©2003 Larry Huntsperger Peninsula Bible Fellowship

12/07/03

With All Humility And Gentleness

Ephesians 4:1-3

12/7/03 With All Humility And Gentleness

Our study of the book of Ephesians

has reached a pivotal point in Paul’s writing.

We are just moving into the 4^th chapter,

and with this chapter

Paul begins to reveal to us

those choices that are consistent with the truths he has revealed to us in the first three chapters.

We’ve already spent two weeks on the first verse of that 4^th chapter,

and we are going to move on into this section farther this morning,

but I will refer back to that statement in 4:1 repeatedly in the weeks ahead

because it provides us with the only correct context,

the only correct doorway into everything else that follows.

EPH 4:1 I, therefore, the prisoner of the Lord, entreat you to walk in a manner worthy of the calling with which you have been called...

You see,

there is nothing we can ever do

to make ourselves into the children of God.

We cannot adopt ourselves,

only our Creator God can choose to adopt us,

and He has already done that in response to our faith in Christ.

And Paul’s message to us is clear:

EPH 1:4-5 In love He predestined us to adoption as sons through Jesus Christ to Himself, according to the kind intention of His will...

And there is nothing we can do

to cleanse ourselves from our sins.

I love the way the Old Testament Prophet put it

when he looked for some way to deal with his own moral offensiveness before God.

MIC 6:6 ¶ With what shall I come to the Lord And bow myself before the God on high? Shall I come to Him with burnt offerings, With yearling calves?

MIC 6:7 Does the Lord take delight in thousands of rams, In ten thousand rivers of oil? Shall I present my first-born for my rebellious acts, The fruit of my body for the sin of my soul?

And the answer to the prophet’s question, of course, is “NO!”

Even if we were to sacrifice our first born children,

it could never cleanse our guilt before God.

Certainly no amount of good works or righteous deeds could atone,

but we don’t have to because Paul’s message to us is clear:

EPH 1:7-8 In Him we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of our trespasses, according to the riches of His grace, which He lavished upon us.

And there is nothing any human being could ever do

that would force God into placing His Spirit within us

or living out His life through us.

But Paul made it clear to us

that we don’t have to plead for His Spirit

because God Himself has already chosen to seal us “ in Him with the Holy Spirit of promise, who is given as a pledge of our inheritance, with a view to the redemption of God's own possession, to the praise of His glory.

And what could any of us ever hope to do

that would enable us to live every second of our lives

securely, eternally in the very presence of God Himself?

There is nothing we could do,

and nothing we have to do

because God Himself has already “... raised us up with Him, and seated us with Him in the heavenly places, in Christ Jesus, in order that in the ages to come He might show the surpassing riches of His grace in kindness toward us in Christ Jesus.”

And what could we

in our flesh and our weakness and our mortality

ever hope to do

that would in any way have any impact or significance whatsoever

on those battles that rage around us in the unseen world of the spirit?

There is nothing we could ever do,

and yet nothing we need to

because God Himself has already chosen to place us on center stage

right next to Himself,

“...EPH 3:10 in order that the manifold wisdom of God might now be made known through the church to the rulers and the authorities in the heavenly places.”

In other words,

there is nothing we could ever do or not do

that would result in our becoming who we have already become in Christ.

We are now

and will forevermore be who we are

and what we are

because of the sovereign actions of God Himself in our lives.

So then where does free will come into it?

Where does freedom of choice take place?

Where do we hold the responsibility and the control over our own lives?

In two huge areas...

First, we each decide for ourselves

whether or not we will bring to God

that simple choice of faith in what God has said to us about the death of Christ for our sins,

a choice that then brings about God’s response to us

in His pouring out on us all that He has poured out.

And let me just say here that

if you are still mentally trying to somehow balance the scales between you and God,

give it up.

It has never been about God seeking from us

some sort of equitable exchange.

All He has ever been seeking

is a means by which we could discover

the true nature of His love for us

because it is our discovery

of His love

that has the ability to change everything forever.

All we offer Him is the choice of faith,

the choice of believing He has taken our sins onto Himself

so that our spirits could be recreated by Him in absolute righteousness.

Once we offer Him that choice

He then, well, as Paul put in his opening words to the Ephesians,

God responds by EPH 1:3 blessing us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places in Christ...

What a deal!

That’s the first choice we offer our God,

the first choice delegated into our hands by Him,

the choice of simply believing what He has said to us about Christ.

And then there is one other area of choice

that God places within our hands.

It is the choice,

or more correctly,

it is the thousands of daily choices we make

about whether we will choose to act in a way that is consistent with who we really are.

Who we are,

who we have become as the result of the recreative work of God in our lives

is an inalterable “given” of our existence.

Whether or not we grow in our understanding of who we are

and then make choices that are consistent with that understanding

is a process that is very much under the control of our will.

And as we come to these last 3 chapters of Ephesians

we see Paul turning a major corner in his writing.

In the first 3 chapters of the book he reveals to us

what God has chosen to do in us and for us in response to our faith in Christ.

In the last 3 chapters of the book he then reveals to us

those choices we can make

that will enable us to bring our actions in line with our true identity.

And before we move into verse two of that second section

I need to add two more comments.

First of all, what we are going to see in the verses ahead of us

is not a list of things Christians should do,

it is a list of things Christians will do

when they have correctly understood what Paul has already said.

Or, to state it the other way around,

if these actions are not a part of a Christian’s life,

it is a clear evidence

that they have not yet correctly understood the truth about what God has already accomplished in their life through Christ.

Years ago I attended a memorial service

for a man who had a strong Christian image in the community in which he lived.

During his lifetime he talked frequently and fluently about salvation through Jesus Christ.

He taught Bible studies,

and frequently quoted passages from Scripture.

But at that memorial service

I was shocked to see family member after family member

get up to the microphone

and proclaim what a beast this man had been to live with in the home.

It got to the point where it was painful for me just to be there.

And the one thing I was certain of as I left that service

is that this man may have had a great deal of Bible knowledge,

but he had almost no understanding of the truths he quoted so freely.

In our frantic desire within the religious world

to create a product we can easily package and market to the masses,

one of the most tragic deceptions we have perpetuated

is the belief that greater knowledge will bring greater maturity in Christ.

Knowledge in itself can never

and will never bring true maturity.

All knowledge brings is knowledge

and, if we choose to use it in this way,

it can bring, too,

a great place to hide from the real issues in our lives.

Maturity does not come from knowledge,

maturity comes only from understanding,

and understanding comes only through facing the unresolved issues in our lives

and then wrestling with them until we can finally see them

and see ourselves through the eyes of our Lord.

I find it fascinating that,

when God teaches us how to evaluate the maturity levels of those around us,

He does not tell us to look at their knowledge,

He tells us to look at their lives.

He tells us to look at the way they live,

because only their practical daily living

can accurately reflect the level of their understanding of their true identity in Christ.

In a passage spoken by Christ

for the purpose of protecting His people

from the devastating affects of those throughout history

who will seek to use religion for their own ends Christ said in Matthew 7:15-23, "Beware of the false prophets, who come to you in sheep's clothing, but inwardly are ravenous wolves. You will know them by their fruits. Grapes are not gathered from thorn bushes, nor figs from thistles, are they? Even so, every good tree bears good fruit; but the bad tree bears bad fruit. A good tree cannot produce bad fruit, nor can a bad tree produce good fruit. Every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire. So then, you will know them by their fruits. Not everyone who says to Me, 'Lord, Lord,' will enter the kingdom of heaven; but he who does the will of My Father who is in heaven. Many will say to Me on that day, 'Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in Your name, and in Your name cast out demons, and in Your name perform many miracles?' And then I will declare to them, 'I never knew you; depart from Me, you who practice lawlessness.'

What He’s saying, of course,

is that we should never evaluate a person’s maturity or validity on the basis of their words or their knowledge,

we should evaluate their maturity on the basis of the way they live.

If their life does not reflect the image of their God,

don’t trust their words,

and don’t follow their leadership.

When Paul wrote his first letter to Timothy

and his letter to Titus

he did so in part to reveal to them

how to correctly select men and women for leadership positions within the local body.

They are fascinating letters

both for what Paul says

and for what he does not say.

He does not say to put them up in front,

and then listen to the talk,

and see if they’re fun to listen to.

He does not tell them to look at their academic credentials

to see if they have a B.A. degree from the “right” Bible School,

or a Masters or Doctorate from the “right” seminary.

He does say we should look at the way the person lives his daily life.

How does he or she relate to their marriage partner?

How do they relate to their children?

How do they handle their money?

How do they handle alcohol?

What kind of reputation do they have with the non-Christians they do business with?

You see, what he’s telling us

is that true, correct understanding of the message of Jesus Christ

will bring about massive changes in the way we live.

And if those changes are not evident in a person’s life,

no matter how much Bible knowledge they may possess,

they have very little understanding of the truth.

And then the last thing I would add before we move into this passage

is the observation that these actions we are going to be looking at

are presented to us in a definite order of priority.

By that I mean simply

that Paul begins with that which is our highest calling -

the calling that is most important to us,

and most important to the work He is seeking to accomplish through us.

And what we find there

will, I think, come as a surprise to some of you.

EPH 4:1 I, therefore, the prisoner of the Lord, entreat you to walk in a manner worthy of the calling with which you have been called,

EPH 4:2 with all humility and gentleness, with patience, showing forbearance to one another in love,

EPH 4:3 being diligent to preserve the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace.

Now, for this sentence to make sense to us

we’re going to need some additional understanding

of the words selected by Paul

to describe the approach he wants us to take to one another.

You see, I believe that, when I just read that sentence,

to more than a few of you

those words sounded like meaningless platitudes,

or even worse,

like a weak, helpless, passive “walk-all-over-me” style of relating to one another.

It may have sounded to you

a lot like what I use to think preachers were like

until the Lord made me one -

men who quite honestly didn’t have what it took to survive in the real world

so they found a safe, protected hiding place in the world of religion.

(You can see why I was more than a little resistant

when it first occurred to me that my Lord just might want me to be a preacher.)

If any of those thoughts crossed your mind when I read that verse,

it simply shows how effectively Satan has robbed us of the truth of what Paul is saying to us.

Now, keep in mind what Paul is doing here.

He is calling each of us

to adopt a specific type of an approach

to every human relationship we enter into,

and especially to those relationships between us and other Christians.

It is an approach that is intended to be universal,

applicable in every one of our lives,

no matter what our personality,

or our basic temperament,

or our cultural background.

It is an approach that, if we adopt it,

will powerfully communicate to those around us

the truth and the reality of the life of Christ within us.

It is the first huge step

in that process through which the manifold wisdom of God is now made known through the church ...through you.

And for us to correctly understand what’s being said here

there are two words we need to focus on especially.

The first is that word “humility”...with all humility...

True Christian humility

has nothing whatsoever to do with any kind of self-abasement,

or denial of our gifts or abilities.

It is certainly not the adoption of an attitude

that suggests we are in some way lower than others

or of less value or importance than those around us.

In truth, it is exactly the opposite.

Humility is the natural result

of a correct understanding of who we are in Christ

and how we became who we are.

Humility allows us to look honestly

at the tremendous creative

and recreative work of God within ourselves,

recognizing those unique gifts He gave us at conception,

and those special gifts He poured out on us at the time we came to Him through faith in Christ,

knowing we earned none of them

and are simply temporary stewards over all of them.

Humility does not deny our tremendous value to God

and to those around us,

it embraces it

and celebrates it from a heart that overflows with gratitude

to our Lord who has given us all that we possess.

All true humility

grows out of hearts and minds

that understand the amazing creative work of God we are

and the massive wealth of gifts we each possess,

and then knows that all of it has come to us

as a gift from our Creator.

Pride, on the other hand,

desperately clings to those things we possess,

those things that we think justify our receiving some sort of special recognition or praise from others,

and then it waves those things in front of those around us

in an attempt to prove we have value and significance.

Pride looks to what we have as the proof of our value,

humility rests in the knowledge of who we are as the proof of our value.

And in the context of Paul’s comments here in Ephesians,

he is telling us that our beginning place for all human relationships

must be a clear understanding that we are the chosen ones of God on this earth,

holding positions of great significance,

indwelt by His Spirit,

qualified and equipped by God Himself for the roles we will play,

and that we have what we have

and we are who we are

simply because God loves us and has poured out His grace and His kindness on us.

And the second word Paul uses to describe how we should relate to one another makes this even more clear.

It is the word “gentleness”. “...with all humility and gentleness...”

The Greek word that we have translated here as “gentleness”

is a word that carries with it the meaning of tremendous strength under perfect control.

It is a word that would be used to describe

a great stallion in perfect submission to his rider.

There can be no true gentleness

without great strength.

If there is no strength

then there is no gentleness,

there is only weakness.

This past week I got into a huge wrestling match with a 12 year old boy just for the fun of it.

Here I am, 185 pounds of solid muscle. J

And there he was, 111 pounds of 12 year old wildness.

Throughout that entire wrestling match

my young friend used all of his strength to try to defeat me,

and I used all of my strength to make certain I protected him from getting hurt.

Obviously, if I had wanted to,

I could have used my vastly superior size and strength to crush him.

But I chose, rather, to use my power to shelter and guard him from injury throughout our match.

That is gentleness.

Now let me state the obvious here.

By the time Paul reaches this point in his letter to the Ephesians

he assumes that we have become aware of great power, great strength within us,

strength that he then wants us to control and use for good in the lives of those around us.

His call to gentleness would not make sense otherwise.

Which means, of course,

that if we have correctly understood the first three chapters of this letter,

understood it not just in our minds but in our hearts,

that understanding will have produced within us

a kind of inner strength, a confidence, and an assurance that we never possessed before.

It is a strength that grows out of knowing the truth,

the truth about ourselves,

and the truth about those around us.

What I’m talking about here

is not something I could ever teach you.

It isn’t something that can ever enter our lives

simply through the greater accumulation of Bible knowledge.

What I’m talking about here

is the same thing we heard Paul talking about in the opening chapter of Ephesians

when he prayed “that the eyes of our hearts would be enlightened”.

And in truth,

for most of us I don’t think it is a point so much as it is a process,

a process through which our Lord gradually brings us to the place

where we can hear Him saying to us,

“My child, I have loved you with an everlasting love.

I have sought you for My own since the day you entered this world,

and there is not a second that passes in which I do not rejoice over you and your presence with Me.

Everything I have ever spoken to you is truth,

motivated by My love for you,

given to you for your healing,

and for your greater understanding of the true nature of life.

I have carefully designed you for a unique role in My family,

and I have equipped you for that role.

Do not try to be what you are not,

Do not fear to be who you are,

and rest in the knowledge that He who began this good work in you

will continue to perfect it until the day of Jesus Christ.”

And as we grow in our ability to hear those truths,

that growing understanding within us

builds into us a strength unlike anything we have ever known before.

Well, there were some other things I wanted to touch on here,

but we’re out of time,

so let me see if I can pull together the heart of what I see Paul telling us here.

Paul is telling us that

when we correctly understand at the spirit level

the true nature of the relationship God has established between us and Himself through Christ,

that knowledge will produce a true humility,

a confidence, and an inner strength within us.

Our calling, then,

is to use that healing work of God within us

as the basis upon which we reach out in true love to those around us,

not threatened by them,

not using them,

but using our strength to protect and guard them

so that they, too, can have the courage to reach out for healing through Christ.

Do you know what the people around you hunger for more than anything else?

They long for someone in their life

who is both strong and safe,

someone who isn’t using them,

someone who has no hidden agenda,

someone who really is what and who they appear to be.

When my young friend challenged me to that wrestling match this past week

he had no fear that I would ever intentionally hurt him.

He knew I would always use my strength to protect him,

and guard him,

and keep him safe.

It was that knowledge that allowed him to feel absolutely free

and absolutely secure in my presence.

That is the heart of the approach Paul is calling each of us to in our relationships with one another.

First of all, discover that great inner strength that comes to us

as a result of knowing who we really are in the arms of our God,

and then use that strength to protect and guard those around us

so that they, too, can move toward the discovery of the same truth in their walk with God.