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Book: Ephesians
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Ephesians 4:15
I. "But speaking the truth in love."
A. There are some that speak the truth, but there is not much
love.
1. They almost seem to be angry.
2. It seems that they always have a point to prove, and
they are prone to pound into the ground anyone who
might have a different view.
B. Speaking the truth in love is in contrast to the slight cunning
of men who lie in wait to deceive.
1. Sometimes they seem more loving than those who are
speaking the truth.
2. Their loving mannerisms are a part of the whole
deceptive attempt to ensnare the gullible.
3. They seem to care so much when in front of the cameras,
but once the cameras go off they are cold and cunning.
C. People are so desirous for love that they become a prey to
these who are out to fleece the body of Christ.
1. It is important that we speak the truth.
2. It is also important that we do so in love.
II. "We may grow up into Him in all things."
A. The Spirit is working in us to conform us into the image of
Jesus.
1. In verse 13 Paul speaks of our maturing to the measure
of the stature of the fullness of Christ.
2. The thought is that we be not immature babes, but
that we grow up.
B. The book of Colossians is known to be a companion to the book
of Ephesians.
1. Paul covers many of the same issues in both of the
books. It is thought that they were both written at the
same time and were carried by the same messenger,
Tychicus.
2. In the book to the Colossians Paul mentions the letter
was to be shared with the church in Laodicea and they
were to read the letter he wrote to the Laodiceans.
3. In the letter to the Colossians Paul speaks also of
Jesus as the head of the body of Christ.
COL 1:18 And he is the head of the body, the church: who is the beginning,
the firstborn from the dead; that in all [things] he might have
the preeminence.
4. There he declares that it is the purpose of God that in
all things, He might have preeminence.
5. Here he is encouraging them to grow up in all things.
6. The words grow up have the same idea as becoming
mature.
7. Here in the text he speaks of Jesus as the head.
III. "The head from whom the whole body is fitly joined together."
A. Oh that this were so, that we all recognized that Jesus is the
head of the body.
1. The problem with the church is that there are too many
who are seeking to be the head.
2. Too many people who are seeking to impose their will on
the whole church.
3. I get a letter on the average of one a week with
someone trying to tell men how I should run the church.
a. I don't seek to run the church.
b. I seek to hear the voice of the Lord and follow
His commands.
c. If you have some special thing that you feel
that the church should be involved in, pray,
and ask the Lord to guide us.
d. I seek to listen to His voice, I acknowledge
Him as the Head of the body.
B. It is the will of God that the whole body be fitly joined
together.
1. We look at the body of Christ today and it is very
fragmented.
2. Everyone seems to have their own agenda, and they are
all seeking to promote their own causes.
3. It seems that one gets an idea, and immediately they
seek to get the whole body to rally behind them, their
cause, their idea.
C. "Be fitly joined together" Speaks to me of everyone taking
their place in the body.
1. The whole body is not an eye, nor ear, nor mouth.
2. Each part of the body has a function to fulfill, and is
dependant on the rest of the body to fulfill that
function.
a. Your fingers would have a hard time functioning
apart from your hand and arm.
b. Your hand would have a hard time functioning if
it were connected to your knee bone.
c. Can you picture a body with each part being
placed in a different location unrelated to the
rest of the body.
d. Your ears at the end of your feet.
e. Your eyes at the end of your fingers.
3. That is the way the body of Christ often is, when the
parts seek to act independent from the head.
D. Every part of the body supplies that special role for which it
was designed.
1. The eyes for seeing, the mouth for speaking, the teeth
for chewing, the feet for walking.
2. It is important that each part fulfill its function,
else the body is crippled, and cannot operate properly.
3. That is what Paul means by "The effectual working in
the measure of every part."
B. When this is happening, then the body is increased as it
edifies itself in love.
1. In the early church they did not have nor depend upon
church growth programs.
2. The body of Christ was just operating naturally with
the recognition of Jesus as the head. The increase was
the natural result of the body being just the body.
3. Getting back to the thought of speaking the truth in
love, we see here that we are built up in love.
a. Knowledge puffeth up, but love builds up.
b. Speaking the truth in arrogance does not draw
men to submit to Christ.
c. It is speaking the truth in love, being built
up in love.
C. This all comes under the heading of walking worthy of the
calling wherein we were called.
1. This is the true walk of the believer, walking in love
and unity.
2. Seeking the unity of the Spirit, recognizing that their
is one body, one Spirit, one Lord, one faith, one God
and Father of all.
3. Speaking the truth in love, and seeing the unity of the
body becomes the sign of my spiritual maturity.
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