Unity

Unity - Ecumenism? Roger Malone. August 2018 Behold, how good and how pleasant it is for brothers to dwell together in unity! It is like the precious oil upon the head, coming down upon the beard, even Aaron’s beard, coming down upon the edge of his robes. It is like the dew of Hermon, coming down upon the mountains of Zion; for there the Lord commanded the blessing – life forevermore. Psalm 133:1–3 Our house comprises two parts, one built around 1864, using traditional materials and methods, and the other built in 2013 using modern materials and methods. Yet the building has integrity. It does not appear either in form or function to be two separate buildings, but one. The reason for its unity is that it was designed that way by the architect and builder. So it is with the Church. Now if nobody lived in our house, that would be sad indeed, but the structure would still have integrity, although sadly, it would lack function. The unity of the Church is an accomplished fact, because it was designed that way buy its Architect and Builder, just like our house. The Psalmist here is not saying that we should strive for unity, but that we should dwell in it. (Try to live in a house that is under construction!) The unity is already there in Christ, we just have to dwell together in it! The error of Ecumenism is that it fails to recognise the God designed integrity of the Church, seeking to construct a man made unity instead. Unless the Lord builds the house, they labour in vain who build it; Unless the Lord guards the city, The watchman stays awake in vain. Psalm 127:1 A work of the flesh will always fail to see what God has done, and seek to substitute the divine with the carnal. It will always seek to make iron and clay stick together (Daniel 2:41- 44) If we want God’s blessing, we have to live together in unity. The unity is not dependent on anything we can do, we are the family of God, and we just have to live together like family. We don’t have to agree on everything (except the foundational truths of the faith), we don’t have to like the same things, or even necessarily each other! As the saying goes, “you can choose your friends, but you family is chosen for you!” We do however have to love and co- operate with each other, because that’s what families do. “By this shall all men know that you are my disciples, if you love one another” John 13:35 “Life flows out of unity, the psalmist says; it is like the oil that was poured on the head of Aaron the High Priest. It flowed from the top of his head down to his beard and down to the collar of his robes. There’s another deep principle: unity flows from the head downwards. It does not come from the feet upwards. The unity of God's people begins with the unity of the leaders of God’s people. When the leaders of God’s people are united in spirit, then the anointing oil flows down over the remainder of the body of Christ and in that place of unity God commands the blessing. We do not have to run after it, we do not have to strive after it; we just have to meet the conditions”. (Derek Prince) I am so convinced that the Ecumenical movement - the ultimate purpose of which is a one world church; is not a work of God, that I would venture to say that its leaders have lost the

mantle of authority given by God to the leadership of His body. (Assuming of course that they were ever appointed by God as leaders in the first place?) That being the case, if we involve ourselves in their vain strivings, we lay ourselves open to deception, and may end up selling our spiritual birthright for a pottage of watered down doctrine and compromise with the world. Jesus said “I will build MY Church, and the gates of Hell shall not prevail against it” And “ If a house is divided against itself, that house cannot stand” The Church has survived for 2 millennia in spite of the fiercest opposition, and Jesus promised that when He came again, He would come for a bride adorned for her husband. We may not be all the same, but we are NOT divided. Organisations can be divided, organisms cannot, because they have integrity. Why then do we think we need an organisation called the Ecumenical Movement? Unity - Contrived? Therefore, I the prisoner of the Lord, beseech you that you walk worthy of the vocation with which you are called, with all lowliness and meekness, with longsuffering, bearing with one another in love; endeavouring to keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace.. There is one body, and one Spirit, even as you are called in one hope of your calling; One Lord, one faith, one baptism, one God and Father of all, who is above all, and through all, and in you all. But every one of us is given grace according to the measure of the gift of Christ. This is why he says, When he ascended up on high, he led captivity captive, and gave gifts to men. (Now he that ascended, does that not mean that he also descended first into the lower parts of the earth? He that descended is the same also that ascended up far above all heavens, that he might fill all things.) And he appointed some to be apostles; and some, prophets; and some, evangelists; and some, pastors and teachers; for the perfecting of the saints, for the work of the ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ: Until we all come to the unity of the faith, and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to a perfect man, to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ: that we from now on be children no more, tossed to and fro, and carried about with every wind of doctrine, by the trickery of men, and cunning craftiness, by which they lie in wait to deceive; But speaking the truth in love, we may grow up into him in all things, which is the head, even Christ: from whom the whole body fitly joined together and compacted by that which every joint supplies, according to the effectual working in the measure of every part, produces growth in the body to the edifying of itself in love. Ephesians 4:1-16 Two phrases stand out in this passage, “endeavouring to keep the unity of the Spirit,” and “Until we all come to the unity of the faith” The Church today is seemingly obsessed with achieving unity. This often comes under the guise of ecumenism as outlined above. But this effort, even though often well meaning, is a waste of time at best, and a pathway to apostasy at worst. Why?

Because the Church of Jesus Christ is ALREADY UNITED! Notice that Paul in his letter is beseeching (pleading with) the Church to endeavour to KEEP the unity of the Spirit, not to attain to it. It is already a done deal, which the Devil will ceaselessly seek to undo by the works of the flesh. This is why Paul invokes the qualities of the Spirit as the means of keeping our unity – “with all lowliness and meekness, with longsuffering, bearing with one another in love;” The flesh and the spirit are at war with each other, which is why we continually experience this conflict in our lives as Christians, and why we are encouraged to become overcomers in order to inherit the Kingdom. (Revelation Ch 2) We mistakenly equate differences of opinion as disunity. Differences of opinion on fundamental doctrine can cause schism, but if a section of what calls itself the Church holds to false doctrine, one is entitled to question if they are indeed part of the body of Christ. Differences of opinion on matters spiritual and the Scriptures are regrettable, but not necessarily divisive, as long as we obey Paul’s injunction in this passage in Ephesians. In fact if we are seeking to follow Christ ever more faithfully, and love each other ever more selflessly, Paul is saying here that we will “all come to the unity of the faith.” What does this mean? We have one Bible, one Lord, one Spirit, one Faith, one Baptism. The only reason we disagree on certain things, is because either we are both wrong, in which case we are both guilty of spiritual laziness, or are unwilling to abandon previously held beliefs, (are unwilling to allow the Holy Spirit to renew our minds); or one of us is wrong, in which case the same applies, with the addition of pride, which will not allow that the other may be right. The simple fact is that if we crucify our flesh (intellect, opinions, pride, ego etc) and allow God to renew our minds, and subject ourselves to the Word of God, and not subject it to ourselves, we would soon “all come to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to a perfect man, to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ” Unity of the faith must lead to agreement on the teachings of Scripture. “ from now on be children no more, tossed to and fro, and carried about with every wind of doctrine, by the trickery of men, and cunning craftiness, by which they lie in wait to deceive;” Pandering to the flesh will always lead to disagreement and division! No amount of fleshly effort, no amount of compromise, no amount of discussion will ever lead to unity. Those who claim to be of the Church may indulge in such activity, but will never achieve unity! Those who are truly the body of Christ need not strive for something God has already given them, they just need to crucify the flesh, and abide in the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace. The Anglican Church is currently in the throes of splitting over the issue of homosexual clergy. One section wants to identify with the world, and one wants to remain faithful to the Scripture. The Anglican Church is not the Body of Christ. When the split occurs, as it surely will, it will be the Anglican Church that has divided, not the Body of Christ. In fact, the Body of Christ within the Anglican Communion is already divided from the apostates on a spiritual level. It only remains for this fact to manifest itself in a physical communion division. Those who lament over this situation have missed the point. They think the Church of Jesus Christ is dividing. That is not the case. Those who have promoted heresy have chosen the path of apostasy, placing the onus on those who hold fast to the faith once delivered to the saints, and who are obedient to the Word of God, to separate themselves from

unbelievers, and to be holy, and preserve their witness, enduring the reproach to the end for the sake of the Lord Jesus Christ who will reserve a crown of life for them. Unity of Belief Those who are the redeemed of the Lord can readily agree on the Apostles creed. We may not agree on everything from Genesis to Revelation though! Most Christians would rightly say that it’s not necessary that we agree on everything, the important thing is that we don’t fall out over our differences of opinion! But is this God’s best for us, or is our flesh getting in the way of something better? Until we all come to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to a perfect man, to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ” Is this better? Yes I hear you say, but it’s not possible! What is impossible with God? If we all have our minds renewed, and diligently study the Word, if we set aside our opinions and the worlds so called “knowledge” can we not come to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ? How can we get there without faith? Without faith it is impossible to please God, or indeed to understand His word. (Hebrews 11:6 and 1Corinthians 2) How do we get faith? It is the gift of God, we just ask Him for it. (Ephesians 2:8) Faith is a foundation. We build our lives in Christ on it. If our faith is unbelief, what sort of foundation is that? Let me ask a question; will we have differences of opinion in heaven? (After the resurrection) If not, why not? Is it because we see through a glass darkly, but then face to face, because now we know in part, but then our knowledge will be complete? In 1 Corinthians 13 Paul was referring to the limitations we have in our physical tent. After the resurrection, when perfection has come, and we are transformed, and throw off this veil of flesh, we will at last know God in a way that we cannot conceive of now. If we are meant to be in ignorance of certain things in this life, then why are they recorded in Scripture, if not for our edification? By faith we understand that the worlds were framed by the word of God, so that the things which are seen were not made of things which are visible. Hebrews 11:3 This plainly says that the stars and planets (including the earth) came into being at God’s command from nothing. The worlds “knowledge” says that the earth formed over vast periods of time from coalescing interstellar gas clouds by means of the force of gravity. However this is poor science, because it has never been observed that swirling gas has gravitational qualities, and in any case, gravity is a relatively weak force, and incapable of the power needed to make gas and dust consolidate into a planetary mass. Jupiter, the largest of the planets is a gas giant, but even gas giants have a solid core1, and exert their gravitational force by virtue of their massive size, which would have been absent in the so called formative stages, as would the gravitational force necessary to enable their formation. 1 Though the issue isn't entirely settled, most astronomers believe that there is a solid core of heavy elements at the center of both Jupiter and Saturn — and most other gas giants as well. This ball is not unlike the Earth itself, though denser, and with a truly nasty surrounding atmosphere.

We understand this by faith. No one was there when it happened, so faith is the only way we can understand it. But faith in what? Faith in long ages and natural processes, faith in mans theories? Or faith in God’s word? Genesis says that God created the heavens and the earth and all life in it in 6 days. The worlds “knowledge” says it came about by natural processes over 4.3 billion years! If that is the case, Adam was not created on the sixth day 6000 years ago, (Jesus believed Adam was created at the beginning of creation. Matt 19:4) but perhaps 600,000 years ago2. So then the genealogy in Luke’s Gospel is totally wrong? Not just slightly wrong with the omission of one or two ancestors, but a piece of total fiction! And if the good doctor Luke was so careless with his facts, why should we believe anything else he has to say? There is a very persuasive argument to be made that if one is prepared to not believe one portion of the Scripture because it contradicts the worlds “knowledge”, but are prepared to believe another part that is crucial to your faith construct, that that is a position lacking in integrity! How is that going to benefit ones witness? Or what about the Flood? Jesus refers to the flood many times, as Gods judgement on a wicked world, and links it to the second coming. (Matthew 24:37-39) The world says a global flood never happened, but it was localised to the Mesopotamian valley, and that Noah is mythical figure.3 If that is the case, God never exacted judgement on the world, and Jesus is not coming in power and glory to do the same! If He is not coming, then the dead in Christ will remain in the grave, and the millennial reign of Christ is a just so story, not to mention the new heavens and the new earth! Picking n’ mixing the Scriptures is not an act of faith, it is mixing human reason with faith. A little leaven levels the whole lump! How does the old fallback position “that is your interpretation and this is mine” help us to “all come to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to a perfect man, to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ” ?? Faith is reasonable, but reason is not faithful. Reason is rooted in the flesh, and faith is the gift of God, rooted in Christ. Once reason is admitted to the house of faith, faith begins to corrode, and either is destroyed, or is pushed out of the door, as is happening in the Anglican Church today. If we are to KEEP the unity that God has already bestowed on His Church, we must exclude human reason and the opinions of the world, and in faith accept the whole counsel of God, - for “All Scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness, that the man of God may be complete, thoroughly equipped for every good work”. 2 Timothy 3:16-17 2 The alternative explanation some come up with is that Adam was born 6000 years ago, but the world is 4.3 billion years old, and humans appeared (or evolved!) on the scene around 100,000 years ago. The problem here is the status of Adams father and mother (and indeed all his ancestors) with regard to salvation. How could they need salvation when it was Adam who sinned, and his descendants, not his ancestors who inherited his sin? Yet Scripture plainly teaches that ALL have sinned, and Christ died for all. The illogicality of this position seems to go unnoticed! 3 In spite of worldwide geological evidence, and written and oral traditions from all over the globe that attest to a world wide flood, and just a few people led by a heroic figure surviving in a boat.