One Spiritual Family

Many years ago, I used to talk to my wife, Kathy, and I still talk to her. But I used to talk to her about saying, well, the Portuguese work and this and that. And she quite often would tell me, look, it's not the Portuguese work, it's God's work in Portuguese. And she's quite right, you know, and I kind of have changed the terminology over time because that is a quite right principle.

Because strictly there is no separate Portuguese work or Spanish work, it's just one work, it's God's work in different areas and in different languages. For instance, God's work in Brazil, God's work in Angola, God's work in Mexico, whatever. We are indeed one church, one work, and one spiritual family. And I think we understand that. But there is a key point that I want to emphasize today. And that is that the principle that unites God's people across different nations and languages must also be the same principle that unites us in our local congregations as brethren. And so I want to dwell a little bit deeper today into what does it really mean to be one church doing one work and belonging to one spiritual family. And you may ask, so what? What's that got to do with me?

Is that the pointer I want to emphasize here, which has value to all of us, is that we need to put the unity of God's church above our own personal preferences. In Ephesians chapter 2, Ephesians chapter 2 verse 9, Ephesians 2 verse 9, let me just have a look here. Ephesians chapter 2 verse 9.

It talks about, big part, verse 19. 2 verse 19. It talks about, Now therefore you are no longer strangers and foreigners, but fellow citizens with the saints and members of the household of God. In some versions or translators or translations says that we are members of the family of God. And so Paul is emphasizing a very important point, which is that our spiritual identity is far greater than our identity in this earth.

And so he then continues in verse 20 saying, having been built on the foundation of the apostles and the prophets, Jesus Christ himself being the chief cornerstone, in whom the whole building being fitted together grows into a holy temple in the Lord, in whom you're also being built together for the dwelling place of God in the Spirit. Now, quite often we emphasize the point of being fit together, but I want to emphasize the point of growing, of growth, because it says, you know, the foundation is Christ, is the cornerstone. And it says then, we are fitted together and we grow into a holy temple in verse 21. In whom we are also built together for a dwelling place. So we built together. So there is a building process, there is a growing process that we are joined together, but we're growing. There's a growth process. And therefore, as we look at ourselves as members in the church, quite often we see a lot of families in the church, various family groups. We find a lot of family groups. But we need to remember that God's church is not just a collection of independent families, but it is a household being built together of many people of different families of different nations of different languages of different cultural backgrounds. But we all, through God's holy spirit, belong to one and the same spiritual family. For instance, Paul in Galatians 3 verse 29 says, For you are all sons of God through faith in Christ Jesus. You see, our spiritual family goes beyond our physical family, beyond our different social backgrounds, and even beyond our different nationalities. Now, I don't want you to get me wrong, because there's nothing wrong with appreciating our own country, our own language, our own culture. There's nothing wrong with developing closer friendships with some people. But what I'm trying to emphasize is that we must not allow these personal feelings or personalities to weaken our relationship with God and his spiritual family. You see, different personalities, different backgrounds, those differences must never become more important than our spiritual relationship with God and one another, because we are one church. We are one spiritual body of Jesus Christ. Paul used the analogy, and we can look at that in Romans chapter 12. In Romans chapter 12 in verses 4 and 5, Paul used the analogy of the human body. And yeah, in Romans 12, verses 4 and 5, it says, for us we have many members in one body, but all members do not have the same function. In other words, my hand and your hand does not have the same function as your eyes, or your mouth does not have the same function as your foot, even though sometimes we put the foot in the mouth.

But the point is, they all have different functions, and they're not arguing with one another, saying which one is more important as far as our physical body. And then in verse 5, it says, so we, being many brethren in the church of different backgrounds, different cultures, are one body in Christ, but individual members of one another. And so, Paul made this analogy that we have as physical body, we have different functions, but we as a spiritual body, we also have different functions. He repeats the same thing in 1 Corinthians 12. In 1 Corinthians 12, verses 12 and 13, 1 Corinthians 12, verse 12 and 13, I'm breaking in a new Bible, and sometimes these pages get glued together. So 1 Corinthians 12, 12 and 13 says, for as the body is one and as many members, but all members of that one body being many are one body, so was his Christ. And so, if your head or if your throat is very sore, your whole body is going to feel uncomfortable, you know, because it's one body.

And likewise, if you are feeling good, overall, the whole body will feel good. And he says, well, by one spirit, we all baptize into one body. So by God's Holy Spirit, we're all part of Christ's spiritual body, whether whatever nation we come from, whatever, like he says, Judeo-Greeks, whether slaves are free, whatever social income or capabilities you come from, he says we've all been made to drink into one spirit. So we all, together, we all belong to the same body. And that principle is also applicable to the church. In fact, we've got different congregations. We've got Dallas, we've got Lawton, we've got Oklahoma City, we've got Fort Worth. And in these different congregations, we have different ministers, we've got different responsibilities, we've got different personalities, people react differently, you know. But this does not create separate spiritual bodies. Paul, yeah, in 1 Corinthians 12, goes on a little bit further in verse 18. And he says, yeah, in verse 18. But now God has set the members, each one of them, in the body, just as he pleased. And so God puts each one of us with our own personality, with our own, sometimes little funny quirks that maybe we don't like it or whatever it is. You know, God puts us all there together for a purpose and a responsibility.

And I think the point we need to remember is that no member, for instance, let's say one of you would feel, ah, I'm unnecessary. I'm nothing in the body. You should not feel that way because God has put you in the body for a purpose. God has put you in the body. So don't feel, ah, well, useless. Of course, we all, as we look at our sins, we say, oh, well, God, you know, who am I?

But as a body, we should recognize that God, as good as in there for a purpose, and he's working with us. So you or me or any one of us is not unnecessary. Likewise, none of us is superior to somebody else. We have a mutual interdependence and care, you know, as he goes on here in verse 21. And I cannot say to the end, I have no need of you, not again the head to the feet.

I have no need of you. And so then it goes on in verse 26, which is the word of God. It says, when one member suffers, the other suffer with that member, and one is honored, the others rejoice. This is important because it's the very opposite, what quite often tends to happen because of our human, carnal nature, that sometimes we kind of become divisive, competitive, jealous, and that is part of the growth, part of the growth.

In Ephesians chapter 4, Ephesians chapter 4 verse 15 and 16, Ephesians 4 verse 15 and 16, we read, But speaking the truth in love may grow up in all things unto him who is the head Christ. So again, this growth process, we're going to be growing, but it says speaking the truth in love. And sometimes we may reference that. It's not just speaking, it's being the truth or acting the truth. And one thing I heard, maybe some of you heard, I think it was Mr. McRady mentioned, that the more you speak the truth, the more love you have to have. And that's an interesting statement. I thought of that. That's very interesting because the more truth, the more love you have.

And it's true. It's true. It's very meaningful. But we may grow up from whom the whole body joined and knit together, but what every joint supplies according to the act of working by which every part does its own share. You see, so again, we often emphasize the being joined together and each one doing its own part. But look at what it says. Causes growth of the body for the edifying in what's building of itself, that is the body, in love.

And so we are one church and we together with different people, with sometimes very different personalities, sometimes very clashing personalities. But we got to learn to kind of work together and grow and edify each other one in love. And so as we have different congregations and some have certain health problems because of demographics or age or whatever it is and others have other blessings, we all, when they are blessing, you all should rejoice and when some have difficulties, we all should care for that. And so we all share the spiritual responsibility of being together, to growing as one body, to do what?

To do one work. To do one work. In Philippians chapter 1, Philippians chapter 1 verse 3 through 6, Philippians 1 verse 3 through 6, says, I thank my God upon every remembrance of you, always in every prayer of mine, making requests for you, for you all, with joy, for your fellowship in the Gospel from the first day until now, being confident of this thing, that he who has begun a good work in you will complete it until the day of Jesus Christ.

Now, quite often, I'll say that myself, but maybe you too, I quite often look at this as a very encouraging scripture that says, God will finish, you called me, he called you, and God will finish the work in you and I will finish it. It's a very positive scripture, but let's look at it at a slightly even wider scope, because it's saying, yeah, that he has begun a work in you, will complete it until the day of Jesus Christ. Is it the work that we're doing collectively as a body that will complete the work that he has decided that the church needs to do and that will be complete?

And so, that is another way of looking at it, is that we as a body, as a spiritual body of Christ, we have a work, we have a mission that Christ has entrusted to this body, to his body, the church of God.

And we know one of the missions is to preach the gospel unto all the whole world. We have, you know, Matthew 28, 19 and 20, make disciples of all nations. Mark 16, 15, Christ said, go into all the world and preach the gospel to every creature. Matthew 24, 14 says, and this gospel of the kingdom will be preached unto all the world unto witness and then the end will come. So we can see by its own nature, the work of the church is international. It's international. Therefore, there are different regions, there are different responsibilities, but the same divine purpose. But there is another part of the work which is preparing a people.

You see, so if we read in Philippians chapter 1 verse 5, what I read just a moment ago, and it says, for your fellowship in the gospel from the first day until now. So it is our also, our individual fellowship. So there's this dual purpose in this in the scripture, and it's our individual fellowship. So it's not just me growing, but it's my fellowship with the brethren, and that is part of the gospel. And so the church is not just simply a group of people receiving spiritual instruction. It's a body of believers actively participating in God's work, because it says, your fellowship and your individual fellowship in the gospel from the first day until now. So it is a partnership, a fellowship that we have to do. In 1 Corinthians chapter 3, 1 Corinthians chapter 3 verse 5 through 9, 1 Corinthians chapter 3 verse 5 through 9, Paul is saying, Who then is Paul and who is Apollos, but ministers through whom you believe as the Lord gave to each one of us? And so, as different servants, different ministers of God are involved in serving the church and serving the work, it's not the results of that minister. It's not the results, like it says, of Paul or of Apollos. Put my name, or put anybody else's name, because it says then, you know, verse 6, I planted, Apollos watered, but God gives the increase. You see, you and I cannot, or any minister, cannot claim ownership on the results of the work. We are assigned different tasks of the work of God to be done. We all have different tasks to do, but it's not our ministers, for instance, importance, or the size of the congregation, or the number of people in a specific geographical region, or even the amount of resources we have. Oh, we've been blessed with financial resources, for instance. It's not the amount of resources. That is not the important part, the size, the number of people, the resources. The important part is our faithfulness, how well we serve the different responsibilities God has given us to do. You see, so we've got to be working together as a team, doing one work to achieve one end result, one mission, and not being divided and competitive, and not developing separate loyalties. Oh, well, this person is better, that one, or I'll stick to this, and the danger is sometimes you see that in a larger congregation, like clicks, developing clicks, and things like that. We've got to be careful of that. And Paul himself admitted that in 1 Corinthians chapter 1 verse 10.

1 Corinthians chapter 1 verse 10, he says, now I plead with you. Now, note Paul's expression. He's not saying, don't do this. He's saying, please, I'm pleading with you, and please, I'm asking you. He's not demanding. He fully had a right to demand, but he was being gentle and kind. He was saying, I plead with you, brethren, by the name of our Lord Jesus Christ. I plead in God's name, please, that you all speak the same thing. And there will be no divisions, no clicks, no groups, the hour groups there. But that you be perfectly joined together in the same mind, in the same judgment, because it has been declared to me, concerning you, my brethren, by those of Chloe's household, that there are contentions among you. Yeah, there are a few little issues. Now I say this, that each of you says, I am of Paul, or I am of Apollos, or I am of Cephas of Peter, or I am of Christ. Is Christ divided? Was Paul crucified for you? Or were you baptized in the name of Paul? You see, so, Paul is addressing divisions within the Corinthian congregation. And in the point he has, we must not allow personalities to affect our relationship. Our attention must be on Christ. The church must never become divided into different competing groups, based on loyalties, or to, for instance, individual ministers, or personalities. Regrettably, I think you know that loyalties to specific ministers cause division in the church in the past. Regrettable. So, we've got to be careful with that. So, the central question is, who or whom are we following? Are we following a man? Are we following a minister? Because our true loyalty must be to Jesus Christ. And so, in Ephesians chapter 4, Ephesians chapter 4 verse 1, Paul says, either for the prisoner of the Lord beseech you. Again, look at expression. He's saying, I'm instructing. No, no, I beseech you, please, to walk worthy of the calling with which you are called. You and I would call for a specific purpose.

And we in the church have different personalities, but we are a walk worthy of that calling.

God has called us, in a sense, to prepare the people. And there are certain things, part of besides doing the work and preaching the gospel, that we ought to do amongst ourselves.

Certain things we ought to do amongst ourselves. And then he goes on, with how do we walk worthy of that calling? And he says that in verse 2, with all loneliness, that is humbleness, and gentleness, that's meekness, with long suffering, that is being willing to take it in the churn for a long time, bearing with one another in love, endeavoring to keep the unity of the Spirit in bond of peace, striving, therefore, bearing, being humble, being meek, being long suffering, bearing with one another. So what? So that we have unity. So we be united in God's Spirit so that we have peace. So we have peace.

And so notice that Paul does not describe unity as the way we organized administratively. No.

But it describes unity as part of the developing Christian character. And so he continues in verse 4. There is one body and one Spirit, just as you were 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. So the spiritual foundation of our unity are things like hope, one hope, one Lord, one faith, one baptism, one God. These are not things of different personalities or different geographies or different organizations, but these are spiritual realities that are important for us to focus on regardless of which group we fall in. And so in Philippians chapter 2 verse 1, it shows what sort of attitude we need to have that. Philippians chapter 2 verse 1, it says, therefore, if there is any consolation in Christ, if any comfort in love, if any fellowship of the Spirit, if any affection and mercy, for full my joy by being well like-minded, having the same love, being of one accord of one mind, let nothing be done through selfish ambition or conceit, but in loveliness of mind, that is humility, let each esteem others better than themselves, let each of you look out not only for your own interests, but also for the interests of others. So we need to look for the interests of others. So we're going to reject any things of our own personalities that may be causing a stumbling stone for us, but we got to look at the whole well-being, the whole welfare of the body. And so there are some questions that we could ask.

Do we rejoice when another congregation or region experiences growth? Do we willingly share resources, experience, and knowledge?

Are we more interested in receiving recognition or in helping God's work succeed? Are we more interested? Are we willing to give people the benefit of the doubt rather than being suspicious? You see, we got to work on this basis of spiritual foundational. And therefore together we organize together to serve a purpose. And that being together means that each one of us has different functions. Each one has different purposes. As we read in Ephesians, let's just go there again, Ephesians chapter 4 verse 11. Ephesians chapter 4 verse 11. Now, I'm talking in a slightly different way, but we all have different functions. So he says, some are apostles, some are prophets, some are evangelists, some are pastors and teachers. So we have different people doing different things. So like for instance today, we have writers, we have ministers, we have people counseling in the congregation, we have different people doing different roles. And they are ladies helping out, for instance, with the potluck and the food and others bringing certain things. We all have different functions. We all provide those physical things to help the body grow. But what is the outcome? The outcome is for us to serve so that the body of Christ is edified. Look at verse 12. Verse 12 in Ephesians chapter 4 says, 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. We are building this, edifying the body of Christ, the work of ministry, as it says in verse 12, till we all come to that spiritual maturity. Till we come to that spiritual maturity. And that is not exercising authority. You remember our Christ, you had James and John, the sons of Zebedee, came to Christ in Mark 10 verses 42 through 45 and says, which, oh please, I want one of, be on your right hand side in the kingdom, the other one be on the left. And Christ said, come on, guys. We don't, in God's Church, is not ruling to seek dominance.

We are serving. The key purpose is to serve. Shepherds are not to dominate, as we read, for instance, in 1 Peter chapter 5 verse 2 says, shepherd the flock of God, which is among you, serving us, overseas, not by compulsion, but willingly, not for dishonest gain, but eagerly, not as being lords of those entrusted to you, but being examples to the flock.

And so our example is following Christ, and our purpose is to serve, to lead by example, as we see in a Bible. We're going to have humility, we're going to have love, we're going to have service. And this is all with one purpose. We are one church, one work, with one purpose.

Why did Christ build a church? Why did Christ edify or establish the church? It's just that we have, let's call it, a religious social club. Of course not.

A religious association? No. But Christ made the church, yes, for us as a group to do a work, but also individually to prepare a people for God's kingdom. God has got us together from different cultures and different personalities and different ways of doing things.

Why? To help us to be prepared to rule in the kingdom. You see, Christ did say, you'll build this church, Matthew 16, 19. But when we look at, for instance, at Revelation, as one example, there are many others, in Revelation 2, verse 26 and 27, we read, And he who overcomes and keeps my works until the end, to him I'll give him power over the nations.

And so we have future responsibilities in the kingdom. Future responsibility doesn't mean that you or me are going to be a king ruling a nation, but it means that we're going to have a responsibility as quote unquote being a king in a specific area of responsibility. Maybe your area of responsibility will be teach other people certain things or certain ways of conducting themselves in the different situations. But we are now learning to live God's way so that we may serve faithfully with Christ in the kingdom, teaching others God's way, because we've practiced it. We're practicing it now. And so we are preparing now to rule in that righteous government. And so are we, therefore, looking at things like how do we have love towards others? Do we have love or do we have selfishness? Do we have cooperation or do we have competition? Do we have humility or do we have pride? Do we have service or do we have ambition? Do we have faithfulness or do we have division? You see, there'll be a government.

We read in Isaiah 9 verse 6 and 7, Unto us a child is born and unto him, that's some speaking of Christ, will be given the responsibility to rule and we will rule under him. But when Christ was here, he told us, I'll give you a new commandment. You know that, that was straight after the foot washing ceremony. And he said, love others as I have loved you.

So it is a new commandment from the point of view that is not just love others as you love yourself, but you love others as Christ has loved us, which is, I think sometimes we don't fully comprehend and that is something we need to comprehend a lot better. And so if I now go to collagious chapter three, collagious chapter three, collagious chapter three verse 12 through 14, collagious three, 12 to 14, I beg your pardon. Therefore, as the elect of God, holy and beloved, put on tender mercies, kindness, humility, meekness, long suffering, bearing with one another and forgiving at one another. Can you see the same words keep coming up from Paul? The same words, humility and bearing with one another and long suffering and meekness, they just keep coming up time and time again. And if you have a complaint, just forgive, forgive, even as Christ forgave you. So you also must do. But above all these things, put on love, which is the bond of perfection. That's what we got to aim for, the bond of perfection, by putting on love in our, how we deal with one another. That's preparing a people. That's preparing a people so we can rule as a team in the world tomorrow. Imagine if we don't achieve this, if we don't achieve this, and you have maybe some people on this corner and some people on that corner. I'm not going to talk to that. He's not going to talk to me. How is that going to work out in the kingdom of God? How are they going to rule and bring peace? Well, if this spiritual being, he doesn't talk to that spiritual being there. I think that is, to you and I, it's impossible. It can't be. And so we got to resolve whatever things we have today. We got to address, and we got to have that bond, that glue of perfection, which is of kind concern and forgiveness and what it all goes with that. Because remember, after the foot washing Christ talked to his disciples, and then he gave a prayer in John 17. And at the end of that prayer, it's so meaningful. Every time I read it, I want to meditate a little extra about it. Because in John 17, and there's so many points that you and I can read about this prayer of Christ. And it's kind of the end of the prayer. And I read that as if it was like his lost will and testament, quote-unquote. And then in John 17, verse 20, John 17, verse 20, Christ says, I do not pray for these alums. It was for the apostles and the people who were there at that time, but also for those who will believe in me through their word. So he's praying for us because we believe in Christ through the word of the apostles and what's in the Bible, yeah, and Paul and others. That they may all be one as you, Father, are in me and I in you. And this is quite significant because people say, well, God is one, so it's going to be one person. But YHWH says, you, Father, are in me and I in you, and we are one. And he says that they may also be one in us. That means each one of us individually, as we are YHWH and listening to this message, including myself, that we all may be one. It doesn't mean that you and I cease to be a person. Obviously, we continue being different people, but we need to be one.

And this is this, that the world may believe that you sent me. Can you see what he's saying?

The mere fact of us learning to overcome our different personality quirks or differences or approaches or things, the mere fact of us learning to and overcoming and growing through this perfect bond of perfection, which is love, and I've got concern for one another, that is a witness.

That's what it says. That's what it says. That is a witness. He says, yeah, that you sent me. That alone is a witness. That's our witness to the world. By being one, even though we have different personality quirks or whatever it may be. And so we are one church. We are doing one work, but we need to become one family. One has not called us into separate circles of friends. That we just happened to meet on the Sabbath in the same building. He called us to be one body, one church, one spiritual family. It's easy to speak about unity of the church, but the real test of that unity is how we treat the brethren sitting next to us in church.

And so, just like we have different languages, we've got different nationalities, the work is being done in different areas of the world. That should not divide us. Likewise, differences in personality, background, age, interests, friendships, personal differences should not divide us as brethren. We obviously develop closer friendships with some people than with others. That's normal, but we must not allow those relationships to weaken our sense of belonging to one spiritual family. We are one family. As I read earlier on in Ephesians 2.19, it says, you are members of God's family, as it puts it in the New Living Translation. Brethren, God has not called us merely to attend one congregation or church in one congregation on the Sabbath. God has called us to be one body. There was one church. God has called us to do one work with one purpose, one mission, but He's also called us to prepare ourselves to become part of this eternal family, one spiritual family. Sure, we have different backgrounds, we have different opinions, we have different ways of doing things, but none of these differences should become greater than what unifies us, which is God's Spirit. We are not competing groups in one congregation. We are one family, serving one God, following Christ, and doing one work. And so, let me just leave with three questions that may be three questions that you could ponder and ask yourself, how am I doing? Am I building bridges or staying in my comfort zone? Am I building bridges or staying in my comfort zone? In other words, am I making an effort to get to know, to encourage, and include other brethren beyond my closest prayers?

The second question I'll leave with you is, am I extending grace to my brethren?

Am I extending grace to my brethren? So, when I feel misunderstood or overlooked, do I assume the best and exercise patience and seek peace?

And the third question that I'll leave with you to ponder is, am I putting God's family and his work ahead of my personal preferences? Am I putting God's family and God's work ahead of my personal preferences? In other words, do my words, do my attitudes, do my actions help strengthen the unity in the church which Christ desires? Brethren, we are one church, we are doing one work, and we are preparing to become one eternal family in the kingdom of God.