Celebrate your uniqueness, develop your uniqueness, but remember you are unique for a bigger purpose than you. Dr. Tony Evans says God designed your gifts to strengthen the whole body, not just yourself. God will not grow you if you're not interested in growing others. This is the alternative broadcast, featuring the timeless biblical teachings from the archives of Dr.
Tony Evans. Teamwork falls apart when people chase their own agendas. Today, Dr. Evans shows how God calls his people to unity so they can grow and serve together. Let's join him as he explains why spiritual maturity depends on each of us doing our part in the body of Christ.
Now one of the greatest truths that you can ever learn as a Christian could be number one And that is your new position in Christ. Because if you do not know, appreciate, or appropriate your new position in Christ, then you may live out your Christian life predicated on your old position in Adam. And if you live, even though you're in a new position in Christ, based on your old position in Adam, then that means you won't realize your new identity and all the rights and privileges that come with it.
Now he comes to chapter four. And his theme is unity. one of the most misunderstood topics today as men fight for unity. As families try to fight for unity. One of the problems is people don't define it correctly.
or then if they define it they don't know how to go about it He says four things in these first 16 verses that we want to look at. Related to unity. First of all, the preservation of unity in the first three verses. I therefore, the prisoner of the Lord, entreat you to walk in a manner worthy of the calling with which you have been called with all humility, gentleness, and patience, showing forbearance to one another in love, being diligent to preserve the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace.
Now, what you have to understand is Satan's great goal is disunity. His great goal is disunity. He got one-third of the angels to disunify themselves from God and the holy host of heaven. He got Adam and Eve to disunify themselves in their marriage due to sin. He got Cain to kill Abel.
His task is to disunify.
Now why? Why is Satan so interested in disunity? Um Because Satan understands something that you and I forget, and that is. Disunity is against the very nature of God. Since this unity is against the nature of God, whenever you create, An environment of disunity, you've simply asked God, don't hang around here anymore.
Because as you'll see in a moment, God's nature is unity, and therefore he only functions in unity.
Now he says in verse three: be diligent. to preserve the unity.
Now I want you to notice a couple of key factors here. He does not say be diligent to make unity, create unity, find unity, establish unity. He says, be diligent to preserve unity.
Now, you can only preserve something you already have.
Well God has already created unity. He's explained that in chapter 2, chapter 3. He's explained that in the family of God, unity has already been established. Our job is not to create it. Or make it.
If you know Jesus Christ, that means you're part of the bigger family of God. You already have unity.
So the problem is not me and my wife, me and my husband, me and my friends, me and my church members are disunified. The problem is we do not know how to preserve the unity that we already have.
So the issue is preserving unity.
Now, when we look at it in this context, preserving unity is related to your walk. how you carry or conduct yourself. If I were to stop you and ask you, how is your walk? I mean, how is your Christian life, the course of your life? How is it going?
Are you walking with the Lord? That's the concept here. He says, to walk in a manner worthy of your calling.
Well, he wants you to walk in a matter of weather of your calling, because in the first three chapters, he's already defined what your calling is: that you've been called to be part. of this new community. If you're going to have unity in a relationship, whatever that Christian relationship is. There must be Humility. It means thinking properly about yourself.
It means not to have an inflated ego. Wherever you get an inflated view of yourself, You are now in rebellion against God and it will show up in disharmony among people. Jesus says in Luke 18, verse 13 and 14, he says, he who humbles himself shall be exalted. And he who exalts himself shall be humbled. That is, we must take on a servant spirit.
In order to have unity, we must be more interested in serving than being served.
So, the first thing you must do if you're going to create a unified environment is have humility. The second thing you must do is Out of humility grows gentleness. That's a very beautiful word.
Some versions translate it meekness. Let me tell you the word meekness. Meekness does not mean weakness. Meekness means strength under control. That's what meekness means.
It was used of taming a horse. You ever seen them bucking Broncos? The cowboy sits on the back and it would buck the cowboy like in rodeos to knock the cowboy off. It was strength out of control. But what the cowboy would do is break the horse.
Okay, knock him off, he'd get back on, ride it again until the horse was broken.
Now Guess what? When you break a Bronco. The horse is still as strong and still as fast. What has changed? It has now submitted its will to the rider.
That's the only thing that's changed. Still is fast, still is strong, but now the rider says, giddy up. Whoa.
Somebody else has taken over control.
Okay? to be a meek Person doesn't mean you hang your head in shame, keep your eyes to the ground, and say, I'm nothing, I never was anything, I'm never gonna be anything.
Okay, that's a lie. If you're in Christ, you are something, you are somebody, and you will forever be somebody. But meekness means God can say whoa. Giddy up. That you are now under the control of another.
The word patience means not short-tempered, but long-tempered. even against aggravating people. And no one was more aggravated than Jesus on the cross who had committed no sin and yet was dying for the sins of the world, could have called 10,000 angels, wiped out everybody. But for love, he stayed up there. Patience means that I don't quit.
or give up when the going gets tough. It means tolerating people who are not like you. That's what patience is. And that's everybody you know. The issue is not differences.
The issue is unity. And unity, as you'll see in a moment, allows for differences. He says, forbearing one another. or forbearance to one another in love. Or as 1 Peter 4:8, love covers the multitude of sins.
What does love do? Love throws a blanket over sin so that it doesn't go any further than it has to because I'm trying to put out the fire, not spread it. See, that's unity. He says when you do these things, you're being diligent. Which is work, you're working hard to preserve the unity.
These keep the unity, bring the unity back in focus. Any couple here today, if you try these three things, If both of you try them, you will create unity even with the differences. The second thing he says. In verses four through six, is the pattern for unity. There's one body, one spirit, just as you've been called in one hope of your calling, one Lord, one faith, one baptism, one God and Father of us all, who overall, through all, and in all.
Now you know what that is? The Trinity. Verse 4, one Spirit, verse 5, one Lord, and verse 6, one God and Father. That's the Trinity. The Trinity means that there is one God made up of three co-equal persons who are distinct in personality while at the same time being one in essence.
When we talk about the Trinity, we're talking about one God. Three persons The Father is not the Son, the Son is not the Father.
Sometimes I get these questions from people who don't understand the Trinity and say, well, if Jesus is God, then who was He talking to? Anyway, he's talking to God. But you just said Jesus is God. Yeah, but I didn't say God the Father. See, Jesus is God, but Jesus is God the Son.
Jesus is not God the Father, but the Father and Jesus are both God. Because God is one person made up of three co-equal persons who are distinct in personality, each is different than the other, yet they are the same. In essence. When you came to Jesus Christ, you partook of the divine nature. Everybody in this room has the same essence because we all have a new nature that has been imparted to us by Jesus Christ.
But that new nature is in different personalities, different backgrounds, different races, different other expressions, but they all partake of the same nature.
So, guess what? Everybody in this room can be one in essence without at the same time being. The same in personality. The Father is different than the Son, the Spirit is different than the Father. They're all different, but they partake of the same essence.
Well, that is the model of Christian unity. That's why he appeals to God. Unity isn't just an idea, it's a spiritual reality built on God's very nature. When Dr. Evans returns in a moment, He'll explain how that unity shows up in the body of Christ and how the Holy Spirit makes it possible.
First, though, what you're hearing today is part of a powerful series from Tony called Ordinary Holy, Finding God in the Mundane. This two-volume 16-message collection will help you discover how God does some of His most life-changing work through the most ordinary moments of life. You'll learn how the truths in Ephesians can reshape your perspective and renew your spiritual strength, whether you're at work, at home, or simply going about your day. You can get all 16 full-length messages as our gift when you make a contribution to help keep Tony's ministry going strong on the air, online, and around the world. And for a limited time, we'll also include his encouraging book, Kingdom Living.
Full of practical biblical insights to help you grow deeper in your walk with God and discover your identity in Christ. Just visit us today at tonyevans.org or call us at 1-800-800-3222, make your donation, and request this special resource package. But don't wait, this offer will only be available for a limited time. I'll repeat that contact information for you after the second part of today's message and this. Are you hungry for more of God, more of his truth, more of his power, and more of his wisdom applied in your life?
Then you need to connect with the community of passionate believers who are growing in God's Word through the Tony Evans Training Center. With exclusive video and audio teaching from Dr. Tony Evans, this interactive online study experience allows you to explore theology, biblical history, and real-life application of the kingdom agenda anytime, anywhere. Visit TonyEvanstraining.org to get started today. That's TonyEvanstraining.org.
Now? He talks about we are one body and one spirit. Call for one hope. Guess what? The job of the Holy Spirit is to place Christians into the body of Christ.
Here's the down payment. We saw that in chapter one. How does the Spirit do this? He does this by his baptizing work, 1 Corinthians 12:13, where he orchestrates. the composition of the body.
of which we, this local church, is one local expression.
So God orchestrates this body, pulling it together with all of the differences. Yet, with the oneness of essence, so that the many expressions can be seen without their being common. Conflict. that cannot be addressed. Secondly, the work of the sun.
There's one Lord. 1 Corinthians 8, 6 says, Jesus alone is Lord. He is the sole object of our faith. We don't come here to worship anybody but Jesus Christ. There's no room in this building for another Lord.
That is another savior. Once a second Savior shows up, we're in the wrong building. God has given to each one of us Grace. Grace means the divine enablement in order to service the program of God. God has made the provision for unity to occur.
But there must be an equipping so that the unity in fact does occur. The job of the pastor-teacher, my job. is not to do the work of the ministry. Overall, my job is to equip the saints to give you the biblical. foundation whereby you can get the work of the ministry done.
Far too many churches, 10% of the people do 90% of the work.
So the 10% are always mad at somebody and they burned out and the 90% get off scot free. And if you do that in your home, you have chaos. Or you have a frustrated wife, one or the other.
Okay, if a wife looks up and she's doing everything, kids looking at television. You looking at football game. You know? Why don't y'all help me? Right?
When if everybody pitched in, they would be unified and nobody would be frustrated. Am I right, wise? All right.
Well, the point of it is simply this: that the idea is to mobilize the saints so that the kingdom work gets done. That's unity. Unity isn't everybody sitting around doing nothing. It's everybody's doing. what they have been given the ability to do so that everything gets done.
by that which every part contributes. The purpose. of unity. Why is unity important? Why just can I just come, sit out here, listen to the choir, listen to the preacher, go home and mind my business, and you mind yours?
Second half of verse 12 says, to the building up. of the body of Christ. There it is. God needs, wants, demands, unity.
So that the body will be Built. Uh strengthened, grown, constructed, developed. or better yet, matured. The church needs your contribution to it. And It must make a contribution to you.
Because, listen to this. You can't grow yourself up by yourself. Let me tell you what you can do by yourself. Get saved. From then on, You need stuff.
You need the body of Christ to surround you and you need to be an environment like a pinball machine so that when you bounce off of one believer and you bounce into another believer, the sum total of the bouncing brings up a high spiritual score in your life. God will not grow you if you're not interested in growing others. Now notice the phrase in verse 13, until we who? Oh. All attain to the unity of the faith.
Unity of the faith, referring to this body of truth that we're operating under. And to the knowledge of the Son of God. That is, till we all attain to this deeper walk with Christ, deeper, intimate walk with Christ. It says to a Mature man. Referring to the church, he wants us to become one family unit.
Any of you have three or four families in your one family? Wife has her agenda, husband has his agenda. Children have their agenda. And we never get around to being a family. A family, because everybody's got their own agendas.
You know, somebody asked me about this last week because I talked about husbands and wives who have. checkbooks, different checking accounts. I don't mean that from the standpoint of convenience. You know, it's better to pay something out of one account than another. I mean, you have a checking account because you don't want to be bothered with each other.
And this is not our money, that's your money, and this is my money. And the kids saying, well, this is my money. And what you got is four households living in one roof. And you never get around to being a family. That's what he's saying: a mature man.
That's why this church must pull in. the same direction that we might all mature together and become a mature man. What does this mature man look like? Verse 13. To the measure of the statue which belongs to the fullness of Christ.
In other words, Christ is our standard. Christ is our stand, and we're pulling each other along. Everybody's not on the same level, but everybody's reaching back through that spiritual gift to pull somebody else along. Everybody's touching somebody else, so that means God will make sure somebody touches you. Because remember, whatever you sow, you reap.
If you're too busy to touch, Then you may be too busy to be touched when you need touching. Hello, if you're too busy to touch. then you may be too busy to be touched. When you need touching. As a result, what would be the result of this in our church?
In any church, we won't be tossed to and fro, carried about by winds and waves of doctrine, the trickiness of men, by the craftiness and deceitful scheming. That meant dice. That was a phrase used of dice, when you would throw dice and the dice would be loaded and so you would be tricked. You'd lose. What he says is a lot of Christians like that.
They just blow in and blow out. Oh. I heard somebody on the radio today, he said this. I heard somebody else over here, they said that. And they just go with the wind.
dance back and forth like waves that no stability. When an oak becomes an oak tree, Oh yes, the branches will move, but the tree is going nowhere. No why? Because it's gone deep. People want fads today.
They want fads. Fads don't last. They are good for the moment. They make you feel good for the moment. That's why, in your spiritual life, you want to look at stuff that's been around.
that stood the test of time. Never get a couple to counsel you that never had an argument. If they tell you they never had an argument, go on to somebody else. You want somebody who's weathered the storm. You don't want somebody who's never been in the storm.
What kind of stuff is that? You want somebody who when the storm was there and the boat was rocking, they didn't jump ship. That's what you want. You want stability and that means depth and you can't get that as a Lone Ranger. But how How do you do this then?
Verse 15, but speaking the truth in love. This is a participle, and it really means Truthing is how it literally would render it kind of awkward to say that. but we are to be truthing.
Now, what does that mean? Living out the truth relationally. Not just Beating people over the head with the truth. This is the truth. Yeah.
Truth is the light, but light won't shine. Ever said that? This is the truth. No, no. Truthing.
In other words, truth connected with relationship. Telling you the truth while I hug you. Telling you the truth while I cry with you. Telling you the truth when I correct you. But always Out of a heart.
that wants to relate to you. That's see that's true then. Mm. He says, but truthing in love, we are to grow up to him in all aspects, comprehensive. Who is the head, even Christ?
That is, we're all moving toward Christ. Last verse, from whom the whole body, see, not just you, everybody. being fitted and held together by that which most joints supply. Every joint supplies. Nobody is exonerated according to the proper working.
Oh, you mean no slipshod stuff? No leftover stuff? No, you give God your very best in whatever you give him.
Okay, the proper working of each individual part. Causes the growth of the body.
Now, I like this last phrase, for the building up of itself in love. When you truthing in relationship. Then the body starts working. When every single believer is making their contribution, nobody's getting burnt out. The heart's doing the pumping, and the blood's doing the flowing, and the brain's doing the thinking, and the feet are doing the walking, and the hands are doing the grabbing, and the ears are doing the listening, and the tongue is doing the talking.
And when that happens in your family, when all the parts are clicking on all cylinders, it says the body will grow itself. will grow itself causing it Naturally, to develop. The body should grow itself. Is your growing still? Dr.
Tony Evans, talking about the importance of functioning in unity within the body of Christ.
Now, don't forget, our lesson today comes from Tony's series called Ordinary Holy: Finding God in the Mundane, a 16-part journey through the book of Ephesians. It's a powerful look at how God's presence and purpose can shape even the most routine moments of our lives. And for a limited time, when you make a contribution to help support the alternative broadcast ministry, we'll send you this complete two-volume audio collection as our gift, along with a special bonus, Tony's practical and insightful book, Kingdom Living, designed to help you grow spiritually and live with greater purpose every day. This exclusive package is only available for a limited time, so visit tonyevans.org or call 1-800-800-3222 soon to make the arrangements. Again, that's Tony Evans.
Tonyevans.org or by phone, 1-800-800-3222. You know, you can't walk in two directions at once. and the same is true spiritually. Tomorrow, Dr. Evans calls us to leave behind our old way of living.
and step into the new identity we've been given in Christ. I hope you'll join us for that.
