West Greeley Baptist Church
June 10th 2001
“The Effort That Unifies”
Ephesians 4:1-3
By Pastor Mark Hensley
“As a prisoner for the Lord, then, I urge you to live a life worthy of the calling you have received. 2Be completely humble and gentle; be patient, bearing with one another in love. 3Make every effort to keep the unity of the Spirit through the bond of peace.” Ephesians 4:1-3
Introduction: Mickey is a 41year old store manager, married with two children from Texas. Asked why he would rather sleep in on Sundays than attend church he replied:
“ About 10 years ago my wife and I began attending a church, but then it split over some controversy that didn’t seem important to us. In fact it was so insignificant that I can’t even remember what it was. We stayed with the original group for about a year. They bickered over this and that and kept comparing themselves to the split-away church that seemed to be growing. One day I just got fed up. I felt like we were in high school arguing over who had the best team. It just felt so juvenile.
Finally we joined another church but somehow nothing about it really compelled us to go on a regular basis. When we came after a few weeks away, no one
said “Hey we missed you” I don’t even think they noticed.
Of course, I admit we weren’t saying that to anyone else either. Anyway, we finally drifted away and decided it was enough to talk to God when beginning our
dinner a practice we have continued as a family”
Transition: Unity is precious to the church a lack of unity and disharmony creates an oppressive atmosphere. And too many Godly and good people have left the organized Church because of the childlike, temper tantrum throwing conduct of adults!
Snowflakes are one of nature’s most fragile things, but just look at what they can do when they stick together. Vesta Kelly.
With a desire that we continue to stick together maintaining unity in this dear church I want to talk to you today about “The effort that unifies”
Ephesians 4: 1-3
“As a prisoner for the Lord, then, I urge you to live a life worthy of the calling you have received. 2Be completely humble and gentle; be patient, bearing with one another in love. 3Make every effort to keep the unity of the Spirit through the bond of peace.” Ephesians 4:1-3
The “Effort that unifies” results in our:
Living worthy lives
Being humble, gentle, patient and loving
Making every effort to keep unity of the Spirit
I. Living worthy lives:
“As a prisoner for the Lord, then, I urge you to live a life worthy of the calling you have received.
*Paul visited Ephesus a total of five times. He first saw the city at the close of his second missionary journey, sometime around 51 AD. He remained only long enough to keep the feast of Pentecost, then continued on his travels. He left two of his disciples behind, Aqulia and Priscilla, to attend to the missionary work.
The second time Paul mentions Ephesus,(is in the context of our study today) he stayed for three years. He was very successful at spreading the word, so successful that "all they which dwelt in Asia heard the word of the Lord Jesus, both Jews and Greeks" (Acts 19:10). Seven churches were formed, often called the Church’s of the Apocalypse. When he finally left the city, it was with a heavy heart, which accounts for the moving good-bye written to the people of Ephesus in Acts.
*John Cotton & Melissa Warren
*It was here that he preached his famous sermons calling upon the hearers to embrace the faith in one God. He taught that God had no need of a house made with human hands and that he was present in all places at all times. This was all greatly resented by the craftsmen who had amassed great wealth from their production of statues of Artemis in gold, silver or other materials.
Secular history records that a silversmith by the name of Demetrius stirred up the people and led a crowd of thousands of Ephesians to the theatre, where they booed and stoned Paul and his two colleagues, chanting "Great is Artemis of the Ephesians! Great is Artemis of the Ephesians!" So turbulent was the crowd that Paul and his companions escaped only with great difficulty. * From Turism.net
This background gives to each of us an appreciation of the hardships that come to every person who wants to live for the Lord. Misunderstandings and real persecution come frequently to those who seek to make Christ known! The Apostle begins by saying to us these many years later:
“As a prisoner for the Lord, then, I urge you to live a life worthy of the calling you have received."
When our desire is to live worth of the calling we have received, petty and shallow attitudes will be relegated to where they belong! There is simply no time for Gods people to trivialize what should matter most! Mickey said it clearly earlier!
“About 10 years ago my wife and I began attending a church, but then it split over some controversy that didn’t seem important to us. In fact it was so insignificant that I can’t even remember what it was. We stayed with the original group for about a year. They bickered over this and that
and kept comparing themselves to the split-away church that seemed to be growing. One day I just got fed up. I felt like we were in high school
arguing over who had the best team. It just felt so juvenile.
“As a prisoner for the Lord, then, I urge you to live a life worthy of the calling you have received.
We have all had the disconcerting experience of seeing Christians behave badly! Too many Mickey’s, will never return to a place that to them reflects so negatively on the Lord of glory.
What does it mean to live a life worthy of the calling we have received?
In no uncertain terms the Apostle urges believers to live differently from those who have yet to meet Christ. Worth is found in yielding our future and our present to God!
The calling we have received refers to God’s call of salvation and our response. There is adventure and fulfillment that awaits every life that will trust their lives to God’s leading!
I liked the way humorist Erma Bombeck put it:
Seize the moment! Remember all those women on the Titanic who waved off the dessert cart. Erma Bombeck.
The “Effort that unifies” results in our:
Living worthy lives. The Apostle now tightens the focus and describes the qualities that this kind of effort produces.
II. Being humble, gentle, patient and loving:
2Be completely humble and gentle; be patient, bearing with one another in love.
Humility is not thinking less of yourself rather it is seeing our lives as a gift from God, therefore any ability I have has been given. Through the experiences of life, school, hardships triumphs etc we develop and mature. However we never strut! For every breath and each heartbeat is borrowed.
Someone well said, “That a man wrapped up in himself makes for a small package”
While in seminary I had the privilege of studying under a man who had on his ordination committee Peter Marshall the outstanding Scottish preacher and chaplain of the United States Senate. As a young man facing the esteemed ordination council the future seminary professor was a nervous wreck! Dr. Marshall noticed his apprehension taped him on the knee and said: It’s ok they put their pants on one leg at a time too.” He said that assurance from such a renowned minister put his heart at ease and he survived his ordination! Mark Hensley
The Bible teaches that “When we humble ourselves under the hand of God, we will be exalted in due time”
Humility is a rare and refreshing characteristic that Paul says will follow those whose lives are lived in a worthy manner!
Walter Cronkite a world famous newscaster recalls the following incident: Sailing back down the Mystic River in Connecticut and following the channel’s tricky turns through an expanse of shallow water, I am reminded of the time a boatload of young people sped past us here, its occupants shouting and waving their arms. I waved back a cheery greeting and my wife said, "Do you know what they were shouting?" "Why, it was ’Hello, Walter,’" I replied. "No," she said. "They were shouting, "Low water, Low water.’" Such are the pitfalls of fame’s egotism. Ray Ellis and Walter Cronkite, North by Northeast.
Humility follows those who follow Christ, as does gentleness! 2Be completely humble and gentle; be patient, bearing with one another in love
*Gentleness could also be translated “meekness.” Meekness is not weakness and gentleness doesn’t mean being wishy-washy. The idea behind gentleness is “power under control.” In the Greek language, the word was used of wild horses that were broken and trained. Patience is sometimes translated by “long-suffering.” Humility and gentleness combine to produce patience. Bearing with one another is also a product of humility, gentleness, and patience. The idea here is to hold one another up, or to sustain or support one another. We are told this operates in love.*Pastor J. David Hoke, from the sermon “The path of unity”
We need encouragement! Encouragement leads to results!
One morning I opened the door to get the newspaper and was surprised to see a strange little dog with our paper in his mouth. Delighted with this unexpected "delivery service," I fed him some treats. The following morning I was horrified to see the same dog sitting in front of our door, wagging his tail, surrounded by eight newspapers. I spent the rest of that morning returning the papers to their owners. Marion Gilbert in Reminisce, Reader’s Digest, February, 1994, p. 12.
Encouraging people should be the by product of our walk with the Lord!The Apostle powerfully exhorts us to:
2Be completely humble and gentle; be patient, bearing with one another in love All of these are characteristics of Christ. They are the characteristics which combine to produce the nature of Christ in us. Only as we have these characteristics do we find ourselves in a place where unity is possible. *Pastor J. David Hoke, from the sermon “The path of unity”
Only God can make these qualities operative in our lives and in our churches! Wouldn’t you want to be apart of a Church where these qualities are present? Our hearts should be heavy for those who once sat in these pews.
People who began with such promise who have decided that to strive with pettiness is to steep a course! Can we blame them? It’s easy to retreat and justify their leaving by saying it’s their loss and no church is perfect anyway! Yet there is something profoundly troubling when were not moved by those who walk away!
I say to you based on the Biblical record that when we: “live a life worthy of the calling you have received. 2Be completely humble and gentle; be patient, bearing with one another in love. 3Make every effort to keep the unity of the Spirit through the bond of peace.” The Mickey’s of the world will find something authentic real and engaging about the Church of the living God!
When they don’t we must refuse to dismiss their leaving without a thought of what might have hurt them, the attitudes the pettiness the conduct that when displayed, displaces so many!
The “Effort that unifies” results in our:
Living worthy lives
Being humble, gentle, patient and loving
Making every effort to keep unity of the Spirit
III. Making every effort to keep unity of the Spirit
“As a prisoner for the Lord, then, I urge you to live a life worthy of the calling you have received. 2Be completely humble and gentle; be patient, bearing with one another in love. 3Make every effort to keep the unity of the Spirit through the bond of peace.” Ephesians 4:1-3
3Make every effort to keep the unity of the Spirit through the bond of peace.”
When the Apostle writes “Make every effort” he is saying make haste, do ones best, to take care” It is to be a determined effort, it has the idea of exertion in it. To keep is to guard by watchful care! It speaks of guarding something that is in someone’s care. Unity is something that is the product of the Holy Spirit. Kenneth Wuest word studies Ephesians pg 95
Literal translation of our passage:
“I beg of you, please, therefore, I the prisoner of the Lord, order your behavior in a manner worthy of the summons with which you were called, with every lowliness and meekness, with longsuffering, bearing with one another in love, doing your best to safeguard the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace” Kenneth Wuest word studies Ephesians pg 96
Unity is a gift from God, but unity must be nurtured guarded and zealously defended by the people of God!
3Make every effort to keep the unity of the Spirit through the bond of peace.”
Appeal: Would Mickey leave West Greeley Baptist
Church?
Would he find in us genuine Christian
maturity?
Are you humble, gentle, helpful, loving?
Are you one who protects entrusted
unity with your life, with your speech?
