Equipped to be Unified
Notes
Transcript
Handout
Introduction
Introduction
Great singing, thank you for being with us today.
Open your Bibles to the book of Ephesians this morning, chapter 4. Ephesians is in the New Testament, the latter half of the Bible, and is an epistle or letter, written by the Apostle Paul under inspiration of the Holy Spirit to the church of Ephesus.
A church he planted during his missionary journeys. This book is also known as one of the prison epistles. Paul wrote this while in Roman custody for preaching the gospel.
As you turn there this morning I want to talk to you for a moment about the ministry.
The title of this 3 week series we are starting is called “Equipping: The work of the ministry” and it the premise behind this series of messages is based upon a verse in our text today
Eph 4: 12
12 For the perfecting of the saints, for the work of the ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ:
Paul identifies various roles that people have within the church and then tells us why those roles are there.
He mentioned apostles, prophets (preachers), evangelists, pastors , and teachers. They all exist for one purpose…for the perfecting of the saints for the work of the ministry and edifying or strengthening the body of Christ, the people.
Notice the phrase perfecting the saints. It could also be said Equipping the saints for the work of the ministry. But what is the work of the ministry? Over the next few weeks we will see work of the ministry brings unity, makes us apart of something, and prepares us to love as Christ loved.
Paul establishes here that the work of the ministry is not just reserved for those that are in the ministry full time. The work of the ministry is meant for each person who has put their faith in Jesus Christ for salvation.
Today I hope for us to see how we have been equipped to be unified as a body of believers.
Follow along with me as I read please
Eph 4:1-11
1 I therefore, the prisoner of the Lord, beseech you that ye walk worthy of the vocation wherewith ye are called,
2 With all lowliness and meekness, with longsuffering, forbearing one another in love;
3 Endeavouring to keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace.
4 There is one body, and one Spirit, even as ye are 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.
7 But unto every one of us is given grace according to the measure of the gift of Christ.
8 Wherefore he saith, When he ascended up on high, he led captivity captive, and gave gifts unto men.
9 (Now that he ascended, what is it but that he also descended first into the lower parts of the earth?
10 He that descended is the same also that ascended up far above all heavens, that he might fill all things.)
11 And he gave some, apostles; and some, prophets; and some, evangelists; and some, pastors and teachers;
PRAY
Notice first with me the Grace of Unity
I. The Grace of Unity
I. The Grace of Unity
In Verse 1 Paul uses the phrase “I therefore, beseech you” Now, because I’m sure, like me, you don’t use that phrase often in your day to day life if at all, let’s gain a better understanding of what that means.
To beseech someone is call someone or invite them to do something. Partnering that with the word therefore lets us know Paul is saying “Because of all this, I invite you to…walk worthy o the vocation which you are called.
Paul has been writing to them about the grace of God and the many things that God has done for them. That’s a very abbreviated summary.
Paul is writing and asking us to walk worthy of the role God has called us to for no other reason that the grace of God that is present in our lives through Jesus Christ.
He goes on to speak of the external grace we should extend.
A. External Grace to extend
A. External Grace to extend
In verse 2 Paul, under inspiration of the Holy Spirit, gives us insight into some traits of God that can be extended through us by His grace.
Lowliness, meekness, longsuffering, and forbearance.
Lowliness speaks to an internal humility of mind. Not thinking yourself higher than someone else. Longsuffering means patience.
Ever had someone that gets on your nerves? Ever been around people that either rub you the wrong way or just don’t see things how you see them? How do handle them?
Do you tell them what they need to hear? Pride yourself in being someone who just tells it like it is? Did you ever think that those people are the ones who nee the most grace extended to them?
As Christians under the love and grace of God the Father through Jesus Christ we have the privilege to extend grace to others that may not receive any where else. It’s not being two faced…unless your talking about them behind their back and then you don’t stop extending grace, you stop gossiping.
People that don’t know Jesus don’t always understand how or why Christians will act they way they do. They see it as fraud and hypocritical. Not because of any actual facts they have experienced but because they are looking at others through their own eyes and seeing how they could never be that nice....
Folks, let’s be honest…most of us aren’t that nice. I made fun of kids on the play ground. I definitely wasn’t nice to junior Marines in the Marine Corps. I’ve ridiculed, poked fun at, embarrassed, and just been down right nasty to people in my life. Any niceness or kindness in me, is from Jesus. It’s because of Him. When we begin basing our actions off of more than our own thoughts and we base them off of the truth of the gospel, we will find that we can love people that we may have not been able to before. We can show meekness.
Meekness is humility with strength.
A.W. Tozer once wrote, The meek man is not a human mouse afflicted with a sense of his own inferiority. Rather he may be in his moral life as bold as a lion and as strong as Samson; but he has stopped being fooled about himself. He has accepted God's estimate of his own life. He knows he is as weak and helpless as God declared him to be, but paradoxically, he knows at the same time that he is in the sight of God of more importance than angels. In himself, nothing; in God, everything. That is his motto."
When it comes to this application in our church, we must be reminded of what the Bible says in
Prov 13:10
10 Only by pride cometh contention: But with the well advised is wisdom.
When there is fighting, animosity, and problems between believers…it’s not because of Jesus. It definitely shouldn’t be because of doctrine. I believe it can always be traced back to the root of Pride.
but when we are willing to humble ourselves because of the grace of God and extend grace to others, we will see that our relationships with people will greatly improve.
that only happens thought when we extend internal Grace
B. Internal Grace to Receive
B. Internal Grace to Receive
Eph 4:3
3 Endeavouring to keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace.
Notice first the word Endeavoring. It means to be diligent and to labor. We have to work at keeping unity. We have to be willing to have hard conversations. That’s made apparent in Proverbs
Prov 27:6
6 Faithful are the wounds of a friend; But the kisses of an enemy are deceitful.
Friends must be willing to talk to others about whats going on and not let things fester and blow up. We keep the unity of the Spirit because of the bond of peace. What does that mean?
Col 3:14-15
14 And above all these things put on charity, which is the bond of perfectness.
15 And let the peace of God rule in your hearts, to the which also ye are called in one body; and be ye thankful.
The bond of peace. The peace of God. We are to let the peace of God rule in our hearts. We are bound to peace by the grace of God who instills it in our hearts by the Holy Spirit.
Now here’s the thing…I believe the Holy Spirit is not a dictator. He can guid and direct but we must yield. We must receive the grace and we must choose to apply it.
The grace and peace that passes all understanding is available to all believers…the question is will you receive it internally and extend it to those around you.
Warren Weirsbe said this “The reason for war on the outside is war on the inside. If a believer cannot get along with God, he cannot get along with other believers.”
So the disunity that can be experienced in churches isn’t because of other people…it’s because us as individuals.
The Grace of God must be present for there to be unity. When that grace is present internally and externally we will then see the growth of Unity.
II. The Growth of Unity
II. The Growth of Unity
Eph 4:4-6
4 There is one body, and one Spirit, even as ye are 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.
Notice the Biblical Focus
A. Biblical Focus
A. Biblical Focus
Paul wrote “One Body, One Spirit, One hope.”
He is speaking of biblical doctrines found throughout Scripture.
They are the foundation for our beliefs and the foundation of our behavior.
One Body, the body of Christ made up of those who have put their faith in Jesus found in local New Testament churches.
One Sprit, The Holy Spirit of God that resides in each believer and unifies us beyond cultural and societal commonalities.
One hope, the blessed hope of the return of Jesus Christ.
I want to pause right here and make some comments. Any time something crazy happens in the world, Christians are very prone to start pointing to the return of Christ and end times. There are a couple things I want to highlight and move on from but will one day bring a short study about.
First, No man knows the day or the hour. Paul wrote
1 Thess 5:1-3
1 But of the times and the seasons, brethren, ye have no need that I write unto you.
2 For yourselves know perfectly that the day of the Lord so cometh as a thief in the night.
3 For when they shall say, Peace and safety; then sudden destruction cometh upon them, as travail upon a woman with child; and they shall not escape.
A thief in the night. Peace and safety. Then sudden destruction. I believe that points us to a rapture that takes place 1. At any time 2. not predicted by the events around us. Sure we can look and see “that’s how they’ll do this or that.” but we don’t know.
Second,
1 thess 5:11
11 Wherefore comfort yourselves together, and edify one another, even as also ye do.
The purpose of Paul writing about the return of Christ was not so that we could all get ancy, not so we could be fearmongers and make statements like “God’s coming back, better get right.” I’m already right with God. I’m covered under the blood.
Third, we believe the Bible teaches a Pre-tribulation rapture. that means prior to things getting really bad, we are gone. So don’t beleive the memes and thoguhts of seeing the book of Revelations played out in front of you....that’s tribulation stuff. If you believe that I believe you reject the doctrine of a pre tribulaiton return of Christ.
So the blessed hope of Jesus’ return should be unifying and motivating to live out the mission he has given us. Delivering the gospel to every creature.
When we have a biblical focus and not an emotional one, not a conspiracy one, but a focus on who God is, what God has done, and what God has called us to do, we can then see spiritual growth from Unity.
But we must have that gospel focus
B. Gospel Focus
B. Gospel Focus
One God, Father of all, above all, through all, and in you all.
The only means by which God is in a person is through the indwelling of the Holy Spirit. That only comes from faith in the gospel.
What is the gospel?
1 Cor 15:1-3
1 Moreover, brethren, I declare unto you the gospel which I preached unto you, which also ye have received, and wherein ye stand;
2 By which also ye are saved, if ye keep in memory what I preached unto you, unless ye have believed in vain.
3 For I delivered unto you first of all that which I also received, how that Christ died for our sins according to the scriptures;
The death burial and resurrection of Christ. When a body of believers is focused on the gospel they will see spiritual growth. I believe numerical growth can come from it as well but that is never the goal. It is a by-product of first and foremost the grace of God. Second, it is what happens to a church when the outside world sees a place different than what they are used to. When a body of believers is on fire for Jesus others can’t help but to take notice.
When the message of the gospel permeates every fiber of a churches make up people can’t help but to be unified around that message. It’s after we have recieved the grace of God and began our spiritual growth journey focused on the Bible and the message of the gospel, we will begin using our gifts for Unity.
III. The Gifts for unity
III. The Gifts for unity
Eph 4:7-11
7 But unto every one of us is given grace according to the measure of the gift of Christ.
8 Wherefore he saith, When he ascended up on high, he led captivity captive, and gave gifts unto men.
9 (Now that he ascended, what is it but that he also descended first into the lower parts of the earth?
10 He that descended is the same also that ascended up far above all heavens, that he might fill all things.)
11 And he gave some, apostles; and some, prophets; and some, evangelists; and some, pastors and teachers;
A. The Gift of Grace
A. The Gift of Grace