We've been looking at Ephesians, and I mentioned last week that we have reached the end of chapter three, and it's a halfway point through the letter, and it is, practically speaking, there's six chapters in the book, or the letter, but it's also a midpoint, as it was, with the writing of the letter. Paul, he has concluded chapter three with this big climax in verses 20 and 21, Let's read those just for introduction. He says, now unto him that is able to do exceeding abundantly above all that we ask or think according to the power that worketh in us, unto him be glory in the church by Christ Jesus throughout all ages, world without end. Amen. And we've talked about and looked at the previous chapters, especially in chapters three and chapter two, Paul was describing this great mystery, the church, and not just the church and the church age, but this union that has been made possible through Christ that beforehand was impossible. There was prejudices, there was racism, and there was physical barriers between the Jews and the Gentiles, and they kept those lines divided, that they were deep lines, and that there was just a deep division between those two groups of people. And they never would come together as it were. It was, you know, the thing of the Samaritan woman there in John chapter four, and she was part Jew and part Gentile. And the Samaritans were despised by both groups of people. If you were Samaritan, you weren't a Jew, you weren't a Gentile. You were the worst of the worst. And that kind of vision had been there all along, all through the ages. And we see that through Jewish history. And now Christ has brought us all together as one body in Christ. Those who receive His gift of salvation, we're made one in Christ. One with God and one with one another in the body of Christ. And Paul, he expresses desire in chapter three, the end of chapter three, how he desired for them to know the love of Christ. And then verses 20 and 21 that we just read, he is praising God, but at the same time he is pointing out who it is that is able to do this great thing. As he's pointing out that he desires for them to know Christ and the love of Christ in every measurable way, He says, it is God that's able to make you know the love of Christ. He says, unto him that is able to do exceeding abundantly above all that we ask or think. What did Paul just ask? He'd ask that they would know the depth, the height, the breadth, the love of Christ that surpasses knowledge. He says, he is the one who's able to make that knowledge known to you. He is the one who's able to work in you And then he not only points out God's power, and it's God's power in their life that can do this, but he gives him praise. He says, unto him the glory and the church by Christ Jesus. And that's the whole purpose behind Paul pointing this out. He says, we want to bring praise and glory and honor to the Lord Jesus Christ in his church. His body that the body believers. He's left here on this earth. We want him to get glory and honor through our lives He says that's the purpose of this this letter. That's the purpose of why we are left here on earth is to give him glory and honor throughout all ages So then verse 4 our chapter 4 now He begins a different section and he's going to begin to make this more practical He's taught them who we are in Christ and we'll look again at chapter 1 here just a moment He's going to reference some of the things he mentioned in chapter one. He's talking about who we are in Christ. He's talking about who we are as the body of Christ. And now he's going to tell us how we ought to demonstrate that in our lives. He says, I therefore the prisoner of the Lord beseech you that you walk worthy of the vocation wherewith ye are called. He says, I beseech you And that's that word to beg, to exhort. He's calling them out for a decision. He says, I want you to do something here. I want you to take some action and implement some things in your life to change what you're doing in your lifestyle. What I'm getting ready to tell you ought to change some of your behavior. It ought to change the way you act, the way you talk, what you do in the workplace, in your home. He says, this is going to have some effect on your life. He says, I beseech you that you walk worthy, that you walk. Now, he's not talking about just how you walk and our footsteps and where we go, although that's part of it, but he's talking about how we conduct our life, how we conduct our life. And another similar word, it's not the same word, but a similar word that Paul used sometimes and others in Scripture is conversation. And conversation is not speaking of just the words we say, but it's speaking of our conduct and our lifestyle. And he's saying, you ought to walk, you ought to live worthy of the vocation wherewith ye are called. So there's a, he's speaking of our conduct here, but then he's also speaking of a calling. He says the vocation wherewith ye are called. Now what vocation have we been called to? What calling do we have in Christ? Let's look back at chapter one, just turn a page over. And a few months ago, three or four months ago probably, we began looking at chapter one and learning who we are in Christ. And that's the calling he's speaking of. He's not speaking of a calling of Some are saved and called to be saved and not saved. We just talked about that in Sunday school. He's talking about what we are called, those who will receive Christ, the benefits that they are now allowed to enjoy as believers in Christ. Look at Ephesians in verse four. It says, according as ye have chosen in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and without blame before him in love. We've been chosen as those who receive Christ and His gift of salvation to be holy and without blame before Him in love. Look at verse five. Having predestined us unto the adoption of children by Jesus Christ according to the good pleasure of His will. Look at verse eight. wherein he hath abounded toward us in all wisdom and prudence, having made known unto us the mystery of his will, according to his good pleasure, which he hath purposed in himself. Paul's saying, as believers in Christ, you have been chosen to receive all wisdom and prudence of God." All that God has chosen to give man, He's made available now to you. And He's made that available to us through His Word. Amen? He's given us the Holy Spirit to help us interpret His Word, and He's given us the Word of God whereby we can live. He says, you've been given all wisdom and prudence from God Almighty. And It's available to every man, but those of us who are saved, those of us who have chosen Christ, we have the Spirit of God living within us to then interpret that word and understand that word. And so, that's something, that's a privilege we have in Christ. Look at verses 13 and 14, chapter one. In whom ye also trusted, after that ye heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation, and whom also after that you believed, you were sealed with that Holy Spirit of promise, which is the earnest of our inheritance, unto the redemption of the purchased possession, unto the praise of His glory." Not only have we received the wisdom, not only have we been chosen to be holy and without blame before Him, but we've received that down payment, the earnest of our inheritance, the Holy Spirit of promise. Everyone who's received Christ has been given the Holy Spirit living with them. We don't get saved and then get baptized in the Spirit later. No, it all happens at one moment. The moment we receive Christ, we receive His Holy Spirit. And so, Paul now, back in chapter four, he says, you've received all those things. You've been chosen as a believer in Christ to be holy and without blame before Him. When God sees us, He doesn't see our sin anymore. Amen? He sees us as holy and without blame. That's our position in Christ before God in heaven. We've been given all wisdom and prudence from God the Father. We've been given the Holy Spirit to help us interpret His wisdom and understand His word. He says, that's your calling. Now walk worthy of it. Walk worthy of it. We've been given a high and holy calling to be holy. That's how God sees us. And yet that's not how we are in our everyday life, is it? I know it's not for me. It's a high and a holy calling. And Paul here, he is exhorting us to make who we are positionally in Christ, make that our practice in everyday life. He says, who God says you are, who God has made you in Christ, now make that who you are in your everyday practice, in everyday life. Let your life demonstrate who you are in Christ. He's exhorting us to walk worthy of our calling. How are we gonna do that? Verse two then, he gives us some prerequisites as to how we do this. He says, with all lowliness and meekness, with long-suffering for bearing one another in love." He's given us this petition to be holy, to walk worthy, and now he tells us how we can do that. He says, with all lowliness. The word lowliness here is an old English word that just means to have a low view of oneself. Speaking of humility, of humility, you know, If we're gonna walk worthy of our vocation, we're gonna exalt Christ, and we're not gonna have a high evaluation of ourself. We're not gonna be going around and talking about bragging about ourselves, or promoting our own ideas. We're gonna have a low evaluation of who we are, because we're gonna recognize who we are in Christ, that He is everything, and that everything that we have is because of Christ. that He is the wisdom and He is the down payment. He is the earnest of our inheritance. He is our eternal life. He is our holiness. He is our forgiveness. And so we need to have an attitude of humility. He says, with all lowliness, not just lowliness, He says, and meekness, and meekness. You know, the thing about meekness, I think about, of course, the Lord Jesus. The Lord Jesus had, He told us in Matthew, I am meek and lowly. The Lord was meek and lowly. And yet, He was not without strength. As I was studying these verses, I thought about the fruits of the Spirit we've just covered the past few weeks in Sunday school. And one of them being meekness. And meekness is often identified with weakness in the world, isn't it? When someone is characterized as being meek, it's thought, well, they're not very strong. They don't have a very strong personality. They're a pushover, maybe, that you can get away with things easily with them because they don't stand up for themselves. And yet, the Lord Jesus said that he himself was meek and lowly. The Lord Jesus wasn't weak by any definition of the word. He could command the seas. He could feed 5,000 with just five loaves and two fishes. He could command anything in this world to do as he desired it to do. And yet he humbled himself and became a servant to do the will of the Father. Look at Philippians chapter two. Philippians chapter two. and verse five. Flipping to verse five, it says, with this mind being you, which was also in Christ Jesus, who being in the form of God, thought it not robbery to be equal with God, but made himself of no reputation, and took upon him the form of a servant, and was made in the likeness of men. And being found in fashion as a man, he humbled himself, and became obedient unto death, even the death of the cross. The Lord Jesus was by no means a weak man. I've read medical reports of how they estimate some of the things the Lord endured on the cross. And their findings, of course, they're making assumptions on all of this, but trying to go by some of the historical evidence they found for the crucifixions and things that the Romans would do. And just to bear the weight of the cross and to endure the physical afflictions that he endured, he was by no means a weak man. He had to be a strong man physically. But his strength was not just physical, it was divine. And we see that in his miracles and how he He commanded demons and he commanded the sicknesses to leave bodies and he could touch blinded eyes and they'd be healed. He could command the dead to come from the grave. And yet, Philippians 2 tells us that he humbled himself and became a servant even to the death of a cross. The nails didn't hang the Lord Jesus there on the cross. He put himself there. And up until his last dying breath, he was in total control of everything he did. He was a meek man. He was the epitome of meekness as the God-man. And meekness does not mean that someone is weak and that they're necessarily a pushover. No, it means that they have the ability, and yet that ability is in control, that they have restrained themselves. And Paul, he's saying here in Ephesians 4 that if we're going to walk worthy, We're gonna be men and women of people that have restraint. Men and women that we may have opportunity to lash out, to retaliate maybe. We may have opportunity to do things that we desire to do in the flesh, but we're gonna have self-restraint. And not just self-restraint, but true spiritual meekness. It's gonna take the fruits of the spirit. It's going to take living in the Spirit in order to walk worthy of this vocation, but it's going to take meekness. It's going to take some restraint. It's going to take meekness and lowliness, humility. And then he says, with long-suffering. With long-suffering. When you think of long-suffering, and that's another one of those fruits of the Spirit that we looked at, it's the capacity of self-restraint in the face of provocation, in the face of provocation. It's one thing to restrain yourself because you desire to meet a goal, or you've got the positive peer pressure around you, you've got other believers saying, yeah, we're going to live for God, we're going to do what's right, and we're not going to give in to sin, we're not going to give in to the lust of our flesh, whatever the situation may be. And that is meekness. But it takes it a step further to being long-suffering. to exhibit self-restraint even when the peer pressure is against you. Even when the people at work say, just give in. Even when the devil is making you doubt that it's really worth it. And you are enduring the trials and the afflictions. Paul, he says, it's going to take some long suffering. It's going to take some meekness. It's going to take some humility if we are going to walk worthy of this vocation. if we're gonna walk worthy of what we've been called to be in Christ. Then he says, forbearing one another in love. Forbearing, it has the idea of putting up with, putting up with. You know, there are times that there may not be a reason that we can find in the Bible that we don't like something, it may be a personality. It may be somebody's personality. It may be a quirk they did. It may be some idiom that they have. And we say, you know, that just really bugs me. Paul, he says, forbear one another. Forbear one another. And we're gonna see why he's pointing all this out here in verse three. But it's gonna take some forbearance. He says, forbear one another in love, in love. There are times that personalities may not mesh like we hope they will, but we need to forbear one another in love. We need to put aside our differences for the cause of Christ. And he's not speaking here of any doctrinal issues or anything like that. He's talking about the everyday practical living, the things that just really Rub your fur the wrong way, so to speak. He says, let them rub. Just endure, forbear, put up with it. Because the cause of Christ is greater. The cause of Christ and the will of God is more important than our preferences, our personalities, what we enjoy or don't enjoy. He says it's time to lay those things aside. It's time to focus on the work that God has for us to do. And he says, it's going to take. It's going to take some weakness. It's going to take some restraint. It's going to take some long suffering. It's going to take some humility, some lowering of one's self-opinion, your evaluation of yourself. It's going to take us focusing on Christ and living in the Spirit. Verse three then, he says, endeavoring to keep the unity of the Spirit and the bond of peace. He's given us some prerequisites as to how we do this. Now he's telling us what we need to do. This is the practice of it. We need to endeavor to keep the unity. Endeavor. The word endeavor here, it means to make haste, to exert oneself, to give diligence. And look at 2 Timothy chapter two. This was interesting to me as I studied this. Turn with me. Hold your place here, but turn over to 2 Timothy chapter two and verse 15. 2 Timothy two. Verse 15, it says, study to show thyself approved unto God. The word study is the same word for endeavoring in chapter four. We are to give diligence, to make haste, to study to keep the unity of the Spirit. Paul, he's saying, I know this is gonna be hard. I realize I'm dealing with human beings here. But this is what Christ has called us to. He has made us one body in Christ. Lord willing, next week we'll look at it. He's gonna elaborate this unity that we've been given in Christ in the next following verses. But he says, God has called us out to be one body. And think back to this time period. He's talking about Jews and Gentiles. And outside of Christ, they hated each other. They literally fought against each other and despised one another. They sought to kill one another. And he says that now you are one in Christ. And it's gonna take, again, humility and meekness. And it's gonna take some forbearance. But we need to endeavor to do this. We need to be diligent about this. We need to just take this half-heartedly. We need to really work at this church. He says we've got a job to do and it's to preserve the unity that God has given us. God has made us one in Christ. He wants it to remain that way. He says we need to endeavor. We need to, as it were, study out how to keep the unity. How do we study to keep the unity? We need to find out what it is that maybe we've got something of preference. Maybe we've got a quirk about us that really gets on somebody's nerves. And maybe we just ask every now and then, hey, is there anything that bothers you about me? Am I coming across as offensive in this way? Because I'm sure I don't want to be. Is there anything about me that you feel like hinders my testimony? That hinders my public testimony? Is there something that maybe is a stumbling block in another person's life? in another brother or sister's life, and we are learning how to keep that unity. We are endeavoring, we're studying that out. We are endeavoring to keep the unity. We're gonna have to endeavor, but not only do we endeavor, but he says, endeavoring to keep the unity. This word keep has the idea of guarding something, like a garrison. It's interesting here, he doesn't say, that we need to make the unity. He's not talking about being ecumenical and we're giving up major doctrines of the Word of God here, we're becoming liberal in our thinking and such, and we're aligning ourselves with other denominations and such. No, he's not talking about that kind of unity. This is a unity that was given to us by the Spirit of God. This is a unity that we've been placed in Christ and that we are brothers and sisters. He says, it's something you already have. Now guard it. Don't let Satan come in and divide you up and tear you apart and as he would warn the church at Corinth, to cause confusion. He says, we've got to guard the unity. We've got to guard it and protect it. Because that's how Christ has designed us. that we would work together. Here when he says to keep the unity in the bond of peace, obviously it's the unity of the Spirit. We're all born of the Spirit of God, and that's where we find this harmony, this unity, it's in the Spirit of God. But then he says in the bond of peace. That word bond is the same word used transliterated in our English language is the same word for a ligament of the body. He's saying in the same way that the human body, the joints and the bones come together and the ligaments is that cushion between the bones and makes the body work together to where the fingers can work with the hand and work with the arm and it all works together to accomplish the one goal that you have set out for it to do. He says that's the same way the church is supposed to work. That's the same way that the body is supposed to work together. All those joints and bones are bonded together, fulfilling the work of God. In one unified effort, we accomplish the work of God. He says, endeavor to keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace. He says the bond of peace And it makes me think of the verse, I believe it's in Colossians, where it says, He is our peace. Christ is our peace. How are we gonna have that unity? How are we gonna have that bonding, if you will, by focusing on Christ? Focusing on Christ. And as we fulfill these things that Paul has instructed us in the Holy Spirit, has given us to do, do His Word, that with lowliness and meekness and long-suffering, we forbear one another and we learn of one another how to keep the unity. We guard it. Together we can accomplish the work of God. You know, if your wrist didn't work together with your hand and your fingers to do what you told it to do, you would really have a mess on your hands. You wouldn't be able to grab hold of anything. You wouldn't be able to write anything or type anything. You wouldn't be able to do much of anything. If the wrist was constantly trying to do what your foot does, if the wrist was trying to do what your nose does, and on and on you could go, it takes one unified effort. It takes harmony. But together we can accomplish the work of God. We can grasp the work of God and see it accomplished. if we work together, if we'll be of this mindset, as Paul wrote to the Philippians, this mind that was in Christ Jesus, let this mind be in you, this same mind, that same mindset, that spirit, the Holy Spirit of God, he's born within us. Will Adam have control? Allow him to bear his fruit in our life. We can accomplish the work of God together as a church. Lord, I do thank you for these verses, and Lord, thank you for the instructions you've given us. Lord, thank you for the unity that we have, first of all, with you, that we can be saved, and that, Lord, we can stand before you redeemed, justified, and forgiven, Lord. Lord, not only are we at one with our Lord and our Savior, but we can be at one with one another, and we can know a fellowship and a harmony that is truly supernatural on this earth, that, Lord, goes beyond even the bonds of our own family. Lord, we thank you for that unity and help us to protect it, to guard it. And Lord, help us have the mindset of, Lord, that you have here on this earth. Lord, we wouldn't be wrapped up in our own agendas and ambitions and our own preferences, but Lord, we would seek your will out and Lord, seek to accomplish your will together as the body of Christ. We ask it in Jesus' name, amen. I ask Ian and Dora to come forward and we'll just sing probably one verse of a closing hymn. But as they get ready to do that, Just ask you a few questions. And have your heads bowed and eyes closed for just a moment before we sing. I want to ask if there's anyone this morning you'd say, Pastor, what you've preached, that the Word of God has spoken to my heart this morning. And I just desire that the Lord would help me to be the child of God that I ought to be. That I would have the mind of Christ. and that I wouldn't allow my agenda, my prerogatives to get in the way of the work of God. And I'd like for you to pray for me. If there's anyone like that and you desire for me to pray for you, you slip up your hand and I'll definitely mention you in prayer this morning. All right. I'll have you see the hand, and I'll have a word of prayer, and then we'll have a human invitation. And the altar is always open if you feel the need to come forward. You certainly are welcome to. Lord, we thank you for your word, and Lord, thank you for how you've spoken to hearts. Lord, for these that raised their hands, I pray that you would help them, Lord. Help them to have the mind of Christ. That, Lord, we would be able to work together in the unity of the spirit to accomplish your work as a church. We thank you again for working in hearts today. Thank you for your work. In Jesus' name, amen. All right, Brother Ian. ♪ I'll never let you go, I'll never let you go ♪ ♪ Never let you go, I'll never let you go ♪ ♪ Never let you go, I'll never let you go ♪ There's no shame in the fact that it's a dream. I wish I could say it's a dream, but can't help but think I'm trying to be free. Can't help but think, can't help but think, can't help but think, can't help but think I'm trying. And after that, can't really find what led you to come to town. It's time to call it a day. I think I made a mistake. Let's talk soon, but not for too long. Can't wait to get to say goodbye to you. Can't help it, but I'm tired of you. Brother Ian, would you close us in prayer? I thank you, Lord God. I thank you, Lord God, that I live. I thank you, Lord God, that I live. I thank you, Lord God, that I live. I thank you, Lord God, that I live. I thank you, Lord God, that I live. I thank you, Lord God, that I live. I thank you, Lord God, that I live. I thank you, Lord God, that I live. I thank you, Lord God, that I live. I thank you, Lord God, that I live. I thank you, Lord God, that I live. I thank you, Lord God, that I live. I thank you, Lord God, that I live. I thank you, Lord God, that I live. I thank you, Lord God, that I live. I thank you, Lord God, that I live. I thank you, Lord God, that I live. I thank you, Lord God, that I live. I thank you, Lord God, that I He described it. Finally, he described it, but he didn't describe it. So, we look to Christ. Now, there is a simple thing in time. There is a close relationship between man and God. When you ask him, he will tell you about it. He will tell you. He will tell you. so so