The Faith Of Isaac To Follow God’s Plan. LIVING BY FAITH IN TRIALS AND SUFFERING study #9 (A Study in Hebrews 11)(Hebrews 11:20)

We come now to just one verse for this study which is about the promised son that was born to Abraham and Sarah, who is Isaac. There is much to be said about the faith of Isaac that we see within the pages of Scripture but we will focus on the contents of our verse that we will study on here. We will start off by looking at the faith of Isaac in some areas of his life then that will lead us to the faith he had to give the blessings of God to his children in the way he did. This of course will take us to look at some content into the original story in Genesis so that we will understand the context in what we see in our verse for this study. Before we get to far let’s read this verse that we see here in Hebrews 11:20 By faith Isaac invoked future blessings on Jacob and Esau.

I know there doesn’t seem to be much here in content but with just the first 3 words we could compile so much information in the Scripture when it comes to Isaacs’s faith. This is what we will look at first before getting into the words we see here in Hebrews 11. Let’s look at our first point.

1.Isaac’s faith.
As we have already seen Hebrews 11:20a says By faith Isaac, and I want to just stop there to look at what Isaac had faith in. Isaac’s story really starts before he was even born. He was the promised son that would be born to the aged Abraham and Sarah. The promise of an heir was given to Abraham and yet it was not until he was 100 years old that he received the fulfillment of that promise. The promise is recorded in Genesis 17:19 that says God said, “No, but Sarah your wife shall bear you a son, and you shall call his name Isaac. I will establish my covenant with him as an everlasting covenant for his offspring after him.

Isaac’s birth is recorded in Genesis 21 and then we see the near sacrifice of Isaac that God command of Abraham recorded in Genesis 22. I know we focus much on Abraham’s faith in that act but how about the faith of Isaac not just seen in the act but after the act. I think if my dad tried to kill me, that would be a hard thing to deal with. There would be distrust, I would be looking over my shoulder all of the time wondering if something like that would happen again. I think because of Isaac being there and witnessing his own father’s faith to do whatever God commanded, that this too built Isaac’s faith to do the same even when things didn’t seem right in his own eyes.

Isaac displayed his faith again as he marries Rebekah seeing that there was not even any courtship or betrothal. Isaac trusted his parents and knew that this was a part of the plan of God. Even though we see Isaac mentioned so much, the contents of his life does not start until about midway into Genesis 25. This is what we see in Genesis 25:19-21 These are the generations of Isaac, Abraham’s son: Abraham fathered Isaac, ²⁰ and Isaac was forty years old when he took Rebekah, the daughter of Bethuel the Aramean of Paddan-aram, the sister of Laban the Aramean, to be his wife. ²¹ And Isaac prayed to the Lord for his wife, because she was barren. And the Lord granted his prayer, and Rebekah his wife conceived.

What do we notice here in this passage of Scripture? We see just like his own parents, they too were unable to have children. Now Isaac and Rebekah are not as old as Abraham and Sarah but it is no doubt they are getting to the point of not being able to conceive naturally. They married when Isaac was 40 and was without a child for 20 years before they saw the heir of the promise born. The story goes that Rebekah conceives with twins and gives birth when Isaac is 60 years old. We do not see a storyline like we did with Abraham of Isaac’s faith up to this point but what we see by implication is that this prayer was something Isaac prayed for throughout his life. Isaac knew the story of his own conception and birth, he knew that he was the heir that would continue the lineage of the promise and yet we do not see his faith waver.

Sometime later Isaac would receive the same promise as his father did, Look with me at Genesis 26:3b-4 I will establish the oath that I swore to Abraham your father. ⁴ I will multiply your offspring as the stars of heaven and will give to your offspring all these lands. And in your offspring all the nations of the earth shall be blessed.

This promise comes to Isaac most likely not long after Abraham’s death. If you look at the lay out in the Scripture it is hard to tell sometimes when some things happen because not everything is chronological. Any way we look at it we know that Isaac knew that his offspring would be what continues this promise given originally to his father. Of course for most people of that time this would most likely be the firstborn son that would inherit this promise. But as we will see that was not in the plan of God and Isaac would have to trust God’s plan over his desire. That moves us now to our next point and the contents of our verse in Hebrews 11.

2.Isaac’s faith in God’s redemption plan.
Look with me at Hebrews 11:20 By faith Isaac invoked future blessings on Jacob and Esau.

Now I want to bring up the fact that most people believe that Esau was not given a blessing but seems to be more of a curse from Isaac in the story that we will looked at in Genesis 27. But I think we will see clearly that this was a blessing but not the blessing that he expected to have as the older son. This story is familiar to most people that have read the Bible. We know that Isaac was getting older and was around 130 or so at this time. His eyesight was deteriorating, his health seemed to be in decline and before he died he wanted to bless his son Esau. This blessing would give to Esau the right to the inheritance, it would place him as the leader of the family and with that the continuation of the blessing given to Abraham from God.

As the story goes, Isaac tells Esau to go hunt and kill an animal to prepare a meal for him. At that time Isaac would then bless Esau. This is where we will go back in the story to understand that this blessing was not Esau’s to have. First we see that Rebekah, Esau and Jacob’s mother, was told that Jacob who is the younger would be given this blessing. Look with me at Genesis 25:22-23 The children struggled together within her, and she said, “If it is thus, why is this happening to me?” So she went to inquire of the Lord. ²³ And the Lord said to her, “Two nations are in your womb, and two peoples from within you shall be divided; the one shall be stronger than the other, the older shall serve the younger.”

So the blessing would go to the younger son who is Jacob. Not only that, we also see that Esau did not even care about any of this until it came to wanting to be blessed with the material prosperity and power of the leader of the family. We see his uncaring attitude in the story recorded in Genesis 25:29-34 that says Once when Jacob was cooking stew, Esau came in from the field, and he was exhausted. ³⁰ And Esau said to Jacob, “Let me eat some of that red stew, for I am exhausted!” (Therefore his name was called Edom.) ³¹ Jacob said, “Sell me your birthright now.” ³² Esau said, “I am about to die; of what use is a birthright to me?” ³³ Jacob said, “Swear to me now.” So he swore to him and sold his birthright to Jacob. ³⁴ Then Jacob gave Esau bread and lentil stew, and he ate and drank and rose and went his way. Thus Esau despised his birthright.

So we see that Esau seemed to only care about the things of the world and did not care about the things pertaining to the blessing that came along with being the heir of the promises that God had given to his grandfather, Abraham. So this brings us back to the story of the blessing given by Isaac in Genesis 27. At the time that Isaac spoke these things to Esau, Rebekah was listening in. So she calls Jacob and plans to deceive Isaac by sending Jacob in to Isaac as if he is Esau. She cooked the food, she got Esau’s clothes for Jacob to wear and made his appearance seem to match Esau. Even though they were twins, Jacob was a soft skin person and Esau was hairy so Rebekah made Jacob seem more hairy by putting goat hair on his hands and neck.

The plan was set and Jacob goes in to his father to pose as Esau. Isaac was reluctant at first because Jacob’s voice did not seem to match Esau’s but eventually Isaac was deceived and gave the blessing to Jacob that we see in Genesis 27:28-29 May God give you of the dew of heaven and of the fatness of the earth and plenty of grain and wine. ²⁹ Let peoples serve you, and nations bow down to you. Be lord over your brothers, and may your mother’s sons bow down to you. Cursed be everyone who curses you, and blessed be everyone who blesses you!”

I want to make clear that God did not need Rebekah to plan this deception in order to bless Jacob. It was already in the plan of God for Jacob to be the ruler over the house but this is what happened. God would have got this done another way so it is never alright to be deceptive to get what we want. This time though we see that Rebekah’s wants were actually a part of the plan of God but she should have not done this. In fact this brings division into the home and separates Esau and Jacob for many years.

To get back to our text we noticed the obvious promises of blessing to Jacob and his offspring, They would be blessed with material blessing and would be the ruler of the family. Not only would he rule his family but also others would serve him as well.

This brings us to look at what happens when Esau comes back from his hunt and preparation of the food for his father. Esau comes in to his father and Isaac is confused because he believed that he had already blessed Esau. They figure out that in fact Jacob had deceived Isaac to get the blessing. Esau is furious and angered at what has happened. He then asks his father in Genesis 27:36b “Have you not reserved a blessing for me?”

This question is not pointed towards the fact that Isaac could only give one blessing or that he would curse Jacob but was asking of the blessing in association of the dominance and inheritance of the blessing reserved for the one that would be heir of the family. Isaac answers Esau in Genesis 27:37 “Behold, I have made him lord over you, and all his brothers I have given to him for servants, and with grain and wine I have sustained him. What then can I do for you, my son?”

In other words what was done could not be revoked because Isaac understood that this must have been the plan of God. Even though this was done by deception, Isaac would not go against what he knew as the plan of God to suit his desire or Esau’s desire for this blessing. Isaac does in fact give a blessing to Esau that is really set in opposition to Jacob’s blessing. We see this in Genesis 27:39-40 that says “Behold, away from the fatness of the earth shall your dwelling be, and away from the dew of heaven on high. ⁴⁰ By your sword you shall live, and you shall serve your brother; but when you grow restless you shall break his yoke from your neck.”

Notice none of this is set as a curse but rather that he would not be as blessed as Jacob. In fact later on when Jacob and Esau meet up after many years of separation Jacob tries to give gifts to Esau and Esau says this in Genesis 33:9 I have enough, my brother; keep what you have for yourself.

Esau was not blessed by God as the heir to the promise made to Abraham and Isaac but he still had what he needed. He was not cursed by Isaac even though he was not a true follower of God. He was rebellious and hated the fact that he did not receive what he thought was owed to him. In this story what we see is that Isaac did not waver in God’s plan but had faith in God’s plan even though it was not what he wanted. He may have faced difficulties, fought with his own desires and went through trials but his faith never wavered from the plan of God.

Hearing The Word Of God And Living It Daily. EXPOSITION ON THE GOSPEL ACCORDING TO LUKE study #67 (Luke 8:16-21)

In the last 2 studies we looked at the parable of the soils that showed to us that there are distinctions in how people respond to the Word of God and the Gospel. In this study by the providence of God, we will see that flow continue whether that comes to us in this way because of the actuality of how Jesus taught at this time or whether it is how the Holy Spirit directed Luke when he wrote this letter. Either way what we see is that Jesus moves to teach more on the point of making sure that your practice should line up with your profession. To profess Christ as Lord means nothing if it is not actually a reality in your life. To profess Christ and live a life of religion based off of your own interpretation of Scripture or in a life of justifying sinful behavior is hypocrisy. It is with this that shows the reality of who you are. This Scripture that we will study will help us in seeing how it is that we must live, it will show to us a warning about the dangers of living hypocritically and we will see instructions on how we need to be living on a daily basis. With that let’s dive into our Scripture and our first point.

1.Confessing your profession.
Look with me at Luke 8:16-18 “Now no one after lighting a lamp covers it with a container or puts it under a bed, but he puts it on a lampstand, so that those who come in may see the light. ¹⁷ For nothing is hidden that will not become evident, nor anything secret that will not be known and come to light. ¹⁸ So beware how you listen, for whoever has, to him more shall be given; and whoever does not have, even what he thinks he has shall be taken away from him.”

Coming off of the last parable we really look at this as an addition to what Jesus had been speaking on. He made clear that the only people that are really Christians are those that are actually producing that which comes from God. The point is that many people can be religious and good moral people but only those that are actually Christians are those that are producing the fruit from God. Morality is not proof of salvation, good deeds are not a proof of salvation neither is giving money or time but only the proof that God is changing you throughout your life. You can not tell someone is genuine until you see their life over time. You may think they are genuine and may even feel like they really are but in reality only time will show that. Are they looking more like God or are they remaining connected to sin and the world? It is this that shows the reality.

Jesus brings us to the point of showing the proof of what is on the inside by not hiding what God has done. In reality no true Christian will hide what God is doing by remaining in their sin or by not living out the way that God is changing in them. We all sin but we do not want to remain in that sinful state instead we look to live differently, talk differently and think differently. I believe it is with this that we see Jesus say in verse 16 “Now no one after lighting a lamp covers it with a container or puts it under a bed, but he puts it on a lampstand, so that those who come in may see the light.

This is a very familiar statement that many people know but we need to understand what He is speaking on here. I think that what we see in Matthew 5:14-16 gives us a clearer picture of this where Jesus says “You are the light of the world. A city set on a hill cannot be hidden; ¹⁵ nor does anyone light a lamp and put it under a basket, but on the lampstand, and it gives light to all who are in the house. ¹⁶ Let your light shine before men in such a way that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father who is in heaven.

We must not hide what is on the inside, we must not hide what God is doing on the inside of us but rather live it out and speak to others about the light of the Gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ. Paul proclaims this truth of what his ministry would be as Jesus outlined to him what he would do in Acts 26:18 where he says he was to open their eyes so that they may turn from darkness to light and from the authority of Satan to God, that they may receive forgiveness of sins and an inheritance among those who have been sanctified by faith in Me.

The light is in opposition to the darkness of our sinful lives and nature. It is against the darkness of our culture and fleshly desires, and it is the light that shines bright in the darkness of night. The light is seen clearly in darkness and there is no mistaken when light comes along into the darkness. This shows us that how we live will and should be clearly seen. This shows us that how we speak, how we think and how we share the Gospel is not in some hidden way because no act really can share the truth of the reality of what God is doing on the inside of you.

The fact is that you may try to hide the reality of what is on the inside of you but what is on the inside will show it’s fruit eventually. Jesus continues and says in Luke 8:17 For nothing is hidden that will not become evident, nor anything secret that will not be known and come to light.

Many people may fool others with their good works, their nice personality and their financial assistance but you will never fool God. Look with me at what the last two verse of Ecclesiastes says, this is Ecclesiastes 12:13-14 The end of the matter, all that has been heard: fear God and keep His commandments, because this is the end of the matter for all mankind. ¹⁴ For God will bring every work to judgment, everything which is hidden, whether it is good or evil.

So clear and so true! God will show you your deeds and your motives if all you have is some type of personal reform. God wants us to live lives that are in obedience to what He has commanded. It is with this that Jesus warns and instructs on what we must do in Luke 8:18 where He says So beware how you listen, for whoever has, to him more shall be given; and whoever does not have, even what he thinks he has shall be taken away from him.

Listening is definitely important in the reality of spiritual growth. If you are not listening then you definitely will not know what to do but in the same way if you are only listening to have knowledge and not allowing what you hear to change you then you will not change and only proves your hypocrisy. Notice the words that Jesus speaks here. First He says for whoever has, to him more shall be given.

This is the reality of what spiritual growth will do, this is the reality of what true Christianity will prove. The Christian will find themselves growing in knowledge, growing in maturity and growing in evangelizing. They will not sit dormant in the church, they will not live a life of sinfulness and worldliness but they will be moving away from those things. Secondly Jesus says whoever does not have, even what he thinks he has shall be taken away from him.

To me this seems to fit right along with what we saw in the parable of the soils. Those that seemed to be on the right track were eventually removed out of that place because of not being connected to the vine. They have no root toward God, they have no connection and they fall away and bear no good fruit. What they seemed to have was only superficial and outwardly. What they had fell away or in what Jesus says here, was taken from them. Why did this happen to people that looked so good outwardly? The short answer is that they had no inward change, they were not actually Christians but only wanted the benefits of what following Christ really gives. They want eternal life, they want eternal blessing but they did not want to live the way God demands and commands. It is with this thought that we will look at our second point.

2.Living your profession.
Look with me at Luke 8:19-21 And His mother and brothers came to Him, and they were unable to get to Him because of the crowd. ²⁰ And it was reported to Him, “Your mother and Your brothers are standing outside, wishing to see You.” ²¹ But He answered and said to them, “My mother and My brothers are these who hear the word of God and do it.”

We have looked at how our profession should affect our confessing but it never will stop there. Our profession will always show up in how we are living daily. I see this post on social media that says something like this: If you are not ashamed of Jesus then post this and share with others. It is with that post that people feel like they have fulfilled their duty to confess Christ before others but in reality that is not what Jesus says or means. Yes we need to confess to others but we must also allow our lives to be changed in such a way that proves that we are different that the world.

As we look at our text we need to understand that Jesus is not trying to disrespect His mother or His brothers even though many of them did not believe in Him at this time. His point goes beyond that to a spiritual lesson. I want to point out first that as always Jesus has a huge crowd following Him. This crowd was so big that His mother and brother’s were unable to get close to Him. In fact as we see in verse 20 says And it was reported to Him, “Your mother and Your brothers are standing outside, wishing to see You.”

For some of us that would be a welcoming thing to hear that your family is outside wanting to talk to you. This was not so much the case for Jesus because if we look at Mark’s account I believe we see that some of His family was those that were trying to silence Him. I do not believe that His own mother would be but we are not sure of that at this point because He was saying things and doing things that seemed contrary to what most expected when the Messiah was to come, so she easily could be convinced as well that He was crazy. Mark 3:20-21 says And He *came home, and the crowd *gathered again, so that they could not even eat a meal. ²¹ And when His own people heard this, they went out to take custody of Him; for they were saying, “He has lost His senses.”

It is just a little further down where we see this exchange that we are studying on in Luke. The point of it all is to show the reality of who it is that is really children of God or truly Christians. This is where we see Jesus say in Luke 8:21 But He answered and said to them, “My mother and My brothers are these who hear the word of God and do it.”

He wasn’t renouncing His family or deciding to leave them permanently but was showing the people the reality of what being in the family of God is all about. The point of this is to show to us what following Jesus is all about. It is not about you being blessed with financial gain, having perfect health, living like the world but it is in the obedience to the Word of God. Many people think that this type of teaching is legalistic but it is far from that. Legalism says that you receive salvation because of your ability to keep the commandments. Moralism says you can earn salvation by being a good person or as long as your good outweighs your bad deeds. But true Christianity is living outwardly how God is changing you inwardly which shows the reality that you are a follower of Jesus.

James 1:22-25 says But become doers of the word, and not merely hearers who delude themselves. ²³ For if anyone is a hearer of the word and not a doer, he is like a man who looks at his natural face in a mirror; ²⁴ for once he looked at himself and has gone away, he immediately forgot what kind of person he was. ²⁵ But one who looks intently at the perfect law, the law of freedom, and abides by it, not having become a forgetful hearer but a doer of the work, this man will be blessed in what he does.

You will not continue to live in a way that does not match your profession and confession if you have been truly saved. And when you do fall into those sinful behaviors, as we all do, God will convict you and do what it takes to get you back to where you need to be. Our profession must and will change our confession and our way of living. There is no way we can be indwelt by the living God and remain in the same way of living as we did before.

As we close I want to leave with this final verse from 3 John verse 11 that says Beloved, do not imitate what is evil, but what is good. The one who does good is of God; the one who does evil has not seen God.

Listen, hear, confess and live out the Word of God. It is this that shows that your profession is a reality.

YouTube and Podcast Teaching for….What Living For The New Self Looks Like. EXPOSITION ON THE BOOK OF EPHESIANS study #21 (Ephesians 4:25-29)

What Living For The New Self Looks Like. EXPOSITION ON THE BOOK OF EPHESIANS study #21 (Ephesians 4:25-29) – Disciple's Direction

Podcast teaching for….What Living A Life Worthy Of Your Calling Looks Like. EXPOSITION ON THE BOOK OF EPHESIANS study #16 (Ephesians 4:1-3)

What Living A Life Worthy Of Your Calling Looks Like. EXPOSITION ON THE BOOK OF EPHESIANS study #16 (Ephesians 4:1-3) – Disciple's Direction

What Living A Life Worthy Of Your Calling Looks Like. EXPOSITION ON THE BOOK OF EPHESIANS study #16 (Ephesians 4:1-3)

We now move into the 4th chapter and really a break from the doctrinal teaching of how we are saved to how we are to live out this life as a Christian. Paul does not waste any time getting to his point here at the beginning of this chapter. Now we know in order to live out the life that we are supposed to live for Christ, we do need to know doctrine, we do need to know what God commands us in order for us to follow what He wants us to but it must not stop there. We never need to be content with just a knowledge of the Scriptures but we must allow what we have learned to change us and transform us into the person that God has designed us to be. I think so often people set out to do this but somehow gets off track through the process. Most Christians when they first get saved open their Bibles and read, looking for knowledge and looking for a change in their behavior. But as we all know this behavior change does not happen all at once. This is an ongoing process in our life called sanctification. This is where we will land in this study and really throughout the remainder of this letter to the Ephesians. It isn’t that we will not see any doctrine but most of what we will see will point us in how we are to live our lives as followers of the Lord Jesus Christ. So with this in mind let’s look now at our first point for this study.

1.The call to walk worthy of your calling.
Look with me at Ephesians 4:1 I therefore, a prisoner for the Lord, urge you to walk in a manner worthy of the calling to which you have been called. We see once again as we did in our last study, that Paul speaks of his imprisonment here. He does not mention this to get the focus on himself but rather to show himself as an example of someone that has done the very thing that he is about to call out to concerning how to live out this Christian life. He does not even focus on his imprisonment or how he has lived but rather shows these believers in Ephesus how they should be living. At the end of chapter 3 we saw Paul pray for the strengthening of the saints of God. His desire was that they would know Christ more, that they would be growing in their walk so that they will live out their life for God with the fullness of God.

So here Paul calls these believers to walk in a manner worthy of the calling to which you have been called. I think first we need to answer the question of what call is he speaking of here? Is this a call separate from the call to salvation or is this call the same? In short we could answer that this call is in reference to the call to salvation but really has a separate entity. What I mean by this is they are related by the fact that when God calls a person to salvation it will never be separate from a call to live a life different from the one you have been living. But it is separate in a sense because this call is not just a one time call to receive salvation but is a call to live the way God wants you to daily. It is a call that goes from day to day, really moment by moment even throughout our days and nights.

Paul expressed this call also in Colossians 1:9-12 And so, from the day we heard, we have not ceased to pray for you, asking that you may be filled with the knowledge of his will in all spiritual wisdom and understanding, ¹⁰ so as to walk in a manner worthy of the Lord, fully pleasing to him: bearing fruit in every good work and increasing in the knowledge of God; ¹¹ being strengthened with all power, according to his glorious might, for all endurance and patience with joy; ¹² giving thanks to the Father, who has qualified you to share in the inheritance of the saints in light.

We notice again Paul’s prayer for knowledge not just to have knowledge but so that knowledge will change the way they are living their lives. Here we see very similar words as he says walk in a manner worthy of the Lord, fully pleasing to him: bearing fruit in every good work and increasing in the knowledge of God.

This call is seen again in 1 Thessalonians 2:11-12 For you know how, like a father with his children, ¹² we exhorted each one of you and encouraged you and charged you to walk in a manner worthy of God, who calls you into his own kingdom and glory. Here he says worthy of God, we have seen in Colossians to walk worthy of the Lord and all of this is the same as we see here in Ephesians when he says walk in a manner worthy of the calling.

This call to live worthy is realized more in 1 Thessalonians 4:1-7 where Paul says Finally, then, brothers, we ask and urge you in the Lord Jesus, that as you received from us how you ought to walk and to please God, just as you are doing, that you do so more and more. ² For you know what instructions we gave you through the Lord Jesus. ³ For this is the will of God, your sanctification: that you abstain from sexual immorality; ⁴ that each one of you know how to control his own body in holiness and honor, ⁵ not in the passion of lust like the Gentiles who do not know God; ⁶ that no one transgress and wrong his brother in this matter, because the Lord is an avenger in all these things, as we told you beforehand and solemnly warned you. ⁷ For God has not called us for impurity, but in holiness.

This call to live differently is for every believer. It is for those that just became Christians and to those that have been Christians for a long time. He does not specify who this call is towards and yet many times we get complacent in our lives thinking that we are alright the way we are. May we never get to that point in our life and if we are then we need to realize our sinfulness and repent of that sin. It may not be that you are living in such a way that the world would call you a horrible, wretched sinner but can you say that you are reaching for holiness in your life? This is the calling Paul speaks of here and this needs to be the direction of our lives, not just at church, not with just knowledge but in our every day lives. This points us to what we will look at in our second point.

2.What walking worthy of your calling looks like.
Look with at Ephesians 4:2-3 with all humility and gentleness, with patience, bearing with one another in love, ³ eager to maintain the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace. Walking worthy of your calling goes beyond just be obedient to rules or commands. There is in the obedience of these rules a change that has happened on the inside. There has been a tearing away from our old sinful lives to live for Christ in every area of our lives. To walk worthy of this calling is really another way of saying that as Christians this is the way our lives should be lived out. Here Paul expresses 5 different attributes that give us a view of what this walking worthy looks like. Now we need to notice that this passage of Scripture is not pointed towards personal holiness but more along the lines of unity in the body of Christ. In other words Paul expresses here a call to live differently than before for the purpose of unity in the church. This of course goes along with the context of what he spoke on concerning the division that once existed between the Jew and the Gentile but also the very fact that we all are sinful and could seek our own agendas. This of course would be devastating to the unity of the church.

As we look back at a text of Scripture we mentioned in our first point we see the clear call to live in holiness in 1 Thessalonians 4:7 For God has not called us for impurity, but in holiness. Personal holiness is a part of our call and responsibility as a Christian but this is not directly what Paul is calling for here. He says in the view of having unity in the body that we are to have humility as stated in Ephesians 4:2.

This is as Paul says in Philippians 2:3 Do nothing from selfish ambition or conceit, but in humility count others more significant than yourselves.

This is a call of humbleness. This is a call to remove pride in oneself and to measure yourself to the Lord and not others. It is easy to find others that we may think that we are better than but that is not the reality of our status. Our true status is comparing ourselves with our Lord. This shows us how wretched we are and helps us to see that we do not need to treat others as worse sinners than ourselves. Yes we may help others in recognizing sins in their own life but we must never think that we are better because we all sin, everyday, many times everyday. So we need to be humble towards others and Paul says also that we need to have gentleness.

I believe if you are not humble then this act of gentleness is not possible. This word for gentleness is the Greek word prautés (prah-oo’-tace) which means a gentle-force which expresses power with reserve and gentleness. This word is the same word listed among the 9 attributes of the fruit of the Spirit. This word shows a person that is gentle and not harsh towards others but does not submit to error or conformity to sinful behavior. Gentleness means that you will defend what is right in a way that is not harsh from anger but with words that are to the point. It isn’t that we set out to offend others but our words can at times when speaking the truth but may we never offend others by the attitude in which we speak. This is the call that Paul speaks of concerning our attitude towards other in bringing unity in the church of our Lord. He then says in Ephesians 4:2 to have patience.

This again is another word listed in the attributes of the fruit of the Spirit and yet so many people seem to want to avoid this word. People cringe at thinking that we need to ask God for help in this area but this is a very important area of our lives for personal holiness and for unity in the body of Christ. This of course goes right along with the other 2 that we have already mentioned by the fact that we need to not allow our anger to be short and swift. In fact the more patient we become with people the easier it is to forgive when people do us wrong and the easier it is to focus our attention on the real issue. The real issue points us back to remembering that we too are sinful and would hope that others will be patient with us when we fall short of the glory of God. Being patient is a must for having unity and we must pursue this attribute in our lives. Paul goes on to say bearing with one another in love.

The center of all of this falls back to having love for others. We can not just maintain unity by following rules. There must be a change of heart in us and this is that we truly love other people. This word bearing is the Greek word anechó (an-ekh’-om-ahee) which means a persistent endurance. It is that we endure the failing of others with love as the motivation. If we just follow rules on how to treat others we will eventually get irritated with the failings of others but if we truly have love in our hearts for others we will be humble, gentle and patient with others. This Paul says in Ephesians 4:3 eager to maintain the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace.

This is done with eagerness. The Greek word for eager is the word spoudazó (spoo-dad’-zo) which means acting fervently (speedy commitment) to accomplish all that God assigns through faith. It is with zeal that we need to live out our lives in such a way that leads to unity in the body of Christ.

This is really just the beginning of what Paul speaks on concerning this topic. We will see much more for several studies concerning this topic of unity in the body of Christ. As we close ask yourself, how are you doing in this area? Are you seeking personal holiness? Are you seeking for unity in the body of Christ? I hope as we have studied that we all see our sins and are able to ask God to forgive us and to help us in repenting of these sins.