One Body, One Spirit, One Church
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Ephesians 4:1-7
Ephesians 4:1-7
New International Version (2011) Chapter 4
As a prisoner for the Lord, then, I urge you to live a life worthy of the calling you have received. Be completely humble and gentle; be patient, bearing with one another in love. Make every effort to keep the unity of the Spirit through the bond of peace. There is one body and one Spirit, just as you were called to one hope when you were called; one Lord, one faith, one baptism; one God and Father of all, who is over all and through all and in all. But to each one of us grace has been given as Christ apportioned it.
My brothers and sisters we are living a time, we are living in a day in age, wherein that Many of us have been hurt by our friends, by our spouses, by our kinfolk, by our children and grandchildren and we have begun to come apart. It’s hard to believe that we ever were united in anything. The church which was a cornerstone for our community for years, was the one place that we all felt oneness, now in most cases is no longer that. Many of us even, say that we have been hurt by the church. This is why it is a blessing that Pastor Donalson has been devoting his time to teaching and preaching Acts the early church series, because it provides great guidance in what the church; what we as believers of Jesus Christ, what we were supposed to be. That we were to take care of each of other, that we were to love our neighbors as ourselves, that we would pool and use our resources to meet every need, and sometimes dare I say sometimes, we would be willing to not have our way so God could have His.
In this letter, known as Paul’s letter to the Ephesians, it is important to understand that Ephesus was a place much like Herndon. Ephesus was a melting pot of many religions and cultures. We should be encouraged by Paul because clearly we’re going to have to do the same thing. Paul takes on the mission of bringing whether he speaks their language or share commonalities, he takes the Gospel to everyone thus exponentially growing the body of Christ. While Paul is in jail Rome, he begins writing a series of letters, writing this one in particular to drive home a point to them then that is still good for us now and that is that God’s purpose is for all of us. God’s plans is for his people. See the folks at Ephesus were not all Israelites, they were not all Hebrews, many of these people were new into the faith. They were Gentiles. But Gentiles, too were God’s people and are members of the body of Christ. The members of the body have been called and engulfed by His spirit, and it is with that spirit, and profession of our faith in our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ, that we create and perform the work of His church. Yet, in order to do that work, the first thing that you must do is to know your body.
Know Your Body: Paul tells us in Romans 12:3-5
For by the grace given me I say to every one of you: Do not think of yourself more highly than you ought, but rather think of yourself with sober judgment, in accordance with the faith God has distributed to each of you. For just as each of us has one body with many members, and these members do not all have the same function, so in Christ we, though many, form one body, and each member belongs to all the others.
Just as a body, though one, has many parts, but all its many parts form one body, so it is with Christ. For we were all baptized by one Spirit so as to form one body—whether Jews or Gentiles, slave or free—and we were all given the one Spirit to drink. Even so the body is not made up of one part but of many.
This means we are connected. Regardless of our differences or our circumstances, each of us as believers belong to each other, even if we don’t want to.
What we find in Paul’s time, that we find is still true today, is there is some tension within our body. Sometimes the mind and the body don’t agree. Let me give you an example; there are times when my mind wants to go to the barbershop and get a fade; I want to put my part in there; and you know; make em sea sick, but my body tells me every day that I’m bald. I’ve walked past a basketball hoop for years and my mind has told me to post up and slam on em; but my body tells me a layup is better than nothing. I used to love to hang out all night, me and Sarah be out all night come in and go to bed; but now my body says I can’t just go to bed, I got to get ready for bed.
This is what happens…our minds believe we know what is best and the body, the one body is telling us that we don’t and we refuse to listen.
There is still and will always be issues. There is tension between the seasoned believers and those that are new believers. But even deeper than that; we see through Paul’s conflict with Peter that there is also conflict between seasoned believers and seasoned believers. Then the new believers are excited they are filled with zeal and ready to go, but we often overlooked because we are focused on our traditions and our rivalries that we forget the most important thing we are supposed to do to our body, is nourish and replenish so we can grow our body. We forget our need to be inclusive, and to evolve because we are already at distracted attempting to win our own battles. And in a world that is steeped in confusion and conflict and controversy. Instead of compromising or agreeing to disagree, people become emboldened and encouraged by this nonsense known as “your truth” will start breaking their own way and creating their own version of the Gospel and their own Jesus. Although it is not possible to break the body, this is an example of how you can make a body sick. Brothers and sisters, we need to feed our body right, if we want to grow.
Because when you don’t feed the body with the word, if we don’t feed it with truth, if we don’t build each other up as we are supposed to the body can become weak, as we saw with Jesus in the wilderness, after 40 day and 40 nights he was tempted of the devil.
2. One True Spirit: Now earlier in the letter. In around Chapter 2, Paul is referring to those that are spiritually dead. There is no power in them, there is no faith, in them, there no Godliness; they are moving and they are doing things. Much of it looks Good. They may be nice folks. But they ain’t moving according to the spirit of God, because they don’t accept Him. They don’t acknowledge his will. They are planners of their own. What they see is best for all even when it is opposite of what the Spirit because, quite frankly they got it like that. They are quick to speak in a langauge of Christianese but you will realize that if you follow it, it is all pomp and air. It’s a show. But when someone or some church or some group is being used by the Holy Spirit is the real;
New International Version (2011) Chapter 4
When he ascended on high,
he took many captives
and gave gifts to his people.”
The gifts that Christ gave was to equip people build the body of Christ, til we reach unity in faith and knowledge of the Son yielding the fullness of Christ.
The end results real. It is recognizable. Because you know it and judge it by their fruit. Furthermore, There is no confusion about the spirit when it hits or when it falls, or when a dwells in a person because the spirit of God is not a one of confusion. Because Acts 2 says this so we would know when it falls…
When the day of Pentecost came, they were all together in one place. Suddenly a sound like the blowing of a violent wind came from heaven and filled the whole house where they were sitting. They saw what seemed to be tongues of fire that separated and came to rest on each of them.
Jesus answered, “Very truly I tell you, no one can enter the kingdom of God unless they are born of water and the Spirit. Flesh gives birth to flesh, but the Spirit gives birth to spirit. You should not be surprised at my saying, ‘You must be born again.’ The wind blows wherever it pleases. You hear its sound, but you cannot tell where it comes from or where it is going. So it is with everyone born of the Spirit.”
What I want you to know Mt. Pleasant is that, The spirit has never come and has never dwelled and nothing was done in it’s midst or thereafter. The spirit is not about you being excited or shouting, or crying running; but the is the gift that keeps on giving…The spirit is what empowers you to do what God has called us to do here on this earth, which is build and grow the kingdom of God.
If it don’t feel like that it’s not the One that Jesus promised that was sent for us. The Holy Spirit, Jesus is talking about in Acts 1:8
But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.”
This is the power that allows us to speak to our mountains, the power that allows us beat breast and prostate cancer, the power that allows us to walk although the doctor said we wouldn’t, the power to get over our trauma in our lives, the power to get your kids home safely, the power to get face your job insecurity, and it’s the power that got me standing right here, while my grandmother takes her last breath because I know that the power we have in the spirit is going to comfort me even when it doesn’t work out like I want, because that is what the spirit does because Jesus said in John 14:26
Pending on your translations, it says the advocate, the comforter, the counselor, the friend, the helper, the intercessor, the strengthener, the standby; in summary the everything.
But the Advocate, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, will teach you all things and will remind you of everything I have said to you.
Just as sure as you born you better know and believe that some of the issues and problems we have is because of the spirit that dwells within us aint the same spirit that the father sent to us. If Jesus says from the abundance of the heart the mouth speaks and when we speak all we do is sow division clearly our abundance aint in the right heart; which we know the spirit aint dwelling in that.
Repeat after me: Lord If I, aint Got it, Give me, the right spirit.”
Now if you believe that’s covered, our last point is a breeze.
3. One Church: If we are in the body and His spirit, now we have made sure; we know it is in us…it is one thing left for us to do, this is my final point today. It is to build One Church. You aint even got to look for a plan to do this in fact, the permit is already approved.
There is two words that we need to have and use and implement on a regular basis if we are truly aspiring to be the church that God has called us to be. The one He gave us these gifts to build. Those words are Grace and Love. Jesus said the greatest commandment is that we love our neighbor as ourselves. Ephesians 2:8
For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God—
For the grace of God has appeared that offers salvation to all people.
In order for us to be the church we have to understand that we are saved by grace and you better know that we all need it. Even though it is hard to be patient and extend it to others, if you want to keep enjoying grace and mercy from the Lord, you better learn how to give grace on your own. I’m fortunate that in the family I’m from we know how to do two things, that is church and work with our hands. My uncles are some of the best mechanics and contractors you will ever meet; they got one thing in common…they all hate working with each other. They prefer to compete. It makes for great entertainment, if you ask me who my money is on, I’ll bet on all of em. But there are times when I have seen my uncles do something that we are supposed to do in the body of Christ. When they are presented with a job that is big or pays to their liking, they are quick to work together. Look, the reality is you aint gonna like every body you build with. But God never called you to like in the first place.
As Paul said, I appeal to you, brothers and sisters,[a] in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that all of you agree with one another in what you say and that there be no divisions among you, but that you be perfectly united in mind and thought. You don’t have to like to agree because if Christ is not divided and you were baptized in the name of the Father. If you were also baptized in the name of the Son. If you were also baptized in the name of the Holy Ghost, there is no problem big enough that could ever stop you from being one church.
But God has put the body together, giving greater honor to the parts that lacked it, so that there should be no division in the body, but that its parts should have equal concern for each other. If one part suffers, every part suffers with it; if one part is honored, every part rejoices with it.
Now you are the body of Christ, and each one of you is a part of it.
We have to stop looking at each other like, this side or that one. Well, they did this or he did that, she said…when you are working for God, when you are winning his people there will always be disappointment, there will always be disagreement, there will always be distrust, there will always be disdain there will always be distractions, there will always be a devil at work, but I stop by to tell you Mt. Pleasant, when Jesus was lifted from the earth, and he defeated death, hell, and the grave; we can there will always be victory.
Don’t you know, that And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose.
His purpose that you would be one family, his purpose that you would be one body, his purpose that you’d have one spirit, and when the spirit produces the gifts…you can build, what we can build one church according to his purpose. Walk in love
