The Purpose of Maturity

Transcript

GR 152
The Purpose of Maturity
Ephesians 4:14-16
Gil Rugh

Ephesians in the fourth Chapter; we looked at the first three verses of this section last week. Paul is talking about the body of Christ and the functioning of the body, its various parts and yet it's unity and oneness as it functions together. The verse 11 talked about the gifts that Christ had given, and we noted that Paul limited here to the speaking gifts, those gifts that would involve the verbal communication of the truth of God. There are another set of gifts that classify or would be classified under the serving gifts, Paul does not mentioned here.

Then the purpose for the giving of the gifts was given in verse 12, in order to equip the saints to do the work of serving, in order that the body of Christ might be build up. The truth of God is communicated in order that saints might be equipped, in order that the body of Christ might be further developed and built majority. In verse 13, he talked about the duration of these gifts and this process, it would go on until we all, all-encompassing every believer endure here, until we all come to 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 that’s developing process. The communication of the word to develop me, in order that I might be build up, in order that the body might be developed, in order that we might attain to the stature of Jesus Christ. Now he continues this development and really there is some overlap from verses 14 to 16 with what he has said. He has built up to being a mature man in Christ. Then he shows something of the purpose or result of maturity. And to do this he goes back and picks up some other areas and then he will build in verse 16 again to the maturity of the body of Christ.

So he builds and in verse 13 he comes to the place of where we are building to a mature man. Now on verse 14, he goes back and he builds to the same place, really showing the result of maturity and the further outworking of maturity among individual believers and among the body of Christ, and they go hand in hand. So we are talking about the maturity of individual believers. We are talking about the maturity of the body as a whole. We are talking about the body as a whole. We are talking about the development of the individual parts of the body, because there’s an oneness there.

As Paul is fond of doing, he breaks these verses down into a positive side and a negative side. Verse 14 giving the negative and then verses 15 and 16 the positive side. So the negative side, what you are not when you come to maturity in Christ. When you are a mature men, you have reached the measure of the stature of Christ to where relatively. So you have drawn in that relationship, what you are not to be in the situation that will not characterize you.

So he starts out by talking about their condition as a result or in order that, in other words that we come to the fullness of Christ, in order that whereas a result, we are no longer to be children. So there has to be a change in our condition, in order to use of the word no longer, it implies that this condition has existed or does exist. But there has to be a change in condition. I am no longer to be, what I once was, I am no longer to be a child or a baby.

Now we all start out as babies spiritually as well as physically and there is nothing wrong with being a baby. I mean there is no other way to get going. We all started out as babies and we praise the Lord for babies. However, there is something seriously wrong if you are still a baby after 20 years. You are no longer to be a baby, and while you love that newborn baby and you are as proud as can be of that baby and on and on and on and yet you still expect that in 10 years that baby will not be a baby. Well that’s the way it’s to be with us as believers.

Galatians Chapter 3 verse 26 says that, we are all the sons of God by faith in Christ. As Jesus told Nicodemus, you must be born again. So you place your faith in Christ you are born spiritually into Gods family. You are a new baby in Christ, and at that point then your development begins and it has to go on and on and on developments to maturity. Now something is radically wrong if you have been a Christian for 5, 10, 15, 20 years or whatever and are still in a baby stage. You are no longer to be a baby.

Now in the New American Standard we have at in verse 14, we are no longer to be children. And that maybe softens it a little too much the word can mean children. But its first meaning is an infant or a baby. And Paul says; you are no longer to be a baby, describing those who are immature in their spiritual life.

Turnover to First Corinthians Chapter 3’ First Corinthians in third Chapter that’s just a few books in front of the book of Ephesians page 256. First Corinthian Second Corinthians, Galatians, Ephesians. So if you back up a few books you will be in the book of First Corinthians and the third Chapter where Paul talks about babies. The Corinthian church was by and large composed baby Christians. Now not Christians who were new Christians, but Christians who had not grown as they should have, and so in first Corinthians 3 verse 1 we read, and I brethren, could not speak to you as to spiritual men, but as to men of flesh as to babies in Christ, and that the same word we have translated children in Ephesians 414.

I had to speak to you as babies in Christ. I gave you milk to drink not solid food; for you were not yet able to receive it, indeed even now you are not able; for you are still fleshly. And you note the connection that Paul makes; to be in a state of babyhood when you should have matured is to be a fleshly Christian. And to be fleshly and to be a baby in Christ is synonymous, unless you have just trusted Christ and been born into his family.

The Corinthians had trusted Christ several years previously. But they have not yet grown, and since they had not yet grown they were babies, and since they were babies when they should have been maturing to men, Paul says you are fleshly. So a Christian who has been a Christian for a period of time, if I have been a Christian for ten years and yet I still can only handle the milk of the word than I am a fleshly Christian, I am a baby Christian.

And you know that’s the distinction that Paul draws here; a baby Christian cannot handle the heavier stuff of the word of God. He is still on the elemental things. He still needs to go over just the basic simple truth of the word about salvation and some of the basic related matters. And you have to strain which you teach them. It has to be all broken down so fine, because they are still on milk. They can't handle solid food yet.

Now that’s alright, when you are born into Christ family that’s where you start up. But after several years go by, you want to be able to handle the heavier things of the word of God. You don’t just stay there and talk about your salvation forever that’s it period, your salvation are never to decrease in its glory and what God has done, which you have to go on in your understanding and build and add onto that.

You know interestingly as Paul reads and you can read First Corinthians you want to find out some of the problems that baby Christians have. But one thing that often characterizes them in Chapter 4 is in arrogance. Those who knows a little spiritually and yet they are sure that they have arrived. And so Paul has to speak to them verse 8 of First Corinthians 48, you have already, you already filled; you have already become rich. You will become kings without us and would indeed that you have become king, so that we might rain with you.

Then he goes onto talk to about the law position of the Apostles. And often fleshly Christians are characterized by an arrogance, which makes them unteachable, which means they remain in their baby state, and that process just continues to go on. You know as I think about baby Christians, I can't help to think about those of us who are of the male gender who pride ourselves at our masculinity, yet it almost becomes proverbial about how women are the religious once.

And even within Christianity, often it's the women who are the dynamic, energetic outgoing Christians. And we’ve mentioned it before and you know what your home is like in your situation. But in many homes were both mother and father are believers, it's the mother who is the spiritual giant. If the children want to know anything about the word, they go ask mother why, the dad wouldn’t know, when I asked dad about golf or asked dad about his job, and he will bore you to death with the details. But ask him about the word and somehow he hasn’t a time to get around to that. And amazing, how this goes that we men who are so arrogant and proud in one sense, you know nothing like being a mature man.

Again here we are baby Christians year after year after year. Some of us are being Christians five years and still can't find the books of the Bible. Now if you can't find the books of the bible do you ever read within them, you don’t even know where you are going along what’s there when you get there, and yeah we are satisfied to remain babies, but let somebody walk up to one of these proud men and say you big baby and probably knock your block off why, he have insulted him.

And I get this picture in my mind of this big old guy with his bonnet on and a bottle in his mouth and his hairy legs hanging over the side of his bassinet. And there he is that spiritual baby and coo, coo, and know isn’t he cute, and now his gross, his gross why, because he is no longer cute to have a 45 year old baby. I mean that becomes rather pathetic in gross. And yeah we as men are satisfied to remain in our baby state year after year after year after year, why we got more important things to do.

I mean I am busy with my job. I am busy with as, I am busy with that my wife has time to read and pray, but me I am busy. You know what I tell my children when they say I am too busy to eat, there is no such thing. You arrange a schedule and you eat and yeah we as men we don’t have time to feed spiritually no, we are busy. And we remain in a baby state, and it are to be corrected.

You are to be the spiritual giant in your home. It's the same spirit who will teach you the word that teaches your wife the word. I realize this problem effects woman and woman remain babies in Christ as well as men. But I have a concern that we men are satisfied in complacent, and somehow in the perverted way the truth gets perverted, it's become alright to remain and immature Christian man, week after week, month after month, and year after year. And this development will take time.

Some of you men will run home and say well that I am going to read the book of Ephesians and I will get mature, I know you won’t. You know you feed on the word today and you feed on the word tomorrow and you feed on the word the next day and that growth is a process, just like it is physically. You don’t go home and cram ten tons of food on your kids so they grow faster today; no you feed them what they should have at each meal.

And over the time the weeks and the months and the years you will see the growth and you won’t see your growth between today and tomorrow as a Christian, if you do it's not real growth. But as you look back to last year, you are to be able to see real growth in progress and your development as a believer. And if you are not in the word, then there is no growth going on because there is no food being taken in. And this will come out a little bit further down.

So Paul says in Ephesians 4, that we are being developed to maturity. That in verse 11, these who communicate the truth of the word of God to us are doing it in order that we made no longer be babes, no longer remain in our baby state. Now note the characteristics of an immature or baby Christian as he picks them up at the rest of this verse, really what it summarizes to is that; immature baby Christians are unstable. They are often swayed and influenced by false teaching and false doctrine. They are not discerning and they cannot be, because they have no basis for discernment. They are just like a baby who cannot discern between what is helpful and what is harmful.

Now what he says, we are no longer to be babies tossed here and there by waves. Expression that’s used all the ships and storms that is just being driven back and forth then in the days of the growing vessel the sailing vessels, and so on like these men would have been familiar with that it gets cut in a storm is just at the mercy of the wave. The waves go one way and both goes one way. The waves the other just tossed all the time, because there is no stability, using an analogy a little bit, and says they are carried about by every wind of doctrine.

Again as the wind blows they are driven. Whenever new wind comes up that drives them in a different direction and the wind here is the doctrine. Whatever new teaching comes along these immature baby Christians are ripe for it. They are ripe to be taken in and to go after such teachings, a new doctrine comes along and what happens, there goes a new christen after. Then you try to say, wait a minute that will be harmful; he says, what do you mean it's harmful, look at all the good Christians that are in it and on and on and on he goes. And you know from your position that he does not have the discernment and the maturity that handle it, but what you are going to do, you know it was a study done several years ago and we know it from experience, but they done this study; yeah with babies.

One of the outstanding characteristics of them were; the inability to concentrate on one area and that’s tendency to go from one thing to another. And you know how it is, in our nursery we have a variety of toys why, the baby crawl over looks at this, interesting for a moment what happens, push it aside you got to go to something else and go to something else and go to something else, never can sit-down and just concentrate on one area, it's not enough to, give them a toy and he will sit down now for three hours and concentrate on it, that won’t do.

You know other characteristic it doesn’t matter what you put down that’s new and interesting. The baby will crawl over to explore it. Now it doesn’t matter that it's harmful. You put a mouth strap on the floor and set it with the baby he will crawl over and put his hand in why, and no discernment, yeah that you don’t play with those kinds of things. And that’s the way it is with new Christians or baby Christians who are not new, but have not grown. They have not yet developed the discernment that comes with maturity.

The longer you remain in the baby state then the more ripe you are, but the false teachings and false doctrines, every new end of doctrines that comes down then after what you go, because baby is what I need to set my Christian life on fire, baby is what I need to make me what God wants me to be, baby it's what will produce maturity in my life without the efforts of being expose to the word of God. It's basically what we are saying, maybe it's an easy way and underneath we may not recognized it but that’s what it comes to.

Look over in Hebrews Chapter 13; Hebrews 13 toward the back of you Bible page 247, 347 Hebrews 13 getting near the back of the New Testament. Same type of context is we have in Ephesians Chapter 4. Let me pick up with verse 7, remember those who led you, who spoke the word of God to you. Now note same type of contexts we had in Ephesians 411, those who are communicating the truth of God the Apostles, Prophets, Evangelist, Pastor, Teachers those who spoke the word of God to you considering the outcome of their wave light, imitate their faith. Jesus Christ the same yesterday today and forever do not be carried away. Carried about, same word as we have in Ephesians 4, carried about with every wind of doctrine. Do not be carried away by varied and strange teachings, for it is good for the heart to be strengthened by grace.

The same warning the grounded in the truth remember the truth you have been taught and don’t be driven back of forth by all the new doctrines that come along. When we expect the unbelievers going to chase after the new things, the tragedy is so many Christians are chasing after new doctrines today. Every time they comes up there Christians will say, well baby that’s it, out of looking to it. But if you don’t have any solid firm grounding in the word of God, how you are going to discern when you do look into. You discern on just a level of your emotions and if it appeals to you, because you don’t know enough about the word to sift out that has the characteristic of a baby Christian.

Very serious situation as you go back to Ephesians 4 verse 14, because we find out something of the source of these doctrines and false teachings that come on like the wind. Now what he says by the trickery of men or in the trickery of men, and it seems that he is denoting this is the spheres in which these men will bring these teachings operate. They operate in the element and sphere of trickery. It's a word that comes from playing dice, originally men dice playing. And then it came to mean craftiness or trickery, you know like using loaded dice to deceive someone and trick them.

Well these men who bring the false teaching operate in the sphere and element of trickery. So you now you will see we have moved into a dangerous area. It's just not babies functioning in a relationship where, you know they just love to have discernment, but we have babies functioning in an area where we have men who will use trickery to deceive them.

So you see if you have a human baby and you put him in a situation where you have an adult, who was going to use the deception that handed to all the can’t and deceive that baby and lead him into a harmful ways if at all the baby wouldn’t have a chance, most of you try to be discerning at the baby sitter you get for your children why, you know when you put a baby under the care or supervision of an adult that baby is at the mercy of that adult. And these baby Christians are by and large at the mercy of these teachers who function in the realm of trickery.

By the trickery of men, now note he goes on to emphasize their character in or by craftiness in deceitful scheming. In craftiness, and he gets it almost the synonym for the word trickery means cunning, craftiness, trickery. Literally the word means ready to do anything. These are men who in their trickery are ready to do anything to get people to follow them and their false teaching. They are cunning crafty ready to do anything.

And an interesting experience, a couple of years ago which I have shared with you before, where a lady was sharing with me about her Pastor, need that this lady or her Pastor are believe in Christians. But she was all the glow in telling me how wonderful her Pastor was, she went onto say that’s blip gave me his name. And if I was in one of my regular moods I give you his name too, but I won’t that’s so and so are Pastor. And if you want Bible, I will give you Bible. And if you want something else I will give you something else. He is very adaptable and I can't help to think of Ephesians 4 every time I think of him. He is ready to do anything to get a following and have people at here to his teaching; very adaptable, because he is not bound by the truth. He will do whatever is necessary to lead you after his teaching.

Look over in Second Corinthians Chapter 11, back up just few pages from Ephesians then the Next Book in front of Ephesians is Galatians and Next Book is Second Corinthians Chapter 11. And look at verse 3, Paul writing and he is still writing to Corinthians, remember whom he characterize in his first letter is baby Christians. I am afraid, lest as the serpent deceived Eve by his craftiness. And that’s our word, by his cunning, by his trickery. Your mind should be let us starve from the simplicity and purity of devotion to Christ.

So you know that these false teachers are acting in harmony and character with their Father the devil. Same things Jesus said of religious teachers in John Chapter 8. They are of their Father of the devil, and the devil was crafty and cunning. You go back to the very beginning of sin in the world and it was the devil acting in craftiness and cunning to deceive Eve and get her for a follower of himself and his doctrine. And the devil operates the same way today in cunning and craftiness.

Look over in Chapter 4 of Second Corinthians; seeing it from the believer standpoint. Second Corinthian Chapter 4 picking up with verse 2, but we have renounced the hidden things or things hidden because of shame. We have renounced, talking about those who are true teachers; those who truly communicate the word of God. We have renounced the things hidden because of shame not walking in craftiness. There is our word cunning, deceit, that willingness to do anything or adulterating the word of God.

But by manifestation of truth commending ourselves to every man's conscience in the sight of God, you know these formally walked in craftiness. Paul says that’s what we did. We’ve renounced those things, adulterating the word of God and this give you some idea of how these false teachers work. They have the word of God, but they mix it with something else, they adulterate it. So it's the truth of God, but it's mixed with their ideas and their teaching which becomes a perversion of the truth which no longer is truth at all, but that’s the deceptive thing.

You put a bottle of milk before a hungry baby and he is ready to drink it. Even if it's been mixed with poison, because it looks like milk and he is not discerning beyond that that’s the way some Christians are, somebody quotes a Bible verse and their Sermon and they think that he is got it all together. And all he is doing is sets part of his recipe, mixing the truth in with the air to deceive the babies and get followers for himself.

Okay go back to Ephesians 4; again if this was me saying this thing about these crooks, you think I was unkind. But keep in mind this is Gods evaluation and he is speaking through Paul. He goes on to say by the trickery of men, by craftiness and in deceitful scheming. Now he is not done, and so we can't come up with enough words to show how deceitful these men really are, and yet somehow we have missed it. We think that a false teacher is someone who comes out with one of these horrible colts, you know Charles Manson type a person.

Well that’s a false teacher; those who aren’t the ones that Paul is concerned about. He is concerned about these ones who were so clever, and so he says that they function in deceitful scheming, the scheming of deceit. And they deceitfully use their craftiness and cunning in a deceptive way to allure followers. And baby Christians are ripped to become followers, because there is a great discernment needed from the word of God to sift out, is he true or is he false, how do I know for sure, how do you know for sure that I am not false Prophet and or a false shepherd.

I mean just because I wear dark suits in the morning a lot of guys wear dark suits, I am just conservative, I wear dark pajamas to bed, what’s that mean nothing and nothing to do with it, but you know a person puts on a tie and a suit to stands up behind what they call a poppet and people are ready to swallow anything he says. The only way you know for sure, if I am a false teacher or a true teacher as if you sift what I say through the word of God. And If I am not saying what God says in his word, then you are to pack up and get out, because there is nothing here for you to grow on and bring you to further development and maturity in Christ.

Acts in the 20th Chapter page 217, Paul had warned the elders or Pastor teachers at Ephesus about what was going to happen; beyond God for yourselves and for all the flock among which the Holy Spirit has made you overseers to shepherd the whole church of God which he purchased with his own blood. Now note, I know that after my departure savage wolves will come in among you, not sparing the flock. So he calls these false teachers who are going to come, savage wolves.

Note and from among your own selves men will arrives, speaking perverse things, to draw away the disciples after them. So it's not just from the outside, but from within they are those going to rise up and claim to have new truth and new teaching. And the danger is going to be they are going to ravage the flock, why they want to get disciples to come after themselves. And the elders the Pastor teachers were responsible to teach the word and sift all the doctrines through the word, in order that the flock might be spared that havoc.

Look over in Second Peter Chapter 2; bring all the way to the back of your bible again pass the book of Hebrews pass the book of Jains. First Peter, Second Peter, page 361 toward the back of your New Testament. Perhaps the strongest Chapter in the entire Bible, dealing with false teachers. This Chapter down in verse 12 were Peter call these false teachers unreasoning animals. These just like unreasoning animals, born as creatures of instinct to be captured and killed.

So very hard words about them, becomes the spiritual things are just like animals and they function only for themselves. But look at the first few verses of this Chapter; verse 1 of Second Peter 2, but false Prophets also arose among the people. Now as all you have to read is the Old Testament and read there were false prophets who came to lead the people as well as the truth. And more often the people of Israel were open and receptive to the ministry of the false prophets, because the false prophet said what they wanted to hear. Just as these false prophets rose among the people, so there will also be false teachers among you, who will secretly; and now you underline that secretly introduce destructive heresies even denying the master who bought them, bringing sift destruction upon themselves.

Many will fall their sensuality and because of them the way the truth will be maligned. In their greed they will exploit you with false words. Their judgment from long ago is not idol their destruction is not asleep. So you will know these men are going to function and they are going to function secretly bringing destructive heresies, even denying Jesus Christ who bought them and that is the position of the average false teacher today, if not every single one. Their perversion and heart is a denial of Jesus Christ.

The average liberal minister in Lincoln that I mean unbelieving minister does not believe in the divinity of Jesus Christ, his verge and birth, his sacrificial death on the cross as a substitute for us, his resurrection and ascension to the Father as a completed work of salvation is demonstrated. And what are they doing then, they are denying the Lord that bought them. The tragedy of that is that there are people who are believers in their congregations week after week, supporting them by their presence and with their money.

What a gross distortion of what God says, we as believers are to be, and yet they deny the Lord who bought them. Verse 3 says that, they are greedy to get followers and they are greedy to get what followers have namely money, and it's one thing when they lose a few people it will be another thing when they lose a few people with money, then the feathers begin to fly, bundies better stay out of our church and away from our people.

Alright let’s get back before I get of the subjects here. Second Corinthians Chapter 11, I will read to you, as you get to Ephesians 4 you can join me on Second Corinthians Chapter 11 verse 13 to 15. For such men are false apostles, deceitful workers, disguising themselves as apostles of Christ, and no wonder, now get this no wonder for even Satan disguises himself as an angel of light. Therefore it is not surprising, if his servants also disguise themselves as servants of righteousness, whose end shall be according to their deeds.

You note we are dealing with those who function in disguise and the arch deceiver himself Satan is involved, you know it's not a matter of you know the first church of Satan in California, well that’s the Satan’s work. Now that’s not what Paul is concerned about again. He is concerned about those who come on as # of truth and yet really are simply messengers of Saint disguised as messengers of light.

How are you going to know, if you are not grounded and saturated with the word of God you won’t know. You will just like that defenseless baby whom the adult comes in and says come on and tenderly brings it along then puts a bottle of poison in its mouth. And we see something and this is carried on in Halloween and so on with the character of people that can be trusted. Well false teachers are the worst. They can be trusted less than anyone else. But if you are not grounded in the word, how are you going to know who is false and true. You are at the mercy of the men who are leading you, and that is an unenviable position to be in.

Alright back to Ephesians Chapter 4; that’s the negative side and why we are brought to maturity, fed the word and developing. Now the positive side, verse 15; we are going to break it down into two areas really all centering around Jesus Christ. First he is the object and goal of our growth; we are into growing up into him. And then in verse 16, he is the source of our growth. So growth centers in Jesus Christ and cannot be considered apart from him. He is the goal and object of our growth and he is the source of our growth. First the object and goal in verse 15.

But speaking the truth in love, we are to grow up in all aspects into him. And the main verb there is, to we are to grow up to increase to grow to maturity is our responsibility. And you know in all aspects in everything, all I am to be growing up in every part of my life as a believer. I am to be growing increasing and maturing. Now that first statements speaking the truth in love, literally would translate but truthing in love. It's just a participle truthing, now we have ing’s on the end of our participles. But truthing in love and it would include speaking in love, but it goes beyond speaking, it includes my whole life not just my words but my actions my thoughts and so on are all to be characterized by truth, I am to be truthing in love.

So you know I am to be just the opposite of the false teachers. They are disguising themselves and acting falsely. But a believer is to be one who is to be truthing and truth just prevails and characterizes every area of my life. So I am to be truthing in love and love is always the kind of notation and sphere in which truth will operate and vice versa. There is no such thing as scarifying truth for love, because the moment you sacrifice truth you have sacrificed the love and vice versa.

There is no love in the highest sins apart from truth. They just go hand in hand, the Bible knows no separation. So if your study of the truth of God is not making you more manifestly loving in connection with other believers then your study of the truth is becoming perverted. You are studying facts about God, but you are not loving the spirit of God to mold that truth in your life and bring you into conformity of the character Christ.

And it's the same there is no love if you are not exposed to the word it just cannot develop, because again it's the spirit who produces this love. And if you are cut off in the truth, you are cut off in the source of growth and so your love does not develop, and that affects every area of your life including your home life. So truth and love go together that’s one of the great perversions of the truth that we have today. Our people who are talking about love, but want to take truth away; of that’s what you believe, fine that’s all to get together in loved one and another.

We are all the children of God that s a perversion of the truth of God. I cannot sacrifice God’s truth in the name of love, because there is no such thing really speaking. We cannot separate truth and love. So they go together and we are to be truthing in love. We are to grow up in all aspects into him who is the head, grow up in all aspect into him who is the head.

Let me read you another verse in Corinthian, but we all with unveiled face beholding as in a mirror the glory of the lord are being transformed into the same image from glory to glory, just as from the Lord of the spirit. As we behold him in the word the spirit is transforming us into conformity to him, in light of his word, and I am becoming more like him that’s Second Corinthians Chapter 3 verse 18, that’s I am to grow up into him. I am becoming more like him in all areas of my life. I am growing into him. He is the head and all growth is in relationship to him, and no growth apart from him.

And he is the head and we will tie that in a moment, but look at verse 16 where Paul develops it further not only as the object and goal of our growth into him, but he is the source and verse 16 begins literally from out of whom as the source, there is no growth apart from him, out of him the whole body, no exceptions here, all growth comes from him or there is no growth, the whole body being fitted and held together. And word being fitted occurs one other time in the New Testament, and that’s in Chapter 2, verse 21 of Ephesians.

And again in the context of the church using the different analogy the building, Ephesians 221 in whom the whole building being fitted together is growing into a holy temple in the Lord being fitted together, that’s our word. So if you talk about the church as a building it's being fitted together, every piece just where and how it belong. To talk about the church as the body of Christ every piece fitted in place. So that the body functions as a harmonious whole held together by that which every joint or connection supplies.

Then you note, held together by that which every joint supplies every connection, every part, every ligament and the part that it plays is part of the unifying of the body. Every part is important, every connection is essential to the unity and oneness of the body, because if any part breaks off, then it has affected the unity of the whole body. And thus the oneness that are to be evident. According to the proper working of each individual part; now again you note, how each part is essential in the body and yeah we see the body as a unified whole. But this body comes as a unified whole only when every part functions in its proper relationship.

The harmony and unity is lost when it's one part ceases the function in harmony with the rest. So of each individual part and at proper working; and word working is an interesting word. It's only used in the connection with the supernatural in the New Testament, always connected with supernatural working in the New Testament and I take it as easier to of the just two other verses in Ephesians words used.

Chapter 1 verse 19, Ephesians 119 in order that we might know what is the surpassing greatness of his power toward us who believe, these are in accordance with the working; that’s our word, with the working of the strength of his mind. Again you see it's a super natural working. It's the working of the strength of his mind, divine working in view. Look in chapter 3 in verse 7, Paul speaking of which I was made a minister according to the gift of God’s grace which was given to me according to the working; that’s the word, of his power. Again the super natural context of the working it says, his power that is a work. Now you look over in Chapter 4 verse 16, we talk about according to the proper working; we are talking about that functioning of each individual part as it functions in submission to the head through the power of the spirit then it works, as it should.

So that the spiritual body can function and develop as it ought. Note the stress on each individual part; again that stress on each one, each individual part must function in its proper relationship in submission to the head Jesus Christ. According to the end of verse 15, in this power of the spirit as the head has provided it, in order to that the body might function properly and effectively. The ultimate result being that this process causes the growth of the body.

So you know we are coming back to where we were earlier in this section and verse 13 to a mature man. Now we are talking about the growth of the growth of body, the development to maturity of the body of Jesus Christ. And the growth is seen in its individual members and then collectively, and it goes together. You look at one part of my body, my fingers; they are growing as I grew. And then you look at my whole body it has grown and so there is that unity.

As each individual believer grows and then the body grows and that goes hand in hand; it can't really be separated one from another. Interesting the way he ends; causing the growth of the body for the building up of itself in love. All parts of the body function in harmony in order that the body can build itself. God’s plan for the growth of individual believers and for the growth of his church as a whole today is that believers function under the leadership of Jesus Christ submissive to the power of the spirit in order that the body of Christ might be developed to maturity as a testimony to him.

So it's not me as an individual believer in my relationship to God, another individual believer in his relationship to God that is important, that is essential. But that does not explain the growth process in and of itself. But it's me functioning in connection with another believer and another believer in connection with another believer and another believer in connection with me and so on. In order that as we function as Christ has placed us in the body, we develop, as the body just like our human bodies develop.

As each individual part functions as it should, we develop. Now when one part doesn’t function then there is a malfunction and the body may ceased to develop as it should develop; at least one part of the body does. So Christ has provided in giving gifts to the church that his word would be communicated the truth, in order that believers would be fed and brought to further maturity and stability in their life, in order that as we function together as believers would build one another up, in order that the body might be developed to maturity, in order that the individual part of the body might have the maturity that are necessary.

Again you cannot divorce it, and so another perversion of the truth today is believers who think that they can take their Bible go off and shack some place and grow to maturity in the study of the word; that is not so. You can learn a lot of facts about the word as you study it, but you don’t function in the context of other believers you will not grow to maturity and the body will be affected by that lack. It is not my purgative to cut myself of from the body, the head determines what I should do, because if I cut myself up I have affected my growth, but I have affected the growth of the body.

You cut yourself of from the body you have effected your growth but you have also effected the growth of the body, and the growth of the body is for the glory of Jesus Christ. And who am I to determine that because I have made my mind about something that I can hinder that which should result in the glory of God. How do I know for sure that’s the way the God intense it, because he says it in his word.

So anyone that comes along and encourages me to break off from other believers and go off by myself and study the word for the next 20 years to grow I know it's perverting the truth, because gods program for the growth of his body individual believers and the corporate whole is the fellowshipping of the various parts as a harmonious whole in submission to the head in the power of the spirit and it all goes back to the fountain of the teaching of the word, and you know it ends in love building up of itself in love. Love characterizes this growth of the body.

That unselfishness, that’s self sacrifice as I grow I don’t have my attention focused upon me, but upon the body and I will grow and the body will grow. So word of learning you must on all accounts we exposed to the truth of word of the God not only in your own study but in the teaching ministry of the gifts that God has given to the church. And if God leads you away from Lincoln lead you to another church.

The one thing that you are to demand and require is that be a place where the word of God is consistently and regularly taught. And what the devil will try to do is to keep you from being where you will be fed, because if you are not fed, you won’t grow. If you won’t grow you will be a baby in Christ. If you are baby in Christ then you are ripe for all the deceit that the devil wants to lead into.

Let’s pray together. Our Father we rejoice in your truth Lord and the fact that you have revealed yourself in the privilege we have to study this revelation together to grow as the spirit takes the word and assimilates it into our lives and mold us into conformity with the glory of Jesus Christ or pray that each of us might be sensitive to our own lives. We might honestly look at ourselves in light of the word to see if we are really growing as we should spiritual thing, looking our lives over the last year and see if we really developed as mature men and women of God. Pray lord that we might be growing in order that the body might be growing in order that Jesus Christ might receive all the glory that’s intended for him. For we pray in his name, Amen