The story is told about a poor church in Tennessee back in the early 1900s. The congregation had had a terrible argument… and (sadly) there was a split. They couldn’t stand each other., however, neither side could afford to leave and build their own church building. And so they both continued to worship in the same building - but would STILL have nothing to do with each other. In those days, their church building was heated by coal, and out back there was a storage shed where they kept the coal. I’m told that someone posted a sign outside the storage shed that said: “One Lord, One Faith, Two Coal Piles.”
Our sermon series this month is entitled: “ONE THING”, and each of the sermons is focusing on ONE word that sums up a vital Christian teaching. Last week the word was “Grace”. And this week we’re looking that the concept of “UNITY.”
Unity within the church is was deeply important to Jesus. On the night that He was betrayed, Jesus prayed “that (Christians) may all be one just as you, Father, are in me, and I in you, that they also may be in us, so that the world may believe that you have sent me. John 17:21
And Paul echoed that by writing that we should be “Eager to maintain THE UNITY of the Spirit in the bond of peace.” Ephesians 4:3
Then Paul wrote: “There is ONE BODY and ONE SPIRIT — just as you were called to the ONE HOPE that belongs to your call — ONE LORD, ONE FAITH, ONE BAPTISM. ONE GOD and Father of all.” Ephesians 4:4-6
But for all the importance of unity has for Jesus and for us - the church rarely been good at it. Not only have little churches like the one Tennessee struggled with splits - so have entire denominations across the US and the world.
According to a researcher named J. Gordon Melton there are 1517 different recognized denominations in USA. In his book, Melton included all kinds of groups, including cults such as the Mormons and the Jehovah Witnesses. He even included various "peculiar" groups in his list such as:
· "The Church of the Mystery of Universal Wisdom". They believe they can communicate with aliens and they seek guidance from flying saucers.
· "The Nudist Christian Church of the Blessed Virgin Jesus". I’m not quite sure what all this group teaches, but I’m pretty sure I could recognize them from a mile away - they’d be the ones with no clothes on.
· Then there’s "The Church of God Anonymous". This group is kind of hard to find because… they’re (pause) anonymous.
My point is this – there’s a lot of division going on in churches that claim to follow Jesus. There are OVER 1500 different denominations in the USA alone. And I guess that shouldn’t surprise us because, at the time that Paul wrote the letter to the Ephesians, there was already ONE SPLIT that had happened back then.
There were a group of Jews who’d become Christian and they were not pleased with the fact that the church (thru God’s guidance) had decided that Gentiles didn’t have to be circumcised in order to become Christians.
Well these Jewish believers (called CIRCUMCISERS) thought circumcision should be required. So they decided to FIX the problem, and they went from Gentile Church to Gentile Church insisting that these Gentiles be circumcised.
And one of the churches they’d stopped at… was the one in Ephesus.
This type of teaching so angered Paul that he wrote to the church in Galatia, and he condemned these circumcizers as heretics. He even went so far as to write: “As for those agitators, I wish they would go the whole way and emasculate themselves!” Galatians 5:12
PAUL WAS ANGRY these heretics had perverted the message of salvation!
The Apostle John says that, in his ministry, he had seen that “… many antichrists have come; therefore we know that it is the last hour. They went out from us, but they were not of us; for if they had been of us, they would have continued with us…. Who is the liar (this anti-Christs) but he who denies that Jesus is the Christ?
This is the antichrist, he who denies the Father and the Son. No one who denies the Son has the Father.” 1 John 2:18-19 & 23
JOHN WAS ANGRY that these anti-Christs had perverted the teaching about Jesus!
And then, in the book of Jude where Jude wrote: “I found it necessary to write appealing to you to contend for the faith that was once for all delivered to the saints. For certain people have crept in unnoticed who long ago were designated for this condemnation, ungodly people, who pervert the grace of our God into sensuality and deny our only Master and Lord, Jesus Christ.” Jude 1:3-4
JUDE WAS ANGRY that these godless men were perverting God’s grace!
Paul was upset that these circumcisers had perverted the message of how to become a Christian. John was upset that the anti-Christs were perverting the truth of who Jesus was. And Jude was upset that there were ungodly people perverting the message of God’s grace.
IT’S HARD TO HAVE UNITY WITH FOLKS WHO PERVERT GOD’S MESSAGE. But there were groups of people in the early church who had crept in … unnoticed. And these groups were spreading false teachings in the church.
AND THOSE FALSE TEACHINGS WERE DIVIDING THE CHURCH.
But Paul knew that! He knew there were false teachings dividing the church, but he STILL told the Ephesian Christians to be eager to maintain unity.
But how do we do that? How do we maintain unity in the church? Well, 1st we need to realize we cannot look the other way on false teachers. FALSE TEACHING IS THE TOOL OF SATAN TO DIVIDE US.
So, we can’t have unity based on false teachings. False teachings DIVIDE the church, and Paul would NEVER have endorsed that
Here’s what we need to understand - Paul’s was NOT saying that we should accept false teachings. What Paul was saying – if you’re going to maintain unity you have got to have the right attitude.
Notice what Paul said: “I urge you to walk in a manner worthy of the calling to which you have been called, with all humility and gentleness, with patience, bearing with one another in love, eager to maintain the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace.” Ephesians 4:1-3
In other words –YOU (and I) are expected (by God) to be - HUMBLE. And to be GENTLE with each other. To be PATIENT with one another, and bear with each other in LOVE. Those are the attitudes that maintain unity.
ILLUS: Do you remember the story about that church in Tennessee? How do you think they got to the point where they hated each other so much? I’ll guarantee you those folks weren’t very gentle and patient and loving towards each other. I’d bet that there were a lot of hateful things said and people’s feelings got hurt. And when THAT happened - nobody wanted to forgive anybody for things that had been said. And so the congregation settled into bitterness, slander, hatred
A little later on in Ephesians 4:31-32 Paul wrote “Let all bitterness and wrath and anger and clamor and slander be put away from you, along with all malice. Be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, as God in Christ forgave you.”
That’s how you and I maintain unity in the church. We avoid – at all costs – saying anything nasty about anyone. PERIOD!!!! We maintain unity by trying to be the 1st person to be gentle, patient, and loving. And we keep being gentle, patient, and loving until we fix the problem.
But why should we do that? WHY should we try to be nice to people we don’t even like? Well, because it ain’t my church and it ain’t yours either. There’s one Lord, one Faith, one Baptism, one God and Father of all. So, who does the church belong to? God! And I’m pretty sure God takes it kind of personal when people split churches.
I’ve heard it said that churches have split over the type of carpet in the sanctuary, or the color of paint on the walls, or whether they should have pews or chairs. Now those might have been the EXCUSES for those splits, but they actually weren’t THE CAUSE of the splits. The splits occurred because people refused to be gentle, patient, and loving with each other.
Now, we’ve never had that problem here. You are the most gentle/ patient and loving people I’ve ever met - and you are a people who love God’s Word & you cling to good doctrine. But if you ever find people gossiping or insulting others in church, you should make up your mind to be the person who will be gentle, patient, and loving until you fix the problem. We are called to be peacemakers, and Jesus said "Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called sons of God.” Matthew 5:9
Now, one last thought -- being gentle, patient and loving can work even on people have been caught up in bad doctrine.
II Timothy 2:23-26 tells us “Have nothing to do with foolish, ignorant controversies; you know that they breed quarrels. And the Lord’s servant must not be quarrelsome but kind to everyone, able to teach, patiently enduring evil, correcting his opponents with gentleness. God may perhaps grant them repentance leading to a knowledge of the truth, and they may come to their senses and escape from the snare of the devil, after being captured by him to do his will.”
Did you catch that? We are to treat our opponents (people who don’t agree with sound doctrine) the same way we are to treat brothers and sisters in Christ! We are to respond with Kindness, Gentleness and Patience. And if we do it right… God can slip in there and bring about a change of heart. And God will help those folks escape the snare of the devil.
By your gentleness and kindness and patience you might be able to help people (who’ve been captured by Satan) to come to Christ! And YOU don’t even have to win the argument. You see – we don’t have to fight every fight; and we don’t have to win every battle. But we do have to be firm in appealing to Scripture.
ILLUS: Now I personally hate losing arguments. And in the past I’ve found that I can make my opponent back down if I employ subtle insults and putdowns. And I KNOW how to do it because I’ve practiced it so often, and I’m very skilled at it. I know how to cut people down to size with a few well-chosen words.
But I’ve learned that God hates that skill set. James 1:26 tells us “If anyone considers himself religious and yet does not keep a tight rein on his tongue, he deceives himself and his religion is worthless.” And James 3:9 says “With the tongue we praise our Lord and Father, and with it we curse men, who have been made in God’s likeness.”
ILLUS: I remember, when I went to Bible College, I was a difficult student. It was at Bible College that I heard (for the 1st time) that baptism was involved in appealing to God for salvation – but I didn’t believe it, and I was argumentative and difficult with my teachers
But the professors didn’t mock me, or put me to down, or treat me with contempt. They just patiently kept pointing to what the Bible said
• Galatians 3:27 "For as many of you as have been baptized into Christ have put on Christ."
• Colossians 2:11-12 "In (Jesus) you were also circumcised, in the putting off of the sinful nature, not with a circumcision done by the hands of men but with the circumcision done by Christ, having been buried with him in baptism, in which you were also raised with him through faith in the powerful working of God, who raised him from the dead."
• Acts 22:16 "Rise and be baptized and wash away your sins, calling on his name."
• Acts 2:38 "Repent and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins, and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit."
• 1 Peter 3:21 "Baptism, which corresponds to (the waters of Noah’s flood), now saves you, not as a removal of dirt from the body but as an appeal to God for a good conscience, through the resurrection of Jesus Christ."
After a while, the constant drumbeat of quoting Scripture made a difference - I just couldn’t argue with Scripture. I wasn't beaten into submissino by insults and putdowns. I just suddenly realized that there was no place in the Bible where people “prayed to be saved” and there was no place where people “asked Jesus into their hearts.” It was just Faith, Repentance, Confession of Jesus as Lord… and Baptism. And that was it!
Having the right attitude can influence people (like me, in this case) who’ve been roped in by bad doctrine. It’s all about being patient, gentle and kind.
CLOSE: We have an evangelist in our brotherhood named Harvey Hacker, and Harvey once told of talking with a woman who wanted to argue with hi about baptism. He had her turn to Mark 16:16 and asked her to read the verse to him. Mark 16:16 says “Whoever believes and is baptized will be saved, but whoever does not believe will be condemned.”
But she read it this way: “He that believeth, AND IS SAVED, shall be baptized, but he that believeth not shall be damned.” “Read that again” the preacher. Again she read it the same way and the preacher once more prompted her: “Read it again” and again, she read it that same way. But about the 10th time when he asked her to reread the verse she read: “‘He that believeth and…’ Oh, now I get it!”
Then she finally read it correctly: “He that believeth AND IS BAPTIZED, shall be saved; but he that believeth not shall be damned.” And that night she was baptized into Christ.
INVITATION
