(uplifting theme music)
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(music ends)
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>>Welcome to "Sabbath School,"
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brought to you by It Is Written.
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We are delighted to
have you back with us again
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as we continue our journey
through the book of Ephesians,
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an encouraging study
and encouraging book.
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And we're taking a
look at it week by week,
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study by study, verse by verse.
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This week, we're
looking at lesson 7,
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"The Unified Body of Christ."
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Let's begin with prayer.
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Father, we want to
thank You for being
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with us as we study
the book of Ephesians.
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And as we continue
to delve its depths,
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we ask that You will bless
us with a deeper understanding.
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We thank You in Jesus' name.
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Amen. >>Amen.
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>>So we're
grateful that you're here,
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and Dr. John McVay,
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we are grateful that
you are here with us again,
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the author of the
quarter's Sabbath school lesson.
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You are currently serving
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as the president of
Walla Walla University.
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You sound like you're
a fairly busy individual.
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>>(chuckles) Well, it's
been wonderful to carve out time
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over the last years
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to work afresh on "Ephesians,"
Sabbath school quarterly
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and the
companion book and so on,
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and wonderful to be
here with you, Eric.
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>>And we're having
fun delving into this
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and discovering new things
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and opening our
minds and our hearts
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to new and interesting
truths and possibilities,
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so, a fantastic journey.
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Here we are now on
lesson number seven--
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>>Yes.
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>>...lesson number seven of 14.
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>>Mm-hmm. >>So
we're getting close
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to halfway. >>Yes.
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>>By the time we're done today,
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we'll actually be
halfway-- >>Mm-hmm.
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>>...but hopefully
not halfway done with
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a complete study of
the book of Ephesians.
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>>(chuckles) Oh, we're just
actually scratching the surface,
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but it's fun to
study this together.
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>>It really is.
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This week we're looking at
"The Unified Body of Christ,"
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and we're looking
specifically at chapter 4,
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the beginning of
chapter 4, verse number 1,
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we see a shift in focus.
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>>We've been looking-- >>Yes.
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>>...in one
direction up to this point,
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and now in chapter 4--
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and there's only six chapters
in the book of Ephesians,
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so it's a
relatively short book--
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but here in chapter
4, something happens.
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Something shifts. >>Sure.
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>>What happens here? >>Sure.
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Well, in chapters 1-3,
Paul has been unpacking
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some really
wondrous theology, hasn't he?
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It's been a
God-focused, Christ-saturated,
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Spirit-inspired
letter to this point,
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where he really is
unpacking the grand plan of God
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to unify
everything in Christ and how
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that's especially focused on
God's initiative through Christ
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in creating one new humanity,
which we call the church.
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So he's been
unpacking this glorious
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theological trail through
the first half of Ephesians,
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and it's been a wonderful
trail to trace together.
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But then in chapter 4, verse 1,
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as is true of most of his
letters, the focus shifts.
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It's not that
there's no doctrine here.
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It's not that that same
wondrous theology isn't in view,
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but he gets down
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to the nitty-gritty of
Christian discipleship.
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How does all this
wondrous, high-flown,
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heavenly-places theology
really impact the church
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and its life and church
members in their lives together?
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Where does the
rubber meet the road?
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And we feel that change
signaled in chapter 4, verse 1:
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"I therefore, a
prisoner [of] the Lord,
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"urge you to walk in a manner
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worthy of the calling to
which you have been called."
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So, after an
introduction like that,
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you're gonna expect
some advice, some counsel
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about how to live.
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>>So now it's not so
much the lofty; it's, "Okay,
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you know, what about you?"
Where the rubber meets the road,
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where the boots
meet the ground--
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>>Yes. >>...the day-to-day life,
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what does this look
like? So, as we read down
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through the next,
well, several verses,
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if we're not paying attention,
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it can seem perhaps
a little disjointed.
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>>Yes, it can.
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>>But Paul, though he writes
some things, as Peter says,
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they're difficult
to understand at times,
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he's led us up through
the first three chapters
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to see that he
has the themes. >>Yes.
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>>And goes from point
A to point B to point C.
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We wouldn't expect him
here, as we get to chapter four,
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to just lose
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that train of thought. >>No.
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No, he remains very organized
in his thought, and, in fact,
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though he now turns
to advice and counsel
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directed toward
how we act and behave
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as disciples, particularly
together in the church,
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there's still a good dose
of wondrous theology here.
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He's gonna give us a new
picture of the exaltation
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of Jesus, harking back
to the end of chapter 1.
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You remember when we
studied the exaltation
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of Jesus there and this,
these four historical events,
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and Christ being enthroned
with the Father and so on.
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He's gonna give
us a fresh picture
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of the exaltation of Jesus.
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So even though
it's nitty-gritty,
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rubber-meets-the-road counsel,
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there's still rich
theology that he presents.
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>>So if we look
at verses 1-16 here,
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how would we kind
of break that down,
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break it apart-- >>Sure.
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>>...pull it apart? How
does it fit nicely together?
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>>Well, verses 1-6
is a call to unity.
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And it has two sections.
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It has a list, a discussion
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of attributes and actions
that foster unity in the church,
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'kay? So he talks about
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"humility and
gentleness, with patience"--
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verse 2--"bearing with one
another in love" and so on.
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But then in verses 4-6,
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it becomes more
poetic or hymn-like.
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And he gives this
list of seven ones,
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this wondrous
list of seven ones.
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"There is one
body"--counting them,
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that's number one,
right? One of the sevens.
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There's "one body,"
there's "one Spirit--
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"just as you were
called to...one hope"--
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there's number three--"one
Lord, one faith, one baptism"--
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and concluding,
appropriately enough--
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"one God and Father
of all, who is over all
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and through all and in
all." Did we get all seven?
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>>That's all seven of 'em.
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>>Seven, and, you know,
the number seven has that sense
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of fullness,
completeness, perfection.
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So one, one, one,
"one Lord, one faith,
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one baptism," and so on,
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this is a beautiful,
wonderful celebration
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of unity that we
find in verses 1-6,
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a call to unity, an
announcement of unity.
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And perhaps it's a good
thing to pause right there
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for a moment, Eric,
and talk about unity
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in these first six verses.
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Paul seems to be
almost of two minds here.
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So, it's clear that
unity is a theological fact.
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He celebrates those
in those sevens, right?
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Those seven ones. There
is not, "There might be,"
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but there is "one
body," "one Spirit," and so on,
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"one Lord, ...one baptism,
one God and Father of all."
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There's--he's
celebrating this unity
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as a God-given
fact, a theological truth.
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And sometimes I think
we need to do more of that.
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We get worried about some spat
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that we're having in
our local congregation
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over the color of the carpet
in the new renovation, right?
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(chuckles) And we forget that,
in fact, theological truth:
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Blood-bought by Christ
on Calvary, we are one.
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>>That's right. That's right.
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And he's helping
us to revisit that.
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>>He is. >>Or perhaps visit it
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for the first time for ourselves
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if we've sensed some disunity.
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So in verses 1-6,
there's a call to unity.
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What do we see in 7-16?
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>>Well, before we move there,
looking at verse 3, you notice
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that while unity
is a theological fact,
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Paul can say you need
to be "eager to maintain
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the unity of the Spirit
in the bond of [faith]."
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And the Greek verb for "unity"
there is an energized word.
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I mean, it's a theological fact.
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It is truth. But you need
to work hard to make it happen.
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Now, that seems a little bit--
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doesn't align quite right
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in our heads, but
nonetheless, that's a fact.
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We are, theologically--divine
fact--we are united,
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but we need to work
zealously to actualize
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that unity that
is God-given fact.
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>>I can only imagine that
if more of us, as Christians,
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worked zealously to
realize the theological fact,
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imagine how different
the church would be today--
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>>Yes. >>...if
we were able to find
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unity, as opposed
to just hoping for it
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and wishing for it, as it were.
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>>Now, in the second
major section of our passage,
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verses 4--verses 7-16,
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Paul is going to give us
an image of the exalted Jesus
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as the Giver of gifted
people to His church, 'kay?
00:09:45.58\00:09:49.85
So hang on to that,
00:09:49.85\00:09:51.22
because this is where
it gets a little confusing.
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He cites a specific
verse from Scripture,
00:09:53.66\00:09:57.76
Psalm 68:18.
It's a complex passage
00:09:57.76\00:10:01.20
with an ascent and descent,
00:10:01.20\00:10:03.40
and this, that,
and the other go on,
00:10:03.40\00:10:04.87
and it's easy to
get a little lost.
00:10:04.87\00:10:07.10
So hang on to--we
should all hang on together
00:10:07.10\00:10:10.14
this idea that, in
this second major section,
00:10:10.14\00:10:14.61
he's giving us an
image of the exalted Christ
00:10:14.61\00:10:18.01
as the One who gives gifted
people to His church, okay?
00:10:18.01\00:10:22.62
And we'll see
how that works out.
00:10:22.62\00:10:24.39
>>Okay, very good.
So, what should we learn?
00:10:24.39\00:10:28.29
I guess--let me put it that way:
00:10:28.29\00:10:29.79
What should we learn
about the unity of the church
00:10:29.79\00:10:32.73
from this passage that
we're pulling out here?
00:10:32.73\00:10:37.43
>>It's God-given
fact, theological truth,
00:10:37.43\00:10:39.77
yet we need to work
hard to help actualize it
00:10:39.77\00:10:42.90
and help it come into
being in our experience
00:10:42.90\00:10:46.61
in our local congregations,
in our city, and so on.
00:10:46.61\00:10:50.61
And number three,
that unity is enhanced
00:10:50.61\00:10:54.82
by the gifted
people that God places
00:10:54.82\00:10:57.62
within the church--their role,
if they're playing the role
00:10:57.62\00:11:01.09
the ascended Jesus
wishes them to play,
00:11:01.09\00:11:03.83
is to bind the church together,
00:11:03.83\00:11:06.09
to help it be unified in its
life and its witness to Jesus.
00:11:06.09\00:11:10.90
>>So I'm gonna make
an assumption here--
00:11:10.90\00:11:13.00
and I'm fairly comfortable
00:11:13.00\00:11:15.60
with making the
assumption-- (Dr. McVay laughs)
00:11:15.60\00:11:17.61
that if God wants
His church to be unified,
00:11:17.61\00:11:21.31
He wants everybody to be a part
00:11:21.31\00:11:24.88
of that work, of that message,
00:11:24.88\00:11:28.12
of that
understanding, of that body.
00:11:28.12\00:11:30.39
Because if you have some
who are agreeing to being
00:11:30.39\00:11:34.72
a part of it and others
who would just as soon go along
00:11:34.72\00:11:38.93
for the ride, as it were,
we're not gonna see that unity,
00:11:38.93\00:11:42.50
and we're not gonna see the
power and the strength, are we?
00:11:42.50\00:11:45.00
>>No. So, at the
beginning and ending
00:11:45.00\00:11:48.10
of this second
half of our passage,
00:11:48.10\00:11:50.97
in verses 7 and verse 16,
00:11:50.97\00:11:54.44
Paul underlines a very
important principle, and that is
00:11:54.44\00:11:58.71
that every church
member is gifted by Jesus.
00:11:58.71\00:12:03.69
Everyone has
some role in helping
00:12:04.79\00:12:08.39
to bring this
wonderful theological fact
00:12:08.39\00:12:12.96
of unity into the
congregation at hand,
00:12:12.96\00:12:16.90
into the fellowship of the
church, every church member.
00:12:16.90\00:12:20.27
>>And there are
lots of different gifts--
00:12:20.27\00:12:22.20
>>Yes.
>>...many different gifts,
00:12:22.20\00:12:23.51
and not everyone
00:12:23.51\00:12:24.71
has the same
gifts. >>Right, right.
00:12:24.71\00:12:26.27
>>I'm perfectly
comfortable admitting the fact
00:12:26.27\00:12:29.18
that I do not
have the gift of song,
00:12:29.18\00:12:30.98
of singing. (Dr. McVay chuckles)
00:12:30.98\00:12:32.25
I'm not gifted
in that area at all.
00:12:32.25\00:12:34.22
Hospitality? Ehhh.
00:12:34.22\00:12:36.92
Speaking? Maybe.
00:12:36.92\00:12:38.69
But everybody
has different gifts.
00:12:38.69\00:12:41.12
>>Yes. >>And so we're gonna talk
00:12:41.12\00:12:42.52
about some of
those gifts a little bit
00:12:42.52\00:12:44.46
and see where
different people can fit in,
00:12:44.46\00:12:46.23
and we're gonna look
at what Paul has to say
00:12:46.23\00:12:50.50
about the unity of the church,
those gifts, and what he,
00:12:50.50\00:12:54.80
by the grace of God, wants
to see happen in our churches.
00:12:54.80\00:12:59.61
We're gonna come back and
look at that in just a moment.
00:12:59.61\00:13:01.68
But before we do, I want to
encourage you and remind you
00:13:01.68\00:13:05.21
that, in addition to the weekly
studies that you are doing
00:13:05.21\00:13:08.32
on the book of Ephesians,
there is a companion book
00:13:08.32\00:13:11.15
to this weekly study, called
"Ephesians" by Dr. John McVay.
00:13:11.15\00:13:15.42
You can pick this
up at itiswritten.shop.
00:13:15.42\00:13:19.16
Again, that's itiswritten.shop.
00:13:19.16\00:13:21.53
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00:13:21.53\00:13:24.10
You do not wanna miss
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00:13:24.10\00:13:27.50
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you will be blessed by it,
00:13:27.50\00:13:31.17
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learning more about God's plan
00:13:31.17\00:13:35.11
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beautiful letter that Paul wrote
00:13:35.11\00:13:37.81
to the church in Ephesus.
00:13:37.81\00:13:39.61
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00:13:39.61\00:13:43.12
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00:13:43.12\00:13:47.29
We're going to come
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00:13:47.29\00:13:48.92
as we continue looking
00:13:48.92\00:13:50.16
at this week's lesson
on the book of Ephesians.
00:13:50.16\00:13:53.33
We'll be right back.
00:13:53.33\00:13:54.56
(uplifting theme
music swells and ends)
00:13:54.56\00:13:57.23
>>[John Bradshaw]
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>>Welcome back
to "Sabbath School,"
00:15:03.10\00:15:04.87
brought to you by It Is Written.
00:15:04.87\00:15:06.67
We're continuing our
study of lesson number seven,
00:15:06.67\00:15:09.07
looking at "The
Unified Body of Christ."
00:15:09.07\00:15:11.97
And, John,
before we went to break,
00:15:11.97\00:15:13.78
we were talking a
little bit about this passage
00:15:13.78\00:15:16.34
that Paul quotes from
Psalms here in verse number 8.
00:15:16.34\00:15:21.15
And you mentioned some
very interesting characteristics
00:15:21.15\00:15:23.85
of this passage or this
verse. What do we see here?
00:15:23.85\00:15:28.56
>>Well, I believe that
00:15:28.56\00:15:30.09
studying the Old Testament
passage is really the key
00:15:30.09\00:15:32.53
to understanding the
ascent and the descent
00:15:32.53\00:15:34.83
and some of the
complexity of the passage here.
00:15:34.83\00:15:37.40
So if you go back
to Psalm 68, verse 18,
00:15:37.40\00:15:40.97
it's a passage
describing Yahweh, the Lord.
00:15:40.97\00:15:44.47
And it's describing
Him, as is fairly frequent
00:15:44.47\00:15:48.01
in the Old Testament literature,
as the great warrior.
00:15:48.01\00:15:52.11
So God is the
great warrior stepping
00:15:52.11\00:15:54.52
onto the stage of history
to right wrongs and so on.
00:15:54.52\00:15:58.29
And so here's the picture:
00:15:58.29\00:16:00.19
"You ascended on high,
leading a host of captives
00:16:00.19\00:16:04.43
in your train and
receiving gifts among men."
00:16:04.43\00:16:07.83
That's the picture;
that's the snippet, 'kay?
00:16:07.83\00:16:11.60
Now, what's fascinating is that
00:16:11.60\00:16:13.44
when Paul quotes the verse,
00:16:13.44\00:16:16.00
he doesn't have
the Yahweh Lord figure
00:16:16.00\00:16:20.54
as receiving
gifts but giving gifts.
00:16:20.54\00:16:24.25
And that may be simply because
at the end of the passage,
00:16:24.25\00:16:28.38
oh, verse 35,
God is giving gifts.
00:16:28.38\00:16:32.69
So Paul may be
drawing some things together
00:16:32.69\00:16:36.09
in Psalm 68. But the picture
here is a warfare picture.
00:16:36.09\00:16:41.13
The Lord Yahweh has just
won a great battle, a great war.
00:16:42.53\00:16:46.50
And when you do that in the
context of the ancient world,
00:16:46.50\00:16:51.44
you ascend to the
top of your capital city,
00:16:51.44\00:16:55.04
'cause your
city's probably on a,
00:16:55.04\00:16:56.64
what we call a
"tell" these days, right?
00:16:56.64\00:16:58.18
You ascend to your capital city.
So, "You ascended on high,"
00:16:58.18\00:17:01.98
meaning, You
ascended to your capital city.
00:17:01.98\00:17:04.25
You "led a host of
captives in Your train."
00:17:04.25\00:17:06.65
So You've won this great
victory. You have prisoners of
00:17:06.65\00:17:10.49
war. You have a victory parade
00:17:10.49\00:17:12.93
up to Your city with
these captives behind You,
00:17:12.93\00:17:17.87
testimony to the great
victory that You've won.
00:17:17.87\00:17:20.77
And You receive
gifts from people;
00:17:20.77\00:17:22.60
You receive tribute from
those You have conquered.
00:17:22.60\00:17:25.21
You see the basic picture there.
00:17:25.21\00:17:27.24
Now, Paul is reading Psalm 68:18
00:17:27.24\00:17:30.85
just like he reads
Psalm 8 and Psalm 110,
00:17:30.85\00:17:33.98
and he's seeing
here a prophecy of Jesus.
00:17:33.98\00:17:38.12
And he believes that
when Jesus ascended on high,
00:17:39.49\00:17:44.06
He then gave
gifts to His people.
00:17:45.13\00:17:48.06
'Kay, so Jesus has
won on Calvary's tree
00:17:48.06\00:17:52.03
a tremendous victory over,
00:17:52.03\00:17:55.54
against what
seems to be obvious.
00:17:55.54\00:17:57.47
It wasn't a defeat.
His death wasn't a defeat.
00:17:57.47\00:18:00.74
Colossians 2, verse 15,
00:18:01.51\00:18:03.18
it was, in fact, a victory
over the powers of darkness.
00:18:03.18\00:18:06.61
And Jesus ascends to heaven,
00:18:06.61\00:18:10.12
and from heaven, having
been exalted, from heaven,
00:18:10.12\00:18:14.12
He gives gifts to His people.
00:18:14.12\00:18:16.86
That's the basic picture, 'kay?
00:18:16.86\00:18:19.39
>>So we've got Jesus
giving these gifts, and then
00:18:19.39\00:18:23.60
Paul starts talking a little
bit about some of these gifts.
00:18:23.60\00:18:27.70
What do we see here?
00:18:27.70\00:18:29.14
>>It identifies, Paul identifies
for us in verses 11 and 12
00:18:29.14\00:18:33.44
of chapter 4 of Ephesians--
00:18:33.44\00:18:36.51
he identifies what
the gifts were, right?
00:18:36.51\00:18:41.05
And so, the verses 9 and 10
00:18:41.05\00:18:45.59
try to sort out the
ascent and the descent.
00:18:45.59\00:18:48.66
I think we follow
the order of the psalm.
00:18:48.66\00:18:51.73
In that case, the ascent
comes before the descent.
00:18:51.73\00:18:55.16
The ascent is Christ's
ascent to the throne of God
00:18:55.16\00:18:58.57
following His resurrection.
00:18:58.57\00:19:00.14
The descent is Christ's
descending in the Spirit
00:19:00.14\00:19:03.14
at Pentecost to give gifts,
00:19:03.14\00:19:05.01
okay? >>Very good.
00:19:05.01\00:19:06.41
>>Now, some of the
translations don't help us
00:19:06.41\00:19:08.88
because they insert a
word--He "first" descended.
00:19:08.88\00:19:13.48
But that word "first"
is not in the Greek text.
00:19:13.48\00:19:16.58
And so I think we
should track on the order
00:19:16.58\00:19:19.75
that the psalm gives us.
00:19:19.75\00:19:21.26
Exaltation, the ascent
comes first with Christ's ascent
00:19:21.26\00:19:25.73
following the resurrection.
00:19:25.73\00:19:27.60
And the descent follows
with Christ, in His Spirit,
00:19:27.60\00:19:31.27
descending at Pentecost.
00:19:31.27\00:19:33.37
>>Very good. >>Okay?
00:19:33.37\00:19:34.34
So then it says in verse 11,
00:19:34.34\00:19:37.34
"And He gave"--remember,
00:19:37.34\00:19:38.77
the ascended Christ
is now from the heights,
00:19:38.77\00:19:42.14
from the exaltation of heaven.
00:19:42.14\00:19:44.11
He is pouring out His
Spirit. He is giving gifts.
00:19:44.11\00:19:46.72
This would be
Acts, chapter 2 language,
00:19:46.72\00:19:49.18
the end of Acts 2, verses 33-36.
00:19:49.18\00:19:52.89
"And He gave"--or the
gifts that He gave were--
00:19:52.89\00:19:57.56
that some would be
apostles, prophets,
00:19:57.56\00:20:01.90
evangelists,
pastors, and teachers.
00:20:01.90\00:20:05.00
Now, the particular
Greek syntax there suggests
00:20:05.00\00:20:07.94
that pastor,
teacher are one group.
00:20:07.94\00:20:10.51
So these are pastors/teachers--
00:20:10.51\00:20:12.54
>>Pastors who are teachers.
00:20:12.54\00:20:14.01
>>...pastors who are teachers,
teachers who are pastors.
00:20:14.01\00:20:16.34
They're sharing this activity.
00:20:16.34\00:20:19.05
So you have these
four categories of
00:20:20.18\00:20:23.52
what could be called
ministers of the Word, right?
00:20:23.52\00:20:27.12
In some way or another,
they're ministering God's Word
00:20:27.12\00:20:30.29
to people, evangelistically,
as a form of nurture and so on.
00:20:30.29\00:20:35.03
So they're
ministers of the Word.
00:20:35.03\00:20:37.57
And the comparison with 1
Corinthians 12 is interesting.
00:20:37.57\00:20:41.77
In 1 Corinthians 12,
00:20:41.77\00:20:43.64
the Spirit gives
spiritual gifts to people.
00:20:43.64\00:20:47.48
In Ephesians, chapter 4, a
little twist on the imagery
00:20:47.48\00:20:51.65
here, Jesus is the
Giver of the gifts.
00:20:51.65\00:20:54.08
And He doesn't so
much give spiritual gifts
00:20:54.08\00:20:56.45
to people as He gives
gifted people to His church.
00:20:56.45\00:21:01.36
You see the
slight difference there?
00:21:01.36\00:21:03.46
So He gives these people.
Now, at that point, Eric,
00:21:03.46\00:21:06.26
we have to ask
ourselves, who are these people?
00:21:06.26\00:21:09.63
Because we kind of think we know
00:21:09.63\00:21:11.20
who some of these people are.
00:21:11.20\00:21:12.73
We know who evangelists are,
and we know who pastors are,
00:21:12.73\00:21:16.47
and we kind of
know who teachers are,
00:21:17.57\00:21:19.14
but our categories
00:21:20.24\00:21:21.98
for those don't
necessarily match precisely
00:21:21.98\00:21:25.81
what Paul is thinking of in
the first century in Ephesus.
00:21:25.81\00:21:29.22
This is in a day long before
there were conference offices
00:21:29.22\00:21:32.69
and paychecks and, you
know, all of those things.
00:21:32.69\00:21:35.92
Paul really here is highlighting
local church leaders
00:21:35.92\00:21:40.06
in the local house
churches and those people
00:21:40.06\00:21:43.70
who had these roles of
sharing the Word of God
00:21:43.70\00:21:47.44
with their fellow
members, of sharing the message
00:21:47.44\00:21:50.57
of the gospel with
the community, and so on.
00:21:50.57\00:21:53.04
So we ought not
to think of these
00:21:53.04\00:21:54.74
as some special class of
people, clergy, and so on.
00:21:54.74\00:21:59.05
These are lay
members of the church.
00:21:59.05\00:22:01.28
These are church
members who have added
00:22:01.28\00:22:04.72
to their vocations
of earning bread a role,
00:22:04.72\00:22:09.09
God-breathed, God-ordained role.
00:22:09.89\00:22:13.16
>>Which kind of makes
sense if Paul is writing
00:22:13.16\00:22:15.60
this letter to the
church in Ephesus--
00:22:15.60\00:22:17.90
>>Mm-hmm. >>...to let them know
00:22:17.90\00:22:19.40
that these are some gifts that
they can expect to see there
00:22:19.40\00:22:21.70
in that local
church. >>Right, right.
00:22:21.70\00:22:24.14
>>Makes a whole lot of sense.
00:22:24.14\00:22:26.78
>>And so Paul's
gonna work this out
00:22:26.78\00:22:28.58
in the context of
the body metaphor.
00:22:28.58\00:22:30.61
And again, the
body metaphor is similar
00:22:30.61\00:22:33.25
in some ways to its
presence in 1 Corinthians 12.
00:22:33.25\00:22:36.82
And in some other
ways it's fairly different.
00:22:36.82\00:22:39.69
So in Romans 12,
in 1 Corinthians 12,
00:22:39.69\00:22:44.29
the head is not distinguished
00:22:44.29\00:22:46.53
as a particularly
important part of the body.
00:22:46.53\00:22:49.00
This is the first time,
Colossians and Ephesians,
00:22:49.00\00:22:52.13
where the head is identified.
00:22:52.13\00:22:53.84
And here the head
is-- >>The Christ.
00:22:53.84\00:22:56.50
>>...is Christ, right?
00:22:56.50\00:22:58.04
So the head is Christ.
So that's a little bit new.
00:22:58.04\00:23:01.41
And then also here,
00:23:01.41\00:23:03.18
these gifted people
that we've just talked about
00:23:03.18\00:23:06.41
are identified in the
context of the body metaphor
00:23:06.41\00:23:09.25
as ligaments or tendons.
00:23:09.25\00:23:11.82
And so they're playing a role
as connective tissue, right?
00:23:11.82\00:23:16.16
Uniting the body,
pulling everything together.
00:23:16.16\00:23:19.73
The role of these ministers
of the Word ought to be,
00:23:19.73\00:23:22.63
if it's functioning well,
00:23:22.63\00:23:24.07
it ought to be to
help unify the church,
00:23:24.07\00:23:27.67
actualize that unity, which
is our God-given right and fact.
00:23:27.67\00:23:32.64
>>I like the
way you use the term
00:23:32.64\00:23:34.48
"if it's functioning well."
00:23:34.48\00:23:35.81
>>(chuckling) Yes, if
it's functioning well.
00:23:35.81\00:23:37.11
>>Because we--there are ideals,
00:23:37.11\00:23:39.38
and then there's the situation
00:23:39.38\00:23:40.95
in which we find
ourselves in the real world.
00:23:40.95\00:23:43.55
Paul kind of makes reference
00:23:43.55\00:23:45.05
to something along those
lines in verse number 14.
00:23:45.05\00:23:47.49
In verse 14, he says,
00:23:47.49\00:23:49.16
"That we should no longer
be children, tossed to and fro
00:23:49.16\00:23:51.89
and carried about with
every" this, that and the other.
00:23:51.89\00:23:54.23
The indication here is things
aren't going 100% smoothly.
00:23:54.23\00:23:58.90
>>Yep, this is a
very idealistic letter,
00:23:58.90\00:24:01.34
but one has the sense that
Paul chooses to be in that tone.
00:24:01.34\00:24:04.64
He doesn't want to add
to their being downhearted
00:24:04.64\00:24:08.28
about what it
means to be a Christian.
00:24:08.28\00:24:10.08
So mostly he stays on a
fairly idealistic plane.
00:24:10.08\00:24:13.38
But this would be
probably the principal place
00:24:13.38\00:24:16.52
in the letter,
chapter 4, verse 14,
00:24:16.52\00:24:19.12
where he suggests
there could be some issues,
00:24:19.12\00:24:21.66
apparently some false doctrine
floating around and so on.
00:24:21.66\00:24:25.23
Don't be "children,
tossed to and fro by the waves,
00:24:25.23\00:24:28.10
"carried [around] by
every wind of doctrine,
00:24:28.10\00:24:30.67
by human
cunning, by craftiness."
00:24:30.67\00:24:32.93
There's a lot of
different imagery
00:24:32.93\00:24:34.74
that's going on in verse 14.
00:24:34.74\00:24:38.14
Someone has
summarized all these metaphors
00:24:38.14\00:24:41.01
that he's using this way:
00:24:41.01\00:24:42.74
"Stop being babies
tossed high by waves
00:24:42.74\00:24:46.65
"and blown about by
every gust of teaching
00:24:46.65\00:24:48.78
in this sea of human trickery."
00:24:48.78\00:24:51.09
It's quite an image,
quite a set of images.
00:24:52.19\00:24:54.66
>>That puts it
down in our terms,
00:24:54.66\00:24:56.96
in our language
that we can understand.
00:24:56.96\00:24:59.39
And we're talking here this week
00:24:59.39\00:25:01.30
about "The
Unified Body of Christ."
00:25:01.30\00:25:03.26
And as you mentioned, Paul
is being somewhat idealistic
00:25:03.26\00:25:06.50
about this. >>Yes.
00:25:06.50\00:25:07.74
>>But we also recognize
00:25:07.74\00:25:09.14
that he's dealing
with reality in here.
00:25:09.14\00:25:11.11
The reality for
someone who's watching this,
00:25:11.11\00:25:13.71
listening to this
week's program right now
00:25:13.71\00:25:15.91
is they may see a lack of unity,
00:25:15.91\00:25:18.95
a lack of participation in
perhaps their own local church.
00:25:18.95\00:25:23.42
>>Sure. >>What
words of encouragement
00:25:23.42\00:25:25.39
would you give them
to help buoy them up
00:25:25.39\00:25:28.39
above the morass of reality,
at least as they see it,
00:25:28.39\00:25:33.33
and help them to
see the exalted picture
00:25:33.33\00:25:36.20
and the very
realistic possibility
00:25:36.20\00:25:39.33
that God desires
for them to experience
00:25:39.33\00:25:42.94
and be a part
of in their church?
00:25:42.94\00:25:45.37
>>I think our
passage, Ephesians 4:1-16,
00:25:45.37\00:25:49.01
is really, really
helpful for us here.
00:25:49.01\00:25:51.68
I like the fact
that verse 14 is there;
00:25:51.68\00:25:53.62
it acknowledges the reality of
00:25:53.62\00:25:55.65
less-than-perfect situations
in local congregations.
00:25:55.65\00:25:59.42
But again, Paul
is gonna point us
00:25:59.42\00:26:01.42
to the wondrous
theological realities.
00:26:01.42\00:26:04.66
The fact that your
congregation is haggling
00:26:04.66\00:26:07.30
about this, that, or the other,
00:26:07.30\00:26:11.10
the carpet in the renovation,
or whatever it might be,
00:26:11.10\00:26:14.14
is a kind of surface issue.
00:26:14.14\00:26:17.17
And you can certainly
acknowledge that surface issue
00:26:17.17\00:26:20.58
in prayer before
the Lord and say,
00:26:20.58\00:26:21.91
"You know this
challenge and this issue.
00:26:21.91\00:26:24.98
"But thank You
for helping us live
00:26:24.98\00:26:28.38
"into the true
unity of the church.
00:26:28.38\00:26:31.65
"Thank You for
bringing the power of the gospel
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to bear upon our
church fellowship."
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>>So there's
encouragement there,
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and we hope that
you are encouraged.
00:26:39.26\00:26:41.90
The reality is not everything
is perfect in Christ's church.
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But the reality is also
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that everything is
perfect in Christ Jesus.
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And when we take a
look at His exalted status
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and His power and what He
desires to do in the church,
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and even in your local
church, there should be hope.
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In fact, indeed, there is
hope and a great deal of it.
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We're going to continue,
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as we go through
the book of Ephesians,
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seeing some
very practical advice
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that Paul gives to
those of us living today,
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in the very closing
hours of earth's history,
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so that we can be encouraged,
00:27:19.73\00:27:21.67
we can be strengthened,
we can be emboldened
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to be exactly what
Jesus wants us to be.
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And in the remaining weeks
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as we study the
book of Ephesians,
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we're going to see that
in very, very clear ways.
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We trust that you've
been blessed this week
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as we've looked at "The
Unified Body of Christ."
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And we look forward to
seeing you again next week
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as we continue our study
in the book of Ephesians.
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This has been "Sabbath School,"
00:27:44.39\00:27:46.09
brought to you by It Is Written.
00:27:46.09\00:27:48.10
(uplifting theme music)
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(music ends)
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