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I can remember having a conversation, early on in my ministry, with a gentleman about the value of going to church.
This man said something like this to me.
I don’t see the need to go church.
I get more out of being in the woods on Sunday morning than I do sitting in the pew.
Why should I go to church?
Instantly, the command in Hebrews came to my mind, “Do not forsake the assembling of yourselves together.”
But, I left that conversation wishing I had given a better answer.
That conversation has stuck with me all these years, and I keep trying to answer that question, “why should I go to church” in the most biblical way possible.
This is the question that I would like to answer this morning from the book of Ephesians.
Why should we go to church?
In our culture there are many answers to that question.
I fear that many churches in America have become nothing more that social gathering places, or somewhere that I can go to be moved emotionally, to get that warm and fuzzy feeling.
But the truth is, that the church does not exist primarily for you to get something out of it.
You should not come to church and sit in your chair and think, “OK, what can I get out of this service?”
Now, don’t get me wrong, I hope that every time you come to church you get something out of it, I hope you walk away feeling blessed.
But that is not the primary reason that we come to church.
If it was then the argument, “I get more out of being in the woods than I do sitting in the pew” would have some validity.
I would suggest to you that the reason you should come to church is not this attitude of what can I get, but rather what can I give?
So the question then is not what can I get, but what can I give and to whom should I give it to?
You probably know that the book of Ephesians is divided broadly into two parts.
Ch 1-3 deal with theology and ch 4-6 deal with the practical application of that theology.
So to begin this morning I want us to look at the theology behind the question “Why should I go to church?”
I.
The theology for going to church
A. The background of Ephesians
Paul wrote the book of Ephesians from prison.
He is most likely imprisoned in Rome somewhere around A.D 60.
The city of Ephesus was a religiously pluralistic environment.
That means they worshiped many different kinds of gods and goddesses.
Scholars estimate that as many as fifty different false gods were worshiped by the Ephesians.
None more significant that the goddess Artemis.
You can read all about this system of false religion in .
One significant story is found in where a group of Jewish exorcists, the seven sons of Sceva, tried to cast out evil spirits from a demon posses man and failed.
They said to this demon possessed man, “We adjure you by Jesus whom Paul preacheth.”
Do you remember what the evil spirit said in response?
“Jesus I know, and Paul I know; but who are ye?”
And so the evil spirit leaped upon these Jews and possessed them.
Acts 19.17-
So we know that there was an inedible amount of spiritual warfare going on in Ephesus.
That is why Paul includes the section about putting on the whole armor of God in chapter 6
Eph 6.10-
So one of the purposes of the book of Ephesians was to equip believers to stand strong against the spiritual warfare that was so prevalent in their culture.
A byproduct of that was that many Gentile believers were being converted out of this oppressive spiritualism and being added to the church.
The church in Ephesus consisted of Jews and Gentiles and as the gospel spread and people became converted there arose a problem for how people, both Jew and Gentile should function in the church together.
So another purpose of the book of Ephesians is to explain the mystery or the theology of the church and to give practical instruction for how these believers should think about and live out in the church.
B. A theology of unity
Paul begins the book of Ephesians with the theology of our identity as believers.
Blessed with every spiritual blessing in Christ (v.3)
Chosen before the foundation of the world (v.
4)
Holy and blameless before God (v. 4)
Adopted as children of God (v. 5)
To the praise of his glory (v. 6)
Redeemed through Christ’s blood (v.
7)
Forgiven through the riches of God’s grace (v.
7)
Here we see the beginning of the theology of the church.
They mystery that was previously unknown in the OT was that now God’s will is to gather together in one (pay attention to this) all things (both Jew and Gentile) in Christ.
In chapter 2 Paul tells the Ephesian believers what they used to be:
This is a little more powerful knowing the kind of spiritualism that most of the Ephesians were saved out of.
You were dead, in time past you used to walk according to the prince of the power of the air.
Eph 2.11-
slide
20 ἐποικοδομηθέντες ἐπὶ τῷ θεμελίῳ
Being built (pass) on the foundation
τῶν ἀποστόλων καὶ προφητῶν,*
of the apostles and the prophets,
ὄντος ἀκρογωνιαίου ⸆ αὐτοῦ Χριστοῦ Ἰησοῦ,
Christ Jesus Himself being the cornerstone,
21 ἐν ᾧ πᾶσα ⸆ οἰκοδομὴ συναρμολογουμένη
In whom the whole building, being joined (pres, pass) together
αὔξει εἰς ναὸν ἅγιον ἐν κυρίῳ,*
grows (pres, act, ind) into a holy temple in the Lord,
22 ἐν ᾧ καὶ ὑμεῖς συνοικοδομεῖσθε
In Him you also are being built up (pres, pass, ind) together
εἰς κατοικητήριον τοῦ ⸀θεοῦ ἐν πνεύματι.*
for a dwelling place of God in the Spirit.
Why do we go to church?
Not to get, but to give ourselves unto God to grow together, and be built up together to function as His temple, as a dwelling place of God.
Wow!
We are a dwelling place for God.
We were chosen before the foundation of the Lord to become one in Christ, so that in unity we might grow together to be a holy temple, and dwelling place that is unto the praise of His glory.
That is the theology of the church, but practically we need to ask, how do we do that?
How do we make ourselves into a holy dwelling place for God?
Just like we decorate the physical building to make it attractive and functional.
How do we make the building that God dwells in holy and attractive to Him?
II.
The practice of the church
A. Eagerly maintain unity
.1-
How do we make ourselves into a holy dwelling place for God?
We endeavor (we eagerly) keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace.
We strive together in unity for the sake of the gospel.
How do we do that?
With lowliness (humility), and meekness (gentleness), and with longsuffering (great patience) we forebear one another, we bear with each other in love!
That is the kind of dwelling place that God wants to be a part of.
So why do I come to church.
To grow together with my fellow believers in unity, through humility, gentleness, patience, and love in order to build a dwelling place for God that is glorious and worthy of Him.
This is more than a casual relationship with your fellow believer.
Not just how are you, fine kind of a deal.
This is one of the purposes behind activities like the “Guess who is coming to dinner” so that we can grow together and be built together for God’s sake.
So we can be likeminded striving together for God’s glory.
B. Actively do the work of the ministry
Skip parenthetical 9-10
Eph 4.11-
Perfecting- used of setting of a bone, generally preparation, idea is to equip.
Edifying- lit means process of building, doing construction.
Fig has the idea of spiritual strengthening.
As we do the work of the ministry we are building each other up- we are doing some construction.
We are growing together into the dwelling place of God.
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