Ephesians 4:4-6 Seven Reasons to Be One

Welcome back 2023 We were to take a look at we launched this opportunity in a couple of years

When when was it that we started Isaiah that took us a few weeks how many I think it was like 80 installments of the book

And And now we're speeding our way through Ephesians this is we're not numbering the sessions anymore no

Did not want to do that, but welcome back to 20 23 we did take a couple of weeks off and missed this

I Don't know about you, but I miss this and it's awesome to be back together again

We get to hear Each about You know each about means in Japanese no number one huh?

She has a migraine, but she's coming out of it She had a better night last night, so what happened

Sandy has a migraine No, this is she's only had a couple, but she's

Anybody here not have migraines I've never had my okay Your first your first migraine is a brutal experience

Would you open us a prayer Lord God we come together as your children We come together to hear your word and to know you better We come together knowing father that with the gift of the

Holy Spirit. We have Common purpose common identity Common teaching and we are excited

Lord as we hear being Being one how Paul stresses unity within the church be with pastor

Jeff as he speaks to us From the Holy Spirit in Jesus name Amen Amen, I'd like to bring a short update on my interactions with Evangelical free church turn with me first to Ephesians chapter 4 this will be a good lead -in because Ephesians chapter 4 1 to 6

Will be for 2023 my guiding principle This is going to be the block of text that will be guiding me as I prayerfully

Continue in this struggle a few of the verses that stand out to me walk worthy

Verse 1 we have to walk worthy of the calling with which we have been called What does that entail?

How do we walk worthily in light of who we are John right chapters 1 to 3 are our identity in Christ?

Yeah, and chapters 4 to 6 are practical. Now. How are we gonna live this out? Well, it says in verse 2 humility gentleness patience bearing with one another eager to maintain in love

Eager to maintain the unity of the spirit in the bond of peace. Well, here's the situation

With the free church just a little background in the course of the last 10 years

The free church has introduced some woke teaching into the body of Christ.

They have they sent us this book bridging the diversity gap by Alvin Sanders which has some

Social justice kind of woke ideology they sent it to all the free churches. So 1600 books presumably that happened in 2013 and then in 2018 they platform this guy named

Jarvis Williams This is his book for kids where he tries to to fight against the idea of colorblindness

That we shouldn't be colorblind, but we should look at the color of skin to make make decisions

So in 2020, I wrote a book And you guys know about it. It's called woke free church in which

I call these things out and I identify the need to To let scripture and biblical justice determine how we think not social justice

Well, I was hopeful even at the end of that book. I wrote about how in the free church. We're free to do as As we see biblically we're called to do and I said

I wouldn't be I Wouldn't have my credentials threatened because of this or anything because we have a free church movement

Well, sadly in 2021 in May I got a letter from the free church

Threatening to take my credential or you know, hold it in discipline Now fortunately the charges that they listed they did not find me guilty of the substantive one, which was

Christian nationalism the dreaded Christian nationalism They did find me not guilty of that, but they said that I have an attitude of being convinced that I'm right and Therefore that that attitude isn't correctable

They said that I have influence on other churches and therefore that influences the wrong direction

Which of course just begs the question, you know Exactly yeah, right you want to influence the question is truth has to come before justice

The question is is what you're influencing toward the truth, or are you influencing the wrong direction and Some such things so here's my point having received that that charge and that Incentive discipline

I did appeal that to the conference because let's let the pastors weigh in on this Not this board of elite at the national level

How should I as a Christian move forward pray pray

Should I sue them I can sue their pants off because they have slandered and libeled me

No, because what does it say in 1st Corinthians? 5 and 6

Yeah chapters, yeah, yeah, we're not to sue that's not the answer because if you can't

Yeah Yeah Correct Well, how about if I just in my heart grow bitter and begin to revile them and consider them wicked outsiders?

Would that be helpful? No, the answer is right here in Ephesians. We have to bear with one another

We have to forgive one another We have to remain you and be eager to maintain the unity

So should we just as a congregation just up and leave the EFCA Not necessarily

If there's a persistent pattern of wrong teaching where it's becoming poison there may come at that point

But are we eager to do that? No, we're not eager to do that. We're eager to maintain the unity of the spirit in the bond of peace

That's our goal. So hopefully that will be the end result that there can be correction after a long hard fought

You know war behind the scenes where you're you're fighting for the truth If eventually you have to come out from among them because there's no correct ability

Maybe that's the case But that's not our goal Our goal is that we're eager to maintain the unity of the spirit in the bond of peace.

Amen So today here we have seven reasons to be one

Seven reasons to be one versus four to six give us the grounding

The reason the rationale for what was said in verses one to three So what was said?

Well, it's a call to humility and gentleness and patience to bear up to bear with one another in love and to maintain the unity well

The word one will be listed and repeated seven times in these verses

John Would you read it for us? But there is one body One spirit just as you also were called in one hope of your calling one

Lord one faith one baptism One God and father of all who is over all and through all and in all

So this afternoon I wanted to camp out on those three verses because it's evidently a very important theme

That's where Paul begins the exhortation as he moves to walk worthy This idea of unity is the first place he goes the importance of humility and bearing with and gentleness and love

Eagerness to maintain unity and then he gives seven reasons for it.

Let's look at them one at a time. The first is one body the church itself is a body

That means those who I feel have persecuted me are still connected to me in the body.

I Can't say to a hand. I Don't need you Because I'm afloat

Or the mouth can't say to the hair. I don't need you in every case of the body.

We're connected in one body That's first Corinthians 12 Ivan. Would you turn to?

Matthew 18 20 and Joyce could you find Titus 2 14?

Christ is the head of the church His body and Is himself its

Savior that's Ephesians 5 22 So this theme of the body will come out in the next chapter of this very book, but this idea of being one body

Ivan Matthew 1820 A Man we're just one body

We are gathered here this morning as individuals, but there's something special about the church

Individual Christians have the Spirit of God, but it's when we gather together when we're united that something special happens have you ever been in a worship service and Everybody's singing and you pause for a second you stop singing and you just hear the sound of the body

There's nothing like that earth. I heard it last Sunday We were singing in unison kind of antiphonally men in one part women in another and I just stopped and I listened and I thought

That's beautiful. That's the sound of unity. That's all of us together in one body and in that moment

What is the verse say? I am with you the Spirit of God Jesus himself is in the room

When the body comes together and we are one body

Joyce, would you read for me Titus 2 14? Very interesting, let's let's turn to that verse so we can all see it

Titus 2 14 Question being Did Jesus die?

For individuals. Yes, but did he also die for a people a body?

both yes, and so Titus 2 14 notice early in the verse

Who gave himself? for us to redeem us from all lawlessness and to purify for himself a people

So what do we get in this transaction? That is salvation What's for us?

Amen he gave himself for us We give him himself and Redemption to redeem us from all lawlessness and to purify

For himself, what does he get from this? People a people not just individuals, but a people

Yeah, yep this family this body of which we are only

Members there is a people that belongs to him. This is as the Moravians called it the reward of his suffering

They went out to the ends of the earth to return to the land the reward of his suffering the church the first source of our

Our humility and patience and bearing with and our love is the fact that we're part of one another

We're one body. So what about if somebody wrongs you? Has anybody here ever experienced hurt inside the church?

Well, why would that be You think pride is the root yeah

The church is made up of Redeemed humans sinners who are now saved by grace, but we still bear with us that old dog hanging on the sin nature

But it's also the target of savior. Ooh Interesting you think Satan is a

Eager to divide as much as we're eager to maintain unity If he can if he can divide we've all seen this, you know

The longer you're in in the church, you could be going strong more and more people getting saved But as soon as that internal disunity hits things fall apart

Because Satan knows when the church is unit unified it stands a house divided against itself cannot stand

So Satan is constantly attacking the unity of the church, which means all the more for us to be eager to maintain

So let's say you're you are a victim of some some wrong. What ought you do?

Pulls epistles Those are the two main things justification in faith and Stopping the vision within the church body.

Yeah, there's constant themes Sure, yeah right there in Romans 1 16 and 17, it's the

Jew and Gentile together in one Yeah So so much of the theme and that's really been much of the theology of Ephesians 1 to 3

Jew and Gentile together in one. Yeah We should be yeah quick to examine our own heart

Yeah quick to overlook things and cup love covers a multitude of sins Yeah, very good.

So the first reason and think about how much better this is then

The next best thing that the world could try to emulate the world wants unity, right?

And they try to find unity around Different things whether it's ethnicity whether it's the color of your skin or your gender or your sexuality

What country you come from? What continent you come from? Any of these things the world could try to Establish some fake unity around those things but consider what we have in the church one body

Made up of all believers from all over the world every tribe tongue nation and people

Together in one body. This is the people that belong to Christ.

Yeah, we have all centuries and centuries Across time all the company of the redeemed.

There's nothing like it in the world. We are part of a church and the church is on 195 nations of This planet

Wow, can you it's a man? Can you imagine the wedding feast? Yeah, I Tried a piece of the lamb.

Yeah Work I don't know

All right, the second one literally the second one is one spirit

The Holy Spirit indwells every Christian that will ever meet

Rick could you turn for me to 1st Corinthians chapter 3 verse 16?

When you hear the word of truth You are marked in Christ with a seal the promised

Holy Spirit Who guarantees your redemption? until the full number of God's possession comes in At the moment of belief the

Holy Spirit now lives inside of him and Rick if you would read for me 1st Corinthians 3 16

Do you not know that you are God's temple and that God's spirit dwells in you?

Yeah So what motivation do you have towards humility? when someone in in your church

Says something hurtful The same spirit that lives inside of you lives inside of them

Now they weren't walking in the spirit in that moment when they hurt you right when they said something did something sinful

But they still have the spirit the spirit does not leave We have one spirit and we were all given this one spirit to drink according to 1st

Corinthians 12 13 We have the one spirit to drink other sources of unity might revolve around rules

But we have something much better than a rule We have a spirit a living spirit that lives in each one of us who believe

Powerful thing powerful thought so there is one body and one spirit

It says it greater is he who lives in you than he who is in the world.

Mm -hmm Yep, and how much? dissension is driven by worldly pride worldly expectations, yeah absolutely one spirit

Just as you were called to the one hope that belongs

To your call why would you turn for us to Revelation 21 3 and 4?

Get that one the future home of Every Christian will be together in one household.

So I want you for a moment to think Who is the person Who cut you the deepest in the church and I mean a

Christian not someone in your life who's on regenerate But what Christian you don't have to say out loud has cut you the deepest and here's the thought

You were called to one hope with them Barb would you read

Revelation 21 3 to 4? And I heard a voice a loud voice from the throne saying now the dwelling of God is with men and he will live with them

They will be his people and God himself will be with them and be their God He will wipe away every tear from their eyes

There will be no more death or mourning or crying or pain for the old order of things has passed away

For the one who will be with us in heaven, I want you to picture this Jesus himself

Will go to them and he himself will wipe away every tear that they ever shed and All the former things of that old sin nature will be gone they will be glorified and there you are standing in glory singing praise to the

Lamb and you will look across and they will be there and You will walk across to them and there will not be a tinge of hatred in your heart

No more unforgiveness for the former things and when you see them You will delight to see them as much as you delight to see your own mother think of that Because everything that alienated you from them will be gone the former things will be gone

There will be nothing but delight in the presence of the Lamb The former things will be gone.

This is the hope you see This world is passing away and all the sin in it the ones who are truly born again will be with you in heaven

Think about that thought You might have been dealt a bad hand.

I Certainly feel like in how I was dealt with the EFCA and Rick I mentioned earlier that there's some hurt there but I'm trying to take this as my verse for the year one to six

Ephesians 4 1 to 6 I Was charged with these things like Christian nationalism and misrepresenting

Influence and attitude and so I just I wrote a follow -up email and I said

Please just tell me one quote that I misrepresented anybody so I can consider

Because my conscience is clear, but that doesn't make me innocent I might have air but I need to see like show me a page number

Something and they flatly refused to provide even any evidence whatsoever

So I kept writing email follow -up after follow -up until finally I said listen just for the record you are flatly

Refusing to provide any evidence of this Please give me something so that I can defend myself.

So when I went on trial, it's without any evidence, right? I'm saying I don't know anywhere. So I feel like Wronged I feel like this is abusive behavior from the national leadership toward me

This was Dave Lind who was the the guy representing bombs he was the chair of bombs

Yeah, and then that thread was provided to all of bombs So they all had that but but didn't do anything with it except find me guilty on that charge of misrepresentation

Well, what what are you using bombs? Oh, I'm sorry. They're called the board of ministerial standing.

Oh, yeah So and what's the consequence the consequence would be that my my credential would be under discipline now

Since then I don't really understand what that means because I'm still allowed to marry and bury and do everything

It's just sort of like it's not like they're stripping me of my ordination. So it's kind of a strange thing

But I feel offended by that. I feel like that's not right Like if if I did wrong show me and I'll consider

Right But how am I to regard Dave Lind from the national office, right as A brother whom

I will hug in the presence of the land one day That's my hope and if I'm wrong

What do I do? turn the other cheek overlook an offense or Appeal, you know and follow the process of you know,

Matthew 18 bring a witness things of that nature there are biblical ways to deal with it, but what

I can't do is to regard him as the enemy and Begin to hate him or to retaliate or to sue the

EFC a or something like that No, we persevere we cover and we we do the best we can Persevere without perseverating

Because that can be unhealthy. Yes, maybe to keep it

Right Right. Yep, and you want to protect others because I know there's other pastors who have been enduring similar treatment

Because anybody who speaks up against that will congender It's not the person who does the wrong.

It's anybody who calls out wrong that becomes the bad guy It really is the case not just with the

EFC a but institutions Three reasons so far. We're one body

We're not just individuals, but we're connected in the body of Christ we have the same spirit

Living inside of us. We have the same hope there's one hope and that's eternal life in heaven with the

Lord We're not going to be living on different planets It's this world remain. I don't know it.

I think you've entertained the idea of interstellar transportation Yeah, maybe so I Has not seen nor ear heard what is entered or has entered the heart of man what

God has prepared for those who love Yep, whatever it's going to be is going to be greater than we can imagine.

Let's look at the fourth one one Lord Now as we think about what the world has to offer in terms of Lords Masters rulers you have the political leaders of this land and all lands you have

People who sometimes Lord over those who are under them and Sometimes you have benevolent rulers.

I just watched a little biography on Peter the Great in Russia They great reforms to make them more

Western, but was also quite wicked torturing his own son Number of things like that.

These are the rulers of this world, but we're being told here in Ephesians 4 verse 5 one

Lord Carol would you mind looking up for us? First Peter 119 the

Lord Jesus Christ. Here's what kind of Lord he is He bled for us

He spilled his own blood To wash us of our sin to cleanse us from all unrighteousness

He Washes us like a loving husband cares for his bride

Could you read this for us Carol first Peter 119 He paid for you with the precious lifeblood of Christ the sinless spotless

Lamb of God You were bought with the price What kind of love is this he lays down his life for his friends

Agape love and while we were yet sinners Christ died for us

We weren't lovable when he did this. This is the kind of Lord we have we in rebellion to him and he steps in for us and Clothes himself with our sin and takes that into a imputed to his account

And on the cross he dies the death that we deserve That's our Lord one

Lord He's not the drill sergeant Who just wants to try to force you to do something and to teach train you in that?

Although there's merit in a drill sergeant. How much better is our Lord our master?

We have one Lord and why is that a reason to be unified and to be humble?

I think of the parable of the one who was forgiven much and This great great debt he comes to the one that he owes a debt to and he's completely forgiven and what does that wicked man do?

He turns around and exacts this small debt from someone else and has that person thrown in jail

He didn't realize how much he'd been forgiven by the Lord over him He instead refused to forget if we have this one

Lord who forgave us this much Can't we be forgiving towards those who hurt us in so much smaller ways

One Lord will never be hurt as bad as he's been hurt by us right what he endured is a million

Infinitely worse than what we ever endured from anyone else because he not only bore the physical suffering of the cross

But that weight of all the sin of every believer laid upon him

Wow All right. Let's go on to the fifth one and that is one faith

Now I think faith here functions in the same way as it does in Jude chapter 3

I mean verse 3. It's only one chapter turns me to Jude 3 it doesn't refer more subjectively to The faith that is in your heart, that's the gift of God by grace

I think it's referring here to the body of teaching. There's one faith one doctrine one one body of teaching

Rich would you mind reading Jude 1 3? Oh just verse 3 would be fine

The faith in that verse is it referring to a subjective State of belief in the individual or is it referring to the body of teaching that we all hold in common?

Body of teaching and that's how I'm reading Ephesians 4 verse 5

One faith we have this faith in common so We have

What the world hates We believe we have faith in this body of teaching

You wonder why? America is so divided politically The major point of division is actually between those who believe this book and those who don't

That's really the fundamental point of division So what unites Christians?

Even though sometimes we err and we might get something wrong social justice coming into the church and things like that What we have in common is a treasure of teaching

The church is the household of God and is the pillar and support of the truth first Timothy 3 15 the bootress the support of the church the truth this these oracles of God Have been entrusted to us

So for the genuine believer who is submitted to this book Consider what we have in common when

I sat on an ordination council before bombs The Board of Ministerial standing

We talked how many hours three hours? delighting in our common book

What do you believe about the hypostatic Union the Trinity the substitutionary atonement?

Imputed righteousness as we just discussed In all of these things we had perfect unity and it was a joyful three hours because we have the faith in common and Sometimes we lose sight of that I'm prone to do that when

I'm fighting for truth, and I see okay this person has erred against this book in one way

I Do want to because I'm a Berean right because 26 of the 27 books of the

New Testament Tell me to be this way right to watch for false teachers and false prophets and Have no part in that but rather expose it right we have to train the powers of our discernment so that we can distinguish between right and wrong and We have to refute those things

But in the middle of that war as you're fighting for truth. What's the temptation? To lose sight of how much you still have in common

Right right we still have this whole body of a belief in common.

It is the faith Yeah, and it's right be angry, but do not sin so it's right to be angry that Jarvis Williams is

Teaching that we must do relentless anti -racist work, and he says not all black folk are woke

So you really should listen to the Vodie Mockhams the way you do to Curtis Woods You you know that makes me angry to hear that teaching

But what I can't do is turn and say I'm angry, and I hate

Jarvis Williams Because Jarvis Williams still holds To the most much of this book now.

I'm not saying that those are small errors right those are big errors you have to fight The woke movement in the church no two ways about it

But what I'm stressing today, and what I'm trying to focus my heart this year is one faith

What I can't lose sight of is that Jarvis Williams is with me in Standing against the homosexual movement in the

United States of America. That's good and he's with me in upholding the

Trinity when the world calls that nonsense and He believes that Jesus died on a cross for our sins and was buried and rose on the third day right

And he'll still say this book is an error even though he's gone into error in interpreting make sense one faith we have to Realize that that point of unity is the

Bible it is the doctrine the body of doctrine that we have in common one baptism

The immersion in water is a sign of the spiritual washing that we all received

This is why some of the teachings of Pentecostalism are divisive

Because the teaching of a Pentecostal is that only certain people have the baptism of the

Spirit Therefore you have the super st.

Christian, and you have the second tier Even though they often don't look down on people in that way that is an implication of it first Corinthians chapter 12 verse 13

Who hasn't had a chance to read Rick? Would you ever think you had read? But yeah, yeah first Corinthians 12 13 for in one spirit.

We were all baptized into one body Jews or Greeks slaves are free and all remain to drink of one spirit

Clearly this is spiritual baptism the baptism of the Holy Spirit in fact it uses the same Terminology as seen elsewhere with the baptism of the

Spirit is spoken of Luke 3 16 Acts chapter 1 again and again baptism of the

Spirit well here Who has the baptism of the Spirit? How many

Christians only the super Saints? No all of us You are baptized spiritually washed and brought into the body of Christ That's the spiritual baptism you become a member of the body of Christ and all are

Given the one spirit to drink the very point of first Corinthians 12 of course is unity in the body

Right the idea that we are a body of Christ the hand doesn't say to the foot. I don't need you We're one body so that comes back to that and now baptism

Not the spiritual baptism, but the water baptism is a picture of that So every time our church has gathered

Most recently it was down the shore. We went to that little island Baptist Church and New believers giving testimony of how they've come to saving faith

And then we go down to that to the shore on the the inlet side so there's no waves and wait out into the water and you see a

Child of God Go underwater crucified with Christ and Splash out of the water with joy on their face raised to newness of life

It's a picture of being washed. It's a picture of the new birth It's also a picture of this unity every one of us who are believers should have experienced that which is partly why

I think Infant baptism in the Presbyterian Church is very unhelpful Because you lose that experience of this initiation right this conversion now compare it to any other

And this is what's so great about Christianity every point of comparison Christianity is better Is it not?

Someone says well we have a prophet Muhammad Who speaks for God what we have

God in the flesh who speaks for God? Who's true at every point not a deceiver like Muhammad right well with baptism, what do the

Jews have? Circumcision And a cutting away of the foreskin on the eighth day

That's pitiful compared to the glory of Baptism experience where you get to see and hear testimony

The beauty for male and female alike and for every ethnicity all of us come the same way

We have to die what a beautiful picture we come through dying and Being resurrected dying to the old self by the way the

Sinful nature and raised to newness of life isn't that a beautiful picture is there anything like it?

Not only that it's it's glory males. Don't get circumcised Exactly yeah, that's what

I'm saying. There's the weakness Yeah, that's my point of comparison is how weak and what a foreshadowing it is of a greater reality

Baptism is is so much greater Than what the Jews had That's my point and anything else in the world.

You know what the Elks do and there's stupid ceremonies We have baptism

Clearly it was God's design and came through first of all John the Baptist and then by the way when they tell you that John Was picking up on earlier

Jewish rights that's nonsense. I've been researching that a little bit that was not the case this was something that was new that God gave to to initiate the church era and to and John is picturing that and Christ so baptism

Whenever you see a baptism you're reminded of unity aren't you? It's beautiful, and then lastly and I think this is culminating.

It's kind of reaching a crescendo here One God and father of all who is over all and through all and in all

One God and father And I think this is a picture again family

No, they don't In fact remember

John 5 they were angry at Jesus because he was calling God his Father and we're then taught to pray our

Father who art in heaven. I don't know if any of you have experienced in your life family discord where There was discord in the home

We'll take it to the the mundane where everybody experiences siblings fighting

It makes the father angry to see them stop bickering Be unified, but how beautiful is it when you're sitting around the table and the father is at the head of the table and He opens the scripture and reads and he prays and The family sits in unity and then delights it and there's joy around that table

Talking about their day and laughing That's a picture of the father's family and the church is his family and That's I think the culminating thought here one father

We have a father and that is the God the only God notice in all of these examples

The stress again seven times is one one one one one one one.

You're not supposed to miss it Mono, you are one one in the Latin Yeah, so we are one and we have all of these unique singular things

There's not a bunch of different churches There's only one church. We're talking the

Church Universal the Catholic Little C Church Not Roman But Catholic Universal everyone who's truly been brought in into the body and that's through one baptism

Notice, there's a trick all three members of the Trinity are mentioned separately in this Alongside these four other realities.

You have the father one father one spirit to drink one Lord and The Trinity is one

John 17. We are to be one as he is one One one one seven reasons to be one

John would you close I want to make one observation I could yes, please Transitions very abruptly in the middle of verse 6

Mmm from 7 1 1 body 1 spirit 1 hope 1 Lord 1 faith 1 baptism 1

God and father 2 He is over all all and through all

That's it all this is universal in its application. Yes. He is Lord we come to you as part of the one body

Knowing that we have one spirit one hope that we stand before one Lord with one faith all sharing one baptism and worshiping before the one

God and Father and you've given this to all we pray father our

Relationship with each other would be reflective of these truths and that our submission to you.

This is your church This is your kingdom that we submit to you with this unity of mind.