it's just such an honor to come together as the body and to take of the body and blood of Jesus Christ and the fact that he is present he is here with us and we get to come in this room and tell him how great he is and everything we do to the praise of his glorious Grace um we've been in the book of Ephesians for about four months now um that's how long it's taken to get to the first three chapter and I hope it's changed your life like I mean I hope you're a
happier person know just just generally I mean think about it like I I hope that these these truths like you meditate on them like like if it's a bad day or if it's whatever you go wait a second I was chosen before the foundation of the world to be holy and blameless uh he in love he predestined me to be adopted as one of his children he he redeemed me and I'm forgiven I mean just to think I was dead in my trespasses and sins I was by nature and object of Wrath and now he's
going to Lavish his grace upon me I've been made alive with Christ I'm seated in the Heavenly places right now with Christ far above all rule Authority power and Dominion I hope as you you think about these things in everyday life like when you're sitting around doing nothing or when you're driving that you don't just jump on the phone real quick or try to you know watch one more video but you just kind of let your mind rest on these promises and actually meditate on wow I'm seated with Christ in the Heavenly places right now
far above all rule Authority power and Dominion above every name that's ever been named or will be named I'm with him this is insane I have this hope one day of seeing him and being with him meditate on these things I hope you've seen your level of Joy Rise as we've spent so many weeks just talking about what he's done this is they didn't even get it wasn't even about what we do this is all what he's done for us we're the objects we're just the objects of his grace we just sit there he's done
it all and uh last week we kind of turned a corner because we got into chapter 4 and that's where God says because of everything I've done or Paul says I therefore a prisoner of the Lord Jesus Christ urge you to walk in a manner worthy of the calling to which you've been called remember the the balances and you you've got the cross on one side and everything that God did and he says I want you to have this equal value you you know live a life that is worthy walk in a way that's worthy
of all these things we've been given so how do we do that how do we because I hope that's your desire you go God been given something so sacred I'm partaking of the body and blood of Jesus I'm I'm forgiven I'm I'm a Child of God now how should I live in a way that honors him well he answers that question in verses 2 to 3 and the answer might surprise you the first thing he says after he says Hey I want you to live a life that's worthy I want you to walk in a
manner that's worthy he explains how in verses 2 and three he says with all humility and gentleness with patience bearing with one another in love eager to maintain the unity of the spirit in the bond of Peace So in light of everything that God has done he says you know what I want I'm begging you come on live in a way that's worthy of everything he's done and then he says this is how you do it he says with all humility with gentleness with patience bearing with one another in love eager to maintain the unity
of the spirit in the bond of Peace does it surprise you that the first thing he talks about is Unity because you want to live a life you want to walk in a manner that's worthy of all of these promises then be eager to maintain the unity of the spirit in the bond of peace that word eager it's we don't really have like a English equivalent eager is good but it it it carries with it this idea of urgency okay so if you put urgent you know urgent and eager together you get ENT or urer
it it's it's the idea of both of these words in the Greek it's like it's it's like ah I I want to do this but there's also like an urgency like we got to do this now there's an immediacy that that that God is saying you you want to please me you want to live a life that's worthy then be eager be urgent about this you've got to live in unity you've got to become one and again that might surprise you that you go why would that be so important that he would put that first
it's interesting he does it in uh First Corinthians also here's a church where you know people are you know in Gross immorality they're getting drunk they're suing each other they don't believe in the resurrection you know the first thing he says to them is hey I heard there's divisions among you this is so huge you guys this is so important because for so many of years so many years of my Christian Life I really didn't care about this I didn't care about Unity I was taught to you you know hey we're the ones that have
it right and these other quote unquote Christians stay away from them and so I had a very elitist like wow you guys your theology is so off I don't even want to talk to you I mean it was a time when when you know I didn't believe in some of the supernatural gifts I was a pastor at the time and I thought every once while someone would come in and talk about their prayer language and I'd be like oh that's weird like I really didn't want them in the church not that's strange I don't believe
in speaking in tongues and just trying to figure out a way how to kind of squeeze those people out because I know what that leads to weird prophecies and then they start dancing and chewing on the carpet and I I don't want that you know I want the people who believe like me worship like me think like me there was no eagerness yeah now I do speak in tongu so it's weird um but it's that whole thought of how God says hey would you be humble would you be gentle and would you be eager to
maintain not create not make something up he says I want you to maintain the unity of the spirit in the bond of peace this is not something where I need to rile you up it's something inside of you if the spirit is in you you want Unity with the Believers it's like you're it's it's and and your job is not to create something that's not there he says God put it in you now the importance is to maintain that why is this so important you've got to remember everything we're doing in Ephesians here from 4
to 6 we got to go back to the context text and remember that in chapter 2 verse 14 Christ died to make us one in in Ephesians 2 it says he himself is our peace who made us both one and has broken down in his flesh the dividing wall of hostility by abolishing the law of Commandments expressed and ordinances that he might create in himself one new man in place of the two so making peace you see that the whole idea of his body being torn was so that the Jews and the Gentiles could become
one one new he go I know you used to fight and everything but now that my body has been broken my body was broken so that you could be one so so this is why it is so big Unity is so huge cuz Jesus saying I died on the cross to make one new man then later in Chapter 2 he says so then you are no longer strangers and Aliens but you are fellow citizens with the Saints and members of the household of God built on the foundation of the Apostles and Prophets Christ Jesus himself
being the Cornerstone in whom the whole structure being joined together grows into a holy Temple in the Lord do you see what the cross was about the cross allowed us you and me we get to join ourselves with Isaiah Jeremiah with Paul who wrote this letter with Peter pet with all of these Saints this was this is what the cross was about all of us now get to join into one Temple this is what he died for he says Christ is a part of this building he's the Cornerstone you got the foundation Apostles prophets then
you got these Believers all through the years and it's like we're building this one Temple and so becoming a Believer is me joining that Temple that's why the first thing he says is maintain that Unity that connection with the Believers of all time the Believers all around the world and then the other thing is if you remember chapter 1 this was the plan of God okay chapter 1 verse 9 look at this making known to us the mystery of his will according to his purpose which he set forth in Christ as a plan for the
fullness of time to unite all things in him things in heaven and things on earth so he says look in Christ I've had this plan this is God saying I've had a plan I've had a plan is for the fullness of time and it was to unite everything in Heaven and Earth under Christ and he says it again in chapter 3 3: 9 and 10 he says and to bring to light for everyone what is the plan of the mystery hidden for ages in God who created all things so that through the church the manifold
wisdom of God might now be made known to the rulers and authorities in the Heavenly places again he's saying there think about this okay before you were born before there was a world there was God and God had a plan and the Bible says it was just hidden in him it was this plan that that that you know Adam didn't know about Eve didn't know about Cain and Abel didn't know about Seth didn't know a lot of people didn't know about this it was just hidden in God but it was his plan he goes one
day through the cross I'm going to unite everyone and then and then we're going to be so United did that then suddenly demons angels will look on and they'll see the manifold wisdom of God wow he died on the cross so that all these people who follow him now can be joined to this one Temple and it turns into this dwelling place for God this is his plan that's why in Ephesians 4 he then says hey you want to please him you want to live a life walk in a way that's worthy be eager to
maintain this Unity this was God's plan this is massive this is why the worst thing we can do is to separate ourselves from the body of Christ and isolate ourselves that's why I don't believe it's coincidence that in the quote unquote Christian church today you have so many people leaving the church and saying yeah I don't I don't need the church I have my own relationship with God and my own spirituality you guys that's not a coincidence that we think this way because is at the core of satanic thinking is this idea of separating yourself
isolating yourself remember when we talked about Satan I gave you a quick Wikipedia about his history and how in Isaiah 14 Ezekiel 28 he was that high Angel he was Lucifer this beautiful angel but what what happened he's like you know what I want to I will Ascend to the throne of God he didn't want to come under under the throne he didn't want to just come together as the people or the Angels or the beings of God he's like no I want to do my own thing I will and so it's no coincidence that
we have this pandemic going on in the world of of being independent and it's crmt into the church where Suddenly It's I don't need you you don't understand theology like I do you don't understand the gifts like I do you don't understand what church is supposed to be like I do so I'm going to go off and I'm just getting my own relationship with God I don't need the church I really believe that the enemy has deceived us he's deceived me to where I just did not see the importance of unity for many years um
it's really weird how it's become normal to just not know who's going to be here next week or who's going to be with us so like Sarah I have no idea what's going on in her head this might be your last week you get mad this week and go to the church down the street I mean that's normal or maybe me just talking about this he's like God he's in Ephesians forever you're just going to go down the street and they'll talk to you about how to be happy and it it's just but that's normal
or gosh five o' that's not a great time or or you know what this guy really offended me or she was bothering me or he amens too much last week he yelled at us said we don't scream enough you know whatever it is it's like I'm done I'm out of here like that's normal because we don't and this is this is the great deception is that we no longer see ourselves as family like I I don't think I don't think to myself I wonder if Rachel's still going to stay as a part of our family
next week no and I I get it there are families that are split apart and everything else that's not God's intention you what my kids growing up wondering if Lisa and I were going to stay together we're we're family is what we do I mean you guys are moving but still you'll be back um it it's just this whole mindset that we don't look at this as a body or as a family anymore it's just a place we go for a while and then we'll go somewhere else and some of you guys came from other
places and I mean I get it we got to move we do other things this is not some some weird guilt thing I'm just saying we don't look at the church as a family anymore and I believe that's a great deception um it's just a place we go get something from it and move on so here's the problem because it seems very simple okay the Bible teaches that we are to be unstained Ed by the world right like we are supposed to separate ourselves from the world from worldly thinking worldly actions now we the old
us we used to walk in our trespasses and sins we would just do whatever we felt like doing that was the old us that said we're following the course of this world Ephesians 2 and the Bible says we need to come out from that and be holy as he is Holy so keep yourself unstained by the world okay I get that don't be stained by the world and then I look at Ephesians here and many other passages it tells me attach yourself to the church attach yourself to this Temple so it seems like one of
the most simple truths distance yourself from the world attach yourself to the church but here's what makes it difficult what if the church starts taking on worldly thinking and worldly practice then you start going okay I'm supposed to attach to the church but who's the real Church what if the church starts allowing things that the Bible expressly forbids and then they just go well that's just the way we interpret it this is where it gets tricky because you can go to any Christian bookstore actually we don't have those in the Bay Area but they used
to have these things called Christian bookstores you could go to Amazon Christian section and and uh you can find someone that will allow you a Christian author or Pastor who allow you to do anything you want to do you want to get divorced there's Christian books that'll allow it you you want to change your gender there's Christian books that allow that you want to be in a homosexual marriage there's Christian books that'll allow that you want to kill abort your baby there's Christian books out lot so at what point do you go I'm supposed to
attach myself to the church but then that's inside of the church and it's not even the church anymore see this is this is where it gets difficult right and and then the doctrines get weird and suddenly there's churches that are saying Christ really wasn't the Son of God or or he didn't really come in the flesh or and you're like I don't know then I run into situations where where people who believe they're saved by grace through faith and and it's like man Jesus is everything to me and then I go okay but you also
pray to Mary help me understand that you so do I divide now when think well when I pray to Mary it's like I'm asking her for like a prayer request like oh shoot I don't know what to do with this one and there's all these different things where you're going wait I don't know if you're a brother I don't know if you're it gets confusing I mean there's certain things the Bible does say when the you know like Paul in 1 Corinthians 5 he goes you got to expel the immoral brother from a from your
midst but then you well how immoral do they have to be right who who determines that line second John says don't don't go associating with people who who deny the that the Christ Has Come In the Flesh Paul says in Galatians 1 if someone preaches a gospel different from the one that I preach let them be a cursed okay but what if it's just a little different and there's questions that have been debated ever since you know Christ left this Earth and so so when I'm just telling you this is something I've been wrestling with
for years there's times where I'm like gosh is this a brother I think so I mean he absolutely trusts in Jesus and Jesus alone and what he did on the cross he believes in the infallibility of the scripture he just he just gosh he he interprets some of these passages differently and they don't seem like core Doctrine you know but who's to say what's most important I really don't know and so I still pray about this and I'm like okay Lord every person I meet uh that I try to get to know and I'm trying
to understand what they believe and how they live and everything else to go gosh do I treat this person as a brother or sister and I think for years and many people have tried to create like boundaries like if a person does this then you know back in the days when I was a kid they used to have like Degrees of Separation like churches would have a system saying okay well this person believes in this but he doesn't believe in that so that is a third deg ree separation you know meaning you can still call
him Christian but that's it don't talk to them okay then there's second degree where okay you can partner on some things and you can fellowship with them but they're not one and then there's first you know it's just like you start listing all these things that aren't so clear in the Bible and it can get so frustrating and this is where my mind goes I mean this as some of you know I wrote a whole book about unity and it was so frustrating because people were saying tell us where the line is where you no
longer call them brother or sister I'm my gosh I'm trying to find it I don't know you know and so everyone's like okay then I'm not buying the book I'm like come on but I noticed something as I was reading this this week I was telling Mercy I was like dang it I wish I knew this before I wrote the book but I I he this wrestle what does Paul do CU he doesn't spell things out I mean sometimes he even says like with the Sabbath like we started these Saturday night Gatherings so that it
would kick off a Sabbath and and he says hey some people are going to think it's Saturday some going to think it's Sunday some think it's every day hey you just got to be convinced in your own mind you're like ah that doesn't help you're an apostle why don't just tell us what day and exactly what we're supposed to do but he just kind of leaves it out there leaves us hanging and so it's kind of the same thing here where I'm like okay God I want to attach myself I want to maintain the unity
of the spirit but I don't want to do it at the expense of Holiness and truth so where's that line but as I was looking at it this week I realized huh he actually doesn't give us the exact strategy instead he tells us a type of character that we are supposed to pursue so it's see my mind naturally goes to answers and strategy and just tell me what to do and what he does here is he tells us who to be he says with all humility all humility the word all like be the most humble
person on the earth just be the most humble person on the earth my wife and I have done so much marital counseling over the years and in all our years we've never seen a humble couple divorce it doesn't happen it's about the character it's crazy how humility just instantly brings people together but he I want you to be as hum humble as you can be I want you to with all gentleness so he starts with this and I could I could do like a long series on humility but okay he says with all humility and
gentleness and I caught something this week about that all humility and gentleness I just think okay those are cute words you know patience sparing with one another in love but then I realized oh humble and gentle where else do we see that there's only one place in the bible where jesus describes his own heart and chill is talking about this Matthew 11 verse 28 he says come come to me all who labor and are heavy laden and I will give you rest 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 Jesus is saying come to me you tired you heavy laden you think that I'm just this god that's way out there that is going to just destroy you for the things that you've done you think I'm going to Heap this huge burden he no come to me he goes I'm gentle and humble and it just it just made me look at the word of God and go gosh the word of God is amazing then Paul in Ephesians he says Hey the first thing you want
to please me you want to pursue Unity then with all humility and gentleness with patience bearing with one another in love eager to maintain the unity of the spirit and the bond of Peace humble and gentle does this describe us because it describes Jesus so awesome you see pride leads to isolation this is why we separate from people it's like I don't like you you're not as good as me you don't understand the situation I'm getting away from you I know better than you see it's it's everything the Bible speaks again where against where he
says in 1 Corinthians 12 and 14 he goes you can't say to another member of the body I don't need you I have no permission to look at Allison and say I don't need you I'm better off without you the eye can't say to the hand I don't need you yeah the the hand doesn't understand the eye the I doesn't we're like such different parts he goes yeah but you you you are not allowed to say I don't need you but when your pride you you're that eye that goes yeah but you can't see it's
like gosh look what I can do I'll show you what I can do you know like it's just this whole idea of you can't do that you're not permitted to do that but it's your pride think about the relationships you've lefted you didn't need them you go I'm preaching to myself I've confessed I left a church too soon maybe a couple churches too soon I just wasn't thinking I just thought I don't need them I would do better without them it leads to isolation I want to show you a verse from Proverbs Proverbs 16:5 everyone
who is arrogant in heart is an Abomination to the Lord be assured he will not go unpunished okay so anyone who's who's got an arrogant heart you got look at these words everyone who is arrogant in heart is an Abomination that that that means a cursed object like where God just goes that is so disgusting that you would have an arrogant heart see sometimes we we we look at sins and we have our own categorizing of them like Ah that's not that bad I've got a little pride I get it who doesn't instead of looking
what the scriptures say and it's like as I was just meditating on this I'm saying God I don't want any arance in my heart I don't want to be an Abomination I hope this bothers you I hope it bothers you to the point where you're on your knees going God make me humble cuz I know you love it it I know you oppose those who are proud you give Grace to those who are humble just get it out of me I mean think about it again in light of Ephesians 4 1:3 what do we have
to be proud of we were dead in our trespasses and sins we were following the course of the world following Satan and just following whatever our bodies and our minds wanted to do and we were by nature objects of Wrath and you're proud and then God by Grace made you alive together with Christ he goes don't you understand it's my grace so that you are saved he goes so that no one would be bo would boast he did that so that we wouldn't be arrogant so when we say we understand that and then we're cocky
God's like that is sickening that's an Abomination this is why we want this out of our lives in 1 Corinthians 4:7 he goes what do you have that you didn't receive think about it what do you have right now that you weren't given for those who think oh I'm just more I'm more intelligent than the rest people in this room I understand this book better than anyone in this room I'm closer to the Holy Spirit than I'm more humble than anyone in this room you said oh you did that yourself CU what do you have
that you weren't given I was reading through a lot of the Kings uh in Chronicles this week um in 2 Chronicles 32 he's talking to Hezekiah and he says Hezekiah did not make return according to the benefit done to him for his heart was proud therefore wrath Came Upon him and Judah and jerus Jerusalem but Hezekiah humbled himself for the pride of his heart both he and the inhabitants of Jerusalem so that the Wrath of the Lord did not come upon them in the days of Hezekiah is that awesome what did he change just his
pride so here the wrath of God was upon him so he humbles himself and God says okay you're good that's it that's it this is why we got to get the pride out of our Lives I love what Josiah Josiah talks about him in 2 Chronicles also because your heart was tender and you humbled yourself before God when you heard his words against this place and its inhabitants and you have humbled yourself before me and have torn your clothes and wept before me I also have heard you declares the Lord I love that do you
remember that that was when Josiah you know they found the book of the law and in the temple had kind of been lost and then they start reading it and Josiah's like oh my gosh that's why the wrath of God is on us he tears his clothes and he just humbles his heart says God forgive me see maybe tonight is one of those moments for you where you realize oh man I uh I I've been proud I saw it as a a little sin you guys we have to stop treating Pride like it's a little
sin it will absolutely destroy this body it is a stage for cancer Pride will destroy a body faster than anything and so tonight I just thought you know what Lord I I was praying praying for you all before you came in today just going God would you just make us humble can you like supernaturally make us humble just show us the pride in our lives I was praying this week on God show me because I've struggled with pride my whole life you see some growth and everything else but it's still there and I was like
God show me and what he pointed to was I believe as a lord just making me think of even my prayers to him and something I do every once in a while is I I think about my prayers and I think about the Lord's Prayer and sometimes I see wow I am praying for something and for things that have nothing to do with the Lord's Prayer um sometimes pray for Success achieve achievement for things to change and Jesus when you pray say our father recognizing that he is in heaven far above all rule Authority power
and Dominion Hallowed Be Your Name Your Kingdom Come and I just think about my prayers the last month or two and going wow God I've not been thinking about you being hallowed and lifted up I've not thought about your kingdom coming and your will being done not my will but yours be done on Earth as it is in heaven and it's just humbling because you realize wow I'm still so self-centered after everything God's done for me God humble my heart this is what I want I want you to be hallowed I want you to be
lifted up
