Obeying God’s Plan
The goal of obedience to God’s plan is spiritual growth. We are designed to strive towards a Romans 8:29 type growth, in which we: “…to be conformed to the image of his Son…” Louie mentioned tithing and finances, a very tough act of obedience, yet one in which God richly blesses the giver. I don’t talk about it a lot, but anytime you give up something because you realize there is something greater, that’s maturity in Christ! When we obey God in order to grow, we will grow in our joy of Him. This is a foreign concept for the unbeliever. Paul is encouraging the Ephesians toward obedient growth in this section we will examine today.
I. To Walk In a Worthy Manner (Ephesians 4:1-2) The word “walk” refers to a person’s conduct. Paul shares four ways in which we should conduct our lives.
- A manner of humility. A true mark of a believer because it takes the power of the Holy Spirit to be humble. The more I’m engaged in the Word, the humbler I become. I realize that I can do nothing apart from Christ and only He holds the power!
- A manner of gentleness. We need not force anything. God is all powerful
- A manner of patience. We need not be concerned about our time when God’s timing is perfect.
- A manner of love. We’ll see this spelled out in Romans 12 in the near future, but love displays true growth. We can only love the unlovable and the uncomfortable through maturity in Christ and the power of the Holy Spirit empowering that growth.
II. To Work Towards Unity (Ephesians 4:3-7) Everything is to point to Jesus Christ. Verses 3-7 really go back to Eph. 1:10 “as a plan for the fullness of time, to unite all things in him, things in heaven and things on earth.” What does unity do? It displays that our plan and our agenda are secondary to the work of the kingdom. We may differ on small items, but prayerfully we will be in unity about the direction towards growth in Christ and the mission of the church.
III. To Equip the Whole Church Towards Maturity (Ephesians 4:11-15) This is our goal at OHBC, to grow in spiritual maturity. How will we do that? Verses 11-15 answer this.
- Enable the Gifted (v.11) Paul list five areas of giftedness, I’m sure this isn’t an exhaustive list. Each born again believer has been given a giftedness for the glory of God. Verse 7 affirms this fact. We will have seasons in which your spiritual gift will be called upon to be utilized. Please be sensitive to this. One day, if it’s God’s will, we will be able to sustain more ministries consistently for God’s glory. Today we will have to do fewer things really well.
- Equip The Saints (v.12) These gifted individuals are to equip the born again for ministry. Who is responsible for equipping? Every born again believer is responsible. The pastors or shepherds may oversee the equipping, but every believer is to be equipped and to equip. Sometimes in equipping, we must prone good things in order to equip for the great things.
- Encourage Maturity (vv.13-15) Everything we do at OHBC is to encourage maturity in Christ. I’m thankful for the mature decisions being made by the Vision 20/20 team. How? After much prayer, it decided that it wasn’t wise to be held to a large note. No one wants a family life center more than me, but being obedient to God’s timing is the most important act of growth. I believe He will guide us through our spiritual growth and do what we see as the impossible to achieve this goal. I just ask that you pray, grow, and give for this to happen.
How are we to be obedient to God’s plan?
- Walk in a worthy manner
- Work towards unity
- Equip the whole church towards maturity