You may be seated. Let's turn to Ephesians 4. During the month of March, we will be taking a brief hiatus from the Gospel of John. Ephesians chapter 4. Ephesians chapter four, I'll read the first six verses. Give heed to the reading of God's word. I therefore, 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 and the bond of peace. There is one body and one spirit, just as you were called to be 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. Let us pray. Father, we ask that as we come to our passage this morning, you might grant unto us your grace and your mercy, that you might grant unto us understanding that we might heed the gospel, that call upon us, that we would walk according to that call. We pray this in Jesus' name, amen. So as we approach, Lord willing, a congregational meeting on the 28th, it seemed fitting that we spend a closer look on what is the church according to scripture. As we are Lord willing, just less than a month away of holding that meeting where we shall petition Presbytery to become a congregation and not a church plant, it seems necessary that we re-examine what is Christ's Church. For as we transition from being a church plant, a process that began, to the best of my understanding, about seven years ago, it is important to remember that unless the Lord builds any church, this church is just one in particular. He labors in vain who builds it. At this time, I could pile on various images that God uses to describe His church. Describe his people from Genesis to Revelation. They are holy. They are Catholic. They are apostolic. They are the pillar and ground of salvation. They are God's abode, the light of the world, the army of the Lord of hosts, the triumphal procession of the victorious Christ, and so on and so forth. And so the next few weeks, we're actually gonna look at that last one. We are the triumphal procession of Christ. Now, this comes, this picture comes from the Roman Empire. So when a victorious general, a Caesar, would conquer, he would hold a procession. And in that procession would be the armies, captives from the armies of the various nations that he had vanquished. Now the part where this analogy breaks down is in the Roman procession, they would slaughter them afterwards. But you are in that victorious procession. He is leading out a host of captives. You were captives to the world, and now you have been redeemed in Christ. And so that's the picture Paul is painting here in this chapter. And as we just read a few moments ago from Psalm 68, it is also there to a degree. So it is the last image, like I said, we're going to develop. For those few who have persisted, since I've been here since 2016, you might recall that I did preach through Ephesians when I arrived. For in Ephesians, God, through Paul, sets forth the glorious picture of the church of the cosmic Christ. In fact, while it is true that the church is on every page of the Bible because it is the summons of God to the elect from every tribe, kindred, tongue, and nation, there are certain passages where the church just explodes out even more in all of its glory. We sang from Psalm 48 just a few moments ago, that's one of them. Psalm 68, which we just read, and then Psalm 84. Matter of fact, when I do pastoral visits, I invariably go back and forth in my scripture reading between Psalm 48 and Psalm 84, because it's that picture of the glorious church dwelling with God. And then there's the epistle to the Ephesians. So I encourage all of you to take this month and meditate on the epistle to the Ephesians. Meditate on Christ's picture of his church as Paul sets it forth there. But what I really want to key in on, as I said, is this triumphal procession image. And so it's Paul is picking it up here in Psalm 4 in particular, talking about the ascension gifts that God has given to Christ and that Christ has bestowed upon his church. And I didn't read it this morning, but if you look down there, you will see that chief among those ascension gifts are the apostles, the prophets, the evangelists, the shepherds, and teachers. And so, this last Thursday, as I already mentioned, we examined Chris, And we're not examining him. Can he remember, you know, the minutia of theology? But what we're seeking to discern, and this is every ordination examination ever, discern has Christ indeed given the ascension gift of rule to this man? Has this man been so gifted by Christ that he is there. It's not his talents, it's does he have the gift of Christ to rule, to that office. That's what the examination is, and so this week, pray, as we examine Mike, Daryl, and Ed, that we might truly discern whether or not they have such a gift. Has Christ bestowed on these men the gift of office that the Father has bestowed upon the Son? I mean, that's what all the examination is really about. Has Christ given this man that gift? But let's look at our passage and start expanding upon this and building up to that. So this morning, our outline is vocation, unity, and bond. Vocation, unity, and bond. Bond. So let's look at vocation. Vocation is just a fancy word of saying calling. And if you look in these verses of our passage, I mean, you have, walking, of the calling, to which you have been called, called, called, the call. So notice this vocation, this call, is at the heart of what Paul is looking at here. You know, we've been talking the last several weeks in John about the difference between the general call of the gospel and the effectual call of the gospel. That's no different. All of you who are part of Christ's visible church have that general call. Those whom Christ calls to himself and the Spirit unites have the effectual call. And so part of what we're dealing with in our passage this morning is Which call are you under? Are you under the general call? And by the way, if you're under the general call, that's a fancy way of saying you are reprobate and you are going to hell. Or has Christ delivered you from sin, death, and hell by the work of the Holy Spirit? what you need to search yourself to see. Have you been called from death to life? Has Christ, by the Spirit, granted you repentance unto life, or are you still dead in your trespasses and sins? And if you are part of that former part, the call is still there. And as long as it's called today, you can respond. And so cry out, to Christ. But Paul, after the concluding, just briefly, just a reminder, since it's been a while, the first three chapters of Ephesians is setting out the indicative, the declaration of who Christ is and who you in Christ are. And beginning in chapter four, we're transitioning to his, so what? So if this is true, this is what must be true of you, live so accordingly. So, that's where we are this morning, is that transition. Paul, after the conclusion of his prayer in chapter 3, if you just look up, in which he bases on Christ's work applied to you by the Spirit, that superabounding grace at work in you, Paul urges Ephesians to walk worthy of their calling. walk worthy of the vocation that you have. In Colossians, he makes a similar point. And so, from the day we heard, we have not ceased to pray for you, asking that you may be filled with the knowledge of his will and all spiritual wisdom and understanding, so as to walk in a manner worthy of the Lord, fully pleasing to him, bearing fruit in every good work, and increasing in the knowledge of God. May you be strengthened with all the power according to his glorious might for all endurance and patience with joy, giving thanks to the father who has qualified you to share in the inheritance of the saints in light. So notice this worthiness is not something that you do. This worthiness is not something that you merit. This worthiness is what the triune God is working in you. If you are worthy, it is because the Spirit is at work within you. These are the fruit of the Spirit. Or better, given where we are in Ephesians, these are the ascension gifts that the Father lavished on the Son for His completion of the prerequisites of the covenant of grace, which Christ then gifts to His Church. So, as we see, the covenant of grace, particularly the covenant of redemption, that covenant between the Father and the Son, that if the Son would enter into the redeeming work for his people, the Father would grant him a people and he would lavish upon them all things necessary. But Christ is the primary recipient of this, who then bestows them upon us. Here, Paul's joy is just exploding because of what Christ has done. We see this in his prayer in Romans as well. May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace and believing, so that by the power of the Holy Spirit, you may abound in hope. Again, it's the Holy Spirit within you, working within you, that will lead you in this. You haven't the muscle, the moral fortitude, the intestinal fortitude, or whatever other way of self-sufficiency you wish to describe, to walk in a manner worthy of Christ. You cannot do it. You haven't the power, the fruit of the spirit, or as Paul sums them up here, humility, gentleness with patience, bearing with one another in love are fruit. They are not. They are not. works that you do their fruit or evidence of the hope that is within you. If Christ is within you, you will grow in humility. You will grow in gentleness. You will grow with patience, bearing with one another in love because it's the spirit at work within you making a reality out of that declaration. That declaration that you are righteous in Christ made it your justification. And then in that work of sanctification, he is he is making that a reality in you. Children, children, listen up. Your church and your parents are having you learn or encouraging you to learn the catechism which set forth Christ and all his benefits, or as the third question says, of the shorter catechism. What do the scriptures principally teach? The scriptures principally teach what man is to believe concerning God and what duty God requires of man. And so, as you are learning, you know, one has just transitioned into the moral law. And so now, she has transitioned from what she is to believe. Now, she doesn't pass beyond it. It's just in the stage of the question. She's now into those questions dealing with what God requires of her. So you must believe in God and his word. Trust him, obey him. Trust and obey, for there's no other way, as the hymn says, to be happy in Jesus. For the triune God who eternally exists as Father, Son, and Spirit in perfect harmony in the law of God is just expressing the very character of God. God cannot change, so His moral law can't change. It's not like all of a sudden we're gonna discover by some new evidence that something that God has declared to be sin from all eternity is now okay because, well, it wouldn't be nice if we all of a sudden didn't follow the world's lead. God doesn't call you to be nice. He calls you to trust Him, rest in Him, rely upon Him, and obey Him. We must be firm and unwavering in proclaiming to you the excellencies of the triune God. Children, this God, because of who He is as your creator, is worthy of all your belief, acceptance, and obedience. And that obedience to your Creator is just what is due from every rational creature, which again, that's a fancy way that the Confession talks about every human being. Because you were created in the image of God, you owe Him complete and total obedience to the moral law. And what do you get out of that? Nothing. Because that's what you were made for. It's like asking a table saw, what does it get out of ripping a board? A dull blade. And sawdust. That's what it gets. It's what you were made for. Yet as your covenant Lord, He who through the Holy Spirit has set you in the household of believing parents, has called you from death to life, has called you to dwell in His presence forever, face to face, in complete union and communion with Him in Jesus Christ. And so in gratitude for His grace and forgiveness, He calls you. That gratitude is from you, that He has called you from death to life, that you may now live and dwell with Him. And so you believe and trust and obey Him out of joy and Thanksgiving out of that reliance upon Him. And so, as you do so, all you're doing is that which you were made for, that which you were, you know, it's the old saying, when all you have is a hammer, everything's a nail. And so, You were made as a particular purpose. You had one dual purpose for which you were made. What is the chief end of man? Man's chief end is to glorify God and to enjoy Him forever. That is your purpose. And so, as you are going about your daily labors, I'm not saying, oh, You know, I can't work at the carpentry shop because that doesn't fall under glorifying and enjoying God. Of course it does! Whatever you do, do all things to the glory of God. So it doesn't mean you have to live, eat, and breathe corporate worship. Now, you must attend corporate worship. You are in sin when you don't, unless you are providentially hindered from it. You must see that as you glorify and enjoy God in all of life, you are living up to your purpose. But the problem, of course, is sin. You are all born dead in your trespasses and sins, all born hating it. And so Christ, who died on the cross for your sins, sends forth the Spirit. The Spirit then takes your dead corpse, morally speaking, in relation to God speaking, and makes you alive in Christ Jesus. And he does that first through the, he uses the means of that general call. Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your soul, for my yoke is easy and my burden is light. Notice Paul is commanding. you to these fourfold attitudes or fruits based upon the cosmic work of Christ in you. He's saying, if you are in Christ, you must you are obligated. To walk. With all humility and gentleness, with patience, bearing with one another in love, that is the command of Christ on everyone who has been bought by Christ. He has called you into his church and now you are grounded in Christ. These realities must flow from you if you are indeed in Christ Jesus. Humility, gentleness, patience, bearing with another. These and the unity which I'll look at are not something you can do. These are not some attitudes that you can whip up. Now you can fake them. You can fake it, but you won't fake it till you make it. These counterfeits to these are quite easy for a while. You cannot fake it until you make it. The gospel, that declaration of Christ's reign of his free pardon to sinners flies for every sinner who flies to him is your only hope. To fan these fruits into flames. Someone, I don't know who this guy is, Brent Detweiler, collected a list of 50 fruits of pride Now we can really do those. No problem whatsoever. Let me list just I'm just gonna list a few of this Brent Detweiler's. And as I list them, I want you to take stock. Do you see this in yourself? Are you self sufficient? Are you often anxious? Are you often insecure? Are you constantly comparing yourself to others? Are you self-critical? Are you deceptive? Are you overly competitive? Are you always talking about yourself? Are you always jealous of others' success? Do you always feel deserving or ungrateful? Are you full of self-pity? Are you a know-it-all? Do you interrupt people? Do you know Just the person who needs to hear this list. Pride is acid to the peace, purity, and unity of Christ Church. Pride is the acid to your contentment in Christ Jesus. It eats away and corrodes your gentleness, your patience. It eats away at your humility, your gentleness, your bearing with one another. So Paul lays out the fruits that you are in Christ Jesus, that you are to have if Christ has made you His by the Spirit uniting you to Him. If you would but lay hold of Jesus Christ by faith, these can be yours, gentleness, patience, humility, and bearing with one another. And so, as you think about, here's some steps you can think of right now to undo the acid that you have rained down by your pride. You can ask God to show you all the species of pride that dwells within you, exposing it. Ask God to convict you of each particular species of pride, particularly. Not, yes, I've been prideful, but I've been a know-it-all, I've interrupted, I've, I've, I've, I've, I've. So you confess that to God, point by point. You humble yourself. And by the way, humility isn't an emotion. It isn't. It's not, oh, because when it becomes an emotion, it becomes something you can be prideful about. Look at my humility. I just feel so lowly. It's a decision, because, notice, it's a command. It's not, go feel this way about yourself. It's very command of Scripture. Humble yourself in the sight of God and He will lift you up. It means to have a right apprehension of yourself. And guess what? You're worse than you think you are. And then you need to confess your sins of pride to those whom you have sinned against Buy your pride. Ask God to give you a holy hatred of your pride and the fruits of pride in your life. And this will be a lifelong thing. It's not like this afternoon, you can go off somewhere by yourself and you can have a session of it and listing out some things and think, oh, now I'm humble. It's a constant war. So let's just break this down. Humility. Paul is not calling you to some pretended, apish, navel-gazing attitude. Oh, yeah, you know, that's me, oh yeah, I'm terrible, I'm terrible. For that would be a facade. Because inwardly, you'd be starting to think, see how great my humility is? We can be prideful about our humility. Instead, he's commanding you what he said elsewhere. So if there's any encouragement in Christ, any comfort from love, any participation in the spirit, any affection and sympathy, complete my joy by being of the same mind, having the same love, being in full accord and of one mind, do nothing from selfish ambition or conceit, but humility, count others more significant than yourselves. Count others more significant than yourselves. So that's humility. Gentleness. God has not called anyone in this room to be a John the Baptist, to be an Elijah, to be an Elisha. He's not called you to cut the heads off false prophets. In other words, it's the Spirit has calling you to humility, to meekness, brashness and brusqueness, though they may get things done, are not the means to accomplish the will of God. Gentleness. Matter of fact, it's the same word that we know, blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the earth. It's the same word in Greek. That is, that which Christ is producing in those who are His. If you look at the Beatitudes, these are not a list of, well, I've got that one, but not that one, that one. So I got, okay, I'm good. No, the Beatitudes are the constitution of what it means to be in Christ Jesus. Blessed are the pure in heart. Blessed are the peacemakers. Blessed are the faithful. those who are hunger and thirst for righteousness. All of those are what Christ is forming you into. And so you can't say, well, I'm just not that way. Well, maybe the response to that is, well, maybe Christ ain't in you. None of us are that way in ourselves. All of us are brash and brusque in our own strength. but Christ is being formed in us. The men spent several months reading Richard Sibbes' The Bruised Reed, which was based off of Isaiah 42, and as we think through what Christ is and has Christ as formed in us, what he is making you into. Behold my servant, whom I uphold, my chosen, and whom my soul delights. I have put my spirit upon him. He will bring forth justice to the nations. He will not cry aloud or lift up his voice, or make it heard in the street. A bruised reed he will not break, and a faintly burning wick he will not quench. He will faithfully bring forth justice. He will not grow faint or be discouraged till he has established justice in the earth, and the coastlands wait for his law. Christ earnestly yearns for, pleads for your reformation, your sanctification, your transformation into Christlikeness. And again, men, who are in consideration for all to remember this, Christ is calling you to fill His office, in His strength, in His method. He gives not the rod nor the sword to the Church. He gives keys. The verbal call and the verbal declaration of Scripture is the extent of your authority. One of the standing questions that I ask most sessions of our training over the last year or so has been, Very simple. What is the nature of church power? They're really good at parroting the answer now. All church power is only ministerial and declarative. That's it. They can declare to you the word of God, and they can administer the word of God to you. That's the extent of a church officers. They have no coercive arm. It's the spirit's job to coerce. not fellow believers. You have you are not the Holy Spirit. You have no power to coerce your brothers or sisters in Christ. And that's not just them, that's all of us. So Christ earnestly yearns for you. He yearns for your sanctification, your perfection in Christ Jesus, and he is accomplishing that according to his will. But he does it with mercy. He calls his church to be a hospital for of mercy for sinners. It is not the place for the perfect. That's the church invisible in heaven. We're not there. And if you think you're there, you've deluded yourself. Yes, we are seated with Christ in the heavenly places even now, but we still have that remaining corruption. And that's why we bear with one another's sins. We bear with one another's burdens and we do this with patience. Let's start thinking about ourselves and how Christ has dealt with ourselves. Christ has given you time. Think of those sins that you struggle with, and I'm not talking, you know, oh, I struggle with it a little bit every so often recently. No, I'm talking that one for decades you just cannot break, whether it's anxiety, See, let's not get into the, let's not excuse certain species of sin that we really like to deal with anxiety being one. We live in a society of anxious people. It lacks the fear of God, so therefore it is always fearful. You were made to be a fearing being. You will fear. Either you will fear God or you'll fear something else and it will become your God. So patience, endurance. God is slow to anger, abounding in steadfast love and mercy. He did not, and that's how he dealt with you. And that's how he deals with you if you are in Christ even. In patience and the sanctification of others in Christ's church is not a lack of faith in your fellow believer. I just don't believe so-and-so is gonna do it. It's a lack of faith in God. It's a lack of faith that God is gonna do things. You're saying, God, you are not going to change my neighbor in the manner I want and the time I want. Let's put it in its full, honest expression. It's an accusation, impatience is an accusation against the triune God. It is a charge against the judge of all the earth. Instead of, Abraham says, the judge of all the earth will not do wrong. You're saying the judge of all the earth is doing wrong because you're not working in my neighbor the way I want you to be working in my neighbor, or my brother and sister in Christ. And so with patience, I get it. I want patience and I went in yesterday. But we bear with one another in love. If I speak in the tongues of men and of angels, but have not love, I am a noisy gong or a clanging cymbal. And if I have prophetic powers in understanding all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have all faith so as to remove mountains, but have not love, I am nothing. If I give away all I have, and if I deliver up my body to be burned, but have not love, I gain nothing. Love is patient and kind. Love does not envy or boast. It is not arrogant or rude. It does not insist on its own way. It is not irritable or resentful. It does not rejoice at wrongdoing, but rejoices with the truth. Love bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things. Love never ends. I've been asked quite frequently, you think it'll work? Well, you're asking me, as a native and resident, you know, and card-carrying member in the Pessimist Club? Nah, it ain't gonna work. Are you asking, do I believe that Christ can do all things? Well, yes I do. And yes, he does. Look, he saved me. That shows you just the extent to which his mercy and grace can go. And by the way, when it says bearing all things in love, in the Greek, all things means every last kit and caboodle, dot, jittle and whatever else you want to throw into the kitchen sink. All things. Now, too often Reformed churches, and especially the OPC, which, in case you didn't know, OPC stands for either One Pugnacious Church or One Perfect Church, depending on the day. So we're either in for a fight, or we think we've already made it. We fail to see that doctrine is not an end. Look, Doctrine is life. Doctrine is essential. But it's not the end. Why is it important to spend time trying to figure out the nature of the Atonement? Why is it important to understand the attributes of God, both His communicable and incommunicable attributes? Why is it necessary to understand the extent of the Atonement? Again, it's not so that we can pass a test. Been there, done that. Got the t-shirt. It's that we might know Jesus Christ, that as we glorify and enjoy God, we're actually glorifying God as he is, as much as it's humanly possible, and enjoying the God who is, and not our delusional idols that we have cast in our own image. It is the means to know Christ in the consolation of his love. He consoles those who are in his church. United to his church. He consoles you with fellow believers especially those needs extra grace ones By the way, that's it needs extra grace people. It's a polite way of saying annoying Christ consoles your fellow believers with you Yes annoying you Christ has bid you to die to your self-pity, die to your pride, come love His bride in the persons of a particular church. There's no place for the attitude that I love Christ, but those Christians are fill-in-the-blank hypocrites or whatnot, with whatever accusation you want to do. If that's your attitude, test yourself. See if you'll be in the faith. and hope and repent of your pride. Because as you hold on to pride, you're throwing acid on the image that Christ is portraying to the world of Christ and his bride. He is displaying to the watching world his glory through the fallible Mar church. So now, that's That's the call that you have, but now let's look at the unity that you have. First we're gonna look at, very briefly, at the command here. Eager to maintain the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace. Christ doesn't call you to make the unity. He doesn't call you to form the unity. He calls you to keep it. He calls you to maintain it. It is the Holy Spirit who unites sinners, dead in their trespasses, passes and sins, to the risen Christ and to the visible church. And then eventually the invisible church. Christ died for your sins. And he didn't set you to be off by yourself. Years ago, oh, I was, Beck and I were living in Chicago, and I can't remember what passage the pastor was preaching through, but he was using an illustration of a guy he'd run into at the coffee shop that week. And you've all met this guy. I can guarantee you, you have met him. He says, oh, yeah, I became, I'm a Christian, I said the prayer 30 years ago, but I don't go to church, haven't gone to church any of that time because, well, those Christians, they're fill in the blank. Part of the purpose that Christ puts you into the church for, think of the church as the rock tumbler. Out comes these beautiful, shiny, smooth rocks. He does it by the throwing of elbows and knees and heels and foreheads. That rock tumbler breaks down those other rocks. So you can claim to be in Jesus Christ, but you're going to be a very immature person. Christ calls you who are in Christ to keep that which the Spirit has created. It is the Holy Spirit who seals believers, unites them to the Church, and above all these, put on love, which binds everything together in perfect harmony. And let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, to which indeed you were called, in one body, and be thankful. This unity is a bond created by the Spirit, and in fact, as the Trinity is one God, so too the Church is one body. By your baptism into the One Lord, you are united together into Christ and the Church. As 1 Corinthians 12, 4-6 says, Now there are varieties of gifts, but the same Spirit, and there are varieties of service, but the same Lord, and there are varieties of activities, but it is the same God who empowers them and everyone. So, your experience of the Godhead in the Church is going to be different. Now, you can get ridiculous with this if Paul doesn't, you know, if everybody said they were an ear, then we were all ears, or everybody said I'm a hand, and we were all hands. So you can think of a body that's just all one big hand. Christ is fitting together people of all manner of gifts and graces. Later on, we'll see, he apportions according to his wisdom. Oh, I only wish I had that gift. Oh, so you question the wisdom and kindness and goodness and mercy of Christ to you. That's what that question betrays. But I can't do what so and so can do. Yeah, but there's things you can do he can't do. Christ is not a symbol of body to be made up of 33 big toes. And so maintain this unity. But what's the basis? What is the bond that keeps us together? It's not common interest. It's not agreeing on this, that, and the tether. Paul spells it out in verses four to six. This is the bond, the glue, that is the unity that you can disrupt, but you didn't form and you can't ultimately break. So let's look at the bond of this unity. While he has so far urged the church to walk in a manner worthy of the calling to which you were called, he then has charged them to maintain the unity of the spirit. Now he turns to the basis. And so first let's look, we have the spirit at work. So in verse four, there is one body and one spirit, just as you were called to one hope that belongs to your call. So again, even here, he's not moving away from your vocation. It's your vocation to be part of this that the spirit brings about. So one body, one spirit, one hope. Those whom the Spirit unites to the one Christ are brought into one church. Whether you're in Idaho, Texas, California, or Timbuktu, there's but one visible church in all the earth. Now I'm not saying that we are some type of organized unity. I'm talking we have one Christ, and so therefore there's one body. I mean, you got the church two theaters down. We're not in sin by not all being in one place, because we all have that unity of the Spirit in Christ. So this is not a command to be united in some organized thing that we might think of in the idea of the Catholic Church with one temporal head on earth. All believers are in Christ, and as such are united to Christ, the one head of one body, because we only have one head. Christ is the one head, and so therefore we all have one body. It means that you have heeded the summons to Christ based upon his death and resurrection. As Charles Hodge said of this relationship, as all true believers are members of this body, and as all are not included in any one external organization, it is obvious that one body of which the Apostle speaks is not one outward visible society, but a spiritual body of which Christ is the head and all the renewed are members. The relationship therefore in which believers stand to each other is that which subsists between the several members of the human body. A want of sympathy is evidence of want of membership. That last sentence, you know, he's writing the 19th century. So let's put this in 21st century language, a lack of walking in a manner worthy of that humility, gentleness, patience, bearing with one another in the bond of peace is evidence for a lack of union with Christ. Just as later he will speak of husbands, no one despises his body, so no one who is in Christ despises those whom the Spirit has united to Christ. So if you despise those who are in Christ because they're not of your tribe, it is evidence of a lack of union and communion with Christ. All gentleness and humility. So that's The first evidence, there is only one Spirit, there is only one body, there is only one hope, which is Jesus Christ the righteous has died and raised again for your salvation. But now, as we move from the Spirit, we move to the Son in verse five. There's one Lord, one faith, and one baptism. Paul does not seem to be making a distinction between water baptism in this passage and spirit baptism, as is popular today since the so-called Pentecostal or Charismatic movements have separated these inseparables. Baptism in the New Testament incorporates the believer and his household into the visible church. It is the covenant sign or tattoo that marks off a believer and his family as the Lord's, and though some may falsely be marked, all who have the mark are in the one visible church. Notice I'm saying visible church here. Let's be very clear. Paul links baptism and union with Christ in Galatians 3 as well. For as many of you as were baptized into Christ have put on Christ. And so you put him on. So that's why we say those covenant youth, those children who have been baptized into it, into the visible church, are subject to it. We're not saying that we know for certain that their name's written there. I don't know that about any of you, whether or not any of your names are written there. It's my hope. It's my discernment that most of you are. But I cannot ultimately, finally say this. And any pastor who tells you you can is lying. Because none of us have seen the Lamb's Book of Life. We have evidence, the fruit of your life, that gives us are notions of this, but ultimately, as the session sits, and we're looking at that credible profession, yes, this person has confessed Jesus Christ is Lord, and they have this sin here, but they have this fruit here. They've got this, but they've got that. And so, in the end, we rest and trust in Christ. And that's your only hope, is resting and trusting in Christ. For as many of you who are baptized into Christ have put on Christ, Notice he links your baptism and your union with Christ. Now, we don't have a sacramental understanding that by the work, the work is accomplished. So we're not saying that because you've gotten wet sometime, you've been united to Christ. Paul's not saying that. What he's saying is those who have by faith lay hold of Jesus Christ, that baptismal sign communicates Christ to them in a special way. Same way at the Lord's Supper. Everyone who partakes of it is either partaking of Christ or judgment to come. So Paul's teaching on baptism would make little sense if spiritual union is not also in view, yet we all know Those who have had the rite of baptism applied to them at some point in their life and have rejected the faith, have gone away from us and have had those words of 1 John come true of them. They went out from us because they were not of us, for if they were of us, they would have abided. because they were still dead in their trespasses and sins. The New Testament is not ignorant of this phenomenon. We see it in the book of Acts. So I would again set before you that this is the sign, and though it may not be indelible in all who receive it, the grace of God in the believer is indelible. All those whom God has transferred from the domain of darkness to the kingdom of his beloved Son, that sign, that seal of baptism is indelible. It cannot be washed away. There's no laser treatment to remove that Christian tattoo. For it is impossible in the case of those who have once been enlightened, who have tasted the heavenly gift, and have shared in the Holy Spirit, and have tasted the goodness of the word of God and the powers of the age to come, and then have fallen away, to restore them again to repentance, since they are crucifying once again the Son of God to their own harm, and holding him up to contempt. For the land that has drunk the rain that often falls on it and produces a crop useful to those who for his sake it is cultivated and receives a blessing from God. But if it bears thorns and thistles it, it's worthless and near to being cursed and its end is to be burned. Though we speak in this way, yet in your case, beloved, we feel sure of better things, things belonging to salvation. As Calvin argues here, baptism is a hallmark and proof for the existence of the triune God. But if that argument has any force, a much stronger one will be founded on the truth that the Father and Son and Spirit are one God, for it is the one baptism that is celebrated in the name of the three Persons. We are compelled to acknowledge that the ordinance of baptism proves the existence of the three Persons in one divine essence." And some of you are saying, I don't see how that proves anything. Without faith, it is impossible to please God. He has set forth, baptized them in the name of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. It doesn't say in the names, and so we see even here that unity of Godhead and diversity of persons, the three persons in one essence. And so, we are brought by the Son, the Lord. We are bought by Him. We are baptized into Him because we have that one faith, which is Christ died for our sins, the whole Gospel. And now let's look at the work of the Father, just briefly, coming to our time. We'll pick up with much of this next week, pick up here. The adjective clause describes Him as the transcendent, pervasive, and eminent. One God and Father of all, who is over all, and through all, and in all. What's God sovereign over? Every last cotton-picking atom in the broad expanse of the cosmos. Despite scholars who get on TV shows, God is not the father of all humanity in the same way. He is the creator and sustainer of all, but some that will be of little comfort come the day of judgment. For his many wonderful kindnesses, the rain and its seasons, the beauty of creation will in fact be grounds for greater judgment to come, as the psalmist says. God is only the father of the elect. He's the God and father of those whom he redeems from every tribe, kindred, tongue, language, and nation. God proclaims himself from every corner and those who are dead in their trespasses and cannot hear. The heavens declare the glory of God, and the sky above proclaims his handiwork. He gave them ears to hear, and they could not hear. They gave them eyes to see, and they were blind. for those whom the Spirit has united to Christ, who have been baptized into Christ, who have the several benefits that flow from and accompany effectual calling, that is justification, adoption, sanctification, assurance of God's love, peace of conscience, joy in the Holy Ghost, increase of grace, and perseverance there unto the end. God is the Father in the sense that he has adopted them from death into life. You were sons and daughters of your father, the devil, and Christ purchased you, the Spirit united you to Christ, and thereby you have been adopted by the Father, the Father for whom every Christian family is called. Over all, he exercised dominion over everything. Through all, blesses you through Christ the Mediator. In all, he draws you to himself by the Spirit. So Paul and moving to this exhortation can't help but falling back into worship. God in Christ is reconciling you to himself because there's one God and father of us all. There's one Lord and there's one spirit who brings us all together. Let us pray. Father, as you build your church through this call, by Father, Son, and Spirit in perfect harmony. Unite us, O God. Teach us to walk in a manner worthy of the calling to which you have called us with gentleness, with mercy, with patience, with kindness towards one another. Build this church, your church here, that you might be glorified to the ends of the earth, we pray in Jesus' name, amen.