Eagerly Maintaining Unity
Notes
Transcript
Intro
Intro
As we have been praying, we see the trials and diffucylties that you face.
We have also seen the sinful ways people treat the body of Christ, and so I felt that before God i had a responsibility to speak to these issues. As a pastor, a shepherd, I have to shepherd you toward righteousness. Toward purity. Towards unity.
Let us consider some relevant verse from God’s Word:
Foundations for Unity
Foundations for Unity
Our Unity is based on God himself:
The glory that you have given me I have given to them, that they may be one even as we are one,
Jesus desires that his people be one in the same way that God is one.
Our God is Triune - three in one. He is eternally existent in 3 persons. 1 God, 1 essence, Father, Son & Spirit in perfect harmony and unity. One.
As Jesus prays for the church in John 17 he refers to the oness of the God head as the model of our unity.
Our unity is based on God’s saving work.
God has brought us together into one body.
There are different words we can use to describe the people of God, such as the Saints, the Kingdom of God, the Bride of Christ, the House of God, or the Body of Christ.
God has brought of of the world, and is still bringing, one people for himself. He is saving a unified people.
so we, though many, are one body in Christ, and individually members one of another.
We are one people who are united because we are bound together in Christ. Jesus died to save his people. He died to reconcile us to God. He defeated death so we might live forever united to our LORD.
Unlike your workplace or your school where you have temporary cliques or workgroups, we will be living together forever. The stakes are much higher. Our unity is not temporary, it is eternal, and we need to not just spiritualise our unity, but to live it out.
Now it is true that we share a wide unity with all Christians everywhere, but I can’t be actively unified with them all in the same way. I love by brothers in Chille, i can pray for them, but there is little i can do to be actively in unity with them. It is a spiritual reality, but not something the we ordinarily experience.
Instead the scriptures show that we are to live out our unity as the universal body through our belonging and participation in the local body. Local groups with local leadership and
Unfortunately our modern mindset causes us to think of churches like franchises where you can just drop into any and expect to be served. And if there was something about the maccas on High street that annoyed you, then you just go down the street to the maccas on Longs St where there’s new management and its been recently refurbished. It is possible to talk about unity and loyalty to a franchise, but with that kind of midset you are alienated from the people that make the place.
Our unity with Christ is not just about sharing a brand name, but about being actually unified with actual people in a real place. Our unity with Jesus leads to us unifying with one another - rich, poor, foreigner, citizen, male, female, old, young, in Christ we are one body.
Our Unity requires effort
I therefore, a prisoner for the Lord, urge you to walk in a manner worthy of the calling to which you have been called, with all humility and gentleness, with patience, bearing with one another in love, eager to maintain the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace.
Because sin is still in effect, and there are wolves in the church, division and disunity are really dangers.
It is quite observable that Christians are prone to divide and split. How many of you have lived through a church split?
So in order to maintain and increase our unity we must work for it. Sin will naturally undo godly unity and either create isolation or sinful schism.
God instead urges us to live out our faith in such a way that leads to the “Unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace”
What causes division?
What causes division?
Satan wants to destroy the Church. Here are some of the tactics he deploys.
Secret Sin
It divides us from each other. We live in shame afraid that others will see. It isolates us. The guilt loads us down and we pull away from others, afraid that they will see our sin and see us for who we truly are.
It metastasises. What could have been small and addressable grows and becomes a life threatening cancer.
It is hypocrisy to hide it while decrying it.
Nothing is covered up that will not be revealed, or hidden that will not be known. Therefore whatever you have said in the dark shall be heard in the light, and what you have whispered in private rooms shall be proclaimed on the housetops.
It will be exposed one day, one way or another. It is better to deal with it now to stop is festering and damaging the body.
Unresolved Sin
This is sin that is exposed, but it remains unadressed either because is is accepted, or it is too hard.
If satan cannot keep a sin hidden, the next best thing is to have it accpeted or tollerated.
Slander, Gossip & Cowardice
This drives wedges in-between people
Nothing creates disivison faster than “I respesent a group of unammed people who say XYZ”
From within and without - accusations from those who are outside the church can be used by satan to divide us
How great a forest is set ablaze by such a small fire! And the tongue is a fire, a world of unrighteousness. The tongue is set among our members, staining the whole body, setting on fire the entire course of life, and set on fire by hell.
We must take great care not to set alight fires with our toungues, or to fan fires by adding to them.
Don’t make assumptions about people’s motives, go and talk to them.
Don’t accuse people of things you have not seen - if someone says something untoward about another person - go and speak to them yourself.
Hearsay is the tinder on which toungues light their fire.
There are real problems that will come up in church, and we will need to talk about them to resolve it. But we must take great care not to gossip and slander and cause division through falsehood, deception, half-truths and misunderstanding.
Jealousy, Selfishness, Grudges and Unforgivness
These are example sins that divide us. They make us suspicious of each other and unwilling to love and be kind.
But if you have bitter jealousy and selfish ambition in your hearts, do not boast and be false to the truth. This is not the wisdom that comes down from above, but is earthly, unspiritual, demonic. For where jealousy and selfish ambition exist, there will be disorder and every vile practice.
Unorgiveness is the kind of thing that will keep you out of God’s kingdom.
False Teaching
This is kind of obvious really - bad teaching will cause trouble.
But some may say, why not let there be a diversity of teaching and then let people decide?
This is the death of truth. Pastors are responsible to defend the truth. Truth divides, into those who belong to jesus and thoes who don’t. But then false teaching desire to lead the faithful away, to deceive, to splinter us into different groups of people who beleive different things. Novelty in teaching is a sure fire way to undermine our unity ion Christ and lead people astray.
Fighting over the wrong things
Sometimes we will nedd to fight. Fights are important to defend what is good and right, but we must take care not to fight over the wrong things:
Remind them to be submissive to rulers and authorities, to be obedient, to be ready for every good work, to speak evil of no one, to avoid quarreling, to be gentle, and to show perfect courtesy toward all people.
How do we get unity?
How do we get unity?
I therefore, a prisoner for the Lord, urge you to walk in a manner worthy of the calling to which you have been called, with all humility and gentleness, with patience, bearing with one another in love, eager to maintain the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace.
May the God of endurance and encouragement grant you to live in such harmony with one another, in accord with Christ Jesus, that together you may with one voice glorify the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ.
Cling to Christ!
Be Humble
Be patient
Confess Sin
Speak the truth.
Speak to those who have sinned
Unity of mind
Unity of Body - Your actions can contribute to the body being divided or united
Love your neighbour as yourself
Finally, brothers, rejoice. Aim for restoration, comfort one another, agree with one another, live in peace; and the God of love and peace will be with you. Greet one another with a holy kiss.
So What?
So What?
