PENTECOST
8
July
17-19, 2021
Pastor
Timothy J. Spaude
Text:
Ephesians 4:1-6
“UNITED WE STAND!”
1.
United
on Christ we stand.
2.
United
for Christ we stand.
Ephesians 4:1-6 (EHV) “As a prisoner in
the Lord, therefore, I urge you to walk in a manner worthy of the calling with
which you have been called. 2 Live with all humility, gentleness,
and patience, bearing with one another in love. 3 Make every effort
to maintain the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace. 4 There is
one body and one Spirit, just as also you were called in the one hope of your
calling. 5 There is one Lord, one faith, one baptism, 6
one God and Father of all, who is over all, and through all, and in us all.”
I have a question for you. What do
Julius Caesar, Napoleon and Satan have in common? Give up? They are all
regarded as master tacticians who have successfully employed a military tactic
known as Divide and Conquer. You divide your enemy’s forces and then you can
take them out little by little. We need to know this because we are enemies of
Satan. He hates us. He hates us because we have faith in Jesus and we have
every intention of holding on to that faith and sharing it with others so more
and more in this Greenfield area and beyond will believe in Jesus and be saved.
Since he hates us and we are his enemies what do you suppose he is going to try
to do? Divide us. This is nothing new. As Solomon once said, “There is nothing
new under the sun,” and so if you want to look at how Satan will try to attack
our church just read through the New Testament letters to the churches and you
will see. Take Paul’s letter to the Ephesians, the believers in the church at
the city of Ephesus. What did he say? “Make every effort to maintain the
unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace.” Why would he need to say that?
Satan had been busy dividing. So let’s look together at this word of God so we
don’t fall into Satan’s trap and so that United We Stand.
United on Christ we stand. There are
all kinds of things that can separate and divide people. Back in the early
church times whether you were a Jew or a Gentile threatened to divide
congregations. Economic status, whether you were rich or poor or whether you
were a free citizen or a slave threatened to divide congregations. Whether you
were male or female caused divisions. In our time we have seen many others.
Cultures: the language you speak or skin tone. King James version of the Bible
or NIV. Traditional Lord’s Prayer or modern. New hymnal or old. Will we do that
again? More recently strong feelings on political issues or politicians has
been doing that. How you handled or what you thought of Covid has done that.
You know recently I learned one of our new teachers is an ardent Bears fan.
Talk about a divider! But seriously, those other ones are serious. Hard
feelings can separate. Then we’re divided. Then we are not working together.
Then Satan wins.
And we haven’t talked about our worst
divider, our sinful natures. Nothing new under the sun. Listen to what Pastor
Luther wrote to people in his day. “Learn here to see your neighbor as a lost
sheep, to cover his shame with your honor and to let your sanctity be a cover
for his sins. But now, when people come together they hack one another to
pieces to prove how fiercely they fight against sin.” He’s talking about how
easy we find it to find fault with each other and overlook our own faults. Talking
badly about each other instead of defending and building each other up divides.
Now how can we possibly stand against
all these tricks of Satan? Christ. United on Christ we stand. “Make every
effort to maintain the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace. 4
There is one body and one Spirit, just as also you were called in the one hope
of your calling. 5 There is one Lord, one faith, one baptism, 6
one God and Father of all, who is over all, and through all, and in us all.”
By virtue of our one Baptism into Christ we have been given the unity of the
Spirit. We have the same Father in heaven. We believe the same faith. We share
the same sure hope for heaven. We have received to unity of the Spirit. We
don’t have to work to get it. It’s there. We just need to maintain it. That
happens when as we remember it really don’t matter who we cheer for or against,
what music we like or don’t, how we think the country or health matters should
be handled. What matters is we are family, brothers and sisters in Christ. Our
common faith unites us. And we need each other.
Watch this little video prepared by
our synod.
We need each other. So love for Christ
moves us “to walk in a manner worthy of the calling with which you have been
called. 2 Live with all humility, gentleness, and patience, bearing
with one another in love.” That word
patience used to be translated “long suffering.” It reminds us that it’s not
always easy to get along. You have to work, forgive, put up with each other…
like Jesus does with us. And that’s why we can do the same for each other. Can
I really not forgive when I’ve been forgiven so much by Christ? Can I really
not put up with the things that bother me about my fellow members when Christ
is constantly putting up with me? United on Christ we stand.
It’s important that we do because we
have a most important mission. United for Christ we stand. In our world, in our
country, in our community our Lord Jesus has chosen us to be His
representatives and His ambassadors. Like Paul and the Ephesian Christians
were. Look again how Paul started. “As a prisoner in the Lord.” Why was
Paul in prison? Oh yeah, that’s right. Satan hates those who are loyal to
Christ. He knows what that message can do. But he couldn’t stop the message,
could he? He thought he had Paul sidelined but instead together with the
Ephesian the message kept spreading. They were united for Christ.
So are we. I know it gets a little
frustrating to hear the anti Christian rhetoric. Those of you who watch politics
know about the Equality Act passed by the House of Representatives that if it
becomes law would place serious restrictions on our ability to preach and teach
the Word of God faithfully. This should not surprise us. Satan hates those who
are loyal to Christ. But Christ is bigger than Satan and united for Christ we
stand. Look at what He has done for us, our facilities, the workers he has
given us. We have increased enrollment in preschool and school. He has
perfectly positioned us to keep teaching His truth and be his witnesses. If we
are going to do that and continue to do that we need each other. There is
strength in numbers. Every single prayer matters. And so does 1200 going up
together. Every single offering matters. And so do 1200 put together. Each one
of us needs to stand up for Jesus. 1200 together side by side, shoulder to
shoulder, makes it easier. We are God’s gifts to each other. United for Christ
we stand.
There is this one phrase Paul used that
keeps bouncing around in my head. “Make every effort.” Make every effort. I
have to ask myself and I have to ask you, “Am I making every effort? Are you
making every effort?” We need to be together. We need to know each other well.
We need to be a united laugh together, cry together, work together, play
together family so more and more will want to be a part of us. We need to be
together to encourage each other. Make every effort.
United we stand. On Christ. For
Christ. United we stand. I think you all know how that phrase goes on. Divided
we fall. Satan knows that too probably better than Julius Caesar and Napoleon
did. But we know it as well. And we have Jesus. And you know what always
happens when Jesus and Satan fight? Jesus wins! Amen.
