The Church Began in Unity

1. The title of teaching is Return to Unity. The unity that I have in mind is the unity of the body of Christ, the Church of Jesus Christ on Earth—not any particular denomination, not people with any particular label, but all the people who have truly acknowledged Jesus as Savior and Lord and are seeking to live for Him and do His will. Whatever denominational label, nationality, or cultural background is not important.

In the sight of Jesus there is only one church on earth. It’s not a Catholic church, it’s not a Protestant church, it’s not a Baptist or a Presbyterian or an Anglican church; it’s His church. And I believe He’s very jealous that it should be His church and His alone.

We generally talk about my church. But one day the Lord spoke to me and said, “Would you mind telling me whose church it really is?” I had to stop and think and I said, “Lord, I hope it is your church but I am not too sure.” And that really cured me of trying to put my label or my ownership on any section of the church of Jesus Christ.

I talk about return to unity because it’s very clear from the record of the book of Acts that the church began in unity. Let me read you just a few Scriptures that state this very clearly.

If we go to the birth of the church on earth which is described in Acts 2:1, it says: “When the day of Pentecost had fully come, they were all with one accord in one place.” They were united.

And then a little further on in the same chapter, after the Holy Spirit had fallen and multitudes had been converted, in Acts 2:44–47 it says: “Now all who believed were together, and had all things in common, and sold their possessions and goods, and divided them among all as anyone had need. So, continuing daily with one accord in the temple, and breaking bread from house to house, they ate their food with gladness and simplicity of heart...”

Notice it was with one accord. They were all together. That’s how the church was born. And in Acts 4:32, a little later on in the record of the church, it says: “Now the multitude of those who believed were of one heart and one soul; neither did anyone say that any of the things he possessed was his own, but they had all things in common.” Very clear that they were just one body, one group of people.

Then if you think about Paul’s letters that he addressed—for instance, he wrote to the church in Corinth, the church in Thessalonica, or the church in Philippi—he never wrote to the Baptist church in Corinth or to the Anglican church or the Catholic church. There was only one church.

An interesting question would be: if Paul were alive today and wrote a letter to the church in Singapore, where would it be delivered? Who would get it?  I say that to point out how far we have moved away from the pattern on which the church was established.

I’m not trying to make you feel guilty, and I’m not even trying to make myself feel guilty. We are not responsible for centuries of history. We may suffer the consequences, but we are responsible for our own actions and for how we respond to the situation today.

One thing is obvious: when Jesus comes back, He will be coming back for a united church because He is coming back for a bride. The church is His bride.  Jesus is no bigamist. He does not have two brides. He does not have a Anglican bride and a Protestant bride and so on. Somehow between now and then the church has got to be identified as the group of people who collectively will become the bride of Christ.

Perhaps this seems impossible or unrealistic. But Jesus said: “With men this is impossible, but with God all things are possible.” My conviction is that if God has said He will do something, He will do it.

One of the important revelations in Acts chapter 3 is that the present age will end with a period of restoration of all things. Restoration means putting things back in the right place and in the right condition.

God is going to do that with His people. According to Old Testament prophecy, God has a covenant people called Israel, whom He will never abandon. For centuries they were scattered, but in this century, God has been putting them back in their land.

In the same way, the church has also been outside its spiritual inheritance in Christ for many centuries. But God is now restoring His people. Peter said in Acts 3:19–21: “Repent therefore and be converted, that your sins may be blotted out, so that times of refreshing may come from the presence of the Lord; and that He may send Jesus Christ, who was preached to you before, whom heaven must receive until the times of restoration of all things which God has spoken by the mouth of all His holy prophets since the world began.”

 

2: God's Process of Making the Church Ready for the Return of Jesus :- I see four stages in this passage—four English words beginning with RE.

1. Repentance
2. Refreshing
3. Restoration
4. Return

1. Repentance :- The first word is repent. Every time God’s people get out of line with His will, the requirement is repentance. Repentance is not emotion—it is a decision. It literally means to change your mind.

It means turning from living for yourself to saying: “God, you tell me what to do and I will do it.”

2. Refreshing: - After repentance comes refreshing. When we repent, we experience renewal and spiritual life becomes exciting again.

3. Restoration: - Refreshing leads to restoration. God restores what has been lost in the church.

4. Return: -  Finally comes the Return of Jesus.

The order is:

Repentance → Refreshing → Restoration → Return

And I believe we are living in the time of restoration. God is restoring: -

• The gifts of the Holy Spirit
• Apostles, prophets, and ministries
• The full gospel message
• And most importantly the unity of the church

3: What Does Unity Mean? :-  Unity does not mean one worldwide denomination. Jesus explained unity in John 17:20–23 when He prayed: “That they all may be one, as You, Father, are in Me, and I in You.” The unity between the Father and the Son is not organizational—it is relational.

And that unity exists through the Holy Spirit. Christianity is not primarily a religion of correct doctrine. It is a religion of right relationships:

1. Right relationship with God
2. Right relationship with fellow believers

The cross itself illustrates this:

• The vertical beam = relationship with God
• The horizontal beam = relationship with people

If the horizontal beam is crooked, the vertical beam cannot be straight. So, if we are wrong with our brothers, we are also wrong with God.

4: What Causes Disunity? :- The root cause of division is not theology. The apostle Paul explains the real cause in 1 Corinthians 3:1-4 :-It is the flesh carnal nature:-

Signs of carnality include:

• Envy
• Strife
• Division
• Following human leaders instead of Christ

Paul says when people say: “I am of Paul”, “I am of Apollos”  

they are acting in the flesh. The real issue is selfish ambition. And the only remedy is crucifixion of the flesh. As Galatians 5:24 says: “Those who are Christ’s have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires.”

5: How the World Will Know the True Disciples: -  Jesus gave the identifying mark of His disciples in John 13:34–35: “By this all will know that you are My disciples, if you have love for one another.”  Love is not a suggestion—it is a commandment. And the love Jesus speaks about is sacrificial love.

In 1 John 3:16–17 we read: “By this we know love, because He laid down His life for us. And we also ought to lay down our lives for the brethren.”  If we have resources and refuse to help our brothers in need, the love of God is not truly in us. Paul summarized the whole purpose of Christian teaching in 1 Timothy 1:5:  “The goal of our instruction is love from a pure heart, a good conscience, and sincere faith.” If ministry does not produce love, it has failed its purpose.

6: How Can Unity Be Restored? Unity will come through three sources:

1. The Church: - The church must repent of attitudes that cause division.

2. God: - God will pour out His Holy Spirit on all flesh, as prophesied in Joel and quoted in Acts 2. The more the Spirit moves, the more barriers between believers will fall.

3. Satan: - Ironically, persecution will force believers together. Jesus said in Matthew 24 that believers will face tribulation. Under persecution, denominational labels will lose importance. People will stand together simply because they belong to Jesus.

At the end of the age there will ultimately be two groups:

• The Bride of Christ
• The False Church (the harlot)

The bride is the church that remains faithful to Jesus. Every believer will eventually face the decision: Loyal to Jesus — or disloyal. Joel describes it as “the valley of decision.” And in that valley every person must choose.

Pr. Ramesh C. Koundal

Eternal Hope Church