Walking Worthy of Our Calling — Alan Martin

Walking Worthy of Our Calling

Turn with me to Ephesians chapter 4. Last week we talked about the love of God being that which places a supreme value on others. And the Greek word meseo, which is translated hate, means to lessen, to consider a lesser value in one.

And I realize we're going to need some help doing that. Because when we think of love and we think of it as a feeling or an emotion, what if you don't feel an emotion? Can you love? See, if you don't understand the love of God and how it works.

Today I want to tie in together the love of God is by faith. Faith working through love. And we'll see that hopefully today in today's message. But right there in Ephesians chapter 4, verse 1. Therefore I, the prisoner in the Lord, exhort you to walk worthy of the calling which you have been called.

Every one of us here, if you're a believer, you have a calling. You're not just a Christian to be forgiven and go to heaven. When you receive Christ, you receive a calling. And like an officer speaking to the soldiers under him, that's the word exhort.

Paul is saying all of us need to live a life that's worthy of this calling. The word worthy comes from a picture of those. Remember the scales you've seen with the balancing scales? Worthy means they're equal.

Our lives and the way we live needs to be equal to the calling that Christ Jesus has on our life. And then it describes what that walking worthy looks like. Look with me here in verse 2. The first thing is with all lowliness.

Humility and Meekness in the Christian Walk

Because God opposes the proud. We are to be a lowly people even if we have understanding. If we know anything, if we receive understanding, it's by God's mercy that we receive understanding. We're not to allow knowledge to puff us up.

If we see something that someone else is not seeing, be grateful that God has opened your eyes to see it. Be grateful that you can recognize it. Do not allow pride. Pride will undo the calling. Because the Bible says contention comes by pride.

Proud people that are confident in their own opinion and they have a high value of themselves, they like to argue. Because they believe they're smarter than the other person and they believe that they can put another person in their place.

And that's not supposed to be a part of a Christian life. We're to walk in a lowliness, grateful to God that he shares wisdom and understanding with us. Not just with all lowliness but with all meekness.

Some of your Bibles may say gentleness. The idea is restraint. None of us should feel safe just letting it hang out. Especially if we're stirred up on the inside. That's especially when you need a tight set of reins to where you restrain yourself.

Another time that we need to restrain ourselves is when we think we're in the right. I used to not realize something. I would very often make a situation worse. Because I felt I was right and therefore I could be strong.

I could come off almost aggressive and domineering because I was supposedly right. I wasn't restrained. We need a restraint, a healthy restraint in tone. In how aggressive, how direct we are. Because meekness is that...

The word meek, praus, is the original root form in the Greek language. It was used to describe the Greek war horse. A powerful animal, perfectly trained to not yield to its own impulses. Strength under control.

Broken, gentle. Meek is the idea. That's walking worthy of the Lord involves all lowliness. And I like the word all. And all meekness because it's not just people you think are lower than you. It's everyone you meet.

A homeless person on the street. We need to meet with a lowliness. Someone that doesn't know anything about the gospel. Unchurched, no church background. We need to meet them with a lowliness. Not an arrogance, not a superiority.

There needs to be a meekness and a lowliness. And then it says the word long-suffering. Patience is what some of your Bible says that word. But it means to suffer long. We need to walk worthy of Christ Jesus to demonstrate a lowliness.

A meekness and an ability to suffer long with others. Maybe there's areas in their life that are causing difficulty in the church. Maybe they're not the easiest person to be around. But on our part, to walk worthy of the calling we receive, we need to be able to bear with them.

That's what love does. It's the first characteristic described in 1 Corinthians 13 about love. Love suffers long. And that needs to be a part of our life if we're going to walk worthy of the Lord. And then it says forbearing one another.

Forbearing means this. That if something is pressuring you or something maybe getting to you that another person is doing. There's a situation or maybe it's a group of people. And you feel pressured by it.

Don't get in. Don't cave. Don't cave to irritation. Don't cave to frustration. Bear with it. Bear with them because you've been called to walk worthy of Christ. And for the sake of Christ's name, for the sake of His honor, you bear with others.

Don't cave and throw your pity party and throw your tantrums and I can't take this anymore and I'm not going to put up with it. No. For us to walk worthy of our calling it needs to be all lowliness. All meekness and gentleness.

All longsuffering and we need to forbear one another in love. And then it says verse 3. Being diligent to preserve the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace. Now what does that mean? Preserving the unity of the Spirit.

That means we're one family. Every single one of us. Brothers and sisters. Every single one of us. The family of God. Now why does He say in the bond of peace? What makes us at peace with one another?

Don't you think about it. Here's the answer or the clue to the answer. What makes you and I at peace with God? What obtained peace with God for us? What did that? The cross of Jesus Christ is what brought us peace with God.

The Cross and the Unity of the Spirit

So how do we preserve the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace? Is we need to remember regardless of what we're going through with each other. Jesus Christ died on the cross for each other. That's what makes us peace.

And when you're having a difficulty and something in you is wanting to fight or argue or quarrel. Remember how God made peace. He made peace through the blood of Jesus Christ on the cross. That's the reason you and I have peace with the Father.

And the way for us to preserve the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace with each other is remembering. Our Lord died for every one of us. And he died so that we could be reconciled to God. And we could experience oneness with our Heavenly Father.

And we can't lose sight of that peace. We received that by faith, didn't we? We heard the good news that Jesus Christ died for our sins. And brought us peace with the Father. We're having been justified by faith.

We have peace with God. And this is how we are going to maintain peace with each other. Is you need to see the cross of Jesus Christ. Don't see that brother or sister just in their area of need. Don't see their fault without remembering the cross of Christ.

That's what brought peace. That's how God makes us one people. And then in this same chapter. The latter part of chapter 4. Verse 27. Don't give the devil an opportunity. You know what the devil is called in the book of Revelation?

He's called the accuser of the brothers. The accuser. The Greek word is katagoras. It means to be against in the open marketplace. You know what English word we get from katagoras? It's categorize. And this is where I've seen a lot of proud believers.

That lack meekness. That lack long suffering. That lack forbearance. Not walking worthy of the calling. You know what they do to others when they categorize them? Well that's brother so and so. Here he goes again.

Or that's sister so and so. Yep, she always does that. Oh, here they are again. Yep, they took three tacos again. Yep, oh yep. They put one dollar in the plate again. And you've got it. You're seeing you're accurately Mr. Katagoras.

You're giving place to the devil is what you're doing. You're disturbing the unity of the spirit. And you're forgetting that Jesus Christ died for that person. That you are categorizing according to what you see in the natural.

Don't give place to the devil. Don't categorize one another. We are all brothers and sisters in Christ. Don't give place to the devil. Verse 28. He who steals must steal no longer. Rather must labor performing with his own hands what is good.

So that he will have something to share with the one who has need. And then it says let no rotten word. Unwholesome. The literal translation is do not let a rotten word come out of your mouth. But only what is good for building others up according to their need.

So that it will give grace. Now to walk worthy of the calling of our Lord. All of our speech needs to give grace to others. And what do we, if you've grown up in the Baptist church. If you were to be asked what's the definition for grace.

Most Southern Baptists would say it means undeserved favor. So what are you supposed to give others? You're supposed to give them a grace they don't deserve. Regardless of what they're doing. Regardless of what you observe.

Regardless of how it's bothering you. Do not let a rotten word come out of your mouth. Speak what is good for building others up. And make sure that it's giving them grace. You're gracious to them. That's what Paul says.

And then he goes on verse 30. Do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God. By whom you were sealed for the day of redemption. Because the Spirit wants unity. And when we allow attitudes, un-Christ like attitudes.

Rotten words and communication that does not give grace. The Holy Spirit is grieved. It's pained. Verse 31. Let all bitterness and anger and wrath and shouting and slander. Be put away from you with all malice.

And instead be kind to one another. Tender hearted. Graciously forgiving each other. Just as God in Christ is also graciously forgiving you. If you have your Bible, still turn to 2 Corinthians 5. We've covered this several times in the last month.

Living for Others Through the Love of Christ

2 Corinthians 5. Verse 14. 2 Corinthians 5. For the love of Christ controls us. Constrains us. Keeps us in our lane. The love of Christ controls us. Having concluded this. One died for all. Therefore all died.

So I look out here. I see a variety of faces. And here's the one thing that I need to see. Every single person I see here. Jesus Christ died for you. That's the conclusion I reach. And that's the most important conclusion I have.

When I look at you, I see that Jesus Christ died for you. And that controls my reaction. That means I'm going to walk in a lowliness. I'm going to walk in a meekness and a gentleness. I'm going to walk in long suffering and forbearance.

Because I know that Jesus Christ died to bring you and I together. Peace with our Father. And I know that's His heart. That's why He did that. One died for all. Therefore all died. Verse 15. And He died for all.

So that those who live should no longer live for themselves but for Him. That means you walk into this door not for you. That means you are a part of the church family. Not for you. You are a part of the church family.

Not to see what we can do for you. You are a part of the church family to see what you can do for others. You don't live for yourself. You don't come here saying, well they didn't do this for me or they didn't do this for me.

You got it wrong. He died for you so that you would no longer live for yourself. You live for others. You're there so that they will be blessed. You're there so their needs will be met. You are there to be their servant.

They are not there to be yours. This is walking worthy of the Lord Jesus Christ. That's why He died. He died so that those who live should no longer live for themselves but for Him who died for them and rose again on their behalf.

So verse 16. Therefore from now on we recognize no one according to the flesh. Now how do you know when you're recognizing someone according to the flesh? You're all bothered. Because from the flesh, that's where the wars come.

In the flesh is where those seed of those, the desires of the old man. And when you are relating to others, when you know others according to the flesh, you know where you are? You are critical. You're judgmental.

You're condescending. You're proud. You're argumentative. Even if you keep it to yourself. You're still seeing others according to your flesh. And that's what causes difficulties and divisions. Even if we are in the politest type of people and we come in and we just say, I'm going to sit over here and I'm going to avoid that person.

When I see them coming, I'll go to that one. When they come in this table, I just quietly get up and I go to that one. That is relating to others according to the flesh. And not according to the spirit.

So what does it mean to relate to others according to the spirit? When we receive the Holy Spirit, what do we receive? Jesus said to go back and wait in Jerusalem for the promise of the Holy Spirit. And when he, the Holy Spirit, come, what are the disciples going to receive?

You will receive the Greek word dunamis. It means ability. When the Holy Spirit comes upon you, you are going to receive ability. And you know what ability the Holy Spirit brings to us when he comes to live inside of us?

He brings the ability to love others like Christ loved us. So when the spirit, when you're knowing others according to the spirit. You're loving them like Jesus loves them. You're remembering that he died to bring peace with the Father.

So that we could all be one family to make one new man in Christ. That was his purpose. And if any man is in Christ Jesus, what is he? It's a new creation. Old things will pass away and all things will become new.

And the new person that I want to be is I want to see you. Not according to my flesh. I want to relate to you according to what Jesus is filling my heart with. Because the Bible says that the love of God is shed abroad in our hearts by the Holy Spirit.

And if I'm knowing you according to the spirit, you know what I'm thinking? I'm thinking about your needs. I'm thinking about how I can pray for you. If I see something in your life that's probably going to be not good for you.

Or maybe it's not good for others in the church. I'm going to have the Holy Spirit creating in me God's heart for you. Not just my old critical, oh there they go again. Or my clear accurate observance.

See a lot of us do not realize how sinful and old nature and fleshly we are. Because we think accuracy is spirituality. No. Being able to see what God's heart desires for a person is spiritual. Not merely being able to observe and repeat to others what you're observing.

An anchorman, a news reporter can do that. It doesn't take a Christian to do that. But it takes someone walking in the Holy Spirit to see others the way God sees them. And to be moved with God's heart.

And the love of God being shed abroad in their heart. That will be lowly and gentle. And long suffering. That's knowing others according to the Spirit. In Galatians, if you have your Bible still, turn to Galatians.

Walking by the Spirit Rather Than the Flesh

And turn to chapter 5. Galatians chapter 5. I'm going to start in verse 14. Galatians 5 .14. The whole law is fulfilled in one word. In this. You shall love your neighbor as yourself. But if you bite and devour one another.

Bite and devour. What would that look like? In church? What would biting and devouring look like? I think there's an English word. If you nitpick. If you nitpick. If you got your little issues. You know, I just don't like that about her.

Or I just don't like that about him. And you just think that's just natural. No, it's not. It may be natural. It's not spiritual. It's not godly. It won't produce life in others. And it actually, it consumes Christian unity.

It's very damaging. It's kind of like a cancer inside a church. A lot of people can have cancer. And their body, it's eating them on the way. And they may not even realize it. So just because you don't realize.

You're being nitpicky. And you have your opinionated. And you're proud. And you've got your thoughts. You've categorized different people. You may not even realize. It's just nitpicking. You're biting and devouring one another.

And it's grieving the Holy Spirit. It's not producing in them the love of Christ. Why does this happen? You bite and devour one another. Beware that you're not consumed by one another. Verse 16. So I say walk by the Spirit.

And you will not carry out the desires of the flesh. Because the desires of the flesh are where the wars come from. That's what it says in James chapter 4 verse 1. What causes fights and quarrels among you?

Don't they come from your desires that battle within you? You want something. You just don't get it. You don't get your way. You want this person to stop doing that. You don't get it. So you develop an attitude towards them.

You categorize them as a person that always does it. You're not praying for them. You're not asking God to show them. You're not asking God to change them. You just hold what you think is your accurate opinion about them.

Not even realize how unspiritual and unchrist-like it is. And Paul is exhorting the believers to a life that's more than that. The Gentiles live that way. Don't live that way. What are we supposed to do to that old man?

Back in Ephesians 4. You don't need to turn back there. But the old man, we're supposed to actually strip it away. We're supposed to strip away the old man. Because with that old man comes the contentiousness, the division, the attitudes, the prejudices, the personal preferences.

All that manifestations that cause problems in relationships. They come from the old man. And you can see this here in Galatians chapter 5. The flesh desires against the spirit. The spirit against the flesh.

They're in opposition to each other. But if you're led by the spirit, you're not under the law, it says. But if you, the deeds of the flesh, if you're walking in the flesh, here's what their evidences are.

These are the obvious ones. Sexual immorality, impurity, sensuality, idolatry, sorcery. Those things, I hope none of us are walking in any of those things. But look what it also says. Enmities, strife, jealousy, outburst of anger, selfish ambition, dissensions, factions, envying, drunkenness, carousing, things like these.

And then he says this. I forewarn you, just as I have forewarned you before, that those who practice such things shall not inherit the kingdom of God. Now, I know you're not wrestling. Of course, you practice sorcery, you're not going to inherit the kingdom of God.

You practice drunkenness, you're not going to inherit the kingdom of God. You practice immorality, you're not going to inherit the kingdom of God. But what if you practice division? What if you practice your nitpicking?

What if you practice categorizing people? What if you practice repeating the faults of someone to other people? I'll tell you, you're not going to inherit the kingdom of God. I warn you, those who live like that may not inherit the kingdom of God, because that's contrary.

Jesus Christ died to make us one family, to preserve the unity of the Spirit. We've been called to that. That's a calling, to preserve the unity of the Spirit and the bond of peace, that there be no divisions among us, that there's mutual respect, mutual esteem, mutual love, mutual honor.

This is the calling. And if we live contrary to that, we're showing we're not living in the kingdom, we're probably not going to inherit the kingdom. But the opposite is, but the fruit of the Spirit, how do you know you're walking in the Spirit and relating to others in the Spirit?

The Fruit of the Spirit as Love for Others

I want to read them to you in a different way. Oftentimes, we read this, the fruit of the Spirit is love for me, joy for me, peace for me, patience with me, kindness with me, goodness for me, faithfulness for me.

What if the fruit of the Spirit is love for others? That's one of the fruit, is the ability for me to love others like Christ loved them. That's the fruit of the Spirit. Not me feeling God's love for me.

The fruit of the Spirit is the love of God at work in me, where I'm actually loving others. And joy, what if it's not my joy? What if the fruit of the Spirit is I have joy serving others? That's my joy, giving to others, being a blessing to others.

And what if the fruit of the Spirit is peace with others? I'm just always at peace. I'm at peace with all of you. I don't have a thing against any of you, and I hope none of you have a thing with each other.

Because the fruit of the Spirit is we're at peace together. Jesus Christ died for every one of us. We're one family, one Spirit, one Lord, one faith. There should be no divisions among us, no attitudes among us.

That's the fruit of the Spirit, love, joy, peace, patience, the ability to be patient with others. That's the fruit of the Holy Spirit, to suffer along with others, kindness, the ability to be kind. Just like God, isn't that what Jesus said?

We're to be perfect as our Heavenly Father is perfect because He's kind to the wicked and the ungrateful. That means if someone has not learned gratitude, and they're kind of like they're still living for themselves, and they haven't learned how to be grateful, the Spirit in me would cause me to be kind, to be kind to them.

Not been out of shape, not develop an attitude, not categorize them as ungrateful, no. The Spirit in me would manifest the ability to be kind, even if they were ungrateful. Goodness and faithfulness, all of these things, and against such things, man, there's no law.

If we are walking in the Spirit, if the love of God is being shed abroad in our hearts, and we're walking in these things, there's no, we don't need a law. I can stop telling you what you shouldn't do or what you should do.

You realize if you and I are walking in love, we will not harm our neighbor. Love is a fulfillment of the law. Love is kind. Love is patient. It does not boast. That's what love does. If we are living in love, we won't cause one another to stumble.

We'll be walking in a forgiveness and a joy, and there'll be a unity because love is the bond of perfection, and it doesn't need, we don't need a law. You won't need the pastor up here saying, stop doing this, don't do this, or start doing this, or why aren't you doing this?

No. Those things are only necessary when we're not living in love. But why do some people not know this love? Why are some people, and I'm just asking you to ask yourself this, and I'm going to ask myself this with you.

Why are we slow to this sometimes? Why do we nitpick? Why are we slow to have hope for others? Why are we slow to pray for others? In other words, where is this love that we talk about? Is it a theory, or is it something that you really experience?

Forgiveness as the Source of Love for Others

Why? Why is that? I think I have an answer. As I saw that, and just was praying about that, you remember Jesus gave a parable one time, and He gave it right in the middle of a dinner that He was invited to.

He was invited by a Pharisee named Simon to come to dinner. And during the dinner, Jesus came in, and it must have been pretty awkward. Traditionally, when someone comes in, and you're, as a way of show hospitality, a servant comes with water, and you wash the dust off their feet, and you give them a little ointment for them to smell, and they freshen up a little.

That's your hospitality. Evidently, when Jesus came in, it didn't happen. Maybe it was just an awkwardness, and they came in, and He went and had His seat at the table. Not really, He didn't have their seat.

The tables were low, low to the ground. So you reclined at the table. In other words, your head and shoulders would be leaning towards the table, and your feet would be leaning away. And they reclined around the table.

While they were reclining, eating dinner, a lady with a reputation came in, and her reputation was for being loose, you know. And she comes to where Jesus' feet are, away from the table, and she kneels there, and she starts weeping.

She's weeping right over His feet, and her tears are splotching all the dust that's covering His feet. And she probably looks down, almost startled, not thinking, and realizes, oh, it made Him look even uglier.

So she takes her hair, she must have long hair, she begins to wipe His feet to clean the dust off of His feet with her hair. And then while she's doing that, when she gets His feet clean, she has this very expensive perfume.

And she opens it up, she pours it on His feet. And Simon is over there watching this. And Simon is thinking to himself and saying, if this man were a prophet, he would know what kind of lady this is. And he wouldn't even be letting her touch him.

Jesus didn't, Simon is just thinking this to himself, but Jesus knows what he's thinking. So Jesus turns to Simon and asks him, Simon, I have a question for you. There were two men that both owed a debt.

They owed the same guy. One guy owed 500 denarii, the other guy owed 50. Neither of them were able to pay. So the guy forgives both of them, the 500 and the 50. Simon, which of the two do you suppose is going to love the guy who forgave him more?

Simon says, I suppose the one who owed the most. He owed 10 times more than the other guy. Jesus says, you've perceived correctly, Simon. You know, I came in here and you didn't give me any water for my feet.

And this woman has washed my feet with her tears in her hair. You gave me no kiss as a greeting. She has not stopped kissing my feet. You gave me no oil for my head. She's poured oil on my feet. Simon, he whom I have forgiven much, he loves much.

But the person who's only forgiven little, he loves little. So you know why really people don't love others the way Christ loves them? Because they know very little of his forgiveness. Probably because they don't think they need that much forgiveness.

Well, they weren't perfect, so Jesus died for them. But after all, they're better than most people. And in their heart, they're kind of like, thank you, God, that I'm not like these other morons. And the reason they're impatient with others, the reason they nitpick, the reason they have their opinions, and even if it's very polite in the way they go about it, the reason is because they don't know the depth of mercy that it has taken for God to even receive them.

They don't know the depth of forgiveness. And this is why it's strange. And I'm going to say this, and I'm just going to lay it out there. Some of us may know the scripture a thousand times better than others, and yet not know God near as much as the person who hardly knows anything.

Because the person who's the most conscious of how much they've been forgiven, that person doesn't hold grudges towards others. That person doesn't have opinions. That person is not going to be nitpicking.

That person is not going to have attitudes. That person will be loving others out of the same consciousness of how much love they've been being shown by the Lord. So it's very possible for someone brand new in the Lord to actually know the Lord and know the Lord's love much better than someone way older who's become proud and has forgotten how much forgiveness it has taken for God to have anything to do for them.

I have to watch that. I love the scripture. I believe we should study the scripture. I believe there's life and treasure and peace and counsel and help in it. And I see people just neglect it. And I'm thinking, man, you don't get it.

You don't see what you're missing. But in the past, I admit, I allowed that knowledge to puff me up and make me critical and impatient and nitpicker. And so God in His mercy has come and showed me how sinful and prideful that was.

And it almost took me another revelation of the love of God. I can tell you when it began to happen in my life. I used to work for a company that we would deliver embroidery machines all over the United States.

And I was way up in North Dakota, my not North Dakota. It's only around 20 miles from the Canadian border, way up there in North Dakota. And at the time, we had been living in Missouri. I had six children.

We were living a quiet, simple life. Out in the country, big gardens. We'd raise milk goats, rabbits, chickens, hogs now and then. We had a cow. We had a huge garden. We'd share with everyone. And I was the drill sergeant.

And my kids were, you know, they closed the door wrong. All I had to do was look. I could just look and then be struck with terror. I was a disciplinarian. I was strict. It only took me once or twice to deal with the matter, and that was it.

My children could sit here at church and not move a muscle because they knew what would happen if they didn't. And so I was very ordered, very disciplined in that regard. But, you know, to maintain that life, I kind of became a drill sergeant.

Boom, boom, boom, boom, boom. You know, just order in here and order in there and including my wife. How come you let this happen? While I was on this trip in my not North Dakota, suddenly I realized how ugly and hard and unkind and impatient I was.

And I kind of saw it next to the kindness and meekness and gentleness of Jesus. And it broke me. It just broke me. How in the world did I become this? How did I become such a got to get it all done and lose it in that way?

And at that point, that's when I really came to know Jesus in a wonderful way again. And it wasn't perfect. It still took time for it to work out in my life. But I know the difference of just trying to do things right and believing what's right and having discipline and being ordered and wanting to get things done and pushing it through and sucking it up.

I know that. And I know how possible it is to do all that and not know the love of Jesus Christ. And not walk in gentleness and kindness and mercy. And I don't want to do that anymore. I tell you what, when you walk that way in a marriage, it doesn't go well.

When you walk that way as parents, it doesn't go well. When you're that way on the job, it doesn't go well. Love is the bond of perfection. If you want to experience perfection and wholeness and freedom and goodness in relationships, the way to do it is to be filled with the love of Jesus Christ.

When you are filled with the love of Jesus Christ, you will be kind. You will suffer along. It's what love does. And it took me some time to see it. And I just want to be honest about that. I want to encourage us as a church family.

Loving Visitors and Difficult People

We have an opportunity on our Wednesday night meals and we have a food ministry. We meet people. We meet people that aren't perfect. And we get to know them. And some of us have family members that are not necessarily where they need to be.

They've not got it all together. They make mistakes. The question for us is, what are they going to meet? What are they going to encounter when they come here? Are they going to meet, uh-oh, here they come again.

Are they going to meet that countenance? Are they going to get that look? Are they going to experience someone kind of whispering to each other as they pass by? Are they going to get that avoidance? Or are they going to experience the love of Jesus Christ?

This is our calling. We've been called to this. Back to Ephesians chapter 4. We've been called to this. And to be worthy of our calling, we get to love one another like Jesus loved us. All lowliness. All meekness and gentleness.

All longsuffering. Forbearing with one another in love. And our whole heart to one another is that in every way we're able, we can help people be reconciled to God. And how did God reconcile the world to Himself?

He reconciled the world to Himself through His Son laying down His life and dying on the cross. So how are we going to stay reconciled with each other? How are we going to love one another like God loves us?

We're going to do it by not living in our old natural self. We're not going to allow our natural, fallen, sinful old man to do what he does. We're going to know each other according to the Spirit. So we can experience God's heart for each other.

And the love of God being shed upon our heart by the Holy Spirit. We create this beautiful family where we are very different personality wise. We come from different cultures, different backgrounds, different economic status, but it doesn't matter.

What makes us all the same? What makes us all the same is that it took Jesus Christ dying for us. For us to be in God's family. And that's how we know each other. Being convinced of this. One died for all, therefore all die.

And when we see each other and we're not quite finished yet. We realize that Jesus Christ died so we could become finished. Let me just end with this passage in Ephesians about spiritual warfare. Ephesians chapter 6.

Spiritual Warfare and Praying for All the Saints

You don't need to turn there. I just want to point this out to you. You're already familiar if you've been in the church for a while about the fact that we don't wrestle against flesh and blood. There's no enemies here.