The Several Habits Of Highly Corrected People (Ephesians 4:25-32)

Ephesians 4:25-32 – ²⁵ Therefore, putting away lying, speak the truth, each one to his neighbor,^, because we are members of one another. ²⁶ Be angry and do not sin. Don’t let the sun go down on your anger, ²⁷ and don’t give the devil an opportunity. ²⁸ Let the thief no longer steal. Instead, he is to do honest work with his own hands, so that he has something to share with anyone in need. ²⁹ No foul language should come from your mouth, but only what is good for building up someone in need, so that it gives grace to those who hear. ³⁰ And don’t grieve God’s Holy Spirit. You were sealed by him for the day of redemption. ³¹ Let all bitterness, anger and wrath, shouting and slander be removed from you, along with all malice. ³² And be kind and compassionate to one another, forgiving one another, just as God also forgave you in Christ.

Clothes make the man. Mark Twain is often cited as the source of that famous phrase, but versions of it are found in the works of Shakespeare, Erasmus, and Homer.

We also find the sentiment in the second half of Ephesians, where Paul tells us to strip off the old man and instead put on Christ. Take off the old self, no longer walk as the Gentiles do, put on the new self and walk worthy of your calling. That’s what Paul commanded, but how does that work out in real-life terms? That’s what our text tonight provides. Paul starts to give us the practicalities of Christianity. By the end of the letter he will have covered many aspects of life.

Some of the things he talks about are very elementary. These early Christians were, in some cases, “learning the most basic ethical lessons.” We may think we’ve come a long way from needing to be told that we shouldn’t lie or steal but on the other hand, take a look around. We live in a culture that is coming apart at the seams. The foundations of ethics and morality are crumbling. Those who don’t know the Lord do need the basic lessons of Biblical ethics. And, those of us who have been instructed in these things can always benefit from a reminder of the fundamentals.

Because, left as we are, in our fallen human nature, we will deteriorate into lying, thieving, shouting monsters who cause pain to those around us. But, thanks to the grace of God, we are empowered to take off that old nature and put on Christ, and with Him a powerful newness that generates an overflow of grace in our relationships with other people and with the Lord Himself.

Ephesians 4:25 – ²⁵ Therefore, putting away lying, speak the truth, each one to his neighbor, because we are members of one another.

This is the third of four “therefores” between chapter 4, verse 1 and chapter 5, verse 1. Therefore, walk worthy. Therefore, no longer walk as gentiles. Therefore put away certain behaviors and instead put on other behaviors. Therefore, imitate God.

The therefores flow out of the mysteries and truths that were revealed in the first three chapters. All that God has done. All that God has provided. All that He has called us to. All that He has chosen and predestined us for. All that He has accomplished and is accomplishing in our lives. Therefore we can put on the equipment, operate in the power, and experience the transformation of salvation. This is how we exercise our faith. This is how we put the power of God into practice.

Paul begins with “put away lying.” Another way of reading it would be “strip off falsehood.” He’s still using clothing words.

Why do we lie? Why is it one of the first things we do as children? We lie because we either want something for ourselves or we don’t want someone to know the truth about us. We lie to manipulate or to excuse or to try to cover guilt. It’s a selfish action.

One of the big themes of Ephesians is that your life is not just about you. Your life is meant to be joined into the massive, ongoing work of God. Your life has been designed and handcrafted so that you can be connected to other people. You are now a neighbor. Notice what Paul said. “Speak the truth, each one to his neighbor.” Well, who is my neighbor? That was a question someone asked Jesus and He gave us one of the greatest parables ever.

If you’re a Christian, God wants you to see yourself as a neighbor to the people around you. And, when it comes to other Christians, you’re more than a neighbor, you are members of one another. Living stones, conjoined and (hopefully) harmonizing together as you walk with the Lord.

This proves to be a challenge in our individualistic culture. America has always loved individuality, but now, coming out of the pandemic, individualism has a new malignancy. Many people see others as enemies, others as infectors, others as the source of all the problems in the world. Paul will remind us that our struggle isn’t against flesh and blood, but against spiritual forces of evil.

The Christian life is about community. Yes, you have an individual faith and you are an individual part in God’s work, but we are always connected to others and we always have a responsibility to others – to build them up and unify together and grow as we each walk with the Lord.

So, we are to put off lying and live by the truth. We don’t just give the Lord lip service. Instead, we live with our lips in service of His truth. Because words matter. Our speech matters.

Ephesians 4:26-27 – ²⁶ Be angry and do not sin.^, Don’t let the sun go down on your anger, ²⁷ and don’t give the devil an opportunity.

These verses are often yanked out of the passage and, generally, the idea is “Anger is not a good thing, but we all get angry, so if you get angry don’t sin and make sure you deal with it by bedtime.”

But, does that make sense in the context? If I took out anger and put in a different sin, would we feel comfortable with that interpretation? In the context of the passage, what do we see? Paul – multiple times – presents a do/don’t formula: Don’t lie, speak the truth. Don’t steal, work honestly. Don’t rage, be compassionate. But here, “Well, you’re gonna be angry…I guess just don’t do it too much.” It doesn’t fit with how Paul has been talking. Strip off lying. Put away the old man. No longer walk as the Gentiles do. “Eh…you’re gonna be mad sometimes…just keep it to a dull roar.”

There are a couple of great papers that demonstrate that Paul is not saying “If you get angry,” or, “When you’re tempted to anger,” but that this is a command: BE angry!

A lot of commentaries will admit that Paul seems to be talking about “righteous anger,” but then they quickly say, “Yeah, but even righteous anger is going to lead to sin, so don’t do it.” Some point to verse 31 where we read “Let all…anger…be removed from you” and say, “There you go.” Well, which is it? Is it “remove anger right now,” or is it, “anger is a part of life, so give it the rest of the day, but if you stay angry while you sleep, the Devil is gonna get you good!”?

Paul is differentiating anger and sin in verse 26. It seems he’s giving us a command. The Ephesian church may have been struggling with lying, with theft, and with relational conflict. We know from Acts 20 that men from within their own group were going to rise up and become what Paul called “savage wolves,” seeking to distort the truth. And so, there’s a good case to understand verse 26 as Paul saying, “be angry about the fact of such sin in your midst and do something about it! Don’t wait, but act now! Because if you don’t Satan will establish a beachhead in your congregation.

Think about it this way: The Ephesians were just told to put on Christ, right? In chapter 5, verse 1, they’ll be told to be imitators of God. Does God get angry? Is it a sin when He gets angry? When did Jesus get angry? He was angry at the moneychangers who were defiling His Father’s house and putting barriers between God and man. He was angry at the Pharisees when they tried to stop Jesus from healing a man on the Sabbath. He was angry when the communion of God and man and believers together was obstructed or taken advantage of. God’s anger is against sin.

Now, anger is not God’s leading attribute. He is slow to anger. Isaiah 28 tells us it is His unexpected and unusual work. But righteous anger is a part of Who He is, and therefore, if we are putting on Christ, there should be an element of righteous anger against sins that divide. That’s what we need to act quickly on because, when we don’t, the Devil is able to get a foothold in the church.

Paul’s letters are full of exhortations to act quickly in response to some open sin among the church body. With that said, in these angry times, it is important that we differentiate man’s anger and God’s anger. Man’s anger is something we need to put off. Stephen Fowl writes, “Anger cannot and should not be the Christian’s constant disposition.” So, let’s not indulge ourselves in human anger and pretend like it’s all righteous indignation. God’s anger is not just about feeling mad.

There’s one more hint that this is what Paul meant when he said be angry. In Jesus’ letter to this church in Revelation 2 we read: “I know that you cannot tolerate evil people. You have tested those who call themselves apostles and are not, and you have found them to be liars.” So it seems they were faithful to do something about the lying wolves Paul warned them about. They were provoked to do what was necessary to protect the life and health of the Body, and that was a good thing.

Ephesians 4:28 – ²⁸ Let the thief no longer steal. Instead, he is to do honest work with his own hands, so that he has something to share with anyone in need.

It seems this was a current problem. He didn’t say, “Some of you used to be thieves, now you don’t steal anymore.” He said, “Stop stealing.”

Of course, stealing isn’t just pocketing something that doesn’t belong to you. It includes uneven scales. Leeching off others when you’re able to provide for yourself. Not being honest on your taxes. We should take this verse to heart as we watch our society become more and more rife with theft. We need these basic reminders of right and wrong.

Why do people steal? It’s like lying. It’s for self. I want something, so I take it. But the Christian life is oriented around others – loving neighbor as yourself. So not only should we not steal, we should swing all the way to the other end, where we work to store up a surplus so we can give to others.

Notice though: Paul encourages us to share with those in need, not in want. What’s the difference? Just because someone wants something, doesn’t mean they need it. But who decides? The Spirit does. When we decide, we tend to make arbitrary, restrictive lists. But, in the Bible, we see God signing off and all sorts of things. Sometimes a cup of water is what is “needed.” Sometimes it’s medical care. Sometimes it’s a warm welcome. Sometimes it’s clothing. Sometimes it’s borrowing a donkey for an afternoon. “The Lord has need of it.”

Sometimes it’s a box of presents for a child on the other side of the world. Or giving someone a ride when they’re walking home in 115° heat. The Spirit knows and will guide. Our part is to prepare to share. It takes a willing mentality and, in some cases, a stored up supply of resources.

Ephesians 4:29 – ²⁹ No foul language should come from your mouth, but only what is good for building up someone in need, so that it gives grace to those who hear.

Just like our earnings can help those in need, so too our words can help those in need. How? because our words can be a conduit of God’s grace and truth. Truth sets people free and grace builds them up. It gives them strength for living.

Since our words can be such a help for those in need, like a spring in a desert, of course we don’t want anything foul to come out of it. Foul literally means “rancid fish, rotten wood, withered flowers, or diseased lungs.” To speak ungraciously is like poison – like stealing from a neighbor.

Ephesians 4:30 – ³⁰ And don’t grieve God’s Holy Spirit. You were sealed by him for the day of redemption.

Paul breaks in with this reminder that life is not just about our conduct toward others, it’s also about our closeness with God. Specifically, Paul talks to us about our relationship with the Holy Spirit. He is our Helper, our Comforter, the One Who will guide us in all truth. If you’re a Christian, He permanently indwells your heart. He is here with us, right here, right now.

Did you know you can hurt him? Not in the sense that you could weaken Him in any way, but “root idea of the word ‘grieve’ is ‘to cause pain.’” It’s possible because He’s a real Person you are in relationship with. He cares about your life and your words and your activities.

God has so much love for you, so many intentions and thoughts toward you, He has done so much on your behalf. When we rebel against Him, when we yank away from His tender touch, when we stamp our feet and dive into the filth of sin, of course it brings Him sorrow. God is a Person. He is a God Who weeps. He is a God of emotion – perfect emotion, but still He feels. He cares.

You see, it’s not just that God has done a lot for us. It’s not that God has provided a bunch of awesome equipment and now we can choose to wear it or not. It’s also that God is with us now and He is whispering to our hearts even now. He has taken up residence with in us. He walks with us. He calls to us. He works in and through us. He attaches Himself to us. He is bringing us to this final day of redemption where all will be made right and we can either bring the Lord joy or grief. When we forget what God’s plan is, when we forget what He has made possible in our lives by the power of His grace, we will fall back into the old nature and bring Him grief.

Ephesians 4:31 – ³¹ Let all bitterness, anger and wrath, shouting and slander be removed from you, along with all malice.

These are all things we’re to take off. These are the old garments of the sin nature. The word “removed” can also mean “weigh anchor.” We’re to sail our lives away from these things because they are incompatible with Christianity.

But, again, these characteristics define our culture right now. Every cable news show. Every viral video. Every political email. These are the vices being sold to us as virtues.

All of these attitudes are rooted in unforgiveness. Which is why instead of being clothed in resentment and hatred, we should:

Ephesians 4:32 – ³² And be kind and compassionate to one another, forgiving one another, just as God also forgave you in Christ.

Who did Christ forgive? He forgave the thief dying beside Him who had spent some of his last breaths blaspheming the Savior of the world. He forgave Peter, His dear friend who denied Him three times. He forgave the rest of the disciples who abandoned their Lord when trouble came. He forgave the very people who pounded the nails into His hands and feet. “Father, forgive them, they know not what they do.” He forgave Saul of Tarsus, killer of Christians. He forgave you and me. He forgives anyone who will surrender to Him and receive His gift of grace. Anyone.

That’s how big His mercy is. That level of compassion, that breadth of forgiveness is ours to put on. That’s the robe Christ gives us – the clothes of the Kingdom. And we must put on this forgiveness, not only for the benefit of others and the furtherance of the Gospel, but because our forgiveness of others is tied to God’s forgiveness of us. We read about it in the Sermon on the Mount and in the parable of the unforgiving servant. Serious passages worth our study.

People remember Mark Twain saying that “clothes make the man.” Actually, that’s a paraphrase. Here’s the full quote: “[One] realizes that without his clothes a man would be nothing at all; that the clothes do not merely make the man, the clothes are the man; that without them he is a cipher, a vacancy, a nobody, a nothing…There is no power without clothes.”

The garments of Christ, the new self He has provided and invites us to put on, transform us into the people God has created us to be. There is no power without these clothes. Without them, our lives wither. With them we become part of something eternal, supernatural, magnificent. Put on Christ.

Who Are You Wearing? (Ephesians 4:17-24)

Ephesians 4:17-24 – ¹⁷ Therefore, I say this and testify in the Lord: You should no longer walk as the Gentiles do, in the futility of their thoughts. ¹⁸ They are darkened in their understanding, excluded from the life of God, because of the ignorance that is in them and because of the hardness of their hearts. ¹⁹ They became callous and gave themselves over to promiscuity for the practice of every kind of impurity with a desire for more and more.

²⁰ But that is not how you came to know Christ, ²¹ assuming you heard about him and were taught by him, as the truth is in Jesus, ²² to take off your former way of life, the old self that is corrupted by deceitful desires, ²³ to be renewed in the spirit of your minds, ²⁴ and to put on^, the new self, the one created according to God’s likeness in righteousness and purity of the truth.

Who are you wearing?

Back when people watched awards shows that’s the question celebrities would be asked as they walked the red carpet. Joan Rivers, the controversial comedienne, delighted in exposing who she thought was the worst dressed.

At the 1997 Golden Globes, Joan declared Helen Mirren to be the worst dressed. She looked into the camera and said, “Helen, get your act together. You’ve got to start dressing better.” A few weeks later, Helen watched the replay of the show. After hearing Joan’s pronouncement, she burst into tears.

Who are you wearing? That’s the question Paul puts to us tonight in Ephesians 4. And it’s not just a hypothetical, it demands an answer. Kyle Snodgrass writes, “The letter reaches a climax here. Paul’s readers cannot go further without making an ethical decision…The rest of the letter will only take care of details.”

By the end, we’re left with no excuse, only choice: To put on the new man God has made us to be or to go back to the ruined rags of sin. To wear one of two garments and walk one of two paths.

Ephesians 4:17 – ¹⁷ Therefore, I say this and testify in the Lord: You should no longer walk as the Gentiles do, in the futility of their thoughts.

After chapters of overflowing excitement – piles of blessings, prayers of thanksgiving, songs of praise, we sense a change in Paul’s tone. There’s a forcefulness and formality in his opening phrase. The word testify “is a solemn term, often used to put people on notice that they must carry out a particular behavior or serious consequences will follow.”

Paul’s words here are a command and a warning. A warning to who? To you! Who, me? Yes, you! You Christian. You faithful saint. You should no longer walk as the Gentiles do. Now, your text might read “as the rest of the Gentiles do,” but that’s not in the original.

It’s easy to remove ourselves and think, “Well, of course, the Romans were crazy. They were pagans who did all sorts of weird things.” And, it’s true – they did. But we cannot honestly say that our culture – our nation – is in submission to God or pursuing Him. We can’t say our culture isn’t sexually immoral, full of greed and selfishness and willful ignorance. In fact, you could read it this way: “You should no longer walk as the Americans do.” It stings a little more when we hear it that way, right? But that’s how the original audience would have heard it.

Paul has nothing kind to say about their former way of life. He says we need to leave it behind. He’s back to this analogy of walking that he started in verse 1. Don’t walk as the Gentiles do so that you can walk worthy with the Lord. Paul insists on it. It’s not a suggestion, it’s not negotiable.

The problem is, walking like a Gentile is natural. We’re incentivized from all sides to go the world’s way. But by the end of our text, we’ll see what a waste, what a ruin, what a dead end that way is.

It’s not just about sinful activities. The problem starts within, in the futility of their thoughts. Paul is talking abut mindset and mentality and attitudes and ways of thinking and identity. And he says the Gentile way, the American way, the ungodly way, is worthless and empty. It warps the mind and then behavior and customs and culture follows.

Ephesians 4:18 – ¹⁸ They are darkened in their understanding, excluded from the life of God, because of the ignorance that is in them and because of the hardness of their hearts.

Futile. Darkened. Excluded. Ignorant. Hard-hearted. Tell me how you really feel, Paul! But this isn’t just Paul’s opinion – he’s testifying on the Lord’s behalf, writing under the inspiration of God the Holy Spirit. This is God’s assessment of human culture. This is a revelation of what is true.

This is what sin has done to the human mind. We read all about it in Romans 1, where mankind refuses to acknowledge God, they refuse to accept His truth and go His way, instead they want to go this other way, and here is the result. They are given over to the ruin of sin.

If I’m in the dark and I see a light in the distance, I have a choice. I can head toward that light, and as I do, more and more will be illuminated around me. Or I can turn my back on the light and head further into the dark, more and more at danger, more and more aimless, more and more unable to make any meaningful progress. That’s what happens when we don’t go God’s way. And the longer a person embraces that spiritual ignorance, the more insensitive they become to the Lord.

So now, pause. Most of us are believers here tonight. We want to follow God. We trust His Word. We’re doing what Paul tells us we should do. We’re not walking the Gentile way. But, if we’re honest, sometimes we take a detour to get input from the world. We have questions or difficulties and we’re tempted to think, “What do the world’s experts suggest I do with my money or in my marriage or in my parenting or for my future?” But the Lord says they are darkened in their understanding. The blind leading the blind.

Ephesians 4:19 – ¹⁹ They became callous and gave themselves over to promiscuity for the practice of every kind of impurity with a desire for more and more.

Callous is a term that refers to petrification or the kind of skin that grows over a severe burn that is less sensitive than before. It means to abandon your sense of pain.

The idea is that the natural man goes to sin like a child to a hot oven and is burned. But then, he doesn’t heed the warnings. And so, once his skin heals, he grabs the oven again and again and again, causing more and more damage to himself but being less and less sensitive to it. In 1 Timothy 4, Paul says our consciences can become seared when we don’t walk with God.

Now, Paul is generally referencing inappropriate sexual behavior in this verse, but promiscuity expands to all sorts of unrestrained immoral attitudes and behaviors. One source defines it as, “The determination to gratify self-interest at all costs.” It’s not just about sex, it’s about greed and selfishness, and rebellion against God.

Sexual immorality, greed, and impurity shouldn’t even be heard of among Christians. From the Bible’s perspective, there is a huge gulf between the life of sin and the life of Christ. But the problem is that we dabble. We make little pitstops for impulse buys of sin.

We do so because we’re tempted and sin makes promises to us and feels enjoyable for a time. But what is the truth about sin? What is the truth about walking the way of the world?

First: Indulging sin will never, ever satisfy. The sin nature always demands more and and more. We convince ourselves that a little taste is all we need, but it’s a trap.

Second: When we indulge in sin, we are ignoring God’s warnings about it. This is what happened in the Garden of Eden, and this is exactly what Paul is talking about. God says this is a dark poison leading to ruin and failure and disaster. We say, “but it feels good…” When we give into temptation it is our hearts rebelling – saying to God, “I don’t believe You.”

We’ve got the lollies in the cafe. If I told you, “The lollies are free, but they are laced with a little bit of anthrax.” If you believed me, that would change your attitude toward it. So temptation becomes an issue of faith. Do we believe what God has said or do we disbelieve Him?

The third thing we learn from Paul’s words is that moderation isn’t the answer. Look at the state of the natural man. Petrified. Ruined. Blind. Dead. We need a new nature – the one God supplies.

Ephesians 4:20-21 – ²⁰ But that is not how you came to know Christ, ²¹ assuming you heard about him and were taught by him, as the truth is in Jesus,

Paul gives us encouragement here. The Gentile Christians he was talking to were promiscuous, greedy, impure, unbelievers before they were saved. But now they were new. Now they knew Christ. In a different letter he writes, “such were some of you, but you were washed, you were sanctified. You were removed from the path of death and invited across the gulf onto the path of life.” Paul says to the Ephesians, “Because you know Christ, you are no longer darkened, ignorant, and excluded – you’re illuminated, instructed, and included!” This is good news!

What does it mean to know Christ? It means we know the principles and the Person. When the Ephesians were first born again, they knew very little about the content of Christianity. They hadn’t learned all the doctrines and stories and prophecies. They would grow in that knowledge as they received teaching and studied God’s Word. Paul taught every day for 2 years the principles of faith.

But God also wants us to know the Person – to understand His heart, His way of thinking, His character and presence. If we think we know the principles but don’t know Person, then we don’t really know Christ. This was the problem of the Pharisees. They knew the Hebrew Bible. They had it memorized! But they didn’t know the heart of God. They didn’t know the Person.

How does an individual come to know Christ? They first hear of Him and then are taught by Him. How can they hear? Paul sets it before us in a series of questions in Romans 10:

Romans 10:14-15a – ¹⁴ How, then, can they call on him they have not believed in? And how can they believe without hearing about him? And how can they hear without a preacher? ¹⁵ And how can they preach unless they are sent?

We Christians do not only have the responsibility of living the Christian life, but also of inviting others into a life with Christ by the preaching of the Gospel. God has sent you to someone so that you can preach Christ to them by your words and actions and personal testimony.

As friends of Christ, we’re all invited to learn more and more about the Lord as we walk with Him. Learning more about the principles and plans revealed in the Scripture, and more about His Person as we live in His presence.

You who are married – you know a lot more about your spouse now than you did on your first date. If you’ve ever been in a band, you know that when you first start playing with other musicians, it can be a rickety experience. But as the songs play and the years roll by, you’re not only comfortable, you’re able to anticipate what your bandmates are going to do at a given moment.

God wants us to know and learn Christ in those sorts of relational ways. That, as we live out our Christianity, we are the kind of people who walk with God in a living way, where we know the stories and take steps of faith. Where we trust in His leading and also are so filled with the mind of Christ and an understanding of His character that we can anticipate how He would respond to a given situation or opportunity.

Paul describes this ongoing life of walking with God using clothing as an analogy in verse 22.

Ephesians 4:22 – ²² to take off your former way of life, the old self that is corrupted by deceitful desires,

Again, Paul is talking to you and me. We are called to move toward the light, to step toward God. It starts by acknowledging that we’re not just “a little influenced now and then” by the world, but that we have a corrupt, poisoned, deceitful sin nature called the old self and we are to strip it off and leave it behind.

Christianity means a total redefinition and reidentification in Christ. That old, sin nature is unsalvageable. It’s like the wreckage of the HMS Titanic at the bottom of the sea. We’re not to nurture it or cultivate it or be nostalgic for it. Paul says it’s something we want to be saved from. “Wretched man that I am, who will save me from this body of death?”

How do we take it off? It’s not just behavior modification, though as we walk with God our behaviors change. Our desires change. Our mentality changes. God gives us the power to take of the old self and instead walk worthy of our calling. That’s what Romans 7 and 8 are about. Paul says,

Romans 8:13 – ¹³ if you live according to the flesh, you are going to die. But if by the Spirit you put to death the deeds of the body, you will live.

The old self was crucified with Christ. We have the power to leave the Gentile way and walk with Him. It’s not a matter of if we can, but of if we will.

Ephesians 4:23-24 – ²³ to be renewed in the spirit of your minds, ²⁴ and to put on the new self, the one created according to God’s likeness in righteousness and purity of the truth.

Spiritual renewal, spiritual strength, a life full of the blessings of God and the power of God, a life making progress, begins in the heart and mind. And it begins with a choice to walk with God, to go His way, meaning we have to know His way – to familiarize ourselves with Who He is and what He has said and what His plans are. If the truth sets us free and empowers us and renews us, then we need to know what the truth is. And it’s given to us in the Word of God.

Note this: God doesn’t just want us to believe in Him. Even the demons believe and shudder! The question we each need to ask ourselves is: Do I walk with God? Am I putting on the new self?

In 2 Corinthians we’re told this is a process we go through day-by-day. Where we determine in our hearts to be what God has made us to be. You see, we don’t have to make it happen. God has already done it. He’s already supplied the garment. One commentator writes, “Our task is not to weave it but to wear it.”

In You’re A Good Man, Charlie Brown, we get a glimpse into Charlie’s closet. Inside we see his a multiples of his famous shirt, but in all sorts of colors. Red, blue, green, grey. After considering for a moment, he (naturally) goes with the yellow. The same old shirt he’s always worn. The Lord says we have a choice, day-by-day. Will we exhume the dead corpse of our old nature and wear it’s rotting skin, or will we put on the new self – the one created in the likeness of Christ Jesus? The one where we think like Him and talk like Him and love like Him and endure like Him and react like Him. The new self that is uncontaminated even though we live in a contaminated world.

We have a tendency to think that it’s too hard to do what Paul is saying. But it isn’t. God supplies the power. God supplies the direction. He illuminates and invigorates. He made the new nature and gives it to us. It’s not too hard, it’s a question of if we want to do it.

If we feel spiritually weak, could it be because we have weakened ourselves with continual coziness with the way of the Gentiles? This was the case for some of our brothers and sisters in the First Century. Living the Christian life isn’t too hard. Think about all we’ve learned to this point in Ephesians. The grace and the power and the predestination and the sanctification and the unstoppable work of God! It’s not too hard for us to walk worthy.

Paul told his dear friend Timothy, “Train yourself in godliness.” He told the Romans, “Put on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make no provision for the flesh to gratify its desires.”

If you hear these commands from the Lord and think, “It’s too hard,” then either the lying sin nature has convinced you of what is not true or you don’t fully understand what God has done for you. This is who God has made you to be. You are dead to sin if you’re alive in Christ. That doesn’t mean we will be perfect, but it isn’t too hard to walk with the Lord. You and I should no longer walk as the Gentiles do, as the Americans do, as the self-obsessed world does. Instead, we should wear Christ. Wrap ourselves in His truth and righteousness and be renewed, strengthened, illuminated, empowered day-by-day, becoming more and more like Him.

Growing Up Godly (Ephesians 4:14-16)

Ephesians 4:14-16 – ¹⁴ Then we will no longer be little children, tossed by the waves and blown around by every wind of teaching, by human cunning with cleverness in the techniques of deceit. ¹⁵ But speaking the truth in love, let us grow in every way into him who is the head—Christ. ¹⁶ From him the whole body, fitted and knit together by every supporting ligament, promotes the growth of the body for building itself up in love by the proper working of each individual part.

Grow up! Usually, those words, come in angry or cynical tones. J.M. Barrie called growing up a “barbarous business, full of inconvenience and pimples.” If you’re at least my age you remember the happy song: “I don’t wanna grow up, ‘cuz maybe if I did, I couldn’t be a Toys-R-Us kid.”

In some ways, it seems the modern Church has decided to not grow up. The pervading style and substance of the wider Church culture is elementary, even frivolous at times – desperately youthful.

But God’s plan for us doesn’t stop at spiritual childhood. Paul says that we must grow into spiritual adulthood – we must advance to maturity, leaving childishness behind. It is essential for your spiritual safety and success. But also, the Lord tells us through His servant Paul that your maturity is vital not only for you, but for the person sitting next to you.

A church is healthy when individual members are growing together in love, truth, and application of their gifts. As they do, their lives become infused and intertwined in such a way that they strengthen and support one another and become together what a Christian cannot be alone.

Ephesians 4:14 – ¹⁴ Then we will no longer be little children, tossed by the waves and blown around by every wind of teaching, by human cunning with cleverness in the techniques of deceit.

Just above this verse, Paul explained how, in the Church, God provides what we need to grow in our faith and knowledge of Jesus Christ and be equipped for the work of ministry.

As we apprehend what the Lord wants to do and present ourselves in cooperation, we mature. That’s how it works for every Christian. Paul includes himself here. “Then we will no longer be little children.” He didn’t class himself differently than the rest of us.

Now, you might raise your hand and say, “Aren’t we supposed to be like children? Didn’t Jesus say, ‘whoever does not receive the kingdom of God like a little child will never enter it.’?” He did.

Ray Stedman reminds us that there is a difference between being childish and childlike. John Stott clarifies the difference. We need to be like children in humility and innocence but not in ignorance and instability.

It’s childish ignorance and instability that Paul has in mind. It’s dangerous for us to stay spiritually childish – to be spiritually ignorant and unstable and gullible – because of the wind and the waves and the adversaries we face.

Paul begins with a picture of a ship at sea. The voyage is hard and long. In life, we sail into the unknown, trusting the heading and equipment our Father supplies. But there are troubles that slam against us on the way. If we’re not prepared for them, if we’re not spiritually strong and resilient, we’ll be blown off course. The term Paul uses for blown around means to be spun like a top.

At our extended family gatherings, we have a little one year old niece. She recently started walking. So now, she likes to traverse the living room. But it’s not terribly safe for her. We’ve got to cover up the corners of furniture with our hands. The smallest things will send her tumbling down. A sock on the rug or, sometimes, even someone just walking by her. When it’s time bring out the birthday cake with flickering candles, we don’t hand it to our niece to carry. It would be a disaster.

There are regular waves in life and rogue waves that come out of nowhere. We can’t avoid them, so we need to be ready for them. In Disney’s Moana, you may recall that Moana first tried to head out beyond the reef in her little boat. It wasn’t strong enough and she was immediately capsized. She needed a stronger ship that could handle the voyage.

God’s desire is that we grow in strength and capacity and equipment. That we be men and women who are sea-worthy and ready for the crossing, ready to be laden with spiritual freight.

After the waves, Paul warns us of winds of teaching. Throughout Church history there has been wind after wind of false teaching. The early Church had to grapple with the blowing of Gnosticism and the teachings of the Nicolaitans. There were those who demanded all Christians follow the Mosaic law. There have been many other false teachings that sweep in and blow saints off course.

It’s not just out-and-out false teachings that can cause a problem. Sometimes there are “gusts of doctrine” that hit the Church. Sometimes you can identify those by what books are super popular among Christians. In some cases, Believers can be blown around by a hyper-focus on some specific doctrine and become unbalanced in their walk with the Lord.

At those family gatherings I mentioned, we also have a four year old nephew named Charlie. I love talking to Charlie because he will believe anything I say. He’s gets excited about the birthday cake coming out and I tell him it’s a broccoli cake. I see the concern wash over his face. Right now I’m trying to convince Charlie that his elementary school needs to develop a call for their mascot. They’re the Owls, so I keep talking to him about how he needs to tell his teacher that they should have the students call out, “Mighty Owls! HOO HOO!”

On the spiritual level, these things can be very serious. One commentator notes, “There are ideas and modes of life [that lead] to shipwreck.” Paul certainly thought so. And there are adversaries actively trying to take advantage of people. Cunning, cheating, deceivers. Paul had warned the Ephesian elders to be on guard against these types in Acts 20, and it seems they took it to heart.

Decades later, when Jesus wrote another letter to this church, He said, “You guys have done a great job testing those who claim to be apostles and are not.”

False doctrine stunts growth. And we cannot afford to be stunted. Waves and wars are coming. Later in Ephesians Paul is going to talk to us about putting on armor and joining the fight against evil forces in the heavens. Toddlers can’t wear armor or swing a sword. Remember that bleak moment in The Two Towers where they have to outfit the young boys for the fight against the terrible armies of darkness? Paul says, “We need to leave spiritual childhood behind.” We need to grow up.

Of course, you can’t make yourself grow. God is the One Who will accomplish this work, but we submit to it. We present ourselves for it. We participate in it. How? Here’s some shoe leather for us:

Ephesians 4:15 – ¹⁵ But speaking the truth in love, let us grow in every way into him who is the head—Christ.

Paul says, “Let us grow.” It’s about being more than doing. There are things to do, but the message of Ephesians is primarily about what God has done, is doing, and is still going to do in our lives, not what we have to do to be “good Christians.” To the Philippians, Paul would write, “Let the mind of Christ be in you.” Let it happen. Don’t resist the work of the Spirit. Don’t distract yourself from God’s leading and prompting. Don’t drift toward temptations or traps along the way.

John Mackay writes, “The secret of Christian thought and life consists in the constant maintenance of closeness to Jesus Christ.” If we are close to Jesus, then He is able to do all these things He wants to do. He grows us. He equips us. He directs and sends us. He roots us. He assigns us. It all happens as we walk with Him. As we align our attitudes and actions and articulations with Christ, He grows us. Not the Christ of our own imagination, but the Christ revealed in the Living Word of God. Jesus said He came in the volume of the Book.

Paul does give a practical directive for us to cooperate with the Lord. He says, “speaking the truth in love.” Scholars tell us the words literally say, “Truthing in love, let us grow…” It involves verbal testimony, but it also means that we cherish the truth, dealing truly, and incarnating truth. Think of how Jesus is God Incarnate. Here we’re called to a life of truth incarnate. God’s truth.

If the term didn’t have so much baggage, we could say we are “truthers.” We live it out. We speak it. We cherish it. But, notice here: God’s truth is never to be used as a cudgel to attack people. Think of every political YouTube video whose title is “Liberal college student DESTROYED.” Or, “watch this person get WRECKED for their beliefs.” That approach isn’t helpful and it isn’t Godly. It feels good to our sinful hearts – that’s why our culture is saturated with hatred and disputes and altercations. Everyone wants to destroy everyone else. But, as one author notes, that kind of adversarial truth flatters our own pride. It’s a truth gone mad. It does not unite, it divides. It does not build up, it tears down. It does not include, it excludes. Our culture loves that approach to truth.

Christians are called to truth in agape. As far as God is concerned, you cannot separate one from the other. Gospel truth is always motivated by and accomplished in love- a love that always seeks the benefit of others.

A growing Christian, a believer who is walking with the Lord and having the Lord develop all the strength and joy and spiritual power that Paul has been talking about, that Christian will be someone who loves the truth and cherishes it. They will defend the truth and verbalize it to others. But their truthing will always be done in love.

We live in a time where the truth is constantly under attack. Even basic truths of reality are being besieged. How should we respond? How can we really truth in love when the attacks are so vile and so vicious? We must remember that our goal is not to destroy but to deliver. God delivered you from the lies of sin and Satan. He wants to deliver others through you, as you incarnate the truth of the Gospel, as you live it out in word and deed and attitude. That leads to deliverance.

As we grow, we develop into the image of Jesus Christ. Jesus does not need to change, we do. He is the perfect Son of God. He is the Head. It is the head where the person is found. The authority, the character, the distinctiveness is sourced from the head. And so, it is we who conform to Him.

Ephesians 4:16 – ¹⁶ From him the whole body, fitted and knit together by every supporting ligament, promotes the growth of the body for building itself up in love by the proper working of each individual part.

If you’ve ever watched a cooking competition show, at some point you’ve heard one of the chefs say, “It was made with love.” Unfortunately while they were mixing in ‘love’ they forgot salt. But, as God makes us, He makes us with love.

We truth in love. We’re built up in love. We are rooted and established in love. If love is lacking in our relationships with other believers or in our perspective on the unsaved, something has become disconnected in our walk with the Lord. We can’t properly work if not energized by God’s love.

Paul again highlights the importance of each other in the Church. This plan God is accomplishing has an individual aspect, but it simultaneously has an interconnected, communal aspect. God wants you to grow, but He also wants to use you to help others around you grow.

As we each develop and mature, it helps the rest of the Body of Christ function. Our maturity helps the Body be supported and gain strength and compensate for weaker members and endure difficulties. The goal of Christian maturity is building up, not tearing down. It’s so much easier to tear down, but God wants to build us up together.

Have you heard someone talk about deconstruction? Most often it refers to evangelical Christians getting rid of the truths they used to believe, getting rid of the church, and then redefining their faith, often in an individualistic sense and, usually, changing the ‘truths’ they believe to be more in step with the world’s culture. Deconstruction is not God’s goal. Self-centered, isolated Christianity is not God’s goal for you. His goal for me you and the person sitting next to you is unified growth, where individually and corporately we become more and more like the GodMan, Jesus Christ.

It’s an ongoing process. In another letter, Paul said that he hadn’t crossed the finish line yet. But knowing that this is the plan helps us stay mindful and careful. Your spiritual maturity isn’t just about you. It’s about the whole Body. Romans 12 tells us, “we are individually members of one another.”

But the good news is that the pressure isn’t on us. The pressure is on the Lord. It’s His work. It’s His project. “From Him,” Paul says, the Body is supplied with what it needs to grow. The term Paul uses refers to someone who pays the cost for a chorus at a public festival or to making provisions for an army or an expedition.

We are Christ’s Body left on earth as a chorus of praise, as an army of light, sent on an expedition to the corners of the earth proclaiming the truth, making disciples and becoming stronger as we go.

I have a part in this unfolding work. So do you. Together we are a new humanity, the “third race.” It’s time to grow up. God wants each of us and all of us to develop in our understanding, our knowledge of spiritual things, our stability in Christ, our power to endure the winds and the waves. He will do it if we’ll let Him. And we’ll all be the better as each is made better by His work.

He Thinks You’re God’s Gift To Mankind (Ephesians 4:7-13)

Ephesians 4:7-13 – ⁷ Now grace was given to each one of us according to the measure of Christ’s gift. ⁸ For it says:  When he ascended on high, he took the captives captive; he gave gifts to people. ⁹ But what does “he ascended” mean except that he also descended to the lower parts of the earth?^{, 10} The one who descended is also the one who ascended far above all the heavens, to fill all things. ¹¹ And he himself gave some to be apostles, some prophets, some evangelists, some pastors and teachers, ¹² to equip the saints for the work of ministry, to build up the body of Christ, ¹³ until we all reach unity in the faith and in the knowledge of God’s Son, growing into maturity with a stature measured by Christ’s fullness.

Do you know someone who acts like they’re God’s gift to mankind? Usually they have an inflated ego and overestimate their contribution to the world around them.

Paul has been describing the wealth of our salvation and our membership in the Body of Christ. We find ourselves in a curious position because, on the one hand, he just finished saying we should be humble – not thinking more highly of ourselves than we ought. But tonight he explains that you are God’s gift to the Church and to mankind by extension.

This knowledge shouldn’t result in human arrogance, but in heavenly activity. Paul alluded to this back in chapter 3 where he said, “God has given me as a gift on your behalf. My imprisonment, the mysteries revealed to me, my preaching in Ephesus, is all part of God’s gracious gifting.”

If you are a member of the Body, you are a special part in God’s plan – a specially tailored gift prepared for the benefit of the Church.

Ephesians 4:7 – ⁷ Now grace was given to each one of us according to the measure of Christ’s gift.

We’ve been learning about how we are part of a great, unified work God accomplishes through history. But, that doesn’t mean you’re simply a cog in His cosmic machine or some a worker ant carrying your load. The queen ant doesn’t care when a few of her workers get stepped on. They’re immediately replaced and forgotten.

But that’s not God’s mindset toward you. Verse 7 brings out the distinct specificity of God’s plan.

The New Living Translation brings us verse 7 this way: “He has given each one of us a special gift through the generosity of Christ.” There is no Christian who God does not give a special, personalized gift. Not buffet style. Not out of the leftover bin. Handcrafted and designed for you.

Why does God gift us? He gifts us for the common good – so we can bless others and build the Church. That’s the message of Ephesians 4 and Romans 12 and 1 Peter 4. There Peter says:

1 Peter 4:10a – ¹⁰ Just as each one has received a gift, use it to serve others

In those passages we find that there are all sorts of different gifts. Different activities that enhance our lives but are primarily for others. They are given out of God’s grace.

We think of the wonderful generosity of God’s saving grace. Paul talked a lot about it in the opening chapters of this book. But not only is there saving grace, there is also serving grace. Just as powerful, just as loving, just as precious as God’s grace that washes away our sin.

When God gives a gift, it is not according to your ability. What did Karl Marx teach? “From each according to his ability, to each according to his needs.” If you don’t have ability, you’ve got problems. That’s not how God operates. He gives based off the measure of Christ’s gift. He gives from His stores of grace. In chapter 3, we were told that God’s riches are incalculable. In chapter 1 we were told that the Lord lavishly pours out His gifts on us.

As you walk with God you are overflowed with His matchless grace to do all He has for you to do.

Ephesians 4:8 – ⁸ For it says: When he ascended on high, he took the captives captive; he gave gifts to people.

Scholars spend a lot of pages arguing about verses 8 through 13. There’s disagreement over just about every phrase. Sometimes they can’t even agree on how many disagreements there are! Who are the captives? What is meant by ascended and descended? Are pastors and teachers one group or two groups or a group within another group?

The main controversy is in verse 8 and it’s worth mentioning because it looks like Paul purposefully misquotes the Scripture he’s referencing. In your Bible, you undoubtedly have a little note telling you that Paul is quoting Psalm 68:18. The problem is, it looks like Paul made 5 minor and 2 major changes to the verse. For example, it looks like he changed “received” gifts to “gave” gifts.

Messing with Scripture is a big no-no. You don’t add or take away from the Word of God. Paul warned the Ephesians about false teachers coming in and “distorting” the truth. Peter also warned about people twisting the Scriptures. So what’s going on here?

Some say he was quoting an early hymn. Some say he was quoting a traditional paraphrase influenced by rabbinic tradition. Some suggest Paul just remembered the verse wrong!

The most reasonable explanation is that Paul is not specifically quoting Psalm 68:18, but is summarizing the whole Psalm. At its end, we’re told that God give gifts in addition to receiving them. So Paul is absolutely in line with what the Holy Spirit inspired David to write.

The important idea in the Psalm and in Paul’s usage of it is that Christ is absolutely victorious over all enemies and He has total power and authority to rule this universe according to His will.

In verse 8, we see Christ victorious in a triumphal parade. In the Roman empire, after a great military victory, they would host a celebration parade called a triumph. The commander would lead wearing a crown and a purple garment in a four-horse chariot. Behind him came his army, his captives, and the spoils of war.

Are the captives Satan and his minions, forever defeated? Or is it us, those who were once enslaved to sin, doomed to die, now liberated by the King of kings? Both are realities of Christ’s triumph. We are His plunder – bought with His blood – wrenched from the grip of sin and ushered into the Kingdom of Righteousness. We who were once enemies now citizens and sons.

There’s a sweet thing here. Where we read “He took captives captive,” the words can be translated, “[He] captured a catch.” You are a catch in God’s eyes! A pearl of great price. Worth all He has to make His own.

He catches you with His love, gives you gifts, and then gifts you as a gift to others.

Ephesians 4:9-10 – ⁹ But what does “he ascended” mean except that he also descended to the lower parts of the earth?^{, 10} The one who descended is also the one who ascended far above all the heavens, to fill all things.

Paul is speaking about Christ here. In chapter 1 Christ is identified as the One who fills all things.

Where did Jesus “descend” to? Not to hell. If you’re familiar with the Apostle’s Creed, you know that it says, “[Christ] was crucified, died, and was buried; he descended to hell.” That gives the wrong impression that Christ suffered in the Lake of Fire. That’s not what hell means in the Creed.

In the Bible there are different terms for what might be generally called the underworld or the abode of the dead. There is Gehenna, which is the Lake of Fire. There is also Hades, which is a place where dead but not-yet-resurrected people go or used to go. It was divided into two parts, one for the righteous, one for the wicked. The wicked side is still inhabited. The righteous side is empty.

After His crucifixion, Jesus went to the good side of Hades, called Paradise. Remember what He said to the thief beside him: “Today you will be with Me in paradise.”

Why did Jesus descend from heaven? Why did He ascend back to heaven? Wouldn’t in be better for Him to just live in power with us here and now? Well, one day He will. But first He has ascended above all the heavens. He has done these things to save us. To bridge the gap.

There is such a wide separation between holy God and sinful man. We have no hope, no future, unless God Himself closes that gap. And so, out of love, He came down, made a way, provides a path for us and now prepares a place for us in eternity.

Sometimes it’s hard for us to get up off the couch for the ones we love, isn’t it? But, oh the things God has done for you and me. He descended from heaven itself, came to a devastated earth, descended into the grave, defeated death, all so that we could be saved from our guilt.

He did the impossible and now continues His work to fill all things. He doesn’t hang out a sign that says “Gone fishin’!” He says, “Still filling!”

Are you filled? Are you reconciled with this Savior? Are you on a the path that leads to life?

Paul reveals not only the selfless love of God, but also His singular power. You see, in the Roman mind, there was a tenuous balance of power between the gods who didn’t really like each other and didn’t necessarily like human beings. Sometimes the gods would invade and do things. For example, in Roman mythology, the god Hades once invaded the overworld in order to kidnap Persephone, the daughter of Zeus. This led to famine for mankind.

Paul cuts through all of that and says, “This is the deal: There is an underworld, but it’s not what your mythology teaches. There’s One God. He rules everything. He descended, He ascended, and nothing can stop Him. There’s no instability in His power. In fact, Jesus’ resurrection and ascension proves once and for all that He is exactly Who He said He was and He is now at the right hand of the Father, ruling and reigning forever and ever.”

Ephesians 4:11 – ¹¹ And he himself gave some to be apostles, some prophets, some evangelists, some pastors and teachers,

We sometimes refer to these as offices in the Church, but let’s remember how Paul has been describing things. He wants us to think about the Church as a body. Every Christian is a member of this Body, which has all sorts of purposes and functions. Paul uses this list as an example of some of the gifts God gives to His people. It’s not a comprehensive list. Where are the deacons? Where are the elders? Where are the miracles? Where is the hospitality?

It’s not meant to be a rigid list. Instead, we can think of the organs of a body. Each one has a special function, but it must be integrated into the whole. We may have great affection for the heart, but the heart is of no use if you have no lungs. Each is needful and special and works with its own ability but as part of the harmonious whole.

We should note that everyone on Paul’s list is involved in proclaiming the Word of God. So we must always come back to that. The world needs a lot of help. Our fellow Christians need a lot of help. But we always have to come back to the primacy of the preaching of the Word of God. That is the greatest activity we can be involved in.

Paul’s list isn’t comprehensive, and it also isn’t mutually exclusive. Paul could be given every one of the titles he listed. And it’s not something you pick, like a major in college. It is Christ Who gives these gifts to the Church. It’s His decision. It’s His design. You do not pick your calling, you hear your calling and answer it and walk worthy of it.

God gifts people and fashions a life for them as a gift to the Church because He knows what is needed in a certain time and place. This is the way he has decided to advance His work. Through people like you and me who He fills up with grace and then tailors to certain good works in a certain time and a certain place among certain people. People who are called and sent and live in the power of His salvation, which operates in love and grace and truth.

Here’s why God gifts people to the Church:

Ephesians 4:12 – ¹² to equip the saints for the work of ministry, to build up the body of Christ,

You come to church for a variety of reasons. You come to offer worship to God. You come to be encouraged by the company of your spiritual family. But God says a major reason why you and I come to church is so that we can be equipped to do the work of ministry.

Equipped is a rich term. It can mean mended or restored. Outside the New Testament, it was used in medical writings for the straightening or setting of a joint or broken bone. It describes a the preparation of the weaving of a garment. It also can be translated as “perfected.”

It is absolutely mind-blowing that God uses you and me in His work of perfecting His people. We are agents of His sanctification in the lives of others. This is another reason why actually being connected to a local church fellowship is so essential. You can’t do this part of Christianity alone!

We need to be equipped for the work of ministry. The term he uses for ministry is diakonia. THERE are the deacons! All of us! All called to be like Stephen and Phoebe and the others listed in the New Testament. People who had a good reputation and were full of the Holy Spirit and wisdom, who proclaimed the Word of God boldly, and were given special duties of serving those in need in their community.

All of us are meant to be growing in that ministry, that walk of faith. Paul says God gifts each of us to the Church so that it can grow and strengthen and develop in these grace-filled ways.

Ministry is not about magnifying an individual. It’s about Church growth. What kind of Church growth?

Ephesians 4:13 – ³ until we all reach unity in the faith and in the knowledge of God’s Son, growing into maturity with a stature measured by Christ’s fullness.

This is the goal. Not a bigger building. Not a beefier bank account. Church growth is about the health of the Body (capital B), not the number of bodies in seats. Now, there’s nothing wrong with God adding to the Church as He sees fit. But our ministry goal is given to us right here: Unity in faith and knowledge of Jesus Christ and growing into maturity.

We’re to measure our health using Christ as the standard, not worldly standards of growth. The goal is that we would be growing into Him, and that we would be doing it with others. This takes us back to what Paul said about unity in the previous verses. If I’m not being built up in my faith and knowledge of God’s Son, if I’m not maturing, on some level the whole body suffers.

So I’m part of the whole, but I’m an individual, specific part. A special part. I have this individual duty, a personal walk to walk, and as I do that I not only get filled up with grace and strength, but I then become a beneficial organ in the Body of Christ. I become part of the mission to reach unity. That’s a term the book of Acts uses to describe travelers arriving at their destination. I become part of the equipping process that God accomplishes through His people, one to another. It cannot be done in isolation. It cannot be done if I detach myself from the assembly of Believers. It is done in the Body, for the Body, by the Body as the grace and power of God unites and infuses us.

God has gifted you. He’s carved out a path for your life. But, we’ve seen here, God has tailored you as a gift to His Church. He’s gone to considerable trouble to install power and purpose in your life. To not only deliver you from sin, but to deliver you as a blessing to His Body.

While we recognize that it’s all the Lord’s doing and cultivate humility, it is important to understand that you are God’s gift to the Church. Just like Paul was important to the Ephesians, like Stephen was important to the Hellenistic widows of Jerusalem, like Phoebe was important to the church in Cenchreae, you are important to the life of the Church where God wants you to attach yourself.

Muscle Harmony (Ephesians 4:2-6)

Ephesians 4:1-6 – Therefore I, the prisoner in the Lord, urge you to walk worthy of the calling you have received, ² with all humility and gentleness, with patience, bearing with one another in love, ³ making every effort to keep the unity of the Spirit through the bond of peace. ⁴ There is one body and one Spirit—just as you were called to one hope^, at your calling—⁵ one Lord, one faith, one baptism, ⁶ one God and Father of all, who is above all and through all and in all.

Every time you take a step, 200 muscles flex and stretch and operate together in harmonious unity. It’s good that it’s so natural, because we each take thousands of step every day.

In Ephesians 4, Paul talks to us about how to walk worthy. In our last study we looked at verse 1. Walking worthy is our operating principle in the Christian life. That’s our goal, that’s our heading.

Tonight, Paul describes the muscles that facilitate our walk. He reminds us that the exercise of our faith happens in tandem with other Christians whose lives are knit close with ours. So, the smooth operation of all of those parts is very important. Any of you who have a trick knee know why.

In verses 2 through 6, we get the impression that the trail of faith will not always be easy. We have to balance and bear weight and compensate for those we’re walking alongside. We are one body, part of one plan in the Lord’s work, so unity is not just a pleasant ideal, it’s an absolute essential.

So, let’s look at some of the muscles of Christianity, starting in verse 2.

Ephesians 4:2 – ² with all humility and gentleness, with patience, bearing with one another in love,

In athletics, form matters. Whether it’s swinging a bat, shooting a free-throw, or diving from the block, a good coach will talk you through the mechanics of the motion. Paul talks about mechanics in these verses. If you want to walk worthy, it’s going to look like this.

His emphasis in these verses is the unity of the Body. And, he says the best way to maintain unity is for each of us to bear with one another. The phrase means, “put up with each other,” or, “make allowance for each other’s faults.”

The Church is a magnificent creation: God, brings together people from all backgrounds, all social status, all ethnicities, into one, harmonious family of grace and power and purpose. But, the Church at large and churches individually are comprised of imperfect people. That means there will be interpersonal friction, conflicts, clashes, irritations, annoyances. You are going to annoy someone and they are going to annoy you. It’s part of the human condition.

Walking worthy means we find a way to put up with one another. How? Paul gives us a few medications. First, he says we do it “with all humility.” Humility doesn’t mean disliking yourself. It doesn’t mean constantly trashing yourself. That is often a synthetic humility.

Paul defined humility in Romans 12:3, where he said, “don’t think of yourself more highly than you should.” Humility is having an appropriate mindset of who we are and our place in God’s plan.

Humility is not a natural way of thinking. In fact, it was considered a vice to be avoided in Greek and Roman culture – something only for slaves. But aren’t we slaves to the Lord? Aren’t we called to follow in the steps of Jesus Christ, Who emptied Himself and took the form of a servant, a washer of feet? This calling into Christianity is a calling out of the world’s culture and the world’s values.

Humility isn’t natural, but it is optional. In Colossians 3, Paul says we can “put it on” like a garment. James puts the choice to us: God resists the proud but gives grace to the humble.

Next, gentleness. The term means meekness, considerateness, strength under control. In the Bible, this word is often used in the context of dealing with conflict. In the Church, conflict is not about me winning or me being right. It’s about how we reconcile brothers and sisters back together.

Christians are not supposed to use their strength to tear down. We’re to use our strength the way Jesus did, the gentlest of all, the meekest of all. That strength was used to gather, to heal, to direct back to the Father. To reveal the truth with an end goal of restoration and redemption.

Next, patience. Patience means long tempered, or, the ability to endure over time. In the context, Paul means patiently enduring the weakness and faults of others around you in God’s Body. Not driving people away, not beating them down, but staying close even when you’re irritated or annoyed or disappointed by them in some way.

Patience, like gentleness, is a fruit of the Spirit, which means that I don’t have to do these things in order to become a good Christian. This supernatural equipment is continually provided for me and can infuse my actions and activities and attitudes as I choose to put them on and operate in the Spirit rather than in my natural, human mindset.

Now, Paul is saying, “You need to put up with one another,” but God’s intent is never that we do it begrudgingly, with resentment in our hearts. Paul says there to bear with one another in love. In agape. It’s a supernatural love. Agape is special because it is always a choice.

Some things we love just out of urge. I’m guessing there are some of you out there who love black licorice, even though you shouldn’t! Agape is choosing to love how and what God loves.

Ephesians 4:3 – ³ making every effort to keep the unity of the Spirit through the bond of peace.

Scholars tells us that the English translation loses the urgency of Paul’s words here. One commentator writes, “Yours is the initiative! Do it now! Mean it! You are to do it! I mean it!—such are the overtones in verse 3.”

Paul implores us to keep the unity of the Spirit. What does he mean by unity? In all the New Testament, this Greek word is only used in this verse and once again in verse 13. The term itself is defined as “oneness.” That’s pretty vague.

Unity does not mean we all do the same things. Christians sometimes act like unity means every church does the same thing. Every Christian reads the same book. Everybody gathers together in the same spot to present a ‘united’ front. But that’s not what Paul means.

Paul didn’t follow up verse 3 with, “By the way, here’s what the Church in Jerusalem is doing, so you guys need to do that, too.”  Martyn Lloyd-Jones put it this way: It’s unity not uniformity. Think of the analogy he’s been using of a body. Your eyes are doing one thing right now, your hands are doing something different. Your feet something different still. They’re all needful things.

Paul defines unity as a gracious and loving attachment one to another through the bond of peace. In chapters 1 through 3, Paul talked at length about how God has reconciled us to Himself and all of us to one another, Jews and Gentiles, everybody welcomed in and now we’re called to walk in that reconciliation – staying attached to the Gospel and the Lord and the family of Believers.

Paul says keep this unity. That means it’s not something we attain, it’s something we maintain. God has already done it. We don’t have to build a monument of unity through some cooperative activity. We simply walk in the arrangement God has given us.

Paul said, “make every effort.” This is important for spiritual health. A friend of mine from northern California was having trouble with the video distribution at their new church campus. So we were sending each other texts trying to troubleshoot together. Try this, try this, try this. Nothing was really working, but we were trying to make every effort to get the system functioning again. Finally he figured it out. Now, I wasn’t physically there to help, I played a different part.

Christian unity, Paul says, starts with my mindset. I should care about staying bound to other believers. Sometimes that requires effort, but if I understand the value, if I allow God’s perspective to become my perspective, then it is no longer a chore, but a joyful endeavor.

Of course, keeping this unity is not always possible. Paul said in Romans 12, “as far as it depends on you, live at peace with everyone.” The point in Ephesians is that unity in the Body is something that I should value and invest energy into.

Ephesians 4:4 – ⁴ There is one body and one Spirit—just as you were called to one hope at your calling

In verses 2 and 3, Paul showed us the muscles of walking worthy. In verses 4 through 6 he’s giving us the frame it’s all built upon – the skeletal structure God has provided so that we can walk.

He gives 7 elements that unity is based on. It’s not based on what we do, but it is rooted in understanding Who God is and what He has created us to be – that there is a Head and a heavenly design that has been established by God and we get to walk in obedience according to the plan.

Many scholars believe that verses 4 through 6 are part of a first-century creed or hymn that the churches may have recited. It’s good to remind ourselves again and again of what is true.

As we stay attached to the Head, we will stay attached to others. As we are vivified by the Spirit, we are able to exercise our faith and be fruitful toward others.

There is one body. Paul means that there is one, universal Church. But, the New Testament is clear that each local gathering of Christians is a legitimate and meaningful representation of the whole.

This is a body and I am a member. I am a part. God has scattered me into a specific time and place on purpose. He has gifted me in certain ways and prepared good works for me to discover and walk in, so my calling is to find my part and then operate appropriately in the power of the Spirit.

But it’s important that we remember there are lots of parts that do lots of things. Scientists aren’t sure why humans swing their arms when they walk. They don’t have to, but they do. I suppose if the legs could talk, on a grumpy day they might say, “Since you’re just swinging around, how about you arms take some of the weight for awhile?” But that’s not the job. Arms have other parts to play.

Some research shows that the arms swinging somehow reduces the amount of energy the legs have to use up in order to walk. You wouldn’t think that by looking at it, but some very complicated things are going on. Each part impacting the overall enterprise.

In the Church, we’re all headed toward one hope, and thanks to God’s enabling, we’re going to get there. Along the way, it’s easy for us to become frustrated at others or assume that they’re not pulling their weight or think that real unity means they do what we’re doing. But God has many parts to His Body and is accomplishing profoundly complex things through His people, by His Spirit. The eye cannot say to the hand, “I don’t need you!” Or again, the head can’t say to the feet, “I don’t need you!” Unity means we understand this diversity and the bigger picture and say, “I’m doing what God asks me to do. You do what God asks you to do.” And to stay connected by the love of God and the power of His Spirit.

Ephesians 4:5 – —⁵ one Lord, one faith, one baptism,

It’s sad that there is so much division on these basic elements of Christianity. If you want to get into a fight with a Christian, start talking about one of these items.

Paul says there is one Lord. If you open up social media today, you’ll see people all over the political spectrum claiming Jesus Christ as their emblem. One person will have on a shirt that says, “Jesus was a refugee.” The next will have a shirt that says, “Proud Christian nationalist.” Who’s right?

God forbid that we make the Messiah in our own image. There is one Lord. Who He is, what He said, what He’s done, what He’s going to do has been revealed to us on the pages of Scripture. If we want to be thriving Christians who walk worthy, we need to base our lives on the Biblical Jesus, not any sort of cultural Jesus. Not a Jesus that reinforces my desires or is wielded like a talisman.

“One Lord” is a controversial statement to our human hearts and human culture. A inscription from the time of Ephesians has been found which read, “Nero, Lord of the universe.” But it’s not true. Jesus is King and no one else. Jesus is Lord and there is no other. Not Nero, not you, Jesus is Lord.

There is one faith. Jude talks about contending for the faith that was delivered to the saints once for all. Unity doesn’t mean compromising what we believe just to keep relational peace. There are essentials that we must hold to, no matter what. Paul was very concerned about false teachings and doctrinal errors in all the churches he wrote to. “No, salvation wasn’t faith plus circumcision. It wasn’t faith plus ceremonial law.” Paul would not back down on essentials and neither should we.

What is the faith? It’s not just what we feel is good or things that are emotionally pleasing to us. The faith is what has been revealed and taught in the Word of God. That’s why we study the Bible.

There is one baptism. Scholars divide over whether Paul is referring to being baptized into the Holy Spirit at salvation or actual water baptism. It doesn’t really matter because water baptism is simply the outward sign of the inward reality. It is a very important part of our walk with the Lord. If you’re a Christian and you haven’t been water baptized, you need to be. Jesus commanded it. It is the public testimony of the inward work of salvation in your heart.

One Lord, one faith, one baptism. These are all things that have been revealed and we can find in the Scriptures. So, we can unify around God’s Word, around studying it and writing it on our hearts and applying it to our lives. We can enjoy greater unity when we’re all on the same page, Biblically.

Ephesians 4:6 – ⁶ one God and Father of all, who is above all and through all and in all.

All, all, all, all. Paul drives home God’s power and transcendence. This is the deal, this is how God has designed His Church and it is an unstoppable work that will come to fruition. He is in charge. He is providentially accomplishing His will. He intends to include every single one of us in this Master plan of His.

So, my imperative is to walk worthy in this plan God has called me into. And a big part of walking worthy is to maintain the unity God has given in the Church.

What we find in these verses is that unity is not really about what others do, it’s about me. It’s about my treatment of the believers around me. I can’t just write people off or reject them because they annoy me or aren’t as excited about some service or ministry as I am. Unity, to Paul, is not about all of us building some monument together, it’s about my attitude toward brothers and sisters near and far. Do I love them? Do I value them? Do I put on humility and gentleness and patience, knowing that God is working out His plan through the whole Body?

When I have the urge to think, “That person needs to step up,” the better thought is, “I just need to be in step with the Lord.”  I help maintain unity as I understand what God is doing, keep an appropriate perspective on my own part to play, and remember that God loves and values the Christian next to me as much as He loves and values me.

Having this perspective doesn’t lead us to compromise or look the other way when a Christian is out of joint. But it causes us to be strengthened in grace, which will make us stronger for the walk, more able to strengthen the weak members around us, and be built up and equipped for the trail ahead.

Walk This Way (Ephesians 4:1)

Ephesians 4:1 – Therefore I, the prisoner in the Lord, urge you to walk worthy of the calling you have received

Be All You Can Be is one of the most effective marketing slogans of all time. Many of you can probably sing the jingle from the commercials where we were told, “[The army does] more before 9am than most people do all day!”

I didn’t realize the U.S. Army had retired Be All You Can Be as their slogan back in 2001. It was replaced for five years with Army Of One. Since 2006, the army slogan has been Army Strong. The government paid an ad agency $200 million a year for that campaign, by the way.

But, here’s some good news: It was announced in March that the classic is back. The army’s slogan is, once again, Be All You Can Be, which was voted the 18th best ad campaign of the 20th century.

We’re focusing in on one verse tonight for a couple of reasons. First, it is the book’s pivot point, where Paul moves into more direct, practical application after three chapters of mainly doctrine.

Second, since we’re people who want to apply these truths, this verse serves as a really good slogan for us as individuals and as a church. The slogan is this: Walk worthy of the calling.

Now, Paul wasn’t recruiting. It’s important to remember that his listeners were faithful saints already. The rest of Ephesians is not about how you make yourself worth saving or how to make yourself worthy of God’s love. He already loves you and, if you’re a Christian, all of these things we read in chapters one through three are already true about you.

One source calls this verse the church’s mission statement. In it, Paul gives direction in how to walk in God’s power – how to be what God has made us to be. It’s not just because we “should” or because God wants to heap obligations on us. Chapters 4-6 are practical insights into how we can cooperate with the Lord in His world-changing work, how we can stay undefiled as we move about in the world, and how we can enjoy more and more of what God wants to give us.

Paul begins with the word therefore. It’s a term that means “accordingly,” or a “marker of result.” Reading through the letter, we’ve heard all this doctrine, we’ve heard all these truths about the mystery of God, and now, according to those things, there should be a marked result in our lives.

Imagine you were born with no legs. You lived many years without the ability to stand or walk or move around on your own. Then you go to a doctor, the doctor is able to perform a surgery that not only gives you legs, but also the ability to use them. You wake up from the anesthesia and the doctor says, “The surgery was a success. You can stand and walk.” That surgery would bring you into a new reality of living – a marked result.

Paul has been speaking about what God has done to give us life and power and purpose and strength. Now, in chapter 4, it’s time for those truths to begin to operate and empower us. God’s revelation is not just abstract or metaphysical. It’s given for your day-to-day life. Therefore, what should I do? Paul’s going to elaborate for the rest of the letter in some very specific ways. But it boils down to walk worthy.

Paul is going to talk to us about many aspects of life – as church members, as neighbors, as spouses and parents. He’s going to talk about our speech and our interaction with society and our business relationships. But, of course, he can’t cover everything.

The good news is that, no matter what situation you find yourself in, this simple principle is your guiding light. Walk worthy of the calling.

F.F. Bruce writes, “There are many situations in which we shall find no detailed precept of Scripture to tell us what to do, but here is a principle to guide us in every situation: which course of action will be most worthy of the calling with which God has called us?”

Paul urges us. His first audience was the Gentile Christians in the church at Ephesus, but already this letter has widened its scope to all the saints, all Christians, including you and me. Paul urges us to walk worthy. This was an important message to him. He thinks this is absolutely needful.

But notice the grace of his plea. He could have said, “I demand,” or “I command,” but instead he uses a term that can mean, “I exhort, I encourage, I comfort, I warn.” Another dictionary gives this definition: to call you near. Come near to the Lord and follow after Him. Paul used the same word that Jairus used when he fell at the feet of Jesus and asked Him to, “Come and lay Your hands on my daughter so she will get well and live.”

Now, Paul is speaking for the Lord, this is Scripture, inspired by the Holy Spirit. We are commanded by God to do what He’s asking, but Paul comes not as a drill sergeant, but as a personal friend and says, “I urge you to walk worthy.” It’s an invitation.

Walking is such a helpful image when it comes to understanding the Christian life. Walking means movement, forward progress toward a destination. It means we’re headed somewhere and experiencing all sorts of terrain along the way. It’s also something that can be done at a variety of paces, sometimes with others, sometimes on our own. But no matter the circumstances, it’s a step-by-step endeavor. Paul could’ve used any analogy he wanted. He did not say, “I urge you to fly worthy on eagles wings.” He didn’t urge us to leap or pole vault worthy. Walk worthy.

When the Bible uses this walking analogy, it means our way of life. In fact, Paul has already used the word in this way back in chapter 2. “You were dead in your trespasses and sins in which you previously walked according to the ways of this world.”

Psalm 1 famously presents life as a walk in one of two directions: Either the way of the Lord, leading to life, or the way of the wicked, leading to destruction.

To walk means our conduct, our thought and behavior, or “follow a prescribed way in a fixed order.” It’s not just a style of dress or a certain vocabulary list we’re allowed to use or particular activities to avoid. One commentator says, “[it’s] comparable to the march of Israel under God’s guidance in the wilderness.” As the Israelites moved from Egypt to the Promised Land, they weren’t just given the destination address and then left to their own devices. Earlier this week I had an appointment in Fresno, so I opened my Maps app and plugged in the address and had my choice of 3 routes. But our walk to glory isn’t like that. We’re led step-by-step along the way. That’s what the Lord did for Moses and the Israelites. “Here’s where we’re going, but this is the first stop. And we might stay here for a few days or a few weeks, then move on over to this next location.” God had a prescribed order for them. He had the route and the destination planned.

Remember what Ephesians 2:10 (NKJV) says: “For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand that we should walk in them.”

The way we walk, it’s quality and character, should be worthy. The term means appropriately. It also is a term that means well-balanced. Does the way I walk balance with what I say I believe? Paul talked for three chapters about our calling and God’s eternal plan, our incredible inheritance and the supernatural power we have in Christ. He piled up all these things, and we believe them, so then when it comes to my life, does my faith have legs? Does my creed match my conduct?

Physical balance was something I took for granted before my stroke. Now, things just aren’t quite the same. We had a hilarious experience last December. We were at a place where there was a suspended bridge that I had been on many times before. It’s built with strong planks and steel cables, but it does sway and roll a bit when you walk on it, particularly if your kids run across.

I got about half way across the 50 yards and the bridge started to move and my legs just stopped working. My brain was telling them to step and adapt to the motion, but I just couldn’t. It felt very strange and it was absolutely hysterical.

The problem of imbalance is much less fun on the spiritual level. When our spiritual lives are unbalanced between belief and practice, then we end up becoming like the priest or the Levite in Jesus’ parable of the Good Samaritan. These two men were professionally religious. They knew everything you could humanly know about the Word. They oriented their lives around piety and religiosity. And, as they were walking, they saw a man, beaten and dying on the road, and they crossed to the other side so they could pass him by. No compassion. No balance between belief and practice. Their faith was unworthy of the love of God. It wasn’t appropriate. It didn’t fit.

Ok, then what are the things I need to do in order to walk worthy? Paul is going to give us direction. In verse 17 he says, “No longer walk as the Gentiles do,” and will explain what that means. In chapter 5 he’ll say, “walk in love,” and “walk as children of light,” and, “pay careful attention to how you walk.” But the primary principle is to consider your choices and determine if they are worthy.

Worthy of what? Paul wraps up this verse by saying, of the calling you have received. You see, these believers had already been called, just as Paul had, just as we have. This isn’t about how you earn salvation. This isn’t about how to make yourself likable to God. These Christians were faithful, but they weren’t finished. And that’s, hopefully, where you find yourself tonight. Faithful, but unfinished. Following God, headed toward glory, being worked on by the Lord to be conformed into the image of Jesus Christ. None of us are going to be finished on this side of eternity. But we can walk forward in a way that is worthy of our calling.

God called you from eternity past. Paul discussed this in chapter 1. In Romans 8 he explains that we are called according to His purpose. Unfortunately, calling is a word that can easily be reduced down to people who go into specific types of ministry. We think of vocational missionaries being “called” to a certain place or tribe.

The fact is, all of us are called by God in more than one way. When we read the Bible we find that God’s call is general, it is categorical, and it is personal.

God’s call is general in the sense that every human being is called to repent of their sin. God calls all people out of darkness, into His marvelous light. Not everyone will answer that call, but it is sent to everyone. God calls every Christian to take up their cross and follow Him. The way that works out in an individual’s life will vary, but the call is for all of us. We are all called to one hope, one Lord, one faith, one baptism, one God and Father. We are all called to be holy and blameless. We are all called, generally, to love the Lord our God and love our neighbor as ourself. And we are all called into fellowship with Jesus Christ. So in these ways, God’s call is general. Any one of us can apply these callings to our lives right here, right now.

But then we find that God’s call is also categorical. Paul is going to spend time talking about some of these categories. Are you a husband? Here’s what God calls you to do. Are you a wife? Ok, here’s God’s calling for that category. Are you a parent or a child, or a worker? The New Testament is full of callings that apply to you when you’re in certain categories. If you’re single, the calling to love your wife as Christ loves the Church does not apply to your day-to-day living.

And then we find that God’s calling is personal. God has a particular route carved out for you – good works He wants you to discover and walk in as He leads you. At one point, Jesus revealed a little of this to Peter and Peter pointed at John and said, “Well, what about that guy?!?” Jesus said, “That’s not your business.” Not because Jesus had a different standard for John, but because, on the personal level, God had a specific calling for Peter’s life and a different calling for John’s life.

The Book of Acts is full of examples of personal callings. Philip, get up and go south to the road that leads from Jerusalem to Gaza. Peter, head to Caesarea. Paul, don’t go to Asia, go to Macedonia. This is why it’s so important to have a real relationship with God the Holy Spirit, Who gives us guidance for our personal situations. People sometimes say, “Should I take this job?” I don’t know. And, you know what, in some cases, the Bible will not specifically tell you. Of course, Scripture does guide us and can be applied to specific circumstances, but there is no verse you can turn to right now that says, “Should I promote at my job or not.” But the Holy Spirit will guide you into wisdom for your personal calling.

There are times when we’ve been told, “you guys need to do more direct application in your Bible studies.” Maybe that’s true. But, at the end of the day, I’m not the Holy Spirit! I don’t know exactly what God wants to do in and through your life. So, what we think is more important is to present what the Bible says and then encourage you to take your life and God’s word and to the Lord and say, “Lord, how do You want me to apply this in the life You’ve given me? I want to walk with You but I don’t know the way unless You show me.” And we don’t want to tell you to turn right when the Lord wants you to turn left.

What we do know about personal calling is that it God’s decision. The personal calling of your life is based on God’s gifting, not our wanting. Now, as we conform to the image of Jesus Christ and our hearts align more and more with His, He gives us the desires of our hearts. But that doesn’t mean we get to choose what the Lord does with us. Your personal calling is going to align with the way the Lord has spiritually gifted you, with the guiding principles of Christianity, and with the character of this faith we’ve received. Meaning that, if we’re walking worthy, we’ll never bypass humility, graciousness, integrity, peaceableness, generosity, compassion, patience, self-control, unity.

Sometimes we see prominent Christians behaving in ways that bypass those qualities and, when that happens, they are outside God’s calling on their lives. It doesn’t matter if their ministries are successful or if they’ve sold a million books or have a ton of followers. If you look at the fruit of their lives and see pride, malice, self-aggrandizement, these sorts of things, then they are not walking worthy. Because God has fixed a way and say, “This is the way, walk in it.”

Walking worthy of our calling is not always easy, but it is always possible. We know it’s true because of the promises God has made to us, many that were explained in Ephesians 1-3. But Paul himself is an object lesson of walking worthy. There’s one phrase in the verse I skipped. He said, I the prisoner in the Lord.

Paul had spent two years in Caesarea in jail. Now he was spending multiple years imprisoned in Rome – chained to soldiers around the clock. He was there because God asked him to be there. And it’s a great reminder that you can walk with the Lord even if you’re shut up in your house. You can walk worthy if you’re inside, outside, weak or strong, lots of money, no money, sick or healthy. It’s a Green Eggs And Ham situation. In the dark, in the rain, on a train, in a tree. In the corner office or in a prison cell. Because it’s not just about doing things for God. It’s about living life with Him – being led by Him. Responding to His calling on your life. He’s calling each of us in all sorts of ways right now. Some we know, some we’ve yet to discover. But, as we live out these lives, we’re invited to walk worthy – to live in balance – where our faith has legs, strengthened and empowered by the grace of God, to make progress on the path He’s drawn for us, leading to glory.

We are His people, we are His army, and we can be all that He’s made us to be as we walk worthy of the calling we have received.

It’s All About Who You Know (Ephesians 3:14-21)

Ephesians 3:14-21 – ¹⁴ For this reason I kneel before the Father ¹⁵ from whom every family in heaven and on earth is named. ¹⁶ I pray that he may grant you, according to the riches of his glory, to be strengthened with power in your inner being through his Spirit, ¹⁷ and that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith. I pray that you, being rooted and firmly established in love, ¹⁸ may be able to comprehend with all the saints what is the length and width, height and depth of God’s love, ¹⁹ and to know Christ’s love that surpasses knowledge, so that you may be filled with all the fullness of God. ²⁰ Now to him who is able to do above and beyond all that we ask or think according to the power that works in us—²¹ to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus to all generations, forever and ever. Amen.

In songs, oxymorons can make sense even when they shouldn’t. Simon and Garfunkel gave us the Sound Of Silence. Huey Lewis & The News let us know it was Hip To Be Square. The Mamas and the Papas said they were Glad To Be Unhappy and Jeff Beck said Definitely Maybe.

In our text tonight Paul opens a sweet window into his personal prayer life. But, it sounds like there’s a big oxymoron in what he prays. He says, “I want you know to know what can’t be known.”

We know Paul was a songwriter, but these aren’t the lyrics of a melancholy artist. We can feel the joy and excitement radiating from our verses, which are some of the most famous in the book.

These are the words of someone who understands the love of God on a profound level and who wants others to understand as well. That’s really the whole point of the book – that the Church would understand who we are, what God has done, and how to walk in His power.

The first three chapters are what we might call the doctrinal section. The next three chapters are very practical. What an encouragement it would’ve been for the original hearers because, as Paul moves into the “here’s how to live it out” section, he first says, “I’m praying for you. I’m talking to God about you. I’m doing what I can to help you receive what God wants to give.”

Ephesians 3:14-15 – ¹⁴ For this reason I kneel before the Father ¹⁵ from whom every family in heaven and on earth is named.

For what reason? All that’s come before. Because God has revealed mysteries to him, because God has a plan for Christians, because of His riches and His calling. For these reasons, Paul goes to prayer. It was God’s purposes that made Paul pray, not man’s purposes.

Paul understood things about God’s care for humanity and he thought, “Ok, now I am going to go to prayer, knowing what I know, and orient my prayer according to God’s will and God’s purposes, not just according to what I feel like I want or need in the moment.”

Now, God is fine with us praying about things we need in the moment, but our prayer lives need to be oriented around His purposes more than our own. Thy Kingdom come, Thy will be done.

Paul said, he knelt. Kneeling was not the normal prayer posture for Jews or Christians or Romans at the time. For some reason, Paul decided to kneel. You don’t have to kneel in prayer. God gives us freedom to be sensitive to the what and how. But imagine Paul, chained to a Roman soldier. He gets up from his chair and kneels down and starts to pray, maybe silently, maybe out loud.

These soldiers were real guys. A lot of them were won to Christ. But some of them were probably a little more gruff in their dealings with prisoners. Paul’s chain may have been just 18 inches long. So, Paul kneels down…”What are you doing?” “Oh, I’m praying for my friends in Ephesus.” “You’ve been to Ephesus?” “Yeah, I was there for three years.” “Didn’t they burn, like, millions of dollars of magic books there a few years back?” His kneeling could be evangelistic.

It’s also possible that it was an act of devotion and respect. It’s also possible that Paul was thinking about how, one day, every knee will bow before God and he was making it so in his own life. There’s a ribbon of “on earth as it is in heaven” running through this letter that we’ve seen before. Christians don’t have to wait till the end of the world to apply God’s truths to our lives – we apply them now. We live in the realities Scripture shows us, whether the world around us believes or not.

Paul spoke to God as Father. That would’ve stood out in the first century. In many inscriptions, the emperor called himself the “father of the fatherland.” Throughout this letter, Christianity stands apart. Rome is not our kingdom. Caesar is not our god. Believers had tact and humility, but they were bold to speak the truth, even when it could bring real consequences.

God the father has named every family on earth and in heaven. This speaks of God’s authority and ownership. He is the Creator. But, it’s more than that. He has made us a part of His family. If you’re a Christian, you’ve been adopted as a son or daughter and brought into His house. In God’s house, we behave a certain way. Maybe at one point your dad said something like, “In this house we don’t talk to people like that.” Or when you’re playing games, you have house rules. God has a way of doing things and He’s the Decider. It’s His family, His house, His economy.

Paul says the Lord has named us. What’s that about? Well, naming demonstrates ownership, but one commentator pointed something out that’s important. God doesn’t just label His creations, He gives them identity. Our culture is obsessed with constantly changing our identity, finding it in human behaviors, in identifying ourselves. But the Lord says, “No, I am the One who gives you your identity. I tell you what it means to be human, what it means to be male, what it means to be female, what it means to be a husband or a wife, what it means to be a citizen and a worker and a member of your community.”

God’s naming is a big deal. He’s giving you identity. He’s making you part of what He’s unfolding. “Naming” doesn’t just mean you were called Saul, now you’re called Paul. The term can also mean “installed in a position.” Remember from last week: You are part of God’s eternal, cosmic work.

A quick extra before we move on: Paul references families on earth and families in heaven. It’s easy to think that in heaven there are angels and God and that’s it. But does that make sense? Think of how many different creatures there are on earth. I think heaven is going to be packed with all sorts of heavenly beings. Paul seems to indicate that there are lots of different “families” in heaven.

Ephesians 3:16 –  ¹⁶ I pray that he may grant you, according to the riches of his glory, to be strengthened with power in your inner being through his Spirit,

More than safety, more than affluence, more than political power, more than physical health, we need spiritual strength. Paul prayed that the Christians in Ephesus would be strengthened out of the wealth of God’s supply by the operation of the Holy Spirit in their lives.

It’s sad that, on the one hand, whole branches of the Church effectively ignore the Holy Spirit, while some others totally misunderstand the way He does things. I’m not suggesting we know everything we need to know – we don’t – and the ministry of the Holy Spirit is a hard topic in the Christian life. But He is active and wants to invigorate your life day-by-day. At the same time, He doesn’t have to be conjured or convinced to come and do crazy things. He’s not Tinkerbell, where you have to rev Him up and clap Him into activity.

The Holy Spirit is a Member of the Trinity, just like God the Father and God the Son. He loves you and wants to help you in your prayer life and in making decisions and in understanding the wisdom of God and in showing you opportunities God is giving you and all sorts of other ways.

Strengthened here can be defined as “ability to perform an activity.” We need spiritual strength to be built together as God’s dwelling. We need strength to shine the light of His Gospel in a dark world. We need strength to be His Body and share one another’s burdens and to exercise our faith.

The good news is that this strengthening can happen even if our physical lives are defined by weakness. In fact, Paul said in 2 Corinthians 4:16, “Even though our outer person is being destroyed, our inner person is being renewed day by day.” God has strength for you tonight, no matter how weak you feel.

Ephesians 4:17a – ¹⁷ and that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith.

About ten years ago it was popular out there in Churchland to be against the idea Jesus living in our hearts. In 2013, J.D. Greear, the president of the SBC, wrote an article titled, “Stop Asking Jesus Into Your Heart.” Around the same time, David Platt put out a video titled, “Why ‘Accepting Jesus In Your Heart’ Is Superstitious & Unbiblical.” It’s always easier to tear down than to build up.

But here’s Paul saying, “I pray that Christ may dwell in your hearts!” But wait, aren’t we in Christ? Yes, but the Bible presents Christ as wanting to dwell in us. This is an image the Bible gives us more than once: Christ wanting to come into your heart and dwell with you. Jesus said in John 14, “You are in Me and I am in you.”

Now, in Ephesians 1 we were told that Christ “fills all things in every way.” And yet, God has given human beings the freedom to bar the door and keep Christ from coming into our hearts. In Revelation 3, the Lord says, “I’m outside the door of your heart, knocking, and I hope you’ll let Me in to come and have a meal with you.” Here we see it’s not just a quick visit. Paul’s term for dwell means a longterm habitation.

This is an amazing situation we find ourselves in. God, Who can do whatever He wants, has decided He wants to dwell with you and interact with you every single day. And the way for us to engage with this incredible offer is to believe. “Through faith.” Do I believe God, or do I think I have to convince Him to love me, to work in my life, to help me in some way?

Another little extra: These verses give a great view of the Trinity. We see Father, Son, and Spirit all in operation. You can tuck that away for the next time you talk to a non-Trinitarian family or friend.

Ephesians 3:17b-18 – I pray that you, being rooted and firmly established in love, ¹⁸ may be able to comprehend with all the saints what is the length and width, height and depth of God’s love,

Paul’s words remind us of Psalm 1 where God’s people are called trees planted beside flowing streams, bearing fruit. The New Living Translation gives us verse 17 this way: “Your roots will grow down into God’s love and keep you strong.”

Paul prays that all of us would have a “lifestyle of love.” If that’s what our lives are rooted in, then we will bear the fruit of love. Not pride. Not hatred. Not greed. Not vengeance. Not resentment.

The Shepherd’s Tree is native to deserts of southern Africa. It can grow to be 30 feet tall, but is usually much shorter. It’s evergreen, despite the harsh conditions it lives in. Its claim to fame is that no tree has deeper roots. They’ve found them going over 220 feet into the ground.

Our spiritual lives can have roots that go deeper and deeper into our Shepherd’s love. Paul wanted all of us to comprehend just how long and wide, deep and high God’s love is. Comprehend can mean “to hold as one’s own.” All these things he’s talking about aren’t just some philosophic theory. God really wants you to have a personal relationship with Him, where you are connected to His heart and His grace and His power and His limitless love.

Paul says, “with all the saints,” in verse 18. Your relationship with God is personal, but, there is a communal aspect to Christianity as well. Ephesians brings this home again and again. Christianity cannot be separated from Church – meaning the gathering of believers together. Together we comprehend, together we take hold of these things, together we’re built up and put into operation. It’s not the only way God works in our lives, but it’s an essential way. One commentator writes, “At every turn, Christianity is a corporate religion.” We live in a time where many Christians are content to cut themselves off from churches because of something that’s happened in the past or because of some book they read or some other reason. Churches aren’t perfect, but they are necessary. If we want to be operational, if we want to be mature, then we must be regularly connected with a gathering of believers in a local church. Christianity is a team sport.

Ephesians 3:19 – ¹⁹ and to know Christ’s love that surpasses knowledge, so that you may be filled with all the fullness of God.

Paul, how can we comprehend something that surpasses knowledge? Are you familiar with the social media hashtag #IYKYK? If you know, you know. Part of Paul’s message is that the things of God cannot be known outside of a relationship with Him, but once you are in Christ and Christ is in you, God then reveals mysteries and increases your understanding as you walk with Him.

There’s always more to comprehend. Think of a person who has a PhD in oceanography and marine biology. Give them four PhDs. They know a lot about the ocean. And yet there’s more they don’t know then they could ever learn, right? God’s love is like that. It surpasses our ability to know.

But, there’s also this aspect to what Paul is saying: Knowing God, being a Christian, is not just an intellectual exercise. Understanding a list of doctrines doesn’t make you a Christian. Our faith must also be put into operation. We’re to experience these realities. A genuine Christian life is one where you don’t just memorize Psalm 23, but God walks you through your own Psalm 23. Where we don’t just hear that God fills people, but that He fills us. That we don’t just stand beside the sea of His love, observing, but that we become saturated with it ourselves.

This is a lifelong experience. Paul told the Corinthians “right now I know in part. In heaven I’ll know fully.” But, see, the Corinthians thought they knew everything already. What was the result? Infighting. Selfishness. Spiritual weakness. Misapplication of Scripture.

We’re invited to an ongoing life of maturing and taking hold of the love of God. Not just apostles, not just missionaries, but every Christian.

Ephesians 3:20 – ²⁰ Now to him who is able to do above and beyond all that we ask or think according to the power that works in us—

The first three chapters of Ephesians it’s like Paul keeps saying, “But wait, there’s more!” And he does it again here. The terms he uses for what God is able to do mean “infinitely beyond,” “very much in excess of,” and “to outdo superabundantly all we ask.”

God, with all His power, with all His freedom, has oriented His attention, His affection, His activity toward you – to adopt you, to revolutionize your life, to make you a part of His unfolding plan. It’s not just a potential thing He might do, it’s a work that is working even now in us.

If we’re honest, we don’t always see it and we don’t always feel it. I know that’s true in my life. Rather than be discouraged by how we fall short or by the things we don’t understand, let’s do what Paul does and pray for these plans of God to be made more real to us. Pray for strength, pray for power, pray for a greater capacity to receive and to comprehend what God has revealed.

Ephesians 3:21 – ²¹ to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus to all generations, forever and ever. Amen.

After three chapters of talking about the wondrous things God has done and is doing through the Church, Paul focuses our attention on the One Who does it. Christ is the focus. It’s His glory. It’s His plan, His power, His goodness, His Body. My life is not really meant to be the focus of my life. God’s glory is! The focus of my life should be the presence and glory of God. Because my life is His home. My heart is His throne. My situation is a position God allows me to be in so that I can know Him more deeply and bear fruit and be a conduit of grace and a beacon of His glory.

And, again, Paul wants us to know that this doesn’t happen in an individualized, spiritual cubicle. “to Him be glory in the church.” Darrell Bock writes, “The church is where God is expressing himself most visibly in the world, which is why it is imperative that the church reflects the enablement Paul is asking for here.”

This Christian life is all about Who we know. Do we know the Lord, personally? And do we know who He has placed us beside to be built up together with? These are the paths to fullness and strength and power and eternal identity. Let’s take root deeper together.

The Cosmologic Symphony Orchestra (Ephesians 3:8-13)

Ephesians 3:8-13 – ⁸ This grace was given to me—the least of all the saints—to proclaim to the Gentiles the incalculable riches of Christ, ⁹ and to shed light for all about the administration of the mystery hidden for ages in God who created all things. ¹⁰ This is so that God’s multi-faceted wisdom may now be made known through the church to the rulers and authorities in the heavens. ¹¹ This is according to his eternal purpose accomplished in Christ Jesus our Lord. ¹² In him we have boldness and confident access through faith in him. ¹³ So, then, I ask you not to be discouraged over my afflictions on your behalf, for they are your glory.

A symphony orchestra can range from 15 players to over 100. They are made up of different people from various backgrounds, coming together with assorted instruments to put a composer’s work on display. Symphonies typically have multiple movements with progressing themes and “often complex, elaborate…music.”

There are some famously difficult compositions. Alexander Scriabin’s Mysterium, though never finished, was meant to last an entire week. Scriabin was a strange guy – he wrote things like, “I am God” in his secret journal, and he believed that if the Mysterium was performed in the foothills of the Himalayan mountains, at the end of the seven days the “world would dissolve into pure bliss.”

We’re in a section of Ephesians where Paul is explaining the mystery God reveals through the Church. We can liken it to a symphony. It’s melody is grace. The movements last not for a week, but for an entire era of God’s plan – Paul calls it a dispensation. Together we perform this composition, in harmonious cooperation. As part of the whole, we each have a specific part to play. We each are a specific instrument placed intentionally into this group by the Lord. We are God’s workmanship, His masterpiece work of art, not made just for our own benefit or for the betterment of earth, but (as we’ll see tonight) there is a cosmic, other-worldly purpose for God’s work through the Church.

Paul has been talking a little bit about his specific place in God’s plan, which helps us see our place in the orchestra and encourages us to join the band – to get on the bandwagon of grace.

Ephesians 3:8 – ⁸ This grace was given to me—the least of all the saints—to proclaim to the Gentiles the incalculable riches of Christ,

The grace given to Paul was his calling to preach to the Gentiles, the revelation he received from Jesus, and the opportunities God gave him. But this grace was also the sufferings and obstacles he endured, including his current imprisonment. He called these things a gift of grace.

Paul identifies himself as the least of all the saints. Your version may say “less than the least.” Linguists explain that the term he uses is a funny Greek word meaning, “smallester,” or, “leaster.”

Many of you know that, in Paul’s letters, there’s an interesting progression. In an earlier letter, 1 Corinthians, Paul refers to himself as “the least of the apostles.” Here, a number of years later, he calls himself the “least of the saints.” And then, in 1 Timothy, he calls himself the “worst of sinners.”

It’s not that he was full of himself in the 50’s and finally thought better in the mid 60’s – there’s a lot of context around why he used those phrases when he did – but, on a devotional level, his humility grew as his walk with the Lord continued. He did think better of himself as the years wore on. He had a tender sensitivity to his own weakness and his need for the Lord’s intervention.

Some might say, “Well, Paul’s just saying that. It’s a false humility.” But that’s not what Paul is doing. Humility was not a virtue in the Greco-Roman empire. It was associated with failure and shame. So, Paul identifying himself this way would’ve grabbed attention.

If Paul was the least, what did that mean for me, an Ephesian Christian? If God uses the smallest, leastest guy for His purposes, what might He have for me to do? This letter wants each Christian to think very seriously about what God has empowered them to do and what their day-to-day callings are and how to walk in the reality of salvation with a heavenly perspective.

Paul said, “One of the primary ways I fulfill my calling is by proclaiming the riches of of Christ.” He doesn’t mean physical riches, but heavenly ones. The letter began by saying we’ve been given “every spiritual blessing” in Christ. That whole first chapter was centered around us understanding just how good salvation is.

Now we are sent out to proclaim the riches of Christ. R. Kent Hughes puts it this way: Our preaching should convey the truth that “Christ always enriches life. [He] never subtracts from it.” Now, the Lord may remove some damaging, malignant thing from our lives, but our lives are always benefited by Him. His riches are “incalculable.” The term means they “cannot be traced out.” You can’t find the outer boundary of them.

Ephesians 3:9 – ⁹ and to shed light for all about the administration of the mystery hidden for ages in God who created all things.

Paul’s goal was to shed light. Before he was a Christian, he snuffed out a lot of lights. He savagely hunted believers down. In the book of Acts, people heard Paul was born again and they said, “Wait, isn’t this the guy who caused such devastation in Jerusalem?”

But what a great example of how powerful God’s salvation is. He could save Paul, who may have been the worst person on the planet at the time. The Lord could take this destroyer and make him a deliverer. Hands used for murder could now be used for miracles. A tongue used to blaspheme would now broadcast the Good News of Jesus Christ.

God transforms people. He makes us new creations. He brings us new purpose, a new spiritual family, a new way of life, bringing everything together in Christ.

This phrase “to shed light” can be translated “to make plain.” And that’s a great litmus test for how we’re communicating the Gospel to people. Are we making plain Who God is and what He’s said and what His plan is? That’s the job – to make it plain.

Now, if God wants to make Himself plain, a person might ask, “Why not just write a big message in the sky?” In fact, I had someone ask me that recently. “If God is real, why doesn’t He just show Himself and write His message in the sky?” It’s a fair question.

The first answer is that He actually has written His message in the sky. The heavens declare the glory of God. He has written more than 750,000 words about Himself and His plan, preserved those words for thousands of years, had them translated into thousands of languages and sent to every corner of the world.

He did bodily appear and walk the earth for more than 30 years. And humanity largely rejected Him. They refused to believe, even when they witnessed His power first hand.

On top of that, God has sown eternity into the heart of every human being so that they will grope for God and He’s made the promise that if a person seeks Him, they will find Him.

But, set that aside for a minute. Why doesn’t God just write a big billboard in the sky? I was thinking about that question and, it’s just a thought experiment, but imagine you were driving down the 99 tomorrow and, as you go, there’s a big billboard in black and white that said, “GENE – your great-great-uncle has a fortune for you. Call this number.” Would you call that number? I wouldn’t!

But what if this great-great-uncle you’ve never met sent a friend to come find you, explain the situation. Say, “You don’t know me and you’ve never met your great-great-uncle, but he knows all about you and wants to give you this inheritance. I know it seems too good to be true, but here’s a down payment. And here are the documents. And I’m here to help you get in contact with your great-great-uncle and I’ll try to answer any questions you have. And I’ll tell you that it’s not just you. Your great-great-uncle is also MY great-great-uncle and all these things are true. I’ve received a fortune from him.” That would be a lot different than a random billboard, wouldn’t it?

We are the friends God has sent to make these things plain. Things that seem impossible – too good to be true, but really are. That God is the Creator and Savior and a Generous Giver.

Our goal is to make plain, to clear the path, not to put obstacles between the Lord and those He wants to save.

Ephesians 3:10 – ¹⁰ This is so that God’s multi-faceted wisdom may now be made known through the church to the rulers and authorities in the heavens.

Multi-faceted is a word that can mean ‘many-colored.’ It was used to describe woven carpets. I’m having us think of it like an orchestra. All these pieces coming together to be woven together in common purpose, to create a whole out of many parts. This was the great mystery Paul revealed to Ephesians: That Jews and Gentiles, men and women, slave and free, rich and poor, we’re all being brought together in the Church for God’s glorious work of art.

But here we learn the Church is not just meant for earth. God has a cosmic, supernatural purpose for us. Through the Church, He plans to teach angelic beings things about His wisdom.

Angels are not all-knowing. The Bible indicates that they have a lot to learn. In fact, it tells us that they are very interested in understanding what God is doing with us. Peter says that the angels “long to catch a glimpse of these things.”

Ephesians say that, in eternity, God plans to put the Church “on display” to demonstrate His kindness. And here it seems we are being used as an object lesson to teach the rulers and authorities in the heavens about God’s wisdom.

It’s incredible to think that angels are investigating my life. And I realized that so often I am trying to figure out what God is showing me for my life, which is a good thing, but this gives us another thought to tuck away: What is God showing angelic beings through me?

Remember that stunning scene in Job 2? There’s the Divine Council, assembled before the Lord, the Devil comes in and God says, “Have you considered my servant, Job?” “Uh, I’d rather Satan doesn’t consider me…” God’s plan is so much greater in scope and scale than we realize. He’s doing things through your life that ripple all the way into the eternal, heavenly realm.

This also helps us have a proper perspective on spiritual warfare. That’s a topic Paul will speak about more in chapter 6. But one of the best ways to walk in victory is to live out our calling in the Church. Through the Church God makes His wisdom known to the rulers and authorities in heaven.

Ephesians 3:11 – ¹¹ This is according to his eternal purpose accomplished in Christ Jesus our Lord.

When you attend a symphony, your attention is on the piece of music. You may know the name of one of the soloists, but you have no idea who the second double-bassoon player is. You’re there to hear Beethoven’s masterpiece. In a sense, it doesn’t matter at all who is playing the piece, just that there is someone there who knows the music and is ready to play.

Paul points out here that it’s not about him, it’s about Jesus. This was one of the problems in the church at Corinth. They elevated individuals and became a fanbase for certain ministers. “I’m of Paul,” or “I’m of Apollos,” or “I’m of Peter.” But Jesus is the One Who accomplishes these things. Not us. Not some celebrity Christian. It’s Christ.

“Well, if it’s all Christ, then who cares if I participate or not?” It’s true that God doesn’t need you, but He wants you on the team. We’ve seen the movies where they assemble the team, right? They get this person for this aspect of the job and that person for another aspect. God knocks on your door and says, “I want you for this thing I’m doing. Do you want in?” And this isn’t just a one-time thing. This is an eternal plan, the unfolding of a work that will last forever. One commentator noted, Marxism is going to cease to exist. Islam is going to cease to exist. Free-market capitalism is going to cease to exist. Only the Church is going to survive history and we will rule the universe alongside Christ. The Lord says to us today, “You want in on this? I’ve got a spot for you.”

But it’s His design. He’s the Composer and the Conductor. I remember going to college, trying out for the concert choir. In high school I was one of the few boys who wanted to sing and could sing loud. So, I was a tenor in high school choir.

In college, the choir director said, “What part do you sing?” “I sing tenor.” “No you don’t. You’re gonna be a bass.” “I can’t sing that low.” “Well, you’ll be a baritone when there’s a baritone part and a bass the rest of the time.” He’d rather me be a weak bass than a terrible tenor. But, he knew better. And he understood the other components that I didn’t and he was forming a group.

Ephesians 3:12 – ¹² In him we have boldness and confident access through faith in him.

Did you know you have freedom of speech? Not the kind that is being eroded and censored more and more in our spiraling society, but freedom of speech before God Himself. We don’t have to cower. We don’t have to be afraid to speak to God about anything in our hearts. God wants us to have the kind of relationship with Him that friends have with each other.

This access is available now. This is a reminder we constantly need, because we’re not as bold as we could be. I know that’s true because even Paul himself is going to ask the Ephesians to pray that he would be as bold as he can be! So, as we exercise our faith and do so imperfectly, we want to remind ourselves of God’s faithfulness, all He has given us, and what is true about our relationship with Him. His power and grace and kindness makes this all possible and He will not relent.

Ephesians 3:13 – ¹³ So, then, I ask you not to be discouraged over my afflictions on your behalf, for they are your glory.

Paul’s afflictions were many and severe. Yet, we see he was not afraid of them or discouraged by them. He said, “This is on your behalf. It’s for your glory. It’s my part to play.”

If you go to see a symphony, you don’t pity the musicians for the countless thousands of hours dedicated to study and practice. You don’t feel bad about their sore fingers or having to carry around a 30 pound tuba all over the place. We understand that’s part of the life for this musician. Paul, essentially is saying that, but in a much more heavenly frame of mind. “Those scars from my scourging? Oh those are like the calluses guitar players get on their fingers. Being imprisoned for 5 years? That’s part of being first-chair apostle to the Gentiles!”

Paul looked at his life, with all the hardship and pain and opposition, and he says, “This is a privilege. This is God’s grace toward me.”

In a sense he said, “I don’t deserve this!” But not in the way we usually hear that phrase. He said, “I don’t deserve the favor God is showing me. I’m the smallester. The worst of sinners. I persecuted the Church. I blasphemed the name of Christ.” Not only that but he understood that his suffering had a great purpose. He said, “This is going to accomplish great things for you guys.” His being strong through suffering would help them be strong in suffering. This testimony would help propel the message of the Gospel to those who heard it. “Let me tell you about Paul.” As far as Paul was concerned, this was all a wonderful gift of grace.

It reminds us of that great phrase in Genesis 6: “But Noah found grace in the eyes of the Lord.” What did Noah find? A big job to do. A hard set of circumstances to endure. But power to go through those circumstances and ultimate deliverance. God’s favor for Noah was a calling – a place in His plan. And he played his part faithfully.

Adolf von Hensley’s Piano Concerto in F Minor is so challenging that only three recordings of it exist. It requires the players hands to have certain, abnormal formations and elasticity. It’s a special piece for special people.

Noah found grace and a special place in God’s plan. Paul found grace and a special place in God’s plan. In Ephesians 4 we’ll read, “Now grace was given to each one of us according to the measure of Christ’s gift.” The question is: What is my place in God’s plan? He’s invited us into the orchestra of the Church, this multi-faceted, radiant symphony of His power and grace. The composition He sets before us may be challenging, it may demand intense levels of dedication at times, but it is good, masterful, and eternal in scope. Let’s find our place and join in the song.

Supernatural Man Of Mystery (Ephesians 3:1-7)

Ephesians 3:1-7 – For this reason, I, Paul, the prisoner of Christ Jesus on behalf of you Gentiles—² you have heard, haven’t you, about the administration of God’s grace that he gave to me for you? ³ The mystery was made known to me by revelation, as I have briefly written above. ⁴ By reading this you are able to understand my insight into the mystery of Christ. ⁵ This was not made known to people in other generations as it is now revealed to his holy apostles and prophets by the Spirit: ⁶ The Gentiles are coheirs, members of the same body, and partners in the promise in Christ Jesus through the gospel. ⁷ I was made a servant of this gospel by the gift of God’s grace that was given to me by the working of his power.

One Monday in 1978, a limousine pulled up to a shopping center in downtown Kansas City. An unknown man stepped out, holding a paper bag filled with $2 bills. He proceeded to hand them out to anyone he saw and promised he would be back the next day.

Sure enough, Tuesday he was back in the same place with another bag full of $2 bills. The crowd was a little bigger this time and some local news reporters were on hand.

By Thursday, the national news had picked up the story. When asked why he was doing this, he said, “You people are responsible for me having it and I want you to have it back.”

The man’s name was John Leslie. He had just been hired by the KCKN radio station as a disk jockey for their new morning show. The money-giveaway was a promotional stunt to get listeners.

One day in the city of Ephesus, a strange looking Jewish man came to town. He was something of a mystery – an academic, a world-traveler, a man who had been a leader within Judaism and now – seemingly – a leader within a new sect called Christianity. He was a Roman citizen by birth and had a stunning intellect, yet he wore an apron, making tents to support himself and his fellow travelers. He could work miracles but was humble. One look at him showed that he had been beaten many times, suffered from chronic illness, and probably didn’t have much in his savings account.

He proclaimed that he knew the real truth about life and God, about heaven and hell. He spread this message house to house for three years and then was gone. Now, five or seven years after, a letter came from this man, Paul, with more truths explained and more mysteries disclosed.

In our text tonight, Paul says that he is the mystery man. The Lord gave him a ministry of mystery not just to the Ephesians, but to all Gentiles, which is not what we’d expect and definitely not what we would’ve designed if we were the ones strategizing how best to spread the Gospel.

Ephesians 3:1 – For this reason, I, Paul, the prisoner of Christ Jesus on behalf of you Gentiles

There was never any challenge to the idea that Paul authored Ephesians until the late 18th century. Now, naturally, there are scholars who turn their noses up at the idea that Paul wrote what we’re reading. But the message of this letter hinges on whether he really is the man he says he is. In a moment we’ll hear him say, “I have a unique message through direct revelation from Christ Himself.” So, for a second time, he identifies himself and calls himself “the prisoner of Christ Jesus.”

In other verses he describes himself as an apostle, a servant, a saint, an adopted son. He was the founder of their church in Ephesus and he was the dear friend of many people in the congregation.

We have a lot of roles to play as Christians. You may be a spouse, a parent, a child, a cousin, a friend, a co-worker, a classmate, a teammate. Or, maybe you’re just a fellow passenger on the bus. In each of those areas, you are a representative of Jesus Christ and an outpost of His grace. Paul felt that way, even as a prisoner. He said, “I’m a prisoner of Jesus.” Not of Rome, not of Nero.

Now let’s remember what’s come so far in this letter: Paul has been talking all about God’s great power for His people. He’s been talking about peace and fullness and inheritance and every spiritual blessing – about salvation and how our lives have been prepared for glory and how God works out everything in agreement with His unstoppable will.

“And where are you, Paul?” “Oh, I’m in chains. I might be getting beheaded pretty soon here.” Paul then adds a kicker: Not only was he a prisoner, he was a prisoner on behalf of you Gentiles.

One commentator wrote, “Gentile liberty had cost Paul his freedom.” It’s true. As Klyne Snodgrass points out, “The only reason why Paul was in prison was because he thought Gentiles had the same access to God that Jews did.” Luckily for us, Paul thought our liberty was worth it.

So much of Ephesians is about Christians having a different perspective – a proper understanding of what it means to be in Christ. Paul’s perspective on his imprisonment is counter-intuitive to our normal way of thinking. We think that Paul in prison is a bad thing, a limiting thing, a setback in the work of the Gospel. But Paul said, “I’m here because Christ wants me here and it’s going to help further the faith of Gentiles.” In verse 13 he’ll go as far as saying, “My suffering is for your glory!”

The term he uses there where we read “on behalf of” can be translated as “for the furtherance of.” Paul knew his suffering was not only within the will of God but was serving to spread the Gospel, not to hamper it.

Ephesians 3:2 – ² you have heard, haven’t you, about the administration of God’s grace that he gave to me for you?

This verse is one of the reasons why some scholars say Paul didn’t write Ephesians. They say, “Look, the recipients didn’t know Paul, but Paul spent years in Ephesus!” The simple explanation is that, number 1, Paul is speaking rhetorically. Number 2, it had been a lot of years since he had been in Ephesus and a lot of new people had been saved who didn’t know Paul personally.

Those newer believers would’ve asked the others, “Tell us about this Paul guy.” And what stories they could tell! They might start by explaining how he was the most Jewish man you could imagine. He was a Pharisee of Pharisees. How he previously persecuted the Church on behalf of the Sanhedrin. How he knew the Hebrew Scriptures by memory and could reason through any theological issue. But, now he’s out here in the Gentile world, telling pagans about Christ.

“Wow,” the young Christian might respond, “Seems like he should be an apostle for the Jews.” On paper, that’s what we’d think. Paul is the Jewish expert. He had the heritage and skills that could open any Jewish door. To not use him to minister to all the Jews would seem like a mistake to us.

Sometimes you’ll hear sports commentators talk about how a particular player is being “misused” on their team. “You’ve got to get that player into the right position so that they can score properly.” They look at the stats and the matchups to make those determinations. That’s the human mindset.

Then God comes along and says to Paul, “I have a plan for you. You’re going to be the apostle to the Gentiles!” It’s totally opposite what we would do based off the stat sheet.

Paul calls this gift an “administration of God’s grace.” Your translation may use the word “dispensation” or “stewardship.” The term is an important one. It means a set of household rules. The idea is that, at different times, God has different ways of how He interacts with the world. This is why we are called dispensationalists. We recognize different periods of activity in God’s unfolding work. That’s why you didn’t bring a lamb to church with you tonight to be slaughtered for your sin.

Paul calls our time a dispensation of grace. This grace is freely offered to everyone. It doesn’t matter your nationality or your status or any other separating factor. In this era of God’s household rules, grace goes out to all corners and invites everyone to receive salvation through faith.

In this dispensation, grace is the characteristic element. Which means that our activity and attitudes should be all about grace. That is the main feature of God’s work toward us in this era and we are called to reflect Him and do His work and His work right now is a work of grace.

Ephesians 3:3 – ³ The mystery was made known to me by revelation, as I have briefly written above.

Paul here (and elsewhere) explains that he received direct revelation from God Himself.

There are people who want to take Paul out of Christianity. They call his teachings Paulianity. I recently heard a podcast where people were talking about how they had finally deconstructed their faith and how good that was because they realized that Paul was really just a racist and a sexist. You can go on Amazon and find books about Paul the “false apostle” or Paul vs. Jesus.

The problem is, if you reject Paul, you have to reject about 25% of the New Testament. Actually, you have to reject Peter’s books, too because he calls Paul’s writing “Scripture.” And you have to reject Luke’s writings, because he corroborates Paul’s teachings. So now you’re up past 50% of the New Testament. Really you have to reject the whole thing since the canon is not an á la carte thing.

The mystery Paul is referring to is that the Gentiles have a full share in the promises of God and the benefits of salvation and they don’t have to become part of the nation of Israel to do it.

Now, this word mystery would’ve jumped out. In the Roman Empire and in Ephesus specifically, there were all sorts of mystery religions. But Paul is taking this term and highlighting the difference between Christianity and these other cults. You see, in the mystery religions, everything was shrouded in secrecy. You couldn’t just join. There were weird initiations you had to go through and fees to pay. Those outside the group didn’t know what went on in these cults – there were very few written texts and it was treachery for a cult member to speak to outsiders about what they did and believed. The first rule of mystery religion is that you don’t talk about mystery religion.

But here’s Paul, writing down on a scroll to be read publicly and then sent all around, “I have a mystery, and I want every Gentile to hear it, every Gentile to join. It’s free and open and public.”

Ephesians 3:4 – ⁴ By reading this you are able to understand my insight into the mystery of Christ.

We are invited to read and understand the revelation of God on the pages of His Word. His truth is collected and preserved and delivered to us so that we can grow in our knowledge and wisdom and so we can evaluate the things we hear from human teachers.

That’s why our focus is on the systematic teaching of the Bible in our gatherings. Because by reading God’s word we are able to understand and the more we understand about the Lord and what He has done for us, the more we are able to experience the outflow of His grace and the working of His power in our lives.

Now, notice this: It was more important for Paul to write them than for him to come work more miracles in their city. Jesus said, “You know what these Gentiles need? They need a letter.” Obviously we benefit from that decision. Had Jesus thought the most important thing was for Paul to go and work a few more miracles in Ephesus, a few people would’ve been blessed, but all of us would’ve missed out on something that has been impacting the world for thousands of years.

Paul isn’t boasting here about his insight. He’s explaining that God was doing a unique, revealing work through his life. We know that often people would show up where Paul had planted churches and, after he left, would say, “That guy doesn’t know what he’s talking about.” In Ephesus, Paul had warned that wolves were going to come in among the Christians and distort the truth and try to lure the believers away. So here he’s building the case that the message he gave them was true, was from God, and was what they should be building their faith on.

Ephesians 3:5 – ⁵ This was not made known to people in other generations as it is now revealed to his holy apostles and prophets by the Spirit:

Paul was the key channel through which God revealed this mystery, but he wasn’t the only one. It was confirmed by all the apostles, which is why they’re called the foundation of the Church in chapter 2. There are gatekeepers when it comes to Biblical revelation. God revealed truth through certain people and they are the ones who “laid out the perimeters within which [our] faith moves.” There is no new revelation. There is no new Paul for us to follow.

What wasn’t known in other generations? Certainly the idea of grace can be seen in the Old Testament. As far back as Abraham we see God talking about ministering not just to the people of Israel but to all the nations of the world. So what does Paul mean?

The new layer is the revelation that there would be no distinction between Jew and Gentile in the Church. All people would have equal footing. Most of you know that, in the Temple, there were different areas. If you were a woman you could only go so far. If you were a Gentile you could only be in a certain part. If you were a male Jew, you could go further, but you were still separated from God’s presence. Now, in the Church, all are unified with full access to the Father.

That doesn’t mean God is done doing special work with Israel. He still has a particular plan for ethnic Jews which will be the focus of His efforts after the rapture of the Church. But in the Church, this is the mystery now revealed:

Ephesians 3:6 – ⁶ The Gentiles are coheirs, members of the same body, and partners in the promise in Christ Jesus through the gospel.

The word for “members” is one coined by Paul. I don’t understand how that works in Greek, but it’s pretty fun. The important thing is that now, in the Church age dispensation of grace, Gentiles like you and me are coheirs, members, and partners. That means that we share in all the riches, the rights, and the responsibilities of the faith. Hearing this news should cause a listener to then ask, “Ok, then what is my inheritance? What are these promises? How does this Body operate?” These are questions answered in the Bible and experienced as we work out our salvation.

Ephesians 3:7 – ⁷ I was made a servant of this gospel by the gift of God’s grace that was given to me by the working of his power.

Paul’s perspective here is important. He talks again about being given a gift. He says, “God, by His grace, gave me a gift and it was to make me a servant.” It reminds us of that old song Make Me A Servant. I know in my own prayer life I’m so often praying things that are more like “Make me successful. Make me advantaged.” When I’m only focused on those things, it can crowd out other things the Lord might want to speak to me about my inheritance, His promises, my callings in His greater work.

Paul was chained to a Roman soldier for years. But looking at his life, he understood that God’s power had energizing him to be a table-waiter for the Gospel. That’s what the term servant means. Despite his genius, despite the miracles, despite his credentials and skillset, Paul recognized that he had been gifted this life so that He could be a part of building up the Body of Christ. Markus Barth writes, “the grace given to Paul makes him and instrument of God for diffusing grace.”

That’s what the Lord wants to do in each of our lives. It wasn’t just for Paul. Peter wrote:

1 Peter 4:10 – ¹⁰ Just as each one has received a gift, use it to serve others, as good stewards of the varied grace of God.

We’re all members of the same Body. We’re all partners in the work. Thousands of years of God’s plan has culminated to this dispensation and for you to be a special diffuser of His grace.

Think of your house during these hot, Valley summers. Each room needs an AC supply vent. You want each one to be open to the flow of that cold air that brings the grace of cool air. Maybe you have a room where that vent is closed off because you don’t want the air blowing there. That’s fine. But that room is hot and stuffy and unpleasant at 5pm in late July, isn’t it?

God brings us into His family, builds us alongside other living stones, so that we can diffuse His grace in our corners of the world. Paul understood his place in the plan – it was a unique work. But the fact of the matter is that the Lord has a unique work for you, too. What has grace prepared for you? Using Paul’s analogy, grace has made you a servant, and now you get to discover what tables you get to wait.

When John Leslie was handing out his $2 bills, someone asked him, “How much are you going to give away?” His answer was, “I don’t know, but I’m going to do this until it’s all gone.” At first, people were reluctant to take what he was offering. But, he just kept at it. And the story unfolded. We don’t know how much we’ll get to diffuse, but let’s keep doing it until we’re all gone.

Body Building (Ephesians 2:19-22)

The world’s longest ongoing architectural project is a Catholic Church in Barcelona, Spain. It’s a basilica called the Sagrada Família, and it comes from the genius of a man named Antoni Gaudí. He was known as “God’s architect.” Work began on the church in 1882 and continues still today. In their story on Gaudí, 60 Minutes asked the question, “Why would a church take so long to build?”

It has been a long process. It took 128 years of work before the first mass was even held at the Sagrada Família. More than a century for it to start serving its purpose. I’m sure Gaudí wouldn’t have liked that. His biographer said, “Gaudí felt his duty as an architect…was that a building should reflect the glory of God, and that God was working through him.”

In Ephesians 2, the Apostle Paul reveals that the longest ongoing church building project is not the Sagrada Família, is us, right here. Christ has been building His Church for about 2,000 years now. It’s not made out of sandstone, but out of living stones. His Church is not meant to sit dormant for a hundred years. This Church is meant to be growing and growing together, as Christ’s powerful salvation continues to revolutionize and recreate us according to His image.

Ephesians 2:19 – ¹⁹ So, then, you are no longer foreigners and strangers, but fellow citizens with the saints, and members of God’s household,

Wait, aren’t we called “strangers and foreigners” in a different part of the Bible? We are, indeed. The Apostle Peter uses those words of us in his first letter. But we’re not strangers to the Lord, we’re strangers to the unbelieving world. We’re exiles, on our way home. We are a new, special group of people moving through life separated from the path of this world. In fact, in antiquity, opponents of Christians would sometimes label them as “genus tertium,” the third race. Neither Jew, nor Gentile. Not Greek or Barbarian. Something else.

Paul uses three analogies to describe the Church. The first is that we are citizens. Of what? Not Israel. The Church does not replace Israel. God has put His program for the ethnic nation of Israel on hold during the Church age, but they are still His people and He will still keep His promises to them. Our citizenship is in a new thing, the Church.

Nothing makes you appreciate American citizenship like being in a strange land overseas. I remember the small comfort of having the US Embassy’s phone number and address tucked into my pocket while we were in Colombia or parts of Peru. 

In the Roman Empire, there were different status levels. To be a foreigner meant you had no rights at all, to be a stranger meant you had some rights. Then there was citizenship. There were different types. It was complex and somewhat unfair. But Paul explains that, in the Church, there are no levels of citizenship. We’re all equal in that regard. We all receive the rights, the freedoms, the access, the privileges, and the responsibilities of being citizens of God’s Kingdom. We are no longer strangers to the Lord or foreigners to His covenants and promises. 

This spiritual citizenship makes us countrymen with all other Christians – comrades together. We live in an increasingly isolated, individualistic society. The Church is something we’re called to together. Gathering and supporting and connecting. 

This spiritual citizenship is incredible. It comes with privileges and allotments and authority. But it means we must give up world citizenship and some of its “benefits.” I was looking on a .gov site yesterday all about how to renounce US citizenship. I’m probably on a list now. We understand that allegiance has to be given to one place. We are no longer citizens of this world, we are citizens of God’s Kingdom, living as exiles in this world. We’re not meant to behave with hostility, but with grace and mercy and truth. But we do turn our allegiance to the Lord and away from this world. 

Next, Paul uses the analogy of a household. This is an image of greater intimacy than citizenship. There are hundreds of millions of American citizens walking around that we’ve never met and never will meet. But you know everyone in your house. This is an image of togetherness and sharing and caring and knowing. 

Don’t think of a big, Downton Abbey house, where we’re just the servants downstairs and the Lord and His special saints are detached and doing their own thing upstairs. Jesus said, “I don’t call you servants anymore, I’ve called you friends.” God also calls us His children. Life in Christ is one of joy and intimacy and nearness to our Lord. 

But, as children, we are to be submissive and obedient to our Father. Christ is the Head of the Church. Christ is the King. It’s God Who sets the rules and the schedule and the course. Children don’t do that in a house. When they do, things don’t go very well for the family. The family doesn’t sit down and say, “Ok, little toddler Timmy, what are the things we are going to do today and what time are we going to do it and how should it be done?” That’s a recipe for disaster. 

Ephesians 2:20 – ²⁰ built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, with Christ Jesus himself as the cornerstone.

Paul moves to a third analogy – we’re a building. And, this building is carefully planned. When you see pictures of the Sagrada Família, the complexity is stunning. Gaudí had meticulous plans and models so that the building would be accomplished properly. Sadly, during the Spanish Civil War, anarchists broke into the Sagrada Família and destroyed all the original plans and models. So later engineers have had to work using their best efforts and guesses as to Gaudí’s original plans. 

Not so with the Church. It was masterfully designed, carefully planned. The foundation has been laid. That foundation, Paul says, was the apostles and prophets. 

But, wait, isn’t Christ the foundation? Yes – He’s called the foundation in 1 Corinthians 3 and here He is called the cornerstone. But Paul is explaining that Christ used these New Testament Apostles and prophets to establish the Church, reveal the Word of God, and explain the doctrines necessary for this Church to be built. The ongoing work of the Church flows from this foundation. 

This is why we reject Joseph Smith, or Charles Taze Russell, or anyone else who comes along and says, “I have new revelation, I have a new way for the ‘church’ to work, I have an adjustment to the New Testament.” Paul was very clear in Galatians 1:

Galatians 1:8 – ⁸ But even if we or an angel from heaven should preach to you a gospel contrary to what we have preached to you, a curse be on him!

It’s not that anything the Apostles said was revelation from God. The Apostles were fallible people. Peter was corrected publicly for some of his choices. But through this foundation, God delivered the 27 books of the New Testament. There are 27 – no more, no less. 

There are no more Apostles today, because no one fits the Biblical criteria. And there are not prophets today in the sense that Paul is using, here. The gift of prophecy still exists and can be exercised, but there is no new revelation which will need to be added to the New Testament. The foundation is laid, it’s done. 

In this building Christ is the cornerstone. Linguists argue over whether Paul means the foundational cornerstone, the first that would be laid, or the capstone, the last that is put in place. Both have a Biblical basis. When Peter talks about Jesus being the cornerstone, he purposefully uses two different terms in the same breath. And that’s because Jesus is both! He is the First and the Last. He is the Alpha and the Omega. He is the foundation, the center, and the most highly exalted. He is the basis and the culmination. It’s all of Jesus. It’s all in Christ, by Christ, for Christ.

In our context, Paul seems to be speaking of the lower, foundational stone. The first one laid – one that provides stability for the building. This was a load-bearing stone on which the rest of the structure would rest. This stone would provide the lines and measures for all the other parts of the building so that it could stand and be square. One source says, “In ancient structures, [the cornerstone] was placed at a right angle joining two walls, with the royal name inscribed on it to signify the ruler who took credit for the building’s erection.” 

We cannot overestimate the importance of the cornerstone and the foundation. R. Kent Hughes writes, “If we tamper with the foundation, the [building] will crumble.”

So, as we live out our Christianity, we must adhere to Christ’s design which was revealed through the foundation of the Apostle’s doctrine and the revelation shared by the prophets. Being the Church is not just about responding to what we feel is important, not just reacting to whatever the current social issue is. Rather, church life flows from the foundation described here. That’s why we study the Bible here at Calvary, because it provides the guidance and design necessary to build up the Church. It matters what the Apostles said and what it means and that we align with it. 

Ephesians 2:21 – ²¹ In him the whole building, being put together, grows into a holy temple in the Lord.

So, it’s not just a building, it’s a temple, which is a very specific kind of building. It has a specific set of purposes. It is the home to specific activities. A special place unlike other places.

Paul says, “In Him.” This is a favorite phrase throughout these opening chapters. In Christ. In Him. Christ Jesus is the focus, He is the goal, He is the measuring line for the Church. 

He says the whole building is being put together. That’s all of us. We are each a living stone, drawn by God to be placed in a special way alongside other stones as He builds the Church. 

If you’ve ever had the experience of being taken off a malfunctioning ride at Disneyland, you know that ‘backstage’ is not as magical as what we normally see. Very plain. Nothing wonderful. Much more attention is paid to the part people are looking at. Not so in the Church. God puts us all together with care and precision and with all the attention He has. 

One source defines this phrase, “being put together” this way: “fit by means of all the elaborate preparatory processes necessary.” There’s a lot of elaborate work God does to bring us together.

As the Lord accomplishes this work, He will have to shape us so we can be close-jointed with the stones around us. It’s a snug fit, as one commentator says. And being fit together means we are going to be carefully aligned with the Lord, our cornerstone.

The goal of this fitting together, according to Paul is growth. Growth in what? Most commonly the term “church growth” means the number of people who attend services. But is that what Paul means? Certainly, it is God’s desire to add numerically to the Church, but He is the One Who does that as He sees fit.

Paul will explain what he means by church growth in chapter 4, where we read:

Ephesians 4:12b-13, 15 – to build up the body of Christ, ¹³ until we all reach unity in the faith and in the knowledge of God’s Son, growing into maturity with a stature measured by Christ’s fullness…¹⁵ But speaking the truth in love, let us grow in every way into him who is the head—Christ.

So the growth Paul is talking about is spiritual maturity which is measured by Christ’s fullness. We see Christ’s mercy, how does our mercy measure up? We see Christ’s prayer life, how does our church prayer life measure up? His joy, His kindness, His obedience. God is conforming us into His image, so as we grow, we will be maturing in all sorts of ways and more and more measuring up to the stature of Christ’s fullness. 

When we think about church growth we should be less concerned about bodies in seats and more concerned with whether we are aligned with our cornerstone so that we can grow properly.

Paul doesn’t say this so we’ll be discouraged. He’s not saying, “By the way, you don’t measure up, so you should be ashamed of yourselves.” He says, “This is the process that’s happening. The building is ongoing. The Lord is going to complete this work.” 

Ephesians 2:22 – ²² In him you are also being built together for God’s dwelling in the Spirit. 

God is doing an individual work in your heart and He is doing a corporate work in His Church, specifically through local churches where Christian stones come together to be knit with one another, fit snug, and built up. Isolation and Christianity do not square. 

One source writes, “belonging to the visible church is not optional for followers of Christ.” I saw that some professor recently broke a record by living by himself underwater for 100 days. A lot of Christians are doing that, spiritually, especially since COVID, and it’s not spiritually healthy. It’s not the design plan. 

The plan is togetherness, snug and fit, with our stones growing and glowing together. We’re luminous stones. That’s for all you Tears Of The Kingdom fans out there. But there are real stones that glow in the dark. Of course, we’re called to be light in the dark. Glowing stones, together shining brightly as the glory of God works in and through our lives. 

This building that God does is not random or haphazard, it’s skillful and purposeful. The Lord has a specific church He wants you to attend. He has people He wants to connect you with. Because He shapes each of us in special ways for this work He’s accomplishing. And we’re reminded here that the Holy Spirit, Who is a downpayment to us and Who seals us, and Who comforts us, now takes up residence in our hearts and among us in a special way when we’re together. 

Officials say Antoni Gaudí’s masterpiece will finally be finished in 2026. When will we be done? That day is coming. It’s coming for us individually but there’s a Day coming when the Lord will complete the universal Church as well and we will be presented as a Bride to the Bridegroom.

It’s interesting – all this work, all this calling, all this opportunity, and yet, as Klyne Snodgrass points out, this is a text that does not specifically ask anything of us. “You’re the Church, so go do this.” That’s not what Paul says. Paul’s whole point is that this is what is true. This is who you are if you’re a Christian. This is what salvation does. This is the work that God started and is continuing and will accomplish. If you’re a Christian here tonight, you are a part of this. 

Now, we have a part to play. Remember, we’re living stones, not inanimate ones. We have roles and  opportunities and tasks and assignments. Paul will explain some of those in the coming chapters. Our obedience is important. But this text is not about a list of things you need to do. It’s an explanation of what God has done. In hearing these things, we’re invited to remember, to realize, and to recognize. To remember who we were apart from Christ and remember what He did to save us. To realize the truths of what the Church really is. It’s not a place that exists to meet my felt needs, it’s a living spiritual Body that I am a vital part of, where God is glorified, I become more like Him, and the barriers between people and each other and people and God are broken down. And finally we’re invited to recognize more and more how we fit together in the Church God has brought us to be a part of as He smooths off our edges and compresses us so that we can help bear the weight of the stones around us. Of course, Jesus Christ bears the most, He is our cornerstone, He is our capstone. But these are the realities of our Christian life in Christ and in the Church. Wonderful realities. Let’s walk in them, be empowered by them, and cooperate with what God has already designed, already desired, and already began in us.