The church is a stage...

Ephesians 4:7-16- But to each one of us grace has been given as Christ apportioned it. This is why it says: "When he ascended on high, he led captives in his train and gave gifts to men." (What does "he ascended" mean except that he also descended to the lower, earthly regions? He who descended is the very one who ascended higher than all the heavens, in order to fill the whole universe.) It was he who gave some to be apostles, some to be prophets, some to be evangelists, and some to be pastors and teachers, to prepare God's people for works of service, so that the body of Christ may be built up until we all reach unity in the faith and in the knowledge of the Son of God and become mature, attaining to the whole measure of the fullness of Christ. Then we will no longer be infants, tossed back and forth by the waves, and blown here and there by every wind of teaching and by the cunning and craftiness of men in their deceitful scheming. Instead, speaking the truth in love, we will in all things grow up into him who is the Head, that is, Christ. From him the whole body, joined and held together by every supporting ligament, grows and builds itself up in love, as each part does its work.

This is the blueprint for Christ’s living temple- the description of how the church must work in order for it to fulfill it’s God-ordained purpose.

The foundation of the church is this; Jesus Christ descended, rescuing us and ransoming us from sin and death.

Ephesians 4:8-10- This is why it says: "When he ascended on high, he led captives in his train and gave gifts to men." (What does "he ascended" mean except that he also descended to the lower, earthly regions? He who descended is the very one who ascended higher than all the heavens, in order to fill the whole universe.)

Here, Paul references Psalm 68- a victory Psalm that David composed to celebrate the conquest of a Jebusite city and the triumphant ascent of God, represented by the Ark of the Covenant, up Mount Zion. After a King had won such a victory, it was customary that he would have a victory parade, parading the spoils of the battle and the enemy prisoners before his people.

Another feature of the parade is that there would be a parade of the King’s own soldiers who had been captured by the enemy and recaptured by their King in his victory. They were often referred to as ‘recaptured captives’- prisoners who had been taken prisoner again by their own king (and it’s interesting that Ephesians 4 begins with Paul identifying himself as ‘a prisoner of the Lord’)- recaptured, and given freedom.

This is the case with us;

Christ descended to wage war against sin and death. As He was victorious, we are ‘recaptured captives’- God’s own people who once were prisoners to sin and death but now have been freed on account of our King’s victory.

Spurgeon puts it this way;

‘’As great conquerors of old led whole nations into captivity, so Jesus leads forth from the territory of his foe a vast company as the trophies of his mighty grace. From the gracious character of his reign it comes to pass that to be led into captivity by him is for our captivity to cease. The Lord Jesus puts death to death.’’

So Jesus Christ descended, securing victory for us from sin and death; He then ascended into glory. However, just before His ascension, He gave this commission to the church.

Matthew 28:18-20- Then Jesus came to them and said, "All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age."

So on account of Christ descending and ascending, we have been rescued from sin and we have a commission to reach those who need rescuing, as we have been rescued. The church’s commission is a rescue mission. And vitally, each of us, whether you were aware of this or not, have been assigned by God a part to play in the fulfillment of the church’s commission. It is vital to the realization of this church’s call that all of those who have been assigned by God a part to play do play their part.

For this reason, Jesus gave, as we read in verse. 11,

Ephesians 4:11-13- ‘’…some to be apostles, some to be prophets, some to be evangelists, and some to be pastors and teachers, to prepare God's people for works of service, so that the body of Christ may be built up until we all reach unity in the faith and in the knowledge of the Son of God and become mature, attaining to the whole measure of the fullness of Christ.

Earlier, in Ephesians 2:20, Paul establishes that the church is built on the foundation of Christ Jesus, who is the chief cornerstone, and also on the foundation laid by the Apostles and Prophets.

To build on this foundation today, God in His grace gives to the church some to be evangelists for the purpose of reaching out to those who are God’s own, but still in sin’s captivity. Now, all of us do have the opportunity to be involved in evangelism; simply by sharing with those around us the good news of Jesus and His gospel. But God does call and gift some by His grace specifically to and for the setting aside of their lives for the proclamation of the Gospel as Evangelists.

To build further on this foundation, God in His grace gives to the church some to be pastors and teachers for the purpose of building up God’s people into maturity and equipping them for the task of reaching out to others and building up others. All of us do have the opportunity to be involved in the process of building each other up and ‘spurring one another on towards love and good deeds’. But God does call and gift some by His grace specifically to and for the setting aside of their lives as Pastors and Teachers, for the building up of God’s people into maturity and the equipping of the saints for good works.

That, Biblically, is the role of the pastor.

Acts 6:1- In those days when the number of disciples was increasing, the Grecian Jews among them complained against the Hebraic Jews because their widows were being overlooked in the daily distribution of food.

So, there’s a practical ministry task in the church that is being neglected; a group of people who are being overlooked. This task evidently brought to the fore a philosophical question about the functionality of the early church; which was this- how could the pastors of the church, the Apostles, continue to fulfill their responsibility to the ministry of the Word of God and to prayer, without these practical ministry tasks being neglected?

Acts 6:2-6- So the Twelve gathered all the disciples together and said, "It would not be right for us to neglect the ministry of the word of God in order to wait on tables. Brothers, choose seven men from among you who are known to be full of the Spirit and wisdom. We will turn this responsibility over to them and will give our attention to prayer and the ministry of the word." This proposal pleased the whole group. They chose Stephen, a man full of faith and of the Holy Spirit; also Philip, Procorus, Nicanor, Timon, Parmenas, and Nicolas from Antioch, a convert to Judaism. They presented these men to the apostles, who prayed and laid their hands on them.

This is the way that it is to be.

It’s not that some things are beneath some people; it’s that each of us have parts to play and the church function bests when each person plays their part.

Have you ever seen a stage play where an actor is playing more than one part? Dialoguing with himself, portraying 3 characters simultaneously? The church often is that stage play. I have seen this too often- churches become stagnate when the pastor ends up doing too much of what he shouldn’t be doing and not enough of what he should be doing.

So the Apostles wisely turned various responsibilities of the church’s ministry over to the people, in order that they could then focus fully on their part, the ministry of the Word and prayer, for the equipping and building up of the people. And look at the result

Acts 6:7- So the word of God spread. The number of disciples in Jerusalem increased rapidly, and a large number of priests became obedient to the faith.

My prayer, and my ambition as a Pastor, is that we would remain in Christ, and bear fruit as we remain in Him; and that as we are strengthened in unity and maturity, our church would grow and build itself up in love, as each part does it work.

What I ask of you is that you would play your part and you would allow me to play mine.