Peter Barnes | Ephesians 4:3-4
SERMON NOTES
MAINTAINING THE UNITY WE HAVE
(Ephesians 4:3-4)
– unity centred on the Trinity (Eph.4:4-6; see too 1 Cor.12:4-6)
1. We to maintain the unity of the Spirit.
– 4:3; part of the previous sentence
– not to achieve it but to maintain it; note Bunyan and Owen, and Spurgeon and Ryle; Rom.14:19
2. We need to recognise the one spiritual body.
– 4:4; 1 Cor.12:13; can only be one true body; Paul is speaking of a spiritual view of the body, not a mechanical view.
– Calvin to Thomas Cranmer in 1552: ‘So much does this concern me, that, could I be of any service, I would not grudge to cross even ten seas, if need were, on account of it.’
3. We need to cling to the one hope.
– 4:4; Titus 2:13; Rom.8:23-25; Heb.6:18
– humanist hope: ‘Stop worrying and enjoy your life.’ Then the bushfires come