1. Marks of a True Christian (2) Building Up The Body
Good Morning! Last week we started a series from the book of Ephesians entitled, “Marks of a True Christian.” This is the second lesson in the series. We will begin with a quick review, then move to some new material.
Feedback, questions, or comments welcome! Tom Steed
Ephesians 4:8-16

2. Real or Fake? “Champ Internatinal” Money Genuine Rolex The Real Deal
We all need to know the difference between the real and the fake. On my recent trip to Korea to teach, I say a very nice sweat suit that I thought about buying for my nephew. It was well made, but on the front it said, “Champ Internatinal” They made a “knock off” or copy of the real brand, but they didn’t do too good on the spelling. (I can identify with that).
By some miracle recently, I had a fifty dollar bill in my pocket. When I went to a restaurant and paid the bill with it, they quietly marked it with a pen that detects counterfeit money. I’m glad it was real or I would still be washing dishes!
In Korea, they asked, “Want to buy a Rolex--$25” I said that I wanted a Seiko for my wife. “Seiko more expensive, came the reply.” The Seiko was real, the Rolex was fake.
In every endeavor we want the real deal, not the fake. That is especially true in Christianity. The world has enough of fake Christians, it would like to see the real thing.
Somebody put it this way…….

3. Sitting in McDonald’s Won’t Make you a hamburger
Sitting in McDonald’s for a few hours won’t make you a hamburger and ……

4. Sitting in church won’t make you a Christian!
You must take some action!!!!
Sitting in church won’t make you a Christian. You must take some action. You don’t just want to talk the talk, you want to walk the walk.

5. Two Approaches Doctrinal Practical Genus Specie First Principles
Church Practice
Practical
Genus Specie
There are at least two approaches to the subject of who is a true Christian. We might ask, has this person obeyed the “first principles of the gospel” Do they believe in Jesus as the son of God? Have they been baptized? We might concentrate of the doctrinal teachings of the church. Does the church truly teach what the Bible teaches? A true Christian would want to be associated with a church that teaches the Bible correctly. I would call this the doctrinal approach, meaning that it is concerned with doctrines of salvation and church. This is surely very important.
Another approach is the practical approach. I think of it like classification in biology. One must know the genus and specie to truly make the right classification.

6. Overview of Ephesians Chapters 1-3 Doctrinal Base
Chapters 4-6 Practical Application
Parallel Passages
Colossians 3
Romans 12
1 Corinthians
In Chapters 1-3 Paul deals with the doctrinal base of the church. This deals with many of the doctrinal issues I just mentioned.
In Chapters 4-6 Paul deals with the practical application of Christianity in the lives of individuals. This is the area we are concentrating on today.
The information about Christian living found in Ephesians 4-6 is paralled in Colossians 3, Romans 12, and 1 Corinthians 12. If you are a regular Bible reader, this should sound familiar because the basic concepts are also found in these passages.

7. Ephesians Lesson Series
4:1-7 Walk Worthy
4:8-16 Building Up the Body
4:17-5:20 Light Versus Darkness
5:21-6:9 Relationships
6:10-18 The Christian Soldier
Remember that this lesson is part of a series, We will cover all these lessons eventually.

8. 4:1 As a prisoner for the Lord, then, I urge you to live a life worthy of the calling you have received.
Let’s review the passages from last week’s lesson. Ephesians 4:1 As a prisoner for the Lord, then, I urge you to live a life worthy of the calling you have received.

9. 4:2 Be completely humble and gentle; be patient, bearing with one another in love.

10. 4:3 Make every effort to keep the unity of the Spirit through the bond of peace.

11. 4:4 There is one body and one Spirit— just as you were called to one hope when you were called—

12. 4:5 one Lord, one faith, one baptism; 6 one God and Father of all, who is over all and through all and in all.
5 one Lord, one faith, one baptism; 6 one God and Father of all, who is over all and through all and in all.

13. Live Worthy of Your Calling
Uncle Sam Wants You
God: I love you and call you.
Developed in chapters 1-3
The calling comes first
Col 3:12 Therefore, as God’s chosen people, holy and dearly loved,
Uncle Sam wants you. God does better than that. He calls you. God loves us and He calls us to be his children. The idea of calling, election, and adoption is discussed in Chapters Always remember—the initiative begins with God. We do not work our way to heaven, but we respond in love and obedience because God first loved us.
Col 3:12 reminds us of God’s view of us. “Therefore, as God’s chosen people, holy and dearly loved, “ God loves us with a special love. We are his chosen ones.

14. Live Worthy of Your Calling
Philippians 1:27, “worthy of the gospel of Christ”;
Colossians 1:10, “to lead a life worthy of the Lord”;
1 Thessalonians 2:12, “to lead a life worthy of the God who calls”
Not mere moral advice—but based on the gospel.
This calling challenges us to live a life worthy of that calling. Philippians 1:27, tells us to walk or live “worthy of the gospel of Christ”. Colossians 1:10 admonishes us, “to lead a life worthy of the Lord”. 1 Thessalonians 2:12 reiterates, “to lead a life worthy of the God who calls” .
This is not mere moral advice. It is based on the commands of God and is rooted in our love for God and relationship with Him.

15. A Calling or Reputation
Family reputation
Alumni of a school.
Member of a team.
As I discussed last week. We belong to a family or a group. We are a credit when we live up to the positive expectations of the group. Put your family name on your car. When the kids go out, remind them that wherever they go, they are carrying on the reputation of the family.

16. Humble Lowliness of mind—in contrast to high-mindedness. Weakness?
Matthew 5:5 Blessed are the meek, for they will inherit the earth.
Matthew 23:12 For whoever exalts himself will be humbled, and whoever humbles himself will be exalted.
Paul sets forth some specific principles for the Christian. Since I mentioned these in depth last week, I will only review today. The Christian is to be humble, to exhibit lowliness of mind instead of high-mindedness. The world may view this as weakness, but God views it as strength.

17. Gentle Fruit of the Spirit
2 Timothy 2:24 And the Lord’s servant must not quarrel; instead, he must be kind to everyone, able to teach, not resentful. 25 Those who oppose him he must gently instruct, in the hope that God will grant them repentance leading them to a knowledge of the truth
The Christian is to exhibit gentleness. Gentleness is a fruit of the spirit.

18. Patient “Long temper” as compared to “short temper”
1 Thess 5:14 And we urge you, brothers, warn those who are idle, encourage the timid, help the weak, be patient with everyone
The Christian is to be patient. He or she is to have “long” temper rather than a “short” temper.

19. Unity of the Spirit Vern’s License: “Peacbl” The “glue” or “bond”
How hard do you try to get along with others?
The church is to exhibit unity of the spirit. Peace is the glue that keeps us together in the church. A friend of mind has a car license that is an abbreviation of “Peaceable”.
How hard do you try to get along with others?
This concludes our review, now we will take up some new concepts that build on the unity found in the first section. In the first few verses of Ephesians 4, there is a constant emphasis on unity through singularity—one Lord one Faith, one Baptism. It the second section, there is emphasis on unity through diversity. We are all different, but when we perform our individual roles, we contribute to the unity.

20. The Body of Christ We are all part of the whole.
In this section, Paul talks about “The Body of Christ”. Really, there are no individual or “Lone Ranger” Christians. We are all part of the Body of Christ.. (Did you hear what one skelton in the closet said to the other one? “You know, if we had any guts—we’d get out of here!)

21. The Body is a Metaphoric Concept
It contains a wealth of information in one term.
“The Body” is a Key concept of the church
“The body” is a metaphoric concept. Studies have shown that metaphoric concepts transfer a huge amount of information through the use of a single term. A metaphor functions like a picture, it carries an image skemata or form that transfers many ideas at once.
The body is a key concept in Paul’s writings, and it it used to tell us a lot about the church. For example, if I refer to working on some inanimate objects—”I’m going to take the carburetor off the lawn mower,”– that doesn’t sound to painful. But if I say, “I’m going to cut off my (or your) thumb.” That registers to us as excruciating pain. This is because we understand the experience of being a body and being members one of another.

22. We are all to be body builders!
In the body of Christ, we are all to be body builders.

23. We are all to be body builders!
Ephesians 4:11 It was he who gave some to be apostles, some to be prophets, some to be evangelists, and some to be pastors and teachers, 12 to prepare God’s people for works of service,
Here is the text version. Ephesians 4:11 It was he who gave some to be apostles, some to be prophets, some to be evangelists, and some to be pastors and teachers, 12 to prepare God’s people for works of service,

24. Be Body Builders
so that the body of Christ may be built up 13 until we all reach unity in the faith and in the knowledge of the Son of God and become mature, attaining to the whole measure of the fullness of Christ.
so that the body of Christ may be built up 13 until we all reach unity in the faith and in the knowledge of the Son of God and become mature, attaining to the whole measure of the fullness of Christ.

25. Build up the Body
The object of our service is so that we will look more like the guy on the right than the guy on the right. This guy doesn’t have quite enough clothes on—lets go to the next slide.
I can’t remember where I got this picture. Probably If you find it, let me know and I will give credit. TS.

26. Everyone must work at body building.
In the church, everyone must work at building up the body of Christ. This picture taken from the website of “Flex Magazine” feature some of the “body shaping” crew.”

27. The Body of Christ Individuals Congregation World Wide
There are at least three ways that we can take building up the body of Christ. The body of Christ is individual Christians. We must work to build up each follower of Christ.
As a minister, I think of the church in congregational terms. We build up the body of Christ when we help the local church to function properly.
The third way we build up the body of Christ is when we help the church to function on a world wide basis. Helping spread the gospel internationally, or ministering to the needs of others in distant countries—people that we may have never met– is building up the body of Christ.
In some ways, people on the church staff have a great idea of the contributions that people make to building up the body. When I hear how someone has taken care of someone else; when I see people come to the church building and use their talents, when young people shovel the snow so older people can come in safely, when teachers prepare their lessons so that others can learn, when people build each other up in many, many ways, the church is functioning as God intended it.

28. Gifts From Christ Apostles Prophets Evangelists Pastors Teachers
This passage in Ephesians quotes an passage from psalms with a slight twist. Christ is the conquering hero or emperor who ascends to his throne. In Psalms, the king, receives gifts. In Ephesians, the conquerer gives gifts to men. Specifically, there are five groups of people who are given as gifts, Apostles, prophets, evangelists, pastors, and teachers.
I view the Pastors or elders of our congregation as a gift to me. They help me as the minister to serve much more effectively. I hope others view me as an evangelist and teacher as a gift to them. In Romans, Paul speaks of individual abilities as gifts. Her he speaks of the talents of classifications of people as gifts.
What is the result of these gifts?

29. So that the Body of Christ might be built up Until we all reach unity
in the faith
And in the knowledge of the Son of God
Become mature
Attaining the whole measure of the fullness of Christ
The result is that the body of Christ might be built up until we all reach unity n the faith and in the knowledge of the Son of God and become mature, attaining the whole measure of the fullness of Christ. In other words, the goal of using our talents is to contribute to the overall growth of the church. We want to use our talents to work toward unity, until we are mature and act like Christ in his fullness.
Let’s conclude the lesson with some questions.

30. What are You Doing to Build Up the Body of Christ?
Let’s all take stock for a moment and ask the question—are you contributing in any way to the growth and development of the church? Many people seem to think that the church exists to serve them. Yes, the church should meet our needs, but the words of Jesus still ring true, “the son of man came not to be served, but to serve.”
I am not asking, “Are the leaders of the church doing their jobs?” I am asking, “What are you doing to build up the body of Christ?”
If you haven’t been helping—Its time to start! I might refine the question a little….

31. What mundane things can you do to help individuals or the church?
What mundane things can you do to help individuals or the church? It doesn’t have to be something great and glorious. It can be as simple as taking a cup of soup to someone who needs it, making a phone call, picking up trash around the church ground, listening to the needs of a friend.
But we might also ask the question….

32. What special talents do you have that you can offer?
What special talents do you have that you can offer to build up the body of Christ. God doesn’t give us talents just for our own glory. If you have been blessed with a great intellect—don’t use it to show off—use it to help others. If have some great talent—thank God for it and put it to use in helping others. In doing so, you are helping to build up the body of Christ.

34. STEED’S SERMONS
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35. STEED’S SERMONS
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