ONE UNITED CHURCH

Introduction

-If you are at all familiar with the book The Three Musketeers or one of its many TV or movie editions, you are acquainted with their famous saying for the group as they chant: ALL FOR ONE AND ONE FOR ALL. This phrase was the motto for the heroes that stated their vow to stand together united in the common fight for the good of all.

-Although that phrase is not necessarily biblical, so we might not adopt it as a church motto or anything, it still is a reminder of what the Lord desires from His church. God wants His people to be united with one another as a single body of believers.

-Now, the unity of a church does not mean that 100% of the people will agree with one another 100% of the time, nor does it mean that there will never be differences of opinion. Wherever two or more humans are involved, there will be differences of opinion.----But this unity does mean that you do what you can on your part to ensure that no division or divisiveness threatens the life of the church.

-One theologian says that UNITY is a distinguishing characteristic of God’s people, which derives from their common relationship with God, and is expressed in commitment to one another, mutual concern, concerted action and harmony within the believing community.

-And, according to another theologian, what the unity of believers means for the church is that the church is one in essence, because it is founded on one gospel, united to one Lord and indwelt by one Spirit. Its unity is under constant threat because of the tendency to division that is inherent in fallen humanity, and needs to be continually maintained and actively expressed in fellowship.

-Paul in his letter to Ephesians teaches about and encourages this church unity. In the first half of the letter he demonstrates how anyone and everyone who is in Christ becomes one people—the walls of separation are torn down—therefore distinctions by race or age or gender or nationality, although real, no longer are causes of division between people.

-And having laid that groundwork, he goes on to tell the Ephesian church that since those divisions disappear in Christ, the church needs to be a reflection of this supernatural unity that could only be made possible by Him.

-What I want from all of us at Harvest Baptist Church, is for each of us to do our part in 2018 to obtain and maintain a biblical church unity in peace which is pleasing to the Lord.

Ephesians 4:1–7 ESV

1 I therefore, a prisoner for the Lord, urge you to walk in a manner worthy of the calling to which you have been called, 2 with all humility and gentleness, with patience, bearing with one another in love, 3 eager to maintain the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace. 4 There is one body and one Spirit—just as you were called to the one hope that belongs to your call— 5 one Lord, one faith, one baptism, 6 one God and Father of all, who is over all and through all and in all. 7 But grace was given to each one of us according to the measure of Christ’s gift.

-First, Paul talks about:

I) The rationale for church unity (v. 1)

-After having given the theological basis for our new life in Christ and what it means to personal relationships, Paul in v. 1 encourages Christians that based on that theology, now go out into the world and by the power of the Holy Spirit live a life that pleases God.

-That’s pretty general—so what is a life that pleases God? Well, immediately following he talks about this unity within the church—so at minimum, a life that is pleasing to God is a life that promotes unity within the body of Christ.

-Our rationale for seeking unity as a church is because it pleases God, and I would hope that is something we all desire to do.

-Now, this call to unity doesn’t mean that we just turn a blind eye to sin, and it doesn’t mean that you don’t deal with disagreements—but it means you deal with these things without divisiveness==without being a disagreeable kind of person.

-This is our calling—Paul says walk in the manner to which you have been called—we haven’t been called to separation or division within the body of Christ.

-God has made the body of Christ to work in harmony and unity, and we put the hard work that is needed into making it happen. Sure, it may seem difficult at times, but that is when we decide am I going to please myself or am I going to please the Lord?

-Yes, dealing with even other Christians can be a delicate situation. It reminds me of the story about two porcupines that got caught in a blizzard. They tried to huddle close together to keep warm, but they pricked each other with their quills, so they moved away. But when they did that, they started shivering again. So they had to work at finding a way to get close to one another, and yet their quills didn’t stab each other. It took time and effort, but they eventually worked it out.

-We want to stand united as a church because it pleases God, so we need to be willing to put the work and effort into it—it may take time and some finagling, but the end result of peace is worth it.

-Second, Paul talks about:

II) The road toward church unity (vv. 2-3)

-In vv. 2 & 3 Paul goes on to talk about some personal characteristics that are fruits of walking in a way that is pleasing to the Lord, and these personal characteristics mark the pathway (the road) to a unified church. When these attributes mark your life, you are walking the right road.

-First, he talks about humility. In the Greek and Roman cultures that permeated the first century, humility was not considered a virtue but a weakness. The real virtue was pride, much like it is today.

-But in God’s economy, there is a lowliness of spirit that is foundational to a walk with God. Humility is not believing you are some lowlife, rather it means to see yourself as God sees you: someone with infinite and inherent value but with no more value than anyone else.

-Thus, having this foundational understanding of our place in the world, we can then do as Paul says in Philippians 2:3 of counting others as more significant than ourselves. With that attitude, we won’t be fighting to constantly get our way.

-I think Thomas a Kempis put it well when he said: If Christ is amongst us, then it is necessary that we sometimes yield up our own opinion for the sake of peace. Who is so wise as to have perfect knowledge of all things? Therefore, trust not too much to thine own opinion, but be ready also to hear the opinions of others.

-Second, Paul says we are called to gentleness, or a better word might be meekness. The word means to have power under control. In ancient days, it spoke of war horses who were under the total and instantaneous control of their riders.

-For us it means that we may have the power to do something, but for the sake of unity and peace we keep ourselves under control. We may have the power to react to the actions or words of another, but we refuse to do so for Christ’s sake. It may mean keeping our mouths shut. It may mean reacting with honey when we’d rather react with vinegar, but for the church we do not.

-Third, Paul calls us to patience. It literally means to be long-tempered. It refers to having a long fuse rather than a short fuse. It means to not get riled up over every little thing that goes on.

-Fourth, Paul tells us to bear with one another in love. Because we reflect the agape love that God has toward us, we are more than willing to share that same love with others. This is an unconditional love that does not change just because somebody does something or says something.

-And because of this love we are able to bear with other Christians. Let me be blunt, the words there mean: JUST PUT UP WITH OTHER PEOPLE. Not in a disgusted sense, but in a loving sense—we choose to put up with others because we love them as we are called to do.

-And, let’s be honest, if you think it’s hard to put up with other people, just remember, everybody else has to put up with you.

-If we are willing to walk that road, Paul says in v. 3 that this shows an eagerness to maintaining the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace. May we all have that eagerness, and cultivate that eagerness this new year.

-Third, Paul talks about:

III) The root of church unity (vv. 4-6)

-The root that holds unity in place is the common ground and common bond that we share as Christians. We have all heard the saying that blood is thicker than water, meaning family relationships are stronger than others. But in reality the bond of Christians held together by the blood of Jesus Christ is stronger than any biological or genetic bond ever could be.

-We as church members all come from different backgrounds, different cultural foundations, different economic backgrounds, and different lifestyles, so it takes a strong foundation to keep the cohesiveness from such diversity.

-This root of church unity is found in the nature of God and the nature of His redemptive work. Paul in vv. 4-6 illuminates us to the oneness that is found in God which then gives us the foundation for our own oneness as a church.

-Paul says there is but one body. In keeping with the metaphor that Paul used elsewhere, Christ is the head. Well the head of a human is connected to only one body. This is speaking of the connection all Christians from all times in all places have with one another. We fall under one head, Jesus, and this one head has only one body, all of us united.

-There is one Spirit—the same Holy Spirit that is in me is in all of you. We have one source of power to live out the Christian life, we have one Comforter, we have one Illuminator, and that is the Holy Spirit. We all possess the very same God inside of us.

There is one hope—we are all saved by the one and same gospel. There isn’t a gospel for me and a gospel for you. My hope and your hope is in the finished work of Jesus Christ alone.

-There is one Lord, and it is not any of us. Jesus Christ alone is Lord. He is Lord of this church and the people within it. He prayed in John 17 that we would be one with one another just as He is one with the Father.

-There is one faith—there is only one body of belief to which we all adhere—the faith that was once for all delivered to the saints and preserved for us in Holy Scripture.

-There is one baptism—there is one common outward expression of our faith and belief, and that is baptism by immersion. We share a common way of declaring our faith publicly.

-And finally there is one and only one God—this God is over all and through all and in all. Just as God is not divided, neither are His people.

-Thus, with all this oneness, this is the root that holds our unity together.

IV) The reward of church unity (v. 7)

-In v. 7 Paul reminds us that God gives grace to not only be united, but to utilize our distinctiveness in maintaining unity.

-That almost sounds like a contradiction, but it is exactly because God gifts us differently that we can stand united.

-When we are saved, Christ gives us a gift to be utilized in the life of the church. Each of us are gifted differently so that we can work in harmony together. The reward of church unity is seeing the different parts of the body work together for mutual benefit in a way that pleases God and advances His kingdom.

-We could liken the church and the giftedness of each individual to a jigsaw puzzle. Each piece has protrusions and indentations. The protrusions represent our strengths (gifts, talents, abilities), and the indentations represent our weaknesses (faults, limitations, shortcomings, undeveloped areas). The beautiful thing is that the pieces complement one another and produce a beautiful whole.

Just as each piece of a puzzle is important, so each member of the body of Christ is important and can minister to the other members of the body.

Just as, when one piece is missing from the puzzle, its absence is very obvious and damages the picture, so also is the whole weakened when we are absent from the body of Christ.

Just as, when each piece of a puzzle is in place, any one piece is not conspicuous but blends in to form the whole picture, so it should be in the body of Christ.

-Yes we are different and are gifted differently, but we are made this way to work for a common Lord toward a common goal for common benefit of everyone involved.

Conclusion

-Church unity is so important, and is emphasized in many other places in Scripture. And I believe it is constantly emphasized because there are forces out there that would like nothing better than to see a church fall into disarray, and thereby lose its influence.

I’ll close with this:

~Years ago National Geographic had a feature about the arctic wolf. The author described how a seven-member pack of these wolves had targeted some musk-oxen calves who were guarded by eleven musk-oxen adults. As the wolves approached their prey, the musk-oxen adults bunched together in an impenetrable semicircle, with their deadly rear hooves facing out to kick the wolves.

~As long as the oxen stayed united, they were safe. However, a single oxen broke rank, and the herd scattered into nervous groups, and the wolves were then able to go after the calves.

-Spiritual wolves continue to attack the church today, but they cannot penetrate and destroy when the church stands together. We are a united body with a singular purpose of knowing Jesus and making Him known.

-I invite the church to come to the altar today to pray for a supernatural unity that is found in Christ, and united we are able to move forward with His kingdom work.

-Maybe, in hearing this message today, you realize that there is some sort of division on your part—either someone did something to you to alienate you, or maybe you did something to alienate someone else—why not get that settled this morning. We as a church don’t need a chink in the armor. And getting right with others to be united with them in peace is what pleases the Lord.

-Maybe you have never united yourself with Christ—you unite with Christ first by faith and repentance, and then you can unite yourself with a church. Jesus died for you to save your soul—believe on Him today.