The Unity of the Church

The book of Psalms has been appropriately called “the hymn book of the Bible.”  There are more than twenty-five hundred verses in its one hundred and fifty chapters, and doubtless that many songs have been composed from them through the centuries and millenniums since their sentiments swelled the bosom of Israel's sweet singer.  Many of these verses were chanted in the worship of early Christians, and they will be sung in every generation wherever people are found worshiping God until we learn the “new song” in Heaven, “when all the redeemed singers get home.”

To rob our modern productions of the sentiments and psalms of David would be, indeed, to impoverish our worship of praise.

A SONG OF UNITY.  Psalm 133 is a song of unity, “Behold how good and how pleasant it is for brethren to dwell together in unity!”  There is nothing more stifling and stultifying to the emotions of the soul than strife and division.  There is nothing more soothing and beneficent to the spirit than peace and unity.

Unity among brethren is like “the precious ointment upon the head,” in the psalmist’s refrain.  The Easterners perfumed with fragrant oil.  Unity perfumes the church and sweetens the atmosphere like the precious oil “than ran down upon the beard, even Aaron’s beard:  that went down to the skirts of his garments.”

THE UNITY OF THE SPIRIT.  Exhorting the brethren to “keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace,” Paul outlines, in Ephesians 4:4-6, the basis of unity. “There is one body, one Spirit, even as ye are called in one hope of your calling:  one Lord, one faith, one baptism, one God and Father of all who is above all, and through all, and in you all.”  The “unity of the spirit” is the unity the Spirit teaches, or that results when the Spirit’s Word is obeyed.

There is one God—unity in worship.  A divided worship cannot be rendered “in spirit and in truth.”  Wherever and whenever rendered, true worship must have the two elements—the right spirit and the right act; for God is one, and “seeketh such to be his worshipers.”

There is one Lord—unity in authority.  Human authority in religion is wrong.  Christ is Lord, and His Word only is authority.

There is one faith—unity in message.  The Spirit, which guided “into all truth,” does not impart conflicting messages.  The Gospel promotes unity; and where there is division, something else has been preached.

There is one baptism—unity in practice.  Modes of baptism!  We might as well talk about shades of white.  There is no such thing.

There is one body—unity in organization.  The church is one body.  It is impossible to have “spiritual unity” and “organic” division.  Unity is both spiritual and organic.

There is one Spirit and one hope—unity in life, in desire and expectation.

Thus, Paul outlines the only basis of unity.  Let the world cease their efforts toward amalgamations, federations, alliances, and unions, and adopt the divine standard and basis of unity—oneness in Christ.

THE PRAYER FOR UNITY.  The Lord's prayer in John 17:1-21 was an ardent petition for unity.  “May they all be one.”  Jesus praying for the unity of believers!  Yet, it has not touched the heart of those who are promoting denominationalism in the world, nor even of brethren who sow discord and stir factions in the church.  Denominationalism is the misrepresentation of Christianity—a horrid caricature—and the authors of perversions in religion are enemies of Christ, professing and even honestly thinking themselves to be His friends.

But “charity begins at home.”  We cannot with good grace preach unity and practice division. “I beseech you, brethren, by the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that ye all speak the same thing, and that there be no divisions among you; but that ye be perfectly joined together in the same mind and in the same judgment” (I Corinthians 1:10).  Paul’s beseechment should not only be our preachment, but also our practice.  The unity of Christians is the only hope of bringing the world to Christ.  Jesus knew it, and therefore prayed that “they all may be one, as thou, Father, art in me, and I in thee, that they also may be one in us.”                                                              

Foy E. Wallace, Jr

IF GOD BE FOR US WHO CAN BE AGAINST US - Romans 8:31

Notice the evidence that God, the Father, is for us.

1. God “loved us” (Romans 8:37).
2. This “love of God...is in Christ Jesus our Lord” (Romans 8:39).
3. God sent His own Son (Romans 8:3), not sparing Him, but delivering Him up for us (Romans 8:32).
4. God also uses sufferings and hurtings to help us on the way to glorification (Romans 8:17-18).
5. Then, God uses hope to help us on the way to salvation (Romans 8:24-25).
6. God uses His Holy Spirit to help us in our prayers (Romans 8:26-27).
7. God purposes our good, if we love Him and are the called according to His purpose (Romans 8:28).
8. God uses His foreknowledge for our good (Romans 8:29).
9. God uses predestination for our good (Romans 8:29-30).
10. God calls us for our good (Romans 8:30).
11. God justifies us for our good (Romans 8:30).
12. God will glorify us for our good (Romans 8:30).

In view of these dozen things evidencing that God is for us, when Paul asks “who can be against us?” the answer is “not God the Father.”

Could or would Jesus Christ be against us, if God the Father is for us? No!           

1. Jesus Christ also loves us as does God the Father (Romans 8:35, 37, 39).
2. Christ died for us (Romans 8:34).
3. Christ was raised for us (Romans 8:34).
4. Christ is now at God’s right hand for us (Romans 8:34).
5. Christ is now making intercession for us (Romans 8:34).
6. To those who are in Christ Jesus there is therefore now no condemnation (Romans 8:1)

Could or would God’s Holy Spirit be against us? No!

1. God’s Holy Spirit has given us His governing factor, which is the law of the Spirit, and which can make us free from the law of sin and death (Romans 8:2).
2. God’s Holy Spirit leads us as sons of God by that law (Romans 8:14).
3. God’s Holy Spirit, through that law, can make us spiritual minded (Romans 8:5-6).
4. God’s Holy Spirit can also cause us to walk, not after the flesh, but after the Spirit (Romans 8:4).
5. God’s Holy Spirit dwells in us as children of God giving life (Romans 8:9-11).
6. God’s Holy Spirit bears witness with our spirit that we are the children of God and heirs of God (Romans 8:16-17).
7. God’s Holy Spirit helps us in our prayers (Romans 8:26-27).

God the Father will not be against us. God the Son will not be against us. God the Holy Spirit will not be against us.

Could or would God’s holy angels be against us? Not according Jesus, who said, “Likewise, I say unto you, there is joy in the presence of the angels of God over one sinner that repenteth” (Luke 15: 10).

It is emphatically encouraging to know that God the Father is for us, that Jesus Christ is for us, that the Holy Spirit is for us, that God’s holy angels are for us, and that none of these can or will be against us if and as long as we love God by keeping His commandments.

“We love him because he first loved us” (I John 4:19). Jesus said, “If ye love me, keep my commandments” (John 14:15), and “He that hath my commandments, and keepeth them, he it is that loveth me: and he that loveth me shall be loved of my Father, and I will love him, and will manifest myself to him” (John 14:21). John said:

By this we know that we love the children of God, when we love God, and keep his commandments. For this is the love of God, that we keep his commandments: and his commandments are not grievous (I John 5:2-3).

David B. Watson

“Nothing Separates Us From The Love Of God; Romans 8:31-39.” Encouraging Statements Of The Bible. Michael Hatcher, Editor. Bellview Church of Christ : Pensacola, FL. 2001. Pages 219-220.

What Is Acceptable Worship?

Jesus said, “God is a Spirit: and they that worship him must worship him in spirit and in truth” (John 4:24).

First, notice that according to Jesus our worship is to be directed toward God. We are to worship Him. Only Deity is worthy of worship. Men are unworthy of worship. Cornelius knew that Peter had been sent by God to tell him the Word of God through which (if obeyed) he and his household would be saved (Acts 11:14). When Cornelius first saw the apostle Peter he “fell down at his feet, and worshiped him”(Acts 10:25).  Peter was a great man, an apostle of Christ; but Peter made it clear that men were unworthy of worship. “But Peter took him up, saying, Stand up; I myself also am a man” (Acts 10:26). Twice (Revelation 19:10; 22:9) it is stated that John, the apostle, when beholding the glories of heaven fell down to worship at the feet of an angel. He was forbidden to do so. He was told, “Worship God.” When Jesus was  tempted in the wilderness, He stated, “Thou shalt worship the Lord thy God and him only shalt thou serve” (Matthew 4:10).

Second, observe that man is the one whose responsibility it is to worship God. In the previous verse Jesus had stated, “...for the Father seeketh such to worship him” (John 4:23). Clearly God desires worship from man. The primary purpose of man is to glorify God. “Thou art worthy, O Lord, to receive glory and honor and power: for thou has created all things, and for thy pleasure they are and were created” (Revelation 4:11). “By him therefore let us offer the sacrifice of praise to God continually, that is, the fruit of our lips giving thanks to his name” (Hebrews 13:5).

Third, this worship must be “in spirit” for it to be accepted by God. God demands that our worship be offered from the heart sincerely. God rejects worship that is not sincere. Jesus described some who offered such worship to God. He stated, “This people draweth nigh to me with their mouth and honoreth me with their lips, but their heart is far from me” (Matthew 15:8). Scripture speaks of those who are acceptable to God as “them that call on the Lord out of a pure heart” (II Timothy 2:22). Worship is to be sincere expressions of praise and adoration of God which come from the genuine thoughts and intents of the heart.

But, sincerity is not all that is necessary to make worship acceptable to God. Fourth, acceptable worship must be “in truth.” Truth is God’s Word (John 17:17). Our worship must be according to God’s instructions. When man injects his own ideas into worship, his worship becomes worthless. “But in vain they do worship me, teaching for doctrines the commandments of men” (Matthew 15:9).

There are certain acts of worship that God has approved. All other acts are thereby condemned by God for worship. Prayer is worship (Acts 2:42; James 4:8; 5:16)), singing “psalms and hymns and spiritual songs” is worship (Ephesians 5:19; Colossians 3:16), preaching God’s Word is worship (Acts 2:42; 20:7); giving financially of our means on the first day of the week is worship (I Corinthians 16:2), and partaking of the Lord’s Supper on the first day of the week is worship (Acts 20:7). It should be clearly observed that acceptable (i.e. acceptable to God) is not everything that man might want to do and call it worship. Acceptable worship follows the parameters set forth by God in His Word. God determines what acceptable worship is. He has revealed to us in His Word what acceptable worship is. Everything else is NOT acceptable worship.

Regardless of what man may call it, the playing of mechanical instruments of music is not worship because God has not authorized it. Even if man suggests that burning incense is worship, it is not worship because God has not authorized it. Man might suggest that everything that man wants to do is worship if his heart is sincere. God’s Word tells us that this is not so. Some might suggest that all that man does is worship to God, but according to God’s Word this is NOT the case. Doing righteous acts are service to God, but “good works” are not worship. Dedicating one’s life to God is right, good and proper; but Christian living is never spoken of in the New Testament as worship. If all of life is worship, then worship is possible without the person realizing that he is worshiping (The person’s heart, according to this view, at the time may not even recognize that worship is taking place. How can such worship be “in spirit”?) Such is absurd! God has authorized only five acts of worship. Those are the acts that are engaged in when worship takes place; worship only occurs when one or more of these acts are done.

Fifth, only two of those five acts are restricted in time. God has specified when we are to take the Lord’s Supper–the first day of the week. God has specified when we are to give financially to support the work of the church (local congregation)–the first day of the week. With God’s approval we can engage in these acts of worship only on the first day of the week (i.e. the first day of every week). We can worship God through singing (psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs), praying and the preaching of His Word at any time. If God has regulated these acts in some way, then we must follow those regulations when we engage in that action. For example, God has given us guidelines for prayer (i.e. addressed to the Father, in the name of Jesus, etc.). Prayer must be offered according to those instructions of God wherever and whenever we pray.

Worship is an activity on the part of man to praise God and to reverence Him and His Word. Worship is according to God’s pattern if it is acceptable to Him. Almost from the beginning of man’s presence on this earth, man has tried to ignore God’s Word, do his “own thing” and call it worship expecting God to be pleased. A study of the New Testament and a review of the cases of Cain and Nadab and Abihu ought to cause us to know that what we offer to God in worship is not always acceptable to Him just because we think what He has not authorized is okay, or better.

Lester Kamp

A Good Rule

Everybody needs a rule to work by, and here is a good one: The whole church, and the furtherance of Truth, is more important than one man, or a few, and more important than one congregation or a few. The Word is to be preached (II Timothy 4:2), and ALL OF IT (Acts 20:27), and in a spirit of love of Truth (II Thessalonians 2:10) and hatred for all false ways (Psalm 119:104, 128). To “let error pass” is to declare that one cares nothing for Truth, cares nothing for the souls of men, and cares not if souls are lost. No man calling himself a Gospel preacher can afford to be in that position. And, he cannot allow himself to be compromised in spirit and heart that some man or some men stand between himself and the Truth! Our speaking and writing brethren, around the world, need to take this lesson most seriously!

Bill Jackson

The Church Is Different

God has always taught His people to be different. One of the major problems of His people has been forgetting this truth and losing their distinctiveness. The nation of Israel wanted to become like the other nations around them (I Samuel 8). They became like them and God cast them off. Surely there is a warning for the church.

The Church Is Different From the World

The church is different from the world in its attitude and ambitions. “They are not of the world, even as I am not of the world” (John 17:16). The values of Christians are different from sinners. Sinners live for self. Christians live to glorify God and serve others (Matthew 16:24; Mark 10:45). Are we losing this distinctiveness today? Are the attitudes and ambitions of Christians different from non-Christians?

The Church Differs From Judaism

Judaism was carnal, the church is spiritual. “Then verily thefirst covenant had also ordinances of divine service, and a worldlysanctuary...which stood only in meats and drinks, and diverswashing, and carnal ordinances imposed until the time of reformation” (Hebrews 9:1,10). Look carefully at the word, carnal.The church is spiritual (Ephesians 1:3). It is heavenly (2:6). Its worship in spirit and truth (John 4:24; Romans 1:9). This is one reason that mechanical instruments of music have no place in Christian worship. If one granted that it was right in the Old Testament it does not suit the spiritual worship of the New Testament. Christian worship must be from the heart. “Speaking to yourselves in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody in your heart to the Lord” (Ephesians 5:19).

The Church Is Different From Catholicism

The church differs from the Catholic church in that it accepts the authority of Scriptures. Catholics do not accept the authority of the Scriptures. Consider the following quotation. “One must keep the commandments of God and the church” (Catechism of Christian Doctrine, No. 1, pl. 31). The Scriptures are an authority but not the only authority. In truth it is no authority since the pope must interpret it. Catholics teach that II Peter 1:20 denies the right of individual interpretation. This is a perversion of the passage. Peter is speaking of how Scripture was given by inspiration of the Holy Spirit (1:21). Paul commanded the Thessalonians to “prove all things, hold fast to that which is good” (I Thessalonians 5:21). He did not say prove all things by what Peter said. The church differs from Catholicism by “speaking as the oracles of God” (I Peter 4:11). The church urges all to have an open mind and “search the scriptures daily” to see if what is heard is in harmonywith what they have read.

The Church Is Different From Protestantism

The church differs from Protestantism in that it accepts the completeness of the Scriptures. The church has no creed but Christ and no book but the Bible. All teaching is based upon the Book. All questions are decided by what the Bible teaches, not a manual or discipline. It also differs from Protestantism in accepting the completeness of the Scripture and denying the need for a direct operation of the Holy Spirit in order to be able to understand it. Protestants generally misapply I Corinthians 2:14. They think the natural man is the sinner without a direct operation of the Spirit he cannot understand the Bible when he reads it. It has always been strange to me that even though the Bible is made of words just like one finds in the school books or the newspaper on can understand them in the book or paper but not in the Bible.

The Church Is Different From the Christian Church

The church differs from the Christian church in its respect for the silence of the Scriptures. The Christian church teaches that where the Bible is silent we may speak or act. This opens the door for anything that is not specifically forbidden. This is a real difference between it and the church.

Conclusion

We should not be afraid or ashamed to be different from the world, from Judaism, from Catholicism, from Protestantism, and even from the Christian church. Without a doubt one of the greatest problems we are facing in the church today is the fact that most people are afraid to be different.

Franklin Camp

1915-1991

Rebuilding Jerusalem

“Unless we have a distinctive plea we have no right to exist. The day we become like the denominations around us, that day ends our right to exist as a distinct religious people. If we have a distinctive plea, in that consists our strength. I believe that our distinctive principles are made less prominent in our pulpit now than formerly. I do not mean that our preachers should be always on what is called ‘first principles.’ Very far from it. But I do mean that all our members should be deeply indoctrinated in the things that distinguish us from other religious peoples. The people should understand why they occupy the position they do. The better this is understood the more it will be appreciated, and the more firm and consistent will be the Christian life. When people are led to believe that sectarianism is about as good as New Testament Christianity their influence for the cause we plead is positively hurtful. Whenever we begin to curry favor with the sects and fawn upon them for recognition, we are certain to say but little about a plea that lays the axe at the root of the whole denominational tree. Whenever we begin to curry favor with the world, we are certain to fall in with the world’s notions, and adjust ourselves to the world’s ways. Hence much of that in which churches now indulge in the way of worldly amusements, carnal methods of raising money, the spirit of mere entertainment in the worship, etc., is due to the fact that they copy the sects, rather than the New Testament churches; and are filled with the spirit of the world, instead of the spirit of Christ.”

F. G. Allen (1836-1885)

From a sermon entitled “Rebuilding Jerusalem” published in 1926 in New Testament Christianity

We Come to Worship God!!!

“But the hour is coming, and now is, when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth: for the Father is seeking such to worship Him. God is Spirit, and those who worship Him must worship in spirit and truth” (John 4:23-24). Worship is a precious privilege for God’s child, and God’s children come together to worship Him!

The mighty Messiah speaks to a woman of Samaria in John 4. The woman was interested in the place of worship. The Jews worshipped only in Jerusalem (Deuteronomy 12:5-11). The Samaritans worshipped “on this mountain”(John 4:20), i.e., Mount Gerizim. A tremendous change in worship is about to take place. The Son of God declares, “the hour is coming and now is.” Soon there would be a transition from the Old Law of Moses to the New Testament of Jesus Christ! The place would not be any designated building or structure. Wherever “true worshipers…worship the Father” results in true worship. True worshipers will worship only God the Father. We know there is true worship. Also, there is vain worship (Matthew 15:9; II John 9-11), and ignorant worship (Acts 17:23-31).

True worship is rendered to “the Father in spirit and truth.” The majority of worship in the religious world today is not offered in (1) spirit, or in (2) truth. In order for worship to be acceptable we must have the correct Object: God, the Father, and Creator (Genesis 1:1; Exodus 20:9-11). We must have the correct Attitude: in spirit, i.e., sincerely, the soul of man worships the Creator. Finally, we must have the correct Way: in Truth, i.e., in accordance with the Word of God (John 17:17; Colossians 3:17). When we worship God as a “true” worshiper this will exclude human traditions, innovations, and the commandments of men! True worship is centered on God and not on man.

God still seeks true worshipers and those “who worship Him MUST worship in spirit and truth” (emphasis mine – jw). The true worshiper of God will worship Him from the very essence of his being. (Genesis 1:26-27; 2:7-ff; and Isaiah 45:18).

Let us worship God on the first day of the week (Acts 20:7). We are to Sing (Ephesians 5:19; Colossians 3:16), we are to Pray (Philippians 4:6), we are to partake of the Lord’s Supper (I Corinthians 11:20-ff), we are to give as prospered (16:1-2), and there will be the Teaching of His Word (Acts 2:42; 28:31). Let us worship God both in SPIRIT and in TRUTH!

Jess Whitlock