Unity: Laying The Foundation

If you would, take your Bibles this morning and turn to Ephesians chapter 4. Ephesians chapter 4. Before we look into God's Word this morning, let's ask Him to teach us. O God, our Father, we come to You now to hear You speak to us in Your Word. you've told us that this word is inspired that it is God breathed that it is profitable for teaching convicting, correcting and training in righteousness and so we ask you to accomplish the purpose of this word in our hearts today help us we pray, Amen in the little village of Berci in the Old Tania region of Romania, there are two Baptist churches.

No, one did not plant the other. Rather, some of the people in that church got angry with the pastor and the leadership and engineered a business meeting to override the leadership and take over the church. The next day, the pastor went to the church and found that a locksmith had changed the locks on the doors. One of the rebels was elected pastor, and the old pastor and his followers had to leave.

How do you think the cause of Christ was affected in that village? Some missionaries worked together in Bavaria, Germany. part of the team complains that the children of another member should not be playing ping pong with the German children on mission property because that a misuse of that property the Ping Pong family responds that it part of the missionary enterprise No they are told missionary work is going door to door and preaching And soon some of the team members are seeking the removal of the Ping Pong family. Of course, the Germans in town see all of this going on.

What do you think the cause of Christ was affected in that village? five years ago I was asked to be part of a peacemaking effort at a sister church. Some of you remember that. I was part of a team that included Pastor Rick Wilson, Pastor John Street, Pastor Dave Durnland. I remember facing discouragement and disappointment as I observed heated discussions and accusations just fouling the atmosphere.

I've been puzzled wondering how churches get to the point of factionalism and disunity and I've been afraid as I ask the question could that happen to LaRue Baptist Church and knowing that the answer is yes how would the cause of Christ be affected in this village how important is the unity of God's people to the mission that Jesus has given us is it your right to speak your mind at a congregational meeting should we let the chips fall where they may as we argue and fight over different issues can we even talk about important congregational issues and firmly held individual beliefs without quarreling and fighting and the answer is yeah we can we know we can because God has equipped us and told us how to be unified. So let's look at Ephesians 4 this morning. And before we look at that and before your minds go running 100 miles in different directions, no, I'm not addressing this to our church because there's some underlying problems that are about ready to explode and we're ready to get in a big fight.

That's not the issue. All right? Can I set your minds at ease? There aren't some rebels here. talking about overthrowing the leadership. That is not the case. But I think it is very very very important that when times are good that we are reminded how God keeps unity in the congregations of his people All right So let me set your minds at ease Some of you are sitting there I know with pits in your stomach thinking oh no what going on I can assure you right now there's nothing going on.

All right. But we need to understand these things because disunity starts with just tiny little seeds. and so we need to understand so we know when those seeds are planted in our hearts what to do with them so I want you to turn to Ephesians 4 and we're going to concentrate on the first three verses these reverses are rich with hope in telling us how we can produce and maintain the unity of God's people. I therefore, prisoner for the Lord, urge you to walk in a manner worthy of the calling to which you have been called, with all humility and gentleness, with patience, bearing with one another in love, eager to maintain the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace.

There is one body and one Spirit, just as you were called to the one hope that belongs to your call, one Lord, one faith, one baptism, one God and Father of all, who is over all and through all and in all. Now there we find the Apostle Paul telling us about unity in the church of Jesus, in the congregation. Now we saw last week that we start with a commandment that Jesus gave us.

Remember? That we love one another just as Christ loved us, And in this way, the world will know that we are his disciples. Now let's build on that a little bit. Let's lay some foundations here as to how we can produce and maintain unity in the congregation of God's people. First of all, get the right view of who you are. I therefore, a prisoner for the Lord, urge you to walk in a manner worthy of the calling to which you've been called.

You are people with a calling. You are people with a calling, that is to say, you have been chosen by God. You have been called by God. The question is chosen for what Chosen for what To what are we called Well if we can take a quick survey of the book up to this point chapter 1 We are chosen before the foundation of the world to be holy and blameless in His sight That's how God sees you now in Christ.

Holy and blameless. We are chosen to be His sons. We were chosen to experience forgiveness. We were chosen for what? For the praise of His glory. God called us so that people would look at the congregation of God's people and praise God.

That we would glorify Him and people would praise God. Chapter 2, you've been called to life. You've been raised from the dead. You remember that passage that goes all the way through verse 10 of chapter 2. We were dead in our trespasses and sins, But God, who is rich in mercy, made us alive in Christ and seated us with him in the heavenly realms. So that we would, verse 10, be devoted to doing good things.

Then we come to the last part of chapter 2. You've been called into one body and made into one great temple. That is to say, in the end of chapter 2, he says, as I read part of it this morning, We have been called as a new humanity in the whole human race. That is, he's taken Gentiles and Jews and produced in Christ at the cross a new humanity here on earth.

A new group of people who are the very temple of God. That's what we've been called to. Chapter 3. You've been called to display God's wisdom to the angels. Chapter 3 is a fascinating chapter. in which he says that the work of God in a congregation's life, he has done it so that the angels will marvel at the wisdom of God. Have you ever thought about that?

You know, we tend to think of us, this little congregation here in LaRue, as this known, you know, who are we? We're nobody. And yet God's working in this congregation so the angels in heaven marvel at his wisdom displayed in this place. imagine that angels looking down where is the roots? not even on the map where God? oh that place? wow what wisdom can be seen there this is who you are He says, you have people who have been called to these great things.

Now what? Now live in a manner worthy of your calling. Live in a way that reflects that. What does he mean when he says live a life that's worthy? The word means to have a worth equal to one's position. I can remember when my boys were wrestling.

In high school. Maybe you remember those days too. I loved those days. They were fun. But we'd be at the tournament and they'd be working up the brackets. And you'd look and you'd see who his next opponent was and you're going, oh man, he's got Jones.

The kid's qualified for state last year. Here is a what? Worthy opponent. And maybe given the talent of our boys, maybe more than worthy, But when we use that term worthy opponent, we say he's got the gifts and the abilities that are equal to the task. Right? They're equal to the task.

When we say a workman is worthy of his hire, we mean he is a worker whose services merit a certain amount of pay. So God urges upon you a life that is equal to the calling you've received. live a life that reflects this position that you occupy. This position of being holy and blameless in God's sight. Live a life worthy of the position that says I've been raised from the dead.

From the grave of sin. Live a life worthy of the position that says we are the new humanity, the temple of God. Live a life worthy of the position where angels marvel at the wisdom of God. Live a life worthy of your position in essence it must reflect in action and attitude the position that you occupy in one of his early books i remember jay adams writing about here's a young man he's gone through the police academy he's gotten everything right now he puts on the uniform he's got the uniform of a policeman do you think it's going to change him in any way yeah he knows that when he's wearing that uniform he needs to show that he acts like that uniform is portraying He got to act like a policeman now He can He got to be honorable He got to be honest And that's what he says here.

If I can illustrate it another way, I can remember, again, I've said this many times, but this just sticks in my mind. I can remember on days like this, getting ready for school, and I'm putting my boots on, and I put my coat on, and there's my mom buttoning up my coat. and either my mom or my dad saying, all right, now remember, when you go to school today, remember you are PASMAs. Now that's supposed to mean something, right?

You got the name PASMA attached to you, so you need to act like your name. There's a reputation that goes with that name. That's what he's saying here. There's a reputation that goes with the name Christian. Now live a life that reflects that. alright what's going to reflect our calling as redeemed forgiven sons what's going to reflect the fact that we are God's wisdom open to the angels what's going to reflect the fact that we are the dwelling place of God that brings us to verse 2 that brings us to verse 2 here are the tools that build the unity of the church here's the way that we live in a way worthy of the calling which to which we've been called if we're going to build a unified congregation then we have to use the right tools we have to use the right tools what's the first one? humility humility, you'll be completely humble humility is a characteristic that is submissive it puts the interest of others above your own interest and it doesn't pursue your own agenda If you want to see humility in its brightest display, then go back and read Philippians 2, verses 1-11, which was read this morning.

Philippians 2, 1-11, where it talks about have this mind in you that was in Christ Jesus, who did not think equality with God, something to be held on at all costs. But what did he do? He gave up his position. he gave up his glory in heaven to what? To serve us and to die a death The worst possible death of that time The most shameful death of that time From glory to shame Why did he do that?

To serve our interests. That is humility. That is humility. It's not pursuing your agenda. It's putting the interests of others above your own interests. Humility is submissive. pride will always disrupt unity.

I love Proverbs 13.10 Pride only breeds quarrels. Isn't that interesting? Pride only breeds quarrels but wisdom is found in those who take advice. A proud person seeks his own honor. A proud person considers himself extremely wise. A proud person always assumes that the reason for the conflict is not in him but in you. you make me mad.

You ever use that terminology? It's like pride boom boom boom. You make me so mad. Of course it can't be me. The problem's not me. It's you.

A proud person believes that in any discussion his position is the correct one. Obviously you should see it. He'll make you see it if you don't. Humility always makes for unity. Humility always makes for unity. This person so fully acknowledges his own sin that it looks like a plank to him compared to your speck.

You see? This person, since he puts his interests above others, is always ready to help or serve. He's always ready to help. Always ready to serve you. even when he gets into a discussion with someone about some important congregational matter, he will say to himself, now, I may not be completely right in my view here, so I need to listen carefully because I might learn something from my opponent.

I might learn something that I don't know. There might be an aspect of this issue that I don't know yet, and so I'm going to listen. You remember what Isaiah 57, 15 says? Isaiah 57 verse 15 For this is what the high and lofty one says He who lives forever whose name is holy I live in a high and holy place but also with him who is contrite and lowly in spirit There's unity because the presence of God is there when there are humble people. now this is a supernatural humility a grace empowered humility not a humility that you just drum up on your own now certainly this is addressed to you you must make efforts to be humble and yet there's a difference between this human driven humility and a grace empowered humility a grace empowered humility like he set the stage for us we'll look and say this is what Jesus has done for me.

This is what I must do in response. It's not a humility that's used as a technique and manipulative tool. It's humility that is driven by the fact that you've been redeemed from your sin and raised from the death clothes of sin. And more than anything else, you want to see God's glory exhibited. why should you be completely humble because you have a high calling and you need to live in a way that reflects it what else does he say you will express gentleness in all that you do do you want unity in the congregation then you strive for gentleness gentleness is not blunt Gentleness is not abrupt, but it seeks to come alongside with sensitivity, with respect, with consideration.

It is not so strongly opinionated, all right? It's not so strongly opinionated that when you're in action, you cause people to say, I'm not going to hang around that guy. Every time I'm around him there's a fight. I'm just going to avoid him. Or some of you are wired the other way. Okay?

Yeah, man. If you want to fight, I'll fight. A gentle person doesn't draw people into a fight, nor cause people to avoid you. You're going to seek to change a wrong opinion or an attitude by persuasion and kindness. Not by intimidation. Not by beating you over the head.

I've seen people who are great and they know biblical truth, but they take that truth and they bang you on the head with it in a very un-gentle way. Guilty. A person who's gentle is going to be respectful and cooperative. We ought to be a people who do not fight over personal rights, who are wrangling and harsh and abrupt and rude and dogmatic, so much so that kindness gets lost.

We're going to be cooperative and respective. We're going to be people who put others at ease in our presence. I remember a meeting in which a man just tore into others about their wrongdoing and you know what? everything he said was true there wasn't one false thing in what he said he listed the facts of the situation and he was completely accurate but because he was not gentle with the truth all hope for unity was blown out of the water that night you see what I'm saying it's not enough to have truth on your side it is not enough to have truth on your side it's how you wield it that counts as well be gentle again this is not human gentleness this is not I'll be gentle like I learned from my mama right this is gentleness that is empowered by grace and the fact that you've seen your condition and you know that you have a Savior who saves you and you want His glory to be seen.

I'm going to be gentle so people see Jesus. You see. Why should you be gentle? Because of the high position you occupy by the calling of God. What's the next one he talks about? He says you need to practice patience.

The word means long-suffering. It means you have a long fuse as opposed to being short It means you endure wrongs and you put up with the exasperating conduct of others rather than flying into a rage or seeking vengeance Patience exercises self-restraint when others are not operating as they should. Let me say that again. Patience exercises self-restraint when others are not operating as they should. when people are doing wrong.

You're not going to fly off the handle. You're going to be patient. Now, don't mistake patience for weakness. Don't do that. It is the way that God himself operates in relation to you. Would you consider God weak?

No. Romans 2, verse 4. Or do you show contempt for the riches of his kindness, tolerance, and patience, not realizing that God's kindness leads you toward repentance you know I can remember my dear wife Becca must have been reading one day this is when our children were small and I'm so glad for God's providence and she started we were talking that morning and she said do you know what you know what's going to lead our children to repentance our kindness our gentleness our patience now you can check with my kids whether that ever came to fruition in terms of them and whether we that's what led them to repentance i hope so you check on it if you want but the point is that god is not weak and yet he's patient is he not god has the power to wipe out everyone in a moment.

But he doesn't. He's not weak. He's patient. And so with us. And you know, we tend not to be patient because we think people will think I'm weak. Or that I really don't believe the truth.

No, not so. A patient person does not overreact to disagreements. He's going to be composed under pressure. He will not display his irritation when attacked. I think this is important too. He will not seek instant agreement to his ideas.

Patience is an ingredient to unity. One writer put it this way Patience makes us willing to do the hard sometimes unpleasant work of discussing and praying about conflicting perspectives until we're able to reach agreement. Patience says, I'm not going to beat you into submission in one day. I'm going to be patient. I'm going to pray. Again, this is grace-empowered patience. that sees yourself as redeemed.

Again, why should you be patient? Because you want to live in a way worthy of your calling. Last thing he mentions here is what? Forbearance. This is a forgotten virtue today in our polarized culture. Unless you agree with me, you're my enemy. wow that just describes the way things are today unless you agree with me you are my enemy if i don't point out sin then i've compromised holiness so we have to eradicate sin wherever we see it to forbear means to endure the wrong suffer the slight without saying anything to not point out every sin I become aware of in you.

What does a forbearing person look like? He allows people to make mistakes and doesn't jump all over their case. He allows people to make mistakes. He allows people to be different without putting them down. It's not pointing out every blunder someone makes. It's a person who makes a distinction between major and minor issues.

I'll remember this morning. Okay, now I'm just going to quote it. I'm not trying to make a point about family here. My son Calvin was sitting there with his mom and said, Mom, I finally figured out what it means to be a Tallman. Okay, now Tallman is my wife's family. Okay, and she says, well, what does it mean, Calvin?

He says, this is what it means. I think you'll be cheated if I don't give you my opinion. Alright? I didn say that Calvin did Alright Now what the point I making A person who is forbearing is not going to have that attitude I think you're cheated unless I tell you every time that you've done something wrong. Right? God forbears with you, does He not?

Although He never condones your sin, He does not constantly beat you down with them. Now that takes grace, folks. Forbearance, by the way, does not mean you stand there and don't say anything and then walk away in a huff. And start turning that over in your mind and start becoming bitter and angry. That's not forbearance. Why should we do the hard work of forbearing with others?

What does he say? To live a life worthy of the manner. to live a life worthy of the call that we've received. So if we want to build a unified congregation, if we want to be unified, if we want to be that kind of a congregation that the angels look down and marvel at the wisdom of God, then we need to use the right tools. We've got to work with humility, gentleness, patience, and forbearance. last thing you know what he says make the greatest effort verse 3 you are eager to maintain the unity of the spirit in the bond of peace eager diligent be diligent in pursuing unity be diligent in pursuing that it's not going to just happen some years ago I can remember it was 1986 it was seven years after I'd been married when someone taught me the purpose of marriage I'd been married seven years didn't know the purpose of marriage all right didn't didn't know we were just kind of hitting missing all along the line and then someone came along and I remember being taught this the purpose of marriage is companionship that's the bottom line now let me tell you something the companionship between Becca and I did not just happen the moment we took our vows and we were perfect companions.

We were not. I remember three days after we were married. I'm thinking, what in the world have I gotten myself into? right? Not a pretty place to be when you're just three days in, right? But here's what we had to do. We had to say, all right, if that's what the purpose of our marriage is, we're going to have to make some changes in our household.

We're going to have to make some mighty big changes in our household in those years. That was 1986. I remember this. Started saying, you know what? We need to be very consistent and we need to work hard at getting the children to bed every night at eight o'clock whether they argue or not because we need time alone you need to look tim at what ministries you're going to do and what you're not going to do because you've got to be a companion he hasn't just called you to be a pastor he's called you to be a companion so there's gonna have to you're gonna have to start saying no to things I remember the basketball decision when we decided that our boys were not going to be NBA stars the basketball decision hey guys, you can't all play at the same time because when the 4th graders will be at that end of the county and the 5th graders will be at that end of the county we're not going to do it, we're going to flip a coin whoever wins gets to choose whether he wants to play this year or next year all right why because we're not going to be running all over the place we have to be together now why do i tell you this whole story i tell you this in order to say in order to fulfill that purpose we had to make hard decisions and we had to work hard at it and the same thing is true as a congregation we have to work hard at this is unity something that's important to us if it is and it must be according to this passage, then we must work at it You must work at being patient and forbearing You have to work at being gentle We have to work at pursuing unity As we going to see maybe next week I think What does that mean?

It means we're going to put to death certain things in our lives if we're not going to become agents of disunity. We've got to work hard at this. It requires work. It requires decisions. It requires sacrifice. But is it important?

Now notice that disunity is the unity of the Spirit. That is, it's a unity given us by the Spirit. It's given to all those who are in Christ. Harry Ironsides was a famous pastor and conference speaker. Now, the generation below me have never heard of Harry Ironsides. I've heard about him.

My parents probably thought he was one of the best preachers that ever was. He had a very extensive ministry, wrote a lot. He'd been in Minneapolis for meetings, and he was going back to California. And, of course, in those days, he was taking the train. He wasn't feeling so well, so the porter made up a lower berth so that he could recline there for the trip. the first morning he was having devotions a German woman stopped by and she saw the Bible and she said you know what's that a Bible and he said yeah yeah it's a Bible and she said wait I'm gonna go get my Bible and we'll have our Bible reading together and so she did and a short time later another guy came by and asked what are you reading he was a Norwegian guy and he said well I'll get my Bible too soon there were 28 people in this Bible study alright on this trip to California 28 people was meeting every morning in fact the conductor would go through the train saying the camp meeting is beginning in car 13 All are invited Well anyway at the end of the trip as everybody started dividing and going their own ways the German woman said, what denomination are you?

Ironside replied, I belong to the same denomination that David did. She says, what was that? I didn't know that David belonged to any denomination. and Ironside said, David wrote that he was a companion of all them that fear God and keep his precepts. And the woman said, yeah, that's a good church to belong to. The point is simply this. All who belong to Jesus belong to one another. and we who belong to Jesus here belong to one another.

We already, in principle, possess unity. But we can lose that unity. We can end up in factions. We can end up devouring one another. You know what? Can I tell you this?

And I'm not doing this to pat you on the back. I want God to be praised for this. there are men who have who have said to me I wish I could pastor your church well I I think it's so good here I don't say have at it man I don't I love being here but I know this with what God is doing here with what we have happening here if we don't do what God commands us here we can be a byword this place can be an empty building in one generation or less so you see we can have hope We can have hope because God told us what redeemed people can do as we live a life worthy of the calling we've received. It's remembering who we are.

It's remembering what to do. It's remembering to work diligently. may we be one as we cry out to God for the grace that we always need to do and to think in ways that produce unity and peace Father thank you for your word Father this has application not only to our church body it says something to our families as well that we can have peaceful unified families as we live this way. We can have a unified church that just blares the glory of God if we seek to be unified.

God of heaven, help us, we pray, for the sake of Jesus. Above all, Father, we want the glory of God to be seen in this town. and father we can come up with all kinds of bombastic ways of blaring the good news about jesus but we'll have no credibility if we're not unified help us to do the simple work of not merely proclaiming the word but living lives as a congregation that gives substance to that proclamation. God help us, we pray, for your glory.

Not our reputation, but your glory. We pray this in Jesus' name and for his sake.