The absence or presence of unity has everything to do with the absence or presence of God in the midst of His people. Dr. Tony Evans says there's a direct link between how God relates to believers and how those believers relate to each other. When God sees unity, God brings blessing. This is the alternative broadcast featuring the timeless biblical teachings from the archives of Dr. Tony Evans. It seems like no matter how much the world talks about the value of diversity, our economic, cultural, political, and racial differences can still separate us. But in this enduring message from Dr. Evans, he explored how and why the church needs to rise above those differences.
Let's listen in as he explains. At the heart of the goal of God in history was the creating of a united people. Not because they were the same, but they were all pledging allegiance to the same Lord. And that is why the issue of unity is such a big deal in the Bible. It is not some eschewed marginalized matter in Scripture. It is at the heart of what God has called the church to be in its local expressions and in its cosmic impact. The absence or presence of unity has everything to do with the absence or presence of God in the midst of His people. Verse 10 of 1st Corinthians 1.
He says, I exhort you brother in the name of Jesus Christ that you all agree that there be no divisions among you, but you be made complete in the same mind and in the same judgment. There was a problem in this church. It was a problem of disharmony, disunity.
It showed up very uniquely. He says because I've been informed that the word has gotten back to me, your founder, that there are quarrels among you. You're fighting, bickering, conflicting with one another. It's become a way of life for you to be destabilized. They had developed schisms based on personalities.
Paul is disgusted with their division. It's easy to say we are one in the Spirit. We are one in the Lord.
Those words will roll out easily. But unless you and I understand what God has created and function within that, then the church will never be the church no matter what you call it. Ephesians 4 says, therefore the prisoner of the Lord entreats you to walk in a manner worthy of a calling with which you have been called with all humility and gentleness and patience, showing forbearance to one another in love, being diligent to preserve the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace. God doesn't need you to create unity. He doesn't need me to create unity. He says unity has already been created. He says what I want you to do is preserve the unity. Don't make it. You're going to mess with it.
I want you to preserve it. Take the unity that already exists and keep it from unraveling. Now, that's not how most of us approach unity. We approach unity from the standpoint of let's get unified. Paul doesn't approach it that way. Paul says we are unified. Don't mess with it.
The flip. How can we be unified and be so dis-unified? Because the unity that already exists has not been maintained. But what keeps it from being maintained?
The absence of the Spirit. He says preserve, be diligent to preserve the unity of the Spirit. Now that word diligent, let me start there, means hard work. Is hard work keeping unity? Let me illustrate about marriage.
If easy to get married, a quick flight to Las Vegas, you can get married quick. That ain't the work. The work is staying married once you get married, right?
Tell the truth, shame the devil. He says be diligent, that is work hard, at preserving what has already taken place. You are married, the work. People want to know why is marriage so hard? Because unifying folk who are different is hard.
That's why it's hard. He says work hard to preserve the unity, here it is, that belongs to the Spirit. Translation, you can only preserve, watch this now, this is deep, spiritual unity spiritually.
Let me say that again because I'm going to shoot this one right away. You can only preserve spiritual unity spiritually. Most of us try to preserve spiritual unity secularly.
It's as simple and as hard as that. We spend so much time outside of the Spirit, trying to fix stuff that the Spirit can't fix. He says it is the role of the Spirit to create unity.
Your job and my job is to make sure we're acting and reacting spiritually, which frees the Spirit up then to keep the unity that he started out with because we are walking in step with him. What then are we doing? Here's what we're doing, the opposite from what 2 Corinthians chapter 5 verse 16 says, and here's what it says. Paul makes a statement that we have missed. He says we no longer look at any man according to the flesh.
He says we no longer evaluate anything based on external status and qualifications of men. The problem of this unity is the problem of the flesh. We're reacting like mere men, which Paul calls carnality.
It is a secular way of living, a secular way of thinking. It is man's way of operating because we are disconnected from the Spirit of God. We are disconnected from the Harmony of God. He goes on and says, there's one body, only one church, one spirit. You are called in the hope of your calling, one Lord, one faith, one baptism, one God and Father of us all and through all and in all. When my kids were small and even today when there is a conflict that arises, they will call me and say, Dad, help me with this conflict.
Why? Because it would be the father whose job it was to give the harmonious solution to the problem. It is the role of the spirit to produce the oneness that you already have. It's your job and my job to be in the spirit.
So we know it when we see it. The problem is we don't know what it means to be in the spirit. And that's why conflicts exist. When conflicts exist, sure, they're going to be conflicts. There are conflicts all through the Bible. But when they are unresolved month after month, year after year, decade after decade, somebody is in the flesh. It could be one person in the flesh not allowing the spirit to get through or could be both parties in the flesh.
And until you get that spiritual thing addressed, that's the cause of the visible conflict, whether in the church or in sibling relationships or in the marriage or wherever it is, but you name the name of Jesus Christ until the spiritual cause is addressed. You'll put band-aids on until the next opportunity to go off. A few weeks ago, it was real cold, and the house was freezing, freezing cold, and nothing was working. So I called the air conditioning heating guy. I said, my heat's not working.
It's freezing in here. He came over. Oh, he says you have a very simple problem.
Now, it wasn't simple to me. I got these two big heating units. The one for this side of the house, it wasn't working, and I was cold. I'm thinking how much this is going to cost. I'm thinking about how big this, I'm going to have to replace this whole unit. I got to take out this whole thing and get a new one. You know, I'm thinking about all that.
But the pro comes in and says $25 problem. I said, there you go. I said, what's the problem? He said, your igniter. This furnace, it's self-igniting. It's designed to ignite automatically. But your igniter is not working. Small little thing that big.
I'm looking at a huge problem. My house is cold when I got a tiny reason. A little $25 igniter is not igniting all that I already possess.
Do you follow me? I didn't need a new heater. My heater was fine.
My heater was working, but I wasn't getting any heat. How come I can have all this stuff and be so cold? How can I have all this stuff and be so trembling? How can I have all this stuff and be so miserable?
How can I have all this stuff and be so put off? Because my igniter, the little thing that sets the flame, the big thing, was not operative. And it doesn't matter how much big stuff you've got.
If the igniter isn't igniting it, the big stuff does you no good. If you have come to faith in Jesus Christ, you got all the big stuff. If any man is in Christ, he's a new creature. All things pass away. All things become new.
You got all the big stuff. He gives you a new heart. He gives you a new consciousness. He gives you forgiveness of sins. He gives you empowerment.
You got all the big stuff. Then how come you so cold? God has an igniter called the Holy Spirit. His job is to set the furnace of the new nature afire, to set it aflame. And if the church is a cold place to be, it's not because the pots aren't there.
The pots have already been built in. It's because the igniter isn't working. Because we are not allowing him to by responding spiritually. Dr. Evans had more on how that igniter works and what it really means to be filled with the Holy Spirit.
We'll be back with that shortly. In the meantime, you can learn more about building unity in your church, in your neighborhood, and in our country with the help of our current nine-part message collection from Dr. Evans, as well as two powerful books we're bundling to go along with the series. Stronger Together, Weaker Apart is a prayer-filled devotional book designed to help you develop a stronger love toward others.
Kingdom Kindness is an inspiring new book that will help you not only see the value God places on the attribute of kindness, but will also give you simple, practical ways to express that kindness to the people around you. And both books build on the foundational biblical principles Tony presents through the timeless lessons that make up his Returning to God in Unity sermon series. Right now, you can get all three of these powerful resources as our gift to you. And thanks for your support of the alternative broadcast ministry. To make your donation and request, simply visit tonyevans.org. You'll find all the details right on our home page. Again, that's tonyevans.org. Or call our 24-hour resource request line at 1-800-800-3222.
That's 1-800-800-3222, where a friendly member of our team is standing by ready to help with fulfilling this special offer for you. I'll repeat that contact information after the second part of today's lesson and this. In a world shrouded by fear, prophecy seeks to make sense of it all. Dr. Tony Evans' latest book, Thy Kingdom Come, reveals the secrets to deliver us through dark times. Now is the time to gain clarity in the midst of confusion. Be prepared for what's to come by picking up your copy of Thy Kingdom Come at tonyevans.org. Comes with a bonus sermon series, Staying Right with God.
Arm yourself against the impending storm. Well, let's hear more from Dr. Evans now in this classic message on maintaining Christian unity. How do you engage the Spirit, this thing of being filled with the Spirit? It sounds complicated, the filling of the Spirit, because, you know, Spirit, you know, it's just sort of out there.
How do you grab this thing? The filling of the Spirit is simply the application of the truth of God through a heart of love. You don't have to get otherworldly to be filled with the Spirit. All you have to do is apply God's truth, the Word, because He's the Spirit of truth, through a heart that cares. When that truth is applied through a heart that cares, the Spirit will fill up that activity and will begin to create the cosmic glue to hold things together rather than tear things apart.
So important is this issue. That Romans 16 says, verse 17, Now I urge you, brethren, keep your eye on those who cause the sentience and hindrances contrary to the teaching which you have learned and turn away from them. For such men are slaves, not of the Lord Jesus Christ, but of their own appetites. And by their smooth and flattering speech, they deceive the heart of the unsuspecting. He says keep your eye out for disunifiers and stay away from them. Do you know anybody in your life who lived to cause mess?
Mess is their middle name. He says listen to their speech. He says listen to what they say because a disunifier tips his hat with his tongue.
How so? What is the spiritual that is biblically based loving approach they are giving to resolving the thing they are complaining about? That's what differentiates a concerned Christian from a spiritual gossip because the biggest unifying use of the tongue in the New Testament is the sin of gossip.
Gossip is relaying information to others that you are unwilling to seek to help resolve yourself. You can camouflage it any way you want to. Let me tell you about this so we can pray about it together. You can camouflage it any way you want to. The question that you want to raise is well, are you willing to go with me to talk to John Doe about this so that if in fact it is true, we can help in the fixing of it and not only in the discussing concerning it.
And the answer to that question lets you know where they are. The Bible gives specific guidelines to handling problems and conflicts and tells you how to deal with it if you can't deal with it between the two of you and the Bible gives specific guidelines on how to resolve it but the dissenter doesn't want to use them or give you 50 million reasons why they won't use them. He says watch out for dissenters for those who cause chaos.
Another thing that keeps our unity is when you don't look only on your own things, Philippians 2, but you look out also on the things of others. In other words, it's not just me. It's we. It's not just my, it's ours. That's how it is in a family. It just can't be you.
You're not single anymore. It's got to be us. That's how it is in a church. If I have any overriding responsibility, it is to give a clear vision that the church rallies around based on the Word of God so that we all move in one direction. Let me close with a Psalm. Psalm 133. Behold how good and how pleasant it is for brothers to dwell together in unity. It's like the precious oil upon the head coming down upon the beard, even Aaron's beard coming down upon the edge of his robes. It's like the dew of Herman coming down upon the mountains of Zion. And there the Lord commanded the blessing life forever.
Here's what I want to close with. When God sees unity, God brings blessing. That's what Psalm 133 says. He says when the unity flows down, that flowing down, He says, is like oil. Oil had to do with the anointing of the priest. Therefore oil is the symbol of the Holy Spirit. When the Holy Spirit is able and freely to come down, it starts at the head.
That's why there's got to be leadership at the top. And then it runs down on the robe and the robe covers the body. So when the oil comes down from heaven and it comes to the spiritual leadership and then out through the spiritual leaders, and then the anointing of the Holy Spirit comes down on the robe, which covers the body all the way down to the feet. When the Holy Spirit is able to work in an environment of unity, verse 3 says you can be assured there'll be blessing right behind you. If you want to find blessing, you got to find harmony. And if you want to find harmony, you've got to be submitted to the Spirit of God.
It's not based first of all on personality or race or background or education. We are one in the Spirit. We are one in the Lord. Why was there so much power in the church in the book of Acts? It says because they were together in the Spirit. Why did the foundation of the floor begin to move in Acts chapter 4?
Because it says and they were on one accord. Where two or three are gathered together, not just gathered in the same room, but when they are together and I am in the middle. God will not work where there is no unity. But you haven't begun to see what he will work when there is. Dr. Tony Evans talking about the incredible power that unity can produce. We'll wrap up our program with a closing word of prayer from Tony in just a moment.
So stay with us. Now before we get to that closing prayer from Tony, don't forget to request your copy of our current nine-part teaching series, Returning to God in Unity. This series includes the full-length version of today's message as well as eight others, including material that we won't have time to share on the air. And as I mentioned earlier, when you make a contribution to support this ministry, we'll say thanks by not only sending you the audio series on CD or instantly downloadable MP3s, but we'll also include two special books along with the audio collection. The devotional prayer book, Stronger Together, Weaker Apart, and Dr. Evans' newest release, Kingdom Kindness, a movement to bring calm to the culture. Together these resources will help you foster a much-needed spirit of unity, understanding, and kindness within your sphere of influence. This is our gift to our supporters. Just be sure to contact us before time runs out on this exclusive offer. You can make the arrangements at TonyEvans.org or by phone at 1-800-800-3222.
Team members are standing by 24-7 in order to assist with your resource request. Once again, that's 1-800-800-3222 or online at TonyEvans.org. God doesn't want believers to all be the same, but He does want us to be one. In tomorrow's message, Dr. Evans takes a look at God's definition of unity and the importance of finding harmony in spite of our human differences. Right now, let's listen to how he wrapped up today's teaching with this prayer.
Let's pray. Father, I thank you for the Word of God that goes forth through this ministry and for every ear that hears it. I pray that you will use the Word in the life of each person individually so that they know that they are hearing from you and are transformed by what they hear. I pray that that transformation touches them at their place of need. Wherever they're hurting, struggling, wherever they're in pain, or wherever they're celebrating, may you be the center of that. And may they be able to say because of the Word that they've heard and because of the true God that they're interacting with right now that you have showed up and shown off on their behalf doing good by them no matter what their circumstances happen to be. Thank you for how you're going to touch every listener today in your own special way. In Jesus' name, amen.
