Ephesians Part 6 - The New Humanity

Mark: Today if you have your Bibles, let's go ahead and turn to Ephesians. What a surprise, right? Ephesians chapter four. Ephesians chapter four. Pastor Josh began his ⁓ much deserved sabbatical this week. ⁓ so if you would just just pray for him. Pray that he rests so well over this next month and these coming weeks. ⁓ but as Pastor Gary would say, I am the beauty on duty today. And so you're stuck with me. I don't know about beauty, but here I am regardless. ⁓ but hey, while you're turning to Ephesians chapter four, I just want to I want to say, like, honestly, I I love this text, and I I get to preach this on a regular basis into in week three of Hope Intro. ⁓ but this text has so much in it. There is so much packed in this sixth in these 16 verses. And honestly, I was just reading through it. I was just sitting there thinking, like, ⁓ Jesus, like, I am humbled. That I get to even preach through this text this morning. ⁓ this is a high call. and I I live for the day that this is not just something that we read about, but it is something that we actually walk into as a church. Amen. All right, hey, we gonna I'm gonna need some help this morning, people. All right, like our goal, our goal in any of this is not just to learn more, have a good Bible study. Go to lunch and then watch the rest of the World Cup matches. Right? Maybe a little bit of the end, but like our goal this morning is to be formed. Does anybody want to be formed this morning? That's good. You're in the right place. All right, so I wanna discuss this morning, but this is what I want us to see today. ⁓ and I think this is what Paul is getting at here in these 16 verses. ⁓ But here's what I'll say the gospel doesn't just save us, it actually creates a new humanity. It does save us, but there is actually something that happens in the middle of that that creates something new inside of us, and then God has a plan for his church to declare the manifold wisdom of himself to the world through you. Are we here? All right, we're here. But a people whose like identity who's is transformed by the gospel. And I believe if we're going to become this new kind of people that I that Paul is outlining here in Ephesians 4, this will not happen by human effort alone. This will happen by the work of the Spirit. And even more so in your own life, a deeper yielding to the Holy Spirit and allowing him to work in and through you. Because there's some things here today that are gonna literally they're gonna rub you the wrong way. They're gonna hit on something. It's called your flesh. They're going to, and you're gonna be like, that doesn't make sense. Like that wasn't where that wouldn't work that way. It doesn't have to. Because the call here. Actually, I'm getting ahead of myself. I can't. I'm gonna follow my I'm gonna follow my notes. ⁓ But ⁓ I think it is important to note here that ⁓ before Paul gets to Ephesians chapter four, he gives he gives us a prayer. And this is important. And I would I would like to actually begin with a version of that prayer here this morning. Would you close your eyes with me? Jesus. Jesus, would you send your Holy Spirit this morning? Thank you that he is already here, but would you actually, would you just make him real, real and tangible this morning? And what Paul writes in Ephesians one, Jesus, would you do what only you can do? Can you open the eyes of our hearts to understanding? And not just understanding, but to action. Form us this morning. Make this truth real in us. Give us grace to walk worthy of the calling that you have given us. In Jesus' name. Amen. Amen. So for the last several weeks, ⁓ we've been walking through Ephesians. Pastor Josh and Pastor Gary has laid a beautiful foundation, ⁓ a beautiful foundation of chapters one through three. ⁓ have you guys been enjoying this so far? Yes? All right. But Pastor Josh, I believe in the first week or in the first couple weeks, he gave us a little bit of a framework. It came from a popular book from Watchman Knee. Sit, walk, and stand. You guys remember that? Yes? And so chapters one through three teach us to sit. To sit in what God has done for us. Chapters four through six teach us to walk. Worthy of what he has done. And then at the end of chapter six, Paul teaches us to stand against the schemes of the enemy. So sit, walk, and stand. Your favorite part of the morning, turn to your neighbor. Tell him you've been sitting. Now it's time to start walking. Why is this important? Well, I believe it because the life of a Christian does not begin with what you can do for God. A life of a Christian always begins with what God has done for you. And if you get that backwards, if we get any of this backwards, we will spend our whole lives trying to earn what God has already given us. And for three chapters, Paul has been telling us what has already been done. He chose you, he redeemed you, he made us alive, he seated us together with Christ. He created one new humanity, he made us his dwelling place, and through his church, he's depla displaying his wisdom to the world. I want you to notice a progression here. I think we have a slide of this too, of Ephesians, Ephesians 1, 10, Ephesians 2, 10, and Ephesians 3, 10. Ephesians 1 10 says, according to his purpose, which he set forth in Christ, verse 10, as a plan for the fullness of time, to unite all things in Christ, things in heaven and things on earth in him. So this is Lotus of the Word in here. According to His purpose, this was His plan for the fullness of time. Ephesians 2:10, for we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works. Which God prepared beforehand that we should walk in them. Ephesians 3 10. So that through the church the manifold wisdom of God might now be made known to the rulers and authorities in the heavenly places. So, in other words, here, God has a plan for the world, He's got a plan for you, and He's got a plan for the church. And then Paul says in Ephesians four, therefore walk. That little word right there, therefore, walk, therefore, is a very important. It's one, I think, is one maybe one of the most important words in Ephesians. When Paul, what Paul wants to do here in this moment is he wants to communicate that he's not switching the topic, but he is actually contributing to it even more and bringing some practical application. Who loves some practical application? I love it. I'm just like Give it to me. I'm like, give me the bullet points, kind of a thing. Like, tell me what to do, you know, kind of thing. I would be the one that would skip one through three. But anyway, ⁓ but I think what Paul wants to communicate here is he's not starting a new topic. He's drawing a conclusion from chapter three. Because of everything that God has done, because of everything that God has done, walk. Walk. And for all the grammar nerds in the room. All right, we got a few. Unashamed. Little grammar nerds in the room. Like Paul, depending on how you count them, there's about 41 imperatives in the in the letter of Ephesians. Imperative is like a command, an instruction. And of those 41, listen to this, of those 41, 40 of them are within chapters four through six. Only one shows up in chapters one through three. Why? This is important. I'm like, I don't want to belabor this point, but this is important. Paul spends the entire first half of his letter telling us what Christ has done for us before he spends the second half telling us how to live. You cannot skip one through three because if you get to four through six, it just becomes religious routine. Powerless. Try harder. Do better. Be nicer. Stop sinning. better, love your wife more, fight the devil. I all these things matter, right? But the problem is that if they are disconnected from what Christ has done, be they become crushing. They will crush you. But when chapters four through six are an overflow and a foundation or they come from the foundations of chapters one through three, obedience is not an attempt to earn grace. Obedience becomes the overflow of grace. It's a large distinctions. And I meet with people all of the time, and I can I can see it. There's like disappointment in their eye when they're trying to give God something, pay him back for something. And I'm telling you, it will not happen. He did too much for you. Way too much. You can't pay him back, but you can pay him back by the life that you live, but this is not an item to earn. This is a response. Ephesians 4, 1 through 16. Let's go. Let's read it. I feel like I just preached a whole message before we actually read the text. I therefore, a prisoner for the Lord, urge you to walk in a manner worthy of the calling to which you have been called. With all humility and gentleness, with patience, bearing with one another in love, eager to maintain the unity of the spirit in the bond of peace. There is one body, there is one spirit, just as you were called to the one hope that you that belongs to your call, one Lord, one faith, one baptism, one God, and Father of all, who is over all and through all and in all. But grace was given to each of you, each one of us, according to the measure of Christ's gift. Therefore it says, when he ascended on high, he led a host of captives, and he gave gifts to men, in saying he ascended. What does it mean? But that he had also descended into the lower regions, the earth. He who descended is the one who also ascended far above all the heavens, that he might fill all things. And he gave the apostles, the prophets, the evangelists, the shepherds, the teachers, to equip those saints for the work of ministry, for building up of the body of Christ, until we all attain to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to mature manhood, to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ, so that we may no longer be children tossed to and fro. By the waves and carried about by every wind of doctrine, by human cunning, by craftiness and deceitful schemes. Here it is. Rather, speaking the truth in love, we are to grow up in every way into him who is the head, into Christ, from whom the whole body joined and held together by every joint. With which it is equipped, when each part is working properly, makes the whole body grow that it builds itself up and What a passage of scripture. I think Pastor Josh started this whole series just so he can preach through this one text and so He's a week late. but But the truth is, like, I don't think anybody wants to be here for three hours today. ⁓ but I won't be able to completely unpack all of this passage, but I want, but I want us to pull out and I want us to see a few things that I believe Paul is trying to answer a question. If Jesus has created a new humanity, what does that humanity look like? What kind of people does the gospel create? Or what kind of church should exist because of what Christ has done done? And I love here, Paul begins in verse one I therefore a prisoner for the Lord. Paul is riding this from prison. He's most likely under a house arrest. He's most likely chained to a Roman guard. But notice what Paul doesn't say. He doesn't say, I therefore a prisoner of Rome. He is, though, right? I therefore a victim of Caesar. He says, I therefore a prisoner for the Lord. This is a good distinction. This is a big one. This is a completely different way on how you can see your lives. Rome may hold the keys, but Christ holds the destiny of your life. Right? Paul's circumstances do not define his calling. But his calling defines his circumstances. This is a very large distinction. And we can't miss this because Paul is not looking at his life and saying, ⁓ this is so unfair. This is not what I wanted. This is not how I saw my future going. No. He says, I belong to Jesus. My life is his, my body is his, my future is his, my calling is his, my suffering is his. Church, this is what happens when a person has been captured by the gospel. They stop asking, how do I get God to bless what I'm doing? And they start asking the question, how do I surrender more of myself to him? Because listen, if Jesus called you, then Jesus gets to define how you walk. I'm gonna spend some time here because I think this is really important. It's simple as that. Culture does not get to define how you act and how you walk and how you behave. Your feelings do not get to do that either. It is not your preference, it is not your ambition. The one who called you gets to shape your life. And so Paul says, I urge you to walk. In a manner worthy of the calling to which you have been called. I can preach probably two weeks on just this first verse, I promise you. But notice these words: calling. Calling. This points forward to the life He has now invited you into since you are adopted. And called points backwards to what God has already done for you. Why is he saying this? Because I believe that Paul wants us to get something very important. Listen to me here. We did not, none of this, this did not start with you or me. We did not invent this. You did not, you do not choose the purpose of your lives. You do not create the church or design the new humanity. But we have been called into something that existed before the foundation of the world. And you have I, you and I have been entrusted, empowered, and graced, and in like given gifts to walk out this new humanity. But I think in order for us to walk at all here in chapters four, five, and six, we first must need to we we have to get this. A life in Jesus is a life for Jesus, meaning he is Lord and you are not. You need examples. I can I see it. I see it. You need examples. Here we go. Ready? I threw some up on the screen. Listen, I'm not gonna read through all of these, but Luke 9 23. If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself, take up his cross daily, and follow me. Romans 6 17, you were once slaves of sin, have become obedient from the heart, and have been set free from sin, you have become now slaves of righteousness. None of us lives to himself and none of us die to himself. Whether we live or whether we die, we are the Lord's. It doesn't matter. My life is not my own. He has delivered us from the domain of darkness and transferred us to the kingdom of his beloved Son, that in everything he might be preeminent, meaning he will be first. And so, church, whatever version of Christianity that puts you in the driver's seat is not the gospel. It is not. We will not be able to live however we want and sprinkle Jesus on top. Won't happen. Because to walk worthy of the calling means that this life is not about me anymore. It is about him. And this sets the stage not only for verses one through 16, but honestly for the rest of the entire letter. Because Paul's going to ask us to do some pretty crazy things. Put off the old self, put on the new. Anger, forgiveness, sexual purity, bitterness, walking in love, light and wisdom, home life, marriage, parenting, husbands, sacrifice for your wives, wives, submit to your husbands, put on the whole armor of God. There's going to be spiritual warfare coming at you. And none of that is going to be possible unless we don't understand first, walk worthy of the calling to which you have been called. Not to earn, but as an overflow of the grace that has been given to you. So, what does this new humanity look like? So glad you asked. Number one, humility. With all humility and gentleness, with patience, bearing with one another in love, eager to maintain the unity in the spirit of the bond of peace. Now, I want us to notice here that. I want us to notice where Paul begins, because I don't think maybe many of us would begin this way. He does not begin with gifts. He does not begin with ministry or leadership or evangelism or outreach or any of these things. He begins with our character. Humility, gentleness, patience, bearing with one another in love, eager to maintain unity. This should get our intention because I believe sometimes if we were writing this, we'd be like, hey Lord, have you seen the gifts that I have? Walking, I'm ready to walk. What gifts? I mean, I'm I'm ready. You gave them to me. Let's go ahead and start using them. But the thing is, and Paul knows this, Jesus knows this, gifts do not preserve unity. Character does. Someone can be gifted and divisive. You can be talented and you can be prideful. You can be prophetic and you can be harsh as well. You can be theologi theologically accurate, completely one hundred percent in the right, and be yet completely one hundred percent in the wrong because you're unloving. He starts with our character. Because the new humanity is not primarily marked by impressive people. It is marked by humble people. He says, with all humility. And listen, here's what I was saying: humility is not pretending that you do not have gifts or pretending that you have nothing to offer. Sometimes that is just pride in disguise because it keeps on coming back to you. That's not that's false humility. But humility is about seeing yourself rightly before God. In Ephesians, humility is rooted in remembering the grace that has extended to all of us. And I believe Paul has spent three chapters making sure that no one can boast. Chapters 2 says, We were dead in our trespasses. You were not sick. You were not needing a little bit of improvement. You were dead. I was dead. And humility grows when I remember what Jesus saved me from. Let me let me say it another way. I think like I think people who forget the grace that they have received become stingy with the grace that they give to others. We cannot be that church. It's difficult to be patient with others when I have forgotten how patient God has been with me. And if you find yourself offended, critical, or unloving, or above people, it may be because you have forgotten what Christ has done for you. And you need to go back and revisit the gospel. Because it's for you. Then Paul says gentleness. Gentleness is not weakness. Men, men in the room, you are called to be gentle. Gentleness is strength under submission to Jesus. Jesus had all authority in his life, and yet he washed feet. Jesus could have called legions of angels to rescue him off of the cross, but yet he went to the cross willingly. Jesus is the king, and yet he spent much of his time with cultural outcasts. And I think when Paul talks about humility and gentleness, he's describing the spirit of Jesus. So if our version of Christianity ever makes us harsh, arrogant, or impossible to correct, we are reflecting something, but it certainly is not Jesus. Don't you love how like Paul confronts like All of this in community, I'm the most patient person in the world when I'm by myself. I'm so gentle when no one else is around me. But Paul puts you in a body, a church, a group to test a little bit of like what's going on inside of here. And then all of a sudden you're like, what is wrong with these people? No. What's wrong with? What needs to be shaved off in here? Patience. Patience here is long suffering. Long suffering. Long suffering is not waiting in Sam's Sam's Club gas station line pulling your hair out. Does anybody know what I'm talking about? Right? The one over here off East Sunshine? It's crazy. It's crazy. I mean we do need the Holy Spirit for that too, but like patience here is the capacity to suffer a long time with people. What a joy. But not to demand instant maturity from everyone around you. Not to require people to grow at my preferred pace. To understand that people are in process. And this is important because this church, this is the family of God. And in every family, there are people at different stages of maturity. Paul just called majority of us infants right here. So don't take offense with me, take offense to Paul. All right? Like, but there's spiritual infants, they're spiritual children, they're spiritual teenagers, God help us all. Like there's there's spiritual parents, grandparents, all of these things. Like, but when patience here, patience is being able to suffer a long time, maybe with the immature. And I'll say this, if you are mature, you do not despise the immature. If you are truly mature, you do not despise the immature, but you help them grow. When Malachi was learning to walk, and he took his first, you know, his head is like five times bigger than the rest of his body. You know, he's like pulling himself up on the couch. And he like takes the it's not e and like guys, come on, it's not even a full step. But he like takes like a Like that. And you're like But like listen, patience. Sometimes like, I mean, when he did that, like, I didn't say, that's it? One step? Look at how well I can walk. Like why that's insane. That's crazy. But you're like a step let's go like you know you're pumped and I think sometimes in the church we can get so frustrated with people who are still in process Which is all of us, by the way. Keep that in mind. That we forget what maturity actually does. It maturity bends down and helps people walk. And if I am so mature that everyone else has to be as mature as me, I may actually be the immature one. I'm gonna say it with a smile. Real maturity is gentle. It is patient. Real maturity is humble. And real maturity bears with another in love. This means putting up with another person. That is the literal translation there. Putting up with another person. If patience didn't work, I just gotta put up with them. Like enduring with one another, sorry, continuing in love when people disappoint you. And so Paul assumes something here that we need to accept. The church will not be full of perfect people. I'm seeing a lot of peas and I'm spitting. The church will be full of imperfect people. And he doesn't assume that you will find perfect people, but he assumes that you will be be you will become patient with them. He assumes that if you're going to live in the body of Christ, you're going to have to bear with some people. And if you're like, I love everybody, I don't have to bear with anybody. You may be the person I'm just kidding. Just as a joke, okay. And listen, I think like culture hates this. We have been trained and conditioned, quite literally the opposite of this, to we believe the culture would believe that whatever doesn't ser what whatever does not serve me is dispensable. If they do not meet meet my expectations, I cut them off. If they're difficult, I replace them. And if community no longer benefits me, I leave it. Is that what we read in scripture? I don't believe this mentality is the way of Jesus. We are called to be one in the body of Christ. And I want to be clear on this too. Like bearing with one another does not mean putting up with sin or abuse by any means. It does not mean that you cannot set boundaries or leave a situation. That's not what he's saying here. Paul is going to say in verse 15 that we speak the truth in love. So this is not fake peace. This is not sweeping things underneath of the rug. It means I am committed in love and in truth. I'm committed to the family of God, and I'm not gonna let my flesh or my offense or my preference or my irritation tear apart. What we are called to do. Verse three, eager to maintain the unity of the spirit in the bond of peace. Notice Paul does not say create unity. Jesus already did that. In Ephesians chapter 2, Jesus broke down the wall, destroyed the wall of hostility, and created unity. So our responsibility is not to create unity, our responsibility is to preserve what he gave his life for. Eager to maintain unity, one body, one spirit, one hope, one Lord, one faith, one baptism, one God and Father. Seven times Paul says one. Why? Well, because our unity is not built on personality, preferences, politics, or personal opinions at all. None of that unites us. It is built upon our shared, shared life in Jesus. And I'll say it again, if Jesus died to make us one, we do not get to casually tear apart what he purchased with his blood. And it ⁓ it happens often. We can live in a world that celebrates outrage and where suspicion is normal and division is rewarded, but we don't have to participate in it. We can even bring, honestly, if we're not careful, we can even bring that spirit into the church and it masquerades and we call it discernment, but it's not. It's suspicion and it's criticalness. That's not what discernment is. And Paul would say, that's the old humanity. The new humanity preserves the unity that Jesus died to create. Verse 7. But grace was given to each of us according to the measure of Christ's gifts. After saying one seven times, Paul says, Now to each one, I love this because unity in the kingdom of God does not erase individuality. But unity in the kingdom of God is a collection of diverse people running after the one thing. This is what the kingdom of God is: one Lord, one body, one spirit. Every unique part is submitted to the same Lord for the good of the same body. And then Paul and he goes on to quote Psalm 68: He ascended on high and he gave gifts to men. And I would love to spend so much time in this. I don't have it right now, but. Later on he goes on he says, and he gave these gifts the apostles, the prophets, the evangelists, the shepherds, and the teachers. And I won't I don't want to focus on I don't want to focus and zoom in on each of these roles this morning. I don't I think that is an important conversation, but my focus here today, my focus is why. Why did Jesus give these gifts? He gave them to equip the saints for the work of the ministry, for building up of the body of Christ. This is the point. Jesus gives leaders not to do all of the ministry. But to equip the saints to do the work of the ministry. You may not like this, but this is what Paul is saying. This is and I believe like we have to confront something here. We do because somewhere along the way in Western church, we have adopted that the pastors do all of the ministry and everyone else attends ministry. Paul says that this is backwards. Leaders equip, saints minister. The role of the pastor is not to do it all, the ministry. All the ministry is to equip God's people to do the ministry. So that means if you are in Christ, God has given you a ministry. Not someday. Not when you know more or when you feel like it. Not when you have a microphone or a stage. Right now. We need now I don't want to get in trouble here. We need people serving to Hope Church. This is so good. Like Hope Connections, like being Hope Family Leaders, like opening up the door, serving in Hope Kids and Hope Student Ministries. We need those things. These ministries matter, but if your only category for ministry is what happens inside of this building. This is not the humanity that Jesus died for alone. You're thinking too small. Your ministry is in your home around the table. Your workplace, your neighborhood, wherever God has placed you. And listen, you don't have a job and then some sort of ministry on the side. Your job is your ministry. Because God has placed you there. He has. And if you believe that, Well then, what will we do? We'll walk it out. My s my son, he loves playing soccer right now. It's the coolest thing. I love it. I'm like v living vicariously through him totally. I'm unapologetic about it. ⁓ so But every Friday we ⁓ we get together and he like we get practice, like he loves practice, right? Like he loves going and doing the drills and he loves like ⁓ hanging out with his friends and all of the of those other things. He he loves practice, right? But let me tell you something. My son lives for Saturday. Why? Saturday is game day. Saturday is, I mean, it's time to go. And practice matters. Practice is important. Practice teaches him what to do. But he does not want to practice forever and ever and never play the game. He wants to get on the field. He wants to give it all when he matters. And he wants the game. He wants to be in the game. Now imagine with me if every week I take him to practice, he runs the drills. He listens to his coach. He scores a goal that doesn't really matter. Why? Because it's practice. Is that too harsh for a six year old? Sorry. Game day matters, you know what I mean? He listened. Every single week, he puts on the cleats, he puts on the shingards. And then when Saturday comes all around, I just grab him and I sit and like, no, son, we're actually just gonna sit here in the stands and we're gonna watch the coach play. How long do you think my six-year-old would like soccer? Not a very long time. And some of you see where I'm going with this. I wonder for how long, how many Christians for 30 plus years have been practicing church? And haven't gotten in the game? I'm being hard, I'm because This is the new humanity that God created, that He purchased with His blood. Consumer Christianity is a real problem. And it will never produce, it will never produce what Paul is talking about in the new humanity. I'll tell you what it will produce. It will produce spectators, critics, and it will produce people who rate sermons, rate worship, rate the coffee, rate the programs, rate the church, rate, rate, rate, rate, rate. And they never take responsibility for the body of Christ. Verse 13. How long do leaders equip and saints minister? How long do we keep growing? Paul says, until we all attain to the unity of the faith and the knowledge of the Son of God to mature manhood, to the measure, get this, to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ. Have we arrived? No way. And notice the goal is not attendance, the goal is not activity, the goal is maturity. The goal is becoming more like Jesus. And that's what Paul is after. He is he's not after consumers, he's not after spectators, but he's actually after mature disciples who are in love with Jesus. So let me ask you. Are you becoming more like Jesus? can't answer that for you. Are you becoming more humble? If you feel like we I mean we haven't arrived. Are you becoming more humble? Are you becoming more patient? Are you able to suffer longer with people? Are you able to bear the burdens of walking in a family together? Or is there still probably some things? I mean, my my hand is up that just rub you the wrong way. And I and if we don't invite the Holy Spirit to come up, come in and rub on those things and to shave off the jagged edges of our lives. Then maturity, as Paul describes it, will not be our future. Why does this matter? Well, because Paul gives a contrast, so that we may no longer be children, tossed to and fro by the waves and carried about by every wind of doctrine, by human cunning, by craftiness, and deceitful schemes. He's going to get into more of this later in Ephesians, but we got to answer the question, why does maturity matter? The truth is because immature believers are vulnerable. They are tossed around by every new teaching, every cultural trend, every loud voice or every persuasive personality. And we cannot afford to be Christians, immature Christians in a deceptive age. Where we're shaped more by algorithms, by the Spirit of God or the Word of God. Where we're more shaped by outrage than what we see every single time that we turn on the TV, if then by actually Jesus. We need roots. We need discernment. We need knowledge of the Son of God. And verse 15 says, rather, rather than immaturity, rather than any of those things, rather. Speak the truth in love. We are to grow up in every way into him who is the head into Christ. Speak the truth in love. Charity, you can go ahead and come. I've got to close sometime soon. So it's a f it's a phrase that is famous, but it is not easy. Some people love truth, but they do not love people. And some people claim to love people, but they refuse to tell the truth. Paul says we need both. We need truth and love. Because truth without love can crush people. And love without truth can keep people bound in immaturity. But truth and love invites people into freedom. And as a church, we cannot shy away from calling sin. We cannot pretend that what destroys people is harmless. We cannot use truth like a weapon to beat people down. We speak the truth in love. Why? Because the goal is maturity. Not winning arguments, not proving points. Maturity. And I believe one of the currencies of maturity is authenticity. I do. I believe this wholeheartedly. We have to be committed to authenticity, not fake church, not polished or pretending that every Sunday morning, hey, how are you doing, brother? ⁓ blessed and highly favored. While your entire life is falling apart. A mature church is not a church where everyone pretends to be fine all of the time. That's not reality. But a mature church is where people can tell the truth, repent, be forgiven, grow. And I believe like we if we cannot, if we cannot be honest and here, I don't believe that we can walk in the fullness of what biblical community looks like and what Jesus gave his life for. Paul says we are to grow up in every way into him who is the head into Christ. Christ is the head. What does maturity look like? Where is maturity going? It's going to Jesus. And Paul brings the whole passage to a climax and he says, when each part is working properly, makes the whole body grow so that it builds itself up in love. Paul begins in verse 2, bearing with one another in love. Paul ends in verse 16. With building itself up in love. What is that saying? It's saying that love is not a side issue. Love is the atmosphere of the new humanity. And so how do we respond? Church, we do not respond by trying harder. That's legalism and it's not possible. We only are able to walk and to be the body of Christ by surrendering deeper, surrendering our lives deeper. And church, I don't want to just preach Ephesians 4. The invitation of the church is to become Ephesians 4. And my prayer is that when unbelievers encounter Hope Church. Or the church in general, they don't just see another church, but they actually see and encounter what the gospel creates. This is the goal. Hey, if today your prayer if today your prayer is, Jesus make this true in me, would you just put your hands out in front of you? If this is the this is the type of person and the type of church and the the body of Christ that you want to see. that you want to witness and be a part of and walk into. Jesus, none of this is possible without you. Jesus. These are just words on a page without the Spirit of God in our lives. So Jesus, right now in this room with every person Would you come and would you teach us what does humility look like? What does patience look like? What is bearing with one another look like? What does it look like to speak the truth and in love? We are so surrounded by a culture that teaches us the opposite. But Father, help us to take that off. And we'll help us, Jesus, to now walk into the new humanity that was purchased by your blood. Help us become the church that you died for. Jesus name. Jesus name. Amen. Amen. Amen. Yeah. Guys, thank you for coming this morning. I loved being with you all. we'll see you next week. Go and enjoy. Take a nap. You need it. I need it. You know what I mean? We love you guys. We'll see you next week.

Ephesians 2:10 Ephesians 2 · chapter mention