Ephesians 4, in the first three chapters of
this epistle, the subject is the doctrines
of the grace of God, the first three chapters. The Father, in
sovereign mercy, by covenant of eternal grace in Christ Jesus,
chose to redeem a people. He gave them to Christ, made
Christ their surety, and determined that one day they should all
be in the likeness and image of his Son. And in those chapters,
Paul said the Lord Jesus, according to that covenant of grace and
mercy, came to the earth. as our surety and our federal
head. And he redeemed us by his blood.
That's what it says in Ephesians 1, 7. Redeemed by his blood,
through the riches of his grace, and we have forgiveness of sins.
And then in those first three chapters, Paul tells us about
the Holy Spirit of God, who according to that covenant of mercy quickened
us. You have the quickened who were
dead, trespassers in sin. And that same Holy Spirit called
us by the gospel and baptized us into one body, the body of
Christ Jesus, our Lord, and sealed us forever. Now, beginning with
verse 1 of chapter 4, in the next three chapters The Apostle
writes about these people whom God chose, whom Christ redeemed,
and whom the Spirit called. And he writes about the attitude,
the spirit, the walk of these people that God's called. The first three chapters of Ephesians
tell us about the way of salvation. And the last three chapters,
the walk of salvation. The first part, the way, the
second part, the walk. Now verse 1, Paul said, I beseech
thy therefore the prison of the Lord beseech you that you walk
worthy of the vocation wherewith you are called. He's writing
to believers who are the people of God. But we walk in obedience
to God because we're the people of God. We're not the people
of God because of the way we walk. The way we walk is because
we're the people of God. That's what he says in this first
verse. I beseech you that you walk worthy of the vocation wherewith
you're called. Walk worthy of the calling wherewith
you're called. That word vocation is in the
Bible one time. That's right here. And what he's
saying is we walk worthy of the calling wherewith that we're
called. things that are becoming to that
calling. And I think Titus describes these
things over here in Titus chapter 2. In Titus chapter 2, beginning
with verse 1, you walk worthy, the word is
becoming to your calling. He says in Titus 2 verse 1, But
speak thou the things which become sound doctrine, which are becoming
to sound doctrine. Let the older men be sober, grave,
serious, temperate, sound in the faith, in love and patience. Let the older women likewise,
that they be in behavior as becometh holiness, not false accusers. I've given to much wine and teachers
of good things, that they may teach the young women to be sober,
wise, to love their husbands, to love their children, to be
discreet, chaste, keepers at home, good, obedient to their
own husbands, that the word of God be not blasphemed. And the
young men likewise exhort to be sober-minded. In all things,
showing thyself a pattern of good works. In doctrine, showing
uncorruptness, gravity, sincerity, sound speech that cannot be condemned. That he that is of the contrary
part may be ashamed, having no evil thing to say of thee. Exhort
servants to be obedient to their own masters. And to please them
well in all things, not answering again, not gainsaying, not sassing,
nor stealing, forlorning is stealing, but servants showing good fidelity,
that all of us, the aged men and aged women and the young
men and the servants, that we may adorn the doctrine of God
our Savior in all things. Now back to the text. Now this
is what he's dealing with. I beseech you that you walk in
a fashion that's becoming to your profession, becoming to
your doctrine, becoming to the calling wherewith you're called,
becoming to Christ, and becoming to the people of God. And then
he names five inward principles of this walk in verse 2 and 3. with lowliness, humility, meekness,
long-suffering, patience, forbearing, that is, forbearing and forgiving
one another in love, endeavoring to keep the unity of the spirit
in the bond of peace. Now you notice he tells us to
walk worthy, in a worthy manner. according to the vocation of
our calling, worthy of our calling, worthy of our Lord, worthy of
our profession. But he doesn't give us any outward
rules to adhere to, but he starts talking about inward things.
And I'll tell you why. Because a believer's walk, a
believer's outward walk, begins with an inward work. That's the reason Paul here doesn't
start giving rules. You can't legislate morality.
You can't organize morality. You can't even demand it. You
can't threaten it. But if there's a work done on
the inside, that work will certainly bear fruit on the outside. This
is what our Lord said in Matthew. Let's turn to Matthew chapter
23. The cause of believers' outward walk
begins with an inward work. a work of God in his heart. This
is what our Lord said in Matthew 23, verse 25. Listen, he's condemning the Pharisees. They had the outward show, but
they didn't have the inward grace. They had the outward morality,
but they didn't have the inward godliness. He says here in Matthew
23, 25, Warren to you, scribes, Pharisees, you're hypocrites.
You may clean the outside of the cup and of the platter, but
within you are full of extortion and excess. Thou blind Pharisee,
here is the order, cleanse first that which is within the cup
and platter, that the outside of them may be cleaned also. He said, you are like, verse
27, quieted sepulchres. You appear beautiful, but you
are not. You appear beautiful outwardly, but on the inside
you are full of dead men's bones and all uncleanness. A believer's
walk, outward walk, begins with an inward work of God. This is what David is saying
in Psalm 51. He says, Create in me a clean
heart, O God. Renew a right spirit within me. If I have a right heart and a
right spirit, I'll have a right walk. This is what Jeremiah said
in Lamentations 5. He said, Turn, turn thou us,
O God, and we'll be turned. If you turn us, we'll be turned.
And I want you to turn to Jeremiah 31, and listen to Jeremiah here
in chapter 31. This is just exactly an excellent illustration of
what I'm trying to say. Jeremiah 31, verse 18. He says, I've surely heard Ephraim
bemoaning himself. Now, Ephraim here is no single
individual, it's Israel. When God sometimes speaks of
Jacob, he's speaking of Israel. When he speaks of Ephraim, he's
speaking of Israel, the ten tribes, And Ephraim is bemoaning himself.
He's under conviction. The Israelites are under conviction.
They're in soul trouble. They're troubled about their
relationship with God. They're concerned. He's bemoaning
himself. Why is he bemoaning himself?
Well, listen. Thou hast chastised me, and I have been chastised. I was chastised. He is moaning,
not so much over the chastening, as the unaffectedness of the
chastening. God's corrected him and corrected
him and corrected him and chastened him, but he hasn't made any impression
on him, because he says next, I'm like a bullock or an ox that's
unaccustomed to the yoke. I'm like a bullock that's never
been reined in. I'm like an ox that's never been
made to bear the yoke. I'm like a horse that's never
been saddle broken. And he's bemoaning himself. I've
been chasing, chasing, chasing, but it hasn't affected me. It
hasn't kept me. It hasn't made any permanent
impression on me. It hasn't changed me. I've been
beat to death, but I'm not any different. Now then, he prays. and I'll be turned. You turn
me and I'll be turned." Now, he's not talking about a reformation
of manners. That hadn't worked. He's not
talking about conversion to a doctrine. That hadn't worked. He's not
talking about the restoration of a backslider. That hasn't
worked either. I'm still not saddle-broken. I'm still not broken to the yoke.
That's what Christ said, take my yoke upon you. But I haven't
taken the yoke. And here's what's missing. Here's
the first work in conversion. Turn thou me, and I'll be turned,
because you're the Lord my God. That's what has to happen. Turn
me from the kingdom of darkness to the kingdom of thy Son. Turn
me from the power of self and Satan and sin to the power of
Christ, my King. Turn me, not just my head, but
my heart. If my heart is turned to God,
my head will be in that direction. If my head can be turned in that
direction, my heart is unaffected. Turn my affection that it might
be set on things above. Turn my mind that I might think
on things that are good and perfect. Turn me to look to Christ for
righteousness, life, and salvation. If you do that, I shall be turned,
because you are the Lord my God. Turn me and I will be turned, for thou art the Lord my God.
All right, back to my text in Ephesians, chapter 4. Turn me,
turn my heart, and I'll be turned, because you're God, and thy work
is effectual, and thy work is inward. And then we can look
at these four or five things here now in verse 2 and 3. Listen.
You walk worthy of the calling wherewith you call. Now, with
lowliness, lowliness, what is that? That's humility. That's something human nature
cannot produce. Human nature can produce pride
by the caboodles, but it can't produce lowliness, can't produce
humility. This humility is that humility
whereby we esteem others better than ourselves. more important
than ourselves, their welfare more important than our own.
Look not on your own things, but on the things of others.
That's the lowliness. Now when that is the motivation,
that'll be the expression. That'll be the walk and the conduct.
When that genuinely is the thought, that'll be the walk. And meekness. whereby we are not so easily
offended, offended, so easily provoked with the infirmities
of others. He says, If thy brother be overtaken
in a fault, restore such a one with meekness. This is what he's
talking about here, meekness. Considering thyself, lest thou
also be tempted. Not so easily offended. not so
easily provoked with the infirmities of others, and long-suffering,
that's patience. Patience, being willing to wait
on the Lord. And David says, and waiting I
waited, and waiting I waited. I would have fainted unless I
had believed to see the goodness of the Lord in the land of the
living, but I believed to see it, and I saw it, and he did.
How many times shall I forgive my brother? Seven times? Seventy times seven. Forbearing. What is forbearing
one another? That's forgiving. Forbearing
one another in love. Because you love, you make allowance. The more you love, the more allowance
you make. Forbearing one another in love
is to forgive and forget. Never hold a grudge. Never continue
a quarrel. Let Dr. Sun go down on your wrath. That's not prolonging. Anybody's
going to get upset. But don't hold it. Don't continue
it. Don't hold the grudge. Forgive and forget it. And the next one is endeavoring,
endeavoring. Putting forth every effort, listen,
to keep the unity of the Spirit. Endeavoring. That's not just
praying that the Lord will keep it. That's me endeavoring to
keep unity of the Spirit, harmony, and peace, a bond of peace. I'll paraphrase that verse 3. All of you, all of us, be eager
and endeavor to protect and keep the harmony and the oneness of
the in the circle of believers, in the church, in the fellowship. This unity and this oneness,
this bond of peace is the gift of God. He said, My peace I give
unto you. My peace. The church is not a
place where people come to be upset. It's a place where people
come to be comforted. My peace I give unto you. It's
a gift to be treasured. It's a gift to be protected.
It's a gift to be valued along with the treasure of the gospel. He says we have this treasure,
talking about the gospel, we have this treasure in earthen
vessels. Be careful, treasure it, protect it, be gentle, be
defensive of that treasure. But I'll tell you, this unity
of the Spirit in the bond of peace Happiness is a treasure
on an equal plane with the gospel, because it's the result of the
gospel. It's evidence of the gospel's presence. It's glorifying
the Christ, that his people live in unity and peace. Endeavoring. You walk worthy
of the calling by which you've been called. Walk in a manner
of becoming to the daughters of the King. and the sons of
the King, with lowliness, humility, and meekness, and patience, and
forgiving, and forbearing, and loving, and endeavoring, striving
to keep that unity of the Spirit, the bond of peace. I have three
greatest valuables on this earth, three greatest valuables, and not a one of will break if
you drop it. Not a one of them are down to
bang. Not a one of them are built out
of anything you can see, but my three greatest valuables that
I intend to protect and defend and hold with the deepest effort
to keep them. The one is my fellowship with
the Father and the Son. John wrote in 1 John 1, our fellowship
is with the Father and with his Son, Jesus Christ. That is my
greatest treasure. Secondly is my family, my family. I'm going to do everything within
my power to keep the unity and the bond of peace with those
who are related to me. children, grandchildren, in-laws,
family. And it's a treasure, that peace. When you greet one another with
love and embrace one another and love one another and keep
any division totally out of that family, completely out of it. Whatever you have to swallow
or put up with, just keep it. Endeavor it. And the third is
this church. This church has church family.
I can't get along without any of those three things. My fellowship
with God, my fellowship with my loved ones. I just can't even
bear the thought of not speaking to one another. I saw in the
paper where these Nixon girls, you know, I mean, sisters. And
now they're strange. They won't speak. Their husbands
won't speak. I can't even imagine living like
that. Can you? And this church, I see folks
get upset in other churches and move to the back, or quit and
move out, or not speak to one another. That cannot be. I can't worship that way, can
you? And don't intend to. Not that way. That's not worship.
That's not fellowship. And that's what he's saying here.
This is a treasure you folks have here. Peace, the bond of
peace, unity of Christ, the Spirit of Christ, the blessings of the
Lord. The gospel flows freely and effectually. Not a person
here is madder than anybody else. Are you? If you are, I don't
know about it. You're just in peace. I'm going
to endeavor to keep that. Endeavor to keep that. You do,
too, now. You owe it to Christ. You owe
it to those little girls sitting by you, where you've come and
worshiped God and fellowshiped and been happy. You want them
to do it also, don't you? Well, you are responsible. The gospel that's preached will
depend on the pastor's commitment. But the fellowship and unity
will depend on the people's commitment. Isn't that right? My strongest
commitment out here is to tell the truth, even on subjects I'm
dealing with now, to tell the truth. And your strong commitment
is to keep that unity in love, harmony, forgiveness, humility,
meekness, patience, forgiveness, love, and endeavor. Whatever
it costs, don't Don't break it up. Don't break it up. I know so many illustrations. I thought about them before I
came in the pulpit of great churches. Unusual churches where I preached. Churches the size of this one.
It wasn't the doctrine that split
them. It wasn't the doctrine that destroyed them. It was the
bad spirit, conflict. between people, between people. And we must not, we must not
allow that to take place here. Must not. And that's what he's
endeavoring to keep. We don't build a unity. God gives
it. My peace I give unto you. It's
not of us. Nobody take any credit for this.
This is of God. But we keep it. We can destroy
it, but we can keep it. That's right, that's what he
said. If you're endeavoring to keep, keep that spirit of peace. Because, look at the next verse,
we're one, that's why, because we're one. We're family. There's
one body. Believers are one in Christ.
Our Lord prayed that way, that they may be one as we're one.
We're one in Christ. All religious people aren't one.
But those in Christ are one. We're one family. Let me go through
these six or seven things. There's one body. That's the
church. That's right. That's the church
of the firstborn whose names are written in heaven. I know
that there are local churches. This is a local church. I'm responsible
for this, to preach the gospel here. And you and I are responsible
to observe the ordinances and to keep the unity of this assembly,
this congregation. But there's also the Church of
the Firstborn, whose names are written in heaven, and that's
the body of Christ. Let's read that in Colossians.
And also, we are responsible to keep unity and the bond of
peace with other congregations, too, in fellowship with them.
But here in Colossians 1, it says, verse 16, For by him were all things created
that are in heaven and that are in earth, visible and invisible,
whether they be thrones or dominions or principalities or powers.
All things were created by him and for him, and he's before
all things, and by him all things consist. And he's the head of
the body, the Church, who is the beginning, the firstborn
from the dead, that in all things he might have the preeminence.
Christ loved the Church and gave himself for it. every believer
in heaven and earth of all generations, every believer. That's the one
body. And he says in our text, verse
4, Ephesians 4, there's one spirit, that's the Holy Spirit. The Holy
Spirit, there's just one Holy Spirit. Our Lord said, the Holy
Spirit, if I go away, I'll send a comforter, the Holy Spirit
of God. Even as you're called in one
hope, there's one hope of your calling, Christ in you. That's
the hope of glory. No man has a hope of glory who
doesn't have Christ. The hope of his calling is this,
whom he foreknew, he predestinated to be conformed to the image
of his Son. And whom he predestinated, he called. And whom he called,
he justified. Whom he justified, he glorified.
That's the hope of his calling, to be glorified. There's one
Lord. One Lord, one Savior, one Redeemer,
that's Christ. He's Lord by creation. I just
read that in Colossians 1. By him all things were made,
which are in heaven, which are on earth, visible and invisible.
And by him all things are held together. That makes him the
Lord of creation, the Lord by ownership. But he's also the
Lord by decree on the part of the Heavenly Father who says,
I have set my King on the holy hill of Zion. I have ordained
him." And Peter said on Pentecost, that same Jesus whom you crucified,
God raised from the dead and made him Lord. There is one Lord
by creation, by proclamation, by decree, and by death. Jesus Christ died that he might
be Lord of the dead and the living. These people that talk about Jesus being a prophet, he's the
prophet. He's the only prophet of God,
the only priest, the only king, the only savior, one Lord. There'll be one Lord, object
of worship in glory. He said it's one faith. It may
be little faith or great faith, but it's one faith. It may be
the faith of a young person or old person. It may be beginning
faith or faith of years, but it's just one faith. It may be
the first century or this century, but it's one faith. One faith
that has one author. He's the author and finisher
of our faith. It's the gift of God. One faith which has one
object. And that's Christ looking unto
Jesus. There's one faith which has one
foundation, the Word of God. That's the only foundation of
faith. Faith comes by hearing, hearing by the Word of God. There's one faith with one goal,
to win Christ and be found in him. There's one faith with one object,
Christ and one reason, the glory of God. Do you know that your conversion,
say this carefully now, mine and your conversion is not the
first objective in redemption. The glory of God is the first
objective. My conversion is the result of
God determining to glorify Christ, and I'm going to contribute to
his glory by being converted by the power of God. That's right.
That's the truth. The conversion of sinners is
not the primary goal or first goal of God in the covenant of
mercy. It's his glory. The chief end
of man is to glorify God. And thanks be unto his name,
he chose to redeem us. Everybody's going to glorify
God, either his justice or his mercy. But that's the end of
all things. The chief end of man is to glorify
God. I don't know how to explain that,
but I just know that's the truth. It's to glorify God. There's
one faith. There's one baptism. And I don't
know how to handle this totally. I just know this. By one Spirit,
we're all baptized into the body of Christ. We're baptized into
the body of Christ, submerged completely, engulfed in the body
of Christ. But also, there's one form of
baptism which is the confession of Christ, and that is baptism
by water and under the water. That's right, baptized unto his
death, his burial, his resurrection. Our Lord, when he was baptized,
came up straightway out of the water. The Ethiopian eunuch and
Philip went down into the water, and John was baptizing in Eden
because there was much water there. So it's a death and a
burial and a resurrection, so there has to be a submerging
and immersion. So there's one baptism. That
is, we are baptized into Christ, and the picture of that is our
confession of faith. The picture of that is our confession
of faith, the water of baptism. So there's no conflict there. Only one baptism. Talking about
water or talking about spirit? Talking about both. That's what
we're talking about. We're talking about both. By
one spirit, we're baptized into the body of Christ. God put us
there. And then the confession of that
and the declaration of that is to confess Christ and believe
with baptism. And there's one God, one God
and Father of all. Now, God is not the Father of
everybody in the world. Our Lord answers that. Let's
just read so that there won't be any confusion about that.
what he's saying here, one God and Father of all. I know he's
saying Father of all believers. But let's look at John 8, and
let our Lord answer that, not me. John 8, let our Lord set
down the rules here and the interpretation. Our Lord is speaking to the religious
people, and he says in John 8, verse 38, I speak that which I have seen
with my father." John 8, verse 38, do you have it? And you do
that which you have seen of your father. Well, they answered and
said to him, Abraham is our father. And Jesus said unto them, if
you were Abraham's children, you would do the works of Abraham.
But now you seek to kill me, a man that hath told you the
truth. which I have heard of God. Now, this did not Abraham. But you do the deeds of your
father. And then said they unto him, We be not born of fornication,
we have one father, even God. Okay, now then, is he their father? Just let the Lord answer. Then
Jesus said unto them, If God were your father, which he is
not, if he were your father, you would love me. For I proceeded
forth and came from God, neither came I of myself that he sent
me." So there is one God, and he is the Father of all believers. He says here in verse 6 of our
text, Ephesians 4, one God and Father of all believers, he You
go back to a text, Ephesians 4, 6, he's above all, he's sovereign
in all things, all things in your life, pertaining to your
life and everybody else's life. He's sovereign, he's above all,
and he's through all. Now, what does that through all
mean? The Arabic version I read today
says this relates to his providence. He takes care of all. Everything's under his control. We have one God, our Father,
who's sovereign above all, omnipotent, but he's omniscient, he's omnipresent,
and everything's under control. You sleep better when you realize
that, don't you? Everything's under control. His
providence works all things for your good and his glory. He takes care of all. And he's
in you all. He dwells in believers. My Father and I will take up
our abode in you. You are the temple of God. Now, verse 7, this is my last
one. But unto every one of us is given
grace. All right. What kind of grace? two-fold. Number one, to everyone,
and this is a good verse on which to end this study, talking about
lowliness, humility, meekness, patience, love, forgiveness. These are graces. Faith, hope,
love, meekness, humility, gentleness, kindness, these are great, the
fruit of the What he's saying here now is, and unto every one
of us, is give them this grace, which is twofold. Number one,
it's grace to believe. It's justifying grace, it's adopting
grace, it's pardoning grace, it's sanctifying grace, it's
persevering grace, and that's complete. That's right. He's a believer, you don't believe. You have the grace of God. Unto
all of us is given wisdom, righteousness, sanctification and redemption,
the grace of God, it's ours. But perhaps he's speaking also
of those graces which he's been talking about, those graces which are common
to all believers, but not to the same measure, not to the
same degree, not to the same capacity. To all believers are
given faith, but some have stronger faith than others. To all believers
is given love, but not some have the ability to love more than
others. That's right. Hope, peace, wisdom, leadership,
gifts of the Spirit, these are received to different degrees.
depending on a great deal on years and experience and knowledge
and understanding. But depending wholly upon the
next line, listen to it, according to the measure of the gift of
Christ, that is, to every one of us is given grace according
to the measure of the gift of Christ, according as he'll give
it to us, according as he'll bless us in this regard, according
as he enables us to grow? Turn to Romans 12, verse 3, and
see if that's not what this says. So don't be discouraged ever
by your inability to perfectly fulfill every requirement of
the Holy Spirit, because it says here in Romans 12, verse 3, I
say, through the grace given unto me, to every man that is
among you, not to think of himself more highly than he ought to
think, but to think soberly. How? According as God hath dealt
to every man the measure of faith, from one degree of faith to the
other. These graces and these gifts are given according to
the gift of Christ in the measure in which it pleases Christ to
give them to us, who gives them as and when he will. One other
scripture, 1 Corinthians 7, verse 17. I thought this would fit
in right here, 1 Corinthians 7, verse 17. But as God hath distributed to
every man, every woman, as the Lord hath called every one, so
let him walk. So ordain I in all the churches,
as God hath distributed, according to the measure of the gift of
the grace of Christ. And desire the sins here, milk
of the word, that we may grow thereby.