Body Building

4:05 For the time that I was to share together today, I want to talk from the subject bodybuilding. Bodybuilding. The book of Ephesians, my brothers and sisters, is a concise six-chapter book. that Paul sends to the church at Ephesus to remind them of their responsibility as these believers in the Lord Jesus Christ. These who are called to be Christians have been chosen by God to represent God in the world. And so Paul gives to them this concise six-chapter book that helps them to understand what it means to be Christians in a world in which they live. I like the book. It's just six chapters. You can read the entirety of the book before lunch because it gives to us the picture of what it means to be what I call a comprehensive Christian.

5:10 When you read chapters 1, 2, 3, you'll find out that Paul tries to help this brother and sister band of Christians to be those who understand the doctrines of our faith. Chapters 1, 2, and 3, Paul gives to them practical principles regarding the doctrines of our faith. But in chapters 4, 5, and 6, he gives to us the picture of the disciplines of our faith. for he understands that if we're going to be a comprehensive Christian, we need to know that doctrine and discipline go together. Paul, my brothers and sisters, gives to us in chapters 1, 2, and 3 the beliefs of our faith. He wants us to know these tenets of our faith so we'll know what we believe. And then in chapters 4, 5, and 6, he gives to us information regarding the behaviors of our faith because if we're going to be comprehensive Christians, we need to know that beliefs and behaviors go together.

6:12 When we read chapters 1, 2, and 3, we understand what we know. But in chapters 4, 5, and 6, we are given practical principles on what we're supposed to do. Because if you're going to be a comprehensive Christian, child of God, your knowledge of what we know and what we do have to go together. Yes, my friends, if we're going to be comprehensive Christians, It's not just important what we do, how we worship in the sanctuary. It's likewise important how we walk in the streets. And so Paul wants us to be comprehensive Christians, so he gives to us doctrines and disciplines, belief and behaviors, what we know, what we do, how we worship and how we walk. Because we have to be those who represent the Lord Jesus every single day of our lives. By the time he gets to chapter 4, he wants everybody to know that these practical principles about what we do have to be put in place. We have to be people who enjoy the Lord at Alfred Street on Sunday morning.

7:16 But we have to know how to live on Sunday afternoon and Monday morning when we get back to our respective locations. And so when you read this wonderful compact and concise book, you are given these insights on how we should be the Christians we've been called to be. And everybody in church today knows that it's sometimes more difficult to live out what we profess than to worship in the sanctuary on a Sunday. If you'll be honest, somebody on your row will testify that sometimes the folk on my job get on my nerves so much so that it's a little more difficult to walk it out than it is to worship about it on Sunday morning. If you'll be honest, sometimes it's more difficult to deal with those folk in my house than it is to deal with some of the folk in the Lord's house. No, sometimes it's difficult to deal with them too.

8:08 But it's difficult to be the Christian we're supposed to be. All of us in church can testify that we are Christian. Anybody in here, you are a Christian, you are a Christian. About 17 folk raising their hand. Anybody, you are a Christian. Okay, there's some folk who testify, I am a Christian. But sometimes it's difficult to act like a Christian. Let's be honest, there are some days when it is difficult to act like who we say we are. I know you won't admit it. You won't profess to it. But Dr. Wesley and I will admit that sometimes it's difficult to act like who we say we are. And so Paul tries to build up this body of believers so that they might understand who they are in God, who they are as a member of the body of Christ. That's the imagery he uses, brothers and sisters, the body of Christ. He says that all of us together make up the body of Christ, that Jesus himself is the head, but the rest of us as members make up the body of Christ.

9:13 Look at the beautiful imagery because he understands that it takes all of us working together to make up the body that literally we are interdependent upon one another. We are interdependent. We are interconnected. I need you and you need me. We need one another to be the body of Christ that we're supposed to be. And when one of us is not acting as we're supposed to act, functioning as we're supposed to function, it literally means that the body becomes dysfunctional. And so Paul says, I want to make sure that we build up the body. If you heard me reading from verse 11 to verse 13, you heard me say that Paul wants us to be built up as the body of brothers and sisters. And he says we got to build this body until we all reach maturity in the faith.

10:11 He says I want us to reach unity and maturity in the faith. That we can't stop building, we can't stop striving, we can't stop working. Watch this verse 13. until we all reach unity in the Spirit and maturity in the faith. So I guess we'll be striving for a long time because he says all of us are to reach unity and maturity in the faith. Don't you love it, brothers and sisters, that the reason we come here every weekend, every time we show up at the Alpha Street Church is so that we might be built up to be the people of God we're supposed to be. Let's be clear. Every time we leave following the benediction, there's always something that tries to diminish us, tries to deplete us, tries to even demoralize us. But Paul says when we get together as the people of God, we show up so we can be built up.

11:08 We're supposed to be stronger when we leave here. Makes no sense to come to church if it's not going to do something for you. It makes no sense to show up. It is not going to build you up in a way that allows you to have victory even over your adversity. And so Paul says, listen here, we're going to be the body of Christ and we're going to be built up for the glory of God until we all reach maturity in the faith. Now, brothers and sisters, when Paul says this, he gives to us some practical applications in verses 1 through 13 to help us understand what all this business of bodybuilding is about. He says, listen, don't take it lightly and don't get it twisted. We need one another. I know you don't like to talk to your neighbor. You can't stand it when the preacher says, turn to your neighbor. But the truth of the matter is we need one another.

12:03 You can't come in, sit on your pew, and act like nobody's on your left or your right. We need one another. You never know what kind of encouragement that sister, that brother can give to you to help you get over the hump and the hurdle that you have to deal with. We need one another, so please don't take it lightly. You need to know who that brother or sister is on your left or your right. As a matter of fact, there's somebody who sits in the same seat at the same service every Sunday, and you know you love your pew partner. You appreciate them, but we need one another. As a matter of fact, somebody saved a seat for somebody this morning because that's how we roll it. Okay, I see I'm in the right church today. Y'all, just like Wheeler Avenue, amen. We need one another, and the fellowship of the saints is built up as we share with one another. Watch what Paul says to this wonderful group of brothers and sisters in the body of Christ. He says, when you understand that we are building one another up until we all reach unity in the faith and maturity in the body, he says you do this because as the people of God, there is the expectation of unity.

13:14 The expectation of unity. If your Bible is still open, if your app is still unlocked, you'll find out that from verse 1 to verse 3, Paul begins to talk about some of the components of the Christian life. He says, brothers and sisters, I want you to walk worthy of the calling you have received. That's a throwback to chapter 1 when he says, you've been called to be saints and you've been called to be faithful. He says, as the people of God, you are to be saints who are faithful to the things of God. And then he says, I want you to be completely humble. I want you to be gentle and I want you to live in peace and bear with one another in love. He says that all of the body of Christ ought to be people who are completely humble, who are people who walk in peace, who are people who are gentle. And these are they who keep the bond of the spirit in unity.

14:11 He says that if we're going to be built up, if we're going to love one another the way we should, if we're going to grow and mature, We should be people who keep the bond of the spirit in unity. That all of us, brothers and sisters, need to know what unity feels like, what unity looks like. We should be people who understand that we work together for the cause of Christ. That Paul says when we get together in here, we are not supposed to be isolationists. We are the community, unity. The brothers and sisters who gather together for the purpose of showing off who God is and what God has done. And we do that as we work together. Now watch what he says, Dr. Weston. He does not call us to uniformity. Because that would mean I got to look like you. I got to act like you.

15:03 I got to talk like you. My hair has to be like yours. I got to walk like you walk. And I got to dress like you dress. That's not what Paul says. Paul says we should be people of unity because there's something about unity that allows us to prosper and be built up in ways that nothing else will. Listen, my brothers and sisters, when we get together in here, there should be no discord, no disharmony, no disconnection. Because all of us are growing up to be the people of God we've been called to be. We should be people who operate in unity. Let the church say unity. He says in verses 4, 5, and 6, we ought to do this because our God is a God of unity. He says there's one Lord, one faith, and one baptism. He says there's one God and Father of us all. He's in all and working through us all. And if God is working through us, there can be no discord, no disharmony, no disunity because God is a God of unity.

16:02 If you read your Bible, your Bible will tell you in Psalm 133, in just three little verses, that God loves unity. As a matter of fact, the Bible says that in the place of unity, God commands a blessing. You missed your shout, Q. That was a good spot. Thank you so much. That was a good spot to say amen. I said that in the place of unity, God commands a blessing. Read Psalm 133 when you get a chance. It literally says that whenever God sees unity, God's going to show up and command a blessing. I don't know about you, but I need the blessings of the Lord in my life. I don't know how you feel about it, but I believe that the blessings of the Lord ought to be among the people of God who gather in the house of God, that God's blessings ought to show up so when we leave here, we leave better than the way we came. It makes no sense to come to church every Sunday and leave the same way you showed up. If I come in burdened, I'm planning to go out blessed. If I came in depressed, I'm planning to go out delivered because when you get in here and brothers and sisters are on one accord and we're operating in unity God commands a blessing oh child of God notice again what the preacher said he said not uniformity ain't gotta act like you to be Christian but there must be unity Carl I need your help where's Carl Carl you still over there hit the keyboard or piano for me I like when I was growing up when pastor Wesley and I was growing up in Chicago we were you know we were part of the Baptist Youth Fellowship he was the president of the Baptist Youth Fellowship And I was the choir director Lord have mercy and we were we were two-man church hallelujah And we were making sure that we did this thing And so I did music the first part of my life and when you understand music the first thing they'll teach you dr Joyce grant is that when you get to the piano you need to know where middle C is Carl will you please play middle C?

17:54 No, I need you a bit louder for me, man Thank you so much. That's middle C That's the first place you're gonna start when you start learning the piano But you often you quickly find out that you that when you play middle C then the next next key up is C-sharp C-sharp will you play C-sharp, please now will you play C and C-sharp? Together, please and when you play that you find out that's disunity That's disharmony as a matter of fact a good synonym for unity is the word harmony But when you play C and C-sharp you get disunity play it for me, man keep playing and if you'll be honest about it you don't want to hear that all day long you don't want to deal with that all day long you don't want to deal with that every time you come to church you don't want to hit disunity and disharmony but when you put a C with an E you get a little more harmony there when you get a C with an E and when you put a C and an E and a G together you get a real beautiful piece of music and when you play some arpeggios right there that's called harmony and child of God

19:03 now that's just showing off amen I like it I like it and when we come together it makes no sense for the people of God to be C's and C sharps working together but when you get a beautiful C E and a G working together you know that this is when the people of God are operating in unity it's the expectation of the people of God. Paul says the expectation of God's people is that we operate in unity. But watch this church family. He makes it real clear that the expectation of unity is the obligation of all humanity. When you jump down to verse 13, you'll figure out that Paul says that we have to do this. Watch. Until we all reach unity in the faith. Until we all are working together.

19:56 I said we're works in progress because all of us have to be people who are obligated to this reality. It's not just the preacher. It's not just the deacon. It's not just the choir member or the usher who is supposed to operate in unity. But all of us are supposed to do this. That you play your part and I play my part and we all get together and God works all things together for our good. Somebody in church today understands the responsibility of all of us to do this. And Paul says, we've got to do this, watch, until we grow and mature. Okay, let me give it to you again. Paul says, we have to do this. We have to keep on working together. We have to keep on functioning in unity until we all grow up and mature. Let's be real clear, child of God.

20:49 most of us if not all of us can attest to the reality that one of the reasons I come to church is because I recognize there's some deficiency in me that needs to be worked out okay that was 17 people on that side 22 on this side I got to make sure that all of us get it he says we have to all grow up because each of us who is honest and will be a bit transparent this morning we can testify there is some deficiency in me. Don't ask about your pew partner now. I'm not talking about your neighbor and what you know about that person who showed up at church this morning. I'm saying there's some deficiency in all of us, in each one of us. And so all of us have to grow up. Paul says we've got to mature. He says, if you'll read it, he says, so that we'll be no longer infants tossed to and fro.

21:45 by every wind of doctrine. He understands that there's always somebody in the body who is weak and vulnerable. And if we're not careful, we can have false teaching to show up in the church and pull us away from the plan of God for our lives. And so we all have to grow and mature. If you're at the same place spiritually in 2019 that you were in 2012, and you've been coming to church every Sunday, you may need to check how you're growing up in God he says if I've been showing up in church all these years and no one on my job can see any maturity in me if I'm the same mean person in 2019 as I was in 2012 something's wrong with my spiritual development if I'm the same person who refuses to speak to somebody in 2019 like I refused to speak in 1985. Something's wrong with me.

22:45 I need to be growing up. Why you keep coming here if you plan to be the same person you've always been? May I please give you a cue? It is the responsibility of church to change you. Oh, I should have had a full house of amens right there. I said the reason we come to church is to be changed. It makes no sense to say the same way you are and go around talking. I've always been like this. That is not a testimony. My mama was like this. My daddy was like this. My family been like this. I'm all, that is not a testimony. The reason we come to church is so God can work out the kinks. He can work out the idiosyncrasies, the quirks that is within us so we can grow up and mature. He says, I want us to grow up and mature so we won't be infants tossed to and fro. When you deal with all the things you have to deal with in this life, when you have to go through the pains and the struggles and the trials and tribulations of this life, we need to come in here to grow up so we can mature.

23:59 when you watch the news and you see all of the challenges with which our world is facing, you deal with the reality that that fellow is still at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue. You need some Holy Ghost. You need some Bible to keep you grounded when all this craziness is going on around us. And brothers and sisters, Paul says we're supposed to grow up and mature. But that's not all he says, Dr. Wesley. He does not just say we're supposed to grow and mature. He says we're supposed to likewise love one another. That because we're interconnected, because we're interdependent upon one another, we're supposed to show love one to another. Let me show it again. Let me tell you again. He said because we're interconnected, interdependent, it is the responsibility of all of the members of the body of Christ to build each other up in love. He says it in verse 2. He says it in verse 15 and again in verse 16. He says in verse 2, we're supposed to bear with one another in love. I don't like all your ways, but I love you enough to keep on helping you out

25:09 I'm not crazy about how you treated me, but I'm crazy enough to love you until times get better He says we have to love one another that all of us are disposed to show love and that word that he uses there My brothers and sisters that Greek word agape agape that is the unconditional unchanging unchanging, unfathomable love of God. He literally suggests that because we are the people of God, it is our responsibility to show the love of God. And we can show the love of God because God has demonstrated his love to us. And because God has demonstrated his love to us, we have to display that love to somebody else. Okay, you missed it. Rewind, press play. I said because God has demonstrated God's love to us we have to display God's love to somebody else let's be clear none of us is worthy of the love of Jesus Christ I'll wait for your amen that was a good spot right there I said none of us is worthy of the aim of the love of Jesus Christ but the Bible says that God demonstrated his love toward us in that while we were yet sinners Christ died for us he didn't wait for us to get our acts together he didn't wait for us to grow up and mature he didn't wait for us to develop into some super saint he didn't wait for us to get a title in the lord's church while we were still in our mess the lord loved us while we were still doing what we do and what we used to do god loved us and if god can love us through that you ought to be able to love somebody else through what they're going through i need 10 or 12 people in here who can testify i don't come I don't come to church to get hated on in here the way I get hated on out there.

26:52 I don't come in church to deal with the same sexism in here that I deal with out there. I don't come to church to deal with the same kind of idiosyncrasies that other folk deal with out there. When I come in here, I want to know the love of Jesus Christ. I want to know that somebody embraces me. Somebody knows I'm still unfinished, but they know that God's got a plan for me. Is there anybody in here who knows that no matter where you are in life right now, God has a plan for you. And his plan is to prosper you, not to harm you, to give you hope and a future. And I'm going to love you till times get better. He said that's our responsibility. We've got to love one another. We've got to take care of one another. So I know you don't want to look at your neighbor. You ain't got to look at them right now. But just hunch them and say, I do love you.

27:44 I really do love you. You ain't got to turn to your neighbor and high five or slap your neighbor. Just say, I love you. And there's nothing you can do about it. This is the obligation of all humanity. This is not just for a few of us in church. This is not just for the folk who sit on the front row. Not just for the folk whose names are called. This is for every one of us. Every one of us who tries to slip in and not be known. Every one of us who tries to slip in and nobody call our name. It is the obligation of all humanity to grow up and mature and to show the love of Jesus Christ. Well, let me close my little message. My time is almost out, but can I give you one more thing? because if we're going to understand this business of bodybuilding, we understand that it is the expectation of all of us that we will operate in unity. It is the expectation of unity that each of us must have. And then it is the obligation of all humanity to do this. But I hear somebody saying, but preacher, you just don't know how crazy my pew partner is.

28:42 Keep looking straight ahead. Please keep looking straight ahead. Please. You just don't know how difficult it is to love that person who stepped on my foot trying to get across me in this people. You just don't know how difficult it is to deal with the person who got here a little earlier than I did and they're sitting in my seat. They know that's my seat. Been sitting there for 69 years, and now they're in my seat. You just don't know. Well, here's the good news. Although it's the obligation of all humanity to grow up and mature and to show love, good news is we don't have to do it by ourselves. Good news is, my brothers and sisters, that we have the participation of divinity. I close right there when I tell you about the participation of divinity. I dealt with verses 1 through 6.

29:39 Then I jumped down to verses 11 and verses 11 all the way to down 16. But now I need to jump back up to verse 7 because if you begin to read that middle passage of the text, you'll find out that Paul says, listen, you don't have to try this by yourself. You don't have to handle this on your own. I know the limitations of humanity. I know that each of us needs some assistance trying to live this life we've been called to live. And so Paul says, listen, I got some good news for you. He says to each of us grace has been given as Christ has apportioned it. Okay. One, two, three, four, five, six, seven. Okay, that's seven. There's no completion. I go with what I got. He says that to each one of us grace has been given as Christ has apportioned it. Okay.

30:34 That's about 12. That's what Jesus had. I see I just go with 12. All right. I'm going to try to get it until everybody gets here. We got to get to Sunday school or wherever we're going. I said to each one of us, grace has, okay, you must not know what grace is because grace is the unmerited favor of God. Grace is a gift that's been granted to us that we know we don't deserve and we'll never live long enough to earn it. I need 10 or 12 people in here who know that you're the beneficiary of the grace of God to go ahead and testify. I'm so grateful that every day of my life, the Lord gives me grace that is sufficient for me. I need 10 or 12 more people in that balcony who can testify. If it hadn't been for the grace of God, I wouldn't have what I have, know what I know, do what I do, or be able to be who I am. But somebody in here can thank God for the grace of God because he looked beyond your faults and saw all of your needs. Somebody in here can testify.

31:29 He keeps on giving you what you know you don't deserve. As a matter of fact, the songwriter said he giveth and giveth and giveth more grace. somebody in here ought to thank God for unmerited favor and if you'll be honest today you know you need God's grace with the thorns in your flesh with the challenges you have to face all of us need the grace of God and on the Sunday morning at the Alfred Street Church I wonder if I got 10 or 12 more people who can just get excited about the fact that every day of your life God gives you what you know you don't deserve I need 10 or 12 people in here who can testify You may have gone to the right school. You may have the right job. You may have a good family, but you know you don't deserve it because God just keeps making a way for you. Every time you turn around, he keeps on doing great things for you. And somebody who is grateful for the grace of God ought to go ahead and talk about how great it is, how amazing it is, how profound it is.

32:31 But wait a minute before you get there, Before you celebrate that as the only thing to celebrate, if you read the next few verses, he'll say because God loves you so much, he didn't just give the church grace. He also gave the church gifts. And one of the gifts he gave was apostles and teachers, was prophets and pastors, was evangelists so they can equip us for works of service. He gave us a pastor to stand up here every Sunday and tell us about the good news of the gospel of Jesus Christ. And on this Sunday morning, I wonder if there's anybody at Alfred Street who is grateful that 11 years ago, God dropped a gift on this place. And that gift has been blessing you for the last few weeks, months, and years of your life. Is there anybody in church today who can go ahead and thank God that every Sunday morning, you got a gift who stands up here, opens up this Bible, and declares to you the word of the living God. And you're getting stronger.

33:32 You're getting wiser You're getting better Cause you keep on getting built up Is there anybody in the building today Who can testify I can take some of life's challenges Cause God is building me up I can handle some of life's setbacks Cause God is building me up If I had gone through some of this years ago I don't know if I would have made it But thanks be to God I got some word in me And that word is giving me power To take a lickin' and keep on tickin' That word has given me power To let me know that trouble don't last always That word has given me power To stand And having done all to stand I'll stand anyhow Is there anybody in the building today Who can testify I'm being built up I'm not as sweet as I used to be I'm not as lame as I used to be