One Another: Unity
One Another • Sermon • Submitted
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Introduction:
Introduction:
John Chapter 17:1-12 has been called the High Priestly prayer. A major theme or request in this prayer is that the disciples would know oneness as He has known it in the Father. John 17:11, 20-23
11 “I am no longer in the world; and yet they themselves are in the world, and I come to You. Holy Father, keep them in Your name, the name which You have given Me, that they may be one even as We are.
20 “I do not ask on behalf of these alone, but for those also who believe in Me through their word;
21 that they may all be one; even as You, Father, are in Me and I in You, that they also may be in Us, so that the world may believe that You sent Me.
22 “The glory which You have given Me I have given to them, that they may be one, just as We are one;
23 I in them and You in Me, that they may be perfected in unity, so that the world may know that You sent Me, and loved them, even as You have loved Me.
Before Jesus left His disciples to serve as God’s sacrifice for the sins of the world, he prayed for them and us as we read in these verses. And the main concern in His prayer as recorder here in the 17th chapter of the Gospel according to John, is oneness, unity of the body. He desired that our oneness, our unity, be visible. For that oneness according to 2 Corinthians 5:19, demonstrated that “God was in Christ reconciling the world to Himself, not counting their trespasses against them....” In this Jesus was and is one with the Father, He is God.
As Christ was incarnate upon this earth he did miracles to prove that He was God. When He left earth to return to the Father, he left the church to communicate that Jesus the Christ is one with God. That They are one and the same. The means by which He chose to communicate that was the like mindedness, the unity of the church.
In our One Another’s for today we will see Paul imitating Christ as he too prays for our unity, our likeness of mind and our acceptance of other believers. Let’s turn our focus now to Romans 15:1-7.
Likeness of Mind
1 Now we who are strong ought to bear the weaknesses of those without strength and not just please ourselves.
2 Each of us is to please his neighbor for his good, to his edification.
3 For even Christ did not please Himself; but as it is written, “The reproaches of those who reproached You fell on Me.”
4 For whatever was written in earlier times was written for our instruction, so that through perseverance and the encouragement of the Scriptures we might have hope.
5 Now may the God who gives perseverance and encouragement grant you to be of the same mind with one another according to Christ Jesus,
6 so that with one accord you may with one voice glorify the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ.
7 Therefore, accept one another, just as Christ also accepted us to the glory of God.
In verses 1-3 we see Paul’s continuing emphasis of interdependence, that we looked at last week. First he says the strong are to share in or show care for the the weaknesses of others. It is not to be about ourselves.
Then again in verse two, it is the pursuit of the pleasure of another, for their edification that is our objective. In verse 3, He points to Christ’s example how He came to do the will of the Father even taking the insults of others because of his association with the Father.
Paul then states how everything written down by God were to teach us endurance and encouragement that we might have hope.
Then in Verse five we find Paul praying that God would give the church a spirit of unity. Literally he was asking for them to think the same way, to live in harmony as they follow after Christ. The result being that we would, with one heart and voice ( a unity of inward feeling and outward expression) bring glory to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ
It is true that as we become believers we are one with Christ, as God sees us. Another biblical picture of this oneness is that oneness seen in the relationship of a husband and wife.
Unfortunately this one ness, this unity of mind does not automatically happen. We must pursue this unity. We have to work at it, if we are to become the people God intends for us to be.
At the same time we must know that it is Satan's basic strategy to undermine or destroy the unity between bible believing people. He works to push people away from God, either with the disunity in God’s people or by creating a sense of unity within false religions.
I was personally aware of this sense of unity among the membership of the Mormon Church while a student at Dallas Theological Seminary. We had moved into an apartment complex of campus because of the birth of our son Daniel. They did not allow children in the on campus apartments because they were all one bedroom apartments and the pools were not secure enough for little ones.
As we moved in there were our neighbors all ready to lend us hand, bringing us bread and cookies, inviting us to a neighborhood bible study. They did not know I was a DTS student and a ware of their proselytizing methods. They were all so friendly and seemed to get along so well with one another. I remember setting out on our balcony watching them socialize and study the Book of Mormon together through the window of the apartment across from us. It was very attractive and I wondered why I do not see believers interacting with one another and their community in this fashion.
Perhaps believers are not as unified because we give in to Satan’s temptation of pride (where we think have to be right and I can do it myself), or the temptation of self (where its about me, my needs are more important than theirs, and I don’t have time), or the temptation of prejudice /partiality (I am smarter than them, don’t look like them, more spiritual than them, they’re from the wrong side of town, they do church differently).
As I remember that scenario in Dallas I often remember the phrase i picked up from John Maxwell, “People don’t care how much you know until they know how much you care.”
Fortunately there is a God designed, God given, strategy to defeat Satan. It has nothing to do with changing and correcting them, but has everything to do with us. It is really very simple, “be of the same mind with one another.” This involves many things including, rejoicing and mourning, confession of faults, seeking forgiveness, granting forgiveness, not holding grudges, loving and living in peace with one another, giving up ownership.
Look back with me to the early church. Jesus was gone. He had returned to the Father. But what was left, Luke records in Acts 2:46,47 the following, “Day by day continuing with one mind in the temple, and breaking bread from house to house, they were taking their meals together with gladness and sincerity of heart, 47 praising God and having favor with all the people. And the Lord was adding to their number day by day those who were being saved. “(Acts 2:46-47)
How did Luke describe the church? Everyday they continued with one mind, broke bread together, were eating meals together with gladness and sincerity of heart (not acting, but sincerely glad, not doing it because they were compelled to do it).
And what was the result? The Lord was adding to their number each day. Wow! Could you imagine what it would be like if we all liked each other for real. Not in that Sunday morning spiritual sense. If we were glad to be with one another, not just with certain ones within our group. Think how it would be if we could have the same mind as we worshipped God and broke bread together as opposed to choosing to miss because, we have something else to do and besides its only communion Sunday.
Now look at what he wrote in Acts 4:32-35, “ “And the congregation of those who believed were of one heart and soul; and not one of them claimed that anything belonging to him was his own, but all things were common property to them. 33 And with great power the apostles were giving testimony to the resurrection of the Lord Jesus, and abundant grace was upon them all. 34 For there was not a needy person among them, for all who were owners of land or houses would sell them and bring the proceeds of the sales 35 and lay them at the apostles’ feet, and they would be distributed to each as any had need.”
Here are some practical steps we can take to be like minded.
1. Believe being like minded is possible.
2. Remember being like minded is not automatic, it takes effort.
3. The key to being like minded is spiritual maturity, reflecting Christ’s love.
4. Remember from last week that we are members one of another, we are to be devoted to one another and honor one another
And this is the way it was supposed to be. We are to be like minded, members one of another, commited to and honoring others. But lets look now at at a second one another that relates to unity
Accept One Another
Look back with me to Romans 15 and verse 7, “Therefore, accept one another, just as Christ also accepted us to the glory of God.
When I put my trust in Christ as my Savior, (and what I mean by that, by faith believing that He was the son of God and that he came and died and was resurrected that I might receive forgiveness for my sins a restored relationship with God the Father for eternity) the church in America was still steeped in legalism and that was being responded to with license.
Legalism is the practice of establishing laws, precepts or rules by which we establish worth and thereby accept or reject others. Legalism tends to lead to a judgmental behavior. Though the Bible does present behavioral expectations for believers it also condemns the acceptance and /or rejection of others based upon extra-biblical statements (statements not found in scripture) or cultural standards . In other words, What you did or did not do would often times determined if you were accepted into or by the group.
The church I attended prior to college was very loyal to those within the group, who practiced all the do’s and don’ts, but not accepting or inclusive of those who were less mature, more adventuresome (progressive), nonconforming.
The opposite and often the pendulum response to legalism is license. License is often used to justify the use of one’s freedom to engage in activities that are undeniably in violation of God’s will for His child and the church. These believers claim their behavior is protected by grace, as we are no longer under the law. Holiness is the proper result of an accurate application of the grace and freedom we possess in Christ Jesus.
GRACE + FREEDOM = HOLINESS not worldliness
11 For the grace of God has appeared, bringing salvation to all men,
12 instructing us to deny ungodliness and worldly desires and to live sensibly, righteously and godly in the present age,
13 looking for the blessed hope and the appearing of the glory of our great God and Savior, Christ Jesus,
14 who gave Himself for us to redeem us from every lawless deed, and to purify for Himself a people for His own possession, zealous for good deeds.
Since the goal of interpersonal relationships among Christians is a unified glorying of God, Paul concluded his commands with Accept one another (pres. imper., “keep on accepting or receiving one another”). Paul uses Jesus as the example for us to follow when accepting other believers. He said, just as Christ also accepted us. Which begs the question how did Christ accept us?
To answer that we must go back to chapter five (5) to help answer that. In chapter five it said that Christ recieved believers when they were - helpless and ungodly (v.6), sinners (v.8), enemies (v.10).
Jesus accepted us without conditions attached. For by grace we are saved through faith. It is not the result of anything we have or could even do. (Ephesians 2:8,9)
Jesus has never asked someone to clean up their act before He would be willing to receive them. He said that they should come to Him and receive Him and then He would clean them up.
1 Now accept the one who is weak in faith, but not for the purpose of passing judgment on his opinions.
Partiality is a barrier to unity and James calls it sin.
9 But if you show partiality, you are committing sin and are convicted by the law as transgressors.
To practice prejudice, favoritism and discrimination or be a part of these behaviors is a violation of God’s law. We are all one as we studied in Romans 12:5 last week. And every member is important regardless of there economic status, age, sex, skin pigment or nationality.
As we close I would like to share Dr. Getz’s steps for accepting one another.
Step #1 - Neither the weak nor the strong are to judge one another, but the strong Christian is responsible not to cause a weaker member of the body to fall into sin.
Step #2 - Evaluate your own attitudes and actions to determine if you are accepting and rejecting others based on your own standards that you have set up because of your own weak conscience.
Step#3 - Evaluate your own attitude toward other Believers concerning prejudice and favoritism.
Step #4 - Follow this three point plan for overcoming any problem in your life that reflects legalism and prejudice.
1) Acknowledge it as sin. 2) Pinpoint areas in your life where you need to change, ask God to help you overcome your sins. 3) Take an action step. Select a member of the body that you have had difficulty accepting. Do something for that person that reflects true Christian love.
Do something right away, do not wait till you feel like changing.