A Good Look at a Worthy Walk

Our precious Father in God, this morning as we open this book, we do so with a reverence because it is your word.

! It's true. It's settled in the heavens.

It is the means whereby we, in our hopeless and despairing estate, as rebels and sinners, have come to realize that we stand morally bankrupt and broken in the presence of a holy God.

And you, in your kindness, sent the Lord Jesus Christ to be the substitute to die in our place and pay the penalty for our sins.

And your word promises that all who call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved.

And there are many of us here today that enjoy the incredible blessing of salvation.

We rest this morning in the confidence of our eternity.

And though this outward man is perishing, yet the inward man is renewed day by day.

And we see you continuing to work in us and through us that Christ might be glorified.

And we, together, would ask this morning that your spirit would quicken our hearts, mine, to declare the glory of your word and your people,

that they might receive it and delight in it and obey it.

And we ask this in Jesus' name. Amen.

Amen.

One of the difficulties that goes with expositional preaching is that it's a challenge to keep all of it together.

And what I mean by that is that I cannot help but launch into Ephesians chapter 4, verse 2 and 3.

Ephesians 4:2

And that's where we're going to be this morning without thinking also of Ephesians chapter 1 because the two pieces are connected.

Ephesians 1 · chapter mention

What we're going to be looking at in Ephesians chapter 4 on through the end of the book is the practical instructions that God gives to His people in saying,

Ephesians 4 · chapter mention

hey, since you're my child, this is what I want you to do.

And as we get kind of caught up in the to-dos, sometimes we forget what has been done.

And so this morning I want you to take a minute, if you will, and turn back in Ephesians as we're going to just take a second and look at the early statements that are made in this book

that are the ground, the foundation, the base upon which all of the remainder of the book rests.

And it's important, I should say, to keep these two pieces together.

Ephesians chapter 1, verse 3, it says,

Ephesians 1:3

Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in Christ Jesus with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places.

That's it.

That is a...

By the way, if you want to memorize one verse from Ephesians, that would be the starting one.

Are there other verses that are worth memorizing?

Yes.

I cannot help but think this morning of Ephesians chapter 3, verse 14 through 19, another foundational passage.

Ephesians 3:14–19

But here as Paul starts, he says,

Blessed is the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us with all...

You have it all in Christ.

Amen.

Even as he chose us in him before the foundation of the world that we should be holy and blameless before him in love.

He predestined us for the adoption as sons through Jesus Christ according the purpose of his will,

to the praise of his glorious grace with which he has blessed us in the beloved.

In him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of our trespasses according to the riches of his grace.

Now, I bring this up to you because what we are going to see in Ephesians chapter 4, verse 2 and 3,

Ephesians 4:2

and actually through the remainder of the book, are some explicit instructions on how we are to behave as believers.

And I think it is important for us to remember that in the Scriptures,

before God gives us commands and expectations,

he always explains who he is and what he has done for us,

and it is the basis of his glory and his goodness that we who are his children are called to act like him.

I mean, when he says do this, it is not because he wants to harm us or rob us of pleasure and satisfaction.

He wants to amplify the blessing and the glory and the privilege of knowing him and being his child.

And so as we look this morning at this starting place of what the Christian's walk is to look like,

trusting that you haven't thought carefully about this passage yet,

I would like to ask kind of an opening question.

So if you were to give someone else who's not a believer a short list of things that would be markers and identifiers

for this person being a Christian, or here's how you can spot Christians in a crowd,

what would you put first on the list?

Do you follow my question?

All right.

How can you pick out a Christian in a crowd?

One question or another one is,

so if you were going to give a list,

if you were going to give a friend a short list of questions that should be,

this is what you need to do to be a Christian,

what would you put on the list?

Are you thinking with me?

In a previous generation, the list may have looked like this, okay?

I don't drink, I don't smoke, I don't go out with people who do, okay?

I don't dance, I don't whatever else, you know?

And also, I don't sway to the music, I don't go whoop, whoop, whoop, you know?

I am right locked on down.

That was the list growing up.

Now, unless you get kind of caught up in thinking,

well, I'm one of those liberated people, I'm not in the 60s crowd,

I've got to tell you, one of the things I know about human nature is that we all make our lists

contrary to the grace and the sufficiency of Christ.

And none of you, by your own nature, would have put on the list first what Paul puts there.

And so I want us to step into the text and think carefully about what Paul thinks is an absolute priority

in the believer's walk.

So what's a Christian look like?

Where does he start?

Look at the passage.

I, therefore, a prisoner of the Lord, urge you to walk in a manner worthy of the calling

to which you have 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.

Would you have put unity first?

Would you have said that's the important thing that the believer has to get down at the start

of his Christian walk?

Ephesians chapter 4, 5 and 6 talk about the things that are to characterize the believer.

Ephesians 4 · chapter mention

This is what we're to be.

And the first thing that he mentions that he actually takes 16 verses to then articulate

or to clarify is this matter of unity.

As you look at the passage, and I want you to mark now the characteristics of a worthy walk,

you pick up there in verse 2, it says,

with all humility and gentleness.

Let me break down the text a little bit for you and explain that there is a logic to which

Paul is going to work in these two verses that we're going to study together this morning.

He speaks first of all about inner attitudes, those things that are inside of us.

And look at the verse, the verse 2, it says,

with all humility and gentleness.

Subsequent to that, he talks about behaviors that can be observed.

He says there that we are to be patient, bearing with one another.

And then he uses one capstone over top of all of it, and he says, with love.

So I want us to recognize that at the very beginning of this call that we as believers are responsible

to heed, and Paul spells out, all right, here are the giveaways, the characteristics of the

godly person who's walking in the power of the Spirit and pleasing Christ.

He says, let's start by recognizing that a worthy walk is all about unity of spirit and the attitudes.

A worthy walk starts with the attitudes of humility and gentleness.

Now, in simple terms, humility refers to a low view of self.

Let me say that again slowly, and I got to tell you that that statement is one that if you are,

if you're kind of caught up in the world's thinking, it has to kind of scratch on the surface of the chalkboard.

How many of you remember when the teacher would do that?

Now we use overheads and PowerPoint and all that, but I remember growing up where every

now and then, you know, it was like nails.

Can't be.

And here we have a word that in contemporary culture sounds off base.

Let me say it again.

Humility refers to a low view of self.

And it is seen in the Bible as an opposite thing from pride.

Humility takes its view of self from a right view of Christ.

I remember talking earlier, well, late last week with an individual who at the, in the course of our conversation,

this individual said to me, you need to pray for me that I trust God more.

Well, one of the privileges of having lasting relationship with individuals is that when they make a statement like that,

you probably have a larger understanding of what all is going on in their life.

And I said to this individual in the premise of that prayer request, I said,

actually, your problem in trusting God more is not that you just need to grow in trusting God more.

You need to know who He is.

Because if you don't know who He is, it's pretty hard to trust Him, isn't it?

And this individual was struggling a great, great deal, not what the matter of trusting God more,

but actually of recognizing God to be who God is.

And so when we think about the issue of humility and you're sitting there thinking to yourself,

well, how do I get humbled?

Do I just kind of walk around with this dour look on my face and kind of mealy-mouthed and I could go on and on?

No, no, no, no.

Humility rises out of a right view of Christ.

I want to recite two different passages that come to mind.

One is over in 1 Corinthians 15, verse 10, and you don't need to look at this one, but here's what Paul says.

1 Corinthians 15:10

It says, by the grace of God, I am who I am.

How many of you have ever gotten frustrated with who you are?

I've made the statement on many cases, it's very hard being me.

One of the things that I kind of laugh at myself on occasion, and it's kind of not always funny,

but it always takes me two trips wherever I'm going.

What I mean by that is that I'll walk out of the office, I'm going somewhere,

and sure enough, whoever's the secretary, it's Connie now, she might as well wait,

because I'm coming in, I forgot something.

It's just, ah, here we go.

And in fact, sometimes I'll sit there at the desk and I think, all right, I'm leaving,

what should I take with me?

And I scamper out to the car and still, guess what, ding, oh, my cell phone, I need that, desperately.

You know, so back I go.

You know, we look at ourselves and here's what Paul says.

He says, listen, I am who I am by the grace of God.

There's only one of me, there's only one of you,

and God made you the way you are and made me the way I am.

And understanding that is important.

But understanding that in the context of the sufficiency and significance of Christ,

that's where the real importance is.

Turn over in your Bible, if you will, you're in Ephesians,

but go back for a moment to John chapter 3, verse 30.

John 3:30

John chapter 3, verse 30 is one of those passages that is etched into my ongoing pursuit of knowing Christ.

John 3:30

In John chapter 3, verse 30, we have the instance where John the Baptist's disciples come to him and say,

John 3:30

hey, listen, we've got a problem.

We're having a little bit of downturn in our crowd.

And the problem really comes back to that guy you baptized.

You know, you probably just not have done that because he is really kind of growing in his public ministry,

and a lot of people are coming to him.

Who was that, by the way?

It was Jesus.

And here are the disciples kind of concerned for what was happening to their ministry and to their hero.

Listen to what John has to say.

There in verse 27, he says,

a person cannot receive even one thing unless it is given to him from heaven.

So, how did you get to be who you are?

Providentially, by the power of God.

And you are the way you are because God chose to make you that way, and he has a purpose in it.

Then it says here,

Now, I want you to mark something here because it's important.

The word must speaks of an imperative.

What does an imperative mean?

It has to happen.

There's no way around it.

It is a theological truth.

He must increase.

And, beloved, when we have a right view of Christ, humility is not something that is forced.

It flows out of our growing relationship and infection for him,

and it is something that happens by virtue of that divine reality.

He must increase.

I want you to recognize, as we think about the subject of humility this morning,

that humility is a right place to start.

When we talk about practical Christian living, humility is a right place to start.

Turn back in your Bible.

You are in Ephesians.

You're probably in John or in…

Yeah, you're in John.

But let's go to the book of Romans.

I want you to look at this passage as well.

So, Romans is another very similar book in terms of its structure.

Remember what I said?

One of the characteristics of the Scripture, it tells us what God has done and who God is

before it ever lays the responsibilities and obligations of Christian living on us.

And Romans is similar.

Actually, it takes more chapters to kind of lay out the beauty of salvation.

Romans 1-11 talks about the doctrine of salvation.

And then in chapter 12, verse 1, we read this.

I appeal to you, therefore, brothers, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies as a living sacrifice.

This is reasonable.

This is acceptable.

This is why you were saved, to live for Christ and live your life to his glory.

Now, mark what we find then in verse 3.

For by the grace given to me, I say to every one among you not to think of himself more highly than he ought to think,

but to think with sober judgment, each according to the measure of faith that God is assigned.

So the starting place, not only in the book of Ephesians, but also in the book of Romans,

is having a right view of ourself and not being overly inflated with who we are and what we have been given.

Third, I want you to, or next, I want you to understand that humility is a safe place to start.

Humility is a safe place to start.

Let me say this, and I don't want you to miss it.

Only one person gets to be God.

Do you understand that?

Only one person gets to be God.

And we all struggle with that reality.

We're just like Adam and Eve in the garden.

We'd like to do it our way.

We'd like to run.

I appreciate Pastor Saul talking about the fact that I appreciate his transparency,

because I struggle with some of the same things.

I'm studying or whatever else, and I am just really booking it because Sunday's coming,

and in fact, I like doing what I do.

And out of the clear blue, someone wants to call me and ask some question.

Or they're upset with something.

It's like, you know, Pastor, can you believe that someone had the gall, blah, blah, blah,

and off they go, and I'm sitting there in my flesh.

Do you know what my flesh is?

It's in that little old nasty little Tim Kenoyer heart.

You know, I'm thinking, don't they know I'm involved in doing God's work,

preparing for, you know, here's the deal.

Oh, only God gets to be God.

And so when he changes my agenda, and that's who actually stimulated the call.

Do you understand that?

Whoever's on the other end of the phone was not thinking to themselves,

let's see if I can really test Tim Kenoyer today.

They probably weren't thinking about me.

They were just thinking, huh, who parked in my place?

You know, it's something really important, you know.

So they call me.

Pastor Saul talked about something that I do struggle with, and that's when, you know,

you stop at the red light, and you wait with all your righteousness for their light to turn green.

And then the person in front of you is on their cell phone.

Or worse yet, they're texting, and they're righteous.

They want to finish the text before they drive.

Good person.

And I am just getting ready to, you know, what are you thinking?

How many of you know what I'm thinking?

Yeah, I have thought about bumping them with my car.

You know, boom.

Something under the five-mile-an-hour limit, because then the airbag pops, you know.

But I'm thinking, oh, Lord.

So are you in control or not?

Yes.

Okay, here's the deal.

Humility is a safe place to start this business of living like a Christian.

I'm reminded what it says over in 1 Peter 5, verse 5, the second part of it.

1 Peter 5:5

It says, God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble.

God is opposing all the time.

I have found myself on occasion looking at certain people's behaviors and thinking,

how will they get away with that?

And here's what I know.

If they are displaying a spirit of pride, what I know is that it won't happen forever.

God will take care of it.

So when we think about what it means to walk as a believer,

and Paul says, hey, listen, the starting place that I have for you,

when you think about the matter of how to live as a believer, it starts with humility.

Now, the second word that Paul uses is kind of in that same attitudinal frame.

It says, and also with gentleness.

Gentleness is a word that could also be translated with the term meekness.

And the Greek word refers to the attitude that we show when we are mistreated or disappointed with others.

I really like what the Bible scholar John Eady had to say about it.

He said, meekness is never insubordinate to God and never resentful towards men.

Never insubordinate to God and never resentful towards men.

And so when you think about whether or not you are displaying a meek spirit,

ask yourself the question, so when things don't go your way, how do you respond?

When people disappoint you or you are discouraged with certain outcomes,

and I've got to tell you, I speak about this in advance.

We are going to spend five days working in vacation Bible school,

and I have had the joy of watching many, many people put countless hours into preparing for this.

I can tell you one of the things that's going to happen is that things won't go exactly as planned.

God in His wisdom will give you a couple little boys and girls that will test your humility and test your meekness.

And if you are not engaged in ministry and the power of the Spirit of God,

you may not have a public meltdown in the classroom,

but, oh, you will fume and fuss, and Christ will not be honored by that Spirit.

I want you to look at something else as we look at the passage there.

In Ephesians 4, verse 2, it says,

Ephesians 4:2

Patience is that behavior that doesn't give in to the natural temptation to quit or blow up under pressure.

Patience.

Staying.

It just means to kind of stay with it, stay with it, stay with it.

And, you know, we need patience in life, do we not?

One of the reasons we need patience is because we who have received mercy are to display it.

We're to treat other people like we have been treated by Christ.

Has He been patient with you?

What's the answer?

Have you gone to Him again and again with some of the same afflictions and difficulties in your spirit,

and yet with patience and kindness He has continued to love you,

and He's never, ever changed His attitude towards you?

Patience.

There's another little word that is used there in the passage.

It says with forbearance or bearing with one another in love.

And forbearance is that behavior that smiles and keeps at it in the face of the differences and messinesses in people's lives.

One of the things that I was struck by as I was meditating and kind of studying through this passage was how interesting it was to me

that unity was first in the list of things that characterized the worthy walk or the godly walk.

And one of the reminders to me, as I actually was studying and reading ahead,

is that unity is so critical for the fact that God sees us, or the Scriptures see us,

in organic relationship with one another in the body of Christ.

The first thing that the Spirit wants us to understand is that we are part of His body,

and as a reflection of being part of His body, we have to have unity.

We have to get along.

And the difficulty with getting along is that salvation puts a lot of jerks in the same canoe.

Do you follow that?

That's maybe a strong way to say it.

But over the years in premarital counseling, one of the things that I've told young people,

boy and girl, young man, young woman, I've said, listen, marriage is a wonderful,

it's an incredible blessing to you.

But I've got to tell you something about marriage.

It puts two sinners in the same canoe.

And in the first two or three years, those two sinners in that same canoe

are discovering all kinds of things that courtship never clued them in on.

And as a result of that, there is just ongoing struggle of,

I can't believe he grew up in a home like that.

What did his parents teach him about laundry skills?

I mean, you know, I wasn't hired to pick his socks up off the floor.

And he likewise is thinking of, I can't believe she can't cook like my mom.

And he thinks if he says it two or three times, it'll solve the problem.

And guess what it does?

She looks at him sweetly across the table and says, why don't you go there and eat?

Not a good idea.

But, you know, the point is, is that here's the deal.

God saves us and he puts us together into the family of God.

And in order to be interconnected, we have to have humility and meekness,

and we have to have patience, and we have to be willing to forbear.

Now, here's a little side note.

One of the things that has become sadly characteristic of evangelical Christians today

is they are floaters.

They're not connected.

And so, having humility and meekness, patience, and forbearance is really not necessary

because if they don't like the people in this canoe,

there's about 3,000 other canoes in the community,

and we'll just kind of hop around from place to place to place.

You really don't solve anything by doing that,

and you really don't engage in being part of what the bride of Christ is in a local place.

And Paul says this.

He says, listen, you have to have humility,

you have to have gentleness,

you have to have patience,

and you have to have forbearance.

Now, mark what the capstone of all of this is.

He says there in verse 2,

he says,

Bearing with one another in love.

Have you ever been around people that are suffering for Jesus and letting you know it?

Huh?

Huh?

Or they're letting you know that they're working on their patience,

but it's kind of with this gritting teeth type of attitude,

and at the same time that they're talking about how they're being forbearing and they're being patient,

they're really letting you know very, very subtly that they're not at all happy.

How does love treat problems in a relationship?

Love treats a problem in a relationship with the objective of seeing that the individual who is struggling

is strengthened and encouraged and built up in the faith.

When a parent has a problem with a child,

that problem is really an opportunity to minister and help that child grow.

Wouldn't you agree?

And the capstone of your ministry can't be just,

Well, I am patient with my child,

and I am enduring,

and I am letting that kid know that it's only the grace of God that I'm not killing him.

Okay.

No.

I like this.

Paul says the thing that should be the overarching characteristic of our relationship

in this characteristic bond that we have in the body of Christ

is that we have a genuine affection one for another.

And so this morning, as you think about where you are,

I want you to understand that ministry without love is dishonorable to the one who loved us,

and walking in genuine love is the principal evidence of his power at work in us.

Listen to what Jesus said over in John chapter 13, verse 35.

John 13:35

He was talking about,

Okay, so what is the giveaway?

How can unbelievers tell that we're believers?

Do you know what he said?

He said,

He said,

By this shall all men know that you are my disciples,

that you have what?

That you really have love for one another.

I think about that.

Love is something that is quantifiable.

You can see it in work.

I got to tell you,

yesterday I was so richly blessed when I showed up at John Massaro's house

to help him move to another place.

Yes, and within minutes of my arriving,

there were all kinds of other people who showed up there.

And I think at one point when I was counting noses,

there were 16 or 17.

I got to give a shout out to the parents of you,

all you parents,

who brought your children with you.

I am so blessed

when I see parents bring their children along

when we're moving furniture.

Okay?

It just fires me up inside.

And when I see 16 and 17 people,

men, women,

it was just...

And we got that truck packed in less than an hour.

An entire home packed into a truck.

I mean...

Now, it does help to have things packed ahead.

Okay?

And having them all...

If you know John Massaro...

Is John around here somewhere?

I can talk about him freely then.

You know, John Massaro would have all the boxes labeled,

and all the boxes, you know,

they're pretty much all the same.

We're not talking about two banana boxes

and egg cretins and, you know,

all those other things,

where every box is kind of symmetrical organized,

and it all...

It was like we're at UPS working together.

Or FedEx.

Some of you go there too.

But anyway, you know,

I was so blessed to watch the body work.

And there is kindness and love one for another.

Why did everybody show up on Saturday to help John?

Because we love him.

And we love him because Jesus loved us.

I like what it says in John chapter 13,

John 13 · chapter mention

where it says Jesus...

He says,

Hey, this is how people know that you're my disciple.

You love each other.

Do you think the world loves each other?

And what's the answer?

People in your cubicle next to you,

do they really love you?

You know what?

They're there probably because they have to be,

because that's how they pay their bills.

And they frankly,

when it really comes down to it,

they're not all that caught up with you.

And in the body of Christ,

we love each other.

Now I want you to pick up on what we find in verse 3.

The energy of a worthy walk.

It says here,

Eager to maintain the unity of the Spirit

and the bond of peace.

Paul has talked about the importance of humility

and forbearing with one another.

Now he talks about the energy that is required.

And a worthy walk calls us to be diligent

in guarding the unity of the Spirit.

To be diligent,

that means that we have this earnestness

that we do keep the unity of the Spirit.

Do you know what the first consequence of the fall was?

Visibly?

Think with me.

The first visible evidence of the fall

was a breach in relationship.

Isn't that right?

And ever after the fall,

the natural inclination we have

is to draw away from one another.

It is the Spirit of God

that brings us back together again,

first of all,

because we have been reconciled to Christ

and we end up in relationship with one another.

And when I see individuals beginning to move away

from that organic relationship

that we have in the bride of Christ,

I wonder what's happening in their life spiritually.

Beloved,

I do want you to understand

that the unity of the Spirit

takes persistent and ongoing effort.

Don't forget that.

That's what's being said here.

Eager to maintain the unity of the Spirit

and the bond of peace.

I cannot tell you how richly blessed I am

in fellowship here

with the pastors and deacons of our body.

One of the things that has characterized

our 26 plus years of ministry together

is that God has helped us

as a group of leaders

consciously and carefully

preserve the unity of the Spirit

and the bond of peace.

It has been our blessing together.

And it is something that I can tell you

does take work

because the individuals

who God providentially pulls into that room

to engage in leading this body

don't all think alike.

And God helps us

to guard the unity.

The Word calls us to that guarding.

It's talking about actually working

to keep an eye out for it.

Now I want you to mark at the close

the center of our unity

because here's what it says.

The unity of the Spirit.

The unity of the Spirit.

I remember when I was sitting

way back where Kristen is.

Kristen, will you wave at me please?

Thank you.

Judith and I,

this was back in 1980, 1981.

This was before,

you know why the cutout is over here

so that you can see

if your baby needs your attention

that right over here

by the exit sign.

In the good old days,

people who had children in the nursery

sat way back there

so that the nursery workers

could just kind of open the door

and reach in and say,

psst, psst, psst,

your baby is crying, you know.

And Judith and I were sitting back there

when after Pastor Brock resigned,

we went through the process of a search

and I remember hearing Max McCullough

who was the assistant pastor at that time.

Prior to our having a candidate come,

he spoke on the unity of the Spirit

and he made this statement

that stuck with me

and has been a governing factor

in my understanding of body life.

He said,

unity of the Spirit

is something that is produced by the Spirit.

Brilliant, right?

He said,

where there is a lack of unity,

often there's a lack of information.

You can't expect people to be united

on something they don't understand.

And as a result of that,

when this body goes through

the decision process,

I have never had anybody say

you didn't give us adequate information.

Now, they may have not been there

at three of the public meetings

or they've not read any of the paperwork,

but there it is.

Unity of Spirit comes about

through the work of the Spirit.

Where there's a lack of unity,

there may be a lack of information.

There also may be a lack of prayer.

And that's one of the reasons why we all,

hey, pray, pray, pray.

Pray about this.

Third is don't hesitate to ask questions about it

to understand it.

I mean, I got to tell you,

one of the very interesting rumors

that we've heard is that

pastor always gets his way in a deacon's meeting.

That is probably one of the more humorous statements

that I've heard.

Really?

I have a hard time getting my way anywhere.

And I got to tell you the truth,

there's a good reason for that

because most of my ideas are pretty bad.

And godly men will take me to task and say,

what were you thinking?

Did you stop and realize,

you know, no, I didn't think about that.

And unity of spirit comes when godly men

rely upon the Word of God,

the Spirit of God,

and they make decisions together.

Paul says this.

He says, listen,

in your starting process

of being an illustration

of the glory of Christ

in body life.

He says, listen,

with all humility and gentleness,

patient with one another,

forbearing with one another in love,

he said,

endeavor,

strive diligently

to maintain the unity of the Spirit

in the bond of peace.

So here's my question.

Does that characterize you as a believer?

Number one,

actively engaged.

You know what?

You don't need unity

when you're in the car by yourself.

My presets are my presets,

and the music I listen to,

nobody else fusses with

when I'm by myself.

And there are some of you

that you've never really been strained

in the era of unity

because you are in kind of

a permanent disconnect

from active engagement

in the body of Christ.

It takes unity to stay together.

It takes unity to be actually engaged

in doing what the body

has been called to do.

And so ask yourself the question,

do I have the unity of the Spirit?

Do I display humility

and gentleness,

patience,

and forbearance

in the bond of love?

And if that is not the case,

I want to two questions.

The first is most important.

Do I know Christ

as my personal Savior?

Your discord,

your incessant turmoil

may well be a reflection

of the fact you don't know Christ.

Second,

it may be that despite the fact

that you are a believer,

that at the very heart

of your ongoing battle

is a spirit of arrogance

and pride

that makes it hard

to get along.

And I would plead with you,

humble yourself

before the Lord Jesus

that you can be effective

in the body

for His glory.

Let's close in prayer.

Gracious Father,

our hearts just lift up

inside of us

and say,

blessed be the God

and Father

of our Lord Jesus Christ

who has blessed us

with all spiritual blessings

in the heavenlies.

And on that foundation,

Lord,

we want to be a people

who are marked

by humility

and gentleness

that the unbelieving world

looking at the way

we do love each other

would say,

wow,

I want some of that.

Thank you for the sweetness

of the gospel

that reminds each

and every one of us

that apart from Christ

we stand justly condemned

for our sin

and our rebellion.

And yet Christ came

into the world

to save sinners.

And He died on the cross

that whosoever believes

in Him

might not perish

but have everlasting life.

And we pray this morning

that believers' hearts

would be stirred

by an affectionate desire

to be active

and productive

in the body

and sinners

would be drawn

to the cross.

We ask this

in your precious name.

Amen.