UNIFIED
Text: 1 Corinthians 12:1 - 11
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1 Corinthians 12:1-31 Now concerning spiritual gifts, brothers and sisters, I do not want you to be uninformed. (2) You know that when you were pagans, you were enticed and led astray to idols that could not speak. (3) Therefore I want you to understand that no one speaking by the Spirit of God ever says "Let Jesus be cursed!" and no one can say "Jesus is Lord" except by the Holy Spirit. (4) Now there are varieties of gifts, but the same Spirit; (5) and there are varieties of services, but the same Lord; (6) and there are varieties of activities, but it is the same God who activates all of them in everyone. (7) To each is given the manifestation of the Spirit for the common good. (8) To one is given through the Spirit the utterance of wisdom, and to another the utterance of knowledge according to the same Spirit, (9) to another faith by the same Spirit, to another gifts of healing by the one Spirit, (10) to another the working of miracles, to another prophecy, to another the discernment of spirits, to another various kinds of tongues, to another the interpretation of tongues. (11) All these are activated by one and the same Spirit, who allots to each one individually just as the Spirit chooses. (12) For just as the body is one and has many members, and all the members of the body, though many, are one body, so it is with Christ. (13) For in the one Spirit we were all baptized into one body—Jews or Greeks, slaves or free—and we were all made to drink of one Spirit.
Today is a big day---a huge day in the life of the church. It is the Church’s birthday.
“There is the story of a little teeny pygmy who was standing over a rhinoceros that he killed. This was an odd sight to behold, a big, violent rhinoceros under the feet of a teeny pygmy. A guy saw this dead rhinoceros and this little pygmy over it and said,
“Did you kill that?”
The little pygmy said “Yeah I killed it.”
Curious, the man asked, “So how did you, a little pygmy, kill this rhinoceros?”
“With my club. Yep! I killed this rhinoceros wit my club.”
The man was still thoroughly confused, “Well, how big is your club?”
In other words, he was surrounded by folk who had the same belief systems and worked together so that they could handle being attacked by a rhinoceros.” (Tony Evans. Tony Evans’ Book of Illustrations. Chicago: Moody Publishers, 2009, p. 337). Hearing this story prompts us to ask divided, assembled or unified.
DIVISIVENESS
Would anyone disagree that we are a divided country with divided people and divided churches?
There are all kinds of divisiveness.
The right and the wrong; the haves and the have-nots; the privileged and the deprived; the liberals and conservatives; the republicans and democrats; the Christians and the atheists; pro-life and pro-choice and so on and on. Who is the author of all this division?
Who is the author of subtraction and division?
1) Who: We all know the answer don’t we? Why would the enemy want to divide us? Follow me, “United we stand …… Divided we fall”. That’s true for the Church; that’s true for teamwork; that’s true for armies; that’s true for families; that’s true for friendship.
2) Why?: We all know the who but what about the why?
Is the ultimate goal of division our destruction? What happens to nations that separate from God? They get taken over by what Jonathon Cahn calls the Dark Trinity. “Baal ushered in Ishtar. And it was Istar that ushered in Molech” (Jonathon Cahn. Return of the Gods. Lake Mary Florida: Front Line, 2022, p. 104).
First in the Dark Trinity: Baal is the possessor (p.39) and the god of apostasy (p. 42).
?Baal’s mission is to cause a nation that has known God to stop knowing Him (p. 43).
?In the 60’s they took prayer out of the public schools (p. 44).
?The Ten Commandments and the Law are the foundation of Western civilization (p. 45).
? Baal turned Israel in upon itself and has done the same to America----spiritual schizophrenia (p. 45).
Judges 3:7
Second in the Dark Trinity: Ishtar---the breaker of rules, the trespasser o boundaries and the transgressor of standards and conventions; the goddess of prostitution (73).
?Seducer, temptress, goddess who captivated, allured, and snatched away; mixed
sexuality with intoxication (p. 74).
?Her aim is to destroy morality and faith (p. 79) Anesthetized us subtly removing taboos (pp. 80 - 82). She creates familiarity followed by numbness, followed by toleration and then acceptance (p. 83)
?She paved the way for America to become the world’s leading exporter of pornography (p. 87).
?She converged feminism with the occult (p. 91). JUdges 10:16
?“It was all part of her [agenda in the] merging and confusion of gender. If one can remove masculinity form men, one can destroy the distinction between male and female/ Then one can destroy marriage, the family and society” (124).
? She also sought to masculinize women (p. 120).
?Ishtar is the reason our culture is flooded with transgender issues is businesses.
Just look at all Ishtar’s handiwork in society, in sports, in businesses, in relationships, in schools and even some churches through drag queens being around children.
Third in the Dark Trinity: Molech --- who is the spirit and god of child sacrifice (p. 96).
?“Israel killed thousands and America millions---approximately one million a year’ (111 -112).
?Leviticus 18:21 You shall not give any of your offspring to sacrifice them to Molech, and so profane the name of your God: I am the LORD.
? “God had warned Israel that if it turned against His ways, if it turned to the gods, it would end up sacrificing its own children” (p. 105)
? Molech brings nothing but death.
ASSEMBLY
How do you define the word assembly? In multiple choice fashion, is it it …..
A)a group of people gathered
B)a legislative body
C)a meeting
D)a process where you have put something together, following the instructions?
E)the Body of Christ, birthed and united by God’s Holy Spirit
F) all of the above
What is the purpose of the Church as an assembly? Aren’t we called to be in the world but not of the world?
1) Church: In Strong's Greek Concordance, the word ekklesia (word #1577) is defined as "an assembly," and it's from the word "ek," (word #1537) which means "out of"; and the word "klesis" (word #2821) which means "a calling." So ekklesia means to be called out, and obviously Christ is the one that's calling us out. But is that the first time we were ever called out? www.ecclesia.org/truth/ekklesia.html The Lord builds His church so we won’t build in vain (Psalm 127:1).
2) Distractions: When we let the enemy distract us do we not do his dirty work for him?
What are our challenges as an assembly----meaning for us the Body of Christ?
1) Promises: Jesus told us to go and make disciples (Matthew 28:19)! Jesus even told us that we would do greater things after He returned to God the Father (John 14:12)!
2) Obstacles: There are six huge, worldly obstacles to our mission to make disciples. Those seven obstacles are
?deception,
?distraction
?disorientation,
?dissatisfaction,
?discouragement
?demoralization and
?defeat.
3) Source: The world tells us that we are disoriented, dissatisfied and then lies to us. Who is their puppet master?
4) Complacency: Perhaps the lie that gets us in the most trouble is that we tell ourselves that we are fine when the truth is we have been AWOL. The church was AWOL when they took prayer out of the public schools.
5) Self- deception: Several years ago a young Frenchman captured the attention of the world by walking a tightrope between the towers of New York’s World Trade Center (1350 feet high). A few months later, however, while practicing on a relatively low wire in St. Petersburg, Florida, he fell 30 feet and was injured. As he lay waiting for help, he reportedly beat his fist on the ground saying, “I can’t believe it! I can’t believe it! I never fall!” Galaxie Software. (2002). 10,000 Sermon Illustrations. Biblical Studies Press. Don’t we all fall? Aren’t we all sinners? It’s not just the criminals we see at the post office in the Most Wanted section. It’s not justhe lawbreakers and criminals we read about in the papers or hear about in the news. Its all of us. WE ARE ALL SINNERS!
6) Straying sheep: We all, like sheep, have gone astray, each of us has turned to our own way; and the LORD has laid on him the iniquity of us all (Isaiah 53:6).
7) The Good Shepherd: When [Jesus] saw the crowds, he had compassion for them, because they were harassed and helpless, like sheep without a shepherd (Matthew 9:36). Jesus said, "I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep (John 10:11). I am the good shepherd. I know my own and my own know me (John 10:14). I have other sheep that do not belong to this fold. I must bring them also, and they will listen to my voice. So there will be one flock, one shepherd. (John 10:16).
UNIFIED
Is it enough to be assembled? NO! Just because we are gathered together does not mean that we are unified.
1) Common Good: For the Body of Christ, unified means brought together and united by God’s design. When the Church was born, on the Day of Pentecost, we were brought together by God’s Holy Spirit because, “to each is given the manifestation of the Spirit for the common good” (verse 7).
2) Unity in spite of Diversity: Now there are varieties of gifts, but the same Spirit; (5) and there are varieties of services, but the same Lord; (6) and there are varieties of activities, but it is the same God who activates all of them in everyone.
3) Activated: (11) All these are activated by one and the same Spirit, who allots to each one individually just as the Spirit chooses. (12) For just as the body is one and has many members, and all the members of the body, though many, are one body, so it is with Christ.
Why is it so important to be unified by God’s design?
1) Solid Rock: Jesus is the solid rock, the sure and indestructible foundation (Matthew 7:24 - 26) because all other ground is sinking sand!
2) The cornerstone (Ephesians 2:20,21) the cornerstone is to a building what the spine is to the body!
3) Indestructible construction: We are part of God’s household (Ephesians 2:20) because Christ is building us into a place where God lives through the Spirit (Ephesians 2:22 CEB paraphrased). We are called to be shaped and cleaned by God’s Word that we may win disciples for Jesus Christ (Mathew 28:19; John 15:3)! Only God can put this kind of unity in spite of diversity together!
How can we be united without God’s help?
The point is that we cannot move away from God and win. These Old Testament pagan gods got kicked out when people linked arms with God and followed God. We cannot clean up and clean out the evil and then be idle!
?Where there is deception, we need God’s truth
?Where there is distraction, we need the guidance of the Holy Spirit
?Where there is disorientation, we need to pray without ceasing
?Where there is dissatisfaction, we need to understand that without God we are nothing
?Where there is discouragement, we need to share in our fellowship with God and each other
?Where there is demoralization, we need to share love
?Where there is defeat, we need to claim the victory at the cross where Christ destroyed sin, death and the fear of death.
God has given of His Spirit what we need and where we need it to be activated by His Holy Spirit. God wants us to use the gifts of God’s Holy Spirit to win others to Christ----the lost, the least and the last and make disciples of them (Matthew 28:19).
Remember the pygmy’s club that killed the rhinoceros? What does our club look like? Paul’s answer: “For in the one Spirit we were all baptized into one body—Jews or Greeks, slaves or free—and we were all made to drink of one Spirit” (1 Corinthians 12:13). We win when we are one in God’s Spirit.
