What if one Morning we all Woke Up & no more Divisions?

[Vine Abider]

Here's some fanciful thinking: What if one morning we all woke up and suddenly and fully realized that we were all truly one body in Christ and share the same Spirit, Lord and faith?  And that the love we felt for one another far surpassed our varied differences of opinion and we were just drawn to each other for pure fellowship?  And we held the core essentials of the faith and the testimony of Jesus closely among us, but all the other things we held more loosely for the sake of oneness.  And  we were compelled by the Spirit to give up our individual preferences regarding to how meet together and worship and do "church," and were just draw to be together with others who have Christ in them?

Do you think this would be greatly blessed by the Lord?

(I suspect that something like this may happen soon, if there are first tremendously cataclysmic things which occur.  That is, when the "heat" gets turned up is often when the Spirit is able to move among us more freely.)

[Marilyn C]

Hi VA,

Good thought provoking topic and of the Lord`s own heart. The Lord is working towards that so that -

`we all come to the unity of faith and of knowledge of the Son of God, to a perfect man, to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ;

that we should no longer be children, tossed to and fro and carried about with every wind of doctrine, by the trickery of men, in the cunning, craftiness of deceitful plotting, but speaking the truth in love may grow up in all things into Him who is the Head - Christ 

from whom the whole body, joined and knit together by what every joint supplies, according to the effective working by which every part does its share, causes the growth of the Body for the edifying of itself in love. ` (Eph. 4: 13 - 16) 

Now I see, and do many on the forum, that you, VA, have a great gift of `shepherding `the flock, and that you by the Holy Spirit bring people together and discuss worthwhile topics. You don`t cause disharmony but give room for each to have their say and encourage them even if they have a different point view.

Then there are the other giftings, and as you would have discerned by now, I have been a teacher and thus concerned with what people believe. But desire to `speak the truth in love, (with the right attitude). Presenting others with a challenge to look at their view a fresh can seem confrontational, but it is necessary to help people come to the full truth of Christ, His character and His purposes.

Thus, we will all continue to do our part by the Holy Spirit till we are brought to the `mature man,` ready to be gathered to the Lord. 

And yes, I also see that these great events happening in the world stir us to come together `exhorting one another and so much the more as you see the Day approaching.` (Heb. 10: 25)

regards, Marilyn.

 

[Michael37]

52 minutes ago, Vine Abider said:

Here's some fanciful thinking: What if one morning we all woke up and suddenly and fully realized that we were all truly one body in Christ and share the same Spirit, Lord and faith?  And that the love we felt for one another far surpassed our varied differences of opinion and we were just drawn to each other for pure fellowship?  And we held the core essentials of the faith and the testimony of Jesus closely among us, but all the other things we held more loosely for the sake of oneness.  And  we were compelled by the Spirit to give up our individual preferences regarding to how meet together and worship and do "church," and were just draw to be together with others who have Christ in them?

Do you think this would be greatly blessed by the Lord?

(I suspect that something like this may happen soon, if there are first tremendously cataclysmic things which occur.  That is, when the "heat" gets turned up is often when the Spirit is able to move among us more freely.)

[Dennis1209]

On a timely and related subject, I meant to ask a couple of long-time church members a question this morning at church but got sidetracked and forgot. We have roughly 200 church members on the role, with only about 5% still attending. I will ask at church this evening if the corrupted hard drive does not delete the file again.

At the time, I was not attending church. Shortly after the September 11, 2001 attack, I understand most churches were packed to the brim for a few weeks afterward. Out of curiosity, I wanted to ask if that was the case at my church. How long was it before the numbers rapidly dwindled, and possibly their thoughts on why?

But anyway, if 9-11 here in America is an example of Christian sloth and indifference. It seems people need a reality check of the times in which we are living. I believe 9-11 is only a foretaste, a wake-up call of things on the horizon and about to occur in earnest.

There are many Christians oblivious to the many signs of the Day approaching. Will the following national or global disaster, which pales in comparison to 9-11, pack the churches again? And if so, for how long? What about a continuous string of devastating attacks and disasters to drive the point home?

Looking at it from the outside and in retrospect, it appears there was one body united, with all differences set aside for a short period.

[AdHoc]

A Song of degrees of David.
1 Behold, how good and how pleasant it is for brethren to dwell together in unity!

2 It is like the precious ointment upon the head, that ran down upon the beard, even Aaron's beard: that went down to the skirts of his garments;

3As the dew of Hermon, and as the dew that descended upon the mountains of Zion: for there the LORD commanded the blessing, even life for evermore. (Ps 133:1–3)

[Marilyn C]

8 hours ago, Vine Abider said:

Here's some fanciful thinking: What if one morning we all woke up and suddenly and fully realized that we were all truly one body in Christ and share the same Spirit, Lord and faith?  And that the love we felt for one another far surpassed our varied differences of opinion and we were just drawn to each other for pure fellowship?  And we held the core essentials of the faith and the testimony of Jesus closely among us, but all the other things we held more loosely for the sake of oneness.  And  we were compelled by the Spirit to give up our individual preferences regarding to how meet together and worship and do "church," and were just draw to be together with others who have Christ in them?

Do you think this would be greatly blessed by the Lord?

(I suspect that something like this may happen soon, if there are first tremendously cataclysmic things which occur.  That is, when the "heat" gets turned up is often when the Spirit is able to move among us more freely.)

Hi VA,

What do you see as the `core essentials of the faith and the testimony of Jesus? `

 

Marilyn.

[Sower]

8 hours ago, Vine Abider said:

What if one morning we all woke up and suddenly and fully realized that we were all truly one body in Christ and share the same Spirit, Lord and faith?

     I'd believe that sign miracles still happen.

[Heleadethme]

It seems from scripture that true unity can only really occur where there is maturity.....those who have crucified the flesh, which is always what gets in the way of everything....flesh in the way of things like understanding, unity, walking in the Spirit, etc.  If we focus on growing and maturing in the spirit, unity would kind of eventually take care of itself. 

Except, here's a bit of a monkey wrench....what do we do when at whichever point the Lord is separating wheat from tares?  That would appear not to be so unifying!  I have wondered whether it is significant where it says the tares will be "bundled"....could that be alluding to denominations or churches that don't really see the Body of Christ as being just one church in spirit?

 

 

[AdHoc]

1 hour ago, Heleadethme said:

It seems from scripture that true unity can only really occur where there is maturity.....those who have crucified the flesh, which is always what gets in the way of everything....flesh in the way of things like understanding, unity, walking in the Spirit, etc.  If we focus on growing and maturing in the spirit, unity would kind of eventually take care of itself. 

Except, here's a bit of a monkey wrench....what do we do when at whichever point the Lord is separating wheat from tares?  That would appear not to be so unifying!  I have wondered whether it is significant where it says the tares will be "bundled"....could that be alluding to denominations or churches that don't really see the Body of Christ as being just one church in spirit?

 

 

Good point - and there is more.

19 For there MUST be also heresies among you, that they which are approved may be made manifest among you. (1st Cor.11:19)

The word "heresies" does not mean false doctrine. It means "taking a side" or "forming a (political) party. Perhaps the best example is Barnabas. He is well reputed among the saints and the Bible never speaks ill of him. He seems to have stood for unity and forgiveness in the matter of Mark's weakness (Act.15:36-41). But after this we never her of him again. Strange ... Could it be that prominent brothers and sisters, who have done no wrong, are just NOT CHOSEN by the Lord? It certainly seems so from the case of Barnabas.

Barnabas was prominent before Paul was. He had reasonable expectation that the Lord would back his cause. But it ends with Paul being prominent and Barnabas disappearing altogether.

[Rockson]

I don't think in the early church being one mind and having unity wasn't totally linked to everyone believing exactly the same thing. It's being of one mind that we're all  brothers and sisters in Christ and we seek to walk in love towards each other.