A Healthy, Maturing Church

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The reading today is from Paul's letter to the Ephesians, chapter 4, verses 1 through 16.

Ephesians 4:1–16

I, therefore, a prisoner for the Lord, urge you to walk in a manner worthy of 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 spirit and the bond of peace.

There is one body and one spirit, just as you were called to the one hope that belongs to your call.

One Lord, one faith, one baptism, one God and Father of all,

who was over all and through all and in all.

But grace was given to each 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, and teachers

to equip the saints for the work of ministry, for building up the body of Christ,

until we all attain to the unity of the faith and 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 waves

and carried about by every wind of doctrine, by human cunning,

by craftiness in deceitful schemes.

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 body grow so that it builds itself up in love.

This is the word of the Lord.

Thanks be to God.

Good morning, Christ Church.

First things first today, I want to wish you all a happy birthday.

Happy birthday, Christ Church.

Our church was born on April 16, 2006,

after about a year of raising funds

and moving the Garrett family and the St. Clair family here

and gathering a core team.

Our little church startup began in the Marsh Theater,

the Gaia Arts Building in downtown Berkeley on Shattuck and Alston.

And by God's grace, we're still here.

And we survived till our 18th birthday.

So thanks be to God.

After Easter each year,

if you've been here for a couple of Easter's,

you'll know that our preaching shifts from the four Gospels,

Gospels, and we moved to the Acts of the Apostles

and the letters of the New Testament,

and we go basically from celebrating the resurrection of Jesus

to then thinking out together the implications

and the consequences for what it means to be

his resurrection people.

So just as a reminder,

the risen Jesus spent 40 days

between his resurrection and his ascension,

and he was training and teaching his disciples

for church planting and church development.

And then the day of Pentecost came,

which he was preparing them for,

and the Holy Spirit was poured out,

and the gospel was proclaimed,

and many people were converted,

and the first church was born,

the church in Jerusalem.

And it launched this church planting movement

that would go out throughout the Roman Empire

through these appointed people

that Jesus gave to the church,

the apostles, the prophets, the evangelists,

the shepherds, and the teachers.

And so over the next three Sundays,

we want to be thinking about the nature of this movement.

We want to look at some New Testament texts

that lay out some of the basic manual

and fundamental instructions

for being the church

that the resurrected Jesus launched

by the power of the Holy Spirit.

And our hope is that we can equip you

with a New Testament vision

of the nature and the purpose of the church,

and that you can see the gifts

that the Holy Spirit has given to each one of you

for building up that church,

and you can think about the ways

that your time and your talents and treasures

might be stewarded for the mission of the church.

The apostle Paul uses many different analogies

for the church.

He calls the church a bride,

a building, a commonwealth,

a family, a flock of sheep.

But his favorite analogy that he uses more frequently

than any of the others is the body,

the body of Christ.

And he mentions it four times in Ephesians 4.

So that's what we're going to be looking at today

and the next couple weeks.

And if you want to open those Bibles in your pews,

you can do that.

Page 946 is where we're going to be looking.

And the apostle Paul's writing to this little church plant

in the city of Ephesus around the year 62 A.D.

while he's in prison in Rome.

And he's basically saying to these friends

that here's what it means

to be the resurrection people of God.

Here's what it means to be the body of Christ.

And I'm going to attempt to just unpack this statement

over the next little bit.

That Christ's body is called.

Christ's body is triune.

And Christ's body is maturing.

Three things we want to think about the body of Christ.

It's called.

It's triune.

And it's maturing.

So let's start with the Christ's body is called.

And you can see here in chapter 4 verse 1 it says,

I therefore, a prisoner for the Lord,

urge you to walk in a manner worthy of the calling

to which you've been called.

A key to the exposition of the latter half of this epistle

is this word therefore

because it points us back to the first half of this letter

and emphasizes that the church,

the body of Christ,

is something which follows

as a logical conclusion

of what's gone before.

And what is that?

Well, Paul says,

therefore,

because of the outline

of God's eternal plan of salvation

that I gave to you in Ephesians 1, 2, and 3,

you are to walk worthy of the calling

to which you've been called.

So look back with me, if you will,

at Ephesians 1.

Ephesians 1, 3 says,

Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ

who has blessed us in Christ

with every spiritual blessing

in the heavenly places.

And he goes on in verse 7 and he says,

In him we have redemption through his blood,

the forgiveness of our trespasses

according to the riches of his grace.

Wow.

Wow.

So why did God choose to bless us

and redeem us and forgive us by his grace?

Well, he goes on and he says in verse 10,

He did this as a plan for the fullness of time

to unite all things in Christ,

things in heaven,

and things on earth.

So what he's saying is that the church,

the body of Christ,

cannot exist apart from

the Lord Jesus Christ himself

and apart from his work

of atonement

and redemption through his blood.

But then the question arises,

how do we enter into the church?

How do we enter into the body of Christ?

What's necessary for that to happen?

And the apostle goes on

in verse 12 of chapter 1.

He says,

We who were the first to hope in Christ

might be for the praise of his glory.

And in him you also,

when you heard the word of truth,

the gospel of your salvation,

and believed in him,

you were sealed with the promised Holy Spirit.

This is how we enter into the kingdom of God.

You hear that word of truth.

You hear the gospel of salvation.

And as a result,

you believe it

and you place your hope

and your trust entirely in Jesus Christ.

This is what Paul means

when he says,

The calling to which you've been called.

Ephesians chapter 2

Ephesians 2 · chapter mention

is basically an elaboration on this.

It's who is this apostle?

Who are the people

that this apostle is exhorting?

Well, he says in chapter 2, verse 1,

You all were dead

in your trespasses and sins

in which you once walked,

following the course of this world,

following the prince of the power of the air,

the spirit that is now at work

in the sons of disobedience.

That's what you all once were.

You were dominated by sin.

You were slaves of the devil.

You were spiritually dead.

He says in verse 3

that you were under the wrath

and condemnation of God.

That's what the church is.

The church is a gathering of people

who know that they could do nothing

for their salvation.

A people who are completely helpless

and hopeless

to bring about your reconciliation to God.

But thanks be to God

that now you are members of Christ's church,

his body,

solely because of what God has done to you.

You are the calling to you in Jesus

by the spirit.

It's the calling to which you've been called.

You following me so far?

I know this is a lot,

but you've got to understand the therefore.

So look at chapter 2, verse 4.

But God, being rich in mercy

because of the great love with which he loved us,

even when we were dead in our trespasses,

made us alive together with Christ.

By grace you have been saved.

You're a people who've been quickened

and who've been regenerated by the Holy Spirit.

That God has come and he's put new life into you

and he's given you the ability

to see the truth in Jesus

and the ability to then put your trust

and your weight upon him.

Verse 6,

and he's raised us up with him

and seated us with him

in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus.

The church is a people who realize

that you've actually been united

to the living Christ.

And you realize the implications

and the consequences

of the resurrection of Jesus for you.

That you're alive

and you're raised up with Jesus.

What Paul is saying

is that you are what you are

as a result of what God has done for you

and what he's done to you

and what he's done in you.

It's the calling

to which you've been called.

So when the apostle writes,

therefore,

he's pointing us back

to these great doctrines

that he's elaborated in detail

and he says,

you are a people

who've been saved

by the precious blood of Jesus.

You're a people

who've been regenerated by the Spirit.

You're a people

who've been given access

through Jesus

by the Spirit

to the Father, he says,

so that you can go there

whenever you want.

You've been brought

into God's kingdom,

into God's family,

into God's church,

into this body of Christ

on the basis of trusting in it

and living by these truths.

It's the calling

to which you've been called.

Therefore, Paul says,

walk worthy of that calling

to which you've been called.

Therefore, walk worthy

of that calling

to which you've been called.

God's gracious calling

bestows upon us

high privileges

and also high responsibilities.

You've been called

into these incredible blessings

of salvation,

so now there's a standard way

of life that corresponds

to that calling.

To walk worthy of it

means to walk

with an equal weight

and an equal balance,

that you've received

this calling,

so now balance out

that calling

with your character

and with your conduct.

And listen again

to what he says.

I therefore,

this is chapter 4, verse 1,

Isaiah 4:1

I therefore,

a prisoner for the Lord,

urge you

to walk in a manner

worthy of the calling

to which you've 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.

The apostle's writing

to people

who've been called

into Jesus Christ,

and what's his appeal?

What's his exhortation

to them?

He says,

you ought to be a people

who are eager,

a people who make

every effort,

a people who strive

diligently

not to produce a unity

or to create a unity

or to achieve a unity,

but you're to be eager

to maintain the unity

and to keep the unity

and to guard the unity

and to develop the unity

that the Holy Spirit

has created among those

whom God has called

into Jesus Christ.

So there is a unity

that is already in existence

among those who've been called.

There's a unity of all those

who've experienced

the calling

into this glorious reality

of the gospel message

that Paul has just unfolded

for us in Ephesians 1-3.

Now if you look around this room,

and I encourage you,

you can turn and look around

and see who's seated around you.

If you look around,

everybody's afraid

to look around.

It's okay.

You can look around.

You can move your head.

It's okay.

If you look around this room,

you probably see many people

that you don't know yet

or don't know well.

But what I want to help you see

is that many of those people,

most of those people

have been called

into Jesus Christ.

And if that's true,

then there's a unity

that already exists among you,

whether you like it or not,

because you share

a mutual calling

into Jesus Christ.

Now the Greek word

for the church is ekklesia,

which means the called,

the called out.

And that means that the church

are the called out ones,

people who've been called out

from your old life

into a new life

in Jesus Christ.

People who,

as Paul says elsewhere,

have been called out

from the dominion of darkness

and brought into the kingdom

of the Son

that He loves.

And so when the apostle says,

walk worthy

with humility

and gentleness

and patience

and forbearance

and love,

eager to maintain

the unity of the Spirit

and the bond of peace,

what he's saying is

don't allow anything

to disrupt

the unity

of the Holy Spirit.

Don't let anything

interfere

with the spiritual unity

into which you've been brought

by the calling

of the Holy Spirit.

So friends,

our task,

our task

is to do no harm

to the unity

of the Holy Spirit.

Our task

is to be eager

to make this invisible unity

of the Holy Spirit

a visible

and tangible reality

in the life

of the church.

Now what does that mean

for so many of us

who do not yet

know one another?

Well the apostle

is exhorting us

to be eager

and make every effort

and to strive diligently

to maintain

the unity of the Spirit

and the bond of peace.

And so the first step

is that we just need

to get to know each other.

And we need to get

to know the other people

that have been united

together

because of their shared

and mutual calling

into Jesus Christ.

And here are some

of the opportunities

we have

to maintain

the unity

of the Holy Spirit.

First of all,

I want you to know

we gather here

every Sunday

and you are encouraged

to come

every time.

And in fact,

many of you came

at 10.15

on Easter Sunday.

You can do that

every Sunday of the year.

And I want you to know

that you are welcome

to not sit

where you normally sit.

You can sit

by someone different,

somebody you don't know.

You can look for people

before, during,

and after the service

and you can go

talk to them.

You can talk to them.

Secondly,

do not run for the exits

at the end of the service

but plan to linger.

Plan to make yourself

available to know

and be known

over our coffee hour,

over our lunch time

on a monthly basis.

And when you gather

around those tables

later today,

you can talk about

the weather,

you can talk about

the warriors,

that's great.

But ask questions.

Tell me about

your spiritual journey.

Tell me how

I can pray for you.

Third thing is

I would encourage you

to engage

in opportunities

this spring

like our dinners for four

and our Saturday morning

work day

and our loaves

and fishes ministry,

our second Wednesday

prayer meeting.

Third thing is

if you're not yet

part of a ministry team

here on Sundays

where you serve

once a month,

you can join one today.

If you're not yet

part of a community group

that's restart in August,

plan to join one.

And the last thing

I'd say is

be proactive

and take initiative

to invite people

to dinner,

go for a walk,

grab coffee,

so that spiritual

friendships can form.

These are some

of the small ways

that we can walk

worthy of the calling

to which we have been

mutually called.

And these are really

simple ways

that we can be eager

to maintain

the unity of the spirit

in the bond

of peace.

Christ's body

is called.

You with me?

Christ's body is called.

I don't know

if you're with me.

Okay.

Stop now.

Alright.

Christ's body is called

but Christ's body

is also triune.

Christ's body is triune.

Now you really

got to buckle up

for this part.

Okay.

The apostle goes on

to describe the nature

of the church's unity

that's produced

by the Holy Spirit.

And here's what he says

in verse 4.

He says,

there is one body

and one spirit

just as you were called

to the one hope

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.

Now notice

the exalted way

in which the church,

the body of Christ

is described.

It's not just a question

of our friendliness

or our fellowship

or our desiring

to hang out

with one another

and do life together

but rather

life together

in the church

is lifted up

into this realm

of the blessed

holy trinity,

spirit,

Lord,

and Father.

The church

in her unity

is not to be conceived

in merely human terms

of our own organic relationship

or our own organized structures

but rather the church

is to be seen

in terms of the God

who is three persons

yet one being.

And we are to have

a God-centered,

God-focused vision

of the church.

Observe that this word one

is used seven times

in these three verses.

There is one body

produced by one Holy Spirit.

Now the unity

and the oneness

of the body

and the church

is like what we find

in the physical body,

Paul says.

My body is not

this loose grouping

of mechanically attached parts.

You know,

my head's not stapled

onto my neck

and my arms not sewn on

to my torso

like Frankenstein.

No,

the marvel

and the mystery

of the human body

is that while it consists

of many different parts

with all these various functions,

they're all one.

They're all bound together

in a vital,

organic union.

It's not that I have fingers

stuck onto my hand

and then hands

stuck onto my arms

and arms stuck onto my shoulders.

It's that all these parts

came out of an original cell,

one germ of life

and all of these parts of me

are extensions

and manifestations

of the life

and the vitality

of my head.

Of my head.

So to what does the apostle

compare the life

and the unity

of this body?

He says,

the unity of the body

of the church

is like the unity

that characterizes

the blessed Holy Trinity.

The oneness of the body

is like the oneness

of the Spirit,

the Lord,

and the Father.

This mystical union

between the Father,

Son,

and Holy Spirit

from all eternity,

three in one,

one in three,

that is the unity

that exists

in the body

of the church.

Each of those three persons

and the one Godhead

play a part

in creating the life

and producing the unity

of the church.

And look at what Paul says

in verse four.

He says,

there's one body

and one spirit

just as you were called

to one hope

that belongs to your call.

The Holy Spirit

calls us into the unity

of the body

by convicting us

and regenerating us

and enabling us

to believe

and he gives life

and power

to the body

and he enters

into us

and he gives us

that one hope

that belongs

to your call.

That one hope

is that the Lord Jesus

is going to come again,

that he's going to judge

evil and sin

in the world,

that he's going to

renovate the world,

he's going to raise

our bodies,

he's going to set up

the kingdom of God

finally and fully

and we are going to reign

with him in glory.

That's the one hope

of the one spirit

that he creates

in the one church.

And he goes on

and he says

there's one Lord

and there's one faith

and there's one baptism.

The unity of the church

comes from the conviction

that there's only

one Lord of this world

and that's Jesus.

As the apostle Peter

preaches in Acts chapter 4,

Acts 4 · chapter mention

he says,

salvation is found

in no one else

for there is no other name

under heaven

given to people

by which we must be saved.

That's how you know

you're part of the church.

When you're gathered together

with people who believe

that the absolutely unique

son of God

is the only mediator

with God

and that he saved us

by his cross

and he's been raised

from the dead

and that's what makes him

the one Lord.

And then there's one faith.

Justification by faith.

That our Lord

took our unrighteousness

onto himself

and he took his righteousness

and put it onto us

and the way that we receive that

is simply by faith.

And then there's one baptism.

That we're no longer

in the realm

or in the kingdom

of Adam

but now we've been

taken out of that realm

and we've been baptized

into the kingdom

and into the realm

of Jesus.

One body,

one spirit,

one hope,

one Lord,

one faith,

one baptism,

one God

and Father

of all.

And he says that

God and Father

is exalted

over the church,

his life and power

is at work

through the church

and his presence

dwells right here

within the church.

Whoa.

Now you might be saying

my goodness

why is our pastor

giving us this

high flying theology today?

I only had

one cup of coffee.

But here's the thing.

Most of our troubles

and most of our problems

in life

arise chiefly

from the fact

that we persistently

start with ourselves.

And one of the main

results of sin

is that we put ourselves

at the center

and we spend time

thinking about ourselves

and all of our personal

and individualistic

interests and pursuits.

But what the New Testament

does is it pulls us

right out of ourselves.

And it says that

you've been called

into the mystical

spiritual

eternal body

of Christ himself

of which each one of us

is just one tiny

little part.

And all

as the three

blessed persons

of the glorious

holy trinity

are one

so we who worship

and belong

to the triune God

are likewise

of necessity

one

and we better do

nothing

to damage

that oneness.

you see

it's by looking at

and it's by believing in

and it's by being amazed

by the triune God

in his work of salvation

that we will

maintain the unity

of the spirit

and the bond of peace.

And if we look

at anything else

that unity

is going to get destroyed.

You see

the church

and her unity

is the consequence

of our belief

and of our participation

in this great

and glorious doctrine

that God the Father

has provided

in his son

the way of salvation

and he mediates

that salvation

through the operation

of the Holy Spirit.

And if we truly

understood

and we truly live

by this doctrine

of the triune God

any idea

of self-seeking

of self-importance

of self-interest

which is completely

lacking

in God himself

any of those things

that would

would disrupt

and resist

the unity of the church

would be utterly

unthinkable

and impossible

for us.

So Christ's body

you gotta know

that Christ's body

is called

and you're only part

of that body

if you've been called

and Christ's body

is triune

and you're only part

of that body

if you believe

in this God

I'm describing to you.

But the last thing is

that Christ's body

is maturing.

Christ's body

is maturing

and I wish we had

more time

for the rest

of this text

but here's the big

idea.

You notice

these key words

that are in verses

7 to 16

and the words

are mature

and grow.

Mature

and grow.

Now Jesus himself

said in the gospel

of John chapter 3

John 3 · chapter mention

he said the way

that we enter

into the kingdom

of God

is that we're born

again.

We're born from above.

We're born as he says

of the Holy Spirit.

And when we're born

again like that

we begin as infants

who drink milk.

But we need to grow

and become toddlers

who eat solids.

And then we need

to keep developing

so that we're teens

we're kids

and then we're teens

and we mature

all the way up

into full adulthood

where we eat meat

or a vegan substitute

beyond burgers

whatever.

But the stress here

is on how important

it is

as the apostle says

to no longer

be children.

We're to no longer

be children.

In fact

we're to develop

through these

different stages

into what he's describing

as grown up

Christianity.

Mature

Christianity.

As an individual

Christian

and as different

parts of the

corporate body

of Christ

the apostle says

we in verse 13

are to become

mature

attaining

to the whole

measure

of the fullness

of Jesus Christ.

And he says

in verse 15

that we're to grow

and become

the mature body

of him

who is the head

that is

Christ.

So this body

is to grow

and to develop

and to mature

under

and like

its head.

And when each

individual part

of the body

is spiritually

healthy

then the whole

body

will be

complete

and will be

functional.

It will be

rightly aligned

he says.

It will be

properly

adjusted.

It will be

fully

developed

and proportionally

balanced

and harmoniously

coordinated

under

the head

and conformed

to the likeness

of its head

which is

Jesus.

Now how does

a child

mature into

the fully

grown

and fully

developed

adult?

And how do

Christians

and how do

parts of the

body of Christ

mature into

the fullness

of the head?

In other words

how do all the

limbs and the

organs

how do all

the fingers

and the toes

how do all

the little

parts of the

body

become filled

with the life

and the energy

of the head?

Well Paul says

the way to

that kind of

maturity

and that

kind of

life

and that

kind of

growth

happens in

the body

through what

he says in

verse 15

speaking the

truth in

love.

We grow by

speaking the

truth in

love.

Now this has

been so

profoundly

misinterpreted

and misunderstood

so just

bear with me

to put it

negatively

the apostle

Paul is not

saying

you'll grow

into the

maturity of

Christ by

being kind

being friendly

being nice

speaking honestly

but lovingly.

The apostle is

not exhorting

us to say

kind friendly

honest things

and love to

one another

though you

should definitely

do that.

This is not

at all a vague

or nebulous

or amorphous

sentimental notion

of just be nice

and you'll grow.

literally what

the apostle says

is truthing

in love

we grow.

Truthing

in love

we grow.

Let's say it

together.

Truthing

in love

we grow.

That is

holding on

to the truth

of the gospel.

Professing

the truth

of the gospel.

Discussing

the truth

of the gospel.

Walking out

the truth

of the gospel.

That's how

we grow up.

It's how

we mature

as the body

that has

Jesus as

its head.

And he says

we are to

hold on

to something

particular

and something

definite.

He says

we're to

hold on

to the

truth

with a

capital

T.

The truth

revealed

by God.

The truth

recorded

in the

scriptures.

We're to

truth these

things in

love.

We are to

truth the

inspired

authoritative

doctrines

and ethics

that

have been

given by

the

resurrected

Jesus

through

his

apostles,

prophets,

evangelists,

shepherds,

and teachers

in that

first generation

of the

church

which God

saw fit

to preserve

for us

and record

for us

in the

infallible

word of

the New

Testament.

The apostle

says do you

want to be

a mature

person?

Do you

want to be

a mature

body?

Get really

good at

truthing

in love.

Be about

truthing

in love

about the

person and

the work

of Jesus.

Be about

the truthing

in love

about his

atoning

sacrifice

and physical

resurrection.

Continue to

truth in

love

justification

by faith

alone

and nothing

else.

Be really

good at

truthing

in love

the

ethical

imperatives

about

money

and sex

and power

and all

the other

things we

find in

this New

Testament

that shows

us how

to walk

worthy

of the

calling

to which

the church

the body

of Christ

has been

called.

Sermon's

almost over.

Questions for

you to

consider.

Are you

growing in

this truth

of the New

Testament?

Do you

have more

of a

grasp on

that truth

than you

had a

year ago?

Do you

understand it

better?

Are you

more able

to truth

the gospel

and love

to the

other people

here in

this church?

Does the

truth of

this gospel

grip you

more and

more?

Do you

have an

increasing

sense of

wonder and

amazement and

astonishment

that not only

is this gospel

true but it's

true for you?

And have you

grown so much

in your

character and

your conduct

that your life

aligns to and

it conforms with

the truth?

The truth that

comes straight from

the head all

the way down

into his

body.

Brothers and

sisters,

speaking the

truth in love,

we are to

grow up in

every way

into him

who is the

head

into

Christ.

May it be so

in the name of

the Father,

Son,

and Holy

Spirit.

Amen.

Amen.