Month: July 2020

.The tradition of swearing the above oath when you take to the witness stand probably goes way back to Roman times and was very common by the 13^th century in our English courts of law. People who didn’t tell the truth were not penalised for perjury until the 16^th century. Prior to that the thought of God’s vengeance coming upon those who perjured themselves was enough to stop the liars.

The Apostle says we must put on truth-saying.

“Therefore each of you must put off falsehood and speak truthfully to your neighbour, for we are all members of one body.” Ephesians 4:25

Over the last decade with the rise of the internet there was the opportunity for accurate, incorruptible journalism. At a click of a button we could fact-check the facts! This was a new era of honesty. It hasn’t turned out like that has it?

We have new words like ‘fake news’ emerging because world leaders tweet about it all the time.

Recently a UK TV station, Channel 4, brought out statistics that show only 4% of the UK population can spot fake news as fake! Are we so gullible?!

Let us be people of the truth. Truth takes longer than fake but that is the journey we need to be on.

We need to be honest to God because He is Truth; honest to ourselves because living a lie is means you never have the freedom to be who you are and as Paul says honest to one another

If you are afraid to speak the truth then you don’t deserve to be in the position to speak it.

Bono, U2, in 2017 reflecting on the impact the Psalms has had on him over the years and why he believes Christian musicians should be more honest said this, ““I want to hear a song about the breakdown in your marriage, I want to hear songs of justice, I want to hear rage at injustice and I want to hear a song so good that it makes people want to do something about the subject … (the Christian artists who are afraid to sing the honesty of the Psalms) are not giving expression to what’s really going on in their lives because they feel it will give the wrong impression of them.”

People’s perception of us has overpowered our willingness to speak the truth because of the establishment of pride at the centre of our lives.

You may lose friends. You may be dismissed. But the only way to be free is to speak the truth. That is in regards to God, to yourself of course but also to as Paul has already told us to do it in love, to speak the truth to a friend.

Do you have a friend who will be truthful to you?

You wouldn’t dream of leaving your home without first washing, would you? You would never go to a friend’s house stinking to high heaven because you couldn’t be bothered to have a wash that day, would you?

The problem is people who don’t wash get used to their own smell. Their stinky, pongy, stainy smell becomes to them naturelle. Everyone needs someone who will say ‘My friend, I love you so much I need to tell you, you stink.’

People have friends who speak the truth behind their backs but thank God if you find a friend who will speak the truth to your face.

Your best friend is a friend who will wound you to keep you.

Proverbs 27:6 Wounds from a friend can be trusted

When my children were small I hurt their feelings, I made them cry, I didn’t break them but I wounded them so that today they are in a position to become all that they can become.

In what appears to be the first category of 50 commandments which I would label simply ‘Truth’ the Apostle calls for us to put off falsehood.

This is not a list that Paul has made from what he necessarily sees in the Ephesian believers but what he sees in the old man. He is saying as we put off the old man and put on the new man make sure firstly you put off falsehood. Take it off, don’t live like that. This is not who you are.

“Therefore each of you must put off falsehood …” Ephesians 4:25

1. The temptation to be less than who you are.

Towards the end of his letter he will write of the principalities and powers that wage war against our lives. Their task is to do the direct opposite of Paul’s commands. The accuser of your life wants you to put on your old man and put off your new man. His accusations will wear you down until you truly believe you are who he says you are.

Are you not fed up listening to what the accuser tells you who you are?

How did sin originate?

It was because Adam didn’t know who he was and he tried to become someone he was never meant to be.

The Accuser came to him and said, “If you do this you’ll be like God.”

Adam should have said, “You stupid snake, I’m already like God. Why try and become what I already am?”

But he didn’t, he became what God hadn’t intended.

The new man is crushed and goes to prayer and instead of adoration and worship it is, “Oh God, I’m in a valley of the shadow of death, I’m dirty, I don’t feel like I’m a Christian anymore, I’m useless, I’m a sinner, you’re angry with me, I’m not going to heaven. Amen.”

We become what we are not simply because we have not put off falsehood.

When Jesus was being led through the streets of Jerusalem he was carrying a board around his neck which was written in Latin for the Romans to understand, Aramaic for the Jews to understand and Greek which was the universal language of the Mediterranean world. “Jesus of Nazareth King of the Jews” was a sarcastic endorsement by the Romans of Jesus’ kingship. This is a defeated king.

But Jesus’ accusers wanted it say ‘He claimed to be …”

Your accuser is continually demanding you carry a sign that declares you to be false:

“He saved others but he can’t save himself. You can help others but not yourself.”

“He trusts in God let God rescue him.”

If it’s not to remind you of your limitations the accusation will come as God is limited in working in your life.

“Let him come down from the cross and we will believe in him.”

Your purpose is wrong. The path you are on is not right, change it and we will give to you. That is the accusation and the temptation.

• The temptation to be more than who you are.

Many are on a mission today. A mission of wanting to become someone, trying to make a name for themselves.

Ever heard something like this being announced? “The greatest, the most amazing, the most influential, decisive, the best anointed, the fabulous, the charismatic, life-changing servant of God is in the house today!”

Joseph Smith boasted that he did more than Jesus to keep a church together.
“God is in the still small voice. In all these affidavits, indictments, it is all of the devil–all corruption. Come on! ye prosecutors! ye false swearers! All hell, boil over! Ye burning mountains, roll down your lava! for I will come out on the top at last. I have more to boast of than ever any man had. I am the only man that has ever been able to keep a whole church together since the days of Adam. A large majority of the whole have stood by me. Neither Paul, John, Peter, nor Jesus ever did it. I boast that no man ever did such a work as I. The followers of Jesus ran away from Him; but the Latter-day Saints never ran away from me yet . . . ” (History of the Church, vol. 6, p. 408-409).

“Boasting is the outward form of the inner condition of pride.” John Piper

Social media has many statuses of ‘humble boasting’. See how many you can spot today!

The desire to get attention for how small we are proves we are in fact not small enough.

When you become small, you choose to become hidden, you decide to promote others and you take your name off things so that it looks like you were not there.

Influence is small for it to be influence. The influencer is not seen, only the one that has been influenced. If God exalts you to a higher platform then the battle is how to become small when more people can see you. It is easier to become small when you haven’t ever done anything. Trying to become small after achievement is another thing. The task is to become small with a big God in your life who does big things through small seeds of faith.

So put off falsehood, either to be less or more than who God says you are.

This coming weekend more church buildings will open up, others will open in the next few weeks and some much later. Most Church leaders are wondering how many will return. I am wondering when they do return what kind of church will they be. Will the year of a scattered church produce the fruit that is so needed? Will there emerge a holiness of God in our hearts and minds as well as behaviour? Will Christians stop church-hopping based not on a ‘leading of the Lord’ but simply because their humanity has been challenged in a variety of ways?

The Apostle in prison writes a long list of commands. From 4:25 to the submission passage in 5:22f there are 50 commandments which can be put into 12 categories. We will get to each and every one of them.

But before we do that it is imperative to approach the list with the background of what Paul has already written and most importantly this:

“And in him you too are being built together to become a dwelling in which God lives by his Spirit.” Ephesians 2:22

4 v25 Therefore each of you must… and the list begins.

But that is for tomorrow.

For today I want us to look at a verse that will come up in the middle of all the do’s and don’ts of our behaviour:

 “Wake up, sleeper, rise from the dead, and Christ will shine on you.” (5:14)

The inspiration for the formation of Christ in our lives is in this one sentence.

Where is the quote from?

Many attribute it to Isaiah. Paul has been used to referring back to that prophet already and will do so again. In 2:17 he quotes the prophet in that God will heal the racial divide of His people; in 4:30 when not grieving the Spirit of God and later the imagery of the soldier in 6:14-17 he takes from the prophet.

The inspiration and the empowerment to be able to achieve the 50 commandments are found in Isaiah 26:19 and 60:1.

Both passages speak about why the people of God went into exile and how they will return. The prophet gives lists of the sins of people which would exile them but then reveals how God will come into the battle for His people, they would be purified, the idols defeated, the Redeemer will come to Zion and establish a new covenant and will dwell with the people. The Light of His presence will emanate from His people as their lives are transformed.

Paul knew that and so did the hymn writer who wrote: “Wake up, sleeper, rise from the dead, and Christ will shine on you.” For that is where the quote originates based on Isaiah. Was it Paul who wrote that hymn? Maybe. But he certainly knew it and so did the people who read his letter.

What were the other lyrics? Certainly we can understand what this lyric was meaning. It is a beautiful sentence. Set in the heart of 50 commandments the majority of which relate to our behaviour with one another.

Here is another hymn, the majority will know this:

Oh! to be like Thee, oh! to be like Thee,
Blessed Redeemer, pure as Thou art;
Come in Thy sweetness, come in Thy fullness;
Stamp Thine own image deep on my heart.

Can you imagine Christians experiencing this? Can you imagine a different Church post-lockdown?

Can you imagine a Church that does not grieve the Holy Spirit (4:30) set in the context of how we treat one another?

Can you imagine a Church that copies God and loves like He loved us at the cross (5:1-2)?

Can you imagine a Church which pleases the Lord (5:10)?

Can you imagine a Church that knows the will of the Lord (5:17)?

Can you imagine a Church filled with the Spirit (5:18)?

Can you imagine this for you?

A few days ago I hosted a meeting of leaders where my leader, Chris Cartwright, the General Superintendent of the Elim Pentecostal Church was speaking. Whilst he was coming to a close I wrote a prayer based on what he had spoken. I then closed the meeting with the prayer. It is this:

Hear our prayer:

We want to move not drift.

We want to step into purpose not be stuck in the default.

Renew us for radical mission.

Reform us to unlock the possibility.

We commit to the pathway of the gospel.

We commit to carry the death and resurrection of Jesus.

We come down from the victorious mountain to the valley of compassion.

And as we do we ask for the renewal of the 5-fold ministries so that the lives of men and women, young and old, are equipped and the body of Christ is built.

We are in times of:-

Clarity so open our eyes

Urgency so open our doors

Flexibility so open our stubborn hearts

Opportunity so open our understanding

This is YOUR time

This is HARVEST time

This is the SPIRIT time

This is OUR time.

We are ready to change

We are ready for a new Kingdom positioning

We are ready for the advance

You call our name and we say YES to your call.

Amen.

My desire is for that prayer to be answered; for the formation of Christ to be seen and known in our lives and for the Churches to emerge transformed from this lockdown season.

It was a rainy Saturday morning of my 2^nd year in College and it was yet another football match against a local team. I was surprised I was in the team. I always thought I was making up the numbers. Others were far better. I’d run around a lot. If the ball came to me I would immediately pass it on with the attitude of ‘let me get rid of this thing’. Half-time came and as we walked off the pitch the captain of our team came alongside me and said he was going to make some changes and substitute one of the players. Immediately I offered to be substituted. It was the obvious thing to do. His response shocked me, “No. You’re one of our best players.”

In the second half I went on to that pitch a different man. I got that ball. I called for it. I ran with the ball. I tackled for the ball. I played a different game. Was the difference in my performance? Maybe, but it was definitely in my mind. All because my captain said you are more than what you think you are.

Many people are going through life not understanding who they are in Christ.

The Apostle has just insisted that God’s people should not live like those outside of Christ. He continues ….

“But you have not so learned Christ,if indeed you have heard Him and have been taught by Him, as the truth is in Jesus: that you put off, concerning your former conduct, the old man which grows corrupt according to the deceitful lusts, and be renewed in the spirit of your mind, and that you put on the new man which was created according to God, in true righteousness and holiness..” Ephesians 4: 20-24

Paul says you have learned something different when you came into the truth of Jesus: you found out what Jesus thinks of you is different to what you thought of you.

This new man is caring, loving, anointed and I need to learn to put him on. I am created to be like God in true righteousness and holiness.

The old man is contrary to what God wants to do. The conflict comes because our minds are set on the old man.

We need to put off and put on.

That old man will destroy you and shame you. It is out to get you. It is not your friend. Your new man needs to get it before it gets you. It needs to put it off daily. The old man is ready to strike, whether at the time of hurt and brokenness or at the time of great blessing. It tricks us into thinking it is there to help us. But it is waiting, an opportunist, then it will rise in all its strength. I have seen wonderful people, passionate believers do things they thought they would never do. Their old man got them.

But we are not just an old man for if anyone is in Christ he is a new creation, the old has gone, the new has come. The key to deal with the old is to deal with the new.

I choose to believe what God says about me not what people or the circumstance of my life says about me. God says I’m a new man.

Your situation may leave you disappointed but you are appointed by Christ. You may feel rejected by the one you love but you are accepted by the love of Christ. You may feel alone but the presence of Christ is all over you.

There is a place where we put off and put on. The place is the cross of Christ. We need to go there often, daily even. It is there we deal with the destruction of the old man. We put to death the anger, the jealousy, the hurt. This old man cannot handle criticism, always reacts negatively, intending to make situations worse, there is no good in it at all. We deal with it. We put him off and crucify it and we put on the new man.

Put him on.

This new man is fashioned after the Lord Jesus Christ.

It has a new mind. This new man loves people, goes the extra mile, is patient, doesn’t fear and is gentle, wise, that’s you and me, made like Jesus! How? Those wonderful words help us: “you have learned Christ.” Not about Christ but Christ.

You may be in a prison but you dwell in Christ and He in you. Christ in you, the first, foremost and the last. He must be who you wake to in the morning and who you think of when falling to sleep. During the day your thoughts are being trained to think of Christ. You learn Christ. This is a true disciple. This is the new man. The old has gone the new has come.

The apostle has spent time writing about the nature of the church, the movement of the growing body of Christ and now is turning to its behaviour. He is basically going to help us be a Christian in a non-Christian world. Don’t be confused into thinking this is about advocating not to be a Gentile but a Jew. The use of the world Gentile is definitely referring to anyone outside of Christ.

“So I tell you this, and insist on it in the Lord, that you must no longer live as the Gentiles do, in the futility of their thinking. They are darkened in their understanding and separated from the life of God because of the ignorance that is in them due to the hardening of their hearts. Having lost all sensitivity, they have given themselves over to sensuality so as to indulge in every kind of impurity, and they are full of greed.” Ephesians 4:17-19

In the many stages of our lives and the situations we find ourselves in we are always there. I.

Our greatest battle in our lives has been with ourselves.

Some people don’t have a problem with what I am thinking about right now. They are mouthy, loud, rude and offensive and are totally blinkered to the feelings of others. I need to say that because it is the caveat to what I am writing.

I.

The church needs people who have battled and are continually overcoming who they are in order to be who God has created them to be. To be able to stand and preach, teach, share in a conversation, respond and react to situations with a confident I.

We need pulpits of confidence.

I watched an online service last Sunday of a Pastor who has grown so much in confidence. The difference is tangible. I wrote to encourage them. It doesn’t matter whether you are preaching behind a pulpit or trying to encourage some fellow believers. Whatever setting the Lord has placed you in, even in a prison writing to the Church, do so with confidence.

So I tell you this …

This apostle, who knows Christ, who has been commissioned by Christ, speaks/writes with authority.

Authority in the wrong mouth is offensive because it is arrogant, brutal and abusive. But in the mouth of the chosen it is captivating.

There are many examples of this throughout Church history. George Whitfield (1714-1770) is one of those. When London’s churches were closed to him, Whitefield took as his congregation the miners of Bristol. Soon he was preaching outdoors to twenty thousand people, who stood with “tears cutting white furrows through the coal dust on their faces.”

Frequently his sermons extended to four and even six hours, his audience at times standing in the rain to hear his message.

But Whitfield lived with Christ. “I began to read the Holy Scriptures upon my knees, laying aside all other books, and praying over, if possible, every line and word. . . . Oh, what sweet communion had I daily . . . with God in prayer. . . . How assuredly have 1 felt that Christ dwelt in me, and I in Him! and how did I daily walk in the comforts of the Holy Ghost, and was edified and refreshed in the multitude of peace! Not that I was always upon the mount; sometimes a cloud would overshadow me; but the Sun of righteousness quickly arose and dispelled it, and I knew it was Jesus Christ that revealed Himself to my soul. I always observed, as my inward strength increased, so my outward sphere of action increased proportionately. . . . For many months have I been almost always upon my knees, to study and pray. . . . “¹

And insist on it in the Lord

I’m not backing down from what I am saying. I mean it. I’m walking with Christ. I speak in, with and for Christ on this matter. I will not negotiate or compromise on this.

You must no longer …

In you work, leisure, neighbourhood, where you go, whatever you do, you must stop doing this and start doing that. I want to see a change.

Until I is refashioned in Christ then our Churches and communities will be weak.

We must all find our authority in Christ. Especially the apostles, prophets, evangelists, pastors and teachers who equip the people of God so that the Church moves. But every member needs to know their authority in Christ. They need confidence as a Christian. They need to know their I.

There is an outcry regarding the fact that like with many aspects of society the Church has been viewed as a non-essential and so its buildings have been closed. How dare they say we are non-essential? And the argument goes on!

But now the Church is going back to its buildings. Will anyone notice?

“Then we will no longer be infants, tossed back and forth by the waves, and blown here and there by every wind of teaching and by the cunning and craftiness of people in their deceitful scheming. Instead, speaking the truth in love, we will grow to become in every respect the mature body of him who is the head, that is, Christ.  From him the whole body, joined and held together by every supporting ligament, grows and builds itself up in love, as each part does its work.” Ephesians 4:14-16

Yesterday I wrote about the local Church being only a movement and not the symphony itself. This year the Church has certainly been challenged in ways never known by many though of course for some it is a common occurrence whether because of an epidemic or war.

The word movement is a great way to describe the Church. It is not tossed back and forth in a non-strategic way rather is grows to become, it matures, it is joined and held together, it grows and builds as every person plays a part. Can you see the movement? A Church cannot stand still.

I see 3 major functions of the Church from these verses today.

The formation of the Church

The ultimate. Christoformity. Christ formed in us. We become more and more the image of the Lord Jesus Christ.

That is achieved as we learn to envelope everything we do in love and then have the courage to speak the truth in that framework.

The formation of the Church is not achieved by charisma and power but by following the road of Christ. At the heart of the Church there should always be the evidence of the death and resurrection of Christ. That road must permeate every aspect of the body. It is the DNA of the Church. Anything else and the Church soon comes to look different to how it was meant to be. Celebrities rise and become the focus and the Church becomes a little child which is being thrown around and all because Jesus is anything but the Head. Blasphemy firstly occurs in the Church.

The connections within the Church

Every supporting ligaments are the words Paul uses and we are certainly picturing the body of a person.

Connections inspire and breathe life into new ideas.

Connections birth vision of what is possible.

Connections strengthen the whole.

Albert Einstein at 22 yrs old met with likeminded friends in homes and talked their ideas through the night. They called themselves the Olympia Academy.

Bill Gates at 15 yrs old met with other computer geek friends and called themselves ‘The Lakeside Programmers Group.’

Benjamin Franklin met every Friday with a group called The Junto of which may of his ideas were founded from that group.

J.R.R. Tolkien and C.S.Lewis every morning and Thursday evening met with a group called The Inklings.

Look at what is possible?!!

Now imagine what is possible if the Church came together for more than entertainment?

The contribution to the Church

We must treat the church the way Christ treats the church.

We must speak of the church in the way Christ speaks of the church.

We must love the church the way Christ loves the church.

Let’s not allow the spirits and attitudes of a godless society come into this church. That is the spirit of ‘what’s in it for me?” The godless attitude of living for oneself; the godless attitude of independence, not answering to anyone; the godless attitude of isolation, not allowing people into our lives.

God has plans to use each and every one of us. There is nothing more satisfying in this world than knowing that God is using you for His purposes and that you are fulfilling His plans for your life. That happens in and through the local Church.

The movement that we are part of, the Church, must move towards Christ (formation); towards each other (the Church) and also towards its mission (the world).

May we be that Church as we come back in a gathered setting and may we be known because we move.

One of my claim to fames is I achieved an ‘O’ level in music! What I strangely remember is Beethoven’s Sonata called Pathetique. I think because though I always thought the word meant pathetic when it means passion I also could play the opening bars!

But it is the opening movement that is remembered more than the Sonata itself. In fact that has been one of the developments of our times. Most can recall movements but they don’t know where they come from. They sit independent to the whole composition. The rest being discarded, ignored and totally forgotten.

Local Churches and even streams of churches/networks/denominations have become similar to movements and other than a Churches Together annual service have forgotten the symphony or sonata that they belong to.

Recently one of my friends in another part of the world asked me for advice regarding one of his Pastors who was wanting to church plant in the same town and very close to one of their own existing churches. So even within affiliated networks, independent movements can be formed. Everyone seems to do their own thing behaving like they are the sonata when they are not. They take the name of God in vain because they say God has told them when it may simply be their own selfish motives and nothing is built regarding the kingdom of God. The body of Christ doesn’t grow it just remains immature.

“Then we will no longer be infants, tossed back and forth by the waves, and blown here and there by every wind of teaching and by the cunning and craftiness of people in their deceitful scheming. ¹⁵ Instead, speaking the truth in love, we will grow to become in every respect the mature body of him who is the head, that is, Christ. ¹⁶ From him the whole body, joined and held together by every supporting ligament, grows and builds itself up in love, as each part does its work.” Ephesians 4:14-16

I’m no expert but I think there are 3 or 4 movements in a symphony or sonata. Each are different in pace, different keys, sometimes there is a correlation to the opening but not always. The movements build independently to the final movement where the composer is envisaging everything coming together journeying to the great crescendo as the audience stand to their feet in the auditorium with rapturous applause.

So please, when your local church does come back together and some have today, others in different parts of the world have already, can we all remember we are simply a movement? We are not the best church in the town or city. The composer created you as a movement. Some are loud and some are quiet, fast, slow, but all are needed. The second movement cannot say let us get rid of the third movement because it is not in the same key. They have no voice. It is the composer’s voice. He is the Head. His name, Jesus.

So … because of what I’ve just said. What was that?

Paul has quoted Psalm 68.

The king in this Psalm has come home from a victory and parades what he had taken back from the enemy: the spoils and the recaptured soldiers. Paul doesn’t focus on the gifts the king received but on the gifts he freely gave after he received them.

The King has recaptured his soldiers – us!

He has ascended and has sent the Gift, the Holy Spirit.

The Holy Spirit has distributed those gifts.

It cost God for our free gifts.

It was the death on the cross. It was the fact that the King descended to the lower, earthly regions.

“So Christ himself gave the apostles, the prophets, the evangelists, the pastors and teachers, ¹² to equip his people for works of service, 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.” Ephesians 4: 11-13

So … because of what I’ve just said … Christ himself gave …

Gurus? Geniuses? Beyond reach? Untouchables? Hierarchies? NO none of those.

The Lord Jesus Christ descended to earth to pay the price and then ascended having laid the foundation for the Church. In the same way. This is really important so let me stress again. In the same way the Lord Jesus Christ who from heaven sends the Gift, the Holy Spirit, His presence within gifts (of which there are many) to us.

So … in the same way Christ, through the Holy Spirit, has sent 5 ministries to the Church. These are not offices high above all. These are not an elite SAS force that the ordinary pew-filler will spend their whole life hoping for such a title. These have been given. It is high risk. A gift can be discarded, forgotten, neglected, abused, slandered and put on a cross to die by those the gift was given to. If anyone serves the Lord and His Church within the parameters of these ministries then you will have experienced such risks. Reaching out to care for those in need can result in you being hurt as the hurting can hurt. But that is the same way. Any other way is not the right way. Many have experienced the spiritual abuse of a leader who got it the wrong way round. I am concerned when I see people moving into these ministries and what is first in their minds is their remuneration and rights. Spiritual abuse is not far away.

In the same way. So … given. These 5 ministries are gifts distributed by the Holy Spirit who is the Gift sent by Christ who is also present for where one part of the Godhead is God is.

Jesus the apostle (Heb 3:1) sent to the earth as a messenger. He moved and He mobilises others with a call to the nations for that is His heart.

Jesus the prophet (John 6:14; 8:28) sent to the earth to speak repentance and holiness, not afraid to preach about the destruction of sin.

Jesus the evangelist (Mark 2:17) sent to bring good news to the broken and those who are lost, least and the last.

Jesus the pastor (John 10:11) sent to feed and take care of the sheep who lays down His own agenda for those He loves.

Jesus the teacher (John 3:12) sent to bring wisdom through what He taught with no subject off-limits.

In the same way. So … sent, given to do the same in the same way for the purpose of equipping, which is repairing, making whole, mending the people of God in order that they will:

• Serve through work. His work.
• Build and attain, to reach, arrive, to come, to get there.
• To the place of unity where only then will we have …
• Personal and experiential knowledge of the Son of God, the Lord Jesus Christ.
• To be what God intended, to be mature.
• That is to be conformed to the image of His Son, the Lord Jesus Christ, the whole measure!

We have to do it the same way.

Diversity within unity. We are one body but we are not all the same.

The grace given to us is the gifts that are freely given. Paul will go on to explain the 5-fold gifts of God but first he stresses the generosity of the gifts.

He quotes from Psalm 68. The king in this Psalm coming home from a victory, parades what he had taken back from the enemy: the spoils and the recaptured soldiers. Paul doesn’t focus on Psalm 68 and the gifts the king received but on the gifts he freely gave after he received them.

The King has recaptured his soldiers – us!

He has ascended and has sent the Gift, the Holy Spirit.

The Holy Spirit has distributed those gifts.

It cost God for our free gifts.

It was the death on the cross. It was the fact that the King descended to the lower, earthly regions.

Many are divided over where that is. However surely the point is that in order for the Gift to be freely given to us the King stooped low for them. Therefore, shouldn’t we stoop low in the use of them? Shouldn’t we be operating in the Gift in a servant way, in humility? For if we know how to descend then maybe we will know how to ascend. If we humble ourselves then He will exalt us.

So here are the verses in Ephesians 4 v7-10

“But to each one of us grace has been given as Christ apportioned it. This is why it says:

‘When he ascended on high,
he took many captives
and gave gifts to his people.’

 (What does ‘he ascended’ mean except that he also descended to the lower, earthly regions? He who descended is the very one who ascended higher than all the heavens, in order to fill the whole universe.)”

The encouragement for us today is:

We are one but also individual: BE YOU.

The Gift in us is displayed uniquely: BE DIFFERENT.

This grace is freely given: BE THANKFUL.

This grace has cost: BE CAREFUL.

This grace was won in the low places: BE HUMBLE.

The Berlin wall, which divided the people of East and West Germany since 1961 came down in 1989. Shortly afterwards the band, U2, who had been going through their own disunity over the direction they were taking in trying new sounds, arrived in Berlin. They came to that new united city to try and experience their own new.

As they were writing and rehearsing a new song they ventured off into improvisation and created a powerful song called ONE.

Is it getting better?
Or do you feel the same?
Will it make it easier on you now?
You got someone to blame

You say, one love, one life
When it’s one need in the night
One love, we get to share it
Leaves you baby if you don’t care for it

 

There is one body and one Spirit, just as you were called to one hope when you were called; one Lord, one faith, one baptism; one God and Father of all, who is over all and through all and in all. Ephesians 4 v4-6

 

1. There is no division of class, race, inequality, language differences, there is no special privileges and promotions based on colour. There is just ONE body.

 

2. There is no special generation who experienced something unique, no special place and no place where He cannot be. There is just ONE SPIRIT.

 

3. There is no individual heaven, no VIP appearing of Christ and no private viewing or experience of eternity. There is just ONE HOPE.

 

4. There is no Jewish Lord and Gentile Lord only the same; there are not several equal authorities and powers of which we choose to worship one, there is not a Jesus of Nazareth who we follow or not. There is just ONE LORD JESUS CHRIST who is risen, ascended and exalted and there is no comparison.

 

5. There is no African Christianity and Western Christianity or any other Christianity; there are no Catholics and Protestants, there are just Christians; there is no different salvation anywhere in the world, it is the same Forgiver, Redeemer and Saviour. There is just ONE FAITH.

 

6. There is no better testimony that the other and your story has the same results as the next for the experience is the same of being transformed in Christ and identified with Him. There is just ONE BAPTISM.

 

7. There is not a multiplicity of gods and there are not two fathers bringing about two families, just one. One Spirit, Lord and Father, who are one. There is just ONE FATHER.

 

Anything else isn’t what God had in mind nor what He wants today. Anything else is man-made and rises against what He has made. Anything else will not last.

Why give yourself to anything else or a lesser version of what is true?

 

Have you come here for forgiveness?
Have you come to raise the dead?
Have you come here to play Jesus?
To the lepers in your head

You say love is a temple, love a higher law
Love is a temple, love the higher law
You ask me to enter but then you make me crawl
And I can’t be holdin’ on to what you got
When all you got is hurt

One love, one blood
One life, you got to do what you should
One life, with each other
Sisters, brothers

One life but we’re not the same
We get to carry each other, carry each other

One.

 

One of the U2 band members said, “Suddenly something very powerful was happening in the room. Everyone recognized it was a special piece. It was like we’d caught a glimpse of what the song could be.”

If only the Church, if only you and me could catch a glimpse of what we could be here on earth. ONE.