Life in His Name (3)

Introduction: 1 Corinthians 1:10 says… We are a people who easily divide. We like to pick sides. We divide our sports teams. We divide our schools. Nations are divided. Countries are divided. Families are divided. Corporations divide into regions. Cities divide into neighborhoods. Our time is divided into hours , minutes, and seconds. Our meals are divided into breakfast, lunch and dinner. We divide our numbers and names. We divided our highways and candy. We are a people who are well acquainted with divisions.

with that in mind, Today: We are focusing on unity… Recap of series and introduce text.

Ephesians 4:1–6 ESV

I therefore, a prisoner for the Lord, urge you to walk in a manner worthy of the calling to which you have been called, with all humility and gentleness, with patience, bearing with one another in love, eager to maintain the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace. There is one body and one Spirit—just as you were called to the one hope that belongs to your call— one Lord, one faith, one baptism, one God and Father of all, who is over all and through all and in all.

Unity is the result of our union with Christ and is maintained by yielding to the Holy Spirit.

After giving a brief introduction of the theme and reading the passage; make the main point.

Key Point: Life in Jesus name is life full of the Holy Spirit. The Spirit filled life is a life is characterized by humility, gentleness, patience, and love. This life prepares us to preserve our unity. When we are unified with Christ, we are unified with one another.

3 ways this truth impacts our lives…

Since we are unified in Christ we can...

1. Clearly identify what divides us.

Disobedience to exhortation. 4:1-3

Like James 4:1-3

Misunderstanding the truth that unites us. See the explanation in 4:4-6 is the definition of unity...?

Problems with the Holy Spirit.

[What has the Holy Spirit of unity accomplished? =

1:13-14 Seal of salvation.

1:17 gift of wisdom and revelation.

2:18 Access to the Father.

2:22 built together into dwelling place for God.

3:5 revelation.

3:16 Strength in your inner being.]

4:30.. “Do not grieve the Spirit.” &

5:18 “Be filled with the Spirit” . &

6:17 “The sword of the Spirit= Word of God. &

6:18 “Praying in the Spirit.”

Sometimes we are divided with professing Christians because we are not really Christians.

Sometimes we divide with those who are Christians because we do not yield to the Spirit.

Prudence & preference.

Divisions among the church. Once upon a time, there were two Christians who disagreed and divided. (retell story of Paul and Barnabas. ) Acts 15:36-41 This is the same guy to whom the Holy Spirit inspires to write these words about unity to the church. Even though this account describes what happened between these two brothers in Christ it is not prescribing what must happen between Christians. There may be good reason for Christians to divide. But I think its rarely ever a righteous reason that we do.

Non- cooperation doesn't mean separation.

Be careful of making matters of prudence and preference conditions for the gospel. (Example? baptism....) If we are full of the Spirit in the bonds of peace, humility, gentleness, patience, and love we can disagree and not be rude, mean and nasty about it.

Transition: Since we are in Christ , we can clearly identify our divisions. Number two…

2. Declare what the world cannot offer.

Authentic identity. Union with Christ mean separation from every other false identity. True belonging. Note Paul’s main argument for those with Jewish and Gentile backgrounds. No matter where and what you came from, in Christ we are one.

Illustration: The kind of unity described here in Ephesians is like the illustration given in 1 Cor 12 and Roman’s 12 of a body.

Unity is not uniformity. Which leads us to...

Celebrate true diversity. (cultural influence)

3. Be genuinely hospitable with one another.

Make point of rest of Ephesians. 4:25; 32

Give an example marriage, parenting, employment,

goal: come early, stay late, spending time together outside the regular gatherings.

Closing: Unity is not something we are called to create. We are called to eagerly preserve it. We cannot manipulate unity rather we must maintain it. For years the church, ourselves included, have often been tempted and given over to the facade of unity. We’ve attempted to make unity an attachment to our production rather than recognizing it as a part of our being. We have divided into affinity groups. Tried to identify one another by past experiences or present preferences. Unity is not an idea, or a vision, or a business plan. Rather, it is a position to be maintained. This reality gives us the foundation to work from.

As a result of the gospel truths of chapters 1-3, the apostle Paul is exhorting the Ephesian saints to live in humble, mild mannered, enduring, patient affection for one another by strongly desiring to protect their unity.

The Exhortation for Unity. (4:1-3)

vs. 1 Urge= implore, exhort, call

vs. 1 Manner = properly fitting

vs. 1 calling which are called = Noun subject to the verb. The condition of being authoritatively summonsed. (

WHAT does it look like to “walk” in this worthy manner? These are character traits produced by the Holy Spirit. They are essential for maintaining unity. Verse 2 is a must if verse 3 is going to be obeyed.

vs. 2 Humility = modesty, assessing oneself appropriately.

vs. 2 Gentleness = even tempered, mild mannered

vs. 2 Patience = endurance, forbearance, long-suffering

vs. 2 Bearing with one another in love = endure something unpleasant or difficult with another Christian with a strong commitment of affection.

vs. 3 eager = strong zeal and intense desire… to maintain = keep, protect, guard … the unity = oneness, quality of being one.... Of the Spirit = The Holy Spirit… in the bond of peace = being fastened or handcuffed together with the harmonious freedom from worry.

[A part of walking worthy of our calling is to be zealous to peacefully guard the unity of the Holy Spirit.]

Transition:

The Explanation for Unity. (4:4-6)

WHAT is the foundational basis for this unity (oneness)? Why do we have unity?

vs. 4 One body = the description of the church

vs. 4 One Spirit = the third person of Trinity

vs. 4 One hope = the certain expectation of our calling

vs. 5 One Lord = the second person of the Trinity (master/ ruler)

vs. 5 One faith = the belief, or content of gospel truth that must be believed about Jesus Christ. The doctrine. Only one… not many. Unity in Christ is not like traveling up Pikes Peak. There are not multiple ways to get to God.

vs. 5 One Baptism = the act of immersion under water. The external signal that identifies a person as united to Christ and His church.

vs. 6 One God and Father = the first person of the Trinity

who is over, through, and in all. Repeats “all” = the quality of completeness

The trinitarian view of unity. Like Jesus prayed in John 17:22-23 . In the same way God is one so we who belong to Christ are one. Just as Our creator God is one God who acts in three distinct persons. The Father, Son, and Holy Spirit are three distinct persons making up one God. So too, We remain distinct in our personhood, but united in our essence. Admittedly, this is an amazing and mysterious beauty of God that is difficult to understand unless we humble ourselves to His word and believe what God has revealed about Himself. However, the significance of this truth regarding unity is that…

Possible Application thoughts:

Our connection with the world. In it, but not of it. (John 17:14-15) Unity with the world is an impossibility for those who belong to Christ. This doesn’t give Christians the excuse to be mean and nasty; judgmental or snobbish. rather, it gives us the truthful root cause of our disunity. Our union with Christ separates us from union with the world. We may be able to get along in some brief cause.... but we are foundation dis-unified with the world. So be full of compassion, mercy, and sympathy rather than hate, malice, and pride with those outside the faith. When we know where we came from, whose we belong to, why we exists, and where we are going it shouldn't provoke us to exclusive notions of intolerance. Rather, we should be humble servants who speak and act with clarity and sincerity. Christians do not need to apologize nor antagonize for being right.

How does this passage help us understand a Biblical definition of unity.

WHAT does diversity withing unity look like? HOW is diversity possible? (vs. 7-12)

WHAT is the purpose of growing and guarding? (vs. 13-16)