Explanation of Unity
Ephesians 4:4-6 · Roger Henderson · Jul 15, 2018
Ephesians (2018-19), No. 26
Holly Hills Bible Church
https://hollyhillsbiblechurch.org/teaching/messages/4926191124027

Transcribed from the recording by SermonAudio, so expect the occasional misheard word.

OK. All right. So we're in the second part of the second lesson on Chapter 4. So could I get someone to read verses 1 through 6 in Chapter 4? Verses Chapter 4, 1 through 6. OK, I'll do it. I therefore, the prisoner of the Lord, beseech you that ye walk worthy of the vocation wherewith ye are called. With all lowliness and meekness, through long-suffering, forbearing, one another in love, endeavouring to keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace, there is one body and one Spirit, even as ye are called in one hope of your calling. one Lord, one faith, one baptism, one God and Father of all, who is above all, and through all, and in you all. Great. Okay, thank you. So if you notice, there's lots of ones in here.

So we're going to learn about the ones today, or unity, basically. So you notice that this is the first part of this, we go into unity, then we kind of go into gifts. down to about 16, then we go into the old life in Adam Review, then we go to the new life in Christ, then we have a break here. There will be no Sunday School on August 26th, and then we'll finish up the last part in September. So just about almost two months in this chapter.

So it's a lot to look at, and this section is really cool too. So I'm going to review a little bit of last week. So I've used this as Chester McCauley's outline. And he has chapter four labeled the unity of the church. And so let's look for the first part, as we covered last week, that it starts off with a metaphor for the church. So.

So from last week, what's a what's a metaphor? I'm sorry, metaphor for conduct. Excuse me, I didn't read that right. Metaphor for conduct that we talked about in verse one last week. What was the metaphor that you used? Remember, metaphor is something that reminds you of maybe a deeper topic. It's a four-letter word, I think. So the metaphor, it starts off walk, right? It says, I therefore a prisoner of the Lord, entreat you to walk. So the metaphor is walk.

The Christian life is a walk, one step after the other, one day upon the other. And then also in verse 1, there's a standard for that walk. It's not just you walk kind of lackadaisically. You walk, it says, in a manner worthy of your calling with which you have been called. So that's a standard. You walk with a view to who you are in Christ. You can say it that way. That's how you walk. Then we get specific in 2-6, it talks about some characteristics of that walk. It talks about humility, gentleness, patience, tolerance or forbearance. Those are the characteristics of that walk.

You do that through the power of the Holy Spirit, not through you saying I'm going to be a very humble person today. I'm going to express humility. I'm going to show you guys how humble I am today, just by saying that you've proved you're not humble.

Anyway, so we talked about that last week a little bit. And then we're going to talk about in 3-6, I'm going to go back to 3 a little bit, we're going to talk about the body of Christ and the unity of the Spirit and the requirements for unity we're going to talk about a little bit here in verse 3. We'll go back and review that. And then there's these three aspects of unity, one focused on the Holy Spirit, one on the Son, and one on the Father.

And what we're going to see here, this is really kind of cool, Paul's epistles are set up that you have the first part of his epistles, you have doctrine. He'll tell you about who you are in Christ, the blessings you have. And then he'll say, based upon that doctrine, I want you to walk in a manner worthy. I want you to walk based upon what you have. We're going to see a little mini cycle here.

Paul's going to go back in 4-6 and he's going to say, Here's the doctrine about the unity of the Godhead, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. And based upon that, I want you as the body of Christ to operate based upon what we see in the unity of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. So it's pretty cool. It's like a little mini-section there, and they call this a mini-doctrinal section, four through six, because we're going to go back and talk about There's one God, one Father, and so on.

All these things that we know from other parts of scripture, but he's going to really focus on that. He's not going to apply it right now to the church necessarily. There are some implications, but he's going to talk about this unity of the Godhead. So thoughts or questions before we jump in here?

OK. That's Macaulay. So I just underlined here, you've already read this, there are seven ones. that occur in four through six, one body, one spirit, one hope of your calling, one Lord, one faith, one baptism, one God and Father of all, and so on. Going back to verse three, it says in verse C, to preserve, or actually that word could be, it's also translated to keep the unity or oneness of the spirit in the bond of peace.

So here's some observations of that. Notice here that he says he wants you to preserve. He's not asking you to preserve or keep the unity, this oneness. He's not asking you to establish this oneness or unity or to improve it. He's already done it. There is oneness totally within the Godhead, totally within what God has done. So he's not asking you to do anything here. That's why we call it doctrine.

And to reinforce the point, Paul is going to state these seven elements of unity every believer has in Christ. Every believer has it, and since every believer has it, then corporately, as the body of Christ, that unity should be on display, so to speak.

And I was thinking, we're going to see these truths, and imagine if we said, there was, you know, like the pagans, many gods. Then you could have people in, let's say you had a body of, quote, believers, with many gods, they say, well, I believe in this god, he's more powerful than the god you believe in. And somebody says, well, I have a god, he's more powerful than the god you believe in. So you can see why unity is so critical. If you don't have unity, then everybody's going to be going off in different directions, and different gods, and that's what the pagan world is all about, right? I have 20 gods, and I have 100 gods, and I have whatever it is.

So unity is critical in the body of Christ and critical in the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. So from Schaeffer points out that ours is rather to keep the unity which Christ has made and in the bond of peace which that unity provides. And then Kossel says here, seven elements of unity follow in verses four to six that unite the believers in the church. So this is going to be a doctrinal section which is going to show us the unity of the Godhead.

Okay, so now we're going to start in verse 4. There is one body and one spirit. So we're going to just kind of chunk through each of these one statements. Okay, there's one body. So let's just define one, like defining is, right? It's important. One is a pretty important word to define. It's this word called HES in the Greek. It's the first cardinal number. And metaphorically, it speaks of union, like the union of the Godhead, if you will, the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. It speaks of the oneness, that there is one God alone. So with that in mind, let's look at a couple of verses here.

Can someone read John 10.30? father are one.

Okay, pretty simple, right? So here's one about union, right? Christ is saying, and he said that, and of course a lot of people didn't believe him, I and my father are one. So that's it. Another one, how about in, did someone read Romans 12, 4 through 5? For as we have many members in one body, and all members have not the same office, So we, being many, are one body in Christ, and everyone members one of another. Okay, so in this case, once again, this would be the idea of one as a union. It also brings in the body, which we'll cover later on. And then the last one is a little bit different, and I'll just read that. I have it written down here.

In 1 Timothy 2.5 it says, For there is one God and one mediator also between God and man, the man Christ Jesus. So one speaks of this union or singleness. In this case, body in the New Testament is a metaphor. We have another important metaphor here. It's going to be a metaphor and we're going to talk about that.

It's used in Ephesians 1.23 of the church which is called Christ's body and it's the only the only true church made up of all believers.

You guys already know this, but Holly Hills is not, its members are part of the body of Christ, right? It's an independent Bible church, and then you have a Baptist church, and then you have whatever it might be. Scripture never really talks much about it talks about home churches a few other places. It doesn't talk much about denominations at all It talks about the true body of believers.

So that's what when it says there's one body. That's what it's referring to. So let's look at Ephesians go back to chapter 1 in Ephesians Ephesians 1 Let's look at 22 first Ephesians 1 22 and 23 and it says he put all things in subjection under his feet, and gave himself as head over all things to the church, which is his body, the fullness of him who fills all in all." So if you notice this is the last part of 22, going into 23 it says, to the church, which is his body. So this metaphor, something called the mystical body of Christ is what is talking about the body of believers. And then Schaefer says here, and he's kind of referring to the importance of one, the word one is emphatic, signifying that there is but one body, every saved person is in this unity, and only those who are saved are included in it. So you see how critical it is to understand the oneness. If you don't see that we're all united in Christ. If you entertain anything that degrades that, you're going to get yourself in trouble. So it's important that we see it.

That's why I think Paul takes the time to go through and say there's one this and one that, and it seems kind of repetitive. He said, why does he have to tell me so many ones? Well, he wants to kind of close the door on someone saying, well, you know, I have a little bit different.

I have Christ plus. Unfortunately, people do that. They say, we have Christ plus over here. Come over and we have Christ plus. No, no, no, no, no, no. There's only one. And we're going to see there's only one true faith. And so on. And that's why I think Paul is so careful here. And there's a whole bunch of other verses here which we're not going to talk about. We're not going to turn to.

But they talk about in 2.16, it talks about both in one body to God, and 3.6 talks about the fellow members of the body, 4.12 talks about the body of Christ, and then 5.30 talks about that we are members of his body. So there's one body, he wants to establish that. Now we're going to move to, there's one spirit, speaking of the Holy Spirit. And sometimes you'll see, it will say, another phrase you'll see besides one spirit, you'll see the same spirit in some verses. We're going to see both here in a second.

So first of all, in 1 Corinthians 12.13, For by one spirit we were all baptized into one body, whether Jew or Greek, whether slave or free, we were all made to drink of one spirit. And we see that one spirit show up in some of these other verses here. I don't want to turn to all of them, but let's look at someone read the Philippians verse, Philippians 127. For they let your conversation be as it becomes the gospel of Christ, that whether I come and see you, or else be absent, I may hear of your affairs, that you stand fast in one spirit, with one mind, driving together the faith of the gospel. And it also shows up in 1 Corinthians 12. It says according to the same spirit in that passage.

We have a whole class on this. There's a class on the ministries of the Holy Spirit. I think Mike has taught it in the past. But if you look at the ministries of the Holy Spirit, this is just a subset. There's probably about maybe 20, 25, something like that. He convicts, he regenerates, he indwells, he seals, he baptizes, he fills. If you think about this, this is all, and I'll have a statement here by Chaffer, this is all kind of focused on his ministry is to make sure that every believer is equipped with the same credentials with the same bank account.

We all have the same bank account. Think of it that way. We're all given unfathomable riches. We're all given a number beyond what we can ask or think. That's a regeneration and dwelling and so on. there's not one believer that's lacking. You say, well why is there such a divergence in believers and how they conduct their lives? Why aren't all of them tapping into this? I'm not sure I can answer that question, but we're all given the same riches of God's grace. So Chafer says, thus it is revealed that the ministries he performs are all unified to the utmost degree.

So I need a story here. I always do that last, you know, some story about something or other. Anyway, whatever. It became the time I spoke in the main service. I had to I had to think about that. OK, let's just move on here. OK. So next we have. Just as also you were called in one hope of your calling. So these ministries are all kind of focused on the Holy Spirit. Just as you also were called in one hope of your calling. So it's just or even also. You were called is this idea to be called, to invite, to summon. Let's see what we have here.

Could someone read Galatians 1.6?

This word is used there in Galatians 1.6. I am amazed that you are so quickly deserting him who called you by the grace of Christ for a different gospel. Great, thanks.

So one thing to remember here is that The riches of God's grace include the fact that we're called. And so some people have a struggle with that. They say, well, if I'm called, maybe so and so over here wasn't called. But what we find in scripture is every person that puts their faith and trust in Christ is called. And only God understands that totally. He asks us to exercise faith and trust in him and once we've done that we're then identified as a called. But isn't everybody called? But not everybody goes there?

I think that's another way. There's an aspect that you can look at. I mean, it's open to everybody. It is. It is. But the only ones, but Scripture is only identifies the ones who have exercised that as called. So, and that's one way to look at it. Some people, you know, you can look at different aspects there, but that's a good point.

Everyone has an opportunity to believe, right? So therefore, everyone can be called. OK. OK. Or you can say you can say this if you believe then you're called and you're qualified. Yeah. I think. All right. OK. Roger. Yes. Go ahead. Versus as many are called, but fewer chosen. I know. Yeah, I don't know. That's a good point. I don't know. I'm not sure I can address that at the moment. But yeah, I know.

If you look at that, if you just take that at face value, you say, well, it looks like not everybody's, you know. What's that? If you look at the word calling, yes, we can be called, but then also calling can have a different meaning. I don't want to say purpose or path, but do you know what I'm saying? I don't know. I can't verbalize. Okay. Okay. Well, so actually what's interesting in this passage here, we also see it in 401. the word, there's a verb form and a noun form. This is a verb form, you were called, and then calling is a noun form.

So he's going to delineate here the fact that this is one of the one things that we have, the hope of our calling. The hope of our calling is all that God has planned for those who love him. That's the hope of your calling. But he says, He says you were called and you have this hope of all that involves his calling. So I was going to ask you, what does, and you guys probably know this, good Holly Hillers, is that right, Holly Hillers? People attend Holly Hills, there we go. What does hope mean in the context of scripture that God is, go ahead.

The assured expectation of what God said He will do. Good, excellent. I do hope it rains today, but that's not an assured expectation. Even stronger, it's an absolute certainty. So when He says, we have one hope of your calling, there's no doubt about what God's going to do. Christ is going to come again. Absolutely, there's no doubt in what's going to happen. He's going to return. So it's an absolute assurance. So in Ephesians it talks about, it calls it the hope of his calling, but it's a very similar idea here.

It says in Ephesians 1.18, I pray that the eyes of your heart may be enlightened so that you may know what is the hope of his calling, what are the riches of his glory, of the inheritance of the saints. So he wants us to know. One of the oneness things he wants us to know is this wonderful hope of his calling.

And part of that, certainly, is his return for us. And all that is involved. And we have this wonderful assured expectation that that's going to happen. It's not like a hope it's going to rain. And actually, then Chafer had, I have one paragraph, but I kind of chopped it up here. He had some really cool points here.

He says, the hope he's talking about here, this one hope, belongs to the new sphere unto which the saints are called in Ephesians 1.18. And that's just what we read. And he says, it embraces all that God has promised of the eternal glory, which is to be consummated at Christ's coming.

So there's no doubt, there's absolutely no doubt When it says hope, it's the absolute. So you have to kind of rethink. Hope in scripture is an absolute assurance. The hope is one as to its provision for each and every believer alike. It becomes itself a unifying hope. And that's what draws us together as a body of believers. We each individually have this hope. And because we have that hope, we gather together, right? express that hope.

Like Vern, what does Vern say almost every Sunday? I hope the Lord comes this afternoon. The very few Sundays he doesn't say that. And that's an encouragement. Wow, so do I. That would be wonderful. So by the very fact that we have this hope, it unifies us together. And that's kind of the whole gist of all this oneness that we're seeing in these verses. That's verse 4, and that's the Holy Spirit's ministry in this oneness, one body, one spirit, just also, as you would call it, in one hope of your calling. Okay, so now we have one Lord, one faith, one baptism. One Lord.

In 1 Corinthians 8.6 it says, Yet for us there is but one God, the Father, from whom are all things, and we exist for him, and one Lord, Jesus Christ, by whom are all things, and we exist through him." Excuse me, we have a couple of the verses. I think one maybe we should read here.

Did someone read John 13.13? You call me Master and Lord, and you say, well, for so I am. OK. So Christ identifies himself as the Lord. I mean, that's not any, you know, in a lot of different places. And then actually in the Corinthians passage, it says, calling on the name of the Lord Jesus Christ. And we'll see that in many passages, his full description of the Lord Jesus Christ.

OK. One faith, also called the faith, And this is, you know, if you've been around Mike, you know, Mike has taught Hal's material, which is really great, about faith. And this is one of the aspects of faith. This is not speaking of personal faith. This is speaking of faith, the faith, the collection, what we believe, basically. And that's why it's called one faith. So we don't, and here, once again, critical, critical, critical. You don't want, if I say, oh, I have this faith, and you define it differently, I think that's why we have so many different denominations. People can't agree upon what scripture says and it's sad. It's also called one faith in Jude here.

Jude 3b, I felt the necessity to write to you appealing that you contend for the faith which was once for all handed down to the saints. And there's another passage there, and that once for all is this word hapax in the Greek. Once for all, or once for finality, perpetually valid. So what's being said here is that this one faith, or the faith, has been the apostles who have been learning in Acts, they faithfully handed down and taught the faith. It was once given. And it's valid for all time, as recorded in our Bibles. Then Acts talks about that. Can someone read the passage in Acts? Acts 6-7. And the word of God increased, and the number of the disciples multiplied in Jerusalem greatly. and the great company of the priests were obedient to the faith.

Right, so the very last part is what I was kind of focusing on. Becoming obedient to the faith, this body of belief that has been once given out and is valid for all time, that one faith. So one Lord, one faith, and the next one is one baptism. And this is one of my favorites. Actually, what I did in looking at this, I said, boy, there's just so many good things. You know, we had a baptism.

Was it last week? No, it was two weeks ago. So, you know, when you come to baptism, so let me ask you, is there any water in this baptism? Not that one. Do we agree? Actually, I haven't taught it yet. Do you think that he could be talking about water baptism here? I don't think so. Look at the context of what he's teaching. One Lord, one faith, one God, and he's going to talk about water baptism in the middle of that?

That would seem kind of strange. I have a story here for my grandson. He's four and a half. That's one of his favorite expressions. That's strange. If you say something, well, that's strange. And then one day, it was his birthday, I guess, right? It was his birthday? No, it was something special. So my son said, his name is Cedar.

Well, Cedar, we're going to do this and this and that. The special thing is this. That's strange. Whatever he said, it's just because he liked what it sounded like. Everything he said, we're going to take you here, well that's strange, and that's strange, and that's strange. So, anyway. Anyway.

So it would be strange if that's one baptism. Okay. One baptism. Speaking of the baptism of the Spirit. So the word is baptizo. It's literally to dip or to immerse. And if you guys have been around, not all of you have been around, but our brother Hal, he would do a demonstration of that. Others have done this. This is unique. You take some dye and you dip a white cloth into it. And so the cloth becomes whatever color it is. And you take it out. Now, of course, in our technology, you can bleach it out.

It doesn't exactly fit the context here. But it's to immerse, to dip or immerse. But this is God's work and God's doing. So basically all believers have been past completed action baptized into Jesus Christ at the moment they put their faith and trust in His work on the cross. This section just has so many critical things. And here's some aspects.

Immersed into Christ and never taken out. I have a funny thing. I've done a few baptisms. And I always like to say, well, you know, if we did a real baptism here, we put the person in, they wouldn't get to come out. That would be it. Because that's what true baptism is, that we've been immersed into Christ, united with Him, and that's never going to change. And boy, isn't that just such a wonderful thing to keep in mind. I've been placed into Christ, immersed into Christ, and never removed. And I'm never going to be removed. And so, boy, that's just so wonderful to remember that. OK.

Baptized in the person and work is death on the cross of Christ. Spirit baptism is always in the passive voice. It never says, you have to go get baptized in the spirit. Well, I'm going to go get baptized in the spirit today. No, I'm not going to do that.

It's God's work. The Holy Spirit is acting upon the believer. The believer does nothing in spirit baptism with a qualification to accept, to loop back to the first, he has to put his faith and trust in Christ. That's his contribution to that. Spirit baptism is one of the many glorious gifts that the believer receives at the moment of putting his faith and trust in Christ. This is just such a wonderful section, so many neat things to remember here. McCauley, what he did, he took this verse one faith, one Lord, one faith, one baptism. He just kind of rewrote it.

He says, there is only one Lord in whom we all believe and whose name we are baptized. So this is verse 5 with the Lord Jesus in view here. So now we're going to move on to one God, one Father of all, who is over all, through all, and in all. One God and Father of all. So we're going to define another. We defined one, body, all.

This is the word pas. And this is a pretty neat word. It's used without the article. It's not used in the article in this case. Also, it's in the plural, too, in this case. Used without the article, it means every kind of variety. In the plural, it signifies the totality of the person or thing referred to.

So, one God and Father of all. So that's the totality. He's God and Father of everything. The totality of everything. and it says, who is over all, so he's the God and Father totality of everything, he's not only that, but he is over all, or some have it, he's above all, or actually this is from the Amplified Bible, they have, he is above all, and then they have in brackets, sovereign over all. So, go ahead. Is it saying like, he's father of everything, more than just people? Yes, yes. All creation, right? You got it. Everything. He's it. Right. All is all. Totality of persons or things referred to. It's everything. So he's not over. Every individual, the whole all of creation, he's over. Okay.

This is from Macaulay again, who overall focuses on the awesomeness of God in terms of the great distance that exists between him and his creation. That's a wonderful statement Macaulay made, but it kind of leaves you, I think, wow, but we just got finished with the fact that we're baptized into his son. This is true. He's over all things, but he's also a personal God, and he's allowed us as his children to be united with him, which is just, you know, this God who's over all things we're in union with, which is mind-blowing.

And so is he considered father of all people, even unbelievers? I know what you're thinking about here. Can an unbeliever call him father? Or would an unbeliever call him father? A lot of people don't call God, they call him a lot of other things that aren't very nice.

The thing about the father, the father is the one who provides everything. God provides the sun, the rain to all, that says the rain falls and the just and the unjust, so he provides everything for life to everyone, every person on this planet. But did the Jews think of him as fatherly, or did that come after Christ, that concept of him that way? It's a good point. Let's go as far off topic as possible.

No, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no. That's good. That's good. So the. So what you're saying is that, you know, father and father is pretty, you know, like in we call it, you know, for Christians, we call him Abba father. There's a lot. There's so much personalism in that. Yeah. I'm trying to think, Abraham. Well, they talk about I don't know. That's a good question. I'll think about that. Here's one thing that's really cool. We're talking about being over. He also, we see within the Godhead, he's going to say, my son is going to be over something here or above something.

In Ephesians 1.22, he put all things in subjection under his feet and gave to him as head over all things to the church. The godhead, including the sun, they have specific roles and tasks. The sun is over all things to the church. That's why it's called his body, right?

And then if you look in Colossians 2.10. Can someone read that one?

Colossians 2.10. That's a pretty good one.

You are complete in him which is the head of all principality and power. I have, mine says he is head over all, I have my little word here, over all, rule and authority. What did you say again, the last part of yours? And he are complete in him, which is the head of all principality and power. They should have the word all.

Okay, alright. OK, so we've gotten as far as one God and Father of all, who is over all. So we've covered the over all part. So now we're going to move to the last little parts here. Who is through all. So Macaulay points out here, this expresses God's creative and sustaining activity.

He is omnipotent. for he works through all. So let's lay out, here's Romans. For from him and through him and to him are all things. To him be glory forever. Amen. For from him and through him and to him are all things. So he's the He started creation. He spoke and the worlds were created. So he's over all things. And he was the motivating force to the power to make that happen.

Absolute origin. Right. Absolutely. That's good. Can someone read Mark? I'm sorry, Matthew. I got some words there. Matthew 1926. And looking at them, Jesus said to them, with people this is impossible, but with God all things are possible. Okay, so I'm kind of focusing on the fact that all things are possible. He has the power of creation and all things are possible with Him. Now of course, you know, outside of sin, people have asked, and it's kind of a dialogue you have, what things can not God... What things can God not do? Nothing. What's that? Nothing. Well, he can't sin, right? It's a little bit of a trick question, but he can't violate his character. He can't sin. He can't be jealous. He can't show favoritism, and so on, and so on.

Well, if you want to read a really uplifting, if you're into Lewis Ferry Chafer, At the beginning of his, and Vern's teaching that in the other main room there, the riches of God's grave, he has like a preamble to that, and he goes through and he kind of talks about, based upon scripture, what God is like, and God is not a man, and he has no jealousy, and he just goes through all these things that God is not, and it's just, it's incredible.

Maybe sometime I'll have it all. print out or we can we can read it or something like that. It's just fabulous and these other verses talk about that Nothing will be impossible with God and then in the Revelation passage it talks about It's a one place.

It says for the Lord our God Almighty reigns So he's called the Almighty He has all power Okay, and then the last one here who is all. So he's over all, he's through all, speaking of his omnipotent power, and he's in all. So we have to be a little careful here, I think. The personal presence of God in his creation and his personal relationship to man is focal here. He's omnipresent. He's omnipresent, for he is in all.

So what I did, oops. So if you look at someone, either either someone quote or read Galatians 220, you should talk. Come on, Tom. You can do it. I've been too much of a star here. Let's get somebody else. OK. OK. So a glacier is going to talk about. in all in the sense of believers. Yeah, please.

I've been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me. In the life which I now live, in the flesh I live by faith, in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself up for me. Great, thank you. So it's right in the center of that verse, but Christ lives in me. Christ lives in, in this creation, which is amazing. He's in all, in every believer.

But then there's an omnipresent aspect of that, and a beautiful place for that, because someone turn to the Psalms, Psalm 139, and read 7 and 8. Whither shall I go from my spirit, or whither shall I flee from my presence? If I ascend up into heaven, thou art there. If I make my bed in hell, behold, thou art there. And keep going. if I take the wings of the morning and dwell in the outermost parts of the sea, even there shall thy hand lead me and thy right hand shall hold me."

Okay, that's good. Alright, so that, even though that seems particularly, you know, you think of that as a person who knows God, I mean, looking at that, but it's, you know, there's no place we can, you can't be, if I travel to the moon, I have to be an astronaut, I won't stop interfacing with God. That's not going to be a problem for him, right? Pretty amazing stuff. I find this section just amazing. I want to sum it up here with a couple of quotes, two paragraphs.

The Apostle Paul thus presents the strongest possible appeal for Christian unity, indicating as he does that it is ground upon the seven eternal Verities? Yeah, that's truce. Vanya was pointing out to me, if you've taken Latin, I didn't take Latin, so truce. So the Christian unity is grounded upon these seven truths that we just talked about.

It therefore becomes, so this is saying, this is something that becomes, this is what we should look this is what becomes a christian is therefore becomes those who by grace have attained to a heavenly positions to manifest the fact that fact by their unfeigned love to all who are in christ pretty pretty yet what chafe rock you know he's this is you know he wrote a long time ago you know in the first part of the 1900s and so i read some of the words i read what he said i had to read it multiple times but boy is it you know Pretty amazing. So the focus here has been on the Godhead, the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, and the oneness they have, and just the tremendous things of who they are and what they've done. But the goal of this section is, because we're going to move into talking about spiritual gifts and other things, and we're going to talk about the interaction within the body of Christ. But it's all grounded in this unity that we have in the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.

Any last questions or thoughts, Tom? In case those of you kind of skipped over some of that last word, they're not a fake. OK. OK. Good. I like that. All right. Good. You have to get my dictionary out. I start reading. Yeah, I searched on the Internet for verities and I got a bunch of different things, but the truth probably is the closest. OK, I will finish a little bit.

We may have the first buzzer, but OK, so good on this idea of father. OK. OK. In John one. Well, this is what as many as received him to. Which kind of implies the others are not. Right. And I know what you're saying. The father in the church age is very much in view, right? We call him father, we call him Alba father. We have the right to call him father. We're his children and so on.

That connection is settled. I don't know whether in the Old Testament did the Jews really see him. I don't know. That's a really good question that was asked about that. I don't know. Go ahead. I was looking in the concordance, but there are references in the Old Testament like in Jeremiah and Isaiah that he mentions being the father. Yeah, the everlasting father. Right. Well, that's a good point. He talks about his heartache as a father over Israel. He mourned over Israel, right? There's a bunch of passages about how he mourned over them, how they went astray, they went off the wrong way. He mourned over them as a father.

So, I would say it was more coming down from God, not going the other way. I don't think they I mean, they feared God, and they should have. The demonstrations of his power in the Old Testament, I mean, he was a... But certainly when we come to the church age, we see this wonderful relationship that we have with our Father, and we can call him Father. We can call him Daddy, Abba. Abba. So, pretty neat stuff.

So, next week we're going to start into, let's see, I think we're going to start into spiritual gifts here a little bit yes okay all right so let's just go in close we thank you father we thank you for our time today lord thank you for the blessings we have father thank you for these wonderful truths about who you are and what you've done and how we're and how you've loved us and how we are we're in you and we thank you for that in christ's name amen