“Thank You, Lord Jesus, that as we stand before You, we are not individuals, worshipping You but we are one body, together, worshipping You. The lessons that we learn are not only for us, individually, but for us to learn together as Your church. It cannot be that one part of the body is growing and the other parts are stagnant. The body will be grotesque. Forgive us that we are so selfish in our relationship with You and we hardly see ourselves as belonging to one another. In Jesus’ name, we pray. Amen.”
Acts 2:1 When the Day of Pentecost had fully come, they were all with one accord in one place. We are looking at the preparation of the ground for the filling of the Holy Spirit. The Lord’s command to the disciples was that they should wait to be baptised with the Holy Spirit and then they would go out to be His witnesses, to bring people to faith in Him.
We must never lose sight of the end objective for us as His church. They were all with one accord in one place. This was a crucial ground preparation for the filling of the Holy Spirit to take place. Zephaniah 3:9 “For then I will restore to the peoples a pure language, That they all may call on the name of the Lord, To serve Him with one accord”. God is concerned for us to be one, as His body. The Lord then gives us pure language. The language that God gives to the church is to call on the name of the Lord in oneness. The message of God comes forth from the church with oneness. It is not garbled or conflicting. The people, when they hear the church, will know that there is a single message from the church, of the glory of God. When the Lord looks at His church, He sees us as divided and fragmented. We are growing as individuals and we are not concerned for one another to grow together into Christ, as His church. We are breaking the heart of God. We must come to God and seek His forgiveness for the divisions and barriers that we have erected against one another. The church is not about us or our various denominations. The church is the church of Jesus Christ. Romans 15:5-7 Now may the God of patience and comfort grant you to be like-minded toward one another, according to Christ Jesus, (6) that you may with one mind and one mouth glorify the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. (7) Therefore receive one another, just as Christ also received us, to the glory of God.
God is patient with us and He comforts us in order that we will be like-minded to one another. We are to be of one mind and with one mouth glorify God. This is in order that the message of His church to the world is clear and we can bring people to faith in Jesus. The Lord loved us despite who we are. This is the love that we are to demonstrate to one another, in His church. Ephesians 4:11-16 And He Himself gave some to be apostles, some prophets, some evangelists, and some pastors and teachers, (12) for the equipping of the saints for the work of ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ, (13) till we all come to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to a perfect man, to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ; (14) that we should no longer be children, tossed to and fro and carried about with every wind of doctrine, by the trickery of men, in the cunning craftiness of deceitful plotting, (15) but, speaking the truth in love, may grow up in all things into Him who is the head—Christ— (16) from whom the whole body, joined and knit together by what every joint supplies, according to the effective working by which every part does its share, causes growth of the body for the edifying of itself in love”. This is the concern of God for His church. We are to be knit together. To enable us to have this oneness in the body of Christ, God has given different gifts to the church. Therefore, gifts being exercised in the church are for the common good not for personal glory.
We are being equipped together for the work of ministry for the edification of the body of Christ. We are to grow together into the fullness of Christ, who is our Head. The target for His church is to grow into the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ. Therefore, we reach out, encourage, and build up each other, for we know our aim. As we grow into Christ, we receive from Him all that is necessary for us to grow, both personally and corporately. God is concerned for our personal growth, so that each of us in His church, will do our part effectively for the building up of His body. Philippians 1:27 Only let your conduct be worthy of the gospel of Christ, so that whether I come and see you or am absent, I may hear of your affairs, that you stand fast in one spirit, with one mind striving together for the faith of the gospel.
“We are striving together as His church to bring people to faith in Jesus.”