EPH 4:1-6 WALK IN UNITY
1 I, therefore, the prisoner of the Lord,
that is, imprisoned in the Lord's cause,
WE ARE BOND SLAVES OF THE LORD WE CHOOSE TO BE.
beseech you
BEG YOU.
to walk worthy of the calling with which you were called,
NOTICE WE ARE ALWAYS WALKING WITH THE LORD NOT RUNNING AHEAD OF HIM OR LAGGING BEHIND.
WHEREVER WE ARE GOD IS JUST LIKE
DANIEL IN THE LIONS DEN
OR Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego IN THE FURNACE
THE WORD CALLING IS VOCATION IN THE ORIGINAL GEEK
2 with all lowliness
BE HUMBLE
and gentleness,
OR KINDNESS
with longsuffering,
DON’T BE SHORT WITH PEOPLE
bearing with one another in love,
THE FRUIT OF THE SPIRIT GAL.5:22-26
22 But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, 23 gentleness, self-control. Against such, there is no law. 24 And those who are Christ’s have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires. 25 If we live in the Spirit, let us also walk in the Spirit. 26 Let us not become conceited, provoking one another, envying one another.
GOD GIVES US A NEW HEART AND THE HOLY SPIRIT
BUT THE MANIFESTATION OF THE FRUIT COMES WHEN WE REMAIN IN THE WORD AND PRAYER AND FELLOWSHIP WITH ONE ANOTHER.
THE FRUIT COMES WITH GROWTH.
THE BIBLE SAYS
1Pe 2:2. As newborn babes, desire the pure milk of the word, that you may grow thereby:
BUT IN LIKE MANNER IT ALSO SAYS IN Heb 5:13For everyone who partakes only of milk is unskilled in the word of righteousness, for he is a babe.
SO, BABIES NEED TO GROW UP.
WE DON’T GIVE BABIES STEAK OR AN APPLE THEY NEED BABY FOOD.
THE BEST EXAMPLE OF THIS IS THE CHILDREN OF ISRAEL IN THE WILDERNESS,
THEY WERE MERMERS AND COMPLAINERS.
THE BIBLE SAYS THEY LEFT EGYPT BOLDLY BUT-
AS SOON AS THEIR BACK WAS AGAINST THE RED SEA THEY WANTED TO GO BACK TO EGYPT –
AND THEY STAYED MERMERERS AND COMPLAINERS TO THE POINT THEY WERE CALLED A WICKED AND PERVERSE GENERATION.
The Song of Moses
Deu 32:20 And He said: ‘I will hide My face from them,
I will see what their end will be, for they are a perverse generation,
Children in whom is no faith.
A Boy Is Healed
Mat 17:17 Then Jesus answered and said, “O faithless and perverse generation, how long shall I be with you? How long shall I bear with you? Bring him here to Me.”
As you know after Joshua dies the children of Israel fell back into Idolatry serving false Gods, then the Judges came
Then the prophets
God had given them the Tabernacle and the priest through the Life of King David.
That is where the Holy Spirit resided.
3 endeavoring to keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace.
WE ARE ONE
It is not about denomination
Denomination separates man
Christ unifies man
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.
EPH.4:7-16 HOW TO GROW UP IN CHRIST
7 But to each one of us grace was given according to the measure of Christ’s gift.
THE GIFT OF GOD IS SALVATION AND THE GIVING OF THE HOLY SPIRIT.
THIS IS NOT TALKING ABOUT THE FRUIT OF THE SPIRIT:
8 Therefore He says:
“When He ascended on high, He led captivity captive, and gave gifts to men.”
QUOTING (Psa. 68:18). Thou hast ascended on high, thou hast led captivity captive: thou hast received gifts for men; yea, for the rebellious also, that the LORD God might dwell among them.
GOD is meant in the Psalm, represented by the ark, which was being brought up to Zion in triumph by David, after that "the Lord had given, him rest round about from all his enemies" (2Sa 6:1 - 7:1 1Ch 15:1-29).
Paul quotes it of CHRIST ascending to heaven, who is therefore GOD.
He led captivity captive in the Psalms refers to David’s enemies but here it refers to Christ’s enemy, Satin.
9 (Now this, “He ascended”—what does it mean but that He also first descended into the lower parts of the earth? 10 He who descended is also the One who ascended far above all the heavens, that He might fill all things.)
So, here we have one of the scriptures that man argues over
There are two camps,
1 some say He descended to hell
2 the other camp says Christ descended to Earth leaving Heaven and coming to Earth in the form of man.
HOW DOES GROWING UP HAPPEN V.11-12
11 And He Himself gave some to be apostles, some prophets, some evangelists, and some pastors and teachers, 12 for the equipping of the saints for the work of ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ,
AGIN AN ARGUMENTATIVE SCRIPTURE IN REFERENCE TO APOSTLES AND PROPHETS
I WILL SAY THIS ACCORDING TO SCRIPTURE, An Apostle Was an Eyewitness of the Resurrected Christ
The apostles were the foundation of the church (Eph 2:20),
Paul affirms this qualification when he states in
1 Corinthians 9:1, Am I not free? Am I, not an apostle? Have I not seen Jesus our Lord?
WHEN DID HE SEE THE LORD?
he saw the resurrected Christ on the road to Damascus (Acts 9:1–9)
Paul affirms this qualification of apostleship in 1 Corinthians 15:7–8: Then he appeared to James, then to all the apostles. Last of all, as to one untimely born, he appeared also to me.
and so, it was important that they had been with Jesus himself and, in particular, seen him resurrected from the dead.
There are several Biblical qualifications of a prophet. According to the Scriptures,
a prophet is someone who is used by God to communicate His message to the world.
He is also called a “seer” because he could see dreams and visions from God (1 Samuel 9:9).
They will be called for service for the prophetic office.
Some even before they are born such as in the case of Jeremiah.
They will not contradict the Word of God (Isaiah 8:19, 20)
They will predict future events (Deuteronomy 18:20-22).
“But the prophet, which shall presume to speak a word in my name, which I have not commanded him to speak, or that shall speak in the name of other gods, even that prophet shall die. And if thou say in thine heart, how shall we know the word which the LORD hath not spoken? When a prophet speaketh in the name of the LORD, if the thing follows not, nor come to pass, that is the thing which the LORD hath not spoken, but the prophet hath spoken it presumptuously: thou shalt not be afraid of him” (Deuteronomy 18:20-22).
The proof of a prophet’s credentials lies, in part, in the fulfillment of his predictions. This was found true of Samuel. (1 Samuel 3:18–21).
13 till we all come to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to a perfect man, to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ;
14 that we should no longer be children, tossed to and fro and carried about with every wind of doctrine, by the trickery of men, in the cunning craftiness of deceitful plotting,
AS MATURE BELIEVERS WE NEED TO BE ABLE TO DISCERN THE SPIRITS
John 4:1 - Beloved, believe not every spirit, but try the spirits whether they are of God: because many false prophets are gone out into the world.
We discern spirits by staying in the word of God… COMING TO THE KNOWLEDGE OF THE TRUTH.
15 but, speaking the truth in love, may grow up in all things into Him who is the head—Christ— 16 from whom the whole body, joined and knit together by what every joint supplies, according to the effective working by which every part does its share, causes growth of the body for the edifying of itself in love.
SERVICE TO GOD,
EVERYONE IS CALLED TO THE MINISTRY
FOR THE COMMON CAUSE AND GOOD THAT IS CHRIST UNTIL HE COMES BACK FOR THE CHURCH.
NO ONE IS EXEMPT.
The OLD Man 17-19
17 This I say, therefore, and testify in the Lord, that you should no longer walk as the rest of the Gentiles walk, in the futility of their mind,
18 having their understanding darkened,
being alienated from the life of God, because of the ignorance that is in them, because of the blindness of their heart;
19 who, being past feeling,
have given themselves over to lewdness, to work all uncleanness with greediness.
ROMANS 1:18-32
THE NEW MAN 20-24: PUT OFF
20 But you have not so learned Christ, 21 if indeed you have heard Him and have been taught by Him, as the truth is in Jesus:
22 that you put off, concerning your former conduct, the old man which grows corrupt according to the deceitful lusts,
AND PUT ON
23 and is renewed in the spirit of your mind,
24 and that you put on the new man
which was created according to God, in
true righteousness and holiness.
1 Peter 1:16 because it is written, “You shall be holy, for I am holy.”
Do Not Grieve the Spirit
25 Therefore,
putting away lying, “Let each one of you speak the truth with his neighbor,”
for we are members of one another.
26 “Be angry, and do not sin”: do not let the sun go down on your wrath,
27 nor give place to the devil.
28 Let him who stole steal no longer, but rather let him labor, working with his hands what is good,
that he may have something to give him who has need.
29 Let no corrupt word proceed out of your mouth,
but what is good for necessary edification, that it may impart grace to the hearers.
30 And do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God,
by whom you were sealed for the day of redemption.
31 Let all bitterness,
wrath,
anger,
clamor
and evil speaking
be put away from you,
with all malice.
32 And be kind to one another,
tenderhearted,
forgiving one another,
even as God in Christ forgave you.
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