Scott Brown delivers a sermon on the interdependent relationship between individual spiritual health and the health of the local church, based on Ephesians 4:11-16. He emphasizes the roles of apostles, prophets, evangelists, pastors, and teachers in equipping and edifying the body of Christ. Brown highlights the church as a unified and holy community, focusing on truth and the mission to preach the gospel. He stresses the importance of each member doing their part and providing nourishment, akin to a hospital mending its members. Church discipline is portrayed as vital for maintaining purity and holiness. The sermon underscores the necessity of a God-centered approach, resisting cultural transformation, and fostering a Christ-focused, truth-bearing fellowship. Brown concludes by encouraging active participation in church life to enhance both personal and communal spiritual health.

Please open your Bibles to Ephesians 4 and find verse 11. Ephesians 4 verse 11, I'm going to read through 16. And the title of this message is, Your Spiritual Health Depends on the Health of Your Local Church. And this idea is not original to me. I heard somebody say it like that some time ago, but I thought it was a very helpful handle to understand the way that God instructs his church to be healthy.

So we're talking about the growth of the body. And so let's look at Ephesians 4 beginning in verse 11. And the apostle first of all speaks of different kinds of men that God gives the church in verse 14. And he gave, he himself gave some to be apostles, some prophets, some evangelists, and some pastors and teachers. These are men that have different inflections to their contribution gifts to the church.

Then verse 12, why? For the equipping of the saints for the work of the ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ, till we all come to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God to a perfect man to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ." That's pretty healthy, isn't it? "...that we should no longer be children tossed to and fro and carried about with every wind of doctrine by the trickery of men in the cunning craftiness of deceitful plotting. But speaking the truth in love may grow up in all things into him who is the head Christ from whom the whole body joined and knit together by what every joint supplies according to the effective working by which every part does its share causes the growth of the body for the edifying of itself in love. Let's pray.

Lord, these words are so beautiful and so helpful. They reveal matters of our own health and matters of the health of our own local church and I pray that you would give us insight and also great desire to fulfill all these things here in this church amen. Well everybody wants to be part of a healthy church, and what can we do about it? What can you do about it? What can I do about it?

This is a critical matter that I want to try to address here. And The reason is of a truth, that your spiritual health, it depends on the health of the body. And of course, you are part of the body, and others are part of the body, and you have this reciprocal relationship. Your health, spiritually, has an influence on the health of your church. And the health of your church corporately has an influence on you as an individual.

So we're talking about matters of health. We're talking about matters of nourishment. We're talking about matters of, well, you see these words here, equipping and edifying. Those are critical words I want to talk about later on. But The Bible says that the church is like a body of a lot of different parts and it is literally the body of Christ and we are members of the body of Christ.

We being in Christ are in a sense in one another as well. There's this reciprocal relationship. We have a profound effect on one another and you know one person who's straying, one person who's dabbling in immorality and things like that has an effect on the whole body. Imagine if your elders were looking at pornography every night. Do you think that would have an effect on the health of this church?

Absolutely. But that's not just true of elders. That's true of every single person. We should so carefully guard our souls so that we're healthy so that the church would be healthy, so that we would be made healthy, so you have this reciprocal circular matter. Now There are lots of things that we do to keep our bodies healthy, aren't there?

And frankly, this is one thing I actually really appreciate about this church. This is a pretty physically healthy church. I don't know if you've noticed, but it's a blessing. And, you know, health is a function, of course genetics, but it's also a function of the things that you eat. It's a function of the vitamins and minerals that you get, the kind of nourishment that you get, the water that you get, you know drinking brackish water is not good for your health, drinking you know crystal clear water from heaven is good.

You need air, you need clean air. You need shelter. All these things have to do with your health. And of course, you need coffee. That's very important.

So you can get some right out that door. But the body grows because of its nourishment. And what you nourish yourself with is the determining factor of your growth. And so each member must nourish themselves on the word of God and they become healthy. And as a result, their church becomes healthy and their church makes them healthy.

So I've been I've been going through a book by Jeff Johnson with some of the men in our church and here's how his book begins. It's a great book. I'm almost finished reading it with these young men. It's called The Church, Her Nature, Authority, and Purpose, and Worship. It's a short book.

It's a great book. It's very succinct. And I'm going through this book with about 13 of the single young men under 30 in our church and we're almost finished with it but he begins the book with this statement having a high view of God and a low view of man or a low view of God and a high view of man will determine whether a church is God-centered or man-centered. In the end the church's view of God, man, and salvation will reveal whom the church is seeking to please. The health of a church is primarily a function of who it's seeking to please.

If a church has determined to please God, that church will be a healthy church. If that church wants to become like the culture, it won't be a healthy church. It'll be morphing, it'll be being transformed by the culture rather than transforming according to the Word of God. And in this book, he makes several, I think, really, really important points. Like, for example, the marks of a church.

A church is a unified communion of believers who belong to the Lord. They are unified around truth and they are a holy communion he says. That means that there are people who are well they're turning away from Babylon and they're becoming more holy. They're walking away from the gates of Babylon. You know, the church is synonymous with holiness the way that God has designed it.

And the church is a truth-bearing communion. We bring the truth. That's what we want to do. We want to speak the truth, and this passage addresses that matter. We are governed by the truth, we are sanctified by the truth, we are stewards of the truth, and we are confessors of truth.

I'm quoting from Jeffrey Johnson's book on the church. And then you have matters of church membership. The church member has the center of his life, the Church of Jesus Christ. It's the central activity of the believer is to build up the body of Christ. It should be the central concern of the believer to love the people.

You know why should you join the church? Because the New Testament assumes that you would join a church and be in relationships of accountability and instruction and fellowship and worship and prayer and the Lord's Supper and the things that God has commanded the church to do. And the church has authority as well. The supreme authority of the church is Jesus Christ. Elders have authority but they're under shepherds.

They can really only do what the Lord has called them to do. And the duties of Church membership are very clear. Church members are under divine obligation to supply what they can supply according to the power of the Holy Spirit. The language in this passage is what every joint supplies. Every member of the body of Christ is important.

All play different roles. But the holiness of the church is so critical because every joint is supplying something. And really, you might just ask yourself, as a, you know, what are you supplying? You know, when you come, have you been walking with God? Is the well of your soul full?

Is your soul fat and you're ready to minister to one another? You're just thinking about yourself. What every joint supplies. A lot of people come to church and they're all worried about how people are relating to them. Well, God hasn't called you to worry about that.

He's called you to supply something, what every joint supplies. So the the church also exercises discipline to maintain the purity of the church and the distinctiveness of the church and to cause fear in the hearts of those who are sinning, to turn men back to fear. It's important to discipline when it's appropriate to cause everyone to fear. You want people to fear sinning and you want people to fear getting caught sinning so that they don't and they don't suffer the consequences of it that we read about regarding Babylon. The church is designed by God to remove leaven.

We try to remove leaven through the preaching, through the personal counsels of one another. We see things going on and we we speak the truth in love and but this is to get the leaven out of the church. One of the interesting practices of the Jews around the time of Christ and afterwards is that in Jewish families they would sprinkle leaven all around their house, leaven symbolizing sin, and they would tell the children, look at the sin that has affected this house, and they would sweep it up and they would take it outside and burn it as a sign of the the fathers and mothers of their houses that they wanted to have a holy house. And that's what church discipline is all about, is to clean out the leaven. So churches should never be afraid of engaging in church discipline for the wayward.

And then of course, this book, and he speaks about the mission of the church and that's to preach the gospel. You know, our mission is not to make people necessarily more moral, which if they follow the Lord, they will, but that they would actually receive the words of life and be changed and be transformed and then God would work on their problems with morality. So a church is designed to be shaped by God. A high view of God creates a high view of the church, which creates health in a church, so that a church is not shaped by the culture, but it's shaped by the truth of God. And so, when you come here, our greatest desire is that you desire the truth.

And you're hungry for the truth because it's the truth that will set you free. And it's the truth by which you're sanctified. Okay. So let's talk about this passage. First of all, a healthy church is an equipping ministry.

It's an equipping church. That word that's used is very important and he gave himself some to be apostles, some prophets, some evangelists, and some pastors and teachers. Why? For the equipping of the saints for the work of the ministry. Now the word equipping is an important word.

It's actually derived from a word that is a word picture of mending nets. Fishermen used it for mending nets. To equip is to strengthen. To equip is to establish. To equip is to mend, to mend nets.

All of us are being mended. We have torn parts of our lives, all of us do. And God brings us into his church. Like some people say it's like a hospital. It really is like a hospital.

We're all trying to get well. But that's what equipping is all about. In fact, This same word is used in Galatians 6.1. Brethren, if a man is overtaken in any trespass, you who are spiritual restore, that's the same word for equipping, restore such a one, how? In a spirit of gentleness, considering yourself lest you also be tempted, bear one another's burdens, and so fulfill the law of Christ." So you have a picture of a person who's been overtaken in a trespass.

You know what? Don't be surprised when that happens in a church, in a good church. It's going to happen. But we're told how to deal with that. First of all, you who are spiritual.

The best thing that someone can get when they've been overtaken in a trespass is someone who is thinking spiritually, who's mind is governed by God. You who are spiritual, that's the first qualification. Worldly, carnal people should not be trying to restore, but spiritually minded people should. How? In a spirit of gentleness and then humbly considering yourself.

You know, when you're correcting someone, you should always be thinking about yourself as well. You know, how have you sinned in a similar way? A person who's restoring should always consider himself. And, lest you also be tempted and then bear one another's burdens. In other words, be willing to be patient.

To bear a burden means that you're patient with that person. So This matter of equipping has to do with mending. And we all have a role in mending. And that's why your spiritual health is dependent on the spiritual health of your church. If you have a healthy church, you have a mending church.

And, you know, the apostle speaking to the Hebrews, writing to the Hebrews in Hebrews 13, speaks of this in a very, very similar way. He says, this is at the end of Hebrews, "'Now May the God of peace who brought up our Lord Jesus from the dead that great shepherd of the sheep Through the blood of the everlasting covenant make you complete That's that same word equipping Make you complete equip you for every good work to do his will, working in you what is well pleasing in his sight through Jesus Christ to whom be glory forever and ever. Amen. This is why God has brought us together, to mend us, to equip us, to make us strong, to confirm us. I pray that as you're here a month after month, year after year, you're stronger, You have a greater deposit of the truth.

You're convicted more of your sin. You're comforted more by the cross and you're more active and you actually are a more helpful, more life-giving member of the body. Are you a life-giving member of the body? You know, one of the most harmful things that you can do in this church is just to come and hang around and just talk to your friends. That's not helpful, but come to equip, come to heal.

And then it's also a building ministry. We now have a different word and that is edification for the edification of the church verse 15 but speaking the truth in love may grow up in all things into him who is the head Christ from whom the whole body joined and knit together by what every joint supplies according to the effective working by which every part does its share causes the growth of the body for the edifying of itself in love. So here's what you have every member doing its share. What is your share in this ministry? Every member doing its share and what happens?

It causes the growth of the body for the edifying of itself in love. So, the logic that the apostle is bringing to us is that when you're doing your share, you are edifying the body. You know, what the rest of the people in the church are doing has an effect on your spiritual life, on your spiritual health. You can't go it alone. You need the body of Christ.

You need the people of God. You need every member doing its share. Now, this word, equip, or edifying, is another word picture. Some of you are builders. Isn't it great to be a builder?

I've often thought if I wish I had another life, I would build stuff, you know, but I don't have another life. But this is a building word. This is a word that describes construction. It speaks of an architect and the bringing of various materials together to build a house. And of course, the church is the household of God.

The church is the temple of God where every member is a living stone in that building. It's stone, we're doing stone work and we're shaping stones and we're putting them together and all of them have meaning you pull a stone out and the whole building, you know, is compromised. I just did that this last week. I pulled a stone, I pulled a couple of stones out of a wall and the wall went like this. It wasn't, because we pulled a stone out.

A big stone about this big. Now, that didn't contribute to the health of the building. And now it has to be repaired. So, and there are various tools that are involved in this matter of edifying, of building. Edifying means to build up, you know, to continue building and adding and adding and adding.

And there are various tools that are used in the construction process. Lots of different kinds of wood and metals and plastics and there are pipes and there's beams and there's motors and there's all kinds of things that go into a building and and how and how do we build up the body how do you build up the body verse 15 it's the most powerful healing edifying thing you can do, but speaking the truth in love may grow up in all things into him who is the head. So it's the truth that makes us grow up. Do you need to grow up? All of us need to grow up.

And the way that you grow up is by filling your mind with the truth. And the way that your brethren grow up is that you speak the truth to them. Not the philosophies of this world, but the truth. We traffic in the truth of God. That's what we have.

It's the only thing we really have. But it's that truth that makes us grow up. You're born into this world, you're born into a family, and you pick up a lot of bad ideas. And a lot of the pains that people have and sorrows and fears that people have, it's because they haven't grown up. They don't have a realistic picture of the world.

Like with Babylon, they don't have a realistic picture of what's going on around them. They don't understand that Babylon is the place of demons. They don't understand that. And they don't understand that God's in control of all of history. They don't understand that God is the one who governs all the trials.

They need to grow up. God is in control. That's one of the most important matters of growing up is recognizing that. And that matures you, that vision of God matures you more than so many things. So it's a truth-focused ministry, but it's also a Christ-focused ministry that we may grow up how?

In all things, in every part of your life, your thought life, your marriage, your singleness, your childhood, in all things, in everything that you're doing in your life, in all things, into him who is the head, Christ. It's a Christ-focused ministry. What do we want? We want to become like Christ. We so fall short, don't we?

But this is the trajectory of the true believer. He is becoming like Christ. You know, I can see it in this church too, by the way. Even just looking around. Some of you I've known for a lot of years.

And there's a song I used to sing to my kids. I can see in you the glory of my King. I can see it. I can see it before my eyes. Many of you are stronger than when you came here.

It's not because of me, it's because of the word of God. It's the word of God that does the work. But it's a Christ-focused ministry so that we grow up. And then it's also a fellowshipping ministry. Verse 16, from whom the whole body joined in it together by what every joint supplies according to the effective working by which every part does its share causes the growth of the body for the edifying of itself in love.

The body is edifying itself in love. It is building itself in love. You need the body of Christ to grow. The health of your church is gonna be a pivotal factor in your own personal spiritual health. And I think that's one of the heart of the message of this whole chapter, is that The health of a church has a profound impact on your spiritual health, and your spiritual health has a profound effect on the health of the entire church.

So guard your heart, fill your mind up with the knowledge of God, do your part when you come here. Don't just come here and hang out with your friends, don't just come here and hang out and listen and go. Come and minister, come and edify the body, get your tools out. Some of you have hammers, some of you have sanders, some of you have trowels, but get your tools out and do your part in the building up of the body of Christ. So this title that I stolen from somewhere, your spiritual health depends on the health of your church.

Would you pray with me? Father, I thank you for creating the church, giving her instructions to teach us how we should engage our lives together. I pray Lord that we would be a church full of the truth, full of holy people, and also people who do their part, a fellowshipping church, each member doing its own part. Lord, I pray that you would continue to bring health to this church, that the nourishment would be so wonderful. Lord, we've just been nourished by this wonderful lunch.

And you've given us a nourishing ministry here together with one another. So Lord, I pray that the nourishment would flow as the day wears on, Amen. Okay, we are dismissed.