Nepaug Bible Church - http://www.nepaugchurch.org - Pastor's Sermon Notes - http://www.nepaugchurch.org/Sermons/zz19980705.htm

EPHESIANS: THE CHURCH FROM START TO FINISH
"Part VIII: Achieving Practical, Precious, Costly Church Unity"
(Ephesians 3:1-4:16)

Introduction: (To show the need . . . )

As has happened many times over the years, this past week I was approached by a concerned attendee of Nepaug Church who had some questions regarding relationship unity among believers in an area church. He was bothered by the fact that the gospel-preachin g, Bible-teaching pastor of the group seemed to be under pressure!

His concern is a valid one; consider these facts:

(a) Bob Salstrom, former Alumni Secretary of Dallas Seminary, once said he had a stack of letters on his desk that was 18 inches high of Dallas Graduates. These grads had written to be placed in any church other than the one they currently pastored! The y just wanted out of where they were at, no matter where it took them!

(b) This affects layment directly: one recent statistic reports that the fastest growing churches in conservative Christian circles are generally not growing because of evangelistic outreaches! Rather, they are growing because unhappy folk are mo ving out of their former churches and looking for fellowship elsewhere!



Well, WHY this DISUNITY?! If Jesus prayed that His people be ONE in John 17:20-21, what is going on?! Why are often Bible-teaching, Gospel-preaching PASTORS in the THICK of conflict when we are all supposed to be UNIFIED? What is the answer?!



(We turn to the sermon "Need" section . . . )



Need: "If Jesus prayed that believers all be unified (John 17:20-21), why is disunity in churches often the norm?! Why is it that even Bible preaching pastors are often in the midst of church conflicts?!"
  1. In Ephesians 4:1-3, Paul exhorted the Ephesian believers to preserve the unity which the Spirit had produced in the Church:
    1. Ephesians 4:1 begins Paul's exhortation to apply doctrine in his epistle for his readers, Ryrie Study Bible, KJV, ftn. to Ephesians 4:1.
    2. That section has a call to preserve the unity produced by the Spirit:
      1. Paul urged the Ephesians to endeavor to keep the unity the Holy Spirit had produced, and that in the bond of peace, Eph. 4:3.
      2. This unity would reflect the seven positional unifying ties each believer has in Christ through the Spirit as stated in Eph. 4:4-6!
  2. Paul reveals this PRESERVATION of unity is achieved as the result of the following proper functions by church LEADERS:
    1. Having stated his case in calling for Christian unity, Paul began a discussion on spiritual gifts of men in the pulpit, Eph. 4:7-11.
      1. Paul revealed that God had given spiritual gifts to believers, 4:7-11.
      2. The gifts he mentions in this section all have to do with leadership roles where men are gifted to instruct others, Eph. 4:11.
    2. Paul then shows that God uses men gifted with these capacities to produce practical unity in the body as follows, Eph. 4:12-16:
      1. God uses men gifted as instructors of the truth to perfect the saints in the body to do the work of the ministry, Eph. 4:11-12.
      2. As a result, the whole body unifies around the truth, and fellowships with Christ so that individuals can mature, Eph. 4:13.
      3. This stops the relentless tossing back and forth of weak believers among false teachings that only breed unrest, Eph. 4:14.
      4. As a result, people speak the truth in love, and that leads to an explosion of mutually edifying ministries in the body, Eph. 4:15-16.
      5. In summary, loving unity is built on oneness of belief and fellowship with Christ, and that is the result of good teaching!
  3. However, in exampling HOW such unity is developed, Paul, a Church leader himself revealed he faced TRIALS for his EFFORT:
    1. Paul, as an apostle, instructed the Ephesians on the TRUTH that unifies believers opposite the error of Judaists, Eph. 3:1-13 (At times such error even came from fellow believers, cf. Acts 15:1-2, 5):
      1. He revealed that God had wonderfully revealed through his ministry the bonding of Jew and (uncircumcised) Gentile in Christ, 3:1-6.
      2. He revealed that God's grace had selected him of all people who had persecuted the Church to share this news, Eph. 3:7-9.
      3. He revealed that this body of unified believers of Gentile and Jewish origins reveals God's wisdom and power even to angels, 3:10-12.
    2. However, for teaching this, as is true of all who live godly in Christ Jesus (cf. 2 Tim. 3:12), Paul was persecuted by his enemies 3:1,13.
    3. Yet, Paul accepted this trial as a gainful PRICE for real unity, 3:13.
    4. He also expressed a prayer that the Ephesian believers might be strengthened to understand God's infinite, loving acceptance of them in the Body of Christ opposite the beliefs of Judaists, Eph. 3:14-19.
    5. Overcome by focusing on the grace of God in this program, Paul broke out in a joyful doxology though in prison, Eph. 3:20-21.
    6. Based upon such divine grace toward Gentile and Jew, Paul urged his readers to be humble, gentle and patient with one another, Eph. 4:1-2.
    7. In doing so, they would keep the unity the Holy Spirit had forged in the bond of peace, a unity contrary to the Judaists' ERROR, Eph. 4:3
Application: (1) Either the Pastor STOPS standing for the truth in order to have short-term "peace", only to yield long-term spiritual bankruptcy; (2) OR he stands for the TRUTH up FRONT, bringing short-term CONFLICT with long-term maturity a nd unity. (3) THIS Pastor chooses to teach the TRUTH up front, that (a) salvation is by faith alone in Christ alone, Eph. 2:8-9. (b) He also teaches that every believer in the Church is UNWORTHY of God's blessing so that we all might sense our oblig ation to keep relating humbly, gently and patiently with one another. That preserves our unity! (4) Yet, know that this choice by the Pastor to promote TRUTH, as in Paul's case, will at times result in his facing troubles from those opposed to the truth! Thus, "I desire that ye faint not at my tribulations for you, which is your glory!" (Eph. 3:13)

Lesson: (1) DISUNITY comes from (a) FALSE teaching, especially that which produces (b) pride, harshness and impatience in relationships, (c) for these foster competitive friction! (2) Conversely, practical unity is preserved by (a) teaching the TRUTH, especially the facts about God's GRACE in saving and placing all believers in the body of Christ. (b) The spread of truth, particularly that of God's grace leads to gratefulness that furthers humble, gentle patience in relations. (c) This all keeps the church unified long-term. (3) However, the STAND of the one teaching the TRUTH will cost his being persecuted short-term!

Conclusion: (To illustrate the sermon lesson . . . )

 I was asked by a Church member within the last two weeks to review Dr. Spiros Zodhiates' book, What About Divorce. Zodhiates believes God sanctions divorce and remarriage for an "innocent" party.

I felt it necessary to oblige this request as this work has been used by many Christians to sanction divorce and remarriage in their lives!

Well, in surveying the work, I discovered Dr. Zodhiates used the event in Deut. 22:13-21 to define what he sees is a 'God-sanctioned' divorce. On p. 48-49: he wrote : "If the husband suspected that his wife was unfaithful to him, there was a definite p rocedure whereby the truth could be found ...If the woman was not guilty she was free of the marital relationship, whether so pronounced by her husband or not."

However, in this very text, in Deut. 22:19b, the NIV says that after the woman has been cleared of the false charges: "She shall continue to be his wife; he must not divorce her as long as he LIVES." Startled that this statement so transparently contradicted Zodhiates' view, I checked my Hebrew Old Testament [Kittel's Biblia Hebraica, p. 297] and found the same passage reads literally as follows: "And SHE shall continue being (tihyeh) his wife; HE will not be able to divorce her all of his days." Clearly God wanted both the man and his wife to STAY wed -- for them to divorce was expressly denied!

I was amazed that, in spite of the clear teaching of the passage, Dr. Zodhiates claimed the woman was free of her marriage! I was astounded that Christians have used his book instead of easily understood Scripture as an authority to justify getting divorced and/or remarried! I was troubled that this has all happened when Lk. 16:18 teaches that God views divorce and remarriage as technical adultery! I was also concerned that my stand opposite his view has led to years of sometimes sharp, incessant opposition from misguided people!

Well, as pastor, I have a choice to make: I can either agree with Zodhiates in the name of "unity", producing short-term peace and long-term confusion and division; or I can still hold that Scripture does not sanction divorce and remarriage, and continue facing short-term trials while fostering eventual godly unity. For Christ's sake, I again chose the latter. Thus, I CANNOT recommend Zodhiates' book!

According to Ephesians 3-4, this stand is for your true unity! So, "faint not" at what I might face; it is for "your glory", Eph. 3:13!