28. The Energeia of Fellowship

Covering Ephesians 4 through 5:2:

Having established absolutely God’s Purpose, to have a House inside of creation in which to dwell, and having shown us the overwhelming reality of God filling that House with all of His fulness, Paul now sets himself on the HOW. How will such a House actually be prepared for God? And Paul will stay with answering that question through the remainder of all that he writes, from Ephesians 4 through the end of 2 Timothy.

I now see that Ephesians Chapter 4 is one of the most important chapters of the Bible. With tears and in travail inside the presence of God for the sake of this very Church, we desire earnestly to know Ephesians Chapter 4 becoming the daily experience of our lives.

What Is It Worth? (Ephesians 4) 1 Therefore, as one bound to the Lord, • I exhort you to walk worthily of the calling to which you were called, 2 with all humility, lowliness of mind, and gentleness with long-suffering, bearing with one another inside of love. • 3 Be quickly and eagerly diligent to watch over the unity of Spirit inside the bond, the connecting bands, of peace and rest.

Suddenly, these things become much more important than we ever thought. Moreover, Paul is now writing out from the overwhelming realization that, not only are we being built together for a dwelling place of God, but that God fills this House with all of His Fulness. The word “worthily” is a value word. – How much is this worth to you? The value is the calling, and the calling places its value upon the one called.

The Calling. One who thinks “I am not worthy” is repudiating Galatians 2:20, for they are remembering the “I, not Christ” that is already gone and denying the Christ now living as us. Is Jesus of Value? – Then I am as He. Yet this calling is through Jesus to the Father. To be together the dwelling place of God All-Sustaining and together to be filled with all the Fulness of such a God, this is a calling beyond human comprehension.

Then Paul goes immediately to the kind of people who are so filled full, in their togetherness, with such a God. – Humility. – Lowliness of mind (the same mind of Jesus in the Ekenosis). – Gentleness with longsuffering. – Bearing with one another inside of God-Love. Wow! They are just like God!!!

Defining God. “Holiness” is distant and hard, the master over Love, keeping Love in very tight bounds of control and limitation, a God who “knows evil.” Devotion is the expression of Love, fierce and penetrating, a Love that always places itself beneath, a Love that must win all in the end.

Definition: The devil does not define God; God does not know evil. God is Love. The Devotion of God, coming out from His Desire, is the fierce expression of a Love that always places itself beneath to carry and lift up. To be like God is to Love, that is, to contain and to reveal a God who is Love.

Ruling Verse 2: To be filled with all of God, personally and together, is to be filled with a God who is meek and lowly of heart, who is gentle with longsuffering, who bears the load for others, a God who is Love, the “worth” of our calling.

The Great Transition. Here we bring in the great transition between God filling His House, that is, our local gathering together, and what comes next, the transition of Ephesians 3:20. – The One who is able above all to do hyper-abundantly more than we ask or think, according to the power energeoing inside of us.

We are placing this transition again in-between verses 1-2 and verse 3 of Chapter 4. From verses 1-2, we place upon ourselves the great value of walking as being just like God in great care for one another. And in verse 3, we direct the POWER energeoing inside of us into our WATCH CARE over the gathering and over the sharing from every part (verse 16). There is NO limit to the fulfilment of every Word God speaks.

Our Watch Care. The Watch Care is over the Covenant, that Jesus be ALL our connections together, that we consider no other bond. And the Watch Care is over the Kingdom, that our togetherness would be filled with a God just being Himself towards all.

Covenant: Jesus as the Covenant is the “treaty of peace” between us and God and us and one another, not as words to which we adhere, but as a living Bond inside. Jesus as our peace together then enables us to receive all of God.

Kingdom: The watch care of our stewardship is over God’s final opportunity to reveal Himself as He is through a House made ready for Him. We watch with care that each one knows Jesus as their only Life and Salvation, the sharing between them and others, for Father’s sake. Our care is the energeoing power of Jesus inside, able to fulfill every Gospel Word.

Above Heaven. • 7 But to each one of us has been given grace, according to the measure to each of the gift of Christ. – • 10 The One having descended is the same One who also ascended above all the heavens that He might fill all, that is, that He might make all complete by filling them to capacity with Himself.

These are incredible verses. Verse 10 strikes down the first LIE against the Gospel, that the ascension means “an above-you and faraway Jesus.” Jesus is not “in” heaven, so if you die and “go to” heaven, you will not find Him there – as He is. Paul says that Jesus ascended ABOVE all the heavens to be now – WHERE? To be now His Church walking upon this earth!!! The gathering together of the local church is “higher” and “greater” than anything found in heaven “far below.”

Glory Revealed. When you gather together in fellowship, you ARE the Glory of God revealed inside of the Church and inside of Christ Jesus. NOTHING in all the heavens can even come close. Yet the beyond-all wonder does not stop there. Think about verse 10, what it must mean. Let’s paraphrase. – Jesus FILLS you and me, and He FILLS our gathering together. That means that He makes you and me complete by filling us to capacity, (which capacity is to be filled with ALL the FULNESS of GOD), by FILLING us with Himself.

What limit could possibly be placed on such a Jesus and on our gathering together? We can never think of Church, of Christian Community, or even of gathering on a Sunday morning, as anything less.

Defining Capacity. Let’s now bring in verse 8 in order to define “capacity.” The concept of “to capacity” is found in both the Greek and English words – filled. Think of a flow of concrete filling exactly that form created for a specific purpose. The shape it takes is different from all other purposes and forms. We are different for very specific purposes of God. And Jesus FILLS our own form to all its capacity.

Definition: “Measure” and “capacity” carry the same meaning, that each member of God’s House is uniquely different from all others, each is carefully designed as they are by God, often for very different purposes. Grace is the giving of God, a Life that always flows to benefit others. We give only what God measures to us, and not what He measures to others. Yet the Energeia of Jesus fills each of us to the capacity of our form.

Father at Home. When we gather together, we are OVERWHELMED with what our togetherness is. We are living in and experiencing the most Devoted Place of All, the greatest thing God is.

Ruling Verse 1: We are symmorphosed with the image of His Son, that means that we share form with Jesus and Jesus with us. Jesus sharing form with us, now upon this earth, is far higher than anything found in heaven. Our form is made complete inside all the Form that is Jesus, and Jesus fills each one of our forms with all of Himself to our full capacity.

The Form for God through Jesus: Nothing is more important to God, to us, and to all creation, than Father God at Home in the midst of our local gathering together as Love among us. For this all creation hopes, and over this, we watch with all care unceasingly.

Practicality. • 11 And He Himself gave some apostles, some prophets, some evangelists, some shepherds and teachers 12 towards the preparation of the saints for the work of service, into the building up, the construction of the body of Christ.

Now the practicality begins. Without full practicality, no house can ever be built, and no actual knitting together will be taking place. The blueprint is a theory; building the house proves the theory, whether it is true or not. This line is called “the five-fold ministry.” When I left the move fellowship, I set this on the shelf most definitely. I feared that it was part of the reason for the expressions of superiority and contempt that had become fundamental in that fellowship. Now I know that it was the false doctrine of the flesh that was responsible, not this five-fold ministry.

From the Bottom Up. I can now freely draw from what Sam Fife taught on these things, for I can draw what is of God out from the nonsense. Yet this is an entire teaching that would take several chapters in Being a Witness of Christ, which I now know how to frame.

With God, it’s not a top-down, it’s a bottom-up, those who are devoted to the care of God’s people, not for themselves, but for Father’s sake, that He might possess His Desire. It’s those who stand with God at the bottom of the Jordan until every little one who belongs to Jesus has entered into all the life of Christ. For this reason, we do not see this ministry as a hierarchy, as most do, but as a FLOW. And that FLOW begins with the two olive trees and the pure Gospel Word coming through in the Power of the Spirit.

The Flow of Spirit Word. The FLOW is God-Revealed. The Flow comes first as Word through the apostolic, and is then confirmed as Spirit by the prophetic. Many are called into that Flow by the evangel, the proclaimer. In each local assembly, the Flow is shepherded in the experience of each by those who watch and care and is then taught in every detail to all, from youngest to oldest. Yet all of it is for one purpose, to ensure that Ephesians 4:16 is happening freely and daily – the sharing from every part.

Kingdom: God has an order for His Church. God and His order are the opposite of a hierarchy of control. God is Life and Life flows as Spirit Word up from the roots penetrated deeply into God-Love. This flow of Life through a “five-fold” ministry has one purpose, to ensure the free and pure sharing from every part (see Ephesians 4:16), that God might have His Home.

The Measurement. • 13 Until we all come down to the unity found in the faith and acknowledgement of the Son of God, into being a complete or perfect man, into the measurement of the maturity of the fullness or completion of Christ.

No verse in the Bible will expose hard unbelief more than this one. Most are CONVINCED that Jesus is fully INCAPABLE of doing anything even close to this now. And the violence by which it is thrown into “heaven someday” is staggering. These people are AT WAR against the Lamb – except for the fact that Jesus is well able to save even them. The meaning of every word and phrase in this verse is rooted in our underlying base-line definitions of God, of man, of Christ, and of salvation, the images by which we define God.

Come Down to Jesus. Definition: What is Christ? What is Salvation? What does it mean to be human? What is a “perfect” man? What is the Completion of Christ? Is the Jesus inside of us actually capable of accomplishing such a thing? The action of this verse is NOT “to attain,” but rather, “come down to.” The serpent teaches that to “become like Jesus” is to become something you are not, something “superior.” He lied. You are already like God; to know the completion of Jesus, you must come down to what God already made you to be, setting aside all notions of becoming something “better.” The completion of Christ is – Love one another as I love you.

Covenant & Kingdom: Jesus inside our hearts is the Covenant. That same Jesus, causing us to be just like Himself in Completion, as Love together, is the Kingdom.

Where It Counts. • 15 BUT, speaking truth [the good things of Christ] inside of love, we should increase into Him in all things, who is the head and center, Christ— • 16 out from Whom the whole body, being joined together and being held together through every joint of its supply or provision, according to the energeia inside the sharing from every part, causes growth of the body into the construction of itself inside of love.

You can talk all you want about being built together as the dwelling place of God, you can run around shouting “filled with all the fulness of God” until you are blue in the face, but this is where it counts, this is “the rubber hitting the road.” I know by experience just a taste of what this means, and I am sadly aware of its profound ABSENCE from the lives of almost all Christians, including mine right now.

From Christ into Sharing. We understand verse 15 as speaking Christ and becoming just like Him, which takes us into the sharing from every part. Remember that the pattern that forms the Kingdom in all the far reaches of creation is and comes out from the pattern found in the heart of each local Community of Christ.

First, we are increasing into Christ, in all that Christ is and means, from Jesus in Person to a many-membered body. Out from such a Christ proceeds the whole body, local and universal. “Joined together” and “fitted together” is the goal, the purpose of all energeia. Think of the tendons and connecting tissues, including skin and muscles, that serve to make the whole body a living organism, but especially the system of nerves, the communication among the members, as well as the flow of blood to every cell.

From Every Part. All of this being joined together, being held together, being constructed together, three different words, HAPPENS by Energeia, the swirling life force that causes all movement within and without, that turns spirit and flesh into LIFE. From whence comes that Energeia, then? It comes out from the sharing, the koinonia, the contribution, the giving of grace, from every single member of that local fellowship.

This sharing is always according to the measure of each. I think of one sister who always shared freely in the sharing service, but not so much in the kitchen. And another sister who shared of herself in the kitchen, but not so much behind the podium. Both sharings are vital for Father at Home.

The Sharing from Every Part. Speak Christ: Speaking the truth of Christ our life into one another, inside of love, causes us to know that we together are the fulness of Christ in all things (see Ephesians 1:23).

Kingdom: The pattern of the flow of life and of giving from one to another inside each local gathering of Christ Community becomes the same pattern by which all creation is ordered by Love and by the knowledge of God.

The Form for God through Jesus: The sharing from every part, this is the key, this is HOW the Body of Christ operates that it might be the dwelling place of God. Think of the human body, how every part, the blood, the skin, the nervous system, the pancreas, shares it’s bit with every other part of the body, yet quite different from one to the other. God is at Home as every member gives and receives freely in JOY.

Put Off and Put On. 21 Just as truth is inside of Jesus, 22 that • you have already set aside, concerning your former way of life, the old and worn out man, which is decaying according to deceitful and false desires, • 23 and you are being renewed in the mind of your spirit. 24 You have already and actively put on and enclothed yourself with the new man, which according to God has already been created inside of the just innocence and devotion of truth.

There are only two potential definitions for “setting aside” and “putting on.” Either “set aside” and “put on” are defined by God as fake human effort or as the speaking of faith and of the acknowledgment of Jesus. However, Ephesians 4:17-31 is in-between, and has its meaning by the wondrous merging of Ephesians 4:15-16 with Ephesians 4:32-5:2, how we love.

Being Renewed. Then “being renewed in the mind of our spirit” is the same as “metamorphosed into His same image.” It is the Covenant; it’s being made by Jesus to be just like Himself.

Definition: God defines “set aside” and “put on” as the speaking of faith and the acknowledgement of Jesus (see Ephesians 4:13), and not as “fake human effort” as some claim.

Covenant: “Being renewed in the mind of your spirit” is the same as 2 Corinthians 3:18 and Romans 12:1. It is Jesus causing us to know that we are just like Him.

Kingdom: This passage, Ephesians 4:17-31, is a description of many practical difficulties that arise as we gather in daily life together. It is the practical applications of Love inside the unity of our faith.

Speak the Truth. • 25 Therefore, having already put off and set aside the false [story of an old self], “let each one speak truth together with his neighbor” BECAUSE we are members of one another. 26 If you are angry, do not sin, that is, do not let the sun set on your anger, 27 neither give place or opportunity to the devil.

In all these in-between verses, Paul is discussing the issues that arise between people inside of Church Community. Most Christians never experience these issues in Sunday-church. Paul’s purpose continues to be the freedom and purity necessary for the sharing from every part.

Speak Christ: Truth is Christ Jesus having come into union already with each one. To speak Truth is to restore one another into knowing such a Jesus. Paul’s concern is one thing – the vital sharing to the body of every part.

Words of Grace. • 29 Do not speak unwholesome words, but rather speak good things towards building up or filling the needs of others, that your words might impart grace [the giving of God Himself] into those who are hearing you speak. • 30 And do not grieve the Devoted Spirit of God, inside of Whom you were sealed into the day of redemption and full release. – • 31 Let all bitterness, anger, and wrath, all speaking against and abusive language be lifted up from you, along with all underlying malice.

Verses 29 and 31 are the two sides of speaking Christ into one another. Paul is placing our choice of words into the practicality of our love for one another. Then notice that not grieving the Spirit is placed in-between speaking wholesome words versus speaking words of malice.

The Flow of the Spirit. Okay, this is something we must expand. My understanding of the meaning and role of the Devoted Spirit in our human makeup and in life together is growing and even changing.

I know fully from years of experience that the free Flow of the Spirit of God inside any community of Christ is essential for the successful sharing from every part. More than that, it is the Spirit that gives LIFE to our dying bodies, both as individuals, and yet also as the one Glorious Body of Jesus. The “day of redemption” is the resurrection of our bodies, our physical form being swallowed up by life. Yet that full release happens inside the sharing from every part, that is, inside the joining together of the Body.

We watch with great care that the Spirit not be grieved – by breaking the peace of any.

Words Are Spirit. Verse 30 breaks the lie that “words are just words.” The Spirit anoints our words when they are Grace, and is grieved when our words tear one another down (always by unclean spirits).

Speak Christ: All words we might speak are spirit, whether of the Spirit of God as the impartation of grace, or of unclean spirits as abusive words that tear others down. We speak wholesome words that impart the giving of God Himself.

Ruling Verse 3: The Spirit seals us together into our mortal bodies being swallowed up by Life and into the full release of Rivers of Spirit flowing out to all. Speaking words that impart death grieves the Devoted Spirit.

Ruling Verse 8: To love one another is to recognize the presence of God in each other and to speak Grace, the gift of God Himself, and the good things of Christ, in all things.

Be Just Like God. • 32 And be kind with one another, tender-hearted, forgiving and giving favor to each other in the same way that God inside of Christ gave favor freely to you. (Chapter 5) • 1 Therefore be just like God, as beloved children, • 2 and walk inside of love in just the same way that Christ also loved us and gave Himself to us for our sakes, an offering and a sacrifice to God, into a sweet-smelling aroma.

We place this set of verses, then, upon Ephesians 4:15-16, for they are part of each other. Of truth, between these two sets of verses, there is no greater description of God as He is in the Bible. It is for this that Jesus came as the Seed. More than that, these two sets of verses are the HEART of God’s House, the Heart of everything. It is inside of them that we find the meaning of sharing Hheart with God.

Inside Community. In order to change your definition of God, I must bring you with me into Community, for it is only inside of the full expression of life together that we know God as He really is.

In all the years at Lakewood Church, I seldom had to forgive anyone, only preachers other than Joel who lied about God. Inside daily life together, we find every opportunity there can be to hurt and to be hurt. Entire communities, strong in the Spirit, disintegrated because they never learned what it takes to love one another.

Being like God is being that giving of favor at the heart of such daily interaction, being an offering for others as a sweet-smelling aroma. Being like God is to share His Heart with Him inside every opportunity for costliness.

To Be Like God. Ruling Verse 8: We place Ephesians 4:32-5:2 together with Ephesians 4:15-16 in all ways. The verses in-between are simply the practicality of such sharing and such kindness. The sharing from every part is the giving of love and favor.

Definition: To be like God is to love one another; to love one another is to be like God. There is no other God. (The devil lied; every word he spoke in the garden perverted the truth.)

Ruling Verse 8: Knowing the Love that is God among us is found only in daily life together, in Christ Community, inside every chance to hurt and to be hurt. Being like God is being that giving of favor at the heart of such daily interaction, being an offering for others as a sweet-smelling aroma. Being like God is to share His Heart with Him inside every opportunity for costliness.

The Great Riddle. This lesson is way too short for Ephesians 4:1 to 5:2. Yet we now have a precise and complete outline of understanding, and thus can build on a solid foundation.

Yet these realities are found inside of God’s great riddle. We know God by knowing a man; we know man by knowing God. – Or as some say, “Which comes first, the chicken or the egg?” God wants a House which He might fill with all of Himself by the sharing from every part, each one of whom is just like God, already filled full with God in the expressions of God-Love. To have a House filled with God, you must have each member already filled with God. To have each member filled with God, you must have a House already prepared for Him.

Our riddle has a name. – Jesus, the One who Energeoes all.

Let’s Pray Together. “God, our Father, we know that You made us to be Your image and likeness, that You have made us compatible with Yourself in every way. Father, we know that we live only inside of You and that You live fully and freely inside of us and inside our gathering together.

“Oh God, we acknowledge You as God, as the Energia of our lives and as the director of our paths, that our entire lives, every moment and every particle of our beings, have been for You and for the fulfillment of Your Desire. Father, we acknowledge You as God, and we give You glory.
“And Father, we know that in sending Christ Jesus into our hearts, You have sent into us His same passion for Your House, His great desire that all would gather into Him.

“God, our Father, we give to You that authority of the Lord Jesus that You have placed inside of us, that You might use our every moment as Your highway into Your Church. Father, just as Jesus changed everything when He joined You with us inside the agony of His own soul, without any outward doings, so He is the same now inside of us.

“Father, we join all our Christian brethren all across the earth with You inside the agony of our souls, inside every pain and joy, inside our utter trust in You. And God, our Father, we call You to enter into the knowing of Your Church, we call for every Glorious Word You have spoken to be fulfilled now through her.

“Let God arise, and His enemies be scattered. Oh God, You have answered us.”