This is the Lord's Prayer. Quite often you hear people say,
well, let's say the Lord's Prayer, and they begin, Our Father which
art in heaven, hallowed be thy name. But that prayer is not
the Lord's Prayer, that's a disciple's prayer. The disciples ask our
Lord one day, teach us to pray. And He said, when you pray, You
say, Our Father which art in heaven, hallowed be thy name.
Thy kingdom come, thy will be done, on earth as it is in heaven. Our Lord couldn't pray that prayer
because it says forgive us our sins as we forgive those who
sin against us. He never sinned. We pray that
prayer. That's our prayer. This is his
prayer. And this is the prayer that he
prayed as the great high priest. for his people. He's praying for his people,
his sheep. In verse 9 he says, I pray for
them. Talking about these disciples
who were about him. I pray for them. I don't pray
for the world. I pray for them which you've
given me out of the world. In this one prayer he uses that
phrase six times. those that thou hast given me. I pray for them. Down in verse
20, here we are included, who believe. Neither pray I for these
alone, these disciples with me now, but I pray for them which
shall, no doubt about it. He said other sheep I have which
are not of this fold, them I must bring and they shall hear my
voice. They shall. They shall. They shall hear the word and
they shall follow me. And they shall be one fold and
one shepherd. They shall be. And I pray for
them which shall believe on me through their word. When we go
forth preaching the gospel to every creature, it's not that
we're trying to change goats into sheep, sons of Satan into
sons of God. We're going forth with the gospel
to find the sheep, and my sheep will hear my voice. They'll hear
the word. They'll believe it. They'll come to Christ. We're
hunting lost sheep, but not knowing who they are or where they are,
we go to all the world and preach the gospel to every creature.
And my sheep hear my voice. Some of these Pharisees came
to him and said, if you be the Christ, tell us plainly. He said,
I told you. I told you plainly, but you didn't
believe. because you are not of my sheep.
My sheep hear my voice, and they follow me, and I give them eternal
life, and they will never perish. My Father gave them me, and He
is greater than all, and no man is able to take them out of my
Father's hand, because I and my Father are one." And he said,
I pray for them who shall believe on me through their word. Now
verse 21, what is the prayer? Verse 21, that they may be one. that they may be won. Now, there
have been any number of organizations and programs to try to bring
together religions, all types of religions and churches and
professing Christians. They say, well, we believe the
same book, we all believe in God, we all believe in the law,
we all believe in morality, we're all aspiring to go to heaven,
so let's all get together, let's be one, let's have one effort,
one organization, one great church, one, let's all be one. Well,
one day they may be successful to a degree in doing that, but
God's people are All believers are one. They are
one in Christ. They are one. All of God's people
are one. This is what our Lord says, that
they may be one. I pray that they may be one.
Even if we are one. Verse 23, I in them and thou
in me. There is no one in Christ outside
of Christ. That they may be made perfect
and one. that the world may know that
thou hast sent me, and love them as you love me." But now the
people of God are not one because they read the same book. That's
not why they're one. The people of God, the sheep,
the elect believers are not one because they believe in one God. You remember what James said,
don't you, over here in James 2? He said, you believe there's
one God? You do well. The devil also believes
there's one God. And he trembles. That's not why
we're one. We're not one because we believe
in morality and good works and law. We're not one because we
believe in life after death. Everybody believes in life after
death, so let's get together. No, that's not why we're one.
And we're not one because we're all aspiring to go to heaven.
Listen to me. The oneness of believers, all
believers are one in Christ. I in them and thou in me. And
they're one, not because of something they do. Either individually
or collectively. They're not one because of something
they do. They're one because of something
He did. Something He did in them and
to them because of what Christ did for
them. That's why they're one. They're
one. They don't make themselves one.
He made them one. You see how foolish this is to
start a campaign to make all professing Christians, churches
and organizations one? If they are in Christ, they are
one. And they are not one because of what they are doing or have
done or will do. They are one because of what
He did in them and to them and part of them on the cross that
made them one. He has made Him to be sin for
us who knew no sin that we might be made The righteousness of
God won in him. Our Lord told us here in verse
4, look at John 17, verse 4. He said, I finished the work
you gave me to do. What is that work? To redeem
his people. To put away their sins. To sanctify
them. To make them righteous. To make
them one. That's why he came into the world.
To redeem them. I finished that work. not something
we do, it's something he did. Verse 6, I've manifested thy
name unto the men which thou gavest me out of the well. I've
told them who you are, and not only told them, but revealed
to them who you are. I've manifested his name, Jehovah
Rapha, Jehovah Sidkenu, I have manifested your name.
Then verse 8, I have given them your word. I have given it to
them. Written it on their hearts. The
word that you gave me, I have given them. And they have received
them. No debate there. They received
them. I gave them to them. They received them. And verse 12 says, I kept them.
Not a one of them is lost. All that my Father giveth me
will come to me. Him that cometh to me out of
no wise cast out, and I pray for them." You see, God's people
in Christ are one because of what He has done in them, and
to them, and for them. And they're one in family, they're
sons of God. They're one in heart, they love
Christ and they love one another. They're one in doctrine. That's
right. The doctrine of Christ. One in doctrine. You see, the
Holy Spirit teaches God's people the truth. He does not teach
error. He's not the spirit of error.
He doesn't teach error. God's servants do not preach
error. You know the truth and the truth
will make you free. Every one of God's sheep are
sons. They have a new heart. And they
believe the doctrine of Christ. No man speaking by the Holy Spirit
calls Jesus a curse. And no man can call Jesus Christ
Lord but by the Holy Spirit. They are one in doctrine. They
are not divided. They are one in spirit. They
have one objective. They are one in purpose. the
glory of God. They're one in desire to win
Christ and be found in Him, to know Him and the power of His
resurrection. Isn't that true? They're one
in faith. Their faith, like the old Reformers,
is summed up in three things. Grace alone, Christ alone, and
the Scriptures alone. They're one. Let me show you
some Scriptures. Turn to Colossians 3. God's people are one. This is
why Christ came into the world. This is what He did on the cross.
This is what the Holy Spirit does in calling them to faith. And this is what our Lord prayed
for, the oneness of His people. Colossians 3, look at verse 14. Colossians 3, verse 14, And above
all things put on love, which is the bond of perfectness. and
let the peace of God rule in your hearts, to the which also
you are called in one body, and be ye thankful." One body, one heart, one objective, one
goal. All right, 1 Corinthians 1, turn
to 1 Corinthians 1, verse 9 and 10. 1 Corinthians 1 verse 9 and 10,
God is faithful, by whom you were called, you were called
into the fellowship of His Son, Jesus Christ our Lord. Now I
beseech you brethren, by the name of our Lord Jesus Christ,
that you all speak the same thing, and that there be no divisions
among you, but that you be perfectly joined together in the same mind
and the same judgment. One in Christ. 1 Corinthians
10. Let's turn over there. 1 Corinthians
10, verse 16 and 17. 1 Corinthians 10, verse 16. The cup of blessing which we
bless, is it not the communion of the blood of Christ? Isn't
that our oneness? The blood of Christ? The sacrifice
of our Lord? We're not one because we're Baptists,
we're one because we're children of God. The blood of Christ,
that's our oneness. Isn't that the cup of blessing
which we bless? Isn't that the communion and
fellowship of the blood of Christ, the bread which we break? Is
it not the communion of the body of Christ? His body was broken
for us. For we being many, from many
places, many walks of life, many different backgrounds, but we're
one bread, and we're one body, and we're all partakers of that
one bread, Christ our Lord. I want you to turn now to Ephesians
4, and let me for a few moments dwell on this scripture here.
The oneness of God's people, that they may all be Ephesians
4. And we'll just briefly look at
this. There's seven things that I want you to see here. In Ephesians
chapter 4. I'll begin with verse 1. Paul
says, I therefore the prisoner of the Lord, beseech you that
you walk worthy of the vocation wherewith you are called. Now
you didn't call him, he called you. That's our vocation, sons
of God, children of God, won't worthy of that sonship and that
calling. God called us. And do it with
all loneliness and meekness and humility and long-suffering patience
for bearing one another, forgiving one another, bearing with one
another, overlooking one another's failures and mistakes and in
love, endeavoring striving all within us to keep the unity,
to keep it. We don't make that unity. We
strive to keep that unity. God makes the unity. And we strive
to keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace because
there's one body. One body. What's this talking
about? There's one church. Oh, there
are many local assemblies, Many people meeting together today,
the 13th Street Baptist Church, the Central Baptist Church, the
Large Street Baptist Church, the Lantana Road Baptist Church,
and different churches all over, the Welland Garden City Church,
different Grace churches everywhere preaching the gospel. But there's
one church of our Lord Jesus Christ, one church. And he talks
about that on the next page of Ephesians chapter 5. He talks
about that church. That church, Ephesians 5. Now
listen to it. Verse 23 says, 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. That church and
that body are one. The body of Christ is His church.
Therefore, as the church is subject to Christ, so let the wives be
to their own husbands in everything." Husbands, love your wives as
Christ loved the church, gave himself for it, that he might
sanctify and cleanse it with the washing of water by the word,
that he might present it a glorious church, not having spot. Listen, in this church there
are no tares. In this church there are no hypocrites.
In this church, there are no false professors. In this church,
there are no quitters. In this church, there are no
Baptists. And there are no Methodists. And there are no Catholics. That's
right. And there are no Protestants.
They are not protesting anything. In this church. There are no
tyrants. There are no tyrants. They are
everyone one. They are God's children. In this church. That's
right. Read on. You know, not one spot,
not one wrinkle, not one such thing. It's holy and without
blemish. This church is the perfect church. It's His body. Our Lord is one
head and He has one body. Not several bodies, one body.
One body. I believe in the local church
as strongly as anybody here. But I just know there is a church
of the firstborn whose names are written in heaven. The Lord's
body. Perfect body. And Colossians
chapter 1 tells us that too. Turn to Colossians chapter 1. Verse 16. Talking about our Lord
Jesus Christ in verse 16. Listen. It says, For by Him were all
things created that are in heaven, that are in earth, visible and
invisible. Whether they be thrones, or dominions,
or principalities, or powers, all things are created by Him
and for Him. And He's before all things, and
by Him all things consist. And He's the head of the body,
the Church, who is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead,
and in all things He might have the preeminence. Somebody said,
well, the word Church, the word Church means assembly. When does
this glorious Church of the Firstborn assemble? They're assembled in
the presence of the Lord all the time. They've been assembled
in His presence from before the foundation of the world. And
they're assembled in His presence now. He sees every one of them.
He knows every one of them. He calls every one of them by
name. They're His. Just like the whole universe
is assembled in His presence right now. All of His people
are that. They're one. One body. They're one. God's
people are one. You don't make them one. He made
them one. One body. In the book of Hebrews,
chapter 12, verse 22 says this, But you're coming to Mount Zion,
Hebrews 12, 22, But you're coming to Mount Zion, unto the city
of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem, to an innumerable
company of angels, to the general assembly, church of the firstborn,
which are written in heaven, and to God, the judge of all,
to the spirits of just men, made perfect, to Jesus, the mediator
of the new covenant, to the blood of sprinkling that speaketh better
things than that of Abel." Moses is part of this church, Abraham,
Abel, We are the reformers, one church, one body. I read on down
here in Ephesians 4. Let's go quickly. I'm taking
too long on this. But God's people are one, that
they may be one. One Lord, I mean one body. Now verse 4 of Ephesians chapter
4 is one spirit. This is the Holy Spirit. My friends, if any man have not
the Spirit of Christ, he's none of His. People talk about seeking
the baptism of the Holy Ghost, seeking the Spirit. It's by the
Holy Spirit that we're regenerated, we're born of the Spirit. It's
by the Holy Spirit that we're convinced of sin. Our Lord said
when He has come, He'll convince the world of sin and of righteousness
and of judgment. It's by the Holy Spirit that
the things of Christ are revealed to us. He said He'll not speak
of Himself, He'll take the things of mine and show them to you.
The way we know that Jesus Christ is the Son of God, the Holy Spirit
taught us. The Holy Spirit led the believers
to write this book. The Holy Spirit regenerates.
The Holy Spirit is our teacher. The Holy Spirit seals us. Ephesians,
turn back to chapter 1. Ephesians chapter 1. Now, most
of you know this, but the first six verses of Ephesians 1 talks
about the work of the Father in redeeming us. He blessed us,
He chose us in Christ, He predestinated us to be sons, and He accepted
us in the Beloved. And then verse 7 says, in the
Beloved we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of
sin, according to the riches of His grace. Verse 9 says, He
made known unto us the mystery of God's will. Verse 11 says,
in Him we've obtained an inheritance. That's the work of the Son, the
Lord Jesus, in redeeming us. The Father chose us, the Son
redeemed us. Now verse 13, here's the Holy
Spirit. in whom you trusted after you
heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation, in
whom also after you believed you were sealed with the Holy
Spirit." It's the Holy Spirit that seals us in Christ, that
baptizes us in Christ, that calls us to Christ, that quickens us.
So if any man have not the Spirit of God, he's none of here. There's
one Spirit. There is the filling of the Holy
Spirit for special service, special times. We pray for the filling
of God's Spirit. The Apostle said, be filled with
the Spirit. Be not drunk with wine wherein
is excess, but be filled with the Spirit. And we pray the Holy
Spirit will help us to pray and help us to preach and help us
to witness and help us through certain trials. Give us an added
portion of your Spirit. a special revelation of your
spirit, right? We pray for that. You who teach,
you pray the Holy Spirit will give you wisdom. But we don't
pray to have the Holy Spirit. If a versed person is saved,
he has the Holy Spirit. No man can call Jesus Lord but
by the Holy Spirit. There is one spirit. Read on,
verse 4 of Ephesians. For one body, One
Spirit, one Holy Spirit. Even as you are called in one
hope of your calling. What is the hope of our calling? What is the hope of our calling?
We are the called of Christ Jesus. We are called according to His
purpose. It is God who called us. But
what is the hope of our calling? Well, turn with me to 1 John
3. 1 John chapter 3. hope of our calling. You know, all of us, we talk
about people want to go to heaven. Well, that's right. That's right. But I tell you, our aspiration
and desire is not just to go to heaven. Actually, if God would take sin
out of this world, this wouldn't be a bad place. God made it. I mean, we have some happinesses.
We have some joy, we have some contentment right here. And just
to go to heaven, really, and I understand people say, well,
you know, I'm happy right now. And I understand that. The aspirations of a believer
is not just to go to another place. It's to be with Him. It's to wake with His likeness.
David said, I'll be satisfied when I go to heaven. No, sir.
I'll be satisfied when I wake with His likeness. That's what
I want. I want to be perfect, don't you?
I want to be done with sin. I want to be like Christ. I want to be done with death.
I want to be done with disappointment. God's going to make a new earth
and a new heaven, and you might be surprised how much it will
be like this earth. But what's going to give us complete
happiness is to be with Him and to be like Him. Isn't that right?
Look at 1 John 3. 1 John 3, verse, "...Behold what
manner of love the Father hath bestowed upon us, that we should
be called sons of God, Therefore the world knoweth us not, because
it knew him not. Beloved, now are we sons of God
right now. And it doth not yet appear what
we shall be, but we know that when he shall appear, we'll be
like him. For we shall see him as he is,
glorified, exalted. And every man that hath this
hope in him, what hope? To see him and be like him. That's it. You know the greatest,
when our Lord said to the thief who believed on Him, today you
are going to be in heaven. No, He said today you are going
to be with Me. Paul said, I have a desire to
depart. No, not just to depart. I don't
want to just depart, do you? I don't want to change places,
change one misery for another. I want to depart and be with
Christ. That's to be with Him, to see Him, to be like Him. That's
the hope of our calling. We're one. We're one body, one
spirit, one hope to be like Christ. Look at here. One Lord. One Lord. Believers are brothers. And they love one another and
they respect one another. They learn from one another.
And they have one Lord and one Master. Love is a mark of a believer,
and humility is a mark of a believer. They don't lord it over one another.
In the body of Christ, there's no Mr. Big and Mr. Little, Mr. Great and Mr. Small. They're
one. They're brothers. Somebody said,
which of your children do you love most? I can't answer that
question. My children, grandchildren, my
friends, my uplands. Turn to Matthew chapter 23. Matthew 23. They're one. The family of God is one. They
got one Lord. And they're all brothers. It
says here in Matthew 23 verse 5. Talking about these religious
hypocrites. Verse 5, all their works they
do to be seen of men. They make broad their phylacteries
and enlarge the borders of their garments. And they love the uppermost
rooms at the feast. They love the chief seats in
the synagogue. They love to hold high office. They love greetings in the marketplace.
They like to be called rabbi, and doctor, and professor, and
bishop, and cardinal, All these names, they love these high-sounding
names and phrases. But don't you be called Rabbi
or Master. One is your Master, Christ, and
your brethren. And don't you call any man your
Father on this earth. That is, your Father in Christ. One is your Father, and He's
in Heaven. Neither be ye called Master. One is your Master, that's
Christ. And the greatest among you shall
be your servants. And whosoever shall exalt himself
shall be abased, and he that shall humble himself shall be
exalted." He's the Lord. We're brothers. That's right. We're brothers. He's Lord by decree. He's Lord
by creation. He's Lord by death. He's Lord
by confession. We confess that He's Lord. And
I'll tell you, Paul had the right idea. I'm less than the least
of all the saints. I'm not worthy to be called an
apostle. I'm the chief of sinners. That's
right. Brother. Brothers. We're one. Servants of God. You know, I found a scripture
over here. The Lord brands His people. Look
over here at Exodus. I want to show you something
over here at Exodus. Chapter 29. The Lord, we're all, I tell
you, we're saints, we're servants, we're priests, we're kings, we're
all the brothers in Exodus 29. And the Lord over here in Exodus
29, He branded His priests. He marked them. He marked them. It says here in Exodus 29, verse
19, look at this. And thou shalt take the other
ram and Aaron, And his sons shall put their hands on the head of
the ram. Verse 20. Exodus 29. Then shalt thou kill the ram,
and take the blood, and put it on the tip of the right ear of
Abram, and put it on the tip of the right ear of his sons,
the priest, and on the thumb of their right hand, and upon
the great toe of their right foot. Sprinkle the blood upon
their altar round about. Why? What's he doing? He's taking the blood, and Aaron's
a priest, and his son's a priest, and he put the blood on his ear,
and the blood on his thumb, his right hand, and the blood on
his toe. That's the way the Lord marks
his sons, his children, every one of them. He brands their ear, they hear
his voice. Another voice they won't hear,
another shepherd they won't follow, they're tuned to his voice. He
marks their big toe and they follow him. Their feet walk in
paths of righteousness. That's right, his sheep, he brands
their thumb, makes them generous. That's right, giving their hands
in the master's service. But they're all brothers. They're
all marked the same way. He's the Lord. He does it. They
hear Him. They walk after Him. They help
one another. Alright, let's move on. He says
there's one body, one spirit, one hope to be like Christ. One
Lord, Master, Father. One faith. Some years ago, somebody moved
into Ashland and decided to join our church. I quit doing this. I used to, I guess it was a,
I suppose it was tradition, but usually when somebody joins church
you write for a letter. You remember writing for letters? Membership, you write to church
and say, Mr. Terri Ellis joined our church,
would you grant him a letter? And I quit doing that when I
found out Paul said we don't need letters of commendation
from men. If Mr. Terry Elliott is a believer
and a child of God and he wants to be a member of this church,
he's welcome without any letter from anybody. If God leads him
to right, we don't need a letter. But anyway, I wrote for a letter.
Somebody wanted to unite with our church and I wrote for a
letter. And the pastor wrote me back and he said he was sorry. that they couldn't grant a letter
to this church. Because he said, we're not of
the same faith. Now this says here, one of us
is lost, either him or me, if we're not of the same faith. And one of us has missed something.
Because it says here, just like there's one body, one spirit,
one hope, one Lord, there's one faith. Not two, one. It may be small
faith or great faith, but it's one faith. It may be weak faith,
it may be strong faith, but it's one faith. It may be early faith
or late faith, but it's one faith. And that faith is spelled C-H-R-I-S-T,
Christ. Listen, He's the author of faith,
author and finisher. He's the object of faith. We
look to Christ. He's the foundation of faith,
the rock. He's the rest of faith coming
to me and I'll give you rest. Our faith is not in Christ. Our faith is Christ. It is in
Him, but it's Christ. He's my faith. He's our faith. That's the only faith is Christ. Who He is and what He did and
why He did it for the glory of God and where He is now. And
then there's one baptism. Uniquely, unusually, I want you
to see something here. You notice, you who have Cambridge
Bibles, or most any Bible, Cambridge especially, in verse 4 there's
one body and there's a little reference beside it, an R, refers
you to another scripture. It says one spirit, and there's
a reference. It says one hope in verse 4 and
there's a reference. It says one Lord and there's
a reference. There's a you and mine. One faith
is a reference. One baptism, no reference. Isn't
that strange? And down here it says one God
and there's a reference. I'll tell you what the conflict
is over. It's over sprinkling or immersion or whatever. That's
what's over. And I tell you it's over something
else. It's over whether it's the baptism of the Spirit or
baptism in water. But it's not the baptism of the
Holy Spirit because back earlier it's already said it's one Spirit.
One Spirit who regenerates and one Spirit who calls and one
Spirit who teaches and one Spirit who merges us into the person
of Christ. This baptism is water baptism. That's what it is. It's water baptism. It's following
our Lord in baptism. There's one baptism under the
gospel, and that is baptizing us in water, confessing Christ. Baptism is for believers. That's
what Philip said to the eunuch. The eunuch said, here's water.
What does hinder me from being baptized? Philip said, if you
believe, you may. Baptism is for believers. If
you believe, you may. He didn't say, if your father
believed, I'll baptize you. If your mother believed, I'll
baptize you. He said, if you believe. Baptism is for believers. Secondly, baptism is a confession
of Christ. It's to confess Christ Jesus.
Baptism is identification with Christ in His death. Let me show
you that. Turn to Romans 6. Romans chapter
6. This is the way men confess Christ,
by following Him in baptism. And baptism has to do with his
death, burial, and resurrection. Now look at Romans 6. Romans 6 verse 3. Know ye not that so many of us
as were baptized into Jesus Christ were baptized into his death?
It's identification with Christ in his death. Therefore, we are
buried with him by baptism into death, that like as Christ was
raised up from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so
we also should walk in newness of life. For we have been planted
together in the likeness of his death, we shall also be in the
likeness of his resurrection." That's what baptism is all about. It's for believers. It's a confession
of Christ. Go ye into all the world and
preach the gospel. He that believeth and is baptized
shall be saved." And believers all the way through the New Testament,
Lydia, the Philippian jailer, the eunuch, all of them, when
they believed, they were baptized. And baptism has to do with death. A person dies, you bury them.
And one day they'll be raised. When our Lord died, they buried
Him, and He was raised. And when we confess Christ, we
are saved. When He died, we died. And when
He arose, we arose to walk in newness of life. Oh, at last,
I'll close with this. Down in verse 6, there is one
God and one Father of all. He is the Father of all believers. Father of all believers. Our
Lord Jesus Christ said to those women at the tomb. He said, you
go tell my disciples that I go to my Father and your Father. I go to my Father and your Father.
He's the Father of all believers. Now listen, He's not the Father
of all men. The Father of all believers. And He says here, He is above
all. He's sovereign over all things,
all people, all things. And He is through all, that is,
His providence directs all things. He doeth all things according
to His will. And He is in all. My Father and
I will take up our bode in You. Now look at verse 7. And unto
every one of us is given grace. Grace to believe. Grace to continue. Grace to endure trials. Grace
to live and grace to die. And He gives it. We don't have
anything to boast about. It's His grace given to us according,
look, verse 7, according to the measure of the gift of Christ. Oh, what a family. What a blessing. What a Savior. What a prospect. What a glorious hope. the hope of his calling.