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The Church - Ephesians 4
A sermon preached by Ian Garrett

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Now you may be here tonight because a Christian friend invited you – or perhaps because you know one of the people who were baptised up front just now. And to be honest you find it just a bit weird that this otherwise (apparently) normal, well-adjusted friend or family member is into church. And you wonder, ‘What exactly is this thing they’ve got mixed up in?’ Is it a hobby, a club… or some sort of illness?

On the other hand, many of us are Christians. But we still have questions about church. Like, ‘What should we expect of it? What are we supposed to do apart from just come along?’ Well I hope some of those questions will be answered tonight as we turn to one of the most important parts of the Bible on this topic. So would you turn to Ephesians 4.1-16.

Everything today has to have a ‘vision statement’, doesn’t it? I took the car to Kwikfit a while back and the poster said, ‘Our vision is complete customer delight.’ My vision was just a new exhaust pipe, but I was perfectly happy to be delighted as well, if it didn’t cost me any extra. Well you could say that Ephesians is God’s ‘vision statement’ of what every church – including this one – should be. And we’re diving in half way through at 4.1:

¹As a prisoner for the Lord, then [literally ‘therefore’ – building on chapters 1-3], I urge you to live a life worthy of the calling you have received. (v1)

Now we need to back up briefly into chapters 1-3, where Paul has just spelt out what he means by ‘the calling you have received.’ It’s the same kind of language we use about Wayne Rooney – or whoever – being ‘called up’ to play for England: Sven gets on the phone and calls him up to be part of his plans for the next world cup. And in Ephesians, Paul has just spent three chapters reminding believers that we’ve been called up by God to be part of his plan for the universe - as we’ve heard the gospel and responded to Jesus – like those people we just baptised said they have. So turn back to Ephesians 1.10. Here’s a reminder of what God’s plan for the universe is. The plan is

¹⁰to be put into effect when the times will have reached their fulfilment [ie, when Jesus comes again] - to bring all things in heaven and on earth together under one head, even Christ. (1.10)

So the plan is that Jesus will come again and finally separate out those who’ve come back onto God’s side from those who haven’t. And those who have will be part of a place where, as Paul puts it, everything is ‘together under one head, even Christ’.

Now since the fall, that situation has only been a pipe dream for the human race. Look on the international level and you soon realise the best we can do is peace processes and temporary settlements. Look on the personal level and you soon realise how much work it is to maintain relationships and how easy it is to damage them. Why is that?

Well, look at this first picture:

The two stick people stand for what we’re all naturally like since the fall. The little crowns on their heads represent the fact that they’ve both got king-sized egos – they each secretly think the universe revolves around them. Which is why there’s that big black tear between them – because two people trying to have their own way are inevitably heading for conflict.

That’s been the story of the human race since the fall, but God’s plan ultimately is to restore the peace. So now turn over to Ephesians 2.14. Here’s a reminder of how he’s working out that plan. Paul is talking about how, through faith in Jesus, God has brought together people from both sides of the deepest division of his day – Jews and Gentiles (we might think, ‘Newcastle supporters and Sunderland supporters,’ to get the force of it). And he says:

¹⁴For he himself [ie, Jesus] is our peace, who has made the two one and has destroyed the barrier, the dividing wall of hostility, ¹⁵by abolishing in his flesh the law with its commandments and regulations. His purpose was to create in himself one new man out of the two, thus making peace, ¹⁶and in this one body to reconcile both of them to God through the cross, by which he put to death their hostility. (2.14-16)

So look again at the picture above. How do you get those two stick people who both think they’re the most important person in the universe to live together in peace? The answer is: you reconcile them to the person who really is the most important person in the universe, namely God. And for that to happen, he had to send his Son, the Lord Jesus, into the world to pay for the forgiveness we need, by dying on the cross.

So if those two stick people on the left of the picture are you and me, and we’ve both of us been forgiven back into relationship with God – well then we’re united under that big crown that stands for God and the Lord Jesus. So just take a look around for a moment at the others here tonight and ask yourself: how many of these people do you think you’d ever have met, let alone got mixed up with, apart from Jesus? Answer: hardly any. But if you’re trusting in Christ and I’m trusting in Christ, we’re inside that dotted line (see picture above) together – inside this thing the Bible calls the ‘body of Christ’ or ‘the church’.

Now turn on to 3.10. In his mind’s eye, Paul imagines the devil and his spiritual minions looking down on the world that they’ve led us to mess up. And they look with delight on the warfare in Iraq and the divorce rate in Europe and the endless friction in your workplace and arguments in families, and so on. But then to their horror they see some pockets of humanity where people – and the most unlikely mix of people – are getting on, uniting instead of splitting, loving instead of hating. And they realise their plan for the messing up of the universe has been out-played by a higher wisdom. 3.10:

His [ie, God’s] intent was that now, through the church, the manifold wisdom of God should be made known to the rulers and authorities in the heavenly realms, ¹¹according to his eternal purpose which he accomplished in Christ Jesus our Lord. (3.10-11)

Ie, the church is like God’s ‘pilot scheme’ to show the universe what he’s one day finally going to bring about, namely, a place where everything is ‘together under one head, even Christ’. And local churches are God’s foretaste of that. Local churches are like the show houses that show you what the finished estate will one day be like. Local churches are God’s demonstration that there is a power and wisdom stronger than sin that can hold human beings together – namely, his.

Now I’ve spent a lot of time on that partly because if you dive straight into chapter 4, it makes less sense. But partly because you can also miss the fact that those of us who are believers are part of something massive. This isn’t a hobby or a club. This is God’s ‘pilot scheme’ of his plan for the whole universe, and that’s what we’ve been called to be part of. So, 4.1:

¹As a prisoner for the Lord, then, I urge you to live a life worthy of the calling you have received…

And according to Ephesians 4, that involves two main things.

Firstly, KEEP THE PEACE (vv1-6)

²Be completely humble and gentle; be patient, bearing with one another in love. ³Make every effort to keep the unity of the Spirit through the bond of peace. (vv2-3)

What he’s saying is this. If Christ, by his Spirit, has brought me to faith in him and you to faith in him, then he’s created a unity and a bond between us that is far deeper and longer-lasting than any other unity or bond – biological family, marriage or even being a paid-up member of Newcastle United Supporters Club.

And he’s calling on us to make every effort to keep the peace – to work at all our relationships in this spiritual family.

And applying that to us in this church, it is an effort, because there are two major threats to the unity and peace of JPC. One is me. And the other is the rest of you. Because we still have those sinful egos we mentioned earlier - even though God is working on us. So we each have our personal agendas – our own idea of what various parts of church would be like if only we had our way. We each have our convictions on secondary issues – like how much water you should use to baptise someone. And 101 others. We each have our frustrations with the way things are. And above all, we’re all just plain different.

And Paul’s recipe for keeping the peace is in v2:

²Be completely humble and gentle; be patient, bearing with one another in love. (v2)

So, ‘be humble’ – ie, not self-important. If your agenda is a selfish agenda, drop it. Learn to think ‘us’, not ‘me’: not, ‘How I’d like things to be’, but, ‘What would be best for everyone?’ Then, ‘be gentle’ (the original can mean ‘not over-reacting’). Especially when it comes to criticism. I find that the two times I’m likely to be at my least gentle are when giving criticism and after receiving criticism. And at a time when there’s a lot of long-term-planning going on in JPC this is a real word in season. Because inevitably planning for the future brings a healthy dissatisfaction with the present. But brothers and sisters, let’s watch what we do with our dissatisfaction. And then, ‘be patient, bearing with one another in love’. Have you ever begun a sentence about JPC – at least in your mind – with the words, ‘I can’t bear…’ (complete as appropriate, with name of song or instrument, name of home group member, whatever). Paul assumes that will be the case. People will sometimes be so different from us, if not actually sinful in their treatment of us, that we will sometimes think, ‘I can’t bear it.’ Maybe even think about leaving.

Well, in Ephesians 5.29-32, Paul says we’re to think of the church as a ‘marriage’ between us and the Lord Jesus:

²⁹After all, no one ever hated his own body, but he feeds and cares for it, just as Christ does the church– ³⁰for we are members of his body. ³¹“For this reason a man will leave his father and mother and be united to his wife, and the two will become one flesh.” ³²This is a profound mystery - but I am talking about Christ and the church. (5.29-32)

And one Christian writer said this: ‘Marriage is as if two people had locked themselves in a room called love and thrown away the key. It is the declaration that the only solution to problems lies not in leaving, but in loving more.’ And that’s the kind of attitude we need in our relationships in church. That’s not to say there aren’t good reasons for moving away or changing church – but that’s another story.

The main thing is that God wants us to keep the peace which he’s created. Because if, instead, we split up into cliques within our church, or more widely, if Christians split up into lots of different homogeneous churches, or divide needlessly over secondary issues, the world will look at us and say, ‘Well, they’re really no different from us: they can only unite people who are already like one another and pretty like-minded in the first place.’

So, vv1-3 are saying that getting stuck into church is going to be an effort for all of us. But I think it’s a particular effort for particular groups. Eg, those of us in CYFA, our youth group - because you’ve been used to quite a homogeneous (ie, unmixed) existence in CYFA, and in Pathfinders, and so on. (some of you have been together since crèche!). It’s all tailor-made and highly cool and you’re surrounded by unbelievably trendy leaders and then… they bring you over here and chuck you into the big pond and to be honest, it’s instantly more of an effort.

And the same is true for those of you who are students – because again, you live much of your life in a very homogeneous (ie, unmixed) kind of adult-free zone (‘older adult,’ I mean, before you all get offended). And we need to get better as a church for your sake. But you also need to work hard at settling and getting stuck in. I sometimes hear Christian students say, ‘Well, why bother with church when I’ve got CU?’ And I want to say that, Biblically, that’s the wrong question. Biblically, a Christian should be anchored in a local church – in the all-age-range body of Christ. And the question you should be asking is, ‘Why bother with CU when I’ve got church?’ Because the raison d’etre of a CU is not to duplicate church, but to focus on the opportunities for outreach to fellow-students that you can create on campus, which a local church can’t.

So that’s a Biblical reason for Christian students to get stuck into a local church – and once you’ve done so, to help the many who are adrift to do so as well. There’s also a pragmatic reason: namely, that if you don’t get used to making the effort to play your part in a local church now, then when you graduate and there’s no more CU, you’ll find it very hard to start then. And that’s why a number of students each year really come a cropper spiritually at that stage of their lives.

So, ‘Keep the peace,’ says Paul. And as if knows that won’t be easy, he then reminds us how much we have in common.

Imagine we could find the two Christians in this building who had least in common, and we stood them out the front and interviewed them about their differences. Maybe it would be a 17-year old CYFA member and a 70-year old member of Monday group. And they went head to head over the drums and 101 other things. I’ve no doubt they could find plenty to differ on. But if they’re both believers in the Lord Jesus Christ, they need to remember, v4:

⁴There is one body [the body of Christ, the church] and one Spirit [God’s Holy Spirit who brought you to faith] - just as you were called to one hope when you were called [hope is the certainty of heaven – we’re going to spend eternity together, so we might as well start trying to get on now.], ⁵one Lord, one faith [ie, the Christian faith, the primary truths about Jesus and the cross by which we’re saved. So this isn’t unity at the expense of truth, unity at all costs. It’s unity around primary truths, with liberty to agree to disagree under the same roof on secondary issues], one baptism [the outward sign of the washing away of sins that we’ve seen tonight]; ⁶one God and Father of all, who is over all and through all and in all. (vv4-6)

Paul is saying: what we have in common if we’re believers massively outweighs our differences. So let’s keep the peace. But then Paul says to us:

Second, BUILD UP THE BODY (vv7-16)

I guess vv1-6 could sound a bit static (‘God has created this peace; now keep it’). But God’s vision for us is not static. If we’re believers, his plan is that we will ultimately be part of that perfect, sin-free place at the end of time where everything is ‘together under one head, even Christ’. So his agenda for us now is change - growth towards being what we will be like in the end. And that’s what vv7-16 are about. We’ve just been reminded what we all have in common. V7 now tells us that we’re each different and have a different role to play in the growth of the church – or the building of the body as Paul calls it. V7:

⁷But to each one of us grace has been given as Christ apportioned it. ⁸This is why it says: "When he ascended on high, he led captives in his train and gave gifts to men." ⁹(What does "he ascended" mean except that he also descended to the lower, earthly regions ? ¹⁰He who descended is the very one who ascended higher than all the heavens, in order to fill the whole universe.) (vv7-10)

Now have a look at this second picture:

The crown above it stands for God and the box stands for human history where we live. So reading from the left:

• The Old Testament (OT) pointed forward to the coming of Jesus.
• Then (like vv9-10) say, he both descended from heaven by entering this world as a man and then ascended back to heaven after his resurrection from the dead.
• And his goal (end of v10), is to fill the whole universe – just like you fill a car tyre with air to shape it so that it does what you want it to do, so the Lord Jesus plans to fill the whole universe with his influence and his Lordship and shape it how he wants it to be. The question is: how does he do that now that he’s back in heaven? Read on, v11:

¹¹It was he who gave some to be apostles, some to be prophets, some to be evangelists, and some to be pastors and teachers… (v11)

So look again at that second picture. Next after Jesus’ life, death and resurrection come the apostles and prophets (I haven’t got time to explain this, but he means New Testament (NT) prophets who were somehow associated with the apostles – those unique eye-witnesses who gave us the New Testament (Ephesians 2.20 and 3.5 show this)). Thanks to those unique, first-generation gifts, we have a New Testament. And then if you go right of the dotted line in the picture, you get to the present day, where the way the Risen Lord Jesus exerts his influence – ‘fills’ and shapes his church - is through the whole Bible – OT and NT - being taught by evangelists (those with particular gifts for reaching out to those who aren’t yet believers) and pastors and teachers (those with particular gifts for leading and teaching the church). Now those are what you’d call ‘ministries of the Word’ – Bible-teaching ministries. But they’re not the only ministries there are. Those ministries are, v12:

¹²to prepare God's people for works of service [or ‘ministry’ – it’s the same word in the original], so that the body of Christ may be built up ¹³until 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. (vv12-13)

So Paul is saying: the Word ministry is needed to prepare, (ie, to equip, train, mobilise) every member of each local church to play their particular part, to do their particular ministry or ministries. And if, v12, you are ‘one of God’s people’ here at JPC, then you are one of the ministers here at JPC and you have work to do and a contribution to make that no-one else can make. And if you’re feeling like you’re not needed, that simply isn’t true. What that means is that between us we’ve failed so far to help you work out what ministry or ministries God wants you to do here. And I apologise for that. If that’s how you’re feeling, then do talk to one of us on the staff, or a small group leader of whatever group you’re in. Visit the Welcome Desk and scout around there. And if you go on our series of ‘CLASS’ seminars (Christian Life And Service Seminars), CLASS 3 is all about working out what you, as the person you are, with the gifts you’ve got, should be doing to serve the church – so that it grows in numbers as new people come to know Christ, and so that we all grow in how well we know the Lord and how well we reflect him in our relationships.

And the more of us that are working away and playing the part that only we can play, the closer we’ll get to the result of v14:

¹⁴Then 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 men in their deceitful scheming. ¹⁵Instead, speaking the truth in love, we will in all things grow up into him who is the Head, that is, Christ. ¹⁶From 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. (vv14-16)

And you could say that ‘speaking the truth in love’ is the motto for all our small groups – ie, the many mid-week groups in which maybe between 5 and 10 people meet together regularly to look at the Bible together. Because the truth of the Bible in the context of committed relationships is the great fertiliser that makes us grow spiritually: ie, truth and love.

Imagine we had only truth – eg, imagine we never met at all on Sundays or in small groups, but talks like this were streamed to you all at home on the internet or something. So we’d have the truth through this kind of ministry of the Word. But we’d lack an awful lot. No encouragement when you felt challenged or a failure. No accountability to help you put into practice what you’re hearing. No fellow-believers to put it into practice on! No positive role models to learn from. No fellow-sinners to learn patience on. And so on.

But equally, imagine we had only love – ie, no Word ministry: we took the Bible out of everything, but had endless shared meals and meetings and chat. You’d then lack a whole lot of different things. We’d talk less and less about the Lord and what he’s doing in our lives. We wouldn’t challenge one another on things the Bible challenges us on, for fear of it all being taken personally. And actually, I doubt we’d keep meeting long - because Christ is the one whom we ultimately have in common and who ultimately hold us together.

So, as well as urging you to find out how you can serve in church, can I also urge you to find and join a small group if you haven’t already done so? Because those are really the twin antidotes to feeling I don’t belong, to feeling I’m not needed, to feeling that no-one would miss me if I didn’t show up again: serving and small groups.


So that’s God’s vision for the church. We are his pilot scheme, his show-house, to show the world what Jesus is one day going to finish - and what they, too, can be a part of – namely, that place where everything is ‘together under one head, even Christ’.

So meanwhile, keep the peace. And build the body.

MORE?

If you want to read more on this, I suggest:

Ephesians: The Bible Speaks Today, John Stott, IVP [the best ‘first read’ on Ephesians around]
Nine Marks of a Healthy Church, Mark Dever, Crossway [Biblical criteria for choosing a church – or to work for in a church]
Guidance & The Voice of God, Jensen, Matthias Media/Good Book Co [has a ‘case study’ chapter on finding and choosing a church]

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