Unity and the True Church

Thank you for subscribing to the Shepherds Church podcast. This is our Lord's Day Sermon We pray that as we declare the

Word of God that you would be encouraged Strengthened in your faith and that you would catch a greater vision of who

Christ is May you be blessed in the hearing of God's Word and may the Lord be with you.

I want to begin actually by Just asking a few questions Why is it that there are some doctrines in the church in our faith?

That we tend to ignore Why is it that there are certain doctrines that don't get a lot of attention by Christians?

Why is it that we cherish some doctrines and we speak little of others doctrines like?

Salvation and grace and mercy and love and Lordship These are doctrines that we say yes and amen to but there are doctrines

That we often pay very little attention to they're also very important to God Now maybe there's a variety of reasons for that perhaps it's that we we love the primary doctrines

And we think we focus all of our time on that praise God if you don't believe in the primary doctrines You're not a Christian If you don't believe in the virgin birth

You don't believe that God is triune if you don't believe that Christ died and rose from the dead You are not a Christian. So if you're gonna focus your time on any set of doctrines the primary ones are a good one

But that doesn't mean that the secondary doctrines are not important It doesn't mean that the implications of the gospel are not important Maybe it is that we have limited time

So we triage, you know Like you go into a hospital, right? You've got a broken toe and a blocked airway if they start working on your toe

Before they work on your airway, you're going to go crazy with the limited breath you have left

Sometimes we triage sometimes we say this doctrines more important than that one. I need to spend more time on that Perhaps it's because we like simple doctrines because they're easier to understand.

Amen Eschatology is one that's really really hard The the book of Ezekiel very hard if you look at it.

Most people don't read Ezekiel as much Because it's hard we prefer simple We like things that are easy enough for a baby to dip its toes in and deep enough to drown the deepest scholar

Those are good things Perhaps it's because we don't like controversy.

We don't like controversial doctrines. We don't like things It's gonna ruffle feathers at the dinner table things like Calvinism gender sexuality

Baptism in time all those we don't want to take a stand on some doctrines because that may alienate someone else

But what if I told you that there is a doctrine in the Bible that's easy to understand you don't need a seminary degree to grab hold of it a

Child in the room is gonna listen to this and be able to understand this It's a doctrine that actually will bless you.

It will bring you more joy. It will bring you less Complexity less conflict in your life.

It will make you happy It will make the church itself flourish it will cause

Jesus's kingdom to advance it will cost you You have to put an energy effort and participation into but it'll give you a hundredfold more than you've given in participation to it

Wouldn't you want to know what that doctrine was if I told you all of that? What if I told you that this doctrine if you ignore it?

Well has is probably the reason that every bad thing in the church that's ever happened to you is the result of this

Every person who's gossiped about you every person that's broken fellowship with you Every pastor that's ever abused you is because of this doctrine.

So if you ignore it, you've got untold misery if You embrace it.

It actually will bring healing and life to not only you but to everybody around you It's a doctrine that will protect you and Buffett you and minister to you and that Doctrine is not tithing

It's important but it's not that one. It's not liturgy. It's important, but it's not that one. It's not music preference

It's not whether or not we have kids in service. It's not sermon length I've heard the feedback you want longer sermons.

I get it, but that's not what we're doing today The doctrine that I'm talking about is unity in the church unity

There are a few things that are more of a blessing to a church than unity and there are a few things that are more Terrifying to Satan than a church that has unity with each other a church that has unity will be strong relationally spiritually missionally

Theologically they will be doing what God has called them to do. They will be healthy and A church that's not will be tripping over themselves failing broken

Not accomplishing the mission that God's given her Now I want to be honest

Most churches Could grow in this area our church can grow in this area.

There's a lot of opportunities That the devil and the enemy and our flesh in the world are trying to make inroads into the church

Ever since we began this church We decided that we wanted to be all about the

Word of God. We put a target on our back in a spiritual warfare sense There have been stories that I could tell you where Satan has tried to attack the unity of this church.

Why? Because it's that important Unity is central to the life and health of a church if you attack that and you undermine that the church collapses and What better way for Satan to snuff out a lampstand in this part of the country where we don't have enough already?

Unity is critical. So what we're gonna do today was we're just gonna talk about a few things When I say that it generally means a lot of things, but they're all important.

So We're gonna talk about where unity came from We're gonna talk about why unity can be ours in Christ and we're gonna talk about why we have to fight like crazy

To have it. Let's pray Lord Jesus We need unity in the church like we need oxygen in our lungs.

We need unity in the church Like plants need sunshine

Lord I pray That You would help not just our church, but the church

To be a church that has unity in Christ Lord. I pray that it would not be a false kind of unity

That you can get at the Moose Lodge or the Elks Club or whatever else you want to go to Lord I pray that it wouldn't be just a sort of shallow veneer of camaraderie

Lord I pray that it would be deep gospel unity that comes to this church it comes to the churches of this region and We're ultimately it's the reason why the world looks at us and says they must love

Christ Lord we ask these things in Christ's name. Amen Where does unity come from that's the first thing we need to understand was unity created

Or did unity exist even before the stars were in motion?

you see What we see from the Bible is that for eternity God Father Son and Holy Spirit has been in fellowship in this intra triune

Relationship where there's been perfect unity forever before time itself

Began before space itself was in motion before atoms were colliding with one another in the second law of thermodynamics were ruining everything before all of that unity existed

With God God is perfectly in Unity in the relationships that he has with Father Son and Holy Spirit He is a

God of unity like it says in the Bible. God is love. God is also in union with himself That's why

God could say let us make man in our image because there's no division in the Godhead. Everything they do has unity

It's why Jesus could say I and the Father are one if you've seen me you've seen the father I only do what the father tells me to because Christ and God are in perfect unity

That's why Israel declares here. Oh Israel. The Lord our God is one Because unity is central to the fabric of God and who he is

And because God is that and because he made us to be in his image

Then God made us with the intention that we would have deep It's satisfying unity with him vertically and With the other people who are around us horizontally

Jesus even prays for this in John 17 21 He says I don't ask for these only for Peter for James for John for he's saying

But also for those who believe in me through their word That they may all be one just as you father are in me and I am in you

That they that's by extension all of us may be in us so that the world may believe that you have sent me

Jesus prayed for our unity The whole New Testament actually is a story about how

God is bringing a broken Discorded disunified people into union with him. That's why we baptize in one name

Father son in the Holy Spirit. That's why we have communion with one bread That's why we have one

Lord one faith one baptism Ephesians 4 5 & 6 God made us to care about unity both vertically and horizontally

But as we know The boat didn't get very far out of the harbor in Genesis chapters 1 & 2 did it?

because in Genesis 3 What is Satan doing there? Satan yes, he's coming to to destroy things to steal to kill and destroy.

But what's he doing? He's attacking their unity He comes to man and woman a united front made to be one

And he divides them so that man is fighting woman woman is fighting man. He divides their marriage.

That's the first thing that he does Satan's mo his modus operandi is to divide things and then conquer smaller pockets

That's what he does right there in the very beginning The Westminster Shorter Catechism says that our first parents.

This is question 13 length for children don't say it out loud Our first parents being left to the freedom of their own will fell from the estate wherein they were created by sinning against God So in that moment they sinned against God their their unity with God fell now they're dead in their trespasses their souls die and disunity and chaos and disorder come upon the soul of man and if You haven't read the

Old Testament past Genesis 3 You'll realize that disunity when you read it that disunity is now come to us in the way that we relate to one another

We lost fellowship with God. We also lost our ability to even get along with each other

If you don't believe that look at the the couple that's getting ready to get married and how how beautifully simplistic their thoughts about what married life will be and Then four days later in the

Bahamas. They're at each other's throats Disunity has come into every facet of our existence

That's why arguments shaming stonewalling domestic disputes infertility infidelity

Marital rape discord pride and you name all kinds of sins that have come into the marriage alone

Because Satan is dividing people and they are now at each other's throats instead of being partners they're now enemies and every marriage

Unless you're a liar Has walked through a phase where you did not believe that your spouse

Had your best interest at heart and that she was your enemy or he was your enemy We've all been there because that is what

Satan does Satan divided man not only from his wife, but also from his environment

That's why thorns and thistles immediately disorder disunity chaos are coming up out of the ground

Because now he's now divided from his land. Isn't it funny man was made out of the dirt

So they have an inherent connection and then when sin comes in now the earth hates him

Thorns and thistles are attacking him Tidal waves and hurricanes are now attacking him

It's like kudzu in southern, Georgia If you know what that is, maybe a better analogy up here would be like mold that grows in the dark

Like leaven that leavens an entire lump Disunity when it infected humanity it began spreading like wildfire to every facet

We see it in the nations that spread to the way that nations relate with one another look at Genesis 11 the Tower of Babel They had a unified purpose in sin and then look at what happened disunity

Disorder every single nation now is being confused and being spread out to the ends of the earth and their rebellion

You look at slavery in Egypt and the disunity that was between the nations You look at the wars and all of the fighting that happens.

You look at the nations that were that were Bowing their knee to idle disunity discord and chaos have come upon man

That's why you'll often hear me say And maybe I don't even say it enough But if you're a

Christian, you will either have Christ or chaos If you're a Christian, you either have

Christ or chaos you either bow the knee to Christ Or you will accept the disunity discord and chaos that will come

Because we live in a world that is broken the entire Old Testament story is an unbroken narrative of how sin brings disunity to everything and breaks everything

Now the New Testament is the story of how the new Adam Christ comes and he heals everything, but he doesn't heal everything right away

He has healed the divide between us and God that vertical disunity is gone in Jesus Christ, amen

But the disunity that we have among one another The things that are still broken in our life the discord the disfellowship the disunity the chaos still

Sometimes attacks even us as Christians We should expect that because Christ hasn't fully sanctified and fully purified the world of disorder

That the New Testament probably has some things to say about the topic and it does

It says that disunity is three things. You don't have to write these down But disunity causes destruction in the church

Disunity is dangerous for you And disunity is disgusting to God and I use that word on purpose.

It's a strong word, but I use it on purpose Disunity is destructive to the church now, we can't cite all of these references

This is gonna be a thick enough sermon as it is, but I'm gonna I'm gonna sort of describe examples of disunity in the church

Do you remember the disciples? They were arguing about who was gonna be the greatest in the kingdom That one of their mothers comes up and says hey, will you let them sit at your right hand in your kingdom?

They are now grappling with the sort of sinful Disunity and what you'll notice in that passage in Luke is it says that all the disciples were angry at them and arguing about it

This is Jesus's disciples His right -hand men and now they're devolving into disunity

You look at Acts chapter 6 the Hebrew the Hebraic Jews Were at the throats of the

Hellenistic Jews because the Hellenistic Jews were saying you're not taking care of my widows and the

Hebraic Jews were saying So what? There was disunity in the church so much so that the

Apostles had to address it You think about the disunity that was even in Paul's life Paul and Barnabas?

Have this massive fallout where they're arguing with each other on on John Mark and whether he's gonna go with them and they divide and Go separate paths for years

We find out later that Paul receives Mark again and that restoration and reconciliation comes, but it's years

It's over a decade We see in Philippians 4 chapter 2 these two women

Yodia and Syntyche they are at each other's throats They're arguing about something.

We don't know Paul doesn't tell us but we know that it's a significant enough division That he had to write an entire book about it now

Philippians has all these wonderful beautiful themes about joy and About living a life that's in a manner worthy of the gospel

Why do you think Paul is buffeting all of that truth right there in the beginning because in Philippians 4 when he says ladies

Your names have been written in the book of life You're my co -labor in the gospel live your life in a manner worthy of that instead of this this tiff that you have

Because it's gonna destroy the church It's gonna break relationships. It's gonna cause church splits and fissures and divisions

The ministry the mission is too important For a church to allow division to cripple it and to cause it to fall into disrepute

Pastor Derek has preached through the book of Corinthians. He talked about a book that is all about divisions

One group was saying Paul's my guy one group was saying no, no, no I like Apollos one group is saying you have to wear head coverings.

The other group was saying no don't infringe upon my Liberty one group of saying the rich can eat communion the poor can't the whole book of Corinthians is about disunity and disorder that has come upon a church and Paul is he wrote two books

Actually scholars believe he wrote four books, but the Holy Spirit decided we only needed two of them They were broken over this issue the book of Galatians They were divided over theology the book of 3rd

John They had a bad elder Which brought a lot of division into their church the book of Jude has wolves coming in and trying to to shipwreck the church fine

Lehman and Onesimus as a divide between a owner and his slave the seven churches of Revelation are all struggling with some sort of division

Except one It's hung over the New Testament division is destructive to the

Church of Christ It's inescapable that if a church accepts division they will devolve into disrepute and Disrepair and they will fail in the mission that God has given them and like Revelation says he will snuff out their lampstand the fastest way to kill a church is to let disunity and Division and disorder reign it's to allow

Satan back in and To reject what Christ has done to bring unity and order

That's the first thing disunity is Destructive to the church. It's also dangerous for believers

Now I'm gonna go for an Old Testament example first. Do you remember the rebellion of Korah? Korah made a division between him and Moses and what does

God do? He opens the earth and swallows him whole It was dangerous for him in his ilk

To be in disunity God killed them Look in the New Testament the New Testament We often think the

Old Testament has more Events in it than the than the Old Testament or the New Testament as is more peaceful Maybe than the

Old Testament look at the church at Corinth Paul literally says this is why many of you are weak and ill and some of you have died

Because they've let disunity into the church Now you may say no. No, no No, the reason that they were dying is because they were mistaking communion

But I would point out that the reason they were mistaking communion is because they had an elitist mentality

The rich people were looking down their nose at the poor people There was a classism that was going on that was saying we're good enough to take the table.

You're not and Christ hates that so much that he killed some of them in that church

That's right from the scripture Which gets us to our third point disunity is disgusting to God Let me read you probably the clearest passage in the

Bible on this topic what God feels about disunity. It's Proverbs 6 16 through 19

There are six things that the Lord hates Seven that are an abomination to him haughty eyes a lying tongue a hand that sheds innocent blood a

Heart that devises wicked plans feet that make haste to run to evil a false witness who breathes breathes lies and the one who sows discord or disunity among the brethren

That last one is really important The one who sows disunity in the church

God says that he hates How many times have we been in churches that have struggled with disunity?

And this verse is not read as a loving warning to the person who is causing disunity

Stop, please God hates this How often do we live in disunity instead of bringing the scriptures to bear?

God says that he hates those who cause disunity in the church. You think about examples of this gossip.

God hates that Slander God hates that lying false

Accusations God hates that spreading lies and falsehoods about believers without without truth behind it

God hates that Lurking in emails and text messages hiding in backroom corners and sofa slander sessions.

God hates that Now, let me be very clear.

I'm not talking about dividing over heresy There is no unity when it comes to someone who has who believes in heresy

There's no unity between this church and Bethel Church in California, which is one that we've talked about before There's no unity between this church and Elevation Church in Charlotte, North Carolina.

There's no unity between this church and Joel Osteen's Church Those are people who have so thoroughly misrepresented the gospel and God's Word.

There is no unity there I'm not talking about that. We divide with wolves

A faithful shepherd does not pet a wolf. He shoots a wolf We have to know that it's dangerous to pet wolves

It's dangerous to the church but with that With our brothers and sisters in Christ, we don't shoot them

We don't divide with them. We don't hurt them and we don't cause disunity among them.

I Don't know if you've ever heard of a theological conversation that spirited any theological conversation

I get into I get spirited. I love it. I Am of the same caliber of person who's watched every episode of Star Trek 18 times except my thing is theology

I've never watched Star Trek. I don't know anything about it, but I know I'm like that It's okay for iron to sharpen iron

It's not okay to take a sharpened piece of iron and stab your brother in the back and a stamp your sister in the back

It's not okay. A little leaven leavens the entire lump.

A little slander has been the death of 100 ,000 churches.

It's because disunity is damaging to the church, it's dangerous to us who participate in it, and it's disgusting to a holy

God. Now that's the negative. That's the disunity. We can't stop there.

We've talked about what that is, and I hope to God that it's evident that we must avoid that like the plague, but we also have to now move into what the positive is.

Unity, what is unity? Why do we have unity? Why can we know for sure that we have unity?

Why do we strive for unity? Ephesians 4, it says, be diligent to preserve the unity of the spirit in the bond and peace.

Why does the Bible tell us that we must be diligent to preserve the unity, that we must do these things?

Why? Why does it say in Romans 12 .10 that we must be devoted to one another in brotherly love?

First Corinthians 12 .25 that we strive so there be no division in the body, and so that the members may have the same care for one another.

Why does it in Colossians 3 .12 say that you have been chosen by God holy and beloved, put on a heart of compassion and kindness and humility and gentleness and patience, bearing with one another and forgiving one another.

Whoever has a complaint against anyone, just as the Lord forgave you, you should forgive them.

Why does the Bible repeatedly, and there's many, many, many verses that we could have referenced.

Why does it say that we must not let disunity fester? Why does it say, one of the most, this is right up there with Judge Knott, that verse is one of the most misunderstood passages in the

Bible. Why does the Bible say that if your brother sins against you, that you must hide and fester and live in bitter?

It doesn't say that. It says if your brother sins against you, go and show him his fault in private.

If he listens to you, you've won your brother. If he doesn't listen to you, take it to one or more so that with the mouth of two or three witnesses, every fact may be confirmed.

If he refuses to listen, then tell it to the elders, and if he refuses to listen, tell it to the church, and then if he refuses, treat him as a

Gentile and tax collector. Why is the Bible saying that we must be very, very, very careful, four and five steps deep before we divide?

Because 1 John 4 .20 says, if someone says that I love God and hates his brother, he is a liar, for the one who does not love his brother whom he has seen cannot love the

God whom he has not seen. You see how important this is? If we say we love

God, but we hate our brother, or we bring disunity and division, we've made ourself out to be a liar.

The truth of God is not in us. This goes down to the level of our faith.

The man or woman who has true faith does not allow these sorts of things to fester.

This is how important it is, and in fact, it's very central to the gospel. What is the gospel?

The gospel is that Jesus Christ came to people who were addicted to confusion and disorder, and he died with our disunity poured out on top of him.

He was disfellowshipped from God. He was, God turned his face away from Christ. He took our disunity upon himself.

Why? So that you and I could have union with Christ. He traded in our disorder for order.

He traded our disunity for union. Jesus, at his cross, took our shame, took our guilt, took our pain, took our tendencies to harass and slander and accuse, which are all attributes of Satan.

He took those from us, and he gave us his Holy Spirit to bring us peace.

He brought us his Holy Spirit so that the church could be the best and clearest picture of unity on earth.

I was thinking about this this week. Did you know that you and I have more in common with a believer in Kathmandu, Nepal than we do with our own mother or father if they're not a believer in the

Lord Jesus Christ? We have more in common with a believer who lived 500 years ago in a time period, let's say imperial

China. We have nothing at all culturally, socially, politically connected, but yet we have more in common with them than we do with an unbeliever.

Regardless of our feelings, regardless of how our experience has dictated the people who are to your left and to your right in this room, have more in common with you than your own children if they're not in the

Lord. You look to your left and your right. This is the family God adopted you into.

Thank you, Paul, for looking to the left and the right. I said to look to the left and right. Thank you for that.

His blood is better than even the biological blood or genealogical blood of our family.

He's brought us into a family. Do we think about the church like that? Do we think about the members of the church as they're my family?

Because I guarantee you if we did, when people leave, it would hurt.

When people participate in disunity, it would cause angst and pain.

It would cause us to go to our brother or go to our sister and say, why did you do this?

Why are you living in the darkness? Why are you participating in this? This is wicked.

I'm not telling you that because I have anything over you. I'm telling you because I love you. Do we consider our church family family?

Paul says in 1 Corinthians 12, 13, for by one spirit we were all baptized into one body.

Whether Jew or Greek, whether slave or free, we were made to drink of one spirit.

The first thing I would say to us as a church, we have several layers of unity among each other.

The first one is we have a spiritual unity in the fact that we have the Holy Spirit of God. The same spirit that rose

Jesus from the dead. If you're a believer in this room, lives in you. I have more in common with you than anyone else on earth.

There's a spiritual unity between you and I because of the spirit of God. We also have material unity.

Look at what it says in Colossians 3, 11. There is no distinction, none, between Jew and Greek, circumcised and uncircumcised, barbarian,

Scythian, slave or free. Christ is all in all. So I don't care if you're in this room and you are black or white, red or yellow.

If you have brown eyes or blue eyes, I don't care if you're male or female. I don't care if you're happy or sad. I don't care if you're thin or round. If you're in Christ, we have unity intrinsic to our nature because of the

Holy Spirit of God. All of our distinctions are like wrapping paper.

Do you know what I mean? I could give the same gift to 10 people and wrap it in different wrapping paper and at the end of the day, it's the same gift.

It's the same thing on the inside, even though the wrapping paper might look a little different. That's what you and I are.

Our wrapping paper looks a little different. My wrapping paper is looking a little more salt and pepper these days.

But what's inside of me and you, if you're in Christ, is the same.

It goes down even deeper than our bones. It goes down even deeper than the subatomic particles that are held together by, you can ask

Rob, he's the guy that would know the answer to that. Whatever it is that holds them together, though, it goes deeper than that.

If someone is a Christian, we must love them and treat them with kindness, not because they deserve it.

We didn't earn anything. The Spirit of God came into us as a gift. We love and care and bear one another's burdens, not because we're all pleasurable people.

Christ didn't save the best people. He saved us. We have our days.

We have our ways. You catch me on the wrong morning, I'm not a morning person.

I wake up at 4 a .m. just so that it feels like noon to me when we get to church. I need to wake up a little bit is what

I'm saying. But we love each other, not because of us. We love each other because of what

Christ has done on the cross and what God has done in pouring out His Spirit in each and every single one of us. And you wanna talk about what a sin against the

Holy Spirit is. Slander your brother. Slander your sister in Christ.

And you'll find out why Paul is so gravely serious about this is why some of them were sick and some of them died.

This is so important. The third thing, we have spiritual unity, we have material unity, we also have relational unity.

Ephesians 4 .25 says that we're all members of one another. Philippians 1 .27 says that we are to live our lives worthy of this gospel.

We have a unified mission. Second Corinthians 13 .11 says brethren rejoice, be made complete, be comforted, be like minded, live in peace and the

God of love and peace will be with you. He's saying if you have unity, if you're like minded, then you will experience the peace of God.

Is that why so many churches who are not in unity don't experience peace? Is that the reason so many churches that are addicted to gossip have no love, that they're cold?

It says that be like minded in Christ and then the

God of love and peace will be with you. It doesn't say do whatever you want and the

God of love and peace will be with you. There are consequences to disunity and then there are consequences to a commitment to unity.

We get something better than we could ever imagine if we are in unity. We also have ecclesiological unity.

It's just a big word that means we have church unity. Acts 2 .1 says when the day of Pentecost had come, they were all together in one place.

They had unity of location. Acts 2 .42 says they were continually devoting themselves to the apostles teaching, to fellowship and to breaking of bread.

So we have unity of place, we have unity of substance. We have the same teaching from the Bible. We have the same fellowship.

We're all in the Holy Spirit of God. We have the same table because that's the table that Christ died and told us to take.

So we have unity even in what we do on a Sunday morning. Acts 2 .46,

day by day continuing with one mind in the temple. So they had ongoing unity.

It's not a unity that ebbs and flows. It's a unity that is constantly true if we're in Christ.

The church has unity intrinsic to its own nature that will lead to its flourishing.

We also have sacramental unity. It's not only because we have spiritual material unity, ecclesiological unity, we also have sacramental unity.

Look at what Ephesians 4 .4 -6 says about our baptism. There's one body and one spirit, just as you were also called in one hope of your calling.

One Lord, one faith, one baptism, one God and Father of all who is over all and through all and in all.

This is not a doctrine that only has one verse to substantiate it. We have unity in our baptism.

We have unity in communion. 1 Corinthians 10 .16 -17, it's not the cup of blessing which we bless, a sharing in the blood of Christ.

It's not the bread that we break, a sharing in the body of Christ. Since there's one bread, we who are many are made one.

Every facet of our faith is bound together with unity, every facet of it.

We may have small doctrinal differences. We may, in a spirit of charity and spiritedness, talk about those doctrines, but if we are

Christians, we have the very Holy Spirit of God inside of us and there's unity that surpasses even our distinctives.

That leads us to the next one. We have a Catholic unity. I'm not talking about Roman Catholic, I'm talking about we have a big church

Catholic. We're all under the same Christ. Jesus says in John 10 .16,

I have other sheep which are not of this fold and I must bring them in also and they will hear my voice and they will become one flock with one shepherd.

Jesus is looking down the corridors of time and he's saying, I've got some Lutherans that are gonna be in my flock.

I've got some Presbyterians that are gonna be in my flock. I've got some Baptists, some Charismatics, and even Armenians.

Who are gonna be in my flock. Can we have disagreements? Yes. If I get with my

Lutheran brother, I'm gonna say, brother, you don't understand baptism. If I get with my Presbyterian brothers,

I'm gonna say, you're okay, you're okay. Mostly. If I get with my

Baptist brothers, I'm gonna say, you don't understand baptism. If I get with my Charismatic brothers, I'm like, you don't understand the spirit baptism.

If I get with Armenians, I might say, you don't understand a lot. But what we have in common is

Christ. Jesus is assembling a beautiful church that is made of living stones that make one big, massive cathedral, this multicultural, multi -denominational, multi -perspectival, black, white, tall, short cathedral to the living

Christ. That's what God is constructing out of us. We have unity with our brothers and sisters that theology, as important as it is, cannot sever.

We don't allow our theology to tear us apart from Christians.

From heretics and wolves, yes. From the world, yes. There's no unity in error.

But if your unity is in Christ, and your unity is in the Holy Spirit of God, you cannot be separated.

Number seven, we have national unity. This one is so important in the days that we live in right now, when our nation is struggling, and our nation is crumbling.

We have national unity with Christ. Look at what 1 Peter 2, 9 says. You are a chosen race,

Christians. You're a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for God's own possession.

When we look at the Constitution, it says, and even our dollar bill, and it says one people under God, that's not true.

The church is the only one people who are under God. The church is the only people who can actually bring liberty and justice for all.

The church is God's bride who has unity with Him, not America, Canada, Japan, or any other nation.

We belong to Christ. And as a result, we have spiritual, material, relational, ecclesiological, sacramental, denominational, national unity, but that's not even all.

We have missional unity. Paul says in Philippians 2, the same book we quoted earlier, if there's any encouragement in Christ, now he's being funny there, there's infinite encouragement in Christ.

He's being hyperbolic or ironic. If there's any encouragement in Christ, if there's any consolation in His love, if there's any fellowship of the

Spirit, if any affection and compassion, make my joy complete by being of the same mind, maintaining the same love, united in Spirit and intent on one purpose.

He's saying if there's anything good at all in Christ, and you know that there is, infinite treasures and storehouses in Christ, then make

His joy complete by being one. Encouragement from Christ, consoled by Christ, fellowship in the

Spirit, affections and compassions, same mind, same love, same Spirit, all these things are ours in Christ.

It details and entails that we have unity that cannot be severed.

Unity is an inescapable concept in the Scriptures. Disunity must always be repented of, and must never be allowed to fester in a gospel church.

Because you know what? At the heart of it, disunity is a denial of the gospel.

Disunity is a denial of the effect of Christ's death and the efficacious nature of His blood.

You are looking at Christ when you have disunity, when you have, when you are participating in gossip, when you are tearing down things in the church, not talking to anybody specifically,

I'm just saying when you do that, you are saying His blood is of no effect. That there's nothing different about us in the world, there's nothing special about us, nothing different, nothing distinct, nothing unique.

And we know that's not true. Because Christ's blood is infinitely effective at what

He sought to do. Let's close with a couple verses and let's look at what

Christ would have to say to us. We know disunity is disunity. Damaging, destructive, dangerous, and all of these things.

We know that unity is what we must have. Look at what Christ says. We'll start in 1

John 4, 12. No one has ever seen God. If we love one another, then God abides in us and His love is perfected in us.

Unity is a consequence of the gospel. Look at what Jesus, this is Jesus's prayer. This is what

Jesus prays for you and I, for the church. I'm gonna read 12 verses.

While I was with them, that's His disciples, I was keeping them in your name, which you have given me.

And I guarded them, and not one of them perished, but the son of perdition, that's Judas, so that the scriptures would be fulfilled.

But now I'm coming to you, Jesus is gonna ascend to heaven, and these things I speak in the world so that they may have my joy made full in themselves.

I have given them your word, and the world has hated them, because they are not of the world, even as I am not of the world.

I do not ask you to take them out of the world, but to keep them from the evil one.

They are not of the world, even as I am not of the world. Sanctify them in the truth. Your word is truth.

As you sent me into the world, I also have sent them into the world, for their sakes I sanctify myself, so that they themselves also may be sanctified in truth.

I do not ask on behalf of these alone, but for those also who believe in me through the apostles' word, that they may all be one, even as you,

Father, are in me, and I am in you. They may also be in us, so that the world may believe that you've sent me.

The glory which you have given me, I have given to them, and they may be one, just as we are one,

I in them, and you in me, and that they may be perfected in unity, so that the world may know that you sent me, and you've loved them.

Jesus is praying three things for us. He's saying, because, Father, you and I are in unity, I want my people to have perfect unity.

Number two, I want the world to be able to look at the unity inside of the church and say, that's why

God sent Jesus. That group of people are so healed from their sins, so in unity with one another, the reality is

God must be real. Richard Dawkins ought to be able to walk into this room and fall flat on his face in repentance because of the unity that exists in this room.

That's what it says. And it says not that they would believe only in their heads, but they would see that God has loved us, and that they would crave the love of God that we have had poured out on us, that we would be so loving, and patient, and kind, and considerate to one another that the world would be envious, and they would have to say that God's love is in these people.

No other people act like this. No other people love like this. No other people care like this.

That's why when the Christians were being fed to the Colosseums, they said, look at how they love one another.

They didn't say, well, look at their argument for baptism. Look at their theology.

They are really smart. They said, look at how they love each other as they were dying, as they were being fed to the lions, as they were being crucified upside down.

They loved each other to the bitter end, and the world saw it, and they had no other recourse but to say this must be

God. My prayer as we close is that this church would be known for its unity.

My prayer is that the devil would not gain a foothold in this church, that the enemy would not cause this church,

I think is an important church, and it's not just because I get my paycheck from this church. I look around at New England.

I look around at Massachusetts. I look around at the area that we're living in, and there's not many churches.

There's not many churches that preach the gospel. We have about four to five million people on this side of the state or more.

How many churches do you think we need to reach them, and how many churches are there exactly that are actually preaching the word?

There's not enough. It's too important. This church has to continue.

The message of the gospel has to continue to be preached. It's too important to allow what

Satan means for evil to come in and destroy. We must be a church that's vigilant for unity, vigilant for the gospel, and I believe when we have that, this church will magnify

Christ in a way that you can't even imagine. We will scatter on the mission of Christ in a way that you can't even imagine, and we will see the nations praising

God in ways that you can't even imagine. Let's pray. Lord, every word in your scripture is true, and Lord, every topic in your scripture is true, and Lord, we've hit upon one today that is impressively true, that is heavily true, that bears down on us in a weighty sort of way, in a way that it feels like even stands out from other doctrines in the necessity of it, in the weightiness and the heaviness of it.

Lord, I pray that we would be a church that values, that strives for unity.

Lord, we know that you saved us from all of our sin and no good work saves us.

We know that, and yet we also know for those of us who've been ransomed and bought and paid for and transferred from darkness to life have now been given a commission, have now been given duties.

Lord, we know you didn't save us so that we could go on living however we want. You've saved us.

You've empowered us. You've given us the Holy Spirit to now be a shining example of the gospel in our love for one another, in our unity, and in the doctrines that we declare with our lips.

Lord, let it be so. Let your mission go forth from this place in unity. We pray it in the strong, powerful name of Jesus Christ.