Unless The Church Us United Through The Power Of The Holy Spirit We Will Never Demonstrate To The World That We Are Children Of God And the glory which thou gavest me I have given them; that they may be one, even as we are one: I in them, and thou in me, that they may be made perfect in one; and that the world may know that thou hast sent me, and hast loved them, as thou hast loved me. (John 17:22, 23) Bind Us Together Lord - https://youtube/watch?v=emCaGJfM0gs WHAT A POWERFUL LESSON. Look at what Jesus wants to do in His church on earth. God does not intend to put us in the same uniform as a means of uniting us. God doesn’t intend to create unity among the church members by allowing us to have the same abilities, talents, perspectives, and outlook on spiritual growth. God wants to take our diverse personalities and perspectives and use these to bind us together with chords that cannot be broken. There are too many of us who continue to frustrate God’s ability to unite us because we refuse to surrender every area of our lives to the total control of the Holy Spirit. Somehow we continue to believe that the only way we can be united is if we see things the same way. Somehow we believe that through our efforts we can unite the church. But this morning the Lord is reminding us that the power to unite us in our diversity comes from the Holy Spirit and the Holy Spirit alone. The writer highlighted some very important points that I would like to share with us this morning. He said, “This kind of unity does not happen spontaneously. In order to have it, we must fully accept Christ’s lordship in our lives. He must mold our character, and we must surrender our will to His will. This unity is not an end in itself. It is a testimony to inspire the world to believe in Christ as the Savior sent by the Father. Harmony and union among men of diverse dispositions is the strongest witness possible that God has sent His Son to save sinners. It is an unquestionable evidence of Christ’s saving and transforming power. And we have the privilege of bearing this witness.” WOW!!! So God wants the world to come to know Jesus because of the work God has done to harmonize our diversity. I pray that we will continue to surrender our all to Jesus so that He, through the indwelling Holy Spirit, can bind us together with chords that cannot be broken. In the first disciples was presented a marked diversity. They were to be the worlds teachers, and they represented widely varied types of character. There were Levi Matthew the publican, called from a life of business activity, and subservience to Rome; the zealous Simon, the uncompromising foe of the imperial authority; the impulsive, self-sufficient, warm-hearted Peter, with Andrew his brother; Judas the Judean, polished, capable, and mean-spirited; Philip and Thomas, faithful and earnest, yet slow of heart to believe; James the less and Jude, of less prominence among the brethren, but men of force, positive both in their faults and in their virtues; Nathanael, a child in sincerity and trust; and the ambitious, loving-hearted sons of Zebedee. In order successfully to carry forward the work to which they had been called, these disciples, differing so widely in natural characteristics, in training, and in habits of life, needed to come into unity of feeling, thought, and action. This unity it was Christs object to secure. To this end he sought to bring them into unity with himself. The burden of his labor for them is expressed in his prayer to the Father. For these disciples the mission of Christ finally accomplished its purpose. Little by little his example and his lessons of self-abnegation molded their characters. His death destroyed their hope of worldly greatness. The fall of Peter, the apostasy of Judas, their own failure in forsaking Christ in his anguish and peril, swept away their self-sufficiency. They saw their own weakness; they saw something of the greatness of the work committed to them; they felt their need of their Masters guidance at every step. They knew that his personal presence was no longer to be with them, and they recognized, as they had never recognized before, the value of the opportunities that had been theirs to walk and talk with the Sent of God. Many of his lessons, when spoken, they had not appreciated or understood; now they longed to recall these lessons, to hear again his words. With what joy now came back to them his assurance: -- he disciples had seen Christ ascend from them on the Mount of Olives. And as the heavens received him, there had come back to them his parting promise, Lo, I am with you alway, even unto the end of the world. They knew that his sympathies were with them still. They knew that they had a representative, an advocate, at the throne of God. In the name of Jesus they presented their petitions, repeating his promise, Whatsoever ye shall ask the Father in my name, he will give it you. Higher and higher they extended the hand of faith, with the mighty argument, It is Christ that died, yea, rather, that is risen again, who is even at the right hand of God, who also maketh intercession for us. Faithful to his promise, the divine One, exalted in the heavenly courts, imparted of his fulness to his followers on earth. His enthronement at Gods right hand was signalized by the outpouring of the Spirit upon his disciples. By the work of Christ these disciples had been led to feel their need of the Spirit; under the Spirits teaching they received their final preparation, and went forth to their life-work. No longer were they ignorant and uncultured. No longer were they a collection of independent units or of discordant and conflicting elements. No longer were their hopes set on worldly greatness. They were of one accord, of one mind and one soul. Christ filled their thoughts. The advancement of his kingdom was their aim. In mind and character they had become like their Master; and men took knowledge of them, that they had been with Jesus. *(Review and Herald, November 12, 1908 – Ellen G. White)
Posted on: Mon, 18 Aug 2014 11:24:28 +0000
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