Unity and strength go hand in hand. Without unity there is no strength or endurance. A piece of furniture unassembled does not have the strength or usefullness that it does when all of it's parts are together in one piece. The same goes for institutions made up of people. Whether it be families, friendships, businesses, or churches their strength comes from their unity. The body of Christ is no different. Ephesians chapter four reveals to us how God feels about unity in his body. It says that we are to endeavor to keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace by being patient, and forbearing one another in love. He reminds us in verse four that His is one body. There is not a Pentecostal body and a Baptist body and a Methodist body and so forth. The church of Jesus Christ is one body, unified by the Spirit of Christ dwelling in each of us who are saved. The Bible says that he places us in His body and it pleases Him. It is our job to promote oneness and unity in the body amongst all believers. Verse 11 says that He gave some, apostles; and some, prophets; and some, evangelists; and some, pastors; and some, teachers; for the perfecting of the saints until we all come in the unity of the faith. The ministers in the church are given to help the body of Christ to become one perfect, strong, anointed, vision driven force against the powers of Satan in this world. So many of the ministers in the body are not walking worthy of the vocation wherewith they have been called because they are promoting, under the guise of holiness preaching, division instead of unity in the church, thus weakening the body of Christ. In verse 24 of the fourth chapter Paul says that we are to put on the new man, which after God is created in righteousness and true holiness. Verses 25-32 give a great description of what true holiness is. Among other things it says to put away lying, be angry and sin not, give no place to the devil, let him that stole steal no more, let no corrupt communication proceed out of your mouth, put away bitterness, wrath, anger, clamor, and evil speaking. A lot of these things go on in our holiness churches. I am a holiness preacher, and I love the holiness church and it's message, therefore I must proclaim the true standard of holiness that can not be attained without the Holy Ghost. What some are calling holiness anyone can do,even people who are not saved. We must be enpowered by the Holy Ghost to obtain the standard of true holiness preached by Apostle Paul in Ephesians chapter four. The chapter ends with, be ye kind one to another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another even as God for Christ's sake hath forgiven you. When we as holiness people attain to this standard of holiness the world will take notice and the Church and it's influence will become strong and Satans kingdom will tremble because then the church will have fulfilled our purpose by obtaining the measure of the stature of the fulness of Christ.
God Bless
Pastor Mark
