Sermon preached by Rev. Alexander Morrison, retiring Moderator of Synod, at the meeting of the Synod of the Free Presbyterian Church of Scotland in St Jude’s Church, Glasgow, on 23rd May, 1972. In the Acts of the Apostles we have an account of the labour of the Apostle in this city. At his first entry there it was a stronghold of Satan, “the god of this world.” It was wholly given over to idolatry. That is how the city is described by the town clerk. “The city of the Ephesians is a worshipper of the great goddess Diana, and of the image which fell down from Jupiter.” However, the Lord had a purpose of mercy toward many in this city, and the time had come when the means of their salvation, “the Gospel of the grace of God,” was to be declared to them. The Gospel “is the power of God unto salvation to every one that believeth,” and the Gospel is also, of course, a power which can pull down strong holds “and every high thing that exalteth itself against the knowledge of God,” and the Gospel did so in Ephesus. A church was planted there. Just now, as the Lord may be pleased to help me, I shall endeavour to notice three things from this verse that has been read, “Endeavouring to keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace.”
First of all, we might consider the people addressed, secondly, the exhortation we have in this verse, and thirdly, offer a few reasons for the exhortation.
Now this epistle, of course, was primarily to the saints at Ephesus. The doctrines and the exhortations contained in this epistle are not, however, for the Lord’s saints in one place, but are for saints in all places, and at all times. In this precious portion of the Word of the Lord, there is brought before us the union of believers to the Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. The church is compared to a body, and Christ is the Head of the body. The one is a gift to the other, that is to say, God the Father “gave His only begotten Son” to the church to be her Head, and also God the Father gave the church to His beloved Son to be His body. We read this often in the Gospel — the blessed Saviour acknowledging this gift from the Father. Just to quote one Scripture just now: “Thine,” says the Redeemer to the Father, “they were, and Thou gavest them Me.”
Now the church, which is the body of Christ, was made up of those who were far off and those who were nigh, that is to say, Jews and Gentiles. The Jews were nigh in the sense that the Lord had given them privileges over the Gentiles. He gave them His Word, He gave them His worship, He gave them the promises, He gave them the fathers and so on. We also read of the Jews that they were Christ’s own people, but notwithstanding that they were nigh in that sense, they were still afar off, for with or without privileges the sinful nature of man is the same. “The Scripture hath concluded all under sin,” Jew as well as Gentile. “In Adam,” we read, “all die,” and from this lost and ruined race the Father gave a people to His Son to be His body. The church is a body prepared. As it was true of the body which the Son of God took into union with His Divine Nature that it was prepared for Him by the everlasting Father, so it is true regarding the church that it is a body prepared for Him by the power of the Holy Ghost. The Holy Ghost comes on every member of Christ’s body. He comes first of all to quicken, and we have that in the context: “You hath He quickened, who were dead in trespasses and sins.” Not only does He come to quicken, but He comes also to bring nigh, to draw sinners nigh unto God. As we have it there in the second chapter, “Ye who sometimes were far off are made nigh by the blood of Christ. For He is our peace, who hath made both one, and hath broken down the middle wall of partition between us; Having abolished in His flesh the enmity, even the law of commandments contained in ordinances; for to make in Himself of twain one new man so making peace; And that He might reconcile both unto God in one body by the cross, having slain the enmity thereby: And came and preached peace to you which were afar off, and to them which were nigh. For through Him we both” (that is to say, Jews and Gentiles) “have access by one Spirit unto the Father.” The enmity between Jews and Gentiles is abolished, and both are reconciled to God by the cross of Christ. The Apostle says of Christ, “He is our peace.” “He is our peace” as the crucified One, and the One Who bled on the cross, and the cross of Christ is the alpha and the omega of the Gospel. Therefore, we have to notice here that when we speak of peace, when we speak of the peace of God, when we speak of the love of Christ, when we speak of “the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace,” we cannot speak of those without the Gospel. For it is in the Gospel we have the peace of God, and it does not come to men apart from the Gospel. The love of Christ does not come to sinners apart from the Gospel, and “the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace” does not come to sinners apart from the everlasting Gospel. Therefore, friends, the unity that is so much spoken of and written about in this day and generation is just a delusion in the light of the writings of the Apostle Paul.
That leads me in the second place to the exhortation. There seem to be four matters implied in this exhortation. The first thing we notice is that the church in Ephesus enjoyed the blessing of “the unity of the Spirit,” because here they are exhorted to keep this unity. What is not present cannot be kept. We find the Saviour from His exalted glory addressing others, “Hold that fast which thou hast, that no man take thy crown.” Secondly, the unity of the Spirit is precious. It is something essential if not indispensable to the body of Christ. Thirdly, we have the great danger of losing “the unity of the Spirit.” Satan of course, is determined to rob the church of God of every blessing that the Saviour bestows upon her, this blessing among others. Again, we have in this exhortation a caution. We read in the Gospels, “If a kingdom be divided against itself, that kingdom cannot stand. And if a house be divided against itself, that house cannot stand.” Now, the question arises. How is “the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace” to be kept? Here, friend, as in other matters which belong to our own peace and belong to the glory of the blessed Redeemer, let us “hear what the Spirit saith unto the churches.” How is “the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace” to be kept? In the immediate context here, you will notice that the Apostle is beseeching them: “I therefore . . . beseech you that ye walk worthy” (or worthily), that is to say, that the walk of believers is very important. “If we walk in the light, as He is in the light, we have fellowship one with another.” Then again, if we turn to Philippians, chapter three, believers are there enjoined to walk by the same rule. That exhortation in Philippians, as we understand it, refers first of all to the worship of God, and secondly, to one of the doctrines of the faith. We find the Apostle warning the believers, the body of Christ in Philippi, “Beware of dogs, beware of evil workers, beware of the concision. For we are the circumcision, which worship God in the spirit, and rejoice in Christ Jesus, and have no confidence in the flesh.” In another place he says, “For in Christ Jesus neither circumcision availeth any thing, nor uncircumcision, but a new creature. And as many as walk according to this rule, peace be on them, and mercy, and upon the Israel of God.” Now that is the rule: the doctrine of the new birth. “If any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold all things are become new.” Now as you know, friends, from the portions I quoted, the Apostle there in warning them on the one hand, makes it abundantly clear that there were many in his day who walked contrary to this rule. They are described in the Truth as “the enemies of the cross of Christ, whose end is destruction, whose God is their belly, and whose glory is in their shame, who mind earthly things.” Therefore, friends, those who deny the doctrine of the new birth and those who do not walk according to this rule are described in the Bible as the enemies of Christ, as “the enemies of the cross,” and friend, if they are described as “the enemies of the cross” in the Bible, that is how they stand before the Throne of Heaven. The Apostle was assured, being the servant of Jesus Christ, that “Except a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God.” Therefore he says, “Let us walk by the same rule.” Then again there is the conversation of believers. That goes a long way in maintaining “the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace.” Now we have brought before us in the Word of the Lord the case of the church of Corinth. We find there that envying, strife, divisions and carnality set in among them. All that was due to what they said: one said, “I am of Paul,” and another said, “I am of Apollos.” Now we find the Apostle dealing with this very serious situation in the church in Corinth saying, “I beseech you, brethren, by the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that ye all speak the same thing, and that there be no divisions among you; but that ye be perfectly joined together in the same mind and in the same judgment.” Now of course, Paul and Apollos were worthy of the love and esteem of the Corinthians, and that for their works’ sake, but you see friend, Paul himself gloried only in the cross of Christ. “God forbid,” he says, “that I should glory, save in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, by Whom the world is crucified unto me, and I unto the world.” The Corinthians were glorying in men, and men, friends, are not to be gloried in. Glory given, and glory desired, can only lead to strife and envy and division. We have a very clear example of that in the case of the church at Corinth, and it is reprov’d by the servant of the Lord. You see, friend, “speaking the truth in love” is the character of the Christian, for without truth and love there cannot be real unity.
That leads me to consider the third thing — to offer a few reasons for this exhortation, “endeavouring to keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace.” The first reason we would offer is this, that “the unity of the Spirit” is according to the mind of Christ. It is that which He prayed for. He prayed to the Father for this when He said, “Neither pray I for these alone, but for them also which shall believe on Me through their word; that they all may be one; as Thou, Father art in Me, and I in Thee, that they also may be one in Us.” The second reason is that the unity of believers is instrumental towards the world’s recognition of the Divine mission of Christ, as He says, “that the world may believe that Thou hast sent Me.” We find that on the day of Pentecost the Apostles of the Lord “were all with one accord in one place” when the hand of the Lord was stretched forth to pluck sinners as brands out of the burning. On a day when about three thousand souls were added to the church, this was not done apart from the Apostles being with “one accord in one place.” We read of the multitude that believed that they “were of one heart and of one soul.” Then, again, “endeavouring to keep the unity of the Spirit” is necessary because of the nature of the body of Christ. The body of Christ is “not one member, but many,” and therefore, one member cannot be independent of another. The Apostle deals with this when he says, “The eye cannot say unto the hand, I have no need of thee; nor again the head to the feet, I have no need of you.” There is need, friend, for all the members. There is need for all the members in the natural body. God has set them there, and of course there is work for all the members in the natural body. They all have a function. That is also true of the body of Christ, the church. There is need for all the members, and there is work for all the members. You think just now of the messengers that went to view the promised land. They had need of Rahab the harlot to hide them. We read also of Obadiah, the governor in Ahab’s house, and the service that man rendered when he hid the prophets, and when he fed the prophets. More than that, friend, we read that the great Head of the church came into this world “not to be ministered unto, but to minister.” Ah, nevertheless, He was ministered unto by women out of whom He cast devils, and we believe that the service of these women who “ministered unto Him of their substance” was not a small service in the eyes of the Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ.
Finally, on this matter, if the members of the body of Christ fail to endeavour to keep the unity of the Spirit, first of all in worship and also in doctrine, discipline, walk, life and conversation, what will be the consequence? The evils of disunity will appear, and the Bible is full of this. The history of the church of God in the world is full of this. I’m just going to mention a few of these evils. The first thing is that if the members of Christ’s body fail in their duties, their enemies will triumph. You take for instance the case of the tribes of Israel after the walls of Jericho perished. That great city, as far as man could see, could never be entered into by the congregation of the Lord, but we read of it, “By faith the walls of Jericho fell.” Now when they moved on from there to Ai, which of course was insignificant compared to Jericho, we find there that they lost the battle. They could not overcome Ai at the first attempt. What was wrong? Well this is what was wrong: the Lord had withdrawn His presence. Can you think, friend, of anything more solemn? Can you think of anything more serious than this: that the Lord would be grieved so as to deny His presence to a people whom He had carried through a great and howling wilderness, and who were now at the promised inheritance? But here you find the Lord denying His presence, and why, friend? Because of sin, Achan’s sin. It was not the sin of the whole commonwealth. It was the sin of one man, Achan. What the presence of the Lord meant to Moses the servant of the Lord, is expressed when he said there to Him, “If Thy presence go not with me, carry us not up hence.” What the presence of the Lord means to His people is emphasised by the Saviour Himself when He said to His Apostles there, “Go ye therefore, and disciple all nations, baptising them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost.” He promised to them His own presence. “Lo, I am with you alway, even unto the end of the world.” Now, if that is lost, friend, what is left? What is left if the presence of the Lord is denied? What is left without the presence of the Lord? We say to you here tonight, What have you here tonight going on to death and eternity? Are you thinking, friend, of meeting death alone? Are you thinking of entering into the great eternity alone? Without the presence of the Lord, what do you have? Nothing. Now you have another example of evil in the commonwealth of Israel when enmity and strife were stirred up against Moses and Aaron, and their standing in the congregation was challenged. Why was this done, friend? Why did Korah, Dathan and Abiram and men in the congregation challenge the standing of Moses? Just because they were like another of whom we read, “boasting himself to be somebody.” That was true of Korah. He saw himself, and he considered himself as fit and as suitable as Aaron for the priesthood. Korah of course never realised, Korah never believed that “no man taketh this honour unto himself, but he that is called of God, as was Aaron.” Korah was a stranger to the call of the Lord. We know what happened as a result of this. Korah and all that followed him lost their lives. Now we find another example in the sin among the twelve spies. You have them there discouraging the people, and the people ready to move the company to go back to Egypt. The verdict of the majority, ten against two, was that the congregation of the Lord would never overcome the walled cities, that the congregation of the Lord would never overcome the giants. They did not deny, they could not deny, that the land was a good land, that it was a land flowing with milk and with honey, and indeed, friend, they had the fruit of the land coming back, but they did not believe that the congregation of the Lord would overcome the forces and the powers of darkness that were there in the land of Canaan. You find the people were discouraged, and the people were ready to go back to the land of Egypt. What a mercy it was for the congregation of Israel that Caleb and Joshua were there to encourage them forward! They had a good hope that the Lord Who had promised the inheritance would fulfil that promise whatever came against them, whatever came between them and the inheriting of the inheritance. Joshua had his heart stayed upon the Lord. Joshua and Caleb had their hearts strengthened by the Lord and you find them saying, “If the Lord delight in us, then He will bring us into this land, and give it us.” Like the Apostle himself, these men believed that “if God be for us, who can be against us?” Now of course examples could be multiplied from the Word of the Lord, but now we come to this: the history of the body of Christ in our own beloved land.
Now when we come to the history of the church of God in this land, it makes sad reading. Why are we here tonight separate from all other churches in the land? That is a question which concerns each and all of us. Is it not because men refused to accept the Bible as the inspired, inerrant, infallible Word of God? Along with this, friend, an Act was framed to allow the consciences of men to judge what “man is to believe concerning God, and what duty God requires of man.” This is what we have in the Scriptures themselves as we have it in the Shorter Catechism, “The Scriptures principally teach what man is to believe concerning God, and what duty God requires of man.” Now, as I understand the Declaratory Act of 1892, and if I don’t understand it in some little measure I shouldn’t be here, it was left to the consciences of men to judge what man was “to believe concerning God, and the duty God requires of man.” Now, though men cried out against this evil, they failed sadly to act according to their words, and therefore to care for souls, and the tares took deep root downward, and grew, and spread quickly in the land.
We here tonight find ourselves in a generation which has cast behind its back the claims of the Lord and the Saviour Jesus Christ. Just to offer one example: the Sabbath Day itself must not stand in the way of lovers of pleasure. Now this is sad and serious for us. Our children are growing up with these influences around them in the world, and friend, it will come further, unless the Lord gives His Spirit. You think just now of the many who despise the privileges, who on the Lord’s Day do not come to worship the Lord even once. There are many, we believe, in this city itself, and in Edinburgh also, who when they leave their homes in the Islands and Highlands of Scotland do not see the inside of the church till they go back there again. All these influences are advancing.
Now the Lord gives strength, and it is the Lord that can give strength, and it is the Lord that gives light. When we say this we hope that we are not glorying in men, but we have to glory in the Lord, the Giver of all good. It was Him and Him alone that gave Mr Macfarlane and Mr Macdonald grace to stand in the evil day when like Joshua and Caleb they strengthened the Lord’s people in the land. We are here, Fathers and Brethren, tonight, and it can be said of us that we have entered into the labour of others, and may the Lord give grace, and may the Lord give strength to each of us to continue in this world “looking unto Jesus the Author and Finisher of our faith.” May we live with our eye on the blessed promise, “A little one shall become a thousand, and a small one a strong nation.” May the Lord bless His Word.