God's Plan for the Church

Open your Bibles, if you would, to Ephesians chapter four. We will be in verses 11 through 16 today. The title of the message is: “God's Plan for the Church,” God's plan for the church. Let me pray as we begin.

Lord Jesus, we thank you for this morning. And thank you that you are in control of all things. That you are God, and we are not. That we need to submit to your plan; as has been sung and as has been taught today. And Lord, we pray that you would help us to be true followers of Christ. Lord, we pray that your Name would reign in our lives, and our hearts and minds. And that would show, Lord God. Father, we thank you for the great privilege it is to come before your Holy Word, the Scriptures, this morning. And I pray that you would give us clarity of thought, as we consider the eternal words of God. Amen.

Well, Jesus is Lord. Right? And Jesus is God. Jesus is the Head of the Church. No man is Head of the Church. Because the Church is his body, it would be weird for another man to be head of his body, whom he loves. God sent his Son Jesus to pay for sin that you and I might live out from under the wrath of God. Not just to live free from the burden and guilt of sin, but to live free from the wrath of God for all of eternity. That we might not spend eternity in hell. And I ask you, are you saved? Are you saved? Do you know the God of Scripture, not just the God of your own making? See, God is the God of the impossible. And we know this because he can use you and me for his glory. And that is impossible without God.

God is gracious in how he acts in our lives and how he brings us into conformity with his will and how he lets his glory, reflect off of imperfect people who will never be perfect until glorified, standing in the presence of God, himself. Anyone can be used for God's glory. But there's a catch. You must follow him. My people know my voice and they listen to me. And those who love me obey me. Those are the ones who are identified as followers of Jesus, not just merely those who talk about Jesus. The demons do that. Not just even those who agree that his Word is true, the demons also do that. But those who follow him. There is the distinction.

Do you follow God's Word? Friend, there is nothing more gracious, more kind, more loving, more merciful than the sweet words of our Savior written down for all of eternity. For you and I to bask in who he is and to understand that he is God and we can know him. That is the most marvelous aspect of humanity, that you and I can know God. Follow him anywhere, anytime, for anything he calls you to do. God is worth it. There is nothing in this life that compares to God. There is nothing worth sacrificing eternity for that you can find on this planet. No one, no thing, no concept, no object of your desire, nothing that you might want, nothing that you might work for, is worth comparing to Jesus Christ.

We have a front row seat to watch God work. That is Christianity. We get to see God at work in our hearts, in our minds, in our lives. And we wonder why us? As Adam taught us this morning about Moses. Lord, are you sure you got the right person here? I'm not very capable. I'm not very talented. I'm not very good at anything. I don't really know how to give you glory. And God says, “Yes, will you follow me? That is what I am looking for.” That is what God is looking for.

And you and I, as part of Grace Bible Church, get to see the real, the tangible work of God among us. We saw it here this morning. No matter the cost, to give testimony to God's grace in one's life. That God has saved and changed and made us new for his glory and by his grace. So, we receive the Word, we receive God, himself. This is who we are. This is who we are. This is the beauty of a biblical church, a church that follows God's plan.

And when I first came here, that was the question to me. What's your plan? Let me re-emphasize that: what's YOUR plan? You hear that? That's why there were only 15 people here at the time, because they were following somebody's plan. And what we need to do in our life, and what God has done through you – the church – is to reorient our mind, our desires, and submit them to him. And say, “Okay, I'm an expert at finding potholes in life. Can you use me?” God says, “Yes, I can use you.” “I'm really good at misunderstanding what I'm supposed to do. Can you use me?” “Yes, I can use you. In fact, I made you.” Right? “I made you. I made you in my image,” God says. There's no such thing as a mistake. God made you, put you in your situation, raised you where he wanted you, and raised you up to give him glory. In the darkest of situations and in the best of situations. And what we need to make sure we don't crave is somebody else's situation. We need to crave what God has given to us, which is to bring him glory, where we are. I ask you, are you willing to do that? That is God's plan for the Church.

Look in your Bibles, if you would, at Ephesians chapter four, as I read Ephesians 4:11-16. This is the very first passage I ever preached at this church. It was kind of a candidating type sermon, it wasn't recorded. And so, this is the passage where we were. And this is the passage where we finish. In verse 11. If you need a Bible, by the way, there under the seats, I would encourage you to get your Bibles out, put it on your phone, whatever, see the Words of God. He wrote them not so someone else could just tell you about them, but so you could see them.

Ephesians 4:11–16 (ESV)
11 And he gave the apostles, the prophets, the evangelists, the shepherds and teachers, 12 to equip the saints for the work of ministry, for building up the body of Christ, 13 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, 14 so that we may no longer be children, tossed to and fro by the waves and carried about by every wind of doctrine, by human cunning, by craftiness in deceitful schemes. 15 Rather, speaking the truth in love, we are to grow up in every way into him who is the head, into Christ, 16 from whom the whole body, joined and held together by every joint with which it is equipped, when each part is working properly, makes the body grow so that it builds itself up in love.

That's just two sentences. Preachers love verses like that. See, this is God's plan. This is God's plan for the Church. Every pastor in every pulpit should preach this passage. And every person in the pew, or the seats, should know this passage very well because this is the plan. This is the plan. Our mission, as we say, is to what? “To preach Christ and make disciples.” We speak the truth. We preach Christ because we're supposed to grow up into Christ. We make disciples because we’re supposed to grow as mature believers. Not just following other people, not just following what other people say. But what God, himself, says.

So, the job of a pastor is to preach the Word, as Paul told Timothy, “I charge you, by the presence of the living God, to preach the Word, Timothy.” So, when preachers get up, when people get up behind the pulpit, to proclaim. They are to proclaim THE Message, this Message. We shepherd, we pray for, we protect the church. And as pastors and teachers, preach to the congregation, and guests, and those who are watching are evangelized, God is glorified. That's the plan. That's been the plan. It's going to stay the plan here. Let me ask you, is this the God that you know? Is that the plan of the church that you are familiar with? You see, because the Gospel is about bringing people into God's Kingdom, the Kingdom that God established.

You can say the Scripture is about the redemptive historical plan of God from Genesis to Revelation. Right? Creation, Fall, Christ, and Consummation. That's pretty much four words that summarize the Bible. But it's the redemptive historical narrative, the story, that takes people out of the world. Ephesians 2:1-10, following the prince of the power of the air, that's everyone, and putting them in the Kingdom of God. And those in the Kingdom of God, as you see here, are called saints. God calls them that, they don't need any conference for that. God calls us saints. And we are to follow out his plan. And I ask you, does that make you excited? I know it does, because I know you, I love you. And I know you love to hear the Word, you love to hear it preached. And you know it is the power of God that changes lives. And that comes through the Gospel.

So, as we see this plan in Ephesians 4:11-16, which I know you're familiar with. I just want to cover three things for you. The first point is that: “God's plan builds up the church.” God's plan builds up the church. It's not just for us to run around and have our own little mini-Christian idea about the world. It's to come underneath what God's plan is. Look at this in Ephesians 4:11-12, “he gave.” That is Jesus, this is his idea, “he gave the apostles, the prophets, the evangelists, the shepherds and teachers.” To do what? It's in verse 12, “to equip the saints for the work of [the] ministry.” Some entire systems are built in contradiction to that. But “to equip the saints for the work of the ministry.” A saint is a believer, according to this verse.

To do what? What are the saints, when they're equipped, what are they to do? It's at the end of verse 12, look at it, “for building up the body of Christ.” To build up the Church. We proclaim the gospel, God changes lives, they come into the Kingdom, they come into the Church, we baptize them, and they become part of the mission of the Church, which is to preach Christ and make disciples for the glory of God. So, pastors and elders are to equip the saints for the work of the ministry. We're not special people, we're not better than anyone else. We just preach what's already been written.

Equipping the saints is not just for the individual’s benefit to go and be a maverick out there in the world. To equip the saints is for the benefit of the Body of Christ. So special gifts that are just for a person, don't line up with this text. Do you see that? We had at one time apostles and prophets, we don't have those anymore. They did sign-gifts. All the miraculous gifts are called sign-gifts in Scriptures. What was the sign? It was authenticating the Word, not the person. It authenticated them. Now we have the more sure word, as laid out in 2 Peter 1:17-21. Right? When Peter was on the Mount of Transfiguration, he sees Moses and Elijah, he starts talking. If Jesus is there, and God's presence is there, and God's talking. And Peter starts talking, he thinks he's got the plan. You can always spot the person who thinks they have the plan, because they're not listening. That was Peter. He was trying to say, “Hey, should we go do this?” It's like, No, you're in the presence of the Almighty, Omniscient God, maybe you should just listen now. And Peter, after that says, inspired by Scripture, we have the more sure word. What? More sure than any experience with Jesus, himself, and God, himself, speaking. There's no greater miracle than that, seeing Moses and Elijah even talking. He got it all wrong. And God says out of the cloud, “This is my Son, listen to him. He's got the plan.”

So, the plan for the church in the New Testament era, before the full counsel of God was given, was men with special abilities to authenticate the Message. This is really super easy to prove. You can see Paul throughout his ministry did not heal everyone. He even had to leave people behind because they felt sick, and they couldn't travel with him. Why? Because the plan is not about the people, the plan is about Jesus. So, then we're left with the evangelists there in verse 11, we still have evangelists, those who are called to preach the gospel, and that's their main mission. And they go out and they travel the world. A lot of missionaries are gifted as evangelists. We need them and we support them. That's just discipleship elsewhere, by the way, it's not a special category. Right? It's local discipleship or foreign discipleship. That's what that is.

And then you have the shepherds and teachers. This is a combination word in the Greek, shepherd-teacher. Shepherds and teachers, you can't have one without the other. Their job is to equip the saints and like I said, it's for the building up of the Body of Christ. One of one of my favorite preachers to listen to, Jack Hughes, uses this illustration, he says: You know, you don't want to be like a tadpole. You know, with the really big fat head and no body. You’re just full of knowledge but you can't do anything with it. You’re just a tadpole, you've got all this Bible knowledge, but no body to do anything with it. Just you fall over when you lean one direction. We don't want to be like that. We want to use all the pieces that God has put together. We can't do everything on our own. So, this knowledge is to build up the Church.

Preaching builds up the church. Paul at the end of his life, writing to Timothy in Second Timothy, saying, “to preach the Word.” Many don't know their Bibles because they don't listen to instructive preaching. We want our ears tickled. We listen to radio that says, “always encouraging.” Right, rarely instructing. And so, you get all of this encouragement, but you're not sure why it's encouraging. It doesn't point you to Jesus more, it just points you to yourself. We need to know God. And you'll see that in this passage, that the knowledge of God is part of the plan of God. It's part of the plan.

Preaching is a joy for me. I couldn't make up good sermons on my own. I couldn't come up with truths to transform your lives. There are a lot of preachers who are good at that kind of thing. They're more just spokesman for their own church than they are preachers of God's word. But it's a joy to preach because our Savior is worthy of our praise. He's worthy, and if you know the depths of your sin, then you know the height of the glory of God. If you know the depth of your sin, then you know the height of God's grace, how it abounds. How none of us are clean vessels for God. But he still chooses to clean us from the inside out and use us for his glory. That is a joyful message.

And you here at GBC, desire to know God. You desire to live it out, you desire to hear it, and to digest it. And it gives me no greater joy than to see my brothers and sisters in Christ living for God's glory. And it is amazing to see what he does. Over the life of Grace Bible Church, in about the last 11 years, we've had around 20 people preach from the pulpit on Sundays; and a ton more teach lessons. All of them say the same thing: “I love preaching at Grace Bible Church. Because they have ears that listen.” That is God's work in your life. That is not to puff anyone up. It is just, you want to eat what God is serving. And that is a joy to preach. It's a joy for me to preach to you. And it's a joy for me to see Pastor Nick come – and God providing him – who is going to continue the mission. That was one of the, you know, the things that had to happen – was to find someone who knew the right mission.

Nick was trained in the same place as I was and is a very gifted teacher. He is going to continue to serve what God has already prepared. That you can be sure of and that gives me joy. So, point one: “God's plan builds up the church.” As we surround ourselves with his plan and follow it. The second thing you'll see in verse 13: “God's plan brings unity,” unity. Look at Ephesians 4:13. It says, “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.”

There are many things in there that we're supposed to be doing. Our faith is unified as we grow in the knowledge of the Son of God. As we grow into maturity, we come along and disciple other people with God's Word, so they too can grow into maturity. What's the level of maturity we're supposed to have? What does it say there at the end of verse 13? “To the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ.” Christ. Not your neighbor, not somebody who tweets a lot, or is on TV, and preaches on TV. I'd stay away from most of those guys anyway on TV. To the fullness of Jesus Christ! Who was perfect, and righteous, and holy, and never had a single sinful thought. You and I wouldn't even get through a single day with that qualification. That's the goal. And if that's your goal, then God's Word is always close to you. It's always the next thing you're looking to get into. It's not like the Sunday thing. It's the everyday thing. It's not just the once a month or the twice a year plan. It's the everyday plan. Because you know, that's your goal. And as a follower of Christ, you want to be equipped. You want to be trained to build up the body of Christ, to grow into the measure of the stature of the fullness of Jesus Christ, himself.

Churches have jettisoned a lot of Sunday nights and Wednesday nights. And, you know, we have all kinds of stuff going on throughout the month. But we need to get back to hungering for God's Word. To strive to the unity of the faith. And you're going to see that that includes doctrine. If you're not taught doctrine (doctrine means teaching), if you're not taught doctrine, you're not at a biblical church. Because that's included in the plan. That's included in the plan. This unity of the faith, the knowledge of God, is not just for those who love the study. It's for every single person who wants to be a Christ follower, a Christian. It's the knowledge of the Son of God, you're continually growing.

It breaks my heart every time somebody says, I didn't learn anything new at this conference. I didn't learn anything new, you know, at church on Sunday, I didn't learn… Like, how could that be? So, we continue to grow. Why must we continue to grow? Look at verse 14. This is God's plan for unity, right? It says in 13, “until we… attain to the unity of the faith.” So, what does he put in that category, Ephesians 4:14, “so that we may no longer be children.” See, most preachers are saying, “you got to have childlike faith.” But how do they coincide that with this? Right, that's authentic, fully submissive faith, that's childlike faith. But here, the doctrine that a child knows, we must go beyond that, right, “so that we may no longer be children, tossed to and fro by the waves and carried about by every wind of doctrine.”

How are we going to spot false doctrine if we're not taught it at church? People say doctrine divides. You know what I like to say after that, right? The sheep from the goats. By “human cunning,” some people are really smart. There's a lot of really smart people out there and they come out with all kinds of systems and things and ideas, and they grab a part of this verse and match it up with a part of that verse and it sounds logical. But it's really just “craftiness in deceitful schemes.” You see the Bible is meant to be understood, to be implemented. To make a clear, straight path for us to follow. How could it be so complicated, that we have to have somebody putting all these different things together for us to follow? Good, solid, expository preaching brings discernment. Not those who are tossed around by doctrine. It provides stability in the rough ocean.

Doctrine is what the pastor is supposed to bring. Not little homilies. Or as some say, sermonettes for Christianettes. Doctrine with discernment makes the world like a lion without teeth. Makes the culture like a little teddy bear that's just fluffy and needs to be petted on the side. The culture is not intimidating to someone who has the power of God in their lives, who understands the power of the Holy Spirit in their life. Who follows the plan, who is unified with other people who follow the plan, who follow the doctrine in the teaching. Who set their minds, no matter what the world says, on Jesus. The reason why the precious Patrick Henry students are here mostly is because most of the city was shut down during COVID. And they thought we’re just going to walk over to that church. It's open! What a concept? Praise God for young men and women that want the truth and they're willing to go when the whole culture says close the doors. That's what you want. That's what we need. You thought you were just going to get some cute little stories this morning. Didn’t you?

Here's the thing. Jesus Christ bled, was tortured, and died for your sin. That should move you, that should be powerful in your life. There should be nothing greater that you love besides that, than Jesus, himself. Nothing! Not your spouse, not your family, not your children, not your job. Nothing should come between you and Jesus Christ, the Jesus on the pages of Scripture. And then when God blesses you and brings your family and your spouse around, and those whom you love, it is even sweeter. Is this the Jesus that you know? Ephesians 4:15, Christians who know this Jesus, speak the truth in love. It says, “we are to grow up in every way into him who is the head, into Christ.”

You know, since September 8, 2013, myself and others, have endeavored to preach the entire counsel of God to you. Like, all of it. And of course, to preach all of it with any semblance of clarity, you would have to live a very long time with people who… Or I guess, maybe we could, Nick, make three hour sermons, right? We've got to get some more capacity, right? Like they do in South America. You just show up and it's like all day. But we have gone through every single verse of Ruth, every single verse of Nehemiah – if you're familiar with Nehemiah that would blow you away. Because there are three chapters of, “so and so begat so and so begat so and so.” Right? It's names. Six sermons in the Psalms, 14 in Matthew, 16 in Luke, 97 sermons in the book of John, every single verse. 71 sermons in the book of Acts, every single verse.

If you don't understand the book of Acts, I can tell you exactly what kind of church you go to. Right? Listen to those sermons, pull up the hardest verses in there, ask your elders about them, talk about them, be willing to grow and be stretched. It is so stretching for a person to try and come under the perfect Word of God and to do any kind of justice in describing it. It's amazing! God's Word is amazing!

37 sermons in Ephesians, 34 in Philippians, 25 in Colossians. First and Second Peter, every single verse. That's only nine, there's 55 more to go. So, as I considered that, one of the things was, Wow, I'm going to have to be like 800 years old in order to get all the preaching in. So, we started to do what, about two years ago? Books, entire books, preach the whole counsel of God, declare everything. Now, hopefully over the next couple of months, we'll be able to put that into a book form so you can have all of those Bible journals that we made in a single book.

That's over 450 sermons. Why? Because preaching is for us to grow in the unity of the faith. Preaching is for God's glory. We have considered the depth of the grace of God. Right, that's Ephesians. We've considered the love of God, the mercy of God. The resurrection of Jesus Christ, which conquered sin and death – not just started the process but finished the process. We've considered the power of the Holy Spirit. We've done multiple series on the Holy Spirit, the Trinity, how do you understand that? We have considered the immeasurable kindness of God, which his love and grace have been lavished on us. From Ephesians 1, you can see that.

We've considered the future of all who loved him, and have not held back, and said that if you don't know Jesus, you will spend eternity in hell! The scariest verses in all the Bible are the ones that tell us of those who claim to have known him, and done miracles in his name, and cast out demons in his name, and he says, “I never knew you.” That's why these waters of baptism are so important. Who cares what everyone thinks? What does Jesus think? Does your life say you're saved based on Scripture and Christ's word alone. And so, as we talk about these doctrines and God's plan to bring unity, these are the very things that bring us together and woo us to the Savior. That's the substance that I know you all crave.

So, point one was: “God's plan builds up the church.” Right? He gave the teachers and the shepherds to equip the saints. Point two was: “God's plan brings unity.” Unity of the faith, unity of the knowledge of the Son of God so that you're not tossed to and fro by every wind of doctrine. Right? And point three is: “God's plan includes discipleship,” includes discipleship. Listen to this, Ephesians 4:16, “from whom the whole body, joined and held together by every joint with which it is equipped, when each part is working properly, makes the body grow so that it builds itself up in love.”

You can't be part of the church and have bitter anger towards your brother or sister in Christ. Scripture even goes further and says you can't hate your brother whom you can see and love your God whom you can't see. That's a contradiction. If you go around and you're okay with fuming hatred towards other people, you are not saved. Or you have sin that you have welcomed into your heart and you need to repent of it, today. “When each part is working properly.” Are you equipped? Are you at a church that equips you? This is the result of discipleship. And as I was doing more study a few years ago, I was very convicted that our discipleship wasn't fully taking advantage of the size of church that we have. I have seen discipleship at churches which have 6 to 7 thousand people, all the way down to one-on-one discipleship. I've seen how that works. But why not our church?

It's as I was studying Richard Baxter in history and how he came in and he had 800 families in his church. 800 families, not people. And he met with them three days a week. He hired a couple of secretaries just to set up all the appointments round the clock, three days a week. And he met with every single person, young and old. And so, we started elder led discipleship. And if you're part of this church, if you're a member of this church, or even a regular attender, you know the elders have met with you personally, and talked to you personally. And if you've come since that was paused, as this transition is happening, I hear that's going to start back up. They're going to continue on meeting with you, pouring their love into you, and talking about the Scripture with you. It's discipleship, you can't work properly if you're not equipped. But when you are equipped, according to verse 16, it builds the body up. The body, not the person, the whole church.

When you add up all the Grace Equip lessons on Sunday mornings, all the Small Group lessons from all the different teachers who've been equipped. All the men's and women's Bible studies, from you ladies who have grown in your knowledge and your understanding of how to teach the other ladies; and you men who have put your hands to the plow, and you've learned how to study the Bible, and you've learned how to teach the Bible. When you combine those things together and the events that we have where the Gospel is proclaimed every single time were at an event. And the children's ministry is pouring the Gospel into the children week after week after week after week – giving them a chance to know Jesus themselves. There are thousands of lessons in the last 10 years. Why? So that we can know, love, and serve Jesus Christ.

God's plan includes specific discipleship. 2 Timothy 2:2 says, “and what you have heard from me in the presence of many witnesses entrust to faithful men, who will be able to teach others also.” God's plan includes training men specifically to teach others. That's biblical language for everyone in the church doing their part. Every single part of the church, every single person in the church, has a part to play. You say, “I don't know what my gift is.” Well, first, the Holy Spirit has given everyone a gift of God's grace to bless the body of Christ. So be kind, and generous, and loving to each other. Then go ask your elders, “How can I use my spiritual gifts to bless the body of Christ? Help me figure that out.” And I guarantee you, you won't have to go one Sunday without finding a place to try out your gifts. They will find a spot for you. Quickly, like the nursery. You want to be sanctified in the truth, be sanctified in the nursery.

These things that are described here in Ephesians are God's plan. There's no new plan. The question is, is are you part of the plan? Are you willing to be all in? This is why we love Jesus. While we were sinners, he died for us. When we're incomplete, he says, “I'll keep working on you.” When we're frail and broken, he says, “I gotcha.” Right? A burning wick, he will not snuff out. He puts the body together so that it's strong, not just barely surviving, but so that it's strong. And in God's plan, we rejoice. What's the future of Grace Bible Church? Well, I see a strong church. It's not built on the person of Peter, Matthew 16:18, “You are Peter, and on this rock, I will build my church, and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it.” Do you think Satan can't take on Peter? Are you kidding me? It's built on the confession: that you are the Christ, the Son of the living God, that was Peter's confession. You’ve got to back up a verse [Matthew 16:16].

I see a strong church, supported, sustained and growing because of Jesus Christ. “On Christ the solid rock I stand,” right? “All other ground is sinking sand.” Jesus is able to sustain you, to grow you. And he will do that, for the next, however long until he returns. And he's been doing that since the creation of the world. See, the mission of Grace Bible Church is ingrained into the DNA of who we are because we didn't make it up, we recognize it from the pages of Scripture. So, what does the future of GBC hold? Well, more of Jesus Christ. More of preaching Christ and making disciples for the glory of God.

My parting verse to you, which Pastor Nick will be preaching on soon, over the coming months, comes from Philippians. That's your next series. It says this in Philippians 1:3,

Philippians 1:3–6 (ESV)
3 I thank my God in all my remembrance of you, 4 always in every prayer of mine for you all making my prayer with joy, 5 because of your partnership in the gospel from the first day until now. 6 And I am sure of this, that he who began a good work in you will bring it to completion at the day of Jesus Christ.

May God be with you. Let's pray.

Dear Lord God, we love you. We praise your Holy Name. Thank you, Lord, for all that you are doing and will do in this precious body of saints, whom we call Grace Bible Church. Lord, we pray that if there's someone here who doesn't know you, that they would repent and believe in your Name today and be saved. That by your grace, you would get a hold of their hearts as they consider their lives and see that it does not match your Word, that they would submit themselves 100% to you today and be saved. And you have said and declared, that all who come to you, you will not cast out.

Lord God, for those who know you. I pray that you would solidify them in your plan.

Now let's just take a moment, dear friends, and pray and ask God to help us to be a 100% a part of God's plan for the church.

Dear Lord Jesus, our lives are all about you. This church is about you. And to you, and you alone, we give the praise, the glory, and honor. Amen.