Unity Of The Body of Christ
Ephesians • Sermon • Submitted
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· 5 viewsWhen one is saved, God's plan is to add them to the Body of Christ. When one is added in the body, their spiritual gift provides stability to the body, the church.
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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.
Kept by Christ -
It is a blessing to see another person put their trust in the Lord
God provides power and stability to His church
God gives spiritual empowering, spiritual gifts
The body of Christ needs one-another
When you operate in your spiritual gift you provide stability to the body
If my foot decides to not work - i’m crippled
Your work in the church is not just to show up, but to use your enabling that God has gifted you with
1 I therefore, the prisoner of the Lord, beseech you that ye walk worthy of the vocation wherewith ye are called,
The previous teaching was the breadth, hight and depth of the love of Christ
I beseech you - I beg you
1 I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service.
That they would walk - occupied with God has called you to do in the church
Jesus said i’m going to leave - die, be buried, raise again
13 And he called his ten servants, and delivered them ten pounds, and said unto them, Occupy till I come.
be engaged, fervent, unrelenting
Whether by death or by rapture - we’re coming to the end of this life
be busy about the kingdom work - salvation of souls, discipling of believers
“Walk worthy”
not halfheartedly - appropriately, after a Godly sort
with great passion working our vocation.
1 I therefore, the prisoner of the Lord, beseech you that ye walk worthy of the vocation wherewith ye are called,
different jobs, different skills - we owe God to ask Him if we are doing what we should be doing
It’s not just in the church - although that is important
you - wherever you go - the kingdom is in you
Walking wherever you go with a great zeal and passion for the kingdom of God
Are you enthusiastic about the work of God
enthusiasm - God working through you
If anyone should be excited - it should be the people of God
Giving all your heart to being a dad
Giving all your heart to being a mother
Giving all your heart to serving the Lord in whatever he has given you
Walking worthy - with great enthusiasm - more joy, more excitement
If you are not excited, it’s probably because we have pieced out our heart to things that have no eternal value
What ever you do for the Lord and in the church
25 This man was instructed in the way of the Lord; and being fervent in the spirit, he spake and taught diligently the things of the Lord, knowing only the baptism of John.
This man was excited
Heartily unto the Lord
More fervent not less
23 And whatsoever ye do, do it heartily, as to the Lord, and not unto men;
22 Seeing ye have purified your souls in obeying the truth through the Spirit unto unfeigned love of the brethren, see that ye love one another with a pure heart fervently:
37 Jesus said unto him, Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind.
We are not fervent because our love has grown cold
Four Excellent Characteristics In The Servant Of Christ
Four Excellent Characteristics In The Servant Of Christ
2 With all lowliness and meekness, with longsuffering, forbearing one another in love;
Lowliness, Meekness, Long-suffering, Forbearance
All Lowliness = Absence of pride, Humility
No arrogance, not I mindset of being above someone else, no seniority
Humility is the idea of helping another person succeed - You succeed!
Meekness = gentleness, Kindness, not harsh, not abrupt, not discourteous
Too much abruptness in the church
Rudeness
Long suffering = patient, accommodating, helping long term, love suffers long
Forbearance = endurance, putting up with one-another, tolerating, giving leniency
Just because someone else has a blindspot, we don’t verbally hurt them or speak ill of them for their blind spot
The power to operate in these Character traits is love.
The power to operate in these Character traits is love.
2 With all lowliness and meekness, with longsuffering, forbearing one another in love;
Agape - affectionate, great compassion and concern - charity
Supernatural enabling from the spirit of God overflowing
In love with one-another
why is there bitterness, unforgiveness, evil speaking
wouldn't we be gentle
patient
endurance
lowliness
humility
kindness
Don’t blame it on someone else you don’t love
if we don’t have these characteristics we don’t love God
you don’t understand what they did - the christian life is about getting hurt and forgiving because christ forgave us
These characteristics should permeate the church
3 Endeavouring to keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace.
Endeavoring = Laboring, there is a mark we are shooting for, a goal
Unity of spirit
If you have odds and you speak evil the Bible says we should have peace
The purpose behind these characteristics is that there would be peace in the Body of Christ
As we operate in these characteristics...
With all our might - endeavoring with great diligence and energy
“Endeavouring to keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace" means, as the body of Christ, we will put and end to gossip, spreading evil reports, and malice.
When you find yourself being loose in speech about a brother or sister in Christ we are not
evil speaking, malice, gossip that is spoken by children or young people is a sure sign it is being spoken in the home.
If you're not a part of fixing a problem, be silent
If you're being critical, decide to love and be helpful
1 Brethren, if a man be overtaken in a fault, ye which are spiritual, restore such an one in the spirit of meekness; considering thyself, lest thou also be tempted.
God didn’t reveal something to you for it to be spread about to others who have no power to help or heal.
Sometimes God reveals things to us in order to help us see what needs corrected in our own life - like a mirror.
That’s why you recognize it - you are criticizing someone and God is saying you need to fix this problem in your life and heart.
1 Therefore thou art inexcusable, O man, whosoever thou art that judgest: for wherein thou judgest another, thou condemnest thyself; for thou that judgest doest the same things.
2 But we are sure that the judgment of God is according to truth against them which commit such things.
3 And thinkest thou this, O man, that judgest them which do such things, and doest the same, that thou shalt escape the judgment of God?
4 Or despisest thou the riches of his goodness and forbearance and longsuffering; not knowing that the goodness of God leadeth thee to repentance?
God can help us correct and encourage other if we have these characteristics
Peace in the church is a high priority of The Lord
Personal preferences, philosophical differences - not worthy of fighting someone about
God likes diversity and your personal preferences are not worth fighting about.
4 There is one body, and one Spirit, even as ye are called in one hope of your calling;
Divisions in the church
Why is there so much division
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.
God is speaking of unity
1 And I, brethren, could not speak unto you as unto spiritual, but as unto carnal, even as unto babes in Christ.
2 I have fed you with milk, and not with meat: for hitherto ye were not able to bear it, neither yet now are ye able.
3 For ye are yet carnal: for whereas there is among you envying, and strife, and divisions, are ye not carnal, and walk as men?
4 For while one saith, I am of Paul; and another, I am of Apollos; are ye not carnal?
5 Who then is Paul, and who is Apollos, but ministers by whom ye believed, even as the Lord gave to every man?
6 I have planted, Apollos watered; but God gave the increase.
7 So then neither is he that planteth any thing, neither he that watereth; but God that giveth the increase.
8 Now he that planteth and he that watereth are one: and every man shall receive his own reward according to his own labour.
9 For we are labourers together with God: ye are God’s husbandry, ye are God’s building.
How do you know if a church is carnal = vs 3
Strife shows carnality
divisions = carnality
This is God’s work vs 6
God is working
One spirit and unity because of God
Let’s pray God would resolve the conflicts
If you're not humble
kind
speaking down to others
It’s carnality not walking in the spirit
1 Behold, how good and how pleasant it is For brethren to dwell together in unity!
2 It is like the precious ointment upon the head, That ran down upon the beard, even Aaron’s beard: That went down to the skirts of his garments;
3 As the dew of Hermon, and as the dew that descended upon the mountains of Zion: For there the Lord commanded the blessing, Even life for evermore.
When there is division there will be cursing
families are cursed when there is no unity
communities
governments
churches
When there is unity, there is blessing
Settle differences with your family