Connected By Unity
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Intro; Last Sunday night we talked about “Paul’s Doxology” in the middle of his letter to the church at Ephesus. A Doxology is a statement or outburst of praise and adoration to God.
Paul simply got so excited writing this letter that he couldn’t contain himself because he has written of the gracious riches the believer has in Christ and the glorious reality of this new community called “the church”. Sinners saved by grace!!
But as he continues writing this letter, he opens the second half with a very important word, “Therefore”.
Therefore- conjunction “so then or a logical conclusion/meaning”
[Schoolhouse Rock [70’s] on Saturday mornings grammar cartoons.]
Song about trains; Conjunction junction, what’s your function? Hooking up words and phrases and clauses.
The word “therefore” is a conjunction Paul uses to hook up who we are in Christ as the church to our responsibilities to Christ, one another and the lost as the church.
We must have a walk that’s worthy of our calling!
To do so means we must be “Connected By Unity”
Text; Eph. 4:1-6
1 I, therefore, the prisoner of the Lord, beseech you to walk worthy of the calling with which you were called,
2 with all lowliness and gentleness, with longsuffering, bearing with one another in love,
3 endeavoring to keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace.
4 There is one body and one Spirit, just as you were called in one hope of your calling;
5 one Lord, one faith, one baptism;
6 one God and Father of all, who is above all, and through all, and in you all.
1. Walk Worthy of The Call; 1
1. Walk Worthy of The Call; 1
Paul makes it clear that being a member of God’s family carries responsibilities in daily living. And Unity among the brethren is key [must] to the success of that walk.
Calling- invitation, salvation in Christ [Jews/Gentiles]. God has called us to Himself by His grace. He has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavens. Now we are to live worthy of that privileged calling.
Worthy Walk- walking is a continual progression going forward in Christ. The Lord expects us to act like the new persons we have become in Jesus Christ. He expects His standards to become our standards, His purposes our purposes, His desires our desires, His nature our nature. The Christian life is simply the process of becoming what we are in Him!
Christ Is Not Divided [Devotion By A. W. Tozer, Feb. 7]
Jesus answered, If a man love me, he will keep my words. (John 14:23)
Much of our full gospel literature and much of our preaching tend to perpetuate a misunderstanding of what the Bible says about obedience and Christian discipleship. I think the following is a fair statement of what I was taught in my early Christian experience and before I began to pray and study and anguish over the whole matter:
“We are saved by accepting Christ as our Savior.”
“We are sanctified by accepting Christ as our Lord.”
“We may do the first without doing the second.”
What a tragedy that in our day we often hear the gospel appeal made in this way:
“Come to Jesus! You do not have to obey anyone. You do not have to give up anything. Just come to Him and believe in Him as Savior!”
The fact that we hear this everywhere does not make it right! To urge men and women to believe in a divided Christ is bad teaching—for no one can receive a half or a third or a quarter of the divine Person of Christ!
Tozer, A. W., & Smith, G. B. (2008). Mornings with Tozer: Daily Devotional Readings. Moody Publishers.
29 For whom He foreknew, He also predestined to be conformed to the image of His Son, that He might be the firstborn among many brethren.
1 Therefore, holy brethren, partakers of the heavenly calling, consider the Apostle and High Priest of our confession, Christ Jesus,
2 who was faithful to Him who appointed Him, as Moses also was faithful in all His house.
14 I press toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus.
Paul is in a Roman jail but he is a prisoner of the Lord. Paul realizes his circumstances are the work of the Lord that he can be a witness of Christ to the Gentiles, kings and rulers.
It costs us nothing for salvation, it is a gift from God. It will cost us everything to follow Him! The Calling requires a Worthy Walk.
2. The Cost of Unity; 2-3
2. The Cost of Unity; 2-3
It costs us our fleshly attitude to be able to walk in the “Unity of the Spirit”
Lowliness/humility- others first [Christ first, others second, then yourself]. Humility is the exact opposite of pride. Humility keeps our focus upon Christ purpose instead of our agenda.
Mark 9:35 (NKJV)
35 And He sat down, called the twelve, and said to them, “If anyone desires to be first, he shall be last of all and servant of all.”
Gentleness/Meek- Power under control. Humility is an attitude, and gentleness is the action extended from it. Meek people do not force their spiritual beliefs or authority on others, they use it to help others.
Moses was known as the meekest of all men (Num. 12:3). Yet he got angry when Israel sinned against God (Ex. 32).
Christ was meek and humble in heart (Matt. 11:29). Yet He became angry because some Jews were using the temple as a place for thieves (Matt. 21:12–13).
Longsuffering/Patience- long-tempered, ability to endure without retaliation. To have a long fuse.
How do you react in a traffic jam, with a crying child or maybe when a child breaks something in the house? Do you stand in front of the microwave tapping your feet? Do you pray, “Lord give me patience, and hurry if you don’t mind!”
Paul says in 1 Cor. 13:4 “love suffers long and is kind;”
1 A soft answer turns away wrath, But a harsh word stirs up anger.
2 The tongue of the wise uses knowledge rightly, But the mouth of fools pours forth foolishness.
We have to learn to endure annoyances and challenges over time if we are to keep unity in the church
Forbearing love- to put up with, endure
It means giving people space to be themselves even when what they do annoys you! It calls on believers to give one another to right to be different, to hold different opinions.
8 And above all things have fervent love for one another, for “love will cover a multitude of sins.”
12 Hatred stirs up strife, But love covers all sins.
Philip Melanchthon said, “In essentials, unity. In nonessentials, liberty. In everything, charity!”
Just like Christ hated our sin but loves the sinner, we have to have the same attitude to be able to be a godly testimony of Christ to others.
Endeavoring to keep the unity- always striving with determination, always working to grow in spiritual maturity to overcome obstacles for the sake of “Unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace”.
We do not work to create unity but to keep unity! God unites us, and we are to seek to maintain unity by the Spirit’s help.
Unity is not sameness. We Christians maintain our God-created uniqueness but share a common vision and goal. A football team includes players with different roles, but teammates work together for the same purpose.
Why is it hard work to stay in unity of the Spirit in peace inside the church? We all have a different agenda or thought of what the church should be.
Let’s Roll! Ordinary People, Extraordinary Courage, by Lisa Beamer wife of 911 hero Todd Beamer.
Todd Beamer knew if Flight 93 was not stopped, many people would suffer and die and our nation would be critically wounded because that flight was headed to our nations capitol. So Todd with others on the plane worked together and charged the cockpit and brought the plane down to save the lives of others. Working in unity to maintain peace.
Like the passengers of United Flight 93, we as Christians are bound together by a purpose bigger than ourselves. We have an urgent mission by a divine calling to come together in unity so the world could be saved in Christ.
14 But above all these things put on love, which is the bond of perfection.
15 And let the peace of God rule in your hearts, to which also you were called in one body; and be thankful.
16 Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly in all wisdom, teaching and admonishing one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing with grace in your hearts to the Lord.
17 And whatever you do in word or deed, do all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through Him.
Working and walking together in Unity is a necessity, not an option!
3. Unity; 4-6
3. Unity; 4-6
Unity is all about Him, not us. Unity is so critical for the church to fulfill its role in the world that Paul uses the word “one” seven times in these verses.
One Body- “one new man”
5 so we, being many, are one body in Christ, and individually members of one another.
One Spirit- the Holy Spirit that indwells each believer
13 For by one Spirit we were all baptized into one body—whether Jews or Greeks, whether slaves or free—and have all been made to drink into one Spirit.
One Hope- Eternal life
7 that having been justified by His grace we should become heirs according to the hope of eternal life.
One Lord- Jesus Christ the Head of the church
5 There are differences of ministries, but the same Lord.
6 And there are diversities of activities, but it is the same God who works all in all.
One Faith- the only means to be saved from our sin
John 14:6 (NKJV)
6 Jesus said to him, “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me.
One Baptism- Holy Spirit baptism
13 For by one Spirit we were all baptized into one body—whether Jews or Greeks, whether slaves or free—and have all been made to drink into one Spirit.
One God/Father- All Christians worship only One God, to whom we all belong by faith in Christ
Mark 12:29–31 (NKJV)
29 Jesus answered him, “The first of all the commandments is: ‘Hear, O Israel, the Lord our God, the Lord is one.
30 And you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your mind, and with all your strength.’ This is the first commandment.
31 And the second, like it, is this: ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’ There is no other commandment greater than these.”
If there is only one body, one Spirit, one hope, One Lord, one faith, one baptism, One God the Father, then why are two believers standing toe to toe against each other? Either one are both of them are not walking worthy of their calling but are walking in the flesh.
Close;
What can I do this week to help keep Unity in the Body of Christ?
Don’t engage in gossip.
Forgive when you’ve been wronged
Ask for forgiveness if you have contributed to division in the church
Seek to encourage others
And above all, be willing to serve others before self
One of the few personal effects that survived the crash of United Flight 93 in Shanksville Pennsylvania was a small blue book entitled, “A Life of Integrity; 13 Outstanding Leaders Raise the Standard for Today’s Christian Men” by Howard Hendricks. The book belonged to Todd Beamer
He understood the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace