Ephesians chapter 4. I'm taking
the text and the title from verse 6. One God. Ephesians 4 verse
6. One God and Father of all, who
is above all, through all, and in you all. One God. There is one God. He said repeatedly,
we read in Isaiah 45, I am the Lord, there is none else. There
is no God beside me. He's the only just God and Savior.
God who is our God and Savior is the absolute Lord, sovereign
Lord and King of all the earth, of all the universe, of everything
and over everything in heaven, in earth, There is only one eternal,
infinite, holy, omnipotent God who rules and reigns over all
things. God is the absolute God of all
the earth. We studied recently from Psalm
93, talked about the Lord reigneth. The Lord reigneth. He is clothed
with majesty. The Lord is clothed with strength,
wherewith he hath girded himself. The world also shall be established,
and it cannot be moved. The Lord Jesus Christ is our
God and Savior, and He is the only just God who rules and reigns
over all things. Our Lord said, All power is given
unto me in heaven and on earth. The Lord does reign and rule. He said in John 17, The Father
has given me power over all flesh, and I should give eternal life
to as many as the Father hath given to me. Now, I want to work
on these verses here. Verses 4, where it says, There
is one body, one spirit, even as you are called, and one hope
of your calling. One Lord, one faith, one baptism,
one God, one Lord, one faith, one baptism, one God and Father
of all. Now, you got the idea here? One. There's just one gospel. There's
just one God. There's just one Savior. He is
the Lord Jesus Christ. Believers are eager and willing
and encouraged to keep the unity of the Holy Spirit in the bond
of peace and to do this out of love. But back to verse 1, Ephesians
4, I therefore the prisoner of the Lord, beseech you that you
walk worthy of the vocation or the calling wherewith you are
called. We've been called out of darkness into His marvelous
light, and do so with all humility of mind. Lowliness. meekness,
knowing everything we have, everything we are, everything that will
ever be is by the grace of God, every blessing we have, with
lowliness, humbleness of mind, meekness, long-suffering, forbearing
one another in love, endeavoring, this is something we're to work
on, endeavoring to keep the unity of the Spirit and do so in the
bond of peace. Now look over in the same chapter,
Ephesians 4, verse 32. Be ye kind one toward another,
tenderhearted, forgiving one another, even as God, for Christ's
sake, hath forgiven you. Love one another, forgive one
another, walk in lowliness of mind with meekness and long-suffering,
forbearing one another, forgiving one another, and loving one another,
endeavoring to keep this unity of a spirit, and do so in the
bond of peace. Our Lord said, you shall know
that you are my disciples, that you love one another. There is
a blessed oneness and unity between Christ and His people. They are one. Every member of
His body is vitally joined to Him, and being vitally joined
to Him, they are united to each other. Their hearts are knit
together in love and to Christ. Notice right across the page
in Ephesians chapter 4, Verse 15, speaking the truth in love,
may grow up into him in all things, which is the head, even Christ,
from whom the whole body fitly joined together, and united by
that which every joint supplieth according to the effectual working
in the measure of every part, make it increase to the body
unto the edifying of itself, and again, it's in love. Faith,
hope, and love, the greatest of these is love. Love one to
another. Join together in Christ and to
one another. Our Lord prayed this in John
17. We read this last week. That they all may be one, as
thou, Father, art in me, and I in thee, that they also may
be one in us, that the world may believe that thou hast sent
me, and the glory which thou gavest me I have given them,
that they may be one. as we are one. We are members
one of another. We're in the same body, the Lord
Jesus Christ, and He is the Head, and we're members, every one
in that body. Now these next verses, verses
4, 5, 6, and 7. The Apostle gives us seven valid,
blessed reasons we are to walk worthy of the calling where we've
been called, and to strive to keep the unity of the Spirit,
and do so striving to keep the unity and this bond of love,
this bond of peace. Because there is, here's the
first one, verse 4, there is one body. There is one body. Now he's talking here about the
church. The church of the Lord Jesus
Christ. Our Lord said in Matthew 16, I will build my church, and
the gates of hell shall not prevail against my church. The church
of the Lord Jesus Christ is His body. He is the head, and believers
are members of that one body. You remember back in chapter
1, turn over there, chapter 1, Verse 20 talks about the resurrection
of the Lord Jesus Christ from the dead. Ephesians 1 verse 20,
"...set Him at His own right hand in heavenly places, far
above all principality and power and might and dominion, and every
name that is named, not only in this world, but also that
which is to come, and put all things under His feet, gave Him
to be head over all things to the church, which is His body."
His body, the fullness of Him that filleth all in all. We had this again over in chapter
2. Turn over there. In chapter 2,
verse 16, 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 far off and to them which were nigh.
Through him we both have access by one Spirit unto the Father.
Now therefore you are no more strangers and foreigners, but
fellow citizens with the saint and of the household of God.
And this house is built upon the foundation that God had laid,
which is the Lord Jesus Christ." Now there is one church Now,
there are many local congregations, right? There are many what they
call denominations, and there's a lot of those. There are local
congregations, there are local assemblies, but there is one
body. There is one church of which
the Lord Jesus Christ is the head, Lord, and Savior of His
body. Look over at chapter 5, Ephesians
chapter 5, Look at verse 23. For the husband
is the head of the wife, even as Christ is the head of the
church, and He is the Savior of the body. The Lord loved the
church. Therefore, as the church is subject
unto Christ, so let the wives be their own husbands and everything.
Husbands, love your wives, even as Christ also loved the church,
and He gave Himself for His body. He laid down His life for His
body, for His church. So He is the Savior. He is the
Savior of His body. There has been one church, talking
about all those who have been called out of darkness, and joined
to the Lord Jesus Christ in saving faith. They are members of that
body. There is one body, one church,
the church of the firstborn whose names are written in heaven.
This church of God the elect, He chose and elected from the
beginning of the world. He chose them. He is the shepherd
who chooses the sheep. The sheep don't choose Him. The
shepherd chooses the sheep. Look over in Ephesians chapter
1. There's one body, one church. Ephesians chapter 1 verse 3,
Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who
has blessed us with all spiritual blessing in heavenly places in
Christ, according as He has chosen us in Him, before the foundation
of the world, that we should be holy, without blame, before
Him in love, having predestinated us unto the adoption of children
by Jesus Christ to Himself, according to the good pleasure of His will,
to the praise of the glory of His grace, wherein He hath made
us accepted in the Beloved." How does one who is an ungodly,
vile, wretched sinner get in this body of Christ? But of Him
are you in, Christ Jesus. It's all of His choice. It's
all of His doing. There is one body, one church. This church of the Lord Jesus
Christ, He purchased with His own blood. He bought the church
with His own blood. We are redeemed with the precious
blood of Christ. This church of the Lord Jesus
Christ He loved from all eternity, and He gave Himself for the church. Call His name Jesus, He shall
save His people from their sin. I had on a radio program this
morning, the Lord Jesus Christ is a good shepherd who lays down
His life for the sheep, for His church. Now there's no doubt
about it. There is but one body. Many local
congregations, now don't get me wrong, but there was one church. And they're made up, this church
is made up of those whom God has chosen from all eternity,
called the elect, called the chosen, called the sheep. There
is one body. Okay, the next thing he says
right here in verse four is there's one spirit. There is one Holy
Spirit, even as you're called in one hope of your calling.
So here's the second thing. There is one Spirit called God,
the Holy Spirit. For through Him, we both have
access by one Spirit unto the Father. Chapter 2, verse 18.
No man can truly call Jesus Christ Lord but by the Spirit of God. There is but one Holy Spirit
that convicts and convinces us of sin. We read in John 16, when
He has come, that is the Comforter, when the Spirit of Truth, the
Holy Spirit has come, He will reprove, convict the world of
sin, that's what I am, of righteousness, what I need, of judgment, Judgment
due our sin, judgment at the cross, of sin, he said, because
they believe not on me, of righteousness because I go to my father, and
you see me no more, of judgment because the prince of this world
is judged. God the Holy Spirit quickens
us. convicts us, regenerates us,
makes us new creatures in Christ. If you miss Holy Spirit conviction,
you'll miss true repentance. If you miss true repentance,
you'll miss faith in the Lord Jesus Christ. It's repentance
toward God and faith in the Lord Jesus Christ. If you miss faith,
You'll miss salvation because salvation is in Christ. Faith
is a God-given means whereby we lay hold of the Lord Jesus
Christ who accomplished salvation for us. Our Lord said, without
faith it is impossible to please God. It is God the Holy Spirit
that quickens and makes us alive. Remember in chapter 2, turn back
one page. Chapter 2 verse 1, And you have
be quickened who were dead in trespasses and in sin. Now how
has a dead sinner raised to life? what is exceeding power, His
power to us were to believe according to the working of His mighty
power which He wrought in Christ when He raised Him from the dead."
The same power it took to raise the dead body of the Lord Jesus
Christ that third morning is the same power it takes to raise
a dead sinner to cause him to believe the gospel of the Lord
Jesus Christ. And this is a quickening work
of God the Holy Spirit. He alone Does this work? There is one body, there is one
Spirit. Remember our Lord said His Spirit,
John 6, 63, "...it is the Spirit that quickeneth the flesh, the
flesh profiteth nothing." It is the Spirit of God that quickens
us and calls us. He translates us out of the kingdom
of darkness into the kingdom of God's dear Son. This is the
work of God the Holy Spirit. It is God the Holy Spirit by
the Holy Spirit that we're baptized into the body of Christ. For
by the one Spirit are we all baptized into that one body.
It's the work of God the Holy Spirit. But of Him are you in
Christ. Who of God is made known to us,
wisdom, righteousness, sanctification, and redemption. It is God the
Holy Spirit that comforts believers with the gospel. Remember our
Lord said to those disciples before He ascended to the cross
to put away our sin, He said, when the Comforter has come,
He'll guide you into all truth. He'll take the things of mine
and show them unto you. So what does God the Holy Spirit,
who comforts the people, what does He comfort them with? The
Lord Jesus Christ. He takes the things of Christ,
His atonement, His righteousness, and shows them to us and reveals
Christ to our heart. It is God the Holy Spirit who
seals believers until the time of complete deliverance in eternal
glory. Remember, we had that back in
chapter 1. Turn over there. Ephesians chapter 1 verse 13,
In whom you also trusted after you heard the word of truth,
The gospel of your salvation, verse 13, Ephesians 1, in whom
also after you believed you were sealed with the Holy Spirit of
promise, which is the earnest of our inheritance until the
redemption of the purchased possession unto the praise of His glory. God gets all the glory in saving
sinners. It is God the Holy Spirit who
seals us and keeps us. We are kept by the power of God
through faith in the Lord Jesus Christ. Look back to Ephesians
chapter 4 again. So there is one body, one spirit,
even as you are called, and one hope. There is just one hope. There's just one Savior, right?
There's just one God, right? There's just one body, right?
There's just one God, the Holy Spirit, and there is just one
hope. One hope of your calling. There's one hope of our calling.
That one hope is Christ in you, the hope of glory, right? We read in 2 Thessalonians 2
verse 16. We have an everlasting consolation
and a good hope through the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ. So
we do have a hope. There's just one hope. There's
just one hope. Christ is that hope. All believers
have this same hope. It's in a person. Salvation's
in a person. They're all loved with the same
love. He's loved us with an everlasting love. They're all chosen in the
same head. We are bound to give thanks to
God for you, brethren, beloved of the Lord, because God has,
from the beginning, chosen you to salvation. They're all secured
in the same covenant. The God of peace that brought
again from the dead that great shepherd of the sheep to the
blood of the everlasting covenant, ordered in all things and ensured.
They're all bought with the same price. What was that price? You're no more your own, you're
bought with a price. We're redeemed with the precious
blood of Christ. They're all justified by the
same righteousness. Blessed is that man to whom the
Lord imputed righteousness without works. They're all equally sons
of God, heirs of God, joint heirs with the Lord Jesus Christ. They're
all made kings and priests unto our God, unto Him who loved us
and washed us from our sin in His own blood and made us kings
and priests unto God. We're heirs of God and joint
heirs with Christ. That's the one hope. There is
but one kingdom, one crown, one inheritance for all believers
in the Lord Jesus Christ. He is our inheritance. He is
our reward. Let me show you something here.
Turn over to Colossians chapter 3. A lot of people in religious
circles talk about rewards in heaven. You ever heard people
talk about that? They say they're serving the Lord so they can
have more rewards in heaven. That's not biblical. That's not
the way that the gospel teaches us. Look here at Colossians chapter
3 verse 23. Whatsoever you do, do it heartily
as to the Lord, not unto man, knowing that of the Lord you
shall receive the reward of the inheritance, for you serve the
Lord's Christ. You see what I'm saying there?
Reward. Reward. Singular. Christ is our reward. He's our hope. He is our Savior. He is all. You remember Colossians
3.11. Christ is all and in all. In
Him goes all the fullness of the Godhead bodily and we're
complete in Him. Okay, back to the text. There
is one body, one spirit, even as you're called, called by His
grace, God who saved us and called us with a holy calling, not according
to our works, but according to His own purpose and grace, one
hope of your calling. Verse 5 says there's one Lord. One Lord. Now, talking about
the Lord Jesus Christ. There's one. To you who believe,
He is precious, altogether lovely. There is one Lord Jesus Christ. That means there's just one saving
true gospel. There are not many gospels. You
remember from our study, Galatians chapter 1, Though we or an angel
from heaven preach any other gospel unto you, what's the consequence? Let him be accursed. So, whether
it be an angel from heaven or any other, there's just one gospel.
It is the gospel of the one Lord, Jesus Christ. There's one gospel.
Now, you remember this scripture, 1 Timothy 2.5. There is one God
and one Mediator between God and men, that is the man, the
God-man, the Lord Jesus Christ. There is just one Lord, one gospel. Oh, by the way, there's just
one way of salvation. Our Lord said, I'm the way, the
truth, the life. No man comes to the Father but
by and through me. There's just one way. I told
you the story about a grandfather who was driving down the road
with his grandson, 5, 6, 7 year old, and he saw a traffic sign
said, one way. And he said to his granddad,
there's the gospel. And his granddad said, what do
you mean? One way. And that's the gospel. There's one way. God saves sinners
one way. And that's by His grace in the
Lord Jesus Christ. Remember from our study of the
book of Acts, neither is there salvation in any other. For there's
no other name under heaven given among men whereby we must be
saved. Now, He's Lord. He is Lord in
creation. He is Lord in providence. He is Lord in salvation. And I mean by that, the Scriptures
teach, He will have mercy upon whom He will have mercy. He is Lord by the right of creation. He is Lord by the eternal decree
of God. Peter said God had made that
same Jesus, whom you crucify, both Lord and Christ. And He's
Lord by His sacrificial death. That is, He bought us with His
own blood. He said, for you're bought with
a price, therefore glorify God in your body and in your spirit,
which are God's. He is Lord in a very special
way to His church, in that He chose them to be His bride, He
married them in that eternal covenant of grace, and as such,
they honor Him and receive Him, believe Him, worship Him, and
bow to Him as Lord. One day, every knee will bow
and every tongue will confess that He is Lord. In John 13,
We read, the Lord said to his disciples, you call me Lord and
Master, and you say, well, for so I am. He is Lord, not by something
we do. He's not Lord by a democratic
process. We didn't vote on this. God had
made that same Jesus both Lord and Christ. So there's one Lord,
one gospel, one way, and that leads us to the next one in verse
5 there. Well, there's one faith. There's one faith. There's one
faith. That is the faith of God's elect.
The faith of God's elect, we read in Scripture, Titus 1. The
faith of God's elect acknowledges the truth. Same thing with God
giving repentance. God-given repentance is the gift
of God. He's exalted to give repentance
to Israel. Repentance and faith both have
the same characteristics. They acknowledge that God is
God. They acknowledge that the one way of salvation is in the
Lord Jesus Christ. There is one faith, and that
is the faith of God's elect. That's why faith is called precious. Faith is the gift of God, given
to God's elect, whereby they receive salvation. Now listen
carefully. Faith does not produce salvation. Faith receives the Lord Jesus
Christ who accomplished salvation for us. Being justified by Christ,
we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ. There
is one faith, precious faith, that is the gift of God, not
of works as any man should boast. This one faith has one source. One foundation. What is that
one foundation of faith? True saving faith. Not feelings. Not feelings. What did Martin
Luther say five, six hundred years ago? Feelings come and
feelings go and feelings are deceiving. My warrant is the
word of God. Nothing else is worth believing.
So the foundation of faith is not feelings. It's not emotion.
The foundation of Faith is the Word of God. The Word of God.
Faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the Word of God. So faith
has one foundation. Faith has one author. He's the
author and finisher of our faith, looking unto Him. He said, look
unto Me. We read in Isaiah 45. Look unto
Me and be saved. I am God. Beside Me there is
no other. There's one author, there's one
source, one foundation, and there is one object of faith. The object
of faith is Christ. He said, come to me. Come to
me. Look to me. And this faith all
sprang from the same cause and source, the sovereign will and
good pleasure of God. Faith is the gift of God. He
gives faith to whom he will. Now, that leads us to the next
one. Look down at the text again. Ephesians 4, verse 5. One Lord, one faith, oh, one
baptism. There's one baptism. Now, he's
talking about water baptism here. There was one way believers are
to confess their faith in Christ publicly, and that's by believer's
baptism. Now we studied all the way through
the book of Acts. When the gospel was preached
and God granted faith, they confessed their faith publicly in the Lord
Jesus Christ. And this is a picture of his
death, burial, and resurrection. This is administered in one way,
the same way by water immersion, one in the same subject, believers
in Christ, one in the same name, we baptize in the name of the
Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. Now listen to me carefully. Baptism
is not Talking about water baptism is not essential to salvation.
Christ is essential to salvation. That's all salvation, all of
God's grace. But now baptism is essential
to obedience. The Lord has given a commandment
for those who believe the gospel to be baptized. Now, many in
religious circles have wrongly made water baptism to be the
Savior. They have made water baptism
to be the Redeemer and the cause and means of salvation. That's
not so. The Lord Jesus Christ is the
cause of salvation, the means of salvation. He is the Savior
and the Redeemer. Believer's baptism is publicly
identifying with his death, burial, and resurrection. We're saying
publicly that Christ is all of our hope in salvation. When Philip preached the gospel
to the eunuch in the desert place, remember? He had one question
when Philip said, When he asked to be baptized,
and Philip asked him, if thou believest with all thy heart,
he said, I believe that Jesus Christ is the Son of God. And
he said, stop the chariot. And they both went down into
the water, and the eunuch was baptized to Philip, confessing
his hope in the Lord Jesus Christ. Now, let's move on to number
seven. And it's found in verse 6, and
this is the last one. One Lord, one faith, one baptism,
one God. There's one God. He's a God and
Father of all, who is above all, and through all, and in you all. There's one God. He said, I am
the Lord, I am God, and there is none else. The Father, and
the Word, and the Holy Spirit, these three, we read in 1 John
5, these three are one. Now, I learned something this
last week. I'm always encouraged. Now, I
may forget this next year, but I've learned something this week. I've been studying through the
prophet Zechariah. And I got to chapter 14, verse
9, and here's what I read. And I know I've read this before
because I did a whole series of messages through the book
of Zechariah 20 years ago. And here's what I read. The Lord
shall be king over all the earth, and in that day there shall be
one Lord, and His name, One. That's His name. His name is
one. There's one God, one Lord, and
one Savior. One way. There is one. He's a
one and true and living God, who is absolute sovereign over
all things. Our great God is the absolute
ruler over all nations and people. They are accountable to Him as
the supreme God of all. You can't preach Him too high.
He is God over all things. We read in Psalm 135, For I the
Lord, for I know that the Lord is great, and that our Lord is
above all gods. Remember what we read in Isaiah
45, all the gods of the nations are idols. Whatsoever the Lord
pleased, that did he in heaven, earth, seas, and all deep places.
Our great God is a sovereign Lord over all things. He is the Father of his covenant
people. Behold what manner of love the
Father has bestowed upon us, that we should be called sons
of God. In a very special, intimate way,
God has a peculiar relationship to his people. The people of
his pasture called the sheep of his hand. He is our good shepherd
who laid down his life for his sheep. He is above all, that
is, there is none above him. He does according to his will
in heaven and in earth. who is above all, who is through
all, he provides all things for us, who is in you all, Christ
in you is a hope of glory. We read in Romans 11, of him
and through him and to him are all things to whom be glory. He is Lord over all and above
all things. Now, in closing, verse seven. But unto every one of us is given
grace. Now, what does every one of us,
what do guilty sinners need? Grace. And He gives this grace
according to His good pleasure. It's not of Him that willeth
or of Him that runneth, but of God that showeth mercy. It's
God who saved us and called us with a holy calling, not according
to our works, but according to God's own purpose and grace.
Peter said this, the God of all grace. who hath called us into
his eternal glory by Jesus Christ, after you have suffered a while,
make you perfect, establish, strengthen, settle you, to whom
be glory and dominion forever and ever. The God of all grace. The name of this congregation
and the name of this ministry is Zebulun Grace Church. Why did we say Zebulun Grace
Church? Because we preach the sovereign
grace of God. God's grace is not merited, grace
is not deserved, but rather it's a free, Infinite, eternal, sovereign
pleasure of God. He will be gracious to whom He
will be gracious. Given according to the measure
of the gift of His grace. Notice, given according to the
measure of the gift of Christ. of His fullness have all we receive
grace for grace. And it all works according to
what it says in Ephesians 3, verse 11. Look over there. According to the eternal purpose
which He purposed in Christ Jesus the Lord. God's purpose. He saves every sinner who He
saves by His purpose and grace given in the Word of Jesus Christ.