UNITY

What Unity is not?

My Favorite Illustrations Unity and Uniformity

We must distinguish between unity and uniformity. The former is voluntary; the latter is compelled. The former is an inner condition; the latter is outward form. Unity must be the condition created in us by the Holy Spirit as we follow him in a common goal and purpose—to make effective God’s redeeming work in Christ to the ends of the earth and until he comes again.

The Sermon Notebook: New Testament Maintaining the Unity of the Church—Part 1—The Plea for Unity (Ephesians 4:1–6)

Walking in unity does not means that we will always believe exactly the same about every single issue where doctrine is concerned.

• It does not means that we lose our individualism when we are saved.

• It does mean that we are marked by a common purpose and led by a common Savior.

• It does mean that when the Lord gives us His clear direction, we put aside our personal opinions and walk together for the glory of God and the good of the Gospel.

• It does mean that the unity of the church is more important than me getting my way or yours.

• It does mean that the unity of the church always comes ahead of my personal agenda.

• It does mean that the unity of the church comes before my feelings.

The Sermon Notebook: New Testament Maintaining the Unity of the Church—Part 1—The Plea for Unity (Ephesians 4:1–6)

It’s wrong for there to be a division between you and me just because we disagree about some point of doctrine. It is wrong for us to allow our personal opinions and preferences to drive wedges between us. It is wrong for me to hold so sternly to my views, and my rights that I damage the church of the living God. We must never sacrifice truth for the sake of unity. I am not preaching unity at all costs. I am preaching that we are to allow the love of God, placed in us by the Holy Spirit, to reign supreme in our lives and in our church,

The Sermon Notebook: New Testament Maintaining the Unity of the Church—Part 1—The Plea for Unity (Ephesians 4:1–6)

The fact is, we are not always unified. We are not always on the same page. We are not always pulling together for the glory of God. Too often we each have our own agendas that compete against the good of the church

The Sermon Notebook: New Testament (Maintaining the Unity of the Church—Part 1—The Plea for Unity (Ephesians 4:1–6))

We are a diverse bunch of people. We are different one from another in every way you can imagine. Physical differences, intellectual differences, economic differences and spiritual differences all compete against the unity we are expected to have.Yet, with all our differences there is common ground. When we came to Jesus, the Holy Spirit took up residence in our hearts.

The Sermon Notebook: New Testament Maintaining the Unity of the Church—Part 2 (Ephesians 4:1–6)

We are all sinners who posses a fallen nature.

• We are sometimes selfish, self-centered, and want our own way.

• We are jealous when we see others succeed, get blessed or be promoted.

• We get angry when we think we have been wronged.

• We act out of spite hoping to hurt those we think have hurt us.

• We fail to forgive the wrongs done to us by other.

• We fail to love the Lord like we should, this we cannot love others like we should. By the way, when you fail to give love, you are not in a position to receive love either!

• We allow our sinful natures to be manifested in all our human interactions.

• We are brought together from different backgrounds, with different views about right and wrong, and with different opinions about how things ought to be done.

• We have different agendas in life. That is, we have different opinions about what the church should be, should do, and how it should operate.

To sum it up in a sentence, we are different one from another, and that is the greatest threat to the unity of the church. That is always the problem in a nutshell.

conc: If we are saved, the Holy Spirit lives within both you and me. If we allow Him to fill us with His presence and power, He will bring us to a place of absolute unity of purpose for the glory of God. When He does, we will see the Lord work around here is ways we could never imagine.

Alan Carr, “Maintaining the Unity of the Church—Part 1—The Plea for Unity (Ephesians 4:1–6),” in The Sermon Notebook: New Testament (Lenoir, NC: Alan Carr, 2015), 2721.

The Sermon Notebook: New Testament Maintaining the Unity of the Church—Part 1—The Plea for Unity (Ephesians 4:1–6)

When we are at war one with another, we have lost our testimony with the world. When we walk out of unity, we are telling them that we are no different that they are.

The Sermon Notebook: New Testament Maintaining the Unity of the Church—Part 1—The Plea for Unity (Ephesians 4:1–6)

In the 17th Century an Archbishop by the name of Marco Antonio de Dominis wrote this: “In necessariis unitas, in dubiis libertas, in omnibus caritas.” This Latin phrase roughly translates to, “in necessary things unity; in uncertain things liberty; in everything charity.” That little saying speaks volumes! There are some truths that must be defended to the death, even at the cost of unity. There are some things that are open to interpretation. We are to give liberty to others in those areas and not judge them for their actions or beliefs. In everything, whether we can stand together, or whether we must separate over our difference, every action is to be motivated by the love of Christ in us for the other person!

Benefits of unity

Sermon Outlines from the Word An Exhortation to Unity (Psalm 133)

WHAT THIS UNITY WILL BRING THE CHURCH.

A. It will bring maturity. Eph. 4:11–13.

B. It will bring stability. Eph. 4:14.

C. It will bring love for each other. Eph. 4:15, 16.

D. It will bring rejoicing. 1 Cor. 12:26.

E. It will bring power. Acts 2:41; 4:4; 4:23–31