There is one body, one spirit, just as you were called to the one hope that belongs to your call, one Lord, one faith, one baptism, one God and Father of all who is over all and through all and in all. But grace was given to each one of us according to the measure of Christ's gift. Therefore, it says, when he ascended on high, he led a host of captives and he gave gifts to men. In saying he ascended, what does it mean but that he had also descended into the lower regions, the earth? He who descended is the one who also ascended far above all the heavens that he might fill all things. And he gave the apostles, the prophets, the evangelists, the shepherds, the 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, 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. Rather, verse 15, speaking the truth in love, we are to grow up in every way into Him who is the head, into Christ, 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. Thus ends the reading of God's Word. May He add His blessing to it. Please be seated. Let's pray and ask God to bless our time in His Word. Heavenly Father, We're so grateful for your word. We're so grateful that we can open up this text of scripture and hear you speak to us this afternoon. We do pray that your spirit, the same spirit that inspired this text of scripture, would now come and bring illumination and understanding and application, that we might see and hear and understand and then apply these glorious realities to our lives, that we might live in light of your glorious gospel, motivated, empowered, fueled, for obedience and service. We commit ourselves to you, we commit this time to you, and pray all these things in Christ's name. Amen. Well, this afternoon is a significant milestone in the life of this church, life of Redeemer. I know that it's something we've been hoping and praying for for quite some time. I remember standing on this stage, some of you were here, about two years ago and You know the news was Pastor was moving on and the question was Are we going to be able to make it? Are we able get are we going to be able to? get enough money together to keep the doors open to keep worshiping together and The Lord has has answered our prayer. I It's been a long road these last couple of years. There have been a lot of obstacles, a lot of ups and downs. But we celebrate this new season. Eight days ago, Pastor Eli was ordained and installed out in California. Formerly ordained and installed as the evangelist for this work. And today as we gather as a church family back on the island to celebrate that calling, that installation, we rejoice in God's faithfulness. We are here together to praise God for what He has done. And it's more than, you know, celebration of a ceremony. It's more than recognition of a new minister. This is an opportunity to stop for a moment, to reflect, and to recommit ourselves to what it means to be the Church of Jesus Christ on the island of Wahoo. A moment like this should fill us with both joy and sober-mindedness. We rejoice because Christ himself is at work. The Lord is at work. He is the one who calls and equips ministers for the gospel. He is the one who builds his church and the gates of hell will not prevail against her. He is the one who raises up leaders, gives gifts to his people, and works through his body to accomplish his means through his methods. but it also brings about this joy, brings about responsibility. As Eli's been set apart as an evangelist, this means something for him, but it also means something for the rest of the congregation as well. It means something for all of you together, it means something for each of you individually. And we'll talk about that in our time together. So we're not only observing a minister being sent, but we're standing together as a body, hearing Christ's call, responding in faith. What does it mean for Eli? That's an important question. But what does it mean for us? What does it mean for each of us and all of us together? And that's what we're going to think about as we look at Ephesians 4, 1 to 16 here this afternoon. First of all, the church is a people called by Christ. And I think You know, it's always hard to jump into a text of scripture, jump into the middle of a book. And so I love to just kind of review, especially in a book like Ephesians, as you think about the book of Ephesians, you can kind of roughly break it down to the first three chapters about what the Lord has done. And I think, Eli, you've preached through this. Are you preaching through it right now? You have preached through it? So Ephesians 1 through 3, I mean, you guys have slept a few times since you heard Eli preach on this book. So just to remind you, Ephesians 1 to 3, is all about what God has done for us. And then four to six really essentially is what we, the church, are to do in light of the glorious gospel. What we say is the indicatives, what the Lord has done, drive, fuel, motivate the imperatives, what we're to do in response to the gospel. I want to spend a couple of minutes just kind of recapping, thinking about what the church is, and how the church is formed, before we think about what the church does. I just think that's a healthy way for us to think about what we do as a church and as Christians. And so Paul in the letter to the Ephesians, in those first three chapters, as he talks about those glorious statements about what the Lord has done, declarations of grace, if you will. This is really about the grace of God. Think about these things, that God has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places in Christ. Chapter 1, verse 3. He has chosen us in Him before the foundation of the world that we should be holy and blameless before Him. 1-4. He has predestined us for adoption as sons through Christ Jesus. 1-5. Redeemed us by His blood, forgiven our sins, lavished His grace upon us, sealed us with the promised Holy Spirit, guaranteed our inheritance until we acquire possession of it fully and finally in heaven. Paul goes on to say that he's raised us from death to life, seated us with Christ in the heavenly places, united both Jew and Gentile, tearing down the dividing wall of hostility, the middle wall of partition, creating one new man from the two in Christ. no longer strangers and aliens, but fellow citizens in the household of God, with the saints and the members of the household of God being built together into a dwelling place for God by the Holy Spirit. And let me just stop for a moment to say that that is what God has been doing in this church for 20 years. God has been doing that here for 20 years. Through thick and thin, through good times and bad, through smooth times and rough, the Lord has been doing that work here at Redeemer for 20. And so this is the gospel. These are the glorious realities about what God does for sinners. And Sinclair Ferguson says the gospel tells us to bathe in God's grace. faith in His grace, His goodness toward us in Christ. And I just think it's always a great time to say, the world, the people outside of the church, have no idea that this is what the church believes. If you go up to somebody that doesn't profess faith, if you go up to somebody outside of the church that doesn't go to church, doesn't read the scriptures, they think what? That the church is for the good people. The church is for people that are holier than thou. The church is for people that are better than me, that live a better life than me. They just inherently, within themselves, are just better people than I am. But that's not at all what we believe as Christians. That's not at all what the scriptures teach. The scriptures teach that God saves sinners. And we come to understand that, and it humbles us. It makes us understand that we are unworthy and undeserving sinners that really deserve God's judgment and condemnation. But God gives us the exact opposite of what we deserve. He gives us what Christ deserves, because Christ decided to stand in for us. And that's what we need to, in the core of our beings, every day of our lives, allow to be driven deeper and deeper into those innermost parts of us. The gospel tells us to bathe in God's grace. And then, as we come to chapter four, After three chapters of unfolding these glorious realities, declarations of grace, Paul turns a corner. And as much as we can't miss the first part, we can't miss this part either. Because in 4.1, he says, I therefore, and I always say, it's cheesy, I know it, but I always say, when you see the word therefore, you want to ask the question, what's the therefore therefore? Cheesy, I know. but it's a great thing to help you remember when you read your Bible, when you study your Bible. What's the therefore therefore? What is he talking about? Why does he say I therefore? Because he's saying, as he turns the corner here, you need to live this way in light of what I've been saying for three chapters. So he says, I therefore, for one, a prisoner for the Lord, urge you to walk in a manner worthy of the calling to which you have been called. What is it to walk? It's the way that you live your life. It's the way you carry out what you do. It's how you live every day. And Paul is saying, under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, you need to walk in a manner that's worthy of the calling, worthy that measures up with the gospel. Now, when you think of that word worthy, I think sometimes we can get confused. But it speaks of a life that is measuring up. Like, here's the glorious gospel, here's what Christ has done, now live a life that matches up. Live a life that you're seeking to live in light of this glorious gospel. You're saying, I want to live a life that measures up. Not to be saved, not to stay saved, but because you have been saved by this amazing God. But I think sometimes we have this idea that if the gospel is this, what we read in the first three chapters, then it doesn't matter how I live. God cares a lot about how we live. He cares a lot about what we do. And as Pastor Eli said, there's forgiveness, there's repentance and confession, but he cares a lot about what we And so he calls us to live worthy lives, to walk in a worthy manner of the calling that lines up. And he talks at first about, in this passage, he talks at first about unity. And I'm going to talk to you about unity, and I'm going to talk to you about diversity. There's unity in this passage, and there's diversity. And the first part is this unity, and to walk in a manner worthy means to be united. What does it mean? look like for us to be, as members of Redeemer here, to be united, walking in unity. It means, verse 2, humility. It means Paul would say to another church in another place, esteem others more highly than yourself. It means gentleness, verse 2 goes on to say. It means patience. It means that you bear with one another, you put up with one another, you love one another because you love them. Bearing with one another in love. And notice verse three, eager to maintain the unity of the spirit in the bond of peace. Interesting that there's a peace that's granted to us, but then there's a peace that we fight for. we're trying to maintain this unity in another sense of that word. And so you members of the body here at Redeemer are called to walk in unity, to do the things that are spelled out in verses two and three, and to remember that there is one, and notice the repetition of this word one, and you probably remember this from Pastor Eli's sermon on this passage, but notice in verse four, There's one body, one spirit. You are called to one hope, one Lord, one faith, one baptism, one God and Father of, notice now, all, who is over all and through all and in all. There's this oneness, there's this unity in the body of Christ. And I think it's really important that we not only in this room, as members of this church, remember the unity and fight for the unity, but also remember the unity of the body of Christ as a whole, outside of this congregation, all over the island. Those that belong to the true church. I'm not just talking about OP. You're like, well, we're the only OP church here. I'm talking about our Reformed and Presbyterian brethren. I'm talking about all who preach the gospel, administer the sacraments, and exercise church discipline. We're on the same team. I think that's really important for us to remember and understand. We're on the same team. There's one kingdom. There's one king. Sometimes we get into our little personal kingdoms, or little denominational kingdoms, or non-denominational kingdoms. There's one kingdom because there's one king. There's one Great Commission that's given by the one king. Jesus says, all authority has been given to me, and I give it to my church. And there's one Lord, one faith, one baptism, one God and Father over all, in all, through all, etc. So the unity of the body that we fight for, it's really important for us to understand this. Catholicity, we call it, right? In the best sense of that word. Not a scary word. But there's also diversity. And as you go down to verse 7 to 12, I want us to think about this. Notice the word verse 7, but. So there's all this language that's one, one, one, over all, all, all. But then the corner is turned in verse 7, but grace was given to each. So now there's this diversity. There's grace given to each according to the measure of Christ's gift. And there's this kind of complex language that we're not going to take the time to really get into in verses 8 to 10, but the idea is that Christ won this cosmic battle, And he basically went back, he came down to win the battle, to fight the battle and to win it. He won the victory and then he went back to heaven. And when he went back to heaven, he gave gifts to his church. One of the things that we see on the day of Pentecost, he gave his spirit. This coronation gift the father gives to the son and the father and the son give it to the church. Spirit's poured out and that's super important. But we also read about these gifts that were given to the Church here in verse 11. He gave apostles and prophets and evangelists, and then shepherds and teachers. I'm not getting into those kind of deep details here, but notice the Lord gives men to the Church. These are all men given to the Church. Apostles, prophets, evangelists, shepherds and teachers. And even more specifically, these are men who have word gifts. These are all gifts of the word. Now, as we look at the apostles and the prophets, those are gone. There's some conversation amongst some groups that evangelists were a thing of the past and aren't around anymore. But for us in the OP, we have evangelists that plant churches. As a regional home missionary, I'm an evangelist, and Eli is an evangelist as a church planter. And so I want to spend a couple of minutes thinking about that and thinking about what Eli's been called to. Eli, you stand amongst this congregation today not because of your own ambition, not because of your own wisdom, not because of anything in yourself, but because Christ himself has called you and given you as a gift to the church. This is not a job you've chosen. This is a calling that you've received from the Lord. It is Christ doing, it is his work, and it is his gift to the church. You are not called merely to maintain this church. You are called to build, to gather, to labor in the harvest. You are an evangelist sent to plant, proclaim, to shepherd, and to establish the work of God in this place. And how do you do this? It's not by programs. It's not by pragmatism. It's not by human ingenuity. It's by prayer and the word. One of the guys that I really am fond of reading, very convicting on prayer, Ian Bounds, says this, the church is looking for better methods. God is looking for better men. I like that. What the church needs today is not more machinery for better new organizations, mighty, novel methods that men from the Holy Ghost can use, Holy Spirit can use, men of prayer, men of the Word. And that's the challenge to you, Eli. You're going to do this work through prayer and through the Word. It's in Acts 6, the apostles handed off the ministry to the deacons there so that they might give themselves to prayer and the ministry of the Word. And that's what you're called to do. It's very straightforward, very simple, and very important. John Calvin, writing on the weight of gospel ministry, said the pastor ought to have two voices, one for gathering the sheep and another for warding off and driving away wolves. The scripture supplies him with the means of doing both. Keep yourself in prayer and keep yourself in God's word. You're called to gather and guard, to preach, protect, shepherd, to stand firm. You must call sinners to repentance and faith, comfort the brokenhearted, strengthen the weak, defend the flock against false doctrine, fight for the purity of the church, and be willing to lay down your life for the sheep that God has given into your care. And you say, I'm not sufficient for this work. Good. That's a good response to have. None of us are. No man is. But Christ is sufficient. Paul says in 2 Corinthians 2, who's sufficient for these things? The answer is clear. Our sufficiency is from God. It's his gospel, his power, his spirit, his word that will accomplish the work. And so this is your charge, your mini charge on the island here today. Preach Christ, shepherd the people, defend the flock, do the work of an evangelist, and do it knowing that Christ has placed you here, Christ will sustain you, and Christ will accomplish his purposes through you. And now to the congregation, Redeemer. First of all, I want to say this, and I think I'm preaching through the seven letters to the seven churches in Revelation chapter two and three on Sunday nights in Irvine. And I was just struck by the letter to the Philadelphians last Sunday night. You know, so many churches, when they think about the seven letters, they're like, oh yeah, we're the church in Philadelphia. Like, that's the church we are, because there's no rebuke, no correction there. But really, as you look closely at the letter to the Philadelphians, it was a struggling church. It was a small church. They didn't really have a lot of gifts. They didn't really have a lot of resources. They weren't really able to kind of impact the society like they wanted to. But the Lord says, I know. I know your works. I know you have but a little strength, He says to them. But basically, He says to them, I commend you for being faithful. It's okay if you feel like you don't have a lot of gifts or strength. You have something from the Lord. Listen, each of you, all of you together, I know for certain, because God's word says you do, Peter says you do, you all have gifts. And you say, I don't have a lot, I'll never do anything publicly. That's okay, because the Lord knows. You may never be a pastor. You may never be an elder. You may never be a deacon. You may never lead a Bible study or do something that you stand up in front of the congregation. That's okay. You can still be faithful. The Lord will know, which is ultimately what matters. And so I want to encourage you all to do the work that the Lord calls you to. And I think this is a really important statement in verse 12. If you have a Bible in front of you, I want you to put your eyes upon verse 12 with me. I won't take much more of your time, but I do want us to think about that. As the Lord goes back, Jesus goes back to heaven, and he sends his gifts down to earth. He sends these men that preach and teach the Word of God. And it says that he gave the apostles, the prophets, the evangelists, the shepherds, the teachers, all who proclaim God's Word Why though? Why does he do that? Verse 12, to equip the saints, that's you, that's Christians, for the work of ministry, for the building up of the body of Christ. So here's how this works. Pastor Eli preaches, teaches on Sundays, stands behind this pulpit and preaches in a service. teaches Sunday school, does a book study in the park, has opportunities with you one-on-one or with your family in some other kind of, in the park this afternoon. And he is equipping you. Look at that word in verse 12. He is equipping you as a saint, as a child of God, as a believer in Jesus Christ. He is equipping you, making you fully functional. Preparing you to serve God's purpose is the idea. For the work of ministry. You all have ministry. You all have roles to play. And then go back down to verse 15. Rather, speaking the truth in love. There's that word love again. We are to grow up in every way into him who is the head. You're becoming more like Christ, your savior. from whom the whole body, joined and held together by every joint with which it is equipped, when, notice this, notice this phrase, when each part is working properly. It doesn't say some parts, it doesn't say most parts, it doesn't say almost every part, it says each part. It means every part is working properly and it makes the body grow so that it builds itself up again. There's that word, love. One of the things I've noticed as I get older is different parts of my body hurt at different times. On the way over here today, out of nowhere, my back. I'm like, what is going on? But what I've noticed is that when my back hurts, it bothers my whole body. My whole body is affected. When I get a headache, None of my body wants to get out of bed, or none of my body wants to go anywhere. So it is with the body of Christ. The body is all interrelated, and the body is all negatively affected, when the whole body is not working together. I don't want us to just think when we come here, we're just individuals doing our devotions in front of a bunch of other people. We're not individuals coming in here, worshiping God by ourselves, while other people are around doing the same thing. We're a body. We're all joined together, we're all part of one another, because that's the way Christ has wanted it to be. That's the way Christ has made it to be. And listen, if you're a member of this church, it's because God has brought you here to be a part of this body, and he's brought you here because you have gifts, talents, and abilities that this body needs for you to exercise. And you're part of the grand plan of God. That he's been working out in time and in space, that he put together before the world existed, before Genesis 1-1 was spoken, before God spoke the world into existence, and we're doing in these last days what God wants us to do. And so as the passage is in chapter 4, verse 1, turning a corner, we and the church here at Redeemer are turning a corner. And as I think back to two years ago, and I really was worried. I'm like, let's give it a go. Let's see what we can do. But there's a term in football. When you're running out of time, and you have the ball somewhere around midfield, call it a Hail Mary. Yes, it's Catholic terminology, but this is also a football term. When you get the ball, last play of the half of the game, and you just throw it up, and you hope somebody catches it in the end zone so you can win the game. It's a Hail Mary. We ran the old Hail Mary play, and we prayed a lot, and God has answered our prayer. We have a new pastor. We have new funding. We almost had a new building. We thought we did, but we're looking again, and God will give us something better, right? And we have you. We have you. who God has brought together, has been forming together into His body, His local expression of His one church, and the Lord knows. He knows what you've done, He knows what you're doing, He knows your future, and so know that. He's with you, He's for you, the one who chose you from before the foundation of the world, the one who came into time and space, took on our humanity, lived that perfect life, died on the cross for our sins, and then rose and went back and sent these gifts down. He ever lives to intercede. He's looking out, watching out. And so what can we do? Just a couple of things, a couple of words of application. What can we do? Where do we start? Prayer. Keep praying. Pray for the work of the church daily. Pray for Eli. Pray for open doors for effective ministry. Pray for conversions. Pray for new families. Pray for discipleship to happen. Pray for God to be glorified. Pray for God to help you find your place in the church to do what you can do to be maximally fruitful for his kingdom. Serve. Utilize your gifts. Get involved in some way, shape, or form. Invite people. You say, I've invited everyone I know. Invite them again. See what God will do. Encourage other people. As the church gathers together, as people come together, gather together with a heart to encourage. Hebrews 10, 24, and 25. Don't neglect the assembling of ourselves together, as is the habit of some, but come together, and the idea is encourage. Build one another up as you see the day of the Lord coming nearer and nearer. Encourage one another, bless one another. The Lord knows that you have but a little strength. Listen, the Lord knows that you're thousands of miles away from the rest of our presbytery, but he cares and he knows. And we're gonna try to get more and more people to come, but know this, that there are people on the mainland praying for you here consistently, praying for your pastor, praying for you as a congregation, and asking me constantly, how's the church doing? Brothers and sisters, this is not Eli's moment alone. It's yours, too. It's the church's moment. It's a it's a big step, a new step forward. God has preserved you. God has brought you through uncertain times to bring you to today and into the future. And the question is this. Will you step up? Will you step in? Let's pray. Heavenly Father, thank you so much for your Word. Thank you so much for this opportunity to gather together and celebrate this new season. Lord, we pray for Eli, for Esme, we pray for his ministry, but we also pray for the work of the Church. Every officeholder here, general office of each believer, will you empower and strengthen and encourage them and help them to step up and to step out to do the things that you've called them to do as individuals, as families and as a whole, Lord, that unity and diversity would clearly be seen in healthy ways here, that you would add to your church, that you would add converts, that you would add families, that you would provide finances, that you would provide a facility, and that you would do everything that you would like to do here for your own glory and for the good of your people. We love you. We praise you in Christ's name. Amen.