September 28, 2025 • 42 mins
In The Power of Unity, part of the In Christ series, Scott Wiens opens Ephesians 1:9-12 to show that the “mystery” God revealed in Jesus is bigger than individual salvation—it is God’s plan to unite all things in Christ, things in heaven and on earth. Scott traces Paul’s language to Romans 16:25 and Galatians 4:4 to explain that this mystery, set in motion at “the fullness of time,” was never in jeopardy. Christ’s redemptive work was the Father’s sovereign purpose from the beginning, and through it we gain not only forgiveness and an inheritance, but a shared identity as one body.
Scott presses into Paul’s consistent use of we, us, and our in Ephesians to expose a modern contradiction: claiming to follow Christ while rejecting His church. He acknowledges the reality of church hurt and the imperfection of God’s people, yet he warns how the enemy exploits offense and unrealistic expectations to isolate believers. Using John 13:35 and Romans 12:5, he shows that our love for one another is the visible proof of discipleship and that we are many members, yet one body in Christ.
From there, Scott offers three compelling reasons God calls every believer into meaningful connection with the church. First, true fellowship: the family of God celebrates, grieves, serves, shares, learns, and encourages together (Ephesians 4:1-3). Second, accountability: contrary to modern sentiment, accountability is freedom. Secrets thrive on shame and the whispers of the enemy, but confession and prayer—James 5:16; Proverbs 28:13—break the grip of sin and open the door to mercy and healing (Ephesians 4:25). Third, spiritual growth: apart from the body, stagnation and spiritual vulnerability set in, but together we grasp “with all the saints” the vastness of Christ’s love and are filled with the fullness of God (Ephesians 3:14-19).
Scott’s most piercing analogy makes the point plain: saying “I love Jesus but don’t need the church” is like saying “I love marriage but don’t want to be with my spouse.” As the world grows darker and “the Day” draws near, Hebrews 10:24-25 calls us to meet together, to stir one another up to love and good works, and to encourage one another all the more.
If you’re ready to trade isolation for the joy, freedom, and growth of being united in Christ with His people, watch and be strengthened.
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Episode Transcript
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Scott Wiens (00:02):
We're in the middle of a sermon series in the book
of Ephesians, and we've beentitled In Christ.
Have you guys enjoyed this sofar?
It's been good.
It's been really good.
I've really enjoyed this, andwe've heard messages, three
different messages so far.
Tyler kicked it off with aseries when he when he talked
about.
He focused on how Christ is inus, but how we are in Christ as
well.
And it was really in light.
(00:23):
I appreciate that message.
I'd never really thought aboutthat before in that way.
It was really, really helpful.
And then Derek gave a greatmessage on what it means to be
adopted into the family of God.
I appreciated what he shared,his transparency there.
And then Kelly last week taughton verses seven and eight,
where he talked about what isbiblical redemption and how
(00:44):
that, how we can relate to thatand how we should really grasp
that.
And it was really, reallyenjoyed that.
We weren't out of town camping,but I got to listen to it
online.
Kelly, you're just as goodonline as you are in person, by
the way.
Enjoyed that.
But our text for today is uhverses nine through twelve of
Ephesians one.
So let's go ahead and readthis.
So beginning in verse nine ofEphesians one, making known to
(01:07):
us the mystery of his will,according to his purpose, which
he set forth in Christ as a planfor the fullness of time to
unite all things in Christ,things in heaven and things on
earth in him.
In him we have obtained aninheritance, having been
predestined according to thepurpose of him who works all
(01:30):
things according to the counselof his will, so that we who are
the first to hope in Christmight be to the praise of his
glory.
This is God's word.
Father, we thank you for thisamazing book.
We thank you for Paul.
We thank you for relating toPaul and realizing that at one
(01:51):
time he was an enemy of thechurch just like we were.
And Father, we thank you forthese words.
We pray that as we unpack this,Father, and as we study about
the unity that is brought to usthrough Christ, and pray that we
would all be refreshed in ourhearts and reconvicted in our
hearts and minds about theimportance of this unity.
And so we give this to you andthank you in Jesus' name.
(02:13):
Amen.
Well, see, in this passage,we're really seeing an
introduction to one of the mostprevalent themes in the entire
book of Ephesians, and that isthis theme of unity, unity.
Paul threads the concept of theunifying work of Christ
throughout this epistle in justa beautiful tapestry that
(02:34):
focuses on the redemptive workof Jesus.
And as the result of that work,we're not just individually in
Christ, not just individually inChrist, but we are collectively
in Christ as well.
So today we're gonna reallyfocus on two things.
The first thing is we're justgonna walk through this passage
(02:55):
and do a little bit ofexposition and just explain what
Paul is talking about here.
And then we're gonna look atthree reasons why we should all
want to be part of the unifiedbody of Christ, which is the
church.
You guys ready for that?
Well, let's do that.
So let's start by walkingthrough the passage and let's
take a look at what Paul issaying, especially about this
(03:16):
unity, which is reallysandwiched right in the middle
of this passage.
So beginning in verse 9, hesays, making known to us the
mystery of his will according tohis purpose, which he set forth
in Christ.
Now, the word mystery sometimesyou get this little eerie, ooh,
it's a mystery.
What is this mystery?
Well, it's it's actually a wordthat Paul uses other times in
(03:39):
his other epistles.
He's used this word before.
And sometimes when you'restudying this and you run into a
word like that and go, so whatis this mystery?
It's really good to look at thecontext of other passages where
it's used.
So in Romans 16, 25, he usesthat word mystery, but he gives
it a little bit more context.
In Romans 16, 25, he says, Nowto him who is able to establish
(04:02):
you according to my gospel,which is really the gospel of
Jesus, and the preaching ofJesus Christ according to the
revelation of the mystery whichhas been kept secret for long
ages past.
So what we're seeing here is acoupling of the gospel with this
term mystery.
Paul is writing this at thevery end of the Epistle of
(04:25):
Romans, which, by the way, Ithink is arguably probably one
of the most comprehensive andin-depth explanations of the
gospel that you'll find in theentire New Testament.
And Paul is saying that therevelation of the mystery which
has been kept secret for longages past is the redemptive work
of Jesus Christ.
That's a mystery.
(04:46):
And it's revealed to you andit's revealed to me.
And we're going to understand alittle bit more about what that
means when we talk about beingcalled.
So let's continue in Ephesians9 or 1, verse 9.
Making known to us the mysterywill according to his purpose,
which he set forth in Christ.
Listen, it was God's sovereignwill from the very beginning to
(05:10):
redeem mankind through JesusChrist.
That was his purpose.
And when you see words likeaccording to his purpose, does
God get his way?
Yeah, he absolutely gets hisway.
If God has called you, do youthink you can run from him?
I can I can show you wholebooks about people trying to run
from God.
(05:31):
You can't run from God.
If he has purposed this, andit's going to do, and so when he
purposed his plan, and this iswhat's something we sometimes
miss, it was never in jeopardyof not being carried out.
Do you think Jesus was goinginto the wilderness and, like,
oh, I hope he makes it?
No.
It was a done deal.
(05:52):
It was a done deal from thevery beginning.
And in Christ means that theredemption came in the form of
Jesus Christ and what he did.
If you put all of verse 9together, we can clearly see
that God has purposed his planfor the redemption of mankind
through Jesus Christ.
That's why we're calling thissermon in Christ.
Right?
That's the focus.
(06:13):
So let's jump over now to verse10.
And this is where God, wherePaul's going to introduce God's
concept of united and uniting ustogether in Christ.
So, as a plan for the fullnessof time to unite all things in
Christ, things in heaven andthings on earth.
Now, let's just talk a littlebit, let's break this down a
(06:37):
little bit.
So, as a plan for the fullnessof time, what does a fullness of
time mean?
Because we read sometimes weread these scriptures and we go,
fullness of time?
You know, what how do you wrapyour head around that?
Remember the context.
You got to look and see ifthat's ever been used before by
the Apostle Paul, and indeed ithas.
Galatians 4, verse 4.
(06:57):
This is what he says.
But when the fullness of timehad come, oh, everybody's on the
edge of your seat.
Okay, what happened?
God sent forth his son, born ofa woman, born under law, to
redeem those who were under thelaw, so that me, what uh we
might receive adoption as sons.
So clearly, the fullness oftime is referring to the time
(07:19):
frame covering the birth, life,death, and resurrection of Jesus
Christ.
It's here.
It's here.
And Paul is identifying this iswhat the fullness of time is
it's the life of Christ and hisdeath and his resurrection.
So let's go back to verse 9.
As for the plan of uh as a planfor the fullness of time, and
(07:40):
he says this, now that's a keyverse that we're going to focus
on.
To unite all things in Christ,things in heaven and things on
earth.
This is what Christ came to do.
He came to unite.
And when you are unitingsomething, what are they before
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they are united?
They're separate, right?
They're separate.
You can almost make a case thatthis is reuniting.
Because the sin of Adam in thein the garden, we know what
happened.
It separated us, mankind, itseparated mankind from God.
And it put us in a veryunnatural state.
(08:22):
And all of us, as we'vepreached from the stage before,
are living under that curse, ifyou will, of Adam.
He is our federal head, meaninghe is the one that represented
us, and now we're dealing withhis sin.
I know it's not fair, but it'struth.
(08:42):
We are the ones dealing withthat.
However, and this is what Ilove, God forordained from the
foundations of the earth thathis son was going to come into
the world, live that perfectlife that we couldn't live, die
as a perfect sacrifice so thatwe can be redeemed, united
(09:03):
together once again with God.
I need to hear a hallelujah forthat one.
Can you imagine if we didn'thave that?
I don't know about you, butonce you've been walking with
the Lord for a long time, thethought about not walking with
him just you can't even fathomit.
Every day I wake up under thegrace of God.
(09:25):
Remember, it says his merciesare new every morning, right?
Every morning I'm justthankful.
God, thank you for another dayof life.
Not because I get a big chargeof a living that life, but
because I get to live it underhis grace.
And wow, that's beautiful tothink about.
And you know, under thatbridge, as I was talking to
these people and praying forthem, that's the one thing that
(09:46):
kept coming through my mind andmy heart.
Just I want them to have what Ihave.
I want them to receive the giftthat I received.
What a beautiful plan.
All right, verse 11.
In him we have obtained aninheritance, having been
predestined according to thepurpose of him who works all
things according to the counselof his will.
(10:08):
Here's Paul's going off again.
He's he's sounds like he'srambling, but every word has got
so much meaning, right?
In him we have obtained aninheritance.
I loved, I really appreciatedDerek's message a couple weeks
ago because he talked aboutthis, what it means to be
adopted.
Because when you hear the wordinheritance, guess what?
(10:30):
Who inherits things?
Yeah, the children.
Your inheritance.
So we are the adopted sons anddaughters of God, and we now
receive that inheritance.
By the way, do they earn it?
You know, you were born intothe family.
You receive it, you don't haveto earn it.
(10:50):
We've been adopted into thefamily, and we have obtained
that inheritance, not byanything we have done, but what
Christ did for us.
And what a beautiful thing.
So it says, In him we haveattained an inheritance, having
been predestined according tothe purpose of him who works all
things according to the counselof his will.
When my dad first started goingto church, I was about 10, and
(11:16):
he got the little three by fiveflashcards.
Well, they were just cards, andhe we he made me write the
verses on them.
And I'll never forget one wasJohn 6.44.
Don't put it on the screen.
Oh, don't put it on the screen.
I was gonna test him.
I was gonna test him.
Who can who can quote nice andloud John 6.44?
Oh, come on.
(11:38):
All right, I guess my dadwouldn't pick the kind of a
remote one.
No one, this is Jesus speaking,no one can come to me unless
the Father himself draw him,right?
God has to draw you to Jesus.
Right?
And the whole purpose of thisscripture, the church we were
(11:59):
in, was trying to show is thatyou can't respond unless God's
allowing you to respond, unlesshe's calling to you.
You know, I love what Neilalways says when he's talking
about we're dead spiritually.
He said, you can't reason witha dead person.
They're dead.
(12:19):
They're dead spiritually.
If you've ever tried to talk tosomebody who's not being called
by God and you're trying toshare truth with them, and you
see that blank look, maybethey're not being called just
yet.
Maybe later, but right nowthey're just shut off.
No man can come to me unlessthe father who sent me draw him.
(12:41):
And I love this, and I willraise him up in the last day.
This doctrine ofpredestination, which is that
God has determined beforehandthat he is going to call some to
him, is a doctrine that's allthrough the New Testament.
And by the way, it's also apretty divisive doctrine because
there's two different ways tolook at it.
And this sermon's not aboutpredestination.
(13:02):
We're gonna give that one toMark.
I think we should let Markteach that one.
Seriously, though.
Um predetermined that I wouldget it.
I predetermined that you weregonna get this sermon.
That's a word of knowledge, Ithink, right there.
But literally, all you have todo is read scriptures like
(13:24):
Romans 8 28 through 30, uh,Colossians 3.12.
There's lots of passages thattalk about this, and this is a
good thing for you to embraceand wrestle with a little bit.
But the fact is, this is all Iknow.
If you're sitting here todayunderstanding the gospel and
receiving the truth from theword of God that I'm teaching,
(13:44):
then I know you're called.
And that's a beautiful thing.
That's a beautiful thing.
We need to rejoice in that.
All right, verse 12.
So that we who were the firstto hope in Christ might be to
the praise of his glory.
Now, this phrase, we have toread this in context, and we
have to think about the authoron this one.
This is Paul.
(14:05):
Before Paul was called, whatwas he?
He was a Jew.
Well, yeah, he was solved.
Good point.
What was he in his standing?
He was a Jew, and he still wasa Jew, by the way.
So Paul was a Jew.
All right.
So this phrase, we who are thefirst to hope in Christ, it's a
(14:27):
pretty clear reference to theJewish believers.
He'll pull out commentaries,they'll talk about that.
But obviously, Paul was thedisciple to the Gentiles, right?
He was an apostle to theGentiles.
So this whole thing, he wasjust simply saying, listen, you
know, we who were the first tohope in Christ might be to the
praise of his glory.
All of this is done to glorifyGod.
(14:47):
And this gospel that waspreached to us, all of us, we
should be thankful for and begrateful for.
You know, when we start lookingat how Paul introduces this
(15:08):
theme of unity, we're gonna seeright from the beginning that
there is a collectiveunification that he talks about.
And this is really one of Iwant to focus on.
In fact, from the very firstverse in the book of Ephesians,
chapter one, you start to seePaul setting this stage by using
(15:31):
collective language.
Right?
He and he uses specificpronouns.
Now, isn't it terrible that theword pronoun has just gotten a
bad meaning lately?
I brought this up in the eldermeeting, and there was like a
five-minute laugh session aboutpronouns.
I'm like, guys, that's not whatI'm talking about.
No, he literally said, Listen,look about this, think about
(15:53):
this, what he says.
From the very beginning,beginning actually in verse 3,
he uses we four times.
He used the pronoun us fivetimes, and the pronoun our
twice.
Who's he speaking to?
He's speaking to the collectivebody of Christ, right?
There is this collective bodyof Christ.
(16:15):
And I think we miss thatsometimes.
But look what he says.
Verse 3, blessed us in Christwith every spiritual blessing.
He in verse 4, he chose us inhim before the foundations of
the world.
Verse 7, in him we haveredemption through his blood.
There is a distinct expectationthat those who are redeemed by
(16:36):
Christ would be a collective,unified group of people
identified as the church.
The church.
And that's true.
There is a inter very closeinterpersonal relationship that
(17:00):
you're gonna have with God andyour Savior.
You should.
But you can't cut it off likethat.
It's more than just that.
And that's what Jesus ispointing out here.
He's not just talking about youand God, he's talking about a
collective body.
And I think it's reallyimportant.
And I marvel at those who claimto be born-again believers of
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Christ, yet they reject thechurch.
Not just don't come to church,some of them will get on soap
boxes and they will basicallytear down the body of Christ.
Now, I understand, by the way,because many times the church
has been a source of pain.
In fact, if I were to ask you,put up your hand if you've ever
(17:45):
been church hurt, meaningsomebody hurt you.
In fact, let's just do this soeverybody can see that my point
is valid.
If you've ever been hurt atchurch, put your hand up.
Well, lucky there.
The motion stands.
So why does this happen?
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Why do we get hurt in church?
Well, sometimes the enemyplaces wolves in churches.
If you've ever been to church,you've probably run across some
wolves.
People that really aren'tChristians, they're acting the
part, and they hurt people.
We've seen that before.
But more often than not, it'ssimply because of sinful acts
(18:31):
completed committed by imperfectpeople.
I often tell people, if Ihaven't offended you, please be
patient, I'll get around to it.
It's true, and I won't do it onpurpose, or maybe I'm having a
bad day and I might do it onpurpose.
But this is interesting becausewe know that the church is
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imperfect because it's made upof imperfect people.
And I like that quote by theway if you find a perfect
church, don't go because youwon't fit in.
In fact, when you start going,you're gonna make the church
imperfect, right?
But isn't it interesting?
The fact that the church ismade up of imperfect people, it
really should make uscomfortable, shouldn't it?
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Shouldn't it make itcomfortable?
But see, Satan twists thisaround, brethren.
He twists this around.
He makes us blind to our ownimperfections and we focus on
everybody else's imperfections.
When someone hurts us, we focuson that person's imperfections.
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And the result is we beginplacing unrealistic expectations
on our brothers and sisters inChrist.
I can't believe that Andy saidthat.
You get the idea?
(20:00):
We start putting theseexpectations on people and we
totally ignore that we ourselvesare imperfect, right?
And so we take offense and wewalk away from the body of
Christ thinking we're justified,yet for some reason we forgot
to look in a mirror.
And mirrors are all over theplace, by the way.
And the greatest spiritualmirror is probably sitting
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beside you that could beinterpreted in many ways.
It's your Bible, could be yourwife or your husband, by the
way.
Isn't that sad though?
unknown (20:36):
Yes.
Scott Wiens (20:37):
See, nobody can live up to perfection.
Why do you think all throughscripture we hear this, we hear
admonitions to dwell with oneanother with love and
understanding and extend graceto one another?
Because we have to.
We have to.
Because if we don't, we'll walkaway from the very thing Christ
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came and created the church.
The result is we have peoplewho claim to be Christ's
followers, but they directlydisobey scriptures that clearly
state we are to be in the bodyof Christ.
And let me just make it reallyclear to you.
I'm not saying this to try toshame anybody or promote this
church.
One of the things I love aboutthis church when we do
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announcements is that we say, ifyou're a visitor here, we thank
you for coming.
And we're glad that you'rehere.
And if you're looking for achurch, we hope it's ours.
But if it's not, we're going tobe praying that God places you
in the body of Christ where Hewants you.
We're not about just fillingthis room up.
It's not our job, it's God'sjob.
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We want you in the body ofChrist, wherever that is that
you need to be placed.
For Amy, you had to come tothis body of Christ.
Sometimes it's a win-win forus.
You know, the result of this,by the way, is can be really
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sad, and I actually call itoxymoronic.
I call it that because I justwant to use a big word.
But literally think about it.
I'm a Christian, but I don'tneed the church.
It's the same thing as saying,I love being married, I just
don't like to be with my spouse.
I don't want to be around them,I don't want to talk to them, I
(22:22):
don't want to hang around themor nothing.
But I love being married.
It doesn't make sense.
It's a contradiction.
And that's the same way thatGod looks at it.
If you truly love God, you willlove the church.
The imperfect church that'sgonna hurt you.
But you know what?
More often they're gonna loveyou and encourage you.
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And we have to keep that inmind.
Those that claim they can beChristians without the church
have bought into a lie thatbeing united in Christ is
exclusively referencing apersonal relationship with Jesus
and not also a collectiverelationship with the church he
established.
By the way, I used to carry asoapbox around because I got
(23:06):
church hurt big time.
And I used to jump on thatsoapbox and I said exactly this.
All you need is God.
And why was I wrong?
All you have to do is read thescriptures in the New Testament.
You can't avoid them.
They're all over the place.
John 13, 35.
Jesus says this.
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This is Jesus speaking.
By this all men will know thatyou are my disciples if you have
a great understanding ofdoctrine and a close individual
relationship with God.
No, no, no.
That's from a movie, by theway.
I won't say it.
If you have love for oneanother, you want to know one of
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the hardest things to do is tolove people that you don't like
or you don't get along withreally well, or somebody that
maybe offended you.
That shows that you have love.
And that's what he's saying.
Romans 1 or 12, verse 5.
This is such a powerfulscripture.
Paul says, so we in Romans 12,5, so we, though many, though
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many, here we are, many, are onebody in Christ.
That's the unification thatChrist did, right?
As individual members, one ofanother.
Whew! That's like almost theTrinity type of complex, right?
One of another, but yet we'reindividual, but yet we're one.
That's the body of Christ.
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It's so beautiful.
God designed the church, God'sdesign for the church was that
it would be a unified group ofpeople actively engaging this
world with the gospel messageand living an example that
people would look at and say,that is real.
That is real.
(24:50):
Okay, so with that, I want toquickly go through three reasons
why the God wants us to beunited in a body of Christ, with
the body of Christ.
I'll go through these fairlyquickly.
The first is true fellowship.
True fellowship.
As believers, we're placedwithin the family of God and we
live our lives together.
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In Ephesians 4, 1 through 3, hesays this I therefore, a
prisoner for the Lord, urge youto walk in a manner worthy of
the calling to which you havebeen called.
With all humility andgentleness, with patience,
bearing with one another.
Thank you, Paul.
That's what I've been saying.
Eager to maintain the unity ofthe spirit in the bond of peace.
(25:34):
Here's that phrase unity again.
Fellowship.
We do it together withgentleness, humility, patience,
bearing with one another inlove.
And one of the reasons Jesuscreated the church was to create
a place where we could, wherethat would, by the way, meet the
emotional, spiritual, andphysical needs of the body of
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Christ.
And that happens at thischurch, by the way.
A church that's trulyrepresenting the unity of Christ
will be a church thatepitomizes love, care, and
compassion for each other.
We celebrate with each other.
We grieve with each other.
We serve one another.
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We share with one another.
We work alongside.
We learn together.
We encourage.
That's what the body of Christlooks like.
It's so wonderful.
Serve day is just a hoot.
Because we get to be, and youknow what?
I got to know better.
I got to know the people betterthat I worked with.
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And we serve the needs of thecommunity.
That's what the unified body ofChrist looks like.
And by the way, I just wantedto speak on behalf of the
eldership.
There's neither, none of usbelieve that we're doing this
perfectly.
And we all believe that we cando this better.
We talk about it in the eldermeetings a lot.
(27:01):
Tyler is a great encouragerthat way to keep us focused on
what our calling is as pastorsand shepherds.
But again, all of you arecalled to do the same thing.
We're called to have fellowshiptogether.
Fellowship is living out ourlives with one another.
Second reason that God wants usin the church is being
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accountability.
Being a part of a healthyfamily means we take advantage
of the accountability that'savailable to us.
Now, Ephesians 4.25 says this.
And here it is, one of another.
Notice the theme of unity thatyou see here.
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You know, the termaccountability in this culture
has kind of become a bad word.
It's got a negativeconnotation.
Because sometimes we don't wantanybody that we have to answer
to.
I don't have to answer to Matt.
I don't want to have to answerto anybody.
The very thing, by the way,that can be a strength when it's
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not mixed together with God andthe Spirit of Christ can be a
real negative.
But accountability is a goodthing.
Accountability in the body ofChrist is freedom for the
believer.
You know, if you're if you'restruggling with a specific sin,
(28:40):
you know, maybe you maybe you Idon't care what it is.
If you're struggling withsomething and and you're just
keeping it to yourself andyou're just trying to fight that
along, you and your littlesword and guess what?
You're gonna get wiped out.
You're gonna get wiped out.
(29:01):
I love the I I'm gonna misquoteNeil, but he says, I think he
says the sheep that leaves theherd gets shorn or eaten.
I don't know, something likethat.
But he basically, if you leavethe herd, you're vulnerable.
Accountability is a good thing.
Satan loves for us, by the way,to keep secrets.
(29:22):
He loves that.
You know, this concept, youknow, if if if you want to get
free from something, here's areal simple process you can
follow.
Very simple formula.
First, confess your sin tosomebody honestly.
Someone, obviously, that youtrust.
Don't just confess it toanybody.
Find someone that's trustworthythat you know.
(29:43):
Ask them to help you workthrough the result of the sin.
Sometimes it can be of uh ofactual consequences you have to
deal with.
Sometimes it's just shame.
Whatever it is, ask them tohelp you with that, encourage
you through that.
And then ask them to follow upwith you.
Keep you accountable.
Hey, ask me about this.
(30:04):
Ask me if I have neglected myBible study.
Ask me if I've neglected myprayer time.
Ask me if I've gone to thatwebsite.
Ask me if I've spent five hourson my phone when I should have
spent one hour.
Okay?
See, I went from preaching tomeddling.
Talked about phone screen time.
I don't repent of that.
But here's the thing (30:25):
if you keep these sins, you know, your
secret sins, I just want to say,welcome to Satan's prison.
Welcome to Satan's prison.
Because here's the thingsecrets destroy us, and you want
to know why?
Because they are driven byshame, and they are fed by the
(30:46):
whispers of Satan telling youthat if you confess your sin,
someone's gonna judge you andthey're gonna reject you.
So guess what?
He's got you in your littleprison.
And there you are, and you'remiserable and you're suffering,
but you're stuck there becauseyou're worried about these
things.
I had a man tell me one time,I'll never forget it.
(31:12):
He said to me, we were having adeep conversation one night,
and he said, I have something toconfess that I've never told
anybody else.
And he was deep in drugs at onetime in his life.
And he told me about somethingthat was really bad that it
happened, and very shameful thatit happened.
And he said, You probably lookat me differently, don't you?
(31:34):
And I said, Yeah, I do.
I have more respect and lovefor you now than I did before.
And you know, it changed hiswhole life because this sin that
had him in a grip like this wasnow out.
(31:54):
No, I mean I say out.
He he confessed it and hereceived love and he received
encouragement.
He didn't receive judgment, hedidn't receive shame.
That is why we should confessto one another, and that's why
we should have accountability.
You know, the fifth chapter ofthe book of James has a really
(32:17):
powerful description of thewhole living together as a body.
And the concept of James 5 isor the context is really talking
about healing.
And I'm just gonna jumpstraight down to this one verse.
He well, in verse 13, he talksabout is any suffering, let him
pray.
If anyone's cheerful, let himsing a praise.
If anyone's too sick, let himcall on the elders or whatever.
(32:38):
And he keeps going all the waydown to 16.
He says, Therefore, confessyour sins to one another and
pray for one another that youmay be healed.
The prayer of a righteousperson has great power as it is
working.
Now, again, the focus on thisis healing, but there's a
broader principle here that wecan't miss.
Confessing releases the powerof the secrets, and I love to
say this (32:59):
the demons scream.
Because they lost you.
They lost you to the love ofthe body of Christ.
Proverbs 28, 13 says something.
Whoever conceals histransgression will not prosper,
but he who confesses andforsakes them will obtain mercy.
(33:20):
We know we'll obtain mercy fromGod, but sometimes when you
obtain mercy from one of hisown, it's a beautiful way that
God communicates with us.
All right, the last point isspiritual growth.
As part of the body of Christ,you will experience spiritual
growth.
Ephesians 3 14 through 19 saysthis.
(33:41):
Then he says this, so thatChrist may dwell in your hearts
(34:03):
through faith, that you, beingrooted and grounded in love, may
have strength to comprehendwith all the saints.
What is the breadth and lengthand height and depth that you
may know the love of Christ thatsurpasses knowledge, that you
may be filled with the fullnessof God.
This is a beautiful picture ofthe spiritual growth that we
(34:27):
have to look forward to asmembers of the body of Christ.
If we are not connecting withthe body of Christ, we're going
to eventually experiencespiritual stagnation.
Been there, got the t-shirt.
We're going to make ourselvesopen to spiritual attacks.
(34:48):
I was there.
I walked away from the church,and I told you about the soapbox
I had.
I was so self-righteous.
And the enemy loved that.
Came after me.
It was miserable.
I didn't start growing until Istarted sitting my butt in the
church again.
That's when I started growingagain.
(35:09):
And walking side by side withbrothers that I came to love and
trust and to that are close tome this day.
That's where I grew.
When you're connected to thebody of Christ, you will have
many opportunities to growspiritually.
Obviously, through here, beingtaught, going to Bible studies,
community groups, uh, you know,small groups, house churches,
(35:35):
you know, having breakfast withsomebody, serving alongside
people.
Listen, you're gonna growspiritually.
And by the way, yes, we want tolearn about God's law, we want
to learn about the Bible andeverything, but again, when
you're rubbing shoulders withpeople, that's really where you
get to, you know, how do youknow that you're gonna forgive
somebody if they hard, if theycause your offense to you, if
you've never around anybody?
(35:56):
I mean, that's the thing.
People get hurt and they walkaway.
I had the unfortunateopportunity to talk to somebody
yesterday that was a part of aChristian organization that had
been hurt by that organization.
And uh it was a paraministry,and it was sad to hear him talk.
And I had to look at him and Isay, but all the time, because
(36:17):
it was one or two things thathad happened.
I said, all the time that youwere serving there, did you get
to share the gospel with people?
He said, Yeah.
He said, I still share thegospel with people.
I said, That's great.
I said, but you walked awayfrom that collective body
because of a few sins, of a fewpeople.
I said, We're called to servetogether.
We're called to serve together.
(36:37):
And so to me, it's justspiritual growth comes from
being with the other people inthe church.
Now, listen, um, I'm gonnaconclude by simply saying, I
know I've been preaching to thechoir.
A lot of you are like, yeah,Scott, I'm already convinced.
Can you cut this short?
(36:58):
But you know, as I've beenpreaching, I'm looking out at
all of you, and we've been apart of this body for nine and a
half years.
And I look at, for instance,this rover here.
I look at people like JackWright, I look at people like,
you know, Joan and Ed, Wanda.
These people, these beautifulsaints, if you want to know why
(37:23):
you need to put you a part ofthe church, just ask them.
You know, many of them have alot of excuses to not be here.
Age takes its toll on the body,it's not easy.
I remember Jack telling me onetime about how hard it was for
him to get dressed everymorning.
But Jack is here more thanalmost anybody.
(37:45):
And by the way, you might askwhy.
Well, I can assure you they'renot trying to earn something.
That's not why they're here.
They're here because they wantto be here.
They want to be with the bodyof Christ.
(38:09):
Do you want to be with the bodyof Christ?
I know I do.
I hate missing Sunday.
I hate it.
Because this is my family.
You're my family.
I'm gonna be dwelling with itin eternity with you guys.
Like I told Chad Raines, I hopehe's on the other side of the
(38:30):
planet, but I will be with himfor eternity.
But seriously, think about it.
By the way, he earned that one.
He was mean to me this morning.
But just think about it, lookaround.
These are the people thatyou're gonna be with for
eternity.
Eternity.
(38:50):
And I look forward to that.
I look forward to that with allof you.
I'm gonna end with thescripture from Hebrews 10.
Who he says it the best, thewriter of Hebrews says it the
best, beginning in verse 19.
Therefore, brothers, since wehave the comp excuse me, since
we have confidence to enter theholy places by the blood of
(39:13):
Jesus, by the new and living waythat he opened for us through
that, through the curtain, thatis, through his flesh.
And since we have a greatpriest over the house of God,
let us draw near with a trueheart, a full assurance of
faith, with our hearts sprinkledclean from an evil conscience,
and our bodies washed with apure water.
(39:34):
This is what we are in Christ.
Look what he now says.
Let us hold fast the confessionof our hope without wavering,
for he who promised hisfaithful, and let us consider
how to stir one another up tolove and to good works.
Can't do that on your own,brethren.
You can't stir yourself up.
You can't stir others whenyou're not around them.
(39:55):
Not neglecting to meet togetheras the habit of some, but
encouraging one another and allthe more as you see the day
drawing near.
Marshall, I appreciate what youshared because that's been
going through my mind too.
When something like thishappens, you just you just feel
(40:16):
in your heart that we're drawingnear, the time's drawing near.
There will be a time that youwill need each other more than
now.
And we need to do thattogether.
Please stand to your feet.
Let's pray.
But that's not our identity,Father.
(40:42):
We stand before you as thecollective body of Christ, and
that you called us together tobe here together today, this
day, to love one another, toencourage one another, to bear
with one another, to forgive oneanother, to extend grace to one
another, to serve one another,to laugh, to cry together.
(41:03):
Father, you've called ustogether to do that.
And Lord, we thank you.
Jesus, we thank you that youcame and you created your church
on this earth.
We thank you that you made us afamily, that you united us
together through the blood thatcame off that cross and the
redemption that came from thatempty tomb.
Father, I pray right now thateach one of us would be
(41:25):
convicted in our hearts andminds about the importance of
the body of Christ, and that wewould, Father, make every effort
to dwell together.
And Father, if our hearts don'twant to do that, I pray that
you would supernaturally changeour hearts, Lord, that we would
desire to be together, Father.
(41:46):
And as the days draw near andas evil continues to grow in
this world, Father, I pray thatwe will continue as a collective
group to be the light thisworld needs to see, the light
that is the salvation of JesusChrist and the hope through the
gospel.
Father, that's my prayer.
And I pray this through the onewho through all uniting comes,
(42:11):
Jesus Christ.
Amen.
We're in the middle of a sermon series in the book
of Ephesians, and we've beentitled In Christ.
Have you guys enjoyed this sofar?
It's been good.
It's been really good.
I've really enjoyed this, andwe've heard messages, three
different messages so far.
Tyler kicked it off with aseries when he when he talked
about.
He focused on how Christ is inus, but how we are in Christ as
well.
And it was really in light.
(00:23):
I appreciate that message.
I'd never really thought aboutthat before in that way.
It was really, really helpful.
And then Derek gave a greatmessage on what it means to be
adopted into the family of God.
I appreciated what he shared,his transparency there.
And then Kelly last week taughton verses seven and eight,
where he talked about what isbiblical redemption and how
(00:44):
that, how we can relate to thatand how we should really grasp
that.
And it was really, reallyenjoyed that.
We weren't out of town camping,but I got to listen to it
online.
Kelly, you're just as goodonline as you are in person, by
the way.
Enjoyed that.
But our text for today is uhverses nine through twelve of
Ephesians one.
So let's go ahead and readthis.
So beginning in verse nine ofEphesians one, making known to
(01:07):
us the mystery of his will,according to his purpose, which
he set forth in Christ as a planfor the fullness of time to
unite all things in Christ,things in heaven and things on
earth in him.
In him we have obtained aninheritance, having been
predestined according to thepurpose of him who works all
(01:30):
things according to the counselof his will, so that we who are
the first to hope in Christmight be to the praise of his
glory.
This is God's word.
Father, we thank you for thisamazing book.
We thank you for Paul.
We thank you for relating toPaul and realizing that at one
(01:51):
time he was an enemy of thechurch just like we were.
And Father, we thank you forthese words.
We pray that as we unpack this,Father, and as we study about
the unity that is brought to usthrough Christ, and pray that we
would all be refreshed in ourhearts and reconvicted in our
hearts and minds about theimportance of this unity.
And so we give this to you andthank you in Jesus' name.
(02:13):
Amen.
Well, see, in this passage,we're really seeing an
introduction to one of the mostprevalent themes in the entire
book of Ephesians, and that isthis theme of unity, unity.
Paul threads the concept of theunifying work of Christ
throughout this epistle in justa beautiful tapestry that
(02:34):
focuses on the redemptive workof Jesus.
And as the result of that work,we're not just individually in
Christ, not just individually inChrist, but we are collectively
in Christ as well.
So today we're gonna reallyfocus on two things.
The first thing is we're justgonna walk through this passage
(02:55):
and do a little bit ofexposition and just explain what
Paul is talking about here.
And then we're gonna look atthree reasons why we should all
want to be part of the unifiedbody of Christ, which is the
church.
You guys ready for that?
Well, let's do that.
So let's start by walkingthrough the passage and let's
take a look at what Paul issaying, especially about this
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unity, which is reallysandwiched right in the middle
of this passage.
So beginning in verse 9, hesays, making known to us the
mystery of his will according tohis purpose, which he set forth
in Christ.
Now, the word mystery sometimesyou get this little eerie, ooh,
it's a mystery.
What is this mystery?
Well, it's it's actually a wordthat Paul uses other times in
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his other epistles.
He's used this word before.
And sometimes when you'restudying this and you run into a
word like that and go, so whatis this mystery?
It's really good to look at thecontext of other passages where
it's used.
So in Romans 16, 25, he usesthat word mystery, but he gives
it a little bit more context.
In Romans 16, 25, he says, Nowto him who is able to establish
(04:02):
you according to my gospel,which is really the gospel of
Jesus, and the preaching ofJesus Christ according to the
revelation of the mystery whichhas been kept secret for long
ages past.
So what we're seeing here is acoupling of the gospel with this
term mystery.
Paul is writing this at thevery end of the Epistle of
(04:25):
Romans, which, by the way, Ithink is arguably probably one
of the most comprehensive andin-depth explanations of the
gospel that you'll find in theentire New Testament.
And Paul is saying that therevelation of the mystery which
has been kept secret for longages past is the redemptive work
of Jesus Christ.
That's a mystery.
(04:46):
And it's revealed to you andit's revealed to me.
And we're going to understand alittle bit more about what that
means when we talk about beingcalled.
So let's continue in Ephesians9 or 1, verse 9.
Making known to us the mysterywill according to his purpose,
which he set forth in Christ.
Listen, it was God's sovereignwill from the very beginning to
(05:10):
redeem mankind through JesusChrist.
That was his purpose.
And when you see words likeaccording to his purpose, does
God get his way?
Yeah, he absolutely gets hisway.
If God has called you, do youthink you can run from him?
I can I can show you wholebooks about people trying to run
from God.
(05:31):
You can't run from God.
If he has purposed this, andit's going to do, and so when he
purposed his plan, and this iswhat's something we sometimes
miss, it was never in jeopardyof not being carried out.
Do you think Jesus was goinginto the wilderness and, like,
oh, I hope he makes it?
No.
It was a done deal.
(05:52):
It was a done deal from thevery beginning.
And in Christ means that theredemption came in the form of
Jesus Christ and what he did.
If you put all of verse 9together, we can clearly see
that God has purposed his planfor the redemption of mankind
through Jesus Christ.
That's why we're calling thissermon in Christ.
Right?
That's the focus.
(06:13):
So let's jump over now to verse10.
And this is where God, wherePaul's going to introduce God's
concept of united and uniting ustogether in Christ.
So, as a plan for the fullnessof time to unite all things in
Christ, things in heaven andthings on earth.
Now, let's just talk a littlebit, let's break this down a
(06:37):
little bit.
So, as a plan for the fullnessof time, what does a fullness of
time mean?
Because we read sometimes weread these scriptures and we go,
fullness of time?
You know, what how do you wrapyour head around that?
Remember the context.
You got to look and see ifthat's ever been used before by
the Apostle Paul, and indeed ithas.
Galatians 4, verse 4.
(06:57):
This is what he says.
But when the fullness of timehad come, oh, everybody's on the
edge of your seat.
Okay, what happened?
God sent forth his son, born ofa woman, born under law, to
redeem those who were under thelaw, so that me, what uh we
might receive adoption as sons.
So clearly, the fullness oftime is referring to the time
(07:19):
frame covering the birth, life,death, and resurrection of Jesus
Christ.
It's here.
It's here.
And Paul is identifying this iswhat the fullness of time is
it's the life of Christ and hisdeath and his resurrection.
So let's go back to verse 9.
As for the plan of uh as a planfor the fullness of time, and
(07:40):
he says this, now that's a keyverse that we're going to focus
on.
To unite all things in Christ,things in heaven and things on
earth.
This is what Christ came to do.
He came to unite.
And when you are unitingsomething, what are they before
(08:01):
they are united?
They're separate, right?
They're separate.
You can almost make a case thatthis is reuniting.
Because the sin of Adam in thein the garden, we know what
happened.
It separated us, mankind, itseparated mankind from God.
And it put us in a veryunnatural state.
(08:22):
And all of us, as we'vepreached from the stage before,
are living under that curse, ifyou will, of Adam.
He is our federal head, meaninghe is the one that represented
us, and now we're dealing withhis sin.
I know it's not fair, but it'struth.
(08:42):
We are the ones dealing withthat.
However, and this is what Ilove, God forordained from the
foundations of the earth thathis son was going to come into
the world, live that perfectlife that we couldn't live, die
as a perfect sacrifice so thatwe can be redeemed, united
(09:03):
together once again with God.
I need to hear a hallelujah forthat one.
Can you imagine if we didn'thave that?
I don't know about you, butonce you've been walking with
the Lord for a long time, thethought about not walking with
him just you can't even fathomit.
Every day I wake up under thegrace of God.
(09:25):
Remember, it says his merciesare new every morning, right?
Every morning I'm justthankful.
God, thank you for another dayof life.
Not because I get a big chargeof a living that life, but
because I get to live it underhis grace.
And wow, that's beautiful tothink about.
And you know, under thatbridge, as I was talking to
these people and praying forthem, that's the one thing that
(09:46):
kept coming through my mind andmy heart.
Just I want them to have what Ihave.
I want them to receive the giftthat I received.
What a beautiful plan.
All right, verse 11.
In him we have obtained aninheritance, having been
predestined according to thepurpose of him who works all
things according to the counselof his will.
(10:08):
Here's Paul's going off again.
He's he's sounds like he'srambling, but every word has got
so much meaning, right?
In him we have obtained aninheritance.
I loved, I really appreciatedDerek's message a couple weeks
ago because he talked aboutthis, what it means to be
adopted.
Because when you hear the wordinheritance, guess what?
(10:30):
Who inherits things?
Yeah, the children.
Your inheritance.
So we are the adopted sons anddaughters of God, and we now
receive that inheritance.
By the way, do they earn it?
You know, you were born intothe family.
You receive it, you don't haveto earn it.
(10:50):
We've been adopted into thefamily, and we have obtained
that inheritance, not byanything we have done, but what
Christ did for us.
And what a beautiful thing.
So it says, In him we haveattained an inheritance, having
been predestined according tothe purpose of him who works all
things according to the counselof his will.
When my dad first started goingto church, I was about 10, and
(11:16):
he got the little three by fiveflashcards.
Well, they were just cards, andhe we he made me write the
verses on them.
And I'll never forget one wasJohn 6.44.
Don't put it on the screen.
Oh, don't put it on the screen.
I was gonna test him.
I was gonna test him.
Who can who can quote nice andloud John 6.44?
Oh, come on.
(11:38):
All right, I guess my dadwouldn't pick the kind of a
remote one.
No one, this is Jesus speaking,no one can come to me unless
the Father himself draw him,right?
God has to draw you to Jesus.
Right?
And the whole purpose of thisscripture, the church we were
(11:59):
in, was trying to show is thatyou can't respond unless God's
allowing you to respond, unlesshe's calling to you.
You know, I love what Neilalways says when he's talking
about we're dead spiritually.
He said, you can't reason witha dead person.
They're dead.
(12:19):
They're dead spiritually.
If you've ever tried to talk tosomebody who's not being called
by God and you're trying toshare truth with them, and you
see that blank look, maybethey're not being called just
yet.
Maybe later, but right nowthey're just shut off.
No man can come to me unlessthe father who sent me draw him.
(12:41):
And I love this, and I willraise him up in the last day.
This doctrine ofpredestination, which is that
God has determined beforehandthat he is going to call some to
him, is a doctrine that's allthrough the New Testament.
And by the way, it's also apretty divisive doctrine because
there's two different ways tolook at it.
And this sermon's not aboutpredestination.
(13:02):
We're gonna give that one toMark.
I think we should let Markteach that one.
Seriously, though.
Um predetermined that I wouldget it.
I predetermined that you weregonna get this sermon.
That's a word of knowledge, Ithink, right there.
But literally, all you have todo is read scriptures like
(13:24):
Romans 8 28 through 30, uh,Colossians 3.12.
There's lots of passages thattalk about this, and this is a
good thing for you to embraceand wrestle with a little bit.
But the fact is, this is all Iknow.
If you're sitting here todayunderstanding the gospel and
receiving the truth from theword of God that I'm teaching,
(13:44):
then I know you're called.
And that's a beautiful thing.
That's a beautiful thing.
We need to rejoice in that.
All right, verse 12.
So that we who were the firstto hope in Christ might be to
the praise of his glory.
Now, this phrase, we have toread this in context, and we
have to think about the authoron this one.
This is Paul.
(14:05):
Before Paul was called, whatwas he?
He was a Jew.
Well, yeah, he was solved.
Good point.
What was he in his standing?
He was a Jew, and he still wasa Jew, by the way.
So Paul was a Jew.
All right.
So this phrase, we who are thefirst to hope in Christ, it's a
(14:27):
pretty clear reference to theJewish believers.
He'll pull out commentaries,they'll talk about that.
But obviously, Paul was thedisciple to the Gentiles, right?
He was an apostle to theGentiles.
So this whole thing, he wasjust simply saying, listen, you
know, we who were the first tohope in Christ might be to the
praise of his glory.
All of this is done to glorifyGod.
(14:47):
And this gospel that waspreached to us, all of us, we
should be thankful for and begrateful for.
You know, when we start lookingat how Paul introduces this
(15:08):
theme of unity, we're gonna seeright from the beginning that
there is a collectiveunification that he talks about.
And this is really one of Iwant to focus on.
In fact, from the very firstverse in the book of Ephesians,
chapter one, you start to seePaul setting this stage by using
(15:31):
collective language.
Right?
He and he uses specificpronouns.
Now, isn't it terrible that theword pronoun has just gotten a
bad meaning lately?
I brought this up in the eldermeeting, and there was like a
five-minute laugh session aboutpronouns.
I'm like, guys, that's not whatI'm talking about.
No, he literally said, Listen,look about this, think about
(15:53):
this, what he says.
From the very beginning,beginning actually in verse 3,
he uses we four times.
He used the pronoun us fivetimes, and the pronoun our
twice.
Who's he speaking to?
He's speaking to the collectivebody of Christ, right?
There is this collective bodyof Christ.
(16:15):
And I think we miss thatsometimes.
But look what he says.
Verse 3, blessed us in Christwith every spiritual blessing.
He in verse 4, he chose us inhim before the foundations of
the world.
Verse 7, in him we haveredemption through his blood.
There is a distinct expectationthat those who are redeemed by
(16:36):
Christ would be a collective,unified group of people
identified as the church.
The church.
And that's true.
There is a inter very closeinterpersonal relationship that
(17:00):
you're gonna have with God andyour Savior.
You should.
But you can't cut it off likethat.
It's more than just that.
And that's what Jesus ispointing out here.
He's not just talking about youand God, he's talking about a
collective body.
And I think it's reallyimportant.
And I marvel at those who claimto be born-again believers of
(17:23):
Christ, yet they reject thechurch.
Not just don't come to church,some of them will get on soap
boxes and they will basicallytear down the body of Christ.
Now, I understand, by the way,because many times the church
has been a source of pain.
In fact, if I were to ask you,put up your hand if you've ever
(17:45):
been church hurt, meaningsomebody hurt you.
In fact, let's just do this soeverybody can see that my point
is valid.
If you've ever been hurt atchurch, put your hand up.
Well, lucky there.
The motion stands.
So why does this happen?
(18:07):
Why do we get hurt in church?
Well, sometimes the enemyplaces wolves in churches.
If you've ever been to church,you've probably run across some
wolves.
People that really aren'tChristians, they're acting the
part, and they hurt people.
We've seen that before.
But more often than not, it'ssimply because of sinful acts
(18:31):
completed committed by imperfectpeople.
I often tell people, if Ihaven't offended you, please be
patient, I'll get around to it.
It's true, and I won't do it onpurpose, or maybe I'm having a
bad day and I might do it onpurpose.
But this is interesting becausewe know that the church is
(18:57):
imperfect because it's made upof imperfect people.
And I like that quote by theway if you find a perfect
church, don't go because youwon't fit in.
In fact, when you start going,you're gonna make the church
imperfect, right?
But isn't it interesting?
The fact that the church ismade up of imperfect people, it
really should make uscomfortable, shouldn't it?
(19:17):
Shouldn't it make itcomfortable?
But see, Satan twists thisaround, brethren.
He twists this around.
He makes us blind to our ownimperfections and we focus on
everybody else's imperfections.
When someone hurts us, we focuson that person's imperfections.
(19:39):
And the result is we beginplacing unrealistic expectations
on our brothers and sisters inChrist.
I can't believe that Andy saidthat.
You get the idea?
(20:00):
We start putting theseexpectations on people and we
totally ignore that we ourselvesare imperfect, right?
And so we take offense and wewalk away from the body of
Christ thinking we're justified,yet for some reason we forgot
to look in a mirror.
And mirrors are all over theplace, by the way.
And the greatest spiritualmirror is probably sitting
(20:22):
beside you that could beinterpreted in many ways.
It's your Bible, could be yourwife or your husband, by the
way.
Isn't that sad though?
unknown (20:36):
Yes.
Scott Wiens (20:37):
See, nobody can live up to perfection.
Why do you think all throughscripture we hear this, we hear
admonitions to dwell with oneanother with love and
understanding and extend graceto one another?
Because we have to.
We have to.
Because if we don't, we'll walkaway from the very thing Christ
(20:58):
came and created the church.
The result is we have peoplewho claim to be Christ's
followers, but they directlydisobey scriptures that clearly
state we are to be in the bodyof Christ.
And let me just make it reallyclear to you.
I'm not saying this to try toshame anybody or promote this
church.
One of the things I love aboutthis church when we do
(21:20):
announcements is that we say, ifyou're a visitor here, we thank
you for coming.
And we're glad that you'rehere.
And if you're looking for achurch, we hope it's ours.
But if it's not, we're going tobe praying that God places you
in the body of Christ where Hewants you.
We're not about just fillingthis room up.
It's not our job, it's God'sjob.
(21:42):
We want you in the body ofChrist, wherever that is that
you need to be placed.
For Amy, you had to come tothis body of Christ.
Sometimes it's a win-win forus.
You know, the result of this,by the way, is can be really
(22:02):
sad, and I actually call itoxymoronic.
I call it that because I justwant to use a big word.
But literally think about it.
I'm a Christian, but I don'tneed the church.
It's the same thing as saying,I love being married, I just
don't like to be with my spouse.
I don't want to be around them,I don't want to talk to them, I
(22:22):
don't want to hang around themor nothing.
But I love being married.
It doesn't make sense.
It's a contradiction.
And that's the same way thatGod looks at it.
If you truly love God, you willlove the church.
The imperfect church that'sgonna hurt you.
But you know what?
More often they're gonna loveyou and encourage you.
(22:46):
And we have to keep that inmind.
Those that claim they can beChristians without the church
have bought into a lie thatbeing united in Christ is
exclusively referencing apersonal relationship with Jesus
and not also a collectiverelationship with the church he
established.
By the way, I used to carry asoapbox around because I got
(23:06):
church hurt big time.
And I used to jump on thatsoapbox and I said exactly this.
All you need is God.
And why was I wrong?
All you have to do is read thescriptures in the New Testament.
You can't avoid them.
They're all over the place.
John 13, 35.
Jesus says this.
(23:26):
This is Jesus speaking.
By this all men will know thatyou are my disciples if you have
a great understanding ofdoctrine and a close individual
relationship with God.
No, no, no.
That's from a movie, by theway.
I won't say it.
If you have love for oneanother, you want to know one of
(23:47):
the hardest things to do is tolove people that you don't like
or you don't get along withreally well, or somebody that
maybe offended you.
That shows that you have love.
And that's what he's saying.
Romans 1 or 12, verse 5.
This is such a powerfulscripture.
Paul says, so we in Romans 12,5, so we, though many, though
(24:09):
many, here we are, many, are onebody in Christ.
That's the unification thatChrist did, right?
As individual members, one ofanother.
Whew! That's like almost theTrinity type of complex, right?
One of another, but yet we'reindividual, but yet we're one.
That's the body of Christ.
(24:29):
It's so beautiful.
God designed the church, God'sdesign for the church was that
it would be a unified group ofpeople actively engaging this
world with the gospel messageand living an example that
people would look at and say,that is real.
That is real.
(24:50):
Okay, so with that, I want toquickly go through three reasons
why the God wants us to beunited in a body of Christ, with
the body of Christ.
I'll go through these fairlyquickly.
The first is true fellowship.
True fellowship.
As believers, we're placedwithin the family of God and we
live our lives together.
(25:12):
In Ephesians 4, 1 through 3, hesays this I therefore, a
prisoner for the Lord, urge youto walk in a manner worthy of
the calling to which you havebeen called.
With all humility andgentleness, with patience,
bearing with one another.
Thank you, Paul.
That's what I've been saying.
Eager to maintain the unity ofthe spirit in the bond of peace.
(25:34):
Here's that phrase unity again.
Fellowship.
We do it together withgentleness, humility, patience,
bearing with one another inlove.
And one of the reasons Jesuscreated the church was to create
a place where we could, wherethat would, by the way, meet the
emotional, spiritual, andphysical needs of the body of
(25:56):
Christ.
And that happens at thischurch, by the way.
A church that's trulyrepresenting the unity of Christ
will be a church thatepitomizes love, care, and
compassion for each other.
We celebrate with each other.
We grieve with each other.
We serve one another.
(26:17):
We share with one another.
We work alongside.
We learn together.
We encourage.
That's what the body of Christlooks like.
It's so wonderful.
Serve day is just a hoot.
Because we get to be, and youknow what?
I got to know better.
I got to know the people betterthat I worked with.
(26:39):
And we serve the needs of thecommunity.
That's what the unified body ofChrist looks like.
And by the way, I just wantedto speak on behalf of the
eldership.
There's neither, none of usbelieve that we're doing this
perfectly.
And we all believe that we cando this better.
We talk about it in the eldermeetings a lot.
(27:01):
Tyler is a great encouragerthat way to keep us focused on
what our calling is as pastorsand shepherds.
But again, all of you arecalled to do the same thing.
We're called to have fellowshiptogether.
Fellowship is living out ourlives with one another.
Second reason that God wants usin the church is being
(27:24):
accountability.
Being a part of a healthyfamily means we take advantage
of the accountability that'savailable to us.
Now, Ephesians 4.25 says this.
And here it is, one of another.
Notice the theme of unity thatyou see here.
(27:51):
You know, the termaccountability in this culture
has kind of become a bad word.
It's got a negativeconnotation.
Because sometimes we don't wantanybody that we have to answer
to.
I don't have to answer to Matt.
I don't want to have to answerto anybody.
The very thing, by the way,that can be a strength when it's
(28:18):
not mixed together with God andthe Spirit of Christ can be a
real negative.
But accountability is a goodthing.
Accountability in the body ofChrist is freedom for the
believer.
You know, if you're if you'restruggling with a specific sin,
(28:40):
you know, maybe you maybe you Idon't care what it is.
If you're struggling withsomething and and you're just
keeping it to yourself andyou're just trying to fight that
along, you and your littlesword and guess what?
You're gonna get wiped out.
You're gonna get wiped out.
(29:01):
I love the I I'm gonna misquoteNeil, but he says, I think he
says the sheep that leaves theherd gets shorn or eaten.
I don't know, something likethat.
But he basically, if you leavethe herd, you're vulnerable.
Accountability is a good thing.
Satan loves for us, by the way,to keep secrets.
(29:22):
He loves that.
You know, this concept, youknow, if if if you want to get
free from something, here's areal simple process you can
follow.
Very simple formula.
First, confess your sin tosomebody honestly.
Someone, obviously, that youtrust.
Don't just confess it toanybody.
Find someone that's trustworthythat you know.
(29:43):
Ask them to help you workthrough the result of the sin.
Sometimes it can be of uh ofactual consequences you have to
deal with.
Sometimes it's just shame.
Whatever it is, ask them tohelp you with that, encourage
you through that.
And then ask them to follow upwith you.
Keep you accountable.
Hey, ask me about this.
(30:04):
Ask me if I have neglected myBible study.
Ask me if I've neglected myprayer time.
Ask me if I've gone to thatwebsite.
Ask me if I've spent five hourson my phone when I should have
spent one hour.
Okay?
See, I went from preaching tomeddling.
Talked about phone screen time.
I don't repent of that.
But here's the thing (30:25):
if you keep these sins, you know, your
secret sins, I just want to say,welcome to Satan's prison.
Welcome to Satan's prison.
Because here's the thingsecrets destroy us, and you want
to know why?
Because they are driven byshame, and they are fed by the
(30:46):
whispers of Satan telling youthat if you confess your sin,
someone's gonna judge you andthey're gonna reject you.
So guess what?
He's got you in your littleprison.
And there you are, and you'remiserable and you're suffering,
but you're stuck there becauseyou're worried about these
things.
I had a man tell me one time,I'll never forget it.
(31:12):
He said to me, we were having adeep conversation one night,
and he said, I have something toconfess that I've never told
anybody else.
And he was deep in drugs at onetime in his life.
And he told me about somethingthat was really bad that it
happened, and very shameful thatit happened.
And he said, You probably lookat me differently, don't you?
(31:34):
And I said, Yeah, I do.
I have more respect and lovefor you now than I did before.
And you know, it changed hiswhole life because this sin that
had him in a grip like this wasnow out.
(31:54):
No, I mean I say out.
He he confessed it and hereceived love and he received
encouragement.
He didn't receive judgment, hedidn't receive shame.
That is why we should confessto one another, and that's why
we should have accountability.
You know, the fifth chapter ofthe book of James has a really
(32:17):
powerful description of thewhole living together as a body.
And the concept of James 5 isor the context is really talking
about healing.
And I'm just gonna jumpstraight down to this one verse.
He well, in verse 13, he talksabout is any suffering, let him
pray.
If anyone's cheerful, let himsing a praise.
If anyone's too sick, let himcall on the elders or whatever.
(32:38):
And he keeps going all the waydown to 16.
He says, Therefore, confessyour sins to one another and
pray for one another that youmay be healed.
The prayer of a righteousperson has great power as it is
working.
Now, again, the focus on thisis healing, but there's a
broader principle here that wecan't miss.
Confessing releases the powerof the secrets, and I love to
say this (32:59):
the demons scream.
Because they lost you.
They lost you to the love ofthe body of Christ.
Proverbs 28, 13 says something.
Whoever conceals histransgression will not prosper,
but he who confesses andforsakes them will obtain mercy.
(33:20):
We know we'll obtain mercy fromGod, but sometimes when you
obtain mercy from one of hisown, it's a beautiful way that
God communicates with us.
All right, the last point isspiritual growth.
As part of the body of Christ,you will experience spiritual
growth.
Ephesians 3 14 through 19 saysthis.
(33:41):
Then he says this, so thatChrist may dwell in your hearts
(34:03):
through faith, that you, beingrooted and grounded in love, may
have strength to comprehendwith all the saints.
What is the breadth and lengthand height and depth that you
may know the love of Christ thatsurpasses knowledge, that you
may be filled with the fullnessof God.
This is a beautiful picture ofthe spiritual growth that we
(34:27):
have to look forward to asmembers of the body of Christ.
If we are not connecting withthe body of Christ, we're going
to eventually experiencespiritual stagnation.
Been there, got the t-shirt.
We're going to make ourselvesopen to spiritual attacks.
(34:48):
I was there.
I walked away from the church,and I told you about the soapbox
I had.
I was so self-righteous.
And the enemy loved that.
Came after me.
It was miserable.
I didn't start growing until Istarted sitting my butt in the
church again.
That's when I started growingagain.
(35:09):
And walking side by side withbrothers that I came to love and
trust and to that are close tome this day.
That's where I grew.
When you're connected to thebody of Christ, you will have
many opportunities to growspiritually.
Obviously, through here, beingtaught, going to Bible studies,
community groups, uh, you know,small groups, house churches,
(35:35):
you know, having breakfast withsomebody, serving alongside
people.
Listen, you're gonna growspiritually.
And by the way, yes, we want tolearn about God's law, we want
to learn about the Bible andeverything, but again, when
you're rubbing shoulders withpeople, that's really where you
get to, you know, how do youknow that you're gonna forgive
somebody if they hard, if theycause your offense to you, if
you've never around anybody?
(35:56):
I mean, that's the thing.
People get hurt and they walkaway.
I had the unfortunateopportunity to talk to somebody
yesterday that was a part of aChristian organization that had
been hurt by that organization.
And uh it was a paraministry,and it was sad to hear him talk.
And I had to look at him and Isay, but all the time, because
(36:17):
it was one or two things thathad happened.
I said, all the time that youwere serving there, did you get
to share the gospel with people?
He said, Yeah.
He said, I still share thegospel with people.
I said, That's great.
I said, but you walked awayfrom that collective body
because of a few sins, of a fewpeople.
I said, We're called to servetogether.
We're called to serve together.
(36:37):
And so to me, it's justspiritual growth comes from
being with the other people inthe church.
Now, listen, um, I'm gonnaconclude by simply saying, I
know I've been preaching to thechoir.
A lot of you are like, yeah,Scott, I'm already convinced.
Can you cut this short?
(36:58):
But you know, as I've beenpreaching, I'm looking out at
all of you, and we've been apart of this body for nine and a
half years.
And I look at, for instance,this rover here.
I look at people like JackWright, I look at people like,
you know, Joan and Ed, Wanda.
These people, these beautifulsaints, if you want to know why
(37:23):
you need to put you a part ofthe church, just ask them.
You know, many of them have alot of excuses to not be here.
Age takes its toll on the body,it's not easy.
I remember Jack telling me onetime about how hard it was for
him to get dressed everymorning.
But Jack is here more thanalmost anybody.
(37:45):
And by the way, you might askwhy.
Well, I can assure you they'renot trying to earn something.
That's not why they're here.
They're here because they wantto be here.
They want to be with the bodyof Christ.
(38:09):
Do you want to be with the bodyof Christ?
I know I do.
I hate missing Sunday.
I hate it.
Because this is my family.
You're my family.
I'm gonna be dwelling with itin eternity with you guys.
Like I told Chad Raines, I hopehe's on the other side of the
(38:30):
planet, but I will be with himfor eternity.
But seriously, think about it.
By the way, he earned that one.
He was mean to me this morning.
But just think about it, lookaround.
These are the people thatyou're gonna be with for
eternity.
Eternity.
(38:50):
And I look forward to that.
I look forward to that with allof you.
I'm gonna end with thescripture from Hebrews 10.
Who he says it the best, thewriter of Hebrews says it the
best, beginning in verse 19.
Therefore, brothers, since wehave the comp excuse me, since
we have confidence to enter theholy places by the blood of
(39:13):
Jesus, by the new and living waythat he opened for us through
that, through the curtain, thatis, through his flesh.
And since we have a greatpriest over the house of God,
let us draw near with a trueheart, a full assurance of
faith, with our hearts sprinkledclean from an evil conscience,
and our bodies washed with apure water.
(39:34):
This is what we are in Christ.
Look what he now says.
Let us hold fast the confessionof our hope without wavering,
for he who promised hisfaithful, and let us consider
how to stir one another up tolove and to good works.
Can't do that on your own,brethren.
You can't stir yourself up.
You can't stir others whenyou're not around them.
(39:55):
Not neglecting to meet togetheras the habit of some, but
encouraging one another and allthe more as you see the day
drawing near.
Marshall, I appreciate what youshared because that's been
going through my mind too.
When something like thishappens, you just you just feel
(40:16):
in your heart that we're drawingnear, the time's drawing near.
There will be a time that youwill need each other more than
now.
And we need to do thattogether.
Please stand to your feet.
Let's pray.
But that's not our identity,Father.
(40:42):
We stand before you as thecollective body of Christ, and
that you called us together tobe here together today, this
day, to love one another, toencourage one another, to bear
with one another, to forgive oneanother, to extend grace to one
another, to serve one another,to laugh, to cry together.
(41:03):
Father, you've called ustogether to do that.
And Lord, we thank you.
Jesus, we thank you that youcame and you created your church
on this earth.
We thank you that you made us afamily, that you united us
together through the blood thatcame off that cross and the
redemption that came from thatempty tomb.
Father, I pray right now thateach one of us would be
(41:25):
convicted in our hearts andminds about the importance of
the body of Christ, and that wewould, Father, make every effort
to dwell together.
And Father, if our hearts don'twant to do that, I pray that
you would supernaturally changeour hearts, Lord, that we would
desire to be together, Father.
(41:46):
And as the days draw near andas evil continues to grow in
this world, Father, I pray thatwe will continue as a collective
group to be the light thisworld needs to see, the light
that is the salvation of JesusChrist and the hope through the
gospel.
Father, that's my prayer.
And I pray this through the onewho through all uniting comes,
(42:11):
Jesus Christ.
Amen.
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