October 12, 2014
Morning Worship
Text: Ephesians 4:1-16
Subject: Ephesians Part 8
Subject: Unity Within the Body
As we continue our series through Ephesians let me touch on the things Paul has taught us thus far. 1). What it means to be “In Christ”. The blessings and power and authority that comes with being born again. 2) The cross of Christ has brought together Jews and Gentiles. There is no longer a dividing wall but all are equal in Christ. 3) You are part of God’s family… 4) God’s mystery has been revealed and is being revealed to the church. 5) The power that is operating in you opens the door for God’s great power to come alive within the church…
Along with the benefits of being “In Christ” also comes great responsibility. And Paul addresses that in our passage today. There should be unity in the church. You know that there can be union without having unity. You can have a union within a church by your attendance and support. You can tie two cats together by their tails and have union, but I guarantee you when you throw them over a clothesline there is no unity.
There must be unity within the body.
Ephesians 4:1-16,
1As a prisoner for the Lord, then, I urge you to live a life worthy of the calling you have received. 2Be completely humble and gentle; be patient, bearing with one another in love. 3Make every effort to keep the unity of the Spirit through the bond of peace. 4There is one body and one Spirit—just as you were called to one hope when you were called—5one Lord, one faith, one baptism; 6one God and Father of all, who is over all and through all and in all.
7But to each one of us grace has been given as Christ apportioned it. 8This is why it says:
“When he ascended on high,
he led captives in his train
and gave gifts to men.”
9(What does “he ascended” mean except that he also descended to the lower, earthly regions? 10He who descended is the very one who ascended higher than all the heavens, in order to fill the whole universe.) 11It was he who gave some to be apostles, some to be prophets, some to be evangelists, and some to be pastors and teachers, 12to prepare God’s people for works of service, so that the body of Christ may be built up 13until we all reach unity in the faith and in the knowledge of the Son of God and become mature, attaining to the whole measure of the fullness of Christ.
14Then we will no longer be infants, tossed back and forth by the waves, and blown here and there by every wind of teaching and by the cunning and craftiness of men in their deceitful scheming. 15Instead, speaking the truth in love, we will in all things grow up into him who is the Head, that is, Christ. 16From him the whole body, joined and held together by every supporting ligament, grows and builds itself up in love, as each part does its work.
I believe this is God’s word…
I believe it is for me…
I accept it as mine…
I appropriate it to my life today…
Let’s look at what God’s word says about unity.
I. A Life Worthy of the Calling… In verse one Paul addresses one of the responsibilities you have as a believer… I urge you to live a life worthy of the calling you have received. Now, obviously Paul would not have written this unless he had received some report that there was some dysfunction in the church. Now the calling that he is talking about is not a call to ministry, but simply the call to come to Christ. If Christ has called you (and He has) and you have accepted that call, now you are responsible to live up to the excellence of that very call. And he lays it out beginning in verse 2, 2Be completely humble and gentle; be patient, bearing with one another in love. Galatians 5:22-23 (NIV2011) 22 But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, forbearance, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, 23 gentleness and self-control. Against such things there is no law. If you are a Christian then these fruit (singular) are already in you. The only thing that prevents them from being manifest in your life is you. It is in the expression of the fruit of the Spirit that you begin to live the life worthy of your calling. The last part of verse 2 is really important… bearing with one another in love. The early church fathers understood this as having the right to seek revenge over a wrong done to you but choosing to never do so. It is the characteristic of a loving heart. I can only express to you what has happened in my life of ministry in this respect. People have come and gone. They have said things about me and about the church. They have tried to stir others up against me and the church and in some cases continue to do so. But… because of who I am “in Christ” and my position as pastor, I choose not to retaliate. Rather I try to keep peace bearing with one another in love. In reality there is no other option. In the flesh we always want to get even or to clear our reputation. It almost always ends badly. 3Make every effort to keep the unity of the Spirit through the bond of peace. Where does this unity originate? It is from the Spirit. You can’t create it. You can only be obedient to the Spirit in regard to it. It is the same unity that you experience, when in talking to a stranger you find out that they are a Christian. And now Paul describes that unity. 4There is one body and one Spirit—just as you were called to one hope when you were called—How many different bodies are there in Christ? How many Spirits? How many hopes associated with the calling? 5one Lord, one faith, one baptism; Is there One Lord? Deuteronomy 6:4 (NIV2011) 4 Hear, O Israel: The LORD our God, the LORD is one. How many faiths? Only one that counts. It is by grace you have been saved through faith… faith in God and His word. One baptism – referring to water baptism – the expression of faith in Christ. 6one God and Father of all, who is over all and through all and in all.
II. Grace to Live the Call… 7But to each one of us grace has been given as Christ apportioned it. I spoke to you recently about how grace is the manifestation of God’s power or presence at work in your life. Not every one receives the same amount of grace. God has apportioned grace to be received by faith to those who are willing to step out in faith and receive that grace. 2 Corinthians 9:8 (NKJV) 8 And God is able to make all grace abound toward you, that you, always having all sufficiency in all things, may have an abundance for every good work. You see, the grace God gives is available to all but until you step out in faith and - going back to verse 3 - . 3Make every effort to keep the unity of the Spirit through the bond of peace… you won’t receive grace to do it until you step out and faith intending to do it. 8This is why it says: “When he ascended on high, he led captives in his train and gave gifts to men. 9(What does “he ascended” mean except that he also descended to the lower, earthly regions? 10He who descended is the very one who ascended higher than all the heavens, in order to fill the whole universe.) if we look at verses 8-10 in the context of the passage what we see is this, not the emphasis on Jesus teaching to the unbelieving in Hades or the evil spirits there (even though that is a truth). But the context here is simply referring to the resurrection which by faith we accept as the condition for our eternal life. Psalm 68:18 (NIV2011) 18 When you ascended on high, you took many captives; you received gifts from people, even from the rebellious— that you, LORD God, might dwell there. Paul alludes to this verse but does not quote it exactly. Earlier I said that it appeared that there were some in the church that were stirring up disunity in the church. I think that it becomes evident in the next verses how they were doing so. They were talking against those who were appointed as leaders in the church. 11It was he who gave some to be apostles, some to be prophets, some to be evangelists, and some to be pastors and teachers… The very one who gives you grace to live according to your calling is the same One who placed apostles, prophets, evangelists, pastors and teachers in the church. I was ordained by the Assemblies of God but they didn’t place me here. Jesus did. Yes, there are pretenders everywhere. People who pastor or teach as a job description and not as a calling. But if Jesus gives these gifts, who are you to speak badly against them? Do you remember back in Acts 9 when Saul met Jesus on the Damascus road? Acts 9:1-5 (NIV2011) Meanwhile, Saul was still breathing out murderous threats against the Lord’s disciples. He went to the high priest 2 and asked him for letters to the synagogues in Damascus, so that if he found any there who belonged to the Way, whether men or women, he might take them as prisoners to Jerusalem. 3 As he neared Damascus on his journey, suddenly a light from heaven flashed around him. 4 He fell to the ground and heard a voice say to him, “Saul, Saul, why do you persecute me?” 5 “Who are you, Lord?” Saul asked. “I am Jesus, whom you are persecuting,” he replied. If you try to bring disruption to the body by speaking bad about the leadership of the body you are disrupting Jesus. I said earlier that there have been people who have come and gone in this church who in their leaving have done everything they could to convince others to leave as well. And in the past there have been those who try to turn others against the leadership in the church. Those people will have to answer to God for their actions. But I am going to continue to preach and teach the whole word of God and not just the parts that tickle the ear. There are plenty of other churches that do that. But because Jesus has appointed me I am going to continue to stand on every word He has given us. 12to prepare God’s people for works of service, so that the body of Christ may be built up 13until we all reach unity in the faith and in the knowledge of the Son of God and become mature, attaining to the whole measure of the fullness of Christ.
III. The Completion of the Call … 14Then we will no longer be infants, tossed back and forth by the waves, and blown here and there by every wind of teaching and by the cunning and craftiness of men in their deceitful scheming. We get several points from this passage. 1) It’s time to stop being babies… babies cry and throw fits until they get their way. Babies haven’t learned to process truth. Babies tend to believe whatever is told them. But those who are living in grace by faith are growing up in our faith and in unity. 15Instead, speaking the truth in love, we will in all things grow up into him who is the Head, that is, Christ. 6From him the whole body, joined and held together by every supporting ligament, grows and builds itself up in love, as each part does its work. If the church is operating in a healthy manner – each part doing its work – then the church will grow and build itself up.
I want to end by sharing a dream I had early Thursday morning. It was one of those dreams where I knew the Lord was speaking to me.
We were having church here and all of you were here with us. We had visitors from another local Assembly of God church. These were men who had leadership roles in their church. As I talked to them they told me that they were dissatisfied with the direction their church was going and that they were going to start attending one of the “feel good” churches in Hannibal. It was just going to be for a short time because they felt that their church was about to turn the corner and get headed in the right direction.
In my dream, as soon as they said the words “turn the corner” the Lord spoke to me and said, “if you keep turning the corner, eventually you end up where you started. Tell them it is time to get out of the corner, get on the straight away and put the pedal to the metal and move forward.”
When I woke up I knew that this was a word for our church. It is time to stop turning the corner and revisiting places we have already been. It is time to move forward in the unity of the Spirit and be willing to go to places we have not been to – both physically and spiritually. That means hitting the road of evangelism, service, and worship. That means having faith to receive grace at a level you have never received before. It means living in the bond of peace that only comes from the spiritual connection you have with other believers. No gossip; no back -stabbing; no divisions. Just unity within this local body of believers… John 17:22 (NIV2011) I have given them the glory that you gave me, that they may be one as we are one—
