In this episode of Living God Ministries, Aaron Budgen delves into the heart of Ephesians 4, exploring the concept of speaking truth in love. He discusses the dynamics within the body of Christ and how believers can mature in their faith by focusing on the guidance of the Holy Spirit. Aaron also shares his insights on the importance of personal relationships with God over organizational structures within churches, urging listeners to seek genuine growth through divine appointments outside traditional church settings.
Shema Yisrael Welcome to the broadcast outreach of Living God Ministries with Aaron Budgen. Aaron discovered Jesus is his Messiah while preparing to be a rabbi. He now teaches for several organizations and is the teaching pastor for Living God Ministries. Strongly distinguishing between the Old and New Covenants, Aaron presents the scriptures from a Judaic and historical frame of reference. Join Aaron now as he reveals the reality foreshadowed and the new life we can now experience because of what the Lord Jesus accomplished for us.
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Thank you for tuning in to today’s program. This is Aaron Budgen and I recently released a book titled Building Life. This is for young people who are starting out into adulthood and it is also for those who have found themselves in a circumstance where they are starting their lives over. I have put a lot of effort into writing this book. It is a short read of about two and a half hours. It is only available directly from me. So if you would like a copy, go to the Living God Ministries website and you will see a link there that says, inform me of Aaron’s books. Fill out the form and I will get back with you as soon as I can. I’m presenting a verse-by-verse study through Ephesians, and in the previous message, I was in Ephesians 4, verse 14, that speaks about people who are being dishonest. In Ephesians 4, verse 14, it says that we should no longer be children tossed to and fro and carried about with every wind of doctrine. by the trickery of men in the cunning craftiness of deceitful plotting. And in the previous several programs, I spent a lot of time talking about the reasons why people will tend to be deceitful, why they will plot, why they will be cunning and crafty in their relationships with other people, some of the motives related to that, which in general turns out to be money for the most part. But there are, of course, other motives that can inspire people. But moving on into verse 15, we have something in comparison, that instead of somebody being dishonest, we have in verse 15 the encouragement to be honest, to be truthful. In Ephesians 4, verse 15, it says, “…but speaking the truth in love may grow up in all things into him who is the head, Christ.” from whom the whole body, joined and knit together by what every joint supplies, according to the effect of working by which every part does its share, causes growth in the body for the edifying of itself in love. All right, and so the end result, of course, that we’re looking for is an increase in the maturity of the believers, that there can be a measure of growth in the body of Christ, which which of course is referring to the growth of the individual believers in no longer being children who are tossed to and fro and carried about with every wind of doctrine, as it says in verse 14, but that they would mature and be more of a person who would be considered to be somewhat of an adult in their relationship with their God, with Christ Jesus. But now going back up into verse 15, speaking the truth in love, let me spend some time with this idea of speaking the truth in love. Now, this, of course, can be very subjective and open-ended. I mean, what does it really mean to speak the truth in love, especially in comparison with speaking the truth with the absence of love? If we were to consider the most loving person who has ever walked the face of the earth, you know, the most loving person, who would qualify as being the one person who has given the greatest expression of love in the history of humanity and also spoke the truth? And of course, the only person who could qualify for something like that would be God himself manifested in the flesh, known as Jesus. Jesus spoke the truth in love, without question. But if you take a close look at some of the conversations that he had with people, they probably would not agree. You know, there were a lot of people who he upset. who were a little disappointed with the conversations that they were having with him. There were several people who picked up rocks over some of the things that he said when he was speaking the truth in love. And so if you were to ask these other people, was Jesus a loving person? They would say, most likely, not a chance, not at all. And maybe he did say the truth, but I didn’t like the way that he said it. And so if we are going to look at something like this, speaking the truth in love, we’re going to have to understand that it is very unlikely that we’re going to be able to really give a good description of what that really means. I’ll never forget a conversation I was having with one person long ago. A friend of mine asked me to come along and speak with him because he seemed to be somewhat open to some of the things related to the grace of God. He was very familiar with what it means to live in obedience to God, even though he certainly wasn’t doing it. He was very familiar with the attempted way of life to try to live in obedience to God, and he just had this really special way of of somewhat quoting this verse. He loved to say, as he would be talking with other people, he would describe it as, yes, speaking the truth, and then he’d say, in love, you know, just this really unique and yet somewhat annoying way of saying we’re going to speak the truth in love. You know, I mean, what does that really mean, right? You know, I mean, do you do it with your eyes squinted like he was doing it? You know, you have to squint your eyes just this special way. Tilt your head slightly and just say something in love, you know, and somehow that is going to magically… get through to people and they’re going to embrace whatever it is you say. They’re going to repent and get on their knees and pray to accept the Lord just right there on the spot because you are expressing the truth in love. You know, I mean, that’s the kind of guy who I was having this conversation with, that that’s how he really felt. That was his way of life and the way that he related to other people. But you know, I can find a lot of examples in the way that Jesus communicated with people that he would say some really aggressive things, you know, like calling people a bunch of snakes and how can you possibly escape hell, things like that. I know a lot of people who would consider that to be somewhat unloving, even though he was telling the truth. And so I would like to say that it’s not a good idea for us to try and really come up with some kind of a description that says this is how you speak in love and this is how you don’t. I don’t think that’s a good idea. To me, the most important thing to stay focused on is the Spirit of God who dwells within you. If the Holy Spirit of God dwells within you, be sensitive to him. He will guide you. He will lead you into all truth and into the opportunities to communicate the truth to other people. I have found this in my own life many times as I’m having one-on-one conversations with people. that the Lord would give me specific and unique insights and ways of saying certain things that I could tell were an expression of his love in telling the truth. And of course, some occasions when I didn’t get any insight from the Lord at all, and I just gave it my best effort in the context of the maturity that I had at the time. So this is how I tend to encourage people when it comes to verse 15 about speaking the truth in love. Do the best you can. Do what you can not to be offensive, not to be offensive intentionally, not to speak the truth with the intent of causing harm, which can be easy to do in our personal lives as we have conflicts and situations with other people. There can be a lot of opportunities to tell the truth intentionally. and to do so with the intent of causing harm to somebody else. And you know, in general, that’s not going to be useful. People will be more receptive if you will express the truth to them in a way that they would be willing to accept it, to understand that you really are looking out for their best interest, and you’re not just looking for an opportunity to step on them in order to elevate yourself, which is what a lot of people tend to do. So I just wanted to mention that concerning the beginning of verse 15. But moving forward, it’s important to see that it is the truth that really matters, regardless of how it’s communicated. It’s the truth that people come to know, receive, and grow in their relationship with their God according to the truth that he has revealed. Continuing into verse 15, “…may grow up in all things.” And this is what introduces the topic of the body of Christ. That Jesus himself is the head, and then the rest of us, of course, are the members. Going into verse 16, All right, now this is related to verse 11, when he himself gave some to be apostles, some prophets, evangelists, pastors, teachers, and if everyone will do their part, according to verse 16, If every part does its share, then this will cause growth of the body, of the body of Christ. That our God has established relationships with us personally. He grows us and matures us and then sends us into the lives of other people personally. who are also believers, who are also members of the body of Christ, so that we can participate in their lives in a way that we can contribute to their faith, help them to get past the barriers that tend to be in our way that keep us from really resting in and experiencing the inheritance that we have received in Christ Jesus. to help us be set free from a life of living under a system of religious law of some kind, so that we can live by the inheritance, for us to get past a lot of the questions and concerns that just simply come up as part of our natural growth in the faith. This is perfectly normal, and that if we can have other people in our lives who are relatively mature in the faith, then they can participate in our lives in a way that we can grow and we can mature in. more in the faith causes growth of the body for the edifying of itself in love. That’s the end of verse 16. But there’s a couple of things that I need to mention concerning this. The first thing that I want to mention is that the growth of the body does not require the participation of every part. This is important to see, that you may not have these kinds of people available in in your life they just simply may not be around or they are this is the other issue is that they are present they are available but because of the organizational structure that exists in the church or in the organizations you participate in they’re just simply not allowed to participate in people’s lives in this way. I explained this in previous programs, how there can be a sense of competition in certain bodies of believers that will make it difficult, if not just outright prevent, some of the members in the body from participating in each other’s lives in this way. I’ve seen this happen many times. I myself have encountered it a lot whenever I participate in larger congregations. I’ve seen this happen. not just for myself, but with a lot of people. It’s quite obvious when it happens like this. So there may not be people available, but even if there are, they may not be allowed just because of the organizational structure that tends to exist. And that leads me to my next point, and that is that in most cases when people are thinking about the body of Christ, They’re thinking about the organization. They’re thinking about the church that they see, that they go visit, and the people who are within the boundaries that are defined by the church. But what happens, what normally happens, is that the body of Christ tends to be defined according to the organization itself. of the church, the organization of who is in a position of leadership, and like I said, this can get in the way of those who have been genuinely gifted by God and who have been genuinely sent in order to assist in the growth of the members of the body of Christ. This is a problem and is normal, in many cases it’s quite normal, within the organizational dynamics because, as I mentioned in previous programs, Again, most organizational structures tend to move people more in the direction of building and sustaining a business rather than a ministry. The body of Christ is not an organization. It is an organism. And there’s a huge difference between an organization and an organism. The organization is going to be headed up by some person who’s got a name, who was born, who’s going to die. This is a person who is in the flesh, and it’s not Jesus himself. But here, according to verse 15 and 16, the head of the organism is Jesus. He is the head of the body of Christ. There is no other—and I know this might sound a little offensive, but he does not share power. He does not share authority in the way that a lot of people would like him to or would like to think that he does. He will never give up his headship over his own body. And his body, the body of Christ, is not defined by church membership. It is not. It is not defined by whether a person is tithing to an organization. It is defined by the individual members of the body having a personal relationship with the head, who is Jesus himself. And I got to tell you, it’s very difficult to find anybody who will disagree with what I just said. However, the way that they live, the way that they function, the way that they relate to other people can also be an absolute contradiction to what I just said. So this is a well-known truth, however, even though it is a well-known and accepted truth, and if I bring it up with anybody who identifies themselves as a Christian, it will be exceptionally unusual for someone to say, I don’t think I agree with that. However, even though they won’t say that, the way that they live, the way that they function, the way that they relate to other people, and of course, just about everything else that they say, will be an absolute and total contradiction of this truth. And I am, of course, saying this with as much love as I can come up with. It is a total deception. It’s a total fraud that a lot of people perpetrate, and they do so in highly manipulative ways, as if they are plotting with great deceit and cunning craftiness. craftiness in terms of how they deny this reality that the head of the body of Christ is Jesus himself. He is the head of the church and everyone is to be knit together and relate to one another and contribute to each other’s lives as they are directed by him and by no other. And of course, I’ve got to tell you that this does happen. And even though many times it doesn’t seem to be so obvious, it really does happen. This is something that really does take place. Please try to keep in mind the fact that most people who are going to a church are there for reasons that are different than what you would expect. And I’ve spoken about this at length in previous messages. that there are a lot of different reasons as to why people will go to church. You’ve got to keep that in mind, and it does leave open the opportunity for people to be there who don’t know the Lord at all, or they may very well be saved, but they are closer to the world than they are to their God. And when you have a large congregation of people like this, a large assembly of people like this, yes, it can be very difficult for the body of Christ to function in a way that you would like, that you would expect. But that’s because the majority of the people there are, some of which are not a part of the body of Christ at all, or the rest of them, you know, the majority of the people, they’re just closer to the world than they are to the Lord Jesus. And so you would expect there to be a degree of dysfunction in the assembly and the way that people relate to each other. But without question, in the midst of this, those who are closer to their God are attentive to him, are responsive to him, are listening for his guidance and direction, and actively participate in the work of God— These people are of course very functional in the midst of what appears to be great dysfunction in the body of Christ. There always exists a high degree of function. And even though this can be highly overshadowed by all of the dysfunction that we tend to see and that we tend to complain about, even though there is a great overshadowing that seems to be happening, I have always been able to find a high degree of functionality with those who really are closely connected to the head, closely connected in the sense that they are joined and knit together, by what every joint supplies according to the effective working by which every part does its share. This is verse 16. Every part that can do its share will do its share. If they have something to share, then they will share it, and there will always be someone who they will be able to have access to to share what they have been given to share to cause growth, of the body for the edifying of itself in love. It does happen. It’s just that it doesn’t happen as much and as often as in general we would expect it to, especially within such a large assembly as we are somewhat accustomed to. But do keep in mind that this doesn’t just happen within these assemblies. It happens outside of the assemblies because you know what? There’s more to life than just going to church. I know that might sound a little surprising, but there is. There’s a lot more to life than just going to church. And it’s when people interact in their daily experiences, in their daily lives, in the marketplace, in the workplace, in situations and scenarios that you do not have very often. but are profound opportunities for people to relate to one another. It is in these moments that so much happens. You know, so much is shared. So much truth is communicated in these brief, interactive moments that in general people don’t even expect. These are often referred to as divine appointments in many ways. Because we have a God who is active 24-7, you know. He is active and He is participating in our lives all the time. And He is sending us out into opportunities all the time. And even during those opportunities that He did not coordinate, which there are many of, those opportunities that he did not coordinate at all we bring him with us and there will be opportunities moment by moment when people are ready to hear the truth and it’s these subtle moments that tend to be the most profound because it gives people lots of time to go away and think about something small and simple and yet very profound that communicated an important truth that will require them to spend some time considering and understanding how that will be incorporated within their lives. This is without question, from my point of view, the most common way that the body of Christ does its share and causes growth the body but the growth of the body of Christ needs to be measured according to what degree does a person know their God to what degree does a person really know the heart of God knows the love of God the acceptance of God and to what degree do they incorporate that and let that be a part of their lives. It is unfortunate, but in most cases what people are thinking when they’re thinking about the growth of the body is they’re thinking about the attendance of an assembly. They’re thinking about how many people showed up at church. Now let me tell you, I have been a part of very large congregations and very small congregations, and there is a distinct difference between being in an assembly of about 40 people who really know the Lord in comparison with 400 people or 500 people who don’t seem to know the Lord at all. And in those larger assemblies, there will not necessarily be a greater opportunity for growth in the Lord, growth of the body in those larger assemblies than there are in smaller assemblies. Ask around. Ask around and you’ll find that most people who have experienced profound growth and change in their lives, in knowing their God, experienced that in small group settings. Do not underestimate the importance of the growth of the body in terms of knowing the Lord in comparison with the growth of the body of an assembly of people who don’t really know the Lord at all and in many cases are not even a part of the assembly for that purpose. And I will continue in the next program. Thank you for taking the time to listen to this program. Do also go to our website, livinggodministries.net, and read through the recent testimonials page that we have there. There you will see the effectiveness of this ministry and discover how we have cleared away many of the common barriers that keep them from knowing their God, growing and maturing in their faith. Again, you can find this page at livinggodministries.net and know that as you listen to these programs, you will likely find something that will be significant for you to grow and mature in your relationship with your God. do take the time to go to the Living God Ministries radio archive at livinggodministries.net. The archive is divided up into three sections. The first section is more of the life of Christ, and I provide a lot of historical content there in those programs. And I have made a lot of important contributions from a historical perspective to better understand what was taking place during Jesus’ ministry. In the second section of the archive, I speak about our life in Christ. And in the third section, you will find the verse-by-verse studies. If you would like some recommendations on what to listen to and in what order, do just send us an email to staff at livinggodministries.net. You will find that email on the Contact Us page. And after a conversation with me, I’ll give you a list of programs that I would recommend and in what order.
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