Together in Unity and Love

Again this week, we witnessed another first in our lifetime with the storming and occupation of the Capitol Building in Washington, D.C. by U.S. citizens. I feel it's important to address what occurred in such a surreal year as if we needed another new event in our lifetimes. As the events unfolded and reports came in of what was occurring, we witnessed many disturbing acts, and we were again reminded of the giant chasm that exists between citizens and our nation. Now, I recognize that the complete truth of what occurred is somewhat obscured, somewhere in the middle of what the news reports continue to share. So, who knows really what 100% really occurred this past week? We each know that the truth has again been modeled based on what some people want others to believe, and this occurs regardless of what we see as right or wrong with this historic event. But as we've looked at before in past messages, we can be so thankful that God's truth remains a source and the only source of truth in a world that is confounded by truth and lies. God's word of truth remains that real and dependable source of truth for the Christian.

In the U.S. House of Representatives chamber is an inscription on the three-tiered walnut rostrum, which reads, Union, Justice, Tolerance, Liberty, and Peace. It's on the three-tiered walnut rostrum. It's on the very front. It's hard to find very many pictures, but it's a five-sided front, and on each side it reads those five words, one on each front.

Each of these words are biblical in nature and is what God desires every human to realize in their individual lives. Union, Justice, Tolerance, Liberty, and Peace. But these are also words thrown around by many today, but with the intention to bolster and support their own ideas or agendas they want others to subscribe to and follow. Again, Union, Justice, Tolerance, Liberty, and Peace. Also right above the three-tiered rostrum are the words, In God we trust, and how ironic that in these many years since those words were inscribed and this nation was founded, where we find ourselves today.

What has been occurring for quite some time now and what will continue to occur going forward is the growing gap of division between Americans. Polarization in our nation continues to become more prominent and people are unwilling to cede any of their own figurative territory in order to find a middle ground. And unity is a word thrown around by some, but only in the sense that people should become unified in particular causes that they themselves believe are right. The passages that we'll look at and I'll share with you today are about unity and about love because with where we are at right now as a society, we need to simply read God's Word about the importance of unity and love. This message is not one that will be filled with new insights into God's Word. It's not a message which will approach a topic from a different angle than you've heard in the past. But it is a message reminding all of us and repeating the importance of building and maintaining unity and love in our lives. Again, this is not meant to be a corrective message because some of us are falling short. That's not the intent. I believe we have weathered a storm unlike any that we've ever seen in our lifetime this past year. And through this, we have shown wonderful examples of love and service, not only to one another as we've cared for each other, but also to our communities. And I know that we'll continue to do the same. So this isn't something that I believe we're falling short of, but it has to remain on the forefront of our minds. Because regardless of what gets thrown at us, God expects that we remain a people unified and a people who express true, godly love. The New Testament is filled with admonitions by Jesus Christ and the apostles to seek unity in our relationships with others and to love everyone. Specifically, many of these admonitions are directed toward seeking unity right here in our congregations that we attend within the body of Christ.

And of course, we are above one another as Christ loves the church. So as we open our Bibles, let's turn to 1 Corinthians. And we'll start in chapter 1 and verse 10 today. And we're going to read quite a bit from 1 Corinthians as we work through this message.

Again, 1 Corinthians. We'll start in chapter 1 and verse 10.

Now, the context and a lot of what Paul was addressing here in 1 Corinthians, he established the church himself and later wrote this letter because there were issues within the congregation that were going on. Fissures or fractures were starting to become apparent. There were concerns that he had. And I'm thankful that I don't have to read this letter with that approach for us today because, again, I don't believe that this is where we stand. But there are aspects that we can draw out of, put into our mind, put into our hearts, so that we as God's people, we don't go down a similar path that this nation is going down. That we remain steadfast in the approach that we have towards one another in both unity and love.

And so, oftentimes, we talk to one another and we encourage one another to stay focused, to stay on the path, to keep our hands on the plow as we see God does so many times to us. And so, I want that to be the heart, the genesis of this message I share with you today. Because there are nuggets that we can draw from this letter to keep us on the straight and narrow as the world around us is going off course in dramatic fashions. But starting out here in 1 Corinthians 1 and verse 10, Paul says this, Now, I say this, that each of you says, I'm of Paul, or I'm of Apollos, or I'm of Cephas, or I'm of Christ. So, Paul doesn't hold back starting to address these issues after setting that baseline that they should be unified together. They should be of the same mind, the same judgment.

To draw an analogy from life, sometimes when a sports team is on a court or field, their desire to win becomes an environment that can breed problems for the team. Sometimes players try too hard in their desire to win. Sometimes players get out of position and are not in sync because they're trying to do more than they need to on the field at that time.

Sometimes players become frustrated with the fact they are losing or not playing as well as they should. Sometimes players begin to turn on one another out of frustration. Sometimes players lose focus on the game plan that they're supposed to play. When these things occur, the coach will call time out. And in a spiritual sense, that is what Paul is doing here in 1 Corinthians. He's calling time out in the congregation to say, hang on a second. This is not the path that you know you're supposed to be on. This is not the game plan that God tells us we're supposed to run. And he takes many of these chapters and pretty much the entirety of the letter to bring a refocus to the church in Corinth to help them continue in the path that they're supposed to towards the Kingdom of God. Again, I believe each of us have worked hard over this past year to really strive for unity and to express the sincere love to one another. But we each know that there has been a lot of things over the course of this last year to draw our focus away from the Kingdom of God. My point is not to rehash the events because we're very aware of them. But what can happen internally if we lose focus? What can happen to us internally if we lose focus? What can happen if we become distracted by events occurring around us? Unity can be lost. Love can grow cold. Continuing in chapter 2 and verse 12 of the same book, Paul reminds the church in Corinth that we do not think like others think who do not have God's Spirit. God's Spirit allows us to think differently from those around us and to evaluate our life and the events occurring in the world from his perspective. We see this again in 1 Corinthians 2 verse 12. Paul says, Now we have received not the Spirit of the world, but the Spirit which is from God, that we might know the things that have been freely given to us by God. These things we also speak, not in words which man's wisdom teaches, but which the Holy Spirit teaches, comparing spiritual things with spiritual. But the natural man does not receive the things of the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness to him, nor can he know them because they are spiritually discerned. But he who is spiritual judges all things, yet he himself is rightly judged by no one. For who has known the mind of the Lord that he may instruct him? But we have the mind of Christ.

The way that we carry and conduct ourselves must stand in contrast to the way that others in our society carry and conduct their lives. It must stand in contrast. If it doesn't, then we have to come back to these words that Paul shares here and carefully consider the weightiness of our calling. The world and its rulers do not know God's word, nor have his understanding revealed to them. This much is 100% obvious because of what we are witnessing firsthand in our society. Only the Spirit of God can know and understand the things that are of God. Paul again says in verse 16, but we have the mind of Christ. So for you and I, our lives must be conducted with unity and love expressed as Christ and the Holy Spirit lives in our very lives. There is a continuation of thought in chapter 3 and verse 4, and this is a continuation from what we read in chapter 1. First Corinthians 3 and verse 4, this continuation from chapter 1 when he says, For when one says, I am of Paul, and another I am of Apollos, are you not carnal? Who then is Paul, and who is Apollos, but ministers through whom you believed, as the Lord gave to each one? I planted, Apollos watered, but God gave the increase. So neither he who plants is anything, nor he who waters, but God who gives the increase. Now he who plants and he who waters are one, and each one will receive his own reward according to his own labor. For we are God's fellow workers, you are God's field, you are God's building. According to the grace of God, which was given to me as a wise master builder, I have laid the foundation and another builds on it, but each one take heed how he builds on it. For no other foundation can anyone lay than that which is laid, which is Jesus Christ. We know this is that perfect foundation that you and I have decided and committed to live our lives on. There is no other foundation that is going to withstand the trials of life that we go through individually. The weightiness of health trials, job loss, other things that we encounter individually, personally, nor any other foundation can withstand what society goes through. What Satan hurls at us and this world and this nation. No other foundation can withstand that type of an assault, except for that foundation which is laid within Jesus Christ. It's an amazing foundation and it's a gift unlike anything else we could have for our lives. Christ gave his life to that foundation could be laid. Paul goes on in verse 12, Now if anyone builds on this foundation with gold, silver, precious stones, wood, hay, or straw, notice there's a full gamut of value from the gold all the way down to straw, which is pretty common.

So he's saying if anyone builds on this foundation with any of these items, verse 13, Each one's work will become clear, for the day will declare it because it will be revealed by fire, and the fire will test each one's work of what sort it is. So you and I are admonished to build, and we can perceive from the Scripture, to build it with gold, to build it with precious things that are our value as we go forward with our lives. But at times, do I build with an imperfect house as it goes up? Because I'm imperfect myself. I do. There's straw mixed in with the gold at times and with this perfection. And what Paul is saying, though, is as we build more perfectly, as we continue to build our lives on this solid foundation with these precious elements, those of value, those which are good, then we'll weather these storms much better than if we just build our house out of straw. Because he says in verse 14, If anyone's work which he has built on it endures, he will receive a reward. And if anyone's work is burned, he will suffer loss, but he himself will be saved, yet so as through fire. And then Paul adds an exclamation point in verse 16.

Again, we have each laid a foundation in our lives that is not based on stone or concrete, but rather our foundation is Jesus Christ. This is no ordinary building that Paul is referencing here as compared to buildings of this world. This is the temple of God. Having Christ as our foundations, our minds and our lives must be reflective on this good foundation laid. So this means we must work not to become distracted by events going on around us. We must work not to have a mindset that others without God's Spirit go around and expressing openly. We must be guarded with our words. We must be examining the motivation behind our emotions and our thoughts.

If we are allowing our lives to be built on the foundation of Jesus Christ, we will be the light of the world as we see in Scripture, the shining example leading people to God and expressing the ideals of how much this world needs the kingdom of God. Later in 1 Corinthians, this time in chapter 12, the apostle Paul talks about unity that we enjoy as a body of believers.

Again, 1 Corinthians, this time in chapter 12, and we'll start in verse 12.

He describes this unity that is so apparent in who we are as God's people. He says, For as the body is one and has many members, but all the members of that one body, being many, are one body, so also is Christ. For by one spirit we were all baptized into one body, whether Jews or Greeks, whether slaves or free, and have all been made to drink into one spirit. For in fact, the body is not one member, but many. If the foot should say, Because I am not a hand, I am not of the body, is it therefore not of the body? And if the ear should say, Because I am not an eye, I am not of the body, is it therefore not of the body? Paul's use of humor here is kind of like talking to a child at times, because he's breaking it down in such simplistic terms that nobody can argue what he's saying here. Can your ear tell your hand that it's not part of the body? It doesn't make sense. It's not true. He goes on to say, verse 17, If the whole body were worthy an eye, where would be the hearing? If the whole were hearing, where would be the smelling? But God has set the members, each one of them, in the body, just as he pleased. And if they were all one member, where would the body be? But now, indeed, there are many members, yet one body. He repeats the same phrase. He says, The eye cannot say to the hand, I have no need of you, nor the head to the feet, I have no need of you. No much rather, those members of the body which seem to be weaker are necessary.

And those members of the body, we think to be less honorable? On these, we bestow greater honor, and our unpresentable parts have greater modesty. But our presentable parts have no need.

But God composed the body, having given greater honor to that part with Maxit, that there should be no schism in the body. And this is a unifying aspect. He sets the stage, saying that we're all the body of Christ. We are all individuals. We are all gifted with talents. We all receive the same calling from God at different times in our life, drawn out of different situations of life. But we receive that same calling that only comes from the Father. And He's saying, this is the body of Christ, the body of believers.

And then He goes here in verse 25, that there should be no schism in the body. That the members should have the same care for one another, that care out of love. And if one member suffers, all the members suffer with it. Or if one member is honored, all the members rejoice with it. Now you are the body of Christ and members individually.

Just a beautiful, encouraging passage to keep our mind focused on where we have to go as the church of God. As the body of Christ, as a body of believers. No matter what happens to our left, no matter what happens to our right, whether it be in our lives individually, or whether it be in our collective lives as we function as part of the society, we have to continue to go forth as His body and keep our focus on the unity, on the love that we must have for one another and for all of humanity.

There are so many analogies that God has shown us that parallels this analogy of the body, of the human body that He references. One of these other analogies that I think might relate differently, one could be of an orchestra. Different people coming from different backgrounds with different training, different instruments. And if they were all together, maybe you've been to an orchestra concert where they start to warm up, and they all just kind of start playing different parts of the music, they're practicing, they're doing scales.

And it sounds like chaos, right? Imagine spending $40 per person to go down and just hear them warm up. How much fun would that be? We walk out the door and say, what was that? But that's warming up, right? That's when they're not unified. That's when they're kind of just doing their own thing. But when the conductor steps up and he or her taps a little, I forget what they call it, I'll call it a lectern, and they tap it and everything goes silent, and then they conduct, and then the beauty comes in that music played in harmony in a perfect, wonderful way that God has created music to be.

But it's because of the unity that's there. It's because of the passion to play beautiful music that is there, that they can then achieve a different result than they could achieve individually. We could look at that sports team analogy again. Not one person can win a game for a team by themselves.

It takes a team approach. What about colors on an artist's palette? Do they just paint with black and white and shades of gray, or do they add color in, and do they mix those colors to produce a different shade that then produces a different beauty in the artwork that they're creating? Multiple pieces coming together, not just a palette of just straight blue, but of color, of texture. And even you could go to those who like to cook. Ingredients in a recipe. While each one of those ingredients may hold their own potential separately, it's nothing like it does when you bring that perfect mix of spices with the different textures of some of the items that cook differently than the others.

And then you sit down, and the aromas that come from the beauty of it coming together in an amazing way, there's nothing like it when it all comes down. It's nothing like it would be just one item of that ingredient list by itself. God has built so many analogies and so many examples we can draw from life of all these different aspects coming together and harmonizing beautifully, as Paul does here with the body.

This is why we need each person of the body of Christ working together and striving for unity, even if the world around us seems to be growing further and farther apart. Next, we come to Paul's teaching about love in chapter 13. Paul pivots here a bit from his discourse in chapter 12 to show how love should unify the church. 1 Corinthians 13, verse 1, He says in verse 2, He says, He says, We could add into this passage things that we know.

We could add in governments will fail, leaders will fail, laws and statutes of man will fail, man's justice will fail, but love will never fail. Paul says in chapter 13, verse 13, He says, As we begin to work towards the conclusion of today's message, I would like us to consider what the future holds for this nation that we are part of if it continues to divide itself.

I would also like us to consider if the same path were to enter the congregation here, what would be our results? Let's turn to Matthew 12 as we pivot away from Paul's letters to the Corinth church. We'll come back to 2 Corinthians here towards the end, but let's look at Matthew 12, verse 22. This passage, Christ is being criticized for healing again, someone who needed the healing and needed his compassion and love.

We see what one of his responses are here in Matthew 12, verse 22. It says, All the multitudes were amazed and said, Could this be the son of David, that prophetic son that they hoped would come and restore the nation of Israel? Is this the one who's come? And now when the Pharisees heard it, they said, This fellow does not cast out demons except by Beelzebub, the ruler of the demons. They felt like if he was to cast out demons, then he must know the demons, but he must be of Satan to cast out demons, because only Satan could cast out demons was their rationale, which was completely wrong.

Christ goes into this in verse 25 and later, but we're going to stop reading here at verse 25, because this is the point that fits with today's message. But Jesus knew their thoughts and said to them, Every kingdom divided against itself is brought to desolation, and every city or house divided against itself will not stand. The New Living Translation for verse 25 says, Jesus knew their thoughts and replied, Any kingdom divided by civil war is doomed. A town or family splintered by feuding will fall apart. This truth from God is why we must resist anything that comes into our lives and impacts the unity that we have in the church.

If it's the evening news that is causing an issue for you to maintain unity, then turn it off. If it's the post you are reading on Facebook, then shut it down. If it's Twitter, Parler, MeWe, or any other social media platform, then we have to get rid of it. Barnes notes says this about verse 25 of Matthew 12. He says, A kingdom or a family can prosper only by living in harmony. The different parts and members must unite in promoting the same objects.

If divided, if one part undoes what the other does, it must fall. He doesn't say it should fall or it may fall. It must fall. Matthew Henry's commentary on the same passage says this. Here is a known rule laid down that in all societies a common ruin is a consequence of mutual quarrels. Divisions commonly end in desolations. If we clash, we break. If we divide from one another, we become an easy prey to a common enemy. Much more, and he quotes Galatians 5, verse 15, if we bite and devour one another, shall we be consumed one of another?

And then he finishes the thought by saying, churches and nations have known this by sad experience. We know that God is not mocked. We know that the Scripture holds to be true. If a nation, if a family is divided on these types of issues, it cannot stand. And this is why all through the New Testament we are admonished time and time again to fight for unity among ourselves, to strive for peace, even if it's to our detriment, to seek peace, to pursue it, to love one another above all our costs, to love another, even again, to our detriment.

Again, this is not an issue that I see among us today, but it can become one overnight if we're not actively working towards a path that God has placed us all on. And so I want this to be on the forefront. I want it to be on my forefront of my mind. Because if we keep this as on our heart and we keep the values and the importance of what we've looked at here in Scripture, we'll go forward strong. We'll go forward in faith. We'll go forward in love, looking out for one another, even if everything around us seems to unravel.

Even if it unravels overnight, we will stay strong and we need to maintain our focus on these types of things. Let's look at Galatians chapter 5, which was referenced by Matthew Henry's commentary. Galatians 5 and verse 1. Paul shares these thoughts. Galatians 5 verse 1 says, Stand fast therefore in the liberty by which Christ has made us free, and do not be entangled again with a yoke of bondage.

Context here is people who wanted to hold on to the Jewish ways of the past. They wanted to keep the laws that were created by man and the traditions more than the words of God. The context is a little bit different from what we're talking about today, but note it from today's viewpoint.

From seeking after unity and seeking after love. In verse 6 he says, For in Christ Jesus neither circumcision nor uncircumcision avails anything, but faith working through love. Verse 10, he says, In the Lord that you will have no other mind, but he who troubles you shall bear his judgment whoever he is.

Verse 13, For you, brethren, have been called to liberty, only do not use liberty as an opportunity for the flesh, but through love serve one another. For all the laws fulfilled in one word, even in this, you shall love your neighbor as yourself. But if you bite and devour one another, beware lest you be consumed by one another. I say then, walk in the Spirit, and you shall not fulfill the lusts of the flesh. For the flesh lusts against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh, and these are contrary to one another, so do not do the things that you wish.

And then he goes into these works of the flesh in verse 19. He says, Now the works of the flesh are evident. We're going to skip a little bit, a few of these, and go into verse 20 now. Four words into verse 20. And look at these words and ask yourselves, do we see this in society today? He says in verse 20, contentions, jealousies, outbursts of wrath, selfish ambition, dissensions, heresies. All of these items are works of the flesh. But in verse 22, he talks about the fruit of the Spirit. And this has got to be our continued mindset.

Love, joy, peace, long-suffering, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control. This has to be the core of what fruit is showing itself in our lives as we go forward, regardless of what happens outside these walls. This has to be what we are showing in our conversation, in our communities, in our emotions, in our thoughts. These have to be there.

If they're not, we've missed the mark. There's no other way to explain it. There's no other way to sugarcoat it. This has to be the fruit that's being displayed by the Christian. This has to be. He says in verse 20, finishing in verse 23, he says, Against such there is no law, and those who are Christ have crucified the flesh. We have brought in control ourselves with its passions and its desires. If we live in the Spirit, let us also walk in the Spirit, and let us not become conceited, provoking one another.

Do we see provoking going on today? Let us not become conceited, provoking one another, or envying one another. As we conclude, let's remember that this world, and all that is in it, is perishing and passing away. Let's go back to the second letter, though, this time that Paul wrote to the church in Corinth. Second Corinthians, and this time chapter 4 and verse 16.

Just one book back in your Bibles. Second Corinthians 4 and verse 16. Paul shares, The things which are seen are temporary, but the things which are not seen are eternal. The things we saw with our own eyes this past week in Washington, D.C., they're temporary. They are not lasting because we know that our Savior and Lord and Master will return to this earth and bring with Him the kingdom of God.

And this kingdom will be eternal and everlasting. And what God desires to give us is also not temporary, and it will not perish away. But what God has set before us is eternal life. We could become worried or upset with the events that took place this past week, or the events that will happen at the end of this month, or the events which are still to unfold further into the future.

But becoming upset or worried will not change a single thing as we know God is in charge. He is on His throne, and He remains completely in control of all events occurring on this earth.

Again, we heard in the sermonette, read to us Psalm 47, verse 8. It wasn't in my notes, it is now. He said, God reigns over the nations. God sits on His holy throne.

We can never lose sight that God is in full control of everything that's occurring in our society. And we've read the end of the book. We know it's going to continue to slide and get worse. He continues to remain in control through all events that will go on. So what is our responsibility, then? If God is in control and He's got this, then what are we to do?

Seek unity.

Express love.

To not just those in this room, but those outside these walls. To be that example, that light on a hill, that can be seen far off.

These are those responsibilities that you and I have today, because this is what God has instructed us to do.

Let's look lastly at 2 Corinthians, this time chapter 13, verse 11.

It's a beautiful way that Paul concludes this letter, the second letter to the church in Corinth here, in verse 11.

Paul says, finally, brethren, farewell. Be, become complete. Be of good comfort. Be of one mind. Live in peace. And the God of love and peace will be with you.

We know that Matthew 24, verse 12, explains that because longlessness will abound, the love of many will grow cold.

But the very next verse in verse 13 of Matthew chapter 24, records Jesus saying this, But he who endures to the end shall be saved. May we each endure to the end and finish our race strong as we continue living our lives with unity and the love of Christ in our hearts.