Body building - what is that process?

in the series, What God is Doing in the Life of a Believer. This one is unique from the rest of them in that everything we have been studying so far has been focused on the individual believer. This, however, is bodybuilding, which we'll continue here. The schedule is toward the bottom part of the first page in your handout. Today we'll have bodybuilding, what is that process, Next week, what is God's part? And then following that, what's the believer's part? And then we have sort of a wrap-up of the whole series. Where is this all going to end, or will it?

So we'll pursue that through the end of the month here. Now, we have this term bodybuilding. A lot of times you get this idea of weight training or some guy with a chiseled physique. But while we use these words here in a way that's not physical, the physical application of these words is somewhat useful in arriving at the spiritual application of the words to the body of Christ, the Church. There are two primary passages, not the only ones, but two primary passages we'll be looking at. Ephesians 2, 19-22. Can we have someone read that for us, please? Ephesians 2, 19-22.

So then you are no longer strangers and aliens, but you are fellow citizens of the saints and are of God's household, having been built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets. Christ Jesus himself being the cornerstone, and your whole building being fitted together, is growing into a holy temple of glory, in whom you also are being built together into a dwelling of God in the Spirit.

Okay, let's ask a question before we move on to the next one. Is this building something that is done, completed, or is it something that's ongoing, or is it some stage of somewhere in between? Yes. Okay, let's take a look at the first question. Is there the implication that at least some of it is done? And what's the done part?

The foundation? Okay, and describe the foundation for me. What's that foundation look like? Apostles and Prophets. Okay, now you look on the foundation of the Apostles and Prophets. Who is the cornerstone? Christ is the cornerstone and as you may well know, the cornerstone would be set and from that would be then determined the configuration and location and alignment of all the rest of the foundation. So Christ is the first stone set, so to speak, and then you have the apostles and prophets.

By the way, which prophets are we talking about? Is this the Old Testament prophets? Is this Isaiah and Daniel and Ezekiel? Or is it something else? Church prophets, okay? There were indeed Old Testament prophets, and those prophets sometimes had books named after them, and we know them. Sometimes they had a role where a book was not named after them, but for example, Nathan was a court prophet. We don't have a book by him, but he was a court prophet who spoke to David, right? Isaiah was one who was a court prophet for Hezekiah, but also wrote a book. So in that case, both. The prophets here are New Testament prophets. New Testament prophets. Now let's ask this question.

If the apostles and prophets were a foundation, do you keep on building the foundation for a building? Do you just keep on building and building and building the foundation? You don't do that, do you? Why? Do you want a foundation? Oh yes, you most certainly want a foundation under a building. I would think we'd be a little nervous if this one didn't have one. So while you want a foundation, you don't want to just keep building foundation, foundation, foundation. So it's an essential thing to start, right? It's an essential thing to start. but you don't keep going and going, which would imply that we don't have continuing apostles and prophets now. Right? Yes?

I mean, the Old Testament prophets, John is the only one. So I'm confused about why it's not including the prophets from the Old Testament, which was a shadow. I mean, like Daniel and Isaiah prophesied for Christ's coming? Oh yeah, the Old Testament prophets definitely were inspired. They talked about Christ's coming. The New Testament gift of prophecy, however, was a temporary gift. And one of the things you'll see in Ephesians, apostles and prophets are paired up three times in the book. And this is one of them. Apostles and prophets as a foundation. Oh, John is the one who wrote the book of Revelation, but that doesn't mean... Oh, John the Baptist, okay.

No, it's those within the church who have the gift of prophecy. We have actually fairly few names of prophets, just like most of the people with spiritual gifts in the church were anonymous. Interestingly enough, except for James in Jerusalem, we know of no name for sure of any New Testament elder. This is the foundation of the church. So the Old Testament prophets, though many of them, I mean we know them by name, including some who don't have books named after them. Nathan is an example that I gave. New Testament prophets, we have a few of them by name, but in great part, no names, but clearly the gift is given as an apostolic era gift.

Yes? In Hebrews chapter 1, the first verse, it kind of indicates that in the past there were the prophets, and then in the current time, Jesus is the prophet, and I know that the gifts in the church are the prophets as well. Right. Doesn't the function change a little bit from the Old Testament? Yes it does, yes it does. The Old Testament was foretelling of the future.

Right, and who did the prophets speak to in the Old Testament? They spoke to Israel with some exception. Can you think of an exception? Who was a prophet who spoke to someone other than Israel? Jonah, yes, right? He was sent to Nineveh. So that would be an example of one who was sent other than to Israel. And then Christ was a prophet, but more than that, right? And then in the New Testament there were prophets. Why would there be prophets? Why would we need prophets during the New Testament era? That's right.

In other words, scripture to guide the church had not been given yet, at least in completion. And so as a result, the gift of prophecy was given as a revelatory gift to fill in until the scripture was completed. With the completion of scripture, the role of the prophet to reveal things that are church-specific Church age specific, the role of the prophet would be ended because scripture would then replace it. Yes?

Prophecy is used to mean future telling of truth and also truth telling. We have to be only about certain things. That's right. Prophecy, sometimes we get into this idea that it's all about the future. It is in part about the future. But the reality is that it really means a fourth teller. And it can be about what's happening right now. Many of the Old Testament prophets did exactly that, because they spoke about things that were happening right in the present situation and gave God's perspective and revelation about that. The New Testament prophets, in great part, were doing something quite similar, but they were addressing things in the church as a fill-in gift as the New Testament was being developed and accumulated.

OK, let's move on from there. We've got what has been built and then notice 21 and 22. When I covered this some years ago, I pointed out 21 and 22 is a Hebrew poetry pattern. Let's look at that. In whom the whole building being fitted together is growing into a holy temple in the Lord. and then 22, in whom you also are being built together into a dwelling of God in the Spirit. See the poetry pattern there? It begins, of course, with in whom, and then the being built idea. So the two verses are a poetry pattern, but here is one reason why this is both an accomplished fact, the foundation having been set, and the building being built in process. Let's ask this question. When is the church as a structure through being built?

Yeah, the rapture. So with the apostles and prophets who were the founders and beginners of the New Testament churches, and they had revelatory responsibility, right? With them, then the church began to be built up, and it included those in the New Testament times, and it continues now, and it will continue until the Lord comes, which I hope is today. What do the people call the 144,000 Jews witnessed to?

Well, okay, after the rapture, this is sort of a rabbit trail, I'll try to address it quickly. After the rapture will come the seven-year period of tribulation, okay? The church will have been completed, so those, whether Jews or Gentiles, who believe will be saved, but they won't be a part of the church, okay? So we can call them tribulation saints, either Jew or Gentile, and That's probably the best designation because it's a particular period of time and it's after the church is taken out.

They're not members of the church. If they survive, then they will go live into the Millennial Kingdom. If they don't, then they will come resurrected into the Millennial Kingdom. And they will have the relationship fraternity with our Father Earth. because they're saved by faith as everyone is through all eternity.

Now, the difference, however, is that there are the free people groups, and so they're either Jew or Gentile, but not of the church, since that's after the rapture. Yes? So are you saying that if, you know, we're saying free pre-trib rapture. Those who are saved during the tribulation period do not, and they believe in Christ, they are not going into the church? No. The church ends at the rapture as a unique body of people.

Where do they go? Oh, they're either saved Jews or saved Gentiles, just like before. Okay, and so where do they go? Oh, ultimately they will be saved. You see in Revelation the souls of those who are saved but lose their lives during the tribulation period, their souls are in heaven.

And they aren't part of the church. They are not part of the church. So they won't be in a throne, they won't be seated before Christ praising? They actually, it describes them in Revelation as being in the heavenly places and having a voice, but not grouped with the church.

Yeah, Cheryl? Won't they be like the Old Testament saints? Much more like the Old Testament saints, but basically, in other words, there's three people groups, okay? From way back at the beginning, there's Jew, Gentile, Gentile initially, and the Church. Those are the three people groups that go on into eternity. So those during the tribulation period that are saved will be a part of either the Jewish or the Gentile tribulation saints.

Yeah? The wedding feast of the lamb is that, and I have my doctrines straight on. I'm stating that the judgment is rational, because the wedding feast of the lamb at the seven-year period, while the whole thing is on, and the termination of that period of time, and that it does not seem to exclude those that are saved during the termination.

Yeah, in other words, what you look at is what you see described all the way to the last chapters is there are three groups. We're getting a little far afield here, so I'll have to kind of truncate the answer, but basically there's three groups. There's the church. The church is those saved from Acts 2 to the rapture. That's it for the church. They're from both before the time of the church and after are saved Jews and Gentiles. Ethnic Jews and ethnic Gentiles. The church is a unique group where the ethnicity, remember neither Jew nor Gentile, the ethnicity is not a primary factor.

Let's go on to the next part here, Ephesians 4, 11-16. Can somebody read that for us please? And he gave some as apostles, and some as prophets, and some as evangelists, and some as pastors and teachers, for the equipping of the saints for the work of service to the building of the body of Christ, until we all attained to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to a mature man, to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ, 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 and deceitful scheming. But speaking the truth in love, we are to grow up in all aspects into Him who is the Head, even Christ, from whom the whole body being fitted and held together by what every joint supplies, according to the proper wording of each individual part causes the growth of the body from the building up of itself. Thank you. This is the central passage describing the growth of the church body, and then twice in that, talking about the building up in that context. Now, let's take a look.

What does verse 11 say? You've got apostles and prophets and evangelists and pastors and teachers. And what is that verse saying? Usually we think of spiritual gifts as a gift that the Holy Spirit gives to believers. How is this different? Who's the He in the second word in this passage? That's Christ. If you look in the context, it's Christ.

And what did Christ give? people to the church. Yeah, and that's kind of the turn on the usual thought about spiritual gifts. We usually think of something as the individual believer receiving, when the reality is that this describes these gifts as Christ's gift to the church body. Isn't that interesting? So Christ gave apostles and prophets, evangelists, pastors and teachers Ultimately to do what? What's the purpose of the gift?

Yeah, so the equipping of the saints. By the way, that equipping is military outfitting. When some guys go through basic training and they get their initial equipment, and then if they go for special training after that, they'll get additional pieces of equipment that they'll get trained on. It's this military Outfitting and training in their use. That's what this word is talking about. That's what equipping means.

Equipping the saints to do what? To sit in the pews? Equipping the saints for the work of the service. So it's interesting. A lot of people think, well, you know, here, Byrne, you are in full-time ministry. No, I'm not. You are. My job is to equip you for the work of the service.

So, to the building up of the body of Christ, what does the building up of the body of Christ look like? It's got some idea like that twice in this passage, and we bolded it. What does that look like? Does that mean that Bud just gets more and more muscular until the Lord takes him home? Does it mean that Vern looks like he's been pumping iron the whole time? What does it mean? What's it talking about?

It's maturation. Good. And what does that look like? Well that's the process of knowing God better, more fully. You're off to a great start. Let's think about it. Knowing God better, more fully. Okay, so a part of what building up the body of Christ is about is this relationship, our relationship with the Lord, but then the other part is between one another. Sharing, okay. One of the terms that you'll see often in the New Testament is this, you know, one another, each other, one another.

In other words, there's this interaction between us. Would that interaction between us mean anything if there wasn't a relationship with the Lord in the mix. No, we'd be otherwise just kind of like the Elks Club. I joke and call them the Iguanas, but they're the Kiwanis. If you have various groups like that, they do some real and constructive things, so don't misunderstand me. But there's no necessarily spiritual basis for it. It's from a humanitarian standpoint a good thing, but it's not spiritually based. This is different in that our interactions with one another are all based on our spiritual relationship with the Lord. So let's describe more. What does this equipping, building, maturing look like? What does that look like when it's all done? What does mature look like? Great. Great. All three heirs are great. What's that?

Yeah, if you look at it, all these processes that God has going on in each individual believer that we've been looking at for the last five months are taking place not only in each individual believer in the body, and we together are a part of that, But there is also an interaction between one another, a building up of itself in love, right? There's an interaction between one another that is also unique.

Yes? Are you talking basically you're Christian to Christian? Yes. Okay. Yeah. Yes? He must increase, I must decrease. Okay. Yeah, now let's think about that. The words you quote are from John the Baptist, and that particularly has to do with John the Baptist's role. However, that fits well with, you know, not I but Christ, right?

So that essentially, because think about it, towards whom are we being conformed? Christ, right? Towards whom are we being transformed? Christ, right? And where are we individually growing? Towards Christ, right? And now as a church body, the direction is, in this passage, toward Christ. Each step of the way, every part we're talking about, Christ is where this is headed. Yeah, somebody had their hand up? Yeah, Beth. Right here. You know, I can't walk, write, all that.

But anyway, I've seen the maturity in Christ in young people. You just see, you know, see Christ in them so much that they can be so mature. You know, and still, you know, example, this Tim Tebow, this prodigal, you know, he was on, try to be less, but anyway, this young man, How is it possible for someone to be young and exhibit maturity and for someone else to be old and it's like they never grew up?

How is that possible? In other words, spiritual maturity and physical, just passing through ages, don't necessarily automatically equate. Right? Yeah. Spiritual maturity and physical maturity can't go on two different levels. Right? And don't necessarily get fed by the same thing. Yeah. But the fact that we aren't Tim Tebow's doesn't mean that we aren't applying ourselves in the plan that God has designed for us. Yes, yes.

And why would that be? Why would God say, you know, alright, this guy's going to do this, but I'm going to have this other guy do that, and he won't show up on TV, and he won't show up on the newspaper? Well, I think it fits with Paul's analogy of the body. I mean, Tim Tebow is kind of like the eyes. Yeah, this is the evident part, right? Exactly.

Aren't you glad you've got a liver that works? I've never been introduced. I'm not sure I ever want to see my liver. But I'm sure glad I have one. There are parts that we look at and say, well, I just don't take a lot of time inspecting the backside of my knees. I just really don't look at them a whole lot. But I'm really glad they're there.

So, yeah, there are things that are more obvious. Some things are prominent and evident and have a high profile. And other things are far more, almost secretive. But aren't we glad it all happens in our physical body? The same thing in our church body. There's people who do things here that's like, you know, who does this? Well, it gets done and it gets done quietly.

And there are people who have reached out and saved millions, like Billy Graham, for example. I mean, you know, the evangelists are extraordinary. And there are other people that are designed, I think, probably may reach only one or two people. That's their purpose. And it's not held against them. I mean, all angels rejoice at a soul that's saved.

On Thursday night, we've been going through the book of Acts. And as much as we mention the name Paul, who was the guy who was there in Damascus? So here's Ananias, right? Ananias was the one that the Lord said, hey, I've got a pivotal moment for you.

You're never before seen in the book of Acts or Scripture and never to be heard from again, but the moment that I have for you is going to be pivotal throughout the rest of eternity. So yeah, the Lord, as I mentioned earlier, here's elders, except for James, we don't know for sure the name of any elder in the whole New Testament. Our tendency is oftentimes to focus on what's high profile, but the reality is that the Lord has anonymity in there that He is going to use just as well. Why? Ultimately, who ought to be getting the attention? Christ, right? So that's what really matters. That's why when Hal said, how would you like your name out front? I said, I wouldn't.

But the quiet kind of behind the scenes type people are sometimes more like the foundation because they're kind of holding stuff together. You need them. Yeah, you need them. And the ones that are higher profile would be the uprights that you can see from the street or from wherever.

Like nobody would think anything if I were on TV or writing a book like, I mean, Tim Tebow is just a wonderful, wonderful Christian role model and how fortunate we are he is to get up there and profess his faith. I mean, they wouldn't think anything if I was up there. Who's she?

He has such a following. Sometimes we'll get these pews just packed and everybody can see these pieces of the structure, but there are some support members underneath this floor that I'm really glad that are there even though very few people ever look at them. Okay, let's continue on here. Let's take a look at page two. The process starts with a position.

So as the work of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit, the body of Christ has been brought into existence, populated by identification, and blessed. The Father has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in Christ. So, by the way, do you need a second blessing? I mean, don't you want everything that God has for you? You already have everything God has for you, right?

Okay, so the son's death, among other spiritual impacts, removing the dividing wall between Gentile and Jew. A Gentile is simply a non-Jew. So non-Jews and Jews put together is all of the ethnicity, has removed the dividing wall in the church, which is the law of Moses.

This is Ephesians 2, 14 through 18. And then believers were placed into the body of Christ by the Holy Spirit. Now here's an interesting thing. Each of the above involves principles of identification. You have every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places where? In Christ. Isn't that sounds like identification, right? So how are you blessed? In Christ, that's identification.

Now, then we have the son's death among other spiritual impacts remove the dividing wall between Gentile and Jew, which is the Law of Moses. How did that dividing wall get taken out of the way? We were identified with Christ in his death and therefore separated from the Law of Moses. Does the Law of Moses go away? No. As a matter of fact, he still has plans for it for the Jews. That's one of the reasons for making a distinction between the church and the Jews, right?

And then believers replacing the body of Christ by the Holy Spirit into, that sounds like identification, right? So you are identified with the body of Christ by a work of the Holy Spirit. So all three of those points are identification principle points. So, but bring about the body of Christ and every aspect of our position in the body of Christ is fixed and unchanging. And am I going to get gradually more in the body of Christ over time? No. At the point of belief, a person is placed in the body of Christ even if they never show up at church. I'm not recommending that, I understand. they've been placed into the body of Christ as their position from the moment they believe. Now, from position in a person to process towards a person.

So each of these three persons of the Trinity, Father, Son, and the Holy Spirit, is involved with the body of Christ. Ephesians is this passage where we've looked at two of these key building up the body of Christ passages on page one. Ephesians, according to this little table that we have inset here, has eight places where the Father and Son and Holy Spirit are mentioned all together. And so here's the amazing thing, both individually and as a church body, the Father and Son and the Holy Spirit are all involved. All of God is involved with all of you. All of God is involved with all of us.

Okay, it's quite evident that the term body of Christ focuses on the person of Christ. We in the body of Christ are His body, He is the head. So what processes are taking place in the body of Christ? Ephesians presents at least these. Growing into a holy temple in the Lord. Now what was interesting as Paul wrote this growing into a holy temple, that was what was happening to the temple in Jerusalem.

In 20 BC, Herod the Great began a rebuilding of the temple there in Jerusalem, the one that Jesus walked into. They didn't complete it until the early 60s, about three decades after Christ had been there in the temple. They didn't complete it until the early 60s and then it was destroyed in 70 AD by the Romans. So from 20 BC, until about the early 60s BC, for about 80 years, the temple was under reconstruction.

Now, it was a working temple, but there's a few things that this explains. One, it explains how, when they could be in the temple area, that they could pick up stones. In the temple area, right? People would say, well, where did they find the stones? That's where they found them.

So that's one thing that it explains, but it explains another thing, why Paul would describe a temple as both having something completed, you see the foundation was already completed by the time Paul wrote this, but it was other parts of the structure that were being upgraded and added to. Since it was a working temple, they had to train the Levites to do the work in the temple area itself, because you couldn't have anybody else go in there. in the inner temple. So they over time trained 10,000 Levites to do things like gold work and masonry work and things like that because the other trained workers couldn't go in there and touch that part of the temple because it was a working operating temple.

So it was partly done and partly still in process and that's why he used that as a perfect parallel and illustration here. Something is done. We've had the apostles and prophets. The church has already begun to be built, but it is still in the process of being built. So he had a good illustration in the temple in Jerusalem. Growing into a holy temple in the Lord.

Ephesians 2.21, but also 1 Corinthians 3.16, what did he tell the believers in Corinth? In chapter 3, 3.16, he said, you all together are a temple of the Lord. And then in chapter 6 he said each one of you individually is a temple of the Lord. So that means you're the holy of holies walking around. You're the holy of holies walking around with the veil torn from top to bottom. You're the Holy of Holies walking around. Next one, be fitted and built together. Are you having fits? Alright, I mean, are you being fit? Yeah. What does this being fitted and built together look like? What's that look like in our church body?

Yeah, what's interesting is that sometimes we'll look at it as, well, okay, I'll do this and you'll do that, and that's maybe a part of it, but a key point is what you just brought up. It's doctrinal. Remember verse 14? That's the part we haven't paid any attention to yet. No longer children, And he describes what spiritual infancy looks like.

The first thing he does is he uses an analogy with being in a boat in a storm. Being tossed back and forth and being spun around. And Paul had some experience with that, by the way. So the first analogy he has is being like a boat in a storm where it's going one side to the other and then spinning.

And the next analogy that he has is from trick dice, kubeya, loaded dice. And very interestingly, in Jerusalem in the first century, some Romans were playing with some trick dice and they left them there and archaeologists have found them. So right there in Jerusalem, a whole set of trick dice. Trick dice with things like, you know, the same number on more than one side. Dice that have a little place drilled out and some extra weight Put in there those kind of trick dice.

That's that's the word he used to bea and for this this tricks and And so guys would go around with these trick dice and they'd move from city to city and believe me they had to keep moving If they wanted to save their hide they had to keep moving and that's the word he used here instead of being subject to tricky people and Instead of being subject to tricky people who are there just to get something. You know, what can I do to you? Not what can I do for you, but what can I do to you? What can I get out of you? That's the word he used. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah, let's put this together because you bring up a good point.

In order to build a building, do you just take whatever stones and what come to place and just start putting them together? Or what do you do? What do you have to do? You have to sit there and work them in order to get parts to fit together and to get good alignment and all those things. So each individual part has a shaping to do, a conforming, tap, tap, tap, tap, tap, right? Each individual part has to be conformed and then as each of those parts then is fit to the next one, then the structure gets built up. So God has the individual process going on and our group, whole church process going on, both for good purpose, right?

Yes, but? Oh, it most certainly is. But here's a question. The foundation of the apostles and prophets are not those stones that you see there, some of which weigh as much as 50 tons. Some of those stones, and those are the ones that are fit together. And I understand that, I mean, in spite of what things might look like, a lot of them are very tightly fit.

Let's look at the next one, equipping of the saints for the work of service. Some of your translations, equipping of the saints, comma, for the work of service, comma, but actually I believe these are to go together without the comma in the middle. Equipping of the saints for the work of service. Getting the saints outfitted and trained on their equipment for the work of service. What's the work of service?

What do we mean by edification? Building up the body of Christ and all the parts that are in it. Teaching and also encouragement. Encouragement. Somebody needs help with this or that item. All the different things that go on in the body of Christ, people are carrying out the work of service. But it's done not just because everybody says, hey, I'll pitch in and do something, though that's a part, but also because everybody knows who they are in Christ.

People are learning, just like we're studying here, what's God doing in my life? Should I get really mad at God because, man, things are not happening the way I want? I mean, I've got a plan and God's just not getting with it. Or, do I understand what God is doing and say, ah, now I realize what God's trying to accomplish, and I can work with the rest of the body of Christ consistent with that.

Building up of the body of Christ. We asked previously what this question means. When you say building up of the body of Christ, how are some ways you can describe that, that building up? Stronger believers bring along a weaker believer. The book of Romans in the last half even describes what some of that looks like. So there's a bringing along Alright? So that's a part of it. Good. Ah, support and lifting through it.

You know, we'll have something come up in someone's life and the rest of the body will come in and begin praying for that person. Now how can I help? One of the things that Nancy and I were amazed at was as Peggy was going through the difficulties and whatnot of the last eight plus months, People in the body just kind of dropped in place and helped out here and there. We would find out ways that people in the church body had stepped in after the fact. We were just amazed. This is wonderful.

And it was the Lord directing the church body. There wasn't any orchestration on anybody's part particularly. The Lord just provided people to step in at different places. Christ is both the chief cornerstone, that is the basis and orientation of the entire church, starting with the foundation, and the direction and definition of what the church is being built and growing towards.

Isn't that interesting? He's at the bottom and at the top. You see that? He is the foundation, how it all gets started, and He is the direction towards which it's growing. Yeah. There we go. Cornerstone and capstone. He is both parts. Very interesting. How are we founded? Well, Christ the Cornerstone. What's the pattern and direction that this building is growing towards? Well, it's Christ. At the top as well, right? Yes?

His father was the goal, and everything that he did was based on his father's will. And he couldn't do anything except through his father's guidance. I mean, he was totally dependent upon his father. And is that not, that's absolute maturity, or perfect maturity, which he was expressing.

Well, and I think if you look at it, by focusing, by our talking about focusing on Christ, Christ being the head, Is Christ acting there independently and the Father doesn't have anything to do with it? No. And then is the Holy Spirit excluded from this? No. The reality is our growing into Christ, our being founded in Christ, has a natural and automatic and intrinsic connection to the Father and to the Holy Spirit. All of the Trinity is involved in the body of Christ. Our focus upon Christ, our being founded by Him, and our continuing to look to Him automatically brings with it our involvement from all the members of the Trinity, all three, with each of us.

So here's also where it's headed growing towards until we all attain to the unity of the faith One of the things that we point out on the next page, we're going to be truncated for time here, but the faith, I know Hal and I had several different conversations about this, the faith is a term that comes out of the New Testament starting in Acts chapter 6 and goes on to the book of Revelation and to the early chapters. The faith is the specific set of teachings taught by the apostles. obviously in its specific writings that grew over time, but the faith has a specific definition.

Ever hear the term people of faith? That's not what this is talking about. This is the faith. That's not just believing in something. It's not just believing something. but it is specifically the faith taught by the apostles. It's the one referred to repeatedly as a specific set of teachings throughout the New Testament starting with Acts chapter 6. To the unity of the faith, to the knowledge of the Son of God. How come it isn't just, hey I've got these doctrines down and we're cool, we're done, we're there. Why isn't just having all the doctrines down good enough? That'd be like the law.

Yeah, it's just, okay, here's this external thing, and it's really just data. My hard drive is really smart. It knows all sorts of really cool things. But it's not saved, and I doubt very much it's going to go to heaven. It might even have some other descriptive words for it. But anyway, But just having bits and bytes on your hard drive isn't what God's looking for, is it? Ultimately, what is all this doctrine focused on?

A knowledge of the Son of God. It's personal. That's why we say take it personally. All that caution about don't take it personally? Do take it personally! Right? Take this stuff personally because it's personally Him. That's the knowledge that we're focusing on, not just stuff. not just stuff, to a mature man. Now, when he says man, does that mean you, or does that mean all of us? It's all of us, right? It certainly includes you, but it really means all of us.

We as a church body are to grow towards maturity. So God's got in mind individual growth and church growth both. Both of those taking place. To the measure of the stature which belongs to the fullness of Christ. How do you know what maturity looks like? Christ. Christ is the measuring stick, if you will, for what is maturity. You want to know what maturity looks like? It's Christ. That he is the personal measuring stick that lets us know this is what maturity looks like.

It's him. It's him. And to make that happen, God did a very interesting thing. He put you in Christ and Christ in you. Both. So we have a position that's complete. We're in Christ and Christ is in us and that's the direction towards which we'll grow. That's a very good way to describe it.

It is the blueprint. Phil and Sue Ellen just took off on a vacation here just a day or two ago. And Phil and I were talking this last week about, you know, you got the blueprints. You know, how do you know what you're going to go build? Well, here it is. Here's the blueprint. And now let's build it. So that's a very good picture. Okay. Let's take a look at page three.

So we mentioned until we all attain to the unity of the faith. Sometimes you'll have Christians singing or talking about, well, let's just all agree to disagree, or let's just agree to hang together even though we disagree on things, little things like that. That's not what Scripture describes and talks about. It talks about a singular set of teachings. Is that possible? I mean, we've got Lutherans and Presbyterians and we've got Baptists and Pentecostals and Baptocostals and everything, right? So with all that variety, is this even possible? Yes.

As a matter of fact, that's exactly what God intends for us to aim towards. I'm going to say something scary. I can't find any biblical basis for establishing denominations. Not even. Because, what are we to aim towards? To the unity of the faith, right? And it's singular.

So we have 1 Corinthians 1.10 here. I won't take the time because we don't have the time.

Alright, at the back, Page four, on the bottom, I have several appendix items that we can look at for reference. The first one is what spiritual growth looks like. It looks at four stages of growth. Some of those are individual, some of those are as a church body, and then the food that goes with it. The newborn and infant milk is the appropriate food, spiritually speaking. And then youth to maturity, meat and solid food is what scripture uses to describe as the appropriate food.

There are also some questions answered, because you were asking earlier about the church and the Gentiles in Israel. We have on the Holly Hills website, and that's in the middle of page four, just underneath the What Spiritual Growth Looks Like chart, This is the three groups which make up the peoples of God in eternity, Gentiles, Israel, and the Church. They are identified, Gentiles first in the Bible, then with Abraham and the dividing out of the Jews through Jacob, Israel, and that continues on. And then we have, with the day of Pentecost, the establishment of the church, we have those three groups, and what we find is even into the last chapters of the Bible, in Revelation, those three groups are still identified, all the way to the end. Into eternity, into the new heavens and the new earth.

And each of them has a relationship with the Lord. The relationship with the Lord, however, is different. It's like harmony. They go together in a harmonious way, but they're not identical. It's not homogeneous. Enough said, let's close in prayer. Otherwise I'm going to get all this buzzing in my ear. Our nose is against the glass, then we'll have to clean it. So, let's pray.

Lord, we do thank you for what you've laid out in your word. We thank you for the building up of this church body that you have made evident. And we just look to you to continue that in each of us individually and all of us together. We thank you for this marvelous, wonderful thing that you're doing and the purposes that you have for it. We pray in Jesus' name. Amen.