unity and division

Jesus Christ was the first one to speak of the need for unity amongst his disciples.  He prayed earnestly to the Father that we may be one.  Yet, Jesus's teachings in Scripture reveal that the unity which he means should exist within his Church, has qualifications:

Think not that I am come to send peace on earth: I came not to send peace, but a sword.  For I am come to set a man at variance against his father, and the daughter against her mother, and the daughter in law against her mother in law.  And a man’s foes shall be they of his own household.  He that loveth father or mother more than me is not worthy of me: and he that loveth son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me.  And he that taketh not his cross, and followeth after me, is not worthy of me.  (Matthew 10:34-38)

We are warned of God not to add anything to, nor take anything from, the text and the meaning of God's written Word.  Thus we have no authority to define "unity" in any way other than how Jesus himself defined that in Scripture.  The unity which God prescribed for the Body of Christ, is expressly based upon each member's agreement with and obedience to the Word and Spirit of God.  We are told in Scripture that we must "endeavor[ ] 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" (Ephesians 4:4-6).  Therefore, the members of that "one body," who are indwelt by that "one Spirit," and who share in common that "one faith" and "one baptism," are commanded by the Word of God, to:

Be of the same mind one toward another. Romans 12:16 

Be perfect, be of good comfort, be of one mind, live in peace; and the God of love and peace shall be with you. 2 Corinthians 13:11 

Only let your conversation be as [live as] it becometh the gospel of Christ: that whether I come and see you, or else be absent, I may hear of your affairs, that ye stand fast in one spirit, with one mind striving together for the faith of the gospel.... Philippians 1:27 

Fulfil ye my joy, that ye be likeminded, having the same love, being of one accord, of one mind. Philippians 2:2 

Finally, be ye all of one mind, having compassion one of another, love as brethren.... 1 Peter 3:8 

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.  1 Corinthians 1:10

Where can such unity of spirit and of doctrine be found among so-called Christian churches, today?  There does indeed appear to be a kind of unity based upon a common and prevailing spirit, amongst the vast majority of American churches; but it is not the spirit of obedience and reverence to the Word and Spirit of Christ.  Rather, it is a spirit of worldly, humanistic religion.  That spirit is contrary to Christ: for, it refuses to submit to the authority of God's Word.  That spirit thus is offensive to God ~ as well as to true Christians.

In Amos 3:3, the Spirit of God puts forth the question: "Can two walk together, except they be agreed?"  How can true Christians walk together with a host of unbelievers and false professors of Christianity, in the context of the Church?  The very idea is anathema.  But such a "mixed multitude" (or, as I sometimes say: 'saints and sinners together doing church,') is in fact the actual condition of the vast majority of churches in America.

God wants to send Revival to His people (which those, who know the Word and Spirit of God, should understand that is the case).  And He has told us, in His Word, what we must do in order to put ourselves in that place, spiritually, where that God can pour out His blessing upon us:

"Be ye not unequally yoked together with unbelievers: for what fellowship hath righteousness with unrighteousness? and what communion hath light with darkness?  And what concord hath Christ with Belial? or what part hath he that believeth with an infidel?  And what agreement hath the temple of God with idols? for ye are the temple of the living God; as God hath said, I will dwell in them, and walk in them; and I will be their God, and they shall be my people. 

"Wherefore ~ 

"come out from among them, and be ye separate, saith the Lord, and touch not the unclean thing; and [then] I will receive you, and will be a Father unto you, and ye shall be my sons and daughters, saith the Lord Almighty."  2 Corinthians 6:14-18 

That word, "wherefore," leaves no doubt concerning the connection between the two passages, above (which I artificially separated, for clarity).  True Christians are commanded by God to "come out from among" unbelievers, and "be ye separate."  That commandment is neither ambiguous nor vague, but it is explicit.

I want to include a lengthy excerpt from the writings of A.W. Tozer (d. 1963), who, in an essay titled, "Divisions Are Not Always Bad," wrote the following: 

If good men were all for union and bad men for division, or vice versa, that would simplify things for us.  Or if it could be shown that God always unites and the devil always divides it would be easy to find our way around in this confused and confusing world.  But that is not how things are.  To divide what should be divided and unite what should be united is the part of wisdom. 

The first divider was God who at the creation divided the light from the darkness.  The division set the direction for all God's dealings in nature and grace.  Light and darkness are incompatible; to try to have both in the same place at once is to try the impossible and ends by having neither the one nor the other, but dimness rather, and obscurity. 

In the meanwhile for each of us, and for the church wherever she appears in human society, the constantly recurring question must be: What shall we unite with and from what shall we separate?  The question of coexistence does not enter here, but the question of union and fellowship does.  The wheat grows in the same field ["the world," as Scripture says] with the tares, but shall the two cross-pollinate?  The sheep graze near the goats, but shall they seek to interbreed?  The unjust and the just enjoy the same rain and sunshine, but shall they forget their deep moral differences and intermarry?

To these questions the popular answer is yes.  Union for union's sake, and men shall brothers be "for all that."  Unity is so devoutly to be desired that no price is too high to pay for it and nothing is important enough to keep us apart.  Truth is slain to provide a feast to celebrate the marriage of heaven and hell, and all to support a concept of unity which has no basis in the Word of God. 

The Spirit-illuminated church will have none of this.  In a fallen world like ours unity is no treasure to be purchased at the price of compromise.  Loyalty to God, faithfulness and truth and the preservation of a good conscience are jewels more precious than gold of Ophir or diamonds from the mine.  For these jewels men have suffered the loss of property, imprisonment and even death.... 

"Divide and conquer" is the cynical slogan of Machiavellian political leaders, but Satan knows how to unite and conquer.  When confused sheep start over a cliff the individual sheep can save himself only by separating from the flock.  Perfect unity at such a time can only mean total destruction for all.  The wise sheep to save his own hide disaffiliates. 

Power lies in the union of things similar and the division of things dissimilar.  Maybe what we need in religious circles today is not more union but some wise and courageous division.  Everyone desires peace but it could be that revival will follow the sword.

Tozer wrote those words of wisdom more than a half-century ago.  I believe that if Tozer were alive today, he would not be so civil in his approach, but he would excoriate those who profess to know and love the Lord Christ but who persist to cavort with the mixed multitude in their sensual, Bacchanalian (as Tony Campolo calls it) religious orgies ('orgies' is the right word for what the Bible calls their "adulterous," or "whorish" religious worship which departs from the true and living God).

In the end, there is only heaven and hell.  There is nothing in between.  And though for the moment this present world may appear to be "in between;" yet, even while living in this present world, every individual is either for Christ, or against Christ ~ there is no "in between."  Scripture knows nothing of something "in between" lost and saved.  (To those who are saved and, yet, who continue in some known sin, the warnings of God in Scripture are both straightforward and severe.  God doesn't accept compromise.)

I recall the time when, a couple of decades ago, the Spirit of God pleaded with the churches, as such, to repent and seek God with the whole heart.  But I don't discern any similar pleading, today.  Instead, I believe the Holy Ghost has for some time been pleading with individuals within apostate churches, to come out from amongst those churches, and to walk ~ alone, if need be ~ with God in the spirit of true holiness.

The analogy I like to use involves a basket of apples.  When rottenness first appears amongst a basket of apples, wisdom directs the removal of the rotten apples from the basket.  However, if such wisdom is ignored and the rottenness is thus permitted to spread throughout the basket to affect the bulk of apples therein, wisdom then directs the removal not of the rotten apples, but of the few remaining good ones, from the basket now full of bad apples.

I'm sure that's what Tozer meant, where he wrote: "When confused sheep start over a cliff, the individual sheep can save himself only by separating from the flock."

The Holy Ghost is calling true Christians to come out from among those churches which for too long have ignored the Word of God's wisdom, which would have directed those churches to confront and deal with whatever sin was in the midst of them.  Now, those who refuse the call of God to "come out from among them, and be ye separate," are in grave danger of being bound up in that same deception (and by that same spirit) which seems to have an iron grip on the apostate churches.

I recently had a heartbreaking experience involving a man whom I had supposed he was a friend (and Christian brother) of mine; whom I will call, "James."  A couple of years ago, at his request, I spent many hours teaching James much about the Apostasy in the churches.  Nevertheless, he afterwards became involved with a group of people who embraced some of those very same false prophets I had earlier warned James about.  The last time I spoke with James, he was aggressively antagonistic towards me.  He accused me of being "unloving," "intolerant," and "judgmental:" which, not incidentally, are code-words used by those of the Apostate Church.  That is precisely what I meant by the above-mentioned warning to those who, if they "refuse the call of God to 'come out from among them,'" they are then in grave danger; etc..

The Word of God declares, in 2 Timothy 2:19, that the "foundation of God standeth sure, having this seal,

The Lord knoweth them that are his.  And, 

Let everyone that nameth the name of Christ depart from iniquity." 

The "foundation of God" stands sure.  It is doubly-sealed.  On God's part, the seal is God's omniscience: He "knoweth them that are his."  But on our part~the 'other side of the coin,' so to speak, the "seal" consists of our obedience to God, as evidenced by our separation from iniquity.

So let it be.  Let everyone that nameth the name of Christ depart from iniquity (unrighteousness); depart from the mixed multitude, and from their wicked beliefs and practices, as those are in the apostate churches; depart from spiritual fornication with false prophets and their demon-inspired doctrines.  "Come out from among them, and be ye separate," saith the Lord, "and I will receive you, and will be a Father unto you."