As we continue to flourish, according to God’s will, there will be some challenges. How we address, handle and overcome these challenges will be the will be the gauge of our spiritual maturity.
It’s really been several weeks since we’ve played Scriptural Gymnastics, so I figure we are due.
You ready?
I want to remind you that when I say “you”, that includes me!
Our key passage is found in Ephesians chapter 4.
For those of you who haven’t heard me say it umpteen times… Ephesians chapter 4 is one of my faves.
In Paul’s letter to the church in Ephesus, he structures in much like some other letters he wrote.
There are 6 chapters in Ephesians.
The first three, Paul is laying out the doctrine, our riches in Christ
and the last 3, he shows how we put it into practical use, as our responsibilities in Christ.
Paul teaches us in Ephesians that faith in the truth taught in chapters 1-3, should result in the works empowered by the Holy Spirit, as taught in chapters 4-6.
Because we know, “faith without works is dead”
So, let’s dig in a bit, shall we?
When you hear the word “prisoner” what comes to mind?
Webster’s Dictionary says that a prisoner is “a person deprived of liberty and kept under involuntary restraint”.
Paul was in fact a prisoner of the Roman Empire, but much more important, he was a “voluntary” prisoner of Christ.
Is that you? Are you a voluntary prisoner of Christ?
Body
We’ll be focused on the 1st three verses, in the 4th Chapter of Ephesians. (read from my bible)
Ephesians 4:1–3 “I, therefore, the prisoner of the Lord, beseech you to walk worthy of the calling with which you were called, with all lowliness and gentleness, with longsuffering, bearing with one another in love, endeavoring to keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace.”
Please stand with me as we honor God while reading His word.
In order for our message today to resonate through this passage, I want to examine a few keys words, from other translations.
Key word:
Beseech you
Beg you
Exhort you (strongly encourage)
There are many occasions when I encourage you to go home and read a passage or chapter, and let it soak in.
Going forward, instead of just encouraging you to read a passage or chapter, I may “exhort you”
Other translations:
Call upon you
Urge you
Make this request
Appeal to you
Implore you- English word is derived from the Latin word “implorare” (em-ploh-RAH-reh) which means to “invoke with tears”...I’m in touch with that emotion!
The next is a key phrase:
Lowliness and gentleness, with longsuffering, bearing with one another in love.
humble and gentle, patient, because of your love
lowliness and meekness, longsuffering, forbearing one another in love
Another key word:
Endeavoring
Make every effort
Giving diligence
Using diligence
Being eager
This last key phrase:
To keep the unity
Keep yourselves united
Maintain the unity
Preserve the unity
Keep the oneness
There is so much Paul is admonishing us, as to how to put into practice, the things he taught in chapters 1-3.
When we look at these first 3 verses, Paul is saying:
Not everything will go as we think it ought to go, but if we do it right, it will go as the Lord wants it to go!
But we gotta do it!
When things aren’t going as we think it should, is our first reaction to lash out, or seek discernment from the Holy Spirit?
Our practice must balance with what we profess, otherwise, we are just hypocrites, and the world hates hypocrites!
He then goes to list four graces that evidence Christian character:
Humility
Gentleness
Patience
Forbearance
All qualities necessary for solid relationships with others.
When we consider these 4, as a group, or in totality, if you will, is this even humanly possible? Seriously.
I think not.
We need the power of the Holy Spirit to make this happen.
Looking at the first two “fruits”, if you will, Paul writes “all humility and gentleness”, as though they are connected or associated together.
As I was breaking down the word “humility”, I thought of a phrase we used growing up around horses.
“That horse is high-headed”
For us, it meant he was stubborn, disobedient or had a mind of it’s own.
My first horse as a very young kid, was a Shetland Pony.
His name was “Candy Spots”. He had a mind of his own, without a doubt.
Paul is saying “we can’t have a mind of our own”. That is not the calling in which we are called!
Humility, in this context means putting Christ first, others second, and self last.
I read this last week “First the cross, then the Crown”. Let that sink in.
Humility, as with all of these 4 fruits, must be cultivated by prayer, scripture reading and dependence on the Holy Spirit.
If we are always thinking about ourself and our needs, we are lacking a spirit of humility, and promoting an environment of division.
Guess who wins when there is division?...
verse 2 ends with:
“bearing one another with love.
Here are some important “one anothers,” as we consider humility-Christ first, then others, then ourselves
Live in harmony with one another- Romans 12:16,
Be devoted to one another-Romans 12:10,
Honor one another above yourselves-Romans 12:10,
Build up one another-Romans 14:19, 1 Thes 5:11,
Greet one another with a holy kiss-Romans 16:16,
I think a holy hug will be just fine...
Have fellowship with one another- 1 John 1:7,
Bear one another’s burdens-Galatians 6:2,
Love one another-John 13:34, and several other passages
as well as many other passages, but you get the point , right?
Then he says in verse 3,
Endeavor, make every effort, give diligence and be eager
to keep the unity of the Spirit.
Notice that Paul doesn’t say “create or establish” the unity.
He says keep, guard, preserve, maintain, keep oneness; the unity of the Spirit.
This tells me the unity...was created by the Holy Spirit, and it is our responsibility to preserve that unity that He created!
We see that word unity, or the concept of unity in the Holy Bible nearly 200 times.
It is obviously very important to our Creator.
I’d like us to briefly examine just a few causes of disunity.
Strife
Jealousy
Envy
Outbursts of anger
Disputes
Dissentions
Gossip
When we inject just a tiny bit of any of these, we create disunity, and it is like a disease.
That word disease, breaks down into two “dis-ease”. There is dis-ease in the body, when we cause dis-unity.
We don’t create unity, but we can sure create disunity! I think we as humans, got that down!
What’s the big deal about unity anyway? Glad you asked:
We’ve looked at this passage a few times in the last several weeks, but I believe it is critically important that we grasp the magnitude of unity.
Shortly before Jesus went to the Cross, He prayed for unity.
John chapter 17 begins with Jesus praying:
For Himself -for the longest time, I had difficulty praying for myself. No problem @ all praying for others, but it finally dawned on me that if Jesus can pray for Himself, I can pray for myself!
So, He prays for Himself
Then He prays for:
His disciples. He knew that were about to have a tough row to hoe.
Then He prays for:
All believers, and unity beginning in verse 17.
Go with me now to John 17:20-26,(read from my bible)
Remark:
Of all the things Jesus could have shared with the disciples, as He prayed for all believers, He chose “unity”.
You think it might be important?
He prayed to the Father, for us. He knew we were going to need it.
He prayed that we show the world who He is.
He prayed we understand the importance of unity, in order to show who He is.
I’d like to ask that you close your eyes, and allow your minds to paint a picture, as I read this passage on unity.
Psalm 133:1–3 “Behold, how good and how pleasant it is For brethren to dwell together in unity! It is like the precious oil upon the head, Running down on the beard, The beard of Aaron, Running down on the edge of his garments. It is like the dew of Hermon, Descending upon the mountains of Zion; For there the Lord commanded the blessing— Life forevermore.”
Unity is good and pleasant
Precious oil- David is speaking of an anointing oil, so much oil in fact that it starts at the top of his head, and runs through his beard, and all the way down to the edge of his garments. Unity is like an anointing oil!
Dew in the bible, was a sign of God’s blessing on His people. When we have the dew of unity, God blesses us!
I think we are getting close to wrapping this up.
1 Corinthians 1:10,
I appeal to you dear brothers and sisters, by the authority of our Lord Jesus Christ, to live in harmony with each other. Let there be no divisions in the church. Rather, be of one mind united in thought and purpose.
If you go to any church and expect a “perfect service”, you will be sorely disappointed.
But, if you go to church and experience a unity of purpose, you will be blessed!
How do we endeavor to maintain unity?
Galatians 5:22-23 “but the fruit of the spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, kindness, goodness, faithfulness gentleness, and self-control”
That’s how we maintain unity!
We must have unity within these walls, before we go out into that world!
Hear me on this church:
Our enemy FEARS a unified home and church!
Why should we endeavor to maintain unity?
So that the world may know that God sent Jesus, and have loved us, as God loved Jesus!
As a church, we need to understand and appreciate the value of each person within our congregation. In fact, I challenge you to tell @ least one person here today, that you value and appreciate them!
We have to “work” to keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace in:
our marriage
in our church
in our workplace
in our schools
in our entire community!
Now here’s a tough one.
Scripturally, we are to separate from professed brothers and sisters in Christ and His truth, that unites us.
Matthew 18:15–17 ““Moreover if your brother sins against you, go and tell him his fault between you and him alone. If he hears you, you have gained your brother. But if he will not hear, take with you one or two more, that ‘by the mouth of two or three witnesses every word may be established.’ And if he refuses to hear them, tell it to the church. But if he refuses even to hear the church, let him be to you like a heathen and a tax collector.” In other words: Have nothing to do with them.
If we are to maintain the unity of the Spirit, we will have to do the tough things.
I once worked in an organization where I was known as “the hatchet man”. Ever heard that term. Not a compliment, but when upper management needed to cut someone loose, they called on me.
But Lisa can tell you, one of the few things I grieved about in all my years in management with different companies, was to terminate employment with someone.
When I was going to do that the next day, I hardly slept that night. Even if I didn’t like the person.
It’s a tough thing, and scripturally, we are called to do this, when all else fails!
Martin Luther wrote: To gather with God’s people in united adoration of the Father, is as necessary to the Christian life as prayer.
We gather with one another to strengthen one another.
Hebrews 10:24–25 “And let us consider one another in order to stir up love and good works, not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together, as is the manner of some, but exhorting one another, and so much the more as you see the Day approaching.”
We all have had a reason or made excuses not to attend church at one time or another.
I did it for years, decades.
My excuse was that I worked 6 days a week, on average about 70 hours, and I needed to rest on Sunday, with a party size bag of tortilla chips, and family size picante salsa and watch football all day, even into the night!
Last week, when Jimmy read that devotional about carrying our baggage to church, that is a huge reason for coming to church.
Think about all those “one another’s” that I just read. It’s better when we gather to experience all those “one another’s”
We are called to to give of ourselves with our time, treasures or talents, and not doing so, not only causes us to miss out on the blessing, but in all reality contributes to disunity.
I know, you say “how can that be?”
I want to exhort you to think about this; if you consider yourself a member of this body of Christ, and are not giving of your time, treasure or talents, will you pray about why you aren’t?
And if you are struggling to know how you can do this, just see Lisa...
Just kidding. I’d love the chance to visit with you about that.
There are some exciting things coming around the bend y’all, you each of you will be critical to being a part of the calling in which we are called!
I’d like to wrap up with just a few final thoughts on unity of the Spirit, in the bond of peace.
Grounded in Scripture- All scripture is inspired by the Holy Spirit- We cannot maintain church unity with God’s Word
We all need to come to a firm understanding of the privileges and responsibilities as the body of Christ
Lean on Matthew 18:15-17 when required
Be slow to speak- Life and death is in the power of the tongue
Cling to the power of the Gospel
Closing:
Key points:
Getting closer to merging the two congregations
Things are happening
Been in a church when divided vs merging
Power of prayer
