2002-01-01
Good Morning Dear Ones,
For the last several days, I have been writing about the first three chapters of Ephesians, which deal with the blessings God gives us to equip us to do spiritual warfare. Now, He leads me to turn my attention to the second three chapters of Ephesians, which deal with how to use God's blessings. I will cover all but EPH 6: 10-20 in the next few messages, which has already been covered and deals with the full armor of God. Today, let's look at EPH 4: 1-16. This passage discusses the unity of the Body of Christ.
It may seem strange to begin a discussion of this passage by citing RO 12: 1-2, but I feel it is necessary. "So then, my brothers, because of God's great mercy to us I appeal to you: Offer yourselves as a living sacrifice to God, dedicated to His service and pleasing to Him. This is the true worship that you should offer. Do not conform yourselves to the standards of this world, but let God transform you inwardly by the renewal of your mind. Then you will be able to know the will of God-what is good and pleasing to Him and is perfect." The Lord takes me back to that crucial passage often, not to bore you but to emphasize how very important to our lives this is. Now, look at what God inspired Paul to say in EPH 4: 1-2, "I urge you, then-I who am a prisoner because I serve the Lord: live a life that measures up to the standard God set when He called you. Be always humble, gentle, and patient. Show your love by being tolerant with one another." You'll recall what I said yesterday about Paul looking at being a "prisoner, a bondservant for Christ set apart for the Gospel" as being a privilege rather than an insufferable burden. Despite the terrible trials that Paul had to go through, which he outlined in detail in 2 COR 11: 22-33, he understood that God had honored him in making him the apostle to the Gentiles and that he would be rewarded with eternal life in heaven. The message of both the Romans and Ephesians passages here is that we should take the same attitude. Christ spoke of this when He urged us to "go in the narrow gate" even though the path to it is hard in MT 7: 13-14 and LK 13: 24.
When we are told to be humble, gentle, and patient in EPH 4: 2, Paul is referring to the fruits of the spirit, which are produced when one truly lives "in Christ." GA 5: 22-23, "But the Spirit produces love, joy peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, humility, and self-control. There is no law against such things as these." Note also what God prompted Paul to say in COL 3: 12-13, "May the Lord make your love for one another and for all people grow more and more and become as great as our love for you. In this way He will strengthen you, and you will be perfect and holy in the presence of our God and Father when our Lord Jesus comes with all who belong to Him." When we produce the fruits of the Spirit in our lives, it affects our congregations enormously. We see God's will here in EPH 4: 3-7, "Do your best to preserve the unity which the Spirit gives by means of the peace that binds you together. There is one body and one Spirit, just as there is one hope to which God has called you. There is one Lord, one faith, one baptism; there is one God and Father of all mankind, Who is Lord of all, works through all, and is in all. Each one of us has received a special gift in proportion to what Christ has given."
This unity would certainly seem to fly in the face of all the political in-fighting that goes on within some congregations and should certainly cause us to take a second look at the human propensity to divide Christians into different denominations. It is what causes me to be much more interested in what God has to say in the Bible than in spins put on it by human interpretations. Of course, we all have our opinions on various issues, but these opinions shouldn't divide us. We should tolerate these differences with love. The only issue upon which we must all agree is that Christ died for us, was buried for three days, and rose again, so that we might be saved [JN 3: 16; 1 COR 15: 1-8; RO 3: 24-25] and that FAITH + NOTHING = SALAVATION. EPH 4: 8-14 deals with the fact that we were given different gifts to carry out God's will as part of the Body of Christ, things like being apostles, prophets, evangelists, pastors, teacher, etc. We are to use these gifts to build up (edify) the Body of Christ. That means to promote increasing spiritual maturity in its members in a loving, unifying way. Moving from "spiritual milk" to "spiritual meat" is encouraged in HE 5: 12-13, 1 COR 3: 1-3, and by connotation in EPH 4: 14. The idea is to prevent being swept off God's course by cagey false teachers to which the believer is exposed. EPH 4: 15-16 makes God's will for the church very clear. "Instead, by speaking the truth in a spirit of love, we must grow up in every way to Christ, Who is the head. Under His control all the different parts of the Body fit together, and the whole Body is held together by every joint with which it is provided. So when each separate part works as it should, the whole Body grows and builds itself up through love." We need to think about what attitudes we must change and actions we must take to carry out our individual and congregational lives in unifying and edifying the Body of Christ.
PRAYER: O Lord, while PS 50 speaks of true worship in the context of ancient Israel, You have inspired the Psalmist to reveal important principles in it for us today. PS 50: 1, "The Almighty God, the Lord, speaks; He calls to the whole earth from east to west." PS 50: 15, "Call to Me when trouble comes; I will save you, and you will praise Me." When people are unrighteous, God tells them [PS 50: 17, 19-21], "You refuse to let Me correct you; you reject my commands...You are always ready to speak evil; you never hesitate to tell lies. You are ready to accuse your own brothers and to find fault with them. You have done all this, and I have said nothing, so you thought that I am like you. But now I reprimand you and make the matter plain to you." And then, Dear Lord, You let us know how we can repent and be forgiven in PS 50: 23, "Giving thanks is the sacrifice that honors Me, and I will surely save all who obey Me." It is Your will that we should obey Your command to love one another, as Christ has loved us. When we obey that command and yield leadership of our lives and congregations to Him, the Body of Christ (the church) is edified and unified. You do not command us to behave this way just to exert Your power over us; You do it so that we can walk through that narrow gate to which the path is hard, leading us to eternal life and victory over the adversary. We respond to the love You show us every day by bringing humble confession of our sins and the pledge of worship, adoration, loyalty, diligence, glory, honor, praise, and thanksgiving to Your altar. We are eternally grateful for that special "koininea" bond that exists between You, ourselves, and our fellow believers. In Christ's name, amen.
Tomorrow, I am led to discuss EPH 4: 17-32, which deals with a new life in Christ. Our loving Abba not only blesses us, equipping us for spiritual warfare, but He also shows us how to use these blessings to insure that victory in our own lives and congregations. That kind of love, the kind that leads to eternal life when we obey Him, is not available from any other source. Take comfort in knowing that each of us is loved by the Lord of our lives. Peter and I send you our love too.
Grace Be With You Always,
Lynn