in Jesus name. Amen. Amen. Now we're coming back to the book of Ephesians tonight, Ephesians chapter number four. We recommenced our series in the letter to the Ephesians. And if you were here last week, you'll remember how that we began looking at the second section of the book of Ephesians chapters one to three. really are doctrinal, whereas chapters 4 to 6 are very much practical. Last week we looked at how it's important that we walk the talk, as it were, that we put into practice the things that are revealed to us in chapters one to three, but tonight we're going to read from chapter four, under the heading of the gravity of unity, and let's read from verse number one. Ephesians chapter four, verse one, and Paul says, I, therefore, the prisoner of the Lord, beseech you that you walk worthy of the vocation wherewith ye are called, with all lowliness and meekness, with longsuffering, forbearing one another in love. endeavoring to keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace. There is one body and one Spirit. There is one body and one Spirit, even as ye are called in one hope of your calling, one Lord, one faith, one baptism, one God and Father of all who is above all and through all and in you all. Amen. And we'll end there. at verse number six. Last week, we began this very practical section by really focusing a lot of our time on the word therefore, the importance of that word, how it joins the two parts of this letter together. And we looked last week at the duty of doctrine, what the purpose of doctrine is. And how it is to produce fruit in our lives, is to produce practical outworking, is to be more than just head knowledge, but there's a very practical side as we seek to live out the doctrines of our faith. We noted how that one of the duties of doctrine is to produce notable fruit in our lives, and notably we looked at verse 2, where if we're beginning to walk in the light of the things that have been revealed in chapters 1 to 3, then we will find ourselves walking with loneliness and meekness and long-suffering. We'll be forbearing with one another in love. But as we move on to verse number three, Paul now reveals that the production of this fruit in the lives of individual believers is with one great ultimate aim. And we find it here in verse number three, and that is the keeping of the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace. This is really the great emphasis that Paul puts here at the beginning of chapter number four, as he begins to delve into this subject of unity. Unity and Christian oneness is a subject that's not only close to Paul's heart, writing of it in several of his other letters, particularly to the Corinthians, but of course it was one that was very close to our Lord's heart. The last prayer, one of the last prayers that the Lord prayed, and His most extensive prayer that we have recorded in Scripture, is that of John chapter 17, the great high priestly prayer, where the Lord gets alone with His Father and He begins to pray as Calvary approaches. And one of the great things that the Lord prays for in John chapter 17 in verse number 20, listen to what He says. He says, neither pray I for these alone, that's just His disciples. He says, but for them also which shall believe on me through their word, that's us, and all the other people who become the faith in Christ. And this is what he prays for us. He prays that they all may be one. As thy father art in me and I in thee, that they also may be one in us, that the world may believe that thy hast sent me. The Lord had a heart. and a hunger for His children, those who would believe in His name, to be united with the same unity and taking example from Him and His relationship with His Father. In John chapter 17, as the Lord prays, He prays not just for an outworking of unity, that they all may be one. But he also prays for the outcome from unity, that the world may believe that thou hast sent me. He doesn't just want his children to be united, an outworking of unity, but he prays for the outcome. You see, there's a very valuable outcome, a very important outcome, that when the world sees this unity that exists between this special group of people who are gathered under the name of the Lord, that they might believe there's something different. You know, folks, we must never underestimate the power of a united church in a divided world. This world is divided more than ever. It's divided in every single way, and yet the cry is, is the search for unity. And there's never been unity in this world, and so the Lord prays for the outworking of unity, that all His may be one, so that the outcome, that the world as they look in, in this divided world, they would see this unique, united group of people. They might believe. that there's something different about them. The great man of God who championed revival, Leonard Ravenhill, he said this, He says, you never have to advertise a fire. Everyone comes running when there is a fire. Likewise, if your church is on fire, you will not have to advertise it. The community will already know it. We know that when we see smoke, when we see a fire, it attracts attention. You know, as we think about that in the subject of unity. Unity and division are both fires. One is attractive while the other is destructive. You don't need me to tell you that word spreads very quickly when there's division, bitter division in a church. We know churches that come to mind, and it's been the talk of the town. But also, unity in a church is also the talk of the town. When outsiders look within and they see a oneness, and that's such an important challenge, that unity and division are both fires. They both attract attention. The question is, which kind of fire is burning from our church in Seinfeld? Hopefully, it's the fire of unity. underestimate the gravity of unity. As to where this section here in chapter 4 fits within the larger letter of Ephesians, we can see it best as following on from the teaching of chapter 2. Chapter 3 is largely parenthetical, and it's a chapter mainly of the prayer of Paul. Whereas, chapter 4 is really a practical application of chapter 2. Remember, in chapter 2, the great subject is this creation of this one body in Christ, and all the doctrine concerning that of Jew and Gentile coming together. And so, if we slot chapter 4 in as an extension of chapter 2, really we have chapter 2 as the practical outworking of the doctrine of chapter 2. Number two, we're gonna spend a couple of weeks looking at this subject of unity. This week, we're gonna look at the gravity of unity. Next week, God willing, we're gonna look at the diversity within unity. So first of all, just two things to look at this evening, but plenty to consider. As we consider the gravity of unity, first of all, as we look at verse number three, we see the endeavor that is required in unity. The endeavor that is required in unity. Paul says to all of the believers, endeavoring to keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace. We see here very clearly that unity is something that is to be kept, and shortly we will see how that every Christian has a personal responsibility to maintain unity within the church. However, before we move on and consider our duty, we must first consider what is not our duty. It's important to note that we do not create unity. The church does not create unity. The individual Christian does not create unity. Countless churches go to endless lengths devising plans and programs to try and create unity, all the while that Paul makes it clear in his teaching that the creation of Christian unity is the work of the Spirit. Look at what he says, endeavoring to keep the unity of the Spirit. It's a unity that's already been created. by the Spirit. Listen to what the Apostle Paul says in 1 Corinthians 12 and 13. He says, for by one Spirit we are all baptized into one body, whether we be Jews or Gentiles, whether we be born or free, and have all been all made to drink into one Spirit. When someone is saved, they are united by the Spirit, not just to Christ, but to every Christian. It is the Spirit who creates the indissoluble bond between believers. Whether we like each other or not, we are bound to each other, not by a work of man, but by a work of God. The moment we get saved, we're pleased into the body of Christ by the Spirit, and we're bound to one another by the Spirit. And so this unity is something that's not natural, but supernatural. It's a work of the Spirit. As you know, I began to think about that. You know, Christian unity is something that is miraculous. It's something that's mesmerizing to think that we are part of each other. You know, we pray for, not only for each other, but recently we've been, our hearts have been heavy for believers in Afghanistan. And, you know, we pray for them as believers. But, you know, the amusing thing is we have never met them, but they're brothers and sisters. They're part of the one body. They are part of us. We are part of them. And that's a unity that is indissoluble. It's a unity that has been created by the spirit. We are part of each other. We are one body. And you know, you've probably done it as I have done it. You know, maybe when you go on holidays, not thinking maybe in this country, but if you go on holidays to America or to Spain or somewhere else and you find a local church and you attend there, though you're a stranger, you're among family. And you know, that's something quite amazing, that the Spirit of God has joined each of us together. A. W. Tozer has quite a famous quote on this, and this is what he says, has it ever occurred to you that 100 pianos all tuned to the same fork are automatically tuned to each other? They are of one accord by being tuned, not to each other, but to another standard to which each one must individually buy. And so 100 worshipers meeting together, each one looking away to Christ, are in heart nearer to each other than they could possibly be were they to become unity conscious and turn their eyes away from God to strive for closer fellowship. And I think that's an amazing thought. So often, to create unity, we so often have this idea that we've got to look to each other, and we've got to try and work hard, and yes, there's a part of that, but the greatest form of unity is when we're all looking to Christ. We're all worshiping the one Lord, and we'll come to that in just a moment. And so, the duty then of every Christian, rather than creating it, is to keep and to cultivate the unity of the Spirit. That word keep simply means to guard. It means to keep an eye on. It means to watch over. If you've ever visited the Tower of London and you've seen the crown and the royal jewels, They're so precious that they're guarded. If you ever go into an expensive jewelry shop, there's a man on the door, and he's there to guard the precious jewels that are within it. And you know, unity is something that's been created by the Spirit, but he has asked us to guard it. It's a precious jewel that's to be guarded. You see, while unity between believers can never be broken, it can be blemished. No matter how bitter we are towards someone else, we can never sever the unity that's between us because that's been created by the Spirit. But while that unity can never be broken, we will always be brothers and sisters. It can be blemished. Division within the church has done untold damage to its unity. Maybe it's done untold damage to your heart. Maybe this is a painful subject where you have been on the receiving end of a church split. And it's painful when the unity is not guarded, where the devil gets in and is allowed to divide. And, you know, down through the years, division within the church has done untold damage to its unity. It has harmed the church internally, and it has hidden the church externally. Remember what the Lord Jesus said in John 13 and 35. He says, by this shall all men know that you are my disciples if you have love one to another. But when we flip that around, let me put that another way, by this shall all men wonder if you are my disciples, if you're hating one another. Isn't that so challenging? By this shall all men know that you're my disciples if you've loved one to another, if you're striving to guard unity. But on the flip side, the opposite of that is by this shall all men wonder, could they really be the disciples of Christ? Because all I see is hatred towards one another, fighting towards one another, coldness. But what a challenge this subject is, and when we think of division, you know, really there are two roots of division. Now, I know these are challenging things, but we all have a duty to guard the unity in this church, because it can happen to any church. What are the two roots of division? Well, first of all, there will be division when there is an absence of the virtues of verse number two. Remember what there is in verse number two, or verse one, let's read for context. I therefore, the prisoner of the Lord, beseech you that you walk worthy of the vocation wherewith you were called, with all lowliness and meekness, with longsuffering, forbearing one another in love. When there is an absence of the virtues of verse number two, it's not gonna be long before division comes. When selfishness replaces selflessness, When one-sidedness overpowers oneness. When insistence displaces compliance. And that's a massive one. When I insist on getting my way and having church run my way, instead of maybe complying with what everybody else wants, and I'm determined I'm going to get my way, whether it divides the church or not. It's an absence of the virtues of verse number two. Another route of division is not only the absence, or sorry, let me give you what John MacArthur says, and this is really, really challenging. He says, as long as self is at the center, as long as our feelings, prestige, and rights are our chief concern, there will never be unity. There will be division when there's an absence of the virtues of verse two, but there will also be division when there's a departure from the doctrines of verses four to six. We're gonna look at that in a moment. But these doctrines that are set out for us, that there is one body, there's one spirit, even as you're called, there's one hope of your calling, there's one Lord, there's one faith, there's one baptism, there's one God and father of all who is above all and through all and in you all. And you know, very much the focus of those three verses is upon the Lord, is upon God, is upon the spirit. And so when there's a departure from these things, when there's a losing sight of these things, when there's a departure from these doctrines, when there's sales within a church championing certain viewpoints to the point of creating intolerant divisive rivalry. You know when there's those who are determined they're going to go completely against the grain and they're going to champion a certain thing or champion a certain idea. I remember this happening in a church that the church predominantly stood for one thing. There was a little splinter cell that formed and they were going to champion a whole different thing. And it caused a complete split within the church because they forgot this. This is, of course, is what happened in Corinth. Just turn over with me to Corinthians chapter number one. First Corinthians and chapter number one. This is probably the most famous case of this ever happening in 1 Corinthians chapter one in the infancy of the church. The church was created with Christ as its head. But listen to what happened. As Paul heard reports in 1 Corinthians chapter 1, there was a departure from the doctrines of verses 4 to 6 of Ephesians chapter 4. Listen to what Paul says in verse number 10 of 1 Corinthians 1. He says, now, I beseech you, brethren, by the name, and that's really important, not by his own name, but by the name of our Lord Jesus Christ that you all speak the same thing. that there be no divisions among you, but that ye be perfectly joined together in the same mind and in the same judgment. For it hath been declared unto me of you, my brethren, by them which are of the house of Chloe, that there are some contentions among you. Now this I say, that every one of you saith, I am of Paul, and I am of Apollos, and I am of Cephas, and I am of Christ. Is Christ divided? Was Paul crucified for you? Or were you baptized in the name of Paul. Now, when you marry up verses 10 through to 13 of 1 Corinthians 1 and you set them over, Ephesians 4 verses 4 to 6, there's a departure away from one Lord and one Spirit and one God and all of these things. There was all these splinterings into, well, I'm of Paul and I'm of Cephas and I'm of Apollos. And there was like four or five groups within this one church. And Paul says, ultimately what has happened, he says, is you've all departed from Christ. Ruth Paxson puts it like this, division is due also to the attitude which makes one hopelessly intolerant of another. who differs with him on any point of either major or minor importance, even on points of doctrine about which equally spiritual or scholarly teachers do not see alike, as, for instance, the meaning of the baptism with the Holy Spirit or some phases of Advent truth. Those who are guilty of thus breaking the unity of the Spirit invariably justify themselves by claiming to be contenders for the faith, when they may be contending only for their own private interpretation, or for some tradition of their denomination, or even for their own opinion. All such people need to be saturated with the truth of Ephesians. Folks, I have some really close friends and colleagues and fellow pastors, and we are on completely different pages theologically. But we get together and we pray together and we read together and we fellowship together because first and foremost, we're brothers in the Lord. And it's easy to be brought up that Unless somebody believes X, Y, and Z, and sees Scripture the way I see it, and goes to this kind of church, then we don't fellowship with them because they're the enemy. That's not keeping the spirit of unity in the bond of peace. We may not agree with people, but if they're genuinely saved, then there are brothers and sisters in the Lord. Knowing all this, then, is what led Paul to exhort the Ephesians to be those who endeavor to keep unity. That word endeavor is in the in the present tense, and it means to be constantly or to be continually. It's not a one-off thing or a try now and then, but to be constantly diligent, to be constantly zealous, to be making every effort continually into keeping the unity of the Spirit. You know, here's a big one. Unity is not up to everyone else to maintain. Isn't it easy to say, well, you know, it's not me, it's them. But the way Paul puts it, it's an individual thing. It's up to each one of us. The responsibility is laid at every individual's feet to keep the unity of the spirit in the bond of peace. And while we will not see everything alike nor agree on every point of our faith, Paul said in Romans 14 and 19, let us therefore follow after the things which make for peace and things were with one may edify another. You know what a challenge that it should be our burning desire, our zeal, our earnest passion to build up one another rather than tear one another down. to seek to be at peace rather than at war. Yet, sadly, there are Christians who, rather than endeavoring to keep unity, always seem to be the ones set on creating disunity, only ever seeing faults with others, only ever seeing others being in the wrong, can never disagree without causing disunity, always on a warpath. But you know, Paul addressed those kinds of people in Romans 16 and 17. And this is what he said, "'Now I beseech you, brethren, mark them which cause divisions and offenses contrary to the doctrine which ye have learned.'" And what does he say to do with them? He says to avoid them. Now, of course, unity does not mean uniformity or conformity. We are gonna look at that next time. The very Godhead teaches us that there is perfect unity, yet at the same time there is diversity. There's one God in three distinct persons. Rather, what is the idea of unity? Well, the idea of unity is unanimity. It's the idea of harmony. Of course, unity was one of the foundations of the early church in Acts 2 and 44. We read these words, Now it's hard to compare ourselves to Pentecost because that was a really special time when God done something new. But we can't help but notice what incredible power existed and what incredible blessing was experienced at Pentecost. And I believe one of the main reasons that not only was because there was a great pouring out of the Spirit of God, but I believe it's because there is an existence of unity and humility. And of course, God has promised that's one of the fruits of unity. In Psalm 133 in verse one, the psalmist says, Behold, how good and how pleasant it is for brethren to dwell together in unity. Why? For there the Lord commands the blessing. Well, what blessing? What power there is where there's unity. You know, someone has said one grasshopper seems insignificant as it leaps across the lawn. But when it joins forces with other grasshoppers, the resulting swarm can soon devour all the vegetation in its path. What they cannot do by themselves, they can accomplish together. And you know one of the amazing things about grasshoppers? as they're mentioned in the scriptures in Proverbs 30 and verse 27. This is what it says, the locusts or the grasshoppers have no king, yet they go forth all of them by band. In other words, they go forth in ranks. They see themselves as equals. Nobody vying for position. Nobody attacking another. We go forward in bands, in ranks. And what a lesson we can learn from grasshoppers. What a reminder it is that believers can make far greater advances for the cause of Christ when we act and pray together than we could ever do it alone. The reality is when Christians are united in serving the Lord, we become a mighty force for God. Oh, we see the endeavor that's required in unity. How that it's not created by us, but it's to be guarded by us. It's to be our continual desire, and we're to be fervent in seeking to keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace. There's an individual responsibility. But not only does Paul speak of the endeavor that's required in unity, but Paul also speaks of the exemplifications that are revealed for unity. Now, we're not going to get through all of this tonight, so we'll see how far we get, and then we'll leave it there. But Paul here, in verses 4 to 6, sets out some exemplifications. Now, what is an exemplification? And this word actually sums up exactly what Paul does here. Exemplifications are what make definitions meaningful. So I have given you the definition of unity, I've told you what it is. And Paul then sets out seven exemplifications, seven features, seven subjects of oneness. He sets out seven things that give us an exemplification, that give us a foundation, that give us something to look at if we want to know what unity is. And you know each of these seven things. form each of our individual foundations, and thus could be seen as the seven seeds from which unity is born. Now, while Paul does not delve into the details of each of these, he just kind of lists them and moves on, it's clear to see that each verse relates to one member of the Trinity. Have you noticed that? If you look at the verses, you'll see that verse four, the subject is the one Holy Spirit, And connected to the Holy Spirit is one body and one hope. In verse five, the spotlight is on the one son. Connected to him is one faith and one baptism. And then in verse six, the focus is on the one father who is above all, through all, and in you all. And you know this amazing thing that Paul does is he turns to the Trinity. One God in three persons, and yet there's perfect unit. So let's look at these exemplifications together. We'll probably just get the Holy Spirit on and then we'll leave it there. First of all, the exemplifications of the Holy Spirit. Verse number four, Paul says, there is one body and one spirit, even as ye are called in one hope of your calling. First thing we see is there is one body. What is that? That one body is the true church. of Jesus Christ. That's what the one body is. Though there are thousands of congregations and there are hundreds of denominations, there is but one church. There is but one church. Though there's thousands of congregations and hundreds of denominations, This one church was, as we have seen in chapters one to three, it was thought out in eternity. It was born out of Christ, it was chosen out of the nations, and it's being rolled out through the ages. Do you know, folks, we need to remember, and I've already sort of intimated this earlier on, we need to remember that we are part of one church. But you know, it's amazing to think, and well, I don't think this is gonna be the case, certainly don't find it in Scripture, but somehow I don't think there's gonna be denominational booths in heaven. I'm not quite sure the Presbyterians are gonna sit in one bit, and then the Baptists, and then the Brethren, and then the Methodists, and the Elohim. I'm not just quite sure that's how heaven's split up. You see, there is but one church, and that's something that has been created by the Holy Spirit. There's a oneness, and we need to remember that there's a unity found in being part of one body. But not only does he speak of one body, but he speaks of one Spirit. There is only one Holy Spirit. There's not several Spirits, there's one Spirit. And this one Spirit, the Holy Spirit, it is him who unifies the church. And how does he do it? By indwelling every believer. When you think of Pentecost, What happened at Pentecost? The Spirit descended and formed the church. Remember how the Spirit used to come upon people for certain purposes and then leave them? But Pentecost, that all changed. Because the Spirit didn't come upon just select individuals for a certain period of time, but here were 120 individuals. And they may have been united, kind of in a, you know, we're sticking together, we're kind of And I use this sort of very flippantly, but they're all part of the one club, and here they are, and they're all following the Lord, but really there was nothing inside that bound them together. They had one faith, as it were. But these 120 individuals are sitting together, and they're praying together. But then all of a sudden, something unique happens. They are all at the one time, they're baptized by the Spirit, and these 120 diverse people of men and women, older people, younger people, widows, widowers, disciples, ordinary people, these 120 individuals suddenly become one unified body, And what changed? They suddenly all became indwelled by the Spirit. And you know, that's still the scene today. Today, believers, every single one of us, we're the temple of the Holy Spirit. And as temples of the Holy Spirit individually, we are being fitly framed together by the Spirit, as Paul says in Ephesians chapter number 2. And we're being fitly framed together by the Spirit, and we grow onto a holy temple in the Lord. It's the Spirit within us that binds us together and helps the body to grow. Just as the Spirit is the one that unifies the church, then we can say that disunity arises when the Spirit is grieved or quenched. When we grieve the Spirit or we quench the Spirit, then it won't be long before disunity arises. Final thing in verse number four under This verse, this exemplification through the Holy Spirit, we have one body and we have one spirit, and then Paul speaks of one hope. And what is this? Well, this is the spirit working in each of us to one ultimate end goal, something that unites all of us. What is that one end goal? The hope of eventually being fully conformed to Christ-like perfection, Romans 8 and 29. We read this, that for whom he did foreknow, he also did predestinate. To what? To be conformed to the image of his Son. Now, I think this is amazing. If you don't, that's okay. But I began to think about this. The Spirits that work in my life, the Spirits that work in your life, and the Spirits that work in different ways. And the Spirit's leading you, and the Spirit's leading me, and the Spirit's convicting me about certain things, and He's maybe convicting you about something else, and the Spirit's at work in all different ways in each of our lives. But you know the amazing thing is the Spirit is working to the same end goal. Is that not incredible? That because we are all different, and we've all different gifts and abilities, the Spirit of God is working in us. in all different ways, all at different times. But ultimately, we're united because He's working to the one end goal in us all. So as we yield to the Spirit, and as we walk with the Spirit, and we follow the leading of the Spirit, ultimately what's going to happen, we're going to become more conformed to the image of Christ. And at the end of it all, we each have one hope. that that sanctification which the Spirit is at work in each of us progressively day by day is going to culminate in heaven when we're with the Lord and we're like the Lord. You know, we're all gonna end up the same way, perfectly conformed to the image of Christ. And you know, this one hope of our calling should unite us knowing that whatever we're going through, whatever stage we're at, where you don't know what's going on, but others can see the Spirit of God at work, you can identify. There's a unity created, because even though you're not going through the same thing, but you know what's happening in that person's life. Just as you knew what God was doing in your life, that the Spirit is working out this hope in each of our lives of conforming us. to the image of Christ. I think we'll leave it there tonight. We've looked at the endeavor that's required in unity, the exemplifications that are revealed for unity, and we've seen that through the spirit, there's one body, one spirit, one hope of our calling, and each of those things creates unity in us. Next time, we'll go on a little bit further. We'll look at the exemplifications of the son, of how there's one Lord, one faith, one baptism, and then the Father, one God and Father of us all, who's above all and through all and in you all, and then we'll move on and look at the diversity within unity. But may the Lord bless His word and help us to endeavor to keep that spirit of unity. Let's stand together and sing before we come to pray. Oh, for a thousand tongues to sing, my great Redeemer's praise, the glories of my God and King, the triumphs of His grace.