12/9/20
 |
| In loving memory of my father Robert Louis (Bob) Padgett July 28, 1931-May 22, 2023 |
We Christians speak many times about unity or the lack of it in the church. We have all experienced difficulties of some sort or another in this area. The question is why and what do we do about it? In this message we attempt to share (1) the need or purpose of unity; (2) how we Christians have attempted to bring about that unity; and (3) God's prescription or way to bring about unity in the church.
God the Father has decreed that all things shall be centered in His Son.
Note that it is God the Father who is gathering together in one all things in Christ. The mystery of God's will is that all things in heaven and earth shall be gathered together in one in Christ. We are called to agree, in practice, with the will of God, lest we be found to fight against God (Acts 5:39). That is why we see the need for unity or wholeness in all of the body of Christ. When there is ignorance in one part of the body, the whole body is affected.
In the natural realm if our body had no eyes and no ears, we would be rather severely limited in our functioning capability. So it is in the spiritual realm. That is why our concern should be for the entire body of Christ.
God has placed a great deal of emphasis on unity. That does not speak about the natural, physical realm, which is union. We can have union without having unity, which is so much more than union. Many people may gather together for a variety of entertainment or athletic events. Everyone is in one place, but some are for one team and some for the other team. The same thing happens in the church. We have all kinds of divisions in the church with believers supporting their team.
In order to look at the unity which God desires for the church, and why, let us turn to John, Chapter 17, where we find the longest, and perhaps the most important prayer of Jesus before His crucifixion.
Note the 6 occurrences of the word, "one" in those 5 verses. Jesus prayed that all born from above believers over all of time might be just as much one or in unity as God the Father and God the Son are one, in perfect unity.
The unity of believers should have an effect on people in the world ... those who do not know the Lord. Why? from verses 21 and 23 that we just read, so that the world may believe that God the Father has sent His Son; and so that the world may believe the reality of
How do we become one? John 17, verse 22. Because we have received (past tense) the same glory that the Father gave to the Son. What is that glory? The nature, the character, the essence of Christ. Unity among believers results from the indivisible unity of God. That unity, that oneness is not based on doctrine or creed or organization or any such thing. God's plan is to bring both the Old and the New Testament saints together in the unity of the faith of the Son of God.
No man, no Christian man, no group of Christian men can create or bring about that unity of the Spirit. But we are exhorted to keep that unity until we all come to the unity of the faith.
When we see that one new man, that new creation, we no longer see such a thing as Jew or Gentile. Neither is there any such thing as a Baptist, or a Methodist, or a Pentecostal. In other words, our identity will be swallowed up; we will be grafted into Christ. There will be a putting-on of the new Man. Christ is the one who clothes us with Himself.
Now let us look at how and why God's chosen people have not kept that unity. That might help us to avoid making the same mistakes that our forefathers committed. In our last message about the amazing and awesome foreknowledge of God, we read
In Genesis 21 we read about the miraculous birth of Isaac. At that point of the actual birth, Sarah, the mother of Isaac was full of joy, but Abraham said nothing until Isaac was weaned. Then we read, in
What that says to me is that the Lord Jesus is not returning for a group of baby Christians who still partake of milk. The Lord is looking for a body of believers who are without spot or wrinkle.
In our previous message we read from
The chosen people of God in the time of Isaiah missed God because the Lord God was to them merely a precept. The Pharisees and Sadducees missed God in the time when Jesus walked the earth because the Lord God was to them merely a precept. They tried to be obedient and holy after the precepts instead of coming to Him - the Person who is so much more than a mere precept. Jesus made this clear when He spoke to the religious elite of His day (and our day) saying, "Search the scriptures; for in them ye think ye have eternal life: and they are they which testify of me. And ye will not come to me, that ye might have life."
This is the big problem that happened not only to our forefathers in their day, but to us in our day. Christians like to argue about the interpretation of scripture. That has resulted in hundreds or thousands of divisions in the church. Today, we, the church, have missed God, because we have gone after the precepts. That is what happened in the church at Ephesus, even though they had received the very best teaching possible through Paul. What occupies the majority of time in our modern-day church services? Words ... preaching, teaching, prophecies, testimonies. None of those verbal events are wrong but they are just a means toward an end. In John 2:5, the mother of Jesus said,
That verse applies to every believer. This is what we are experiencing with Covid-19. It is certainly possible that the forthcoming vaccines will prove to be very beneficial. However, without a true repentance, Christian man will go right back to his own ways and the Lord, out of His love, will send some other affliction.
The purpose of the five-fold ministries is to minister themselves out of a job.
There is a colon at the end of Verse 13. A colon in scripture means that what follows amplifies or explains why that verse is there. The mystery of Christ does not deal with individuals but with the universal body of Christ. "Till we all come in the unity of the faith" is not just some, but all. The mystery of Christ is about wholeness or completeness. We must come unto that man, Christ Jesus, who is perfect. This will never take place as long as we are laboring for ourselves or out of our own natural ability.
It is not that we need to be saturated with knowledge about Him, but rather that His knowledge and His faith must be poured into our lives. To those in the Old Testament, that oneness in Christ was a mystery. But the mystery among the gentiles is Christ in you, the hope of glory.
In Ephesians 4, remember that we saw a colon at the end of Verse 13. Verse 14 tells us why Verse 13 is important.
Few Christians would admit that they have been or still are tossed to and fro and carried about with every wind of doctrine. Nevertheless, that is the state of the church even today.
Divisions, contentions, strife, etc. in any church opens the door for every imaginable error. That is what happened in the Church at Corinth. Of the many errors of the Corinthian church, the first and most important error that Paul addresses is their lack of unity. Instead of keeping unity in Christ, the church at Corinth was split into sects and parties, which had attached themselves to the names of various leaders and teachers. Those divisions emerged because the Corinthians assigned too much emphasis to human wisdom and knowledge. They thought they were wise, but in reality they were ignorant. Not long after that, the church at Ephesus began to decline because they had left their first love. Constantine, in the early 4th century, tried to merge Christianity with the political realm. That never works. Oil and water never mix. Then in the 6th century the Roman Catholic church tried to bring about union through the use of force and power and the many inquisitions in the 11th century involving torture and violence. State and national churches arose. After the Protestant Reformation, we saw the rise of numerous denominations and sects.
The World Council of Churches, founded in 1948, is an organization of 350 member churches who together represent more than half a billion professing Christians around the world. However, no man or group of men can bring about unity in the body of Christ. Most errors in the church arise when man tries to do what only God can do. That approach on the part of man puts us back under the Old Covenant ... do this and don't do that. We have formed our alliances in the search for unity. We have used compromise and mixture to try to bring about unity. That kind of weakness and mixture opens the door for every form of wickedness.
We would never like to think that we are a divided body. Positionally we are not, but experientially, that is the picture. And that is the picture that Paul saw about 30 years after the Lord Jesus ministered on earth.
At that point in time there were more than 3000 disciples of Christ. So I doubt that they were all physically living together. They had all things common. We Christians like to pull down scripture to the lowest possible level. Is it possible that means they had all things common in the realm of the Spirit?
Those early disciples gathered together every day with one accord in the temple. Today most Christians gather together once or perhaps twice a week for a few hours and rarely break bread (or eat) together.
About 35 years ago I attended (for about 4 months) a small (15 folks) "Bible study" in the home of a nice brother who was very evangelically oriented. He was an elder in a charismatic church that had a nice building about 15 minutes from us. The whole time that I attended that Bible study, they were going through the Gospel according to Luke. I was very careful NOT to usurp authority and NOT to ANY way try to be the "teacher." I rarely opened my mouth unless the host asked my "opinion." At every gathering, we would read a few verses from Luke and then the host would ask everyone, "what did you receive from these verses?" or "how do you interpret those verses?"
One Christian would say, "I think this" and another person would say "no, I think it means that." That went on for about 15 minutes. Then the host would say, "Well I believe it means such and such ..." Then we would move on to another few verses and repeat the process. After the "Bible study" was over, everyone went home and everyone still clung to their personal interpretations that they had before the session started.
Sounds just like Judges 17:6 and Judges 21:25 ... "In those days there was no king in Israel. Every man did that which was right in his own eyes."
I call that the "hallmark" of both traditional and charismatic churches today. That is exactly the same situation that exists in the church in America (and the world) today. A good brother and his wife told me that same thing a few years ago concerning all of the many Hispanic countries that they have visited for 50 years.
Contrast that with the "hallmark" of the church right after Pentecost as recorded in Acts. Seven times in the book of Acts we see the phrase, "they were all in one accord," but no place in Acts says what they were in one accord about. The ONLY place I have found in the New Testament which tells us what that early church was in accord about is in Romans 15:6, which says, "That ye may with one mind and one mouth glorify God, even the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ."
The phrase "with one mind" is the exact same Greek word as "in one accord" in Acts. The song that God expects to hear in His congregation is one accord - unity - oneness. That can only be found in the Lord Jesus Christ. One mind speaks of singleness of mind. It also speaks of giving a clear sound. One mouth speaks of language - one mouth or one language, one word or one sound. The early church had unity because they were in one accord to glorify God. The church today has disunity and attempts to have union based on our interpretation of the written word. Man's approach invariably results in a compromise and a mixture.
Now let us see God's prescription or plan as to how we can cooperate with the Holy Spirit to bring about the true unity of the faith. One of the best declarations of God's plan is found in Philippians 2:1-8,
Bowels (or inward affection) and mercies means to have intense care and deep empathy for each other. Paul saw these benefits of encouragement, comfort, fellowship, tenderness, and compassion as present realities for those who are in Christ.
This verse emphasizes the unity that should exist among Christians. Paul says that his joy would be fulfilled from seeing all Christians to be likeminded or sharing the same mind. It was not that Paul had no joy. Nehemiah said that the joy of the Lord is our strength. Paul knew that the joy of the Lord was his strength. Paul says that the only way to fulfill or complete his joy was for all Christians to be likeminded, have the same agape love, be of one accord, and be of one mind. When Paul says "of one mind," whose mind does he speak about? The mind of our pastor? or the leader of our group? No, the mind of Christ. Of course, all Christians are unique and different in many ways. And we all tend to say, "If you just see it my way, then there is no problem." But none of us has all of the answers. Only Christ, the Head, has all of the answers.
The mortal enemies of unity and harmony in the church are strife and vain glory. The word "strife" carries a different meaning to us today than it did 400 years ago. The word "strife" means striving, but striving out of self-ambition. Human nature wants to promote myself or prove myself. It speaks of grasping at something for me. Vain glory speaks of conceit. It speaks of pride. It means that we think that we are something when we are not. We think that we are something that God has not made us to be.
Let nothing be done through strife or vain glory. What is nothing? Nothing speaks of nothing, not even good things. Nothing and cannot are two words that describe the capabilities of natural man.
"In lowliness of mind let each esteem (or value) others better than themselves." That is impossible in the natural realm. Paul, with all of the revelations that he received, said in 2 Corinthians 11:5 that he was in nothing behind any of the apostles; but in another place he said "I am chief among sinners" (1 Timothy 1:15).
The great prophet Isaiah, in Isaiah 6, was allowed to see and understand the great difference between the Lord and himself. It changed his life. James and John, in Mark 10:37, asked of Jesus that they would be allowed to sit, one on His right hand and the other on his left hand in His glory. After Pentecost they learned differently.
It is proper for us to look after our own things, but only if we have equal concern for the interests of other members of the body.
Now, Verses 2-5 of Philippians 2 seem like rather impossible tasks for us to fulfill. But God never asks us to do anything that cannot be achievable through the power of the Holy Spirit.
Natural man desires to make a reputation for himself. That verse means that Jesus emptied Himself of all motivation of self. Paul, after ministering for 14 years, went up by revelation to the apostles in Jerusalem, lest he had labored in vain. Paul said that they added nothing to him because they were teaching the same gospel. Natural man likewise does not want to be a servant. Recently we shared with you a message about the servant of God.
Natural man does not want to humble himself, and natural man certainly does not want to be submissive to other men or to the Lord. But those two very important qualities must be worked within us if we desire to glorify God. Many scriptures, such as 2 Chronicles 7:14, and 1 Peter 5:6 emphasize the importance of true humility being worked within us. We all know that Jesus said, "If any man will be my disciple, let him deny himself, take up his cross, and follow me."
Although many verses clearly show us our pathway to unity, let us look at one more scripture.
God the Father has decreed that all things shall be centered in His Son.
Ephesians 1:9-10, "Having made known unto us the mystery of His will, according to His good pleasure which He hath purposed in Himself: That in the dispensation of the fulness of times He might gather together in one all things in Christ, both which are in heaven, and which are on earth; even in him:"
Note that it is God the Father who is gathering together in one all things in Christ. The mystery of God's will is that all things in heaven and earth shall be gathered together in one in Christ. We are called to agree, in practice, with the will of God, lest we be found to fight against God (Acts 5:39). That is why we see the need for unity or wholeness in all of the body of Christ. When there is ignorance in one part of the body, the whole body is affected.
1 Corinthians 12:26, "And whether one member suffer, all the members suffer with it; or one member be honoured, all the members rejoice with it."
In the natural realm if our body had no eyes and no ears, we would be rather severely limited in our functioning capability. So it is in the spiritual realm. That is why our concern should be for the entire body of Christ.
God has placed a great deal of emphasis on unity. That does not speak about the natural, physical realm, which is union. We can have union without having unity, which is so much more than union. Many people may gather together for a variety of entertainment or athletic events. Everyone is in one place, but some are for one team and some for the other team. The same thing happens in the church. We have all kinds of divisions in the church with believers supporting their team.
In order to look at the unity which God desires for the church, and why, let us turn to John, Chapter 17, where we find the longest, and perhaps the most important prayer of Jesus before His crucifixion.
John 17:11, "And now I am no more in the world, but these are in the world, and I come to thee. Holy Father, keep through thine own name those whom thou hast given me, that they may be one, as we are."
20 "Neither pray I for these alone, but for them also which shall believe on me through their word;21 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.22 And the glory which thou gavest me I have given them; that they may be one, even as we are one:23 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."
Note the 6 occurrences of the word, "one" in those 5 verses. Jesus prayed that all born from above believers over all of time might be just as much one or in unity as God the Father and God the Son are one, in perfect unity.
The unity of believers should have an effect on people in the world ... those who do not know the Lord. Why? from verses 21 and 23 that we just read, so that the world may believe that God the Father has sent His Son; and so that the world may believe the reality of
John 3:16. "For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in Him might not perish, but have everlasting life."
How do we become one? John 17, verse 22. Because we have received (past tense) the same glory that the Father gave to the Son. What is that glory? The nature, the character, the essence of Christ. Unity among believers results from the indivisible unity of God. That unity, that oneness is not based on doctrine or creed or organization or any such thing. God's plan is to bring both the Old and the New Testament saints together in the unity of the faith of the Son of God.
Ephesians 4:1-6,1 I therefore, the prisoner of the Lord, beseech you that ye walk worthy of the vocation wherewith ye are called,2 With all lowliness and meekness, with longsuffering, forbearing one another in love;3 Endeavouring to keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace.
No man, no Christian man, no group of Christian men can create or bring about that unity of the Spirit. But we are exhorted to keep that unity until we all come to the unity of the faith.
4 There is one body, and one Spirit, even as ye are called in one hope of your calling;5 One Lord, one faith, one baptism,6 One God and Father of all, who is above all, and through all, and in you all."
Those seven ones speak of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. The one faith is His faith. My faith plus $3 might get me a cup of coffee in a few places.
Ephesians 2:8, "For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God:"
The one baptism is His baptism. The Lord wants us to identify ourselves with Him in His baptism. It is very important that this truth regarding baptism be taught; otherwise water baptism simply becomes putting an X in a square. The value of baptism is in His baptism. If we focus on "my" baptism we miss the point. That is why some believers, when they are baptized in water, simply get wet.
When we see that one new man, that new creation, we no longer see such a thing as Jew or Gentile. Neither is there any such thing as a Baptist, or a Methodist, or a Pentecostal. In other words, our identity will be swallowed up; we will be grafted into Christ. There will be a putting-on of the new Man. Christ is the one who clothes us with Himself.
Now let us look at how and why God's chosen people have not kept that unity. That might help us to avoid making the same mistakes that our forefathers committed. In our last message about the amazing and awesome foreknowledge of God, we read
Isaiah 28:9, "Whom shall He teach knowledge? and whom shall He make to understand doctrine? them that are weaned from the milk, and drawn from the breasts."
In Genesis 21 we read about the miraculous birth of Isaac. At that point of the actual birth, Sarah, the mother of Isaac was full of joy, but Abraham said nothing until Isaac was weaned. Then we read, in
Genesis 21:8, "And the child grew, and was weaned: and Abraham made a great feast the same day that Isaac was weaned."
What that says to me is that the Lord Jesus is not returning for a group of baby Christians who still partake of milk. The Lord is looking for a body of believers who are without spot or wrinkle.
In our previous message we read from
Isaiah 28:13 "But the word of the Lord was unto them precept upon precept, line upon line, here a little, and there a little; that they might go, and fall backward, and be broken, and snared, and taken."
The chosen people of God in the time of Isaiah missed God because the Lord God was to them merely a precept. The Pharisees and Sadducees missed God in the time when Jesus walked the earth because the Lord God was to them merely a precept. They tried to be obedient and holy after the precepts instead of coming to Him - the Person who is so much more than a mere precept. Jesus made this clear when He spoke to the religious elite of His day (and our day) saying, "Search the scriptures; for in them ye think ye have eternal life: and they are they which testify of me. And ye will not come to me, that ye might have life."
2 Corinthians 3:6 says, "for the letter killeth, but the spirit giveth life."
This is the big problem that happened not only to our forefathers in their day, but to us in our day. Christians like to argue about the interpretation of scripture. That has resulted in hundreds or thousands of divisions in the church. Today, we, the church, have missed God, because we have gone after the precepts. That is what happened in the church at Ephesus, even though they had received the very best teaching possible through Paul. What occupies the majority of time in our modern-day church services? Words ... preaching, teaching, prophecies, testimonies. None of those verbal events are wrong but they are just a means toward an end. In John 2:5, the mother of Jesus said,
"Whatsoever He saith unto you, do it."
In Matthew 17:5, God the Father said, "This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased; hear ye Him."
The exhortation is to hear the word of the Lord - to hear Him. The word of the Lord is not to be precepts, but the person of Christ Jesus who is the Word. In Isaiah 28:15 we read that they made a covenant with death, which is the end result when we walk by precepts or by the letter of the law.
Hosea 5:15, "I will go and return to my place, till they acknowledge their offence, and seek my face: in their affliction they will seek me early."
That verse applies to every believer. This is what we are experiencing with Covid-19. It is certainly possible that the forthcoming vaccines will prove to be very beneficial. However, without a true repentance, Christian man will go right back to his own ways and the Lord, out of His love, will send some other affliction.
Ephesians 4:11-16,11 And He gave some, apostles; and some, prophets; and some, evangelists; and some, pastors and teachers;12 For the perfecting of the saints, for the work of the ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ:
The purpose of the five-fold ministries is to minister themselves out of a job.
13 Till we all come in the unity of the faith, and of the knowledge of the Son of God, unto a perfect man, unto the measure of the stature of the fulness of Christ:
There is a colon at the end of Verse 13. A colon in scripture means that what follows amplifies or explains why that verse is there. The mystery of Christ does not deal with individuals but with the universal body of Christ. "Till we all come in the unity of the faith" is not just some, but all. The mystery of Christ is about wholeness or completeness. We must come unto that man, Christ Jesus, who is perfect. This will never take place as long as we are laboring for ourselves or out of our own natural ability.
It is not that we need to be saturated with knowledge about Him, but rather that His knowledge and His faith must be poured into our lives. To those in the Old Testament, that oneness in Christ was a mystery. But the mystery among the gentiles is Christ in you, the hope of glory.
In Ephesians 4, remember that we saw a colon at the end of Verse 13. Verse 14 tells us why Verse 13 is important.
14 That we henceforth be no more children, tossed to and fro, and carried about with every wind of doctrine, by the sleight of men, and cunning craftiness, whereby they lie in wait to deceive;
Few Christians would admit that they have been or still are tossed to and fro and carried about with every wind of doctrine. Nevertheless, that is the state of the church even today.
In Matthew 12:25 Jesus said, "Every kingdom divided against itself is brought to desolation; and every city or house divided against itself shall not stand:"
After the death of Solomon, the Hebrew nation was split into a northern kingdom and a southern kingdom. Is there any division in the United States today in the political and religious arenas?
How has the church fared in terms of keeping that unity? The early church, right after the day of Pentecost receives an A. Historically, in less than one generation, divisions began to arise. Why? a combination of several reasons, which basically narrow down to self or human nature. I believe that for 2000 years, Christians have seen the need for unity. Therefore, man has tried to bring about that unity. Unity, of course, is an inward characteristic, not outward. We seek perfect unity and we attempt to bring it about by coming together, but that approach can only bring about union, which is imperfect. The Pentecostal holiness movement tried to bring holiness in from the outward, failing to understand that the outward reflects the inside. We can only be perfected or be whole in Christ. We must find our identity in Christ, not on the outside.
By 59 A.D., after Paul had spent 18 months teaching at Corinth, we see, in
How has the church fared in terms of keeping that unity? The early church, right after the day of Pentecost receives an A. Historically, in less than one generation, divisions began to arise. Why? a combination of several reasons, which basically narrow down to self or human nature. I believe that for 2000 years, Christians have seen the need for unity. Therefore, man has tried to bring about that unity. Unity, of course, is an inward characteristic, not outward. We seek perfect unity and we attempt to bring it about by coming together, but that approach can only bring about union, which is imperfect. The Pentecostal holiness movement tried to bring holiness in from the outward, failing to understand that the outward reflects the inside. We can only be perfected or be whole in Christ. We must find our identity in Christ, not on the outside.
By 59 A.D., after Paul had spent 18 months teaching at Corinth, we see, in
1 Corinthians 1,10 Now I beseech you, brethren, by the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that ye all speak the same thing, and that there be no divisions among you; but that ye be perfectly joined together in the same mind and in the same judgment.11 For it hath been declared unto me of you, my brethren, by them which are of the house of Chloe, that there are contentions among you.12 Now this I say, that every one of you saith, I am of Paul; and I of Apollos; and I of Cephas; and I of Christ.13 Is Christ divided? was Paul crucified for you? or were ye baptized in the name of Paul?
Divisions, contentions, strife, etc. in any church opens the door for every imaginable error. That is what happened in the Church at Corinth. Of the many errors of the Corinthian church, the first and most important error that Paul addresses is their lack of unity. Instead of keeping unity in Christ, the church at Corinth was split into sects and parties, which had attached themselves to the names of various leaders and teachers. Those divisions emerged because the Corinthians assigned too much emphasis to human wisdom and knowledge. They thought they were wise, but in reality they were ignorant. Not long after that, the church at Ephesus began to decline because they had left their first love. Constantine, in the early 4th century, tried to merge Christianity with the political realm. That never works. Oil and water never mix. Then in the 6th century the Roman Catholic church tried to bring about union through the use of force and power and the many inquisitions in the 11th century involving torture and violence. State and national churches arose. After the Protestant Reformation, we saw the rise of numerous denominations and sects.
The World Council of Churches, founded in 1948, is an organization of 350 member churches who together represent more than half a billion professing Christians around the world. However, no man or group of men can bring about unity in the body of Christ. Most errors in the church arise when man tries to do what only God can do. That approach on the part of man puts us back under the Old Covenant ... do this and don't do that. We have formed our alliances in the search for unity. We have used compromise and mixture to try to bring about unity. That kind of weakness and mixture opens the door for every form of wickedness.
We would never like to think that we are a divided body. Positionally we are not, but experientially, that is the picture. And that is the picture that Paul saw about 30 years after the Lord Jesus ministered on earth.
Acts 2.44 And all that believed were together, and had all things common;
At that point in time there were more than 3000 disciples of Christ. So I doubt that they were all physically living together. They had all things common. We Christians like to pull down scripture to the lowest possible level. Is it possible that means they had all things common in the realm of the Spirit?
46 And they, continuing daily with one accord in the temple, and breaking bread from house to house, did eat their meat with gladness and singleness of heart,
Those early disciples gathered together every day with one accord in the temple. Today most Christians gather together once or perhaps twice a week for a few hours and rarely break bread (or eat) together.
About 35 years ago I attended (for about 4 months) a small (15 folks) "Bible study" in the home of a nice brother who was very evangelically oriented. He was an elder in a charismatic church that had a nice building about 15 minutes from us. The whole time that I attended that Bible study, they were going through the Gospel according to Luke. I was very careful NOT to usurp authority and NOT to ANY way try to be the "teacher." I rarely opened my mouth unless the host asked my "opinion." At every gathering, we would read a few verses from Luke and then the host would ask everyone, "what did you receive from these verses?" or "how do you interpret those verses?"
One Christian would say, "I think this" and another person would say "no, I think it means that." That went on for about 15 minutes. Then the host would say, "Well I believe it means such and such ..." Then we would move on to another few verses and repeat the process. After the "Bible study" was over, everyone went home and everyone still clung to their personal interpretations that they had before the session started.
Sounds just like Judges 17:6 and Judges 21:25 ... "In those days there was no king in Israel. Every man did that which was right in his own eyes."
I call that the "hallmark" of both traditional and charismatic churches today. That is exactly the same situation that exists in the church in America (and the world) today. A good brother and his wife told me that same thing a few years ago concerning all of the many Hispanic countries that they have visited for 50 years.
Contrast that with the "hallmark" of the church right after Pentecost as recorded in Acts. Seven times in the book of Acts we see the phrase, "they were all in one accord," but no place in Acts says what they were in one accord about. The ONLY place I have found in the New Testament which tells us what that early church was in accord about is in Romans 15:6, which says, "That ye may with one mind and one mouth glorify God, even the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ."
The phrase "with one mind" is the exact same Greek word as "in one accord" in Acts. The song that God expects to hear in His congregation is one accord - unity - oneness. That can only be found in the Lord Jesus Christ. One mind speaks of singleness of mind. It also speaks of giving a clear sound. One mouth speaks of language - one mouth or one language, one word or one sound. The early church had unity because they were in one accord to glorify God. The church today has disunity and attempts to have union based on our interpretation of the written word. Man's approach invariably results in a compromise and a mixture.
Now let us see God's prescription or plan as to how we can cooperate with the Holy Spirit to bring about the true unity of the faith. One of the best declarations of God's plan is found in Philippians 2:1-8,
1 If there be therefore any consolation [comfort] in Christ, if any comfort of love, if any fellowship of the Spirit, if any bowels and mercies,
Bowels (or inward affection) and mercies means to have intense care and deep empathy for each other. Paul saw these benefits of encouragement, comfort, fellowship, tenderness, and compassion as present realities for those who are in Christ.
2 Fulfil ye my joy, that ye be likeminded, having the same love, being of one accord, of one mind.
This verse emphasizes the unity that should exist among Christians. Paul says that his joy would be fulfilled from seeing all Christians to be likeminded or sharing the same mind. It was not that Paul had no joy. Nehemiah said that the joy of the Lord is our strength. Paul knew that the joy of the Lord was his strength. Paul says that the only way to fulfill or complete his joy was for all Christians to be likeminded, have the same agape love, be of one accord, and be of one mind. When Paul says "of one mind," whose mind does he speak about? The mind of our pastor? or the leader of our group? No, the mind of Christ. Of course, all Christians are unique and different in many ways. And we all tend to say, "If you just see it my way, then there is no problem." But none of us has all of the answers. Only Christ, the Head, has all of the answers.
3 Let nothing be done through strife or vainglory; but in lowliness of mind let each esteem other better than themselves.
The mortal enemies of unity and harmony in the church are strife and vain glory. The word "strife" carries a different meaning to us today than it did 400 years ago. The word "strife" means striving, but striving out of self-ambition. Human nature wants to promote myself or prove myself. It speaks of grasping at something for me. Vain glory speaks of conceit. It speaks of pride. It means that we think that we are something when we are not. We think that we are something that God has not made us to be.
Let nothing be done through strife or vain glory. What is nothing? Nothing speaks of nothing, not even good things. Nothing and cannot are two words that describe the capabilities of natural man.
"In lowliness of mind let each esteem (or value) others better than themselves." That is impossible in the natural realm. Paul, with all of the revelations that he received, said in 2 Corinthians 11:5 that he was in nothing behind any of the apostles; but in another place he said "I am chief among sinners" (1 Timothy 1:15).
2 Corinthians 10:12, "For we dare not make ourselves of the number, or compare ourselves with some that commend themselves: but they measuring themselves by themselves, and comparing themselves among themselves, are not wise."
The great prophet Isaiah, in Isaiah 6, was allowed to see and understand the great difference between the Lord and himself. It changed his life. James and John, in Mark 10:37, asked of Jesus that they would be allowed to sit, one on His right hand and the other on his left hand in His glory. After Pentecost they learned differently.
4 Look not every man on his own things, but every man also on the things of others.
It is proper for us to look after our own things, but only if we have equal concern for the interests of other members of the body.
5 Let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus:
That is the will of God, but we must cooperate with the Holy Spirit. "Let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus." The word "let" means allow. In other words that requires not only the power of the Holy Spirit but also a decision on our part. What was in the mind of Jesus? He said, "Lo, I come to do thy will, O God." Jesus, as a man, had the same mind as the Father. We don't get the mind of Christ by going to church, or by listening to our pastor, or by thinking about it, or by mentally agreeing with it. We get the mind of Christ by living as Jesus lived, by endeavoring to think and act by the spirit of Christ within, by being motivated to only do the will of the Father.
Now, Verses 2-5 of Philippians 2 seem like rather impossible tasks for us to fulfill. But God never asks us to do anything that cannot be achievable through the power of the Holy Spirit.
6 Who, being in the form of God, thought it not robbery to be equal with God:7 But made Himself of no reputation, and took upon Him the form of a servant, and was made in the likeness of men:
Natural man desires to make a reputation for himself. That verse means that Jesus emptied Himself of all motivation of self. Paul, after ministering for 14 years, went up by revelation to the apostles in Jerusalem, lest he had labored in vain. Paul said that they added nothing to him because they were teaching the same gospel. Natural man likewise does not want to be a servant. Recently we shared with you a message about the servant of God.
8 And being found in fashion as a man, He humbled Himself, and became obedient unto death, even the death of the cross.
Natural man does not want to humble himself, and natural man certainly does not want to be submissive to other men or to the Lord. But those two very important qualities must be worked within us if we desire to glorify God. Many scriptures, such as 2 Chronicles 7:14, and 1 Peter 5:6 emphasize the importance of true humility being worked within us. We all know that Jesus said, "If any man will be my disciple, let him deny himself, take up his cross, and follow me."
Although many verses clearly show us our pathway to unity, let us look at one more scripture.
2 Corinthians 3:18, "But we all, with open face beholding as in a glass the glory of the Lord, are changed into the same image from glory to glory, even as by the Spirit of the Lord."
First of all, we must have an open face, with our spiritual eyes open. Those spiritual eyes are given by the Lord. Unfortunately, too many Christians have a closed face ... open only to what we have been taught in the past, the traditions of men, and our own interpretation of scripture.
Next, we must have eyes to see the glory of the Lord. "The whole earth is full of His glory" (Isaiah 6:3). We might recall that prophets were first called seers. Prophets in the Old Testament were seldom received by God's chosen people. That attitude has changed very little under the New Covenant. A well-known proverb is "don't bite the hand that feeds you." Do not scorn or treat ill those from whom one derives benefit, for to do so is to risk losing those benefits altogether. The major function of a true prophet is to help to elevate the vision of members of the church.
2 Corinthians 3:18 also tells us that we are changed into the image of the Lord by the Holy Spirit, not by any man or group of men. Genesis 1:26, "Let us make man in our image, after our likeness ..."
We Christians have a lack of vision ... a lack of seeing the holiness of the Lord and a lack of seeing that natural man is dust or flesh. We have forgotten why we protested 500 years ago. We have forgotten all of the unity that the early church walked in. We have forgotten the Christian roots on which this country was founded. We have forgotten the double fruitfulness given to us by God. We have turned our blessings into the ways of man.
Unity among believers results from identifying with the indivisible unity of God. As we identify ourselves with Him, who is the life, and as we acknowledge who we are, we find a new identity as a son in Christ. That is exactly what the great prophet Isaiah did, as recorded in Isaiah 6. As we identify with the Son of God, there is a new approach to God and to all that pertains to Him. We approach Him not in the flesh as our old man, but as that new creation which is ours in Him. May we all seek Him and allow Him to make us one so that we might glorify Him and that the world may know what a mighty God we serve. Amen.
Next, we must have eyes to see the glory of the Lord. "The whole earth is full of His glory" (Isaiah 6:3). We might recall that prophets were first called seers. Prophets in the Old Testament were seldom received by God's chosen people. That attitude has changed very little under the New Covenant. A well-known proverb is "don't bite the hand that feeds you." Do not scorn or treat ill those from whom one derives benefit, for to do so is to risk losing those benefits altogether. The major function of a true prophet is to help to elevate the vision of members of the church.
2 Corinthians 3:18 also tells us that we are changed into the image of the Lord by the Holy Spirit, not by any man or group of men. Genesis 1:26, "Let us make man in our image, after our likeness ..."
We Christians have a lack of vision ... a lack of seeing the holiness of the Lord and a lack of seeing that natural man is dust or flesh. We have forgotten why we protested 500 years ago. We have forgotten all of the unity that the early church walked in. We have forgotten the Christian roots on which this country was founded. We have forgotten the double fruitfulness given to us by God. We have turned our blessings into the ways of man.
Unity among believers results from identifying with the indivisible unity of God. As we identify ourselves with Him, who is the life, and as we acknowledge who we are, we find a new identity as a son in Christ. That is exactly what the great prophet Isaiah did, as recorded in Isaiah 6. As we identify with the Son of God, there is a new approach to God and to all that pertains to Him. We approach Him not in the flesh as our old man, but as that new creation which is ours in Him. May we all seek Him and allow Him to make us one so that we might glorify Him and that the world may know what a mighty God we serve. Amen.
No comments:
Post a Comment