SEVEN FOUNDATIONAL PILLARS OF THE CHRISTIAN FAITH
EPHESIANS 4:1-6
This is remake of a portion of the sermon preached at Dorn Ridge, May 18 and 25, 2014 titled: “Building Up and Restoring the Body of Christ”
INTRODUCTION;
1.) A traditional motto in our churches has been “In essentials unity; in opinions liberty; in all things love.”
2.) This morning’s message will deal with part of that phrase: “In essentials unity.”
A.) This portion of Scripture from Ephesians deals with what I would term as seven essential pillars of the Christian faith which the Word of God shows as essentials of our faith.
I. THERE IS ONE BODY.
1.) Christ desired the church to be one body.
A.) Wherever Christians are gathered in this world we are to be one body -- the body of Christ.
B.) Shortly before Jesus offered himself as a sacrifice, he prayed for the church that it would be one.
ba.) John 17:20-23
C.) The prayer of Jesus Christ was that the church would be one united together just as the God-head is united together.
2.) The goal of the Restoration Movement has always been to unite Christianity on the basis of the Inspired Word of God.
A.) Eph. 4:2
B.) The only way this unity could ever be accomplished is for all Christiandem to get back to the inspired Word of God, and that lone as the sole authority for the Church.
C.) The Reason the Churches of Christ/Christian Churches do not have a statement of faith like most churches have is because we envision unity in the church which Jesus prayed would happen.
ca.) This can only happen when the inspired Word of God is the sole authority for the Church.
cb.) When churches develop statements of faith there is always the danger of going with the prejudices of man.
ccb.)It is when a church uses the Word of God only, that God himself can speak through Scripture to hearts willing to read and study the Word.
D.) We use a Bible name on the church to promote and encourage the uniting and restoring the Church of Jesus Christ.
da.) The value of such a name is that it is a name by which all who bear the name of Christ can be identified without further dividing the body of Christ.
db.) Jesus strongly prayed for the unity of the church.
dba.) Two or three times in the verses I just read from John 17, Jesus expressed that His reason for this prayer of unity is that the world would know that God had sent Christ.
dc.) Can you imagine the kind of power and testimony the church would have if the world had one church across this world untied together on Scripture going out into this world.
dca.) How much more powerful and believable would the message of Christ be in this world from a united Church.
dcb.) When the church of Jesus Christ is divided into hundreds of denominations in competition with each other, and each of those further divided as well, how could the world ever begin to take the church or Jesus Christ seriously.
.01) Is it any wonder that the testimony of Jesus Christ is so weak in this present world?
II. THERE IS ONE SPIRIT.
1.) Another foundation pillar of the church is that there is one Spirit, the Holy Spirit of God.
A.) 1 Cor. 2:10
B.) Eph. 4:30
2.) Scripture also refers to the Holy Spirit as the Spirit of Jesus Christ.
A.) Acts 16:7
B.) Phil. 1:19
C.) It does not bother me that in some Scriptures, the Holy Spirit is called the Spirit of God, and in other passages He is referred to as the Spirit of Jesus.
ca.) Some people in the church will be get very defensive on which is the proper designation of the Holy Spirit.
caa.) Some Christians get pretty upset if you refer to the Holy Spirit as anything but the Spirit of God.
cab.) There are Christians who are used to the King James Bible who insist that the proper name is to be the Holy Ghost.
cac.) Likewise there are some in the charismatic circles that consider Jesus to be the name of God, and that the Holy Spirit must be referred to as the Spirit of Jesus Christ.
cad.) From the Scriptures we see that every one of these titles is Biblical, and any or all of them are equally correct.
3.) Another reason I have no trouble with these titles is that God is one.
A.) Rather we look at God as the Father, The Son, or the Holy Spirit, God is still one person though revealed in three ways.
aa.) From the earliest of times when Jews would meet together in the synagogues, or temple part of the worship service always read or recited of what was called the Shema.”
(www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/539803/Shema)
ab.) The term “Shema” is a Hebrew word we would translate into English as “Hear”
ac.) That was the first word of a statement of faith the Jewish people would recite as a statement of their faith in one God.
aca.) Deuteronomy 6:4-9
acb.) We may not quote that passage of Scripture when we come together in worship, but like the Jewish people, we too share a faith in one God.
III. THERE IS ONE HOPE.
1.) In both the Old and New Testament Scriptures true hope is something that is seen in and through an intimate relationship with God.
A.) It comes from the presence and grace of God.
aa.) Ps. 78:6-7
B.) It is revealed as we read and study the Word of God.
ba.) Psalms 119:42-44; 73-75, 113-114
C.) There is and always has been only one hope, and that hope is fulfilled in Jesus Christ.
ca.) Matthew 12:20-22
cb.) This is a Messianic Prophecy quoted from Isaiah 42:1-4.
cc.) It is a prophecy that was a direct reference to Jesus Christ.
cd.) Romans 5:1-4
D.) Christians will experience the completion of that one hope when our spirits will be reuinited with new and glorious bodies after our own resurrections from the dead.
da.) Acts 24:14-16
IV. THERE IS ONE LORD.
1.) If we have come to a saving knowledge of Jesus Christ, then we have one Lord, Jesus Christ.
A.) Ultimately it is God himself who is described as being Lord, but Scripture tells us that until the second coming of Jesus Christ when he shall himself turn all back to God the Father, that in this earth Jesus has been given all authority, and He himself serves under the authority of God as Lord.
B.) In fact Scripture makes it clear when the trumpet of God shall sound that Jesus will return as “King of Kings, and Lord of Lords.”
ba.) Revelation 19:15-16
V. THERE IS ONE FAITH.
1.) Today so many times we will hear statements to the effect it doesn’t matter which religion you follow that they all will take you to God.
A.) If that is true then the sacrifice of Jesus Christ, and the teachings of the Word of God mean very little if one way is as good as another.
ab.) This idea is very common, and every one of us have heard it.
ac.) It certainly sounds good, and it is very popular. It is something we would even like to believe.
aca.) Yet as nice as it sounds, it is nothing more than a bold-faced lie of Satan to deceive the world into thinking they are fine while in fact leading them to an eternity in hell.
acb.) Jesus answered, “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.” (John 14:6 NIV)
ad.) Shortly after church was established Peter stood up and declared: “Salvation is found in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given to mankind by which we must be saved.”(Acts 4:12).
ada.) The implication of these and other such statements make it very clear that the only faith that will bring man salvation is a saving obedient faith in Jesus Christ.
adb.) That means that Islam, Buddhism, Hinduism, the folk religions, ancestor worship, and all other world religions are false.
adc.) It means that Mormonism, The Watch tower society, Transcendental meditation, Hara Krishna, and the hundreds and thousands of other world religions are false.
.01) God’s Word makes it perfectly clear that anything or anyone other than Jesus Christ is not going to lead one to everlasting life, but will lead them in ways that are separate from God both in this life, and in eternity.
VI. THERE IS ONE BAPTISM.
1.) It is clear from the inspired Word of God there is but one baptism.
A.) Christianity is greatly divided on the mode of baptism, the purpose, of baptism, who it is for, and why it is to be carried out.
2.) The Word of God is clear that baptism is without exception by total immersion of one who is capable of putting his faith in Jesus Christ, repenting of his sinfulness, and confessing Jesus Christ as Lord and Saviour.
A.) The Bible also makes it very clear that the purpose of baptism is two-fold:
aa.) It is the point we are obedient to the faith and receive salvation.
ab.) It is also the point when God places His abiding presence in a Christian through the person of the Holy Spirit.
aba.) Acts 2:38
B.) Any deviance from the above is a change that has come into the church by man, and not by the Inspired Word of God.
C.) Because of time, I am not going into the changes in Baptism from the teachings in the Word of God to what has taken place in Christianity today, but will have a sermon specifically on this very subject in a few weeks’ time.
VII. THERE IS ONE GOD AND FATHER OF ALL.
1.) The final pillar to look at is that of One God and Father of all.
A.) Not going to say much more on this, as we had already covered this quite a bit under the section on the Holy spirit earlier.
B.) But Judaism and Christianity have always differed from all other religions with the recognition and proclamation that there is only one God.
ba.) Many world religions will allow for other views, and other gods.
bb.) The Christian faith believes there is only one God, and one alone.
bc.) In the ancient Roman Empire this was a matter that put the Christians in great peril and under great persecutions.
bca.) Many times the Roman Empire would allow you to be a Christian if you would first bow down and acknowledge the Roman Emperor as a god.
bcb.) Christians often would lose their lives because they would not acknowledge any God but the One God who has created all things and is over all things.
CONCLUSION:
1.) As I close today, there are aspects of the Christian faith in which we can all have our opinions, and your opinion is every bit as good as mine.
2.) The Bible also lists some areas where there can be no divergence from that in the inspired Word of God.
3.) Today we have looked at one such portion of Scripture that the Apostle Paul under the direction of the Holy Spirit gave on essentials of the faith.
4.) May we from the Word of God place priority on essentials of the faith: “There is one body and one Spirit, just as you were called to one hope when you were called; 5 one Lord, one faith, one baptism; 6 one God and Father of all, who is over all and through all and in all.”
