How To Act In Church

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Now, here's today's podcast, From Pathway to Victory. And I want to tell you, I've been a pastor for more than 40 years. I've seen God deal very harshly with people who cause disunity in the church. And of all the things you may choose to do, don't ever be guilty of sowing discord in the body of Christ.

It has a severe judgment attached to it. Welcome to Pathway to Victory with author and pastor, Dr. Robert Jeffress. You know, the church is more than just a building or a weekly gathering. It's the body of Christ.

It's His representative here on earth. So how should we act as members of this sacred community? Today on Pathway to Victory, Dr. Robert Jeffress turns to the book of Ephesians to find God's blueprint for unity among believers. Now here's our Bible teacher to introduce today's message.

Dr. Jeffress. Thanks, David. And welcome again to Pathway to Victory. When I leave on a trip or when I'm running errands around town, I've gotten into the habit of bringing some reading material with me. At some point, I find myself in waiting mode with nothing to do. And so I reach for something nourishing to read. Well, Pathway magazine is perfectly suited for those inevitable moments in your day. It contains encouraging daily devotionals that I've written for you and a variety of practical articles about holy living in an unholy world. Let me get you started with the first three issues at no cost or obligation.

Just go to ptv.org and click on the tab that says Pathway magazine. Well, this month we're embarking on a wonderful in-depth study of Paul's letter to the Ephesians. And when I prepared each message more than a year ago, I was also writing a book for you. I'd be pleased to send you a copy of that book today. It's called Holy Living in an Unholy World.

Look, these are unsettling times. My book will help you draw from the deep well of spiritual blessings that God has already provided you. And a copy is yours today when you give a generous gift to support the growing ministry of Pathway to Victory. With today's demanding responsibilities, many Christians have started to view church attendance as optional. But the Bible tells us that the local church is vital to our spiritual growth. So how should we behave when we come together with fellow believers? I titled today's message How to Act in Church. Walking can be boring, especially when you compare it to other activities like mountain climbing, skydiving, or even running.

But as somebody has noted, walking, when done at the right pace and with regularity, can not only keep you healthy, it'll help you reach your intended destination. You know, it's interesting that in Genesis 17, we saw in our study of Abraham that when Abraham was 99 years old, God appeared to him and said, Abraham, walk, not run, not gallop, but walk with me and be blameless before me. What does it mean to walk with God? We're going to find the answer to that question in the second half of the book of Ephesians beginning with chapter four.

So if you have your Bibles, turn to Ephesians chapter four. You know, every communicator has a pattern he follows most of the time in communication. You've been listening to me almost 17 years.

That's hard to believe. But you probably picked up on a certain pattern that I tend to follow. I always begin with a question or a statement or a brief story intended to grab your attention. Not sure I've succeeded at that yet, but that's what I try to do in the opening. Then state the thesis of the sermon, review what we saw last time, give the message, and then close with one or two applications for how this applies to us.

That's my pattern. Well, the apostle Paul had a pattern too you've picked up on if you've read his letters. Usually the first portion of his letter, he gives great doctrinal truth, but that doctrinal truth is always followed by practical application. You see that in his letter to the Christians at Rome. The first 11 chapters of Romans are the great doctrines of the faith, the depravity of man, the blood atonement of Jesus Christ, salvation through grace, the role of Israel in God's program.

All of that is in chapters one through 11. But when he gets to chapter 12, verse one, he says, I therefore beseech you that you present your bodies as a living and holy sacrifice to God. And the rest of the book is how you present yourself as a sacrifice to God. Well, the same thing is true in Ephesians. The book of Ephesians divides into two parts, chapters one to three and chapters four through six.

In fact, I've given you on your outline an overview of Ephesians to help you notice the difference in these two sections. For example, the first three chapters of Ephesians deal with doctrine, doctrine of predestination and adoption and all these other doctrines we looked at. But the second half of the book is about our duty as a Christian. The first half deals with precepts.

The second half with practice. The first half of Ephesians deals with our riches from Christ. But then Paul is going to explain our responsibility to Christ. The first half of Ephesians is about our belief. Our second half of Ephesians is about our behavior. And then the first half of Ephesians, one way to look at it is about our wealth from Christ. The second half is about our walk with Christ. And it's that word walk we find in the hinge verse between the first and second halves of Ephesians.

It's a command that really is the explanation for the rest of the book. Look at chapter four, verse one. Therefore, I, the prisoner of the Lord, implore you to what? Walk in a manner worthy of the calling with which you have been called.

With all humility and gentleness, with patience, showing tolerance for one another in love, being diligent to preserve the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace. It may surprise you that Paul would talk about the church first of all. Why is Paul so concerned about how we behave in church? Well, granted, church isn't seen as a necessity in today's world.

I mean, poll after poll shows how fewer and fewer Christians are attending church. Most polls indicate the majority of Christians believe you can have a vibrant relationship with God apart from any involvement in a church, but the Word of God says otherwise. Remember in Hebrews 10, the writer says, let us hold fast the confession of our hope without wavering for he who is promised is faithful. They were living in an ungodly world, these Hebrew Christians, and he said, hold on to your faith. How do you hold on to your faith? Well, let us consider how to stimulate one another to love and good deeds, not forsaking our own assembling together. If you want to hold fast to your faith, don't fall into the habit of not assembling together, which has become the habit of some, this writer says, but instead encouraging one another all the more as you see the day drawing near.

Let us consider how to stimulate one another. That word means provoke. Picture a fireplace with a number of burning pieces of charcoal in that fireplace, all burning with a white or a bright orange glow. What happens if you take one of those pieces of charcoal out of the fire and put it by itself? It quickly turns to a cold, steely gray color. It loses its temperature.

It becomes nothing but a cold piece of coal. That's exactly what happens with Christians when you separate them from other Christians. Together they ignite one another.

They provoke one another in the best sense of the word, but separate them and they lose their heat. They lose their fervor, and it becomes a habit for people not coming to church, and they suffer the spiritual fallout from doing so. The church is vital.

That's why Paul mentions it first. He talks about the importance of unity. There are two reasons why unity in the church is essential. First of all, the church serves as Christ's representative in the world. Paul talks about the church being the body of Christ.

Christ is the head, but we are His body, and we are the only part of Christ that most unbelievers will ever see. The church is Christ's representative. You know, when people see the church bickering and fighting and backbiting, you know what the average person thinks? I can get that at work Monday through Friday.

I can get that in my own home. Why do I need to come to a church to experience that? The church is Christ's representative in the world. Secondly, the church is important because the Christian source of energy in the world is the church. The church is the Christian source of energy in the world. That's where Christians come to recharge their spiritual batteries, and if you alienate people from the church, they wither up and they die in their faith.

You know, it's interesting. In Proverbs chapter 6, God gives a list of the seven things He hates the most. You know what the climactic thing that Ryder mentions is? Those who sow discord among the brethren. God absolutely hates people who cause disunity in the church and ruined the witness of Christianity and destroyed the power source of people from the church by alienating them from the church.

He hates that. And I want to tell you, I've been a pastor for more than 40 years. I've seen God deal very harshly with people who cause disunity in the church. He doesn't put up with it because it is His body, the body of Christ in the church. And of all the things you may choose to do, don't ever be guilty of sowing discord in the body of Christ.

It has a severe judgment attached to it because the church is the body of Christ. If it's so important, pastor, how do we preserve the unity of spirit and the bond of peace? Notice the four ingredients of unity. He says, with all humility and gentleness, with patience, showing tolerance for one another and love.

Let's unpack those words real quickly. First of all, the word humility. If we're going to be unified, we have to practice humility.

It's interesting. In Paul's day, humility was not a virtue. It was a vice. It was thought to be weakness, to be humble. In fact, there was no word that really Paul could choose from the Greek language, so he had to coin a term that means to put ahead of yourself. That's what humility is, to put something or someone ahead of your own interest. Somebody said, humility is not thinking less of yourself, it's thinking of yourself less. And that's what Jesus demonstrated for us. The perfect example of humility is Philippians chapter 2, verse 3. Do nothing from selfishness or empty conceit, but with humility of mind, regard one another as more important than yourselves. Don't merely look out for your own personal interest, but also for the interest of others. Have this attitude in yourself, which was in Christ Jesus, who although he existed in the form of God, did not regard equality with God a thing to grasp, but he emptied himself. He wasn't looking out for his interest.

His interest would be to stay in heaven and enjoy the privileges of being the son of God. But he put our need above his interest by dying for us. That's what humility is. And then he mentions gentleness. The word translated gentleness actually is sometimes translated meekness. Now, we absolutely hate that word meekness because of what it rhymes with.

What does it rhyme with? Weakness. Who wants to be weak? Meek. But that's not what the word means. The word translated gentleness or meekness is a word that refers to a powerful horse that has been broken by its trainer. The horse is still powerful, but it's power under control.

And that's what meekness is. It's strength under control. Then thirdly, he says, with patience, macro thumia, macro long thumia, temper. To be patient means to be long tempered. John MacArthur says it means to have a long fuse, not a short fuse. Christendom said, this is a word which is used of a man who is wronged and easily has it in his power to avenge himself, but never does it.

Have a long fuse. And fourthly, forbearance, tolerance, showing tolerance for one another in love. This goes beyond not just retaliating against somebody. It means letting go of that offense that has been committed against you. Not paying back evil for evil.

It means giving up your right to hurt that other person for hurting you. That's forgiveness. Remember at the end of this chapter, Ephesians 4 32, Paul will say, be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, just as God in Christ has forgiven you. God gave up his right to punish us by forgiving us.

We need to extend that same forgiveness to others as well. These are the ingredients of unity. What are the catalysts for unity?

Why should I be concerned about this? Paul gives a sevenfold answer to that question. And notice the repetition of the word one. Beginning of verse four, for there is one body and one spirit, just as you were called and one hope of your calling. There's one Lord, one faith, one baptism, one God and Father of all who is over all and through all in all.

Let's look at those very quickly. He said the reason we're to work toward unity is there is one body. There's one body of Christ, not several bodies of Christ. In First Corinthians 12 12, Paul said, for the body is one and yet has many members and all the body members of the body, though they are many or one body. So is the body of Christ.

That's why you Christians are to be one. There is one body. Secondly, there is one spirit. How did we become a part of the one body through one spirit?

First Corinthians 12 13 says, for with one spirit, one Holy Spirit, we were all baptized into one body. Now look, there is one Holy Spirit. He works different ways in different people's lives to do different things, but he never fights against himself. He's never at war with himself. There is one Spirit, Holy Spirit, who indwells every believer in this room.

That's why we ought to be unified. And then thirdly, he says there's one hope. There it is again, one, one hope of your calling. What is the hope? The one hope of every Christian. Titus 2 13 says it's the blessed hope of Christ appearing.

There's one hope. Not only that, there is one Lord. You see, we have all the members of the Trinity involved in this passage. There is one Spirit and there is one Lord.

That's referring to Jesus Christ. Not only that, not only is there one Lord, there's one faith. There's one faith.

You say, how can that be? There are many different faiths. There are millions or thousands of religions in the world. How can you say there's one faith? Well, there's only one faith that leads to salvation. It's faith in Jesus Christ. That's why Jesus said in John 14 6, I am the way, the truth, the life. No man comes to the Father but by me. Now, have you noticed how Paul is building, building, building? He said there's one body, one Spirit, one hope, one Lord, one faith, one baptism, one. And here's the climax.

We're next to the climax. There is one baptism. There are not many baptisms of the Holy Spirit. There is one baptism. There are people right now who say, well, I was baptized with the Holy Spirit when I was saved, but I'm waiting for that second baptism.

You're going to be waiting a long time because there is no second or third or fourth baptism. When you trusted in Christ as your savior, you received all of the Holy Spirit you need for godliness and power in your life. Now, the Holy Spirit doesn't get all of you when he baptizes you. That's a continual process. We'll see in Ephesians being filled with the Holy Spirit, being controlled by the Spirit, but we have all of the Spirit.

And then finally the climax. There is one God. There's one body, one Spirit, one hope, one Lord, one faith, one baptism, one God. One God. That was the most basic teaching of Judaism. Deuteronomy 6, hero Israel, the Lord your God is one God. And just as it is impossible to divide God, so it should be impossible to divide Christians in a church. There is one God and Father of all who is over all and through all. Now, it would be real easy to shut our Bibles at this point, close our eyes to join hands and sing a chorus of Kumbaya as we meditate on being unified.

But notice what Paul said. Unity in a church doesn't come automatically and it doesn't stay automatically. We have to be diligent.

We have to work at it. That's why he says be diligent to preserve the unity and the bond of peace. These are just five things if every member of First Baptist Church Dallas would do, including the pastor, we would continue the unity we now enjoy. We enjoy a great unity in our church.

How do we preserve that unity, Paul says? Jot these down. Commitments I hope you'll consider making. Number one, I will refrain from criticizing any member of this church without first going to him privately. If you have something against somebody, you and I have the obligation to talk to them privately. Secondly, I will refuse to engage in gossip about other believers in the church. By the way, gossip can be misinformation, but gossip can be truth as well. Sharing things that are true about a situation of which you are neither part of the problem or part of the solution.

That's what gossip is. Sharing information needlessly. Thirdly, I will resist sharing confidential information that's been entrusted to me. That's especially important for leaders in the church, to keep confidences. Number four, I will remember that the church's progress is more important than my preferences.

That is so key. Remember that the church's progress in wanting people to Christ and equipping believers, that's more important than our individual preferences. And number five, I'll recommit to loving rather than condemning fellow Christians.

I will recommit to loving rather than condemning fellow Christians. Now, can I apply this to a very real situation? I was in Tennessee this week at the National Religious Broadcasters, and I was reminded of the story of Andrew Jackson. Remember Andrew Jackson?

He was the seventh president of the United States, but before that, he was the major general in the Tennessee militia. And during the War of 1812, the troops that were under Jackson's command started fighting and bickering and losing, and morale was at an all-time low when Jackson called his men together and said, Men, remember this, the enemy is over there. As Christians, we need to remember, the enemy is not fellow Christians, certainly not in this body. We are united. We love one another. The enemy is on the outside. The enemy is our adversary, the devil, who seeks to alienate people from the church, isolate Christians from one another, and then attack and destroy them.

We can't let him succeed. Let's be diligent to preserve that unity of spirit in the bond of peace. As believers, we're called to foster unity within the body of Christ.

Why? Well, when we come together in humility, gentleness, patience, and forbearance, we become a powerful witness to the power of Christ's transforming love. I'll share more practical application from Paul's letter to the Ephesians on tomorrow's edition of Pathway to Victory. And remember, I've written a brand new book that goes into far more detail as well. My book is called Holy Living in an Unholy World.

Paul showed us that living a holy life begins with understanding the rich spiritual heritage we already enjoy. A copy is yours today when you give a generous gift to support the ministry of Pathway to Victory. As we conclude another message together, let me say thanks to those of you who pray for Pathway to Victory and those who write and affirm the value of this daily program.

Not long ago, I heard from Crystal in Virginia. She wrote, Pastor Jeffress, for all of my life, I relied on my godly grandfather to feed me spiritually. When my grandfather died, it left me feeling adrift, as though God had suddenly stopped listening to me. Through Pathway to Victory, I'm becoming grounded in my direct relationship with the Lord and reading the Bible myself. Thank you for this incredible ministry and for helping me find a way to reconnect with God. Well, thank you so much for sharing that with us, Crystal. Your story is an encouragement to all of us, especially those who support the ministry of Pathway to Victory. It's so good to know that our efforts are truly making a difference.

David? Thanks, Dr. Jeffress. Today, when you support the ministry of Pathway to Victory by giving a generous gift, we're going to say thanks by sending you Holy Living in an Unholy World. That's the brand new book by Dr. Robert Jeffress. Simply give us a call, 866-999-2965, or visit online at ptv.org. And when you give $75 or more, you'll also receive the complete Holy Living in an Unholy World teaching series.

You'll get that on both DVD video and MP3 format audio discs, along with the companion study guide. One more time, call 866-999-2965, or go to ptv.org. If you'd prefer to send your letter by mail, write to P.O. Box 223-609, Dallas, Texas, 75222. That's P.O. Box 223-609, Dallas, Texas, 75222. I'm David J. Mullins. A healthy body requires every part to function properly, and the same principle applies to Christ's body, the Church.

So how can we be sure that each member is working together effectively? Join us for an eye-opening message on spiritual gifts. That's Thursday on Pathway to Victory.

Pathway to Victory with Dr. Robert Jeffress comes from the pulpit of the First Baptist Church of Dallas, Texas. Picture yourself relaxing aboard a luxury cruise ship as you sail the Mediterranean Sea on the Pathway to Victory Journeys of Paul Mediterranean Cruise. This 11-day journey will take you to unforgettable destinations in Italy, Turkey, and Greece.

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