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The 17th Sunday in Trinity
Our Calling to the One Christian Church
October 4, 2009

TEXT:  (Ephesians 4:1-6 NKJ) I, therefore, the prisoner of the Lord, beseech you to walk worthy of the calling with which you were called, 2 with all lowliness and gentleness, with longsuffering, bearing with one another in love, 3 endeavoring to keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace. 4 There is one body and one Spirit, just as you were called in one hope of your calling; 5 one Lord, one faith, one baptism; 6 one God and Father of all, who is above all, and through all, and in you all.
 
Greetings in the name of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ—and welcome to the ONE Church of God on earth—and I remind you that the Church is not a building—a church is not a place—and a church is not an organization—a church is a gathering of every one on this earth that believes Jesus Christ is our Savior—and if you are a member of this one Church—THANK GOD!—for it is by God that you are called to this Church—it is by the gift of the Holy Spirit that you believe Jesus is your Savior and that He is Lord of all
 
(1 Corinthians 12:3 NKJ) Therefore I make known to you that no one speaking by the Spirit of God calls Jesus accursed, and no one can say that Jesus is Lord except by the Holy Spirit.
 
In our text Paul asks us to walk in a manner worthy of our calling—but what is our calling?—Paul is referring to our Christian calling—as Christians we are not to walk around in this world as if we belonged here—we are not of the world—we are in the world, but not of the world—Christ chose us out of the world—He chose us to be His
 
(John 15:19 NKJ) "If you were of the world, the world would love its own. Yet because you are not of the world, but I chose you out of the world, therefore the world hates you.
 
In His prayer to the Father—Jesus says we are in the world but not of the world—and because we are “different” the world hates us—but we are given a defense to fight off those that hate us—Jesus gave us God’s Word!
 
(John 17:14 NKJ) "I have given them Your word; and the world has hated them because they are not of the world, just as I am not of the world.
 
We are in this world by the grace of God—He placed us here for His purpose—we belong in heaven—heaven is our home—this world is a hostile environment for us—but we are to endure the abuse of the devil’s workers—and that endurance is what Paul is speaking of in the text—he calls it longsuffering
 
TEXT:  (Ephesians 4:2-3 NKJ) …with all lowliness and gentleness, with longsuffering, bearing with one another in love, 3 endeavoring to keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace.
 
(Matthew 5:44-45 NKJ) "But I say to you, love your enemies, bless those who curse you, do good to those who hate you, and pray for those who spitefully use you and persecute you, 45 "that you may be sons of your Father in heaven; for He makes His sun rise on the evil and on the good, and sends rain on the just and on the unjust.
 
(Matthew 10:22 NKJ) "And you will be hated by all for My name's sake. But he who endures to the end will be saved.
 
And at the end of this journey we call life, God will take us home—this is our calling—and this yields our reward—eternity in our heavenly home with the One True God and Father of all
 (Philippians 3:20-21 NKJ) For our citizenship is in heaven, from which we also eagerly wait for the Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ, 21 who will transform our lowly body that it may be conformed to His glorious body, according to the working by which He is able even to subdue all things to Himself.
 
One Christian Calling to the One Church—Unity of the Church
 
TEXT:  (Ephesians 4:4-6 NKJ) There is one body and one Spirit, just as you were called in one hope of your calling; 5 one Lord, one faith, one baptism; 6 one God and Father of all, who is above all, and through all, and in you all.
 
God chose us to be His children—and He placed us in our situation to bring glory to Him—He has called us to our place in the heavenly kingdom—listen as we consider this beautiful presentation of Paul concerning our call into the one Church on earth
 
We are called to the One Church through Christ—God sent Christ in the form of a man to defeat the law and make us worthy of this call—our worthiness is through Him, Jesus the Christ
 
(Ephesians 1:3-6 NKJ) Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places in Christ, 4 just as He chose us in Him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and without blame before Him in love, 5 having predestined us to adoption as sons by Jesus Christ to Himself, according to the good pleasure of His will, 6 to the praise of the glory of His grace, by which He has made us accepted in the Beloved.
 
We are gathered together as one—through Christ and in Christ—redeemed by His blood—saved by His grace—and strengthened by the knowledge of Him which is revealed by the Holy Spirit—we are the one Church in Christ
 
(Ephesians 1:7-10 NKJ) In Him we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of sins, according to the riches of His grace 8 which He made to abound toward us in all wisdom and prudence, 9 having made known to us the mystery of His will, according to His good pleasure which He purposed in Himself, 10 that in the dispensation of the fullness of the times He might gather together in one all things in Christ, both which are in heaven and which are on earth-- in Him.
 
God chose us—God sent His Son to redeem us—and God has a plan for us—and that plan is to bring glory to Him
 
(Ephesians 1:11-14 NKJ)  In Him also we have obtained an inheritance, being predestined according to the purpose of Him who works all things according to the counsel of His will, 12 that we who first trusted in Christ should be to the praise of His glory. 13 In Him you also trusted, after you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation; in whom also, having believed, you were sealed with the Holy Spirit of promise, 14 who is the guarantee of our inheritance until the redemption of the purchased possession, to the praise of His glory.
 
You were chosen from the beginning of time—to be here at this time—in this place—to bring glory to God—your salvation is a gift of God—and that gift is presented to you by our gracious God of mercy and grace
 
(Ephesians 2:8-10 NKJ) For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God, 9 not of works, lest anyone should boast. 10 For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand that we should walk in them.
 
Paul speaks of unity in our text—there are many examples and lessons in God’s Word concerning unity—but none is more clear or more complete than the example of marriage—in this world we are told by God that the two become one
 
(Matthew 19:3-6 NKJ) The Pharisees also came to Him, testing Him, and saying to Him, "Is it lawful for a man to divorce his wife for just any reason?" 4 And He answered and said to them, "Have you not read that He who made them at the beginning`made them male and female,' 5 "and said,`For this reason a man shall leave his father and mother and be joined to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh '? 6 "So then, they are no longer two but one flesh. Therefore what God has joined together, let not man separate."
 
Throughout the Scriptures we have examples of Christ being the Bridegroom and the Church being the Bride—but the most clear and distinctive description is the angel’s description in Revelation
 
(Revelation 21:9 NKJ) Then one of the seven angels who had the seven bowls filled with the seven last plagues came to me and talked with me, saying, "Come, I will show you the bride, the Lamb's wife."
 
Christ—the Lamb of God—is the Bridegroom—the Bridegroom and the Bride (the Church) become one—we call this oneness “The Lord’s Supper” or communion—when we take of the Body and the Blood of Christ—and we consume the consecrated elements—the two become one—and there is total unity of the Church and Christ
 
ALL GLORY BE TO GOD!