February 19, 2023
Sermon Series: Spirit-Filled Living Is Essential For Christians
Book of Ephesians
Sermon # 6: Living in A Worthy Manner
Part 1
Ephesians 4:1-10
Introduction: Those who decide to walk in a worthy manner have also made the choice to walk with integrity. Donald Barnhouse shares this story:
A man was going with a girl who, some of us thought, was not worthy of him. Some breathed a sigh of relief when he went into the army and was gone for…years. The girl drifted around with other fellows, and the worthy young man met a worthy girl in a distant city, fell in love with her, and married her. When the war was over, he returned to his home with his bride: one evening the first girl drove by the house and dropped in to see her old flame and to meet his wife. But the wife was not there. The first girl made no attempt to hide her affection; the man realized that he had but to reach out his hand and she would be his… There was within him something that goes with male desire, but there was something more within him also, and he began to talk about his wife to the skies, acting as though he did not understand the obvious advances of the girl.
It was not long before she left, saying as she went. “Yes, she must be quite a girl if she can keep you from reaching.” The young man was never more joyful in his life. He said that in that moment all of the love between him and his wife was greater and more wonderful than ever…. A philanderer might have scoffed at him, derided him for “sacrificing” his pleasure…. There was…every sacrifice in the sense of Romans 12:1, “I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God which is your reasonable service.”
In our lesson today, Paul switches from the theological to the practical. Paul has made it clear, in the first three chapters of the Book of Ephesians, that we are believers and recipients of unbelievable blessings in Christ because of God’s incomprehensible love. For this reason, chapter 4 four begins I therefore. The word therefore refers to all Paul has written in the first three chapters about what God has done for us in Christ.
Today, Paul is telling us to stir ourselves to walk worthy of the Lord!
Part 1: We have two elements we must have to live worthy.
I. THE RIGHT CHARACTER v. 2-3
To live a worthy life, we need three qualities.
A. Lowliness or humility.
Someone once said, “It’s hard to be humble because you can’t brag about it.
B. Meekness – our humility causes us to have meekness.
Meekness is the opposite of rudeness and harshness. Humility is the attitude, and meekness is the action that results. Being meek means we care about someone feelings.
C. Living a worthy life requires longsuffering, or patience. This means we put up with the faults and mistakes of others.
The purpose for walking worthy: To keep the unity, the peace in the home and church.
Living in a worthy manner requires.
1. The right character
II. THE RIGHT THEOLOGY v. 4-6
There should be unity in the church because there is:
A. Only one body – the body of Christ.
B. Only one Spirit – the same Holy Spirit indwells each of us believers.
C. Only one hope – this hope is that when Christ shall appear, we shall be like him; for we shall see him as he is in heaven (1 John 3:2).
D. Only one Lord – which refers to Christ as head of the church – he is the only way to heaven.
E. Only one faith – There are no two faiths nor several faiths. There is only one faith that leads to God’s presence, and that is the faith founded by the Lord Jesus Christ.
F. Only one baptism – the baptism of the Spirit, which brings us into the unity of the Body of Christ.
G. Only one God and Father of all, who is over all – This means God the father has never had, and will never have, an equal because He is supreme, or over all.
ILLUSTRATION: When we have become one with each other, all of us who are Christians believers will become nourished and will grow.
The article “What Good Is a Tree?” In Reader’s Digest explained that when the roots of trees touch, there is a substance present that reduces competition. In fact, this unknown fungus, helps link roots of different trees---even of dissimilar species. A whole forest may be linked together. If one tree has access to water, another to nutrients, and a third to sunlight, the trees have the means to share with one another.
Like trees in a forest, Christians in the church need and support one another. When something is done in a Christian worthy manner, we should support one another.
When we have become one with each other, all of us who are Christian believers will become nourished and will grow.
Responsive Reading: Ephesians 4:1-10
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