Crossroads Reformed Baptist Church
Sunday Sermon Audio From Crossroads Reformed Baptist Church in Rockdale, TX
Crossroads Reformed Baptist Church
Therefore, Walk
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Ephesians 4: 1-3
www.crbcrockdale.com
Thank you for listening to the Sermon Audio Podcast for Crossroads Bible Church in Rockdale, Texas. Crossroads Bible Church is a Reformed Confessional Baptist Church that meets every Lord's Day at 10 a.m. for Bible study and 11 a.m. for corporate worship. For more information about our church and for directions, you can find us online at www.crbcrockdale.org. Grace and peace to you from our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. Good morning again to you all. Turn with me, if you would, to the book of Ephesians. I didn't forget where we were. Ephesians chapter four is where we will be, covering verses one to three this morning. I mentioned a couple weeks ago now that we begin our journey through the second half of this book of Ephesians. It is split up very nicely for us into two halves, chapters one to three and four to six. And in this second half of the book of Ephesians, we will begin by considering Paul's words, therefore walk. And we do bid, at least temporarily, a fond farewell to the first three chapters of the book of Ephesians, though we will be, as you will see in the coming weeks, returning to them quite often. These first three chapters of the book of Ephesians that we are moving on from were and are the richest and deepest display of the grandeur of God and salvation. And they are also some of the most comforting passages concerning God's love for us, and concerning all that God has done for us in Christ. And we saw in those chapters that it is in those first three chapters where we see mostly doctrine, mostly theology. And those were the deep waters of theology. And hopefully now we all have our seafaring legs under us as we continue to move into practice. And that is the division there between the two halves of the book of Ephesians is that we now move into the practice of the theology. What do these doctrines do? What do they do when they are applied to our hearts and to our lives? This is the question for the day today. And I want to strongly note then that we must never consider these divisions in the text as absolute. We must never consider these divisions in the text as the model for the Christian life. That is to say, we must never say, once we get the doctrine more or less settled, we can move on to life and we can leave those other matters behind. This is the pitfall of the modern church, which considers its soul doctrine, perhaps, the very shallow portrait of God's love as love and mercy, and then leaves him there and asks, okay, now what does this loving God, or how does this loving God improve my life, improve my marriage, improve my friendships? We must never leave him. We must always return to that well of rich theology, as it is far too much for you to ever find the end of. And also each time we do return again to that rich theology, we we discover a God who we perhaps didn't know before. We discover another facet of him that we did not know was there. Like the rarest of all diamonds that is endlessly faceted.
SPEAKER_00There to be treasured, there to be there to be discovered.
SPEAKER_01He's there to be admired. This is the triune God we wish to find. Not the one who just gives us better relationships, makes our life better, but the triune God who is worth worthy of being endlessly admired. C.S. Lewis said this: look for yourself, and you will find in the long run only hatred, loneliness, despair, rage, ruin, and decay. But look for Christ, and you will find him, and with him everything else. This is the great irony of the Christian walk. The more we seek those things that we desire, the further away they seem to be. But the more we seek truth, the more we seek wisdom, the more we seek the triune God, everything else is added at no charge. And because of the first three chapters then of Ephesians, because of all of those things that are true about God, and because we will keep returning again to those truths, let us then this morning, therefore, walk. And by the grace of God and according to his will, that's what we will do. If you stand with me once more, let us read our text. This is Ephesians chapter 4, starting in verse 1. Therefore, a prisoner for the Lord, I, therefore, he says, a prisoner for the Lord, I urge you to walk in a manner worthy of the calling to which you have been called, with all humility and gentleness, with patience, bearing with one another in love, eager to maintain the unity of the Spirit and the bond of peace. This is the word of the Lord. Lord, we thank you again for your word.
SPEAKER_00In the name of Jesus I pray. Amen. What's in a name? What's in a name?
SPEAKER_01This is the question that Juliet asks Romeo as the drama unfolds between two people in love from rival families. What's in a name? She asks. After all, that which we call a rose by any other name would smell as sweet. Be young and naive again and think that a name is just a name. As we know from that story, from that tragedy, there was much more there than just names. As we have said many times before, a name and words carry far more than just a name. Words and names communicate something. But in the case of Romeo, Montague communicated years of bitterness, family strife, feuding. And however unfounding that feuding was, the name was more than a name. I bring that up not to exegete Shakespeare, but to ask a similar question to that that Juliet asked. By the grace of God, hoping to find the right answer this morning. And that question is, what's in a word? What's in a word? More specifically, what is the deeper meaning and the context contained within that one word we read this morning, therefore? Maybe you think that was a bit too dramatic of an introduction for the word therefore. But I can't emphasize enough the tragedy it is to not discover the meaning hidden in every word of Scripture. Every word has layer upon layer, and we must take every effort to find their end. This is a bit of a winding road to get to the walk part, which we're going to get to. But given that the text starts with I therefore, I want to get that word straight first. The first answer to the question is what's in a word, or what's in therefore, is that by this word, Paul intends the readers to follow him through the rest of the letter. That is, Paul intends his readers to follow him through the rest of life. There's that wonderful story in Matthew 17, you all know it. We call it the transfiguration, where Jesus' human body is transfigured or transformed in some way. We read there in Matthew 17 that Moses and Elijah are there, and the glory of God is there, and the Father, God the Father, speaks. It's such a grand display of the glory of God and the deity of Christ. Do you remember what Peter does? He says, Lord, this is good. Let us put some tense here and stay a while. That's a slight paraphrase. And Peter, being so caught up in the glory of Christ and what he experienced there, desires to forget about the mission that is there for him down the mountain. Decides to stay there, desires to stay there. He forgets where the walk is.
SPEAKER_00He wants to stay there in glory. Certainly we can't blame him for that. But what does Christ say in response? Get up. Have no fear. Life and the mission was down the mountain.
SPEAKER_01We know this because as soon as they get down from that mountain, they are confronted by a father pleading for his son who is possessed by a demon. That's a reality check for them.
SPEAKER_00As glorious as that mountaintop was, there is still walking to do.
SPEAKER_01We must not then fall into the theological trap of continuingly, continually basking in the glory of that deep and rich theology. We must not fall into the trap of filling our heads with wisdom and knowledge and refusing to allow that glory to inform and to empower our walk.
SPEAKER_00We need those moments of revelation, those pictures of the glory of God.
SPEAKER_01And we need them because this is what the word gives to us, as Paul so masterfully did in those first three chapters. But just as shallow application is a danger, we cannot set up a tent in the ivory tower of theological wisdom. Forgetting that right at the base of the mountain are pleading souls who are still enslaved to the Prince of Darkness. Because all of those wonderful truths about God are true, know them in the church, study them, learn them, mind the depths of them, and because they are true, therefore walk. And certainly Paul himself is an example of this. And he says as much in verse one as we read, I therefore am a prisoner for the Lord.
SPEAKER_00And Paul is a prisoner for the Lord.
SPEAKER_01He knows better than most the cost of coming down from that mountain, of walking in a manner worthy of his calling. Yet he says, because of everything that God has done, and because of everything that he is, despite the circumstances, despite the consequences, therefore walk. That is just the definition of the word therefore. It's a conjunction that indicates that the latter, what comes after, is supported by the former, what comes before. Do all of these things, this is chapters four through six, because all of those things were true. Chapters one to three. In that we see this inseparable link between doctrine and practice. Doctrine is not simply for the pastor, and practical teaching for the people. As Paul is writing this letter, we call it the book of Ephesians, it's a letter to the church in Ephesus. He's writing this letter to the people, to the church. We can know then that his intent is that all Christians have a balance of doctrine and practice. The balance is critical. Said it, but I'll say it again. The heady theologian considers much about the truth of doctrine, but he stops short of applying it or doing anything with that knowledge. Can also see and perhaps have known the one who has experienced the love of God, has experienced the grace of God in such a powerful way that they just want to stay forever on the mountaintop. Where nothing else in the world matters to them but their love for God. On the other side, the pragmatist is only concerned with the practical and with the programming. For them, the gospel is a well-oiled business plan. These are all errors, church. That Paul so clearly addresses by both laying the foundation of sound doctrine as he has done, and then continuing with, therefore, walk. This is the model of a life and the model of all basic, basically all the pastoral epistles. Doctrine first, get that right, and then continually apply those truths as you walk. Those two, then, doctrine and application, or as Brother Dave is uh so often says, orthodoxy and orthopraxy, that is correct or right belief and correct or right practice, these are inseparable.
SPEAKER_00They are the best of friends never apart from one another. So I ask again then what's in a word? Quite a lot, actually. Let us consider then the whole of verse one together.
SPEAKER_01I therefore, a prisoner for the Lord, urge you to walk in a manner worthy of the calling to which you have been called. Paul says, There I urge you. That is, I beseech you, I exhort you, I admonish you, I ask earnestly. It can even be said, I beg or I plead with you. With everything in me, Paul says, I am pleading with you to walk in a manner that is worthy of your calling.
SPEAKER_00Hear this, then, church. Hear this. These words then are for you this morning.
SPEAKER_01Listen to the living and the active word of God pressing upon your hearts this morning. Hear the urgency of what Paul is pleading for us for the church. I urge you, church, I plead with you. Walk in a manner worthy of the calling to which you have been called. What is that calling then that we are beseeched to walk worthy of? Here again the words from Paul in chapter 2, verse 17 of Ephesians, chapter 2, verse 17. And he came and preached to you who were far off, and preached to those who were near. For through him we both have access in one spirit to the Father. So then you are no longer strangers or aliens, but you are fellow citizens with the saints and members of the household of God, built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Christ Jesus himself being the cornerstone, in whom the whole structure is being joined together, grows into a holy temple in the Lord. In him you also are being built together into a dwelling place for God by the Spirit.
SPEAKER_00We have been called by God and called children of God.
SPEAKER_01We are members of his royal priesthood. We're fellow heirs with Christ. We're fellow heirs in an eternal kingdom. You have been called into communion with God. You've been called into communion as his people. You've been called into his temple to be his temple, his dwelling place. Called to rule and reign with Christ in a kingdom that will never end.
SPEAKER_00Do you walk worthy of that calling?
SPEAKER_01And Paul has labored three chapters to expound the glories of God and told the believer all that he is in Christ.
SPEAKER_00Do you walk worthy of that great and high call? Or do you still live in fear? Do you still walk in continuous unrepentant sin? Are you still rebellious? Is your life in constant dysfunction?
SPEAKER_01Constant disorder. Are you indecisive on everything? Unsure of everything? Do you delay? Do you procrastinate everything? Are you non-committal? Are you flaky and flighty?
SPEAKER_00Hopefully I poked everyone there.
SPEAKER_01The question you must ask is: are those things consistent with the great and high call of God previously mentioned? I'll press that though even further. The word worthy in our text, as in walk in a manner worthy of your calling, which you have been called, this is much more accurately translated to our very seldom used English word becoming. The KJV translates this same Greek word in Philippians 1.27 that way, when it translates there, where Paul says, Only let your conversation be as it becometh the gospel of Christ. I saw a more literal reading then or rendering of our text this morning commands us to walk in a manner that is becoming of a child of God. Walk in a manner that is becoming of a member of a royal household.
SPEAKER_00Considering then once more from the negative, what is unbecoming of a royal prince or princess?
SPEAKER_01And such thoughts may be somewhat foreign to us because we don't really understand the ins and outs of a monarchy. But being born into a royal monarchy affects everything in your life. It affects how you dress, how you talk, how you speak, the words that you use, it affects how you carry yourself.
SPEAKER_00How much more so? Are those things true for us?
SPEAKER_01Now being reborn not into English royalty but to heavenly royalty.
SPEAKER_00Not to an earthly kingdom, but to an eternal one. This calling, this new birth, permeates everything.
SPEAKER_01There is no dark place. There is no stone left unturned. There is nowhere that our calling should not and does not find and renew. It all must be redeemed under the Lordship of Christ. This is the pleading of Paul to the church. And further, I think it's helpful to return again to doctrine to guide us. To be continually reminded of this great call. And that is that this great call to which we have been called to walk becoming of. This call was an intentional call given by God Himself. John chapter 6, verse 44 says, No one can come to me unless the Father who sent me draws him, and I will raise him up on the last day. This call that we are to be walking worthy of was a purposed call. It was intentional. It was deliberate. It was particular. You, dear and blessed saint, if you are in Christ, you have been called to this holy and high calling by the perfect will of God. You have been plucked from the domain of darkness and transferred into the kingdom of light. Your time, listen, your time, your life, your place, your circumstance, your trials, your salvation, these are chosen for you and not for anyone else. It is no accident or mistake. There is no luck or chance that you are here where you are, when you are, how you are, and who you are.
SPEAKER_00This, right now, is your calling. You were made for this. For today. For this life, for this purpose. This is your lot. Are you walking in a manner worthy of that calling?
SPEAKER_01If nothing else is said of us, then let it be said that we walked worthy of the call of the triune God. And finally, then, Paul gives us a very brief summary of how a worthy walk looks. And this will guide us through all the further imperatives that he continues through this letter when he says, starting in verse 2, with all humility and gentleness, with patience, bearing with one another in love, eager to maintain the unity of the spirit and the bond of peace. As we will see in the coming weeks, walking worthy of the call of God entails many and various things. But it is never lacking those foundational elements, and they are humility, gentleness, patience, love, unity, and peace. Those are the necessary elements of a walk that is becoming of our Lord. As we will see, everything else always circles back to those fundamental or foundational elements. Those things define our relationships, they inform our emotions, they control our anger, they soften our hard edges, they correct our corrupted talk. They offer us guidance on how we use our time, they address our attitudes. It all comes back to those elements. Am I humble, forsaking my pride and my will to serve God and others? Am I gentle and tender, or am I harsh and abrasive? Am I patient and long-suffering, or am I quick-tempered and hold grudges? Do I love others and care for others? Do I think about others? Do I show concern for others? Do I strive for unity, or do I run and cut bait when something doesn't go my way? Am I a peace seeker and a peacemaker, or I am the hammer always looking for a nail?
SPEAKER_00You thought the doctrine was tough.
SPEAKER_01It doesn't get any easier when the truth is brought to bear in our lives, but we do the hard work of introspection here, church. We must plead with the Spirit to peel back those layers, to turn up the refining fire, that we may by his grace be refined into vessels that are worthy of this great call. Go back to English royalty for just a second. I'm sure that many, if not all of us, have seen videos of English royalty in public appearances. If you have, then you know. The visible and the noticeable difference in how they carry themselves as opposed to other people.
SPEAKER_00That's the stature or the shape of royalty.
SPEAKER_01That we as individuals, Church, and that we collectively as a church would be so noticeably different, so breathtakingly put together in humanity, in gentleness, in patience, in love, in unity, and peace, that all may desire to know the source of those things. And by that I wholly and I fully reject that modern notion of the messy Christian or the perpetual come as you are kind of culture of the American church. And certainly the gospel does call us to come as we are. Thanks be to God. But by the grace of God, he indeed calls us while we were yet sinners. But the call to come as you are is never a call to stay as you are, but rather come as you are, that you may be transformed and renewed into the likeness of Christ.
SPEAKER_00Who is Christ, if not the embodiment of the call of God?
SPEAKER_01If you could take humility and gentleness and patience and love and unity and peace, verily God Himself, and wrap it in flesh, this is Jesus Christ. So the high call is to embody those traits as we imitate Christ. And when those qualities begin to grow and take shape in us, we can be sure that we are indeed walking in a manner worthy of that calling.
SPEAKER_00So hear this then.
SPEAKER_01So let those qualities define us then as we move through the rest of our text. And as we close, then I'll say we will continue to return both to those traits and to the doctrines that underline those traits and then inform those traits as we move, and even as soon as next week, we will drink again from that deep doctrinal well, as I attempt, Lord willing, to maintain that balance between both doctrine and practice. And that's how we begin then to look into our walk, into how the glory of the triune God reshapes and remolds our lives into the likeness of Christ. And before I end, I would be remiss if I didn't say one quick word about baptism. As Baptists of the Reformed Variety, we certainly believe that one's conversion, that is one's regeneration by grace through faith alone, and one's justification, that is their righteous declaration of innocence before God, has already occurred in the life of the believer prior to baptism. In that way, the sacrament itself is not doing something that has not already been done by God. Having been done by God the Father through the Son and applied by the Spirit. But what it is, is a sacrament. A sacrament is a visible sign of an invisible reality. It is the declaration that for Brandon, God has buried his old self in the grave to the praise of God. And by the Spirit, he has raised him to walk again in new life. And connecting to our theme this morning, it is the walking in a worthy manner of our calling, as our dear brother was called into faith in Christ. He has believed. And now, this morning, he will be baptized into fellowship with Christ. And to that we can certainly say amen. So let me pray, uh, and then we're gonna stand after we pray, and we're gonna go next door, and we'll save the uh uh the singing and the benediction after the service fully ends uh when after the baptism. So let me pray. Lord, we thank you this morning for your word. We thank you for the the rich doctrine that we hold to, Lord, that we have taken from your your holy word. We thank you for that rich theology that you have poured into us over these number of weeks through the first three chapters of Ephesians. And now, Lord, we thank you as we apply that moving forward, Lord, to reshape our minds, our hearts, our lives, our attitudes, our actions. We pray that we enter into these times of testing and shaping and refining, Lord, with humility, trusting in your grace, and grounding it in your word and your truth. Lord, thank you for this church. Thank you for the diligence of all of our members, Lord, to accept the refining, accept your refining, Lord. Help me, help us all. This becoming of Christ. That is our hope and our desire. Not for our own glory, Lord, but for your glory, and that all may see you and know who the true God is. We love you, Lord. We ask all these things in the name of Jesus. Amen.