Unity in the United Church of God

Well, brother, in 1995, we became the United Church of God. Now, personally, I like the name because God's Church really should be as united as possible, plus all the other names were taken by then. So, just kidding. I believe we became known as the United Church of God because God really does want us to focus upon unity in His Church. What is unity?

What brings unity? Of course, I've thought a lot about this topic for a long time in God's Church. You know, being in the Church, I'm sure you've thought about this topic as well. I'm sure Mr. Aust, Gerald Aust, has thought a lot about this subject, as well as his wife. They've been around for a good many years in God's Church, as many of you have. We desire more unity in God's Church, don't we? We really do. We have a great desire for that, and I'm quite certain that God desires a greater level of unity in His Church as well.

Jesus Christ, the head of the Church, but the Father, it's God's Church. So they both desire a greater level of unity in God's Church. So I'm hoping that we'll see greater unity in the days ahead. I'm very hopeful for that. I believe we do have greater unity in many ways than perhaps we've ever had in God's Church. So I see a bright future ahead of us. I really am looking forward to what God will be doing in the Church in the years ahead.

So what is unity as it relates to the Church, the body of Christ, again specifically the United Church of God? I'm not going to go into what we might call the greater Church or the larger Church. I know that there are other people who are converted, who are part of God's Church, who are part of the body of Christ. They may not be a part of the United Church of God, but still they're a part of the body of Christ. But I'm not going to get into all that. I want to talk about the United Church of God because that's where we are today.

So how can we have greater unity in the United Church of God? How can you contribute yourself to greater unity in God's Church here in the United? Unity is the state of being united or joined as a whole.

That's what Webster's, Merriam-Webster's dictionary, that's what they say. They also say unity is the number one. Unity is the number one. So I was thinking about that, and we hear the term trinity. That's three. Unity is one. God is one. Christ said, I and my Father are one. Now we know there are two beings in the God family, but I think there's a great deal that we can learn by thinking about this concept of oneness and how I and my Father are one. What is the best example of unity you can think of? Isn't that the very best example?

The Father and the Logos, the Word, the spokesman, who... How long have they been together? In unity? Forever. I mean, all eternity. Wrap your mind around that. It's difficult being finite human beings, but they are the very best example of unity that anyone could ever possibly think of. Bar none, way, way above every other example of unity that you could ever think of. In John 10, verse 30, Jesus Christ did say, I and my Father are one.

What was Jesus' hope for you and me, for His disciples? Back then, when He was walking the earth as a human being, also in terms of identity, He was God. He was the Word, the Logos. He became the Son through the power of God's Holy Spirit. The Father begetting Him, and He became God's Son. What was Jesus' hope for you and me, His disciples?

In John 17, verse 22, John 17, let's go there for a moment. Jesus is speaking to His Heavenly Father just hours before He was taken and crucified. And He said in prayer to His Father, And the glory which You gave Me, I have given them, that they may be one, even as we are one. So what was He talking about here? The glory which You gave Me, I have given them. Well, we know that Jesus Christ was begotten of the Holy Spirit by the Father. It's the Holy Spirit that binds us together as one. God is granting His children who turn to Him, who repent of their sins, who go under the waters of baptism.

He has promised upon the laying on of hands and true repentance, accepting Christ. As our Savior, He will grant us the gift of the Holy Spirit, the glory of God's Holy Spirit dwelling within us. So I think that's something huge that we need to think a lot about. You know, we have God's Spirit in common. We have the power of God in common. So how were the Father and Jesus Christ one? Normally, one plus one equals two.

And again, there are two distinct beings in the God family. I like to call it the God family as opposed to the Godhead. I think it just sounds better. It's easier to comprehend. Clearly, Jesus Christ is talking about unity when He says, I and my Father are one, the state of being united or joined together as a whole. How long have the Father and the Word, the Logos, the spokesmen, how long again have they known each other?

Forever. I mean for all eternity. And they've been united. Now, my wife and I have been united for 40 years. We've been married for 40 years. On October 8, 1978, we celebrated our 40th wedding anniversary after the feast this year. Scripture says, the two shall become one flesh. The two shall be joined together, let no man put us under. Marry just to be for life as long as the both of you shall live. That's what was initially intended, that we would learn a lot about unity by marrying, by becoming one flesh, by learning to get along, by learning to cooperate with one another, by learning to submit to one another.

Because the Bible talks about submitting to one another in the fear of God. It doesn't just talk about women submitting to men. Now, it does talk about that. And it's in the Scripture. But it also talks about submitting to one another in the fear of God.

I've always asked the question, when should a man submit to his wife? When should a man submit to his wife? When she's right? When she's correct? When she has perhaps a better understanding of maybe what should be happening? That's a good time to submit to your wife in the fear of God, so that you will reap the blessings from God. So, it isn't wrong to submit to your wife at times. Hopefully, you have the wisdom to do that. So, it's an interesting thing living with another human being.

I mean, obviously, there's a lot that can be learned from that relationship. Not that you can't learn how to be unified without being married. I know a lot of people go throughout life, and they're never married, and they can still learn unity. They can still learn these lessons that should be learned. But that does not negate the fact that marriage does allow us to learn a lot about unity and about love.

That's another thing. God is love. We know that. The Scripture tells us that God is love. It also tells us that love is the fulfilling of the law. God is love. Love is the fulfilling of the law. God is the law-giver. He has the right to make the laws because He's been around for all eternity.

Everything that has been made has been made by the Father and the Son working together in unity. Scripture says that God has created all things through His Son, through the One who became His Son. The Word, the Logos, the Spokesman. I'm going to refer to a lot of Scriptures. Probably not actually turn to a lot of them today, but refer to them. We see that God is love.

We see that love is the fulfilling of God's law. God has the right to make the laws, doesn't He? Since He's the law-giver, He's the Creator, He's the one that sets the standard for how we ought to live. So if we want unity, obviously we have to accept God's standard. We have to see that God has the right, He has the wisdom, He has everything that He needs to come up with the laws that will govern mankind and allow us to have greater unity.

Now, there are many laws that are talked about that God created. The law of thermodynamics, the law of gravity, the law of biogenesis, the law of entropy. God has set a lot of laws into motion. We don't think a whole lot about them, but we see the effects of these various laws. I was mentioning to Charlie here that, in a way, every moment is a miracle. We're just the right distance from the sun. We burn up or freeze.

We owe everything to God. He's the one that gives us every breath that we have, that keeps us alive. We owe everything to Him. Now, God doesn't force us to live by His laws. He doesn't force us to live His way. He certainly guides us by His word. He has given us an instruction manual that we should strive to live by.

If we're wise, we will really study the Bible, and we'll want to know what it says, because it will bring us many, many blessings if we'll just learn the principles that God gives us in His word. Now, the plan of salvation, I'm sure you've thought about God's plan of salvation. It's God's plan. He's the one that devised it. I'm sure the word, the logos, and the Father who have always been together devised this together. You know, they worked on it together. They're very unified, right? They're one. So, for all eternity, they've lived together in harmony.

They've loved each other perfectly throughout eternity. And they devised a plan to expand their family. It involves you. It involves me. It involves all of mankind. They wanted to share what they had with others. Isn't that what they're doing? They want to share what they've had. I mean, we have an opportunity to live forever from this point forward.

We have this opportunity. They want to share that with us. So, again, they set the perfect example of love. There was no disruption between these two eternal beings forever. There's never been conflict between them. They truly are one. So, it's mind-boggling to really think about it, but it's healthy to try to do that.

Think about it as much as you can. So, they wanted a family. They wanted a large, growing, expanding family. They created angels, but they didn't create angels for the sake of their family. They created angels to minister to mankind. It was mankind that was to be the crowning glory of creation. They started with Adam and Eve. Adam and Eve.

Well, Adam and Eve sinned, didn't they? Adam and Eve decided to listen to Satan. Satan was a former angel, Lucifer. He sinned. He sinned against God himself. He was perfect until iniquity was found in him. So, you've got this powerful angelic being, one of the archangels. What was his sin? Well, we all know his sin was pride. He was puffed up in pride. He was perfect until iniquity, till that pride was found in him. He was so perfect, he became vain and proud about it. He wasn't God.

God doesn't sin. God cannot sin. He could do things better than God, he thought. He thought he could do things better than his Creator. So, he rose up in pride against his Creator, his Maker. We know the rest of the story. We know what happened to Lucifer. Again, we don't have time to go through all these verses that bear this out. But hopefully you've been studying your Bible, and you understand what I'm talking about. So, again, we go back. In the beginning was the Word, the Word was with God, the Word was God.

John 1, verse 1. The Word existed long before Lucifer. In fact, again, the Word created Lucifer. All things were created by Christ, known as the Word, the Logos initially. The Word became flesh. That's what John chapter 1 tells us. The Word became flesh. Again, why was it? It was part of the divine plan, again, to have a family. We know that Jesus Christ lived perfectly, as Dr. Ost mentioned in the sermon, the first sermon. He lived perfectly without sin. He paid the penalty for our sins.

He was the perfect sacrifice. Only He, the Creator, could pay that kind of sacrifice for us. He laid His life down willingly. He emptied Himself of His glory and His power that He had with the being we know as the Father. He emptied Himself of that glory and that power. He was born a little baby, helpless, really. He depended totally on His parents and, of course, God. He was nurtured and He never sinned. Through all that, it says He was tempted in every point, as we are, yet without sin. That's pretty mind-boggling to think of a little baby growing up in this world. The world was not that different from what this world is like.

The same human nature going on, the same types of sins being committed everywhere. Yet He was without sin. He was perfect. Never sinned. He was whole. It really is very important that we consider just what Christ did for us and what the Father did for us because we know that for God so loved the world that He gave His only Son.

Again, this being that hadn't just lived for 30 years, this being that had lived forever. They were so tight, so close. God is loved. They were both God beings. They were both loved. They loved each other totally. God so loved the world enough to give His only Son. It was the only way to do this. That's according to the plan of salvation. God knows best. This was the way to get it done.

So the Father loved all of us enough to give His only Son, and then the Son, greater love, has no man than this, to lay down His life for His friends. He did that. He calls His friends. He laid His life down for us.

So He became that perfect sacrifice. So when we accept Him as our Savior, as that sacrifice, and when we repent of our sins, which caused His death, because the wages of sin is death, Adam and Eve came under the death penalty. All human beings have come under the death penalty from that moment forward. Now, in Genesis 1, it was the Word who spoke, let there be light.

He was the spokesman. He was the one that delegated this responsibility to create. The Father and the Son were working together, the Word, they were working together to make all this happen. Again, there's total oneness and unity. There's no competition going on. Never has been. Sometimes I think we like to bring some competition in here, like, you know, who should we honor more? The Father or the Son? No, we should honor both of them, basically, equally. Now, the Father wants us to honor the Son. The Son wants us to honor the Father.

So, we need to be careful that we... No, we don't exalt one over the other. Yes, the Son is an authority to His Father. Nevertheless, not my will, but Your will be done. You know, He yielded to the Father. So, it was the Word, again, who created Adam and Eve by the Father's will.

The plan was a joint plan, two beings working together in love and in unity and harmony for all eternity, now in the business of creating a family and using human beings to do it. An eternal family. So, it was the Word who interacted with Cain and Abel. We know what happened with Cain and Abel.

Brother, killing brother. In the first two, one killing the other. God worked with Enoch, with Noah, with Abraham, with Isaac, with Jacob. Again, it was the one who became Christ who was interacting on this level with mankind. Working with them, and the Father willingly delegated this role to the Word. He willingly delegated it. He was not worried about people honoring the Word more than Him. That's human. That's not godly. That's not divine. We're not to compare ourselves among ourselves and go into all that.

That's not what God wants from His children. It's really interesting because the Bible is written in such a way that allows us to understand these concepts if we think about it. For example, in Acts 3, it refers to the Father as the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. Acts 3 refers to the Father. But does that mean that the word, the Logos, was not also the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob? Both of them were God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.

The Father is my God, He is your God, He is our God, and He delegated this role to the One who became the Christ. It's important to realize that because sometimes people, again, they get into wrong thinking about some of these issues that causes problems as far as the unity of God's Church. So we have to be careful that we look at it the way God does.

Jesus Christ, the One who became Christ, the Word was completely submissive to the Father's will. He carried it out to the nth degree, you might say. The Ten Commandments were given to the children of Israel, although we know the Law was always in effect because...what does it say about Abraham? God worked through Abraham because Abraham obeyed my voice, kept my charge, my commandments, my statutes, and my laws.

This was before the Law was given on Mount Sinai. The Law was already in effect. The Law had already been delivered. It started with Adam and Eve. The Law was out there. It was being taught to mankind. They passed some of it along, but then, of course, they drifted further and further from God. It got so bad in Genesis 6 that God destroyed the whole earth for a while, the water. Some of you have probably been to the...have any of you been to the Noah's Ark? The one that's near Ohio now? We just went there.

It's pretty amazing. I would suggest you go by and visit. It's kind of expensive, but for a one-time thing, it's built with the dimensions of the Bible. It's an ark that...they had a lot easier way of building it than Noah would have. Noah didn't have all the big cranes and all the other things. It's really quite remarkable what Noah was able to do with God's help. I don't know how miraculously God was helping him do this.

He and his boys put it together, but it's pretty amazing. So, again, the point I'm trying to make here is that there was complete unity with God, with the Father, the Word, the Logos. The plan of salvation was moving forward. Abraham obeyed my voice. He kept my charge, my commandments, my statutes, and my laws. So covenants were made, as Dr. Oz was talking about. Certain covenants were made.

We read about them in the Bible. God was working with mankind. Again, we see love, but we also see law. There's a relationship there. Again, love is the fulfilling of the law. So let's talk about integrity. What does integrity have to do with unity? Does God expect you to have integrity? Does God expect you to have character? Godly character?

This word, integrity, is a word that's fascinated me personally. It's a word that I've often thought about in regard to my own life. I've asked myself, am I a man of integrity? Is that how people would look at me as a man of integrity? Are you a woman of integrity? A man of integrity? A child of integrity?

Now, the word integrity comes from the word integer. Integer is a word I learned back in algebra class, probably 14 years old. I just am understanding it better now because this word integrity comes from integer. It's a whole number. It's not a fraction. It's a whole number. That's what integrity is all about. It's being whole. It's being upright. It's not being blemished. God wants us to have integrity. He wants us to have character. God expects us as His children to learn what it means to be men and women and children of integrity and of character. So what does that have to do with unity? It has a lot to do with unity. Because if we're going to have oneness, then we have to take responsibility that God's law is supreme, that God's law is good for us, and that we have the integrity to live by every word of God. Learning to live by every word of God, that's real integrity. That's character. Character is being able to choose that which is right in God's sight. Looking at it from God's perspective, that's real character, godly character, to do it the way God would do it. To do it in a way that would please be pleasing to Him. So godly integrity, godly character, it has a lot to do with unity. It's tied in with law. You have to see the standard that God expects us to live by. It's revealed in His Word. The Ten Commandments tell us how to live our lives. Christ showed us it's not enough to just live them in the letter. As was mentioned in the sermon before me, the spirit of the law is important. We have to live by every word of God. We have to live by the spirit of the law as well as the letter. And that's what integrity is all about. That's what character is all about. So the greater integrity that we have, the greater integrity that you have, the greater character that you display in how you live your life, in the example that you set, the greater unity we're going to have in God's Church. The more oneness we're going to have in God's Church. If there's a lack of integrity and a lack of character, obviously that's a bad example. And sometimes people are affected by bad examples. In our own households, a husband and wife, if both husband and wife are full of integrity and character, and they set a good example for each other, they're going to grow spiritually. They're going to be stronger spiritually. They'll be more unified. In the example that they set. And their children will see that example. If they don't see hypocrisy in the family, there's so much better off than if they have to grow up with hypocritical parents who say one thing and do another.

So we have to take responsibility for our calling. God has called us out of the world and given us a better way to live our lives. If we really want to see unity in God's church, then each and every one of us has to take responsibility for themselves. Are you going to be a person of integrity? Are you going to be a loving person? Are you going to have the character to do the right thing? And it starts, obviously, from Christ, who's the perfect example. Christ is the head of the church. There's no fault there. Christ is perfect. He sets the example, and obviously the Father as well. They set the perfect example for us. The rest of us are humans. We're all going to fall short because we are flesh. Jesus Christ was the only one, the only human being, who never sinned. All the rest of us are sinners. But, thankfully, there's a plan of salvation that allows for sins to be forgiven. And it comes, again, under God's love. God allows us to be forgiven when we are repentant, when we truly are sorry for our sins, what we've done, and we repent of those sins. And God is gracious to forgive us. All of that. So, this word, integer and integrity, being one, being whole, it's very important, a part of this whole equation. I'm actually going to give you a formula at the end of this, so that we'll have perfect unity in God's church from now on.

You know, that would be nice. But, you know, to be a man, woman, or child of integrity, we're going to have to learn to live by every word of God. You know, we can't pick and choose what it is we want to live by, you know, what sounds good to us. You know, we can't play those games with God. We're told to live by every word of God. So, there's one other thing to add to this equation, and it gets back to Lucifer. You know, Lucifer, he swelled up with pride. So, if we're going to have unity, we have to have humility, just the opposite of pride. God has unbelievable humility. You know, if someone is powerful as God is, and he hasn't wiped us all out, that takes a lot of humility to put up with the sins of mankind.

It takes a lot of humility to do that. You know, God is gracious. We are saved by grace because God is gracious toward us. He's very forgiving. He's very merciful. He's very loving. He forgives us our sins.

Peter said that we are to be clothed with humility. That's how we're supposed to be clothed. With humility, for God resists the proud, He does give grace to the humble. So, humble is a part of this as well. Humble is a part of this equation. Again, what greater humility than a God being becoming flesh? And it was all God, the Father, and the Word, this was the plan that they devised together. Tremendous humility in being able to work with us. Very long suffering, putting up with us all these many years, which is this very short time for them. They've been around a long time. We've only been around, what, less than 6,000 years? As human beings, on the face of this earth, Adam and Eve. So, God is concerned about the relationship that He has with you. God wants a close, personal, intimate relationship. In Matthew 11, verse 27, Christ talked about... Let's go to Matthew 11. We'll wrap this up here in short order now. Matthew 11, verse 27, Here it says, All things have been delivered to Me by My Father, and no one knows the Son except the Father, nor does anyone know the Father except the Son. So the Father draws us right, the Father calls us. He sees us, He decides to call us for whatever reasons He has. He calls us out of this world. He reveals to us His Son. No one can come to Me unless the Father draws Him. That's what Jesus said. No one can come to Jesus Christ unless the Father draws Him. And then the Son reveals the Father to us. It's a beautiful... it's a wonderful way to work together, the Father and the Son, with each and every one of us. So we need to have this kind of relationship where we see that. The Father drew you to His Son, showed you that He was who He says He is, or what the Bible reveals about Him, the perfect sacrifice for us, the Savior of mankind, and the Father... Christ said, if you've seen Me, you've seen the Father. If you see how I operate, how I deal with things, how... the decisions I make, you've seen the Father. Now, Jesus Christ was love as well, just like the Father. Total unity, total oneness. In Philippians 2, verses 5-7, Philippians 2, it says, Jesus Christ, who, being in the form of God, did not consider it robbery to be equal with God, but made Himself of no reputation. So they had this relationship for all eternity, but He made Himself of no reputation, coming in the likeness of men.

So we are called to be a part of God's Church. We're called out of this world, chosen by God Himself, to be a part of the Church that Jesus built. Jesus Christ is the head of the Church, and we're a part of this Church as we accept Christ as our Savior, as we see the Father for who He is and have that relationship. We pray to the Father. Every day we should be praying daily to the Father, again, cultivating this relationship. 1 Corinthians 12 talks about how every one of us is an integral part of God's Church. Every part of the body has a certain part to play. The analogy is used of the human body, the hands, the fingers. When one finger is hurting, then the whole body suffers. When the big toe is out of whack, the whole body suffers. The same thing is true with each and every one of us. When one is hurting, we should all hurt. That's what the Scripture says. We should pray for one another. We should love each other. We should want to spend time together to become more unified in this little church here in Viewford, Georgia. I hope you'll make that your goal, to become more unified, to become more one, to get to know each other better, to spend more time with each other, to pray for each other more faithfully, more fervently, and to reflect God's character in how you treat each other, in how you learn to love each other, and edify one another. Build each other up. Don't tear each other down. We're all in this together. We have to get the vision that every one of us is a part of this. We're all needed. You're needed in God's church. So, brethren, God has called all of us to be men and women and children of love. We talked about love. We talked about integrity and the importance of character and integrity and humility. So, if we're all practicing godly love, godly humility, godly integrity, can there not be more unity? Will there not be greater unity in God's church? If every one of us takes responsibility for himself, herself, and then we see the connection that we have with God and with Christ and with each other, so the formula is love plus integrity, or character slash character, plus humility equals unity. So, if you'll just be humble, if you'll just have a lot of integrity and a lot of character, and you love each other and I do the same, then we can't help but be more pleasing to God. We can't help but be a church that God will bless and that we will be able to move forward, and ten years from now we'll see God's blessing. So, my challenge to all of you is to practice this formula that we've talked about today. Every one of you. Try to become more unified, try to become more like God, more like Christ, learn to love each other more. And again, this little group will be a lot more unified, there will be a lot more unity here. Satan won't be able to have his way with all of you if you'll just stick together. It's been good being here today. I've enjoyed it. Thanks for the opportunity. I appreciate Dr. Ost giving me the opportunity to speak here today. Looking forward to going to Atlanta. I think the senior Ost will be speaking there, so look forward to that, too.