WEBVTT 00:00:10.439 --> 00:00:12.599 I want to thank John Helmberger for his help 00:00:12.599 --> 00:00:14.980 up here, too, on the platform and leading the 00:00:14.980 --> 00:00:23.460 music. Oh, it's fun to be back with you. I just 00:00:23.460 --> 00:00:27.339 enjoy coming here to worship with you. You're 00:00:27.339 --> 00:00:30.440 so full of life and enthusiasm most of the time. 00:00:34.000 --> 00:00:36.320 I think I could make a habit out of it if I tried. 00:00:37.420 --> 00:00:43.719 I almost do it every week. Would you open your 00:00:43.719 --> 00:00:49.560 Bible, please, to Ephesians chapter 4. What is 00:00:49.560 --> 00:00:52.460 the church, anyway? We've been talking about 00:00:52.460 --> 00:00:56.039 it for several weeks, studying the various metaphors 00:00:56.039 --> 00:00:58.460 or pictures of the church found in the New Testament. 00:00:59.640 --> 00:01:02.159 In response to the question, what is the church, 00:01:02.280 --> 00:01:04.239 John MacArthur has written some interesting lines. 00:01:04.959 --> 00:01:08.700 He says it is not an organization made up of 00:01:08.700 --> 00:01:12.250 programs, systems, and methods. dedicated to 00:01:12.250 --> 00:01:16.010 attracting money and members to itself. It is 00:01:16.010 --> 00:01:22.390 a living organism, a body with personality, which 00:01:22.390 --> 00:01:25.189 is alive and breathing and feeling and acting 00:01:25.189 --> 00:01:28.510 and, yes, suffering and sorrowing and bleeding 00:01:28.510 --> 00:01:31.989 and in constant need of healing and restoration, 00:01:32.349 --> 00:01:36.650 both individually and corporately, local and 00:01:36.650 --> 00:01:41.939 worldwide. He continues, it is not... Buildings 00:01:41.939 --> 00:01:46.219 and offices, departments and programs, or hierarchies 00:01:46.219 --> 00:01:50.319 and positions dedicated to earthly display and 00:01:50.319 --> 00:01:53.459 self -glorification for the purpose of being 00:01:53.459 --> 00:01:58.760 accepted by the world. It is people living and 00:01:58.760 --> 00:02:03.140 loving, learning and laboring, leading and following 00:02:03.140 --> 00:02:08.500 together for the glory of Christ. It is not, 00:02:08.599 --> 00:02:12.060 he says, another worldly institution dedicated 00:02:12.060 --> 00:02:16.419 to applying a balm of humanistic principles and 00:02:16.419 --> 00:02:19.900 solutions to man's personal and social needs. 00:02:20.439 --> 00:02:26.659 It is an agitating force, a pricking conscience, 00:02:27.159 --> 00:02:32.240 a sword of opposition, and a stinging salt solution 00:02:32.240 --> 00:02:35.780 of conviction with the purpose of causing men 00:02:35.780 --> 00:02:38.960 and women... caught up in Satan's world system 00:02:38.960 --> 00:02:43.240 to be aware of their sin and their need for a 00:02:43.240 --> 00:02:47.860 Savior. I especially like what he says, the church 00:02:47.860 --> 00:02:52.219 is a living organism, a body with personality. 00:02:53.300 --> 00:02:55.780 I think of all of the pictures of the church 00:02:55.780 --> 00:02:58.979 found in the New Testament. This one of the church 00:02:58.979 --> 00:03:03.780 as the body of Christ is the most meaningful 00:03:03.780 --> 00:03:08.580 and complete. Complete, that is, in describing 00:03:08.580 --> 00:03:15.120 who we are and what we are to be about. Just 00:03:15.120 --> 00:03:19.419 as a healthy physical body naturally matures, 00:03:19.560 --> 00:03:27.219 so a healthy spiritual body, a church, supernaturally 00:03:27.219 --> 00:03:32.860 matures. And that is the theme that we're following 00:03:32.860 --> 00:03:36.900 here in Ephesians chapter 4. The maturing of 00:03:36.900 --> 00:03:40.819 the body of Christ. I'm going to begin reading 00:03:40.819 --> 00:03:45.060 in verse 7. But to each one of us, grace was 00:03:45.060 --> 00:03:47.560 given according to the measure of Christ's gift. 00:03:48.780 --> 00:03:52.300 Therefore it says, and here he quotes from Psalm 00:03:52.300 --> 00:03:56.599 68, When he ascended on high, he led captive 00:03:56.599 --> 00:04:00.199 a host of captives, and he gave gifts to men. 00:04:01.840 --> 00:04:05.460 Now this expression, says the apostle, he ascended, 00:04:05.460 --> 00:04:08.759 what does it mean except that he also had descended 00:04:08.759 --> 00:04:12.680 into the lower parts of the earth? He who descended 00:04:12.680 --> 00:04:16.600 is himself also he who ascended far above all 00:04:16.600 --> 00:04:22.259 the heavens that he might fill all things. And 00:04:22.259 --> 00:04:26.720 he gave some as apostles and some as prophets 00:04:26.720 --> 00:04:30.420 and some as evangelists and some as pastors and 00:04:30.420 --> 00:04:34.790 teachers for the equipping of the saints. for 00:04:34.790 --> 00:04:38.329 the work of service, to the building up of the 00:04:38.329 --> 00:04:42.610 body of Christ, until we all attain to the unity 00:04:42.610 --> 00:04:45.769 of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son 00:04:45.769 --> 00:04:50.670 of God to a mature man, to the measure of the 00:04:50.670 --> 00:04:54.129 stature which belongs to the fullness of Christ. 00:04:54.930 --> 00:04:57.589 As a result, we are no longer to be children 00:04:57.589 --> 00:05:01.069 tossed here and there by waves and carried about 00:05:01.069 --> 00:05:04.240 with every wind of doctrine. by the trickery 00:05:04.240 --> 00:05:07.899 of men, by craftiness in deceitful scheming. 00:05:08.660 --> 00:05:13.019 But speaking the truth in love, we are to grow 00:05:13.019 --> 00:05:17.939 up in all aspects into him who is the head, even 00:05:17.939 --> 00:05:22.980 Christ, from whom the whole body, being fitted 00:05:22.980 --> 00:05:25.439 and held together by that which every joint supplies 00:05:25.439 --> 00:05:28.579 according to the proper working of each individual 00:05:28.579 --> 00:05:33.620 part, causes the growth... of the body for the 00:05:33.620 --> 00:05:39.779 building up of itself in love we are members 00:05:39.779 --> 00:05:45.079 of a maturing body we who belong to jesus christ 00:05:45.079 --> 00:05:53.439 we are members of a maturing church or body and 00:05:53.439 --> 00:06:00.990 we have a part in that maturing process Now there 00:06:00.990 --> 00:06:03.250 are several aspects of this that I want to talk 00:06:03.250 --> 00:06:05.889 about this morning. I'm going to do something 00:06:05.889 --> 00:06:08.430 I do very rarely, and that is change my outline. 00:06:10.310 --> 00:06:12.629 So what you see there, you can kind of cross 00:06:12.629 --> 00:06:15.449 out and mark some other things in. Instead of 00:06:15.449 --> 00:06:17.430 three points, we're going to have five, and instead 00:06:17.430 --> 00:06:22.350 of one message, two. How's that? We just couldn't 00:06:22.350 --> 00:06:26.610 stop grinding it out. So, the first aspect of 00:06:26.610 --> 00:06:28.470 this maturity we're going to talk about, actually, 00:06:28.990 --> 00:06:33.470 is the work of maturity. The work of maturity. 00:06:34.910 --> 00:06:37.189 And the thing that I want you to get a hold of 00:06:37.189 --> 00:06:42.670 is this, that the one who is most concerned about 00:06:42.670 --> 00:06:46.269 the maturing of the church is Jesus Christ himself. 00:06:48.170 --> 00:06:52.550 After all, he is the head of this body. And the 00:06:52.550 --> 00:06:54.850 head is concerned about the rest of the body. 00:06:57.680 --> 00:07:02.360 The head of the church is not a pope or a bishop 00:07:02.360 --> 00:07:07.720 or a pastor or a board of elders or deacons. 00:07:08.980 --> 00:07:12.240 But the head of the church is one, and that is 00:07:12.240 --> 00:07:17.000 Jesus Christ. He is the head of Grace Church 00:07:17.000 --> 00:07:22.240 Roseville, just as he is the head of the Universal 00:07:22.240 --> 00:07:27.939 Church, all true believers in this age. And he 00:07:27.939 --> 00:07:32.500 is vitally involved in the work of maturing the 00:07:32.500 --> 00:07:37.139 body. You see, he has provided for us so that 00:07:37.139 --> 00:07:41.139 that maturing can take place. Jesus Christ is 00:07:41.139 --> 00:07:45.600 himself the source of the church. He died to 00:07:45.600 --> 00:07:50.060 bring us into existence. He purchased us, it 00:07:50.060 --> 00:07:55.769 says in Acts chapter 20, with his blood. He is 00:07:55.769 --> 00:08:01.350 the source of the church. He is the source of 00:08:01.350 --> 00:08:03.769 what we are. He is the source of what we do. 00:08:04.529 --> 00:08:10.089 And our objective as the body is to express his 00:08:10.089 --> 00:08:16.250 life in the world. The world around us cannot 00:08:16.250 --> 00:08:20.389 see Jesus Christ, except as they see him in us. 00:08:20.470 --> 00:08:26.220 We are his hands, his feet. his eyes, his ears. 00:08:28.399 --> 00:08:31.040 The world around us will be touched by Jesus 00:08:31.040 --> 00:08:34.019 Christ only as they are touched by his body, 00:08:34.100 --> 00:08:42.679 you and me. We are to glorify him in doing this. 00:08:44.519 --> 00:08:48.480 The Lord Jesus Christ has purposed to bring his 00:08:48.480 --> 00:08:53.820 body to maturity. We see this, for example, in 00:08:53.820 --> 00:08:55.940 another book in the New Testament, 1 Peter chapter 00:08:55.940 --> 00:09:00.620 5. I remind you of how Peter concludes this book, 00:09:00.720 --> 00:09:06.419 writing to a suffering people. And you know when 00:09:06.419 --> 00:09:08.559 we suffer, there are times when we wonder, what 00:09:08.559 --> 00:09:12.080 is all of this accomplishing? And we may say, 00:09:12.120 --> 00:09:15.860 Lord, what in the world are you up to? Why am 00:09:15.860 --> 00:09:21.759 I going through this tough experience? God has 00:09:21.759 --> 00:09:24.360 a purpose in it, and it says in 1 Peter 5, 10, 00:09:24.519 --> 00:09:28.779 after you have suffered for a little while. I 00:09:28.779 --> 00:09:31.299 especially like that little phrase there, for 00:09:31.299 --> 00:09:37.399 a little while. Suffering is not forever. The 00:09:37.399 --> 00:09:39.159 Lord leads us into suffering. There's always 00:09:39.159 --> 00:09:43.399 a way out of suffering. Sometimes we forget that 00:09:43.399 --> 00:09:45.039 in the middle of it, don't we? He says, after 00:09:45.039 --> 00:09:48.259 you have suffered for a little while, the God 00:09:48.259 --> 00:09:52.080 of all grace, You see, while we are in suffering, 00:09:52.179 --> 00:09:54.639 he's the God of grace who supplies our needs 00:09:54.639 --> 00:09:55.980 while we're there. He doesn't leave us alone. 00:09:56.740 --> 00:09:59.539 We never go through the time of suffering by 00:09:59.539 --> 00:10:03.419 ourselves. The God of grace is there. He says, 00:10:03.480 --> 00:10:06.600 who called you to his eternal glory. That's what's 00:10:06.600 --> 00:10:10.600 going to follow our suffering. Indeed, we learn 00:10:10.600 --> 00:10:13.000 in the word of God that as we suffer for him 00:10:13.000 --> 00:10:17.799 here, it works for us a far more exceeding and 00:10:17.799 --> 00:10:21.590 eternal weight of glory. He's talking here about 00:10:21.590 --> 00:10:24.830 reward. As we suffer here, as we labor here, 00:10:24.929 --> 00:10:27.970 as we are faithful here, it works glory for us 00:10:27.970 --> 00:10:30.870 later on. It's a marvelous thing. It's a ratio 00:10:30.870 --> 00:10:34.269 that God has established. So as we suffer a little 00:10:34.269 --> 00:10:38.049 here, we get a lot of reward, of glory later. 00:10:38.730 --> 00:10:40.649 You say, well, that shouldn't be our motive for 00:10:40.649 --> 00:10:43.110 suffering faithfully. Perhaps not, but nonetheless, 00:10:43.190 --> 00:10:46.149 God says that's the result. It's not wrong for 00:10:46.149 --> 00:10:48.870 us to keep that in focus. God himself puts it 00:10:48.870 --> 00:10:51.899 into focus here. He says he's called you to his 00:10:51.899 --> 00:10:55.200 eternal glory in contrast to our little while 00:10:55.200 --> 00:10:59.600 suffering in Christ. Now he says this God will 00:10:59.600 --> 00:11:05.460 himself perfect, confirm, strengthen, and establish 00:11:05.460 --> 00:11:08.980 you. Four wonderful verbs. And that first one, 00:11:09.039 --> 00:11:11.299 perfect, is the one that ties together beautifully 00:11:11.299 --> 00:11:14.659 with Ephesians chapter 4 because it means to 00:11:14.659 --> 00:11:19.480 mend the nets. Or a chiropractor would use it 00:11:19.480 --> 00:11:22.779 to adjust the joints. Have you ever gone to a 00:11:22.779 --> 00:11:26.700 chiropractor? Many of you have. I haven't very 00:11:26.700 --> 00:11:31.600 often. But I can remember as a teenager, I lifted 00:11:31.600 --> 00:11:34.820 some things improperly on the farm and had to 00:11:34.820 --> 00:11:36.659 go to the chiropractor. And he put me on this 00:11:36.659 --> 00:11:42.960 weird -looking table, and he began to push my 00:11:42.960 --> 00:11:46.820 back and to rub it. and do all kinds of strange 00:11:46.820 --> 00:11:49.879 things, it seemed to me. And he got to this certain 00:11:49.879 --> 00:11:52.200 point when I was just beginning to relax and 00:11:52.200 --> 00:11:55.940 feel good, and he went pow, like that, and snapped 00:11:55.940 --> 00:11:58.220 the whole table underneath me. There were springs 00:11:58.220 --> 00:12:02.340 sprung, and my back went whoop. And something 00:12:02.340 --> 00:12:06.000 in there got aligned again. See, he brought me 00:12:06.000 --> 00:12:09.059 into shape. He perfected me. That's the meaning 00:12:09.059 --> 00:12:11.840 of this word right here. He perfected me. He 00:12:11.840 --> 00:12:15.320 adjusted me. He gave me an adjustment. Now listen, 00:12:15.460 --> 00:12:19.220 God is doing that for us. He's adjusting us, 00:12:19.279 --> 00:12:21.659 he says. He goes on to say he's confirming us. 00:12:21.700 --> 00:12:25.259 That means to make stable so that we're not like 00:12:25.259 --> 00:12:28.039 water at 211 degrees or some Christians that 00:12:28.039 --> 00:12:31.659 way. Just always on the point of instability. 00:12:33.460 --> 00:12:37.000 God intends to keep us confirmed and stable, 00:12:37.179 --> 00:12:41.690 and he wants to strengthen us. And then he uses 00:12:41.690 --> 00:12:43.889 the word established. It means to lay a foundation. 00:12:44.250 --> 00:12:46.509 God is in the business of laying a foundation 00:12:46.509 --> 00:12:50.210 under our lives, a permanent foundation. I'm 00:12:50.210 --> 00:12:53.409 glad for that. Well, you see, God is concerned 00:12:53.409 --> 00:12:56.370 about our growing up, our maturing, our being 00:12:56.370 --> 00:13:00.169 perfected, our being adjusted. He has purposed 00:13:00.169 --> 00:13:03.590 that the church will be mature. There is no question 00:13:03.590 --> 00:13:06.750 about that. The only question is how quickly. 00:13:08.809 --> 00:13:13.149 And that's where we come into play. Someday the 00:13:13.149 --> 00:13:15.929 whole church, every saved person, will be mature. 00:13:17.269 --> 00:13:20.909 The question is, am I cooperating as God seeks 00:13:20.909 --> 00:13:25.970 to mature me? And is our church working in such 00:13:25.970 --> 00:13:28.330 a way that we as a church corporately together 00:13:28.330 --> 00:13:31.529 are maturing like God intends us to? You see, 00:13:31.570 --> 00:13:34.889 that's the real question. That we will be mature 00:13:34.889 --> 00:13:39.870 someday is no question. But the point that we 00:13:39.870 --> 00:13:42.809 want to talk about in this message is, how are 00:13:42.809 --> 00:13:45.590 we cooperating with God in this process of our 00:13:45.590 --> 00:13:49.629 maturity? And so the first aspect of it we want 00:13:49.629 --> 00:13:51.750 to see is the work of maturity. It is the work 00:13:51.750 --> 00:13:56.210 of Jesus Christ. It is his work in the body. 00:13:56.289 --> 00:13:59.169 He will accomplish it. There's no question about 00:13:59.169 --> 00:14:06.070 it. Now the second aspect we want to look at 00:14:06.070 --> 00:14:09.269 is the means of maturity. That word should look 00:14:09.269 --> 00:14:11.370 familiar there in your outline. The means of 00:14:11.370 --> 00:14:17.149 maturity. Ephesians chapter 4 tells us that the 00:14:17.149 --> 00:14:25.429 Lord Jesus Christ has provided two interworking 00:14:25.429 --> 00:14:33.649 means by which maturity is achieved. A lot hangs 00:14:33.649 --> 00:14:36.350 on these two things. But I think these are the 00:14:36.350 --> 00:14:40.460 two... basic means by which maturity is achieved 00:14:40.460 --> 00:14:44.539 in the church as a body. He mentions in verse 00:14:44.539 --> 00:14:48.679 7, to each one of us, grace was given according 00:14:48.679 --> 00:14:51.879 to the measure of Christ's gift. He is talking 00:14:51.879 --> 00:14:54.620 here about the first means, and that is individual 00:14:54.620 --> 00:15:00.500 spiritual gifts. That's means number one. Each 00:15:00.500 --> 00:15:08.539 one of us has received, past tense, Grace from 00:15:08.539 --> 00:15:11.860 the Lord Jesus Christ, according to the measure 00:15:11.860 --> 00:15:17.379 of his gift. He has measured out certain gifts, 00:15:17.759 --> 00:15:23.480 spirit -given abilities to us. Those were given 00:15:23.480 --> 00:15:26.440 to us at the moment of our salvation. We did 00:15:26.440 --> 00:15:29.179 not acquire them later than that. We do not seek 00:15:29.179 --> 00:15:31.940 them after we are saved. But at the moment of 00:15:31.940 --> 00:15:34.820 our salvation, each one of us received those 00:15:34.820 --> 00:15:38.919 spiritual gifts. We're going to talk about that 00:15:38.919 --> 00:15:41.120 more in the coming weeks, so I'm not going to 00:15:41.120 --> 00:15:44.059 say a lot about it now, except for you to notice 00:15:44.059 --> 00:15:46.419 that when he talks about Christ's gift, that 00:15:46.419 --> 00:15:49.320 clicks something in his mind, and the Holy Spirit 00:15:49.320 --> 00:15:52.820 causes him to go back to Psalm 68, verse 18, 00:15:52.940 --> 00:15:57.440 and to quote, he says, when he ascended on high, 00:15:57.639 --> 00:16:01.000 he led captive, a host of captives, and he gave 00:16:01.000 --> 00:16:04.539 gifts to men. If you go back and look at that 00:16:04.539 --> 00:16:07.080 psalm, it's describing there a warrior who has 00:16:07.080 --> 00:16:10.419 been victorious and triumphant in his battle. 00:16:11.740 --> 00:16:16.440 And as a result of that, in Psalm 68, it says 00:16:16.440 --> 00:16:21.100 that he received gifts from men, gifts of gratitude 00:16:21.100 --> 00:16:24.899 and gifts of praise because of his successful 00:16:24.899 --> 00:16:29.799 battle. But notice that the Holy Spirit causes 00:16:29.799 --> 00:16:32.740 the word to be changed as he brings it into the 00:16:32.740 --> 00:16:36.379 New Testament. Here the Holy Spirit has the apostle 00:16:36.379 --> 00:16:39.000 write, and he gave gifts to men, not that he 00:16:39.000 --> 00:16:44.740 received them. He gave gifts to men. Now, is 00:16:44.740 --> 00:16:46.960 he talking about Jesus here? Well, in verses 00:16:46.960 --> 00:16:49.720 9 and 10, the apostle inserts a parenthetical 00:16:49.720 --> 00:16:53.320 expression clarifying the fact, yes, underscoring 00:16:53.320 --> 00:16:56.779 the fact, yes, he is talking about Jesus. Now 00:16:56.779 --> 00:16:59.659 he says this expression, he ascended. What does 00:16:59.659 --> 00:17:03.200 it mean? Well, it says, first of all, of course, 00:17:03.220 --> 00:17:06.359 he descended to what he calls here the lower 00:17:06.359 --> 00:17:10.539 parts of the earth. Now there are several ways 00:17:10.539 --> 00:17:13.940 to take that. There are some who understand that 00:17:13.940 --> 00:17:18.779 to refer to Christ going into Hades after his 00:17:18.779 --> 00:17:22.160 death. I do not mean into the fiery hell, for 00:17:22.160 --> 00:17:26.500 he suffered hell on the cross. But Jesus' spirit, 00:17:26.619 --> 00:17:29.819 the immaterial part of him, went to the place 00:17:29.819 --> 00:17:33.299 of departed spirits called in the Old Testament 00:17:33.299 --> 00:17:37.339 Hades. And some see here in this phrase, the 00:17:37.339 --> 00:17:40.880 lower parts of the earth, that meaning, that 00:17:40.880 --> 00:17:43.380 that's where he descended after his death on 00:17:43.380 --> 00:17:48.859 the cross before he was resurrected. It seems, 00:17:48.859 --> 00:17:51.380 however, to me to take it in a different way 00:17:51.380 --> 00:17:55.759 is a better way to take it. I think what he's 00:17:55.759 --> 00:17:59.700 talking about here is the incarnation. And he's 00:17:59.700 --> 00:18:02.720 saying that the Lord Jesus Christ, God the Son, 00:18:02.819 --> 00:18:09.200 descended in humility to the earth. Perhaps in 00:18:09.200 --> 00:18:12.839 this way we would say it, he descended to the 00:18:12.839 --> 00:18:18.279 lower parts, even the earth. To the lower parts 00:18:18.279 --> 00:18:23.970 of the universe, he came down as one of us. And 00:18:23.970 --> 00:18:27.490 then having accomplished his work, he ascended 00:18:27.490 --> 00:18:31.450 again back to heaven where he is at the right 00:18:31.450 --> 00:18:34.329 hand of God the Father. But whichever way you 00:18:34.329 --> 00:18:36.730 take it, there's no question that he's talking 00:18:36.730 --> 00:18:39.789 here about the Lord Jesus Christ. He is the one 00:18:39.789 --> 00:18:43.910 who descended and then ascended on high and in 00:18:43.910 --> 00:18:47.730 so doing he gave gifts to men. Now when did those 00:18:47.730 --> 00:18:50.930 gifts arrive here? The answer is on the day of 00:18:50.930 --> 00:18:55.670 Pentecost. When the Holy Spirit came, he brought 00:18:55.670 --> 00:19:01.130 the gifts to the church. He began on that day 00:19:01.130 --> 00:19:05.029 to indwell believers and to do a new work not 00:19:05.029 --> 00:19:07.809 done in the Old Testament under that economy. 00:19:08.869 --> 00:19:12.150 The Holy Spirit began on that day to indwell 00:19:12.150 --> 00:19:16.049 believers and to equip believers to serve their 00:19:16.049 --> 00:19:21.720 master. He brings the gifts to us. Now, at the 00:19:21.720 --> 00:19:25.579 moment of our salvation, when He enters us, when 00:19:25.579 --> 00:19:28.220 we trust the Lord Jesus Christ and receive Him. 00:19:29.980 --> 00:19:35.339 And so, the first means by which the Lord is 00:19:35.339 --> 00:19:38.079 working maturity in the church is by individual 00:19:38.079 --> 00:19:41.279 spiritual gifts. You have a part to play, I have 00:19:41.279 --> 00:19:43.599 a part to play. And we're going to come back 00:19:43.599 --> 00:19:46.220 to that next week, the Lord willing, as we talk 00:19:46.220 --> 00:19:48.900 about the end of this text. Let's move ahead 00:19:48.900 --> 00:19:52.299 now to the second means. Now these two work together, 00:19:52.380 --> 00:19:56.559 remember. They're not completely separate. The 00:19:56.559 --> 00:19:59.880 second means by which our Lord is maturing the 00:19:59.880 --> 00:20:05.500 church is by individuals who are themselves gifts 00:20:05.500 --> 00:20:10.920 to the body. Now first we said individual spiritual 00:20:10.920 --> 00:20:15.109 gifts, which we all possess. But now the Lord 00:20:15.109 --> 00:20:19.829 tells us that he also gives individuals, people, 00:20:19.990 --> 00:20:25.329 who are themselves gifts to the body in order 00:20:25.329 --> 00:20:29.990 that the body might grow up, be matured. And 00:20:29.990 --> 00:20:33.849 it says in verse 11 that he gave some as apostles 00:20:33.849 --> 00:20:39.210 and others, on the other hand, as prophets, then 00:20:39.210 --> 00:20:42.730 some as evangelists, and some as pastor -teachers. 00:20:45.230 --> 00:20:47.670 You will notice a certain chronological order 00:20:47.670 --> 00:20:49.910 that is involved here. He mentions first apostles. 00:20:51.309 --> 00:20:55.789 The apostles were a small group of men back in 00:20:55.789 --> 00:20:58.509 the beginning of the church who were personally 00:20:58.509 --> 00:21:02.829 chosen by the Lord Jesus Christ to be witnesses 00:21:02.829 --> 00:21:08.690 of his suffering and of his resurrection. Men 00:21:08.690 --> 00:21:13.210 who would see him in his glory as we today have 00:21:13.210 --> 00:21:18.609 not seen him. Apostles were unique in the first 00:21:18.609 --> 00:21:22.930 century. There were twelve of them originally, 00:21:23.269 --> 00:21:27.250 Judas losing his place because of his betrayal, 00:21:27.410 --> 00:21:32.069 and another being appointed among the twelve 00:21:32.069 --> 00:21:36.609 whose name was Matthias. Following that, there 00:21:36.609 --> 00:21:39.250 was another apostle appointed by the Lord Jesus 00:21:39.250 --> 00:21:41.529 Christ, one who is called the apostle of the 00:21:41.529 --> 00:21:44.529 church, the apostle to the Gentiles, and that 00:21:44.529 --> 00:21:49.930 is whom? Right, Paul, the Apostle Paul. And so 00:21:49.930 --> 00:21:52.930 in this limited sense, the apostles numbered 00:21:52.930 --> 00:21:55.690 the twelve plus the Apostle Paul. Now there are 00:21:55.690 --> 00:22:01.269 others who are called apostles. Silas, Barnabas, 00:22:01.289 --> 00:22:07.230 Junius, Adrenicus. They are apostles in a secondary 00:22:07.230 --> 00:22:10.250 sense. That is, they are sent ones by the local 00:22:10.250 --> 00:22:15.869 churches of that day. But the word in its technical 00:22:15.869 --> 00:22:19.150 primary sense refers to a very small group of 00:22:19.150 --> 00:22:23.849 men chosen directly by the Lord Jesus Christ 00:22:23.849 --> 00:22:27.529 who saw him in his resurrection glory and who 00:22:27.529 --> 00:22:29.789 had a very important function, which we'll see 00:22:29.789 --> 00:22:32.670 in a moment. He gave some as apostles. There 00:22:32.670 --> 00:22:36.269 are not apostles today. I'm sorry to disappoint 00:22:36.269 --> 00:22:39.650 some people in the United States who call themselves 00:22:39.650 --> 00:22:41.890 apostles. A friend of mine who graduated from 00:22:41.890 --> 00:22:44.400 the same Bible school I did lives... in another 00:22:44.400 --> 00:22:47.519 state far from here, but he calls himself an 00:22:47.519 --> 00:22:51.480 apostle. He is an error on that. He is not an 00:22:51.480 --> 00:22:56.339 apostle. Apostles were in the first century because 00:22:56.339 --> 00:22:59.180 people today simply cannot meet the qualifications 00:22:59.180 --> 00:23:03.319 of an apostle. They had to have walked with the 00:23:03.319 --> 00:23:05.660 Lord Jesus Christ or at least have seen him in 00:23:05.660 --> 00:23:08.119 his resurrection glory and been appointed by 00:23:08.119 --> 00:23:12.299 him personally to that office. The apostles, 00:23:12.319 --> 00:23:16.190 of course, died out by the end of the first century. 00:23:16.309 --> 00:23:20.049 John was the last one of them alive. The apostles 00:23:20.049 --> 00:23:24.930 had their ministry accompanied by certain special 00:23:24.930 --> 00:23:27.730 gifts, according to Hebrews chapter 2, verse 00:23:27.730 --> 00:23:33.109 4. There were signs, wonders, and miracles which 00:23:33.109 --> 00:23:37.630 accompanied their ministry. Not necessarily the 00:23:37.630 --> 00:23:39.609 ministry of others, but the apostles. They were 00:23:39.609 --> 00:23:42.849 the signs of the apostles, it says. And those, 00:23:42.849 --> 00:23:45.829 too, ended when the apostles left the scene. 00:23:46.009 --> 00:23:49.509 Their ministry was completed. Now, on the other 00:23:49.509 --> 00:23:53.950 hand, he gave some as prophets. These are not 00:23:53.950 --> 00:23:57.369 Old Testament prophets like Isaiah or even John 00:23:57.369 --> 00:24:00.109 the Baptist, who was an Old Testament prophet. 00:24:00.890 --> 00:24:03.410 But he's talking here about New Testament church 00:24:03.410 --> 00:24:09.890 prophets. Again, this is a group of people who 00:24:09.890 --> 00:24:14.230 lived primarily in the first century. The prophets 00:24:14.230 --> 00:24:17.970 were ones who received direct revelation from 00:24:17.970 --> 00:24:21.529 the Lord. You see, they had no New Testament. 00:24:21.829 --> 00:24:26.230 It was being written in those days. There was 00:24:26.230 --> 00:24:28.730 a need for churches to know the mind of God, 00:24:28.829 --> 00:24:32.150 the Word of God, and so God delivered that revelation 00:24:32.150 --> 00:24:37.309 to the church through prophets. According to 00:24:37.309 --> 00:24:39.609 1 Corinthians 14, these prophets were to keep 00:24:39.609 --> 00:24:42.440 check on one another. to make sure that they 00:24:42.440 --> 00:24:44.319 weren't getting out of bounds and saying things 00:24:44.319 --> 00:24:46.359 that were wrong. They were to check their prophecies 00:24:46.359 --> 00:24:48.859 to make sure that the prophecies were in fact 00:24:48.859 --> 00:24:52.720 of God and not of themselves, or even worse, 00:24:52.960 --> 00:24:59.019 of the devil. These were the prophets. They ended 00:24:59.019 --> 00:25:03.279 their ministry with the completion of the New 00:25:03.279 --> 00:25:06.720 Testament. They were no longer needed to give 00:25:06.720 --> 00:25:08.880 revelation from God. God had His revelation. 00:25:09.630 --> 00:25:13.970 written down in black and white. There was no 00:25:13.970 --> 00:25:16.170 need for people to receive direct revelation 00:25:16.170 --> 00:25:19.289 from God. And this would probably disappoint 00:25:19.289 --> 00:25:21.710 some people today who also claim to be prophets 00:25:21.710 --> 00:25:26.150 and who claim to have revelations from God or 00:25:26.150 --> 00:25:29.589 ramas from God. And however sincere they may 00:25:29.589 --> 00:25:32.529 be, what they are saying is in contradiction 00:25:32.529 --> 00:25:35.609 with what the Word of God says. Whereas the New 00:25:35.609 --> 00:25:37.769 Testament was concluded with the writing of the 00:25:37.769 --> 00:25:40.700 book of Revelation, There was a seal put upon 00:25:40.700 --> 00:25:42.839 that book in the last chapter saying that no 00:25:42.839 --> 00:25:45.220 one was to take away from or to add to what God 00:25:45.220 --> 00:25:49.720 had delivered in that revelation. Revelation 00:25:49.720 --> 00:25:53.680 ceased 2 ,000 years ago. God is not giving revelation 00:25:53.680 --> 00:25:58.319 today. God is giving us understanding of this 00:25:58.319 --> 00:26:02.680 revelation. We receive new insights, but actually 00:26:02.680 --> 00:26:06.200 the truth has been there all along. The revelation 00:26:06.200 --> 00:26:10.210 stopped. God said everything he wanted to say 00:26:10.210 --> 00:26:14.970 through those men who were chosen of God to write 00:26:14.970 --> 00:26:18.150 these words and used of the Holy Spirit to put 00:26:18.150 --> 00:26:23.190 it onto paper. So those were the prophets. Both 00:26:23.190 --> 00:26:26.250 of these were temporary. And both of them, and 00:26:26.250 --> 00:26:28.309 here's the key thing, both of them were foundational. 00:26:29.509 --> 00:26:32.049 Back in chapter 2 of this very book, in fact, 00:26:32.049 --> 00:26:34.349 in verse 20, it says regarding the church that 00:26:34.349 --> 00:26:38.039 we are built upon the foundation. of the apostles 00:26:38.039 --> 00:26:42.200 and prophets. And he says Christ Jesus is the 00:26:42.200 --> 00:26:46.240 cornerstone. He's the key piece to it all, but 00:26:46.240 --> 00:26:49.140 he says the apostles and the prophets are part 00:26:49.140 --> 00:26:53.079 of the foundation that was laid. I don't have 00:26:53.079 --> 00:26:55.099 to tell you that once you lay the foundation 00:26:55.099 --> 00:27:00.420 of a building, you don't lay it again. You don't 00:27:00.420 --> 00:27:04.319 repeat it. The apostles and prophets fulfilled 00:27:04.319 --> 00:27:08.299 their God -given ministry, In the early part 00:27:08.299 --> 00:27:11.059 of the church, they laid the foundation to the 00:27:11.059 --> 00:27:17.339 structure we are built upon them today. We do 00:27:17.339 --> 00:27:19.740 not have to lay any more foundation. There are 00:27:19.740 --> 00:27:22.180 no more apostles and prophets to lay foundation. 00:27:23.519 --> 00:27:26.019 We no longer need apostles and prophets anymore 00:27:26.019 --> 00:27:28.380 than we need to go back to Calvary and for Jesus 00:27:28.380 --> 00:27:30.960 to die again or for the Holy Spirit to come again 00:27:30.960 --> 00:27:34.559 as He did on Pentecost. Their work was completed. 00:27:34.619 --> 00:27:38.440 The foundation was laid. And today we build upon 00:27:38.440 --> 00:27:41.640 that foundation of the apostles and the prophets. 00:27:42.339 --> 00:27:44.940 And so you see there is a certain chronological 00:27:44.940 --> 00:27:50.359 order here. The apostles and the prophets were 00:27:50.359 --> 00:27:54.519 individuals given by the Lord Jesus Christ to 00:27:54.519 --> 00:27:58.900 bring the church to maturity. But he goes on 00:27:58.900 --> 00:28:02.960 to say, and he gave some as evangelists. Now 00:28:02.960 --> 00:28:05.740 we usually use that term today in the sense of 00:28:06.190 --> 00:28:09.950 a person who travels from church to church preaching 00:28:09.950 --> 00:28:14.150 that people might get saved. That may well be 00:28:14.150 --> 00:28:16.529 a ministry God calls some men to. I have known 00:28:16.529 --> 00:28:21.289 some very fine evangelists. But we should not 00:28:21.289 --> 00:28:24.109 limit this term just to those kinds of people. 00:28:25.769 --> 00:28:28.509 What he has in mind here primarily, actually, 00:28:28.569 --> 00:28:33.130 in the sense of the New Testament, were men who 00:28:33.130 --> 00:28:37.849 were... called of God to go into areas where 00:28:37.849 --> 00:28:41.210 the gospel had never been preached. And there 00:28:41.210 --> 00:28:44.650 they would proclaim the gospel, and people would 00:28:44.650 --> 00:28:47.769 come to Christ, and they would plant churches, 00:28:48.009 --> 00:28:53.410 fellowships of God's people. So perhaps a better 00:28:53.410 --> 00:28:58.210 term here would be church planters. We just a 00:28:58.210 --> 00:29:01.349 few weeks ago said goodbye to Steve and Mary 00:29:01.349 --> 00:29:05.630 Linetti. who, like several others of our missionaries, 00:29:05.670 --> 00:29:10.569 are involved in very difficult places in the 00:29:10.569 --> 00:29:12.670 world where the gospel has never been preached. 00:29:13.009 --> 00:29:15.609 And there they are seeking to win these people 00:29:15.609 --> 00:29:18.369 to faith in the true God and in Jesus Christ, 00:29:18.470 --> 00:29:22.150 His Son, and then to establish a church. They 00:29:22.150 --> 00:29:25.210 are actually very close to what is meant here, 00:29:25.289 --> 00:29:29.920 and He gave some evangelists. evangelists, those 00:29:29.920 --> 00:29:32.900 who proclaim the evangel, the good news, the 00:29:32.900 --> 00:29:38.599 gospel, church planters. But then it says, and 00:29:38.599 --> 00:29:43.759 he gave some as pastors and teachers. Actually, 00:29:43.779 --> 00:29:45.680 I believe that there should be a hyphen between 00:29:45.680 --> 00:29:50.720 these words, pastor, teachers. I don't think 00:29:50.720 --> 00:29:54.539 he's talking about two offices here. The grammar 00:29:54.539 --> 00:29:58.230 would seem to indicate that at least. He gave 00:29:58.230 --> 00:30:03.430 some as pastor -teachers. It could be translated 00:30:03.430 --> 00:30:07.490 this way, teaching shepherds or teaching pastors. 00:30:07.789 --> 00:30:11.950 The word pastor means shepherds, shepherd. These 00:30:11.950 --> 00:30:15.509 shepherds are to feed the people of God, to protect 00:30:15.509 --> 00:30:18.789 them, to lead them as the flock of the Lord. 00:30:19.789 --> 00:30:22.190 So do you see the progression? There are those 00:30:22.190 --> 00:30:23.910 who are church planters, those who establish 00:30:23.910 --> 00:30:27.130 the work, and then God raises up pastor -teachers 00:30:27.130 --> 00:30:30.349 who come in behind the church planters in order 00:30:30.349 --> 00:30:33.569 to mature the people by teaching them, by feeding 00:30:33.569 --> 00:30:35.950 them, by leading them, by protecting them from 00:30:35.950 --> 00:30:42.630 the enemies. Pastor -teachers. In Acts chapter 00:30:42.630 --> 00:30:45.809 20, if you want to turn back a moment, I'd appreciate 00:30:45.809 --> 00:30:50.430 it. The Apostle Paul meets with... the pastor 00:30:50.430 --> 00:30:54.750 -teachers or the elders, a synonymous term, of 00:30:54.750 --> 00:31:00.869 the church of Ephesus, he opens his heart to 00:31:00.869 --> 00:31:10.390 them in a most wonderful way. He calls them elders 00:31:10.390 --> 00:31:19.329 or overseers. He calls them, in verse 28, as 00:31:19.329 --> 00:31:24.470 those who are to be on guard for yourselves and 00:31:24.470 --> 00:31:28.769 for all the flock over which the Holy Spirit 00:31:28.769 --> 00:31:33.210 has made you overseers, to shepherd or to pastor 00:31:33.210 --> 00:31:36.890 the church of God, which he purchased with his 00:31:36.890 --> 00:31:40.890 own blood. So you see that there are important 00:31:40.890 --> 00:31:44.369 responsibilities for the pastor -teacher. He 00:31:44.369 --> 00:31:47.230 is to guard himself. He is to guard the flock. 00:31:47.740 --> 00:31:51.440 and he is to shepherd the flock. The idea behind 00:31:51.440 --> 00:31:55.680 shepherding is primarily that of feeding the 00:31:55.680 --> 00:31:58.720 flock of God. And I think that's why he ties 00:31:58.720 --> 00:32:01.059 together those two words in Ephesians chapter 00:32:01.059 --> 00:32:06.920 4, pastor, teacher, for the flock is fed through 00:32:06.920 --> 00:32:10.880 the teaching of the word of God. Turn back to 00:32:10.880 --> 00:32:15.059 1 Peter chapter 5 again, where he addresses elders 00:32:15.059 --> 00:32:20.190 once more. And he says in verse 2, Shepherd the 00:32:20.190 --> 00:32:23.950 flock of God among you, exercising oversight, 00:32:24.230 --> 00:32:27.750 not under compulsion, but voluntarily, according 00:32:27.750 --> 00:32:31.250 to the will of God, and not for assorted gain, 00:32:31.609 --> 00:32:36.309 but with eagerness, nor yet as lording it over 00:32:36.309 --> 00:32:39.170 those allotted to your charge, but proving to 00:32:39.170 --> 00:32:42.369 be examples to the flock. And when the chief 00:32:42.369 --> 00:32:44.650 shepherd appears, you will receive the unfading 00:32:44.650 --> 00:32:48.839 crown of glory. And then he commands humility. 00:32:51.420 --> 00:32:54.700 These are the teaching pastors, those who shepherd 00:32:54.700 --> 00:32:58.980 the flock of God, those who are given an allotted 00:32:58.980 --> 00:33:03.799 charge, those who are given sheep for which they 00:33:03.799 --> 00:33:07.460 become responsible. These are the pastor teachers. 00:33:08.200 --> 00:33:13.200 And so how is it that the Lord matures the church? 00:33:14.599 --> 00:33:17.859 What are the means that he has provided as our 00:33:17.859 --> 00:33:21.480 head that the church may grow up and be mature? 00:33:23.599 --> 00:33:27.799 Individual spiritual gifts, which all of us possess, 00:33:28.039 --> 00:33:31.420 and individuals who themselves are gifts to the 00:33:31.420 --> 00:33:35.480 church, apostles, prophets, evangelists, church 00:33:35.480 --> 00:33:42.039 planters, and pastor -teachers. I have the privilege 00:33:42.039 --> 00:33:44.079 of being a pastor teacher in this church, but 00:33:44.079 --> 00:33:47.240 I'm not the only one. There are others within 00:33:47.240 --> 00:33:49.559 this church who are gifted and called of God 00:33:49.559 --> 00:33:53.500 to be pastor, teachers, overseers, shepherds 00:33:53.500 --> 00:33:58.720 of God's flock. Now I want us to very quickly 00:33:58.720 --> 00:34:04.660 look at a third aspect of this maturity that 00:34:04.660 --> 00:34:07.740 the Lord Jesus Christ is producing in His church, 00:34:07.799 --> 00:34:11.360 and that is the process of it. And with this, 00:34:11.380 --> 00:34:14.320 we will conclude for today. The process of maturity. 00:34:15.199 --> 00:34:17.739 You will notice here in Ephesians 4 that there's 00:34:17.739 --> 00:34:21.639 a certain sequence given in verse 12. It says 00:34:21.639 --> 00:34:25.579 that he gave these people, verse 11, to the church 00:34:25.579 --> 00:34:31.860 for the equipping of the saints. That's step 00:34:31.860 --> 00:34:36.480 number one in the process. The purpose that the 00:34:36.480 --> 00:34:38.940 people have been given to the church is this. 00:34:39.400 --> 00:34:40.940 for which the people have been given to the church, 00:34:41.000 --> 00:34:45.599 is this, that the people of God, the saints, 00:34:45.800 --> 00:34:54.860 might be equipped. Now that word equip is the 00:34:54.860 --> 00:34:59.699 word perfect. It refers to something that is 00:34:59.699 --> 00:35:03.579 completed, to something that becomes full grown. 00:35:05.840 --> 00:35:08.920 It is the Greek word that is used, again, for 00:35:08.920 --> 00:35:12.199 mending the nets, as I said before. It is used 00:35:12.199 --> 00:35:16.559 by a physician in that day to set a bone. The 00:35:16.559 --> 00:35:19.719 bone has been broken. The physician takes the 00:35:19.719 --> 00:35:23.579 limb and twists it, does what is necessary in 00:35:23.579 --> 00:35:26.079 order for that bone to be set back in its proper 00:35:26.079 --> 00:35:28.219 place. This is the word that is used for that. 00:35:29.199 --> 00:35:31.400 It is the word that was used in that day for 00:35:31.400 --> 00:35:35.400 the uniting of a political party. in bringing 00:35:35.400 --> 00:35:40.079 factions together. And it is a word, and I think 00:35:40.079 --> 00:35:43.539 this is the best way to picture the word, it 00:35:43.539 --> 00:35:48.820 is a word used for furnishing a home. Furnishing 00:35:48.820 --> 00:35:52.280 a home. There are some of you young couples who 00:35:52.280 --> 00:35:55.300 are concerned about furnishing your apartments 00:35:55.300 --> 00:35:58.739 or your homes. And not just young couples, sometimes 00:35:58.739 --> 00:36:04.079 it takes several years to do that. You find the 00:36:04.079 --> 00:36:06.440 piece you want, you buy it, you bring it into 00:36:06.440 --> 00:36:11.320 your home. Then you begin to pay for it. And 00:36:11.320 --> 00:36:14.219 over the process of years, you accumulate, you 00:36:14.219 --> 00:36:20.019 furnish your home so that it's equipped. And 00:36:20.019 --> 00:36:24.019 it's a place where you can live. It's a place 00:36:24.019 --> 00:36:28.880 where your life can be expressed. I think that 00:36:28.880 --> 00:36:30.920 this pictures very beautifully the equipping 00:36:30.920 --> 00:36:34.429 of the saints because what happens in the equipping 00:36:34.429 --> 00:36:38.570 of the saints is that we are furnished. We are 00:36:38.570 --> 00:36:42.130 furnished so that the Lord Jesus Christ can settle 00:36:42.130 --> 00:36:49.369 down here and express His life in us. The idea 00:36:49.369 --> 00:36:53.230 behind it is one of dynamic conditioning of the 00:36:53.230 --> 00:36:56.570 body members. I like that phrase, dynamic conditioning 00:36:56.570 --> 00:37:00.949 of the body members to fulfill their God -given 00:37:00.949 --> 00:37:03.099 function. That's what equipping the saints is 00:37:03.099 --> 00:37:09.519 all about. My purpose as the pastor teacher of 00:37:09.519 --> 00:37:14.079 the church at large and the purpose of our elders 00:37:14.079 --> 00:37:17.880 and of the pastor teachers of our small churches 00:37:17.880 --> 00:37:22.199 and others who may serve as shepherds in various 00:37:22.199 --> 00:37:26.880 capacities, our purpose is to equip the saints, 00:37:27.099 --> 00:37:32.000 to furnish the saints, to condition, each of 00:37:32.000 --> 00:37:38.239 us, so that we function according to God's gifts 00:37:38.239 --> 00:37:41.400 and the role that he has called us to perform. 00:37:42.199 --> 00:37:47.559 That's my purpose, to equip you. I believe that 00:37:47.559 --> 00:37:51.119 that has to be the primary purpose of every staff 00:37:51.119 --> 00:37:53.980 member that we would call here at the church, 00:37:54.039 --> 00:37:57.940 on our pastoral staff. There's a sense in which 00:37:57.940 --> 00:38:00.320 we have our own ministry, to be sure, but... 00:38:00.929 --> 00:38:03.469 Underlying all of that has to be our calling 00:38:03.469 --> 00:38:10.170 as pastors to furnish you, to equip you, to complete 00:38:10.170 --> 00:38:15.769 you, to condition you so that you can function 00:38:15.769 --> 00:38:21.429 as God intends you to function. How is this equipping 00:38:21.429 --> 00:38:26.070 done? Well, I believe it's done primarily through 00:38:26.070 --> 00:38:29.119 the teaching of the Word of God. Turn to one 00:38:29.119 --> 00:38:31.380 more passage with me, and with this one I think 00:38:31.380 --> 00:38:35.340 we'll close this morning. 2 Timothy, chapter 00:38:35.340 --> 00:38:42.760 3, verse 16. The apostle says, All Scripture 00:38:42.760 --> 00:38:46.719 is God -breathed. What that means is that the 00:38:46.719 --> 00:38:48.840 Bible is unlike any other book written in the 00:38:48.840 --> 00:38:52.460 history of the world. God has produced it. He 00:38:52.460 --> 00:38:55.980 has brought it into existence by the work of 00:38:55.980 --> 00:38:59.300 His Spirit. When I think of the breath of God 00:38:59.300 --> 00:39:03.159 doing this, I think of a sailboat. A sailboat 00:39:03.159 --> 00:39:05.760 which stands still in the water until the wind 00:39:05.760 --> 00:39:10.719 comes to empower it and move it along. What happened 00:39:10.719 --> 00:39:12.739 when the scriptures were written was this, that 00:39:12.739 --> 00:39:15.960 there were men chosen of God who were breathed 00:39:15.960 --> 00:39:18.280 upon as it were by God, who were empowered by 00:39:18.280 --> 00:39:22.539 God, overseen by God, superintended by God, so 00:39:22.539 --> 00:39:25.420 that what they wrote were the very words of God. 00:39:26.030 --> 00:39:28.829 The Bible is inerrant. It is a totally unique 00:39:28.829 --> 00:39:32.010 book. Now, why has God gone to all of this trouble 00:39:32.010 --> 00:39:36.130 to produce this book for us? Well, He says that 00:39:36.130 --> 00:39:40.610 we might use it for teaching, for reproof, for 00:39:40.610 --> 00:39:45.929 correction, for training in righteousness. Now, 00:39:45.949 --> 00:39:48.869 why is it being used for teaching and rebuking 00:39:48.869 --> 00:39:52.170 us and getting us on the right path and disciplining 00:39:52.170 --> 00:39:56.130 us? Verse 17, that the man of God may be adequate, 00:39:56.369 --> 00:40:02.250 equipped for every good work. This word adequate 00:40:02.250 --> 00:40:05.730 means to be sufficient and able to meet all of 00:40:05.730 --> 00:40:09.829 the demands. The word equipped here is a different 00:40:09.829 --> 00:40:13.010 one than in Ephesians, but here it means to be 00:40:13.010 --> 00:40:17.909 completely outfitted or furnished. And the example 00:40:17.909 --> 00:40:22.070 of that day would be a rescue boat. They would 00:40:22.070 --> 00:40:26.309 thoroughly equip a rescue boat with all that 00:40:26.309 --> 00:40:30.150 it needed in order to rescue sailors in trouble. 00:40:31.409 --> 00:40:34.670 God seeks to thoroughly equip us. How does He 00:40:34.670 --> 00:40:38.530 do that? By the Scriptures. Folks, I believe 00:40:38.530 --> 00:40:41.929 that we need to be above everything else a Bible 00:40:41.929 --> 00:40:45.650 -teaching church. I want us to be known as that. 00:40:49.039 --> 00:40:51.579 There will be times when we may do other things 00:40:51.579 --> 00:40:57.300 in a service. For example, have a music concert. 00:40:58.139 --> 00:41:02.000 We've done that occasionally. There may be a 00:41:02.000 --> 00:41:07.960 rare, very rare occasion when we would show a 00:41:07.960 --> 00:41:11.800 film. If it was going to do something, we felt 00:41:11.800 --> 00:41:16.159 it would accomplish a good purpose. But by and 00:41:16.159 --> 00:41:18.199 large, I want people to know when they come to 00:41:18.199 --> 00:41:19.840 Grace Church Roseville that they're going to 00:41:19.840 --> 00:41:22.619 hear the Word of God preached and taught from 00:41:22.619 --> 00:41:26.360 this pulpit. That is my goal. That's the goal 00:41:26.360 --> 00:41:29.440 of our elders, that we be a Bible -teaching church. 00:41:29.519 --> 00:41:32.019 I believe that's why you're here today, many 00:41:32.019 --> 00:41:35.619 of you, because you want the Word of God. My 00:41:35.619 --> 00:41:39.260 function as the pastor -teacher is to teach the 00:41:39.260 --> 00:41:41.960 Word of God. Now, there are other things that 00:41:41.960 --> 00:41:46.909 I may do. I do some counseling. I do some work 00:41:46.909 --> 00:41:51.530 with the staff. I do some visitation. There are 00:41:51.530 --> 00:41:54.590 other things I may do, but my primary calling 00:41:54.590 --> 00:41:58.070 is to teach the Word of God and thus mature the 00:41:58.070 --> 00:42:00.510 body. And I thank God that our leadership here 00:42:00.510 --> 00:42:03.309 has that vision of what the pastor -teacher is 00:42:03.309 --> 00:42:06.949 all about. There are some pastors who labor in 00:42:06.949 --> 00:42:08.869 situations where they are expected themselves 00:42:08.869 --> 00:42:12.969 to do everything. Not only are they to study, 00:42:13.500 --> 00:42:15.280 and to preach, but they're to visit everybody 00:42:15.280 --> 00:42:17.679 in the hospital as well as to see everybody else 00:42:17.679 --> 00:42:19.960 in the church in their homes at least once a 00:42:19.960 --> 00:42:23.920 year. And they're to print out the bulletin as 00:42:23.920 --> 00:42:28.619 well as to write it. They're to sweep the church 00:42:28.619 --> 00:42:31.900 out. They're to check the bathrooms to make sure 00:42:31.900 --> 00:42:35.440 that they're adequately supplied. And some may 00:42:35.440 --> 00:42:37.239 think that's humorous, but there are pastors 00:42:37.239 --> 00:42:39.340 who literally are expected to do that by their 00:42:39.340 --> 00:42:41.440 churches. Let me tell you something. That is 00:42:41.440 --> 00:42:44.420 not the will of God. And those churches are suffering 00:42:44.420 --> 00:42:49.920 for it. It's tragic. I thank God that our leadership 00:42:49.920 --> 00:42:53.760 here and our people here have what I believe 00:42:53.760 --> 00:42:56.039 is the biblical understanding of what the pastor 00:42:56.039 --> 00:42:59.159 -teacher is all about. My heart is to teach you 00:42:59.159 --> 00:43:00.920 the Word of God. I wish you would pray for me, 00:43:01.000 --> 00:43:06.119 that I may be a more holy man of God, that I 00:43:06.119 --> 00:43:10.769 may be a better pastor -teacher than I am. that 00:43:10.769 --> 00:43:12.969 I may be able by the Spirit of God to communicate 00:43:12.969 --> 00:43:15.230 the Word to you in such a way that your lives 00:43:15.230 --> 00:43:18.530 truly are built up. That's why I ask your prayers, 00:43:18.690 --> 00:43:23.090 that I may fulfill the function that God has 00:43:23.090 --> 00:43:26.630 given to me in this body. And I'll tell you this, 00:43:26.750 --> 00:43:31.550 I pray for you, that you then may fulfill the 00:43:31.550 --> 00:43:37.519 function God has given you in this body. That's 00:43:37.519 --> 00:43:39.340 what we're all about as a church. We're a body. 00:43:39.380 --> 00:43:42.559 We're growing. We're maturing. It is the work 00:43:42.559 --> 00:43:44.940 of the Lord Jesus Christ. He has provided for 00:43:44.940 --> 00:43:47.760 it. His purpose is that we might reflect His 00:43:47.760 --> 00:43:50.539 likeness, that we might express His life in the 00:43:50.539 --> 00:43:54.320 world. I just wonder where we are as a church 00:43:54.320 --> 00:43:59.420 in that whole process of maturing. How mature 00:43:59.420 --> 00:44:02.099 are we as a body? How much do we as a church 00:44:02.099 --> 00:44:08.929 really reflect the likeness? of our head, our 00:44:08.929 --> 00:44:12.170 master? How much are you expressing his life? 00:44:14.130 --> 00:44:19.349 How much is your life like him? Because you see, 00:44:19.389 --> 00:44:21.489 the way that I answer that and the way you answer 00:44:21.489 --> 00:44:24.769 it, and all of us together in the sum, answers 00:44:24.769 --> 00:44:27.429 the question about the church. For we are the 00:44:27.429 --> 00:44:32.050 church, the body of Christ. Let's bow together. 00:44:36.360 --> 00:44:38.500 Would you sing with me this chorus? I think you 00:44:38.500 --> 00:44:50.280 know it. Oh, to be like Thee Oh, to be like Thee 00:44:50.280 --> 00:45:04.039 Blessed Redeemer Pure as Thou art Come in Thy 00:45:04.039 --> 00:45:29.659 sweet Lord, you are the head of this body, and 00:45:29.659 --> 00:45:32.619 it's our desire that we might express perfectly 00:45:32.619 --> 00:45:38.250 your life. We don't. But we pray that you will 00:45:38.250 --> 00:45:42.190 continue to equip us, to furnish us, so that 00:45:42.190 --> 00:45:45.530 we might function as we ought, and thus be a 00:45:45.530 --> 00:45:50.650 wonderful tool in your hands to touch lives of 00:45:50.650 --> 00:45:56.030 the lost around us. And Father, wherein we as 00:45:56.030 --> 00:45:58.730 individuals are not maturing, if we're stagnant, 00:45:58.750 --> 00:46:02.409 or if there's sin in our lives that is hindering 00:46:02.409 --> 00:46:05.929 your work, so that we're not like you as we ought 00:46:05.929 --> 00:46:08.889 to be, then deal with us today, that we might 00:46:08.889 --> 00:46:10.989 repent of that sin and put it out of our lives 00:46:10.989 --> 00:46:14.250 and go on growing and walking with you. Thank 00:46:14.250 --> 00:46:18.170 you for your word, which equips us and matures 00:46:18.170 --> 00:46:21.750 us. In Jesus' name, amen.