sermon in growing Christ

1. Growing in Christ
In Love
Ephesians 4:14-16
Spiritual Gifts

2. Spiritual Gifts
1. God is the Giver of spiritual gifts
2. Purpose of Spiritual gifts:
 To equip the saints for
a. Works of service
b. Building up of the body of Christ
 Terminus (Point
reached/Destination)
a. Unity in the faith
b. Maturity in Christ

3. WHY?

4. v. 14 As a result, we are no longer to
be children, tossed here and there
by waves and carried about by
every wind of doctrine, by the
trickery of men, by craftiness in
deceitful scheming

5. I. Mature in the Truth
Truth of Jesus or God (John 14:6).
 Jesus is God, who became a human being
 Salvation is found only in Him. Christ died for
our sins, buried, and rose again on the third
day
 We are justified or made righteous through
His blood
 He is holy, righteous, just, love, and wrath
against unrighteousness or sin
 He is the Head of the church
 Truth found in the Scriptures
 Life after death

6. v. 14 As a result, we are no longer to
be children, tossed here and there by
waves and carried about by every wind
of doctrine, by the trickery of men, by
craftiness in deceitful scheming
We are no longer children – It is a
continuous possibility that a mature
believer in the truth would no longer
be an infant or unlearned, childish, or
unskilled.

7. v. 14 ...tossed here and there by waves and
carried about by every wind of doctrine,
by the trickery of men, by craftiness in
deceitful scheming
The implication is that there are Christians
who are not growing/maturing in the truth are
those easily deceived by any teaching they
hear.
These Christians easily accept what these
teachers teach by:
 Trickery
 Deception (Daya)
 Fraudulent (mapanlinlang)
 Craftiness (sanay na sanay)

8. The Apostle Paul explains in
verses 12-13 that the use of spiritual
gifts in the body of Christ leads to
maturity of believers. But he does not
deny the fact that there are
baby/unskilled Christians who are
easily carried away by any doctrine,
that is why in verse 15 he gave us the
instruction on how to deal with baby
Christian brother or sister.

9. II. Model the truth
v. 15 aletheuontes – speaking or
professing the truth
It is the nature for Christians to
speak/tell the truth whatever the
situation is or whenever it is needed.
But how?

10. v. 15 Speaking the truth in love...
We model the truth in love. Notice the
word used, “Speaking” it is present
tense, meaning we continue to
speak/tell the truth in love.
When we say the truth we say it in a
loving way.

11. What is love?
I Cor. 13:4—8
Love is patient, love is kind, it does not
envy, it does not brag, it is not puffed up,
It does not behave inappropriately, it
does not seek its own way, it is not provoked,
it keeps no account of wrong,
It does not rejoice over injustice but
rejoices in the truth;
It bears all things, it believes all things, it
hopes all things, it endures all things.
Love never fails…

12. Ek = from, out
of
Ev = in
Eis = to, into,
unto, towards
We continue to speak the truth in the sphere
of love!

13. Speaking the truth outside the sphere
of love may do more harm than good.
We may have the right intention, but if
done in an unloving manner/outside of the
sphere of love, it may be destructive rather
than constructive.
We model the truth in the sphere of
love.

14. v. 15 Speaking the truth in love, we may
grow up into Him in all things, who is
the head, Christ
As we continue to tell the truth to our
brother or sister in love, we grow in Christ.
We develop/grow the character of Christ in
us.
Growth takes place in us and in the
person we are speaking the truth with.

15. We are to grow in the things of
Christ
(true doctrine) and model those things
in the
character of Christ-the way of love.

16. III. Share/Teach the truth
v. 16 from whom the whole body, being
fitted together and held together by
what every joint supplies...
sunarmologeō means properly to sew
together; to fit together; to unite, to make
one. It is applied often to musicians, who
produce “harmony” of various parts of
music. “Passow.” The idea of harmony,
or appropriate union, is that in the word
(Albert Barnes).

17. v. 16 from whom the whole body, being
fitted together and held together by
what every joint supplies...
sumbibazomenon. Tyndale renders this,
“knit together in every joint.” The word
properly means, to make to come
together; to join or knit together. It means
here that the different parts of the body
are “united” and sustained in this manner
(Albert Barnes).

18. v. 16 by what every joint supplies...
Literally, “through every joint of supply;”
that is, which affords or ministers mutual aid.
That which “unites or fastens” together the
different parts of the frame - the blood
vessels, cords, tendons, and muscles. The
meaning is, that every such “means of
connecting one part of the body with another”
ministers nourishment, and that thus the
body is sustained. One part is dependent on
another; one part derives nourishment from
another; and thus all become mutually useful
as contributing to the support and harmony of
the whole. Thus, it furnishes an illustration of
the “connection” in the members of the
church, and of the aid which one can render
to another.

19. v. 16 ...according to the proper working of
each individual part, causes the growth of
the body for the building up of itself in
love.
The proper working of each individual part
produces the body’s growth, for building itself
up in love.
“In mutual harmony-as the “body.” The
meaning is that it seems to be made on the
principle of “love.” There is no jar, no
collision, no disturbance of one part with
another” (Barnes)

20. Conclusion
To grow in knowledge of Christ is to
know Him (His truth) unto maturity.
To grow in the character of Christ is to
model the truth in love.
To grow in Christ in His body is to teach
the truth to one another in the sphere
of love- the character of Christ.

21. Growing unto maturity in Christ is
denying yourself, your own
knowledge, your wants/desires, and
replacing them with the person and
knowledge of Jesus Christ, the love of
Christ, the desires and passions of
Christ. You become less and less of
yourself and making Christ more of
you in your thought, in your
conversation, in your walk, in your
character.

22. We come to know our Master and
His ways and we as His followers do
the same the way He did things in life.