Calvary Road Baptist Church

“The Eleventh Benefit Of Being A Church Member:

In The Place Where God is Glorified Aright”

Ephesians 3.21

(Message delivered in the evening service at Faith Baptist Church, Kearney, Nebraska on November 18, 2012)

My friends, our God is a great God. All through the Bible it is declared, and we are reminded, and we are shown time and time and time again, that our God is a truly awesome God. In the Apostle Paul’s letter to the Ephesian congregation we are as forcefully confronted with the greatness of God as we are anywhere else in scripture. In Ephesians 3.21, the Apostle Paul recapitulates in one sentence what he has been saying throughout his letter leading up to this verse. But before we read our text, consider a few things. What does God want? Have you ever thought about that? What does God want? For what purpose has God created the universe and everything that is in it?

Revelation 4.11 tells us why God created everything: “Thou art worthy, O Lord, to receive glory and honour and power: for thou hast created all things, and for thy pleasure they are and were created.” God made what He made so that He might receive glory and honor and power. When God receives glory, and when God receives honor, and when God receives power, He is pleased. But that is a bit general and subject to great variation in individual interpretation. Can we be more specific regarding what God wants? Yes, we can. Ephesians 1.6 reads, “To the praise of the glory of His grace, wherein he hath made us accepted in the beloved.” In other words, one of the reasons why God has made we who are Christians accepted in the beloved, one of the reasons why God saves people who trust Jesus, is so that the glory of His grace will be praised. So, God created this universe in order to be personally glorified by His creation, and He saves people in order to be personally glorified by those He saves.

However, we are still a little bit loose. Things are still a bit nebulous, a bit too general. Is there some mechanism, some device, some organism, some organization, some means, whereby God will be glorified in such a manner as is pleasing to Him? I ask this because we know that God is not the author of confusion. He is a God of symmetry and system. He is a God of order and precision. Therefore, is there some means at our disposal whereby God will be glorified in a manner pleasing to Him, a manner that fulfills the reason for bringing the universe into existence and the reason for saving sinners? The answer to that question is “Yes,” and is the point of Ephesians 3.21. In this verse, the Apostle Paul provides very specific insight regarding how God is to be glorified, both now and in the future. “Unto him be glory in the church by Christ Jesus throughout all ages, world without end. Amen.”

The “him” in this verse is very obviously God the Father. It is the same “him” that is “able to do exceeding abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power that worketh in us,” in the previous verse. To Him, to God the Father, is due glory, and glory has to do with honoring God and recognizing both His status and His majesty.^[1] But what does it mean to give someone glory? To give someone glory, or to glorify someone, is to acknowledge and to commend about him that which is praiseworthy.^[2] For example: In Ephesians 1.6 reference is made “to the praise of the glory of His grace.” In that verse, what is to be praised and commended about God is His matchless grace to save sinners. In our text, Paul pays not so much attention to what it is about God that is to be glorified as to how and by what means God is to be glorified. God is to be glorified by the Lord Jesus Christ. This should not surprise us. Who is better qualified to exalt and praise the virtues and attributes of God the Father than God the Son? That said, please take note of the context in which the Lord Jesus Christ glorifies God the Father. “Unto Him be glory in the church by Christ Jesus.”

Now it becomes apparent why our understanding of the church is so critically important. The church is important because it is through the church that Jesus Christ, the Son of God, glorifies God the Father. It is certainly true that the Father is glorified whenever folks are saved, according to John 15.8. When Christians bear fruit, the Father is glorified. However, where ought Christians be who bear fruit in order to best glorify the Father? In a church relationship. In the congregation. Here is where the essential distinction between Protestantism and the Baptist position, which is the Bible position, comes into play. Protestants, you see, believe that the church is composed of all Christians. So the church, as they understand it, is nebulous and ambiguous. Baptists recognize that the church of Jesus Christ is a congregation of born again, scripturally baptized people, who seek to combine their efforts in obedience to scripture for the purpose of glorifying and serving God.

Since we know that the Lord Jesus Christ is the recognized head of this church, when you bow to His headship, when you obey Him and do those things which He has commanded you to do, then Christ Jesus is glorifying God in the church. For what period of time will God be glorified by Christ Jesus in the church? “Throughout all ages, world without end.” From now on. It begins here. It continues forever. So you see, it does matter what you believe about believer baptism. It does matter what you believe about the baptism of the Holy Spirit. Why? Because these doctrines affect what you believe about the church, and what you believe about the church will greatly affect whether or not you are ever used by the Lord Jesus Christ in the congregation to glorify God as you should and as you could.

“I think you can be just as good a Christian at home as you can at church.” How many of you have ever heard someone make that kind of statement? How many of you have ever seen someone live that kind of statement? We see folks live that kind of statement all the time, don’t we? Whenever a professing Christian stays at home when the church house doors are open, whenever a professing Christian chooses to abstain from participating in the function and the activities of his or her church, that person is making a statement. What is the statement? The statement is either, “I can be just as good a Christian at home as I can be at church,” or “I am unconcerned about whether I am a good Christian or not.” On the surface, such statements may seem rather innocuous and inoffensive. However, when you begin to realize that God created everything to bring Him glory, and when you begin to realize that God saves people who trust Jesus as their Savior in order to give Him glory, and then you add to that the fact that God has chosen to be glorified by Christ Jesus through the church, then the impact of what folks declare by such actions as I have described begins to be seen.

It is wrong when God is not glorified. It is a sin when glory is not given to Him Who reigns above in majesty supreme. And it is a sin when a Christian does not live, serve, and devote his life to Christ and glorifying God through this church. Why? Because the Lord Jesus Christ, Who is the head of this church, has provided this church to be the means by which God is glorified in this age in which we presently live, and forevermore.

Let me show you how this is true in three ways.

First, THE EXAMPLES OF THE CHURCH

Essential to learning things from God’s Word is the reality that God teaches us by taking us from what we already know about things not spiritual and then using those objects as lessons to teach us about things which are spiritual. This is true with the church. A church, from the Greek word ekklhsia, is simply a group with the following characteristics: Called out of a larger population, visible, and gathered. This is why a mob in Ephesus and the children of Israel in the wilderness are both described in the book of Acts by this word ekklhsia.^[3] The church of Jesus Christ, however, is distinct from all other “churches,” all other congregations of called out people in a specific locale. How are you distinct? You are distinct in that you belong to Jesus, the Lord Jesus brought you into existence, and He is your Head. Beyond the peculiar word that is used to describe you, this word “church,” are two other ways in which you are described in the New Testament. Both descriptions shed light on how the Lord Jesus Christ uses you to glorify God in this congregation.

First, the congregation is subject to Christ the way a wife is to her husband (Ephesians 5.22-33).

²²     Wives, submit yourselves unto your own husbands, as unto the Lord.

²³     For the husband is the head of the wife, even as Christ is the head of the church: and he is the saviour of the body.

²⁴     Therefore as the church is subject unto Christ, so let the wives be to their own husbands in every thing.

²⁵     Husbands, love your wives, even as Christ also loved the church, and gave himself for it;

²⁶     That he might sanctify and cleanse it with the washing of water by the word,

²⁷     That he might present it to himself a glorious church, not having spot, or wrinkle, or any such thing; but that it should be holy and without blemish.

²⁸     So ought men to love their wives as their own bodies. He that loveth his wife loveth himself.

²⁹     For no man ever yet hated his own flesh; but nourisheth and cherisheth it, even as the Lord the church:

³⁰     For we are members of his body, of his flesh, and of his bones.

³¹     For this cause shall a man leave his father and mother, and shall be joined unto his wife, and they two shall be one flesh.

³²     This is a great mystery: but I speak concerning Christ and the church.

³³     Nevertheless let every one of you in particular so love his wife even as himself; and the wife see that she reverence her husband.

It takes no genius to figure out that a Spirit-filled woman will reverence her husband, verse 33, and a woman who reverences her husband is a woman who does everything in her power to ensure his success, to extol his virtues, and to magnify him in the eyes of those who know him. Quite obviously, also, is the willingness such a woman will have, as her husband’s help meet, to do everything in her power to help him do and be what God wants him to do and be. Spiritual husbands, of course, nourish and cherish their wives. However, in this passage Paul is actually speaking of Christ and the church, is he not? Yes, according to verse 32. So, if a church, such as this loves, adores, and reverences the Lord Jesus Christ the way a Spirit-filled woman will do with her husband, will you not, then, do everything in your power to see that your Savior accomplishes what He has set out to do? Why, of course you will. What, pray tell, has the Lord Jesus Christ set out to do? Hebrews 10.7 reads, “Lo, I come (in the volume of the book it is written of me) to do thy will, O God.” And what is God’s will? To be glorified.

Second, the congregation is the body of Christ. Virtually everyone who has ever read the Bible remembers reading First Corinthians chapter 12, where the Apostle Paul likens the Corinthian congregation to a body. However, many people overlook Colossians 1.18, which reads, “And he (the Lord Jesus Christ) is the head of the body, the church.” In that verse, the Apostle Paul declared the relationship between the Colossian congregation and the Lord Jesus Christ in a more straightforward manner than he did in First Corinthians 12. The whole point to comparing the church to a body, with the Lord Jesus Christ being the head, is to show the relationship between the leader and the followers. What is too obvious to require explanation is that if Jesus Christ is the head and you are the body, then you will do what He dictates and you will accomplish what He wants. What does He want? He wants the Father to be glorified. My friends, if the Bible shows the relationship between Christ and a church to parallel the relationship between a husband and his wife, and if the Bible shows the relationship between Christ and a church to parallel the relationship between a head and a body, then how in the world can anyone legitimately maintain that he is as successful in glorifying God outside a congregation as he is when he is functioning as a part of a congregation, a church? The whole point is, he cannot.

Second, THE EQUIPPING OF THE CHURCH

For God to receive glory in the church those who comprise the church, the congregation, have to first be trained, equipped, and prepared to glorify Him. How should this equipping of church members take place?

Consider the practice of the Lord Jesus Christ. If you examine His earthly ministry in the gospel record you, will find that the Lord Jesus Christ established His church by placing into His church the apostles. “And He set some in the Church, first apostles,” First Corinthians 12.28. The question is, “How were those men trained, how were those men equipped to glorify God?” To quickly recount for you because of the time constraints, the Lord Jesus equipped His men both publicly and privately. Many were the times He took them aside from the multitudes to teach them things, to give them private lessons. And many were the times they learned by observing Him teach, preach, and interact with the multitudes. So, it can be easily shown that the Lord Jesus Christ prepared the church that He established before His crucifixion in both a public way and in a private way, letting them listen to Him teach and preach along with the multitudes, as well as intense personal training in small groups or one on one. In this fashion they were equipped to glorify God.

Next, consider the practice of the Apostle Paul. Paul, also, trained those in the churches he started, both privately and publicly. Again and again, we read where Paul extolled the virtues of powerfully and forcefully preaching the Word of God, declaring preaching to be an essential for Christians who want victory over sin in their lives. However, Paul also advocated the personal and private training of individuals. Let me read to you just one passage illustrating each of these methods of equipping for ministry. Second Timothy 4.1-4 shows the role of public preparation for service:

¹      I charge thee therefore before God, and the Lord Jesus Christ, who shall judge the quick and the dead at his appearing and his kingdom;

²      Preach the word; be instant in season, out of season; reprove, rebuke, exhort with all longsuffering and doctrine.

³      For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine; but after their own lusts shall they heap to themselves teachers, having itching ears;

⁴      And they shall turn away their ears from the truth, and shall be turned unto fables.

Now read how Paul, in Second Timothy 2.2, advocates the private instruction and preparation of church members: “And the things that thou hast heard of me among many witnesses, the same commit thou to faithful men, who shall be able to teach others also.” We can see that Paul closely followed the example of the Savior in equipping men to glorify God by training them within the context of the church, but in both a public setting and in a private setting.

Now, consider the program of this church. Folks, it is because the Lord Jesus Christ preached to the multitudes, as well as prepared the three, and the twelve, and the seventy, that we recognize the place of both the public and the private approach to equipping Christians for service that will glorify God. What better example is there than Paul of emulating and modeling the Lord Jesus Christ? So, to follow the example of the Lord Jesus Christ and the Apostle Paul, your pastor seeks to equip men and women for service to Christ in both public and private fashion. You have preaching, for nothing can replace preaching in the Christian’s life. Preaching is paramount. But you also have private instruction. I ask you, how are you going to be equipped to glorify God but through the ministry of the church? When Jesus Christ set out to train men to glorify God they were first set in the church that He founded. When Paul sought to copy the Lord Jesus and train men to glorify God, he did so by planting churches and then training the people in those churches. Therefore, you, following the example of Jesus and Paul, train in both public and private fashion, in these large group sessions we call the preaching services, and on a more individual and personal level. However, we insist that all such training, we insist that all such equipping, can only and must take place within the context the Lord Jesus and Paul trained people . . . in the church.

Third, THE EVANGELISM OF THE CHURCH

This entire sermon has to do with the fact that God wants to be glorified in the church by Jesus Christ. The Lord Jesus Christ seeks to, and will in fact, glorify God the Father; and He will do it through churches just like this one. Recognizing that only congregations fit into God’s plan through which Jesus will glorify Him, and recognizing that only congregations are seen in the Bible as the context in which believers are to be equipped to glorify God, it remains that when the right people (Christians), seek to do the right thing (glorify God), in the right place (in and through church congregations), the right method must still be employed for God to be properly glorified. What is this right method which must be employed to glorify God aright? It is called evangelism, the method whereby God brings the lost to Christ. Although it is highly unpopular to most churchgoers these days, the biblical method of evangelizing requires preaching a message to lost people that has both a negative as well as a positive aspect.

The negative aspect of your message has to do with the sins of men. You are a sinner. That is, not just what you do, but in fact what you are is an offense to Almighty God. Now, it is not your fault that you’re a sinner. After all, you were born that way. However, it is your responsibility that you are a sinner. The holy God has declared that He will hold you personally responsible for your sinfulness, as well as for every sin you have ever committed. God has declared that the soul that sinneth shall surely die.^[4] However, to die does not mean that existence comes to an end. Oh, no. You see, your soul, the real you that is inside your physical body, the real you that is your consciousness, is eternal and unending. So, for a soul to die does not mean that it stops existing. It means you will go to Hell, sinner. And you are a sinner. How do I know you are a sinner? The Bible says you are.^[5] And you know you are. You’ve lied. You’ve cheated. You’ve stolen. You’ve had impure thoughts. You’ve not loved the Lord your God with all your heart, mind, body, and soul. You’ve not loved your neighbor as yourself. You’ve missed church services. All those things add up to one conclusion. You’re a sinner even if you’ve committed only one of these sinful deeds. After all, how many people must you kill to be a murderer? A single sin identifies a man or a woman as a sinner in the sight of God. “So what?” you say. “The soul that sinneth it shall die.” “It is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God.”^[6] “For the LORD thy God is a consuming fire, even a jealous God.”^[7] “For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who hold the truth in unrighteousness,” Romans 1.19. Why? My friend, the sole reason you exist is to glorify God. However, Romans 1.21 indicts you: “Because that when they knew God, they glorified him not as God, neither were thankful.” Because you are a sinner you will not glorify God. Indeed, you cannot glorify God. God is going to hold you responsible for that. Unattended to and uncorrected, your sin will take you straight to Hell, and there is nothing in this world that you can do about it. You are doomed.

But our message involves a positive aspect as well as a negative. Jesus saves. My friend, Jesus came from heaven’s glory to become the sacrifice for sin. Think of it. God the Son became a man that He might shed His Own precious blood to wash sinner’s sins away. Why is that a good thing? Because it is your sin that will keep you out of God’s heaven. It is your sin that you cannot personally do anything about. However, Jesus Christ, the Son of God, both can and will do something about your sin, if you will but trust Him. Will you trust Him to save you today? Will you come to Him by faith and trust Him to wash your sins away in His Own precious blood that was shed for you on Calvary’s cross? That is news good for anyone to hear. But I fear that no one will be really interested in the good news until he has first heard the bad news, the negative truth of his sinfulness.

“Unto him be glory in the church by Christ Jesus.” The Lord Jesus Christ seeks to glorify His Father, and He has chosen that this wonderful thing be accomplished in the church. A church like this church, where the gospel is preached, where folks are saved from time to time, where new converts are baptized, and where believers are taught to observe all things whatsoever Christ has commanded. How do we know that this is what God wants? You mean, besides the fact that this verse in the Bible tells us that is what He wants, to be glorified in the church? In three ways:

First, the examples of the church. Look at how the church is portrayed in scripture. Folks, Jesus loves the church. Jesus died for the church. What other examples do we have in God’s Word, during the New Testament era, of some instrument that is used by Christ to glorify God the Father? There are none.

Second, the equipping of the church. Look anywhere in the Bible you want, but you will not find any setting other than churches where Christians are equipped to serve Christ and glorify God. “Unto Him be glory in the church.” Folks, what other organization or institution is referred to in that way? Certainly no parachurch organizations, which have no scriptural authorization for even existing. No. Only churches are used by the Lord Jesus to glorify God, because only in churches are believers equipped to glorify God.

Finally, the evangelism of church. Friends, it is the church that is commanded to go forth and preach the gospel to every creature. And when folks are saved, it is the church that is authorized to baptize and then train those converts, as I have already pointed out. God is glorified whenever sinners are saved, but this verse specifically says, “Unto him be glory in the church by Christ Jesus.”

So, let us conclude this message by glorifying God in a marvelous way. You sit there a sinner. You are condemned by your sin. Should you die in your sins you will suffer the wrath of God forever and ever. But Jesus, Who seeks to glorify the Father in the church, stands ready to save you who will come to Him by faith and trust Him to wash you clean in His precious blood.

After we have dismissed in prayer, let me urge you to take a moment or two to come and talk to me about your sins and about how to become a Christian. Just step into the conference room and I will speak to each of you who respond.

 

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