Ephesians 4:1-6
The Unity of the Spirit
10/12/2014
Lynchburg, Virginia
As we
look at Ephesians today, and particularly at the Unity of the Spirit, we should
keep in mind both the fact of the matter and the exhortation of the Spirit.
We are
united in Christ. Christ is one and cannot be divided so all those in Him are
in fact united. At the end of all things in the Resurrection, we will see that
this is true. That is part of the decree and cannot be altered.
But we
also live our lives, day to day, in the church, in this church, in our homes
and among the brotherhood. Because Christ is one and we are one in Christ, the
Spirit calls us to live out that reality here and now. This unity is
accomplished when we love one another.
The
love of the brothers and sisters is manifested most gloriously when we treat
others the way that God has treated us, namely better than we deserve. That is
easy to say and hard to live. We understand this truth when we think of our
standing before a holy God. He forgave us in Jesus and if we had been left to
ourselves we would be in trouble. So, we gladly receive His forgiveness and are
welcome into His presence.
But
then we want others to treat us the way we think we deserve to be treated. And
it is difficult for us to love them if they do not earn our love, or merit our
love. We are prone to keep a record of wrongs. That is not endeavoring to keep
the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace.
The
better way, the Christ-like way, is to keep no record of wrongs, to freely
forgive, the way you have been freely forgiven, to think lowly enough of
yourself that you are even difficult to offend and to the best of your ability
to desire peace with all men. This is the high calling in Jesus Christ.
I therefore, the
prisoner of the Lord, beseech you that ye walk worthy of the vocation wherewith
ye are called,
Paul
again reminds the Ephesians that he is a prisoner of the Lord. He is certainly
a prisoner. He is a prisoner of the Romans but sees this as secondary. He sees
himself as doing all that He does for Jesus. He is imprisoned for the sake of
the gospel. He is not ashamed of this and encourages the Ephesians to not be
ashamed either. This imprisonment is for the glory of the Lord and also
redounds to the glory and benefit of the Ephesian saints.
Paul
is going to Caesar and the sentence of death hangs over him. He is like a
pastor with a death sentence due to cancer, who’s only concern is to continue
to minister to the true needs of the saints.
We
should pay attention to this. What follows from Paul are some basic
exhortations to practical obedience. We should glean from Paul’s priority what
our priorities should be.
We
tend to think of a vocation as a job. But that is not what Paul is talking
about here. He is reminding us that God has called us to Himself in Jesus
Christ. We have been called into the family of God. We have been made children
of our Father in Heaven. He is reminding us to be true to this calling. We are
to live out our lives in Christ according to the word of Jesus.
This
exhortation by Paul is very nearly a command to obey the third commandment. Do not
take the name of the Lord Thy God in vain. Do not take the name of Jesus upon
you and then live out a life inconsistent with His family.
What
is the character of this calling?
With all lowliness The Christian life is
inconsistent with high mindedness. It is unworthy for Christians to think more
highly of themselves than they think of others. Don’t rush past this. We know this language. We know that we are
to esteem others higher than ourselves We know that we not to think ourselves
above others. We can pass the test.
But
what do we do? It is not only what we say. We can use words that reveal our
hearts. But what do we think? How do we judge our brothers? How do we pat
ourselves on the back because we think we are relatively better than other
people? If we really do think we are better because of our good deeds, then we
are not being lowly.
But you protest. We really are better,
aren’t we? I see these people over there who are not being obedient to the
Bible. There are Christians who live in scandalous sin. There are unbelivers
who do not care what God thinks. Aren’t I better than them? Can’t I pat myself
on the back for that advancement?
Hold on! How did Paul deal with this?
He said that he was not even on the same level as the Ephesians. He says that
they are way above him. In point of fact, Paul was an Apostle of the Lord
Jesus. He was called specifically by Jesus and Jesus appeared to Paul in a way
that he appeared to know one else. Paul was faithful to take the gospel to the
Gentiles. He withstood rebellious Jews.
He was beaten and uncowed. This Paul says he is the chief of sinners.
This Paul says he is the least of all saints.
Can we relate to this? Can we say that
of ourselves we are in the same place as Paul the chief of sinners? It is
important that we get this so that we can begin to desire God’s blessing on
those around us, whether they are Christians or not. Do we really desire God’s
blessings on others? Even if that blessing means that they far surpass us in
blessings and in the eyes of men? Are you happy when men think your brother or
sister, or co-worker, or fellow congregant is more godly than you are? Or, does
it ruffle your feathers when others receive blessings you think they do not
deserve? Or, do you get angry or frustrated when others are honored above you?
If so, then you should pray to
cultivate lowliness.
and meekness- gentleness
with longsuffering- patience
forbearing one another
in love-
this means putting up with one another. This is not the same thing as rejoicing
in the life of the saints. When others treat us well, it is easy to love them.
That is not what this is talking about. It is talking about forebearance,
putting up with trouble, putting up with those who would otherwise frustrate
you. In the life of the church, we are called to love the the unlovely. You can
really only do this if you have lowliness of mind.
3 Endeavouring to keep
the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace.
Why
are we to walk worthy?
First of all, to honor our Lord who
bought us. We do what pleases Him. We have become His children and so we are to
act in accord with His name.
But to what end? The end of good
behavior in Jesus Christ is the unity of the Spirit. He wants us to be united
in Jesus Christ. He wants us to be one in Jesus. He wants us to get along with
one another. He wants us put up with each other. He wants us to endure with
each other. He wants us to love one another.
Bond-
band, tie, joint tie like a ligament. What is that bond? What is it that ties
us together? What holds us together? Peace. Of course, this peace is the peace
of Christ, given to each one of us through the forgiveness of sins. But it is
not just peace with God. This peace must expand to hold us together with one
another as well.
We should keep in mind the Lord’s
Prayer here. Forgive us our sins as we forgive those who have sinned against
us. Do you see the connection? We have peace with God because He has forgiven
us our sins. How can we have peace with others? We must forgive them their
sins. If you will not forgive sins, then you will not have peace with others.
This will cause you enough trouble here on Earth. You will be irritated, angry,
bitter, resentful, vengeful and full of wrath. The end of that road is an ugly
one.
Unforgiveness, persisted in, does not
end with trouble with mankind. If you retain sins and walk in bitterness of
soul, then you will also have trouble with God.
Remember
the qualification to the Lord’s Prayer Matt.
6:14 For if ye forgive men their trespasses, your heavenly Father will also
forgive you: 15 But
if ye forgive not men their trespasses, neither will your Father forgive your
trespasses.
In
our lives together, the Lord puts a high value on unity of Spirit. It makes
sense that this unity of Spirit develops a unity of mind and action.
4 There is one
body, and one Spirit, even as ye are called in one hope of your calling;
One Body- That body is the body of
Christ. The body of Christ is not divided. All members of Christ are members of
His body.
One Spirit- It is also true that
there is only one Spirit, the Holy Spirit. Because there is only one Spirit,
there must be unity in the revelation and work of that Spirit. The Word
revealed by God cannot be of two minds. There is not two words in the Bible.
The truth revealed there is cohesive. It holds together. There are parts of
Scripture that need study and explaining. There are parts where good and
faithful men disagree. But the word is not double-minded. The Word, itself,
stands sure. We must get our minds around this.
Now,
it is also the case, that most of the Bible is clear. Most of it is not stuck
in dispute. Most of it is straightforward and easy to understand. As we move
into the latter chapters of Ephesians, this is very clear. The Apostle tells us
many things to do. Those commands are not unclear. We must simply obey the
words of the Spirit revealed there.
So,
we must distinguish those things that about the decretal will of God and those
things that are related to His prescriptive will for us. Things related to the
decree are harder to nail down because they are related to God in His essence.
We can know a great deal about the nature of God because He has revealed His
nature to us. But God still remains inscrutable in many ways. This is why He
sent His Son to live with us and die for us, so that we could know Him. But we
who are finite can never attain a complete knowledge of the infinite, not now,
not ever. The absolute knowledge of God will always be out of our grasp. We
will always be learning, always getting to know Him, more and more, forever.
This is an encouraging thought for our lives in eternity. The newness of the
knowledge of God will never wax old.
One Hope- God’s forgiveness here
and now, what we call being born again, filled with the Spirit, saved. And the
hope of the Resurrection, God’s promise of salvation to us that is permanent.
The following
Triumvirate go together. One Lord, One Faith, One Baptism. They all point to
Jesus Christ. He is the Lord. We have faith in Him. We are baptized into Jesus.
5 One Lord- This is the Lord
Jesus. So, it marks out the fact that there is one ruler of all but we must
also not that this verse is talking about Jesus, not just God. He is saying
that Jesus is that one Lord. Jesus is ruler of all creation. Because there is
only one Lord, no other so called lords are really lords at all. Only Jesus is
the ruler of all.
one faith- Our faith is planted
solidly on the Son of God. Thus, we are not a people of faith. We reject that
modern, liberal interpretation. We do not have faith in faith. We do not have
faith in religion. We do not have faith in Buddah, or Allah, or a numerous host
of idols. Our faith is faith in Jesus Christ and Him alone. Faith in anything
or anyone else is a hopeless faith.
one baptism- Because these three go
together, one Lord, one faith, one baptism, only Christian baptism is true
connection to the unity of the Spirit. Baptism is being named Christian. It is
being washed in the sacrificial blood of Jesus Christ. It is being born into
the kingdom of God through the waters of life. It is being indentified with
bride of Christ, the Christian Church. No other washing will save. There are
not multiple baptisms. All true baptisms are baptisms into Jesus, naming in
Jesus, being saved by Christ.
6 One God and Father of
all, who is above all, and through all, and in you all. This is where the
Apostle has been going all along with his line of reasoning. There are not
multiple lords. There are not multiple faiths. There are not multiple churches.
There are not multiple Spirits. There are not multiple truths. This is true
because there are not multiple gods in the world. There is only one God. He
alone is our Father, the Father of the Lord Jesus Christ, the sender of the
Spirit.
You
may think I am spending too much time on this. Don’t we have it already? No, we
don’t. Our culture is beating us down on this. They say that there are many
truths, many gods, many spirits, many faiths, many ways to be saved. They do
not want us to be exclusive, claiming salvation only in Jesus.
You
children growing up in this church are going to be hit with this from every
conceivable direction. The mainstream media is going to lie to you every chance
they get. In movies, on television, on the internet, on the radio, in print,
they are going to say that Jesus is not the only way. They are going to say
that Christians are unloving because they keep others away from peace and
comfort in their faith, in their lie. But you must remember what you have
learned here. You must remember your catechism. You must remember your Bible,
one Lord Jesus, one faith in Christ alone, one baptism into Jesus and His
Church, one Spirit that leads according to the revealed word in the Bible.
How many Gods are there?
There is but one only the living and true God.
I
pray that God will write this upon the doorposts of your hearts such that it
can never be removed.
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