Paul said in Ephesians 4:2-3, with all lowliness and gentleness, with longsuffering, bearing with one another in love, endeavoring to keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace.
Let us measure ourselves by these two verses of Scripture.
How far we fall short!
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Welcome to The Refinery.
The Church The Body of Christ is the theme we are working through.
These messages are primarily based around Paul’s letter to the Ephesians.
Today we are discussing, Walking Worthily as a Church Member.
Text
Ephesians 4:1 NKJV
Walk in Unity 4 I, therefore, the prisoner of the Lord, beseech you to walk worthy of the calling with which you were called,
Scripture Reading
Ephesians 4:1-6 NKJV
Walk in Unity
1 I, therefore, the prisoner of the Lord, beseech you to walk worthy of the calling with which you were called,
2 with all lowliness and gentleness, with longsuffering, bearing with one another in love,
3 endeavoring to keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace.
4 There is one body and one Spirit, just as you were called in one hope of your calling;
5 one Lord, one faith, one baptism;
6 one God and Father of all, who is above all, and through all, and in you all.
Introduction.
Walking is often used in the bible as a figure of speech to describe a certain manner or way of life.
This is true of the seven occurrences in Paul’s letter to the Ephesians where he contrasts the walk of the believer with that of the unbeliever.
In chapters 1-3 of Ephesians, Paul described the height and depth, the glory and wonder of the Christian calling.
Being a Christian is a glorious privilege.
In chapters 4-6 he urged Christians to walk worthily of such a privilege.
Paul was urgent, “I, therefore, the prisoner of the Lord, beseech you to walk worthy of the calling with which you were called,”
Paul was saying, “You are representatives of Christ in this world. Let your manner of life be such that it will not be a reproach to your Master.”
Three things about this worthy walk, all hinging on our text, are suggested in Ephesians.
- The manner of the worthy walk.
Paul said in Ephesians 4:2-3, with all lowliness and gentleness, with longsuffering, bearing with one another in love, endeavoring to keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace.
Let us measure ourselves by these two verses of Scripture.
How far we fall short!
First, Paul said, “with all lowliness and gentleness.”
More exactly, this reads, “With all modesty and humility of spirit.”
We need these qualities.
The weeds of Pharisaism spring up quickly in our hearts.
How easily we feel ourselves to be spiritually superior to other Christians, but we are not to do so.
This is not the worthy walk.
Again Paul said, “with longsuffering.”
Freely rendered, this reads, “enduring with unruffled temper.”
Sometime we hear a person say, “I can endure what they say about me if it is true, but if its not, I just cant stand it.”
That is not in imitation of Christ.
That is not His spirit.
Peter said of our Lord in 1 Peter 2:22-23, “Who committed no sin, Nor was deceit found in His mouth”; who, when He was reviled, did not revile in return; when He suffered, He did not threaten, but committed Himself to Him who judges righteously.
James said in James 1:19, So then, my beloved brethren, let every man be swift to hear, slow to speak, slow to wrath.
How often we turn these around.
If we were to endure with an unruffled temper, what a difference to would make.
As Christian men and women growing in Christ, we ought to not easily be offended.
Again Paul said, “bearing with one another in love.”
He was saying, “Putting up with one another in a spirit of love.”
But what if some person in the church cant endure with unruffled temper?
Paul said, “Put up with that person, bear with them.”
As long as people are human, there will be a need for Christian forbearance.
Why are we short on Christian forbearance?
Perhaps it is because we are short on Christian love.
We practice forbearance in our homes.
Ask any man about his wife, or woman about her husband.
Our patience wears thin, but most of the time we forbear each other because we love each other.
In like manner, we are to love one another as members of Christ’s church.
Still again, Paul said, “endeavoring to keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace.”
No member of any church is to do or say anything to mar or destroy the fellowship of the church.
To be guilty of such a thing is a grievous sin with which few can compare, and the penalty is terrible.
1 Corinthians 3:17, If anyone defiles the temple of God, God will destroy him. For the temple of God is holy, which temple you are.
But this is not a negative command.
It is positive, something we are to do.
We are to work diligently at keeping “the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace.”
2. The direction of the worthy walk.
We do not become worthy, mature Christians in a moment.
We do not grow as it says in Ephesians 4:13, till we all come to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to a perfect man, to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ.
This doesn’t just happen in the twinkling of an eye, we must walk in that direction.
We must walk in the direction that leads out of death into life.
Paul tells us that we were made alive, and we wee dead through our trespasses and sins.
A Christian is a person who is now alive to God.
Thousands of people in the world are alive to worldly ambitions, pleasures, business, politics, and to all of the world’s interests and demands, but they are dead towards God, they are dead in their trespasses and sins.
As Christians we can remember when we had no interest in the things of the Spirit because we were dead to them.
But if we are walking in the direction that leads out of death into life, we ought to be growing away from the fleshpots of the world and into the things of Christ.
John pointed out that we cannot love things that are at opposite poles.
1 John 2:15, Do not love the world or the things in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him.
We can not walk in two directions at the same time.
We must walk in the direction that leads from sin to holiness.
In Ephesians 4 Paul also said, Ephesians 4:17, This I say, therefore, and testify in the Lord, that you should no longer walk as the rest of the Gentiles walk, in the futility of their mind.
Paul described the Gentile walk in the verses that follow when he said, “The is the way you were,” Paul was saying “But there is to be a difference now.” Ephesians 4:20 says, “But you have not so learned Christ,”
It is tragic to see those who profess to be Christians but in whose lives you can tell no difference from the lives of unbelievers.
They go to the same places, do the same things, and desire the same things, apparently they are the same.
If we are walking in the direction that leads from sin to holiness, we ought to reach the point in our pilgrimage where we no longer relish our old sins but rather the things of God.
We must walk in the direction that leads from darkness to light.
In Ephesians 5:8 Paul said, For you were once darkness, but now you are light in the Lord. Walk as children of light.
What a powerful picture that is!
Christ is the light of the world we are told in John 8:12, and we are to walk toward Him.
Two people walking in opposite directions may be at the same spot for just an instance, but their destinations are different.
If we walk toward the darkness of sin, the darkness grow darker and darker.
If we walk toward the light, our way grows brighter and brighter.
1 John 1:7, But if we walk in the light as He is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus Christ His Son cleanses us from all sin.
3. The results of the worthy walk.
The result of good works.
Ephesians 2:10, For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand that we should walk in them.
Good works are the crown, the result, the proof, the test, the product of a Christian life, but they do not produce it.
The result of growth in God’s love.
Ephesians 5:1-2, Therefore be imitators of God as dear children. 2 And walk in love, as Christ also has loved us and given Himself for us, an offering and a sacrifice to God for a sweet-smelling aroma.
“Walk in love”
That is what we need to do.
Walk in the love of God, realising more and more the constraining power of the greatest force in the world.
2 Corinthians 5:14, For the love of Christ compels us, because we judge thus: that if One died for all, then all died.
The result of maturity as a Christian.
Paul said we need to continue to mature, “till we attain the unity of the faith, and of the knowledge of the Son of God, unto a full grown man, unto the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ”
That is the destination of the Christian walk.
He goes onto say that our purpose for growing is “that we may no longer be children, tossed to and fro and carried about with every wind of doctrine, by the sleight of men, in craftiness, after the wiles of error, but speaking truth in love, may grow up in all things unto Him, who is the head, even Christ.”
Conclusion.
As we apply this teaching of Paul to our lives, we find both a caution and an induction.
The caution is this, Let no man sit in judgement on his brother.
Let no man attempt to judge whether someone else is walking worthily or not.
The injunction is this, let every man ask himself, “Am I walking worthily or unworthily of the calling with which I was called?”
Until next time
Stay in the Blessings
I really want to encourage you to be diligent with your Bible study time, because God has so much more for us than we can get from just going to church once or twice a week and hearing someone else talk about the Word.
When you spend time with God, your life will change in amazing ways, because God is a Redeemer. Theres nothing thats too hard for Him, and He can make you whole, spirit, soul and body!
You’re important to God, and you’re important to us at The Refinery.
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So whatever you’re concerned about and need prayer for we want to be here for you! Or even if you just want to say Hi, you can contact us at www.refinerylife.org
2024 IS A YEAR OF DECISIONS AND OPEN DOORS
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