What is Unity?

Well, it is nice to be here with all of you on this beautiful Sabbath day here in Southern California. I learned this morning that they're having like a foot of snow in Lubbock, Texas today. I don't live in Lubbock, thankfully. I'm further east, where I don't think it's snowing, but it is raining and it's cold there today. But soon I'll be heading to Cincinnati, Ohio. It is a bit colder there as well, but it's not all about being hot or cold.

It's about doing what God is calling us to do. So my wife and I are in the process of moving to Cincinnati, Ohio. I was appointed the operation manager for ministerial and member services not long ago, a couple of months ago. It's gone by very quickly. God's been good to us. We close on a house on the 18th in Texas. We sold our house. We close on the 18th and then we close on a house in Ohio on the 21st.

So we're selling one and moving up and moving into the other one in just a few days afterwards. So a lot going on. It's been pretty eye-opening for me for the last couple of months, working closely with Mr. Kubik and Chris Roland and others out at the home office, being at the council meetings. And it's really been encouraging to me to see the unity that we do have in God's Church at the present time, the peace that we have.

That's a real encouragement to me personally. We are named the United Church of God. Personally, I like this name because God's Church really should be as united as possible. Plus, all the other names were taken when we got to... Just kidding! There have been a lot of different names, but I really do like the United Church of God and believe that we should really strive to be as united as possible because God is united and His Church should also be united.

So what is unity? What brings unity? Now, I've thought a lot about unity over the years and I would imagine that many of you have as well. Anyone who's been in God's Church for very long, I would hope, has wondered about unity, what it takes to have unity. I deduced a short formula for unity not too long ago. It's been a few months ago now. I actually googled my phone for formulas on unity and you don't get much.

When you Google that, at least nothing I could use. But I did deduce a short formula for unity. It's pretty simple. It's simply integrity plus humility equals unity. Integrity plus humility equals unity. Now, I have added true integrity plus true humility equals true unity.

If everyone would have a lot more integrity, we would have a lot more unity in God's Church. If everyone would have more humility, we would also have a lot more unity in God's Church. So I've been, as I said, I've thought about this a lot. I've actually gone to one of the ministerial conferences in the south central region and I had a presentation about unity and had about 10 questions that I asked the ministry to basically answer and to discuss. I'll be doing that at the conference that we'll be having here in Temecula.

I will be heading down to Temecula, by the way, after the sermon and after some of us probably go out to eat this evening. I had a nice drive here this morning. I flew into San Diego. Mr. Weber asked me to speak here and I was very glad to do that. I stayed in a motel in a place called Encinitas and drove up here from Encinitas.

I got here early enough to go by the campus because my wife and I attended Ambassador College in Pasadena. Me, for only one year, in 1977-78, my wife was there four years. She knows Ted Budge better than I do. Now, I could tell you a few stories about Ted Budge, but she could tell you more stories.

I probably won't do that today, but we've known Mr. Budge for quite a while now and I certainly consider him a good friend. So today we're going to talk about unity, what it means, how to get more unity in God's Church. It is a particular word unity that I think we should all think a lot about. Also, the word integrity is a particular word that has always fascinated me personally. I've always wanted to be known as a man of integrity, someone that a person could trust, a person could count on me as someone who had integrity.

I realize that integrity is a word that many people probably don't really understand its meaning very well. It's thrown around a lot and I'm sure isn't really fully understood. So we'll go into a bit in regard to what it means to have integrity. What does it mean to be a man of integrity, a woman of integrity, a child of integrity? Actually, the word integrity comes from the Latin word integer. It was a word that I learned in algebra class as I was maybe 12 or 13 years old.

I'm not sure how old, but it means basically whole. It's in reference to whole numbers. A fraction is not an integer. A fraction or a whole number is an integer. So anything complete or whole in itself is an integer. So obviously that applies to a person that's whole, that's unblemished you might say, someone who is complete.

None of us are half people. None of us are a third of a person or we're full complete people. And so we should be men, women, and children of integrity. So that's something that we should all strive for, to have real integrity. Again, this word also can mean honest or sincere. Someone who has integrity is honest, is sincere, is sound, unimpaired.

And I'd like to just talk about this for a few minutes, this word integrity. I think to have integrity we need to do a few things. Number one is we need to live by every word of God. If you really want to have integrity, it should be your goal to live by every word. You can't pick and choose what it is you're going to follow from God's word. You have to determine to live by every word of God. If you're going to be whole and complete, the only way to do that is to live by every word of God. And of course the Ten Commandments are the basis for us, but it goes beyond the Ten Commandments. And of course we are to live not just by the letter of God's law, but also by the spirit of God's law. Another part of integrity is learning to love each other. A person of integrity knows what love is.

Love is the fulfilling of the law. That's what the scripture tells us, that it's the fulfilling of the law. We know that God is the law-giver. He's the one that has the right to make the laws, to give the laws, because He's the great Creator. And we know that God is love. So I hope you can see the connection there.

The law is holy. The law is just. The law is good. So obviously we should love each other. If we're to be men, women, and children of integrity, we need to know what love is all about. Also, we should realize that our word is our bond.

We are to be honest, to be sincere in everything that we say, in how we interact with one another.

And also, a fourth thing is that we should live by godly priorities. We should know what those priorities are. We should think them through and have some priorities that we're living by. Obviously, Matthew 6, 33 gives us a great priority. Seek first the Kingdom of God and His righteousness. Integrity is all about righteousness. We can think about people of integrity in the Bible. Abel comes to mind. He was a man of integrity. He gave a sacrifice that God was pleased with. On the other hand, his brother was not such a man of integrity. We know he became the first murderer. Noah was a man of integrity. Noah went about doing God's will, following God's word, even when he was being ridiculed, laughed at, and scorned for many, many, many years. But he was faithful. He had integrity. Enoch walked with God. He was a man of integrity. Abraham and Isaac and Jacob and Joseph. If you think about their lives, the choices, the decisions that they made, they were men of integrity.

They weren't perfect men, though, were they? None of them were perfect. They were all flawed. In fact, it says that David was a man of integrity. 1 Kings 9, verse 4. Let's go there for a moment. 1 Kings 9, verse 4.

We know that David was far from perfect. In fact, we know that David committed some very grievous sins. We know the Bible talks about some of David's sins. But notice what it says here in 1 Kings 9, verse 4. This is God giving instruction to Solomon.

Verse 4, Now if you walk before me, as your father David walked, in integrity of heart. I think the Bible uses the word integrity 16 different times in the Bible. This is one of those times. If you walk in integrity of heart and in uprightness to do according to all that I have commanded you, and if you keep my statutes and my judgments, then I will establish the throne of your kingdom over Israel forever as I promised David your father, saying you shall not fail to have a man on the throne of Israel. Promises were given to David and to Solomon because of David's integrity, because of his faithfulness. David, again, wasn't a perfect man, but he did have integrity. He's referred to as a man after God's own heart. And that's because David was also repentant. Psalm 51 is a tremendous psalm of repentance from David when he finally understood and admitted and saw what he had done. He repented of that sin. He prayed that God would not take his spirit away from him. It shook him to his very core. So being able to admit one's sins, being able to beseech God for forgiveness, to truly be repentant, is also a part of being a man, a woman, a child of integrity. So David walked in integrity and he walked in uprightness. And there are many other examples in the Bible. You could pick out several. Certainly Job was a man of integrity. In fact, Job was selected because of his righteousness. He was the most righteous man on earth. You know, we talk about him being self-righteous, which no doubt he had some lessons to learn. It doesn't say he was the most self-righteous man on earth. It does say he was the most righteous man. He was a man of integrity. And when his wife was telling him to curse God and die, he was remaining faithful to God. It's good to study the Bible and think about this word, integrity. Joe Ash, Josiah, Hezekiah, Peter, Paul, Timothy. No, they were all men of integrity. Certainly there were women that had integrity as well. Sarah had a tremendous amount of integrity. Rebecca, Rachel, many of the examples in the Bible, even Rahab, is listed in Hebrews 11. She wasn't perfect, but she also had integrity. So the first part of the equation is integrity. And the more integrity we have, the more unity we're going to have in God's church. And if every single one of us would take responsibility for themselves and strive to have more integrity, to make sure that your word is your bond, that you're living by every word of God, that you're setting a right example for one another, that you're seeking first God's kingdom and His righteousness. And if we would all set that example from the President, the Chairman of the Council, throughout the ministry, throughout all the membership, if we were all wonderful examples of integrity, we would have a lot more unity in God's church.

Now, the second part of that formula is humility, because we might ask ourselves, is integrity enough? Is that enough? If you understand integrity in this fullest sense, it's enough because humility really is a part of true integrity. But I've made it a separate point because it says that, for example, Lucifer was perfect. He was perfect until iniquity was found in him. We know that his basic sin was the sin of pride. Of vanity, of pride, he rose up against God, he rebelled against God because he became full of vanity. Now, Lucifer was full of integrity until he wasn't. And you'll find that's true with men as well. A man may seem to be full of integrity until we find out he isn't. A minister may be one of integrity until you find out he isn't.

So you have to be careful how you follow men. Remember what Paul said, follow me as I follow Christ. That's always the key. If biblical principles are being broken, don't follow anyone who's supporting the breaking of God's biblical principles.

Now, there are certain enemies of unity. For example, discord, sewing discord, having a critical spirit, that is a tremendous enemy of unity. Another one would be heresy. Heresy lies, teaching lies, teaching things that are false.

That causes a great breach in the unity of God's church. So whenever you see discord, a critical spirit, that damages the unity that we have in God's church. And certainly when heresy is being taught, it damages the unity in God's church. So we have to be on guard for these things and make sure that you are not ever a part of any of that. But instead have integrity and have humility. So when pride entered in, of course, sin entered. Pride is a sin. To be puffed up in pride is to be full of sin. Let's go to 1 Peter chapter 5 for a moment, where Peter talks about how we need to be clothed with humility. 1 Peter chapter 5. We shouldn't worry too much about exactly what brand of clothing we wear.

We should be more concerned about being clothed with humility. 1 Peter chapter 5 verse 5.

Here Peter says, Likewise, you younger people submit yourselves to your elders. Yes, all of you be submissive to one another and be clothed with humility.

Being willing to submit to one another in the fear of God is what the Scripture teaches. We should be willing to submit to one another. I've asked the question, Do you know when a man should submit to his wife? When she's right. That's when we should submit to her wives. We should be humble enough to see that she's really right about this. She's advising we do this. And really, to be honest, she is right. Even though I want to do something else, what she's proposing is actually better. So then that's submitting in the fear of God. So there are times when men should submit to their wives. Obviously, the Scripture also shows clearly that wives should submit to their husbands. But we are to submit to one another in the fear of God. So if the wife is correct, she's proposing something better or something that is actually right, especially if it has anything to do with breaking God's law, you know, then obviously you would want to do the right thing.

So we should be clothed with humility. It says, for God, resist the proud, but He gives grace to the humble. We know that we are saved by grace. God gives grace to the humble. He doesn't give grace to the proud.

If you want to be in God's kingdom, and I presume that you do, you wouldn't be here otherwise, God gives grace to the humble. Therefore, humble yourselves under the mighty hand of God, that He may exalt you in due time. He doesn't say He will exalt you immediately. He says He will exalt you in due time. So you have to be patient, wait on God no matter what, and be sober, be vigilant, because your adversary the devil walks about like a roaring lion. He is seeking whom he may devour. So resist him steadfast in the faith, knowing that the same sufferings are experienced by your brotherhood in the world. But may the God of all grace who called us to His eternal glory by Christ Jesus, after you have suffered a while, perfect, established, strengthen, and settle you. God will be with you to give you exactly what you need if you will learn to wait on Him and submit to Him and do as He wills and as He shows you to do. So to Him be the glory and the dominion forever and ever. So we are to be clothed with humility. That's the second part of this formula. Humility, Webster says, is a modest or low view of one's own importance. It's not thinking so highly of yourself. It's putting the needs of others above your own needs. It's helping take care of others and putting at times the needs of others above your own needs. Again, we see many examples in the Bible of humility. Noah again was humble in that he obeyed God, even though it didn't look like it was going to rain anytime soon. But he humbly went about building the ark. Abraham was humbly willing to sacrifice his son.

That would take a lot of humility. It would take a lot of integrity to be willing to sacrifice your son if that's what you believe God wanted you to do. Isaac also was filled with humility. It doesn't show that he resisted his father, even though he was likely strong enough and big enough to have done so. We know that Jacob learned humility in his lifetime. He became a better man because of it. Joseph was humble before his brothers when he forgave them, even though they had sold him into slavery. So there are many examples in the Bible. Moses was considered the meekest man on earth. Moses set such a beautiful example that he was willing to sacrifice himself for the people that he loved. Even the people that were hard-hearted and stiff-necked and causing him all kinds of trouble. On a couple of different occasions, he was ready to lay his life down. So let's go to a few scriptures in regard to humility. First of all, in James 4, clearly it tells us that we are to humble ourselves before God and again, not think of ourselves so highly. James 4, verse 10, humble yourselves in the sight of the Lord and he will lift you up. There is a promise that God will lift us up if we learn to humble ourselves. If we learn to rely on him, have faith in God and trust him, then he will exalt us in due time. You don't need to go to Proverbs, chapter 18, verse 12, but here it says, before honor is humility. Before honor, it says it a couple of different times in the Bible in the book of Proverbs, before honor is humility.

Those who are typically honored, oftentimes they're humble people.

Before honor is humility. Micah 6, verse 8. Micah 6, verse 8. What does the Lord, the eternal require but to do justly, to love mercy and to walk humbly with God?

What is the greatest example of humility that you can think of? The greatest example of humility that you can think of.

Well, I'm sure many of you have thought of the example of the Word, the Logos, the spokesman, who was willing to become flesh and the Father who loved the world so much that he gave his only begotten Son. Even though God is all-powerful, God is also clothed with humility. God says the perfect example for us. When you think about the Word, the Logos, the spokesman, and also the one we know as the Father, they were together forever. In the beginning was the Word, the Word was with God, the Word was God. They were together for eternity. That's what we understand in the Bible. There were two beings in the God family.

In the course of whatever, in eternity, the Father was willing to have the Word become flesh, to be born of a virgin, to become flesh, obviously conceived of the Holy Spirit, the Father being the Father. And then he was willing to give his Son to die for each and every one of us sinners. The wages of sin is death. The only one that didn't deserve death was Jesus Christ. Of course, the Father, because the Father's never sinned, but Jesus Christ had never sinned.

The wages of sin is death. He deserved to live, but he instead laid his life down for all of us, because we have all sinned. And only Christ could be that perfect sacrifice for us.

And again, for God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten Son.

Now let's go to Philippians 2. We'll read a number of verses together here. In the context of this formula that we're talking about today, seeking for unity. When I look back at the 40-plus years I've had in God's Church, we have an interesting history in the Church of God. I went by Ambassador College today, where I went to school, and the Ambassador Auditorium is still there. But we don't have a whole lot to do with it any longer.

I think we should try to learn from history, try to learn from the mistakes that have been made.

Again, if this formula had always been followed carefully by everyone who called themselves a true Christian, I think we would have a different history.

The fact is, there has been a lack of integrity in God's Church over the years. There has been a lack of humility, and we have suffered as a people because of it. We've suffered as a Church. Christ is the head of this Church, but he doesn't make us. He doesn't force us to follow him. Christ is not divided.

We are the ones that have chosen to divide from Christ. We are the ones that need to take responsibility. Each and every one of us needs to take responsibility for themselves.

Let's go to Philippians 2. Again, let's read some of this together and consider this. Philippians 2. We'll start in verse 5.

Here Paul writes, Let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus, who, being in the form of God, he was God.

He did not consider it robbery to be equal with God, but made himself of no reputation, taking the form of a bond servant, and coming in the likeness of men, coming in the flesh. And being found in appearance as a man, he humbled himself and became obedient to the point of death, even the death of the cross. Therefore God also has highly exalted him and given him the name, which is above every name, that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow of those in heaven, of those on earth, and of those under the earth, and that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord to the glory of God the Father. Therefore, my beloved, as you have always obeyed, not as in my presence only, but now much more in my absence, work out your own salvation with fear and trembling. This is what Paul is telling the brethren there in Philippi. He's telling them to work out their own salvation with fear and with trembling. To not take it lightly, but to get serious about your calling. What is God doing in your life? Has he called you?

If he has, are you doing your utmost to answer that call? Are you single-minded in answering that call? Or have you been too double-minded over the years?

Have you perhaps set a poor example in some areas of your life? Because you're just not as committed as you need to be. I have to ask myself the same questions.

Work out your own salvation with fear and trembling for it is God who works in you both to will and to do for his good pleasure. Do all things without complaining and disputing. Is that what we've seen in the history of God's Church? Every member doing all things without grumbling, without disputing, without complaining? That's what Paul said the Church at Philippi was to do. Stop the grumbling, stop the complaining, stop the whining, and get on board. Follow Christ. Follow his example. Don't make excuses for sowing discord.

That you may become blameless and harmless. Children of God without fault. In the midst of a crooked and perverse generation. Today is a crooked and a perverse generation as well. It's easy to compromise. It's easy to let the world's example rub off on us and not take it as seriously as we should. Holding fast the word of life. It goes on to say that we should shine as light in the world. Holding fast the word of life so that I may rejoice in the day of Christ that I have not run in vain or labored in vain. Yes, and if I am being poured out as a drink offering on the sacrifice and service of your faith, I am glad and rejoice with you all for the same reason you also be glad and rejoice with me.

I think that's far enough. I think here it truly does show how we are to be wholehearted, single-minded. We are to be whole and upright in our service to God. We're to have integrity, but we're also to have humility. Again, take responsibility for ourselves. Follow the example of God and Jesus Christ who were willing to lay themselves down for us. I gave a sermon not long ago entitled, Saved by Grace. In it, I talked about how God is the one who grants us grace. He grants us favor. We are truly saved by grace. There's no law-keeping that will ever save any of us, but we are saved by grace and favor as one who bends or stoops in kindness to an inferior. That's what God is doing. He is stooping in kindness. That's what humility is all about. Here's the great God of heaven and earth. And in a sense, He's stooping to give us eternal life. He sent His Son to die for us. I mean, that's humility. To send someone who was perfect, who had never sinned, who He had spent eternity with. Talk about love. There's no greater love than the love that the Father had for the Word, the Logos, the spokesman throughout eternity. And then Jesus Christ looked to Him. He prayed to His Father when He was here on the earth in the flesh. God bends or stoops in kindness to an inferior when He grants us grace, when He grants us favor. That's the kind of example that God has set for us. Humility is rightly submitting to others in an effort to gain peace and unity. We should think about the next time we're challenged.

I'm not saying compromise with God's law. Never compromise with God's law or God's truth. But if it's appropriate, then perhaps if you could submit to someone else in humility to gain greater peace, to gain greater unity, again without compromise and integrity, that is what we should strive to do and be more humble in our approach one to another.

Let's go to 2 Chronicles 7 and let's consider what God says to King Solomon here in regard to unity. He actually doesn't mention this formula per se, but I think we can see the elements of this formula with God speaking here to King Solomon. 2 Chronicles 7.

We know that David was not allowed to build the temple because David was warlike and God did not allow him because even though God will come back and war against those who rebel against him, he is not a God of war. He is a God of love. 2 Chronicles 7. 2 Chronicles 7.

Let's read verse 12.

So in this I see the formula.

We need help. God has promised that he will intervene. He can heal us individually. He can heal us collectively as a church, as a people. The more integrity we have, the more humility that we are clothed with, the greater unity we will have as God's church. And I believe the greater blessings and the greater peace we will enjoy.

But if we continue down the same path we've been on, for many years, we will continue to see the same thing happen over and over again. We will see more splits in God's church. We will see more division. We will see more discord.

We will see more pride. But if everyone would humble themselves and seek to truly obey God and have integrity, then I know we would have greater unity. So this is what I've been preaching on now, and I'm probably going to be going around the country preaching this sermon. I've done it several times already. To me, this is one of the most important messages that we could talk about in God's church. I really believe that if we would all take ownership and strive to live by this formula, we'll have greater unity in the future, in the days ahead. We can go to the Scriptures. We can look at the example of Josiah and Hezekiah. Let's go to 2 Chronicles 34. There weren't many good kings in the house of Israel. Not a single one that you would consider a good king. They were all wicked. They were all evil. In 2 Chronicles 34, there were a few good kings of the house of Judah. 2 Chronicles 34, verse 27. Josiah was a young man when he began to obey and serve God.

In 2 Chronicles 34, verse 27, and I don't have the time to go through all the history, but it's a fascinating history of how Josiah restored the true worship. I mean, the temple had been neglected. They weren't even keeping the Holy Days. I mean, there was so much disarray. There was even debris in the temple that it had been neglected pitifully. So Josiah begins to change things. In 2 Chronicles 34, verse 27, it says, this is God speaking to the king of Judah. He says, Because your heart was tender, and you humbled yourself before God, when you heard his words against this place, and against its inhabitants, and you humbled yourself before me, and you tore your clothes, and you wept before me, I also have heard you, says the Lord. So here's a king who is admitting the sins of the children of Israel, of his own sins. He humbled himself before God. God heard him. God intervened. Verse 28, Surely I will gather you to your fathers, and you shall be gathered to your grave in peace, and your eyes shall not see all the calamity which I will bring on this place and its inhabitants. God had already determined that, just like the house of Israel had gone into captivity because of their sins, they had been taken off into Assyria, that the house of Judah would also be taken captive into Babylon. But not in Josiah's time, because Josiah humbled himself.

Josiah admitted his sin, and a difference was made, and God intervened.

Another good example is King Hezekiah in 2 Kings chapter 18. We see that Hezekiah humbles himself as well before God. 2 Kings chapter 18 verse 5. Speaking of Hezekiah, it says, He trusted in the Lord, God of Israel, so that after him was none like him among all the kings of Judah, nor who were before him. For he held fast to the LORD. He did not depart from following him, but kept his commandments, which the LORD had commanded Moses. And the LORD was with him, the Eternal was with him, and he prospered wherever he went. And he rebelled against the king of Assyria, and did not serve him. So here's a man who trusts God enough to rebel against a very powerful king. From a human standpoint, this king of Assyria was having his way all the time.

But he would not serve him. So he subdued the Philistines as far as Gaza and its territory, from Watt's Tower to Fortified City. Now it came to pass, in the fourth year of King Hezekiah, which was the seventh year of Hosea, the son of Elah, the king of Israel, that Shalmaneser, the king of Assyria, came up against Samaria and besieged it.

And at the end of three years, they took it, in the sixth year of Hezekiah, that is, the ninth year of Hosea, the king of Israel, Samaria was taken. Then the king of Assyria carried Israel away, captive to Assyria, and put them in Halah and by the Habor, the river of Gozan, and in the cities of the Medes. So they were taken into captivity because they did not obey the voice of the Lord their God, but transgressed his covenant, and all that Moses the servant of the Lord had commanded, and they would neither hear nor do them. And then if we drop down to verse 19, here it says, Then the Rabshakah said to them, saying out of Hezekiah, Thus says the great king, the king of Assyria, what confidence is this in which you trust? So I don't have time to go through the whole story here, but the Rabshakah basically went to the people and warned them about following Hezekiah, and trusting in the God who could not deliver them, because no other God had delivered anyone from the king of Assyria. The king of Assyria was the most powerful king. He always had victory.

So the Rabshakah tries to put fear into the people. Hezekiah had told them not to speak out, but to trust God to have faith. The bottom line is 185 or 186,000 soldiers were lying dead because God struck them dead, because God intervened. And he upheld a king who humbled himself, who sought humility and was also a man of integrity.

It can make huge changes. God will bless us if we are pleasing to Him. So I believe that the history of the United Church of God can be far different from this point forward if everyone would just be worthy of their calling.

We need to be worthy of our calling. If God has called you, then if He's called me, then we all need to be worthy of that calling, which simply means to humble ourselves, because none of us are truly worthy. When we go to the Passover, we realize that we're not worthy, but God deems us worthy because He looks at our heart. And God looks and He sees what's inside of us. And just how dedicated are we? How committed are we?

Then we can go before God and we can take the Passover in a worthy manner if we've humbled ourselves. And if we are now walking in integrity, isn't it interesting that the Passover follows the same formula? Integrity plus humility equals unity. We are restored at the Passover.

When we go before God, when we admit our sins, we confess our sins before Him, we drink a little bit of wine that's symbolic of the sacrifice of our Savior, Jesus Christ. We accept Christ as our Savior. We humble ourselves. We take in a little unleavened bread because we realize that we're part of a greater church, the Church of God. We all take a little bit of unleavened bread from essentially the same loaf around the world. We are the body of Christ. We are to walk in an unleavened manner. We are to have integrity. If we will do this, we will see greater unity. Let's go to Ephesians 4 for a moment. Ephesians 4. Ephesians 4. Let's read in verse 1. Ephesians 4. Here Paul says, I beseech, I therefore the prisoner of the Lord, beseech you to walk worthy of the calling with which you were called.

He's talking to the Church at Ephesus and intriguing them to walk worthy with all lowliness and gentleness. That's humility. 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.

If we drop down to verse 11, and he himself gave some to be apostles, some prophets, some evangelists, some pastors and teachers for the equipping of the saints, for the work of ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ, it's for the sake of God's Church that the ministry serves. That's what a true minister does. He serves God first and foremost, and then he serves God's people as he helps equip them for the return of our Savior Jesus Christ, till we all come to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God to a perfect man or woman, I might add, to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ, that we should no longer be children tossed to and fro and carried about with every wind of doctrine by the trickery of men in the cunning craftiness of deceitful plotting, but speaking the truth in love may grow up in all things into him who is the head. There's no question that Christ is the head of this church. Christ has always been the head of his church, that Christ does not force any of us to walk worthy of his calling. Christ does not cause any of us to walk worthy of his calling. That's a choice that we make. It's a choice that you make. And that's been true for the last 70-80 years of the modern history of God's church. We'll all stand before God. We will all have to be held accountable for our choices, for the decisions that we make, for our hearts, from whom the whole body joined and knit together by what every joint supplies, according to the effect of working by which every part does its share, it causes growth of the body for the edifying of itself in love. So we all essentially build up the church by setting the right example of love, of compassion, of obedience, of faithfulness, of humility. It's not rocket science. This is not a difficult formula in one sense. It's not difficult to understand. Integrity plus humility does equal unity. And the Bible is full of examples of how this works. True integrity, true humility, equals true unity. In 1 Corinthians chapter 1 and 1 Corinthians chapter 3, it talks about how there were divisions in the church at Corinth. Most of us are familiar with what it talks about. It talks about how one person says he's of Apollos. Another person says he's of Paul. Another person claims to be of Jesus Christ. But there's division because people are following someone other than Christ. We are all to follow Christ. He is the head of this church. He is our Savior.

I gave a sermon not too long ago about how essential it is that we all come to Christ before His coming.

We all need to come to Jesus Christ and understand who He is and what our calling is all about. Learning to walk worthy of that calling because God hates division. God hates rebellion.

We need to learn to walk in integrity and humility and enjoy the unity that comes from that. Let's go to one last scripture in 1 Peter chapter 2. 1 Peter chapter 2 verse 20. This was a scripture that was really important to me back in 2010. You may remember what was going on around that time. 2010.

Well, let's start reading in verse 18. Servants be submissive to your masters with all fear, not only to the good and gentle. The fact of the matter was that this was a common thing that there were slaves in Rome. Back in the time the Roman Empire was ruling the world at the time.

The instruction here, Peter is giving servants be submissive to your masters with all fear, not only to the good and gentle, but also to the harsh. For this is commendable if because of conscience toward God one endures grief suffering wrongfully. For what credit is it if when you are beaten for your faults that you take it patiently? There's no credit if you have it coming, if you deserve to be treated in such a way, then there's no great credit for you there. For what credit is it when you are beaten for your faults, you take it patiently, but when you do good and suffer, if you take it patiently, this is commendable before God. There will be times when we may have to suffer when it really wasn't any fault of our own. There are times when that may happen. Certainly, we can try to make the truth known, and we should try to make the truth known as best we can. But when you do good and suffer, if you take it patiently, this is commendable before God. For to this you were called because Christ also suffered for us, leaving us an example that you should follow His steps, who committed no sin, nor was deceit found in His mouth, who when He was reviled did not revile in return, when He suffered He did not threaten, but committed Himself to Him who judges righteously, who Himself bear our sins in His own body on the tree, that we, having died to sins, might live for righteousness by whose stripes you were healed.

For you were like sheep going astray, but have now returned to the shepherd and overseer of your souls. Jesus Christ does look out for us. He is the great shepherd. The sheep hear His voice.

If you suffer wrongfully and you take it patiently, God says it's commendable. If you rise up in rebellion, that's not so commendable.

And sometimes when people claim to be suffering wrongfully, when really they aren't, they are just not willing to seek peace and pursue it earnestly.

So, as God's people, I hope every one of us will go forward taking maybe a bit more responsibility for themselves in the future.

Again, ask yourself, am I doing all that I can do to live at peace? Am I doing all that I can do to humble myself?

Or am I lashing back more than I should?

Am I walking in integrity? Am I really setting the right example?

Parents should set godly examples of integrity and humility for their children. Their children should see that the parents are devoted to God first, and then devoted to them, to taking care of them, to loving them.

And then children should also walk in integrity themselves. Children should be obedient to their parents. The Bible says this is good when the children obey their parents and follow them. That is what God does expect of our children. So, at work, what about your example at work? Are you setting an example of integrity at work? Are you being honest? Are you hardworking?

And also, are you setting an example of humility at work? Just because there isn't someone at church, or from church, seeing your example doesn't mean it's okay to be known as a haughty person where you work. You know, we should humble ourselves before our employers, because we don't have to work for them. It's your choice. You can go somewhere else.

So, you know, you should treat your employer with respect or get another job. If you can't treat him with respect, then find somewhere else to work.

Set an example of humility, yielding to the authority that's over you. So, the ministry should certainly set an example of integrity and humility in dealing with God's children. And I believe you've had a very good example of that here in this congregation, from what I've seen and from what I know.

So, I believe that God is definitely working with His children, working with His people today. I feel very good about the United Church of God. Personally, I think we have a bright future. I think all of you have a very, very bright future. You know, God has called you. You wouldn't be here if this wasn't important to you. You wouldn't be taking your Saturday and giving it to God. It's His Sabbath. It's your Saturday.

So, you give up your Saturday for His Sabbath.

That's good. Let's go to Psalm—I lied to you. One more scripture. Psalm 133. Psalm 133. We'll conclude with this.

Psalm 133, verse 1 through 3. Psalm 138, verse 1. Behold how good and how pleasant it is for brethren to dwell together in unity. It is like the precious oil upon the head, running down on the beard of Aaron, running down on the edge of his garments. It is like the dew of Eremon, or Mount Eremon, in the north, descending upon the mountains of Zion. For there, the eternal, the Lord, commanded the blessing, life forevermore. There is a tremendous blessing in being unified. Behold, how good and how pleasant it is for brethren to dwell together in unity. So, God has called all of us to be men, women, and children of integrity and of humility. And if we all practice true integrity and true humility, then there is going to be a lot more true unity. There will be a lot more peace in God's church. God will be pleased. And I believe God will begin to pour out more and more blessings upon his church. I believe the best days of God's church are still ahead of us. So, remember, brethren, integrity plus humility equals unity.

It's been a pleasure to be with all of you. I'm sure I'll see some of you tomorrow at the leadership workshop. I'm looking forward to that and look forward to getting to spend some time with you after church today.