Sermon Notes

May 1, 2022

What Now?

Ephesians 4:1-16

What Now?

Ephesians 4:1-16

Churches, just like people, go through seasons of life. Sometimes it’s a season of prosperity, sometimes it’s a season of persecution, and sometimes it’s a season of change, but no matter what season the church finds itself in, the church is always called to do the same thing. The church is always called to be the church. The church is called to carry out the Great Commandment (Luke 10:27a) and the Great Commission (Matthew 28:18-20). On the surface this seems like an overwhelming task, like trying to replace the thermal paste on the heat sink of your CPU when you're doing good just to turn on your computer. As a born-again Christian, we are just pieces in the big machine. If we just do what God has called us to do, the church will be able to carry out its mission. In our text today, we will be looking at three practical things that Paul asks the individual members of the church at Ephesus to remember for them to be more effective for the Kingdom.

1. Remember Your Calling

Ephesians 4:1

¹ Therefore I, a prisoner for serving the Lord, beg you to lead a life worthy of your calling, for you have been called by God. The first thing Paul does is remind the people that they need to live a life worthy of their calling. To live a life worthy of being called the children of God, we must remember that everything we do is a reflection of Him. This should excite us. After all, this calling is placed on everyone who makes Jesus the Lord of their life. It is a calling from the One who created everything, the One who holds everything together, the One who was, who is, and is to come, the Alpha and Omega, the Author and Finisher of our faith. We have been called by God, and we should be excited. God wants us in His service! There are a lot of honorable callings in life, but nothing will ever top the calling God has placed on your life. Not only should we be excited about this call, but we should be fearful about this calling (in a reverent way). Because we ponder this calling with reverent fear, we must take it seriously. Living a life worthy of the calling God placed on us is an all-encompassing call. It’s not something we can do just on Sundays or whenever the church doors are open, but rather it’s a call to live always considering the calling God has placed on us. This means at home, at our work, and even when we think no one is watching. When we make Jesus the Lord of our lives, we don’t just make Him Lord of parts of our lives, but rather we make Him Lord of All!

2. Remember Your Attitude

Ephesians 4:2-6

² Always be humble and gentle. Be patient with each other, making allowance for each other’s faults because of your love. ³ Make every effort to keep yourselves united in the Spirit, binding yourselves together with peace. ⁴ For there is one body and one Spirit, just as you have been called to one glorious hope for the future. ⁵ There is one Lord, one faith, one baptism, ⁶ one God and Father of all, who is over all, in all, and living through all.

The next thing Paul tells us to remember is our attitude. He tells us that because of the oneness of our calling we have unity just because we are all part of the body of Christ. We have unity in the body once we become Christians and we are going to have to fight to keep it. We are going to have to show humility, we are going to have to show gentleness, and we are going to have to demonstrate patience when it comes to others who are in the body of Christ as well. Then he says we must do everything we can to have peace. These attitudes that Paul calls us all to have can be summed up by one word, GRACE. Grace is amazing when you receive it, but it’s hard when we must give it. We are going to have to make every effort to have these attitudes in order to protect unity.

3. Remember Your Duty

Ephesians 4:7-13

⁷ However, he has given each one of us a special gift through the generosity of Christ. ⁸ That is why the Scriptures say, “When he ascended to the heights,

he led a crowd of captives

and gave gifts to his people.”

⁹ Notice that it says, “he ascended.” This clearly means that Christ also descended to our lowly world. ¹⁰ And the same one who descended is the one who ascended higher than all the heavens so that he might fill the entire universe with himself. ¹¹ Now these are the gifts Christ gave to the church: the apostles, the prophets, the evangelists, and the pastors and teachers. ¹² Their responsibility is to equip God’s people to do his work and build up the church, the body of Christ. ¹³ This will continue until we all come to such unity in our faith and knowledge of God’s Son that we will be mature in the Lord, measuring up to the full and complete standard of Christ.

Finally, Paul asks us to remember our duty. He tells us that each one of us has been given a gift from God to use so that the whole church is helping each other grow, be healthy, and full of love. In these verses Paul lists two of the foundational gifts that were given to the first-century church (Apostles and Prophets) and then a few that are still in use in the church today (evangelists, preachers, and teachers). This is by no means an exhaustive list of all the gifts God gives. Paul lists more gifts in two separate epistles, but here he is wanting to make the point that these gifts are given to equip the church to do its job and build up the church. These things will continue until we measure up to the full and complete standard of Christ (which will not happen until we are called home to be with Him in glory forever).

Paul then sums up these three points by answering the question, “Why do we need to remember these things?”

Ephesians 4:14-16

¹⁴ Then we will no longer be immature like children. We won’t be tossed and blown about by every wind of new teaching. We will not be influenced when people try to trick us with lies so clever they sound like the truth. ¹⁵ Instead, we will speak the truth in love, growing in every way more and more like Christ, who is the head of his body, the church. ¹⁶ He makes the whole body fit together perfectly. As each part does its own special work, it helps the other parts grow, so that the whole body is healthy and growing and full of love.

Paul sums it up by saying that we need to remember and carry out these commandments in our lives and in our church. When we do, we will have a solid foundation that won’t be swayed by false teachings, we will speak in love, and we will start to grow to look more and more like Christ. What an amazing idea for those who are lost to look at our church and see Christ when they see FBC Bloomfield. This isn’t going to happen automatically but rather when its members make a decision to live their individual lives in obedience at all times, living with the attitudes God has called us to have, especially when we gather, and to always be using our spiritual gifts to serve. It’s up to you. Are you ready to be the church?

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Sermon Notes

What Now?

Ephesians 4:1-16

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