We continue our series, “Living Life From A Heavenly Edge” with the words of the Apostle Paul, in Ephesians 4:5: “One Lord….”
One Lord: Who is that one Lord? That one Lord is Jesus Christ. And, by the way, did you know that the early church did not call him Jesus nearly so much as they called Him the Lord Jesus. I think we need to get in the habit of saying the Lord Jesus.
Jesus has not come to take my side or your side, or to take your organization’s side against some other organization, or over some other church, or over Hollywood, casinos, or whatever else we could articulate.
When Joshua came against Jericho, Joshua went out one morning. Jericho was a pagan city. Joshua, the general, went out to reconsider what the situation was like. While Joshua was out there, he was aware of a presence behind him. When he wheeled around and there he saw a man with a drawn sword.
Joshua was astounded. He said to this man, “Who are you? Are you for us or are you for them? Whose side are you on?” And the one, the angel with the drawn sword, said, “Neither. As the captain of the Lord’s host, I have come.” Do you know what he was saying? “Look. I’m not for them, I’m not for you. I haven’t come to take sides. I’ve come to take over.”
The one Lord, the captain of the Lord’s host, is Jesus Christ Himself, who is the head of the Church. Jesus must always be the Lord of our church.
One Faith: In Ephesians 4:5, Paul mentions one faith. Now, what is that one faith? He’s talking about the unified body of truth that we call the Bible. Not a faith, not faith, but one faith. He’s talking about a body of truth. Jude was talking about the same thing in when he wrote, “Beloved, when I gave all diligence to write unto you of our common salvation, it was needful for me to write unto you and exhort you, that ye should earnestly contend for the faith which was once and all, once for all delivered unto the saints.” (Jude 3). There is one faith. It is God’s revealed Word. We’re to earnestly contend for it.
We need to get a bulldog grip on the Bible and never let go. Never let go! There is one faith. We don’t need a new and a modern gospel for a new and a modern age. If it’s new, it’s not true. And if it’s not absolute, it’s obsolete. It is the one faith for your church and for the Church. We can have all other kinds of programs, but we must have this one faith.
The Apostle Paul, just before he stepped off the scene, said this: “I have fought a good fight, I have finished my course, I have kept the faith…” He was faithful to the fight, faithful to the finish. He was faithful to the faith!
One Baptism:
In Ephesians 4:5, we read, “one baptism.” Paul is not talking about, immersion or sprinkling here. He is talking about something that goes beyond that. When a person gives his or her heart to the Lord Jesus Christ, they are baptized by the Holy Spirit into the mystical Body of Christ. That is, you are placed, at the moment of your salvation, into the body of Christ. Remember, the Church is a body with Christ as the head. We are the members of this body. Before you were ever baptized in water, you were baptized with the Holy Spirit of God, into the body of Christ.
In1 Corinthians 12:13: “For by one Spirit are we all baptized into one body.” This is the Holy Spirit of God putting us into the mystical body of Christ. This is what makes us one. We believe in water baptism, but water baptism only symbolizes that which takes place when a man or a woman gives his or her heart to Jesus.
One God: We also worship one God. He is not Allah.
He is Yahweh, Jehovah God. In Ephesians 4:6 we read, “One God and Father of all, who is above all, and through all, and in you all.” His name is Jehovah, and you do not know Him, apart from Jesus Christ. “No one comes to the Father, but by me,” the Lord Jesus has said.
These are seven basic foundational truths that form and fashion our harmony and unity in the Body of Christ. That is the ground of our unity. If we are going to build a spiritual house that past the tests of time and trouble, we have to lay a firm and faithful foundation. As we strive to run the race toward the finish line, we strive to plant churches and make disciples, to make this world more than a beautiful world, but a saved world.
-
" We are thrilled to serve with this global team churches and win souls worldwide."
- " From the start, I was enraptured with the vision of more than one billion souls coming to Christ in my lifetime. We are honored to partner this excellent vision." 
