 We're going to be looking at Ephesians 4, 1 through 6. And as is my normal manner, I'm going to give you a little bit of background to remind you of how we've arrived at chapter 4, some of the things that Paul has been writing. And then we'll look at those verses together. Let me read to you at Ephesians 4, at verse 1. I'll read to verse 6, get into my introduction, and then we'll get into our study. Ephesians chapter 4, beginning at verse 1, Paul writes, 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. There is one body and one spirit, just as you were called in one hope of your calling, one Lord, one faith, one baptism, one God and Father of all who is above all and through all and in you all. And so in verses 14 through 21 of chapter 3, remember we went through that last time and Paul had prayed for the Ephesian believers. And what Paul was doing there is several things, but one of the things was he's reminding them that God had provided power to believers, to us, to live for him. And so for this reason, he had prayed that we would walk in the power of the Holy Spirit. He prayed that we might be abundantly strengthened by the spirit in the inner man. He prayed that we might receive spiritual blessings that are lavishly furnished to us by God. And he prayed that Jesus might be at home in our hearts. He also prayed that believers would be rooted and grounded in love, and this love would be evident to all we know because this is a love that is going to overflow from our lives. You see, when Jesus dwells in our hearts, we begin to desire to love and to serve others. And so he desired this love of Christ to permeate not just the individual, but that the love of Christ would permeate the body of Christ, the whole church. He prayed that it would permeate the church, but he also prayed that God's love would permeate us. And then he closed his prayer by praying that we might be filled with all the fullness of God. May God's spirit move powerfully in you. May God conform you into his image. May he fill you with himself completely so there's nothing left of the old man. You see, if we're empowered by the spirit and filled with God's fullness, he's going to abundantly move in us and through us. And until this is a deeper reality, his movement in us and the church is not completely experienced. So with this in mind, Paul prayed that God would move beyond what we ask, beyond what we think, because only then he'll be completely glorified and we can abundantly experience him. Now, as I was mentioning before, in these next three chapters, Paul begins to develop the believer's responsibilities to Jesus Christ. And these responsibilities, especially pertain to our daily way of living. Again, we are fellow citizens with the saints, we're members of the household of God and as such, we have certain responsibilities that God has given to us as his children. And that's what Paul is going to begin to outline here in chapter four. Again, Paul spent the first three chapters speaking of our position in Christ. Why did he do that? Why did he want us to understand who we are in Jesus Christ? The reason he wanted to do that is because right conduct always springs from right teaching. What you believe determines the way that you live. And that's a very important thing. When I was in the military in the Civil War, when I was in the army, so long ago now, as a young man, I was going through basic training and a guy came to basic training who represented the 82nd Airborne. And here we are, we're in basic, we're just really green, we're just starting to learn things about the military. And this fellow comes and he's dressed in the garb of a paratrooper. He had his boots bloused, he had a certain kind of boots, they're called jump boots. He just had this cool look to him. And I really thought, that guy looks, that's kind of cool. So we were asked, anybody who wants to go airborne, you can meet with this guy. And so I did with several others who were a handful of us really, because people don't like to jump out of planes. But I thought that would be a cool thing to do, right? So I went and I listened to what he had to say and he shared some things. And as a result of that, I ended up signing up to go through airborne training. And the thing I'm trying to get to is this, is that sometimes you think that you can do something simply because you think you can do something. And then you get into the training part and you realize that what you thought you could do requires a whole lot more than what you actually can do. And so for us, we had two weeks of intense physical training where we were trained five days a week, from early in the morning to late in the afternoon. We ran everywhere, we did push-ups, jump, jump. You name it, everything. Eventually went through the various other training things, jumped out of what is called a mock tower, jumped from 200, I think 200 foot, 300 foot tower. We did all kinds of things. And then finally, the day came for us to take our first jump. And I'll never forget that because I was the fourth man in what is called the stick. So they have four, there are four lines. There's a door on one side, a door on the other side. And I was the fourth man in the stick. And so it starts with the three guys in front of me. So what happens is you're in a jet and they open up the door and you hear the rush of the wind and you start saying, mommy, mommy. And so what happens is as they open up this door for you, they say, stand up, hook up, check your equipment, check your buddy's equipment, tighten up. And now you're standing and you've got your static line. It's called a static line. You've got it, you're holding it and you have what is called a black hat. And the black hat is standing there at the open door. And the black hat is looking at you. You're looking at him and there's a red light and there's a green light. And so you're watching that red light, hoping it never turns green, but it does. And when that light turns green, you're going out the door, even if you don't want to. Because what happens is they've all shuffled up on your back and they're gonna shove you out. You're gonna go out that door. Even if you're crying, you're gonna go out. My very first jump, I jumped, I landed on the guy's parachute who had jumped out before me. I literally was sitting on top of the chute. He began to scream like a little girl. Because my weight could collapse his chute and he could go down. Mine would work. What do I do? I'll never forget that. And then sliding off, I had to slide off the edge. He began to scream, get off my chute, get off. So I had to slide off. It was like coming off of just a slide in a playground. Then your chute pops open and you hit the ground. The first time you hit the ground, it's equivalent, this is the equivalent. It's equivalent to being on the roof of your house and just running and jumping. So sometimes people think, oh, it's just like a pillow. No, you have to know how to land. You have to know how to roll. You have to know how to do that. That's where all the training comes in. 14 people broke their legs, broke their ankles. I wasn't one of them. Because I landed on one of them, broke his leg. If you don't know how to land, you're gonna hurt yourself. So why did I tell you that? Because I want you to admire me. No, I told you that. Because you don't just go into battle because you think you can. You don't just go into something because you think you can. You need to know that you can. You need to be trained so that you know how to do that, what you think you can do. You need to know who you are in Jesus Christ. Paul did not start by telling you about spiritual warfare. Paul started by telling you who you are. He needs to tell you who you are because when you know who you are in Christ and when you're walking properly with Christ, then you can be a warrior in Christ. That's how it works. And so we've looked at the first three chapters where he's been telling us who we are. And he's teaching us the things that we need to know about how to serve him. Again, what you believe determines how you live. In the book of Acts, Jesus told his disciples that they had a mission that he was sending them on. And the mission was to preach a life-transforming message of faith in him. Remember in Acts chapter one, verse eight, he had said, Jesus said, you shall receive power. After that, the Holy Spirit has come upon you. You shall be witnesses to me in Jerusalem, Judea, Samaria, and to the uttermost or to the end of the earth. We, he said, are his witnesses, which means that we live out the message that we give. He didn't say you're gonna simply do the act of witnessing, sharing. He said, you are my witnesses. It's who you are because who you are speaks so loudly that people may, because of the way you're living, give you at least a respectful hearing. So when you're living out what you're believing, then you have a better opportunity, better chance to be able to communicate this gospel to people who might not be willing to hear it any other way. So we are his witnesses. We live out the message that we're giving out to people and we conduct our lives in such a way that people can tell we are his disciples. So we live in a fallen world. And as we do, so our lives become living witnesses of the God we serve. And so we're to be examples. We're examples of love, we're examples of joy, we're examples of peace and kindness, examples of goodness and faithfulness, of gentleness and self-control. And these are all characteristics of the God that we serve. And because our lives are set apart for service to him, our lives will also be marked by a holiness, a separation from evil and a separation to him. Remember in chapter one here in Ephesians verse four, Paul had said, he chose us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and without blame before him in love. In 1 Peter 1 16, Peter said, it is written, you shall be holy for I am holy. So because we're to be filled with the spirit of God, we are also to be enabled to perform good works. We saw that in chapter two, verse 10, when he said, we are his workmanship created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand that we should walk in them. And the good works that we perform again are evidences that God lives within us. That's why in Matthew 5 16, Jesus said, let your light so shine before men that they may see your good works, glorify your father in heaven. So since the God we serve is loving and gracious, believers live a loving and gracious life. In 1 John 2 6, it simply says he who says he abides in him ought himself also to walk just as he walked. And so we're looking at the walk of the believer now, beginning here in chapter four. We're to be walking worthy. That's what he says in verse one, when he begs, that word beseech means I'm begging you and beseeching, I'm begging you to walk worthy of the calling with which you were called. I'm begging you to walk worthy. That's a theme noted throughout the scriptures. We've been called to a certain kind of walk, a walk that has a powerful impact. Paul repeats this several times in the book of Ephesians and gives us insight into the walk of the believer. For example, we'll see in chapter five, verse two, that we're to walk in love as Christ also has loved us and given himself for us and offering and a sacrifice to God for a sweet smelling aroma. In chapter five, verse eight, you were once darkness, but now you are a light in the Lord. Walk is children of light. Ephesians 5 15, pay careful attention then to how you walk, not as unwise, but as wise. We'll be looking at all of those as we continue through the book of Ephesians. But he's speaking concerning the walk of the believer. So Paul carefully outlined who we are in Christ. He now outlines in light of who we are, how we are to live in a dark and fallen world. Notice as he begins in verse one, I therefore the prisoner of the Lord. Now he had already made that statement in verse one of chapter three. So he returns to that. It's a reminder that he's not a prisoner of Rome. He's a prisoner of Jesus. And that statement serves to remind his readers that the worthy walk can be costly. We live in a time when Christianity is really disrespected. I think even more in my lifetime than it was in earlier days of my walk with the Lord. When I first got saved a long time ago now, people at least respected that you were a believer. They may not agree with you, but they would patiently listen to you if you shared with them. And not that many people I was encountering were disrespectful or rude. Churches at that time were still looked at as a place of sanctuary, a place that you respect. You could go through some of the areas where I grew up in Norwalk. You could go through some of the areas that had rough gang lives and all. But at that time in the sixties, the churches, everything else might be, might be have graffiti and all, but the churches, they weren't. But it wasn't really, really that much, that long ago, some of you might remember this. It's been a while, it wasn't like recently, but it's not that long ago that in Chino at one of the Catholic churches because young people were dealing drugs in the church foyer because the churches used to be left open all night. Some of you might be old enough to remember those days. Others, let me give you a history lesson. They used to leave churches open all night. Can you imagine that? We have to lock ours now and have to because people will break in and steal the sound systems. People will come in, we've had people steal so many things from this church over time. I finally told John, look, I'll give you a raise, stop stealing things. I can't take you, say any more. You're hurting my feelings. Now people will do that, you know? And in a church in, what street was it off, Marie? Sixth Street, it's in that area, Sixth Street in the barrio there, right? Marie grew up there, so whatever. They used to call her little sad girl, but that's a different story. I was a little savage. But in the neighborhood that she originally grew up in and her dad had moved him someplace else, the church, there were two or three people in the foyer. Some of you might remember this and some of the gangsters, one of the gangsters shot and killed two of them in the foyer, the church one night and use the fence that it's actually where Marie's grandma lived. They used Marie's grandma's fence to hide behind and they shot two people. That's the world that we live in that has gotten worse over the years. That has gotten worse over the years. So we live in a dark, dark time, don't we? I mean, I'm not trying to bum you out, you already know that. We live in tough times, perilous times, Paul spoke of them in that way. And so the church at one time used to be regarded here in the United States in a certain way that that regard has been lost a long time ago and they don't always respect or admire those who will reject the philosophy of the world. Today, if they disagree with your position, well, what they do, we all heard this word, is they simply counsel you. Well, Jesus made it clear that following him was costly and in Matthew 10, 22, he said it like this. He said, you will be hated by all for my name's sake. It's been said the way of this world is to praise dead saints and persecute living ones. At one time, Paul had been a persecutor of Christians, but now he himself is a prisoner. He's a good example of the cost of discipleship and he's asking them to be aware of the price that they might have to pay. Now, he's not asking them to pay a price that he himself wouldn't pay. He's begging them though to have a walk, to have a walk that is worthy. Have a walk that is worthy of the calling, he says, with which you were called. Now, when he says that, when he says in verse one, walk worthy, the word worthy is simply a word that speaks about something that is appropriate. If the gospel is a message of forgiveness and grace and love and a transformed life, if that's the gospel, then walk appropriately. Line up, let your light so shine. Line up with what God teaches, he can do in somebody's life. Paul said it, this way he said, if in man is in Christ, he's a new creation, all things are passed away. Behold, all things become new. So when you actually come into relationship with God, he's saying your life changes. And therefore, because the message of the gospel is a holy message and seeing that God is a holy God, then walk appropriately, live a holy life also. Because a holy gospel produces holy lives. And so Paul begins to describe this walk that is worthy. And he gives us five ways. He says walk in lowliness, in gentleness, long suffering, bear with one another and endeavor to keep the unity of the spirit. So each of these qualities are necessary to ensure unity in the church. He's emphasizing the need for the church to be one in Christ, why is that? Because Christians at war are bad witnesses to the world that we're supposed to win. There are people who will not listen to Christians because they have seen Christians who are not living up to the gospel. And so when you share with them, they'll say, I don't even wanna hear it. My dad said he was a Christian and he used to beat my mom. Or my mom said that she was a Christian and she went out on my dad. Or I have a friend who says he's a Christian and he's a lying thief. I mean, that's what happens. And sometimes they say, why would you give to me what you're calling a gospel of peace when you Christians can't even get along with one another? So unity in the church is important. It's so important that Jesus himself prayed for it. Remember in John 17, verses 20 and 21, he had said, I do not pray for these alone, but also for those who will believe in me through their word, that they all may be one as you father are in me and I in you that they also may be one in us. And then he says that the world may believe that you sent me. Unity is that important. So that when the world looks at the church, we love one another and that is a tremendous testimony. So if we're at war with one another, that's a horrible testimony. So Paul is making it clear that God intended to take both you and Gentile and make them one in him. He had said in Ephesians 2, 14, he himself is our peace who has made both one. So we need to live at peace with one another as church family. And that demonstrates that Jesus can bring people together in him. Now, how can we live a life that is worthy of the calling with which we have been called? How will a person filled with the love of Jesus treat others? How is love actually shown? Well, first he says, walking worthy. Walking worthy begins with lowliness. That word lowliness, humility. Now I was speaking to you about that just recently as we've been in the Gospel of Mark on Sunday mornings. And I mentioned that to the Greeks and Romans, humility was actually looked at as something you avoid. Because anybody who was acting in a meek or humble fashion was somebody who had no pride. To the Greek, that is a person who was not filled with self-satisfaction. So they looked at Christians as being weak and unnatural and the thought that Christians had humility, well, it made the Greek disrespect them. But I shared with you recently that humility is the foundational Christian value because without humility of heart you could never be saved. A failure to humble ourselves leads to break in a fellowship with other believers. It can also lead to the breakup of marriages. It can also lead to the breakup of friendships when we don't walk with humility. Proverbs 16, 18 says, pride goes before destruction, a haughty spirit before a fall. It's pride that got Satan cast out of heaven and God hates pride in man. Proverbs 11, two says, when pride comes then comes disgrace, but with humility comes wisdom. Humility enables us to turn the other cheek to resist the temptation of getting even. In 1 Corinthians chapter six verses six and seven Paul said it like this. He said, brother goes to law against brother. And that before unbelievers. Now therefore it is already an utter failure for you that you go to law against one another. Why do you not rather accept wrong? Why do you not rather let yourselves be cheated? When our church was very young within the first year or so of it, I used to have a pickup truck and I forgot to do something that's kind of important. I forgot to put oil in the engine. And Marie was driving it and the engine froze, it seized. And so we had to tow it home and it just sat in my front yard at the curb. I didn't have the money at that time to be able to put a new engine in it or have the engine rebuilt. So we just left it in the front yard. And somebody who came to our church had approached me and said, I'll buy your truck from you. And I said, really? He said, yeah, it needs an engine. He says, that's all right, I have an engine. I'll just swap my engine and I'll buy your truck. I said, that's great. I thought praise the Lord because I surely could get that out of the front yard and someone can use it, wonderful. So I came to my house and he towed it away and I didn't see him again for months, didn't come back to the church, never contacted me. It wasn't really that much money. It was a few hundred dollars, but we didn't have a few hundred dollars and could have used it. So I didn't know what to do. I'll be honest with you. I started thinking, I don't wanna be a debt collector. I don't wanna be the guy who knocks on the door and makes a phone call. You got my money, you got my money. I don't wanna do that. So I asked the Lord what to do. And the Lord, in this particular case, he said, leave it alone. And I did. I did. Well, eventually within a year or so, he showed up at the church again and he handed me a check for the money that he owed me. And I was kind of blessed to be honest with you. Well, I got paid. That's great. Because what had happened is because I had left that debt in the Lord's hand, I was able to go through life without being a debt collector. I don't want, see, let me say this quickly. The word forgive carries with it the connotation of releasing someone from a debt. That's what the word speaks of. Releasing someone from a debt they owe you. And when you forgive them, you're releasing them from that debt. And so when I let go of that in my own heart, I was releasing that man from an actual debt. And yet he ultimately came, he paid. And that was a blessing to me. And I saw it that way. And that's why this scripture meant something to me back. Then it means something to me now. Why do you not rather accept wrong? Why do you not rather let yourselves be cheated? Why do you have to take them to court and get your money from them? Because Paul says that by taking a brother to court, he says you're doing it before unbelievers, bringing the name of Christ into disrepute. So how am I supposed to walk if I'm walking worthy of the calling with lowliness? Second, he says, love is shown by gentleness. It's been said that gentleness is like kindness in action. It speaks of being mild spirited. It speaks of strength that is actually under restraint. It's the kind of virtue of quality that keeps us from lashing out and striking back at people. Proverbs 1632 says, he who is slow to anger is better than the mighty. He who rules his spirit, then he who takes the city. So it's that quality, that ability for you to not lash out when somebody's getting in your face, when somebody's threatening you and under normal circumstances. It's not, I'm not saying that if somebody attacks you physically that you should not defend yourself. I'm not saying that if somebody is attacking your wife that you should just pray for her that she survives. What I'm saying is under normal circumstances when there's some anger issue going on, rather than you getting angry in return, it's learning to turn the other cheek. And that's a demonstration of gentleness. A third thing is love is shown through long suffering. Long suffering can also be referred to as patience. Why is it called long suffering? Because irritation doesn't go away quickly. That takes a long time. So you suffer for a long time. Well, long suffering is an outgrowth of humility and gentleness. A patient person endures negative circumstances and resists giving in to them. Then he goes on and he says, Jesus' love flowing in us causes us to bear with one another, to put up with one another. Yeah, it doesn't ignore, it doesn't justify. It just resists pointing out somebody else's faults to others out of spite. It's one of those qualities that instead of you wanting to defend yourself, because let's face it, sometimes people can be unkind and sometimes they say the most unkind things. And that's just fact. It happens to all of us, obviously. In ministry, it's your life, basically. The pastor's life is one that is filled with people criticizing them. That's just the pastor's life. So I asked Marie to please stop it, but she won't. But when somebody is attacking you, the first thing you may wanna do is say, who are you to talk, how about you? And this is the kind of quality that keeps you from flying off the handle and pointing out their faults. You resist doing that. I've discovered a long time ago that you don't solve any problems by pointing fingers at each other constantly. If there's a right criticism that's being given to me, I have learned over the years to listen. I actually learned that in marriage. One of the things the Lord had to teach me was to be able to hear somebody else's point of view. As a young man, I wasn't real open to that because obviously everybody was wrong except for me. Then I got married and God said, let me teach you some things. And so I, in marriage, have learned that there are two sides of every story. There are ways to see things that may be different than the way you see them. And so you learn how to bring proper types of compromises. You need to listen carefully. And if you can do that, I do that in marriage. And I wanna do that in relationship. And so that's what love does. It bears, the word when it speaks of this kind of thing, by the way, bearing with one another in love, this kind of love, this agape love literally throws a blanket over somebody else's faults. It's the only kind of love that loves unconditionally. It's a love that is for our Christian brethren but can also be extended towards those who aren't saved. And it's the kind of love that prompts us to pray even for our enemies. In 1 Corinthians 13 verse seven, love bears all things. In Proverbs 10 verse 12, hatred stirs up strife that love covers all transgressions. And so this is something that we do. To walk worthy, he says, we just do so with lowliness, gentleness, long suffering, bearing with one another in love, in verse three, endeavoring to keep the unity of the spirit and the bond of peace. Endeavoring speaks of being diligent, being diligent to keep the unity of the spirit and the bond of peace. What these things are supposed to do, these virtues are to help us preserve the unity of the Holy Spirit. And the unity of the spirit is to be the constant concern of every believer. This isn't speaking about an outward unity alone. We're in the same church and so we're united in the things that are being taught. And it's not a compromising agreement to not disagree in order to keep people happy. This is speaking of a unity of the inner person. It's a unity of hearts. It's a love for one another that keeps us together even when we disagree. You know, again, I'll use marriage as an example. When, before I got married and all, I wasn't somebody who went out a lot of dates or anything. That just never was something that I did. But I didn't know how to have a relationship. I thought that if the woman said, I like this, that I should say I like it too. And that's the way it was for the longest time. So what kind of food would you like to eat? Oh, I like macaroni and cheese. So do I. And that's, what a coincidence. What kind of, you know, where would you like to go? Or I'd like to go to this. I've been wanting to go there. That was me. What kind of music do you like? I like country Western hot dog. So do me. I do too. I hated country Western, you know, agreed. I agreed with everything. And then, and what happened, and I'll say this quickly, but it's practical. What happened in my life is I finally grew old enough to realize that you have to be yourself. I had to realize that if someone was going to like me, they needed to like the real me, not the pretend me that was doing that so I could win the affection. And that's what happened with my girl, Marie. When I would start to date her, I would call her up and I would say, Marie, I'm planning on going somewhere. Would you like to go with me? And she'd say, of course. So I take her to the places I liked. I went to the things that I liked. Not because I was being selfish. I wanted her to know who I am. So if she ever came to decide this is someone I wanna be with, it would be the real me. So I learned to do that a long time ago. I did it first with my girl who became my wife, but on that way with church, this is who I am. You know, this is, and I don't change for anybody unless the Holy Spirit says, you're mean, be kind. Or you said that wrong. You shouldn't have said that. I will change when the conviction of the Holy Spirit or when my girl will tell me, you know, honey, maybe you ought to shut up, you know, and I do. Why is that? Why is that? Because I really believe that keeping the unity of the Spirit is done in the bond of peace. I want our hearts, my heart to be knit together with the body of Christ. And I'm endeavoring to do that. It's something that requires effort. This part of walking worthy, this part is, this endeavoring is part of walking worthy. And that's what we're called to do. Now notice in verse four, he says, there is one body, one spirit, just as you were called in one hope of your calling, one Lord, one faith, one baptism, one God and Father of all who is above all and through all. And this is where he shows you, you know he's from Tarsus. This is where Paul makes it clear he was from Southern Tarsus because he says, in y'all, right there. You see that right there in verse six, right there. That's a little Greek for you, one spirit. There is one body and one spirit. There's the one body of Christ. We by the Holy Spirit have been baptized into one body. We are all one in Christ because the Spirit brought us into that. There's only one body. It's the spiritual body of Christ. It may meet in various locations. It may be called by various names, but each church, if it's filled with believers, is part of the one body. There is one spirit, the Holy Spirit who indwells every born-again believer in Jesus Christ. And again, in context, this would include every Jewish believer, every Gentile believer, whether they're male, whether they're female, we are one in Jesus Christ through this one spirit. He is the one who unifies us all. He says in verse four, there's one hope of your calling, one hope of your calling. The hope of our calling is to be conformed into the image of Jesus Christ and to live in glory forever. This hope of our calling is a confident expectation that we will see him as he is, be conformed into his image and be with him through eternity. In verse five, he says there's one Lord, there's one faith and there's one baptism. This one body has one Lord, Jesus Christ, who is our only savior. There's one faith, our faith is in Jesus Christ and not in some other prophet or religious leader. There's one baptism, the baptism of the Holy Spirit that we have been brought into union with Jesus Christ. There's the Spirit who brings us into that unity and him. There's one God and Father of all who's above all through all and in you all. It is this one God and Father who is over us all and in everyone who is a true believer in Jesus Christ. And because that's true, what we do, and I'm gonna be giving you by the way, this upcoming Sunday, it's so interesting. It actually is, I'm gonna give you a longer study on this one idea because that's what we're gonna be seeing out of Gospel of Mark this upcoming Sunday, how his men wanted to forbid someone from casting out demons because he said he's not one of the companies, not with us. And then Jesus gives a lesson. So this is just, this is touching on basically what we're gonna look at. And so I'll save those comments for Sunday, but we are to guard our unity in Christ. Listen, the world is hurting. The world's in need of salvation. We need to work together to reach this lost world. I honestly believe this and I'll say this quickly because we're gonna receive communion in a moment and I'm kind of hastening through our study today as can be seen. It's important for us to guard our unity in Christ. We need to work together to reach people. And I'm a Calvary Chapel pastor. If you cut my vein, Calvary Chapel comes out. That's just a fact. If you look at my wedding ring, the Calvary Chapel doves on it. I mean, I am Calvary Chapel. That's who I am. That's my heritage and I love being it, but that doesn't mean that I don't respect brothers and sisters and the Lord who are not Calvary Chapel. Why wouldn't I? I respected Billy Graham to the very end. He wasn't a Calvary Chapel guy. I respect Franklin Graham. He's not a Calvary Chapel guy. What is he? He's my brother. He's a brother and the Lord. And because he is, I highly regard them, highly respect them. John MacArthur, John MacArthur is certainly not a Calvary Chapel. He has problems with us sometimes. But you know what? Highly regard him. Why? He's a warrior for Jesus Christ. And that's how we do it. You know, in the essentials, we agree. In the non-essentials, we may disagree, but we always need unity to know there's something greater than my opinion. And so if we keep things in the center of who Christ is, what Christ does, then we can work together. And that's what we're supposed to do because this world is hurting. You know it and I know it. What we're seeing is only the tip of what's really going on, the top of an iceberg. There's really a lot more pain than we see. They can't show us as much pain as there is on one radio or TV broadcast. They can't reveal that to us. There's that much pain. Every person in this room has pain you go through. Multiply that by seven billion. And all the things that go on behind closed doors and in, there's a lot of pain. And instead of us arguing with each other about various things, we need to agree to reach this world for Jesus Christ. We need to endeavor to keep the spirit of unity. We need to, in the bond of peace, we need to remember we are one people. We are all as Christians under one King and as such we work together for His glory. And that comes under the banner of walking worthy of the calling with which we have been called. And Father, I ask that that would be so.