Walk in Light – Ephesians 5:6-14

• July 12, 2021
• Pastor
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Ephesians 5:6-14

Let me invite you to take your copy of God’s Word and turn with me to Ephesians 5. I read a Christian film review on a new American documentary film called Summer of Soul this week. It’s a documentary founded primarily on archival footage found stored in a basement for 50 years that highlights the 1969 Harlem Culture Festival, which took place at the same time as Woodstock. And that got me looking through some music of the past.

As most of you know, I’ve shared lyrics from two Paul Overstreet songs recently, and so I thought perhaps today I could begin with another one. In 1968, Johnny Nash had a hit that only got to 58 in the American top 100, but reached number 6 in the UK. Johnny Nash is not a household name to many. If you know of him it’s possible because you remember the song “I Can See Clearly Now,” but the one that I have in mind is from 1968 titled “You Got Soul.” The six of you that remember it will recall that it begins with these words:

Hey, I can tell by the way you walk
You got soul, soul
I can tell by the way you talk
You got soul, soul
You got somethin’ deep inside
Nothin’ in the world can hide
You got soul, babe
You got soul.

You say, “Well, that’s all fine and good, but what does that have to do with Ephesians 5?” Well, although I’m not certain whether Paul would’ve liked the music, I think that if he’d had access to the lyrics he may well have decided to do what I’m doing right now, which is to make mention of it in order to drive home the central point of chapters 4-6. And that central point is simply this: the reality of the Christian’s profession of faith is to be visibly seen in the way they walk. In other words, our lifestyle, the way we live, the way we walk in life should clearly and evidently point to the fact that we’ve been saved. In fact, we could change the word “soul” in Johnny Nash’s song to “saved” and it might be suitable as a praise and worship song.

Hey, I can tell by the way you walk
You got saved, saved
I can tell by the way you talk
You got saved, saved
You got somethin’ deep inside
Nothin’ in the world can hide
You got saved, babe
You got saved.

Now some of you are thinking, “Pastor, you’re really stretching to make a connection between Johnny Nash and the apostle Paul.” And while I grant to you that it’s a bit odd, it’s not completely out of the realm of possibility because we know – from the book of Acts and Paul’s encounter with the Stoic philosophers on Mars Hill (Acts 17:28), and a few other instances in his writings (1 Corinthians 15:33, Titus 1:12) – that Paul often referred to the poets of his day when making a point. So, it’s possible that Paul would’ve referred to Johnny Nash and “You Got Soul.”

Don’t forget how chapter 4 began, “I therefore, a prisoner for the Lord, urge you to walk in a manner worthy of the calling to which you have been called…” Of course, he’s referring to the fact that they had heard the gospel of Jesus preached, and the Holy Spirit had drawn them to a place of confessing their sin and believing the truth of God, and now their lifestyles should bear testimony of that fact. And he encourages them further in Ephesians 4:17 when he says, “Now this I say and testify in the Lord, that you must no longer walk as the Gentiles do, in the futility of their minds.”

The point that Paul is trying to make is this. If we’ll just walk in accordance with the Word of God and seek to be obedient to it, then we will make a difference in the world. Because our friends and neighbors and perhaps even strangers will say, “Why do you live the way you do? Why don’t you go to the bars and clubs like you used to? When did you start listening to worship song instead of that other stuff? Why don’t you speak like a sailor anymore? You used to love those filthy jokes. What’s up?”

Well, last Sunday we looked at what Paul had to say about walking in love, and today we’re going to consider what it means to walk in the light. So, follow along with me as we read Ephesians 5:6-14:

6 Let no one deceive you with empty words, for because of these things the wrath of God comes upon the sons of disobedience. 7 Therefore do not become partners with them; 8 for at one time you were darkness, but now you are light in the Lord. Walk as children of light 9 (for the fruit of light is found in all that is good and right and true), 10 and try to discern what is pleasing to the Lord. 11 Take no part in the unfruitful works of darkness, but instead expose them. 12 For it is shameful even to speak of the things that they do in secret. 13 But when anything is exposed by the light, it becomes visible, 14 for anything that becomes visible is light. Therefore, it says, “Awake, O sleeper, and arise from the dead, and Christ will shine on you.”

“Eternal Father, we ask that You make Your holy Word real to us. Show us ourselves within Your Word, and show us our Savior – Jesus Christ. Make the Bible real to us, we pray, O Lord. Amen.”

Before I jump into the first point, it’s important that we understand something. Just because the Bible says that humans were made in the image of God and we have inherent value and dignity because of that, that does not mean that every human being is forgiven and is a “spiritual” child of God. You say, “Pastor, that’s kind of obvious.” You would think so, but no. There are some, within the universal church, that use very generic language as a way of promoting this idea that everybody is automatically forgiven and saved. The phrase that they use and that comes to mind is this: “We’re all children of God.”

Now, to be fair, there’s a general sense in which that is true. All humans, by virtue of our physical birth, are made in the image of God (that’s what Genesis 1 and 2 tell us), and in this sense we are “children of God.” But that’s very different than saying we’re “spiritual” children of God, or saying that anybody and everybody is a Christian.

Remember Jesus’s encounter with Nicodemus in John 3? What does Jesus tell him: “I say to you, unless one is born again he cannot see the kingdom of God” (John 3:3). Peter would put it this way, “Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! According to His great mercy, He has caused us to be born again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, to an inheritance that is imperishable, undefiled, and unfading, kept in heaven for you…” (1 Peter 1:3-5).

Here’s the reason we need to be clear about this, and how this issue connects with Ephesians (and frankly the rest of the Bible). If simply being born into this world automatically designates someone as a “spiritual” child of God, then:

1. Anything goes – any behavior, any lifestyle, any thought pattern and belief and conviction is fair game, and consequently there’s no such thing as sin, and
2. There’s no need for Jesus. If we’re all “loved children of God” and accepted by God just the way we are, then why send Jesus to die upon the cross? And that brings me to our first point.

A New Description

When you see this, you’ll appreciate Paul’s teaching and the distinction that I just made. It’s so important that we understand the dramatic contrast that’s represented here. Look at verse 8, “for at one time you were darkness, but now you are light in the Lord.” It doesn’t say at one time you were not a church-attender, and now you are. At one time you were irreligious, and now you’ve become religious. At one time you were flaky, and now you’re not so flaky. No; it’s far more significant than that. In fact, he doesn’t simply say, “At one time you lived in darkness, (although that’s true) and now you live in light (which is also true).” No; he says you were dark (skotos) and now you’re light (phós). You were, but now you are.

Please notice that the color “gray” doesn’t appear in these texts. It’s either darkness or light. There’s no half-dark and half-light; there’s only dark/light. By nature, dark. By grace, light. As long as we remain outside of Christ, we remain in darkness. It’s not that we remain in neutral territory, and somewhere along life’s journey, after we’ve learned a little and grown up a little then we decide we want to live in either the darkness or the light. No, by our very nature we’re born into an inescapable darkness. But in too much of the universal church I see a desire to find a gray area, a middle ground, a way that’s no so demanding, an area where we can be mostly in the light but still dabble a bit in the dark.

That reminds me of a prayer that St. Augustine once prayed, “Lord, make me pure, but not yet.” No, that’s not biblical. As many of us heard when we were growing up a generation ago, “There’s no two ways about it.” We’re either Christian or we’re not. We’re either in Christ, or we’re outside of Christ. We’re either spiritually dead, or we’re spiritually alive. There’s no middle ground of compromise. There’s no universal and generic talk here about “Oh, well, we’re all loved children of God.” No, you were . . . but now you are.

A New Direction

Remember, Paul’s audience is the church, not the culture. So, for those of us who have been called out of darkness and into the light we’re called in order to pursue a new direction in life: “Walk as children of light.” Verse 9 says, “for the fruit of light is found in all that is good and right and true.” Another way of saying that is “the fruit of light is in all goodness and righteousness and truth.” In other words, if we’re in the light, then there’s a certain fruit that should be forthcoming.

“Being good” sometimes gets a bad rap, but it shouldn’t. As children of the light, we’re called to be good, to do good things, to think good thoughts. Paul wrote to the Thessalonians and said, “See that no one repays anyone evil for evil, but always seek to do good to one another and to everyone” (1 Thessalonians 5:15). We enjoy meeting and being around good people – people who are generous, people who are dependable, people who serve others. After all, that’s why we call them “good friends.” Every Christian is to be that kind of person because he/she is in the light.

Righteousness is primarily an attribute of God. Paul tells Timothy, “So flee youthful passions and pursue righteousness, faith, love, and peace, along with those who call on the Lord from a pure heart” (2 Timothy 2:22). Pursuing righteousness doesn’t mean taking a passive approach to being honest and dealing with integrity. It means swimming against the stream. As Paul puts it in Philippians 3, it means, “[F]orgetting what lies behind and straining forward to what lies ahead, pressing on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus.”

If we’re walking in the light we’ll be good friends, we’ll pursue righteousness and we’ll be people of truth – not just seeking to know the truth, but also living the truth. This isn’t purely an academic and intellectual truth; this is a lived experience where our lifestyles are in concert with our beliefs. So, there are good relationships with other people, a right relationship with God, and a true understanding of ourselves.

Listen to how the apostle John says the very same thing that Paul is saying, “This is the message we have heard from Him [Jesus] and proclaim to you, that God is light, and in Him is no darkness at all. If we say we have fellowship with Him while we walk in darkness, we lie and do not practice the truth. But if we walk in the light, as He is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus His Son cleanses us from all sin. If we say we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us. If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. If we say we have not sinned, we make Him a liar, and His word is not in us” (1 John 1:5-10). Good relationships with others. Right relationship with God. True understanding of ourselves.

A New Desire

A new description: you were, but now you are. A new direction: walk as children of light. Third, a new desire. Look at verse 10, “and try to discern what is pleasing to the Lord.” The desire of those who walk in the light is to find out what is good and pleasing and acceptable to God. Paul isn’t saying, here, “Let’s see what the Lord will allow us to get by with.” No, he’s saying make a thorough examination of things in life and situations you find yourself in and opportunities that present themselves and test them against God’s Word to determine if they’re pleasing to God.

Now the Bible doesn’t cover every single situation and scenario that we find ourselves in, but it does offer quite a lot of definitive things that are pleasing to God. For starters, it’s God’s desire that we repent of our sin and accept His free gift of grace through Jesus Christ. 2 Peter 3:9 says, “The Lord is not slow to fulfill His promise as some count slowness, but is patient with you, not wanting anyone to perish, but everyone to come to repentance.” Next, He wants us to “become conformed to the image of His Son” (Romans 8:29). Micah 6:8 says, “He [God] has told you, O man, what is good; and what does the Lord require of you but to do justice, and to love kindness, and to walk humbly with your God?” Jesus was asked once which commandment of the Law was the greatest. He answered, “Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength. The second is this: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’ There is no commandment greater than these” (Mark 12:30-32). Hebrews 13:16 says, “Do not neglect to do good and to share what you have, for such sacrifices are pleasing to God.”

Those are just a few of the things that the Bible tells us are pleasing to the Lord. If we’re honest, the problem isn’t the difficulty of knowing what pleases God as much as it is our obedience in doing them. That’s why children of light have a new desire.

A New Distinction

There’s also a new distinction. We spoke about this last week, but it’s worth a quick repeat. A true follower of Jesus is different from the person they once were. In verses 7 and 11 Paul says that we shouldn’t partner with the sons of disobedience. That’s the name of the rock band you used to play with, but now you’re in the band called the children of light. Don’t partner with those folks. In verse 11 he says don’t take part in what they do.

Now folks, let’s get real for a minute. I know, and you know, and Paul knows, and God knows that we can’t avoid all forms of unfruitful deeds of darkness. They’re everywhere we turn. Indeed, the only way to avoid that kind of thing is to die. But we don’t have to partner with them. We don’t have to participate in them. I believe it was the great Reformer, Martin Luther, who said, “You can’t prevent the birds from flying overhead, but you can keep them from building a nest in your hair.”

We can’t cut ourselves off completely with people that don’t believe in Jesus. How will they ever hear the Gospel if we don’t continue to love them, befriend them, invite them to church, and minister to their needs? Remember our theme for the year: Who’s Your ONE? Paul is warning us to be ever so careful that we don’t bring the deeds of darkness into the church because we’ve failed to draw the line. We need to guard against accommodating sinful attitudes and actions and people.

So, we have a new description: you were, but now you are. A new direction: walk as children of the light. A new desire: to please God. A new distinction: drawing a line between serving those in darkness versus participating in the darkness. And finally, a new duty: expose dark deeds.

A New Duty

Look at the end of verse 11ff, “but instead expose them. For it is shameful even to speak of the things that they do in secret. But when anything is exposed by the light, it becomes visible, for anything that becomes visible is light.” Now, we have to be extremely careful here.

First, I want to point out that the word “them” in verse 11 isn’t referring to calling out people. There’s a sinful tendency, even in church circles, to see certain people get “called on the carpet” and “exposed.” In fact, that’s a popular word right now – in politics, in business, in churches, in the news. It plays on our fleshly and sinful desires of self-righteousness and wanting to see someone get shamed, or our desire to “get the scoop” or “get the dirt.” So, let’s proceed with caution here.

The word “them” refers to the unfruitful deeds of darkness. It’s not wrong for us to pray that God would expose sin, but let’s be extremely diligent in guarding our own hearts in the process. I’ve done it, and you have too. We can leave a prayer group feeling as though we’ve pleased the Lord in praying for our governmental leaders or community leaders or pastors or whatever, and in reality, all we did was worship ourselves and play up to our own selfish and sinful desires to be vindicated and proven right.

And that leads me to my final observation about exposing sin. How do we do it? One way is to pray that God would expose it. That God would just orchestrate things in such a way that sinful actions and attitudes and agendas would come into the light. But there’s another way, and that’s for us – children of the light – to simply be obedient to this passage and walk in our day-to-day lives as children of the light.

I’ll leave you with this story. Tom Rees, a British evangelist, tells the story of a man who came to one of his crusades, received Jesus, and moved dramatically out of the deep darkness he’d been living in. He stopped being a drunkard. He stopped abusing his wife and children. He started using his money for the good of his home and family and community. But all of his former drinking buddies gave him a hard time about the changes in his life. They even challenged him on his belief in the Bible, “Do you really think Jesus turned water into wine?” The newly converted man said, “I don’t know a lot about the Bible, yet, but I do know this: Jesus turned beer into furniture in my house.”

A new description: you were, but now you are. A new direction: walk as children in light. A new desire: to please God. A new distinction: between loving those in darkness and participating in it. A new duty: expose dark deeds, simply by walking in light.

If you’re here this morning and you’ve never responded to Christ Jesus, verse 14 is for you: “Awake, O sleeper, and arise from the dead, and Christ will shine on you.” For the rest of us; may we also wake up to our world’s situation and walk in the light of Christ.

Walk In Love – Ephesian 5:1-8b

• July 6, 2021
• Pastor
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Ephesians 5:1-8b

Let me invite you to take your copy of God’s Word and turn with me to Ephesians 5. The idea of “walks” is a popular one in America. Every weekend in most metropolitan areas, there’s a “walk-a-thon” for one worthy cause or another. Moms, dads, kids, babies in strollers, the family dog – everybody laces up their tennis shoes and joins the parade to raise money for disease research, community projects, athletic programs, and a host of other things. They’re a great idea. They raise money. They provide good exercise. And they’re great opportunities for fellowship and community involvement.

Then there are the “power walkers.” These folks are seen most frequently in our country’s malls, usually made up of the over-60 crowd. In their yoga pants and sweats they power through climate-controlled commercial venues, arms a-swingin’, heads a-bobin’, and calories a-droppin’ – and heaven help you if you get in their way. They’re on a mission, but it’s not shop-‘til-you-drop – it’s “power walk” until you’re too tired to shop for anything fattening.

Finally, there’s the casual stroller. The evening walk around the neighborhood. The leisurely pace of the semi-retired mingles with the lazy pace of the full-time employee. They’re not as regular or devoted as the others – only appearing from their homes when the weather is nice and the temperature is moderate.

Walking. It’s a great hobby and a source of exercise – but it’s far from being a modern trend. The apostle Paul called the Christian life a walk more than 1,900 years ago when he wrote this letter to the Church in Ephesus. And while he encourages believers to “run the race” in other passages (1 Corinthians 9:24, Galatians 5:7, 2 Timothy 4:7), the Christian life isn’t a sprint. It’s a day-by-day discipline of getting up and putting one foot in front of the other, in order to make progress.

This would’ve made perfect sense to Paul’s original readers. After all, that’s how much of daily travel took place. And I want us to explore this notion of walking in relation to our daily Christian life. In fact, that’s what the Greek word (peripateó) means. Perí means “around” and patéō means “to walk,” so literally the Greek word that Paul uses here means “to walk around.” When we walk around what do people see? And I’m not referring to the manner of your gait or the method of your stride. I’m talking about walking life’s journey. Does our daily walk confirm or deny our confession that Jesus is Lord?

1 Therefore be imitators of God, as beloved children. 2 And walk in love, as Christ loved us and gave Himself up for us, a fragrant offering and sacrifice to God.

3 But sexual immorality and all impurity or covetousness must not even be named among you, as is proper among saints. 4 Let there be no filthiness nor foolish talk nor crude joking, which are out of place, but instead let there be thanksgiving. 5 For you may be sure of this, that everyone who is sexually immoral or impure, or who is covetous (that is, an idolater), has no inheritance in the kingdom of Christ and God. 6 Let no one deceive you with empty words, for because of these things the wrath of God comes upon the sons of disobedience. 7 Therefore do not become partners with them; 8 for at one time you were darkness, but now you are light in the Lord.

“Father, with our Bibles open, we humbly pray for the help of the Holy Spirit so that we might not only understand what it says, but that we might obey it and have a life-changing encounter with You – the Living God. There’s no way that this can happen simply as a result of the voice of a mere man; so we look away from me and my words to You and to Your holy Word. Meet us, we pray, for Christ’s sake, amen.”

Just a moment ago, I mentioned that Paul uses the Greek word peripateó here, and indeed he’s going to highlight three kinds of walking and we’re going to look at each of them. Today, obviously, we’re going to look at what it means to “walk in love” (v. 2), and next week we’re going to consider what it means to “walk in light” (v. 8), and then on the 18th we’ll focus on “walking in wisdom” (v. 15).

But this is not the first time that Paul has used this language in this letter. In Ephesians 2 he says, “you were dead in the trespasses and sins in which you once walked… But God, being rich in mercy, because of the great love with which He loved us, even when we were dead in our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ – by grace you have been saved…” Remember that? Then, a little later in Ephesians 2 he says, “[w]e are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them.” And in chapter 4 we read, “I therefore, a prisoner for the Lord, urge you to walk in a manner worthy of the calling to which you have been called.” And finally, “Now this I say and testify in the Lord, that you must no longer walk as the Gentiles do, in the futility of their minds.” So, this isn’t new vocabulary for Paul, but he is going to take this image of walking and apply it to our daily lives.

And let me just make one final comment, if I may, before we unpack this text. We need to be ever so careful that we don’t relegate this teaching to some ancient people who lived a long, long time ago in a land far, far away. If that’s the case, then why are we even studying it. No, because this text is the inspired Word of God, what we have in front of us is not only a pattern for the believers in Ephesus, but for all believers, in all circumstances, and for all times. Please don’t close your ears to these things because you don’t think they apply to our world today. Absolutely, not. This is as relevant as it gets for the church. I believe it was G.K. Chesterton that said, “We do not want a church that will move with the world. We want a church that will move the world.”

We’re going to break this down into four points; and the first is…

The Call to Walk in Love

The passage begins with these words, “Therefore be imitators of God, as beloved children. And walk in love…” The Greek word for “imitator” is the word mimétés. It’s the basis of our English word “mimic.” That’s what Paul says we’re to do. Copy God. John Bertram Phillips was an English clergyman who translated the New Testament into modern English. His version – the J.B. Phillips New Testament – reads like this, “As children copy their fathers you, as God’s children, are to copy Him.”

Last week, I quoted a Paul Overstreet song and someone commented on it. Well, here’s another one: Seein’ My Father In Me. He writes:

I’m seein’ my father in me
I guess that’s how it’s meant to be
And I find I’m more and more like him each day
I notice I walk the way he walks
I notice I talk the way he talks
I’m startin’ to see my father in me

How wonderful would it be if people were to say that about us in relation to God, as our heavenly Father. That’s what Paul is saying here. And, a reasonable follow-up question would be, “Ok, Paul, how do I go about imitating God?” Here we go, “Walk in love” (v. 2). Eugene Peterson’s paraphrase of the Bible, called The Message, puts it like this: “Watch what God does, and then you do it, like children who learn proper behavior from their parents. Mostly what God does is love you. Keep company with Him and learn a life of love.”

Look back to the last verse of Chapter 4. We know, for example, that we’re imitating God when we’re kind, tenderhearted, and forgiving. Paul isn’t giving us instruction that we can just read into any old way we want. “So, what does it mean to you to walk in love?” “I was thinking this.” “No, I was thinking that.” “No, your both wrong, it’s this.” No, no, Paul says, at the beginning of Chapter 4, “I urge you to walk in a manner worthy of the calling to which you have been called.” So, there’s a way that you can walk, a way that you can talk, a way that you can live that will set forth the glory and honor of God.

Those of us that have children know exactly what Paul is talking about. You send your children to a birthday party when they’re small and you say to them, “Now, look, when you get there, make sure that you look the person in the eye and that you tell them ‘thank you.’ And then when the party is over, you do it again and you come home. Do you understand?” Your child says, “Got it.” And then your child hops out of the car and runs up to the house, and you realize (in that moment) that your family’s reputation is riding on the shoulders of that little rascal.

You see, something of the nature of my family and your family is represented in our children. So, God the Father, through the Spirit, via the apostle Paul, says to the Church, “Walk in love; you’re My beloved children. And realize this; it’s an amazing privilege to be My child and it brings with it a phenomenal responsibility.” Because the world is going to make deductions about the nature of God based upon the expressions of the children of God. And that leads us to our second point…

The Case for Walking in Love

Jesus Christ Himself is our pattern, our example, our model for what it means to walk in love: “And walk in love, as Christ loved us and gave Himself up for us, a fragrant offering and sacrifice to God.” Paul almost always defines the love of God in terms of the cross of Jesus Christ. In Romans, Paul put it this way, “God shows His love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us” (5:8). The verse that we all memorized as children, “For God so loved the world that He gave His one and only Son that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have eternal life” (John 3:16). Augustine said, “The cross is the pulpit from which God preaches His love to the world.” Do you see it? The love of God is highlighted in the cross of Jesus.

Paul uses that familiar phrase from the Old Testament, “…a fragrant offering and sacrifice to God,” which goes all the way back to the institution of sacrifices. When a sacrifice was offered on an altar, the smell would rise up to heaven and be received by God as pleasing. All of those Old Testament sacrifices were pointing to the sacrifice made once for all time (Hebrews 10:12), made by the Lord Jesus, who was “led like a lamb to the slaughter, and like a sheep that before its shearers is silent, so He opened not His mouth” (Isaiah 53:7) but gave Himself up for us all (Romans 8:32). Since He’s given us all things, how then, shall we not also seek to give Him our very lives. Our walking in love must flow from and correspond to that of the Lord Jesus.

Paul now takes a detour and instead of continuing to talk about love, he exposes what some try to substitute in place of love in the church.

The Counterfeit to Walking in Love

I can’t emphasize this enough, so listen closely. Paul is not writing to the culture. He’s not voicing his displeasure with the world. He’s speaking to the church. He’s exhorting the church. See, I find in myself a tendency to read verses like this and immediately apply them to somebody else. And if we’re not careful, then we’ll say something like, “This is a message that our culture desperately needs to hear.” All the while, this isn’t a message written to the culture, but rather a message delivered to those who claim to be in Christ.

Whenever God does something good and beautiful and redemptive, Satan is there with a counterfeit that ultimately becomes bad and ugly and condemning. And the sad reality is that although we’re saints by virtue of our position in Christ, we’re sinners in our performance of His will. This doesn’t provide us with an excuse to throw up our hands and give in. No, it’s just the reality of being in the world, but not being of the world.

Notice what Paul says, “But sexual immorality and all impurity or covetousness must not even be named among you… Let there be no filthiness nor foolish talk nor crude joking, which are out of place…” So, what he’s saying is this. You, Ephesians, living in this place need to be sure that you don’t allow the prevailing standards of a godless culture to influence your thinking in such a way as to take morally abnormal behavior and make it normal. Whew! Is this not a message for those of us here today? You better believe it!

Mountain Hill Community Church needs to hear this as much as the congregation in Ephesus, because the thought patterns and sexual expressions of our day are so constant and so impressive and so prevailing that unless we bring our lives under the jurisdiction and authority of the Bible – unless we’re prepared to say, “Believing in the Bible, for me, actually means believing the Bible. And that means really trying to do what it says I ought to do and not doing those things it says I shouldn’t do.” – if that’s not where we stand, then we’ll just pick and choose those attitudes and behaviors and thought patterns that we like and we’ll just discard those that we don’t like.

I don’t think it’s particularly helpful for me to unpack each of these terms. I did that in my preparation for today’s sermon, but I think we can safely say, “We get it.” Right? I mean, the average 10-year old can read this and say, “I know what he’s saying,” and so do we. What I’d really like to point out to us is that Paul actually raises the bar. Notice, Paul doesn’t just say, “Don’t do these things.” He actually takes it a bit further. The NIV translates verse 3 this way, “But among you there must not be even a hint of…” Paul says that the people of God shouldn’t even allow this kind of sexual nonsense to become the framework that you engage one another on. He’s even going to go further (look at verse 12) and say, “For it is shameful even to mention what the disobedient do in secret.” That’s a high standard. That’s radical.

He’s removing every possible sexual sin that works against the covenant of marriage. The fact of the matter is this; regardless of what you hear on the news, or read in social media and Twitter feeds, the nature of God’s purpose in human sexuality is within the framework of a covenant relationship that is heterosexual, that is monogamous, and lifelong. Everything and anything that’s outside of that is abhorrent to a holy God. The fact that a culture has rejected that, and is filled with that, only heightens the responsibility of the people of God to say, “We’re actually different than that.” And today, the line that’s being drawn in the sand on human sexuality is diametrically opposed to the exclusive claims of Jesus and the authority of the Bible.

Now, again, let me gently remind you, this was not written to the Ephesian culture. It’s not written for 21st century American culture. It’s directed at the church. And you say, “Ah, pastor, I’m too old for this. We’re beyond the age of sexual excitement.” First off, don’t be fooled. Depending on the studies somewhere around 68% of church-going men and over 50% of pastors view pornographic sites on a regular basis. And the ladies aren’t far behind (at 33%), with 87% of Christian women admitting to have watched porn at some point in their lives. And secondly, even if those statistics regarding sexual immorality don’t describe you, don’t miss verse 4, which describes filthy language, foolish talk, and crude joking. I think there’s one word to describe us all – guilty.

The bottom line is this (and we’ll move to our last point); Satan’s counterfeit strategies don’t work. If the American Church, and the homes and families that represent her, ever turned in their fascination with lust and, instead, chose God’s plan of love, our country would become a better place. That bring us to our last point…

The Cost of Not Walking in Love

There’s a serious cost to rejecting God’s command to walk in love. Verses 5 says there’s “…no inheritance in the kingdom of Christ and God…” and verse 6 says, “…the wrath of God comes upon the sons of disobedience…” Now, this does NOT mean that a Christian who has ever committed immoral and impure acts will lose their salvation. No, Paul is referring to a lifestyle – a person who willfully, knowingly, and regularly lives this way and is comfortable with it.

Eugene Peterson’s rendering of 1 John 3:9-10 says it beautifully: “People conceived and brought into life by God don’t make it a practice to sin. How could they? God’s Spirit is deep inside them, making them who they are. It’s not the nature of the God-begotten to practice and parade sin. Here’s how you tell the difference between God’s children and the Devil’s children. The one who won’t practice righteous ways isn’t from God, nor is the one who won’t love his brother or sister.”

I know that this has been a little uncomfortable. But this is one of the benefits of going book by book, chapter by chapter, and verse by verse. We’re forced to confront these texts. Someone once said that the Bible was a case of in-your-face grace – and it is. No holds barred. God wants us to be holy by following the example of Jesus, and the indwelling of the Holy Spirit of God can and will help us achieve this. Warm and fuzzy preaching will give you permission to participate in a lifestyle of immoral and impure behavior. After all, we don’t want to offend anyone. Don’t be deceived by the prophets of promiscuity and the teachings of tolerance. Mimic God. Copy God. Be an imitator of God and walk in love.

Cultivating Holiness – Ephesians 4:25-32

• June 28, 2021
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Ephesians 4:25-32

Let me invite you to take your copy of God’s Word and turn with me to Ephesians 4:25-32. As you’re finding your spot, which should be well-worn by now, let me share a phrase that’s become far too frequent in our age. “They found each other on Facebook.” If I had a dollar for every time that sentence has been the occasion of a bad story, then we could all go to lunch. You say, “Well pastor, you’ve never been a fan of Facebook. You don’t have to be so mean.” The comment isn’t a criticism of Facebook, per se. There are clearly benefits of social media, but those benefits don’t come on their own and there are peculiar dangers to them.

The one to which I allude is the opportunity that it creates for “happily married” couples to search the internet for and find and to re-engage with friends and lovers from their past. And somebody may say, “Yes, but it’s completely possible for someone to do that without it leading to divorce or separation.” And while that’s true, it is a potential emotional loophole. It is, in my experience, as I’ve spoken with people, an occasion for giving the devil a foothold.

Therefore, wisdom says (as does the book of Proverbs), you don’t go down that road, you don’t go by that place, and you don’t approach those areas. So, if that’s true in the physical world, then it’s certainly true when you’re scrolling and scanning and searching social media.

What does this have to do with our text from Ephesians 4? Well, you see, when you get married everything changes. When a man and a woman become husband and wife they sever, once and for all, the ties and associations and affections that were a part of their singleness. I’m not suggesting that all relationships have to be terminated; only that those romantic and emotional connections must be put aside.

In fact, the Bible even goes a step further and says that in some ways parental connections must be severed too: “Therefore a man shall leave his father and his mother and hold fast to his wife, and they shall become one flesh” (Genesis 2:24). And that union is the closest union that we have in humanity. Once that covenant has been established, it needs to be ratified 60 seconds a minute, 60 minutes an hour, 24 hours a day, 365 days a year, for the rest of our lives. And indeed, it’s our new identity within the framework of marriage that constrains, and controls, and directs all of our activity as it relates to the other relationships in our lives.

Paul Overstreet has written a number of songs. Most of you don’t listen to country music because you’re intelligent, but for those of us that do, one of his hits from the mid-1980s was a song titled On the Other Hand. It’s classic country-western play on words and it talks about a married man speaking with a woman that’s not his wife and the chorus says:

But on the other hand
There’s a golden band
To remind me of someone
Who would not understand
On one hand, I could stay (aah)
And be your lovin’ man
But the reason I must go
Is on the other hand

Paul is warning here about giving the devil a foothold, and while I know that it’s not a perfect analogy, it’s a fair one. Insofar as we’ve been united to Christ – bride and bridegroom, and we a part of that as we are in Christ – we have put off the old man and put on the new man. We were previously “in Adam” but now we’re “in Christ,” and it’s because of our being “in Christ” that certain aspects of our faith need to be worked out on a daily basis just like they do in marriage.

In essence, what Paul is saying is this. As a single person, you used to be able to go out whenever and wherever you wanted to, but when you got married that “sowing wild oats” thing changed (or at least it was supposed to). And in the case of the Ephesians (and you and me) they were formerly in a world marked by darkness, but are now in a kingdom marked by light. Those personal characteristics that once marked their lifestyles need to be removed and replaced with behaviors that are more consistent with who they are in Jesus.

25 Therefore, having put away falsehood, let each one of you speak the truth with his neighbor, for we are members one of another. 26 Be angry and do not sin; do not let the sun go down on your anger, 27 and give no opportunity to the devil. 28 Let the thief no longer steal, but rather let him labor, doing honest work with his own hands, so that he may have something to share with anyone in need. 29 Let no corrupting talk come out of your mouths, but only such as is good for building up, as fits the occasion, that it may give grace to those who hear. 30 And do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, by whom you were sealed for the day of redemption. 31 Let all bitterness and wrath and anger and clamor and slander be put away from you, along with all malice. 32 Be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, as God in Christ forgave you.

“Speak, O Lord, as we wait in the stillness on Thee. Hush our hearts to listen in expectancy. Speak, O blessed Master, in this quiet hour; let us see Your face, Lord, feel Your touch of power. Fill us with the knowledge of Your glorious will; all Your own good pleasure in Your children fulfill. For we pray in Jesus’ name, amen.”

I’ve mentioned this before but it bears repeating again and again, because we continue to make the error in our theology and also in our daily living. Paul is not providing a “How to Become A Christian” manual. If you’re tempted to read or hear these verses as a list of things you’re supposed to do in order to get on the right side with God and thereby call yourself a Christian, then you’ve missed the point. What Paul is describing is the nature of progress in Christian discipleship. It’s what pastors and theologians and bible teachers refer to as sanctification – the ongoing process of taking off the old and putting on the new.

And Paul discusses five (5) areas of our lives that should stand out as being radically different from the world so that people know there’s something different about us. The first is…

OUR MORALITY

Look at verse 25 again, “Therefore, having put away falsehood, let each one of you speak the truth with his neighbor, for we are members one of another.” Lying was part of the everyday culture in Ephesus, even as it is n our day. We’ve experienced the tragic consequences of lying – particularly last year. When lies are spoken as frequently as the truth, there ceases to be a practical difference. No one knows what to believe. Paul says we’re to put away lying and speak the truth with one another.

Now, you might be tempted to ask, “What’s so bad about a little white lie every now and then?” First off, even asking the question suggests that we’ve allowed permission for it. Let me ask you something. When you’re raising children, do you dangle the exception or do you stick to the rule? “Well, it’s ok to smoke every now and then – just don’t make it a habit. Just a little sip of alcohol won’t hurt you this time.” No! Most of us want to steer our children in the right direction. Sure, we know they’re going to be exposed to it at some point in their early adulthood, but we stand strong on the rule. Why? Because to give an inch sometimes means taking a mile. Secondly, God has a problem with lying. Jesus claimed to be the way, the truth, and the life (John 14:6). Therefore, lying is contrary to the nature and character of Jesus. And when we do something against the nature and character of Jesus we’re actually doing something in favor of someone else: The Devil – the father of lies.

As you think about how simple this instruction is: speak the truth, I want you to also think about our marching orders as believers. Jesus told us to go and make disciples. We’re supposed to share the Good News of Jesus, right? We’re supposed to urge people to confess their sins and accept the free gift of God’s grace in Christ, right? Right. So, if people don’t identify you as being a person of your word, if you can’t be trusted because you’ve told one too many lies, then how do you expect them to listen to your godly counsel? Speak the truth.

Being a truth-teller doesn’t mean you tell every piece of truthful information you know. This is especially true when it comes to confession. While the church should be characterized by people that are vulnerable and honest with one another, we need to be careful not to air our dirty laundry in the wrong context. We can speak the truth without all of the details.

OUR MOODS

The next area is our moods. Look at verses 26-27, “Be angry, and do not sin; do not let the sun go down on your anger, and give no opportunity to the devil.” Paul says, “You’re going to have to learn how to be angry at the right things and for the right reasons.” Not all anger is wrong. It says it right there (in the Bible), “Be angry…” Now don’t be using this at lunch when you get upset at your waiter or you spouse or whoever for not preparing the meal to your liking. Well, I’m just doing what the Bible says. No, be angry, but do not sin. That’s the part we mess up on.

You see, the problem with anger is that so many of us are not good at controlling it so we’ve told ourselves and other people that to be angry is a sin. No, no, we need to learn how to control our anger and make sure that we’re angry at the right things and for the right reasons. Jesus’s anger was righteous because it was never self-centered. He didn’t get angry over being mistreated, himself. He didn’t get angry when people judged him erroneously. He didn’t get angry over being led to the cross to die. No, Jesus got angry about injustices done to others. In fact, when the church fails to get angry at the blatant defiance of God’s Word, it’s not a sign of Christian maturity, it’s a sign of moral laxity.

How can Christians not be angry over abortion? How can we not be angry at child abuse or elder abuse? Domestic violence? The legalization of addictive and life-destroying drugs? Racial prejudice and inequality and injustice? We’re called to be angry, but we need to be angry about the right things and for the right reasons.

Anger turns from being righteous to being sinful when our anger becomes self-centered, vengeful, and vindictive. He even tells us that if we don’t deal with it correctly that it will become bitterness, “Do not let the sun go down on your anger…” When we fail to keep our anger in focus on the right things and for the right reasons it becomes an open door for the Devil; to give him a foothold in our lives.

OUR MONEY

Third, we’re to put away stealing and put on sharing. Look at verse 28, “Let the thief no longer steal, but rather let him labor, doing honest work with his own hands, so that he may have something to share with anyone in need.” You say, “Hey, this doesn’t really apply to us. We’ve all worked for our retirements and invested wisely. I’m no thief.” I hope so. I pray so. But if you think that Christians can’t be tempted to steal, then you’re not in touch with reality. A simple search on the internet will turn up all sorts of cases, and some quite recently, where hundreds of thousands of dollars were embezzled by believers.

And it’s not just stealing money. For those of you that own and operate businesses, you know the costs associated with employees calling out when they don’t have the vacation or personal time. The costs of wasting time on the job. Stealing isn’t solely a matter of money, although that’s the primary way we think about it. Paul was rather blunt when he wrote about this to the Thessalonian congregation. He said, “If anyone is not willing to work, let him not eat. For we hear that some among you walk in idleness, not busy at work, but busybodies” (2 Thessalonians 3:10-11).

You say, “Yeah, but what about the people in our society that can’t work?” That’s covered in the verse – labor, doing honest work, so that you may have something to share with anyone in need. Before you and I become followers of God the equation went something like this. You work in order to keep. Now, having experience the radical transformative work of the Holy Spirit the equation goes like this. You work in order to give.

One of my favorite stories from Bill Canata was that on occasion, he would tip the wait staff the same amount as the total bill. So, if the total was 57.37, then he’d pay the bill and add 57.37 as a tip. Now, I know that there are many of you that do that kind of a thing, and I’m thankful. But it’s a sad fact that many waiters and waitresses report getting their smallest tips from Christian customers. How will people ever believe in Jesus if all they ever encounter are Christians with closed hands.

OUR MOUTHS

Paul continues to hit close to home when he talks about our speech (vs. 29-30), “Let no corrupt word proceed out of your mouth, but what is good for necessary edification, that it may impart grace to the hearers.” Again, be careful that you don’t hear these verses as ways to earn God’s favor. We can easily be convinced that Christianity is nothing more than behavior modification. If the person looks this way, and dresses that way, and talks this way, and doesn’t do this, and so forth, well then, they must be a Christian. Certainly, we’re being encouraged to live distinct and different from the rest of the world, and indeed, sometimes those behaviors do lead us to the right conclusion: the person is a believer. But just doing right deeds and speaking right things doesn’t make someone a Christian.

The word that Paul uses here for corrupt is a Greek word that means “rotten.” It’s a word they associated with the dead body of an animal, or rotten food. It’s garbage. Coincidentally, that’s why we refer to it as “dirty language.” This is one of the greatest pressures for teenagers. At least it was for me. To be lily white in your speech just wasn’t cool. The same might be true in old age; especially on the golf course. Right? I mean it’s almost unavoidable. Our world is so full of people that don’t give it a second thought: this word and that word and sometimes stringing multiple words together. It’s just a sewer pipe coming out of their mouths.

But notice that Paul doesn’t just limit it to the negative. He also encourages the positive. Replace the negative with the positive. Instead of foul language, our mouth should be a source of edification, building up, and blessing. You want to know how you can be a blessing to someone this week without having to open your Bible and walk them down the Romans Road of salvation? Speak words of hope and encouragement and love. There’s so much negative communication in our world, that the opportunity for grace and mercy in our speech is never-ending.

OUR MANNERS

Paul concludes with what I’m calling “good manners.” Look at verses 31-32. You’ll notice that he uses some of the same words as earlier, but they’re strung together instead of being treated separately. He starts with putting off meanness: “Let all bitterness and wrath and anger and clamor and slander be put away from you, along with all malice.” There are six (6) traits mentioned in verse 31, and while this isn’t an exhaustive list of mean character traits I do find it interesting that there are six of them. The number 6 is one less than 7, which is a number associated with perfection and divinity and holiness. So, in biblical numerology the number 6 is associated with being less than holy, less than divine, less than perfect. Indeed, the number 6 is associated with the Evil One. In the book of Revelation, we’re told that the number of the Beast is 666 – a trinity of unholiness.

Now think about this for a minute. If you invited a co-worker or a neighbor or a family member to come to church with you and they showed up to the same kind of drama and nonsense that goes on in the office – all the stupid double-talk and slander and in-fighting – then how in the world will they receive the gospel. If this Jesus-thing really transforms people, then why are you acting the way you are. Do you see; this is extremely practical.

But just as before, Paul doesn’t only hit the negative expression of these behaviors, he also encourages replacement with holy behaviors. Again, I’m trying not to draw too much attention to this, because the text doesn’t fully support it. But notice how many positive character traits are mentioned (3). In the Bible, the number three (3) is always associated with God.

• Instead of being bitter and full of wrath, be kind.
• Instead of being angry and clamorous, be tenderhearted.
• Instead of speaking evil and being malicious, be forgiving.

In the world, it’s every man for himself; claw your way to the top; look out for “numero uno;” do what you have to do to get what you want. Success is the primary virtue, so everything is justified as a means to that end. But Paul says, “You have not learned Christ in that way” (Ephesians 4:20). Jesus wasn’t like that. The Holy Spirit would never lead any Christian to be anything but kind, tenderhearted, and forgiving. And in our world, that’s radical living.

Thomas Heaney’s Funeral

• June 26, 2021
• Pastor
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WELCOME

On behalf of Tracey, Briggs, Prentice, Meredith and the entire Heaney family, I would like to thank you for taking the time out of your weekend schedule to come and be a part of this service. And not just for attending today, but also for the cards, calls, e-mails, hugs, and other expressions of love and support that you have offered to them during these past several days, weeks, and months – particularly during Thomas’s battle with cancer.

If I may, I’d also like to extend an apology on behalf of the family. If you’re one of the many that have not gotten a response to an e-mail, or a letter, or a call, it’s not because they’re not trying. And I hope you will charge that to their circumstances and memory, rather than their hearts. They’re forever grateful for your kindness and love.

I would also like to take a moment and remind each of us that we are not here solely to remember Thomas Heaney: a dear husband, father, brother, uncle, or grandfather. And we aren’t here only to honor our friend and neighbor, although that is one of the purposes of this service. There are two more reasons we gather: to bring comfort and encouragement to his family, and to give exaltation and worship to the Lord, Jesus Christ, “in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins” (Colossians 1:14).

Let me also share a few personal thoughts about Thomas, if I may. The man I came to know and love may look and sound dramatically different from the one you knew. And if that’s the case, then let me assure you it’s because he had a radical encounter with Jesus, later in life. You see, I think that Thomas feared that if someone else eulogized him, they might falsely represent him to be something he wasn’t – that they might only tell the “good” parts about him, rather than the whole truth. And they just might say something like, “Thomas Heaney was the best, the kindest, the bravest, the most generous, the most selfless, single-minded and interesting man I ever knew.”

So, let me begin by telling you what I think Thomas would want me to tell you about himself. He tried to be good. He tried to live up to the ideals that all of us believe in, but even on his best days he was woefully imperfect. At times he could be the most stubborn, bull-headed, inflexible, narrow-minded person you could ever meet. He struggled with alcoholism and other addictive behaviors that strained relationships and threatened his marriage. He sometimes lost control of his tongue and said things with words or in ways that he later regretted and had to apologize for.

In short, Thomas, would want me to make clear to you that while he was what we would all call a “good and decent man,” he was still plain and simple (like all of us) – a sinner – imperfect in all he ever did and always in need of God’s forgiveness. And I know why Thomas would want me to tell you these things, because he would not want this day to be so much about him but about his Lord and Savior, Jesus. He would want you to know that he will not enter heaven because he was good, but because Jesus was good and because Jesus died for him. He would want me to tell you these things so that you wouldn’t be tempted to leave here today saying, “I wish I could be more like Thomas Heaney”, but rather that you would leave saying, “I wish I could be more like Thomas Heaney’s Savior.”

INVOCATION

Eternal Father, You who are the God of all mercies and comfort; look with compassion, we pray, upon all gathered here now, that our minds and hearts will be focused on Your never-ending love for us. Grant that this service of comfort, which we now hold in Your name, may bring to all a sense of heavenly nearness and great trust in You. And may the peace of Christ, even the peace that passes all understanding, abide with us and rest upon all of us. We offer this prayer to You, O Lord, in the name of Your son, Jesus. Amen.

HYMN 343 – “AMAZING GRACE”

SCRIPTURE – ECCLESIASTES 3:1-15

1 For everything there is a season, and a time for every matter under heaven:

2 a time to be born, and a time to die;
a time to plant, and a time to pluck up what is planted;
3 a time to kill, and a time to heal;
a time to break down, and a time to build up;
4 a time to weep, and a time to laugh;
a time to mourn, and a time to dance;
5 a time to cast away stones, and a time to gather stones together;
a time to embrace, and a time to refrain from embracing;
6 a time to seek, and a time to lose;
a time to keep, and a time to cast away;
7 a time to tear, and a time to sew;
a time to keep silence, and a time to speak;
8 a time to love, and a time to hate;
a time for war, and a time for peace.

9 What gain has the worker from his toil? 10 I have seen the business that God has given to the children of man to be busy with. 11 He has made everything beautiful in its time. Also, he has put eternity into man’s heart, yet so that he cannot find out what God has done from the beginning to the end. 12 I perceived that there is nothing better for them than to be joyful and to do good as long as they live; 13 also that everyone should eat and drink and take pleasure in all his toil – this is God’s gift to man.

14 I perceived that whatever God does endures forever; nothing can be added to it, nor anything taken from it. God has done it, so that people fear before him. 15 That which is, already has been; that which is to be, already has been; and God seeks what has been driven away.

POEM – “REMEMBERED JOY”

Don’t grieve for me, For now I’m free!

I follow the plan God laid for me.
I saw His face, I heard His call,
I took His hand and left it all…

I could not stay another day,
To love, to laugh, to work or play;
Tasks left undone must stay that way.
And if my parting has left a void,
Then fill it with remembered joy.

A friendship shared, a laugh, a kiss…
Ah yes, these things I, too, shall miss.
My life’s been full, I’ve savoured much:
Good times, good friends, a loved-one’s touch.

Perhaps my time seemed all too brief –
Don’t shorten yours with undue grief.
Be not burdened with tears of sorrow,
Enjoy the sunshine of the morrow.

PASTORAL PRAYER

“Our God and Father, You laugh with us and cry with us; You, walk with us each step of the way, carrying us when our strength fails. We gather today with grieving hearts and voices crying out words of lament.

And so, we ask that You would move in and around us today. As we remember and say goodbye to Thomas, be the shoulder we cry on and the arm we lean on. Help us, we pray, to see through the veil of tears that there is hope and life after death – through faith and trust in Jesus Christ.

Gracious God, as mysterious and wondrous as You are, You’re also a compassionate God: attentive, tender, watchful, and protective. So, we come, asking that your Holy Spirit would be here to ease our pain.

As we give thanks for all that Thomas added to our lives, and the lives of others around him, as we release our tears and anger, as we say our goodbyes, remind us that we are not alone. You, O God, our Savior and Friend, are with us. Your Word says that You will never leave us or abandon us. May we know this in our heads and feel it in our hearts. For we pray in Jesus’s name, Amen.”

SOLO – “GOING HOME”

MESSAGE

The last passage of scripture that I shared with Thomas was John 14:1-7. It’s listed in your program. These verses are among a collection that every pastor carries in his heart and mind when he goes to visit people who are approaching the end of life’s journey. In this particular instance, it was the first time that I shared these words with someone actually bearing the same name as the disciple in the text, and that was especially meaningful for us both. Follow along with me, as I read John 14:1-7:

1 “Let not your hearts be troubled. Believe in God; believe also in me. 2 In my Father’s house are many rooms. If it were not so, would I have told you that I go to prepare a place for you? 3 And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and will take you to Myself, that where I am you may be also. 4 And you know the way to where I am going.” 5 Thomas said to Him, “Lord, we do not know where You are going. How can we know the way?” 6 Jesus said to him, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me. 7 If you had known Me, you would have known My Father also. From now on you do know Him and have seen Him.”

The apostle Thomas sometimes gets a bad rap. Outside of this scene, there are only two other places where Thomas’s comments are captured in the pages of the Bible. The first is in John 11, when word reaches Jesus and the disciples that Lazarus has died, and Thomas says, “Let us also go, that we may die with him.” And, of course, the last time is in John 20, where Thomas doubts the resurrection of Jesus. That’s probably the scene most of us are familiar with because that’s where Thomas gets his nickname – doubting Thomas. The wonderful thing is, however, that it was the question of a doubting man that provoked one of the greatest statements Jesus ever made.

Nobody needs to be ashamed of his/her doubts – as long as they come from a genuine heart. It’s an amazing and blessed truth that the person who genuinely and honestly seeks will, in the end, find. And your friend and mine, Thomas Heaney, was lovingly drawn by the hand of God into a relationship with Christ Jesus.

I want to focus ever so briefly on Jesus’s response to Thomas because it’s not only essential; it’s eternal. It’s not just important, it’s immortal. It’s not only Jesus’s response to Thomas, the apostle, but it was Jesus’s response to Thomas Heaney.

Folks, listen to me, when it comes to the time of your own death, when you’re the one in the casket, when you’re lying there holding your wife’s hand or your children are crowded around the bed, you had better know – in your head and in your heart – that Jesus is the way, the truth, and the life. And keep in mind that it was Jesus who said that no one comes to God, the Father, nobody enters the gates of heaven, except through Him. This is the truth of the gospel, and it’s what your friend and mine believed and was convinced of and why he died in perfect peace.

THOMAS RECOGNIZED JESUS AS THE WAY

There are a lot of voices in our world that offer advice and direction on how to get to heaven and how to be with God. One of those voices says, “Just be a ‘good’ person.” The interesting thing about that instruction – when you begin considering it and investigating it – is that you find out there’s no unified definition for what people consider “good.” In fact, what you discover is that most people are their own judges of what counts as “good.” Moreover, their own standards of “goodness” change. Yesterday it was “good” to tell the truth, but today, in the pickle I’ve gotten myself into, not so much. Yesterday it was “good” to be faithful in my marriage, but today, since you no longer satisfy my sexual desires or my emotional needs or my financial needs or whatever, I think it’s time for us to go our separate ways. Yesterday it was “good” to attend worship on Sunday, but today, I think I’ll go to the lake instead.

I could go on and talk about how yesterday it was “good” not to murder, but today we just re-define human life (on both ends of the spectrum, the unborn and the elderly). I could remind you that yesterday it was “good” not to take the name of the Lord God in vain, but today; well, I might just mess somebody’s golf game up if I take that off the table.

Another voice in our world says, “All faiths, all belief systems, all religions lead to heaven.” That’s clearly not possible because not all faiths and religions even acknowledge Jesus, and those that do (Islam and Judaism, in particular) try to bypass Him altogether. There’s simply no getting around the exclusive claim that Jesus makes.

Most of you remember the days before navigation and smart phones. Back then you had to use paper maps or write out directions. Occasionally you’d get somebody that said this: “Take the 1st right, and then the 2nd left. Cross the town square, go past the church, take the 3rd right and the road you want is the 4th on the left.” Chances are, you’d be lost before you made the first right. But suppose the person says, “Follow me. I’ll take you there.”

That’s what Jesus does for anybody that follows Him. He doesn’t just give advice and direction. He takes you by the hand and leads you; He strengthens and guides every day. He doesn’t just tell us about the way; He is the way. Our friend and brother, Thomas Heaney, acknowledged Jesus as the only way to the Father. Have you?

THOMAS RECOGNIZED JESUS AS THE TRUTH

Not only does Jesus say that He’s the way to the Father, the way to heaven, but He also says that He’s the truth. Jesus is the embodiment of what is true. You and I have the capacity to tell the truth. Hopefully, we seek to teach the truth and speak the truth. But nobody except for Jesus was fully and purely truth wrapped in human form.

The beginning of John’s gospel contains these words. If you’ve ever been to church during the Advent season, just before Christmas, then you might have heard them. John 1 says, “The Word became flesh and made His dwelling among us. We have seen His glory, the glory of the one and only Son, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth… For the law was given through Moses; grace and truth came through Jesus Christ.”

Jesus was identical with the truth. This meant that everything He said and did… the life He lived in the flesh… everything about Jesus was in lockstep with ultimate reality. And therefore, to reject Him is to choose to govern one’s self with a lie. Thomas acknowledged Jesus as the way to the Father, because he recognized that Jesus was only and always telling the truth.

In fact, in verses 8-11, which aren’t printed in your program, the conversation shifts to another disciple named Philip. Listen to what he says: “8 Philip said to him, ‘Lord, show us the Father, and it is enough for us.’ 9 Jesus said to him, ‘Have I been with you so long, and you still do not know me, Philip? Whoever has seen Me has seen the Father. How can you say, “Show us the Father?” 10 Do you not believe that I am in the Father and the Father is in me? The words that I say to you I do not speak on My own authority, but the Father who dwells in Me does His works. 11 Believe me, that I am in the Father and the Father is in me, or else believe on account of the works themselves.”

In case you missed it, Jesus said that He and God were and are the same. Jesus claims to be the virtual, true, living manifestation of God Himself. We want the doctor to be truthful with us about what she sees on the scans. We want our friends to be truthful so that we’ll feel comfortable leaving our pets in their care when we go on vacation. We want the truth in so many areas of our lives, but when we’re confronted with the truth of Jesus we turn the other way.

Thomas embraced Jesus as the truth – not only for this earthly life, but also for the life everlasting.

THOMAS RECOGNIZED JESUS AS THE LIFE

Not only is Jesus the way to the Father, and not only is Jesus the truth concerning the Father, but He’s also the life. The verse that we all grew up memorizing says, “For God so loved the world that He gave His one and only Son that whosoever believes in Him should not die but have everlasting life” (John 3:16). John 10:10 says, “The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy. I came that they may have life and have it abundantly.” In John 11, at the tomb of His friend, Lazarus, we hear Jesus utter these words, “Whoever believes in Me, though he die, yet shall he live, and everyone who lives and believes in Me shall never die” (John 11:25-26).

This idea that Jesus is life – physical and spiritual – isn’t just to be found in John’s gospel. No, Paul says in Romans 6:23, “For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.” And once again in Ephesians 2:8-9, “For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, not a result of works, so that no one may boast.” Or how about Galatians 2:20, “I have been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me. And the life I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me.”

Over and over, the Bible points to Jesus as the giver and sustainer of spiritual life. Thomas Heaney reached a point in his life about 3 year ago – right over there in what we call the Parlor, the old sanctuary – where he understood that the only-begotten Son of God became man for his sake and suffered in his place and he realized “There’s hope for me.” Are you here today and need to be reconciled to God? Your only hope – indeed the hope of the entire world – of ever being reconciled to God is on the cross. It’s through Jesus, and only through Jesus, that you, me, your neighbor or the stranger sitting beside you or in front or behind you has the hope of ever being the friend of God.

My friends, Thomas wants you to be in heaven. I hope you know that. There’s a hard edge to the gospel that says, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me.” We get there because of what Jesus has done for us. And Thomas wants all of you – people he loved and who loved him – to be in heaven. So, as I conclude, I believe that if Thomas were here today he would want to say (especially to his family), “Please, please, come to Christ. Give Him your heart. Give Him your life. Give Him everything. You will never regret it. Trust Christ. Serve Christ. Love Christ. Honor Christ. Die with Christ. And rise to new life with Christ.”

BENEDICTION

Heavenly Father, at a time when we’re acutely aware of death, we thank You for Your living presence with us. Your unfailing company with us gives us comfort for today and courage for tomorrow.

In Your Son, Jesus Christ, You have revealed Yourself as a God of grace and a God of glory. Through the life of Jesus we’ve been blessed; through His death we’ve been redeemed; and through His resurrection we’ve been filled with vibrant hope.

Lord, in our sorrow help us to look to the risen Christ. Help us to truly believe that what You did for Him You will do for us. You raised Him from the dead to give Him eternal life. Remind us that You have promised eternal life to all who believe in You through faith in Your Son. On this difficult day, lead each of us
to a deeper level of resurrection faith.

We thank You, O God, for Thomas’s life and the opportunity to share it with him. We’re grateful for his faith, witness, and influence upon his family, friends, church and community.

We pray especially for this sweet family. May they feel Your comforting presence with them and know Your perfect peace. May they experience the reality of Your sustaining strength. May they realize our love for them and be encouraged through our prayers for them each day.

And Lord, once again, we’re reminded of the brevity of life today. Help us to live each day with a deep sense of gratitude for Your blessings, a deep commitment to Jesus Christ, and a vibrant hope of eternal life through faith in Him. This we pray in Jesus’ name. Amen.

The Old Man – Ephesians 4:17-24

• June 21, 2021
• Pastor
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Ephesians 4:17-24

Let me invite you to take your copy of God’s Word and turn with me to Ephesians 4.  I thought long and hard about how to begin today’s sermon.  Should I use a joke, break the tension?  Perhaps a more serious story or reflection would be better?  Even up until coming to the pulpit just now I wasn’t decided on exactly what to say.  But seeing as this is Father’s Day, let me just once again offer my thanksgiving to each man who is here today.  I’ve gotten to know most of you, and some of you especially so, and I just want you to know that I’m grateful for each of you, that I care for each of you deeply, and what you have taught me and are teaching me even as you age is a treasure.

For you ladies out there, the “old man” is not simply a reference to the male gender or the way that some of you might have referred to your fathers.  As you know, and as we’ll see in just a few moments, it was Paul’s way of referring to all of us – male and female – before and after accepting Jesus for Who He is – our Savior and Lord.

Hopefully, you’ve found your spot.  We’ll begin reading Ephesians 4:17-24.

¹⁷ Now this I say and testify in the Lord, that you must no longer walk as the Gentiles do, in the futility of their minds.  ¹⁸ They are darkened in their understanding, alienated from the life of God because of the ignorance that is in them, due to their hardness of heart.  ¹⁹ They have become callous and have given themselves up to sensuality, greedy to practice every kind of impurity.  ²⁰ But that is not the way you learned Christ! – ²¹ assuming that you have heard about Him and were taught in Him, as the truth is in Jesus, ²² to put off your old self, which belongs to your former manner of life and is corrupt through deceitful desires, ²³ and to be renewed in the spirit of your minds, ²⁴ and to put on the new self, created after the likeness of God in true righteousness and holiness.

“Father, as we come now to the Bible, we earnestly pray for the help of the Holy Spirit to reveal Jesus to us, to reveal ourselves, to show us who we are and what we are outside of Christ and in Christ.  Help us, Lord, to think and to believe and to obey.  For we pray in Jesus name, amen.”

As is typically the case, I’ve tried to arrange today’s sermon around three points and the first is…

FUTILITY WITHOUT CHRIST

Every time we open our Bibles, we’re turning to a book that understands the world in which we live.  If you doubt that, then all you need to do is re-read verses 17-19.  In fact, if you take these verses and combine them with what Romans 1 says, then you get a very strong sense and accurate portrait of humanity outside of Christ.  For example, just consider the language.  Listen to the words that Paul uses in verses 17-19: futility, darkened, alienated, ignorant, hardened, callous, sensuality, greedy, and impurity.  It’s not a very nice description.  I can guarantee that none of the Father’s Day cards that will be exchanged today contain this description.  And yet, it’s a classic description of the natural state of humanity outside of Christ.

And one of the fascinating things (at least to me) is that these words were written by Paul to a church in Ephesus.  A city almost half-way around the world from here.  And they were written nearly 2,000 years ago.  But even with all of the time and distance between then and now, it’s glaringly obvious that humanity is unable to fix itself, unable to mend its disappointments, unable to rectify its flaws and its faults.  And it doesn’t matter whether you’re thinking about this from a micro-level (personally) or a macro-level (globally); the world in which we live is broken.

I met with two small groups of men this past week and, in essence, this was the topic of discussion.  Society is messed up.  The world is broken.  Sure, there are moments within all of our lives that are bright and joyful and even hopeful.  The same is true for our country.  Not every waking moment of every single day is the worst it could be.  Thankfully, there are some stories that bring us encouragement.  But on the whole, we all know and see and feel that society and the world remains in shambles.  And our attempts at fixing that broken world have remained the same for generations.

One of the approaches to fixing the world’s brokenness has, in some shape of form, been to better educate the people.  If only we could get them to understand things more clearly, then things would get better.  Doesn’t happen.  With all of the emphasis on the health dangers of smoking, placing a warning from the Surgeon General on the package, restricting the age limit, placing the product behind the counter, and all the rest, people still walk into a convenience store and say, “I’ll have two packs of those.”  Education isn’t a guaranteed solution to our problems.

In the same way, legislation cannot alter the darkness of humanity and the darkness in my own heart.  The heart of man is not changed by bills and reforms passed in the halls of Congress or by some parliamentary statement of the United Nations.  All of those endeavors after all of this time still cry out: is there any remedy, is there any possibility, how in the world can this thing be fixed.

And, of course, the answer that God is providing to you and to me – through the pen of the apostle Paul – is that any fixing of a lasting and significant measure can only be accomplished by the blood of Jesus Christ.  Actually, I’d like to make a statement that some of you won’t agree with, a statement that some might even find offensive, and that is this: the business of Christianity is not to improve the world.  There are all kinds of people and groups out there trying to improve the world.  But that is not what Jesus came to do.  Now don’t misunderstand me, improving the world is a byproduct of the work of Christ.  But it wasn’t the primary and sole reason for Him coming into the world.

1 Timothy 1:15 says, “The saying is trustworthy and deserving of full acceptance, that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners, of whom I am the foremost.”

In Mark’s gospel Jesus told the scribes and Pharisees that “[He] came not to call the righteous, but sinners” (Mark 2:17).

In Luke 19, Jesus tells those gathered at Zacchaeus’s house that “the Son of Man came to seek and to save the lost” (Luke 19:10).

Time and time again, in the New Testament, at least 15 times, we read statements made directly by Jesus and others that tell us He came primarily to redeem hearts, to save souls from the judgment of hell, and to create a new kind of humanity, but not to improve the world.

So, the person that calls themselves a Christian, a Jesus-follower, a believer of Christ, is different from a non-Christian.  And if you consider yourself to be a Christian, then you know that you’re different from a non-Christian.  Not different in the sense that you don’t sin or you aren’t tempted and occasionally give in to sin.  No, no.  Murray M’Cheyne was a fine minister that died at the age of 29, and he wrote this in his journal, which was later published under the title Memoirs and Remains, “I know that the seed of every sin known unto man dwells in my heart.”  He didn’t commit them all, but he knew that he was only one step away from every one of them.  And that’s true of you and me.

So the difference between the Christian and the non-Christian isn’t that we don’t still have the capacity to sin, but rather that we’ve acknowledged that proclivity, we’ve had the eyes of our hearts opened to the grace and mercy and forgiveness of Jesus, and we’ve heard the voice of Jesus calling us (as He is right now) saying, “you must no longer walk as the Gentiles do, in the futility of their minds.”

IDENTITY IN CHRIST

The contrast to futility without God is both challenging and, at the same time, encouraging.  The contrast is found in verse 20, “But that is not the way you learned Christ!”  That phrase, “learned Christ” is an interesting one.  This isn’t talking about knowing factual information about Jesus.  This is talking about knowing Christ as you would your spouse.

It occurred to me, not long after my birthday a few weeks ago, that I’ve been married to Melissa for half of my life.  I was telling a group of folks about that the other night and Audrey just laughed and said, “Wait a little longer and you’ll only know life with her.”  Of course, what Audrey meant and what many of you know is that you think you know somebody, but you can really only speak about “learning” someone when you can’t speak of your life or your existence at all without the other person being in the story.  That’s what Paul is talking about.  To “learn Christ” is to embrace Him in all that makes Him Christ.

Jesus is the Lord, and the King, and the Savior, and the Prophet, and the Priest, and so on, and when all of those titles and all the characteristics that accompanies those titles begins to permeate your life and my life, then we’re beginning to “learn Christ.”

John Newton, you recognize the name; the former slave trader and sea captain turned Anglican minister and hymnwriter wrote thes hymn How Sweet the Name of Jesus Sounds in a Believer’s Ear.  Can you imagine what his sailor friends thought when they heard he’d become a clergyman?  “Dude, what gives?  (Ok, so they probably didn’t address him as dude, but you good for nothing so and so…)  You’ve been talking like us and living like us, and now all of this Jesus stuff.”   O Jesus, Shepherd, Guardian, Friend, my Prophet, Priest, and King, my Lord, my Life, my Way, my End, accept the praise I bring.  What happened?  He learned Christ.

Remember when we were in chapter 2, one hundred years ago, Paul wrote, “And He [Jesus] came and preached peace to you who were far off and peace to those who were near.”  And people would say, “Wait a minute, I wasn’t here when Jesus preached.  When did Jesus preach in Ephesus?”  He didn’t.  What Paul meant by that statement is that when the Word of God is taught, the voice of Jesus is heard.  The mouth of God is in the Word of God.

There ought to be an inward dialogue going on each Sunday between you and God when I preach His Word.  Rather, I fear that most of us approach this worship hour (or any worship service) with the mindset that if we can just get beyond the sermon then we can go home.  “I wish he would just hurry up and get done already.”  And we leave never having heard the voice of God.  And while the pastor’s ability to preach and teach varies from pulpit to pulpit, and he may not be the most proficient communicator of God’s Word, we need to be careful that we don’t short circuit the voice of Jesus in the message.

So, Paul says you heard Jesus and were taught in Him, as the truth is in Jesus.  We need to be reminded that we believe in Jesus.  We haven’t believed a philosophy.  We haven’t embraced a religion.  We haven’t simply exchanged one set of moral and ethical teachings for another.  No, we’ve had a direct encounter with the living God in the person of Jesus.  You have come to Jesus.  You’ve found the truth in Jesus.  Our faith is rooted and grounded in the historical person of Jesus, who was born of the virgin Mary, suffered under Pontius Pilate, was crucified, dead and buried, and was raised to new life and will come again to judge the living and the dead.  In a day and age where the church is being tempted, and in many cases embracing the rejection of biblical orthodoxy, we need to remember that’s who we’ve come to trust in.  The One who said, “I am the way, the truth and the life.  No one comes to the Father except through Me” (John 14:6).

Why do we support the ministries and missionaries that we do?  Why do we pray for families like the Costanzas, if this is not the case?  You see, nobody will appreciate the gospel going out to the world unless we’ve learned Christ, unless we’ve heard Him, unless we’ve been taught in Christ.  Then, you find yourself saying, “Everybody needs to hear this!”  We go to all the world with Kingdom hope unfurled, no other name has power to save, save Jesus Christ the Lord.  The need for the sex trafficked woman in Charlotte or Atlanta or Greenville is the same need for the Muslim terrorist, and the same need for you and for me – to know Jesus as our Savior and Friend.

DESTINY BECAUSE OF CHRIST

It’s only when we see the futility of our lives apart from Christ and understand our identity in Christ (as opposed to being in Adam) that we recognize our destiny because of Christ.  That’s the flow of Paul’s argument in these verses.  Verses 17-19 is his description of life without God.  Verses 20-21 are his gospel evangelism, if you will; reminding people of the truth of Jesus.  And now, verses 22-24 is the hope and destiny of all that come to Jesus, “to put off your old self, which belongs to your former manner of life and is corrupt through deceitful desires, and to be renewed in the spirit of your minds, and to put on the new self, created after the likeness of God in true righteousness and holiness.”

Stanton Gavitt wrote a hymn titled Things Are Different Now.  Listen to what he says:

Things are different now, something happened to me

Since I gave my heart to Jesus

Things are different now, I was changed it must be

Since I gave my heart to Him

Things I loved before have passed away

Things I love far more have come to stay

Things are different now, something happened that day

When I gave my heart to Him

I really appreciate this language that Paul uses here.  He uses the same exact language in Colossians 3.  Our men’s Bible study has just concluded a study of Colossians, so this will sound familiar to some of you.  Listen to what Paul says there:

If then you have been raised with Christ, seek the things that are above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God.  Set your minds on things that are above, not on things that are on earth.  For you have died, and your life is hidden with Christ in God.  When Christ who is your life appears, then you also will appear with Him in glory.

 Put to death therefore what is earthly in you: sexual immorality, impurity, passion, evil desire, and covetousness, which is idolatry.  On account of these the wrath of God is coming.  In these you too once walked, when you were living in them.  But now you must put them all away: anger, wrath, malice, slander, and obscene talk from your mouth.  Do not lie to one another, seeing that you have put off the old self with its practices and have put on the new self, which is being renewed in knowledge after the image of its creator. (Colossians 3:1-10)

What’s the point?  These verbs – to put off and put on – are not new commands.  When you and I heard the gospel of Jesus Christ – that apart from Christ we are and will forever be lost and dead in our sin and trespasses, but by repenting of our sin and trusting in Jesus we will find forgiveness and reconciliation – we gladly responded and came to the waters of baptism and said, by virtue of that sacrament, I take off my old man and put on the new man.

Part of our problem is that the pull of the world is so strong.  The environment in which we live says, “Hey, what do you care about marriage.  Don’t worry about commitment.  Just live together.”  “What do you care about purity for?  What’s wrong with a little dishonesty?  Come on.  Enjoy the good life.  Don’t get wrapped up in reading your Bible and trying to live like Jesus.”  No!  We wage war against the world, the flesh and the devil and we’re reminded by Paul that we’ve put off the old man, we’re being renewed in the spirits of our mind, we’ve put on the new man created in the image of God.

So, as we conclude this morning, let me encourage you, let me challenge you to never stop running, never stop fighting, never stop growing, never stop putting off what remains of the “old man” and renewing your mind by putting on the “new man” created after the likeness of God in true righteousness and holiness.  Remember, God doesn’t justify those that He doesn’t also sanctify.  As a follower of Jesus, your destiny because of Christ is to be holy even as He is holy.  And one day, if we don’t give up and give in and throw in the towel of our faith and trust in Jesus, then we will here those most precious of words, “Well done, good and faithful servant.  You have been faithful over a little; I will set you over much.  Enter into the joy of your master” (Matthew 25:23).

Time to Grow Up – Ephesians 4:11-16

• June 13, 2021
• Pastor
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Ephesians 4:11-16

Let me invite you to take your copy of God’s Word and turn with me to Ephesians 4.  As most of you know, Melissa and I are now proud parents of a high school graduate.  And while I’m not certain that I speak for all men, I do think my summation of the last couple of weeks is common in most marriages and families with teenagers.

For example, it started with prom about a month ago and a half ago.  Melissa texted me one morning and said Jordan can’t find reservations anywhere can you help get him and Maddie get a table somewhere?  Is it possible for them to eat at the club?  Do you know of any places that he could try?  I texted back and said give me a few moments and let me see what I can do.  “By the way, why is he waiting until the last minute?” I thought to myself, “It’s time to grow up.”

Anyway, I get on the phone with Buzz Cleveland, who has all kinds of social connections, and explain the situation.  Buzz says, “Sure, give me just a few minutes and let me see what I can do.”  Sure enough, a little while later Buzz calls me back and says I got a table for two at Nantucket for 6PM.  Great!  Dad is looking good.  Gonna save my son’s reputation and do it in style.  So, I text everybody to let them know and later that day I get a message from Jordan.  “Hey dad, thanks, but we’re going to eat with Jay and his girlfriend at California Dreaming.”  I think to myself, “California Dreaming vs. Nantucket… It’s time to grow up.”

No problem.  I get it.  You want to hang out with friends instead of it being just the two of you.  That’s cool.  So, not wanting to give up the table that Buzz was able to secure at the last minute, I decided that Melissa and I could go and have a nice date.  But then I was informed that she couldn’t go because it was too close to the time of their prom pictures, which were scheduled to be at Maddie’s house and she wouldn’t be able to get there in time.  I said, “You don’t need to go take prom pictures.  Maddie’s parents will take pictures.  We’ll just get some from them.”  Melissa looked at me, as if to say “it’s time to grow up.”  This is what mommas do.  We take prom photos.  You and Parker go.  So that’s what I did.

Fast forward about a month and now we’re sitting at the Bons Secor Wellness Arena in downtown Greenville watching Jordan’s graduation and Melissa sends me this text with crying faces and old pictures of Jordan when he was in 1st grade that says, “Our baby is all grown up.”

That’s kind of typical for families, isn’t it?  You have kids and spend the next 18 years wishing they’d grow up to the next phase of life.  “I can’t wait until he can sit up and hold his own bottle.”  Next thing you know he’s walking.  “I wish he could tell me what’s wrong.”  Next thing you know you’re saying, “I wish he would stop talking.”  You find yourself thinking, “I’m ready for you to get dressed by yourself and make your own lunch.”  Then comes every parent’s complaint, “I can’t wait until you can drive.”  Next thing you know you have 4 cars in the driveway, prom is here and graduation is just around the corner.  And you say to yourself, “They grow up so fast.  Where did the years go?”  With that as introduction, let’s read what Paul has to say about growing up into Christ.

11 And He gave the apostles, the prophets, the evangelists, the shepherds and teachers, 12 to equip the saints for the work of ministry, for building up the body of Christ, 13 until we all attain to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to mature manhood, to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ, 14 so that we may no longer be children, tossed to and fro by the waves and carried about by every wind of doctrine, by human cunning, by craftiness in deceitful schemes.  15 Rather, speaking the truth in love, we are to grow up in every way into Him who is the head, into Christ, 16 from whom the whole body, joined and held together by every joint with which it is equipped, when each part is working properly, makes the body grow so that it builds itself up in love.

“Our Father and our God, as we humbly submit ourselves to the authority of Your most holy Word we pray that what we know not – teach us; what we have not – give us; and what we are not – make us; for Your Son’s sake, amen.”

A few weeks ago, we turned the pages from Chapter 3 to Chapter 4.  I know that sounds pretty remarkable.  Chapter 4 usually always follows Chapter 3.  But in this case, in this letter, it’s more than just the next chapter in the book.  In Ephesians it marks the dividing line between the first section (chapters 1-3) and the second section (chapters 4-6).  So, we’ve crossed the Mississippi (so to speak).  We’ve crossed the Atlantic.  We’ve concluded the first half of the journey and now we’re on to the final half.

Remember, the first section (chapters 1-3) are all dedicated to what God has done for us in/through the person and work of Jesus Christ.  This is what God has done for you.  These are the blessings that are yours because of Jesus.  Look at everything you have because of Jesus.  That’s the first section.  The second section (chapters 4-6) are dedicated to who we become and what we do as a result of the first section.  So, chapters 4-6 are almost all action items, verbs, doing and becoming.  Another way of understanding it is the first section is our identity in Christ and the second section is our behavior as Christ-followers.  Identity in Jesus (first).  Behavior as Jesus-followers (second).

And one of Paul’s motivations and hopes in writing this letter is to bring together two groups of people that would otherwise (outside of their identity in Jesus) absolutely detest one another.  You think blacks and whites are bad in 21st century America?  You think Republicans and Democrats are bad today?  You think northerners and southerners are bad?  You think Tiger fans and Gamecock fans hate each other?  All of these divisions put together don’t come close to describing the rift and hatred that Jews and Gentiles had for one another.  And one of Paul’s great desires was to unify these two groups of people under the authority of Jesus, and help them to see that one of their jobs was to embody the radical grace and mercy and transformation that Jesus offers by being reconciled to one another.  And that’s part of why he structures this letter the way he does.  Identity first.  Behavior second.

This morning we find ourselves in the second section; the behavior part, but remember, it’s Christian behavior BECAUSE of who we are in Jesus.  And one of the things that Paul tells them to do is grow up.

It’s Time To Stop Being Children

That’s what verse 14 says, “so that we may no longer be children…”  God has given His church various people: apostles, prophets, evangelists, shepherds and teachers, and one of their responsibilities is to help us grow up.  That’s verses 13-14.  Children are children.  They tend to be wobbly; especially when they’re younger.  You walk around with your arms outstretched waiting to catch them every time they begin to stumble.  I believe it was Shakespeare that said eventually you become wobbly all over again.  But that’s a sermon for another time.

Children are wobbly and they’re also easily distracted.  They respond immediately to what’s most appealing to them – even things that may not be the best for them.  You know this.  Take a small child to a fair or an amusement park or even to a toy store or candy store.  There’s this multi-colored lollypop that’s larger than the average person’s head and it’s on this tiny little stick, and you offer them a smaller piece of candy and what do they say?  “No! I want this one.”  “But you can’t hold that big thing.  See, I can’t even hold it.”  Doesn’t matter; that’s the one they want.

They’re wobbly.  They’re easily distracted.  And that’s why Paul encourages us to stop being children.  He says we need to not be wobbly (spiritually speaking) but rather be marked by stability.  When you were growing up, or when you had kids in your home, do you remember the inflatable punching bag?  Most of the ones I recall had a clown image on them and when you blew them up they were about 4’ tall and kind of like a cone or a cylinder.  You could punch that little clown all day long and he would pop right back up.  Why?  Because the base had some form of weight in it – some lead beads or sand or something.  It had a sturdy foundation; and although you could knock it over, it always popped back up.  That’s what Paul is saying about us.  We need to have a solid doctrinal base.

No longer like children – forever changing their minds.  Forever changing your mind about what you believe.  Changing your mind about the doctrine of Scripture.  Changing your mind about the doctrine of God.  Changing your mind about the doctrine of man and sin.  Changing your mind about the nature of marriage.  Changing your mind about biology and sexual ethics.  Changing your mind about so many things that the Bible is clear about.  Yes, I understand that there are questions with regard to certain biblical passages that we can differ on, but there’s an awful lot that’s plain to see (even for the first-time, casual reader of Scripture).

I mean, the image is great.  Our youngest nephew is almost a year old, and it’s a marvelous thing watching our teenage boys try to entertain him.  They begin by pulling out the blocks, then Henry changes his mind and wants to play ball, then he changes his mind again and wants to ride his scooter.  Eventually, my boys will plop down beside me on the couch and say, “Man, I can’t keep his attention on anything.”  Of course, I sympathize with them and try to use that moment to teach them of the adult realities of life.  You know where little Henry came from, right?  Let’s not go there.  That kind of thing.

But it’s fascinating because if we just take a step back we’re not very far removed from Henry.  One day Jordan wants to put new wheels and tires on his truck, the next day he’s talking about buying a new motor for the John boat, the next day it’s something else.  We do the same thing.  But the issue here is far greater, isn’t it?  “…no longer be children, tossed to and fro by the waves and carried about by every wind of doctrine, by human cunning, by craftiness in deceitful schemes.”

Paul’s concern isn’t only that people wouldn’t have a settled conviction about things, not simply that they’re distracted, but his concern was for the underlying deceit, which finds its source in the Devil, the serpent, who deceived Eve by his great cunning when he said, “Did God really say…” (Genesis 3:1).  That’s the deceit we’re faced with today.  Did God really say…  And that’s why I read from Paul’s letter to Timothy, because Paul’s answer to Timothy was to point people back to Scripture. And the stabilizing influence that’s identified in this passage and called for in these verses is that which comes about by the ongoing, persistent, faithful exposition of Scripture, rightly understood and applied.  It’s God’s Word being taught, believed, meditated on, and applied that actually saves us from being tossed to and fro.

It’s Time To Grow Up Into Christ

That’s verse 15, “Rather, speaking the truth in love, we are to grow up in every way into Him who is the head, into Christ…”  Now, Paul isn’t giving us guidance here on human anatomy.  Although some of us are described as being “heady” theologically or philosophically, we know that literally and physically we don’t grow up into Christ’s head.  That’s not what Paul is saying here.  No, what he doing is he’s using the analogy of growing up in the physical world and applying it to the body of Christ.  In the same way that you and I and our children and grandchildren grow up into toddlers, and then children, and then teenagers, and then adults, so too the Church needs to grow up in relation to Jesus.  In other words, those of us that are here today that call ourselves followers of Jesus need to be growing in our Christian character.  We need to be seeing, day by day, more of the Fruit of the Spirit in our character and daily living.  We need to be more Christ-like.  That’s what Paul is saying here when he speaks of growing up into Him who is the head, into Christ.

Now, I want to highlight how we do this.  Paul says we do it by “speaking the truth in love.”  Most of us, myself included, have used this phrase and almost all of us have used it incorrectly.  We’ve used it out of context.  We didn’t intend to, mind you.  And in fact, it was probably correctly understood when we used it, but most of the time we use this as justification for saying something particularly uncomfortable to a friend or family member.  “Oh, I’m just speaking the truth in love…” and that’s probably right and good in those situations, but that’s not how Paul is using that phrase here.

Look at the end of verse 14.  At the end of verse 14 Paul is describing the way that false teachers and the world speak to us, by cunning and craftiness and deceitful schemes.  And he contrasts that type of instruction with truth and love.  There are some who teach by error and deceit, but you are to teach by truth and love.  These folks don’t love the people to whom they speak.  If they did, then they wouldn’t seek to deceive them.  Folks, does any of this sound like 21st century America?  We have young people that are being fed lies on all fronts – racially, sexually, economically, politically, and yes, even theologically – by those that claim to love them, but who are twisting and distorting reality in order to win their affections.

Notice also the balance implied here – truth AND love.  The late theologian, John Stott, speaks of the “truth gang.”  He says there are some people that are so concerned about the truth, that as soon as they get the first scent of heresy “their nose begins to twitch, their muscles ripple, and the light of battle enters their eyes.”  They’re always looking for a fight.  You know it’s true.  “I see you didn’t use the King James Version this morning.”  “No, I’m sorry.”  “Well, you can be sorry, if you like” and before you know it, here we go locked in battle.  On the other hand, on the other end of the spectrum there’s the loving group.  Oh, they’re so loving.  We’re so loving that we’re prepared to just about sacrifice every central truth of biblical revelation that exists in order that everyone might know how loving we are.  No, it can’t be.  Both of those approaches are unbalanced and unbiblical.  Truth becomes hard if it’s not softened by love.  And love becomes a sentimental notion if it’s not strengthened by truth.  That’s what Paul is saying when he calls us to grow up in every way into Him who is the head.

It’s Time To Do Our Part Properly

Look at verse 16, “…the whole body, joined and held together by every joint with which it is equipped, when each part is working properly, makes the body grow so that it builds itself up in love.”  In other words, each part of the Body of Christ in its own uniquely God-ordained way exists to help the other parts.  And of course, Paul isn’t speaking about parts of a human body, he’s talking about you and me in the context of the Church.  It’s from the head that the harmonious function of the body takes place.  It’s true of human physiology and it’s true of the Church.  It’s time to do our part.

2020 certainly brought us all challenges and disappointments, but it also brought us opportunities and satisfactions.  One of the challenges that my church and many others like it faced, was how to be the Body of Christ when we couldn’t gather.  We quickly moved to implement online services and hold Bible studies and small groups using ZOOM.  We all looked for ways to help and serve our friends and family and neighbors.  Those were some of the blessings that COVID-19 brought.  But it also brought the challenge of gathering the flock again.

Just the other day I was reading an article titled Podcast Pastor.  Listen to part of what the author wrote, “God has designed normal Christianity – vibrant, healthy, durable, culture-shaping, mission-advancing, justice-elevating, Christ-exalting Christianity – to be a web of relationships, in local churches, led by faithful shepherds, who live as examples and care for the souls of their particular sheep.”  Folks, no online preacher or virtual church can take the place of the real Body of Christ.  He went on to say, “Gathering with God’s people every week – gathering, not just putting on your headphones and listening to a worship song – but to exalt Jesus together, and hear each other say great things about the One whom we love and cherish, is the way God means for us to thrive in relation to him. I have found this weekly rhythm of corporate communion with God essential to my faith over the last fifty years.”  The effective functioning of Mountain Hill Community Church, or this church and that church, the big church and the little church, the downtown church and the rural church, the African-American congregations and the Asian congregations and the Hispanic congregations, and all of the others corporate gatherings of genuine believers in Jesus Christ needs all of the moving parts to be involved in gospel ministry.

It’s time to stop being children.  It’s time to grow up into Christ.  It’s time to do our part in the ministry.

It’s Not Over – Acts 28

• June 7, 2021
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Acts 28

Rev., 2nd Lt., Da’rryl Hall (SCARNG) filled in for Pastor Lee Norris and preached from Acts 28.

Da’rryl is a bi-vocational minister with his full-time employment as a Human Resource Professional with the BMW Manufacturing Co., LLC. and ministerial experience as a local pastor and chaplain with the SC National Guard.  Da’rryl is also a volunteer clergy member with KAIROS Prison Ministry International, serving inmates at Tyger River Correctional Institute in Enoree, SC.  Da’rryl attended Charleston Southern University on a basketball scholarship and was MVP and First Team All-Conference from 1986-1990, graduation with two Bachelor of Science degrees (Economics/Business Administration) in 1990.  We’re pleased to welcome Da’rryl Hall to Mountain Hill Community Church.

One Lord, One Faith – Ephesians 4:1-16

• May 30, 2021
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Ephesians 4:1-16

Four-year-old Johnny falls down on the sidewalk as he’s running to greet his dad, who just pulled into the driveway.  Johnny’s two-year-old sister, Susie, just took away his favorite toy, so he’s crying harder than is really justified.  Daddy picks him up and says, “There, there, you’re a big boy.  Act like it.”

Princess Margaret, as a young girl, sits beside her mother, Queen Elizabeth, at the princess’s first presentation to the British public.  She’s called upon to walk to the microphone and say a few words to the gathered dignitaries.  As she prepares to stand, her mother learns over to her and says, “You’re a princess.  Walk like one!”

Eighteen-year-old Chuck has just gone through 12 of the toughest weeks of his life in the hallowed sands of Parris Island, SC.  During his last week, he’s forced to crawl under rolls of barbed wire with live machine gun ammunition blazing just inches over his head.  He freezes.  His hands dig into the mud beneath him as panic sweeps over his soul.  Just then, a friend crawls up beside him and says, “Get a hold of yourself, Chuck.  You’re a Marine!  Act like one!”

All throughout our lives, from beginning to end, our identity is linked to our actions.  Who we are affects how we should act.  This is Paul’s point as he transitions from Chapter 3 to Chapter 4 in Ephesians.  So, let me invite you to take your copy of God’s Word and turn with me to Ephesians 4.

As you’re finding your place, let me just remind you that this letter divides rather nicely into two (2) sections.  Each section has three (3) chapters.  The first section is chapters 1-3, and the focus in those chapters is all that God has done for you in/through Jesus.  It’s the “who you are” part, if you will.  The second section is chapters 4-6, and they focus on the “act like it” part.  So, the next several weeks, until we get to the end of the Book, we’ll be hearing/seeing Paul give us specific details on how we’re supposed to act in light of being redeemed people.  Contrary to popular opinion, there are right and wrong ways to act, if you consider yourself a Christian.

I also want you to notice the order that Paul uses when making his argument.  Chapters 1-3 are focused on our identity (specifically our identity in Jesus).  Chapters 4-6 are focused on our behavior (specifically our behavior as followers of Jesus).  Chapter 1:1, “…To the saints who are in Ephesus…”  Identity.  “You used to walk this way, but God…” chapter 2:4 (paraphrase), remember that?  But God…  Identity.  “I pray that your eyes would be open, that your heart could comprehend just how much God loves you,” chapters 2-3 (paraphrase), remember?  Identity first.  Behavior second.  Do you see that order?

It’s imperative that we recognize the order (identity first, followed by behavior).  Why is that so important?  Because our world is filled with people that are preaching it the other way around.  Our society is flooded with people that don’t know who they are.  They’re confused about their identities.  And since they don’t know who they are, they’re allowing their emotions and their behaviors to lead them to their identity.  Now, to be clear, my heart goes out to folks that truly struggle with these issues.  And they don’t deserve our scorn or mockery.  God knows, that’s the furthest thing from my mind.  But Ephesians 4:15 (we’ll read it here shortly) says that we need to speak the truth in love.

So, if you consider yourself a Christian, if you’ve confessed your sin and fallen on the mercy and grace of Jesus, then your identity should affect the way you live your life.  If it doesn’t, if there’s no discernable difference in your life or my life, if we’re as worldly and ugly and mean and hateful and not quick to seek forgiveness and confess our sins and serve one another and love one another, if we aren’t seeing the fruit of the Spirit: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, gentleness, faithfulness and self-control grow, then perhaps we should take a long hard look in the mirror of our souls and ask God to renew us, refresh us, convict us and draw us near to Him once again.

I just want us to recognize that Paul begins his letter by focusing on our identity in Jesus, followed by our behavior in light of that identity.  There IS a proper order to things, and in this case, it begins with knowing who we are, which then leads to behaving a certain way.  Okay, enough of an intro.  Let’s read Ephesians 4:1-16:

¹ I therefore, a prisoner for the Lord, urge you to walk in a manner worthy of the calling to which you have been called, ² with all humility and gentleness, with patience, bearing with one another in love, ³ eager to maintain the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace.  ⁴ There is one body and one Spirit – just as you were called to the one hope that belongs to your call – ⁵ one Lord, one faith, one baptism, ⁶ one God and Father of all, who is over all and through all and in all.  ⁷ But grace was given to each one of us according to the measure of Christ’s gift.  ⁸ Therefore it says,

 “When He ascended on high He led a host of captives,

    and He gave gifts to men.”

 ⁹ (In saying, “He ascended,” what does it mean but that He had also descended into the lower regions, the earth?  ¹⁰ He who descended is the one who also ascended far above all the heavens, that He might fill all things.)  ¹¹ And He gave the apostles, the prophets, the evangelists, the shepherds and teachers, ¹² to equip the saints for the work of ministry, for building up the body of Christ, ¹³ until we all attain to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to mature manhood, to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ, ¹⁴ so that we may no longer be children, tossed to and fro by the waves and carried about by every wind of doctrine, by human cunning, by craftiness in deceitful schemes.  ¹⁵ Rather, speaking the truth in love, we are to grow up in every way into Him who is the head, into Christ, ¹⁶ from whom the whole body, joined and held together by every joint with which it is equipped, when each part is working properly, makes the body grow so that it builds itself up in love.

“Our great God and Father, with our Bibles open before us, we ask that You speak to us, that we would receive the truth of Your Holy Word.  Take Your truth, plant it deep in us; shape and fashion us in Your likeness.’  For we ask it in Jesus’ name, amen.”

As Paul turns to the application of truth, I find it significant that he doesn’t talk about evangelism, or prayer, or worship – not that any of those things are bad, indeed they’re good and great things – but first on his list is unity.  Now, I suppose that I shouldn’t be as surprised by that as I am, primarily because that’s exactly what Jesus prays for in John 17, but because of our usual understanding of who Paul was (missionary to the Gentiles) you’d almost think that he’d spotlight evangelism.  But no; he begins with unity.  And while I normally have three points to emphasize, today I have seven (7).  Don’t worry, we’ll go through them fairly quickly.  All seven points are identified by the word ONE…  You’ll find them in verses 4-6:

1. one body,
2. one Spirit,
3. one hope,
4. one Lord,
5. one faith,
6. one baptism, and
7. one God and Father of all.

One Body

No, not our human body, but the body of Christ.  It’s made up of every single person who has ever accepted Christ at any time in history.  Every true Christian is a part of the same body – the Church.  This is what’s meant in The Apostle’s Creed and the Nicene Creed by the phrase “one holy catholic church.”  Catholic, in that sense, simply means universal.  The word “catholic” comes to us directly from the Greek.  It’s made up of two words κατά “about” and ὅλος “whole.”  While there might be different Christian denominations, there aren’t different bodies of Christ.  There’s only one body.  All of us here come from various denominational backgrounds, but we’re all family members in the one body – the Bride of Christ, the Church.

One Spirit

Likewise, there’s only one Holy Spirit.  There isn’t a Pentecostal Holy Spirit and a Lutheran Holy Spirit and a Baptist Holy Spirit, or even one for America and one for Africa and one for Asia.  There is only one Spirit that indwells every Christian in the world.  In Paul’s first letter to the Corinthians he says the same thing, “For in one Spirit we were all baptized into one body – Jews or Greeks, slaves or free – and all were made to drink of one Spirit” (1 Corinthians 12:13).  And this Spirit is also connected with the Body.  The Greek word for spirit means breath, and unless the breath is in the body (speaking literally), the body is dead.  In the same manner (speaking spiritually), the vitalizing breath of the Church is the Holy Spirit.  Another way of putting it is this: there is no true Church without the Holy Spirit.  Oh, you can find many buildings that look like churches (or don’t, in many cases) and names of marquees, but if the Holy Spirit of God isn’t moving and working in the hearts and lives of those gathered, then it’s not a Church.

One Hope

With all of the different views and interpretations regarding the end-times in the Church today, it seems hard to believe that there could be only one hope.  Many people, myself included, find it hard to understand.  If there’s only one Spirit teaching the Church, and that’s what John 16:13 says, “When the Spirit of truth comes, He will guide you into all the truth, for He will not speak on His own authority, but whatever He hears He will speak, and He will declare to you the things that are to come.”  So, if that’s the way it ought to work (according to the Bible), then why are there so many views on prophecy and the end of the age?  Ego and limited human capacity to understand and comprehend.  Ego because once we’ve been convicted of a particular understanding that’s the only possibility.  Limited human capacity because so much of future prophecy is described in otherworldly language.  The main thing to remember about “hope” is that Jesus is our hope.  As long as we remain focused on Jesus as our hope, then we’ll remain united.

One Lord

Now, I don’t want to make a big deal about this one, but notice where this particular point falls.  It’s right in the middle.  Christians weren’t persecuted because they believed in the Christian God.  Nobody was more tolerant of religions than the Romans were.  In fact, many of you have visited a building in Rome called the Pantheon – that temple dedicated to “all gods.”  It wasn’t that Christians had their own God that caused them to be persecuted.  It was because they believed He was the only God.  In fact, many scholars believe this verse was the basis of one of the earliest creeds – Ιησούς κύριος (Jesus is Lord).  Caesar wasn’t lord.  Jesus was Lord.  He’s the only Son of God, the only bridge between God and man.

One Faith

This isn’t talking about personal faith.  This a declaration that there’s only one system of belief, one body of ultimate truth.  There’s a little book, right before Revelation, a single chapter book called Jude.  In verse 3 of that teeny tiny book Jude writes this, “Beloved, although I was very eager to write to you about our common salvation, I found it necessary to write appealing to you to contend for the faith that was once for all delivered to the saints.”  That’s what this means.  Our faith includes our understanding of who God is.  It includes who Jesus is.  It includes our understanding of the person and work of the Holy Spirit.  It also includes our understanding of man, and sin, and salvation.  Certainly more, but no less than this is what constitutes our faith.

One Baptism

Again, we come from a variety of denominational backgrounds and thus a variety of baptismal practices.  Some sprinkle, some immerse; some baptize people of any age, some only adults; some baptize three (3) times – Father, Son and Holy Spirit.  So, it would be easy to think that there are many baptisms, but in reality, there’s only one.  In the early church, there was a higher price attached to baptism than today.  It was often done in the presence of the local community, not just the Christian community, and so it took a serious step of faith to make a public declaration of your decision to follow Jesus as Lord.  To submit yourself to baptism was the formal entrance into the life of the congregation, the body of Christ.  If you’ve repented of your sin and, by faith, have cast yourself on the grace and mercy of God through Jesus, but you’ve never been baptized, then I want to invite you to come see me.  We’ll be having our annual baptism service in another month or so, and we already have one or two people signed up.  Come see me or talk with me.  We’d love to celebrate your confession of Christ Jesus and your commitment to His Church.

One God

Deuteronomy 6:4 is a verse in the Old Testament that every Jew recites twice each day.  It’s commonly referred to as The Shema or Sh’ma Yisrael.  The name is taken from the first two words in Hebrew, “Hear, O Israel: the Lord our God, the Lord is one.”  Paul reminds us that true worship of God is understanding God as the Bible presents Him.

One of the trends of liberal Christianity is to allow cultural accommodation to dictate how we understand God.  And there are some churches and some pastors that reject this title for God because they perceive it to elevate the male gender above the female gender.  And while it’s true that God doesn’t have a gender – He’s Spirit, light and love (John 4:24; 1 John 1:5, 4:8).  Nevertheless, the biblical authors most frequently used this word to describe God.  In fact, it’s the way that Jesus described God.  He’s the Father.  Paul didn’t say that God was king or judge, although He’s both of those too.  Paul singled out God as Father.  Jack Hayford wrote a short hymn in 1973 that captured the essence of what Paul was saying here.  The words go like this:

Father God, I give all thanks and praise to Thee

Father God, my hands I humbly raise to Thee

For Thy mighty power and love amaze me, amaze me,

And I stand in awe and worship Father God.

And finally, there are three further adjectives that Paul uses here to describe our great and mighty God and Father.

He’s over all.  That means that He’s sovereign.  He’s in control.  Everything and everyone is under His rule.  We like to think that we’re the master of our own domains.  We call the shots.  We’re the only sheriff in our lives, but that’s just not true.  God is over all.

Paul says that God is through all.  That means His will and His way will be accomplished.  It’s another way of speaking about the providence of God.  One of the faulty images that people have of God and His creation is that He created everything and wound it up like a child’s toy or a watch, and then let it go.  When it runs down the world will come to an end.  Folks, that’s just plain wrong.

Again, according to the Bible, God is all through His world, guiding, sustaining, and loving.  This idea of God as Sustainer captured my heart several years ago and it’s been tremendously humbling.  He’s not only the Creator, but He’s the Sustainer.  Think about it.  Every breath you and I breathe is only because of the sustaining grace of God.  Again, we get so caught up in living life that we rarely think about these kinds of things.  We wake up…  We get dressed…  We have our morning routines…  We check our calendars…  We go here, we go there…  We make our plans…  We go days, weeks, months, maybe even years and never pause to think, “You know, it’s only because of the sheer grace of almighty God that I’m still alive.”  God is through all.

And last, God is in all.  Now I know what you’re thinking, and that’s not what this means.  God isn’t in the trees and in the rocks and in the animals.  That’s a form of pantheism; coming from the Greek words πᾶν (meaning “all”) and θεός (meaning “god”).  No, no, this is Paul’s affirmation to the Ephesians (and you and me) that by faith in Christ the Holy Spirit of God resides in His followers.  Paul wants us to remember that we live in a God-created, God-controlled, God-sustained, and God-filled world.

Unity doesn’t mean uniformity.  It doesn’t mean we all have to be cookie-cutter Christians.  Nor does it mean unanimity – we don’t have to agree on every single statement and every single doctrine.  Nor is unity an ecumenical movement where we set aside core beliefs to find the lowest common denominator of agreement.  Unity is embracing Jesus Christ as Lord of life and Lord of the Church, and bowing before Him in all things.  Paul said, “When I came to you, brothers and sister, I didn’t come proclaiming to you the testimony of God with lofty speech or wisdom.  For I decided to know nothing among you except Jesus Christ and Him crucified.”

In these days of great disunity and strife and separation, may we (the Church) “…walk in a manner worthy of the calling to which we’ve been called, with all humility and gentleness, with patience, bearing with one another in love, eager to maintain the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace.”  Perhaps, the great revival that so many of us have been praying for will be ignited when those who are fighting in the streets outside the Church see such a beautiful and divinely sustained unity inside the Church that they come in to learn more.

At the same time, however, may we be on guard that we don’t compromise our core convictions: one body, one Spirit, one hope, one Lord, one faith, one baptism, and one God and Father of all in some desperate attempt to broaden the banner of Christianity to include anybody and everybody – even those that reject the perfect Son of God as their precious Savior.

It’s not a simple task, but look around…  It’s not an impossible task, either.