In this sermon, the speaker emphasizes the importance of unity and working together in the body of Christ. He refers to Ephesians 4:13-15, which speaks about growing together and being prepared. The speaker highlights that working together is the only way to function effectively in any area of life. He also mentions that the ultimate goal is to bring praise to God's glory, which is seen in the activities of God the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. The sermon encourages believers to have praise and a smile on their faces as evidence of their spiritual growth.

May we turn again, please, to the Epistle to the Ephesians and to the First Acts. Ephesians chapter one, and I'm going to read again from the first verse. Ephesians chapter one and verse one. Paul, an apostle of Jesus Christ by the will of God, to the saints which are in Ephesus and to the faithful in Christ Jesus. Praise be to you and to you from God our Father and from the Lord Jesus Christ. Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us with all spiritual blessings in heavenly places in Christ. According as he hath chosen us in him, before the foundations of the world, that we should be holy and without blame before him, in love hath he predestinated us under the adoption of children by Jesus Christ to himself, according to the good pleasure of his will. To the praise of the glory of his name, wherein he hath made us accepted into his love, before whom he hath indented to himself, to forgive his sins, according to the riches of his love. Wherein he hath designed to support us in all wisdom of conscience, having made known unto us the mystery of his will, according to the good pleasure which he hath served in himself. That in the dispensation of the fullness of time we might gather together as one all things in Christ, both which are in heaven and which are on earth, even in him, to whom also we have a special inheritance, being predestinated according to the purpose of his wholeness all things after the counsel of his own will. That we should be to the praise of his glory, whom he hath trusted in Christ, in whom he also trusted after that he heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation, in whom also, having believed, you would feel with that holy spirit of heart. This is the earnest of our intelligence, until the redemption of the perfect perfection of the praise of this Lord. Therefore, I also, after I heard of your faith in the Lord Jesus, look up to all the saints who come to give thanks for you, making mention of you in my prayers, that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give unto you his wisdom and revelation, and the knowledge of his truth, the height of your understanding or heart, being enlightened, that ye may know what is the hope before this possibly difficult glory of his inheritance in me. The Lord has been pleased and gracious that his power for us was in the least, according to the working of his mighty power which he wrought in Christ, when he raised him from the dead, and set him at his own right hand in the depths of prison, far above all principality, and power, and might, and dominion, and every meaning of his name. Not only in this world, but also in magnificent countries, he has put all things under his feet, daily he has laid over all things to the church with his body, the clothes of the fields, that still is all in all. This letter contains much of what we might call the gospel. It tells us about our needs, it tells us about the way the Lord has met our needs, and so I suppose we may say that there is much of the gospel in this letter. It may be compared, in part, I think, to the book of Romans, in which also we have a fuller exposition of the gospel. We have a heavy foreshadowing of the gospel of God in a very wonderful way. In the book of Romans, it's interesting to notice that the note that is first struck is the note of our own sinfulness, or of our depravity, in the first chapter, and indeed on in the second, and in the part of the third, we have an outline for it, the deep need of man, how that man is unutterably sinful. However, in addition to all that they're looking at, it's also an example of the gospel of the Christians. By the way, Christians are all people of the gospel. I don't mean by that gospel, he means it. I'm just saying, of course, that the grace of God is visibly visible. Every time that it's visible, we find that it's different to the book of Romans. God does not set before us here in this first chapter, the debts of our sins. That doesn't come out until we get to the second chapter, where it speaks about us being gained in the gospel of Jesus. And there's something very instructive in that, isn't there? The book of Romans presents the gospel to us from the standpoint of the need in the heart of man, and this is central to the attention. It presents the gospel to us from the standpoint of the need in the heart of God. Perhaps that needs a little explanation. We understand the need in the heart of man, but many people say, but there was a need in the heart of God in the end of the 17th century. God being who he was, the greatest, loving, compassionate, merciful, as well as righteous, and holy God, is the one who has a desire in his heart to express his love and grace to all of us who are under the burden. For that reason, I think, we have in this first chapter, a number of times, the mention of our foundation being according to his will, to his purpose, in first part, that he predestinated us, we have often shown the body of Christ to himself according to the good pleasure of his will. That is, it was his purpose. It was his plan. Notice in verse 11, in whom also we have a pain in inheritance, being predestinated according to the purpose of him who worked it all things out of the power of his own will. And again, at this point, that's in verse 9, having made known unto us the mystery of his will according to his good pleasure which he had purposed for himself. This was divine fact of salvation. This was something that was glorified in the Lord, something that was pleasing to him, and in order to satisfy that need and that craving, and that love and that grace that was in his heart, and in order to find expression for it, he looked down upon us, and senated us, and bled us in the Lord Jesus Christ. So, this foundation that we have, not only in each time he has made God known to us, as set forth in the book of Romans, but perhaps even more wonderfully, it satisfies the very heart of God. It's something in which that new creation is described to you. You remember the old creation. God looked over that old creation, and he said, again and again, that it was good. Everything that God loved was good, and he found satisfaction in that which he had done. God looked over the foundation which he has provided for us in the Lord Jesus Christ, and he showed us that indeed, he knows it's good. It satisfies the heart of God. This one is that we as believers are called to satisfy our heart. We are part of the process of satisfying God. This one who works all things under the counsel of his own will, and this one who does everything, as he says in verse 6, part A. This is the first part of verse 6. Everything is to the praise of the glory of his grace, and notice again in verse 12, that we should do to the praise of his glory. What we satisfy, as it says, we ought to do. It means that everything he affected in our salvation was that we should do to the praise of his glory, and that's our erudite, two-timers, God's gift. And, in verse 14, that's the last part of the verse. It says, unto the praise of his glory. Now, if you like that, for inspection, I've done a very nice thing. This little quote mentions the praise of his glory at the end of each section. For in the first part, that is from verses 1 to 6, if we take that little phrase as time action one thought, we have the activity of God the Father. And then, in the next part, from verse 6 down to verse 12, where again, notice, we have that praise of the praise of his glory, we have the activity of the Son of God. And then, again, in a slightly short section, from verse 12 down to verse 14, we have the work or the activity of the Spirit of God, and each of these is to the praise of his glory. I would like just briefly, we don't want to go into an exposition of this section, but just to mention that as we look at this first section, verses 1 to 6, we see that God is the great planner. If you like, he's the architect of our salvation. He's not God. God the Father, to him, is attributed the plan of salvation. He had chosen unto him before the salvation of the world, and it's speaking about the God of God, or Jesus Christ, in verse 3. Then, when we look at the second section, and we see the activity of the Son, may I definitely say that he is the executor of the God. He's the one who carries the plans of the architect mentioned in verse 6 into effect. Without the Son, the plan could not have been carried into effect. Here is something in which Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, in the next section, are at perfect harmony. And, if we may look at the first section, verses 1 to 6, as speaking to us of God as the divine architect of the plan, the one who sought to follow up and complete it, and the Son especially as the executor of the plan, then, in verses 12 to 14, we may see perhaps that the Holy Spirit is the receiver or the confirmer of that plan. For, we notice in that section that he is the one who comes to us and makes that plan of salvation which the Lord Jesus brought out in the work of the cross. In the work of the cross, he makes the plan of salvation actual, meaningful in our lives, and reveals that plan to us, and even deals us with his own grace as a person, that we might be eternally secure. So, then, we have the receiver, the confirmer, or if you like, the plan, the one who brings it into practical effect in our lives. So, we rejoice in the fact that our salvation has glorified God and satisfied Him, and that, indeed, is a cause for worship, and praise, and thanksgiving. No wonder the Apostle says that God has blessed us with all blessings in Christ, and how we do rejoice in all that he has done for us in his natural and unfeasible grace. He prays for us in verses 16 on to the end, that is in verse 23 of the first chapter, he prays for us. He says in verse 15, I heard of your faith in the Lord Jesus, and now that's all the same. He uses the same template in the book for the attempt of the conscience, and these are the twins that reveal a true work that means grace to God. They reveal a person who truly is in grace, when these two things are properly evident in a person's life. So, there is faith in the Lord Jesus, and love unto all men. That is an enormous expression of this man, faith in the Lord Jesus. He emphasized that. That is his essence, his faith. There is no blessing from God unless it is through faith in the Lord Jesus Christ. There is no other way to the cross. There are not many ways to God other than there is one of us. There are many ways in our experience of course in which we come to Christ, but Christ is the only blessing of God, and here we find that plain here that there is faith in the Lord Jesus. Now, that might be a thing, though. That was just for faith. It is easy to say, oh, I believe in the Lord Jesus. I believe that the desire for our sins, or some statement like this, is easy for faith, but the evidence comes out in our love to all the saints. Notice that it's real life. Now, that's an unnatural thing. You know there's unnatural things about Christians, or it's natural for you to talk to your parents. It's natural for you to talk to others who are dear to you. It's natural for you to do good, but most unnatural thing is if you're stuck in it. What a problem of hope and good we are. What a mixed bag. We're all dear people. We're all fair people. Whatever you say, we're all here, and it's unnatural that we should love each other unless we think of the work of God and attribute that love to the work of the spirit world. See, the Lord Jesus said, marvel not if the world hates you. So, if you were in the world, you would hate the Christians. That is, if your real feelings were God's reserve. If you're not saved, you don't want to be in their company. Now, thank God if you have a desire to be in the company of the people of God. Thank you, but you want to be in the company of God. That's a wonderful thing. But when you are born again, there's a love that comes into your heart that is born of the Holy Spirit. How does this work out? Well, I remember when I was converted to religion, when I came to the Lord, and really, I was told it was afternoon, but I didn't know it was after the hour of my conversion. And I want to qualify that. There was a time when I realized what salvation was all about, and I think I was probably a child of God before that. Be that as it may, when I came to really understand the work of God, and permit myself to give a great thing in my life, and if something I hadn't expected, and something for which I didn't make preparation or plan, but it was there, something that didn't matter, something very wonderful. You see, up to that time, I did not like the company of the Lord Jesus. I did not want to do any work. I didn't take any work. But I certainly didn't want to be like that. I had no appetite for the things that they enjoyed. Now, that may have been because I was living unnaturally as a Christian, because I was an atheist, but I was not really a Christian at all. I don't know. It doesn't matter. See, now I know whom I believe, and I know whom I believe, and I know who I love the most, and the Bible says, we know that we can't forget our life because we love the rest. By the way, that doesn't mean a certain group of Christians. You know that. What does Paul say here? He says, "...your faith in the Lord Jesus, and your love for some of your friends, to the same degree as in you, your love for all of them." Isn't it lovely to think that we gather around the Lord's Supper, and we remember the gifts, and we worship in the presence of the Lord. That's what we are doing. We are showing Him a way of representing that. We are members of His body. The body of Christ is not there in its entirety. We are only there in a few representations of that body. We carry out what the Lord Jesus has asked us to do. And so we come together at the Lord's Supper, and we remember the Lord Jesus, saying, the bread of your life is marriage. But when we do, we remember that we are one with all that love thy name. And if we don't remember that, we don't deserve it. We look beyond our four walls. We realize that there is evil in places, perhaps, which we view as a disgrace, or a dishonor to the name of the Son of God. But we realize that we deserve it. And it is a joyful fact that we are all one body in Christ. And God, for that day when He takes us out of the season of great wrath, and we shall all come to the unity of Christ, and the knowledge of the Son of God, and the perfect man of the flesh, as I say, will take place. And He'll come again, and I'll wrap Him into His presence. The God of blessed life, with all that He has left me, is ahead of me in Christ. And just because I say this, and I say this with more intelligence than some other Christians about those spiritual questions, doesn't mean that they're any more mine. They're enjoying Christ even more if I understand them, if I meditate upon these things. I enjoy the Lord. But another brother who knows the Lord better and who's managed to dwell in the Lord more, he enjoys them more than I do. We have various grades of understanding and of light and appreciation among the Lord's people. But those blessings belong alike to all those who have truly called upon Him. Each of them is filled with the Holy Spirit of God, and how he rejoiced in that fact. Now, yes, we said this afternoon that it is when we have the wonderful spiritual blessing which our colors in the Lord Jesus Christ. I'd like to now turn to the fourth chapter of this first verse, and I'm going to begin here where I hope to continue perhaps tomorrow as I go to the Lord in the afternoon. In chapter four, verse one, he says, I therefore, the breaker of the wall, beseech you that you walk worthier to the location wherewith you are called. Now, I'm sure that there's a desire in your heart and in mine to walk worthy of the location wherewith we are called. The calling wherewith we are called. God has called. And if we have the Holy Spirit of God at all, there is a desire, being ever so varied by perhaps some chronology of ours, some materialistic spirit or whatever else may be affecting our lives, being ever so varied in our hearts, there is a desire there to be walking worthy of the calling wherewith we are called. To be pleasing unto the one who has called you, and to behave yourself in the world in such a way as may honor the one who has claimed your salvation, the one who has executed your salvation, the one who has revealed that wonderful salvation to you, or you say I want to walk worthy of that wherewith I am called. But I want you to notice something here. You can't do it under others. You cannot walk worthy of the calling wherewith you are called in some spiritual depth drawn by the palm tree and the depth isolated from other trees. There's no such thing as being able to nurture yourself and develop your own spiritual life in a sort of monastic turn. The best way to grow is to be frequently with the Lord Jesus. I am repeating that. I believe the truth is everywhere now in the word of God. The best way to grow is to be frequently with the Lord Jesus, because in the New Testament when we come to this fourth chapter where he tells us to walk worthy of the location wherewith we are called, in the context we are immediately in the company of other beings. At this stage you have just said walk worthy by yourself. You can't do it alone. What you notice, Mary, this first section of chapter four, he tells us that we have to grow free and develop the deep unity of the Spirit in the palm of the tree. Now, you can't do that unless you're in touch with other beings, and that's a real test of your spiritual growth. And then I want you to notice that he not only tells us in this first section here to keep together. Well, that's what you might say is in this first section really, the first few verses, the first three particularly, are saying to us keep together. In the next section when we come on from verse three on down to uh verse uh ten, you have the thought of working together. Working together. This would be keep together. We have to work together, because in verse seven unto every one of us is given grace according to the nature of the day to come. So we keep together in spirit, in harmony, and we learn to work together each with our different gifts. Each with that contribution, and that unique contribution that we can make to the other members of the body of Christ. And let no one despise you, dear brother, if it's known where you are. Why ever did the Lord save you? For the same reason that he saved me. I have a unique contribution to make to the growth of the body of Christ. I say that almost with shame, for I feel I do it so foolish. I might not look like I know who I am, but I might look like I'm here behind the platform of duty, doing the best that I can do. Oh, I'm so conscious, that in the unconscious moments of life, or in those moments when I'm not watching myself, I'm not all that I can be. Christian youth, Christian life itself, a life of constant watchfulness that we might be glorified and honoring in the here and now. But I have a unique contribution to make to the body. See, I really believe in that saying that I found when we came home from Africa, that every man doesn't know how to live. Now, the form of the faith that I really believe in is that the Church of God has commanded us to know the faith. We have to know what to do. And what if I decide to try to do the same thing along with somebody else? And what if I really decide to do my duty? Now, of course, it doesn't mean I do it my selfish way, but that I do that thing which God has expected me to do. They've asked of us that we take heed of the ministry which is received in the Lord. That people tell us to do the same. And I say to you, yes, but I have to do the same once more, and it's for each one of us. What is the thing that you want to do? Are you saying that you're not listening to God? I don't know what my duty is. I don't know. You can know, but I don't know. Well, the Scriptures say that that's not the case. That it's a choice. That it's waiting for the Son of God to come from heaven and say, you are not a Christian. You are not a house in the church. But as you did so without telling the Lord, that even though it's all in the way, and moreover, the concerning, he said, I'm terribly deceived to attach Christmas to the birth of God. He said, you know, he said, they don't understand my gift. They don't ask me to do it. And I don't know why they do it. So what? But you gave me a choice. I think it might be the last time. I'm not sure. You might be very brave to say, well, it's time for me to ask you a question. But you see, we've encountered what our thing is. We've proved what is the work that the Lord has us to do. How do we do something? It's usually something that's a humble. It's usually something that's a, well, it doesn't give you the faith that you might have. Because in order to serve in the love of Christ, and we say to deserve, we have to be humble people. We have to be prepared for what it's going to take us through again. And that's how we learn to do our thing as a young people. I'm going to come back to that when we come to this in a little bit more detail perhaps next time. So notice then, let me just give you the top line before closing. In verses one through two, uh six then, you can deny it a little bit. I'm denying it a little bit on this very early. But in verses one to six, you have the word keep together. In verses seven to 11, you have the word working together, and impossible. Now, if you notice this, in verses 12 to 16, you have growing together. There will be all kinds of unity of the faith. Notice that. Verse 13, verse 15, not seeking the truth in love, but growing in communion with all things which is ahead in Christ. Seeking together, working together, growing together, and that's the only way you can walk worthy of the vocation where is your home. I don't know about you, but that's the only way. Are you guilty with the people of God? Have you come after God's word when God wants you to be? Have you found the fellowship of the Lord's people? Have you understood what He wants you to do in relation to other believers? Do you understand He wants you with just fellowship? Then put yourself wholeheartedly into that fellowship, and work for the blessing of others, and you will grow. If you try to work for the blessing of your family, if you try to stimulate your own spiritual life at home, you'll get nowhere. A tough day will become a tough church, and no good will come of it. But if you grow together with the faith, and then very suddenly, as soon as you get something good, share it with the Lord's people, and if it comes down to you, keep it, and it's all right, but then you'll lose it. I learned to speak of the name still after telling jokes, and unfortunately I still do. When I say unfortunately, I don't mean telling jokes, I don't mean going wrong with it. I remember in the days when I was quite a joker as a young man, I can tell you that you're going to remember these jokes, because as soon as I heard a good one, I told it to somebody else. And I still remember some of those jokes today, some of my best jokes. If you want to be blessed by some truth, if you want to become deep in your own soul, and meaningful to you in your own life, share it with the people of God. Share it with us. Let me promise you that after all this time, now I've got to open here and I'll share it with you. I'm not supposed to be telling you. But anyway, the next time I'm here with an older person, and you just remember this one, at the Lord's supper, you have an opportunity to share with the Lord's people that which will help them, whether it's you say me, my hope is, or it's a lady, how your expression of love for the Lord Jesus will help you. I've often been going visiting people, and I've gone and I've got in mind some trivia that I'd like to share with them. Some thoughts I'd like to get to them, and I'm sure that I'll get back into them. And I can share with you this one, maybe for other reasons, clearly not, and quite a lot of people think that this is being, perhaps not one, too well thought, as it may be for God, but I can't deny that it is. And when I get there, and I get in conversation with the people, they say to me, oh, I would enjoy something that's more real as well. It's not a lot of sense. And it is become very difficult, though. Nothing very profound, nothing as fine as any heavy theological work or anything like that, but there's something meaningful and precious to her, or to him, by the Lord Jesus, and that's what it does to me. It makes me grow. It fills my soul. It feeds me. It teaches me something more of the Lord Jesus. Now, I'm not saying that it is that. I do know. And anyone who's lived with the Lord's people will experience that. So, let's teach together, let's learn together, and in consequence, let's grow together, and thus we shall fulfill what we have in this life. We shall walk further in the location where we've been at all.