THE BOND OF CHRISTIAN UNITY

MIKE CUNNINGHAM

April 16, 2010

I was saddened several months ago when the latest expose´ of the unadulterated evil which has been taking place within the Roman Catholic Church for hundreds of years erupted in the international media. It may seem odd to those of you who haven’t heard the last two sermons I preached on this issue back in August (A) and September of ’08, (B) when I tell you, that, my first thoughts this time weren’t of the thousands of victims of the pedophile priests. Nor were they of those powerful members of the vast hierarchy within that institution who became their willing accomplices by deliberately choosing to cover up that horrendous evil. On the contrary, my first thoughts this time around concerned the millions of decent people who, in one way or another, contribute to the Catholic Churches’ support. Although I’ve been wondering how they would respond to this latest sad revelation, I certainly have no intention of broaching the subject nor offer my opinion with any of them unless I’m asked.

Some ardent Catholic’s have vowed to work towards a mega change within that Church. In my opinion, these folks have about as much of a chance of accomplishing that goal as did a devout Catholic Monk named Martin Luther in the 1600’s; unless they are somehow able to do what many Catholics believe should happen, which is to dismantle it and start all over. For others, it’s a no-brainer and they have already joined the mass exodus out of the church which has been occurring during the past several years. I’m sure there are many Catholics who are giving the matter a lot of prayerful consideration as they each wrestle with their own conscience. I certainly respect them but hope they don’t believe their conscience is infallible. I also hope they will square their conclusion with the Word of God. I’m happy to say I can’t envision any of the Catholics I know ‘leaping from the frying pan into the fire’ i.e. Jehovah Witnesses, Unity School of Christianity or Mormonism, or another “Christian” cult.

Many Protestant’s have fled their churches, too. After all, the Catholic Church doesn’t have a monopoly on sexual predators or corrupt leaders. I firmly believe some men were placed in their pulpits and others were given positions of authority by Satan himself. I’m also of the opinion that countless phony Christians have already left the Catholic Church just as they have Evangelical Protestant churches such as our own. I don’t know about you, but I’m still rejoicing because of their departure. Christ’s church is infinitely better off without imposters, and you don’t have to have a Master’s to connect those dots.

Each genuine follower of our Risen Savior who does leave the Catholic Church will have to decide for themselves which locally organized body of believers he or she will identify with and with whom they want to serve the Lord together. It’s sad but true, but many of those Christians will arrive at the demonically influenced decision to separate themselves completely from any organized body of their sisters and brothers in Christ. They won’t set foot in any of them. That’s how disgusted they are of the organized church. Whether they’re coming from a Catholic or Evangelical Protestant background, it’s these folks whom I believe have no idea of how much they are hurting the Church Jesus suffered and died such an excruciating death for and who must grieve Him immensely. The unchurched Christian is the concern I wish to address this morning.

For instance, “One of the primary purposes for believers to assemble together is to create a meaningful context in which they can mutually encourage and edify one another through the exercise of the spiritual gifts that have been given to the body. The rich diversity of gifts in the body promotes maturity and wholeness when that diversity is empowered by the Spirit.” “The more we realize that we are allies on the journey rather than independent agents, the more clearly we will see that personal spiritual growth does not take place in a spiritual vacuum. In this world, we are part of a community of pilgrims who are traveling toward God, and we are meant to assist, nurture, and encourage one another along the way. Commitment to a local community of faith enhances personal growth by providing a corporate context for identity, involvement and ministry. This commitment to mutual nurture and service is most clearly expressed in the New Testament reciprocal “one another” commands.” (C)

Ephesians 4:1-16 (NIV)
¹As a prisoner for the Lord, then, I urge you to live a life worthy of the calling you have received. ²Be completely humble and gentle; be patient, bearing with one another in love. ³Make every effort to keep the unity of the Spirit through the bond of peace. ⁴There is one body and one Spirit-- just as you were called to one hope when you were called-- ⁵one Lord, one faith, one baptism; ⁶one God and Father of all, who is over all and through all and in all. ⁷But to each one of us grace has been given as Christ apportioned it. ⁸This is why it says: "When he ascended on high, he led captives in his train and gave gifts to men." ⁹(What does "he ascended" mean except that he also descended to the lower, earthly regions? ¹⁰He who descended is the very one who ascended higher than all the heavens, in order to fill the whole universe.) ¹¹It was he who gave some to be apostles, some to be prophets, some to be evangelists, and some to be pastors and teachers, ¹²to prepare God's people for works of service, so that the body of Christ may be built up ¹³until we all reach unity in the faith and in the knowledge of the Son of God and become mature, attaining to the whole measure of the fullness of Christ. ¹⁴Then we will no longer be infants, tossed back and forth by the waves, and blown here and there by every wind of teaching and by the cunning and craftiness of men in their deceitful scheming. ¹⁵Instead, speaking the truth in love, we will in all things grow up into him who is the Head, that is, Christ. ¹⁶From him the whole body, joined and held together by every supporting ligament, grows and builds itself up in love, as each part does its work.

R. Kent Hughes in his excellent commentary explains: “The people who bring unity are first of all “humble and gentle.” Humility was despised in the ancient Greco-Roman world as a slave-like quality. What was admired was the mega-souled or “great-souled” man who was complete and self sufficient. But here Paul extols humility and couples it with the tandem characteristic of “gentle [ness] (or meekness, as it is more often translated). This meekness/gentleness is not weakness. It is rather strength under control. There is nothing spineless or timid about it. Jesus describes himself with both words saying, “I am gentle [meek] and humble in heart (Matthew 11:29). We see his steel-like meekness in two ways. First, in respect to himself-his power not to practice retaliation, his ability to forgive. And second, in his fierce defense of others or of the truth.”

“Those who walk in unity are not only humble and gentle but, as the second couplet says, “patient, bearing with one another in love” (v. 2).” “We are to be patient,” not short-tempered, literally long-tempered. The twin quality of “bearing with one another in love” means far more than tolerating one another--love is to oil our relationships. The Apostle Peter, who began as a proud, rough, impatient man, says in his first letter: “.... have sincere love for your brothers, love one another deeply, from the heart” (1:22); “Show proper respect to everyone: Love the brotherhood of believers “.... (2:17); “Finally, all of you, live in harmony with one another, be sympathetic, love as brothers, be compassionate and humble” (3:8); “Above all, love each other deeply, because love covers over a multitude of sins” (4:8). (D)

Although there are legitimate scriptural grounds for a Christian leaving a corrupt church there aren’t any which justify him or her from not being united with an organized body of fellow believers. If the opportunity presents itself to us we must be careful not to concentrate on the first three verses in this chapter, with the emphases on verse two as I just shared with you when I quoted from Hughes excellent commentary. If we do we will be taking these verses out of context, and may unknowingly be leading that Christian out of the frying pan and into the fire.

Let’s take another look at those two verses again. This time I’ll be using the King James Version and I’ll be quoting a man who many, myself included, believe was the greatest preacher of the 20^th Century, Martyn-Lloyd Jones.

Ephesians 4:2-3 (KJV)
²With all lowliness and meekness, with longsuffering, forbearing one another in love; ³Endeavouring to keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace.

“The first particular matter which the Apostle mentions is that we are to ‘endeavour to keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace.’ Why did the Apostle choose this as the first particular? The answer is to be found in the first three chapters of this Epistle where Paul has been emphasizing this great principal of unity. He has said plainly and specifically in the tenth verse of the first chapter that this was the primary objective which God had in mind when He proposed, before the foundation of the world, and before time, to send His only begotten Son into this world. It was ‘that in the dispensation of the fullness of times he might gather together in one [or that He might re-unite all things in Christ, both which are in heaven and which are on earth, even in him.’ This is the primary objective in God’s plan of salvation. Sin is a disruptive force. Sin always divides, it always separates, it splinters. It divides a man within and against himself. It has produced the constant fight and struggle which we are all aware of in our lives. There is the constant problem of good and bad, right and wrong: shall I? shall I not? Sin also produces division between man and man; it leads to enmity and strife. The world has been shattered by sin.”

“So the central object of salvation, in a sense, is to reunite, to bring together again, to restore the unity that obtained before sin and the Fall produced this terrible havoc. The Apostle has worked this out, saying in chapter 1 verses 11-13, ‘In whom also we [the Jews] have obtained an inheritance,’ and then ‘In whom ye [Gentiles] also trusted, after that ye heard the truth, the gospel of your salvation.’ Then Paul works it out in greater detail in the second chapter, showing how the middle wall of partition,’ has been broken down and how ‘of twain one new man,’ one new body, has been made. This unity in Christ of Jew and Gentile, he says in chapter 3, is the mystery which has now been revealed (vv.5ff). So it is inevitable that when he comes to particulars of the Christian walk and life, the preservation of this unity must be mentioned first. This is God’s grand design; it is what display’s God’s glory above everything else. So the peculiar mark of the Christian calling is that it preserves this ‘unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace.’ This is the first step in the working out of the ‘therefore’ in the first verse of the fourth chapter.”

“The first thing therefore, which we must look at is the character, or the nature, of the unity. We start by observing that the Apostle is not merely appealing for some general spirit of friendship, brotherliness, or camaraderie. Neither is he appealing only for some common aim or a series of common aims against something which is a common enemy.” “In other words you cannot have Christian unity unless it is based upon the great doctrines outlined in chapters 1 to 3. ‘Therefore’! So if anyone comes to you and says, ‘It does not much matter what you believe; if we call ourselves Christians, or if we believe in God in any sense, come, let us all work together,’ you should say in reply, ‘But, my dear Sir, what about chapters 1 to 3 of the Epistle to the Ephesians? I know of no unity except that which is the outcome of, and the offspring of, all the great doctrines which the Apostle lays down in those chapters’, Whatever this unity may be, we are compelled to say that it must be theological, it must be doctrinal, it must be based upon an understanding of the truth.” (B)

Before I close, I would like to share a few more comments from Hughes, this time on Romans 15, to give us an idea of how true Christian unity will manifest itself in the lives of brothers and sisters in Christ. Hughes writes: “In concluding this long exhortation which began in chapter 14, Paul moves from the call to be willing to deny ourselves in order to please others to the call to accept one another. Again, Christ is the example: “Accept one another, then,” says Paul, “just as Christ accepted you, in order to bring praise to God’ (v.7). The primary example here is Christ’s acceptance of the Jews: For I tell you that Christ has become a servant of the Jews on behalf of God’s truth, to confirm the promises made to the patriarchs.... (v.8)

“Christ becoming a “servant” to Israel reveals the length to which he went to meet the Jews’ needs. But he also accepted Gentiles. In verses 9-12 Paul quotes four Old Testament Scriptures which predicted that the Gentiles would respond to God’s grace and acceptance: .... so that the Gentiles may glorify God for his mercy, as it is written: “Therefore I will praise you among the Gentiles; I will sing hymns to your name.” [2 Samuel 22:50; Psalm 18:49] Again it says, “Rejoice, O Gentiles, with his people.”[Deuteronomy 32:43] And again, “Praise the Lord, all you Gentiles, and sing praises to him, all you peoples.” [Psalm 117:1] And again, Isaiah says, “The root of Jessie will spring up, one will arise to rule over the nations; the Gentiles will hope in him.” [Isaiah 11:10] (Italics added)”

“Think of the amazing diversity of the Jews and Gentiles whom Christ has accepted! Christ’s astounding example gives mighty force to Paul’s challenge to accept one another, then, just as Christ accepted you.” How did Christ accept you and me? He accepted us with our many sins, prejudices, and innumerable blind spots. He accepted us with our psychological shortcomings and cultural naiveté. He accepted s with our provincialisms. He even accepted us with our stubbornness. This is how we are to accept one another.”

“No one knows when their last twenty-four hours will be. However, we do know how we should live our lives, whether we have twenty-four hours or twenty-four years or a hundred years. Jesus showed us what was important in his final hours when he prayed for our unity. And the example he set by his life backed it up. Christ made us one by his willingness not to please himself. Are there some legitimate, good things, rightful things that God is asking us to forgo for the good of our brothers and sisters? Then by all means let us forgo them. Are there some believers whom we have been unwilling to accept because they are not our type? God says we must accept them and love them. Let us each covenant to do this now.” (E)

Instead of allowing Satan con them into believing it doesn’t matter if they separate themselves from a local organized body of believers, and ignore Jesus’ command to become part of it, they should join those folks and serve Him together. However, as they do so, they must always be mindful of the fact that He commands His followers to tolerate one another Ephesians 4:2; accept one another Romans 15:7, be kind to one another Ephesians 4:32, and forgive one another Ephesians 4:32 just as He has each of them. The bottom line is that Jesus wants the people He suffered and died such an agonizing death for, to live in harmony with one another 1 Peter 3:8 and do so not just bearing with one another Ephesians 4:2 but to love one another earnestly from a pure heart 1 Peter 1:22 (ESV). They should not allow themselves to be snookered by Satan into believing that Jesus hasn’t commanded His followers to maintain “The Bond of Christian Unity.”

Lord willing, next week....

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(A) http://s128601634.onlinehome.us/sermons/deceived.htm

(B) http://s128601634.onlinehome.us/sermons/last_sermon.htm

(D) Ephesians, The Mystery Of The Body Of Christ, © 1990 by, R. Kent Hughes. Published by Crossway Books, a division of Good News Publishers, 1300 Crescent Street, Wheaton, Illinois 60187, pg. 122, 123, 124.

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