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Welcome back to The Final Word.
As you know we are in a study of the Holy Spirit.
We have been studying for quite some time now,
on this very interesting and often misunderstood subject.
Today, our speaker is Curtis Cates
and his topic is the Unity of the Holy Spirit.
He is going to finish the lesson that
he started last time for us.
Last time Brother Cates encouraged us to walk worthily.
He showed us that through God's grace it is possible
to walk in a worthy manner.
Walking worthily involves a humble attitude,
and our not being filled with pride.
We also learned that we need to be longsuffering
with each other.
Brother Cates showed us that Jesus does not like division.
John 17:20-23, we read, "Neither pray I for these alone,
"but for them also which shall believe on me
"through their word:
"That they all may be one; as thou, Father, art in me,
"and I in thee, that they also may be one in us:
"that the world may believe that thou hast sent me.
"And the glory which thou gavest me I have given them;
"that they may be one, even as we are one, I in them,
"and thou in me, that they may be made perfect in one;
"and that the world may know that thou hast sent me,
and hast loved them, as thou hast loved me."
Yet, we know today,
that Denominationalism causes division.
We as followers of Christ must live according to the truth
individually and collectively.
He showed us that when we obey the truth we are joined
with Jesus, with God, the Holy Spirit and with our brethren.
So let us continue our study with Brother Cates
and the unity of the Spirit.
We want to talk concerning these seven ones and what
each one of them, what area of unity is noticed in each one.
I won't be able to deal with all of these Scriptures.
I wish I could.
First, he talks about the one God.
In I Corinthians 8:6, we find that there are many lords,
many gods in this world, small "g," there are many gods.
Those things, those persons, whom people put first.
There are lords many and gods many,
but there is only one true and living God
and there's just one Lord.
So there is only one Lord, there is only one God
who made the heaven and the earth.
In Deuteronomy 6:4, "Jehovah our God is one Jehovah, one Lord.
"Therefore, thou shalt love him with all thy heart,
mind, soul and strength."
God will not accept divided allegiance.
We can't love him on the level that we love our family.
And boy, do I love my family!
We can't love him on the level
that we love our physical possessions.
I tell you, he's going to be first.
In Ex. 20,
we find "Thou shall have no other gods before me."
God is a jealous God.
And Christ said, "If you love father, mother, brother, sister,
"husband, wife, more than me,
you're not fit to be my disciple."
We love God supremely and then that shows us
how to love our mates and love our children
and love our families, our mothers and dads,
and our neighbors as ourselves.
But we have to love the Lord supremely.
He will not accept second place. He will not.
"Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart,
soul, mind and strength."
Now what does that mean? That means unity of worship.
We heard a tremendous sermon this morning on worship.
I benefitted from it.
John 4:23, 24, we find that God seeketh such to worship him,
for "God is a spirit and they that worship Him
must worship Him in spirit and in truth."
In Matthew 4:10, we find that Christ was tempted.
He said, "Thou shalt worship the Lord thy God
and him only shalt thou serve."
Do we want to be united in the Spirit?
We're going to have to honor and love supremely our one God.
And we will worship Him and that will bring about unity.
But in the second place, there is one Lord.
As we said in I Corinthians 8, there are many lords (small "l")
people who lord it over others.
But there is only one living Lord,
just like there is only one living God, the Father,
and I'll tell you, that Lord has to be honored.
And when we honor our Lord, then that brings unity of authority.
Who's the authority in religion?
In Matthew 28:18, Christ said, "All authority has been given
"unto me in heaven and on earth.
Go ye therefore and teach all nations."
In Matthew 17:5 when Christ is on the Mount of Transfiguration,
do you know what Peter suggested when Moses and Elijah appeared?
He said, "Let's build three tents here.
"Three places of worship and honor. Let's build
one for Moses and one for Elijah and one for Christ."
Let me tell you something,
the Lord quickly put the quietus on that.
There was a voice out of heaven, that said,
"This is my beloved son, in whom I am well pleased.
Hear ye him."
Don't hear the Law of Moses of the Old Testament,
don't hear the prophets in the Old Testament.
You listen to Jesus Christ and you follow his will.
You follow the apostles' doctrine.
And then in Hebrews 1:1, "God in time past spake through Moses
and the prophets" and so forth.
"But now he has spoken to us through His son,
by whom he has built all things," and so forth.
Acts 3:22, 23 when Peter and John
are preaching in the temple.
They said, "Moses said, A prophet like unto me
shall God raise up. Him shall ye hear in all things."
You don't think that brings unity,
when you have the unity of the authority of Jesus Christ?
One Lord. One ruler. One king. Yes sir. But then one Spirit.
In John 16:13 and John 14:26, we find that Christ talking
to the apostles said that he would pray the Father
he send the Holy Spirit who shall guide you into all truth.
Revelation 2:7, "He that hath an ear,
let him hear what the Spirit says unto the churches."
In I John 5:7, we're to be lead by the Spirit.
Now what does that mean? That means unity of life.
How are you living? How am I living?
Do we want unity among God's people?
Do we want unity in following Jesus Christ?
Then we're going to have to have unity in life.
We're going to have to say no to the world and we're going
to have to obey Jesus Christ and walk in the law of the Spirit.
And when we do that, what will it bring?
It'll bring unity of life.
In Romans 8:1,2, "there is now no condemnation to them
"that walk after the Spirit and not after the flesh.
"The law of the Spirit of life hath made me free
from the law of sin and death."
We're to walk after the Spirit, we're not to walk
after the flesh (Romans 8:9-11).
In John 6:63, Christ said, "The words of the Spirit,
they are spirit and they are life."
And so notice, that the one Spirit brings unity of life.
And what does that mean?
That means we have spiritual life in Christ,
in walking after the will of Jesus Christ.
But then, there's one faith.
In Jude 3, Jude was going to write about
the common salvation, but he said, "It's needful for me
to write that you earnestly contend for the faith."
The system of faith. "Which was once for all
(the American Standard says) delivered unto the world."
Romans 1:16, why is that?
"I'm not ashamed of the gospel of Christ,
"for it is the power of God unto salvation,
"to everyone who believeth, to the Jew first
and also to the Greek."
One faith.
In Galatians 1:8, 9, Paul said, "Though I,
"or an angel from heaven, preach any other gospel than that
which you have received, let him be accursed."
And so we're to walk in the faith of the word of God.
And how does that come? How does faith come?
Romans 10:17, "So then faith cometh by hearing,
and hearing by the word of God."
But what does that mean?
Well, when we have the one faith, we have one message.
Everybody preaches the same thing, right?
In I Timothy 4:11, "If any man speak,
let him speak as the oracles of God."
II John 9-11, "He that transgresses and abideth not
"in the doctrine of Christ, hath not God,
"but he that abideth in the doctrine of Christ
"hath both the Father and the Son.
"If any man come unto you and bring not this doctrine,
"receive him not in your house, neither bid him Godspeed,
for he that bideth him Godspeed is partaker of his evil deeds."
In fact, in I John 4:1, John said, "My little children,
"try the spirits whether they be of God,
because many false prophets have gone out into the world."
Oh, we need to be like the Bereans.
You know what they did?
They searched the scriptures daily.
The Greek says, "they pulverized the scriptures."
Like you would take a mortar and pestle,
like the pharmacists used to do and grind up the medicines
into a powder and so forth and mix them up.
You pulverize the Scriptures, so that you can see whether or not
the things being taught you are the word of God.
We've already noticed I Corinthians 1:10,
but we're to speak the same thing.
We're to have the same man, that there be no division among us.
Notice these points of unity here, brethren.
But then in addition to that, one baptism.
Matthew 28:19, "Go ye therefore and teach all nations,
"baptizing them into the name of the Father and the Son
and the Holy Spirit."
Romans 6:3, 4, "Know ye not that as many of us
as were baptized in Jesus Christ were baptized into his death."
That's where the blood was shed, John 19:34.
That's where we contact the blood,
that's where we're forgiven.
And then we rise to walk in newness of life.
Colossians 2:12, "Buried with him in baptism,
"wherein also we're risen with him,
"through faith in the operation of God
that takes away their sin."
All right, one baptism. But what does this indicate?
Unity of practice.
In Acts 2:38, in the first gospel sermon,
Peter, when they said, "Men and brethren (fellow Jews),
what shall we do?" Peter answered and said,
"Repent and be baptized, every one of you."
Oh, that's unity, isn't it?
"For the remission of your sins and ye shall receive
the gift of the Holy Spirit."
Notice unity of practice.
In Acts 8:36, when they came to a certain water,
Philip had been teaching the eunuch, the eunuch said,
"Here is water, what doth hinder me to be baptized?"
Imagine a man begging to be baptized
for the remission of sins.
But that's what Philip had preached.
He said, "If thou believest with all thy heart, thou mayest."
And that belonged in the Bible.
He said, "I believe that Jesus Christ is the Son of God."
He commanded the chariot to stand still,
and they both went down into the water,
both Philip and the eunuch, and he baptized him.
And the eunuch went on his way rejoicing.
Friends, one baptism.
Unity of practice.
But then, in addition to that, one body.
In I Corinthians 12:13, "For by one Spirit are we all baptized
"into one body, whether Jew or Greek, whether bond or free,
and have all been made to drink of one Spirit."
Notice unity there.
And then in Romans 12:4,5, "Just as the body has many members,
so the church of Christ has many members, but one body."
My body has many members, but it's just one body.
And my members of my body cooperate, work together,
to enable me to do things and to survive.
And that's what we have to do in the body of Christ,
if we're going to have the unity of the Spirit,
the unity of organization.
In Colossians 1:18, Christ is the head of the body,
the church.
Do you know what controls my body?
My head.
And the members of my body cooperate
in obeying what the head says.
In Ephesians 1:22, 23, "Christ has been highly exalted,
"he is the head over the body, the church,
"the firstborn from the dead, that in all things
he might have the preeminence."
Unity of organization.
But then, number seven, one hope.
Oh, the apostle Paul, in Hebrews 6, wrote about hope.
That hope is anchored, do you know where hope is anchored?
Hope is an anchor for the soul. You know where that anchor is?
Paul says, in Hebrews 6, that the anchor of hope
is anchored beyond the veil.
It is anchored at the mercy seat of God in heaven.
And we hold onto that hope, and if we keep pulling and pulling
and holding on to that hope, you know where we're going?
We're going to heaven.
I love to fish. I don't get to do enough of it.
I love to fish.
I learned a long time ago, that wherever you put that anchor,
that if you pull that rope - I don't care
how far out you are - if you keep pulling
the rope to that anchor, you're going to be pulled,
that boat is, to where that anchor is.
Our anchor, hope, is beyond the veil.
Titus 1 says that we desire to go to heaven,
and God has been working to fulfill that hope and enable us
to have hope since before the foundations of the world.
Titus 1:2 and I John 2:25 talk about the hope.
I wonder if we have hope.
It's so important to have hope.
When the doctor diagnosed me with cancer,
when the test came back, he said, "Sir, you have cancer."
My question was, "Doctor, is there any hope?"
That's one of the inate, basic desires of human beings.
A sense of belonging, a sense of acceptance,
a sense of protection, a sense of hope.
Is there hope?
Friend, I want to ask you, "Is there hope in your life?"
Do you desire to go to heaven?
Do you know what hope is?
It has two elements - desire and expectation.
If you were to die now, would you expect to go to heaven?
Do you desire it?
Those two things bring that hope.
They are hope.
If you aren't a child of God this afternoon,
I plead with you to hear the word of God.
That's what unites.
That's what unites us with God, Christ and the Holy Spirit
and that's what unites us with everybody else
who has been reunited with God, Christ and the Holy Spirit.
Do you believe in Christ? Do you believe in his word?
Are you willing to repent of sins in your life?
Are you willing to confess that Christ is the Son of God,
who died for you that you might live?
Are you willing to be baptized in water
to take those sins away?
Unity of practice.
"Arise and be baptized and wash away your sins,
calling on the name of the Lord" Acts 22:16.
And then, as children of God, do we have that hope?
Do we desire to go to heaven more than anything else
in this world? Do we expect it?
If you need to reform your life and come back home,
why don't you bring yourself into such a situation
that you can not only desire
to go to heaven, but also expect to?
Thank you, Brother Cates for that lesson
on the Unity of the Holy Spirit.
In this lesson, Brother Cates showed us the different "Ones"
that help to cause unity.
The first "One" that we discussed was one God
causing unity in worship.
People all over this world worship different gods.
They want us to be united in the idea
that we can just worship whatever god we want.
But Jesus says in Matthew 4:10 "Then saith Jesus unto him,
"Get thee hence, Satan: for it is written,
"Thou shalt worship the Lord thy God,
and him only shalt thou serve."
The second "one" that we discussed was the One Lord
and the unity in authority.
The one Lord is the very basis for our unity.
All things are done by him.
He has authority over all things.
In I Corinthians 8:5-6 we read, "For though there be that
"are called gods, whether in heaven or in earth,
"(as there be gods many, and lords many,)
"But to us there is but one God,
"the Father, of whom are all things, and we in him;
"and one Lord Jesus Christ, by whom are all things,
and we by him."
We are to hear him according to Hebrews 1
"God, who at sundry times and in divers manners
"spake in time past unto the fathers by the prophets,
"hath in these last days spoken unto us by his Son,
"whom he hath appointed heir of all things,
by whom also he made the worlds."
The third "one" discussed
was the Spirit providing unity of life.
The Spirit of truth guided the Apostles into all truth,
and today He still provides unity in the same way,
by the word of those inspired men.
John 16:13 "Howbeit when he, the Spirit of truth, is come,
"he will guide you into all truth: for he shall not speak
"of himself; but whatsoever he shall hear,
that shall he speak: and he will shew you things to come."
And then the fourth "one" discussed was faith
which gives unity of message.
Those of like precious faith understand that when we look
at the Word of God, and we allow it to be our guide,
it will produce the same faith that they had long ago
in the first century.
Jude 1:3 says, "Beloved, when I gave all diligence
"to write unto you of the common salvation,
"it was needful for me to write unto you,
"and exhort you that ye should earnestly contend for the faith
which was once delivered unto the saints."
We remember the Bereans studied the scriptures
so that they could learn the truth.
The fifth "one", baptism, gives unity in practice.
When we are baptized into Christ,
we are all proclaiming by our actions that
we are all of the same faith.
We are united in our belief in the Son of God.
Romans 6:4 says, "Therefore we are buried with him by baptism
"into death: that like as Christ was raised up
"from the dead by the glory of the Father,
even so we also should walk in newness of life."
Colosians 2:12 "Buried with him in baptism,
"wherein also ye are risen with him through the faith
of the operation of God, who hath raised him from the dead."
The sixth "one" is the one body
providing unity of organization.
Through this one body, we are organized,
we come together as the one body,
the church wherever we are on this globe,
we're all connected as we become
members of the body of Christ.
1 Corinthians 12:13
"For by one Spirit are we all baptized into one body,
"whether we be Jews or Gentiles,
"whether we be bound or free;
and have been all made to drink into one Spirit."
Romans 12:4-5 says "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 every one members one of another."
The last "one" that we discussed was
the hope which yields desire.
We desire what God has promised.
We desire to live Godly lives, and we desire to be at home
in Heaven one day with God.
Christians are united in that one hope.
Hebrews 6:19 "Which hope
"we have as an anchor of the soul, both sure and stedfast,
and which entereth into that within the veil:"
Brother Cates emphasized that hope is anchored
to the Mercy Seat of Christ.
Folks, we hope, and that is that we desire to be united
just as Brother Cates was telling us.
We're glad that you have taken the time to join us today,
to learn more about the unity of the Holy Spirit.
If we will do these things, we can be united in Christ.