UPDATE ON THE STATE OF OUR UNION IN CHRIST: A PROGRESS BEYOND THE WAR OF WORDS, 31 DEC 06
By Tim Warlick
INTRODUCTION
Dear Sisters and Brothers in Christ,
I've written a very large update, shown below, about Christian unity (Cu)
projects I've worked on with others lately, and about Cu in general as it stands
now, in the whole body of Christ, titled, "Update on the State of our Union in
Christ: a Progress Beyond the War of Words, 31 Dec 06".
To give you an idea of what it's about so you can decide if you want to wade
into reading it, it basically says that doing some small, practical thing for Cu
in love and holiness of all believers, in all Christian faith groups and
denominations, is going to soon be very important for every one of us because
the world is growing further away from God, and the church is not now stopping
it from taking part of the church with it.
That weakness of the church, in turn, is because the church is not doing Cu as
it should, and it will take God's miraculous power to show His glory that we may
be one in Cu to turn things around. If we don't, each, do some little thing for
Cu ourselves, we are going to find ourselves and our loved ones suffering much
the same wrath of God the world will suffer.
The update also says that the Internet projects for Cu I've been involved in
lately depend on God to show that glory of His given by Jesus that we may be
one, and show it now, here on earth, in this life. Until He does so eventually
for Cu, which He certainly will, none of what's said or done on these Internet
projects I work on will matter much to Cu of all believers.
You can take that as pessimistic if you like, but I choose to see it just the
opposite. I look at the love I have for my own kids (now grown), loving much in
spite of my shortcomings as a father, and I look at the love I see in the Son of
the God, who is love, hanging on a cross, and I can't imagine that kind of
astounding love in the Father for the rest of us could ever fail whatever may be
our need for His divine intervention in our lives.
I prefer to believe He is in the process of making us see our need is immediate
and profound, as never before, for all good things that are guaranteed only in
His Spirit, and that believing we're one in love and holiness, His supply is
beyond question.
"But God proves his love for us in that while we still were sinners Christ died
for us. Much more surely then, now that we have been justified by his blood,
will we be saved through him from the wrath of God." (Ro 5:8-9 NRSV)
"If ye then, being evil, know how to give good gifts unto your children, how
much more shall your Father which is in heaven give good things to them that ask
him?" (Mt 7:11 AV)
"If ye then, being evil, know how to give good gifts unto your children: how
much more shall [your] heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to them that ask
him?" (Lu 11:13 AV)
I also prefer to believe He is absolutely faithful in ways we're absolutely not;
and while we may well fail Him by not trusting Him, we can trust He will never
fail us if we do.
"Let us hold fast to the confession of our hope without wavering, for he who has
promised is faithful." (Heb 10:23 NRSV)
"In hope of eternal life, which God, that cannot lie, promised before the world
began;" (Tit 1:2 AV)
"God forbid: yea, let God be true, but every man a liar; as it is written, That
thou mightest be justified in thy sayings, and mightest overcome when thou art
judged." (Ro 3:4 AV)
"Charity never faileth:" (1Co 13:8a AV)
"And we have known and believed the love that God hath to us. God is love; and
he that dwelleth in love dwelleth in God, and God in him." (1Jo 4:16 AV)
The power certainly isn't a problem. And the love to do it is only a problem for
us, not Him
"God hath spoken once; twice have I heard this; that power [belongeth] unto
God." (Ps 62:11 AV)
"Herein is love, not that we loved God, but that he loved us, and sent his Son
[to be] the propitiation for our sins. Beloved, if God so loved us, we ought
also to love one another." (1Jo 4:10-11 AV)
Until God shows His glory that we may be one, the words of each of these various
Internet projects for Cu that I've been associated with will, in effect, appear
to be just one more, meaningless salvo fired in the pointless, never-ending war
of words over competing Christian doctrines. Without the Spirit's testimony,
these Internet project words, too, will appear to most as part of the same,
tired debate, but simply arguing for a doctrine of Cu in the doctrine of Christ,
as competition to the better worship others believe they already offer the Lord
within their own Christian faith group of doctrinal emphasis.
I'm sending this essay now because I believe God will show His glory that we may
be one spiritually very soon. Exactly when, I don't know, because as I explain
in the SCU Prophecy, it simply isn't given in the Bible with a fixed date or
time as to when it all starts. Jesus, Himself, says it's a general time, a
generation that is like a green fig tree, as explained in the SCU Prophecy.
You can see it at this link, if you like:
http://home.swbell.net/twarlick/christianunityprophecy/chapter_five_1st.htm
I don't know from scripture exactly when the generation starts, so I'm prepared
to wait the whole lifetime that I'm given, however long or short that may be,
patiently seeking His righteousness and His kingdom, in Cu of holiness and love
with all repentant believers. I believe it is certain to come eventually, so I
have no other choice than to wait and work as I believe.
But I believe it will come before most of us alive now die, in this
generation. I believe we'll see miracles of the kind as prayed for Cu on the
SCUWPG website, and I believe we'll see the Syrian show up very soon, as
described on the SCU Prophecy website, the man who will eventually be recognized
as what people call 'the anti-Christ'.
Regarding the Syrian, keep an eye on current events in the Middle East for him,
coming forward to lead in making a comprehensive "peace", to capitalize on the
vacuum of power created as the US tries to leave Iraq. If this fits the
scriptural pattern, this peace will eventually prove to be temporary, illusory,
and false.
This is the same kind of peace that sometimes is mentioned today using an old
Arabic term, "houdna," that refers to an episode in the Koran in which the
Prophet Muhammad lays down his arms against his rivals so he can regain his
strength and eventually defeat them. As shown in the SCU Prophecy, the Syrian's
appearance first in peace efforts is pretty much the earliest 'event' (derived
from the Bible context of that more general, generational time frame mentioned
by Jesus), that I can peg in scripture, as a specific occurrence taking place at
the very beginning of the coming seven-year period for which the 'peace'
covenant he makes is outwardly confirmed, confirmed in appearance at least.
Bear in mind that after the Syrian shows up, I probably won't say it definitely
is him even when I think I do see him, at least not for a while. For one thing,
I have no desire for people to believe me, as if I hear something from God that
hasn't been given the same to us all. I don't. I claim no source to see prophecy
outside of scripture, and that's the same place God gives us all to see Cu, if
we'll just look for it together.
We don't need another puffed-up, false prophet that claims to tell us what God
speaks in his ear that gets people away from the Bible, or some self-made, holy
man for people to follow, like a few televangelists that have let so many down
over the last several years. If you'll forgive my colloquialism, 'the Holy Man
done been here already', in Jesus of Nazareth. He's the only one we need, and
the only one we're going to get.
The sons of God are now supposed to be led ultimately by the Spirit, not another
man, and all our true leaders here will lead always to the Chief Shepherd, Jesus, not ultimately to
themselves, but in humility through themselves to His leadership.
"Not for that we have dominion over your faith, but are helpers of your joy: for
by faith ye stand." (2Co 1:24 AV)
“Do not lord it over those in your charge, but be examples to the flock. And
when the chief shepherd appears, you will win the crown of glory that never
fades away.” (1Pe 5:3-4 NRSV)
"For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, they are the sons of God." (Ro
8:14 AV)
I try hard to show the things I see in the Bible because I want people to
believe the Bible, not me, and especially what it says about Cu. Since the SCU
Prophecy is a prophecy of the scripture, I may show how the Syrian fits the
scriptures, but his name (and eventual names) is/(are) not specifically shown
there in the Bible, only things about him, which is what I will show, in due
time.
There are reasons for not being exact in identifying him to begin with. It isn't
until a much later, specific point that the whole body of Christ knows it is
him, which I will explain at a later date, before it happens. We've got a lot to
learn together before then.
I'm not trying to be cryptic here, I just don't have time to go into it, and
none of the further details of the SCU Prophecy really matter anyway, until it is
first seen at least to be underway. The
anti-Christ is nothing to be scared of. Fear of the Lord, of failing Him by
opposing His will for Cu in Jesus, is all we believers should really be
concerned about for our eternal well-being, including now and forever, trusting
always in the grace of His love and holiness given us as one in Jesus.
“And I will give them one heart, and
one way, that they may fear me for ever, for the good of them, and of their
children after them:” (Jer 32:39 AV)
Here's what I wrote in one version of the SCU Prophecy back in 2001, which is
all you need to identify the Syrian to start with when he first shows up:
"Why did the attacks of Sept llth happen? Because the Anti-Christ comes next to
make a peace so important the whole world will notice it. Right now, God
guarantees full protection only in Christian unity, in holiness and brotherly
love of all believers, in the word, name, and blood of Jesus, in order for all
believers to both prosper and be protected from all harm in these endtimes. The
next major event will be the appearance of the Anti-Christ, the Beast of name
666, predicted here to be Assyrian, specifically from the modern nation state of
Syria, and is relatively unknown, with no official governmental capacity in
Syria or any other nation. He's the leader of a small group of people. The first
time you see him is at a peace table, where he makes an apparently successful
peace between Israel and it's Arab and Muslim combatants, primarily the
Palestinians. (Incidentally, because he first comes to prominence at a peace
table, he obviously could not be any well-known associate of Bin Laden.) The end
times Jesus warned of have begun, and the time of tribulation is coming very
soon. Christians in Christian unity are fully protected throughout these end
time from all physical harm, disease, or attacks of evil, and in Christian
unity, the time of awesome miracles and great revival in the body of Christ is
now in progress. We have ahead of us at least three and a half years of
relatively good times, perhaps much more. This will be followed by three and a
half years of hard times, during which the world gets progressively worse,
primarily for those outside of Christian unity. During this entire seven-year
period, the united body of Christ grows continually in strength and in power of
the Holy Spirit. Read more at the Christian Unity Prophecy:
http://tinyurl.com/39mgu "
Please note as you read this, that in order to explain here my own views on the
present situation of Cu in the world, and it's significance on the near future,
I refer to my own, subjective interpretation of scripture about end times, as
shown in the Spiritual Christian Unity Prophecy (SCU Prophecy) which, I take
great pains to point out, is not at all involved on the SCUW Prayer Group
website. Both the Prophecy and the Prayer Group are to promote Cu, but in
different ways, and there is no detail of prophecy involved in the Prayer Group
at all, nothing other than general prophecies of the Bible about Cu, such as
that of Jesus "that they may be one", which He made in asking His prayer in John
17, which is certain to be fulfilled.
This is important to emphasize because the Members of the SCUWPG website in no
way endorse the SCU Prophecy. These are two separate and distinct Cu projects
I'm involved in that focus on Cu. I wrote the SCU Prophecy by myself, and don't
ask others to necessarily believe it, but just to wait and see what God does
with it.
At this point, I don't know of any Members at SCUWPG that have even heard of the
SCU Prophecy, except a few who happen also to be Members of the Cu email list I
moderate, at the link shown below, where I occasionally explain and refer to the
SCU Prophecy.
Cu email list link:
http://freegroups.net/groups/christianunity/
For instance, I've never even remotely discussed the SCU Prophecy with Bro.
Mario, Co-administrator of SCUWPG. It just never came up in our search together
to state common Christian beliefs. I doubt he knows anything about it, and why
should he care? We're all entitled to our separate Christian beliefs, as long as
they are not unholy or unloving, and the SCU Prophecy definitely promotes
holiness and love in Cu, whether it's right or wrong in detail of predicting the
future.
By contrast, the SCUW Prayer Group website was produced totally by joint effort,
and is geared only for what we believers are already agreed in, so that no
subjective interpretations, neither mine nor anyone else's, about details of end
times prophecy scriptures are permitted there. Prophecy about Cu will not be
allowed to become another cause for separation between sisters and brothers in
Christ, to prevent Cu.
The Cu email list is pretty much the only place I'm willing to discuss the SCU
Prophecy, and only on the basis that the hearer can take it or leave it.
I'd be happy to explain or discuss the SCU Prophecy further on the Cu email
list, as time permits, but only as a matter of my interpretation of prophecy in
scripture. Although I believe it is certain to come, it nevertheless remains
something I don't hold forth as being anything believers all agree to already,
or necessarily ought to.
I simply offer the SCU Prophecy for believers to consider, and for God to
fulfill, or not, as He may choose. Either way, it gives people something to
think about re Christian unity in the Bible. In a sense, the SCU Prophecy is
trivial, as works of man go, in that it's a wholly subjective statement of one
man's Bible beliefs: mine. The SCUWPG website is trivial among men, but in the
opposite way, because it states the patently obvious Bible beliefs all repentant
believers already hold in common.
So the similarities the SCU Prophecy does share in common with the SCUWPG
website are these, that both are about spiritual Cu, and each is relatively trivial as a work
among men, and will remain so unless God chooses to show it otherwise. The
important difference is, the SCU Prophecy stands or falls on its own.
"You may say to yourself, "How can we recognize a word that the LORD has not
spoken?" If a prophet speaks in the name of the LORD but the thing does not take
place or prove true, it is a word that the LORD has not spoken. The prophet has
spoken it presumptuously; do not be frightened by it." (De 18:21-22 NRSV)
Whereas the SCUWPG website will eventually be shown true, no matter what,
because unity in the grace of God given in the finished work of what Jesus did
on the cross for all repentant believers will stand forever.
"If so be that ye have heard him, and have been taught by him, as the truth is
in Jesus: That ye put off concerning the former conversation the old man, which
is corrupt according to the deceitful lusts; And be renewed in the spirit of
your mind; And that ye put on the new man, which after God is created in
righteousness and true holiness. Wherefore putting away lying, speak every man
truth with his neighbour: for we are members one of another." (Eph 4:21-25 AV)
Love and holiness in Jesus to all,
Tim
********************************************************************
UPDATE ON THE STATE OF OUR UNION IN CHRIST: A PROGRESS BEYOND THE
WAR OF WORDS, 31 DEC 06
By Tim Warlick
Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ,
I'd like to give you a general update on the present state of the Christian
unity (Cu) work I've been involved in lately with others, and also to let you
know where I think the whole body of Christ is right now, in God's certain,
coming fulfillment of His purpose of Cu in all us believers.
To fairly address what I consider personally the most important issues of Cu, I
have to mention first my own, internal effort for Cu in conversion of heart, my
own heart, which I'm quite sure, is far less than it needs to be, as we all
someday shall be, like Him.
"Beloved, now are we the sons of God, and it doth not yet appear what we shall
be: but we know that, when he shall appear, we shall be like him; for we shall
see him as he is." (1Jo 3:2 AV)
Cu is all of us believers drawing together as one in Christ, as He and the
Father are one, so if there is one thing I pray for most, for my own inclusion
as one with Jesus and the Father in Cu, I pray for me to remember every day what
a blessing it is, of true life that is only in the Spirit, to be given to spend
time in this life with the one Lord of heaven and earth, seeking Him in spirit
and in truth, to be drawn closer to Him in my own prayers, study, and devotions.
That's the spiritual life of Cu in my own heart I need to carry into all I think
and do every day, without which, the rest has no meaning, either regarding Cu of
all believers, or any other part of life in this world.
Time spent in heart, soul, strength, and mind devoted to Him is the one area I
need most to grow up in myself, as one, tiny part of the body growing up into
the Head. It never ceases to amaze me how joyful I can be one day in spending
time with Him and how forgetful to do it the next. To be honest, I don't do it
nearly enough, and have a strong tendency to be drawn away from Him and give
more attention to the world than it deserves.
One thing that helps me keep my own eyes focused on Cu comes from having the
opportunity to occasionally post Cu-related messages and discussion on the
Cu email list, and a few other places on the Net, as well as discussions with
individual friends, both on the Net and in person. All such Cu discussion, and
especially the written part, helps me a lot, because it gives me a chance to
think out what it is I really can believe and know about Cu; a chance to learn
from the Spirit speaking through the spoken words and writings of other believers; and another
context in which to consider the reality of Cu as it may be seen in pertinent
scriptures.
Regarding the main, other Cu effort I've worked on lately,
it's been the Spiritual Christian Unity Worldwide Prayer Group (SCUWPG, or SCUW,
same thing) website, where we believers can pray together for Cu and pray for
healing miracles for Cu. Having finished the website, itself, for some time now,
we've been working recently to help it develop a little in membership and
function, and that work is finally coming to fruition.
Spiritual Christian Unity Worldwide Prayer Group: "Praying for Christian unity
in love and holiness together in Jesus"
www.SpiritualChristianUnity.org
By now on the SCUWPG website, several new Member believers have offered their
own prayers for Cu there, and, thanks to the kind and faithful efforts of Cu
list Member, Pastor Elvis Iverson, to both serve as SCUWPG Moderator and to
continually post his own prayers for Cu there from time to time, there is a
constant flow of the Spirit in prayer for all to read and flow together in, as
we join our hearts in one accord in prayer to our Lord. Pastor Iverson has
worked diligently for Cu in his own ministries for a number of years past,
including locally, internationally, and the Internet, and his heartfelt prayers
for Cu have been a great blessing to the SCUW website, for which we can all
thank God greatly.
The part of the website set up for prayers for healing for Cu has been a little
slower getting started in the beginning. But now the website has reached a bit
of a milestone in healing prayers, in that we have recently been blessed that
God has answered our prayers in leading a few, highly sought-for believers to
find the website; believers who are willing to pray with us there for miraculous
healing, especially for Cu. This means the website setup work is finally, really
in place, because all the features we hoped for and intended have at last been
implemented and are now being utilized, praise Jesus!
In other words, God has blessed us to get the SCUWPG website started as
envisioned, and our only part there now is to grow together in holiness and
love, as we wait and pray together in faith that God will certainly do His part,
which we know is coming. Cu is just a matter of time, for the whole body of
Christ. It is certainly coming, and with an overwhelming grace, and undeserved
inheritance of blessings for all of us believers, in every Christian
denomination and group.
"that we should be holy and without blame before him in love...That in the
dispensation of the fulness of times he might gather together in one all things
in Christ, both which are in heaven, and which are on earth; [even] in him: In
whom also we have obtained an inheritance, being predestinated according to the
purpose of him who worketh all things after the counsel of his own will:" (Eph
1:4b, 10, 11 av)
A lot of believers are working already for such a spiritual Christian unity in
love and holiness among all believers, as they variously see best to do it, and
whether they would call it by exactly those words or not. In God's work in us,
and with us, for Cu, we see ourselves at the SCUWPG website as just one more
little group among many, doing what we believe God leads us to do for Cu,
whether many other believers in such a Cu see us or not.
The only thing we may have done in any new way at the SCUW website, God willing,
is to have set up a place on the Internet where our spiritual Cu can be clearly
stated for the world to see, as a visible, unified way to start receiving all
believers as one together in Cu; a spiritual Cu in which the only proof sought
together is in the reality of the testimony of the Holy Spirit, Himself, when
God does choose to move there in those miraculous ways for which we pray, in the
increasing glory shown of the power of His Spirit for Cu of all believers,
including believers in all Christian denominations and faith groups.
At SCUW, we believe that showing our constant dependence on the power of His
Spirit in all ways, and on His grace to us and His work in us all, in changing
our hearts, will always be a key to Cu. Some effort now for Cu is vital for
every believer to obey Jesus' new commandment. Whether or not believers choose
to pray for Cu at the SCUWPG website, we each must find some way we can
believe in, to obey the new commandment of Jesus; to show God our hearts have a
faith for Cu now made alive by works, showing that we really do know it is His
present, new commandment, new statute and ordinance, and we must obey it now, in
the one, new spirit, and one heart God gives us all united in Him.
"And I will give them one heart, and I will put a new spirit within you; and I
will take the stony heart out of their flesh, and will give them an heart of
flesh: That they may walk in my statutes, and keep mine ordinances, and do them:
and they shall be my people, and I will be their God." (Eze 11:19-20 AV)
For all of us Christians who would like to do something for Christian unity (Cu)
now, I think the best thing we can do together is try to find some way or other,
such as the SCUW website, to get Cu out of the 'war of words' that has raged for
centuries between competing Christian faith groups, and instead give it all over
into God's hands with a mustard seed of faith to work with.
We all need to be together in giving Him at least a mustard seed of common faith
in our oneness with all repentant believers, in all Christian denominations and
faith groups, believing the same way for a spiritual unity among all us
believers, as our seed of faith for Him to work with, to which seed only He can
give the increase.
The odd thing about the war of words over Cu is that even the believers who do
love, want, and work for what can be seen, generally, as the same kind of
spiritual Cu in love and holiness, are sometimes just as big a part of the war
of words among Christians over the doctrines they believe best serve the purpose
of Cu, as people who oppose Cu completely.
For instance, sometimes when we try to approach in fellowship of the Spirit, the
believers we admire most for their work for Cu (referring here to no one on the
Cu email list, but others), those who appear to want and work for a virtually
identical, spiritual Cu in obvious earnest, yet it seems that even among some of
them, they look at our attempts to take the relationship between us and remove
it out of the war of words, as being just another ploy of a Christian faith
group seeking to promote our words about Cu, over words of their own.
They misread our intentions.
We have no intention of fighting the war of words with them, win or lose. If
what they teach of Cu is neither unloving nor unholy, we have no desire
whatsoever to prove them wrong, no matter how easy it might be to show the world
their slight error in the scriptures. We love and admire them for all the good
things they do for Cu, so why would we want to goad them for their minor errors,
if any? If they ask, or if it comes up, somehow, we'll tell them, but until then
and even then, we'll show we love them, and work and pray only for God's power
in the Holy Spirit we know is within them, for Him to lead them into all truth
in the parts where we think they need to learn.
Being distracted from praying and from working for God to show His glory that we
may be one in Cu, allowing ourselves to be pulled into strife and debate, away
from His purpose of Cu, by those inside and outside the church who want to argue
against Cu, is a big reason why Cu never gets anywhere. By arguing, we show no
glory that we may be one, showing rather we think our words of debate are more
important than believing for the Holy Spirit to work in power to lead all of us
together into all truth.
Instead of arguing about Cu, all we're trying to do at the SCUW website is find
a beginning point that's already there, in believers in every Christian
denomination and faith group, not change believers' thinking ourselves. We want
to start in what believers already believe the same about God in Jesus on the
cross, paying with His blood so we all could have opportunity to repent and have remission of our
sins. Together in that, we believers all can, should, and will, grow and learn
more together from one another in one body of Christ about such vital subjects
as God's grace, the measure of faith He gives, and about His Spirit in whom we
are all born again by the word of the gospel.
If our own Christian denomination or faith group believes it has a better
understanding than the rest do about even such fundamental Christian concepts,
believing that we have an understanding the other Christian faith groups all
need to learn from us to be better Christians like we are in our group, then to
insist on that as a place to start Cu simply won't work. Not because our better
understanding is wrong, but simply because, by definition, it is not commonly
understood already.
The idea that all the other believers must first learn to agree in the special
emphasis we have, or the details of our own, better understanding of even such
fundamental Christian concepts, given in special measure of knowledge to our own
Christian faith group and not the others, is to insist that we start united in
having learned that which we are not already united in having learned, which is
a non-sequitur; it doesn't follow, it's nonsense.
It's also impractical, because no Christian comes to join a unity that begins
with being insulted, to be told that they don't properly believe in fundamental
Christian principles such as God's grace yet, that they don't have real faith in
Christ yet, or they are not born again already in God's Spirit.
What we believe the same already is our current unity of faith together. It's
the unity that is, now. That's where Cu starts now. That's where Cu is, now.
What we believe differently already is our current division of faith apart.
We can't start Cu by insisting the other learn to agree in what we know and they
don't. It's vain and self-centered, and we've all been that way, one way or
another, for too long.
Christian unity doesn't start in Christian disunity. Christian unity starts "in
unity" of faith, in what we've all, already learned the same; "in unity" of how
we all know of God already, which is in Jesus on the cross, given for the
repentance and remission of the sins of us all.
On the SCUWPG website, we tried to use all the ideas Christians already agree
in, not as part of the war of words, not to force anyone to say it exactly our
way or with our emphasis, but to get these ideas out of the war of words and
into a starting point of agreement in words; words of unity in belief, words
where we all, already start together. We didn't want our words, but any words
that are true in the Bible, that we could all agree to together already, known
by us all to be true in Jesus to start with from the very beginning, words that
include now every believer, in every Christian denomination and faith group.
To do that, we did things like referencing God's "grace" nine times on our home
page, so there's no confusion it's all by the grace of God; we made repeated
references on the home page and throughout the website to how we are all "born
again"; and we stressed that we are saved by "faith" and not "works", and we
used scripture after scripture to show that these Bible precepts, and many
others like these, are inclusive of all believers, are fundamental to us
believers, all, and are foundational facts of our common faith in Jesus, that
all Christians can, and do already, readily agree in, in all Christian
denominations and faith groups.
We tried our best to choose all the words all other believers would recognize
most easily, trying to leave not a single, one believer out, seeking words which
might allow us all to unite in believing together the person of Jesus Christ,
Himself, not just the words about Him.
To help us all keep His person uppermost in mind together, we simply stressed
what He did on the cross, and His words about the gospel of repentance and
remission of sins, with which He started and ended His ministry *in person*, in
His physical presence as a man here on earth.
"Now after that John was put in prison, Jesus came into Galilee, preaching the
gospel of the kingdom of God, And saying, The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom
of God is at hand: repent ye, and believe the gospel." (Mr 1:14-15 AV)
"And he said unto them, These [are] the words which I spake unto you, while I
was yet with you, that all things must be fulfilled, which were written in the
law of Moses, and [in] the prophets, and [in] the psalms, concerning me. Then
opened he their understanding, that they might understand the scriptures, And
said unto them, Thus it is written, and thus it behoved Christ to suffer, and to
rise from the dead the third day: And that repentance and remission of sins
should be preached in his name among all nations, beginning at Jerusalem." (Lu
24:44-47 AV)
But judging by the numbers of new members at
www.SCUWPG.org to date, less than a couple dozen so far in the whole
world, the lovers of spiritual Cu in love and holiness, whom we are quite
certain are out there in great numbers, distributed all over the world, are yet
staying away from the website in droves. This seeming surprise is actually quite
understandable, given how we believers have interacted in the past.
The 'war of words' among Christians, to which I keep referring, has left so many
walking wounded, so many among us carrying old scars from 'friendly fire'
mistakenly directed at one another, that finding a place for all of us to begin,
or even to *want* to begin together in Cu with many brethren that have hurt us
so in the past, should not be expected to result from any supposed wisdom in the
choice of words, alone, that we might try to offer at the website.
"And my speech and my preaching [was] not with enticing words of man's wisdom,
but in demonstration of the Spirit and of power:" (1Co 2:4 AV)
It therefore seems that even the friends of spiritual Cu might need to see some
significant move of the Spirit, "in demonstration of the Spirit and of power",
in order for them to join in any Cu effort that isn't completely their own, that
isn't in all their own words, even if it is essentially the same as the Cu they
already seek, themselves. The perennial war of words among Christians has simply
left some of us too gun-shy to trust one another.
So at the SCUWPG website, we think it's essential to ask God to use the
supernatural power of His Spirit to show all believers we are a trustworthy part
of the same Cu in love and holiness in which they already believe, and we pray
for it often. Thank God, He has promised that when we are as one with Jesus
where He is, which is a unity certain to be given to Jesus, that demonstration
of the glory of His power is exactly what believers will "behold", when our
Father chooses to make us so co-located.
"Father, I will that they also, whom thou hast given me, be with me where I am;
that they may behold my glory, which thou hast given me: for thou lovedst me
before the foundation of the world." (Joh 17:24 AV)
Some today simply don't believe God's glory is already given to us to be shown
in this life in miracles for Cu. So to be united with Jesus, where He is, so
that even believers can behold His glory, our plan at SCUWPG is simply to
proceed with what we are now doing on the website; try to value and use all the
gifts of the Spirit God gives each of us to serve the body as one; generally skip
the war of words, whether friend of Cu or foe; and in the meantime, leave it to
God to either show them or us a better way, as He may choose.
"But covet earnestly the best gifts: and yet shew I unto you a more excellent
way." (1Co 12:31 AV)
Cu has never been a matter of numbers, but a matter of the number One, as in the
Holy One into whom we believers are all drawn in unity of love and holiness.
That's why we remain convinced we should keep with that approach to Cu, of
staying out of the war of words, and replacing it with our dependence on God's
powerful hands to use our mustard seed of faith. That's the approach we believe
that works best for all of us believers to individually do our part, in one way
or another, as God gives us each the light to see His will for Cu.
If God thinks we're right in using that spiritual, anti-war-of-words approach to
Cu as a group at SCUWPG, the Holy Spirit will lead the present and future
friends of Cu into it there soon enough, as pleases Him.
We believers all have different gifts from Him for the purpose of serving Cu, so
it's not all done in the same way, and that way in which we each presently serve
may change over time, for all of us, changing as the body of Christ grows up
together into the head, who is Christ; yet it's all to the same purpose. We're
all called to use those spiritual gifts from God to serve the same, one body in
which we are all members together, including believers in every Christian faith
group and denomination, to serve all the same ones who receive life in the
Spirit of love and holiness He died to give.
"Now you are the body of Christ and individually members of it. And God has
appointed in the church first apostles, second prophets, third teachers; then
deeds of power, then gifts of healing, forms of assistance, forms of leadership,
various kinds of tongues. Are all apostles? Are all prophets? Are all teachers?
Do all work miracles? Do all possess gifts of healing? Do all speak in tongues?
Do all interpret?" (1Co 12:27-30 NRSV)
The past, mistaken war of words over Cu in the body of Christ came about because
the primary gift from God we can think to use for the purpose of Cu is for us
all to be "teachers" to one another. I have no doubt some form of teacher
exchange is where we'll go in Cu, eventually somehow, but not where we can start
together.
It doesn't take any great gift of wisdom from God to realize that approach has
not worked well in the past, and is not going to work well in the future, for
teachers of conflicting doctrines, coming from different Christian faith groups,
each bent on trying to 'teach' the other.
If somebody's going to be a teacher, somebody's got to be a learner.
Teaching makes sense if someone is ignorant of Jesus, such as someone we regard
as a child or unbeliever. But if both of us come from different Christian faith
groups teaching one another, and both of us are believers, already believing we
are led by the Spirit, we each will find it difficult to sort His leading one
from His leading the other, and sorting each of those leadings from each of us
misleading ourselves. That's why Jesus stressed for us to keep an attitude of
being little children to one another, the lesser, and the younger.
"But ye [shall] not [be] so: but he that is greatest among you, let him be as
the younger; and he that is chief, as he that doth serve." (Lu 22:26 AV)
Because Cu is so important to God, I think that such a conflict of opposing
teachers is also a big reason why God made a point of saying He would do the
teaching, and the Holy Spirit would do the leading into all truth.
We first trust Jesus after we are delivered by the Father to believe the word of
truth about the gospel, good news, of our salvation in Jesus, which choice we
make to believe, was a choice given by grace, and paid for only by the blood of
His cross. The blood of the cross was paid to give us, each, the choice...to
believe the blood of the cross is, in fact, God's grace to us all, trusting in
Him and what He did there, as the good news, gospel of our salvation, for
whoever will believe it so.
"In whom ye also [trusted], after that ye heard the word of truth, the gospel of
your salvation: in whom also after that ye believed, ye were sealed with that
holy Spirit of promise, Which is the earnest of our inheritance until the
redemption of the purchased possession, unto the praise of his glory." (Eph
1:13-14 AV)
That earnest, or pledge from God, is the Spirit we receive after we believe the
word of truth in the gospel of our salvation in Jesus. But once we have the
Spirit, even then, He didn't leave the teaching of all truth only for us
brothers to teach one another. Somehow, His Spirit must do the leading into all
truth.
"And they shall teach no more every man his neighbour, and every man his
brother, saying, Know the LORD: for they shall all know me, from the least of
them unto the greatest of them, saith the LORD: for I will forgive their
iniquity, and I will remember their sin no more." (Jer 31:34 AV)
"No man can come to me, except the Father which hath sent me draw him: and I
will raise him up at the last day.
It is written in the prophets, And they shall be all taught of God. Every man
therefore that hath heard, and hath learned of the Father, cometh unto me." (Joh
6:44-45 AV)
"Nevertheless I tell you the truth; It is expedient for you that I go away: for
if I go not away, the Comforter will not come unto you; but if I depart, I will
send him unto you." (Joh 16:7 AV)
"Howbeit when he, the Spirit of truth, is come, he will guide you into all
truth: for he shall not speak of himself; but whatsoever he shall hear, [that]
shall he speak: and he will shew you things to come." (Joh 16:13 AV)
So where both sides on issues among repentant believers still hold opposing
doctrines, after having studied, discussed mutually, and prayed for the leading
of the Holy Spirit, we each have to be prepared to wait for the Holy Spirit to
do His job of leading the other into all truth, just as He so patiently does for
ourselves. In the meantime, we must learn to respect and even honor one another,
and be tolerant of other believers, as long as their Christian doctrine is not
unloving or unholy, recognizing our brother in Christ as our Lord's servant, not
our own.
"Who art thou that judgest another man's servant? To his own master he standeth
or falleth. Yea, he shall be holden up: for God is able to make him stand." (Ro
14:4 AV)
"[Be] kindly affectioned one to another with brotherly love; in honour
preferring one another;" (Ro 12:10 AV)
But in order to consider the possibility of the other's doctrine as coming from
our brethren in Christ at all, we have to be able to see one another as brothers
and sisters in Christ in the first place, which we can only do by accepting and
receiving one another based on nothing more than the eternal love and holiness
bought for us all in the same way by the blood of Jesus; gifts freely received
in shared faith of the gospel message of what He did for us all equally, for the
remission of all our sins in repentance and mutual forgiveness and mutual love,
through the grace of God in His blood. Together as one in love and
holiness in Christ, we can forgive one another for our misunderstandings of all
other doctrines.
No matter what gift of the Holy Spirit with which we each have been given to
serve the whole body in Cu, we've got to agree first that the eternal love and
holiness we each separately found in Jesus in our respective Christian faith
groups is the same, eternal love and holiness we now find in Jesus together. We
must agree that no matter which of the greater gifts we may ever, each offer the other,
no matter what mysteries, knowledge, or faith we might have to teach one
another, love is the more excellent way, including brotherly love of all who
find repentance and remission of sins in Jesus by grace, the gift of the
holiness and love from God the same now and eternally to us believers, all.
"But strive for the greater gifts. And I will show you a still more excellent
way. If I speak in the tongues of mortals and of angels, but do not have love, I
am a noisy gong or a clanging cymbal. And if I have prophetic powers, and
understand all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have all faith, so as to
remove mountains, but do not have love, I am nothing." (1Co 12:31-13:2 NRSV)
So it is necessary that all our efforts for Cu should be rooted and grounded in
eternal love and holiness in Jesus, and that the general intent and direction of
all our work for Cu should never be for winning the war of words among competing
Christian doctrines. We should, rather, all work together for just the opposite,
for avoiding the war altogether, to make room for God's glory to be seen in
power, in faith of the words of God we do hold in common already, to be seen by
both us believers and all the world.
"The glory that you have given me I have given them, so that they may be one, as
we are one, I in them and you in me, that they may become completely one, so
that the world may know that you have sent me and have loved them even as you
have loved me. Father, I desire that those also, whom you have given me, may be
with me where I am, to see my glory, which you have given me because you loved
me before the foundation of the world." (Joh 17:22-24 NRSV)
So if we're not out to prove the other believers wrong, then what's the point of
all this emphasis on Bible-based Christian unity among all believers to
repentance in Jesus, of all Christian denominations and faith groups? Why this
seemingly endless, biblical excavation work to 'plumb the depths' of God's word
about how He is supposedly going to lead, or force, as necessary, for Cu to be
seen as the ever-increasing focus of both the church and the world in these end
times, both within the household of God and without?
The point of finding the subject of Cu shown in the Bible as it applies to
spiritual unity of all Christian faith groups has never been, and must never be,
to win the debate. The purpose of Cu can never be to find the right words in the
Bible to argue with, so we can show each how wrong the other is, either to prove
our own Christian faith group's doctrine versus another's, or even to prove Cu
is what we should be arguing about.
"Behold, ye fast for strife and debate, and to smite with the fist of
wickedness: ye shall not fast as [ye do this] day, to make your voice to be
heard on high. Is it such a fast that I have chosen? A day for a man to afflict
his soul? [is it] to bow down his head as a bulrush, and to spread sackcloth and
ashes [under him]? Wilt thou call this a fast, and an acceptable day to the
LORD? [Is] not this the fast that I have chosen? To loose the bands of
wickedness, to undo the heavy burdens, and to let the oppressed go free, and
that ye break every yoke? [Is it] not to deal thy bread to the hungry, and that
thou bring the poor that are cast out to thy house? When thou seest the naked,
that thou cover him; and that thou hide not thyself from thine own flesh? Then
shall thy light break forth as the morning, and thine health shall spring forth
speedily: and thy righteousness shall go before thee; the glory of the LORD
shall be thy rereward." (Isa 58:4-8 AV)
In this quoted scripture just above, look again for Cu. Is every yoke of
oppression and bondage of sin broken when the world doesn't yet know who sent
Jesus? Jesus says the world will believe when we love all repentant believers as
He loved us. That's unity in love and holiness of the body of Christ with our
lives laid down for one another, and the news of that will be bread for the "the
hungry" after righteousness, and provision to "the poor" in spirit that are cast
out, bringing them into the house of God as one in Cu, to receive the one Spirit
of God's love and holiness for all repentant, mutually loving believers.
Still doubt you see Cu in that scripture above? Did you not have ears to hear
that the one Spirit of God in Christ is the one bread of the one body of Christ in the world today? Or if
your own, separate Christian faith group knows this bread, did you intend "not
to deal thy bread to the hungry", not the way the Bread said the world would
receive it, in commanded unity of eternal love for all repentant believers, as He loved
us, self-sacrificially?
“This is that bread which came down from heaven: not as your fathers did eat
manna, and are dead: he that eateth of this bread shall live for ever.” (Joh
6:58 AV)
“This is my commandment, That ye love one another, as I have loved you. Greater
love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends. Ye are
my friends, if ye do whatsoever I command you.” (Joh 15:12-14 AV)
“That they all may be one; as thou, Father, [art] in me, and I in thee, that
they also may be one in us: that the world may believe that thou hast sent me.”
(Joh 17:21 AV)
In Cu, all of the wonderful results in that scripture above depicting the day
acceptable to the Lord are promises to us in obedience to Cu, including the
glory of the LORD that we may be one, so God's glory becomes our "rereward", or rear guard, our
protection from all hidden attacks of the enemies of God's children.
That glory is not the prize for the winner of the debate for supremacy among the
various Christian faith groups, nor the booty taken by the vain-glorious victor
in the Christian war of words.
That glory, the same glory Jesus says He gave us "that they may be one", is 100%
dependent on the power of His Spirit working through us in receiving all
repentant believers as one in His name. Beholding that glory, right now in this
life, is 100% dependent on us trusting God to use the glory of His power now on
behalf of all repentant believers, of whom we, in our own Christian faith group,
are only a part.
So the whole point of finding together the words of the Bible about Cu is not to persuade the doubters otherwise, but only to strengthen the faith of us believers who do believe for Cu in love and holiness already, so we can trust God to show the glory of His power for Cu.
“Therefore I say unto you, What things soever ye desire, when ye pray, believe that ye receive [them], and ye shall have [them].” (Mr 11:24 AV)
Depending on the power of God for Cu instead of our own power, such as the power
of our own words, is nothing new or original, in principle, that the members of
the family and children of God haven't heard many times before, throughout
history; as seen at some level in every Bible history lesson, as taught in God's
love and holiness to repentant believers in every Christian church and faith
group, in some cases for centuries; the same thing the Bible reveals about the
events and actions of men and women, about the very thoughts of hearts, in every
Biblical account of the created and developing, spiritual relationship between
God and man, who would be His.
"To him give all the prophets witness, that through his name whosoever believeth
in him shall receive remission of sins." (Ac 10:43 AV)
"Their enemies also oppressed them, and they were brought into subjection under
their hand. Many times did he deliver them; but they provoked [him] with their
counsel, and were brought low for their iniquity. Nevertheless he regarded their
affliction, when he heard their cry: And he remembered for them his covenant,
and repented according to the multitude of his mercies." (Ps 106:42-45 AV)
The way the whole Bible is united in pointing to belief that Jesus paid for our
sins, the way the Bible shows God's children in ancient Israel constantly
alternating back and forth between straying vs. depending on God's miraculous
provision, is the same point of Cu as shown in the Bible for these end times,
and it's just this: trust in God.
Let me repeat that.
The point of Cu as shown in the Bible for these end times is just this: trust in
God.
Show the world and each other that we believers all agree to trust the grace of
God in Jesus for the remission of our sins, and as a result of that one trust
and belief we all have in Him the same already for our salvation, every one of
us repentant, mutually loving believers has received the same, one, Spirit
living inside ourselves, teaching us to trust God completely in this life for
the grace of His glory that we may be one, as well as trusting for all grace
from God to receive
from Him every physical and spiritual good thing we need in this life, no matter
what comes our way.
Cu isn't a question of God's grace and love to save us from our sins. We
repentant believers all know He gave us that already in the finished work of
Christ on the cross, while we were yet in our sins.
Cu is a question now, of whether we want now, the confidence to believe now,
what God says about Cu: that God now shows His grace and love in Jesus to the
rest of the world the way He said He would in Cu, showing the world God sent
Jesus the way He said He would in Cu, showing the world God sent Jesus in what
we repentant believers are doing as one to love one another as He loved us...in
God's self-sacrificial love.
Cu is thus believing as one together for Him to show His glory that He said He
already gave that we may be one, because we're in a oneness that begins in
loving one another repentant believers, as one in His holiness.
It's a question of whether we want to humble ourselves to one another and to
God, to admit to ourselves that we'll never show the world God's grace, love,
and holiness as being freely available to anyone who will believe it so, unless
we first believe it so, without regard to denomination. We'll never show the
world God sent Jesus by trying as hard as we can only in our own Christian faith
group, apart from all the rest. Separated from all merely repentant believers,
we choose to take spiritual pride in our separateness instead of the faith for
Cu Jesus authors in us.
He authored and authorized faith in us for Cu when He already ordained us to ask
and receive anything for Christian unity as one in love and holiness with every
other repentant believer in the name of Jesus.
"Ye have not chosen me, but I have chosen you, and ordained you, that ye should
go and bring forth fruit, and [that] your fruit should remain: that whatsoever
ye shall ask of the Father in my name, he may give it you. These things I
command you, that ye love one another." (Joh 15:16-17 AV)
He authored and authorized faith in us for Cu when He already said we could use
the glory of the power of His Spirit to make us one in the name of Jesus, in one
Spirit with the Father.
"And the glory which thou gavest me I have given them; that they may be one,
even as we are one:" (Joh 17:22 AV)
But that's His glory and His power, in His name, not ours; it's power dependent
on receiving all as one in His name. It takes humility to say the glory and
power He gave our own, separate Christian faith group is not enough to show the
world, but we need His, and that it only comes with receiving and accepting all
the other repentant believers, wherever they are found, right where they are
now, in every Christian denomination and faith group.
It takes humility to let the glory of the power of God's Spirit work through
receiving the entire body of Christ as spiritually one with us to show the world
who sent Jesus, because that means in our particular Christian faith group, we
have to humble ourselves to other, repentant believers in every Christian
denomination and faith group, in order to humble ourselves to God's glory and
power.
Cu is the answer to the question of whether we care enough to be obedient to His
commanded mutual love, and mutually recognized holiness in every repentant
believer, so that it will give us the confidence to know we can ask and receive
from God whatever we can believe will draw those who are unbelievers now, into
the same love and holiness we repentant believers all found first in God in
Christ on the cross.
In Cu in love and holiness, we show the world we agree that He loves all us
repentant believers, in every Christian denomination and faith group, for
obeying Him two ways: for us repenting of all unrighteousness; and for us loving
and forgiving all who likewise obey Him in repenting of all unrighteousness.
It's repetitive, but it's not complicated.
Our obedience those two ways gives us the confidence to trust God's grace
completely in this life, and gives us confidence toward God that we receive
whatever we ask to make all of us repentant believers one in His love and
holiness; because for His holiness, we all believe the same way on the name of
His Son Jesus Christ for the eternal remission of all our sins in repentance;
and for His love, we all eternally love the same way all who so believe.
"Beloved, if our heart condemn us not, [then] have we confidence toward God. And
whatsoever we ask, we receive of him, because we keep his commandments, and do
those things that are pleasing in his sight. And this is his commandment, That
we should believe on the name of his Son Jesus Christ, and love one another, as
he gave us commandment. And he that keepeth his commandments dwelleth in him,
and he in him. And hereby we know that he abideth in us, by the Spirit which he
hath given us." (1Jo 3:21-24 AV)
"And hereby", as the scripture implies above, as we see this pairing
of love and holiness in each other, it proves to us that
the Spirit lives in us repentant believers, all. Seeing one another keep His
commandments to repent, and seeing one another love all who repent, all that
repent in the same belief of the grace of God given to us all in the name of His
Son Jesus Christ for the remission of our sins, we thus see each of us being led
by the same, one Spirit which He has given to live in every one of us repentant,
mutually loving believers.
The next scripture says the same thing, but based on what we repentant, mutually
loving believers *don't do*. Because when the one's who don't repent and
mutually love are seen as excluded from among us, as the scripture intends to
sort out below, that leaves the rest of us who do appear to repent and mutually
love being made manifest to one another, and on the basis of that manifest love
and holiness we all claim in the blood of Christ, we must be accepted by one
another as children of God together in His one family.
"In this the children of God are manifest, and the children of the devil:
whosoever doeth not righteousness is not of God, neither he that loveth not his
brother." (1Jo 3:10 AV)
Is any of this a surprise for Christians? Is the Christian life ever described
in the Bible as not Spirit vs. flesh? Did the Spirit ever call us to be unloving
and unholy? Could Christian unity ever not include love and holiness?
"from the beginning, that we love one another"
" that we walk after his commandments"
“And now I beseech thee, lady, not as though I wrote a new commandment unto
thee, but that which we had from the beginning, that we love one another. And
this is love, that we walk after his commandments. This is the commandment,
That, as ye have heard from the beginning, ye should walk in it.” (2Jo 1:5-6 AV)
"For they that are after the flesh do mind the things of the flesh; but they
that are after the Spirit the things of the Spirit." (Ro 8:5 AV)
“But ye are not in the flesh, but in the Spirit, if so be that the Spirit of God
dwell in you. Now if any man have not the Spirit of Christ, he is none of his.
And if Christ [be] in you, the body [is] dead because of sin; but the Spirit
[is] life because of righteousness.” (Ro 8:9-10 AV)
Cu means we repentant, mutually loving believers agree that we all see the same, one Spirit in
all of us telling each of us to look always and constantly for His will and His
leading in this life, to see how it compares versus our sins and our errors, in
every event, every circumstance, every new development, and in every situation
that seems to present itself to our weak-sighted, sinfully inclined, worldly
eyes; letting instead, the perfect vision of His Spirit of love and holiness
lead us through it all, both in our lives as individuals and together as one
body in Christ.
Christian unity in these end times is just that same, old, repetitious, Bible
story of Spirit vs. flesh, acted out here on earth, but played on fast-forward
for the duration of the remainder, to see if we've learned anything at all from
all that's gone before; to show us and the world in all that is to come,
trusting in Him is our only hope...obeying and following Jesus is our only
prayer.
This world is not our home. God's getting us ready to go, and we have to get
ourselves ready as one, as He directs. No one of us gets out of here spiritually
alive without Him, or apart from all that are in Him, and we need to work
together on our respective parts in His exit plan for the whole of us. It's a
hard thing for us to accept our own need for perfection in order to get ready as
one, to admit our own sins against Cu in His love and holiness given to every
believer, when we yet see some lesser doctrinal error in one another.
"All the ways of a man [are] clean in his own eyes; but the LORD weigheth the
spirits." (Pr 16:2 AV)
“And he spake a parable unto them, Can the blind lead the blind? shall they not
both fall into the ditch? The disciple is not above his master: but every one
that is perfect shall be as his master. And why beholdest thou the mote that is
in thy brother’s eye, but perceivest not the beam that is in thine own eye?
Either how canst thou say to thy brother, Brother, let me pull out the mote that
is in thine eye, when thou thyself beholdest not the beam that is in thine own
eye? Thou hypocrite, cast out first the beam out of thine own eye, and then
shalt thou see clearly to pull out the mote that is in thy brother’s eye. For a
good tree bringeth not forth corrupt fruit; neither doth a corrupt tree bring
forth good fruit.” (Lu 6:39-43 AV)
The beam that is now become so much greater than the mote for every one of us,
is the one command we all have yet to accomplish; the one, new commandment of
Jesus, the only one He called his own. Who among us has shown the world God sent
Jesus; who among us has not sinned and come short of the glory of God given that
we may be one?
“For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God;” (Ro 3:23 AV)
“And the glory which thou gavest me I have given them; that they may be one,
even as we are one: I in them, and thou in me, that they may be made perfect in
one; and that the world may know that thou hast sent me, and hast loved them, as
thou hast loved me.” (Joh 17:22-23 AV)
Who among us is already made perfect in one love for all believers to repentance
in Christ, for "Whosoever shall confess that Jesus is the Son of God", the Son
and Christ who laid down His life to give repentance and remission of sins to
all who will believe it so? Who among us stands having boldness for the day of
judgment, already perfect as one in love with all repentant, mutually loving
believers in the God, who is love, in Jesus?
"God is love"
"Herein is our love made perfect, that we may have boldness in the day of
judgment"
“Whosoever shall confess that Jesus is the Son of God, God dwelleth in him, and
he in God. And we have known and believed the love that God hath to us. God is
love; and he that dwelleth in love dwelleth in God, and God in him. Herein is
our love made perfect, that we may have boldness in the day of judgment: because
as he is, so are we in this world.” (1Jo 4:15-17 AV)
We are far from being as one in His perfection...farther than our feeble,
sin-beset human minds can imagine...we have much to learn from Him and about
Him...we are not yet enough like Him, with a long way to go, in less and less
time to get there...and in the final family gathering into our eternal home, for
us to now dream of standing before Him at the end of our intended, earthly
sojourn with Him, expecting a pat on the collective Christian back, while
brazenly presenting our broken selves there in open, obvious defiance and
refusal to obey His one, new commandment; thinking to be gathered there with one
another believers from other Christian faith groups, with believers *not*
preferred over self, together with the others only against our will; gathered
*not* in the eternal holiness and love among us that He paid for so dearly with
His precious blood, to give to every one of us the same, is a vain imagination
of the fullness of times for God's children, that has never remotely crossed the
mind of the eternal, Holy Father, who is, Himself, love!
"to be holy and blameless before him in love... according to his good pleasure
that he set forth in Christ, as a plan for the fullness of time, to gather up
all things in him, things in heaven and things on earth." (Eph 1:4b, 10 NRSV)
"that we should be holy and without blame before him in love...That in the
dispensation of the fulness of times he might gather together in one all things
in Christ, both which are in heaven, and which are on earth; [even] in him:"
(Eph 1:4b, 10 av)
OVERVIEW OF CU: SO WHERE DOES THAT LEAVE CU OF ALL BELIEVERS NOW?
To put it succinctly, we should always be able to believe that the overall
purpose of Christian unity (Cu) is advancing well, believing for Cu now and
always with a mustard seed of faith, even while the world is growing ever worse,
and even though we believers have a long way to go to "be like him", because we
know we are becoming like Him in little steps led by His Spirit, while He gives
miraculous increase that we could never do for ourselves.
These summary points, above, are considered one at a time, below.
CU ADVANCING WELL
We should always greatly rejoice for Cu at the moment, if we are making at least
some effort of our own for Cu that we believe He leads us to do, because we know
whether we do our little part for Cu right or wrong, Cu is God's plan and He's
doing it exactly the way He wants it.
If we're not doing it right, He will let us know. Whether *we* do it right or
not, *He* will, but He insists we try.
If we do Cu right, we can count on verses like this one:
"For the eyes of the LORD run to and fro throughout the whole earth, to shew
himself strong in the behalf of [them] whose heart [is] perfect toward him."
(2Ch 16:9a AV)
If we do Cu wrong, we can count on scripture like this verse:
"And ye have forgotten the exhortation which speaketh unto you as unto children,
My son, despise not thou the chastening of the Lord, nor faint when thou art
rebuked of him: For whom the Lord loveth he chasteneth, and scourgeth every son
whom he receiveth." (Heb 12:5-6 AV)
Our part in Cu as believers is to do what we believe He told us to do already
for Cu, and look for what He will tell us to do next. This effort of doing what
He told us to do, and looking for our next assignment for Cu until the very last
moment He returns for His bride, is the tiny mustard seed of faith for Cu God
requires of us all, and can be seen as it particularly relates to Cu, in the
following parables.
OUR MUSTARD SEED OF FAITH: DOING ONE LITTLE THING AFTER ANOTHER HE LEADS US TO
DO FOR CU
Jesus said that if we want to increase our faith, after we think we've done all
that He has commanded us to do so far, we should consider ourselves as
unprofitable servants, or worthless slaves, who merely do what we're told. This means to have no
pride for doing only what we've been told to do, but do one thing He told us to
do and then look for another, always keeping the humble attitude of learning
from Him how next He wants us to serve Him, in the supper He commands us to
serve Him in, as our first priority in this life before we serve ourselves.
"The apostles said to the Lord, "Increase our faith!" The Lord replied, "If you
had faith the size of a mustard seed, you could say to this mulberry tree, 'Be
uprooted and planted in the sea,' and it would obey you. "Who among you would
say to your slave who has just come in from plowing or tending sheep in the
field, 'Come here at once and take your place at the table'? Would you not
rather say to him, 'Prepare supper for me, put on your apron and serve me while
I eat and drink; later you may eat and drink'? Do you thank the slave for doing
what was commanded? So you also, when you have done all that you were ordered to
do, say, 'We are worthless slaves; we have done only what we ought to have
done!'"" (Lu 17:5-10 NRSV)
On the surface, this looks like a supper for Jesus; but we're supposed to know
that the supper He longs for is to be served at the wedding to His dearly wooed,
holy and loving bride, the blood-bought church, and therefore in order to serve
Him in greatest service to His kingdom, we must serve all self-sacrificially,
for whom He sacrificed Himself. He left out of His self-sacrificial service in
love not
a single, repentant believer in His name for repentance and remission of sins,
and He will have every, single one of them served self-sacrificially in love by us,
serving every one that receives the eternal life Jesus died to give.
"But so shall it not be among you: but whosoever will be great among you, shall
be your minister: And whosoever of you will be the chiefest, shall be servant of
all. For even the Son of man came not to be ministered unto, but to minister,
and to give his life a ransom for many." (Mr 10:43-45 AV)
But ye [shall] not [be] so: but he that is greatest among you, let him be as the
younger; and he that is chief, as he that doth serve. For whether [is] greater,
he that sitteth at meat, or he that serveth? [is] not he that sitteth at meat?
But I am among you as he that serveth." (Lu 22:24-27 AV)
Jesus also said that if we continually make our first priority Cu, which is
seeking His righteous kingdom of love together with all in Christ, making it the
primary treasure of our hearts, and remain always ready to work to serve the
wedding supper of His ultimate marriage in love-union with all believers, united
as one in His Spirit He gives us all, as He and the Father are one in the
Trinity, then we'll not only have all our needs met in this life, but He will
actually come forth to serve us when He returns.
"Instead, strive for his kingdom, and these things will be given to you as well.
"Do not be afraid, little flock, for it is your Father's good pleasure to give
you the kingdom. Sell your possessions, and give alms. Make purses for
yourselves that do not wear out, an unfailing treasure in heaven, where no thief
comes near and no moth destroys. For where your treasure is, there your heart
will be also. "Be dressed for action and have your lamps lit; be like those who
are waiting for their master to return from the wedding banquet, so that they
may open the door for him as soon as he comes and knocks. Blessed are those
slaves whom the master finds alert when he comes; truly I tell you, he will
fasten his belt and have them sit down to eat, and he will come and serve them."
(Lu 12:31-37 NRSV)
Waiting for Jesus' return to take us as His bride united with Himself in
holiness and love, waiting as we also at the same time serve the whole body, to
prepare and perfect ourselves as one bride perfected in love and holiness for
Him, we should thus take
great joy at the present time to do what little we can do now for Cu by doing
what we're told, and by looking for whatever He wants us to do next. Our great
joy should be to do it always resting in the fact that it's His plan, His
problem, His choice of the details for how and when to bring it about, and yet
the outcome is certain: our unity in the love and holiness of Christ.
"to be holy and blameless before him in love...according to his good pleasure
that he set forth in Christ, as a plan for the fullness of time, to gather up
all things in him, things in heaven and things on earth." (Eph 1:4b, 10 NRSV)
"that we should be holy and without blame before him in love...That in the
dispensation of the fulness of times he might gather together in one all things
in Christ, both which are in heaven, and which are on earth; [even] in him:"
(Eph 1:4b, 10 av)
If you feel God is already leading you to do some particular thing for Cu, and
many believers do in various ways, then do that. If you can't think of anything
better, I suggest offering a prayer at the SCUW website, as a little thing we
all can do together for Cu.
I regard my own part in the SCUW website as a little thing, working on it in
time available over the last few years, yet I greatly rejoice over what I see
taking place now at the website. I rejoice not because any of us have done a
great thing there, but because we've all been allowed to lend a hand in a very
little thing, that only God can do great things with.
You couldn't make the new SCUWPG website a great thing among men if you tried.
No matter how many prayers you, we, or any other believer might post there, and
no matter what kind of words of our agreement in the Bible might be added to the
website, these will always be seen as little things in the eyes of the world.
It's no great thing, actually trivial when you think about it, for a tiny group
of Christians from varied Christian faith groups to do what we did on the SCUWPG
website: to outline what we all, already believe in together, so people could
pray in it together.
It's so obvious, it seems it can't be important. That's part of the reason why
there are so few members there to start with: it looks like such a little thing
among men...and it is. There's nothing there for men to glory in of themselves. We
can't even glory in it, ourselves, for making the website in the first place,
because we gathered all the ideas for it from what all other believers already
believe in the Bible.
The central Cu themes of the website, "love and holiness", are original with
God, not us humans, either on the Cu list, on the SCUW website, or anywhere
else. The pair came from God's own, eternal love and holiness for us all in
Christ, and was given by Him, in Jesus, to us believers, all, not to make us
differ from one another, but to make us the same as one in Him.
“For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever
believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.” (Joh 3:16 AV)
“Herein is love, not that we loved God, but that he loved us, and sent his Son
[to be] the propitiation for our sins. Beloved, if God so loved us, we ought
also to love one another.” (1Jo 4:10-11 AV)
"For who maketh thee to differ [from another]? And what hast thou that thou
didst not receive? Now if thou didst receive [it], why dost thou glory, as if
thou hadst not received [it]?" (1Co 4:7 AV)
"For he hath made him [to be] sin for us, who knew no sin; that we might be made
the righteousness of God in him." (2Co 5:21 AV)
We've shown many times on the
Cu email list (
http://associate.com/groups/christianunity/ ), in discussions and posts
about Cu for many years past, with dozens of different
quotes from believers of various Christian faith groups, that we can find love
and holiness as requirements throughout Christianity, including Orthodox,
Catholics, and Protestants, both past and present. We've also shown scripture
regarding the same two commands, "love one another" and "be holy", paired in
context many times, many places in the Bible.
So there's nothing great, new, or original with us men and women going on at the
SCUWPG website. The only way it could ever be seen as great, is in God's
decision to answer the prayers there; and when He does that, it could only
glorify Him, not any individual Christian faith group, and certainly not us at
the Prayer Group, because we're praying only in what all believers already
believe in together, for which none of us humans can take personal credit. We
got it from all believers, and they all got it from God!
As a result, it's a continuing, wonderful privilege to offer prayers at the SCUW Prayer Group for unity, and for healing together with sisters and brothers who seek His glory in Christian unity. It gives us great, personal peace and joy to join together in honor to our Lord, as we wait there on the website for His leading into ever greater holiness and love among ourselves, as among all our brethren as one in Christ.
So posting a prayer at the SCUW Prayer Group is just one example of planting a
tiny mustard seed of faith for Cu. It simply offers believers a way to do one
little thing for Cu while we each look for whatever He leads us to do next, as
we join Jesus in His prayer, that we may be one.
Whether each of us sees His leading there or elsewhere, we hope and pray that
every repentant, mutually loving believer makes some such little effort to
follow Jesus into oneness in mutual love and holiness with all believers, so God
can give us all His miraculous increase to our small seed of faith for Cu.
WORLD GROWING WORSE
I offer here little or no real, detailed proof of this part, but my own
viewpoint of why Cu is so important compared to where I see the world headed.
I see in the world an ever-increasing worldliness in all societies, all over the
world; an unrelentingly increasing consumption of lives with consumerism,
materialism, money and power among worldly men, sexual immorality, abuse of
alcohol and every kind of psychoactive drug, and unbridled love of self and
momentary self-gratification in most every way possible, in every ultimately
self-destructive vanity that Satan offers in order to kill, steal, and destroy
every good thing from every life and every soul that will follow him. Perhaps most
significant for the destruction of modern society's future, many children are exposed
to the influence of all of these at an ever earlier age in their development.
“The thief cometh not, but for to steal, and to kill, and to destroy: I am come
that they might have life, and that they might have [it] more abundantly.” (Joh
10:10 AV)
In all of these things in which the church is supposed to be in the world but
not of it, the church has become too much of it, instead of letting the word
sanctify us from the sins of the world and separate us for God's purpose in Cu
as Jesus prayed for in John 17.
"I pray not that thou shouldest take them out of the world, but that thou
shouldest keep them from the evil. They are not of the world, even as I am not
of the world. Sanctify them through thy truth: thy word is truth. As thou hast
sent me into the world, even so have I also sent them into the world. And for
their sakes I sanctify myself, that they also might be sanctified through the
truth." (Joh 17:15-19 AV)
The only question in Cu, is whether we all want to go the right way as one
together, as Jesus commanded it in His new commandment, or the way of the world.
But no matter what we Christians do in Cu, imo, I believe the world is going
wrong anyway, very soon, in ways that look to me very much like extreme versions
of scriptural descriptions of end times.
"This know also, that in the last days perilous times shall come. For men shall
be lovers of their own selves, covetous, boasters, proud, blasphemers,
disobedient to parents, unthankful, unholy, Without natural affection,
trucebreakers, false accusers, incontinent, fierce, despisers of those that are
good, Traitors, heady, highminded, lovers of pleasures more than lovers of God;"
(2Ti 3:1-4 AV)
If I had to guess, this rapid progress that I see toward evil in the world is
not because peoples' inclinations are any worse now than they ever were. Human
nature hasn't changed. The sin nature has been in us since Adam.
As an Electrical Engineer, I believe a very great deal of the escalating evil we
can see around us in the world nowadays has to do with the ever-increasing,
unparalleled, ever more rapidly-changing effects of advances in technology.
Man can simply create new technology faster than man's society can develop
strategies of decency to keep the worst expressions of sinful, human nature in
check, as I see in these examples:
* Technology forces a plethora of ever increasingly, ever more technically
complex, ethical and moral questions
on us
dealing with medicine, genetics, and man's power over life and death, creating
issues in the biological sciences that never had to be decided before.
* Technology forces shockingly abrupt changes on economic markets, not only in
new products and services, but in new business systems, and new ways of doing
business with technology, which creates gaps in existing anti-corruption laws,
which in turn, are instantly exploited by corrupt business and government
leaders for the benefit of the super-rich and themselves, at the expense of the
public markets and public interests they ostensibly serve. The many recent government and business
financial scandals, ranging from junk bonds and derivatives scams; to front-end,
price loading of e-bubble stocks before the public is ever allowed to buy; to
telecom stock manipulation fraud; and direct price fixing by fraud in the
now-failed attempt to create energy commodity markets, controlled invisibly in
digital networks; all were driven by technological innovation, primarily in
digital electronics and it's associated systems and networks, and all are
occurring at an ever-increasing rate. Far and away, most culprits involved, in
both business and government, receive minimal punishment, if any, and after they
serve in jail only a portion of what would be a just sentence, they often are
released and still get to keep most of their ill-gotten gains. This has
disastrous net effects on ethics in society, making honesty and morality in
money matters look generally stupid, insofar as how the rule of law is actually
applied in such cases. In these
and many other ways, in general for many areas of technological advance, some of
the rich get richer in evil, socially irresponsible and destructive ways, ways
that do not promote the general public welfare, and
most often, no one stops them in time.
* Technology instantly impacts drastically on most every facet of day-to-day
living in modern social life, including child development, family relationships,
sexual morality, and career and personal finances, making norms of morality in
all areas of behavior seem outdated while enabling spirit-killing, spiritually
destructive forms of socialization, information, and entertainment to become
commonplace throughout popular media, permeating all of society. This puts the
depiction and leading of societal norms in the hands of the media providers who
make money from feeding man's basest lusts. Now in the case of the Internet,
this all happens behind closed doors, providing a cloak of virtual invisibility
not only for duplicity in sexual morality of the heart of the individual user,
but also hiding the explosive proliferation of pornography, and in some of it's
most heinous forms; and finally,
* Technology puts ever-increasing, physically destructive power and weaponry in
the hands of fewer and fewer people, enabling ever smaller groups of evil men to
wreak havoc on a scale unheard of in human history.
As I said, this is all just my personal viewpoint of the world, which I won't
bother to argue about, defend, or explain much further. I state it here just so
I can explain my own motivation for Cu.
You may have noticed I rarely, if ever, mention the political side of any of these on the
Cu email list. This is quite intentional. I have strong feelings about these subjects,
and exercise my rights to participate politically elsewhere as I see fit. But I
choose to follow as my first goal in this life, what I see of Christ's leading,
whose involvement in politics and society, as I see it, was always, first and
foremost, to get His Spirit into each and every one of us and get it obeyed,
united in love and holiness.
For the promotion of Cu among Christians, I don't think either politics or state
has any direct place in church, nor does church in state, because in my opinion,
no coordinated effort of man, Christian or otherwise, will ever resolve or
reverse any of these trends toward evil; man's own, sinful nature is the root
cause of them all.
Armies of men working together in their own power for any common cause, other
than God's one, all-important cause of giving the one Spirit of God in Christ on
the cross to all who will believe it so, won't reverse the progression of the
world toward evil following man's sinful nature.
Armies of man won't reverse it; the Holy Spirit in whom we unite in Cu in love
and holiness in Jesus, will.
"Then he answered and spake unto me, saying, This [is] the word of the LORD unto
Zerubbabel, saying, Not by might, nor by power, but by my spirit, saith the LORD
of hosts. {might: or, army}" (Zec 4:6 AV)
God's just letting the technology race ahead of societal norms of decency so He
can show us all very quickly that if we don't turn from sin and disobedience to
His new commandment, to follow His Spirit in uniting in love and holiness as
never before, we have no hope of catching up to overcome the evil without Him.
"O LORD, I know that the way of man [is] not in himself: [it is] not in man that
walketh to direct his steps." (Jer 10:23 AV)
That's why it's called the end times. One way or the other, it's the end of man
without God. Before He's through, He's going to make sure every one of us knows
that.
The only spiritual survivors will live eternally in His Spirit. We're supposed
to live like the end is coming soon, and focus on His kingdom and His
righteousness in the love, who is God, above all in this life. In Cu, God will
certainly show the world He sent Jesus, and for the world that still chooses to
remain outside of our final Cu in Him, sin will certainly steal, kill, and
destroy, the souls of every one who so refuses and denies Him in the end, with
all in the world knowing for certain that God sent Jesus, as He promised they
would know, in Cu in love and holiness of every believer.
"for a witness unto all nations"
"And this gospel of the kingdom shall be preached in all the world for a witness
unto all nations; and then shall the end come." (Mt 24:14 AV)
"all [men] know that ye are my disciples"
"By this shall all [men] know that ye are my disciples, if ye have love one to
another." (Joh 13:35 AV)
"the world may know that thou hast sent me"
"I in them, and thou in me, that they may be made perfect in one; and that the
world may know that thou hast sent me, and hast loved them, as thou hast loved
me." (Joh 17:23 AV)
So for me, working on Cu is the best thing I can try to do about what I see as
an inexorable progression of evil in the world without the miraculous
intervention of God. That's what I believe, and like it or not, I have to live
it out and speak it out.
"We having the same spirit of faith, according as it is written, I believed, and
therefore have I spoken; we also believe, and therefore speak;" (2Co 4:13 AV)
I believe God is clearly showing us Christianity has failed Him in not obeying
His new commandment as He would have it, and we're running out of time to get it
right. I believe 'business as usual' in Christianity is no longer an option, and
we believers will either get with His Cu program, or find ourselves, our
families, and many of our children and future generations drawn into the vortex
of evil which is building and headed for destruction, soon and forever.
I believe the last verse of the Old Testament will certainly be fulfilled again,
and Cu is the only better choice over the curse.
"And he shall turn the heart of the fathers to the children, and the heart of
the children to their fathers, lest I come and smite the earth with a curse."
(Mal 4:6 AV)
"And he shall go before him in the spirit and power of Elias, to turn the hearts
of the fathers to the children, and the disobedient to the wisdom of the just;
to make ready a people prepared for the Lord." (Lu 1:17 AV)
That same spirit and power of Elias getting us ready as one for Jesus' coming
again, can still be found in scriptures about Cu if we just look for them
together and obey them together, in the body of Christ united in getting the
Spirit of love and holiness into ourselves, and for the next generation, before it's too late.
The opposite of love and holiness among all repentant, mutually loving believers is iniquity and love waxed
cold, among those who "doeth not
righteousness" and "loveth not his
brother", and God simply won't have it.
"Repent ye: for the kingdom of heaven is at hand"
"In those days came John the Baptist, preaching in the wilderness of Judaea, And saying, Repent ye: for the kingdom of heaven is at hand. For this is he that was spoken of by the prophet Esaias, saying, The voice of one crying in the wilderness, Prepare ye the way of the Lord, make his paths straight." (Mt 3:1-3 AV)
“In this the children of God are manifest, and the children of the devil:
whosoever doeth not righteousness is not of God, neither he that loveth not his
brother. For this is the message that ye heard from the beginning, that we
should love one another.” (1Jo 3:10-11 AV)
"this gospel of the kingdom"
"in all the world for a witness unto all nations"
"then shall the end come"
"And because iniquity shall abound, the love of many shall wax cold. But he that shall endure unto the end, the same shall be saved. And this gospel of the kingdom shall be preached in all the world for a witness unto all nations; and then shall the end come." (Mt 24:12-14 AV)
He will have a world hearing the same, one gospel of what Jesus did on the cross; one gospel coming from the body of Christ speaking as one in the world today, to a world knowing God sent Jesus, and those who try to exclude any believer from Christ's blood-bought love and holiness, refusing to follow Jesus as His disciples into that unity of self-sacrificial holiness and love for all believers, simply won't have part in God's one kingdom and family of children manifest in Christ.
"declare unto you the gospel"
“Moreover, brethren, I declare unto you the gospel which I preached unto you, which also ye have received, and wherein ye stand; By which also ye are saved, if ye keep in memory what I preached unto you, unless ye have believed in vain. For I delivered unto you first of all that which I also received, how that Christ died for our sins according to the scriptures; And that he was buried, and that he rose again the third day according to the scriptures:” (1Co 15:1-4 AV)
"the world may know that thou hast sent me"
“I in them, and thou in me, that they
may be made perfect in one; and that the world may know that thou hast sent me,
and hast loved them, as thou hast loved me.” (Joh 17:23 AV)
"all [men] know that ye are my disciples"
“By this shall all [men] know that ye are my disciples, if ye have love one to another.” (Joh 13:35 AV)
There's the crux of the matter for me. I believe God is going to do whatever it
takes to convince us that trying to protect our own, beloved sons and daughters from
the level of evil that is coming, but without our obedience together in "one
heart" to the one, new
commandment of His perfect, beloved, first-born Son, is a fool's errand we've
run long enough.
“And I will give them one heart, and one way, that they may fear me for ever, for the good of them, and of their children after them:” (Jer 32:39 AV)
I simply want to leave my children and grandchildren a better church than I found, one that shows the world God sent Jesus the way He said to show it, in our Christian unity of mutual, self-sacrificial love for all believers; showing the Jesus who was sent to whosoever will believe God would give Himself that way in Christ on the cross; showing the world we believers can unite in seeing God's love and holiness there on the cross for every believer, so the world can believe it for themselves, too, because Jesus said they would, if we show the world we all believe Jesus paid there with His blood to give it to us all the same; which we show by loving all believers as He did, with our own lives laid down for all believers.
We show the world we believe God's eternal, self-sacrificial love for all repentant believers when we obey Jesus' commands for us to be holy and love all repentant believers self-sacrificially and eternally, as He loved us, "as I have loved you. Greater love hath no man than this".
“This is my commandment, That ye love one another, as I have loved you. Greater
love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends. Ye are
my friends, if ye do whatsoever I command you.” (Joh 15:12-14 AV)
As a result of our obedience to the command for self-sacrificial love, Father God shows the world He sent Jesus, and has loved the self-sacrificial obedience of us repentant and mutually loving believers, the same as Father God has loved the self-sacrificial obedience of our all-holy, all-loving Savior, "that the world may know that thou hast sent me, and hast loved them, as thou hast loved me".
“I in them, and thou in me, that they may be made perfect in one; and that the
world may know that thou hast sent me, and hast loved them, as thou hast loved
me.” (Joh 17:23 AV)
“Therefore doth my Father love me, because I lay down my life, that I might take
it again. No man taketh it from me, but I lay it down of myself. I have power to
lay it down, and I have power to take it again. This commandment have I received
of my Father.” (Joh 10:17-18 AV)
Imo, if we believers just show the world we start together now in Cu right where
we all are, in believing what He did the same for us all on the cross, God will
turn it all around, for every believer as one together in His love and holiness,
forever. Evil will grow, but it will not have the last word, in technology or
any other way, because it will never compare to the power of the Spirit in the
body of Christ, if we believers just walk together in this life as one in the
Spirit of holiness and self-sacrificial love for all believers. The world will go it's way, but we believers will be protected no matter
what, so that we escape and receive all of God's promises as shown in scripture,
throughout these end times, because Jesus said we could.
"Watch ye therefore, and pray always, that ye may be accounted worthy to escape
all these things that shall come to pass, and to stand before the Son of man."
(Lu 21:36 AV)
The good news in the ever-quickening pace of man's technological progress is
that it's all based on God's physical laws of the universe, which He is not
quite done using for His own purposes yet, no matter how much men babble about
how smart they are in building new 'Towers of Babel' in technology.
It's His universe, and He can intervene in any way He likes; whether the world
learns it the hard way, or the easy way, either way, every knee will bow. It may
also surprise the worshippers of man's wisdom in rapidly advancing technology,
God can do any quick work in righteousness on this earth He desires for the
salvation of His children, as seen in this scripture about the finish of God's
work here to unite Gentiles and Jews in the righteousness of faith in Christ.
"As he saith also in Osee, I will call them my people, which were not my people;
and her beloved, which was not beloved. And it shall come to pass, [that] in the
place where it was said unto them, Ye [are] not my people; there shall they be
called the children of the living God. Esaias also crieth concerning Israel,
Though the number of the children of Israel be as the sand of the sea, a remnant
shall be saved: For he will finish the work, and cut [it] short in
righteousness: because a short work will the Lord make upon the earth." (Ro
9:25-28 AV)
We have nothing to fear if God is for us, and He is for us if we are for
His purpose of Cu in us believers, all. For one example of God's use of
technology through us believers in Cu, the same Internet that widely distributes
the design concepts for making atomic bombs, also makes possible for believers
all over the world, from every Christian denomination and faith group, to gather
in shared faith and prayer in Christian unity, which unity in love and holiness,
as it fortunately would happen, is God's very purpose for the universe.
Concerning God's universal purpose to unite all believers in Christ, please see
a few more of the relevant verses in that passage in Ephesians so often quoted herein, along
with a few others about His power in the earth now, and about His glory already given
that we may be one in Him.
"a plan for the fullness of time, to gather up all things in him"
"the immeasurable greatness of his power for us who believe"
"for the church, which is his body"
"to be holy and blameless before him in love...according to his good pleasure
that he set forth in Christ, as a plan for the fullness of time, to gather up
all things in him, things in heaven and things on earth. In Christ we have also
obtained an inheritance, having been destined according to the purpose of him
who accomplishes all things according to his counsel and will, so that we, who
were the first to set our hope on Christ, might live for the praise of his
glory...that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give you
a spirit of wisdom and revelation as you come to know him, so that, with the
eyes of your heart enlightened, you may know what is the hope to which he has
called you, what are the riches of his glorious inheritance among the saints,
and what is the immeasurable greatness of his power for us who believe,
according to the working of his great power. God put this power to work in
Christ...far above all rule and authority and power and dominion...and has made
him the head over all things for the church, which is his body, the fullness of
him who fills all in all.” (Eph 1:4b, 9b-12, 17b-20a, 21a, 22b-23 NRSV)
“And Jesus came and spake unto them, saying, All power is given unto me in
heaven and in earth.” (Mt 28:18 AV)
“And the glory which thou gavest me I have given them; that they may be one,
even as we are one: I in them, and thou in me, that they may be made perfect in
one; and that the world may know that thou hast sent me, and hast loved them, as
thou hast loved me.” (Joh 17:22-23 AV)
Those scriptures above leave no doubt that the source of all power throughout
these end-times is Jesus, the All-powerful in heaven and earth, who has already
given us His glory for the purpose of oneness of all believers; whose power is
"far above all rule and authority and power and dominion"; and that He is fully
prepared to use that unbounded power "for the church, which is his body, the
fullness of him who fills all in all"; to "put this power to work in Christ" for
His body and church in the earth today that is one in the Spirit of Christ, "who
fills all in all".
Whose power do you suppose will win: the power of man's use of technology in
terror, or the power of God to fulfill every word of His promised inheritance to
His children united in love and holiness?
The answer in Cu is, "God is in control", and that fact will be brought, as
required, to the sudden recollection of the forgetful wicked who would deign to
threaten His dear, obedient children.
“When they went from one nation to another, from [one] kingdom to another
people; He suffered no man to do them wrong: yea, he reproved kings for their
sakes; [Saying], Touch not mine anointed, and do my prophets no harm.” (Ps
105:13-15 AV)
"When thou liest down, thou shalt not be afraid: yea, thou shalt lie down, and
thy sleep shall be sweet. Be not afraid of sudden fear, neither of the
desolation of the wicked, when it cometh. For the LORD shall be thy confidence,
and shall keep thy foot from being taken." (Pr 3:24-26 AV)
WE BELIEVERS HAVE A LONG WAY TO GO, TO BE LIKE HIM
Bottom line on our condition as a body, which I state without qualification, is
that we believers have not yet obeyed, as He would have it obeyed, unity in
carrying out the new commandment of Jesus, loving as He loved us. The only proof
I offer is that the world does not know God sent Jesus.
Anyone who says it will never happen doesn't believe Jesus, or is calling Him a
liar, because He says the world's knowledge of Him is a necessary consequence of
our loving as He loved us.
Anyone who says they've already obeyed, and the world already does know God sent
Jesus, must be visiting alien planets, because they're looking at a different
world from the one I see. Not that I expect the whole world to fall at the feet
of Jesus because of Cu, although a great many will; all that will believe, will.
Rather, what I expect, what I know, will come to pass in the world as a result
of Cu, is the world will have to choose based on knowing who sent Jesus, because
Jesus said so.
"That they all may be one; as thou, Father, [art] in me, and I in thee, that
they also may be one in us: that the world may believe that thou hast sent me."
(Joh 17:21 AV)
It's precisely for the sake of all that will believe, that God will certainly
have it done His way, with the whole world knowing God sent Jesus.
"Even so it is not the will of your Father which is in heaven, that one of these
little ones should perish." (Mt 18:14 AV)
That knowing choice to be made by all in the world, whether they want to know or
not, is the last measure of truth needed to be set in place on the godly side of
the scales in which each of all souls shall hang in the balance, weighed thus
with no plea of ignorance, so that the final judgment of all the earth may
fairly proceed apace, beginning first with the judgment of us believers on
earth, His house.
"For the time [is come] that judgment must begin at the house of God: and if
[it] first [begin] at us, what shall the end [be] of them that obey not the
gospel of God?" (1Pe 4:17 AV)
The part of the world that chooses to deny Christ, yet knowing who sent Him,
will hate us believers in Cu, because our unity in Jesus on the cross, our unity
in His name as God's name, is how the world comes to know, wanting *not* to
know, who sent Him.
"But all these things will they do unto you for my name's sake, because they
know not him that sent me." (Joh 15:21 AV)
"I in them, and thou in me, that they may be made perfect in one; and that the
world may know that thou hast sent me, and hast loved them, as thou hast loved
me." (Joh 17:23 AV)
"And I have declared unto them thy name, and will declare [it]: that the love
wherewith thou hast loved me may be in them, and I in them." (Joh 17:26 AV)
Miracles for Cu show the world God's glory now to know who sent Jesus, just like
the raising of Lazarus did.
"that they may believe that thou hast sent me"
"Jesus saith unto her, Said I not
unto thee, that, if thou wouldest believe, thou shouldest see the glory of God?
Then they took away the stone [from the place] where the dead was laid. And
Jesus lifted up [his] eyes, and said, Father, I thank thee that thou hast heard
me. And I knew that thou hearest me always: but because of the people which
stand by I said [it], that they may believe that thou hast sent me." (Joh
11:40-42 AV)
Jesus promised the Father gives whatever miracles we ask for together in Jesus'
name, as one in our obedience to love all repentant believers.
"Ye have not chosen me, but I have chosen you, and ordained you, that ye should
go and bring forth fruit, and [that] your fruit should remain: that whatsoever
ye shall ask of the Father in my name, he may give it you. These things I
command you, that ye love one another." (Joh 15:16-17 AV)
The glory the world sees of God's miracles for Cu is the glory given that we
repentant believers may be one, and seeing it makes the part of the world that
hates Jesus, in denial that God sent Him, hate us believers the same way, for
the same reason they hated Him.
"And the glory which thou gavest me I have given them; that they may be one,
even as we are one:" (Joh 17:22 AV)
"Jesus saith unto her, Said I not unto thee, that, if thou wouldest believe,
thou shouldest see the glory of God?" (Joh 11:40 AV)
"If I had not done among them the works which none other man did, they had not
had sin: but now have they both seen and hated both me and my Father." (Joh
15:24 AV)
"If ye were of the world, the world would love his own: but because ye are not
of the world, but I have chosen you out of the world, therefore the world hateth
you." (Joh 15:19 AV)
"Ye have not chosen me, but I have chosen you, and ordained you, that ye should
go and bring forth fruit, and [that] your fruit should remain: that whatsoever
ye shall ask of the Father in my name, he may give it you." (Joh 15:16 AV)
But no matter how far we believers have yet to go to be like Him, no matter how
much tribulation the world would give us for it, we must nevertheless take
courage to show the world God's glory given that we may be one, praying for and
depending on God to work miracles for Cu, for the salvation of those of our
future brothers and sisters in the world now, those who are yet to hear and
believe the truth that is in Jesus, yet chosen by God to hear through Cu that God sent Jesus, the way He said the
world would know; those, our brethren-yet-to-be in Christ, whom God will thus
choose to sanctify through believing His word that God sent Jesus, hearing in Cu
of the body of Christ, God's call to be set apart from the sins of the world
through faith that is in Jesus, to be *not of* the world, but chosen to overcome
the world in peace, together as one in Him.
"If ye were of the world, the world would love his own: but because ye are not
of the world, but I have chosen you out of the world, therefore the world hateth
you. Remember the word that I said unto you, The servant is not greater than his
lord. If they have persecuted me, they will also persecute you; if they have
kept my saying, they will keep yours also." (Joh 15:19-20 AV)
In Him, "in me" here, means one together in Him in Cu.
"I have said this to you, so that in me you may have peace. In the world you
face persecution. But take courage; I have conquered the world!"" (Joh 16:33
NRSV)
It's not our job to choose them for ourselves, our sisters and brothers who are
already, or yet to be, as one with us in Christ, but to let God's glory work
through us to make us one in the love and holiness of His Spirit working in
every repentant believer, so the ones chosen by God to hear, will hear who sent
Jesus.
We can see that the ones not living together as one in God's eternal holiness and
eternal love are not in Him now, but all that appear in our sight as
repentant believers in His name for the
remission of our sins are to be accepted by us as children of God as much as any
of us, in all Christian denominations and faith groups.
"The children of God and the children of the devil are revealed in this way: all
who do not do what is right are not from God, nor are those who do not love
their brothers and sisters." (1Jo 3:10 NRSV)
We've got a long way to go before the world knows beyond a doubt that God sent
Jesus as He said it certainly would know, and we believers need to obey, now and
quickly, His commandment to be one in love for one another repentant believers,
in every Christian denomination and faith group, so the world can see the glory
He gave to make as one in Him, all, now and into the future, whosoever does, and whosoever will, believe God in Christ on the
cross.
"And the glory which thou gavest me I have given them; that they may be one,
even as we are one: I in them, and thou in me, that they may be made perfect in
one; and that the world may know that thou hast sent me, and hast loved them, as
thou hast loved me." (Joh 17:22-23 AV)
"And no man hath ascended up to heaven, but he that came down from heaven,
[even] the Son of man which is in heaven. And as Moses lifted up the serpent in
the wilderness, even so must the Son of man be lifted up: That whosoever
believeth in him should not perish, but have eternal life." (Joh 3:13-15 AV)
LITTLE STEPS FOR CU TO BECOME LIKE HIM: PERSONAL, PRACTICAL ACTS OF
SELF-SACRIFICE FOR ALL BELIEVERS...A WAY THAT IS...BOTH NOT MUCH, AND MORE THAN
ENOUGH
This section on "LITTLE STEPS FOR CU" is the last part of the "OVERVIEW OF CU"
which began above with a summary saying we Christians should always be able to believe
that the overall purpose of Christian unity (Cu) is advancing well, believing
for Cu now and always with a mustard seed of faith, even while the world is
growing ever worse, and even though we believers have a long way to go to "be
like him", because we know we are becoming like Him in little steps led by His
Spirit, while He gives miraculous increase that we could never do for ourselves.
I think figuring out just what those little steps are, is a key for all of us to
enter Cu. The way I see it, God holds the hand of all His children He walks
with, and as He leads us all into Cu in Himself, He expects only little steps
from His little children, all of whom must receive one another in order to walk
with Him, because He refuses to let go of a single one of them.
"And said, Verily I say unto you, Except ye be converted, and become as little
children, ye shall not enter into the kingdom of heaven. Whosoever therefore
shall humble himself as this little child, the same is greatest in the kingdom
of heaven. And whoso shall receive one such little child in my name receiveth
me." (Mt 18:3-5 AV)
That's a humility in Cu where we become little children not only to Father God,
but to one another repentant believers as well, in every Christian denomination
and faith group, no matter which is greatest, receiving Jesus not just in one
denomination, but in one body together with all believers, because we receive
every one of such little children who believe in His name for God's grace in the
opportunity for repentance and remission of sins.
"And there was also a strife among them, which of them should be accounted the
greatest. And he said unto them, The kings of the Gentiles exercise lordship
over them; and they that exercise authority upon them are called benefactors.
But ye [shall] not [be] so: but he that is greatest among you, let him be as the
younger; and he that is chief, as he that doth serve. For whether [is] greater,
he that sitteth at meat, or he that serveth? [is] not he that sitteth at meat?
But I am among you as he that serveth." (Lu 22:24-27 AV)
“And that repentance and remission of sins should be preached in his name among
all nations, beginning at Jerusalem.” (Lu 24:47 AV)
We do those little steps for Cu as little children together in Father God's one
family in Christ by always trying to find and do some small, spiritually
self-sacrificial act to help Cu in love and holiness; some slight, but real
thing we are doing for Cu, no matter how seemingly insignificant, any form of
laying down our own life, from a personal, practical standpoint, which we can
believe would help, even in the tiniest way, to increase mutual love, and to
increase mutual recognition of holiness, between all repentant believers, in all
Christian denominations and faith groups...a way that is...both not much, and more
than enough. Not much in the power of man in this world...more than enough
in God's power to do whatever He wills through the unmerited grace of God, given
in both this life and the next, first given to His children in the opportunity
for repentance and remission of sins in the name of Jesus Christ.
Judging by the seeming lofty idea expressed here of looking for God to show His
glory in miracles that we may be one, and seeing the enormous size of this
essay, you might imagine that it would culminate in some grand scheme, some
remarkable thing for the body of Christ to try to do together in visible unity
for the world to see. But the end of this essay is to point to something much
smaller, and closer to home and heart, that I think would well please our Lord's
intentions for our respective parts in Cu.
Cu that would be visible to the world and widespread seems so far from what we
see with our eyes in Christianity today, that it appears only some monumental
effort, like some fantastic, theological breakthrough or great work for Cu on
the part of all of our church leaders could ever bring about Cu now, in this
life, if in this life at all. Of course, we should expect church leadership to
do their part to lead us all together as one into Christ, but it's the Holy
Spirit's job in all of us believers, both leadership and laity, to lead us into
all truth, who is Jesus.
We've got to get over the idea that our leadership will somehow do Cu 'for us',
while we watch from the grandstands, without our obedience and dedicated
involvement as individual believers. Such a way for each of us to do that
involvement was alluded to in the earlier section above, about "Our Mustard Seed
of Faith."
Doing all you're commanded to do as unprofitable servant doesn't mean working
miracles, yourself, or hearing His voice thunder from heaven above with some
all-encompassing, mission-impossible plan for you to undertake. It simply means
finding some scripture you can believe, about some little thing you can do, for
all believers to be one, so you can have a mustard seed of faith, so He can work
the miracles, Himself, with you believing He did it.
“Jesus answered and said unto them, Verily I say unto you, If ye have faith, and
doubt not, ye shall not only do this [which is done] to the fig tree, but also
if ye shall say unto this mountain, Be thou removed, and be thou cast into the
sea; it shall be done.” (Mt 21:21 AV)
So, what is it He's commanded us all to do for Cu? There's a definite scriptural
answer, with personal, practical applications. The command of Jesus for
Christian unity is to repent and love all repentant believers with a
self-sacrificial love, as Jesus loved us, including believers in every Christian
denomination and faith group.
This scriptural answer has been explored and presented in Bible verses quoted
on the Cu list many dozens of times and can be seen throughout the Cu email
list archives at this link:
http://freegroups.net/groups/christianunity/
For a good, biblical explanation on this particular subject, here's a link to
one such Cu essay with numerous scriptures showing in greater detail the new
commandment of Jesus for us to love as He loved us, with self-sacrificial love:
http://tinyurl.com/y5famf
It can be summed up as this: the central command of Jesus for each of us to do
for Cu, is to spiritually lay down each, our own life, following the eternal
love and holiness given in Jesus to all who will believe that God, in Christ on
the cross, gave Himself that way.
That's a commanded, spiritual laying down of our lives for us to do, as compared
to the physical death Christ suffered for us all. Although we honor the great
faith of the Christian martyrs of the past, and ought to reach out in love and
support for those believers being persecuted
right now, all over the world, still most of us will not be called upon
to resist to the point of shedding our blood in our own struggle against sin.
“For consider him that endured such contradiction of sinners against himself, lest ye be wearied and faint in your minds. Ye have not yet resisted unto blood, striving against sin.” (Heb 12:3-4 AV)
Our self-sacrifice for Cu must begin primarily as spiritual, if we are to have the strength of spirit to withstand both the offenses and the temptations that will come against our own selves in this world, and also have the