Unity and Purpose for all
Ephesians 1:1-6
One of the most powerful statements that I ever heard was that the Church is always destroyed from the inside and not the outside. It is destroyed by contention in the church. It is destroyed by self interests. It is destroyed by people that are to busy worrying about what they want and like that they miss the purpose of why God established the church.
Win Arn did a survey among over 1000 churches and their members and found that when he asked the question, “Why does the church exist? 89% said, “The church purpose it to take care of my family’s and my needs. Only 11% said, “The Purpose of the church is to win the world to Jesus Christ.
When the same question was brought to the pastors of the same church he found the exact opposite. 90 % was to win the lost and 10 % to take care of the flock. Why is their disunity in the church? I think that it is because the leadership and the church are not working on the same purpose and each is frustrating the other.
William Barclay said, “Christians are people drawn together because they owe a common debt to the goodness and grace of God.”
Let me give you a little background in the book of Ephesians before we go to our passage today on unity. It is one of the few letters that Paul write that he is not correcting some false teaching. It is a letter of instruction to the church. It is a letter of encouragement and deeper teaching.
The fist 3 chapters of the book of Ephesians deals with “You are a child of God.” It was written to solidify the church and those in it and being part of God’s family. It set up moral values and all the Christ had done for us. He say this proves you are a child of God because of what He did for you.
Verse 4 transitions into… O.K. Now that you’re a Christian ACT LIKE IT!
The main Idea of the 4th chapter is “You should live like the person you have become. Live in unity by God in Christ, we should manifest the spiritual unity by being united in our actions.
Lets Read… EPHESIANS 1:1-6
Do you get it… IT is not about us or our plans. It is about God and His plans. It is about giving up our lives and living our His purpose for them.
4:1 – Live a life worth of the calling I have given you
1. Three year old Johnny falls down on the sidewalk as he is running to greet his father who has just pulled into the driveway. Johnny is tired and hungry. Two year old Susie just took a toy away from him. Because all that, He cries harder than it really warranted.
Daddy picks him up and says “There, there you’re big boy. Act like it.
Who is He (a big boy) How should he acts? (he shouldn’t cry needlessly)
2. Princess Margaret, as a young girl, sits beside her mothe, Queen Elizabeth, at the pricess’s first presentation to the British public. She is called upon to walk to the microphone and say a few words to the gathered dignitaries. As she prepares to stand, her mother says, “You are a princess. Walk like one!”
Who is she (a princess) How should she walk (with dignity)
3. Eighteen-year-old Chruch has gone through twelve of the toughest weeks of anyone’s life in the Marine boot camp in coastal South Carolina. During the last week they are forced to crawl under rolls of barbed wire with live machine gun ammunition blazing just inches over their heads. Chruck freezes. He prepares to sweat. His hads dig into the red clay beneath him as panic sweeps his soul. Just then, a friend crawls up beside him and says, Get a hold of yourself, Chuck. You’re a Marine. Act like one!
Who is He? (a Marine) How should he act under pressure? (with courage)
Linda was a party animal. She was tough and loved to fight. She was know for her craziness and her ability to party with the best of them. She messed with drugs and slept around. She had all the designer clothes and drove a really cool mustang. Then one day she was invited to a friends house for a party. What she didn’t know was that it was a Christian party and the pastor was coming over to talk to them about Jesus. She heard the message and Jesus began to tug at her heart. She remember how she felt a Bible School when she was a kid and at the end of the message she new that there was something missing in her life. She look at her friends and even though the didn’t party or drink or have designer clothes she always noticed that they were happy. She wanted more then anything to have the peace like they had.
After the girls went into the other room to get snacks she stayed behind and talked to the pastor about Jesus. He told her that she would have to ask for forgiveness and she would have to give Jesus her heart. When the girls came back they saw the pastor and Linda on their knees praying to God. It was one of the most exciting thing the girls had ever experienced.
Linda became friends with the girls and started hanging out with them at school. Well it wasn’t long before she was being called names and the “Cool” kids didn’t want to be around her. She was feeling like she didn’t belong anymore. She wanted to talk to the girls but they would never understand. A couple of more weeks past and Linda heard that there was a party at Karen’s house and it was going to be a blast. There was going to be a live band and 4 cages of beer. All the cool kids where going to be their. So she decide that she was going. She got their and it was everything that it was cracked up to be. She graded a glass of beer and started parting like that rest of the kids.
Before long the police showed up and there was Linda. They arrested her and took her to jail until her parents came to get her.
She was so embarrassed that she didn’t want to be anywhere around the girls that knew she was a Christian.
The girls heard about what had happened and started praying for her and the opportunity to talk to her.
At school they say Linda and walked over to her and explained that we all make mistakes and that is why we need to talk to one another about the struggles they go through. They told her that they to sometime want to go to the parties. They told here that they made a covenant with their other Christian friends that anytime they are tempted they would call one of their friends and pray with them so that they would be able to resist the temptation.
They told her that they were not disappointed in her and knew that it is hard to give up our old nature. They told her that they would like for her to enter into the covenant with them and that they would never condemn one another for messing up.
Linda was so surprised by there forgiveness and care that she signed the covenant and they prayed together.
Who had Linda become ( A Christian) How should she act? (Like a Christian) How should her Friends act (Like Christians).
The first 3 chapters of Ephesians say your are children of God and now in the forth it says “ACT Like It!”
Lets take a closer look at these verses
Verse 2 says be completely humble
What does it mean to be completely humble?
Humility means you see yourself like God sees you
Then it says an gentleness or meekness.
Let me give you a little back ground to the word that Paul used for this. It was used for a war horse used in battle. It was trained to be completely submissive and under the control of the rider. In other words they were powerful but their power was under control.
So with in this context what does it mean to be Gentle?
It means that our strength is to be under God’s Control.
Next is to be Patient,
O.K. by a show of hands who struggles with patience? Patience believing that Gods timetable is good, no matter what it is.
Abraham was a patience man and God gave him a son and a land
Moses was patient and he wander around in the desert for 40 years but God finally delivered the people to the promise land.
Noah was patient and God after 100 years sent the rain.
Patience is believing in God’s promises and leaving the timing to him.
The next word that is used is bearing with one another in Love.
What does that mean to you?
It means that I am not perfect and neither are you. It means being their for one another no matter what because we Love each other.
4:3 Unity of the Spirit through the bond of peace.
Unity exists in Christ (A house divided will not stand), Unity is preserved as believer make peace with one another their major priority instead of acting selfishly for personal gain or honor. (If there is something between you and your brother leave your sacrifice at the alter and go and resolve the conflict. Then come back and offer your sacrifice at the alter. You must first forgive the sins of your brother before God will forgive your sins)
Our call is not to create Unity but rather to manifest spiritual unity by relational unity. (They will know that you are my disciples by the way you love one another).
The last 3 verses give the 7 reason for the Church
1. We are One Body 1 Corinthians 12:7
2. We are Have one Spirit John 3:5-6
3. We have one Hope 1 Peter 1:3-4
4. We have one Lord Philipians 2:9-10
5. We have one faith Jude 1:3
6. We have one Baptism 1 Corinthians 12:13
7. We have one God and Father of all 1 Timothy 2:5-6
