Ephesians 4:14-32
1.
Maturity Comes Through Truth in Love Discipling
14 Then we will no longer be infants,
tossed back and forth by the waves, and blown here and there by every wind of
teaching and by the cunning and craftiness of people in their deceitful
scheming. 15 Instead,
speaking the truth in love, we will grow to become in every respect the mature
body of him who is the head, that is, Christ. 16 From
him the whole body, joined and held together by every supporting ligament,
grows and builds itself up in love, as each part does its work.
·
Discipling is the key to maturing the
church and saving people. (Satan and the
world blows us here and there)
·
The goal of growing as God’s people is
to get out of the infant phase where we are blown here and there by the things
that attract us in the world, but also by the attraction of false doctrines
that seem appealing because we are not grounded in God’s word and the practices
of God’s people.
·
The world and religion tries to deceive
us by painting a picture of freedom that is no freedom at all. The kind that instead of having us grow in
our unity and interdependence has us moving towards independence, isolation and
even false doctrine.
·
We also easily grow independent in our
decision-making in other areas where we feel like we should have the freedom to
do as we please. What I mean is
this: we start making decisions in our
lives to do certain things, whether it is to buy a house, take a job, not come
to church on a given day, not discipline our children, not having our kids come
to church because of sports, buy a car, take a loan out, take an expensive
vacation, have another child, not tithe, not have our kids participate in
devotionals for a number of reasons.
·
I’m not saying that we need to get
permission, but the Bible calls us to be humble, and when we make plans to seek
advise. Singles: in your dating life, seek advise (Lucia is a
great example). Marrieds: in your
marriage and raising of your children seek advise. In your finances: seek advise.
In your education and career, seek advise. In your spiritual decisions, seek advise.
·
This scripture tells us that the body is
to be joined together and each part is to do it’s work in building each other
up. If we are not about the business of
the church and seeking to build the body up by speaking the truth in love to
each other so that we’re not blown here and there not only by false teachings
but by worldliness—we will be a messed up place. I think we are a bit out of sorts as we have
allowed the pendulum to swing to far and we need to correct it.
·
The Ephesian church was seeing some of
that. The Ephesians were used to being
independent, and prided themselves in the fact that their land was awesome and
built up by their ingenuity and hard work.
We are very similar. It is very
easy to hold ourselves up and value self over the body of Christ. Our focus needs to shift.
2.
Stinkin’ Thinkin’
17 So I tell you this, and insist on it in
the Lord, that you must no longer live as the Gentiles do, in the futility of
their thinking. 18 They are darkened in their understanding
and separated from the life of God because of the ignorance that is in them due
to the hardening of their hearts. 19 Having lost
all sensitivity, they have given themselves over to sensuality so as to indulge
in every kind of impurity, and they are full of greed.
·
New and old disciples alike struggle
with worldly temptations and patterns, whether you’re trying to extinguish them
or you’ve allowed them to grow again.
They expose themselves in:
·
Emotions (but I feel this…)
·
Sexuality (in relationships or desire
for such)
·
Greed (career, business, purchases, not
giving to God, hoarding for self)
·
The pursuit and valuing of these things
over God and the church are futile, they bring destruction. They cause our hearts to be darkened. This makes us ignorant of God and His will.
·
We need others to remind us of the
commitment we once made.
3. Do You Remember?
(video)
20 That, however, is not the way of life
you learned 21 when
you heard about Christ and were taught in him in accordance with the truth that
is in Jesus. 22 You were taught, with regard to your
former way of life, to put off your old self, which is being corrupted by its
deceitful desires; 23 to be made new in the attitude of your
minds; 24 and
to put on the new self, created to be like God in true righteousness and
holiness.
·
That sinful and independent way of life
is not what we learned about when we became disciples Jesus. Jesus died so we could become free of these
things that once held us captive.
·
Our old self and our sinful desires were
shed for a new life in Christ.
·
We are His holy people now, part of His
kingdom. If you have slipped and gone
back to your old ways and have stopped carrying your cross, it is time to
re-commit to God. If you don’t like what
I’m saying, you have got to question why that is when at one time you would
have been yelling “amen” at the top of your lungs. What is it that captivates you now if it is
not fully God?
·
Self-denial in living the kingdom
life. To live a Godly life requires
self-denial. Treating your wife with
respect, staying away from lusting after women or men, internet temptation,
flirting, foul language, angry words with your family or others, gossip at
work, etc.
4.
Relationship Over Results:
Honesty,
Hard Work, and Conflict Resolution
25 Therefore each of you must put off
falsehood and speak truthfully to your neighbor, for we are all members of one
body. 26 “In
your anger do not sin”[d]:
Do not let the sun go down while you are still angry, 27 and
do not give the devil a foothold. 28 Anyone who
has been stealing must steal no longer, but must work, doing something useful
with their own hands, that they may have something to share with those in need.
·
Lies are so common even today. The scripture calls us to not lie to each
other.
·
Many different reasons why we lie: we want to impress someone, we purposely want
to deceive for our gain, we don’t want to look bad so we protect ourselves with
lies, or we simply don’t want to hurt someone’s feelings by telling them the
truth.
·
We gotta have meaningful dialogue
spiritually, church is not just about having a good Sunday service and wanting
to feel inspired. It is about living a
life together that brings glory to God.
Living a life together that is genuine and helps others be saved and
stay saved.
·
It is about helping those in need around
us.
·
Issues will always exist in the
fellowship because we are imperfect, and it is up to you as a disciple and it
is up to me as a disciple to deal with issues as we see them. It is easy to cop an attitude when someone
around us sins, but the scriptures call us to work things out
immediately—without sinning when we are angry (you will be angry at times—don’t
let that be a reason to sin).
·
Work for the purpose of being able to
help others that are in need (relationship—winning people over and not being a
burden which affects relationships).
Brothers, we need to work. It is
not ok to be out of work for long periods of time. Work wherever you can find work. Collect cans, work odd jobs, work at
McDonalds, figure something out, for the purpose of helping others and thus
building up God’s Kingdom.
29 Do not let any unwholesome talk come out
of your mouths, but only what is helpful for building others up according to
their needs, that it may benefit those who listen. 30 And
do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, with whom you were sealed for the day of
redemption. 31 Get
rid of all bitterness, rage and anger, brawling and slander, along with every
form of malice. 32 Be kind and compassionate to one
another, forgiving each other, just as in Christ God forgave you.
·
Don’t be destructive in your comments,
even as you disciple others or address issues, but build others up according to
their needs.
·
Don’t grieve the Holy Spirit by acting
in rage and anger, fighting with others, talking badly about brothers or
sisters.
·
Be kind and compassionate—seek to
understand and not to accuse
·
Relationship over results
