Jonny Ardavanis [00:00:00]

Hey, folks, my name is Jonny Ardavanis, and this is Dial In. In this series, we've been examining the identity, structure, and leadership of the Bride of Christ, which is the local church. And in this episode, I want to continue our series by looking at the part that you, if you're a Christian, play in the body of Christ.

The reality of Scripture is that every member of the body is a minister. And over the next two weeks, we are going to dive deeply into God's word and study the great theme of your service to the local church. Let's dial in.

If you've been following along with our series on the church, we initially looked at the reality that Jesus Christ is building his church. Jesus approaches Caesarea Philippi in Matthew 16, and he asks his disciples, Who do you say that I am? And Peter responds with simple profundity saying, quote, [00:01:00] you are the Christ, the son of the living God.

Jesus responds and says, blessed are you, Simon Barjona, because flesh and blood did not reveal this to you, but my father who is in heaven, meaning this, that the confession that Peter makes regarding the identity of Jesus Christ can never be made apart from what? A miracle. Of God, and then Jesus responds and says, and upon this rock, I will build my church, and the gates of hell will not prevail.

In examining Jesus's statement, we considered what is the nature and purpose of the church? Jesus says that the church is in the Greek. and ecclesia, those who have been called out of the world and called together into an assembly who are mutually committed to loving, obeying and serving Jesus Christ.

Furthermore, we examine that Jesus is the one who is building his church. The church is not remember a human. It is a divine institution, and [00:02:00] if it's a divine institution, here's the encouraging reality for you. That means it doesn't need any adaption or innovation because Jesus himself is the one who is building it.

We're not trying to change our strategy to reach the next generation. We are trying, in many ways, to do what the church has done for 2, 000 years. That being praying scripture, singing scripture, teaching scripture, all with the intent of growing in our love for the person of Jesus Christ. And as we do, we grow in our love for one another.

And because Jesus is building his church, the reality of scripture is that the church is going to face. opposition, and yet the church is not on defense. We're not just trying to keep Satan out of our backyard. We are trying to kick down the gate of the forces of evil. This means that we're not just trying to keep the world out of the church.

We are trying and praying by God's grace to send the church into the world so that it can shine brightly in the midst of darkness. And the promise of a God who cannot lie is that the [00:03:00] gates of hell cannot and will not prevail. Listen, if you are a member of Christ Church, you're a part of a mission that cannot fail.

So we looked at this reality and then in the last two episodes, we have observed what are the qualifications and functions of an elder, namely that they are to be godly men who are able to teach and preach and train the flock of God. With the word of God, and they do so not lording their position over the sheep, but as one who loves the sheep and serves the sheep and dies for the sheep.

We saw in Peter's approach to shepherding that leveraging positional authority is never as impactful. As relational ministry, this may have been a long intro and maybe a little bit of a redundant recap. If you just listened to three episodes in a row, but I felt it important for us to find our bearings for where we arrive today.

Now if you have your Bibles in front of [00:04:00] you as you're listening, or if you're driving in the car, don't turn in your Bibles. But I want you to turn your attention to Romans chapter 12 and as you turn your attention or your Bibles literally speaking in this episode and in the next episode, I want to examine four responsibilities that you and I have in the local church.

I will cover two of those responsibilities here and then two in the next episode. But In these four responsibilities that we are going to observe, what we are really going to consider are four responses to the gospel. Because all obedience is the fruit of a right understanding of what Christ has done for us.

So four responsibilities that you have. to the local church. The first of which is to lay down your life. Paul says in Romans 12 one, therefore, I beseech you by the mercies of God to present your bodies as a living and holy sacrifice. Some of you may know, some of you may not, but [00:05:00] whenever we see the word, therefore, in the scripture, we need to understand that this word is the fulcrum upon which major sections of the Bible.

Rest. If you had to pick the three most important Bible words, you would have to include the word, but the word unless, and the word therefore, meaning this wet, it says that we're dead in sin in Ephesians two, that we're children of wrath. And then it says in Ephesians two, four God, that's a contrast in conjunction.

So that's a huge statement. Jesus says to Nicodemus, unless a man is born again, he will not. So unless there denotes a necessary condition, unless you take this medicine, you will die. So unless is a huge word. And then the third important Bible word is the word therefore, because it's drawing all that came before it and then providing an action or a response in light of what we have just examined.

And Paul has been expounding for [00:06:00] 11 chapters on the glories. of the gospel. He is summarizing to us all that Jesus Christ has done. He states that God has justified us by his grace. He has forgiven us of all of our sin. He has adopted us as sons. He has sealed us with his Holy Spirit. He has promised us an inheritance in glory.

And then he tells us in Romans eight, that nothing can separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus. Now the logical question is, what did we do? to earn this great salvation? What's the answer? Nothing. We brought nothing to the table except our own sin. And so Paul has been expounding on this great theme for 11 chapters.

And in these opening 11 chapters, there is hardly a single command. It is almost exclusively indicative. Now when I say indicative, what I'm referring to is what Christ has done. So for the first 11 chapters, Paul [00:07:00] has you on the edge of your seat and he is compelling you to ask the question, how does the gospel transform my life?

And then Paul provides the answer in the first verse of chapter 12. Paul says again, Therefore, I beseech you by the mercies of God, present your bodies as a living and holy sacrifice. This rhythm that Paul follows of indicatives that precede the imperatives, meaning what Christ has done before then, He tells us what we do in response to that.

For example, Paul does the same thing in Ephesians four. He expounds on the riches of the gospel and the glories of Jesus Christ for three chapters, and then he reaches a pivotal point in chapter four, verse one, he says, therefore, I, the prisoner of the Lord, implore you to walk in a manner worthy of the calling with which you have been called.

But he [00:08:00] only gets there after he has already proclaimed powerfully in chapter one, verse five, that God predestined us to adoption as sons through Jesus Christ. Then he says in Ephesians two, we were dead in our trespasses and sins, but two, four, but God being rich in mercy because of his great love with which he loved us.

And then Paul again says in chapter three, verse 17, so that quote, Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith. And that you being rooted and grounded in love may be able to comprehend with the saints what is the breadth and length and height and depth and to know the love of Christ which surpasses knowledge.

So Paul summarizes this and then he gets to the end of chapter three as we just examined and then again in chapter four of Ephesians. Verse one, he says, therefore, I, the prisoner of the Lord, implore you to walk in a manner worthy of the gospel. Paul is going to do the same thing in the book of Colossians.

[00:09:00] He's going to talk about how Christ has rescued us from the domain of darkness, and then he's going to say, therefore, in chapter three, verse one, set your minds on things above. I remember when I was. Initially going into the jeweler to buy a ring for my wife, Katie, when I was about to propose. You walk in there and they treat you like a king.

How are you, Mr. Artavanis? Would you like some shrimp cocktail? And I'm like, yeah, don't mind if I do. Would you like some coffee? Yes, some cream. Absolutely, and then they begin to show you these various diamonds, but they don't initially show you the diamonds. They first have to educate you. So they tell you about the four C's, the cut, the color, the clarity, and the carrot.

They tell you, everybody knows about the size or the carrot of the diamond, but very few understand the cut and the color and the clarity. And then they begin to examine these diamonds. And instead of holding that [00:10:00] diamond up to the light, what they do is they hold that diamond up. Against a black velvet backdrop so that you can see all the various and diverse angles to its multifaceted beauty against that black backdrop.

And this is what Paul does in his writing throughout the epistles and what he does very clearly in the book of Romans for 11 chapters. He details. Really the black velvet backdrop of our sin. And then he arrives at this point in chapter 12, verse one, where he calls us to consider the marvelous and multifaceted mercies of God.

And then we read an imperative, which is present your bodies as a living and holy sacrifice unto God. So we're examining. This theme on the church, and you may be wondering, where are we at? What are our bearings here? And this is the first [00:11:00] reality. Your response To the bride of Christ, which is the local church.

If you're a Christian is to lay down your life on the altar for Jesus Christ. This means here that when you grasp and are gripped by the gospel, you offer your life unreservedly, wholeheartedly, and energetically. to God. Paul is saying, after all, in verse one, this is the only reasonable response. He says, this is logical.

If Christ has died for you, you should live for him. In the old Testament, they offered animal sacrifices. And now that Jesus has died and has paid the ultimate sacrifice, the question is for Christians, what sacrifice are those under the new covenant to make? What's the answer? Well, the answer is our very lives.

Paul is going to, in a matter of moments, begin to talk about the gifts, the spiritual gifts that come from the Holy Spirit. But [00:12:00] fundamentally, the stewardship of those gifts are driven by the power of the gospel. And so he urges us, lay down your life. He urges you through the living and active word of God, lay down your life.

The world thinks there are two classes of Christians. Those who unreservedly surrender their entire lives to Jesus Christ, and those who don't. But if we want to understand what being a follower of Jesus means, and if we want to understand what being a member of the family of God in the local church, if we want to know what that means, we need to listen to Jesus definition of what a Christian is.

Is a follower of Jesus is someone who picks up their cross, denies themselves, loses their life and abandons all else for Jesus Christ. So often we think about our Christian lives in regards to percentages. I will give this percent of my income, this percent of my schedule, this percent of my gifting to the Lord.

But the Spirit of God does not speak to us in regards to [00:13:00] percentages, but in relationship to total sacrifice. God is not telling you to make sacrifices. He is calling you to be a sacrifice, a living, holy, embodied sacrifice. The scripture is calling us to sing with the hymn writer Francis Havergill, take my life and let it be.

Consecrated Lord to Thee, take my moments and my days, let them flow in endless praise. The song then continues and says, take my hands, take my feet, take my voice, take my lips, take my silver, my gold, take my intellect, take my will, and make it thine. Take my heart, it is thine own, oh Lord. Take my love, take myself.

And then the song concludes, and I will be ever only all for Thee, ever only. All for the, the world in our flesh wants you to ask, how much of this life can I keep? But the Bible tells us to ask, how [00:14:00] much can I give away? The world in your flesh wants you to be consumed with asking the question, who is going to serve me?

God tells you to ask the question, who is there that I? Conserve the radicalism of Paul's imperative in God's word often feels a world away from the ordinary Christian life. Where you come to church, and then come back 167 hours later, and once again you sing a few songs, shake a few hands, and listen to a sermon that is a few minutes longer than you bargained for.

You may even attend or participate in something mid week. But Jesus Christ is asking you a question through his living word. Have you laid down your life? Have you abandoned everything for Jesus Christ? In a moment, in this passage, as we're going to look at in our following episode, Paul is going to talk about the unity of the body.

In the church, [00:15:00] and then also the diversity of gifting. But before he does that, God calls everyone to be on the same page, or shall I say, the same altar. It is possible for us to sing, All to Jesus I surrender, But in our hearts to say, Not that though. Not that. So the gospel propels us and presses us to ask the question, to ask ourselves this question.

Have I laid down my life on the altar of sacrifice for Jesus Christ? And the bride of Christ, which is the local church. So the first great responsibility is to lay down our life. The second here is to humble our heart. Spiritual gifting is grounded in first spiritual sacrifice. And then secondly, here in a spiritual attitude of humility, and this [00:16:00] humility flows out of a transformed mind.

Paul says in Romans 12, verse two, do not be conformed to this world. But be transformed by the renewing of your mind, so that you may prove what the will of God is, that which is good, and acceptable, and perfect. I've done a series on the will of God before, but if we were only to grasp the simple and yet profound reality that is revealed in Scripture, that it is the will of God for your life, that you are conformed into the image, Of his beloved son, Jesus Christ, what's interesting is that this verb to be transformed is a present passive participle in the Greek, meaning that our renewal is a command we must obey.

And yet it is at the same time something that is done to us. It's a passive verb. So maybe you're asking, how can this be true? How can I be responsible for something that must happen to me? Well, it's as we [00:17:00] subject our minds to scripture that God renews our minds and then consequently renews and transforms our affections.

If you want God to change your life, then renew your mind in his word and his spirit will transform your life. Now, as we approach verse three in Romans 12, we will see that this self sacrifice and this renewed mind produce a certain characteristic apart from which there will be total chaos in the church.

The characteristic and attitude I am speaking of is humility. Paul says in Romans 12 verse three, for through the grace given to me, I say to everyone among you not to think more highly of himself than he ought to think, but to think so as to have sound judgment. As God has allotted to each a measure of faith in our world today, you get on by being big and strong.

Not humble and sober minded in the world's economy. You have to sell yourself, but in the gospel's economy You have to humble [00:18:00] yourself to have a proper estimation means that you have a sense of balance and Proportion in regards to who you are. I've asked you before but have you ever seen someone that is inebriated Meaning that they were drunk out of their minds.

The trouble is that so often when someone is drunk, they are the last ones to know it. And the same is true of pride. The word for pride, or one of them in scripture, is tufo. Its literal meaning is to envelop in smoke. It means that you can no longer see. You lose all sense of proportion, all sense of balance.

It's scary to be inebriated, but it's also scary to be intoxicated by your own pride. Pride is chaotic. It is destructive. And this is so important for any church, that a desire for prominence is the death dart to spiritual But when we function as living sacrifices, we aren't, [00:19:00] at the same time, trying to salvage our own ego.

The gospel empowers you to forget about yourself. And as soon as you forget yourself, you are freed at that point. And only at that point to serve with joy. So Paul is cognizant that gifting, which he is going to talk about and we're going to observe in our following episode. It's not something that should ever produce pride.

First of all, because of the work of Christ. And secondly, in verse 3, because every gift that we receive is an extension of the grace of God's Holy Spirit. Paul says, by the grace given to me. Spiritual gifts flourish. In the soil of a humble heart, and this only makes sense, right? Because how could you ever be prideful about something which you did nothing to produce?

Spiritual gifts are exactly that, gifts. And it's only when we understand God's grace in extending gifts that we will stop coveting the spiritual gifts that other people have and stop living in delusion that [00:20:00] we have the gift we want, but don't really possess in reality. Remember in James 3, James says, hey, stop so many of you trying to be teachers.

There was this allure to the public gifts, but Paul is encouraging everyone here to not try to be something that they are not. This is why humility is so important before we ever talk about our usefulness or our service to the church. Now, two notes of clarification. In regards to humility, the first of which is that humility is not an overestimation of self, but it's also not an underestimation of self.

It's not humble for me to say, I don't know why anybody ever listens to me. I'm just a babbling fool and can hardly string a sentence together. Paul knows that he is gifted in certain areas. He is just mindful that they are gifts from God and there is no pride in possessing something you didn't produce.

In yourself, secondly, humility does not lead us to use the excuse. [00:21:00] God doesn't need me. He can and he will use someone else because as soon as Paul leads us to have a proper estimation of ourselves, God shows us in scripture that we are each an important member of the body of Christ. Maybe you have, maybe you haven't, but it's always a good reminder.

And let me just ask you and put it to you this way. Have you ever heard God telling you through his word? You are an essential member of the body of Christ. And if you don't exercise your spiritual gift, the whole church body suffers. So humility doesn't lead us to passivity, it leads us to obedience. So we've examined the first two responsibilities out of the four.

In the local church and really our responses to the gospel, the first of which is that we are to lay down our lives on the altar. And the second is that we are to humble our hearts. We'll look at those third and fourth responsibilities and responses to the [00:22:00] gospel in our next episode. But until then, stay dialed in.