Outfitting the Church for Perfection - Ephesians 4:7-16

1:04You're a valued contributor in there. You have your Greek text there making sure that we're saying the right things. So everybody's invited to Sunday school, and to be a part of that, I should mention that the younger kids, generations are studying generations of grace, and the teens, they're going through answers in Genesis. And then, of course, the YAGs. You know what the YAGs are, right? It took me forever to figure this out. The YAGs meaning young Aggies. And so...

1:30You know, we didn't want to rule out everybody who's young, who's not an Aggie, that can be a part of it. So, in fact, anybody can be a part of that group. And they studied creation today, right, T? I'm sure it was an exciting group. So, that's what they're looking at for today and next week. Gerardo Ortiz is leading a group on fundamentals of the faith, and that meets in the dining hall. So, I would give you a personal invitation to come and join one of these groups next week at 9 o'clock and enjoy the fellowship and the growth in God's Word that that brings into our lives. It's a wonderful opportunity to consider what God's Word says so that, well, what today's message is all about, so that we can be equipped to do the work of the ministry. I mentioned that we're looking at Ephesians chapter 4. We're starting off in verse 7, actually. I'm going to really develop verses 11 through 13, but I want to read, just to put everything in context, verses 7 through verse 16 there. So, if you would follow along, I'm in the New American Standard Bible, and here's what Paul penned so long ago. He wrote these words: But to each one of us, grace was given according to the measure of Christ's gift. Therefore, it says, or he says, when he ascended on high, he led captive a host of captives, and he gave gifts to men. Now, this expression, he ascended, what does it mean? Except that he also descended into the lower parts of the earth. He who descended is he who is the descendant of the descendant Himself also, who ascended far above all the heavens, so that he might fill all things. And he gave some as apostles, and some as prophets, and some as evangelists, and some as pastors and teachers, for the equipping of the saints to do the work of service, to the building up of the body of Christ, until we all attain 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. As a result, we are no longer to be children tossed here and there by every or by waves and carried about by every wind of doctrine, by the trickery of men, by craftiness and deceitful scheming, but speaking the truth and love, we are to grow up in all aspects into Him who is head, or the head, even 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 the growth of the body for the building up of itself in love.

4:08Such is the word of God. I want to direct your attention just by way of introduction back to verse 7. Verse 7 is critically important because it uses the words, each one of us. Glance down there at that verse, you'll see it. Paul tells you that each one of us, that's you and that's me, if you're a believer in Christ, each one of us would. Given grace, was given grace. That's unmerited favor. And in verse 8, Paul points to the fact that God gives you gifts. God gives you gifts. And then in verse 11, we see a list of four or five. I say four or five. You'll understand why I'm saying that here in a moment. But four or five specific gifts that God gives to the church. He doesn't talk about all the gifts that he gives the church. He talks about this specific list to the church of Ephesus 1,900 years ago. And so that's what we want to understand. We want to understand what the church of Ephesus understood 1,900 years ago and how it applies to our lives today. So I would challenge you to glance back at verse 11 and notice the list of these gifted people that God gives to the church. You see it right there in the text. He gives some apostles and he gives some prophets and he gives some evangelists and he gives some pastors and teachers. You might be thinking to yourself, I'm looking at this list and I want you to recognize that it's not a complete list that Paul normally gives. You're thinking to yourself, I don't have the gift of being a teacher or a pastor or a speaker in front of the church. So what does this have to do with me? Well, it has everything to do with you, even if that's not your gift. Verses 7 and 16 gives us a sort of a bookend within the text. It's each one of us have been given a gift. And he selects the Leadership gifts to talk about with the Church of Ephesus. So, for this week, in verse 13, our focus is really on these gifts and the unity of the faith, the unity of the faith. Those are important terms to remember, so that we can become a perfect church. That's the goal here. And then, next week, we're going to look at a slightly different focus, a different change that Paul intends to communicate, and it's the results for a perfect church, and that's in verses 14 through 16. So, come back next week for the rest of the message, but we want to focus on these five gifts today and their purposes.

6:41Most of you know that I like to be right up front with what I want you to take away from the message. So, here it is: what's the purpose for today's message? Well, for the sake of unity, Emmanuel Baptist Church must recognize some things, must recognize that Jesus gives leaders to the church to outfit the church for perfection. There's a reason, so that you're equipped to do the work of the ministry. So, here it is: Jesus gives these five leaders to the church so that you and I are equipped to do the work of the ministry. We're not spectators, Jesus calls us to be the ones doing the work of the ministry. So, as such, I want to point out three ways from this particular text that Emmanuel Baptist can become a perfect church. First one is this: recognize that Jesus outfits. You with gifts to perfect the church. Verse 11. Notice verse 12. Recognize that Jesus has a purpose for outfitting you with gifts. And the third one, recognize that Jesus expects results from your gift or your giftedness in verse 13. Let's deal with them one by one. Here we go. Recognize that Jesus outfits you with gifts to perfect the church. Let's examine this list a little bit closer, this list of gifts. From a broad perspective, we see a list of the kinds of leaders that Jesus gives to the church. And they have one purpose. All of them have one purpose. You can glance at the text and see it. It's right there. It's to equip. Another word we can use is to perfect individual believers for service in the ministry. It's to equip all of us to serve Christ and the church. So in verse 11, we see the list again. I'll mention it. You can see it yourself there. He gave some apostles. He gave some prophets. He gave some evangelists and he gave some pastors and teachers. You say, well, why does Paul list those gifts and not others to the church of Ephesus? How come he didn't develop it like the church of 1, or in the book of 1 Corinthians, the church of Corinth? His focus is on leadership here. He wants us to see the purpose for leaders. So here's why.

8:56He's gifting these people to be held responsible. To equip us, to equip you to employ your specific gift in the church for the kinds of service that build up the body of Christ. The body of Christ, aka the church, also known as the church. Several times throughout scripture, the church is referred to as the body of Christ. It's a well-known fact in church history that leaders are the first to be persecuted when persecution comes to a land. You kill the leaders, and what happens to the people? Just like sheep, they scatter, they run. And so Paul wants to make sure that the church of Ephesus, really all the churches in Asia Minor, understand that God has gifted these particular people to equip the church so that if such a time comes that the leaders are taken out through persecution, the church doesn't die. It continues to flourish because we're all applying the gifts that God has given. From our vantage point, EBC leaders, Immanuel Baptist Church leaders, must equip you now. And we see that in verses 14 through 16 so that we can continue to be a church or the body of Christ. Again, more about that next week. You've got to come back. I have to whet your appetite to keep you coming. All right. So, first on the list is apostles. Literally means apostle means sent ones. Jesus gave some apostles, meaning some people who are sent to equip or to perfect the saints for the work of God. Service. We learn more about this in Matthew chapter 6 and in Luke 12, excuse me, Matthew chapter 10 in Luke 6. We see Jesus choosing for himself 12 apostles. One of the 12, Judas, he betrayed Jesus and he committed suicide. So the remaining 11 apostles established criteria to replace Judas. They had to find somebody to replace Judas, but there were some specific criteria that anybody who replaces Judas would have to fulfill. According to Acts chapter 1, verses 21 and 22, we see the qualifications to replace Judas for an apostle. There's two qualifications, really. The new apostle was required to have accompanied all the disciples all the time that they were with Jesus from the beginning point that John the Baptist ministry until the day that Jesus was resurrected. So if there's going to be a succession of apostles in the church back when the church was first founded, they had to be with the apostles and with Jesus until the point in time when he was resurrected. In fact, the second criteria to replace Judas that the apostles came up with was that this particular person they select would have had to have been an eyewitness of the resurrected Christ. Okay, so they would have had to have been with the apostles, with Jesus from the time of John's baptism until the point in time when Jesus was resurrected, and they were eyewitnesses of that. So in Acts 1.26, the 11 apostles, they prayed to the Lord asking for him to, in the Greek text, says, choose for yourself, Jesus, choose for himself another apostle to occupy Judas's office. Jesus' choice, if you recall, was Matthias in Acts chapter 1, verse 26. There's one other time in Scripture where an apostle was added to the original 12. We see Jesus choosing Paul to fill this position in Acts chapter 9. As such, Paul was the last of the 14 apostles that Jesus chose for himself to fill this particular office. We're not talking about the office of apostle this morning. We're talking about somebody who's gifted to be sent and to do the work of the ministry.

12:50So what was the purpose? What was their purpose? We see it in verse 12. These 13 men were gifted by Jesus to equip the rest of us for the work of service, to the building up of the body of Christ. Paul says in Ephesians 2.20, if you'll just glance over a page or two in your Bibles in Ephesians 2.20, that Jesus' apostles are the foundations, or the foundation of God's household. I want to give you an illustration, a New Testament illustration of how an apostle is the foundation for the church or what an apostle does. You'll recall that since Paul was sent by Jesus, you'll recall Acts chapter 19. That he equipped about 12 men for two years in a school to build up, you might call it a seminary, to build up the body of Christ. You want to know the results of their training? You don't have to look too much farther than the book of Acts to find out what happened. In Acts 19:10, it says this: As a result, all who lived in Asia heard the word of the Lord, both Jews and Greeks. So, what does an apostle do? An apostle takes, in this case, 12 people, puts them through two years of training, and while they're training, they reach all of Asia for Christ. That's a large swath on the map that they reached, such that all who lived there heard the word of the Lord. So many people in Ephesus became Christians that the fake God-making industry suffered. And as a result of the fake God-making industry, they lost enough customers to generate a riot in Ephesus. People stopped buying the fake God stuff because they were sold out for Christ. And these newly equipped believers, as a result of this apostle, were so committed to Christ that they burned their false doctrine books, estimated to be at the value. Now, get this: what were these books worth? Estimated to be at the value of 200 years' worth of one person's wages if they worked every single day for 200 years. That's commitment to Christ. When people come to Christ, the economy changes. We also know from 1 Thessalonians 2 that Silas and Timothy. Are apostles of Christ. In other words, Jesus sent them to preach the gospel, but they're not counted among the 13 holding the office of apostle. Remember, the word apostle literally means sent one. Sent one. 2 Corinthians 8, 23 says that Titus and other brethren were apostles. They didn't say of Jesus, but of the church. They were messengers or apostles sent by the church to proclaim the message. Paul uses the verb for apostle. You'll recognize this in Romans 10, 15. He says, how will they preach unless they are apostolas, unless they are sent? And it's sent by the church. How are they going to hear the message? That's important to remember. There's another requirement for people to be gifted by Jesus Christ as an apostle to hold the office. Paul tells us in 2 Corinthians 12, 12 that a true apostle, a real apostle, is one who performs signs, wonders, and miracles. There we go. False apostles don't perform signs, wonders, or miracles, so we know how to dismiss them. We know how to dismiss them. Just a final word on apostles, since we're looking at some apostles. The results of the apostles' gifting are still seen today. We still grow as a result of their teachings. They still equip us to do the work of the ministry. We have their writings. We know from 2 Timothy, 2 Timothy 2, 16 and 17.

16:31That the scriptures are inspired by God and profitable for every good work, for the equipping or the perfecting of the saints to do the work of the ministry. So we still look back to the apostles' gifting that God gave to the church, and we grow as a result of what they wrote. Second on the list: here's the second one in the list of gifted people to the church. It's some, right there in verse 11, some prophets. There were some prophets that he gave. Paul already told us that the foundation of God's household was built on the apostles and the prophets in Ephesians 2:20. So then, here in Ephesians 4:11, we understand the purpose of an apostle. We understand the purpose of a prophet. It's very clear what they're supposed to do. They're supposed to equip us, the saints, to do the work of the ministry. The question is: how does this gift of prophecy equip believers to do the work of the ministry today? Paul tells us in Romans 14, verse 3, Romans 14, verse 3, that the purpose of this gift was to build up. The purpose of this gift of a prophet was to comfort and to encourage the body of Christ. In 1 Corinthians 14, we see that the people with this gift communicate the mysteries of God, so there's a teaching element to it. They facilitate learning and they facilitate exhortation. Another final function of this gift of prophet in 1 Corinthians 14, verses 24 through 24.

18:01Is that it convicts the unbeliever for a purpose, and so that they worship God. That's the purpose of a prophet, to encourage, to convict, to exhort, and to lead people to Christ. We also know from 1 Corinthians 1:28 that prophets were second behind apostles, because he lists the apostles first. He gave the church apostles, then prophets. Therefore, if what a so-called prophet says doesn't square with what the apostles say in the Bible, then they mustn't be recognized as a prophet at all. And that goes down to today. We see people saying things that do not square with Scripture. They call themselves prophets and teachers, but it doesn't square with what God's Word says, and we are to reject their teaching.

18:50They mustn't be recognized as apostles at all in 1 Corinthians 14, verses 37 and 38. Well, the Bible has a lot to say about false prophets. I looked up false prophets, and I saw a whole list of passages that talk about them. It repeatedly warns us about them. In Matthew 7, 15, you'll recognize this in Matthew 17. Jesus says, beware of what? The false prophets who come to you in sheep's clothing, but inwardly are ravenous wolves. They'll tell you apart. Jesus also said in Matthew chapter 7, verses 22 through 23, many will say to me, Me on that day, Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy? Didn't we teach in your name and cast out demons and in your name perform many miracles? And in verse 23, Jesus says, and I will declare to them, I never knew you.

19:48You thought you taught in my name, but I never knew you. And he says, depart from me, you who practice lawlessness. Matthew 24, 11. Many false prophets will arise, and they will mislead many people. You say, why are there so many churches? Why so many religions in the world today? Well, that doesn't take God by surprise. He warned us way back in Matthew 24, many false prophets will arise and mislead many. In the book of Ephesians, we're given a command, do not be deceived. It's your responsibility to know what a false prophet is. Matthew chapter 24, 24, Jesus says this, For false Christs and false prophets will arise and will show great signs and wonders and mislead, if possible, get this, even the elect, even those that God has chosen. Now, they won't be able to mislead them because we know in John chapter 6 that Jesus says, all that the Father gives to me will come to me and I won't get rid of them. I won't cast them out. But their teachings will be so seductive that even those who are elect might even want to be given over to listen to them. Don't give in. Third, third, three fingers. Third elections. List of gifted people that Jesus gives to the church are some evangelists. You'll notice we keep repeating the word some. It's important because not all people are gifted in these ways. He gave some evangelists. It's right there in verse 11. The word evangelist, you might be shocked to know, only appears in the New Testament, in the Greek New Testament, three times. Only three times. And it's used of Philip in Acts chapter 21, verse 8. Paul commands Timothy to do the work of an evangelist. To do it, he commands him to do the work of an evangelist in 2 Timothy 4 and 5.

21:38Here in Ephesians 4, we see that the responsibility of an evangelist is pretty clear, isn't it? An evangelist's job is to equip the saints, to equip the body of Christ, to equip you and me to do the work of the ministry. Case in point, Philip. Doing the work of an evangelist, he travels from Jerusalem to Gaza. That's quite a trip if you were to walk it about 47, 48 miles as a crow flies. Have you ever been to Israel or seen pictures of Israel? That's quite a series of mountains to climb around. So as a crow flies, that's quite a distance. And during the walk, Philip meets up with an Ethiopian eunuch, and he preaches Jesus to him from the scripture. Isn't it fascinating? The New Testament hadn't been written by that point. The eunuch is reading Isaiah. And Philip sits down next to him and he preaches the Messiah. He preaches the Christ from the Old Testament and he leads him to Sales. Salvation, as was evidenced by a physical manifestation of his own baptism of obedience. I like the way my former pastor describes an evangelist, John MacArthur, writes these words. He says, quote, Philip demonstrates that the evangelist is not a man with ten suits and ten sermons who runs a roadshow. New Testament evangelists were missionaries and church planters, much like apostles, but without the title of miraculous gifts. Remember, apostles had to do miraculous gifts, evangelists didn't. He goes on, who went where Christ was not named and led people to the faith and the Savior, then they taught the new believers the word, built them up, and moved on to new territory. That's an evangelist. They are modern-day missionaries. That's what they do. Fourth and fifth. You'll see on your list there in chapter 4, verse 11, he gives some pastors and he gives some teachers. Actually, he says he gives some pastors and teachers. He doesn't use the word some when he says the word teachers. He gives some pastors and teachers. I'm saying fourth and fifth because the way the Greek language is structured here, one could infer that he's talking about one person. And the words pastor and teachers could be hyphenated, pastor-teacher. So it could be one person. But the key thing to remember here is that not all teachers are pastors. We have plenty of teachers at Emmanuel Baptist Church who do a wonderful job of equipping the saints to do the work of the ministry, but they don't. Have the title of pastor. They teach. But he's addressing pastor-teacher in here. And you would normally think of a pastor-teacher as our pastor-teacher, Tom. He would be recognized as a pastor-teacher. He does a dual role of teaching and shepherding. To some extent, I fill that role as well, but not to the extent that he does. I do a lot of administrative work here at the church, and I try to take those things away from him so he can be given to what God has called him to do, and that is to equip the saints to do the work of the ministry. You'd be interested to know that the word pastor literally means sheepherder.

24:35Sheepherder. Sheepherders were not thought of highly back in those days. Pastors aren't thought of highly today, but that is the job of a pastor. It's to herd the sheep, it's to care for them. Jesus had compassion for the people in Matthew chapter 9, verse 36, because they were distressed, they were dejected. They were, like Jesus says, a sheep without a shepherd. They were like sheep without a pastor. They were people without a pastor, and he had compassion on them. In John 10, 11, Jesus says, I am the good shepherd. I'm the good pastor.

25:15The good shepherd, Jesus says, the good pastor. He lays down his life for what? The sheep. We're thought of as sheep. John chapter 21, verse 16, Jesus, he Commanded Peter to shepherd. He commanded Peter to pastor the flock, his sheep, Jesus' sheep, twice in the same context. Jesus told Peter to feed the sheep, to tend the sheep, to herd his people, to take care of them, to love them. Paul talks about this in Acts chapter 28, 28. He warns the elders of the church of Ephesus, and he says this: He says, Be on guard for yourself and for all the flock, all the sheep among which the Holy Spirit has made you overseers, to shepherd, to pastor the church of God, God's church, which he purchased with his own blood.

26:19He was telling them in that same message, I'm never going to see you again. And he tells them to pastor the flock, love the people, warn the people. So a pastor, he protects the sheep from false doctrine. I so appreciate Pastor Tom when he stands up here and he delivers Sunday after Sunday the truth of God's word because he has a heart for God's people to protect us with the truth. He feeds the church with the word of God on a regular basis so they don't starve. He also confronts them and comforts them when they're distressed and dejected. Why? Paul tells us. In Ephesians 4:12, there's a purpose for the equipping of the saints to do the work of the ministry. That's why pastors and teachers are here to equip us. Just as with all the speaking gifts, there come severe warnings for those who would present themselves as teachers of God's word. And don't think this doesn't keep me up many nights before I stand before a group like this and preach God's words. Do you remember the warning issued by James, Jesus' half-brother, about teachers? I'm sure you do. He says, Let not many of you become teachers, my brethren, knowing that as such we will incur a what?

27:42Greater judgment, a stricter judgment. This is a heavy, heavy load that pastors carry. It's no wonder that a pastor can spend 30 hours a week, perhaps 40, on a tough passage to bring it to us on a Sunday morning. Have respect for the time that Paul, or excuse me, that Tom puts into the word. A pastor's job is to warn the church about false prophets. I want you to see how this works in Paul's exhortation to Timothy in 2 Timothy chapter 4.

28:12Notice how Paul instructs Timothy, Pastor Timothy, with these words. He says in 2 Timothy 4, verses 1 through 4, he's talking to Timothy, I solemnly charge you in the presence of God and of Christ Jesus, who is the judge of the living and the dead. And by his appearing and his kingdom, he says, This, preach the word, Timothy. Be ready in season and out of season to reprove, rebuke, exhort with great patience and instruction. Why? Verse 3. For a time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine, but wanting to have their ears tickled, they will accumulate for themselves teachers in accordance with their own desires, and will, what will happen, and will turn away their ears from the truth and will turn aside to myths.

29:10False teachers, false teachers, they don't look like the ravenous wolves that Paul describes them. They look kindly. They wear nice suits. They look very lovely. They look innocent. It grieved my heart to read from of all places this week an example of this. I don't mean to offend anybody here, but I'm talking about the Girl Scouts, of all people. The Girl Scouts, right on their own website, there's a question that's asked: What is Girl Scouts' position on serving transgender youth? Here's their answer.

29:51And I'm thinking as I'm reading this, sheep in wolves' clothing, or wolves in sheep's clothing. Here's what it says: quote, Girl Scouts is proud. To be the premier leadership organization for girls in this country, placement of transgender youth is handled on a case-by-case basis with the welfare and best interest of the child and the members of the troop group in question a top priority. That said, if the child is recognized by the family and school/slash community as a girl and lives culturally as a girl, then Girl Scouts is an organization that can serve her in a setting that is both emotionally, and here's where it grieves my heart: emotionally and physically safe.

30:41Girl Scouts. I've seen brownies, I've seen Girl Scouts selling cookies. I don't think of their leadership as wolves, but this is troublesome. A faithful pastor-teacher stands up at the ready at a moment's notice to proclaim God's word. This kind of teaching demands, as I've said, an amount of time. It demands thick skins to reprove, rebuke, and encourage with great patience and instruction. A faithful pastor-teacher looks for the wolves in sheep's clothing and warns the sheep, even when the sheep prefer to have their ears tickled in lieu of sound doctrine.

31:30I want you to see that a shepherd who pastors God's flock will notice that the sheep, the people, the church, they'll notice that the people are doing the work of the ministry. Two weeks ago, there were dozens of people here doing the work of the ministry, working on this facility just to repair some things, make it look better. This church doesn't have a problem with serving. Pastors see that. When the church is well-fed, they serve Christ in the church actively, joyfully, utilizing the gifts that God has given to meet the needs of others. Did you realize that your gift that God has given is given for a purpose to meet the needs of the others?

32:11Well, this leads us to our second point of how the Holy Spirit directs Emmanuel Baptist Church to become a perfect church. Here it is, number two, to recognize that Jesus has a purpose for outfitting you with gifts, or outfitting the church with gifts. We've all seen or been a member of or been a part of, been exposed to, massive, well-staffed mega churches. I put that in quotes, mega churches where the entertained laity, they are the ones who underwrite the operations and the programs geared to meet everybody's felt needs. And if you don't meet my need, I'm going to stop giving. The thought of the American style, you know, purchase a service plan and coddle me and my family is alive and well, even in religion.

33:01Paid ministry professionals are hired with their savvy business skills, their acumen, so that the worship experience on Sunday morning and the midweek is, I don't like this word, relevant, as if to say that preaching God's word is irrelevant, relevant to a culture and is measured by the quantity of people walking through the doors. And if there's not enough people walking through the doors, we need to hire some different professionals to bring them in. A little over a year ago, Debbie and I visited a church with what we call, or what has been called referred to as the flat-screen preacher. You know what a flat-screen preacher is. When you look at the screen and they preach, they're not there with you. You don't get to see what they're like at home and in the church. And we were a part of this worship experience. And their big thing at the end of the service when the offering was taken was: look, if your needs hadn't been met here in the last three months, we have a money-back guarantee. You just come talk to me. We'll give you your money back.

34:04I was shocked to hear that. A money-back guarantee. I worked for FedEx for 20 years. We had a money-back guarantee. If the package was late, am I wrong, Mr. Pilot, check captain? Your package is late. By 30 seconds, you get your money back. McDonald's in Los Angeles. This ought to scare you when you go to McDonald's in Los Angeles. I'm not picking on McDonald's. I'm picking on Los Angeles. But I grew up. If your food ain't ready in three minutes, you don't got to pay. What if it's not cooked well enough in three minutes?

34:39Church, this kind of Western mindset was never intended for God's church, never intended. There's a specific purpose for Jesus giving leaders to the church. Do you see it there in verse 12? Look at it again. Here it is. For the equipping of the saints, for the perfecting of the saints. The Greek word for equipping is a medical term here. You doctors will love this. It's for setting a bone, it's making that bone perfect again. So, really, equipping means outfitting. It means perfecting so that the church can become perfect. The title of today's message: Outfitting the Church for Perfection.

35:20So, the natural question is: equipping or perfecting the saints for what? To demand their money back when their felt needs aren't met? You just take your money back out of the offering plate? To pay for ministry professionals, professionals to click their heels when you want them to be ready at your beck and call? The church is not the elders and the pastors. They're a part of the church. The church is the body of Christ. The heart keeps the blood flowing, but there's no veins to take it to the extremities. The body doesn't survive. Are you a vein?

36:00Are you a part of growing this body? Apostles, prophets, and evangelists, pastors, and teachers are Jesus' gift to the church so that the congregants, us, are equipped to do something, to do the work of the ministry. The context is clear that the ministry is the work of, look at it, verse 7. Each one of us. Verse 16, each one of us, each individual part, Paul tells Pastor Timothy to be diligent, to present yourself approved to God as a workman who doesn't need to be ashamed, accurately handling the word of truth.

36:44A pastor who isn't diligent, according to this passage, is not approved by God. Preparing sermons, as I said, it takes a lot of time to accurately represent what the author wrote 1,900 years ago or several thousand years ago so that they can bring it to our attention to tell us what God's Word says. It takes time so that we're equipped to meet the needs of others. You recall there came a time in the book of Acts and the apostles' ministry when they're so busy that they didn't have time to pray and to minister in the word. So what did they have to do? In Acts chapter 6, they directed the church to nominate some deacons. Here's your chance.

37:30We're opening it up to nominate deacons to help serve. But back then in Acts chapter 6, these apostles, they needed help with just serving tables because they couldn't pray and they couldn't teach. And so they asked the church to appoint deacons to help them, to free them up, so that they would be approved by God. You say, so why is that the pastor's purpose to equip the saints to do the work of the ministry? In other words, what is the pastor's goal? What are they trying to accomplish? Again, I submit to you, verse 12, to build up the body of Christ. Fixate on that word body for a moment. It's a metaphor, and it's used several times throughout Ephesians. In fact, turn to Ephesians chapter 2, verse 19. You should be pretty close to it there. Ephesians chapter 2, verse 19.

38:28Let me say this. If I can find it. So then, you are no longer strangers and aliens, but you are fellow citizens with the saints and are of the household of God. It's a body that he's talking to, a body that he's talking about. Notice how Paul tightly wraps back into verses 13 through 16. He tightly wraps this word body, this metaphor, in verse 12. The gift of God is given to each one. Us, and it builds up the body of Christ. And in verse 16, the body is fitted and held together through each one of us serving and working for the ministry, not just the pastors and the teachers. The message is clear. The application from the text has profound implications, not only back then to the church of Ephesus, but on us now. Paul says, each one of us, each one of us, for the unity of the faith. It's all our responsibility. Well, the unity of the faith is really a great understanding for the idea to transition to the third point about how the Holy Spirit directs Immanuel Baptist Church to become a perfect church. The third point is this. Jesus wants us to recognize that he expects results from your giftedness in the church. He expects results from what you do. It's right there in verse 13.

40:00He says this: until we all attain the unity of the faith and the knowledge of the Son of God to a mature man to the measure of the stature which belongs to the fullness of Christ. So we've seen so far that Jesus outfits you with gifts, verse 11, and that Jesus has a purpose for outfitting you with gifts. That's verse 12. And now in verse 13, there's a third point. Paul is showing us the final two-part goal for each one of us. Here's the two-part goal: unity. Are the unity of the faith of the knowledge of the Son of God? And number two, that the church is mature like Jesus Himself. The church is supposed to be mature like Jesus is mature. You say, well, how long do I have to use my spiritual gift? For what period of time? Verse 13 tells you. Look at it, verse 13. You see the word until. The answer is found in the word until. Literally, until is not just a point in time, not just the leaders, but it's a point where we arrive at a destination. The Greek word has to do with our goal, the goal of our gift, and the time when we all attain the unity of the faith. In other words, how long do we have to do it? Keep on using your gift to build up the body of Christ until such a time that all of us reach a destination, not just you, not just the pastor. Reach a destination. Here's the destination: the unity of the faith, of the knowledge of the Son of God. That's how long.

41:34Ecumenical religions of the world want to push for unity at all costs. They refuse to deal with topics they perceive as controversial. But here, Paul's different. He gives us a specific kind of unity. He uses the words the unity. Unity is directed towards the knowledge of the Son of God. The knowledge of the The Son of God. That's the kind of unity that he's looking for. He wants us to know the Son of God. Yes, unity in the church is critical. That's why he's writing this text. But unity has an object in verse 13.

42:13Be sure you underline it. It's right there. The object is the knowledge of the Son of God. You've heard of the Greek word knowledge before. It's gnosko, I know, or gnosis, knowledge. However, you know what? That's not the word that Paul uses here. Paul uses an enhanced form of the word gnosko or gnosis, and it's epigenosis. Let me see if I can illustrate this. Sorry, it has to be from a movie. Now, my family, we grew up watching the Christmas story. The Christmas story. You know, where the boys challenge the one kid, the one goofy kid, to stick his tongue to the pipe, the frozen pipe?

42:59You recall that one dare didn't get the kid to put his tongue on a pipe? So they said, I double dog dare you. He's like, nah. Well, then came the superb, the supreme challenge. I triple dog dare you. And so the kid, he sticks out his tongue, he licks the pipe, and his tongue is stuck to the pipe. Epigenosis. Is like the triple dog dare you. Epigenosis is an intensified, deep knowledge of the Son of God. It's not just enough to know him, it's to know him, an intense knowledge of who he is. It's a full and accurate understanding that only comes as a result of a close relationship with the Lord in time and prayer and in his word through expository preaching of the scriptures. You can say you know Jesus, but he might say to you at some point in time, depart from me, I never knew you.

44:04Do you know him? Do you epi, do you triple dog know him? So the first goal of our gifts is the result. The result is the unity of the faith and of the deep knowledge of the Son of God. The second goal for each of our gifts results in the church that is a mature church. You say, well, how mature? Look at the text. Mature to the measure of the stature which belongs to the Son of God. Be perfect like Christ. That's what his goal is here. Take a look at verse 13 again. You see the words there. To a mature man. There's that metaphor for the corporate body again, to a mature man. It's the church he's talking about. Each one of us must grow in Christ as individuals, but Paul wants us to see that we must grow as a corporate body. And so he says, as a man, as a mature man. Man, he's talking to everybody within the body, collectively, corporately, we're all to grow. The word mature also means perfect. It means full-grown, not like infants and not like children, not like Girl Scouts, or in verse 14 that would be tossed and tricked by false doctrine. And we'll talk about that more next week in verse 14.

45:23Just how mature are we? Verse 14, how full-grown must we mature? Paul says in verse 13, to the measure of the stature which belongs to the fullness of Christ, as mature as Jesus is Himself, so must also be the body of Christ, the church. How can we possibly become perfect like Christ, mature like Christ? Verse 7, verse 16, each one of us, each one of us must grow, and as a result of the gifts that God gives us, that we can minister, that we can equip others to do the work of the ministry, we can care for them and help them. As we serve one another, we move toward what? The unity of the faith, of the epigenosis, the knowledge of God's Son.

46:16Perhaps you're thinking to yourself, I want this. I don't even know what my spiritual gift is. What am I supposed to do here? It's really a perfect opportunity. To plug opportunities to serve here, you have this in your bulletin. Would you come and be a part of planning the ministry for the future here at Emmanuel Baptist Church Wednesday nights? It's right there in your bulletin. It takes 45 minutes to sit through that. You're thinking to yourself, I want to serve, I just don't know where or how. Well, pick one of these out and come and ask the Lord to move in your heart and your life. Ask the question: God, how can I help this body grow? If you are disobedient in the gift that God has given to you, you are rejecting what God is doing in your life. The body of Christ needs you.

47:15There's dozens of ministries here, and they're all praying that God would bring more people who are obedient to his call to help equip the body of Christ. Well, we've covered a lot of ground here, and there's a whole lot more I could cover, believe me. So that's why we're going to make this a part two. Next week, we're going to look at verses 14 through 16, where Paul, as I said earlier, makes a slightly different focus. He changes the intended results for what a perfect church should look like.

47:45So come back next week, and let's consider that passage and how Emmanuel Baptist can be what God has called us to be. Would you bow as we close the service and prayer together? Lord, this is your body, the body of Christ. You have gifted people, not just leaders. Paul didn't go into the other gifts that he went to with the church of Corinth. He addressed the leadership gifts, Lord. And you have gifted each one of us. You tell us that in the passage with a gift. And it is a travesty to ignore your gift. And we pray, Father, that you would strengthen each one of us to apply it in such a way that you're glorified and our brothers and sisters in Christ are built up. Lord, you give us gifts to perfect the church, and we recognize that you expect results. We also recognize that we can't exercise our gifts without your divine enablement.

48:58We must confess that, Lord. You are the one who can enable us. Lord, our pleading is for you to move us in such a way that your church is equipped to bless you and others for a reason, until such a time that we all attain the unity of the faith of the knowledge of the Son of God. Perhaps now is a good time to simply ask the Lord, where, God, where are you calling me? Where do you want to serve in a ministry to build up the saints? Encourage them to walk with you. Father, we dedicate this time to you and your people to you and know that you will work in our hearts and our lives to continue this work that was started so many thousands of years ago, that you would be honored, that you would be glorified, and that others would be encouraged to grow in you. In Christ's name, we pray.