The Church Ministering to Itself in Love, Part 1

Introduction: The Church Ministering to Itself in Love

0:02 The subject of the church, not only worshipping and praying, but the church ministering to itself in love, or if you'd like a subtitle, Biblical Body Light, what it is and how is it cultivated and manifested. The church ministering to itself in love, or the subtitle, Biblical Body Life, what it is, how is it cultivated and manifested. And we will have three categories of major headings for the lecture this morning.

0:45 The scriptural mandate for this duty, and then some guidelines for the implementation of the duty, and then some concluding warnings. And cautions in the light of our current situation. First of all, then, the scriptural mandate for this duty of the corporate ministry of the body to itself. And I would direct your attention, first of all, to Ephesians chapter 4.

Scriptural Mandate 1: Ephesians 4:7-16 – Gifts for Mutual Ministry

1:16 And I have selected these four texts because, as you will notice, they are taken from several varying, deposits of the corpus of New Testament literature. And because they are front-ranked texts, they are not all the front-ranked texts, but they, I believe, are four of the most powerful front-ranked texts, which underscore this particular duty. First of all, then, Ephesians chapter 4.

1:54 The passage is introduced by a call to a word, a worthy walk. The major thrust of the passage is, I beseech you to walk worthily of the calling wherewith you were called. And then the apostle begins to focus upon those spiritual graces essential to such a walk. The graces of lowliness and meekness, and how they will be manifested in forbearance, in giving diligence to keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace.

2:34 Then the emphasis shifts to what we might call the established grounds of that unity that we are to cherish and to keep. And the grounds of that unity are described as the one Spirit, the one hope, the one Lord, the one faith, the one baptism, the one God, and Father. Now, having given this call to walking worthily of the calling wherewith we were called, cultivating the graces essential to that, and in the midst of it, diligently endeavoring to keep the unity of the Spirit, a unity, as the old Puritans would say,

3:19 bottomed upon these great realities of the one Lord, one faith, etc., now we have this transition into a new, a new area of thought that within this essential unity, bottomed upon these great redemptive realities, there is great diversity. But unto each one of us was the grace given according to the measure of the gift of Christ. And there in verse 7, the emphasis falls upon this diversity of gifts, and I can do no better than to quote the comment by Wilson, who in turn is quoting a man by the name of Hanson,

4:00 on page 85 of Wilson's commentary on Ephesians. But the unity of the body does not mean that its members are characterized by drab uniformity, for each was given by the exalted Christ in sovereign wisdom, that measure of grace which manifests itself in His particular gift. And as this grace, is not bestowed upon us to diffuse and lose itself in our separate individualities, every member must recognize that this distribution of diverse gifts is made for the building up of the body of Christ.

4:45 Verse 12, Paul thus establishes three facts. One, because the grace is given to each one, nobody in the church need feel he is of no use, or without a task. Two, because it is a divine gift, it is not a thing the Christian can grasp by himself. And three, this grace is different in various members.

5:12 All have not gifts of equal size and nature, but the gift is under all conditions, such as Christ has decided. And among those gifts are described patterns, masters and teachers who are given to the church, verse 12, for the perfecting of the saints, pros, towards this end. We are given towards the perfecting or the mending of the saints, and then you have two ice clauses. Towards the perfection of the saints,

5:53 unto the work of ministry or service, unto the building, unto the building up of the body of Christ. And so one of the expressed purposes of the pastor, teacher, gift of Christ to the church, is that being used in the perfecting of the saints, the result of that perfecting will be their equipage unto their particular work of ministry or service, which in turn, will result in the building up of the body of Christ. Lenski has given his translation as follows.

6:37 Complete outfitting of the saints for ministration work, for upbuilding of the body of Christ. For complete outfitting of the saints for ministration work, for upbuilding of the body of Christ. Again, Wilson's comments on verse 12 are very perceptive, quoting in part from Calvin. As the New English Bible's omission of the first comma shows, the purpose for which Christ gave these men is that all God's people should be perfectly fitted for the particular service that each is to contribute

7:21 to the building up of the body of Christ. In other words, Christ is appointed the ministry of the word as the means by which all the members of the church are equipped for Christian service in the world. I would say for Christian service in the church and to the world. Thus Christ gave men to be servants of the word so that through their ministry, his body might be built up.

7:51 From this it is plain, now quoting Calvin, that those who neglect this means and yet hope to become perfect in Christ, are mad. Such are the fanatics who invent secret revelations of the spirit for themselves and the proud who think that for them the private reading of the scriptures is enough and that they have no need of the common ministry of the church. So you see, this passage is strategic for this reason, brethren. It underscores on the one hand the constant necessity of a special class of the church.

8:28 Of officially recognized teachers and shepherds. Do you see that? The head of the church never envisioned the perfecting of his church devoid of pastors and teachers. But then secondly, it underscores that the ultimate end for which a special class of Christians is given to the church is that there would be sanctified, sanctified service within the body by all the members of the church.

9:08 Now because of that two-fold emphasis, two great evils are avoided as we live with the full scope of this passage putting its pressure upon our concept of the church. We will be kept on the one hand from an evangelical sacerdotalism, from an evangelical sacerdotalism, from an evangelical sacerdotalism, from an evangelical sacerdotalism, you spell that S-A-C-E-R-D-O-T-A-L-I-S-N.

9:41 Sacerdotalism is an excessive reliance on a class of priests. Now there is a kind of evangelical sacerdotalism that says we recognize the gift of Christ, we call the gift of Christ, we pay the gift of Christ, we provide a parsonage for the gift of Christ. With all of that, let him do anything, that can be called service for the building up of the body. And there is an excessive inordinate dependence upon and deference to the specialists, the pastors and teachers.

10:18 And that's a kind of evangelical sacerdotalism. On the other hand, there is in this passage a death blow to what I would call evangelical anti-clericalism. And what is anti-clericalism? That is the spirit that says since we are all in Christ and brothers, and we are to call no man father or master, and we all have the word, and all have the spirit, and all have a gift, and all have a ministry, what need is there for the one-man band, or the two-man band,

11:01 or the five-man combo of specialists, what need is there for recognized elders, pastors, and teachers?

11:15 The language is that of that ancient rebellion. Do we not all have the spirit? Are we not all holy? Moses and Aaron, you take too much upon yourselves.

11:27 And God told them what he thought about that spirit. Opened up the ground and swallowed them up. But there is in our day an evangelical anti-clericalism. Well, you see, this passage does not permit that.

11:41 There are gifts given among whom are pastors and teachers given not simply to be catalysts in the generic self-ministry of the church, but they are to be specifically used for the mending, the up-building of the saints unto the work of their mutual service. Isn't it amazing how this passage can be used in support of both of those erroneous positions.

12:15 And in our day, it seems, between the evangelical sacerdotalism and evangelical anticlericalism, one can hardly find a situation in which there is a biblically intelligent appreciation for the ministerial specialist coupled with a wholesome biblical view of body life in which every believer recognizes that he is endowed with some charisma, some gift that is to be used in ministry and service to the body of Christ to its ultimate up-building.

13:01 And so I say, brethren, in setting out, the scriptural mandate for the duty of the corporate ministry of the body to itself, the Ephesians 4, 7-16 passage is indeed a watershed passage, one which I trust you will very early in your ministry carefully expound to your people and out of the matrix of careful exposition sound this warning note that you are determined under God, not to become a priest in their estimation,

13:39 but you are equally determined that you will not tolerate a sinful anticlerical mentality. My final quote from Wilson, page 93, where he envisions the ultimate end of the body making increase of itself in love, quoting this man Hanson again, as every member in a body has a task, to fulfill and exists for the sake of the body as a whole, so has every Christian a function in the church, however different it may be, and only if each one's gift is placed in the service of the whole, i.e.,

14:21 if love is allowed to be the superior principle, is the unity and growth of the church promoted.

Scriptural Mandate 2: Hebrews 6:10 & 1 Corinthians 16:15 – Evidence of True Salvation

14:31 Well, there's our first text. Now, our second text demonstrating, the scriptural mandate for the duty of the church ministering to itself in love is Hebrews 6 and verse 10. Hebrews 6 and verse 10.

14:51 In this section, you'll remember, we have what is perhaps along with the warning about blasphemy against the Holy Spirit, one of the most naughty as well as one of the most frightening passages in all of the Word of God. It is a warning. It is a warning on the one hand about the impossibility of renewing to repentance an apostate, but on the other hand, it is a passage in which there is marvelous consolation. Verse 9, But, beloved, we are persuaded better things of you and things that accompany salvation, though we thus speak, though we speak of those who seem to have all the earmarks

15:34 of being within the orbit of the dynamics, of grace, and yet fall away, and fall away in such a manner as it is impossible to renew them again to repentance, though we thus speak of that horrible reality, we're persuaded you have something more than a mere semblance of grace, than a temporary manifestation of grace. We're persuaded better things of you, though we speak of this horrible reality of apostasy, we're persuaded of better things. Then it's very interesting. Of all the things he could highlight that persuaded him that they were in a better state than potential apostates, what does he focus upon?

16:19 Look at verse 10. For God is not unrighteous to forget your work and the love that you showed toward His name in that you ministered unto the Lord. In that you ministered unto the Lord. He focuses upon the saints and still do minister.

16:45 Of all the things he could have focused upon that were to his mind and undeniable evidence that they had things accompanying true salvation, though he had spoken so plainly and frighteningly of all that an apostate could have, he focuses upon this one issue at this point and what is it? It is the love that they have showed toward the name of their Savior by ministering unto the saints and not doing it sporadically but as a pattern of their experience.

17:30 And there you have diakoneo. They were table servants to the saints. Yes. And it was.

17:40 It was this pattern, this fixed pattern of the table waiter's disposition and commensurate activities that is said to be the fruit of their relationship to the living God as well as the manifestation of their love to that God. So what conclusion do we draw? That this matter of the church ministering to itself in love, that is no little thing. Rather, it is a certain evidence of true religion and its continuance is the evidence

18:25 of persevering faith and knowledge. Now that's a pretty important thing. That's why he goes on to say, and we desire that each one of you may show the same diligence unto the fullness of life. Hope even unto the end.

18:47 And so there is an exhortation to persevere in that path. And just to throw a little further light upon that principle, not as a separate text, I would refer you to 1 Corinthians 16.15. This is still basically our exposition of Hebrews 6.10.

19:07 Just bringing in the mouth of another witness.

19:12 1 Corinthians 16. And verse 15. Now I beseech you, brethren, you know the house of Stephanas, that it is the firstfruits of Achaia.

19:27 And what was the evidence? That they were indeed the reaping of God's grace as firstfruits in Achaia. And they have set themselves to minister, to serve, to deacon the saints. Very interesting.

19:47 Very interesting. Of all the fruits of grace that no doubt were manifested in the house of Stephanas as firstfruits of God's redemptive reaping in Achaia, he marks out that they were involved in biblical body life. They found themselves joyfully set in a path of ministering, ministering, deaconing the saints. All right, now we turn to our third passage that underscores the importance of this doctrine.

Scriptural Mandate 3: 1 Peter 4:7-11 – Stewardship of Charisma for God's Glory

20:24 And that is 1 Peter chapter 4. 1 Peter chapter 4.

20:32 Peter is giving a string of general exhortations to the people of God.

20:39 And he says, beginning with verse 7, but the end of all things is at hand. Interesting, isn't it? Was he speaking of the end of the old order with the soonest, the soon approach of the destruction of Jerusalem? Or was he living in that framework of knowing that at any point between the two comings of Christ, the end of all things is at hand?

21:05 Behold, I come quickly. The coming of the Lord draweth nigh. The judge standeth at the door. We do believe in the imminence of the return of Christ.

21:15 The imminence is stamped over. The first and the second advent.

21:22 I'm not sure what he's referring to here. One or the other. But he says, the end of all things is at hand. Be ye therefore of sound mind and sober unto prayer.

21:33 Above all things being fervent in your love among yourselves. For love covers a multitude of sins. Using hospitality one to another without murmuring, according as each has received a gift, ministering it among themselves as good stewards of the manifold grace of God. Now in the midst of these exhortations he says in verse 10 that each has received a charisma.

22:14 Each has received a charisma.

22:20 Not most. Not some. But each has received what is translated here in the 1901 a gift. A grace.

22:35 He has received a commodity as a gift from the ascended Christ imparted by the indwelling spirit by his incorporation into the body. Our Lord never incorporates paralyzed limbs into his body. But limbs with living flesh and nerves and blood supply that they might have a function within the body. Each has received a gift.

23:05 Secondly, each must use the charisma in brotherly service according as each has received a gift ministering it among yourselves. Each must use this charisma in brotherly service. Thirdly, each must regard his charisma as part of his stewardship as goods of the manifold grace of God. See the play on words.

23:49 The God of all grace has endowed his church with manifold graces. And I'm a steward of one of those gifts. One of those graces from the gracious ascended God. And that's a stewardship.

24:07 And every believer is to feel the pressure of that stewardship. He has a trust from God. A steward is one who is entrusted with a commodity, an amount of money, a parcel of land, a household, a business that he is to oversee with accountability to its rightful owner.

24:31 And he says, each has received a gift. Each is to minister it in brotherly service. Each is to regard it as a stewardship from God. And then fourthly, each is to realize that God's glory in the church is involved in the implementation of this perspective.

24:58 Verse 11. If any man speaks, speaking as it were oracles of God, if any man ministers or serves, ministering as of the strength which God supplies, in order that in all things and in the context what is the all things? It is the all things that will go on within an assembly where each recognizing his gift, each using it in brotherly service, each using it realizing it is part of his stewardship that in all things God may be glorified through Jesus Christ. Whose is the glory and dominion forever and ever.

25:40 Amen. In other words, the optimum measure of God's glory in the church is not secured simply by God-centered preaching, by Bible-regulated spirit-filled worship. His optimum glory is realized only when each within the body understands and implements these perspectives.

26:08 The text doesn't say that. I don't know what the text says. And one of the great blessings again of giving yourself to systematic devotional reading of the word. God says a new covenant scribe brings out treasures old and new.

26:26 And in my reading in Corinthians yesterday, and this is just again a supplemental highlight on the passage, I got fascinated with this phrase in 2 Corinthians chapter 9.

26:43 Reading the chapter on the offering for the poor saints at Judea and where Paul is speaking of these who are set apart for the bringing of these 2 Corinthians 8 I'm sorry for the accompanying of Paul with this gift. Verse 23 Whether any inquire about Titus he is my partner and my fellow worker to you word or our brethren now the brethren are these who accompanied Paul and one of them is referred to in verse 18 we have sent together with him the brother whose praise in the gospel is spread through all the churches.

27:30 And I said Lord have you revealed who that brother is? So I did some rooting around and tracking down and I finally ended up in Hugh's commentary and he has a large footnote indicating that this has been a torturous bit of fascination for exegetes way way back for centuries and there isn't the slightest bit of consensus. I mean it is more unsettled than the authorship of Hebrews. Alright?

28:01 And I think I maybe found out why God didn't name him because while he was still alive since his praise was already spread throughout the churches could it be that people would be tempted to have an idolatrous esteem of him and what would happen well when you see how they are described in verse 23 these brethren involved in this task are described in this way they are the glory of Christ and I tell you that thing smacked me like a ton of bricks they are the glory of Christ who? These guys carrying the bags of money with uprightness and integrity

28:45 they are the glory of Christ and I got fascinated how are they the glory of Christ? Well you see they are not only the glory of Christ in that in them Christ as the compassionate head has as it were sent nerve signals to one segment of the body of the whole body the church universal responding to the need of another segment of the body in another part and in that sense they are the living expression of the compassion of Christ as they come with their bags of money but they are also the glory of Christ in that they are men who have recognized

29:29 their charisma who have not thought it beneath their dignity to be carriers of a gift that there might be apostolic integrity in the management of that money providing all things honorable in the sight of God and of man isn't that a beautiful thing? So when you apply that to what we are looking at in every believer who is a believer who according to Romans 12 soberly assesses his gift and gives himself to the exercise of it to some degree that believer is the glory of Christ reflects the kind beneficence of Christ in giving the gift and some aspect of the love or the power or the grace or the wisdom or the tenderness

30:14 of Christ will be manifest in the exercise of the gift so brethren what's at stake? Not only the optimum glory of God but also the glory of God of the church but the optimum glory of Christ himself as he's described in Ephesians 5 as the great lover of the church who nourishes and cherishes that church I tell you and I was ready to preach on this stuff and I resist the temptation if I haven't done so already and succumbed alright? Now then Galatians chapter 5 just looking at the scriptural mandate for the duty wanting to see it rooted in some of the first rank text of the word of God Galatians chapter 5

Scriptural Mandate 4: Galatians 5:13-14 – Liberty for Loving Bond-Service

30:58 verses 13 and 14 now you remember at this point in the argument Paul having demolished with every kind of invective and biblical argumentation and reasoning the error of the Judaizers has exhorted the brethren to stand fast in the liberty wherewith Christ has made them free but being the pastoral realist that he was he said well here we go no sooner do we take them out of the jaws of legalism than they're ready to fall into the jaws of libertarianism and so in his pastoral realism having sought

31:43 to liberate them now he says verse 13 for you brethren were called for freedom only use not your freedom for an occasion to the flesh I've established your liberty by the way by the way by the way by the grace of God you've been extricated out of the jaws of legalism but don't jump into the jaws of the line of libertarianism don't use your liberty as an occasion to the flesh well what's just the opposite of that well if you look at 1 Peter 2 16 Peter's answer is this 1 Peter 2 and verse 16 as free

32:26 and not using your freedom for a cloak of wickedness but as bondservants of God Peter says the antithesis of the abuse of liberty is the consciousness of your identity as the doulos or the douloid as the bondservants of God but Paul's antithesis is this use not your freedom for an occasion to the flesh but through love be servants doulo one to another now isn't that interesting

33:10 Peter says the antithesis of the abuse of liberty is the recognition of one's identity and living out the implications of that identity bond slave of God Paul says don't abuse your liberty but recognize your identity as the bond slaves of one another and there you have as he buttresses it from the law love to God love to man the essence of all the demands of the Decalogue for the whole law is fulfilled in one word that is everything in the law that relates to horizontal responsibilities thou shalt love thy

33:55 neighbor as thyself but if you bite and devour one another take heed that you be not consumed of one another it's like a tank full of pariahs all eating one another up until the tank is empty if such a thing were possible you keep biting and devouring you consume one another in other words the church will vaporize with nothing left and the answer he said is the recognition that we have been set free from the tyranny of an accusing conscience set free from the trappings of the old mosaic system to what end Peter says that we may render loving bond service to God

34:39 Paul says that we may in the liberty wherewith Christ has made us free render loving bond service one to another here is liberty to bond service it is the demand and the direction of the law of God not here table service diakoneo but do , here we have a present imperative we are to be servants slaves one to another so you see brethren the biblical basis for the concept of your task as a servant

35:24 of Christ being one of seeking to cultivate in your people an awareness of biblical body life an understanding of what it is for the church to minister to itself in love this is not a secondary or tertiary issue in the ministry it is a central responsibility which God has laid upon us as the overseers of his people in summary let me say that other passages could be pressed into service some of them first rank soldiers some second some third but these should suffice to make it clear that as surely as the church is called to be a worshipping church a praying church

Guidelines for Implementation: Inculcating Scriptural Concepts of the Church

36:08 it is called to be a serving church particularly serving itself in love now from the scriptural mandate for the duty as you see in your notes we proceed to consider Roman numeral two or its large B I'm sorry in your outline some guidelines for the implementation of this duty and I have three major divisions to lay before you if we are to fulfill our responsibilities with reference to the church ministering itself in love how are we going to do it well you'll notice number one by constantly

36:53 inculcating the scriptural concepts of the church which undergird this duty and here I have to train myself not to repeat because you have it in print in front of you so you be patient with me when the horse has been running a certain way for twelve years and he's got to learn a different gait sometimes he'll stumble alright so you indulge me in love alright there must be this constant inculcating now why have I chosen the word inculcate you can put to the side if you want the definition of inculcate is to impress by frequent repetition to inculcate something is to impress it upon another by frequent repetition

37:37 and if you as an overseer are to fulfill your task in this area you will do it first of all by constantly inculcating the scriptural concepts of the church which undergird this duty now let me explain what I mean when we turn to the New Testament we find a pervasive emphasis with regard to a Christian's walk before God and one of those emphases now notice I didn't say the key emphasis but the key emphasis is to watch out it's always a ring of keys no one key one of the major emphases

38:22 with regard to the Christian walk in the New Testament is this the walk of the Christian is to be conditioned by the remembrance of who he is as a new man in Christ do this because you are this and you can think of the text catcher you have put off the old man with his deeds is given as the motive for mortifying and no longer engaging in certain activities the whole emphasis of Romans 6 Colossians 3 and a host of other passages let's take

39:06 Colossians 3 8 to 10 as a classic example of this major strand of New Testament emphasis it's not the only one but it is a major strand he says in Colossians 3 verses 8 to 10 but now put them all away anger wrath railing shameful speaking out of your mouth lie not one to another why seeing you have put off the old man with his doings and have put on the new man do what I've told you to do because you are what you are by grace you are one who has put off the old and put on the new

39:50 well you see in the same way this emphasis comes through with regard to the duties pertaining to biblical body life and I'll not take the time to open up 1 Peter 2 9 and 10 with you it's there in your notes and you can see how Peter makes the same emphasis now what is true of the individual Christian as one of the dominant pressures upon him in New Testament thought is true of the church as a community it's because the church is what it is that the people of God are called upon to do what they are to do one to another and you must seek

Concept 1: We Are Brethren in the Same Family

40:35 constantly to inculcate in your people these scriptural concepts of the church which undergird this duty and I want to focus on but three of them number one we are brethren in

41:21 the church in the church in the church working out their own natural God blessed chemistry in an assembly of God's people look at Philemon verses 15 and 16 going to look at several examples of this in the New Testament Philemon after Titus that often neglected little book is probably the most rich deposit of principles of ministerial tact to be found anywhere in scripture if you find you lack tact and you want a good mental spiritual baptism of what holy tact is immerse your soul in a

42:06 careful study of the epistle to Philemon and here look at verses 15 and 16 you can take the whole epistle but he says in telling Philemon that I'm not going to do anything without your mind my brother notice that verse 14 but without thy mind I would do nothing that thy goodness should be not of necessity but of free will talking about this runaway slave that he's now sending back to his master for perhaps he was therefore parted from you for a season that you should have him forever no longer as a doulos a bondservant but more than a bondservant a brother beloved especially to

42:51 me but how much more rather to you oh in the flesh and in the law you see paul says this will be the zinger in all the subtle argumentation and all the manifold motives that he's bringing down upon the conscience of philemon with regard to how to treat his returning slave this to me is the apex he says look maybe god permitted all of this to this end that you be able to receive him back have a brother beloved now if anything will wither the roots of the abuse of a slave it's

43:36 to realize he's in the family of god with me with christ as the elder brother if anything will wither the roots of slavery as an institution that is a man having the property of another man against his will if anything will wither the institution it's the

43:58 believing community and that's exactly what happened you see because we are what we are we are to do what we are to do one two another and paul understood that and he said if you see him for what he really is now i have no fears about the details of how you treat him alright look at second thessalonians three fourteen and fifteen again here in a totally different setting this is in a matter where someone in the family not keeping the family rules is a shame to the head of the family the lord jesus

44:43 is a grief to the other members of the family the brothers and sisters what are they to do verse fourteen if any man obeys not our word by this epistle note that man that you have no company with him to the end that he may be ashamed now doesn't that run counter to everything we're told in our day you must never do a thing that bruises a person's self worth paul said i want you to do something that will bruise his sense of self worth i want the guy to start hanging his head down he's strutting around like a peacock i want to see his head bowed i want to see his eyes on

45:35 if any man obeys not our word note that man have no company with him to the end that he may be ashamed there is to be a social ostracization that will bring upon him a sense of deserved guilt and shame now yet notice verse 15 and yet count him not as an enemy but admonish him as a brother he has not yet been cast out of the fellowship regarded as an unconverted man or a hypocrite we still have grounds to believe he's part of the brotherhood so even in the most

46:19 intense form of discipline within the family remember he's still part of the family and let that condition all of your relationships do you see people can raise all kinds of questions they want a manual this thick well if someone is under church censure how are we to do this how are we to do that how are we to do that blah blah blah blah blah blah blah if only they get hold of this principle Paul says here's the one specific direction there's to be a general corporate commitment to the withdrawal of the distinctive peculiar social interactions that are found among the people of God that's the

47:04 specific then he says but don't treat him like an enemy don't treat him as one who is distanced from you in the sense that he is opposed to you and you opposed to him but rather regard him or admonish him I'm sorry verbally reprove and instruct him as a brother we are brethren in the same family and it is essential to understand even in that halfway house of public censure or suspension whatever term we may use if we do not think in these categories we will be abusing that very means of grace that God has ordained for the restoration

47:48 of the sinning brother therefore it shouldn't surprise us to find such ideas as we find in Colossians 2 and verse 2 Colossians 2 and verse 2 I would have you to know how greatly I strive for you and for them in Laodicea as many as have not seen my face in the flesh and what do you strive for Paul what is it that takes you into a kind of spiritual agony a kind of spiritual travail here it is that their hearts may be comforted that they being knit together in love when something

48:33 is knit fabric unlike woven fabric you can pull out a thread and the fabric remains intact but when something's knit you start pulling and eventually the whole fabric becomes undone he said I want their hearts knit together so if you tug at one of them you can tug at all of them eventually pull it one you'll pull it all I want their hearts to be knit together in love or as we find in first Thessalonians four nine and ten wonderful example of apostolic balance that certain things are taught by divine instinct but nonetheless they need to be reinforced by

49:18 explicit exhortation concerning love of the brethren you have no need that one write unto you for you yourselves are taught of God to love one another end of discussion he says no concerning love of the brethren you have no need one write to you but I'm going to write to you anyway for indeed you do it to what all the brethren that are in Macedonia but I thought Paul didn't need to have anyone write now you're writing and you've gone to preaching we exhort you brethren that you abound more and more they're taught of God and yet he says I write and exhort that you abound

50:02 more and more he says I want you to continually keep before you the concept you are the family of God your spiritual instincts have already led you into a path of an abounding existential awareness of your family identity but I exhort you abound more and more and never forget what you are as the church you are brethren in the same family and first Peter 2 17 speaks in the same direction will not turn to it but then there is a second concept of the church which we must inculcate in our people and that is

Concept 2: We Are Members of the Same Body

50:47 we are members of the same body and you see again the rich diversity of the biblical material any place that simply concentrates on the family concept of the church and says that is the dearest most precious most intimate I will make apart the whole that church in five years or less will be marked by horrible imbalances because the whole truth cannot be held under one image that's why God gave us more than one image if everything the church ought to be to itself could be embodied in the family image God would have given the one image and left it but he didn't and there are others who say

51:32 well it's the concept of the body if we only get hold of body God didn't give just body now that is another dominant one so we're going to look at that alright we are members of the same body remember Ephesians 4 3 and 4 when the exhortation comes we've already looked at the passage we'll just refer to it briefly Ephesians chapter 4 we are to give diligence to keep the unity of the spirit and the bond of peace why that exhortation is bottomed first to Paul upon this reality one body one body one body can I not give myself to the

52:16 disciplines of walking before my brethren with lowliness and meekness forbearance can I not endeavor to do all within my power not to fracture the unity of the spirit when God has made us one body , what a horrible thing if every morning sometime during the night all of my members of my body disjointed themselves from one another and all I had is a pile of 30 pieces that I had to somehow have somebody stick together before I could get out of bed and what a horrible thing when the people of God gather when in a sense that's all you have is a temporary coming together of these fragmented members who have

53:00 no sense of organic living involvement one with another one body and then you find how Paul bases a very practical argument on that perspective in chapter 4 verse 25 wherefore putting away falsehood speak truth each one with his neighbor why well here he doesn't bring the decalogue to bear now there's some places where he does but he's free to use other things some say the decalogue must always dominate our ethical consciousness oh wait a minute where do you find that in the bible others say if we have other concepts we don't need the decalogue well where do you find that you see brethren

53:44 God have mercy on any of you if you ever taught that way that's utterly irresponsible at best and downright perhaps incipient heresy at worst you've known better you've heard better and here Paul doesn't use the decalogue thou shalt not bear false witness but what does he use he uses the reality of what the church is for we are members one of another he gives that as the motive not to lie and in the surface of the thing it doesn't seem very powerful until you think about it and then it becomes ludicrously powerful

54:26 I mean if my eyes look out and say you know I have got a group of Tom Selleck's in this place the most handsome manly macho looking guys in all the world what a terrible thing if my eyeballs lied to me that way wouldn't it be terrible speaking tongue in cheek of course what a terrible thing if my hand reaches out to take a cup of something my wife has given to me and it lies to me it tells me that the cup is a foot and a half away when in reality it's two feet away and I grab the air and start moving back and she lets it go

55:11 and the coffee or the tea is all over the floor what a horrible incongruous thing if the body in the integrated wholeness as an organism reflecting the wisdom of God if this body begins to send deliberately false signals to the various members and he says now that's why you must never lie one to another we're organically united and it's vital that as there is a flow of information from one member to another it not be devious that it not be inaccurate that it not be untrue he uses you see the concept that we are members of the same body

55:55 and he could use that with regard to this matter in Galatians don't bite and devour one another you'd think me a fool if I began for lunch to start chomping on my index finger off comes the first half inch crunch crunch crunch hear the bones I spit out the calluses you'd say something gone crazy no man sits and starts eating his own body remembers one of another don't eat up your brethren with malicious gossip don't eat up your brethren with insensitivity and indifference any more than you'd start chomping on your own fingers and eat them down to their stomach

56:39 and we need to inculcate those perspectives in our people we could add to that of course 1 Corinthians 12 12 and following Romans 12 3 to 8 the texts that are listed I believe they're all listed there yes they are and then I want to conclude that heading by reminding you of the truth of Matthew 25 you remember that in the final day the day of judgment the great judge himself sits upon his throne and he says with respect to the righteous Matthew 25 and verse 40 inasmuch as you did it unto

57:23 one of these my brethren even the least you did it unto me and then the negative in verse 20 verse 45 inasmuch as you did it not unto one of these least you did it not unto me Saul Saul why persecutest thou me you touch my people you touch me why the church is the body of Christ not in a corporeal physical sense but in a real living spiritual organic sense this is not just an image it bespeaks a reality

Concept 3: We Are Living Stones in the Same Spiritual Temple

58:07 Paul you touch my people wherever I dwell in the third heavens and wherever I dwell by my spirit in the hearts of my people you're touching me Paul why do you persecute me I wonder if the doctrine of the body of Christ was not so dominant in the Pauline corpus of literature because he got baptized with it in his conversion he got awakened with it why persecutest thou me well who art thou Lord I am Jesus I am Jesus whom thou persecutest and then we need to inculcate in our people the concept that we are living stones

58:52 in the same spiritual temple and here from your systematics course or text that I need not go over in detail with you 1st Corinthians 3 16 and 17 which refers to the church corporately as the naos the sanctuary of God Ephesians 2 21 and 22 that we are built upon the foundation of apostles and prophets Jesus Christ the chief cornerstone and we are this living temple and the very terminology is used in 1st Peter 2 4 and following now if we are living stones in the same spiritual temple then do you see how this affects

59:36 our ministering one to another because the livingness of the temple is all due to the presence and activity of the spirit and if I act contrary to love to my brethren what do I do according to Ephesians 4 30-32 I grieve the spirit and what is a temple without its God an empty shell what is the gathering of his people living stones though they may be if his living presence is not there it is an empty shell and therefore our relationships one to another will in great measure determine

60:21 the degree to which when the living stones come together visibly at the appointed hour and the appointed place and God's appointed day and at other appointed times how vital it is that they understand their relationship as living stones in the same spiritual temple could it be that that's why our Lord said when ye stand praying forgive if ye have ought against any why it's a concept of a corporate setting you're standing to pray and if there is a grieved spirit then it cuts the nerve of two of you symphonizing two of you agreeing on earth is touching

61:06 what they ask and if you brethren this is our task under God if we're to be used of the Lord to see our people established in a biblical understanding of biblical body life we must constantly seek to inculcate the scriptural concepts of the church which undergird this duty let's take a break and then I do believe I'll be able in the next half hour hopefully complete the other two heads this was the most crucial material most fundamental and the other we'll move more quickly through it and still have some promised

61:50 time for discussion alright