Actions of the Worthy

Ephesians 4:1–6 (KJV 1900)

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.

I believe that Lord expects us, as a church family, to walk together in absolute unity for His glory. These verses tell us that unity is not just a possibility, it is a divine requirement if we are to be everything God wants us to be as a church.

Notice Paul’s use of the word “therefore” in verse one. This word draws our attention back to the previous chapters, where Paul has been laying a foundation of biblical, Christian doctrine. As he begins his remarks in chapter 4, Paul is saying that there is no divorcing Christian doctrine from Christian duty!

What is the difference between unity and uniformity? You see, uniformity comes by pressure from without. Unity comes from life from within. We share a common spirit, the Holy Spirit, and that’s the reason verse 3 says we’re to be “endeavouring to keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace.” (Ephesians 4:3) Now, so many people think that we have to make unity. We don’t have to make unity; it’s already there. What we do is to keep the unity that is already there. It is the Holy Spirit’s job to promote that unity, to make that unity, to produce that unity. It is our job and duty to protect that unity and to preserve that unity.

5 Attitudes We Must Exhibit

1. Lowliness

We do not need any big shots in Kentucky MBC.

You know what I like about the grace of God when we talk about this lowliness? I’m not talking about being a doormat. I’m not talking about being scum. I’m not talking about having a poor self-image. Let me tell you what real humility is: real humility is not thinking lowly of yourself; it’s just not thinking of yourself. That’s what real humility is.

In essence, it means you realize your own insignificance while you see the worth of others, Phil. 2:4!

Philippians 2:4 KJV 1900

4 Look not every man on his own things, but every man also on the things of others.

It’s not “How great I am!” It’s “I am what I am by the grace of God!” it’s about us getting off our pedestal and realizing that were it not for the grace of God, we would still be a hell bound sinner living for the devil!

Having a “lowly” spirit keeps me reminded of the fact that I am just one heartbeat away from failing God myself, therefore, I won’t look down my nose at others who may have fallen!

2. Meekness

This word means “gentleness; power under control.”

Do you know what the word meekness means here?

Meekness means the ability to be taught and controlled of the Lord, the ability to take instructions, the ability to say, “I’ll walk across the road and get inside the parameters of the Body of Christ so my picture can be made—not necessarily because I thought up the idea, not even necessarily because I think it’s a good idea, but because, for some reason, my pastor in my church wants to do it, and I’m going to be a part of it. I’m going to be a part of it. We’re one in the bonds of love. And, the quarterback has called the signals, and that’s what he’s called. And, maybe I want to do an end run. He called a pass, but that’s what we’re going to do. We’re one in the bonds of love.” It is this ability of meekness, this ability to be guided. You know, some people will never be blessed because they’ll never be broken and they cannot be controlled.

It refers to having the power to react against others, but refusing to for the sake of Christ! Sometimes, it means keeping your mouth shut, instead of setting someone else straight. Sometimes it means reacting with honey when you want to react with vinegar! It means being sweet toward others!(Note: When you are “meek and lowly” you are in good company, Matt. 11:29! By the way, meekness is part of the “fruit of the Spirit” Gal. 5:22–23!)

Galatians 5:22–23 (KJV 1900)

22 But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, 23 Meekness, temperance: against such there is no law.

3. Long-suffering

This word means “patience, endurance”. It literally means “to be long tempered.”

My, how we need that! If you’re a Baptist, you’ve got to suffer long; that is, when the preacher preaches, you got to suffer long.

Longsuffering doesn’t mean long-facedness. You know what it really means? It means you’re slow to avenge wrong—you’re slow to avenge wrong. You see, when we’re one in the bonds of love, when we have this unity, we just … we just let our love cover a multitude of sins. You know, I can find fault with you if I wanted to; you could find fault with me if you wanted to, but we just are longsuffering with one another. And, we’re so slow to enter into controversy. See if you can remember this: we should never, never, never enter into controversy with another brother or sister, number one, without necessity; number two, without understanding; and number three, without love. Amen. We ought to be longsuffering.

It refers to having a long fuse! Do you have a long fuse or a short fuse? What does it take to get you riled up? If we are going to promote unity in the church, then we must learn to be long tempered!(Note: By the way, this is also part of the fruit of the Spirit!)

Galatians 5:22–23 (KJV 1900)

22 But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, 23 Meekness, temperance: against such there is no law.

4. Forbearance

The word “forbearing” means “to endure, or to put up with”.

Forbearance is just the fruit of longsuffering. That means we put up with one another, you know.

And, we quote that little couplet, “To live there above with those that we love, that will be glory. But to dwell here below with those that we know, that’s another story,” isn’t it?

But, we need to forbear one another. It … this is just a practical outworking of longsuffering. It doesn’t mean that we’re blind to the faults of one another. You know what we have a habit of doing? We have a habit of comparing our strengths with somebody else’s weaknesses. You know, if you want to be honest, if you were to compare your weaknesses with their weaknesses, you wouldn’t look so good either. But, we forbear because we know that every member in the Body is important.

It means giving people space to be themselves. You see, the word “love” refers to God’s kind of love. It is a love that is unconditional and eternal. It doesn’t end based on what others do, but it remains constant and strong in spite of injury! Basically, this phrase calls on believers to give one another to right to be different, to hold different opinions, and generally, to be themselves!

Philip Melanchthon said,

“In essentials, unity. In nonessentials, liberty. In everything, charity!”

5. Love

So, he mentions here lowliness, meekness, longsuffering, and forbearance; and then, the last of these is love. (Ephesians 4:2) You see, Paul is, in just a moment, as we’re going to see, he’s going to talk about doctrine. But, before he talks about affirmations, he talks about attitudes. Now, doctrine is important—very important. And, I’m going to show you in a moment seven doctrines that, if you don’t believe these, you can’t even call yourself a Christian. That’s how important doctrine is. But, you know, while orthodoxy is so important, I know some people, I believe, who have preserved their orthodoxy in vinegar. I mean, they are, as Dr. Havner says, “just as straight as a gun barrel and just an empty.” I mean, they have a … they have a warm nose, but they’ve got a cold heart. They’re going around sniffing out heresy. But, I want to tell you, dear friend, Paul says, “Love, love, love.” And, all through this passage he’s going to be emphasizing that we’re one in the bonds of love. And, love has won more people to Jesus Christ than learning and zeal. People are loved to the Lord Jesus Christ.

7 Actions We must Engage

Now, these are five basic attitudes that we ought to have, and when we have these attitudes, then there are seven basic affirmations that we’re to make. Look, if you will, beginning in verse 4. Are you ready? Look at these affirmations. He mentions seven theological truths—seven things that are the lowest common denomination. What I mean is this: that you cannot fail to believe one of these seven things and still call yourself a Bible Christian. Now, there are many things that we might differ on, but here are the seven basic common denominators of all true Bible Christians. This is what makes us one. We’re talking now about our unity, and there’s a unity of spirit and a unity of doctrine.

1. There Is One Body

Look in verse 4: the Bible says, “[For] there is one body.” (Ephesians 4:4) Now, what is the one body that he’s talking about? The Church of the Lord Jesus Christ.

Now, when he says, “one body,” he’s not talking about the Southern Baptist Convention; he’s not talking about Methodists, Presbyterians, Episcopalians. He’s talking about all true believers who have given their hearts to Jesus Christ. You know, somebody says, “Well, you Baptists are so narrow-minded you think only Baptists are going to heaven.” Well, I’m a lot more narrow-minded than that: I don’t think a lot of Baptists are going to heaven. And, I’m a lot more broadminded than that: I think a lot of people who are not Baptists are going to heaven. If a person is saved, he’s going to heaven, and he’s only been saved through the Lord Jesus Christ.

The Bible says, “Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved.” (Acts 16:31)

“There is one body.” (Ephesians 4:4) And, the members of this one body have been called from every kindred, tongue, people, and nation upon this earth, and, therefore, they differ in nationality, they differ in color, they differ in language. they differ in education, they differ in training, they differ in ability, they differ in temperament, they differ in outlook. But, they’re all alike in that they have trusted Jesus Christ as their personal Savior and Lord and the Spirit of God has placed them into the Body of Christ. “There is one body.” (Ephesians 4:4) You must believe that in order to be a Christian. And, the Bible says in Colossians chapter 3, verse 11—it speaks of this body, “where there is neither Greek nor Jew, circumcision nor uncircumcision, [Barbarians], Scythian, bond [or] free: but Christ is all, and in all.” (Colossians 3:11) Hallelujah!

2. There Is One Spirit

But, not only one body—there is one Spirit, mentioned in verse 4. (Ephesians 4:4) And, this one Spirit is the dear Holy Spirit who lives in us. The Holy Spirit is our strength—the source of our strength. He is the secret of our life. It is the Holy Spirit that makes us one—this commonality. You see, we’re different members, but we all have the same Spirit—just like my body has fingers, and my body has hands, and my body has arms, and my body has a torso, and legs, and feet, and ears, and eyes, and so on, but just one Spirit. One human spirit makes all of these members cohere, and one Holy Spirit makes all these members cohere. You see, that’s what … The Holy Spirit is the glue that holds us together.

3. There Is One Hope

There’s one body, one Spirit, and then the Bible speaks of one hope. (Ephesians 4:4)

What is the hope that he’s talking about?

And incidentally, when the Bible says, “hope,” it doesn’t mean “maybe so, if so, think so, wish so”.

The word hope in the Bible stands for a truth, something that is coming that we know that we know that we know that we know is coming, and we can hardly wait for it to get here.

Now, what is the one hope of the Church?

The Second Coming of Jesus Chris, that one, far-off, distant event—or maybe, perhaps, near event—that we’re all looking forward to.

The Bible calls this in 1 John chapter 3 “the hope that is in us”: “[he] that hath this hope in him purifieth himself.” (1 John 3:3)

Again, Paul calls it “[the] blessed hope, and the glorious appearing of the great God and our Saviour Jesus Christ.” (Titus 2:13)

Now, all Christians don’t believe alike about the Second Coming of Jesus Christ. Theologians have described their theology. We call it “eschatology,” concerning the Second Coming of Jesus Christ. There are some who are premillennial. There are some who are amillennial. There are some who are postmillennial, and there are some who don’t even know what I’m talking about, amen? All right, you know, those are different kinds of views concerning the Second Coming of Jesus Christ.

The premillennialist believes that Jesus Christ is coming before the Millennium.

A postmillennialist believes that Jesus Christ is coming after the Millennium.

An amillennialist believes that He’s coming, but there will be no Millennium whatever.

I want you to know what I am, in case there’s any doubt. I’m as premillennial. I believe in the premillennial coming of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.

As a matter of fact, I’m a pretribulation premillennialist. I believe He’s coming before the Tribulation. But, a lot of people will say, “Brother Donny, I just don’t even understand all of that. I can’t even comprehend it.”

One man says, “I’m not pre-, post-, or a-. I am ‘panmilliennial’: I just believe it’ll all pan out somehow.” Other guy says, “Well, I’m ‘promillennial’: I’m for it.”

Well, whether you’re pre-, post-, pan-, a-, or whatever, you got to believe in the Second Coming of Jesus Christ. And, bless God, if you can’t be on the program committee, you can still be on the welcome committee, amen?

You can say with the Apostle John, “Even so, come, Lord Jesus.” (Revelation 22:20)

There is one hope—that Jesus rose from the dead, ascended. He’s coming back to receive His own. You can’t call yourself a Christian if you don’t believe, dear friend, in that one body. You can’t call yourself a Christian if you’re not indwelt by that one Spirit. You can’t call yourself a Christian if you don’t anticipate that one hope.

4. There Is One Lord

And then, the Bible says there is one Lord. (Ephesians 4:5)

You’ll notice that He’s right in the middle of these seven things. Three of them are on one side and three are on the other side, and He is right in the middle—and that’s His rightful place: Jesus in the midst. You want a Bible study sometime? You just go through the Bible and study the Bible—how many times it says, “Jesus in the midst”—“Jesus in the midst.” And, it’s not by accident that you have three of these things and then three others and Christ right there in the middle, the fourth of these things—three before and three after; one Lord. And, that one Lord refers to Jesus. It does not refer to God the Spirit; He’s already been mentioned. It does not refer to God the Father; He will be mentioned. It refers to God the Son, the Lord Jesus Christ.

And, notice they called Him “Lord.” Now, you know, the Bible sometimes calls Jesus merely “Jesus,” but seldom … Do you know how Bible Christians spoke of Jesus primarily? “The Lord Jesus,” or “Jesus the Lord,” or “the Lord Jesus Christ.” And, I believe it would behoove us—and I’m trying to help myself—to say a little more “the Lord Jesus,” or “Jesus the Lord,” or “our Lord.” You see, He is Lord. He’s risen from the dead, and He is Lord. And, I believe it would help our children, when we go around to speak of our children, saying, rather than, “Honey, you ought to love Jesus,” we ought to say, “You ought to love the Lord Jesus” or “Jesus is Lord.”

I tell you, we’re living in a generation that thinks of Jesus as our friend—and He is, bless God. But oh, how we need to emphasize what these Bible Christians emphasized, and that is He is Lord. And, not two lords, not three lords—one Lord.

Have you ever wondered why Christians got so persecuted in the First Century by the Romans—the Roman Empire? You know, the Romans were very liberal people. They were not hard on other people’s religions. As a matter of fact, when they would conquer a people and when they would subjugate a people, they would take the religion of that particular nation or people that they had subjugated and conquered and just include it in their list of religions. They were a very pluralistic society. They even built a building called the Pantheon.

The word Pantheon means “many gods”—pan meaning “many;” theos, “gods”: “many gods.” They had a temple for all of their gods. And here, they’d have a niche for one god, and here’s a niche for another god, and here’s a niche for another god around the wall. They had one for Jupiter, one for Juno, one for Artemis, one for Osiris, one for Venus, one for Neptune—one for all of their gods. And then, the Christians came along, and they said, “Very fine. We’ll just build a little niche for Jesus. Put Him on the wall around with these other gods, and you Christians, that can be your religion.” “Oh,” they said, “oh, no. There’s no niche for Jesus. He’s not going to be in here with all these other gods. There is one Lord, and His name is Jesus—one Lord.”

And, they said, “Oh, you’re a troublemaker. You’re going to have to be put to death. You’re troublemakers” Friend, the world resents the idea that we say there is one Lord. And, I want to tell you something: you cannot call yourself a Bible Christian if you think there are two lords, three lords, five lords, six lords. There’s one, and His name is Jesus.

5. There Is One Faith

There is one body. There is one Sprit. There is one hope. There is one Lord, and there is one faith.

Look in verse 5, if you will, as he continues to speak: there is one faith. (Ephesians 4:5)

Now, what is he talking about? He’s not talking about believing in Jesus when he says there’s one faith. This one faith results in our believing in Jesus, but he’s talking about one faith as a revealed body of truth. You know, the Bible says in the book of Jude that we are to “earnestly contend for the faith [that] was once [for all] delivered [to] the saints.” (Jude 1:3)

The one faith that he’s talking about is the revealed body of truth coming from the apostles and the prophets. That is, we don’t need some new book. We don’t need the Book of Mormon. We don’t need Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures that our Christian Scientist friends and others have. We do not need somebody to come along and say, “We need to add another book to this Bible or take from this Bible.”

The Bible says we’re to “earnestly contend for the faith [that] was once [for all] delivered [to] the saints.” (Jude 1:3) There is one faith. And, dear friend, if it’s new, it’s not true. Just put it down: if it is new, it is not true.

There is one faith—one faith, one faith. And, Christians may differ in the interpretation of this book. I mean, we don’t all—I mean, in our church, I’m sure that we don’t all—interpret the Bible alike. But, I’ll tell you this: you cannot call yourself a Bible Christian unless you believe “the faith [that] was once [for all] delivered [to] the saints,” (Jude 1:3) unless you call … You cannot call yourself a Christian, in the New Testament sense of the word, if you do not accept the Bible as the Word of God. There is one faith.

6. There Is One Baptism

Then, I want to say there is one baptism.

Look, if you will please, in verse 5: “One Lord, one faith, [and] one baptism.” (Ephesians 4:5)

Now, this, I don’t think, refers to water baptism at all. Now, we, as Baptists, baptize in water by immersion believers only, but I don’t think that you have to be baptized that way to go to heaven. As a matter of fact, I’m quite certain you don’t have to be baptized that way to go to heaven. There’ll be a lot of people who haven’t been baptized that way who are going to heaven. I believe that is the Bible way to be baptized. I believe that every true believer ought to be baptized that way—I believe it; I preach it; we practice it. But, the Bible says there is one baptism, (Ephesians 4:5) and it refers not to baptism by immersion in water but it refers to the baptism of the Holy Spirit that places you into the Body of Christ.

Let me give you a verse to put by your margin here. Look, if you will please—or just write it down and I’ll read it to you—1 Corinthians chapter 12, verse 13.

1 Corinthians 12:13 KJV 1900

13 For by one Spirit are we all baptized into one body, whether we be Jews or Gentiles, whether we be bond or free; and have been all made to drink into one Spirit.

Now, listen to it. Remember, we’ve already talked about one Spirit and one body.

Now, listen to this scripture: “For by one Spirit are we all baptized into one body, whether we be Jews or Gentiles, whether we be bond or free; and have been all made to drink into one Spirit.” (1 Corinthians 12:13)

“By one Spirit [have] we [been] baptized into one body.” (1 Corinthians 12:13)

Now, what does that mean? That means that when you, as an individual, repent of your sin, receive Jesus Christ as your personal Savior, God’s Holy Spirit comes into you. You drink into that Spirit. But, not only does God’s Holy Spirit come into you; the Holy Spirit puts you into the mystical Body of Christ.

Now, humanly speaking, people join the Church, but divinely speaking, they are added to the Church by the Lord. The Holy Spirit of God places you into the Body of Christ. And, when the Holy Spirit of God places you into the Body of Christ, He baptized you into the Body of Christ.

Water baptism is the outward symbol and picture of the inward reality of the Spirit’s baptism. And, if you haven’t had the Spirit’s baptism, water baptism is absolutely, totally meaningless. It is the outward evidence, the outward sign, the outward token, the outward manifestation, the outward illustration of what took place in your heart when you repented of your sin, received Christ as your personal Savior, and were baptized by the Holy Spirit into the Body of Christ. There is one baptism.

All true believers are baptized by the Holy Spirit into the Body of Christ. As a matter of fact, let me give it to you the way the Greek language literally says it: the Greek language says, “For by one Spirit have ye all been baptized into one body”—“have ye all been baptized.” (1 Corinthians 12:13) It’s already taken place that all true believers have already been baptized into the Body of Christ; therefore, no Christian’s ever told to seek the baptism of the Spirit. It’s already taken place.

7. There Is One God

All right. Now, there is one faith. That is God’s revealed body of truth. There is one baptism. All right, and then there is one God.

Look, if you will, in verse 6: “One God and Father of all, who is above all, and through all, and in you all.” (Ephesians 4:6)

Somebody said that’s the way they know that Paul was a Baptist—he said, “You all.” All right.

Ephesians 4:6 KJV 1900

6 One God and Father of all, who is above all, and through all, and in you all.

“One God and Father of all, who is above all, and through all, and in you all.” (Ephesians 4:6)

That is, He cannot be your God and Father if these other six things are not true.

Here’s the sum total of the whole thing: we’re in the family of God. We have a common Father because we have had a common birth by the Holy Spirit of God. We’ve been baptized into the Body of Christ, and, therefore, God is our Father.

The Bible does not teach the universal fatherhood of God.

The Bible does not teach the universal brotherhood of men.

You are—we are—not all universally the children of God; only those who’ve been born into the family of God are the children of God.

The Bible says that

John 1:12 KJV 1900

12 But as many as received him, to them gave he power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on his name:

“as many as received him, to them gave he [the] power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe [in] his name.” (John 1:12)

Jesus looked at the unsaved Pharisees, and He said to them,

John 8:44 KJV 1900

44 Ye are of your father the devil, and the lusts of your father ye will do. He was a murderer from the beginning, and abode not in the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he speaketh a lie, he speaketh of his own: for he is a liar, and the father of it.

“[You] are of your father the devil, and the [lust] of your father [you] will do.” (John 8:44)

Dear friend, the only way to be a part of the family of God is to born into the family of God by faith in the Lord Jesus Christ. And, there is one Father, one God. His name is Jehovah, not Allah. His name is Jehovah. He is one God—not two, not three. You don’t have a choice. There’s one God.

Now, this is our unity. Brothers and sisters, this is our unity.

Paul mentions attitudes, and he mentions affirmations.

And, nobody can call himself a Bible Christian who does not believe these things and does not tend to want to act this way.