Christ's Body is Amazing

Turn in your Bibles this morning to Ephesians chapter 4, verse 16.

Ephesians 4:16

! Ephesians chapter 4, verse 16.

Ephesians 4:16

!

Let's pray.

Father, for us this morning, prayer is not a habit.

It's not something that is required by some person in a distant city.

It's not something that we've merely scheduled, but it really is an expression of our humble

and our glad dependence upon your Spirit to work in us.

In me, that I might preach with the power and authority of the Spirit of God, and in

our people that their ears would be open to hear, to delight, to be encouraged, to be

shaped by the truths of your Scripture.

And Father, we would ask that you would answer our prayer and that we would grow in our affection

for the Lord Jesus Christ and our understanding of the Scriptures that you've given to us,

and as importantly, that we would live these truths out in a deeply evident way that you

would be glorified.

We ask this in your precious name.

Amen.

This morning, what we are looking at in verse 16 is actually the closing statement that Paul

makes in the first 16 verses that really explain what the church has been created to be.

You'll remember that the first three chapters are about how the church comes into being through

the ministry of Christ and the purposes of a sovereign God, how He has called us for His

own glory and drawn us together to be a people that reflect the character and the heart of Christ.

And as Paul had finished up those three chapters of explanation about how we came into existence,

then he launches into this matter of explaining, all right, so we understand that the church

is something that Jesus created by His blood and for His purposes, but how does the church

work?

Interestingly enough, we found out that the very first thing that the Spirit of God wants

to instruct us regarding is the matter of unity.

And in verses 1 through 16, Paul explains that the church is to be different from any other

thing in the world because it is united, it is growing, and it is a representation of Christ.

The church is really not a place to go so that we can kind of satisfy or calm our guilt.

The church is a place that we go because of our relationship with Christ and our desire to be part of the body

that He has connected us together to be part of.

It is something that is woven into the heart of the genuine believer.

It is something that is profound and significant, and it's not something of secondary importance.

My studies this last month in particular have inflamed my affections for the wisdom of God informing the church,

have made me profoundly sensitive to just how compromised current evangelical thinking is

about the significance and the supremacy of the church.

And I recognize that our lessons in the book of Ephesians have to address this profoundly significant issue.

What is the church?

We've seen in three chapters.

Now, what does the church do?

And my studies have encouraged me.

If I were to say prior to my study in the book of Ephesians that I was a lover of the bride of Christ,

I would say that part of that really arose out of the fact that at one point in my life,

God used the church to do a profoundly significant thing in my heart.

Not in the matter of salvation, but I will tell you there was a time where in just very practical and simplistic terms,

the wheels came off in my life.

Much due to my own behavior and issues of my own making,

but I'll never forget going to church that Sunday after I had come home to a broken house,

and I had one of the men put his arm around me and say,

Tim, I understand what you're going through.

And in the next year, God used that body of believers to not only rescue me from self-destruction

and just from the heartache and the terror of sin,

but to begin the process of changing Tim Knoyer to be someone different than he was.

I became in practical terms a lover of the bride of Christ because I discovered what it was.

And so this morning as we take this passage and we talk about what the church is,

I want you to know in part that the individual who stands before you this morning

is one who is deeply persuaded of the supremacy.

You know what I mean by supremacy?

It's important.

And raising my voice doesn't make the point.

The Bible says it's important.

And we live in a day and age where the idea of the church being supremely important

is almost faded into the background.

Our studies, I pray, in the book of Ephesians, rescue you from contemporary foolishness.

We're looking at verse 16, and we are thinking this morning of just how amazing the church really is.

So let's recognize, first of all, that that all flows out of our union with Christ.

Why is the church so spectacular?

What is it that makes it so unique?

What is it that's so special about the church?

Well, the first thing that we're reminded of as we take up this verse there in verse 16,

it says,

From whom the whole body.

And as we look at this final segment of Paul's call for unity,

he reminds us that Christ really is our head.

We find that over there in verse 15.

And as a result of him being our head, we are connected to the body.

Those of us who have come by faith to know the Lord Jesus Christ as our personal Savior

are brought together into a definite, distinct relationship with a group of people.

And I want you to understand that we're under Christ's headship.

The church's existence.

The church's power.

The church's authority.

The church's witness.

It doesn't flow out of its building.

It doesn't flow out of its leaders.

It doesn't flow out of its schedule or its prayers or its offering.

It really happens because of Christ.

The church exists because of Christ,

and it draws its life from its union with Christ.

Its mission,

its energy,

its existence cannot be legitimized apart from Christ.

Where he is head,

whether it is here at Maranatha,

or whether it is somewhere in Westerville,

or whether it is in Linworth,

or wherever,

wherever the gospel of Christ is being proclaimed,

and the supremacy of Christ is being adored,

let me tell you,

Christ is the head,

and he's doing a good thing.

And we recognize and we rejoice in that.

I want you to understand that we look here in the passage

and recognize also that this matter of being under Christ's headship

brings us then to the question of the provision of individual members.

There's an underlying assumption for whom the whole body,

joined and held together by every joint,

what we're recognizing is that God has had something to do with the fact

that we're all together here this morning.

It wasn't just a capricious or kind of a wistful choice

that you became part of the family here

and that you were connected to these people together.

God had something to do with that.

If you look in Ephesians chapter 4 verse 11,

Ephesians 4:11

you have to understand that gifted servants,

and then verse 7,

going back a little further,

gifted saints are part of what he has done in putting us together.

And put it the way I would here for the notes,

it says,

gifted servants as well as saints with spiritual gifts

are placed in the body by his grace.

Now it's true that almost 27 years ago,

this congregation considered whether or not I would be called to be their pastor.

And there are some of you sitting here who were part of that decision

and made that vote that night.

But every other person who's become part of our membership also

has gone through the same voting process of saying,

you know what,

I believe this is where God has called me.

And then the congregation said,

yes,

we recognize that and we want you to be part of our fellowship.

And behind that activity of this congregation voting,

either on me as a pastor or our members,

we recognize it's really a sovereign Lord

who places both gifted servants

and gifted individuals into the body of Christ for his glory.

And he puts us together with our respective gifts

to do the things that he has equipped us to do.

In a week or two,

we are going to have,

actually two weeks,

we're going to have a meeting

where we as a congregation

are going to consider the question

of officially endorsing Caleb and Charity

and saying we approve of them

and we recommend them to ABWE

to be considered for missionary service.

That is a process

that we as a body are going to go through.

And part of what we're saying is

we believe that God has placed them among us

and we have watched them grow

and we are ready to send them off to serve Christ

over in Jamaica.

That's where they plan to go.

They're a part of our fellowship.

And even when they are ministering in Jamaica,

and I can tell you this,

that Caleb and Charity intend

to continue serving Christ

as long as they draw breath,

they'll still be part of our family.

They grew up here among us.

We watched them.

I remember some of the dumb things Caleb did.

You know, I can't say anything about Charity.

She must have come out perfect,

but you know.

We watched them grow

and they've been part of our body.

And God was the one who put them here

and gave us the privilege of watching them grow.

Every piece of this body,

every person that is part of this body,

has been drawn here by His grace

and for His purposes.

I think back over this summer,

a perfect illustration of it

would be that when we no longer

had a family youth pastor

to take care of some of the normal responsibilities,

which included a mission strip,

we had Tim and Meredith Bauer

step forward and say,

I'll take a week of our vacation

and I will take our teens up there

to shepherds to minister.

They're a gifted group,

a couple to us

and we enjoyed as a body.

We need them, don't we?

And by the way, they need us.

Our togetherness is what makes us effective

for the gospel.

And then following that,

Seth and Joy took our kids

to Teen Leadership Conference

and they did their part.

We need them, don't we?

Yes.

And they need us.

And so when we look at this matter

of the fact that He is the one

who has provided those members

to us as a fellowship,

I want you to recognize

that it is His purpose

that put me here

and put them here

and put you here.

Now there's something else

that I want you to recognize

in this passage

that is very important.

I want you to look there

at the little statement

that is made

where it says

joined and held together.

Because I can tell you this,

this issue of joined

and held together

is something that Satan

is picking at more today

than at any other time

that I can think of.

Joined and held together.

So let's think about this work

of joined and held together.

When we read in the text

that the body of Christ,

the local church,

is joined together,

it's something that we have

to think about carefully.

The word comes to us

from ancient construction technology.

When we want to put something together,

we either rely on welding,

we rely on adhesives,

we rely on fasteners.

Do you follow that?

And I saw a post on Facebook

where there was one of the men

in our church

standing on top of a ladder

holding a nail gun.

Grin, grin, grin.

New toy, new tool.

And, you know,

everybody needs a nail gun.

Well, along with a nail gun,

you need a compressor.

You know, there are a lot

of other things you need.

In the good old days,

when you wanted to put

a building together,

you didn't have adhesive,

you didn't have the welder,

you didn't have cement,

you didn't have nails

for the most part.

Occasionally,

you had a couple

that were very expensive.

So the way things

were put together

was that you took

a piece of stone

and another piece of stone

and you kind of got

a rough idea

of which stones

came closest

to going together.

But then,

you see that little picture

behind you?

There it is.

There's a picture

on the wall

I want you to see.

That is from Machu Picchu.

Can you say that?

No, don't say it with me.

Machu Picchu.

Those stones

are dry fit.

You know what dry fit means?

It means that

they actually fit together

so well

that you can't put

a dollar bill

between them.

Do you know

how many stones

they had to lift

to find those

that fit that way?

Not very many.

Because what they did

was they found ones

that kind of fit

and then they took

a hammer

and a chisel

and they beat

the senses out

of those stones

so they fit together.

That's how it happened.

Bang, bang, bang,

chip, chip, chip,

bang, bang,

bang, fit, fit, fit,

bang, bang,

bang, chip, chip, chip,

fit, fit, fit.

Hey, hey, look, look, look.

It's working.

That process took time.

And that process

also required

that the stones

stayed together

and stayed in the same place

and didn't say,

well, I don't,

I'm not liking

the way I'm being treated here.

People are hammering on me

a little bit too much

and I'm going to go over

to where Bubba is

a lot nicer.

Do you follow that?

Stones did not migrate

the way contemporary

evangelical believers do.

They stayed.

And in the process

of staying,

guess what happened?

They were joined together.

Look over in your Bible

to 1 Peter 2,

1 Peter 2:4

verse 4.

1 Peter 2,

1 Peter 2:4

verse 4,

Peter uses

a very similar image

where he says this,

so you come to him

a living stone

rejected by men

but in the sight

of God precious.

And then in verse 5,

you yourselves

like living stones

are being built up

as a spiritual house.

How is it

that this spiritual house

of living stones

that are all lumpy

and scrapey

and have bumps

where they shouldn't

have bumps

and have difficulties

that everybody can see?

How is it

that we eventually

end up kind of

sticking together

like that?

It is because

we stay together

and the Spirit of God

works to knock off

the rough edges.

And so I want you

to understand

that the truth of the matter

is what this Scripture

is teaching us

is that he works

in the church

using the Word of God,

lasting relationships,

and the power

of his Spirit

to knock our edges off

and shape us

to fit together.

Now, if you cannot see

how the Spirit

has been using others

in the body

to take off

some of your rough edges,

it may be

that you are not

allowing other people

to get close enough

or you are not

allowing God

to use the critical

element of time.

How many of you realize

that it takes time

for relationships

to end up creating

some of the benefit

that he intends

for us to have

in relationship?

We also read

that each part

of his body

is held together

by what every joint

contributes.

Look there at the verse.

It says that we are joined

and held together

by every joint

with which is it equipped.

Paul actually uses

an interesting set of words

to communicate the idea

that each member

in the body

was to be connected

by what they had been

equipped to provide.

Let me say that again slowly.

So you follow me.

The point that Paul

is making

with the words

that he chooses

is that each member

of the body

has been designed

to be connected

by what they have been

designed to contribute.

Do you understand

what I'm saying?

Connectedness

and contribution

go together.

He has gifted

each of us

differently.

And in the body

of Christ

there are all

different kinds

of individuals

that are engaged

in doing all

different kinds

of things.

And so what we see

here in this passage

if we were to summarize it

is that God's word

tells us

that salvation

places the believer

into a relationship

and a body

in which Christ

is the head

and the authority

and where the individual

is part of a team

or a family

that is knit together

by grace.

So let's put it this way.

The church is where

the spirit works

one

to knock off

rough edges

can we put that

up?

To knock off

rough edges

so we fit together

better

and work together

better

so that we stay

together better

for the glory of Christ.

Now we're getting there

here we go

you got it?

See it?

The church is where

the spirit works

the church

let me say that again

slowly

the church

does it happen

at McDonald's?

No.

Does it happen

in these

in Bible studies?

Do Bible studies

have the authority

of exercising

church discipline

and what's the answer?

I don't think so.

The church

church

the church

of the living God

the body

of Christ

the bride

of Christ

is where

the spirit

works

to knock

our rough edges

off

so that we fit

together

and work

together better

so that we stay

together better.

That's a mouthful

but that's Bible

doctrine.

I think this is

important truth

to understand.

I remember

as I was studying

about this

one of the things

that

that

I thought about

is how different

I am today

than when I first

arrived here.

I'm not the same

man I used to be.

Becky are you out

here?

Is Becky

Radcliffe in here?

Hi wave at me

Becky.

I'm different

aren't I?

Becky was our

first was my

first secretary

and

Becky taught me

a lot of things

about

ministry survival.

One of them is

that you catch

more flies

with honey

than with vinegar.

Remember that

Becky?

I

came here

thinking that

I could

treat the body

of Christ

a little bit

like a soccer

team

and it

didn't go

very well

if you're

wondering

how that

was

and

not just

Becky

men like

Hal Burchett

men like

Bill Driscoll

yesterday

we had a

deacons meeting

and mid

stride

in the

deacons meeting

I started

laughing to

myself

the reason

I was laughing

is because

one of the

misguided

rumors is that

pastor always

gets his way

in a deacons

meeting

there have

been people

that have

actually said

that in our

congregation

I mean

you know

pastor always

gets his way

and I was

laughing because

I was on

about my

third iteration

of my attempt

to get my

way

and we

had made

no progress

in my

way

and I

will tell

you that

I am

very very

thankful

for the

collaborative

nature

of our

deacons

meetings

one

deacon

after another

contributed

thoughts

and

value

that

led us

to very

what I

believe

are

profitable

decisions

but I

think to

myself

I am

different

today

than I

used to

be

because of

the bride

of Christ

and because

of your

ministry

to me

but you're

also

different

because of

all of us

together

isn't that

right

that's the

way it

should

be

I got

to tell

you

something

if you

keep on

floating

around

you will

not make

much

spiritual

progress

you got

to lock

in

you got

to work

through the

hardships

of life

you got

to work

through the

misunderstandings

you know

I have

been the

son of

Quentin

and Marlia

Knoyer

for 65

years

I was

over at

their house

this last

week saying

dad would

you forgive

me

I hate

doing that

it was bad

at 64

but it's

worse now

it's definitely

worse

and

lasting

relationships

are where

we grow

and

our

passage

this

morning

says

the whole

body

is

joined

we're

working

to come

together

and we're

held together

by the fact

that we

all have

we have

a part

to contribute

and that

contribution

is part

of what

connects

us

together

now it

goes on

and says

something

else

when each

part is

working

properly

it makes

the body

grow

so what's

the outcome

of this

union

the last

point that

Paul makes

in this

passage

is that

when saints

under

Christ's

headship

are marked

by interconnection

and contribution

genuine growth

takes place

the primary

focus of

this

passage

is on

internal

spiritual

maturity

genuine

growth

within the

body

itself

can be

seen

by things

like

less

pettiness

less

inclination

to gossip

less

offendability

do you know

what I mean

by offendability

have you ever

bumped into

people that

are always

in a

snit

because of

something

somebody

said or

did

and you're

always just

kind of

walking on

eggshells

around them

because you

know they're

going to get

tweaked about

something

I'll tell you

what as you

mature in

Christ one of

the things that

should be a

giveaway that

you're maturing

is that you

roll with the

flow

you're not

always in a

perpetual grump

less jealous

more forgiving

more gentle

more loving

more marked

by the

fruit of

the

spirit

those

are the

things

that

the

body

works

together

to help

us with

look at

what it

says there

again

it says

that when

each part

is working

properly

makes the

body

grow

so that

it builds

itself

up in

love

here's

the deal

because

I'm going

to walk

through

this

theologically

because

God

took you

rough and

ugly

stone

that you

are

and put

you

with a

couple

other

rough and

ugly

stones

that they

are

and then

the

spirit

of

God

used

the

people

of

God

and the

word

of

God

to

begin

knocking

chunks

off of

you

so you

fit

together

a little

better

am I

making

track

so far

with

the

word

the

surprising

outcome

is that

you

grow

spiritually

is it

nice to

grow

spiritually

and what's

the answer

from God's

people

yes

yes

I love

the fact

I do

I love

the fact

that there are

things different

today

in Tim

Knoyer's

life

because

of the

spirit of

God

and the

people of

God

the word

of God

I remember

the

unhappy

predictability

of my

depressive

spirit

at an

earlier

stage

in life

can I

say that

again

slowly

I

remember

the

unhappy

predictability

of the

depressive

spirit

that I

used to

have

I

was a

little bit

like

Eeyore

you know

didn't

take

meds

but I

needed

them

all the

time

I

could

wake

up in

the

morning

and the

sky

was

dark

and

overcast

whether

there

was

a

ray

of

sun

or

not

I

still

on

occasion

can

wake

up

and I

think

today

and then

what I

do

I've been

at this

long enough

I think

there you

go Tim

being proud

and you're

not thinking

about Jesus

let's get

into the

scriptures

and allow

the spirit

of God

to use

the word

of God

and the

people

of God

to hammer

on me

and I

love being

who I

am

today

as opposed

to who

I used

to be

is that

true for

you

are you

glad

you're

not

where you

used

to be

and the

answer

is

I hope

now listen

to me

you stay

permanently

detached

from other

members of

the bride

of Christ

and your

spiritual

progress

is going

to come

apart

at the

seams

though

Paul

doesn't

note it

expressly

here

a

healthy

loving

body

that is

growing

in

grace

is

marked

by

two

characteristic

affections

one

is a

love

for the

Lord

Jesus

Christ

and a

sincere

interest

in

lost

mankind

so if

you're

growing in

the

Lord

one of

the things

that's a

giveaway

is

I'm more

interested in

Jesus

today than

I used

to be

that's the

way it

should be

and I'm

more

interested in

people

who apart

from the

grace of

God will

spend

eternity

in hell

and I'm

concerned

about them

loving

Christ

and loving

lost

mankind

go together

that's part

of spiritual

growth and

maturity

so let

me close

with a

question

so we

come to

the ah

part

this all

sounds well

and good

and it's

easy to

read about

in Ephesians

and think

well

God's

pretty sharp

to think

about how

he ought to

take ugly

hunks of

stone like

me and

you and

put us

together and

bang bang

bang and

help us to

fit together

and do the

work of

Christ and

actually be

the living

represent

that's

amazing

but when

we look

around we

have to

confess that

what we

see is

that things

aren't really

quite as

like we

think they

should be

from the

book of

Ephesians

because there's

something amiss

if we say

that we

really buy

into what

the Bible

says about

church life

and our

relationship

with the

bride of

Christ

as being

one of the

very most

significant

issues in

our life

we'd have to

say that

many professing

evangelicals

today are

not as

deeply

committed to

the church

of the

living God

as the

scriptures

are

how can

we say

that

so we

have to

ask the

question

do our

calendars

support what

we say

about our

convictions

do you

follow that

do our

calendars

support what

we say

about our

convictions

I read an

interesting blog

this week

I think it was

on together

for the gospel

by and one

of the you

can probably

go out there

it's on are

you a part

time church

goer and

what it did

was it took

some of the

very common

reasons that

people are not

actively involved

in our

contemporary

culture with

their local

church on a

given Sunday

and what they

did was kind

of added it

up here's the

statistics that

they come up

with and I'm

sure that there

are a wide

variety of

incidents in

all of our

lives but he

said for one

reason there

were many that

would go off

on vacation

and since they

actually were on

vacation four

weeks it probably

took them a

week to

decompress and

so actually five

weeks of absence

from the body of

Christ because of

vacations

this particular

family had one

of their children

on a travel team

and as a result

of being on a

travel team guess

what if you're on

travel team you

probably have to

drop off nine to

twelve additional

weeks so that

that you can go

sit in a ballpark

instead of being

with God's people

now listen I

don't want anybody

to come to church

because they're

guilted here

say that again

slowly we don't

come to church

because we we

satisfy a sense

of guilt do we

get extra points

for coming here

what's the answer

really no

but if the body

of Christ is this

important somewhere

along the line you

have to make

decisions that

reflect what you

say theologically

and I'm talking to

you some of you who

are parents and I

got to tell you if

you're out out out

out out out out

what you say with

what you do is far

more significant than

what you say you

believe there are

those that in

addition to the

travel team and

weeks of vacation

there are other

times and this

article commented on

the fact that that

a lot of times in

churches when you

have the senior

pastor gone guess

what happens

people sometimes

head for the back

door well you know

and thankfully when

pastor Saul preaches

he knocks it out of

the park and you're

thinking why doesn't

he do it more often

so you probably come

when I'm not here

it's good thank you

pastor but you know

people can figure out

all kinds of reasons

a lot of churches you

know the senior

pastor's gone guess

what bye bye when

this article added up

the total number of

weeks that were

missed I was

surprised 24 weeks

missed 24 weeks I

remember when I was

at a conference

listening to pastors

talk I remember

listening years ago to

some pastors in the

west from the west

coast talk about the

fact that their

most faithful families

are following this

the most faithful

families in the church

were were regular

attenders at two times

a month can you

imagine what a real

body looks like if a

substantial part of

its parts are not

there 50% of the

time you know you

know okay I'm not

trying to make you

laugh but you get the

point here's the deal

we don't go to church

to earn our salvation

we don't go to church

to tamp down our

sense of guilt we go

to church to be part

of the bride of

Christ

there's an old song that

was running through my

mind as I was thinking

about this I have one

deep supreme desire that

I might be like Jesus

and I want you to know

that that you who are part

of the bride of Christ as I

read this passage are

absolutely essential in

what we do as his body

I need you you need me he

put us together for his

glory to be the living

visible representation of

himself and so to put it in

summary he wants you to

connect he wants you to

commit and he wants you to

stay in the body for his

glory let's close in prayer

precious father we are

reminded this morning that

you have given us your

scripture you have given us

your spirit and we want to

be a people who revel in the

truth of Christ those who are

here today that know the

Lord Jesus Christ I pray that

their hearts would just kind of

fill up with joy at the part

the thought of being part of

the body of Christ man I am

not an orphan I am part of a

family and there are some

here today that do not know

Christ as they sit where they

do burden them with the sense

of hopelessness that is true

apart from Christ and draw them

to the point where they cry out

and say I need Jesus I need him

to save me I ask this in your

precious name amen let's stand

together as we close in singing

and as we're doing that if God is

addressing an issue in your heart

and life that you need to care

for publicly calling you to be

part of our family here at

Maranatha talking to you about a

need you have in your heart for

salvation if you are here today

and you don't know Christ today is

the day that you need to believe in

him if you're here this morning and

need to be obedient to the matter

of baptism you come forward as we

sing this song as we close

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