“I pray for them: I pray not for the world, but for them which thou hast given me; for they are thine. .. Neither pray I for these alone, but for them also which shall believe on me through their word; That they all may be one; as thou, Father, art in me, and I in thee, that they also may be one in us: that the world may believe that thou hast sent me.” -John 17:9, 20,21.
Sometimes Christians are in such a rush for unity, that they actually put this concept above obedience to the qualifications God's given us through His Word. It is only too common for pastors to treat their congregations as if they are all born again, and often declare it to be so; and then there is a press for UNITY that Jesus neither asks for or desires.
When we consider the unity Jesus prayed for in the High Priestly Prayer of John chapter 17, we must realize that the Lord was then alone with the eleven true disciples, and even Judas Iscariot was no longer among them. Jesus made it clear that He wasn't praying for the unsaved world, but for His true disciples, and also for those who would come to know Him because of them.
The devil is behind an agenda for unity at all costs, because he needs this to rule the world, and to be worshipped by all mankind. The Bible warns us that our enemy will appear to be an angel of light, and even his ministers will seem to be ministers of righteousness.(2 Corinthians 11:13-15)
God gave Paul a number of strong warnings for the church, of which he said that “grievous wolves would come in amongst them, and that even from their own congregation leaders would arise, speaking perverse things to draw away disciples to follow them.(Acts 20:29,30)
We must not be yoked together with unbelief (2 Corinthians 6:14-17), and seek to put away from the body of Christ wicked persons (I Corinthians 5:13), and have no fellowship with them (2 Thessalonians 3:6,14).
But we must know that the devil delights in unity that serves him, and the Bible shows that in the last days there is a unity coming to this world that is NOT of God, and you can read about this anti-Christian religious world system in Revelation 13:1-8; those that will not be a part of this unity will be persecuted & killed.
There were even episodes of evil united directly against Jesus during His earthly ministry, one even coming from the people while He was in His hometown synagogue, when they sought to throw Him off a cliff in their rage, in Luke 4:28-30;
"And all they in the synagogue, when they heard these things, were filled with wrath, And rose up, and thrust him out of the city, and led him unto the brow of the hill whereon their city was built, that they might cast him down headlong. But he passing through the midst of them went his way."
And then again, there was also unity among the Jewish religious leadership when they decided to put Jesus to death in Mark 14:63&64;
"Then the high priest rent his clothes, and saith, What need we any further witnesses? Ye have heard the blasphemy: what think ye? And they all condemned him to be guilty of death."
Yet our beloved savior led not only by example, but also verbally warned against a type of unity that most would find desireable in Luke 6:26;
"Woe unto you, when all men shall speak well of you! for so did their fathers to the false prophets."
As with ANY practice that the Bible directs for Christians, the call for unity is conditional, and is plainly discouraged numerous times in the New Testament. Some other references for this are found in; I Corinthians 5; 2 Thessalonians 3:6,14; I Timothy 6:3-5; 2 Timothy 3:5; Titus 3:10.
True Christian unity by the example of practice can be found in the Bible only once, when we hear of its brief existence among the disciples in Acts 4:34&35;
"Neither was there any among them that lacked: for as many as were possessors of lands or houses sold them, and brought the prices of the things that were sold, And laid them down at the apostles’ feet: and distribution was made unto every man according as he had need."
The type of unity seen in these verses is wonderful, but very strange to us. In truth, this kind of Christian unity will never be seen again. Churches typically put up the "All Welcome" signs, and use no discretion for who they allow to become part of them. And even when sins begin to corrupt the body of professing believers, those responsible are almost never confronted or removed.
"And have no fellowship with the unfruitful works of darkness, but rather reprove them." -Ephesians 5:11.
"Them that sin rebuke before all, that others also may fear." -I Timothy 5:20.
The 19th century saint George Mueller & his spiritual partner Henry Craik were pastors, and he once recorded that on a certain day they had appointments with 7 individuals who were applying to be church members among them; 5 were rejected! This simply would never happen today.
We as believers need to remember that we serve Christ (I Corinthians 7:23), and not the man-made businesses that churches have become. You may be pressured to conform, and some places may even shun you for choosing against their wishes. You need to remind yourself about the real nature of worship that God wants;
"Thus saith the LORD, The heaven is my throne, and the earth is my footstool: where is the house that ye build unto me? and where is the place of my rest? For all those things hath mine hand made, and all those things have been, saith the LORD: but to this man will I look, even to him that is poor and of a contrite spirit, and trembleth at my word." -Isaiah 66:1,2.
"Jesus saith unto her, Woman, believe me, the hour cometh, when ye shall neither in this mountain, nor yet at Jerusalem, worship the Father...But the hour cometh, and now is, when the true worshippers shall worship the Father in spirit and in truth: for the Father seeketh such to worship him. God is a Spirit: and they that worship him must worship him in spirit and in truth." -John 4:21,23,24.
"Howbeit the most High dwelleth not in temples made with hands; as saith the prophet," -Acts 7:48.
"What? know ye not that your body is the temple of the Holy Ghost which is in you, which ye have of God, and ye are not your own?" -I Corinthians 6:19.
The time is now upon us when a tough stand for Christ is required. The Lord told us that we would be hated (Mark 13:13), and even beaten in the synagogues (churches) for His sake (Mark 13:9), so how much do we really love God's only begotten Son? It is a time of testing for us.
Please be encouraged to take your own obedient stand for the Lord and don't be quick to yield to pressure from those pushing unity, but bring all your potential works into the light before God, seeking the approval only He can give.
"But he that doeth truth cometh to the light, that his deeds may be made manifest, that they are wrought in God." -John 3:21.
"For do I now persuade men, or God? or do I seek to please men? for if I yet pleased men, I should not be the servant of Christ." -Galatians 1:10.
"Watch ye, stand fast in the faith, quit you like men, be strong." -I Corinthians 16:13.
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