All Together!

All Together!

John 17: 22

I read of a man, who discovered that he had cancer, and was told he would, in all probability,
die in six months.
Completely shattered, he began missing work and started drinking heavily.
One night he mumbled, "I can't die. I don't know what I've been living for."

There are Christians who are not ready to face death because they have not discovered
what they've been living for.
Every Christian must know his or her mission in life.
We must have something worth doing.
Life, and death itself, takes on real meaning, when we do what we know we ought to do.

Jesus said: "I must preach the good news of the kingdom of God to the other cities also;
for I was sent for this purpose." (Luke 4: 43)
We have an urgent mission.
People we love are dying and descending into Hell for all eternity.
Many around us are living in the frustration of unconquered sin.
They are unable to enjoy the peace or joy that Christ provides.

We are at war!
Casualties line our streets, and the enemy encircles us with his forces.
We fail to see this war, or we refuse to be concerned.

Our churches are caught up in so many organizational headaches,
and are being dragged down by the ambition of those who wish to be in charge.
Others are involved in the deadly game of competing with each other.
We must not realize that the situation is desperate, nor do we recognize how fragile
the life of the church is.

The battle must be fought together.
There will be no victory without fighting the enemy together.
Our churches need oneness.
But this oneness seems to be missing.

There are several reasons for this.
Unfortunately, many church members have been brutalized by the political infighting,
the malicious gossip, and the conflicting egos that dominate too much of church life today.
The church is notorious for shooting its wounded, and putting its rookies on the front line.
We do more damage to ourselves than we have ever done to the gates of hell.

Honest confession of sin in our churches is no longer heard in our churches.
Such confessions have been used to judge rather than to forgive and cleanse.
We do not hear the express needs of our members because they are regarded
as evidence of immaturity, instead of opportunities to share the burdens of those who are hurting.

Jesus prayed that all of us who follow Him would find unity.
His prayer makes it clear that there is only one road to unity.
"I have given them the glory that you gave me, that they may be one as we are one."
(John 17:22)

Unity comes only from people who are seeking to be changed into God's image.
As God is changing us, we find tremendous compatibility with others whom He is also changing.
Suddenly, we become aware of the needs of others, and how we can be of help.
We also become conscious of the insight that others can add to our lives.

The early church understood their mission.

  • They recognized the need of oneness.
  • They shared and administered to each other without the petty, political concerns
    that drain church life.
    No one had to tell them that they needed each other; they knew it.
    Believers who have been to the cross together will walk away from the cross together
    to discover the joy of unity and love.
    Let's reaffirm some things that God's Word has to say about our relationship with others.
    If we would employ these in our lives, we would move toward true unity.

    Here are some things that we should practice in our Christian relationships. When we understand the value of these things, we will seek for relationships that fulfill them.
    We must come together with other disciples so we can effectively touch each other's lives.
    It is time to shake ourselves loose from the selfishness that isolates us from one another.

    Unity and real love was the earmark of the early church.
    Even a hostile world, who didn't accept their message, marveled at how much they loved
    and cared for each other.
    The early church in Acts started with 3000 people overwhelmed by a fresh experience
    of the reality and love of God.
    Our churches would be tremendously different if we could recapture that first love.
    That joy would be so infectious the world would hunger to learn of the love of God.

    We pride ourselves for our excellence in the tasks of planning, programs, administrative,
    and communicating, but we should be striving for excellence in the areas of intimacy,
    obedience, unity, and love.
    There is nothing more enjoyable than being with people so in love with God that they don't need
    programs to entertain or to motivate them.

    It is out of the fullness of our own love for God, that we care for each other and reach out
    to the lost and dying.
    When God puts our lives together in love, we will find joy, so deep and wonderful,
    that we will wonder how we ever thought that programs could replace or even stimulate such love.

    People who love like this are preoccupied with Jesus.
  • They serve God side-by-side.
  • They sacrifice for each other's needs.
  • They take the weakness of others as an opportunity to minister to them, not as an occasion
        to judge or gossip.
    This in contrast to the backbiting and political infighting that characterizes so much of what
    we call Christian fellowship.

    We must share the spirit of love in a fully responsible way.
    The church is weakened, not strengthened by those, however devout they may be, who are
    fault finding, bitter and critical.
    There have been brilliant, competent people who have alienated themselves from the life of the church,
    not through their lack of faith, but through their lack of love.

    Lacking love, they lack understanding and a will to cooperate with others in the life
    and witness of the church.
    It is tragic to see a church, which has no better reason for existing than continuing the routine
    of services, maintaining organizations, or gaining prestige.
    We have a mission of love.

    We cannot afford to lose our sense of mission.
    And we cannot carry out our urgent mission without oneness.
    We must see ourselves as members of one family, one body, eternally united in Christ.
    We must work at keeping that unity strong and loving with mutual commitment.

    "Guard your circle, brothers,
    Clasp your hand in hand.
    Satan cannot break
    The bond in which we stand.

    Joy is the food we share.
    Love is our strength.
    The Holy Spirit is our power."

    No organizational plan or program can ever achieve the sheer beauty of God's people doing
    what needs to be done together by the direction and power of the Holy Spirit.
    The early church was led by the Holy Spirit.
    People's needs were met, revival was constantly breaking out, lost souls were being saved daily,
    and missionaries were being sent to the ends of the earth.
    All of this was done by the leading of the Holy Spirit.

    Can you believe it?
    The church thrived without the benefit of computers, bulletins, organizational manuals,
    constitution and bylaws, radio and television publicity, and committee meetings.
    Today, our church structures demand that our leaders spend more than 75 percent of their time
    entangled in administrative tasks.
    We seem committed to setting the church's organizational machinery up in such a way
    that it will roll on quite well without unity, love, or the power of the Holy Spirit.

    It is no wonder that our efforts end in confusion, anger, and the lack of participation
    by many of our members.
    When we realize how desperately we need God, and how very much we need each other,
    we will join our hearts and lives together with others, who also realize that need.

    The chief clerk in a large department store was trying to dislodge a large crate from a storage-room door.
    He was working hard when an assistant clerk offered to help.
    For the next couple of minutes, on opposite sides of the crate, they worked, lifted, puffed, and wheezed.
    But the crate wouldn't budge.

    Finally, the assistant clerk said, "I don't believe will ever get this crate out of the storage-room."
    "Get it out?" The clerk responded, "I'm trying to get it in."

    Doesn't this sound familiar?
    We must pull together!
    How long is it going to take us to stop shooting down our own soldiers?
    How long is it going to take us to stop criticizing and blaming those on the front lines?
    We must pull together!
    We must pray together:

    "Spirit of God, descend upon my heart,
    Wean it from earth,
    Through all its pulses move;
    Stoop to my weakness,
    Mighty as Thou art,
    And make me love Thee, as I ought to love,
    And make me love others as I ought to love."

    If we will love God, as we ought, and if we will love others as we ought --
    we will batter down the gates of hell -- and rescue dying souls from the grip of sin and death and hell!

    This is our mission!
    Now I know, "This is what I've been living for!"

    Sermon by Dr. Harold L. White


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