Jim Parker
Member
Eph 4:11-13 And He (GOD) Himself gave some to be apostles, some prophets, some evangelists, and some pastors and teachers, for the equipping of the saints for the work of ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ, 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;
Breaking it down:
I. The God ordained core ministries in the Church
Apostles: people who are gifted by the Holy Spirit to be sent out by the Church to places where the Gospel has not been preached in order to start new churches and to train and appoint leadership over those new churches.
Prophets: people in the Church who are gifted by the Holy Spirit to bring the words of God for the specific moment and place in order to admonish, correct, rebuke, encourage and reveal God’s will for them. They may predict but that is not their primary purpose.
Evangelists: those people with a unique gift of the Holy Spirit for presenting the calling of God to all mankind to repent; to believe the Gospel and to be saved.
Pastors: those people who are gifted by the Holy Spirit to lead groups of people in their pursuit of holiness and growth in the Lord.
Teachers: Those people in the Church who are gifted to be abled to clearly communicate the truth and proper understanding of the scriptures.
II. The purpose of the core ministries is the equipping of the saints for the work of ministry of the Church.
A. Equipping for the work of ministry refers to providing the saints with the tools they will need to do their ministries.
1. Discipline: No worker does a good job without discipline.
2. Training: Helping the saints gain the skills necessary to accomplish their God- given missions.
3. Teaching: Providing the information and knowledge necessary to carry out their missions.
B. “Edification of the body of Christ.” “Edification” means to “build up” and building up requires a solid foundation.
1. That foundation is the teaching of the prophets and apostles
2. The cornerstone is Jesus
3. The building is the Temple of the Holy Spirit, the place where God dwells on earth right now. It is the people who together make up the Church.
Eph 2:19-22 Now, therefore, you are no longer strangers and foreigners, but fellow citizens with the saints and members of the household of God, having been built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Jesus Christ Himself being the chief cornerstone, in whom the whole building, being fitted together, grows into a holy temple in the Lord, in whom you also are being built together for a dwelling place of God in the Spirit.
C. “till we all come to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God”
1. The unity of the faith
a. Unity in doctrine (like Apostle’s creed)
b. Unity in worship (Of One God in Trinity)
c. Unity in love for one another
2. The knowledge of the Son of God
a. Intellectually: from the scriptures we know all that is written about Jesus by reading, meditating and studying
b. Personally: From our DAILY (DAILY!!!) personal encounter in prayer with Jesus.
D. “to a perfect man, to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ”
1. Jesus IS the perfect man. He is everything that God created Adam to be.
a. Jesus is perfectly obedient to everything that the Father desires
b. Jesus gave His life completely over to God’s will even unto death
c. Jesus gave His life out of love for His friends AND His enemies.
d. He is our example and model of a “perfect” man.
2. The fullness of Christ is that in Him dwells all the fullness of the Godhead bodily (Col 2:9)
a. And that is the goal of the edification of the saints.
b. We reach that goal with God’s help
- When we are as perfectly obedient to Jesus’ commands as we can be
- When we have given our lives to Christ and strive with all our heart and all our strength to do God’s will rather than our own will
- When we act in love toward our friends as well as our enemies,
- THEN we have been prepared to bear in our bodies the fullness of the Godhead and to bear God’s real presence into this world as ambassadors of the Kingdom of God with authority to act in the authority of the King of Kings.
c. Only a DISCIPLE of Jesus is given the grace to become “a perfect man, to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ”
d. “Fans” of Jesus are generally not given that grace.
III. So, what does it mean to be a disciple?
Mat 28:19-20a Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all things that I have commanded you;..
A. What does it mean to “observe” a command?
I think the NIV provides a better understanding of that verse by using the word, “OBEY’ rather than the word, “Observe” as do the majority of translations.
“Observe” is technically a more accurate translation of the Greek into English
“Obey” is - IMO – a more accurate translation of the MEANING of the Greek into English
Ever hear someone say, “I’m teaching my dog to observe may commands.”
No – because the person wants the dog to OBEY him, not to OBSERVE him.
Cats “Observe” – You say, “Here kitty, kitty” ….. And the cat just looks at you.
In modern, western, English, “OBEY” is what the word “observe” means in this context:
B .The difference between a “fan” and a disciple is that a fan likes to talk about Jesus and study about Jesus and sing songs about Jesus and go to church and hear a sermon about Jesus….. and all those things are good
1. “The life of a disciple is not the hero-worship we would pay to a good master, but obedience to the Son of God.”
2. A fan loves hanging out with Jesus and with other people who love hanging out with Jesus.
3. A disciple sets aside his own life, in which he makes all his own decisions based on his own understanding, and takes up a life of obedience to Jesus’ commands whether he understands them or not.
C. Jesus commanded His disciples to make more disciples of all nations;
He did not tell them to make “fans”.
If you are not being built up to be just like Jesus who was happy to be totally obedient to the Father’s will - even to the point of laying down His life by a suffering the unspeakable cruelty of death on the cross - all because of love of His enemies, - then you are being built up into a “Fan.”
D. To be a disciple to do exactly what your master, in this case the LORD Jesus Christ, commands you to do.
1. Love God
2. Love one another
3. Lover your neighbors
4. love your enemies
5. Be the light of the world
IV. How to quit being a fan and start being a disciple: the Beatitudes
A. “Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.” (Mat 5:3)
1. These are those who realize the poverty of their personal holiness as compared to the life, suffering, passion, death and resurrection of God’s only begotten son.
2. These are people who ponder the self-abasement of our Lord Jesus Christ and, compared to their own efforts to be acceptable in God’s sight, realize that they have no hope except in the mercy of God.
3. If you desire to be a disciple then forget everything you have done that tempts you to think might have gained any special favor in God’s eyes
4. The place to start is having the right perspective and attitude.
Breaking it down:
I. The God ordained core ministries in the Church
Apostles: people who are gifted by the Holy Spirit to be sent out by the Church to places where the Gospel has not been preached in order to start new churches and to train and appoint leadership over those new churches.
Prophets: people in the Church who are gifted by the Holy Spirit to bring the words of God for the specific moment and place in order to admonish, correct, rebuke, encourage and reveal God’s will for them. They may predict but that is not their primary purpose.
Evangelists: those people with a unique gift of the Holy Spirit for presenting the calling of God to all mankind to repent; to believe the Gospel and to be saved.
Pastors: those people who are gifted by the Holy Spirit to lead groups of people in their pursuit of holiness and growth in the Lord.
Teachers: Those people in the Church who are gifted to be abled to clearly communicate the truth and proper understanding of the scriptures.
II. The purpose of the core ministries is the equipping of the saints for the work of ministry of the Church.
A. Equipping for the work of ministry refers to providing the saints with the tools they will need to do their ministries.
1. Discipline: No worker does a good job without discipline.
2. Training: Helping the saints gain the skills necessary to accomplish their God- given missions.
3. Teaching: Providing the information and knowledge necessary to carry out their missions.
B. “Edification of the body of Christ.” “Edification” means to “build up” and building up requires a solid foundation.
1. That foundation is the teaching of the prophets and apostles
2. The cornerstone is Jesus
3. The building is the Temple of the Holy Spirit, the place where God dwells on earth right now. It is the people who together make up the Church.
Eph 2:19-22 Now, therefore, you are no longer strangers and foreigners, but fellow citizens with the saints and members of the household of God, having been built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Jesus Christ Himself being the chief cornerstone, in whom the whole building, being fitted together, grows into a holy temple in the Lord, in whom you also are being built together for a dwelling place of God in the Spirit.
C. “till we all come to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God”
1. The unity of the faith
a. Unity in doctrine (like Apostle’s creed)
b. Unity in worship (Of One God in Trinity)
c. Unity in love for one another
2. The knowledge of the Son of God
a. Intellectually: from the scriptures we know all that is written about Jesus by reading, meditating and studying
b. Personally: From our DAILY (DAILY!!!) personal encounter in prayer with Jesus.
D. “to a perfect man, to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ”
1. Jesus IS the perfect man. He is everything that God created Adam to be.
a. Jesus is perfectly obedient to everything that the Father desires
b. Jesus gave His life completely over to God’s will even unto death
c. Jesus gave His life out of love for His friends AND His enemies.
d. He is our example and model of a “perfect” man.
2. The fullness of Christ is that in Him dwells all the fullness of the Godhead bodily (Col 2:9)
a. And that is the goal of the edification of the saints.
b. We reach that goal with God’s help
- When we are as perfectly obedient to Jesus’ commands as we can be
- When we have given our lives to Christ and strive with all our heart and all our strength to do God’s will rather than our own will
- When we act in love toward our friends as well as our enemies,
- THEN we have been prepared to bear in our bodies the fullness of the Godhead and to bear God’s real presence into this world as ambassadors of the Kingdom of God with authority to act in the authority of the King of Kings.
c. Only a DISCIPLE of Jesus is given the grace to become “a perfect man, to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ”
d. “Fans” of Jesus are generally not given that grace.
III. So, what does it mean to be a disciple?
Mat 28:19-20a Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all things that I have commanded you;..
A. What does it mean to “observe” a command?
I think the NIV provides a better understanding of that verse by using the word, “OBEY’ rather than the word, “Observe” as do the majority of translations.
“Observe” is technically a more accurate translation of the Greek into English
“Obey” is - IMO – a more accurate translation of the MEANING of the Greek into English
Ever hear someone say, “I’m teaching my dog to observe may commands.”
No – because the person wants the dog to OBEY him, not to OBSERVE him.
Cats “Observe” – You say, “Here kitty, kitty” ….. And the cat just looks at you.
In modern, western, English, “OBEY” is what the word “observe” means in this context:
B .The difference between a “fan” and a disciple is that a fan likes to talk about Jesus and study about Jesus and sing songs about Jesus and go to church and hear a sermon about Jesus….. and all those things are good
1. “The life of a disciple is not the hero-worship we would pay to a good master, but obedience to the Son of God.”
2. A fan loves hanging out with Jesus and with other people who love hanging out with Jesus.
3. A disciple sets aside his own life, in which he makes all his own decisions based on his own understanding, and takes up a life of obedience to Jesus’ commands whether he understands them or not.
C. Jesus commanded His disciples to make more disciples of all nations;
He did not tell them to make “fans”.
If you are not being built up to be just like Jesus who was happy to be totally obedient to the Father’s will - even to the point of laying down His life by a suffering the unspeakable cruelty of death on the cross - all because of love of His enemies, - then you are being built up into a “Fan.”
D. To be a disciple to do exactly what your master, in this case the LORD Jesus Christ, commands you to do.
1. Love God
2. Love one another
3. Lover your neighbors
4. love your enemies
5. Be the light of the world
IV. How to quit being a fan and start being a disciple: the Beatitudes
A. “Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.” (Mat 5:3)
1. These are those who realize the poverty of their personal holiness as compared to the life, suffering, passion, death and resurrection of God’s only begotten son.
2. These are people who ponder the self-abasement of our Lord Jesus Christ and, compared to their own efforts to be acceptable in God’s sight, realize that they have no hope except in the mercy of God.
3. If you desire to be a disciple then forget everything you have done that tempts you to think might have gained any special favor in God’s eyes
4. The place to start is having the right perspective and attitude.