Ephesians 4:1-16

 

Paul just spent the first three chapters of Ephesians telling us about all that God has freely done for us, by His grace. Now, in chapter 4 Paul turns to those in the church and calls them to step up, live rightly, to 

“walk worthy of the calling with which they (you) were called.”

 

Oh, oh! This sounds like a rule maker. 

 

Being worthy of something means someone is going to “evaluate” me to see if I am worthy or not, or if I make the mark. Not so. 

 

Paul spent three chapters in preparation of dismissing that thought all together. Paul prepared the reader by describing just how much God did for us. 

For those of us who comprehend this, we will naturally want to serve and obey Him out of mere gratitude. 

 

Thank you Jesus, what can I possibly do for you? 

We aren’t trying to earn merit, we are grateful for God’s love and want to demonstrate our gratitude by walking in His ways. 

 

Paul offers some characteristics of a worthy walk, attributes we should be striving for…

 

Lowliness,

Gentleness,

Longsuffering

Bearing with one another in love

Endeavoring to keep the unity of the Spirit

Employing the bond of peace

 

Wow! That is quite the list!

For the Jewish and Gentile believers in the first century as well as believers in the twenty-first century. Let’s explore these characteristics to see what they mean in our daily lives. 

 

Lowliness - quite often this word has a bad association to it, however in the Christian worldview it is a virtue. It means that we can be happy and content when we are not in control or steering things our way. Let’s be honest, everyone, beginning the age of 2, has been trying to steer things their own way. Paul is telling us that in God’s family, it’s not about what “we” want, but about what God wants and what is best for the family of God. 

A tough pill to swallow. 

 

Longsuffering - this word also sounds negative. Who wants to suffer, long? This goes right along with 

“Bearing with one another.” 

This characteristic is a necessity in the family of God. Let’s face it, while we are working on our lowliness we are bound to make mistakes and do some wrongs with others in God’s family. By employing long suffering we offer each other some room to grow and ensure that we are not working against God’s purpose of bringing all things together in Jesus. 

 

John Chrysostom, an important Early Church Father who served as Archbishop of Constantinople, defined longsuffering, 

“as the spirit that has the power to take revenge, 

but never does. 

It is a characteristic of a forgiving, generous heart.” 

 

Next we are called to “endeavor to keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace.”  

Notice we are called to endeavor to “keep,” the peace, not “create” the peace among believers. God’s Spirit is the one who does the creating of peace. It’s our duty to recognize it and keep it. Paul is talking about our spiritual unity, not necessarily our structural or denominational unity. 

 

Paul was speaking to Jews and Gentiles at the time. They were about as far apart when it came to spiritual values and structural worship as could be. The concept is still valid today. It’s not the idea of all churches melting into one another and becoming one. But as the Church, big “C”, we are called to unite around one person, Jesus Christ. Charles Spurgeon put it this way, “Divisions in Churches never begin with those full of love to the Savior.”

Paul goes on to describe the unity of the Church, verse 4, 

 

“There is one body and one Spirit,”

 

Our unity resides in what we share in common.

 

One - Hope of your calling

One - Lord

One - Faith

One - Baptism

One - God and Father of all 

 

Who is above all - through all - and in all.

 

Each of these common areas is greater than any potential difference. Why is it when we are in conflict we focus on the differences and fight for what we think is “right” when most of the time, what we are fighting for is not as significant as our unity. 

 

Maybe it’s because there seems to be a hierarchy of spiritual gifts exhibited in the Church, at least from our human perspective. Paul sees these spiritual gifts in a different way. He sees them as unifying God’s people and making them one body.

 

First, by how the gifts are given, through grace. No one deserves or earns their spiritual gifts. God gives them freely. The giving happened, as described prophetically in Psalm 68:18, when Jesus ascended into heaven. This is a part of God’s story. Jesus tells us in John 16:7,

“But very truly I tell you, it is for your good that I am going away. Unless I go away, the Advocate will not come to you; but if I go, I will send him to you.”

The Advocate, or Holy Spirit is with us now, assisting with the distribution and supporting those who have been called to be: Apostles, Prophets, Evangelists, Pastors and Teachers.

Apostles, 

they are special ambassadors of God’s work. In the time of Paul, first century, the Apostles were those who had walked and talked with Christ, the twelve disciples and then Paul. Today we would call them “missionaries.” Someone who is sent to share the gospel.

Then there are “prophets.” 

Again, the prophets during Paul’s time, first century, were those who spoke words from God that were in complete compliance with the foundation of the Old and New Testament. Today, there are those who are prophets, but not with the same authority as the first century prophets. They may speak in a predictive sense, but not necessarily, and they are always subject to discernment and judgment of the church leadership, as described in 1 Corinthians 14:29,

“Two or three prophets should speak, and the others should weigh carefully what is said.”

Then we have “Evangelists.” 

Billy Graham comes immediately to mind. These are people who are specifically gifted to preach the good news of salvation in Jesus Christ. The Nazarene Church in Wiscasset has an evangelist visiting next month.

Pastor-teachers, is one office in ancient Greek, with two descriptive titles. 

Although teaching is an essential part of pastoral ministry, shepherding the flock of God is what pastors are called to do. 

These callings are the work of the same Spirit and are distributed by Jesus as He determines. I encourage you to read 1 Corinthians 12 where Paul talks about the gifts of the Spirit. Any church body has these gifts present as God sees the need. It’s our job to recognize when these gifts are present in a person, not promote their existence. 

Paul tells us that the purpose of these gifts of leadership is to equip God’s people for the work they have been called to do, so the body of Christ can be built up and expanded. 

The Greek word for “equip” has the idea of “to put right.” It would have been used to describe the setting of broken bones or mending nets. 

Exactly what happens in the church, where broken people gather together and are mended in order to produce strong, fit Christians. 

Did you notice the order of operations for the church that Paul described? God’s people, the pew sitters, do the real work of ministry. The leaders in the church have the first responsibility to equip people to serve and to direct their service as God leads. Paul is telling the Ephesians, and us, the primary purpose of the Church isn’t to convert sinners to Christianity, but to perfect the saints, or help the members of the Church to be complete and mature. We are it, the body of Christ, the Church. When non-believers look at us they should see us as becoming mature, attaining to the whole measure of the fullness of Christ. In unity, not in solidarity. 

Paul is exhorting the believers to honor the gifts of leadership that are present within their midst. 

They, in turn, equip the saints and bring them to maturity, with Jesus as our example. As years go by, we should not only grow old in Jesus, but we should become more mature in Him as well. This is meant for the individual and as a corporate body.

Paul warns us, when we don’t mature in our walk with God, we remain like children who when they hear something that sounds true, or if enough people seem to believe it, they get carried away with every wind of doctrine. They become targets for deceivers. 

Those who are not mature in their faith, who take their faith as something simple and cease to grow in their faith are unable to comprehend when something they hear is true or not. Deceivers don’t come right out and say they are lying, if they did they wouldn’t be deceivers. They are crafty and quick to make what they have to say sound good, when in fact it is not. 

Mature Christians avoid such people. Rather than being tossed to and fro, like a stormy sea, mature Christians should be growing up in all things. Ready to speak the truth in love. This is how we should relate to each other, in God’s family and how we should deal with the deceivers, in love but never budging from the truth. 

Paul tells us “how” maturity is obtained, 

by growing up in all things into Him who is the head. 

This is Jesus. This gives us the direction we should be maturing. We never grow up “independent” of Jesus. The metaphor Paul uses is the Church is like a body. Christ is the head and everyone else is part of what keeps the head going. All the parts need nourishment, exercise, and are equally growing each in proportion to the other parts and to the body in general. 

What is the evidence that maturity exists? 

Where the leaders and saints are all doing their job. All the parts and joints provide what is needed in a coordinated effort. When this happens, there will be growth in the body in both size and strength. God wants to see the church as a body where every part does its share. 

Check in time. 

Paul is writing to the church, the Jewish and Gentile believers who are just starting out in this new faith called Christianity. Whether you were in the church in the first century or in the 21st century, as soon as you choose to follow Jesus, you are a part of the body of Christ. Everyone who is part of the body has a part in keeping the body healthy and growing. Christ is the head, our example, who we are seeking to emulate and become like. 

To continue with the metaphor of the body, Paul tells us there are some who are called to lead, to teach, to instruct and equip the rest of the saints in their works of service to ensure that we all grow up in the fullness of Christ. 

Growing up isn’t easy. Paul knew this, that’s why he continually reminds us to love each other along the way. Remembering the grace we received and that in order to live in unity, grace must also be given. 

Everyone in this room is in a different place in their spiritual walk with Jesus. Together, we represent the body of Christ. 

A couple of questions to ponder this week - 

1. Are you maturing in your walk with Jesus and with your part of the body of Christ? What role do you have in the body of Christ?
2. What about Damariscotta Baptist Church? We are part of the big Church of believers. Are we growing in both size and strength?

May each of us seek to continue to grow in our faith, grow in our witness and grow in our likeness of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. 

Let’s pray.