given is our indentity in him (made us one by breaking down the wall of hostility)
He has made us a citizen of the Kingdom of God
He is our friend as we are no longer strangers
Chapter 3
He has revealed his gospel plan to us - and made us a part of the great work and now we have the privellege to share the gospel to others
We have been made to display his glory and wisdom
Full access to the throne of God (story about who can jump on the King and Queens bed)
So, in response how do we live a life worthy of that?
Answer: One word ‘Unity’
We do this through the filter of humility, being gentle, being patient, and bearing with one another in love. You may already see the link here to the fruit of the spirit! Unity is also a mark of maturity.
So who is the best example of unity?
It is God and the relationship of the triune God-head also known as the Trinity.
God the Father, God the Son and God the Holy Spirit in perfect unity and harmony. All different roles, all unique. Same same but different.
It is effectionately known theological circles as a flow, or a dance That we are invited into.
So what can we learn from the God-head
Unity not uniformity/confomity
Unity in diversity
Oneness
Same, same, but different
Nicene Creed is a good summary of the unity in faith
“...We believe also in only One, Universal, Apostolic, and [Holy] Church; in one baptism with repentance for the remission and forgiveness of sins...”
One Body
There are many denominations, but there is a distinction in theology between the visible church and the invisible church.
Each one of us are the part of one body and it isn’t Collie Church of Christ, we are a part of the One Universal Body of Christ (with him as the head)
The visible church may be distressingly and sorely fractured and fragmented into all different kinds of denominations and groups, but the invisible church is the true body of Christ.
Everyone who is in Christ, and in whom Christ dwells, is a member of this one universal church.
One Spirit
links us all to Christ, who dwells within us and who joins us together as a body.
This is where we look when we are struggling to love our sister or brother in the faith
Down payment of our eternal assuration
Peace = Unity
For he himself is our peace, who has made the two groups one and has destroyed the barrier, the dividing wall of hostility, by setting aside in his flesh the law with its commands and regulations. His purpose was to create in himself one new humanity out of the two, thus making peace, and in one body to reconcile both of them to God through the cross, by which he put to death their hostility.
One Hope
The gospel - Eternal life
The victory - God wins
The result - No more tears, pain, suffering, death
One Lord
We don’t have a church that is ruled by a heavenly committee. Jesus Christ is Lord.
One Faith
There may be many manifestations of that faith, many debates about the content of that faith, but ultimately there is only one apostolic faith which has been delivered once and for all.
“There may be many denominations, but there is a distinction in theology between the visible church and the invisible church. The visible church may be distressingly and sorely fractured and fragmented into all different kinds of denominations and groups, but the invisible church is the true body of Christ. Everyone who is in Christ, and in whom Christ dwells, is a member of this one universal church.” R. C. Sproul,
One Baptism
New testament version of circumcision (separate)
Early church fathers said it symbolizes being birthed into the church (waters of birth)
Visible sign of the invisible work of salvation and a sign a public sign of unity
One God & Father of all
Complete oneness through the sovereignty of God, in complete control.
This is absolute supremacy. God is over everything. He permeates all things. He is in all things
The 7 “L’s” to live a worthy life
Look to please God in everything you do, say, think, feel
Love your neighbour thorugh, love, kindness, gentleness, forgiveness, humility, and patience
Live out the unity of the spirit by using your gifts, which then brings about peace
Lifestyle entrenched in Christian morals and ethics
Let joy reign in all things (the good and the bad)
Lift up praise to God through being devoted to the worship of Word and song, prayer and good works
Listen to, and trust the Holy Spirit that has been given to you
Reminder, if we use this as a to do list it will puff us up or destroy us. It is in response to what God has done, and we can only do these with God’s grace
Unity = Peace
2. Letting Grace Triumph
Ephesians 4:7–11 (NIV)
But to each one of us grace has been given as Christ apportioned it. This is why it says: “When he ascended on high, he took many captives and gave gifts to his people.” (What does “he ascended” mean except that he also descended to the lower, earthly regions? He who descended is the very one who ascended higher than all the heavens, in order to fill the whole universe.) So Christ himself gave the apostles, the prophets, the evangelists, the pastors and teachers,
Gifts of Grace
Story:
Not a great relationship with my dad, due to his controlling abusive ways
He knew how to give good gifts though, always thoughtful and for my betterment (memory game)
Two stand out - once when I was about 8 or so he suprised mw with a day trip to a fun fair
The other a ticket to go to a Basketball camp held by NBL players and coaches
Didn’t deserve it
My skill level and confidence went up
Knew how my skills could serve a team
If you, then, though you are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father in heaven give good gifts to those who ask him!
Verses 7-11)
But to each one of us grace has been given as Christ apportioned it. Every person who is in Christ is a charismatic. When we use the term ‘charismatic’ today, we are describing somebody who has some special endowment or gift. The word ‘charismatic’ comes from the Greek word, charis, which means gift, or grace. The apostle states that all Christians have been gifted by the grace of God. But they don’t get the same gifts. Therein lies the beautiful diversity of this organism that is called ‘the church’. Paul elaborates this theme in 1 Corinthian 12, when he talks about the eye, the nose, the ear, and so on, with his analogy of the human body.
Christ ‘descended to the lower earthly regions’, he is not referring to Christ’s death and burial but to when the second person of the trinity put on an earth suit (our body) and tabernacled amongst us. It is talking about his incarnation or as we know the Godman (100% divine and 100% human). He taught us what it means to be human, and more importantly showed it by his work.
Summary of these gifts and their roles today
A. Apostles
1. Must have been with Jesus in His earthly ministry.
2. Eyewitness of the resurrection, resurrected body of Jesus.
3. Any who teach Christ must know Christ and have experienced His risen power.
B. Prophets
1. Would foretell God’s will and promises - if a prophet was wrong he/she could be killed (wish that would still happen then these want to be prophets would stop)
2. They went from church to church proclaiming the will of God.
3. Having no homes and no families, they travelled and lived off of the churches.
4. The intent was that they would go with the message of God to churches without leaders. They were encouragers of the churches.
5. Prophets these days forth-tell not fore-tell, as Jesus has arrived - prophets of old pointed forward to the cross, prophets today point back to the cross
C. Evangelists and missionaries
Bring the good news to others
Plant churches
Assist the prophets
D. Pastors and teachers
1. Pastor means shepherd, after Jesus, the good shepherd (John 10:11; Hebrews 13:20; 1 Peter 2:25).
The 3 A’s of Gifting?
Ability - What comes naturally, is having people over easy for you, prepping a meal a breeze
Affinity - What excites you, what are your passions? Do you love talking theology, do you love fixing things,
Affirmation - Taking your gifts to the church and the leaders to have that gift confirmed
Remember it is only a gift if it brings peace/unity
Summary
God has equipped not just Pastors, Elders, Deacons but all his people, becasue he is good.
It is a gift, so we cannot boast about ability, talent or worthiness of whatever gift has been given to us
Paul has given us a bit of a laundry list of gifts here, but not an exhaustive one
Why has he focused on these ones? Answer, so that the body of Christ can be built up to unity and maturity.
God gives grace to others through the gifts mentioned here.
List of other gifts, Hospitality, Discernment, Wisdom, Encouragement, Administration, Teaching, Genorosity, Missions, Services etc.
We are one Church, the universal church
1 Corinthians 12:12–20 (NIV)
Just as a body, though one, has many parts, but all its many parts form one body, so it is with Christ. For we were all baptized by one Spirit so as to form one body—whether Jews or Gentiles, slave or free—and we were all given the one Spirit to drink. Even so the body is not made up of one part but of many. Now if the foot should say, “Because I am not a hand, I do not belong to the body,” it would not for that reason stop being part of the body. And if the ear should say, “Because I am not an eye, I do not belong to the body,” it would not for that reason stop being part of the body. If the whole body were an eye, where would the sense of hearing be? If the whole body were an ear, where would the sense of smell be? But in fact God has placed the parts in the body, every one of them, just as he wanted them to be. If they were all one part, where would the body be? As it is, there are many parts, but one body.
3. Living Out Truth in Love
Ephesians 4:12–16 (NIV)
to equip his people for works of service, so that the body of Christ may be built up until we all reach unity in the faith and in the knowledge of the Son of God and become mature, attaining to the whole measure of the fullness of Christ. Then we will no longer be infants, tossed back and forth by the waves, and blown here and there by every wind of teaching and by the cunning and craftiness of people in their deceitful scheming. Instead, speaking the truth in love, we will grow to become in every respect the mature body of him who is the head, that is, Christ. From him the whole body, joined and held together by every supporting ligament, grows and builds itself up in love, as each part does its work.
Through Gods love and goodness he has given the church leadership to you for three purposes
Equip/complete the saints
Serve the Church’s needs alongside of you
Build up the body of Christ as an under shephard for the chief Shephard
I would like to acknowlegde and apologise as a whole to those who may have suffered true hurt from a past church leadership. Elders/Pastors are called to shine God’s graces and encouragement in growth not be self serving, controlloing, cowardly etc. Caveat, if it is hurt via biblcial correction for eg. this is not it, that is actually good and loving.
Leadership are to help point to unity, rather than some golden age of the church, which the NIV seems to allude to. We are completed in unity and maturity via the second coming of Christ. Whilst this is true, the goal of the church is to practice Love which is found in oneness with God and each other. If we are focussed on our gifts in Serving God and one another it becaomes more difficult to be in disunity (but not impossible, as we are good at focussing on what is different rather than what we have in common).
Unity doesn’t mean we always get along, or hanging out with everybody all the time. We do have those who we are more naturally drawn to. However, we do not ignore or allow our relationships grow to the detrement of another saint. We will struggle to always love, or feel united to some in the body. To make it easier we remind ourseves we are united by the Same Spirit and Power, and that we have unity through diversity (namely the gifts).
Also, don’t be a jerk! No one likes a jerk for too long
Story
Kids are easy to fool!
I told my boys when they were younger that we were taking a trip to the moon and they believed me
Taught them the Blankey Show
Taught them the game of 52 Pickup
But then they grow up and learn think, and to test
They get older and wiser
What would you do though, if your child didn’t develop? Didn’t grow? You would take them to see a Dr straight away
Young Christians in the faith are supposed to be super fragile and impressionable as they have just been born. That is why we need to nuture, protect, disciple and watch over our young in faith. But, just like our illustration of a child not developing, there are some Christians who never seem to grow up and mature, Just becasue you have been warming a seat in the church for many years, doesn’t mean you have matured. You know the ones, been sitting in the church for years stunted in their growth, hot under the collar looking for a fight on matters that don’t matter, they are disruptive and lack maturity and unity, don’t value going to church etc.. If you can’t think of anyone… you might be the one everyone else is thinking of.... Joking.
They may have been in a church that values discipleship in the gospel, or teach the gospel clearly. However, I have seen people in great church’s with healthy leadership, a Pastor who cares and righly divides the word of God, who values discipleship. This as true of the guy who invited me to church, he was in a very good bible beliveing church with good gospel teaching and access to mature people in the faith to mentor him. I grew past him and others in maturity, that isn’t a brag it is actually sad and alarming. As far as I know he hasn’t matured much if at all.
There is one other type of unhelpful church setting, that can make people be tossed around and believe doctrines contrary to the true ones. That is a church, and/or Pastor who tells people what to do. He ends his sermon with always ‘do these 5 things’. We humans like to take shortcuts by and large, and so its easier if someone ‘just gives me the answer’. People can get frustrated when they are told what to do, and what not to do. Its like a helicopter parent who tells their 30 yr old what to do. We need pastors who will make us think in the gospel, and how to search answers out in the scripture.
A good Pastor will teach their congregation not what to think but how to think in the gospel
If we can do that then not only will a a Pastor be out of a job, but people then could discern the cunning and craftiness of people. I don’t want to spend too long here in regards of naming folk etc, but rather practice what I preach and help you think through the gospel.
Is it Jesus plus something (secret knowledge, an extra rule to follow, a law that has been done away with)
Is it near enough - if it is, it is not good enough
Does it focus on the person, ministry or ideology of the person speaking or does it glorify God
Does it heap guilt upon you?
Does it make light of sin and its consequences
Does it promise your best life now!
Be a berean and check it against scripture
Go and ask multiple people about the teacher or teaching to see what they think
Line it up with th gospel, and if you have to squeeze any part of the gospel to make it fit or line up with what you have heard then abandon it
If it tells you that all suffering is contrary to the gospel, or that you can escape suffering this side of eternity
Speaking truth in Love
Not an excuse to be a jerk, we can be truthful and hard hitting with kindness, gentleness, and empathy
Again also speaking to Leaders to teach ‘Who’s truth?’ God’s truth. This kind of love through correction, encouragement, guiding, teaching, showing by example
But again we can all do this with each other
It is the kind of love that helps people develop their gifts so they can edify the whole body
This kind of love grows your relationship with God and others through the gospel lens
Points us to Jesus always - I was always taught that you should end up at the cross at the end of your sermon, or at least one logical step away from it.
This love will bring about peace, unity which in turns matures us in the faith
“Truth without love is imperious self-righteousness. Love without truth is cowardly self-indulgence.” - Tim Keller
“Our natural temptation is to say what we should not say, or to not say what we should say. One is cruel arrogance, the other cruel cowardice, and neither is love.” John Owen
These both are self centred examples - where truth in love is always ‘others centred’ and be biblical sound.