Ephesians 4:11-16 – Berris Patience – 2025 11 30

11 And He gave some as apostles, and some as prophets, and some as evangelists, and some as pastors and teachers, 12 for the equipping of the saints for the work of service, to the building up of the body of Christ; 13 until we all attain to the unity of the faith, and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to a mature man, to the measure of the stature which belongs to the fullness of Christ. 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; 15 but speaking the truth in love, we are to grow up in all aspects into Him who is the head, even Christ, 16 from 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. (NASB 1995)

Transcript:

(Disclaimer: AI generated transcript. Accuracy may vary)

I wanna turn or point your attention once again to Ephesians chapter four and the desire and goal is to conclude this section that we’ve been looking at verses one to 16. So we’re going to look at verses 11 to 16 this morning. Into this afternoon. Ephesians four, verses 11 to 16. And he gave some apostles and some as prophets, some as evangelists, and some as pastors and teachers for the equipping of the saints, for the work of the ministry, for the building up of the body of Christ until we all attain to the unity of faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God to immature man to the measure of the statue which belongs to the fullness of Christ. As a result, we’re no longer to be children tossed here and there by waves and carried about by every wind of doctrine, by the trickery of people, by the craftiness and deceitful scheming. But speaking the truth in love, we are to grow up in all aspects into him. Who is the head that is Christ from whom? The whole body being fitted and held together by what every joint supplies according to the proper working of each individual part causes growth of the body for the building up of itself in love. So as we saw last week, the journey towards maturity within the Christian community, that is the body of Christ. This local assembly is a collective process. It requires the participation and commitment of every member, of every believer that is in the body working together in unity and in faith. Growth and maturity is not limited to individual development, but encompasses the entire body. We saw that last week. We’re gonna continue to see that this week as each person contributes their unique gifts or gifts and abilities and perspective, maturity is reflected in the way believers support one another in the way we encourage each other in our spiritual growth, in the way we strive for a deeper understanding of our faith that we have and we hold and we confess by fostering an environment of mutual respect, love, and accountability, the community strengthens its foundation and move towards the fullness of its purpose. Ultimately the goal for the Christian community, the goal for the local assembly is to reach a level of maturity where all members are equipped to serve. That is what we’re gonna be seeing in our texts. That is the highlight and the point of this passage to reach that full level of maturity. Yes, but that full level of maturity with a perspective or the aim or the goal to continue to serve so that the other immature, the babies that come will continue that cycle on and on until Christ comes for his church or till he calls us home. So it’s to build one another up to reflect, to reflect the values and the teaching that are central and essential to our faith. This process is an ongoing dynamic requiring dedication to the shared growth and the willingness to learn and adapt together. So we are going to be looking at, last week we looked at the Christian community. That’s where growth and maturity begins and that’s where we get the full essence of growth and maturity. And this week we’re gonna look at what a mature, driven church looks like and ought to look like. Before we do so, let us ask God’s guidance as we go into his word. Father, we ask that your spirit will lead and direct my thoughts, my words, God, may we or word be indelible continually in our minds as we continue to reflect on this call that you’ve called us to the gifts that you have given us, the purpose in which you have given us these gifts for and may we use them to the greatest affordabilities Lord to serve you faithfully, wholeheartedly, to serve each other, to edify, to build each other up, to glorify your name on earth so that others can see and glorify you as well. God, I ask that your word will go forth with clarity, boldness, and authority. And may your people again Lord, be eager to receive it with gladness and joy and not just be hearers but doers of what they will hear for Christ’s sake. Amen. So a maturity driven church has leadership or the leadership is growth driven. The leadership in a maturity driven church is growth driven and that should be common knowledge. We see this in verse 11. Paul talks about in verse seven where it says each was given a gift. Verse 11, here he starts off with some of the specific gifts that were given but to leadership or the leadership in the church. And he gave some apostles, some prophets, some evangelists, some pastor teachers for the equipment of the saints, for the work of the ministry, for the building up of the body of Christ. The resurrected Christ has bestowed through his grace on every member in the body, specific gifts, individual gifts, certain gifts that will establish the church communities that will minister the word of God and that will equip for the purpose of equipping others to serve or for service in the church of Jesus Christ. Christ gives these gifts or these gifted leaders to the church not to do so in the area or passively not for the sake of having titles, not for the sake of self elevation, but to help prepare the church. Help to prepare each member individually so that they too can utilize the gift that God has given them and use that for the glory of God. Use that for the building up of the body of Jesus Christ. Use that as we are intended to do. Implied in verse 11 is that not all are gonna be apostles, hence the word. Some not all are gonna be apostles. So we shouldn’t be chasing after these things and you shouldn’t chase after any gift for that matter because the Holy Spirit we saw last week, Christ in his sovereignty through the Holy Spirit give gifts as he sees fit to each member as he sees it fit. So not all are gonna be apostles, not all are gonna be prophets, not all are gonna be evangelists, not all are gonna be pastor teachers. However, every believer, again we saw this, every believer in the body ought to be doing the work of these specified ministries and ministry leaders. And this is clear in other parts of scripture. Paul says, do the work of an evangelist. He didn’t say become an evangelist, he said Do the work of an evangelist. So we are all commissioned to be doing these jobs, to be tasking and growing and maturing each other even though specifically the gift hasn’t been given to us by using an intensifying pronoun. Here Paul emphasizes that Christ again is the one who sovereignly works to rise up or to raise up and supply gifted leaders for his church. And it makes sense if he’s sovereignly, give gifts to each individual member as he sees fit, then he’s gonna do the same thing in relation to the leadership of the church. These are not elected officials, nor are they designated officers that one achieves after serving in a series of lower, if you will, lower roles like in the Roman political system. They are roles fulfilled by people whom Christ himself sovereignly chooses, who he sovereignly enables and empowers for their services. Paul emphasizes these five gifts because they were the foundational or were foundational to the establishment of the local assembly, the local church. And we saw that in Ephesians two verse 20. And because they are the principle ministers responsible for the proclamation and the application of the word of God in the lives of the people. So in other words, these gifted leaders have a huge responsibility for the people of God they do to make this makes sense since Paul stated that the church is rooted in a common confession of faith. We saw this in chapter four, verses four to six and a proper understanding of faith. This faith that we’re rooted and grounded in or that we’re supposed to be rooted and grounded in. If we’re gonna understand this faith, we need men who are capable of telling us and showing us what we believe we need them. It is also pivotal for the discerning of what is false. We’re gonna be seeing that in verse 14 for what is false and therefore not being influenced by every wind of doctrine that comes our way. That’s another purpose why we need gifted men in the church, the leaders in the church. So the role of the leadership in the local assembly, the role of the leaders in the Church of Christ is to build into the lives of the body, build into the lives of the individual believers sound growing knowledge of Jesus Christ. And that is what Paul prays for at the end of chapter three. That they will be rooted and grounded in Christ in the knowledge of Jesus Christ. Christ is continuing to give these leaderships to the church for the equipping of the individual members and facilitating their own growth towards maturity. So let us look then at these terms that Paul uses here. He gave some apostles and he mentions here likely what he mentioned here is likely an extension beyond the 12. So it’s not just the 12 here and Paul include others whom the Lord Jesus Christ called to go to go and spread the gospel, go and establish churches and go and be the groundwork for new believers. Their authority would be different from that of the 12 whom was called specifically and was sent by the Lord Jesus Christ. We see that Barnabas was an apostle according to Luke in Acts chapter 14, verse four. We also saw that by Paul’s word andronicus and junior were also apostles in Romans 16 verse seven. So it goes beyond this realm and the spectrum of just the 12. Now you ask the question, are there apostles today? In one sense, yes, we’re all sent because that’s one nuance of the word. It’s sent ones. So in the sense that God has called every believers to proclaim and herald the gospel. And it’s gonna be the same thing with the prophet term that is used here. We are all called to go and proclaim Jesus Christ to the world. In that sense, we’re all apostles in the sense that Paul was an apostle. No, there isn’t any in the sense that there were prophets that herald, that foretell like Daniel and Ezekiel and these many in that context, no, there aren’t any prophets but prophetic in the sense that we are forth telling, not for telling, not predicting the future, but telling what is God has already written down in his word and saying, thus says the Lord. In that context, we’re all sent, we’re all called to be prophets and apostles. So just to make that clear and that is prophet, the second gift. Gift rather than Paul provides here as leadership and foundational for the um, building up of the church. And again, it does not refer to the Old Testament prophet or the prophetic text that they wrote. He told the Corinthians that a person who prophesized speaks to the people for their strengthening, for their encouragement, for their comfort. And we’re called to do these things for the building up of the body of Jesus Christ. So in one sense, no we’re no there aren’t any prophets today in the same way there are in apostles. What about evangelist? The word means the proclaimer of the gospel. And as I mentioned earlier a Paul says, do the work, Timothy do the work of an evangelist. We are all called that great commission that we quote go and tell the world about Jesus Christ that is evangelistic. Now there are some that are specifically gifted for this task in the same way there are people that are gifted in giving, we all give or should give, but there’s just some people that it is just a gift. There are people that are gifted with encouragement and so on. Church members are specifically gifted by Christ to share the gospel. Philip is identified in Acts chapter 21 verse eight as an evangelist. And Paul urges, as I mentioned Timothy, to do the work of an evangelist in two Timothy four verse two. Now unlike apostles, and this is very fascinating, especially in the culture in which we live today, unlike apostles who traveled to start churches back in this first second century, the evangelists were the ones who stayed and spread the gospel in the community in which they are um planted in. And we see a complete opposite of that today. We see that the evangelists are the ones that are going and telling people about Jesus Christ. So that’s an evangelist that God has given to the church. Then he says pastors and this is where it’s now coming home to us ’cause we don’t really see evangelists so much. We see a lot of people like prophets, like apostles giving themselves the title, but really they don’t. They’re not from a gift standpoint and from a realistic standpoint they aren’t. But he gave some pastors and the word that is used here is the same word that is used for shepherd and the shepherd like literal, the shepherd that tend the flock tend the sheep. This that Luke uses this very word in Luke chapter one to the men that the angels appear to is a very exact same word. The grammar, the grammatical construction of this, and you may have heard this before, suggest that in some way, pastor teacher, they’re interconnected. These two phrases are interconnected and it is true is not not they are people that are gifted pastors, they’re people that are gifted to be teachers. And we see this Romans first, first Corinthians as well. But here in this context the way Paul phrases it, they’re interconnected. So in other words, a pastor ought to be a teacher and this makes sense because that’s one of the prerequisites of a bishop or an elder as Paul lays out in one Timothy, Timothy three, they should be apt or able to teach and that’s the idea that is going on here. They should be able to teach. The term that is used here for pastor is the word as I mentioned, is for shepherd this role suggests one of great deal, a great deal of care. This is the idea behind a pastor being a shepherd, a great deal of care not only for the flock but also care for themselves. And Paul’s urges the elders in Ephesus. So the same church that is writing to here, but in Acts chapter 20, he tells them to take care of themselves as well as the flock. A shepherd has a great deal of concern, care and display for godly leadership towards the flock that he is called to care for and to tend to. This of course makes sense since the aim is to edify the body by leading the aim is to edify the body by guiding, by instruction, instructing among other things. So in other words, the shepherd is leading by example as well as he is guiding and caring and maturing for the flock that God has given him. This means teaching sound doctrine and that’s an integral part of the life of the shepherd feed, the flock, feed the flock that you have been appointed to and this is how verse 14 is gonna come into effect. This is how the church, this is how the body is gonna be able to discern false teachings and teachings that are concrete with the word of God, his by proper sound teaching from the man of God who God has placed to lead the church. Shepherd leadership is based on Jesus’s teaching. So this isn’t foreign or a foreign term, foreign language to the New Testament. Jesus is called the good shepherd in John chapter 10 verses one to 18. And the task leaders like Peter with caring for his followers or for the sheep in John chapter 21 verses 15 to 17, this leadership involves knowing their followers well, guiding them, protecting them from harm and showing a self-sacrificial love in the same way that Jesus Christ showed and demonstrated for his sheep, for his church Jesus’ example, contrast with the poor leadership by the past Israelites. Leaders that we see in Ezekiel 34 and in Jeremiah 23, 1 to three in Jeremiah also predicts that God will appoint shepherd, who will lead with knowledge, who will lead with understanding according to Jeremiah 33 15. So while we’re on this topic of Pastor Shepherd, you will hear terms and have her terms like elders, bishop and the word pastor obviously or overseer. They’re referring to the same office, just different functions, different role in the office, it’s the same office these terms and they’ve caused a lot of confusion in the day and age in which we live because people are so wanting titles and certain titles sound more prominent than others. For me to be known or for me to call myself a bishop sounds so much more important than a mere pastor. And we see that these terms are thrown around contextually, giving them different meanings and different offices when in reality and from a biblical standpoint, it’s the same office, just different function of that office. So just by way of information for that, the last gift that Paul mentioned is teacher or an instructor of the church. And as mentioned above, this is tied in with that of the pastor and the shepherd doesn’t necessarily mean that the pastor is gonna be a gifted teacher, but as Paul mentions in first semester three, they should have the ability to teach, they should be able to teach. So there shouldn’t be such a thing as a pastor who cannot teach. In fact, there isn’t such a thing as a pastor who cannot teach because then that disqualifies him to be a pastor. The role of teacher, whether he’s a shepherd or not was only was not only to teach and impart knowledge but also to exhort the listeners to comfort what they’re being taught or to conform rather to what they’re being taught. This is in line again without Jesus, the great teacher approached teaching. Jesus didn’t just give you theory, he didn’t just throw a bunch of information at you and say, okay, take that, get full of knowledge and you can go to the world and tell them you’re full of knowledge and let them know you’re full of knowledge. No, he gave you words, he gave you instruction and he fores, he commanded his listeners that you need to take heed, you need to live out the words that I’m proclaiming to you. Don’t just absorb them as head knowledge, you have to take them to heart. It has to be manifested in your entire being. You have to live the word that you’re hearing, you have to live it out. It’s not just taking knowledge and that is what the responsibility of a teacher is. You can’t just say, here is the meaning of this word. Here’s what justification means, go with that. Have a good day. Amen. No, it’s be since you have been justified, you have peace with God. And this is how God expects you to live as a justified being, as a justified person. It’s telling them what the word means but also telling them as a result, this is what you need to do. This is how you need to live, this is how you need to act. Why is this important? There are so many people out there that have deep knowledge of the word of God. Some of them aren’t saved, they are not saved. I guarantee you because there are people, they’re liberals, they’re, and I’m not talking liberal government, but liberal scholars that study the word of God in depth, no conviction, nothing. They do it for their own purposes, their own gain. You know who else knows the Bible in and out the devil quote verbatim Psalms when he was tempting Jesus Christ verbatim Head knowledge isn’t all that it is. And what I’m saying is there can’t just be head knowledge for the believer. There has to be something flowing out of what you have been taught and that is where the teacher comes in as and the pastor as well. True leadership in the body of Jesus Christ is not about authority and it’s not about control, it shouldn’t be, but it’s about serving others. And this is the, again, the example that Jesus Christ set and laid for us in Mark chapter 10. It’s not just about authority and about having a place of prominence, it’s about service. Servant to growth happens when leaders in the church, when the men that God has placed in his body model humility and model sacrificial giving and sacrificial love for the body. And this is what Paul tells us. The why are these gifts given? Why were these gifts given and why are they still being given some of them being given today? And what that’s what he tells us in verse 12. And although contextually this is referring to the leadership as we saw last week, and we’ll see as we make our way through these verses, all the gifts should point to this in verse 12, for the equipping of the body, for the edification of the saints, for the work of the ministry. That is why God gives gifts to the church, not just to the leaders. Contextually is referring to the leaders, but as an application standpoint, it’s all of us. All of us Christ appoints leaders in the church to equip them for the ministry, not simply just to serve themselves. Paul models this within the community rather than professionally serving the members or doing it passively. He’s actively involved. It is not the task of these gifted people to do all the work of the ministry. And I hope we’ve come to that realization by now. It wasn’t saying, and Paul isn’t trying to say here, that these are the only people that are gonna serve in the church because that will be contrary to the other parts of scripture. Their task, the task of the leaders in the church is to prepare God’s people for God’s work, for God’s service. When believers are equipped and the people accept the adventure of ministering to others, the whole body is built up, the whole body is matured, the whole body flourishes and it’s nourishing each other, growing and benefiting from each other. Equipping refers to the restoring or restoring something to its proper place. That is what this word means. Arranging or making it complete. That is what equipping is. And in this context, these church officers were appointed to ensure here it is order and completeness within the body of Jesus Christ. Not chaos, not confusion. So Christ, so Christians can grow in love so Christians can grow in the knowledge of Jesus Christ and there can be structure and order within the body of Jesus Christ. And this equipping for the engagement of the work of the ministry is the ministry of the entire body of Jesus Christ. This is how each one of us are going to contribute in the different areas of the church based on our giftings. The goal is not personal or not just personal growth. It’s not just personal growth, it’s helping each other. It’s sharing and spreading the gospel to others. It’s living out Christ’s love in practical ways. That ought to be the goal. It’s a collective, it should be a collective whole and as I will will get to it momentarily. But we’ll see that if you are the only one that is growing in the church and the rest of the body isn’t there, he is a problem there. It’s a malfunctioning body and we’ll see that as we make our way through this text. So the ultimate purpose is unity. It’s maturity, full maturity in the church community. Each believer contributes to the growth and the health, health rather of the church. We all are responsible for that. Ephesians chapter four, 11 to 12 teaches us that spiritual leaders are given to the church to prepare all the believers for active ministry, for full service in the body so that the entire body grows in unity, in strength and in maturity. It’s a verse that shifts the focus from a clergy centered ministry to a community centered discipleship. So it’s not just on the pastors and the elders and the leaders, the responsibility, the onus is on us as well. And it is understood that leadership should be viewed as a functional role rather than a hierarchical pro position. Leaders are responsible for enabling and supporting other believers, not just simply exercising authority. In fact, it’s not about exercising authority, it shouldn’t be about exercising authority. Each member has a vital role to play. Each of you have a vital role to play the church. This local assembly thrives will thrive when everyone actively participates. Unity and maturity represents the primary objectives, equipping individuals and promoting service as the methods to establish a Christ-centered and cohesive community. A growth maturity driven church has leadership that are growth driven, but here is where the individuals come into play in verses 13 to 15, the membership are also growth driven until we all attain to the unity of faith and the knowledge of son of the Son of God to mature, to mature man to the measure of the statue which belongs to the fullness of Christ. And as a result, we’re no longer children or to be children tossed here and there tore from by the waves and carried about by every wind of doctrine, by the trickery of people, by the craftiness and deceitful scheming. But speaking the truth in love, we are to grow up in all aspects into him. Who is the head that is Christ the membership. Our growth driven. A mature Christian community has leaders who are devoted to spur on growth and maturity in their members. But this is also a community that has the members that are driven towards growth and maturity. Paul reaffirms that the hierarchical metaphor previously introduced in chapter two verses 20 to 22, portraying the church as God’s temple and a temple that is under construction. In this context, there’s a greater focus on the internal development of the structure rather than the outward expansion of it. Paul is stating the desired goal for the body when all the gifts are exercised, when all the gifts are used for the edification of the body. The goal is for every member, each and every one of us to attain or to reach full maturity. Just imagine what the church would look like if we’re all fully mature Christians. This is the goal towards which each and every one of us have to strive for, whether you’re a leader or not. The idea behind the word attains carries the idea of finally reaching your destination after a long rigorous trip. That’s the idea here. And the the aim is you’re, you’re going towards this, it is tiresome, it is brutal, it’s grueling. But I’m going to get to that place and I’m gonna use every fiber of my being to get to that place. The beauty about this exp expression is that the desired goal is attainable. And I hope you got that. It’s attainable. It’s not something that, you know what I want to get to this trip, I want to go on this trip is not one of those bucket list things that you are hoping that will come through or you wish and you are. You are dreaming that one day you’ll be able to go to this place or go on this trip or go on a cruise or whatever it is. This is attainable. We can attain unity of faith. One way in which this is achieved, achieved is devotion to sound teaching the devotion to sound doctrine when we attain the knowledge of the son of God, having a comprehensive understanding of the person and the work of our Lord and our savior, Jesus Christ, what he has done for us and the work that he continues to do in his church. We can attain full maturity or as Paul full adulthood, full Christianity, our full adult Christians rather. But we do so by knowing more about Jesus Christ. And that again is where the leadership comes in. But that is where we also play a part in building up the body so that we can become, ’cause this is the ultimate goal, the ultimate desire, the ultimate aim is to become more like Jesus Christ. The passage explains that there is a single, there is a unified view of Christ and the fundamental aspects of faith. It highlights that the church leaders play a significant role in sharing an accurate understanding of who Christ is, what he has done, which is vital for the maintaining and upholding of the unity of the church. And it is vital for the growth and the maturity of the church. Paul uses the word the structure to express this idea and it refers to the growth of a man. The structure to be attained was that of Christ. He was and still is our standard, not in size, not in age, but in moral character. That is our aim. That is our goal. The measure to be or to reach the level of Jesus Christ. That is what Paul is saying here. This is what we’re aiming for, we’re to grow until we become like Jesus Christ. That is the standard for the church of God. And each and every one of us plays a part, plays a role in us attaining this goal. And as you are well aware, the standard for the growth and maturity of the church, both individually and corporately is high, high. That’s a high standard folks. That’s a very, very high standard for us to reach the level of Jesus Christ in our maturity. That’s the, that’s the standard that Paul is setting here for the local body. And it’s fascinating again and it should be comforting to us again to know that this is indeed attainable. It is not something farfetched that Paul is asking us to do. Paul isn’t giving us a task and saying it’s not really attainable, but this is what you should go for. Nonetheless, Paul said, no, this goal, this aim of us looking more and more like Jesus Christ, the one who died for us, the one who sacrificed himself for us, is indeed attainable. We can get there and that should be comforting to us regardless of the fact that yes, this is a monumental high, high task and high standard, but this is a standard that we are called to live up to low, um, corporately and individually. It is not unattainable. And this ought to motivate and comfort us in striving with every single fiber for our being with every single breath that we take with every time we get out of bed with every single thing in our bodies, that we aim for this, that we strive for this, that we reach for this, that we press for this until Jesus Christ either calls us home or he comes and receives his church, receives his bride. That is the expectation of the church. That is the high calling. This perfection that Paul is spurring us onto, again isn’t foreign to us. It wasn’t, it wouldn’t have been foreign to the believers in Ephesus because Jesus tells us in the sermon on the Mount, what be perfect, be perfect like your heavenly Father, Matthew 5 48 emphasizing the emphasizing rather that the standard never changes. It didn’t change, it didn’t change during Jesus’s earthly ministry. It didn’t change here in Paul’s time. It hasn’t changed now. And you go back even before Jesus came, this was the standard that God himself set for the children of Israel Be holy because I am holy, be perfect as I am perfect. It is us who get to content. It is us who get too complacent and are striving our lack thereof. That’s the problem with the church globally. That’s the problem with the church universally. We get complacent, we get content, we get to the point where we want things that are convenient. So you see a lot of what I define now as convenient Christianity in the world in which we live. It’s not convenient for me to go to church. So I’m gonna sit at home and watch. It’s not convenient for me to do this or to do that. It’s that that is very inconvenient. I can’t sacrifice and make that sacrifice. The problem is us and that shouldn’t surprise us. The problem is us. When we look at Tom and say, I’m good, I’m better than Tom. I’m not there yet. But hey I I, in terms of measuring up to Tom, I I I am way beyond Tom. I’m not as bad as so and so can I tell you that the goal was never to measure up to Tom. The goal was never to say I am not as bad as so and so. That was never the goal. Even when Paul says Listen, follow me as I’m following Jesus Christ, the implication there is you are not following me, you’re following Christ. So yes, you can look and emulate men and women in the church. That is why Paul is writing this ’cause we ought to look and grow and mature from each other. But the goal is not to measure up to pastor bears. The goal is to surpass bears because Jesus Christ is the ultimate aim for the believer is not to be good enough. We have to measure ourselves up to Jesus Christ. That’s what Paul is telling us in these verses. So what then is the result of a church? What is the result of believers individually and corporately being united and unified in the faith and in the knowledge of their Lord and their savior Jesus Christ. What does the church look like when it’s constantly measuring themselves itself herself up to her Lord and her savior? What does the church look like when she’s devoted to sound doctrine from the men whom God has given to that local assembly? Verse 14 and 15 tells us what the church look like. We’re no longer children. I want you to pause on that because we often just read it. We’re no longer children tossed or we’re no longer children just being wa waved around. We’re no longer children. Pause there. That means you’re now an adult. And why does Paul use the analogy of children? Children are so easily swayed, so easily manipulated, especially by those whom they love and they trust. We tell them anything and they believe us. That’s the idea here. Children are the ones that are tossed to and fro. So when you see these flattery, doctrines and theology that are floating out there in the world because we’re still children, because we’re still immature, which is the idea behind Paul using children, we are just tossed. Man, that sounds good. I’m gonna gravitate to it. And then we hear something else that is completely contrary to what we’ve just gravitated to. That is unbiblical. And this is again unbiblical but is contrary to that. But because we’re so immature, I like that, I’m gonna gravitate to that as well. And we’re all over the place. That’s a sign of immaturity. And Paul says, you are no longer children using the analogy of from a child to an adult, but you are now a mature adult. You are a mature adult. Maturity then is the elimination of childhood. But it’s also a springboard to stability. It’s a springboard to stability. And what is implied strongly in this verse, verse 14 is this, if you are easily swayed With every single teaching that comes your way, if you’re easily swayed by these things, the conclusion is this, you’re still a child, AKA, you’re still immature, you’re an immature believer and therefore you need to revisit verses one to 13 in order to get to that place of maturity in order to get away from childhood Without the firmness and the stability that comes from the growth, from the growth and maturity of these ministers and these leaders in the church, various members in our community, in our Christian community. We are very vulnerable to a boat like a boat that is just drifting in a stormy, stormy, tempestuous sea. And that’s the idea, that’s the image here behind this word, just being tossed to and fro. You have no control if we don’t have stability, this is what the end result look like. Such a boat is completely at the mercy of the sea. It’s at the mercy of the wind. And Paul’s teaching here is reminiscence of the leaders of the church of the Jerusalem church that what they told the believers about the dangers of doubting he who doubts this is James. He who doubts is like a wave of sea blown and tossed by the wind. You are not swayed by these crafty, cunning, deceitful men. Why? Because those are not the men that God put in place in his church. They’re not the men that spur on growth and maturity. And a contrast is being made here by the men whom got appointed in his church to lead the church into growth and maturity and by the men out there who were caused division and strife. And what must be added in this implication is this, if God is the one who appoints men who give structure, order maturity and growth to the church, who is it that has supplied these men that cause chaos, division, confusion and strife? It has to be the devil. It has to be the deceiver himself. Furthermore, we can say we can easily get caught up in studying deceivers in order that we are not deceived. And there are Christians that are like that. And there’s nothing wrong with this in and of itself. I must say if you wanna study Joel Osteen because you want to realize what errors he has in his ways, which I would surmise is everything that comes out of his mouth. And so, and men such as himself, there are so many others out there, some that are as not as profound and renowned as him and his compadres. That’s fine. If you wanna study Jo’s witness, if you wanna study the cults, that’s fine. There’s nothing wrong with that per se. But we can get caught up in studying these deceivers that we don’t be deceived, that we forget that. What is Paul implying here? We don’t need to study them. Stay in the word of God, study the word of God, be grounded in the word of God. That is what we need to do. If Paul wanted the church to study our team is, and all of these other false religions, all they said, listen, go and study upon these guys so that you don’t be false. No, if you want to stay rooted and grounded in God’s word, study God’s word, it makes sense. Study God’s word. Be rooted and grounded in your knowledge of Jesus Christ in the faith that you are all on the same page about study that be rooted and grounded in that why is this significant? A friend of mine in Bible school back in Jamaica told a story. Him and another friend went to the bank and the the teller was counting off money and his friend decided to ask, how do you guys know the difference between the counterfeit notes and the real note? Do you guys have the counterfeit and study them intricately? The teller said, no, we study the real thing so that as soon as the counterfeit touches our hands, we know it’s fake. They study the real thing. We get caught up in studying all of these other religions, all of these religiosities and all of these other groups when we are neglecting to study the word of God. And that’s how we need folks. We need to know the truth to be grounded in the truth. And when we know the truth, we’ll be able to spot the lies from a mile away. We don’t need to study them to know them. These men that Paul were warning us and the church against aren’t men who slip up in their teachings and their preachings. I want you to get that. It’s not an error, it’s not a a mistake that would be made by my like of myself or Peter or Pastor Dave. And when you come and say, oh no, that’s not what I meant. And you’ll know that oh, past him Dave, doesn’t mean that Jesus isn’t God because he’s profoundly taught that Jesus Christ is God. So clearly there was an error in his statement, but that’s not what he actually believes. No, these men are designed, their sole purpose is that draw people away from the truth of God, from the knowledge of the son of God. That is the negative result of becoming, of not being driven by these doctrines. That is the negative result of of of us growing and maturing as believers positively. We are to display love in speaking the truth, in love. Verse 15 so negatively we watch out for false teaching by keeping ourself firm in the word of God positively. We are people who dis who love the truth. We live by the truth. We walk, we talk the truth. We do so in love as a pure, as opposed to doing it from pure hatred. It’s interesting when you analyze the age in which we live, where if you speak the truth, you’re described as seen as hateful. When biblically, it’s complete opposite. It’s all love and it’s lovingly. You’re telling people the truth. Truth is, is by default associated with love. But that’s not the world in which we live. We once again come across another present active participant. I hope by now, whenever you hear me use that phrase, you know what, where it’s going. So what is Paul saying here? You don’t speak the truth once and then that’s it. You can continually speak the truth in love. This is a habit that you develop and it developed through, again, immersing yourself, submersing yourself in the word of God. So the aim once again is to grow in every way in Jesus Christ, who is the head and even in speaking the truth lovingly. So the leadership is growth driven. The the membership is growth driven. But here is not a surprise to us. The headship or the head is also growth driven. Latter part of verse 15, verse 16. Once we devote ourselves to these verses, to these truth of scripture, we will, we will be well on our way to becoming more and more like Jesus Christ, who is our head, the head of the church and as the head of the church. He is the one. And I hope that this will bring so much solace and comfort to you, Jesus Christ. This is why being like Christ is attainable because he is the one who provides all the nourishment and all the necess, the necessities that the church needs to grow. And we’ve seen that. He called us to himself. He provides the Holy Spirit. He gives us gifts. He gives us gifted leaders. He himself enables and empowers us to grow and mature into his own image leaders. His spirit. Peter was onto something, Peter was onto something when he said this in second Peter one, verse three, seeing that his divine power has granted us everything pertaining to life and godliness through, through the true knowledge of him who has called us by his own glory and excellence. Peter saying he has provided everything we need for life and godliness. Christ the minister Christ is not just simply the originator of the church, meaning the source, the one who created the church. He is actively involved in stimulating and directing the ministries of the church as well as providing with all that the church needs to grow, to mature and to develop into that full manhood that Paul talks about here in this, in this text, he is the one that is supplying the church. Take comfort, take solace. You’ve heard me say this many times and I’ll keep saying it. Take solace in this great truth that this church, Bowmanville Baptist Church is a church of Jesus Christ. He is and will always be actively involved in Bowmanville Baptist Church. That should bring a great source of comfort to us. Regardless of what has happened, what is happening, Jesus Christ is still in charge of his church. Jesus Christ is still growing his church. Jesus Christ will still maturing in his church. That’s why he said, Peter, upon this rock, the rock that you’ve confessed me as Messiah, I will, I Jesus Christ will build my church and the gates of Hades will not future promise prevail against the church that I am building. Take solace and comfort in that. And that focuses with absolute certainty. He will supply everything that Bowmanville Baptist Church needs to reach this level of maturity that Paul is talking about in verse 13. He will, he will do it, trust his promises. And we see this in the last section of this verse. And take a look at this verse with me in verse 16, from whom the whole body being fitted and held together by what every joint supply according to the proper working of each individual part part causes the growth of the body for the building up of itself in love. There’s a sharp contrast in this verse, in the phrase from whom as opposed to in him. And what Paul is saying or trying to portray here is that not only does the church grow into Christ likeness, but he is the one, and I said this already, but he’s the one who gives the church the ability to grow in Christ likeness because of his sovereignty. And because he is the one who is building his church, we are growing into him enabled and empowered by him to accomplish this level of maturity that we see Jesus Christ had. But again, we are not passive in this process. It’s one of those conundrum in which Christ enables growth and the means through which growth comes. But unless you and I endeavor to grow and strive to grow and mature in Christ, it will never happen. It’s one of those conundrums. And this is obvious because if it were all passive, Paul would need to write these verses. If there wasn’t something for us to do, if we weren’t supposed to utilize our gift, God just gives it to us and say, well, it’s just gonna happen naturally. Paul wouldn’t have to go into detail writing these verses. One Corinthians 360 8, Paul says, I planted. So he he, he did something. Apollos watered, Apollo did something, but God is the one who gives growth. God is the one who gave the growth. As the nourishment is being supplied, we in turn serve each other so that all the parts of the body will properly function as it ought to. That’s what Paul is saying in these closing verses. Paul stresses the fact that God is the one who is doing the work in the body being fitted together. Every joint, every sin, every muscle, metaphorically speaking is working. Is the working off God? And not only is it, is he fitting each part perfectly together, but he also wants you to note that they are already held together by him. Because our mason terminology that Paul is using here is God. And this verse, like the expansion is like the expansion of what we read in Matthew five 16. He’s the sole supplier of his church. He’s the builder and sustainer of his church. These are powerful, awesome, immeasurable comforting truth to this local assembly. And as Christ is working in and through each member in and through the leaders of the church, in and through each and every one of us, as he’s working through us, we con we contribute to the edification of the saints. That’s how we play our part. In the same way the physical body is interconnected, so is it with the spiritual body. And that is what we see Paul talks about, especially first Corinthians 12. Like Paul again says there one body part is affected by the other. Whether negatively or positively shared this in this Sunday school this morning, it is affected negatively, positively. Which begs the question, what effects are you having on the other joints? Because whether you like it or not, you’re having an effect. And there are only two outcomes to the effect that you’re having. It’s either negative or it’s positive. So what effect are you having on the body? And that is a question that you have to mu over Paul’s desire. And he shares the same desire as our Lord and our savior Jesus Christ’s for the church, for the entire body to grow and to mature. His principle concern is that it grows in love. Love is the most conducive atmosphere in which growth takes place. And that makes sense. But it’s also the goal of every believer. Love is possible for the Christian in Israel minor because they are firmly grounded, rooted in their Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. And they’re rooted in the love that Christ has for them, which stems from God, having predestined them long before the foundations of the world. And their communal love for the fellow believers is a model that Jesus Christ himself set for the church. It is essential to understand that love function as a social virtue and cannot be fully expressed or observed in isolation. And it’s the same thing with the growth that Paul is talking about here. It cannot be experienced when you divorce yourself from coming to church. It won’t happen. It we all have to be on the same wavelength if we’re gonna reach this full level of maturity or else we’re going to have a limp in the body. Going back to that analogy, can you imagine if we’re focusing on just my own spiritual growth, that would be like doing weight lifting and say, you know what, I’m only gonna work on my arms. We’re gonna look like Popeye the sailor man. If you guys are familiar with, uh, just big arms and you have skinny neck, skinny, just skinny, it is not gonna look proper. That’s what happens when, sorry. That’s why I probably shouldn’t have used that analogy just popped in my head that we’re gonna be forgetting everything that I said and focus on Popeye the sailor man. But that’s what happens folks, when we are just focused on self, we’re not exercising the entire body part, we’re just exercising our own body part. And it doesn’t benefit the body. It doesn’t benefit the body. Christ triumph Calvin says that man is mistaken, who desires his own separate spiritual growth for what would it profit a leg or an arm to grow with an enormous size, just a leg or just a arm doesn’t, it doesn’t profit anything. You gotta look at a very ill shaped body if we’re focused on just us. Paul’s present presents rather a vision of balance proportional development within the church of Jesus Christ, asserting that such growth relies on each and every believer. Every one of us has a part to play and we shouldn’t be guilted, but when we hear these things, it should take comfort in that God has given me a gift that benefits everybody that’s here this afternoon or this morning. That should be the comforting thought. That should be the positive thought that God has given me a gift that I can use for the benefit of even Pastor Bears, pastor Dave, and every single believer that is here. If Pastor Bears is gonna grow into this mature manhood, I I’m needed for that, we are all needed for that balance proportion for the entire community. Christ’s triumph continues to guide and support his church through active service and leadership. Each believer receives grace through Christ and is called to serve in the ministry of Jesus Christ. Leaders are called to equip as well as serve out their giftedness. And the church faces a substantial threat to its vitality, growth and maturity to the outside world. But once we are rooted and grounded in Christ, this shouldn’t be a concern to us. We are not gonna be tossed to and fro because we are firm in what we believe. That is the church that is driven towards growth, the leadership, the members, and of course Jesus Christ, his sole focus. His sole aim is to grow into full manhood and grow to the measure and the fullness of Jesus Christ. And again, we should be grateful to God that he has supplied what we need so that we can actually look like Jesus Christ in the world. And there are examples of that in the Bible. The early church were called, that’s where we get the name Christian from. I may have mentioned it before, but I’ll say it again. We were called, the church was first called Christians mockingly because they were looking too much like Jesus. It means little Christs, may we actually live out that name, that nickname that we have been given in the first second century so that the world can see that we are indeed, whether they like it or not, acting like Jesus like little Jesus is because that’s our aim, that’s our goal and that’s our desire. Lord, we’re so grateful for these challenging words in your word, in these texts that we’ve looked at Lord, but also reassuring and comforting that you have enabled us and empowered us, gifted us, and given us the ability to attain the this monumental task of becoming mature in our faith to becoming more and more like Jesus Christ. God, may we help us in our endeavor to attain this feat. May you strengthen us. May we continue to be encouraged knowing that we are all unified in the body and we all affect in one way or another, the entirety of the body. I pray that we’ll endeavor to make the effect be one of positivity as opposed to negativity. Lord, we thank you for your spirit that enables us, that empowers us. We thank you for your word that continues to guide us, to direct us. And we thank you for every single believer, every leader that is within this local assembly. Lord, may you grant us your grace to live this life among each other first and foremost, and that it’ll be spilled out over into the world, into the society, into the community that we live in by your grace and your mercies. Amen.