So That The Body Of Christ May Be Built Up: Did you know you’re needed for the ministry of the church? Even if you aren’t on staff or are a leader? You are! The whole church, equipped by leaders through the ministry of the word, is called to do the works of ministry. By speaking the truth in love, the whole body grows in unity, maturity, and love until it reaches the whole measure of the fullness of Christ! Recorded on Jun 16, 2024, on Ephesians 4:7-16 by Pastor David Parks.
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Our series, Ephesians: The Gospel in Life, serves as an epilogue to Finding Life in Jesus’ Name from John’s gospel. The Apostle Paul’s letter to the Ephesians reveals much about how the life found by faith in Jesus actually works. This series will touch on themes of grace, identity, purpose, family, the church, spiritual warfare, and more. If you’re considering the life of Jesus or if you’re ready to follow him today, this series is for you.
Sermon Transcript
We’ve been working through Paul’s letter to the Ephesians in a sermon series called The Gospel in Life. And today, as we continue in Chapter 4, we’re going to consider the work of ministry that every member of the body of Christ has been called to do. This teaching touches on the very purpose of the church and of Christian ministry. This is something I’m so passionate about because this teaching must impact our very identity as Christians and everything we do as a church. Have you ever wondered what you’re doing here? Like what role do you play as a member of this church? I think most Christians think that if they show up for worship on a regular basis, and maybe serve or give, that’s all that they’re expected to do. But is that true? If so, then you might get the impression that you’re not really necessary, that you’re not really needed here. But that’s dead wrong. You’re vital. We need you as much as you need us. But if we fail to understand what ministry is or what it does, then we, as individuals and as a church, are headed for danger. If you have your Bible/app, please take it and open it to Eph 4:7. We’ll read through this and unpack it together.
Ephesians 4:7–10 (NIV), “7 But to each one of us grace has been given as Christ apportioned it. 8 This is why it says: “When he ascended on high, he took many captives and gave gifts to his people.” 9 (What does “he ascended” mean except that he also descended to the lower, earthly regions? 10 He who descended is the very one who ascended higher than all the heavens, in order to fill the whole universe.)” Last week, we saw how, because of our union with Christ in the church, we have already been made one. However, with so many forces threatening to pull us apart, it can be incredibly difficult to stay one. It takes humility, gentleness, patience, and so much more. And we saw that Paul shifted from a temple metaphor for the church to the body metaphor — that we in the church are members of the body of Christ. Here, starting in v. 7, Paul starts describing why the body needs to grow and mature and how that process works. He says that “to each one of us grace has been given as Christ apportioned it.” Now, of course, it’s true to say that every Christian has received the grace of God in their salvation. We are saved by grace through faith, right? So you can’t be a Christian and not receive the grace of God. But here, Paul uses the language of grace to describe more gifts after salvation — grace on top of grace already given. This is why Paul quotes Psalm 68. Now, if you go read Psalm 68, you’ll notice that Paul changes the language of v. 18 from people giving gifts to an exalted and victorious God to an exalted and victorious Christ giving gifts to his people. There are several theories about why he changes the meaning of this verse, but I don’t believe Paul was simply making the Psalm to say what he wanted it to say. If you read through the whole Psalm, it ends with God giving gifts to his people — gifts of power and strength. So, by changing the language of one verse, he points back to the whole Psalm. That the gracious gifts of God flow down from an exalted and victorious savior. Paul is saying that we now know that this savior’s name is Jesus. For it was Jesus who descended from heaven by his incarnation but later ascended through his resurrection and ascension back into heaven, where he is currently seated at the right hand of God and is exalted, having won the victory over Satan, sin, death, and hell. But, from this high and lifted-up state, above every power and authority in heaven and earth, Jesus continues to love and serve his body by graciously giving gifts to each one of us according to his own wisdom and measure. But what are these gifts, and what are they for?
Ephesians 4:11-12 (NIV), “11 So Christ himself gave the apostles, the prophets, the evangelists, the pastors and teachers, 12 to equip his people for works of service, so that the body of Christ may be built up…” So first, what are the gifts, and second, what are they for? Well, in this passage, Paul says the gifts that Christ gives come in the form of certain people. And he either lists four or five kinds of people as we’ll see. First, “Christ himself gave the apostles.” What is an apostle? The word apostle means “one who is sent,” which, of course, could apply to anyone sent for any purpose. An Uber driver is a type of apostle. But in the NT, the apostles were unique in that they were chosen by Christ himself to be eyewitnesses to his life/ministry/death/resurrection. These twelve men were sent out by Jesus to bear witness to what they saw and heard from him, starting in Jerusalem and Judea, then to Samaria, and even to the ends of the earth (Ac 1:8). From the original twelve, after losing Judas they added Matthias (twelve apostles to match the twelve tribes of Israel), but then later Jesus added Paul of Tarsus, his apostle to the Gentiles. The early church was devoted to the apostles’ teaching, which, as Paul said back in Chapter 2, became the foundation (with the prophets) for the church, with Christ himself serving as the chief cornerstone. As the church, we are built on Jesus and the message about Jesus from his apostles. Now, in those early days, you could hear this message from an apostle in person. (Wouldn’t it be cool to have Peter or John visit our church?) But within that first generation, you could also hear the message of the apostles from their writings, which is what we have in the NT of our Bibles today. So, unfortunately, you can’t sign up to be an apostle on a ministry team here today. However, you can be devoted to reading, studying, and working to share the message of the apostles any day of the week. In fact, the more, the better. Second, “Christ himself gave…the prophets.” OT prophets such as Moses, Isaiah, and Daniel spoke on behalf of God. Like the apostles of the NT, they spoke or wrote down God’s word for God’s people, saying things like, “This is what the Lord says…” However, the prophetic ministry didn’t stop with the coming of Jesus, who, of course, is our great high prophet. Paul writes about prophets and the gift of prophecy in his letters. The book of Acts writes of prophets like Agabus or the prophets and teachers who led the church at Antioch. Of course, it also describes false prophets, as there were false prophets during the OT. For this reason, Paul writes to the Thessalonians, “Do not quench the Spirit. Do not treat prophecies with contempt but test them all; hold on to what is good, reject every kind of evil.” (1Th 5:19-22). When I think of prophecy, I tend to think more about someone who receives insight concerning something that will happen in the future. And this is often the case. But also, a prophet is one who reveals God’s word to his people. This is why “…the one who prophesies speaks to people for their strengthening, encouraging and comfort.” (1Co 14:3). Third, “Christ himself gave…the evangelists.” What is an evangelist? The root word for evangelist, evangelical, and evangelism all comes from the Greek word for good news. Now, you could be an evangelist who bears any kind of good news. I don’t know if they still use this lingo, but Apple used to have product evangelists for their Mac computers and iPhones and such — spreading the good news about their expensive gadgets. But, an evangelist who is a gracious gift for the body of Christ is one who preaches/proclaims/shares the good news of the gospel of Jesus Christ. The work of an evangelist isn’t done until they’ve both proclaimed the gospel and invited people to respond through repentance and faith. “The time has come [as Jesus said]…The kingdom of God has come near. Repent and believe the good news!” (Mk 1:15). To switch back to the temple metaphor, if apostles and prophets lay the foundation, then evangelists invite people to come in the building. Finally, “Christ himself gave…” the Pastor-teachers or possibly the pastors and teachers. The Greek suggests that these last two gifts should probably be taken together, although they might be separate kinds of people. Whether these last two should be taken as one or not, the truth is that while not every teacher is a pastor (I think of parents teaching their kids or a community group leader or small group kids leader at Midweek when i think of this), but every pastor is also a teacher. The word for pastor lit. means shepherd, so pastors shepherd the flock of God (yet another metaphor for the church). But what do shepherds do? They lead, feed, and protect the flock that Jesus, our Chief Shepherd, the Good Shepherd, has entrusted to their care. How do pastors do this work? Pastors lead, feed, and protect the flock according to the ministry of the word and prayer. And what do teachers do? Teachers teach! They help people learn, understand, and apply God’s word to every part of their lives. Of course, all of these people are involved in the ministry of the word. Apostles and prophets lay the foundation of God’s word, evangelists invite people to hear and believe the word, and pastor-teachers lead by the word, seeking to explain and apply the word. These are the people that Christ graciously gives his body. But for what purpose? What are these gifts for? (v. 12) “…to equip his people.” For what? “…for works of service [ministry].” But why? “…so that the body of Christ may be built up.” This means that ministry isn’t just the calling for a select few, such as the elders or church staff members. The leadership of the church has been given not to be an impressive show to sit back and watch but to equip you, the people of the church, for ministry. Now, there are several lists in the NT of spiritual gifts, including our passage here, 1Co 12, Ro 12, and other places. But, one of the interesting aspects of these various lists is that none of them are the same. There’s some overlap, but each one is different. I think that means that none of them are meant to be exhaustive. So, we can trust that Christ will give gifts of all kinds to equip his people and build up his body. But if this happens, if those who are called to the ministry of the word are faithful and hardworking so that the people of the church are equipped to do the good works that God has prepared in advance for you to do, and if the body of Christ is built up, what does that look like?
Ephesians 4:13 (NIV), “13 until we all reach unity in the faith and in the knowledge of the Son of God and become mature, attaining to the whole measure of the fullness of Christ.” What does it look like to build up the body of Christ? Paul says the goal of ministry is to build up the body of Christ in three ways. First, built up in unity. But unity in what exactly? Well, this is certainly related to the unity we focused on last week. But here, Paul says that good leadership and fruitful ministry equipping will result in unity in the faith and in the knowledge of the Son of God. We’ll never be built up; we’ll never become mature unless we first have unity in our faith, believing/trusting in the same core doctrines to be true about the person and work of Jesus. But then, second, good leadership and fruitful ministry equipping will result in maturity — of growing up and gaining wisdom, love, self-control, and all the fruit of the Spirit. But if this happens, then we might attain “to the whole measure of the fullness of Christ.” And this is no small matter. No matter what you do for work, whether you’re in healthcare, finance, education, or in business, whether you’re paid or unpaid, this, this work of discipleship is the most important work in all the world! But what happens if we, as leaders, fail to lead in this way? Or if we, as the body of Christ, fail to do this ministry and fail to grow in our unity and maturity and fail to attain the whole measure of the fullness of Christ? Well, there is a great danger here. Look at v. 14.
Ephesians 4:14 (NIV), “14 Then we will no longer be infants, tossed back and forth by the waves, and blown here and there by every wind of teaching and by the cunning and craftiness of people in their deceitful scheming.” Sadly, this is where many Christians are today. They’ve heard the gospel and trusted in Christ for their salvation, but they were never discipled, never expected to grow and mature, never led, fed, or protected by the word. They were never called to do the work of the ministry. In other words, they received the first half of the Great Commission but not the second. They believed and were baptized into the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit, but they were never taught to obey everything Christ has commanded for us or expected to help anyone else do the same. This is just as much an emergency as it would be to have a baby in the open ocean. An infant, tossed back and forth by the waves and blown here and there by every wind, is not cute. It’s terribly dangerous. Why? Because a Christian who remains spiritually immature is vulnerable to being influenced or led astray by any and every wind of teaching, good/bad/ugly. They might be saved, but they’re vulnerable to the cunning and craftiness of people in their deceitful scheming. There are false pastors and teachers today, just as there were false apostles and prophets during the time of the early church. There are some today who preach the gospel for selfish gain, perhaps for wealth/fame/power or some other worldly benefit, and not to build up the body of Christ. Jesus warned that this would be the case. Paul warned the elders in Ephesus that this would be the case, that wolves would come seeking to devour and destroy the flock of God, and they should guard against it. If you remain immature in your faith, in your knowledge of the Son of God, you will not be able to discern whether someone in a position of spiritual authority is truly representing Christ or not. But with the ministry of the word, and with every believer doing their part, the body of Christ is far stronger than any false teacher or false teaching, no matter how powerful they are or how many people are led astray. But if we see the fruit of good leadership and we are able to grow in our unity and maturity, what will that look like?
Ephesians 4:15–16 (NIV), “15 Instead, speaking the truth in love, we will grow to become in every respect the mature body of him who is the head, that is, Christ. 16 From him the whole body, joined and held together by every supporting ligament, grows and builds itself up in love, as each part does its work.” This is God’s word. So instead of remaining immature and being tossed about by every wind and wave, instead, speaking the truth in love, we will grow and be built up in love, as each part does its work (each part includes you, too!). So here, we find as good a job description as any in the Scriptures for what it means to be part of a local church. It means that because of our union with Christ, by grace and through faith, that we are joined to his body, of which he is the head. And that as members of his body, we are called to speak the truth to one another. But truth tempered in love for one another. Why? So that our unity and our maturity grow together and are expressed by ever greater love for one another. This kind of Christian is a Christian who is unshakable. This kind of church is a church that is unshakable, against which the gates of hell will never prevail. And this is God’s grand desire, his incredible plan is, for your life. So today, are you needed? Are you necessary to the ministry of this church? Absolutely, yes. You are vital. May we grow and continue to grow, speaking the truth in love to one another until we all attain the measure of the fullness of Christ! May he be glorified both now and forever more! Amen. Let us pray.