The Church Is :

Introduction

Good morning to everyone. And if you’ll open in your New Testament with me through Ephesians chapter 1. Ephesians chapter 1, certainly the storms of life often do come our way. They cause us great distress and concern. But we know God is there. We know God cares for us and that he does have a plan, whether we have all those pieces or not. Ephesians chapter 1, beginning in verse 3, there’s much said about how wonderful God is in his plan, how important and crucial and yes, wonderful Jesus is as part of that plan. But as you come all the way down to Ephesians chapter 1, we’ll go into verse 20, because Paul in Ephesians chapter 1 gives us probably like one or two sentences in all the verses that you see.

We’re going to go right in the middle of one in verse 20 beginning. That he worked, God worked in Christ, when he raised him from the dead and seated him at his right hand in the heavenly place, far above all rule and authority and power and dominion, and above every name that is named, not only in this age, but also in the one to come. And he put all things under his feet and gave him his head over all things to the church, which is his body, the fullness of him who fills all in all. I think if I were to ask everybody this morning what is the church, there’d be one of two answers. One would probably be the conditioned response, the people. Which people we don’t necessarily specify with that short answer, but we know we mean God’s people.

Or for those of you who were looking at Ephesians chapter 1 and verse 22 and 23, you’d say, obviously, because we just read about the church, verse 23 being the body of Christ, you would give that correct answer as well. When we examine the scriptures, we see that God’s plan for us is absolutely to be with him one day, to have heaven within our breath, to be nearing being with God forever. But part of that process is not only salvation and to begin to be a part of the body of Christ, which is crucial and important and worth our time and study, but also to examine what is the body of Christ. What is the kingdom? What is the church? And more importantly than just what is it, how does that change the way we live?

1. Christ Is Head of the Kingdom

How does that change the way we serve? There’s many different synonyms we could give for the church that the New Testament does. We see the church is the body of Christ. We see the church is something over which Christ is head. And of course, when you start examining, you see a few of these, the body of Christ. And even in Colossians chapter 1, you see that the body of Christians could be part of the kingdom. Look at me in Colossians chapter 1. This is both suffice to show that this is the people of God and to show Christ’s preeminence in that people. In Ephesians chapter 1, Christ is the head of the church. And in Colossians chapter 1, in verse 13 and 14, we learn where else he reigns.

He has delivered us from the domain of darkness and transferred us to the kingdom of his beloved Son, in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins. Colossians chapter 1, verse 13 and 14 is one of the most important verses to have embedded on our hearts, because, first of all, in verse 14, we see there is possible forgiveness of sins. Redemption is real and possible. And it’s only done through God’s plan in the workings of Christ Jesus. But in verse 13, we are taken, ripped, delivered from the domain of darkness, and we are transferred where? The kingdom of Christ. So those who are part of the kingdom of Christ do two important things. One, they recognize that Christ is head. And do you see why calling it a kingdom instead of just the church instead of just the body becomes important right away?

Because if you have a king, what does that mean if you are not the king? You answer to the king. His rules, his ways become his servants’ ways. If Christ is the head of the church and we want to be part of the church, then what does that necessitate? That we are simply to act out the decrees or the demands of the head. And so we see that this is important on the one hand to elevate Christ and to trust his will always and completely, even if it conflicts with what I think or feel. But also that there is something powerful about being in the church. What does it mean to be in the body of Christ? What does it mean to be in the kingdom?

2. We Are Children of God

Colossians 1 verse 14 explains to be in the kingdom means we have been redeemed. We have been forgiven. And I think that’s pretty straightforward. But then we start thinking about the fact that the church is the people. And by people we mean the children of God. Look at me in 1 John chapter 3. This becomes a little bit more important. Not just for terminology. This lesson this morning is not, hey, I wanted to give you some good synonyms when you’re talking with your friends for the church. You want to surprise them, say, I go to the kingdom at, I’m part of the local kingdom at. We’re going to study what these words mean. In 1 John chapter 3, beginning in verse 1. As you see what kind of love the Father has given to us, that we should be called children of God.

And so we are. The reason why the world does not know us is that it did not know him. Beloved, we are God’s children now, and what we will be has not yet appeared, but we know that when he appears, we shall be like him, because we shall see him as he is. And everyone who thus hopes in him purifies himself as he is pure. So as we examine verse 1, what a powerful illustration, example of God’s love. God, the creator of the heavens and the earth, says, You, my creation, can be my children. Can we never grow tired of that? It should never become mundane or some sort of historical fact that we can call out when we say, What is the church or what does it mean to be God’s?

And we say, it just means I’m God’s child. We can be the creator of the heavens and the earth’s child. He will take on the name that we often ascribe to him in prayer and sometimes no other time. Like heavenly Father. That is amazing. First John chapter 3 and verse 1 says, this is an example of what kind of love the Father has given to us. Turn with me to Galatians chapter 3, and then we’ll slow down quite a bit. In Galatians chapter 3, you see this concept illustrated again. You’ll see both contexts, both threads we’ve been pulling at, illustrated here in Galatians chapter 3. Why we need to be in Christ, in Christ’s kingdom, part of the family of God. And even yes, how that functions, how we should view ourselves as part of it.

In Galatians chapter 3, beginning in verse 25, but now that faith has come, we are no longer under a guardian. Note carefully with me, verse 26. For in Christ Jesus you are all sons of God by faith. For as many of you as were baptized into Christ have put on Christ. Verse 29, and if you are Christ, then you are Abraham’s offspring, heirs according to promise. We see those two threads. Why is it so important to be in Christ? Because that’s where salvation is. But verse 26 says we’re not just part of a kingdom. We’re not just part of a church, whatever that does or does not mean. We are children of God. And what that means is when I am a child of God, and you are a child of God, there’s good news and bad news.

3. Elders Shepherd the Family of God

The good news for me is I have a brother or sister in Christ. You can see where I’m going with this. The bad news is you have me as part of your family. I think everyone thought that was too serious. That was a joke. So as we examine the idea of being a family, if we look at what that means, we say, well, we’re part of a kingdom. That means I have to do what the king says. Clear, easy application. What about being the family of God? If we say we are a family, we’re a local family, or even in a universal sense, the church is the family of God because we are all as saved individuals his children. Then what does that mean? First of all, it means our leadership will be a little bit different than the world leadership organizations will be.

Look at me in 1 Peter chapter 5. In 1 Peter chapter 5, this becomes important because when we think about the world leadership, oftentimes it’s some sort of person at the top, or maybe a board of directors or something similar to, at the top of an organization, and they make decrees, and everybody else follows down. That’s not exactly how God set up his leaders. Does he have leaders in a local body who are important? Yes. Are there strict instructions for appointing these men? Absolutely. But notice in 1 Peter chapter 5, both the language and the intent and purpose of this God given role of leadership. So I exhort the elders among you, as a fellow elder and a witness of the sufferings of Christ, as well as a partaker in the glory that is going to be revealed, shepherd the flock of God that is among you, exercising oversight, not under compulsion, but willingly, as God would have you, not for shameful gain, but eagerly.

Not domineering over those in your charge, but being examples to the flock. And when the chief shepherd appears, you will receive the unfading crown of glory. Sometimes we often stumble with the idea of what’s in a name. When it comes to the expression elders, that wasn’t some sort of job title that everyone who is a male should aspire to. I want to be an elder because it’s important. I want to be a shepherd because it’s important. Why does Peter use the terminology that we translate as shepherd? Because that’s what the role does. That’s what an elder does. That’s what a shepherd does. A shepherd takes care and gives attention to the flock. It feeds the flock. It nourishes the flock. It keeps the flock away from dangerous outsiders, or to use the language of Acts chapter 20, dangerous, fierce wolves who would come in and attack.

And so it’s easy to say, all right, well, this is good. I’m part of a church that has elders. I’m a part of a church that has deacons. We got some preachers, we have some Bible class teachers. We have what God wants. But if the church is the family of God, do you see how that’s going to change the way we view, appoint, and interact with our elders? Go back to verse 3. One critical component of being an elder is not to make all of these laws, not verse 3, domineering over those in your charge, but rather what? The elders, the shepherds are to be examples to the flock. Much like we know God’s command is for men in the family unit, in the family household, elders are to be leaders.

And leaders doesn’t mean just setting the boundaries. Doesn’t mean just setting the worship times. It means first and foremost being an example. But it means even secondly, looking out for and caring for each and every one of you. Not everyone was always blessed to have both a mom and a dad. A lot of us were blessed to have some, one or both. But if you think about the person in life who loved you the most, maybe it was a mentor, maybe it was a dad, maybe it was a mother. And you consider their love for you.

You could say my mother loved me because she was always there for me and always sacrificed for me. You could say my mentor was there because anytime I needed to call, they were there. An elder, a shepherd, an overseer is not some sort of lawmaker. Because remember, who is the head of the church? The head of the body, the king of the kingdom. It’s Jesus. And so what that means is in two different ways. It means first and foremost, as elders, as shepherds, they are caring for our souls. And when you notice verse 4, by the way, when the chief shepherd appears, you will receive the unfading crown of glory. Not only is there what we might call an intense or interesting reward element, that’s a heavy responsibility to take on.

Sometimes we don’t elect to have the responsibility we do, but other times we select jobs or locations where we will have some responsibility or obligations. But what bigger obligation or responsibility is it to be a shepherd of people’s souls? To show sacrifice, concern, and a working understanding of everybody in the family. You know what happens, at least in my family, and I doubt that we’re the only ones to do this. Occasionally the leadership would get questioned by some, let’s say, lower ranking members of the family. I don’t, I can’t always remember. I think I’ve blacked out some of what happened after that. But as you think about that, sometimes we question, and is it fair to understand? Yes. But it’s a two-sided coin. Do shepherds need to go out of their way to be those people who feed and nourish, not just exercise domineering oversight?

4. Men Will Lead

Yes. But it also means that I must have a respect and respectful submission to my family leader. And it also means I’ll have open dialogue with them because they are my family. They are my God designed, God appointed leadership. Much like many of us would reach out to our dad or mom or mentor figure because they know us and they’re wise. And there’s a sense in which if you’re talking to the right person, they’ve probably been there and done that before. Elders are to be, verse 3, on the record of being examples. Not perfect, but good examples who care for us. Viewing the church as a family doesn’t just impact the leadership, though, it impacts every single person. And one of those groups of people, conveniently enough, there’s two large groupings of them, we’ll start with the first one, that men will lead.

Look with me in Ephesians chapter 4. Ephesians chapter 4 matches what we anticipate leading to be. Ephesians chapter 4 and verse 11. Part of God’s blueprint, his plan for his family. And Ephesians chapter 4 and verse 11 is this. He gave the apostles, the prophets, the evangelists, the shepherds and teachers to equip the saints for the work of ministry for building up the body of Christ until we all attain to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to mature manhood to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ. Verse 15 and 16, we recognize this is a loving saying, and it’s designed for our building up so that we all work together. If I said, Are you training as a male to be a leader?

Or if you are a parent training your son to be a leader, most of us think of a couple things. And if I were to say, how does your son, or how do you as a man, lead in the church? Somewhat fairly, you know what comes to the top of the list. Well, we’re working on song leading. We’re working on leading prayer, serving on the Lord’s table. I’m working on preaching, leading God’s family and studying his word. Is that important? Yes, it is. But this is where understanding of church has to be the New Testament understanding and not some shorthand 21st century American idea of the church. The church is not just three hours here and one hour on Wednesday evening. And sometimes when we cheapen leadership in that way, we not only miss the mark ourselves, we set ourselves up and those we love up for the same failure as well.

We are to be training for leadership. That doesn’t just mean verse 11, teaching, being a shepherd, being an evangelist. Those are critical God given roles of leadership that we could and should aspire to be and be a part of. But there’s more to it than that. In 1 Timothy chapter 2, if you’ll note with me in 1 Timothy chapter 2, beginning in verse 8. Leadership goes outside of the church building walls. In verse 8, I desire then that in every place the men should pray, lifting holy hands without anger or quarreling. Likewise also that women should adorn themselves in respectable apparel, with modesty and self control, not with braided hair or golds or pearls or costly attire, but with what is proper for women who profess godliness with good works.

Let a woman learn quietly with all submissiveness. I do not permit a woman to teach or to exercise authority over a man, rather she is to remain quiet. For Adam was formed first, then Eve. And Adam was not deceived, but the woman was deceived and became a transgressor. Yet she will be saved through childbearing if they continue in faith and love and holiness with self control. We think about this. We look at verse 12 and we say, well, I got some problems with that based on my 21st century American mindset. But even beyond that, if we don’t have problems with that, we say, okay, well, that makes sense. Men are to teach, and where are the men teach? In the church. And by that we mean in the church building.

What this says then, as men, is if we are to be teaching, if we are to be exhorting everybody to a greater understanding, where does that happen? Everywhere. We have a constant obligation to lead by example, like our shepherds do. Certainly like the chief shepherd Jesus did. Leadership is not a one-time act or a big in front of a big group action. Leadership happens individually. Maybe it’s you at your office. Maybe it’s you in your family unit. Maybe it’s you and your friend group. Leadership has to be developed, though. Nobody wakes up and just begins to lead. And a microphone doesn’t make somebody a leader. Hopefully, whoever’s behind it can be working in that direction. But standing in front of a big group of people no more makes someone a leader than being a follower means sitting back and doing nothing.

Men have to lead, and that means we have to work on that. That means I need to learn how to be a leader as a husband, as a father, as a member of God’s family. It doesn’t just mean one thing at the church service. And while I think we understand that point conceptually, I wonder how often I, we take the impetus to work on that. But if we view the church as a family, and those who God appointed to lead don’t step up and lead, what does that leave? A vacuum of leadership. A hole in God’s perfect plan. Certainly there are nuances to 1 Timothy chapter 2 that we’re not breaking down at this moment. But as we understand that if the church is God’s family and it is, it is the children of God locally or universally, although we’re focusing on the local work here.

5. Women Play Absolutely Vital Roles

Then it not only will impact how elders lead and how men lead, it will impact our view of women. And it will be that women play absolutely vital roles. This is the problem with the mindset. Women today, often in American society, look at a church that fulfills 1 Timothy chapter 2, 1 Corinthians chapter 14, and says, that church has no place for women. It has no place, it has no respect, and it allows no important role. But you know what the problem is? At best, even if that were true, this worship assembly is the smallest tip of the iceberg of pleasing our king and the head of the church body. We have got to understand the church is not one building where we happen to put on a service, and whoever leads there is our leaders, and whoever doesn’t lead there are the followers, and that’s it.

That’s not God’s plan. When you look at Titus chapter 2, you see God has a critical plan, not just for men, but also for women. In Titus chapter 2 and verse 1, he exhorts Titus, he says, But as for you, teach what accords with sound doctrine. Older men are to be sober-minded, dignified, self-controlled, sound in faith, in love and in steadfastness. Older women likewise are to be reverent in behavior, not slanderers or slaves to much wine, but they are to teach what is good. And so train the young women to love their husbands and children, to be self-controlled, pure, working at home, kind and submissive to their own husbands, that the word of God may not be reviled. Verse 6 as well, likewise urge the younger men to be self controlled.

Now you imagine just for one moment, we’re going to take one small part of this pie of what we call men and women. Now we’re talking about women, and in Titus chapter 2, verses 3 and 4. We’re going to focus for just a moment on women with a husband or with a family. In Titus chapter 2 and verse 4, imagine if the older women failed in this God given role.

Remember what happens when there’s no leader when we leave out a critical part of God’s blueprint and plan. The design fails. The machine stops to work. I don’t know enough about cars to give a proper illustration, but I do know this. If you take the engine out of the car, what happens? It’s not going to go very far. How’s that for some auto mechanic shout talk? When you think about Titus chapter 2 and verse 3, when he says, as inspired by God, older women are to verse 4, train the young women to love their husbands and children, and that training does not happen. We’ve messed up God’s plan. And when we mess up God’s plan, we mess up God’s intended results, which is for us to be with him as part of the redeemed in the kingdom of God.

When we examine this, then we need to see not only do women have a role in God’s family, they have a pivotal one. And by the way, let’s go to the other side of that group we made. Let’s go to 1 Corinthians chapter 7. And again, this encompasses both male and female. In 1 Corinthians chapter 7, beginning in verse 32, Paul gives a pretty straightforward idea of what about those who are married versus unmarried. 1 Corinthians chapter 7 and verse 32, I want you to be free from anxieties. The unmarried man is anxious about the things of the Lord, how to please the Lord. But the married man is anxious about worldly things, how to please his wife, and so his interests are divided. The unmarried or betrothed woman is anxious about the things of the Lord, how to be holy in body and spirit.

But the married woman is anxious about worldly things, how to please her husband. I say this for your own benefit, not to lay any restraint upon you, but to promote good order and to secure your undivided devotion to the Lord. If anyone thinks that he is not behaving properly towards his betrothed, if his passions are strong and it has to be, let him do as he wishes, let him marry. It is no sin. But whoever is firmly established in his heart, being under no necessity, but having his desire under control and has determined this in his heart, to keep her as his betrothed, he will do well. So then he who marries his betrothed does well, and he who refrains from marriage will do even better.

Suffice to say to the context, Paul’s saying, look, there is something given up in marriage. Is marriage okay in a God-given institution? Yes, it absolutely is. Is it absolutely fine for an unmarried man to marry an unmarried woman in the proper circumstances? Of course. But note that last phrase. So then he who marries his betrothed does well, verse 38, but he who refrains from marriage will do better. How, Paul? Why? Well, certainly much has been done about the text where it says, in light of the present distress. Paul certainly had something in mind. But might we add that he makes it very clear, if you are unmarried, what can you focus more on? The will of God. And again, this is God’s plan. And you say, what is God’s plan for me?

To serve in the fields of harvest. Is there more to God’s plan than just evangelizing, though? Yes. Who are do we be showing love towards? Who are we to be invested in? Finding our roles and lanes to help in the service of the family of God. How many of us would view our families as a group of people that, yeah, they have a lot of needs, but that’s not really my problem? I think a lot of us with our families are pretty attuned to what’s going on. If someone in our family needs us, we are there. Someone in our family calls and is sick. We care, we have concern.

6. Members Will Sacrifice

Because we know we have an important role in place in the family. And we have a concern in place for that other person who is important and has a role in our family as well. When we examine the scriptures and we see that the church is God’s family, the final point this morning, if you look at one final passage is Philippians chapter 2, members will sacrifice. Not because of the word church, not because of the word kingdom, and not even because of the word family, but because we recognize our bonds as children of God. In Philippians chapter 2, Paul is working with the church there. And he makes it very plain what their aspiration is to be. In Philippians chapter 2, he says, so if there is any encouragement in Christ, any comfort from love, any participation in the Spirit, any affection and sympathy, complete my joy by being number one of the same mind, having number two, the same love, being in full accord and of one mind.

Do nothing from selfish ambition or conceit, but in humility, count others more significant than yourselves. Tough ask. What do you mean, Paul? Verse 4, let each of you look not only to his own interest, but also to the interest of others. Have this mind amongst yourselves, which is yours in Christ Jesus. And he goes on to explain how Jesus was the typical example and model of not only sacrifice, not only of humility, but of giving up everything because he loved God’s creation. If Jesus can leave the side of God to come down and sacrifice for me and for you, can we not learn, grow, develop the idea that not only do I have a place in God’s family, but that that place has to be surrounded by and motivated by, yes, number one, the love of God, but a very close second as part of the love of God, a love for my family.

Conclusion

And so when I hear somebody is sick, when I see that somebody is spiritually weak, I won’t write that off as somebody else’s problem. I won’t write that off as something that could be good. I will treat them as my family and what I would want for my family, which is the right person to have the right words as defined by and delivered by God to help my family who I love. What a blessing it is to have a family of God, to know we’re not alone, and to know we’re working together in God’s kingdom. Will you go to God in prayer with me? Our dear God and most gracious and loving Lord, we praise you for your greatness. We thank you for your plan. Your plan that allowed Jesus to die on the cross for our sins and allows us to have forgiveness.

We’re so thankful for the fact that you would take those who submit to your will from the domain of darkness and transfer us to the kingdom of Christ. Thank you for all of those blessings of being redeemed of knowing our sins can be and have been forgiven. We pray that we always please you and live out a life that is equally sacrificial, that we strive to be as you are, that we strive to be loving, merciful and kind to others, as we know we need and want your love, mercy, and graciousness towards us. Thank you for your patience. We pray that you forgive us of when we sin, of when we stumble, of when we don’t treat your children like family. Help us to look at others with love like Christ.

Help us to treat others with love like Christ, and above all, help us to be pleasing in your sight. It’s in his name we pray. Amen. We’re now dismissed to our Bible classes.