Unity of the Faith

Unity of the faith:

 Ephesians 4:13

13     until we all attain to the unity of the faith, and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to a mature man, to the measure of the stature which belongs to the fullness of Christ.

             This passage is talking about the apostles, prophets, etc. being given to the Church. What we want to look at though is that there is a promise of us attaining to the unity of the faith. Right now, there isn’t a lot of unity of the faith in the Body of Christ. This indicates that one day there will be … every one of us attaining to it. We’re also promised that we will become mature Christians one day … to the point of being to the measure of the stature belonging to the fullness of Christ. We all have a long way to go; but we’ll get there one day. We can depend on God to do what He said He will do in us.

If you could hear God speak to you, I believe this is what He would say:

            "My desire is for a perfect body; not some scraggily corpse. You are not dead, nor dying. You are alive in Me. You shall come together in Me and shall grow into what I have desired for you. You will no longer argue and fight over My Word. You will come to the point that you agree on My commands. It may not look like it now, but it will happen eventually. You cannot disagree on My Word and become what I have in mind for you. You have to put aside your petty grievances and trust in Me to fulfill all that I have said that I would do through you. You are the apple of My eye, and I have no desire for a fragmented body. It is to be perfect and whole. It cannot be that, as long as you fight over things that are unimportant. Trust in Me to bring you into agreement with My Word. I will not fail, and neither will you. I have said it, and it will come to pass. My Son has proclaimed it, and it will come to pass. You shall be made whole. You shall agree with each other over My Word. You shall mature into the one that I have planned from the beginning. There is no other plan in effect. It will happen in My time and in My way.”

 

            103. I will be of those who attain to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of Jesus to a mature person to the measure of the stature which belongs to the fullness of Him.

Unity:

            He is in our midst:

 
Matthew 18:20

20     “For where two or three have gathered together in My name, I am there in their midst.”

            Of course God is inside each one of us; so wherever you are, He is. However, this means more than that. He is promising to manifest Himself when two or three of us gather together in His name. It doesn’t have to be a Sunday morning church service. It could be a Friday night prayer meeting. Or, it could even be a husband and wife. In these cases and others, we can be sure He’s there. Since He’s in all believers, He wouldn’t need to tell us that He would be in our midst unless it was more than a statement of the obvious that He is there. He is in our midst to meet our needs … to make Himself known to us and others. He will speak to us to comfort us, to guide us, or to supply anything that we need.

If you could hear God speak to you, I believe this is what He would say:

            "I am with you My children wherever you are. There is no boundary too big or too small for My people. I am with you wherever you go. I will meet with you between the cherubim above the mercy seat. I will talk with you, and I will listen to you as you tell Me of your desires and needs. I will never turn My back on you, but will always be open to hear all that you have need of. Come together in My name and see what glorious things that I have in store for you. There is nothing that I won’t do for My children when they seek My face diligently.”

            102. I will gather together with other believers for when two or three of us gather together in His name, He is in our midst.

Holy Temple:

             Holy temple of the Living God:

 Ephesians 2:21-22

21     in whom the whole building, being fitted together, is growing into a holy temple in the Lord,

     22     in whom you also are being built together into a dwelling of God in the Spirit.

 

2 Corinthians 6:16

16     Or what agreement has the temple of God with idols? For we are the temple of the living God; just as God said,

“I will dwell in them and walk among them;

And I will be their God, and they shall be My people.

  

            Wow! Is this overwhelming or what? We’re not just members of each other; we’re part of a building … and not just any building … a holy temple in the Lord. The point of this temple is for God to dwell in. As a holy temple in the Lord, we should act like it. If we could visibly see God in our midst, would we think and act the way we do? Hopefully we would not. We need each other to help complete this holy temple. Let’s work together to bring it about quickly so Jesus will return soon.

If you could hear God speak to you, I believe this is what He would say:

            "You are all needed My children. You are all special. There is no one who does not have a place in My body. You are all a part of what I have planned. I will make you into a glorious Church; a glorious body. Each one of you has a place in this building of Mine in which My glory resides. You are My special temple. I reside in My temple. There is no one nor any thing that can destroy My temple. It is My holy dwelling place. It is built without hammer or chisel. It is a place where My glory resides. Do not think that I came to build a weak and unfruitful building. I came to build a glorious abode. All of you are needed to complete the work. Trust in Me that it will come to pass. Do not look at the way things appear now. I have plans for you … for good and not ill. You will be glorious as you allow Me to fulfill all that I have planned for you.”

            101. I am being fitted together with the other members of Christ into a holy temple in the Lord … a fit dwelling of God in the Spirit. He will dwell in us and walk among us. We shall commune with God like Adam and Eve in the Garden before the fall.

The Church:

            No spot or wrinkle – holy and blameless:

Ephesians 5:27

27     that He might present to Himself the church in all her glory, having no spot or wrinkle or any such thing; but that she would be holy and blameless.

     

            Does the Church have glory? Does it look spotless without any wrinkle or any such thing? How about holy and blameless? That means that God is still working on her, and us. He’s not finished with the Church or us. He hasn’t given up on her or us either. Together we will be a glorious Church, holy and blameless before Christ returns. What will it take for the Church to become this? How about more time? She’s had almost 2,000 years to get it right. How will more time alone make any difference? Sometimes it takes great pressure for us as individuals to make changes in our lives. Maybe it will take some great pressure for the Church to make the necessary changes to become what this verse foresees.

If you could hear God speak to you, I believe this is what He would say:

            "I have chosen My Church to fulfill all that I have spoken about My people. I have chosen her to be great in the earth, and not to fail. I have chosen My people to fulfill all that is written for them. They are to take control of the things of the earth and to not be downtrodden. They are to walk in white with Me and not the sin-stained way of the world. They are more than conquerors over all the wiles of the devil. He will not tear down My Church for she is more powerful through Me than he could ever imagine. She will not fail, for I will not fail. She will prevail in the end. She must take her rightful place in the world. She is to command respect and to not be unfruitful. She is My glory, and I will not be undermined by anyone or anything. She is My glory and the glory of My Son. She will not walk in unrighteousness but in holiness … spotless and unblemished.”

            100. I am a member of the Church which Christ will present to Himself in all her glory. We will have no spot or wrinkle or any such thing. We will be holy and blameless.

Chapter 9

All Together

            God did not destine us to be Lone Rangers. He destined us to become a part of a much bigger whole … to work together for the good of all. We have to become others minded, not us minded. When we do, then we will all come to maturity and His body will be built up into the beautiful temple that He desires.

Body:

            Members of Christ’s body:

1 Corinthians 6:15

15     Do you not know that your bodies are members of Christ? Shall I then take away the members of Christ and make them members of a prostitute? May it never be!

     

1 Corinthians 12:27

27     Now you are Christ’s body, and individually members of it.

            We are members of Christ’s body. We can’t go it alone … we need other Christians to take up our slack. They also need us. We can’t look down on someone who doesn’t seem to be contributing anything to the body. We don’t know how they are being used by God; only He does. They also can’t look down on us. “But I’m not doing anything”, you may say. Maybe you are, but to you it seems like nothing. Or perhaps God is still training you for something in the future. Be open for however God directs you to become what the rest of the body needs.

If you could hear God speak to you, I believe this is what He would say:

            "You are part of My Son’s body. You are special to me. You are all needed to make His body complete. There is no one who is not needed. Everyone has his own special contribution to make. Everyone is important. My people need to take their rightful place in the world. I have a job for each one of you to do. You are to help make My body complete.”

            99. I am a member of Christ’s body. That means that I need the other members of His body and they need me to be complete. I am needed no matter what anyone else says or thinks.