about pianos. And I don't know if you've noticed, but we have a new piano. It's not a brand new piano, but it's new to us. A dear older citizen had it downsized, and she had this in her house and asked Bob to help her get rid of it. And Bob said, I know of a church that could use it. And so there you go. And there we have it. So we have, I think this is our fifth piano or something like that that Bob has arranged for us. But anyway, that's a real blessing. And I was just sorry because Vicki is out of town this weekend and she wouldn't have been enjoying that seven foot baby grand. Okay, so there you go. If you have your copy of your sermon notes, you can follow along on the reading of God's word this morning and several descriptors that I'll be touching on as we consider the oneness of Christ, that we have the oneness in Christ. And we're looking, as we go through the book of Ephesians, and we're looking at chapter four, verses four through six this morning. As we've touched on the fact that the first three chapters were just an explanation of the beauty of the fullness that we have and the glorious riches that we have in our Lord Jesus Christ. As he takes up chapter four, he says, I'm going to teach you how to enjoy that, all these blessings, by walking in the Lord. And he talks about our walk. And the first thing he deals with is the fact that we are one in Christ in the local church, the importance of the local church. And so he says, as we covered last week in verse three, be eager to maintain the unity of the spirit and the bond of peace. That's in the church of the Lord Jesus Christ. We have the great blessing of the church. And he says, if you're not careful, the works of the flesh will take over. As he described in the book of Galatians, the work of the flesh is like this. He says, strife, and jealousy, and fits of anger, rivalries, dissensions, and divisions. And so he says, this is kind of like what John says. This is the ways of the world. And one of the ways of the world is the pride of life. And that's actually the beginning of all dissension. And we rob God of his glory. So today, we're looking at the splendor of this unity. Now, he didn't call on us to create the unity. It's the unity of the spirit. But he has called on us to maintain that unity. So we're looking at Ephesians 4, verses 4 through 6. Let's pray. Father, we thank you for the power of your word. We thank you for the ministry of the Holy Spirit. And when it comes together, Lord, that's what we need. The ministry of the Holy Spirit to take the word of God to the people of God. Bless us today richly to see our riches that we have in Christ, even in his church that he has established. So God, we come to you in the name of our Lord. There's people that have your back. Sometimes it just bothers me when I see people that are facing things in life and they aren't part of a local church. They don't have someone looking out for their back. A friend of ours has gone through chemotherapy, and she and her husband aren't part of a local church. And she seems to be a seeker. Jan had a great opportunity to share some scripture with her, and she seems to be looking for that and studying the scriptures, but she's not part of a local church. So here we are, she's facing chemotherapy for cancer, And she doesn't have somebody looking at her back. That's what the church is all about. You have somebody looking over you. We also enjoy the peace. When the church is at peace, you enjoy that, being around one another. It's just a peaceful scene. And also, when you think about the strength there is with being part of a local church. In the book of Ecclesiastes, I use that all the time in Ecclesiastes 4 when he talks about two are better than one, right? Two are better than one when he says there's strength in that, there's help in that, and that's what in part of the local church is more than just two, whether you have multiple people with you and there's two are better than one can accomplish much more. It's also interesting as I'm a follower of weird podcasts that really point to things like the, you know, biohacking and stuff like that. But it's been proven that the local church, even though they don't call it the local church, they say relationships and all and people to talk to actually help and assist you in a long and good life. It actually aids in keeping you attuned mentally and physically just by being part of a group of people. And it's interesting, these podcasts don't talk about the local church. And I'm saying, well, just say it. But they don't believe in it. So with that said, there's a call for unity in this body of Christ. So we might enjoy the blessings. And that's why he first laid out in Ephesians chapter 4, I urge you to walk in the manner worthy of the calling which you've been called. And he says, with humility, gentleness, with patience, and with one another, and with love, eager to maintain the unity of spirit and the bond of peace. So, we have here the text before us, there are seven ones, okay, what's that tell you? Well, when God does something in a complete way, there's, he makes seven out of it, right? So here we are, seven ones that describe what the church is, God, through the working of the Holy Spirit, and Jesus, of course, says in the book of Matthew chapter 16, I will build my church, and the gates of hell will not prevail against it. So Jesus has established his church based on the scriptures, okay, based on the testimony that he is the Christ, the son of the living God, and he says the gates of hell will not prevail against it. Well, here we are, we want to maintain what God is establishing in his church, and here's what it says. Follow with me in the text. There is one body, there is 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 who is overall and through all and in all. I like how the King James ends that when he says, and in you all. And for that, people say, that just proves that Paul was a southerner. But if he was a true Southerner, it would have a Y apostrophe A-L-L, right? So anyways, anyways. But he was a, Paul was from Tarsus, so I don't know if that would be, that's Southerner from someplace, I reckon, huh? Okay, so first let's begin with there is one body. It's interesting how the Lord gives us illustrations of what the church is to be like, and to understand how important it is to be part of the church. He gives us the example of the fact that we are a temple. A building, as it says in 1 Corinthians chapter 3, where it says, did you not know that you are God's temple, that the Spirit of God dwells in you? You're a building. You know, and as part of the building, every brick, every block, everything, every piece of plaster, everything is important to the building, right? And so he says, you are a building. So I'm thinking, look at the structure. So there are some parts of the structure you don't see. You see the bricks on the outside here, but you don't see the cement blocks behind the drywall, or sheetrock, or whatever it's called, and the plaster on top of it and the paint. You don't see the importance of those blocks, but they're important. Take one of them out and see what happens. So he says, you're to consider yourself part of a massive building. a building that gives glory to God where he dwells as the temple. Secondly, he gives the illustration in the book of Ephesians that we are his bride, the bride of Christ. Isn't it beautiful how he describes that? He says, the apostle Paul says that I was jealous over you since I betrothed you to one husband. He writes that to the church of Corinth. But here in Ephesians, he says, husbands love your wives as Christ loved the church. gave himself up for her that he might sanctify and having cleansed her by the washing of water and with the word. Some people say, well, we're talking about all the elect of God. Well, that's true. But it's interesting that Paul writes to the local church at Ephesus. So he says, you are the bride of Christ. And that's why he says in Ephesians 5, verse 32, this is a mystery. This mystery is profound. I'm saying that it refers to Christ and the church. However, let each one of you love his wife as himself and let the wife see that she respects her husband. So, okay, the illustration is that there's a picture of where the temple of God, where God dwells and is worshipped, and the formation is we are part of that building, and the illustration is in a bridegroom that that we understand the bridegroom loves his wife, and the wife respects her husband, and we show our affection to him, we show our love to him, and he just lavishes us with love and care and concern all the time. That's in the church. Okay, the church is the bride. But here he says, okay, let's consider the fact that we're the body, the body, he says, In verse 4, there is one body and one spirit. Ephesians 4 verse 12, he says, he's given gifts to the church, particularly like pastors and shepherds, he says, for the work of the ministry for building up of the body of Christ. Building up of the body. He says, you're the body of Christ in 1 Corinthians chapter 12. In Romans chapter 12, he says, there is one body and has many members, and he describes it even better in chapter 12 of the first Corinthians when he says that one part of the body doesn't say to the other part, I don't need you. OK. Now, if you know, if you have a, your knee hurts or your hip hurts, you try to walk, your whole body is affected by that, right? And that's the whole point that we are a body. Every piece of the body is important in the movement of the body. What happens when one cell goes haywire in your body? It's called cancer. Okay, and you want to get rid of it because it's affecting all the other cells in your body. Okay, so that's why we understand we're part of the body of Christ. So when he says about the body of Christ, it is a call for unity because in your physical body, as you move, everything works together, right? And it's all listening to the head. The head of the body is Christ. The head of the church is Christ, so we're all listening to the body and we're moving together. So the call for unity is to realize we are one body together. Secondly, he says, there's one spirit. Don't you love the words of Genesis chapter 1 when he says, in the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth, and the earth was without form and void, and darkness was over the face of the earth? And then it says, and the spirit of God was hovering over the face of the waters. brought order out of disorder. There was total disorder in our lives before the Spirit of God came into our lives. It's described this way. You were dead in trespasses and in sins. And whence you once walked, according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that now works in the sons of disobedience. That means you were locked into the devil. You were doing whatever the devil wanted you to do. And you were glad to do it. That's where you were. That's called disorder, okay? And he says, among whom we once lived in the passions of our flesh, carrying out the desires of the body and of the mind, were by nature children of wrath, like the rest of mankind. But notice how he describes it. He says, but God, who is rich in mercy for his great love, wherewith he loved us, that even when we were dead in sins, he made us alive in Jesus Christ. Isn't that great news? Yeah, we were dead. We had no good thing in us, but God made us alive in Christ. And he says, by grace, you're saved. In Ephesians chapter 1, he described a little bit different. He says, the measurable greatness of his power is like this. If we believe, it's because God has worked in us with his mighty power. That's the power of the Holy Spirit in our lives to cause us to believe. Is that good news or what? OK, so he says in Romans chapter 10, when the gospel is preached, Watch this now. It says that the word is near you, it's in your mouth and in your heart. That word of faith which we proclaim. Now, okay, so how does that work? The Holy Spirit takes the word of God and powerfully hits your heart. and smashes that hard and stony heart. So he says in Romans 1, verse 16, I'm not ashamed of the gospel of Jesus Christ. It is the power of God unto salvation to everyone who believes, to the Jew first and also to the Greek. Well, we believe because the power of God has come in our hearts by the power of the Holy Spirit. And so he says, the word is in your mouth. What word is it? To confess that Jesus Christ is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead. And he says, if that has happened to you, you are saved. Is that good? What I'm getting at is this, our lives were in total disarray before we came to Christ. We are totally depraved, we're totally never will ever come to God, but the power of the Holy Spirit has come upon us, changed us, but it doesn't stop there. It says there in John chapter 16, when the spirit of truth comes, he will guide you into all truth. Not only that, but he gives us assurance. He says, we did not receive the spirit of slavery to fall back into fear, but you've received the spirit of adoption as sons by whom we cry, have a father. And the spirit himself bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God. That's called assurance. And he says this, he says, and if you're children of God, you are heirs and you are joint heirs with Jesus Christ. You know what you say to that? Whoa, did you hear that? that the Holy Spirit is constantly working in us. He's never giving up on us. Philippians chapter one and verse six, he that hath begun a good work in you will perform it until the day of Jesus Christ. He will never give up on you. He's gonna continue to take you into God's word, take you into God's word. He will continue to draw you to the throne of grace, and he'll continue to give you assurance in your heart that you belong to Jesus Christ. And as he does that, he says, listen to what's the benefit. And let you know, because you belong to Jesus Christ, you're an heir of God, but you're a joint heir with Jesus Christ. We belong to him. And through the ages, we'll continually enjoy the blessings just continually unfolded. Now, that's the work of the Spirit, the source of the unity that we have. And that's why he says in Galatians chapter 5, verse 16, walk by the Spirit and you will not gratify the desires of the flesh. Your flesh wants disunity. The flesh says, I want what I want. And the spirit says, no, we're one in the spirit. Everybody, as you look around, if we're all following the spirit, will we not be unified? The spirit is not disunified. So if you're following the spirit and the people across me are following the spirit, won't you be unified? So maintain that unity of the Spirit, and how do we maintain it? By listening to the Holy Spirit and seeking to walk in the Spirit of God. Makes sense, right? Well, the third one he comes to, he says, the one hope of a calling, so just you were called to one hope that belongs to your call. And this goes back to working of the Holy Spirit, but listen to these words in Romans chapter five. Therefore, we have been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ. And through him, we've obtained access by faith into this grace, which when we stand, we rejoice in the hope of the glory of God. In the book of Ephesians chapter one, he describes the fact that when we were saved, he says, the Holy Spirit has sealed you. You have the seal of the Holy Spirit, and he's also the guarantee of our inheritance. The guarantee of our inheritance. That's a really cool thought, isn't it? Our inheritance. Because the Holy Spirit is in us, because the Holy Spirit is working through us, we are guaranteed an inheritance. We have that guarantee. How's that work? Well, Romans chapter 8, it says, we have the whole creation has been groaning in the pains of childbirth until now. It's really hard to think about that. But okay, every bird when they're singing, they may be singing glory to God, but they're groaning. waiting for the day of the change in the world. All right? That's what's happening. The mountains may be standing still, but inside, the mountains are groaning. He says, all of creation is groaning. Have you ever groaned? Well, when I get out of bed, the groaning starts, right? Or sometimes we face circumstances and we groan. OK, so follow with me on this. He says, not only that, but the creation, but we ourselves, who have the first fruits of the spirit, groan inwardly as we await eagerly for the adoption of sons, the redemption of our bodies. Groaning. Oh, that day when he calls us from the grave. Or if we're alive and remain, we'll be caught up together with them who come out of the grave, meet the Lord in the air, and so shall we ever be with the Lord. Do you long for that day? Do you want that day to come? I have the privilege of teaching on the book of Revelation on Thursday evenings. We're going through the book of Revelation. We're in Revelation chapter six. There are some scenes where he opens the seals and it seems like, oh my goodness, what's going on? But the first seal that was broken is the fact that Jesus comes riding on a white horse. And what that is symbolic of is I'm in control here. Okay, when we come to the last seal that is broken of those seals of revelation, it is final judgment. But before that, there's the sealing of God's people. He puts his seal on them, saying, you are mine. And so they face tribulation or persecution. They understand, they belong to Jesus and they're on the winning side. But oh, how their hearts cry out, even so come Lord Jesus. So we have one hope. The one hope is a cause for unity. Because as you look around here, the people that are here this morning, that are followers of Jesus Christ, they have something inside. They have a groaning inside. See, and even so come Lord Jesus. The final outcome of it all is that Jesus Christ will come and gather his own. And so that there's one hope. There's one hope that we have. So we may be the body filled with many members, but we have purpose as a body. It is one spirit that we're following and we need to be in tune to. And that one spirit, he's the spirit of unity, he will bring us together. You follow the spirit, I follow the spirit, we'll be together. And we have one hope. We keep telling each other that. That's what church is all about. The church that went through the persecution in the first century kept reminding the fact, Jesus Christ is coming again. We have victory through him. May we remind ourselves and remind one another, as it says in the book of First Thessalonians, after talking about the great day of resurrection, it says, wherefore comfort one another with these words. I don't know about you, but I need some comforting all the time. And the comfort that we have is that Jesus Christ He's coming back again. So, when we look at this, there's one hope and there's one Lord. He said one body, one spirit, one hope, one Lord. In the book of Deuteronomy it says, Hear, O Israel, the Lord our God, the Lord is one. In 1 John chapter 5 verse 7 in the King James it says, there's three that bear record in heaven, the Father, the Word, and the Holy Ghost. These three are one. What Jesus says in John chapter 6, I have come down from heaven not to do my own will, but the will of him who sent me. And this is the Father's will which has sent me. All which he has given me I should lose nothing, but raise them up again at the last day. Okay, Jesus came down not to do his own will, but the will of him who sent me. It's all very important, as it says in the book of Philippians chapter 2, let this mind be in you, which is also in Christ Jesus. Though he was in the form of God, he thought not robbery to be equal with God, but took upon him the form of a servant was made in the likeness of men. What's that all about? That's John 6. He came to do the father's will. He came to do the father's will, and the father's will was to save his people from their sins. He came to do that. He had one thing in mind, to please the father. In John chapter 16, it says, when the spirit of truth comes, he will guide you into all truth. And he says, he will not speak of himself, he will glorify me, Jesus said. So we have the father's will, the father's will is to do for the son to save his people from their sins. And then we have the father's will is the spirit of God, not only brings us to all truth, but exposes the glory of the Lord Jesus Christ. Okay, so you see the unity of God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit. That's why he says in the book of Colossians, let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts to which indeed you were called in one body. So when we say one Lord, that's a standard for unity as we look at the unity that's in the Trinity. Aren't you glad they don't fight with each other? You know, those three are one. There are one, you know, we never try to make a picture of the Trinity. That would be what? Modalism, Patrick. That's a reference to Lutheran satire. If you go there, there's a guy, and they tried to talk, these two guys, fictitious guys, tried to ask Saint Patrick in cartoon form to explain the Trinity. And every time he tried to explain something, he said, oh, Patrick, that's modalism. Anyway. Check it out, it's on YouTube, whatever I'm talking about here. All right, so when we come down to the fact is one Lord, he's a standard for unity, is in the Trinity. They're one together. Then he says there's one faith. When we talk about faith, we talk about faith in the fact that we believe God and it makes us move. He says, without faith, it's impossible to please God. He that comes to God must believe that he is, and he's a rewarder of those who seek him. So faith drives us. Faith is evidence of the fact that, as it says about Abraham, he believed God. It was counted to him for righteousness. Faith, he had faith in God. Romans chapter 10, verse 13, everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved. We have faith. It says in Romans 10, verse 17, faith comes by hearing and hearing by the word of God. In Ephesians chapter 2, it tells us that faith is a gift of God. But many people say today, many people say today, well, there are many faiths. Like faith is something you believe. You have the consensus of the teaching that you believe. So people say there are many faiths. Well, in the church, we have one faith. Okay, we believe by faith. Faith is a gift of God. We believe by the power of the spirit. But it's just one faith. It's one thing, one teaching. Jesus says in John chapter 7, he says, my teaching is not mine, but his who sent me. And if anyone's will is to do the Father's will, he will know whether the teaching is from God or whether I'm speaking myself. In other words, you want to check it out? Do it. When you're doing what God says, you'll know whether this teaching is from God or not. In 2 Timothy, he says, all scripture is breathed out by God and is profitable for teaching. In 2 Timothy chapter 4, it says that preachers to preach the word, be ready in season, out of season, reprove, rebuke, and exhort with all patience and teaching, for the time is coming when the people will not endure sound teaching. That means that there's something that's not sound teaching, right? They're not going to endure sound teaching. So they're moving to something that's not. And so in Jude chapter 3, or Jude verse 3, it says, to contend for the faith that was once delivered to the saints. So let's look at how it is the faith. It says in Acts chapter 4, salvation is in no one else. There is no other name under heaven given among men whereby we must be saved. There is one gospel, as Paul laid out in 1 Corinthians chapter 15, he says, I delivered you of first importance what I also received from Christ, that Christ died for our sins according to the scriptures. He was buried and he rose again the third day according to the scriptures. So Jesus said to those who believed him, if you abide in my word, You are truly my disciples, and you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free. So there's one faith, there's a unity in the focus of our faith in the submission to the teaching of the Lord Jesus Christ. Everybody with me on that? Okay, so there's one body. There's one spirit, if we're all following the same spirit, we'll be unified. And there's one hope of our calling. If we keep focused on that hope, we'll be unified. If we understand that there's unity in the Lord and the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, and that's the kind of unity that we should have, listening to the working of the Holy Spirit, he will glorify Christ in us, which will glorify the Father. And there is one faith. We look into the teaching of the word of God and be faithful to that teaching. All right. And he says there's one baptism, one Lord, one faith, one baptism. Peter said on the day of Pentecost, wouldn't you have liked to have been there when the men, when he said, he said, when he talked about the resurrection of Christ and he says that this Christ whom you've crucified, God has made him both Lord and Christ. Okay. And they cried out, what shall we do? And he responded with, said, repent and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins, and you'll receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. For the promises to you and to your children, to all who are far off, everyone whom the Lord our God calls to himself. So we believe that baptism is a sign and seal of God's covenant of grace. It's a right of entry into the church. So stop and think about it. If we're part of the body, We've been baptized, so there's one faith, there's one hope, there's one baptism, okay, that we understand that we've been brought in because we've submitted to the Lord Jesus Christ and been baptized in the name of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. By the way, that's according to Jesus' words. In Matthew chapter 28, when he says that all power is given unto me both in heaven and in earth, Go, therefore, and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to observe all the things that I have commanded you. And lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age." So, when we look at it, there's one faith, there's one hope, there's one baptism. Baptism is a unity of the fact that we've all participated in the outward sign and seal of God in baptism. Okay, so put it together. The call for maintaining the unity of the Spirit. The maintainer of the universe spirit, there's one body. There's one spirit. There's one hope of our calling. There's one Lord. There's one faith. There's one baptism. And then he goes into one God. And one God and father of all who is over all and through all and in all. I like this portion a lot because it just says a lot. I like how the Apostle Paul started the book of Ephesians when he said, 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. Just something about that. That we just stop and realize everything we have has come from God. Everything. You know, when David says in the book of Psalms, says that, I will look into the hills and whence come with my help, my help comes from the Lord who made both heaven and earth. Everything that we have comes from his hand. There's one God, not many gods. There's one God and father of all who is over all and through all and in all. In 1 Timothy chapter 1, the apostle Paul is writing and he just kind of goes into a doxological praise when he says, to the king of all ages, immortal and invisible, the only God, the honor and glory forever and ever. Amen. One of the verses that I just really love is the book of 1 Corinthians 1, verses 30 and 31, when he says, it's of him, because of him that you are in Christ Jesus. Because of who? Because of God the Father, that you're in Christ Jesus. Whoa, isn't that good? He says, because of him, God, you are in Christ Jesus, who became for us wisdom from God, and righteousness, and sanctification, and redemption. So as it is written, he that glories, let him glory in the Lord. That's why, if we are bound together as one in the body, our desire is to glorify God, right? And if that is our focus, we will be unified. And so he says, maintain the unity of the spirit. It says in 1 Corinthians chapter 10 verse 31, whether you eat or drink or whatever you do, do all to the glory of God. Let me just say that God has called his people. He doesn't just call his people, we're not lone rangers. We are part of his body. We're called in to have a relationship with other believers in the body of Christ. You don't find anywhere in the scriptures that the people are just lone rangers out there, just whatever they wanted to do. No, they were called to be part of a body of Christ. because the body is so important. And so in that body, we must recognize that God is sovereign, and his call for unity is the only way which will glorify him. Listen to the words of 1 Corinthians chapter 1 and verse 10. I appeal to you, brothers, that in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that you all agree there be no divisions among you, but that you be unified in the same mind and the same judgment. We're meant to be in community. There's a blessing of being in community. We're meant to be part of the body of Christ. We're meant to follow the one spirit, the Holy Spirit. And that means we need to walk in the spirit. We're meant to follow the same hope of our calling, reminding one another all the time of the glorious hope we have, that this world is not our home. We're waiting for the coming again of our Lord Jesus Christ. Our citizenship, brothers and sisters, is in heaven. And that's why as the body of Christ, we're reminding ourselves of that. the glorious hope that we have in Jesus Christ. And there is one Lord, one faith, one baptism, and one God and Father overall. Let me just review. One body is a call for unity. You don't want your hand to operate without your other hand. You know that your body needs to work together. We need to work to one another, realizing we're part of a body of Christ that God has called us into this body. There's one spirit. The source of our unity is not us. We're not being manipulative and trying to come up with these fancy plans to be more unified. No, it just simply means you need to follow the spirit, I need to follow the spirit, and if we're following the spirit, we will be unified. You get that? It's so simple, but people might try to make it complicated. It says, maintain the unity of the Spirit. OK, we need to walk in the Spirit. Then there's one hope. The cause for unity is looking again at the final thing. And we look at the final thing is the coming again of our Lord Jesus Christ. There's one Lord, the standard for unity is the Trinity itself, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. They don't argue with each other. They don't go off and leave one another behind. No, they care what the other one is participating in. We participate in the power of God through the Lord Jesus Christ by the work of the Spirit in our lives. And there's one faith, there's a unity of the focused growth and submission to the teaching of God and the works of the Lord Jesus Christ. There's one baptism in the unity and the outward sign and seal of God that we bear in our lives. And there's one God who is sovereign, and the call for unity is the only way to glorify him. So in Ephesians chapter four, verse three, it says, be eager to maintain the unity of the spirit and the bond of peace. The question is, how do we do that? The answer is in John chapter 5, chapter 15, verse 5, where Jesus says, I'm the vine and you are the branches. Whoever abides in me, and I in him, is he that bears much fruit. For apart from me, you can do nothing. Isn't it interesting? In the book of Revelation, as I've been teaching on Thursday night, God calls us to be overcomers. We don't wield a sword like in the world. We yield the sword of the spirit, which is the word of God. We don't end up fighting with other people. We're overcomers because come what may, tribulation or persecution or famine or nakedness or whatever it is, we know, as Paul laid out in the end of the book of Romans chapter eight, nothing upon nothing will separate us from the love of God and Christ Jesus. And because of that, we need to hold fast to Christ. And so the life of dependency is a life of strength. The life of depending upon Jesus for every breath you take, every thought that you have, everything that you try to accomplish in life, depending upon Him is a place of strength. Paul said, when I am weak, when I declare my weakness before Him, when I lay it out before Him how it is impossible for me to do anything, then. Am I strong? Because he said, my strength is made perfect in your weakness. Dependency is the way to have unity of the spirit. He says, be eager for it, desire it, look for it, move with it. And he's giving you seven reasons that you're part of a glorious body that God has created to glorify himself. and give glory to his son, Jesus Christ. But you can't do that without him. Without me, Jesus says, you can do nothing. Let's pray. Father, thank you for your word of encouragement about a place of unity in the church, and we declare to you our helplessness. We would love to see unity in our church body, that any disunity be squelched before it even take place. We can't do that without your help. We pray that you would give us grace to be mindful of what you have declared in the great blessing of a church body and give us grace to apply your word to every situation and thereby follow the leading of this Holy Spirit and thereby depending upon you, Lord Jesus. We need your help. We pray that you would apply this word to our hearts as we pray in Jesus' name, Father. Amen. We'd ask our brothers