Walk in Grace part 3

Welcome to Delight in Grace, the teaching ministry of Rich Powell, pastor of Grace Bible Church in Winston-Salem. God's grace is not meant simply for our own personal pleasure. He doesn't just give us grace for our salvation, but also so that we can walk with others in a Godward direction. As we are transformed by the truth of the gospel, we can genuinely invest in others, contributing to the health and growth of the body of Christ. Let's listen to Rich's message from Ephesians 4, 7-16 titled Walk in Grace, Part 1. Today is the third and final part of this sermon, first preached September 24th, 2017. Being in the faith is personal, but it's not private.

Are you listening to me, 21st century American Christians? Being in the Christian faith is personal. It's definitely a personal thing, but it's not a private thing.

Never intended to be private. God does not call us to be closet Christians. You are placed into a body. That's the word placed into is the word baptizo. It's the word from which you get baptized. You are placed into a body.

What does that mean? You are a part of a family. You are vitally connected to many other people. It's not a private thing. But not only that, not only are you baptized and placed into a body, but we have a common mission. And that common mission is reconciling people to God, introducing people to Jesus Christ.

That's our mission. It is inherently public. Nothing private about it at all.

Personal, yes, but not private. And God gives us His grace so that we live in the outflow of our faith, all the truths of Ephesians 1 to 3. The outflow of all of that is what 4 to 6 looks like. Walking in grace, then, is living in the outflow of your faith to invest in others for their God-ward movement. And this is, He says, the employing of this gift, the communication with the word of God is for the equipping of the saints. Who are the saints? We are the called, set apart, chosen, holy ones.

That's what saints means. And your equipping finds its source in God's self-disclosure. Your equipping finds its source in God's self-disclosure.

Like I said before, I'm going to say it again. You will not grow apart from a steady, continual, vital consumption of the word of God. Christians, are you taking in God's word? Are you taking it in?

A lot of it. May God rescue us from bumper sticker coffee mug theology. Doesn't work. Be consuming the word of God. Consuming the word of God means reading it, studying it. Know, learn how to study the word of God. Meditate on it. Memorize the word of God and the music that you listen to. I challenge you this morning, Christians, are you listening to music that is communicating ungodly truth?

I challenge you on that this morning. And I'm not talking about the music itself. I'm talking about the lyrics. Are you listening to music that communicates ungodly truth? That means if you are, that means you are filling your mind and meditating upon ungodly truth.

Why would you do that? But Rich, I like the music. But do you love God? And why would you fill your mind with truths that hate God?

I challenge you on that, Christians. Music is a touchy issue, isn't it? Say, mm-hmm.

We all have our favorites. But listen to the words. Are you filling your mind with untruth? That means you are meditating on error. What good is that doing you?

See, I'm on a soapbox now. But when you consume God's word, it comes to you through God's Spirit. You are being filled with God's thoughts, and then you gain God's perspective, and then you realize God's power. Christians, that's what we have. That's the grace of God. And that's how He works in us. And He does this for the work of the ministry. We are being equipped for the work of the ministry. I'm not the only minister in this room.

Dwight's here. We're not the only ministers in this room, right? Christians, repeat after me. I am in ministry.

Somebody will say, I like you believe in it. Did you know you're in ministry? If you are in Christ, you are in ministry. Because ministry isn't, you know, I can, you know, if I'm a professional, this is part of being a preacher, right? You got to wear one of these. You know, don't have the tie.

Whoever made those ought to be strung up with one. But, you know, ministry is, you know, when I put the coat on, now I'm in ministry. And we think of ministry that way, right? Well, you know, we come across, my day to day, I go around like this, and this is just my day to day secular self. And then a ministry opportunity comes up, and I put on my ministry coat, and now I'm doing ministry.

No! Christian, you are a minister. Ministry is just another word for serving, okay? You serve Christ. Are you living in the preeminence of Christ? Are you practicing the presence of Christ and living in the preeminence of Christ? That's what it means to be in ministry.

And every one of us is. And the communication of God's Word is for the equipping of the saints, for the work of the ministry. That's walking worthy of the calling with which we've been called.

And what is that? Well, that's good works. Remember Ephesians 2, 10, created in Christ Jesus unto good works, which God has prepared beforehand that we should walk in them. What are those good works?

Let me define them for you very quickly. Defining good works. Here it goes.

Ready? This is it. You're going to be surprised at this. Attitudes and actions that point people to God. Good works are attitudes and actions that point people to God. Whether it's your children, your spouse, friends, relatives, associates, or neighbors.

Attitudes and actions that point people to God. You see, being in ministry or doing good works is not about token projects that we do. It's my day-to-day. It's my every day because I am in Christ. And I have been lavished with all these spiritual blessings. And therefore, I live in the outflow of faith to invest myself in others for their God-ward movement. That's not a project.

It's my day-to-day. Your walk with Christ helps others follow Jesus. And what happens when this becomes a reality? The equipping of the saints for the work of the ministry, for the building up of the church. You see, that's God's mission. It's building up the church. How is the church built up?

By adding more bricks to it, right? By the church growing, by people coming to Christ. It's building up the church. Jesus said, I will build my church. I can't build this church.

Do you know why? Because it's not my church. Say, Rich, what are you talking about? Been here for 14 years. This is not my church. This is the Lord's church. And if I ever take the reins over and make it my church, you need to let me go.

I mean that. This is not my church. It's the Lord's church. And the Lord said, I will build my church. You and I are what? We are but instruments in the hands of the Redeemer. And He uses us, His children, His loved ones, His set apart called holy ones as instruments in the mission of building His church. So be a sharp and strong instrument.

You don't want to be one that just sits on the shelf and say, I don't want to be used. I just want to watch. Could that be you this morning? I hope not.

I hope not. So the rest of this paragraph verses 13 through 16 are the marks of a healthy church walking in grace. The marks of a healthy church walking in grace. And we're going to have to pick that up next time. It's rough.

It's rough. I already have the whole schedule for Ephesians made out takes us all the way into 2018 and now I have to modify it. Let me just begin with the first one. I'm going to leave you with this. Okay. And then we're going to pick it up with it again. We're going to start with this again next Sunday. But I really want to challenge you with this.

Okay. This is so this is so foundational right here. Marks of a healthy church walking in grace. Number one, a clear and common grasp of the gospel of grace in Christ.

All of those words are important. A clear and common grasp of the gospel of grace in Christ. Do you know the gospel? Can you communicate the gospel? The gospel of grace in Christ. Do you have a clear and do we have a common grasp of that gospel? I challenge you to ask yourself that question this week and then bring bring it back with you next week. And according to your answer, you need to be before the Lord on that. Lord, teach me. Lord, teach me your gospel so that I have a clear and so that we have a common grasp of the gospel of grace in Christ.

Because you know what, folks? If we don't have that, we're never going to allow the Holy Spirit to grow his church. If we don't have a clear and common grasp of the gospel of grace in Christ. We need to have that.

Do you? Because that's what he says in verse 13 until we all attain to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God. A clear and common grasp of the gospel of grace in Christ. Father, thank you for your love and your goodness to us. Thank you for the grace that you have lavished upon us, all of the spiritual blessings in Christ. Father, first of all, give us an understanding, a knowledge and an understanding of all the truths of Ephesians 1 to 3. May those be the truths that occupy our mind and fill our thoughts and transform our desires and establish our priorities, Father.

Draw us to yourself. Grant us, Father, a delight in your word because it will lead us to a delight in you. And so, Father, I pray that you would work in our hearts, that we indeed will be a people who walk in grace, that we will be the church that you are growing and building. Father, thank you for all that you have done.

Thank you for what you will do. And may you find that in our lives, first of all, that we are consecrating our lives to you. We are dedicating ourselves. We recognize ourselves as ministers. And so, Father, we want to walk in grace. May that be true of all of us, Father. Give us a clear grasp of the gospel of grace in Jesus Christ, Lord. And may we move on from there and live in the outflow of that. In Jesus' name, Amen. Let's not stop that prayer. Let that be our resolve, that as we leave here, we will walk with God so that we can walk in His grace. God bless you this morning.

Let's be dismissed. We're so glad you've joined us for Delight in Grace, the teaching ministry of Rich Powell, Pastor of Grace Bible Church in Winston-Salem. You can hear this message and others anytime by visiting our website, www.delightingrace.com. You can also check out Pastor Rich's book, Seven Words That Can Change Your Life, where he unpacks from God's word the very purpose for which you were designed. Seven Words That Can Change Your Life is available wherever books are sold. As always, tune in to Delight in Grace, weekdays at 10 a.m.