Elevate - God's Church, My Church Pt 2 - Unity

This is a radio ministry message from Authentic Life Church in Mobile, Alabama. The speaker talks about the importance of unity in God's church and how Jesus prayed for unity among His followers. The speaker also mentions the current events and suggests that we are living in the last days. The message is based on the book of Romans, where Paul addresses the issue of unity in the church in Rome. He encourages the believers to renew their minds and think humbly, lovingly, and in unity with one another. This is our Lord, but He's more than our Lord. He's the King of the Universe. He created everything. He's immeasurable greatness and glory and wisdom, and He emptied Himself out, not thinking of quality with the Father, something to be grasped, and died on a cross at the hands of His creation, demonstrating for us all what humility looks like. Welcome to Elevate, the radio ministry of Authentic Life Church in Mobile, Alabama. We pray that it builds your faith, helps you to live a life for God that you've always wanted to live, and that it inspires you to be a fully devoted, authentic follower of Jesus Christ. Here's today's message from Neil DeQuatro. We're going to continue in our series called God's Church and My Church. And the whole reason we're talking about this is because we understand that the church is the most important thing to God. He paid such a price. Jesus paid such a price. And God delivered to Him the church. And so God loves the church. He's paying attention to the church. You are the church. So He loves you. And when we know what the church is, not the world's idea of the church, which sometimes has become a bit of a kind of like a social club, but what God's idea of the church is, then we know how we can function inside of it. Today, we're going to talk about the unity of God's church. The unity of God's church. So if you would, just imagine with me, you are the Apostle Peter. And it's the Garden of Gethsemane scene. They're getting close to the place where Jesus is about to lead them up to the garden and ask them to pray as He goes on further to pray to the Father by Himself before the crucifixion. Now, if you're Peter, you don't know exactly what's going on. You just know that things are heating up. You believe that this Jesus is the Messiah because the Lord revealed that to Him. But He doesn't know exactly how all this is going to end because He still has sort of the traditional view of the Messiah being a king and a political leader. But what He knows for sure is that the opposition to this ragtag group is getting more extreme. He could probably tell that Jesus is looking more focused, more intense. Something is burdening Him. And Jesus at this time is aware of what His disciples are about to go through. He's aware of what He's about to go through. And He's aware of what His people, the church, over the next however many years are going to go through. And so He decides to pray a prayer for His followers that were right there in front of Him, but also all those who would believe in Him. And it's interesting that Christ could have prayed anything at all that He wanted to the Father on behalf of His people. But He chooses to pray one thing very specific that catches our attention. And we see it in John chapter 17. He says, I do not pray for these alone, but also for those who will believe in Me through their word. So He's saying the disciples, but also you and Me. Those who will believe through their word. I pray that they all may be one as You, Father, are in Me and I in You. That they also may be one with Us. That the world may believe that You sent Me. You see, Jesus could have prayed anything, but He knew how impossible life would have been if the brotherly love and the unity fell apart. He knew that it would be impossible to overcome and do what needed to be done in the world if the unity came apart. So He prays for unity. Have you ever gone through a trial, a difficult trial, and you felt alone? Right, you felt like no one knew what was going on, no one was helping, no one was supporting you? It's a horrible feeling. Nobody wants to be in that place. And so for Jesus, being one and unified was the key to His followers being okay. That was the key to them being okay. No matter what difficulties the church would face, no matter what difficulties you'll face now, today, this week, the answer is being one and being unified with God's people. And I want to say, church, and I know we've been saying this for years, but I'll say it again because I believe it's true. We are in the last days. If any of you have been following this news about this red heifer that Israel is trying to sacrifice, who's been following that at all? They found this red heifer. One hasn't been sacrificed in 2,000 years. It's what Leviticus describes as what will purify the temple, and it's got to be perfect, and they found one, and these red heifers are being held in Israel, and their hope and desire is that they will sacrifice them so they can begin to kick off the temple system, which right now is already assembled in the form of a tabernacle, and it's in storage. There was no time over the last 1,000 years, certainly since Israel became a nation in 1948, over the past 50 years, where we could say they're on the precipice of trying to reinstitute the sacrificial system. And if you know your End Times prophecy, that's big. How many of you were watching the news last night with Iran, one of Israel's greatest enemies, for the first time ever attacking them directly with 300 missiles and drones? They've always done it through terrorist organizations. Now they've attacked them directly, and guess what? Israel says, we are going to respond in kind. So I don't know if this is kind of another false start that gets us a little bit closer, but I want you to know, church, everything is in place. We could find ourselves in an End Times scenario like that. Do you realize that? This is the day that we're living in. And the only way for us to hold together and to stay together is to be unified. Christ has given us each other to help you stand, to help you thrive, to help you glorify Christ. But we only realize those benefits when our church is unified. And so many years after the Gethsemane prayer, a church in Rome is struggling with unity. And it's the church we're going to look at this morning and unpack as we learn how to walk as God's unified people. So here's the backdrop of Rome. The church in Rome was started, and it was comprised of both Jews and Greeks together, with the Jews being given preference, because Paul hammers this point home that the gospel was first to the Jew, then to the Gentile. In fact, Romans chapter 11 spends a lot of time talking about making sure we don't think too highly of ourselves as Gentiles who've been grafted into the vine, because through God's people came the promises and the covenants and ultimately the Messiah. But in the year, I think it was A.D. 49, Claudius kicks the Jews out of Rome, because he feels like they're stirring up too much trouble because of this new movement. And so now the Greek members of the church begin to own it, and the church reflects their culture, and that's fine, except some years later, the Jews are now allowed back in Rome. And as a result, they come back into Rome, and there's dissension as they rejoin the church, because now the church has taken on the full identity of the Gentiles. And we can see from the letter to the Romans that Paul writes that they're starting to get a little bit haughty about this. And they're not realizing that they need to understand that the Jewish people need to be honored and respected, because through them came the law and the prophets and the Messiah, and also punishment came to them first. And so Paul was dealing with this mess. Can you imagine what a cultural mess that was? This church that needed to be unified was no longer unified. And so Paul writes them this letter in Romans, and I'm going to read the longer passage, and then we're going to break it down. Romans chapter 12. We're going to start with verse 1. I beseech you, therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that you present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable to God, which is your reasonable service, and to not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, that you may prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God. For I say, through the grace given to me, to everyone who is among you, not to think of himself more highly than he ought, but to think soberly, as God has dealt with each one, a measure of faith. For as we have many members in one body, but all the members do not have the same function, so we, being many, are one body in Christ, and individually members of one another. Catch that. We're members of one another. Not of just of a church of one another. Let's jump down to verse 9. Let love be without hypocrisy, abhor what is evil, cling to what is good, be kindly affectionate to one another with brotherly love, in honor giving preference to one another, not lagging in diligence, fervent in spirit, serving the Lord, rejoicing in hope, patient in tribulation, continuing steadfastly in prayer, distributing to the needs of the saints, giving to hospitality. Bless those who persecute you. Bless and do not curse. Rejoice with those who rejoice, and weep with those who weep. Be of the same mind toward one another. Do not set your mind on high things, but associate with the humble. Do not be wise in your own opinion. This whole passage is about unity. And we have to understand, sometimes we like to lift scriptures out of their context, and we miss the flow of this letter. But Paul is concerned about the unity of this church, and so he gives them some practical advice. And there's a predominant theme in these few short verses that jump out right away. Paul admonishes his church to consider how they think. He's trying to impact how they think. In fact, either explicitly or implied, six times in these short verses, Paul says to renew your mind, or don't think of yourself too highly, or be of the same mind, or he says, set your mind on things above. You see, Paul wants this church to pursue a way of thinking. To pursue a way of thinking that will lead to unity. And it's that pursuit that we're zooming in on today. So let me read those first two verses again, where he says in chapter 12, 1, I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that you present your bodies a living sacrifice. Catch that. Present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable to God, which is your reasonable service. And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, that you may prove what is good, what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God. So you've got to remember here that Paul is writing these words in the context of trying to unify the Roman church. You see that? And so he gives them two options. He says, listen, you can live according to the pattern of this world, which sort of makes your local church not much more than just a club, where your main way of relating is, well, I attend here, so what do I get? Where's my end of the bargain? Right, that's a club. Or you can live as a living sacrifice, where you lay your life down for others. And that's the example Paul gives them. And the choice he gives them of how to relate to others. Now, in verse 2, you see this really popular verse. Don't be conformed to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. This is one of those few verses in the Bible that is great in isolation. You could lift it right out, and it sort of means the same thing. We need to renew our mind. But in the context of Paul's letter, it's even more potent. Because he's talking about unity when he says this. So what kind of renewed thinking does Paul want the Romans to pursue? Well, we see it in verse 3. Now you're going to catch the flow of how Paul's thinking here. Verse 3, he says, For I say through the grace given to me, to everyone who is among you, not to think of himself more highly than he ought. You see that? We love this verse. Be transformed by the renewing of your mind. And the first thing Paul gives them is, Renewing your mind means to not think of yourself more highly than you ought. Wow. But to think soberly, as God dealt to each one a measure of faith. For as we have many members in one body, but all the members do not have the same function, so we, being many, are one in Christ, and individual members of one another. So Paul is admonishing us first to pursue humility. If you want to live in a church that thrives in unity, each and every one of us need to pursue humility. How many of you know that humility is the cure for disunity? It's the cure. Paul is saying that the root of disunity is an improper view of yourself. When you think of yourself wrongly, dissension follows. And this was Satan's great sin. He had everything that he wanted. He was above all the other angels. We get this impression that he was beautiful and musical and shining. And what happens? He does the same thing that you and I sometimes do. He gets focused on what I deserve. He gets focused on what's owed to me because he's so beautiful. He gets focused on how he ought to be treated. And we get focused on how I ought to be treated, and what I deserve, and it becomes me, me, me, instead of laying ourselves down as a sacrifice for others. As a living sacrifice for others. Think about the last argument you've ever had with someone. You weren't treated the way you deserved to be treated, were you? You think when you're in the middle of that argument, no one is going to talk to me that way. You think, I've sacrificed too much to deal with this nonsense. Am I the only one who has been here? Right? I can tell by the look on your face. I've sacrificed too much to deal with this nonsense. Don't talk to me that way. But what it all amounts to is an elevated view of yourself. I can prove it. Because what happens when the argument's resolved? Here's what you say. Wow, I didn't see it from your point of view. Or, oh, if I knew that you were going through so much personally, I wouldn't have gotten so upset. That's how the resolution comes. So you become less important, and the other person becomes more important, and the me's become you's, as you lay yourself down as a sacrifice for others. Do you see that? And we know that Paul's admonishment to us is right, because he got the idea of humility from the master of humility himself, Jesus Christ. Let's look at Philippians chapter 2. Paul says in verse 5, Have this mind among yourself, which is yours in Christ Jesus. Let me just stop there for a second. He says it again. Have this mind about yourself. He's saying, you've got to think rightly about you, or none of this is going to work. Have this mind among yourselves, which is yours in Christ Jesus, who though He was in the form of God, did not count equality with God as thing to be grasped. But He emptied Himself by taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men, and being found in human form, He humbled Himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross. Church, this is our Lord. But He's more than our Lord. He's the King of the universe. He created everything. He's immeasurable greatness and glory and wisdom. And He emptied Himself out, not thinking equality with the Father something to be grasped, and died on a cross at the hands of His creation. Demonstrating for us all what humility looks like. What being a living sacrifice looks like. That's why He washes His disciples' feet just before He gets arrested. And He rebukes Peter for saying, listen, I know you want to wash my feet, but I didn't come to be served. I came to serve. Does that stand out as astounding to you? That the King of the universe behaved this way? So we've got to pursue humility the way Jesus did if we want unity. So what else does Paul admonish us to pursue for the sake of unity? Well, he tells us in Romans 12 to pursue love as well. Pursue humility and pursue love. Let's look at it. Chapter 12, verse 9. Let love be without hypocrisy, abhor what is evil, cling to what is good, be kindly, affectionate to one another with brotherly love, in honor, giving preference to one another, not lagging in diligence, fervent in spirit, serving the Lord, rejoicing in hope, patient in tribulation, continuing steadfastly in prayer, distributing to the needs of the saints, giving to hospitality. Bless those who persecute you. Bless and do not curse. I want to focus in on those first couple of verses there. We all know that we should love each other, right? I think everyone in this room understands that we should love each other. But our idea of love is corrupted. By sin and our human nature. And it falls short every single time without the help of Jesus. So what does pure love look like in action? Well, Paul highlights a lot of things in these verses. He says, be kindly, affectionate, give honor and preference, taking care of the needs of others. But all of those things fall under the heading, the bold-faced heading of verse 9, which says, love without hypocrisy. Wow, love without hypocrisy. What in the world does that mean? Well, we could start by looking at just the definition of hypocrisy. And it all comes into focus. Here's what hypocrisy means. The practice of claiming we have moral standards or beliefs to which one's own behavior does not conform. Wow. Wow. Claiming to have moral standards or beliefs to which one's own behavior does not conform. You see, hypocritical love destroys unity because it expects from others what it personally is not willing to give. And that's what causes a divide to come between people. So, let's talk about church offenses. Church offenses usually amount to expecting from others what you're not personally willing to give. No one called me when I was sick. No one noticed when I missed three weeks. No one asked my opinion. Now, listen, don't get me wrong. We're in relationship with one another. I'm not saying that those things, when they happen, are not hurtful. But before you get offended, ask, how often have I done this for others? And the me suddenly becomes the you as you start thinking like a living sacrifice and not thinking as much about yourself. And then also ask yourself, how much have I done this for others? And am I willing to destroy the unity of a church over it? Wow. Those are the questions we want to ask. Paul also says that it's insincere. Hypocritical love is insincere. You know, this is the person who says he loves others, or she loves others, but is found often gossiping about the body. The person who says they love someone, but judges that person's intentions and motivations, but certainly won't tolerate if someone judges their motivations. You all know what I'm saying, telling the truth, right? They proclaim the love for Christ's church, but never offers up their life to help and support the body. Paul calls this hypocritical love. And here's the thing. We've all done this, me included. I'll put myself at the front of the list. We've all fallen short in this way and hurt the unity of a body. But with the help of Jesus, with the help of Jesus, the transforming work of the Holy Spirit that transforms us into the image of His Son, through Jesus, we can strive for a Christ-like love, and have the humility to repent and change when we get it wrong. So what does non-hypocritical, sincere love look like? That's probably the better question. Well, we see it in John chapter 15, verse 12. Jesus is speaking here, and He says, This is my commandment, that you love one another as I have loved you. Well, how did He love them? Verse 13, greater love has no one than this, that someone lay down his life for his friends. Sounds like living sacrifice, doesn't it? Doesn't mean you're necessarily going to have to die, but it does mean you lay down your rights and your preferences and what you want, and you put other people ahead of your own interests. So love is a sacrifice. Can we agree on that? Love is difficult. Love is inconvenient. Love is costly. But there is nothing better than doing the work to truly love and be loved in the body of Christ. And I think this is a church that knows that, because while we all have opportunity to grow, and we'll think about this at the end of the message of where we can grow, I think we also do it better than a lot of places. This is a church that loves one another, even when it's hard. So being a unified church means we've got to pursue humility. It means we've got to pursue love. And it also means we've got to pursue, according to Romans, meaningful relationship. Now, notice I didn't say meaningful relationships, because I'm not referring to how many friends you have, but the quality and type of relationship you have with others. Meaningful relationship. Let's look at chapter 12, verse 15. Rejoice with those who rejoice, and weep with those who weep. Be of the same mind toward one another. Do not set your mind on high things, but associate with the humble. Do not be wise in your own opinion. You see, Paul, when he says, Rejoice with those who rejoice, and weep with those who weep, he's describing a church where people rejoice and weep with one another. Where they share in each other's victories and defeats. It's a church that celebrates one another, and embraces each other through heartaches and disappointments. I just talked to someone just before I came up to preach that said they lost two family members this week alone. So we ache with them. We mourn with them. That's not just saying, Hi, how you doing? But that's sharing relationship. It's a quality of relationship that's different than what we just have with the world. Now, listen, I know you can't have close, intimate friendships and relationships with absolutely everyone you come across in this church. But it is important to know that if someone is a member of Christ's family, who joins in His sufferings, who proclaims Jesus as Lord, they're automatically in a category above the person you pass in the grocery store. And that's the point I really want us to see. When we're passing each other on a Sunday morning, have you ever reached out to the person you don't know? Have you ever asked them how their week is when they say, Good, follow it up with, Okay, now tell me the truth. What's really going on in your life? Right? That's the quality of relationship. When they say, like I just heard, I lost a loved one. Do you grab their hand and pray with them? Do you say, is there anything I can do? Can I make a meal? Can I grieve with you? This is the quality of relationship that Paul is referring to. Many Christians have this unfortunate relationship with the church. And I'm not saying y'all, but if it applies to you, great. But many Christians, especially in America, have this relationship with the church where they funnel in and they funnel out. And they listen to a gifted speaker, and they listen to an awesome band play worship music, and there's no relationship with anybody else. Ask yourself, if that's you, what benefit is there for you? Were you a blessing to anyone? Did someone else help you live out your Christian walk? I mean, listen, if we only come to church to sort of hear the sermon, or to listen to a band, we can do that at home. You can listen to a sermon online. You can pull up Apple Music. You can listen to worship at home. And that's precisely what happened in the wake of COVID-19. We started to recognize, and there's been a lot written about this already at the, not just our church, but in America. I'm not judging anyone who's not here anymore. I don't know their story, but in broad strokes, we know that people were relating to church by and large so they could funnel in, hear a message, and leave. They didn't want anyone to talk to them. Didn't want to be bothered. Didn't want anyone in their life. They weren't assembling as the church for the sake of relationship. Relationship. They were just sort of punching the clock. I mean, have you ever thought about why the Bible tells us to assemble? Why does Colossians chapter 3, and I don't have verses for this, so you don't have to look at the screen, but why does Colossians chapter 3, verse 16 say, Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly in all wisdom, teaching and admonishing one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing with grace in your hearts to the Lord. It sounds like more than just a concert. Why does Acts chapter 2 say, And they continued steadfastly in the apostles' doctrine and fellowship in the breaking of bread and in prayers. Why does Hebrew chapter 10, verse 24 say, And let us consider one another in order to stir up love and good works, not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together as in the manner of some, but exhorting one another. And so much more as you see the day approaching, the day that I talked about when I first started speaking this morning, this end times. Though Romans 12 and a multitude of other scriptures reveal that Christ intended for us to have meaningful relationship in His church. We're designed to walk with a multitude of other believers and help each other overcome sin and stand for Christ and endure hardship. This is what unity looks like. Thank you for listening to Elevate. We pray that this message encouraged, inspired and challenged you. Authentic Life Church is located at 3750 Michael Boulevard in Mobile, Alabama. Visit our website authenticlife.tv for more information about Authentic Life Church. To find out what we have going on or to make a donation, we'd love for you to join us on Sundays at 10 a.m. for our weekend service. We have excellent children's nursery and youth programs, so bring the family. Thanks again for listening to Elevate and may God bless you.