The Unity of the Saints
1 Corinthians 1:10 I appeal to you, dear brothers and sisters, by the authority of our Lord Jesus Christ, to live in harmony with each other. Let there be no divisions in the church. Rather, be of one mind, united in thought and purpose.
The power of Christ in the church is an incredible thing and the unity of hearts in the midst of believers is true harmony. Harmony (def) – the combination of simultaneously sounded musical notes to produce chords and chord progressions having a pleasing effect. Our unity through the Holy Spirit is a power to be dealt with by the evil one and his continued war on the unity of the church shows he knows our unity is very powerful. Like an orchestra that has many different instruments, but all playing their part of the composition to make it complete, the church exists and thrives. All the different gifted people of God doing their part to make the fellowship and ministry of the church a thing of beauty is something that cannot be stopped. Jesus said in Matthew 16:18 Now I say to you that you are Peter (which means ‘rock’), and upon this rock I will build my church, and all the powers of hell will not conquer it. That is good enough proof for me to see that the unity of the Lord’s church has power.
Of course, we know that there is another definition for harmony and that is an arrangement of the four Gospels, or of any parallel narratives, which presents a single continuous narrative text. As disciples of Jesus and His Word we can see the harmony presented by the four gospels as each writer tells the same story in his own unique way and it works.
What happens when there is no unity? Everything becomes a struggle and the fellowship of the believers is hampered by things like pride, prejudice, and selfishness. There is no harmony in that kind of disunity and it shows a weak faith and a weak fellowship. Unity has power and the following Peanuts illustration says a lot in a humorous way.
In a Peanuts cartoon Lucy demanded that Linus change TV channels, threatening him with her fist if he didn’t. “What makes you think you can walk right in here and take over?” asks Linus. “These five fingers,” says Lucy. “Individually they’re nothing but when I curl them together like this into a single unit, they form a weapon that is terrible to behold.” “Which channel do you want?” asks Linus. Turning away, he looks at his fingers and says, “Why can’t you guys get organized like that?”
In the above scripture Paul says let there be NO divisions in the church because even one can set a precedent for more of them. In other words, we need to guard our fellowship at all costs and let the love of God be the unifying force in our fellowship. I am in a very good, strong fellowship of believers called Underwood Baptist Church and even though we are apart during the Covid-19 virus problem, the church fellowship is strong and united. What a great witness and how wonderful it is to know that we are together in heart and mind no matter what may come our way. But this fellowship needs to be vigilant to protect ourselves from the attacks of the evil one. All fingers working together, united in purpose and love. That is a true strength that will not let us down.
In Ecclesiastes the writer says in Ecclesiastes 4:12 A person standing alone can be attacked and defeated, but two can stand back-to-back and conquer. Three are even better, for a triple-braided cord is not easily broken. Unity is something we must promote, protect, and pursue and it is up to each individual to see where we fit into any one of those things. What can you do to promotes unity? What can you do to protect Unity? What can you do to pursue unity? Then do it. Just do it!!
The Pilgrimage continues…..
David Warren