2026 Summer Gospel Meeting: James Luedecke - Division Abounds: Is Unity Achievable Among Christians Today?

Thank you for being here again one more time

this afternoon as we wrap up the gospel meeting

I Hope and pray that it's been beneficial for

us to study restoring New Testament Christianity

And for us to be reminded of the importance of

going back to the Bible to find everything we

do in our faith doctrine and practice covered

a lot of territory and Tonight I want to go back

and revisit something we talked a little bit

about at the beginning of the meeting and that's

The unity of God's people we live in a world

that is Divided in religion and we want to consider

the question this this afternoon Though this

division abounds is unity really achievable among

Christians today You know, we look at the religious

world around us. We see a lot of division. However,

we look to the New Testament pattern And we see

that the churches we read about in the New Testament,

they were divided only by the distance that was

between them. And you know, the distances between

these congregations in the first century was

a lot longer because they didn't have modern

means and modes of transportation that we have

today. And so we're very blessed to be able to

go and visit other congregations in our area

because we do have modern means of transportation.

But you know, in the first century, Those distances

between these congregations were a lot harder

for them to travel and visit and be together

as God's people as they might have liked to been.

But one of the things we do notice about the

churches of the New Testament, though they were

divided by distance, they taught the same things.

Paul said in Colossians 4 16, when this epistle

is read among you, he told them, cause that it

be read also in the church of the Laodiceans.

that you likewise read the epistle of from Laodicea

Paul wrote a letter to the church at Colossae

also a letter to the church at Laodicea and he's

telling them to exchange their letters that the

both letters would be beneficial to both congregations

because Paul taught the same things Everywhere

he went in every church and they followed the

same rule the same guide that being the Bible

He told the Philippians in Philippians 3 16 nevertheless

Where to we have already attained? Let us walk

by the same rule. Let us mind the same thing.

Churches of the New Testament walked by the same

rule. They were united in one mind and that was

the mind of Christ. But we look around us today

and we see the opposite of this. Sadly, we see

a lot of disagreements in religion today. We

have denominationalism, which we talked about

earlier in the meeting. It provides a great degree

of the division we have in Christianity today.

And as we've even spoken to during the course

of this meeting, there's even division among

churches of Christ. That's a sad realization

even in churches of Christ today. The division

abounds. You know, that was one of the problems

that Paul addressed in the church at Corinth.

In 1 Corinthians chapter 1, the division among

1 Corinthians 1 · chapter mention

the believers. First Corinthians chapter 1 verse

1 Corinthians 1:10

10, Paul said, Now I beseech you, brethren, by

the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that you all

speak the same thing and that there be no divisions

among you. He said, but that you be perfectly

joined together in the same mind and in the same

judgment. So the religious division that we see

around us today, unfortunately, it has plagued

God's people from the earliest days of the church

as we see in Corinth. But what about unity? division

is the reality that we face today what about

unity is unity even achievable when we're talking

about unity here we're talking about a singular

and oneness of faith we're talking about a singularity

of doctrine a oneness of faith and practice adopting

the same faith doctrine and practice that we

see in the New Testament and all churches in

all places following that one and that same faith.

Is that even achievable? I believe it is achievable

because it's something Paul wrote to the Ephesians

about in Ephesians 4, 4 to 6. It's something

that the first century churches enjoyed. They

enjoyed that unity that we're striving for today.

He told them in Ephesians 4 and 4, there is one

body and one spirit even as you're called and

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, it

is apparent to us that when Paul speaks of this

unity to the church at Ephesus, this was a unity

that they enjoyed in the first century. Now today

we see many different bodies, many different

faiths, many different baptisms. But what we

understand that that is not the will of God for

His church and that's not what Paul wrote about

in Ephesians chapter 4. So the question remains

Ephesians 4 · chapter mention

though division abounds is unity even achievable.

I believe it is I Believe unity is possible and

here's the primary and the main reason why I

believe unity is possible among Christians today

Because it's something that Jesus prayed for

Jesus prayed for the unity of all believers in

John 17 20 to 22 Where Jesus says neither pray

I for these alone. He just prayed for his apostles

He says I'm not just praying for them. I'm praying

also for them which shall believe on me through

their word and I hope that we can see that when

Jesus prays this he's praying it for us because

we have come to believe in Christ Through the

written record and testimony and word of the

Apostles So Jesus is praying for us here He's

praying for all everyone who's ever called themselves

a Christian and what does he pray for that they

all may be one? As thou father art in me and

I and thee that they also may be one in us that

the world may believe that thou has sent me The

glory which thou gave us me I have given them

that they may be one even as we are one So because

Jesus prayed this prayer for unity, I believe

that unity is possible I don't think Jesus prayed

for something that would be completely impossible

or beyond our our reach beyond our grasp When

he prayed for unity, he prayed for something

that was indeed possible. Now just because unity

is possible doesn't always mean it's going to

be simple. In fact, sometimes unity might be

difficult. It might be complicated. Just because

unity is possible doesn't mean it's always going

to be easy. It may be very challenging. It may

be very difficult. And just because unity is

possible doesn't mean it's going to come at a

at a low cost or it'll be cheap to us. It may

come at a high price, and it may be something

that requires a great sacrifice of many people

to attain unto this unity that Jesus prayed for.

But you know, though it's not simple, though

it won't be easy, and though it won't come cheap,

striving for the unity of God's people is worth

it. It's worth it despite all the challenges,

because in 1 Corinthians 1 .13 Paul said, is

Christ divided? He shouldn't be. Christ shouldn't

be divided and neither should his body be divided.

And this is something he tries to help the Corinthian

see. If Paul were alive today, writing to us

today, I think he'd tell us the same thing. Is

Christ divided? Why are we dividing the body

of Christ? It should be united. And we should

be striving to replace that division with togetherness

and unity. Because this is the fact and this

is the reality. Division dishonors Jesus. Division

dishonors Christ. And as he mentioned in his

prayer in John 17, it also weakens our witness

to the world. You know Jesus prayed that we would

be one as him and his father would be one that

the world would believe that God had sent him.

The world has a hard time believing the witness

of Christianity today because Christianity is

so divided. And you got a hundred different preachers

telling people a hundred different things. They

all say they're following the Bible. But they're

teaching different doctrines, preaching different

gospels, that division, that confusion. It does

not honor Christ and it only weakens. It hurts

our witness to a lost and dying world. That's

why we've got to replace division with unity

because unity honors Christ. It honors that bond

that He and His Father had. He said, as you and

I, Father, are one, I want them to be one. Unity

honors Jesus and unity strengthens our witness

to this world. So we're gonna talk about Some

of the things pertaining to unity Some of the

reasons why we believe that unity is indeed possible

among Christians today Unity is achievable if

first we will highly value it It's got to be

valuable to us. It's got to be important to us

But I think as I mentioned earlier in the meeting

all too often we get desensitized To the religious

division we have around us I know that's been

the case for me. At different times I feel like,

if I'm to be honest, I've become desensitized

to all the religious division. It's certainly

not like it was in the days of the children of

Israel in Joshua chapter 22. I want to go back

Joshua 22 · chapter mention

to Joshua 22 and remind you of some events that

happened in that chapter. You'll remember in

Joshua chapter 22, After Israel had successfully

Joshua 22 · chapter mention

conquered the promised land and divided the land

among the twelve tribes, two and a half tribes

took their inheritance on the east side of the

Jordan River. That was the tribe of Reuben, the

tribe of Gad, and half the tribe of Manasseh.

And it was time for the two and a half tribes

to go back to their inheritance on the other

side of the Jordan River. And as they're crossing

the Jordan River to their inheritance, what did

they do? They built an altar. down there by the

River Jordan, and this altar was a replica of

the brass altar for burnt offering there in the

tabernacle of the Lord. They made this altar

look just like the one that they offered their

sacrifices on in the Lord's tabernacle. It was

a replica. Now the other nine and a half tribes

heard that their brethren were down there by

the river building some kind of altar for what

purpose they didn't know, to what God they were

building it to. They did not know, and so, you

know, they did a little bit of maybe jumping

to conclusions, maybe some evil surmising, and

they initially suspected that their brethren

were down there committing a great sin of idolatry

by building this other altar in the land of Israel

when they already had their altar. They had their

altar there in the tabernacle for for burnt offerings.

But now they're down there building another altar,

a second altar in the land of Israel. They didn't

like the sound of that. In fact, they prepared

themselves to go to war with their brethren.

Because they heard they were building another

altar down by the Jordan River. Now, thankfully,

they didn't go to war. Instead, they sent an

emissary. They sent an ambassador to go and see

what was going on. His name was Phineas. Phineas

goes down to the Jordan River and he sees the

altar that they built and if you allow me to

paraphrase He says what are you doing? What are

you doing building this altar down here? Don't

you know God's gonna be angry with us? He said

don't you remember all the times we transgressed

and rebelled against God and the whole nation

suffered and now you've come down here and you're

Transgressing and you're rebelling and you you've

built this other altar and now we're all in trouble

because of your rebellion And that's when the

two and a half tribes, Reuben Gad and half the

tribe of Manasseh, they responded to this accusation.

They said, God forbid that we would build another

altar for burnt offering other than the one we

have in the Lord's Tabernacle. And then they

explain themselves. They say, you know what?

We have not built this altar by the river for

to offer burnt offerings on or to make sacrifices.

That is not the purpose of this altar. And they

explained that we built this altar to be a witness

to your children and to our children and to many

generations to come. That though this river divides

us as a nation, we still serve the same God.

And we didn't want your children in the days

to come to tell our children that they didn't

have any part in the Lord and in His tabernacle

because they lived on the other side of the river.

We thought you know what if your children tied

try to tell our children that our children will

just point to this altar as a memorial a reminder

that we all serve the same God and So the very

thing that they built that their brethren thought

was an act of rebellion and division guess what

it was They were actually trying to be proactive

and maintain the unity of all of God's people.

They were trying to protect against religious

division that might happen in generations to

come. I want to read that part of this from Joshua

20, 22, 12. As I mentioned, the children of Israel

were ready to go to war over that second altar.

They said they built an altar. We got to go down

there. We're going to go to war with our brethren.

But then in verse 29, that's where they explained

God forbid that we would build another altar

to offer burnt offerings and sacrifices and they

explained that This was the final result of what

happened when Phineas heard the purpose behind

that altar The thing pleased the children of

Israel and the children of Israel blessed God

and they did not intend to go up against them

in battle To destroy the land, you know, they

narrowly escaped A civil war. All because of

what? One altar. Isn't it amazing to you in this

story that two altars in the land of Israel was

one too many? Two altars in the land of Israel

was one too many. And yet we look around us and

we see dozens and dozens of different churches.

all divided, all teaching different things, preaching

different Gospels. It's a far cry, isn't it?

From the way they felt about the unity of God's

people back in the days of Joshua. And I'll tell

you something else we see in their example that

I think is worth emulating today. To them, their

unity was worth fighting for. Now the fighting

here I'm talking about is not, you know, getting

physical and getting into a fist fight. I don't

think that's the way we get to unity at all.

But do you notice and do you see in this story

how they were they were willing to fight for

the unity of God's people They just weren't going

to sit back and just say well, oh well Guess

what? I guess we'll be divided. I guess we'll

have two altars No, they took action because

unity was valuable to them It meant something

that they worship the same God that they practice

the same way that it meant something to them

That they guard and safe and keep safe this religious

unity that God had blessed them with and we've

got to do the same We got a highly value unity

like they did if we want to achieve it in religion

today We also have to make sacrifices to attain

unity We're gonna have to make sacrifices if

we want unity everybody will I believe Now I

want you to think about this in terms of the

church being a family the church is the family

of God That's taught in the book of first Timothy

1 Timothy 3:15

chapter 3 verse 15 Paul tells Timothy if he tarries

long He's writing this so that Timothy may know

how he ought to behave himself in the house of

God Which is the church of God the the the pillar

and ground of the truth that goes on to say to

say Church is the house of God the word house

here means family The church of the Living God

is the house it is the family of God and we understand

what that means because in God's in God's church

In the family of God, we cherish bonds of fellowship

and love. We love one another like brothers,

like sisters, like fathers, like mothers. That's

what Paul explained to Timothy in 1 Timothy 5,

1 to 2. We need to rebuke not an elder, Paul

tells Timothy, but entreat him as a father, younger

men as brethren, elder women as mothers, younger

women as sisters with all purity. We cherish

the strongest of family bonds in the family of

God. And you know how it works in a family? In

our families, everybody has to work together

and make sacrifices for the betterment of the

family. And I think it's the same way in the

church. If we want unity, there may be sacrifices

that we have to make. Now, I'm not saying that

we should ever sacrifice or compromise what we

know the Word of God to teach is true. As Brother

Daniel mentioned to us so well in the opening,

you know, Compromising the truth of God's Word

is no way to gain unity. What do you unite with

if you compromise the Word of God? You're not

uniting with truth. You're uniting with error.

And we can't unite with error. That's like taking

one step forward and then another step back to

unite with error. The basis of our unity has

to be the truth, has to be the Word of God. But

you know, there may be areas where we don't have

to compromise. our faith, our doctrine, our practices,

areas where we can be flexible, areas where we

can sacrifice for the betterment of the entire

family. We have to do that in our own flesh and

blood families and we might have to do that in

the church. Sometimes there's problems in families.

Every family has problems. The church has problems

just like every other family. Sometimes in the

family we suffer with disagreements leading to

anger, leading to hurt, leading to bitterness,

and then division in the family in the end. That's

a terrible thing when families are going through

this. Churches have went through a lot of this

same thing. Due to disagreements, there's been

anger. Due to anger, there's been hurt. There's

bitterness and division in far too many churches

today. But how should we treat one another in

the family of God? Bible tells us how to treat

one another in the family of God and this is

the sacrifice we need to be willing to make We

need to do with Ephesians 4 31 and 32 tells us

let all bitterness and wrath and anger and clamor

That's angry outbursts and evil speaking be put

away from you with all malice. That's hatred

Now look at verse 32. Here's here's the key ingredients

Be be kind one to another tender -hearted forgiving

one another even as God, for Christ's sake, hath

forgiven you. At the end of the day, this is

how we need to treat one another in the family

of God. And you know, I believe when families

have problems, when families have difficulties,

I like to sit down with families when they're

having problems and we work through those problems.

And we've got tools at our disposal given to

us in the Word of God to overcome hurt anger

pride bitterness resentment strife division in

the family and here are some of the tools James

5 16 teaches some as though some of those tools

confess your faults one to another and pray for

one another that you might be healed The healing

here is not physical healing. The healing here

is the healing of relationships that are hurt

due to faults and offenses due to problems bitterness

and anger in the family. When our families are

having problems, what do we need to do? We need

to humble ourselves. We need to be honest. We

need to confess our faults. We need to pray.

We need to forgive. And when we'll do that, we'll

turn those problems around, won't we? And it's

the same way in the church. If we want unity,

we're going to have to be humble. We're going

to have to be honest. We're going to have to

confess fault. We're going to have to pray. We're

going to have to forgive others. Those are very

powerful tools in bringing families together

where there's division. These will be powerful

tools for us in our churches to reach a greater

degree of unity. Here's something else we got

to realize. In our family, sometimes we have

problems. We'd like to fix everybody else in

the family, right? Sometimes I sit down with

families having problems. We go around the room

I let the husband talk and you know what he blames

it on everybody else in the family But him now

let the wife talk guess what she does blames

it on everybody else in the family But her now

let the kids talk they blame it on everybody

else in the family, but them Here's the reality

if we've got a problem in the family or in the

church really the only person we can fix is ourselves

Sometimes the husband says, if everybody else

would just straighten up, we wouldn't have a

problem. Wife says, if everybody else would just

straighten up, we wouldn't have a problem. Well,

reality is we need to stop pointing the finger

at everybody else and look at ourselves and we

need to do what we can do. Because we are the

only person really that we can fix. We can encourage

people to fix themselves. We can encourage people

to change. We can try to... motivate them in

different ways to do that, but at the end of

the day, you can't fix anybody but yourself,

and it needs to start there. We need to truly

examine ourselves, and if we find ways that we

need to make correction to gain a greater degree

of unity in our congregations, that's what we

need to do. We need to be willing to confess

those faults and make those corrections, make

those sacrifices. They are worth it to achieve

unity. Unity is achievable for us today if we

highly value it, if we sacrifice to attain it,

and if we will patiently pursue it. The book

of Ephesians, Ephesians 4 talks about two types

of unity. In Ephesians 4 verse 11 to 13, we're

Ephesians 4:11–13

going to read about the unity of the faith. And

the unity of the faith is realized the more and

the more that we equip and serve and grow together

in Christ. So this needs to be part of our focus

in maintaining unity. Serving one another, equipping

one another, growing together in Jesus. That

strengthens and increases the unity of the faith.

Ephesians 4 11, he gave some apostles, some prophets,

some evangelist pastors and teachers for the

perfecting of the saints, for the work of the

ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ.

Verse 13, till we all come in the unity of the

faith. He gave these offices in the church to

build up, strengthen, and help the body grow.

And that's a process that is ongoing till we

all come in the unity of the faith and of the

knowledge of the Son of God unto a perfect man,

unto the measure and the fullness of the stature

of Christ. So the unity of the faith is something

that comes more and more and more in verse 13

as we put into practice verse 12, equip the saints

to do the work of serving and building one another

up. That's the unity of the faith. But there's

another unity that Ephesians 4 speaks of and

that's the unity of the Spirit. The unity of

the Spirit. We need to patiently pursue a greater

degree of that unity of the faith and we need

to endeavor to keep, to guard the unity of the

Spirit that God has given us. God calls us and

we're going to read it in a moment in Ephesians

Ephesians 4 · chapter mention

chapter 4, 1 to 3. He calls us to endeavor to

keep. That word keep means diligently guard and

protect. the unity of the Spirit. When I think

about guarding something, protecting something,

I think about putting it in a bank vault, right?

If I've been given something of great value,

I want to keep it and guard it, protect it. I

would put it in a vault, seal it up, make sure

it was safe, make sure it couldn't be compromised

in any way. And God has given us something truly

valuable and amazing and wonderful when He gave

us the unity of the Spirit, the unity of the

Spirit. It's the second kind of unity that's

mentioned in Ephesians four. Paul says, I therefore,

the prisoner of the Lord beseech you, I beg you

that you walk worthy of the vocation wherewith

you're called with all lowliness and meekness

and longsuffering, forbearing one another in

love. Here's what he tells us to do. Endeavoring

to keep to guard to preserve what the unity of

the spirit in the bond of peace. We must diligently.

Work to guard and maintain this unity of the

spirit. Now. This is a type of unity this unity

of the spirit It's a type of unity that God makes

and God gives us. We don't make this kind of

unity God gave us this unity when we when we

were baptized into Christ 1st Corinthians 12

13 for as many of you as have been baptized or

escalations 3 sorry for 1st Corinthians 12 13

for by one spirit are we all baptized into one

body For by one spirit are we all baptized into

one body I believe that's the unity of the spirit

that the Bible speaking of here in Ephesians

Ephesians 4 · chapter mention

chapter 4 when we came into the family of God

through Baptism God united us with our brothers

and sisters in the church We didn't make that

happen. The Lord added us to the church. He gave

us brothers and sisters It was a gift from him

to put us into the family of God That's the unity

of the Spirit that God makes and God gives us.

He gives it to us and He tells us, look, this

is a precious gift. You've got to guard it and

protect it and do everything you can to keep

and maintain it. And that's what we do with the

unity of the Spirit. And then we go forward from

there striving for a greater degree of the unity

of the faith as we grow in knowledge, grow in

understanding. We work patiently together, becoming

more like Jesus. That's how we acquire a greater

degree of the unity of the faith. So for all

of these reasons that we've talked about from

the Word of God this afternoon, yes, I believe

unity of all believers is possible. I believe

it's possible. To achieve it, we're going to

have to surrender our individual will to the

Word of God. Again, I don't want you to go away

from here thinking that compromise, that it's

worth it to compromise the Word of God in order

to gain unity, okay? Compromising the Word of

God is not the right way to achieve unity. But

in every area that we possibly can, surrender

our will to the will of God as it's revealed

in the Word. That's a sacrifice and a surrender.

We need to be willing to make to achieve unity

and Here's something else to consider as we wrap

up, but you know, I believe that unity within

the body It's not it's not optional It's not

optional it's something that is Required the

Lord requires it the Lord demands it the Lord

wants it There's several ingredients that are

going to be necessary for us to realize it and

we read them a moment ago. I'll revisit them

in Ephesians chapter 4 verses 1 to 2. We'll achieve

Ephesians 4:1–2

this unity if we'll pursue it with all loneliness

and meekness, with long suffering, that's patient

endurance, forbearing one another, forbearing

one another in love. If we'll cultivate these

things in our hearts, I believe that will put

us in a position Where we are ready we are willing

and we are able to do our part We can only do

our part right? We can't do everybody else's

part, but we this will put us in a position to

be able to do our part To be part of the solution

that unity is rather than being part of the problem

that division has created among us So as I close

this afternoon, I think it would be appropriate

for us as we consider these things to pray to

God, you know, we need God's help. We can't do

this on our own. It seems like a daunting task

to overcome so much religious division that we

see around us. But we serve a God for which nothing

is impossible for Him. All things are possible

with God and we need His help in regaining the

unity that God wants among His people. So let's

have a prayer right now, a prayer for the unity

of God's people. Would you pray with me? Father

in heaven we come humbly and boldly before you

this afternoon acknowledging you as the only

true and living God Father we're thankful that

we can come to you and We can find strength we

can find motivation We can find the ability father

to do things that seem hard that seem difficult

that seem impossible to us But we trust that

nothing is impossible with you father. We pray

for the unity of all of God's people We pray

that you will help us father to cultivate hearts

and minds that are ready willing and able to

seek for to strive for and to achieve and and

realize a greater degree of unity in our homes

and our families and our congregations Throughout

the church at large with the other congregations

in our area We we pray that for all people who

call themselves Christians that they would come

together around your word We would sacrifice

our will, Father, to pick up and embrace your

will as it's revealed in your word. Help us to

not lean on our own understanding, not to prioritize

our own thoughts, our own feelings, our own opinions,

our own preferences, but to sacrifice it all

at the altar, Father, so that we can have this

unity that we know you want us to have. Thank

you for helping us do our part. To be a part

of the solution and not a part of the problem

of division Continue to bless this congregation

as they continue to serve you to look to you

To practice the teachings of your word and to

do so with a sincere heart Thank you Lord for

all your love your mercy and your grace help

us to show that love in that mercy to others

We love you so much. Thank you for your love

for us. We pray in Jesus name. Amen Thank you

for your attention this afternoon. Thank you

for your participation throughout the course

of this meeting. May God richly bless each and

every one of you