WEBVTT 00:00:18.719 --> 00:00:25.440 I, therefore, a prisoner for the Lord, urge you to walk in a manner worthy of the calling to which you have been called. 00:00:25.839 --> 00:00:34.240 All humility and gentleness, with patience, bearing with one another in love, eager to maintain the unity of the spirit in the bond of peace. 00:00:34.479 --> 00:00:41.200 There is one body and one spirit, just as you were called to the one hope that belongs to your call. 00:00:41.600 --> 00:00:50.560 One Lord, one faith, one baptism, one God and Father of all, who is over all and through all and in all. 00:00:51.200 --> 00:00:54.880 But grace was given to each one of us according to the measure of Christ's gift. 00:00:55.039 --> 00:01:02.479 Therefore it says, When he ascended on high, he led a host of captives, and he gave gifts to the men. 00:01:02.960 --> 00:01:09.200 In saying he ascended, what does it mean but that he had also descended into the lower regions, the earth? 00:01:09.519 --> 00:01:16.159 He who descended is the one who also ascended far above all the heavens, that he might fill all things. 00:01:16.400 --> 00:01:46.400 And he gave the apostles, the prophets, the evangelists, the shepherds, the teachers, to equip the saints for the work of ministry, for building up the body of Christ, until we all attain to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God to mature manhood, to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ, so that we may no longer be children, tossed to and fro by the waves and carried out by every wind of doctrine, by human cunning, by craftiness and deceitful schemes. 00:01:46.640 --> 00:02:04.480 Rather, speaking the truth in love, we are to grow up in every way into him who is the head into Christ, from whom the whole body joined and held together by every joint with which it is equipped, when each part is working properly, makes the body grow so that it builds itself up in love. 00:02:04.879 --> 00:02:22.159 We are in our penultimate week uh in a sermon series through the book of Ephesians, thinking about what is uh the church, what is this thing that you have gathered together in as uh this morning, and uh what is it, what is it for? 00:02:22.400 --> 00:02:27.199 And I want to begin uh with uh framing a picture in your mind's eye. 00:02:27.520 --> 00:02:35.919 Think uh for a moment, not of a cinema screen, but as a uh uh but of a theater with an orchestra tuning up. 00:02:36.159 --> 00:02:47.840 So you see uh a great uh symphony orchestra or concert orchestra there laid out on the stage with all of its members, all of those sections. 00:02:48.000 --> 00:03:02.000 You've got the the strings here towards the front, you've got the woodwind and brass and a curving round percussion at the back, and suddenly they strike up. 00:03:02.479 --> 00:03:13.520 But as they strike up, every member of the orchestra has decided that at the same time what they're going to do is they're going to play their own composition. 00:03:14.479 --> 00:03:24.400 Every member there, from the guy with the triangle to first violin, has decided that they're going to play their own tune. 00:03:25.039 --> 00:03:26.319 How would it sound? 00:03:26.560 --> 00:03:29.199 Well, it'll sound chaotic. 00:03:29.599 --> 00:03:33.840 It will not be a pleasant thing to listen to. 00:03:35.439 --> 00:03:47.360 Imagine somebody came up to the to the window outside and they looked in and they they thought, oh look, there's a there's a beautifully diverse orchestra playing. 00:03:47.759 --> 00:03:49.599 And technically they're right. 00:03:49.840 --> 00:03:56.639 But you open the door so that you can actually hear the sign and you realize that there's there's nothing unified about that orchestra. 00:03:56.800 --> 00:04:01.680 There's nothing harmonious or beautiful about the sound that they're creating. 00:04:03.520 --> 00:04:12.319 Our world, our workplaces talk much about both unity and diversity. 00:04:12.879 --> 00:04:20.480 On the one hand, people say we all need a place to belong, to be united. 00:04:21.439 --> 00:04:25.519 And so they say, well, we're all just we're all just the same. 00:04:25.680 --> 00:04:26.879 Everything's just the same. 00:04:27.120 --> 00:04:30.160 Flatten out all of the the difference. 00:04:31.279 --> 00:04:46.720 Then the diversity people come in and they say, no, no, every voice, every identity, every person needs to be heard equally, and they are different, but without a shared reference point. 00:04:47.519 --> 00:04:51.360 And so it is hard to bring harmony together. 00:04:52.720 --> 00:04:56.959 And our world feels a little bit like that orchestra right now. 00:04:57.360 --> 00:05:00.959 Our workplaces can feel a little bit like that orchestra. 00:05:01.519 --> 00:05:10.160 Okay, the the notes played in our communities, in our society feel like they're competing for airtime. 00:05:10.480 --> 00:05:18.319 How can we as people hold in the balance this idea of unity and diversity? 00:05:18.959 --> 00:05:23.120 How can they come together in a way that is beautiful? 00:05:26.399 --> 00:05:54.560 Imagine again with the orchestra that the conductor walks in and he raises his baton, and in an instant all of the individual compositions fall silent, and all of these scattered signs find their place in the symphony that the conductor is conducting. 00:05:55.600 --> 00:06:09.199 The brass section don't stop being brasses, the strings don't stop being strings, the guy with the triangle doesn't stop being the guy with the triangle. 00:06:10.160 --> 00:06:21.519 But what happens is diverse sections come together to create something harmonious, they produce something beautiful. 00:06:22.560 --> 00:06:32.560 This is the picture that the Paul paints for us by what the church is like, how the church ought to operate. 00:06:33.199 --> 00:06:46.160 Not with discrete individuals pursuing their own agenda, but people with diverse gifts working together to create something harmonious. 00:06:53.360 --> 00:07:05.839 The world struggles to find harmony because it keeps on trying to compose its own tune for the church as a conductor, Christ Himself. 00:07:06.240 --> 00:07:16.879 And there is a great grand symphony being played out in history, in eternity, that God is unfolding. 00:07:17.680 --> 00:07:27.120 The Spirit Himself has written that score and has invited people to play their part in it. 00:07:28.399 --> 00:07:33.360 Paul says that our unity isn't something that we have to invent or muster up in ourselves. 00:07:33.439 --> 00:07:45.519 It's something that God has already given us in Jesus as a gift that he encourages us to maintain and to grow. 00:07:45.839 --> 00:07:49.519 And so our first point this morning is exactly that. 00:07:49.680 --> 00:07:58.959 It is, as a church, we are to guard the gift, the gift of the unity that has been given us. 00:07:59.360 --> 00:08:00.639 Guard the gift. 00:08:00.879 --> 00:08:06.959 Can I encourage you, if you don't, to have that passage that Grace read for us open in front of you? 00:08:07.120 --> 00:08:10.959 You can either uh have a physical Bible, you can look it up on your phone. 00:08:11.040 --> 00:08:24.160 It's Ephesians 4 from verses 1 to 1 to 16, because Paul begins this section with the word therefore. 00:08:24.959 --> 00:08:26.399 I therefore. 00:08:27.040 --> 00:08:39.360 And any good uh Bible teacher will tell you that when you read a therefore, the first thing that you've got to ask is, what is it there for? 00:08:39.679 --> 00:08:40.000 Right? 00:08:40.320 --> 00:08:42.240 That's top Bible reading tip. 00:08:42.320 --> 00:08:44.320 You read a therefore, you think, okay, hold on. 00:08:44.480 --> 00:08:49.279 There's something before that is playing into what is happening now. 00:08:49.519 --> 00:08:52.240 And here's what you need to know about that therefore. 00:08:52.639 --> 00:08:55.519 And it's very and it's true of the whole book of Ephesians. 00:08:55.759 --> 00:09:00.000 The book of Ephesians breaks down into uh two major sections. 00:09:00.080 --> 00:09:05.600 On the one hand, you have chapters one to three over here, and on the other hand, you've got chapters four to six, right? 00:09:05.919 --> 00:09:06.879 You with me so far? 00:09:07.039 --> 00:09:09.600 We're dividing six by two, right? 00:09:09.919 --> 00:09:14.720 So don't know if you're like a math head, but six by two, one to three, right? 00:09:14.799 --> 00:09:16.080 What's happening in one to three? 00:09:16.240 --> 00:09:25.440 In chapters one to three, Paul is telling us what God has done in eternity. 00:09:26.159 --> 00:09:43.279 His choosing of a people for himself, his sending of his son into the world to redeem them from their sin, to break down that dividing wall of hostility, to bring dead people back to life and to unite them together into one family. 00:09:43.440 --> 00:09:48.879 And Paul's saying that is what God has done in the life of the believer. 00:09:49.039 --> 00:09:52.879 And so if you're a follower of Jesus, that's what he's done in your life. 00:09:53.120 --> 00:10:00.080 You were dead, he's brought you back to life, and he's made you part of a family that is the church. 00:10:00.240 --> 00:10:02.559 That's chapters one to three, right? 00:10:03.120 --> 00:10:15.279 Then in chapters four to six, Paul shifts and he says, Since God has done all of this, and since God has now made you alive, here is how you ought to live. 00:10:15.519 --> 00:10:22.879 What does it mean then, having been made alive by God, to live that new life? 00:10:23.120 --> 00:10:34.960 How does that reframe and reshape our relationships, whether it's parent to child or husband to wife or employer to employee, as he talks about in chapter five? 00:10:35.759 --> 00:10:41.600 How does it change how we how we speak, how we view one another? 00:10:42.960 --> 00:10:48.000 So, what God has done feeds into how we ought to live. 00:10:48.240 --> 00:10:53.279 Now let me tell you, and and in the middle, how does he start chapter four? 00:10:53.519 --> 00:10:54.720 Therefore, right? 00:10:55.120 --> 00:10:59.120 In light of all God has done, let me now tell you about how you ought to live. 00:10:59.440 --> 00:11:00.639 This is super important. 00:11:00.799 --> 00:11:02.480 Let me tell you why it's super important. 00:11:03.039 --> 00:11:10.559 Because if you get Ephesians the wrong way round, you're gonna miss the gospel. 00:11:11.120 --> 00:11:17.200 Because the good news of Jesus is you don't need to do anything to earn God's love. 00:11:17.759 --> 00:11:31.200 But if you think, well, I've got to do the chapters four to six stuff in order for God to love me, then you think, well, I've got to transform how I speak, and I've got to transform how I act, I've got to transform my relationships, and then maybe God will love me. 00:11:31.440 --> 00:11:46.799 But what Ephesians is saying, and indeed what the whole New Testament is saying, is that God has loved you, He has saved you, He has made you alive, and now as a result, as a consequence of that, we live differently. 00:11:47.039 --> 00:11:54.559 And one of the ways in which we live differently, is we don't go around playing our own tune. 00:11:55.200 --> 00:11:59.200 We harmonize with the symphony of eternity. 00:11:59.360 --> 00:12:08.879 We think I'm actually part of something bigger than myself, with my brothers and sisters, who I'm now part of this new family with. 00:12:10.080 --> 00:12:26.559 And so he says, therefore, now that you have done all of these things, or sorry, now that God has done all of these things for you, he says, verse three, be eager to maintain the unity of the spirit in the bond of peace. 00:12:26.799 --> 00:12:39.600 That is, prioritize, work hard on growing and guarding and maintaining the unity that God has given you by his spirit. 00:12:42.559 --> 00:12:49.919 I don't know if uh during lockdown, if you remember that, it's a thing that happened a few years ago. 00:12:50.240 --> 00:12:59.279 Uh, if any of you like me uh got a little bit obsessed with um with sardo, anybody part of the the uh the sardo fad, right? 00:12:59.600 --> 00:13:07.279 Or or maybe somebody give you a a little a little plant, a little succulent uh to to maintain, right? 00:13:07.519 --> 00:13:11.200 So somebody will say, Oh, here's some sardo starter. 00:13:11.440 --> 00:13:13.679 You think, oh great, it's gonna be dead in a week. 00:13:13.840 --> 00:13:14.720 Um, right. 00:13:16.960 --> 00:13:26.559 Those things, sardo, little plant, given to us as a gift, and there's something that we need to maintain. 00:13:27.200 --> 00:13:31.200 We feed it with a little bit of flour every every day. 00:13:32.000 --> 00:13:39.759 We portion off uh uh an amount in order to make our sardo bread or our pancakes or whatever it is. 00:13:39.919 --> 00:13:46.720 It's a gift that's been given to us that we also work to maintain. 00:13:47.679 --> 00:13:54.639 It's a gift, it's an expression of kindness, of love, but it's also something to be nurtured. 00:13:55.679 --> 00:13:59.519 And so it is with all of us, with all of us believers in Jesus. 00:13:59.840 --> 00:14:12.000 God has given you a gift, a gift that we, again, in our world struggle to achieve in our own strength, and that is true, lasting deep unity. 00:14:12.320 --> 00:14:13.440 Say, here you go. 00:14:13.759 --> 00:14:17.840 I'm gonna break down those dividing walls, I'm gonna make you one new people. 00:14:19.200 --> 00:14:22.320 And then he says, maintain it. 00:14:24.240 --> 00:14:26.320 Don't take it for granted. 00:14:27.279 --> 00:14:30.639 Unity is a living gift, born of the Spirit. 00:14:30.799 --> 00:14:34.399 It's beautiful to behold, but it's fragile if ignored. 00:14:34.639 --> 00:14:36.720 Do you experience that in the context of the church? 00:14:36.799 --> 00:14:39.759 You might be sitting there thinking, all of this is really idealistic. 00:14:39.919 --> 00:14:44.240 Have you never marked being part of a church where people have fallen out and left? 00:14:44.320 --> 00:14:47.360 And it's been extraordinarily painful. 00:14:49.279 --> 00:14:55.759 Sadly, that's part of the reason why Paul says you gotta invest in it, you gotta pursue it. 00:14:55.840 --> 00:14:58.240 You can't take it for granted. 00:14:58.960 --> 00:15:08.399 God has given you this precious gift, He's given us at City Church this precious gift to steward to maintain. 00:15:09.919 --> 00:15:20.720 Indeed, if you cast your eye down to verse 13, Paul there says that the unity is something that we are striving to attain. 00:15:21.039 --> 00:15:22.320 Do you see that balance? 00:15:22.559 --> 00:15:24.720 You have this gift, so maintain it. 00:15:25.519 --> 00:15:30.639 And then he's saying, strive, make every effort to possess it. 00:15:31.120 --> 00:15:32.159 What's going on there? 00:15:32.320 --> 00:15:35.679 Is he just immediately contradicting himself within 10 verses? 00:15:35.840 --> 00:15:36.639 I don't think so. 00:15:36.799 --> 00:15:39.519 I want to give Paul slightly more credit than that. 00:15:40.960 --> 00:15:45.759 What he's saying is we have it by God's Spirit. 00:15:46.159 --> 00:15:58.720 There is this objective spiritual reality that we are eternally united to one another because as believers, we are eternally united by faith to Jesus. 00:16:00.399 --> 00:16:24.399 But in the day-to-day, the week by week and how we live and speak in this waiting room between Christ's first coming and his second coming, where sin still creeps in, where sin still exerts some power and influence over us and over our communities, Paul says, don't be naive. 00:16:25.679 --> 00:16:31.519 Pursue unity, invest in it, don't take it for granted, guard it. 00:16:33.519 --> 00:16:36.159 The question then becomes, how do you actually do that? 00:16:36.480 --> 00:16:41.360 What does it mean to maintain the unity that we have been given? 00:16:42.799 --> 00:16:53.600 Well, Paul in verse 2 doesn't begin with programs or strategies, he begins with our posture. 00:16:54.799 --> 00:16:56.080 He begins with our hearts. 00:16:56.159 --> 00:16:56.799 Do you see that? 00:16:57.279 --> 00:17:01.519 Verse 2 Walk in a manner worthy of the calling to which you've been called. 00:17:01.759 --> 00:17:04.559 And again, that's like gift language, God has already acted. 00:17:04.880 --> 00:17:05.759 And he says, how? 00:17:06.319 --> 00:17:11.599 With all humility and gentleness, gentleness with patience. 00:17:12.480 --> 00:17:15.279 Humility, gentleness, patience. 00:17:15.680 --> 00:17:17.599 Those are hard attitudes, aren't they? 00:17:18.000 --> 00:17:20.480 How is it that we maintain our unity together? 00:17:21.039 --> 00:17:22.720 It's the posture of our hearts. 00:17:23.279 --> 00:17:24.079 Humility. 00:17:24.880 --> 00:17:33.440 Remembering that Christ has united us to himself and to one another by his grace. 00:17:34.160 --> 00:17:35.839 It's not something that we can boast in. 00:17:37.440 --> 00:17:39.759 It's not something that we have deserved. 00:17:41.039 --> 00:17:42.640 And that humbles us. 00:17:43.200 --> 00:17:44.319 Gentleness. 00:17:45.200 --> 00:18:09.039 An idea of not being weak, but having our strength under control, choosing kindness over hostility, patience, long obedience, of loving when others frustrate and fail you. 00:18:11.279 --> 00:18:16.319 I uh I came across a book uh this week and was having a little look at it. 00:18:16.559 --> 00:18:19.920 Um maybe we should uh get it and give away copies. 00:18:20.000 --> 00:18:24.799 It's uh a book called Um Loving Those Who Drive You Crazy. 00:18:26.640 --> 00:18:28.880 And it's about our life together as a church. 00:18:29.599 --> 00:18:38.240 There's gonna be some people in whatever church you call home, and maybe you call city church home, who will drive you crazy. 00:18:40.079 --> 00:18:41.200 How do we love them? 00:18:42.079 --> 00:18:46.559 With humility, gentleness and patience. 00:18:50.000 --> 00:18:52.319 So what should we do? 00:18:52.799 --> 00:18:53.920 Guard the gift. 00:18:54.160 --> 00:18:59.759 How do we do it with those hard attitudes of humility, gentleness, and patience? 00:19:01.279 --> 00:19:02.319 But why? 00:19:03.680 --> 00:19:06.400 Why do we pursue unity like this? 00:19:07.039 --> 00:19:12.640 Well, because a unity like this reflects to the world what God is like. 00:19:13.920 --> 00:19:20.960 Paul goes on in verses four to six to talk about uh the oneness of God. 00:19:21.119 --> 00:19:23.759 He has seven times he says the word one. 00:19:23.920 --> 00:19:31.839 There is therefore one body, one spirit, just as you were called to the one hope that belongs to your call, one Lord. 00:19:32.000 --> 00:19:43.279 That's the Lord Jesus, the Son, one faith, one baptism, one God and Father of all, who is over all and through all and in all. 00:19:44.319 --> 00:19:51.759 One Spirit, one Son, one Father, and that's the God in whose image we're made. 00:19:52.640 --> 00:19:59.440 God is the source of our unity, but he is also the substance of our unity. 00:20:00.799 --> 00:20:04.160 We are united around these truths about him. 00:20:04.880 --> 00:20:10.160 That there is one spirit, one son, one father, one hope for all mankind. 00:20:11.200 --> 00:20:14.720 That Christ Himself loves one body. 00:20:15.440 --> 00:20:19.200 He loves no other bride but the church. 00:20:20.079 --> 00:20:29.359 So the unity that we make every effort to maintain is not just kind of warm fuzzies every time we see one another, though they're lovely to have, aren't they? 00:20:30.480 --> 00:20:33.039 But it's a united confession. 00:20:33.519 --> 00:20:40.400 It's yes, we affirm that we are following this God in this way together. 00:20:40.720 --> 00:20:45.440 That's the unity that we are forging and deepening. 00:20:45.680 --> 00:20:47.920 The unity of faith and knowledge. 00:20:48.079 --> 00:20:49.200 Indeed, that's what he says. 00:20:49.279 --> 00:20:51.359 Let me remember in verse 13 on down. 00:20:51.440 --> 00:20:58.640 He says, until we all attain the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God. 00:21:00.000 --> 00:21:10.720 This means that the basis of our unity as a church is not just how we feel towards one another, because our feelings can be pretty fickle, can't they? 00:21:10.880 --> 00:21:16.480 And we can kind of fall out with one another, and our feelings towards one another change. 00:21:16.640 --> 00:21:20.000 So it's not just feeling-based warm fuzzies. 00:21:20.240 --> 00:21:28.400 No, no, it's a shared commitment to a common confession, that we believe the same things. 00:21:28.960 --> 00:21:40.720 This is part of the problem with our world's kind of striving about unity, is that uh is that there isn't a shared common thing around which people unite. 00:21:41.359 --> 00:21:54.000 But for us here, we believe, as we affirm in our doctrinal basis, as you can read on our website, or anytime that we say something like the creed, we believe in the triune God, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. 00:21:54.079 --> 00:21:58.559 We believe in the uniqueness of Christ as the only way for salvation. 00:21:58.799 --> 00:21:59.680 We believe in the authority. 00:22:00.319 --> 00:22:03.119 Of the Bible, and I could go on and on and on. 00:22:03.440 --> 00:22:08.640 But these, brothers and sisters, are the sheet music of the symphony that we play. 00:22:10.559 --> 00:22:14.000 So there's a shared stewardship for each of us. 00:22:15.359 --> 00:22:30.000 That if you enjoy the blessing of the unity of city church, you also shoulder the responsibility of maintaining it with us in humility, gentleness, patience. 00:22:32.880 --> 00:22:35.839 But there is something else that enriches our unity. 00:22:36.079 --> 00:22:46.640 And this is where Paul goes on to talk about the thing that enriches our unity is our diversity. 00:22:47.680 --> 00:22:48.960 Is our difference. 00:22:49.759 --> 00:22:56.799 And so this is point two this morning, point two of three, which is celebrate the difference. 00:22:58.160 --> 00:23:00.319 Think of the orchestra again. 00:23:00.880 --> 00:23:03.279 What makes the orchestra beautiful? 00:23:03.519 --> 00:23:06.960 It's not that every instrument is the same. 00:23:07.279 --> 00:23:12.720 An orchestra would be less beautiful if everything else was just if everything was just a trumpet. 00:23:13.200 --> 00:23:15.119 Or if everything was just a triangle. 00:23:15.279 --> 00:23:16.319 Can you imagine? 00:23:16.640 --> 00:23:18.079 It'd be strange, wouldn't it? 00:23:18.240 --> 00:23:18.880 No, no, no. 00:23:19.200 --> 00:23:29.039 The beauty of the orchestra lies in its diverse harmony, its diverse unity. 00:23:30.079 --> 00:23:37.599 Together, different instruments joining to make one harmonious, stirring sound. 00:23:39.359 --> 00:23:41.119 And so it is with us. 00:23:43.039 --> 00:23:45.200 Christian unity, hear me. 00:23:46.400 --> 00:23:52.400 Christian unity is not uniformity. 00:23:53.759 --> 00:23:57.680 Christian unity is not uniformity. 00:23:58.240 --> 00:24:02.079 Uniformity is the flattening out of all difference. 00:24:03.519 --> 00:24:11.920 Whereas we've just seen that we worship a God who is triune, father, son, and spirit. 00:24:13.200 --> 00:24:14.960 They are different. 00:24:15.119 --> 00:24:17.279 The Father is not the Son. 00:24:17.599 --> 00:24:20.319 The Spirit is not the Father. 00:24:20.559 --> 00:24:22.720 The Son is not the Spirit. 00:24:22.960 --> 00:24:28.000 Standard Christian Trinitarian theology for you there, first thing on a Sunday morning. 00:24:28.079 --> 00:24:29.279 You're welcome. 00:24:30.240 --> 00:24:32.000 And yet they are one. 00:24:34.079 --> 00:24:42.720 We worship a God who is Trinity in unity, diverse and unified. 00:24:43.039 --> 00:24:46.000 That's the God in whose image we're made. 00:24:46.400 --> 00:24:59.039 And so it makes sense, therefore, for Paul, when he's heaped up all of these ones, and then with the ones come a bunch of alls. 00:24:59.200 --> 00:25:06.319 So verse six, one God and Father of all, who is over all and through all and in all. 00:25:07.200 --> 00:25:15.359 Verse seven, but grace was given to each one of us according to the measure of Christ's gift. 00:25:16.240 --> 00:25:35.039 Do you see how Christianity holds together intention the value and worth of the individual and the goodness of the corporate, the gathered, the tribe? 00:25:36.559 --> 00:25:40.480 What our world does is a pendulum swings between the two. 00:25:40.960 --> 00:25:46.079 That it's all just about uh corporate and you know, my tribe against your tribe. 00:25:46.240 --> 00:25:49.680 And people react to that and say, no, we're all individuals. 00:25:49.920 --> 00:25:51.920 What's Christianity's answer? 00:25:52.079 --> 00:25:54.319 Christianity's answer is yes. 00:25:55.920 --> 00:25:56.559 Yes. 00:25:57.039 --> 00:26:05.759 There is goodness and dignity in the individual, and the individual is brought together like in an orchestra to participate in something greater. 00:26:09.039 --> 00:26:16.799 And so he says that each individual has been regarded, and each individual has been given a gift. 00:26:17.680 --> 00:26:20.960 He's been given a grace gift. 00:26:22.160 --> 00:26:23.680 And who is the giver? 00:26:24.079 --> 00:26:27.200 Well, the giver is the risen and victorious Lord Jesus. 00:26:27.440 --> 00:26:30.400 That's what he goes on to say when he quotes Psalm 68. 00:26:30.720 --> 00:26:35.680 When he ascended on high, he led a host of captives and gave gifts to men. 00:26:36.319 --> 00:26:56.960 Then he goes on to kind of say, Well, by the way, what I mean by that is Jesus came down from heaven, he descended to the earth, he lived as a man, he lived a perfect life, he died a death in our place, and then was resurrected physically, bodily in history three days later. 00:26:57.200 --> 00:27:14.000 And as a consequence of that victorious resurrection and ascension, he has given to the church, to individuals, gifts in order that they might invest in, maintain, grow that unity that he has called us all to. 00:27:14.880 --> 00:27:16.319 He is the giver. 00:27:16.720 --> 00:27:18.480 And what does he give? 00:27:19.359 --> 00:27:25.039 Well, he gives gifts to the church, spiritual capacities, insights, abilities. 00:27:25.599 --> 00:27:31.759 Each of us has a measure of grace, something entrusted to us by Christ to build up his body. 00:27:32.640 --> 00:27:35.039 No gift is insignificant. 00:27:35.599 --> 00:27:48.079 If you are the triangle player in the body of Christ, you are regarded and loved, and your gift is not insignificant or incidental. 00:27:49.119 --> 00:27:53.119 Because Christ Himself is the giver. 00:27:54.000 --> 00:28:00.960 But after the Ephesians series in November, we're moving on to doing a series on the Holy Spirit. 00:28:01.039 --> 00:28:05.759 And one of the things that we'll do is we'll think more about the gifts of the Holy Spirit then. 00:28:05.920 --> 00:28:06.240 Okay. 00:28:06.480 --> 00:28:11.759 So I'm going to park some of the questions that you might have, but you gotta keep on coming back, right? 00:28:12.960 --> 00:28:15.599 We're gonna look at this in just a few weeks' time. 00:28:16.160 --> 00:28:24.480 Because where Paul goes here is not simply that Christ gives people gifts. 00:28:25.599 --> 00:28:37.680 No, what he goes on to say in verse 11 is that he gives people as gifts to the church. 00:28:38.400 --> 00:28:39.519 Do you see that? 00:28:39.920 --> 00:28:40.880 Verse 11. 00:28:41.119 --> 00:28:56.160 And he, that's Jesus, and he give the apostles, the prophets, the evangelists, and the shepherd teachers, it's one office, to equip the saints for the work of ministry. 00:28:56.720 --> 00:29:07.039 But not only does Jesus give you, a believer, grace gifts by his Holy Spirit, no, no, he gives to his church people. 00:29:08.319 --> 00:29:18.720 And those people are gifts, apostles, prophets, evangelists, pastor teachers, the risen Lord Jesus gives people to his church. 00:29:19.039 --> 00:29:43.440 Now, there could be a long discussion that I'm not going to go into about whether or not that those first two designations, the apostles and prophets, here refer to those uh functional figures that give us the the New Testament, or whether Paul has in mind some ongoing uh pioneering or preaching giftedness that God still gives today. 00:29:43.599 --> 00:29:46.319 Again, we can talk about that in the next series. 00:29:46.640 --> 00:29:49.680 Either way, Paul's point is the same. 00:29:50.160 --> 00:30:00.640 He's not drawing up a leadership charm, rather, he's showing that Christ Himself gives diverse people as gifts to his church. 00:30:01.440 --> 00:30:14.880 That means for us, brothers and sisters, that our differences, our diversity, our different temperaments, our different strengths and weaknesses are not a bug. 00:30:15.440 --> 00:30:17.039 They're a feature. 00:30:17.680 --> 00:30:20.720 They are part of how our life is to be done. 00:30:21.039 --> 00:30:29.200 Our God is one and three, united and diverse, and we are his image-bearers. 00:30:31.119 --> 00:30:38.079 So in Christ, the differences that we have should not lead us to comparison or to envy. 00:30:38.640 --> 00:30:45.279 There's nothing that will steal your joy or delight in who God has made you to be like envy. 00:30:45.599 --> 00:30:48.079 Envy is a rot in your bones. 00:30:49.839 --> 00:30:55.119 Or hostility, fear, how beautiful somebody else's gifts are. 00:30:56.079 --> 00:31:12.559 Each person, each people group, each nation gathered here this morning gives different and unique ways of glorifying God, and that is to be celebrated. 00:31:13.440 --> 00:31:29.519 Christ's gift of people means that things like structure, leadership in the church is therefore not to be feared or rejected, that it is something for the flourishing of the body. 00:31:29.680 --> 00:31:32.319 Now, of course, there can be bad shepherds. 00:31:32.559 --> 00:31:34.640 The Bible, read the book of Ezekiel. 00:31:34.880 --> 00:31:40.400 God takes major issue with bad shepherds who do not tend the flock well. 00:31:40.880 --> 00:31:46.160 And there can be bad shepherds in Christ's church yet today. 00:31:46.880 --> 00:31:51.839 But we need to be careful that we don't throw out the theological baby with the bathwater. 00:31:52.559 --> 00:31:59.920 The shepherds and teachers and evangelists, those structures, those people that have been given to the church are for the church's upbuilding. 00:32:00.079 --> 00:32:05.599 They are gifts by the risen Christ to his church. 00:32:06.000 --> 00:32:09.920 And why does Jesus give leaders to his church? 00:32:10.720 --> 00:32:12.880 Well, Paul says in verse 12. 00:32:13.119 --> 00:32:16.960 He gave apostles and prophets, evangelists, shepherds and teachers. 00:32:17.440 --> 00:32:18.079 Why? 00:32:19.119 --> 00:32:25.519 To equip the saints for the work of ministry and for the building up of the body of Christ. 00:32:27.119 --> 00:32:28.480 Here's a question for you. 00:32:31.599 --> 00:32:37.279 Who does the work of Christian ministry in City Church? 00:32:38.880 --> 00:32:39.519 Is it me? 00:32:39.599 --> 00:32:40.880 Because that's what you pay me for? 00:32:42.960 --> 00:32:45.119 Or do we have like a professional class? 00:32:45.200 --> 00:32:49.519 Should I get my dog collar on and come in here like you're like you're a priest? 00:32:51.119 --> 00:32:52.079 I have it at home. 00:32:52.720 --> 00:32:54.640 Some of you get weirded out when I wear it. 00:32:56.880 --> 00:33:01.759 No, it's you, the saints, who do the work of ministry. 00:33:02.240 --> 00:33:04.640 Here's an analogy that I've that I've used before. 00:33:04.960 --> 00:33:07.759 Imagine imagine a stadium. 00:33:08.160 --> 00:33:10.640 Imagine the Aviva or Krog Park, right? 00:33:14.240 --> 00:33:36.640 In a stadium like that, like the Aviva, there can be this sort of mindset that the professional class pastor, me and Peter and Ben, that we're the ones who are on the pitch playing whatever sports we're sporting, right? 00:33:38.240 --> 00:33:43.920 And that it's you guys who are in the stands cheering us on. 00:33:44.160 --> 00:33:46.400 Give me an M, give me an A, right? 00:33:48.000 --> 00:33:50.480 But Paul's analogy is different. 00:33:50.880 --> 00:33:57.839 Paul's analogy is not that it's the professional class that are on the pitch, but that it's you guys. 00:33:58.400 --> 00:33:59.519 You're on the pitch. 00:33:59.680 --> 00:34:02.480 And we're like, we're like player coaches. 00:34:02.720 --> 00:34:05.359 We're kind of we're in the dugout, we're on the sidelines. 00:34:05.839 --> 00:34:07.279 We're there at training. 00:34:07.440 --> 00:34:09.280 That's what that's what's happening right now. 00:34:09.440 --> 00:34:10.960 You're there at training. 00:34:11.280 --> 00:34:16.239 And then as you go out into the world, you're on the pitch. 00:34:16.559 --> 00:34:20.400 You're playing, you're living your life for Jesus. 00:34:20.559 --> 00:34:23.039 And who's in the stands in this analogy? 00:34:23.920 --> 00:34:25.679 The watching world. 00:34:26.000 --> 00:34:30.079 Every non-Christian family member, friend, and classmate, they're all watching on. 00:34:30.159 --> 00:34:32.000 They're saying, How are you living? 00:34:32.079 --> 00:34:36.239 How are you walking in a manner worthy of Christ Jesus, right? 00:34:37.199 --> 00:34:38.960 And we're your coaches. 00:34:39.199 --> 00:34:48.559 We're the ones designed to equip and train and encourage and nurture you as you pursue Him. 00:34:49.119 --> 00:34:50.800 What does that mean for my role? 00:34:50.960 --> 00:34:55.039 What does that mean for the role of the pastors here at City Church? 00:34:55.599 --> 00:35:14.159 What that means is that when we teach in a way that forms and encourages you around those shared convictions that deepen our unity towards one another, this is how we care for you. 00:35:14.400 --> 00:35:16.880 This is how we equip you. 00:35:18.000 --> 00:35:24.559 When we model and encourage godly character, this is how we care for you. 00:35:24.800 --> 00:35:27.360 This is how we are equipping you. 00:35:28.320 --> 00:35:35.519 When we seek to invest in, develop, train others for leadership, this is how we care for you. 00:35:35.760 --> 00:35:41.119 This is how we are equipping you, especially as the church grows. 00:35:44.880 --> 00:36:01.679 And so we celebrate our diversity together, and that Christ has given godly leadership to his church that we together might show the watching world the beauty of the diverse unity that he has called us to. 00:36:07.119 --> 00:36:24.159 Finally, having been encouraged to guard the unity and having hopefully this desire to celebrate the diverse gifts amongst us, we must ask, what is the end goal of all of it? 00:36:24.719 --> 00:36:27.599 And so our third point is pursue the growth. 00:36:27.920 --> 00:36:39.519 Paul's objective with all of this as we finish, and this is a shorter point than the other ones, that as we finish, is that we might become more and more mature in Christ. 00:36:40.239 --> 00:36:46.159 The reason why Paul wants us to strive for unity is not as an end in itself. 00:36:47.360 --> 00:36:52.639 No, the goal for exercising our diverse gifts together is maturity. 00:36:52.880 --> 00:37:16.159 Verse 13, until we attain the unity of the faith and of knowledge of the Son of God to mature manhood, to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ, so that we are no longer like children, tossed to and fro by the waves, carried about by every wind of doctrine and by human cunning and craftiness and deceitful schemes. 00:37:19.280 --> 00:37:20.639 What's City's mission? 00:37:22.480 --> 00:37:33.840 City's mission is to connect people to Jesus, to grow them to spiritual maturity, that they might serve the community and go to the nation. 00:37:35.199 --> 00:37:41.519 This is why we have grow as the second of our four mission verbs. 00:37:41.760 --> 00:37:44.880 Connect grow, serve, go. 00:37:46.400 --> 00:38:09.920 That having been brought into relationship with Jesus, Paul's encouragement to you is to grow to maturity, to move deeper into our shared convictions, our shared confidence in who Jesus is and who he calls us to be, in order that we might be more mature as followers of him. 00:38:11.280 --> 00:38:17.119 And Paul shows us what this maturity looks like with these three images. 00:38:20.159 --> 00:38:24.800 Firstly, that he doesn't want us to be like children tossed to and fro. 00:38:26.000 --> 00:38:28.000 It's the idea of increased stability. 00:38:28.159 --> 00:38:34.239 Imagine a rickety little raft full of small children. 00:38:34.559 --> 00:38:36.559 A storm whips up. 00:38:37.840 --> 00:38:39.039 And they're doomed. 00:38:39.280 --> 00:38:42.880 Paul's saying, I don't want you to be like that. 00:38:43.920 --> 00:39:05.039 I want you not to be like little rickety rafts, but of great container ships that are way down in the water so that whatever comes your way, whatever trial breaks over your bow, that you will stay planted in that water. 00:39:05.599 --> 00:39:13.039 That nothing will capsize or wreck your soul, your confidence in who Jesus is. 00:39:13.360 --> 00:39:26.239 We pursue unity together so that each of us individually and as a church would be rooted with that degree of ballast in our boats. 00:39:29.599 --> 00:39:42.239 That we might be able to persevere through every trial, that we might be able to discern when somebody's trying to deceive us, pull the wool over our eyes, that we might have wisdom to know how best to live. 00:39:44.719 --> 00:39:50.800 And then secondly, he says that we are to be that maturity looks like a people speaking the truth in love. 00:39:52.480 --> 00:39:59.760 When I was in my early 20s, which, given that I'm 40 next year, feels a very long time ago. 00:40:00.159 --> 00:40:09.760 When I was in my early 20s, I loved to speak the truth, and I couldn't give a crap about speaking the truth in love. 00:40:10.320 --> 00:40:16.639 I was far more interested in winning arguments than winning people. 00:40:19.760 --> 00:40:22.480 And so these verses are a rebuke to me. 00:40:23.119 --> 00:40:24.880 Why was I like that? 00:40:26.400 --> 00:40:27.840 Because I was immature. 00:40:30.159 --> 00:40:40.559 I thought that I was mature because I knew a lot, but actually I had lots of room to grow and still do. 00:40:41.039 --> 00:40:44.639 Maybe sitting there going, I haven't perceived much of a change, but thanks very much. 00:40:48.320 --> 00:40:56.880 Other Christians go the other way, and they prefer only to speak love. 00:40:58.320 --> 00:41:22.880 And actually their struggle is to stand out for truth, is to speak those truthing words, because they they don't like to kind of go on the offensive or be perceived to be going on the offensive, and so they soften things down, and so it's worth thinking where does your heart naturally go? 00:41:23.679 --> 00:41:24.719 Are you like me? 00:41:24.880 --> 00:41:27.599 You're naturally a truther, right? 00:41:28.639 --> 00:41:31.920 Sol the love, let's just go for the truth, right? 00:41:32.719 --> 00:41:37.599 Or your person over here is like, no, no, it's gotta be the it's gotta be the love, right? 00:41:37.840 --> 00:41:42.639 We don't want to offend people, just be nice, affirming. 00:41:43.679 --> 00:41:44.719 What's Paul say? 00:41:46.000 --> 00:41:50.000 Speak the truth in love. 00:41:50.719 --> 00:41:53.199 That's Christian maturity. 00:41:55.119 --> 00:42:03.440 That we have the courage to speak even though it might not be received the way that we would hope. 00:42:04.320 --> 00:42:21.679 That we have the courage to speak because of our rootedness in Jesus, and that we have love for others as we speak, because we are rooted in the gentle Lord Jesus. 00:42:25.199 --> 00:42:46.480 And the final image that Paul gives is that together as we pursue this unity, we as a body, we build ourselves up, that this building becomes an organism held together by every sinew of relationship and every ligament of love. 00:42:48.320 --> 00:43:03.280 That is we seek the good for each other, each person serving, each person giving, each person seeking the well-being and advancement of the other, we grow up together. 00:43:04.559 --> 00:43:11.280 When a church builds itself up in love, it is seen in all of the quiet places. 00:43:12.880 --> 00:43:31.280 When members take a meal for a new mother, when someone prays for a struggling friend after the service when a mature believer sees somebody younger in the faith and says, Hey, why don't we meet regularly? 00:43:32.719 --> 00:43:34.159 Let's read the Bible together. 00:43:35.760 --> 00:43:38.000 Let's jump on a WhatsApp call. 00:43:38.400 --> 00:43:42.400 Every Wednesday lunchtime, just for half an hour, we're gonna pray together. 00:43:43.599 --> 00:43:44.480 Let's do that. 00:43:47.199 --> 00:43:54.159 It's when we forgive And when forgiveness replaces the resentment of a strained relationship. 00:43:56.239 --> 00:43:59.760 It's seen in teams serving joyfully. 00:44:01.679 --> 00:44:04.320 Even when what they do goes largely unseen. 00:44:05.760 --> 00:44:07.920 Our church does not grow by accident. 00:44:08.880 --> 00:44:15.199 It grows as each one of us decides to love, to forgive, to serve, to give, to pray, to encourage. 00:44:16.639 --> 00:44:25.119 Every conversation that we have after the service in just a few moments, every act of generosity, every word filled with truth spoken kindly. 00:44:25.840 --> 00:44:28.159 That's the brickwork of the house of God. 00:44:29.199 --> 00:44:32.000 That is what it is to build ourselves up in love. 00:44:32.079 --> 00:44:34.079 And it is the goal of our unity. 00:44:35.280 --> 00:44:44.079 As we follow Him, the Lord Jesus, the great conductor of that eternal symphony to which all in City Church Dublin are called. 00:44:46.079 --> 00:44:50.639 And our unity is the harmony that He leads us into. 00:44:52.079 --> 00:45:03.840 So may God bless the reading and the preaching of His Word, and may He by His Spirit bring about that deeper unity that He calls us to. 00:45:04.719 --> 00:45:05.360 Amen. 00:45:18.480 --> 00:45:25.119 If you found this helpful or want to know more about City Church Dublin, visit our website found in the links below.