Sermon Tone Analysis

Growing Up! - “Live up to the life to which God called you.”

The Church is a school in which Christians learn to grow “in the grace and knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ”(2 Peter 3:18).

This growth happens when we are together.

When we join the Church, we will like any other club or organisation we join, we want to be accepted and belong and so we will usually accept the terms and conditions of belonging.

Too often as Christians we are content to have the spiritual security, blessings, and promises of the gospel but have too little sense of responsibility in conforming to its standards and obeying its commands.

In the first three chapters of Ephesians Paul has set forth the believer’s identity and position with all the blessings, honours, and privileges of being a child of God “in Christ Jesus.”

In the next three chapters he gives the consequent obligations and requirements of being His child, in order to live out salvation in accordance with the Father’s will and to His glory.

This is a call for a practical response to the great truths that are ours in the Gospel.

As we received Christ as Savior we became citizens of His kingdom and members of His family.

Along with those blessings and privileges we also received obligations.

The Lord expects us to act like the new persons we have become in Jesus Christ.

He expects His standards to become our standards, His purposes our purposes, His desires our desires, His nature our nature.

I. THE CALL TO WALK WORTHILY

The Christian life is then a process of becoming what you are.

A growing up and into the likeness of Christ:

God expects conformity within the church, the Body of Christ.

It is not a forced legalistic conformity to external rules and regulations, but a willing inner conformity to the holiness, love, and will of our heavenly Father - “Conduct yourselves in a manner worthy of the gospel of Christ, so that whether I come and see you or remain absent, I may hear of you that you are standing firm in one spirit, with one mind striving together for the faith of the gospel” (Phil.

1:27).

And it was Paul’s great concern in life is to ‘present every man mature in Christ’ (Col.

1:28; cf.

Acts 20:27, 31) this is why he entreats the believers here as he does.

Paul has “set before them the great purpose of God in Christ for his church.

He has prayed that they may know the wonder of his plan, his love, his power, and every spiritual blessing that he offers.

But now in these remaining chapters he is going to write about the quality and kind of life that is demanded of them individually and in the fellowship of Christ’s church.”

(Francis Foulkes: Commentary on Ephesians).

Verse 1 opens with “therefore” marking the transition from positional to practical truth, from doctrine to duty, principle to practice.

As Francis Foulkes says, “The link with what precedes is given by the word therefore as in Romans 12:1, indicating that Christian conduct follows from Christian doctrine, that the duty of Christians derives directly from the unspeakable debt of gratitude that they owe for all that they have received in Christ.”

Right practice must always be based on right principle.

Right doctrine is essential to right living.

It is impossible to know how to “live a life worthy of the our calling”(v1) without knowing what God says such a life looks like!

Indeed Paul refers to this again in Ephesians 4:22-24 saying, “You were taught, with regard to your former way of life, to put off your old self, which is being corrupted by its deceitful desires; to be made new in the attitude of your minds; and to put on the new self, created to be like God in true righteousness and holiness.”

This call is to be “conformed to the image of” God’s Son, Jesus (Rom 8:28-30).

To walk “worthy” of Christ is to reflect the loveliness ; holiness and beauty of Jesus in the world.

It begins when the teaching we receive about Christ is learned in the mind and then begins to influence the behaviours.

There is nothing more important that this!

That is why Paul says, “As a prisoner for the Lord, then, I urge you to live a life worthy of the calling you have received.”

The Greek word is “Parakaleō meaning to “entreat”, literally “to call to one’s side”, with the idea of wanting to help or be helped.

It is a feeling of intense, strong desire as seen in 2 Cor.

5:20 where Paul “implores…on Christ’s behalf”.

It certainly is not a SUGGESTION, it is an admonition; a command live a life worthy of the calling you have received!

Why?

Because the honour of Jesus is at stake.

Ours is a high calling, a “heavenly calling” (Heb.

3:1), and “a holy calling” (2 Tim.

1:9) and that is why the faithful, responsive Christian is determined to “press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus” (Phil.

3:14).

The word translated “live” is more literally “walk”

This word is frequently used in the New Testament to refer to daily conduct, day-by-day living.

It is our step by step choices to “keep in step with the Spirit.”

Our lifestyle choices which are made either in the “flesh” or the “Spirit” (see Gal 5:16-26).

The word for “worthy” is the Greek word “axios” which has the root meaning of balancing the scales—what is on one side of the scale should be equal in weight to what is on the other side.

A person worthy of his pay was one whose day’s work corresponded to his day’s wages.

The believer who walks in a manner worthy of the calling with which he has been called is one whose daily living corresponds to his high position as a child of God and fellow heir with Jesus Christ.

His practical living matches his spiritual position.

His words and his actions balance out!

II.

THE CHARACTERISTICS OF THOSE WHO WALK WORTHILY

Here Paul gives five essentials for faithful Christian living, five attitudes on which walking worthily in the Lord’s call are predicated - “with all humility and gentleness, with patience, showing forbearance to one another in love, being diligent to preserve the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace” (Eph 4:2–3).

And this is important because how we live out our life and balance it out, has repercussions for the church we fellowship and serve in - “For the life worthy of the calling of God is a life in the fellowship of the people of God; and if this is to be maintained these four virtues are vital.”(Francis

Foulkes).

(i).

“with all humility “

The Greek word, tapeinophrosunē, is a compound word that literally means to think or judge with lowliness, and hence it can be translated “lowliness of mind.”

“Very significantly, the Greek noun tapeinophrosynē does not seem to have been used before New Testament times, and the corresponding adjective tapeinos nearly always had a bad meaning, and was associated with words having the sense of slavish, mean, ignoble...to the Greeks humility was not a virtue.

To them, as indeed to most non-Christian people in any generation, the concept of ‘the fulness of life … left no room for humility’ (Robinson).”

(Francis Foulkes).

Humility is nothing to be ashamed of.

It is not a pitiable weakness but rather a considered willingness to take the lowly place as exemplifed by our Lord Jesus who “emptied Himself, taking the form of a bond-servant, and … humbled Himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross” (Phil.

2:7–8).

“Humility has an irreplaceable part in the Christian character (cf.

Acts 20:19), and also for the reason that he has been brought to see the greatness and glory and holiness of God, so that he cannot but be overwhelmed by the realization of his own weakness and sinfulness.”(Francis

Foulkes).

Humility, is essential component of the Christian life.

It demonstrates good self-awareness, “the virtue,” said Bernard of Clairvaux, “by which a man becomes conscious of his own unworthiness.”

“Truly, I say to you,” Jesus said, “unless you are converted and become like children, you shall not enter the kingdom of heaven.

Whoever then humbles himself …” (Matt.

18:3–4).

Humility is the oppositie of pride and for that reason it is also elusive because as soon as you think you are humble you may well be being proud!

Only Jesus could truly say: “I am gentle and lowly(humble) of heart”and yet we learn humility from Him! “Take My yoke upon you,and learn from me for I am gentle and humble in heart” (Matt.

11:29).

He was humble in his birth, becoming poor, born in a stable, raised in a peasant family, never owned property except the garments on His back, and was buried in a borrowed tomb.

At any time He could have exercised His divine rights, prerogatives, and glory, but in obedience and humility He refused to do so because it would have been to go outside His Father’s will.

Jesus’ whole life was dedicated to bringing “glory” to the Father -"I have brought you glory on earth by completing the work you gave me to do”(John 17:4).

He wanted peole to see the Father and know the Father through Him!

If the Lord of glory walked in humility while He was on earth, taking the lowly place then we to are to learn how to do this! - “The one who says he abides in Him ought himself to walk in the same manner as He walked” (1 John 2:6).

Humility teaches us not to look down on others or ourselves but to out otehrs above ourselves.

A wonderful illustration of this is found at a reception honoring musician Sir Robert Mayer on his 100th birthday in 1979 at London's Royal Festival Hall.

The elderly British socialite Lady Diana Cooper(29 August 1892 – 16 June 1986) fell into conversation with a friendly woman who seemed to know her well.

Lady Diana's failing eyesight prevented her from recognizing her fellow guest, until she peered more closely at the magnificent diamonds and realized she was talking to Queen Elizabeth!

Overcome with embarrassment, Lady Diana curtsied and stammered, "Ma'am, oh, ma'am, I'm sorry ma'am.

I didn't recognize you without your crown!"

To which Queen Elizabeth replied, "It was so much Sir Robert's evening, that I decided to leave it behind."

The happy life begins with “Blessed are the poor in spirit” (Matt.

5:3), and remember that James says that “God is opposed to the proud, but gives grace to the humble” (James 4:6; cf. Ps.

138:6).

Remember that “Pride comes in many forms.

We may be tempted to be proud of our abilities, our possessions, our education, our social status, our appearance, our power, and even our biblical knowledge or religious accomplishments.

But throughout Scripture the Lord calls His people to humility.

“Before honor comes humility” (Prov.

15:33); “The reward of humility and the fear of the Lord are riches, honor and life” (22:4); “Let another praise you, and not your own mouth; a stranger, and not your own lips” (27:2).”

(John MacArthur jnr).

Humility helps us to see that we are not “competent in ourselves to claim anything for ourselvews but out competency comes from God” (2 Cor.

3:5).

This means we are to avoid self-centred pride and boasting.

I love what was reported of Samuel Morse who was once asked if he ever encountered situations where he didn't know what to do.

Morse responded, "More than once, and whenever I could not see my way clearly, I knelt down and prayed to God for light and understanding."

Morse is rightly honoured for his invention of the telegraph but felt undeserving: "I have made a valuable application of electricity not because I was superior to other men but solely because God, who meant it for mankind, must reveal it to someone and He was pleased to reveal it to me."