True Unity In Christ

TRUE UNITY IN CHRIST

Presented By Pastor Ron Millevo

Scripture Reading:

HEBREWS 10:23-25 23 Let us hold fast the profession of our faith without wavering; for he is faithful that promised;

24 And let us consider one another to provoke unto love and to good works:

25 Not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together, as the manner of some is; but exhorting one another: and so much the more, as ye see the day approaching.

Ephesians 4:11-13 – The 5-Fold Ministry11 And He gave some, apostles;

and some, prophets; and some, evangelists; and some, pastors and teachers;

12 For the perfecting of the saints, for the work of the ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ:

13 Till we all come in the unity of the faith, and of the knowledge of the Son of God, unto a perfect man, unto the measure of the stature of the fulness of Christ:

UNITY, defined

Oneness of mind, harmony, or agreement

The presence of a common goal or common denominator for all

The totality of combining all parts into one –Teamwork

Absence of diversity or unvaried thinking

Why we go to Church?It’s a Celebration of God’s LoveTo Eat and Feed on the Word of God

To Fellowship with your Family in Christ

To Thank God for your life and blessings

To worship God in Spirit and in Truth

To minister your gifts and talents to others

You need a home church“Every man ought to have a church home.

You ought to have a place, not just to float about from pillar to post, but have somewhere that you go to church and you call it your church, somewhere you pay your tithe, and somewhere that you help support the cause. 

Take your choice, but then don’t never disfellowship the other man because he don’t belong with your group. See? Discern his spirit and see if he’s got the same purpose in heart, then you got fellowship one with another. You’re working for one great cause. That’s the cause of Christ. I think that that is absolutely true.” (DISCERNMENT.OF.SPIRIT.title PHOENIX.AZ)

What the Church Ought To Be

A place of RefreshingA Place of EncouragementA Place of Healing and Forgiveness

A Place of Liberation A Place of RestorationA Place of CelebrationA Place of Preparation

You can’t stay home and be a Good Christian

We need one another more now than we ever did need each other, is now. When you get yourself singled out from the rest of them making yourself just a little different, you don’t want to associate with them because they believe this, and don’t want to associate with that, you’re getting on dangerous ground, right then, keeping away from church.

Find the one of your choice, and remain there, and be a Christian brother to all of them. That’s the way to be a real Christian. Then we’ve got fellowship, protection; people love you and pray for you. (CHRIST.IS.THE.MYSTERY.title JEFF.IN V-3 N-7 63-0728)

You can’t stay home and be a Good Christian

People say, “I can stay at home, be just as good a Christian as I can at church.” You can’t. The Bible said, “Not forsake our assemble ourselves together, and that much more as we see the time coming.” 

If you’re a Christian, you long to go where other Christians are, and fellowship with other Christians. So you cannot stay away from church and live the same life. You can’t do it, because it’s like, “I’m hungry, but I’ll never go to a table. I’ll never eat. I just—I ain’t going to do it.” See? You’ve got to go and feed on the Word of God, and fellowship one with another. (CHRIST.IS.THE.MYSTERY.title JEFF.IN V-3 N-7 63-0728)

What Christianity ought to be

Christianity is not a competition; it is a teamwork.

We encourage, not discourage.

We edify, not crucify. We pull each other up, not pull each other down.

We are a family. We are one body in Christ Jesus.

God’s desire upon His ChurchGod values His church; He paid the highest price for it – His own Blood

He wants to protect it from division, conflict and discord

You, as an individual, are responsible of preserving the UNITY, to protect the fellowhip, and to promote harmony amongst believers

We are part of Christ’s Body

 1 Corinthians 12: 21 – " And the eye cannot say unto the hand, I have no need of thee: nor again the head to the feet, I have no need of you."

Don’t be clannish I CORINTHIANS 1:12-13, "Now

this I say, that every one of you saith, I am of Paul; and I of Apollos; and I of Cephas; and I of Christ. Is Christ divided? was Paul crucified for you?”

LUKE 9:49-50 -"And John answered and said, Master, we saw one casting out devils in thy Name; and we forbad him, because he followeth not with us. And Jesus said unto him, Forbid him not: for he that is not against us is for us."

Be good to one another

"Try to be good to one another. Try to shake hands and be friendly and nice. Tear down all the walls of partition around you, that's malice, and different, ungodly, tear it down. Keep doing good to one another. Every time you meet one another, make yourself be good to one another. And the first thing you know, it'll grow around you, till a bundle of love will wrap you up. Hallelujah. That's the marking of God." (WMB, 55-0311)

Malice, Envy and Strife

 "But if you still got malice, and envy, and strife, you might've run, danced, spoke in tongues, shouted, preached the Gospel, or anything. But you're lost until that Blood has cleansed you and set in a Divine love of the Lord Jesus Christ in your heart, in your life speaks of Christ behind you. Amen." (-WMB, PERFECTION_ JEFF.IN 56-0610)

It will never amount to nothing

"We can testify, and jump up-and-down, and sing, and everything like that. But until God makes us in such a condition till we can recognize one another as brothers, until all malice, envy, strife and everything's gone out of us, our jumping, shouting, praising God, organizing, speaking in tongues, and healing the sick, and performing miracles, and everything else will never amount to nothing. Come back and wait in the cave till we hear the still small Voice that calls us to the service of God." (-WMB, WHAT.HEAREST.THOU.ELIJAH_ CHICAGO.IL 59-0609)

SEVEN (7) EFFECTIVE WAYS ON HOW TO PRESERVE UNITY IN THE CHURCH

1. FOCUS ON WHAT WE HAVE IN COMMON, NOT ON OUR DIFFERENCES

No two heads are the same, no two thumbmarks are the same… yet we harmonize in Christ

Accept first that we have different personalities, backgrounds, races and preferences – God is a God of Variety

We have the same Lord, the same Faith, the same purpose or goal – to glorify God

1. FOCUS ON WHAT WE HAVE IN COMMON, NOT ON OUR DIFFERENCESCONFLICT is the destroyer of UNITY

CONFLICT is a sign that your FOCUS has shifted from CHRIST to other carnal issues

The Bible admonishes us to LOOK unto JESUS, the author and finisher of our faith (Heb 12:1-2)

2. PERSONAL CRITICISM MUST BE AVOIDED“Nobody is perfect” – we are

all sinners saved by graceGod came to save “sinners”,

not the “righteous”Other believers might

DISAPPOINT you, but they are still your brothers and sisters

Do not be an “idealist”; avoid too high expectations from others

3. CHOOSE TO “ENCOURAGE”, RATHER THAN TO “CRITICIZE”

Do not compare nor judge others

ROMANS 14:4- “Who art thou that judgest another man's servant? to his own master he standeth or falleth. Yea, he shall be holden up: for God is able to make him stand.”

ROMANS 14:13- “Let us not therefore judge one another any more: but judge this rather, that no man put a stumblingblock or an occasion to fall in his brother's way. “

3. CHOOSE TO “ENCOURAGE”, RATHER THAN TO “CRITICIZE”MATTHEW 7:1-5 1 Judge not, that ye be not judged. 2 For with what judgment ye judge, ye shall be

judged: and with what measure ye mete, it shall be measured to you again.

3 And why beholdest thou the mote that is in thy brother's eye, but considerest not the beam that is in thine own eye?

4 Or how wilt thou say to thy brother, Let me pull out the mote out of thine eye; and, behold, a beam is in thine own eye?

5 Thou hypocrite, first cast out the beam out of thine own eye; and then shalt thou see clearly to cast out the mote out of thy brother's eye.

3. CHOOSE TO “ENCOURAGE”, RATHER THAN TO “CRITICIZE”

“Don't never clan among one an--or talk, make yourself clannish; we are one. I couldn't say, "Left hand, I'm mad at you; I'm going to take you away 'cause you're not a right hand." He's my left hand. I want him to stay there. Even the little tip of my finger, I want it to stay right there, every little part of my body stay right there. And God wants us as a Body of believers to stay right exactly with one another, right it with one another. CHRIST.IS.THE.MYSTERY.OF.GOD.REVEALED_ JEFF.IN V-3 N-7 SUNDAY_ 63-0728

3. CHOOSE TO “ENCOURAGE”, RATHER THAN TO “CRITICIZE” “Amongst a lot of people we find,

where emotions and so forth, there becomes tattlings, and backbitings, and all kind of ungodly things. Brother, that's sulfuric acid in the church; it's demon power. Spirit of men and women who get among one another and try to push off and say, "This one's not right, and this one's not right, and that's not right." If you'll chase it down, nine times out of ten, it's the very person making the stir that's not right. Amen. God hates discord among brethren.” ENTICING.SPIRITS_ JEFF.IN DE 79-112 SUNDAY_ 55-0724

4. REFUSE TO LISTEN TO GOSSIP

GOSSIP – “the passing of information when you are NEITHER PART of the PROBLEM nor the SOLUTION”

The Bible says, “Thou shalt not bear false witness against thy neighbour”

People who gossip to you will also gossip about you; they cannot be trusted

4. REFUSE TO LISTEN TO GOSSIP JAMES 3:5-6 – “Even so the tongue is

a little member, and boasteth great things. Behold, how great a matter a little fire kindleth! And the tongue is a fire…that it defileth the whole body, and setteth on fire the course of nature; and it is set on fire of hell.

I JOHN 3:15 – “Whosoever hateth his brother is a murderer: and ye know that no murderer hath eternal life abiding in him.”

If you can’t say anything good about a brother or sister, don’t speak at all.

SOME HINDRANCES TO UNITYHYPOCRISYLEGALISMHURTSTAKING ADVANTAGE

HINDRANCES TO UNITY

ROMANS 13:8 – “Owe no man any thing”

CHRIST.IS.REVEALED.IN.HIS.OWN.WORD_ JEFF.IN V-4 N-10 SUNDAY_ 65-0822M

"Owe no man nothing." That's lingering debts that you could pay. Pay them. You don't... That's owing no man nothing. It doesn't mean... My, we owe our rent, our telephone bill, we--and whatmore. We--we owe those things, and we pay them. But an old lingering debt that you could be paying on, pay it off. See? Now, don't go with anything hanging on you like that.

HINDRANCES TO UNITYII THESSALONIANS 3:10-11For even when we were with

you, this we commanded you, that if any would not work, neither should he eat. For we hear that there are some which walk among you disorderly, working not at all, but are busybodies.

I TIMOTHY 5:8 – “But if any provide not for his own, and specially for those of his own house, he hath denied the faith, and is worse than an infidel.”

5. RESOLVE CONFLICT ACCORDING TO THE BIBLE WAY MATTHEW 18:15-18 15 Moreover if thy brother shall

trespass against thee, go and tell him his fault between thee and him alone: if he shall hear thee, thou hast gained thy brother.

16 But if he will not hear thee, then take with thee one or two more, that in the mouth of two or three witnesses every word may be established.

17 And if he shall neglect to hear them, tell it unto the church: but if he neglect to hear the church, let him be unto thee as an heathen man and a publican.

6. SUPPORT YOUR LEADERS

I THESSALONIANS 5:12-13 – “ And we beseech you, brethren, to know them which labour among you, and are over you in the Lord, and admonish you; And to esteem them very highly in love for their work's sake.

HEBREWS 13:17- “Obey them that have the rule over you, and submit yourselves: for they watch for your souls, as they that must give account, that they may do it with joy, and not with grief: for that is unprofitable for you.”

The Admonitionof Jesus

JOHN 13:34-35“A new commandment I give unto you, That ye love one another; as I have loved you, that ye also love one another. By this shall all men know that ye are my disciples, if ye have love one to another.”