"We know that an idol is nothing in the world, and that there is none other God but one. 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" (1 Cor. 8:4, 5, 64As concerning therefore the eating of those things that are offered in sacrifice unto idols, we know that an idol is nothing in the world, and that there is none other God but one. 5For though there be that are called gods, whether in heaven or in earth, (as there be gods many, and lords many,) 6But 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. (1 Corinthians 8:4‑6)).
"There is one body, and one Spirit, even as ye are called in one hope of your calling; one Lord, one faith, one baptism, one God and Father of all, who is above all, and through all, and in you all" (Eph. 4:4, 5, 64There is one body, and one Spirit, even as ye are called in one hope of your calling; 5One Lord, one faith, one baptism, 6One God and Father of all, who is above all, and through all, and in you all. (Ephesians 4:4‑6)).
These declarations express in the simple force of the numeral "one" the unity of the Godhead. "One" individualizes and concentrates, rejecting plurality. This is its primary force.
Next, it carries a closely related idea, that of supremacy, whether good or bad. Thus, the one Adam in Eden carries solitary headship; and when grace brings in a last Adam, it is not for fusion with the first, or partnership, but to remove the first entirely. In this way, "one" will often be found to carry the thought of exclusiveness also. Thus, the one head of the Gentiles, Nebuchadnezzar, can admit of no rival. God is one is supreme and all thought of any second God is excluded.
The Word of God, as a Revelation from Himself stands not only alone, but, being completed (i.e. Col. 1:2525Whereof I am made a minister, according to the dispensation of God which is given to me for you, to fulfil the word of God; (Colossians 1:25), "to fulfill" rather fill full "the word of God"), it is one whole and sole Book, which carries supreme authority with what it says and excludes all rivalry, comparison, or addition.
It is well to acquaint ourselves with this idea of exclusiveness. Saints are at times charged with it as if it were something wrong. But in this world where evil abounds, if man is to walk with God, it must be by excluding evil, or what is not of God. And yet more, where good and evil are found in a mixed way, it may even become incumbent (and often does) for one to abstain from the enjoyment of certain good (yet not denying it to be such), in order to be separate with God, from the evil it is mixed with.
Now the one Revelation from God, which the Bible is, is the exclusive rule and standard for our conscience to be trained and guided by, that its discernment between good and evil may be correct.
Christ is the eternal Word (John 1) and the Bible is the written Word (written Christ) in words not of human wisdom, but which the Holy Ghost taught (1 Cor. 2:1313Which things also we speak, not in the words which man's wisdom teacheth, but which the Holy Ghost teacheth; comparing spiritual things with spiritual. (1 Corinthians 2:13)). So that, like Christ Himself, Who when in this world, lived not by bread only, but by every word that proceeded out of the mouth of God (Luke 4:44And Jesus answered him, saying, It is written, That man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word of God. (Luke 4:4)), so now, we, having one entire Word of God, are privileged to live by it, and by it alone. It alone has title to direct the conscience; it alone is "a lamp unto my feet, and a light unto my path." In its unity and supreme authority, it excludes all other guides for the people of God. There may be teachers among them, rightly enough, but "if they speak not according to this word, it is because there is no light in them" (Isa. 8:2020To the law and to the testimony: if they speak not according to this word, it is because there is no light in them. (Isaiah 8:20)).
The light of the truth is in the written Word alone; all other sources are excluded; the Word is one, and it is supreme in its unity.
Then, being accepted as such, what will be the character practically, of the man of God? On the positive side, he will be the expression of Christ, and on the negative side, he will be distinguished by exclusiveness of everything that is not Christ, for he walks by the one Word. "This one thing I do... I press toward the mark for the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus" (Phil. 4:13,1413I can do all things through Christ which strengtheneth me. 14Notwithstanding ye have well done, that ye did communicate with my affliction. (Philippians 4:13‑14)) and that prize finally is perfect conformity to Christ Himself.
Reader, study to be exclusive of all that is evil, as your eye and heart are fixed, in the light of the Word, on the Lord Himself, at God's right hand.
Religious error will be' found just as intolerable as natural evil. "All scripture is given by inspiration of God... that the man of God may be perfect, thoroughly furnished unto all good works" (2 Tim. 3:16, 1716All scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness: 17That the man of God may be perfect, throughly furnished unto all good works. (2 Timothy 3:16‑17)). Agreement to differ would find no place, if the Divine standard were allowed its own supremacy in the conscience.
In the quoted Eph. 4, "one body" excludes the allowance of another. My arm could not be a member of two bodies; yet how many believers, not minding clearly this perfect blessed body of Christ, speak of various bodies, and of belonging to them? What an incalculable loss it must be to Christians, who may be found acting in some of the man-formed bodies, to the neglect of their privileged place in the "one body" of Eph. 4!
"One Spirit" the Holy Ghost, supreme and exclusive Leader and power, and bond.
"One hope" a definite expectation, that gives a distinctive character to him who enjoys it. It is the Lord's return; "I will come again, and receive you unto myself." In view of that, reader, could you expect to die? And of it John writes, "And every man that hath this hope in him purifieth himself even as he is pure" (1 John 3:33And every man that hath this hope in him purifieth himself, even as he is pure. (1 John 3:3)). It may be fulfilled at any moment; then how can the conversion of the world by the preaching of the gospel be your hope? Yet some hope this.
"One Lord"—then you cannot bow and own another. "One is your Master, even Christ."
"One faith"—and human creeds must disappear. "One baptism" judges all varieties.
"One God and Father of all"—as in our opening quotations.
"But he that is joined unto the Lord is one spirit" (1 Cor. 6:1717But he that is joined unto the Lord is one spirit. (1 Corinthians 6:17)). There you have the truth of the identity in grace of the believer with Christ in life before God. It is not merely a moral harmony between them.
In Heb. 10:1414For by one offering he hath perfected for ever them that are sanctified. (Hebrews 10:14) we read, "For by one offering he hath perfected forever them that are sanctified." This is in special contrast with all other sacrifices, which had been continually repeated because of their inefficacy. They all were only shadows (and valuable in their place) but this one the true sacrifice the "Lamb of God" having a body that was offered "once for all," it can never be offered again; no addition can be made to it. "Foreordained before the foundation of the world" and now manifested "in these last times," this sacrificial Lamb eclipsed all its foreshadows by His incomparable excellency and stands alone forever.
In the breaking of bread and drinking of wine, we are privileged to remember Christ and commemorate His death "until He come." It was too wonderful, too solemnly magnificent in its character and too rich a glory to the holy government of God, to be allowed to pass and no memorial maintained of it here; so "till He come," "we do show the Lord's death" as we surround His table. And, presently, when He shall have come and this breaking of bread has ceased, it shall be further commemorated at the new Temple, when the earthly house and its material worship are again set up, in the sacrifices of fatlings of the flock and of the herd, burnt offering and sin offering and peace offering and meat offering again established to record and recall the many qualities of that once-finished and unrepeatable work which the holy and the harmless and the undefiled One achieved for God on Calvary all alone.
No modern Eucharist so-called, no sacrifice of the mass, nor any ascription of efficacy to those future victims can ever detract from the solitary grandeur or the peerless value of that terrible but blessed hour, when, outside the gate of the chosen but polluted city, the Lord of glory bowed His head to the final judgment of God, drank that cup which His Father gave Him, and turned it into a cup of infinite and eternal blessing for every simple soul that trusts Him. "It is finished," words of God these were by the lips of Christ (see John 12:4949For I have not spoken of myself; but the Father which sent me, he gave me a commandment, what I should say, and what I should speak. (John 12:49)): a Divine testimony to "one offering." "It is finished;" that cry rang back over the past ages of shadows, and superseded them all; it rings now and excludes all "works of righteousness" by man for his salvation; and it will ring all through the Millennium, recalled by the offerings on the altar, memorials of the only true atonement, and reminders of the sole basis of all the blessing, wealth, and prosperity, which during that period will abound on the earth.
"One offering" stood alone before God, and for its sake He had, in anticipation, showed "forbearance" to sinners in the Old Testament; and now that it is accomplished, He justifies freely by its blood and perfects forever those whom His will has sanctified.
It was in view of "one offering" God had tolerated guilty man on the earth, while He tested him, that He might show out the abounding of his offense, yet bearing with his "manners." And when the one perfect Priest and Victim "had offered up himself," "one offering," God raised Him from the dead and gave Him glory, made Him "Lord of all" and "beginning of the creation of God" (i.e. the new creation), thereby testifying the utter collapse and judgment of the first Adam, the close of probation for him as such, "the end of the world" and the "judgment" of its "prince"; the world "crucified unto me and I unto the world"; and then God, on the other hand, testifies to the quality of the sweet savor, by constituting Him when raised from the dead "both Lord and Christ" in glory, and also making Him to be Divine righteousness, as the suited answer to what that savor was to Himself.
"One offering," the sole accomplishment of the will of God in this world as to sin, was wrought by One so able that, being "made sin," He there ended it judicially, and rendered to God immeasurable glory in its place.
"One offering," utterly excluding all assistance, all comparison, all repetition and all the capacity of man to measure it.
"One offering," admitting no rival, no supplement, no exhaustion, no decay.
Saved souls are not mere units now, though they still have their individuality; nor are they related to each other only in a way of outward and voluntary association (as some say), in the household of faith; but they are all one, a unity declared by God and formed by the Holy Ghost for "by one Spirit are we all baptized into one body" (1 Cor. 12:1313For by one Spirit are we all baptized into one body, whether we be Jews or Gentiles, whether we be bond or free; and have been all made to drink into one Spirit. (1 Corinthians 12:13)).
It is invaluable to be clear as to such a unity. It is not formed by residing in the neighborhood of other Christians; it is not by the signature of a common creed, or by adopting similar and simultaneous professions. It allows no human arranging. The single whole loaf on the table of the Lord is the illustration of the unity the Spirit of God forms believers into now on earth. What a supreme privilege! to know yourself to be an integral portion of this unity. One body, the body of Christ! Could you descend to take up a place in any humanly constituted body (so-called) of Christians after that? Surely the one formation of God, testified as it is as God's one ground for the collective action of His people (1 Cor. 12;14 Eph. 4, &c.) disallows and excludes every voluntary organization for such a purpose.
Notice how Rome professes a unity and externally maintains it, which asserts supremacy and exclusiveness, while it is only the counterfeit of what God has revealed and appointed for His saints.
In Gen. 1 will be found an instructive use of number 1. It was in the time of chaos that "the Spirit of God moved upon the face of the waters"; an illustration (not a proof) of the Holy Ghost now on the earth in the midst of man's moral darkness. "And God said, Let there be light"; as now "the light of the world" has come, and is testified by the Spirit.
God next said, "Let there be a firmament in the midst of the waters, and let it divide the waters from the waters." So the effect of the light in the power of the Spirit is to produce separation of those who bow to it in heart from those who do not.
So in verse 9, God said, "Let the waters under the heaven be gathered together unto one place, and let the dry land appear." So those who now believe in the light and are children of the light, are gathered to one place morally to the Name of the Lord alone by the Spirit of God, and this (the unity of the Spirit) they are enjoined to keep.
The Israelites, separated from all other nations, were also gathered around God's one tabernacle in the wilderness; when settled in Canaan, God gathered them to the one place where He put His Name, "whither the tribes go up, the tribes of Jah, unto the testimony of Israel" (the ark was there) "to give thanks unto the name of Jehovah" (Psa. 122:44Whither the tribes go up, the tribes of the Lord, unto the testimony of Israel, to give thanks unto the name of the Lord. (Psalm 122:4)). And when shortly the favored nation is again brought back, and the nations are sifted for them, like wheat in a sieve and not the least grain will be lost (see Amos), then the temple described by Ezekiel shall be built, and to it, and to it alone, the tribes shall again be gathered by God, while yearly the representatives of all nations shall go up to it (under special penalty for any neglect) and keep the feast of Tabernacles (Zech. 14). Such is God's principle of gathering, whether illustrated in the material arrangement of this globe, or seen in His ways both past and future towards the chosen of His creatures upon it.
Then what of the time now present? "One Lord" and "one Spirit" and "one body" we have seen. No material house, however splendid, can claim the name of "House of God." No dome, no spire, nor portico, nor tower, has God chosen, to put His Name upon it and gather His redeemed around or under it; God's gathering point is not known to mortal eyes now. "The flesh profiteth nothing," "it is the Spirit that quickeneth." Faith looks at "the things which are not seen," and the Name of the Lord Jesus Christ is God's only center and to that He gathers the twos and the threes, whom He has made content and glad to worship in spirit and in truth, where the prettiest and richest and grandest of art's successes would be only the more intrusive and repulsive and incongruous as it was more specially beautiful in the estimate of modern skill. To hearts that God has touched, the superior beauty of the Name of the Lord, single and supreme and most exclusive, sways them with its incomparable attractions, and the Divinely begotten affection for it acts as an expulsive power upon all and every charm that flesh and sense could put together. "One Lord," the chiefest among ten thousand, and the altogether lovely.