WEBVTT 00:00:07.040 --> 00:00:12.800 This sermon was recorded at Faith Evangelical Free Church in Grand Forks, North Dakota. 00:00:15.919 --> 00:00:20.480 Would you take your Bible, please, and turn to Ephesians chapter 4? 00:00:21.120 --> 00:00:23.199 Ephesians chapter 4. 00:00:25.039 --> 00:00:29.600 For some odd reason, they told me my preaching time was severely limited today. 00:00:33.359 --> 00:00:39.520 So I'm going to be spending a few weeks with you in Ephesians chapter 4 in September. 00:00:39.600 --> 00:00:45.920 And so this morning I just want to do a survey of a few verses in chapter 4. 00:00:46.159 --> 00:00:53.280 And you've been sitting for a while, so why don't we stand together as we honor the word of the Lord as we read it together? 00:00:53.439 --> 00:00:55.280 I'll read if you would like to follow along. 00:00:55.439 --> 00:00:56.560 Please stand with me. 00:00:56.799 --> 00:00:58.560 Stretch your legs for a moment. 00:01:00.399 --> 00:01:13.200 The Word of God says to us from the lips of the Apostle Paul, I, therefore, the prisoner of the Lord, urge you to walk in a manner worthy of the calling to which you have been called. 00:01:13.519 --> 00:01:24.400 With all humility and gentleness, with patience, bearing with one another in love, eager to maintain the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace. 00:01:25.200 --> 00:01:33.359 There is one body and one spirit, just as you were called to, the one hope that belongs to your call. 00:01:34.159 --> 00:01:44.480 One Lord, one faith, one baptism, one God and Father of all, who is over all and through all and in all. 00:01:45.200 --> 00:01:45.760 Amen. 00:01:45.920 --> 00:01:47.040 May the Lord bless his word. 00:01:47.200 --> 00:01:48.400 You may be seated. 00:01:54.560 --> 00:01:56.799 Aren't baptisms wonderful? 00:01:59.519 --> 00:02:03.280 Probably should have put tissues in the pews for this morning. 00:02:03.760 --> 00:02:15.039 I love it when people are so full of the Lord Jesus Christ that they want to demonstrate that faith, that love, and that trust in Him to all of us. 00:02:15.280 --> 00:02:17.520 It's a wonderful thing to celebrate. 00:02:17.680 --> 00:02:26.639 And then praying together as a family of spiritual brothers and sisters and singing praise to Christ because of the cross, how can you get better than that? 00:02:27.120 --> 00:02:28.240 What a great morning. 00:02:28.319 --> 00:02:33.120 It's been encouraging and uplifting, and I trust it has been to you as well. 00:02:33.680 --> 00:02:41.439 Celebrating baptisms is a sign of the Lord Jesus Christ building his church. 00:02:42.159 --> 00:02:48.240 And any part that we get to play in that is both encouraging and humbling. 00:02:48.800 --> 00:02:51.120 It's exciting to be a part of that. 00:02:51.360 --> 00:02:58.159 But there is also a challenge inherent in what we have participated in this morning. 00:02:58.960 --> 00:03:02.879 The Lord is building his church. 00:03:03.680 --> 00:03:05.520 We've just witnessed it. 00:03:06.240 --> 00:03:09.280 He is building his church. 00:03:09.759 --> 00:03:13.120 Now the challenge inherent in that is this. 00:03:13.439 --> 00:03:19.039 Are you personally involved in what Christ is doing? 00:03:20.000 --> 00:03:21.759 Are you involved? 00:03:22.560 --> 00:03:25.360 Maybe we could ask it a little more directly. 00:03:26.319 --> 00:03:32.960 Is there anyone here this morning that is present because of you? 00:03:35.199 --> 00:03:42.800 Is there anyone here this morning, anywhere in this room, anywhere in this building that is here because you have invited them? 00:03:44.000 --> 00:03:48.719 Because you have led them down the road to trusting in Christ. 00:03:49.840 --> 00:03:57.759 Is there someone here this morning whom you have helped, whom you have encouraged, whom you have discipled, or even simply prayed for? 00:03:59.360 --> 00:04:01.199 I love that you are here. 00:04:01.280 --> 00:04:03.120 I love that we have a full room this morning. 00:04:03.199 --> 00:04:10.080 It's great, it's exciting, and I'm excited about what the Lord is doing in each and every one of you because he is doing something. 00:04:12.080 --> 00:04:13.759 But why are you here? 00:04:15.680 --> 00:04:17.120 Why are you here? 00:04:18.240 --> 00:04:23.040 We've seen three brothers and a sister desire to demonstrate their trust in Christ. 00:04:23.199 --> 00:04:24.720 We know why they were here. 00:04:26.000 --> 00:04:27.360 But what about you? 00:04:29.680 --> 00:04:38.399 Someone has rightly said that Christ did not die to create an audience, but a family of disciples and worshipers. 00:04:40.160 --> 00:04:52.560 There's no way to truly call yourself a disciple if you are not involved in community, in obeying Christ, and in serving him. 00:04:53.199 --> 00:04:55.680 It's tough to say that, but it's true. 00:04:56.160 --> 00:05:13.839 Jesus came to create disciples who would identify with him through baptism and then continue growing in their knowledge, understanding, faith, and practice along with others who trust in Christ. 00:05:14.319 --> 00:05:16.399 That's why he died. 00:05:16.959 --> 00:05:25.040 That's why we can sing hallelujah for the cross, and then we all are given a commission to go and make other disciples. 00:05:26.079 --> 00:05:28.720 God is not about an audience. 00:05:28.879 --> 00:05:34.879 He's not looking to fill every single seat in sanctuaries across the world. 00:05:35.680 --> 00:05:37.920 He's about building his family. 00:05:39.680 --> 00:05:46.000 He causes people to be reborn in a spiritual sense to be his sons and daughters. 00:05:48.079 --> 00:05:59.120 And then he expects and causes those children to grow and mature in order to be used by him to continue that process. 00:06:00.399 --> 00:06:02.959 Now that's important to me personally. 00:06:03.759 --> 00:06:09.920 I'm an old er, dad of a young boy. 00:06:10.800 --> 00:06:18.879 Now I listen to all of you who tell me to cherish this time because it goes away so rapidly. 00:06:19.519 --> 00:06:20.399 And that's true. 00:06:20.560 --> 00:06:23.519 It does go away so rapidly, and I do cherish it. 00:06:23.759 --> 00:06:29.040 But you know, there are days that I am really glad he's not going to stay too forever. 00:06:33.040 --> 00:06:34.800 Hope he can't hear that. 00:06:36.720 --> 00:06:40.160 I love being a part of his two-year-old life. 00:06:41.199 --> 00:06:46.560 I love coming home and seeing him so excited that I've come home. 00:06:48.800 --> 00:06:52.959 But I also don't want a 20-year-old son who still acts like he's two. 00:06:54.879 --> 00:06:56.079 I want him to grow up. 00:06:56.240 --> 00:06:57.680 I want him to mature. 00:06:58.560 --> 00:07:01.199 You know, the same is true in God's family. 00:07:01.680 --> 00:07:11.120 Sometimes there are Christians who have walked with Jesus for two or three years in their faith, who are really mature. 00:07:12.959 --> 00:07:18.240 But we're not surprised if somebody's been following Christ for six months or a year or two or three years. 00:07:18.480 --> 00:07:21.439 We're not surprised if they still have some growing up to do. 00:07:22.000 --> 00:07:23.920 There's still room to mature. 00:07:25.600 --> 00:07:41.040 But if there are people who have been children of God for ten years, for twenty years, for thirty years, then we should be surprised and even concerned if they still act like two-year-old Christians, shouldn't we? 00:07:44.319 --> 00:07:48.399 My brothers and sisters, God expects us to grow up. 00:07:51.040 --> 00:08:00.480 We don't trust in Jesus, get baptized, join a church, and then suddenly just stop growing. 00:08:01.040 --> 00:08:04.560 That's not what Jesus intended. 00:08:04.879 --> 00:08:12.240 In fact, in a statement to the ancient church in Ephesus, God repeatedly reminded them that he expected them to grow up. 00:08:12.399 --> 00:08:16.160 We see this at the end of this section that we began to read this morning. 00:08:16.399 --> 00:08:24.240 If you have your Bible still open, you can look at verses 12, 13, 14, 15, 16 at the end of that first major section. 00:08:24.480 --> 00:08:30.480 And in those last verses, there are five statements about growing up as Christians. 00:08:31.120 --> 00:08:37.840 He says that we're to grow to maturity, to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ. 00:08:38.240 --> 00:08:43.600 He tells us to no longer be children, to grow up in every way. 00:08:44.639 --> 00:08:48.639 He talks about making the body, that's all of us together, grow. 00:08:50.960 --> 00:08:53.519 We are to be about growing up. 00:08:53.759 --> 00:09:01.519 Now, for a few minutes, I just want to take a short time here to survey the beginning of this chapter, the first six verses. 00:09:01.840 --> 00:09:05.120 In a few weeks we'll pick it up again in a little more detail. 00:09:06.240 --> 00:09:09.039 But first we have to understand where we are. 00:09:10.000 --> 00:09:20.480 Perhaps more than any other part of the Bible, the first three chapters of the book of Ephesians lay out what it means to be a Christian. 00:09:20.720 --> 00:09:27.840 There's some rich, deep stuff there that you can dwell on for a lifetime. 00:09:29.200 --> 00:09:38.240 Beginning in the fourth chapter, we find not what it means to be a Christian, but what it looks like to be a Christian. 00:09:38.639 --> 00:09:42.559 And these first 16 verses of this chapter are all about growing. 00:09:43.360 --> 00:09:45.840 We could simplify it maybe in this way. 00:09:46.799 --> 00:09:51.519 The first six verses are about growing together. 00:09:51.840 --> 00:09:53.279 They're about growing together. 00:09:53.440 --> 00:09:57.120 You can see that, I think, pretty clearly in verses 3, 4, 5, and 6. 00:09:57.519 --> 00:10:01.279 This talk about unity and oneness again and again. 00:10:02.799 --> 00:10:05.759 The middle section is about growing in faith. 00:10:06.480 --> 00:10:10.720 The last part of these first 16 verses is about growing in service. 00:10:11.200 --> 00:10:17.279 And we could say then that the last part of the chapter, verses 17 to the end, are about growing in character. 00:10:17.759 --> 00:10:19.759 It's all about growing. 00:10:20.320 --> 00:10:24.480 But that first section is growing together. 00:10:25.759 --> 00:10:30.960 Very clear about the themes of unity and togetherness and oneness. 00:10:31.200 --> 00:10:34.399 But we miss quite a bit if we jump right to that point. 00:10:35.919 --> 00:10:38.480 We miss some really good truths. 00:10:38.879 --> 00:10:40.320 Look at the very beginning. 00:10:40.559 --> 00:10:42.399 Look how the chapter begins. 00:10:42.879 --> 00:10:47.519 I, therefore, a prisoner of the Lord. 00:10:47.759 --> 00:10:56.559 Now we have to pause there because whenever we see the word therefore in Scripture, we need to stop a minute and see what it's pointing to. 00:10:57.120 --> 00:11:01.440 When I was a kid, most of our vacations were taken with our camper. 00:11:01.759 --> 00:11:03.679 Pulled our camper all over the country. 00:11:03.919 --> 00:11:09.360 Still remember the day that my dad parked in downtown Chicago, right across the street from the Sears Tower. 00:11:09.679 --> 00:11:11.200 Pulling our camper. 00:11:13.919 --> 00:11:16.480 We stayed in campgrounds all over the country. 00:11:16.720 --> 00:11:17.600 Literally. 00:11:18.639 --> 00:11:32.159 I remember many times seeing these gigantic red arrows painted on billboards, usually in a right angle, pointing down so you could locate where the campground was that we were looking for. 00:11:32.960 --> 00:11:36.559 That's what the word therefore does in your Bible. 00:11:36.960 --> 00:11:41.600 Now here it serves as a transition to the next part of the book. 00:11:41.679 --> 00:11:45.840 So the first part tells us what it means to be a Christian, the second part what it looks like. 00:11:46.000 --> 00:11:54.720 So he wants us to begin thinking about what it looks like to be a Christian, but to do that, he's got this gigantic arrow pointing back to the first three chapters. 00:11:55.279 --> 00:12:02.799 Because of what it means to be a Christian, this is what it looks like to live it out. 00:12:03.840 --> 00:12:10.480 That big arrow points back to the first three chapters, telling us what God has done. 00:12:11.279 --> 00:12:30.960 If you look back at chapter 3, verse 18, he tells us that we should have strength to comprehend with all the saints what is the breadth and the length and the height and the depth, and to know the love of Christ that surpasses knowledge, so that we may be filled with all the fullness of God. 00:12:31.120 --> 00:12:32.480 He wants us to know that. 00:12:33.039 --> 00:12:39.279 He's done three chapters of work to get us to comprehend all of that fullness. 00:12:40.639 --> 00:12:46.799 Because of that, therefore, there's the big red arrow pointing back to what he's just finished writing. 00:12:47.120 --> 00:12:56.320 Because you understand the gospel, because you understand the salvation, I now urge you to walk in a manner worthy of the gospel. 00:12:58.799 --> 00:13:16.639 The gospel is so glorious, he says, that it empowers, it enables, it motivates the believer in Jesus to live in such a way that his life demonstrates the beauty of the gospel. 00:13:18.240 --> 00:13:50.399 To put it another way, if you have no desire to be baptized, if you have no desire to have humility in your life, if there's no desire to be gentle, to have patience, to put up with other people, if loving unity is not a part of who you are, then you either don't have the salvation the gospel speaks of, or you severely misunderstand the gospel. 00:13:51.360 --> 00:13:53.600 Now we don't want either of those, do we? 00:13:56.399 --> 00:14:01.039 But why would he say a prisoner for the Lord? 00:14:03.120 --> 00:14:05.519 Well, on the one hand, he is. 00:14:06.639 --> 00:14:09.120 The apostle is writing from prison. 00:14:09.279 --> 00:14:10.639 He is a captive. 00:14:11.360 --> 00:14:16.399 He was held as a prisoner because of his faith in the Lord Jesus Christ. 00:14:17.519 --> 00:14:22.159 He was turning the world upside down with the gospel. 00:14:22.720 --> 00:14:24.320 So he was in prison. 00:14:26.080 --> 00:14:35.679 But I can't help but think in this context that maybe there's a little bit more to that statement than just being a literal bound prisoner. 00:14:38.000 --> 00:14:44.159 I think what he's communicating here is that he was a prisoner because of the gospel. 00:14:44.960 --> 00:14:47.279 He was a prisoner because of Jesus. 00:14:48.480 --> 00:14:51.600 And he was a prisoner because it was worth it. 00:14:54.159 --> 00:14:58.080 The gospel was worth it, and Jesus was worth it. 00:14:58.240 --> 00:15:03.840 We've witnessed three brothers and a sister in Christ demonstrate their faith. 00:15:03.919 --> 00:15:04.320 Why? 00:15:04.639 --> 00:15:06.080 Because it was worth it. 00:15:07.039 --> 00:15:09.519 Because Jesus is worth it. 00:15:12.159 --> 00:15:20.639 According to the news, the largest home church in China was shut down this week by the government. 00:15:22.960 --> 00:15:33.519 Why do believers keep meeting in homes and under threat of governments across the world when they're not entirely free to do so? 00:15:33.840 --> 00:15:35.360 Why do they do that? 00:15:36.399 --> 00:15:38.240 They do it because of the gospel. 00:15:38.720 --> 00:15:39.840 Because of Jesus. 00:15:40.000 --> 00:15:41.440 And because it's worth it. 00:15:44.720 --> 00:15:48.320 If you don't understand that, then you don't understand the gospel. 00:15:49.919 --> 00:15:54.240 And you don't understand the Jesus of the gospel. 00:15:55.039 --> 00:16:02.799 Who came to take on human form so that he might die, the death of a slave on a cross. 00:16:03.759 --> 00:16:08.559 So that we might be reborn, be freed from our sin. 00:16:10.639 --> 00:16:21.919 When you understand the truth of the gospel, it becomes so compelling that you leave behind what the world has to offer you to follow Jesus. 00:16:23.360 --> 00:16:29.600 You die to yourself and you walk worthy of the gospel because it is worth it. 00:16:29.840 --> 00:16:31.759 The gospel is that glorious. 00:16:32.000 --> 00:16:34.320 Jesus is that amazing. 00:16:34.559 --> 00:16:39.919 Walking worthy of the gospel is then a sign that we are beginning to grow up. 00:16:41.759 --> 00:16:51.360 I want to leave you today with an astonished excitement at the wonder of the gospel. 00:16:52.799 --> 00:16:59.039 I don't want you to leave today feeling beat down or driven away. 00:17:00.159 --> 00:17:03.919 I want you to leave thinking, when can I get it baptized? 00:17:04.960 --> 00:17:09.119 I want you to leave today thinking, Jesus, is that worth it? 00:17:09.759 --> 00:17:11.599 I want to walk with him. 00:17:12.799 --> 00:17:22.880 The glory of the gospel has led some to stand up here in front of you, which is not necessarily an easy thing for some people, and share their faith with you. 00:17:24.640 --> 00:17:27.680 And be baptized because of faith in Christ. 00:17:27.839 --> 00:17:29.920 So, what is Christ doing in you? 00:17:32.079 --> 00:17:42.640 I want you to leave today filled with the wonder of amazement at what Christ has done for you, so that you will go from here walking in amazement for what He will do through you. 00:17:44.160 --> 00:17:46.720 And it's much more than you ever dreamed. 00:17:48.640 --> 00:17:59.440 Who would have dreamed that God would have brought people all across the ocean from Asia to hear Christ and trust in him on this continent? 00:18:01.119 --> 00:18:05.680 What God might do in you and through you is more than you can ever imagine. 00:18:06.640 --> 00:18:15.119 If you have trusted in Jesus as your Lord and Savior, you have been called by God to a special position through the gospel. 00:18:15.359 --> 00:18:18.240 We are now children of the living God. 00:18:18.720 --> 00:18:20.240 That's who we are. 00:18:23.119 --> 00:18:28.079 We're children of God, and as children of God, we grow up. 00:18:28.400 --> 00:18:30.240 We grow up to maturity. 00:18:30.559 --> 00:18:37.279 That idea of walking worthy is that of balance or of equilibrium. 00:18:38.000 --> 00:18:45.920 Picture one of those old-time scales, or if that's a little bit beyond your time frame, picture a teeter-totter. 00:18:52.480 --> 00:19:14.240 On one side we have our calling, our position of being chosen in Christ before the foundation of the world, our position of being redeemed and adopted in Christ, and on the other side of the teeter-tater or the other side of the scale is our lifestyle, our way of living, our attitudes, our actions that are growing in maturity. 00:19:14.400 --> 00:19:15.839 Do they balance out? 00:19:18.559 --> 00:19:25.519 Are we living our lives in balance with who we are in Christ, with our position as children of God? 00:19:25.920 --> 00:19:29.599 You know, I am so sick of the news these days. 00:19:30.880 --> 00:19:39.680 We are overrun by the gory details of people in high political positions acting in ways contrary to their position. 00:19:42.240 --> 00:19:45.200 Some are appalled at it, some aren't. 00:19:47.359 --> 00:19:57.680 But the basic reason behind being appalled is that there's a standard of behavior that is expected, maybe even required, for someone in a position of authority. 00:19:58.799 --> 00:20:08.880 We've often heard throughout the years how Congress has turned down presidential nominees when certain behaviors or attitudes or actions have been brought to light. 00:20:09.039 --> 00:20:12.400 Because there's an expectation of a standard being met. 00:20:13.279 --> 00:20:18.720 Because a person's calling sets the standard for their conduct. 00:20:19.359 --> 00:20:24.480 The higher one's calling in life, the purer one's conduct must be. 00:20:24.720 --> 00:20:29.759 And brothers and sisters, there's no higher calling than being a child of the living God. 00:20:33.759 --> 00:20:38.160 Those who have come to faith have been adopted into the family of the Most High God. 00:20:38.480 --> 00:20:42.400 We are sons and daughters of the God of heaven. 00:20:43.839 --> 00:20:50.160 We must make sure, then, that as we're walking the path of life, we're growing up. 00:20:50.960 --> 00:20:53.200 No, it doesn't happen instantly. 00:20:54.400 --> 00:20:58.720 My son's two and a half, he will turn three, and we might not notice any change. 00:21:00.000 --> 00:21:04.079 Hopefully, by the time he's four, there might be a little evidence. 00:21:04.640 --> 00:21:07.039 Maybe by the time he's 20, we'll see more. 00:21:09.279 --> 00:21:10.480 Please, God. 00:21:15.440 --> 00:21:21.279 Please, God, may we seek more growth and maturity in us as his children. 00:21:21.920 --> 00:21:23.440 As we walk with him. 00:21:24.960 --> 00:21:26.000 How do we do that? 00:21:26.160 --> 00:21:27.599 Well, we follow Jesus. 00:21:29.279 --> 00:21:30.880 We follow Jesus. 00:21:31.839 --> 00:21:40.000 The author of the book of Hebrews says we keep our eyes on Jesus, the author and the perfecter of our faith. 00:21:40.400 --> 00:21:43.599 Who, for the joy that was set before him, endured the cross. 00:21:43.759 --> 00:21:44.960 Joy in following a cross? 00:21:45.119 --> 00:21:45.519 Yes. 00:21:45.680 --> 00:21:48.000 So take up your cross daily and follow him. 00:21:48.160 --> 00:21:48.960 What does that look like? 00:21:49.119 --> 00:21:57.839 Well, here we see it humility, gentleness, patience, bearing with one another in love, maintaining unity. 00:21:57.920 --> 00:21:59.200 That's what it means to walk worthy. 00:21:59.440 --> 00:22:02.240 We're looking Those in detail in the next few weeks. 00:22:02.559 --> 00:22:04.960 But notice first for today the headliner. 00:22:05.440 --> 00:22:06.400 Humility. 00:22:08.799 --> 00:22:11.920 You know, gentleness doesn't really happen much without humility. 00:22:16.079 --> 00:22:21.119 Patience is pretty difficult without humility. 00:22:22.240 --> 00:22:25.519 And we don't put up with one another if we're arrogant, do we? 00:22:29.680 --> 00:22:35.440 I think it's significant that this one word is mentioned first: humility. 00:22:35.680 --> 00:22:40.400 Neither the Greeks nor the Romans initially had a word for humility in their vocabulary. 00:22:41.119 --> 00:22:47.039 When it eventually came to be in their language, those cultures looked down on humility. 00:22:47.119 --> 00:22:51.839 It was not something to be fostered or developed, it was something to be gotten rid of. 00:22:52.640 --> 00:22:59.759 But in God's mind, it is of greatest importance in the life of the believer because it is the prime characteristic of the Lord Jesus. 00:23:01.279 --> 00:23:05.759 Who did not count equality with God something to be held on to at all costs. 00:23:06.799 --> 00:23:08.319 But he made himself nothing. 00:23:08.480 --> 00:23:09.920 What does that look like? 00:23:10.640 --> 00:23:13.119 Taking on human form. 00:23:14.319 --> 00:23:17.519 Form of a slave, so that he might die the death of a slave. 00:23:18.720 --> 00:23:24.640 Aurelius Augustinius, better known as Saint Augustine, came to Christ in the year 387. 00:23:24.960 --> 00:23:31.759 He's known to have said, For those who would learn God's ways, humility is the first thing. 00:23:32.720 --> 00:23:34.720 It's also the second thing. 00:23:35.359 --> 00:23:36.640 And the third. 00:23:39.200 --> 00:23:49.279 When we walk worthy because Jesus and the gospel are worth it, then the Spirit of God begins to work in us, displaying his character through us. 00:23:49.920 --> 00:23:55.920 As children grow and mature, they develop character, and the same is true of Christians. 00:23:56.160 --> 00:24:02.319 As we grow, we grow in the character of God, and we grow in love and appreciation for God's children. 00:24:02.640 --> 00:24:05.759 That moves us to work toward unity. 00:24:08.319 --> 00:24:15.680 We must be actively committed to the preservation and practice of Christian unity if it's ever going to be evident to the world around us. 00:24:15.839 --> 00:24:16.880 Think of it. 00:24:18.720 --> 00:24:30.720 I get emails and information all the time about conferences and classes and opportunities to grow as a pastor, as a leader. 00:24:31.279 --> 00:24:41.440 And you know, I see seminars all the time on self-confidence, self-assertion, and self-esteem. 00:24:42.880 --> 00:24:48.559 I've never gotten information on a seminar or a conference on learning to be humble. 00:24:51.119 --> 00:24:55.039 The world doesn't teach gentleness, but it does teach assertiveness. 00:24:57.920 --> 00:25:06.960 And all of that, when God moves us to maturity, when he grows us, moves us to maintain the unity of the Spirit. 00:25:07.200 --> 00:25:10.480 Notice that it's not something that we're told to strive to create. 00:25:10.720 --> 00:25:13.039 We don't work to create unity. 00:25:13.200 --> 00:25:14.880 He says, maintain it. 00:25:15.839 --> 00:25:17.119 Keep it going. 00:25:18.559 --> 00:25:23.920 That's why when you're driving your car down the interstate, you stop every once in a while and you put some gas in it. 00:25:24.480 --> 00:25:26.319 Because you want to keep it going. 00:25:28.480 --> 00:25:30.559 You keep maintaining it. 00:25:31.359 --> 00:25:37.200 The unity here is one that exists by divine creation and divine design. 00:25:37.440 --> 00:25:43.599 We are merely maintaining that unity by acting properly towards our brothers and sisters in Christ. 00:25:43.839 --> 00:25:47.680 When God's children walk worthy, they get along together. 00:25:47.839 --> 00:25:48.960 Imagine that. 00:25:51.680 --> 00:25:52.880 Imagine that. 00:25:55.599 --> 00:26:00.799 Well, the reason for all of this is because of God's creation. 00:26:02.000 --> 00:26:03.839 He says there's one body. 00:26:06.480 --> 00:26:08.319 Because there's one spirit. 00:26:09.279 --> 00:26:12.000 And you were all called to one hope. 00:26:13.519 --> 00:26:18.079 And there's one Lord, one faith, one baptism, one God and Father who's overall and in all. 00:26:22.319 --> 00:26:26.640 Have you heard of the teenage boy who talked about his kid sister? 00:26:28.000 --> 00:26:31.279 He said, My sister has a superiority complex. 00:26:32.400 --> 00:26:34.799 She thinks she's almost as good as me. 00:26:40.000 --> 00:26:44.240 You know, I think that's the attitude many of us have toward one another sometimes. 00:26:46.079 --> 00:26:52.319 Now, obviously, these last few verses here speak of the union that all believers have in the Lord Jesus Christ. 00:26:53.039 --> 00:26:56.240 There's no I'm better than you. 00:26:58.000 --> 00:27:01.599 There's no thinking that way about one another. 00:27:04.160 --> 00:27:08.000 There's no superiority in thought or action. 00:27:08.319 --> 00:27:15.839 In fact, you might take a moment if you do this sort of thing and circle all of the occurrences of the word one in verses four, five, and six. 00:27:16.000 --> 00:27:20.240 And then circle or underline all of the occurrences of the word all. 00:27:20.400 --> 00:27:22.400 The message is very pointed. 00:27:23.519 --> 00:27:28.480 God is speaking to his children, and he's saying, one, one, one, one, all, all, all. 00:27:28.640 --> 00:27:30.000 Do you get it yet? 00:27:33.200 --> 00:27:36.079 We share an allegiance to the Lord Jesus. 00:27:36.960 --> 00:27:51.759 We've set aside our own personal desires, our own rights to become his children, a part of his body, and he has created us to function in harmony with one another in unanimity because he has put his spirit within us. 00:27:51.920 --> 00:28:00.079 What a joy to see our Chinese brothers and sisters evidencing that same spirit that all of us have. 00:28:01.759 --> 00:28:03.759 We can be together one. 00:28:03.920 --> 00:28:10.880 And our aim, the challenge presented to each of us is to live lives that are consistent then with who we are in Christ. 00:28:11.680 --> 00:28:19.119 When that is lived out in the body of Christ, the result is a maturing group of children. 00:28:20.160 --> 00:28:38.400 Who step by step, day by day, month by month, year by year, are growing in their maturation, are living in unity and fulfilling the desires of the Lord, all because of the gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ and the Lord who is worth it. 00:28:40.319 --> 00:28:41.920 Is that where you are? 00:28:43.599 --> 00:28:53.440 If you have walked with Christ in faith and trust in Him, spend some time this week asking Him to grow you. 00:28:55.839 --> 00:29:03.440 If you are here, as Scott said earlier, maybe not having trusted in Christ yet, you are here for a reason. 00:29:03.920 --> 00:29:08.799 God has brought you here to hear the good news of eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord. 00:29:10.079 --> 00:29:13.359 Trust in Him and Him alone. 00:29:14.480 --> 00:29:17.119 And join us in this fabulous family. 00:29:17.680 --> 00:29:18.880 Let's pray together. 00:29:19.440 --> 00:29:20.960 Our Lord Jesus. 00:29:23.039 --> 00:29:24.240 We struggle to grow. 00:29:24.559 --> 00:29:25.920 We struggle to walk with you. 00:29:26.000 --> 00:29:31.839 And sometimes we we trip and fall. 00:29:32.240 --> 00:29:36.319 Sometimes we stick out our feet and trip each other on purpose. 00:29:37.440 --> 00:29:42.240 Sometimes we hit each other and we bite each other and we argue with one another. 00:29:44.720 --> 00:29:47.599 These things ought not to be, but we are still growing. 00:29:48.720 --> 00:29:52.079 You are still working in us to complete your work. 00:29:52.240 --> 00:29:54.240 And we ask that you would do that. 00:29:54.880 --> 00:29:59.359 That by your spirit you would mold us into the image of our Lord Jesus Christ. 00:30:00.480 --> 00:30:07.119 That you would take us from this place and make us like that city on a hill that can't be hidden. 00:30:08.559 --> 00:30:13.759 That others would see that the gospel and the Lord Jesus Christ are worth it. 00:30:16.000 --> 00:30:29.359 Lord be pleased among us to use us to bring others to saving faith so that we might have more of these glorious mornings of witnessing faith and trust in you. 00:30:31.200 --> 00:30:33.680 We worship you because you are worth it. 00:30:34.319 --> 00:30:38.480 We give all honor and glory and praise to you because you are worthy of it. 00:30:40.559 --> 00:30:45.200 Now be pleased to cause us to walk worthy of you. 00:30:46.240 --> 00:30:46.880 Amen. 00:30:47.519 --> 00:30:51.200 That concludes this sermon from Faith Evangelical Free Church. 00:30:51.359 --> 00:30:58.160 Our mission is to declare the Word of God and disciple believers into mature, devoted followers of Jesus. 00:30:58.480 --> 00:31:02.319 You can learn more by visiting our website at faithfree.com.