CALLED TO SERVE
Ephesians 4:1-15
POSITION OF THE CALL
V:1. "Therefore I, the prisoner of the Lord, implore
you to walk in a manner worthy of the calling with which you have been
called."
A. All believers have been call to serve the Lord
1. Paul considered
himself a prisoner.
2. A prisoner is
under the authority of another person.
3. A prisoner takes
his direction from another person.
B. Paul set the example for us to follow.
1. We should see
Jesus as the total authority of our lives
2. We have His
Word, which is the direction for our lives.
C. We are encouraged to walk in a manner worthy of the call.
1. The Church is
the example for the world to follow.
2. We may be the
only church the world sees.
3. We were called to
be the world's example of Jesus.
ATTITUDE OF THE CALL
V:2 "with all humility and gentleness, with patience,
showing tolerance for one another in love, "
1. The attitude of a servant is to be covered in unselfish
love.
2. the evidence of love toward our brothers and sisters are:
a. Humility is taking
a low view of ones importance.
b. Gentleness is
mild, calm and kind.
also described
as meekness which is power under control
c Patience is enduring without complaints.
d. Tolerance is
accepting others as they are.
UNITY OF THE CALL
V:3-6. " being diligent to preserve the unity of the
Spirit in the bond of peace.
4 There is one body and one Spirit, just as also you were
called in one hope of your calling;
5 one Lord, one faith, one baptism,
6 one God and Father of all who is over all and through all
and in all."
A. A house divided cannot stand.
1. The church, the
body of Christ has to maintain unity in all areas.
2. One way of
Satan dividing the Church is through different interpretations
of scriptures.
3. Some religions
see God the Father, but not God the Son or God the Holy Spirit.
4. Some religions
see Jesus as a son created by the Father
B. The Apostle Paul said , I determine to know nothing but
Jesus Christ and Him
crucified.
1. As long as we
argue about different interpretations, we will be confused
and divided.
2. It is the job
of the Holy Spirit to teach us the correct interpretation
of scripture.
3. As the body
of Christ, we must have the same goals
and aspirations
in serving the
Lord.
4. We should treat
every believer with mutual respect, realizing that we
all have equal
calling.
EQUIPPING OF THE CALL
V:7-10. " But to each one of us grace was given
according to the measure of Christ's gift.
8 Therefore it says, "WHEN HE ASCENDED ON HIGH, HE LED
CAPTIVE A HOST OF CAPTIVES, AND HE GAVE GIFTS TO MEN."
9 (Now this expression, "He ascended," what does
it mean except that He also had descended into the lower parts of the earth?
10 He who descended is Himself also He who ascended far
above all the heavens, so that He might fill all things.) "
A. To all God called, He gave His favor, that is His grace.
1. The grace He
gave was measured out according to the
gift that He gave.
2. It requires
more grace to preach in the street than it does inside the Church.
3. It requires
more grace to pray for a life changing wayward child than
to pray for
the healing of a broken bone.
4. It requires more
grace to be the pastor of a church, than to be the deacon
of the
Church.
B. Christ, the only begotten Son of God took off His robe of
glory to become man
so that we might
see His glory.
1. At His death,
Christ went into the tomb and His shed blood atoned for the
sins of all who
died in faith before Him
2. Faith in Christ
death and resurrection opens the door to heaven for all who
were
captive by sin.
3. According
Matthew 27:52, on the day of Christ death, dead saints got up
out of their
graves and walked the streets of Jerusalem .
POSITION IN THE CHURCH
11 And He gave some as apostles, and some as prophets, and
some as evangelists, and some as pastors and teachers,
12 for the equipping of the saints for the work of service,
to the building up of the body of Christ;
A. Pastors and teachers are the main core group for
educating the congregation
in the Church.
1. The pastor has
the job of leading the church under the divine guidance of
the Holy
Spirit.
2. The teachers
under the vision of the pastor teach the Word of God to
give the
congregation a clear understanding of God's word.
B. I believe the job of apostles, prophets and evangelist
are combined into
one group taking the Word of God to ends of
the earth. ( Matt 28:18)
1. There were only
twelve apostles which where the twelve original disciples of
Jesus. After
Judas committed suicide, he was replace by Matthias. The Apostle
Paul was added
under the direction of Jesus. The Apostles were the eye witnesses
to the teaching
and miracles of Jesus.
C. The Apostle Paul was both an Apostle and an evangelist.
1. Barnabas
traveled with Paul, but he was not called an apostle.
2. Mark traveled
with Paul, but he was not called an apostle.
3. There were
other who worked with Paul in the ministry that were
not called
Apostles.
D. If we look at how God selected and used prophets in the
Old Testament, we
will find that
they were selected by God and filled with the Holy Spirit.
a. The prophets were given revelations of
things and events to come.
b. According to Revelation 22:18-19, the
Bible is closed. You cannot add anything
to it or take anything away from it.
c. The position
of a prophet as previous used is no longer necessary.
C. It is my belief that we only have three main teaching groups,
Pastors,
teachers and
evangelist.
1. The young
Church needed all these positions initially. But as it has matured, some
these
positions have been done away with. (See 1 Cor 13:11 ).
OBJECTIVE OF THE CALL
V:13-14. " until we all attain to the unity of the
faith, and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to a mature man, to the measure
of the stature which belongs to the fullness of Christ.
14 As a result, we are no longer to be children, tossed here
and there by waves and carried about by every wind of doctrine, by the trickery
of men, by craftiness in deceitful scheming;"
A. These two verses confirm in my mind 1 Cor 13:11.
1. The growth of
the Church is based on sound Biblical teaching.
2. 2 Timothy 2:15 states, "Study to shew thyself
approved unto God, a workman that
needeth not to
be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth."
B. Faith come by hearing and hearing by the Word of God.
1. Today we have
no excuse for a lack of knowledge of the Word of God.
2. Our libraries
are full with Bibles and commentaries on the Word of God.
3. Most
importantly, every believer has the Holy Spirit as the teacher of the
Word.
4. If we submit
ourselves to the guidance of the Holy Spirit, we will all came to the
same
interpretation of the Word.
C. Satan does a job on the church teachers and pastors by
introducing strange
doctrine that
don't agree with the Holy Scriptures.
1. If you don't
know the scripture, you wouldn't know if the doctrine is the truth.
2. Remember sin
started in the Garden of Eden, because Eve failed to study the
Word for
herself.
V:15-16. " but speaking the truth in love, we are to
grow up in all aspects into Him who is the head, even Christ,
16 from whom the whole body, being fitted and held together
by what every joint supplies, according to the proper working of each
individual part, causes the growth of the body for the building up of itself in
love. "
A. The job of a believer is to continue to grow to be more
like Christ. It is a life long
process.
1. We come to
Christ with a lot of hang ups and baggage that we have to let loose.
2. We have
traditions and misinterpretation of scripture that have to be corrected.
3. We have been taught
that love is tied to our feelings.
4. Love is giving
regardless of our feeling. Love is what we are willing
to sacrifice
for the good of others.
B. Christ who sacrificed His life for us is the supreme role
model for love.
1. Every believer has
been given spiritual gifts to be used in building up
the body of
Christ.
2. Those who use
their gifts are active in the service of God.
3. Those who do not
use their gifts are weak links in the body.
a. Failure to
use your gifts is an act of selfishness,
b. Failure to
use your gifts is disrespectful to the head, Jesus Christ.
THANK YOU JESUS FOR YOUR
LOVE
Rev. M. Mitchell
Asst Pastor Of Greater Macedonia
Baptist Church
For more lessons, follow me on facebook or visit my blogs
goodnewsrevmitc.blogspot,com and revmmitchell.com
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