One God

Turn your Bibles, if you would please, to Ephesians, Ephesians chapter 4, verse 6. I'm so glad to be back with you guys. Where have you been? It's been such a long time on Sunday mornings. Just kidding. I'm so thankful for our strong eldership, and please show your appreciation to them for their expositions while I was gone.

Listen to every message and was ministered to so much — appreciate them and their wives and their families and what the Lord has done here at Beulah Baptist Church. And last Sunday I was here to enjoy Zeke preaching the gospel. Thank you, my brother. What a blessing you are to this dear church — a true evangelist. By the way, we're going to go to a party this weekend, some of us, in downtown Orlando. Maybe you've heard of the electronic music festival — we're going to go crash that party. Okay, we're going to share the gospel and allow people to hear what the saving grace of God truly, truly is, and so pray for us as we go boldly to proclaim the good news of the saving grace of Jesus Christ in downtown Orlando this coming weekend at Hunting World Stadium. You can look up that party if you would like — don't look too closely. It's vile, it's ugly, it's nasty, but we need to penetrate darkness with the light of Christ, don't we? We need to go where people need Jesus and to be a light. So you can pray for those of us who will boldly evangelize this weekend.

Also want to mention to you as well that we know that lost people — they don't quite understand the gospel, so you have to share it with them. Faith comes by hearing and hearing by the word, right? So we have to share the word with them. Romans 10:17 says that. And we started off today with baptism. No lost person will allow you to publicly dunk them underneath the water — how humiliating. But saved people recognize that they once were dead and now they have been made alive, and gladly go underneath the water to picture what Christ has done for them.

Saved people embrace what it is to be a Christian; lost people don't quite understand that. And so may God's mercy go before us. May God's love flow through us to the lost, to be able to reach those who are dying and perishing and going to an eternal, real hell. And so I pray that God continues to use this dear church to spread the way, the truth, and the life. So grateful to be a part of this church.

And I'm also grateful to be a part of this nation. I gladly voted last week, and it took my wife and I about 45 minutes in line to wait to be able to cast our vote, and I hope that you have voted as well. I went by the same voting precinct and saw the line four times as long, and I would have waited in that as well, because it's such a privilege to vote. We live in America, but we are Christians. We live in America; we are Christians. And so wherever you are, you be the best Christian that you possibly can be. And if we pull together and protect the rights that God has given us, perhaps God would grant this nation repentance. Perhaps God would grant our great nation revival, and perhaps those who hate God will become lovers of God. Do you believe that God is that powerful? He is. Amen. You believe the gospel can transform the lost into lovers of Christ rather than haters? I believe so.

And as we continue in this lost and dark world, I want you to be as obedient as you possibly can, to be as bright for Christ as you possibly can. And that way, at the end of the day, when we face Christ at judgment, you'll be rewarded richly for it. Just like we just heard the testimony from Wayne about Voices of the Martyrs — hope that you're preparing yourself to be able to be faithful even unto death, as Revelation 2:10 calls us to be faithful unto death, faithful even in the face of persecution, and faithful in these ways to be able to be strong in the Lord, enough to be able to respond in love and humility and kindness and gentleness, even when rocks are thrown at you or even when persecutions are thrown at you. I hope you're gearing up. I hope you are fortified in the faith. I hope you are inwardly strong.

And so all of these concepts are brewing inside of my heart and mind because I've been investing myself in Ephesians chapters 3 and 4, and I'd like to, by way of review, kind of ramp up to our text today in verse 6. And so if we could back up to Ephesians chapter 3, where the prayer starts in verse 16, and see these concepts afresh and anew. And my challenge to us — especially the men in our congregation who lead marriages and who lead families — is to pray with your Bibles wide open, to pray with your Bibles and your eyes wide open. Open up to this text in Ephesians chapter 3 and pray the same prayer, these similar concepts, for your wife, for your children, and for your church and for your nation and for this world. Pray these concepts. And so this is a divine prayer — these concepts are from God through the Apostle Paul for the Ephesian church. And by way of application, you too should take these concepts and pray these things.

And so pray with me, if you would. In Ephesians chapter 3, verse 16, it says that "God grant you according to the riches of His glory with the power through the Spirit in the inner man." Okay, in verse 14 it says, "I bow my knees," and so he's bowing his knees. And in verse 16 he is praying that God would strengthen the Ephesian church inwardly with spiritual power. God, strengthen us with Your spiritual power I pray. Make us so fortified and so strong, so grounded, so unmovable inwardly, that we cannot be shaken by the assaults of the world, by the insults of the world, by anything. Lord, help us to be powerful inwardly so that we can act out in love. Help us not to respond in anger, Lord.

And verse 17 it says, "so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith, and that you being rooted and grounded in love." It's a prayer, Lord, that You also would help us to recognize You in us. Help us, Lord, to recognize that You may be dwelling in our hearts, in our faith, and that resulting in being rooted and grounded in love. And then in verse 18 it says, "to may be able to comprehend with all the saints what is the breadth and the length and the height and the depth, and to know the love of Christ." Lord, help us to know You. Help to know the breadth and the height and the length and the depth of You, dear Jesus. Put us on our faces in prayer and in Bible study because of Your love — the love that was in, that is within You, Lord Jesus. Overcome us with that. Make us to be overwhelmed in all of You, Jesus, we pray.

And then in verse 19 You say, "that you may be filled up to all the fullness of God." Lord, I pray that we would not just be filled with Your Holy Spirit, but to be filled with the fullness and overflowing with You, that others might see, and that what You have done inside of our hearts, transform us into Your image, so that we can live like You and be like You and demonstrate who You are. In verse 21, it's all to Your glory, Lord. I pray that just as Paul has said for the Ephesian church, "to Him be the glory in the church and in Christ Jesus to all the generations forever and ever. Amen."

And Lord, as we continue to pray with our Bibles wide open and our eyes wide open, going into chapter 4: "Therefore I, the prisoner of the Lord, implore you to walk in a manner worthy of the calling with which you have been called, with all humility and patience, showing tolerance for one another in love, being diligent to preserve the unity of the Spirit and the bond of peace. There is one body and one Spirit, just as also you were called in one hope of your calling, one Lord, one faith, one baptism, one God and Father of all, who is over all and through all and in all."

Dear Lord, I pray You would help us to be so filled with You and Your glory that we walk in a way that is worthy of Your calling us unto being saved and sanctified. God, help us to be humble and gentle and patient and kind and tolerant, bearing with one another in love. God, if we do this, I know that the result would be that we would preserve the unity and the bond of peace in our midst. How glorifying that is to You. And Father, now as You have listed in this Ephesians chapter 4 some basic beliefs, I pray, Father, that we would get to know You more and more by studying sound doctrine and to know these things, one by one by one — especially today: one God. May Your blessings be upon the reading of this word and the preaching of Your word and the hearing through the hearts and the minds that are here today. In Christ's name, amen.

Thank you for practicing with me, praying with your Bibles wide open and your eyes wide open. Children have to have their eyes closed and their hands together so they're not looking around, distracted, and they're not touching things. And so I hope that you have grown a little bit outside of praying like a child and can pray now with your eyes and your Bibles wide open. I love this particular prayer. It reminds me every single day that I need the power of God upon me just to do the basic things — like being humble and being gentle and patient and tolerant — to be filled with the Holy Spirit, to be able to do this for my wife, for my children, and for my church. And I really need this when I'm driving in Orlando, right? I really need this when I'm interacting with those who are, you know, really aggressive out there. The old man wants to come out, and you've got to harness that thing. You know, the true Christian knows that meekness is not weakness. The true Christian knows that to be filled with the Holy Spirit is to be able to harness your emotions, to harness the flesh, and respond in love and gentleness and kindness and humility, and actually give them preference — give those who are lost preference, serve them and love them, and do all that you can for your neighbor. I mean, did not Jesus summarize the entire Old Testament law in love God and love others? And others — the church, I mean, that's others, that's everybody, that's your neighbor, that's your saved neighbor and your lost neighbor. And so we should be being like Christ, like God, in these ways.

I think we need to pray for ourselves, and we need to pray for one another, that we can do this. Our text today is found in verse 6. It says, "one God and Father of all, who is over all and through all and in all." And so the title for today's message, if you take notes, is "One God." One God — we're going to be talking about God today, the fact that He is one God, one God and Father of all, who is over all and through all and in all.

If you like chasing down references, which I do, Malachi is where we're going to start in regards to one God. The Apostle Paul was one who would be an expert in what the prophets had to say. His Old Testament faith was his foundation, and when he was converted from Judaism into Christianity, he saw that the Old Testament was speaking of Christ. And in Malachi, the Bible says in chapter 2, verse 10, of this one Father concept. And I somehow love to think about how perhaps Paul, in his humanity, was perhaps dwelling upon the Old Testament scriptures, and when he put pen to paper he perhaps was filled with what Malachi had to say, and recounted this, and this just came out of him through divine inspiration. It just came out and came on paper.

Malachi chapter 2, verse 10, speaks of one God and one Father. And so Paul is reiterating what I believe is this reference. And Malachi chapter 2, verse 10, it says, "Do we not all have one Father? Has not one God created us?" And this first half of the verse is powerful. First of all, it is talking about God as creator. From Genesis chapter 1, verse 27, we know that God created us in His image. We're different from everything else in many different ways. Not only can you appreciate — which is different from the animal kingdom — not only can you have what is described as an appreciation of beauty, like you can gaze at a flower or at nature and you can appreciate the creator behind the creation, and not only can you have thoughts of history — which the animal kingdom cannot — and thoughts of the future — which the animal kingdom cannot — there's just simply reactionary thoughts there in the animal kingdom. You are not an animal. You're not an ape. You're made in the image of God. God created you. There's one Father of all of us. And so being made in God's image sets you apart from all of that, and therefore God, since He is our creator, He is our Father. He's our instructor, He's our guide, He's our nurturer, He's our boss. He has the authority over all of mankind, and our life is best lived in and through God. Acts chapter 17, verse 28, says, "for in Him we live and move and have our being." Acts 17:28 shows us to where we can have our life in Christ, in God, and in Him, and to be shaped and conformed by Him, to be ruled by Him, to be guided by Him, to be nurtured by Him, to be loved by Him. And so this question which Malachi sets forth in Malachi chapter 2, verse 10 — "Do we not all have one Father, and has not one God created us all?" — and so therefore we've been created in His image. We have one God and one Father; therefore all of us have one Father.

In Ephesians chapter 4, verses 4–6, there's a list of beliefs here. Read it with me again to keep our mind fresh. Ephesians 4:4–6: there is one body. Here's a list of beliefs, okay. There's one universal church — the one body, one group of genuinely saved people, is referred to as the entire body of Christ. And then also the Bible refers to the body of Christ as a local congregation as well. So not only all of those who have been saved past, present, and future — the church universal — but also a local body of Christ. They operate metaphorically like a body. And so in verse 4 it says, "there is one body and one Spirit, just as also you were called in one hope of your calling, one Lord, one faith, one baptism" — as we saw today with Tori being baptized. She was saved once, and she's gloriously saved, and now since she has been baptized post-conversion, she looks back at the times when she went into the water before, not as baptism, but as just getting wet. And so now she's been truly baptized. She recognizes when she got saved — gloriously saved. You know, her testimony is riveting, and it reminds me of the Voices of the Martyrs there. In fact, when she confesses Christ as Lord and Savior publicly, according to Romans 10:9, that is no cheap confession. In times past, that was a death sentence — to confess Christ as Lord and not Caesar as Lord. And so to publicly disobey Caesar was a death sentence.

And so a true Christian who has been changed on the inside can do no other than glorify Christ, no matter the consequences. And so true believers truly get baptized because they're unashamed and they're not afraid of whatever pushback or whatever perception people might think of them — that is so secondary, and Christ is so primary, that they will gladly be baptized. It's a symbolic thing of recognizing that they were dead but they've been made alive. Christ made them alive on the inside. They've got a new heart, new motives, and they desire Christ. They desire the word, and they want to be public with their faith, and consequences don't even come on the radar. And so the Voices of the Martyrs is the same thing — as if they choose to be so bold and alive in their faith, the consequences do not deter them.

Here you have this one faith, and this is the faith that we're talking about. This is the true faith. It's not an easy-believism sort of faith. It's not a cheap faith. That came at a high price — Christ died on a cross and rose again for our sin. And our sin equals death. Our sin comes with consequences, for "the wages of sin is death." We have a death penalty lingering over us when we're born. We're all born sinners with a depraved nature. That depraved nature loves sin. But when Christ resurrects you, when He changes your heart, you go from loving your sin to hating your sin. Do you hate your sin?

If you hate it when you sin against God, it's evidence of your salvation. If you go on sinning and God disciplines you, that's evidence that you've been truly saved. If you hate that you disappoint the Lord, if you hate that you've sinned against the Holy One, if you hate that you've polluted your life and your testimony in Christ — if you hate those things, if you hate sin — then you're one who has most likely been saved. But if you embrace your sin, hide your sin, and plan on continuing in your sin, it's evidence that you have not yet repented of your sin, turned from your sin, and placed your faith and trust in the substitutionary death of Christ on your behalf.

"It is appointed unto man once to die, and then the judgment." But did you know that's for believers? Once to die. Non-believers die twice. Non-believers get a death sentence in hell for eternity. And so if you die here as a non-believer, as one who has not been converted, one who has not repented, then you will die again in that death sentence in hell forever. Luke 13:3 says it very clearly: "Unless you repent, you shall likewise perish." Into hell for eternity is a real thing. And this one faith — this is a serious thing that we're talking about here. The gospel is literally a life-or-death situation for everybody. No other conversation merits the weight of a gospel. No other conversation is more important than the gospel. And so to have gospel conversations in your daily life shows that you believe in this one God and that He is the Father of all, and He's truly my Father because I've been regenerated. I've been converted. I've been saved. I've been born again. This is a work of God.

And so this is something that we all need to recognize — that there is one faith, there is one baptism, and that is spiritually speaking of when you were baptized. It's when you were circumcised of the heart. Colossians says it's when inwardly your heart was baptized. He brought you out of death and into life.

And now in verse 6, there's one God, one Father. Now interestingly, I don't know how much you are invested in numbers. I dabble with them lightly. Some have gone through the Bible and what's called numerology — made way too much out of numbers. You cannot super-spiritualize numbers and draw some type of secret mystical inferences from the Word of God. But there are some really interesting insights in regards to numbers in the Bible, or lists in the Bible. And in this list of beliefs, you have seven items on the list here. And God is number seven. And so number one is the body, number two is the Spirit, number three is one hope, number four is one Lord, number five is one faith, number six is one baptism, and now the seventh on this list is, interestingly, one God. And so the number seven in the Bible represents divine fullness, and the completion of this list is this subject of one God. It's rightfully capping off this wonderful list.

And so it seems that you could perhaps safely draw this inference from this list of beliefs — that these beliefs are listed right here in such a way that it preserves the unity of the church in Christ and the bond of peace. And who is the Father of all who controls all of this? It just seems to be that the seventh item on this list is our one God, who controls everything and who caps off this wonderful list, and who is not only the creator but the cause of this wonderful unity that we have in the church.

You know, this list here in verses 4–6 seems like a creed. And some have really enjoyed, like, the Apostles' Creed or the Nicene Creed. I personally prefer scriptures over man-made creeds. I like the repetitious learning of scripture — hide that in your heart. But creeds can help to clarify and help to catechize and help to learn. Creeds can help sum up our basic beliefs in Christ. But personally I like scripture.

If you turn to Deuteronomy chapter 6, I want you to see what could have been used by Israel as a repetitious creed, as one that would be teaching of this one God. And so Israel believed that God was one. And in Deuteronomy chapter 6, verse 4, this is commonly known as the Shema, and this was — boy — what they held on to. Every good Jew knew Deuteronomy 6:4, maybe even the whole book of Deuteronomy. Deuteronomy 6:4 says, "Hear, O Israel, the Lord our God, the Lord is one." Again, the title to today's message is "One God." And so as they would start off perhaps their days in prayer and quote the Shema, good faithful Jews would reaffirm their basic belief that God is one. And then it says, "you shall love the Lord your God with all of your heart and with all of your soul and with all of your might."

Now this is important — to be able not only to confess that there is one God and that you believe that and that you repetitiously ascribe unto God "You are the only God" — it's important to do that in your own life and your own prayers, because that keeps you from serving other gods. Which God was so gracious to remind us: "You shall not have any other gods" — little g — "before Me." So do not make anything into a god. Do not place anything in between you and God. Lest God see jealously that you have usurped Him and placed some item or some hobby or some form of interest before Him. Men, that can be your jobs. And women, that could even be your husbands — same for the men. You cannot place a person or a place or thing, you can't place anything above Christ, above God. God's number one.

And so the Shema is very important. Ascribe Him as the one God, and then for you to proclaim this in a creed-like, repetitious way — you would be safeguarding your own soul from allowing your heart to drift away from the Lord and place its affections on something else other than Him. Should not God be the center of all things? And if your affections and your interest and all of your heart, soul, mind, and strength is focused on Him and His word, then from there you have emotions and thoughts and life, and everything that you do is coming from your relationship in God. That's a safeguard for your own life, to harness yourself. Especially in the mornings, wake up and say, "God, You are God and I'm not. You are God, and I'm going to live according to Your will. I'm going to love You with all of my heart, soul, mind, and strength. You're the one God."

Now turn with me to Deuteronomy chapter 18, because it's important to see that this God of the Old Testament, whom we're talking about, is Jesus. In Deuteronomy chapter 18, verse 15, the same author Moses, whom God used to write Deuteronomy, now futuristically points to Christ. And Deuteronomy chapter 18, verse 15, it says, "The Lord your God" — there's no mistaking whom Moses is talking about — "the Lord your God, the one God, will raise up for you a prophet like me." From among you, from your countrymen, "and you shall listen to him. You shall obey him." In verse 18 it says, "I will raise up a prophet from among their countrymen like you, and I will put my words in his mouth, and he shall speak to them all that I commanded him."

This is very serious. How serious is it? Verse 20: "But the prophet who speaks a word presumptuously in My name which I have not commanded to him, or which he speaks in the name of other gods, that prophet shall die." So do not mistake this prophet to come, and do not allow those who prophesy erroneously to live. Old Testament law, not New Testament. And so this prophet like me — who is Moses referring to? Well, it's none other than Jesus. In John chapter 5, verse 46 — guess what Jesus said in John chapter 5, verse 46: "for if you believed in Moses, you would also believe in Me, for he wrote about Me." Oh, how glorious that is! Jesus clarified to His disciples that Moses wrote about Him.

So this one God — is Jesus God? Did Jesus claim to be God? Many agnostics, many atheists around the world will say Jesus never claimed to be God. Well, what do you do with John 10:30, when Jesus said, "I and the Father are one"? Jesus did claim to be God. And ask yourself: well, why did the Pharisees want to stone Him and kill Him? Because He claimed to be God. And so Jesus not only claimed to be God, He is God.

This is so important to see that our faith is not new — it is so old and so true, so tried and so tested. It's so clear all the way through the Word of God, from the Old Testament times to the New Testament times, to today and forevermore. The Word of God is eternal. It is so true. It is so flawless, and it's so pure. We as sin-stained beings can't even comprehend it — it is so pure. But as you try to comprehend the Word of God, you will see how right and pure and spot-on it is. It is so spotless. As you see the Old Testament in alignment with the New Testament — how in the world could Moses, thousands of years ago, as just a man, perhaps apart from God, write something that would be fulfilled in New Testament times? And the list goes on and on and on and on. The more you study into God's Word, the more you see Christ as King, and the more you see Christ foretold — it's so beautiful.

And Paul does the same thing in chapter 3, verses 4 and 6. He talks about how we are now in Christ. Back to Ephesians chapter 3. And as Paul talks about the Old Testament promises, the Old Testament covenants — those aren't the ends, they're a means to get to Christ. And so the Old Testament commandments as well — that's not the ends. We don't look at the commandments and say, "this is how we are to live," and it ends there. The commandments point to Christ. The commandments are there to show us that we cannot live up to God's holy standard, and we need Christ. We need a substitute to pay for our sins in our place, and to help us to be covered from His wrath, from God's wrath. We need Christ.

And so in Ephesians chapter 3, verses 4–6, you'll see this. By referring to this — when you read you can understand my insight into the mystery of Christ. Okay, so Paul is identifying with the Jewish side of the Ephesian congregation. Perhaps the Jews sat on the left and the Gentiles sat on the right. Now he's leaning over to the right and talking to the Jews who have been converted into Christianity, and he's talking as one who used to be a Pharisee, who used to be just an Old Testament law guy, an expert in the Torah. And he's saying this mystery of Christ — Old Testament believers now can see Christ. Verse 5: "which in other generations was not made known to the sons of men, as it has been now revealed to His holy apostles and prophets in the Spirit — to be specific, that the Gentiles are fellow heirs and fellow members of the body and fellow partakers of the promise in Christ Jesus through the gospel."

And so these promises, these Old Testament covenants, these Old Testament promises are now fulfilled in Christ. Jews and Gentiles alike can be saved by this one God — this one God who is the Father of all. And so no doubt Paul's usage of the words, and the repetitious usage of the words one, one God, and one Father of all, not only leads Jews — who would perhaps be trapped in the Deuteronomic law, in the Shema, and the Ten Commandments — to a complete and unified understanding of being in Christ, fulfilled in Christ. And so He is the Father of all. Christ is King. He is the Father of all. He is the God who created everything. The Bible testifies to that, especially in John chapter 1, that Christ is also creator. And therefore it's appropriate to esteem Christ and to worship Christ as one God. He is supreme. He's over all, and He is involved in every aspect of the world. Christ is God and He sustains everything. We have our life inside of Him.

And so Ephesians 4:6 has a phrase that perhaps needs some clarification. Let's go back to chapter 4. Ephesians chapter 4, verse 6: "one God and one Father of all, who is over all and through all and in all." Say that again — "and in all." Now if you hear that from a low-level, earthly, worldly perspective, you may be pantheistic in thought — like "pan" meaning all and "theistic" meaning God, like God is in all. But this is not a worldly worldview. This is scripture from up above. What does God mean? We need to search out the meaning of this text to make sure that our minds are not drawn into some type of universalistic idea of salvation. Hinduism is a pantheistic religion that claims that all things are connected.

Rather than thinking like that, we should think conclusively that God is Spirit. John 4:24 says, and He's not a part of His creation. He permeates creation. The trees — they're not God. God is not in the trees or the animals or the clouds. His presence, however, is omnipresent. His presence is everywhere. You cannot hide from God, cannot get away from Him. The psalmist proved that. So God is the one sovereign deity who controls every minute molecule, every change in the cosmos. He causes it all. Everything seen glorifies Him, and His glory is just simply on display for us. And He is our amazing Father and Father of all.

And so the fact that God describes Himself as a Father is my next most important point. And that is important because God attributes such attributes as holiness and power, triunity, infinity, self-existence, immutability, eternity, immensity, and loving-kindness to Himself. He reveals Himself as the one God who has all of these perfect attributes. And if you could summarize one of the most important attributes that God wants us to know about Him, it's in the word "Father" in our text today. It's not only one God, but it's one Father of all.

Jesus placed a real high value on calling God "Father." In His model prayer He started off with "our Father who art in heaven." Paul did the same thing in Ephesians chapter 3, verse 14. He says, "for this reason I bow my knees before the Father." And so the emphasis on calling this one God "Father" is important to Himself — it's demonstrated by placing such a high value on that, by starting it in prayer by Jesus. And so I would ask you personally: do you have a high value on calling God "Father"? And also ask you: do you have a healthy perspective of God as being your Father? So many have grown up with perhaps daddy issues, or abandonment issues, or abuse issues, and to project that on God is so wrong and unfortunate to your own relationship, because that's not God our Father. And we've got to be careful not to project.

And so here, the word "Father" — it's important for you to know, in your personal relationship with Christ, that God self-designates to Himself the term "Father" as a way to reveal Himself to His humanity. And the word "Father" means nurturer, it means protector, it means upholder and discipliner. You have one God who is your Father. The emphasis placed upon this belief in the text is added — whereas there is nothing else added in this list of basic beliefs in Ephesians — but "one God" has emphasis placed upon it, that He is the Father. We need to pay attention to that.

For the Ephesians, they can be confident that their sovereign Father is wisely imploring — verse 1 in chapter 4, imploring them to walk, to live in every way that is worthy of their calling. Every aspect of your life is summarized in the word "walk." How you live needs to be in such a way that is worthy of you being called in the salvation of God, bringing you out of the depths of sin and depravity and punishment, bringing you out of the gutters of life and out of a sin-trapped mental state, out of a condemned state, out of the punishment forever and eternity, bringing you out of the grossness of sin, out of the punishment, out of the consequences, bringing you out of darkness and lostness and hopelessness, and bringing you out of that by His calling. He called you.

Therefore, every aspect of our life, our thought life, our hearts' motives, everything we put our hands to, everything we put our feet to — everything. The Lord — "let the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be pleasing and glorifying unto You," the psalmist said. Everything in our life ought to be worthy of that calling. Christ saved you, and so now your business deals — worthy of God. If you can't glorify God, don't do it. Your marriage — who you marry, primarily, and then from there everything else. How you parent. How you work — "as unto the Lord and not to men," Colossians 3:23. How you speak, in tone and in what you say. Where you go. Every, every thing — every aspect of our lives is to be worthy of God our Father.

His omnipresence is with us all the time. Your Father is with you. We do things, we act, we speak in such a way as we have our Father in the vehicle or sitting beside us at home, dining with us at the dining table. We are never apart from our Father, and His intimate presence permeates not only all of what He has created but also is right there with us, communing with us. You don't have to close your eyes to pray — you can be praying even while you're at the dinner table. You can be praying while the television is on, not just while you're driving. You can be interacting with your Father as you go. This is a wonderful thing. God the Father wants to be known as a nourisher, as a protector, as one who upholds you. God the Father is nourishing and protecting, and He's instructing and He's helping us to be like Him — humble and gentle and patient and bearing with one another.

In summary, God is love. 1 John 4:8 says God is love, and from love flow all of these things. And so if it's not loving, you should not say or do it. Truth in love, right? We say the truth, we do it in a loving way, in a concerned way, in an accurate way, and we live in a way that is from God, is from love. So God wants His children to be loving. In this text, everything is in love. In chapter 4, verse 2: "with all humility and gentleness and patience, showing tolerance for one another, in love." In love. And so true love produces unity in the church and with one another.

And as God has self-designated the term "Father" to Himself, He wants nothing more than His children to dwell together, one with one another, in unity and in love. And so we see that this name that God has given to Himself — He didn't have to ascribe to Himself "Father" in the Bible. He did not have to do that, but He did. Right?

And also, a lesson from observation and culture: our culture really doesn't ascribe a lot of worth to the name. And if you have meaning that is attached to your name, and it was intentional by your parents, praise the Lord — that's great. And that wasn't the case in Old Testament times. In Old Testament times it's very specific and every name had meaning. And so God reveals who He is by His names that He has revealed in the Old Testament. It's like personal identification. Now we have personal identification cards — these plastic cards that we carry around with our picture on them — that helps to describe what we look like, and we have a number that is assigned to us, and we have our first and middle and last name, along with our address and date of birth, and a statement allowing whether or not someone else can have your organs if you die, and whether you drive safely or not, and what kind of vehicle you can drive — a class C or D or whatnot — and how many restrictions you have depending on your DUIs. Don't raise your hand if you have that. And all of this is connected to your civil authorities, and they can see everything about your record. So there's no driver's licenses in the Old Testament, but there is a name that reveals more than what I've just talked about.

And then God — our Father — has revealed Himself as Father. His name is above every name. His name is Christ Jesus. And this is revelatory as to how we live and breathe and act. By knowing that God ascribes to Himself the term "Father," you have a Father. Have you been living as if you do not have a provider? Have you been living in a state of mind or a condition of a heart as if God is not your Father, as a nurturer, as a protector?

Elohim means "strong and mighty." Jehovah means "self-existent one, covenant-keeping God." Adonai means "sovereign master." The names of God in the Bible seem to be endless, and you could study for years on just who God is. I'm reminded that R.C. Sproul said that we just simply don't know who God is — that's the primary problem with Christians today.

Some of the specific names that God ascribes to Himself — you don't have to look up and do any original word work to find out their meanings. Names like "the Rock," "the Almighty," "the Most High," "a jealous God," "an all-powerful God," and especially "Father." The names of God are endless. And I don't mean to belabor this subject, but I do mean to belabor the fact that: do we live outside of our one God who wants us to know Him as Father?

And so, by way of take-home truths, I have three short take-home truths for you. God as Father means, number one: one God created everything. In verse 6, one God created everything. He says He's the Father of all. He's the creator of all. He designed it all. All of this works because God designed it. Have you ever designed something that didn't work? God hasn't. God designed this thing, and man — it's the world still spinning according to how He said it, and everything is still working accordingly. He's the Father of all.

So number one: one God created everything. In Genesis chapter 1 we see that this one God created everything that you see and everything that you enjoy — visible and invisible.

And number two: one God — only one God — can save you. As in this list of beliefs, you see one calling. And as He calls His sheep to come to Him, the Bible says in John chapter 10, verses 27–28, that "My sheep hear My voice, and they come to Me." And so for those who are called by God — if you hear your Father's voice, the writer of Hebrews says, calling — come to Christ. Repent of your sin and place your faith and trust in Him. He will save you. He will place all of the due punishment on your record on the cross. In fact, in God's perspective, it's already been paid for. That's why this gift of salvation is free to you who will come and believe. And so this one God — He is the one who has called you, and He can save.

And number three: what does it mean — He's a Father? He's one God. He's over all. One God over all. He is the Father of all things. He is the Father of this entire world, this entire universe. Every person has been created. He is the Father of all. And so many are living outside of His control. And so many even inside the church are living outside of God as Father, as controller, as guide. So many have crept into the church and perverted the means of glorifying God to a self-serving way. So many today have hijacked local churches. Wolves have crept in and stolen that which is sacred, and perverted that which we do and give for. And I want you to hear me deeply, and that I have no way of apologizing for what the lifestyle church has done by reducing our God to a fad. God is a Father. He's not a fad. He's not something that we want to be cool because we wear His gear. He's not something that we can identify with by ways of gaining some type of influence in our community. He's not a brand, and we don't sell Him for profit. We don't preach for profit. We don't wear clothing and try and sell clothing with God stuff on it for profit. We don't profit from the name of God. We serve God. And so here my non-apology for pseudo-Christianity: we will not appeal, as a church, to carnality, to the fleshly desires of this world, and usurp God as Father. We're not going to pervert things. We're going to stick with Him as our nurturer, as our rule-maker, as our guide.

So here my non-apology to the world of entertainment and music out there: we will not bring the latest, highly trending movies and songs into church and try and sanctify them and sing them on Sunday morning. We're not going to do that. And you're in agreement with that — I'm so happy with that. We're in a church who serves the true God, the one God, not a pseudo-God. God is God, and He truly is enough. God is sufficient. His scriptures are sufficient. Everything about God is more than enough. We're not going to abandon the old gospel story for personal stories. We're not going to listen to what some man has to say about himself.

We will not abandon scriptural convictions for cultural trends. There's only one God. And we recognize Satan — he wants to delude everything in our lives. He wants to reduce God in our minds. He wants to remove God from our minds and our hearts, and distract us from our fidelity in Christ. Satan wants to distract you — which, in Deuteronomy terms, is known as hating God. Did you know that if you're distracted from God, the book of Deuteronomy says that God feels like you hate Him, because He's a jealous God? We recognize that Satan's scheme is gradual encroachment, not only in your life but in the church as well. And so we need our protective Father — we need Him. And Satan — he wants to not only scheme us, but his schemes get bigger and better as they go. And we recognize Satan's schemes of focusing on methods rather than men. Did you know that men are God's method? Men — sanctifying, saving, and sanctifying men. People are God's method, not a program, not a method, not a one-two-three packaged and published and sold program.

If we do what we do underneath God our Father, then it's real and not religious. It's not punching a clock. It's not saying "I went to church." It's not saying "I served you, Lord." It's not saying these things. It is real evangelism, real discipleship, real worship. It's real. And so we recognize all of these things. And James 4:7 says to "resist the devil and he will flee from you." And as James was speaking to converted Christians in Jerusalem, I speak to you — in whom I believe you have truly repented of your sin and desire Christ and serve Him — that you too would resist the evil one. And the Bible's promise is that he will flee from you.

It doesn't say he'll stay away from you. He'll circle back around and try and get at you again, won't he? But you resist him and he'll flee from you as a Christian.

And we're going to get into, in chapter 6, spiritual warfare here to come. And I want you to know it's pretty easy for a Christian in spiritual warfare — it's not that difficult. It's pretty easy to resist the devil; he will flee from you. James 4:7. 2 Timothy 2:22 says "flee from your youthful lusts," right? Fast and pray — we have these basic things that we can do to resist Satan. And we have confidence that our Father will build His church. In Matthew chapter 16 He says, "I will build My church." So therefore our job is just to be obedient and confident in Christ.

If you're confident in the sufficiency of our Father's holy word, then you'll be in it, and you'll figure out how to conform to it, and you'll find out how to serve Him through His means, and do these things where we can glorify the Lord.

I hope today that you've been encouraged through this one God — whom I believe Paul would have had in his heart and mind by projecting to the Ephesian congregation this one God who is Father of all and is in all — has been encouraging to you, to help you walk closer with God, to want to know Him more. Because He has revealed Himself so graciously to you. Who of you would slam the door on a wonderful — who of you would have someone perfect and kind come into your life and you would cancel them? Who of you would ignore God the Father? I hope that's not the case for you in your life, that you do not remain agnostic or aloof from such a gracious and wonderful God, who would send His Son to die in your place. He loved you so much that He would do that. Who of us would do that? Probably none of us. I don't understand the love of God, and neither do you — when it comes to sacrificing your own child, your only begotten child, for those who would believe.

Let's pray together. Lord, thank You for the word of God that nourishes, nourishes our soul. And as we continue to learn more about Your word, learn more about You, and as You draw us closer to You, our hearts are overwhelmed with such benevolent love that You have for us. Why would You love us? We see us for who we truly are — we are truly unlovable ones. When we see who we are in light of Your holy, spotless word, high standard that it is, we see how much we have fallen, how sinful we are, Lord. For the unregenerate person who thinks that they're still good, for the one who has not been converted or saved, who thinks that they are perhaps worthy of being saved because they do a lot of good things — for You, show them Your ways. Show them, dear Jesus. Reveal to them exactly how far away from being good they are, and that You have said there's none good except for You, Father, who was good in heaven.

I pray, Father, that You would provide repentance for those who have not been saved. Allow them to be drawn closer unto You. And as You, dear Jesus, reveal Yourself more and more and more, like a light getting brighter and brighter and brighter, to the saved — and You are sanctifying them through Your light, through Your revelation, and through the understanding and comprehending of Your word — Lord, that You would provide for us a life that is not just abundant, dear Jesus, but one that gets better and better as we go with You. Help us to view our trials of this world as such that You are using to sanctify us, and You're using for a means, Lord, that is Your end.

God, I'm so humbled to have heard of Tori's testimony this morning and how You used suffering in her husband's life to bring her to Christ. After 30 years of her thinking that she was saved, she recognized, Lord, through the hardship in her life, the self-examination that hardship prompted her to do, self-examination to where she was able to repent and believe, and she recognized, Lord, it was there where she first believed.

And Father, for those who have never been saved here, and they haven't had that moment in time where You've saved their soul — help them to recognize that they've participated by sinful acts in a way that has caused You to have to put Your Son on the cross and place Your wrath against sin on Him, and that He paid it in its fullness. He took it all on and it's completely paid for. Why then should we reject such a wonderful gift and try and pay for our own sin in a place called hell for eternity, just filled with suffering? Why would we do that, Lord? Nobody should.

And I pray, Lord, You would still draw and call many people into salvation through the preaching and teaching of Your word here at Beulah Baptist Church. And we love You for it. We give You due praise and honor and glory. In Christ's name we pray. Amen.