Forced Unity and the Unity of the Bride
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1 And the whole earth was of one language, and of one speech.
2 And it came to pass, as they journeyed from the east, that they found a plain in the land of Shinar; and they dwelt there.
3 And they said one to another, Go to, let us make brick, and burn them throughly. And they had brick for stone, and slime had they for morter.
4 And they said, Go to, let us build us a city and a tower, whose top may reach unto heaven; and let us make us a name, lest we be scattered abroad upon the face of the whole earth.
Introduction
Introduction
If you go to a Catholic church in Chicago, or in LA, or in Rome, the Scriptures you hear read are the same.
From Catholic Online:
“IS THE CATHOLIC MASS THE SAME EVERYWHERE IN THE WORLD?
The structure of the Catholic mass is the same everywhere in the world. The mass structure has two parts; the Liturgy of the Word and the Liturgy of the Eucharist.
The Liturgy of the Word celebrates the word of God and we hear one to two readings from the Bible plus a Gospel reading. The readings are the same everywhere, but a parish could celebrate a special feast day and use those prescribed readings.
The second part of the mass is the Liturgy of the Eucharist. This is the the part of Mass immediately following the prayer of the faithful where we celebrate the Lord’s sacrifice.
This mass happens everywhere, every day in Catholic Churches through out the world. Having a universal Church is one of the greatest aspects of the Catholic Church. Where ever you go in the world you can attend mass and know that it is the same as it would be if you were at your local parish.”
This is forced unity. They have made a name and a city, mystery Babylon.
1 And there came one of the seven angels which had the seven vials, and talked with me, saying unto me, Come hither; I will shew unto thee the judgment of the great whore that sitteth upon many waters:
2 With whom the kings of the earth have committed fornication, and the inhabitants of the earth have been made drunk with the wine of her fornication.
3 So he carried me away in the spirit into the wilderness: and I saw a woman sit upon a scarlet coloured beast, full of names of blasphemy, having seven heads and ten horns.
4 And the woman was arrayed in purple and scarlet colour, and decked with gold and precious stones and pearls, having a golden cup in her hand full of abominations and filthiness of her fornication:
5 And upon her forehead was a name written, MYSTERY, BABYLON THE GREAT, THE MOTHER OF HARLOTS AND ABOMINATIONS OF THE EARTH.
This is the so called Catholic church and her daughters.
When Paul instructed Timothy, he never gave him a list of scriptures to read, or letters to quote.
1 I charge thee therefore before God, and the Lord Jesus Christ, who shall judge the quick and the dead at his appearing and his kingdom;
2 Preach the word; be instant in season, out of season; reprove, rebuke, exhort with all longsuffering and doctrine.
Today there is an attempt at forced unity. We’ll all listen to the same preacher or the same tape, read the same scriptures, take communion at the same time.
This is not what the Bible teaches, it’s Catholic dogma.
Bro. Branham taught us to be united with the Word.
11 Teach me thy way, O Lord; I will walk in thy truth: Unite my heart to fear thy name.
Now, we know the Holy Ghost is here. We know the Holy Ghost is life. But brethren, do you realize it’s only working in a stump? Did you think that? Do you realize that’s a part, my friend? The Spirit is only working in a stump? The Bible said it would be a stump.
What is it? We’ve got disunified body. We’ve got brotherly love scattered from side to side. Way down in the heart of every borned again man, this morning, in their hearts they want to embrace one another.
There’s a many a preacher here in Phoenix that belongs to the churches of different denominations would love to walk in here this morning, and take the Oneness, and the Twoness, and the Threeness, and forget their differences, and…?…Christ is in their heart.
But what is it? What’s keeping them from it? Their organization. If they get caught in that bunch, they’ll get excommunicated. That’s a false unity; the Bible said so. 57-0309B - “I Will Restore”
So now the great harlot of Revelation 17, these Balaam teachers with their false doctrine, is marrying the church into that kind of a mess. Watch when it comes to the showdown at the end time, look the weakness of it now.
Nine hundred and something different organizations, one pulling one way, and one the other. There is no unity among them. And they’re trying to bring unity; not backed by the Word of God, God’s original plan. They are taking it in by a politics and an organization.
God don’t change His mind. He stays right with His Word. He said, “Heavens and earth will pass away, but My Word won’t.” That’s right. He stays with His original Word. 65-0418E - “Does God Ever Change His Mind About His Word?”
They made themselves a name, but God put His name in Christ.
And now we see this forced religion, right in view now, to bring all the little groups into “one great unity,” they call it. Some of them believe in this, and some believe in that; and some deny this, and some deny that. The Bible said, “How can two walk together except they be agreed?” It’ll never work.
We’ve got to be in an agreement. And what in agreement with what? Not in agreement with one another, as much as we’ve got to be in agreement with the Word, with God. That’s what it’s got to be in the agreement with.
Now we find out, and a forced unity was represented by groups of people at Babylon. God cannot put His Name in such a thing as that. He never did and He never will. Though they tried it, they put their name into it, put His Name into it, but it’s not so. 65-0425 - “God’s Provided Place Of Worship”
Bro. Branham goes on to say He only put His name in Christ.
We don’t want a forced unity or a false unity, we want true unity of the Word.
12 For as the body is one, and hath many members, and all the members of that one body, being many, are one body: so also is Christ.
13 For 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.
14 For the body is not one member, but many.
15 If the foot shall say, Because I am not the hand, I am not of the body; is it therefore not of the body?
Paul continues talking about the differing parts of the body.
Our unity in Christ is not based on sameness.
We re one body, but we are not the same. God is not a communist.
How does an earthquake happen? Two tectonic plates moving opposite directions grind against one another.
We should be moving the same direction, though we are different.
The place where these plate meet is called a “fault line”
What are some fault lines in the local church that we should be aware of?
1. Race
1. Race
All the Bride marched together.
All races came from Noah’s three sons.
Little denominational barriers keep our fellowship apart, but God loves us just the same. We’re His children. His grace overrides the whole thing, and He loves us all. Whether we are white, brown, yellow, black, it doesn’t make a bit of difference to Him. We all come from one person, Adam.
Each one of us, whether we’re white, brown, black, or yellow, we could transfuse blood to each other, and save each other’s life by a blood transfusion.
But I’m so thankful that One come, Who was made different from all of us, and through the transfusion of His Blood, we live forever: the Lord Jesus, Who was neither Jew nor Gentile, He was God.
(We were saved by the blood of God)
So we’re so thankful for that. Breaking down all the middle walls of partition, and bringing us in to one lovely fellowship together… 55-0222 - “Jehovah-Jireh”
26 And hath made of one blood all nations of men for to dwell on all the face of the earth, and hath determined the times before appointed, and the bounds of their habitation;
God allowed us to live where we live and be what we are and we should be happy with that, not try to change it and be something we’re not.
God knew everything about us, even the color we would be before the foundation of the world.
And you, the color of hair you have, the color eyes you have, the stature that you’re in, God seen you before the foundation of the world.
And He seen you, a human being, like you are. And though there come a million years yet, there’s nothing can keep you from coming back to that perfect image that God ordained for you in the beginning, “My sheep hear My Voice, a stranger they will not follow.” 64-1221 - “Why It Had To Be Shepherd”
9 And they sung a new song, saying, Thou art worthy to take the book, and to open the seals thereof: for thou wast slain, and hast redeemed us to God by thy blood out of every kindred, and tongue, and people, and nation;
10 And hast made us unto our God kings and priests: and we shall reign on the earth.
2. Finances
2. Finances
The poor envy the rich and the rich oppress the poor, that is man’s way, but it’s not God’s way.
Some men are gifted to make money, others are not. A Christian will provide for his own, but not everyone is blessed the same materially.
And I think, today, as I look around and see rich men, poor men all fellowshipping together, there’s something about it we have on one common grounds, that is Christian fellowship.
And each man, maybe the man is a, someone spoke, like the brother that was talking that the Lord had blessed him with so-much money, and the other people, maybe you think you don’t have that much money, and you don’t want to give your testimony,
but God has give you something, it’s like what Brother duPlessis said, that He hasn’t give this man, it’s altogether different. 60-0611B - “Fellowship”
He tells the story of going to Tulsa and seeing the great buildings.
Now, I know how some businessman would feel to hear the man, that how God is blessing, but remember, “God is your Portion, too, brother.
God is your Portion.” When we come together, our fellowships are the same, see, we fellowship one with another. 60-0611B - “Fellowship”
33 But seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you.
3. Personality
3. Personality
One of the reasons we know the Godhead can’t be a trinity of persons is because that would mean three personalities, and they would be different by definition.
How that God, trying to place His people, and when God places one, then, oh, all the whole church wants to be like that one, have the same kind of things, do the same things.
We are cut out different, we’re made different, we are natured different, and we are positionally placed different, each one for a different work; maybe one for just a little kind of a work, another for a large work.
I believe it was David or one of the prophets, I forget now, said, “I would rather be a doormat at the House of the Lord, than to dwell in the tents with the wicked.” 60-0522M - “Adoption #3”
There are people who are perfectly qualified to have a certain office in the church but they don’t have the nature for it, their personality is off.
Illustrate: every bell must be crafted from specific materials and crafted a certain way to produce a certain tone.
He is the great Refiner’s Furnace, that where He has to put these things upon us, and trials, and persecutions and things, to mold it together, to make our testimony ring for a certain time, and a certain note that He wants rang out in a certain day.
We’re made different. We’re all made different. We see different. But we all see one thing, that’s Jesus Christ. Let’s look at Him. 63-1216 - “We Have Seen His Star And Have Come To Worship Him”
20 Knowing this first, that no prophecy of the scripture is of any private interpretation.
21 For the prophecy came not in old time by the will of man: but holy men of God spake as they were moved by the Holy Ghost.
How do 66 men over more than 4000 years produce a masterpiece that fits exactly together? God’s unity. They weren’t the same, but they spoke with one voice because they were inspired by one Spirit.
4. Generations
4. Generations
Generations can be a fault line. Every generation thinks the next one is completely nuts.
“Our sires’ age was worse than our grandsires’. We, their sons, are more worthless than they; so in our turn we shall give the world a progeny yet more corrupt.” Horace 20 BC
“Modern fashions seem to keep on growing more and more debased … The ordinary spoken language has also steadily coarsened. People used to say ‘raise the carriage shafts’ or ‘trim the lamp wick,’ but people today say ‘raise it’ or ‘trim it.’ When they should say, ‘Let the men of the palace staff stand forth!’ they say, ‘Torches! Let’s have some light!’” Essays in Idleness), Yoshida Kenkō 1330 – 1332
“Never has youth been exposed to such dangers of both perversion and arrest as in our own land and day. Increasing urban life with its temptations, prematurities, sedentary occupations, and passive stimuli just when an active life is most needed, early emancipation and a lessening sense for both duty and discipline…” The Psychology of Adolescence, Granville Stanley Hall 1904
Many of the concerns elders have for our youth are valid, and as young people we should always honor those who came before us.
32 Thou shalt rise up before the hoary head, and honour the face of the old man, and fear thy God: I am the Lord.
If you see an elder saint carrying something or working we should all be willing to pitch in and help.
There will always be friction between generations, because no two generations are the same. But we are one body.
We say we have been restored back to the early church. Does anyone want to sit on a rock? No air conditioning? no indoor plumbing in the church?
You are never going to completely understand your kids and grandkids, no one ever has. they live in a different world.
The standard should be God’s Word, not what we did.
Don’t be too hard on the kids, because someone might look to see who raised those kids.
Bro. Branham turned the culture war on its head.
It isn’t the kids that needs the whipping, it’s papa and mama, for letting them do like that. That, it isn’t juvenile delinquency, it’s parent delinquency.
And I think a lot of pulpit delinquency, for they just let them get by and say nothing about it, when there it is in the Word. 62-0603 - “The End-Time Evangelism”
The disciples didn’t want to waste time on Sunday School or a youth meeting.
13 And they brought young children to him, that he should touch them: and his disciples rebuked those that brought them.
14 But when Jesus saw it, he was much displeased, and said unto them, Suffer the little children to come unto me, and forbid them not: for of such is the kingdom of God.
15 Verily I say unto you, Whosoever shall not receive the kingdom of God as a little child, he shall not enter therein.
We have one Lord, One Faith, One Baptism. We are One Body.
All of our young families are raising children in a much more difficult time than we did. Lets give them room to do that. Lets be teachers not tyrants.
2 Bear ye one another’s burdens, and so fulfil the law of Christ.
This is not a forced unity but a unity brought by the Word.
Not how I did it or how you did it but how the Word says to do it.
Later on Paul says every one must bear his own burden. What that means is “I may not understand your particular burden but I’ll help you carry it.”
Illustrate: Simon carrying Jesus cross.
He hadn’t been to Gethsemane, he could not understand Jesus burden, but when the body of Christ was weak, he carried his burden up the hill.
Conclusion
Conclusion
Illustrate: He’s not heavy, he’s my brother.
I’m so glad I’m a part of the Family God
