Latest / INSIGHT FOR LIVING: Biblical Wisdom For Everyday Living / A Worthy Walk Msg 1226 - Pastor Chuck Swindoll Insight for Living

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A Worthy Walk Msg 1226 - Pastor Chuck Swindoll Insight for Living · INSIGHT FOR LIVING: Biblical Wisdom For Everyday Living

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Speaker 1: We have a love affair going with this letter to
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Speaker 1: the Ephesians and all of us are enjoying the journey together. I,
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Speaker 1: perhaps more than any of you, how I need this.
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Speaker 1: I sometimes have people ask me if I've been reading
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Speaker 1: their journal or if I talked to their wife before
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Speaker 1: I preached a sermon. I said, no, I just preach
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Speaker 1: on what I need to hear and I'll let you
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Speaker 1: listen in. That's how I feel about these things. In
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Speaker 1: your worship folder, you'll find an outline of the letter
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Speaker 1: to the Ephesians. It really is a chart that you
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Speaker 1: may want to place here following our reading of Ephesians 4,
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Speaker 1: verses 1 to 6. And just mark this spot. We'll
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Speaker 1: be back here shortly. Ephesians 4, 1. Therefore, I, the
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Speaker 1: prisoner of the Lord, implore you to walk in a
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Speaker 1: manner worthy of the calling of with which you have
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Speaker 1: been called with all humility and gentleness, with patience, showing
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Speaker 1: tolerance for one another in love, being diligent to preserve
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Speaker 1: the unity of the spirit in the bond of peace.
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Speaker 1: There is one body and one spirit, just as also
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Speaker 1: you were called in one hope of your calling, one Lord,
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Speaker 1: one faith, one baptism, one God and Father of all
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Speaker 1: who is over all and through all and in all.
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Speaker 1: Not too hard to figure out that's about unity, isn't it?
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Speaker 1: And we'll be dealing with that in a few moments.
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Speaker 1: Please join me in prayer. Let's just have a few
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Speaker 1: moments of silence here. You bring your need to the
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Speaker 1: Father who cares about it more than you do. How
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Speaker 1: good and how rare are moments of quietness and yet
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Speaker 1: how necessary, Lord, Everything seems to be full of noise
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Speaker 1: and music we didn't turn on and sounds we didn't prefer.
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Speaker 1: It's just everywhere. And to find a place of real
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Speaker 1: solitude is hard to do. Teach us afresh and anew
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Speaker 1: as we meet together to value times like that. times
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Speaker 1: when we can really be lost in wonder and love
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Speaker 1: and praise. Remind us to sing to you when alone
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Speaker 1: with you as we give you our praise, for you
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Speaker 1: are our righteousness. We worship you, O holy God. Now,
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Speaker 1: there are a thousand distractions, and each one of us has...
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Speaker 1: his or her own list of concerns that could preoccupy
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Speaker 1: us during this vital time of continuing worship. When we
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Speaker 1: hear someone sing and when we give our offerings and
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Speaker 1: when we listen to the teaching of the scriptures, our
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Speaker 1: minds can wander. Seize our thoughts, Lord, and capture our hearts.
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Speaker 1: Bring every thought into captivity For the glory of Christ.
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Speaker 1: Be honored in the reasons behind. Our giving today. Encourage
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Speaker 1: those who can't. Aren't able to give. And refresh and.
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Speaker 1: Inspire those who are able to give abundantly. And remove
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Speaker 1: from our minds the. the distractions so that we can
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Speaker 1: really focus our thoughts on something as valuable as our
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Speaker 1: walk in unity together. May we be freed from defensiveness
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Speaker 1: and anger and the things that resist truth so that
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Speaker 1: the seed of the word can lodge on soft, fertile
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Speaker 1: soil and grow change in us. For these quiet moments now,
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Speaker 1: as we give and as we continue our worship, we
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Speaker 1: thank you. In Jesus' name, amen. All of us who
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Speaker 1: love to read have our favorite authors, don't we? In fact,
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Speaker 1: if you really like an author, chances are good that
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Speaker 1: you have collected that author's books over the years. Authors
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Speaker 1: love collectors. And you know, when you really love an author,
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Speaker 1: you learn his style. And you find that you don't
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Speaker 1: really look for a title or a particular subject that
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Speaker 1: she or he may have written on, but you look
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Speaker 1: for the name. And you often go into the bookstore
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Speaker 1: and you say, has so-and-so written a new book lately?
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Speaker 1: And they'll say, yes, we have this one. And you,
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Speaker 1: almost without looking into it, have learned to trust that writer,
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Speaker 1: that author, to communicate in a way that you find
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Speaker 1: entertaining or inspiring or understanding. Every writer has a style.
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Speaker 1: And as you study the style of the writer, you
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Speaker 1: find yourself connecting them. with a sense of comfort and
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Speaker 1: encouragement and understanding. The Bible is a collection of, would
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Speaker 1: you believe, about 40 writers. We can't call them authors
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Speaker 1: because the Holy Spirit is the author of the scriptures.
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Speaker 1: But these 40 writers, under the inspiration of the Spirit,
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Speaker 1: chosen by God, have put together those truths that make
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Speaker 1: up the 66 books of the Bible. Now, when you
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Speaker 1: talk to people who have studied the Bible, you find
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Speaker 1: out that they have their favorite writers. I have a
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Speaker 1: good friend who says my favorite all-time writer in the
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Speaker 1: scripture is Jeremiah. And he said, when I hear something
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Speaker 1: from Jeremiah, my life just sort of lights up and
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Speaker 1: I look up and I smile because I have this
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Speaker 1: sense of kinship with Jeremiah. I have another friend who
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Speaker 1: says it about Moses. He says, to me, there's no
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Speaker 1: writing better than the first five books of the Bible.
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Speaker 1: And the way Moses puts his thoughts together sort of
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Speaker 1: cements it in my mind. One of my Greek profs
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Speaker 1: used to say it was Luke. He chose Luke. He
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Speaker 1: said the intellectual stimulation of a vocabulary and the syntax
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Speaker 1: of a physician like Luke is like no other writing
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Speaker 1: in all the New Testament. That was his preference. But
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Speaker 1: I have the feeling if you ask the general Christian crowd,
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Speaker 1: a number of Christian people, if they have a favorite author,
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Speaker 1: most would say Paul. Paul is my favorite, many would say.
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Speaker 1: And like all the other writers, Paul has a style.
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Speaker 1: I find Paul's style fascinating, not only because it is
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Speaker 1: so consistent, but because at times the very same words
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Speaker 1: are used from letter to letter. I also noticed that
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Speaker 1: in Paul's style, he usually lays a solid doctrinal groundwork,
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Speaker 1: and that takes up the better part of the letter,
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Speaker 1: certainly half of it, often more. And then there's a
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Speaker 1: turning point, which I call the hinge, like a door
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Speaker 1: has a hinge. The hinge in Paul's letter then introduces
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Speaker 1: the practical side. So we have and if you will, orthopraxy.
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Speaker 1: We have doctrine and we have duty. We have the
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Speaker 1: theoretical and then we have the reality. And it all
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Speaker 1: hangs on the hinge. And when you study Paul, you
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Speaker 1: find the hinge. You know you're moving from the vertical
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Speaker 1: emphasis to the horizontal emphasis. From our relationship to God
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Speaker 1: and understanding Him better to a relationship with other people
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Speaker 1: and relating to them better. Let me show you this.
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Speaker 1: Turn to Romans chapter 12, and I will introduce you
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Speaker 1: to one of the hinges. These hinges never squeak, by
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Speaker 1: the way. They're well-oiled, and they often are our favorite
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Speaker 1: verse of a particular letter. Romans 12, 1 is the hinge.
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Speaker 1: The first 11 chapters have been full of great doctrines. Depravity, salvation,
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Speaker 1: the work of Christ, the cross, sanctification, and then you
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Speaker 1: move into the whole study of the Jew and the
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Speaker 1: Gentile and God's sovereign work in calling and electing. Then
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Speaker 1: you get to the hinge. Paul writes in verse 1,
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Speaker 1: 1 therefore that's the word therefore I urge you brethren
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Speaker 1: by the mercies of God to To present your bodies,
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Speaker 1: see the practicality in it? To present your bodies a
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Speaker 1: living and holy sacrifice, acceptable to God, which is your
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Speaker 1: spiritual service of worship. And if that isn't enough, do
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Speaker 1: not be conformed to this world, but be transformed. Do
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Speaker 1: you feel the long index finger punching you in the sternum?
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Speaker 1: Do you feel Paul now suddenly saying, stop thinking theoretically
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Speaker 1: and start realizing this is designed to change your life?
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Speaker 1: The secret is the word therefore. One of my Bible
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Speaker 1: teachers used to say you need to always figure out
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Speaker 1: what the therefore is there for. And in this case,
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Speaker 1: it's to change the emphasis from the vertical focusing on
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Speaker 1: God to the horizontal focusing on your relationship to the
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Speaker 1: Lord and to others. I'll show you another one. Look
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Speaker 1: at Galatians. Skip the Corinthian letters. Turn to Galatians. which
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Speaker 1: is Paul's magnum opus on liberty. It is really the
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Speaker 1: Magna Carta of Christian liberty. And for four chapters, look
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Speaker 1: at Galatians 5, for four chapters he makes it so
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Speaker 1: clear that we are no longer shackled by the constraints
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Speaker 1: of Judaism or the demands of legalism, we have been freed.
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Speaker 1: It is the letter of freedom. If you struggle with legalism,
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Speaker 1: you need to become a student of Galatians. It will
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Speaker 1: set you free. Now look at verse 1 of chapter 5.
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Speaker 1: You will hear the hinge. It was for freedom that
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Speaker 1: Christ set us free. Therefore, Keep standing firm and do
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Speaker 1: not be subject again to a yoke of slavery. And
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Speaker 1: he goes right on describing how you can live out
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Speaker 1: the freedom that Christ has made available to you. Each
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Speaker 1: time I meet up with a legalist, and that's not
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Speaker 1: that seldom, I remind them that the book of Galatians
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Speaker 1: is still in the Bible. That there is a freedom
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Speaker 1: that is there that they have never really understood and
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Speaker 1: are afraid of. But as long as you have this
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Speaker 1: kind of practical direction, you won't be afraid of it.
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Speaker 1: Because Paul now puts, he rounds the corners on living
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Speaker 1: a life of freedom and teaches us to do it
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Speaker 1: with maturity and discernment and wisdom. Skip Ephesians. We're going
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Speaker 1: to be there in a moment. Look at Colossians. One more,
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Speaker 1: if I may. Chapter 3. Again, this is so Pauline.
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Speaker 1: He does this again and again. He's talked for two
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Speaker 1: chapters about the great doctrines of Christ because in writing
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Speaker 1: to the Colossians, he's dealing with the heresy of the day. Gnosticism,
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Speaker 1: an intellectual religion that kept people from Christ rather than
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Speaker 1: drew them to him. And he's established a very firm
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Speaker 1: Christology for two chapters. He gets to chapter three and
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Speaker 1: there it is again, the hinge. Therefore... If you have
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Speaker 1: been raised up with Christ, keep seeking the things above
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Speaker 1: where Christ is seated at the right hand of God.
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Speaker 1: Look at the practicality. Set your mind on things above,
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Speaker 1: not on the things that are on the earth. Isn't
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Speaker 1: that masterful? He's established that Christ is the preeminent one
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Speaker 1: above all of the affairs of this life, knowing that
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Speaker 1: there's everything in life to drag us down, he says
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Speaker 1: in chapter 3. Now, focus on Christ. Seek the things
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Speaker 1: that please him, that honor him, and you'll be able
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Speaker 1: to handle whatever life throws at you. Ephesians is really
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Speaker 1: the classic example of that, and when we get to
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Speaker 1: chapter 4, once again, we come to another hinge. And
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Speaker 1: as a matter of fact, if you could read it
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Speaker 1: just as Paul wrote it, you would see that 4.1
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Speaker 1: of Ephesians has the very same opening three terms in
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Speaker 1: the Greek text as Romans chapter 12, verse 1. Why
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Speaker 1: it's rendered implore in verse 1 of chapter 4 of
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Speaker 1: Ephesians and beseech in Romans 12.1, you've got to ask
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Speaker 1: the translators. Because it's the very same word. I beseech you, therefore,
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Speaker 1: is the way Romans 12, 1 begins. Ephesians begins the
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Speaker 1: same way. Though it reads differently because the I is
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Speaker 1: emphatic in the original. And so the writers, or I
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Speaker 1: should say the translators, in hopes of capturing that, put
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Speaker 1: the I above the imploring. So he says, therefore, I, ego. I, Paul,
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Speaker 1: the prisoner. Remember, I'm on your side. Remember, I'm the
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Speaker 1: one who has stood in defense of the Gentiles. I, Paul,
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Speaker 1: the prisoner of the Lord, implore you. And suddenly he
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Speaker 1: moves into another series of practical directives. Some of them
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Speaker 1: are commands. Some of them are pleadings. Here's a pleading.
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Speaker 1: I implore you to do what? To walk. Isn't that
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Speaker 1: a relief? Isn't it great? It doesn't say to make
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Speaker 1: a mad dash or to climb the highest mountain or
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Speaker 1: to move into the marathon of misery through the rest
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Speaker 1: of your life as you live for God. No, he
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Speaker 1: doesn't say that. I implore you to walk, to walk,
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Speaker 1: to take one step at a time, putting one foot
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Speaker 1: ahead of the other. To walk. To walk how? To
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Speaker 1: walk in a manner worthy of the calling with which
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Speaker 1: you have been called. For three chapters, he has been
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Speaker 1: emphasizing the calling. The calling. We have been called by
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Speaker 1: God who initiated the plan of salvation. We have been
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Speaker 1: called by Christ who who implemented the plan. We have
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Speaker 1: been called and sealed by the Holy Spirit who has
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Speaker 1: inspired and enabled the plan. Now, he says, let it
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Speaker 1: make a difference in your walk. Walk worthy. That's a
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Speaker 1: great word. I love words. I had a friend say
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Speaker 1: the other day, you are a word vulture. I took
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Speaker 1: that as a compliment. I do. I get on words
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Speaker 1: like a buzzard gets on roadkill. I'm telling you, I
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Speaker 1: will pick at a word. I will dig away at it.
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Speaker 1: I'll check out the etymology. I'll find what the background
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Speaker 1: of it is. And I just find it fascinating. Worthy
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Speaker 1: sounds like something you do in front of a king
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Speaker 1: or you sing in front of the Lord himself. But
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Speaker 1: this is about us. This is axion, A-X-I-O-N. We got
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Speaker 1: our word axiom from it and the root word is
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Speaker 1: to weigh something. In fact, really, when you check it out,
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Speaker 1: it means to be of equal weight. It's a mathematical term,
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Speaker 1: isn't it? You who love math. There's an equation and axioms...
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Speaker 1: Axioms indicate that the equation is true because what is
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Speaker 1: true on one side is of equal truth on the other,
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Speaker 1: and it becomes axiomatic. Here it's not about math, it's
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Speaker 1: about life. I implore you to walk in a way
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Speaker 1: that balances out your calling. Your calling is great and
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Speaker 1: pure and holy. Your walk is to be pure and
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Speaker 1: great and holy. When I had the privilege of playing
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Speaker 1: a very small part in the memorial service for the late,
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Speaker 1: great Coach Tom Landry, behind the scenes, before we were
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Speaker 1: ever in front of the public, I had a chance
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Speaker 1: to listen to one ballplayer after another who played on
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Speaker 1: Coach Landry's team. And I want to tell you, it
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Speaker 1: was a pleasure to hear what they had to say.
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Speaker 1: The most common... Remark. Was the one Randy White made.
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Speaker 1: Before the public a little later. He walked. The walk.
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Speaker 1: He walked. The walk. He didn't corner us. And embarrass us.
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Speaker 1: He didn't drive his faith down our throat. He didn't preach.
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Speaker 1: And use his coaching position. In an unfair way. To
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Speaker 1: take advantage of us. Or to exploit us as a team.
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Speaker 1: He walked. The walk. And we couldn't deny that it
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Speaker 1: was a true walk. He walked worthy of the calling.
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Speaker 1: That's what he has in mind here. He walked worthy
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Speaker 1: of the calling. You have a chart that we gave
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Speaker 1: you several weeks ago and stuck it back in the
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Speaker 1: worship folder today. Just look at it here for a moment.
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Speaker 1: It's a horizontal chart that takes you from Ephesians 1
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Speaker 1: 1 all the way through to 6 24 the whole
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Speaker 1: letter and in my chart I've shown you the hinge
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Speaker 1: notice it right in the center of the letter at
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Speaker 1: the end of chapter 3 before chapter 4 gets very
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Speaker 1: far underway I didn't write it there but there's a
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Speaker 1: therefore across the hinge We looked at what God has
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Speaker 1: done for us in Christ in chapter 1. We saw
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Speaker 1: what Christ has done for us in chapter 2. And
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Speaker 1: we saw what the mystery means to us in chapter 3.
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Speaker 1: And all of that is so great and all of
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Speaker 1: it is so important. It was like laying the foundation
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Speaker 1: for everything that he now wants to say regarding the
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Speaker 1: living of the life. When we get to chapter 4,
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Speaker 1: immediately we move into the walk of the believer, followed
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Speaker 1: by the life of the imitator. Interesting, maybe you didn't
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Speaker 1: know it, but we are told to imitate God in
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Speaker 1: chapter 5 of Ephesians. If you think walking the walk
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Speaker 1: is tough, think about imitating God. You can't do it
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Speaker 1: without the power of the Spirit, and that's why chapter
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Speaker 1: 5 is full of truth regarding the Holy Spirit. and
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Speaker 1: the living out of the fruit of the Spirit through
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Speaker 1: the power of the Spirit. And then the last section
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Speaker 1: is the strategy of the warrior as we deal with
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Speaker 1: the spiritual battles that are upon us. Now back to
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Speaker 1: this early part of chapter 4 as we learn to
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Speaker 1: walk in a balanced way. Remember the old chorus, some
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Speaker 1: of you will remember, after all he's done for me,
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Speaker 1: after all he's done for me, how can I do
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Speaker 1: less than give him my best after all he's done
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Speaker 1: for me? That's an axiom. That's an axiom chorus, if
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Speaker 1: you will. All he's done for me, how can I
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Speaker 1: do less than balance it out with a life of
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Speaker 1: obedience that follows? So beginning in chapter 4, he implores
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Speaker 1: us to take the truth we've learned about God and
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Speaker 1: Christ and the Spirit and to carry it out in
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Speaker 1: our daily walk. Let me give you a little outline.
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Speaker 1: I think it will help you in the next 16 verses.
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Speaker 1: They kind of fit together like sort of like dominoes
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Speaker 1: standing on their end. One bumps up against another, which
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Speaker 1: pushes the third and then the, then the fourth we
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Speaker 1: have in verses one and two, the charity of our character.
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Speaker 1: It's an old word for love. I'm sorry. It's gotten
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Speaker 1: lost in the passing of time. I love the word charity,
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Speaker 1: the charity of our character. That's the first two verses.
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Speaker 1: that grows into the unity of our body. That's three
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Speaker 1: through six. The charity of our character turns into the
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Speaker 1: unity of our body, and then this is enhanced by
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Speaker 1: the diversity of our gifts, seven through twelve, and then
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Speaker 1: that results in the maturity of our growth, thirteen to sixteen.
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Speaker 1: This is one of the greatest sections in all the
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Speaker 1: New Testament on the Christian life. The charity of our character,
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Speaker 1: the unity of our body, the diversity of our gifts,
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Speaker 1: and the maturity of our growth. Let me tell you
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Speaker 1: something that's far more important than growing larger, and that's
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Speaker 1: growing deeper. Far more important than numerical size is is
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Speaker 1: the size of our maturity, the depth of our roots.
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Speaker 1: That's what the apostle is pleading for. But it isn't
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Speaker 1: going to be easy. That's why it's the Spirit's work
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Speaker 1: through us. It's not the work of the flesh. He
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Speaker 1: says to walk in a manner worthy of the calling,
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Speaker 1: and now he tells us what is involved in that.
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Speaker 1: So like Paul to do that. He gives us five words. Now,
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Speaker 1: you become the vulture, okay? You find the words in
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Speaker 1: verse 2 that are the ones worth attention. It's obvious.
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Speaker 1: It's clear. The walk that is worthy is a walk
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Speaker 1: that is full of humility, gentleness, patience, tolerance for one another,
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Speaker 1: and all of it done in love. John R. W.
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Speaker 1: Stott calls these the five foundation stones of Christian unity.
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Speaker 1: That's a good word. These are solid stones upon which
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Speaker 1: unity is built. You get this in place, you'll never
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Speaker 1: split a church. You carry these things out, you'll get
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Speaker 1: along well in your small group ministry with one another.
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Speaker 1: You'll be able to make it without too many arguments.
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Speaker 1: Because there's humility, gentleness, patience, tolerance for one another, and
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Speaker 1: it's in love. Humility. Let me spend just a few
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Speaker 1: moments on each one, or at least part of them
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Speaker 1: will be a group. First, humility. That means putting Christ first,
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Speaker 1: others second, self last. Very simple formula. Christ first, others second,
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Speaker 1: self last. It's not popular. You won't read about humility
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Speaker 1: in the Wall Street Journal. You won't find it in
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Speaker 1: the business journal of your company. And you usually won't
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Speaker 1: see it among the strong leaders who are so busy
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Speaker 1: promoting themselves. In fact, did you know that it was
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Speaker 1: despised in the days of the Greco-Roman world? It was
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Speaker 1: considered a slavish business. A slave kind of mentality. It
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Speaker 1: was degrading to be humble. If you were the king
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Speaker 1: or the emperor, you acted like it. Bow the knee.
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Speaker 1: Bow the knee. I am the one in charge. And
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Speaker 1: a life was only as safe as the turn of
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Speaker 1: your thumb if you were the emperor. You were the almighty.
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Speaker 1: That's why they called themselves Names like Augustus. The great
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Speaker 1: and mighty ones. And along came Christ. Who pointed out
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Speaker 1: the importance of a humble recognition of the worth and
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Speaker 1: value of the other person. That's humility. Humility isn't a
26:46
Speaker 1: living doormat. Don't let anyone ever tell you that. That's
26:51
Speaker 1: not Christ's. definition of humility it's a lowliness of mind
26:58
Speaker 1: toward one's own merit humility one of these five foundation
27:05
Speaker 1: stone is Christ like Matthew 11 28 to 30 come
27:12
Speaker 1: to me all you who are heavy laden and I
27:16
Speaker 1: will give you rest for I am meek and lowly
27:21
Speaker 1: in heart there it is The only time Christ ever
27:25
Speaker 1: described himself in his temperament was in Matthew 11, 28
27:32
Speaker 1: to 30, and he calls himself humble of heart. One
27:40
Speaker 1: man writes, lowliness was much despised in the ancient world.
27:45
Speaker 1: The Greeks never used their word for humility in the
27:48
Speaker 1: context of approval. still less of admiration. The crouching submissiveness
27:58
Speaker 1: of a slave, that's what they meant, an abject, servile,
28:03
Speaker 1: subservient attitude. Not till Jesus Christ came was a true
28:10
Speaker 1: humility recognized. He humbled himself. Only he, among the world's
28:19
Speaker 1: religious and ethical leaders, has set before us as our
28:24
Speaker 1: model a little child. Think of that. He came and said,
28:31
Speaker 1: except you be as a little child, you can't come
28:37
Speaker 1: into the kingdom. The self-forgetfulness of a child. One of
28:45
Speaker 1: the things we love about children. It's remarkable at times.
28:51
Speaker 1: Next word is gentleness. See that word? This is a
28:55
Speaker 1: synonym for weakness in many people's minds. But meekness is
29:00
Speaker 1: not weakness. Did you know in the etymology of this word,
29:05
Speaker 1: it has in mind strength under control? It was used
29:09
Speaker 1: to describe a horse that was broken. Let me ask you,
29:14
Speaker 1: is a horse that's broken any less strong than before
29:18
Speaker 1: it's broken? No. Just under control. It's no longer dangerous
29:24
Speaker 1: or wild. You can mount the horse. You can ride
29:28
Speaker 1: the horse. It will work with you in whatever may
29:32
Speaker 1: be the project or the need. It's broken. It's called
29:37
Speaker 1: meek in another part of the scripture. The meek person
29:42
Speaker 1: thinks as little of his personal claims as the humble
29:47
Speaker 1: person thinks of his personal merits. This is the absence
29:54
Speaker 1: of any disposition to assert personal rights. I'm going to
30:00
Speaker 1: ask you, is that rare in the 21st century? Probably
30:05
Speaker 1: as rare as any quality we could name. When is
30:10
Speaker 1: the last time you met a strong, natural leader who
30:15
Speaker 1: was humble and meek? You can number them on one hand,
30:20
Speaker 1: usually with fingers left over. Christ was like that. The
30:28
Speaker 1: whole point of this is that when you walk in
30:30
Speaker 1: a manner worthy of the calling, you will be like
30:34
Speaker 1: Christ and the world will notice. You don't have to
30:40
Speaker 1: wear a badge. You don't have to wave flags. You
30:45
Speaker 1: don't have to put symbols on the back of your
30:47
Speaker 1: car or wear a necklace with a big cross on it.
30:51
Speaker 1: You don't have to do that. You'll walk the walk.
30:56
Speaker 1: And they won't be able to deny it. Humility leads
31:02
Speaker 1: to gentleness, which results in patience and tolerance. Now, don't
31:08
Speaker 1: rush too quickly beyond that. Tolerance in our day has
31:13
Speaker 1: gone to seed. Now you tolerate everything. I mean, if
31:18
Speaker 1: you've got conviction, you're intolerant. That's ridiculous. Christ had the deepest, strongest,
31:25
Speaker 1: most solid set of convictions one could imagine, but he
31:30
Speaker 1: was this gracious individual with the sinners, never once making
31:37
Speaker 1: a demand on them that was inappropriate. He talks about
31:45
Speaker 1: patience and tolerance. What a perfect combination with love here.
31:51
Speaker 1: Let me tell you, we are so lacking in these
31:53
Speaker 1: qualities in these United States of America, it's embarrassing. What
31:58
Speaker 1: other country is told not to act ugly when they travel?
32:05
Speaker 1: What other country is so notorious for bad manners when
32:11
Speaker 1: in a situation that requires adjustment and toleration and patience?
32:24
Speaker 1: My friend Kent Hughes, who pastors a church up in
32:26
Speaker 1: Wheaton at the college church in Wheaton, Illinois, in his
32:30
Speaker 1: book on Ephesians, writes on this. This subject has a
32:33
Speaker 1: special poignancy today in a world which has so failed
32:38
Speaker 1: in its attempts at unity and is so alienated. I
32:43
Speaker 1: was in my teens, writes Hughes, during the 50s when
32:48
Speaker 1: ecumenism was the big thing with the mainline denominations. But
32:53
Speaker 1: it all came to naught because it was based on
32:56
Speaker 1: an eviscerated spineless theology instead of a vertebrate system of
33:02
Speaker 1: Christian belief. Today, the World Council of Churches is little
33:08
Speaker 1: more than a mouse that roared. I was in my
33:13
Speaker 1: 20s in the 60s and I remember visiting Haight-Ashbury in
33:17
Speaker 1: San Francisco. and being handed flowers and underground newspapers proclaiming
33:24
Speaker 1: a new day of peace. The bright colors were colors
33:29
Speaker 1: of optimism, the commune's wishful microcosms of the new order.
33:35
Speaker 1: But today, all that is left is some middle-aged anachronisms,
33:42
Speaker 1: cultural dinosaurs. We live in a cold, fragmented world. He
33:50
Speaker 1: goes on to describe where he recently spoke to a
33:53
Speaker 1: young man so starved for attention that he had his
33:57
Speaker 1: hair cut once a week just to be touched by
34:01
Speaker 1: another human hand in a non-threatening manner. Life, says Hughes,
34:11
Speaker 1: for so many in this world is like an elevator ride.
34:15
Speaker 1: Everyone facing forward, no eye contact. No conversation or interaction.
34:22
Speaker 1: And then everyone rushing off to their faceless endeavors. The
34:28
Speaker 1: world is looking for a new humanity, a third race,
34:32
Speaker 1: if you will. Which is not only walking in unity,
34:38
Speaker 1: but has open, inviting arms and hearts. That's what he
34:45
Speaker 1: has in mind here. In fact, he says there's a
34:51
Speaker 1: diligence involved in living like this. Look at the diligence
34:54
Speaker 1: in verse 3. Being diligent to preserve the unity of
35:00
Speaker 1: the spirit in the bond. I think of the word
35:03
Speaker 1: belt with the belt of peace around this body. Isn't
35:07
Speaker 1: that a great word picture? Diligent to preserve the unity.
35:12
Speaker 1: Think about it. You don't even create the unity. The
35:16
Speaker 1: unity is there. It's in the bond of peace in
35:19
Speaker 1: the spirit. When you step into it, you are a
35:22
Speaker 1: part of the preservation of it. In my growing up years,
35:26
Speaker 1: I lived under the influence of two good parents. A
35:31
Speaker 1: father who had my good at heart and a mother
35:34
Speaker 1: who seemed to weave her words through the words of
35:37
Speaker 1: the scriptures. And the counsel I got was, if you will,
35:42
Speaker 1: almost a barrage. of truth from one angle and then another,
35:47
Speaker 1: and I found myself enveloped in that in my growing
35:50
Speaker 1: up years. I didn't create that context, but it's my
35:54
Speaker 1: task to preserve it. And I live out the counsel,
35:59
Speaker 1: the wisdom of good parents in my life. When I
36:04
Speaker 1: step into the body of Christ as a result of
36:07
Speaker 1: faith in the Lord Jesus Christ who died for me,
36:11
Speaker 1: having paid the price on the cross, I step into
36:14
Speaker 1: the realm of unity that he has established. That's what
36:19
Speaker 1: he wants for his body. But I will tell you
36:23
Speaker 1: there is no more divided church on any continent in
36:28
Speaker 1: the world than there is in these United States. It
36:34
Speaker 1: is nothing short of tragic. Every city has its story
36:39
Speaker 1: of split churches. Every city and many towns, even villages.
36:47
Speaker 1: Pastors that will hardly talk to one another to say
36:51
Speaker 1: nothing of supporting and encouraging one another. There is probably
36:55
Speaker 1: no more envious profession on earth than the ministry. And
37:01
Speaker 1: I say that to our shame in my own career.
37:09
Speaker 1: The apostle is imploring ministers, congregational members, believers, young and
37:15
Speaker 1: old alike, lay down the arms, pick up the belt
37:22
Speaker 1: of peace, preserve it. In fact, the emphasis is so
37:29
Speaker 1: obviously on unity, Unity that he uses the word over
37:34
Speaker 1: and over. Look at verse 4. There is one body,
37:37
Speaker 1: one spirit, just as you're called in, one hope of
37:40
Speaker 1: your calling, one Lord, one faith, one baptism, one God. Duh!
37:47
Speaker 1: I mean, how many times does he have to say it?
37:50
Speaker 1: It's so Pauline. He gets on a word that says it,
37:54
Speaker 1: and he drives it, and he drives it home from
37:57
Speaker 1: one angle and then another, and you finally say, okay,
38:00
Speaker 1: I got it. Okay, okay, wait. It's like drinking out
38:03
Speaker 1: of a fire hydrant. I mean, this is unbelievably obvious, Paul.
38:08
Speaker 1: Then do it. Walk like this. It's a good place
38:19
Speaker 1: for me to pause and just meddle. Are you a gossip?
38:28
Speaker 1: Please don't answer out loud or don't answer for your mate.
38:36
Speaker 1: Do you gossip? Do you spread rumors? Do you sow
38:41
Speaker 1: discord among the family of God? Why do you do that?
38:49
Speaker 1: Why would you want to live so disobediently? Do you
38:53
Speaker 1: share confidential information that causes a disruption in the body
38:57
Speaker 1: of Christ? Why, if you do that? Where did you
39:01
Speaker 1: learn that? You didn't learn it from Christ. You learned
39:04
Speaker 1: it from Maybe religious roots, or you learned it from
39:08
Speaker 1: some bad teacher who may have been a friend, or
39:12
Speaker 1: you cultivated it out of your own cesspool of depravity.
39:16
Speaker 1: Maybe that's where it came from. But remember in the war,
39:22
Speaker 1: loose lips sink ships? Some of you are old enough
39:25
Speaker 1: to remember that. Most of you look at me like
39:27
Speaker 1: where are you from and there was a second world
39:31
Speaker 1: war way back then and remember seeing the motto loose
39:34
Speaker 1: lips sink ships and if you talk too much the
39:39
Speaker 1: result was a sunken ship i'm gonna tell you something
39:42
Speaker 1: even worse than that now loose lips split churches If
39:50
Speaker 1: you're an officer at Stonebriar Community Church, right alongside purity
39:55
Speaker 1: is confidentiality. And right alongside confidentiality is self-control. Keep your
40:01
Speaker 1: mouth shut. You are dealing with information at times that
40:07
Speaker 1: is absolutely scandalous, difficult for the leadership to work through.
40:13
Speaker 1: You gain nothing in your insecurity of running off at
40:17
Speaker 1: the mouth by telling that information to another group that
40:20
Speaker 1: they might pray more intelligently. Please. If you are not confidential,
40:27
Speaker 1: you should not be an officer in this church. I
40:31
Speaker 1: should not be a pastor. Sowing discord among the brothers
40:38
Speaker 1: is a breaking of the unity and failing to preserve it.
40:43
Speaker 1: Job one for the believer is to preserve it. Do
40:50
Speaker 1: you disturb the peace? That's another way of putting it,
40:52
Speaker 1: isn't it? They arrest you for doing that outside. No
40:59
Speaker 1: one is here to arrest you, but you need to
41:02
Speaker 1: know the impact of a disturbed peace in a church.
41:07
Speaker 1: It's horrible. Lives are broken, fractured, sometimes irreparably harmed because
41:17
Speaker 1: we break the peace. The bond of peace is secured
41:22
Speaker 1: when we work in harmony with each other, when we
41:26
Speaker 1: allow love to flow freely and we forgive quickly. The
41:35
Speaker 1: most powerful testimony a church can demonstrate is unity. Don't
41:41
Speaker 1: think the world doesn't spot it. It amazes them when
41:47
Speaker 1: they see a truly happy church. When they see a
41:51
Speaker 1: church of any size working in harmony. The lost may
41:57
Speaker 1: be unsaved. They're not ignorant. And they're not blind. Why
42:03
Speaker 1: do you think a number of those cowboys would say,
42:06
Speaker 1: even though they didn't embrace the Savior as Tom Landry did,
42:10
Speaker 1: he walked the walk. They saw it. He was different
42:16
Speaker 1: than other coaches they played for. One man had lost
42:21
Speaker 1: his wife and the game was coming that weekend. Coach
42:25
Speaker 1: Landry said to him, I know you're going through a
42:28
Speaker 1: terrible time. You don't have to play. He said, do
42:31
Speaker 1: you know, Chuck, it was a playoff game. I was
42:34
Speaker 1: a starting running back for the team. And he said,
42:38
Speaker 1: if you don't feel up to it, you don't have
42:39
Speaker 1: to play. He said, when we ran out on the field,
42:43
Speaker 1: he had tears in his eyes as he put his
42:45
Speaker 1: arms around me in the locker room. He said, I
42:48
Speaker 1: want you to know I prayed through the night for
42:50
Speaker 1: you and what you're going through. He said, I realized
42:54
Speaker 1: then that my life meant more to him than the
42:58
Speaker 1: game we were about to play. Can you name many
43:03
Speaker 1: coaches like that? If you can, they're walking the walk.
43:11
Speaker 1: Is this important? Well, you answer that. The entire trinity
43:14
Speaker 1: is behind it. The entire trinity Verse 4 is the Spirit.
43:19
Speaker 1: Circle that. Verse 5 is Christ the Lord. Circle that.
43:24
Speaker 1: Verse 6 is the Father. God. Circle that. One body.
43:30
Speaker 1: That's Jew and Gentile living in harmony. One spirit. That's,
43:36
Speaker 1: of course, the work of the Holy Spirit. Same in
43:38
Speaker 1: all the lives of the believers. There's one hope of
43:41
Speaker 1: our calling to be like Christ. There's no other mark.
43:45
Speaker 1: There's no other hope to be holy and blameless, according
43:48
Speaker 1: to chapter 1, verse 4 of Ephesians. One Lord. Salvation
43:55
Speaker 1: is based on the sacrifice of one death. By faith
43:58
Speaker 1: alone in Christ alone. What hope that is for the
44:02
Speaker 1: Hindu who has 10,000 gods never knowing which one he
44:07
Speaker 1: can appease. What hope it is for the pagan who
44:10
Speaker 1: doesn't know which God to follow and they're all angry.
44:14
Speaker 1: Here is a heavenly father in the Lord Jesus Christ
44:18
Speaker 1: who is smiling because he has paid the price for
44:21
Speaker 1: sins and he is the one lord through one faith
44:25
Speaker 1: and the one identifying sign baptism baptism of the spirit
44:31
Speaker 1: yes i think so but baptism in water whatever mode
44:35
Speaker 1: you may choose the point is baptizo means to identify
44:39
Speaker 1: or identification and it's one sense of identification and it's
44:43
Speaker 1: not some denominational name it is christ it is christian
44:49
Speaker 1: it is follower of jesus One baptism, one God, and
44:54
Speaker 1: Father of all. And talk about a high view of God.
44:58
Speaker 1: Who is over all, that's his sovereignty. Who is through all,
45:02
Speaker 1: that's his omnipotence. And who is in all, that's his omnipresence.
45:06
Speaker 1: Magnificent statement of unity. Remember Paul's on his knees pleading
45:11
Speaker 1: with us? Saying, why do you squabble over which mode
45:16
Speaker 1: of baptism? Why do you argue over which denomination is
45:19
Speaker 1: the best? Why don't you talk to a charismatic friend? Now, understand,
45:26
Speaker 1: I am not charismatic. This church is not a charismatic church. But, folks,
45:30
Speaker 1: we're going to have to learn how to get along
45:32
Speaker 1: down here. We're going to spend eternity together. So we
45:34
Speaker 1: might as well get into practice now. It's okay. It's okay.
45:39
Speaker 1: You say, well, that sounds pretty liberal to me. Actually,
45:43
Speaker 1: it isn't liberal at all. It's just very unified. It's
45:48
Speaker 1: just that if you're so narrow you can't see that,
45:51
Speaker 1: you're part of the problem. This is a unity that
45:55
Speaker 1: opens itself to wherever Christ is named. Instead of fighting
46:00
Speaker 1: for one's rights and arguing over the nitpicking petty details,
46:04
Speaker 1: it is saying, in effect, stand together in the body
46:10
Speaker 1: and march in step with each other, folks, because time
46:14
Speaker 1: is short and the message is getting garbled. unity. Harry
46:23
Speaker 1: Ironside tells a great story that's a true story from
46:26
Speaker 1: his own life. He was sick on one occasion and
46:30
Speaker 1: he had been involved in a series of meetings in
46:31
Speaker 1: Minnesota and was forced to return home by train, which
46:35
Speaker 1: was the best mode of travel back then, all the
46:38
Speaker 1: way back to California. He could barely stand up. He
46:41
Speaker 1: was so sick. So this pastor of a church had
46:46
Speaker 1: the porter fix him up with a lower berth so
46:48
Speaker 1: he could really reclined there most of the day as
46:52
Speaker 1: he worked through this illness. The first morning, he just
46:55
Speaker 1: quietly opened his Bible to have some time alone with
46:58
Speaker 1: the Lord. A stout German woman walked by and said,
47:03
Speaker 1: what's that? A Bible? And he said, yes, it's a Bible. Wait,
47:09
Speaker 1: she said, wait, I will get my own Bible and
47:12
Speaker 1: I will have Bible teaching with you. We do this together.
47:18
Speaker 1: Short time later, a tall gentleman walked by, according to Ironside,
47:21
Speaker 1: and asked, what are you reading? He was Norwegian. Ironside
47:27
Speaker 1: told him, he said, I think I'll go get my
47:29
Speaker 1: own Bible. Each morning, these three met, and others began
47:33
Speaker 1: to connect with them. Ironside wrote that once there were
47:36
Speaker 1: 28 people reading from 28 different Bibles, and that conductor
47:41
Speaker 1: would walk through the train saying, the camp meeting is
47:44
Speaker 1: beginning down in car 13. All are invited. It was
47:49
Speaker 1: a great experience, says Ironside. At the end of the trip,
47:53
Speaker 1: the cars were divided up when they got to Sacramento.
47:57
Speaker 1: Some to go north, some to go south. The German
48:01
Speaker 1: woman asked, what denomination are you anyway? Ironside replied, I
48:06
Speaker 1: belong to the same denomination that David did. Really? What
48:11
Speaker 1: was that? I didn't know that David belonged to denomination. Well, yes,
48:16
Speaker 1: David wrote that he was a companion of all them
48:19
Speaker 1: that fear God and keep his precepts. Oh, yeah, yeah,
48:24
Speaker 1: that's a very good church to belong to. Yeah, that's good.
48:28
Speaker 1: And he said the harmony in their fellowship was remarkable.
48:35
Speaker 1: My wife these days is spending time in India, the
48:40
Speaker 1: great country of India. She's never been there before and
48:45
Speaker 1: we're in touch with each other by phone every day
48:47
Speaker 1: and Right now, she's in Madras. It's now known as
48:52
Speaker 1: Chennai on the southern coast near the Indian Ocean. Couldn't
48:58
Speaker 1: be further from home. Feels like she's been gone six months.
49:02
Speaker 1: It's only been nine days. I said to her, how
49:06
Speaker 1: is it? She said, well, the best part of the
49:08
Speaker 1: trip is the fellow believers. Can't understand a word they're saying.
49:13
Speaker 1: Don't understand their culture. Never seen sights like this in
49:17
Speaker 1: my life. But as she chokes up, she... said, but
49:21
Speaker 1: I'll tell you, we belong to the same family. Isn't
49:26
Speaker 1: that a great line? We belong to the same family. Amazing.
49:33
Speaker 1: She can't even read from the Bible they're reading from
49:36
Speaker 1: and worshiping. She doesn't understand the songs in the language
49:42
Speaker 1: of the people, but she stands to say a few
49:45
Speaker 1: things with the help of a translator, and she said
49:48
Speaker 1: the response is phenomenal as they link up with her
49:53
Speaker 1: heart and her with theirs. The belt of peace is
50:01
Speaker 1: tight around the body of Christ in Madras. I want
50:12
Speaker 1: it like that here. I want it like that here.
50:22
Speaker 1: We're all different. We have different temperaments. We have different gifts.
50:26
Speaker 1: We have different scars. We have different backgrounds. We have
50:30
Speaker 1: different convictions. That's why I love you because you're so opinionated.
50:36
Speaker 1: You've got strong convictions. People without convictions are wimps. I've
50:41
Speaker 1: got convictions in case you haven't noticed. You don't want
50:45
Speaker 1: me without convictions. But surely people with great convictions, though
50:52
Speaker 1: not agreeing in every little jot and tittle, can link
50:54
Speaker 1: up together because greater is he who is in us
50:57
Speaker 1: than he who is in that world out there. And
51:00
Speaker 1: he cheers with great delight when another church splits and
51:06
Speaker 1: another Christian stops talking to a brother or a sister.
51:09
Speaker 1: Stop that. That is no way for adult believers to act.
51:16
Speaker 1: We are linked together. We are on our way to
51:19
Speaker 1: heaven together. Please give room and understanding and a little
51:25
Speaker 1: freedom to those who don't agree with every jot and
51:29
Speaker 1: tittle that marks you out as an individual. The only
51:34
Speaker 1: one we have to agree with fully is Christ. And
51:39
Speaker 1: he's easier to live with than any one of us.
51:43
Speaker 1: I'll tell you that. Let's bow together. Let's close our eyes.
51:50
Speaker 1: Just sit quietly before the Lord, will you? It's very
51:58
Speaker 1: convicting for all of us. We are all so passionate
52:03
Speaker 1: about our pursuits, and we should be. We never want
52:11
Speaker 1: mediocrity to mark our lives. Certainly didn't mark Christ's life.
52:17
Speaker 1: After all, he died for what he believed and he
52:19
Speaker 1: was only 33. They killed him. He gave up his life.
52:28
Speaker 1: It was that important that he pay the price for
52:31
Speaker 1: your sins and for mine. It was essential that he die.
52:37
Speaker 1: He died misunderstood and maligned and mistreated and tortured and hated.
52:44
Speaker 1: Had we been there in our lost condition, we would
52:46
Speaker 1: have driven the nails right along with the Roman soldier.
52:51
Speaker 1: He walked the walk. He lived the life. He paid
52:56
Speaker 1: the price. That's why we love him so. you've never
53:04
Speaker 1: come to the level ground of the cross. Then, uh,
53:06
Speaker 1: I invite you to do that today, right now, right now,
53:12
Speaker 1: step on in the family of unity, join ranks with
53:18
Speaker 1: fellow sinners who are learning to live like saints takes
53:25
Speaker 1: a lifetime. Now, Lord, this, uh, this is straight talk and, uh,
53:34
Speaker 1: This doesn't win votes, but it gets attention. And it
53:39
Speaker 1: teaches truth. And your way is the best. And forbid
53:45
Speaker 1: that we ever go any other way. We've tried those ways.
53:48
Speaker 1: They're all dead-end streets or they lead into swamps. So
53:55
Speaker 1: I pray that you will give us a sense of
53:58
Speaker 1: recommitment to this matter of unity and harmony. and confidentiality
54:05
Speaker 1: and purity and love and tolerance and patience. Your words, gentleness, humility,
54:15
Speaker 1: and the bond of peace. May we model that, Lord,
54:22
Speaker 1: at Stonebriar Community Church. May we model that when we're
54:27
Speaker 1: at home, in our neighborhood, at our work, behind the
54:32
Speaker 1: steering wheel of our cars. when we're doing business, when
54:37
Speaker 1: we're at the store, when we're meeting new friends and
54:45
Speaker 1: having a chance to impact another life, give us great harmony, Lord,
54:53
Speaker 1: as you grow us up, grow us deep. Now unto
55:02
Speaker 1: him who is able to guard us from stumbling and
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Speaker 1: to present us faultless before the presence of his glory
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Speaker 1: with exceeding joy to the only wise God, our Savior,
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Speaker 1: be glory and majesty, dominion and power forever and ever.
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Speaker 1: And all God's people said, Amen. Do it again. Amen.
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Speaker 1: One more time. Amen. Great. Get out of here. Time
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Speaker 1: to live it. All rights are reserved worldwide. Duplication of
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Speaker 1: copyrighted material for commercial use is strictly prohibited.