back to indexWed Ephesians Bible Study Lesson 14
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Let's take a moment to pray and go before the Lord 00:00:14.840 |
All right, God, we thank you, God, for your truth. 00:00:19.680 |
Lord, we recognize truly how powerful your word is 00:00:27.360 |
We thank you so much that this word, which you describe 00:00:31.200 |
as so precious, more to be desired than money and gold, 00:00:35.640 |
and sweeter, Father God, than any sweet thing in this world. 00:00:38.920 |
I do pray that we would all the more experience it, trust, 00:00:47.040 |
Week in and week out, we have opportunity to study and learn. 00:00:55.480 |
and causes us to be strong in faith towards you, Lord. 00:00:58.800 |
We want to thank you again and pray for a fruitful time 00:01:06.280 |
This evening, we are looking at Ephesians chapter 4, 00:01:13.480 |
I will start reading in verse 7 because, again, those 00:01:17.880 |
And in verse 7, it says, "But to each one of us, 00:01:20.560 |
grace was given according to the measure of Christ's gift. 00:01:23.880 |
Therefore, it says, when he ascended on high, 00:01:31.600 |
Now, this expression, "he ascended," what does it mean 00:01:33.600 |
except that he also had descended into the lower 00:01:46.520 |
"And he gave some as apostles and some as prophets 00:01:48.720 |
and some as evangelists and some as pastors and teachers 00:01:51.920 |
for the equipping of the saints for the work of service, 00:01:59.240 |
and the knowledge of the Son of God, to a mature man, 00:02:05.360 |
As a result, we are no longer to be children tossed here 00:02:10.480 |
by every wind of doctrine, by the trickery of men, 00:02:23.160 |
from whom the whole body being fitted and held together 00:02:28.080 |
to the proper working of each individual part, 00:02:31.200 |
causes the growth of the body for the building up 00:02:42.000 |
that this is a very pivotal and important passage 00:02:50.760 |
the vision of what the church should be like. 00:02:54.280 |
We're going to start with verse 11 that describes the gift, 00:03:02.360 |
we rehearse and review that Christ gave gifts. 00:03:10.880 |
Christ as the victor, Christ as the conquering king, 00:03:14.760 |
has been generous with us, has been generous with the church. 00:03:21.280 |
And what he says here is that he gave some to be apostles, 00:03:31.640 |
And what we already said was that the concept of gift 00:03:34.880 |
in the New Testament has various different references, 00:03:37.640 |
everything from your enablement, the skills that you have, 00:03:41.320 |
your disposition, your character traits, the things 00:03:45.600 |
We also talked about the Holy Spirit as a gift. 00:03:48.040 |
We talked about obviously having even the collective whole 00:03:55.040 |
the individuals that are given to the church, 00:03:57.400 |
and here, namely apostles, prophets, and evangelists, 00:04:16.800 |
you do want to observe and ask the questions of, 00:04:23.600 |
And the observation that I see is that, yes, there 00:04:28.560 |
Because this order appears in other passages of the New 00:04:32.400 |
For example, 1 Corinthians chapter 12, verse 28 through 31. 00:04:39.360 |
"And God has appointed in the church first apostles, 00:04:46.960 |
helps, administration, various gifts of tongues." 00:04:58.720 |
But what's more, there seems to be an order of the gifts, 00:05:04.360 |
What's more, when we take a look at Ephesians chapter 2, 00:05:06.920 |
verses 19 through 20, it talks about the building 00:05:10.760 |
of the house, and there's always a sequence to a build. 00:05:14.560 |
Verse 19 says, "So then you are no longer strangers and aliens, 00:05:22.240 |
Having been built upon the foundation of the apostles 00:05:29.040 |
So within the blueprint, within your build order, 00:05:38.480 |
the trajectory of how things should be laid out. 00:05:41.920 |
And there is the foundation, the doctrinal foundation 00:05:44.440 |
of the teachings that have been given to the apostles 00:05:50.760 |
That being the case, there is significance to these things, 00:05:53.640 |
that there is this order by which Christ has given, 00:05:57.680 |
as a very then valuable and significant gift, 00:06:00.880 |
that the church should have these apostles, prophets, 00:06:04.000 |
shepherds, evangelists, pastors, and teachers. 00:06:09.600 |
we take a look at the list and we're kind of wondering, 00:06:23.520 |
But one other interesting thing that we notice 00:06:27.040 |
is that some of the terms in the Bible that we see, 00:06:31.960 |
So this is something, you don't have to jot down everything 00:06:36.080 |
but I just wanted you to notice that within the Bible, 00:06:38.240 |
there are lots of different titles for people. 00:06:42.880 |
So some of the ones that we're more accustomed to 00:06:55.280 |
And so an important observation that we make is this, 00:07:03.280 |
sorry, a unifying function of the individuals 00:07:10.800 |
That unifying function is that all of them have to do with 00:07:14.240 |
the teaching of the foundational doctrines of Christ, 00:07:24.120 |
kind of uniformly agreed that the highlight of this 00:07:27.760 |
is as he comes down this list, apostles and prophets, 00:07:33.680 |
The highlight is not the offices of the church. 00:07:38.760 |
go therefore and establish apostles at your church. 00:07:41.640 |
Those are uniquely God-given specific roles and privileges 00:07:45.840 |
in the sense that Christ has given them authority 00:07:50.600 |
And upon that teaching that has been handed down to us 00:07:53.120 |
once and for all, we are continuing to minister the truth. 00:08:01.720 |
these are all the offices you should have at your church. 00:08:16.640 |
The word is better than sweet honeycomb, better than money. 00:08:19.960 |
The word is better than the wisdom of the world. 00:08:30.640 |
And living in God's reality is the greatest blessing. 00:08:36.000 |
We should meditate on the fact that the invaluable, 00:08:42.800 |
But these individuals have a primary function of teaching. 00:08:46.440 |
They are to be the ground laying workers in the church 00:08:50.160 |
who have laid a foundation of doctrines for us to believe. 00:08:54.000 |
And therefore hitting this idea again for our church. 00:08:59.440 |
If, if we jettison the preaching of God's word 00:09:04.680 |
we are completely jettisoning Christ's gift, right? 00:09:09.240 |
If the foundational truths that we have been receiving 00:09:15.000 |
are to give to you as a blessing to the church, 00:09:25.120 |
It would be like having this, like a Apple product, 00:09:28.800 |
which is a laptop computer that I bought five years ago, 00:09:42.480 |
And I started saying, let me turn up the screen brightness 00:09:49.520 |
and write down my notes on a piece of paper, right? 00:09:56.480 |
if we continue to jettison God's word within the church, 00:10:05.000 |
if God has given us the blessing of the truth, 00:10:08.000 |
meaning if God has given the nation of Israel, 00:10:12.400 |
and they instead turn to the wisdom of the world, 00:10:26.160 |
This loyalty and a front against God's gift, right? 00:10:37.440 |
And the point that I'm making is not so much like, 00:10:40.360 |
It's just simply that not everything is neutral. 00:10:48.600 |
And what's more, we always want to think and consider 00:10:51.760 |
our Lord Jesus Christ in his victorious nature 00:11:00.240 |
not fully accept it would be a big, big offense to him. 00:11:08.560 |
for the equipping of the saints for the work of service 00:11:21.960 |
And so what we want to say is purpose, objective. 00:11:25.000 |
What does God purpose in the teaching of the word, 00:11:28.720 |
in the various titles and positions that are there? 00:11:35.000 |
in terms of specifically the apostles, prophets, 00:11:42.040 |
again, I just want to highlight that in good Bible study, 00:12:03.280 |
This is for the purpose of this and for the purpose of that. 00:12:11.440 |
And what's more, he says that this is for the equipping, 00:12:20.280 |
I just want to comment on these just briefly here. 00:12:23.120 |
First, I actually want to start with the idea 00:12:30.600 |
An objective and purpose that I know God is doing right now. 00:12:39.120 |
but also in this day, to continue to build up his church. 00:13:03.680 |
He wants to make sure that he's sanctifying you. 00:13:13.160 |
And what's really interesting is that he uses a term 00:13:16.200 |
that has a very kind of literal and specific nuance, 00:13:33.240 |
we rehearse what he said before, it is his dwelling. 00:14:00.800 |
Have I also then bought into that objective and purpose? 00:14:23.760 |
Equipping of the saints for the work of service. 00:14:31.320 |
We recognize that clearly for the building up of the church, 00:14:34.760 |
the building up of the church does not happen 00:14:39.680 |
The building up of the church does not happen 00:14:47.560 |
through the equipping of the saints for the work of service. 00:14:52.360 |
I highlight it because the definition of this term 00:14:56.000 |
when we do a word study specifically of equipping, 00:15:05.360 |
The word dictionary of the New Testament says 00:15:10.480 |
which is talking about the act of fitting something in 00:15:15.360 |
But he says the term used here is actually talking about, 00:15:22.840 |
I recognize from that, that when we think of equipping, 00:15:26.560 |
we're probably thinking of something far too narrow. 00:15:31.120 |
I think in error, sometimes when we think of equipping, 00:15:41.520 |
And then or what's more, we say, you know what? 00:15:45.800 |
and we should kind of do it like maybe the medical field. 00:15:48.760 |
and you're just gonna walk alongside me, right? 00:16:00.840 |
Now, here's another passage in Hebrews chapter 13 00:16:03.160 |
and it says this, "Now the God of peace who brought up 00:16:10.680 |
even Jesus our Lord, equip you in every good thing 00:16:18.480 |
Through Jesus Christ to whom be the glory forever 00:16:35.120 |
Typically they think equipping to lead a small group, 00:16:47.200 |
because plus not only is the term broader than that, 00:16:51.400 |
we recognize that generally as the scripture speaks 00:17:00.240 |
Do equipping comes to us through the scriptures primarily? 00:17:07.160 |
"The word of God is sufficient for everything 00:17:23.720 |
from our brothers and sisters, the accountability, 00:17:40.800 |
I mean, you think about the passages in James, 00:17:45.680 |
we essentially need to go through these various trials 00:17:59.120 |
maybe more than what perhaps we presume equipping might mean. 00:18:02.600 |
The observation and engagement of our community, 00:18:17.440 |
a fuller application of what we already know. 00:18:22.160 |
I don't mind repeating stuff over and over again." 00:18:24.840 |
And as a matter of fact, I think about my own ministry, 00:18:27.000 |
just the teaching that I've done over the years. 00:18:41.160 |
just in fuller measure and fuller application. 00:18:47.560 |
I want you to take a moment to think about this. 00:18:53.600 |
"I need to be equipped to go love my brother, 00:18:58.880 |
Like, what is it that you're not equipped with 00:19:04.520 |
Especially during this time of the shelter at home, 00:19:09.120 |
Brother says, "Yeah, I'm struggling with this 00:19:14.760 |
'Cause man, they are at risk and stuff like that. 00:19:22.080 |
"Oh, you share, can I share with you my encouragements 00:19:36.320 |
I'm saying this not to say that you don't need training 00:19:43.640 |
I'm saying this to say that perhaps sometimes 00:20:10.240 |
that he desires this purpose that the saints be equipped, 00:20:18.160 |
and that we're maturing by doing the works of service, 00:20:25.200 |
Works of service that means serving the brother next to us, 00:20:42.640 |
"Until we all attain to, and as a result," right? 00:20:46.640 |
I should be thinking, man, this is like a broader goal. 00:20:51.960 |
where he's thinking there are purposes and objectives 00:20:53.760 |
that are leading to a grand vision of the church. 00:20:56.760 |
And that's why this passage is great and amazing. 00:21:02.200 |
because it gives to us kind of the idea that God has 00:21:05.160 |
when he's thinking about the picture of the church. 00:21:09.640 |
He says, "Until we all attain to the unity of faith 00:21:15.560 |
to a mature man and to the measure of the stature 00:21:39.160 |
Brothers and sisters, this is a tall, tall order. 00:21:45.000 |
This is perhaps in some people's mind, like impossible. 00:21:50.280 |
So let's take a moment to appreciate all this stuff. 00:21:56.920 |
He is talking about the fact that we have this one baptism, 00:22:02.640 |
one faith, one spirit, one father, one truth. 00:22:18.520 |
And so we're supposed to have in other parts of scripture 00:22:24.440 |
Intent on the same thing, set on the same purposes. 00:22:32.720 |
Now, somebody perhaps might look at that and say, 00:22:39.600 |
We're being brainwashed to think the exact same stuff." 00:22:46.920 |
where for the sake of pragmatism or practicality, 00:22:57.360 |
so we're just gonna all move in the same pattern," 00:23:01.640 |
But the fact of the matter is we are one herd. 00:23:05.280 |
But the great truth is we are sheep of the great shepherd. 00:23:09.480 |
And just like that video we saw a couple of weeks ago, 00:23:12.200 |
we all perk up when we hear the voice of our master, 00:23:21.920 |
When in fact, you have the foundation of God's own voice 00:23:34.720 |
That in and of itself is also foolishness as well. 00:23:37.840 |
But the point that I'm kind of getting at here is this. 00:23:41.000 |
The kind of unity that God desires to see in us, 00:23:49.440 |
I want us to understand that that unity is so high 00:24:02.080 |
I would like to highlight and draw your attention 00:24:09.240 |
In the Greek, there are several terms for the word to know. 00:24:15.080 |
This passage particularly uses the word epignosko. 00:24:21.320 |
Again, from the word dictionary of the New Testament, 00:24:26.760 |
because it expresses a more thorough participation 00:24:29.280 |
in acquiring of the knowledge on the part of the learner. 00:24:38.960 |
a knowledge laying claim to personal involvement." 00:24:53.120 |
And all of that happens to surround your experience 00:24:58.200 |
If you've had experience with another individual 00:25:03.360 |
and moments when you can, you know, reminisce together, 00:25:09.280 |
Right now, a lot of people are sharing their reflections, 00:25:13.600 |
and moments of hardship that drawn them closer to God 00:25:22.280 |
and you're crazy and all that kind of stuff." 00:25:24.880 |
"But remembering Christ, how He's good to you, 00:25:27.120 |
how He changed you, like, thank you so much for sharing." 00:25:30.480 |
And when we do that, there is immediately a connection. 00:25:33.560 |
Because we're talking about the picture of the church, 00:25:37.680 |
every single one of us has some of the most moving 00:25:49.120 |
What's more, he says, that there should be maturity, 00:25:54.880 |
this is not satisfied with a bunch of people, 00:25:58.480 |
and a bunch of people over there being mature, 00:26:00.000 |
but until we all attain to the maturity, that of Christ. 00:26:08.200 |
its unity would be so developed and heightened 00:26:12.840 |
if people were growing in their personal maturity. 00:26:20.600 |
Like, that would be absolute childishness, right? 00:26:33.280 |
But if you're able to think about having self-control, 00:26:43.360 |
that would be such a thing where our Father in heaven 00:26:46.360 |
And again, because we're talking about the grand vision, 00:26:49.920 |
Why would He not want us to mature in that fashion? 00:26:55.480 |
And you know, I do believe that there is this interaction 00:26:59.240 |
where God is looking at His sons and daughters 00:27:02.160 |
and desiring to be proud as we grow in maturity 00:27:10.080 |
One time I went on a mission trip and, you know, 00:27:12.480 |
even with a great team, sometimes within mission trips, 00:27:16.160 |
moving from here to here and the discomforts, 00:27:19.920 |
And there was this time, there was an intense moment 00:27:24.760 |
Some words were said, words weren't, you know, 00:27:28.800 |
weren't careful, and then things started to escalate. 00:27:33.600 |
things got really heated and emotional and stuff like that. 00:27:43.760 |
And been like, "I'm out of here. No thank you." Right? 00:27:48.200 |
Now, they didn't step in a manner where it was like, 00:27:51.200 |
What are you talking about? Say your piece." Right? 00:27:56.440 |
"You know what? I want to take responsibility. 00:27:58.760 |
Like, we could have done a lot better." Right? 00:28:03.400 |
and they completely deescalated by their humility, 00:28:13.520 |
they like submitted to one another in that fashion. 00:28:16.720 |
Man, on the bus ride home, I was just like so proud of them. 00:28:24.480 |
But again, thinking about the larger church picture, 00:28:48.120 |
If you actually take a moment to think about that, 00:28:58.600 |
Our God desires us to move in that direction now. 00:29:06.720 |
like, "That's like asking us to clean the ocean. 00:29:46.840 |
or have you said, "No, Lord, that's impossible"? 00:30:12.560 |
Let's take a moment to think about that again, 00:30:30.360 |
Well, we can think about everything wrong with children, 00:30:49.640 |
you look up and you're miles away from home, right? 00:30:59.520 |
Adulthood means you've experienced life enough, 00:31:11.360 |
Being able to tell what is the crafty scheming of our enemy, 00:31:18.120 |
and that we're able to see these are not in pattern 00:31:23.360 |
We're supposed to be able to do those things. 00:31:25.280 |
And the question is, are you growing in them? 00:31:32.640 |
rather than following words here and word there, 00:31:35.520 |
we are to be able to have the word of God in us 00:31:42.080 |
And that's the kind of maturity and adulthood 00:31:54.960 |
to speak to my children always with both strong instruction, 00:32:15.440 |
But the thing about it is maturity will teach you, 00:32:32.240 |
It's like, "Buzz, buzz, buzz, buzz, buzz, buzz, buzz, 00:32:37.320 |
You're not gonna be poignantly hitting what's needed, 00:32:41.880 |
Scripture says that you need to speak with love. 00:32:44.280 |
On the flip side, if you speak just with care 00:32:51.520 |
You might make someone momentarily feel better, 00:32:59.520 |
but you're not giving them the pity of Christ. 00:33:03.920 |
And so the maturity and the adulthood that God wants to see 00:33:07.600 |
is us being able to grow in truth all in love. 00:33:11.120 |
And he says we are to grow up in all aspects, 00:33:17.680 |
Take a moment to think about the kind of thoroughness 00:33:23.640 |
in terms of how he wants us to be sanctified. 00:33:34.600 |
Do you have the attitude that there is going to be 00:33:40.040 |
there is no element of your life where you're like, 00:33:46.080 |
If you think, you know what, this is too hard for me, 00:33:55.360 |
But we have the Lord and he's saying that his grand desire 00:34:02.240 |
until we all attain to the measure of Christ. 00:34:06.040 |
And in thinking about this, I want to use an example 00:34:11.480 |
You know, imagine if you signed up for softball. 00:34:13.920 |
You're like, all right, everybody's all about sports 00:34:18.600 |
And so you go out to the field and you're swinging around. 00:34:20.840 |
You've hit before, you know, you've played before, 00:34:24.400 |
You're just swinging that bat and some guy comes around 00:34:32.320 |
You don't have used to the weight of the bat. 00:34:36.720 |
And he says, hey, your head's all bobbing around. 00:34:40.200 |
You gotta keep your head straight, look at that ball 00:34:46.920 |
And you're kind of like, huh, pad it up to here. 00:34:49.960 |
And he starts telling you, like, move your feet. 00:34:54.880 |
And all of a sudden, he is looking at every aspect 00:35:02.960 |
Like, hey, man, who told you you were a coach? 00:35:10.200 |
But instead, if you were this professional athlete 00:35:13.040 |
playing for the Giants, I don't know who he is, 00:35:15.440 |
but he wants to know every single aspect of his swing 00:35:19.760 |
As a matter of fact, he would hire a batting coach 00:35:23.600 |
And if he had a batting coach who wasn't skilled, 00:35:32.560 |
Like, you need to tell me 'cause that's your job, man, 00:35:37.040 |
Because he would wanna perfect every single aspect 00:35:45.280 |
And so for us, likewise, God has a vision for us 00:35:56.640 |
to people talking about like, hey, you need to grow in this, 00:35:59.200 |
and like, you know, I'm already doing a good job, 00:36:01.160 |
and you have this wall up where people can't correct you, 00:36:04.320 |
know that God's intent is to make sure you're growing 00:36:07.680 |
in every aspect, in every way, to the full measure of Christ. 00:36:14.720 |
because that's what he wants for all of us collectively. 00:36:27.240 |
He says, "From whom the whole body," everybody, 00:36:36.200 |
"according to the proper working of each individual part, 00:36:45.560 |
So I'm not sure if I could even draw a diagram for that, 00:36:48.960 |
but every single one of us is drawing from the source 00:36:59.880 |
an incredible power for every single one of us 00:37:03.400 |
And we're so one because of that truth of Jesus Christ. 00:37:07.360 |
And yet individually, Christ has given us gifts 00:37:09.960 |
and blessed us in such ways that we are participants 00:37:12.560 |
of this build that he's doing to create this, 00:37:25.400 |
And it would bring such joy to the father to see his home. 00:37:38.360 |
And so I pray, like I pray every single one of us 00:37:41.280 |
should first get this same vision, like, whoa, 00:37:43.840 |
like I don't know about everything that needs to happen 00:37:48.520 |
but clearly what I can say that he desires his church 00:38:01.960 |
And then collectively, this is a beautiful home 00:38:13.400 |
We have to have this attitude, like in every single way, 00:38:33.640 |
and bring it over here and be like, yes, you know. 00:38:37.920 |
and be like, I helped fix this part of the church. 00:38:40.360 |
I wanna go out there and meet that guy who's struggling. 00:38:44.920 |
Because number one, I know it pleases my heavenly father. 00:38:50.000 |
But number two, I know we're part of this grand picture 00:39:08.560 |
and to say I'm contributing, that's so worthwhile. 00:39:12.200 |
And so I pray that you would also have that mentality. 00:39:15.560 |
Not only are we gonna be doing this together, 00:39:17.880 |
but thankfully so, because it's then it's to our privilege 00:39:20.760 |
that we can join in this work of building up the church. 00:39:27.040 |
Heavenly father, thank you so much, God, again. 00:39:35.640 |
And we recognize Lord, just the truth and ramification 00:39:44.240 |
And what's crazy is as you are bringing more and more people 00:39:47.680 |
into salvation, what glories are given to you. 00:39:51.000 |
But father God, you are building Lord your household, 00:39:57.280 |
I do pray that Lord, our church people, that we ourselves, 00:40:14.040 |
But what's more father God, to have your intent, 00:40:17.400 |
Lord, to be the evangelist and to actively desire 00:40:20.080 |
to build this church, the sharing of the gospel. 00:40:24.440 |
that we can encourage each other and spur each other on, 00:40:34.240 |
fulfill your design and your intent in this church, Lord.