The fourth chapter of Paul's
epistle to the Ephesians. Ephesians chapter 4. I just want to read three verses
for you. The first three verses in Ephesians
chapter 4 verses 1 through 3. I therefore the prisoner of the
Lord beseech you that you walk worthy of the vocation wherewith
You are called with all holiness and meekness, with long-suffering,
forbearing one another in love, endeavoring to keep the unity
of the Spirit and the bond of peace. I want to talk just for
a few minutes to you this morning about the believer's walk. He
said here that you might walk worthy of the calling wherewith
the Lord has called you. And when we talk about the believer's
walk, we're not talking about just where he goes, his physical
feet. We're talking about his whole
style of living, his whole lifestyle, what he thinks. What is a believer
to think? How is a child of God to think
as he lives his life in this world? What's he to do? What's he to say? So He says
here, I beseech you that you walk worthy. He says a lot in this epistle
here. Let me just quote you a few passages
in this epistle. He says in 2 Tim, we are His
workmanship created in Christ Jesus unto good works that we
should walk in them. Walk in good works. And chapter
5, he says, Be ye followers of God as dear children, and walk
in love. Walk in love. Chapter 5 and verse
8, he says, You were sometimes darkness, but now are you light
in the Lord. Walk you as children of light. And then chapter 5 and verse
14 and 15, he says, See that you walk carefully, circumspectly,
carefully. Walk carefully. not as fools,
but as wise, redeeming the time, because the days are evil. And
then in chapter 4 here in verse 17, he tells us how not to walk.
This I say, therefore, and testify in the Lord, that you henceforth
walk not, as other Gentiles walk, in the vanity of their minds,
having the understanding darkened, being alienated from the life
of God, through their ignorance that is in them because of the
blindness of their heart." So this epistle tells us a lot about
our walk. And when you go to the Bible,
the whole entire Bible, well, it's full of the believer's walk. And as I study these passages
like this, it's so helpful to us. I want to know how to walk,
don't you? I want to know how I ought to
walk as a child of God in this world. And the Bible tells us
that. It tells us that. Listen to this,
right off the bat, way back in Genesis, Enoch walked with God. Boy, that's a good way to walk,
isn't it? If you're a child of God, then walk with God. What a companion! What a faithful
friend! To walk with God. You can't find
a more faithful and holy companion than God. In it, walk with God. How did he walk with God? By
faith. We can't walk with God any other
way but by faith. We walk by faith, not by sight. You can't see Him. Really, you
can't feel Him, can you? We talk about feeling sometimes,
but you know we walk by faith. We walk by faith. And without
faith, we can't walk with God. Because without faith it's impossible
to please Him. It was said of the early church
that they had rest throughout all Judea and Galatia and Samaria.
And they were edified and walking in the fear of the Lord. Walking
in the fear of the Lord. Be in the fear of the Lord all
the day long. That's a good way to walk, isn't
it? In Romans 8, 1, we walk not after the flesh, but after the
Spirit. This I say then, walk in the
Spirit, and you shall not fulfill the lust of the flesh. Walk in
the Spirit, in the Holy Spirit of God. If we live in the Spirit,
if we are alive in the Spirit, let us also walk in the Spirit. And listen to this one, Galatians
6.15, In Christ Jesus neither circumcision availeth anything,
nor uncircumcision, but a new creature. And as many as walk
according to this rule, peace be on them. and upon the Israel
of God. And here's one in Colossians
2, 6. You'll love this one. As you have therefore received
Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk you in Him. How did we receive
Christ? Well, I'll tell you this. We
received Him as empty sinners, didn't we? We were just as empty,
helpless, had no merit of our own, And we received Him in His
fullness as all of our salvation, all of our life. We received
His fullness into our emptiness, His strength into our utter weakness,
His blood to cleanse us, His Spirit to fill us. Walk in Him. Walk in Him. Walk in Christ. Walk with Christ. Walk in Him. And listen to this one, if we
walk in the light, as He is in the light, we have fellowship
one with another, and the blood of Jesus Christ cleanses us.
Walk in the light. And this is the love of God that
we walk after His commandments, and His commandments are not
grievous. Walk after His commandments. He's given us a rule, hasn't
He, in His Word. He's given us commandments. Christ
has a kingdom. We're in His kingdom, and that
kingdom has laws. It has rules. You can't have
a kingdom without having laws, can you? Christ's commandment. Walk after His commandment. And
listen, His commandments are not grievous. They used to be,
but they're not now, are they? His commandments aren't grievous.
You love His commandments. If you love Me, keep My commandments. John said, I have no greater
joy than to hear that my children are walking in the truth. Walking in the truth. And Paul said this, We beseech
you, brethren, and exhort you by the Lord Jesus, that as you
have received of us how you ought to walk, and to please God, so
you would abound more and more. When you find out how you are
to walk, what you're to think, what you're to say, what you're
to do, where you're to go, when you find out how to walk, then
do it. And abound in it more and more,
pleasing to God. Somebody said, you can't please
God. I beg your pardon. You can please
God. If you're lost, you can't please
Him. Even your prayer is seen. The plow to the wicked is seen.
But if He's made you His child, you can walk well-pleasing to
Him. And we're exhorted to do that,
aren't we? And I tell you, we can do things
that don't please Him too. Walk well-pleasing to the Lord. Now our text says here, now look
at this in our text, verse 1. He says that you walk worthy.
that you might walk worthy of the Lord, he said in another
place, and to all pleasing, walk worthy of the Lord." What does
he mean, walk worthy? Well, he's not speaking of merit.
He's not saying we do this out of any merit. We don't do this
to earn something from God. He's not speaking of merit at
all. None of us are worthy, are we? Jacob said, Lord, I am not worthy
of the least of Your tender mercies. Not worthy. John the Baptist
said, I am not worthy to stoop down and loose the latches of
his shoes. And that prodigal, when he came
home, what did he say? I am no more worthy to be called
your son. Make me just as one of your hard
servants. I am not worthy. None of us are worthy. That centurion
said, Lord, I'm not worthy that you should come under my roof. So there's a sense if it comes
to merit, if it comes to earning God's blessing, none of us are
worthy. He doesn't mean that. But the
Bible talks about being unworthy too, doesn't it? It talks about being unworthy.
Listen to this. He that loves his father or mother
more than me is not worthy of me. And he that does not take
up his cross daily and follow me, he is not worthy of me. The Lord told us a parable about
a king making a marriage for his son. And he sent his servant
out at supper time to say, ìCome, for all things are ready.î And
they began to make excuses not to come. And then they abused
his servant. And then the king found out about
it. And he was wrought. And he told
them to go out and bring others in. Because he said, those that
were bidden and refused to come, they'll not eat of my supper.
And he said this, they're not worthy. They're not worthy. So there is such a thing as not
being worthy, isn't there? Paul was preaching to the Jews
the Gospel of Jesus Christ, that through Him is preached unto
you the forgiveness of sins. And you know what those Jews
did? They blasphemed. They blasphemed. And Paul said,
we preach the Gospel to you, but since you put it from you
and judge yourself unworthy of everlasting life, lo, we turn
to the Gentiles. So while we're not talking here
about walking worthy that we're worthy of anything from Him,
there is a sense also which we can make ourselves unworthy,
unworthy to walk with Him. I think maybe the best word here
instead of worthy is another word that means the very same
thing and the Scriptures uses it appropriately, appropriately. I therefore, the prisoner of
the Lord, beseech you that you walk appropriately." How should
we walk as children of God? We should walk appropriately.
When you go to somebody's house, there's an appropriate way to
act, isn't there? How would you act if you were
invited to the White House? Well, to be honest with you,
I probably wouldn't go right now, just to be honest with you.
But how would you act? How would we dress? Why, the
first thing we would find out from somebody, what's the appropriate
dress? What should I wear? And boy,
when you got there, you'd be careful, wouldn't you? You would
want to act appropriately. What you said, your whole mannerism,
even your posture. Why? Well, there isn't an appropriate
way to do things. And that's what he said here.
If we're children of God by new birth, if we're citizens of His
kingdom, there isn't an appropriate way to think and talk and act
and live and walk. I beseech you that you walk appropriately. Walk appropriately. Now, you
know the Scripture never commands us to do anything but what it
don't give us good motives and gracious motives for doing. And
He gives us gracious motives here for doing this. Here in
verse 1 He says two things. Look at this motive. What worthy
of the calling were with you are called. Do you ever wonder
if you've been called? Do you ever wonder if God has
called you? I'm not talking about calling
you to an office. I'm not talking about calling
you to preach or calling you to pastor or calling you to be
a deacon. Have you ever wondered, seriously wondered, has God ever
called me to salvation? That's what He's talking about
here. I beseech you because you've been called. Walk appropriately. You know that we have to be called.
We have to be called to salvation. We have to be called to Christ.
Wayne read it this morning, didn't he? All things work together
for good to them who are the called. The called according
to God's purpose. Who calls them? God calls them,
doesn't He? When Peter was preaching on the
day of Pentecost, he said, this promise isn't to you, it's to
your children. And even those who are for all,
and then He qualifies that, even as many as the Lord our God shall
call. I bet you listen to sermons on
the radio and TV and the press of any kind. I bet you won't
find one in fifty messages that says a thing about calling. The
necessity of being called. But it's necessary. Peter said,
make it sure, didn't he? Make your calling and election
sure. Well, let me give you a couple
of Scriptures to help us discern our calling. I want you to hold
Ephesians there if you would. We'll be coming back to the book.
But I want you to turn over to 1 Peter 2 and verse 6. Paul said, This is the way you
should walk, since God has called you. Well, how do I know if he
has called me? Well, look what he says in 1
Peter 2, verse 6. 1 Peter 2, verse 6. Wherefore also
it is contained in the Scripture, Behold, I lay in Zion a chief
cornerstone, elect and precious. And he that believeth on him
shall not be ashamed, confounded. Unto you, therefore, which believe,
He is precious. But unto them which be disobedient,
the stone which the builders disallowed, the same is made
the headstone of the corner. A stone of stumbling, a rock
of offense, even to them that stumble at the Word, being disobedient,
were unto also they were appointed. But you are a chosen generation,
a royal priesthood and holy nation, a peculiar people that you should
show forth the praises of Him who hath called you." God hath
called you, look at this, out of darkness unto His marvelous
light. You know darkness in the Scripture
means ignorance. It means blindness of mind. It
means sin. It means the kingdom of Satan.
He's delivered you from the kingdom of darkness, the power of darkness. And He's called you into His
light. If you look back on a time not
so long ago, when you were ignorant of God, if somebody asked you about God,
you didn't know. In your heart of hearts, you
didn't know. They talk about God's holiness and God's sovereignty. God being from everlasting to
everlasting. You didn't know anything about
Him, did you? You didn't know anything about yourself. You
thought so highly of yourself. You had no idea what an awful
sinner you were. You were deceived in yourself.
And you sure knew nothing about redemption that's in Jesus Christ.
You're like the rest of us. You've heard His name all your
life. But I tell you, He wasn't precious
to you, was He? You knew nothing about His blood
to cleanse you from your sin. You were in darkness. And you
look back on that darkness. And how is it now with you? How
is it now with you? Don't you know God? Has Jesus
Christ been made real to your understanding? He's made Himself
known to you in His Word, in His Gospel? It's different now,
isn't it? And the difference is you were
in darkness, but now you're in the light, this glorious light
you see clearly now. And don't you praise Him for
it? Don't you praise Him for it? And we see people all the
time, don't we? We look back now. We didn't see
it then, but we look back now. We see people around us now.
Our loved ones, our own family. And they're walking in utter
darkness. They have no understanding. They can't see. They sit in darkness. And what's the difference between
them and you? He's called you. He's called
you out. of darkness into His marvelous
light. That's why people don't praise
Him. That's why they don't live in admiration of Him. This is
why they don't worship Him in private or in public. He's not
called on. When He called you, Peter says
here, that we should show forth His praises. Who hath called
us? Are you called? Has He called
you? Has He called you out of your
darkness into His light? Look in another place. Look in
1 Corinthians. Chapter 1 verse 9. Just right
after where Greg began. 1 Corinthians chapter 1. Boy,
this will help us to discern our calling. Look at this. In chapter 1 of 1 Corinthians,
look in verse 9. God is faithful by whom you were
called into the fellowship of His Son, Jesus Christ our Lord. This word fellowship means communion. You are called into the communion.
It means to share. You are called to share with
Christ. He is going to share with you
what is His to partake of, to partake of Christ. God hath called
us to partake of the benefits that's in Jesus Christ. All that He has merited, all
that He has earned, all that He has accomplished, He calls
us to His Son. Have you come to Him? Do you
know Him? Has He called you to communion
with Christ? Is He really precious to you
now? When God calls us, He calls us to His Son. Jesus Christ our
Lord. Calling is about coming to Jesus
Christ and our spirits finding salvation in Him and life in
Him and communion with Him. Why didn't those come to the
wedding feast when they were bidden? You know why they didn't
come? They weren't hungry, were they?
And when the Lord Jesus stood and said, If any man thirsty,
let him come to Me and drink. Why didn't they come and drink?
They weren't thirsty. They weren't thirsty. The Bible
says, Blessed are those who are called into the marriage supper
of the Lamb. Why are they blessed? Because
they're called to partake of that supper. And what is that
supper? My flesh is meat indeed. and
my blood is drink indeed." They come to eat of Christ, don't
they? Eat of His broken, redeeming body, His atoning blood. They eat of Him. They live upon
Him. They share with Him. I tell you,
when God calls us, He calls us to Christ. He calls us to partake
of those things that Christ has earned, that He's merited. He's earned for us forgiveness
of sins, hasn't He? The spirit of adoption. A new
creature. Heaven at last. Everything that
He's earned. And you know what He said? You
know what He said? Eventually, they shall walk with
Me. And why? And He said, Father,
I will that they whom You have given Me Be with me where I am
that they may behold my glory. They are going to partake of
Christ. They are going to behold His glory. And you know what? They are not going to only see
it. They are going to share in it. They are going to share in
it. Listen to this passage. That
you walk worthy of God who has called you unto His kingdom and
His glory. He's called you to His kingdom
and His glory. How should we walk, brothers
and sisters, in the light of our calling? It's pretty easy
to discern that you've been called, isn't it? You say, I was in darkness. I was in darkness. But now it's
light. I had no communion with Christ.
I wasn't sharing with Him. I had no idea what He'd earned
for me and merited for me. And now, I'm sharing with Him. I'm communion with Him. Pretty
easy to discern that, isn't it? How then should we walk? How
then should we walk? Worthy. Appropriately. He does
something else in our text. Look back here again in Ephesians
chapter 4. Not only our calling, that ye
walk worthy of the calling wherewith ye are called. But he gives us
something else in verse 1. I therefore, the prisoner of
the Lord, beseech you that ye walk worthy. He gives us something
else here to motivate us in our walk and to think about in our
walk because he refers back I therefore beseech you that you walk worthy.
What's that word therefore mean? It refers us back. Something
He said before. When you see that word therefore,
look and see what it's there for. It's there for a reason,
isn't it? What's He been saying? We looked at this last Sunday
morning. Just look back at some of these
things. How should we walk in the light of this? Look back
in chapter 1. Wayne talked about this a little bit this morning.
Look here in verse 3. I beseech you therefore. Look
at this blessing in chapter 4. According as He hath chosen us
in Him before the foundation of the world. He has chosen us
to salvation before the world ever was. I beseech you therefore.
In verse 5, Wayne spoke of this, having predestinated us unto
the adoption of children by Jesus Christ. We've not always been
children of God, have we? You have to be born again to
be a child of God. But I tell you, if you're a child
of God this morning, long before time ever began, He predestinated
you to be His child. And look in verse 7, in whom
we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of sins
according to the riches of His grace. Here's what He did for
you before you ever was born. He redeemed you. Look on down
here in verse 13. in whom also you trusted, after
that you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation,
in whom also, after you believed, you were sealed with the Holy
Spirit of promise." And let me ask you this question. How did
you even believe? You never could believe before.
How did you even believe the gospel to begin with? Look over
in verse 19. And what is the exceeding greatness
of His power to us who believe? How do we believe? According
to the working of His mighty power. And look in verse 11 again. And whom also we have obtained
an inheritance. We have an inheritance. Peter
tells us about it, doesn't he? It's undefiled. It's incorruptible. It never fades away. It's reserved
in heaven for you. And look at this. having been
predestinated according to the purpose of Him who works all
things after the counsel of His own will." What blessings! And
let me ask you this, brothers and sisters, we are not so naive
as to believe that God has chosen everybody to salvation, are we?
Has He chosen everybody? Has He predestinated everybody
until the adoption of children? Has He redeemed everybody? Has
He called everybody effectually? Has He given His Holy Spirit
to everybody? Does He give everybody grace
to believe? Of course He doesn't. But He has to you, hasn't He?
And all because He set these blessings aside for you simply
because it was His good pleasure. And Paul, to make sure this church
and you that these blessings weren't theirs because of any
merit or worth in them at all, he goes right on to tell them
in chapter 2, you were children of wrath. Your minds were full
of enmity against God. You walked according to the course
of this world just like everybody else. You haven't earned a thing.
It wasn't that God looked down and saw a difference between
you and somebody else. The cause was found in God. That's
what he's telling us. And one of the blessed things
that he goes on here in chapter 2 to tell them was that these
miserable, wretched Gentiles are now one with those believing
Jews. They're one with the believing
Jews. Look in verse 13 of chapter 2. But now, in Christ Jesus,
you who sometimes were a far off are made nigh by the blood
of Christ. For He is our peace, who hath
made both one, Jew and Gentile, the one, and hath broken down
the middle wall of petition between us, having abolished in His flesh
the enmity, even the law of commandments contained in ordinances, for
to make in Himself of two one new man, and so make Him peace. There's not two churches any
more than there's two gospels. There's one church. And every
believer, whether he be Jew or Gentile, is in that one church,
that one body. And he has to be called and put
in there. And Paul goes on in chapter 3,
and he tells them here that this has been a mystery. Here's a
wonderful thing. This has been a mystery. Look
what he says in chapter 3. Paul said in verse 3, how that
by revelation He made known unto me the mystery. Look in verse
5, "...which in other ages was not made known unto the sons
of men, as it is now revealed unto His holy apostles and prophets
by the Spirit..." What is that mystery? "...that the Gentiles
should be fellow heirs, and of the same body, and partaker of
His promise in Christ by the gospel." Just one body, isn't
it? One church. Jew and Gentile. And here's the blessing about
that. I look out here this morning
on you old dead dog Gentiles. Ain't a Jew in here, are they,
by nature? Just a bunch of dead dog Gentiles. You know, there
was a time even the apostles had no idea that the Lord was
going to turn to you and save you and make you one with that
Jewish church. that glorious church that began
there in Acts chapter 2, filled with the Holy Spirit. They were
all Jews. But here some of you are here
this morning and you are in that same body as Peter and James
and John and that 120 Jews that were there on the day of Pentecost.
You are here this morning. What was a mystery and been kept
a mystery for the most part since the foundation of the world concerning
you? Concerning you, it has been revealed
that you are one with that church of old. Ain't that wonderful? How then, brothers and sisters,
should we walk? What is an appropriate walk when
we consider such blessings, what God has done for us according
to His own glorious will? How should we walk in the light
of this? That's what he said. Back in chapter 4, he tells us
here then how we should walk. In verse 2, how should we walk? With all lowliness and meekness,
with longsuffering, forbearing one another in love, with all
lowliness. The word means humility of mind. Paul said, I serve the Lord,
didn't he? I serve the Lord. How do you
serve the Lord, Paul? With all humility of mind. I love to think of this word
sometimes as humiliation. Humiliation. That has a different
effect upon me when I think of humiliation. Serving the Lord
with all humiliation on my part. When you consider yourself, what's
your estimation of yourself? Are you humiliated? When you
look at yourself and consider yourself how you really are,
are you humiliated? I'm ashamed. I'm ashamed of myself,
aren't you? With all lowliness. When we look at ourselves and
consider ourselves, we have no problem esteeming others better
than ourselves. Let nothing be done through strife
or vainglory, but in lowliness of mind let each esteem other
better than themselves." Who is the sorriest person you know? Wanda didn't look over at Steve.
That's not the sorriest person she knows. You know who the sorriest
person she knows is her. You know who the sorriest person
I know is me. How do we esteem ourselves? How
do we estimate ourselves? Lowliness of mind. We're low. Stay low. Stay low. Not only in lowliness of mind,
but in meekness. That word means mild and gentle. It has to do really with our
attitude towards others. Meekness towards others. Paul
said this, If a man be overtaken in a fault, you which are spiritual,
restore such a one in the spirit of meekness." Of gentleness. Towards the lost. What should
be our attitude towards the lost? In meekness, instructing those
who oppose themselves. In meekness. No sense getting
mad at lost people. No sense screaming at lost people.
Why? Don't you remember when you were
lost? Don't you remember when you were in darkness? Screaming
at them ain't going to do a bit of good, is it? And listen to
this, when we're wanting to help one another, when you're wanting
somebody to stop doing something they're doing that's wrong, or
when you want them to begin to do something that will help them,
how do we do that? In meekness. in meekness. I beseech you, brethren, by the
meekness and gentleness of Christ. I beseech you. I tell you, if
you want me to do something, or you want me to stop doing
something, you know the best way to approach Him to me is
gentle. Be gentle about it. If you come
to me and you raise your voice to me, and you're upset with
me, I'm telling you what, you're going to lose me. You're just
going to lose me. I ain't going to listen to you
at all. If you start calling me a fool,
if you start calling me a heretic, you've lost me. Some people,
I earnestly believe, bless their poor hearts, they think God has
called them to straighten everybody out. Have you ever seen somebody
that way? Well, God has called me in the
defense of the gospel and I'm not going to compromise. Nobody
is asking you to compromise. People just ask you to be meek.
Show some gentleness. Show some mildness. Jesus Christ
came to this world. Look how He was opposed on every
hand. And yet what was His attitude?
We are told that He was meek and lowly in His heart. That's a good example, isn't
it, of meekness? Blessed are the meek, for they
shall inherit the earth. That's the way we should walk,
brother, with lowliness of mind, with meekness. And look at this,
with longsuffering, forbearing one another in love. I always
like to read longsuffering as suffering long. And forbearing
as bearing far, bearing far, bearing far. You know, the Lord told us about
if somebody compels you to go a mile, go with him too. That's suffering long, isn't
it? That's bearing far. And do it, He said, in love.
You know, as we're around each other more and more, and the
more we experience getting to know each other, we find out
what opposites we are. As little as this congregation
is, everybody in here is opposite from one another. And the more
I get acquainted with some of you, I think, what a quirky fellow! What a quirky thing to do! And
you know what I'm saying, don't you? And you see it in me. Just some of the silliest things. We're just so opposite from each
other, aren't we? And if we're going to get along and have fellowship
and friendship, I'll tell you what we're going to have to do.
Suffer long. Suffer long. Go the extra mile. I'm never
going to be like you. You're never going to be like
me. Some of the things I know that
just aggravates my wife to death, I've tried to do better. Some
things I've laid aside. Some things I still have trouble
with. And if I lay aside everything I know that aggravates her about
me, something else is going to pop up. I'm going to have to suffer along
with her, and she's going to have to suffer along with me.
What's the alternative? What's the alternative? Well,
separation. People's trying that, aren't
they? Well, let's just go our ways. Let's separate. Divorce? A loss of a dear friend? I'm
not going to put up with it anymore. Okay, you're going to lose your
friend. The church split? Bringing shame
on the Lord? What's the alternative? We have
to show some fortitude, don't we? We have to show some energy. Endeavoring. Endeavoring. That means laboring. Putting
forth some effort. Long suffering. Long suffering. How long? Maybe the rest of your
life for some people. This is the way, brothers and
sisters, we're told to walk. I beseech you, in the light of
all these blessings of God that you've been chosen to, in the
light of His calling you to His glory and His kingdom, walk this
way. Walk this way in your family.
Walk this way on your job. Walk this way in the congregation. Long-suffering and fullbearer. The alternative is frightful,
isn't it? Can you imagine how long-suffering and what forbearance
our Lord exercises towards us? He sees our imperfections. He knows every jot and tittle
about our thoughts, our attitudes, our murmurings, our complaining.
The least little thought that you have that's contrary to Him
and His will. Don't you think He knows that? And what's His attitude towards
you? Long-suffering. When Moses asked the Lord to
show him His glory, remember that? Lord, I want to see Your
glory. What's Your glory? Show me Your
glory. I've seen you part the Red Sea. I saw what you did to Pharaoh. But I know there's a glory in
you that I haven't seen. Show me your glory." And you
remember what he did? He put Moses in that rock and
he passed by him and he said, The Lord, the Lord God, merciful
and gracious and long-suffering. Long-suffering. That's His glory. This is the way we have to walk.
This is the way we want to walk. Suffer long. Bear with one another. And he says here in verse 3,
lastly and quickly, Endeavoring to keep the unity
of the Spirit in the bonds of peace. Endeavoring. That word
means to exhort or exert physical strength Intellectual and spiritual
power for the accomplishment of an object. Endeavor, labor,
strive. Put everything you have into
this. What? Keeping the unity of the Spirit.
You know when the Lord calls us, brothers and sisters, He
don't call us to make peace. He don't call us to unity. He calls. He doesn't call us
to make unity. He calls us and we have unity.
When He puts you in Christ and puts you in a congregation, you're
one with Him. That's what He tells us in the
remainder of this chapter. Now He just says, keep that unity.
Don't do anything to disturb that unity. Bend over backwards. Do everything you can. Long-suffering,
loneliness of the mind. Preserve that unity. Brother Fortner said this, and
I'll close with his statement. Here's what he said. There is something bigger and
more important than myself. Boy, ain't that hard. That's
just hard. What in the world could be more important than
me? This is a hard lesson to learn, but learn it we must if
we would live for Christ. There is something bigger and
more important than me, that something is the church of God. As members of the body of Christ,
it is my responsibility and yours to do everything we can to keep
the unity of the Spirit in the bonds of peace. Therefore I beseech
you, brethren, walk worthy of the calling wherewith ye are
called. Let's pray.