SAINTS: SITTING, STRIDING, STANDING

We are not saved because of what we do for God, but because of what God has done for us.  The glory and greatness of God’s grace in salvation is the theme of Paul’s letter to the Ephesians, bringing us into a right position with God because of Christ. We are in Christ, having received God’s mercy and love that has imparted new life. “But God, who is rich in mercy, because of His great love with which He loved us, even when we were dead in trespasses, made us alive together with Christ (by grace you have been saved), and raised us up together, and made us sit together in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus,” (2:4-6‬).

 Because of this position in Christ, we can now follow the pattern of Christ.  Not only are we in Christ, but Christ is in us, to live His life through us.  Based on our position, grace provides the motive and might to live as Christ. “I, therefore, the prisoner of the Lord, beseech you to walk worthy of the calling with which you were called,” (4:1‬). Note the word, “therefore,” which ties the application of the life of Christ in 4:1-6:9 with the apprehension of the life of Christ in 1:1-3:21. So much of 4:1ff is about the relationships we have with others, that is rooted in our relationship with Christ.

Having that position, and modeling that pattern, brings us into conflict with Satan, and requires God’s power and protection. We are walking against the world’s direction and so have a head-on collision with the Devil. So, the Apostle closes by speaking of our perseverance in Christ.  “Put on the whole armor of God, that you may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil.” (6:11‬). We stand against a supernatural foe with a supernatural force—the almighty power of Christ.  We dress in His armor—each piece put on with prayer.

In summary, we have the believer sitting, striding, and standing. That is an overview of the Ephesian epistle. Perhaps this next week, you would want to take one chapter a day, read it, meditate on it, pray over it, and seek one practical application of that chapter.  What a difference that would make in every dimension of your life: in the flock of your church (4:1-5:21); with the family in your home (5:22-6:4); in the field of the world (6:5-24).

CAPTIVATED WITH CHRIST

 

Not that I have already attained, or am already perfected; but I press on, that I may lay hold of that for which Christ Jesus has also laid hold of me.  Brethren, I do not count myself to have apprehended; but one thing I do, forgetting those things which are behind and reaching forward to those things which are ahead, I press toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus.  (Philippians 3:12-14)

With all his abilities and accomplishments, Paul the Apostle did not think he had arrived.  That would not happen until he arrived in heaven and was totally transformed into Christ’s likeness.  Since encountering Christ on the Damascus Road, where the Lord captured him, Paul had been captivated with Christ—His glorious person and grand purpose.  That man of God wanted to know more of Jesus, to grow more like Jesus and to show more of Jesus to the world.  It was his relentless pursuit—his magnificent obsession!  Perfection was the standard and Christ-likeness the goal.  This gave him an incredible focus that brought an incomparable force to Paul’s life.

That is the stirring challenge for us.  In the words of Oswald Chambers it means to give, “My utmost for His highest.”  God does not do this work apart from me—I am to give my utmost—yet, my utmost demands His highest, since I can only work out what He works in.  The task is supernatural and requires spiritual power.  For this, we have Jesus Himself.  By His Spirit He indwells us, and is in the process of shaping us for eternity.  As we surrender to His control, we grow into His image more and more until that final Day.

There is always more to be done until then.  On this pilgrim pathway we sometimes stumble.  Satan would have us then to lay in the ditch and wallow in the mud, broken down and useless.  No!  By the grace of God, get up and go on.  The blood of Jesus will cleanse you and His strength will repair you!  Paul learned from his past, but was not limited by it.  Neither must we be.  It is onward and upward!

The Apostle Paul put it this way in Ephesians 2:10, “For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand that we should walk in them.”  The word, “workmanship,” is poema in the Greek (from which we get our word poem).  Ours is a life of rhyme and reason.  The Divine Author is writing on the parchment of our being a living message.  We are his literary masterpiece.  From eternity, He had a design for us, conceived in His omniscience.  Now, He is writing it line by line, completed by His omnipotence!

God does not produce junk.  You and I are choice creations of His.  It is true that we are all a work in progress, but the assurance is that work will be completed, and so much the better as we yield to Him.  The Potter can break down the stubborn human clay—and will if necessary.  But, how much better to be pliable in His hands, as He molds us into all He wants us to be.  He is shaping me to be like Jesus—His light shining from me, His love shared by me, His life shown in me!  I can make a difference in this world because He has made a difference in me.

CONNECTED IN GROWTH: Our Guard

 

“that we should no longer be children, tossed to and fro and carried about with every wind of doctrine, by the trickery of men, in the cunning craftiness of deceitful plotting, but, speaking the truth in love, may grow up in all things into Him who is the head—Christ—from whom the whole body, joined and knit together by what every joint supplies, according to the effective working by which every part does its share, causes growth of the body for the edifying of itself in love.” (Ephesians 4:14-16)

Spiritual growth must be guarded.  If Satan cannot have our soul, he will try to minimize our effectiveness.  Such impotence results from immaturity.  Grow up! 

Paul warns of Satan’s henchmen, who poison the soil of the soul with error, so that we are unfruitful in service.  They prey on those juvenile in their thinking.  Quoting Scripture, they twist it so that while sounding right, it is a distorted and damaging doctrine they declare.  If we do not grow, then we will have a naiveté that leads us to swallow this toxin. 

My youngest grandchild will put anything in her mouth.  Leave the dog dish out and she will be helping our pooch eat.  Pick up a rubber ball, and you note little bite marks.  It seems we must repeatedly ask, “What have you got in your mouth?”  The cure for this is growth.  She will mature and understand there are things you shouldn’t swallow.

That very growth which guards us from error, serves as guardrails to steer us into the thoroughfare of truth.  As the truth is spoken in love, a climate for spiritual growth is created.  The church is to be marked by the clear, compassionate and compelling communication of sound doctrine.  Believers are nourished by Scriptural singing and solid sermons.  The Bible is not used to batter us, but to better us—it is spoken in love.  But, it isn’t a diet of junk food that is served up, but a substantial portion of solid teaching—it is truth.  Where truth is spoken in love, growth is guarded and a healthy church is established.

We will be rooted.  That is, there is a consistent connection to the body of believers.  Spiritual tumbleweeds are “tossed to and fro and carried about with every wind of doctrine.”  They run to the next celebrity pastor and entertainment center that brands itself as a church.  It becomes a pattern.  Some drop out of church and plop down in front of a TV or computer screen as their shrine.  Error proliferates on the air waves these days.  If you are not active in a local assembly, then growth will not occur.

Our church should be a spiritual hot house where tender plants get rooted and grow to become abundantly fruitful.  The pastor is important, of course.  If there are others on staff, choosing the songs, leading the young, they too are vital in presenting the truth in love.  Teachers of small groups and Sunday School classes partner in this process of edifying the saints.  Yet, according to Paul, every member has a responsibility to build up other believers so that spiritual health leads to Scriptural growth.  What say you?

CONNECTED IN GROWTH: Our Goal

 

“till we all come to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to a perfect man, to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ” (Ephesians 4:13)

As the people of God grow, church leaders are our guides, and Christ’s likeness is our goal.  We are moving toward being like Him, and that is a process which is never finished until we reach Heaven.  Growth is measured not by the size of our buildings, the amount of our budget or the numbers of the bottoms placed in a pew, but by growth in godliness.  It may well be that additional facilities are needed for additional souls being reached, who bring an increase in giving with the increase in attendance, drawn by the work that God is doing in a church that is honoring Christ.  Still, this is not the goal.  The goal is becoming like Jesus.  The other growth is the outward display of the upward devotion.

“Unity of the faith,” is a needful part of this growth.  This provides the fertile soil that nourishes the spiritual life of God’s people.  We come together in a common faith in Jesus Christ and the fundamental doctrines of the Word of God.  This focuses on “the knowledge of the Son of God.”  We not only grow to know about Him, we grow to know Christ experientially.  The focus on Jesus, as the One we worship and adore, brings the fruit of becoming like Him.

The destiny of the church is to manifest that majesty fully.  While there are no perfect churches on earth, there will be a perfect church—“a perfect man”—in eternity.  That perfection will be gauged by, “the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ.”  

Let us not be too quick to excuse, however, the lack of Christ-likeness in our local assembly by the reality of the struggle with sin and self, where we do all stumble at times.  Some aren’t striving; they have surrendered!  Admitting that we won’t reach perfection, there should be progression!  Our church ought to look more like Jesus this year than it did last year, and next year should move us closer to the ultimate goal of being just like Him in character—love, righteousness, justice and truth.

How does this happen in the church?  It happens when individual members grow.  You have an assignment this day.  Your mission from God is to become more like Jesus.  You need the environment of the community of believers to nurture that.  As we all focus on the common goal of becoming like Jesus, unity is established, and we go and grow together toward that destination—encouraging each other along the way.

Forward, march!

CONNECTED IN GROWTH

 

“but, speaking the truth in love, may grow up in all things into Him who is the head—Christ” (Ephesians 4:15)

Growth is normal.  We are designed that way.  As we get older, we grow up—our knowledge increases, our body gets bigger and stronger, our vocabulary expands, our abilities develop—all this, and more.  It is an aberration—something has gone tragically wrong—when we see an adult who still functions as a child.

So, God has created His people with the capacity of growth.  It is the normative experience for His Body, the church, to grow stronger in faith and larger in size.  The different members of the church ought to be developing—growing in grace and knowledge—and as they come together seeing the entire church expand spiritually, as well as numerically.

Of course numbers matter.  We count people because people count.  Each one is a precious soul that Jesus paid the greatest price to purchase.  The church is to give itself to extending its witness as wide as the world.

But, the numbers are not so much a direct goal as the product of spiritual maturity.  Again, it is the norm for children to grow up and reach maturity with adulthood bringing the capability for reproducing babies.  Thus, when the church is growing in Christ, the evidence of this is we take on the likeness of our Father, and are used to help birth more spiritual infants into the church.

How does this spiritual growth occur?  We help each other.  While it is true that we ought to study God’s Word personally and have the privilege individually to open God’s Book and hear from Him, it is also in a family that growth occurs.  In this case, the family of faith is the local church.  Others lovingly speak truth into our lives.  The community provides a corrective so that we do not develop either wrong beliefs or behaviors.  As we gather together there is a church home where we are challenged, corrected, comforted and cared for so that we develop into faithful, fruitful disciples.  I need my brothers and sisters to speak into my life—and you need to hear what I have to say to you also.

If we are spiritually stagnant in our church—if we are not growing to be like Christ, and therefore growing in outreach to those about us who are spiritually homeless—let us inquire as to why.  Plainly, there is a problem.  Growth is normal.  But, take caution that you do not blame “those people at the church” or “that preacher.”  Perhaps this may be a problem.  But, where I need to take a look first is in the mirror to perceive what I am doing to grow myself, and how I am making a contribution to the growth in godliness of the entire assembly.  Does the mirror of God’s Word reveal a mature disciple?

GROWTH IN SPIRITUALITY FOR THE YOUNG

 

And the Child grew and became strong in spirit, filled with wisdom; and the grace of God was upon Him.   (Luke 2:40)

Jesus was the Son of God, but also the Son of Man.  He was fully God and yet wholly man.  This is the miracle of the incarnation.  Often, we may find us defending His Deity before a typically skeptical world and increasingly liberal church.  Yet, we dare not promote Christ’s Divine nature at the expense of His human one.  Jesus was born as God in the flesh—but He was truly in the flesh!  He was subject to all that people go through—sorrow, hunger, thirst, weariness, disappointment, pain and temptation (yet never succumbing to sin).

He was not born fully grown.  He didn’t just teleport down from space as a mature man.  He developed as a child into adolescence.  As such, Jesus affords the model for the young among as too.

Jesus grew to be STRONG IN SPIRIT .  He not only matured physically, but spiritually.  Parents properly want their child to be well-fed and attired.  They want them to be healthy and strong.  While not neglecting that, should we care for our child’s body and not care for their soul? 

Jesus grew to be FULL OF WISDOM.  Jesus had to learn the Word like anyone else.  Joseph and Mary instructed Him.  He would be ready to face Satan with the Spirit’s sword.  People marveled at His wisdom. 

People will sneer at the thought of the church “indoctrinating” their sons and daughters.  The world gives the term a sinister connotation.  The reality is that someone is going to indoctrinate your children.  Nature abhors a vacuum and somebody will fill the empty space between their little ears with something.  They can either be indoctrinated with the Word of God and get wisdom or they will be indoctrinated with the world’s philosophy and become fools.  It is not a question of whether they will be taught, but who will teach them, and what will be taught.

Jesus grew to be MIGHTY IN GRACE.  All of heaven’s resources were available to Jesus.  He would live in moment by moment dependence on His Father’s power and provision, refusing the appropriate His own Divine prerogatives apart from grace as we must each and every day. 

Although our children will not perfectly live in the experience of almighty grace, they can progressively embrace it.  What we pray for our youngster to encounter is grace to save, secure, steer, sustain and seal! That is amazing grace!