At the beginning of 2026 we are looking at
the subject of being fruitful. Today our subject is, “Being a fruitful
church”.
We do this with the help of Ephesians 4:1-16.
We can learn much from Paul’s way of thinking and writing. Foundationally solid thinking is required for practical living. A house is only as good as the foundations it is built upon.
Churches are only as good as the solid doctrine of the Word which they
embrace. Doctrine is to church life what
the skeleton is to the human body.
Doctrine is fundamental to practice.
All of life illustrates this. You cannot be a doctor or nurse, a mechanic, a teacher without the
relevant doctrine or training which undergirds each discipline. A pastor cannot
be truly helpful in his preaching and counseling and pastoring without a solid,
balanced knowledge of Scripture. The Word of God is as the richest of foods (Ps.
63:5), full of good nutrients. We must be fed from the whole counsel of
Scripture. I am thankful for the profundity of the
doctrine of salvation in the book of Romans, but I am equally thankful for the
practical wisdom for living contained in Proverbs and Ecclesiastes, the
emphasis on God’s holiness in Leviticus, and the heavenly vision and triumph of
God over evil in the Book of Revelation. Thank
God for the book of Ephesians and its solid teaching on the nature and practice
of the local church.
CONTEXT
In Ephesians 1 Paul tells us how it is that people become Christians.
In Ephesians 2&3 he shows that Christians are called to belong to the church- God's mystery (3:3,4,6,9). He shows us that this church consists of both, Jew and Gentile. Both are saved and reconciled to God in one way- Christ ALONE! His church is built upon one foundation. This church has one apostolic and prophetic word and one cornerstone - one Lord, who the Head of the church, which is His body (2:20).
It is from Christ the true Vine (John 15:1-17) that the church derives her
source of fruitfulness.
Ephesians 4:1-16 describes the inner workings of a fruitful church:
- Unity (4:1-3)
- Trinity (4:4-6)
- Ability (4:7 -11)
- Maturity (4:12-16)
A fruitful church is a church where unity is a reality.
We are called to maintain the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace. We do not have to create unity. It has been provided through the shed blood of Christ (2:13). It is applied by the Holy Spirit. We are called to maintain that unity. Look at the text: “live a life worthy of the calling to which you have been called“ (4:1). The underlying graces which produce a church’s unity are humility and gentleness, with patience, bearing with one another in love, eager to (make every effort) maintain the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace“(4:3). These are the fruit of the Spirit (Gal. 5:22,23).
The church consists of born again members of Christ which are rooted in Christ, and if rooted in Christ
then this church will bear fruit! Good fruit can only come from a good root. You must be born again in order to be able to produce fruit in keeping with
your repentance. All those that are born
again, share a similar heritage and the outcome
of this is UNITY.
No wonder that Satan works so hard to sow discord, and to
introduce wolves in sheep’s clothing
into the flock (Eph. 6:10-20). Disunity makes a church
fruitless.
“There is one body and one Spirit -just as you were
called to one hope when you were
called –one Lord, one faith, one baptism; one
God and Father of all, who is over all and through all and in
all.”
The key word “one” (implying
unity) is used 7 times in 4:4-6.
The theme of the letter to the Ephesians is in a sense all about this
unity. This unity is rooted in the work
of the Trinity, the Holy Spirit (4:4); the Lord Jesus (4:5) and God our Father (4:6).
God has formed the members of the church into one body by the means of
one faith, one hope, one baptism – ALL
THIS because there is only one God - Father, Son and Holy Spirit.
The Trinity is central to the church’s existence and fruitfulness.
The true church proceeds from God.
We must say this because it is possible for churches to not work from
this basis, but from the basis of mere human strength and ingenuity. They are fruitless. They are Satan’s
imitations. As such there are many
churches that are not Christ-centered, God-centered and not Spirit directed.
It is essential that the church must be made up of those called by God the Father, saved by the blood of Christ, and called to life by the Holy Spirit, into one hope, one Lord, one faith, one baptism, in order for her to be fruitful.
3. ABILITY – GIFTEDNESS (4:7-11)
Fruitful churches are driven by spiritual gifts
Fruitfulness is obtained through the exercise of spiritually
gifted members. In this regard we note that …
- All believers are gifted (4:7a): “But grace was given to each of us …”. The ‘grace’ (Gr. charis) is given by Christ through the outpoured Spirit at Pentecost. It is this grace which we must extend to each other in the body of Christ – FOR THE PURPOSE OF BUILDING ONE ANOTHER UP. Gifts are not given to play with; they are tools to build with. And if they are not used in love, they become weapons to fight with, as had in fact happened to the Corinthians (1 Cor. 12-14). We are saved to serve our God and our people with our gifts. Spiritual gifts are meant to bring spiritual blessing, and if spiritual blessing, then spiritual fruitfulness.
- Believers are gifted in differing degrees (4:7b)“according to the measure of Christ’s gift”[1]. This indicates that Christ gives each believer measured (Gk. ‘metron’) grace. This is often not understood. All Christian people receive gifts, but all do not receive the same gifts, and neither do all receive them with the same intensity. Our different giftedness is due to an enablement by Christ. He knows what is good and needed in each body of believers in order to make that body fruitful in terms of giving visibility to the fruit of the Spirit.
- Christ is the Giver of the gifts (4:8-10). This fact is substantiated by an interesting quotation from Ps 68:18. This is a call/prayer to God to come to the rescue of His people as in the days of old. David remembers how God went in triumph before His people after the Exodus (v.7) so that Mt Sinai trembled (v.8) and kings were scattered (vv. 11-14). Then, the king who wanted Mt Zion as his residence (v.16), came from Sinai to his chosen holy place (His sanctuary) (v.17).As he ascended towards Mt Zion as the conquering King, he led captives and the spoils of war in his entourage. Along the way he generously distributed the gifts (the spoils of war) to the residents of Mt Zion/ Jerusalem. Paul applies this picture to Christ. Christ had descended to this sinful earth to die for our sins, rising up from the grave, triumphing over the power of death, delivering His people from spiritual exile and under Satan’s dominion. Christ not only triumphs over death (Satan’s trump card), but He also plunders Satan’s kingdom, robbing him of many of his “sin slaves“, redeeming them to be His own people. Then He ascends to His glorious throne - the spiritual Mt. Zion, with all His captives for His kingdom, sharing the spoils of that battle won against Satan, by dispensing these former ‘sin slaves’, as His gifts to His church. These gifts from God come to us in the form of people, whom the heavenly King uses to bless His church - apostles, prophets, evangelists, pastor- teachers.
- Christ has given us foundational gifts to build up the church (4:11-12) This list represents the foundational graces for the church: apostles, prophets, evangelists, pastors and teachers. I cannot say much about this now. However, since there is so much controversy about apostles and prophets in our own day, we have to briefly clarify this. In Eph. 2:19,20 the offices of apostles and prophets are regarded as ‘foundational’ in the church. Foundations do not need to be built continually. We do not need new or more apostles and prophets any more than we need a new Lord Jesus. The ministry of apostles and prophets in particular is maintained by the faithful preaching of the prophetic and apostolic word.
In summary: these foundational gifts are essential for the ongoing fruitfulness of the church
The most fruitful church is a mature church
We are now coming to our concluding thought. Why does the church need
this unity? Why is the presence and enablement of the Holy Trinity essential? Why does the church need spiritual gifts?
The answer is given in 4:12-16: to
equip the saints for the work for ministry, for building to build them up…
All these foundational ministries are very important to the church’s existence and unity since through these ministries God’s people are prepared and perfected and equipped- they are made fruitful.
- The word for “preparing /perfecting/ equipping“ is the Greek word “katartizo“. It means ‘fixing something that's broken’ (e.g. torn nets in Matt. 4:21).
- It can also mean ‘to supply something that is lacking’ (as in 1 Thess. 3:10, "We desire to supply, or equip, what is lacking in your faith"). The work of these foundational ministries is to repair what is broken and to supply what is lacking in and among the believers, who are, in the final analysis called "for the work of ministry". The fixing and supplying what is lacking is meant to make the saints into fruitful servants.
And the goal is maturity (5:13). The final exhibition of fruitfulness is mature / ripe fruit. That
means, …
- Being Christlike believers
- Not immature, tossed about by every wind of doctrine
- Speaking the truth in love
- Growing up in Him – our Head, the Lord Jesus Christ
- Growing into a body built up in love – the supreme mark of the church
Do you see what Paul sees? The body of Christ on earth is in one sense perfect already in God’s sight, because He knows what she is finally going to be. On the other hand she is not yet a perfect entity, but she works for perfection. Right now she is work in progress. And the more she is rooted in sound doctrine, and led by foundational gifts, rooted in the work of the Trinity and the more unity she shows among her members the more effective she will be as she fights this spiritual war, taking captives from Satan for Christ’s glory.
[1] See also
Romans 12:6
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