The Body of Christ

Ephesians 4:11-12

Pastor Darrin Wright – April 27, 2008

Introduction

After introducing the subject of grace and gifts in verse 7-10, Paul continues his explanation of spiritual gifts in verses 11-16. In 1 Corinthians 12:13, the bible teaches that when we place our faith in Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior, the Spirit of God baptizes us into the family of God. The bible also teaches that as we entered the family, Jesus Christ gave us at least one grace gift, a supernatural endowment for His service in His body.

Christ not only gives gifts to individual believers, but to the whole Body of Christ as well. To each believer He gives gifts of divine enablement, and to the church He gives specially gifted men as leaders. When the leaders of the church and the laity of the church use their gifts in cooperation, the body of Christ is blessed and built up.

Problem: We have substituted attendance for participation. As a result the body has suffered.

In this passage of scripture Paul gives us a picture of what the Body of Christ should look like. We see where we are to function and participate in effective service to Him through His church.

I. The Pattern Of Leaders In The Church. (vs.11)

• Jesus Christ is head of the Church, and He has placed a specific pattern of leadership in the church.
• He gave – emphasizes the sovereign choice and authority given to Christ. Christ gave gifts to the church to help mature the body of Christ; but the focus is not to be on the gifts but the giver.

1. Apostles.

1. apostle – to send; one sent on a mission; a divinely appointed representative; used only of the twelve disciples, Matthias who replaced Judas, and Paul.

2. In order to be an apostle, they had to have been chosen by Christ, and witnessed the resurrected Christ.

3. The term is used in a more general sense of other men in the early church such as Barnabas, Silas, Timothy, and a few other leaders. They were called messengers of the churches (2 Cor. 8:23). Whereas the first group were apostles of Jesus Christ.

4. The men who held the gift and office of apostle built the church; their gift empowered them to go to unchurched areas, preach the gospel, and successfully start congregations.

5. Since their gift was needed only to get the church started, and since the qualifications included personally seeing the risen Christ, the office of the apostle has ceased to exist.

6. The apostles were like delegates to a convention. When the convention is over, the position ceases. When the New Testament was completed, the office of apostle ceased.

2. Prophets.

1. prophet – mouthpiece or spokesman of God, a vehicle of His direct revelation.

2. Prophets differ from those who have the gift of prophecy (1 Cor. 12:10).

3. Prophets foretold the future, exhorted, encouraged, and strengthened God’s people; and they revealed the word of God when the New Testament scriptures had not been completed or recorded.

4. Like the apostles, their office ceased with the completion of the New Testament, just as the Old Testament prophets disappeared when that Testament was completed, some 400 yrs. Before Christ.

5. Ephesians 2:20 (NASB)- “having been built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Christ Jesus Himself being the corner stone.”

6. Once the foundation was laid, the work of the apostles and prophets was finished.

3. Evangelists.

1. evangelists – men who proclaim the good news; obstetricians- they were gifted in bringing new births; they built on the foundation laid by the apostles and prophets; they are uniquely designed and given to the church to reach the lost with the saving gospel.

2. “Evangelists” may refer to the gift of evangelistic preaching, or of making the gospel plain to unbelievers, or of helping others make a commitment to Christ, or of effective personal witnessing.

3. New Testament evangelists were missionaries and church planters (much like the apostles and prophets without the title and miraculous gifts), who went where Christ was not named and led the people to faith in the Savior. They then taught the new believers the word, built them up, and moved on to a new territory.

4. Therefore, the work of an evangelist is to preach and explain the good news of salvation in Jesus Christ to those who have not yet believed.

5. While those gifted in evangelism are to lead out in proclaiming the gospel, we all share in realizing the Great Commission.

6. All believers are called to be soul winners, but not all believers are called to be evangelists.

4. Pastors And Teachers.

1. pastors – shepherd; emphasizes the care, protection, and leadership of the man of God for the flock of God; pediatricians – work to help new believers grow.

2. teacher – has to do with the primary function of pastors, though teaching can be identified as a ministry of its own (1 Cor. 12:28).

3. and – the Greek construction indicates that the two terms go together, and we might hyphenate them in English as pastor-teacher.

1) Three Words Used To Describe The Pastor-Teacher.

a. Pastor – poimen (Greek); shepherd; emphasizes what his attitude and character are.

b. Bishop – episkopos (Greek); Episcopalian; overseer; emphasizes what he does.

c. Elder – presbuteros (Greek); Presbyterian; older person; maturity; emphasizes who the man is.

d. All three terms are used of the same church leaders, and all three identify those who feed and lead the church; yet each term has a unique emphasis.

e. 1 Peter 5:1-2 (NASB) – “Therefore I exhort the elders among you, as your fellow elder and witness of the sufferings of Christ, and a partaker also of the glory that is to be revealed, shepherd the flock of God among you, exercising oversight not under compulsion, but voluntarily, according to the will of God; and not for sordid gain, but with eagerness.”

f. Acts 20:17; 28 (NASB) – “From Miletus he sent to Ephesus and called to him the elders of the church. Be on guard for yourselves and for all the flock, among which the Holy Spirit has made you overseers, to shepherd the church of God which He purchased with His own blood.”

g. Poimen or pastor emphasizes the pastoral role of caring, feeding, protecting, and leading because the concept of leadership is evident in the picture of a shepherd. The focus is on the attitude of the leader. To be qualified as a pastor, a man must have a shepherd’s caring heart.

h. Bishop or overseer was a unique leadership role in the church and was specifically responsible for teaching (1 Tim.3:2), feeding, protecting, and generally nurturing the flock (Acts 20:28).

i. The New Testament church was initially Jewish, and it was natural that the concept of elder rule was adopted. Elder was the only commonly used Jewish term for leadership that was free of any connotation of either the monarchy or the priesthood.

j. Throughout the New Testament as the church developed, leaders were called elders. Nearly every church we know of in the New Testament is specifically said to have elders (plurality of elders).

k. The Elders of Israel were mature men, heads of families (Ex.12:21); able men of strong moral character who feared God and were known for their truthfulness and integrity (Ex. 18:20-21); men full of the Holy Spirit (Num. 11:16-17); capable men of wisdom, discernment and experience—impartial and courageous men who would intercede, teach, and judge righteously and fairly (Deut. 1:13-17). The term Elder emphasizes maturity of spiritual experience, shown in strength and consistency of moral character.

2) What is the role of the Pastor- Teacher?

a. As the era of the apostles and prophets came to a close, the office of pastor-teacher emerged as the highest level of local church leadership. As a result it carried a great amount of responsibility.

b. Elders were charged with the care and feeding as well as the spiritual guidance of the entire church. There was no higher court of appeal, and no greater resource for knowing the mind and heart of God with regard to issues in the church.

i. Elder – Set an example of spiritual maturity.

1. Hebrews 13:7 (NASB) – “Remember those who led you, who spoke the word of God to you; and considering the result of their conduct, imitate their faith.”

2. James 5:14 (NASB) – “Is anyone among you sick? Then he must call for the elders of the church and they are to pray over him, anointing him with oil in the name of the Lord.”

ii. Pastor - Preach and Teach/Feed and Protect

1. 1 Timothy 5:17 (NASB) – “The elders who rule well are to be considered worthy of double honor; especially those who work hard at preaching and teaching.”

2. Titus 1:9 (NASB) – “holding fast the faithful word which is in accordance with the teaching, so that he will be able to both exhort in sound doctrine and to refute those who contradict.”

iii. Bishop – Lead/Oversee Affairs of the church(1 Tim.3:4-5; 12; 5:17; 1 Thess. 5:12)

1. Hebrews 13:17 (NASB) – “Obey your leaders and submit to them, for they keep watch over your souls as those who will give account. Let them do this with joy and not with grief, for this would be unprofitable for you.”

iv. Service

1. 1 Timothy 4:6 (NASB) – “In pointing out these things to the brethren, you will be a good servant of Christ Jesus, constantly nourished on the words of the faith and of the sound doctrine which you have been following.”

2. 1 Timothy 4:14 (NASB) – “Do not neglect the spiritual gift within you, which was bestowed on you through prophetic utterance with the laying on of hands by the presbytery.”

5. Warren Wiersbe – “The word of God is the local church’s protection and provision, and no amount of entertainment, good fellowship, or other religious substitutes can take its place.”

Four Checkpoints (Sam Gordon)

1) They need to be faithful, staying committed to the flock in good times and bad.

2) They need to be practical, not afraid to address the seemingly insurmountable problems of daily life.

3) They need to be discerning, able to spot danger before it is obvious, able to distinguish the phony from the real, and sense the struggles of the flock.

4) They need to be able to take criticism for people have a tendency to throw darts at their leaders and pastor-teachers are not exempt.