DAILY MANNA DEVOTIONAL
SUNDAY, JUNE 30, 2019
UNITY THAT COUNTS
TEXT: JOHN 17:20-26.
_🔑KEY VERSE: "That they all may be one; as thou, Father, art in me, and I in thee, that they also may be one in us: that the world may believe that thou hast sent me" (JOHN 17:21)._
The byword at the top echelon of the mainstream Christendom today is "ecumenism". Ecumenism is derivative of a Greek word "oikoueme", which denotes universality, in the case of Christianity. The Church today is desirous of unity in the body of Christ. Since the Reformation of Schism of the 1500s, and the later splintering of the Protestant Movement into different denominations, there exists today a new spirit of reconciliation, forgiveness and fellowship. The slogan of "ecumenism" is "service unites but doctrine divides."
All the denominations are expected to downplay on the biblical doctrines that divided them in the first instance. Consequently, you will discover under the ecclesiastical canopy, people who believe in eternal security, those who propagate polygamy and polyandry, those who are championing the cause of same-sex marriage, those who do not accept that there is hell fire somewhere. According to the ecumenists, faith in Christ supersedes all the doctrines of Christ.
In the valedictory priestly prayers of the Lord Jesus Christ for His burgeoning Church, He specifically prayed for the sanctification of each member of the Church. It is the sanctification that brings the unity; when each member of the Church is born-again and sanctified (made holy), there exists homogeneous characteristic between each member of the Church, Jesus Christ and the Father in heaven. The prayer of the Lord Jesus Christ was to subsume the Church into that holiness, so that there is a common characteristic in the whole.
Jesus Christ payed the supreme price with His blood so that we can be united in righteousness, not in unrighteousness.
✍THOUGHT FOR THE DAY: Unity in righteousness, we stand; unity in unrighteousness, we fall.
COVER TO COVER: 1 KINGS 21-22.
MEDITATION:
The call and prayer for unity in the Church
*1. Right Christians to unite with*
a. Those who have their faith rooted in the Saviour with absolute confidence in the finality of Word of God v20.
b. Those whose nature, lifestyle and character are united with the Godhead v21.
c. Those who have Christ living in them with the fruits thereof v23.
d. Those who are separated and have the grace to be distinct from the world and worldliness v23, 25.
e. Those who know and identify with the mission of Christ on earth v24.
Those who fulfil these cuts across denominational lines.
*Q* What kind of "Christians" are you united with? Unity with worldly Christians is not a demonstration of love of Christ but a sign of compromise and lukewarmness or outright backsliding; while disunity with true Christians is a symptom of carnality.
*2. Reasons for unity in the Church*
a. That the world or sinners may believe in the Messiah and His life transforming power v21.
b. That the world may know that Christ is truly a God of love v23.
c. It is a demonstration of the perfection of Christ and His power to perfect the saints v23.
d. That the world may yield to the magnetising love of Christ.
*Q* What other reasons why unity in the church is nonnegotiable?
*Remark* Unity of the believers is a secret of the world evangelization and Church growth. Move along with Christ and don't cause or encourage schism among true Christians; but rather be a promoter of love and unity.
*3. Resources for unity among Christians*
a. The potency of prayer. Pray for it v20.
b. The possession of purity v22. The glory of Christ, i.e. His graces and beauty (including fruits of the Spirit, forgiving spirit and true love of Christ), must reflect in the life, nature and character of each Christian v22, 2 Corinthians 3:18.
c. The pursuit of perfection v23.
No Christian should be satisfied with anything less.
d. The principle of painstaking imitation v24.
Always ask, "What will Christ do"? "How did Christ did it?
HYMN: The Church's one foundation
1
The Church’s one foundation
Is Jesus Christ her Lord;
She is His new creation
By water and the Word:
From heav’n He came and sought her
To be His holy Bride;
With His own blood He bought her,
And for her life He died.
2
Elect from every nation,
Yet one o’er all the earth,
Her charter of salvation,
One Lord, one faith, one birth;
One holy Name she blesses,
Partakes one holy food,
And to one hope she presses,
With every grace endued.
3
’Mid toil and tribulation,
And tumult of her war,
She waits the consummation
Of peace for evermore;
Till, with the vision glorious,
Her longing eyes are blest,
And the great Church victorious
Shall be the Church at rest.
4
Yet she on earth hath union
With God the Three in One,
And mystic sweet communion
With those whose rest is won:
O happy ones and holy!
Lord, give us grace that we,
Like them, the meek and lowly,
In love may dwell with Thee.
PRAYER POINTS
1. Pray on each item on resources for unity.
2. Pray for practical love and unity among brethren.
3. Consecrate and pray that you will be a promoter of unity and not a spoiler.
4. Pray that the interdenominational barriers of unity in the Church will collapse in this nation.
SUNDAY, JUNE 30, 2019
UNITY THAT COUNTS
TEXT: JOHN 17:20-26.
_🔑KEY VERSE: "That they all may be one; as thou, Father, art in me, and I in thee, that they also may be one in us: that the world may believe that thou hast sent me" (JOHN 17:21)._
The byword at the top echelon of the mainstream Christendom today is "ecumenism". Ecumenism is derivative of a Greek word "oikoueme", which denotes universality, in the case of Christianity. The Church today is desirous of unity in the body of Christ. Since the Reformation of Schism of the 1500s, and the later splintering of the Protestant Movement into different denominations, there exists today a new spirit of reconciliation, forgiveness and fellowship. The slogan of "ecumenism" is "service unites but doctrine divides."
All the denominations are expected to downplay on the biblical doctrines that divided them in the first instance. Consequently, you will discover under the ecclesiastical canopy, people who believe in eternal security, those who propagate polygamy and polyandry, those who are championing the cause of same-sex marriage, those who do not accept that there is hell fire somewhere. According to the ecumenists, faith in Christ supersedes all the doctrines of Christ.
In the valedictory priestly prayers of the Lord Jesus Christ for His burgeoning Church, He specifically prayed for the sanctification of each member of the Church. It is the sanctification that brings the unity; when each member of the Church is born-again and sanctified (made holy), there exists homogeneous characteristic between each member of the Church, Jesus Christ and the Father in heaven. The prayer of the Lord Jesus Christ was to subsume the Church into that holiness, so that there is a common characteristic in the whole.
Jesus Christ payed the supreme price with His blood so that we can be united in righteousness, not in unrighteousness.
✍THOUGHT FOR THE DAY: Unity in righteousness, we stand; unity in unrighteousness, we fall.
COVER TO COVER: 1 KINGS 21-22.
MEDITATION:
The call and prayer for unity in the Church
*1. Right Christians to unite with*
a. Those who have their faith rooted in the Saviour with absolute confidence in the finality of Word of God v20.
b. Those whose nature, lifestyle and character are united with the Godhead v21.
c. Those who have Christ living in them with the fruits thereof v23.
d. Those who are separated and have the grace to be distinct from the world and worldliness v23, 25.
e. Those who know and identify with the mission of Christ on earth v24.
Those who fulfil these cuts across denominational lines.
*Q* What kind of "Christians" are you united with? Unity with worldly Christians is not a demonstration of love of Christ but a sign of compromise and lukewarmness or outright backsliding; while disunity with true Christians is a symptom of carnality.
*2. Reasons for unity in the Church*
a. That the world or sinners may believe in the Messiah and His life transforming power v21.
b. That the world may know that Christ is truly a God of love v23.
c. It is a demonstration of the perfection of Christ and His power to perfect the saints v23.
d. That the world may yield to the magnetising love of Christ.
*Q* What other reasons why unity in the church is nonnegotiable?
*Remark* Unity of the believers is a secret of the world evangelization and Church growth. Move along with Christ and don't cause or encourage schism among true Christians; but rather be a promoter of love and unity.
*3. Resources for unity among Christians*
a. The potency of prayer. Pray for it v20.
b. The possession of purity v22. The glory of Christ, i.e. His graces and beauty (including fruits of the Spirit, forgiving spirit and true love of Christ), must reflect in the life, nature and character of each Christian v22, 2 Corinthians 3:18.
c. The pursuit of perfection v23.
No Christian should be satisfied with anything less.
d. The principle of painstaking imitation v24.
Always ask, "What will Christ do"? "How did Christ did it?
HYMN: The Church's one foundation
1
The Church’s one foundation
Is Jesus Christ her Lord;
She is His new creation
By water and the Word:
From heav’n He came and sought her
To be His holy Bride;
With His own blood He bought her,
And for her life He died.
2
Elect from every nation,
Yet one o’er all the earth,
Her charter of salvation,
One Lord, one faith, one birth;
One holy Name she blesses,
Partakes one holy food,
And to one hope she presses,
With every grace endued.
3
’Mid toil and tribulation,
And tumult of her war,
She waits the consummation
Of peace for evermore;
Till, with the vision glorious,
Her longing eyes are blest,
And the great Church victorious
Shall be the Church at rest.
4
Yet she on earth hath union
With God the Three in One,
And mystic sweet communion
With those whose rest is won:
O happy ones and holy!
Lord, give us grace that we,
Like them, the meek and lowly,
In love may dwell with Thee.
PRAYER POINTS
1. Pray on each item on resources for unity.
2. Pray for practical love and unity among brethren.
3. Consecrate and pray that you will be a promoter of unity and not a spoiler.
4. Pray that the interdenominational barriers of unity in the Church will collapse in this nation.
No comments:
Post a Comment