UNITY AND DIVISION

"How good and pleasant it is when brothers live together in unity!" (Psalms 133:1 NIV)
The Unity of God
What is true unity? What does unity mean to the Church? We need to understand unity from God's perspective in order to understand it. It is important that we realize God is one and that we are one in God. The scriptures speak to the unity of God Himself as a person, commonly called the Trinity. God Himself is One. Some examples are:
• Yet for us there is but one God, the Father, from whom all things came and for whom we live; and there is but one Lord, Jesus Christ, through whom all things came, and through whom we live. (I Cor. 8:6a NIV)
• There is one body and one Spirit - just as you were called to one hope when you were called - one Lord, one faith, one baptism; one God and Father of all, who is over all and through all and in all. (Eph. 4:4-5 NIV)
• And in Him you too are being built together to become a dwelling in which God lives by His Spirit. (Eph. 2:22 NIV)
• Now the Lord is the Spirit. (2 Cor. 3:17a NIV)
• Jesus stated, "I and the Father are one." (John 10:30 NIV)
Throughout the Bible we read about the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit being one God. There are some groups that would contend to the fact that Jesus and God are not one. There are many groups that deny the deity of Christ.
Jesus is the Only Way to God
If we do not believe in the deity of Christ, then our Christianity is not true Christianity. If we do not believe that God and Jesus are one and that Jesus Himself is the Son of God, then how can we know that we have a pure, perfect sacrifice? "For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God." (Rom. 3:23) There is only one Man who has been sinless and that is Jesus. And He is God Himself.
Only God is sinless. Since Adam and Eve, every person has sinned, except Jesus. Jesus did not sin because He was God! Only because of who He was, was Jesus able to make this sacrifice for our sins. Jesus is the Lamb of God who died for our sins and for the sins of the world. There is only one way to God. "For there is one God and one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus, who gave himself as a ransom for all men." (I Tim. 2:5,6a NIV) Any religion or any person who tells you that there are multiple gods or that there is more than one way to God is leading you astray from the true Christian faith… from a true relationship with the Lord.
We cannot get to God through the Virgin Mary. We cannot get to God through any saint, whether he is dead or alive. We can only get to God through Jesus - and only by Jesus.
To help understand how Jesus mediates for us, imagine a large ravine with two cliffs on either side. Man is on one side of the ravine and God on the other. Man's sin has caused this to exist. The only way man can get across to the other side is if a bridge were made. Jesus is the only one who qualifies. He can enter God's side because He is fully God. He can enter man's side because he was fully man.
This bridge must be able to cross the sin barrier. Jesus can do just that because He is sinless. Jesus laid down His life for us and became the bridge. He became a sin sacrifice by taking our sins upon Himself while on the cross so that we can walk across the bridge to God. There is only one bridge. There is only one way to God… through Jesus. You can only get to God through the cross of Jesus and what He did for us on it.
Our Unity in God
The high priest prophesied, “That Jesus would die for the Jewish nation, and not only for that nation but also for the scattered children of God, to bring them together and make them one." (John 11:51a,52 NIV)
This prophecy was fulfilled. Jesus did die to bring us to God, but also to bring us together as one. Even Jesus himself taught that His sheep will listen to His voice and there shall be one flock and one shepherd. (John 10:16)
Jesus himself prayed that the Holy Father would protect us by the power of His name so that we may be one as He and the Father are one. (From John 17:11) He prayed specifically that all of us might be one. He prayed,
That all of them may be one, Father, just as you are in me and I am in you. May they also be in us so that the world may believe that You have sent me. I have given them the glory that you gave me, that they may be one as we are one. I in them and you in me. May they be brought to complete unity to let the world know that you sent me and have loved them even as you have loved me. (John 17:21-23 NIV)
Jesus' desire was that we would be one with the Father and with each other. The only way that we can be one with each other is if we are one with the Father. This happens by receiving what Jesus did on the cross and following Him, thus making Him the Lord of our lives.
There is Only One Shepherd…Jesus
We need to keep in mind that Jesus' sheep listen to his voice and that there is only one flock (the Church) and one shepherd (Jesus). Too often, those in leadership lead the Church astray by taking upon themselves Jesus' shepherding role. Instead of encouraging all Christians to go directly to God through Jesus, they put themselves in the place of mediator. They usurp the Lord's authority and act as gods themselves.
God has given ministers, in particular pastors, to lead and guide the flock to Jesus. These ministers are not to lead and guide the flock to themselves. God has given pastors that appear to shepherd the flock. Those who are truly following Christ will lead others to the ultimate Shepherd. Beware of those who do anything other than this.
We are one Family
"Both the one who makes men holy and those who are made holy are of the same family. So Jesus is not ashamed to call them brothers." (Heb. 2:11 NIV) We are in the same family. Those who do the will of God are Jesus' family - his mother, brothers and sisters.
We are one Body
"Just as each of us has one body with many members, and these members do not all have the same function, so in Christ we who are many form one body, and each member belongs to all the others." (Romans 12:4-5 NIV)
I cannot overemphasize what the scriptures clearly teach throughout the New Testament - that there is one body. Each of us has different parts and functions but we are one body.
I Corinthians Chapter 12 explains very clearly about this one body of which each of us is a part. Verse 12 starts with,
The body is a unit, though it is made up of many parts; and though all its parts are many, they form one body. So it is with Christ. For we are all baptized by one spirit into one body - whether Jews or Greek, slave or free - and we were all given the one Spirit to drink.
Now the body is not made up of one part but of many. If the foot should say, 'Because I am not a hand, I do not belong to the body,' it would not for that reason cease to be part of the body. And if the ear should say, 'Because I am not an eye, I do not belong to the body,' it would not for that reason cease to be part of the body. If the whole body were an eye, where would the sense of hearing be? If the whole body were an ear, where would the sense of smell be? But in fact God has arranged the parts in the body, every one of them, just as he wanted them to be. If they were all one part, where would the body be? As it is, there are many parts, but one body.
The eye cannot say to the hand, 'I don't need you!' And the head cannot say to the feet, 'I don't need you!' On the contrary, those parts of the body that seem to be weaker are indispensable, and the parts that we think are less honorable we treat with special honor. And the parts that are unpresentable are treated with special modesty, while our presentable parts need no special treatment. But God has combined the members of the body and has given greater honor to the parts that lacked it, so that there should be no division in the body, but that its parts should have equal concern for each other. If one part suffers, every part suffers with it; if one part is honored, every part rejoices with it.
Now you are THE body of Christ, and each one of you is a part of it. (I Cor. 12:12-27 NIV, capitalization for emphasis)

Notice the emphasis on THE body. Throughout the New Testament, you read "one body." You never read about many bodies. There is discussion of many parts and many functions, but not "many bodies." Individual members have different functions. They are different parts.
We are not a Monster!
Contrary to what the scriptures state, we have a dichotomy going on today:
• We have one head (Jesus) with many bodies.
We are a multi-bodied monster in this sense. We have the Assembly of God church, the Church of God church, the Baptist church, the Methodist church, the Wesleyan church, etc., etc. - every Christian is supposed to be a "member" of one of these churches. But when we become of a member of a "church", then aren't we saying that Christ has a multiple bodies and that each one of us is in a different body? The scriptures nowhere teach membership in a denomination or a local church group. Membership to the Church supernaturally occurs when one becomes a Christian. As a result of the new birth, this person automatically becomes part of "THE" body.
Church, we need to repent of this mindset because God Himself has instructed us that there should be no division in the body. But when one of us, or a group of us, calls themselves a church, are we not being a separate body? Are we not separating ourselves from other believers so that we will not be able to have equal concern for each other? The rich believers are at this church, the poor believers at that church, the tongues-speaking believers in this church, the evangelistic believers in that church. This must stop! There is one body; there is one God. As there is a Father, Son and Holy Spirit who make up our one God, there are also individual members that have individual functions in our one body. We need to be careful that we have sound understanding of this doctrine and that we don't go beyond as some of us would, speaking, "Well, the hand might be the Assembly of God church or the foot might be the Baptist church," - the Bible does not teach that. We need to take the Bible for what it says. Allow it to explain itself instead of interpreting it the way we want it
interpreted and thus changing the meaning of the scriptures.
I Corinthians 12 is talking about individuals while describing the body and gives it's summary towards the end of the chapter. "Now you are the body of Christ, and each one of you is a part of it." (I Cor. 12:27 NIV) This verse defines that being a member of the body is being a member of the Church.
This passage continues to give specific examples of individuals in the body.
And in the church, God has appointed first of all apostles, second prophets, third teachers, then workers of miracles, also those having gifts of healing, those able to help others, those with gifts of administration, and those speaking in different kinds of tongues. (I Cor. 12:28 NIV)
We need to rightly divide the word of truth in this area. Look to the Bible to give the definitions as to what God is saying about the body, it's individual parts and membership. As Ephesians 4:25 NIV says: "Therefore each of you must put of falsehood and speak truthfully to his neighbor, for we are all members of one body."

Sin causes Division
We need to remember that there is neither Jew nor Greek, slave nor free, male nor female, for we are all one in Christ Jesus. There is to be no division on the basis of race, culture, sex, color, or status.
When Jesus died on the cross, we were made one with God because of what that sacrifice meant. Jesus prayed that we would be one, even as He and the Father are one. Do you think that Jesus' prayers went unanswered? His Father always heard Jesus' prayers and gave Jesus what He asked. By His sacrifice we have already been made one with the Father. We have already been made one body; thus we are one with each other. However, we need to live and walk out our lives in unity and oneness.
The only way we can be divided is if we divide ourselves one from another or divide ourselves from God. The only way we would divide ourselves from God is if we were to turn and walk away from Him.
When we do this to our brothers and sisters, we do it to Him as well. If we have sin between us or between us and God we put up a dividing wall (figuratively speaking) which affects our unity between God and ourselves and between one another. God does not want that. He wants us to be one with each other. We have already been made one in Jesus but we need to walk that out in practice, as well as by faith.
Examples of Unity
There are a number of practical examples of our oneness in Christ. There are some particularly good examples involving the first century church, which is shown to us in Acts. The Church
1) waited on the Lord together (Acts 1:4)
2) ate and spent time together (Acts 2:46)
3) prayed together (Acts 4:24)
4) fellowshipped together (Acts 5:12)
5) All the believers were one in heart and mind. (Acts 4:32)
They even went so far as to not claiming any of their possessions as their own. Instead, they shared everything they had. [Wouldn't that be an interesting sight today if the Christians looked at their possessions as not being their own but shared them? If we sold them and distributed them so there would be no poor (as the early Christians did). I dare believe that we might put the welfare system out of business. We would certainly save the government lots of money and would ease the concerns of those who are losing their jobs or going through tough situations. I realize the Bible says the poor will always be with us, but wouldn't it be nice to make a big dent!]
I recommend in the midst of the current economic situation, that we start considering our possessions as not our own and start helping our Christian brothers and sisters who are in need: Think of our items as their items; sell things we don't need to help provide for the needs of others; and pray with these things in mind.
Be of One Mind
Now the God of patience and consolation grant you to be likeminded one toward another according to Christ Jesus: That ye may with one mind and one mouth glorify God, even the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. Wherefore receive ye one another, as Christ also received us to the glory of God. (Rom. 15:5-7 KJV)
"Be perfect, be of good comfort, be of one mind, live in peace; and the God of love and peace shall be with you." (2 Cor. 13:11 KJV)
"Finally, be ye all of one mind, having compassion one of another, love as brethren, be pitiful, be courteous: Not rendering evil for evil or railing for railing." (I Pet. 3:8,9a KJV)
As stated above, the Bible specifically commands us to be of the one mind toward one another.
Many of us think, "Where is the God of love and peace?" "Where is God?" "I feel so dry." My questions in response, "Are you in one mind, living in peace with your brethren?" "Do you have unforgiveness towards anyone?" "Do you harbor ill will or wicked thoughts towards any of your brothers or sisters in Christ?" If you do, you need to repent so you could have one mind. Ask the Lord to give you one mind.
Some of you are of one heart but not of one mind in understanding the doctrine of God. Some of us believe one thing; others of us believe something else. Oneness involves more than not being in sin with your brother or holding a grudge against him. That's part of it. But God also wants us to be of one mind. God wants us to understand the Bible for what it says… for what He says… and to believe it instead of our own manmade doctrines, ideas and understandings. For this, we need to love the truth.
We need to be willing to search the scriptures and be corrected. We need to seek God as to who He is and who He says He is and what He has to say about our relationship with one another. It takes work to be of one mind. For many of us it will take much work because we have set up our own thoughts and ideas as to who God is and how we should relate to one another.
When the scripture says something different from what we believe, we need to change our beliefs so that they agree with scripture in order that we come into unity with one mind. Christ made us one on the cross but we also need to work this out on earth. Just as we were made holy (past tense) by His one sacrifice, yet we are still being made holy throughout this life. We work out our salvation with fear and trembling. (Phil. 2:12) In the same way we are one with God and with one another. We need to recognize this and to walk it out. We can do this simply by believing that what God says is true. Unbelief will hinder our unity and our oneness of mind.
There is a situation where Paul encouraged the unity between two women when he said, "I plead with Euodia and I plead with Syntyche to agree with each other [that they be of the same mind] in the Lord." (Phil 4:2 NIV) He also encouraged others to help them.
The Lord wants us to help each other be of one mind rather than be in disunity. He wants us to have that oneness. We already have the mind of Christ. (I Cor. 2:16) God has given us the mind of His Son so that we can be of one mind.
Many will say, "How can we believe the same thing? How can we have one mind?" First, we need to repent of our unbelief and believe what the Bible says: "that we are to be of one mind." It is not an option. It is a command.
Secondly, we need to recognize and believe that we have the mind of Christ. (Phil. 2) This mind is to be in us:
• one of laying down our lives for God
• becoming obedient to God, no matter what situation we
go through
• looking to the affairs of others, not only our own
• in humility considering others better than ourselves
Thirdly, when we are not of the same mind we need to work together to dissolve our disunity. We need to work through our disagreements and differences by using the scriptures. We need to put on love (which involves longsuffering and patience) to resolve our differences of understanding. We will be of one mind if we love one another and we love what God says.
I am not implying that we will always agree with each other all the time. We are at different levels of maturity and understanding. Because of this, we need to be loving and patient. It is important that we are merciful towards and receive one another in the Lord. Those of us who are strong in knowledge need to bear with those who are weak.
If we do these things as we increase in knowledge, we will be of one mind. We will help each other obtain what Christ has obtained for us on the cross. We will help each other to walk out what we already have in Christ. But we need to repent of our unbelief, be willing to be obedient and receive the scriptural truths that God has given us. We need to be likeminded, having the same love, being of one accord, being of one mind.
No matter what happens, no matter what trials befall us, no matter what situations we encounter, we need to stand fast in one spirit, with one mind, striving together for the faith of the gospel. When we with all lowliness and meekness, with longsuffering, forbear one another in love, we will be endeavoring to keep the unity of the spirit in the bond of peace. (Eph. 4:3)
Be in Unity!
Now I plead with you, brethren, by the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that you all speak the same thing, and that there be no divisions among you, but that you be perfectly joined together in the same mind and in the same judgment. That there should be no schism in the body, but that the members should have the same care for one another. (I Cor. 1:10; 12:25)
Be in unity! God has commanded this. He has made the way for us through what Jesus did on the cross. We automatically have oneness with God when we are Christians. We are of one body. We are to be of the same mind. We need to repent of the many areas and many situations that do divide us, one of them being the idea of being a many-bodied church. There is only one body and we are it - all of us. Each of us is a member. There is no place for denominations (or denominational divisiveness) in the body of Christ.
As Christians have gotten a deeper understanding of who Jesus is and what He has for the Church, these denominations have formed. Denominations did not exist until the 1600s (although there were schisms earlier) when the Church was receiving revelation to escape the Apostate Church (Catholicism) through men like Luther, Wesley, Knox, etc. Eventually these denominations will become (or have they already?) like the Apostate Church.
Who or what can you think of that would be involved in the murder of Christians? A major murderer and persecutor of Christians was the Church of Rome (the Catholic Church). This murdering occurred over about a 1200-year period. Entire cities were destroyed. Millions upon millions were killed. No other group has done so much against Christians. Even the Reformers, (Luther, Huss, Knox, etc.) recognized this.
In addition to this consideration, there is more description that defines this harlot in Revelation 17. She sits on many waters. (v. 1) The waters are defined as peoples, multitudes, nations, and tongues. (v. 15) In other words, the waters represent the peoples on the earth. The harlot is described here as sitting on a scarlet beast having seven heads and ten horns. (v. 3) She is dressed regally in purple and scarlet, adorned with gold, precious stones and pearls. She is holding a golden cup full of abominations and the filthiness of her fornication. (v. 4) She is called "The Mother of Harlots." (v. 5) She was drunk with the blood of the saints and the blood of the martyrs of Jesus. (v. 6)
The beast she rides upon is described as having seven heads and ten horns. (v. 7) I believe these seven heads refer to seven kingdoms or governments because verse 10 mentions seven kings in describing this beast. The beast was, is not, and yet is. (v. 8) A further description is "Five have fallen, one is, and the other has not yet come. And when he comes, he must continue a short time." (v. 10)
Looking at the history in the Bible what are the five kingdoms that have fallen? The first kingdom or government that basically encompassed the known earth, including God's people (who were the Jews at that time) was Egypt (first mentioned in Genesis 12:10). From this point on Egypt is frequently mentioned. It grew in prominence when it preserved the lives of Abraham's descendents during the famine. It is also prominent when it enslaved the Jews and the Lord used Moses to deliver them with many signs and wonders, including crossing the Red Sea. Many of us have watched the famous movie The Ten Commandments on television and have some understanding of what I am talking about here.
The second kingdom was Assyria. It is first mentioned as taking the Jews captive in 2 Kings 15:29.
The third kingdom was Babylon. Isaiah prophesied that the Jews would be taken captive by Babylon. (2 Kings 20:17,18) Chapters 2 Kings 24 and 25 detail the account of the Babylonian takeover. Babylon had even taken over the first renowned kingdom of Egypt. (2 Kings 24:7) Babylon ruled the Jews and other nations for 70 years. (Jer. 25:9-14)
The fourth kingdom that replaced Babylon was Persia. (2 Chron. 36:20,23) The Media-Persia empire's uprising and Babylon's downfall is described in Daniel 5.
The fifth kingdom was Greece. Daniel 8 describes a vision that Daniel saw of a ram with two horns that was interpreted as the kings of Media and Persia. (vs. 3,20). Media-Persia took over the known world including the Jews. (v. 4) In the vision, a male goat attacked the ram and the ram couldn't withstand the goat. (v. 7) The male goat is the kingdom of Greece. (v. 21)
Daniel, during Babylonian captivity, interpreted one of the king's dreams which was about the future kingdoms…including some of the ones just mentioned and the one in Revelation 17 that says, “one is.” This dream is found in Daniel 2. The image the king saw in his dream was as follows: "This image's head was of fine gold, its chest and arms of silver, its belly and thighs of bronze, its legs of iron, its feet partly of iron and partly of clay." (vs. 32,33) The interpretation states this image was four kingdoms, the kingdom of Babylon and the next three that were to follow. Babylon was the head of gold. The next kingdom (which was inferior to "gold" Babylon was made of silver) was the Media-Persian kingdom. The third kingdom, made of bronze, was Greece. The fourth kingdom, made of iron and clay, referred to as the “one is” in Revelation 17 was Rome. (vs. 37-43) During this kingdom, a stone was cut out without hands, which struck Rome and broke it into pieces. The stone that struck the image became a great mountain and filled the whole earth. (vs. 34,35) This stone was Jesus. During the days of Rome, “The God of heaven will set up a kingdom which shall never be destroyed; and the kingdom shall not be left to other people; it shall break in pieces and consume all these kingdoms, and it shall stand forever." (v. 44) Historically, the Jews were looking for a Messiah based on this scripture. However, many of them thought he would physically crush Rome and reign as a natural, physical king.
As can be seen, Rome was the sixth kingdom mentioned in Revelation 17. Rome remained in prominence for a number of centuries from 63 A.D. until 476 A.D. During that time, beginning in 313 A.D., the papacy began its ascendancy. In 533 A.D. the papacy was codified. Official recognition was given by an actual decree of Justinian, the emperor who proclaims him “head of the church”. Over the next 1260 years, the Roman church was in power. Even kings and kingdoms of the known world feared this church and her power. The kingdom of Rome continued to function off and on throughout the centuries; however the power was in the papacy. I believe the last rise of the kingdom of Rome was through Hitler. I believe the seventh head helped in the world war to crush Rome for the last time.
In addition to the seven heads on the beast that the harlot was riding there were also ten horns. These ten horns
will hate the harlot, make her desolate and naked, eat her flesh and burn her with fire. For God has put it into their hearts to fulfill His purpose, to be of one mind, and to give their kingdom to the beast. (Rev. 17:16a,17a)
These ten horns were kingdoms that fought against the Church of Rome around the time of the Reformers and the Reformation. These ten kingdoms were
• Frankia, the leading nation, in what is now France
• Neustria, bounded by the Meuse, the Loire, and the Mediterranean
• Austrasia, bounded by the Rhine, the Meuse, and the Moselle
• Burgundia, from the Loire to the Alps
• Visigoths, in Spain and Portugal
• Saxons, in Britain
• Lombardia, in N. Italy
• Exarchate of Ravenna, in Central Italy
• Vandals, in Africa
• "The Greeks," in Greece and Southern Italy, governed by the nominal emperor from Constantinople.
The reason I mentioned the denominations becoming like the harlot is because she is called the "Mother of Harlots" (Rev. 17:5) and the denominations came from the Church of Rome. When the denominations are young, like children they are still virgins and not fornicators. However, when they become mature, will they not be like their mother?
As a side note, I might as well mention the seventh kingdom (or also called the seventh head of the beast) mentioned in Revelation 17. The one referred to as "has not yet come. And when he comes, he must continue a short time." (v. 10) I believe this kingdom (or seventh head) was the Soviet Union and the Communism it represents. In 1918 three major events occurred that made way for the Soviet Union. They were
1. the fall of the Ottoman Empire
2. the fall of the Kaiser (which means Caesar)
3. and the fall of the Czar (which also means Caesar)
(The fall of Kaiser meant the fall of the western half of the Roman Empire and the fall of the Czar meant the fall of the eastern half of the Roman Empire.) Hitler rose up as one last gasp of the sixth head of the beast that was Rome. But when it fell, it gave rise to the Soviet Union, the seventh head of the beast.
During the reign of the Soviet Union, communism kept spreading. It encompassed more of the world than any other country and it persecuted and killed Christians. These are criterion that each head of the beast previously fulfilled. A third criterion is that the next head of the beast conquered the previous head, which was the case with the Soviet Union and the Rome. The United States of America was in the position to go in and take Berlin signifying the end of Hitler’s Third Reich. Instead, the U.S. waited until the Russian forces could go in first and have the honor of taking Berlin. The Soviet Union overtook this last gasp of Rome in 1945.
Friends of mine were studying this part of the Bible and predicted that if the Soviet Union was the seventh head, it should last less time than Babylon. Babylon had lasted the shortest time of all the six kingdoms - only seventy years. Since that was the case, the Soviet Union would need to fall in the late 1980s, which it did.
This leaves the beast, called the eighth, which is of the seven, to rise up. This may be the one-world government people are talking about. I believe it will include all the other kingdoms/governments in one form or another. They will surround the people of God (Christians) as the other kingdoms did. However, I also believe that as this beast, which is a combination of the seven kingdoms, arises, the Lord will return in His glorious second coming.
We do not need the denominations. We never did; but men have institutionalized their understandings and belief systems about God. The Bible has our belief systems. The beliefs are to be in us, the people. The denominations are irrelevant in a minor way in that our salvation and Christianity depend on Christ alone. But they cannot be ignored because in a major way they are causing division in the Church. They are the structure and belief systems that make us a many-bodied Church.
We are not able to have the same care one for another because we are segregating ourselves according to our "advanced" or "basic belief" systems. God wants us to have one mind. But how can Christians who are part of the Assembly of God denomination have the same mind as the Baptists when their theology is so different? (I am amazed that some Christians hold to their denominational theology, no matter what, above the theology of the Bible. Often they know more about their denomination than what Jesus taught in the Bible!)
On the points that we disagree, we need to repent of our unbelief in the scriptures and choose to love the truth found therein. Next we need to work together to properly understand and interpret the scriptures. Throughout this process we need to be patient.
A prominent division caused between the Assembly of God and Baptist denomination is the topic "The Baptism of the Holy Spirit". The people need to study and believe what the Bible has to say about this topic even if it goes against our denominational theology. If we choose to follow lies rather than the truth, we are in danger of becoming apostate and falling away from our relationship with Jesus.
We need to receive what the Bible has to say about all issues. We need to repent of our holding on to man's teachings and what we have been raised and taught in.
For today the Lord is bringing forth a remnant that will be of one mind, those who will repent and allow God to change their minds because God has told us to renew our mind. We are to offer ourselves as living sacrifices, holy and pleasing to God, not to be conforming anymore to this world, but to be transformed by the renewing of our minds, so that we will prove what is good and acceptable and perfect will of God. Church, we need to do this. We need to break down the walls between us. We need to eliminate from our hearts the denominationalism that has kept us in bondage to man-made systems, rather than God's system. We need to be in unity and we need to break down these walls and barriers.
I am not talking about an ecumenical movement; for the ecumenical movement is a false unity between denominations. I am talking about a unity in believing simply that we are one body, that we are members of each other, that we are one in Christ and that we hold to the scriptures - all that they have to say, not just this chapter or this "pet" verse - but all that God has for us. And as He matures us and we understand more and more about what He teaches us in His scriptures we will walk and be obedient to them and Him. But the ecumenical movement works on the basis of the simplest common denominator - if one denomination believes and holds to five issues, another agrees to three of those issues, while yet another only agrees with one issue, then all the denominations join together on the basis of the one issue, disregarding the other issues. In some cases this one point of agreement may be simply believing that Jesus died for our sins. But what if a denomination didn't even believe that? Then ultimately, the ecumenical movement would be non-Christian. It isn't far from that now.
We cannot have any unity other than through the scriptures and through God Himself. We cannot substitute our ideas for God. And many of the denominations have at least parts of their teachings and their lives being based on a man's system rather than God's system. We need to strive for the truth as completely and fully as possible. This will allow true unity between each other and God. This is not possible through the ecumenical movement.

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A good friend of mine wrote a song based on this passage called “We All Need Each Other”:
We are one Body whether slaves or free
How can the ear say to the eye I’m no good, no good
God has placed many members just as He has desired
How can the eye say to the hand you’re no good
Chorus:
Jesus oh we all need each other, when one suffers we all suffer
Father oh we all need each other, when one’s honored we are honored
In the congregation our lowly ones ignored
Do we receive the ones who are small and rejoice, rejoice
1Musical adaptation of the Biblical text from the New American Standard Bible.
The Body of Christ is one despite all of man's tinkering and obfuscation. Outwardly, all these groups present a divided body but God sees inside to the one true body hidden amongst all these groups. I am explaining who and what the true body is because it is essential for us to come out of Babylon in our hearts. Then we will no longer be captive to any "club" but free to share our gifts with all who are in need no matter where we physically end up.
The Ten Commandments, produced and directed by Cecil B. DeMille, starring Charlton Heston, Paramount Pictures Corporation, 1956, movie.
It was Napoleon who actually took away the crown from the Pope in 1793, and proclaimed himself emperor without the Pope’s sanction.
The Kingdom and the Antichrist (Ulverston: H. Ardron), 57.
The beast persecuted God’s chosen people. Before Christianity, the Israelites were the persecuted ones.