Every time I say something I should not the Holy Spirit brings to my spirit the spiritual truth; out of our mouth speaks our heart. Whatever our feelings and thoughts for our spouse, friends, maybe our job will come out our mouth. There is another spiritual truth we must understand. We will respond to whatsoever is inside of us. Even as Christians if those things of the world such as ungodly worldly (self-seeking contemporary and Christian rock) music and the ways and means of the world are inside of us we will respond to them. It is easy to see what is inside of us, just wait and look at what we respond to. Is it the world or the word of God we respond too? If it is the word of God then we will respond to the Father in obedience and come into unity and oneness with Him. What we respond to is often seen in times of testing and when we are under pressure. The greater the pressure the more of our real nature and character is exposed. Pressure and stresses refines and defines our character. Even the tares and the wheat grow together in harmony and are not exposed for what they are until the tares are separated from the wheat by the reaper, “Let both grow together until the harvest: and in the time of harvest I will say to the reapers, Gather ye together first the tares, and bind them in bundles to burn them: but gather the wheat into my barn.” (Matthew 13:30) My friend whatsoever is inside of us will be seen for what it really is during the time of separation, tribulation, testing, and harvest. How much unity we are in with the Father will also be seen during times of pressures, testing and tribulation.
Now many Christians believe Jesus came to make us all Christians so that we all can come into unity with each other and make heaven on earth, well not so my friend. Jesus came so that we might have “life eternal” (John 10:10), the life of God. “And this is life eternal, that they might know thee the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom thou hast sent.” (John 17:3) Jesus came so that we may know the Father. Jesus came so that we could come into unity with the Father. We can only have the life of God and know Him if we are in unity with the Father. And the more we are in unity with the Father the more of Him we can have in our life, the more of His peace, joy, and rest we can have. How can we partake of the Father’s blessing if we are not in unity with the Father? My friend it will not happen. In the Psalms we read, “Behold, how good and how pleasant it is for brethren to dwell together in unity! 2It is like the precious ointment upon the head, that ran down upon the beard, even Aaron’s beard: that went down to the skirts of his garments; 3As the dew of Hermon, and as the dew that descended upon the mountains of Zion: for there the LORD commanded the blessing, even life for evermore.” (Psalms 133:1-3) Now the word, “unity” (Strong’s #3162) in verse one here means: unitedness, union, altogether, alike. Behold, how good and how pleasant for brethren to dwell together in union, unitedness, union, altogether, and alike, but not in oneness. Did you know there is a degree of importance in the words in the Bible? The Holy Spirit did not randomly select words, but hand picked them and individually plugged them into Scripture. In different verses we can see this truth in action. Here in Psalms 133:1 we read “good and pleasant,” but not “perfect” as in Matthew 5:48, “Be ye therefore perfect, even as your Father which is in heaven is perfect. (Matthew 5:48) The word “perfect” here Strong’s #5048 means to be brought to an end, made complete, finished not like without flaws like a flower, but a completed process in our life. The verse did not say, “Behold how perfect it is . . .” it said how good and how pleasant. Man cannot be perfect, good, or even pleasant unless the Father is allowed (man’s choice) to change their lives. Please understand man’s ability to be good and pleasant is even based on his ability to be in unity with the Father. Those that enjoy a level of unity with the Father will be good and pleasant with man. Please keep this important thought in your mind as you read on.
Now the oneness that Jesus prayed for in the real Lord’s Prayer John 17 was a desire of the Father for us. Please know Jesus was not praying for the church to come into unity, He already knew this would not happen due to man’s selfishness and greed. So many denominations struggle and strive so hard to find common ground even to the point of compromising the Gospel message to be in unity with each other, but this can never be unless all hearts are in unity with the Father. The basis for unity or oneness with the Father is submitting to and enduring His dealings and judgments in our lives unto death. All those who desire to be in unity or in oneness with the Father will have to die. Jesus learned this truth as He daily walked with the Disciples, when the Father pressed Him as He prayed in the Garden of Gethsemane “not my will, but thy be done,” and then personified it when the Father glorified Him when He physically died. “Know ye not, that so many of us as were baptized into Jesus Christ were baptized into his death? 4Therefore we are buried with him by baptism into death: that like as Christ was raised up from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in newness of life.” (Romans 6:3-4) If we desire to walk with God “in newness of life” we must taste of the waters from the baptism pool of His death. What a stark and vivid truth that is missed by the denominational teaching of water baptism today. Only in unity with the Father does life come out of death. We today may die physically, as Jesus and as some of our brothers and sisters have, but if not physically surely we must die spiritually to our selfishness, our self-seeking nature and ways, and of course we must die to all of those religious traditions, emotional rituals, and customs of man that the church of today is bound in. Now Jesus was praying for us to be “one” or in unity with the Father as He is in unity or “one” with the Father. What a powerful thought, what a transforming word. “And the glory which thou gavest me I have given them; that they may be one, even as we are one: 23I 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.” (John 17:22-23) The word “perfect” here is the very same word that is found in Matthew 5:48 and the word “one” (Strong’s #1520) here means one; like in the Trinity, the Father, the Son, and Holy Spirit is one with an eternal completeness of purpose. Jesus was praying that we would see the need to come into unity into the same oneness of eternal completeness of purpose that He shares with the Father. Wow what a powerful truth for us to move in. But, please notice Jesus did not make this unity happen for us, but gave us a choice. Sadly for many the prayer of Jesus has fallen on the ground. Sadly all that Jesus prayed for us has been swallowed up in our willful disobedience. We can see this disobedience in the diversity of doctrines and denominations that breed: confusion, strife, and division within the Body of Christ. Sadly we can see this truth moving in the diversity of sub-denominational churches that change a name, but the rebellious heart condition has not. Unity or oneness with doctrine will not give you unity or oneness with the Father, however many churches preach this lie to their shame. Join our denomination we are the right church, we can track our history back to the Bible days, what a lie.
Brethren there is only one Church someday Jesus is coming back for. There is only one body, one Spirit, one hope, one Lord, one faith, one baptism, and one God. “Endeavouring to keep the unity (Strong’s #1775, and comes from Strong’s root word #1520) of the Spirit in the bond of peace. 4There is one (Strong’s #1520) body, and one (Strong’s #1520) Spirit, even as ye are called in one (Strong’s #1520) hope of your calling; 5One (Strong’s #1520) Lord, one (Strong’s #1520) faith, one (Strong’s #1520) baptism, 6One (Strong’s #1520) God and Father of all, who is above all, and through all, and in you all.” (Ephesians 4:3-6) Now if these verses are true (and they are) then why are there 100s of denominations and sub-denominations in the Body of Christ today? That answer is easy, rebellion to the word of God because of no unity with the Father. When we are in some level of unity with the Father we will want what He wants. His desires will be ours desires, His plans will be our plans, His purpose will be our purpose, but when there is no unity with the Father what we want takes our heart and our selfishness and unrighteous desires over rides the Father’s purpose ending in fruitless toil and total destruction.
Now many Christians believe Jesus came to make us all Christians so that we all can come into unity with each other and make heaven on earth, well not so my friend. Jesus came so that we might have “life eternal” (John 10:10), the life of God. “And this is life eternal, that they might know thee the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom thou hast sent.” (John 17:3) Jesus came so that we may know the Father. Jesus came so that we could come into unity with the Father. We can only have the life of God and know Him if we are in unity with the Father. And the more we are in unity with the Father the more of Him we can have in our life, the more of His peace, joy, and rest we can have. How can we partake of the Father’s blessing if we are not in unity with the Father? My friend it will not happen. In the Psalms we read, “Behold, how good and how pleasant it is for brethren to dwell together in unity! 2It is like the precious ointment upon the head, that ran down upon the beard, even Aaron’s beard: that went down to the skirts of his garments; 3As the dew of Hermon, and as the dew that descended upon the mountains of Zion: for there the LORD commanded the blessing, even life for evermore.” (Psalms 133:1-3) Now the word, “unity” (Strong’s #3162) in verse one here means: unitedness, union, altogether, alike. Behold, how good and how pleasant for brethren to dwell together in union, unitedness, union, altogether, and alike, but not in oneness. Did you know there is a degree of importance in the words in the Bible? The Holy Spirit did not randomly select words, but hand picked them and individually plugged them into Scripture. In different verses we can see this truth in action. Here in Psalms 133:1 we read “good and pleasant,” but not “perfect” as in Matthew 5:48, “Be ye therefore perfect, even as your Father which is in heaven is perfect. (Matthew 5:48) The word “perfect” here Strong’s #5048 means to be brought to an end, made complete, finished not like without flaws like a flower, but a completed process in our life. The verse did not say, “Behold how perfect it is . . .” it said how good and how pleasant. Man cannot be perfect, good, or even pleasant unless the Father is allowed (man’s choice) to change their lives. Please understand man’s ability to be good and pleasant is even based on his ability to be in unity with the Father. Those that enjoy a level of unity with the Father will be good and pleasant with man. Please keep this important thought in your mind as you read on.
Now the oneness that Jesus prayed for in the real Lord’s Prayer John 17 was a desire of the Father for us. Please know Jesus was not praying for the church to come into unity, He already knew this would not happen due to man’s selfishness and greed. So many denominations struggle and strive so hard to find common ground even to the point of compromising the Gospel message to be in unity with each other, but this can never be unless all hearts are in unity with the Father. The basis for unity or oneness with the Father is submitting to and enduring His dealings and judgments in our lives unto death. All those who desire to be in unity or in oneness with the Father will have to die. Jesus learned this truth as He daily walked with the Disciples, when the Father pressed Him as He prayed in the Garden of Gethsemane “not my will, but thy be done,” and then personified it when the Father glorified Him when He physically died. “Know ye not, that so many of us as were baptized into Jesus Christ were baptized into his death? 4Therefore we are buried with him by baptism into death: that like as Christ was raised up from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in newness of life.” (Romans 6:3-4) If we desire to walk with God “in newness of life” we must taste of the waters from the baptism pool of His death. What a stark and vivid truth that is missed by the denominational teaching of water baptism today. Only in unity with the Father does life come out of death. We today may die physically, as Jesus and as some of our brothers and sisters have, but if not physically surely we must die spiritually to our selfishness, our self-seeking nature and ways, and of course we must die to all of those religious traditions, emotional rituals, and customs of man that the church of today is bound in. Now Jesus was praying for us to be “one” or in unity with the Father as He is in unity or “one” with the Father. What a powerful thought, what a transforming word. “And the glory which thou gavest me I have given them; that they may be one, even as we are one: 23I 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.” (John 17:22-23) The word “perfect” here is the very same word that is found in Matthew 5:48 and the word “one” (Strong’s #1520) here means one; like in the Trinity, the Father, the Son, and Holy Spirit is one with an eternal completeness of purpose. Jesus was praying that we would see the need to come into unity into the same oneness of eternal completeness of purpose that He shares with the Father. Wow what a powerful truth for us to move in. But, please notice Jesus did not make this unity happen for us, but gave us a choice. Sadly for many the prayer of Jesus has fallen on the ground. Sadly all that Jesus prayed for us has been swallowed up in our willful disobedience. We can see this disobedience in the diversity of doctrines and denominations that breed: confusion, strife, and division within the Body of Christ. Sadly we can see this truth moving in the diversity of sub-denominational churches that change a name, but the rebellious heart condition has not. Unity or oneness with doctrine will not give you unity or oneness with the Father, however many churches preach this lie to their shame. Join our denomination we are the right church, we can track our history back to the Bible days, what a lie.
Brethren there is only one Church someday Jesus is coming back for. There is only one body, one Spirit, one hope, one Lord, one faith, one baptism, and one God. “Endeavouring to keep the unity (Strong’s #1775, and comes from Strong’s root word #1520) of the Spirit in the bond of peace. 4There is one (Strong’s #1520) body, and one (Strong’s #1520) Spirit, even as ye are called in one (Strong’s #1520) hope of your calling; 5One (Strong’s #1520) Lord, one (Strong’s #1520) faith, one (Strong’s #1520) baptism, 6One (Strong’s #1520) God and Father of all, who is above all, and through all, and in you all.” (Ephesians 4:3-6) Now if these verses are true (and they are) then why are there 100s of denominations and sub-denominations in the Body of Christ today? That answer is easy, rebellion to the word of God because of no unity with the Father. When we are in some level of unity with the Father we will want what He wants. His desires will be ours desires, His plans will be our plans, His purpose will be our purpose, but when there is no unity with the Father what we want takes our heart and our selfishness and unrighteous desires over rides the Father’s purpose ending in fruitless toil and total destruction.
My friend this is not the Father’s intention for us. Back in Psalms 133, we can find the Father’s purpose in His unity and oneness with man, “2It is like the precious ointment upon the head, that ran down upon the beard, even Aaron’s beard: that went down to the skirts of his garments; 3As the dew of Hermon, and as the dew that descended upon the mountains of Zion: for there the LORD commanded the blessing, even life for evermore.” (Psalms 133:2-3) Where is the “for there the LORD commanded the blessing?” It is the beard of Aaron? Or maybe on the mountains of Zion? Oh no my friends, it is found only in that place of unity with the Father. Only in unity with the Father can He bless us and give us His life. Only in this place of oneness with the Father can this blessing be found. More than money and fame the Father’s blessing contains “life for evermore.” Even Godly ministry comes out from this place of unity with the Father. No wonder what we see on TV and at many churches have no life, they have no unity with the Father. This my friend is not the Father’s desire for us. He desire for us is to be in unity with Him so that He can command “the blessing, even life for evermore.” Oh my friend let us today desire and allow the Father to work in our lives bringing us into greater and greater unity with Him. Written by David Stahl
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