Unity in the Body

Introduction

Good morning and welcome back!

This morning we are going to be looking at Ephesians 4, if you would like to start turning to that in your Bibles.

And the subject we are going to be looking at is “Unity in the Body,” which is a subject we have hit on several times over the course of the last several weeks.

In Chapter Four here in Ephesians we find a section where Paul begins to addresses the church in his day as well as all of us as Christian believers.

And in this section, Paul is going to be instructing us in Christian living and he is really going to be challenging us in that the section is really designed to strengthen both the church at Ephesus as well as us all as a body of believers.

So, what does it mean to be Unified as a Body of Believers?

What is Paul talking about?

Why is it important today?

All these things we will be discussion this morning in the context of three things that we as a body and we as individual church bodies need to understand about being Spiritually effective in the world today.

Because the reality is, if we are not be spiritually effective then we are not being an effective body.

We are just gathering together as a social club.

And we could do that at McDonalds or the Chicken House.

So, let’s look at this passage and then get right into things.

Paul writes . . .

Scripture Focus

Ephesians 4:1–14 NIV84

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. This is why it says: “When he ascended on high, he led captives in his train and gave gifts to men.” (What does “he ascended” mean except that he also descended to the lower, earthly regions? He who descended is the very one who ascended higher than all the heavens, in order to fill the whole universe.) It was he who gave some to be apostles, some to be prophets, some to be evangelists, and some to be pastors and teachers, to prepare God’s people for works of service, so that the body of Christ may be built up until we all reach unity in the faith and in the knowledge of the Son of God and become mature, attaining to the whole measure of the fullness of Christ. Then we will no longer be infants, tossed back and forth by the waves, and blown here and there by every wind of teaching and by the cunning and craftiness of men in their deceitful scheming.

The Things That Unite Us All

So, again the passage starts out . . .

Ephesians 4:1–3 NIV84

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.

So, Paul starts out with the fact that he is currently a prisoner, “for the sake of the Lord.”

Which in itself seems a little strange.

We don’t want to think of ourselves as “prisoners” but when we look deeper we can see that Paul is not talking about being a prisoner in the traditional sense that we know.

Paul knows what it is like to be a prisoner.

In fact, when writing this letter, Paul is in prison for preaching the gospel and from his prison cell is addressing the church he sees before him.

So, his reference here is not so much about being locked up or in bondage and unable to go anywhere or do anything.

His reference here is in relation to the fact that he is compelled to act and live for God.

He is compelled to serve the Lord.

And he is not compelled because of fear or threat of harm.

He is compelled by love.

Paul loves God and is demonstrating that love by loving others.

That’s why he says in verses 2-3 . . .

Ephesians 4:2–3 NIV84

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.

He is trying to get them to understand the love that He has and to allow the Holy Spirit to instill that same love in each of them.

And, I imagine that Paul sees this church much like the Church of all Christians believers today beginning to emerge.

It started out as a glorious church on fire for God, but over time Satan began to creep in.

It was becoming a church where differences in opinions and attitudes are creating divisions among the Christian brothers and sisters and remember this church was less than a generation old.

Paul understands division and how division destroys, being from one of (4) opposing sects of Jewish leaders.

Paul has witnessed in his life first- hand what division brings (Fear, strife, jealously, confusion, hatred) with the end result being destruction.

Paul is seeing this begin to creep in and play out in the church.

He sees this influence coming from both outside the church, with the worldliness and idolatry that was present in Ephesus creeping in and trying to influence the church and get it to a place of compromising it’s beliefs.

But also there is division beginning to creep in from within the church as well.

This one believes this and that one believes that.

Disagreements that are causing distractions from the mission of The Church, to share the gospel.

And our churches today have been around so long that this problem has only continued to compound and grow.

So, Paul urges them and us to live a life worthy of the calling they have received and to. . .

Ephesians 4:3 NIV84

Make every effort to keep the unity of the Spirit through the bond of peace.

Paul is saying that each one of us....

Everyone in this room that calls themselves a Christian has been called, has been given a job by Christ to do and he is practically begging us to step into that calling a live a life not only worthy, but acceptable to that calling.

Paul tells us that we are to be humble, gentle, patient and bear with one another in LOVE.

We are not to divide ourselves based on our differences, but rather we are to love one another care for one another and most importantly, we are to keep the unity of the Spirit through the bond of peace.

We are to be united as a Christian body of believers and the uniting, binding tie is the Holy Spirit, which we each share with one another.

And Paul goes on to tell us . . .

Ephesians 4:4–6 NIV84

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.

Listen folks, there are not multiple bodies, multiple Holy Spirits, multiple Lord Jesus’, multiple faiths, multiple baptisms and multiple God the Fathers.

There is not a Trinity for the Baptists, a Trinity for the Nazarenes, a Trinity for the Pentecostals or the Methodists.

THERE IS ONLY ONE and it all flows through HIM and only HIM.

We all share the same Holy Spirit, the same Jesus Christ, the same God the Father, the same Cross, the same salvation and the same faith in HIM who saved us all.

WE ARE ONE BODY AND WE NEED TO BE UNITED AS ONE BODY in order to defeat the enemy who is trying to divide and conquer us all.

Satan is trying to stir up trouble and discord because a house divided cannot stand . . .

Mark 3:25 NIV84

If a house is divided against itself, that house cannot stand.

But a three-fold cord is not easily broken . . .

Ecclesiastes 4:12 NIV84

Though one may be overpowered, two can defend themselves. A cord of three strands is not quickly broken.

Our victory and power comes through our unity through the Holy Spirit.

Our unity as a church.

Our unity as a denomination.

Our unity as THE CHURCH, made up of all denominations.

We are called to all be united and to stop the pettiness and infighting.

Diversity Makes Us Unique

And listen, we are all different.

We all have different ideas and to some extent different interpretations of things.

And so long as we are united on the essentials of the Bible, then it’s okay to be different.

It’s okay to be unique.

It’s okay to be diverse.

In fact, Paul goes on to explain that even though we are to be united as a Body of Believers, we are still unique and each have specific and specialized gifts.

Ephesians 4:7–11 NIV84

But to each one of us grace has been given as Christ apportioned it. This is why it says: “When he ascended on high, he led captives in his train and gave gifts to men.” (What does “he ascended” mean except that he also descended to the lower, earthly regions? He who descended is the very one who ascended higher than all the heavens, in order to fill the whole universe.) It was he who gave some to be apostles, some to be prophets, some to be evangelists, and some to be pastors and teachers,

Paul says that each of us is given grace according to the measure of the gift of Christ or that the gift we are given is appointed to by Christ and solely by his discretion.

Some of us may be called to do the same thing, but according to God's grace, He has given us that ability and amount of ability to perform that task.

Some of us may be very good and what we are called to do and some of us may just get by, but the key is not how good we are at something, but rather how obedient we are in fulfilling what God has called us to do.

And when I think about this, I always go back to Samuel and Saul, when Saul was to completely wipe out the enemy but he chose to keep part of it back for himself.

In essence Saul thought that he knew better than God and that his way was just fine.

And when Samuel confronts Saul on this, he tells Saul . . .

1 Samuel 15:22 NIV84

But Samuel replied: “Does the Lord delight in burnt offerings and sacrifices as much as in obeying the voice of the Lord? To obey is better than sacrifice, and to heed is better than the fat of rams.

And the point is, God is not looking for perfect works, God is looking for perfect obedience.

So, Paul explains that He gave some apostles, and some prophets, and some evangelists, and some pastors and teachers...

He made some of us Baptists, some of us Nazarenes, some of us Methodists, some of us Pentecostals.

He made some of us sound techs, musicians, teachers, preachers, lay leaders . . .

Purpose of It All

Not to divide us, but for a real and meaningful purpose....

Ephesians 4:12–16 NIV84

to prepare God’s people for works of service, so that the body of Christ may be built up until we all reach unity in the faith and in the knowledge of the Son of God and become mature, attaining to the whole measure of the fullness of Christ. Then we will no longer be infants, tossed back and forth by the waves, and blown here and there by every wind of teaching and by the cunning and craftiness of men in their deceitful scheming. Instead, speaking the truth in love, we will in all things grow up into him who is the Head, that is, Christ. From him the whole body, joined and held together by every supporting ligament, grows and builds itself up in love, as each part does its work.

For the perfecting of the saints, or for us all to prepare God's people for the work of the ministry.

You see, ministering is not only the pastor's job or the evangelists job.

The work of the ministry is all our jobs.

Those in leadership have the responsibility to prepare all the rest of us, not to sit and others what they need to be doing, BUT RATHER TO PERFORM THE MINISTRY THAT CHRIST HAS CALLED EACH OF US INTO.

By doing this, we not only are able to fulfill the mission of the Church, which is . . .

Matthew 28:19–20 NIV84

Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.”

But also to edify the WHOLE BODY OF CHRIST.

Paul says that we are to to this until when?

Not tomorrow, not next week, but until we all come in the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God, unto a perfect man, unto the measure of the stature of the fulness of Christ.

Ephesians 4:13 NIV84

until we all reach unity in the faith and in the knowledge of the Son of God and become mature, attaining to the whole measure of the fullness of Christ.

Until everyone is mature in Christ.

And how long will that take?

As long as it takes.

How will we know when we accomplish it?

Until . . .

Ephesians 4:14 NIV84

Then we will no longer be infants, tossed back and forth by the waves, and blown here and there by every wind of teaching and by the cunning and craftiness of men in their deceitful scheming.

Where there are no longer immature Christians, fighting and bickering about differences.

When there are no longer "church hoppers," going to one church until they rub us the wrong way then trying the next new thing.

When we are no longer deceived by every new idea or scheme that comes along, that wants to trick us into thinking that there is any other way to heaven but through Jesus.

Altar/Challenge

But, are we willing to put in the work, the effort?

Are we willing to step up to the plate and step into our calling?

Are we willing to take our place in the body and do the work God has called us to do?

These are scary but also exciting times for the church.

Our world has changed so much that in some ways we are not sure what to do.

But it has also opened brand new doors and brand new ways to do ministry.

But there needs to be people willing to step into the roles it takes to do the work of the ministry.

And those people are us.

Are we willing to do that?

Let’s pray . . .