Walk In Unity The Spirit Provides

Ezekiel 11:14-21 and the Promise of One Heart

Ask you to stand for the scripture reading this morning. Old Testament will be Ezekiel 11.

14 through 21. And the word of the Lord came to me.

Son of man your brothers even your brothers your kinsmen the whole house of Israel all of them. Are those of whom the inhabitants of Jerusalem have said go far from the Lord? To us this land is given for a possession.

Therefore say thus says the Lord though I remove them far off among the nations and Though I scattered them among the centuries Our own among the countries yet. I have been a sanctuary to them for a while in the countries where they have gone.

Therefore say thus says the Lord I will gather you from the peoples and assemble you out of the countries where you have been scattered and I will give you the land of Israel. And when they and when they come there they will remove it remove from it all of its detestable things and all of its abominations and I will give them one heart and a new spirit.

I will put within them. I Will remove the heart of stone from their flesh and give them a heart of flesh. That they may walk in my statutes and keep my rules and obey them and they shall be my people and I will be their God.

But as for those whose heart goes after their detestable things and their abominations I will bring their deeds upon their heads their own heads declares the Lord God.

Philippians 2:1-11 and the Humility of Christ

New Testament reading is Philippians chapter 2 verse 1 to 11. You can find it on page 9 80 of your pew Bible. So if there's any encouragement in Christ any comfort from love any participation in the spirit any affection and sympathy.

Complete my joy by being of the same mind having the same love being in full accord and of one mind. Do nothing from rivalry or conceit but in humility count others more significant than yourselves. Let each of you look not only to his own interest, but also to the interests of others.

Have this in mind among yourselves, which is yours in Christ Jesus. Who though he was in the form of God did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped. But made himself nothing taking the form of a servant being born in the likeness of a of men and Being found in human form.

He humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death even death on the cross. Therefore God has highly exalted him and bestowed on him the name that is above every name. So that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow in heaven and on earth and under the earth in Every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord to the glory of God the Father.

Ephesians 4:1-6 and the Land of the Imperatives

Please remain standing. Well, that's not a good start. I didn't realize I was up. I was like, why isn't anyone going up there?

Well, good morning to you all. It's wonderful to worship with you today. I'd ask you to open your Bibles. Sorry. I'm asking you open your Bible. So Ephesians to the fourth chapter of Ephesians. Ephesians chapter 4 verse 1 I.

Therefore a.

Prisoner for the Lord. Urge you to walk in a manner worthy of the calling to which you have been called with all humility and Gentleness with patience bearing with one another in love. Eager to maintain the unity of the spirit in the bond of peace.

There is one body and one spirit. Just as you were called to the one hope that belongs to your call one Lord one faith one baptism. One God and Father of all who is over all and through all and in all.

But grace was given to each one of us according to the measure of Christ's gift. Oh God in heaven. I asked for your help this morning God I thank you for being the God who has saved us out of our darkness and Distress and brought us to be unified under Christ.

But we know Lord that in this already not yet time of life this unity this walking and the Imperatives walking after our calling found in unity what with one another can be extremely difficult. Lord we bemoan the sin that still lingers on and Oftentimes that sin can leave us so weak that we will even fall into despair and stop fighting altogether.

So I ask God that you would help us to be grounded upon what you have done for us as we go forth into This battle of the imperatives knowing that in here is found our true fullness of life in you. It's the fullness of God.

So help us Lord in this great need that we have. May you be with my words as I preach. And made the things needed to be heard by the people. May they hear it with their ears. May they hear it with their heart.

And I pray Lord that it might encourage change in their lives. Lord it might cause those who have not known you or come to know you through Christ. Yeah, it might cause them to repent and believe. And for the Saints who are before me.

It might cause them to walk in greater obedience to Jesus not to be right before you. But because they've already been made right before you and there's this the life is found in these imperatives. So, please help us Lord for we need your help.

Guide us and direct us we pray in Jesus name.

Amen.

The Christian Life as Obedience Rather Than Self-Expression

Well, I was watching a Video on my on my phone on on YouTube and it was an interview of a certain trans person I'm not sure what to call them I still get confused with that but a trans person who's who is a man who claims to be a woman and It was it's fascinating hearing his again looking like trying to be a girl but a man here in his Mindset of why it is good and right for for him to be pursuing Being a different gender a sex than his by what his biology says and it's fascinating to hear it.

It's a lot of times. It's terminology couched in and freedom and life. You know, I can I can finally live my life because this is my actual identity and I don't have anything exterior. You know encroaching and falling down on me and and forcing me to be who I'm not.

And so there's this understanding that society and there's things outside trying to tell me what to be. But finally I can simply just be What I feel like I am inside and it got me. I was watching this this week and it got me considering of course when I'm working on a sermon.

It's constantly on my mind and so I just think of everything in the lens of that sermon but it got me thinking of here we are in between Ephesians 3 and 4 and we're going now into that land of the imperatives as we talked about a few weeks ago the scary land.

But the land of fullness of life this is the land of God says do this and enjoy me forever and In our Christian mind being resolute on what God has done for us. We go forward into this scary land knowing that the fullness of God is there in the imperatives and the commands.

That's our life. It's it's in there. How we know to live a life that's enjoyable is found in what God has told us to be and do. That's our life there driven by what God has done for us in the first three chapters of Ephesians.

That's the Christian mindset is that God my life is found in obeying you in Jesus. And it's a fascinating thing to see the very opposite from the world in which my life is found and not having to obey.

Not having any imperatives crouching coming down on me instead. Just freely expressing who I am from the inside the Christian walks in a very opposite way the land of imperatives a lot of land of commands from God is right here before us in these next three chapters of Ephesians and it's driven by what God has done for us in salvation in Jesus and it is our life and This is how now the chapter begins as he's going to Paul is going to give a command a command command.

Do this do this do this. I urge you we must see that this is our life here and we're enabled by God and We see this starting off in chapter 4 verse 1 when he says I therefore a prisoner for the Lord. I therefore before he gets to the first imperative of do this He says I therefore a prisoner for the Lord and and I think this denotes authority and power.

What I mean by this is is he's saying I'm a I'm a prisoner for the Lord and and he's saying that I am Apostle and that's revealed in the fact that I'm even in prison for him. I think Paul's denoting his Apostolic ministry that that God Jesus said when he called him out.

He said he will be my messenger. He will he will see how much he has to suffer the imprisonments and he'll be an apostle. And and I think Paul's denoting here is that I have been faithful to the Lord.

I'm an apostle of his I'm a prisoner of his. It's similar to what he says in Ephesians chapter 1 verse 1 when he says I Paul an apostle of Christ Jesus or Galatians 1 when he says Paul an apostle not for men nor through man, but through Jesus Christ and here He's saying I am an apostle revealed in the fact that I'm a prisoner for Christ.

And so therefore the do this do this do this do this. You're gonna hear a lot after this is Paul saying it comes from an authority not from man. Not from within me not from within you, but it comes from an authority from the Lord Jesus Christ.

And so chapter 4 verse 1 as he's going into the first imperative. He says I am a prisoner I'm an apostle of Christ and I'm urging you based off of the authority not a man. But of Christ the Lord. But it's not just simply authority that's being denoted there, but it's power as well he is a Prisoner or an apostle.

The authority comes from the Lord and who is the Lord? The power of the imperatives as we talked about already The Lord not only is there authority there that comes forth from him do this and it comes from the authority of the Lord.

But there is power there. You remember what we talked about last week now to him in verse 20 of Ephesians 3 now to him who is able To do far more abundantly than all that we ask or think according to the power at work within us there is a power at work in us that Christ has done and.

And if you remember Ephesians 1 in those first several verses of Ephesians 1 you remember how many in hymns there are. There's like a billion in hymns in Christ because Paul's denoting the power comes forth in Christ to live this sort of life and so very opposed to Very opposed to the nature that this is these these laws being enforced upon us.

And and it's that's not good for us. And it's something that we need to work against instead the Christian Acknowledges the authority and the power comes forth from Christ for these commands to be my very life.

This is my life and so Paul says a Prisoner I therefore a prisoner for the Lord the authority found in the Lord the power to live this coming from the Lord. He says I urge you and here's the first imperative of the land of the imperatives.

I urge you to walk in a manner worthy of the calling to which you have been called and so in other words this life of the imperatives of the commands is Impossible if it's not viewed as a calling coming forth from the Lord a power of glory.

In fact Paul talks about this is the most general way he can talk about the imperatives. This is like the most general thing he can say about the imperatives. It's to walk according to your calling and then he's gonna get specific in a moment in which we'll see but the most general thing You can say is walk according to the calling you have received from the Lord of authority from the Lord of power.

Working in you and Paul. He talks about walking a lot in this book. You know, this isn't the first time he actually talked about walking. He's gonna talk about it more moving forward he likes to use this word as a very general way to talk about the General nature of our way of life.

Do you get that? That's what if you're looking at the word walking. What does it mean by walking to walk a certain way? It's the general nature of how you live your life at like a thousand foot in the air.

How do you live your life? That is the way you walk right and and there's a pre walk before Christ. And there's a post walk after the Lord has done his power in you and we see this pre walk before Christ in Ephesians 2.

When he says in verse 1 and you were dead and the trespasses and sins in which you once walked you see that. So what was our walk like what was the general pattern of our life then it was according to Trespasses and sins or it was one of disobedience.

The pre walk of the Christian before Christ is a walk of disobedience. That is how you can generally define the walk of a non-christian. It is one generally speaking of disobedience to Christ. He says he wants walked in that way.

He says in verse 2 or verse 1 or 2 and of Ephesians 2 following the course of this world. Following the prince of the power of the air the spirit that is now at work in the sons of disobedience. Who is our authority in that pre Christ walk?

Our authority was the devil. It was Satan himself, right? The mark of the walk was disobedience to God and the authority of that walk is Satan himself. And he says in verse 3 of chapter 2 among whom we all once lived in the passions of our flesh.

Carrying out the desires of the body and the mind. So what was the power of our walk? Wasn't Christ. It was our flesh. It was the desires of our heart. Whatever our desire said that was a power of our walk.

Right, and then the final end of our walk is we were by nature children of wrath like the rest of mankind. So you want to know the walk of a pre-christian? It is one of disobedience. That's the general mark of a walk of someone's walk before Christ is Disobedience.

The authority found in that walk is Satan whether they know it or not the power of that walk is their flesh and their desires of their own heart and. Then the the outcome of that walk is to be a child of wrath, but thanks be to God, right?

For those who call upon the name of the Lord our authority no longer Satan. But it is Jesus Christ our Lord who has forgiven us of this disobedient walk and instead he says and now the mark of your life.

The general nature of your walk is going to be none of a disobedience anymore. But obedience and so we look upon the imperatives of chapters 4 5 6 we say this gets to be the general Nature of my walk now that I'm in Christ praise God for the fullness of God found there.

Now if you're struggling with your assurance of salvation if you're struggling. It might really save usually what would drive that is because you'll look at a particular aspect of your walk. And you'll say that's not obedient to God.

There must be something wrong with me, right? So you'll think okay.

I.

Urge you we read in 4 1 to walk according in a man to walk in a manner worthy of the calling to which you've been called and you look at Particular point of your walk, and you say that's disobedient. What is wrong?

Am I even saved? It's very important for you. And if you're struggling with as a true believer you you see that the walk he's talking about again. Is is the general feel the general nature of your walk surely you can point to the particulars of sin?

But we're talking about the general walk of your life is one of obedience to Christ that even the particular Aspects of sin that you see you can confidently say I brought that to the Lord and forgiveness of sins and.

To go on the other side there are people in perhaps even in this room who think they're a believer. But they're not and the way they they defend it in their brain as they say. They look at those particular aspects of their life and see say look at the obedience there.

But Paul again is saying the general makeup of our whole entire walk can be said it is marked with obedience. And so this is the Christian. This is the one who has been called out by Christ. He says now your pattern of life is going to no longer be disobedience, but obedience.

Where you see any kind of disobedience in the particulars you bring it to the Lord for forgiveness. And he brings you on that path of general obedience. This is the first Imperative this is the first general imperative.

You know we talked about last a few weeks ago. We I talked about a voyage going off into the scary land of the imperatives right and and this is basically Paul saying just head West this is the general location head west walk according to the calling you've received.

That's like just the most general way head that way right and then he gets very very well I should say more specific. What does that look like and let's look at what he says he says in verse 2 with all humility and gentleness with patience.

Bearing with one another in love eager to maintain the unity of the spirit and the bond of peace. Now if you're not careful if you're anything like me, you'll just see a bunch of word vomit right there, okay?

I got to do all those things okay more specific. Okay, humility patience. And that's just that's what it'll be and there won't seem to be any rhyme or reason to what he's saying. And there's a rhyme and reason for what Paul is saying here.

He's not just word-bobbing act like this but there's actually a Pattern or there's there's there's like a rhyme and reason to what he is saying here as he's getting more specific and the imperatives or the command from the Lord and Again look at it.

What he says in verse 2 the the drive of verse 2. You can underline it in your brain or mine is Found in the verb of verse 2 that is bearing with one another in love the specific Command from Jesus here or imperative as it gets more specific not just generally walk according to the calling you receive.

But the specific command is found in the verb bear with one another in love. That's what he's saying there, and then he adds and this is how it's gonna look with humility gentleness and patience. Maybe a good way to look at this to help you to kind of organize it in your brain.

Is act like you're telling your child your children to clean the bathroom, okay? And you tell your children clean the bathroom. There's a verb clean the bathroom right and you'll say and do it with what hot soap.

What else do you bleach. Well my wife hates bleach. My wife likes to use cleaning that she could drink while she's using it. To clean that's that's what she just likes. I don't understand. But she does hate bleach.

I get it. It just smells like it's killing you from within but but nevertheless. The way to perhaps look at this. Is that if you tell your child clean the bathroom right that's the verb. That's that's a thrust of the of the command clean the bathroom and do it with hot soapy water and some elbow grease and a Clean sponge so if he comes to you He says I clean the bathroom, but I use mud and a dirty sock, and I don't use any elbow grease.

I just kind of you know how kids do that. It's like put some elbow grease into it, then you say you didn't actually clean the bathroom. And it's the same thing here Paul is saying the first the first specific Imperative is bear with one another in love, and that's gonna be with humility gentleness and patience.

If you don't have those three nouns you're not going to be doing the verb of bearing with one another in love it requires Humility gentleness and patience if you don't use that you have not cleaned the bathroom so to speak.

And he even says in verse 3 with an attitude. With with your dominating desire in verse 3 to be eager to maintain the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace. So it's like telling them your kids You know clean the bathroom and use these things and make sure you do it with an attitude of you get to contribute to the Cleanliness of the house, and this is what Paul is saying here have an attitude of I want to maintain the unity of the Spirit.

And so I want to bear with one another. I want to bear with my brother and sisters and love and that looks like having humility gentleness and patience. Now we're kind of looking at it from way up here, and just general so we can kind of organize it right.

But and while we're doing that I want to press something on you right now. Just as we're looking at this very generally up here. I want to press something on you notice. Let me slow down. Notice the first specific imperative is found in unity and love for a brother and sister in Christ.

Notice it's not an individual affair. Notice that the land of fullness of God that we can enjoy it's right there before us because of Christ is found in the community of the believers. Paul could have went anywhere with getting specific with the imperatives.

And the way the direction that the specific direction he decides to go is the community of believers. What does that tell us about how we should view? Fellowship being in the community of believers. What does that tell us about that that if you truly as a Christian want to enjoy everything God has for you in Christ?

Which if you're a believer you want that it is found in your fellowshipping with your brothers and sisters in Christ. The reason why I say that because it is so simple. We're all blessed Americans praise God for that, but we can be so Isolated we can be so individualistic.

It is just it's just part of our DNA the first thing I as a Christian I I knew I need to read the Bible. And I need to find a church. And then I put a little footnote in my mind of that where I can hide away and just get out afterwards, right?

That's just I don't know what it was. That's just what like that's by nature like that's assumed. I don't want to like rub elbows when they want. I I want to find a place where I can go in the back and Hide away hear the sermon sing a few songs and then just leave.

There's just something there, and if you're not and you might not be like that. But I think a lot of us are and it's just something as Americans We really struggle with it's it's it's something to look at and so is your mind right now.

You believe her in Christ. Do you look at fellowshipping with the Saints not just something that you have to put up with? But the very thing used to enjoy the fullness of God and the imperatives. Do you see it that way or are you just so quickly, and it's I get it trust me I'm not trying to hurt you here.

I'm not trying to just make you feel bad. But is it just too easy for you to get in? During the service and then just get out as quick as possible. I'm telling you you are hurting your ability to enjoy the fullness of God and the imperatives that Christ has provided by his blood.

Yeah, I don't think you want that. And in fact we need to be proactive. I know that my enjoyment of the fullness is found and given myself Totally to the fellowship with the Saints. It's found there. I'm gonna jump in headfirst and just go.

Now you might say to me. You might say well Paul Obviously has to be assuming the brothers and sisters around them aren't annoying. He has to be assuming that everyone's just perfect in that body and of course.

It's gonna be great when everyone's doing what I want them to do. But notice the context of that verb in verse 2 again. You remember what it was. What's the major thrust? Bearing with one another in love.

What does that mean to bear with one another? That means you got to put up with them. You know, if I'm having a hard time finding my place in the Bible in the notes I might say please bear with me. Just give me a second because I'm kind of urging you or I'm I'm tempting you to get kind of irritated.

Come on. Let's go right now. I'm asking bear with me, please. So the context of this greater enjoyment of the fullness of God the unity with the body of Christ Paul assumes it is to have to bear with one another so it's not a matter of well.

There's just enough perfect Saints around me. Okay, I'll do that. The assumption is that as you go headfirst into the unity of fellowshipping with the Saints you are going to have to put up or bear with hard brothers and sisters and In that there's a fullness of God awaiting for you.

You get where I'm what I'm saying here. And so this is the kind of mindset we need to have is as he's getting specific into the imperatives he denotes the unity the fellowshipping that to get togetherness that we need to have with each other and It assumes that it's going to be difficult that you must bear with one another.

Because I think the number one reason why you get the people who either Don't do any extra fellowship that they have to they just get out or the ones who are doing it. But they're just they're running on empty.

It's because they are weary of bearing with one another or they don't want to have to put themselves in that situation. But there has to be a flip in your brain. It says actually God works upside down sometimes and in that hardship.

There is a great unity That's to be had and there's a great fullness to be enjoyed in God. And of course if you're saying this is too much to bear. That's too difficult. Well good, that's I I know what you mean, I'm right there with you.

Even as pastor sometimes it's like it just be so much better just to live on an island somewhere but notice what he says in verse 3 the Attitude of our hearts as we are just jumping in is eager. That is like a deep desire.

You have a deep desire to maintain the unity of the Spirit. That needs to be what the Energy that propels you forward and that the hardship of having to bear with one another. There is that you are eager deeply desiring to maintain The unity of the Spirit now highlight in your mind and your heart and your whatever the word maintain.

Because notice he doesn't say eager to create the unity. You can't create it. It's far too difficult for us. You know, it's a difficult task, but we simply maintain what the Spirit is already doing. So as you're considering man, that sounds very difficult.

So much easier just to go and get out and not have to get myself in that situation where I got a bear with one. Another notice. He says that what drives you forward is eager to Maintain the unity that the Spirit is doing in you as a believer.

You don't have to create it. You can't do that. But you simply maintain what he's doing in you and that should that should encourage you that it can be done. Not because I got to do it. But because the Spirit is doing that by nature of being in me and one another we are to maintain What the Spirit is already created in one another and that enables us to bear with one another you know, it's like imagine the difference between having a family and setting them on a plot of land and saying well build your house and Live in it.

Enjoy yourself, and they have no materials nothing. They won't be able to do it. Why even try but we're not left like that instead. We're the family that's left with a nice house and everything is furnished.

Everything is created for us and we simply get to maintain and enjoy it. Of course, it's gonna still come with difficulty. But it's something that can be done because the Spirit is a one creating the unity within us.

So that's kind of like looking at it from way up here, right generally speaking, right? That's how we're looking at at this right that Paul He he's getting particular with his imperatives and notice it's grounded.

It's it's found in unity with the body of Christ that fellowship with one another. And he says that that the main thrust of chapter 2 is bearing with one another in love. It's going to look like humility gentleness with patience with an attitude verse 3 to eager to maintain the unity.

So let's look back at verse 2. Let's look at that first one. Let's look at that. He says in verse 2 with all humility. With all humility. That's the first thing You're going to need if you're going to actually bear with one another in love.

With all humility. Now humility can be misunderstood sometimes humility some I think some people think humility is. It's it's always thinking that you're not as good as the person before you or you're you're you're you know.

You're you're always just not as good as them. Um, and that's just not that's not always the case. Um, you know you think of like lebron james and a high schooler right playing basketball. It would not be humble of lebron james to say.

Oh this kid's better than me. It'd be a fake humility. It'd be it'd be weary. It would be weird. It'd just be goofy. It wouldn't be humble for for for lebron james simply to say. Oh, he's better than me.

That's that's what humility is. Um humility isn't always Acknowledging that that someone is always better than you. That's not what humility is. In fact, if you look again at the context of what's being said here is you're having to bear with one another.

You're having to bear with someone. In other words, perhaps this person is kind of being difficult. Perhaps he's being a little bit immature. Perhaps he's being a little bit not too christ-like like you would want him.

And perhaps you are more mature and are exhibiting those things. So humility isn't simply just between you and the person before you and what you just got to say. Well, they're just better than me. That's it.

There's more meat to that bone. And humility involves not just you and the person before you but also the god above. And the god above is the spirit who is within you that's building unity. And so as you are going through a situation with a brother a sister.

And it's difficult perhaps they're not being too mature. Perhaps they're being difficult as you understand that the spirit is doing something. It's not all about me and my comfort. It's not all about whether i'm better or worse.

It's about what the spirit is doing in this it creates a humility in you that it's not all about me. It's about what god is doing. It's about him. And then through that it creates a humility in you. It's about what the spirit is doing here.

Not about what I would necessarily want an example that came to my head is. Is serving tables is serving the tables at mealtime or whatever it may be so easy so easy for that to turn into something that is.

You have someone perhaps i'm not saying I know a specific example. So don't just don't read too much into what i'm saying here. But you know for a church that that serves a lot of tables that that does a lot of service like that.

Praise god for that. It could be so easy for you to have a situation where you're dealing with someone within the body. Right, and there's that unity that's supposed to be had it can be so easy for someone to not be quite acting christ-like.

Maybe they're not far Far along in their walk with christ, but yet they're being overbearing. And so the humility comes and not saying oh he's this person's more mature than me. This person's better than me.

That's not what humility is. There is a god above that's that that calls us to unity. That's what he's doing and that's going to make it this situation not all about me. It's going to make it about what he's doing that drives humility in you.

In fact if the tables aren't being served well in the church in the time of meal.

Um.

I'm actually going to maybe take a little bit more delight in that because it's it's it's it's because for the sake of unity in The spirit that it didn't get done as well as I would like. I could have been overpowering.

I could have been overbearing. I could have been prideful. I say, you know, it needs to be done this way. But instead for the sake of humility i'm gonna i'm gonna Find joy in the fact that for the sake of unity in the spirit.

This is done. Not as well, but unity is had. So this is I think the humility involved in verse two is in line with bearing with one another. Knowing that this isn't all about you. But it's about what the spirit is doing in you and the church for the sake of unity.

And whenever it's all about god and what he's doing it drives humility and it drives a gentleness. We see moving forward in verse two. It drives a gentleness. See when it's about you and things happening perfectly.

Well, according to your standard of what you want. It's going to cause you to be a little bit rough. Won't it whenever you want your own way since you're not god. And you recognize that whenever it starts to not be your own way because you're not god you start to be rough.

You no longer are gentle. You start to get rough with your words with your actions since you're not god. But yet you're trying to act like god because it's all about you pride. You then start to be rough.

But whenever it's not all about me, it's about god and the unity found in the spirit. What's the spirit is doing it enables you to be gentle as you go about a situation. That is difficult as you bear with one another you're able to be gentle.

And notice what comes on the tail end of that patience.

Patience.

My mom had a. My mom had a magnet on our fridge. Uh that said lord grant me patience, but hurry and I always thought that was kind of funny as I. Come on, that's a funny joke. That's a good one. Lord.