Participants: Gordon Arruda
Series Code: FC
Program Code: FC000285
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00:31 Welcome once again to "Faith Chapel."
00:35 I'm Gordon Arruda, head elder of the Roseville 00:37 Seventh-day Adventist Church in Sacramento, California. 00:40 Today we're going to be studying a topic 00:43 that recently has become very dear to my heart. 00:46 It has also become very clear to my heart. 00:49 It is a gift and something that the Holy Spirit 00:52 has been pressing upon me. 00:54 Especially as I see the church coming 00:56 closer and closer to our glorious rendezvous 00:59 with the second coming of Jesus Christ. 01:02 The topic is called "The Unity of Faith." 01:07 Unity is an interesting word 01:08 because there's two perspectives about unity. 01:11 There is a unity as the world sees it, 01:13 which really means uniformity. 01:15 That means everybody complying 01:17 and being and thinking the same way. 01:19 And if you don't, there's adverse consequences. 01:23 But that is not the true meaning of unity 01:25 from a biblical standpoint 01:26 and certainly not from God's standpoint. 01:29 Unity is a beautiful thing, 01:31 and it takes diversity to make up the unity 01:34 that truly represents Jesus Christ. 01:37 And so let's have a prayer as we delve into the scripture 01:42 and we explore the true essence 01:45 and meaning and power of unity. 01:48 Father in Heaven, again we ask You for Your spirit to be here, 01:53 for the personal presence of our Lord Jesus 01:56 to minister the word to our hearts. 01:59 Jesus, You are gentle and You are faithful 02:03 and we thank You for the way You can teach us 02:06 in a way that nobody else can. 02:08 Use the words here, use the scriptures here 02:10 to bear witness in our hearts of the truth. 02:13 And let it be accompanied with power. 02:16 Bring conviction to us as a people and the need, Lord, 02:20 of You and our need for one another. 02:23 In Your precious and holy name we pray, amen. 02:28 I'd like to start with 1 Corinthians Chapter 12. 02:34 1 Corinthians 12:13, Paul states, 02:39 "For by one Spirit we were all baptized into one body 02:44 whether Jews or Greeks, whether slaves or free 02:49 and have all been made to drink into one Spirit." 02:56 Here Paul says something that really took me 03:00 a while to realize the magnitude in what it says. 03:04 Many times in witnessing to individuals, non believers, 03:09 people who have an interest in the Bible but really have not 03:14 made a definitive commitment to Jesus Christ, 03:17 have often told me, 03:19 "I don't mind being baptized into Jesus 03:22 but I don't want to be baptized into any church." 03:26 In this scripture, Paul clearly states that 03:29 baptism baptizes you into a body. 03:33 Jesus Christ does not recognize any baptism of one 03:38 who does it with the intent of standing aloof 03:40 or separated from the body of Jesus Christ. 03:44 Baptism is always not only a confession of Christ, 03:48 but a confession that now you are being entered 03:51 into the body of Jesus Christ and standing as a full saint 03:56 and participant in the Kingdom of God. 03:59 This kind of individualism 04:01 which permeates our culture in the society, 04:04 really does not really come forth as scriptural. 04:09 Many people think that they can be baptized 04:11 and be independent in their walk with Jesus, 04:15 that they can stand afar off from any assembly of believers. 04:19 That they do not have to be accountable 04:21 or even responsible for living in unity 04:25 and living in commonality with others 04:27 who have come to know and believe in Jesus. 04:30 This is something the scriptures do not teach. 04:33 Any baptism that is done that separates 04:36 or keeps the individual separated 04:38 from the body of believers is not biblical baptism. 04:42 The Holy Spirit will not bear witness to it. 04:45 The purpose of the Holy Spirit is to baptize us 04:48 not only into Christ but into one body 04:51 and fellowship of believers. 04:54 I know this runs smack in the face of what is treasured 04:57 and valued in our society today, namely, individuality. 05:02 There's nothing wrong with individuality, 05:04 but when it's taken to extreme, what it really means is, 05:08 "I want to do what I want to do under my own terms 05:11 and under my conditions." 05:13 This is not the faith of Jesus Christ 05:15 and this certainly does not entail 05:17 a genuine baptism into Jesus Christ. 05:21 That kind of individualism 05:23 still holds self in high esteem and as number one. 05:28 But the baptism as prescribed by scripture, 05:32 baptizes you into a body 05:35 and thereby we learn how to grow, 05:38 we learn how to worship, 05:40 we actually learn how to get along with one another. 05:43 And perhaps that is by God's design 05:46 and part of the reasons why we need to grow 05:49 and to experience sanctification. 05:53 I'd like to go to the scripture now in the Gospel of John. 05:56 John 17:21. 06:05 This is a very powerful scripture and one 06:09 that is worthy of intense study and contemplation. 06:12 John says, "That they all may be one, as You, 06:17 Father, are in Me, and I in You, that they also may be one in Us, 06:25 that the world may believe that You sent Me. 06:29 And the glory which You gave Me, I have given to them, 06:34 that they may be one just as We are one, I in them, 06:40 and You in Me, that they may be made perfect in one, 06:45 and that the world may know that You have sent Me, 06:50 and have loved them as You have loved Me." 06:56 Here we see Jesus giving a very profound statement 07:00 on the issue of unity 07:02 and to really get an appreciation 07:04 for the comprehensiveness of it, 07:06 I'd like to go back to the issue of the trinity, 07:10 the Father, Son and the Holy Spirit. 07:13 And what defines the relationship between them 07:18 as they function as a Trinitarian deity? 07:23 In scripture, it says 07:26 that the Father has glorified the son. 07:30 The Son when he came to the earth 07:34 was committed to bringing glory and glorifying the Father. 07:39 When the Holy Spirit comes, He is commissioned 07:43 with giving glory to Jesus Christ 07:46 and not speaking of himself. 07:49 Notice the dynamic that goes on 07:51 between the Father, Son and the Holy Spirit. 07:54 The thing that defines their oneness 07:57 is that they exist to serve and glorify each other. 08:02 This is the dynamic that the Spirit 08:05 and the Son and the Father, 08:06 the trinity have going on between themselves. 08:12 This has such a profound impact on how we should view unity. 08:18 What helps the unity, what binds the unity 08:21 into being a beautiful thing, 08:24 is the principle of giving of oneself 08:28 for the sake of the other, 08:30 of living to uplift and glorify the other. 08:34 Now in this prayer we just read in John, 08:37 John is talking about the unity 08:41 that is experienced between the Father and Himself, 08:45 may also be experienced between us, one another. 08:51 There is no other way, 08:54 there is no other principle that Christ will impress 08:59 or impart to a worshiper or believer. 09:02 And this is why the idea of separatism 09:05 is not found under the auspices of the Holy Spirit 09:09 and it is not recommended, 09:11 it is deplored in the word of God. 09:16 He further says in John 17, 09:19 that in this unity that exists among the believers, 09:24 it is in that condition in that environment 09:27 that they are to be perfected. 09:32 Now isn't that interesting? 09:34 We often seek perfection or we think from others 09:38 have told us that we find perfection 09:40 by somehow separating ourselves 09:42 and going off to some desolate location 09:45 where we're going to find holiness. 09:47 This whole religious thoughts that actually 09:50 developed this kind of theology in the early Christian Church, 09:56 there was an individual that lived 09:57 in one of the ancient cities of Asia Minor 10:00 where they had a big, long, tall pillar 10:03 and he sat upon it for the rest of his life 10:06 because he didn't want to experience any temptation. 10:10 This in his mind was the way 10:13 he could achieve the ultimate perfection and holiness 10:16 that he thought God required of him. 10:19 What is really sad is that the church espoused 10:23 this kind of demonstration as the ideal of 10:27 what constituted perfection or what constituted holiness. 10:31 It was very sad because 10:33 this is nothing of what God has in mind. 10:36 This is not something that is found in Scripture. 10:40 This is something that comes from the mind of man 10:43 and the way he chooses to practice religion. 10:46 We find these disciplines maybe in monastic living. 10:50 We find some of these principles in some of the eastern religions 10:54 where those who would truly find enlightenment 10:57 are separated from any body of believers, 11:00 it's an individual trek and journey. 11:04 And so there's many religious thoughts and disciplines 11:07 that espouse this individualism in obtaining perfection. 11:12 But the prayer of our Lord Jesus Christ, 11:14 as He said it here in John 17, 11:17 is that we may all be one as the Father and Jesus are one. 11:23 And that, in that oneness with one another 11:25 and our oneness with Him, we may be perfected in unity. 11:32 Unity is absolutely essential in God's plan, 11:36 our spiritual growth and development for us individually 11:39 and for the church corporately. 11:42 To get further inside into this principle, 11:45 let's now turn to the Book of Ephesians Chapter 4. 11:49 Ephesians Chapter 4. 11:52 We'll be reading verse11 through 13 at this time. 11:58 "And he himself gave some to be apostles, some prophets, 12:04 some evangelists, and some pastors and teachers, 12:07 for the equipping of the saints for the work of ministry, 12:11 for the edifying of the body of Christ 12:14 till we all come to the unity of the faith 12:17 and of the knowledge of the Son of God, 12:20 to a perfect man, 12:22 to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ." 12:28 In the giving of the different roles 12:31 and offices by the Holy Spirit to the church, 12:34 mentioned here as apostles, prophets, teachers, pastors, 12:40 these gifts are given 12:43 not based on spiritual superiority held by individuals, 12:48 but by enabling them to accentuate 12:52 the characteristics of our Lord Jesus Christ 12:55 as they fulfill their spiritual gift 12:59 under the guidance of the Holy Spirit 13:00 and that is the giving of themselves 13:04 to the body of Christ. 13:08 Leadership in Christ's church, in Jesus' church 13:13 is not based on the same principles 13:15 that it is in the world. 13:18 Leadership in the church of Jesus Christ 13:22 is based on what the individual is willing to sacrifice 13:26 and give for the nurturing and the building up of the body. 13:30 Some do it because they've been appointed to be apostles, 13:35 others do it because they've been 13:36 appointed to be pastors, still others as teachers. 13:41 But notice, none of these officers 13:43 is to speak anything of a spiritual superiority 13:47 upon the one on whom 13:49 the spiritual gift has been conferred. 13:54 We need to understand 13:55 that the Holy Spirit anoints us for ministry and service. 14:00 And these roles and officers 14:02 were never meant to place one above another. 14:07 In fact, in following the example of Jesus, 14:11 it is a greater responsibility to humble oneself 14:16 for the nurturing to the church. 14:19 Isn't this exactly the principle 14:20 that exists in the Holy Trinity? 14:23 Isn't this exactly what existed between the Father and the Son? 14:28 And so the conferring of spiritual gifts in the church 14:32 is no way intended to elevate another person as though 14:36 they are endowed with some sort of super spirituality, 14:40 but rather, it takes on the responsibility 14:44 of how much they are willing to sacrifice 14:46 and give for the nurturing of the church. 14:50 Leadership in the church of Jesus Christ 14:53 is based on service. 14:55 Jesus demonstrated this 14:57 so much when He was with His own disciples. 15:00 Did not He even say that the greatest among you 15:03 will be the least and the least among you will be the greatest? 15:07 When He washed their feet in that scene in the last supper 15:10 and didn't He not say that, 15:13 if I wash your feet so you ought to wash one another's feet. 15:19 This is done only by a servant 15:21 and yet Jesus says, this is what the master does in my church, 15:25 he washes the feet of the others. 15:29 Secondly, in the Scripture, 15:32 it talks about the purpose of this arrangement, 15:34 the reason why the gifts are given 15:36 is for the building up of the church 15:40 into the full measure of Christ, into a complete and mature man. 15:46 It strikes me that individuals 15:50 who do not take on the responsibility of relationships, 15:56 who prefer to stay aloof of 15:59 their responsibilities and relationships, 16:01 whether it's a husband and wife, 16:02 a father and a mother to the children, 16:05 whether it's our, you know, to an elder, 16:08 a mother or a father, they never grow up. 16:13 They stay children because what is happening is that 16:17 they are not learning what it means to sacrifice 16:20 and give of oneself for the sake of their relationships. 16:24 Relationships can only work when the parties are willing 16:28 to humble themselves one to another. 16:31 And this is why Christ creates the fellowship of all believers. 16:35 This is why He creates the priesthood of all believers. 16:38 So we can be ministers even as He's minister to us. 16:44 When we have an atmosphere 16:47 where this is what's happening in the church, 16:50 where the pulse or the culture of the church 16:52 is to build one another up. 16:55 What it does, it takes away the wrong mentality 16:59 and mindset of going to church and thinking, 17:02 what can I get out of church? 17:05 Many of us do that. 17:07 The issue is not what we can get out of church, 17:10 it's what church can get out of us, 17:13 that was the intent of Jesus Christ. 17:16 And to the degree that the humility of Jesus 17:18 is worked into the heart of an individual, 17:22 to that degree He is qualified to carry on 17:24 a leadership role in the church. 17:27 He mentors and models 17:28 what it means to walk in the Spirit 17:31 and to truly live a life of humility. 17:34 He demonstrates a life of service, 17:36 of giving with no thought 17:38 or account of receiving any glory of recognition. 17:42 Oftentimes leaders are targets, they're blamed for many things. 17:46 But this is part of the way in which we grow up. 17:50 When we become the target of objections 17:53 and even insults and injury, 17:56 there is where the purification of our Lord comes in even deeper 18:00 there is where we learn to love from a pure place, 18:04 from a pure motive, as Jesus loved us 18:07 even though we rejected Him and spit in His face. 18:10 To learn to love like Jesus Christ 18:13 is to learn to live life in the community of believers. 18:17 This is why unity in the church 18:20 grows us and builds us up 18:24 and has a specific purpose and plan in the Kingdom of God. 18:30 Next, we need to turn further 18:32 into the Book of Ephesians in Chapter 4, 18:34 but this time we're going to be reading verses 14 through 15. 18:41 Paul continues with his dialogue on the unity of the church. 18:46 "That we should no longer be children, 18:49 tossed to and fro and carried about 18:51 with every wind of doctrine, by the trickery of men, 18:56 in the cunning craftiness of deceitful plotting, 19:03 but, speaking the truth in love 19:06 may grow up in all things into Him 19:10 who is the head, Christ." 19:14 Isn't it amazing, that so many people 19:17 have developed strategies on how to become more spiritual. 19:21 Some of them are thought provoking and beneficial even, 19:25 but the one strategy that is often overlooked 19:29 is fellowship with one another. 19:32 Many of the Epistles of Paul, half the epistles are taken up 19:36 just counseling the saints in various cities 19:40 on how to get along with one another. 19:42 This is a large part of our spiritual development. 19:46 We learn what it is to live in community. 19:48 We learn what it is to be in relationship. 19:52 We learn to give up our own agendas, our own ways 19:55 and what we think is right and what we need to do 19:58 for the sake of the body. 20:00 We learn to come into church and enter into its activities 20:04 with the mindset and the attitude, 20:07 "I come here to bless, 20:09 I come here to exalt or lift up another, 20:14 I come here to fulfill 20:16 what Jesus has put in my heart to do." 20:19 Can you imagine a community of believers 20:22 where everybody has this mindset coming in, 20:26 what that would look like? 20:28 Much of the strife, divisions and bickerings in the church 20:32 are present because we practice 20:35 much of our religion in our flesh nature, 20:37 in our fallen nature. 20:39 Paul even counsels the Corinthians 20:41 that the reasons why there are divisions and disputes 20:44 among them is because they are still carnal, 20:47 they are like babes, they haven't grown up. 20:50 The freshly nature is always trying to intrude 20:53 on the work of the Holy Spirit 20:55 and coming up with its ideas on how to best suit 20:59 the role of doing church. 21:03 But, you know, until we learn to crucify the flesh 21:07 through the power of the Spirit, 21:09 until we learn to find our rest and abiding in Christ 21:12 and let the flesh go with all its desires, 21:15 with all its agendas, with all its arrogance and pride 21:19 and what we think is best for the church. 21:22 Until we do that, 21:24 we will always be being 21:25 practicing religion in the flesh. 21:28 This is what Paul talks about, 21:30 that as we experience the unity of the faith, 21:34 of being brought together, 21:36 we learn many times and hopefully, all the time 21:40 what it means to give up self. 21:43 We come into conflict with individuals 21:45 and our first response is to look at the individual 21:48 and to look at all their faults. 21:51 Oh, if they can only be a little more patient, 21:54 if they could only learn a little more 21:57 on what it means to run a program. 21:59 If they could only be a little more loving or, 22:03 you know, listen most of the time. 22:05 It's always about them, 22:07 but the Holy Spirit is calling us again to open our hearts 22:12 and to look at the way we are reacting 22:15 to what we see in them. 22:17 This is the way we grow, is in relationship. 22:21 Sanctification so often has been spoken of as though 22:25 it's something that happens apart from relationship. 22:29 Truly our personal walk and our prayer life with Jesus 22:32 is foundational and critical. 22:35 But what is the purpose 22:37 of having this foundation in Christ? 22:39 What is the purpose of abiding in Jesus Christ 22:42 and being filled with the Spirit? 22:44 Is it not to change our lives, so now we become an instrument 22:48 and an arsenal of love that declares His glory? 22:51 And what is this love? 22:53 Is it not to live to lift up another? 22:57 Is it not to live to make sure the other person 23:00 will be found complete in their walk in Jesus Christ? 23:04 Can we not with our hearts, understand that it is imperative 23:09 that we go to church with that mindset? 23:13 Jesus has this by design, this is the very essence 23:18 and how He views the church ought to be. 23:21 This is what He prays for in John 17. 23:24 And this is what the church will look like 23:27 when it is truly complete. 23:30 I'd like to read on in Ephesians Chapter 4:16. 23:36 "From whom the whole body, 23:38 joined and knit together by what every joint supplies, 23:42 according to the effective working 23:44 by which every part does its share, 23:47 causes growth of the body for the edifying of itself in love." 23:54 Notice what the environment 23:56 that is created by this arrangement. 23:58 It's an environment of love, whose love? 24:01 Not human love, 24:03 or the love that normally comes from our humanity. 24:06 The love that Christ puts in our heart, 24:08 it is from that in which we function. 24:12 It says that we were all knitted together 24:14 and joined together by that which each joint supplies. 24:19 Notice that every joint is involved 24:22 in supplying something or giving something. 24:26 That is what brings and fits things together 24:30 and creates a firm foundation for the church to grow. 24:35 When the energies of individuals and leaders 24:39 is for the nurturing of the body 24:41 and when that kind of a culture and mindset is duplicated 24:46 and produced within the church of Jesus Christ, 24:49 that is the evidence 24:51 that the Holy Spirit is working with power. 24:53 Because that is exactly what the Holy Spirit 24:56 wants to impart to individuals 24:58 and what he wants individuals to bring to the church. 25:02 We do not grow, apart from unity. 25:06 We cannot be perfected, apart from unity. 25:10 So often we're looking at world events as evidences 25:13 of the soon coming of Jesus Christ. 25:15 So often we look at events and say ah, see it's near 25:19 and we look other places at catastrophes 25:21 and wars and rumors of war. 25:23 We see what's happening in the religious and spiritual world, 25:27 developments that we have long been expecting to happen 25:30 and they are being fulfilled. 25:32 But Jesus will not come 25:35 until He comes to a church that is unified. 25:39 He's not coming for a bunch of individuals 25:42 separated from one another. 25:44 He comes when the church comes together in unity 25:48 because it has borne within the fellowship 25:51 the imprint, the mindset 25:54 and the attitude of Jesus Christ. 25:56 That attitude of service, 25:58 that attitude of always willing to give 26:01 and even sacrifice for the sake of a brother and sister 26:05 to uphold an uplift all people 26:08 and to nurture their walk with Christ 26:09 so that they can be complete. 26:12 I am learning to train my mind coming to church 26:15 recognizing that my Lord will not come 26:19 until my brother and my sister are complete in Jesus Christ 26:25 and that Jesus has empowered me to help them along the way 26:29 and to make that thing happen. 26:33 When we can look at one another that way, 26:36 when we can look at our brother and our sister 26:39 and recognize that Jesus will not come 26:42 until those people, our brothers and sisters can be completed 26:48 and matured in Jesus Christ. 26:51 Jesus then will see that 26:53 He has a church He can come back to. 26:56 He has empowered each and every one of us 26:59 to have this mind that belongs to Him, 27:02 to have the heart that he imparts to us 27:06 and to bring that attitude of service, 27:09 of looking upon others as ones we are to give ourselves to, 27:14 for their benefit and for their spiritual well-being. 27:18 This is the kind of church Christ is coming back to. 27:22 This is the kind of church that he's looking for, 27:25 this is the kind of church 27:26 that gives the powerful witness to the world 27:29 that Jesus has risen from the dead 27:31 and now sits with power at the right hand of God. 27:34 This is the church that Jesus will find 27:37 when He comes again in glory 27:39 and in the power and the glory of His father. 27:42 May this all happen within our lifetime 27:45 and may we live to see the glorious return of our Lord. 27:49 Thank you so much and God bless you. |
Revised 2014-12-17