Unity
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Intro:
Things that cannot be separated and be useful example:
Shoes
Brush and hair
Unity is so important to the Church, probably more important than everything except the Gospel itself, which by the way is all about unity, us with Christ and us with each other. But without unity we become as useless as a brush without hair, larry the Cucumber finds out in his song, where is my hair brush. But Satan seeks to divide, just like he does in the second half of John 3 when we pick up in verse 25-26
An argument developed between some of John’s disciples and a certain Jew over the matter of ceremonial washing. They came to John and said to him, “Rabbi, that man who was with you on the other side of the Jordan—the one you testified about—look, he is baptizing, and everyone is going to him.”
What’s the best food in the world? No its not its seafood. Do you see how quickly division creeps up? It seems like an innocent question and then we have Church splits. I have seen and heard of Church splits over the craziest of things, pews or chairs, contemporary or classic, the color of the carpet, we didn’t have input. On a very rare occasion do we every see unity break over what the Gospel says. This is why the Bible, God’s Word, is so important to the Church, why we listen and gather, so we can remain in the unity of God’s Word and leave the wordly division behind.
One Message
One Message
After this, Jesus and his disciples went out into the Judean countryside, where he spent some time with them, and baptized. Now John also was baptizing at Aenon near Salim, because there was plenty of water, and people were coming and being baptized. (This was before John was put in prison.) An argument developed between some of John’s disciples and a certain Jew over the matter of ceremonial washing.
A. After this
1. Jesus ministry didn’t pause
a. His life was the ministry of the Gospel
b. Preparing the bride for Restoration
Remember my wedding and waiting to see Andrea for the first time, she was so beautiful but it took nearly all day to get her ready. And the ceremony took days to prepare. Jesus had a lot of work to do in preparation, he had no time for breaks, your ministry is a full time gig.
1. Purification
a. This would be a priestly duty
b. They would be experts on this
c. This was a direct challenge to Jesus authority
B. One Baptism
And they came to John and said to him, “Rabbi, He who was with you beyond the Jordan, to whom you have testified, behold, He is baptizing and all are coming to Him.” John answered and said, “A man can receive nothing unless it has been given him from heaven.
2. Baptizing
a. Wasn’t a new thing
Elisha sent a messenger to say to him, “Go, wash yourself seven times in the Jordan, and your flesh will be restored and you will be cleansed.”
b. Always been an association of water and cleanliness
c. Baptism wasn’t anything new
i. What have we talked about recently that was about cleansing?
B. One Message
You yourselves can testify that I said, ‘I am not the Messiah but am sent ahead of him.’ The bride belongs to the bridegroom. The friend who attends the bridegroom waits and listens for him, and is full of joy when he hears the bridegroom’s voice. That joy is mine, and it is now complete.
1. We cannot own it
a. belongs to God through Jesus
b. Not my testimony but his
2. Not my ministry
a. Belongs to God
b. That’s how we stay humble and in His will
My Church Phenomenon - thought of owning it or possessing it, like my truck (show picture) I say I own it, but I really don’t the bank owns it until I pay it off. Or like my kids - these are my kids (show pictures) really not, they are God’s children and they are on loan to me to take care of. It is important that we remember who all this belongs to.
c. Johns testimony
i. not mine
He must become greater; I must become less.”
One Salvation
One Salvation
The one who comes from above is above all; the one who is from the earth belongs to the earth, and speaks as one from the earth. The one who comes from heaven is above all. He testifies to what he has seen and heard, but no one accepts his testimony. Whoever has accepted it has certified that God is truthful.
A. Jesus the One
1. From Above
a. Not just a prophet
b. This is the Son of God
c. Speaking Heavenly things
2. God is True
a. Speaks the Spiritual Truth
b. Does not compromise
c. If we accept this, we accept God
d. Devil seeks to divide and that’s what was happening here.
And if one can overpower him who is alone, two can resist him. A cord of three strands is not quickly torn apart.
B. Word of God
For the one whom God has sent speaks the words of God, for God gives the Spirit without limit. The Father loves the Son and has placed everything in his hands. Whoever believes in the Son has eternal life, but whoever rejects the Son will not see life, for God’s wrath remains on them.
1. Father gave Him all things
a. So he freely gives out
As you go, proclaim this message: ‘The kingdom of heaven has come near.’ Heal the sick, raise the dead, cleanse those who have leprosy, drive out demons. Freely you have received; freely give.
b. Of the Holy Spirit
2. Everyone who believes
a. Everyone who does not
b. Only two categories here
Conclusion:
The Devil always seeks to Divide and to separate, that’s his game. First, he wants us to separate ourselves from the truth of Jesus, then from each other so he can destroy what God is building up. Once you know its easy to defeat, always coming back to the one True Word. So when we hear words like, masks or vaccine or quarantine, its OK because we are not going to allow these things to divide us, why because they are of Satan and don’t matter. We will turn to the Lord and His Word for our way. If we want to maintain unity, we go to the Word, we don’t read more or less into it, we just take it as it is. We use the Word to guide us and to prevent division from creeping in and destroying the Church. Let us remain forever united in the Word.