DIABOLICAL DIVISIONS IN THE BODY OF CHRIST
Before He went to the Cross on that Passover night, Jesus prayed in the Garden of Gethsemane for His Church, His Bride. The expressed desire of His heart was that all of us would be united, that we would be of one heart and one mind with Him. Listen to His pulse:
"Holy Father, keep them in Your name, the name which You have given Me, so that they may be one just as We are."
"I am not asking on behalf of these alone, but also for those who believe in Me through their word, that they may all be one, just as You, Father, are in Me and I in You, that they also may be in Us, so that the world may believe that You sent Me." John 17:20-21
"The glory which You have given Me I also have given to them, so that they may be one, just as We are one; I in them and You in Me, that they may be perfected in unity, so that the world may know that You sent Me, and You loved them, just as You loved me." John 17:22-23.
Three times that night Jesus prayed for unity among His believers. Three times He sought that believers be one in the same way Jesus and His Father are one.
Satan heard that prayer for sure! He's also heard it preached by men and women of God ever since. And he has determined to divide believers any way he can to prevent the unity and oneness that would make the Body of Christ a force in the world for salvation and righteousness.
God gave His bride a book of messages to instruct her in the ways of righteous living and purity. His Word lays out how she ought to walk, live, talk, think and love Him. Of utmost importance are the Ten Commandments. The first four of them address our worship of and submission to God. The following six deal with our relationship to our fellow man.
Diabolical defamation of God's Word
Of those six, one in particular has created diabolical division between believers. It has caused ministers of the Gospel to avoid preaching about it because what is meant to be a moral law has been politicized. That one law is against murder, otherwise known in today's culture as abortion. Oh, by the way, the Hebrew word translated 'kill' in many Bible versions is really the word for 'murder.' The sixth commandment is not intended to prohibit the killing, for instance, that war brings on a nation.
God has forbidden murder. Murder by any other name is still murder. Nowhere in Scripture does God allow murder based on a person's choice of who should live and who should die. Murder is unequivocally defined as a sin by God. He hates sin! Who lives and who dies is God's decision only, not ours.
When Israel as a nation forsook her true worship of God and observance of His commandments, she turned to idolatry just like the nations that surrounded her. That idolatry included the sacrificing of her children to gods to appease them or to gain their favor. Young children were burned alive in the arms of Molech, whose belly burned fervently hot with flames that licked at those children lying helplessly outstretched. They were burned alive, much like what Hamas did to Jewish babies and even adults in their surprise attack on Israel October 7! The devil knows only the fire of hell and turns it on his victims whenever the opportunity arises!
While abortion does not use fire to carry out the death of infants, it snuffs out their lives at the hands of merciless practitioners who couldn't care less that that immature infant feels the pain of its dismemberment limb by limb. Citizens of America are polarized around the legality of abortion, and that polarization became the platforms of the two major political parties under the banners of Pro-Life or Pro-Choice. Thus, abortion became a political issue that quickly labeled adherents either as conservative or liberal-progressive in an irreconcilable stand-off. It made enemies of people who sit next to each other on the same church pew. Without clear preaching against abortion from the pulpit, that radical cleft perpetually remains unsettled, not the unity Jesus seeks.
As a crime, abortion has nothing to do with whether a person is Republican or Democrat. Yet, the battle waged on social media between pro-life and pro-choice advocates has provided a platform for believers to bash one another, depending on their political stance. The devil deceptively rejoices when Body members attack each other. No unity there!
Leaders, including pastors, are well-aware that within their congregations sit people on either side of the political fence. Rather than upset one or the other by taking a stand against abortion, they opt to not preach about the sixth commandment, "You shall not murder." And, because pastors recoil from stirring up conflict, truth is smothered and certain of their audience continue to walk against the Light of God's Word. On the surface the congregation may give the appearance of oneness, but no one can embrace or support murder in any of its forms without grieving the Holy Spirit and preventing unity IN THE SPIRIT, which is the only place true unity and power reside.
Diabolical division in the Body
Which conclusion leads to the second issue that the devil uses to create division in the Body of Christ: the baptism in the Holy Spirit. Throughout Church history men and women have risen who lived lives of holiness imparted by the Holy Spirit, those who sought to know God intimately and hungered after knowing Him. During their lifetimes, those people most certainly were persecuted and often martyred for their faith.
True, after their deaths decades and centuries later, some of those godly people have been canonized and revered as saints, but they suffered for their faith while they lived. Church history proves that they did not live in vain, as we trace the progression of the reawakening to the Pentecostal baptism commanded by Jesus in Acts 1. Their influence continues to speak in this present day.
However, a danger in finding truth lies in going beyond its simplicity into tangents and excesses. The great Azuza Street revival at the turn of the 20th century tore the veil off the secret to knowing God. Some individuals caught up in the movement since then have embraced emotionalism that exceeds and 'embarrasses' the demonstrations of the true baptism; their extremes were and are distasteful to onlookers, giving them reason to reject and avoid the baptism at all costs!
Again, therefore, we witness the polarization of two camps: evangelical vs. Pentecostal. As long as the Body of Christ is divided, there cannot be true unity among us. Yet, receiving the baptism remains as a commandment from Jesus for ALL of us! It is not some special practice observed by a group called Pentecostal. Everyone who claims the name of Jesus must be baptized before undertaking the evangelization of the world.
In case this is unclear to the reader, let's review the last days of Jesus' ministry. After His resurrection, that same evening Jesus appeared to His disciples who were hiding in a room for fear of the Jews. John records the event in chapter 20 of his gospel. Verses 19-22 note:
"So when it was evening on that (resurrection) day, the first day of the week, and when the doors were shut where the disciples were, for fear of the Jews, Jesus came and stood in their midst and said to them, 'Peace be with you.' And when He had said this, He showed them both His hands and His side. The disciples then rejoiced when they saw the Lord. So Jesus said to them again, 'Peace be with you, as the Father has sent me, I also send you.' And when He had said this, He breathed on them and said to them, 'Receive the Holy Spirit.'"
At that moment the first believers were born again as new creations in Christ Jesus, but only after He had bought the possibility through the agonized shedding of His own holy blood. This same group went with Jesus to the Mount of Olives, where He commissioned them with His familiarly-quoted:
"All authority has been given to Me in heaven and on earth. Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, teaching them..."
The disciples' new-creation experience was necessary before Jesus commissioned them to preach and teach the Gospel around the world. And, yet, they still were not fully prepared to spread the Word. Before He went to the mountain to ascend to heaven, Jesus gathered His disciples and commanded that they were not to leave Jerusalem, but should wait there for the promise of the Father,
"...for John baptized with water, but you will be baptized with the Holy Spirit not many days from now...you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you shall be My witnesses both in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and even to the remotest part of the earth." Acts 1:5, 8.
What they had received of the Holy Spirit on Resurrection Day was not enough for their intended ministry around the world. The disciples were to wait until they had been baptized in the Holy Spirit, because the battle against darkness and sin was to be waged not in their own strength, but in the power of Jesus' Holy Spirit.
Wait they did for ten days. We know it was ten because Jesus walked the earth after His resurrection for 40 days before His ascension to heaven, and Pentecost was the 50th day after the Passover, a feast day the Jews had observed for centuries. During the ten-day interim between the Ascension and Pentecost, the 120 gathered in the Upper Room in obedience to Jesus' commandment. They were unified and of one accord: Acts 1:14 tells us that. Jesus' prayer in John 17 was answered!
Since that momentous explosion of Power nearly 2000 years ago, the devil has been at work to prevent unity from taking root among Jesus' believers. False teachers introduced heresy into the early churches. When Pentecost was a memory, cessationists declared that the Baptism and accompanying gifts were for the Acts church only. That heretical teaching has perpetuated rejection of Jesus' commandment to His own people to this day. What a lie that Jesus' bride does not need the baptism! Cessationists maintain that when a person is born again and the Holy Spirit infuses new life into their soul, they have received all the Spirit they need.
All are lies to avoid believers' submission to the Person and work of the Holy Spirit. The lies are made more credible by those of the Pentecostal community that embrace emotionalism over the supernatural working of the Holy Spirit. Observers of such aberrant behavior shun irrational behavior and justify their position by revoking such fanaticism. They end up throwing out the baby with the bath water to their own detriment, however.
On the other hand, true demonstration of the power of the Holy Spirit and His gifts is also repulsive to those who refuse to die to themselves and submit to His complete work in their lives and innermost being. They do not discriminate between fanaticism and true Spirit demonstration, so reject Him and all He would bring with Himself. Of course, the primary outworking of His power would be unity among believers, but the devil cleverly prevents it through his deception.
Yet, God has His remnant, His own who are true to Him and His word. The obey Him exactly and implicitly. They hate abortion and all things that are ungodly and against God's word. They embrace the Holy Spirit in His baptism, gifts and outworking to reach souls with the Gospel. They are the true Bride of Jesus. In spirit, they are in one accord. They are the answer to Jesus' prayer in the Garden. They faithfully look for the arrival of their Bridegroom.
Lift up your heads, oh Bride, for your redemption draws near! He is almost at the door. Be faithful to the end! He is coming!