2020-02-06 | Ephesians 4:1-6 | Endeavoring to Keep the Unity
Alright well we’re there in Ephesians chapter number 4. And tonight we are starting a new chapter in the book of Ephesians. Of course on Wednesday nights we are in our Bible study night so we are going verse by verse, chapter by chapter through books of the Bible. And we’ve been going through the book of Ephesians. And we’re not only starting a new chapter but we’re starting a new section in the book. And if you remember, last week I talked to you about the fact that the way that Paul would write his books, and this is true of all of his letters, he would begin in the beginning with kind of dealing with doctrine and theology and then he would kind of shift gears and end with a lot of practical application. And that’s what we’re starting. We’re in the beginning of that chapter. We’re not going to cover the entire chapter. We’re going to cover honestly just a third of this chapter tonight. You may think it’s not practical but it’s really the foundation of kind of practical Christian living that we have to start with.
And I want you to notice that there is a theme in this portion of Scripture. And I want to point it out to you just by way of introduction. You’re there in Ephesians 4. Look at verse 1. The Bible says “I therefore, the prisoner of the Lord, beseech you that ye walk worthy of the vocation wherewith ye are called, 2 With all lowliness and meekness, with longsuffering, forbearing one another in love;” And I want you to notice that in verse two is where he begins this idea. Because in the previous chapters, Paul has not told us to do anything. In fact, with Ephesians Chapters 1-3, it’s been all about what God has done for us. Now he’s going to begin to tell us what to do and really verse 2 is where he starts that. He’s telling us with all lowlines and meekness, with long-suffering, forbearing one another. And then he says this in verse three, and this is really the theme of what he’s talking about, he says “3 Endeavouring to keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace.”. And there is this theme in this section of Scripture that has to do with unity and it has to do with endeavoring to keep the unity. And notice he uses that word peace of the Spirit.
“in the bond of peace”. Now why does it say peace? Because in order to have unity, you must have peace.
Look at verse number 4. He says “4 There is one body,” emphasizing unity. “and one Spirit,” emphasizing unity. “even as ye are called in one hope of your calling;” emphasizing unity in the body of Christ and unity by the Holy Spirit of God and unity by the hope by which we are called. Notice verse 5 “5 One Lord, one faith, one baptism,”. All of it emphasizing unity. Verse six “6 One God and Father of all, who is above all, and through all, and in you all.”. And in fact, if you skip down to verse number thirteen, and we’re going to come back and break down these verses here in a minute, but notice verse 13. He says “13 Till we all come in the unity of the faith,”. And I want you to notice that there is this theme in this chapter of unity. But specifically there is this theme of endeavoring to keep the unity.
Look at verse 3 again “3 Endeavouring to keep the unity”. That word endeavoring means to try hard to achieve something. It means to put in energy. It means to put in effort behind something. And here’s what Paul is saying and this is what we’re going to deal with tonight. He talks about the fact that we need to try hard, that we need to put effort, that we need to put energy behind this idea of keeping unity. And here’s why he says that, the primary application is within the church. And I’m going to give you other applications tonight. But here’s why you need to understand that Paul is teaching this. And by the way, as you read the letters of Paul, you’ll find that this is a common theme in Paul’s writings. If you read Philippians, if you read Colossians, and we’re going to turn to several of those passages tonight, he often emphasizes this idea of unity. And here’s why he does it. Because our sin nature makes it difficult for us to have unity.
The fact that we are still in our flesh and we’re still dealing with and struggling with sin, that means that unity will not happen naturally. Unity is not something that is going to just happen all on its own. And you know this intuitively already especially if you’ve ever had children. If you have young children, you know that you put a bunch of little kids together and their flesh just by nature, they’re not going to have unity. We have 4 little girls and 2 boys, 6 kids overall. You have 4 little girls and you give them four little dolls and they all want to fight about the one doll. And it’s like, it’s the same doll. We bought the same doll four times. But they want to fight over a specific one. You know why is it that way? Because our sin nature makes it so that we cannot have unity. And Paul talks about the fact that we must endeavor, that we must put energy and effort to have unity.
And by the way, because the church is an assembly of people, because the church is a congregation, because the church is a called-out assembly of individuals and we are all still sinners, you’re going to have problems. When you unite people, when you bring people together, there’s going to be friction. When you bring people together, there’s going to be issues. Wherever and whenever you have people together, you will have friction. You’ll have problems. And for this reason, we must put effort into having unity. And in this passage, the Apostle Paul tells us how.
Now I want you to just break this down for you. And there’s really two major ideas of two major points and then some sub points that I’ll give you. But the first point is this, in order to keep unity we must walk in unity. In order to keep unity we must walk in unity. And when he uses this word “walk”, what he means is our actions, the way we live our lives. We must live our lives in a way that is walking in the direction or walking with the purpose of having unity. And really what he’s saying is this, that you and I must realize that we’ve been called to walk in unity. And we must walk worthy of that unity.
Look at verse 1 “I therefore, the prisoner of the Lord,”. And of course we know that Paul is writing this letter from prison and he’s talking about the fact that he’s the prisoner of the Lord. He says “beseech you”. That word beseech means I’m pleading with you, I’m begging you, I’m asking you very earnestly. He says “beseech you that ye walk worthy of the vocation wherewith ye are called,”. Now the word vocation is a word that means calling. And here’s what he says. He says I want you to walk worthy of the vocation wherewith you’re called. He said I want you to walk worthy of your calling. And you say, well what calling is that Paul? And of course we could say there’s lots of things that we’ve been called to do. But one thing that maybe you don’t think about that when you got saved, when you became a Christian, and especially when you began to walk with the Lord and begin to be a disciple, one thing that you were called to do is to walk in unity.
Let me just begin by talking about the call for unity and the importance of unity. Why is unity important? Why would Paul spend several verses talking about unity here in Ephesians? And he talks about it in other books and other epistles to other churches. What’s the big deal about unity? Why do we need to walk worthy of unity? Why do we need to walk worthy of the calling? You say Pastor, “I’ve been called to be in unity with other believers?”. John 17. I want you to notice verse 9. I’ve showed you this passage before. This is of course the Lord Jesus Christ praying before his death, burial, and resurrection. This is often referred to as his high priestly prayer. I like to call it the real Lord’s Prayer. Because what we normally call the Lord’s Prayer is him teaching his disciples to pray. Here we’re actually listening in to the Lord Jesus Christ pray. And I want you to notice what he prays about. There are several things he prays about and lots of things we can learn.
Notice verse 9. He says “9 I pray for them: I pray not for the world, but for them which thou hast given me; for they are thine. 10 And all mine are thine, and thine are mine; and I am glorified in them. 11 And now I am no more in the world, but these are in the world, and I come to thee. Holy Father, keep through thine own name those whom thou hast given me,”. And I want you to notice the next few things that he says. He says “that they may be one, as we are.”. Now I want you to notice that one of the prayers that Jesus had for you and for me. I mean he’s praying here in the Garden of Gethsemane. And he also prays for those who will believe. He’s praying for all believers, not just those that are his contemporaries but those that will come in the future. He’s literally praying for us in this passage. And one of the things that he prays is that we would be one, that we would be united, that there would be unity. He says I pray for the believers in the future that they would have unity. He says as we are, in the same way that the father and the Son had unity, he said I want them to have unity.
Go to Mark Chapter 3. And again you might ask this question and say, “Am I really interested in learning about unity?”. Because here’s what I know. If you preach a sermon on unity, it’s probably not the sermon you’re going to like. You’re here so you’re stuck just kind of with whatever is preached on Wednesday night. But if you weren’t here and you’re watching online, it’s like “Psychopaths Reprobates or a sermon on unity”. You’re probably going to hit Psychopaths Reprobates. And that’s fine. But here’s the thing, unity is important. You say why? Well first of all because Jesus calls you and I to live in unity. Because Jesus prayed that you and I would have unity. I mean that should make it important enough. But there’s a reason why Jesus calls you and calls me and prays for us to live in unity. And it’s this reason, that if we do not live in unity we will fail.
Mark 3:24 “24 And if a kingdom be divided against itself, that kingdom cannot stand.”. He says “25 And if a house be divided against itself, that house cannot stand.”. And Jesus taught those principles here in Mark 3. He says look, you must live in unity because you will fall, you will not succeed. Divided, you will not win in life. And here’s the truth, a church cannot survive while living in disunity. And you say well I don’t care about that. Okay. Well do you care about your marriage? It can’t survive while living in disunity. Your parenting? It cannot survive, you will fail as a parent, you will fail in raising your children when your house is divided and there’s no unity. You will fail in your marriage. You’ll fail at work, whether you’re the boss or the manager or an employee. You say what about our nation divided against itself? It cannot stand. A kingdom divided against itself cannot stand. A house divided against itself cannot stand. A church divided against itself cannot stand. And here’s what he says, the key to success is unity. Why? And we’ve talked about it on Sunday mornings and I feel like I’m just kind of repeating myself sometimes. But it’s what God has given us or where the Lord is leading us. So he must just want us to know it.
Because what we learned on Sunday morning was this, that your success is based on the relationships you have with people. Winning in life will not come based on the achievement or the accumulation of positions or possessions. It’ll come with how you invest in your life in other people. So if winning or success comes with how I invested myself into others, and then I live my life divided from others, Jesus says a kingdom divided against itself cannot stand. A house divided against itself, it cannot stand. He says I’ve called you to unity because I’ve called you to live in community and I need you to live united. So Paul would say this, he said you must walk in unity. And then he gives us this list. And if you would, go back to Ephesians 4 and we’re going to spend a little bit of time just on this one verse.
He says look, you need to realize that you’ve been called to walk worthy of unity. He says I beseech you that ye walk worthy of the vocation wherewith ye are called. And then he begins to explain to us what that looks like. What does it look like to walk worthy of unity? What are the characteristics of unity? And again the primary application in this passage is in the church world. But all of this will apply in your marriage, with your children, at work. All of this will apply in any area of life where you are interacting with other human beings. He says look, if you want to live united, if you want to live in unity, then there are some characteristics, some things you are going to have to do. Notice verse 2. He says this and this is our first characteristic. He says, “2 With all lowliness”. The word lowly means a humble attitude, a humble behavior or a humble spirit.
He says look, you want to live in unity here at Verity Baptist Church with your fellow church members. You want to live in unity with your husband or with your wife. Are you feeling disconnected or divided from your children? You want to restore that and live in unity. Are you having this unity at work are you having this unity with another relationship? He says look, there are some characteristics to walking in unity. You say what are they? Paul would say, I’m glad you asked. Number 2, lowliness. Philippians chapter 2 look at verse 1. He says “If there be therefore any consolation in Christ, if any comfort of love, “. Now what you notice, because I told you that this is a common theme for the Apostle Paul. And here in Philippians 2 we’re going to see this theme again of unity. Notice what he says “if any fellowship”. What is that unity? Because you can’t fellowship with someone if you’re not in unity with them. You can’t fellowship with someone if you’re divided from them, if you’re quarreling with them, if you’re arguing with them, if you’re fighting with them. He says look, “if any fellowship of the Spirit, if any bowels and mercies, 2 Fulfil ye my joy, that ye be likeminded, having the same love, being of one accord, of one mind.”. What is he talking about? Unity.
Now look, he’s talking about unity. He says I want you to be in fellowship. I want you be like-minded. He said I want you to be thinking in a unified way. I want you to be loving in a unified way. I want you to be striving in one accord, in a unified way. I want you to have one mind, one spirit, one love, one purpose. Notice verse three, then he says this “3 Let nothing be done through strife or vainglory;”. Look, you can’t live in unity while you’re fighting with each other, while you’re striving with each other. Well some of you are interested in making sure you get the vainglory. You say “I didn’t get the credit, I didn’t get the attention, I want the spotlight, I want this and I want that.”. Here’s what he says, you cannot have unity. He says let nothing be done through strife or vainglory. And then he said, well how do we avoid that? Notice, “but in lowliness of mind”. Why? Because lowliness of mind, humility is the only way that you and I can live in unity. You say why? Because the only way that you and I can live in unity is that we learn to do the next part.
Verse 3 “let each esteem other better than themselves.”. Want to have a good marriage? Let each esteem other better than themselves. You want to get along with your coworkers? Learn to esteem others better than yourselves. You want to have friends here at church? Learn to esteem others better than yourself. You say yeah but I have a problem with esteeming others better than myself. Yeah because it is pride. It is pride that causes us to fight. In fact, in Proverbs 13:10 the Bible says “only by pride cometh contention” And whenever there’s contention, whenever there’s fighting, whenever there’s arguing, whenever there’s two people going at it, just know this, at least one and probably both parties are filled with pride. You say oh I don’t like that or I don’t think I agree with that. Then you don’t agree with the Bible. Because the Bible says only by pride coming contention. Whenever there’s contention it is because pride is involved. Whenever there’s contention it is because arrogance is involved.
Whenever there’s contention it is because people think “I’m better than you”. You say, well I’ve never said that. But you say things like, I don’t deserve this or you shouldn’t do that to me. Okay, you must think very highly of yourself. If you want unity, let each learn to esteem other better than themselves. He says look, you got to walk in unity. You say how do I do that? You do it in lowliness. And what does that really mean? Here’s what it means, lowliness is the opposite of arrogance. You will never have healthy relationships with other people in your life while you live in arrogancy, in pride, in being puffed up in esteeming yourself better than everyone else. Paul says this, you need unity. In fact, Jesus called you to unity and you cannot survive without it. Because the house divided against itself cannot stand. And then we would say okay Paul, what do we do? And he says step one, lowliness. You say I don’t know about that. He said well you better buckle up because it gets worse from here. Then he says there’s another step.
Go back to Ephesians 4:2. He says “2 With all lowliness”. He says “with all lowliness”. What does that mean? It means that each esteem other better than themselves. That means that you’ve got to take a humility pill. That means that you’ve got to maybe realize, maybe you’re not as big and as bad and you don’t deserve as much as you think you do. He says with all lowliness. Then he says this “and meekness” What does the word meek mean? It means to be gentle and kind. Matthew 11:29 Jesus said this, “29 Take my yoke upon you, and learn of me; for I am meek and lowly in heart:”. It’s interesting how he connects those two “in heart: and ye shall find rest unto your souls.”. You know what, Jesus said I’m meek and I’m lowly. Paul says you want to walk in unity? You got to walk in lowliness and meekness.
2 Corinthians 10:1, notice what Paul said to the Church of Corinth. And this was a messed-up Church. They had all sorts of carnal Christians, fighting and arguing. 2 Corinthians 10:1, the Bible says “Now I Paul myself beseech you by the meekness and gentleness of Christ,”. What does it mean to be meek? To be gentle. In fact Paul used the words interchangeably to describe. He said I’m going to beseech you by the meekness and gentleness of Christ Jesus. He said I am meek and lowly. You say I want to have relationships that are in unity. I want to be in the unity with my fellow believers. I want to be in unity with my spouse. I want to be in unity with the rest of the members of my family. You say how do I do it? How do I get everybody on board, on the same page? Maybe you’re wondering about your kids. You say that your kids don’t seem like they’re that interested, they don’t seem like they’re that involved in the things of God. How do I get everybody connected and involved at work? Everybody’s kind of doing their own thing, nobody’s really connected, there’s no purpose. We’re not well connected together. How do we fix that? Paul would say well number one work at being lowly and then number two he said work at being gentle. He said with all lowliness and meekness.
Go to Colossians. What’s the opposite of gentle? Harsh. What’s the opposite of gentle? Harsh. If we want to put it into how we treat people, rude and angry and mean. Look, you do what you want with it. Your marriage cannot survive while you are divided. A house divided against itself cannot stand. You will fail at raising your children if you are not in unity with them. A house divided against itself cannot stand. This church will fail if we cannot maintain unity amongst the members. And God says how do you do it? Well number one, you got to be lowly. You’ve got to esteem others better than yourself. Not esteem yourself better than others. And then number two, he says you got to be meek, you got to be gentle. You say what does that look like? It looks like this, not being harsh.
Colossians 3:19 “19 Husbands, love your wives,”. And then he says “and be not bitter against them.”. What’s he saying? Don’t be harsh with your wife. Don’t be harsh with your spouse. And look, here’s the thing, you can apply it either way. He’s talking to the husband’s here but wives don’t be harsh with your husbands. You say “Well she makes me so mad and so upset and I just get so angry and I just have a short temper and I just speak how it is.”. You say “I just tell the truth”. No, you’re just rude. You don’t have to say everything that comes into your brain. We don’t need to hear everything that comes into yours, out of your sinful heart. You say this is how you are. Okay, go ahead and fail at marriage. You sit there and you’re wondering why you don’t have any friends in church. Maybe because you’re harsh. If you want to live in unity, Paul would say that you need to be meek, you need to be gentle. Don’t be bitter against your spouse. Love your spouse.
Look at verse 21 “21 Fathers, provoke not your children to anger, lest they be discouraged.”. You say why can’t I get my kids on the same page with me? Maybe because you’re harsh. Maybe because you’re provoking them to anger. Maybe because we all get defensive when people are rude and mean to us. Maybe because you actually catch more bees with honey, right? Ephesians 6:4 “4 And, ye fathers, provoke not your children to wrath: but bring them up in the nurture and admonition of the Lord.”. And again, he’s talking to fathers here. This applies to mothers as well. Now I think he’s talking about fathers because fathers have a problem with this. Dads generally have a problem with just having a short fuse and a short temper and just getting impatient and upset. And look, I’m confessing faults one to another. I’m telling you that I struggle with this. I’m not standing up here telling you that I am Mr. Rogers at home and that I’m just this wonderful dad who never gets upset about anything. I preach these sermons and write these sermons. And something I have to watch myself with my kids. But let me tell you something, you want to lose the heart of your children? Be harsh. You want to lose the respect of your children? Be harsh. You want to lose the influence that you have on your children? Be harsh. You want to lose influence? Paul says hey, provoke not your children to wrath.
How about at work? Ephesians 6:9. “9 And, ye masters,” He’s saying you’re the boss, you’re the business owner, you’re the employer, you’re the manager. “masters do the same things unto them, forbearing threatening:”. He said don’t have this relationship with your employees where you’re just constantly threatening them. “You show up late one more time and see what happens”. He says look, forbearing threatening. Because you cannot live in unity with another individual while you’re being harsh to them, while you’re being bitter towards them, while you’re being threatening towards them, while you’re having anger and wrath, while you’re being hostile. And Paul would say this, you have been called to live as a Christian. How do I do it? You start with lowliness. I’m not as high as I like to think I am sometimes. And then esteem others better than myself.
What next? Paul would say try meekness. What does that mean? To be gentle. And by the way, Jesus said I am meek and gentle. When you live like this, you live like Christ. You say “I’m just like Jesus because I go soul-winning every Saturday”. I’m all for you going soulwinning Saturday. I think you ought to go soul-winning every week. And I preach about you going soul-winning every week. But you know where true Christianity comes is not with the outward actions but with the inward attitude. Meekness, lowliness. And by the way, the Bible says “the servant of the Lord must not strive but be gentle unto all men, apt to teach, patient.”. And in every area of life; in relationships we need to be gentle, meek.
Go back to Ephesians 4. Let me give you the third step. Ephesians 4:2 “2 With all lowliness and meekness, with longsuffering,”. He says long-suffering. What does that mean? Long-suffering means enduring trouble. I like to define it this way, putting up with something bad for a long time. I mean that’s what the word looks like. The word suffering means allow but in our modern way, suffering is like I’m going through a heartache, a trial. And Paul says look, you need to be long-suffering. You want to live in unity with others then you got to be long-suffering. He says endure. It means enduring trouble. Putting up with something bad for a long time.
The Bible says this and I just want to point this out to you. Because we saw lowliness and we saw that Jesus was lowly. We saw meekness and we saw that Jesus was meek. We see the word long-suffering and here’s a famous verse with that word. 2nd Peter 3:9 “9 The Lord is not slack concerning his promise, as some men count slackness; but is longsuffering to us-ward, not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance.”. You know what Paul is teaching us? He’s teaching us to be Christ-like. To be like God. To be long-suffering. Aren’t you thankful God is long-suffering with you? With all the mistakes I’ve made and all those sins I’ve done and all of the dumbest things in my life, God just suffers along with me. And then Paul says look, you want to live united with others? You want to live in unity? He said you need lowliness, you need meekness, you need long-suffering.
After longsuffering, what is next? Ephesians 4:2 “2 With all lowliness and meekness, with longsuffering,”. He says this “forbearing one another in love;”. What does that mean? It just means to endure. It just means to endure it. The idea is that you’ve got a burden and you’re kind of holding that burden off, you’re just enduring with it. I often tell people to just weather the storm. “Oh my marriage”. Weather the storm. “Oh my kid”. Weather the storm. “I’m having these financial issues”. Weather the storm. What does that mean? It means forbearing.
I just want to show you that this is a big deal. You say, unity is no big deal. This is a big deal. It’s a big deal to God. It’s a big deal to Paul. And by the way, let me just tell you this, if there’s one thing that you want to just have me get into your personal bubble and your personal space then mess with unity at Verity Baptist Church and you’ll see me get very personal. I have a low tolerance when it comes to gossiping and backbiting and cliques and people fighting. I have a low tolerance with it. Because I know how devastating it is to a church to not live in unity. Because the house divided against itself cannot stand. And we have to protect unity. And Paul says look, this is important. I wrote about it in Ephesians. I wrote about it in Philippians.
Notice Colossians 3:12 “12 Put on therefore, as the elect of God, holy and beloved, bowels”. And he’s using this idea. He’s telling you to put on a coat. He’s going to use the same idea in Ephesians later on. We’ll look at it in a different sermon. But he says this,
“bowels of mercies”. Mercy, that’s unity. “kindness”. Kind, that’s unity. I mean doesn’t it sound similar? Mercy, kindness. Kind of like meekness, lowliness, humbleness of mind. You see how he just emphasizes this in all his letters. He says you need to put on “bowels of mercies, kindness, humbleness of mind, meekness, longsuffering; 13 Forbearing one another,”. And then he says this “and forgiving one another,”. Forgiving one another. Let me tell you something. And Brother Matt just preached a great sermon on forgiveness. And I mean let me just say something. If you are living your life withholding forgiveness from someone, you will fail in life. You say “I’ll just never forgive them for what they did to me.”. You must think very highly of yourself. You got to go back to lowliness. “13 Forbearing one another, and forgiving one another, if any man have a quarrel against any: even as Christ forgave you, so also do ye.”. What he’s saying is if you’re going to succeed in life, he’s telling the church at Ephesus, if this church is going to succeed, you got to walk worthy of your vocation. What vocation is it? Unity. How do we do it? Lowliness, meekness, longsuffering, forbearing.
Go back to Ephesians chapter 4. He has these two main ideas. And the first one is having to do with our walk, which is our actions. How we live our lives. We must live our lives in unity. Lowliness, esteeming others better than ourselves. Meekness, being gentle, not harsh, long-suffering, putting up with it for a long time. Weathering the storm, forbearing. Just kind of carrying that burden and staying with it and sticking with it. Paul would say this, you must walk in unity. But then he gives a second idea. And here’s the second point for tonight and we’ll be done soon. He says not only must you walk in unity in order to keep unity, but then he would say point number two is this, to keep unity. You must worship in unity. He says you must walk in unity but then he also says you must worship in unity.
Ephesians 4:3 “3 Endeavouring to keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace.”. Then he says this, and none of these things have to do with actions, they have to do with things that we believe, things that we put our faith in. He says “4 There is one body,”. There’s 1 body of Christ, 1 body that we’re put into our salvation. It’s Christ. He says “and one Spirit,”. There’s 1 Holy Spirit of God. “even as ye are called in one hope of your calling;”. There’s only one hope. It’s the Lord Jesus Christ. “5 One Lord,”. “one faith,”. People say that any faith will lead you to heaven. They say that they follow their faith and Muslims follow their faith and the Hindus follow. No, there’s one faith. Jesus said “I am the way, the truth and the life, no man cometh unto the Father but by me.”. He says “5 One Lord, one faith, one baptism, 6 One God and Father of all, who is above all, and through all, and in you all.”.
And here’s what he said. Don’t miss it. When he says God is above all, meaning you think real highly of yourself right? Don’t forget that God is above you. Then he says through all. You say I don’t need anybody, I’m just a lone ranger. Well he says he’s through all of us. He wants us connected. Then he says “in you all”. Look, do you realize that when you quarrel and fight, when you argue and complain, when you criticize and gossip against another believer in Christ, you’re gossiping against an individual that Jesus died for? That the Holy Spirit indwells. That God has sealed and secured and redeemed. And he says look, there’s one body, one spirit, one hope, one Lord, one faith, one baptism, one God and Father. He’s the father of all. We’re one big family. “Who is above all and through all and in you all”. Here’s what he’s saying. He’s saying what unites us is what we believe. It’s our faith. It’s God.
Revelation 5:9, this is at the throne room of God. “9 And they sung a new song, saying, Thou art worthy to take the book, and to open the seals thereof:”. They’re talking to Jesus. “for thou wast slain, and hast redeemed us to God by thy blood out of every kindred, and tongue, and people, and nation;”. Have you ever stopped to think about the fact that believers from diverse countries, languages, cultures, economic classes, backgrounds, we can all unite over one thing, the Lord Jesus Christ? And Paul would say you need to walk worthy of unity but you must worship in unity. Here’s what he’s saying. We must unite over what we believe. Ephesians 4:13 “13 Till we all come in the unity of the faith, and of the knowledge of the Son of God, unto a perfect man, unto the measure of the stature of the fulness of Christ:”. And here’s what he’s saying. We must unite over what we believe.
Go to Philippians 1. Here’s what it comes down to. We must walk in unity, we must worship in unity. We have to unite over what we believe. What unites us is what we believe. We need to know what we believe. We must unite in doctrine. Philippians 1:27, notice what the Bible says. Philippians 1:27 “27 Only let your conversation be as it becometh the gospel of Christ: that whether I come and see you, or else be absent, I may hear of your affairs,”. Notice the wording “that ye stand fast in one spirit, with one mind striving together”. How do we do it? “for the faith of the gospel;”. How do we do it? Based on what we believe.
Acts 2:42 “42 And they continued stedfastly in the apostles’ doctrine and fellowship, and in breaking of bread, and in prayers.”. These are all things that we as a church need to do if we’re going to continue. We need to have fellowship. By the way, that’s why we do things like the married couples’ banquet, baby showers. Don’t skip stuff like that. You say “I’ve got something better to do on Friday.”. Here’s why we do that. Because you need it and because I need it. Because we fellowship together. We spend time together. God put us in community together. God wants you to be in community with other believers. You need to go to those events so you can have fun, meet other people, fellowship. Because look, you can only continue if you continue in fellowship. And you can only continue in breaking of bread again with fellowship. And in prayer and all that. But notice, he says “42 And they continued stedfastly in the apostles’ doctrine”. Notice how it’s the first thing on the list. So we unite over doctrine, we unite over what we believe. We continue steadfastly in the Apostles doctrine.
Go to Romans 16:17. The Bible says “17 Now I beseech you, brethren, mark them which cause divisions and offences contrary to the doctrine which ye have learned; and avoid them.”. We unite over what we believe but we also separate over what we believe. Look, we can’t have fellowship with people who believe different things than we do. We’re not going to join up in fellowship with people who have a false gospel or a false Bible. We’re not saying that other churches that are different in doctrines that are maybe not a major doctor. Now all doctrine is major but if it’s not something that’s going to send somebody to hell or a damnable heresy. Look, we understand that. But at the same time, there comes a time when we got to separate. Now look, we’ll let people come in here and be new and kind of check us out and be guests. We’ll let them come in here just not knowing exactly what they believe and what they think. “I’m not sure what I think about the King James Bible. I’m not sure what I think about eternal security. And I’m not sure what I think about that doctrine or music.”. That’s fine.
But eventually you either get on board or get out. We don’t allow people to come in here and say “Let me give you all the reasons why don’t I believe the King James Bible is the word of God”. What are you doing here? We need unity. They give me reasons why they doubt eternal security. They need to go find a church where you can doubt eternal security with them. Because we’re all sure, we’re all secure. We must unite over doctrine and we must separate over doctrine. Ephesians 4:13 “13 Till we all come in the unity of the faith,”. Now you can sit there and say I don’t need unity, I don’t need this sermon, I can be proud and arrogant and mean and rude and harsh and I can do all that and my marriage will be fine and my kids will be fine and everything will be fine. Just know this, Jesus said a house divided against itself cannot stand. And a church divided against itself cannot stand. A kingdom divided against itself cannot stand. A workplace. Apply it however you want to apply it. You’ll fail if you don’t endeavor, put energy, put effort behind unity. How do I do it? Lowliness, meekness, long-suffering, forbearing.
Let’s pray.