The Christian Walk Ephesians 4:1-6 Sunday, January 3, 2016 Ephesians 4:1 6 (NKJV) 1 I, therefore, the prisoner of the Lord, beseech you to walk worthy of the calling with which you were called, 2 with all lowliness and gentleness, with longsuffering, bearing with one another in love, 3 endeavoring to keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace. 4 There is one body and one Spirit, just as you were called in one hope of your calling; 5 one Lord, one faith, one baptism; 6 one God and Father of all, who is above all, and through all, and in you all. When we began studying this epistle we discovered that we were chosen by God even before He created the world And at the same time, the plan for our redemption was set into motion, which was that Jesus would die on the cross and take our place, because the wages of sin is death. The plan of redemption included the indwelling of the Holy Spirit, because Jesus conquered both death and sin, and the Holy Spirit s presence gives us the ability to say no to sin s temptation. Also, His indwelling is the sign of our adoption into the family of God, which is evidenced by the fruit of the Spirit in our lives. Paul then prays for the church, as we did a couple of weeks ago that each member would be strengthened with might through His (God s) Spirit in the inner man, that Christ may dwell in our hearts through faith; that each of us would be rooted and grounded in love, that we may be able to comprehend with all the saints the width and length and depth and height of the love of Christ which passes knowledge and that we may be filled with all the fullness of God. Now we come to the fourth chapter, a turning point in the epistle. The first three chapters contain the theology, explaining what God has done for us. Now we come to the daily living portion that tells us how to respond to God s magnificent love which He has bestowed upon us. This is where a lot of people start the how we should live portion of the Bible. The reason for Paul s prayer in the last chapter is to get us started on the right foot. When you first realize that we were adopted into God s family, elected before the foundation of the world, redeemed by the blood of the Lamb, and sealed with the Holy Spirit all while we were dead in our sin, then the living part makes sense. Without understanding the first three chapters, then all you have is a bunch of rules and regulations. That s why some people come to church for a little while and then drop out, or why they never come in the first place. All they see is a bunch of rules. You can t make God love you any more by obeying a bunch of rules.
You can t live the Christian lifestyle without totally surrendering your life to Him and experiencing the power of the indwelling Holy Spirit. So, if you ve just joined us, please please please study the first three chapters of this book before you come back next Sunday. I don t want you to be misled into thinking that you are the initiator in the spiritual life, feeling that if you can just pray enough, do enough, and be enough, God will love you and bless you. So then you will try to walk worthy but sooner or later fail and throw in the towel. Our Christian walk is not something we do to try to earn God s favor or merit His love. Rather, it is a response to how He loves us, what He s done for us, and how good He s already been to us. We love Him, the apostle John said, because He first loved us (1 John 4:19). He is the Initiator, we are the responders. We don t love Him so He ll love us. We love Him because He first loved us. Any parent who would try to teach his child to walk before the child learned to sit would be headed for frustration. So, too, if you try to get your kids to walk spiritually before they understand where they are seated in Christ, they ll rebel. But if you remind your kids over and over again what the Lord has done for them and how He loves them that they are seated with Him in heavenly places, and that there s nothing they can do to make Him love them more or less watch and see how they will begin to walk with Him. Without chapters 1 3, chapters 4 6 lead only to frustration, legalism, and rebellion. That s why Paul uses the word therefore. In light of all you have, in light of all that s been done, in light of all you are in Christ Jesus, he says, Walk worthy. How? Let s read on. It will take us some time to get through these last three chapters, but let me tell you it s all about the Christian Walk. First, he tells us to walk in unity (4:1 16). Next, he tells us to walk in purity (4:17 5:18). Third, he tells us to walk in harmony (5:19 6:9). And finally, he tells us to walk in victory (6:10 24). Ephesians 4:2a with all lowliness and gentleness J. Vernon McGee tells this story about the word lowliness ~ Years ago I heard the story of a very fashionable church in Edinburgh that wanted a pulpit-supply; so the seminary sent out to them a very fine young man who was brilliant in the classroom at the school. He had never had any experience, and he was filled with pride at ministering in this great church. When he got up before that group of people, he was struck with stage fright. He forgot everything he ever knew. He had memorized his sermon, but he forgot it. He stumbled through it and left the pulpit in humiliation, because he knew how miserably he had failed. A dear little Scottish lady went up to him and said, Young man, I was watching you this morning, and I d like to say to you that if you had gone up into that pulpit like you came down out of that pulpit, then you would have come down out of that pulpit like you went up into that pulpit. He had gone up with pride, but he had come down with lowliness and meekness. You can tell whether a person really understands the first three chapters of Ephesians or not. You see, when we re trying to impress God by our dedication, diligence, and devotion, or our piety, purity, and eloquent prayers to get Him to bless us more, we are also trying to outdo our
Christian friends and family. We will get all puffed up! BUT it won t last for ever, because sooner or later all that hot air will escape. THEREFORE to use Paul s word, when you see that God did all that He has done for you while you were a complete jerk to Him and other Christians, it will humble you. Your Christian walk will be with all lowliness and gentleness. Ephesians 4:2b with longsuffering, bearing with one another in love, longsuffering means much patience bearing adds more patience to your walk, concerning others; bearing is patience in the sense of enduring some difficulties. We are to be loving towards each other. 1 Corinthians 13:4 8 (ESV) 4 Love is patient and kind; love does not envy or boast; it is not arrogant 5 or rude. It does not insist on its own way; it is not irritable or resentful; 6 it does not rejoice at wrongdoing, but rejoices with the truth. 7 Love bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things. 8 Love never ends. Ephesians 4:3 (NKJV) 3 endeavoring to keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace. I want you to circle the word keep. It doesn t say that you are to create unity. That s already been done for you ~ God has created the unity that exists in the church. But all to often, the church members don t work at keeping it. As a matter of fact, some destroy it. I guess those are the ones that don t understand chapters 1 3. You might recall that Jesus prayed that we would be ONE that they all may be one, as You, Father, are in Me, and I in You; that they also may be one in Us, that the world may believe that You sent Me (John 17:21). The Spirit of God has baptized us into one body. For by one Spirit we were all baptized into one body whether Jews or Greeks, whether slaves or free and have all been made to drink into one Spirit (1 Cor. 12:13). Now believers are to keep that unity which the Holy Spirit has made. We cannot make that unity. We cannot join into an ecumenical movement to force some kind of unity. Only the Holy Spirit makes the unity, but we are to maintain it. All true believers in Christ Jesus belong to one body, and we should realize that we are one in Christ. You personally may not prefer a Pentecostal church or a Liturgical church, a Calvinistic doctrine or an Armenian doctrine, but please realize that there are true Christians who go to those churches or hold onto those doctrines, and we are to MAINTAIN the unity that Jesus prayed for and that the Holy Spirit created. Now here are seven points of that UNITY which we are to keep! Ephesians 4:4 6 (NKJV) 4 There is one body and one Spirit, just as you were called in one hope of your calling; 5 one Lord, one faith, one baptism; 6 one God and Father of all, who is above all, and through all, and in you all.
1. One body refers to the total number of believers from Pentecost to the Rapture. Now we ve gone and messed it up by creating a bunch of denominations and divided that One Body. But you are to have a One Body mindset. Romans 14:1 (NKJV) 1 Receive one who is weak in the faith, but not to disputes over doubtful things. 2. One Spirit refers to the Holy Spirit who baptizes each believer into the body of Christ. The work of the Holy Spirit is to unify believers in Christ. This is the unity that the believer is instructed to keep. 3. One hope of your calling refers to the goal set before all believers. They will be taken out of this world into the presence of Christ. This is the blessed hope (see Titus 2:13). 4. One Lord refers to the Lord Jesus Christ. His lordship over believers brings into existence the unity of the church. 5. One faith refers to the body of truth called the apostles doctrine (see Acts 2:42). When this is denied, there are divisions. There must be substance to form an adhesion of believers. This substance is correct doctrine. 6. One baptism has reference to the baptism of the Holy Spirit, which is real baptism. Ritual baptism is by water. Water baptism is a symbol of the real baptism of the Holy Spirit by which believers are actually made one. 7. One God and Father of all refers to God s fatherhood of believers. Since there is only one Father, He is not the Father of unbelievers. Sonship can come only through Christ. The unity of believers produces a sharp distinction between believers and unbelievers. He is Father of all who are His by regeneration. Paul has been talking about the church, the body of Christ, joined to Him who is in heaven at the right hand of the Father. The church is a new man. It is a mystery. This is all true because it is in Christ. Now some people can be so involved in these truths who are as the saying goes so heavenly-minded that they are no earthly good. Paul is trying to show that we still walk down here in a very evil, very sinful world. In his discussion of this walk of the believer, Paul speaks first to the individual. The individual is to walk in lowliness and meekness. Then he widens out to the entire church, which is one body and one spirit. Finally, he brings this passage to a great, tremendous crescendo, which pictures the eminence and transcendence of God. Ephesians 4:6 God who is above all, and through all, and in you all. This means that God is transcendent. He is above His creation. He is not dependent upon His creation. He doesn t depend upon oxygen to breathe. He doesn t have to bring up some supplies from the rear or go shopping in order to have food for the weekend. He is transcendent. He is not only transcendent, He is also eminent. He is not only above all, but He is through all and in you all. That means He is in this universe in which you and I live. He is
motivating it and He is moving it according to His plan and purpose. That is what adds meaning to life. That is what makes life worthwhile. Life gets a little humdrum now and then, doesn t it? There is a monotony to it. The church is to walk as a new man in this world. There is to be an exhibition. The church is to be an extrovert, to witness, to manifest life Romans 6:4 (NKJV) we also should walk in newness of life. Romans 8:1 (NKJV) not walk according to the flesh, but according to the Spirit. 2 Corinthians 5:7 (NKJV) 7 For we walk by faith, not by sight. Galatians 5:16 (NKJV) 16 Walk in the Spirit, Ephesians 5:2 (NKJV) 2 And walk in love,. Ephesians 5:15 (NKJV) 15 See then that you walk circumspectly 1 John 1:7 (NKJV) 7 But if we walk in the light as He is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus Christ His Son cleanses us from all sin. Colossians 4:5 (NKJV) 5 Walk in wisdom 2 John 4 (NKJV) 4 Walk in truth.