CAN I TRUST THE BIBLE? The Internal and External Evidence, Part 5

I pray that God has used these studies this week to remind you it is reasonable to believe the Bible.  We have examined the affirmation of archaeology, the testimony of history, and the proof of prophecy.  Today, we will bring another witness into the court—THE WITNESS OF UNITY.

Jesus said this to His foes—the Pharisees:

You search the Scriptures, for in them you think you have eternal life; and these are they which testify of Me. But you are not willing to come to Me that you may have life.

I do not receive honor from men. But I know you, that you do not have the love of God in you.  I have come in My Father’s name, and you do not receive Me; if another comes in his own name, him you will receive.  How can you believe, who receive honor from one another, and do not seek the honor that comes from the only God?  Do not think that I shall accuse you to the Father; there is one who accuses you—Moses, in whom you trust.  For if you believed Moses, you would believe Me; for he wrote about Me.  But if you do not believe his writings, how will you believe My words?  (John 5:39-47 NKJV)

Those self-righteous, religious scholars boasted of their comprehension and commitment to the Law of Moses—yet, they couldn’t see the forest for the trees!  They read the Scriptures—and claimed to believe them—seeing them as a system of rules and regulations to be enforced.  They overlooked that all the laws, ceremonies, sacrifices, prophecies, and so forth pointed to the Messiah to come.  Moses wrote of Jesus and the redemption we need. Truly, there are rules and principles laid out in Scripture, but this is not the core of what the Bible is.  The message is—we are broken because of sin, helpless and hopeless to fix ourselves, but God in His grace and love has provided us His Son to be our Savior.  We begin in Genesis with paradise lost, and everything that follows is God’s love story, showing us how paradise can be restored, so reaching the last book, Revelation, “It is done!” (21:6).

After Christ rose from the dead, He made sure His disciples got the message.

Then He said to them, “O foolish ones, and slow of heart to believe in all that the prophets have spoken! Ought not the Christ to have suffered these things and to enter into His glory?”  And beginning at Moses and all the Prophets, He expounded to them in all the Scriptures the things concerning Himself.  (Luke 24:25-27)

Like the Pharisees, we can stop our ears, shut our eyes, and steel our hearts to the truth.  Please, consider carefully how logical it is to believe the Bible.  Examine the evidence within and without the Scriptures which witnesses to their accuracy and authority.

If you still wrestle with doubts, don’t despair!  We see from these verses that even those disciples had difficulty believing.  Turning to the Scriptures, however, and listening to the Spirit’s witness of Christ, will yield faith in increasing measure.  “And they said to one another, ‘Did not our heart burn within us while He talked with us on the road, and while He opened the Scriptures to us?’ ” (v.32)

Jesus knew this and so doubled down in His instruction to His followers:

Then He said to them, “These are the words which I spoke to you while I was still with you, that all things must be fulfilled which were written in the Law of Moses and the Prophets and the Psalms concerning Me.”  And He opened their understanding, that they might comprehend the Scriptures.  (v.44-45) 

The Bible is not just a book, but a library of 66 books.  There are 40 authors writing from 3 continents, over a 2000 year span.  Yet, the message is a beautiful harmony—a symphony orchestrated by one Composer—sacred History which is His story—with Christ, the central figure.  That is miraculous!  There is no reasonable explanation for such unless there was an omniscient Author guiding the words penned by the human authors.  Examine the truth and embrace it to the saving of your soul and sustenance of your spiritual life.

BEING AN USHER IN THE HOUSE OF GOD

but if you show partiality, you commit sin….  (James 2:9a)

Oil and water don’t mix; neither does Christianity and prejudice.  People are divided today by color and creed—in a world becoming more polarized by the day.  This must be steadfastly resisted by the church—it is not the Spirit of God, but the spirit of Satan at work.

In James chapter two, he has a word about this.  He had witnessed some ushers behaving badly it seems.  They had shown partiality to the social standing of the rich by giving them the best seats, while discriminating against the poor by saying, “Sorry, standing room only for you,” shoving them off into a corner.  The satanic spirit of segregation had infiltrated the church.

God is no respecter of persons, and His children are to bear His likeness (v.1).  James calls his fellow believers, “brethren,” even though he was an Apostle.  He doesn’t throw his weight around.  Nor does he highlight being Jesus’ brother.  He places himself on level ground with his faith family.  Since we have the same Father—the poor Christian, the black believer, the Presbyterian, the youth with piercings and tattoos—are all my brothers and sisters who are children of God.  We have the same Father and we share the same faith.  Oh, we may differ some around the edges, but the fundamentals of faith are embraced by believers of every stripe.  James isn’t calling for diluted doctrine.  For example, I can have fellowship with a born again Christian regardless of their denominational label, but cannot with a liberal Baptist who has rejected the faith!  I can pray for him or her to come to the light, but until then Scripture forbids light to have fellowship with darkness.

James drives this home with the example of a man who is to help bring people into fellowship during worship who is actually driving a wedge between them (v.2-7).  The near-sighted usher cannot see beyond the outward dress of the worshipper seeking a seat.  He judges based on their garments and gold or lack thereof.  One has on “fine apparel” while the other has “filthy clothes.”  The fact is a rich man can be dressed in the finest fashion, yet inwardly be wearing the filthy rags of self-righteousness, and a poor man be dressed in a soiled suit, yet his soul be clothed in a white robe of righteousness!  We must be reminded that God does not judge by the outward appearance, He looks at the heart.  That should be our practice, as well.

Prejudice is a sin that must be taken to the cross.  It is the antithesis of love—the preeminent mark of a Christ-follower.  We may minimize this sin, but rest assured God does not gloss over any transgression.  To break one law is to be guilty as if we broke them all (v.8-11).  To keep this one particular law is to keep them all—the all-encompassing royal law of love!  To love God with all our being and love our neighbor as ourselves is the sum total of our duty according to Jesus.

If we are judgmental toward others, we will be judged by the same standard (v.12-13).  One who closes the door of the church to a seeker may find the doors of Heaven closed to them!  What if those who discriminate against people here, reap what they sow in the hereafter?  If we can’t enjoy worship with different people on earth, why do we think we will enjoy it with them for eternity?

REAL WORSHIP

“Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly in all wisdom, teaching and admonishing one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing with grace in your hearts to the Lord."  (Colossians 3:16)

Remember the movie, "Groundhog Day"?  Bill Murray kept reliving the same day, over and over.  Do you ever feel that way about a church service?  That ought not be!  Before I point any fingers anywhere else, I must ask myself, "Is it the preacher's fault?"  Sometimes it is.  If I’m not prayed up and fired up—can I really expect anybody else to be?  So, I'm willing to look into the mirror of God's Word and do the hard evaluation--what about you?  Will you again leave the worship service saying, “Well, I didn’t get anything out of that!”   Maybe there's the problem--we think worship is about us.  Many churches succumb to this pressure and try to put on a show--man-centered entertainment.   Our focus instead is to be God-centered, Christ-exalting, Spirit-empowered, and Gospel-driven.  

Real worship requires real PREPARATION (Col.3:12-15)  You need to put on your, "Sunday go to meetin' clothes"!  I'm not talking about outer garments, but inner  graces!  These are attitudes of the heart that prepare us to meet with God corporately.  Such is befitting a child of God, chosen out of the world by the Father’s love. Jesus said, “Blessed are the merciful, for they shall obtain mercy.” We need to cut each other some slack.  Put on a kind disposition.   The proud church member wants the spotlight on them, but the humble want it on God.  The meek are nor demanding, insisting on their own way and compromise preferences where no principle is involved.  The long-suffering are patient with people and not bitter toward God.  Those ready for worship are forgiving (v.13).  You can’t offer acceptable worship otherwise—Jesus said to leave your gift at the altar and be reconciled to your brother.   It's hard to sit on a pew and worship God with someone you are mad at.  Love is the belt that holds all together (v.14).  Then there will be peace inside us, that leads to unity in the Body.  We'll also have a thankful spirit.  Don’t come to be a critic!

Real worship requires real PARTICIPATION (v.16).  Here’s what we do when we get to church.  The Berkley translation renders this, “Let the enriching message of Christ have ample room in your lives.”  Our minds will not be cluttered by distraction or our hearts choked by disobedience.  The wisdom of God is available in the Word of God.  I have made a commitment to be a Bible preacher and not an ear-tickler.  You say, “I don’t like that kind of preaching!” Neither does the Devil!  I have a responsibility to God to feed you.  Don’t impoverish your soul!  We need both instruction on what to do and admonition about what not to do.  As to singing—the text is more important than the tune.  It's not about an entertaining melody, but an edifying message.  You can draw a crowd with gimmicks, but you can only disciple a congregation with the Gospel.

Real worship requires real PRACTICE (v.17).  The real test of whether we have met with God is what happens when we leave.  Feelings are like the tides that ebb and flow.  Commitment stays solid.  This is a daily surrender on the altar of all we are—in conduct and conversation to exalt the Savior.

This is real worship!

CONNECTED

Now I plead with you, brethren, by the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that you all speak the same thing, and that there be no divisions among you, but that you be perfectly joined together in the same mind and in the same judgment.  (1 Corinthians 1:10)

As I type these words I am connected to the internet.  That connection is important if I am to communicate with you.  When this devotional is completed, I will send it out to a potential worldwide audience.  There are times the connection is down and then the communication is disrupted.  That is not only a technological truth, it is a theological one, as witnessed in the first chapter of Paul’s first letter to the Corinthian church. 

The church was a basket-case—as a host of problems plagued them.  Their carnality was showing.  Living in a corrupt environment, they were being contaminated by it.  When they were meant to impact the city, the culture was influencing them instead.  We think that our times are tough to try to live for God—when has it ever been easy?  This first century message is on target for a twenty-first century church.

Of all the problems that plagued the Corinthian Christians, the one Paul confronts first is the breaking of their connection with each other.  One of Satan’s chief weapons is division, and he was utilizing it effectively in Corinth.  While the saints were not cooperating with each other in building up the church, they were cooperating with the devil in breaking up the fellowship!

The Apostle reminds them in verses one through seventeen that they are to be connected in fellowship.  They have been set apart for God—each one.  This is their common experience of an uncommon gift.  Their position in Christ is that of saints.  No matter the other ways that humans segment society—by color, class, gender, age, achievement, and the like—all the redeemed were one in their standing in Christ.  We are reminded that since we are saints, we ought to act like it!  Jesus said that the world would believe in Him when we demonstrated love and displayed unity with one another (John 17:21).  If our connection in fellowship is broken by strife, then the communication of our message is lost.

Not only are God’s people to be connected in fellowship, but in faith (v.18-31).  God’s children share a common faith in an uncommon Savior.  Everything focuses on the cross of Christ, which is the only hope of salvation.  We come by the Calvary Road to heaven, or we do not come at all.  It matters not how much we have in the bank or how little, whether we are young or old, male or female, black or white, educated or uneducated—the ground is level at the foot of the cross.  The world scoffs at the image of a Savior hanging in bloody agony on a tree.  How can a Jew being executed in such a shameful way enable sinners to be saved?  This is God’s way—and it is in the cross that we glory!  It should be evident that this message is one revealed from heaven, for it would never have been dreamed up by humans!  To the Jews it was a stumbling block and to the Gentles it was foolishness, but to all who are saved the old rugged cross, so despised by the world, is the power and wisdom of God for salvation.

Let us stand together in fellowship sharing our faith.  The world is watching—and so is God.

HEAVENLY HARMONY

 

Now the multitude of those who believed were of one heart and one soul; neither did anyone say that any of the things he possessed was his own, but they had all things in common.  (Acts 4:32)

Have you heard an orchestra warming up before a concert?  It is the most horrendous sound.  There is no rhythm, no tune—just noise.  Everyone is doing his or her own thing in a kind of musical anarchy.  When the conductor steps up and raps the baton, everything changes—as the percussion, woodwinds, strings, and brass blend in beautiful harmony.  God has designed the church with diversity—some are cello players, others hold cymbals, and some clarinets, yet in following our Great Conductor, and reading from the same sheet of music—the Word of God—there will be heavenly harmony.  Sadly, many churches are more like the orchestra warming up with awful, discordant notes!  We discover the difference in the latter portion of Acts chapter four.

Harmony comes in PRAYER (v.31).  Something happens when people bind themselves together in a chorus of corporate prayer.  The church was birthed in prayer at Pentecost, and now we see them bound in prayer here.  Likewise, the glory of God came down, and His power was manifested in a remarkable manner.  The filling of the Spirit was evident, and their witness to Christ was courageous.  How we need such a move of God today!  Until God’s people unite their voices in prayer, the church will lack power.

Harmony is nurtured in PURPOSE (v.32).  We move forward together when we focus on a common goal.  They shared a common faith—their shared belief in Christ united them in the same family, and their shared beliefs in conviction united them in the same faith.  They had a complete fellowship—their hearts knit together in grace and generosity.

Harmony yields a credible PROCLAMATION (v.33).  The Great Commission was their assignment and they refused to be sidetracked.  Any church that permits the Devil to detour them from evangelism and discipleship will soon find itself in the quagmire of division over lesser things.  A congregation hot after lost souls has no time to get hot with each other in anger.  Such will be a great church for they have tapped into great grace!

Harmony leads to sharing POSSESSIONS (v.34-37).  Talk is cheap.  If we love someone, we will put our money where our mouth is!  They laid their possessions at the feet of God’s men, signifying their submission to God’s will and dedication in God’s worship.  Our giving ought never to be an afterthought, but an act of adoration.  It involves worship.  They gave all.  While God may not call us to share everything we have, He does call us to surrender all we have.  The needs of others are met when we do.  One of us cannot fund the missions and ministries of the church, but pooled together we can do all God wants.

If we are not in harmony with our fellow believers, we are not in harmony with God.  Let us look to the Conductor, get on the same page, and make music that will wow the world!

PREPARING FOR THE PROMISE

These all continued with one accord in prayer and supplication….  (Acts 1:14a)

Before He ascended to heaven, Jesus had spoken of the coming of the Holy Spirit as, “the Promise of the Father.”  (Acts 1:4-5)  The comprehensive promise of God is in the person of the Spirit—God with His people to indwell them and empower them (Acts 1:8).  The events described in Acts chapter one, portray a church preparing for the Promise.  In chapter two, God will send His mighty Wind from heaven.  They cannot make the Wind blow, but they can set their sails.  How can we, as the people of God today, prepare for the Promise of God to launch us into the deep waters of His mighty work?

There must be submission to God’s will (v.12).  Jesus had commanded them to wait in Jerusalem for the Promise to be experienced, and this is what they did.  Fuller blessing calls for fuller submission, “And we are His witnesses to these things, and so is the Holy Spirit whom God has given to those who obey Him.”  (Acts 5:32)  It is God who does the work, but He does not do it apart from us.  When I yield to Him, my life becomes a channel for the power to flow.

Preparing for the Promise also requires unity in God’s love (v.13-14a).  When there is strife and division, the gentle Dove of Peace—the Holy Spirit—takes flight and withdraws His favor.  No church can be mightily used of God without unity of purpose.  There is always potential for conflict in the church because we are made up of so many different personalities and preferences.  In that upper room, you had a boisterous leader named Peter, a quiet listener named John, a struggling pessimist named Thomas, a meticulous accountant named Matthew, and a patriotic zealot named Simon, for example—all so different, but united in love.  The church is Christ’s Body, with different parts by design, so that together we are healthy and strong to impact the world in a way we can never do when divided.

Prayer is another indispensable preparation for God’s Promise to be manifested (v.14).  Prayer must be our consistent pattern.  They “continued” for ten days in prayer, then preached for ten minutes and three thousand were converted!  We pray for ten minutes, preach for ten days, and if three are saved, we declare revival has come!  We can pray too little, but can never pray too much.  Prayer must be offered in faith.  They were seeking the Promise of the Father.  They believed He would come—He did!  What might happen if we would trust God more?  This prayer was a corporate offering—a harmony of voices lifted to God.  The Lord promises where there is agreement in request, there is assurance of response (Matt.18:18-20).

The final preparation was the disciples’ attentiveness to the Word of God (v.15-26).  They moved to replace Judas Iscariot with another Apostle.  Scripture was their motivation.  They positioned themselves to hear from God and responded in obedience and faith.  Matthias was raised up into a leadership position.  When the Scriptures speak, God speaks.  The church must listen to His voice if we would know His will.  Are we positioned to receive God’s power?  This is how the church can impact the world!

HEARTS UNITED

Behold, how good and how pleasant it is

For brethren to dwell together in unity!  (Psalm 133:1) 

If you knew that you would die tomorrow, what would be on your mind?  What would you pray about?  It might vary from person to person—but, one thing I can guarantee—it would not be something trivial.  We know what Jesus was thinking and praying about as He stood in the shadow of Calvary, just hours before He would be nailed to a cross.  He prayed for His people to be one (see John 17).  If this was on the heart of Jesus at a time like that, then it must be a priority and passion for us.  This is the theme of Christ’s ancestor, David, in Psalm 133.

We are confronted immediately and forcefully with GOD’S DESIRE FOR UNITY (v.1a). “Behold” is an exclamation.  It is an arresting word—a word of passion.  This calls attention to something important!  It is meant to express the desire of God for unity. It speaks of “how good” and “how pleasant it is.”  “How” much indicates the immeasurable value of unity.  Unity is good for it is the expression of the One who alone is utter goodness—God Himself.  Within the One Triune God, there are three Persons—Father, Son and Holy Spirit.  There is infinite love, perfect unity, and utter harmony in this relationship.  It is pleasant for unity restores the harmony of paradise before sin disrupted relationships.

Next, we are pointed to GOD’S DESIGN FOR UNITY (v.1b).  What is unity?  There is a false unity that says, it doesn’t matter what you believe or how you behave—just love one another.  It has one great virtue: tolerance.  In the same chapter where Jesus prayed for unity, He also prayed that we would be sanctified by the truth of God’s Word and kept pure from a sinful world—so obviously unity isn’t at the sacrifice of conviction.  Unity isn’t uniformity.  Some churches try to impose rules and make everyone conform to a certain way of looking and acting.  The church, however,  isn’t an organization—it’s an organism—we’re different parts!  There is room for debate and discussion, so long as we do so in love. Unity is about being in a family.  We are “brethren.”  We “dwell” together.  That is we maintain our closeness.   We are “together” in the essentials. Ours is a common faith—the Apostle’s doctrine (Acts 2:42-47).

This psalm culminates with GOD’S DESCRIPTION OF UNITY (v.2-3).  Unity is described as anointing oil (v.2).  It unleashes fragrance.  This perfumed oil was made of myrrh, cinnamon, sweet calamus, and cassia blended together in olive oil.  Aaron was anointed with it—the oil generously flowing down—so that the fragrance was pervasive.  Unity is like that—you can smell its sweetness.  Frankly, some churches stink.  When the decay and dissolution of a body comes, there is an awful odor.  Are people attracted or repulsed by us?  Unity is also described as morning dew (v.3).  It produces fruit.   In that arid climate, there were only a couple of brief rainy seasons in spring and fall.  Gardens would burn up in summer had it not been for the ample dew.  Dew comes in stillness not storms.  It distills when atmospheric conditions are right.  A fruitful church requires three essentials for a climate of unity: love for the Lord, love for each other, and love for the lost.

May we unite our hearts with our Lord by praying for hearts united in our fellowship and mission!

PLUGGED IN

"Do not sorrow for the joy of the Lord is your strength." (Nehemiah 8:10)

The other day my wife was ironing, when I heard her yell!  A ball of fire had shot out of the iron--the cord working loose and short-circuiting.  That was the end of the iron's usefulness.  Electric irons must be plugged into the power source or they are worthless.  That helps us to understand Christ's words in John 15 where we are told to be abide in Him--to be plugged in--for, "apart from Me, you can do nothing."  Only what is done by the Spirit of Christ and for the glory of Christ is of eternal value.  Sadly, very much done in the name of Christ today is false advertising.  Church work done in the energy of the flesh and glorying in the flesh may sometimes be impressive to the world, but the Day of Judgment will reveal it as hay, wood, and stubble.  The Devil laughs at a church with the form of godliness, but without the power of God.  It does not have to be that way!  It ought not be that way!  In the eighth chapter of Nehemiah, we see the people of God plugged into God's power.  How can we have such an experience?

The church must be UNITED IN THE WORK OF GOD.  "Now all the people gathered together as one man in the open square that was in front of the Water Gate; and they told Ezra the scribe to bring the Book of the Law of Moses, which the LORD had commanded Israel." (v.1)  The love of God binds us together--and when the wire is intact, the power flows.    It was that way on the Day of Pentecost, where a people of one heart, prayed with unity, the power of God came down, and the world would never be the same.  Petty personal agendas and peevish selfish preferences will fray our fellowship--short-circuiting the power of God.  The Kingdom progress made in ancient Israel and the early church could be seen today if we united in genuine love to accomplish God's mission.  God's work is to be done together.

The church must be INSTRUCTED IN THE WORD OF GOD.  "And Ezra opened the book in the sight of all the people, for he was standing above all the people; and when he opened it, all the people stood up. And Ezra blessed the LORD, the great God. Then all the people answered, 'Amen, Amen!' while lifting up their hands. And they bowed their heads and worshiped the LORD with their faces to the ground." (v.5-6)  The bulk of this passage focuses on the faithful communication and reception of God's Word that brought transformation to the congregation.  God's Word makes a connection between Heaven and humans.  As Jesus taught us that to abide in Him was to abide in His Word and that Word to abide in us.

The church must be ACTIVATED IN THE WORSHIP OF GOD.  "Do not sorrow for the joy of the Lord is your strength." (v.10)  They were remorseful over their prior disobedience but summoned to rejoice in their present reverence.  They had reconnected with God in worship.  An overwhelming joy washed over them as they experienced Him.  This would empower them in consecrated service.  What would happen on Monday if on Sunday we truly plugged into the Spirit as we worshipped?  The world would see the difference!  God so move in the hearts of Your people!

CONNECTED IN UNITY: The Source of Unity

 

 

“There is one body and one Spirit, just as you were 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.” (Ephesians 4:4-6)

God is the source of unity.  He is Triune: Father, Son and Spirit, and yet in perfect harmony—oneness with three Persons—we might say in tri-unity.  Now, He not all calls us to follow His model, but furnishes the means for doing so by His very life indwelling us.

Seven times, “one” is used in these three verses to convey God’s expectation for His people.  Seven is the number of completeness and this expresses the complete communion intended for the saints.

We are to be “one body.”  Just as a physical body, with many organs and parts all together working for the good of the person, so the church and her members function like this if healthy.

We share “one Spirit.”  The same Spirit that indwells me, indwells you.  He gifts us in different ways, but every believer has the same Holy Spirit.  He is not the blessing of a privileged few.

We have “one hope,” and that is the hope of Heaven.  Our destiny is glory, where we will abide with all the saints of all the ages.  You may as well get to enjoying your brothers and sisters down here, because you are going to be spending forever with them!

We bow to “one Lord.”  We are fellow citizens of the same Kingdom of God.  All of us have united our voices in pledging allegiance to the Lamb.

We possess “one faith.”  Someone might argue that denominations among Christians run counter to this—and they can.  But, another way to look at denominations is that they are different members of the same universal Body—the local church a microcosm of the worldwide church.  Each has something unique to contribute, but all have a common faith.  Bible-believing Christians, irrespective of some differences around the edges of doctrine are in agreement on the fundamentals of the faith.  If they don’t believe the basics, they aren’t “Christian” no matter the claim they make.

We have “one baptism.”  Again, how can this be a point of unity, when it is one of the issues where Christians disagree?  Some baptize by immersion and some by sprinkling or pouring.  The fact is that even though believers may debate the mode of baptism, they do not dispute the meaning of baptism.  It is a public confession of Christ as Lord—dying to our old life and rising to a new life.  It is the outward testimony of the spiritual reality of baptism into the one Body of Christ by the one Spirit.

We worship “one God and Father of all, who is above all, and through all, and in you all.”  There is only one God.  He is the object of every true believer’s faith and devotion.  We share Him as the Father who has birthed us into God’s family, making us brothers and sisters.  Four times, the word “all” is driven with the hammer of Truth, nailing us down into relationship with each other—fixed, firm and final!

Unity among believers, then, is the work of God and a testimony to His nature.  Disunity comes from a different location and smells of brimstone and sulfur.  May we be one in the bond of love!

CONNECTED IN UNITY: The Struggle for Unity

 

 

“endeavoring to keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace.” (Ephesians 4:3)

Anything worth having demands a price to be paid.  The old exercise mantra transcends every dimension of life: “No pain; no gain.”  If you want a successful business, you must work for it.  If you want a baby, you must deliver it.  If you want to lose weight, you must discipline yourself.  If we want unity in the church, we must fight for it!

That sounds like a contradiction doesn’t it?

But unity doesn’t come without endeavor.  God wants it, and so Satan fights against it.  The Spirit is in a war with our self-centeredness, to overthrow the flesh and have a victorious fellowship.  Jesus died an indescribable death to yield this precious fruit—connecting us to God and to one another.  Shall we not invest our energies in getting and guarding unity?

It is worth fighting for—and strive for it we must!

Our world is coming apart.  The result of sin is, “We have turned, every one, to his own way.”  (Isa.53:6b).  Insisting on our own way turns us away from God’s way, and isolates us from each other.  The ultimate expression of this is, “wars and rumors of wars…nation will rise against nation” (Matt.24:6a, 7a).  The dissolution of our society is witnessed in every conceivable manner: fragmented by ethnicity, gender, age, class, politics, and on and on.

The church is to be different.  We have only one King—and one law—the law of love.  Any threat to the union of saints is to be met with a rapid and forceful response.  Our defenses cannot be relaxed for a moment.  The smallest disagreement over the most trivial of matters confined to only two church members may be the tiny virus that enters the Body and kills it!

By battling and beating strife, we maintain the bond of peace.  The peace in our church is the best advertisement for the Prince of Peace, Who claims our absolute allegiance. 

In a war-weary world, there will be sinners seeking some solace.  Too often they turn to drugs, drink or some other means to numb the pain.  That is only a temporary relief—and in the end only produces more heartache.

What if instead we offered an oasis of peace in a desert of divisiveness?  What if our church were a refuge of harmony in this hate-filled environment?  Perhaps the empty pews that too often result from brothers and sisters wickedly warring against one another would be filled with those seeking the peace that Jesus brings.  It’s worth fighting for!

CONNECTED IN UNITY: The Spirit of Unity

 

“I, therefore, the prisoner of the Lord, beseech you to walk worthy of the calling with which you were called, with all lowliness and gentleness, with longsuffering, bearing with one another in love” (Ephesians 4:1-2)

It is fine to talk about love—we should.  But, our performance demonstrates the reality of our profession.  The church has often been known to affirm love as a principle, but fail to act lovingly as a practice.  Loving activity begins with a loving attitude.  The fruit of connection with others grows from the root of compassion for others.  That is what Paul is getting at in these verses of Ephesians.

He writes from prison, yet is utterly free.  His body may be behind bars, but his spirit soars.  Caesar may be his jail keeper, but God is the one who is Master—it is solely for the cause of Christ, and no real crime, that the Apostle is in a dungeon.  The world might brand him riff-raff, but he knows he is a ruler—that a noble calling belongs to him as a child of the King.  He is called to love God and love the church.  Even in a place where he might have fallen prey to the “woe is me” pity-party, he focuses instead on others.  That is the nature of love.

We are called to connection.  Our call is from God’s Spirit to connect with Christ, as separated sinners are summoned saints.  That connection with Christ places us in community with Christians.  Our lifestyle then is to be an expression of this—“to walk worthy of the calling with which you were called.”  

How do we do this?

Four legs hold up this banqueting table of love:  humility, gentleness, patience and acceptance.  Paul says the spirit of unity is marked by, “with all lowliness and gentleness, with longsuffering, bearing with one another in love.”  Feast your eyes on these traits.

There is to be an attitude of humility.  We take offense when we perceive some slight against ourselves.  But, if we are about stooping to serve, then we focus on ministry to others rather than magnifying ourselves in a self-serving way.  You can tell if you have a servant’s heart by how you react when someone treats you like one!  Jesus is our model, taking up the basin and towel to wash the filthy feet of His followers though He was King of kings and Lord of lords!

Then, we are called to an attitude of gentleness.  People are fragile.  They need extra care.  This is the spirit of Christ which He expressed this way, “A bruised reed He will not break, and smoking flax He will not quench” (Matt.12:20a)  If the stem of a plant is bent and bruised, only a gentle touch can nurse it back to health.  Handle it roughly and it will be broken and never bloom again.  If a wick is only smoldering, it demands a gentle breath to reignite it.  Blow too forcefully and it will be blown out and its light extinguished.  This is the delicate side of disciple-making.

Furthermore, we are called to an attitude of patience.  All of us are a work in progress.  None of us are perfect yet.  As we want others to be patient with us, we are to be patient with them.  Some in the church are lovable and it is no chore to show them love.  Others are difficult, and yet that is how we develop love.  Think of them as God’s sandpaper sent to polish us into the beauty of Christ.  Think of that crowd of disciples Christ would mold into Apostles; it was hard to be patient with such.  Yet, he was.  Christ saw Peter as the Rock—not for what he was at the time, but for what he was eventually going to be.

Finally, we are called to an attitude of acceptance.  If a Holy God has accepted someone into His family, then I must accept them as my brother or sister.  Our appeal is to come to Christ, “Just as I am…” as the invitation hymn conveys.  This doesn’t mean all our conduct is acceptable.  The Spirit will continue to confront us lovingly with the need of growing in grace.  But, it means that we are fully accepted in Christ.  It is because of our connection to Him that the Father accepts us.  Thus, we will not always like what a person does, but we can always love them for who they are in Christ.  We may need to even confront them and correct them in a compassionate way.  It is for their good and the good of the Body—and ultimately for the glory of God that we do so!  Yet, I have found that most of my time needs to focus on working on me rather than fixing others—to extract the log from my eye before I try to see how to remove a splinter from someone else’s eye!

Can you imagine the environment of the church where such a spirit of love reigns?  May this be our daily prayer and demonstrable practice—to walk worthy of our calling to be like Christ!

CONNECTED IN UNITY

 

“endeavoring to keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace.”  (Ephesians 4:3)

If you knew you knew you were facing certain death, what would you be thinking?  If you had the opportunity before the end of your life to pray, what would you ask for?

Jesus knew He was to be crucified and standing in the shadow of the cross we also know what was on His mind and what He prayed for; it is documented in John’s Gospel.  Here is a repeated theme in that prayer:

I do not pray for these alone, but also for those who will believe in Me through their word; that they all may be one, as You, Father, are in Me, and I in You; that they also may be one in Us, that the world may believe that You sent Me.  (John 17:20-21)

He prayed not only for those disciples—He prayed for us—for all who would believe the Gospel.  His prayer was for us to be connected in unity, and that unity would be the most convincing evidence of the Gospel message.

What a powerful force is unleashed when we are one in the bond of peace!  No wonder then that Paul calls us in Ephesians 4:3 to make every effort toward such unity.

I heard Dr. W.A. Criswell, the late pastor of the First Baptist Church of Dallas, Texas share a story at the largest gathering ever of the Southern Baptist Convention.  It illustrates this point so well:

Years ago, I saw a pathetic picture in Life Magazine.  A little boy had been lost in a horizon-to-horizon Kansas wheat field, had wandered away from the house, and had lost his way in the vast sea of standing stalks.  Frantically, the parents had searched for the small child to no avail.  The sympathizing neighbors helped, but without success.  Finally, someone suggested they join hands and comb the fields by sections.  The picture I saw was the sorrowing neighbors with the family standing over the dead body of the little boy, and the cry of the father printed as the caption below: “Oh, if only we had joined hands before!”

All around us are souls that are perishing.  Together we can reach them.  In competition with other churches, or in conflict with other Christians, we will never have the combined strength that comes through a connected witness. Why don’t we join hands and hearts today as the people of God?