I welcome you to this edition of The Herald of His coming. In the part one of this series, the Holy Spirit began to focus our attention on the acts that were behind the Apostles exploits. We began to look at the place of unity of the body and I like to share with you excerpts from an article by an unknown author I came across in the course of study on some of the reasons behind disunity of the body of Christ. ‘’For instance, the bible underscores the importance of “unity” and “oneness.” Unity with others is “good” and “pleasant” (Ps 133:1). Unity is absolutely essential because the church is the “body of Christ” (1 Cor 12:27), and a body cannot be in disunity or disharmony with itself. If disunity occurs, it essentially ceases to be a body and becomes a disjointed group of individuals. Jesus’ plan for His church is people unified in the faith. His plans are for a body and not a group of bodies. The secret to unity begins with how we view ourselves within the body and how we view others. The key verse that addresses this is Phil 2:3: “Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit, but in humility consider others better than yourselves.” All disunity in a church can be traced back to the simple truth that too often we act selfishly and consider ourselves better than others. Paul goes on to explain further in the following verse: “Each of you should look not only to your own interests, but also to the interests of others.” Sadly, churches that experience disunity and are in conflict and turmoil are generally filled with people looking to their own needs, their own desires, and their own ambitions. Such behavior is characteristic of unbelievers, not those with the mind of Christ. Worldliness, not godliness, is the hallmark of the dis unified body of Christ, as Paul reminded the Corinthians: “For you are yet carnal. For in that there is among you envyings and strife and divisions, are you not carnal, and do you not walk according to men?” (1 Cor 3:3). Does these things sound familiar? This, I believe, calls for some serious and critical thinking. But Paul tells us that we are to consider others’ needs before our own in all modesty, humility and lowliness of mind. We are to “be completely humble and gentle; being patient, bearing with one another in love” (Eph 4:2). A church filled with such people cannot help but have peace, unity and harmony. The truly humble person sees his own faults in light of the perfections of Christ; he does not seek to see the faults of others, but when he does, he speaks the truth in love and desires their sanctification so they will be built up in the image of Christ. He sees his own heart and the corruption that lies hidden there, along with impure motives and evil ambitions. But he does not seek to take notice of the errors, defects, and follies of others. Most importantly, as Christians, we are to see one another in the light of the Cross – Fellow Christians for whom Christ died a horrible and painful death so that He might exchange His righteous perfection for their sin (2 Cor 5:21). How can we not extend to them the love, compassion, and grace of our heavenly Father? How can we demean, criticize, and defame those covered with the precious blood of Christ? Were we not slaves to sin when He called us, hopelessly lost, dead in our own transgressions and sins (Eph 2:1)? But we are now slaves of Christ, slaves to righteousness, and as slaves of the Master, the task before us is not to quarrel and demand our needs be met but to reflect His grace and love to those who are also His by His mercy. A church full of such people enjoying their “common salvation” will be a true, biblical church unified in, and earnestly contending for, the “faith once delivered to the saints” (Jude 1:3).’’ Beloved, are you by any means entrusted with the privilege of leadership in the body at whatever level in your corner of the world, I plead with you to vigorously pursue the unity of the body. Yes, there are natural divides such as language, culture, colors and norms in the world but, the unity of the body transcends all such natural divides. It is time for us to rise above the mundane and move to perfection. Until then, our ability to adequately occupy for the master remains an illusion. I like to pause here and hope to see you in the next edition. Until then, keep looking up eagerly for the appearance of the son of the living God. Maranatha! Your companion in the race – Ezekiel Oni
