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Ephesians chapter 4, verse one.
I therefore, the prisoner of the Lord, beseech you that you walk worthy of the vocation wherewith ye are called.
Willingness and meekness with long-suffering, forbearing one another in love, endeavoring to keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace. There is one body and one spirit, even as your called in one hope of your calling. 1 Lord.
One faith, one baptism, one God and Father of all, who is above all and through all and in you all.
But unto everyone of us is given grace, according to the measure of the gift of Christ. Wherefore he saith, when he ascended up on high, He led captivity captive, and gave gifts unto men. Now that he ascended, what is it but that He also descended first into the lower parts of the earth? He that descended is the same also that ascended up far above all heavens, that he might feel all things.
And he gave some apostles and some prophets, and some evangelists, and some pastors and teachers, for the perfecting of the Saints, for the work of the ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ.
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 fullness of Christ, that we henceforth be no more children tossed to and fro, and carried about with every wind of doctrine.
By the sleight of men and cunning craftiness, whereby they lie in wait to deceive. But speaking the truth in love, may grow up into Him in all things, which is the head. Even Christ, from whom the whole body fitly joined together and compacted by that which every joint supplieth, according to the effectual working in the measure of every part, make it increase of the body onto the edifying of itself in love.
To say that my part of my exercise is taking up this portion is that there seems to be a generation coming up that doesn't understand why we're different than other groups.
We're all in the body of Christ together. There are dear believers here and there and scattered throughout Christendom.
But God has in His sovereignty chosen that in almost 200 years ago now, there was a new understanding given. Not a new understanding, but the truth was recovered, as we have perhaps often heard.
And I think it would be helpful for the young and for all of us to go over these things again to remind ourselves of why we're even here this weekend. Why is it that we're not in the Baptist Church down the road or going somewhere else? There's a reason.
Why that is so a couple of years ago we were in Saint Louis at the conference and, uh, Doug Buchanan had an address and he spoke at the beginning of, uh, coming to a little town in Missouri called Fenton. And he said, you know, I looked in the Atlas and there were maybe 1400 little towns in Missouri. He said, why would I come to Fenton?
And then he proceeded to tell us why. It was because his brethren were there gathered to the precious name of the Lord Jesus, and they invited him to a conference.
And so he would come there, because there were his dear brethren that valued these truths that God graciously recovered in 1827.
So just to have that as a little bit of a backdrop, it's been a concern to me. We've we've traveled a fair amount among the Saints and.
And there seem to be a lot that are, uh, no longer with us. And there have been many that have said that we don't hear these things as much as we used to.
Those of us that are a little older remember in conferences when we would have Albert Hayhoe and Gordon Hayhoe and CD Anderson and Chapter Brown and brother Lundeen.
And if you went to a conference, you could almost always count on something being brought up about the ground of gathering and why we are where we are. Because it wasn't the intent of the early brethren to set up another church that had a little more truth. That's not why the gathered Saints are here. It's because we feel that we see from the pages of Scripture that there is one body and there everyone should be gathered on that ground.
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And they couldn't find any place where that was in existence. So they felt it of the Lord to start breaking bread. And that was the beginning. And there are many here that can help us with all these thoughts, but I just wanted to explain sort of what my exercise was in suggesting this portion because I think it's very important.
Call He gives the doctrine first. And so this epistle is divided into two parts. You have the 1St 3 chapters that give us the Christian doctrine of the Christian teaching doctrine is really an old English word. It means teaching. And so he gives us the teaching that the church and those that are members of the church and members of the body of Christ are heavenly in character. And so remember the Lord Jesus introduced his disciples to the large.
Upper room. Why was it an upper room? It was separated from this world and it was not a part of the world system. It was entirely distinct from Judaism. And so Paul brings out the practical application of the truth that he is given to the Saints in the first three chapters. He gives the practical results of that teaching in the next 3 chapters. And so that's why the first verse says I therefore the prisoner of the Lord.
Beseech you that you walk worthy of the vocation of the calling wherewith ye are called. And so there's the truth of God in connection with the heavenly character and the heavenly calling of the church is not a theoretical thing. It's actual. You and I are heavenly in character. We're heavenly citizens. We don't belong to this world at all. And so as a result, then he gives this teaching from chapter 4 down to chapter 6 might just, uh.
Uh, show that, uh, in Acts chapter one, just to corroborate what you were saying, brother.
Well, in connection with the upper room, we'll just read a couple of verses in connection with the upper room in Acts chapter one it says in verse 13, and this was before the church was formed when they were come in they went up into it should say the upper room were abode both Peter and James and so on gives the number of them as about 120. And then in chapter two of the book of the Acts.
When the day of Pentecost was fully come, they were all with one accord in one place, and suddenly there came a sound from heaven, as of a rushing mighty wind, and it filled all the house where they were sitting. And there appeared unto them cloven tongues, like as a fire, and it sat upon each of them, and they were all filled with the Holy Ghost. And so the Church was formed on that day, the day of Pentecost, 50 days after the death and resurrection of the Lord Jesus.
40 days after his death and resurrection, he ascended into heaven. 10 days later they were, I believe, in the same upper room and the church was formed and it was, as I say, a heavenly Organism. It's a living Organism and it's where members of the body of Christ and we don't belong to this world. And so that's partly why he brings this in as we're meet in a large upper room.
And it was in Luke chapter 22, it was furnished with everything that the Spirit of God would desire to give us. It was furnished. And so the Lord Jesus, when he arose on high, he sent the Spirit and so were indwelled with the Spirit of God. And it's the Spirit of God that has the liberty and the right to direct the ministry among his people and to direct according to the order of things among the people of God. So what we have is those that are Christians gathered to the name of the Lord Jesus.
By the Spirit of God is normal Christianity at the beginning of the church period. Our brethren in the old times met just like we're meeting today and they their meetings were led by the Spirit of God and so we can read we could read in the book of the Acts in several occasions when that took place, but this is a little bit of a backdrop. What we're going to read what we have read here in Ephesians now is the practical teaching since we are.
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Heavenly citizens, since we are members of the body of Christ, this is how we should conduct ourselves.
Picture form can be seen in the book of Joshua.
If you turn, just for a minute, to the first chapter of Joshua.
And, uh, just read one book.
And God is good luck.
I've passed through the hall and command, the people say.
Perubictual.
Or within three days ye shall Passover this Jordan to possess the land with the Lord. Your God giveth you to possess it.
There's two different things that are brought before us in this verse.
God gives the land and.
And the responsibility of the children of Israel to possess it.
If somebody gave you 100 acres of land.
Beautiful.
Fair distance from where you live.
And was given to you in title of it was given to you.
Wouldn't you want to go and to see what it was like?
Wouldn't you want to walk and suppose it was the best property around?
Wouldn't you want to?
Well, God gave the land of Canaan land flowing with milk and honey to the children of Israel.
And he said I don't only want to give it to you.
But I want you to enjoy it.
So in the book of Ephesians.
When we open the book, what do we find?
Tells us about Paul, the prisoner of the Lord. Beseech you that ye walk worthy of the vocation wherewith ye are called.
What does he mean by that verse? Call this year walk worthy of the vocation.
I'll tell you a little story.
They're trying to go too far straight here in connection with this verse. In the 1960s, I was in the House of Mr. and Mrs. Finlayder and, uh, in, uh, London ON.
And we were talking about this verse and I said, I don't know how I'm supposed to walk worthy of being a a businessman, being a plumber, being a Carpenter, that sort of thing.
Missus Finn later of the very gracious Lady.
Said Well, David, it's not really the, uh, the thought of walking, being a Carpenter.
It's walking worthy of the calling that God has called us to, that we no longer belong to this world.
And we belong to an ascended Christ.
We are a heavenly people walking on the earth.
And so this first verse, Paul in the first three chapters is bringing before us of how we've been taken and we have made heavenly citizens. We're living on the earth.
But were made heavenly city citizens.
And knowing that truth, I am to walk in the goodness of it.
I don't know how you find things yourself, but.
Sometimes after meeting on Sunday morning, we go out to the Swiss chalet to have lunch together.
And, uh, might have quite a few come for lunch together.
Do you know the biggest change I noticed from walking out of meeting and going to have dinner to the Swiss chalet for lunch?
Its deep atmosphere.
It's the atmosphere. I've just been in the presence of the Lord to thank him for dying for me to see.
Sit at the table there and I go, and there's all these worldly people that are around and try to conduct myself to walk worthy of the vocation wherewith I'm called. It's a wonderful thing to be able to go to break bread in fellowship with our brethren at the Lord's table. And now my conduct is brought before me that I should, should walk worthy of the position that I've been brought into.
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And that's, uh, that's 24/7.
24 hours a day, seven days a week.
So Paul here in the opening here, where is he? He's in prison. Why is he there?
Because the world doesn't want the truth.
And they shut him up. The devil shut him up and put him in prison and.
So from the voice of the prison, we have this ministry to us today.
After three.
Verse two to the end of the parentheses, Chapter 3.
Oh has been taken out in chapter 2 That.
In the death of the Lord he had broken down the middle wall that separated you and Gentile. Now of both he had formed one new entity, the Church of God, formed of Jew and Gentiles. A new man, a new thing, and.
That, uh, we are part of that and we're the habitation of, uh, God by the Spirit. And as a brother Dave brought out, it was really for the truth that Paul brought out in chapter 2, that he was a prisoner. And just to show that, let's look at Acts and, uh, chapter 22.
Where Paul is speaking, uh, in Jerusalem to the Jews, and he recounts.
To them the grace of God and uh.
The, uh, his conversion.
And, uh, the Lord Jesus, uh.
Being in glory as the one who had saved his soul, and now had given him a Commission in verse 21 Says in he that is the Lord Jesus Christ. And glory said unto me, all depart, for I will send thee far hands unto the Gentiles. And they gave him audience unto this word, and then lifted up their voices, and said away with such a fellow from the earth, where it is not fit to eat, should live.
And he was taken prisoner from that point on.
And so he really was a prisoner for the truth that.
Not just that the Lord Jesus was Savior of sinners.
But that he had broken down that middle wall of partition. The Jews couldn't bear to hear that.
And, uh, it affected their pride because they saw themselves as a separated, distinct people from all the nations and the earth was special privileges. And it really, uh, destroyed that they had a fleshly pride in those things and they couldn't bear that truth. But there's something more behind it. That was Satan because, you know, the Son of God, the perfect revelation of grace and truth, God manifests in flesh, came into this world.
And took manhood into union with himself, walked here as a perfect, spotless man, and he bound the strongman Satan. He spoiled his goods. He was delivering his prisoners. And you know Satan as he would have looked at it, at his triumph. And he got rid of the Lord Jesus Christ. He got man to put him on a cross. And there he bowed his head and dismissed his spirit. All good riddance.
All. But then he rose again.
Huh. I was. Satan's defeat wasn't in that way, but he was still opposed. He's opposed to the end. There's nothing that will ever convert him.
And when the Lord Jesus went back to heaven, well, you might be raised from the dead, but at least he'd back up in heaven and not down here in the earth. And Satan became the God and Prince of this world.
But when the day of Pentecost came and the Spirit of God joined Jew and Gentile into one new man.
There was Christ again on this earth.
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And the members of his body united to Him in heaven, acting under his direction. And what was the display? The display on this earth was Christ. Satan hates that. And so behind the Jews enmity was more than just their pride. It was Satan's opposition against the display of Christ and the members of His body.
In unity here in this world, he hates that he's opposed to it. And for that cause, for the preaching of that truth, Paul was prisoner, and he now exhorts us as the prisoner because he knew it was of the Lord of Jesus Christ.
He exhorts us as the Lord's prisoner to walk worthy if he could change the word vocation to calling. We've been called, Scripture says in one body.
This is Our Calling. We are part of that one new entity, that one new man, and there is a walk that is worthy of it, that will display Christ in this world.
That's so important to the Lord that He would be displayed in this world in His body.
But Satan set to work to attack that. He did not want that display. And how could he spoil it? Well, he could bring in disunity. He could divide that testimony. He could break it up. And he set to work. And there's enough flesh in any one of us to spoil anything that God's doing in this world, and he's set to work on that.
And I'm sad to say he's been fairly successful, but that doesn't take away the truth of God that there is a path and a calling for us to walk in that is in keeping with what God has wrought in that, uh, one Newman in the body of Christ here in this earth. And that though it be in feebleness and then just a remnant character.
Nonetheless, there is a path still for us to walk in that is honoring to him that is in keeping with what he intends.
And purpose to display in this world. Will he be, uh, oiled in his purpose? No Go to Revelation. You see that wonderful church descending from heaven? She's the light of the whole earth. No, he's not going to be foiled in that display. It's going to come. But here now, Satan has been largely successful. And, uh, how much more precious it is to them, to him then.
To find any of the Saints that want to walk in a way that's worthy of that truth and not to say, well it's no use now, might as well give up everything spoiled Satan had his way.
It's precious to him to look down and see any who would want to walk.
Worthy.
Of this calling that has been laid out in the book of Ephesians.
In connection with the Jew, the Gentile and the Church of God is worth looking at in First Corinthians chapter 10 and verse 32. It's umm a verse that is critical to us understanding what God sees in the world at the present time.
Give none offense. 1St Corinthians 10, verse 32 Give none offense neither to the Jews, nor to the Gentiles, nor to the Church of God.
And so God sees those 3 entities in this world. Now he sees the Jews. There's many of them in the land of Israel. There's many of them in New York City. But he sees them as a distinct people. They're his earthly people. And we know that there's 12 tribes. So the Jews really represent the one tribe, or perhaps the two tribes Jewish, the Jews and the Benjamites are perhaps the most prominent in the land of Israel today.
But then he sees the Gentiles, the nations. God never made any promise to the nations.
To the Gentiles. And so he takes that up and Ephesians chapter 2, that we were strangers in chapter 2, verse 12, strangers from the covenants of promise, having no hope and without God in the world, God never made a promise to the Gentiles. Never. And so we were outside of Israel and the Gentiles are still outside of the nation of Israel, but God has formed a new entity, a living church.
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His body and so that he sees the church as well. And so when you accepted Christ as your savior, in fact, you became a part of the Church of God. That's when you became a part of the Church of God. You didn't become a part of the Church of God when you signed a card for a, a church membership or anything like that. That's not when we get to be a part of the church. It's God that adds us to the church. And we have that truth in Ephesians and uh, Acts chapter 2.
And or even in chapter one. Let's look at it just to make that point clear.
Chapter one or chapter 2, I guess we could look at uh, verse uh, 41. Then they that gladly received you could leave that word off. Then they that received his word were baptized and the same day were added.
And you notice the next two verses are in italics, so you could say the next. The same day they were added about 3000 souls. And they continued steadfastly in apostles, doctrine and fellowship and breaking of bread and in prayers. So who added them to the church?
It was Christ himself and they were indwelled with the Spirit of God. And so they took the ordinance of baptism and they didn't add them to the church. But they were disassociated from Judaism and now they were associated because of baptism. They were now associated with Christ. They were associated with the man who was rejected. They were no longer seen as Jews.
And the Jew knows when a man is saved, the Jew is saved and he's baptized. The Jews know he's no longer a Jew.
And so when the bat, uh, when the Gentiles got saved, the Philippian jailer, he got saved and he got baptized. He's no longer a Gentile. Well, what is he? He's a member of the body of Christ. He's a part of the Church of God. And so God sees you this, uh, this morning and he sees you as a member of the body of Christ and he sees you as a, one of those members that he loved and gave himself for. And he's doing the work. And in Ephesians chapter five, he tells us what he's doing presently with each one of us.
In chapter 5 and verse, let's read verse 25. Umm, just the end of it. Christ also loved the church and gave Himself for it, that He might sanctify and cleanse it with the washing of water by the Word. That's what He's doing right now.
That he might present it to himself, a glorious church, not having spot or wrinkle or any such thing, but it, that it should be holding without blemish. That's what he's going to do in the future. He's going to present it to himself, not one spot. And so we're part of that church. When he sees you and I in heaven, he's going to look at you. He's not going to see a blemish. He's not going to see a spot, not a stain of sin. And he shall see of the fruit of the travail of his soul. He shall be satisfied.
He's going to see you. He's going to be perfectly satisfied. He says, I have everything I needed, everything I want, my heart's desire is fulfilled. I have my church, I have those members of my body there in heaven. And so he brings out the the truth of lordship in chapter 4, verse one of our chapter. How is it that we're going to enjoy the privileges of what it is to have been called out of this world?
Is to acknowledge his Lordship and to acknowledge that there's a new authority in our lives.
He has bought us for himself.
We have a little picture of purchase and redemption in connection with Ruth the Moabitess in the little book of Ruth. And so he's bought us for himself.
But there's that aspect of lordship. This little epistle is very orderly, as in all of God's word is written very orderly. And so in chapter four, He brings in lordship, his lordship, authority in your life and mine first, that there might be a recognition of His rights. And if we recognize His rights to choose for us and to direct us, everything else will be right.
Actually what the church is.
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When you think of the church.
When it is talked about in this world.
What is the Church?
Now God has put it in His Word, man has.
Changed it all around.
Turn again please, back to Acts chapter one.
And this is the first day of the church.
Church didn't exist.
As an entity when the Lord was here.
It was after he ascended on high.
What happened? What formed the church?
Look at the 1St chapter of Acts and Verse.
14.
These all continued with one accord in prayer and supplication, with the women and Mary the mother of Jesus, and with his brethren. And in those days Peter stood up.
In the midst of the disciples, and said, Now this little clause is here. The number of names together were about 120.
Our brother Gordon Hajo gave this uh, example in connection as to what the church is.
He said if you have a a bowl and you have 120 beads.
They're all individual.
Now you take.
A string and you put through every one of those beads.
You join it together.
What is happening?
It created something that is brand new, that is a necklace.
Now, on the day of Pentecost, there were 120 in the room.
The Spirit of God descended from heaven.
And he indwelt every one of those 120.
What happened?
The church was formed.
And the verse that Robert read, it says the Lord added to the church.
There was 120 and then 3000 and then we read it more and have more and every person that is saved is brought in to be part of the church.
And that is the special truth to me, that is that Paul wants us to get a hold of in this book of Ephesians.
Might say that, Sir, yes, Sir. And I think you would agree, brother. It says about 120. So it could have been a little more. And, uh, God, why does he use that term about 120? And then in, uh, first Corinthians chapter 15, I think he says he was seen of above about 500 brethren at one time. Why does he say in, uh, uh, when connection with the, uh, little company and Ephesus, all the men were about well?
About 12.
God isn't, uh, concerned about numbers like you and I are. You and I are not, umm, responsible for results. We are responsible to be faithful to the truth that we know and to be obedient to it and to live in the good of it. I would just point out too, in the, the large upper room is, uh, prominent in the book of the acts, particularly in the beginning of it. And so.
Our brother read and we in Acts chapter one. And they, they continued there in that large upper room. And then I believe it was in the large upper room that the church was formed in chapter 2, verse one. And then we have a little more of a picture in connection with uh, the upper room in, umm, Acts chapter 20 might just read it. It says, uh, in verse seven, Acts chapter 20 and verse seven. Upon the first day of the week when the disciples came together to break bread, Paul preached unto them.
Ready to depart on the Morrow and continued his speech.
Until midnight and there were many lights in the upper chamber. And then it's, uh, speaks of, uh, in the end of verse nine, that's, uh, Uticus fell down from the third loft and was taken up dead. So now we have, uh, a large upper room, but we find it's, uh, this one intro us was on the third floor on the the third loft. Why is it? Why is it a upper room?
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It's separated from this world.
How do you get into the large upper room? You climb steps. Steps of separation from this world, as it were, is figurative language. And so we need to walk in a separated way. But the third loft is a heavenly truth. Paul was caught up into the 3rd heaven and he heard things which were unutterable, and so he saw Christ in his glorified state. It was one of the qualifications of an apostle to have seen the Lord Jesus as in a resurrected state.
In a glorified state and with his glorified body, and to have been given a Commission from the Lord to go out and to do his work. And so both in connection with Paul. But the third loft Paul's doctrine, Paul's teaching has to do with the heavenly character of the church. And that's why he was imprisoned. If he had taught that Christianity was another religion, another earthly form of religion, he would not have suffered the reproach.
That he did, and Satan would not have perhaps bound him the way he did, but he thought of Christ, the heavenly man, and with a heavenly, the heavenly character of the Church, and that the Church did not belong here.
And so he was imprisoned. And so it's interesting as you see, uh, these little aspects of the upper room, and you can trace many different upper rooms in the little, in the book of the Acts and different aspects of the assembly and you'll find it's an edifying study.
Ordered his mainstream about July. We were charged with Nevermind and you'd experience that it's uh, new Robert and Amy has gone to, uh.
Yeah.
We found that and where there were secrets there and what were the secrets for?
Research the scriptures.
It was just too uh, uh.
Ignore it.
How we are gathering and this is our position too, we think it would be different places and soft fruit amongst these different people who probably working for syndrome.
The college, business and who knows what else, but they were seeking food and further, that's what we should be seeking themselves.
To keep us and to pray for those who are forming new assemblies in these countries.
It was cigarettes.
It's only 20 days, the 1St the lordship of Christ and to walk worthy of Our Calling. We recognize his lordship that you and I have no choices. It's uh, brother, uh, Norman Berry used to say when we were young men, he used to say the day that you got saved, that you took Christ as your savior, You gave up your right to choose. And wasn't it wonderful to allow the Lord to choose for you? Is there anyone else that could choose?
And that could choose better for you or I. He has every right to choose. And so his desire for us is perfect. And here in verse two, he speaks of the right, uh, spirit that we might be able to acknowledge his authority and go on together as those that are members of the body of Christ. And it's really to have a personal exercise to walk worthy and to walk in weak and meekness and in loneliness with all loneliness and meekness, with long-suffering, forbearing one another in love.
And so.
Christianity is practical. Who was the most humble man that ever lived was the Lord Jesus.
He was gone. He is gone, and he came. He left heaven's glory where sin can never come, and he came into this world and took the form of a man. He took a body. He never ceased to be God. He was God, He is God, but he took a body. He humbled himself and became just like one of his creatures, you might say, but he wasn't a creature. He was a man, but he was a holy man, a new seed.
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And he walked in humility through this world.
Meekness and loneliness And so you and I, as members of the body of Christ and those that are part of the church is called out of this world, are to reflect the life and the spirit of Christ. This world is characterized by pride, but you and I are not to be characterized by pride and self exaltation. You and I are to be characterized by exalting Christ and walking in lowliness and humility.
Together to His glory.
Later on in the chapter.
Umm ministry is taken up and ministry tends to bring an individual person into promise.
And so before we get that, we get the sphere in which that ministry is exercised, and there's a character that goes along with keeping that unity. You know, in Corinth, where they had gone into a fleshly state, it was I'm a Paul, I'm a Paulus. And they were really beginning to divide up around personalities brought into prominence and circles of fellowship around those personalities. But it's not to be that way in the Church of God.
Christ is the center, and so there is a sphere in which that ministry is exercised, but it needs to have a a corresponding.
Uh, spirit that goes with it. And uh, so he speaks of, uh, the character of loneliness, meekness, long-suffering, forbearing one another in love, two dangers bribe, right? So we need the loneliness, the meekness, and then long-suffering with others. How easy in this sphere where we're also close meant to.
Aggravating each other.
You know we all still have the flesh in us, don't we?
That, uh, we need to, uh, be before the Lord to judge. And, uh, so there is a spirit that we have to really take up. It's not just a kind of a nice plaque and verse to hang on the wall. This is something to be a living reality in our lives. And uh, without that, there is not going to be the going on together in unity.
We're not going to be able to go on together. The flesh likes to be prominent. The flesh likes to be #1 and, uh, but Christ.
Uh, was his brother Ralph when that was the opposite. And so there are these characters that, uh, belong to us. And then he says, endeavoring to keep the unity of the spirit and the bond of peace.
Letter translation might be.
Seeking to diligently.
Maintain it. There's not, you know, endeavoring is like. I gave it a good try, but it didn't work.
That's not the thought, I just gave it a good try.
It's really being diligent to keep it, not just giving it a good try. And So what is the expectation? What is to be kept? The unity of the Spirit. Well, this was brought up. The Spirit of God came down and formed those individual believers into one body, united them to Christ in heaven, their head. And that unity will never be dissolved.
He is going to, and He is the power of that unity, and He will maintain it and keep it. But that unity has a practical display here on this earth, and that is what we are to diligently keep or to seek to diligently go on in accordance to the unity which the Spirit of God has formed of those many believers into one body.
Here on this earth, it can't be done without loneliness, without meekness, without long-suffering or bearing one another in love.
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30 I know we didn't read it, but it says in verse thirty of our chapter. And grieve not the Holy Spirit of God, whereby ye are sealed unto the day of redemption. So we learn in the scriptures as possible to grieve the Spirit, and that is if we assert ourselves, assert our rights. Did the Lord Jesus ever research his rights?
The only time, in a sense, that He descended what was spoken to Him in connection with the, uh, the rudeness of the Pharisees and Sadducees, was when they attributed His works to the devil.
And he would respond for the glory of God, that what he was doing was in the power of God and was in obedience to His Father's will. And so he brought that out. But we, we can, umm, grieve the Spirit, and so we have responsibility. This is brought out, isn't it?
Endeavoring to keep the unity of the Spirit speaks of submission to the work of the Spirit of God among us in the bond of peace or in the uniting bond of peace.
So it brings in the thought of submission.
It's the Spirit of God that has the authority and the right to lead among His people. It's the Spirit of God that umm, gathers his people. It's the Spirit of God that uh, desires to maintain a unity of the testimony to the truth that there is one body. And you and I are called to act in a responsible fashion as to the work of the Spirit of God. And He does one work.
To gather his people and to maintain peace among the Saints of God. And so we're to work according to the Spirit, to what the Spirit of God is doing.
Because we can get anxious, can't we?
Uh, these things, we can get pretty anxious, we can get pretty worked up.
And I think in anticipation of that, he says in the bond is peace.
Because we are in a time in the Church's history where things are divided.
Where the Saints have been scattered. Where there is not a display of unity.
Can I go on in a peaceful way?
Oh, I can go on in a peaceful way by being totally indifferent to it.
Doesn't phase me, I don't care about that kind of stuff. I just want to know what concerns me about my own individual pathway so I'm not bothered by the rest. I have peace about all that. Not what he's talking about. He's talking about not having an anxious spirit.
About the Saints going on in these truths that would get me overwrought about it, but seek myself to diligently keep that unity and, uh, to encourage others to, to go on in that path, but not, uh, have a breakdown about the way the Saints of God are going on in the world. They were to keep diligently keep it in the bonds.
Of peace. It's his work. It's his work to make the truth good in the hearts of the Saints of life.
It's our privilege to share it. It's our privilege to seek to communicate it. We don't need to be anxious about the things that we cannot do.
And only he can let him take care of that part of it.
And if the body of Christ that is unified by the Spirit and the unity of the body cannot be broken, it's a body, it's a crisis, the body of Christ, but it's the Spirit, the unity of the Spirit that can be broken.
I think it's Mr. Garvey in his writings points out that the the first time that that unity was broken is recorded in the Acts chapter 5. We might just turn to it just as a practical example.
You and I are called to act in such a way to maintain what? The unity of that?
The work of the spirit. And so in Acts chapter 5, a certain man named Ananias and Sapphire, his wife sold a possession and kept back part of the price, his wife also being Privy to it. We don't need to read the whole thing, but money came into UMM.
00:50:04
Interesting, isn't it? They came out of Judaism and it was, they were covetous. And, uh, when it was a question of money, the unity of spirit was broken. And then you find, uh, a similar thing in uh, chapter 6, the second time the unity of the spirit was broken. It says in those days when the number of the disciples was multiplied, there arose a murmuring of the Grecians against the Hebrews because their widows were neglected in the daily ministration. Here again.
You have money involved. And there was, uh, murmuring a low grumbling and, uh, complaining because of some perceived, uh, fault among the Saints of God. And so you and I are called to work out those things in a spirit of humility. Loneliness. There's four things that are mentioned in that verse. Loneliness.
Meekness.
Long-suffering and forbearing one another in love. And so if we go on in that spirit, there's going to be the power to maintain the unity of the Spirit.
First goes nicely with the words of the Lord. He lived in past 11, uh, 28 to 29.
That's not the reason what we were talking about, not really nature of those issues around us, but I'm asking our.
Exactly the right thing if you look at the same chapter where you're reading those verses from the Chapter 11.
What do you get? You get the opposition of, uh, the Jews against the Lord in his testimony here below and.
He has to upgrade them in connection with their lack of repentance. But then he says in verse 25, I thank thee, O Father, Lord of heaven and earth, because thou hast hid these things from the wise and prudence, and has revealed them unto babes. Even so, Father, for so it seems good, and thy sight, it was His work to make that good. He hid it from the wise and the prudent. He revealed it unto babes, and where was the Lord's rest?
Even so, Father, for so it seemed good in thy sight, he says, Learn of me.
What are we to learn? Even so, Father, for so it seemed good in thy sight, and we'll find rest for our souls.
Subjection of our souls to His will is always restless.
We learn it from him. He was the perfect subject once. I think that's exactly the the uh.
Contacts of those verses in Chapter 11 and they do go well with our portion.
The only one who was ever in this world that had a right to exert himself and take a place of prominence did not in order to be an example to us who have a problem with that.
So we read, Let me just read and uh, first Peter chapter 2 and verse 21.
Or even hereunto were ye called? Because Christ also suffered for us, leaving an example, leaving us an example that ye should follow his steps. He was the one who gave us the example of being meek and lowly.
And it should be our joy to seek to follow that example.
Say, well, what exactly is loneliness? What exactly is meekness?
And the loneliness is mentioned first here, and it's really not to give us offense. To be lowly in spirit is to walk in loneliness and not have high thoughts of ourselves.
And so we walk in loneliness, but meekness is not to take offense. And so.
00:55:05
It's what ought to characterize the Saints of God, to walk in loneliness and to esteem other.
Better than themselves. Let's just look at that. I think it's in Philippians, uh.
Yeah, chapter 2, Philippians chapter 2 and uh, verse four. Look, not every man on his own things or on his own on his own qualities, but every man also on the qualities of others.
And so we have lowly thoughts of self and we recognize that, uh, there's only one person that has the authority or the right to receive glory.
And honor as Christ himself so loneliness and meekness.
Not giving offense and not taking offense.
In Philippians, was it the two sisters were not getting along together?
So it's near the end of the epistle that it says, I beseech thee, Yodish and Syndicate be of the same mind.
But before they could find, I think it's about 11 Times you have the word lying in, uh, in the book of Philippians.
And, uh, averse, frankly, that I've been, you know, in my mind recently is, uh, diverse. Just before that, uh, Robert quoted. And that's Philippians 2, verse 3.
Yet let nothing be done through strife or Vainglory, but in loneliness of mind let each esteem others better than themselves.
Good, go back again on my thoughts when I was a teenager, I remember.
Being at a young people's class, John Burke was there and he was kind of the leader of the young people and, uh.
He read this verse.
Let's read it again. The uh.
The uh, third verse let nothing be done through stripe or Vainglory, but in lowliness of mind, that each esteemed other better than themselves. And he said to this particular brother, how can you esteem that other person better than you?
And his brother, young brother, both my age. He didn't know how to answer.
And I'll tell you what John Burton said.
He said. I know my heart.
I don't know your heart.
But because I know what's in my heart a little bit.
And I don't know what's in your heart, I can sure esteem you better than me.
So when we come to points in the assembly families and there's a difficulty where we feel different about a certain matter.
Why let nothing be done through stripe or vain glory? We need to give place to the thoughts of others, and that to me is the value too of a reading me.
And we notice also in this chapter that it says God gave gifts unto men. Didn't give just one, He gave more than one.
So God has distributed and we need to value what He has given to one another that we may all learn together because no one has all the truth in themselves, but God has revealed it in His Word. And and we we try to help each other to understand and seek the mind of the Lord as we go along.
By endeavoring to keep the unity of the Spirit in that in that spirit ourselves of being low and meek.
You agree with us either?
This too. Uh, it's been, it's been said that weakness sounds a lot like meekness.
But if I'm weak, it's because there isn't any strength.
If I'm meek, there can be strength, but it's restrained. So just in this way, in connection with holding the truth of God, if we have understood what God has written in his word, we're not weak about it, but we should be meek about it and hold it in the right framework, as you say, appreciating what others have and what they can contribute to our understanding of it. But there's a difference between weakness and meekness. And people may look at you and say, well.
01:00:17
He's just real weak. He doesn't have any spine or something. But may the Lord give us encouragement to stand up for what is written in this book. And we don't have to be weak about it, but we should be meek about it.
All was given a choice to request for the abundance of revelations that were given to him and, uh.
Of a marbled at that, I thought, I can't say I've ever had a thorn for the flesh, for the abundance of revelations that my soul is entered into. I've had a thorn for the flesh for others. Much more, uh, reasons I'd rather not mention. But, umm, that's really the context here. If there's been abundance of revelations up through, uh, the 1St 3 chapters, pride, spiritual pride can come in. Spiritual pride can come in. And there's a real danger there.
All had a thorn for the flesh.
For that very reason, and you know, I thought good to God, that we all had a thorn for the flesh for that reason that we had truly entered into and laid a hold on the abundance of revelation given to us in this precious book.
Number, uh, two of Philippians verse five gives us the key to developing loneliness and meekness. And so it says, let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus. And so as we meditate upon the Lord Jesus, meditate upon the work of Christ, meditate upon his humility, his loneliness.
This is John Burton could speak.
We recognize our failure, recognize our nothingness, recognize that he is the source of all of our blessing, and we recognize that we're nothing and that He's everything. And so we ought to walk in loneliness. But if we get our eyes upon one another, upon ourselves, and have vain glory is spoken of in effusions. There is self importance, self glory, self important. None of this is important. I think it was Brother Albert Hale used to have the little expression. He says we're all a bunch of zeros.
Every one of us is we're all zeros, and except for the the one out in front, all the zeros would have no value. But the Lord Jesus is in front, and if we keep him before our souls, then there's some value to our lives.
Well, we need to move on perhaps versus five and six here bring before us or 4-5 and six, these seven different things that the apostles brings before the Saints there that there is one body.
And one spirit, even as ye are called, or have been called, in one hope of your calling.
A1 Lord 1 Faith, one baptism, one God and Father of all, who is above all, and through all, and in you all. And so God is not the author of multiple choice, and man's will is not given place in the things of God. Ought not to have a place in the things of God.
And it's God's way to do things in one way. And so he speaks of the unity of the Spirit, and he speaks of one body. And there is one body, and there ought to be the reflection of it in this world. That's what God wanted, that there would be the reflection of you and I going on together with one accord and in one spirit going on in the presence of the Lord. And as being mentioned, the testimony of the Saints is fractured. Satan has been wildly successful in breaking up the Christian testimony so that it doesn't look like there's one body.
But there is one body.
And God has ordained that there would be the expression of that truth of what it is to be gathered to the Lord's name on the ground that there is one body.
Even in this late day, in the day of grace. And so there's, we're members together. They're different ones here from the assembly in Smith Falls in Ottawa and, uh, Pine Grove, uh, Vestal, NY, Cottonwood, AZ, umm.
We're all members of the body of Christ, and so we're gathered by the Spirit of God under the precious name of the Lord Jesus. And I am at the Lord's table in Pine in, uh, Hammer Bay. And I'm at the Lord's table too, in Vestal, NY. I'm at the Lord's table in the Fellowship of the Saints in Reno Ferry. I'm in fellowship in Ottawa. And so there is one body in the practice of that truth.
01:05:23
Is really brought out in other passages of Scripture, but he states the fact here that there is one body. And so you and I are responsible to conduct ourselves in such a way that it is reflected in this world that there is one body.
To umm, the 1St chapter of Occasion.
Says there is one body and in the first chapter in the.
22nd verse tells us that God had put all things under his, the Lord Jesus feet.
And gave him to be the head over all things to the church, which is his body.
The church.
The church.
Which is.
His body and he is the head. Everyone of us in this room have a body and we have a head, and the body gets its direction from the head.
And so in the same sense.
In in a in in a spiritual way.
It's only a picture of Christ is the head.
And every one of us and every believer in the whole world is a member of his body.
And it's one.
One time our brother Tom Ellis was.
Uh, talking to a neighbor of his.
And uh, got subject to buying. Things came up and as, uh, as quite often happens, the person said, which church do you belong to?
And Tom wisely said, is there more than one?
That was a good answer.
There's only one church.
And people it it, it's this manufactured idea.
Of an organization as the church as opposed to others, and then and then to the point where it's looked upon as the building.
It is foreign to the mind of God.
And, and in this, in this beautiful book here of Ephesians, we have this precious truth, and we are to walk in the goodness of it.
That there is one body.
And the members of your your one hand gets hurt.
What is the other hand want to do to help it?
All that we might reflect.
Searching helpful prevention that the apostle Paul and in the New Testament, the church has used. Uh, there's, there are different figures that God uses and Paul uses the figure of a body because a body presents to us the fact of a living Organism. And if I touch my finger, I touch my body.
And he presents to us the truth that there is a bride, the Bride of Christ.
He speaks of the habitation of God. He speaks of the temple of our bodies. He speaks of the.
The temple as well, and he speaks of a flock, he speaks of all these different types, these little pictures so that he can bring in different aspects of the truth that umm of Christ and the church. And so when it speaks of the body, it speaks of that living Organism and everyone that's a living.
Member on the Earth.
Is a part of that body living member of the body of Christ and then?
It's really an earthly thing, isn't it?
If someone dies, then they go to be with the Lord. If they know the Lord Jesus as Savior and they're, they're not down here, they're not a living Organism, a living part of the Organism of the body at the present time. That's not how God sees them. And so you and I are living members of the body of Christ in this world.
01:10:10
That a little bit.
Verse three, the Spirit of God that formed that unity of the Holy Spirit, and he's also called the Spirit of truth.
And so two things characterize the unity that he's formed. It's holy, separate from evil, and it's according to the truth of God. And in that way, endeavoring and diligently seeking to maintain that unity, he would lead us in a holy path according to the Word of God.
And perhaps this is a worn out example, but it's been helpful to me if you have a family and, and there's a number of children, there's eight children and they're all out playing and, uh, dad calls out, says time for supper and four head in for supper.
And force stay out of the tree Fort.
And as the four head in for supper, the four in the three ports said, where are you going? We're having a good time here.
Come on back.
Although Dad called us in for supper. Now don't worry about what Dad says.
You're breaking up our fund.
We're all brothers and sisters. You're breaking up our unity.
No, Ted called the census for supper.
Who is keeping the unity that is really proper to them as all children of one Father?
Before that are obeying.
Father's voice or that are heading in for supper. Will you say how can they be keeping the unity half of them are missing.
Doesn't matter if half of them are missing.
They're keeping the unity as proper to them.
Endeavoring to keep the unity does not mean that we have to have every single member of the body of Christ.
In the practical outward display of that unity, it's seeking ourselves to walk. And that unity and this Holy Spirit, the Spirit of truth, would lead all the Saints of God in the same path. Doesn't mean they're all there. But if we want to be part of that unity in its display here in this earth, then we have to walk according to the truth and then a path of holiness. And even if there is just one there.
Even if just one ovaries, that one is keeping the unity that's proper to those children.
What we find in Second Timothy that.
They'll be companions. If we seek to walk in a path of obedience to His will, we will find that there are others who are also walking in that path, and He will bring us together in fellowship with one another. Don't worry about that part. Just you walk and obedience and you endeavor to keep that unity that you have been called into.
An illustrated in connection with Matthew Chapter 11 again that was brought before us the nation or the general population of the nation of Israel. In Chapter 11 of Matthew had rejected the testimony of the Lord Jesus and so he was calling out individuals. He says in verse 28, come unto me all ye that labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.
He was calling individuals out and they were burdened and they were way down under the yoke of Judaism. They couldn't keep the law even if they tried. And some of them really did want to try to keep the law. They couldn't do it. They were burdened. And so the Lord Jesus was calling them as individuals out of that system of things unto Himself. And so they were to learn of Him. And then he says, take my yoke individually.
Upon you and learn of me, for I am meek and lowly in heart. Ye shall find rest.
Unto your souls, for my yoke is easy, and my burden is light. So as a new thing, it was a new call. He was calling him out of Judaism and into Christianity unto himself. It was really, you might say, the first call, the beginning of the call. But you and I, this brings in before us individual responsibility, doesn't it? And so it's not just a theory. Christianity is very practical, and you and I are never asked to do something that is not possible to do.
01:15:10
And so.
While some may be disobedient to the truth of God, and some may be disobedient to the direction of the Spirit of God, you and I are called to be obedient to what we know. And if we walk in what we know, the Lord will become more precious to us, and we will walk and He will manifest Himself to us. Let's just look at that in John's Gospel, chapter 14.
In verse 21, John 14, verse 21 He that hath my commandments and keepeth them, he it is that loveth me, and he that loveth me shall be loved of my Father, and I will love him, and will manifest myself to him.
And then verse 23 Jesus answered, said unto him, If a man love me, he will keep my words, My Father will love him, and we will come unto him, and will make our abode with him.
There's reward, you might say, of having the fellowship of the Lord Jesus and the communion with the Lord Jesus and to be brought into the enjoyment of the truth of God if we'll walk in obedience to those things that we do know that He desires us to walk in. So this is one of them. These are practical exhortations. They're given.
Oh Jesus, Lord and Savior.
And we love the Savior we love.
It.
34910, 10-4 05 Medicine diffuses 10,500 and 56,339 years.
It was really you give yourself certainly.
And this is the thought of the three ones. The righteousness was through obedience.
Righteousness and met over in verse 20 about 20 seconds, almost 6.
Neither 3 by 7.
OK.
Oh oh, six 10,000 as well, doesn't it? And uh, we're given part in the death of Christ.
Uh, in baptism, it's a picture of, of death and we go down under those waters of death, right? And now we're to walk in newness of life. And that newness of life is connected with the later verses and, and, uh, Romans 6 and 1St Corinthians 12, we get baptism again, but there's a different baptism, the baptism of the Spirit. And, uh, what does it tell us there by 1 spirit, we're all baptized into one body. What makes us members of the body of Christ?
01:20:30
Is not the blood of Christ saving us, but it's the indwelling of the Spirit of God that unites us to Christ? Umm, through the blood of Christ every St. of God will be in heaven in the coming day. Abraham, Isaac. How will they be there? Through the blood of Christ? They didn't know it at that time. God forbore with those things things and and it wasn't clear until Christ came and gave himself on the cross that the blood was going to cover all those sins.
But that's the basis on which they'll be there. But they're not members of the body of Christ. Why not indwelt by the Holy Spirit? If the Holy Spirit that makes us members of the body of Christ is indwelling not the blood of Christ now He doesn't indwell anyone who has not been cleansed by the precious blood of Christ.
So with a high priest, first he was anointed with blood on his thumb, and then after that oil.
Make sure the Spirit of God saw salvation first, then when you believe you were sealed with that Holy Spirit of promise. And it's that, uh, indwelling Spirit of God that unites us, every other member of the body of Christ and do our Lord in heaven.
Now I would say in those two baptisms, the first one perhaps, uh, more, uh, applies to verse four of our chapter and the second one, verse five, the first one is a sphere of unity, verse 41, body, and it's the baptism of the Spirit that formed that body.
1.
Uh.
Hope of your calling, Everyone who is part of the body of Christ is going to be raptured when the Lord comes. So there's one body formed by the one Spirit of God, and every one of those has the same hope and their calling that the Lord is going to come and take us to be with him in heaven. Now the second verse, verse five is another sphere of the larger sphere that goes out further than the first one, and that's the sphere of profession. And in that sphere of profession, what is profess that there's one Lord 1 Lord Jesus.
What in contrast to all the other gods in this world?
There's one and so in that we bear a similar confession that Israel did they bore a profession. There was one God we do too, and three persons, Father, Son and Holy Spirit. So we profess 1 Lord, that's the sphere of Christian profession. 1 faith. There's one Christian faith contained in the precious word of God. Here is the faith, the truth of God. And so the Bible is we call it the Bible, right for the for the for the Christian, you know, other people have.
The shooters have a a shooters Bible and the computers have a computer Bible. You know what I mean? They have a defining book for their little circle of fellowship. We have a defining book.
That contains for us the faith.
Of faith, and that's in the Word of God. So one Lord and the Spirit of profession 1 faith. How do we get into that sphere of profession here in this earth? That's the baptism of Romans 6, water baptism.
Water baptism brings us into the sphere of Christian profession. It takes us in this world from 1 ground to a wholly new one, the sphere of professing Christianity. That's a whole another subject. I'll just leave it there. So that's the 2nd circle of unity that's presented in these 3 verses. The third one is the unity of creation.
And that goes out even further. One God and father of all. And so Paul speaks of that when he preaches to the Athenians, in whom we live and move and have our being. He's one God and Father of all. Everything comes from him. And so that's the widest sphere. So there's these three spheres as far as one way beyond that.
01:25:04
The same 330.
336.