One Lord, One Faith, One Baptism, One God & Father

Ephesians 4:1-32

Today, we may not get through this whole chapter of Ephesians, but for the purposes of what has been laid on my heart, I will try to deliver the sole purpose of the message.

As I was studying for this chapter I was reading a sermon of separating ourselves from unbelievers. 2 Corinthians 6:14 “Be ye not unequally yoked together with unbelievers: for what fellowship hath righteousness with unrighteousness? and what communion hath light with darkness?”

In the message, the preacher spoke that we have looked at this passage wrongly. It is a good teaching to separate yourselves from worldly behaviors, but do not hide your candle, let your light so shine! This passage is more about the church and uniting in worldly matters, uniting in any other message than the Gospel of Jesus Christ! He said that pragmatism was the infiltrator and as soon as pragmatism enters the teaching then we are preaching another Jesus. To be honest, “pragmatism’ is a word I do not use, and I had to look it up......It means: “a practical approach to problems and affairs”..........It sounds ok on the surface, but not when it is in the Truth of Jesus Christ.

Pragmatism can summed in saying “whatever works”! This preacher used the means of social justice infiltrating the church as an example...........Is racism bad, yes, but the church changing and start teaching about racism or social justice, is not the answer to this problem, we have this problem because of sin........Matter of fact, all of life’s problems are summed in sin and there is only One Answer for the problem, it is the man Jesus Christ..........1 Timothy 2:5 “For there is one God, and one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus;” ...........Jesus Christ as God, Jesus Christ as man, His life lived, His death given for our sins, His Resurrection from the dead, His return to His rightful place at the Right Hand of the Father, His now continued intercession for our sins on our behalf!

If I can get us, in our text, to at least, verse 24 Scripture will show us this! Ephesians 4:1-6..........

Verse 1 Paul writes that he is a prisoner of the Lord......... “The apostle begins here as he did in chapter 3, by referring to himself as a prisoner (see on 3:1), but here ‘the prisoner in the Lord’ (RV) is the most precise translation of what is written. The chains of his imprisonment limited his bodily movement, but his life was most truly controlled by the fact that it was ‘in the Lord’. The fact that his life in and for Christ had led to imprisonment did not mean that he requested the sympathy of his readers, but it added intensity to his appeal, as now he wished to speak to them concerning the whole manner of their life.”

Paul’s greatest concern was to present everyone mature in Jesus Christ.....

Colossians 1:27-28 “To whom God would make known what is the riches of the glory of this mystery among the Gentiles; which is Christ in you, the hope of glory: Whom we preach, warning every man, and teaching every man in all wisdom; that we may present every man perfect in Christ Jesus:”

Paul did not take up social issues, he did not take up matters of life, he did not try to come with “whatever works”, he concerned himself only with Jesus Christ and Him crucified!

It is Christ that he and we preach, which is the power of God!

As verse 2 communicates.....this belief, this life lived, this teaching takes lowliness, meekness, with patience, not jumping at everything, not anxious for a resolution.......it takes what Jesus told us it would take.......self-denial.....which is represented in Christ coming as man.....and all the apostles in their lives.............a self-abandonment that is hard for the human. Our egos are very influential!

Showing tolerance with one another with the love of Christ.....I would say that the church as a whole has not done too well at this...............tolerance is difficult with so many having so many different opinions and thoughts and ways!

This is a perfect example..........music.........the old music doesn’t suit the young peoples ears....so we have a different service for them.....the new music doesn’t suit the older folk’s ears....so we change things up........that is pragmatism.......the young needs the old and the old needs the young............we cannot continue to go on like this

If this keeps up and we keep going after what we want....there will be only one person in your church and you know who that is.....YOU!

How do we break this? We must have unity, unity of the Spirit.......this unity provides One Hope that is in Jesus Christ........Everything about Him, brings us to God rightly!

Paul is saying that this unity is only kept by the Gospel, unity is in life of Jesus Christ! This is through the Spirit....The Holy Spirit. the Comforter......

Why is the Spirit the one that unifies? John 16:13-14 “Howbeit when he, the Spirit of truth, is come, he will guide you into all truth: for he shall not speak of himself; but whatsoever he shall hear, that shall he speak: and he will shew you things to come. He shall glorify me: for he shall receive of mine, and shall shew it unto you.”

Jesus tells us that the work of the Holy Spirit is to guide you into all truth and that truth only comes from the Person and Work of Jesus Christ!! The Holy Spirit will not speak of Himself, but He will speak of only what He was given and give it to us!

Not only that He will glorify Jesus Christ!!! So, when you hear folks say we are having a Holy Ghost meeting....it is better said that we are having a Gospel of Jesus Christ meeting!

How do you know that is Holy Ghost meeting, because Jesus is being taught there!

All the works done by Jesus and the Holy Spirit are for this and this only.......John 20:31 “But these are written, that ye might believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God; and that believing ye might have life through his name.” .......This is the purpose of all through Jesus Christ!

One body....the Body of Jesus Christ........One purpose, one goal, as was Paul’s goal which we quoted earlier.............this takes self-abandonment............there is only One Hope for the world and that is Jesus Christ................

One Lord....Jesus Christ.........One Faith.......One Baptism......One God and Father of all........This is the true purpose of Jesus Christ is by their faith in the Person and work of Jesus Christ, we will be returned to the only God and Father of all

Why is that? Because He is over all and through all! We can be united with God the Father through Jesus Christ and therein God will be in us all!

Deut. 4:35 “Unto thee it was shewed, that thou mightest know that the Lord he is God; there is none else beside him.”

1 Corinthians 8:6 “But to us there is but one God, the Father, of whom are all things, and we in him; and one Lord Jesus Christ, by whom are all things, and we by him.”

Isaiah 46:9 “Remember the former things of old: For I am God, and there is none else; I am God, and there is none like me,”

One faith............There is only One to believe in and only one way to believe........That is why Paul is talking about unity.......unity comes from a singular purpose, we are not taking on the world’s problems because we know the answer to those problems.

Again this takes a lowliness of mind and a meekness.......patience and enduring one another with the love of Christ!

The answers do not belong in accepting certain behaviors or lifestyles......the answer is our faith in Jesus Christ that He is the Only way, the Only Truth, and the Only Life......This faith is truly a singular purpose, there is no other way to believe in, there is no other fix to the world.......

We have tried to find fixes for a multitude of ills and there is none, but Jesus Christ!!!!

Isaiah 45:22 “Look unto me, and be ye saved, all the ends of the earth: For I am God, and there is none else.”

There is only One fix..........this can be easy to be unified in and yet look how difficult it has become!

We have tried to find answers for all these problems of life, all the while, that there is only One true Counsel and that is the Truth of Jesus Christ!

I need to fix this, I need to stop that, I need to start this, I need to apologize here, all this can only come from knowing and believing in Jesus Christ!!!

Let’s keep reading..........

We are only given grace by the measure of Jesus Christ’s gift, not by any measure we have achieved!

That is enough to take our breath!

Led captivity captive....I read an amazing quote by Matthew Henry: “It is a phrase used in the Old Testament to signify a conquest over enemies, especially over such as formerly had led others captive; see Judges 5:12. Captivity is here put for captives, and signifies all our spiritual enemies, who brought us into captivity before. He conquered those who had conquered us; such as sin, the devil, and death. Indeed, he triumphed over these on the cross; but the triumph was completed at his ascension, when he became Lord over all, and had the keys of death and hades put into his hands.”

He gave gifts....verse 11.......for what purpose........12-13..............for the perfecting of the saints in the knowledge of Jesus Christ, building up one another in Jesus Christ, our only hope!

Unto the measure and stature of the fulness of Jesus Christ

We will never measure without faith in Jesus Christ.....He is the way to go, the truth to believe, and the life to live....in the fulness if Jesus Christ is our life........there is no outside interpretation of this......there is no other fix than this!!!!

This is what the body of Christ is about is verse 13........This is the purpose and goal of every believer! All those apostles, prophets, evangelists, pastors, and teachers, the gifts given those is the power to deliver the Gospel!!!

Every supernatural work that has been done was done so that you will believe that Jesus is the Only Deliverer and that deliverer is God made manifest in the flesh and is the Son of God the Father and that by believing this we might have life in the very essence, the fulness of the Person and work of Jesus Christ!

So, that we will no longer be pulled to the world’s fixes!!!

Speak the truth in love.........This is the truth.......If you have problems, addictions, marriage trouble, if you have been divorced, if you are depressed, if you are angry, whatever earthly problem you have..........................Pour yourself into knowing Jesus Christ..........He is the answer!

Paul left everything behind and followed after Jesus Christ and from that point on spent most of his life defending his sincerity, he spent his time being ridiculed, beaten, in prison, and finally lost his life all for the Truth of Jesus Christ!!!!

By believing in Jesus Christ, he found life in His Name and now lives forever in Heaven with the FATHER!

Verses 17-24................Be renewed in the Spirit of your mind, put off those former things that looked for earthly solutions to fallen problems!

You are new, created in Jesus Christ!!! 2 Corinthians 5:17 “Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new.”