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Summary
The sermon is about Christian unity, specifically the unity of the body of Christ. The pastor emphasizes that this unity is not just about being together, but about being equipped for service and growing in faith and knowledge of Christ. The sermon is based on Ephesians chapter 4, verses 7-13, which talks about the gifts given by Christ to his people and the importance of unity in the faith. The pastor also highlights that Christian unity is not about compromise, but about standing firm in the truth and reflecting the light of Christ to the world.
Sermon transcription
Now let's read our text for this afternoon. May I ask you to rise? You are free to remain seated if you are able to do so. And let us now pay attention to what God is saying from our text in Ephesians chapter 4, and we will be reading verse 7 to 13.
But to each one of us, grace has been given as Christ apportioned it. This is why it says: "When he ascended on high, he took many captives and gave gifts to his people." What does "he ascended" mean except that he also descended to the lower earthly regions? He who descended is the very one who ascended higher than all the heavens in order to fill the whole universe. So Christ himself gave the apostles, the prophets, the evangelists, the pastors, and teachers to equip his people for works of service, so that the body of Christ may be built up until we all reach unity in the faith and in the knowledge of the Son of God and become mature, attaining the whole measure of the fullness of Christ.
Now here, as our kids will attest, there is one body and spirit, as you were called to hope when you were called. One word, one faith, one baptism, one God, and Father, who is over all and through all in all.
Let's go dive into our text and let's start with verse 7 and let's try to go to it verse by verse. Verse 7 says: "But to each one of us, grace has been given as Christ apportioned it." Now, if you know this, it starts with the conjunction "but," which tells us that the writer is making a contrast. It is a continuation of the previous verse, which Pastor Angel shared with us about the seven pillars of unity.
I believe that Paul was talking, saying that this foundational truth, the seven pillars, being one body in one spirit, having one hope, one Lord, one faith, and one baptism, and one God and Father, all this can only be attained because of God's grace, and he was talking about how Christ apportioned this grace to his people. Now, just think about it: without grace brought to us by Christ upon his death on the cross, none of this is possible. I mean, I know we're talking about unity; this can never be possible. We can never be a part of God's family. We will never have the dwelling of the Holy Spirit; no hope whatsoever. Christ will not be our Lord or Savior. We cannot have faith. Baptism is of no use, and God will still be God, but he will not be our Father.
Another thing is that the word "apportioned" in verse 7 does not mean that grace was distributed in beats and pieces. As some charts were teaching, you know, every time you take the sacrament, you're giving grace. You know, when you attend the service, you're given grace. When you do something good, you're given grace. And you have to do it again and again to be always under grace. That is wrong. The scripture speaks about the abundance of grace that he loves on us. Exactly the word that Paul used here in the book of Ephesians, in chapter 1, verse 7 and 8, which says: "In him, we have redemption through his blood, for the forgiveness of sins, in accordance with the riches of God's grace that he lavished upon us."
In fact, the scripture says it does say that when sin abounds, grace abounds the more. And also in 1 Timothy 1:14, it also says: "And the grace of our Lord was more than abundant, with the faith and love which are found in Christ Jesus." So, grace is one of our communality in our union with Christ, for we are all saved by grace.
Verse 8: "When he ascended on high, he took many captives and gave gifts to his people." Now, seems like a complex verse, but let's try to simplify it. Paul was actually quoting from Psalm 68. The difference is that you can see Psalm 68 says: "You receive gifts from people," but here in Ephesians, it says: "He gave gifts to his people."
Okay, normally, after a victorious battle, the king would bring an array of captives with him, and he took gifts from them. Maybe we could call them "loot." They receive things from those he conquered. Okay, that's what normally happened. But in Christ's triumph over his enemy, he also broke free from people that were freed from sin. In a way, when Christ became victorious over his enemy, he also was bringing along with him captives that he freed from slavery. But unlike before, this time it was he who gave gifts to them.
And let's talk about those gifts later. And then, in verse 9, it continues: "What does 'he ascended' mean? Except that he also descended to the lower earthly region." Again, it's a difficult text, of course. It was saying that he cannot ascend unless he descended first, because we know that he came from heaven, because he was the pre-existent word who became flesh and dwelt among us. That's what John 1:14 says. Then he returned to his Father and is now sitting in his right hand, mediating for his people. Also, it says that he descended to the lower earthly region, that means the lowly parts of the earth.
Now, I was preparing this, and I was thinking: "Are we going to associate that with 1 Peter 3:19, where Jesus is said to have preached to the spirits in prison?" Well, yeah, we could. But as I look at the verse, what comes into my mind is how Jesus made himself nothing by taking the very nature of a servant. He was God, and he came to become a human being in the form of a servant. Being made in human likeness, you know, is that low enough for you? But it goes on, and being found in appearance as a man, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to death, even death on a cross, in Philippians 2:7-8. He died and was buried in the place of the dead; that was the grave.
Okay, now, I heard some preaching that says Jesus actually went to hell. To me, that's ridiculous. He went down to the lowly part of the earth, which was called in the scripture as "Hades," you know, that's the place of the dead; he died, and was buried in the grave.
Okay, now, let's go to verse 10, and he who descended is the very one who ascended higher than all the heavens in order to fill the whole universe. Now, after his resurrection, Jesus stayed with his disciples for another 40 days to consolidate his followers at that time and gave them further instructions. And then finally, he ascended back to his Father. And here, in the Netherlands, I think we celebrate that as "Hemelvaartsdag." Am I correct?
Now, he ascended to the higher than all the heavens, and not talking about multiple heavens, as the Mormons claim. The Mormons have three heavens; you know, if you do not know that, it's not saying that it was saying that he went beyond the firmament, the layers of clouds, you know, outside of the earth, and it is describing Christ's rule over the whole universe, not on the earth. And before he ascended back to heaven, he even said, in Matthew 28, "All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me," and it is on the same authority that he now draws all men to himself.
Okay, now, let's go to the second part, because this is where we talk about unity. In verse 11, it says: "So Christ himself gave the apostles, the prophets, the evangelists, the pastors, and teachers." Some call this the five ministries. Although we don't have the office of the apostle today, we have apostolic ministries continuing the work of the apostles of Christ. We also do not have prophets anymore who speak as directed by God himself, but we have prophetic ministry through the revealed word of God. And of course, we have evangelists, like Billy Graham, who already passed away, and we have pastors who shepherd and feed the flock, and the teachers of God's word, not university professors and school teachers, but personally, I think pastors and teachers are one, since a pastor is also a teacher of the word at the same time.
Now, these are all designations and offices, if you notice, people who are actually and specially called, given a skill set, giftings, as also mentioned in 1 Corinthians 12, as gifts of the Holy Spirit, for the edification of the whole body. The text said Christ gave them, okay, and in verse 12, to equip the believers for works of service, so this gifting was actually given to the church to edify the church, to equip them for works of service, so the body of Christ, the church, can be built up.
And verse 13, it continues to say: "To reach unity in the faith, growing in the knowledge of the Son of God," that's in present perfect tense, it means continually to grow in the knowledge of the Son of God. It means to become mature, becoming Christ-like, the whole measure of the fullness of Christ. That's what our text was saying. Now, we see that we are not called for the sake of unity alone. God did not call us together just to join, you know, to group with one another, as one body, and given this, you know, pillars, to be together as one body. But for our unity to build up the church. I hope you can understand that unity is not for the sake of unity, but we are united to build up the church, so we can be equipped for service and grow in our faith and in our knowledge of Christ, to grow to maturity, attaining Christ-likeness.
As I was preparing this message, I actually had a clear picture of the purpose of our calling. I see that everything is for the edification of the body. That is why the phrase "to one another" is repeated over 100 times in the scripture, you know, together with strengthening, encouragement, and comfort, all for the body. And this is not about striving for unity, for we can attain unity, as we mentioned in our prayer a while ago. We are already united in one body.
Okay, and what we are commanded to do, if we can remember Pastor Angel's message last Sunday, is to make every effort to keep this unity. We are not striving to be united, but we are commanded to keep the unity. That's in Ephesians chapter 4:3. That's the intentional part. We need to commit ourselves to love and care for one another, to be an encouragement for one another, to learn the word of God together, help each other grow, and become mature, to equip one another. In this way, we can draw more people to come to the light of Christ.
Okay, so we unite ourselves to build the whole body of believers, so that we can be equipped, and we can draw more people to come to the light of Christ. Now, talking about light, and this is in our title of our message for this afternoon. When I was given this title, "One of Spirit in His Light," I actually tried looking for the word "light" in the whole chapter of Ephesians 4, but there's not even one mention of "light." I even mentioned this to Pastor Angel last Sunday, but it is down to me, as I was looking at this unity, you know, that this could actually be a clear distinction between the unity that we have, you know, our unity in the spirit, and those who are outside of the light.
Now, let me explain. Last Sunday, there was an introduction, and it was mentioned that we are like coming together in the light, you know, with colors, and we can show colors when we come together into the light, and when we step back away from the light, we are actually stepping back away from each other. That's the picture that was shown to us, and I actually drove this sketch of this light, and people coming together, yeah, when I threw them away from the light, apart from other, because that's how I drew it. But I was like drawing more people, and I was like, "Well, I can draw a group of people that are away from the light, and they are united, but they are away from the light," and I said, "Mmm, that can be, you know, there's also unity outside of the light."
And yeah, and I scan the again, and there it is, in verse 18, it says: "They are darkened in their understanding." But Paul was saying that is not the way we leave our nights anymore. So, this is like a distinction that we have, that we are united in one body of the light, that we can see ourselves different from this other unity outside of the light, because we are now in the light, and God has transferred us from the dominion of darkness into the marvelous light of his Son. Let that sink in, you know, in our minds, because being conscious of that would change our perspectives in how we see things around us. So, we need to keep this unity, build up, and make it as distinct as possible with what's going on with those who are away from the light, or in the dark.
Now, we can see what is happening around us. Christianity is under attack everywhere, even just in Europe, you know, they are calling for multiculturalism, political correctness, and inclusiveness, you know, this is the coding, uh, today. And, uh, this is what is happening around, but there's one thing that our unity is not, and this is the point that I would like to make. Our unity is not about compromise. Okay, let's, uh, not forget that word. It's not about giving up the truth and our Christian principles for the sake of unity. Okay, that is why we do not support ecumenical movements, because there can never be unity between light and darkness.
You say, "What about the denominational differences around us?" And I say, "What about it?" Denominations are not divisions. Okay, they are just, uh, supposed to be, to work together for God's kingdom, being part of the universal body of Christ. So, let's not allow the name of the church cause a division among us, for Christ is not divided. Let it be an understanding that, despite our differences, we can still be a part of that one body.
So, again, let's try to keep that unity. Okay, you allow me to share a couple more points, and, uh, we will end here. We are commanded to keep the unity we have in the spirit, and that we must. But our unity does not mean, uh, as against the world. Okay, preserving the unity in the body does not mean driving away anybody that can threaten that unity. And then finding the same people in the church after 10 years, and even 20 years from now. That's the problem when we get too comfortable with ourselves, that we don't want to bring in new people anymore.
I was, uh, saying this because I've been to churches that are like this. They've been together, I, uh, not mention that the church, but I can name maybe two or three, that they have like eight or nine women in the church. I ask them, "How long have you been meeting here?" "Oh, pastor, we're here for like 10 years already, even more." "You mean, yes, pastor, we're together for this long." Okay, you're keeping the unity, indeed. Okay, but you miss the purpose of uniting together in one body. We are uniting again to build the body, to equip the body, so that we can draw more people into the light, not keep it, uh, you know, uh, for ourselves.
Sad to say, you know, but this is happening. One more thing is that Christian unity is also not a unity to wage war against an enemy. Yeah, of course, we battle a spiritual battle, but we are not against those who are in the dark. Okay, although we need to be wary of the Satan's tactics of the devil, you know, but the scripture says we only need to be strong and to stand firm, okay, and to stand our grounds. In fact, we need to be a force, not to battle who is already a defeated enemy of Christ, but to be strong enough to make an influence, to reflect the light of Christ, as being able again to draw some of those in darkness into the light. In this sense, darkness, that's the world out there, is our mission field, okay, where we can shine our light and help others find their way.
Now, I will leave this, uh, verse to you, in 1 Corinthians chapter 12, verse 13, where it says: "For we were all baptized by one Spirit, so as to form one body, whether Jews or Gentiles, slave or free, and we were all given to one Spirit to drink." When you come to Christ, the Holy Spirit puts you, installs you, into the body of Christ. That's not you're doing. Okay, the Holy Spirit, uh, put you into the body as part of the body of believers. And in the body, there is no more; we're not already talking about race and tongues and nations. According to Paul, there is no more Greek or Jews or slaves or free. This is the body that is open to all people, to attract all other people to the light, so that they, too, can become part of the body of Christ.
And of us, is part of that one body now. This building is not the church, but we all know that you are the church, we are the church, individually and as a whole. Uh, I always say this, whenever we meet, that's the verse, whatever the name we carry, Word International Ministries, for example, does not matter much, because we all fly high is the name of Jesus Christ.
Link to the service video.
Take-aways
- We are called to unity, not just for the sake of being together, but to be equipped for service and to grow in our faith and knowledge of Christ.
- Christian unity is not about compromise, but about standing firm in the truth and reflecting the light of Christ to the world.
- We are not just united in one body, but we are also distinct from those who are outside of the light, and we need to keep this unity and make it as distinct as possible.
- Our unity is not about driving away those who can threaten it, but about being a force to draw more people into the light.
- Christian unity is not a unity to wage war against an enemy, but to be strong and to stand firm, and to make an influence to reflect the light of Christ.
Food for thought
- What does it mean to be united in one body, and how can we make this unity distinct from those who are outside of the light?
- How can we keep the unity we have in the spirit, and what are the things that can threaten it?
- What is the purpose of our unity, and how can we use it to draw more people into the light of Christ?
- How can we be a force to reflect the light of Christ, and what are the things that can hinder us from doing so?
- What does it mean to be strong and to stand firm, and how can we apply this in our daily lives as Christians?