God's Will for the Body of Christ, Part 8

Well, for those of you that have not been in the Los Angeles congregation in recent months, we're going through a series. And it comes from the book of Ephesians, and it's entitled God's Will for the Body of Christ. I'm not sure what class we're on or what session. I believe it's either 7, 8, or 9. And we may get up to 12, 13, 14, 15, or 16, or 17. I'm not sure. But nonetheless, I love to go through series. I love to open up the Bible and to hear what God has to say.

And that's what we're going to do once again today. I'm looking forward to bringing you another series in the near future, probably during the summer months. And I think I'll probably allude to that in the course of the sermon today. If you'll please join me, let's open up to the book of Ephesians.

And I'd like to start out with our seminal verse, the foundation, why this series is called God's Will for the Body of Christ. And that is simply this, is that God's will is not a mystery to those who He is calling and those that He has chosen and elected to work with. And we find it in Ephesians 1 and verse 9, where it says, having made known to us the mystery of His will according to His good pleasure, so thus He is not forced. He is not placed into a corner, but is desirous and willing that He wants to share this will with us, His good pleasure, which He purposed in Himself, that in the dispensation of the fullness of the times, He might gather together in one all things in Christ, both which are in heaven and which are on earth in Him.

And we've been going through this, and we've come to see that God has a marvelous will and a marvelous purpose and a marvelous plan for those that He calls the body of Christ. And over the course of time, we've come to see that what He is desirous of doing, ultimately, is creating a spiritual nation. He calls it the body of Christ. He calls it, in that sense, His family. He gives metaphors in Ephesians that it is His temple. He talks about it being a nation, citizenship, that our citizenship is in heaven.

And all of this comes through the book of Ephesians. Ephesians 4 that we're in right now, and we're going to continue in probably to at least another message, Ephesians 4 is a transitional chapter because the first three chapters of Ephesians share with us and expose to us what God willingly and desires to do. When we come to Ephesians 4 and verse 1, it says, therefore, if you'll look at it, therefore, the prisoner of the Lord beseech you to walk worthy of the calling which you were called.

This is transitional because all of this has now been shared with you, and you now know what God is desiring to do. Therefore, you are to walk a new kind of walk. And what I want to share with you and bring into your mind again, and to help those that weren't here last time, is to understand something. Simply put, are you ready to go? Here it is. This new society, this new society has new standards. The new society that you and I are being called to, and are now a part of, has new standards.

And they're again not mysterious because Paul lays that out. We see in Ephesians 4, 1 through verse 6, and that was the crux of our message last time, that there are steps, steps, standards, expectations of you and me. And then to, not only that, but to view things and have a different framework. Allow me just to go over that for a moment here. I therefore, the prisoner of the Lord, beseech you to walk worthy of the calling which you were called. And then it gives us five steps. Number one, the step of lowliness or humility. Number two, the step of gentleness or yielding.

Number three, the step of long suffering. We might say forbearance. Number four, the step of bearing with one another in love. And that bearing with one another in the love always goes back to the sense of the cross, of sacrifice. These four steps then lead us to the fifth step. And the fifth step is made impossible if we are not first doing the first four, endeavoring to keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace.

Just heard about that during the special music about a world of peace, endeavoring to keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace.

Paul recognized that as the new society was being created by God, that it was going to be a challenge. You put two people together, you have three opinions. But it was going to be a challenge because this was no longer just simply going to be a nation-state or one ethnic group, but now it was going to be a tapestry and a collection of people from around the world, different languages, different backgrounds, different ways of thinking, different items that they were going to bring into this body. Paul recognized that these steps were going to be made to be taken. Remember last time I was with you just a couple of weeks ago, I asked each of you to be ready to go out, put on your seatbelt, and to be ready to take these steps on a Monday or Tuesday or a Wednesday. I have a question for you. May I? How has it been going the last two weeks with the humility quotient? With being gentle, with being forbearing, long suffering, hanging in there, sticking in there, when things get uncomfortable, bearing with one another in love, and recognizing that when it's all said and done, how important unity is. God inspired Paul to give us these steps, friends, because these are the steps that make the difference. These are the steps that make the difference. And he not only provided these five steps, but then he asked us to put on different lenses than our human lenses and the way that we think. And he said, I want you to begin to see what you have in common, what you can be united about.

Because surely there's enough to be disunited about. Surely there's enough that there are differences. But this is how I want you to approach one another. I want you to approach one another, recognizing you are one body. You are one spirit. You are called into one hope of your calling. You have one Lord, one faith, one baptism. You have one God and Father of all, who is above all and through all and in you all. That one phrase unites all of us.

Here today in the United Church of God Los Angeles, each and every one of us can say, Abba, Father. When the children of Israel long ago went to Egypt and they addressed the one that was on the throne, even though they all had different desires. You know, you put those children of Jacob together, they were a lot. They were the original dirty dozen. But they came before that throne and what united them? They said, we have a Father. We have a Father and they were speaking about Jacob. Today all of us have a Father and you and I are speaking about God above. This Father, notice, is above all. He's transcendent and through all. He is active and in you all. He is inclusive.

We're going through this again, brethren, because this is so fundamental to Christianity that we might display and reflect and represent the new society.

That you and I can show forth the light of the kingdom of God and the kingdom of man here and now. Today now we're going to take a new step and I'd like to share the title of this message. Please chow it down if you would. Growing up in all things. Growing up in all things into Him.

Taken right out of the Scripture. Growing up in all things into Him. Because all the steps that I just mentioned, may I say, humanly or challenging? Absolutely.

And you and I will have our difficulties with this.

Reminds me of the story of the young girl that one time went to her mommy and said, Mommy, I have a question for you. And that is, why do people sin and why do you sin, Mommy? That's a nice question coming from a kid. But I thought you were baptized.

And the mother kind of looked down at the child, thanks. And then smiled and simply said this, Before baptism, before baptism, I was running away from God and falling. And running towards sin. After baptism now, I'm running towards God. But I will still stumble.

Even in following God, there is the stumble and it is something that we all grow in. You take these five steps that we just talked about, humility and gentleness and bearing one another up in love and endeavoring to keep unity. I have not yet obtained, as Paul himself said, it is a matter, it is a pregnant thought, it is a growing thought, it is a growing development. And yet it is before us every year. And as we come up to the Passover again this year, and we partake of that symbols, plural of the bread and of the wine, we'll say, Father above, thank you for giving us Jesus Christ. I believe, help thou my unbelief. Even so, I renew covenant with you. I want to grow into all things, into him being Christ. Let's see how it works as we go through the book of Ephesians. One God and Father of all who is above all and through all and in you all. This is a magnificent phrase showing the totality of God the Father's involvement with us. The key word there is all, but now we have a difference as we go to verse 7. But to each, we're moving from all, but to each one of us, grace was given according to the measure of Christ's gift. The spiritual body of Christ is not just a big spiritual blob.

It's not just quaking spiritual jello. There is diversity, the right kind of diversity within it.

There are differing elements for different reasons. Not contrary, not working against one another, but working to congeal the body of Christ. But to each one of us, grace was given according to the measure of Christ's gift. Therefore, he says, when he ascended on high, he led captivity captive, and he gave gifts to men. Now thus he ascended, what does it mean, but that he also first descended into the lower parts of the earth. Now he who descended is also the one who ascended far above all the heavens, that he might fill all things. Let's talk about this for a moment, and let's understand what God's Word is trying to convey to us. It says that we are subjects and recipients of God's grace, and a measure of that is given to us. And it speaks of Christ's gift. This is essential. You might want to circle that word to the measure of Christ's gift.

And to make this very plain, then he says, and when he ascended on high, he led captivity captive, and he gave gifts to men. What is this telling you and me?

In ancient society, let's think of Rome for a moment, when either the Goths, or the Persians, or even the Jews in 70 AD, when they were conquered, the treasures of that kingdom would be collected and taken up. And either the Caesar or the general that was in charge would be given what is called a triumph. And the triumph meant that he was allowed to come through the great gate of the city and bring forth the treasures of that kingdom. And he would move through the streets of Rome towards the Roman Forum. Normally what you would have is you would especially if you were taken from, let's say, from the North Country, perhaps you were a Gaul, or you were a Frank, or an Alemanni, one of the German tribes. What happened was, as the booty was being brought forward on the back of men's shoulders, or on carts, or on oxen, or on wagons, here would come the chieftain, the king of the kingdom that had been conquered. And he would be shackled, and he'd be dragged behind the chariot in the triumph. This is the symbolism that is being thought out here by Paul when it says, and when he ascended on high, he led captivity captive.

When Jesus was resurrected from the dead and he ascended, he had done his father's will. He had done his father's will. Sin, in that sense, was conquered.

Conquered. Chained. Conquered by the conqueror, Jesus Christ. Now normally what happens is, as in Rome, the general and or the Caesar would keep all of that bounty, all of the treasures of the earth to himself. Here now is the reversal. Let's look down.

As he led captivity captive, as he had this triumph being ascending to heaven, it says, and he gave gifts to men. In the triumph of the resurrection and in the triumph of the ascension, Jesus gave. This is setting up how we can be effective tools and instruments in this new society with the new standards. It says he gave gifts to men. Normally the conquerors conquer. They pillage. They collect. And herein lies the great difference. And, brethren, herein lies the great difference that is to be in us to give and not merely to collect as we go through life. He ascended. What does it mean that he also first ascended into the lower parts of the earth? Yes, he came down. And this can be taken a couple ways either into the grave and or either that he did come down to this earth. But he who descended is also the one who ascended far above all things that he might fill all things. Paul looks at this, perhaps differently than some did, especially the disciples when they saw Jesus going up and thought, oh no, what's next? Paul didn't look at it that way. Paul understood that as Christ departed this earth and ascended, he was no longer shackled in this human tabernacle. He was not chained to this body. He had to send it to the right hand of his father. And now he was able to spread himself to all that it was not sad, but it was glorious as we're going to find out in a moment. And that Christ had not deserted us and gone back up to heaven, but was now going to fill us, brethren. Those that are members of the body of Christ with gifts. Notice what it says at the end of verse 10, that he might fill all things.

The will of God for the body of Christ is to understand that the Father has elected and chosen himself, that all things are reconciled to him through Christ. Secondarily, that through Christ, that kingdom, and that way will saturate all here below, that he might fill all things. What does that mean to you and me? No one is devoid of God's touch.

Even when, as we heard Alex say in the message, perhaps we don't understand at first, no one is devoid of his touch. No one is devoid of his comfort. And no one is devoid of his gifts.

You say, well, excuse me, Mr. Weber, I haven't gotten any gifts recently. Nothing came in the mail. We've already covered that in this message. If you go back to Ephesians 1 and verse 3, it says that you and I, as recipients of God's grace above, have received all spiritual blessings. They're already out there. This is, I think, if I can make a comment, may I? That sometimes we think there's something yet ahead. We kind of think that God is holding back on us, and that somehow, wisely, that everybody has it but me. The book of Ephesians makes it very plain that God has already offered up and given us spiritual blessings. He's given us the blessing of a calling. He's given us the blessing of forgiveness, of redemption, of acceptance, of adoption, of sonship, of inheritance, of wisdom. Not only Sophia in the Greek, meaning divine wisdom, but also prudence, practical wisdom, as how to go through this life day by day.

God has given us all of that. I have a question for you.

I have a question for you. We all have gifts to give.

Well, I haven't spoken in tongues recently. Well, neither have I. Don't go there.

That's not the kind of gifts we're talking about. We're not talking about the charisma, the carous. We all have gifts. What about when's the last time we shared the gift of loneliness?

And of humility with another human being?

I don't know. Let me... I don't know. That's...

When have we stepped out on the platform of humility? When is the last time that we were yielding and gentle? Do you know that's a gift? Let there be... What did the lady sing? Let there be peace on earth and let it begin with me. How much peace would we have in our families, our congregation, our lives, if we in turn gave God and his creation back gifts of humility, of gentleness, of long suffering, recognizing that life isn't fair, and recognizing that we are going to lose at times certain battles, but we're not going to lose the war. Christ was crucified. He came out of the tomb. The victory is on the way. God's purpose is sealed. We just have to work out the details now. Do we look at life that way? What about giving the gift of love and bearing one another up in love? What about the gift of striving for unity? These are all gifts that sometimes say, well, God hasn't given me anything special.

Poor me. He gave Mr. Garnet the gift of being funny and having a good humor as a minister. He gave so-and-so the gift of this. He gave somebody the gift of that. And we look at everybody else's gift, and when we do that, we're sinking already, because what did Paul himself say? Don't compare yourselves amongst yourselves. So what do we all do, brethren? We all compare ourselves amongst ourselves, and the Scripture itself says, don't go there. We all have these gifts to give. Join me now in verse 11, because now he breaks out and he talks about some of those gifts that he has given. But remember, the platform of thought is Christ gave gifts, and it is in the giving. And any gift, you might want to jot this down, any gift that is worth giving and is of real value means that the giver has to come along.

A gift that is given without the giver coming along is not a gift at all.

It's just an object. So the whole format here of Ephesians and the will of God for the body of Christ is one of outward, outflowing concern based on a foundation of humility. And verse 11, it says, and he himself gave some to be apostles, some prophets, some evangelists, and some pastors and teachers. These are gifts that he put into people. They're not an office per se, they are a function. They are a gift. Let's talk about that for a moment because this is important. Recognizing that in the first century, the church was different than the world of Judaism that had gone before it. Let's understand something. Are you with me? There was no longer any temple to look to. And there was no longer any priesthood per se down here below that was based upon birthright, that was based upon pedigree, that was based upon who's your daddy? How far do you go back to Aaron?

All things were new. The new society had new standards. This is what allowed Christianity to blossom, to grow, and to expand. And that is that the early church was not tied to a building.

And many, many, many people were involved. That meant that it was fluid, it was liquid, it was on the move, it was flexible. Everybody was involved. Nobody was looking over their shoulder. Everybody had a part. And that's what Paul is bringing out here. Now, this part was very interesting. Let's talk about it for a moment. The apostles. The apostles, these were, this was a gift that God had chosen 12 men, plus Paul and a few others. Individuals that had lived during the time of Christ had seen Christ live, had seen Christ die, and had seen Him resurrected, that they had to be part and parcel and a witness of that. What a gift! Didn't seem like a gift at the time. It seemed like a challenge. But what a gift that was. And these were apostles. These were men that had been given the gift. Can you imagine, you know, like when Peter and James and John were taken up to that mount, and all of a sudden there was the scene of the transfiguration? That was a gift.

And each of those men were gifted for a reason. James would be the first of the apostles to be martyred. He needed to see that scene of the transfiguration, to give Him encouragement and to remember. Peter, with all of his opportunities and responsibilities, all that he would be through, needed to know. And even so, when you think of tradition of how he was martyred, being crucified upside down, he had to know what he had seen and have that gift that was given to him.

John would be the only one remaining. All else had died. All the other apostles had died. John had to know and remember the things that had been seen to him when the windows of heaven opened up and that transfiguration occurred. Apostles were special. There were prophets. That was a gift in the time of Paul. These were individuals that were under the influence of God's Holy Spirit. At times they simply foretold. That was to tell the story. Sometimes they foretold the future. Whether it was about the present or whether it was about the future, it was about ultimately God's purpose and God's judgment. It's interesting here that it mentions evangelists.

Evangelists differed from the prophets, differed from the apostles. You might want to put this down. Evangelists were the foot soldiers of the gospel. Evangelists were gentlemen like Timothy and like Titus. Young men that stepped out and evangelized. Speaking of the gospel, speaking of the good news. You think of Timothy covering Asia Minor and Greece. You think of Titus evangelizing. Here, Timothy had to bring the good news into a secular humanistic society like Greece. And Titus, well guess what Titus's gift was for him? It was Crete. And it's like he writes to Paul and says, you have to understand the book of Titus is a one-way conversation back. So anything that comes back with the book of Titus, you understand what Paul had told him. It's a two-way conversation. And Titus is saying, Paul, I don't think God really knew what he wanted to do with me here. I don't know why you sent me. Have you ever been to Crete? They are all liars. It's cultural. They're horrible. God made a mistake. What did Paul say? Titus, stay put. Go forward and tell them to repent. Tell them to change. Titus, Timothy, and other evangelists were foot soldiers of the Gospel. It's interesting then here, then it mentions pastors and teachers, perhaps together, perhaps separately. Let's understand that in the early church, there weren't a lot of scrolls, there were not a lot of books. And there were individuals that had, as teachers, committed themselves in memorizing and telling and sharing the stories concerning the life, the death, and the resurrection of Jesus Christ. Can you imagine the awesome responsibility that they had and the gift of memory that they had to be able to share those stories the way that they had been told, to commit it to memory, and then to share with others? The older I get, sometimes it's hard to put three sentences together. And yet, here were men that conveyed the good news about what had occurred out of Bethlehem and Nazareth in Jerusalem. And then it says here that another group that had been given a gift at function were pastors, different than apostles, different than evangelists. These were individuals that committed themselves, excuse me, these were individuals that were there to feed the flock. Pastors. You might just want to jot this down. Comes out of the same source word as pastures. We're talking about sheep. We're talking about an individual that stands in the midst of sheep. I wish you could all join Susan and I where we live out in Riverside County.

And the sheep that are in the field, we just went out this morning just across the highway from us. And all the sheep were out there. And whenever you see sheep, whenever you see a flock of sheep, you're looking for a small gray metal trailer because that's where the shepherd lives. And you find the shepherd. And the shepherd's always working, always working. I told Susan this morning, and it's not always just with the sheep. Sometimes he's a little bit away from the sheep because he's preparing the next pasture. Just like it says in Psalm 23, shepherds are always working. And they're in the midst of the flock. They're in the midst of the sheep. These are individuals that are there to teach doctrine, to teach the practical living steps of the scriptures. They're there to model after the great shepherd that is mentioned in Psalm 23 in all the different steps, whether it be myself as a pastor or our elders that are amongst you, that we are able to be by the still waters. We are able to be with you in green pastures. We are able to, at times, perhaps do our most delicate work with you, as does the great shepherd for him when there are challenges, when there is death, when there are challenges.

And these pastors were the men that were on the ground. Three things that a pastor does, I'd like to share that with you if you wonder what I do sometimes. Number one is to feed the flock. Feed the flock the Word of God. Not the fluff of philosophy, but to feed the flock the Word of God. That's why we're going right through the book of Ephesians. And later on this summer, we're going to have a whole series on prophecy. We're going to go right through all of that prophecy word by word, scripture by scripture. Number two, to protect the righteous from the unrighteous. And number three, to strive to keep the flock in the spiritual sheepfold, because it's a dangerous world out there. But it all goes back to that it's not our flock that He gave, it's Jesus Christ.

And it all functions on humility and on giving, not on title, not on prestige, but as being a doulos, being a living, breathing servant of Jesus Christ, just as He was for His Father. But now to what end? What's the purpose? The purpose is found here for the equipping of the saints, for the work of ministry, and for the edifying of the body of Christ.

That's why these men were gifted. That's why they serve in this function. It's not for themselves, but it's for God, for this special new creation, this new society that He's developing, that even the angels look down upon and say, oh, that's what the Father has had in store from eternity. For the equipping of the saints, for the work of the ministry, and for the edifying of the body. What does it mean for the equipping of the saints? The word equipping is very interesting. It comes from a Greek word, and it basically means to bind, if you want to think of that way, to bind up. In surgery, it is used as setting a bone that it might be brought back to its full use. In politics, it's used in the sense of bringing two opposing sides together. Doesn't that sound interesting in today's age? Bringing two opposing sides together and making them one. In fishing, it meant to equip. The Greek term meant to mend nets. Why do you mend nets so that they'll be useful, so that they'll bring in more catch? That was the function of all of these gifts that were mentioned up here above. For the equipping, for the wholesomeness, for the binding together of the saints, those that are of the sacred household, and for the work of ministry, the work of Diaconos, a term that is also used in the book of Acts, a term that is also used in the book of Acts, for the work of practical day-by-day service and of meeting one another's needs.

For the work of ministry, of Diaconos.

You say, well, does that mean me? Yes, it does. For the work of service. Allow me to share something, may I, with you, in our new reality within the United Church of God. And I know I speak to this, but I have to continue to speak to this. And that is simply, it is an entire whole church effort in what we are doing today. Allow me just to use myself as one, and then to multiply it by hundreds with the pastors that are out there that actually have far greater, wider circuits than I do. I just go from, technically, from Tijuana up to Hanford. How many even know where Hanford is?

I'll give you a guess. It's beyond Silmar. It's just below Fresno. Okay?

And one individual cannot responsibly deal with the entire body. And that's why Paul said that he gave people that were evangelists that could go out, or pastors, and also elders, and also members that were activated, equipped. You say, well, I don't know if I'm equipped or not.

Well, I see Knut Josephic down here, and Knut's been in the church for, since the turn of the previous century. No, just teasing. Knut's been in the church for 40 years. I see Andrew Beatty down here. He's in the line of a second-generation Christian. He grew up in Pasadena. I see Scott Windling, family of faith, the Windlings, longtime Pasadena members, Paul Shemot, Holy Sajak. You see what his son Alex did today? We have people that are being equipped. You say, well, I don't know if I'm equipped. Do you read the Bible? Then you're equipped. Do you have the Holy Spirit? Yes, you are equipped to serve one another. Oh, maybe not as I do as a pastor, or maybe as a communicator from the pulpit. But communication doesn't always come from the pulpit. It comes from over the internet. It comes from a phone call. It comes from a letter. It comes to talking to one another in the pews after services. It's about encouraging one another, approaching one another with humility and concern and gentleness and yielding and long suffering, edifying one another, building one another up, as it says here, building one another up. And that's the whole thrust of Ephesians. It's always about edifying. It's always about building and being a part of what God is doing to build up the sacred household of God, which is called the saints. We say, well, how do I build up people?

How often do we get into conversations with people? And we talk about everything but God.

We can talk about Oprah. I like Oprah, but I mean, I don't watch her that much, but I know who she is. But we want to bring in Oprah. Or have you read this really helpful article in Reader's Digest? Or did you hear this on talk radio? Or did you see this on Fox News? Or did you... Do we just sit down and look at the examples of the Bible with somebody and open the Word?

And if somebody is really, really down and discouraged and depressed, do we just kind of go, oh, I know how you feel. I'm going down there with you right now.

And there is a time, absolutely, to empathize. But beyond the empathizing, do we begin turning to the promises of God? Outstanding message from Alex today. Where are you, Alex? Wonderful message. Thank you. And I think all of us know a lot of what Alex has gone through here in the last couple of months. And to be able to come up and to encourage us about dealing with some of the big questions in life. He's given us a blessing today. He's reminded us of the promise of God that we have a Redeemer. So here we are, friends. We've got to all be in this today.

There are going to be times when I may call you. I'm going to call Mr. Garnett and say, Mr. Garnett, you need to deal with this individual. Mr. Helge, you need to deal with this individual. Or maybe if it's on a different kind of matter and at a plane where the members can help, I may call somebody and say, give so-and-so a phone call. Be ready. Be prepared. Let's all be ready to unify and edify this, the body of Christ. And if you notice the words that Paul uses here in verse 12 about edifying and building up. Individuals that have been given gifts of God, and each and every one of us is a man and a woman in this room, starting with Ephesians 1-3 and forward, have been gifted by God because of His grace and what He has done for us. And it is always to build up. Whatever we do as a pastor, elders, deacons, deaconesses, members, it is always to edify. It is always to build up. It is to construct. It is not to destruct. It is always to strengthen. It is never to loosen. Equip means to mend. It means to bring together. Now, let me make this personal.

May I then? When we think of this, because this may sound like high thought, how about us this week? Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday. I speak to myself. My wife is out here. How we relate with one another. How I approach her. And just like all of you gentlemen, and being males and females, I approach my wife sometimes imperfectly. We all do. But do we come back and rewind and take it back? Whether it be towards a spouse, whether it be towards a child, a grandchild, whether it be towards a member. Are we rewinding and asking ourselves, am I edifying or am I tearing down?

Am I edifying or am I tearing down? Now, sometimes we don't know the difference.

Because that's why God's given us wives, and that's why God's given us husbands, and that's why God's given us in the life. Jeremiah 10, 23 says, there is not a man who walks, who knows to direct his own steps. We need one another. And maybe we're ignorant, but once it's been pointed out to us, what do you do? Do you just keep on doing what you did before? Or do you say, I am wrong, and I am sorry, and I want to build, and I want to construct.

Let there be peace on earth, and let it begin with me. Now, notice this is the purpose.

God gives gifts, not just to give gifts from above, but He gives them for a purpose to equip the saints for the work of service, for the building up of the body of Christ. Notice verse 13 now, and here is the aim. Till we all come to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God, and to a perfect man, and to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ.

Till we have not yet achieved. This is, in the sense, a pregnant thought.

It's conceived. We're in gestation. It is not yet given full birth. Never will until the resurrection, by God's glory and by God's mercy on us. There will come a time when we will escape these human bonds, and we will be immortal, and we will be with God. Till we all, notice all. Now, what is in the school system, this phrase that they have? No child left behind. Or, you think of the Marine Corps. Ralph, you never leave your buddy on the field.

Till we all, what I am sharing with you today, dear brethren, here in Los Angeles, is the responsibility of every member in the body of Christ. Nobody sits on the bench. We all get involved, tackling humility, tackling gentleness, tackling long suffering, tackling bearing up one another in love, tackling striving to keep the unity of the faith. Till we all come to the unity of the faith, and of the knowledge of the Son of God, and to a perfect man, to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ. What is this telling you and me?

That church is not just simply about information, but transformation. And that we can never be satisfied with simply the reflection of a better self. I want you to think about that for a moment. As Christians, we can never be satisfied with the reflection of just simply a better self. What does that mean to you? What does that mean to me?

At the end of the day, we are not here to reflect ourselves.

There can only be one reflection, and that's what we're moving towards, Jesus Christ.

That when people see us, we are reflecting the full measure of Jesus Christ. You and I, in just about three and a half weeks, are going to be partaking of the Passover.

And the Passover is tremendously a rewarding experience.

It brings us into full realization of a very profound thought that I'd like to share with you for a moment. And that is simply this, that Jesus Christ did not come to this earth to simply make good men better, but to take dead men, dead in their sins, and give them life.

When you and I partake of the bread, and when you and I partake of the wine on that evening, we are accepting God's diagnosis that He found us dead.

And brought us life. And He gave it. Beyond that, allow me to share another thought.

That when you and I take the wine as a symbol of Christ's blood, and we partake of that bread, which is a symbol of the totality of Jesus' experience here below, and we partake of that bread, Andrew takes part of that bread, Susan takes part of that bread, Tom and Sue take part of that bread, Laura partake of part of that bread, it is not only simply about personal salvation, but in partaking of that bread, we are saying we are one. Not only in Christ, but if in Christ, then we are indeed one, for we indeed have one Father, one Father, one Savior, one Lord, one hope, one calling, one baptism.

Till we all come to that unity, to that perfect man, 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. Oh yes, wherever God is, Satan is not far behind, and the winds of doctrine will come and they will go, and just like the Santa Ana winds that we experience here in Southern California, they sometimes just come right on time.

I've also found that sometimes over the years you live long enough, you find out that about every 25 years, what appears to be new truth is resurrected. And normally new truth is usually just old heresy, just in a new package with a new audience. But that's why God has developed this body that we should no longer be children. We need to be growing, tossed to and fro and carried about with every wind of doctrine by the trickery of men. And it's interesting in the Greek where it talks about the trickery of men, you might want to look that down. It's talking about loaded dice, manipulation in the cunning craftiness of deceitful plotting. But notice what it says in verse 15, but speaking the truth and love, speaking the truth and love, may grow up in all things into him, who is the head. That's the title of our message today. Grow up in all things into him, who is the head Christ. Now, what I want to share with you, and we're just going to go to verse 17 today, it's simply this. Under the inspiration of the Spirit, Paul brings together two incredible spiritual principles that sometimes are put apart. And that's why I have the whiteboard.

Truth and love. Truth and love. And you know, there are some people that, well, I have the truth.

Yes, I do. And you better not touch it.

They're not very loving, are they? They're not very approachable.

You can have the truth, and it becomes self-serving. And it all goes back to remember what it said about Jesus, that when he ascended and took captivity captive, and he gave, he gave, it was his approach.

So there's some people that just stand on this firm foundation of truth. Give me the truth and nothing but the truth. So help me me. And then there are people over here that are what we might call on the love foundation. Unfortunately, those people at times can be so loving that they don't recognize that the truth of God, the revelation of God, is being squandered or stepped upon. And in love, they don't want to make a stir. They don't just not the kind that get involved. You go do it. They don't want to make waves when they see the tremendous truths of God being sullied. That's why this concept, if you look down at here, friends, in verse 15, the Greek actually goes this way. Truthing, in love. Truthing. When you're truthing, it's not static. It's growing. It's developing. It's expanding. It's edifying. It's building. Truthing. But it's got to be in a spirit of humility, in yieldenness, and love. Notice what it says here. But speaking of 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 effect of working by which every part does its share. It causes growth of the body for the edifying of itself and love. Now, brethren, this is profound, and these are some of the things that we've been talking about in Cincinnati, and we'll continue to talk about as to how the church functions. Not just reading it again in a sermon, or going through Ephesians every so often, or using this as one verse to kind of encourage people, these are the working dynamics of the body of Christ. And not only the body of Christ as a whole, but it's very interesting. While back in Cincinnati, and developing a vision statement for the United Church of God that is now put forward to the General Conference of Elders to Prove, you see, when you're dealing with the future, and where we feel that God is leading us to, you have a vision. A vision statement is the preferred future that is desirous. This is your preferred future. This is the church that you hope will be to God's glory. And then that's followed by a mission statement. And then that's followed by guiding principles. And that's followed by other standing principles. And you have objectives and goals, and I don't mean to bore you. But I've come to really see that the vision statement is the most important, because everything else follows along.

We have a mission statement behind that, of course, to go and preach the gospel of Jesus Christ and the kingdom of God, to make disciples in all nations and to care for those disciples.

But the vision statement that is now proposed, and that we'll be moving forward to, comes right out of verse 16. Allow me to read it to you for a second. The finalized new vision statement being put forward for approval by the General Conference of Elders is, a church led by God's Holy Spirit, joined and knit together by what every member supplies, with all doing their share, and growing in love to fulfill God's great purpose for humanity and to bring many children to glory.

As we move forward, brethren, this vision statement, and when either Mr. Rhodes or Mr. Luker or myself talk about a whole church effort, we really are talking about a whole church effort. Join me if you would in Romans 12. Last verse I'll turn to Romans 12, because we all have a part in this. In Romans 12, we've talked about people that have been gifted to be an apostle, or an evangelist, or a pastor, or a teacher. Yes, and those are gifts. We've also talked about the personal gifts that we can give of sharing godly humility, Christ-like yieldedness, Christ-like loving and bearing a cross, striving to be united. But there's other gifts. Actually, when you go into the subject of gifts in the Bible, there are about 20 that are mentioned by Scripture. But let's just look at this from Romans 12, verse 5. So we, being many, are one body in Christ, and individually members of one another. So the spiritual body of Christ, where the Father is overall, through all, and in all, is yes, united, but then there's a uniqueness to it. There's a diversity that is within it in one body, but all the members don't have the same function. So we, being many, are one in Christ, individual members of one another, having then gifts differing according to the grace that is given to us. Let us use them. Have you ever noticed that? If you have a gift, it says, let us use them. If prophecy or inspired teaching, let us prophesy in proportions to our faith, or ministry. Let us use in our ministering, he who teaches is teaching. And we have teachers here in the United Church of God in Los Angeles. We have sometimes teachers that are given Bible studies right here before services. We have young men that are giving messages to the entire congregation. We have our teachers that are helping with Sabbath school and with teen class.

We have teachers as a gift, and he who exhorts in exhortation. Many of us out here would never want to be where I stand up here on the Sabbath day because it's often been said that there's only one thing that's likened to public speaking. It's called public execution. Some people don't want to be up here. But many of us out there are tremendous encouragers. I'm sure you and I at one time or another bumped into one, and maybe we are one.

Could you imagine the Church of God without having those that have the gift of encouragement?

The gift of encouragement. The gift of a smile. The gift of a hug.

You know, they say that a picture is worth a thousand words. Well, then a hug has got to be at least worth two thousand. And some of our ladies out here have that tremendous encouragement of the gift of a hug. Notice what it says here further.

He who exhorts and exhortations. He who gives. Some people out here are just tremendous givers. We're going to see that again once tonight. We have people that, you know, because of the the bake auction sale, and they have the means to do it, and they have the excitement to give, and they want to give. Now, I'm saying don't give beyond your means, but you know, once Robert starts going, then everything, you know, the the amounts go. There are people that are givers, because they know that those funds are going to go help the kids in Chile. It's going to go help the sextants go preach the gospel in Burma to the scattered brethren that can never assemble the rest of the year other than the spring festivals. Giving is a gift. And with liberality. And he who leads. We have leaders. Leadership is a gift. But notice this. Well, oh, that leaves me out. No, remember it says, each member, and notice what it says, and he who shows mercy.

Showing mercy is a gift. Blessed are the merciful, for they shall obtain mercy.

I'm sure, can we talk? I'm sure we have bumped into either or both the merciful and the unmerciful.

At work, unfortunately, dare to say at home, and maybe at times, unfortunately, even in a church setting. Oh my, oh my, when you experience mercy, either from our Father above or through one of His servants down below, it's rich. It's beautiful. It's a gift. And this is the call of each of us that are in the body of Christ. And to show mercy with cheerfulness. To show mercy with cheerfulness. Brethren, what I'm trying to show you, simply this, is that all of us look to the book of Ephesians as the vision of God, the will of God for the body of Christ. And when we have gone to what we've gone through today, these characteristics of God's new society, they're on display. We see there's love. We see there's unity. We see there's diversity. We see there's life-giving inclusion. All, each, and a call to maturity. I would say more than ever, for we that have been in the church of God for 20 to 30 to 40 years, the book of Ephesians is a cure against complacency. It's a cure against the status quo.

We will not be able to serve this world to preach the gospel, to obtain the maturity, asked of us to be as Christ, to have that reflection in us by simply looking to the past. It must come to the vision that God has in store for us in this God's will for the body of Christ.

I hope today that maybe some of the words that I've shared with you today from the heart can begin to be a cure of perhaps complacency that you've had, of perhaps being stuck in the quicksand of status quo, perhaps wondering what am I to do in the body of Christ.

Each and every one of us has been called. Each and every one of us has been touched by God the Father through Jesus Christ. I want you to think about it for a moment. I'm going to be able to give one more message before the Passover. But as I said that night when we partake of that bread and we sip of that wine, symbols of Jesus' blood and symbols of his life experience given for our stead, we being many are one. When we take of that, we say that we are one with God and that we are a family, that we are indeed the spiritual body of Christ.