Sermon Tone Analysis

Ephesians 4:1-16

Good morning church.

We are going to be in Ephesians 4 this morning, with a message entitled “Grow Up!” Now if you’re not offended by the title, hold on I’m not done.

Actually, it is so easy to offend people when talking about certain things, so before we get started, we should pray before doing anything else…Lord, let your Word have your way in this room today, in our hearts, our minds, our souls, and in our relationships.

In Jesus name, amen.

If you are joining us for the very first time this morning, or for the first time in our study of Ephesians, welcome.

We are in the fourth chapter of the book so you’ve missed some stuff, if the rest of you will be gracious and patient for a moment I think I can catch you up pretty quickly.

....Because Adam, the first man created, sinned against God, we were all born into trespasses and sins,... when we grew old enough to chose sin, we proved that what I just said was true, by sinning against God by choice.

Therefore, we all either are, or were, on our way to Hell.

Because that’s what we deserve…man, I’m not even at the part I thought might be offensive.

Those that are on their way to Hell have not chosen Jesus, have not accepted Him as their Savior and Lord, or the boss, over their life.

In the first three chapters of Ephesians Paul tells us that if you have accepted Christ as your Lord and Savior, then guess what, He actually chose you first, you have full adoption status with God the father, Acceptance in the Beloved Jesus, we have redemption, we have forgiveness from sin!

He has given us the revelation of the mystery of His will, We are sealed, and the Holy Spirit in my life and in your life, is the down-payment, the assurance that guarantees that we will someday be in Heaven!

AND, none of this was done because you’re awesome, or because you deserved it, He did it because He’s awesome and He loves you.

Not because you’re so lovable, but because He is love.

The first three chapters tell us how awesome it is to be saved, what a miracle it is, that it’s all by grace, unearned favor that we don’t deserve, yet we have abundantly.

Chapters 1-3 if you are a Christian, you are by far the most blessed people on the face of the earth, right now, not just someday when you go to Heaven.

Chapter 4 and the rest of the book, here is what you should do about it.

This should be your response…OK, we should all be on even ground.

I actually don’t always know what to do when I come to a passage of Scripture that might offend, it might correct, it may affirm,…actually, I learned last week, while listening to my wife teach the ladies while I was recording it for the website, that “THEY” say…you’re supposed to start with a funny story, or a humorous anecdote, something fascinating, you know, to grab and hold your attention, or to pop the tension in the room and put the audience at ease…so…give me a second....I got nothing!

See I’m not an entertainer.

I’m a teacher, a pastor teacher actually and we’ll talk about that if we get that far in our chapter today... So, I’ll start this morning with a question...

Have you ever been in a church gathering, been listening to a podcast or a teaching, perhaps even listening to a song…and suddenly it felt like that person was talking directly to you?

As if there was no one else in the room?

I’m not sure it happens as much as pastors like to think it happens, but you always hear stories like that.

Someone comes up to the pastor after words, happy, sad, angry, glad, with something to the effect of Pastor when you said such and such, it was like you, or more dramatic God, was speaking directly to me.

And the Pastor will say, I don’t remember saying what they heard, or that they think I said, or praise God!

Then there’s the other times when you get accused of meddling in their business, or conspiring with a spouse…and after the message its... she told you didn’t she!?!

She told you what I’ve been doing...So now you’ve got to talk about my stuff in front of the whole church and now everybody knows my business!

And you’re standing there trying to go back through your whole message to figure out what one of your deacons has been up to!

What’s worse, not worse, harder…is when you faithfully teach through the Word of God, and you come to a place in the book where it hits a topic that you know some people are struggling with.

Or have been wounded by…and when I say some people, I mean our people, us, those in the room.

That can be hard.

You guys know that when you are given opportunities to teach here, whether it be up front from the pulpit, a men’s study or ladies study, or even in our children’s ministry.

I always encourage you to pray, Lord, you know all the things that I don’t know, the struggles people are facing, the trials that they are in, so Lord, for this group of people, for this time, what would You have me to say?

I try to pray that in preparation for every single teaching opportunity that I have.

Big lead in to today’s message, because in a few minutes you might be sitting here thinking... oh man, he’s talking to me today, yup bullseye.

Or maybe ouch, he’s clearly talking to them today, nope, it’s you.

Or, I have no idea why I even came today, I’m not getting anything out of this at all.

That’s the problem, you’re the one that’s bugging everyone else and disrupting unity but you don’t even see it!

Or, last one, maybe you’re the pastor and you’re trying to figure out what to say and how to say it to the people that might be listening today, either in person, or online, but it’s really for you.

Time for you to examine your own heart…Lord for this group of people at this time, what would You say to us?…So my ask of you this morning…after having prayed that prayer is to listen and consider, what God might be saying to the person on your left, no…what God might be saying to you.

Verse one...

Because God saved you, chose you, adopted you, forgave you, and gave you all the riches that you have in Christ Jesus right now because He is awesome, because He is worthy, not you, respond with a heart of gratitude that is worthy of the calling with which you were called.

And rather than just sit and learn, what does Paul encourage, oh wait, I’m sorry beg us to do, to walk it out.

To live it, to put it into action in our lives.

Really, Paul spends the rest of the book giving us a description of what real Christians look like.

Now If you didn’t read ahead, I’m kind of wondering what you’re anticipating Paul laying out for us.

Take care of the needy.

The widows, the orphans, the poor.

Give to the church, get baptised, learn to like to sing songs you’ve never heard of.

Be for this thing, and against all this other stuff, vote this way, not that way....nope, nope, and nope.

He starts with the really hard stuff.

He says you come from different backgrounds, you’re a jew and you’re a gentile, you’re from Maine and you’re from away, you like hymns and you like hip hop, here’s what I want from you kids, you brothers and sisters in the Lord, I want you to get along.

And maybe you already do,... with your people.

Your group, but not that group.

See when it comes to how we get along, our Heavenly Father is not a whole lot different than us as fathers in what He desires for His kids.

I don’t ever remember riding along with Nicole and the kids in the purple, Barney mobile, our mini van we got a good deal on, and hearing an argument brewing in the back and her and I being like, shh, shh, shh, let it go, it sounds like it’s going to be a really good one.

And hearing the voices start to rise, Susan telling them to stop it, and then hearing a smack, oh honey did you happen to see that?

Caleb clocked his older brother!

If he could get that kind of velocity on his slap shot, coach might start letting him play center.

AND did you heard Jacob’s come back?

Not only did he pick on his cowlick, but he remembered that he wet the bed last Thursday…that kids attention to detail is so wonderful…No, it was never that in the Barney mobile…if I was driving, it was knock it off, don’t make me pull over....and if Nicole was behind the wheel, there were no words....it was just this…Poor Susan sitting behind her, would be going Mom I didn’t do anything, well, you better duck then....swing…seriously, that’s why we don’t do parenting classes.

Now with these instructions, it seems like this should be so easy.

He just tells us to try to keep the unity.

We don’t have to create it, manufacture it somehow.

We know from chapter 2 that concerning Jews and Gentiles He created in Himself one new man from the two, thus making peace, one new man, one new woman, the Christian, the Christ like one, and He make peace between us even with our diversity.

And Paul here just says keep the peace, don’t mess it up!

I’ll even tell you how…in verse two with all lowliness, translated in Maine as being wicked humble, be gentle with one another not all pushy and bossy, longsuffering, again translated in Maine as the ability to suffer for a long time.

Or wicked patient.

And bear with one another in love.

Translation, you’re not perfect either Bub, so you ought to extend a little grace toward other people.

You ought to choose not to seek revenge.

Does all that make sense?

Notice what it does say and what it doesn’t say.

Remember our good Bible hermeneutics.

What does it say, what does it mean, in the context and culture that it’s written in... and then the so what? or what does it mean for us?

I think we covered what it says - Some might define unity as agreement, or oneness.

When Nicole and I do premarital counseling, we tell the man and the wife, that in marriage they are going into the ceremony as two completely independent individuals that are then united as ONE in the Lord.

After the wedding, we often see them again as they fight about which one they are going to become.

And we remind them again that God is taking two individuals and changing both of them to bring them into unity.

It is the same in the body of Christ.

We are called to unity, it doesn’t say we are called to uniformity.

We are not all called to be identical, that really bugs some of you, we are not called to be in total and complete agreement on all things, or even all biblical things.

There is stuff that Paul calls doubtful things that between you and the Lord might be ok for you, and between me and the Lord might not be ok for me…remember in Romans when we talked about the pagan taco truck?...our problem with unity comes when what you’re doing is not alright with me, or the same as what is right for me.

And I start talking about it, to everybody except for you.

Or even to you when I should just mind my own business and endeavor to keep the unity of the Spirit.

See we only have to endeavor to keep the unity when we’re not all alike.

Some people think that there shouldn’t be differences in the church.

There shouldn’t be Baptists, and Presbyterians, Methodists, Wesleyan, Calvary Chapel, Pentecostals, etc, etc, etc,.

I think all of those differences are great.

There are things here that make us like minded.

We have a book that we love here so much that we really, want to learn all that it has for us, it is our practice to teach through it every week.

We actually have another book, called Calvary Distinctives that talks about those things that make us distinctively different from some of the other flavors.

What it doesn’t say is that because of these things we are right and everyone else is wrong.

It just says here’s why we do things the way we do things.

Other denominations have different emphasis, some are stronger on social issues, some on missions, the problem occurs when we trash talk them and what they are doing, rather than recognizing their strengths are probably our weaknesses, regardless, we are called to unity, not uniformity.

So I should shut my mouth about other denominations and endeavor to keep the unity of the Spirit.

That God has given to us.

Not in agreement in all things, but in the bond of peace.