What is it that unites the Christian church? Is it what we have already previously looked at in verses 1 through 3? That what unites a church is our ability to show humility, gentleness, patience, forbearance? Is it love that unites the church? Is it that eagerness, the way that we strive for unity? Well, it's scary if that's true. If unity were founded on our ability to be humble and to love with patience, I think we agree that it'd be a precarious unity indeed. Well, our passage this morning gives us what are the elements of true unity, and I encourage you to turn there with me. It's Ephesians chapter 4, verses 4 through 6. And there we read, 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 who is over all and through all and in all. Well, let's go through these seven elements. And first we look at that of the body. And Paul has already defined the body back in chapter one in verse 23, That's what he says the church is. It is Christ's body. And then he'll go on in chapter 2, in verse 16, he'll explain how the one literal body of Christ, that work that he did there on the cross in that body, through that God reconciled to himself two groups of people, Jews and Gentiles. So that up until Christ, there is a sense in which Mankind could be divided into two groups, moving along separate paths, with the Gentiles kind of on the low side of that in terms of their relationship or their status with God. But now in Christ, what he has done, both have the same access to God. Now that might still leave another question, okay? You have one access, but do you still have two groups that are connected perhaps to the same head. Well, no, they are now one body. So then chapter three, verse six, he says this, the Gentiles are fellow heirs, that is with the Jews, members of the same body. Now chapter two also uses other images about this. It says that everyone in Christ are fellow citizens and everyone in Christ are members of the same household of God. Everyone in Christ is actually joined together. They are growing into a holy temple in the Lord. And so if we are connected to the Lord, well then we're connected to one another. If we have the same head, that means we are members of the same body. Now what does this mean for us? Well, for one thing, it means that the distinctions that you and I like to make, that we tend to make, as to who we are connected with, as to who we compete with for access to God, well, those distinctions do not exist. Listen to the words about the oneness that are in Christ in other places. Paul writing to the Galatians in chapter 3, verse 28. He says, there is neither Jew nor Greek. There's neither slave nor free. There's neither male nor female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus. There are no distinctions. Or he says in Colossians 3.11, here there is not Greek and Jew, circumcised and uncircumcised, barbarian, Scythian, slave, free, but Christ is all and in all. And there are some distinctions. I mean, based on spiritual gifts we've received, the personal callings that we have received, different ways that we minister, we can have different functions in the body, just as the body has different organs with different functions. You know, there's the eye, the nose, the foot, the hands. But the point is that there is no one who is more part of Christ's body than anyone else. We all have the same DNA of Christ. No one can disclaim another member or purport to be more necessary in the body or to have a different access to God that others do not. That is what it is to being of one body. Now, we're also told that there is one spirit. And similarly, to the way that we speak of, you know, each of our bodies, there is a spirit that gives life to our bodies. Well, so there is the one spirit who gives life to this one body. Indeed, it is through this spirit that each of us actually became members of this body. So think of it this way. Jesus Christ did the great work of atonement there on the cross. providing for the forgiveness of our sins. Well, it's the Holy Spirit whom Jesus said that he would send. It is that spirit who applies the work of atonement in us, so that the Holy Spirit is the one who actually breathes life into our dead spiritual bodies, so that we will hear the gospel, we will respond to the gospel in faith. It's the Spirit who steals the benefits of Christ's work. It is in the one Spirit that we have access to God the Father. In Christ, we're being built together into a dwelling place for God by the Spirit. It is the Spirit who has revealed this great mystery that we actually are all members of the same body. It's the Spirit who strengthens us with the power of God. The very unity of the church, back in verse 3, is described as the uniting of the spirit. This is the one spirit, the Holy Spirit, the Spirit of God. Now, there may be many spirits. I mean, we do believe in the spiritual world, and Paul himself makes reference to the evil spirit in chapter 2, verse 2. But there is only one Holy Spirit of God. who indeed is God, he is the third person of the Trinity. And furthermore, it's the spirit whom Christ has sent to his people to make them his, to bind them to him, to bind us to one another. So that again, if the spirit is in you, then you have received the one spirit of adoption as sons. You belong to Christ. You belong to his body through that one spirit. So there's one body, there is one spirit, and Paul then speaks of the one hope to which we have been called. Now he's already prayed earlier about this, back in chapter one, verse 18. He had prayed that they would have the eyes of your hearts enlightened so that you may know what is the hope to which he has called you. What are the riches of his glorious inheritance in the saints? Now, as individuals, we have many hopes. We have hopes about our future, hopes about relationships, about our careers. We might have hopes for our children and so on. And indeed, many of us actually became Christians with the hope of how our lives would change for the better. And it's common to hear testimonies of how, you know, Christ, well, how he saved marriages, how he reclaimed broken lives, how he turned around lives that were headed for disaster. And those are great blessings. But there is one hope, one hope that is common to us all. And it is the great hope that surpasses our earthly hopes. And it is for the fulfillment of this hope that Christ came and that all of scripture looks to. Listen to what some of the scripture says about this hope. It says that it is the hope that is laid up for us in heaven. It is the hope of the gospel, the hope that is in Christ Jesus. It is the hope that is in God. It is the hope of glory, the hope of eternal life. It is a living hope to which we have been born again. It is the hope to which we were saved. It is the hope that should be so evident in us that others are asking us, why do we have the reason for this hope? It drives us so clearly. Well, just exactly what is this hope? Well, Titus 2 verse 13 gives a very succinct definition of it. It is the hope of the appearing of the glory of our great God and Savior Jesus Christ. It's the return of Christ and all that will take place at his return. It's the resurrection of our bodies that will be transformed into glorious bodies. It's the end of all evil and injustice. It is the end of mourning and crying and pain. It is the dwelling of God with his people everlasting joy, everlasting peace. See, this is our hope. It is the hope that unites us, whoever we may be, and whatever our circumstances may be at any time. This is our hope. So there is one body, there is one spirit, and there is one hope to which we have been called. And we have one Lord, who is Jesus Christ. And as Lord, we're told back in chapter one, verse 21, that he is far above all rule and authority and power and dominion, and above every name that is named, not only in this age, but also in the one to come. We're told that in Christ, God the Father has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places. It's through Jesus Christ that we've been adopted as children of God. It's in Christ that we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of our trespasses. God's plan for redemption, for uniting all things together is carried out in Christ. He's the head of the body, the church. And we have been spiritually raised from the dead, we've been spiritually seated in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus. God shows the immeasurable riches of his grace and kindness through Christ Jesus. In Christ Jesus, we're created for good works. It is Christ who's reconciled us to God through the cross. Christ is our peace. Christ is the cornerstone in whom the household of God is joined together. And our goal is to attain to the unity of the knowledge of Christ. of the Son of God. And there is no other Lord. Christ is not one in a long line of prophets or sons of God. He's not a man through hard work he achieved a state of divine status. He is the only begotten Son of God. And it is before him alone that every knee shall bow in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord. There's no other name under heaven by which we must be saved. He is the one Lord. And then there is one faith. Now the faith here seems evident that it means the contents of faith, that is the gospel. Now our world is big on the concept of faith. Have faith, we're told. That's what matters, regardless of what the faith is in, although faith in oneself, the world says, is the most important kind of faith to have. But for scripture, it is what one has faith in that matters. What faith consists of, that's what counts. And here, in the scripture, it is the gospel. Then our gospel is spelled out in 1 Corinthians 15. Let me read verses three and four. The gospel is this, that Christ died for our sins in accordance with the scriptures. that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day in accordance with the scriptures, that's it. The gospel entails the work of Jesus Christ, all that we have just been saying about Jesus Christ just now. That he's the son of God, by his shed blood we're redeemed. And that one faith also though, it does entail exercising faith in that one faith. Ephesians 2 verse 8, it already stated plainly, for by grace you have been saved through faith. So then it is by putting faith in these things, trusting in the work of Christ, trusting in His work on the cross, that is when then it is made real in our lives. Or to put it another way, And I'll say it in a way that has most impacted me in my own life. It means this. It means believing God. It means taking Him at His word. I believe in these articles of faith because I believe God. No, it's not natural to believe these things. It's not natural for me to trust what I cannot see. It's not natural for me to give no credit at all to my own efforts to be good. But the one faith says that I am saved by grace through faith, not as a result of my works. And therefore, to put faith in words, well, that's a different faith altogether. And it is made clear here that there is but one faith. So let's go through this. There's been one body, there is one spirit, one hope to which we have been called, there's one Lord, there's one faith, and then there's one baptism. This is a surprising one that's thrown here, isn't it? But it's not because of what comes to our minds today. I mean, we're thinking, boy, if there's anything we're divided over, it's over baptism. Well, there was no conflict. over baptism then, at least over the mode and the application of baptism, because the ancient church was Presbyterian. And so they didn't have all those difficulties. But the really odd part about the inclusion of baptism here is that it's the only time it appears in this letter. Now, I hope one of the things you'll notice is I've been talking about all these other elements. I've just been going back to what had already been said in the letter about each element. Well, there's no reference to baptism either before or after this verse. Now, I think what's being meant here by the one baptism, it includes the sacramental sign that all the believers would have received, but even then, it is the baptism is that of the Holy Spirit uniting us to Christ. Consider what other passages have to say. First of all in Romans chapter six, I'm gonna read verses three through five. Do you not know that all of us who've been baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death? We were buried therefore with him by baptism into death. In order that just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, we too might walk in newness of life. For if we have been united with him in a death like his, we shall certainly be united with him in a resurrection like his. Now I'm sure you notice the emphasis here on being united with Christ. That's what takes place in the baptism. And if we're united to Christ through baptism, we're also united to one another. Let me read another reference, 1 Corinthians 12, verse 13. For in one spirit we were all baptized into one body, Jews or Greeks, slaves or free. And Paul, who wrote both of those letters, he puts all of this together in Galatians chapter 3, verses 27 and 28. And there he says, for as many of you as were baptized into Christ have put on Christ, and then he says, there is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free, there is neither male nor female, for you are all one in Jesus Christ. And so what we're being told here is this, that the one spirit baptizes all believers of the one faith into the one Lord Jesus Christ, uniting them to the head and to his one body. And that leaves us then at the apex here. There is one God and Father of all who is over all and through all and in all. And we've already been noting the blessings that we have received through Christ's work and through the Holy Spirit who applies these benefits to us. But both our Lord and the Spirit are acting as agents of God the Father. It is God, the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. He is the one who's blessed us in Christ with all spiritual blessings in the heavenly places. It is God our Father. He's the one who has chosen us in Christ before the foundation of the world. He's the one who predestined us for adoption through Jesus Christ, according to the purpose of His will, to the praise of His glorious grace. It is God the Father of glory. who has given us a spirit of wisdom and of revelation so that we will know him. He has given us this spirit of wisdom to know the hope to which he has called us, to know what are the riches of his glorious inheritance, what is the immeasurable greatness of his power toward us who believe. It was God the Father who, being rich in mercy, because of the great love with which He loved us, it is He who made us alive in Christ. Our very faith is a gift of God. Even the works that we do for Him were prepared by Him. The work of Christ on the cross, the application of the Holy Spirit, all of this took place so we could have access to God the Father. And indeed, the dilemma of man is being separated from God. And the great hope of man, while it is in the work of Christ, to reconcile us to God by the Spirit. It's God's household that we became members of. God's household that we are being built together and into this dwelling place of which Christ is the cornerstone, but it's all for God by the Holy Spirit. And so we see how the one God and Father of all, how he's over all, he's through all, and in all. Now these are the seven elements of unity. The one body, the one spirit, the one hope, the one Lord, the one faith, the one baptism, the one God and Father. These are the seven pillars of the church. These form the foundational bedrock upon which the church stands. They are the unifying forces that hold the church together. Unity rests upon the three persons of the Trinity, God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit. And unity lies in the immovable fact that everyone brought into the one faith through the baptism of the Spirit, that they are united to the one body of Christ, that they are being led to the one hope that is founded in Christ's return that is guaranteed by God the Father. It's these seven elements that unite us. Whether we're walking confidently or tentatively in our faith, whether we're acting united or not acting united, it is they that unite us. And it's because they unite us. That's the reason we're to be eager to maintain the unity of the Spirit with humility and patience and love. We're to demonstrate outwardly what is a reality inwardly. It's the same principle as that in a family. There is a marriage of husband and wife that becomes a fact of law. It ought to be a marriage of love and mutual respect. But regardless of how well the husband and wife show these things, that marriage certificate is as binding as ever. And the children who are born to the parents, they are members of the family, or they may be adopted into the family. and their birth certificate and their DNA or those papers of adoption unites that family together. Now that family should love one another and they should be eager to be bonded together. But regardless, their attitude does not change the reality of their unity. Indeed, it's that very reality that they are a family that intensifies the importance of getting along. Because of the elements that bind them, they can't just go their own ways. They can't just release their claims on one another. Now, if they do love and they do support one another, well, that's a beautiful family. But if they fail to love one another, and to maintain unity. It's still a family. It's a broken family, but it's a family nevertheless. And so it is in the church. How beautiful it is when brothers and sisters in Christ dwell in unity. How tragic it is when they do not. How uplifting it is when the church family is working together They're serving each other, they're being there for one another. And how deflating it is when the family members let each other down. I feel confident enough to say that most departures from the church, they're not about theology. Most of them are about failures in relationships. Many people may be drawn into the church because of the truth that has been proclaimed, but many will leave when the one body fails to act as the one body. So how do we maintain the unity of the spirit? Well, just as we have already learned before that we need to recall the blessings of our calling so as to motivate us to walk in a manner that is worthy of that calling, Well, we need to recall the true elements of unity so that that will motivate us to maintain the unity that's in our relationships. You see, we lose our eagerness for unity because we place unity on the wrong foundation, which is namely, well, the behavior of one another. So it works this way. Well, if you love me, I love you. If you act in a humble way towards me, I act in a humble way towards you. If you like the same things I like, well, then I want to spend time with you. If you uphold me in front of others, well, I'll uphold you. But if you don't, if you don't act in these ways, well, I'm gonna lose my zeal to maintain our unity. What we need to do is to keep our eyes then on the real elements of unity. We need to keep our eyes on our Lord Jesus Christ who is the head of us all, and of whose body we are all connected. We need to keep our eyes on the Holy Spirit who has baptized us all in Christ Jesus, and who has instilled in us a common faith in the gospel, who has given to us a common hope of glory. We need to keep our eyes on the one God and Father of us all, who's over all, who's through all, who is in all. And if we do this, if we keep our eyes on the ability of our brothers and sisters, of one another, to live up to what we think each other should be doing, the unity will fail. It doesn't have a chance. But if we keep our eyes on God, the three in one, and on what the three persons of the Trinity have done, and what they still are doing for us, it's then, then we will find ourselves living up to what we need to be doing, to live in unity with our family that is in the Lord. Let us pray. We give you thanks, our great God and Father, that you have chosen us before the foundation of the world in Christ Jesus, that you have made us yours, that you have saved us. We thank you for our Lord Jesus Christ, who has redeemed us by his blood. Oh, we thank you for it, your Holy Spirit, who has applied that redemption to us, who has united us to Jesus Christ, united us to one another, who has united us to you. May we now, our Father, have that grace that comes through God the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. May we have the power, the will, the desire, the eagerness to maintain this unity that is ours, that you have given to us. We may truly honor and glorify you. We pray in Christ's name, amen.