One God and Father of all - THERE'S NO "I" IN ONE, part 7 (Eph 4:6)

Isaiah’s Call to Worship and the Gathering of the Church

64th chapter and 8th verse of Isaiah the the Prophet proclaimed. But now oh Lord you are our father we are the clay and you are our Potter. We are all the work of your hand. We come to worship him this morning.

Don't we welcome welcome to church. We're glad that you're here and glad that you've chosen to be obedient to the Lord to gather with the Saints and encourage one another as we wait as we wait for the coming of our Lord Jesus and bringing us into glory.

And so we are so grateful for all of your faces. I myself as I was watching many of you come in. I've got to have conversations with a number of you and I can't tell you how encouraged I am when I get to see you here when I when I get to just speak with you just for a moment even if it's just about our week that there's a camaraderie there's a beauty there as we are encouraging one another so even in just a an initial reaction just a conversation together.

I've been encouraged and I pray that you have too. And our prayer is this morning that we will all grow in the knowledge and and fear of the Lord the triune God father son Holy Spirit. Amen amen. Well let's pray for a local church this morning.

We would like to pray for a person that we know. Well here he does a lot of things online with Pastor Jeremiah Trey Fisher in Calhoun Louisiana the parish of the Redeemer. We've prayed for them before we just want to lift them up in prayer this morning.

I spoke with Trey a couple of weeks ago and they're getting so close to their new building. They are a church plant that I believe is about five years old six years old a couple years older than we are as a church plant and and so they they are finally building a location.

It's just taking longer than expected and so we want to pray for them as they make that transition there that they could reach that community. So bow your heads with me. Let's pray dear Heavenly Father we come to you this morning and we thank you for bringing us together.

But we also want to pray for our brothers and sisters at the parish of the Redeemer God as they gather this morning to worship you and spirit and truth. I pray that that you would be with their leadership God.

I pray that you would give them wisdom or give them discernment as they speak truth from your word Lord. I pray for Trey and the other pastors there. I pray that that you would just unite their hearts together and unite the hearts of the people.

Well we pray that you would do a mighty work there father. We pray for their new location. We know buildings are not what make a church but a church needs a place to meet and and they are getting so close God and it is in your timing.

And we ask that that that location be a be a light be a city set on a hill that the community around them would be constantly reminded of the gospel of Jesus Christ just at the very presence and and and site of this location.

And that your name would be proclaimed greatly over the years over the decades and prayerfully over the centuries until you return. That that church would be a beacon would be a place for the Saints to come and gather and worship you in spirit and in truth.

We thank you in Christ's name. Amen. Amen. Well are y 'all ready to worship. You ready. You sound like it all right. Well before we go into our call to worship I want us to pray a prayer of adoration if you please stand.

I want to pray a prayer from the valley of vision. This is a compilation of Puritan prayers that I've been pondering on this week. And so I ask that you bow your heads and pray with me that that you would pray these great truths in your heart to God along with me.

Let's bow our head. Heavenly Father blessed Son. Eternal spirit. We adore you as one being one essence one God and three distinct persons for bringing sinners to the knowledge of you and to your kingdom.

Oh father you have loved us and sent Jesus to redeem us. Oh Jesus. You have loved us and assumed our nature shed your own blood to wash away our sins. Righteousness to cover our unworthiness. The Holy Spirit.

You have loved us and entered our hearts and planted their eternal life. Revealed to us the glories of Jesus. Three persons and one God. We bless and praise you for love so unmerited so unspeakable so wondrous so mighty to save the lost and raise us to glory.

Oh father. We thank you that in fullness of grace you have given us to Jesus to be his sheep to be his jewel his portion. Oh Jesus. We thank you that in fullness of grace you have accepted espoused and bound us.

Oh Holy Spirit. We thank you that in fullness of grace you have exhibited Jesus as our salvation and planted faith within us subdued our stubborn hearts and made us one with him forever. Oh father you are enthroned to hear my prayers.

Oh Jesus your hand is outstretched to take our petitions. The Holy Spirit. You are willing to help our sickness to show us our need to supply words to pray within us to strengthen us that we faint not in supplication.

Oh triune God who commands the universe. You have commanded us to ask for those things that concern your kingdom and our souls. Oh let us live and pray as those baptized into the threefold name Father Son and Holy Spirit in Christ's name.

We pray. Amen amen. Our call to worship this morning is the 29th Psalm. This is one of my favorite calls of worship. It incites worship in my own heart. As we declare as the psalmist declared ascribe to the Lord.

Oh heavenly beings ascribe to the Lord. The glory do. His name of the voice of the Lord is over the waters. The God of glory thunders. The voice of the Lord is powerful and the voice of the Lord flashes forth flames of fire and his temple all cry.

The Lord sets enthroned over the flood. May the Lord give strength to his people.

Ephesians 4 and the Reading of the Text

You need to worship you through a time of offering and giving. We just pray that.

You were honored in this time God that you prepare hearts for the word that you've prepared for us this morning. God we thank you. Praise you God in Jesus.

Name. We'll go ahead and open up your copy of God's Word to Ephesians chapter.

4 Ephesians chapter 4. As we continue our study through this this rich letter from the Apostle Paul to the church in Ephesus and and the surrounding cities in that area and ultimately to us today. Right right for all scriptures for the Saints.

Paul says in Ephesians chapter 4 starting there in verse 1 I therefore a prisoner for the Lord urge you to walk in a manner worthy of the calling to which you have been called with all humility and gentleness with patience bearing with one another in love eager to maintain the unity of the spirit in the bond of peace.

There's one body and one spirit just as you were called the one hope that belongs to your call one Lord one faith one baptism one God and father of all who is over all and through all and in all. This is the reading of God's Word.

Let's go to him once again in prayer and ask that we could understand these great truths. And there have my father God you've given us your word so that we would have everything that we need for life for godliness.

God you teach us of who you are. How do you teach us of who we were and of what what you have done to make us what we are today. New creations adopted children heirs of glory. The people who now have the the promised Holy Spirit illuminating your truth to our minds.

Well God we know that you are doing a sanctifying work in our hearts and minds. And you're doing it at this very moment you're molding us more and more into the image of our glorious Savior the head of this body you are driving us to obedience to him.

We pray that as we continue to look at the the unity that you've called us to guard that we would be doers of the word not here's only father may we be a people that that live in a people that maintain that glorious perfect unity.

This is the unity of a triune God father son and Holy Spirit. That unity that you have brought us into through the blood of Christ and now share with one another. Father may we honor you in the preaching of the word today in Christ's name.

The Crescendo of the Seven Ones in Ephesians 4:4-6

Well today we come to the seventh and final part of our sermon titled there is no I in one where we have been looking intently at each of the seven ones there in verses 4 through 6 as the Apostle Paul he builds upon the the blessed hope of our foundation this glorious unity of the spirit that that Paul has told us to guard back in verse 3 that's been the purpose and it's grounded in one body the body of Christ that all of the people all of the church essentially every saint that's ever been and every saint that ever will be.

It's grounded in the one spirit the Holy Spirit that is the soul of that body that indwells each one of us the one hope that one hope of glory that each of us share the one Lord Jesus Christ the king that he is the head of that body one faith that that body of truth is body of doctrine that he's given us in his word that we rally around that we are that we get our life and godliness from one baptism that the fact that we have been brought into a spiritual baptism made new washed clean.

And this crescendo of ones I need to explain that maybe the musicians in the room get what I mean when I use the word crescendo don't you. It's a it's a musical term. When you're playing a piece of music you have a piece of music in front of you and you see a crescendo you.

You gradually begin to play that instrument with greater intensity. It begins to build. You start off by playing lightly. We do it in here on Sundays you hear the song starts off lightly and then the music calls for it to build and it builds and it builds and it builds.

And each musician begins to play more aggressively and play louder and louder until it it reaches this this volume and intensity of where it's meant to go. And this is a crescendo. And this is essentially what Paul is doing here we get.

It has been building to the climax of these ones all the way here to verse 6 one God and father of all who is over all and through all and in all. Do you see it. Do you see it building to this point. Paul starts with the Holy Spirit.

Doesn't he. He starts with the Holy Spirit. And what is the Holy Spirit. And the Holy Spirit has been led us to the son. The Holy Spirit has revealed the son to us. And then what is the son done. He goes directly to the son.

The son has led us to who's. He led us to the father. He's led us to the father. This has been the ultimate goal. This is the foundation of our unity bringing us into unity with the triune God and the work that each person of that of that the Trinity is carrying out in our lives leading us ultimately to the father.

Paul reminds us of this unity as he he makes his way into chapter 4 and will later go on to tell us how to practically maintain the unity. Yet here before he goes into any of that before he begins to tell us how to live what does he do.

He doesn't start with us. He doesn't start with us. He starts with the objective truth of how a triune God has brought us into this unity. And since today if you are going oh yeah pastor I mean we know this.

You've been saying this for weeks now maybe we can just kind of move on to maybe some of the more practical things. Then you don't know it yet. If that's what you're thinking then you do not understand what Paul is doing here.

You do not yet understand in its fullness what Paul is trying to build as a foundation. Because your heart should rejoice at every single staff stanza of this glorious truth like the most beautiful song ever composed reaching its crescendo and moving the your very soul to rejoice.

Right. When you hear of the triune God that has brought you into this unity it awakens you it drives you to worship. This is why we spent seven weeks here. And if you truly understand this you would be gloriously delighted to spend a thousand weeks here.

There's no reason to move on from here. But we do so. Today will be the last of the seven weeks I promise. But it's a matter of the heart looking at how the father thought our salvation how the son bought it and how the spirit rotted.

I gotta be honest I was writing that in the notes I felt like a southern Baptist preacher. That being said I've got five things I want us to see it in this text today. And the first one is there is only one God.

The One God of Ephesians 4 and the Idols of Modern Culture

And that God is one. There's only one God and that God is one. All is not only teaching that there is only one God but he is also emphasizing the fact that God is one. Right. Many of these Christians in Ephesus that he's writing to in the surrounding areas they come out of a Greek and Roman culture where there's just a plethora of gods.

Isn't there. There's there's a God for this. There's a God for that. There's a God to sacrifice and pray to about the weather. Another one for war. Another one for crops and agriculture. There's a God for wine.

There's a God for love. And the list just goes on and on and on. It's funny to me. It's like they don't realize that their gods are so weak. They can only handle one thing at a time. Right. Actually they can't handle any of them.

That's the problem. That's why they only gave him one task is they weren't able to accomplish any of the others. But before we look at this and are tempted to think well those stupid backwards archaic people worshiping fake gods worshiping at the altar of false deities which let's be honest we kind of think that at times don't we we're educated.

Now we we've moved on from God's. Have we our modern-day culture I believe does the exact same thing. I mean it's in the heart of man to worship. Isn't it. It's it's in the very heart of each created man to worship.

Man is made in the image of God and he is a worshiper. And in our unrighteousness we suppress the truth. And we worship the creature rather than the creator. But we worship something. So instead of of the goddess Diana or Iris and and one of the plethora of gods for each little thing in life that that these people worship before Christ we worship God's like money and liberty comfort and identity.

You say. Well pastor will those. That's not really the same thing. I get it's idolatry. But it's not really the same thing as worshiping at the altar of some of these other gods. Oh yeah the proofs in the pudding.

We even sacrifice our own children at the altar of these gods. Don't we. We think about abortion right. What's the purpose of abortion. Comfort. Financial reasons. Selfish reasons. And I don't even mean just abortion.

Look at the look at our culture. Most people's children are being raised by others while they sacrifice their own time to those gods. Paul reminds us as he reminded them those gods are not God at all.

Even though we make sacrifice to the gods of our culture and our time just as they did there. No God at all. For there is only one God. He is the only one with the power to unite. That's the whole purpose of this right.

Well that's why Paul's pointing this out. Isn't it one God unites just as one God is united. Those other gods create disunity and chaos. Well other cultures worship false gods. The people of God have always worshipped the one true God.

Back in Deuteronomy 6. This is what all of the people of God declared before Christ even came here. Oh Israel the Lord our God. The Lord is one. While all of these other nations are worshipping different gods we worship one true God.

Turning your Bibles with me to 1st Corinthians chapter 8. I want us to see the Apostle Paul pointing this truth out. 1st Corinthians chapter 8. We're going to look at verses 5 and 6. See in this passage Paul is talking about eating meat offered to idols.

This is a this is a dilemma in the church because there's there's meat that gets offered at the altar of some of these other gods. And then they take that meat that got offered and then they sell it in the marketplace for much much cheaper.

And so some of the Christians like oh man cheap meat I'm gonna go buy cheap meat. Those gods aren't even real. And then weaker Christians are like oh no you can't eat that. That's that's the meat offered to idols.

And so their conscience is prick. Paul's talking about this. But in verse 5 he says. For although there may be so-called gods in heaven or on earth as indeed there are many gods and many Lords. What's he referring to.

Well I think he's referring to one whatever we worship. But two there are. There are spiritual beings that work here that are trying to undermine the Creator. And that's what Satan did. Isn't it Satan wanted to be God himself and he seeks to undermine God.

That's what all of these spiritual enemies are doing. But it's anything. There are many gods and many Lords. Verse 6. Yet for us there is one God the father from whom are all things and for whom we exist.

Oh but remember Paul's not just reminding us and telling us that there is one God but he's also reminding us of the fact that God is one. Look at look at the next part of verse 6. And one Lord Jesus Christ through whom are all things and through whom we exist.

What's he saying about Jesus. There he's God. He's saying Jesus is God. He's declaring God is one. There is one God. There are many gods and many Lords all around that we have the ability to worship and sacrifice at the altar of.

But none of them are real. None of them can fulfill. None of them are the one true God. But the one true God is also one. When Paul says that there is one God he's obviously referring to the fact that there is one God and three persons God the Father God the Son God the Holy Spirit.

You see when he referred to one spirit early on in our study here in Ephesians he was referring to God. Isn't he the third person of the Godhead. He is referring to God right there one body one spirit the Holy Spirit God.

When he referred to one Lord when there's one Lord one faith who is he referring to Jesus God. He's referring to the second person of the Godhead. He's referring to the one God. God is one. And though each of the persons of the Godhead have have a very distinct role there still only one God.

And that God is one. This may seem fundamental and foundational for you. And it is. And it's something we must continue to remind ourselves of that. This is a glorious truth because we worship one God.

So back in Deuteronomy when that when the Israelites were declaring there is one God what was the meaning there. There is a one triune God one God three persons. The second thing I want us to see in this text is there is one father of all but not of all.

Adoption, Fatherhood, and the Meaning of “All”

One father of all but not of all. Confusing. Right. We talked about this at the beginning of our study of this letter. But I think it's important for us to address it again here. Many people have misused this passage to espouse this heretical view that God is the father of all people.

That God is is the father of all of creation. And of course we know that is not true. In one sense God is the creator of we know God's the creator. So in one sense he is the one that gave us life. He's the potter.

We are the clay. Just as we read earlier on at the beginning of the service Jesus said in John chapter 80 said if God were your father you would love me. If God were your father you would love me. Does everyone love Jesus.

I think there's a lot of people out there that would say that they do love Jesus. But they've made up some Jesus in their mind that they can love. And that's not the Jesus of the Bible. That's not the Jesus that Jesus himself said that he was otherwise they would not have killed him.

He would have just been a nice guy that everybody likes because it becomes whatever they want. But that wasn't the case. Writer and theologian J .I. Packer said father is the Christian name of God. You notice that that's how Jesus refers to him in his earthly ministry.

And that's one of the reasons that that the the religious leaders hated him so right. They hated the fact that he would would be so sacrilegious to call God his father. And then even take teaching people how to pray our Father who art in heaven.

You can imagine how enraged they were because they knew God was something separate. At least they knew that much about God. God is separate from them. And to be honest with you those that didn't understand who Christ was God wasn't their father.

So it was right for them not to calling father because he is not father of all. So how is it that we as Christians refer to God as father. Look back with me in Ephesians. Go back to Ephesians and into chapter 1.

Let's build on what Paul has been saying up to this point. Ephesians chapter 1 starting in verse 3 says. Blessed be the God and father of our Lord Jesus Christ who has blessed us in Christ with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places even as he chose us in him before the foundation of the world that we should be holy and blameless before him in love.

He predestined us for adoption to himself as sons. What does it mean to be adopted be brought in to be made a son. You weren't a son. He was not your father. And now he has made you his son. And he is now your father.

And how is this accomplished. Look what Paul says. Adopted to himself as sons through Jesus Christ. That's how you were adopted. Those who are not in Christ are not children of God. They are enemies of God.

They are not able to call him father. He may be their creator he may be their judge. But he is not their father because they are in sin and they are under the wrath of God. Look at verse 7. In him we have redemption through his blood.

Through the blood of Christ. We have redemption because we were sinners. Because he God was our judge our creator. We stood guilty before him because of our sin. But through the blood of Jesus the forgiveness of our trespasses according to the riches of his grace which he lavished upon us and all wisdom and insight making known to us the mystery of his will according to his purpose which he set forth in Christ as a plan for the fullness of time.

To unite all things in him things in heaven and things on earth. Notice the all. What does he mean by all things. We talked about it when we got that text. But it's been a bit I get it. But what is he referring to by all things as we see this all here God is the father of all but not of all.

And here he says to unite all things to himself. Does this mean that he's uniting everyone to himself. Does this mean that he has adopted every single created person that has ever existed. Is that what.

What Paul's getting at here. Because he says all all means all right. Of course not. He's only referring to those who come to to Christ and faith. That's it. That's the all. That's the context. Isn't it.

You know what's another word for Christian. We see it. I'm going to give you a hint. Paul mentions it right at the the greeting of this letter saint to the Saints who are in Ephesus who are faithful in Christ Jesus.

So who are the Saints. The ones that are faithful in Christ Jesus the ones that have been adopted and brought in his sons and heirs that can call him father. This is this is why Paul's writing this letter.

And this is who he's writing the letter to. Isn't it. He's not writing non-believers Paul none of Ephesians is to an unbeliever other than for further condemnation. The letter is written to Saints to those who are in Christ Jesus.

So when he says all to unite all things to him when he says that he is the father of all who's he talking about Saints. You see when we see this word all we have to understand it in context. Don't we as pastor Jeremiah says context is king not key.

But King. Context is King. You see the Greek word for all is pos there in the Greek this word. This word can be referring to all individuals. It can and sometimes it does. But more often than not this word also can be referring to groups of individuals collectively essentially some types of all.

So a group of us in here if we are all in Christ it's the all. Does that mean everyone in town. No this is the all not to mention in the Septuagint. It's been made clear at the end of this very verse.

We don't see it in our English translation. But there's a Greek word who mean it's you. It means you at the end reading all you at the very end of the text through all all you who's the you the Saints.

So when we remember that Paul is writing to the Jew and Gentile Christians to the Saints the context is that that we are united all of us. All of us are united not Jewish Christians over here and Gentile Christians over here all the Saints is the entire context of what Paul is saying here.

This allows us to understand who that all is that Paul is referring to. He is not the father of all mankind. He is the father of the new mankind though those whom he's adopted those who he had set his love on before the foundations of the world and redeemed through the Sun and sealed by the Spirit.

And I think that is why Paul writes it in this way. One God and father of all. It's as if he's reminding us that we are twice bought that we as Saints are twice bought. He didn't have to create us but he did.

The one God of all of creation created you and I from dust. He breathed life into us. He gives us life. And that's where it ends. For most people. Isn't it most people in there they get the pleasures of this life or whatever this life has to offer with eternal judgment afterwards.

Oh but for us for all of us we have been twice bought. He created us and then he purchased us as children sons and heirs of glory. For there is one father of all but not of all. Only all the Saints is who Paul is referring to.

God’s Sovereign Hand Over All, Through All, and In All

The third thing I want us to see is there is one God over us. There is one God over us. Look at the text there in chapter 4. One God a father of all who is over all is God is over all of creation not a single molecule out of place.

But remember the context. What is Paul getting at here. He's giving us a foundation of this glorious unity that we are to maintain that we are to guard. Some will read this as well as the father over all.

But but I believe that Paul is referring to the triune God as a whole. Here look at the entirety of the of verses 4 on through 6 with me. I want to read it together so you can see this. There is one body and one spirit just as you were called to the one hope that belongs to your call one Lord one faith one baptism one God and father of all.

And now I think Paul is making a switch here because he has spoken about the spirit he's spoken about the son and now he's spoken about the father. And now we come into this new triad over all through all and in all.

And I believe this is a reference to the father the son and the Holy Spirit work is one. Each one has a unique role in this work of redemption and purchasing us and sealing us choosing us. And we see the sovereignty of God in this.

The fact that he is he is over all is pointing to the sovereign hand of that triune God as a whole. This is no longer just speaking of the father. This is speaking of a triune God here he is over all because otherwise we have Jesus and the Holy Spirit being subordinate to the father.

And that's just not the case here we see Jesus in his earthly ministry. Now he sits at the right hand of the father is the king and the ruler over all. So this must be speaking of a triune God and we see a sovereign hand of God over all.

If God is sovereign over all things in all of the earth which we know he is how much more is his sovereign hand over all of us his people. If we've been brought into unity with him if we've been brought into his very body the body of Christ as a people for himself if we are a temple being built up into him a dwelling place for him how much more is his sovereign hand over each of us.

And how does that work out practically in our lives. You say pastor. Well okay I get that theologically. But how. What does that mean for unity. Like what's the purpose here. Well think about it when you're wronged by a brother or sister which that's usually what causes disunity.

Right. There's either a perceived wrong or an actual wrong. And it causes it causes us not to maintain the unity of the spirit. That's what the purpose of this is. Remember. So if God is overall if he is sovereign over all that we we are wrong by a brother or sister the seed of disunity begins to set in in our hearts and in our midst.

And we begin to talk about it and we begin to build sides and we begin to divide as a church. But now we go back to this foundation. The God that unites us is sovereign over even this. Oh wait a second.

The God that is sovereign over every molecule of the universe is sovereign even over this situation. God allowed that happen to you. That just hit hard. Didn't it. Have you ever thought of it that way.

When wrong is done to you God allowed it. God is not passive setting there going. I didn't see that one coming man. That's gonna cause a lot of disunity. I'm after I'm after divide. Churches will have two separate churches here because they can't be unified anymore.

Cuz I didn't I didn't foresee them doing that to them didn't work like that. God didn't make them wrong you but God allowed them to wrong you. And he could have stopped them at any moment because he's sovereign overall.

So now how does this change. How we see things. If God is the one God overall and he's over all of us his children his people his body his building that's being built up as a household of faith for him a dwelling place for him.

Who am I when I am wronged by a brother sister. Who am I to water and fertilize that seed of disunity until it sprouts up into division. Who am I. God had purpose in it. God has a reason for it. See that changes things that makes it to where.

When I'm wronged I don't have to blame that person. I do not have to look at that person in bitterness. I do not have to hold on to it. I can go. God is sovereign over all things. And he allowed this.

And why did he allow it for my good in his glory. Because all things work together for the good of those that love him and are called according to his purposes. Wow how unifying is that. That brother sister may have meant evil for you.

It could have been a misunderstanding. But they may have meant evil for you because we're wicked people. Aren't we. I've wronged people in this room. And I meant evil in it unfortunately because of my wicked heart and so of you.

But God means good with it. And he was sovereign over allowing that to happen. That changes things. If God is the God the one God over all then he is allowing it. Fourth thing I want us to see. There's one God through us.

The God Who Works Through His People and Dwells in Them

There's one God over us. There is one God through us. Look at the text. One God and Father of all who is overall and through all. Remember who's the all all you Saints he's through us. Is God working through every circumstance in all of the world at this very moment.