How is a Prisoner Supposed to Act?
By Pastor Jim May
Ephesians 4:1-7, "I therefore, the prisoner of the Lord, beseech you that ye 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, 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. But unto every one of us is given grace according to the measure of the gift of Christ."
We are all prisoners, but we have more freedom and liberty than any prisoner, of any institution of correction in the world. We are prisoners by choice and by selection, for we were given a special invitation, written in the Blood of Jesus to become his prisoner of love and to be a part of the family of God.
As prisoners of love and slaves to Christ we must ever strive to fulfill the duties of our high calling in God, and we must also constantly work to walk worthy of our chosen profession and that means living in such a manner that everything in our lives serves to prove that we are truly the called and anointed, highly favored, children of the Most High God, and heirs and joint-heirs with our Lord Jesus Christ.
Paul gives us some instructions on how to maintain that walk with the Lord in these next few verses and I want us to examine them this morning and make sure that we are walking according to the ways that will show the world that we are truly the Born Again people of God.
Paul knew what it was like to be a prisoner in the Lord and for the Lord. He had totally surrendered his life, and all of his personal ambitions to become the greatest leader among the Pharisees that he was member of, to become a sold-out, blood-bought disciple of Jesus Christ. He had paid a heavy price for the commitment that he made after his experience on the Damascus Road.
He spoke of the price that he had paid in the flesh on several occasions during his writings in the New Testament. In Philippians 4:11-12 he said, "Not that I speak in respect of want: for I have learned, in whatsoever state I am, therewith to be content. I know both how to be abased, and I know how to abound: every where and in all things I am instructed both to be full and to be hungry, both to abound and to suffer need."
And again, in 2 Corinthians 11:24-28 Paul speaks of the price that he has paid for being a prisoner of Christ when he says, "Of the Jews five times received I forty stripes save one. Thrice was I beaten with rods, once was I stoned, thrice I suffered shipwreck, a night and a day I have been in the deep; In journeyings often, in perils of waters, in perils of robbers, in perils by mine own countrymen, in perils by the heathen, in perils in the city, in perils in the wilderness, in perils in the sea, in perils among false brethren; In weariness and painfulness, in watchings often, in hunger and thirst, in fastings often, in cold and nakedness. Beside those things that are without, that which cometh upon me daily, the care of all the churches."
But Paul was not complaining, only stating the facts, because we also see his great declaration of commitment and love for Jesus in Philippians 3:8-11, "… I count all things but loss for the excellency of the knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord: for whom I have suffered the loss of all things, and do count them but dung, that I may win Christ, And be found in him, not having mine own righteousness, which is of the law, but that which is through the faith of Christ, the righteousness which is of God by faith: That I may know him, and the power of his resurrection, and the fellowship of his sufferings, being made conformable unto his death; If by any means I might attain unto the resurrection of the dead."
Paul was clearly a disciple of Jesus Christ, a slave by choice to the service of his Master, and prisoner, held in chains of love that wrapped around his very heart, that made him the prisoner of his Savior and King. Many times Paul was forced to look out into the world through bars of iron made by men; but not one time was he silenced; not one time did he fail to preach the gospel to which he had been called; and not one time was his Spirit bound so that he could not be free to worship the Lord with his heart and with his life.
Like Paul, we are prisoners of the Lord Jesus Christ, and yet we are made free – free indeed! We are free to serve the Lord of our own will. We are free to allow Jesus to rule in us and through us to win others to this life of servitude to our Great Master. We are free to speak the name of Jesus to whole world and proclaim that Jesus Christ is King of Kings and Lord of Lords. We are free to be able to walk worthy of our high calling in God because we are granted that uncommon freedom that sinful man, bound in chains of darkness, sin and unbelief can never understand.
We are all privileged people this morning because of call of God upon our lives. We are called out of darkness into light; out of bondage into liberty; out of the world and the company of sinful men, and into the fellowship with Christ, the fellowship with his people, to participate in his program of free grace to all who will believe and receive it, and into the inheritance of the eternal glory of his kingdom forever.
We are the Children of Light, not of darkness. We are the Sons of God, not the slaves of the devil. We are the chosen of God, and not those upon whom the wrath of God shall fall because they reject him.
Since we are then prisoners of Christ and bound by love to serve him, how should we act to be worthy of such a high position in God?
First of all we are to act with lowliness and meekness, exercising humility. I’ve seen a lot of people who acted worthy in this manner but I’ve seen a lot that didn’t understand what humility meant too.
Some people are on the extreme upper side of humility and you might hear them say, “Oh Lord, it’s hard to be humble when you’re as great or as talented as me!” They place such a high value on themselves that they believe God has made them just a little better, a little more talented, and lifted them up on a pedestal as a shining example of what all the rest of us are supposed to be like. Don’t you just hate it when somebody is really good at what they do, and they won’t let you forget it! I mean, they have so much going for them that it just makes you sick at your stomach to be around them. They are better prayer warriors than you are. They know more about the Bible than you do. They are God’s absolute authority on everything. They know everything and you know nothing.
Some of you may feel like old Sergeant Shultz on Hogan’s Heroes that was on TV some years ago. Every time he was asked a question, his answer would always be, “I know Nothink! I see Nothink!” He chose to play dumb rather than be put on the spot by those around him who seemed to know everything.
I learned a long time ago that it’s far better to keep my mouth shut and just listen. It keeps me out of trouble a lot of the time, and sooner or later, the real truth will surface about what’s being said by those around me. I’ve learned also, that it’s far better to keep silent and let other people think I’m an idiot than to open my mouth and prove them right. Sometimes, silence is a virtue, and it can help you to keep peace.
On the opposite end of that spectrum of humility are those dear folks who think that there calling in Christ is to be the dish rag that everyone else uses to clean up the mess that they make, or the floor mat upon whom everyone else is destined to trod.
Somehow they have developed the idea that to have humility means that they have no value at all.
True humility is not proven by being a dish rag to everyone else; neither is it shown by proclaiming bragging rights on being good at what you are called to do. It simply means that you realize that it’s not your abilities, but God’s abilities working through you; and that its not how much you are abused for God but how much God uses you for his glory that matters.
A child of God should hold his head up high and let the world know that he is a child of the King, but at the same time have enough of the love of God in him to bow his knee in service to his fellowman, and in the worship of his Lord. It means that should want to meet the needs of others above the needs that I have for myself, but not to ignore the things that I need for myself.
I knew a man who thought that his humility was proven in the way he gave to others. One day a missionary came through town who needed a vehicle because his old car had finally “given up the ghost”. This man, desiring to show his humility, donated the only car he had to the missionary. Of course the missionary was happy; who wouldn’t be to get a free car that was dependable. But this man was left with no transportation for his own family. His wife was forced to walk to work, because she was too proud to hitch rides and his kids were forced to either walk or hitch rides to school. He provided for others, but not for his own family. The scripture says that he is worse than an infidel, worse than an unbeliever, because he provided not for his own. He wouldn’t even buy his own son a pair of shoes without “praying about it first”. What a Cop Out that phrase has become. Anyone who doesn’t want to do something uses those words just to put you off. Why not have the gumption to just say “NO” and get it over with! And if you look at your son’s shoes and his big toe is sticking out through a hole in the front, you don’t have to pray about it, God is already revealing to you in a very real way that you need to get that kid a pair of shoes. You don’t have to ask God if its okay. To use a phrase that’s popular in our modern day, “Just do it! Get-er-done!
If you see a need, just find out what you can do to meet it. If it’s one of those things that effects the church, then let me know about it and let’s get the need met as best we can. Being humble means that you are willing to serve, willing to be used by God, willing even to take the responsibility of doing a work for the Lord, but it doesn’t mean that you have to lay down and be stomped on in the process.
If God leads you in paths where you are persecuted for the cause of Christ then so be it. Serve the Lord faithfully and he will lift you up.
If we keep in mind that every one of us are called to be the Children of God only by the grace of God and that all we are and all that we ever shall be are the sole result of the grace of God in our lives, that thought will help us to maintain a correct spirit of meekness and humility. Sadly, not everyone keeps that humble spirit all the time and that makes it really hard for those of us, like myself, who do! HA!
Part of walking worthy with the Lord must come as a natural course of learning as we all deal with the humility, lack thereof, of those around us. We must develop longsuffering and forbearance for one another, so that we may keep the unity of the Spirit in the Body of Christ.
Notice that the scripture uses the word, “endeavoring”. What that means is that this is always a work in progress for we all need more longsuffering and forbearance of one another. Some people just naturally tend to grate on your nerves every time you get around them. It’s their nature to speak abrasively, or to do things that just irk the daylights out of you. What we have to do is just learn to deal with it and realize that most of the time, they just don’t get it. They don’t mean to rub you the wrong way. They don’t even know they are doing so.
Most of the time this happens because of our personality similarities or differences. It’s like putting two cats together with only one mouse between them. The mouse gets away because the cats are too busy fighting with one another. All you have to do is stand back and watch and it won’t take long until personality conflicts show up. Two bossy people in the same room is bad, but put three or four in there together and sparks are bound to fly, feelings are going to get hurt, words are going to be said, and things are going to be done that will bring about real division in the church if we don’t learn longsuffering and forbearance.
God, bringing someone into your life that rubs you the wrong way all the time, is just his way of letting you know that you need to walk a little more worthy of his call on your life, and giving you a perfect opportunity to learn more forbearance and to be a little more longsuffering.
Some of you might think that this means that you are going to suffer a long time while you put up with the abrasive words and actions of other, and maybe that has a little part to play in this scenario. But in reality, it means just learning to put up with the abrasiveness of other people until either they change to not be so abrasive, or the most likely of the two; you will change enough to not let their abrasiveness bother you anymore.
None of us are perfect, but some of us are “more perfect” than others, at least in our own mind. The problem is that our “perfection” is abrasive to those who are less fortunate than we are and have not arrived at our state of perfection yet. Do you get the picture? All of us are abrasive to someone; and someone is always abrasive to us. That’s God’s way of helping us to learn longsuffering and forbearance one for another.
The real key is to grow in the Lord yourself, and labor to get to the point that you don’t let other people get under your skin. Develop the spiritual skin like an elephant, but keep the heart of a lamb at the same time. It’s a tall order, but one that is achievable by the Grace of God working in your heart. That’s the way Jesus was and we are to strive to be like Jesus in every way.
We must do all that we can to keep the unity of the Spirit in the Church and to keep the bond of Peace that holds it all together. When unity breaks down, peace goes out the window, and divisiveness takes control. Soon there is no Body of Christ, only people loosely drawn together. Peace keeps the bonds strong, builds the unity of the Body, and makes us all one in the Lord; one in purpose; one in goals and dreams; one in our service to the Lord and we are then able to walk worthily and accomplish great things for Christ. Without peace and unity, the Body of Christ would cease to be effective and eventually cease to exist altogether. God is the source of peace and it is the Prince of Peace that holds us all together by his grace.
There is only one body of Christ, not many. There is only one hope, one Lord, one faith and one Baptism. It is the hope of the resurrection, provided through the blood of Jesus. It is the Lord alone that brings the victory. It is faith in Jesus alone that give us that hope and that victory. It is the baptism of the Spirit of God, through the blood of Jesus, that lives inside of every one of us that makes us all a part of one Body that is living and is able to be used for the glory of God.
Above all of us there is one God, working though all of us at the same time to accomplish the same thing. Without him we can do nothing, but with him all things are possible.
Finally Paul says that we are all given the grace of God according to the measure of the gift of Christ.
Let us never forget that it Jesus and Jesus alone that decides what calling is upon our lives. He gives that calling, and we answer it – its as simple as that. God knows your abilities, your level of commitment, your level of loyalty, your time commitments and everything else about you. He alone knows what you can do and your limitations upon yourself are what Jesus uses to determine what your calling will be. He knows where you are now, where you have been and what you will become tomorrow. According to your own limitations or non-limitations, the gift of God is measured out to you to accomplish the work set before you.
Your mission in life, and your purpose in life, is to fulfill that call and walk worthy of that call, proving to God, and God alone, that you will be faithful to perform what you have been called to do while learning to be more longsuffering, more forbearing and with humility, becoming the faithful prisoner of Christ to the end your days.
A prisoner is supposed to act as he is directed by his master, and in so doing, he will experience the joy and satisfaction of knowing that he has been an obedient and faithful prisoner and has walked worthy so that he may obtain that freedom and liberty that God has destined for him to enjoy.
