Isn't it great to worship the Lord on a Wednesday night? Great singing with all of you. And I want to invite you to open the Bible and turn with me to the book of Ephesians. Ephesians 4:11-16 will be our text together this evening. Ephesians 4:11-16. We've already learned Double Double week that God is able to build us up. Can I get an Amen from anybody on that? Have we learned that the Word of his grace is able to save souls? Can I get an Amen? And last night, if you were here, we saw that Jesus has promised, I will build my church. So, we should expect some building to happen if God is able to do it, if the Word is able to do it, if Jesus says, he's going to do it. So how do we do it? How does the church get built? What role do I have to play? What role do you have to play? That's why we're at Ephesians 4:11-16 here today. We're going to get to see the human means that God will use to accomplish the purpose of building his church. And I want to welcome everybody who's joining us online right now. Can we give them a warm welcome? We wish you were here experiencing the excitement with us, but we're glad you're online. And I'm asking you and everybody in the room if we will all stand up for the public reading of Scripture. And let's give this for a few minutes our full and undivided attention. This is Ephesians 4:11-16. You're going to find yourself here in these Words; this is the Word of God, please follow along as I read.
“And he gave the apostles, the prophets, the evangelists, the shepherds and teachers, to equip the saints for the work of ministry, for building up the body of Christ, until we all attain to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to mature manhood, to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ, so that we may no longer be children, tossed to and fro by the waves and carried about by every wind of doctrine, by human cunning, by craftiness in deceitful schemes. Rather, speaking the truth in love, we are to grow up in every way into him who is the head, into Christ, from whom the whole body, joined and held together by every joint with which it is equipped, when each part is working properly, makes the body grow so that it builds itself up in love.”
That's the reading of God's Word. Go ahead and have your seat. And you can see that God gives the church men who he uses to lead or to equip the church, and you can see that there and in verse 11. So, remember, if anybody ever asks you what Ephesians is about, the first three chapters are about God saving us, and chapters four to six are about our response to God. And so, it's been talking about how we are the church, and we are one body, one Lord, one faith, and then it says a little bit about how the church is going to operate. And we're going to have these leaders, the apostles, and I don't know that I've ever met an apostle, although Matthias is running tech right now in the back and he got voted in as the 12th apostle. We saw that in the book of Acts, but there are apostles, we've been studying them in Acts; there are prophets who spoke the Word of God; there are evangelists, maybe you could think of some famous evangelists in American history, like George Whitfield, or somebody like that. And then it says, there are these guys, the shepherds and teachers. See, I know a little bit about those guys. Right? They're the pastors. That's one of the few times where it actually uses the Word. The pastors are the shepherds and the teachers, and you can't even be a pastor unless you are able to teach, unless you know how to handle the trustworthy Word. As you were taught yourself, you need to be able to teach others and so there's the shepherd teachers and look what they're going to do. Verse 12, the shepherds and teachers are going to equip the saints for the work of ministry. Who are the saints, everybody? Okay, yeah, they're not some famous people that we make statues about. Saints are anyone who has been set apart by Jesus Christ. Anyone who has been set apart from their life of sin, and set apart for the purpose of God, that person is a saint. And so, it says that the shepherds, teachers, people like me are equipping the saints, people like you, for the work of ministry, for building up the body of Christ. Okay, so that’s why we're here on a Wednesday night. I'm supposed to be here teaching the Word, and I'm supposed to equip you so that you could actually go and do the work of the ministry so that you could build up the body. So, you're here to learn from the Word as we teach it, as we preach it. And as you get built up by the Word, you are called to go and do building yourself.
So, if you're taking notes, if you've got the handout there, and you want to take some notes, let's get this down for point number one: You need to get built. So, you can be a builder, and get built to be a builder, and get built to be a builder. And we don't just have Bob the Builder here at Compass HP, everybody. Okay? Every single one of us is here to get equipped so that we can all build up the Church of Jesus Christ. Can I get an Amen from everybody? All right. So maybe you are not a Christian. And we're glad you're here because we want you to repent and believe in Jesus. Maybe you're a new Christian, and you're just learning how this all works. But if you have been a Christian for some period of time, and you need to really think if you've been set apart from your sin, hey, am I being used by God? Is God doing a work in me? Am I doing work of ministry? Am I building up the body? So, as you get the Word in your life, as you are taught the Word, you are getting equipped for something God wants you to do. God doesn't just save you for you, God wants to use every saved person to reach somebody else, to build up and encourage somebody else.
Turn with me to 2 Timothy chapter 3. Let's all go over to 2 Timothy chapter 3, and let's just remember that it's not just like I have some power to build you up or to equip you. No, it's clear, God is able, and the Word of his grace are able. And so, my role as one of the pastor teachers here, as a guy who does a lot of the preaching and teaching here at Compass HB, is I'm here to preach to you, not my Word. There's no ability or power there. But I'm here to preach to you the Word of God, which we believe has great power, as it is working among us. And this idea of getting equipped, it says it here in 2 Timothy 3:16. These are Verses we want everyone to know well, because it says, “All Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness.” Like all of the Scripture, it's from God, and it is the Word of His grace. It's all able, it's all worth it. And then look what it says in verse 17, “that the man of God may be complete.” That's the goal of where we want everybody to get, we want everybody here to be complete, so you are “equipped for every good work,” that as you grow in your knowledge of God's Word, as his Word does its work in you, the purpose is that you would reach this completion, so that you would be equipped to go and do something that God has for you to do in your life. That's the idea. That's the whole flow that everybody should be thinking. If you're thinking that the point of studying the Bible is just for you, that's not how this works. And trust me, I've had the privilege in my life of working at the church. Now I've been working at church for like twenty years now in my life. And, obviously, a lot of people profess faith in Jesus Christ, and a lot of people set out like they're going to follow Jesus for the rest of their life. And I have seen way too many people fall away. And the number one ingredient that I've been able to see in people who fall away and don't stick with it is it was about them, and not other people. If you want to keep going to the end, and you want to really grow, and you want really do something, and where you and God have a tight relationship, you’ve got to understand how this works. God wants you to have a close relationship with him so he can use you in the lives of other people. People who want to grow so they can be used in others keep on growing. People who make it about themselves, they either fall away into sin, or they just get diverted into some other kind of life, that's kind of circle the wagons hunker down, wait till the world ends. Hope Jesus shows up. No, the point of you growing and maturing is you need to do the work of ministry. You need to serve other people. You need to build up the Church of Jesus Christ. He's got something he wants you to do. And so that is the purpose as you get the Word and look what it says the Word does. “It's profitable for teaching,” like what we're doing here tonight, when we preach a sermon, when we teach a class maybe, but look at how the Word is going to work. The Word is going to notice the things here,” for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness.” Who's ever been slapped in the face by the Scripture? Anybody ever been rebuked like that before? Anybody ever been called out by the Word of God? That's good. That's part of what's supposed to happen. There's supposed to be a conviction of sin and realizing that you need to change the way that you think, the way that you speak, the way that you conduct yourself. Now, there's this reproof, there's this correction. And then when you start getting on the right track, and you start to obey the commands, and you start to really walk in the way of Jesus Christ, well, there's some training that's needed, there's some stick to itiveness that's needed; there's some instruction that will help you go down the right path as you're turning away from the worldly wrong away. That's what the Word does. It moves you away from yourself, away from your sin, it moves you towards the right way in Christ. And all of this, it says is that you could reach these two goals that we're going to end up with tonight. And one goal is that you would be complete. And then the other goal is that you would be equipped so you can do something. We want everybody at this church to be complete, and then to be useful, like you could do something like. What are these good works that you need to get equipped to do? Who is it that you're going to minister to that God is equipping you for right now, that you're going to go and make a difference in their life? That's why you need to be growing today is because other people depend on your good works to build them up in the church of Jesus Christ. Your growth is not just about you. Am I making that clear right now to everybody? Like other people's lives depend on whether you get into this Word, and God does his work in you, and you then are ready and equipped to pass that on to other people.
Like I remember a man who walked up in this room. He walked up and he heard a message like this about building up and teaching your family and investing in other men and women here in the church, or younger people in the church, and he said, that's what I want to do, teach me the Word. I want to do that. And then later on, that guy, he did not keep coming to church; he did not stick with it. And I still think about his family, I still think about his kids, because it wasn't just that man who walked away, who's going to teach them? Everybody's life in this room affects other people's lives. You might not even know who's going to come knocking on your door someday. That you need to be equipped to do the good work that God has prepared beforehand for you to walk in. God saved you because he wants you to be set apart from sin, but he wants you to be set apart for his purpose. And he's got something he wants you to do. I guarantee it between today and between the day that Jesus comes back, or you die, there is some good work that God wants you to do. And you need to get equipped from the Word. That's why pastors and teachers like me need to be preaching the Word. That's what it goes on to say in 2 Timothy 4:1-2, “I charge you in the presence of God and of Christ Jesus, who is to judge the living and the dead, and by his appearing and his kingdom: preach the Word; be ready in season and out of season; reprove, rebuke, and exhort, with complete patience and teaching.” So, the Bible is able to call you out and able to get you going in the right way. Well, that's what the preaching is supposed to do there. Look at verse 2, the preaching is supposed to “reprove, rebuke, and exhort” in patience. And all the teaching, all that the Scripture says, I mean, how seriously do you take the preaching that we do here at this church or, how seriously should Christians take the preaching at any church? It seems like one of the primary ways that you're going to get equipped is by a pastor teacher, preaching to you the Word of God, and as you hear the Word and receive it into your heart, that Word is going to have a transforming effect, a reproving, rebuking, and exhorting effect in your life. So, how seriously do you take times like this? Like, do you go and think about them later on? Do you pray about them beforehand? Like are you going to keep some notes and are those notes like going somewhere besides the trash can later on? Like, what are you doing to make sure that the Word doesn't just go one in one ear and out the other but it goes right here in your heart and it goes through you to somebody else?
There's a man here at this church named Steve Brown. Anybody knows Steve Brown? I love Steve Brown. And he just had a surgery, a little work done, a biopsy on his throat. And so, we could be praying for him to recover. That's why he's not here with us tonight. Otherwise, he would have been here with us tonight. He's probably watching this online right now. And it's super embarrassing, but I love it with all my heart, this guy carries around a notebook full of the sermon notes from this church. It's embarrassing, because he's got my picture on the front cover of the notebook, just standing here just like this. So, Steve, let's cut the picture. But I love the notebook, brother. All right. Because that guy, he shows up. I have the privilege of being in a fellowship group with Steve Brown. And I guarantee you, when the fellowship group goes down, Steve Brown, he's going to have something to say. In fact, he's going to have more than just something to say, because he's been thinking about it. He's been looking up the passage, he's been looking up the other verses that we went to, and he is learning, he is growing, he is equipped to talk to other people. That's why he's home. So, we need to pray for his throat because he wants to talk to people. And we need them to have a healthy voice so he can do it, because he's been equipped by the Word. And when he can't speak, you can just feel it when you're talking to him, he's just like, I’ve got to go and share this with somebody. Are you really learning something that you would know so well that you would share it kind of like we would expect a student who's going to have a test or somebody at work? Who's going to have to make a presentation, that they need to master the material to a level where they could pass it on and teach it to somebody else? Is that the way you're approaching the Word of God? Are you really coming to it like this isn't just for me, this is so I can be complete? So, I can be equipped because I'm going to have to share this with somebody else. And so, I’ve got to really take studying the Word seriously.
Go over to Hebrews, chapter 5 with me, Hebrews chapter 5. And this is something that is a tragic thing that happens when people get used to going to church, and they get used to hearing teaching. And there's a statement here where they can become dull of hearing, dull of hearing the Word. And they start to just not really take it into their heart and let it have its powerful equipping effect in their life. In fact, the book of Hebrews is really a strong warning against falling away, and a strong encouragement to persevere to the end. And it all begins in Hebrews 2:1, are you paying closer attention to what you have heard, or are you already starting to drift? Those are the two options. You're either like trying to learn more about the Bible and experience a revival, or you're already starting to act like you've heard it before. You've already been there, done that, and you're already drifting out to sea, and you don't even realize you're on the way to a shipwreck faith because you think you've got so much faith, you don't even need the Word anymore. And he says here in Hebrews 5:11, “About this we have much to say, and it is hard to explain, since you have become dull of hearing.” For though by this time, you ought to be teachers, like you should know this so well by now that you could teach it to somebody else. But no, you need someone to teach you again the basic principles of the oracles of God, you need milk, not solid food. For everyone who lives on milk is unskilled in the Word of righteousness since he is a child. But solid food is for the … key word here tonight … for the mature, for those who have their powers of discernment trained by constant practice to distinguish good from evil. Therefore, let us leave the elementary doctrine of Christ and go on to maturity, not laying again a foundation of repentance from dead works and of faith toward God. Here is a rebuke to people that they should be at a place where they're mature, they should be at a place where they're ready to teach others, but because they're not even paying good attention, and they're dull of hearing, they get called out here. There are many people going to churches all over America, who think that they know a lot about the Bible, and they are not acting like they are equipped to do any work of ministry or any building up. It's like all that knowledge just sits with them. And they need to be called out and say, you should be teaching other people but, instead, it's like you got to go and get taught all over again yourself. Notice what it says here about constant practice. Did you see that there in verse 14 “solid food is for the mature”? What does it mean to be mature? Well, it's having your powers of discernment trained by constant practice. These are people who are in the Word all of the time. They’re praying for the sermon. They hear this sermon, they go over questions and think about the sermon, they go to their fellowship group and talk about the sermon. Or maybe it's people they're reading the Word in the morning, they're reading the Word at their lunch break, they're reading the Word at night, they're praying about what they're reading, and these people are so in the Word, they're just constantly practicing eating up the Scripture, that they're really now having discernment, they're able to separate what is good from what is evil. And they're really learning a lot because they're in the Word, and the Word is having its effect in their life. Does that describe you? Are you taking the preaching and the hearing of the Word seriously? Do you take the reading of the Word seriously? If you want to be a mature believer, and many of you are here on Wednesday night because you do want to mature along with the three points.
Let me give you three great ways to mature here at Compass Bible Church, Huntington Beach. Three things. And we've already mentioned that the preaching and taking seriously the preaching of the Word will help you mature, it will correct you from your sin, train you in righteousness, and equip you. But let me give you three things. You can just write these down wherever you want. Number one is read Scripture of the Day, okay? That's one of the best things we're doing to help people grow here at this church. That's constant practice for some of us now. And the reason I love doing Scripture of the Day, specifically, is not basically just because we all do it together, and there's that feeling of people talking about it, people are sharing it with one another. This stood out to me. I've got a group of men, that's been meeting on Saturday mornings on a regular basis to talk about what we've been reading all the way since we started the law back in November 2019. We have been reading the Bible together through the prophets, through all the writings. I mean, what a great joy it is to talk about what we're reading in the Scripture, and to cover all of the Scripture not just to go back to the most popular spots, or my favorite book, or this part I'm already familiar with. But to get into territory, where it's like, I don't really know what's going on here. And to discover it together, you need constant practice in the Word. And I want to encourage you, when we say hey, come and read the book of Ecclesiastes with us, come and read Esther with us, when we invite you to read with the church. Sure, you could go read by yourself, but why not read with the church and be built up and cover through the Word with us. You need that constant practice. And then look what it says in Hebrews 6:1. A lot of times with these chapter breaks, we don't keep reading. But remember, the chapter breaks all the verse numbers, the writer of Hebrews did not put these numbers in there, that was put in later to organize it. The “therefore” is because people are so dull of hearing. Therefore, you got to make sure like you need to get to maturity in your life. Maturity is not for some Christians; maturity is for all Christians. Okay. Maturity is not for a pastor teacher, so he needs to be a mature believer, that person's a deacon. So, they need to be mature. They want to serve and like the high school or junior high ministry, so they need to be mature. No, you're a Christian, you need to be mature. Okay, well, we don't want kids growing up to be teenagers for the rest of their lives. Can I get an Amen from anybody on that? Okay. We want people to reach manhood, womanhood, we want people to be adults, we want people to be mature. That is not just the goal for our physical lives. That is the goal for everybody. God has given you spiritual life so you need to go on to maturity. That's what it says right there. Go on to maturity, because otherwise, you're down at the foundation. And notice it gives us a clear definition, with “not laying again a foundation of repentance from dead works, and of faith toward God.” Now it is essential that everybody has that foundation, this doctrine of Christ. That's the cornerstone that we saw last night, that is the rock. If you're not building on the rock of Jesus Christ, well, there's going to be no maturity. And the way to respond to the good news that Jesus is the Anointed One of God who died for your sins and rose again, well, you got to respond. It says here, “repentance from dead works.” You’ve got to stop thinking that you can do good works without being in Christ. You’ve got to turn away from whatever it is your idolatry, your sin, your self-righteousness, and you've got to have faith toward God. See, there's a foundation, there's a response of repentance and faith in the gospel and you’ve got to start with that. And if you don't have that, well, then you're not going to make it any further. But if you do have a foundation of repentance and faith and your goal should be, now I need to go on to maturity. That should be the goal. Everybody here, it's very clear, we need to either be built, or we need to be a builder. If you're if you don't have the foundation of repentance and faith, Brad and the Compass Connect team will talk to you tonight if you know you're not standing on the rock of Jesus. We'll stay as late as we need to, to talk to you. Because without that foundation, you won't go on to anything. But if you're telling me I already have repented, I already have believed, then maturity has to be the goal that you are going for. You can't just stay at the foundation, you can't stay. Notice how it says there the elementary doctrine, right? If you're a kid at your house, you say what do you want to be when you grow up, they say I just want to go to elementary school for the rest of my life. That's not how it works. But that's how it works in the church. I'll tell you what, I'll tell you what a lot of people, they're like, they've got their ticket to heaven, and they don't really care what happens after that. That's how they act. A lot of Christians act in this very kind of self-centered, I'm okay by me. They don't feel like they need to go on to maturity; they're not trying to get equipped to pass it on to other people. That’s not what we're learning here. Then you don't want to stay in elementary school. If junior high was better than elementary school, high school is better than that; college was better than all of them. And no school is the best. You want to get to maturity, that's where you want to get. Okay, so this is what's so exciting right now, this last Sunday with you even while the In ‘N Out truck was here and we're doing Double Double. We kicked off another foundations class. And so many people came to the class. The first class was just kind of getting to know people and telling them a little bit about what we're about. But I guarantee you if everybody could pray for the Foundations class this Sunday, and even if you are new to the church, and you missed it on Sunday, you're definitely welcome to jump in Sunday at one o'clock. If you came to the first Foundations class, please come back because this is what the next two classes are about, like have you been built? Are you on the foundation of repentance and faith? And then if you are ready to join us and be a builder, everybody here needs to be built to be a builder. And you could pray that this Sunday at one o'clock. I already know people in this Foundations class, who do not have a foundation of repentance and faith. And I'm praying that they'll get saved by Jesus this very week. And then, the great thing about our church, now seven years into it, is we've got a lot of people who do have a foundation of repentance and faith, people who have been saved by the gospel of Jesus Christ. Well, then let me talk to you, you got to go on to maturity.
Go back to Ephesians chapter 4, and let's just make it very clear that this is for every single one of us. And it says it here in Ephesians 4:13-14. So, the pastors and teachers need to equip you. I got to roll, you got to roll. But you're going to be the one building up the body of Christ; you’ve got to get built to be a builder. And then it says here in verse 13, we're going to keep doing this. This is equipping, and so that we can build up the body “until we all attain to the unity of the faith and the knowledge of the Son of God.” This is verse 13, everybody to “mature manhood, to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ, so that we may no longer be children, tossed to and fro by the waves and carried about by every wind of doctrine, by human cunning, by craftiness in deceitful schemes.”
Let's get this down for point number two coming from these verses: You need to go on to maturity. We already saw it said flat out in Hebrews 6:1; we're also seeing it here in Ephesians 4:13-14. Everybody here, you need to be a mature man or woman in Christ; you want to attain to the full knowledge of the Son of God, and you cannot continue no longer be a child. And if you have young kids, you know what a fun game it can be or an actually really scary thing it can be when those waves come in at the beach. I remember when I was a young man, I was reading this. I was like, what do we mean waves? Are we going surfing? What do we mean waves are not going to surround, but if you've got elementary aged kids, and they're chilling at the beach, you know that they hang on to your hand real tight because those waves will knock them down, and you cannot stay immature? You need to make it your mission your goal. It's got to be clear in your mind and you should even try to figure out where am I as a new baby Christian? Am I like somewhere in like junior high right now? Am I ready to say that I'm an adult mature believer like I need to go on to that, I need to make my goal maturity? That should be true for every single one of us. You cannot stay a child in the faith, you need to get to mature manhood. And what is the example we're striving for? Look at what it says at the end of verse 13, “to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ.” Okay, so that’s the goal. Jesus is not only the one who saves us, he is not only the one who builds us, but he is the goal that we are striving for. We're supposed to look at Jesus, setting our eyes on him and running the race that he has set before us as the author and finisher of our faith. So, Jesus, yes, he is our Savior, he is the one building us up, and he is also the one that we are following. And so, I want to decrease so that Christ in me can increase; I want to be less like me, and more like Jesus. That's the kind of maturity I'm going for.
Go over to Colossians chapter 1, just a few pages over to the right. Colossians 1:28. And then, very similar to what it said there in Ephesians 4:13-14, it makes it very clear that this is our mission here at the church. This is our goal for every single person who is a Christian is a part of the body of Christ, who is a member of Christ's body here. Colossians 1:28 is coming off this passage about Christ and how the mystery has been revealed, and Christ in you is the hope of glory. And then it says this, Colossians 1:28, “Him,” referring to Christ, “Him we proclaim, warning everyone and teaching everyone with all wisdom, that we may present everyone mature in Christ.” Or you could say complete in Christ. There is a reason you got placed into Christ, there is a reason you are a new creation in Christ, that you would become complete or mature. That is the goal of you being in Christ. When you are in heaven, you will be glorified, and you will be, just as Jesus says, we will be transformed into his likeness. And our goal between now and heaven is to be less like us, and more like Jesus. So, we're here to present every single man, every single one of us, we're here to make sure that you are complete, and we're here to counsel you. That's the idea there when it says in verse 28, warning everyone, teaching everyone, just like moments like this. So, whether it's in big groups, or small groups, or even one on one, we're here to address how we would turn away from sin, and how we would be trained in righteousness so that all of us could be less like us and more like Jesus. That needs to be your goal. It should be a driving passion in your life. I want to be a mature Christian. A lot of people think they're mature Christians, you should want to be one of those people who actually are mature, because you want to be like Christ. And look what Paul says here to the Colossians in verse 29, “For this I toil…” I'm laboring for this, I'm working for this, “struggling with all his energy that he powerfully works within me.” Paul is working hard. But really, it's God doing a work in him, God giving him the energy so that he could see that group of people mature. That's what Paul was all about. First, we’ve got to get them on the foundation. And then they need to go on to mature manhood.
As I had the privilege of growing up, and maybe you've had the same privilege, where I had the example of Jesus Christ, and I was living my life to follow Jesus. But I also had other examples in my life, people that were further ahead of me in following Christ, and maybe you've had good examples in your life. Maybe you have not had good examples in your life, but I was blessed with an example. He was actually up here tonight. His name is Bruce Blakey. That's my dad, everybody. All right. And this was like, I don't know how many sermons I've heard in my life. I've heard so many Bruce Blakey sermons in my life, but how many of them he quoted Colossians 1:28. Specifically, I felt like he was quoting that verse, every single sermon, sometimes. It's like, Dad, we're going there again? You know what I mean? And I just remember him saying that, like, we got to present everybody complete in Christ. That's what we're here to do at the church. And there was a day that I have this realization, and they're like, something dawned on me, like I wasn't going to spend the rest of my life hearing my dad say that, like I had to become my dad.
And see, I hear a lot of people saying, oh, I wish I had some older man or older woman to disciple me. And I can understand why everybody here would want that. That's a good thing to want. But do you understand that your goal is to be that older man or older woman in the faith, to disciple somebody. I'll just tell you right now, there's not enough of them going around, we're having supply chain issues in the church. Right? There's not enough older men and women for all the people that need to be discipled, for all the brothers and sisters that need to be encouraged, for all those out there who still need to get saved. We don't have enough matured Christians to go around. So, there is a shortage of faithful men and women ready to pass it on. And your goal should be, I want to be one of them. That should be your goal. That should be what you're striving for. And you've got the example of Jesus Christ, you've got God, you've got the Word. Jesus said he's going to build you up, you know. You've got what you need to get to maturity. And if you get blessed with a good example, man, make the most of that. Imitate their faith, learn from them. And if you don't have a good example, well pray for one. But then also, you’ve got to keep going towards maturity. Some people, they have great parents who show them the way in life. Some people, they’ve got to figure it out for themselves. But you need to say I want to be a spiritual disciple and mentor to other people; therefore, I have to get mature myself. Everybody here needs to think that way. Someday, when they're talking about who can find a faithful man, and who's going to be this older lady to disciple this lady, or where are the godly men these days anymore, leaving their families or ready to disciple the next generation? Someday, when they're complaining about the shortage of godly people, you want to be found when they're making that complaint. That should be your life goal, mature manhood in Christ. Mature. Become a mature woman, the older woman in Christ. That's what we should all be striving for. And if you get a great example, praise the Lord. If you don't, be the example other people need. That should be your goal. And we all need to not just say, oh, yeah, there were people who went before us, that were these godly people, and they were so great to look at. Someday you're going to be the one people are looking at. And are you going to be mature and ready? Some of you are already there. you are the people who are mature here and you're passing on what you know to other people, or at least that's how maturity works. And now go down in Colossians 2:6. Look what it says here, because there is a warning that we need to heed here. Colossians 2:6-7, “Therefore, as you received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk in him, rooted and built up in him and established in the faith, just as you were taught, abounding in thanksgiving.” And then here's the warning in verse eight, “See to it that no one takes you captive by philosophy and empty deceit, according to human tradition, according to the elemental spirits of the world, and not according to Christ.” You know, one of the things that's going to happen as people want to mature is people are going to grow in their knowledge, and that knowledge … What is one of the unfortunate consequences of knowledge? That knowledge makes people so proud.
And see, what's going to happen is … notice how it says, as you received Christ, walk in Christ. Hey, get rooted and get built up just as you were taught. Like, you need to get built up, you need to mature, you don't need to find an innovative way to do Christianity. You don't need to come up with your own life philosophy. You don't need to follow some guru or some teacher. No. The way that you need to get built up is the same way you got the foundation. You need Christ, and you need the Word. That's what you need. Just as you were taught. Like, don't go try something new, because that's what's going to take you captive, the philosophies, the empty deceits, the people who know how to tickle your itching ears, the demons who know how to deceive many, and make them think they believe in Christ, when really they don't, and lead many people to hell deceived. No, you got to watch out because as you're seeking to grow and mature, somebody's going to come along and they're going to tell you the easy way to get God the discipline, or the easy way to not have to read your Bible and pray, the easy way to not have to go to church and interact with all those other people. But you can just grow by yourself, and you can grow ultra-quick if you do it like this. And there's going to be some kind of new way to do church, new way to be a Christian. Yeah, don't get into any of that. Watch out for all of that. You need Christ and you need the Scripture, and you need to build on that foundation. And if people are helping you understand the gospel and the Scripture, well, then they're helping you get built up. But when they start introducing you to different philosophies and theories, and all kinds of trendy things that come along, there is a flat-out warning, don't do that. That is not from God, that is from the enemy. Some people get saved at a church like this. And then they end up leaving the church because they think they know better than the church they got saved at. Danger. Danger. I mean, now maybe that church has swerved, like we talked about a few weeks ago, that would be one thing. But when you think when your church is doing the same thing it was doing when you got saved, and now you think you know better. Oh, that's interesting.
Go over to Ephesians chapter 4 again and look what it said about those kids. What are the waves that are tossing around these children? These children are getting “tossed to and fro by the waves,” and they're “getting carried about by every wind of doctrine.” Oh, look at this teaching that sounds a little bit different and interesting over here. Oh, by human cunning, it says, oh, look at how this guy's got people following him over here. And then this part gets downright chilling: “by craftiness in deceitful schemes.” Now we're just flat out talking about the evil one. Now we're talking about demons who are out there always trying to twist the Word of God. Always the half-truths, always just enough truth to make you think it's from God, not even realizing the whole time, it's taking you away from Christ and Scripture. As long as they can get you away from that sincere devotion to Christ, they don't need you to go completely away from the Bible, as long as they can just twist it in your mind. And there are people out there actively thinking of ways to do this. And there are demons out there deceiving many. See, there's going to be this idea. And this happens to a lot of people. I want to grow, I want to mature, and the pride just creeps in. And the knowledge just puffs up. And, instead of like looking to Christ and looking to examples, and instead of being faithful to just keep getting into the Scripture, no, they have some better new way. Watch out for that. That's immature. See to it that no one takes you captive into any of that. So, yes, everybody here needs to be mature. But what do we need? We need to be built up in what we've been taught from the Scripture. We need to walk in the way that we received Christ. We were already a new creation. We don't need to find a new way to be a Christian. Can I get an Amen from anybody on that case? We need to be built up in what got us started in the Gospel and the Word. That's what we need to be built up. And somebody wants to build you up with something besides Christ and Scripture, you're not interested in any of that? No, and now they're helping you understand Christ and Scripture, praise the Lord. But watch out. It's very subtle how they lead people astray. And so, some people, wanting to be wise, even in the church and being fools, and there's a warning here, hey, don't get tossed around by that. How many people here even tonight … Oh, I started listening to this or I started following this? And then I realized what am I getting into, and I had to get back out of that. That's getting tossed to and fro by the waves. And then it says this in verse 15, rather than getting caught up in this, this deceitful stuff by humans or demons, no, rather, speaking the truth in love. We are to grow up in every way into him who is the head, into Christ.
Okay, so let me give you before we get fully into that, let me give you the second thing that you could do if you really want to grow. A lot of people have been hearing about it in the Bible class Sundays at nine A lot of people have started realizing, oh, even when Bruce Blakey is not preaching at church, he's still here preaching in the Bible class. And so, he's doing series that are designed for sanctification and to build up and to help people mature about God's will, about assurance of salvation. So that's another great way, along with reading the Scripture of the Day, getting constant practice throughout the week. Another great way that you can grow here at the church is Bible class. Sunday at nine o'clock is a way that you can get more of God's Word, and be matured. And you'll notice it's just common straight from the Scripture. That's the kind of teaching you're looking for. Because here's the goal. This is what we're all supposed to do in the work of ministry or building up the body. The goal is that you would speak the truth in love. So, everybody should circle that, underline that, write that down. You are here at the church to speak the truth in love. That is something everybody at church does. There is not just one pastor who loves the people and preaches the Word, or even just a few pastors know everybody. And it's very clear. Look at verses 15 and 16. We’re speaking the truth in love because we are to grow up in every way into him who is the head, into Christ. So, it says it again. Why do we speak the truth in love? Because we are here to grow up into Christ, from whom the whole body joined and held together, by every joint with which it is equipped, when each part is working properly, makes the body grow so that it builds itself up in love. Notice the “we” in verse 15. Notice that every joint in verse 16, notice that each part in verse 16, notice that the body builds itself up. Okay, we are the body of Christ. I had somebody say to me last night, when I was thanking them for serving here at the church, they said, I'm just the big toe around here. Right? They were trying to say, I'm just a small part of this body. You might think you're just a small part of this body, but you are an indispensable part of this body.
Okay? If I walked up here today, and I said, hey, everybody, no big deal. I just lost my big toe. That would be something, all right. I don't care if you think you're the ear, the nose, the eyebrow, I don't know what part you want to think of yourself as the body. But you have a part to play in building this body of Christ. Can I get an Amen from anybody on that? Okay, so this is every part, every joint. We need everybody in on this. I guarantee you, anybody at this church who actually does what it says right here, they get together regularly with other believers, and they speak the truth in love to those believers, God is using you. You are at the point you really start doing that; you have become a builder. You are now building. You do not need like some license; you don't need to be like some official leader in the church. Like as soon as you start getting in the Word, and you start speaking what the Word says, and you're saying it not to get everybody looking at you or because you're so proud of what you know, but you're saying it because you care about the other people; you have a genuine concern for how they're doing, and you want to equip them. When you speak the truth in love, you build the church of Jesus Christ. That's how it works. Okay, and we want everyone here doing this. We do not want people just hearing the Word preached. We want everybody breaking into smaller groups and talking about the Word together. That's why we have fellowship groups, praise the Lord. We've got some people, some brand-new deacons to begin 2022. And that means we got new fellowship groups here at the church to start the New Year, everybody. We just had one start last week, we got another new one. Start next week, we got another one ready to start a few weeks after that new fellowship group, praise the Lord. New leaders, right? We want everybody to be a part of a group like this because you get together and you say, hey, we got to hear this sermon, we got to hear the Word preached by one of the shepherds, and now we're here to discuss it together. And we're here to say something that is true, like, wow, that really convicted me, or it really encouraged me, or something I didn't know before, or this verse really, really hit me, and I've been thinking about it ever since. And when you show up at your group with something to say burning on your heart, because the spirit has put it on your heart, and you speak the truth, you are building up the Church of Jesus Christ when you do that. We need everybody doing it. These groups that we do they’re fellowship groups, and we have if you're in the Underground, you've got a small group, if you're in United high school ministry, you got a small group anchor Junior High ministry, you got a small group. I mean, everybody, we've all got groups, hopefully, that we can break down into. And do you show up with something to say? Too many people at this church show up expecting other people to say stuff. That's not what it's saying right here. It's saying you’ve got to have something to say. That's what it means to be the church. We are having a discussion about the Word. I've got something to say about the Word now. Well, I'm not talking about oh, I should come up with something off like the tip of my tongue, or just something that I've been thinking about randomly. No, this is like something that God's putting on my heart as I've been praying, I've been getting into the Word. God is teaching me something. He's stirring up something within me and so, yeah, I've got something to say. And if someone were to ask me, I would definitely have something to share with them, but because I'm getting equipped in the Word, and getting mature, and passing that on to other people, I'm taking it all very seriously. So, yeah, I'm showing up with something to say. And when somebody says, who's got something to say, it shouldn't be like that awkward moment of silence. It should be a bunch of people tripping over each other because they all want to speak. That's how it should be. Everybody should show up at their group ready to say something ready to do what we know builds it up when you speak the truth in love. Okay, so you’ve got to have something to say. And the reason that you’ve got to say it is because you love the people. Okay? We don't need people showing off. We don't need people trying to get everybody, hey, look at me, what I know about the Bible, you know. What really is compelling when somebody says in a group, I didn't know this about the Bible, boom, now you've started a good group right there. This is something I struggle with in my life. Wow, I hadn't really thought of it that way before, you know. I've heard this many times, but I can't honestly say this is something I do in my life. Now, those are the kinds of things that lead to excellent fellowship groups right there. People speaking the truth, and they're saying it in a genuine, sincere way to build up everybody else who can hear it, to give grace to the hearers. That is the goal. You can build this church.
We had a memorial service for a lady who went to this church for some years, and then she moved away. And, and she suddenly died where she moved. And we had a memorial service for her here. Her name was Deb and we had a memorial service for her here at this church on Saturday. We were here, and they did something at the memorial where they had an open mic where anybody there could come up and speak about this woman who attended one of the fellowship groups here at this church, who took people through Partners here at this church, who even started like other Bible studies with ladies outside of this church and ended up bringing those ladies to this church. And this lady, she was not an official recognized leader in the church, but let me tell you what, this lady built up this church. And there were plenty of people willing to get up in front of that microphone and say, I'm somebody who got … wow, when she took me through Partners, when she would read this book with me, when she came over and talked with me. When we would meet together, there was something that happened because this woman spoke the truth. And people knew that she was saying it in love. And that was something that even was very clear about her was she was really friendly, really encouraging. But she would tell it to you like it is. She would cut it straight. She was just like our Father in heaven, who is abounding in steadfast love and faithfulness, ready to forgive, but will by no means clear the guilty just like Jesus full of grace and truth. That's how everybody here should want to be. That's what mature Christianity looks like. You will know that we love you, well, you will know we're Christians by our love. And yet we will tell you stuff about yourself that nobody else ever dared to say. That's what real believers look like. They ain't holding back any of the truth. But they're offering everything they've got in love. And when you meet one of those people, it's so compelling. It's so powerful. It's real Christianity right there in front of your face, and it builds the church. And you don't even realize the difference that you could make in other people's lives. You underestimate the value that you have right here at this church. I can testify that the elders and the deacons we talk about, how many builders do we have here at the church? Oh, for just one more builder that we know is going to show up at a group and he's going to speak the truth in love, and what a difference that person can make! Are you one of those people? Are you somebody who's like, yeah, I'm getting God's Word on my heart because I need to grow, because I need to mature, because I've got some ministry, I need to build other people up. Is that what you're thinking?
Let's get this down for number three; we'll throw it up here on the screen: Expect God to use you for ministry. Right. We've already had “expect God to act in your life.” We had that on the weekend. We had that last night. Well, when God is working in your life, he's going to work in your life to affect other people's lives. That's how the church works. When you mature, you mature for the purpose of ministry. As you grow and you have things on your heart, you speak the truth in love to others. And even as you're growing, it builds other people. The best way to help other people grow is by growing yourself. And when you're growing in the Word and growing in your love for other people, help other people. It's like they get the ripple effect of Jesus doing the work in your life, and other people are built up. See, one of the things we should be thinking is, it's not just that we want to be Christians. That's how it begins. But once you are a Christian now then it's like you want to be mature that and then that's how you grow. But once you even start to get mature, it's not like now I'm done. I'm fully grown now. No. It's like God, use me, I want to do something in my life that affects somebody else for eternity. I want to help my brothers and sisters keep going in their face, so they don't fall away. I want to help somebody who might knock on my door someday, and I want to share with them the good news so they could be saved and join us at the church. I don't just want to live my own life; I want to matter in other people's lives. That should be the passion of our heart. That's what it means. That's what you do. Every time you speak the truth in love, you build up the church. There's not enough truth going out there in personal conversations from person to person, and there's definitely not enough love going out there. And that's how they're supposed to recognize us. They will know we are Christians by our love for one another. Do we even love one another? See, this is the whole goal right here. I mean, this is such an important thing in Ephesians 4:15, like when it's all said and done, who will you have spoken the truth. Who will you have loved that will be your legacy, that will be your reward? That should be the goal. I would love for my life to matter to other people, because those people knew that I cared about them. And those people knew that I shared the Scripture with them.
See, I was thinking about this, and I'm like, looking at the next few books of the Bible that we're going to to be reading, and, and so the third way that you can grow here at this church is obviously be prepared for your fellowship group. Be prepared for your fellowship group. That's what this whole passage is about. Okay. That's what the whole passage is about. You cannot roll into a group of God's people who are assembling together, even if it's ten of them, even if it's seven of them, even if it's three, or four, even if it's just one other person besides you when you roll in to meet with God's people, whether we're doing a large assembly like this, or whether it's a very small gathering that day, when it's you and one other or two other three other brothers or sisters, when you gather together with the church, you got to speak the truth in love. Is everybody clear on that? Can I get an Amen from anybody on that? Because, if you were to die suddenly, you want somebody to get up there and say that person mattered in my life. That person built me up. That person was always in the Word. They were always friendly. They were always caring. And they shared what God was doing in their life. They shared it with me, and I am better off; I am a more mature Christian. I've been blessed because I knew so and so, the builder, put your name in. That's what you want people thinking. And I'm looking at these books of the Bible that we're about to read. Next week, we're going to read a book called Esther. After that we're going to read a book called Daniel. Then we're going to read a book called Ezra and Nehemiah. Wow. I mean, all of these books in the Hebrew Bible, they're known for the characters, the people in them because these people did something worth doing in their life. That's why we know about them. That's why we're going to read the story about them. Not because they just knew God, and they, they just heard the teaching of God, and they just kind of believed it. And later on, they believe that a little more, and later on, they believe that a little more. No, we're going to read stories about what they did, because they did things that affected many people. And next week, I don't know if you've ever really read Esther if you've ever really studied it, but I bet you've heard the famous line that Mordecai says to Esther in Esther 4:14. And because there's going to be a plot to kill the Jewish people and Esther is in the right place at the right time to do something about it. I mean, Esther's in the kind of place where she could speak the truth to someone that she loves. And look what Mordecai says. He says, “For if you keep silent at this time, relief and deliverance will rise for the Jews from another place, but you and your father's house will perish. And who knows whether you have not come to the kingdom for such a time as this?” We are living in a time … how many people have you heard say we're living in an unprecedented time? And how many of us are keeping silent when we were here for such a time as this? Like who were you speaking the truth and love to? What are you learning from the truth that's helping you get through this time? And who are you sharing it with? What is maturity looking like? And what is ministry looking like everybody here, that's what we're here to do.
Then we're going to get into Daniel. You think it's rough today? Can you imagine if another nation invaded America and carried you off to their country to live there and to teach you their culture and their language and to make you one of them? That's what happened to Daniel. And Daniel’s famous line: Daniel resolved, Daniel made up his mind that “he would not defile himself.” Daniel said, they're trying to take over my mind, they're trying to brainwash me. They're trying to make me one of them. Daniel said, I will not compromise as a young man. And people are still reading the story and amazed by Daniel and his faith in the lion’s den. It's because of what he did. And maybe it's even because of what he didn't do. I mean, this guy, I don't know how much you know about Ezra, but it says in Ezra 7:10 that this is why you know, there isn't, as you know, there's a book at least for Ezra had set his heart to study the law of the Lord, and to do it, and to teach his statutes and rules in Israel. That's exactly what we're talking about here. Everybody here needs to have the heart of Ezra, where you study it, you do it. So first thing, you got to hear it, you got to receive it, you got to read it, then you go and do it. You mature in it, you grow in it, and then you go and teach it to other people, as he's who we all want to be. He studied, he did, and then he was ready to teach God's people. And then you get to this man, Nehemiah. And Nehemiah got the message that Jerusalem, the walls were down in Jerusalem, that Jerusalem was still basically, it wasn't this glorious, restored city after the exile. They didn't even have walls. Anybody could come in there and mess with the people. There was no glory restored to the city of Jerusalem, and he was weeping about it. And he was praying about it. And he was a cup bearer for the king. And the king asked him why he was sad. And it says in Nehemiah 2:4 that right before he answered the king, about when the king asked why he was sad, it says here, and “he prayed to the God of heaven.” So, I prayed to the God of heaven. And that quick little prayer that Nehemiah prayed so he would have the Words to say to the king, led to the walls getting rebuilt in Jerusalem. A story that many people have read and been built up by. Because he prayed for the Words to say, and he boldly opened his mouth to speak to the king. See people that we care about, people that have been heroes to us, people that we study and learn about their faith, they all did what we're all supposed to do. They all spoke the truth in love. That's how if we have hundreds of people showing up at this church on an on a regular basis to speak the truth in love to one another, we will see this church get built up. Can I get an Amen from anybody on that? That's what we're all here to do. Let me pray for us.
Father in heaven. We praise you for what we're learning this week. We praise you for how you are able … your Word is able. Christ has already promised that he's going to do it. We've seen Christ doing it here among us. But Father, I pray that tonight we could see how we need to be built up and we need to be builders. Then everybody here is not just here to endlessly hear and receive. We don't come to church just to receive, but we come because it's more blessed to give than to receive. And Father, I pray that you wouldn't make us a congregation that speaks the truth in love that builds up itself in love. So I just pray that maybe some people thought going into the group was like kind of optional, or, or just something they could do kind of casually. And the leader of the group is supposed to show up with things to say, to lead the group. God, I pray that that mentality would change here tonight, and that we would all be the builders of the church. I pray for first of all, that everybody here would have a foundation. I pray for those who have not repented and put their faith in Jesus, that they will talk to somebody about it tonight. And I pray for those who have the foundation, that they will go on to maturity, that they will make it their goal, that they would want to be a man or a woman in Christ, not a child tossed around, not an immature person who thinks they know it all when they don't really even know what it means. But I pray that everybody here would want to grow up and mature in their faith to completion in Christ, to become less like ourselves and more like Jesus. so that your Word would be working in us, and then we could share it with somebody else. We could speak the truth. We could do it because we love one another in Christ. Because we understand we're all the same body. We're all the same people. We've all been saved the same way. Father, I pray that we would be the people who say, send me, Lord, that we'd be the people to say, here I am. I want to be used. I want to do ministry. I want to say something that matters in somebody else's life. I want to build up the church, whether it's here, whether it's in Long Beach, Lord, will you please use me? I pray that that would be the passion of our hearts, that we would believe so strongly that you are able, that your Word has the power, that Jesus said he's going to do it, that we would want to be a part of the building, that we would be equipped for construction. God, please make us a church of church builders. So please, Father, lead us in the way you want us to go and cause us all to grow, so that this body builds itself up in love. We pray this in Jesus’ name.