Unity – Part V
“I therefore, the prisoner of the Lord, beseech you that ye walk worthy of the vocation wherewith ye are called, With all lowliness and meekness, with longsuffering, forbearing one another in love; Endeavouring to keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace. There is one body, and one Spirit, even as ye are called in one hope of your calling; One Lord, one faith, one baptism, One God and Father of all, who is above all, and through all, and in you all. But unto every one of us is given grace according to the measure of the gift of Christ”
Ephesians 4:1-7 KJV
The Holy Bible tells us a about a rich man who expensively dressed in the latest fashions and lived in luxury every day; “There was a rich man who always dressed in the finest clothes. He was so rich that he was able to enjoy all the best things every day” (Luke 16:19 ERV). In Luke 12:13-21, Jesus Christ tells the story of a rich man who said to himself; “I have many good things stored. I have saved enough for many years. Rest, eat, drink, and enjoy life!” (Luke 12:19 ERV). Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. said in an August 27, 1967 sermon that Jesus called the rich man in St. Luke 12 a fool because “…he failed to realize his dependence on others”. According to Dr. King, the rich fool failed to realize that “…wealth is always a result of the commonwealth”. Commonwealth means that a group of people are united by a common interest focused on the general good or public welfare of the people. It probably could be argued that commonwealth is closely related to the word ‘UNITY’. The Saints in Acts 4:32 were ‘united’ in their thinking and in what they wanted; “And the multitude of them that believed were of one heart and of one soul” (Acts 4:32 KJV). The whole group of believers displayed such ‘UNITY’ that when they prayed, the place where they were shook and they were all filled with the Holy Ghost and spoke the word of God with boldness (Acts 4:31). We read about a demonstration of ‘UNITY’ when King Solomon and God’s people finished building the Temple and were unified in their praise and worship of the Lord. They praised and sang as one and as a result, the glory of the Lord filled God’s house; “It came even to pass, as the trumpeters and singers were as one, to make one sound to be heard in praising and thanking the LORD; and when they lifted up their voice with the trumpets and cymbals and instruments of music, and praised the LORD, saying, For he is good; for his mercy endureth for ever: that then the house was filled with a cloud, even the house of the LORD; So, that the priests could not stand to minister by reason of the cloud: for the glory of the LORD had filled the house of God” (2 Chronicles 5:13-14 KJV). True ‘UNITY’ cannot be legislated by governments. As a matter of fact, God tells His people to not join with unbelievers and to separate ourselves from the world (2 Corinthians 6:14-17). God’s people are different and are the only people that can have true ‘UNITY’ because ‘UNITY’ is only found in the Creator and our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. All things were made by Him for Him and man’s original place was to commune with God but sin and disobedience broke that communion and the only way that it can be restored is by believing in the wonderful gift of sacrifice that Jesus Christ gave for us. Jesus brought us back into ‘UNITY’ with the Father and now we are one with Him. If you don’t know Jesus Christ, then now is the time to come home. Give your life to Him and He will give you true rest, true peace and make you truly whole. The Lord gives us One Body, One Hope, One Faith, One Baptism, One Spirit, One Lord, and One God. We are one people in Jesus Christ. That is true ‘UNITY’.
Submitted by Trustee Stanley Ridley
Unity – Part III
“I therefore, the prisoner of the Lord, beseech you that ye walk worthy of the vocation wherewith ye are called, With all lowliness and meekness, with longsuffering, forbearing one another in love; Endeavouring to keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace. There is one body, and one Spirit, even as ye are called in one hope of your calling; One Lord, one faith, one baptism, One God and Father of all, who is above all, and through all, and in you all. But unto every one of us is given grace according to the measure of the gift of Christ”
When we gave our lives to Jesus Christ, we made a choice to restrict our lifestyles to obeying His commands and his teachings. The Apostle Paul says in Romans 6 that our old sinful life ended when we became one with Jesus. When we were baptized, our old life was buried with Jesus as we took part in his death. We were unified with him. As God raised Jesus Christ from death, we also rose with Him and now live a new life. In the old life we were slaves to sin but in our new life we now want to live as servants to our Lord by depriving ourselves of the liberty to live the way we want to live. We now try to live the way God commands us to live because we have chosen to be wholly subjected to His righteousness. We want to live like Jesus! We want to serve like Jesus! We want to be like Jesus! When Jesus died on the cross, He legally purchased our freedom from sin and we now are in God’s custody; “…no one can take them out of my hand. My Father is the one who gave them to me, and he is greater than all. No one can steal my sheep out of his hand” (John 10:28-29 ERV). As a result of being servants to the Lord, we want to live the way God’s people are supposed to live. We live with an attitude of lowliness in status and importance. We avoid arrogance and pride. We live a lifestyle of gentleness, patient and accept each other with love. God unified us together as His children in peace through the Holy Spirit. When Jesus Christ told us how to pray, His first two words were, ‘Our Father’, (Matthew 6:9 KJV).
We are one body of people living in ‘UNITY’ with Jesus. God chose us so we honor Him as His children. God told David that he did things that made the Lord’s enemies lose their respect for God. When we disobey God’s commands and do wicked and sinful things people not only condemn us as being God’s children but they also disparage God’s name. We need to do all we can to continue to, live Holy lives, letting peace hold us together in ‘UNITY’. We carry the name of Jesus on our lives and as a result we are one body, one Spirit, and God chose us to have one hope. There is only one Lord, one faith, and one baptism. There is only one God and one Father who rules over us all. God works through all His children and in all His children. God told the Prophet Ezekiel that Israel didn’t have respect for His name; “The people of Israel ruined my holy name wherever they went, and I felt sorry for my name…you ruined my holy name…I am going to do something to stop this. I will not do it for your sake…I will do it for my holy name” (Ezekiel 36:21-22 ERV). When we disobey God’s Word, we dishonor Him and we suffer consequences for it. If we know the Lord, then the love of God should be manifested in us by how we obey His Word. Jesus said if we love Him then we must demonstrate that by how we live our lives (John 14:15). Our lifestyle is what draws unbelievers to our Christian family. God’s love in us brings about ‘UNITY’ and oneness among God’s people and activates the fruits of the Holy Spirit which are love, joy, peace, patience, gentleness, goodness, faith, meekness, and self-control (Galatians 5:22-23). If we love our Father, then we will demonstrate that love for Him by obeying His Word, Jesus Christ. Love brings ‘UNITY’ to our family.
Submitted By Trustee Stanley Ridley
Unity – Part II
“I therefore, the prisoner of the Lord, beseech you that ye walk worthy of the vocation wherewith ye are called, With all lowliness and meekness, with longsuffering, forbearing one another in love; Endeavouring to keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace. There is one body, and one Spirit, even as ye are called in one hope of your calling; One Lord, one faith, one baptism, One God and Father of all, who is above all, and through all, and in you all. But unto every one of us is given grace according to the measure of the gift of Christ”
God says that we should love each other in a way that makes us feel close like brothers and sisters while also giving each other more honor than we give ourselves; “Be kindly affectioned one to another with brotherly love; in honour preferring one another” (Romans 12:10 KJV). How we treat one another manifests what is inside us. We should always treat people the way that we want people to treat us (Matthew 7:12). If we know the Lord, then the love of God should be manifested in us by how we treat one another. Love is the most important attribute in God’s Kingdom. Love for one another is the evidence of godliness among God’s people. God’s love is what draws unbelievers to our Christian family. God’s love in us brings about ‘UNITY’ and oneness among God’s people and this love that we have for one another activates the fruits of the Holy Spirit which are defined in Galatians 5:22-23. The fruits of the Holy Spirit are love, joy, peace, patience, gentleness, goodness, faith, meekness, and self-control. If we love the Lord then we will demonstrate that love for our Lord by obeying His Word; “If ye love me, keep my commandments” (John 14:15). If we obey God’s commands then there will be Spiritual fruit in our lives. Only obedience to God’s Word can result in the experience of these glorious fruits. Disobedience is what keeps us from activating the potential of doing all the things that our Lord Jesus Christ did when He lived and walked on earth. We have the potential of being just like Jesus Christ and doing all the things that he did (Johns 14:12). God wants replicas of His Son Jesus walking on the earth. God made us in His image and the image that He had in mind for mankind was Jesus Christ (Genesis 1:7). Human beings were made to be like Jesus. ‘UNITY’ begins with Jesus. We are to live like Him. We are to give like Him. We are to serve like Him. We are to be like Jesus. When we all are striving to be like Jesus, then we will all come together as one body of believers with different responsibilities in the body but still one body; “Oh, how wonderful, how pleasing it is when God’s people all come together as one!” (Psalm 133:1 ERV). We do not all look, speak and act the same and God gave each of us our own gift. His gifts were given to us so that we might be properly equipped for His service that the whole body might be built in the ‘UNITY’ of the common faith and common knowledge of Jesus Christ. The Father expects us to work within Christ’s body, the church, until we are all moving rhythmically and easily with each other, efficient and graceful, fully mature, fully developed within and without, fully alive like Jesus Christ.
Submitted By Trustee Stanley Ridley