In our text, we are told what the church should be like and what it can become. The people of the church that Paul was speaking to, came from heathen, pagan and Jewish roots. Paul spoke of being a unified body in Christ Jesus. We are all connected, should come together and have a comfortable fit with smooth movements of the joints. The early church, as it grew and went from generation to generation, became farther from actually seeing Jesus. It became more like just going to church because their parents and grandparents went there.
We should not attend church and follow Jesus just because it�s a custom. The keeping of the Sabbath is biblical and not just a custom like Sunday church services are. When the Catholic Church took over, they killed many people that would not join them. They burned people at the stake because they would not be Catholic. The Seventh Day Baptist came out during the Great Reformation of the Protestants. The Seventh Day Baptists were executed, be-headed and disemboweled. Then the SDB�s came over from England to the United States along with the pilgrims. They had a church covenant and agreement that they made and operated under. We still have the covenant that was made in the 1600�s which is valid and followed today. The goal of the church covenant is to bring church members together. This starts with our relationship with God and each other.
Seventh Day Baptist Church of Edgewater Church Covenant
We the church members agree:
� To take the Bible as our guide of Faith and Practice, to keep the Commandments of GOD and to walk in the Faith of JESUS.
� To watch over each other for Good, to the intent that we may be built up together in CHRIST, grow in Grace and further knowledge of the Truth and be instrumental in bringing mankind to the understanding of the Scriptures and to a saving Knowledge of our Lord and Savior JESUS CHRIST.
� To work toward the goal of the full and complete adaptation of the teaching of Scriptures and the Principles of CHRISTIANITY to all the world�s activities- social, economic, political-to the end that both individually and collectively mankind may become increasingly better because of the influence of this church and our lives.
� To cheerfully attend the appointments and bear the burdens and expenses of the church, according as God may give us severally the ability.
Sabbath 5/27/17 Seventh Day Baptist Edgewater, FL Pastor John sermon �Unity of the Spirit�
Posted : 27 May, 2017 04:55 PM
Maybe we should ask ourselves what the passage actually says.
Ephesians 4:1 I encourage you therefore, I the prisoner of the Lord, to walk worthy of the calling with which you were called, 2 With all humility of mind and gentleness, with patience, holding up one another in love; 3 being diligent to keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace. 4 one body, and one Spirit, even 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 over all, and through all, and in you all.
Paul is a prisoner of the Lord. He could have said he was a prisoner of Nero or the Empire. But he looks at the Lord who does all things well.
He encourages us, the saints, to live our lives worthy of His calling. This calling is not dependent on us. It is not a mere invitation. When Paul considers our calling, he equates it with the act of God as He chose and elected us(I Corinthians 1:26-27). So we are to conduct ourselves consistent with that calling.
We are to be humble and gentle. We are to be patient. We aren't to do it with a bad attitude. Maybe "forbearing" had a good sense in 1611. But "holding up" gives it a positive sense. We are to support one another in love.
Yet we are to be diligent, making every effort to preserve, keep and guard the unity of the Spirit. This is the unity which the Spirit has already made. In our attitude of humility and love, we are to strive to keep this unity in the bond or chain of peace. The unity is in the bond of peace. The unity which the Spirit has made is accompanied by this bond of peace. The unity which the Spirit made produces this objective bond of peace.
Now what unity has the Spirit made? There is one Spirit, one Lord and one God. We know that there are not two Spirits, two Lords or two Gods.
There is one Body. This is not two Bodys. In the letters of Paul this is the Body of Christ, the Church, composed of saved Jews and saved Gentiles. In this Body there is neither Jew nor Gentile.
There is one hope of our calling. As saved members of His Body, we have one hope. In Colossians he talks about the hope in heaven. In Titus he writes of the blessed hope and the hope of eternal life. Christ Himself is our hope. This is not some wish that could be unfulfilled. This is a certainty.
There is one faith. A few verses later(13) Paul talks about the unity of the faith. This is also an objective reality, part of the unity the Spirit has already made. This is the body of truth, the total message, consisting of the message of salvation as well as everything that pertains to the life and walk of every saint.
There is one baptism. There are not two. This is the act of the Holy Spirit. The Spirit placed us in Christ and in His death, burial and resurrection(Romans 6:3-4). It is the same Spirit, who by placing us in Christ, placed us in His Body(I Corinthians 12:13). This is a spiritual act, accomplished by the Spirit. He placed us together in union with Christ and in union with other saints.
These are all objective spiritual realities. The Spirit has already made this unity. We are to live our lives according to it, with humility and gentleness, supporting one aother in love.
