Ephesians - Diversity and Maturity - Ephesians 4:7-16

The most important thing we can do as Christians is to discover our spiritual gifts. And then develop them in the fellowship of the church, and then dedicate those gifts to God and start ministering to one another. 

We're talking about the unity of God's people. And we've found that there are four essentials for that unity, Ephesians 4:1, 4:2, 4:3: humility, a spirit of lowliness and longsuffering and gentleness. And then identity: we belong to the one body, we serve the one Lord, we have experienced the one baptism—identity. But when you get to Ephesians 4 beginning at Ephesians 4:7, he talks about diversity.

And in Ephesians 4:7, we read: But to each one of us, not to everybody all alike, but to each one of us grace was given according to the measure of Christ's gift. Therefore He says, "When He ascended on high, He led captivity captive, and gave gifts to men." (Now this, "He ascended"—what does it mean but that He also first descended into the lower parts of the earth? He who descended is also the One who ascended far above all the heavens, that He might fill all things.) And He Himself gave some to be apostles, some prophets, some evangelists, and some pastors and teachers, for the equipping of the saints for the work of ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ.

Now here he's talking about this matter of diversity. Let me give you some reasons why God wants diversity in His church. Reason number one: diversity reveals the wisdom of God. You see, if I were going to plan the church, I would have planned everybody to be alike. That's the best way to avoid problems and difficulties—just get everybody exactly alike. The world would look at us and say, "Well, there they are." But there'd be nothing exciting about it. The world says, "I don't want to be a part of that; it's a cult. They're all alike."

There are three kinds of people who resist diversity in the church: the immature. Children do not like change. Put the baby in a different bed, he won't sleep. Children do not like change. Immature Christians are afraid of change. This is why the book of Hebrews was written: to encourage Christians to grow up in the faith because God was changing things. 

Secondly, legalistic Christians don't like change. They are rigid conformists. They have a law, they're going to follow it, and if anything comes and threatens that law, they just will not yield at all. And legalism is still a problem in our churches. 

The immature don't like change, and legalists don't like change, and proud people don't like change. Oh, how many times I've heard people say, "Well, this is our way and we've always done it this way, and don't suggest any changes." Now change for the sake of change is novelty, and we don't want that. But change for the sake of improvement is progress, and we do want that. 

Now the church needs diversity because diversity balances unity. Unity without diversity is uniformity, and uniformity is dead. There is nothing exciting about uniformity. We need diversity because diversity promotes maturity. When you have different kinds of people with different backgrounds and different gifts, you have to grow up and learn how to get along with each other. 

That was the problem in Corinth; they wouldn't grow up. This was also a problem in Rome. Paul wrote Romans 14 and 15 to tell them how to get along with each other. By the way, all of the illustrations of the church in the book of Ephesians emphasize diversity and unity. The church is a body, for example. A body has unity, but there's diversity. 

Ephesians 2:19 of chapter 2, we're compared to a household: members of the household of God. In a household, there is diversity but there's unity. A husband and wife are not alike. Children are not alike. There are different needs and different expressions, and yet there is unity in the family. 

Ephesians 2:20-21, we're compared to a building. In a building, you have a variety of materials, a variety of kinds of structure, but there is one foundation. He compares the church to a husband and wife in Ephesians 5: two become one. And a man is a man and a woman is a woman; they are different and yet there's a oneness in their love and their life together—the two become one. Even in Ephesians 6, he talks about the army. Everybody in the army doesn't do the same thing. They don't all have the same rank. They are not all using the same implements or weapons. And yet there is a unity there. 

Now Paul is trying to get the point across that diversity reveals the wisdom of God. There are many ministries, there's one Spirit. There is a diversity of operations, but there is one God who is at work. Diversity reveals the wisdom of God.

Secondly, diversity releases the grace of God. Did you notice the emphasis on the word "give" here? He gave gifts to men. The measure of Christ's gift. The picture here is of our Lord Jesus Christ, having won the victory, ascending back to heaven and giving gifts to those who believe in Him. He is, in His grace, giving gifts to His people. 

Now this means that every individual believer is important. Ephesians 4:7: But to each one of us grace was given. Down in Ephesians 4:16: that which every part supplies. You are important in the work of God. Now you may not think so, or you may think you're too important in the work of God. Paul warns us not to think of ourselves more highly than we ought to think. 

The Lord Jesus Christ in His grace has given gifts to His people. Then He gives His people to His church. He talks here about the ministry of the apostles. We don't have apostles today. In order to have been an apostle, you had to have seen the risen Christ. Now there is a sense in which all Christians are apostles; the word means "one who is sent on a commission." As the Father has sent me, so send I you. But strictly speaking, there are no apostles today. 

Prophets. There are no prophets today in the New Testament sense. Now that we have a completed New Testament, a whole Bible, there is no need for the prophet. There is a prophetic ministry where people take the Word of God and apply it to the current needs of God's people. 

Evangelists, pastors and teachers. That's one person—shepherds who shepherd the flock by teaching. This means that they care for the flock, they love the flock, they know their people. It is the plan of God that through diversity the grace of God is released. Not law—grace. Diversity reveals the wisdom of God and diversity releases the grace of God. 

Thirdly, diversity realizes the purpose of God. Now what is God's purpose? Ephesians 4:12: the equipping of the saints. Notice the sequence here: the Lord Jesus Christ dies on the cross, He's buried. He is raised from the dead. He has conquered sin and death and hell. He ascends back on high, and having ascended to heaven, He gives gifts to His people. These are spiritual gifts; every believer has at least one. He gives gifts to men and women, then He gives gifted people to His church. And then these gifted people in the church equip the saints, each of us ministering one to another. 

The word "equip" in Ephesians 4:12 is a marvelous word. It's the Greek word katartizo; our word "artist" comes from it. It means, to a sailor, the outfitting of a ship. To a fisherman, it meant the mending of a net. What is the purpose of the ministry of the Word of God in the church? We are fishermen who come and need our nets to be mended so we can go out and catch more fish. We are sailors on a voyage and the storms come, and we need to have our ship fully equipped and rigged that we might be able to face the storm. This is what the Word of God is all about. This is why the ministry of the Word of God is so serious. 

The gifted people equip the saints who do the work of ministry. And as they do the work of ministry, the body of Christ is built up. Now the apostles and prophets did their part; Ephesians 2:20, they laid the foundation of the church. Jesus Christ is the chief cornerstone, but they laid the foundation of the church. Now we're building upon that. The evangelist, carrying out the gospel. The pastor-teacher, shepherding through the Word of God. And all of God's people doing the job God's called them to do. And every job is important.

Therefore, let's thank God for diversity in the church. The most important thing we can do as Christians is to discover our spiritual gifts and then develop them in the fellowship of the church. You don't do this by yourself. And then dedicate those gifts to God and start ministering to one another. Carrying a burden for one another, helping one another. It's a hard job, it's a demanding job, but I tell you, it is a rewarding ministry.

Beginning at Ephesians 4:13: till we all come to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to a perfect man, to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ; that we should no longer be children, tossed to and fro and carried about with every wind of doctrine, by the trickery of men, in the cunning craftiness by which they lie in wait to deceive, but, speaking the truth in love, may grow up in all things into Him who is the head—Christ—from whom the whole body, joined and knit together by what every joint supplies, according to the effective working by which every part does its share, causes growth of the body for the edifying of itself in love.

Do you want to help your church to grow spiritually? Do you want to help your church to grow in unity and in diversity? Then follow these four principles that Paul lays down. 

Principle number one: the body matures from within. The body does not grow by addition; it grows by nutrition. The cells don't add; they multiply, and that comes from nutrition. Here's a little child that is underweight. The mother goes to the butcher shop and buys eight or ten pounds of meat, puts it on the child, weighs the child, and now the child is just where he or she ought to be. Ah, but the child is no better. There has been addition but not nutrition. 

The body matures from within. Now this is done through the truth of the Word of God, Ephesians 4:15: but speaking the truth in love, we may grow up in all things into Him who is the head—Jesus Christ. The truth of the Word of God. The Word of God is the nutrition for the body. And as you and I are growing in our knowledge of Christ and our knowledge of the Word of God—they go together—then we will add to the maturity of the church. 

The Bible is our meat and our milk according to Hebrews 5. It's our bread according to Matthew 4:4. It's our honey according to Psalm 119:103. And when you and I feed on the Word of God and the church is nurtured by the Word of God, then there is nutrition, then there is multiplication, then there is edification and growth. Food for the inner man. As each part of the body takes in the food of the Word of God and then serves the Lord. 

Ephesians 4:12: for the equipping of the saints for the work of ministry, for the building up of the body of Christ. Principle number one: the body matures from within. we do not want addition, we want multiplication. 

Secondly, the body matures in an atmosphere of love. Some years ago in a New York foundling hospital, they performed a simple experiment. It did not hurt the children, but it was an interesting experiment. They divided a group of little children in half. Each child was given careful, wonderful attention except for one thing: one group of children was not given love. The babies weren't hugged and talked to; they were fed, they were clothed, they were cared for, but they were not loved. Interestingly enough, the group that was not loved caught more sickness, had more problems, and did not seem to grow as rapidly as the group that was getting tender, loving care. 

Now that teaches me this: that in a local church, truth and love must go together. He says that in Ephesians 4:15: but speaking the truth in love. Literally, Paul wrote, "but truthing in love." By truthing he meant saying the truth and doing the truth. Truth and love must go together. Truth is objective; love is subjective. And you must have both. You can't build the body in an atmosphere of law. 

There are some families that are nothing but law. Mother and father are forever scolding the children and holding high standards over their heads. There's lots of law and demand, but no love and devotion. And of course, the children create problems and become problems. There must be truth and love in the local church. The preacher must preach the truth in love. The teacher must teach the truth in love. We must apply the truth in love, even when there's discipline. Love without truth is hypocrisy; truth without love is brutality. We don't want either of these in our churches. 

And oh, it's a marvelous thing when you find a family of God living in an atmosphere of truth and love. Not deceiving one another, not trying to fool one another. It's interesting, in Ephesians you find two prayers, chapter 1 and chapter 3. Chapter 1 the emphasis is on truth; chapter 3 it's on love. Chapter 1 he prays that they might know the truth. Chapter 3 he prays that they might experience the love. Truth and love must go together in the local church. 

The body matures from within. The body matures in an atmosphere of love. Thirdly, the body matures as each member ministers. Ephesians 4:16 tells us this: according to the effective working by which every part does its share. Are you doing your share? You have a part to play in the building of the body of Christ. Are you doing your share? The body matures as each member ministers. 

Now what does it take for a baby to mature in a home? Food, love, cleansing, exercise, and ultimately, discipline. These are the elements of growth. Now in the local church, each of us has the responsibility of doing his share. Using whatever gifts God has given for the building up of the body of Christ. We all have a contribution to make. 

Ephesians 4:12 tells me that the gifted people who are given to the church equip the saints. And then the saints go out to do the work of the ministry. We are equipped through the local church fellowship where people know us, they will rebuke us in love, they will build us up in the faith. We need the local church. We need the Word of God. It's the Word of God that equips us. Paul wrote to Timothy in 2 Timothy 3:16: All Scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness, that the man of God may be complete, thoroughly equipped for every good work. 

What equips you to serve the Lord? The Word of God. That's why it's so important that those of us who share the Word of God do it in the Spirit and do it in love. We are equipped through the fellowship of the local church. We are equipped through the Word of God. We are equipped through prayer. In 1 Thessalonians 3:10, Paul writes: night and day, praying exceedingly that we may see your face and perfect what is lacking in your faith. We perfect people through prayer. Are you praying personally for people in your fellowship? 

God perfects us through suffering. He equips us through suffering. 1 Peter 5:10: But may the God of all grace, who called us to His eternal glory by Christ Jesus, after you have suffered a while, perfect, establish, strengthen, and settle you. This word "equip" means to be prepared for the battle. It's a word that talks about thoroughly being prepared to do your job. 

The body matures from within. The body matures in an atmosphere of love. The body matures as each member ministers. Finally, the body matures to a predetermined image. We don't become like the preacher. We don't become like some television or radio preacher. We don't become like some great person from the past. We become like Jesus Christ. 

Ephesians 4:13: till we all come to the unity of the faith. Now that's something to attain. Up in Ephesians 4:3, endeavoring to keep the unity of the Spirit; that's something to maintain. The unity of the Spirit is here for us to protect and to strengthen. The unity of the faith is going to come when one day we see the Lord Jesus Christ. But it's a goal for us to attain. Till we all come to the unity of the faith and the knowledge of the Son of God, to a perfect or a full-grown mature man, to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ. 

Ephesians 4:15 he says: but, speaking the truth in love, may grow up in all things into Him. Who is the measure of the ministry of a local church? Not money, not statistics, not buildings. Jesus Christ is the measure. If you want to measure your ministry, ask yourself: Are the people in this fellowship becoming more and more like the Lord Jesus Christ? Are we acting like Jesus in our board meetings, our committee meetings? Are we becoming like Jesus in our care for other people? Are you discovering, developing, dedicating your spiritual gifts to serve Jesus Christ in your local church? Thank God all of us one day will be like the Lord Jesus Christ, but today we ought to be like Him. Today we should be serving, sacrificing, caring, glorifying God, doing all we can do to serve other people. Oh, how we need this. There truly will be unity in our churches if we only will cultivate the kind of maturity that Paul writes about here in Ephesians 4.