STUDY THEME: ADOPTING A BIBLICAL WORLD     8-13-00
UNIT 2: CONTOURS OF A BIBLICAL WORLD VIEW: "A PLACE TO BELONG."
EPHESIANS 4: 1-7, 11-16.
PLEASE OPEN YOUR BIBLE TO EPHESIANS 4. 

It would be interesting to hear from each of you what group or groups you
are now or have been a part of. Many of us now pay dues to A.A.R.P. As a
youth I was treasurer of my Boy Scout Troup. For several years I was
secretary of the Okla. Rabbit Breeders Assoc  I completed the three
degrees of the Independent Order of Odd Fellows and also completed the 32
degrees of Masonry. In each of these groups I found acceptance,
friendship, and purpose. I'm sure you could name many more fine groups to
which you gave time and energy. 

This grows out of the fact that God created us as physical, spiritual and
social beings. The sad thing is that some people never find such a sense
of belonging. Others find a sense of belonging, but to the wrong kind of
group. Criminal gangs, for example, provide a sense of acceptance, but
they are destructive. Others find their sense of belonging in various
social recreational, service, or work-related groups, teams or
organizations. 

God ordained the family, communities, tribes, societies, nations, the
church, and His kingdom to accomplish His purposes in people's lives
through love, discipline, encouragement, and security. Two primary social
groups that fulfill our deepest needs for belonging are the family and
the church. Family ought to provide loving acceptance, friendship,
heritage, and purpose. The church, the family of faith, does the same for
all God's people. In the church believers discover their purpose and
identity in relationship to the people of God, the fellowship of Christ's
church, and the realm of His kingdom. 

Clubs and other organizations offer friendship, but each is lacking
something. The church, founded on a relationship with God, who is love,
offers adults the best opportunity for meaningful relationships of trust
and commitment in which they can experience Christlike love and Godlike
forgiveness and acceptance.  

In a society that is becoming increasingly rootless, is important that
adults find a group to which they can belong. Civic clubs and other
groups offer friendship and common bonds to many adults. Yet the
spiritual family we call church offers a radically different kind of
comradship and fellowship based on the teachings of God's Word.

Our family joined Immanuel in 1952 because the Immanuelites who lived on
Pesotum Street came with tea and cookies to be served on our unpacked
crates. They advised us where we should go to church on Sunday. They
demonstrated the same friendly spirit that continues to attract people to
Immanuel today.

1. PLEASE READ EPHESIANS 4: 1-2. 

In Acts 19-20 Paul recounted his experiences with the Ephesian believers.
The themes of his Letter to them seem to stress amore mature level of
faith than in most of his other letters. This inspired writing's words of
instruction and encouragement continue to benefit believers in every
generation. The word "therefore" in Vs. 1 marks the transition from the
doctrinal teachings in the first 3 chapters of Ephesians. The transition
is from the doctrine to duty, principle to practice, position to
behavior, from doctrinal to practical. This is typical of Paul's
writings. In Eph. Ch. 1-3 of Ephesians Paul wrote of Doxology and
Doctrine. Then from Ch. 4:2 to 5:17 he writes of the walk and service of
the believer; of Duty and Deed.

In one of the richest chapters in one of the richest books in the N.T.,
we have an extraordinary description of the church. The churches in Asia
Minor were facing considerable trouble. A breach was developing between
Gentile Christanity and Judaism. Jewish Christians were torn between
their religious heritage and their new faith. Certain traveling teachers
were teaching false doctrines based on Mosiac law that threatened to
further fragment congregations. 

In the past the apostle Paul frequently addressed such dangers in person.
Now He was in prison. Therefore, he wrote to encourage the church at
Ephesus to maintain its faith in Jesus Christ. He set forth the rationale
that God in Jesus Christ through the church was unifying a redeemed
people. In this passage Paul referred to himself as a prisoner for the
Lord.  He had been imprisoned because of his relationship to Christ.  

Paul was a "prisoner for the Lord" on more than one occasion. His jail
time was a result of his becoming a Christian. Paul was both honored and
troubled by his imprisonments. He was proud of his porivilege to suffer
in this way for the Lord. He was troubled because his imprisonment caused
some believers to become discouraged and caused other people to reject
his message. 

By mentioning his imprisonment (3:1) Paul gently reminded Ephesian
believers that the faithful Christian walk can be costly and that he had
paid a considerable personal price because of his obedience to the Lord.
"Walk Worthy" has the idea of living to match one's position in Christ.
The apostle urged his readers to be every thing the Lord desires and
impresses them to be. "Calling" refers to God's sovereign call to
salvation. Paul pleaded for them to conduct themselves in a way that
would enhance their message of salvation to lost people around them. To
walk the super-natural walk.

The word "lowliness" or "humility" is aterm not fund in either the Roman
or Grek vocabulary of Paul's day. he Greek word apparently was coined by
Christians. Perhaps even by Paul himself to describe a quaility for which
no other word was available. According to James 4:6 "humility" is the
most fundamental Christian virtue. It is the quality of character
considered int he first beatitude in Matt. 5:3 and according to Phil.
2:7-8 describes the noble grace of Christ. 

"Meekness" or "gentleness" is an inevitable product of humility. It is
that which refers to one that is mild-spirited and self-controlled.
Gentleness is described as power under control. "Long-suffering" means
long-tempered and refers to a resolved patience that is the outgrowth of
humility and gentleness. 

The primary characteristic of worthy living was "love." The Greek word is
agape, determined goodwill that acts for the benefit of its object. In
Christ's letter to the church in Ephesus in Rev. 2:4, He called on the
members to return to their "first love." Something special must have
characterized the love they had for one another and for the lost people
around them. Paul had experienced their love for Christ and for him. 

Love is at the core of all relationships in the church. Not so in he
world around us! Soon after we are born we learn to be self-centered.
Learning to accept other for their sakes and not for our own is
difficult. Yet we must resist relating to others on a lesser level.
Relationships built on anything except love are not worthy of our
calling. For Paul the Christian faith was not merely a compartment of
life but its essence. 

Paul described ways to relate to one another in love. They picture love
that reflects Jesus' love for people He encountered in his earthly
ministry. Such a selfless lifestyle is not found in other settings. It is
the normative lifestyle for believers in fellowship.

Neighborhoods in which people are afraid o go outside at night need love.
A society in which violence is so rampant that even children act out in
ways that take other lives needs the church to show Christ's love amoung
members and toward people outside the family of faith. REal love is
availabvle only through people who know Christ as Savior and Lord. 

The church too often resembles the world in its competitive, condemning
and self-serving lifestyle. Believers with a biblical worldview are to
love and to accept one another by joining in a lifestyle that imitates
Christ, not the world.  

In these next verses Paul taught that the Holy Spirit creates unity
bvased on many  things that bleievers have in common. Thus believers are
to do their best to preserve their oneness in spirit by living at peace. 

2. PLEASE READ EPHESIANS 4:3-6. 

In these verses Paul points out there are seven unities to be kept in the
body of Christ (the church). Col. 3:14 says that the spiritual cord that
surrounds and binds God's holy people together is LOVE. Te unity of the
church is bound together through peace. Paul lists the particular areas
of oneness, or unity: body, Spirit, hope, Lord, faith, baptism, and God
and Father of all, who is above all, and through all, and in all.

Notice in these verses Paul focuses on the Trinity--the Spirit in Vs. 4,
the Son in Vs. 5, and the Father in Vs. 6. His point is not to
distinguish between the persons of the God-head but to emphasize that,
although they have unique roles, they are completely unified in every
aspect of the divine nature and plan.

The church, the body of Christ, is composed of every believer since
Pentecost without distinction, by the work of the one Spirit. While
Christianity may manifest itself to the world in numerous sects and
denominations, all true Christians are part of Christ's church, the one
body.  One Spirit reflects the oneness of the Holy Spirit, who animates
the body. One hope points to the destination of every believer, heaven
itself. The one Lord is Jesus. Christians are to obey only Him. One faith
is not a creed or system of beliefs. It is a personal trust in the one
Lord of the church. It is the only way to enter into the one body.

 In this context Paul's reference to one baptism probably refers to
Spirit baptism rather than water baptism, even though my quarterly
disagrees with that. The "one baptism" is another factor that contributes
to believers' unity in God's Spirit. Monotheism, the bvelief in one God,
is central to Judeo-Christian belief. The prophet Isaih in Isa. 44: 14-17
mocked person who cut down a tree and made a god with part of the wood
and burned the rest to keep warm or to cook. God is the Father of all,
who is over all and through all and in all. He created everything and is
at work in His creation. 

Paul taught that the Holy Spirit unites the church by bringing peace to
its members, both individually and collectively. The church's unity is
based on its having only one God, the Father of its Lord, Jesus Christ.
Thus the church is uniquely unified. The world calls people to be
individualistic super-stars and self-motivated heroes. Christ calls His
followers to be sumissive and dependent. Believers are to join together
in a community whose unity of purpose and hope can be compared only with
that of God Himself and can be created only by His Spirit.

3, PLEASE READ EPHESIANS 4: 7.

Having established his case for unity in the church, Paul turned to
diversity in the body. The church can reproduce God's unity in their
fellowship with one another because in His grace God has given each
member spiritual gifts. Leaders of the church receive unique gifts to
build up the church and to equip members to serve Christ by serving His
church. When used together in unity, these gifts produce a maturing body
that represents the fullness of Christ to the world.       

"Unity" is not uniformity. Dr. Larry Adams used to explaina that you can
tie the tails of two cats together and hang them over the clothes line
and you have union, but you do not have unity.  

The Vs. 7 is called the key verse because it makes three main points:
(l.) Everyone of us receives at least one spiritual gift. No one has all
the gifts, and also it is true that no member of the body is without some
spiritual task and spiritual gift for it. (2.) Each and every believer is
given grace. Abilities to perform tasks for the Lord are gifts of God's
grace, not human achievements. (3.) The gifts are varied because they are
according to the measure of the gift of Christ. ("as Christ apportioned
it.") Christ makes all the decisions concerning the distribution and
makeup of these gifts. Implied is the kind of diversity of gifts that is
spelled out in Romans 12:6-8 and 1 Corinthians 12: 4-11. 

Spiritual gifts are gifts of grace. As such they remind us that we do not
earn or deserve them. Apparently  this grace or gift is bestowed on
believers a the time of their conversion when they receive the Holy
spirit. Nothing in us draws this grace to us. Instead, God showers His
love on unworthy people and draws them to salvation.  

In 1 Corinthians 12-14 Paul chided the church for ranking the gifts
according to importance and according to the people who received the
gifts. This was not the issue in Ephesus. In Vs. 7 Paul emphasized that
the gifts had been "given." He outlined the purpose for which they had
been given. Christ, gives His body all its needs to do His work. 

4. PLEASE READ EPHESIANS 4: 11-13.   

In Vs. 7 Paul spoke of the gifts; Vs. 11 speaks of  gifted people who
themselves are the gifts. Christ dispenses gifts to people, and He gives
gifted people as leaders to the church. Vs. 11 is not meant to be an
exhaustive list of all the gifts of the Spirit. In several letters Paul
referred to spiritual gifts, and each compilation is different and varies
in length. Apparently Paul meant the brief list in Vs. 11 to include only
peopole with more obvious leadership functions. In 1 Cor. 14: 12 he wrote
that His readers were to excel in gifts that build up the church. The
four types of leaders listed in Eph. 4:11 are especially gifted to
prepare others for using their gifts.

Among those whom He gave were apostles and prophets, whose work provided
he church's foundation. The N.T. gives two qualifications for a person's
being an apostle. He must have seen the risen Christ, and Christ must
have commissioned him to be an apostle. Throughout Paul's ministry he
debated with people who considered him a second-class apostle at best.  

Evangelists spread the good news to the lost, and thus probably were
itinerant workers. They were similar to today's missionaries. Based on
the grammatical construction in the Greek text (the two terms are linked
together by  the same article), pastors and teachers probably refer to
one gift--a "pastor-teacher." At the very least the grammar indicates a
close association and perhaps an overlapping of function. 

Pastors translates a noun that means "shepherds". Here it refes to the
shepherds of God's flock, the church. The verb form is used in Acts 20:28
and 1 Peter 5:1-4 for the shepherding task of this leader. In these
passages the shepherding role is mentioned along with the role as
"overseer" and "elders". Herschel H. Hobbs wrote: "these three terms
apparently refer to varius phases of one office which today is commonly
called "pastor."

Vs, 12 is another key verse. If the commas are omitted it reads "looking
toward the equipping of the saints for the work of the ministry for the
building up of the body of Christ. Christ gave the four gifts to the
church in the form of persons to prepare all members for ministry. 

Leaders of the church receive unique gifts to build up the church and to
equip members to serve Christ by serving His church. When used together
in unity, these gifts produce a manturing body that represents the
fullnes of Christ to the world. 

In other words, the task of the church leaders is not to do the work of
the ministry alone but to equip and work with all the members of Christ's
body in doing His work of building up His body. This is a revolutionary
idea to people who assume that the only one responsible for the work of
the ministry is the pastor. Every member of  Christ's body is
responsible. All those who belong to the church are responsible for
exercising their gifts for the glory of God, the good of the church and
the needs of a lost world.

Each of the four gifts and all others Paul listed in other places ae not
for personal use and blessing. They are to be used for the good of the
whole body. Any use of these gifts to glorify self is a misuse and an
abuse.  

Vs. 13 is an elaboration on the last part of Vs. 12. What is involved in
the edifying or building up of the Body of Christ? Well, the unity of the
faith is a goal. So is the knowledge of the Son of God. We already know
Him, but true believers want to know Him better. Faith here refers to the
body of revealed truth that constitutes Christian teaching, particulary
featuring the complete content of the Gospel.

"The knowledge of the Son of God" does not refer to salvation knowledge,
but to the deep knowledge of Christ that a believer comes to have through
proper, faithful study of His Word, and obedience to His commands. God
wants everyone to manifest the qualities of His Son, who is Himself the
standard for our spiritual maturity and perfection. Col. 2:19 says, "For
it pleased the father that on Him should all fullness dwell."  
 
A perfect man refers to the maturity of the body of Christ. The measure
of the stature of the fullness of Christ reminds us of Paul's prayer and
doxology in Eph. 3: 14-21, which emphasizes the fullness of Christ's
presence, purpose, and power. This is our prayer and our goal also. 

Looked at as a whole, Ephesians 4:7, 11-14 is a promise and a challenge.
The world teaches people to depend on their own strengths and abilities
to manipulate their way to success. God gives believers spiritual gifts
to encourage and enable one another to achieve His purposes together. As
believers, we are to use our spiritual gifts to strengthen our churches
to be commniities in which all believers reach their full poetential.

In the next verses 14-16 we see that Christians must beware of being
immature and unsable, and thus vulnerable to false teachings. We are not
only to stand for the truth but also to speak the truth in love. Christ
as Head enables His body to build itself up in love as each member does
his or her part. 

5. PLEASE READ EPHESIANS 4: 14-16.

In Vs. 14 Paul wrote of the tragedy of leaving some in Christ's body
behind to fend for themselves. We may refer to such people as deadwood,
but Paul referred to them as "infants." The problem is not that they are
dead but that they have not grown out of infancy., Thse are not merely
the newborn believers; they are people who have been Christians for some
time and simply never have grown up. They are childish.

The danger of believers remaining immature is that unscrupulous leaders
easily can use or mislead such believers. Paul pictured these infants as
being "tossed back and forth" as in the case of someone on a storm-tossed
sea. In such a situation a person is at the storm's mercy. Immature
believers are extremely impressionable and easily can be led in harmful
directions at the whim of people who use "deceitful scheming"---who are
marked by "cunning and craftiness." The point of Vs. 14 is the necessity
of preparing ourselves and others in Christ's body so such leaders cease
to be a danger. 

The word "instead" in Vs. 15 introudces a different type of Christian. In
contrast to the immature Christian, the maturing Christian is one who
continually is speaking the truth. The truth is not merealy declared; it
is spoken in love. The Greek word for love is agape. This love has as its
only consideration the one loved. To speak the truth in love means that
the truth is spoken for the benefit of the one to whom it is spoken. Some
people have said "the truth hurts. " That may be true. Yet within
Christ's body no one speaks the truth to hurt another. Such an aim would
be contrary to Christ's spirit.

The mature Christian's experience will be marked by growth. This growth
covers the whole spectrum of life--in all things. It moves the person
ever closer to Christ. This does not imply that the saints will reach
this goal in this present life: it insists that  they move in that
direction. 

Paul described Christ as the Head. The Head functions as the seat of
decisions and the source of the resources necessary for life. The head is
an excellent analogy for Christ and His relationship to the church. He
guides and directs its daily life. He provides everything needed to
sustain it. Without Him the body dies instantly. 

Vs.16 points out that the church is not merely an organization., It is an
organism that is alive and growing, nourished by God's Word and held
together by God's love for us in Christ and our love for one another.
This love pulls us together into a sharing and nurturing community. From
Christ's presence, power, and love, His church "grows and builds itself
up in love" as each part does its work. "From whom" refers to the Lord.
Power for producing mature, equipped believers comes not from the effort
of those believers alone but from their Head, the Lord Jesus Christ. 

Someone has asked, "What is a successful Church?" Too often we measure
success only by the standards of a secular world view. The church is an
organization; therefore, some results can be placed in statistical
reports. However, the church is basically an organism, whose success is
measued by standards that cannot be calculated by numbers, buildings,
budgets, and activities. 

God's sandards include the kind of things mentioned in the focal verses
of this lesson. In the biblical worldview, a church is successful when
the people love one another, have a unity in the Lord, exercise their
spiritaul gifts for the good of the church and the glory of the Lord, and
speak the truth in love as they grow in Christlikeness. 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.  

 The Focal verses we have used today highlight four ways in which he Lord
makes he church the place of belonging and four ways the members can do
their part. (1.) Christ calls us to show loving acceptance of one
another. (2.) He creates the oneness that membeers are to guard. (3.) he
equips eachmember for service. (4.) He leads each member toward maturity
in Him. 

For our part, we are to (l.) Love one another, (2.) guard the oneness of
Spirit, (3) exercise our spiritual gifts, and (4.) grow toward
Christlineness.
We are the Body of which the Lord is the Head. 
Called to obey Him, now risen from the dead;
He wills us be a family Diverse yet truly one:
O let us give our gifts to God. And so His work on earth be done.  

NEXT SUNDAY FROM PHILIPPIANS 1 & 2 WE SEEK THE ANSWER TO THE LIFE
QUESTION "HOW CAN I FIND FULFILLMENT IN MY EVERYDAY LIFE?"
A.V. DAUGHERTY   8-23-00