One In Christ

Q: What does the Bible say about unity among believers?

The Bible emphasizes that true believers are one in Christ, sharing a fundamental unity in faith, body, and spirit. According to John 17:20-22, Jesus prayed for all who would believe in Him, asking that they may be one as He and the Father are one. This prayer highlights that while the world is divided over essential truths, true believers, who are in Christ, share a profound unity that transcends denominational or cultural differences. They are unified by a common faith in Jesus as Lord, and this oneness is essential for the Church's witness to the world. Believers are baptized into one body by one Spirit, emphasizing the importance of spiritual unity within the Church, which is Christ's body.

Q: How do we know the doctrine of the church's oneness is true?

The doctrine of oneness in the Church is rooted in Christ’s prayer for unity, as well as the teaching of Scripture that speaks to the shared faith and purpose of believers. The oneness of the Church is grounded in Jesus’ high priestly prayer in John 17, where He explicitly prays for the unity of all believers. This emphasizes that oneness is not merely a desirable state but one that is divinely ordained. The Apostle Paul reinforces this in Ephesians 4:4-6, listing the seven 'ones' that define the unity of the Church: one body, one Spirit, one hope, one Lord, one faith, one baptism, and one God and Father. These teachings affirm that unity is established by God, and true believers, regardless of their denominational backgrounds, share a common identity and purpose in Christ.

Q: Why is understanding the oneness of the Church important for Christians?

Understanding the oneness of the Church is crucial for fostering unity and cooperation among believers in fulfilling Christ's mission. Recognizing the oneness of the Church helps Christians appreciate the larger body of Christ that transcends local congregations and denominations. This understanding encourages believers to work together in love and harmony as they serve the mission of the Gospel. Unity among believers can lead to a more powerful testimony to the world about the truth of Christ and the transformative power of the Gospel. Moreover, it is a reminder that despite individual differences in understanding or practice, all true believers are united through their faith in Christ, which fosters a spirit of love and mutual respect within the body.

I'm speaking to you today on
the subject, One in Christ, One in Christ. Now, here's our text.
I'm reading from John 17. This is our Lord's prayer, the
high priestly prayer, the prayer which our Lord prayed for His
people before He went to the cross, John 17. Someone said,
when you're reading, studying, or preaching from John 17, take
off your shoes. your own holy ground. This is
the son speaking to the father, lifted up his eyes and said,
Father, glorify thy son that thy son may glorify thee. And
down here in verse 20, the Lord Jesus prayed and said, Neither
pray I for these alone, but I pray for them also which shall believe
on me through their that they all, these and them, that they
all may be one, one. Listen, as thou father art in
me and I in thee, that they may be one in us, that they may be
one even as we are one. Our Lord is praying here in John
17 for all of His sheep, all of the elect, all that the Father
gave to Him, all for whom He died, all whose sins He bore
in His body on the tree. And He says that they all, from
righteous able to the last one, that they all, Old Testament,
New Testament, that they all, Jew, Gentile, bond-free, circumcision,
uncircumcision, that they all may be one, one as we are one,
I in them and thou in me, that they may be one as we are, one
in Christ. Now people have tried in vain
for centuries to bring all religious people and all churches and all
professing Christians together. There's been all sorts of what
they call ecumenical movements and organizations trying to bring
all denominations and all churches together under one umbrella.
Now, you've heard that. I've heard it. World Council
of Churches, World Organization of Churches. They say, listen,
all religious people believe in God. All religious people
believe in life after death. We're all aspiring for the same
place. Let's unite. Let's everybody
get together and we'll win the world to religion. It'll never
be done. It'll never be done. It's impossible. It's impossible because religious
people are not one. They are not one and they can
never be one because they're divided. They're divided over
the essentials. They're divided over the fundamentals
of faith. Just because men and women, boys
and girls, use the same Bible doesn't mean they agree on what
that Bible says. Our Lord said, they call me Lord
with their lips, but their hearts are far from me. And those people
can never get together. Religious people, denominations,
and cults, and sects, and organizations can never get together because
they're not one. They can't claim to be one or
profess to be one because they're not one. They don't agree on
the inspiration of the scriptures. Some believe the scriptures are
the word of God. Some believe the scriptures contain
the word of God. Some believe the scriptures are
not even the word of God, but are the word of the apostles. They don't agree on the character
of God. Just a few nights ago, I heard an evangelist say on
television, Who is God? Well, I'll tell you, he said,
God is as big as you let Him be. That's how big God is, just
as big as you want Him to be, just as big as you let Him be.
That's how big God is. Well, that's not the God of the
Bible. They don't agree on the fall
of man. They don't agree on what sin is. They don't agree on who
Jesus Christ is. Some believe He's the Son of
God. Some believe He's not the Son of God. Some believe He's
virgin-born. Some believe He's not virgin-born. Some believe
He's a prophet like Mohammed or Confucius or Buddha or all
the rest of them. Some believe He's a great preacher.
Some believe He was a reformer, a martyr, an example. Some believe
He's God. They don't agree on the life
and death of Christ. They don't even agree on the
resurrection. They don't agree on the Holy
Spirit or His work. They don't agree on how God saves
sinners. Some people say people are saved
by work, some by grace, some by making a profession of faith,
some by accepting Jesus as their personal Savior, some by various
other means. They don't agree on those things.
They don't agree on the resurrection. They don't agree on anything
that's essential. Religion today will never get
together because they're not agreed on the essentials of faith,
and they're not one at all. But let me tell you this. What
was it our Lord prayed? Listen to his prayer again. Neither
pray I for these alone, but for them also, which shall believe
on me through their word, that they all may be one. for whom He prayed, everyone
for whom He died, everyone who believes on Him through the Word,
they're one. In other words, what Christ is
saying here is all religious people are not one, but all true
believers are one. They're one. All true believers
are one. They're not divided over the
Scriptures. They all believe the Scriptures
are the Word of God. They're not divided over the
character of God. They know He's almighty, sovereign, eternal,
all wise, holy. They're not divided over the
fall. They know man died in trespasses and sin. They're not divided
over who Christ is. He's very God of very God and
God in human flesh. They're not divided over the
need of sinners. They're not divided over how God saved sinners.
They know it's by His grace through faith in Christ Jesus. They're
not divided over these essentials. They're one. They always have
been one. They're one now, they always
will be one, that they may be one as we are, I in them and
thou in me, that they may be one. Our Lord said concerning
His sheep in John 10 and 16, He said, Other sheep I have which
are not of this foe, them also I must bring, I must. Just like
He must needs go through Samaria, just like He must needs be lifted
up. just like he must go to Jerusalem
and suffer and die, he must bring his people. And they will hear
my voice, he said, and there'll be one foe and one shepherd,
not divided at all, one. True believers are one. I don't
care where you find them. Find them in Mexico or Australia
or Timbuktu, and they're all one. They all believe the same
thing. They have different degrees of understanding, different degrees
of knowledge, different degrees of grace. But I tell you this,
they're all looking to Christ, resting in Christ, trusting in
Christ. They're all born of the Spirit of God. They all love
the Son of God. They're all depending on Him
alone for their salvation. They're one, one family, one
fold and one shepherd. And believers are not one because
they believe in one God. That's not why they're one, though
they do. Believers are not one because they read one book, though
they do, but that didn't make them one. Believers are not one
because they want to go to one place, though they do, but that
doesn't make them one. Believers are one because God
made them one. They're one because they're all
in one body, and that body is Jesus Christ, and they all have
one head. Now, you're looking at a body
up here. This is one body. One body, it's got one head,
right here. Got two arms, two hands, ten fingers. Legs, feet, and toes. Heart,
liver, lungs. It's all one body. And those,
these are different parts, and though they serve different purposes,
though they have different functions, they're all in one body, and
they're one. This is my hand. This is my thumb. This is my
heart. And that's the way the Lord Jesus
Christ is. This is my sheep. This one over here is my sheep.
This one here that doesn't look anything like that one, but that's
my sheep too. There's one body. Christ is the
head and you're the body. That's the reason they're one. That's the reason they're one.
They're one because they're one. He made them one. They were chosen
in Christ before the foundation of the world. They were blessed
with all spiritual blessings in Christ. They were baptized
into one body by one Spirit. They're predestinated to be like
Christ. They're called in Christ, accepted
in Christ, redeemed in Christ, crucified in Christ, buried in
Christ, risen in Christ, exalted in Christ, and seated in Christ.
And in the fullness of time, God's going to gather them all
together in one in Christ. Is He divided? You
wouldn't be foolish enough to say that, would you? Is Christ
divided? Is the Godhead divided? No, they're one. He said that
they may be one as we're one. The body of Christ is not divided.
He said, I'm the vine, you're the branches. There may be 15
branches on the vine, but they're all one. When you go by a grapevine,
you don't say, there's a grapevine and there are 15 branches. No,
you say, that's a grapevine. And all those branches are in
that vine. And you don't walk by a person. You say, there's
a head and there's a body. No, there's a person with a head
and a body. And that's Christ. And that's
his body. They're all one. They're in him.
And in the book of Ephesians, I want you to listen to this
now. And when I finish this message, and leave you today. You order
the tape if you want to, but if you don't, at least go back
and study the Scripture. See if these things be so. Believers
are one. Religious people are not. Church
people are not. Organizations are not, and never
will be, because they're not agreed. They're not one in heart. They're not one in spirit. They're
not one in purpose. They're not one in understanding.
They're not one in foundation. They don't have one head. But
Christ's people are one. And no matter where you find
them, no matter how old they are, young they are in Christ,
they're one. And it says in the book of Ephesians, chapter 4,
verse 4, Paul says there's one body and one spirit, even as
you're called in one hope of your calling. There's one Lord,
one faith, one baptism, one God and Father. There's seven ones
right there talking about His people. and then in first timothy
adds this one and there's one god and one mediator between
god and man and that's the man christ jesus and my friend that's
true oneness and i want to look at those eight things together
i want you to want you to really concentrate with me now and let's
look at these eight things that paul deals with in ephesians
four and first timothy one one in christ one in Christ. This is so clear and so beautiful.
First of all, he says this, there's one body. There's one body, one
family, one church. Now, I know there are a lot of
churches. I'm pastor of the 13th Street Baptist Church in Ashland,
Kentucky. I've been pastor there over 40
years. And they're dear people. I love
them. They love me. And we have a unity. But it's
not a perfect church. And I'm sure that in that church,
in the large congregation that it is, and people that come and
go, there's some terrors. I'm sure of it. There's some
who are not truly converted. There's some who, I don't know,
but there's some probably who are hypocrites. There's some
who maybe do not know Christ. I hope not, but I'm just confident
when you get that many people together, you've got some that
do not know Christ. But the churches all over the
land, that's true of all of them. They have their spots, tares,
and their hypocrites and so forth. But this church, this body, has
no tares, no unbelievers, no hypocrites, no Judases. No, no. It says here, listen,
and Christ is the head of the body, the church, who is the
beginning, the firstborn from the dead. that in all things
he might have the preeminence." That's the church of our Lord
Jesus Christ. That's the church which he purchased
with his own blood. That's the church whose names
are written in heaven. That's the one church, the true
church, God's church, the Lord's church. He said, I'll build my
church and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it.
Not a lost person in that church. Ephesians 5.23, he said, the
husband's ahead of the wife as Christ is ahead of the church.
Husbands, love your wives as Christ loved the church and gave
himself for it, that he might present it, the one church, the
one body, the one family, to himself a glorious church without
spot or wrinkle." It's the church of the firstborn. Oh, there's
neither Greek nor Jew, male nor female, rich nor poor, old or
young. It's one church in Christ, one
body. The Church. And they're all one. Can you
doubt that? No, you can't doubt that. Not
at all. There's one body. One body. All right. Second, there's one
Spirit. One Spirit. And this is the Holy
Spirit. This is the Holy Spirit. The
Scripture says, if any man have not the Spirit of Christ, he's
none of His. Everybody in this church is converted
and everybody in this church has the Holy Spirit. If any man
has not the Holy Spirit, he's not of his. By one Spirit, we're
all baptized into one body. You know what Scripture says?
By that one Spirit. And no man can call Jesus Lord
but by the Holy Spirit. Every true believer is baptized
with the Holy Ghost. Every true believer is baptized
into the body of Christ. Every true believer prays. He
loves Christ. He loves God. He loves other
people. I heard a preacher not long ago say 99% of the Christians
in this land are not walking with God. Whoa, now. Whoa, hold on here. 99% of the
church members may not be walking with God, but Christians are.
Christians are. They have one spirit, and they're
baptized into one body. The Holy Spirit regenerated them.
They're born of the Spirit. The Holy Spirit convicted them
of sin, of righteousness, and of judgment. The Holy Spirit
revealed Christ to them, took the things of Christ, and revealed
them to them. The Holy Spirit is their comforter
and their teacher, and the Holy Spirit has sealed them in the
body of Christ, and they cannot be taken out. And the Holy Spirit
is their earnest. He's not the spirit of confusion
and the spirit of division. He's the spirit of truth. And
there's one spirit. Just one. And every believer
has that Holy Spirit. And they love each other. And
they're not in competition. They're all seeking the glory
of God. They're not vying for the attention. They're not glorifying,
exalting themselves. They're preaching Christ. That's
right. And thirdly, there's one hope,
just one, one hope of your calling, one body, one spirit, one hope
of your calling. See, salvation's a calling. We
are the called of Christ Jesus, whom He justified, He called.
God is calling out a people for His name. Paul said, He called
you by our gospel. You see your calling, brethren.
And the one hope of that calling, you see, God calls His people,
like He calls Zacchaeus, come down, like He called Matthew,
like He called Saul of Tarsus. He'll call you if you're one
of His people. Whom He foreknew, He predestinated to be conformed
to the image of His Son, whom He predestinated, He called. And whom He called, He justified.
It's a holy calling. It's a calling to be like Christ.
Listen, what's the hope of your calling? I John 3, verse 2, Beloved,
now are we the sons of God. It does 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.
And every man, every man that hath this hope purifies himself,
every man. that have this hope. What hope?
To be like Christ. One hope of your calling. That one hope is to be like Christ. That's the threefold desire of
every believer. Commitment to Christ, communion
with Christ, and one day conformity to Christ. Oh, we have our ups
and downs and troubles and difficulties and trials, but Christ in you,
that's the hope of glory. And the one hope of his calling
be like him. It's not to meet mama in heaven,
though I love my mama. That's right. It's not to see
how many crowns or how many stars I've gotten, but how many crowns.
It's to be with him. That's the hope of his calling.
There are no degrees in that glory. All are like Christ, all
are loved the same, all are redeemed the same, all have the same station,
perfection, and the same reward. Christ is our reward. And then
he says there's one Lord, fourthly, one Lord, just one. Believers
are brothers who love each other, who respect one another, who
help one another, who learn from one another, but there's just
one Lord, one master, one king. That's Christ. Be not called
father, he said, you got one father. Be not called rabbi,
you got one master, your brother. He's Lord by God's decree. God
made him Lord. I hear preachers say, Make Jesus
your Lord. Too late, fella. God beat you to it. He's already
your Lord. He's Lord by creation. He's Lord
by death. He died that He might be Lord.
And He's Lord by faith and confession. If thou shalt confess with thy
mouth Jesus to be Lord, thou shalt be saved. But salvation
is not to stand up for Jesus. It's to bow down and worship
Christ, the Lord, the gateway into the kingdom of God. is not
your accepting Christ as your personal Savior, but bowing to
Jesus Christ as your Lord. Old preacher used to say, I know
who your Savior is, tell me who your Lord is. Who's Lord of your
life? Who's Lord of your life? If He's not your Lord, He's not
your Savior. Now I'm just telling you the truth. Time somebody
sounded the note. And here's the fifth thing, there's
just one faith. Here people say, we're not of
the same faith. What'd you say? There's just one faith. One faith. Believers are one because they
have one faith. One faith in Christ Jesus. It
may be small faith or great faith, but it's one faith. It may be
weak faith or strong faith, but it's common faith. It may be
early faith or late faith, but it's one faith. One. There's
just one faith. Keep the faith. That's right.
It's the only one. It's the faith. It has the same
author. He's the author and finisher
of our faith. It has the same object, he that believeth on
the Son hath life. That's right. He's the one sole
object of faith. Look into Jesus, the author and
finisher of our faith. It arises out of the same need,
sinners. It has the same foundation, the
Word of God. He hath said, so that I may boldly
say. It has the same rest. Come to
me, I'll give you rest. Just one faith. One faith. And then in the sixth place is
one baptism. Now, many believe this is the
baptism of the Holy Ghost. Perhaps we are all baptized into
one body by the same Spirit. There's one baptism into the
body of Christ, submerged, emerged, immersed into the body of Christ.
But there's one baptism under the gospel, and that's water
baptism by immersion. Going into all the world, and
make disciples, teaching all nations, baptizing them in the
name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. Go into
all the world and preach the gospel, he that believeth and
is baptized shall be saved." John was baptizing at a certain
place because there was much water there. Jesus came up straightway
out of the water. The Philip and the eunuch went
down into the water. Baptism is a burial, and in order
to truly picture and be identified with a death and a burial and
a resurrection, you've got to put the body beneath the water
and come up out of the water. And baptism's not for infants. Baptism is for believers. Christ
said, make disciples and then baptize them. That comes first,
believing. He that believeth and is baptized.
When the eunuch wanted to be baptized, he asked Philip, said,
here's water. What does hinder me from being
baptized? And Philip said, well, one requirement. Do you believe
with all your heart? on the Son of God. He said, I
do baptize. Baptism is for believers. It's
a confession of Christ. It's identification with Christ.
It's a declaration. Baptism is not only a confession
of Christ and identification with Christ in His death, burial,
and resurrection. It's a declaration to this world
that I'm dead, buried with Christ, and risen with Christ to walk
in newness of life. That's right. They won. It's not a fad. It's death. Salvation's not a fad. Salvation's
not... I hear people say, well, come and try Jesus. You don't
try death. When you die, you're dead. Well,
come and try death. No. I'm crucified with Christ. You don't try crucifixion. If
I said, well, try Jesus, you'd go to the cross and try to die,
try death? No. You commit, and when you're
crucified, it's over, brother. You're dead. And there's one
God, one Father of all believers. There's one God. He's the Father
of only believers. That's all. He's above all. He's
sovereign. He's through all. That is, by
His providence, He works through all things for our good and His
glory. He's in all. He dwells in us. I and my Father
will dwell in them. one mediator. Brother man, pray
for me. I will. You pray for me. I have
no more authority in prayer than you do. The authority is in Christ.
There's one God. There's one mediator between
God and men. And that fellow with the robe
on, he has no more authority in prayer than you do if you're
a believer. That's right. That preacher's been preaching
for 50 years. He has no more authority in prayer
than you do. He can't command heaven. That fellow on television
talks about, he can heal you. He's popping off. He doesn't
have any healing power. Healing's in Christ. That's right. There's one mediator.
There's one advocate. There's one intercessor, and
that's the Lord Jesus Christ. There's one body. Believers are
one. Not, if someone says they ought
to be, they are. There's one body, one spirit, one hope. one Lord, one faith, one baptism,
one God and Father, and one mediator. And there'll be one forever.
I want in on that by God's grace. Don't you? It's real. Write for
this tape, One in Christ. And on the other side is a message,
Jesus Christ is all. Send two dollars. Here's the
address. Till next week, may the Lord bless you.

One In Christ

What does the Bible say about unity among believers?

How do we know the doctrine of the church's oneness is true?

Why is understanding the oneness of the Church important for Christians?

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One In Christ

What does the Bible say about unity among believers?

How do we know the doctrine of the church's oneness is true?

Why is understanding the oneness of the Church important for Christians?

Sermon Transcript

About Henry Mahan

Comments

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