Uncover

Uncover fra Laget from Laget NKSS on Vimeo.

Rock International Church presenterer bibelstudier for skeptikere. Har du noen gang studerte de opprinnelige tekstene, opprinnelige biografier om Jesus? Vet du at du kan stole på dem historisk? Når du studerer mennesket Jesus, kan du bli overrasket.

Becky Pippert som har utviklet Uncover si: ”Hvordan kan vi komme fram til en dypere innsikt i meningen med livet? Som tidligere agnostiker undersøkte jeg diverse religioner helt til den dagen det gikk opp for meg at jeg faktisk aldri hadde lest Bibelen. Jeg innså at det var altfor uredelig å avvise noe jeg aldri hadde undersøkt ordentlig. Jeg måtte granske bevismaterialet og gå nøye gjennom Jesu påstander om seg selv.
Jeg ser levende for meg første gang jeg leste en av Bibelens fortellinger om Jesus. Inntrykket mitt av Jesus fram til da hadde vært at han nok var en oppriktig og temmelig sorgløs type. Men det var altså før jeg begynte å lese selv.
Jeg var totalt uforberedt på hvordan det jeg møtte i teksten, skulle slå beina under mine egne fordommer. Bibelens Jesus var dypt tiltrekkende men også intenst irriterende. Han kalte seg Fredsfyrsten, men røsket likevel møblementet ut av templet. Han kalte seg Guds Sønn, men ble hele tiden anklaget for ikke å være religiøs nok! Det var absolutte ikke denne Jesus jeg hadde forventet å møte.

Kanskje du aldri har lest Bibelen før. Eller kanskje du aldri tidligere har tenkt ordentlig over hvem Jesus er. Uansett hva som er din historie, en ting er sikkert: Det er umulig å ta stilling til hva som er sant uten en grundig gjennomgang av bevismaterialet.”

Nå til høsten begynner vi med disse seks studiene. Hvis du vil være med, med andre ikke-kristne som vil undersøke dette, sende e-post til rock.notodden@gmail.com (alt foregår på norsk)

Ephesians 5:21-33 Christ and the church

Ephesians 5:21-33

Ah Ephesians 5:21-33: widely quoted, widely taught, most often out of context, and most often twisted to fit the teacher’s opinion – rather than let our opinions be straightened out by God’s Word!

So, let me remind you of the context – where are we in the letter to the Ephesians, and what comes just before these verses.

Where we are is in the “describing what a Christian life looks like” part of the book. We have been saved from darkness and brought into the light. We were dead, but now we are alive.
But we don’t know how to not be dead, and left to our own devices we’d keep living the way we always have – as spiritually dead people. So God in his mercy tells us how to live as LIVING people. Stop lying, but tell the truth. Stop sinning sexually, but be pure. Stop breaking people down with your words but build them up. Stop stealing but work hard. Stop living like a drunkard, stumbling through life with no plan, no purpose, but instead be filled with the Spirit, the wisdom and knowledge of God, and live like the wise man, making the most of every opportunity.
Live intentionally, examining your life carefully to see where you are out of step with God’s spirit, where you need to repent and give it over to God.

It’s living faith. Oops, I’ve been living like I was dead in this area, I have not trusted your word here, I repent and give it over to you.

Nowhere is this more apparent with marriage. We all have our own ideas about marriage, indeed whether marriage is even a good thing or not, and certainly about what makes it work. And the words of v22 “wives, submit to your husbands” is so grossly counter culture, sounds so harsh and backwards to our ears, that we are probably tempted to dismiss it as rubbish, or as some form of foolish thinking by Paul, the apostle, stuck in his 1^st century ways.

But, if we belong to Christ, we can’t just dismiss his word because we don’t like it. In fact, it’s often those areas where his Living Word is so difficult to accept – it’s those areas that are most important that we grapple to understand, and that we submit to.

We can’t very well call Jesus our “Lord” if we only obey him when he agrees with us. He is our Lord, our Master, we obey his words even when they are hard, even when we don’t understand them, because we trust him. That is faith. That is being in a loving relationship. Obedience is the evidence of faith.

So let us resolve to put aside our initial reaction and allow God to speak to us through his Word first, before we decide how we will respond.

Because this passage is not primarily about women submitting to their husbands – or indeed men loving their wives even to the point of dying for them. It’s not even primarily about marriage!

It is firstly about Christ and the church. So that’s what we’ll look at first. Then we’ll look at the calling to husbands, and finally the calling to wives.

1. Christ and the church

It’s all over the place in this passage, did you notice?

V21 submit…because you revere Christ. He is our motivation!

V22 submit…as to the Lord. V23 Christ is the head of the church. He is the Saviour of his body, the church. V25 love… like Christ loved the church. He gave his life up for her to make her holy. v29 just as Christ cares for the church. And finally, v32 really poorly translated in the NLT This is a great mystery, but it is an illustration of the way Christ and the church are one – actually says This is a great mystery, and it is about Christ and the church. That is, the mystery of marriage is not marriage – but Christ and the church. Marriage is the shadow, Christ and His Church is the reality. Marriage will pass away, but we will forever be united in Christ, being perfectly known, perfectly knowing him and each other, and perfectly loved.

Isn’t that what marriage strives towards? That perfect love, perfect acceptance. Deep, true intimacy. To be deeply known by another – and loved, accepted. That is the new Creation. That is what we are NOW in Christ. He knows us perfectly, yet still loves us. We now know him in part, and soon will know him fully. A good marriage is a glimpse towards that perfect Reality.

What do we learn about our relationship with God through this passage? We are the church, the wife. He is Christ, the husband.

So how does Christ, the perfect husband, love his wife, the church? (By the way, guys, if you’re offended by being part of the “wife” – don’t be. It’s a great blessing. And anyway, the ladies have had to put up with being called sons!)

Christ, the perfect husband. V23 He is the Saviour of his body, the church. He saves us by v25 He gave up his life for her 26 to make her holy and clean, washed by the cleansing of God’s word. 27 He did this to present her to himself as a glorious church without a spot or wrinkle or any other blemish. Instead, she will be holy and without fault.

Christ is our Saviour. To belong to Christ is to be loved with an indestructible love. To belong to Christ is to BE holy and clean, washed by his word (like we’re doing now). We are being made holy, made clean through the power of his word, a glorious church without a spot or wrinkle or any other blemish. Indeed, we WILL be holy and without fault.

It’s guaranteed. That’s our destiny. Holy. Faultless. Perfect. Remember that’s what we need to be to get into the kingdom of God: perfect. Only perfect people allowed in the Kingdom. And by being married with Christ, we get his perfection.

It’s like the Royal Wedding: Kate Middleton was a commoner, but when she married Prince William she got his titles. She is now a princess, a duchess, royalty by marriage. They are one.
Or like when Debby and I got married: I brought in a study loan, Debby brought in a car! She shared in my debts, and I shared in her wealth. We were one. She took on my debt – I received her car.
Like us with Christ, he takes upon himself our sins, and we receive his perfection.
Christianity, at its heart is a Marriage, the King who married the poor homeless girl. Actually, no, it’s better than that – he is the King who marries the rebel, the girl who spat in his face and screams “I hate you” when he comes near, the girl who scrabbled in the dirt, who gave her body to everyone and anyone who came by. This prostitute, this rebel, this unlovable wretch – she’s the one he came for, washed clean with his blood. Redeemed. That’s what we are.

We are united into one new body. So close is our intimacy with Christ that we can be described as one new man, one person, one body (earlier in Ephesians) or here in 30 And we are members of his body. 31 As the Scriptures say, “A man leaves his father and mother and is joined to his wife, and the two are united into one.”

His body. And so he cares for us, as his body. 29 No one hates his own body but feeds and cares for it, just as Christ cares for the church. Never doubt the love of Christ! If you belong to him, then you are part of his body. And he cannot help but look after his body, and that includes you! Just like you feed, clothe, wash, care for your body, you are compelled to do it, so he looks after and cares for us. We are his body.

How does the church, as the wife of Christ, relate to her husband? She submits to him. She puts his desires before her own. That’s what we do if we are to be the perfect church. A church in rebellion and disobedience to God’s word is not a great church! The evidence is unfortunately all around us: churches that have drifted from the word of God, refusing to obey Christ – and the result is disaster!

24 As the church submits to Christ, so you wives should submit to your husbands in everything. Everything. It is a whole-hearted obedience. We hold nothing back. And why should we? He loves us, died for us and knows what is best for us (including in marriage). So let us submit to him in EVERYTHING!

Christ is our perfect husband, who loves enough to give up his own life for us, He cares for us, nurtures us, loves us. And we are the church, his bride, his wife, joyfully submitting to his wise care for us, his leadership, our eyes shining with love and joy when we hear his voice, and we run to him saying “I am yours, all of me, you have me completely, do with me as you will”.

Right, that’s the ideal, that’s what our marriages are supposed to reflect, supposed to advertise to the world! So let’s look now at the role of the husband, and the role of the wife.

2. Husbands

Be Christ to your wives. Put yourself aside, your own selfish ambitions, and serve her.

This means caring for her the way you care for yourself, your own body, just as Christ cares for the church (v29). In fact, caring for your wife IS caring for yourself. 28 For a man who loves his wife actually shows love for himself. When you are married you are joined together as one, one flesh, one new person. To look after your wife is like looking after your leg, your arm, your heart. She is part of you.

But what does “care for you wife” actually mean? Note what the GOAL of the perfect husband is. It is not to make the wife happy! 25 For husbands, this means love your wives, just as Christ loved the church. He gave up his life for her 26 to make her holy and clean, washed by the cleansing of God’s word. 27 He did this to present her to himself as a glorious church without a spot or wrinkle or any other blemish. Instead, she will be holy and without fault.

What is the goal of the Christian husband? To see holiness in his wife. Her holiness, her godliness, her relationship with the Lord Jesus – that is the goal of the Christian husband. Mind-shift, eh?

Have you ever thought that that is your goal? We’ll see next Sunday that it’s the SAME goal with raising children. Because at the end of the day nothing else matters as much as knowing Christ. He is the be all and end all of life. In Him is found all wisdom and understanding, all light and love and happiness, in Him is found every spiritual blessing.

So resolve to aim for godliness, not happiness in your marriage – and you will find that godliness is the pathway to happiness. Whereas aiming for happiness will mean that you miss both. Trying to make her happy will just end up giving in to whatever she wants. And for sinners like us getting what we want all the time does not make us happy and fulfilled, but makes us greedy and discontented!

So, husbands, this does mean that sometimes you will say “no” because you care more for her godliness than momentary happiness. You will gently reveal sin in her life – after all you know her deeply and can see where she needs to repent. You will pray for her regularly, pleading with the Lord for her. You will read the Bible with her, teaching her the words of truth – not because you’re necessarily a gifted Bible teacher (and she might be better!) but because it is your responsibility to cleanse your wife with the Word (v26).

You might want to take some time after the service to apologise to your wife for areas you have failed to be a husband like Christ, where you have made it difficult for her to submit to your leadership – or where you have not been leading, but been lazy, shirking your responsibilities. And pray together for the power of Christ within you to enable you to be more and more a Christian husband. Because to be a Christian husband is impossible without the Holy Spirit!

By the way, servant leadership is never harsh, never cruel. It does not belittle, or crush. It is not violent or angry. It may be firm, it sometimes may infuriate your wife, you may clash – but Christ is a servant leader, deep love and compassion underlies everything he does. You be the same.

The picture I have in my mind of being a husband is caring for a beautiful delicate flower. To water her, to nurture, to occasionally clip a piece off – but always support her striving for the light, letting her bloom, reveal more and more of the glorious flower that she is.

3. Wives

Be the church to your husbands. Submit to him in everything. Respect him.

24 As the church submits to Christ, so you wives should submit to your husbands in everything. Now this does NOT say “submit to him when you agree with his decision”. It does not say “submit, when he’s loving like he should”. It says “submit”. You think that’s hard? Well, how about being called to love your wife, to die to self for her – also unqualified. Also not “if she submits” “if she respects” but love her when she nags you, love her when she’s bitter, love her when she cuts you down, love her when she’s bossy and takes over everything and shuts you out of your own family. Love her, and stop her doing those things (eventually). It’s hard being a husband, and it’s hard being a wife. Being married to a sinner is going to be difficult!

So submit, in everything. That doesn’t mean be a silent doormat, but it does mean that you know AND he knows that he has the responsibility of leading the family and that you support him in that. This is especially important for those with non-Christian husbands. You are still to honour and respect him. In fact 1 Peter 3 says that you will win him over with your submission. Why? Because it is so completely against the way of the world. IN our selfish natures we fight for our rights. But suddenly there you are supporting him. Loving him. Honouring him. Making him feel special, respected, like the king in his home. What a witness of living for Christ!

Ladies, trust the word of Christ. Honouring your husband as your husband, honouring his position as head of the family, and letting him lead. It really works. It is the way God has designed us. So trust his word. Trust yourself to him. And if your husband is making a real hash of things – don’t nag or manipulate or sulk, make things difficult – pray. Pray to his head, the Lord Jesus, and ask Him to change things. And that goes for non-Christian husbands too – Christ has all authority in heaven and on earth, and has authority over your home too. So pray to Him, and trust your First Husband to look after you. Do not be afraid – he is with you.

Again, you might want to take some time after the service to talk with your husband, apologise for areas where you have tried to take control from him, where you have made him feel useless or unwanted, disrespected. And pray together for the power of God to enable you to lovingly and joyfully submit to your husband. Because that is impossible, and only the Holy Spirit can enable you to be a Christian wife!

In conclusion

32 [Marriage] is a great mystery, and it is about Christ and the church

Dear friends, our relationships should reflect Christ: with our wives, our children, at work. And especially marriage: marriage is designed to reflect the relationship Christ has with his church. Our marriage is an advert for Christ’s love and the church’s loving submission.

What message does your marriage teach? Do people see Christ willing to give up everything – to become nothing, to die, even to die a criminal’s death on the cross – love so deep it will bear any cost in order to save his people – do people see that in the way you treat your wife? Love your wife?

Do people see the church with a joyful submission, a servant heart, a willingness to do anything for the glory of Christ – a heart that moves swiftly to obey, swiftly to serve, to give, to honour, to build up, to praise – do people see that in the way you treat your husband? Respect him, honour him, follow his lead, even when it’s difficult, even when you think he’s wrong.

Isn’t this a noble calling? We show Christ and the church. Us! God has entrusted us with advertising his love for us. And he has empowered us by his Spirit, so that we CAN do this.

What a joy! What a privilege! Everything we do, everything we are, is for his glory. Even our marriage echoes into eternity. Praise God.

Ephesians 5:8-20 Live in the light

Ephesians 5:8-20

The movie Gladiator opens with a battle scene, the general Maximus addressing his troops. And he says “What we do in life echoes in eternity!”

Do you want a life that echoes in eternity? Do you want your life to count? Do you want to live with meaning, with purpose?

Today’s reading is about living meaningful lives. Carefully determine what pleases the Lord, living not as fools, but as wise, making every moment count. Your life echoes in eternity. What story will your life tell?

Live in the light – because you are people of the light
Live in the light – because the darkness will be exposed
Live in the light – because this pleases the Lord

1. Live in the light – because you are people of the light

8 For once you were full of darkness, but now you have light from the Lord. So live as people of light! 9 For this light within you produces only what is good and right and true.

We are now firmly in the second half of Ephesians. The first half was the gospel - what God has done for us. Eph 2:1 Once you were dead because of your disobedience and your many sins....4–5 But God is so rich in mercy, and he loved us so much, 5 that even though we were dead because of our sins, he gave us life when he raised Christ from the dead. (It is only by God’s grace that you have been saved!)
And in Christ, Eph 1:3–4 All praise to God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly realms because we are united with Christ. 4 Even before he made the world, God loved us and chose us in Christ to be holy and without fault in his eyes.

This is who we are! We were once dead – full of darkness, stuck in our sins, in our rebellion against God. But now – now we are ALIVE! Alive to God, alive in Christ. We are full of LIGHT! We breathe, talk, walk – we live like people who are alive, not people who are dead. So we tell the truth, read the Bible, tell people about Jesus, are sexually pure, use our words to build up, work hard and provide for others, are kind, tender-hearted, quick to forgive.

Now all that can sound like a list of things to do! Try harder, do more. But there’s no gospel in that. Remember how we’ve seen in these two chapters (4 and 5) the gospel is sprinkled into all these verses about “this is how you should live”. Have a look: 4:19 No lust and impurity - 4:23 Let the Spirit renew you, put on your new nature. Don’t lie, don’t steal, don’t be angry, etc. 4:30 The Holy Spirit guarantees you will be saved. Be kind, tenderhearted, forgiving, not bitter angry, harsh, etc. 4:32 Because Christ forgave you 5:2 He loved us. No sexual immorality, coarse jokes. 5:8 You were full of darkness, but now light – and that light produces what is good and right and true.

This light within us produces only what is good and right and true. That’s where the fruit comes from - from the light within. We were dark, but we have now become people of the light. The light, God’s Spirit, is the one who produces the fruit. It is his work to transform us, to change us, to regenerate us. We are new creations.

So what do we do? Sit back on our bottoms and see what God does? Well, yes, and no. Because faith is living and active – so although it is GOD who changes us, who works, whose power flows through us: we take part in His work by thinking, obeying, acting like Jesus.
We live like we are alive, not like we are dead. It is not a passive faith – i.e. we sit on our couch and do nothing.
We’re not dead. Dead people live and let life pass them by.
We are ALIVE. It is an active faith. We are soldiers, warriors for God, so we plan, we think, we act, we do. 5:10 Carefully determine (decide, think about) what pleases the Lord.

5:8 For once you were full of darkness, but now you have light from the Lord. So live as people of light!

2. Live in the light – because the darkness will be exposed

10 Carefully determine what pleases the Lord. 11 Take no part in the worthless deeds of evil and darkness; instead, expose them. 12 It is shameful even to talk about the things that ungodly people do in secret. 13 But their evil intentions will be exposed when the light shines on them, 14 for the light makes everything visible.

Exposed! Found out! The criminal surprised by the floodlight that turns on, revealing his face to the camera. The movie star caught in a back alley with his pants down, the flash of light revealing his sin to the world.

I’m sure you know the feeling! I certainly do. When you’re doing something you shouldn’t and suddenly someone finds out. Oh the shame! The embarrassment! The immediate attempt to explain away what you were doing. No it wasn’t what it looked like.

I remember a very sweet bookkeeper at a company I audited. She needed to borrow a small amount of money - but the bank refused to lend it to her. The company had money – it won’t matter if I take some – I’m going to pay it back…. but of course, she used the money, and then her car broke down, and then something else came up.... And somehow the money didn’t get repaid before we came to audit. And she was exposed.
Thief! She didn’t mean to do it, but there it was: she had taken the money without asking, and had not paid it back. She was a thief. Her employer could no longer trust her – she had broken that relationship. She lost her job. Exposed, humiliated. The light shone on her and revealed her sin. She never thought that would happen! In the darkness when she decided to take the money she never thought about the sun coming up and shining its fierce light on her theft.

And isn’t that just like us. We don’t sit around and plan to sin (at least very often! Sometimes we do- I’m going to do THIS). But most of the time we don’t plan, we don’t think ahead, we kind of stumble into a situation and then try to justify our behaviour. Make excuses. It’ll be alright, I’ll put the money back.
maybe it’s not theft, but harsh words or even cruelty – guys with your wives, your kids. It’s fine, I’m under pressure. I don’t need to say sorry.
Or wives, manipulating your husbands, nagging them “do this, do that”, using sex as weapon, making them feel like dirt.
Or a little lie here, a little lie there – so small.
Or a bit of “harmless” flirting. It’s not going to go any further, it’s just fun.

And then the light shines on you, suddenly, without warning. And things have got out of control. The harsh words, the cruelty, have become a habit, and one day you come home to an empty house and a tear-stained note “I can’t live with the bullying”. Or the manipulation and nagging – and suddenly he walks out the door “I can’t take it any more” (or like many men just becomes less and less part of the family, “busy” with other things – in the garage, in the garden, out at the club - anywhere but in the home).

The lies suddenly catch up with you and you’re exposed.

The flirting lead to coffee, and then meals out, and then a visit to a hotel, and then more sexual escapades, and suddenly you’re divorced, living with this woman you were “harmlessly” flirting with and her child from another man – separated from your wife and two sons growing up without a father. Harmless.
Or the “harmless” flirting because the woman at the client makes you feel like a MAN whereas the wife at home just nags and nags. And so you play with the harmless flirting – until one day it becomes more than harmless, and you end up having an affair.
Both those are true stories. The second couple were Christians, and were by God’s grace able to forgive each other and sort out deep rooted problems in their marriage – but it was a very painful and deeply traumatic experience.

Eph 5:15 (NLT) So be careful how you live. Don’t live like fools, but like those who are wise. Only a fool imagines that sin has no consequences. Every sin will be exposed. EVERYTHING you have ever thought, done, said will be revealed, if not now, on the Last Day when Christ returns. 13 evil intentions will be exposed when the light shines on them, 14 for the light makes everything visible.

Live in the light - because the darkness will be exposed.

3. Live in the light – because this pleases the Lord

5:15 be careful how you live. Don’t live like fools, but like those who are wise. We are called to live wisely, because we have been given the wisdom of Christ. We are called to live in a way that “pleases the Lord” – see that in v10 Carefully determine what pleases the Lord.

And what pleases him? Why, living wisely. Not doing what is shameful (v12), not doing what is worthless (v11) – instead, live intentionally: 15 be careful how you live. Literally translated “look with exactness at your walk”. Examine your life 16 Make the most of every opportunity in these evil days. 17 Don’t act thoughtlessly, but understand what the Lord wants you to do.

V16 is great literally translated from the Greek. It says “Ransom (rescue from loss) the time”.

Lives lived in rebellion and disobedience to God are worthless. They are “worthless deeds”, useful only for destruction. But you, child of God, you are called to ransom your time, use it for the glory of God! Live intentionally, thinking through how you live your life: how you work, how you play, who you marry, how you run your family, your church, etc. Look with exactness at your walk.

18 Don’t be drunk with wine, because that will ruin your life. Instead, be filled with the Holy Spirit

This verse has often confused me – why does Paul suddenly talk about wine. But reading it in context (ah!) – because living unintentionally, living not carefully, living without a plan, lurching from one place to the next, saying or doing whatever comes into your head with no filter – that’s living like a drunkard. And so many people live like that. Many Christians live like that. Maybe even here today. Actually, probably here today. Our society is all about being “free” and not tied down and being “lead by our heart” and expressing ourselves. In other words living like drunkards. No plan, nothing thought through, just blurting out whatever, hooking up with someone, having a baby or two, then moving out because they were too much trouble, then drifting into someone else’s arms, and so on.

Our society is full of “drunkards”. And we should not be the same Instead, be filled with the Holy Spirit, 19 singing psalms and hymns and spiritual songs among yourselves, and making music to the Lord in your hearts. 20 And give thanks for everything to God the Father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ.

Instead of wandering foolishly into sin, living a life full of worthless deeds, our minds should be full of the gospel, the truths of the Bible – we are sinners, but forgiven by the grace of God.
We were dead but now alive!
Like songs in our heart we should be rejoicing over the grace of God, the love our Father has for us – and we should know the deceit (falseness) of our own hearts, of the world, of the devil – and we should be ready!

We need to examine ourselves, our own hearts, our motivations, and ask the Lord to show us the truth – and then take action! Maybe you find it easy to get drunk. Then stay away from parties and ask someone to help you with it. Debby and I have a rule that we’re never in the house alone with someone of the opposite sex. (So, ladies, if I don’t invite you in but make you stand on the step – that’s why!). Why? Not because I think anything WILL happen – but because anything COULD happen. Oh we are evil creatures, we love to sin, and I don’t want to even get near to a dangerous situation. It’s also a matter of Christian witness – if I kept on having ladies over at my house whenever Debby was out, what do you think the neighbours would imagine is happening? Bible study?

You know what your areas of temptation are – so stay away. Live intentionally. 5:15 be careful how you live. Don’t live like fools, but like those who are wise. Don’t live like a drunkard, but Be filled with the Holy Spirit, 19 singing psalms and hymns and spiritual songs among yourselves, and making music to the Lord in your hearts 20 And give thanks for everything to God the Father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ.

The Lord is so good – he has given us the church to help us KNOW how to please Him, and to help each other please him. This is the place where we are filled with the Spirit, we hear His words, we confess sin, we see His work in each other’s lives. Our lives together like a symphony of praise to God, music to his ears. This is where we gather to praise God, to thank him, to sing to him. God’s people.

We need each other! So make time for church. Plan time for prayer, for the Bible study, for one-to-one bible reading, for telling friends about Jesus. For the Sunday meeting.
“If you fail to plan you plan to fail.”
Do you pray for your church? Someone’s looking a bit down – meet them for coffee in the week. Send a sms with a Bible passage. Set aside money, make it the first thing you do with your paycheck, to support gospel work. Think through how can I serve better at church, at home, at work. How can I love my church family more, how can I raise my kids to understand the gospel, how can I love my wife better”. Live as people of the light, our lives echoing in eternity: Glory to God, glory to God, glory to God! We are forgiven sinners. Let us love one another like Christ loves us, and let us resolve today to live like that.

We have a moment now to think about these things – to consider our lives carefully. Where have we been living like drunkards instead like those filled with the Spirit? As you receive the bread and the wine, the reminder of the New Life given to you – the power of sin broken like the bread; your sins forgiven, washed away by the blood; the Holy Spirit taken within you; part of Christ’s body as we eat and drink together, united in Christ – use this time to 10 carefully determine what pleases the Lord, to repent of worthless deeds, shameful things done in secret, and to “expose” them, confess them to the Lord.

Live in the light – because you are people of the light
Live in the light – because the darkness will be exposed
Live in the light – because this pleases the Lord

Use this time, assured of God’s love, the forgiveness of sins, to be honest before God. He already knows your “secret” sins. Expose them to the light, and be forgiven.
What “private” sin do you struggle with? Where are you playing around with sin, thinking “it’s alright, it’s just in my thoughts” or “I’m alone, it’s not harming anybody”. Maybe it’s bitterness, thoughts of revenge, unforgiveness. Maybe it’s anger or frustration with someone in the church. Maybe it’s racism, or prejudice towards certain people or groups of people. Maybe it’s fantasies of another life. Maybe sexual fantasies. Maybe it’s worry, worry about this or that, worry about the future. Because those “hidden” sins – oh they find a way of coming out. As Jesus said “Out of the overflow of the heart the mouth speaks”.
Or maybe you know it affects others but you’re too proud to do something about it. Lies that need to be replaced with truth. Laziness with work. Unkind words with words that build up. An apology instead of defensiveness.

Friends, fellow sinners! Let’s repent! 11 Take no part in the worthless deeds of evil and darkness; instead, expose them.

Confess them now to God, to each other. Perhaps you need to make right with someone. Resolve to do it, and follow through on that resolution immediately.

Ephesians 5:1-9 God’s mirror

Eph 5:1-9

Why does the Bible command us to be holy? Why does it have lists and lists of things to do? We’ve just read: Don’t lie, tell the truth. Don’t steal but work. Don’t sin sexually, but be pure.

Isn’t this just a list of rules? Why is this good news? Sounds like bad news to me!

No, it’s not a list of rules – it’s a description.

You are alive. So there are things you do naturally. You breathe, walk, eat, sleep, talk, love, run, jump. Why? Because those are the things living people do! In the same way these lists of commands aren’t commands so much as descriptions of what people who are spiritually alive do. This is how we live.

Of course, if we are dead, breathing, walking, eating – all the things that a living person does – well that’s impossible for us, and we are foolish to try. And that’s the message in today’s passage. Imitate God, literally be like God in everything, because you are his dear children. Act like a living person because you are alive.

And if you are dead, that is not a child of God, not part of Christ. Well then, you will not inherit the kingdom of God because no-one who is dead (immoral, impure, or greedy) is allowed to be with the living. No corpses in the living room thank you!
If you are dead, you need to FIRST be made alive through Christ before you can live like the living.

1. Be perfect in everything

2. Only perfect people are allowed to know God

3. Christ, the perfect image of God

1. Be perfect in everything

5:1 Imitate God, therefore, in everything you do, because you are his dear children. 2 Live a life filled with love, following the example of Christ.

Now some people have been taught that this means “try really hard and make sure you say sorry to God”. That the way to progress as a Christian is to be sincere, and to try hard (and don’t forget to say sorry, otherwise you’ll go to hell). Well, if you’ve been taught that, you’ve been lied to. The only way to be right with God, the only way to grow as a Christian...is to be perfect. To reflect back to God the perfection of God. 5 You can be sure that no immoral, impure, or greedy person will inherit the Kingdom of Christ and of God.

“Imitate God!” commands Paul through the Spirit. in everything you do. Eph 4:24 Put on your new nature, created to be like God—truly righteous and holy. God is commanding us to imitate him, to be like him, to be reflections of Him – a little perfect image of God running around in the world. The word in v1 in the Greek is “mimeos”, where we get mimic. We are to mimic God, echo his actions, copy him. Like a reflection in a mirror, so we are to reflect the holiness and perfection of God.

Now this isn’t something new, or some weird thing only found in Ephesians. Jesus said it in his sermon on the mount: as he preaches to the people about the Kingdom of God he sums up his teaching like this “Be perfect, therefore, as your heavenly Father is perfect.” (Matthew 5:48). In Leviticus 19:2 Israel was called to “Be holy because I, the Lord your God, am holy”. 1 Peter 1:15 says But now you must be holy in everything you do, just as God who chose you is holy.

Imitate God. Be perfect. Be righteous. That is the standard to which we are called, the standard against which every person is measured. The standard is perfection. The goal is holiness. Not merely a bit more holy. But perfectly holy.

4:24 Put on your new nature, created to be like God. BE LIKE GOD. truly righteous and holy (v24).

Think about it. You, a being of pure goodness. No selfish thought ever crosses your mind. No evil desire. No harsh word passes your lips. You are perfectly honest, always truthful. You are sexually pure, not lustful, without shame. You are like a shaft of clean light, shining in the darkness.

That is what we are called to be. No less than as perfect as God himself. And if we are not, if we are immoral, impure, greedy – then we will not inherit the kingdom of God! 5:5 You can be sure that no immoral, impure, or greedy person will inherit the Kingdom of Christ and of God.

We have often said that we should have a sign outside the church saying “no perfect people allowed”. And that’s right. Everyone is welcome to come and hear the Gospel preached. But the Heavenly Church, the Kingdom of God, has a sign outside its door.

And that sign says “ONLY PERFECT PEOPLE ALLOWED”

Imitate God in everything you do – and if you do not, if you slip into immorality, the tiniest impurity, a little bit of greed – then you are shut out from the Kingdom of God forever. You will not inherit the kingdom of God. Have I got your attention now? Am I saying anything other than what the Word is saying? No, it’s right there in verse 5.

2. Only perfect people are allowed to know God

5 You can be sure that no immoral, impure, or greedy person will inherit the Kingdom of Christ and of God. For a greedy person is an idolater, worshiping the things of this world. 6 Don’t be fooled by those who try to excuse these sins, for the anger of God will fall on all who disobey him.

Now I have a problem. The problem is: I am greedy – the evidence is here around my waist. Therefore, I will not inherit the kingdom of God. I am not good enough. I can not be good enough.

You are all liars. You are sexual sinners. You lose your temper and let your anger get the better of you. You tell coarse jokes and use bad language. You are impure. You are thieves, prostitutes, murderers, adulterers, greedy people driven by your appetites. In short, you are like me. Everything we’ve read that we should not do in chapters 4 and 5 – we do.

And yet we still think that trying harder will impress God! The Jehovah’s Witnesses try very hard. Very earnest. Very sincere. Desperately trying to be good enough for God, to please God, to be moral enough, pure enough. But He is not pleased. They will not inherit the Kingdom.
Catholics, they seem to live with great guilt, always trying to ensure they’ve prayed enough, said enough hail Mary’s, confessed enough sin. Many sitting in Protestant churches fall into the same trap. Have I done enough? Have I confessed? Have I been filled with the latest spiritual blessing? Have I sung enough praise? Have I prayed enough? Is God satisfied?

And the answer is NO! God is not satisfied. You have failed. You have not confessed enough, said enough hail Mary’s , gone door to door enough, sang praises enough, been “filled with the spirit” enough. You are still an idolater, you still think impure thoughts, you are still greedy, you are still not perfect. Our efforts are not enough.

And the same goes for Muslims, Hindus, Bhuddists, New Age, atheists, whatever. Full of sincere, lovely people, trying so hard to be good. Think about Islam. It sets very high standards of behaviour. You must do this at this time. You must not do that. Eat this food but not that. Give to the poor, help your neighbour, pray five times a day, declare the greatness of Allah and his prophet Muhammed, travel to Mecca (Hajj). What a high standard, a high calling. But it is not enough. The best Muslim falls short of perfection. The best Hindu is not good enough. The Dalai Lama (the best Bhuddist) is not good enough. For they do not imitate God perfectly. They are not like God.

6 Don’t be fooled by those who try to excuse these sins, for the anger of God will fall on all who disobey him.

God’s anger will fall on all who disobey him. We saw that in Amos – Amos warning, pleading with the people to turn back to God, to seek him and live, to stop messing around with their religion and seek GOD. Because religion is simply trying to impress God. And God has already told us it does not impress him. Being religious won’t work. Being perfect, and only being perfect, will work.

Imitate God – or be shut out of the Kingdom.

Understanding the awesome, frightening HOLINESS of God is key for us to understand this chapter and chapters like it in the Bible. Understanding God’s holiness makes moralism “be a good boy, try harder” utterly ridiculous! That kind of “Christianity” is all over the place and it is a lie.

5:1 Imitate God, therefore, in everything you do, because you are his dear children. 2 Live a life filled with love, following the example of Christ.

Well, we’ve seen that that’s impossible! For us. But there is one person who did imitate God. There is one man who is God’s exact mirror image, one who perfectly reflects the Father. As Jesus said to Philip in John 14:9 “to know me (Jesus) is to know the Father”.

We cannot imitate God, but v2 carries on, praise God, with these words: He loved us and offered himself as a sacrifice for us, a pleasing aroma to God.

3. Christ, the perfect image of God (he is God’s mirror)

Feel the hopelessness of anything other than the gospel. For this is the truth. There is NO HOPE apart from Christ. Only he is the pleasing aroma to God. Only he can satisfy God’s righteous requirements. Only he is perfectly holy, perfectly good, perfectly righteous. Only Jesus has kept the law, perfectly.

Jesus mind is not dark (4:18) but light, not closed but open, his heart is not hard but soft toward God the Father. He did not, does not, follow lustful pleasure and sexual impurity (v19) but has thrown off lust and deception. Lust has no part in Christ. He did not and does not use people to satisfy his own sexual desires.

There is (v25) only truth on his lips, there is no unrighteous anger, he does not steal but works hard, his words are good and helpful and building up – he is kind, tender-hearted, forgiving.

In other words, Christ is the perfect Christian (the only perfect Christian)!

That’s why in these chapters about “this is how you must live” the gospel is almost randomly sprinkled in amongst this list of things to do. No lust and impurty - 4:23 Let the Spirit renew you, put on your new nature. Don’t lie, don’t steal, don’t be angry, etc. 4:30 The Holy Spirit guarantees you will be saved. Be kind, tenderhearted, forgiving, not bitter angry, harsh, etc. 4:32 Because Christ forgave you 5:2 He loved us. No sexual immorality, coarse jokes. 5:8 You were full of darkness, but now light – and that light produces what is good and right and true.

What we must do is realise we cannot do it, realise that he has done it, and ask him to cover our shame and failure with his glorious perfection – and that is exactly what he does.

In Eph 2 it says 1 Once you were dead because of your disobedience and your many sins….4 But God is so rich in mercy, and he loved us so much, 5 that even though we were dead because of our sins, he gave us life when he raised Christ from the dead.

You see, being a Christian is remembering that we are not dead but alive. The command to imitate God is not some sick joke, haha this is impossible, you’ll never do it, you can burn in hell – but this is saying to living people: breathe. Be what you are. Walk, talk, jump, laugh, live. For dead people, being commanded to breathe, to walk, to talk, is impossible. But if we are in Christ, we are not dead! We are alive!

So be alive! Christian maturity or growth is simply remembering that I am alive in Christ.

You ARE holy, perfect, in Christ. So let it out. Breathe! Walk! Talk! Be spiritually ALIVE, not spiritually DEAD. That is how we progress as Christians – we keep saying “wait, I’m not dead, I can move my arm, move my leg, breathe, talk, walk.” Dead people lie, but I’m not dead, I can tell the truth. Dead people steal - I’m not dead, I can work hard and give generously. Dead people use their words as weapons, I’m not dead, I can speak to build people up.

I’m standing and talking to a woman who I know will have sex with me. She is not my wife. I feel the lust within me. I desire her and she desires me. Wait! I’m not dead! I no longer have to 19 live for lustful pleasure and eagerly practice every kind of impurity. I am alive in Christ! So I fight sexual temptation with my hat – I grab it and run!

The same goes for images of sexually available women (or men) – flee from pornography! You are alive in Christ. As my Dad said a few weeks ago: stop it! Stop it! Breathe! Be alive. Be what you are, not what you are not.

This should be what people see in us: the life of Christ shining forth. Eph 5:8–9 (NLT) For once you were full of darkness, but now you have light from the Lord. So live as people of light! 9 For this light within you produces only what is good and right and true.

This light within us produces only what is good and right and true. That’s where the fruit comes from - from the light within. We were dark, but we have now become people of the light. The light, God’s Spirit, is the one who produces the fruit.

I’d like to end by telling a little story illustrate the point of this passage. This was originally told by Paul Tripp
Suppose I have an apple tree in my garden (I do). Now suppose it produces horrible bitter small apples (which it does). My wife would like big, juicy, sweet but still-a-bit-tangy apples. So she says to me “fix the tree”. “Yes dear”. So the next day I go out to the shops and come back with the following: a ladder, a nail gun, and a bag of big juicy apples from the shop. My wife watches me carry all this down to the tree with a concerned look on her face. You know the look which says “I think he’s finally lost it”. She becomes more certain of this fact when she sees what I’m doing to the tree. Because I am up the ladder, and grabbing each branch, I am taking one of the juicy apples I bought from the shop and nailing it with the nail gun to the branch. After half an hour I’m finished. The tree has juicy apples nailed to every branch. “Fixed it” I say to my wife.

Now many Christians, many people, are like that. We’re apple-nailing. And, if you are not in Christ, if you don’t belong to him, if he has not changed you from within, you are apple-nailing. Because how is that tree supposed to produce fruit? It needs to be changed from the INSIDE. It needs new soil, nutrients, it needs to be pruned, cared for, looked after. Nailing apples to the outside may work for a short while but it is not a solution – and it certainly won’t fool God!

A rotten tree produces rotten fruit. What the tree needs is to be made healthy again.

We need the gospel, we need Jesus not just to start the Christian life, but also to live it. Otherwise we’re just apple-nailing, fooling ourselves – and that will lead to being shut out of the Kingdom.

Only Christ is the perfect image of God. So repent of your sin, repent of trying to be “good enough”, admit to him that you need him, and accept him as Lord and King. And you become a beloved son or daughter of God, righteous and holy, by the power of his Spirit.

If you are in Christ – then be alive. Don’t live like you’re dead! Live in His power, live in the light.

And if you’re not in Christ – then you are dead, and this life is impossible. So turn to him to receive life and live in the light.

What is baptism

It is:
1. a symbol of belonging to the church
2. a symbol, and has no power to save
3. a symbol of the gospel: dead to sin, alive to Christ!

1. It is a symbol of belonging to the church

Why do we baptise? Because Jesus told us to.

Mt 28:18–20 (NLT) Jesus came and told his disciples, “I have been given all authority in heaven and on earth. 19 Therefore, go and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit. 20 Teach these new disciples to obey all the commands I have given you. And be sure of this: I am with you always, even to the end of the age.”

So baptism is for disciples. A symbol, public symbol, of belonging to Jesus.

Just like circumcision was the symbol of belonging to God’s people, the Jews, in the Old Testament, so baptism is the symbol of belonging to God’s people, the church, in the New. Today when we baptise Mia and Tori and Marit we are saying welcome to the worldwide Church, that community of believers throughout time and space – and welcome to the local representative of the Church: Rock International Church.

It is a symbol of belonging to the church

2. It is a symbol, and has no power to save

Just like circumcision, baptism has no power to save, no spiritual power within itself. There were many circumcised Jews who were far away from God and did not belong to him, even though they had the outward symbol – and there are many baptised people today who are far away from God, and face his anger and judgement, even though they have the outward symbol of baptism.

Baptism cannot save. Only faith in Christ Jesus can save. Only his blood can wash away sin – water cannot. Only his resurrection can bring you new life – baptism cannot.

It is a symbol, and has no power to save

3. It is a symbol of the gospel: dead to sin, alive to Christ!

What does it symbolise. It symbolises Christ’s blood washing away our sin (all sin, past, present and future). It symbolises dying to your old life (as you go under the water), and rising to new life in Christ (as you emerge from the water). Death, to life. Since we have died to sin, how can we continue to live in it? Rom 6:3 Or have you forgotten that when we were joined with Christ Jesus in baptism, we joined him in his death? 4 For we died and were buried with Christ by baptism. And just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glorious power of the Father, now we also may live new lives.

It is a symbol of the gospel: dead to sin, alive to Christ!

So, baptism is a symbol of belonging to the church. Baptism is a symbol, and has no power to save. And baptism is a symbol of the gospel: dead to sin, alive to Christ!

Ephesians 4:1-16 Walk in unity

Ephesians 4:1-16

Do you want to be a mature Christian?
How do you make sure that no-one deceives you, lies to you, about the truth?
Do you want to be part of a church where everyone loves each other, cares for each other, serves each other. United with a single purpose, everyone moving in the same direction, bringing glory to God.

How can we have a church like that?

Well, that’s what today’s passage is about: the church united, united in love, in service. It’s about being mature Christians, able to know right and wrong, and learning to care for each other.
It’s about walking in unity: together using the gifts God has given us to serve each other in the church. That’s why we’ve been given the gifts!

· Walk in gospel unity (not just any unity – unity in the gospel)

· Christ gives gifts to his people- so they can give them to build the church

· Christ has given us preachers to grow us

Walk in gospel unity

4:1 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.

We now begin the second half of Ephesians. The first half was the gospel – what God has done for us. The second half is now what we must do for God, or as one commentary put it: “those for whom God has done so much should live in a way that is consistent with what God has done for them”. I’ve heard it described like this. I’ve described it like this.

But I’m not sure if that’s right- because it brings to mind a business transaction. We are in his debt, therefore we struggle manfully to pay off that debt. Or it’s about living up to our Father’s expectations. You know, the story about the son who has been raised right, raised from birth to take over the family business – and the son struggles to rise up to their father’s expectations, before failing utterly. And their cry? “I’m not you! I can’t do what you can do”.

Isn’t that how we feel when we come to this? Particularly if we’ve come out of a heavily moralistic church background, maybe Catholic, or Orthodox Tewahedo or some Protestant churches who’ve lost their grip on the gospel. We feel crushed by the burden of God’s expectations. Weighed down by his commands. His standard is so high – look what it says 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.

So what I could say now is: How’s your humility? Your gentleness? Are you always gentle, always putting others before yourself, particularly in the church. Well, are you? No. Try harder. Come on. And what about patience? Ever lose patience with people in this church? Or others. How dare you. “Make every effort to keep yourselves united,” the Bible says. Do it.

But there’s no gospel in that, is there? Look at verse 1 – the first word. “Therefore”. Whenever you see that word you need to be asking what’s the therefore there for. By thinking like that we’ve forgotten where we are in the book. We’re in chapter 4, not 1. And verse 1 continues lead a life worthy of your calling, for you have been called by God. Like Lazarus in the tomb, God has called out to us “Arise, and come forth.” His power surges through us, new breath enters our lungs, our heart starts beating again – we are alive! A new creation!

As we carry on through Ephesians we see that we should “walk” in unity (4:1–16), holiness (4:17–32), love (5:1–6), light (5:7–14), and wisdom (5:15–6:9). Why? Because that is what we have been given. Christ united us, he poured out his love, he has flooded our hearts with light, and all wisdom and understanding is found in Christ.

This is calling us to use gifts we have been given. That’s a big difference! It’s not us being called to raise ourselves up, or to pay back a debt. It is us being given a million kroner and being asked to give back NOK100.

What is our job? To turn away from sin, and give ourselves willingly to God. To allow Him to work in our lives. To say “I am yours, Lord. I belong to you. Here’s my gift – i give to you to use” That’s walking in unity.

But there’s another error we can fall into. The error of cheap grace. If Ephesians finished at chapter 3 we might feel that “Christ has done everything, I don’t have to do anything”. And that’s right. But also wrong. Because we are not just saved from, but saved for. We were dead, raised to life AND given good works to do which were prepared beforehand. We are not saved so that we can continue living our own selfish lives. Our purpose is to glorify God – not glorify ME! If our lives do not change as a result of knowing Christ, we do not know Christ. As someone put it: if there’s no fruit, there’s no root.

When we are saved, we are not just saved, but we now belong. Christ is not just Lord, but also Master. MY RIGHTS no longer exist. We exist to serve and please him. Now that’s scary. We would never trust another human with that kind of power over us. The temptation to abuse that power is so huge. And we can abuse without even knowing it! But God is not like us, demonstrated on the cross, demonstrated when he who was above descended to our level, to the messiness of our lives, to go through the darkest times, to take our sin upon his shoulders, to go to the cross – and their triumph over the darkness, defeat the powers of hell, destroy sin and death forever, and emerge victorious. That is our Master!

So we can gladly give ourselves to him, and say “Lord, do with me what you will.” And here we see what he will do: he will make us people who are humble, gentle, patient, the family of God united together in peace and love. Sounds terrible doesn’t it! What a terrible master! J No, isn’t that exactly the kind of people we long to be. Isn’t that the kind of church we want to belong to?

So dear friends, trust Christ. His mighty power is at work in you. So repent of your sin, turn away from selfishness, and turn to God with willingness and say “use me, Lord, I am yours.”

Not convinced? Still think Christianity is about being good, about following the rules? Well, let’s look at verses 7-10, the heart of this passage.

Christ gives gifts to his people- so they can give them to build the church

The key in this passage is the Old Testament quote in verse 8. 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.”

But Paul has done something interesting here. Flip back to Psalm 68 (page 346). We can see that the Psalm is a song of praise to God who rescues his people. Like a mighty warrior breaking into the enemy camp to set his people free. Ps 68:1 Rise up, O God, and scatter your enemies... 3 But let the godly rejoice. Let them be glad in God’s presence.

A big focus is when God rescued his people from slavery in Egypt (the Exodus). Ps 68:7–8 O God, when you led your people out from Egypt, when you marched through the dry wasteland, 8 the earth trembled, and the heavens poured down rain before you, the God of Sinai, before God, the God of Israel.

Out from Egypt, and into the Promised Land He lead them to Mt Sinai, where he confirmed that they were his people, a holy nation, belonging to God – and he was their God, and would forever be with them. And so on to the Promised Land, and Jerusalem, Mount Zion, where the Temple was built, the great symbol of God with his people.

And so we pick it up in verse 17 to 18, where our quote comes from: Ps 68:17–18 (NLT) Surrounded by unnumbered thousands of chariots, the Lord came from Mount Sinai into his sanctuary. 18 When you ascended to the heights, you led a crowd of captives. You received gifts from the people, even from those who rebelled against you. Now the LORD God will live among us there.

Now did you notice something different between this and the quote in Ephesians? Here in Psalm 68 it says the people give gifts to the Victorious King. But Paul changes the quotation. It says HE gave gifts. But Paul isn’t just randomly bringing out God’s generosity! The context of Psalm 68 is God rescuing his people from Exodus. And the gifts the people are giving are gifts to build the tabernacle / holy Temple. But where did they get these gifts? From Egypt. God caused the Egyptians to shower the Israelites with gifts as they were leaving. The gifts they had to give back to God were provided … by God.

And so with the church. We serve in church with the gifts God has given us. He gave us these gifts to give back to him to build his tabernacle, the holy Temple of worship to him: the CHURCH! Eph 2:20–21 Together, we are his house, built on the foundation of the apostles and the prophets. And the cornerstone is Christ Jesus himself. 21 We are carefully joined together in him, becoming a holy temple for the Lord.

Do you get the picture? Exodus. God victorious over Pharoah, defeating him and his mighty army by leading the Israelites through the Red Sea and into freedom. The Israelites carrying gold jewellery, precious stones, costly gifts – gifts from Egypt. Here is the victorious King, leading a crowd of captives (they were prisoners, slaves) – but now he is giving gifts to his people: they are free, they are a people, they are showered with an abundance of gifts. And then, as they ascend (go up) the “height” (Mt Sinai (tabernacle), Mt Zion (Temple)) the people give the gifts they have been given back to God to build his Temple.

And so too with us. Jesus, the victorious Warrior King, having defeated Satan, sin and death on the Cross, ascending to heaven. And we the crowd of captives following him, our eyes fixed on him – and he’s showering us with gifts. And these gifts are not given for us to selfishly hoard, but to give back to God for building his Holy Church.

Church is not just means to an end – it is the end goal. God’s goal is the church. Church is not just to make me a better person, or to meet my needs, or to train me up – although it is these things, it is more than these things. It is where we serve. We come to church to serve. To serve each other. We come to church ready to hear the word of God, ready to love each other, ready to serve wherever necessary.

Where can you serve in this church? What gift have you got? Maybe it’s making tea, putting out chairs, administration, doing the books, designing posters, visiting people, praying, giving money to support the church, giving money to support people in the church who are struggling, serving in the Sunday School, meeting to read the Bible with someone, sharing the gospel with friends and neighbours, organising evangelistic events, praying, singing! There are so many opportunities to serve, so many areas where we can give back to God the gifts he’s given us.
Oh, and don’t sit around waiting for God to show you your gift like some message floating down from heaven. See a need, get involved. Take action. This is your home, your family, so get in!

Christ gives gifts to his people- so they can give them to build the church. You have been greatly gifted, greatly blessed. So keep in mind the picture of King Jesus in his victory procession, riding on a mighty white horse, his crown gleaming, his armour shining like the noon-day sun, power in his arms, love in his eyes, throwing gift after gift out to his people. And there you are, gift in hand, and you run after the King, stumbling in your eagerness, “Jesus, I give this to you, I am yours”. That’s what we do when we serve in the church, whether it’s preaching from the front, praying alone in the quietness of the night, sweeping the floor, fighting our own sin so we can love our brothers and sisters like we should – as we are doing these things and more we are saying to Jesus “this gift you gave to me, I am giving it to you to glorify you. I am giving it to build your church, your body.”

Christ gives gifts to his people- so they can give them to build the church.

But how do we know what to do, how to serve? How do we know how to use our gifts? How do we know what it means to be a church, to live as God’s family? Ah, Christ has given us the gifts for that too!

Christ has given us preachers to grow us

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.

All these gifts are word ministry gifts – gifts related to teaching the Bible. Without God’s word we will never be mature. We will be like babies. We will be easily deceived. So Christ gave us first the apostles and prophets. How? Like this letter we’re reading. The Apostle is teaching us. The prophets are the gospel writers like Luke and Mark who were not apostles, and the writer to the Hebrews. (Compare 2:20 the foundation of the apostles and prophets, with Christ as the cornerstone.) We have their written words, and the evangelist (someone especially gifted in the church to preach the gospel clearly to non-Christians, like my Dad), and the pastor and teacher teach these words to the people.

My job is to equip God’s people to do his work and build up the church, the body of Christ. That is my responsibility commanded by God. So pray that I will be a responsible pastor and teach the Word! Because if I don’t, then we will all be babies, immature, blown about. Pray that I guard my time, that I am not distracted from preaching the word.

But, when the pastor is doing his job, that sets everyone else free to do there’s. I do my job well for your sakes. You, in kind, do you jobs well for my sake and the sake of others. And we work together, united in purpose, for the glory of God.

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.

Walk in unity: use the gifts God has given you to serve each other in the church. That’s why you’ve been given the gifts!

Ephesians 3:14-21 Glory to God!

Eph 3:14-21

The noise of the mob is growing louder. You can hear them coming down the street. The chants are loud: “death to Christians”. There is no point calling the police – the police are leading the mob. They are coming to arrest you, your wife, your children, for rebellion against the state. What will you do? Will you stand firm for Christ no matter the cost? Do you really believe that his love his wide enough, deep enough, even in the darkness of persecution? Do you believe that he could empower you with inner strength from his Spirit from his glorious unlimited resources?

The mob bangs on the door – “stop believing in Christ, or die”. You call your wife and your children over to you. You look into their eyes, and realise how deeply you love them. The bangs grow louder as the police start to batter the door down. It begins to splinter. You stand together with your family, holding hands. The door bursts open, the police rush in – to find you in prayer. “Glory to God, who is able, through his mighty power at work within us, to accomplish infinitely more than we might ask or think. 21 Glory to him in the church and in Christ Jesus through all generations forever and ever! Amen.”

This was the situation in Ephesus in AD81, a mere 20 years after Paul wrote this letter to the Ephesians. This could be Norway in 2033, a mere 20 years from today. Are we ready to stand for Christ? Are we, today, taking upon us the armour of God, clothing ourselves in Christ, standing firm for him in our workplace? In our family? With our friends? At the movies? In front of the TV? The computer? We belong to him. We were dead, but now we are alive! Let us live for him!

Because, as we see throughout Ephesians, and in today’s passage, our God is great! His is great in power, in love.

God is great in power

14 When I think of all this, I fall to my knees and pray to the Father, 15 the Creator of everything in heaven and on earth. 16 I pray that from his glorious, unlimited resources he will empower you with inner strength through his Spirit. 17 Then Christ will make his home in your hearts as you trust in him.

The Creator of Heaven and earth – the one who spoke a word – and the universe existed. Awesome, unlimited power!
And through Christ we have access to that power. If you are a Christian you have already experienced that power. The moment you believed, the Holy Spirit breathed new life into you. You were dead, a spiritual corpse – and suddenly you were alive! New breath coursed through your lungs. Alive! And each day you remain a Christian is by the power of the Spirit.
It may not feel like it, but each day you wake up a Christian is a miracle, empowered by 1:19 the same mighty power 20 that raised Christ from the dead and seated him in the place of honour at God’s right hand in the heavenly realms. The power of God within us. Christ himself 17 makes his home in our hearts as we trust in him.

Let’s have a look at the context of this amazing prayer. I don’t know if you noticed that Chapter 3 begins with When I think of all this. This is repeated in v14, the beginning of today’s passage When I think of all this, I fall to my knees and pray.
When I think of all what? Well, all that we’ve read so far in Ephesians! That we have every spiritual blessing in Christ. We lack nothing. That we are chosen in Christ to be holy and without fault in his eyes. This choice is his sovereign grace, and has nothing to do with us – he has chosen us, weak, dead in our sins, on order to show the wonders of his grace. He has made us alive, raised us up with Christ, joined us into his family, his one new man, the church, the Holy Temple of praise to Him. His purpose is to show his wisdom through the church – we who believe in Christ are on display, trophies of grace. When I think of all this. Wow! Praise God!

But there is a second part to verse 1 When I think of all this, I, Paul, a prisoner of Christ Jesus for the benefit of you Gentiles – then Paul interrupts himself and doesn’t finish the thought until 4:1 Therefore I, a prisoner for serving the Lord, beg you to lead a life worthy of your calling. In light of God’s greatness, we respond in praise with our lives, no matter the cost. Chapter 3 is Paul showing what it means to live a life worthy of your calling. He is in jail because he was chosen to proclaim the Gospel (v9). What does it mean for us to lead a life worthy of our calling? Chapter 4 to 6 will help us understand that: love our church (church is not the building, not the organisation, but our brothers and sisters in), love our wives, love our children, work hard, pray, obey the Word, live the Gospel. The Gospel that we believe affects how we live our lives. That’s why we will do whatever it takes, pay whatever the cost, to serve Christ.

That’s why we need to pray for inner strength through his Spirit. Why we need to understand the love of Christ. Why we need to know God is able, through his mighty power at work within us, to accomplish infinitely more than we might ask or think.

Because when we look at the powers around us – the state, our culture, other people’s hard hearts. Well, it often seems hopeless, doesn’t it? We’ve heard how closed the Eritreans are, the Philippinos, the Norwegians, to the gospel. People have no need for Christ, they think. Blessed with God’s good common grace, all their needs met – and instead of praising God they reject him. Is it worth living for Christ? Paul is in prison for the sake of the gospel, for the sake of the church. Is it worth it?

Because the powers against the Gospel are huge. Augustus, the Emperor of Rome until AD14, had declared the day of his birth be known throughout the Empire as “the day of Good News to the world of salvation”. People had to address him as Saviour. This began the cult of Emperor worship, often combined with worship of the city of Rome herself.
At the time Paul wrote, in AD61, Nero was on the throne. Nero, who would soon blame Christians for the great fire in Rome, which would start a massive persecution against Christians across the Empire. Ephesus was the second largest city in the Empire. The Empire had massive power against the seemingly weak “power” of the tiny church in Ephesus.

What chance did they have?

Well, tell me: where is the Church of Augustus? The “saviour” Augustus, he, with all his earthly power, did not do what a simple backwater carpenter did. There is no church of Augustus.
See, in earthly terms, the church should not exist. But it does, because it is powered by the very power of God. The church is the display of God’s power, God’s wisdom.

So be encouraged! The church was weak, tiny, scattered, without political power, without military might, without any earthly power. It had no way of safely gathering together – just tiny little pockets of people meeting in the name of Jesus across a vast Empire. All earthly wisdom said that it would soon be dead.
There is no earthly reason, no explanation why the church survived – especially after Nero’s proclamation to arrest all Christians and sentence them to death.
Yet, it survived because the power behind it is no earthly power – it is the power of God. As we read in Eph 1:19–23 (NLT) I also pray that you will understand the incredible greatness of God’s power for us who believe him. This is the same mighty power 20 that raised Christ from the dead and seated him in the place of honour at God’s right hand in the heavenly realms. 21 Now he is far above any ruler or authority or power or leader or anything else—not only in this world but also in the world to come. 22 God has put all things under the authority of Christ and has made him head over all things for the benefit of the church. 23 And the church is his body; it is made full and complete by Christ, who fills all things everywhere with himself.

So when you look at the church in Norway and despair – don’t. For the Lord has his people, and though the church seems to be dying or dead – there are signs of growth all around. New shoots springing up – little pockets of Christians faithfully proclaiming the gospel, willing to serve and obey Christ no matter the cost.

When you look back at your home country and despair – don’t. I told you last week that in the Sudan the government are actively deporting Christians. This week I met a nurse who had been working in the Sudan as a medical nurse doing mission work on the side. They had a team of Christians spreading the gospel for 7 years in the Darfur region. Last month they were deported, a Korean family the last to go after being arrested and interrogated. But she was not saddened. She said “we leave behind many Christians in Darfur, who will carry on the work of spreading the gospel”.

Christians in Norway, Christians in Sudan, Christians in Iraq, Iran, Eritrea, India, Pakistan, China, Myanmar - all over the world - including our little church, all of us a fulfilment of 20 Now all glory to God, who is able, through his mighty power at work within us, to accomplish infinitely more than we might ask or think. And what is it that he will accomplish, more than we might as or think? The answer is in the next verse: God will glorifying his name through the church. 21 Glory to him in the church and in Christ Jesus through all generations forever and ever! Amen.

God is great in power.

2. God is great in love

18 And may you have the power to understand, as all God’s people should, how wide, how long, how high, and how deep his love is. 19 May you experience the love of Christ, though it is too great to understand fully. Then you will be made complete with all the fullness of life and power that comes from God.

Back to the Ephesians – on one side they had the Emperor demanding they worship him – their refusal would soon lead to Christians being outlawed across the Empire, arrested and thrown to the lions for treachery against the state. And on the other side they had the Temple of Artemis, a huge religious cult which affected all of Asia Minor – and Ephesus was the centre. The Temple was gigantic, housing 25,000 people each week for worship: 10% of the population of 250,000. You can imagine the huge influence this had on the city. No-one was unaffected by the cult of Artemis. In addition, there was massive amounts of money to be made from the worship of Artemis – statues, icons, magic books, relics, and the tourist trade – perhaps a bit like Saudia Arabia and Mecca. When the church in Ephesus burned their magic books to show they had broken with Artemis and belonged to Christ the value of the books they burned was 20 MILLION kroner! This was a big deal.

How would you feel as a new Christian in Ephesus? That perhaps the devil himself was against you? Would you still be here this morning if the Norwegian government had banned Christianity and stated that Christians could be arrested and all their property confiscated? Would you still be here if people spat at you in the streets and if the shops refused to serve you because they all felt like you were destroying their livelihood? Where is the line that you would not cross for Jesus? How far is too far? Because if there is a line, I wonder if I could be so bold as to suggest that perhaps you have not met with the living God. To be a Christian is to call Christ saviour, yes, but also Lord. Our lives belong to him, not to us. He is our Master.

Tough? Yes! So Paul reminds us of the glorious riches we have in Christ, the incredible love shown to us. Give up everything? No problem, for he has given me everything. Throw me in jail – no problem, because Christ’s love reaches me even there, covers me even in the darkest dungeon or the highest tower. How wide, how long, how high, and how deep his love is!

If Christ is at home in us, like it says in v17 – then we are rooted in God’s love, and we are strong. We are strong, to serve in church. We are strong to be faithful to our wives. We are strong to work hard at work, not to lie or cheat or be lazy, but work as for the Lord. We are strong not to worry, or be discontented, but to trust our Heavenly Father who loves us with such a HUGE love. Trust him. Where you are now is where you need to be – and if it is hard, then learn from it. Learn to draw your strength from Him. God often puts us in situations that are beyond what we can bear – so that we turn to Him, and depend on His strength. His unlimited, glorious strength. We are strong to change nappies without grumbling, to clean our house, to endure sickness and hardship, to go through dark times unbowed, whatever it is - because we know our Saviour and Lord.

Do you get the picture of what it means to be a Christian? What it means to know Christ? This is not some Sunday School now-be-a-good-boy nonsense. “Being good” is not the gospel. The gospel is this: I was DEAD. I was apart from God, without hope in this world. God was my enemy, opposed to me because of my sin. God is HOLY, perfect, sinless. He is perfect light, and no darkness is found in Him. By his nature he cannot tolerate sin – he obliterates, destroys it. And we, we are sinners by nature, rebels from the moment we are conceived (thanks Adam!). But God – God whose very nature is LOVE does the impossible. He takes a loathsome creature like me, made in his image but twisted and marred by sin – he takes me and lifts me up and says “LIVE!”

And my body untwists, my eyes open, his breath (Spirit) enters me and I am ALIVE! By the grace of God, I am ALIVE! The breath of God, the Spirit of power is in me. Christ lives within me. I am his Holy Temple. I am alive, created anew in Christ Jesus to do the good works he planned for me to do before time began (2:10).

Isn’t it glorious? Isn’t this so much better than “be a bit better, then maybe God will like you”. No, the truth is that we are much worse than we think we are – and that we are much more loved than we think we are. God’s love is overwhelming. When we realise that we deserve hell. When we realise that we have spat in his face and shaken our fist at him and said NO! And yet, yet he still came to this earth, made himself nothing, a man like us, in order to die a sinners death on a cross he did not deserve.

God is great in love. God is great in power. Glory to God!