God's Heart for Unity - Part Three

 (Based on a sermon I preached at a 55+ community)

Sermon November 21, 2021

A Plea for Unity

Part Three

 

During the last two weeks I appealed for unity among all Christians, regardless of our church labels. It is the unity for which the Lord Jesus prayed in His High Priestly prayer. You will find it in John 17:22-23. Further, the Lord Jesus warned us: “A house divided against itself cannot stand.” (Matthew 12:25) And Satan has used that principle of division since the earliest days of the church.

 

I demonstrated from the Scriptures that neither the Lord Jesus, the prophets, nor the apostles EVER compromised essential Biblical truths for the sake of unity. But that begs the questions: What ARE those essential Biblical truths essential to salvation? And who has the authority to decide what are those essential truths?

 

I also demonstrated how God established the Church councils, beginning with the first council in Jerusalem, to protect the Church, which is His Body, from heretical teaching.

 

St. Peter was one of the apostles who warned the church of the first century to be on guard against false teachers who would rise up even from within Christendom. Peter wrote: “False prophets also arose among the people, just as there will also be false teachers among you, who will secretly introduce destructive heresies, even denying the Master who bought them, bringing swift destruction upon themselves. Many will follow their sensuality, and because of them the way of the truth will be maligned; and in their greed they will exploit you with false words; (2 Peter 2:1-3)

 

In the next chapter of his epistle, Peter warned about those who misrepresent what the apostle Paul wrote in his letters, saying: “the untaught and unstable distort, as they do also the rest of the Scriptures, to their own destruction. (2 Peter 3:13f)

 

It was BECAUSE of such distortions and misrepresentations that the later church councils convened. Which brings us to the Nicene-Constantinople Creed of A.D. 325 and 381.  These two councils came about because of a demonic-inspired heresy that nearly took over the early church. A bishop names Arius had amassed a huge following by teaching that Jesus was a created being and not Jehovah God in the flesh.

 

Were it not for the early councils such as Nicene-Constantinople councils, the work of Christ on the cross would have been in vain. Christianity would have disintegrated into various heresies, such as typified by the modern Jehovah Witnesses, denying the deity, co-eternality and the co-existence of Jesus and the Holy Spirit with the Father.

So, here again is the Nicene-Constantinopolitan Creed. I read it to you last week, and will do so again today for context of today’s message. It is this creed in particular that set out what was considered orthodox Christian faith, essential for all Christians to believe for salvation. It was the Nicene Creed which also provided a basis for Christian unity among the diverse churches scattered throughout the Roman Empire.

 

I believe in one God, the Father almighty, maker of heaven and earth, of all things visible and invisible. I believe in one Lord Jesus Christ, the Only Begotten Son of God, born of the Father before all ages. God from God, Light from Light, true God from true God, begotten, not made, consub-stantial with the Father; through him all things were made. For us men and for our salvation he came down from heaven, and by the Holy Spirit was incarnate of the Virgin Mary, and became man.

For our sake he was crucified under Pontius Pilate, he suffered death and was buried, and rose again on the third day in accordance with the Scriptures. He ascended into heaven and is seated at the right hand of the Father. He will come again in glory to judge the living and the dead and his kingdom will have no end. I believe in the Holy Spirit, the Lord, the giver of life, who proceeds from the Father and the Son, who with the Father and the Son is adored and glorified, who has spoken through the prophets.

I believe in one, holy, catholic and apostolic Church. I confess one Baptism for the forgiveness of sins, and I look forward to the resurrection of the dead and the life of the world to come. Amen.

Let’s now look at this one line at a time. Of necessity, because of our time limitations, I will be brief.

 

I believe in one God, the Father Almighty, maker of heaven and earth, and of all things visible and invisible.

 

One aspect of Christian unity is rooted around the belief in one God who reveals Himself as Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. Why? Because according to the Scriptures and the early teaching of the church councils, those who do not believe in the Triune God are not, by definition, Christians. They might be nice people, but they are walking along the broad road toward the wide gate that leads to eternal destruction.

 

This is an important point for Christian unity, because there are many well-known religious clergy who will tell you other faiths are saved simply because they are of Abrahamic faith, such as Jews and Muslims. Jesus and the apostles and the early church councils tell it differently. “I am the way, the truth and the life.” Jesus said. “No one comes to the Father but by Me.” (John 14:6). St. Peter declared to the Jewish religious leaders, “And there is salvation in no one else; for there is no other name under heaven that has been given among men by which we must be saved.”

 

So, those – and only those – who believe the Biblical teaching of one God in three persons are united in at least that point. Which means we can move forward to the next:

 

The Nicene Creed declares that the one God is the “Father Almighty, maker of heaven and earth, of all things visible and invisible.” All Christians unite around this statement as well.

 

Focus with me for a moment on the word ‘Father’ in this phrase. While God is Creator of all humankind, He is Father only to those who by faith in Jesus’s sacrifice for their sins follow Him in obedience. St. John is not the only apostle to proclaim that point: “But as many as received [Christ], to them He gave the right to be called children of God, even to those who believe in His name’ (John 1:12) Again, this is yet another scriptural point of doctrine around which all true Christians, regardless of their denominational label, agree – that being, only those who receive Christ as their God, their Lord, their savior, their atoning sacrifice for sins – only those are united in that essential doctrinal point, and can move further still in unity.

 

As an aside, though, when the Creed addresses God as Father, it is good to ask, “What was your father like? Did you even have a father in your home?” Sadly, many men and women did not have a good relationship with their father. Their fathers were cruel, or distant, or absent. I know people in our age group whose father never – or only rarely – hugged them. Or encouraged them. Or spent more than a few minutes with them in any given week.

 

For those children now grown into adults, the concept of God our Father is not so endearing an idea. That is tragic. And it must breaks God’s heart when our image of God is so spoiled and tainted by our own bad life experiences.

 

But I am here to remind us – our Father in heaven is nothing like our earthly fathers. Even those who had the best of dads, our heavenly Father is infinitely kinder and compassionate and loving and protecting and nurturing than even the best of earthly parents.

 

God is loving and compassionate. And He longs to be our Father. How can that truth become part of our psyche? Only by the supernatural grace of God through the Holy Spirit. And may the Holy Spirit cause us all to imitate him better.

The next thing on which I want us to focus in this section of the Creed, and around which all early Christians united, is this: Our Father is the one who created heaven and earth, and everything visible and invisible.

 

That means, if you are a Christian, your Father – and once again, only Christians have the right to call God their Father – your Father is utterly sovereign over every person, every event, every atomic particle of His creation. There is not one electron out of place. There is not one person among the 6 billion people living today – including political giants – not one who can take his or her next breath without our Sovereign God’s express permission.

 

“The king’s heart,” Scripture tells us, “is like channels of water in the hands of God. He turns it wherever He wishes.” (Proverbs 21:1)

There is not a person reading this who does not know that fear has spread like a gangrenous cancer throughout our society. And if we are as close to the second coming of Christ as many Christians believe, then no one should expect the global fear to dissipate. It will only increase, and the love of the many will grow cold and colder.

 

And THAT is why God commands us in Isaiah 8: “You are not to fear what they fear or be in dread of it. It is the Lord of hosts whom you should regard as holy. And He shall be your fear, and He shall be your dread. Then He shall become a sanctuary.” (Isaiah 8:13-14a)

 

What powerful national leader was not subjected to God’s control? For example, Pharaoh and his government forced God’s chosen people into cruel subjugation. But here is what God told Moses about the pompous Pharaoh: “[F]or this reason I have allowed you to remain, in order to show you My power and in order to proclaim My name through all the earth.” (Exodus 9:16)

Israel believed Pharaoh was too powerful to be vanquished. But He was not. Many Jews probably believed God had abandoned them. But He had not. He was just waiting for the right time according to His timetable – and His timetable alone – to bring their deliverance AND to demonstrate across the millennia even to us in the 21st century that the mighty ones who think of themselves as gods are nothing more than tools in the sovereign hands of the Almighty God.

The same can be said about the Babylonian tyrant Nebuchadnezzar some 900 years later. If you remember the story, God reduced the pompous pagan king to the level of a beast eating grass in the fields.

Fast forward to 2021. For anyone paying attention with spiritual insight, it is impossible to watch world events unfold and not recognize that a supernatural evil is fast spreading across the globe. But for those with eyes of faith, united around the Scriptures as the foundation of our faith and the teaching of the early church councils that inform our faith, we MUST stand together, informing our world that it is our God alone who is in total, complete, and unassailable control of all the events of this growing darkness.

 

Don’t you know that is why Satan is working so cleverly and maliciously to keep the Church – which is, as St Paul said, “the pillar and support of Truth”? – that is why the devil works so resolutely to DIVIDE God’s children and keep us at each other’s throats.

 

And that is why God’s children must stop acting like childish teenagers fighting about whose football team is better – and unite behind those things which united the early Church – that being the inerrancy of Scripture and the teachings of the early church councils.

 

Let’s move on to the next point of the Nicene Creed which states: “I believe in one Lord Jesus Christ, the only begotten Son of God, born of the Father before all ages, God from God, Light from Light, True God from True God, begotten not made, consubstantial (of the same essence) with the Father, through whom all things were made.” (For example, John 1:1-3; 8.58; 10:30; Colossians 1:15-17; Hebrews 1:3-6)

 

There can only be one Lord of creation. It is illogical to think of it otherwise. And so, when the Church council referred to both Jesus, and later, the Holy Spirit as ‘Lord’ they were doubling down on their emphasis, in response to Arius – that Jesus is Jehovah God made flesh. When they formulated their litany of God from God, Light from Light, True God from True God, of the same essence as the Father – they were again trumpeting their decision based on the Old and New Testament inerrant and infallible words that Jesus is Almighty God made flesh. They could not have made it any clearer.

 

To be unwilling to confess that fundamental truth about Christ was to set oneself apart from true Christian faith and place oneself on the broad path that leads to eternal damnation.

 

My brothers and sisters: We do not have time to finish talking about the rest of the Creed statements of faith, but let it suffice for now to remind us all that it was their belief in the full inerrancy and infallibility of the Scriptures, along with the teaching of the church – the pillar and support of truth – that united the early Church.

 

Why, then, is it so today that what united the early Christians – that being the ESSENTIAL DOCTRINES OF FAITH for salvation – why must it be today that those essentials of faith are not sufficient to unite all Christians today?

 

I hope you will think long about that question. As I have said in the past, I do not believe you here at Ashwood have a problem with unity of faith. Look at yourselves – Baptists, Catholics, Presbyterians, Lutherans, Methodists, Pentecostals, and others. But you may have friends and family members who seem forever focused on the non-essentials of faith leading to salvation. I hope you can use this information, and what we will look at in later sermons in this series, I hope you can use this information to help unite those who live with division.

 

We continue our examination of the Creed next week, paying attention to its foundation in God’s word and how the Creed still applies to us in the 21st century.

God's Heart for Unity - Part Two

 Last week I introduced the theme of this series of messages, and that theme is a cry for unity in the Body of Christ.

It is the unity for which the Lord Jesus prayed in His High Priestly prayer. You will find it in John 17:22-23, “The glory which You have given Me I have given to them, that they may be one, just as I are one; I in them and You in Me, that they may be perfected in unity, so that the world may know that You sent Me, and loved them, even as You have loved Me.”

The Lord Jesus warned us in Matthew 12: “A house divided against itself cannot stand.” (Matthew 12:25) And it doesn’t require a PhD in religion or in history to recognize how deftly Satan has used that principle of division since the earliest days of the church. And, as we also saw last week, the Church is comprised of all Christians.

 

Our understanding about who makes up the Church – which is the Body of Christ – is critical to attaining unity in God’s family. The New Testament writers make it clear that ALL God’s children are part of the Body of Christ, regardless of the church group to which they belong – whether Catholic, or Methodist, or Presbyterian, or Pentecostal, of Baptist, or whatever.

 

Here is what the Holy Spirit tells us about the Church: “And [the Father] put all things in subjection under [Christ’s] feet and gave Him as head over all things to the church, which is His body, the fullness of Him who fills all in all.” (Ephesians 1:22-23)

 

Now while we know Jesus prayed for unity, and unity should be on the hearts of all true Christians, nothing of what I said last week, nor what I will say today means I believe doctrine is unimportant to unity. Doctrine IS important to unity. Nor do I think we should ever compromise ESSENTIAL doctrine for the sake of unity.

 

The Lord Jesus, the prophets, and the apostles NEVER compromised essential Biblical truths for the sake of unity. But that begs the question: What ARE those essential Biblical truths around which we must find unity – truths essential to salvation?

 

And THAT question begs yet another question: Who has the authority to decide what are those essential truths? Certainly, it is not I. And neither is it you. And neither is it your pastor, or priest, or anyone today in any church hierarchy.

 

That decision must be left to the historic teaching of the church dating back to what the apostles themselves taught. And, after they died, how did the early Church Fathers and various early church councils interpret the apostolic teaching specifically related to God the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit?

 

Without the teaching of the Church Fathers and the early Church councils, the fledgling church would have devolved into multiple splinter religious groups, each having their own interpretation of the apostle’s teaching – and the early heresies such as Arianism and Nestorianism and Gnosticism would have destroyed the Body of Christ.

 

Scripture tells us in Acts 15 that the first Church council occurred in Jerusalem. History then tells us seven more earlier councils followed, perhaps the most important beginning at Nicaea in AD 325, followed by Constantinople in AD 381 – important because of their focus on the deity of the Lord Jesus and His co-eternality with the Holy Spirit and the Father. 

 

Their decisions about the essential doctrines of Christian faith related to the Person of Jesus became the compass early Christians used to determine their unity in the faith. And what was useful to them then ought to be useful for us now.

 

There were several creeds — statements of faith — that arose in early church history, each usually building on the one before it. Often these statements of orthodox faith developed in response to erroneous or heretical teaching circulating among the scattered churches. Ultimately, the Apostles Creed and the later Nicene Creed became the test of Christian orthodoxy. Those who did not accept those doctrines were considered non-Christians by the Christian church.

The Nicene Creed (also called the Nicene-Constantinople Creeds of AD 325 and 381 respectively) – is the more robust of any of the creeds. That is why we will focus on that creed in this message.

But, before we look at that particular statement of faith, we should first focus attention on what it was to which the various councils appealed as they formulated orthodox doctrine.

 

Each council relied on their common conviction that the Bible is the fully inspired, inerrant, and infallible word of God. Without such agreement then or now, how can anyone expect unity of faith in the essentials doctrines? As the prophet Amos wrote: “Can two walk together, unless they be agreed?’ (Amos 3:3)

 

Listen! If we cannot agree on the inerrancy of Scripture, then how can we find agreement about any doctrine based on Scripture, such as what constitutes a holy lifestyle? Is there an eternal heaven AND an eternal hell? Was Mary a virgin when she conceived Messiah? Did Jesus really work miracles? Did He live a completely sinless life? Did He physically rise from the dead on that third day?

 

It is impossible to find unity with those who do not believe in the inerrancy of Scripture because those who disbelieve that essential truth will be quick to reject the supernatural and concoct some natural explanations for them.

 

That’s why the Holy Spirit guided the writers of Scripture to lay such emphasis on the Word of God as the firm foundation of our faith in Christ. Whenever the apostles proclaimed the gospel of Jesus Christ, they looked to the Old Testament – which should make sense when you realize the New Testament did not yet exist.

For example, Luke tells us when St. Paul and his companions traveled through the cities of Asia Minor, he went to their synagogues and “reasoned with them from the Scriptures, explaining and giving evidence that the Christ had to suffer and rise again from the dead, and saying, “This Jesus whom I am proclaiming to you is the Christ.” (Acts 17:1-3) What Scriptures did Paul reason from? The Old Testament, of course.

 

When the resurrected Christ met with the two disciples on their way to Emmaus, Jesus said to them, “O foolish men and slow of heart to believe in all that the prophets have spoken! Was it not necessary for the Christ to suffer these things and to enter into His glory?” Then beginning with Moses and with all the prophets, He explained to them the things concerning Himself in all the Scriptures.” (Luke 24:25-27)

 

St. Paul referred to the Old Testament writings when he told Timothy: “I solemnly charge you in the presence of God and of Christ Jesus, who is to judge the living and the dead, and by His appearing and His kingdom: preach the word; be ready in season and out of season; reprove, rebuke, exhort, with great patience and instruction. For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine; but wanting to have their ears tickled, they will accumulate for themselves teachers in accordance to their own desires.” (2 Timothy 4:1-3)

 

St. Peter urged the Church: “[L]ike newborn babies, long for the pure milk of the word, so that by it you may grow in respect to salvation. (1 Peter 2:1)

 

The entire 119th psalm, all 176 verses, magnifies the role of Scripture in the Christian’s life. No wonder St. Paul proclaimed: “All Scripture is inspired by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, for training in righteousness; so that the man of God may be adequate, equipped for every good work.  2 Timothy 3:16-17

 

The Scriptures are so important to our salvation, maturity of faith, AND our unity of faith that Satan has always discouraged Christians and non-Christians from reading the Bible. He has deceived even some religious leaders into keeping their congregations from reading and studying the Bible for themselves. That’s one reason the Catholic Church – for example – writes its Catechism: The Church "forcefully and specifically exhorts all the Christian faithful. . . to learn the surpassing knowledge of Jesus Christ, by frequent reading of the divine Scriptures. Ignorance of the Scriptures is ignorance of Christ. (CCC 133)

 

In other words, Jerome’s Biblically oriented point of view is that the more we know Scripture, the better we know Jesus. But the converse is also true – the less we know scripture, the less we know Jesus.

I hope by now it is clear to us that the glue of Christian unity is the Word of God itself. However, over the millennia, the word of God has been subjected to multiple and varied interpretations. That’s why there are so many churches and church traditions – all which center around their own particular interpretations of Scripture. Which brings us back to the question – to WHOM did God grant the authority to interpret Scripture? I guarantee you, it is not I. Nor is it you, or your priest, or your pastor, or some televangelist.

 

That authority first rested in the apostles. After their deaths, the authority rested in the early church councils comprised of godly men who sought direction for the Church from the Scriptures. The first council in Acts 15 served as a prototype for what would follow under the guidance of the Holy Spirit.

 

For example, here is St. Paul’s guidance to Timothy: “[I]n case I am delayed, I write so that you will know how one ought to conduct himself in the household of God, which is the church of the living God, the pillar and support of the truth. (1 Timothy 3:15)

 

The Church cannot be a pillar and support if truth unless the Church is united in the belief that the Bible is the inerrant word of God.

 

To the Christians at Ephesus, Paul wrote: “And [God] gave some as apostles, and some as prophets, and some as evangelists, and some as pastors and teachers, for the equipping of the saints for the work of service, to the building up of the body of Christ. (Ephesians 4:11-12)

 

These are only a few of the dozens of Biblical examples pointing to the authority God gave to the early church councils to properly interpret and teach the apostolic faith. And as the church continued to expand, its leadership recognized the need for succinct statements of faith to maintain UNITY of orthodoxy among the varied and far-flung congregations.

 

One of the oldest well-known creeds is the Apostles Creed, which dates to around 140 AD. Although not written by the apostles, it forms the basis for the more robust Nicene-Constantinople Creed which we will look at now in some detail.

By the way, the word “catholic” in the Apostles’ and the Nicene Creed does not refer to the Roman Catholic Church. The word as used in its original meaning refers to the universal church, which as we have already seen, is defined by the New Testament as the Body of Christ.

The Nicene-Constantinople Creed came about because of a destructive heresy that nearly took control of the early church. A bishop names Arius had amassed a huge following by teaching that Jesus was a created being and not God in the flesh. Arius believed the doctrine of the trinity of God – Father, Son, and Holy Spirit – was blasphemy. There is only one God, he said, and God is not three-in-one.

Were it not for the Councils of Nicaea in 325 AD and Constantinople in 381 AD, the work of Christ on the cross would have been in vain. Christianity would have disintegrated into the heresy similar to modern Jehovah Witnesses, denying the deity, co-eternality and the co-existence of Jesus and the Holy Spirit with the Father.

And THAT, my brothers and sisters, is one of the reasons God established the early councils of the Church – to protect true doctrine around which Christian unity must revolve. (Another role of the early Councils was to determine which of the thousands of manuscripts circulating throughout Palestine, Asia Minor, and Europe – many of which were spurious and heretical – the Councils determined which were divinely inspired by God and belonged in the Canon which we call our Bible.)

I am running out of time to give proper explanation of the Nicene Creed, so I will simply now read the Creed, and make a few final comments. Next week I will return us to the Nicene Creed and hopefully underscore just why it ought to be the basis of Christian unity today:

I believe in one God, the Father almighty, maker of heaven and earth, of all things visible and invisible. I believe in one Lord Jesus Christ, the Only Begotten Son of God, born of the Father before all ages. God from God, Light from Light, true God from true God, begotten, not made, consub-stantial with the Father; through him all things were made. For us men and for our salvation he came down from heaven, and by the Holy Spirit was incarnate of the Virgin Mary, and became man.

For our sake he was crucified under Pontius Pilate, he suffered death and was buried, and rose again on the third day in accordance with the Scriptures. He ascended into heaven and is seated at the right hand of the Father. He will come again in glory to judge the living and the dead and his kingdom will have no end. I believe in the Holy Spirit, the Lord, the giver of life, who proceeds from the Father and the Son, who with the Father and the Son is adored and glorified, who has spoken through the prophets.

I believe in one, holy, catholic and apostolic Church. I confess one Baptism for the forgiveness of sins, and I look forward to the resurrection of the dead and the life of the world to come. Amen.

Here is my final point: The New Testament writers and the Fathers of the early church placed supreme emphasis on the word of God. And because the church Fathers likewise emphasized the Scriptures in their teachings, they formulated their creeds around the Scriptures.

 

Therefore, since ancient church unity centered around the Scriptures AND how the early church councils interpreted the Scriptures – so should we in the 21st century. That means, if we believe the Scriptures are the inerrant, infallible word of God, then we are on the road to unity. If we believe in one God, the Father Almighty, maker of heaven and earth – then we are continuing to move toward that place of unity.

If we believe in one Lord Jesus Christ, the only begotten son of God, born of the father before all ages, God from God, Light from Light, True God from True God, begotten, not made, consubstantial (of one essence) with the Father, then we are still moving toward unity.

Therefore, if we agree about the inerrancy of Scripture, and we agree with all the tenets of the Nicene Creed, as did ALL Christians in those early centuries – then why must we today insist on full agreement about things on which the early church did not insist necessary for salvation or unity?

 

Unity in the household of God is the only thing that will enable the Body of Christ to put up a vigorous defense and offense against the devil’s work on this planet and in our families. A house divided against itself cannot stand. But a house united is a formidable army to advance even against the gates of hell. Oh, may God help us all to unite against the true enemy of our souls.

Next week we will conclude this series with an exposition of the Nicene Creed.

 

God's Heart for Unity - Part One

 

Unity – Part of God’s Heart for Us

If you ask most Christians what is at the center of God‘s heart, they will say correctly, it is the salvation of souls. I mean, why else did He become flesh and die on that cross if it was not to save our souls? Repeatedly, God tells us throughout the Bible what He tells us in 2 Peter 3:9 – that He is "not wishing for any to perish, but for all to come to repentance.”

Surely, because it is God’s heart that souls be won to Him, true Christians do what they can do to win souls to Christ. They pray for their families and friends and acquaintances – even for people they have never met. And to that end, they also support missionary programs and other outreaches of their church designed for winning souls to Christ. As Solomon remarked, “He who is wise wins souls.” (Proverbs 11:30)

But there is yet another part of God‘s heart that I sometimes wonder if Christians consider. It is that part of His heart which cries for unity in the Body of Christ, which St. Paul tells us is the entire church – whatever their label: Catholic, Baptist, Episcopal, Presbyterian, Methodist, Pentecostal and so forth.

It is the unity for which the Lord Jesus prayed in His High Priestly prayer. You will find it in John 17:22-23, “The glory which You have given Me I have given to them, that they may be one, just as We are one; I in them and You in Me, that they may be perfected in unity, so that the world may know that You sent Me, and loved them, even as You have loved Me.”

It is the unity St Paul urged in his letter to the Christians in Ephesus: “Therefore I, the prisoner of the Lord, implore you to walk in a manner worthy of the calling with which you have been called, with all humility and gentleness, with patience, showing tolerance for one another in love, being diligent to preserve the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace. There is one body and one Spirit, just as also you were called in one hope of your calling; one Lord, one faith, one baptism, one God and Father of all who is over all and through all and in all.” (4:1-6)

In a time when pagans readily killed one another and treated each other with contempt, Tertullian, one of the early Church fathers wrote of how the pagans viewed Christians: See [they say] how they love one another’ . . . and how they are ready to die for each other’.

But regarding unity in the entire Christian church today, I think most everyone who looks around with an honest heart would say we see little unity in the Body of Christ. And I believe surely God‘s heart is broken because of it.

I am not so naïve to think what I share today and over the next few weeks will change the ongoing tragedy of our disunity that faces the Church today.  But what I DO hope will happen is this: That you will take to your own heart what is God’s heart for unity in the essential doctrines of Christian faith. And I hope you will not insist other Christians dot their ‘I’s and cross their ‘T’s according to how you and your church think things should be done.

The destructive demon of disunity is not new to recent centuries. The apostles dealt with division early in church history. We see that from the record of Acts 15 which describes for us the theological issues facing the Jerusalem Council. Later, St. Paul addressed the early divisions tearing apart the Corinthian church. You can find that recorded in 1 Corinthians. Then there was the heresy despoiling the Galatian church shortly after the resurrection of Jesus.

And divisions continue to this very moment. Indeed, it has been my experience over the nearly 50 years I have fellowshipped in a variety of Protestant and Catholic fellowships that few Christians actively see unity among the brethren. Some actively work against it.

Those who disdain the idea of seeking unity with Christians of other labels are like high school students who declare that their school football team is better than the ones across town – and they’re ready to go to fisticuffs to make their point.

But what does Scripture say about such attitudes toward each other in the Body of Christ? St Paul had to address this same issue in his letter to the divisions in the church at Corinth:

“I appeal to you, brothers and sisters, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that all of you agree with one another in what you say and that there be no divisions among you, but that you be perfectly united in mind and thought. My brothers and sisters, some from Chloe’s household have informed me that there are quarrels among you. What I mean is this: One of you says, “I follow Paul”; another, “I follow Apollos”; another, “I follow Cephas”; still another, “I follow Christ.” Is Christ divided? (1 Corinthians 1:10-13)

That was a great question back then. And it’s a great question here and now. Is Christ divided? To look at the hundreds of denominations, and the hundreds more groups that have splintered off from those denominations – an honest person will have to agree that unity in the Body of Christ is far from a reality.

 

Let me illustrate from my own experience Paul’s point about division in the Christian family:

 

In 1976 I’d been a Christian for four years – but I’d spent those years overseas in Japan where I was stationed with the Navy. So, my only exposure to Christians of different theological persuasions was at the interdenominational base chapel where we ALL worshipped together. My other exposure to Christianity was at the interdenominational mission center a few blocks from the naval base where we ALL worshipped together. It was not until my discharge from the navy that I discovered just how divided Christ’s body really is.

 

After leaving the navy, Nancy and I arrived in Springfield, Missouri where I was to attended Central Bible College – known in town as CBC. It was an Assemblies of God Bible college, Pentecostal in theology. In the same town was another Bible college, this one called Baptist Bible College, known as BBC.

 

A few days after arriving in town, I needed an antibiotic prescription filled at a local pharmacy. I gave the druggist my name, address, and the school I attended – CBC – as my insurance provider. When I returned later that day to pick up my prescription. The pharmacist confirmed insurance coverage by BBC.

 

When I corrected him and told him I attended CBC, he blushed, and stuttered his apology. “I’m so sorry. I thought you’d told me you are a student at BBC.”

 

I shrugged my shoulders and told him it wasn’t a problem. I paid for my prescription and left the store wondering why he was so apoplectic and apologetic over a simple mistake. It was not until a few weeks later that I learned how many students in each school had nothing good to say about those in the other school.

 

The perplexing thing about that division in Springfield is this: Both groups believed the Bible is the fully inerrant and infallible word of God. Both groups believed Jesus has always existed with the Father and the Holy Spirit as one God in three persons, each with His own nature. Both groups believed Jesus was born of the virgin Mary, lived a sinless life, He suffered and died a torturous and substitutionary death on the cross to pay for our sins. They both believed He rose again on the third day from death, and that He will return for His Church, which is His mystical Body.

 

BOTH groups believed the essential truths leading to eternal life. Where Pentecostals and Baptists disagreed, they disagreed about things NOT essential to believe for salvation, such as are the gifts of the Holy Spirit operative today? Or can a Christian lose his or her salvation? But believing or rejecting either of those doctrines has no effect whatever on the eternal destiny of the person. None.

 

The Lord Jesus warned us in Matthew 12: “A house divided against itself cannot stand.” (Matthew 12:25)

 

Christian, listen! Satan also knows that unerring Bible truth. And it doesn’t require a PhD in history to recognize how deftly he has used that principle of division since the earliest days of the church.

 

Years ago, I watched a 1967 film version of the WWII Battle for Tobruk. It starred Rock Hudson and George Peppard. The gist of the story is that German Field Marshall Rommel’s Panzer tanks were a short distance from the strategic Suez Canal. The Allies wanted to destroy the fuel bunkers at Tobruk in order to cripple Rommel’s tanks. British and other allied commandos set out through the Libyan desert to destroy the fuel bunkers.

 

Several nights into their mission they spotted a dust plume on the horizon. It belonged to an Italian convoy wending its way toward them. Fortunately for the Allies, a large sand-dune separated them from the enemy column.

 

Without safe alternatives, they settled down to wait for the Italians to pass. However, when the convoy reached the other side of the dune, they stopped their tanks and began setting camp for the night. The commandos could do nothing but wait for daybreak when the Italians would continue on their way.

 

The night wore on without incident until commando scouts spotted another string of armored vehicles moving toward them from the opposite direction. This one belonged to Germans.

 

Caught in the middle, it was only a matter of time before one group or the other discovered them. In desperation, the Allied band executed a daring strategy and fired mortars toward the Germans. At the same time, they fired across the sand dune at the Italians, hoping each army would think the other fired on them.

 

The strategy worked. Within moments the Germans and the Italians, their identities hidden by the dark, rained destruction on each other. In the conflagration, the commandos escaped into the night. A few days later, at least, according to the movie, the fuel farm at Tobruk exploded in flames. The small band of warriors successfully completed their mission.

 

Scripture repeatedly makes the point: humanity is engaged in a deadly spiritual war waged by an enemy whose mission is to destroy us all. The only force able to thwart Satan from completing his objective is Jesus Christ’s church – which, again I repeat, St. Paul tells us, is His Body (Ephesians 1:22-23; 1 Corinthians 12:27).

 

Knowing the mystical Body of Christ – that being all true Christians regardless of our church label – knowing the Church is an overwhelmingly superior force, Satan has for millennia executed a nearly flawless strategy against it. Rather than a direct frontal attack, he hides in darkness, firing not-so-subtle attitudes of pride, a sense of superiority, and condescension at groups within Christ’s Body.

 

Group A diverts its energies and resources against Group B. Meanwhile, group B reciprocates. Then groups C through Z enter the fray and before long the Body of Christ is embroiled in a seething cauldron, devouring each other – and freeing Satan to move on toward his ultimate objective.

 

When the Germans and Italians surrounded them, no one in the small group of commandos cared about the race, political philosophy, or denominational label of the person in the next foxhole. Only one thing mattered: work as a team to win the objective.

 

The Lord of the Church has called us to win our neighbors, friends, and co-workers for Himself. And our mission requires the undivided efforts of everyone on Christ’s “team.” Oh God! Help us to turn our weapons away from each other and take aim against the true adversary.

 

The Holy Spirit wants to feed our spirits with His truth. But we cut off His voice when we spend our time biting and devouring one another, finding fault with one another, and simply dismissing one another because they don’t believe as we believe.

 

Someone – it might have been St. Augustine – wisely said this about doctrines: “In essentials, unity. In non-essentials, liberty. In all things, charity.”

 

Oh, that we who are in the Body of Christ through our faith in His co-equality and co-existence with the Father and the Holy Spirit, we who believe in Christ’s substitutionary sacrifice for our sins – oh that we would take seriously the Lord’s heart regarding unity.

 

Now please listen: What I have said thus far does NOT mean I believe doctrine is unimportant. Nor does it mean I think we should ever compromise ESSENTIAL doctrine for the sake of unity. No, no, never.

 

The Lord Jesus and the apostles NEVER compromised essential truths for the sake of unity. For example, the Lord Jesus did not compromise the essential doctrines of the word of God when he rebuked the church at Thyatira in Revelation 2 for permitting false teachers into their church. Nor did the apostles during the first Jerusalem Council compromise with heretics. As I mentioned earlier in this message, you will find that vignette in Acts chapter 15. And St Paul wrote an entire epistle lambasting the Christians at Galatia for falling headlong into the apostasy of the Judaizers.

 

But there ARE theological issues the early church faced – non-essential theological issues that will not send anyone to hell if those beliefs and practices are followed or rejected. For example, in the 14th chapter of his letter to the Christians at Rome, St. Paul addressed the non-essential question of eating or refraining from eating meat. In the same chapter he addressed the question of on which day a person should worship God. As far as the apostle was concerned, these were unimportant and non-essential doctrines to salvation.

 

But there ARE essential Biblical truths around which we must find unity, truths essential to salvation. Reject those truths and salvation is out of reach. And that, of course, begs two questions:

 

First, what is essential Christian doctrine, doctrine that must never become negotiable? And second, who has the authority to decide what are those essential truths? Certainly, it is not I. And neither is it you. And neither is it your pastor, or priest, or deacon, or anyone today in any church hierarchy.

 

No, that weighty and critically important decision must be left to the historic teaching of the church dating back to what the apostles themselves wrote, and the interpretations of their teaching as defined by the early Church councils, starting with the Jerusalem council in Acts 15, followed by the seven early councils, beginning in Nicea, Turkey in 325 AD, followed by the Council of Constantinople in 381. Those two critical councils were then followed by five others, until the last so-called early council in 787 AD. The decisions of those early councils became the compass for essential Christian faith necessary for salvation.

 

For example, without the Biblically accurate councils at Nicaea and Constantinople, the essential doctrine taught by the apostles of the co-existence and co-equality of Jesus with the Father and the Holy Spirit would have resulted in the utter collapse of salvation history. Without those councils, Satan would have effectively destroyed what the Triune God did on Calvary.

 

So YES! There are doctrines, beliefs, and practices that remain essential to salvation. What are they? I will answer that question next week as we continue this series of messages focused on the unity of the Body of Christ.