Ephesians 4:1-3 “As a prisoner for the Lord, then, I urge you to live a life worthy of the calling you have received. Be completely humble and gentle; be patient, bearing with one another in love. Make every effort to keep the unity of the Spirit through the bond of peace.”
Pastor Herk continued in his sermon series in the Pauline Epistle of Ephesians. From the above Bible passage, we focus in the theme of this message is unity. We think of unity in the family, in the community, in the nation, and in Christ’s church; and the key in order to preserve unity for each is our attitude and focus. As a sovereign nation, the United States of America’s Pledge of Allegiance states: "I pledge allegiance to the Flag of the United States of America, and to the Republic for which it stands, one Nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all" , and should be rendered by standing at attention facing the flag with the right hand over the heart; one nation unified.
Romans 1:19-25 “The wrath of God is being revealed from heaven against all the godlessness and wickedness of people, who suppress the truth by their wickedness, since what may be known about God is plain to them, because God has made it plain to them. For since the creation of the world God’s invisible qualities—his eternal power and divine nature—have been clearly seen, being understood from what has been made, so that people are without excuse. For although they knew God, they neither glorified him as God nor gave thanks to him, but their thinking became futile and their foolish hearts were darkened. Although they claimed to be wise, they became fools and exchanged the glory of the immortal God for images made to look like a mortal human being and birds and animals and reptiles. Therefore God gave them over in the sinful desires of their hearts to sexual impurity for the degrading of their bodies with one another.—who is forever praised. Amen.”
You may have noticed that in the nation, that there are various major division in in morals and ethics within many families, communities, national politics, and even in Christ’s church as “In God We Trust” of the Judeo/Christian foundations of this country is reduced and “In Man We Trust” of secular humanism usurps the biblical standards that establish and maintain the unified moral compass of God’s creatures. They exchanged the truth about God for a lie, and worshiped and served created things rather than the Creator. In a world that is fallen in sin, there is always the light of truth revealed in God’s Word, Will and Way, but there is the darkness of rebellious inequity, unbelief and wickedness. True justice is based on a real, just and holy Creator God, who is the true measure of all things.
John 17:17 “ Sanctify them by the truth; your word is truth.” The Father of our Country and First President of the United States stated: “Of all the dispositions and habits which lead to political prosperity, religion and morality are indispensable supports. In vain would that man claim the tribute of Patriotism, who should labor to subvert these great pillars of human happiness, these firmest props of the duties of men and citizens.”Founding Father and Second President of the United States of America stated: “Our Constitution was made only for a moral and religious people. It is wholly inadequate to the government of any other.” The nation’s Liberty, Freedom, Justice and unity fought for, preserved and enjoyed for over 200 years are under divisive attack today by godless darkness. Even nominal Christian churches are acquiescing and splitting due to abandonment of God and His God’s foundational truth standards and commandments for political correctness, new tolerance and sinful social acceptance. The attacks on God and country are the classic battle between good and evil, love and hate, faith and unbelief.
Fractures within local bodies of Believers occur more often than we realize, and most times not over theological issues, but pagan political issues, secular interpersonal relationship, conflicting individual personalities, fleshy personal human preferences and exclusive materialistic or hedonistic social-clicks. That is not what the Christian church is about. All godly and Spirit-led ministries in the church are important. The church has five purposes: (1) Membership – the family of God and fellowship of Believers. (2) Maturity – teaching and strengthening disciples of Christ as they grow in faith and knowledge of our Lord. (3) Missions – The Great Commission of Christ’s Evangelism to makes disciples of all nations. (4) Ministry – Demonstrating God’s love to others through ministering inside the church and outside in the community. (5) Magnification – Lovingly worshipping, exalting and glorifying God through the church. Unified in purpose.
Let's continue PAstor Herk's message on being "Unified in Christ" in the next post.
In Christ, Brian
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