Unity and Maturity in Diversity | Elder Ang Peng Hoe

You're listening to a message to go from X Church.

We hope this message will light up your day.

Vision Chapter four, verses one to sixteen. I shared my

slides with doctor Dan. Okay, cool, it's actually something that

I want to teach from. And these are things that

are really really dear to my heart as someone who

is involved in church planting.

Which all of you are.

All of you are involved in church planting because you're

all part of a church plan, and if you're part

of X Church, I pray that you are ready to

carry on church planting because we don't really see still

in that sense. And in a few hours time to

sixty five or old people Gert and Doris Neuman. I

think they are more than sixty five. The actually I

can't remember. Yeah, they're probably more than sixty five. They

are going to be planting out in Culture, which is

about an hour and a half away from Stutgart, the

main city, and they're just going to buy faith plan

a church with a few others, and then we'll see

where the Lord's going to lead them. But really I'm

very very blessed, very very encouraged to see older ones. Know,

we have for many years been planting with young people,

which is amazing, and I pray that that will still

continue to happen. You know, students have gone out to

plant churches, whether it's in the UK or in Africa.

But now a retired couple has gone back to Germany

and they're doing things which I don't really imagine retired

couples doing, but this is what they're doing. So Praise

the Lord. Unity and maturity is key, key to the church.

It's something that I constantly try to teach. Not always

the easiest because really it's a topic in which it's

hard to fully understand and digest, especially when we look

around today and the way things are. Sometimes we ask ourselves,

how is the state of the church, And you want

to talk about unity. It's not always the easiest thing

to talk about. But let's look at the scriptures. Let's

look at what the scripture says. So I'm reading from Emphisions,

Chapter four, verses one to sixteen. Okay, we're going to

be just going through these sixteen verses today. I'm reading

from the NLT and of course we know this is

the apostle Paul writing to the church in Ephesus, a

church in which he leved.

Very very much.

There were a church that well rather obedient, I would say.

Paul wrote many letters to different churches, whether it was

in Glaysia, in Corinth, yeah, or to individuals like Timothy.

He wrote to the Roman church, that's where we get

Romans from. To the church in Theasalonica, that's where we

get first Thessalonians, second Tessalonian. So the church in Ephesus

was pretty well behaved. Actually, if you want to compare

to the church in Koran, that one was wild, wild west.

And the way he wrote was a bit different, and

the things in which he was writing, the content is

a bit different. But let's see what he has to

say here. And I'm reading from verse one. Therefore, I

a prisoner for serving the Lord begged you to lead

a life worthy of your calling, for you have been

called by God. Always be humble and gentle, Be patient

with each other, making allowance for each other's faults because

of your love. Make every effort to keep yourselves united

in the spirit, binding yourselves together with peace, For there

is one body and one spirit, just as you have

been called to one glorious hope for the future. There

is one Lord, one faith, one baptism, one God and

Father of all, who is over all, in all and

living true all. However, he has given each one of

us a special gift, true, the generosity of Christ. That

is why the scriptures say when He ascended to the heights,

he led a crowd of captives and gave gifts to

his people. Notice that it says he ascended. This clearly

means that Christ also descended to our lowly world. And

the same one who descended is the one who ascended

higher than all the heavens, so that he might fill

the entire universe with himself. Now, these are the GIFs

Christ gave to the church, the apostles, the prophets, the evangelists,

and the pastors and teachers.

Their responsibility is to.

Equip God's people to do his work and build up

the Church, the Body of Christ. This will continue until

we all come to such unity in our faith and

knowledge of God's Son that we will be mature in

the Lord, measuring up to the full and complete standard

of Christ. Then we will no longer be immature like children.

We won't be tossed and blown about by every win

of new teaching. We will not be influenced when people

try to trick us with lies so clever they sound

like the truth. Instead, we will speak the truth in love,

growing in every way more and more. Like Christ, who

is the heat of his body the Church, He makes

the whole body fit together perfectly. As each part does

its own special work, it helps the other parts grow

so that the whole body is healthy and growing and

full of love. The Lord bless the reading of his word,

united and year diverse. I think if you read the scriptures,

and you read it, go back and read it slowly,

meditate on it. I'm going to be just plucking out

and drawing out some truth from these sixteen verses. But

you know, if there's anyone who had the authority to

talk about church unity and maturity, it had to be

Poor because this was one person who suffered for Christ,

and he had been true it or anything and everything

that you can ever imagine. He has been through it

or jazz to start plan and also build churches. Now

he wants to tell believers what kind of churches we

should build. That is the purpose and the reason why

he's writing this portion of the scripture. You know, our

team for this year is that all may know what

must they know about and see in the church. No,

what are we telling, what are we showing? How are

we living? Is going to be so important because you know,

we need to be able to convey a.

Message that all may know. What must they know?

I know they must know the Gospel, they must know

who Jesus is, but they also got to know what

the church is. What is the church supposed to do,

how our believers supposed to function, how our believers supposed

to be responsible towards one another. All these are very,

very important, and we should build the church because this

is indeed the calling of every Christian believer, and we

are all involved in ensuring that the church remains united

and growing strong in maturity each new day.

All of us are a part of that.

It's not something that or we let the leaders do it,

or we let those with the title do it.

No.

You see, when Paul talks about building churches as our calling,

he's talking to every single person. It is not just

my call as a full time minister, it is our call.

Because you realize that he is not so much emphasizing

on the career aspect of calling. He's actually talking about

the character of the calling. He is not so concerned

about what you do. What do you do? Are you

a pastor? Are you an evangelist? Are you a No.

It's not so much what you do, are you a doctor? No,

it's actually how.

You do it? How do you do it?

And that is what Paul is actually emphasizing on, and

that's what he wants us to be clear of. So

the first question is how should we build a church

that is characterized by unity within a diverse congregation.

That is the reality of it.

See the thing that we get and I get asked

a lot of these questions is is there church unity?

Is it in existence today?

And some people will actually say, well, the church today

is like Humpty dumpty, right said on the wall, fell

broke into pieces, is fragmented compared to what it is

supposed to be. And then of course others would actually

say that we're all one in Christ Jesus, and that

unity is already there, it was never lost in the

first place.

So which is right and which is wrong? Well?

I believe both are right to a certain extent. I

believe the practice of unity may not always be very

evident today. I mean, it can be seen even by

the differences in doctrinal beliefs. It can be seen even

in the differences in the name of our churches.

You know, that's the reality of.

The practice of It may not always be very evident,

but the principle of unity will never be lost because

it is in each and every believer, those chosen by

God to represent him and represent his word.

On earth.

We are still one. The principle has never changed. You see,

when we are here on earth, we can lose the

practice of unity, but the principle is something that never changes. Amen,

So let's continue to hang on to that. And you

see what Paul is essentially doing in this portion, especially

the starting part of the scripture. He is prescribing the

ingredients needed to practice unity.

That is what Paul is trying to say.

No, he mentions four things, four very important ingredients that

is needed for us to practice unity. If not, we

really losing unity altogether. The first ingredient is this, it's

actually humility. Humility And okay, thank you x TV. He's good.

He knows what I'm saying and talking about humility. What

does it mean? It means to see yourself as God

sees you? And what do I mean by that? It

is when you see yourself as God sees you, you

can be nothing else but humble because God sees us

as his amazing creation. Again, this is the creator of

the heavens and the earth, the allmighty God, the one

in whom we ascribe all greatness, all glory until But

yet when He looks as he us his creation, he

says that we are good. It is mind blowing sometimes

how God, being way far more superior than each and

every one of us, can still view us as good

and humble people.

I kid you not.

We'll always bring with them unity if only you understand

how God sees you, and you bring yourself to that

place where wow, I can't I don't think I can

be proud if God sees me this way. The only

way for me to respond is really thanksgiving on my

knees and say Lord, I want to be like you,

which means that I want to be able to be

humble and not proud, not arrogant. And that is the

way in which we can continue to safeguard unity. Pride

and arrogance always always destroys unity. So the first ingredient

is humility. The second thing is this is meekness. I

think the NKJV uses the word meekness and or meet.

It's not to be de meal or sometimes we think

or means to be the meal or very seaman.

It's not that.

It just means a person must not be concerned about

their own reputation, must not be concerned about their own rights,

must not be concerned about getting revenge of their own

It's a person whom you can do anything to and

they stay the same. Basically, it's a person who does

not take offense. Really, I know few and far between

us are able to be like that, because really, in

any relationship today, broken relationships can always be ascribed to

a breakdown in the relationship, which is usually caused by

someone taking offense of something being said, something be done,

something being done inadvertently accidentally doesn't matter. But someone who

is meek is someone who, really you are not easily offended.

And really, any fellowship can be broken so easily jazz

by a single party taking offense. And that is why

meekness is so needed in any congregation, because if you

don't have that, really, we'll all be offended with one another,

and we all have gone down that path before, right.

So the second ingredient is meekness. The third one is

something we all are quite familiar with. It's called patience.

You see, the the word translated literally from the Greek,

actually just means being long tempered. It's a word that

no longer exists in the English dictionary today because we

kept the anti disease of it.

We kept short tempered.

Someone who is short tempered is actually the opposite of patients.

But someone who is patient is essentially someone who is

long tempered. And so this is also again so needed

to maintain the bond of peace, someone who is patient.

And the thought and final ingredient is this. It's a

I think the ntgv uses this word. It says four barns,

four barns, big word.

No wow.

But the nalty I love the analytist translation. It simply

just says making allowance for each other's fall. Needed is

an ingredient that is needed, making allowance for each other's fall. Now,

if we have these four ingredients, we can have peace

that will hold the church together. No matter how diverse

the church is. Unity will not just be maintained, it

can drive I believe with these four ingredients we can

lose unity if we don't practice it. And that's why

people still say until today, practice makes perfect. But you

think it's easy to be humble? Is it easy to

be made? Easy to be patient? Is it easy to

forbear one another?

Is not?

But it's needed because these four ingredients make unity, and

unity is always rooted and grounded on the kind of

unity that God has.

You see, that is the main reference.

Sometimes we look at it, or if I want to

make a reference and compare it to human unity is

not possible. But everything that Paul is prescribing, he is

essentially now showing us that that is here is where

I got the understanding of unity. It is grounded on

the unity that God has. And that's why Paul exhorts

us to make every effort to keep ourselves united in

the spirit, bringing yourselves together with peace. That's what the

word and that term coinonia means in fellowship. Coininonia or

fellowship is basically a closeness between two people almost as

close as Siamese twins. You are joined to one another,

sharing one body, one spirit, just as you have been

called to one glorious hope for the future. There is

one Lord, one faith, one baptism, and one God and

Father of all who is over all, in all and

living true all. That is what it means. Three persons

in perfect harmony. And you don't hear the father and

son disagreeing. You don't hear the son and the Spirit

falling out with each other. You don't see them taking

offense Jesus clothing God, the Father.

Why do I have to come to earth?

And of course the Holy Spirit look at and Jesus,

why do I have to be the one that stays back?

Why can't you bring me along?

You don't see them doing that, because really, if you

study Jesus' prayer in John chapter seventeen, it says let

them be one as we are one. You see unity

springs from the trinity. It is about cooperation rather than competition.

It's about togetherness rather than a loneeness. If we are

all going to live together in heaven, let us live

together on earth. This is how I continue to teach

this because the meaning we breathe our last. You think

our denomination label still stays with us. You think you

die and you wake up next day and you'll be like, oh,

oh hi, you're the Baptist minister down the road, or

you're no, we are just glad that we all made

it right. Hallelujah, praise to God, because we're all children

of God. So do you know God's idea of unity

is not uniformity, because the reality is, no two people

are the same. I don't see anyone here who looks

the same, unless there are sets of uh, identical twins,

which I don't think Ta Tinity has. Okay doesn't have

identical twins. But even then they are not the same.

No two blades of grass is the same. No two

leaves are the same. No two snow flicks are the same.

That's the reality. God is such a creative God that

he has made all things you need to each other.

So you know, I walk into the garden, I always

marvel and what amazes me is God's work in the

variety of plants growing in the garden. You see, you

can step into the garden and you you get plants

of all shapes, all sizes, and all colors, and yet

they can come together, and you will always say, oh,

so beautiful this garden. Go to the botanical gardens, or

just walk into anything that is natural, and you realize

that you can marvel at God's work in the garden

and really, I notice this in every congregation as well.

Every congregation is varied. Look around you and you.

Realize this, all the lovely flowers, all the lovely plants

in the garden is similar to.

Every role that I see here right now.

And this is something that reminds me and tells me

that that can be variety, but yet there is also unity.

It can all work together.

Do you think the plants are all trying to fight

each other to breathe more in the jungle?

No?

I mean they've come to a way where they are

all co existing. Again, Remember is cooperation not competition. And

you know, one of the ways that Paul illustrates unity

in diversity can actually be seen when he starts to

emphasize that there wasn't and there isn't supposed to be

clear boundaries between a leader and a non leader in church.

And we have sometimes insisted that leaders are the true

ministers and the congrestigation are merely spectators. But can I

tell you this, There is no church in which anyone

is called to just spectate. The truth is all members

are called into a leadership position because every believer is

called to make disciples. If you are called to make disciples.

That means that you have to be in a position

to lead others in discipleship. That is the true biblical perspective.

And he was always meant to be shared ministry between

all believers, not shared ministry between the upper actually ons

of leadership in the church. That's not how it's supposed

to function. And so these can be clearly seen. When

Jesus ascended to the heaven again, I'm going back to

the scriptures.

Read the scriptures. You will see it.

When Jesus ascended to the heavens, what happened. He pought

out gifts on people. Who are these people his people?

That was the only way he could continue working here

on earth because he had to go. The own way

he can continue working here on earth is that when

he gives the gifts to the people. In Jesus was

all the gifts, because all the fullness of the God

hate was in Jesus, and he wanted earth to do

together what he could do alone. Do you see that

he put it in all of us so that what

only he could do, now we can do twogether. The

gifts themselves were varied, some apostles, some prophets, some evangelist,

some pastors, some teachers. All these gifts are to accomplish

something is not simply give you something so that you

can put on the mental and leave it there. For

what it is, so that we do something about it.

So we are all gifted with certain roles and responsibilities

which we must fulfill to the best that we can.

Each unique person with special gifts from God to fulfill

specific functions as we are called again call call. That

is the calling again, not career, not vocation, but calling

of God to be ministers for Him. What are these

gifts hoping to accomplish? Sometimes we always ask why do

you think you have gifts? Why do you think God

gives us gifts for? Well, the Scripture tells us first

and foremost is to equip the saints. That means the

personal resources you need to lead someone else to Christ.

Everyone must be equipped with those resources within them to

lead someone else to Christ, equipped to be pioneers, equipped

to prophesy, equipped to be evangelists, equipped to past equipped

to teach. It is not just the responsibility of a

handful of people to do this. It is a shared

responsibility amongst all of us here in the church.

Amen. That's the first one The second thing is this services.

It's not worship service per se or like or just

come to Sunday once a week. We have a service,

not on just the weekends. It's really how to serve

one another every day. That is what service means. Minister.

Ministry is the same thing. Ministry serve. Service is the

same thing.

No.

I asked a group yesterday, you know.

Who is the highest office, highest person in office in

Malaysia And they all say the Prime Minister. True, what

do you think the Prime minister is supposed to do?

Uh?

You know, some say make policies, et cetera. In another

word for prime minister, it's actually prime servant. He's the

he's the chief butler. Actually, no, that that is the truth,

because to minister is to serve. Who are they supposed

to be serving. They're supposed to be serving the people.

And that is the main person who is supposed to

be serving the people, the Prime Minister. It's a preage,

not a curse that we are in ministry together. This

is our calling, this is our purpose, so very important service. No,

we are we are given these gifts to equip the

saints to serve one another. And then it goes on

to say, building each other up, not talking about a

brick structure, not talking about a building per se, but

talking about building people. You see, we the church are

an amazing example of organic growth of a life that

has infinite variety, in which all parts doing different things,

yet all are coordinated. You can see from the band itself,

different musical instruments, different talents. If they are not coordinated,

they will make noise. Thank god they weren't just making

noise today, right because they came together and exercised their

giftings in a coordinated manner and fashion. If the sound

team shuts us off, I've got nothing.

If we are not coordinated, there's nothing.

If the TV and the projection decides to do something else,

we won't be coordinated and you won't be able to

build and minister to one another. So that's so important.

The church is like that. It's organic variety, year coordinated.

We are one body, and we can act perfectly well

as one body, even though every one of us is

doing a different thing from one another.

That is the reality of it.

You see, He made the church and he wants to

give different functions to different people so that we can

all work together in harmony. Amen, if Jesus is going

to do anything in the world, he has got to

have a body to do it. The will of God

cannot come to pass in this world without a body.

We are the body, We are the.

Church, and we need the Holy Spirit in the Church

because I believe a body that lacks breath is barely alive.

That is why there is alluding to the Holy Spirit.

Is so important that we have the Holy Spirit. See

Jesus said to his disciples that he had to live

so that the Spirit could come. And the Holy Spirit

choose us to inhabit our body is because he has

no body of his own to feel us to become

the temple of the Holy Spirit.

You see how.

Amazing Father is directing son, Son is directing Spirit in

such perfect harmony. And the result is the Church of

God becoming His kingdom here on earth today. Do you

believe me when I say the principle of unity is

very much still alive today. I believe it is, even

though the practice sometimes I know, not always the easiest.

Yeah.

I mean, you can say so easy not to forbear

one another, make allowance for each other's for but the

flood making mistakes every week then you inside or INGRADI.

But we need to keep practicing it.

Amen.

We are the church basically the call out people, the

people who are called out and coming together for a purpose.

You see, the church is a living body. So don't

just think organizations. Sometimes when we think church, we always

think organizational structure.

Let's structure it in a way.

Just make sure that everything you know has got proper

reporting channels. It's not so much that because the church

is more than just an organization, it's actually an organism

because we are alive. It is living, and he must

therefore continue to grow and mature. Anything living must grow

and mature. And now I'm coming to the maturity part

of things, because God does indeed want his church to

grow up. God doesn't want a family of babies. I know,

we like babies so cute. Oh we can I don't

know what's that term.

I don't know.

Just give me a I don't know, okay, whatever. I

thought it was a big word, but I can't. It's

just not coming here. You're going to play the baby,

and okay, play the baby. You know, we look at babies.

We like to go and take a play Goo Google

goat with the baby. It's fun. But if the baby

remains the same after twenty years, I don't know the

parents were still considered that funler.

But doctor Dan, okay, Zach, you've got to grow up. Okay.

By twenty you're out on your own. God doesn't want

a family of babies. And I know sometimes parents want

to keep babies as babies because they remain cute and

they want to keep them that size. But don't you

want to see the baby grow up?

We do.

God wants you to grow up. He wants a mature church.

He doesn't want a childish church. And how do we

know that the church is mature? You have grown up

when you have reached the status of Jesus Christ.

That's what the scripture says. Who big words.

But it's not so much you look like Jesus physically,

but spiritually, when you become as big as he is.

That is the test.

Maturity is actually measured against the person of Jesus Christ.

So we must always remember that Jesus came to this

earth to produce little Christ. That's what Christians are. Another

term for Christian is little Christ. He wanted to raise

a race of believers who would mature to be more

like him.

See.

A mature Christian is therefore one who knows his faith

and then hangs on to his faith. Remember faith and

faithfulness one and the same word. Because the Scripture says,

I don't want you to be children tossed to and

fro with every little wind of doctrine blown here and

there by man who can manipulate the Word of God.

So we must stop tossing around in uncertainty without faith

in Jesus. Just believe and carry on believing. A mature

Christian says that I know what the faith is. You

can't fool me. I believe the Gospel is the truth.

You won't shift me around just because you ruffle my feathers. No,

you see, the maturity actually comes from the truth. The

end goal of maturity is to live like Christ. But

the means towards maturity is knowing the truth about Christ.

I say that again, the end goal of maturity is

to live like Christ. But the means towards maturing or

towards maturity is knowing the truth about Christ. And a

mature Christian is one who will speak the truth in love.

That's what the scripture says. That's another sign in which

you can see and you can understand maturity.

Mature.

Christian is one who will speak the truth, the truth

that you know, the truth that has helped you become mature.

Now you are speaking it in love because you see,

unity and maturity goes hand in hand. Truth without love

is very hard. If I go out there and I

just preach you the truth and I whack it on

you with no love, it's hard. It is still the truth.

But love without truth is very soft. And sometimes a

lot of people take these stance today and not everything.

We just preach the love, preach live. You can do whatever.

Mommy and Daddy loves your. Mommy and Dady loves you. You

can do whatever you want. I don't I don't think

that's the way to do it because it's too soft, right, Zach,

I don't think mom and that says you.

Love you, love you. You can do whatever you want. You want.

Yeah, sometimes you do whatever you want. You don't know

what hit you hit you so fast and so hard

you didn't see it coming. But that is the reality.

Truth and love goes and in hand. You see, Jesus

was a man of truth. He always spoke the truth

even though it hurts but he also spoke it in love.

Even when he took the whip and he lashed out

against those who were turning the temple into the den

of thieves, he did it because of love, and he

did it in love. You see, love is the joint

that keeps the heat and the body of Breaking together

in a coordinated way. We need to see from that perspective.

Without joins, we can't have movement. Ask any doctor that

without joins, you will be stagnated, you won't move. And

so love fuels the move of the body of Christ, unanimously,

always in agreement, even in differences in diversity, we can

still move together if love exists, you see. Child psychologists

actually have found out that in a family it is

more important for father and mother to love each other

than for either of them to just love their children.

I'm not sure if you understand them, because why is this.

It's because it provides security. It gives security. A child

who sees father and mother arguing all the time usually

feels insecure, usually becomes frightened, usually becomes they feel right alone.

And in the same way, I want to say this,

it is more important for the world outside that Christians

in the local church love each other than it is

for earths to just love them on the outside.

It's the same concept. It's the same thing. Give it

a thought.

You can go out and you can preach the good

news until your face turns blue. But if you introduce

them to a church where Christians don't love each other,

I can tell you that everything that you have done

to bring them in will go to waste.

That is the reality of it.

If outsiders can come in and say, look at how

these Christians love each other, you are halfway there. You

have opened up their personality. You have shown them that

God is loved in your relationship with one another. I

know sometimes you're like, but so hard, so hard. Actually,

it is the hardest thing is to love your fellow believer.

Scriptures tell us us that it is the hardest thing.

But that is why you need to practice unity. We

need to go back to being humble, We need to

go back to being me. We need to go back

to being patient. We need to go back to forbearing

one another and making allowance for each other's falts.

Amen.

And this is why Jesus prayed in John chapter seventeen.

I'm praying not only for these disciples, but also for

all who will ever believe in me through their message.

I pray that they will be one, just as you

and I are one, as you are in me, Father,

I am in you.

Amen. And then at the end of it, he says.

This, may they experience such perfect unity that the world

will know that you sent me and you love them

as much as you love me. What is the Lord's concern?

What do you think the Lord's concern is. I'm almost done.

The band can come up. You see, if there were concerns,

it was not really concerns about whether people are getting

safe or not. You see one of the main concerns

that the Lord had for believers, it's not whether more

people will be safe. He was actually concerned about whether

they will remain united. What is this unity that our

Lord prayed for so earnestly. He was really praying really hard.

We know it's not uniformity. Sometimes we think uniformity is

unity is not. Uniformity just means looking the same. I

mean we can all put on the same uniform can

help in unity, and it should sometimes be done. I

think it's also need the companies do that, schools do that. Right,

you put on a uniform we all want it helps.

But unity is not just uniformity, it's basically unanimity.

That's what the lot wants.

He wants people's hearts, people's minds, and people's wills to

act together. That's what it's meant by unanimous decision. That

means we all agree on this together. That is something

that I try very hard, especially when I'm in meetings,

when I'm having to make decisions.

I will always tell.

My team, look, I know when we are deliberating and

when we're discussing something, there will be many people with

different ideas and different opinions.

That is the reality of it.

We trash it all out, we hear each other, but

eventually a decision has to be made right and I

tell them that when we have come to the final decision,

that is the decision that all of us made together,

regardless of the outcome of the decision. It's so important

because usually if the outcome is good, everyone will claim

to be a part of that decision. When the outcome

is not so good, everyone will try to discount themselves

forever contributing to that decision. That's not the way of

unanimity and unity that God talks about. I always remind

them that even if the outcome is not right, we

come together because we all decided on this together, and

we find ways and solution to overcome the problems. But

that is not a time in which those who were

against the decision at the deliberating stage says that I

told you so.

That is why I was trying to tell you.

That is not the decision that we should have made

in the first place. No, we already made the decision unanimity.

Can we come to that place? Because I believe that's

how the Trinity functions and operate. Because really, Jesus could

have said I told you so a lot of times

to Father God, why do I need to quite suffer?

I told you there are this bunch of people who

are completely ungrateful. The very people that I'm called to

are the ones that will betray me. He could have

said I told you so, No, but he didn't say that.

He say, not my will, but yours be done. There

was unanimity right from the very stunt.

Amen.

That is the kind of harmony that we need within

the church. When one says something, the other will say

the same as well. That is why Jesus drew the

peril to Whatever he says is also what his father

is saying. Let them be one, so that like we

are one ourselves. So the question is this was Jesus's

prayer ever answered? Are believers united today? I believe that

Father God has been doing it and continues to do

it through the times. I believe the principle of unity

has never changed. I believe the practice of unity is

still evident where there is a group of Christians in

which Jesus' glory is shown. Where there is a group

of Christians who deny the evil one and commits their

life to God's service.

Where there are a.

Group of Christians who accept the word of God as true.

I believe there is where you will find believers who

are thinking, feeling, acting alike, united and maturing together, and

all those will be evident in that fellowship. I believe

it is still happening today, but it takes each and

every one of us to be a part of that.

This is the scripture in which we need to follow after.

Let's always notice the principle of unity. Let us never

cease practicing unity in our lives. I know the principle

is there. We can read it in scriptures, but practicing

it in our lives is going to be so key,

is so important. What are the ingredients needed to practice unity? Humility, meekness,

patience for barns. Then we will be a church that

is growing and maturing into the likeness of Christ Jesus Amen.

So let me sum all this up.

You see, Paul actually exhausts the church to keep and

to maintain the unity of the spirit until we reach

the unity of the faith. It's two different things if

you read efficients at the start of it. He talks about,

let's keep and maintain the unity of the spirit until

we all reach the unity of the faith, therefore agreeing doctrinally.

Sometimes we all fight so hard to agree in doctrine.

And we want to.

Start off by agreeing in doctrine first. But that's not

how Paul preaches it. He says, let that be a goal.

Let that be a goal in which we will eventually achieve.

One day, like I said, we will all be in

agreement with what to believe and be in agreement of

the doctrine of the faith. That's why I say, when

we die and when we wake up next to each other,

we will be in agreement but the start of it.

The start of it is basically to agree in spirit.

First.

Doctrinal agreement is the goal, not the basis of unity.

The basis of unity is we start with the fellowship

of the Spirit, and on that foundation we build a

mature understanding of the faith in the knowledge of our

common law. This is what I want to encourage us

as a chest. That's why we can come together and

worship freely and openly, because first and foremost we are

bound by the Spirit of God that lives and dwells

in each and every one of us. And from there

we continue to build and build, and build and build

until we are one and strong.

Amen.

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