Have you ever been walking through the woods when suddenly one of your feet trips on a root or a branch on the ground, causing you to fall down? One moment you were steadily walking with ease, but because of an impediment it caused you to come crashing down.
It’s kind of like throwing sand into an engine. An engine that is running smoothly and properly will just hum along with all of the internal moving parts working perfectly together, but if you take a few handfuls of sand and pour it into the engine, what will happen? It will begin to wreck, and soon the sand will have reached all of the areas of the engine that it shouldn’t be and it will be completely ruined.
The same kind of thing can happen to people as well, from families to large organizations. A little bit of strife and division between people can, if not taken care of, completely destroy the bond of unity between them. Where there once may have been love and affection will then turn into bickering and hatred. It is this kind of action that must not happen in the church of God. As Christians we are called to love one another, and to be filled up with love in the unity of the Holy Spirit.
1 Corinthians 1:10-13 Now I beseech you, brethren, by the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that ye all speak the same thing, and that there be no divisions among you; but that ye be perfectly joined together in the same mind and in the same judgment.
For it hath been declared unto me of you, my brethren, by them which are of the house of Chloe, that there are contentions among you.
Now this I say, that every one of you saith, I am of Paul; and I of Apollos; and I of Cephas; and I of Christ.
Is Christ divided? was Paul crucified for you? or were ye baptized in the name of Paul?
A division is something that divides, or separates one thing from another, but in the church of the Lord there should be nothing that divides us from each other if we are all believing the same Word of God and are all filled up with the same Holy Spirit. As Paul wrote, Is Christ divided? Of course not. The things that Christ taught do not disagree with each other. Jesus did not teach one thing here, and something completely opposite somewhere else. It is all in agreement, just like we are commanded to be in the church.
Ephesians 4:1-6 I therefore, the prisoner of the Lord, beseech you that ye walk worthy of the vocation wherewith ye are called,
With all lowliness and meekness, with longsuffering, forbearing one another in love;
Endeavouring to keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace.
There is one body, and one Spirit, even as ye are called in one hope of your calling;
One Lord, one faith, one baptism,
One God and Father of all, who is above all, and through all, and in you all.
We must endeavor to keep the unity of the Spirit. Endeavor means to try hard to do or achieve something. To strive to attain. We must strive to be filled with the love of the Lord that He so graciously bestows upon us, and to be each and every one of us filled with His Spirit. Division has no place in the church, only love and peace. Let us all follow the Word of the Lord faithfully and be united in the Spirit.
In Christ
Andrew
Teufer Lake King James Bible Church 