May the words of my mouth and the meditation of our hearts be pleasing in your sight, O Lord, our Rock and our Redeemer. Amen.

As a prisoner for the Lord, then, I urge you to live a life worthy of the calling you have received. Be completely humble and gentle; be patient, bearing with one another in love. Make every effort to keep the unity of the Spirit through the bond of peace. There is one body and one Spirit--just as you were called to one hope when you were called--one Lord, one faith, one baptism; one God and Father of all, who is over all and through all and in all. (Ephesians 4:1-6)

In Christ's name and to his glory, dear friends: When we look at the Christian religion we see the sad fact that there are many different denominations-Lutheran, Roman Catholic, Methodist, Presbyterian, Baptist, etc. There are real differences between the confessions and beliefs of these denominations, and this is why they are separate from each other. Why has this happened? We can lay the blame at the feet of Satan and sin and sinners. Jesus plants his Word in the world, but Satan comes and plants weeds among the wheat (Matthew 13:25). Jesus' warning prophecy has come true-For false Christs and false prophets will appear and perform great signs and miracles to deceive even the elect--if that were possible (Matthew 24:24). As God promised through the Apostle: For the time will come when men will not put up with sound doctrine. Instead, to suit their own desires, they will gather around them a great number of teachers to say what their itching ears want to hear (2 Timothy 4:3). What can we do to stop this division? You and I cannot stop it any more than we can stop a lightening bolt from coming down from the sky. We cannot stop it, but we can, by God's grace, be shielded from the sin that causes division. The Lord can give us the good sense to not walk out in the thunderstorm of false teaching. Jesus said: Things that cause people to sin are bound to come, but woe to that person through whom they come (Luke 17:1). We cannot stop the division, but we can be on guard against it in our own lives. Today Jesus through the pen of the Apostle urges, admonishes, counsels, advises us: MAKE EVERY EFFORT TO KEEP THE UNITY OF THE SPIRIT. Let us listen closely.

The unity already exists. Notice closely that God says: Make every effort to keep the unity of the Spirit. In other words, we do not have to make this unity or bring it about. It already exists. It is a unity that the Holy Spirit makes when he makes people believe the teachings of his Holy, inspired Word. We do not have to, nor can we, make this unity. But we can do things to disrupt this unity. This we would do if we start wandering from what God tells us in his Word. As we stick to the Word we will naturally, by God's working, be united with others who stick to the Word. This is the unity of the Spirit that we are to keep, guard, hang on to, and protect.

Today much activity is seen among people who want to unite visible Christianity. We call them ecumenicalists. Last fall the Roman Catholic Church and the ELCA Lutherans signed a document declaring that they are united. ELCA Lutherans and Episcopalians voted to unite. All this has the appearance of unity, but it is not the unity of the Spirit. It is a man-made union that in reality is the exact opposite of the unity of the Spirit. For these diverse groups that hold vastly different beliefs have merely decided to not argue about their differences. They did not sit down at a table and say: What does God say in Scripture about this or that...let's both believe what he says? They sat down and asked: How can we word things so that we can both sign the same document without our consciences bothering us? There is a union but it is not the unity of the Spirit. The true unity of the Spirit is not made by man's effort but by the Spirit himself when he places the one faith, one hope, one Lord, etc into the heart.

The ties that make the true unity of the Spirit. Let us look closely at the precious cords that the Spirit uses to tie his believers into one, united body. The Apostle says: There is one body. We call it the Holy Christian Church, the Communion of Saints. There is one Spirit. By his work alone we believe and are grafted into this one body. No one can say Jesus is Lord except by the Holy Spirit. (1 Corinthians 12:3). There is but one hope among this united family of God-heaven by grace through faith. There is no room for self-made ideas about how to please God and gain heaven. No delusions, only the truth of Scripture that the Spirit has given us through the inspired writers.

The Apostle goes on. There is one Lord. Jesus Christ alone is Savior in the Spirit's united group. Salvation is found in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given to men by which we must be saved. (Acts 4:12). Those united by the Spirit trust him, heed him, follow him alone. There is one faith. There is one body of truth that we believe. It is the 66 books of Scripture. This and this alone we believe, confess and profess to the world. There is one Baptism. There is one God-given door to new life, regeneration and rebirth. The spirit-filled waters of Holy Baptism makes us one with the Triune God and all others who hold to this one Baptism, one faith, one Lord, one hope, one Spirit.

The Apostle goes on. There is one God and Father. Him alone we praise; he is above all. He alone works all good in us; he works through us. He alone dwells in the believer with no rivals; he is in all.

Whoever does not have these cords is not united with God and his believers. He who has them has unity with God and his united family, the Holy Christian Church. Here is a unity stronger than blood, family, or patriotism. Dare we consider it lightly? Dare we do damage to this unity by what we do? God forbid it! Cherish these divine cords that unite you with God and his family. Keep them-guard them, hold on to them, protect them, against all enemies foreign or domestic. For if these cords slip from our hands in which the Spirit has placed them we become separated from God.

God must move us to keep this unity. Now let us finally see how the Lord will keep us in the blessings of his unity. Satan attacks on two fronts in his effort to wreck the unity of the Spirit among us. On the one front, Satan tries to get us to unite where there is no true unity. He will say to us: Why all this fussing about what God says...we all worship the same God, don't we?...Don't worry about doctrine...Sincerity is more important than what you believe...ignore these differences and say one denomination is the same as all the rest. Against this temptation God says: Be completely humble-humble before God, that is (v.2). Let God have the privilege of laying before us what is to be believed and trusted. Walk humbly with your God, it says in Micah 6:8. And this is the one I esteem: he who is humble and contrite in spirit, and trembles at my word. (Isaiah 66:2). Pray for that spirit which God alone gives which alone keeps the unity of the Spirit-the spirit that cherishes the one faith, one Baptism, one hope so as to never compromise its content.