The following address was delivered
at the 1990 New England Baptist Family Conference. Now may I
urge you to follow in your own Bibles as I read a song which
celebrates the subject that has been assigned to me for this
conference, the subject of church unity, and perhaps already your
mind has begun to turn to the song which I have in mind, the
133rd Psalm. Psalm 133. This is in that section
of the Psalter that we are told by those who delve into such
things of antiquity that the people of God would sing as they
made their way up to Jerusalem to the feasts appointed of God,
and one of the things they would celebrate as they made their
way to the place of God's appointment, the place of God's special presence
And with anticipation of God's nearness in his own divine ordinances
is this 133rd Psalm. Behold how good and how pleasant
it is for brethren to dwell together in unity. It is like the precious
oil upon the head that ran down upon the beard, even Aaron's
beard, that came down upon the skirt of his garments, like the
dew of Hermon that comes down upon the mountains of God, for
there the Lord commandeth the blessing, even life forevermore."
As I have already indicated, and as most of you know, in preparation
for coming to the conference, as you consulted the conference
brochure, the subject that I will be addressing in these four evening
sessions is the very vast and vital subject of church Now,
the words church unity no doubt bring many things to different
minds, and in order to set the precise field and focus of our
study, I wish by way of introduction to identify unmistakably what
I propose to address from the Word of God and what I will not
be addressing under the subject of church unity. And let me do
so by briefly stating two negatives and one positive. Negatively,
in preaching on the subject of church unity, I will not be addressing
the subject of church union. Church union, or the coming together
of visible organizations into one larger visible organization
of denominations and church groups, is what is generally meant by
church union. For example, the great goal of
such groups as the World Council of Churches is to see a vast
union of denominations. And of course, if our minds are
at all aware of what such organizations really stand for and what their
real agenda is, and if we are sensitive to biblical norms,
we will have no sympathy whatsoever for such church union as is proposed
in the modern ecumenical movement. So I'm not going to address that
subject at all. And then secondly, I am not taking
up the subject of inter-church fellowship and inter-church cooperation. Now this is a very precious biblical
truth. And there is very clear evidence
in the word of God that though each church stands independently
under the lordship of Christ, answerable to him as he speaks
in his word, that the churches are under obligation by Christ
to cultivate inter-church fellowship and cooperation in various gospel
endeavors. But that biblical doctrine will
not be the field of our study. But rather, now speaking positively,
I will be addressing the matter of church unity as it applies
to specific, individual, local congregations. When I speak in
these four messages of church unity, I will be referring to
the unity that ought to exist in the local congregation of
which you are a part. Now, this very conference is
an expression of inter-church communion and fellowship and
cooperation, and I'm glad that it is so. But the focus of my
concern in our handling of the subject is the kind of unity
that ought to be manifested in each and every local congregation
which professes allegiance to Jesus Christ and to his word. And my reason for limiting our
study to this particular point of focus is basically twofold. First of all, the predominant
use of the word church in the New Testament refers to the individual
local congregation. Now, I firmly believe that the
Bible teaches the doctrine of the universal church. And there
are certain passages which if they are not understood in terms
of the church universal can only be butchered in any attempt to
give them a proper meaning. But because the predominant usage
of the word church, the predominant descriptions of the church in
the New Testament, our descriptions and usages concerning the church
local and specific, I have chosen to limit our study to that sphere
of the predominant use as it is found in the Word of God.
And growing out of that, my second reason is that the subject of
church unity in terms of biblical data is a subject which comes
to us in the concreteness of real, live, local churches with
all of the potential for disunity, those specific churches dwelling
together in the kind of good and pleasant unity that is celebrated
in the 133rd Psalm. So with that bit of introduction
behind us, to focus upon the field of our endeavor, what I
propose to do tonight, and tonight will probably be, in the way
things fall out, the most unwise thing to do the first night of
a conference. That is, to make the most demands
upon your mind. but I know of no other way responsibly
to approach the subject and I trust that you with me will be looking
to God that by the Spirit he will quicken us in spite of the
disruption of packing on the other end and unpacking and seeking
to get settled into the rooms and rushing off to meals, etc.
And I trust that God will look upon our expectant and trusting
hearts and graciously meet with us. Now, what I propose to do
in the time allotted to me tonight is, first of all, to set before
you a working definition and description of church unity. What do we mean when we speak
of church unity? And then, secondly, I want to
address the attainability of church unity. Is this description
and definition just a noble ideal, some lovely concept to float
by at a conference and breathlessly wonder at such a glorious concept,
only to go home to our specific churches and find that it is
unattainable? I want to address the attainability
of church union And thirdly then, the importance of church unity. I'm sorry, I backslid and used
the word church union. I mean church unity. So a working
definition, the attainability, and the importance of church
unity. First of all then, a working
definition and description of church unity. And one of the
most beneficial Elements of the preparation for this conference
came to my own mind and heart when I sat at my desk with my
Bible and my pen and put on my thinking as well as my praying
cap and tried to come up with a working definition of church
unity that would stand the test of the broad outlines of the
Word of God. Now I do not say that this is
a thoroughly exhaustive definition, nor is it the kind of technical
definition that would find its way into Bible dictionaries,
much less into the halls of higher learning, but I do believe as
a working definition it will stand the test of the major emphases
of the Word of God. I'll give you the definition,
then we'll go back and pick up four strands and spend just a
few moments amplifying those elements of the definition. Now,
when we speak of church unity, what are we talking about? Well,
this is what I am talking about insofar as I understand the Word
of God. Church unity is that state in
which a particular local congregation by the effectual operations of
the redemptive grace of God has attained and maintains as its
prevailing climate a fundamental oneness and harmony of understanding,
affection, purpose, and activity, while unashamedly expressing
diversity and individuality in areas that do not disturb the
unity, but rather enhance it. Now that's what I'm talking about
when I speak of church unity. Now let's pick up four of the
major strands in that definition. I have sought to underscore that
it is a state in which, by the operations of redemptive grace,
certain things will characterize a congregation. In other words,
church unity according to the Scriptures is only attained and
maintained where there are the powerful operations of those
distinctive privileges of the sons and daughters of the living
God. In God's common grace, there
are many groups around the world committed to many endeavors and
causes that enjoy a great deal of unity and oneness. But that
unity and oneness is not the result of having a common Savior,
being indwelt and filled by a common Holy Spirit, being motivated
by common motives that all have their roots in the cross of Jesus
Christ. But it is God's common grace
that subdues the kind of native individuality and selfishness
that would find that group of people at one another's throats.
But when we speak of church unity, we're not speaking of a church
that has all the semblances of unity and has a real measure
of unity, but a unity attained by something other than the dynamics
of redemptive grace. There are ecclesiastical bodies
that have a great deal of unity, but their unity is all tied up
in an idolatrous attachment to a cause. or an idolatrous attachment
to a leader, or an idolatrous attachment to some selfish end
which that particular group shares in common. But unlike every other
kind of unity found in any other sphere, true church unity is
attained and maintained only by redemptive grace. only by Christ, only by the Spirit,
only by the motives of a regenerate heart, only by the dynamics of
grace. But then the second strand of
my definition is this. I have stated that church unity
is that state in which a local congregation, by the effectual
operations of redemptive grace, has attained and maintains as
its prevailing climate. When we speak of church unity,
we are speaking of a prevailing climate of unity. We are not
speaking of a perfected state of unity. That perfected state
awaits the age to come. Nor are we speaking of a unity
that has no ups or downs or interruptions. But we are speaking of a unity
that is the prevailing climate. The dominant characteristic of
that congregation is its pleasant fragrant unity under the operations
of the principles and dynamics of God's redemptive grace in
the Lord Jesus Christ. Then the third strand of the
definition that I want to underscore is this. This unity involves
what I have called a oneness and harmony of understanding
affection, purpose, and activity. This unity is not merely a unity
of mind, but it is a unity of mind, as we shall see from the
Scriptures. The understanding and the judgment
of those who are a part of this unity is, in the language of
Scripture, that which is described as one mind. But then it is also that which
touches the affections, not only the judgment of the mind, but
the disposition of our hearts, one towards another. It is oneness and harmony of
understanding, of affection, then of purpose. In other words,
the direction and commitment of the wills of the individual
are coalescing into common goals and purposes and endeavors, so
that there is unity, there is harmony, in the realm of understanding,
of affection, of purpose, and of activity. They do things together. From their seasons of corporate
worship to their activities and endeavors to communicate the
gospel, to minister one to another in terms of practical benevolence,
there is a oneness of activity in their life together. And then the fourth strand of
my definition that is crucial, I've stated it this way, in the
midst of this prevailing climate of oneness and harmony, of understanding,
affection, purpose, and activity, there is an unashamed maintenance
and manifestation of all the legitimate expressions of diversity
and individuality which do not disturb that unity, but rather
enhance it. In other words, we are not speaking
of church uniformity in which everyone wears the same clothes,
in which everyone walks the same way, in which everyone prays
in the same tone of voice. in which anyone who stands to
minister the Word of God speaks with the same inflections. No. Church unity, rather than destroying
God-given individuality, enhances it and makes it all the more
beautiful. And as we shall see, whole chapters
in the Word of God are written so that the church might maintain
her unity without obliterating her God-given areas of diversity,
whether it's diversity of clothing styles, diversity of conviction
on non-moral issues, diversity in taste of music, etc., etc.,
etc. And so the definition then concludes
with that very necessary strand of emphasis. Now then, that's
what I mean by church unity. Let me run by, one more time,
the definition now that I've exegeted the various categories
of thought. What is church unity? As I understand
the word of God, church unity is that state in which a particular
local congregation, by the effectual operations of the redemptive
grace of God, has attained and maintains as its prevailing climate
a fundamental oneness and harmony of understanding, affection,
purpose, and activity, while unashamedly maintaining and manifesting
all the legitimate expressions of diversity and individuality
which do not disturb that unity, but rather enhance it. Well, if that's what church unity
is, then there are certain things that will describe a congregation
that has attained and maintains such a unity. Having given you
a formal definition, now just a brief description. For I said
my first heading was a working definition and description of
church unity. Having set the definition before
you, now the description. And here again, let me state
it positively and negatively. If there is a church that fits
that definition, by the dynamics of the grace of God is presently
in a state that we could call one of true spiritual church
unity, there will be in the language of Psalm 133 the goodness and
pleasantness of that unity manifested in the
fragrance of peace, of love, forbearance, mutual forgiveness
and mutual care. There will be the evidence of
delight in public ordinances, joy in cooperative service and
ministry one to another. There will be a sense of corporate
excitement at the very prospect of being gathered with one's
brethren, and a sense of grief when we must part one from another. Negatively, there will be a noticeable
absence of suspicion carnal ambition, self-seeking and one-upmanship. a refreshing absence of gossip
and backbiting and a party spirit and the pressing of individual
rights and opinions at the expense of the peace and the well-being
of the whole. Well, that's just a brief and
limited description, but I trust again that it's setting before
us something of a biblical standard for church unity. Now, we come
in the second place to consider the attainability of such unity.
Is this just a noble ideal for a preacher to sit at his desk
and think about, and then to try to squeeze into a definition,
and then weary, already tired people at the first message of
a conference? Or is this state that I've described
as the prevailing condition of a real-life congregation of only
imperfectly sanctified sinners, is such a state attainable this
side of the consummation when our Lord Jesus Christ comes? Well, I trust that you will approach
this subject with me in the spirit of Acts 17.11. that spiritual
nobility of the Bereans who received the Word with readiness of mind
and searched the Scriptures to see whether these things were
so. And I submit to you that the
Word of God does indeed teach without any question that such
a state is indeed attainable and maintainable by the grace
of God in this present age. And my evidence is threefold.
Number one, consider the Spirit-inspired description of the church at
Jerusalem. Consider the Spirit-inspired
description of the church at Jerusalem. Now, you will remember
that Luke, by the inspiration of the Spirit, wrote this account
some 30 years after the fact. So this was not an immediate
impression jotted down and shot off to the local news reporter
to be put in next month's Christianity Today. This had stood the test
of time and the scrutiny of the discerning minds of the people
of God for 30 years before Luke ever penned it. And what we read
of that church is that it indeed meets all the criteria for church
unity that I have set out in my definition, Acts chapter 2,
verses 42 to 47. You will remember that of those
very people, many of whom had been the murderers of Christ,
God called to himself 3,000 and they were incorporated into the
church in one day. And we read in Acts 2, 41, then
that day, I'm sorry, then they that received His word were baptized
and there were added unto them in that day about three thousand
souls. And they continued steadfastly. Now it doesn't say that half
of them, two-thirds of them, a third of them, a quarter of
them, But the prevailing climate of the entire 3,120 was continuous
corporate adherence to these various divinely ordained avenues
of expressing their newfound oneness in the salvation of Christ. They continued steadfastly in
the apostles' teaching. Their minds were coming to an
ever-increasing oneness of judgment about the truth of God. And in
fellowship, koinonia, shared life, there was continuance of
mutual supportedness, burden-bearing, mutual encouragement in the way
of God and of Christ. and in the breaking of bread
a technical phrase for that supper of remembrance. one of the two
distinctive rituals instituted under the New Covenant in which
Christ is being specifically remembered in His dying love
to His people and in the prayers, the stated seasons of prayer
when they gathered to plead with God for His blessing upon their
mutual endeavors to see the gospel impact all of Jerusalem. So here is a picture of a unified
church. And this was a real church in
a real place called Jerusalem, made up of real Adamic stock
that had freshly been grafted into Christ by the mighty work
of the Holy Spirit. And there was this climate of
prevailing church unity. Verse 44. and all that believed
were together and had all things common. And whatever we may say
about this impulsive activity of the early Jerusalem church,
one thing is clear. No one coerced them to it. No
one twisted their arms. No one sent them on a guilt trip.
It was the spontaneous, reflexive expression of the level of unity
to which they had been brought by the dynamics of grace. And then we read how that expressed
itself in tangible ways. Now verse 46, And day by day,
continuing steadfastly with one accord in the temple and breaking
bread at home, they took their food with gladness and singleness
of heart, praising God and having favor with the people, And the
Lord added to them day by day those that were being saved. We find a similar description
of this same church in chapter 4, verses 32 and 33. And the multitude of them that
believed, now notice the statement, were of one heart and soul. Now that does not mean in some
abstract, idealistic, non-expressed way, for the text goes on to
say, here's the expression of that oneness, not one of them
said that all of the things which he possessed was his own. Not one said You see, the emphasis
falls upon the internal disposition as expressed in the lips. And
there was such a sense of oneness that just as my right hand does
not get angry with my left in saying, what are you doing with
my handkerchief, or my left get angry with my right, it's the
handkerchief shared by this whole organism called my body. And if the left hand is needed
to wipe them out this way and the right this way, the handkerchief,
you see, is the possession of the whole. And to underscore
this one soul state of the Jerusalem church, Luke says not one of
them was saved, that all of the things that he possessed was
his own. But they had all things common,
and with great power gave the apostles their witness to the
resurrection of the Lord Jesus. Now notice, and great grace was
upon them all. This was not something peculiar
to them because they had a common Jewish heritage. We cannot write
this off and say, well, you see, they had so much in common in
virtue of their common roots in Abraham, blah, blah, blah.
No! That's to denigrate the work
of the Spirit of God. This came to pass because great
grace was upon them. It was under the dynamics of
grace. that they attained and maintained
such a unity. And Luke is very honest to tell
us that that unity got fractured for a brief period of time. The
widows got fussing at one another. They thought there was some racial
prejudice. The Grecian, the Hellenistic
widows were convinced that there was preferential treatment to
the pure Hebrew widows. The Hellenistic Jews felt they
were being treated like second-class citizens in the church, and so
there was a temporary lapse in that unity. Here's the realism
of the Word of God. But what happened? God, by the
Holy Spirit, guided the apostles to make a proposal we would call
a sanctified expediency which, under the guidance of apostles,
becomes eventually canon law in the Church of Jesus Christ,
the office of a deacon. And what happens when they recognize
the problem? They don't say, oh, well, the
Church is big, you know, can't expect everybody to go on with
this unit. It's sure nice while it lasted. They didn't have that
attitude. They did not take this cavalier
attitude, well, it's really too noble an ideal to cling to it. No, they set about to rectify
the situation. And they came forward with a
proposal, and what happened? Verse 5, And the saying pleased
the whole multitude. Think of it. You didn't have
one character who felt, well, I certainly don't want to give
the impression that I'm being swept along by mob pressure. I've got to maintain my individuality. You didn't have any such character.
Bless God they didn't have any such character there. The whole
multitude inwardly said, why, this is obviously the wisdom
of Christ coming to expression through the apostles. Yes, this
sounds right. These men should not forsake
the word of God to give closer and more detailed administrative
oversight to the caring for the widows. This is right. And it
pleased the multitude. And they cooperated. And they
looked out, seven men who met the biblical standard, set them
before the apostles. And now you see the apostles
didn't turn around and say, well, who are you little peons to pick
them? We've just got to keep you humble, so we'll take six
of them. Go find another." No, they looked at the seven, and
they said, we have no reason to question the judgment of the
multitude. And so they laid their hands upon them, and what did
God do? God smiled. And how did He show
His smile? Verse 7, And the word of God
increased, and the number of the disciples multiplied in Jerusalem
exceedingly, and a great company of the priests were obedient
to the faith. The very people who had been
at the vanguard in stirring up the multitude to cry for the
blood of the incarnate God. Give us, Barabbas, away with
Jesus crucified. So much is God pleased. with
the maintenance of their unity, even though it meant a massive
congregational meeting, the setting forth of a proposal, the acceptance
of that proposal, the implementation of that proposal. God is so pleased
with it, He not only causes His Word to increase in ordinary
evangelistic success, but He gives some striking conversions
in a great number of the priests becoming obedient to the faith. Now, brethren and sisters, if
you have a Berean spirit, surely you cannot look at these texts
and say that the kind of unity I've described is not attainable. The Jerusalem church knew it,
and they knew it according to the Holy Spirit because great
grace was upon them. Not because Peter was a great
dynamic personality and could obliterate individual tastes
and inclinations by the force of his personality. That's not
the explanation. The explanation is, great grace
was upon them. For without that grace, Peter
and the other apostles would have had a Donnybrook over what
expedient they ought to follow. When they gathered as apostles
to say, what are we going to do? They would have ended up
having a battle royal amongst themselves. No, it was grace
that was upon their hearts to bring them to one mind, to propose
a sanctified expedient to the congregation. And it was great
grace upon the congregation that gave them to see the wisdom of
God in this, and grace that gave them to accept the standards
set by the apostles, men of wisdom, good report, full of faith, full
of the Holy Ghost. Nobody said that is unrealistic.
We are just babes in Christ. The standard is too high. Drag
it down a little bit. Oh, my friends, what wickedness
goes on and militates against church unity unless great grace
is upon us all. But great grace was upon them
all, and they attained as the prevailing climate. It wasn't
perfect. It was even suspended for a while.
There's the realism. But the prevailing climate, written
thirty years after the fact, was that they were of one heart
and of one soul. Now, my second line of evidence
as to its attainability is the description of and exhortations
to the Philippian church. Now here again, this is a very
real church, a concrete, local assembly of God's people. And
as many of you know, it was a church that had a peculiar place of
affection in the heart of the Apostle Paul. They were the ones
that were most forward to stand behind him in a new area of missionary
endeavor and outreach. And notice how he exhorts this
church in Philippians 1 and verse 27. Only let your manner of life
be worthy of the gospel of Christ, that whether I come to see you,
there's an element of time, or be absent, I may hear of your
state. That's why I use the word, the
prevailing condition or prevailing state. that I may hear of your
state that ye stand fast in one spirit, with one soul, striving
for the faith of the gospel." He said, I want to know that
the prevailing condition at Philippi is one worthy of the gospel you've
received, which you profess to love and by which you profess
to regulate your lives. And he said, there is only one
state of church life that is worthy of the gospel. And it
is a state that can be described as a church with all of the diversity
of its membership, diversity of nationality, diversity of
temperament, diversity of understanding, levels of grace and experience. Nonetheless, I want to hear of
your state that you stand fast in one spirit, with one soul,
committed to one common end, namely, the faith of the gospel. And then, as you know, and we'll
have occasion to look at the passage in subsequent messages
in chapter 2, one of the greatest passages on the person of Christ
and the work of Christ has as its background an exhortation
to the cultivation of this unity here and now. And Paul says,
if you would make me a happy, imprisoned apostle, do it by
being of the same mind, chapter 2, verse 2, having the same love,
being of one accord, doing nothing through faction or vain glory,
but in lowliness of mind, each counting other better than himself. You see, Paul is not talking
about something they should strive for in the age to come. or a
noble ideal to which they affix their hearts in Christian hope,
such as the resurrection of the body. I'll not have a glorified
body until Jesus comes. Therefore, it's right for me
to fix my hope upon the resurrection without any knowledge, without
any sense of expectancy that I'm going to have a resurrected
body here. But this is not put in the category of eschatological
hope, hope that awaits the end. He says, right here and now,
as really as I am imprisoned at Rome, as really as there is
a chain that binds me to the Roman officer, I want to hear
that you are of the same mind, having the same love, being of
one accord. And so convinced was he of its
attainability, and I never saw it in this light till my preparation,
he has forever put a red cheek on the face of two women, Iodia
and Syntyche. Honey, what'd those gals ever
do? They weren't heretics. They weren't harlots. They weren't
shameful ingrates. They weren't wickedly immoral.
But Paul is so convinced that a church can be of one mind and
one heart that, inspired by the Holy Ghost, he names two eminent
sisters who've got a little sandpaper in their relationship. And he
says in chapter 4, verse 2, I exhort Jodea and I exhort Syntyche to
be of the same mind in the Lord. He's saying this kind of unity
is attainable right down to the two sisters who've got some friction
between them. And I'm willing to go against
all of my instincts of gracious Christian humanity and embarrass
these two sisters because there's something more important than
their non-embarrassment, and that's the attainment and the
maintenance of true church unity. My brothers and sisters, if that
unity is not attainable, why did Paul bother to embarrass
these two women? We'd know nothing of them if
they didn't show right here in this text. But it's because he
was convinced that church unity was attainable, that he goes
against what in other situations would be an instinctive, reflexive
response of a Christian gentleman not to embarrass a sister, let
alone two sisters, before the entire congregation. They weren't
guilty of heresy. They weren't guilty of immorality.
No! But they were a fissure, just a slight hairline crack
in the unity that that church had known. And Paul says, that
fissure must be healed. Unity is attainable. That's the
witness of the Jerusalem church. That's the witness of the Philippian
church. And then thirdly, consider the
directives to a church utterly lacking that unity at the time
Paul writes to it. Now, you know where to turn,
don't you? I don't even need to tell you. When I say what
church was marked by factions, divisions, disunity, you're all
turning there, flipping right to Corinthians, aren't you? Well,
what does Paul do? Well, it's very interesting,
and again, so I'm thankful when I get these assignments for conferences
Because they forced me to wrestle with things, and there are times
I sit at my desk and I say, why did I ever get myself into this? There are other times I say,
Lord, I ought to pay them for letting me do this. I'm getting
so blessed. Well, when I saw this, I was in that second category. Think of the shopping list of
problems at the church at Corinth. Can you think of them now? You've
got doctrinal aberration. You've got people denying the
bodily resurrection of the dead. They say there ain't no such
thing as bodies coming out of graves. They believed in the
immortality of the soul. But under the influence of pagan
philosophy, they denigrated the body, and they were teaching
no bodily resurrection. And Paul takes a whole chapter
to show that if you do away with bodily resurrection in general,
you do away with Christ's bodily resurrection in particular, do
away with Christ's bodily resurrection, you do away with the gospel,
do away with the gospel, there's no hope, you're yet in your sins.
That's serious deviation. They've got the problem of charismatic
free-for-all. Paul says an unbeliever comes
into your midst, you'd think he'd walk into the local loony
bin. One guy's over here speaking in his native language, someone
else over here in his, someone else saying, God, shut the door,
giving a word of prophecy. He said an outsider comes in,
you'll think you're all mad. He's walked into the local loony
bin. That's a big problem he's got to sort out. It takes three
chapters to sort that out. Then there's the problem of people
abusing their liberties. They say, I'm free in Christ,
an idol. An idol is nothing. So I can
go down and get a local hunk of meat at a bargain table outside
the heathen temple. Oh yes, it was offered to one
of the gods, but so what? It's a good bargain. I can save
the money and give it to the work of God. Yes, but what about
that brother that's just been saved out of paganism? And he
doesn't understand that. And he thinks you're participating
in idol worship. And the man says, look, I know
that a piece of meat is a piece of meat and idles nothing. Now
it's high time he just woke up and got with it. And Paul had
to say, wait a minute, knowledge puffs up. Love's concerned about
that weaker brother. So he's got to write three chapters
about the problem of Christian liberty and how to use it and
how not to use it. And you go right down the line,
the shopping list, shameful, shameful immorality. He said
such immorality is not even named among the Gentiles. This was
the first church that bought the idea of unconditional love.
They were bragging. They were bragging that they
could tolerate this character. They were bragging about it.
Paul says, you're not even ashamed. You're boasting about it. So
he had to deal with that matter and the necessity of immediate
excommunication of that immoral man. But of all the problems,
you know which one he attacks first? The problem of disunity. Look at chapter one. No sooner
does he give his general greeting Then his commendation of the
church in verses four to eight, but he takes up as his first
area of concern, Now I beseech you, brethren, through the name
of the Lord Jesus Christ, that you all speak the same thing. and that there be no schisms,
no divisions among you, but that you be perfected together in
the same mind and in the same judgment. For it has been reported
unto me of the household of Chloe that there are contentions among
you." Now, think your way through the book. The same Paul who says,
now concerning, now concerning, now concerning, now concerning,
at the top of all of his concerns, a shopping list of pastoral practical
concerns, he addresses first of all the issue of their disunity. And why does he do that? For
the simple reason that unless they are brought to true biblical
unity, which is a unity of confession that you speak the same things,
a unity of judgment that you be perfected in the same mind
and the same judgment, unless they are united in that biblical
way, there will be no hope of dealing with the immoral man. For when they come together at
the next meeting, He says, and are gathered together by the
authority of the Lord Jesus and with My Spirit present with you,
hand such a one over to Satan, cast him out, you see, they would
not be united. Some would be standing and saying,
Oh wait, that's unkind. Let's be a bit more loving. Who
are we to throw stones at him? We all have And then when he
would take up the problem of the excessive and abusive use
of charismatic gifts, there'd be people who'd say, wait a minute,
I'm not going to have my gift impinged. You see, until they
were brought to true spiritual unity, none of the other directives
would really be implemented to any degree that would really
count. Now, what's the purpose of bringing forth this evidence?
The purpose is to demonstrate that to Paul, the attainment
of unity was not an abstract noble ideal. He rolled up his
pastoral sleeves, his apostolic sleeves, and he went after the
issues that were fracturing their unity. And he went after them
with the intention to see them rectified, that they might be
brought to the place where they were of one mind and judgment
and all spoke the same thing. Well, while other biblical witnesses
could be marshaled, surely I trust these are adequate to convince
any fair-minded person that church unity as defined and described
under our first heading is indeed attainable by the effectual operation
of the dynamics of redemptive grace. We dare not consider this
state as unattainable, and if by the grace of God we have attained
it in our local assemblies, we dare not regard it as something
we may taste and know occasionally. But we must be prepared to give
ourselves to every endeavor in order to see it attained and
maintained by the grace of God and will not be prepared to pay
that price unless we're convinced it is attainable. Now having
looked at a working definition and description of church unity,
the attainability of church unity, now very quickly, and each of
these heads could be opened up in an individual message, I realize
it, but I want to at least strike these notes in a cursory way
May I give you four very prominent biblical reasons that underscore
the importance of church unity. Why be concerned with the issue?
Well, my answer is, number one, because of the central place
which church unity has in the concern of our Lord Jesus Christ. It has a central place in the
concern of our Lord Jesus Christ. You may remember that in his
high priestly prayer, he prays for four things for his people.
He prays for their preservation, verses 11 and 12 of John 17.
He prays for their sanctification, verses 17 to 19. He prays for
their glorification in verse 24. But then in verses 20 to
23, he prays for their unification. And whatever implications that
prayer has for the church universal, whatever implications it has,
and it has such implications for inter-church unity and harmony. Surely there can be no unity
of the church universal or in inter-church cooperation if it
does not begin and have its roots in the church local and specific. This has a central place in the
concern of the Lord Jesus in his great high priestly prayer,
which most evangelical believers hold to be at least the framework,
the paradigm of his ongoing work of intercession at the right
hand of the Father. And then, of course, the second
indication in the concern of our Lord is that statement in
John 13, 35, when He's giving what He calls the New Commandment. It is an old commandment, John
says, and yet it's new. Well, what makes it new? It's
not the essence of the command, it's the framework of it. It
is now given the command to love one another in the context of
an accomplished redemption in Jesus Christ. The command glows
with all the glory of Gethsemane, of Golgotha, and of the open
tomb. That is what makes it new. It
comes not amidst the thunders and the smoke and the fire and
the dreadfulness of Sinai. It comes amidst the glory of
the cross. and the open tomb, and he says,
by this shall all men know that you are my disciples, if ye have
love one to another. How central then this is to the
concern of the Lord Jesus. John 17, John 13, 35, And then I would urge upon you
for your consideration, Matthew 18, 15 to 20. Time will not permit
me to go into it. I simply say these two things.
In that passage, one of the two passages in the Gospels where
the word church is used, Jesus is emphasizing the discipline
of the earring brother and the corporate prayer of the church.
That's sentence number one. And central to his concern for
both is the unity of the Church. Go to your brother with what
end in view that you might gain your brother. And with reference
to corporate prayer, if two of you shall Our English word symphony
comes from the Greek word symphoneo, symphony. If two of you shall
be of one heart, of one mind, one soul, one end, in that which
you ask, it shall be done of my Father which is in heaven. How central is this concern to
the Lord Jesus? Second, aspect of biblical truth
that underscores its importance is the repeated emphasis upon
it in the apostolic writings to the young churches. The repeated
emphasis upon church unity in the apostolic writings to the
young churches. Here I can only list the passages.
God willing, we'll go back and pick up some of them. I'd hope
to say something on each of them, but I do not want to weary you.
Romans 15, 5, and 6, his great concern for the Roman church
as he draws that massive epistle to a close. 1 Corinthians 1,
10, and 11, we've already looked at it, the paramount place it
had in dealing with the problems at Corinth. 2 Corinthians 13,
11, similar emphasis after all the agony of having that very
church, many of its people, turn away from Paul and no longer
even recognize him as an apostle. His great concern at the end
of the epistle is that they be perfected together in one mind. Then again, In Ephesians 4, 1
to 3, no sooner does he make the transition from the primarily
didactic teaching portion of Ephesians 1 to 3 and turn to
the hortatory, the practical, the applicatory passage. And
where does he begin? He begins with this emphasis
upon endeavoring to keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond
of peace. We've already seen the emphasis
in the epistle to the Philippians, Philippians 1, 27, 2, 1 and 2,
chapter 4 in verse 2, the epistle of James, the same emphasis,
chapter 3, 14 to 16, 1 Peter chapter 3 in verse 8, and I wouldn't
even begin to quote the verses in John's three epistles. It
is one of the dominant notes in those three pastoral epistles,
those general epistles of John to the churches in Asia Minor.
So I say this must be of paramount importance if the apostolic writers
again and again and again and again emphasize it in their letters. But thirdly, the importance is
seen because of the great blessing which is promised to a unified
people and the frightening consequences of disunity because of the great
blessing which is promised to a unified people and the frightening
consequences of disunity. We read Psalm 133 as an introduction
to our study tonight. Behold, stand back and consider
how good, how morally excellent How pleasant it is for brethren
to dwell together in unity. And what is the crowning statement
of the blessedness of that state? That psalm ends with these words,
for there, there, in that place, in that community where brethren
dwell together in unity, there the Lord commands blessing, even
life forevermore. In other words, God so delights
in a real concrete expression of unity among His real imperfectly
sanctified people that He commands His blessing where He sees that
unity as the prevailing climate of His people. And I believe
Psalm 133 has a glorious fulfillment in Pentecost, for the Holy Spirit
emphasizes this, they were all in one place. they were of one
accord and suddenly there came from heaven. One place, one accord. There God commanded blessing,
even the blessing of the initial outpouring of the Holy Spirit
under the New Covenant to forever stamp upon that community that
as she dwells in unity there will be increasing and copious
measures of the Spirit poured out upon His people. Not only
is great blessing promised, but frightening consequences attach
themselves to disunity. It's interesting that the one
command not to grieve the Holy Spirit is couched in a context,
on the one hand, of mortifying the sins that produce disunity,
and cultivating the graces that will produce unity, and nestled
in the midst is Ephesians 4.30. Do not grieve the Holy Spirit
of God. On the one hand, let all bitterness
and wrath and anger and clamor and evil speaking be put away
from you. Be kind, tenderhearted, forgiving
one another. Mortify the sins that fracture
unity. Cultivate the graces that foster
unity. And why be concerned if you don't? The Holy Spirit is grieved. And
when He is grieved, He withdraws His mighty manifest operations
and actings. And what is the church then?
It is a group of lifeless worshipers, singing lifeless songs, praying
lifeless prayers, listening to lifeless preaching. It is death! To me, there is nothing more
miserable this side of what hell must be like than attempting
distinctive new covenant activities without the present powerful
aid of the Holy Ghost, whether individually or corporately.
What greater curse can God give to a disunited people than to
withhold the mighty operations of God the Holy Ghost? Oh, dear people, how vital is
this matter of unity. We've seen the central concern
in the heart of Christ, the central concern of the apostles in their
writings, the great blessing promised to unity, and the frightening
consequences of disunity. And fourth and finally, it is
tremendously important because church unity validates the claims
of Christ and the reality of our identity as the people of
God in the world. Church unity validates the claims
of Christ and the reality of our identity as the people of
God in the world. John 17, 21, our Lord in that
section where He prays for the unity of His people, that the
world may believe that Thou didst send me. Your unity will validate
my mission as well as Underscore the reality of your own identity
as the people of God. You see, the world is very conscious
that whatever else it denies of its sin and manifestations
thereof, it must acknowledge that in interpersonal relationships,
they can't make it. They can't make it. They don't
have the glue that holds people together. And the Lord Jesus
says, when there is a community of different race and ethnic,
racial and ethnic backgrounds from all of the various strata
of human society, rich and poor. learned and unlearned, barbarian,
Scythian, bondman-free, all dwelling together in real church communion
with the kind of unity I describe, oneness and harmony of judgment,
of affection, of will, of endeavor and activity. The world stands
back and says, what is it that holds those people together?
They ought to be at one another's throats. Look at the different
races. Look at the different structures
of society. Look at the different tastes
and inclinations. What holds them together? And
each one of them, upon being interviewed, says, I share a
common stock with my brothers and sisters in Adam. Therefore,
I have nothing to be proud about. I'm a hell-deserving sinner.
The ground is level in Eden. And I share a common heritage
in Jesus Christ, who died to save lost, hell-deserving sinners. The ground is level at Golgotha. And when men have been leveled
in Eden and Golgotha, there is no room for one-upmanship, no
room for the Jew to boast in his heritage. No need for the
pagan Gentile to go around stooped over all of his days saying,
I was an idol worshipper. How can I ever lift up my face? No, we're leveled in Adam and
we're raised to equal heights in Jesus Christ. Jesus said that
will validate my mission and your identity as the new humanity. I close with this simple question.
Are you concerned with what concerns Christ? What concerns his apostles? What concerns the presence or
absence of the Holy Spirit? What validates the mission of
Christ and our identity as the people of God? Are you concerned
for those things? If those things don't touch the
deepest strings of your heart, I say it lovingly, you are still
in Adam. If those things don't move you,
it's because you are yet in your sins and a stranger to grace. I didn't say do they move you
as much as you'd want them to. Are you always equally moved
by them? What I am saying is, if what
concerns Christ and His apostles, what concerns knowing the presence
of the Holy Spirit or the curse of His withdrawn influences,
what concerns the validation of Christ's identity and mission,
if those things are of no concern to you, my friend, you are lost
and under the wrath of God. And I beg of you to let this
message on church unity be the very means that shows you're
a stranger to God and to grace and to His Christ and His salvation. And oh, that these days you might
seek the Lord while He may be found and call upon Him while
He is near. But I believe the vast majority
of you here can say, yes, those things do lie close to my heart. then if they do, may God grant
that we shall come to our subsequent studies as we take up the roots
of church unity, the graces that must be fostered, the vices that
must be mortified, that we shall have deep heart dealings with
God, not as we look at some noble ideal floated by us in order
to give us a temporary spiritual state of exhilaration, But as
the Word of God comes into the deepest recesses of our hearts
and finds us where we are, and then, I trust, leaves us determined
that we shall not settle for anything less than that unity
for which our Lord prays, to which the apostolic writings
exhort us, without which we will not know the blessing and presence
of the Holy Spirit, nor the validation of Christ's identity and ours
in the world. May God grant that we shall know
his blessing to these noble ends in these evenings together. Let
us conclude by singing together hymn number 271.