A New Reformation in America Ephesians 4:11-16

Eureka Baptist Church

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December 27, 2020

00:11: From 1959 to 1964 there was a television sci -fi series known as the
00:18: Twilight Zone It was created by Rod Serling and also directed by him Every episode opened with this intro.
00:26: There is a fifth dimension beyond which is known to man It is a dimension as vast as space and as timeless as infinity it is the middle ground between light and shadow between science and superstition and Lies between the pit of man's fears and the summit of his knowledge
00:45: This is the dimension of imagination. It is the area which we call the
00:51: Twilight Zone Every episode in the show was about surreal experiences on planet
00:58: Earth the characters in these stories lived a normal life until they entered the
01:03: Twilight Zone and in this zone strange things happened now
01:11: Why do I say this? In the American Church, which is the largest and most
01:19: Influential of all the countries in the world We have entered the
01:24: Twilight Zone a Couple months back. I had someone in our church asked me about people.
01:31: I would recommend to listen to Beyond what you get at this church. I Compiled a list and before I sent the email off.
01:41: I had to pause for a second This list of recommendations was so different from a list.
01:49: I would have sent off even five years ago We are living in an
01:55: American Church where people are Compromising left and right and I was slow to recommend anyone who has seriously
02:07: Compromised at a time when it is more important than ever to take a stand
02:14: So many are buckling and they are doing it in the name of Christian love When in reality it is folding to pressure from the outside world
02:25: There are Christian leaders who used to be my heroes who no longer are It doesn't mean
02:31: I forget everything I learned from them, but it does mean the respect has been lost
02:37: When someone folds when the moment is the biggest that is a serious problem
02:44: One of my heroes who still is one of my heroes is John MacArthur He has been pastoring
02:52: Grace Community Church near Los Angeles, California since 1969 He has seen
02:58: Everything and what he said several months back is that the crisis facing the American Church is bigger than anything
03:06: He has ever seen it Is the greatest threat to the gospel in his lifetime?
03:14: Down through church history there have been many threats to the gospel
03:20: The most notable is what happened in the Middle Ages The gospel was polluted so much that it became largely lost in the church in Europe this is why a
03:33: Reformation needed to happen 500 years ago Martin Luther the great reformer
03:40: Rediscovered the gospel and he made a stand
03:46: Luther was a pastor and professor in the town of Wittenberg Germany a town about the size of St.
03:54: Croix Falls but his writings Which denounced the
04:00: Roman Catholic teaching? Eventually made their way to Rome and the whole world exploded as there was a split in the church between biblical
04:11: Christianity and unbiblical The Lord used
04:17: Luther and other brave men to bring about a reformation in the church and this was
04:22: Largely speaking a grassroots effort It didn't come from the most well -known and Popular in Europe I submit to you
04:35: That most of the biggest names in the church in America right now are leading the church astray
04:43: I'll explain what I mean as we dig in to this sermon but what is happening in America right now is similar to what happened 500 years ago in Europe a
04:52: Reformation needs to happen and a reformation is happening by God's grace, and this is mostly a grassroots effort
05:01: Most of the people fighting the corruption of the American Church are not big names There are a few and MacArthur as I mentioned is one of them, but most are not
05:14: It is among most of the well -known men in the American Church where the compromise is happening
05:20: And I feel the need to preach the sermon because there is a need to address it and I want to do my very small part and I want you
05:31: Eureka Baptist Church to understand what is going on out there You are
05:36: American Christians, so this is your concern and I want to help you navigate through these strange
05:48: Times so this time I encourage you to turn in the Bible with me to Ephesians chapter 4
05:55: We'll be looking at verses 11 through 16 The reason we are going to plant ourselves in this text is that this passage
06:05: Describes what the church is supposed to look like and this is not what is happening largely speaking in the church in America right now and if this
06:18: Passage isn't happening the bad things will happen
06:24: They are happening and they will happen only getting worse down the road
06:31: This sermon is titled a new Reformation in America, let's read the text
06:40: This is the Apostle Paul writing to the church in Ephesus and he gave the
06:48: Apostles The prophets the evangelists the shepherds and teachers to equip the
06:53: 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
07:02: 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
07:10: By the waves and carried about by every wind of doctrine by human cunning by craftiness in deceitful schemes rather Speaking the truth in love.
07:23: We are to grow up in every way into him who is the head into Christ From whom the whole body
07:30: Joined and held together by every joint with which it is equipped when each part is working properly makes the body grow
07:38: So that it builds itself up in love. Here's our big idea
07:46: True growth can only happen in churches that are rooted in God's Word Another way to say this is this churches
07:58: Only go in the right direction if they are fully committed to God's Word We're gonna see two paths how in this text the first one today and the next one next
08:15: Sunday Here's the first path how through following true teachers that leads to maturity and Unity this is how true growth happens in churches
08:27: Following true teachers that leads to maturity and unity and we'll see this in verses 11 through 13
08:33: What we see at the beginning of verse 11 is the first pronoun he and this pronoun is important to understand verses 9 and 10 tell us who the he is
08:46: Verse 10 describes the one who ascended far above all the heavens that he might fill all things
08:53: The he can only be one person Jesus Christ What scripture makes clear is that Jesus is the head of the church?
09:03: Verses 4 and 5 of this chapter say that there is one body in one spirit
09:08: Just as you were called to the one hope that belongs to your call one Lord one faith one baptism
09:16: The Lord mentioned there once again is referring to Christ Jesus is the head of the church, and it is so important that all of his followers listen to what he says
09:29: There is no mystery what the church is supposed to look like and what individual lives are supposed to look like Christ instructions have been outlined clearly in Scripture We know the story of Jesus ministry.
09:43: He called 12 men to be his disciples Jesus spent three years with them
09:50: Then Jesus died and rose again and after his resurrection He spent 40 days with his disciples and what he did is he sent them out into the world
10:02: These disciples were called apostles and a few more apostles were added including
10:08: Paul and Their purpose was getting the good news of Jesus Christ out to a lost world in verse 19 of the
10:18: Great Commission Jesus tells his apostles to make disciples and you make disciples by get by sharing the good news of What Jesus did on behalf of humanity when he came to earth?
10:31: This is what the the Apostle communicated to the world Paul tells us a definition of the gospel in 1st
10:40: Corinthians 15 verses 3 and 4 He wrote I Delivered to you as a first importance when
10:45: I also received that Christ died for our sins in accordance with the scriptures That he was buried that he was raised on the third day in accordance with the scriptures what we see in the book of Acts is that the gospel is communicated to the world and many believed and Churches were established on the truth
11:06: The Apostles not only taught the people the gospel, but they taught them everything that Jesus said
11:13: That is what Jesus commanded them in verse 20 of the Great Commission To teach them to obey
11:20: Everything I have commanded you The teachings of Jesus were passed on to the world by the
11:27: Apostles and several decades later these Apostles and their associates Wrote down the teachings of Christ what we call the
11:37: New Testament So the Lord gave the Apostles as a gift to the church to tell everyone who believes in Christ what the truth is
11:46: We do not have to speculate About what the truth may be like a philosophers have done down through the ages
11:53: We know what the truth is and it has been written down in the pages of Scripture We hold in our hands the teachings of the
12:02: Apostles, which is the teaching of Christ Now the
12:08: Apostles were given to the church as a gift But the Apostles are off the scene and they have been for almost 2 ,000 years
12:17: If anyone ever tells you that there are modern Apostles run from them. That's not true
12:23: The qualification to be an Apostle were those who were appointed by God to this office
12:29: And those appointed were eyewitnesses to the bodily resurrection of Christ But Christ has given other gifts to the church besides Apostles Verse 11 of chapter 4 says that Christ has also given the prophets the evangelists the shepherds and teachers
12:48: Every Christian agrees that there were prophets in the first century who spoke the words of God Some still believe the gift of prophecy is alive among believers today personally,
13:00: I do not I Think that the gift has ceased as it is not necessary since we have the full revelation of God's Word What need is there for a prophet if we have the
13:11: Bible? But what is crystal clear is there are still evangelists and there are still shepherds and teachers as Verse 11
13:25: Tells us these gifts that God has given to the church Obviously evangelists are those who share the gospel and they not only
13:34: Share the gospel, but the New Testament way of understanding it is that these are people who planted churches
13:39: And of course when you plant a church The church is designed to get the good news out so that people would come into a saving a relationship
13:49: With Christ But God has also given shepherds and teachers to the church
13:57: Shepherds are pastors and what pastors do is preach the word Teach the word and shepherd the flock of God among them in this church,
14:08: I am a pastor and Mark is an elder Elder and pastor those terms are
14:15: Interchangeable our job is to teach our job is to shepherd And we better not mess it up James 3 1 says not many of you should be teachers for those who teach will be judged more strictly
14:30: More pastors in America need to take this verse more seriously
14:37: Every teacher will give an account based on our level of faithfulness to carry out
14:45: What he told us to do God has told us in the
14:50: New Testament what a church is supposed to look like and what we are to teach and if a shepherd diverts from that he has no authority all
15:02: Of his authority comes from the Bible and a pastor should never
15:10: Deviate to do his own things And this is the problem in America Too many are
15:19: Deviating too many are doing things their own way Because they want to attract people or they don't want to offend anyone
15:28: Or they don't want to look down on by society The pressure that comes from society
15:37: Now verse 12 tells us the purpose of the ministry of the shepherd To Equip the
15:44: Saints for the work of ministry for building up the body of Christ So the pastor's responsibility is to help other
15:52: Christians specifically the ones in their flock to fulfill their ministry Every Christian is called to ministry
16:00: And what the second half of verse 12 tells us is that whenever one does the ministry that each are called to The church is built up Everyone in this room has so many different abilities and Gifts of the
16:17: Spirit the Lord wants you to use those gifts to serve the church
16:23: When this happens what a beautiful sight it is When everyone uses their gifts this leads to such a blessing as so many are helped and built up It is the pastor's responsibility to equip the
16:36: Saints for the work of Ministry I once heard a
16:44: Good illustration. It's a military illustration about a pastor's relationship with his church a
16:52: Pastor is the supply person on the military battlefield while the people in the church are on the front lines
16:58: Every time you hear the word week after week what you hear is preparing you for your own personal ministry
17:07: So God supplies you through the pastor
17:15: Ministry is not something done only by pastors and Christian leaders. We must understand that No To do the work of ministry is the call of every
17:25: Christian when this happens God accomplishes many wonderful things through a local church
17:33: This blessing happens within the church and outside the church and the church is built up Now what is the building up of the body of Christ as Paul mentions at the end of verse 12?
17:44: The purpose of pastors preaching teaching and shepherding and the purpose of other
17:50: Saints in the church Fulfilling their ministry leads to the building up that is described in verse 13 where Paul writes until we all attain to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the
18:03: Son of God to mature manhood to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ So in true
18:11: Teaching and true living happens in a church Which starts at the top with the pastor and elders and flows down to the others in the congregation?
18:21: What takes place is unity and maturity according to verse 13? this takes place when there is correct knowledge of the
18:30: Son of God is verse 13 says which includes believing what he accomplished at the cross and Through his resurrection and following all his teaching
18:38: This leads to maturity among church members and when there is maturity there is unity
18:45: You can't have unity without maturity you can't have unity unless you're going in the right direction largely speaking
18:55: At the end of verse 13 when Paul writes that we attain the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ Paul is referring to reflecting
19:03: Christ a Simple definition of Christian maturity is that you look more like Jesus You think talk and act like him?
19:13: This is the mission of our church We want to grow in Christ together, that's the mission of Eureka Baptist to grow in Christ together
19:24: So how are we doing? How are we doing and here's an even broader question?
19:33: How is the church in America doing I can honestly say that I think little by little our church is moving in the right?
19:43: Direction. Thanks be to God God has been good to us Things take time and I think
19:51: I'm seeing more of what Paul is describing here taking place in our midst And this is happening in many places in America, I don't want to make it sound like There's nothing good happening in America.
20:03: There are someplace places. There are bastions of light But the sad part is
20:09: Because of an embrace of false teaching which I will explain in the next point next
20:16: Sunday The direction that these churches and Christian organizations are trying to go will be greatly hindered
20:25: This is the main idea of this two weak sermon You cannot experience true growth in Christ unless you have a sound
20:35: Understanding of God's Word without any Teaching brought in from the outside world that contradicts the
20:44: Word of God There must be full commitment to the
20:49: Word of God And once again next week, I will explain the poison that is drowning out the true teaching in many churches and why there must be a strong movement away from this
21:03: The problem in many American churches is not only that there is little true teaching which is rampant in America.
21:11: Yes But it doesn't stop there. The problem is also that in some places an abundance of true teaching is taught
21:21: But it is combined with sprinkles of false teaching Enough to distract from the true gospel and enough to set up a destructive path for churches and Christian organizations in to the future
21:37: So the question that pastors in America need to ask is our pastors teaching correct doctrine and Our pastors speaking out against threats to the gospel
21:50: Rather than caving to a society that is hostile Toward biblical
21:55: Christianity and a society by the way, that is becoming even more hostile toward Christianity a pastor should not care what the outside society says there needs to be full commitment to the
22:10: Word of God now I Know that I am
22:16: NOT in a room full of pastors, but this is still relevant to each of you Because you may listen to pastors outside of me and I hope that you do
22:24: But I hope that the ones you listen to are speaking the truth without compromise true teachers are called to make the gospel central as it is of first importance as Paul wrote in first Corinthians 15 and Pastors are also called to preach and teach the whole counsel of God as Acts 20 27 says and to reject any false teaching that creeps in Titus 1 9 says that a pastor must hold firm to the trustworthy word is taught
22:56: So that he may be able to give instruction in sound doctrine and also to rebuke those who contradict it So pastors are proclaimers of the truth and guardians of the truth local churches and the
23:10: Church in America Desperately need true teachers. There are lots of teachers out there who are dangerous or wishy -washy
23:18: Some are all right false teachers while others do not teach the whole counsel of God Others teach the whole counsel of God but are afraid to speak out
23:28: Against unhealthy trends in the wider church or even bizarrely embrace the unhealthy trends trying to combine
23:37: Sound doctrine with other teaching that threatens the gospel in these places that are once bastions of sound
23:44: Biblical Christianity are in danger of having their best days Behind them, but do you know what
23:53: God's call to the ministers are? He calls his teachers Not to shrink back from anything
24:02: Even if some look down on you for it The words of Paul in Galatians 1 10 are very helpful and so important to hear
24:12: Paul wrote if I were still trying to please man, I would not be a servant of Christ what motivated me
24:22: To preach this sermon is that I've been wrestling with what in the world is going on in the wider church
24:28: We truly have entered the twilight zone If you would have told me five years ago that I would preach a sermon with concern about many men who not long ago
24:39: I considered a reliable I Would have told you that you were crazy But here we are at the end of 2020 we live in a wild and unpredictable world
24:55: And on top of this this week there was stories about Ravi Zacharias who passed away several months back and The news about him is very tragic
25:08: The man lived a double life He was praying on women
25:15: And what he did cannot happen to someone with someone who is teaching the
25:20: Word of God. He was disqualified He should not have been doing what he was doing because he was living in a moral life.
25:27: What a tragedy And by the way, the evidence is out there there's not a question of whether he did it he did it and it's tragic
25:38: And that's just one of that's not even the main issue. I'm talking about in the sermon That's just an example of just the chaos that is happening in the
25:46: American Church right now In a wild and unpredictable world.
25:51: We need to know the teachers we can trust and those who are not so trustworthy right now
25:57: The last several years in 2020, especially has been a revealer of reliability
26:04: Who is going to stand when things get tough in? America and in the in the
26:10: American Church We have seen many people buckle when an opportunity for an Esther moment is there for the taking in Esther 414
26:21: We read that Esther was born for such a time as this
26:28: People who are all in for Christ with no care for what the world thinks of them do not buckle
26:35: When the hour arrives the temptation is to hold on to one security and cushy position
26:42: But this is not what brave men and women of God do I am so alarmed by what is happening in some
26:50: Christian institutions There's one Christian seminary in particular a southern seminary where some very corrupt things
26:58: Have happened and I only say this because the evidence is there. I wouldn't say this if it wasn't true
27:07: Let me give you an example of this that there was a professor who was speaking out against the false teaching in the seminary the professor was fired and He was not going to be given his severance package
27:20: Unless he would not say anything bad about the seminary So they were going to withhold it from him if he if he agreed that he would not say anything bad
27:30: These are things that happen in Washington DC The corruption is these are swamp like things that happen in Washington DC And this is happening in Christian institutions, and it's unacceptable
27:47: And there needs to be repentance And that president needs to resign It's unbelievable.
27:57: What is happening in the American church right now? But we must live
28:05: Defend preach the truth of God's Word no matter the consequences People who do this realize the only true security is found in God He will take care of you as you stand for the truth.
28:18: No matter what what happens And you know what's on the line the present and future health of the church is on the line
28:28: You cannot experience true growth in Christ unless you have sound doctrine and when there is a threat to the truth
28:33: We should not be okay that it makes damaging inroads into a local church or the wider Church Christ gives true teachers for the growth and unity of the church without true teachers staying in the course growth is absent
28:46: Stagnancy comes and the church is in danger of being led away From God.
28:54: Well, we must understand is that history repeats itself Well people don't understand is that in the 1600s
29:05: Harvard and Yale The first hundred years of these schools.
29:10: They were they were churches or they were colleges that trained pastors and Now they're about as secular as can be what happened
29:22: Somewhere along the way they stopped guarding the truth Satan got a foothold and he completely turned them away from God If you don't think that can't happen in your place or even in this church
29:39: We're fooling ourselves. It can happen anywhere in an unstable time in American Christianity I want our church
29:50: Eureka Baptist to recognize true teachers who stand out from those who compromise Every teacher must teach the truth and everyone else must make sure that you are listening to true sound teaching from God's Holy Word This is how growth into Christ's likeness happens among the people of God My prayer and hope is that Eureka Baptist would be a beacon of light in this dark time.
30:16: We are small. Yes But God can still use something small as an example for other churches as we grow we can become a better and better example to follow as Individuals the
30:29: Bible tells us to follow those who follow Christ the same goes for churches May our church grow more and more to be a model for others in an age when frankly good
30:40: Biblical churches are fewer and fewer This Morning we have seen how true growth happens in the church as it is rooted in God's Word the first path
30:53: How this takes place is through following true teachers that leads the church to maturity and unity
31:01: Sadly in many places in the American Church, this is not happening because the church is not fully committed to the
31:08: Word of God Next week We are going to look at what kills the spiritual growth of the church and what even sends it down a path
31:16: Where the gospel may be abandoned We will look at the false teaching in America.
31:22: That is the biggest threat to the church right now in The intro I mentioned what MacArthur was talking about when he said there is a poison out there
31:31: That is a bigger threat to the American Church Than anything that has come on the scene in a very long time and next
31:40: Sunday We will look at that Let's bow our heads in prayer father in heaven
31:50: Lord we live in some very strange times and My prayer for Eureka Baptist, Florida that you would help us navigate these times
32:00: And I pray that indeed that that there is a reformation happen. I pray that they would only be advanced going forward
32:07: That Believers who are entangled in these things would turn from them. I pray Lord. We don't want them to stay there
32:14: We want them to turn from it. I Pray Lord that you would expose the false teachers in the church
32:21: So that people can see Who a true teacher is and who a false teacher is and indeed
32:27: Lord that this church and the wider church will be built up in maturity and unity