1. Look with me at Ephesians 4:1-6 (NKJV) I, therefore, the prisoner of the Lord, beseech you to walk worthy of the calling with which you were called, 2 with all lowliness and gentleness, with longsuffering, bearing with one another in love, 3 endeavoring to keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace. 4 There is one body and one Spirit, just as you were called in one hope of your calling; 5 one Lord, one faith, one baptism; 6 one God and Father of all, who is above all, and through all, and in you all.
2. Unity leads to success. Individual strings will break when you try to pull a heavy load; twist the strings together to make strands of a rope and their strength is multiplied.
a. Sports -- hundreds of examples.
(1) One of the most recent is the astounding success of the Florida Marlins in winning the 2003 World Series. Manager Jack McKeon credited the spirit and unity of his team of "no-name" players who simply played better than the much higher-paid Yankees.
(2) The other side of the coin is being seen with the Los Angeles Lakers basketball team. Star players Shaquille Oneal and Kobe Bryant are feuding. In addition to his legal problems, Bryant was fined by Coach Phil Jackson for public comments he made about Shaq. The Lakers have long been an NBA powerhouse, but it will be very hard for them to enjoy any success if they cannot play together with unity.
b. Marriage is another area of life where it is easy to see that unity leads to success. Two persons must get along together in a one-flesh relationship. No matter how independent and strong-willed each marriage partner was before the wedding, they are called on to think in terms of "we" and "us" instead of "I" and "me." Good marriages which not only endure but flourish are relationships where both partners have learned to submit to one another in the fear of God [Ephesians 5:21]. Husbands are to be head over their wives and wives are to submit to their husbands [Ephesians 5:22-23]. It isn't as easy as it might sound to make that work in real life. Successful marriages occur when both people have learned how to function well together as a united team.
3. People who have to have their own way all the time don't know how to experience the fruit of teamwork.
a. United people share a different kind of goal. When our priorities are turned to walking worthy of our calling, the most important thing is pleasing God instead of ourselves.
b. Look at some of the character traits Paul identifies for Christians to possess in Ephesians 4:2:
(1) Lowliness (humility)
(2) Gentleness
(3) Longsuffering (patience)
(4) Bearing with one another in love
3. Unity must be prized.
a. Christians are added to the church by the Lord [Acts 2:47]. When Christians act as they should, unity is an automatic consequence of living according to the teachings of the gospel.
b. However, members of the church do not always act in the right way.
(1) We can be self-centered instead of selfless and others-centered.
(2) We can be harsh with our brethren instead of being gentle.
(3) We can be impatient instead of longsuffering.
(4) We can press ahead and demand our way instead of bearing with one another.
(5) Members of the church sometimes fail to treat one another with love.
(6) The result of these failures is that the unity of the Spirit is stretched and sometimes torn apart by our actions.
c. We must endeavor ("be diligent") to keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace [Ephesians 4:3].
There are seven foundations for the unity of the Spirit. Only when we have these seven "ones" in place can we be prepared to maintain the unity the Lord expects us to have in His church. We'll start our look at those seven "ones" today and finish the study next week.
I. ONE BODY
A. The unity of the church is illustrated by the human body. The human body is a very complex organism with many different parts each of which has to work together in harmony with every other part. [1 Corinthians 12:20-22 (NKJV) But now indeed there are many members, yet one body. 21 And the eye cannot say to the hand, "I have no need of you"; nor again the head to the feet, "I have no need of you." 22 No, much rather, those members of the body which seem to be weaker are necessary.]
B. The body is the church established by Jesus Christ [Ephesians 1:22-23].
1. This is not a plea for denominational ecumenicism. Several denominational bodies have merged together in recent years, but no denominations at all existed in Paul's day. He is not saying that denominational groups should join their hierarchies together. The very existence of denominations is contrary to the New Testament plea for unity.
2. Christ has only one church [Matthew 16:18].
3. We can all be part of that one body by submitting to the teachings of the New Testament and walking according to the light of God's truth. Unity is possible, but it can be attained only when we're walking by the same rule (i.e., standard) [Philippians 3:16 (NKJV) Nevertheless, to the degree that we have already attained, let us walk by the same rule, let us be of the same mind.]
II. ONE SPIRIT
A. The context makes plain that the one Spirit spoken of by Paul is the Holy Spirit.
B. God's people in the New Testament church must be led by the Holy Spirit.
1. Romans 8:14 (NKJV) For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, these are sons of God.
2. Galatians 5:18 (NKJV) But if you are led by the Spirit, you are not under the law.
3. The Holy Spirit is present in the lives of God's people. We are commanded to be filled with the Spirit [Ephesians 5:18]. The fruit of the Spirit is in all goodness, righteousness, and truth [Ephesians 5:9].
C. The Holy Spirit does not lead people in contrary directions. This obvious fact shows the problem with many false claims about the Spirit's leadership today.
1. God cannot lie [Hebrews 6:18]. The Holy Spirit cannot lead two different people to believe and teach contradictory doctrine on the same subject.
2. We need to understand that the Holy Spirit leads us through the revelation of the Word of God [Ephesians 3:5 (NKJV) which in other ages was not made known to the sons of men, as it has now been revealed by the Spirit to His holy apostles and prophets: ]
3. We have unity when we agree with the plain teaching of the Bible -- produced by the work of the Spirit.
III. ONE HOPE
A. There is a sense in which Christians are saved by hope [Romans 8:24 (NKJV) For we were saved in this hope, but hope that is seen is not hope; for why does one still hope for what he sees?]
B. Hope is the expectation of good things to come. The hope shared by faithful Christians is the expectation that the life to come will be a wonderful experience.
1. "We'll be better off on the other side of death" is a common refrain. It is often voiced by people who do not have a realistic basis to expect that will be true.
a. Unbelievers will die in their sins [John 8:24].
b. Those who will not repent will perish [Luke 13:3]
c. Those who are not baptized have no way to escape the guilt of sin [Acts 22:16].
2. However, those who do obey the gospel and live faithful Christian lives have a sound basis for their hope of eternity [1 Corinthians 15:19 (NKJV) If in this life only we have hope in Christ, we are of all men the most pitiable.]
a. We have the promise of eternal life [1 John 2:25 (NKJV) And this is the promise that He has promised us; eternal life.]
b. That promise comes from a trustworthy source. Jesus said, "Come to Me, all you who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. 29 "Take My yoke upon you and learn from Me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. 30 "For My yoke is easy and My burden is light. ["Matthew 11:28-30 (NKJV)]. We can believe those words. "You will find rest for your souls" -- that's the basis of our hope.
c. In Christ, we are united with everyone else who enjoys the same promise. We're on the same team . . . headed in the same direction -- in the direction of heaven.
CONCLUSION