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Health within the Body of Christ (Ephesians 4:7-16)
58 Plays2 years ago
Health within the Body of Christ (Ephesians 4:7-16)
Ephesians: Growing in Christ
Sunday Message recorded 19 February 2023
by Senior Pastor Victor Morrison
First Baptist Church
1700 Milam
Columbus, TX, USA 78934
Recommended
Transcript
Introduction to Ephesians Chapter 4
00:00:06
Speaker
Good morning. Hope you've had a good weekend. Hope you're ready to listen to what God will say through his living and active word. It's always exciting to look into his word because he can connect with us at any point. You know, the fourth chapter of Ephesians, that's where we're going to be today. Again, we started last week and we noticed that the fourth chapter of Ephesians marks a transition in the letter to the Ephesians.
00:00:36
Speaker
The first half of the letter spoke about our position, our identity in Christ. Do you know who you are in the Lord? If that's beginning to fade and get fuzzy, go back to chapters one and two and three and renew your mind in who you are in Christ. But whenever we go through that gate into chapter four, verse one,
00:01:01
Speaker
We begin to move from our identity, our position in Christ, and we start to think in terms of, how can I walk with Christ? How can I live for Christ in my daily life? You know, verse 1 tells us that we should walk in a manner worthy of the calling to which we've been called.
Spiritual Health and Church Growth
00:01:24
Speaker
You know, it's talking about the worthiness of Christ. And so I think that whenever we think about His worthiness, you know what it does? It changes the way we live. We say, Lord, I don't want to live for self anymore.
00:01:39
Speaker
I don't want to go with whatever is the fad and whatever is in the world out there. I want to live the way you would want me to live. It impacts the way we live. It impacts our relationships. And what we're looking at in verses 2, all the way down through verse 16, where we'll end this morning.
00:01:58
Speaker
We're looking at how our relationships are impacted whenever we're coming to church, whenever we're doing life with other believers in Christ, other disciples. And so that's what the focus is on verses 2 through 16. Last week we looked at verses 2 through 6. And so this morning we're going to look at verses 7 all the way down through verse 16.
00:02:23
Speaker
And what I think the Lord's going to do is He's going to take the instrument of His word and He's going to help us to do some examination, examination of our spiritual health, our spiritual health as the body of Christ.
00:02:38
Speaker
You see in verse 12, you're going to hear this clause, building up the body of Christ. In verse 13, you'll hear the stature of the fullness of Christ. Is your life just full of the picture of Jesus Christ? Verse 15, are you growing up?
00:02:58
Speaker
in every way into him who is the head into Christ. Verse 16 says, when each part is working properly, it makes the body to grow.
The Word of God as a Mirror
00:03:08
Speaker
And what are we growing in? We're growing in Christ's likeness. And so church growth
00:03:14
Speaker
Church growth occurs supernaturally, I guess you'd have to say, but church growth occurs whenever we are experiencing church health. Church health comes first, and as a result of the health of our relationship with Jesus Christ, it's just natural, the way that God is going to cause us to grow in Christ's likeness.
00:03:40
Speaker
You know, I'm told it's a good idea to go and visit your physician at least a routine checkup once a year. We often, however, wait until something goes wrong with the body before we go. And if we would have gone periodically year by year, then maybe they could have caught something. I'll never forget when I went to Nicaragua and I over-used my voice and I lost my voice. And some of the men were saying, our prayers have been answered.
00:04:10
Speaker
Now it's like, really? That's your prayer? I lose my voice, you know? But anyway, it was during that time that Ed Taylor made his move at the men's prayer breakfast to introduce this whole idea of leading a Bible study with just one point.
00:04:25
Speaker
Boy, I was dead after that. He did it with one point. Why can't you? But anyway, I'll never forget, too, whenever I began to walk around the track as I was doing two or three times a week, and I would begin to experience some tightness in my chest. And I was wondering, what is that?
00:04:44
Speaker
So I went to my physician. He recommended me to a cardiologist. They began to do lots of tests. And lo and behold, I had some blockages inside my heart I didn't even know about. And so we were able to put some stents in there. And I haven't had any trouble since. But you know what James says about the Word of God?
00:05:06
Speaker
James wrote in James chapter 1 verses 22 to 25 that the word of God is like a mirror. You know, a mirror is just going to tell you the truth. Sometimes I want the mirror to tell me something that it's not true. But anyway, when I look in there, it's like, is it really that bad? You know,
00:05:24
Speaker
But God tells us the truth. So if it stings, if there's conviction, just know that's a good thing. That's a healthy thing because God's trying to show us you're not living up to where I want you to live. I want you to walk this way. I want you to live this way. I want your relationships, your commitments to be this way. And so don't resist the word of God.
00:05:50
Speaker
Welcome the Word of God. Receive the Word of God and let God say what He wants to say to you this morning. Let Him reveal to you the truth. The Word of God tells us the
Christ's Gifts and Church Edification
00:06:02
Speaker
truth. And so this morning what He's going to talk to us about is the truth about our spiritual health
00:06:09
Speaker
as it connects to the church, the body of Christ, to other believers and other disciples. So let's stand, if you would, stand with me in honor of God's word. Ephesians four, verse seven, I'm gonna read down through verse 16. You can follow along in your copy of God's word, or you can look on the screen at the translation I have, which is the ESV. It starts in verse seven this way in Ephesians four, but grace was given to each one of us.
00:06:37
Speaker
according to the measure of Christ's gift. Therefore it says when he ascended on high, he led a host of captives and he gave gifts to men. In saying he ascended, what does it mean? But that he had also descended into the lower regions, the earth. He who descended is the one who also ascended far above all the heavens, that he might fill all things.
00:07:07
Speaker
And He gave the apostles, the prophets, the evangelists, the shepherds, and teachers to equip the saints for the work of ministry, for building up the body of Christ until we all attain to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God to mature manhood, to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ so that,
00:07:35
Speaker
We may no longer be children, tossed to and fro by the ways and carried about by every wind of doctrine, by human cunning, by craftiness in deceitful schemes, rather speaking the truth in love.
00:07:50
Speaker
were to grow up in every way into him who is the head, into Christ, from whom the whole body joined and held together by every joint with which it is equipped, when each part is working properly, makes the body grow so that it builds itself up in love." Let's go to the Father in Prayer.
00:08:14
Speaker
Oh Lord, thank you so much for your word. Your word, a healthy diet in your word makes us to grow like we're intended to grow in Christ. And so Lord, just show us. I pray that each one of us would hear your voice speaking through your living word.
00:08:31
Speaker
And so, Lord, we don't want to tell you the way it is. We want you to show us the way it is through the truths of your word. So speak to us this day. In Jesus' name we pray. Amen. Thank you. You may be seated.
00:08:50
Speaker
You know, I'm not a physician, of course, I'm just a pastor, but common things are checked whenever you go in for a routine exam. For example, they're going to check your weight, your temperature, your blood pressure, your heart rate. They'll probably get a stethoscope and listen to your lungs, to your heart.
00:09:09
Speaker
But I want you to see five items on the spiritual checkup for the body of Christ. And the first one is this. Are we receptive to the generosity of Christ?
00:09:21
Speaker
Is Jesus a giver or is Jesus a taker? Is he a giver or is he a taker? I remember a Canadian farmer told me one time his favorite verse to share the gospel with others, all the other farmer friends that he had was John 10-10. The thief comes only to kill and to steal and to destroy. But I came that you might have life and you might have it more abundantly. What Jesus is saying is I've come to give you life and to give you abundance.
00:09:52
Speaker
But Satan, on the other hand, he only wants to steal from you. He only wants to destroy things in your life. You'll notice in verses seven and eight and 11, three times the verb give is used. You'll notice that two times in verse seven and eight, the word gift is used. I would submit to you that Jesus is a giver. He wants to give to us. Is it possible not to be receptive though to his gifts?
00:10:21
Speaker
Do you remember something that Jesus taught in Matthew 25, verses 14 to 30? He said that, you know, the kingdom of heaven is like a man who gives these talents to different servants, and to one man he gave five talents, to another man he gave two talents, to another man he gave one talent. And some were receptive, some were very faithful and diligent with what he gave them. They put it to good use.
00:10:48
Speaker
The one who was given five, the one who was given two, but there was one man who was passive. He instead hid his talent that he was entrusted with. What are we doing with what God has entrusted to us?
00:11:02
Speaker
This passage before us, it's really instructional. There are things we can learn as we look at it together. It teaches us three truths about spiritual gifts. I want to share those with you briefly. If you ever wanted to go to a spiritual gift list that's in the Bible, I can tell you a quick way to know how to go there. When I was just working in the factory, I used to work a shift in the factory called four to 12.
00:11:32
Speaker
The 4 to 12 shift. Well, God gives us gifts to serve Him, and one list is found in Ephesians 4, where we are. Another list is found in 1 Peter chapter 4. But then there's another list that's found in Romans chapter 12 and another list that's found in 1 Corinthians chapter 12.
00:11:54
Speaker
So all you got to remember is chapters four and 12, but you got to get the books right. So I hope that you'll go there to find out. But I want to stay with this passage and I want us to notice three things about his generosity and sharing these gifts with us.
00:12:10
Speaker
The first one has to do with that word grace. They're saving grace. God has the power to save us, to bring us into his family, forgive us of our sins, to guide us and to prepare us for a heavenly
Unity and Role in the Church
00:12:26
Speaker
home. But that's saving grace. That's all about his power. But he also has serving grace. And so whenever he talks about these gifts, they all come with grace. Did you notice that?
00:12:39
Speaker
They come with grace. He says in verse 7, but grace was given to each one of us according to the measure of Christ's gift. And so grace means He's given us all the power we need to use that gift by the power of His Holy Spirit. And so God's Spirit is going to help us. But did you notice that these gifts are given to each one? They're personally given.
00:13:05
Speaker
If you've repented of sin, trusted in Jesus Christ, surrendered your life to Him, when you did that, you received a spiritual gift, at least one, maybe more than one. But He says He's given gifts to each one of us. That means every one of us. So everybody that's at First Baptist Church Columbus that is walking with the Lord, that knows the Lord, has a personal relationship with Him, each one of us have been entrusted with a gift.
00:13:33
Speaker
So the question is, am I using this gift? Well, maybe some people might think, well,
00:13:39
Speaker
You know what, I'm not sure my gift would really be enough here. No, God sovereignly has you here. Your gift is enough. His power is enough. His grace is enough. As a matter of fact, did you notice that it said, he gave the gift in, what does it say, in accordance to the measure of Christ's gift? Meteron is the word in the Greek for measure.
00:14:03
Speaker
It means that he gave it proportionately. In other words, what it's saying is if he's called me to be a pastor of First Baptist Church, then he's given me exactly enough grace to pull it off, to make my life where I can carry out what he wants me to do. But let's look at you and let's think about how God's equipped you. Whatever it is that God has called you to do,
00:14:28
Speaker
God has given you an appropriate measure of grace so that that gift can be carried out. So don't hold your head down, hold your head up and say, okay, Lord, you gave me this opportunity to serve, so please empower it. So the first thing we see is that his gifts are enabling, they're empowering. But there's a second thing about it, and that is his gifts are also equipping.
00:14:55
Speaker
You know that He gives some in leadership positions that are there to equip the saints for the work of ministry. So in other words, every believer should be involved in the work of ministry. But those of
Anchoring in Christ's Stability
00:15:09
Speaker
us that are on staff, we're called in a unique way to get you prepared.
00:15:14
Speaker
Yes, the Lord is the power for the gift, but there's preparations sometimes that should help to get you ready for how you're going to serve. And so that's our job. That's what we're supposed to do. We're supposed to equip you. We're not supposed to do all the ministry. We're supposed to equip you as we all do all of the ministry together. So his gifts are equipping gifts. They're also edifying gifts.
00:15:41
Speaker
You know, when he talks about to equip the saints for the work of ministry, notice what comes next. For the building up of the body of Christ. There's a code word in the Bible. It's a biblical term called edification, to edify. To edify means you build up. And so all of us have been given all of these spiritual gifts so that we can build up this body of Christ, that we can become more like what Jesus has called us to be.
00:16:10
Speaker
So the first area to check is, are we each using our gifts to serve in building up the body of Christ? But there's a second check on the checklist, a box that we need to look at, and that is, are we being submissive to the authority of Christ?
00:16:29
Speaker
You know, the gifts of Christ are given freely, right? It didn't cost you anything, the gift of salvation, but neither did the gifts, the spiritual gifts that he's given. It didn't cost you anything. But you know what it cost him? Everything. It cost him everything. And so that's what it's trying to tell us in these verses that we're looking at before us. There's some hard things to understand, but the basic idea is this.
00:16:56
Speaker
It costs Jesus a lot, everything, to give you and to give me the gift of salvation, yes, but also those spiritual gifts and abilities. As a matter of fact, Paul thinks, what could I compare it to? And he reaches back to the Old Testament, to the book of Psalms, and in Psalm 68 verse 18,
00:17:17
Speaker
It's a victory hymn. It's a victory song that was written by David on the inspiration of the Holy Spirit whenever he had a conquest of a Jebusite city.
00:17:28
Speaker
So the idea is, after he wins a battle, the conqueror comes back up the hill of Mount Zion, and the king receives all the spoils that he got from that battle. And then he gives those spoils. He shares those spoils with others. Although that was interesting, because what it's saying is, Jesus has done so much for us.
00:17:52
Speaker
in what he did on the cross, his resurrection, his ascension. He's so worthy. As a matter of fact, when I look at these verses, I can't help but think about how Jesus is so worthy as our king, as our head. And these are the things that I thought about.
00:18:08
Speaker
You know, the first thing, why is Jesus worthy of my submission? Why should you submit to Jesus? Why should you say, okay, I'm cool with coming underneath your authority? Why should we do that? I'll give you some reasons. The first thing is because of his valor.
00:18:24
Speaker
You have to remember where He was. He was in heaven with the Father for all eternity. He had no problems. He had nothing that ever challenged Him. He had no pain. He never was whipped and scourged and nailed and pierced and spat upon and all these things. Nothing like that. Only honor in heaven. But you know what He did? He gave it all up.
00:18:47
Speaker
He gave it all up for us. To me, I think that's courage. That's valor for anybody to say, you know how much I love you? I'm going to come down there and I'm going to fight every one of those demons. I'm going to come and I'm going to take care of the devil that's trying to destroy your life.
00:19:04
Speaker
And so that's what he's talking about when he talks about he descended, he left heaven, he came down to earth, he fought with the enemy, and he won. As a matter of fact, Colossians 2.15 is a really good verse. If you ever feel like the devil's pushing you around, you need to go to Colossians 2.15 because it says that Jesus triumphed
00:19:25
Speaker
over all the authorities whenever he died for us on the cross. You could even go to Ephesians chapter 1, as a matter of fact, where it talks about in verses 20 through 23, here's what it says, Ephesians 1, 20 to 23.
00:19:40
Speaker
that he worked in Christ when he raised him from the dead and seated him at his right hand in the heavenly places, far above all rule and authority and power and dominion, and above every name that is named, not only in this age, but also in the one to come. And he put all things under his feet and gave him his head over all things to the church, which is his body, the fullness of him who feels all in all.
00:20:09
Speaker
You see what I'm saying? He won it. He won it fair and square. He destroyed. He beat. He overcame all of the forces of the enemy. And so I'm thinking, not only did he have valor to leave heaven, but look at his victory that he won when he led all those captives. He definitely triumphed over all those enemy forces. But then what about his ascension?
00:20:33
Speaker
Whenever it says that he ascended far above, you know what I'm thinking about? I'm thinking about his validation because the father said, my son never disobeyed me. My son is worthy to sit at my right hand because he never did one sin, not one in his whole entire life.
00:20:53
Speaker
And so the father raises him from the dead and the father allows him to ascend back to the throne and he's exalted in heaven. And he says, son, I want you to know, I'm so glad you obeyed me in everything I told you to do. I think that's somebody that's worthy of our respect, somebody that's worthy of our submission. But also notice in these verses, Jesus is called the head. That's his
00:21:19
Speaker
God-given role over the church. He's the head of the church. He has the vision. He knows where he's going.
00:21:27
Speaker
We can trust Him. Maybe the culture says,
Cooperative Spiritual Maturity
00:21:30
Speaker
no, not that way, this way. Who are you going to follow? Who do you want to be your leader, your guide? I want Jesus, I want the Word of God to be our guide, because God knows where He's going. His eyes are wide open. Jesus is a great head of the church. He's got the vision. But then I also couldn't help but think about the value
00:21:52
Speaker
The value of Him being the head, the value of Him being our authority is this. He can cause us to grow. He can cause us to grow. It says, from whom He makes the body grow. It's from Jesus that all of us will grow spiritually. So I definitely
00:22:10
Speaker
encourage you to say, Lord, help me not to be slack or to neglect the gifts that you've given to me in such generosity. Help me, O Lord, to be submissive to your authority as Lord, as King of my life, as my Savior, the one I'm following. But I also want us to go to a third thing.
00:22:32
Speaker
And that is to look at the cohesiveness around the unity in Christ, cohesive around unity. You know, last week in chapter four, verses one through six, we talked about how we should walk
00:22:47
Speaker
in a worthy manner because of all that Jesus has done for us. He's worth it. And so I got to thinking about all of this fitting together, like it talks about joined and held together in this text. It talks about the whole body. It talks about every joint. And then it talks about each part. You know what I couldn't help but think of? A jigsaw puzzle. You see, a jigsaw puzzle is interesting how
00:23:13
Speaker
Either one person or a group of people can put it together. And the more people you've got, the faster it can go. As a matter of fact, do you know what the record for jigsaw puzzle is? If you've ever put one together, that's 500 pieces, 1,000 pieces, 2,000 pieces. Get this. The record is 551,232 pieces. It was completed in 17 hours by 1,600 college students.
00:23:42
Speaker
Someone said they were economic students. So I don't know what college they were at, but let's get them in charge of our economy right now. But anyway, we've got to put some things together here. But the Jigsaw puzzle, if you think about it, it's designed for three disciplines, connection, cooperation, and cohesion. It's interesting how it is cohesive in the sense that all of the people who are working on a given Jigsaw puzzle, are they each working on a different picture?
00:24:13
Speaker
No. When you buy the jigsaw puzzle on the front of the box,
00:24:18
Speaker
It's one picture. We are working together for the glory of the Lord Jesus Christ. That's the picture that all of us are trying to exalt Him and bring Him honor and glory. And so our unity includes connection because it says joined and held together by every joint. Do you know that Sunday school classes? That's a joint where people, where parts of the body come together.
00:24:46
Speaker
But let's say the closed closet ministry, let's say Awana ministry, Sunday School classes, all these different events that Josh has for the youth, all of these things are opportunities for us to come together and work together to glorify him and put that big picture of his glory all together.
00:25:09
Speaker
It also includes cooperation. Did you see that in verse 16, where it says, equipped when each part is working properly, when each part is working properly? You know what that says to me? That says to me that I can do my part, but each one of us in this room, we each have to do our part. Do you know that what God has put in your hands is very important?
00:25:35
Speaker
And so you have to find that place that God has for you here in this local body and say, Lord, I want to glorify you.
Personal Reflection and Commitment
00:25:43
Speaker
I want to use the gifts you've given to me so that I can honor you. And of course, the unity includes cohesion, we saw in verse 13, until we all attain to the unity of the faith of the knowledge of the Son of God to the stature of the fullness of Christ. That's what we're all trying to grow toward. We're trying to say, let's become more like Him.
00:26:05
Speaker
The fourth item I see here is to be attentive to the stability in Christ.
00:26:11
Speaker
You know, Christ not only brings unity to the body, he also provides stability to the body. Have you ever talked to anybody who's had vertigo? It's really a weird type of a physical condition when someone gets vertigo because they can't stand upright. They can't even sit up sometimes. All they can do is just lay there and close their eyes because the room is spinning, their head is spinning, and they're so dizzy and woozy, they can't even stand up.
00:26:40
Speaker
It's a very, I don't know, uncomfortable position to be in. So I was thinking about how we need to recall the strength of God and how He can give us the stability that we need. It's found in verse 14, so that we may no longer be children, tossed to and fro by the waves, carried about by every wind of doctrine, by human cunning, by craftiness in deceitful schemes.
00:27:09
Speaker
Have you ever been to the beach, going out on a boogie board or out on a float, and suddenly you realize, man, where's my family? I was right in front of my family. But the current slowly causes you to drift. I remember that at Gulf Shore sometimes when I would be out there, I would be on a boogie board and I'd just turn and look.
00:27:30
Speaker
at the Gulf. And I would just think, man, Lord, you made some beautiful things. And then I turn around and I would think, where's my wife? Where's my family? Because I had drifted down the beach to a totally different location. I read about where a 55-year-old lady about five years ago, she went out to have an afternoon swim. She was in Greece with her husband and her daughter. And so she must have fallen asleep on the raft.
00:27:59
Speaker
And you won't believe it. The current took her out to sea and they didn't find her until 21 hours later. She had severe sunburn, she had had sunstroke, had experienced hypothermia through a thunderstorm in the night. It's a terrible thing
00:28:16
Speaker
to drift. Are you drifting? Are you drifting in your beliefs, in your convictions, in your standards? We should say, oh, Lord, help me. Help me to be stable. Help me to be anchored. Help me to be grounded and rooted in Christ. You see, that's why I think verse 14 here
00:28:36
Speaker
tells us that we should be aware, awareness of the crosswinds. Do you know there's crosswinds that want to get you off course? The crosswinds, it says toss to and fro and carried about. It talks about the deceitfulness that are in those crosswinds.
00:28:55
Speaker
You know, you can't believe everything that people tell you out there. You've got to discern it. And the only way to discern it is to go back to the objective standard of God's Word. Not to just say, does it feel okay? But to say, is it in line with what God has said?
00:29:12
Speaker
And so that's why he's saying, you better watch out for the deceitfulness, doctrines that are by human cunning, it says, by craftiness and deceitful schemes. All of those kind of things can throw us off. But what can anchor us? We're anchored in Christ. But look at the greater context of everything we're learning through the book of Ephesians.
00:29:35
Speaker
Do you know that God has put in your life through Christ sort of like a fleet of ships, the kingdom fleet. And this fleet will help you. Discipleship in the word, where you're daily, personally, yourself, you're going through the word and letting the word of God recalibrate your mind and reset your standards and so forth. Discipleship in the word is one kind of ship.
00:30:02
Speaker
But the other one is, when you surrender to the lordship of Christ, you know what? That's another ship that's going to help you get safely to where God wants you to be. To say, every morning, Lord,
00:30:15
Speaker
I want you to be Lord of my life. I surrender everything I am, everything I have, everything you've entrusted in my life. It's all yours because you are my Lord. You know, I think that the Lordship will help you avoid those crosswinds and make it through those crosswinds. But of course, the context here is clear, isn't it? The fellowship of believers, a local church, other Christians, other disciples, we need one another. I need you.
00:30:43
Speaker
And you need me, and we need each other, all of us, every person in this room, none of us can make it on our own, especially not today, not in this day. We're going to have to say, Lord, help me pull real close to the fellowship of believers. Help me more than ever before to make it a priority in my life, not to slowly drift away.
00:31:06
Speaker
The other thing I notice is the leadership. The leadership from the Lord, it says here that the Lord, He gave the apostles, the prophets, the evangelists, the shepherds, the teachers to equip the saints for the work of ministry. You know, the leadership, that's another thing that will help you. Those leaders that God has placed in your life.
00:31:28
Speaker
Well, I just want to encourage you to say, Lord, help me to stay vitally connected. Help me to stay healthy in you and in your body. Let me close with one last one. Cooperative toward maturity. We looked at being responsive to the generosity of Christ, submissive to his authority, cohesive around the unity in Christ, attentive to the stability in Christ. But now let's close with this one.
00:31:55
Speaker
cooperative toward maturity. The reference to growth in this passage, I don't believe it's numerical. A lot of times our focus is on, Lord, help us just get bigger and bigger and bigger and bigger and so forth. Well, I pray that that does happen just because those are souls. They're people that need the Lord. But I don't believe the growth here is numerical at all.
00:32:20
Speaker
I think it's spiritual maturity. That's the issue, is our development in becoming what God has saved us to become. Notice the measure of maturity. If you're gonna measure somebody's spiritual maturity, what will you use? I'll tell you what to use. Use what it talks about in verse 13. That's where the measuring stick, the yardstick, the tape measure, that's where it's found. The measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ.
00:32:49
Speaker
If you want to know how much does the Lord want me and you to grow, He wants us to grow more like Christ. So if none of us have reached that place yet, so we ought to say, okay, Lord, that's our goal. We're measuring our maturity by the fullness of Christ. But also notice verse 15. We need one another, like I said earlier, and what we need, we need people to love us
00:33:12
Speaker
And we need people to speak truth to us. And so I found it interesting, the management toward maturity is referred to in verse 15. Speaking the truth in love, we are to grow up in every way into Him. So rather than pulling away from other Christians, we should pull closer to other Christians. And when we do speak truth to them, we have to make sure we also speak it in a loving way.
00:33:38
Speaker
But we also cannot say, OK, I'm going to be loving, so I'm going to just not mention the truth. We can't do that. We have to speak truth and speak it with love. But also notice the movement toward maturity. Once again, verse 16, how is it that we will all grow in Christ, each of us? Well, I think verse 16 nails it. The whole body joined and held together by every joint
00:34:05
Speaker
with which it is equipped, when each part is working properly, get this, makes the body grow so that it builds itself up in love. You see what happens? It's like God's designed us so that when we're functioning together, when we're healthy as the body of Christ, that's just the way it's going to happen. We will grow
00:34:28
Speaker
You know, am I growing in Christlikeness? If not, is it because I'm not cooperative? Am I resisting? Am I drifting? Is there something going on in my life?
00:34:40
Speaker
Well, I would be remiss in a congregation this size if I didn't mention one other test. You see, the examination we're taking this morning is for those who are in the body of Christ, those who are believers. They've repented of sin and surrendered to the Lord. They've trusted Christ in His perfect atonement. And it's very important for us to say, how is my commitment toward the church? But listen very closely to what I'm about to say.
00:35:10
Speaker
You can be in a church building. You can be in a church and not be in Christ.
00:35:16
Speaker
And that's why I want to end with this one other test that wasn't mentioned there, just in case there's anyone here and you've always thought you were a Christian, you've always told people you were a Christian, but there's one problem. You've never really surrendered yourself to Christ. And so that's why the Apostle Paul in this letter, he's writing to a church at Ephesus, right?
00:35:41
Speaker
But in Corinthians, 2 Corinthians, he's writing to a church in Corinth. So he's writing to a church full of people. And here's what he says, examine yourselves to see whether you are in the faith. Test yourselves. Or do you not realize this about yourselves that Jesus Christ is in you unless indeed you fail to meet the test?
00:36:07
Speaker
So I just want to remind you that while it is important to test your relationship to the church, it's way more essential that you test to see, am I connected to Christ? I could be hanging around Christians a lot and not be born again, not be in God's family. And so that's why I want to encourage you to do that. Do you have a personal relationship with Jesus Christ?
00:36:34
Speaker
Was there a time in your life when you realized that you had sinned? And when you realized that, you said, Lord, I'm tired of that. I want to turn from my sin. I want to ask you to be Lord of my life. I'm tired of making decisions myself. Have you ever surrendered your life to him like that? If you have, that's awesome. And I figured that's probably most of us in this room, but maybe not everyone.
00:36:58
Speaker
But those of us who just heard this message, who went through this, I want to remind you before we go into the invitation of what the questions are. Here's the first question. Have you been receptive to the gifts Christ gave you? Or if you were given a piece of the puzzle, is it still in the box?
00:37:20
Speaker
You're not putting your puzzle on the table. Why don't you put your puzzle piece on the table? We need you. That's the first question. Have you been receptive to the gifts Christ gave you? Second question is, are you personally submissive to His authority over you? Or are you pretty much calling the shots in your life?
00:37:40
Speaker
Do you really surrender your life to Him or are you in charge? The third question, is your life cohesive or detached from the unity that is found in Christ? Are you trying to live the Christian life out there by yourself? Why? You've got a whole church family here that love to encourage you and surround you and be around you and to be there for you, to speak truth, to hold you accountable when you need to be held accountable.
00:38:09
Speaker
Are you attentive to your stability in Christ, or would you admit, I'm drifting, I'm negligent, I'm careless, I'm just not focused on those standards the Lord would want me to have? And the fifth question was, did this spiritual checkup reveal that you're moving toward spiritual maturity, or are you moving away? Are you moving back into spiritual immaturity?
00:38:38
Speaker
I just want you to know the truth. I wanted us to look into the mirror of God's word together today. I wanted us to sit down with the great physician, the Lord Jesus Christ, and just say, Lord, we belong to you. We're your body. Would you help us to know if we're healthy or if we're not healthy? And so you'll have to answer that question as well as me.
00:39:01
Speaker
So during this time of invitation, perhaps rather than just seeing who comes forward or something like that, why don't you say, I'm going to just pray because God showed me something in that message that I need to focus on for my spiritual health. So let's stand together. If you do need to come, I'm down here at the front. I'd be so happy to talk with you and to welcome you and to maybe we can set up an appointment where we can talk later. But anyway, thank you so much for just listening attentively.
00:39:31
Speaker
But I pray that the voice of the Holy Spirit is the main one you heard as we looked into God's word. Let's pray together and give this time of invitation to Him. Lord, you've definitely spoken to us through your word. You did say your word would not come back to you void. It'll accomplish what you want it to accomplish. And it might not be this hour. It might not be this day. But I do believe with all my heart it will accomplish what you sent it for it to accomplish. I trust you about that.
00:40:00
Speaker
And so, Lord, what is it that You're wanting to accomplish in my life? What is it You're wanting to accomplish in each person's life that's here today? I pray that we would be responsive to You and listen to what You're saying. So if there's anyone here that does not have that personal relationship with Christ, help them realize
00:40:19
Speaker
You were the substitute. You died on the cross in place of them. You took the punishment for their sins instead of them. And so I pray that today they would be so glad to surrender to your authority, knowing that you're not dead. You're not in the tomb. You're not on the cross. You're alive. You rose from the dead. You ascended back to the Father. You're coming back for us someday. And so help them to be ready. But bless this time in Jesus' name. Amen.
00:40:52
Speaker
This is a ministry of First Baptist Church, located at 1700 Milam Street, Columbus, Texas.