ENEMIES OF UNITY
Ephesians 4:20-32 “But ye have not so learned Christ; If so be that ye have heard him, and have been taught by him, as the truth is in Jesus: That ye put off concerning the former conversation the old man, which is corrupt according to the deceitful lusts; And be renewed in the spirit of your mind; And that ye put on the new man, which after God is created in righteousness and true holiness. Wherefore putting away lying, speak every man truth with his neighbour: for we are members one of another. Be ye angry, and sin not: let not the sun go down upon your wrath: Neither give place to the devil. Let him that stole steal no more: but rather let him labour, working with his hands the thing which is good, that he may have to give to him that needeth. Let no corrupt communication proceed out of your mouth, but that which is good to the use of edifying, that it may minister grace unto the hearers. And grieve not the holy Spirit of God, whereby ye are sealed unto the day of redemption. Let all bitterness, and wrath, and anger, and clamour, and evil speaking, be put away from you, with all malice: And be ye kind one to another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, even as God for Christ's sake hath forgiven you.”
After reading through the letters to the Corinthians and Galatians, Paul strikes a very different tone with the church at Ephesus. Here are some examples of what Paul was hearing about these other churches:
1 Corinthians 5:1-2 "It is reported commonly that there is fornication among you, and such fornication as is not so much as named among the Gentiles, that one should have his father's wife. And ye are puffed up, and have not rather mourned, that he that hath done this deed might be taken away from among you."
Galatians 3:1-3 "O foolish Galatians! who hath bewitched you, that ye should not obey the truth, before whose eyes Jesus Christ hath been evidently set forth, crucified among you? This only would I learn of you, Received ye the Spirit by the works of the law, or by the hearing of faith? Are ye so foolish? having begun in the Spirit, are ye now made perfect by the flesh?"
Paul directly opposes the sin and false doctrine in these churches. Then when you get to the book of Ephesians, this is what Paul says:
Ephesians 1:15-16 "Wherefore I also, after I heard of your faith in the Lord Jesus, and love unto all the saints, Cease not to give thanks for you, making mention of you in my prayers."
Paul is commending them! Instead of having to confront bad behavior in the church at Ephesus, Paul spends his time equipping them to BATTLE THE ENEMY that seeks to divide and conquer. Paul had already seen it too many times before and he didn’t want it to happen in Ephesus.
Well… fast-forward 2,000 years and the verses we read are still as relevant as they ever were. God wants a unified body of believers that is doing His work but there are some enemies that will creep in that we need to be aware of.
1. “Wherefore putting away lying, speak every man truth with his neighbour: for we are members one of another.”
Be honest and transparent with people! I preached at a banquet this week at Heartland Baptist Bible College and the text I chose was the theme of this blog. Iron sharpeneth iron; so a man sharpeneth the countenance of his friend. Proverbs 27:17. In that sermon, I mentioned that often times we are much more concerned about how shiny our blade is instead of how sharp our blade is. We are really good at lying to ourselves and others about where we are spiritually, but if we are going to have true unity, we need to be honest and open about where we are, the help we need and how God is working in our lives.
2. “Be ye angry, and sin not: let not the sun go down upon your wrath: Neither give place to the devil.”
Do you have a temper? Me too. There have been times when I have let my anger get the best of me and I am ashamed of my words and actions. I have learned that my temper-tantrums destroy relationships and cause division. Proverbs 25:28 says, "He that hath no rule over his own spirit is like a city that is broken down, and without walls." If we don’t learn to control our emotions… just like the city that is left without defenses… The enemy will pillage and plunder and you will be left with nothing in the end.
3. “Let him that stole steal no more: but rather let him labour, working with his hands the thing which is good, that he may have to give to him that needeth.”
Have a good work ethic and a giving spirit. We all need to be contributors to the work of the Lord. I’m so grateful for all those that labor in our church! There is a bond between those that serve that you can’t get anywhere else. WARNING: THOSE THAT GET DISGRUNTLED, SOW DISCORD AND EVENTUALLY LEAVE THE CHURCH USUALLY AREN’T DOING MUCH SERVING AND GIVING.
4. “Let no corrupt communication proceed out of your mouth, but that which is good to the use of edifying, that it may minister grace unto the hearers.
The rest of this portion is really about what we say to others. Our words can really hurt. We need to think twice about the things that come out of our mouths. The Bible talks over and over about just how unruly the tongue is. Maybe more so than anything else, the tongue can cause great division. Remember this acronym before you speak:
T: Is what you're saying true?
H: Is it helpful?
I: Is it inspiring?
N: Is it necessary?
K: Is it kind?
I’m praying that God will help me to defeat the enemies of unity. We can do so much together. That’s why God established the church. We need each other. We are the body of Christ and if we are divided then the souls that hang in the balance may be lost forever. Paul finishes up Ephesians describing the armor of God that we need to fight this battle with. I encourage you to check your equipment and make sure you are ready everyday for those fiery darts of the wicked one.
