Now here's our subject today. I'm speaking to you on the subject,
the oneness of true believers. And I'm reading from Ephesians
chapter 4, We'll read verses four, five, and six. Now listen
most carefully to the reading of the scriptures. There are
seven things here that stand out boldly on this subject, the
oneness of believers. Listen to the word of God, Ephesians
four, four through six. There is one body and one spirit,
even as you are called in one hope of your calling, There is
one Lord, one faith, one baptism, one God, and Father of all who
is above all and through all and in you all. Now men have
endeavored for centuries to bring religious people together. There
have been any number of ecumenical movements to get denominations
and churches and profess Christians together under one umbrella,
under one group, or headed in one direction. And this is what
they say. These efforts to get religious
people together. They say, we all believe in one
God, and we all believe in life after death, and we're all going
to the same place, so why should there be any divisions among
us? Let us unite together to win the world to Christianity.
Well, my friend, now listen to me. It'll never be done. Despite
all the efforts of all the organizations and people of all generations
and all ages to get religious people together, it'll never
be done. and there are a thousand reasons
why it'll never be done. But here's the chief reason.
Religious people will never be together as one because they're
not one. They're not one. They're divided
over the essentials of faith. The very things I read to you
a few moments ago are where they're divided, these essentials of
faith. There's one body, there's one spirit, There is one hope,
there is one Lord, there is one faith, one baptism and one God. And this is where they're all
divided and they'll never be one. But true believers, people
who truly know God and our Lord Jesus Christ gave us the definition
of true faith and eternal life. He said, this is life eternal,
that they might know thee the only true God and Jesus Christ
whom thou has sent. And these people who know the
true and living God, these people who know Jesus Christ whom he
had sent, they are one, they're not divided. True believers have
never been divided. They have always been one in
Christ. They always have been one, they're
one now, and they always will be one, that's true. Everybody
and I'm not talking about religious people. I'm not talking about
professing Christians. I'm not talking about churches
and denominations I'm saying that every true believer Every
converted redeemed person in Christ is one They always have
been one. They're one now. They always
will be one. They've never been divided In
John chapter 17, now listen to this. This is our Lord praying
the high priestly prayer, John 17. This is holy ground. This is the master praying, talking
to the father concerning his church, his people. And he said
in John 17, 20, listen, neither pray I for these alone, talking
about his disciples, But I pray for them which shall believe
on me through their word, shall believe on me through their word,
that they all may be one as thou, Father, art in me. That's some
oneness, isn't it? That these believers, these who
believe my word, believe me through their word, that they may be
one as thou, Father, art in me and I in thee. that they may
be one in us, one in us. Listen, I in them and thou in
me that they may be perfect in one. Believers, listen to me,
are one exactly as the father and the son are one and can never
be separated. They've always been one and they're
one now. And believers are all one, true
believers. You see, believers are not one because they're under
one law. That doesn't bring them together.
It's not the rules and regulations of religion that bring believers
into one. And then believers are not one
because they read one book. Every religious man in the world
reads the Bible. And believers are not one because
they believe in one God. James said, you believe in one
God, you do well. The devil believes in one God
and trembles. But believers are one because
they're one in Christ Jesus. That's the reason they're one
and Christ is not divided. I in them and thou in me, that
they may be made perfect in one. That's what's Christ's prayer.
I in them, Christ in us and us in Christ and the Father in Christ,
undivided. You see, Paul said in Ephesians
chapter one, verse three through seven, that we are blessed with
all spiritual blessings in the heavenlies in Christ. And that
according as he chose us in Christ, and he predestinated us to be
like Christ, and we are accepted in Christ, the beloved, And in
whom we have redemption in Christ, the forgiveness of sin. That
in the fullness of time, God will gather together all things
in Christ. Is Christ divided? Can you imagine
such a thing? Christ is not divided. Well,
all who are in Christ are not divided. That's an impossibility. Is the Godhead divided? Father,
Son, Holy Spirit? They're one. Then if the Spirit
of God dwelleth in you, and Christ dwells in you, and Christ said,
I and my Father will take up our boat in you, and he's in
me, how can we be divided? How can we be headed in two different
directions and believe two different things? Believers are one, true believers,
because Christ is one. Listen to this. John said in
1 John 4, verse seven and eight, Let us love one another. Now
listen to this. For love is of God and everyone that loveth
is born of God, truly loves, is born of God and knows God. And he that loveth not, he knoweth
not God. He may profess to know God, but
he doesn't know God because God is love. And to know God is to
have love, is to have the love of God shed abroad in your heart
by the Holy Spirit. evidences of the love of God
being in you, then God's not in you. And those who are born
of God love God. They love God. And those who
are born of God love Christ and they believe Christ. And those
who are born of God love God's word. There's no question about
it. They're separated to the gospel. I've heard people say,
well, he's a Christian that really loves the Lord. That's the only
kind of Christian there is. I've heard other people say,
well, she's a praying Christian. There ain't no other kind. All
true believers pray. You may as well expect a human
being to live without breathing as a child of God to live without
praying. I've heard people say, well,
he's a giving Christian. There ain't no other kind. There's no other kind. Well,
he's a Christian that's dedicated to God. There's no other kind.
They're religious people now, but not Christians. You see,
those who love God love God's word, and those who are born
of God love the truth. And those who are born of God
love one another. There's no question about it.
Beloved, let us love one another, for love is of God. It's the
gift of God. It's the grace of God. It's shed
abroad in the heart by the Holy Spirit. That's what I've been
trying to say on this program for nearly 14 years. That salvation
is coming to a person, not to the front of the church. Salvation
is to receive Christ, not the handshake of a preacher. Salvation
is regeneration and a new birth. It's not a decision. Salvation
is to know God, not to know doctrine. That's right. Now, in our text,
in Ephesians 4, I read it to you a few moments ago, Paul gives
several reasons why all true believers are one. They're not
endeavoring to be one. They're not putting forth an
activity to become one. They are one, whether they're
in Mexico or Canada or Australia or France or Spain or America,
wherever they are, they're one. They're one in Christ. They've
always been one. They were chosen in Christ, predestinated to be
like Christ, They have their inheritance in
Christ. It's like Paul said in Galatians 1, when it pleased
God, who separated me from my mother's womb to reveal his son
in me. And I ask you, is Christ divided?
You say, well, certainly not, he's one. So is his church. So are his true people. So is
his family, every believer. They may not even know one another,
but when they meet, they're one. Now here they are, here are the
seven reasons why all true believers are one, one in Christ. First
of all, he says there is one body. What is this body? It's the church. Now there are
many local churches, but we're not talking here of local churches.
Local assemblies we're talking about that one family that one
body that one church It is the church of the Lord Jesus Christ. There are no tears in this church.
There are no hypocrites in this church There's no false professors
in this church Everybody in this church is in Christ Because he's
the head Christ is not a monster He doesn't have a whole lot of
bodies one head and a whole lot of bodies. No, just one head
and one body It's a perfect body, too It's without stain or spot. It's without blemish or wrinkle.
In Colossians 1.18, 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. And then Ephesians 5.23, for
the husband is the head of the wife, even as Christ is the head
of the church, the church. Husbands, love your wives as
Christ loved the church and gave himself for it, not for them,
for it, the body, the church, that he might present it to himself
a glorious church, having neither spot or wrinkle. It's the church
of the firstborn whose names are written in heaven. And in
this church, as I said, there are no tyrants, there are no
hypocrites, there are no false professors. And there's neither
Greek nor Jew. There's neither male nor female.
There's neither rich nor poor. There's one church, one body,
one family, and Christ is the head. And they're one. They're
in the body of Christ. And is the body of Christ divided?
Certainly not. And then he says, secondly, not
only is there one body, but there's one spirit. Now my friends, this
is the Holy Spirit of God. Now listen carefully to me. The
Bible says, if any man have not the Spirit of Christ, he's none
of his. We have people who say that they're
saved, but they're seeking the Holy Spirit. How will you save
without the Holy Spirit? When the Holy Spirit is the Spirit
of truth, and he is the Spirit of Christ. If any man have not
the spirit of Christ, he's none of his. Listen to this, by one
spirit are we baptized into the body of Christ. How'd you get
into the body of Christ without having the Holy Spirit? Maybe
you're not in the body of Christ. Maybe it's not the Holy Spirit
you're seeking, maybe it's salvation you're seeking. Because if there's
just one body, and if a person's saved, he's in that family, that
body, that church, how'd he get there? baptized, immersed, submerged
into that body by the Holy Spirit. That's what the Word says. And
no man can call Jesus Lord, but by the Holy Spirit. So there's
one Spirit. And the Holy Spirit of God is
the Spirit that regenerates us. The Holy Spirit regenerates us.
The Bible says we're born of the Holy Spirit, born of God,
born from above, born of the Spirit, born of the Word. Not
only does the Holy Spirit regenerate believers, but he convicts us
of sin. Our Lord said, and when he's
come, he'll convince the world of sin, of righteousness, and
of unbelief. And all of this conviction has
to do with Christ. It's related to Christ. Convict
them of sin, because they believe not on me. Of judgment, because
the prince of this world is judged. of righteousness because I go
to my father and I am the righteousness of his people. And I'm the one
who judged the prince of this world. And the Holy Spirit not
only convinces us of sin, but the Holy Spirit reveals Christ.
Our Lord said, when he's come, he'll take the things of mine
and show them to you. He'll not speak of himself that
is independently of me. This gospel does not originate
with him. This is God's gospel. And the
Holy Spirit's God, but we're talking about the Father. He
shall not speak of himself, but he shall speak what he hears,
and he shall not glorify himself. He shall glorify me, Christ said.
It's the Holy Spirit who reveals Christ. The Holy Spirit is our
teacher. He'll take the things of mine
and reveal them or show them to you. The Holy Spirit seals
us. He's our earnest, our pledge.
That's what Paul said in Ephesians. And he's not the spirit of confusion.
The Holy Spirit of God, there's another spirit. Try the spirits,
whether they be of God. There's an evil spirit, there's
a foreign spirit, there's another spirit. Paul said they'll come
preaching another Jesus, another gospel, and another spirit. A
spirit that attracts attention to himself. A spirit that lauds
and exalts the righteousness of the flesh. but the Holy Spirit
exalts Christ, glorifies Christ, reveals Christ, honors Christ. And in the Holy Spirit, there's
no confusion and no division, but he is the Spirit of truth,
one Spirit. Believers are one because they're
in one body and they're indwelt by one Spirit. And then he says,
watch this now, there's one hope of your calling. One hope. You see, salvation is a calling. Salvation is called the holy
calling. Salvation is called the call
of Christ Jesus. You see, God is calling out a
people for his name. And Paul said, he called you
by our gospel. And again, Paul said, do you
see your calling, brethren? Your calling? So salvation is
a calling, and here he says there's one hope of that calling of which
you're a participant, a recipient, one hope of your calling. What
is that hope? All right, 1 John 3, verse two
and three, listen to it. Beloved, right now are we sons
of God, and it does not yet appear what we shall be, but we know
that when he shall appear, when Jesus Christ shall appear, We
shall be like him, underscore that. We shall be, when he shall
appear, we shall be like him. For we shall see him as he is.
And every man that hath this hope, what hope? To be like him. When he shall
appear, we shall be like him. And every man that hath this
hope in him purifies himself. Christ in you, that's the hope
of glory. If I were gonna write a paper
on the hope of the believer and the hope of glory and the hope
of life eternal, I'd write one word, Christ. He is my hope. He's the hope of glory. And my
friends, there are no degrees in glory. I don't hope to have
a bigger crown than yours or a bigger mansion than you. There's
no greed and covetousness among the family of God. He that would
be greatest among you, let him be your servant. The first shall
be last and the last shall be first. There are no degrees in
glory. And anyone who preaches degrees
in glory and larger crowns and dwelling places and others hasn't
met Christ yet because he doesn't have the spirit of Christ, nor
the humility of Christ, nor the mind of Christ. All shall be
like Christ. I can't be any greater than that.
When we shall see Him, we shall be like Him. What's better than
that? What's greater than that? Every
believer is gonna be like Christ. All are loved the same, redeemed
the same, and all are gonna be like Him. Anyone who aspires
to anything higher than that doesn't know God. And anyone
who'd be satisfied with any less than that, got a problem. We're gonna be like Him, like
Him. And then fourthly, he said, there's
one Lord. This is why we're one, because we have one Lord. Believers
are brothers, and they love one another, respect one another,
and help one another, and learn from one another. We exhort one
another. But we only have one Lord, one
master, one king. And that is the Lord Jesus Christ. We bow to no man. We do obedience
to no man, only Christ. He's the Lord. He said, call
no man father. You have one father. Call no
man master. One is your master, all your
brethren. And he is Lord, Jesus Christ is Lord by God's eternal
decree. God made him Lord. That's what
Peter said at Pentecost. God hath made this same Jesus
whom you crucified, both Lord and Christ. He's not only Lord
by eternal decree, He's Lord by creation. He says all things
were made by Him, through Him and for Him. And then He's Lord
by death. He died that He may be Lord of
the dead and the living, lost and the saved. Yeah, there's
a day coming when every knee shall bow Every tongue confess
that he is Lord to the glory of God the Father. And he's Lord
by faith and confession. If thou shalt confess with thy
mouth, Jesus to be Lord. And believe in thine heart, God
raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved. Are you with
me? Number five. Believers are one because there's
one faith. One faith. I received a letter
from a pastor one time of a Baptist church. I wrote and requested
a letter of someone who had united with our church. And he wrote
me back and said, we don't grant letters to churches except those
that are the same faith. What's the man's problem? There's
just one faith. One Lord, one faith. one faith
in the Lord Jesus Christ. Now there may be small faith
and great faith. There may be weak faith and strong
faith. There may be early faith and
late faith, but there's one faith. Because it has the same author.
He is the author and finisher of our faith. You're not the
author of faith. Faith didn't spring up in your
garden. Faith is the plant of God. Faith
is the gift of God. That's what he says in Ephesians
2, for by grace are you saved through faith, and that not of
yourself, it's the gift of God. Not of words, lest any man should
boast. You see, this faith, this one
faith has the same author, Jesus Christ, the author and finisher
of our faith. It has the same object. He that believeth on
the Son hath everlasting life. He that believeth not the Son
shall not see life. I don't care whether you're Baptist,
Methodist, Presbyterian, Nazarene, Catholic, whatever you are, any
man who knows God knows Him in Christ. Any man who's redeemed
believes on the Lord Jesus Christ. And all who do not believe on
Christ and love Christ and receive Christ and rest in Christ are
unsaved. I don't care where they live
or what they profess or how they act or how they Worship or what
they do he that believeth on the Son hath life and he that
believeth not the Son shall never see life You see this faith it
rises out of the same need with sinners Christ came into the
world saved sinners of whom I'm cheap and This faith has the
same foundation the Word of God faith cometh by hearing and hearing
by the Word of God David and Paul both said I believe therefore
I've spoken I believe what the Word of God and And this faith
has the same rest. And then it says, believers are
one. He said, come unto me and I'll give you rest. Christ is
our rest. And then there's one baptism. Now many people believe
this is a baptism of the Holy Spirit. Not a second work of
grace now. There's nothing better than Christ.
Christ is all and in all. He that hath the Son hath life.
We're complete in him. but we're all baptized into one's
body by the Holy Spirit, baptized by the Spirit into one body.
That's what a lot of people believe this one baptism is. Maybe so,
because every believer is baptized, immersed into the body of Christ
by the Holy Spirit, but there's also one water baptism. That's
right, in the scripture, out of the gospel, and that's by
immersion, and it's for believers. He said, go ye into all the world,
Teach all nations and baptize them. Make disciples and baptize
them. And then he said, go into all
the world, preach the gospel. He that believeth and is baptized
shall be saved. See, baptism's only for believers.
You don't baptize an unconscious person. It's for believers. The
eunuch said, here's water. What does hinder me from being
baptized? Philip said, well, if you believe on Christ, you
can. If you don't, you can't. Baptism follows faith. It's a
confession of faith. It's an identification with Christ.
It's a declaration of our death, burial and resurrection. How
can you declare something that hadn't taken place? So baptism for believers, the
very word means immerse. It's a burial, it's a death and
a burial and a resurrection. One baptism. One body, one spirit,
one hope, one Lord, one faith, one baptism, one God. And what's he like? He's the
father of all believers, father of all believers, and he's above
all. They said, David, where's your
God? He said, he's in the heavens. What's he like? He hath done
whatsoever he pleased. And this one God is above all.
He's above all angels, all creatures, all men, all events, all actions,
all deeds, all ages. He is a sovereign God in all
things, creation, providence and salvation. He's above all.
He answers to none. None can stay his hand or say
unto him, what doest thou? And he's through all. That is,
by his providence, he accomplishes all things. By him, all things
consist. All things work together for
good to them that love God, to them who are called according
to his purpose, because he works it that way. And he's in you. He dwells in you. Now, believers
are one. God the Father dwells in them.
And how can they be divided if God's in them, unless God's divided?
Listen, Ephesians 4, read it again. one body, one spirit,
one hope, one Lord, one faith, one baptism, one God. I have
this message on tape and another one. Send $2 and write for it. Until next week, God bless you.