And now would you open your Bible with me to 1 Corinthians chapter 3, where we'll begin this morning our study of Scripture. Talking today about what church unity provides. Unity in a fellowship is not merely a nice ideal. It is an absolute necessity. It is a necessity if that fellowship of believers would grow into maturity and Christ -likeness. Divisions and strife expose carnality and immaturity in a fellowship. Such was the case in 1 Corinthians 3, as the Apostle
wrote to them. He said, And I, brethren, could not speak to you as to spiritual men. But as to men of flesh, that is, as to carnal men, as to babes in Christ, I gave you milk to drink, not solid food, for you were not yet able to receive it. Please notice that up to this point there is no rebuke in what the apostle says to the Corinthians. He is recounting his earlier visit with them, and he tells them the truth. He had to feed them milk. because they were still
babes in Christ. Now sometime later, but not long later, he says, indeed, even now you are not yet able. And now there certainly is a tone of rebuke to these people. He says, for you are still fleshly. For since there is jealousy and strife among you, are you not fleshly? And are you not walking like mere men? And so the apostle expects that they should have grown up in the period of time since he first was there and had
spoken to them as babes. He continues in chapter 4 and verse 6 in the last part of the verse by saying that in us you might learn not to exceed what is written in order that no one of you might become arrogant. in behalf of one against the other. You can see here the childish ways of the Corinthians. And in between the two texts that we've read, you see that further elaborated upon. Just as personal maturity diminishes childish ways, so spiritual maturity should do the same
in that realm. Children are interesting, aren't they? We expect children to act like children. Do you have a reporter in your family? One who comes up and says, do you know what Billy did to me? Do you have one like that? Every family has at least one. That's childish, isn't it? And when it first happens, we think, well, isn't that cute? But after a while, it gets beyond that stage, doesn't it? Or do you have a child in your family who is continually urging the
others to pick sides? Whose side do you want anyway? Are you for him or for me? Or do you have a child who pouts and who says, in essence, well, if he's not going to play the way I want to, I'm going to take my toys and go home. Well, those are childish ways, and we need to expect that children will do them. Children should be taught not to act that way, but they will act that way because that's immaturity. You know, the sad thing is when adults keep acting that
way, isn't it? Because then it's not normal. Then it's a tragedy. Then it's an aberration. And the same thing is true in the spiritual realm. As we grow up spiritually, we need to put away childish, spiritual things. A concern for unity characterizes the walk, the lifestyle of a child of God who is living worthy of his calling. That is what we've been studying in Ephesians 4, verses
1 through 16. That child of God will seek to preserve spiritual unity by humility, gentleness, patience, and forbearance in his relationship. with others in the fellowship. That's what verses 2 and 3 of Ephesians 4 are all about. Not only will he seek to preserve spiritual unity by his own character and integrity, but we've been learning that he will seek to promote unity by using his God -given spiritual abilities to serve the Lord in the church and to minister to others in the
body. We see in verse 7 that the Lord has so gifted all of us to be able to do that. And in verse 12, we are to be equipped so that that is made a reality. To be a peacemaker, a unifier of believers, is really to confirm one's profession of faith in Jesus Christ. All of us ought to be of that mindset. because that is not only a mindset that proves that we're worthy of our calling, but it also evidences that we're growing up and we're no longer childish in our ways.
Now, having said that, we should be peacemakers. I also want to say this to balance it, that peace is not to be sought at any price. In other words, we're not to compromise with sin in order to achieve. a certain kind of peace. But the principle is nonetheless true, that God wants us to be peacemakers, unifiers of his people, not dividers like children. The reason that the Lord, first of all, gave gifts to individual believers, and secondly, gave individuals as gifts to the church,
as we've been studying. The reason our Lord has done this is to bring the church to its full potential, that is, to its maturity, to its grown -up state. Our text today, in Ephesians 4, verses 14 through 16, shows us that when the equipping process of verses 12 and 13 take place, a marvelous thing happens. That's maturity. And the church
grows out. That's extension. Verse 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 and deceitful scheming. But speaking the truth in love, we are to grow up in all aspects into
him. who is the head, even Christ, from whom the whole body, being fitted and held together by that which 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. That, my friend, is biblical church growth, which is provided for by our maturing, by our unifying. When the process of verse 12 takes place, a process that we talked about in detail last week, when that process takes place,
there are two results in a church. One is that it grows up, and the result is protection, verse 14. And the other is that it grows out. Let's call that propagation. The two results of the process of verse 12 taking place in any local church will be protection and propagation. Now, why do I say protection? Well, because there is a danger, a danger that arises out of immaturity. The word here, children, that he uses in verse 14. is the same word that he used in 1 Corinthians
3 and called it babes. It refers to immature infants. Literally, it is one who does not talk. It is one who is still in that early babyhood. Now, of course, every child of God begins there because we are born again into God's family. That born -again experience is through faith in the Lord Jesus Christ, who died for our sin and rose again from the dead. It is our faith
in Him who did that. It is our placing of our trust in that good news about Him that He died for us, that we can be forgiven and have eternal life. It is that which causes us to be born into God's family as infants. We all begin there. Infancy is normal, but prolonged infancy is abnormal. The normal expectation is that a maturing process will take place in the physical life and in one's spiritual life. And that maturing process is described in verses 12 and 13. Immature children
of God are vulnerable to spiritual enemies. They're like young animals that are vulnerable to the predators. I was sitting in the office the other day looking out in the backyard of our office complex, and there were three little baby rabbits hopping around, just as cute as they could be, not a fear in the world. I walked by one the other day, didn't run at all. That little rabbit hasn't learned the fear of predators yet. He's vulnerable. It may not even last through the
spring. That's the way it is. The young are susceptible to predators. It is true spiritually as well, my friend. You see, the danger of immaturity that the apostle points out here is the instability that comes from it. the unsteadiness that is a part of immaturity. A young child is unsteady in those early years, just learning to walk. There are all kinds of bumps and bruises. As
I say, that is normal for a period of time. But the apostle is concerned here that there are some of the Ephesians, apparently, who were still in their babyhood. For he says, no longer be children. No longer be that way. Grow up, he is saying, to be protected. Instability is pictured for us here in three different ways. There is, first of all, a nautical picture. Do you see that? Tossed here and there by waves. The picture
is obvious. Waves tossing back and forth, churning, boiling, the unsettled condition of an ocean in a hurricane. Now he says that it's possible for one who is young in the faith or who is still a baby in the faith to be the same way mentally and spiritually, tossed back and forth without stability. Another picture that he uses is a meteorological picture. He says, carried about by every wind of doctrine. Literally the picture is to be whirled around by gusty winds of teaching.
We went down to the Twins game the other night to cheer them on to another loss. As we were departing from the Metrodome, I was amazed at the air pressure that literally pushes you out the door. Have you been down there and experienced that? As you walk out the door, the air is behind you so strong that you literally have to walk quickly through the door out. But that's the picture here. It's the gust of wind pushing,
shoving. Even whirling around, when I think of this, I think of Dorothy being caught up into that Kansas tornado and that house turning round and round and round and round until finally she falls down in the land of Oz. And she comes out and she doesn't know where she is. And she's dizzy and uncertain and unsteady. The exact picture here. He's talking about false teachers who, with winds of doctrine, cause people to be turned around and around until finally they end up in
the land of Oz theologically, too. They don't know where they are, unsure and unsteady. And then a third picture is a sociological picture. He speaks about the trickery of men, craftiness and deceitful scheming. Here he talks about cheaters who are able to trick others, who make promises that are not kept, who use tricks of their trade to entrap. This very same word is used of Jesus detecting the trickery of the Pharisees in their question in Luke 20, 23. The apostle is warning
here about those who are cunning deceivers. Literally the word here is dice players. You get the idea of gamblers who are able to use signals to cheat the innocent person. The use of cleverly devised methods to deceive, and in the case here, to lead immature people away from the truth to error. That is involved in the thought. The goal you see here is to introduce this immature person to a false way of thinking or a false system of belief. There are certain religious sects
that prey upon new converts. You can almost count on it that if you lead somebody to Jesus Christ, during those early months, That person will be exposed to someone who will come around with another idea, another way of thinking, and there will be an attempt to steal that fruit. There will be an attempt to cause that new convert to take a sidestep and get on the wrong path. That's what the apostle is warning about. That is the danger that faces those who are immature.
instability. Beware of those who prey on new converts or on immature believers. Satan seeks to hinder genuine maturity by deceitful schemes that is leading people into error, which brings condemnation. The point here is this, that growing up into maturity, which happens back in verses 12 and 13 in that process, The equipping process where we all are involved in ministry and the result is the body is built up toward unity of
faith and a deeper knowledge of Christ. The point is that as that process is being carried out in our own personal experience, there is protection. There is protection from the danger that is described in verse 14. The danger will not go away. There will always be these pressures and these temptations and these snares. But you see, growing up and being a part of a maturing, growing church of believers helps provide protection. God didn't create us to be out there by ourselves, isolated
from other believers. He wants us to be vitally locked into a fellowship of his people. That's what the whole context here is about. Personal growth. And being in a growing, unified local church will make one less susceptible to religious fads and less likely to be taken in by hucksters of false religion. So one result of the equipping process is protection. It's protection that I hope you know. Our second result is propagation. That is growth, increase. multiplication, described
in verses 15 and 16. A healthy body grows. An unhealthy body doesn't. Now growth is not always or merely measured in numbers. Don't misunderstand. That is one measurement. But there are other measurements as well. The bottom line is still true that a healthy body grows. It propagates. And notice that he begins in verse 15 by a prerequisite for growth. He says, speaking the truth in love, we are to grow up. In other words, before we can grow up, there has to be what he literally
says, truthing in love. Truthing in love. This is certainly in contrast to what verse 14 is about. There he warns of deceit. trickery and craftiness. Now he says we're to have nothing to do with any of that. But truthing in love, he says, speaking the truth, or doing the truth in love, we're to grow up. I believe that the apostle here is telling us that a healthy relationship in a fellowship of believers must be based upon honesty. Honesty, truthfulness that is tempered
with love. Our honesty should not be brutal. Our love should not be weak and impotent. The two go together. Exercising truth, transparency, honesty in love toward others in the fellowship. Most of us are more talented at masquerading. We use words to hide ourselves, to put masks upon our faces or our true being, pretending to be something that we're not. There is nothing that will short -circuit maturity faster than
that. If you and I really want to grow up spiritually, And if we want our church to grow up spiritually, then we have to learn to be honest, lovingly transparent in our relationships, being willing to risk ourselves with others by taking the mask off, and being willing to lovingly minister to others as they are honest with us. That's what the apostle is describing in this prerequisite for growth. Are you willing to grow? Do you want to grow that bad? That you're willing to truth
it in love? And then the direction of growth is pointed out to us. He says we are to grow up in all aspects into him who is the head, even Christ. The goal or the aim, the direction of our growth is to be toward a more intimate oneness with Christ. Now because of some of the false teaching that's available today, let me quickly say that never is the distinction lost between God and his redeemed creatures. Never do we become
one in the sense that we all become God. There is forever an infinite distinction between the eternal personal God and the redeemed creature. But God in love has united us nonetheless with himself. And what the apostle is saying here is that our growth is aimed that we might have a raised awareness of our union with Jesus Christ and all the ramifications that come from that. that we might ever follow after him as our Lord. And he says regarding this, in all aspects or
in all respects. In other words, there is to be no area of life without the involvement of him who is our head and our Lord. We are to grow in our understanding of our oneness with him and how that impacts every area of our daily living. There should be a deepening awareness of the sacredness of every part of life. Life is not segmented. The life is whole, and it is
all under his lordship. Horatio Benar said, So shall no part of day or night from sacredness be free, but all my life, in every step, be fellowship with thee. That's what Paul is saying here. That's the direction of our growth. Is your life increasingly coming under the lordship of Jesus Christ as you understand what it means that you're united with him? Is that the way you're growing up?
Now, the description of the growth is further given to us in verse 16, where he says, if you break the verse down, from whom, that is the head Jesus Christ, who is our source, from whom the whole body causes the growth of the body for the building up of itself in love. You see,
the whole body causes the growth. As a body grows strong when fitted and held together by that which every joint or ligament supplies, so Christ's body, grows as each member functions actively and cooperatively according to his God -given ability. That's his point. That's how the growth takes place. The equipping process is taking place right here this morning. This is one aspect of it. As you hear the Word of God and then respond
to it. Now as the equipping takes place in your life, in this context and in others, the point is that you then begin to minister more and more efficiently and fully as God has gifted you. And as each of us does that, the result is that the whole body causes the whole body to grow. It, of course, is distressing when even one member of the body refuses to grow. refuses to be equipped, refuses to minister. Because, you see, even one
weakens the whole. The whole of the body is threatened when even one of us does not grow and mature in Jesus Christ. That's how critical this is. We're not talking about some nice theory. We're talking about the reality of a growing church. A church is only going to grow up and grow out as you and I individually understand our role and we're functioning as we're being equipped, serving the Lord, ministering to others as God has called us to minister, and then the whole
body grows. As we serve the Lord and use our gifts, abilities, resources, working toward a unified, maturing local church. The result will be, number one, protection from spiritual pitfalls and snares. And number two, propagation or growth. Growth first in our intimacy with Jesus Christ as we understand our union with Him. Growth then likewise in our church's strength as we build up the body in love. And then growth in effectiveness in outreach, because you see that's here too.
For as the body grows up and is built up and becomes stronger, it incorporates new people who are one to Jesus Christ. And as they are incorporated, they likewise are equipped to serve the Lord according to the abilities He's given them. And then they are part of the building process. And then there are more incorporated. You see how it works? That is church growth. That is what church unity provides, biblical church growth. Grace Church Roseville is moving
in that direction. We haven't by any means arrived there. But as one by one, more of us seek to obey the Word of God and walk pleasing to Him, as we take another step in our own personal maturity, as we become more unified, mature, and healthy as a church, then we're going in the right direction. Are you ready this morning to take another step in your own walk with God? It's impossible for me to define what that step may be precisely. But for someone here, it may mean speaking the
truth in love. That is, being willing to take off the mask and to be honest. Maybe you need, first of all, to be honest with yourself. The Bible over and over warns us about deceiving ourselves. It may be that you have been lying to yourself so long about a certain area of your life. What you really need to do today is to receive the truth about yourself. And then are you willing to take the next step beyond that to talk to God about it? and to take the mask
off toward others. For someone else, it may mean making a commitment to a local church. Some of us play games with this thing regarding church. And we think that just by going to church on Sunday morning, somehow that's going to make us grow, and it's going to help the church to grow. That's a silly, childish game. Because it doesn't happen that way. Folks, if we're going to grow up, we have to put away the kid games. And we have to understand that there is no growth
without commitment. Unless we are willing to take a hold of the plow, the field will not be plowed. Unless we are willing to get serious about being involved in a local church by becoming a member of that church, by faithfully being a part of the giving stewardship of that church, in serving the Lord in that church, being a part of its ministry, supporting that church by our prayers, being behind those who are leading the
church. ministering to those in the body who are hurting and crying out for a friend, who desperately want to take the mask off, but they need someone to reach out with a friendly hand and help them. Until we're willing to make those kinds of deep commitments, there's no growth. And so for some of us today, it may mean this, that we need to take a step of commitment toward
involvement in a local church. If you've been a part of this church for some time and you've not become a member of it, I want to encourage you to do that. Because that's important for you as it is for the church. We're not involved in a game. We're involved in a war in this world. We're involved in a great cause for our commanding officer, Jesus Christ. And we can't play at that.
We've got to be serious. That may be the step you need to take today, a step of commitment, definite, deeper commitment to the local church. There may be something even more painful that you need to do. It may be that you, in order to take another step of growth in your life, need to go to someone that you've offended, someone against whom you've had a grudge. And you need to make it right. The only way to do that is
to go to that person and to talk it out. Doing what he says here, speaking the truth in love. It may be that you need to go to someone who is right here in this auditorium this morning or someone that you have to call on the telephone this afternoon and you need to say to that person, you know, I have had feelings about thus and so that happened, and I want to ask your forgiveness for the way that I felt about that. You say, that hurts. That's hard. Yes. I believe that
God has designed it that way. He's designed it that way so that we remember the next time we're tempted to do it again that it hurts to make it right. Is that a step you need to take? It may be that you need to allow God to do surgery on your heart. That there is some attitude. Maybe it is bitterness. Bitterness against God. Anger against God for his dealings. What he has allowed to happen in your life. Some great disappointment perhaps. Today you need to say to God, okay God,
I'm willing to let you cut that out of me. The commitment you need to make is to go into the spiritual hospital for surgery so that the heavenly surgeon can excise that infection that has been draining into your life and poisoning not only you, but others around you. If we're going to move in the right direction as a church, if we're going to move toward maturity personally, it involves steps. Sometimes they are small steps,
and sometimes they seem gigantic. But whatever the step is before you today, will you take it by the grace of God? If you do not know the Lord Jesus Christ as your Savior, let me tell you that that is the step for you. The step of trusting Him. Or as the New Testament puts it, receiving Him as your Savior and your Lord. Will you put away whatever you've trusted in up to this point and come to the Lord Jesus today and say, Lord Jesus Christ. I understand that you died for
me. Maybe you've known that for years. But you're saying today, Lord Jesus Christ, I understand you died for me. And now personally, I open my heart's door and receive you. Come in and save me. Let's pray together. Father, across this auditorium, You are speaking to hearts as only you can. Thank you for that quiet voice of the Holy Spirit, that voice that persistently comes to us, faithfully speaks, even when it irritates
us. We thank you. I pray that at this moment we will no longer resist, but that each of us will take that step we need to take. Lord, in the quietness of these closing seconds, as hundreds of us speak with you privately, talking about that next step, Hear us and deal with us, we pray. Now, my friend, where you're seated, would you talk with God? Acknowledge to him what needs to be done and then ask his grace in following
through with that step. Now, having talked to the Lord about it, at least initially, would you, with your head bowed, lift your hand and say, Pastor, today God has spoken to me, and I have talked with him, and there is a step that I know God wants me to make, and I am committing myself, by the uplifting of my hand, to follow through. Would you lift your hand and then put it down? Yes, thank God. Many, many hands. Anyone else? I know what I need to do, and I'm willing
today to do it. And I've asked God for grace to do it. Anyone else? I wonder if you're here today without the Lord Jesus. Yes, thank you. I see your hand over there. If you're here without the Lord Jesus, and you would say by the uplifted hand, Pastor, I'm not a Christian, I'm not saved, but I would like today to trust Christ. Pray for me in closing. Would you lift your hand? The lifting of your hand isn't going to save you, but it will give me an opportunity to pray
for you. Though I'm not going to embarrass you or come back where you are, at least I know who you are in my mind as I pray. I'm not a Christian, but pray for me. I need to trust Christ. Anyone? Father, as we close this service, I pray that you will bring to a culmination, a consummation, your dealings in our lives. Let us not escape, but rather let us yield and surrender to your Lordship. In Jesus' name, amen.