Well, I invite you to turn in your Bibles to the book of Ephesians. We consider this evening from Ephesians chapter 4. If you're using the Pew Bible, that can be found on page 1161, 1161. We're going to be considering Ephesians chapter 4, beginning at verse 1 and reading down to verse 6, Ephesians chapter 4.
"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, 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."
Well, as a kid, me and my friends used to say something like, "Well, if that's what you believe, let's see you prove it. Walk the talk. Practice what you preach." If you seriously believe something, then it should affect the way you live your life. That's Paul's point in these verses here before us tonight.
You see, Paul has just spent three chapters on the glorious height of God's grace to his people. Paul has spoken of all that Christ, all that is granted to us in Jesus Christ in chapter 1. and then in chapter 2, he speaks of the amazing and glorious grace of God to dead sinners. and how that grace has granted to us a new life, where new creations, a new humanity, and a new temple that we've been made into. Then in chapter three, Paul goes on to explain how the gospel has been entrusted to him as an apostle, as well as to the church, in order to make known to the world the manifold riches of God's grace in Jesus Christ. And now in chapter four, in light of all of this, and because of all this, Paul says to these Christians at Ephesus, "Walk in a manner worthy of that calling."
Now, this is a typical way that Paul transitions his letters, is it not? Paul typically spends the opening chapters of a letter speaking about the gospel doctrine what we believe, what God has done for us, and then he transitions, like he does here in Ephesians chapter 4, to what many may believe and claim and say is the more practical parts of Christianity: our walk, how we are to live, how we are commanded to live.
And for some of us, those who enjoy the theological, the doctrinal portions of scripture. In passages like chapters 4 through 6, Ephesians can pose for us something of a challenge. We might think that these are just applications. We know this stuff. We know what we're supposed to do. We know how we're supposed to live. We all have a conscience that we are to live by. And so we might be tempted at chapter 4 to kind to check out a little bit.
For others of us who tend to appreciate what we consider the more applicable portions of Scripture, chapters four to six are the more exciting stuff, and it's the doctrinal, the theological, the the truths of Scripture that challenge us a little bit more. But whatever you find yourself enjoying more, these two parts of Scripture can never be separated. They go together. We can't practice the commands of Scripture without knowing the gospel of Scripture. The good news of what God has done for us is foundational for the way that we live.
To separate practice and command from doctrine and gospel is to slide down the slippery slope of moralism. But at the same time, we can't focus only on doctrines or theological truths without speaking of how those truths ought to affect our lives. And so it's the balance approach that we aim for. It's the approach of striving to know what God has done for us in Jesus Christ, and then live in light of those truths.
And so at this point in this letter, Paul transitions to speak of how the wonderful truths of what God has done for us in Christ really does affect our lives. You see, if we would have read the first three chapters of this book tonight, what we would find is that in those three chapters, Paul only gives one command one command in 56 verses. And that one command is found in chapter 2, verse 11, where Paul calls these Christians to remember what they once were: that they were formerly aliens, separated from God's people. But now here in chapter 4, we come to that great shift. And from this point forward, exhortation and commands will abound.
And so I want to consider with you tonight three points from this text. First, the command. The command. Second, the characteristics of the command. And third, the consequence of the command.
And the command that Paul puts forth is the command to walk in a manner worthy of the calling we have received. Now, it's interesting that Paul, even before laying out this command, he prefaces it. He introduces it by saying, "I, a prisoner of the Lord, urge you to do this." Again, a typical way for Paul to write. He says something like this before, beginning in verse 1 of chapter 3, "For this reason, I, Paul, a prisoner for Christ Jesus on behalf of you Gentiles."
But why repeat this here in chapter 4? Well, when Paul says this, he isn't simply giving himself a title. He is literally in prison. At the very moment that he writes these words, he's in chains, under arrest. And this is Paul's way of appealing to this church and these Christians.
You see, Paul, at times, will appeal to Christians by appealing to his apostolic office to encourage the churches and Christians to live a certain way. But here, to this church at Ephesus, he appeals to the depth of his very own commitment and care for the church of Jesus Christ. He says, "I'm in chains. I'm a prisoner for Christ."
Now, if you're a parent here tonight, you know that we, at times, do this with our children, do we not? We, at times, tell our children something like, "Haven't I sacrificed for you so that you can sacrifice for your brothers and sisters? Haven't I given you an example of how you should live? Haven't I shown you a picture of of what it looks like to follow Jesus Christ so that you might follow Christ?"
Essentially, that's what Paul is doing here. Remember, Paul knew these Christians very, very well. He spent two years at Ephesus ministering to them and to the region of Asia. And if you remember when he left Ephesus, Paul reminded these Christians at Ephesus of his love and his care for them with many tears.
And so when Paul lays out this command, he doesn't lay it out to this church as someone who doesn't know them intimately or someone who doesn't know what it means himself to walk in a manner worthy of the calling to which he has received. Paul knows exactly what that means. Paul knows what it means to walk the talk. He knows what it means to practice what one preaches. Paul has sacrificed tremendously. He has sacrificed for the sake of the church of Jesus Christ. He's in prison for this church, bound up, isolated from them.
But you know what? Paul considers this a privilege. He considers it a privilege to sacrifice for the church because he knows that ultimately he is sacrificing for the Lord of the church. Just as he says in Philippians 1, 29, "For it has been granted to you that for the sake of Christ you should not only believe in Him, but also suffer for His sake." That was something that Paul knew firsthand.
It was all a part of him walking in a manner worthy of the calling to which he had received. You see, Paul is calling these Christians at Ephesus to follow his example as he follows the example of Christ.
And I think this brings up some questions for us to consider: Do we consider it a privilege to sacrifice for the sake of Christ? Do we consider it a privilege to be wronged for the sake of Christ? Do we consider it a privilege to be offended for the sake of Christ and for the unity of the body of Christ?
You see, living in the body of Christ, the church requires sacrifice, requires suffering. That's implied in the command to walk in a manner worthy of the calling to which you have received. It's implied in the idea that in walking in a manner worthy, of the calling sacrifice and suffering will be involved.
See, when we get to the character of the command, we're going to see that walking in a manner worthy means living in humility, gentleness, patience, bearing with one another in love, and being eager to maintain the unity of the Spirit. Now, Paul, at other times, writes about how the gospel should affect every area of our lives. But here in the book of Ephesians, he's specifically speaking about how the gospel should affect our lives within the church. within the church he's calling the Christians, members of Christ, to walk in a manner worthy of the calling to which they have received as the church and in the church.
You see, we indeed are the family of God, are we not? But let's face it: in a family, there are always disputes. There are always conflicts. There are always disagreements. I come from a family of three boys, there were always conflicts, always disputes. And when I say always, literally, it felt at times like we were always fighting in one way or another.
Now I have four daughters, four sweet, dear daughters, and I'm so happy to tell you there is never conflict among those girls. I'd be lying to you if I really told you that.
But you see, if we can't walk the talk, if we can't practice what we preach in the church among brothers and sisters in Christ, how are we ever going to do it outside of these doors? How are we ever going to do it out in the world?
Now, of course, it can be seriously difficult at times to love each other as we are called to in the church. Have you ever tried intentionally to to practice humility, gentleness, patience, love in the church? It's not easy. It's not easy because we still are all sinners, and when we rub shoulders with each other, we inevitably bump into each other's sins.
And so Paul says here, "Hey, Christians, I am a prisoner for Christ. I'm suffering for Christ and on behalf of you. As one who himself knows what it means to strive to walk in a manner worthy of the calling to which I have received, I urge you now to do the same."
Now, this shouldn't be all that surprising to us, should it? Should it be surprising that we are called to walk in a manner worthy of the calling? It shouldn't be especially when we think about the very one who has made our calling possible, was the one who sacrificed and suffered for us.
Remember, the Lord Jesus Christ came into the world not to be served but to serve and to give His life as a ransom for many. And it was Christ who said, "You want to be the greatest in the kingdom? Be a servant of all." a servant of all
You see, what comes to mind when you think about a life lived in a manner worthy of your Christian calling? And answering a question like that, I think we need to focus on the word "worthy." Paul speaks here of walking in a manner worthy of the calling we have received. The word "worthy" that Paul uses here means to have worth equal to one's position.
A worthy opponent is one whose abilities equal one's own abilities. A workman worthy of his hire is someone whose services equal the wages that he has received. A student worthy of his great as someone whose academic work equals the grade that they have received.
So what's a walk worthy of being called a Christian look like? Well, that's why I'm trying to impress upon you, brothers and sisters: it's a life of sacrifice. It's a life that knows and understands the the gravity the significance the depth of all that Christ has done for us.
I think that's why in chapter three, just a few verses before chapter 4, Paul prays for these Christians that they might be strengthened to comprehend what is the breadth and length and height and depth, and to know the love of Christ that surpasses understanding. Knowing that love changes everything for us.
And so this brings to mind Christ, does it not? When we consider a walk worthy of being called a Christian, we have to consider Christ and what he has done for us.
Question and answer 37 of our catechism says, "What do you understand by the word suffered And the answer is: "During all the time he lived on earth, but especially at the end, Christ bore in the body and soul the wrath of God against the sin of the whole human race. Thus, by his suffering as the only atoning sacrifice, he has redeemed our body and soul from everlasting damnation and obtained for us the grace of God, righteousness, and eternal life."
Now, the sufferings of Christ shape our Christian walk, don't they? See, it shapes how we live, how we are to relate to others, and particularly brothers and sisters within the church.
And a great way of being strengthened to do this very thing is by reflecting upon the gospel of Jesus Christ. Now, as I said, this book is full of gospel. Chapter 1 has some of the most beautiful gospel passages in all of Scripture. If you would just briefly look down at chapter 1, verses 3 down to verse 14, where Paul there just expands upon all that we have received in Christ: "Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in Christ with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places," and then he goes on, "Even as he chose us before the foundations of world in love, he predestined us to be adopted as sons and daughters."
Beautiful, beautiful passages. So much contained in those verses. And with these wonderful truths upon our minds, again, let me ask you: What do you think it looks like to live or to walk in a manner worthy of the calling to which you have received?
It's a life, a walk that reflects the joy and thankfulness of those blessings in Christ.
Now, for the specifics of what a life worthy of the calling looks like, we turn to our second point: the characteristics of the command. Paul says in verse 2 to walk in all humility and gentleness with patience, bearing with one another in love.
The first characteristic that he lists here is that of humility. Now, we all know that we should be humble, do we not? We all are familiar passages like Philippians 2 3 "Do nothing from selfish ambition or conceit, but in humility count others more significant than yourselves."
The question is: How do we do this? How do we cultivate hearts of humility? while the key to Christian humility like much in the Christian life is the gospel. "For by grace you have been saved through faith, not by works. It is a gift of God," Paul says. "So that what? No man can boast." Boasting, which comes from the pride of our lives, boasting is the opposite of humility, is it not?
Again, think about chapter 1 of this book. Maybe if you notice there, or if you're familiar with those passages, is there beginning in verse 3? You know that God is the one who does everything in those verses. In a very real sense, uh we could only come into this book in the beginning of chapter 2. And what does the beginning of chapter 2 say? "And you were dead in the trespasses and sins in which you once walked." God did all of this while we were dead. Dead.
The key to Christian humility is the gospel: realizing that everything that has been given to us has been given to us by God's grace. Now, this is especially true when it comes to our salvation, but it is also true when it comes to everything we have. Every good and perfect gift is from above, right from our heavenly Father above.
The key to humility is realizing that everything we are, everything that we have, everything that we have accomplished, everything that we have achieved has come to us graciously from the Lord. This is a a truth that Paul lays out for the church at Corinth. The church at Corinth was a proud bunch, and so Paul asked them there, "What do you have that you have not received?" And the answer is nothing because everything that they had, they have received from the Lord.
Again, the key to humility is remembering this reality. Because in our minds, it's so easy for us to think that we're better than others. It's so easy for us to think that we aren't as bad as others. We have better parents. We come from better families. We have a better Christian heritage and lineage. We do better things. We have better ideas. We have better suggestions, better gifts. We know more. We read more. We read better books. We have better theologians. We have sharper minds. We are more gentle, more caring, more compassionate. We we we we have all of this and more because of who we are because of what we have achieved we've obtained all of these on our own.
But the truth is, in and of ourselves, we are no better than anyone else, because everything that makes us who we are, what we are, has been given to us graciously.
Let me put it to you this way: When you think about your gifts, when you think about who you are and what you have, do you tend to think about yourself and your achievements? Or do you tend to think about how gracious God has been to you? How he has made you and given you everything you have?
The difference between answering those in those two ways is the difference between humility and pride.
Well, the second characteristic that Paul brings up here is gentleness. Now, gentleness and humility go hand in hand. Of course, all of these characteristics go together, but there's a particular connection between humility and gentleness. A humble person will be gentle, while a proud person will tend to be harsh, domineering, judgmental.
To a proud person, gentleness is thought of as being weak. But gentleness is not weak. In fact, it takes much more strength and self-control to be gentle than it is to be harsh and proud.
For example, Proverbs 15 1 children you maybe know this passage: "A gentle answer turns away wrath, but a harsh word stirs up anger. A gentle answer turns away wrath, but a harsh word stirs up anger."
Let me ask you: What what takes more strength giving a gentle answer or a harsh word? I think the answer is obvious.
And of course, it was our Lord Jesus who was the strongest man to ever exist, and yet the gentlest. And so he said to sinners like us, "Come to me, all who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls."
Brothers and sisters, are you wrestling with pride and arrogance tonight? Turn to Christ. Turn to christ the gentle Savior. That's who our Lord is: the gentle Savior. Even today, in the face of our pride and our stubbornness, our arrogance and harshness, he gently turns to us and says, "Come to me. Confess, and I will forgive you."
And so to walk in a manner worthy of the calling to which we have received is to walk in gentleness. And oh, how we could imagine how many problems in the church could have been avoided if we simply practiced the kind of gentleness towards each other!
Well, the third characteristic of the command to walk in a manner worthy of the calling is that of patience. And like the relationship between humility and gentleness, there's a special link between patience and the next characteristic: bearing with one another in love.
The New Testament contains several different words that can be translated "patience." The specific word that Paul uses here refers to being long suffering And when it come when it's combined with the last phrase in verse two, "bearing with one another in love the idea that Paul is trying to get across for us and to us is to patiently tolerate each other within the church. Patiently bear with one another. Patiently tolerate someone who you might find difficult, that you might find trying, that you might even find foolish or bothersome or even offensive.
You see, contained in the idea of being patient with each other is having a a kind of long-term view of each other. Because in the moment, it's easy for us to think, "That person should have known better. They should have known better than to do that. They should have known better than to have said that."
But again, having the long-term view of each other means we realize that all of us are a work in progress. We're all being sanctified from one degree or another. And even the most holy of us have only a small beginning of that obedience and holiness.
And so being patient with each other means that we have the Lord's view of us. And with that in view and mind, we begin to realize how patient the Lord still is with each of us. He doesn't treat us as our sins deserve because he's patient and kind, long suffering slow to anger, abounding in loving kindness
And really, that brings us to the next characteristic: love. What we see here is that love is the motivation behind patiently bearing with each other even and especially when we deal with difficult brothers and sisters within the church.
And this brings to mind or should bring to mind what Paul says in First Corinthians 13, that famous love passage. Love is what? Patient. It's kind. It doesn't keep a record of wrong. It bears all things. It endures all things.
Paul knows these truths, and he knows that it's love that motivates us to patiently bear with one another. But it's not our love that motivates us. It's the love of Christ. Because we love or we only love because we have first been loved. The only motivation strong enough for us to patiently bear with each other is that of the sacrificial love of Jesus Christ. And it's that love that that binds us together in Christ, making us a single unified body of Christ.
And that takes us to our third and last point this evening: the consequence of the command.
The command to walk in a manner worthy of the calling to which we have received means we walk together in all humility, gentleness, patience, bearing with one another in love. And as we do that, we will be expressing and exercising the unity that we have in the Spirit. This expressing of our unity is the consequence of walking in a manner worthy of the calling.
Now, to be sure, unity is not created by us walking in that manner. Unity indeed is already something that we have. It's something that we have been given. We are united in Christ, and therefore we are now to live in light of being united in Christ.
Paul calls this unity "the unity of the Spirit." Our unity is a unity in the Spirit and created by the Spirit. The Holy Spirit has been given to each of us, and he creates this unity among the believers.
Now, at times, the church might not seem like it's united, but it is. This is a a real and true unity that exists it's a real And true unity as true and real as our one true god and that's why Paul outlines a foundation of this unity in verses four to six when he says, "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."
Paul is here a sevenfold foundation for our unity sevenfold foundation. And if you're wondering uh if the use of the number seven here is an accident, it's by no means an accident.
We are one because there is indeed one body by the Spirit. Think about that. Think about that right now. The Holy Spirit of God dwells in each and every one of us, and he unifies us or unites us to christ and therefore unites us to each other.
Now, in families, we often appeal to having the same blood flowing through us as that which unites us. How much more do you think we are united by the Spirit? Because even though the same goes blood. is thicker than water the Spirit is thicker than blood and of course the one spirit opens our eyes to the one hope that we have in Jesus Christ. We all have that certain expectation of dwelling with Christ for all eternity.
And what this should remind us, brothers and sisters, is that if we find ourselves in conflict with somebody within the body of Christ, we're going to have to spend all of eternity with each other. We get to spend all of eternity with each other. We might as well set aside those things that so easily divide us today.
And as Paul says here, there is one Lord to which we all owe our allegiance. We share the same faith in Him, the one faith, and we're all sealed with the same sign, baptism. Each of us confess the one true God, and we commonly submit to Him who is over all, through all, and in all.
These are the consequences of this command. It's a real unity, and it's so real that we often have the opportunity of seeing it and experiencing it. And we get to experience this unity anywhere and everywhere we go. Maybe we run into a brother and sister in Christ in the airport as we're traveling. Maybe at the park while we're there with our family. On vacation, a hospital, across the globe, or even at the gym.
I had the wonderful experience of being at the gym. I was in the sauna of all places, and this young girl was reading her Bible in the sauna. And I turned to her and I said, "Is that a Bible?" And she said, "Yes." And I said, "I too love to read my Bible in here. It's fantastic." What an encouragement!
I came across a story this past week and one of the commentaries of a pastor who was teaching in a conference days away from where he lived. And in those days, they traveled much by way of train. And so as the story goes, he was on his way back home, and he's reading his Bible in the train, or on the train. And an old German lady walks over to him and says, "Is that a Bible that you're reading?" And he says, "Yes. It's a it's a Bible. And she says, wait a minute. wait a minute. I will go get my Bible, too, and we will read together." She goes and gets her Bible, comes over and sits down. A few minutes later, a tall Norwegian man comes by. Same thought, same question, same result. So the three of them begin to read their Bibles together every morning on that train.
By the time that pastor reached his destination, the group of three had turned into a group of 28. 28 Christians together who prior to those moments knew nothing of each other.
Now, brothers and sisters in Christ, we might not be strangers to each other because we are a part of the same church. And that might make it a little more difficult for us to fellowship and find unity among each other. It might make it a little bit easier for us to find ourselves in conflict and in disagreement. But the reality still stands: We're united in Christ. We have a wonderful, great calling that has been laid upon us. And we've been called to walk in a manner worthy of that calling together.
Let's pray.
Lord, rich and beautiful truths that you have laid before us. What great reminders to us, Lord, not only of what you have done for us, but how you call us to live collectively together, Lord, as the body of Christ. I pray for each and every one of us here at Escondido URC, Lord, that by your Spirit you would work in each of our hearts to remind us of this command to walk in a manner worthy of the wonderful calling that you have laid upon us, to do so with Jesus Christ, our Lord, in mind, and to do so sacrificially and out of love for our brothers and sisters in Christ. We pray this all in Jesus' name. Amen.