We hope that you enjoy this teaching from Christ Church.
This material is copyrighted and no unauthorized duplication,
redistribution, or any other use of any part is permitted without prior consent from Christ Church.
Please consider donating to this work in the San Francisco Bay Area online at ChristChurchEastBay.org.
The reading today is from Paul's letter to the Ephesians, chapter 4, verses 1 through 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.
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
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,
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,
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
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.