49 Ephesians 4 - Pastor Chuck Smith - C2000 Series

now he begins the fourth chapter again with a reminder that he is a prisoner of the Lord and I beseech you I beg you I implore you that you walk worthy of the vocation wherewith you were called now notice this is the first mention now that Paul makes of your response to God he has spent three chapters telling you what God has done for you of what God has given to you of what God has provided for you he spent three chapters unfolding the Glorious Mysteries of God's love and grace and goodness how God has reached out to you you Gentiles who were once alienated and far away and he's brought you near now after spending the three chapters telling you all that God has done now he turns around and he says now you walk worthy one of the problems in the churches that we have been emphasizing the walk first we've been trying to get people to walk before they even know how to sit Paul gets us firmly seated in Christ in heavenly places and now he says now walk you've learned how to sit now walk in a little while and as we get to the sixth chapter he's going to say now stand and so as another author of Ephesians has divided it he spent three chapters telling you of the wealth and of the riches that you have in Christ now he's going to spend a couple of chapters telling you about the war that you should have and then he'll spend the last chapter telling you about the warfare that you are in so the wealth the walk and the warfare of the believer ruth packs and divides the book of Ephesians that way watchman Nee divides it in sit walk stand but it is important to note that God's work for us is first of all mentioned before our response to God so opposite to the religions which teach man to do his work in order that God might respond to him and if we are in that works response I work that God might respond syndrome we will never have the full relationship with God that He desires to have nor will we ever enjoy the riches that God wants to bestow upon us because our works are always going to be failing and feeble it is God's work that matters not mine it is my response to God which is important not trying to get God respond to me God is already initiated and God is the initiator man is the responder so many times man seeks to reverse that in the preaching making man the initiator in God the responders such is not the case such as not the gospel there's no gospel in that the gospel is that God initiated God so loved that he gave and that man responds we love him because he first loved us the love of Christ constrains me I am responding to that constraining love and so any work that I try to do for God that does not come from a responsive base is unacceptable any work that I try to do to gain favor any work that I try to do to gain merit to grain points to gain righteousness is of no avail it is only that work that flows freely as I am responding to God and His grace and His goodness to me that has any real eternal merit or value and we need to get this correct theology or else we're going to really be missing out on all that God is wanting for us and wanting to do for us you do not initiate the relationship with God he has initiated it you need to respond to it you cannot make God love you more he loves you supremely you need to respond to it now when I am responding to God then I am not really you know getting all puffed up in my works and boasting in them and going around and bragging about all I've been doing for God all I'm doing is responding to love that is you know I just can't handle overwhelming love I respond to it and so it isn't who I've given so much for God arrived sacrifice so much for Lord you can't believe how much I've given the Lord no know the person who has the true relationship with God is going around saying you can't believe all that God has done for me oh I can't believe his goodness I can't vote listen you never believe what the Lord did for me there's me you know and they're always talking about what God has done and and what I do is nothing man it's just a response to this glorious grace that I have received through Jesus Christ so respond now to God let your walk be in keeping with what you are God has called you to be his child that you might in the endless ages to come experience the richness of His grace and mercy and love toward youing Christ now respond to that by living in a manner that is fitting that of a child of God live like a child of God don't live like the devil you did that long enough now start living like a child of God which you are through Jesus Christ respond to it how am I to live with all lowliness and meekness you see I'm to live as Jesus Christ you remember when Jesus said come unto me all ye that labor and are heavy laden and I will give you rest take my yoke upon you and learn of me for I am meek and lowly of heart now how are we to walk in all lowliness and meekness now this is really the natural response to the real understanding of the grace of God for me and my unworthiness of it you see if I'm doing my works trip then involved in the works as the bragging and in the boasting and and in the glory and what I am and what I have done but when I realize what God has done for me what God is offering to me this glorious grace of God of which I am so totally undeserving and unworthy the effect that have is that of lowliness and maintenance as fall said that God should choose me the less less than the least of all the Saints to bestow this abundant glory that I should preach the unsearchable riches of Christ and that man who truly understands what God has done is humbled by what God has done the man who has had a true confrontation with God is humbled by that confrontation walk with all lowliness and meekness no I'm thinking of a certain TV evangelist who seems to have purchased so much time on television and some people have come up and asked me what I have what my opinion of him is well from what I have observed which is not very much because I have a hard time taking it if I am commanded as a child of God to walk in lowliness and meekness if I am commanded as a child of God to walk in love then these are characteristics that I do not observe and so the whole ministry must come into question I am to walk with all lowliness and meekness with long-suffering forbearing one another in love what a glorious way to walk endeavoring to keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace and not to be cursing all of the government officials the FCC and all of the ministers that don't go along with me endeavoring to keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace I should be constantly seeking the unity of the spirit within the body of Christ now it is sad to me that man has so divided the body of Christ and built his fences and in some cases block walls we are the people everybody else is false and wrong we have the truth and they build up these barriers in these walls around themselves a few months ago I received a letter where I was invited to speak at a certain denominational meeting and I got a letter this week after I had responded I thought well that's interesting I'll accept that and so I wrote a letter of acceptance and I got a letter back this week from the minister who had invited me to speak and he said I'm awfully sorry but when I brought up your name you know a lot of the ministers were afraid you know that you know some of our ministers might be influenced by you and because you believe you know in the validity of the gifts of the Spirit it might draw some of them you know a way so they've decided that they don't want you to speak you know sad there's only one body there's only one spirit there's only one hope of our calling there's only one Lord there's only one faith there's only one baptism there's only one God and Father of all who is above all through all and in you all there should be a unity in the body of Christ and the thing I like about being nondenominational or interdenominational is that it does give us a comfortable posture whereby we can accept and love and feel free to fellowship with anybody from any denomination who really believes in Jesus Christ now there are some denominations that will not accept the baptism of another denomination some churches that will not accept the baptism of another church or you were baptized by them well then you'll have to be baptized again before we can receive you into membership there are some churches that have closed communion when they pass the broken bread you can't take it unless you are an approved member of that church walls by which the body of Christ is divided one baptism that is we were all baptized unto Jesus Christ we weren't baptized unto Paul or a Paulus or Peter or we really weren't baptized a Baptist or a Christian Church or a Methodist or Catholic we should have been baptized into Jesus Christ not into a church because the church cannot save you there's only one baptism and that's the baptism into Jesus Christ and if you were baptized into a church then I would encourage you to just be baptized into Jesus Christ one baptism one faith one Lord one God and Father but to every one of us is given grace according to the measure of the gift to Christ I love this what is the measure of grace the gift of Jesus Christ and every one of us is given a measure or given grace according to the measure of the gift of Jesus Christ Paul said if God spared not his own son but delivered him up for us all how much more than shall he not freely give us all things you see again when I come to God for my needs I think oh I don't know if God's willing to do this much for me well how much is God willing to do for me he's willing to send His only begotten Son to die for me now do you need more than that and so grace according to the major the gift of Christ wherefore he saith when he ascended up on high that he led captivity captive and he gave gifts unto men now he that ascended what is it but that he also descended first into the lower parts of the earth and he that descended is the same also that ascended up far above all heavens that he might fill all things what's he talking about the one who has ascended is the same one who descended into the lower parts of the earth and when he ascended far above all the heavens that he might fill all things they came to Jesus one day and they said show us a sign and Jesus said a wicked and an adulterous generation seeks after a sign but there will no sign be given to it except the sign of the prophet Jonah for as Jonah was three days and three nights in the belly of the whale so must the Son of God be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth when on the day of pentecost the people were gathered and peter stood up to preach to them he identified his subject as jesus of nazareth a man who proved that he was from god because of the signs and the wonders that he did in the midst of you who you according to the pre determinate counsel and foreknowledge of god with your wicked hands of crucified and slain but god raised him from the dead because it was not possible that he could be held by it for the scripture said thou will not leave my soul in Hell neither will you allow the Holy One to see corruption and we testify unto you that God did not leave his soul in hell but he has been raised again Jesus in Luke's Gospel chapter 16 said there was a certain rich man who fared sumptuously every day and there was also a poor man that was brought daily and late at his gate full of sores and the dogs were licking his sores and the poor man died and was carried by the Angels into Abraham's bosom more also the rich man died and in hell he lifted up his eyes because he was in torment and he saw Abraham afar off and Lazarus there being comforted and he said o father Abraham would you send Lazarus that he may take some water and touch my tongue with it because I am tormented in this heat and Abraham said son remember that in your lifetime you had the good things and Lazarus the evil besides that there's a gulf that is between us that is fixed and it's impossible for those that are here to come over there or for those that are there to come over here he said if that be the case then I pray send Lazarus back that he might warm my brother's lest they come to this horrible place neighbor am said they have the law and the prophets they will not believe the law and the prophets neither would they believe even if one should come back from the dead Jesus tells us that prior to his death Hades was separated into two compartments in the one compartment those who were being tormented the unrighteous in the other compartment those who were being comforted in Abraham's bosom where we are told in Hebrews chapter 11 when it lists off these great men of faith in the Old Testament that they all died in faith not having received the promise but they saw it afar off and they embraced it and they claimed they were just strangers and pilgrims but they all died in faith not having received the promise because God has reserved some better thing for us that they apart from us could not come into the perfected state now Isaiah tells us that a part of the mission of Christ in chapter 61 to preach the gospel unto the poor to buying the brokenhearted and then also to set at liberty the captive and to open the prison doors to those that were bound so that when the thief on the cross said Lord when you come into your kingdom remember me he said today you will be with me in paradise so when Jesus died his spirit went into Hades but into that compartment where Abraham was comforting those who had died in faith as they were awaiting the fullness of time when God would fulfill the promise of sending the Messiah for they'd all died in faith but they could not ascend into heaven because it was impossible that the blood of bulls and goats could put away their sins all they did was foreshadow the sacrifice of Jesus Christ whereby sins could be put away and men could have access on into heaven so Jesus preached to those souls that were in prison and on the third day when he rose again he led the captives from their captivity he opened the prison doors to those that were bound he led them from their captivity and the graves of many of the saints were open and they were seen walking in the streets of Jerusalem after his resurrection from the dead Matthew 27 so he who has ascended is the one who first of all descended into the lower parts of the earth in order to open the prison doors to those that were bound in order to lead those who had by faith been waiting for the Messiah in order to lead them on into glory and he gave gifts unto men and the son he gave apostles and to some prophets and to some evangelists and the some pastors and teachers so he anointed some men to be apostles he anointed others to be prophets others to be evangelists others to be pastor teachers now what is the purpose then of the church what is the purpose of these men that God has gifted for years because of my seminary experiences and my exposure to Oswald J Smith and his missionary conferences and because of my denominational background I thought that the primary purpose of the church was the evangelization of the world and so I was always trying to preach evangelistic sermons in order that I might evangelize the world because after all that I was taught was the primary purpose of the church and as the result the people in my congregations have been exposed to evangelistic preaching over and over and over again every week they were hearing messages on the importance of receiving Jesus Christ and being born again the new life that you could have in Christ repent turn your life over to Jesus surrender your life to Him and be saved now I would oftentimes have extremely powerful evangelistic messages that the Lord had laid upon my heart I mean I would just have my heart burning with this message because it was so dynamic and powerful it would surely convert the hardest sinner and I'd be so excited ready to deliver this powerful message and surely no sinner could resist and I go to church and there wouldn't be a single sinner in the house oh how frustrating I'd take my frustrations out on the people if they'd only be wouldn't had only been witnessing this week as they should they'd have had some of their neighbors in church with him tonight you're a disgrace to God you're a failure and I began to beat the sheet that we're there Jesus didn't say Peter do you love me beat my sheep yet I was Jesus said do you love me feed my sheep but you see I was so into evangelism that I never took the people beyond that level I never brought them into the fullness in Christ in Hebrews chapter 6 it says therefore setting aside these first principles of the doctrines of Christ the repentance from dead works the baptism laying on of hands let's go on into maturity I wasn't doing that with the people because I thought that the primary purpose of the church was the evangelization of the world isn't that what they taught me in seminary but then I came across this passage in Ephesians 4 and it transformed my life and my ministry I found out God didn't call me to be an evangelist I never felt that he did I was uncomfortable trying to be an evangelist but that was the mold that the denomination fit me into I realized that God called pastor teachers to and this is the area where I was very comfortable and I loved but the purpose of the church the purpose of the pastor teacher was the perfecting of the Saints for the work of the ministry and building up the body of Christ I had been tearing down the body of Christ I've been beating the body of Christ I've been driving them away I should be building up the body of Christ the pastor teacher till we all come in the unity of the faith and the knowledge of the Son of God into the fully matured man unto the manger the stature of the fullness of Christ and I had a whole new philosophy for the purpose of the church it isn't the evangelization of the world but it's the building up of the body of Christ and so I then began to focus my ministry on building up the body of Christ loving the body of Christ ministering to the body of Christ strengthening the body of Christ teaching the body of Christ the Word of God feeding the body of Christ and as the result as they began to mature and come into this maturity in Christ their lives became a witness to the world around them and others came to know and came to find out what was going on and evangelism was the byproduct of a healthy body that we no longer be like children who are tossed to and fro and carried about with every wind of doctrine by the sleight of men and the cunning craftiness whereby they lie in wait to deceive there's always been the curse of these weird doctrines that blow through the church and there are always those little sheep who will follow anybody ringing a bell not matured they come with their starry-eyed oh I heard the most wonderful thing the other day we can all be perfect now in these bodies Oh bless God I'm perfect you know Oh help us God children tossed to and fro with every wind of doctrine and sleight of men cunning craftiness and boy I mean they are there what cunning craftiness these letters that they send on their computers cunning craftiness I mean they are masters of deceit they lie in wait to deceive but speaking the truth in love and that's how the truth should be taught and spoken in love not pounding the truth into people not ranting and raving but speaking the truth in love that we may grow up into him in all things that grow through the truth of God which is the head even Christ from whom the whole body is fitly joined together and compacted by that which every joint supplies according to the effectual working in the measure of every part making increase of the body to the edifying or the building up of itself in love so Christ the head and all of us really fit together joined by the spirit made a part of that body the beautiful body of Christ functioning together coordinated together by the Spirit coming into the fullness but you know we look at the body of Christ today in the world and it's and no wonder the world isn't interested you know the church is so divided divided over the dumbest things it is only as we really come to that unity and love that the church will have a powerful witness before the world building up itself in love now this I say therefore and testify in the Lord that you no longer walk as the Gentiles so we are told first of all walk in a way that is fitting as a child of God now we are told that we are not to walk as the Gentiles and that word is used for the heathen walk in the vanity of their mind or empty-headed because they have their understanding darkened because they are alienated from the life of God because of the ignorance that is in them because of the blindness of their heart so their hearts are blind thus they are ignorant ignorant of the life of God that is available to man and they're alienated then from God they are passed feeling and have given themselves over to lasciviousness to work all uncleanness with greediness you're not to walk as the Gentiles who walk in the Sevilla sness in sexual impurity working all uncleanness a catharsis filthy and greed is usually the problem behind it today the real problems of the world you can trace back to greed the greed of man all of these social ills come back to the greed of man the exploitation of people all comes back to greed wanting for myself but that's not what you've learned from Jesus Christ if so be that you have heard him and have been taught by him as the truth is in Jesus what did he teach love one another even as I have loved you and he is taught that love should be the motivating factor behind our lives and behind our actions rather than greed being the motivating factor now there are two powerful motivators in the world today that move men and you are moved by one of the two motivators men are either motivated by love or they are motivated by greed the man apart from Christ is motivated by greed you see the results in the world around us the man who is in Christ is motivated by love and you see the effects within the church wherever they are following the truth that is in Jesus what a glorious thing to be around people motivated by love motivated by the love of Christ what they do they do in the name of Christ what they do they do for Jesus Christ for the love of Christ constrains me and thus they are giving because they're motivated by love whereas those that are motivated by greed are only interested in getting now that's not the way you've learned from Christ but you've learned that you should put off concerning the former manner of life the old man which is corrupt according to his deceitful lust you're to put him off know ye not that the old man was crucified with Christ that the body of sin should not reign as king over you any longer put off that old man corrupted because of his deceitful lust and that you be renewed in the spirit of your mind and you put on the new man which after God is created in righteousness and true holiness now this is a way I'm to walk after the new man the new nature in Christ's righteousness and holiness wherefore put putting away lying speak every man the truth with his neighbor for we are members one of another now be angry and sin not there is an anger that is not sinful that anger it's sin that anger it unrighteousness that anger it evil then anger at bigotry Jesus when he came into the temple and saw the money changers there saw the desecration of the house of God saw the commercialism was angry and I think that he is equally angry with the commercialism today within Christianity and he said in my father's house is to be called a house of prayer you've made it a den of thieves and he drove them out angry again when he came into the synagogue on the Sabbath day and there was a man with a withered hand and the Pharisees watched to see what he was going to do he said to the man with a withered hand stand forth and he looked upon that Pharisee crowd with anger because they would because of their narrow bigotry keep this man from receiving the work of God the healing of his withered hand that day and he looked around upon them with anger anger because men through their traditions would hold back the work of God from other men because that's not the way we do it that isn't according to the bylaws of our denomination there is an anger that is not sinful be angry and sin not let not the Sun go down on your wrath don't go to sleep at night holding a grudge it's apt to destroy you during the evening hours don't let the Sun go down on your wrath neither give place to don't give any place for the devil or for the devil's work in your life you know so many times we give place you know we say well I have a right you know and we say good sit there I have a right to be you know it's waiting don't give place to the devil let him that stole steal no more but rather let him labor working with his hands the thing which is good notice that he might be able to give to those who have need now there is a motivating for the motivation for working is not just to provide for my own needs but I might be able to give to someone else who has need let him stole steal no more but work with his little answer he can give to the poor so he has something to prove I do this let no corrupt communication proceed out of your mouth but that which is good to the use of edifying that it may Minister grace to the years this is something that I think that we we need to really take to heart it there is a form of jesting many times even among believers that is not really proper filthy communication jesting over sexual things or filthy things let no corrupt communication proceed out of your mouth but that which will build up some not that which was tear down someone not that which will you know destroy someone else grieve not the Holy Spirit of God whereby you are sealed unto the day of redemption again back in Chapter two he has sealed us with the Holy Spirit which is the earnest of our inheritance until the redemption of the purchased possession now don't grieve the Holy Spirit how do I grieve the Holy Spirit well I grieve the Holy Spirit when filthy communication comes out of my mouth for he is pure he is holy I grieve the Holy Spirit when I speak to someone in anger when I sort of put myself on a pedestal to put others down that isn't the work of the Holy Spirit is to build others up grieve not the Holy Spirit of God whereby you're sealed let all bitterness and wrath and anger and clamor and evil speaking be put away from you with all malice now these are the things that grieve the spirit bitterness wrath anger clamor evil speaking malice on the positive be kind one to another tender-hearted forgiving one another even as God for Christ's sake as given you there it is be kind one to another tender-hearted not hard-hearted tender-hearted forgiving one another by what major even as God for Christ's sake has forgiven you remember now the lessons that Jesus taught on forgiveness there was a certain man who had a servant who owed him sixteen million dollars and he called him in and said pay me what you owe and he says oh I can't pay you give me a little time and I'll try this man went out and caught a fellow servant as owed him 17 bucks he took him by the neck and he says pay me what you owe me he says I'm sorry I can't right now give me a little time and I'll pay you in no way man you've had it and he took him to court and had him thrown in the debtors prison now the Lord who had forgiven him the set of the sixteen million dollar debt called him in and said how much did you owe me sixteen million bucks and didn't I just say well I forgive you the debt yeah yeah how is it that I hear that you got hold of a fellow servant that owed you seventeen bucks and you had him thrown in debtors prison because of his debt so that's not right you see we are to forgive as God for Christ's sake has forgiven us the 17 million who are we to hold these small grudges or debts against each other tender-hearted forgiving one another even as God for Christ's sake has forgiven you this is one of the first scriptures my mother had me memorize when I was a little boy planted in my heart when I was 2 years old be kind one to another tender-hearted forgiving one another even as God for Christ's has forgiven you when our little girl was about three she was in one of those moods that was insisting that we spank her though I was always reluctant to spank them but it was one of those days when she kept pushing and pushing and pushing until she gave you no alternative and so I brought her in and I sat her down and I said all right that's it I've had it now do you know what the scripture says and I was going to quote to her Ephesians 6:1 children obey your parents in the Lord for this is right and she says yes I know what the scripture says I says what does it say she said be kind one to another I said that'll work this time but not again smart little kids but all what a what a what averse to take and work on this wing to allow the spirit to work in our hearts with just this verse be kind one to another tender-hearted forgiving one another even as God for Christ's sake has forgiven us what beautiful exhortation father we thank you for your word and help us Lord now to walk in a manner that becomes a son of God the way might Oh God put off the old man with his desires and with his affections and that we might put on that new man after Christ in Jesus name Amen

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Length: 50min 4sec (3004 seconds)

Published: Tue May 28 2013