From September 23, 2018
Order of service: The Order of Morning Worship, Page 5.
Old Testament Lesson: I Samuel 2:1-10.
Epistle Lesson: Ephesians 4:1-6.
Gospel Lesson: Luke 14:1-11.
Sermon: “How To Walk Worthy Of Our Christian Vocation.” Ephesians 4:1-6
Hymns: 3, 477, 473, 29
Dear Friends in Christ,
One of the most common means of communication throughout history has been letters, some for good, some for evil. When wicked Jezebel wanted to help her husband, Ahab, to obtain Naboth’s vineyard, she wrote letters to the city officials accusing Naboth of blaspheming God. What was the result” Naboth was taken out and stoned to death. However when a little slave girl told her mistress that the prophet in Israel could heal her husband of his leprosy, a letter was sent to the King of Israel on Namaan’s behalf and eventually Elisha the prophet was instrumental in getting Namaan healed. During the days of the Reformation, Luther wrote innumerable letters.
However, the greatest and most important letters ever written were the epistles of the Apostle Paul recorded in the New Testament. Paul wrote 13 epistles which comprise half of the New Testament. Yet what makes Paul’s epistles the greatest and most important is that Paul wrote his epistles by inspiration of the Holy Ghost. Thus, his letters were therefore the very Word of God. Thus, Paul’s letters deal with eternal matters. They teach us about salvation in Jesus Christ and about how to live a God-pleasing life. In short, Paul’s letters are instructive to our faith. Today’s sermon text comes from one of the most important of Paul’s letters, his Epistle to the Ephesians. It is one of the loftiest of all his epistles. In the opening chapter Paul sets forth eloquently the doctrine of election.
However, in our text, Paul addresses the matter of our Christian vocation. He says, “I therefore, the prisoner of the Lord, beseech you that ye walk worthy of the vocation wherewith ye are called.” What vocation is Paul talking about? He is not referring to our earthly vocation or job or occupation, but to our spiritual calling as Christians. Every Christian has been called out of unbelief by the power of the Gospel. That was the greatest moment in our lives. In the words of Scripture, God “delivered us from the power of darkness, and hath translated us into the kingdom of his dear Son: in whom we have redemption through his blood, even the forgiveness of sins.” (Col. 1:13-14) Yet the very moment we were called or brought to faith, we were also given a spiritual calling or vocation. As Christians, we now have as our daily vocation that of serving Christ who called us to His service. Having been given this calling explains why we are still on the earth. As has been explained before, after God saved us, He did not right away take us to heaven, but left us here to serve Him in His spiritual kingdom. That is our vocation or calling. It is a very high and special calling. Paul says in Phil. 3:14, “I press toward the mark for the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus.”
Since this matter of our vocation is the main subject of our text, the purpose of our sermon is to explain “How We Are To Walk Worthy Of Our Vocation.” In this regard, our text takes into account two areas of our vocation: 1) Our attitude and conduct toward our fellow Christians; 2) Our keeping or maintaining the unity of the Spirit.
When we were called to be Christians, we were not called to live unto or for ourselves. The Bible says, “that they which live should not henceforth live unto themselves, but unto him which died for them and rose again.” (II Cor. 5:15) We were called into a fellowship with our fellow Christians. We are members together in the family of God. This means we are to inter-relate with one another and with love care about one another.
In this regard, one of the ways we are to walk worthy of our vocation is to be humble in our relationships with our fellow Christians. As Paul says, “with all lowliness and meekness.” Are you lowly and meek, that is, are you humble toward your fellow Christians, or do you promote yourself? In the Third Epistle of John, the apostle reports of a man named Diotrephes “who loveth to have the preeminence.” Diotrephes made himself prominent in a small congregation, and out of his pride, he refused to let some of John’s helpers stay over. He also had disparaging words for the Apostle John. Yet the Bible says, “Let nothing be done through strife or vainglory; but in lowliness of mind let each esteem other better than themselves. Look not every man on his own things, but every man also on the things of others.” (Phil. 2:3-4) This, is why Paul says in our text, “with all lowliness and meekness.”
What is more, in our dealings with one another, our text says we should be “longsuffering, forbearing one another in love.” (v. 2b.) This means we should be willing to put up with each other’s idiosyncrasies and shortcomings. As fellow Christians, we are still sinners. As sinners, we all have our various weaknesses. We all have to some extent little peculiarities or oddities. Yet we are not to let these foibles and irritations interfere with our Christian fellowship. The Bible warns: “But if ye bite and devour one another, take heed that ye be not consumed one of another.” Thus, if a fellow Christian acts a little impatient, or says something a little cutting, forbear it in love. The Bible says, “For charity shall cover the multitude of sins.” (I Peter 4:8) Indeed, it may well be that our fellow Christian did not feel well, or had been under a lot of stress, and in frustration acted impatiently. On the other hand, if we realize after getting home from church that we may have come across a bit short and impatient with a fellow member, we can always phone him up and say, “Jack, I’m sorry if I came across tersely. I have not been feeling well lately. I’m really sorry.” If we get such a phone call, we also show our humility by saying, “That’s all right. I understand. Apology accepted.” As the Bible says, “Be ye kind one to another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, even as God for Christ’s sake hath forgiven you.” (Eph. 4:32) This is what our text means when it says, “with longsuffering, forbearing one another in love.”
But now we come to the second section of our vocation. It has to do with keeping or maintaining the unity of the Spirit. Paul says, “endeavoring to keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace.” The very fact that Paul says we are to keep the unity of the Spirit means that there already exists this unity. We cannot keep what does not already exist. The question is, what is the already existing unity of the Spirit? It is the unity of faith found in the Holy Christian Church. It is a unity created by the Holy Spirit. It is the spiritual unity of saving faith in the hearts of every true believer. It is this unity that we are to promote and maintain in our life of confession and practice. We are ever to keep or promote this unity in our lives. Chiefly, as we will explain, we keep the unity of the Spirit by maintaining unity in doctrine and practice.
In our text, Paul describes the various elements upon which unity of the Spirit is based. Paul uses phrases which use the word “one.” Our text says, “There is one body, and one Spirit, even as ye are called in one hope of your calling; One Lord, one faith, one baptism, one God and Father of all, who is above all, and through all, and in you all.” (vv. 4-6) This repeated use of the word “one” expresses the foundation upon which the unity of the Spirit is based. In faithfulness to our text, we need to take up each of these “ones.”
First Paul speaks of “one body.” From the Bible we know this one body does not refer to some physical body, but to a spiritual body. This one spiritual body is the Holy Christian Church or the communion of saints. It is the sum total of all who truly believe in Christ and therefore it is also called the Body of Christ. Each Christian is one of the members of this spiritual body. There are no divisions in this one body because there are no hypocrites or unbelievers in it. We often refer to this one body as the Invisible Church because we cannot see into the hearts of people to know with absolute certainty who believes. Only God knows for sure.The Bible says, “The foundation of God standeth sure, having this seal, the Lord knoweth them that are his.” (II Tim. 2:19)
The next element in the unity of the Spirit is “one Spirit.” Obviously this one Spirit is the Holy Spirit, the third person of the Holy Trinity. It is the Holy Spirit who works faith into people’s hearts in order to bring them into the Holy Christian Church. In fact, no one is in the Body of Christ without the Holy Ghost. The Bible says, “No man can say that Jesus is the Lord, but by the Holy Ghost.” (I Cor. 12:3) In other words, the binding thread which binds all believers is saving faith, and this saving faith is wrought by the power of the Holy Spirit.
The next element of the unity of the Spirit is the “one hope of your calling.” Our Christian calling or vocation is based on one hope. That one hope is the hope of salvation. It is not an uncertain hope or a wish, but a sure, firm hope, a firm conviction. It is a sure hope in that by faith in Christ we are most surely saved. Christ has most surely won our salvation. The redeeming work of Christ is a finished work which cannot be undone. Christ most surely removed the enmity between us and God. He removed the barrier of sin and reconciled us unto God. “To wit, that God was in Christ reconciling the world unto himself, not imputing their trespasses unto them.” (II Cor. 5:19) Faith in this reconciling work of Christ gives us the sure hope of salvation. Therefore, the Bible says, “Now the God of hope fill you with all joyand peace in believing, that ye may abound in hope, through the power of the Holy Ghost.” (Romans 15:13)
Next, the unity of the Spirit consists of one Lord.” This one Lord is our Lord Jesus Christ. He is the Head of His spiritual body. He is the one and only Lord of our salvation. In this ecumenical age with so many religions surrounding us, we are to keep firm our confession of Christ as the only way of salvation. Christ Himself says, “I am the Way, the Truth, and the Life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me.” (John 14:6) Likewise, the Bible says, “For there is none other name under heaven given among men whereby we must be saved.” (Acts 4:12) All other supposed Lords must be rejected as false.
In addition, our text says there is “one faith.” As we have learned, the Bible uses the word faith in two ways. On the one hand, faith is the conviction or belief of the heart. On the other hand, the Bible uses the word faith to refer to what we believe, the body of doctrine, the teachings of the Bible. For example, Jude says we are to “contend for the faith which was once delivered unto the saints.” (Jude 3) This means we are to stand up for the faith, the Christian doctrine. Thus, the teachings or doctrines of the Holy Scriptures all together make up this “one faith.”
Next, Paul speaks of “one Baptism.” There is only one Christian Baptism, Baptism with water administered in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost.” Any Baptism that is not a Trinitarian Baptism is a false baptism. The baptisms of the Mormons and other non-Christian religions are false. Even though the Mormons baptize with water and say the right words, “in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost,” their baptism is still false since they reject the doctrine of the Trinity and thus their so-called Father, Son, and Holy Ghost are not the Biblical Father, Son and Holy Ghost. Also, it must be pointed out that the true Baptism in the Name of the Triune God is not some empty, symbolic ceremony. It is a means of grace. The Holy Ghost operates in Christian Baptism. It is “the washing of regeneration,and renewing of the Holy Ghost.” (Titus 3:5) And since Christ died for all, adults and children alike, this one Baptism is administered to infants and young children as well as to adult converts.
Moving on, the next element which makes up the unity of the Spirit is that there is only “one Father.” Our text says, “one God and Father of all, who is above all and through all, and in you all.” Spiritually we have only one Father, God the Father, the first person of the Holy Trinity. We have this one Father only by faith in His only-begotten Son. As the Bible says, “Ye are all the children of God by faith in Christ Jesus.” (Gal. 3:26) Thus, God the Father is not only the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, but also our Father. The Bible says, “And because ye are sons, God hath sent forth the Spirit of his Son into your hearts, crying, Abba, Father.” (Gal. 4:6) After His resurrection, Jesus said toMary Magdalene, “Go to my brethren, and say unto them, I ascend unto my Father, and your Father; and to my God, and your God.” (John 20:17) Because we have God as our Father, Jesus taught us to pray, “Our Father, who art in heaven, hallowed be thy name.”
Furthermore, our text tells us that God the Father is the Father of all, who is above all, and through all, and in you all. As the Father of all, He is the Father of all Christians. As the Father above all, He abides in heaven over all. He is also through all in that He works His mercy through us by way of His only-begotten Son who is our one mediator between God and men. He also works through us as we confess His name and carry out His holy will. In addition, our one Father is in all who believe. This indwelling of God in His children is referred to as the “mystical union,” whereby God actually dwells in us and we in Him. In John 14:23 Jesus says, “If a man love me, he will keep my words: and my Father will love him, and we will come unto him, and make our abode with him.”
Thus, all these “ones” make up the unity of the Spirit. Hear it again: “There is one body, and one Spirit, even as ye are called in one hope of your calling; one Lord, one faith, one baptism, one God and Father of all, who is above all, and through all, and in you all.”
Now the question is, how do we keep or promote the unity of the Spirit in practice? We keep or promote the unity of the Spirit by not teaching and practicing contrary to God’s Word. Our teaching and practice are to reflect the unseen unity of the Spirit. Today, so many Christians and church bodies have jumped on to the ecumenical bandwagon. People of all differing religions and faiths pray and worship together as if this serves to promote the unity of the Spirit! They even seek to defend their false ecumenicity by quoting the words of our text, “endeavoring to keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace.” These words have been used by liberal theologians and ministers to defend the so-called ecumenical movement where all denominations will join together for joint prayer, worship, Communion and church work. All this is done even though these participants are not united in doctrine and practice.Yet just getting together does not promote actual unity if what the participants believe is not unified. A prominent example of such false ecumenicity was seen shortly after 9/11. A prayer service was held in the old Yankee Stadium. Leading the prayer service was a Hindu, a Roman Catholic priest, a Jewish rabbi, a leader of the Muslims, and a Lutheran Church Missouri Synod District President! Was the unity of the Spirit promoted? Does agreeing to disagree promote the unity of the Spirit? You never read in the Bible where Jesus or the Apostles called together a worship service and asked a Pharisee, a Sadducee, a Greek philosopher, as well as an orthodox priest to conduct the service. Yet let us suppose an ecumenical service of today were conducted only by Protestant ministers, would that make for unity? No! Not all Protestants are united. Some are Calvinists, others Arminian, others synergists, and others millennialists! Where is the unity? All such diversity of religion offends the Holy Spirit!
There is, however, a true ecumenicity which we are to strive for, promote, and maintain. We are to seek to bring all believers together in unity of belief and teaching of the Word of God. We are to seek out those who are one in doctrine with us. This explains why we seek fellowship only with those with whom we are in full doctrinal agreement. The Bible even says, “Now I beseech you, brethren, by the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that ye all speak the same thing, and that there be no divisions among you; but that ye would be joined together in the same mind and in the same judgment.” I Corinthians 1:10) At the same time, we are to mark and avoid all false doctrine and false teachers. The Bible says, “Now I beseech you, brethren, Mark them which cause divisions and offenses contrary to the doctrine which ye have learned; and avoid them.” (Romans 16:17)
Let’s spell this out in terms of our every day living. If you are invited to worship at a friend’s church, but you know his church is heterodox, you keep the unity of the Spirit by not accepting the invitation and by explaining why! Explain that God’s Word teaches us to avoid all false doctrine. If you attend some social function in the community and they have a minister open with prayer, you keep the unity of the Spirit by not bowing your head and praying. If you have gatherings of family and relatives of differing faiths at your home, you may have your prayer as usual as it is like your church. However, if it is in the home of the heterodox, without being ostentatious, you simply remain silent and you should not hold hands in a circle. This may offend some, but it is the cross we are willing to bear for our Savior. While being a unionist may please many people, it very much displeases God. Again, keeping the unity of the Spirit might bring a cross or trial. In fact it landed Paul in prison!
Let it be made clear that as Christians, we are expected to be on our honor. If we confess the true doctrine and practice at church, but fudge or compromise when with friends and relatives of other religions just to make everyone happy, we are not walking worthy of the vocation wherewith we have been called! Jesus did not say faithfulness to Him would come without a cost. He says, “If any man come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross and follow me. Whosoever will save his life shall lose it, but whosoever shall lose his life for my sake shall find it.” (Matt. 16:24-25)
What we need to see is that walking worthy of our Christian vocation is not a matter of mere outward conduct. It is not some mechanical legalism. It is a matter of a believing heart which brings forth the fruit of faith. Our calling as Christians has to do with believing and living the Gospel in our lives. The power of the Gospel operating in our hearts moves us to walk worthy of our vocation. The very Gospel which saves and preserves our souls enables us to walk worthy of the vocation wherewith we are called. Where we walk worthy of our vocation, we promote the true unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace. We please God and have a good conscience.
Of course, even as we strive to walk worthy of our vocation, we cannot do it without the grace of God. Jesus says, “For without me ye can do nothing.” (John 15:5) Indeed, we will never be perfect in carrying out our Christian calling. As Paul himself said in Philippians 3:12-14, “Not as though I had already attained, either were already perfect: but I follow after, if that I might apprehend that for which also I am apprehended of Christ Jesus. Brethren, I count not myself to have apprehended: but this one thing I do, forgetting those things which are behind, and reaching forth unto those things which are before, I press toward the mark for the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus.” (Philippians 3:12-14)
Thus, even as we see our own sins and weaknesses, we can re-apply the Gospel to our own souls. We see all over again that the Gospel is our one hope. It is truly good news that our Savior has paid for the sins of the whole world. Nothing cheers our hearts more than to know that in humble faith and trust in Jesus we are walking worthy of our vocation. In Christ we find our worthiness. In Christ Jesus we are worthy! Amen