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You are able, would you please 
remain standing for the reading 

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of God's Word this morning I'll 
be reading from Paul's letter to

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the Ephesians, chapter 1, 
beginning with verse 22. 

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Paul writes. 
And he put all things under his 

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feet and gave him as head over 
all things to the church, which 

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is his body, the fullness of him
who fills all, and all. 

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This is the word of the Lord. 
He may be seated. 

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Some of you may remember that 
this past summer I went on 

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sabbatical and our family had 
the opportunity to spend just 

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over 5 weeks in Great Britain, 
touring England and Scotland, 

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visiting churches and pastors 
and learning from them, being 

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encouraged by them. 
One Sunday we attended worship 

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at Cornerstone Presbyterian 
Church in Edinburgh, Scotland, 

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church that's planted by my 
friend Neil McMillan. 

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We happen to be there on a 
Sunday where they were ordaining

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and installing a new elder to 
serve as a shepherd of their 

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church. 
And just like we do here in the 

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Presbyterian Church in America 
and at our church, Park City's 

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Presbyterian Church, every time 
that we ordain and install a new

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elder, we ask them a series of 
questions. 

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And it struck me that the Free 
Church of Scotland has questions

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that are very similar to ours, 
all except for one, a question 

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that we don't have to ask here 
in the United States of America.

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The 4th question in the Free 
Church of Scotland for 

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candidates for ordination goes 
like this. 

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And you probably should get it 
comfortable. 

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It's a bit of a doozy. 
I'm going to read the entire 

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thing. 
Do you believe that the Lord 

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Jesus Christ, as King and Head 
of the Church, has therein 

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appointed a government in the 
hands of Church officers 

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distinct from, and not 
subordinate in its own province 

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to civil government? 
That the civil Magistrate does 

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not possess jurisdiction or 
authoritative control over the 

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regulation of the affairs of 
Christ Church. 

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And do you approve of the 
general principles embodied in 

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the claim Declaration and 
protest adopted by the General 

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Assembly of the Church of 
Scotland in 1842, and the 

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protest of Ministers and Elders?
Commissioners from Presbyteries 

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to the General Assembly read in 
the presence of the Royal 

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Commissioner on the 18th of May,
1843, as declaring the views 

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which are sanctioned by the Word
of God, and the standards of 

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this Church with respect to the 
spirituality and freedom of the 

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Church of Christ, and her 
subjection to Him as her only 

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Head, and to His Word as her 
only standard. 

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Do you follow all that? 
Just one question, By far the 

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longest of the ordination 
questions the Free Church of 

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Scotland. 
But what does it mean? 

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More importantly, why do they 
ask it? 

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Well, the Free Church of 
Scotland was formed in 1843 when

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nearly 1/3 of the ministers of 
the Church of Scotland resigned 

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because of government 
interference in the affairs of 

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the church. 
This was known as the 

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Disruption, as a result of years
of disagreement over who has 

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ultimate authority over the 
church. 

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Is it the Church or is it the 
state? 

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More than just a political 
issue, it raises a very 

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important theological question. 
Who is the head of the Church? 

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Who is the head of the Church? 
This simple question has had a 

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very complicated answer over the
centuries. 

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For the Church of England. 
The supreme Governor of the 

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Church is the monarch today. 
That is King Charles. 

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Right now, King Charles is the 
supreme governor of the Church 

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of England. 
For Roman Catholics, the visible

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and delegated head of the church
is the Pope. 

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And for many evangelical 
Christians today especially, and

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our culture that is fixated on 
Christian celebrity, the cult of

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personality, many people would 
say that the head of their local

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church is the pastor. 
But as we're seeing this morning

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and Paul's letter to the church 
at Ephesus, he clearly states 

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that God appointed Jesus Christ 
to be the head over everything 

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for the church. 
For Paul, Christ alone is the 

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head of the church. 
And this morning together we're 

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going to see just exactly what 
that means. 

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What does it mean that Christ is
head of the church? 

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What does it mean for us as the 
church to be His body? 

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The first way that we see this 
question answered by Paul in 

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Ephesians is this. 
Jesus is the authority of the 

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church. 
Look with me, Ephesians chapter 

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1. 
We'll look together at verse 22.

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Paul begins verse 22 like this, 
and he put all things under his 

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feet. 
As we're going through the book 

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of Ephesians, verse by verse, 
very slowly, it's important that

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we connect each word and each 
phrase to its context, 

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especially when we have hanging 
prepositions and hanging 

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pronouns. 
Here we have two pronouns given 

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to us, connected by the Word and
leading us to understand that 

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everything that Paul is saying 
is building a larger argument. 

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So we have to begin by asking, 
well, who is the he and what is 

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the his referring to? 
If you have a Bible, I want you 

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to go ahead and get it out. 
If you don't have a Bible, get 

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out the blue Pew Bible in front 
of you. 

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Turn with me to Ephesians 
chapter 1 and back up to verse 

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17 and Paul says, and he put all
things under his feet. 

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Who is the He? 
We have to go all the way back 

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to verse 17. 
Paul tells us the God of our 

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Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of
glory. 

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The he is God the Father of 
glory. 

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But who is the His? 
What is it referring to? 

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Well for that you have to go to 
verse 20. 

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In verse 20, Paul says that he 
worked in Christ when he raised 

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him from the dead and seated him
at his right hand in the 

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heavenly places, far above all 
rule and authority and power and

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dominion, and above every name 
that is named, not only in this 

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age but also in the one to come.
So in verse 22, Paul's building 

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on the idea of authority. 
What he's saying here in the 

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opening words is that God, the 
Father of all glory, has given 

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authority to the Son Jesus 
Christ. 

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He's given authority over death,
over all rule and power and 

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dominion, above every name and 
over all things in Paul. 

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And verse 22 is intentionally 
borrowing from the language of 

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Psalm 8. 
You don't have to turn there, 

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just listen. 
This is Psalm 84. 

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What is man that you are mindful
of him, the Son of man that you 

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care for him, yet you've made 
him a little lower than the 

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heavenly beings and crowned him 
with glory and honor. 

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You've given him dominion over 
the works of your hands and 

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you've put all things under his 
feet. 

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Does that sound familiar? 
The same language that Paul used

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the beginning of verse 22, and 
he put all things under his 

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feet. 
Now Psalm 8 is a messianic 

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Psalm, a Psalm that foreshadows 
the coming Messiah, the 

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long-awaited Savior King. 
So what Paul is doing here in 

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Ephesians one, verse 22, is he's
saying Jesus is the long-awaited

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Messiah. 
He is the Savior King, and God 

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the Father of all glory has 
appointed to him all authority, 

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authority even over death itself
and over every earthly Kingdom 

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and every human government. 
He reigns and rules over all 

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things. 
And so it's to stand to reason 

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that if Jesus Christ the Son of 
God reigns and rules over all 

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things and he has authority over
the church. 

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And this is exactly where Paul 
goes. 

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Paul continues in verse 22 and 
gave him that is, God gave Jesus

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as head over all things to the 
church. 

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God has appointed Jesus to be 
head of the church. 

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Now there are two words that we 
have to understand here in order

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to really comprehend what Paul 
is teaching us, the word head 

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and the word church. 
I want to begin with the word 

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church. 
What does Paul mean by the word 

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church? 
The Greek word that Paul uses, 

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the word ecclesia. 
It's a word that means 

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congregation or assembly or 
community. 

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It's a word that Luke uses, an 
act to describe the congregation

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of the people of Israel. 
That's a word that Paul will use

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over and over and over again in 
his letters, in the New 

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Testament, in First Corinthians,
Colossians, Romans, and of 

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course here in Ephesians, every 
time to refer to the church. 

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So what does that teach us? 
What is Paul saying? 

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What is Paul's definition of the
church? 

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For the apostle Paul, the church
is not a building, it's not an 

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event, it's not a thing that you
go to. 

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It's not a human institution or 
organization or nonprofit. 

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Now for the apostle Paul, the 
church is a people, a people 

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that God has called to himself, 
a people that God loves so much 

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that he sent his own Son to die 
in their place and to rise again

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for their salvation. 
For Paul, the church is a 

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people. 
And so this morning, I have no 

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doubt that is you got dressed 
and you came here. 

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You probably thought or maybe 
even said, I'm going to church 

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today. 
Maybe this afternoon you'll be 

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talking to a neighbor. 
They'll ask, well, what have you

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done today? 
And you'll say, well, this 

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morning I went to church. 
I'm not saying that's 

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necessarily bad, it's just not 
totally true. 

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We don't go to church. 
We are the church and everywhere

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we go, we are the church. 
This morning as the church, 

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we've gathered together for 
worship this afternoon and 

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throughout the week we will be 
scattered at his church all over

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the city as his people to be his
ambassadors for Paul. 

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The church is a people. 
What does it mean that Jesus is 

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the head? 
How is Jesus the head of the 

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church? 
Well, it's clear that what Paul 

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has been saying is that Jesus 
has ultimate authority, 

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authority over death itself, 
authority over every government,

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every institution, authority 
over the church. 

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We see this language in 
Colossians one verse 18, and he 

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is the head of the body, the 
church. 

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He is the beginning, the first 
born from the dead, that in 

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everything he might be 
preeminent. 

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Christ alone, the head of the 
church, He alone has authority 

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over the church. 
And this has profound 

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implications for how we are to 
understand Christ as our King, 

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us as the church, and how we 
ought to be governed. 

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Now in our church at PCPC, we're
part of the Presbyterian Church 

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in America. 
You may not know that we have as

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part of our church a 
constitution, part of that 

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constitution. 
It's called the Book of Church 

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Order. 
Now, I know that probably many 

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of you don't have a book of 
Church order. 

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Perhaps some of you've never 
even read it. 

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Promise none of you sleep with 
it under your pillow. 

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But you need to know, and I hope
you're comforted to know that we

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have a document that helps us 
operate as a church. 

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This should be a comfort to us 
because if you've ever been a 

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part of a church that doesn't 
have any rules and any 

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regulations, on one hand it 
sounds nice, but it's amazing 

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what people can do to destroy 
the church. 

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There's great comfort that 
handed down from generation to 

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generation. 
We have a book of church order, 

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and in our denomination our book
of church order begins with 

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these words that Jesus Christ 
alone is the King and the head 

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of the church. 
No human being is in charge of 

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the church, not the king, not 
the Pope, not even your pastors,

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not even your elders. 
Christ alone has authority. 

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Christ alone is head of the 
church. 

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What that means for us is that 
Jesus is the senior senior 

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pastor. 
He is, as Peter says, the chief 

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shepherd. 
Peter will put it this way in 

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his encouragement to the elders 
of the church. 

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00:14:08,160 --> 00:14:12,920
First Peter 5 verse one Peter 
says, I exhort the elders among 

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you as a fellow elder and 
witness of the sufferings of 

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Christ, as well as a partaker in
the glory that is to be 

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revealed. 
Shepherd, the flock of God that 

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is among you, exercising 
oversight, not under compassion 

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and compulsion, but willingly, 
as God would have you, not for 

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shameful gain, but eagerly, not 
domineering over those in your 

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00:14:38,960 --> 00:14:41,720
charge, but being examples to 
the flock. 

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And when the chief shepherd 
appears, you will receive the 

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unfading crown of glory. 
What Peter is saying is that 

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00:14:52,560 --> 00:14:57,920
Jesus as the Chief Shepherd of 
the church has called and 

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appointed under shepherds, 
pastors and elders to lead the 

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church. 
Not domineering over the church 

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but serving in as an example and
laying their lives down for the 

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church. 
Not saying do what I say, but 

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instead follow me as I follow 
Jesus, who is the chief Shepherd

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and the true head of the church.
Now this means at least three 

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things for us practically. 
First, it means the church is 

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built by Jesus. 
It's built by no man. 

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We're tempted to think that if 
we just have the right pastor, 

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then the church will grow. 
That makes sense practically. 

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It's just wrong theologically. 
Let's never forget the promise 

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that Jesus made Peter when he 
said on this rock, Peter, I will

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build my church. 
The gates of hell will not 

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00:16:00,520 --> 00:16:04,160
prevail against it. 
Christ right now is building his

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church, and he will build it 
until he comes again. 

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Second, must recognize that 
church leadership must submit to

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Jesus in all things, every 
decision, every part of their 

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call to be a shepherd. 
Leaders of the church must 

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submit to Jesus as their 
ultimate authority. 

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And 3rd. 
Twice in the Gospel of John, 

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John the Baptist is approached 
by people assuming that he must 

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be the Messiah. 
Twice John the Baptist clearly 

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00:16:42,640 --> 00:16:49,520
says I am not the Christ. 
The pastors and elders of the 

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church are not Jesus. 
They never can be. 

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We cannot save you and we will 
let you down, but Jesus the 

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Chief Shepherd has called us to 
point you to him, to proclaim 

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him the only one who's laid his 
life down for our salvation, the

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only one who is our Savior. 
This leads to the second thing 

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that we see here in Ephesians 
about Christ as the head and us 

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as the body. 
Not only is Jesus the authority 

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of the church, but second, Jesus
is the source of life for the 

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church. 
You see, there are two ways to 

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think about Christ as the head. 
One is to think about authority,

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but the other is to think about 
Christ as the head, as in the 

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00:17:42,200 --> 00:17:44,720
source of life. 
Like the headwaters of a river 

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00:17:44,720 --> 00:17:47,000
that brings life to everything 
that it touches. 

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00:17:47,960 --> 00:17:53,040
Here Paul uses a different 
image, and for centuries 

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00:17:54,400 --> 00:17:58,000
scholars have wondered, well, 
which of these two definitions 

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ways of thinking about Christ as
head is most accurate? 

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00:18:01,920 --> 00:18:04,960
Is Paul trying to teach us that 
Jesus is the head and that he is

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00:18:04,960 --> 00:18:08,400
the authority? 
Or is he trying to teach us that

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00:18:08,400 --> 00:18:10,520
Jesus is the head and that he is
the life? 

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00:18:11,800 --> 00:18:14,320
I think it's entirely possible 
that Paul meant both. 

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00:18:15,440 --> 00:18:19,280
See, because at the beginning of
verse 22, it's so clear Paul's 

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talking about authority, the 
authority that God the Father of

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00:18:23,320 --> 00:18:26,640
all glory has given the Son 
Jesus to have all over all 

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00:18:26,640 --> 00:18:31,240
things, even death itself, over 
every government, every 

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00:18:31,240 --> 00:18:33,520
institution, and yes, over the 
church. 

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00:18:34,400 --> 00:18:39,280
But then in verse 23, notice his
imagery, his language changes. 

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It changes from institutional 
language about government to 

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00:18:46,480 --> 00:18:51,000
organic language. 
Notice what he says beginning in

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00:18:51,000 --> 00:18:53,840
verse 22. 
Paul says he put all things 

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00:18:53,840 --> 00:18:57,760
under his feet and gave him as 
head over all things to the 

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00:18:57,760 --> 00:19:04,240
church, verse 23, which is his 
body, the fullness of him who 

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00:19:04,240 --> 00:19:07,880
fills all and all. 
Paul's language regarding the 

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church is not just 
institutional, it's organic. 

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00:19:13,320 --> 00:19:15,720
One way to think about head is 
to think about the head, the 

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00:19:15,720 --> 00:19:18,160
leader of an organization or an 
institution. 

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00:19:18,760 --> 00:19:21,200
But another way to think about a
head is to literally think about

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00:19:21,200 --> 00:19:24,600
a head that's connected to a 
human body. 

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00:19:24,600 --> 00:19:28,640
And that's the imagery that Paul
is now using here in verse 23. 

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00:19:29,080 --> 00:19:33,680
Christ is the head of the 
church, which is his body. 

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00:19:34,840 --> 00:19:37,800
And Paul uses all kinds of 
images throughout the book of 

283
00:19:37,800 --> 00:19:42,160
Ephesians to describe the 
church, the image of household 

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00:19:42,160 --> 00:19:46,480
or family, temple or dwelling 
place, the image of the bride 

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00:19:46,960 --> 00:19:49,440
here in Ephesians one, it's the 
body. 

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00:19:49,440 --> 00:19:54,120
And I'll further develop this 
imagery in Ephesians chapter 4. 

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00:19:54,120 --> 00:19:58,920
Just listen Ephesians 4 verse 
15, Paul writes rather speaking 

288
00:19:58,920 --> 00:20:02,040
the truth and love. 
We are to grow up into every 

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00:20:02,040 --> 00:20:05,920
way, into Him who is the head 
into Christ. 

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00:20:06,480 --> 00:20:11,720
From whom the whole body joined 
and held together by every joint

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00:20:11,800 --> 00:20:15,880
with which it is equipped, when 
each part is working properly, 

292
00:20:16,080 --> 00:20:20,440
makes the body grow so that it 
builds itself up and love. 

293
00:20:21,440 --> 00:20:25,440
What is Paul saying? 
What's it mean that the church 

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00:20:25,880 --> 00:20:28,680
is the body of Christ? 
What's it mean that Christ is 

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00:20:28,680 --> 00:20:32,200
the head of the body? 
Well, when I was in high school,

296
00:20:32,200 --> 00:20:37,240
I was a bit of a science nerd. 
My dad's a doctor, my sister's a

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00:20:37,240 --> 00:20:38,480
doctor. 
You could say in many ways 

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00:20:38,480 --> 00:20:43,560
that's the family business. 
And my science nerddom got so 

299
00:20:43,560 --> 00:20:46,040
bad that I actually went to 
doctor camp in high school. 

300
00:20:46,760 --> 00:20:51,800
I know it's embarrassing. 
My favorite class in high school

301
00:20:51,800 --> 00:20:54,560
was a 2 hour class. 
We actually had to show up one 

302
00:20:54,560 --> 00:20:58,840
hour before everybody else just 
so we could have two whole hours

303
00:20:58,840 --> 00:21:02,720
for AP Biology. 
I loved it because I was 

304
00:21:02,720 --> 00:21:07,840
fascinated by all the things 
that God has made, particularly 

305
00:21:07,840 --> 00:21:13,640
fascinated by the human body and
all of its intentionality and 

306
00:21:13,640 --> 00:21:20,000
complexity. 
Every cell, every part, every 

307
00:21:20,120 --> 00:21:23,240
system. 
Clearly pointing to some 

308
00:21:23,240 --> 00:21:30,560
intelligent designer who made it
that way with the human body, 

309
00:21:30,560 --> 00:21:34,600
with all this complexity and all
of its intentionality. 

310
00:21:35,840 --> 00:21:40,040
As we think about the body, we 
see that every part, every 

311
00:21:40,040 --> 00:21:45,240
system, every cell matters. 
But you don't have to be a 

312
00:21:45,240 --> 00:21:49,240
biology major to recognize that 
there is no part more essential 

313
00:21:49,240 --> 00:21:53,920
to the human body than the head.
You see, you can lose a finger, 

314
00:21:55,440 --> 00:22:00,000
you can lose your foot, but you 
cannot lose your head. 

315
00:22:00,680 --> 00:22:04,160
Why? 
Well, the head is the source of 

316
00:22:04,160 --> 00:22:08,800
life for the body. 
The head has our eyes, through 

317
00:22:08,800 --> 00:22:12,480
which we see. 
The head has our ears, by which 

318
00:22:12,480 --> 00:22:17,280
we hear. 
The head has our mind, our brain

319
00:22:17,920 --> 00:22:22,720
by which we think. 
It's home to our central nervous

320
00:22:22,720 --> 00:22:28,720
system that involuntarily 
controls our breathing and 

321
00:22:28,720 --> 00:22:34,560
causes our heart to beat. 
The head is the source of the 

322
00:22:34,560 --> 00:22:37,920
body. 
If you sever a head from a body,

323
00:22:37,920 --> 00:22:42,480
the body will die. 
And so it is that if you sever 

324
00:22:42,480 --> 00:22:46,960
Jesus from the church, the 
church will die. 

325
00:22:47,600 --> 00:22:52,000
And that is exactly Paul's point
here in Ephesians one, verse 23.

326
00:22:53,000 --> 00:22:57,320
Christ is the head of the 
Church, which is His body. 

327
00:22:57,880 --> 00:23:02,600
What that means for us is that 
Jesus is the only source of life

328
00:23:02,840 --> 00:23:07,120
for the Church. 
He alone is where we find 

329
00:23:07,120 --> 00:23:10,000
salvation. 
He alone is not only where we 

330
00:23:10,000 --> 00:23:13,960
find eternal life, but He alone 
is where we find the fullness of

331
00:23:13,960 --> 00:23:21,440
life here and now, that in 
Christ we battle sin in Christ, 

332
00:23:21,440 --> 00:23:24,680
and through His death and 
resurrection we have victory 

333
00:23:24,680 --> 00:23:29,800
over sin in Christ. 
We are now called to live as 

334
00:23:29,880 --> 00:23:36,400
holy people who've been set 
apart in Christ, and we are so 

335
00:23:36,400 --> 00:23:39,600
connected to Jesus through our 
union with Him. 

336
00:23:40,600 --> 00:23:47,440
It's as if a body is connected 
to a head and through the head. 

337
00:23:47,440 --> 00:23:50,440
So life is given to the body and
the body grows. 

338
00:23:50,440 --> 00:23:55,360
Through Jesus. 
Life is given to the church, and

339
00:23:55,360 --> 00:24:00,040
the church Gross. 
If you and I are honest this 

340
00:24:00,040 --> 00:24:04,040
morning, we often look to so 
many other things to give us 

341
00:24:04,040 --> 00:24:06,840
life. 
And we do this not only as 

342
00:24:06,840 --> 00:24:09,920
individuals, but we do it as the
church. 

343
00:24:11,560 --> 00:24:17,800
And so often we're tempted to 
center our churches on things 

344
00:24:17,840 --> 00:24:23,520
other than Jesus. 
And when we do that, churches 

345
00:24:23,520 --> 00:24:28,200
tend to die. 
It is only when Christ is truly 

346
00:24:28,200 --> 00:24:32,680
the head of the church, not only
and His authority, but in a life

347
00:24:32,680 --> 00:24:37,400
that He gives to the church, 
that the church is nourished and

348
00:24:37,400 --> 00:24:41,520
grows. 
Paul put it this way, Colossians

349
00:24:41,520 --> 00:24:46,640
2 verse 19, He says, holding 
fast to the head, from whom the 

350
00:24:46,640 --> 00:24:51,560
whole body nourished and knit 
together through its joints and 

351
00:24:51,560 --> 00:24:56,960
ligaments, grows with a growth 
that is from God. 

352
00:24:57,760 --> 00:25:04,000
There is nothing and no one else
that can give us life. 

353
00:25:05,680 --> 00:25:10,440
So as the church, the body of 
Christ, may we find our life and

354
00:25:10,440 --> 00:25:14,920
Christ alone. 
But what does that mean for us 

355
00:25:15,080 --> 00:25:18,160
practically as the body? 
How do we live this out? 

356
00:25:18,160 --> 00:25:21,280
That's the third and final thing
we see in Ephesians chapter 1. 

357
00:25:22,800 --> 00:25:25,840
If Christ is head of the church 
and His authority and the life 

358
00:25:25,840 --> 00:25:28,200
that He gives to the church, 
then what does it mean to be the

359
00:25:28,200 --> 00:25:36,400
body #3 The body of Christ bears
his fullness to one another and 

360
00:25:36,400 --> 00:25:39,080
to the world. 
What does it mean to be the body

361
00:25:39,080 --> 00:25:42,200
of Christ? 
Well, Paul here is describing 

362
00:25:42,360 --> 00:25:44,720
the fullness of our union with 
Jesus. 

363
00:25:45,160 --> 00:25:46,720
He is the head. 
We are the body. 

364
00:25:46,720 --> 00:25:49,120
We are connected to Him by 
faith. 

365
00:25:50,800 --> 00:25:54,280
What this means is that as those
who've been connected to Jesus, 

366
00:25:54,280 --> 00:25:58,000
we bear His fullness to everyone
around us. 

367
00:25:58,680 --> 00:26:01,080
Look with me again at verses 22 
and 23. 

368
00:26:01,080 --> 00:26:03,320
Let's put it all together phrase
by phrase. 

369
00:26:04,640 --> 00:26:08,880
Paul writes Ephesians 122 and he
put all things under his feet, 

370
00:26:09,560 --> 00:26:14,040
and gave him as head over all 
things to the church, which is 

371
00:26:14,040 --> 00:26:17,800
his body. 
Now notice what Paul says next. 

372
00:26:18,480 --> 00:26:24,360
This body, the body of Christ, 
is the fullness of him who fills

373
00:26:24,480 --> 00:26:28,200
all and all. 
What Paul is saying is that you 

374
00:26:28,200 --> 00:26:33,080
and I, as the church, as the 
body of Christ, are the very 

375
00:26:33,440 --> 00:26:39,640
fullness of Christ. 
The church is the fullness of 

376
00:26:39,720 --> 00:26:41,400
Jesus. 
Now if you really think about 

377
00:26:41,400 --> 00:26:49,200
that, that should give us pause.
How are a bunch of people, how 

378
00:26:49,200 --> 00:26:55,200
are we the fullness of Jesus? 
This language, fullness of It's 

379
00:26:55,200 --> 00:26:58,840
a word that Paul's used before. 
It's a word that he uses 

380
00:26:58,840 --> 00:27:01,120
actually to describe the 
incarnation. 

381
00:27:02,320 --> 00:27:06,600
If you're with us during Advent,
the title of our sermon series 

382
00:27:06,600 --> 00:27:10,600
was the Fullness of the 
incarnation language that we 

383
00:27:10,600 --> 00:27:15,600
borrowed from the apostle Paul. 
Colossians chapter 1, where Paul

384
00:27:15,600 --> 00:27:20,400
is teaching on the incarnation 
and he says for in Jesus all the

385
00:27:20,400 --> 00:27:24,080
fullness of God was pleased to 
dwell the exact same word. 

386
00:27:25,560 --> 00:27:28,280
Here in Colossians, he's using 
this word to describe the 

387
00:27:28,280 --> 00:27:33,760
incarnation, that in the person 
of Jesus, in his incarnation, in

388
00:27:33,760 --> 00:27:38,720
his flesh, the very fullness of 
God, the Father of glory 

389
00:27:39,000 --> 00:27:43,120
dwelled. 
And now Paul is using the exact 

390
00:27:43,120 --> 00:27:46,960
same word in the book of 
Ephesians to say that in the 

391
00:27:46,960 --> 00:27:51,040
church, the fullness of Jesus 
dwells. 

392
00:27:52,360 --> 00:27:59,240
Do you see the progression? 
Jesus is the fullness of God. 

393
00:28:00,920 --> 00:28:05,640
The church is the fullness of 
Jesus. 

394
00:28:07,360 --> 00:28:12,600
Notice Paul says that we're not 
just any kind of body now as the

395
00:28:12,600 --> 00:28:14,760
church, we're the body of 
Christ. 

396
00:28:14,760 --> 00:28:21,680
That is, we are an extension of 
Jesus, so united to him that we 

397
00:28:21,680 --> 00:28:27,360
now bear the fullness of Jesus 
in US and the way that we relate

398
00:28:27,360 --> 00:28:30,520
to one another and the world 
around us. 

399
00:28:31,200 --> 00:28:34,880
This is what Jesus prayed for in
the Upper Room before we went to

400
00:28:34,880 --> 00:28:37,040
the cross. 
John 17 verse 20. 

401
00:28:37,040 --> 00:28:40,440
Jesus prayed. 
I do not ask for these only, but

402
00:28:40,440 --> 00:28:43,320
also for those who will believe 
in Me through their word. 

403
00:28:43,320 --> 00:28:47,600
He's talking about you and me. 
Any one of us that believes in 

404
00:28:47,600 --> 00:28:50,760
Jesus today, we believe because 
of those who have gone before 

405
00:28:50,760 --> 00:28:53,480
us. 
Jesus is praying for us. 

406
00:28:53,480 --> 00:28:59,680
He goes on in verse 21 that they
may all be one, just as you 

407
00:28:59,680 --> 00:29:03,920
Father, or in me, and I and you,
and they may be in US, so the 

408
00:29:03,920 --> 00:29:06,320
world may believe that you sent 
me. 

409
00:29:07,320 --> 00:29:09,960
Jesus is praying before he goes 
to the cross. 

410
00:29:09,960 --> 00:29:15,440
That His church would so be 
united to one another, that they

411
00:29:15,440 --> 00:29:20,760
would be united to Jesus in the 
same way that Jesus is united to

412
00:29:20,760 --> 00:29:26,640
the Father and to the Spirit. 
Also that the world would see 

413
00:29:26,640 --> 00:29:31,640
the church, and when they see 
the church, they see Jesus. 

414
00:29:34,080 --> 00:29:35,720
Is that how you think of the 
church? 

415
00:29:35,720 --> 00:29:38,920
Is that how you think of 
yourself? 

416
00:29:41,040 --> 00:29:44,440
As we look around this sanctuary
this morning, that we bear the 

417
00:29:44,440 --> 00:29:51,080
very fullness of Jesus, the body
of Christ. 

418
00:29:52,080 --> 00:29:56,600
We are God's witness to the 
world. 

419
00:29:58,040 --> 00:30:02,280
Leslie Neubiggen, the British 
theologian, and he was a 

420
00:30:02,280 --> 00:30:04,520
missionary with the Church of 
Scotland to India. 

421
00:30:05,720 --> 00:30:09,280
And after he served in India for
40 years, he returned back to 

422
00:30:09,280 --> 00:30:13,200
Great Britain to find that his 
home country had changed. 

423
00:30:14,360 --> 00:30:19,000
It becomes secular. 
People had abandoned the faith 

424
00:30:19,000 --> 00:30:23,440
that they had been taught. 
The culture was plagued with 

425
00:30:23,440 --> 00:30:27,440
skepticism, so he spent the 
remainder of his days applying 

426
00:30:27,440 --> 00:30:30,800
everything he knew as a 
missionary to his own homeland 

427
00:30:30,800 --> 00:30:35,440
of Great Britain. 
And as he asked a question, How 

428
00:30:35,440 --> 00:30:40,880
do you reach a skeptical society
that no longer believes in the 

429
00:30:40,880 --> 00:30:45,280
gospel? 
This was his answer, New Beacon 

430
00:30:45,280 --> 00:30:47,920
wrote. 
How is it possible that the 

431
00:30:47,920 --> 00:30:52,080
gospel should be credible, that 
people should come to believe 

432
00:30:52,080 --> 00:30:56,280
that the power which has the 
last word in human affairs is 

433
00:30:56,280 --> 00:30:59,880
represented by a man hanging on 
a cross? 

434
00:31:00,920 --> 00:31:06,280
I'm suggesting that the only 
answer, the only hermeneutic of 

435
00:31:06,280 --> 00:31:14,840
the gospel is a congregation of 
men and women who believe it and

436
00:31:14,840 --> 00:31:19,880
live by it. 
In other words, for New Vegan, 

437
00:31:21,160 --> 00:31:25,560
the great apologetic and our 
skeptical age is the church 

438
00:31:25,640 --> 00:31:30,320
itself, because we bear the 
fullness of Jesus. 

439
00:31:31,080 --> 00:31:34,360
How do we do that? 
We do that through the ordinary 

440
00:31:34,360 --> 00:31:37,720
means of grace. 
We come here and gather together

441
00:31:37,720 --> 00:31:39,440
as his people on Sunday 
mornings. 

442
00:31:39,440 --> 00:31:43,960
This is why Sunday morning 
worship matters, because we're 

443
00:31:43,960 --> 00:31:49,320
putting into practice our union 
with Christ as our head, united 

444
00:31:49,320 --> 00:31:51,760
to him through his Word and 
through the sacraments like 

445
00:31:51,760 --> 00:31:57,120
baptism. 
We put this into practice as the

446
00:31:57,120 --> 00:32:00,520
body of Christ through our 
fellowship, being called to be 

447
00:32:00,520 --> 00:32:04,360
united to a bunch of people we 
would never be with otherwise. 

448
00:32:04,760 --> 00:32:09,000
For the sake of Christ, united 
together in the same way we're 

449
00:32:09,000 --> 00:32:14,040
united to him. 
We put this into practice, the 

450
00:32:14,040 --> 00:32:19,080
fullness of Jesus and us as the 
Body, as we're sent out and 

451
00:32:19,080 --> 00:32:23,520
blessed by the benediction to go
into a lost and dying world that

452
00:32:23,520 --> 00:32:28,600
desperately needs to not only 
hear, but see the gospel at 

453
00:32:28,600 --> 00:32:32,760
work. 
To see it at work in you and in 

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00:32:32,760 --> 00:32:37,120
me. 
In a word, we bear the fullness 

455
00:32:37,120 --> 00:32:40,000
of Jesus to the world through 
love. 

456
00:32:41,320 --> 00:32:45,120
Love for Christ, love for one 
another, and the love for our 

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00:32:45,120 --> 00:32:47,800
neighbor. 
And this is exactly what the 

458
00:32:47,800 --> 00:32:51,880
apostle Paul prays for in 
Ephesians chapter 3. 

459
00:32:52,600 --> 00:32:59,360
This is his prayer over you and 
over me, that Christ may dwell 

460
00:32:59,400 --> 00:33:05,000
in your hearts through faith, 
that you being rooted and 

461
00:33:05,000 --> 00:33:09,200
grounded in love, may have the 
strength to comprehend with all 

462
00:33:09,200 --> 00:33:12,360
the Saints, with all the breadth
and length and height and depth,

463
00:33:12,360 --> 00:33:16,880
and to know the love of Christ 
which surpasses knowledge. 

464
00:33:16,880 --> 00:33:22,440
And listen to this, that you may
be filled with all the fullness 

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00:33:22,520 --> 00:33:26,040
of God. 
Or may that be true of us. 

466
00:33:27,040 --> 00:33:32,680
We would be filled with the very
fullness of God, with Christ as 

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00:33:32,680 --> 00:33:38,800
our head and we as His body, 
because as here in this body, 

468
00:33:38,800 --> 00:33:44,120
the Church that we put our union
with Christ into practice, it's 

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00:33:44,120 --> 00:33:47,680
here in the church that we 
embody Christ as the head, the 

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00:33:47,680 --> 00:33:53,720
authority over all things, the 
life of the body, and the hope 

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00:33:53,720 --> 00:33:54,800
of the world. 
Let's pray. 

472
00:33:54,800 --> 00:34:01,000
Father in heaven, may we be the 
body of Christ and our time and 

473
00:34:01,000 --> 00:34:05,240
place, and we live this out 
towards one another in the way 

474
00:34:05,240 --> 00:34:07,920
that you've called us to love 
one another, be united to each 

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00:34:07,920 --> 00:34:12,520
other. 
Each part of the body matters, 

476
00:34:13,800 --> 00:34:17,639
but O Lord, may we look to you, 
Lord Jesus, as our only head, 

477
00:34:17,639 --> 00:34:20,360
our only source of life and our 
only authority. 

478
00:34:20,360 --> 00:34:25,280
May we bow down before you and 
look to you as our Saviour. 

479
00:34:25,280 --> 00:34:28,239
We ask this in Jesus name, Amen.
Let's stand, let's sing.