The Purpose of the Great Gifts part 2

your attention to one of the songs that we were singing. Jesus what a friend of sinners. I love that song. Many of you have probably raised on that song. We studied that Wednesday night, did we not? We looked at the parable of the lost sheep. We are back in our parables on Wednesday nights. I'm really glad to be back in our study in the parables. On Wednesday night we looked at the parable of the lost sheep and the loving shepherd. We saw that Jesus really is a friend of sinners.

And I would encourage you if you're not a part of that study, make sure you make every effort to be a part of that study because I promise you you'll grow in a different way than what we're studying here in Ephesians. So you can say like that, the pastor is given an advertisement for Wednesday night. But I did appreciate that that worship. Well if you would take your Bible and turn back to Ephesians chapter 4, I did say earlier that we're going to divide verses 14 to 16. But this is all altogether a read earlier in our scripture reading verses 11 on down to verse 16. We will go back and read these verses throughout the message.

But just note that we're going to look at divide and study in an in depth way verses 14 to 16. Now last week we started what I call the purpose of the great gifts. The purpose of the great gifts and we saw the call made a transition from explaining the great gifts that Christ has given to his people in the church to explain the reasons and the purposes for such gifts. Now remember I called you to a little exercise if you take notes. I know that some of you do take notes and some of you do not. But if you do take notes, maybe on the left side of your page right now verse seven, verse seven. Now we know what verse seven is all about.

We learned that Christ gives to each believer this enabling Christ which is the ability to live the Christian life and all that is a part of the Christian life and he gives each the late believer a measure of a gift which is a gift, the gift of role, function and position in the body and in the church. On the left side there we have verse seven and then I also ask you to write down verse 11. So put that on the right side of your page. Christ gives to the church four offices. That would be men. Men who fill those offices. First the apostles and the New Testament prophets.

We know that we have those men in the pages of God's Word and then we have the evangelists and the pastor-teacher. You can say it like this, they really follow the footsteps of the apostles in the New Testament prophets and those men and those offices are particular gifts that are given to the church. Now right here, right after these verses, here is where one word must be in our approach to the Christian life. Here is where we must keep one word in front of us all throughout our Christian life and that is the word "why?" It's good for us to ask this word, this question, "why?" Why did Christ give such gifts to these people?

Why did he give these gifts to the church? Well that was the point of last week's message and that is what we will continue with this morning. This is all about the purpose, really the purposes of the great gifts that have been given. So this is a part too. It's really just a continuation. Now I want to quickly, very quickly glance back over what we studied last week and from there I want to pick up right where we left off with the rest of the verses, really the rest of the message and this is all about the purpose, the purposes of these gifts. So this is just reaching back to what we looked at last week.

First we looked at the work of the gifts, the work of the gifts. This will be the work of the men from verse 11. Those men, verse 11, are gifts. We saw that these men have been given for the work of moving the believers in the local church towards being more complete, even being more restored and fitted out for the work of service, ministry, and the church. These men in verse 11 are to be about the work of equipping and outfitting believers for service or ministry in the local church. This can even be lovely service, humble service. Really this is any work in any ministry that needs to be done at the church. But why?

Again this is question why. For what purpose? This is to build up the saints in their personal faith. This is to build up the saints in their particular ministry. This is to build up the entire body in the faith and to build up the entire body in Christian maturity and in service in the church. We also saw how this relates to verse 7. We can't leave verse 7. Remember, we know that all true believers are given this empowering grace to live the Christian life as well as a measure of a gift that is about position, role, and function in the body. And this all relates to being equipped for the service in the body. Relates.

Simply all believers are given a measure of a gift. Again it's about position, role, and function in the body. And they are to be equipped. They are to be outfitted for service to use that gift in that position, in that role, and in their function. And this is all made possible by what? This is an ably grace. So if you say, "Tie by pastor, I don't think I can do any of that." You're right. But yet with this an ably grace, you can. You can. And so for us here at Grace-like Church of Brookhaven, verses 7 to 12, verses 7 to 12 can be summed up in two phrases. And this is what we believe here, and this is what we teach here.

And these are the standards that we strive to keep in front of us. First is a regenerate church membership. And second, every member ministry. We believe and strive for a membership that reflects members who have truly been converted to Christ. And they know that they are to be about serving and working in ministry in the local body. And they know that they are to be equipped for this work and always be, be equipped. So with all that said, I want us to go back and look at verse 7, and then 11 and 12. Now I'm going to skip over verses 8, 9, and 10. We know that's all about Christ's victory and His authority to give such gifts.

Verse 7, "But grace has been given to each one of us according to the measure of Christ's gift." And verse 11, "He gave apostles and prophets." New Testament prophets, evangelists, shepherds, and teachers to equip the saints for the work of ministry for building up of the body of Christ. But then second, we look at these goals. These goals for this work and from this work. We learned that the goals are the results of this work of meaning and they're found in verse 13. And we looked at each of these goals by asking a question and the question was inspired by the Bible commentator William McDonald.

Now here's the question, how long do we stay at the work? Verse 11 and 12. How long do we stay in this work? Will this work ever be completed? Actually, we stay in this work until first we are all, we all get to this place of unity of the faith among the believers in the church. That is attaining the unity in and around the faith. And then second, until we all get to the knowledge of the Son of God, this is gaining a more accurate and a fuller knowledge of Christ in the life. And then until we all reach spiritual maturity, this would be a spiritual manhood or becoming strong and mature in the faith.

And then fourth, until we get to a greater position, a greater height of the fullness of Christ. This is attaining a measure of the maturity of the Christian life and the fullness of Christ in the life. None of these goals will ever attain them. And for us, Grace Like Church, we're getting it. We learned that this work in verse 12, it produces and moves us towards things found in verse 13. We can see it like this. Verses 11 and 12 is God's plan and work. And this is a nonstop, progressive plan and work that produces these goals in our lives.

And we should always be striving for these things, knowing that we can never fully attain them in the life. So it's the work of the gifts, verse 7 and verse 11, in verse 12, and the goals in verse 13 that is progressively going on in our life. And this is where we pick up this morning. We're going to pick up in verse 14. We're going to look at these goals a little more. There are two more. And then we're going to look at the ultimate work and then the ultimate goal. And this will finish out this particular section. So let's go back and I want us to read verse 11 to 16.

I know we're reading the verses quite a lot, but for me it helps get it back into my mind. My mind. And I need all the help I can give. Verse 11. He gave apostles, New Testament prophets, evangelists, pastors and teachers to equip the saints from the work of the ministry for building up the body until we all attain the unity of the faith and in the knowledge of the Son of God to mature manhood, to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ. And here's where we'll start this morning.

So that we may no longer be children tossed to and fro by the waves and carried about by every wind of doctrine, by human cunning, by craftiness and deceitful schemes. Rather, speaking the truth in love, we are to grow up in every way into Him who is the head and the Christ, from whom the whole body joined and held together by every joint with which it is equipped. When each part is working properly, makes the body grow so that it builds itself up in love. Now you see how we'll divide the rest of our verses.

So number three, the goal of this work, and really this is the goal of this work continued because we're picking up where we left off last week. Now here in verse 14, even though we're still dealing with the goals, Paul makes the transition. He shifts. And notice he shifts from being positive to being negative. It's really easy to see. And not only does he shift from being positive to being negative, he does so by using a series of very colorful metaphors. It's right there in the verse. Now I think most of you know what a metaphor is, but you might need to be reminded.

A metaphor is a figure of speech where a word or a phrase, literally denoting one kind or one subject or one idea, is used in place of another. A metaphor is used to suggest some kind of likeness or a comparison between objects or ideas. This will help you, I believe, that if someone is rich, we can say that they are drowning in money. You see the metaphor? Would that be a good problem to have? You know, if we're out in the ocean and we're drowning, we know we're drowning in water. Well, if someone is filthy rich, we can say they are drowning in money. I can continue. Some of you ladies, you may be drowning in housework.

I think you know what that means. Some of you men, you may be drowning in projects and responsibilities at work. If you're like me, you're probably drowning in housework. I mean, not housework, in yardwork. If you're like me, you're probably drowning in yardwork. You know, this rain is wonderful. I love it. But it just makes the grass grow, isn't it right? Well, those are figures of speech. Those are comparisons. Well, here Paul makes a purposeful shift. He's using negative metaphors, and this is all meant to highlight what he has taught before. This negative teaching, the metaphors here, they are meant to compliment the previous teaching.

They're meant to compliment the other verses. It's giving the opposite. Now, we have two more goals here. Notice. How long do we stay at the work? Until we are no longer in the tour in the faith. You see that? Until we are no longer in the tour in the faith. Here we have the fifth goal of the work. Now, notice, in our English translations, we have this word "children." Look back to verse 14. So that we may no longer be children. Now, this word "children," here's key to understand what Paul is saying. It speaks of one who is a child. It really speaks of one who is not of age. In the original language, it literally means one who does not talk.

I think you can understand that. In 1 Corinthians 3.1, Paul uses this word to describe Christians who were babies in Christ. They were children. They were not of age spiritually. When they should have been adults in Christ, many of you know that verse. In Hebrews 5, 11 to 14, this word is used to describe those who were babies in Christ. Needing to be fed spiritual milk, they should have been mature. They should have been mature teachers. But instead, they couldn't receive solid spiritual food. They were babies. I read the Bible scholar A.T. Robinson in all of my study. A.T. Robinson is a very, very respected scholar.

He describes the baby Christian well. He says, and I'm quoting, "Some Christians are quite content in remaining babies in Christ and never cutting their IT." We know what that means. Let me repeat that. He says, "Some Christians, they're just content to remain babies in Christ, never cutting their IT." Well, here Paul will say that we stay in this work of verse 11 and 12 so that we may no longer be spiritual babies. So how long do we stay under the teaching of the apostles, under the teaching of the evangelists, under the teaching of the pastors and teachers who walk in their footsteps? Well, the negative is until we're no longer babies.

Until we are no longer babies. Well, how long do we stay at this work? Until we are not being led astray by a sound doctrine. Now here's the sixth goal of the work. Now here, in this part of verse 14, we see all sorts of language, all kinds of catchy phrases. And in all of these phrases, all of these words have meaning. They have meaning. Let's go back and look at the verse. So that we may no longer be children, babies, and spiritual. And notice the words, "toss to and fro, Bible waves, and carried about by every kind of, every wind of doctrine, by human cunning, by craftiness, in deceitful schemes." Now notice these phrases.

Notice this phrase, "toss to and fro." The New American reads, "tossed here and there." This speaks of rough waves rather than smooth waters. This phrase was used to describe the stormy sea at Luke, age 24. And it was such a bad storm that the disciples woke Jesus up and they told Him, "We're going to die. We're going to die." And notice the point of this metaphor. Paul was showing these vulnerable babies in Christ in the faith. He is saying that the spiritual children are prone, they are susceptible, to be tossed about, tossed here and there. And this phrase carried about.

This speaks of one who is carried here, he's carried there, he's carried everywhere, as opposed to having a particular destination and staying on that destination. Again, the point of this metaphor is the same. Paul was showing the tendency of the babies in Christ. The spiritual babies, they were prone to go here and go there without a clear destination, without staying on a clear course. But what does all this refer to? Doctrine. This all refers to teaching. And not true biblical doctrine, but false doctrine. This refers to any and all sorts of false teaching that comes along like the wind.

Folks, it comes and goes like the wind all the time. Now, take a step back and notice what Paul is saying. Spiritual children, spiritual babies who have not cut their IT, thought like that language, they do not have a thorough knowledge of God's Word, nor do they have, nor are they vigilant in prayer, they're not vigilant in their study, they're not vigilant in their walk with God, therefore they are tossed here and there by the waves of bad doctrine.

They are carried away by the newest winds of bad doctrine in the latest book, from the newest movement that's coming to the church, from the newest, most popular Christian leader who is promoting that newest movement in the church, from his newest book. You see? John MacArthur describes these well. He says because they are not anchored in God's truth, they are not anchored in God's truth, they are subject to every sort of counterfeit truth. Now, I'm going to add to that.

Because they are not anchored in the truth, because they are not anchored in solid doctrine, and they are not anchored in the faith as they should, they are subject, they are prone to any kind of counterfeit and bad doctrine that blows in like a storm, like a wind. See, an application for us. I want you to think back to your past.

Listen, me and you, if you were honest, you would say, "Pastor, there have been times in my Christian life where I was immature, I was a baby in Christ, and you can look back and see where you were led astray here, led astray there, you were susceptible to this bad doctrine and that bad teacher, this newest movement, that conference." To be honest with you, if we had a show of hands, we would all raise our hands. Praise God for the person being a work of Christ in our lives. But I want to say this to you, and I want to be careful with timelines and ages here.

And listen close, if you're a new Christian, if you're a baby Christian, if you're a Christian that's less than 10 years old, listen close, you'd be really, really careful. Because listen, if you are young in the faith, many times, most of the time, you do not have the spiritual maturity to determine sometimes what's false and what's not. It takes years to grow in the faith. And if you're a baby Christian, you need to sit in the pew, and you need to grow, and you need to be mentored by silent, mature spiritual leaders in the church.

You need to be mentored by those small group teachers, by the older that God's put in your life, and you need to let them walk you through these things. If you're young in the faith, you are far more susceptible to these things than you know. But notice, we're continuing here. Notice who is spreading the false doctrine. Now Paul doesn't name them. There are times when he does. Paul sometimes names names. But he describes how they operate. I love what the Bible commentator William Barclay says. He says, "The source of this dangerous teaching can be traced to the sleep cleverness of men craftily calculated to lead others astray." You see that?

That is right out of the verse. He says, "This dangerous teaching can be traced in the sleep cleverness of men craftily calculated to lead us astray." Not just others. And notice, they operate by cunning, craftiness, and deceitful schemes. This cunning speaks of cheating. This word literally means cheating and dice-playing in the original. This craftiness speaks of a willingness to do anything, a willingness to stop at nothing. This deceitful schemes, it speaks of devising or scheming, which is bad, which is evil, which is deceitful, which is misleading. We need to see just how serious those are.

So how long do we stay under the teaching of the apostles from God's Word? How long do we stay under the teaching of God called evangelists? How long do we stay under the pastors and teachers that God's given the church? Well, the negative is this. Until we are no longer spiritual babies, tossed here and there. Until we are no longer the spiritually immature who are carried all sorts of directions by bad doctrines that are spread by the cunning, cheating, false teachers. Until we are no longer cheated by false teachers who were willing to do anything and everything to deceive us with their evil, misleading schemes.

Have you figured out that false teachers are evil yet? So it's sobering. Look at these two other goals that come out of the work. Remember, these are added to the goals from verse 13. We are to stay in this work of verse 12. 11 and 12. We are to stay here so that we are no longer spiritual babies in the faith. Until we are not babies who can be carried away here and there. Until we are not spiritual babies where we are prone to false doctrine. Until we are not spiritual babies in the faith. And we are no longer to follow the newest cheating false teacher.

Until we are no longer susceptible to the false teachers who are willing to stop at nothing to deceive us and mislead us with their spiritual schemes. So an application for all of us must stay in the Word. Verse 11. We stay under the apostles. Folks, if we stay under the Word, what a shield of protection and guidance and correction. And we must stay in this work of verse 12. It's all a cycle. And we must stay under this umbrella. And I want to point out my job. It just highlights my job. I have to be diligent in my study. I have to be diligent with my doctrine.

I have to be diligent to study day in and day out to lead you and to teach you how to be willing to teach you accurately and properly. It is a very, very serious job. And I will give an account to God one day for how well I do. And then this is serious for all the elders in the life of our church. Elders have a responsibility to protect the church and to teach the church and to guide the church. The elders follow in the footsteps of the apostles. And then I think about future elders, that God will raise up in the life of the church. We have a huge responsibility. And we are all in this work together. This is all about growing in the Word.

And this is all about being protected from unsound doctrine in maturity. There's so much we can say here in application. So the goal of this work, really the goal of this work, continue. And then number four, this is what I'm calling the ultimate work. Look at verse 15, really the beginning of verse 15. Paul says, "Rather speaking the truth than love." Now here Paul makes another shift. Paul speaks of the work that all of the body are to be engaged in. Paul, that's why I call this the ultimate work. And Paul gives this work in contrast to the bad doctrine and to those who are leading babies in Christ's trade.

This is in contrast to what he's been saying in verse 14. And notice this work. Paul calls them to do two things here. First, express truth. Express truth. Now you will notice that I use the word express, but the verse reads, "speaking the truth." Isn't that what your copy of God's word says? Well, that is because this word means more than speaking. In the original language, this word literally means truth. Truth. It's difficult to translate this from the original into the English. But scholars tell us that Paul was saying something like this. He was saying, "You be truthful. You speak the truth.

You live the back truthfully." Paul was calling them to speak truth, to live truth, really in everything that they are, everything that they do, everything they say, manifest truth. I know sometimes I will read from the Amplified. It is a paraphrase. It has its place in our study. But it really catches the meaning of this word here. Notice what the Amplified says. "Rather, let our lives lovingly express truth in all things, speaking truly, dealing truly, living truly." So Paul was calling them to manifest, to express truth in all things in and every way. But then notice, it calls them to express the truth in love. Express the truth in love.

Paul doesn't stop there with his ultimate work. He says that this work should be done in love. This work is to be done with Christlike affections, with Christlike considerations, with Christlike patience, simply with a Christlike love. And Christlike love is the most important mark of Christian living, is it not? So notice what Paul is saying here. He's contrasting the negative in verse 14 by calling them all, all to this ultimate work. And that was in and among themselves that they could be speaking, expressing, living, manifesting truth in and with a Christlike love. Again, the Amplified, it really is accurate.

"Rather, let our lives lovingly express truth in all things, speaking truly, dealing truly, living truly." But what did all this mean for them? What was Paul calling them to do? You see, within them and among them, as a body. Within them and among them, as a church, they were to be truthful with one another. They were to manifest truth, yes, in words, but in everything that they did. They were to speak truth, live truth with each other, among one another. And see, for us, we need to see that we must love one another with a Christlike love.

We must love one another with a Christlike love, but we love one another with a Christlike love in truth. First, we live truth. Second, we are truthful. We manifest truth. And then we speak truth. We speak truth. We speak truth. If a brother or a sister is insistent, we speak truth. How? With a Christlike love. If a brother or a sister is struggling in their doctrine, what do we do? We speak truth with a Christlike love. If a brother or a sister is struggling in life, we speak truth with Christlike love. We live truth. We manifest truth. We exude truth.

It is all saturated with this Christlike love, and it is begun among each other and with each other. Oh, I can see all of this happening in Swahili. Because we're sitting around a table. We're sharing. We're talking. We're getting close to one another. We can see each other's sins. We can see each other's shortcomings. Where someone would be struggling in the home and in the light. And what do we do? We speak love. We speak love. We manifest that love. Sometimes if you manifest that love and manifest the truth, your life speaks louder than words. So that is the ultimate work. And then fifth, or number five, the ultimate goal.

We see this ultimate goal, and this really grabs quite a few verses here. Let's go back to re-verse 15 and 16. Rather speaking the truth and love, here's where the ultimate goal starts. We are to grow up in every way into Him who is the head. That's Christ, into Christ. For whom the whole body joined and held together by every joint with which it is equipped, with each part that is working properly, makes the body grow so that it builds itself up in love. Now here Paul gives his final encouragement and exhortation in this body of teaching. And here Paul shifts again. He shifts to the imagery of the church as the body, as the body of Christ.

With Christ as the head of the body, single language. We've seen this imagery before. Paul used it back in chapter one, verse 22. We'll see it again in chapter five, verse 23. But what is the ultimate goal? A lot of verses. What's the ultimate goal? Paul says the ultimate goal is that they would all, that they would all, they would all grow up in Christ in every way. But what does Paul mean here? Paul was saying that individual believers do not stand still in their spiritual growth. Also, individual churches do not stand still in their spiritual growth. And to grow is to love and follow and obey Christ individually and corporately.

To grow in Christ's likeness, to grow in a greater and greater knowledge of God's Word, to grow in sound doctrine, to grow in spiritual maturity, even to mature in manhood, to a greater measure of the stature, of the height, of the fullness of Christ, and all for a greater service. So to grow is to grow spiritually, to grow spiritually, individually and collectively. But there's more. Also to grow is to love and follow and obey Christ individually and collectively in the mission of Christ. Christ came to seek and save that which is lost.

Christ came to lead the 99 and the same pasture and to go after the one sheep that has wandered off into the wilderness of sin and rebellion against God. So to grow is to grow evangelistically, individually and collectively. But there's more. Also to grow is to grow in love and to follow Christ and obey Christ individually and collectively in building up His church. Christ came to build His church. And He said the gates of hell will not prevail against His church. So to grow is to grow as a church individually, collectively and individually, all together. Now, I have an important question here. How is this possible?

Paul shows us that this comes about in three ways. First, Christ is the head. He's the head of the body. Look back at verse 15. Rather than speaking the truth of love, we are to grow up in every way into Him who is the head. Paul says here that Christ is the head, which simply means He is the source of all of this growth. He is the source of the growth. He is the beginning. He is the source of it all. We can say it like this. If He is the head and He is, then He is the leader of the body. And notice, this isn't all things that take place. This speaks to a wholehearted growth, a wholehearted growth in every way.

This speaks to the fact that believers in churches can't have areas. They are not to have areas that are not under the headship of Christ. So the individual believer in the entire body can grow up in every way, in every way, because Christ is the head. Then second, the body is fit together. The body is fit together. Notice verse 16. "From whom the whole body joined and held together by every joint with which it is equipped, when each part is working properly makes the body grow so that it builds up itself in love." And not only does Paul say that Christ is the head, but also that individual believers are not to live disconnected.

He says the whole body is joined and held together. The New American says fit in and held together. Now notice how Paul describes how the body is fit together. He says they, the whole body, is joined and held together. This tells us that individual parts of the body, of course Christ is the head, these individual parts fit one to another. They are held together. In the way that the language reads, this indicates that this is a process of being fitted and more fitted, and more held together, it's ongoing. He says the whole body is held together by every joint with which it is equipped. This tells us that every part of the body is equipped.

The King James reads supply, which speaks to the fact that every part of the body is aptly supplied, aptly equipped from the head, which is Christ. So the body is fit together. It's held together. And it is this ongoing process of being fitted together and held together more and more. And then third, the body is to work properly. Again, verse 16, from whom the whole body joined and held together by every joint with which it is equipped, when each part is working properly, makes the body grow so that it builds up itself in love.

Here the ESV reads, when each part is working properly, the New American reads the proper working of each part, individual part. The King James reads the effectual working in the measure of every part. This simply means that the whole body is joined and held together, and it is a continual process and work. And when each individual part of the body is working and functioning according to their gift, and the measure of their gift, there is balance and there is harmony. So each part of the body is to work properly.

According to the measure of their gift, like what Leon Maris says here, he says if one part of the body over-performs, then there's malfunction. And to say this is true, if one part of the body under-performs, then there is malfunction. So in summary, notice what we have here. The ultimate goal. The entire body, both individually and collectively, that it would grow with Christ as the head. And with the body being progressively and continually being fit and held together, and with each individual member of the body working properly according to their ability and gift. And what's the result? It's right there in the part of the end of verse 16.

The body grows, and the body builds itself up in love. You see that? The body builds itself up in love. And so for us, we need to see our responsibility individually and corporately to spiritual growth. Yes, spiritual growth. And we must see that we are being fitted together and held together. God is doing this work around us. And look, if you're not being fitted together and held together, and you're not in this progressive work, this continuous work, something's wrong. Something's wrong with you. But it's going on. God is fitting you together. He is holding you together. He is holding you together. And it is this continuous, ongoing work.

And we all have a share in this work. And what happens? It builds on the body. It builds up the body. The body grows itself and builds itself. So that is the ultimate goal. And I'm thankful that I've seen that work in us and among us even today. Now as I move away from the verses, I want us to take a step back and look at all that we've studied. We have the gifts. Verse 7, gifts given to individuals. You have an enabling grace. You have a gift. The gift of function, and role, and purpose. Have you found your gift yet? Have you found your place yet? Have you found your function, and role, and purpose yet?

We have the gift, the gifts that have been given to the church. Verse 11. We understand that the apostles are farmed in the pages of God's Word. We understand that God's given the gift of the evangelist today. He's given the gift of the pastor-teacher today. Do you see that these are God's gifts? Listen, the gift of God is what we just studied the apostles taught. The gift of God is that I do my job, and you see who I am and what God's called me to be and do. These are the gifts. And then we have the work of the gifts. We're to all be busy doing this work.

And look, I want to tell you, folks, I am so excited to see some of you roll up your sleeves and get to work. Some of you, when service comes your way, you don't hesitate. You don't ask a question. You say, "Yes, where can I serve? Where can I minister?" That should be our default. Then we have the gold ones. We should see these being fleshed out, and we should be striving for them. Then we have this ultimate work. We have this ultimate work in verse 15, that we would continuously be speaking the truth and love, speaking and living the truth and love. And then we have the ultimate one, the building of the growing of the body.

Now let me show you something. Yes, we've looked at individuals. Yes, we've looked at individuality. But let me tell you what it's all about. It's about the body. It is about the church. And don't make the mistake of thinking that it's all about you. No, it's about your place in the body, and it's about the good of the body, the building of the body. Remember our priceless coin? Yes, on one side, we do have individuality and even great diversity. But on the other side, it's all about the church. So let's pray. Let's commit these things to the Lord. We'll sing. We'll close out our service. And then we'll dismiss.