United, Divided, One In Christ
Part 1
August 11, 2002
Ephesians 4:2-6
2 Be humble and gentle. Be patient with each other, making allowance for each other’s faults because of your love. 3 Always keep yourselves united in the Holy Spirit, and bind yourselves together with peace.
4 We are all one body, we have the same Spirit, and we have all been called to the same glorious future. 5 There is only one Lord, one faith, one baptism, 6 and there is only one God and Father, who is over us all and in us all and living through us all. (NLT)
Introduction: We desire unity, a common bond
Forever our world is changing
Our church is a global church
Variety of backgrounds, races, cultures, behaviors, ideologies
America is changing, and with it so too is our church
Not just with a mix of people, but the way we do church
Denominational ties are not as strong as they once were
Independent churches are on the rise
In the midst of shifting trends we look this morning at the instructions of Paul and the elements that he describes as uniting us in Christ.
In the midst of change, what are the things that really matter?
[Issue the early church faced as it moved beyond Jerusalem and Gentiles entered in]
Text:
1. One God, One Lord
1 Timothy 2:5 "For there is one God, and there is one mediator between God and men, the man Jesus Christ" (RSV)
1 Corinthians 8:6 "for us there is one God, the Father, from whom are all things and for whom we exist, and one Lord, Jesus Christ, through whom are all things and through whom we exist." (RSV)
2 Fold
1. Prevents us from going off into the tangents of God’s nature, and thus creating our own God.
"Hear O Israel the Lord our God is One God" Deuteronomy 6:4
-spoken in the midst of polytheistic tendencies
-today, to make God in our image or according to our desire
"My God wouldn’t . . ." "I couldn’t serve a God that . . ." "That’s not my understanding of God"
2. Draws us under the umbrella of His "Fatherness"
-not an illegitimate father, the devil. (cf. John 8:34-47)
2. One Faith
Strength of Protestantism is also our weakness. Sola Scriptura. Every person with their own bible ready to read it for themselves and also to interpret.
1. Creates liberty
2. Opens door for greater heresy
Ephesians 4:13 We are to "attain to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to mature manhood, to the measure of the stature of the fulness of Christ" (RSV)
Christ is our redeemer and we will be rewarded for our faithfulness
3. Prayer
Acts 1:14 "All these with one accord devoted themselves to prayer, together with the women and Mary the mother of Jesus, and with his brothers." (RSV)
One accord-breathing deep in unison
passions were to be one, one desire
"Thy Kingdom come, thy will be done, on earth as it is in heaven"
1 Corinthians 12:12-13 "For just as the body is one and has many members, and all the members of the body, though many, are one body, so it is with Christ. For by one Spirit we were all baptized into one body—Jews or Greeks, slaves or free—and all were made to drink of one Spirit." ( RSV)
4. One Spirit
Who can know the mind of a man except the spirit of the man, Who can know the mind of God except the Spirit of God?
John 16:13 "When the Spirit of truth comes, he will guide you into all the truth." (RSV)
5. One Baptism
Romans 5 Symbolized by water; actualized by the Spirit
6. One Body
1 Corinthians 12:12-13 "For just as the body is one and has many members, and all the members of the body, though many, are one body, so it is with Christ. For by one Spirit we were all baptized into one body—Jews or Greeks, slaves or free—and all were made to drink of one Spirit." ( RSV)
Vs 13 "God’s Spirit is inside each of us, and all around us as well. So it doesn’t matter that some of us are Jews and others are Gentiles and that some are slaves and others are free. Together we are one body." (CEV)
Ill. William P. Barker tells about a small town in Tennessee that had a place of worship with a sign in front that read: "Left Foot Baptist Church". A student had passed by it many times, chuckled to himself, and wondered about the meaning of the name of the church. Finally, on day, waiting for his bus, the student asked somebody in the town about the significance of the rather unusual name for the church.
It seems that a number of years ago, there had been a split in the local congregation, which practiced foot-washing. An argument broke out over which foot should be washed first. And the group insisting on the left foot taking precedence finally withdrew and split off to organize its own church and named its congregation accordingly! "Left Foot Baptist Church".
[Hodgin, Michael. 1001 More Humourous Illustrations For Public Speaking. (Zondervan Publishing House: Grand Rapids, MI, 1998) p.108.]
Closing:
Ephesians 4:4-7 "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 us all, who is above all and through all and in all. But grace was given to each of us according to the measure of Christ’s gift." (RSV)
Each of these points of unity:
1. One God, One Lord
2. One Faith
3. One Prayer
4. One Spirit
5. One Baptism
6. One Body
are the pillars upon which we stand and are united. But, under it all, it all comes together under one foundation ‘Christ, and Him crucified’.
Communion:
