One God
A Sermon on Ephesians 4:6
Originally preached July 14, 1957
Scripture
6One God and Father of all, who is above all, and through all, and in you all.
Sermon Description
God is Lord of all, but how does this bring His church to unity? In this sermon on Ephesians 4:6 titled “One God,” Dr. Martyn Lloyd-Jones teaches how these two things interact with each other. As Paul reminds in Ephesians 4:6, there is one God— not everyone recognizes that, and this alone brings disunity of doctrine. Additionally, God is one. Dr. Lloyd-Jones also reminds that the end of one’s salvation is to bring them to God but it does not stop at Jesus. Through Jesus, His people have access to God. What does it mean when Paul writes that God is the “father of all”? Many understand this to support a universal kinship of all people and a universal fatherhood of God, but Dr. Lloyd-Jones explains that Paul means God is the Father of all who believe in Him. Finally, as Paul says, God is through all — He is sovereign over everything, including all the life of the church. Dr. Lloyd-Jones continues, “We can’t contemplate all this as a church without being one.” Possessing a correct understanding of God and how He relates to His followers will breed unity because the end of all doctrine is to lead to the worship and knowledge of God.
Sermon Breakdown
- The apostle Paul is appealing to Christians to maintain unity. He gives seven reasons for unity from Ephesians 4:4-6.
- The first three reasons relate to the Holy Spirit: one body, one Spirit, one hope.
- The second three reasons relate to Jesus Christ: one Lord, one faith, one baptism.
- The final reason is one God and Father of all, who is over all and through all and in all. This is the climax of the seven reasons.
- Paul frequently builds up to God the Father as the climax in his writing. We must not stop at the Spirit or Son but continue to the Father.
- The end and purpose of salvation is to bring us to God the Father. Sin separated us from God; salvation reconciles us.
- We all come together to the same God. We are all going to meet the same God.
- There is only one God. God is one, yet three persons: the Trinity. The three persons are one God. This reinforces unity.
- We all worship the same God. If we realized God's presence, divisions would disappear.
- Paul means God is the Father of all Christians, not all people. God is only the Father of believers.
- The purpose of salvation is to bring us to God. We pray to God the Father, through Jesus Christ.
- We are all children of the same Father, part of the same family and household. This demands unity.
- God the Father is above all: He is the originator and source of the church. It was His will and purpose.
- God the Father is through all: He energizes and sustains the whole life of the church through His providence.
- God the Father is in you all: Like the Son and Spirit, the Father dwells in us. The church is the dwelling place of God.
Sermon Q&A
Questions and Answers from Dr. Martyn Lloyd-Jones' Sermon on Ephesians 4:6
What does Dr. Martyn Lloyd-Jones identify as the climax of the unity principles in Ephesians 4:4-6?
According to Dr. Lloyd-Jones, the climax of the unity principles is "one God and Father of all, who is above all, and through all, and in you all." He states that the apostle "rises to the climax, to the highest and the greatest height of all, God the eternal Father." This completes the pattern where Paul groups principles around the Holy Spirit (one body, one Spirit, one hope), the Son (one Lord, one faith, one baptism), and concludes with God the Father.
How does Dr. Lloyd-Jones explain the doctrine of the Trinity in relation to our salvation?
Dr. Lloyd-Jones explains that each person of the Trinity is involved in our salvation: "Each person in the Trinity is concerned about us and about our salvation. God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit." He notes that "before time, in that eternal council between Father, Son and Holy Spirit, this whole matter was planned and purposed, and in the fullness of time it was put into operation." He emphasizes that we must not stop at the Son or the Spirit, but recognize that the church is "the Church of God."
What is the true purpose of salvation according to this sermon?
Dr. Lloyd-Jones states emphatically that "the end and object of salvation is to bring us to God." He explains: "You remember how the apostle Peter puts that in his first epistle? He says that Christ died for us, that he might bring us to God." He points out that while salvation brings happiness and help, "if I don't realize that the chief end of my salvation is to reconcile me to God and to bring me to God and to enable me to enter into the presence of God, I haven't understood it."
Does Dr. Lloyd-Jones believe in the universal fatherhood of God? Why or why not?
No, Dr. Lloyd-Jones explicitly rejects the universal fatherhood of God. When addressing the phrase "one God and Father of all," he clarifies that the apostle is writing about the church, not the world. He says: "The all covers all Christians and nobody else." He cites Jesus' words to some: "You are of your father the devil," and concludes, "God is not the father of all men." He acknowledges "a kind of general fatherhood" in the sense that God created all, but the fatherhood Paul speaks of is "specifically limiting it... to those who are in Christ and in the church."
What three aspects of God the Father does Dr. Lloyd-Jones identify in the phrase "who is above all and through all and in you all"?
Dr. Lloyd-Jones identifies three aspects of God the Father: 1. "Above all" - God is the originator and designer of salvation and the church: "it is his grand purpose. It was his design." 2. "Through all" - God's providence and energy at work in the church: "it is God who pervades the whole life of the church and ultimately sustains it." 3. "In you all" - God's indwelling presence in believers: "God the Father, like God the Son and God the Holy Spirit, is in us."
How does understanding these truths about God contribute to Christian unity?
Dr. Lloyd-Jones argues that truly understanding these truths would make unity "quite inevitable and unavoidable." He states: "There'll be no need to argue about it. There'll be no need to set up vast organizations in order to try to produce it. The way to get unity is to preach the gospel." He explains that when we realize we all worship the same God, are going to the same God, and are children of the same Father, unity naturally follows: "If we but realize what is the purpose of God the Father who is above all, and if you realize that his purpose is to reunite, to head up again in one that which has been scattered and divided by sin, why, disunity and schism will be utterly impossible."
What is Dr. Lloyd-Jones' critique of how many Christians approach their spiritual problems?
Dr. Lloyd-Jones observes: "Most people who are in trouble in the Christian life, I find more and more are in trouble because they're too subjective, because they spend too much of their time looking at themselves and feeling their own spiritual pulse, as it were. The cure to most of the ills and diseases of the soul is to look at the grand objective truth, the glory of our redemption and of our salvation." He suggests that our failure to realize truths like God being our Father "is responsible for most of our troubles and most of our problems."
How does Dr. Lloyd-Jones describe the relationship between doctrine and worship?
At the conclusion of his sermon, Dr. Lloyd-Jones states: "The end of all doctrine is to lead to the knowledge of God and the worship of God. And your knowledge is a mockery if it doesn't lead to that." He warns that if our doctrinal knowledge doesn't produce humility, love, and concern for unity, it becomes "an intellectual knowledge that is barren and may indeed be even of the devil." True doctrine should lead to worship and a life lived for God's glory.
The Book of Ephesians
Dr. Martyn Lloyd-Jones
Dr. Martyn Lloyd-Jones (1899-1981) was a Welsh evangelical minister who preached and taught in the Reformed tradition. His principal ministry was at Westminster Chapel, in central London, from 1939-1968, where he delivered multi-year expositions on books of the bible such as Romans, Ephesians and the Gospel of John. In addition to the MLJ Trust’s collection of 1,600 of these sermons in audio format, most of these great sermon series are available in book form (including a 14 volume collection of the Romans sermons), as are other series such as "Spiritual Depression", "Studies in the Sermon on the Mount" and "Great Biblical Doctrines". He is considered by many evangelical leaders today to be an authority on biblical truth and the sufficiency of Scripture.