Growth & Maturity

Key Verses:

Ephesians 4:11–16 NKJV

11 And He Himself gave some to be apostles, some prophets, some evangelists, and some pastors and teachers, 12 for the equipping of the saints for the work of ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ, 13 till we all come to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to a perfect man, to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ; 14 that we should no longer be children, tossed to and fro and carried about with every wind of doctrine, by the trickery of men, in the cunning craftiness of deceitful plotting, 15 but, speaking the truth in love, may grow up in all things into Him who is the head—Christ— 16 from whom the whole body, joined and knit together by what every joint supplies, according to the effective working by which every part does its share, causes growth of the body for the edifying of itself in love.

Verse 11 - Who the 5-fold ministry is

Ephesians 4:11 NKJV

11 And He Himself gave some to be apostles, some prophets, some evangelists, and some pastors and teachers,

Ephesians 4:11 NLT

11 Now these are the gifts Christ gave to the church: the apostles, the prophets, the evangelists, and the pastors and teachers.

Jesus Himself gave the five-fold ministry to the Church

Apostles - sent ones, with signs & miracles

Prophets - God reveals His will & purpose

Evangelists - Travel & proclaim the good news, gospel

Pastors/Shepherds - Feed & Protect

Teachers - Teach sound doctrine

Verse 12 - What the 5-fold ministry does

Ephesians 4:12 NKJV

12 for the equipping of the saints for the work of ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ,

Ephesians 4:12 NLT

12 Their responsibility is to equip God’s people to do his work and build up the church, the body of Christ.

“To Equip” - furnish & perfect

“To do His work” - everyone in the body has a specific job to do. What is mine?

“Ministry” - ministry is not, position, title, power, ministry is service.

“Edify” - to build up the Body of Christ

Verse 13 -Growth & Maturity

Ephesians 4:13 NKJV

13 till we all come to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to a perfect man, to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ;

Ephesians 4:13 (NLT)

13 This will continue until we all come to such unity in our faith and knowledge of God’s Son that we will be mature in the Lord, measuring up to the full and complete standard of Christ.

“Till we all come” - Come to what? Maturity & Growth

“To the unity of the faith” - The process continues until there is unity in the body

“To the knowledge of the Son of God” - Until the body understands all that it means to be the Son of God

“To a perfect Man” - 2 Corinthians 7:1 “Therefore, having these promises, beloved, let us cleanse ourselves from all filthiness of the flesh and spirit, perfecting holiness in the fear of God.”

CSB “Growing into maturity with a stature measured by Christ’s fullness” - Complete, grown, mature

Verse 14 - The body is safe-guarded & protected

Ephesians 4:14 NKJV

14 that we should no longer be children, tossed to and fro and carried about with every wind of doctrine, by the trickery of men, in the cunning craftiness of deceitful plotting,

Ephesians 4:14 NLT

14 Then we will no longer be immature like children. We won’t be tossed and blown about by every wind of new teaching. We will not be influenced when people try to trick us with lies so clever they sound like the truth.

“No longer immature like children” -

Not tossed around with every wind of doctrine - stable in what we believe & have convictions about

Not able to be tricked by men - am I firm in my knowledge of the Word of God to the point I won’t be swayed by others opinions. Scripture to support my beliefs

Wind of doctrine

Trickery of men

Cunning craftiness

Deceitful plotting

Verse 15 - More & more like Christ

Ephesians 4:15 (NKJV)

15 but, speaking the truth in love, may grow up in all things into Him who is the head—Christ—

Ephesians 4:15 NLT

15 Instead, we will speak the truth in love, growing in every way more and more like Christ, who is the head of his body, the church.

“BUT” -

Do I speak the truth in LOVE?

It’s time to grow up!

More & More & More & More.... like Christ. In ALL Things!

“He is the Head” - If He is the head then I should be working daily to become like Him

Verse 16 - Individuals have special purposes that help the entire body grow

Ephesians 4:16 NKJV

16 from whom the whole body, joined and knit together by what every joint supplies, according to the effective working by which every part does its share, causes growth of the body for the edifying of itself in love.

Ephesians 4:16 NLT

16 He makes the whole body fit together perfectly. As each part does its own special work, it helps the other parts grow, so that the whole body is healthy and growing and full of love.

“The WHOLE Body” - It’s first and foremost and always about the Body.

Am I doing what I do in advancement of the body?

“Joined & Knit” - It’s always about unity.

Am I bringing unity to the body in all I do?

“Every part does its share” - We each have something special that ONLY we bring

When one of us grow… WE ALL Grow!

Why does this all matter? Because the Body is building itself up!

This continues until the body is...

Healthy

Growing

Full of LOVE - Agape - a service, sacrificing LOVE