This hour we're gonna be in Ephesians chapter four, if you'd like to turn there. Ephesians chapter four. In man's eyes, there's many religions. And we know that to be true just by what we see. But men, regardless of their religion, they all believe the same thing that their final destination will be heaven. And it's based upon what they believe in.

You remember whenever Paul went to Athens, he saw the Stoics and the Epicureans, he saw they were all debating and going back and forth over things, and there were 12 statues there, 12 false gods. And on one of the inscriptions, first of all, Paul looked at them after he was there for a couple days, several days, and he says, I perceive that you're superstitious. Because you have this God just in case, and that God just in case, and at the very end, you have a statue that says, to the unknown God. He says, Him, I'm going to declare it to you. Him.

This morning in our text, these words are written, that is one Lord, one faith, and one baptism. And God be my helper, Him is who I want to speak to you about this morning as well. Let's read this together. Ephesians 4, 1-6 says, and one spirit, even as you're 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 I've titled this message, One Lord, One Faith, One Baptism.

There are not many lords, but one, and he's higher than the heavens. He's seated on a throne. The scripture says he reigneth. Why does it say reigneth, not reigns? Because it's continual. His kingdom is eternal. His throne is from everlasting to everlasting. He has dominion over all things, the inhabitants of the earth. He has purposed exactly where they are, when they were supposed to be there. He created all things by himself. He's Lord. He's sovereign. He's holy. He doesn't apologize, and he doesn't ask of your hand anything. He told the disciples, if I was hungry, I wouldn't ask you. I wouldn't tell you about it.

The Lord is self-sustaining, insomuch so that in order for you and I to be saved, he had to satisfy himself. He demanded perfection. You are not perfect, but He is. He is. He's the sovereign, successful, redeemer, and keeper of His elected people.

Turn with me to 1 Corinthians 1. 1 Corinthians 1. Listen to the one. Listen to the one Lord, what our great God has done. 1 Corinthians 1, 18-31. For the preaching of the cross is to them that perish foolishness, but unto us which are saved it is the power of God. For it is written, I will destroy the wisdom of the wise and will bring to nothing the understanding of the prudent. Where is the wise, where is the scribe, where is the disputer of this world? Hath not God made foolish the wisdom of this world?

Men by wisdom in their religion believe that they know something about how to get to God. You remember the Tower of Babel? Those men gathered together and said, we're gonna make a tower to God. That's all false religion is what that is. And what did they do? Well, they put bricks together and they put slime or pitch, as it's called, the same stuff that they put on the ark. The problem was, I was a little bit foolish of them to do that, because this is the middle of a desert. You know what slime does when it gets hot? It melts. So they probably wouldn't think that through very good, did they?

What'd the Lord do? He confused their language. Why? No man come to the father, but by the Lord Jesus Christ. That's why. That's why. So he has made the wisdom of this world, foolishness, foolishness. I look at verse 21 for after that in the wisdom of God, the world by wisdom, do not God, it pleased God, but the foolishness of preaching to save them that believe. For the Jews require a sign, and the Greeks seek after wisdom. And those are two classic categories of people. That's the religious, and that is the ones that seek after physical knowledge, ones that seek after, there's a religion called Scientology. That would be a perfect example of what it is. That's your two differences right there, the irreligious that seek after knowledge.

But we preach Christ crucified unto the Jews a stumbling block and unto the Greeks foolishness. but under them which are called both Jews and Greeks, Christ, the power of God and the wisdom of God, because the foolishness of God is wiser than men and the weakness of God is stronger than men.

For you see your calling, brethren, not many wise men after the flesh, not many mighty, not many noble are called, but God has chosen the foolish things of the world to confound the wise, and God has chosen the weak things of the world to confound the things which are mighty, and the base things of the world And the things which are despised hath God chosen, yea, things that are not, to bring to naught the things that are, that no flesh, here's the reason for all of it, that no flesh should glory in his presence.

But of him are ye in Christ Jesus, who of God is made unto us wisdom, righteousness, and sanctification and redemption. that according as it is written, he that glorieth let him glory in the one Lord, the Lord.

This is what our God had done. He has chosen the foolish things according to men to bring to naught the things which are not. He's chosen to do that. What am I talking about? He's chosen the foolishness of preaching. You say preaching is foolish. It is to the irreligious and to the false religious. because they hate the truth. The preaching of the Gospel reveals what we are by nature and that He is absolutely sovereign. That He is absolutely judge and Lord. He's the King. He's the Alpha and the Omega, the beginning and the end, the first and the last. As the Revelation says, He's the one which was, which is, which is to come. He's the same yesterday, today, and forever. He changes not. No man can say unto Him, what doest thou? Or stay His hand. He's the potter, as the scripture says in Romans chapter nine. And that's not how the potter power over the clay to make one lump to honor and another to dishonor. He is sovereign Lord of this universe, the sovereign Lord.

Remember that song we just sung? I don't think it was, that was the first one we sung, the Lord is king and bow to him. You must. That's what it says, bow to him, you must. He says this, that one day every knee will bow and every tongue will confess that Jesus Christ is what? Lord. Lord to the glory of God the Father. And if you're given grace by God, he'll give you faith to do that now. You can bow through the eyes of faith right now, confessing Jesus Christ is Lord. But that's the only way you can bow, on this side. That's the only way you can bow. But every knee's gonna bow and every tongue's gonna confess that he is Lord.

Men hate to hear about God, the true God, because they don't want to think that they don't have something to do with their salvation. But salvation's of the Lord. It's not by me, not by the will of man, not by the will of the flesh, not by blood, but of God. His blood, His will, His power. If God has all the power, how much is left for me? How much is left for you?

I love it when he says, all power is given to me, both in heaven and on earth. By who? By the father. Father gave the son all power, both in heaven and on earth. He can do whatever he wants to with whoever he wants to, when he wants to do it. Nobody can do anything about it. He's God. And boy, that makes the flesh frustrated whenever we see it.

Boy, I tell you, the good news is, is the new man then created in righteousness, created in Christ, leaps for joy when it hears about this sovereign creator and sustainer of all life, the one that has proven because he's the one that created and carried out salvation, the one that caused it to come to be. And everyone that he intended to save, he saved. I can't mess it up. That's why I love him being Lord. If I could mess it up, he wouldn't be Lord, I would be Lord. If I could do anything to counteract anything he tried or anything that he did, then it would just be an attempt and he failed. I would be Lord. But no, he's Lord. He's Lord. He is the successful redeemer of his chosen people.

I love the thought that he chose, therefore it is. He chose to speak it into existence. Let there be light. And there was light. Can you explain that? Because me and you can't do that. We can't. I mean, some of us wish we probably could let there be this or let there be that. See, his will is sovereign. I mean, his word is truth. Accomplishes exactly what it's supposed to accomplish. He's Lord in election, He's Lord in redemption, He's Lord in regeneration, He's Lord in justification, He's Lord in sanctification, He's Lord in righteousness. He's the one true Lord. He's the one true Lord of His elected, purchased people, and we love it that way, don't we? We love it that way.

Go back to Ephesians chapter four. Verse four, there is one body and one spirit even as you are 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. Notice his lordship. He's above all and through all and in you all. Scripture tells us in John chapter one that all things were made by him and without him there was not anything made that was made. He's above all. That means he's over it, he's in charge, he's the boss. Nobody can do anything about it. Nobody can do anything about it. All the armies of the earth are reputed as nothing unto him. And I've already said most of my notes here so I'm trying to get called up.

So, first point was, he's the Lord. He's the Lord, and we love it that way. We love him being God, being the Lord. Didn't seem like that in false religion. Didn't seem like that till he opened up our eyes. Everybody else, they see a baby Jesus meek and mild. They don't see God manifest in the flesh. The triune Godhead, the fullness of the Godhead bodily, that's who Christ was. He was God. In the fullness of the word, and I'll say this, if the Lord has given you the ability to believe that Jesus Christ is God, you're a believer. You're a believer, because you can only believe that by faith.

Which brings us to our second point. Verse five, there's one Lord, one faith. One faith. What faith is he talking about? Well, there's different kinds of faith. But he's talking about spiritual things here. There's one faith, spiritually speaking. Physically speaking, there's faith. You have faith right now that that bench is gonna hold you up. That's right. You have faith that that bench is not gonna collapse. You can also say that you're trusting what you see as well, though, so that's not really faith, because you see it looks like it's built pretty good and it's held up for 100 years, so it's probably gonna hold one more day. That's not saving faith, though, is it?

is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen. The only way you and I can believe God, the only way you and I can look and see God as he is and see us as we are and believe him and hope in him as all of our wisdom, all of our righteousness, all of our sanctification, all our redemptions, if God gives us faith to do so. If he doesn't give faith, we'll never believe him. He's not looking for my good works. He's looking for the blood and therefore he sees the faith of Jesus Christ bestowed that believes him.

Think of faith as the breath of the new man. It's the best way I could think of it. The breath. It's the evidence of life. The evidence of life. Not the cause. It's the evidence of life. The Lord says live and gives faith simultaneously. That's repentance and faith. That's what that is.

I've said this before as an example, and I like using examples. I'm a little bit backwards, unlearned, all that good stuff. So simple examples help me the most. When a baby is born, and there are different circumstances. I understand that, but just bear with me. When a child is born, does it breathe to become alive? Or does it breathe because it is alive? No, the doctor picks it up and smacks it on the behind. It goes, wah, first time it cries, right? That's evidence that it's alive.

in. This is what faith is. Faith is the gift of God. Faith is the gift of God by grace alone. It's not merited, it's not earned, it can't be bought, can't be sold. I can't find it and I can't get rid of it if he gives it to me. Isn't that glorious? I can't lose it. I can't lose it. I love saying things like that because I I lose everything. I mean, I lost my keys this morning, couldn't find them. I would lose it, but I can't lose the faith of the Lord Jesus Christ if it's given to me. Why? Because he said, I'll never leave you and I'll never forsake you. He's faithful. See, it's not my faithfulness, it's his faithfulness. It's not my faith, it's his faith bestowed freely by his grace.

And the scripture says, for by grace are you saved through faith in that not of yourself. It's the gift of God, not of works. Lest any man should boast there's one Lord and there's one faith. Faith, look at what it says in verse four. There's one body and one spirit, even as you are called in the hope of your calling. Faith believes that there's one body, the church. There's one body. Made up of many members, but it's one body with one cardinal head, the Lord Jesus Christ. He is the head of the church. Faith believes that. Faith believes that. Faith comes from our covenant head and it is his faith bestowed. God's not looking for my faith. God's not seeing how faithful I am. He's looking to the faithfulness of the Lord Jesus Christ. He's looking for the faith of Christ.

Everything God requires. I'm going to say this, Lord willing, until the day I die, because this is so clear. Everything God requires, he must provide. Because he only accepts what he provides. He only accepts what he provides. He only accepts himself. Somebody said that's not fair. The most amazing part is that he chose to provide a lamb himself. That's the amazing part.

It doesn't, well, it doesn't confuse me at all why he would hate Esau or hate you and I and send us all to hell, but thanks be to God for his mercy and his grace and his love where when he loved us and hath given us Christ to be our surety, our substitute, to be our portion.

Now this is saving faith we're talking about. Only God gives it to his elect, all by grace. And ask yourself, anytime a man talks about faith, ask these questions. Whose faith is it? Men will say these words, you need to put your faith in the Lord. You need to trust in the Lord. The Lord's not looking for my trust. He's not looking for my faith. Whose faith is it? It's the faith of Jesus Christ. It's his faith. Where does it come from? It comes from him. He's the source and the substance of it. And finally, who gets all the glory for it? who gets all the glory for it. If I get any glory in what I'm declaring as my faith now, whether I'm saying it's bestowed or it's mine individually, if I get any glory for it whatsoever, that's not saving faith. He gets all the glory for the saving faith.

This faith comes from him, looks to him and gives God all the glory in all things. Faith is the only way that you can believe God over yourself. Did you know that what the Lord does when he gives faith is you literally Take sides with God against yourself. You're literally, not only do you surrender yourself, but you come to him saying, Lord, I'm the man. I'm the guilty one. I'm the sinner. I'm guilty. We have no, what does that song say? We have no other argument. We have no other plea. It is enough that Jesus died and that he died for me.

Another song says in my hand, no price I bring. What are we clinging to? Are we clinging to what we do or looking at ourself? Are we clinging to Him? No, we literally sell ourself out. We confess everything. We don't hide anything. He already knows it anyways. But we're made to confess, Lord, I am the chief sinner. Have mercy on me, the sinner. If you don't have mercy on me, I won't be saved. But faith says, give me Christ, lest I die, lest I die.

Faith believes God over self. Faith enables us to confess that we are undone, that we need a substitute, that we're desolate, that we're dead dog sinners. Causes us to flee to Christ, pleading his life, his death, his burial, his resurrection as our only hope of eternal life, our only hope of righteousness before the throne of God. This is the hope of our calling.

Which brings us to our final point. One baptism. There's one Lord, one faith, one baptism. Now what is he talking about baptism? He's talking about the baptism that we have here? Yes and no. Yes and no, but there's only one. He's talking about the baptism of the cross. See, the Lord's people were baptized in Christ on the cross. That just represents that happening. That's all that that is. That is a confession of what happened on the cross. What happened on the cross? Well, Christ being our substitute surety, took our place on the cross. But we being in Him, and Him being in us, everything He endured was given to our account, was put down on our account. We have a new record before God. Our record was wiped clean, and now all that's written on the record is perfectly righteous, holy, just, sanctified, justified. That's a new record, brand new record. And it's not as if we never sinned, that's not what justified means. Justified means that you've never committed one sin as long as you've lived. Can somebody explain that to me? We can't see that, but faith can. Why? Because the source that it looks to is the Lord Jesus Christ, believing Him alone.

We were baptized in Him on the cross. We died in Him. We endured hell in Him by substitution. And because of our glorious substitute, our hope, And our only confession is that when he died, we died. The wrath of God beat upon him. We were in the ark, as I said, the first hour and all those wave after wave of the wrath hitting the Lord and his soul being made an offering for sin that was due us. We were in him safe from the wrath of God, safe. When God made his soul a sin offering, he made us his righteousness, putting away the sin of his people. That is baptism.

Scripture says, no, you're not. When you're baptized, you were baptized into his death, into his death. We went down with him in the grave. We were resurrected with him when he was resurrected. Now he has conquered death, hell, and the grave. And because we are in him, we're more than conquerors in him. We're more than conquerors in him. That's what this represents. It represents the confession that when he died, I died. That when he lived, I lived. When he was buried, I was buried. When he was resurrected, I was resurrected.

Why is that my confession? Because God is not going to be pleased with me dying. I won't be resurrected. But he was pleased with him. We're confessing that that's what I must have is him alone. Him alone. Or I have no hope of salvation whatsoever. No hope. If you're made to believe that his life is your righteousness, that his death is your justification, that his resurrection is proof of your redemption, that there is nothing but the blood you want God to see when he looks at you because the blood is the only thing whereby he has said, when I see the blood, I will pass by you. If you believe that, that means the Lord has given you faith to believe. And you know what he says? Repent and be baptized, that's what he says. The Lord says, be baptized in the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Ghost. This is the confession of the true baptism. This is the confession of the true baptism.

But why do we do it publicly? Why do we do it publicly? Why do we get married? Let's start with that. It's a confession. I know some people have arranged marriages, so I'm not talking about them. There's always somebody that's going to send me a letter or something. I had an arranged marriage. I didn't love my spouse. Well, I didn't. I fell in love at a very young age, and we're still in love. And I married her. And I confess that to everybody. I married to her. Why? Because I love her. I love her.

Was it to be in front of everybody and get attention? No, actually, the attention's on the bride. She's the one dressed up. I was just wearing tux, a black tux. The attention's all on her. So why do it? Well, we are confessing Christ before God and men. Well, why do it before men? Well, because it's embarrassing to the flesh to do it. It's embarrassing to the flesh to do it. And yet the new man rejoices when it does it. The new man rejoices in so much that you don't even think about the embarrassment of it, truly.

It confesses to your brethren I believe that there's one Lord, one faith, and one baptism. It confesses to your brethren that Christ is all in salvation, that if he didn't do all the electing, all the redeeming, all the regenerating, and all the keeping, I have no hope of eternal life. I have no hope of redemption. I have no hope of holiness before his throne. It confesses that I've got to have the blood, or I have no hope. It gives him all the, it glorifies God. That's what it does. It gives God all the glory. All the glory and salvation. It literally is saying, Lord, you have done it all. You have done it all.

It's not a selfish look at me, but it's a selfless act that says look to Christ. It's a selfless act that says look to Christ. Don't look to me. Don't look to me. Look to Christ. That's who I'm confessing. That's who I'm confessing him.

It also encourages the brethren that there's another elect child of God that believes there's one Lord, one faith, one baptism. The Lord's still calling his sheep. Isn't it such an encouragement when you see your brethren, a brother or sister, confess him? It just reminds us of how merciful and how faithful our God can be to save wretched, vile sinners like us. That's what it reminds us of. That's what it reminds us of.

God's still calling his people out of darkness into his glorious light. He's still saving sinners as he promised he always would. We don't doubt that he would. It sure is nice to be reminded though, isn't it? We forget to remember sometimes, but we're just thankful that he does.

It's evidence of things not seen that there's been a heart change. That's another reason. You're saying you can't see it, but the Lord's given me faith to believe. In the eyes of men, there are many ways to God, many different religions. That's how I started this message. But there's only one Lord, there's only one faith, and there's only one baptism.

Thanks be to God, our Lord is that Lord, and it's his faith, and we were baptized in him on the cross of Calvary for his elect.

Let's pray. Father, we're thankful that it's just one Lord, one faith, one baptism, and you get all the glory. Bless us to our understanding for your glory in Christ's name. Amen.

Turn with me to number 22.