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Lessons and Sermons from the Longmire Road church of Christ in Conroe Texas USA
For the last several months on Wednesday evenings, various men in this congregation spent
time in Bible study and their private Bible study to present to us lessons about unity.
And if you missed out on those lessons, I feel sorry for you because those were indeed
pertinent and those were good for us to talk about unity.
It's a pertinent topic because in the New Testament, there are over
31 chapters devoted to unity, talking about unity.
What roughly in the scripture is about 80 distinct passages about the need for unity.
Unity is paramount because it is on the mind of God.
But these passages certainly, as it highlights unity, one of these passages shows us the
importance of unity, but not necessarily from a positive statement.
but from a negative statement we might so call.
In Proverbs chapter six, verses 16 through 19, the Lord conclude these six things doth the
Lord hate, not love less but hate.
Yea seven are an abomination unto him.
The word abomination means to hate something extremely.
And so he says, these are the things that he hates extremely.
A proud look, a lying tongue,
Hands that shed innocent blood, a heart that devises wicked imaginations, feet that be
swift to running to mischief, a false witness that speaks lies, and notice the last one
here as it relates to unity, he that soweth discord among the brethren.
And so this is the exact opposite of unity, discord.
And so the Lord says when he looks at discord, especially amongst his people,
Those who believe in him, he extremely hates it.
And if the Lord hates it, we should hate it as well.
And the Lord loves unity, we should love unity as well.
The religious world, they want unity.
They want us all to gather together, if you will, and sing Gumbayah around the campfire,
so to speak.
They say unity can be achieved.
And how this unity is achieved in their mind is by agreeing to disagree.
by coming together and putting aside our differences, they say, and embracing one another
in love.
This is their view of unity.
But I would submit to you this morning that that is not a unity that they desire, it is a
union.
It is putting two things together that are completely opposite and just joining them
together.
Unity, the Bible speaks of unity, is something that God has set forth and God has not only
given us
what unity is or desire for unity, he has given us number one, the character of unity,
what we should be like in order to facilitate unity, but number two is also given us the
components of unity and this is found in Ephesians chapter four, verses one through six.
And so I would invite your attention there this morning as we consider just these two
points this morning, the character of unity, as the apostle Paul lays out for us in
Ephesians chapter four,
verses one through three, and then the components of unity as he lays out in the rest of
the chapter verses four through six.
And so let's consider first the character of unity.
When we talk about the character of unity, by virtue of the cross, Christ has reconciled
unto himself both Jew and Gentile, and this is what the book of Ephesians is about.
He's talking about what Christ has done and how that unity can be achieved.
And there is now a unity that did not exist before between the people of God and the
Gentile world, the apostle Paul says.
But in this chapter, Paul is instructing the Ephesian brethren not to forget that blessed
unity.
He says there is a way that we must walk in order to have that unity.
He says endeavoring to keep the unity of the Spirit and the bond of peace.
He says we need to endeavor to do this.
We need to aim to do this.
We need to strive to keep the unity in the body of Christ.
And so if it is unity that you want, the apostle Paul is going to lay out the character of
that unity.
And he tells us that unity is number one about lowliness of mind.
Notice as we read the text in Ephesians chapter four, verses one through three.
I therefore as the prisoner of the Lord beseech you to walk worthy of the calling with
which you are called with all lowliness.
and gentleness and long suffering, bearing with one another in love, endeavoring to keep
the unity of the spirit and the bond of peace.
He says, in order to achieve unity, the character that you need to have is lowliness of
mind.
Now, what is lowliness?
The word lowliness is defined as follows, having a humble opinion of self.
Having a humble opinion of self, a deep sense of one's littleness or moral littleness.
modesty, humility, lowliness of mind.
Unity cannot exist where people have an inflated estimation of themselves.
There cannot be unity where someone is walking around thinking that they are better than
the other person.
Walking around, if you will, with a sign that says, am very humble, right?
That's not going to work.
The Lord says in order for there to be unity, there must be a mindset of humility.
There must be a mindset where I have uh a righteous estimation of self, not
self-degradation.
We're not talking about that.
We're talking about the idea that I know who I am in the Lord.
I'm not going to elevate myself above others in that fashion.
Nothing is more destructive to unity than a person or group of people who foolishly
believes themselves to be better than others.
Consider an illustration within the church.
In 1 Corinthians chapter 1 verses 11 through 12 the Apostle Paul had to address this very
problem of individuals who do not possess, who did not rather possess a lowliness of mind.
Instead they were puffed up one against another.
And why were they puffed up one against another?
Based upon the idea of who baptized him.
Based upon the idea of who they were following even.
For it has been declared of me concerning you, my brethren, the apostle Paul says, by
those of the household of Chloe, that there are contentions among you.
They're arguing and they're fighting with one another.
There is no unity.
Why?
Now this I say that each one of you says, I'm of Paul and I'm of Apollos, I'm of Cephas.
You even say I'm of Christ.
You're divided amongst yourselves.
You're puffed up against one another.
We are better than you, attitude.
We've got the Paulites over here.
the the C-fights over here and and the Christ Christians you might say at the very back
and they're all of them are divided amongst themselves and their rebuke was an appeal to
common sense as the Apostle Paul concludes the section in first Corinthians chapter 4
verses 6 through 7 he's rebuked to them was an appeal to common sense notice what he says
now these things brethren I have
Figuratively transfer to myself and Apollos he made some examples and used himself and
Apollos as those examples He says that you may learn in us not to think beyond what is
written that none of you may be puffed up on behalf of one against another for who makes
you to differ from one another and What do you have that you did not receive?
Now if you indeed received it, why do you boast as you have not received it Paul says what
do you have?
Specifically in relation to the spiritual gifts as they've elevated themselves while they
have the gift of this and I have the gift of that the Apostle Paul's asked a uh
Common-sense question.
Where did you get these things?
And if you received it from somewhere else Do you have the ability to boast as if you have
created it as if you have worked for it yourself?
No, you don't and so we asked them a common says common sense question to to get around or
rather for them to
to impress upon their minds that it is an exercise in futility to be proud and boastful in
the body of Christ.
Because all of us here, we have to ask the question, what do we have in Christ that we did
not receive?
What do we have in Christ that we were born with it?
We work for it?
And it is ours, we created.
What do we have?
I'll wait.
There is nothing that we have in Christ that he says that you have not received.
You've received everything.
All spiritual blessings you've received.
The state in which you are saved.
You've received that.
So why would you boast?
There is no reason to be boastful, he says.
Where there is pride, there will be division.
You can take that to the bank.
Philippians chapter two and verse three, the apostle Paul says, let nothing be done
through selfish or ambition.
conceit.
He's talking among the brethren, he says let nothing be done through selfish ambition or
conceit.
And then starting in verse 5, he's going to give them the primary example of one who was
not selfish.
He says let this mind be in you.
Instead of being selfish and conceited, let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ
Jesus.
He was not selfish, he was not conceited, it wasn't about him, it was about you and saving
you.
And so but in lowliness of mind let each esteem others better than himself.
That's what it's gonna take.
If we're going to be unified, there cannot be any pride.
We have to get out of our high horses, if you will.
We have to get out of the mindset that I'm better or my views are better or my opinions
are better, whatever the case may be.
We have to submit ourselves to the will of God and then submit ourselves to what he says
about ourselves and that is that we ought to be humble.
Some will have to drop the titles in the religious world that they are wearing.
They want to be unified, you're gonna have to drop some titles.
The right reverend, I remember one time door knocking and I knocked on the door and I
opened, I said, hello sir, and he said, it's reverend.
Psalm 111 and nine disagrees.
It says, he sent redemption unto his people, he hath commanded his covenant forever, holy
and reverend is his name.
God is the only reverent one.
There is no other reverent on this earth.
God is the only reverent one.
If you go around, you call yourself reverent, you have to stop doing that if you want to
be unified.
Why?
Because that is not a lowly estimation of self.
That's an inflated view of self taking the name of God at that.
But not only have they stopped calling yourself reverent, if you want religious unity,
you're gonna have to stop calling yourself father so and so.
Pope this, Cardinal that, pastor this, in the denominational sense, you're gonna have to
stop that nonsense.
Why?
Because that's elevating yourself above the rest when the Lord clearly said you shouldn't
be doing that.
Matthew chapter 23 verses five through nine.
But all their works they do to be seen of men.
The Pharisees did, they make broad their phylacteries, they enlarge the borders of their
garments.
Sound familiar?
and love the uppermost rooms at the feast and the chief seats in the synagogues and the
greetings in the marketplace and be called by men, Rabbi, Rabbi.
But ye do not be like them and call ye not someone Rabbi, for one is your master, even
Christ, and you are all brethren, and call no man your father upon earth.
For one is your father which is in heaven.
He starts talking about this in the familial aspect as he will not, he doesn't condemn the
familial aspect of calling someone father.
This is in the religious sense.
The Lord explicitly forbids you calling someone father in the religious sense.
You wanna be unified?
Stop calling yourself father so and so, period.
And stop addressing these people as father so and so.
I say mister so and so, I can't call you father.
You know why?
Because God said not to.
Well, it's disrespectful.
Yes, it's disrespectful to God.
For you to do something that he said not to do.
Sometimes I think we're more afraid of people than we're of God.
You're to come to regret that.
Come judgment, you're going to regret that.
You're going to say, I wish I wasn't so afraid of people.
Because now I stand in the judgment of God and not people.
And so the Lord says, shouldn't call yourself by that name.
If it is unity you want, what you need to do is you need to drop the title.
and you need to drop all the pomp and ceremony and you need to have a lowliness of mind
and even in the church we can't escape this we have to fix our attitude we need to stop
acting like we're born Christians sometimes people have that view in the church they were
born Christians they were just born as sugary sweet as a Krispy Kreme donut best donut in
the world, Amen who here did not come out of the world?
who here, if you were raised in the body of Christ
That doesn't make you a Christian.
Any more than sleeping in a garage makes you a car.
Just because you were raised in the body of Christ doesn't make you.
You came out of the world, you came out of something, you had to be baptized into Christ.
Sometimes we're so puffed up against those in error that we forgot that we too were once
there.
We have to keep that in mind.
that the world is lost in sin and I have to look at them with compassion and yes I have to
rebuke the error I have to speak out against it I have to try to get them back to a right
state in relationship with the Lord but this should be my mindset Titus chapter 3 verses 1
through 3 remind them to be subject this is Christians Titus is told to tell Christians
remind them to be subject to rulers and authorities to obey to be ready for every good
work and to speak evil of no one to be peaceable
to be gentle, showing all humility to all men.
Why?
For we ourselves were once foolish.
We ourselves were once disobedient.
We ourselves were once deceived, serving various lusts pleasures, living in malice and
envy, hateful and hating one another.
Since you were there, when you see those in the world and they're doing all sorts of
foolish things, don't think to yourself,
I'm so much better than them.
You are better off in the fact that you have been saved from your sins.
You've left those things behind.
You are better off.
But you're not better.
In that sense, as Christians, we need to not act, if you will, as if we did not come out
of sin.
If there is going to be unity, there must be a humility by all involved.
If we desire unity, we must have humility.
If the religious world desires unity, they must also show humility.
But not only humility, there has to be a meekness of spirit.
A meekness of spirit.
The word here translated is gentleness or mildness and is akin to humility and submission.
But here it carries the idea of strength under control.
Meaning I have the ability to do something
but I am refraining, I am keeping it under control.
And so the person is strong, but yet the person is humble and tenderhearted.
The meek man says, I have the ability to accomplish my will, but because of the strength
of character through God, it is not about my will, it is about thy will.
That's meekness.
It is the idea that in unity there must be an attitude
that is willing to submit even though you have the strength not to or the ability not to.
And so the Lord says in order for us to have unity, we must have this idea of submission.
We must have this idea of submitting to the will of God.
James chapter one and verse 21, what a beautiful verse.
Therefore lay aside all filthiness and superfluity of naughtiness.
And notice this, receive with meekness.
the implanted word, he's talking to Christians, so the word has already been implanted.
He says the engrafted word, which is able to save your soul.
He says you need to receive it with meekness, meaning when you read the scriptures and you
see what is in there, don't argue against it.
Obey it, that's meekness.
I remember years ago when a good friend of mine, brother Low Price, elder in the Lord's
church, had since gone on to his reward.
He talked about when he was in the Air Force and he was studying with an individual and he
was converted in the Air Force and he had also studied with an individual and this
individual was a Baptist preacher and he studied the Word of God and he learned the truth
and when he read it he was so excited he was willing to submit to it.
He ran back to the congregation where he preached.
He was ready to tell them that we've got it wrong.
And you know what they did?
They cheered along with him.
They changed their ways.
They threw out that name, no that's not what they did.
They fired him.
They got rid of him.
You know why?
Because they didn't have the same heart of meekness.
You see, he had the meekness to read the word of God, recognize he was not where he
supposed to be, and say, I want to submit to it.
I want to lay aside all filthiness and superfluity of naughtiness and receive with
meekness the engrafted word, which is able to save my soul.
They didn't have that, so they got rid of him.
If it is against the established doctrine of Christ, the meek individual sets it aside to
maintain and promote unity.
It is only when we deviate from the will of God and we want to do our own thing, that's
when division comes in.
When we want to do our own thing instead of following the word of God.
If everyone is on the same page, pardon the pun, if everyone's on the same page, is there
any room for division?
No.
If we're all speaking the same thing and being of the same mind, where's the room for
division?
There is none.
Problems usually arise when people want to do their own thing.
They are not meek of spirit.
The Lord also says here, not only do we need to be lowly, not only does there need to be
meekness, the Lord says there has to be long suffering.
This long suffering here, this makruthumia, that's the idea of patience with respect to
people.
Patience with respect to people.
It is the idea of bearing patiently with the faults and the infirmities of others.
I guess here is where we focus on the Lord's church more so than others.
If there is to be unity, we must be long suffering and patient.
Those who are engrossed in their sinful traditions and sinful ways did not get there
overnight.
They're not gonna change overnight.
I tell this to my students all the time.
you have to understand you go somewhere and people have been living a certain way and you
studying with someone yet as that they didn't get there overnight you know you can't
expect them to change overnight not you as soon as they hear you gonna go well you know
what let me change everything that might very well happen in some cases it does but
understand that some may not change in our timeline as we try to preach the gospel to a
loss and dying world we may spend our entire lifetime
preaching that gospel and we may not see the change in individuals.
Do we stop preaching the gospel when this happens?
No, we continue to preach because guess what?
You're in the grave and now somebody who's heard the gospel that you preached all those
years ago finally decides, you know what?
I need to do better.
All we do is preach the gospel, God gives the increase.
And so we need to be patient in our soul-winding efforts.
We need to be long suffering with individuals.
We need to understand that some will not accept it right away.
We may be laying the foundation for someone else to build.
We may be planting and watering and someone else may be doing the reaping.
But God is going to give the increase and so we're patient with individuals.
Now don't misunderstand.
I'm not saying condone sin.
Some people like to use the idea of patience and I have to put this in here because
somebody's gonna use the idea of patience and say, well we know brother so and so or we
know these people are in sin.
but we're going to allow them just to continue in sin.
That's not what the Bible condones.
If you are in sin, you need to stop it.
And we need to encourage you to stop it.
What we're talking about here is the mindset that says, when the person does not want to,
we're gonna continue to rebuke, we're gonna continue to preach the word, but we are going
to continue to do that with great long suffering, understanding that if they repent.
that there will be joy in heaven.
should not give up and say it is all hopeless.
We will not try to teach anymore because they don't want to listen.
There are eight billion people in this world.
If they don't want to listen, go find someone else.
There are eight billion people.
You don't have to stick just to one group of people.
Find someone else.
Noah's ark was built, or not built, that big to house the animals.
Some people, I think people forget that at times.
Noah was a preacher of righteousness, the Bible says.
For 120 years,
He was preaching to who?
To the animals?
No!
He was preaching to people to change their ways so that they might be saved.
A hundred and twenty years and He saved eight souls.
Eight souls were saved.
And so it is the case that if we desire unity we must have patience to work for it and to
wait for it.
We must have patience with individuals to view that in the timeline of God if you will.
We preach the Word of God and hopefully they will change but not only is there long
suffering
He says we must have charity, we must have love.
Love is the cornerstone of unity.
It was love that sent the peacemaker.
It was love that kept him on the cross for our reconciliation.
Our plea for unity must be grounded in the love for the souls of men.
Notice how the Apostle Paul speaks of those who are outside of Christ.
And if we don't embody the same, we will never be unified.
If we don't have the same mind as the Apostle Paul as he says in Romans chapter 9 verses 1
and 3, I say the truth in Christ I lie not.
My conscience also bearing me witness in the Holy Spirit that I have great heaviness and
continual sorrow of heart for I could wish myself accursed if it were possible he says.
I could wish that I were lost for Christ.
from Christ for my brethren, my kinsmen, according to the flesh.
He said, it was possible for me to lose my salvation, to give up my salvation so that they
might be saved.
I would do that.
Who's he talking about?
He's talking about his fellow countrymen, the Jews who are lost.
How do you feel about your fellow countrymen?
How do you feel about them?
Do you have the same mind as Paul?
You wanna be unified?
You have to have that mind.
I don't like them because they wear blue or somewhere red.
Hear it?
I don't like them because they like this.
No, how do you feel about them spiritually?
Do you want to save their souls?
Because that is what Paul says, if I could give up my own salvation so that my countrymen
could be saved, then that's what I would do.
In Romans chapter 10, verses 1 through 3 he says, brethren, my heart's desire and my
prayer to God for Israel is that they might be saved.
For I bear in them witness that they have a zeal for God, but not according to knowledge,
for they being ignorant of God's righteousness and seeking to establish their own
righteousness have not submitted themselves unto the righteousness of God.
I want them to be saved because I see that they are religious.
There are many people go down the road this way and that way and up that way and back that
way and you will find many denominations who have a zeal for God, but not according to
righteousness.
The apostle Paul would look at them in the same way and says,
Man, I want them to be saved.
I want them to serve God the right way.
Unity cannot exist where love is absent.
We must have compassion one for another.
We must love as the Lord loves and not only as the Lord loved, but also we must love as
those who were closest to Him loved.
Those whom He gave the keys to the kingdom.
We must follow in their steps as they followed in Christ.
Loving the souls of man and desiring them to be saved.
There must be lowliness of mind.
There must be meekness.
There must be long suffering.
There must be love.
If these things are not present, we cannot be unified.
That is the character of unity that we must have.
And all of us must be united in this.
But there is more than just having the right character.
The Lord says also we need the right components.
You can't just have the good character of unity and not have the right components.
The verses don't stop there.
Endeavoring to keep the unity of the spirit, says, verses four through six.
Notice what he says.
There is one body and one spirit.
Just as you were called in one hope of your calling, one Lord, one faith, one baptism, one
God and father of all who is above all and through you all.
and in you all.
He says, if you want to be unified, there's this character that you have, lowliness and
meekness and long suffering and love.
That's the character you must have.
But there are also some components that must be present if unity is to be a reality.
Number one, there has to be unity in organization.
He says, there's one body.
If we're going to be unified, there can't be two bodies.
There can't be three bodies.
There is but one body.
If the religious world desires unity, they must accept that there is only one authorized
body of believers.
Ephesians chapter five and verse 23 says, for the husband is the head of the wife, even as
Christ is the head of the church and he is the savior noted of the body, not the bodies or
a body.
He is the savior of the body.
Galatians chapter one and verse 18 says, and he is the head of
The Body.
What's the Body Paul?
The Church.
Who is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead, that in all things he might have the
preeminence.
If you go to verse 24 of Colossians chapter 1, he says, we rejoice in my sufferings, or
now rejoice in my sufferings for you, and fill up that which is behind in the afflictions
of Christ in my flesh.
Notice this, for his body's sake, which is the Church.
The scriptures conclude that the body of Christ is synonymous with the Church of Christ.
It's not a name, it's a designation.
We're not Church of Christers.
Right?
Oh, you're a Church of Christer.
No.
That phrase doesn't exist in the scriptures.
We are members of the body of Christ.
And Jesus only has one body.
Jesus is not this abomination walking around with one head and multiple bodies.
That's crazy.
He has one body in Matthew chapter 16 and verse 18 he says I will build my church singular
not plural and if your church started with a later than Pentecost then it's not the church
that Jesus built.
Amen.
People will say well our church started in 18 too late.
Our church started in in 50 too late.
If it didn't start in AD 33 on the day of Pentecost it is not the church that Jesus built.
He only has one.
If there is to be unity, the Lord says, there must be a willingness to submit that there
is one body.
But not only is there unity in organization that must be present, there is also unity in
direction.
He says there is one spirit.
There is one spirit.
The Holy Spirit leads the one body of Jesus Christ.
There is unity there.
We must all be directed by the instruction of the Spirit.
Now we cannot be unified if people say all sorts of weird things about the Spirit.
People say all sorts of weird things about the Holy Spirit as if it is some puff of steam
if you will.
No.
The Spirit is making them do things and say things that are not contained here in this
book.
They have all sorts of things to say.
We cannot be unified with that.
It's impossible.
Why?
Because there's one Spirit and you have the Spirit being schizophrenic.
You have him doing this over here and doing that over here and you don't know what to
believe.
How can there be unity if the Holy Spirit is doing and saying many different things?
Either the Holy Spirit is confused or man is confused.
I'm going to go with man.
What do we know about the Spirit?
This is what we know.
He is not the author of confusion.
1 Corinthians 14 and verse 33, it says, God is not the author of confusion.
Well, wait a second, that's God.
What do you think the Holy Spirit is?
The Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit is Jehovah, is God.
And so he says, God is not the author of confusion.
But notice what the text says also in Ephesians chapter three.
If you move a little bit back in our text, Ephesians chapter three verses one through
five, it says, for this reason I, Paul, the prisoner of Christ Jesus for you Gentiles, if
indeed you have, notice this, heard of the dispensation of grace of God, which was given
to me for you, how that by revelation he made known to me the mystery, as I have briefly
written already,
by which when you read, you may understand my knowledge in the mystery of Christ, which in
other ages was not made known to the sons of man as it now has been revealed by who?
By the Spirit to the holy apostles and prophets.
He says, the mystery of God, that which was hidden but now is revealed, how did they come
to know it?
They heard it because it was revealed and they read it.
How does the Spirit work?
How does he reveal?
He reveals through the Word.
You're not receiving anything from the Spirit today.
If it doesn't come from this book, it's heartburn.
You feeling something?
And you're going about saying, I think the Spirit is moving.
You got to go see the doctor.
That's not the Spirit.
The Spirit works through the Word of God.
He's already done His work.
You want Him to do more.
He has already given you all things that pertain to life and godliness.
You want more.
He says all scripture is given by the inspiration of God.
You say, no, I want more.
You want more from the Spirit.
You want Him to reveal more things, do more things than what He has already done.
There cannot be any unity in that fashion.
The Bible tells us in John chapter 16 verses 13 through 14, however, when He the Spirit of
truth has come, speaking to the apostles, He's going to guide you into all truth.
If the apostles received all truth, what are we lacking?
Nothing.
He will speak not of His own authority.
But whatever he hears, he will speak and he will tell you things to come.
He will glorify me for he will take what is mine and declare it unto you.
The Holy Spirit has and talked to the apostles about who?
About himself?
No.
The Lord says he came, he's going to talk about me.
But today we have folks all over the place.
They want unity, but yet they want to treat the Holy Spirit in all sorts of ways.
If there is to be unity, the religious world
All of us, even those some members in the body of Christ who have lost their minds, must
put aside his false ideas about the Holy Spirit and be biblically directed by it.
We must be guided by the sword of the Spirit.
But not only is there unity of organization and direction, there has to be unity of
expectation.
There is one hope, he says.
If we're going to be unified, we need to understand that the one body that is led by the
one Spirit has one hope to which it clings, not many hopes.
Titus chapter 2 and verse 13 says, looking for that blessed hope and the glorious
appearing of the great God and Savior Jesus the Christ.
There's but one hope.
1 John chapter 2 and verse 25 says, and this is the promise that he has promised even
eternal life.
If there is to be unity, those who profess that only certain people have hope must
renounce their false doctrine.
That only 144,000 is going to go to heaven.
You got to renounce that nonsense.
Because that's not the hope of which the Bible speaks.
Those who believe that you are irresistibly chosen, if you will.
The doctrine of TULIP, that it's irresistible grace.
God grabbed you by the ear and saved you, even though you didn't want to be saved.
You gotta renounce that.
Every single person who obeys the gospel of Jesus Christ and remains faithful to the very
end has this hope.
Everyone.
Doesn't matter who you are, but you don't understand what I've done.
It doesn't matter.
If you repent of your sins,
and you live faithful unto the end, that hope is yours.
There is only one hope.
There's not multiple hopes out there.
There's not people going over here and people going over here to different types of
heavens, to third and second and first tier heavens, if you will.
And we'll talk about that on Sunday evenings if you come back in the coming weeks.
We'll talk about heaven plus, right?
There's one hope.
And so the Lord says if we want to be unified, we have to be unified in organization in
the one body.
We have to have unity in direction guided by the sword of the Spirit.
We need to have unity in expectation.
All of us are looking towards heaven as we wait for the coming of our Lord and Savior
Jesus the Christ.
As 1 John chapter 5 11 says, our hope of eternal life is in Christ Jesus, but there has to
be unity of submission.
He says there is one Lord.
the one body that is led by the one spurt who has one hope has one Lord who reigns over it
Christ is the authority period Christ is the king period Christ is the head of the church
period there are no other heads if your head drives around in a bulletproof car that is
not the head of the church it's not the head of the church
The head of the church, Ephesians chapter 1 verses 22, 20 and 23 says rather, he raised
him from the dead and seated him at his right hand in heavenly places, far above
principality and power and might and dominion.
Notice this, that every name that is named, not only in this age, but also in that which
is to come.
And he put all things under his feet and gave him to be the head over all things to the
church, which is his body, the fullness of him that filleth all in all.
There's but one King in this Kingdom and that's Jesus.
To preach anything else is to preach division.
To say anything else is to promote division.
If we are to be unified, men must step down from their self-made trones and pay homage to
the true King.
The head of the church is not the Pope.
It is not your pastor.
It is not some council or convention.
It is Jesus and it will always be Jesus until he comes and gets him so that we can be with
the Father for all eternity.
If we want unity, we have to have unity in submitting to the one Lord, Jesus Christ.
But not only this, there has to be unity in instruction.
Notice what he says, there is one faith.
He's not talking about personal faith here.
He's talking about the gospel system of faith.
One body that is led by one spirit has one hope of one Lord that lives by one faith, the
gospel system of faith, that faith that was once proclaimed.
First Corinthians, Chapter 16.
and verse 13, watch ye stand fast in what?
The faith.
The faith, quit ye like men, be strong.
Jude 1 and verse 3 says, I have to contend earnestly for the faith.
He's talking about one system of faith.
There's not multiple systems of faith.
If there were multiple systems of faith, you might have multiple denominations.
If there were multiple systems of faith, you might have multiple beliefs.
But there is no multiple systems of faith.
The Bible speaks of one faith.
And in fact, in Galatians chapter one, verses six through seven, notice what the apostle
Paul said when Christians remove themselves from the gospel system of faith.
I marvel that you are so soon removed from him who have called you unto the grace of God,
unto another gospel, which is not another, but there are some that trouble you and would
pervert the gospel of Christ.
They're preaching something else.
He says that's a perversion.
They're trying to give you something else that is not true to the fate once delivered.
We cannot be unified and teach different things.
Unity demands that you lay aside your false doctrines and you become faithful to the
gospel system of faith.
That's what unity demands.
This idea of unity and diversity.
The idea that we can all say different things and still be unified is an idea foreign to
the scriptures.
Foreign to the scriptures.
The amount of warnings in here to speak the same thing and to be of the same mind.
The amount of warnings against false teachers who do not do that.
And what we're supposed to do when they do not do that.
It's astounding for people to just continue to say we can all be diversified in our
beliefs.
No, we cannot.
The Bible is one book written by one author.
66 books compiled into one has one author.
And you want God, this one author, to say a whole lot of different things.
There has to be unity of instruction, but also there has to be unity in admission.
How do we get into this one body?
The one church led by the one Spirit who has one hope, one Lord, and who lives by the one
instruction, one gospel system of faith has one entrance.
If we're going to be unified, 1 Corinthians chapter 12 and verse 13 must be obeyed, for by
one Spirit are you all baptized into one body.
He had already said what the body is, the body is the church.
And so he says you're baptized into that one body, both you and Gentile, everybody.
Galatians 3 and verse 27, for as many of you have been baptized into Christ, have put on
Christ.
The scriptures are clear in order to get into the body of Christ, the one body you must be
baptized.
You can't teach anything else.
If you teach something else, you have admission into a one body in various ways.
It's like people say, well, you can get to heaven
You know, just choose your way and everyone's gonna find their way there.
What I want you to do this afternoon as you go home from here, get on any old road and try
to find your way home.
Just go any direction.
Don't worry, just go any direction.
Does that work?
You'll find yourself in Houston stuck in traffic.
It doesn't work.
And so why would you think it would work with the Lord?
You can find your way.
No, the Lord has already declared His way.
And so people have different views on baptism.
But the Bible is clear when it talks about baptism.
Baptism is for salvation.
It gives you entrance into the body of Christ ordained so by God.
Acts chapter 2 and verse 47 says, those who were saved were added to the body of Christ.
They're added to the church by God.
And so if there is to be unity, we must all agree to that there is unity of admission.
But in last and in no wise the least you need to consider that there is unity of
veneration.
There is one God.
The one body who is led by the one spirit having one Lord and one hope living by one faith
and desiring one baptism worships and serves the one God of heaven.
There's a lot said about God.
That God is much this way and that way and maybe it is the case that because people have
that mind they worship God much this way and that way.
This morning we will have thousands upon thousands of people worshiping God in ways that
are as diverse as the people.
There will be bands, plays, clown shows.
Psychiatrists come here all sorts of things all under the guise of worshiping God.
You know what the Bible calls that?
idolatry Because Israel did the exact same thing they worshiped God with the idolatrous
practices that were around them and God called it idolatry, but we're worshiping you God
in un-matter You're worshiping me in ways that I did not authorize
There is one God.
God must be worshiped appropriately.
And so John chapter 4 and verse 23 and 24 says, the hour cometh and now is, Jesus
speaking, when the true worshipper shall worship the Father in spirit, notice this, and in
truth, for the Father seeketh such to worship him.
God is a spirit and they that worship him must.
Must worship him in spirit and in truth.
What is the truth?
John chapter 17 and verse 17.
Thy word is truth.
And so if we're going to worship God, we have to worship Him according to the righteous
word which He gave us.
He is the sovereign ruler of the universe, the only potentate, the one and only living
God.
He decides how He wants to be worshiped.
We don't decide that.
You know, I'm quoting something that a commentator wrote.
You might remember the name.
Charles Spurgeon, famous Baptist preacher.
I am astounded by this quote.
because of what we know about the individual.
He's lost, was lost in sin, in a denomination.
But I want you to note what he says and it astounds me because what he says here was true.
He says, if there were two lords, you might be divided into two parties.
If there were two faiths, you might be split into two sections.
If there were two baptisms, you might be right in having two denominations.
If there were two fathers, there might be two families.
If there were two spirits you would be, there would be, and there must be two sorts of
people.
But in the true Church of Jesus Christ there is one God and Father of all who is above
all, through all, and in you all." It's astounding because he wrote that and yet he didn't
follow.
If we want unity, we must follow the character of unity in ourselves and we must adhere to
the components of unity.
That's all we're asking.
We're asking people to have lowliness of mind, meekness, longsuffering and love because
brethren, Proverbs chapter 6 and verse 19 is not going to change.
The Lord hates discord.
The Lord hates
disunity.
The Lord is against the idea of people coming to Him and being fractured.
And so we are going to sow unity or we're going to reap enmity.
And so the question for us all this morning, does your character facilitate unity?
When you look at your life, is who you are something that aligns with the character of
unity?
And if it is not this morning, Christian, would you be willing to change it?
Would you be willing to walk a different and a better way to facilitate the unity that God
calls for?
not only out there in the world but let's start at home first here at the Longmire Road
Church of Christ.
If we're going to be unified as a body of believers in this location we must have that
type of mindset but maybe it is the case this morning that you're asking yourself whether
or not you are are unified with the Lord.
Unity with the Father is through faith in the Son.
The only way you can be unified with God is through faith in Jesus the Christ.
And so if you want to be in that one body of which the Bible speaks, you must have that
unity of admission.
You must recognize that there's only one way to get into that one body, and that is
through baptism.
Mark chapter 16 and verse 16, he who believes and is baptized will be saved, the Bible
says.
Acts chapter 2 and verse 38, when they ask the question, men and brethren, what shall we
do?
He said, repent and be baptized for the remission of sins.
And so if you are willing this morning to believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of
God, that He is the one Lord of whom the Bible speaks, if you're willing to believe that
this morning, if you're willing to repent of sins and recognize that if you've not been
walking according to the instruction of the Holy Spirit, the word that He has given us, if
you're not walking according to that, would you be willing to repent this morning of those
sins?
Would you be willing this morning to confess that one Lord and Savior, Jesus the Christ,
before witnesses?
If you're willing to do that, you can be immersed in water to have your sins washed away
and you can be unified with the people of God, the people of God, not a people of God, but
the people of God, because the Lord adds the saved to His church.
Acts chapter 2 and verse 47.
This morning you may be here and you may have questions because you've heard some things
that you may not have heard before.
We want to answer those questions.
Please talk to us.
We want to help you be unified with the Father for all eternity while we sin and as we
sing.