Building One Another Up (B)

Building One Another Up (B) Ephesians 4:1-16; pg. 977 03/10/2019, Gallup Christian Church, Bill Emmerling Introduction This will be our second week in Ephesians 4:1-6. Last week, we addressed the apparent discrepancy between our recent experience as a congregation and the words that we find about oneness and unity in Christ. After addressing how we need to understand our position as a congregation in relation to this text, I stated that we needed to make a point of forgiving those who have hurt us, and seeking forgiveness from those we have hurt, AND that we also have a choice to make. If you were not here last week, I encourage you to either watch the video posted on our Facebook page and/or picking up the printed copy available in the foyer. This week we will be looking at Paul’s words in more detail. 4 I therefore, a prisoner for the Lord, urge you to walk in a manner worthy of the calling to which you have been called, Paul reminds us of his commitment to the Lord and to the proclamation of the gospel to the Gentiles, of his imprisonment for the Lord. And from his example of commitment Paul urges, even pleas, for us to “walk.” “Walking” in the Hebrew mind, perhaps even in the Greek mind, was the euphemism for living one’s life deliberately in a specific direction. One does not “walk” aimlessly, but with purpose. Think of this walk as a journey. This purposeful walking is to do so “…in a manner worthy of the calling.” In Colossians 1:10, Paul describes prays for this walk/calling: “10 so as to walk in a manner worthy of the Lord, fully pleasing to him: bearing fruit in every good work and increasing in the knowledge of God…” This is a reoccurring theme with Paul through his letters that we are called up to live our lives for the purposes and glory of Jesus and His Father. Charity of our Character and Conduct (4:2) 4 I therefore, a prisoner for the Lord, urge you to walk in a manner worthy of the calling to which you have been called, 2 with all humility and gentleness, with patience, bearing with one another in love, 3 eager to maintain the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace. What is this walk to be like? Our walk reflects our character, just as Jesus states in Matthew 15:16, it is what comes out of the heart which displays one’s true nature. Our walk is the display of our character as a person, as a follower of Jesus. In verse 3 Paul reminds us the purpose of our walk, to “maintain the unity of the Spirit.” Our destination is unity and peace. Paul goes on to list the qualities, the tools of our journey to unity and peace, which should be evident in our purposeful, deliberate “walk” in the Lord. Lowliness/Humility Humility was seen in Greek culture, as in ours, as a weakness of character. However, Jesus displayed humility through His life perfectly, and Jesus was NEVER a weak individual. His journey/walk to the cross was HIS choice, it was never thrust upon him. In humility, He always put the needs of others before himself, especially on the cross. Humility is the opposite of Pride, egotism, arrogance and self-importance, all of which lurks behind discord, disharmony and disunity. Philippians 2:3 states: “Do nothing from selfish ambition or conceit, but in humility count others more significant than yourselves.” And in 1 Peter 5:5 “…Clothe yourselves, all of the you, with humility toward one another, for ‘God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble.’” Meekness/Gentleness Gentleness, or meekness, is not the absence of strength, but rather, is the presence of strength, restrained for the benefit of others. Gentleness is the measure or indicator or self-control, and is seldom without the presence of humility, and humility is seldom without gentleness. Patience Patience is more than simply tolerating another person, but it is recognizing the value of another person and their views, even if we do not agree with them. Patience gives time, and possibly space, for others to struggle and even fail, to accept their annoyances and difficulties with graciousness. Forbearing/Bearing with one another in Love Bearing with others in love may be one of the most difficult challenges we may have in this walk/journey to which we are called. Bearing with other in love goes hand in hand with patience. This love is divine love, “agape” love which thinks of the wellbeing of others before themselves. It has been said that the opposite of love is not hatred but indifference. I might suggest they are simply two different ways of expressing the same thing, a lack of caring for others, which we are called to do. Colossians 3:12-13 states: 12 Put on then, as God’s chosen ones, holy and beloved, compassionate hearts, kindness, humility, meekness, and patience, 13 bearing with one another and, if one has a complaint against another, forgiving each other; as the Lord has forgiven you, so you also must forgive. These qualities are not self-determined and self-generated. They are the display of the Holy Spirit in the life of the believer. Consider Galatians 5:22-23: 22 But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, 23 gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law. Our walk/journey with these ‘tools’ of Spirit should lead us to “…maintain the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace.” The word to “be eager” in verse three is an understatement, as Paul attempted to say, “make EVERY effort,” “leave NO stone unturned” in “maintaining the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace.” Unity in and of our God (v. 3-6) 4 There is one body and one Spirit —just as you were called to the one hope that belongs to your call— 5 one Lord, one faith, one baptism, 6 one God and Father of all, who is over all and through all and in all. Paul goes on to describe this unity in the context of the Trinity of the Godhead: Spirit, Lord and God the Father. In doing so, he again emphases our calling which provides us with the hope of salvation through Jesus, which he declared in Eph 1:18. Spirit The Spirit of God is the spirit of the body of Christ. The same Spirit which makes us, the many individuals, of one body, also provides access to the Father (Eph 2:18). Yet the emphasis here is the unity found in the body, made of many individuals and even congregations. Lord The Lord Jesus is the object and source of our hope of eternity, our faith and our baptism in identifying in him. Our oneness comes because of Him. Without Him, we have no hope, no object of our faith, no one to identify with in baptism. It is only through His divine sacrifice for us that we find these things. Father God the Father is the source of all things in creation. He is the source of all the families of the earth. He is the source of all who are of HIS family through His Son, Jesus. He is the “one God and Father of all.” Therefore, we once again find our unity in HIS family. The Father creates us as the one and ONLY Christian Family. The Lord Jesus unifies us with one faith, one hope and one baptism. The Spirit binds us together as many members in one body. (Stott, 151.) And just as the Godhead cannot be separated, neither can the TRUE Church be separated. While the Godhead makes us one, part of our calling is to “maintain the unity of the Spirit” among the members of the body. Fortunately, the Godhead has provided gifts to accomplish this. Diversity of our gifts (v. 7-12) 7 But grace was given to each one of us according to the measure of Christ’s gift. 8 Therefore it says, “When he ascended on high he led a host of captives, and he gave gifts to men.” 9 (In saying, “He ascended,” what does it mean but that he had also descended into the lower regions, the earth? 10 He who descended is the one who also ascended far above all the heavens, that he might fill all things.) 11 And he gave the apostles, the prophets, the evangelists, the shepherds and teachers, 12 to equip the saints for the work of ministry, for building up the body of Christ,Source of gifts (7-10) In verse 8, Paul is quoting from Psalm 68:18, and is an allusion to the practice of taking the captives of a war in the victory parade and giving gifts to those of favored by the victor. In this case Jesus the Christ is the victor over Satan and all his minion. They are the host he leads. Those who are given gift are His followers, they are His Body. We are the recipients of this gives from the One who descended from Heaven, became one of us, conqueror sin, death and Satan and returned to Heaven. Those gifts we are given are gifts of grace and grace only, we have done nothing to deserve these gifts. Variety of Gift (v11) As gifts, Paul briefly lists those who founded and lead the Church. Paul’s point is to emphasize the purpose of their roles. In Corinthians 12-14, He addresses in detail the spiritual gifts given to the Church. For Paul’s purposes, and our purposes, we note that both the apostles and prophets were given for founding the Church and the beliefs of the church. Evangelists were those specifically given for sharing and proclaiming the gospel. And Shepherd/Teachers are given for the continued equipping, training of the believers and the Body. Purpose of our gifts (v12) The gifts that are given have a purpose: “to equip the saints for the work of ministry, to build the body of Christ.” Our gifting is not for our own benefit. We are called to serve others with our gifting. Maturity is our goal (v. 13-16) 13 until we all attain to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to mature manhood, to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ, 14 so that we may no longer be children, tossed to and fro by the waves and carried about by every wind of doctrine, by human cunning, by craftiness in deceitful schemes. 15 Rather, speaking the truth in love, we are to grow up in every way into him who is the head, into Christ, 16 from whom the whole body, joined and held together by every joint with which it is equipped, when each part is working properly, makes the body grow so that it builds itself up in love. Surprisingly, Paul seems to assume we have not arrived, we are not fully grown in Christ. Part of that immaturity includes gullibility, inability to discern what is right from what is a deceitful scheme. We are not to stay here, but we are to grow, to grow as a people as a congregation, a Body of Believers. We are to grow in unity of faith, in depth of knowledge of Jesus, learning to be discerning. We are to truth in love, truth is actually a verb in the Greek. It is something we are to do, to be. Yet, we are to be all of this in love for the purpose of building one another up, to grow into the Body of Christ, taking our instructions, directions and purpose from Jesus. All of it done in sacrificial life-giving love. Individually and corporately as a congregation, we are to grow such that when people, when the world, looks at us, they see Jesus. How are we to respond/apply In verse 2 and verse 16 we find brackets embracing the passage we have examined. Those brackets are “agape” love, selfless, self-sacrificing love for the best interests of others. Paul has shifted his focus to how we are to live for God’s glory. And this is how we are to live, loving one another. We are called, to a high calling, called to be come a single Body with Jesus as our Head, directing our efforts, our mission. We are called as many individuals with diverse gifts to become unified as ONE body, to accomplish this calling. we can only do this by submitting to God the Father, God the Son and God the Holy Spirit. And in doing so we will become mature, able to see through human cunning and deceitful schemes of Satan. And we will glorify our Father and our Savior. Are we willing to do this, to love this way? Please stand as we sing our hymn of decision. Hymn: [Monitor] Take My Life and Let It Be