In this episode of Expository Truths, Dr. John Kyle delves into Ephesians 4:1-3, exploring the Apostle Paul’s exhortation to live a life worthy of our calling. Dr. Kyle emphasizes the Christian virtues of humility, gentleness, and patience, underscoring the importance of these qualities in the life of a believer. As he unpacks the scriptures, listeners are encouraged to lift others and exalt Christ in their daily walk. Listeners are invited to consider the depth and application of biblical humility, a concept often misunderstood by the world but essential in Christian growth. The discussion moves from understanding Paul’s heartfelt plea
Welcome to Expository Truths, where we exalt Christ by bringing clarity of truth through the scriptures with Dr. John Kyle, pastor of Faith Community Church in Vacaville. As Christians, we’re called to know the truth and be able to proclaim it. We can know truth when we know the Word of God, which is precise, without error, and powerful and effective for both salvation and spiritual growth. Enjoy digging deeply with Dr. Kyle as he takes us verse by verse through the powerful book of Ephesians, giving us a marvelous summary of the good news of Christ and its implications for our daily lives.
SPEAKER 02 :
Please turn in your Bibles to Ephesians chapter 4, verses 1 through 3. Ephesians 4, 1 through 3. Letter of Ephesians was written by the Apostle Paul to the Christians living in the city of Ephesus. Paul wrote this while he was under house arrest in Rome, and he wrote it to lay a proper doctrinal foundation for these believers, chapters 1 through 3, so they could then live out those doctrines for the glory of God, chapters 4 through 6. If you remember, Paul just finished a wonderful prayer for these Ephesian believers, and now he begins this section with the word, therefore. Okay, therefore what? Well, let’s look. Chapter 4, verse 1. I therefore, the prisoner of the Lord, beseech you to walk worthy of the calling with which you were called, with all lowliness and gentleness, with long-suffering, bearing with one another in love, endeavoring to keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace. Now, here in this passage we see the fact, which is this, that Paul the prisoner beseeches these Ephesian Christians. He begs. That’s what the word means. He earnestly asks. He continually pleads. What? Walk worthy of your calling. I can hear Paul. Oh, please. I beg you. I can’t beg you enough. Please, please. Walk worthy of your calling. Note that this isn’t a command by Paul, but instead this is a heartfelt appeal from the depths of Paul’s heart to our hearts as Christians. Walk worthy of your calling. What calling? It’s talking about your calling to salvation. You’re calling from death to life. You’re calling to Christ. The calling that all Christians have. So the plea here is that these Christians would walk worthy as children of God, as citizens of heaven, as the saved, as the redeemed of God. You’re saved now, see? And God has done so very much for you when you least deserved it, so now live up to that. Live worthy of that. How? How do I live a life worthy of His calling? Well, Paul has five ways that we can walk worthy. Now, of course, this isn’t an exhaustive list, no, because the rest of the book shows us how we can walk worthy of our very high and holy calling. But this short list is a good way to start. And look, it all has to do with how we treat one another in Christ. Isn’t that interesting? It starts here. This is where it begins in the family. So let’s look. Five ways to walk worthy. First, walk with lowliness. With all lowliness, it says. The word for lowly here literally means to think or judge with lowliness. It speaks of humiliation of mind, lowly thinking, unpretentious behavior, a humble attitude, and of being without arrogance. The word indicates the esteeming oneself as small and of recognizing one’s insufficiency, but at the same time recognizing the powerful sufficiency of Christ. So it’s not really about lowering ourselves. It’s all about lifting up God and others. And if we concentrate on lifting up others and lifting up the Lord, putting down ourselves will take care of itself. He’s everything. I live in light of that, you know. The word is interesting because neither the Romans nor the Greeks had a word for humility. See, to them, humility was a pitiable weakness that was to be scorned and despised. Slaves were lowly, and they said, we are not slaves. We’re too good for that. But the New Testament turns the despised idea of humility and lowliness of mind on its head. This, see, is indeed a good godly quality. And while the world around us exalts pride and exalts ego, we in Christ are called to lower ourselves and to exalt Him and others. Matthew 5.3 says it well when Jesus says, Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. What does it mean to be poor in spirit? He’s talking about spiritual poverty, about true spiritual humility, about true lowliness of mind. Okay, what’s that? It speaks of utter dependence on the Lord for salvation first, and then where you remain there as you live out your Christian life. Look, in the Greek there are two words for poor. One of those words describes a man for whom life and living is a struggle. He’s not destitute, but he’s just getting by. He’s not well off at all, but he’s making it barely. The other word for poor, a word that’s used here in Matthew 5, describes absolute and abject poverty. Literally, the man who has nothing at all. And so Jesus says, blessed is a man who is abjectly and completely poverty stricken, spiritually speaking. Blessed is a man who is absolutely destitute, spiritually speaking. Really? Yeah, that’s what it says. Why? Because that’s the kind of person that realizes that he is nothing without God. And then once he has God, he will then see that life is all about God. I’m a beggar in need of bread. Why? Jesus came along and He fed me. I am nothing without Him. And in light of that, guess what? I can serve you. See? In light of that, I can turn the other cheek. In light of that, I can forgive you. In light of that, I can lower myself and exalt Christ and you ahead of myself because I’m nothing without Him and I have Him. See? That’s the idea. Note that lowliness of mind or humility is unresoundingly biblical. Proverbs 11.2 When pride comes, then comes dishonor, but with a humble is wisdom. Psalm 51, 17, the sacrifices of God are a broken spirit, a broken and contrite heart. These, O God, you will not despise. James 4, 6, God resists the proud but gives grace to the humble. I want grace. I don’t want that resistance, do you? James 4, 10, humble yourself in the sight of the Lord and He will lift you up. The point is clear, right? We are nothing. He is everything. Live like it. All right, how? All by seeing yourself clearly. See, the person who really knows himself and his own heart, the person who really knows God and his infinite majesty and holiness, the person who really knows Christ and what he did for him on that cross, that person will be a humble person. He has to be, right? We’re beggars. We’re wretched sinners. We in Christ are saved by grace alone and not because of anything good in us. We’re nothing. And we’re definitely no better than anyone else around us. So we simply focus on Him and on glorifying Him and also on how we treat others. Loving Him, loving others, putting Him first, then others, and I’m down here. Because He’s all that matters. William Carey, the father of modern missions and a missionary to India in the early 1800s. He has a grave in Serampore, India. His tombstone says this, A wretched, poor, and helpless worm. On thy kind arms I fall. Isn’t that good? That’s the kind of lowliness that Paul is talking about here. I am wretched. I am poor. I’m a helpless worm and I just fall on him. And then I live for him and I focus my life on him. Not me. On him. Remember how Paul described himself in 3.8? I am less than the least of the saints. That’s the kind of lowliness of mind that we’re talking about. So question, how can Paul call himself less than the least of all the saints and actually mean it? Because that’s how he felt, right? This isn’t false humility. This is how Paul truly feels. It’s interesting to note that the longer Paul was a Christian, the deeper Paul’s feelings about this became. In 55 AD, when Paul wrote 1 Corinthians, Paul said, I’m the least of the apostles. A few years later, in 61 AD, when Paul wrote Ephesians, he said these words, I am less than the least of all the saints. And then a few years later, when Paul wrote 1 Timothy, he said, I am the foremost of all sinners, the chief of all sinners. And so as Christ increased in Paul, Paul decreased. As Paul matured in his faith, his estimation of himself became lower and the estimation of Christ became higher. And that’s the key. Because when you truly see Christ in all His glory, you will then realize your own sinfulness and your own unworthiness. Him. It’s all Him. Not me. Him. And then you. For the glory of Him. And that’s the view of the maturing and growing Christian. And this is the attitude of someone who is walking worthy more and more. Is this your attitude? Good question. Okay, what else? Gentleness. The word gentleness describes a quality of not being overly impressed by a sense of one’s self-importance. Isn’t that interesting? In the New Testament, gentleness or meekness is described by three attitudes. One… Submissiveness to the will of God. Two, teachability. And three, consideration for others. See, in a world full of pride, in a world that’s self-centered and arrogant and boastful and self-indulgent, we as Christians are called to be gentle and humble and selfless and considerate and meek like Christ was. Note that this meekness or this gentleness isn’t cowardly in any way, not at all. I mean, this isn’t a mouse in a corner shaking in fear, not at all. But gentleness is a godly quality. It’s a quality that Christ Himself exhibited. And it’s a quality that we too are called to exhibit. It’s interesting to note that this word in secular Greek was used to describe a soothing wind, a healing medicine, and a colt that had been broken. Talking about power under control. And while you can react, and while you can lash out, and while you can be harsh, and maybe you even feel like you should and ought to be harsh, what do you do? You restrain that humbly for the glory of God. That’s gentleness. See, gentleness casts aside self, it exalts the Lord, and then it treats others accordingly. How? By turning the other cheek. By never demanding your rights. By submitting to others. By overcoming wrath with grace and mercy. How you doing? Gentleness is a fruit of the Spirit, and the worthy walking Christian will be growing in this godly quality. One said, gentleness is a willingness to waive one’s rights for a good cause, just as Jesus waived his rights to his rule as king as he rode into Jerusalem mounted on a donkey. Set aside your rights. Don’t demand that you be satisfied, but for the sake of the gospel of Jesus Christ, be willing to suffer loss. Another says it this way, gentleness is the opposite of violence and vengeance. The gentle person accepts joyfully the seizing of his property, knowing that he has infinitely better and more permanent possessions awaiting him in heaven. The gentle person has died to self and he therefore doesn’t worry about injury to himself or about loss, insult or abuse. The gentle person does not defend himself because he knows that he doesn’t deserve defending. Being poor in spirit and having mourned over his great sinfulness, the gentle person stands humbly before God, knowing that he has nothing to commend himself. It’s just, it’s all God. Gentleness. This is the attitude of someone who is walking worthy of his calling. And not about me. Not about me. It’s about God and others for the glory of God. This is very rare these days. Very rare. May it not be rare today. here the third way to walk worthy is to be long-suffering long-suffering means patience tolerance long-tempered and being slow to wrath it’s the opposite of impatience i’ve heard it said patience is a virtue possess it if you can found seldom in a woman never in a man is that a little close to anybody men are you offended by that right now or is it a bit true patience well While that’s true for many, may it not be true here. Because long-suffering is a growing quality of those who are walking worthy. Look, God is a long-suffering God. He is a patient God. He’s slow to anger. He never loses his temper. He doesn’t have a short fuse. He doesn’t make snap judgments. I mean, look at how much he puts up with us. And because he is a long-suffering God, then it only makes sense that we as children will also be patient and long-suffering. This applies to us in a couple of ways. First, it means that we are patient and long-suffering when it comes to the Christian life. That we endure through it all. That we persevere to the very end without quitting. Without slowing down. Without losing our zeal for the glory of God. See, you keep going. You endure for the glory of God. You stay focused and you’re patient until He finally calls you to glory. We as a people like instant gratification. But Christians are those who understand that the best is yet to come. Long-suffering means that we don’t give in to compromise. It means that we don’t get tired of this fierce battle that we are in, the battle against sin and the flesh and the devil. But we keep fighting in the battle. We keep getting up and fighting until the day that we die. It’s a no-quit, no-compromise attitude until glory. We’ve got to have that. We’ve got to have that. One said, Christian longsuffering is a spirit which never admits defeat, which will not be broken by any misfortune or suffering, by any disappointment or discouragement, but which persists to the very end. That’s right. Being long-suffering, I pray that’s us today. Being long-suffering also means that we are patient and slow to wrath towards others. And I think that this is the main application for this verse in context. That we are patient and that we are gentle to one another and not resentful. That we bless and curse not. That we bear insult and injury without malice. That we are slow to anger and quick to turn the other cheek. See, longsuffering reflects an emotional calm in the face of provocation or misfortune. It expresses the capacity to be wronged and to not retaliate. It’s the ability to hold one’s feelings in restraint or bear up under the oversight and wrongs afflicted by others without seeking revenge. One said, longsuffering is bearing patiently with the foibles, faults, and infirmities of others. See, it’s a restraint of the soul from yielding to sinful passion, especially the passion of anger. Our old nature is quick to take offense. Our old nature is quick to react. But the new life in Christ enables a person to endure with a composed temper any wrong suffered without retaliation and allows him even to turn the other cheek. So even when people aggravate you and bug you and make you mad and make you angry and even wrong you, long-suffering bears these things patiently and in a Christ-like manner, such as Christ has shown to us. This is another mark of a person who’s walking worthy. I pray this is a mark of you and me. Fourth, a worthy walker bears with one another in love. The word forbear means to put up, to tolerate, and to forbear. It pictures restraint under provocation. See how these tie together? And it includes generous allowances for the faults and failures of others. The word is in the present tense, which means that this is to be continually happening in our lives as Christians. How do we do this? In love, it says. The Greek word for love is agape. No sock there. which is a distinctly Christian quality. See, agape love is true only for Christians because agape love is a godly love, a covenant love, a love that is given to Christians from God to us as believers. The call here is clear then, to be lovingly, forbearing, and tolerant with your fellow brothers and sisters in Christ. Not easy? Right? Not easy. Peter says the same thing a little differently in 1 Peter 4.8. And above all, have fervent love for one another, for love will cover a multitude of sins. Same idea as bearing up with one another in love. In John 5.12, Jesus said, this is my commandment that you love one another as I have loved you. 1 John 4.21, in this commandment we have from him that he who loves God must also love his brother. You think this is important? It’s throughout the Bible. Right? Not just loving one another, but bearing with one another in love. Excelling in this love. Overflowing in this love. Exalting Christ in the way that we love one another. Practically speaking, the worthy walker will love like this. Like 1 Corinthians 13 says, The worthy walker will be patient and kind toward his fellow believers. He won’t be envious and he won’t be all about himself. He won’t be prideful and behave rudely. He won’t seek his own wants and desires. He won’t be easily provoked but will be gracious and give people the benefit of the doubt. He won’t rejoice in iniquity but will rejoice in the truth. He will bear all things, believe all things, hope all things, endure all things. Why? Because he gets it. Because he’s saved and he loves God first and foremost because he wants to glorify his good God with his life. So, show preference to one another. Let others go first. Give people the benefit of the doubt. Serve each other and go out of your way to bless one another. Don’t gossip about each other about that. Help each other when you see someone stumbling. Be gentle and kind toward each other. Bless instead of curse and use words of encouragement instead of words that cut down. Long to be around others because we’re family, part of God’s eternal family. Serve and seek to build up this family. Pray for each other and support each other. Pick up the phone. Treat each other better than yourself. And love each other the way Christ loves you. Peter says that loving like this will cover a multitude of sins. The idea is this, that when we really are bearing with one another in love, that when people around us wrong us, we’re not going to harshly condemn them and expose their faults, but rather we’re going to forbear and forgive and we’re just going to let it go for the glory of God. See, where love abounds in a fellowship of Christians, many small offenses and even some large offenses are readily overlooked and forgotten. They can just let it go, see? See? Love does that. It says, I can let it go. I can forgive you. I can choose to not make a big deal out of this. I don’t need to confront you on this. I can just let it go and move on. That’s the way of agape love. It covers a multitude of sins. It bears with one another. Now, this doesn’t mean that if someone’s living in a pattern of sin that we just ignore it. Not at all. Love will help someone out of that for their own good and for God’s glory. But the call here is to let love flow, to let forgiveness flow, to give people the benefit of the doubt, to not be so sensitive, to focus on glorifying the Lord in this body. One said it like this, it’s the nature of true spiritual love, whether from God to man or Christian to Christian, to cover sin. The teaching does not preclude the discipline of a sinning, unrepentant church member. It means specifically that a Christian should overlook sins against him if possible. And always be ready to forgive insults and unkindnesses. That’s what worthy walkers do. They bear with one another in love more and more and more. Is that true of you? Isn’t this challenging? It’s a good word. Fifth, worthy walkers keep the unity. Verse 3, endeavoring to keep the unity of the Spirit and the bond of peace. The call here is very clear, isn’t it? Endeavoring means to be diligent. It conveys the idea of doing something with passionate energy, with intense effort, and with eager motivation. What? Keeping the unity of the Spirit and the bond of peace. What does that mean? That worthy walkers are those who eagerly keep making every effort to guard the oneness and unity of the body of the church. That’s not easy because Satan is always working and we’re a… with a bunch of other sinners, right? And none of us has arrived, right? And so we need to work at this. We need to work at keeping the unity of the Spirit and the bond of peace. Now please note that Christ and His truth is what unites Christians and there are a number of things that we can’t compromise on. Like what? Like God and who He is. Like Jesus being fully God and fully man. The God-man. Like the Word of God being inspired and infallible. Like how we’re saved by grace alone and not by works. Things like that. We can’t compromise those things for the sake of unity because these are the very things that unite us in Christ together. But note this. That when it comes, and this is what I believe Paul’s talking about here, when it comes to areas of personal preference, right? We’re to do all we can to endeavor to keep the unity of the Spirit and the bond of peace. In the area of personal preference, you need to defer in honoring God and others more than holding on to your personal preference. Giving in in those areas wouldn’t be compromised, but rather giving in would bring honor to the Lord and preserve the unity of the church. Don’t fight about the color of the carpet. Don’t fight about the color of paint on the walls. Don’t fight about petty little things that don’t matter, see? And many Christians fight about those things. We can’t hear. Note that even in the biblical issues, we’re still called to be godly, right? And loving and kind and gentle, of course. But how much more in matters of opinion? If it’s not clearly a biblical issue, then defer on the side of grace for the glory of God. Give in. God sees. God knows. Leave it to the Lord. Give in. This isn’t always easy, but it’s our call. It’s a call to do whatever we can to keep the bond of peace within the body, to humble ourselves, to give in when we can, to not compromise our faith, but to humbly let go of pride, to consider others as better than ourselves, to be gracious and forgiving, to let personal biases go by the wayside, and to keep matters of opinion secondary so we can endeavor together in Christ. The call here is to be united and peaceable and to not let little things draw us apart and give Christ a bad name. Let it go. Just forgive. Leave it to God. God sees. God knows. Leave it to God. Unite under the banner of Christ. Help. Don’t gossip. And come together for the glory of God as much as you can without dishonoring God and His Word, of course. This is what worthy walkers do. What’s the point? Worthy walkers put God first, and that affects how they treat their brothers and sisters in Christ. They are low. God and others are high. And their actions reflect that in their lives. It’s not about you, right? It’s not about me. It’s all about Him. And then it’s all about others. And I’m last. Lord, help us to be worthy walkers today. Guess what? That has eternal value. God sees. God knows. Eternal value.
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Thanks for joining us for today’s exposition from the book of Ephesians on expository truths with Dr. John Kyle. Continue on with us next week at this same time. And to find this sermon in its entirety as well as other sermons, visit vacavillefaith.org. Faith Community Church seeks to exalt Christ by bringing clarity of truth through the scriptures with a commitment to glorifying God through the pure, deep, and reaching message of the gospel through faithful exposition. Pastor John is the preaching pastor at Faith Community Church of Vacaville. a seminary professor, and a trainer of preaching pastors overseas. Join Faith Community Church for worship Sundays at 9 and 1045 a.m., located at 192 Bella Vista Road, Suite A in Vacaville. To learn more, visit vacavillefaith.org or call 707-451-2026. That’s vacavillefaith.org.
