Sermon Tone Analysis

Introduction

Well, good morning, congregation.

It's good to see you again this Lord's day and as we are working our way through the book of Ephesians, we have been in verses 4 through 6 last Lord's day and this Lord's day as we look at this marvelous seven-fold description of the unity that we have as the people of God in the church of the Lord Jesus Christ.

You remember, God has been working here on earth this marvelous new thing as the apostle has discussed it already here in , of taking for himself a people whom he has marked out, whom he has designated from before the foundation of the world from every nation and tribe and tongue and people; that he has shaped and molded a people for himself from among the Jews and among the nations and brought them together into his church; that he has a new people, as it were, he has this new creation here and it is through the means of the church, it is through his creation of the church, through his inhabiting of the church by his Holy Spirit indwelling us, it is through the almighty, awesome, resurrection power that is at work in us who believe that God's glory is most manifest, it is most evident as we are reminded by the apostle, it is through the church that God is most seeking to bring honor and glory to his name.

And to reinforce this here of this unity that we have that he has already exhorted us in verses 1 through 3, "I therefore, a prisoner for the Lord, urge you to walk in a manner worthy of the calling to which you have been called," that is, our lives would be lived in such a way that they have accord with this great reality that God has already worked out and is working out in us that we're going to be manifesting in our lives this great calling and that we realize this marvelous purpose for which we have been created and we have been saved.

We are to do this with all humility and gentleness and patience, bearing with one another in love, and to be eager to maintain the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace.

So he gives these seven reasons now in verses 4 through 6 with regards to this unity of why we are to be eager to maintain this unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace.

We saw last week that in the Church there is one body and one Spirit.

There is one body, the church of the Lord Jesus Christ.

There is one Holy Spirit, and he is at work in us who believe.

Today we hope to look at the last five reasons --

1.

There is one and only one hope

He tells us there is one hope.

What is this hope?

Hope look towards that future of our the fullness of our salvation.

We are saved, we are being saved, we will be saved.

Here we are looking forward to the fullness of that salvation in Christ Jesus that we will experience the hope of glory of being with him.

This is something that we often don't tend to think of as much, but there is in the Christian faith a future-orientedness.

We look forward to his coming again with eager expectation.

We have this glorious inheritance in Christ Jesus pressed home to us by God the Holy Spirit reminding us of who he is and what Christ has come to do, and it's a hope that is not going to be a dud.

It is a hope that will not make us to be ashamed, that we are not going to be embarrassed by it not coming through, as we live out our lives for him in this world.

Yes, we are called to live as a people who live according to this new reality in the kingdom of God, and the world may look at us and go, "What is going on with you?

Why are you living in this way?

Why are you acting, behaving in this manner?

Why isn’t it getting you down?

“ And the world would deride us for having this future orientation, to berate us for living in such a way that we know that we will be accountable to the great King and Judge on that day of his return, and yet we are not looking towards our earthly treasure but we are looking to our heavenly glory which is to come, our inheritance which is Christ Jesus himself.

It is that one who is the center of our being.

We have this glorious inheritance in Christ Jesus pressed home to us by God the Holy Spirit reminding us of who he is and what Christ has come to do, and it's a hope that is not going to be a dud.

It is a hope that will not make us to be ashamed, that we are not going to be embarrassed as we live out our lives for him in this world.

Yes, we are called to live as a separate people, we are called to live as a people who live according to this new reality in the kingdom of God, and the world may look at us and go, "What is going on with you?

Why are you living in this way?

Why are you acting, behaving in this manner?"

And the world would deride us and yet we are not looking towards our earthly treasure but we are looking to our heavenly glory which is to come, our inheritance which is Christ Jesus himself.

It is that one who is the center of our being.

2. There is one and only one Lord

Illus: Tchula and Church of Christ

Methodist - Mr Gwin’s church

Baptist - Mr. Smith’s church

Presbyterian - Mrs Jones’ church

There is one Lord, and remember we've used that term again and again, there's one and only one.

The exclusivity of Christ's Lordship, he alone is Lord and it is inclusive, not only is it exclusive, he is the only Lord, the one and only one, but it is inclusive with regards to being Lord.

In fact, this word "Lord" in the Greek is kurios, it is one who rules.

He is one who is in charge by virtue of possession, and so the idea of rulership and possession go together with this term.

It's a term used later on of masters in relation to their bondslaves, as we see here in Ephesians.

It is, you remember, used of Sarah in calling Abraham her Lord in 1 Peter, but most especially we see it in the Greek Old Testament or the Greek version of the Old Testament known as the Septuagint, it is the word that is used to translate the covenant name of God, Yahweh.

God owns us, this covenant God owns us and he is Lord and Master over us and so when we see this term in the particular context speaking of Christ, it is to remind us again that Jesus Christ indeed is Lord, that he is Yahweh, and that glorious day will come when every knee shall bow and every tongue confess to the glory of God, that Jesus Christ is indeed Lord.

Methodist - Mr Gwin’s church

Baptist - Mr. Smith’s church

Presbyterian - Mrs Jones’ church

So in the church, there is one and only one Ruler.

There is not a multiplicity of rulers, there is only one Ruler, the Lord Jesus Christ.

There is not a separate ruler over the Jews and another one for the Gentiles.

There's not one for those of a particular region and those for another region.

Christ rules over all of the created order but especially in his church.

3.

There is one and only one faith

There is one faith.

Now the question is asked here: is he referring to something that is subjective or objective?

Is it the subjective in the sense that the faith that we as believers have, this trust of Christ that we're to have and indeed all who are in the body of Christ have a living and active faith in the Lord Jesus Christ, or is it objective, is it that body of doctrine, that body of teaching with regards to who God is and who we are and our sin and of the necessity of Christ and all that is summed up in him?

This is that one and only one, this inclusive, exclusive Christian faith.

It includes all of the body of Christ.

It is exclusive in that it is this faith and this faith alone.

There is one and only one Lord Jesus Christ, one and only one justification by faith alone in the finished work of Christ alone.

We are saved the same way.

There is one and only one faith.

Jesus Christ is the way, the truth and the life; no one comes unto the Father but by him and it's necessary that all hold this faith in the one and only one Lord Jesus Christ.

We have this faith once for all delivered to the saints.

We have this body of doctrine here that is given to us in the Scriptures of the Old and New Testament, so therefore if you do not actively believe what God has said about the Lord Jesus Christ, you do not have true faith in what God has said concerning the Lord Jesus Christ and concerning your need, the necessity of your being born again by the Spirit of God, you are none of his, you are not in Christ Jesus.

It is a right doctrine and a right belief, it is together one faith as we look to him.

4.

There is one and only one baptism

Then there is one baptism.

The question is: is he referring to baptism, that rite by which we are included in the ranks of the visible church, or is he talking about the baptism of the Holy Spirit, the one activity of the Holy Spirit that has brought us into unity with one another and with our Lord?

I tend to believe he is speaking of the activity of God the Holy Spirit but the fact that as we are baptized, we are having a demonstration, a sign to us of the working of God the Holy Spirit that we by faith believe would occur as we trust in the Lord Jesus Christ.

In every believer there is that outpouring of God the Holy Spirit.

There is on every believer that washing away of sin.

There is in every believer that engrafting into Christ that is represented to us in the act of baptism itself.

So there is one and only one baptism.

There are not multiple baptisms in the sense that the Jews will have one and the Gentiles will have another, the Greeks will have another and the Romans will have another.

No, there is one and only one that as we have this baptism of God the Holy Spirit, we are included in Christ Jesus.

5.

There is one God and Father of all, who is over all and through all and in all

One God

Now as we look at the text before us, we are struck with the fact that there is one and only one God.

There isn't a multiplicity of gods, they're not layers upon layers of the gods of the pagan culture, and this is especially important for the Ephesians because, yes, Ephesus is the ground zero for the worship of Artemis or Diana of the Ephesians, but also in that culture you had just the many gods, a god for this and a god for that and this circumstance and that situation, you had all of these gods to appease and all of these spirits to contend with.

This declaration throws down the gauntlet.

There is one and only one God and he must be worshiped exclusively.

You cannot mix and match.

You cannot have your own designer religion and take a little bit of Jesus here and a little bit of that god there, and this particular philosophy.

It is exclusive.

There is one and only one Lord, one and only one God and Father of all.

This is a shot across the bow of every culture, of every society, of every age that there is one and only one God and the question that is implied in this, what are you going to do with this God?

How are you going to relate to this God?

And that you must serve him.

Now the question is asked, you know, how deeply rooted was this in the culture?

Well, some people, this was a continual reality that they were facing, and others perhaps had been more philosophical about this and realized the folly of this, but the fact is that they were not worshipers of the one and only one God; that they were not worshipers of the one and one true God; that when it came to this Christianity thing, when it came to this one faith that is once for all delivered to the saints, this one Lord, this one Jesus Christ that they are to confess, that this was not one among many.

In some cultures you'd go into perhaps into Japan or into Southeast Asia and other places, where there is a multiplicity of gods that one might serve and you introduced this Jesus and sometimes you encountered this, "Oh yes, I'll embrace this Jesus," but it is not to the exclusivity of all other gods, it is an adding him into the mix.

"Oh, one more to put on the shelf, as it were, one more god to appease.

I kind of like this Jesus character," and so whenever missionaries enter into those particular cultures, there has to be that declaration, "There is one and only one God and he must be worshiped exclusively.

You cannot mix and match.

You cannot have your own designer religion and take a little bit of Jesus here and a little bit of that god there, and this particular philosophy.

It is exclusive.

There is one and only one Lord, one and only one God and Father of all."