“I therefore, a prisoner for the Lord, urge you to walk in a manner worthy of the calling to which you have been called, with all humility and gentleness, with patience, bearing with one another in love, eager to maintain the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace.” (Ephesians 4:1-3 ESV)
This word here translated “urge” is a word often translated as “encourage.” But the word “encourage” is not all about saying only what makes people feel good. The word primarily means to exhort (insist, spur, prod), to beseech (implore, beg, plead), to entreat (request), to admonish (reprove, caution, rebuke, warn), and to urge with a holy urging. But if you are one who is encouraging with this kind of encouragement, here in America you might be chided for being “negative,” and thus to be ignored.
But we are not to ignore such biblical urgings and strong encouragements and exhortations, nor should we minimize them as though they don’t matter, nor should we regard them as though they are recommended, but optional. But we need to make certain that the “urging” or “encouragement” is in true biblical context, and thus is of God, and not of human origin. For so many people today are taking Scriptures out of their context, and they are interpreting them in ways not consistent with the biblical context.
So, I am going to share here one of my real life parables. For the Lord gives me parables sometimes. So recently my ears stopped up and that hindered my ability to hear. I could not hear at all through the left ear, but the right ear was also hampered. So I got an appointment with a doctor yesterday morning and her nurse flushed my ears so that the wax buildup inside my ears came out and now I can hear. But the doctor gave me two prescriptions to take, and the Lord stopped me from taking drugs 15 years ago.
I was also diligent to look up the drugs to see what possible side effects that they might have, for I have a long history of rare side effects to any kind of drugs, even vitamins, and this is what I learned:
“A very serious allergic reaction to this drug is rare. However, get medical help right away if you notice any symptoms of a serious allergic reaction, including rash, itching/swelling (especially of the ear/face/tongue/throat), severe dizziness, trouble breathing” (source: WebMD). And possible side effects of the other medication are dizziness, hives, headaches, nerve damage, taste changes, fast heartbeat, etc. And the thing of it is that I told her that Vitamin B12 caused my tongue to swell and my throat to close up.
So, what is my point here? Well, when the Lord changes our hearts and minds and we repent of (turn away from) our sins to follow Jesus with our lives, he opens up our ears to hear the truth and to discern the lies. And he does use other humans as his instruments to teach us the truth, but not all teach the truth, but many are deceiving and teaching lies. And so we must be people of discernment who test the spirits to see if they are of God or if they might have possible side effects that may do us spiritual harm.
In other words, it was a good thing that my ears were opened up so that I can hear. And it is a good thing when our spiritual ears are opened up so that we can hear the Lord speak truth to our hearts. But then we must be discerning about what truth we choose to take into our ears, so we must test what we hear, and what is recommended or prescribed for us in our walks of faith, to make certain that the counsel that we are receiving is biblical (in context) and that it is not something that will cause us spiritual harm.
So, not all encouragements and urgings that we may receive are in their true biblical context, and so we need to be people who study the Scriptures in their context, and who test what we hear against the Scriptures (in context) to make certain that what we are receiving is of God and not of human origin. For liars and lies abound in our day and time, and trickery, deception, manipulations, misimpressions, and all sorts of twisting of the Scriptures abound, too. So, learn to test what you hear.
So, when Paul urged the Christians to walk in a manner worthy of the calling to which they had been called, and if we are to do likewise, then we need to understand what that is. For our walk has to do with how we live, with the things that we do and speak. And worthy is what is suitable, fitting, and appropriate to the calling to which we have been called, which is a call to holiness, righteousness, godliness, moral purity, honesty, faithfulness, obedience to our Lord’s commands, and the forsaking of our sins.
[Ps 139:13-16; Rom 1:6-7; Rom 8:8,28-29; 1 Co 1:9; 1 Co 12:1-31; 2 Co 5:9; Gal 5:13; Gal 6:8; Eph 1:3-4; Eph 5:10; Col 1:9-11; 1 Thess 4:1,7; 2 Tim 1:8-9; 1 Thess 2:4; 2 Tim 2:4; Heb 11:6; Heb 13:6; 1 Pet 1:14-16; 1 Pet 2:9; 2 Pet 1:3; 1 John 3:22]
And humility is the opposite of pride. But there is a false humility that is self-abased which can have as its source inverted pride which is still self-focused. For true humility is able to examine oneself in the eyes of the Lord, and in the eyes of the Scriptures, and to make an honest evaluation of oneself based on what the Scriptures teach, not thinking too lowly nor too highly of oneself, but in all fairness and honesty, giving God the glory for what he has done and for what he is doing in and through our lives.
And gentleness is not going soft on sin nor is it diluting the truth of the gospel so as not to offend others with the truth. Gentleness makes no compromises with truth and righteousness to make others feel good, either. For it means “meekness” which is “gentle strength,” i.e. “gentle force.” For it expresses power with reserve, like Jesus did, for he was meek, but he was not weak, and he made no compromises with truth and righteousness. But he spoke the truth to the people, but in love, which was tough love, too.
And patience is longsuffering, which is willing to suffer injustices for the sake of the gospel and for the sake of the salvation of human lives. Like God is patient, for he is not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance, and that is why Jesus Christ has not yet returned to judge the people of the earth, because he wants many more people to believe in him and to have the hope and the promise of eternal life with him. But he lets us know that we must obey him and not sin, or we will die in our sins.
And “love” is not all this “feel-good” stuff that so many are propagating today and calling it “the gospel” or “God’s grace.” For this word is “agape” which means to prefer what God prefers, which is what is holy, godly, morally pure, upright, honest, faithful, and obedient to our Lord. So the believer who loves with this kind of love will prefer to live through Christ, to embrace God’s will, to choose his choices, and to obey them in his power. And this love will speak the truth in love and not the lies to other people.
And unity of the Spirit is not of man, but of God. And I say this because much of what is being pushed today and called “unity” is not unity with God and with his Word and with his callings and his purposes. But it is unity with other human beings and their marketing schemes and goals and missions which are often flesh-driven. For the goal is to attract the people of the world to their gatherings, not to draw people spiritually to genuine repentance and obedient walks of faith. So make sure you are uniting with God.
Draw Me Close To You
Donnie McClurkin
Draw me close to You
Never let me go
I lay it all down again
To hear You say that I'm Your friend
You are my desire
And no one else will do
'Cause nothing else can take Your place
To feel the warmth of Your embrace
Help me find a way
Bring me back to You
Bring me back, oh Jesus
You're all I want
You're all I've ever needed
You're all I want
Help me know You are near
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UAnwBixzuNo
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