Jailbirds for Jesus!!!

Eph 4:1
I therefore, the prisoner of the Lord, beseech you that ye walk worthy of the vocation wherewith ye are called,

Eph 4:2
With all lowliness and meekness, with longsuffering, forbearing one another in love;

Eph 4:3
Endeavouring to keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace.

Eph 4:4
[There is] one body, and one Spirit, even as ye are called in one hope of your calling;

Eph 4:5
One Lord, one faith, one baptism,

Eph 4:6
One God and Father of all, who [is] above all, and through all, and in you all.

In verse 1 of chapter 4, Paul uses an interesting title for himself, "The prisoner of the Lord." Paul knew what it was like to be a prisoner, especially for Jesus Christ!

• He was imprisoned in Ephesus.
• He was imprisoned in Philippi.
• He was imprisoned in Jerusalem.
• He was imprisoned in Rome.

Everywhere he went, there was a riot; he was assaulted; or he was thrown in jail. Why? He dared to preach a different King - one Jesus! He realized that compared with Christ and winning Him, EVERYTHING ELSE WAS DUNG/RUBBISH! But the verse doesn't say, "Paul, a prisoner FOR the Lord." It says, "Paul, the prisoner OF the Lord."

He realized that while the Roman Government, the Jews, and everyone else might try to imprison him and keep him from freedom. They couldn't! True freedom came from being the prisoner of the Lord! He was Christ's bondslave!

Tts 1:1
Paul, a servant of God, and an apostle of Jesus Christ,

Christ had truly set Him free! Because he was a prisoner of the Lord - Rome, the Jews, and no one else could stop Him or enslave Him! Sure, they might imprison Him, beat Him and leave him for dead! But they couldn't silence him, and whatever they did for evil, God turned it into the good of the furtherance of the Gospel.

Now, he says, "I beseech you, walk worthy of the vocation wherewith you were called." That brings us to the 2nd word of our trilogy in Ephesians: Sit, Walk and Stand. We are to sit in Heavenly places and rest in our position in Him. Then we are to walk worthy of that calling! The old-timers call it "fleshing it out." The Bible calls it "working it out." Anyway, if we are truly saved, we can't keep what's on the inside, inside for long. Eventually, just as cream rises to the top, what is on the inside of us has to make its way out to the outside! WE CANNOT KEEP IT IN! PEOPLE WILL SEE IT! We are to daily walk in a manner worthy of Christ and His name. When we are his prisoner, we do whatever he tells us to do. According to these verses, when we are Christ's prisoner, we forbear one another in love and endeavor to keep the unity of the Spirit. WE ARE ALL ON THE SAME TEAM AS BELIEVERS! Christ is the Head and we are His body. We are members one of another! We love one another, and we work in unity one with another! We pray for one another and bear one another's burdens! There's a weight that can only be carried by sharing it with a brother or sister in Christ. So let us remember that there is just One Lord, One Faith, and One Baptism! So, walk on, in unity with the Lord and other believers. Walk on, walk on for Jesus as His prisoner!