The Unifying Action of Love
Notes
Transcript
Good morning Church!
It is so good to be here with you today!
We will start this morning by asking if there are any prayer requests or praise reports:
I would like to ask the ushers to come forth.
______________________________________________________________________________________________
I would like to ask all who can to stand with your Bibles, raise them above your head, and repeat after me:
“This is my Bible. It is God’s Holy Word. It is a lamp unto my feet, a light unto my path, and I will hide its words within my heart that I might not sin against God.”
I would like to ask you to be finding John 17:20. As you are finding the passage, I am going to give a brief introduction to the message today.
Context
Context
Today, we are going to be continuing through our series titled “Building TEMPO”.
Last week, we gave an introduction to the five functions of the Church. I explained to you how that the word TEMPO will serve as an acronym for us as we travel through this series. We looked briefly at each point last week, but this week, we are going to start digging a little deeper into each function of the Church.
We are going to start by examining the last letter of our acronym, which is the “O”.
The “O” stands for “Oneness” and speaks of unity.
We start with the last, because it is the foundational function of the Church. It is the function that allows all other functions to operate effectively. You can teach, but if you teach outside of unity, it will cause more confusion than clarity. You can evangelize unto the lost, but if you do not do so with the purpose of unification, you will in turn cause separation. You can be involved in missions, but if you do not operate in conjunction with the Church, the missions will be short lived. You can pray long and hard, but if you do so selfishly, you are indeed praying in opposition to the beating heart of Christ, the Church.
The Holman Illustrated Bible Dictionary defines unity as, “State of being undivided; having oneness; a condition of harmony.”
Unity does not speak of being one, but rather functioning as one. It is not a condition being alone, but rather a condition of working together. It implies that multiple people are present, but that those multiple people are united by one purpose and therefore function as one unit.
We have been speaking on the topic of purpose since the beginning of the year, and this series is going to take many of you deeper into your purpose than you have ever been before.
Unity is paramount to living the Christian life and is necessary for spiritual victory. Unity has been engraved into this world since its inception thousands of years ago, and unity is still the will of God for His Church today. Listen to this verse:
1 Behold, how good and how pleasant it is For brethren to dwell together in unity!
This verse speaks to the outcome of unity. When people dwell in unity, there is no quarreling, no gossiping, no conflict, and no animosity.
This verse also speaks to the nature of God.
From the very beginning of scripture, we see the trinitarian nature of God. Gen 1.26.
26 Then God said, “Let us make man in our image, after our likeness. And let them have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the heavens and over the livestock and over all the earth and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth.”
God Himself operates in unity with Himself.
This verse also speaks to the omniscience of God.
This also speaks of God’s will. God does not desire war. God is love. God is in control of all things for He is the God of the universe. As the God of the universe, God sets the standard for created things. We are to be as He is. When we choose to be as God is, unity is perfected. It is only when we choose to live apart from God and in opposition to God, that unity is destroyed. Therefore, war does not come from God, but rather from us. It is our choice to be in opposition to Him, or to be in unity with Him.
God created only two people with His hands. These two were created in perfect unity and placed in a place called Eden. These two people were to be one flesh. This speaks to God’s design of humans. They were created from unity and for unity. They remained in that unity until sin crept into the door. When sin arrived, unity departed.
In Gen. 11 we read of a people who all spoke the same language and were of the same race. When they decided to build a tower to reach the heavens, their language was confused so they could no longer communicate. Pride destroyed the unity between them and God.
10 Now I plead with you, brethren, by the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that you all speak the same thing, and that there be no divisions among you, but that you be perfectly joined together in the same mind and in the same judgment.
26 For you are all sons of God through faith in Christ Jesus.
27 For as many of you as were baptized into Christ have put on Christ.
28 There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free, there is neither male nor female; for you are all one in Christ Jesus.
1 I, therefore, the prisoner of the Lord, beseech you to walk worthy of the calling with which you were called,
2 with all lowliness and gentleness, with longsuffering, bearing with one another in love,
3 endeavoring to keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace.
1 Therefore if there is any consolation in Christ, if any comfort of love, if any fellowship of the Spirit, if any affection and mercy,
2 fulfill my joy by being like-minded, having the same love, being of one accord, of one mind.
From the nature of God to the beginning of creation, to the apostles, and to the Church, unity is preached, stressed, and even urged upon others. Apostle Paul practically begged for his followers to exercise it. Unity cannot be stressed enough.
It is truly the will of God that His people live in unity with Him, and with one another. Listed to these verses:
20 “I do not pray for these alone, but also for those who will believe in Me through their word;
21 that they all may be one, as You, Father, are in Me, and I in You; that they also may be one in Us, that the world may believe that You sent Me.
22 And the glory which You gave Me I have given them, that they may be one just as We are one:
23 I in them, and You in Me; that they may be made perfect in one, and that the world may know that You have sent Me, and have loved them as You have loved Me.
24 “Father, I desire that they also whom You gave Me may be with Me where I am, that they may behold My glory which You have given Me; for You loved Me before the foundation of the world.
25 O righteous Father! The world has not known You, but I have known You; and these have known that You sent Me.
26 And I have declared to them Your name, and will declare it, that the love with which You loved Me may be in them, and I in them.”
“Church unity is like peace, we are all for it, but we are not willing to pay the price.”
Dr Visser’t Hooft
“It’s hard enough resisting the real enemy. That’s a full-time job. If we start fighting other Christians we’re fighting two wars—and one of them is suicidal.”
John Richard Wimber
29 Jesus answered, “The most important is, ‘Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one.
30 And you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength.’
31 The second is this: ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’ There is no other commandment greater than these.”
Love is the action that brings about unification. If we truly want to be united with others, we must learn to operate out of love.
4 Love suffers long and is kind; love does not envy; love does not parade itself, is not puffed up;
5 does not behave rudely, does not seek its own, is not provoked, thinks no evil;
6 does not rejoice in iniquity, but rejoices in the truth;
7 bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things.
8 Love never fails. But whether there are prophecies, they will fail; whether there are tongues, they will cease; whether there is knowledge, it will vanish away.
9 For we know in part and we prophesy in part.
10 But when that which is perfect has come, then that which is in part will be done away.
11 When I was a child, I spoke as a child, I understood as a child, I thought as a child; but when I became a man, I put away childish things.
12 For now we see in a mirror, dimly, but then face to face. Now I know in part, but then I shall know just as I also am known.
13 And now abide faith, hope, love, these three; but the greatest of these is love.