Ephesians 4 v.1/16
In the 4th Chapter of Ephesians
Paul writes forcibly on the theme of unity. He saw the Church as the
family of brothers and sisters in Christ, and like earthly families wanting to
meet together in their Father’s house.
When a person joins a society or institution, one
is expected to embrace the aims of that body and to act in a way which will
never bring discredit. Paul always wanted the Church to be one that brought
credit on Christianity. Paul wanted us to act as he understood what
Christ expected from the Church.
When writing this Letter, he is in prison for the
sake of the gospel and is pleading for Christians to live in a manner worthy of
the unity and holiness to which they were called. As such they were to be set apart from the
ways of the world, and to be distinct people of God.
He laid down some basics of the Christian faith,
and the qualities we should have.
Humility, which means setting one’s life beside the
example of Christ Himself, and the humble recognition of the value of other
people.
Meekness, which means the gentility behind a strong
character, and being angry for the right purposes, and not ever seeking to
cause dissension.
Peace, in that we seek to have good relationships
with each other.
Love, which is not the emotional kind, but that of
a caring person, and withholding bitterness.
We are to hold one another up, to sustain and
support each other, and to live according to the way God has spelled out in His
Holy Word, holding to those principles.
Paul laid out the ground rules for
unity. There is one body, Jesus being the head of the
body. There is one Spirit, or we may call it
breath. If there is no breath the body will not function and the
vitalising breath of the Church is the Spirit of Christ. It is the
work of the Spirit which keeps it alive.
There is one hope. We should all be striving
towards the same goal or aim; such is the secret of unity. Oneness is essential
in the Church. Individual presentations may vary, but all
should lead to the one purpose of spreading the good news of Jesus
Christ.
There is one Lord. The ancient creed was ‘Jesus is
Lord’ and it was the dream of God that a day would come when all would confess
Jesus as that Lord, The word ‘Lord’ was understood to indicate a person as
Master, and Christians were united in the possession and service of one
master. Paul had wonderful visions of a world turning to Christ with
one baptism as acceptance of repentance and the confession of Jesus as Lord in
the one faith.
There is one faith. In the Bible faith means the
complete trust and surrender of the Christian to Jesus and the following of his
commands. We are bound together in one because all have made a
common act of complete surrender to the love of Christ. We may well
have a different act of worship, but there has to be one basis common to all.
There is one baptism. Paul saw the world turning to
Christ with one baptism as an act of repentance and the confession of Jesus as
Lord in one faith. In the early Church it was adult baptism because people made
a confession publicly of faith, which was the gateway to the Church. There was
none of the practice of calling a Minister and saying a christening was wanted
and then being told to turn up at a Church at a stated time and date when false
promises would be made and accepted. There was only one way to enter
the Church, the way of public confession of Christ.
There is one God in whom we believe; whilst our God
is King and Judge, he is also Father. He is always in control no
matter what things may look like; guiding, directing, loving, sustaining,
upholding. Yet people still fail to acknowledge God’s constant
presence. To some he is just meant to be a benevolent giver of all
their desires, or someone to blame when things go wrong, although they cannot
spare one hour in the week to worship him.
God gets plenty of criticism, nut gets very little, if any, credit.
In 1984 there was a man created a bishop who denied
the resurrection of our Lord in the most offensive and sneering terms. He was
to be consecrated at York Minster much to the disgust of evangelical
Christians.
On the night of that consecration York Minster went
up in flames. There had been renovation work carried out and a new lightning
conductor had been installed to protect the millions of pounds the renovation
cost. In addition, smoke detectors had been fitted around the
building.
During the night a meteorological map showed the
whole of Yorkshire had been clear, except for a very small cloud
which should have produced only a few drops of rain which hovered over the
Minster. Out of that cloud was a bolt of a million volt lightning without any
thunder, and blew out the entire lightning system and smoke
detectors. The architect and sixteen meteorologists, none of them
known to be believers all said that was God acting.
The Archbishop of York at that time commented that
it not only was not God, it could not have been because God would never do such
a thing; this showed he either did not know his Bible or chose to ignore it.
The resurrection is an integral part of the
Christian gospel, yet here is the second highest Office of the Church mocking
the suggestion God had intervened, as if God was not interested in what was
taking place in His Church.
People ought to be told, and made to realise, we
live in God’s world and He is still in charge and will not be mocked.
In verses 9/10 Jesus refers to Jesus descending and
ascending. He meant Christ came into the world at our earthly level, and then
ascended back to heaven here his presence can be given to so many more people.
Paul lists the gifts Jesus gave for his Church, so
we have a picture of the early Church. The Apostles had authority through put
the Church and their ministry was not confined to one place. There
was never more than twelve, but they began to die out, for to be an Apostle a
man had seen Jesus and had witnessed His resurrection.
This is why Paul had to fight to maintain his claim
to be an Apostle; which he based on having met the risen Jesus on the road
to Damascus.
The prophets were wanderers throughout the Church,
proclaiming the will of God and forth telling his purpose.
The evangelists too were wanderers. They did not
have the authority or prestige of Apostles; they were like itinerant preachers,
or like those who lead modern Crusade meetings.
Finally, there were the pastors, who like the
present-day Ministers. cared for the people of their town or place.
Paul went on to speak of what could be expected of
members of the Church, especially those who held some form of minor office.
Paul emphasised that all members should use their personal gifts for the
benefit of the Church. Every gift we possess is in itself a gift
from God. Each person is unique in oneself, and what we are given is
meant to be use for the benefit of all.
The Church should have perfect unity and all
members have the aim of building the Church to make it strong and have an
influence in society. Factions must not exist, and no disruption caused.
However, when clergy at ALL levels are contesting the Word of God and wanting
to make it more accessible to people outside of the Church. This is a total betrayal of trust and is
shameful. If anyone holding an Office in
the Church cannot abide by that which God specifically laid down, and our Lord
commanded to be accepted, they should consider why they still hold such a
position and resign.
We have people giving false teaching and we should
all be prepared to test what is taught by searching the Scriptures, for false
teaching will destroy the Church. Liberalism has entered the Church in Western
nations with its trendy social issues, and is causing the Church to fall
apart. Confusion is caused as to what a person should believe, as
activists are trying to replace the gospel on moral and social matters to
comply with society’s standards.
Paul finally warned that there will always be t hose who need to be entertained with
novelty. This is so often extended to practices which frankly make
the faith look and sound ridiculous. God wants you to come to a
place where there is stability and you will not be tossed around by every
trendy wind. Too many Christians are unstable because they have had
no solid basis of doctrine and just don’t know what to believe or why. The Church was built on the sure foundation
of the teaching of the Apostles who were told by our Lord to go and teach all
he had commanded.
We are called to worship the Lord with reverence
and awe, and we do this by joyful praise and solid biblical preaching. We tell
people God loves them and wants them all to be saved, for which purpose he sent
Jesus to die on the Cross that their sins may be forgiven, which is the only
way they can be saved and made fit for heaven; and we set examples by living
respectable and decent lives and show ourselves to be worthy men and women
followers of Jesus Christ
When we come together, we are expected to share
those qualities Paul laid out. There should never be disharmony
amongst Christians, nationally or locally.
Anyone who has been in the Church for some time
knows that no Church is perfect; there is usually one person who is a storm
centre, who is not happy until total disruption is caused. The
Church can be a place of joy, but also one of heartache and pain.
I have often been struck by the hypocrisy of weeks
of Christian unity and I stopped attending years ago. I am happy and
always ready to join in worship with any fellow Christians in any
Church. When I first became a Christian, it was with a group of
Christians in Kenya, where the members were from all different
denominations and countries, of various ages and sex never having previously
met, yet all one in Christ Jesus, enjoying and benefiting from being
together.
But now at gatherings in so called Christian unity
weeks, each denomination tends to stay together and there is a refusal by some
to have full Communion with other Christians. If we are really
sincere about unity, we have to be prepared to let it happen without reservation
or conditions; which are not always practiced.
Paul thanked God for the Church, and that is
something we should all do. Our calling is to follow the example
given by Paul so that we stand out in our communities.
Let us all seek to have a Church, even if it just
be our own local one, where the true gospel is taught as God intended; ready to
support each other in times of trouble, ready to welcome strangers who come
into our midst, and who are never reluctant to confess they are Christians.
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