Maturing in Unity

Our church’s theme this year is Building on Our Heritage…

- God in His grace has given us a wonderful heritage

…and the question we’re considering this year is…what does it look like to build on our heritage wisely and well?...

As we’ve walked through our series in Ephesians, we have seen more recently what it is like to be Living Worthy of Our Gospel Heritage …

It has been joyous to study and learn about what Christ has done for us and the many blessings we get to enjoy in Him.

This morning we will be continuing in chapter 4 and studying how the unity we have in Christ results in our maturity and in growth within His body.

Please turn to page _______ in the bible under the chair in front of you.

We will be looking today for what Paul tells us about how, as we continue to grow as a church, we are Maturing in Unity and how that results in steadfastness and a heart to serve one another…follow along as I read Ephesians 4:14-16

Ephesians 4:14–16 (NASB95)

¹⁴As a result, we are no longer to be children, tossed here and there by waves and carried about by every wind of doctrine, by the trickery of men, by craftiness in deceitful scheming;

¹⁵but speaking the truth in love, we are to grow up in all aspects into Him who is the head, even Christ,

¹⁶from whom the whole body, being fitted and held together by what every joint supplies, according to the proper working of each individual part, causes the growth of the body for the building up of itself in love.

As we continue with our series, today we will be looking at 3 traits of a church maturing in Christian unity.

The first trait of maturity that should be evident is that we…

I. Remain stable when presented with false doctrine (v.14)

Ephesians 4:14 As a result, we are no longer to be children, tossed here and there by waves and carried about by every wind of doctrine, by the trickery of men, by

craftiness in deceitful scheming;

You would probably agree that the world is riddled with false doctrines and teachings nowadays.

So much so, that it has caught the attention of many Christians, and over the years has entangled many believers in lies and deceit that only tickle the ear but provide no sustenance.

Which is why we continually see professing Christians leaving the faith and separating themselves from the Church. We are seeing this more and more often.

Paul is clear on why this is happening… we’ve seen this previously… Ephesians 4:13 tells us that we must attain the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God… In other words, we must all stand on solid ground which is Christ; what He’s done and who He is.

John MacArthur puts it this way…

Spiritually immature believers who are not grounded in the knowledge of Christ through God’s Word are inclined to accept uncritically every sort of beguiling doctrinal error and fallacious interpretation of Scripture promulgated by deceitful, false teachers in the church. They must learn discernment (1 Thess. 5:21, 22).^[1]

After hearing all of this, you may want to ask, how do we avoid being carried away by the wind of false doctrines and trickery of men?

Well, to remain stable and learn discernment, we must first…

By understanding the true doctrine

In Paul’s travels, we are given an idea of how we should approach Scripture…

Acts 17:11 Now these were more noble-minded than those in Thessalonica, for they received the word with great eagerness, examining the Scriptures daily to see whether these things were so.

This led many of them to believe. As opposed to the Jews from Thessalonica who formed a mob in anger against the truths being preached.

Allow me to ask you a question… How do we respond when we think about the word of God? Are we eager to continue to study it and learn from it?... Or does it stir up fear and bitterness?... Are you eager to teach it and share what you learn with others or would you rather oppress it?

Our hope is that you are like the Bereans, eager to learn, eager to study, and eager to believe.

We must study and learn in order to understand right?

When we want to learn how to drive? Do we simply take the wheel and go… No, someone must teach us, and then we must study the laws of traffic… It’s one thing to drive in an empty parking lot and a totally different thing to drive downtown. If you don’t obey the laws, it is very likely you or someone else will end up hurt. Following the laws is a sign of a mature driver.

Married fellas, I know you’ve heard this analogy before so here it comes again… when you were getting to know your wife, did you learn everything about her by staring blankly into her eyes and hoped to get through to the deepest part of her?... of course not! You’d probably not be married if you did… No, you had to ask questions… talk to her… talk to her friends, relatives, parents… then were you able to know her likes and dislikes, her personality… this is a sign that you are maturing in your relationship.

It's not a matter of staring at the words in the Bible… it’s about studying them eagerly and examining them daily just as the Bereans did in Acts 17. Then will we know and understand the true doctrine.

It doesn’t stop there… this understanding should also lead us to eagerly teach the truth to others.

We should be eager to jump at teaching opportunities… These are signs of a maturing Christian…We are no longer childish, rather we are growing in maturity…That is why, as a church, we provide various of these opportunities to grow in maturity.

A big one coming up is VBS. We don’t want the kids of our church and community to become like the children described in verse 14—rowboats tossed about by a churning sea of constantly changing cultural ideologies, theological fads, and deceitful schemes. In order to do that, we must stand together as a church and teach!... We still need more than 100 additional servants. Please consider serving.

So, once we understand what the word of God says and grow in the knowledge and understanding of its true doctrine we must cling to it and stand on that firm ground…

We must also…

By recognizing when there is deceit

But how do we recognize it?

Well, let’s examine a well-known case study… when we think of trickery and craftiness, what do we think of?

Well, I think of the serpent in the Garden. Let’s look at Genesis 3:1-13

Genesis 3:1 Now the serpent was more crafty than any beast of the field which the Lord God had made. And he said to the woman, “Indeed, has God said, ‘You shall not eat from any tree of the garden’?”

What is it that the serpent is attempting to do here? He is preparing to twist God’s word. He is using God’s own words, twisting them and preparing to gaslight Eve.

This is what God actually said in Genesis 2:16-17,

“The Lord God commanded the man, saying, “From any tree of the garden you may eat freely; but from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat, for in the day that you eat from it you will surely die.”

Eve knew this very well, but the serpent took those words and began to twist them saying…

(Kari, please have these next sections fade in on the previous slide after I click)

4 “You surely will not die! ⁵ “For God knows that in the day you eat from it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.”

How did Eve respond? Was she eager to go to God’s word or God Himself for guidance?

No,

⁶ When the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was a delight to the eyes, and that the tree was desirable to make one wise, she took from its fruit and ate;

And in verses 12 and 13 we have the result of falling for the trickery…

¹² The man said, “The woman whom You gave to be with me, she gave me from the tree, and I ate.” ¹³ Then the Lord God said to the woman, “What is this you have done?” And the woman said, “The serpent deceived me, and I ate.”

We see that the blame is placed on others, Adam blamed Eve and Eve blamed the serpent. Ultimately, the curse of sin is placed on the earth and on Man.

If deceit was present in the Garden before the curse of sin, how much more should we expect it now?

We must be ready to detect it when we hear words that are twisting the words that God has clearly given to us. We must study and examine those words in light of Scripture.

The clear indication of deceit is the contradiction of what God has already said.

Eve did not recognize that contradiction as trickery, craftiness, and deceitfulness. Let’s not make the same mistake…

As we grow committed to God’s word, we will be committed to recognizing and calling out false doctrines…

And we must also…

II. Be committed to speaking the truth in love (v.15a) – 3 examples speaking ill and speaking truth (angry, etc.)

Verse 15 teaches that we must

Ephesians 4:15a …speaking the truth in love

As we grow in knowledge of God’s word, we will remain stable and stand on firm ground, but that should not lead us to be haughty or unloving especially when we are teaching others that may have been led by false doctrines.

Our communication of the truths of God’s word is hindered by how we communicate it.

John MacArthur says it this way…

Evangelism is most effective when the truth is proclaimed in love. This can be accomplished only by a spiritually mature believer who is thoroughly equipped in sound doctrine and in spiritual maturity. Without maturity, the truth can be no more than cold orthodoxy and love can be no more than sentimentality.^[2]

Therefore, in order for us to speak in love, we must have…

Communication grounded in the truth of God’s word

Our communication must first be grounded on God’s truth before we can begin to teach and speak the truth in love to others.

We must firmly be grounded on what God has to say about Himself, about Man, and about His plan before we can make righteous judgements in life. We must see everything through a biblical perspective.

We must treasure His word and His truth first.

Proverbs 7:1–5

¹My son, keep my words And treasure my commandments within you.

²Keep my commandments and live, And my teaching as the apple of your eye.

³Bind them on your fingers; Write them on the tablet of your heart.

⁴Say to wisdom, “You are my sister,” And call understanding your intimate friend;

⁵That they may keep you from an adulteress, From the foreigner who flatters with her words.

We must keep His commandments permanently in our hearts and treasure His word. When we do, we will find that wisdom and understanding will be close to us and we will not be led astray.

Grounding ourselves in His truth, we will find that our…

Communication focused on loving others

God’s word is alive and is to be used to teach, reproof, correct, and train in righteousness just as 2 Timothy 3:16 teaches, but it must be done in love.

Why love? Why did Paul not simply teach that we should speak truth, period?

Well, first, God in His kind provision has given us His love. 1 John 4:19 teaches that we can love only because God first loved us… so if he has given us His love, why would we refrain from giving that same love to others?

Secondly, we are commanded to love one another.

1 John 3:23 says,

1 John 3:23 This is His commandment, that we believe in the name of His Son Jesus Christ, and love one another, just as He commanded us.

So, if we know that we are enabled to love because God loves us, and commands us to love others, everything that we do must be based on that love.

John MacArthur says that speaking truth in love is a much more difficult task than it seems.

This is because we are typically focused on loving ourselves rather than loving others.

Think about it, if loving others was easy, there probably wouldn’t be a commandment for it because it would come naturally to us.

We naturally want pleasure, respect, our needs met, and because of that we typically judge and criticize others unlovingly.

In from Pride to Humility, Stuart Scott calls this the Anthropocentric mindset. This is the prideful perspective focused solely on myself and not thinking of others.

Please insert these pictures if possible

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In order to not fall into this trap, we must learn to be humble and have a Theocentric mindset. This is a low and sober-minded perspective that thinks of how to serve God and others first before ourselves.

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This is a humble mindset that leads us to love one another and be able to share the truth with each other in love.

If my focus is to serve and love you before myself, then my speech will reflect that, my actions will reflect that even when I am wanting to correct or teach you.

We should…

Philippians 2:3–4

Do nothing from selfishness or empty conceit, but with humility of mind regard one another as more important than yourselves; ⁴ do not merely look out for your own personal interests, but also for the interests of others.

What better example of this humility do we have than…

Christ is our example of this kind of speech

We are to be conformed to the image of Christ… as such… this includes His humility.

Jesus said this of Himself…

Mark 10:45 For even the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give His life a ransom for many.”

Jesus came to serve, and because of that, His speech was embalmed with love.

He portrayed humbleness even when He rebuked or corrected others. He wanted to serve them well, not beat around the bush and avoid difficult conversations.

That is what speaking truth in love looks like. Even when there is a hard conversation to be had, we must have it for the sake of the Gospel and to help our brother or sister turn back to the Lord.

Oftentimes, you will find that these are the most rewarding conversations because they create stronger bonds. It is as Proverbs 27 says…

Proverbs 27:17 Iron sharpens iron, So one man sharpens another.

Our humbleness must also be portrayed in our actions…

Our words mean nothing if they are not backed by our actions. Our servant mindset cannot be portrayed by words alone. In order to show love, they must also be accompanied by actions.

Besides Christ’s death on the cross for us, one of the greatest examples of humility He gives us is the washing of the disciples’ feet.

Jesus said…

John 13:14 “If I then, the Lord and the Teacher, washed your feet, you also ought to wash one another’s feet.

We must be like our Teacher… humble and ready to serve one another in love.

We must follow His lead, for He is the head of the body.

And if we are a part of the body, then we must…

III. Embrace your role in the body of Christ (v.15b-16)

Ephesians 4:15b–16 we are to grow up in all aspects into Him who is the head, even Christ, ¹⁶from whom the whole body, being fitted and held together by what every joint supplies, according to the proper working of each individual part, causes the growth of the body for the building up of itself in love.

With Christ as our example, we must grow to be like Him and be united to His body

Because…

Christ is the head

It is precious to know that our redemption did not end with Christ ascending and ending His relationship with us… No… He continues to have a relationship with us and leads us.

We can cling to Paul’s words in Colossians

Colossians 3:3–4 For you have died and your life is hidden with Christ in God.

⁴When Christ, who is our life, is revealed, then you also will be revealed with Him in glory.

Our relationship with the Lord is continual… it is eternal… and we can enjoy that even in glory!

Paul’s use of the imagery of the body here is to depict the intimate relationship that we have with Christ. He is the head of His church… He is the leader, the authority figure, the one that provides what the body needs.

In His provision, He also unites us as His body.

And makes it evident that…

Your role is important to the body

As the body grows, it does so only by the sustenance that comes from Christ. All of the parts of His body are interrelated and it is only when each part is working properly that it will receive the proper support.

We need each other just as the body needs its joints and ligaments to function properly and hold itself together.

Each one of us has a role and helps to build the other up in Christ.

Paul encourages us to be united, and help each other grow… He says,

Galatians 6:1–2 Brethren, even if anyone is caught in any trespass, you who are spiritual, restore such a one in a spirit of gentleness; each one looking to yourself, so that you too will not be tempted. ²Bear one another’s burdens, and thereby fulfill the law of Christ.

We are not called to be isolated or become self minded people… We are to look after one another and carry one another’s burdens. We must work together, encouraging and edifying one another.

John Calvin said,

If we want to be considered members of Christ, let no man be anything for himself, but let us all be whatever we are for the benefit of each other.

In other words, if you consider yourself to be in Christ, then you should be a part of His body… Not a lonesome cowboy.

You may ask how one is able to be a part of the body… Well, there’s one thing I can tell you that will make it evident.

Serve in the church!

How, you may ask… Well there’s plenty of ways… There’s worship team, children’s ministries, youth group, greeting, ushering, making calls to those who are sick and supplying any needs, driving the minibus that brings people here for the 9:30 service.

There are many ways that we can be serving and encouraging one another. No role in the body is smaller than another. Each one is important.

The point is to humbly serve! If you need help finding an opportunity, come talk to one of the pastors and we’d be happy to find a place for you to find your giftedness. In fact, why not start with VBS and work your way from there J

As we serve each other and are provided for by our Savior… He will provide growth for us, and we will see that…

This is growth grounded in love

As we’ve seen, our growth is not dependent on us, but on the Lord.

MacArthur states,

Power for producing mature, equipped believers comes not from the effort of those believers alone but from their head, the Lord Jesus Christ (cf. Col. 2:19). every part does its share. Godly, biblical church growth results from every member of the body fully using his spiritual gift, in submission to the Holy Spirit and in cooperation with other believers (cf. Col. 2:19).^[3]

As we serve one another, submit to the Holy Spirit, and work as one body… We can trust that Christ provides the growth we need.

I’m surprised I’m not hearing a huge sigh of relief…Do you understand what this means?

This means that our mistakes, because we will make them, our imperfections, because we still have them this side of Heaven, our motivation is not going to hinder our growth.

It is solely dependent on Jesus Christ… His merit… His perfection…His will

We can simply enjoy that gift…We can freely serve one another in love without worrying about our weaknesses… because as we each do our part in serving the body, we help to carry each other’s burdens.

So, let’s serve together…let’s serve each other… let’s love one another… growing, each of us, to be more like Christ.

^[1] John F. MacArthur Jr., The MacArthur Bible Commentary (Nashville: Thomas Nelson, 2005), Eph 4:14.

^[2] John F. MacArthur Jr., The MacArthur Bible Commentary (Nashville: Thomas Nelson, 2005), Eph 4:15.

^[3] John F. MacArthur Jr., The MacArthur Bible Commentary (Nashville: Thomas Nelson, 2005), Eph 4:16.