Don’t Lose It! 

The Unity of The Spirit is vital for the church of Jesus Christ to move forward and accomplish God’s kingdom agenda!

Without unity we are circling the wagons and beating the wind! Unity generates power and power produces force that keeps faith active! We know faith without works or that is inactive is dead being alone or by itself!

The Unity of The Spirit bands our faith together preventing it from being alone, inactive and ineffective!

Paul writes in Ephesians 4:1-3 I therefore, the prisoner of the Lord, beseech you that ye walk worthy of the vocation wherewith ye are called,
2 Be completely humble and gentle; be patient, bearing with one another in love.
3 Make every effort to keep the unity of the Spirit through the bond of peace.

Paul exhorts the church in Ephesus who was made up of both Jews and Gentiles as much of the early church was at that time. There were obvious cultural as well as theological differences that each group had!

But what bound them together was their faith in Jesus Christ and the fact that God gave both groups the Holy Spirit!

God gave this revelation to Peter first in Caesarea at Cornelius house Acts 10:44 While Peter yet spake these words, the Holy Ghost fell on all them which heard the word.
45 And they of the circumcision which believed were astonished, as many as came with Peter, because that on the Gentiles also was poured out the gift of the Holy Ghost.
46 For they heard them speak with tongues, and magnify God. Then answered Peter,
47 Can any man forbid water, that these should not be baptized, which have received the Holy Ghost as well as we?

Peter asks can anyone deny the Gentiles be united with us since God has saw fit to include them in the Body of Christ by giving them the same Holy Spirit as we! God decided not man; if it were left up to man at that time doctrinal differences and religious practices would surely have kept Jew and Gentile from being united!

But notice even after God had began to unify the church there were still people, leaders in the church who resisted!

Acts 11:1-3 And the apostles and brethren that were in Judaea heard that the Gentiles had also received the word of God.
2 And when Peter was come up to Jerusalem, they that were of the circumcision contended with him,
3 Saying, Thou wentest in to men uncircumcised, and didst eat with them.

It was as the bible says apostles and brothers of the church that resisted the unity God was bringing to the church.

Notice the challenge of the super-apostles and saints in Jerusalem; they contended (to separate, discriminate and make a distinction).

These great men of God immediately began to make a difference between the Gentile believers and Jewish believers. Thereby hindering the unity The Holy Spirit was bringing to the Body of Christ!

Acts 15:1 Some men came down from Judea to Antioch and were teaching the brothers: “Unless you are circumcised, according to the custom taught by Moses, you cannot be saved.”
2 This led to disagreement, and after Paul and Barnabas had a long argument with these men it was decided that Paul and Barnabas and others of the church should go up to Jerusalem and discuss the question with the apostles and elders.

Acts 15:5 But there rose up certain of the sect of the Pharisees which believed, saying, That it was needful to circumcise them, and to command them to keep the law of Moses.

Again some men the bible says began teaching the brothers “unless a person is circumcised they cannot be saved.” What God has joined let no man divide! Where did these men get this doctrine from? When God had already united Jew and Gentile by giving His Holy Spirit!

The scripture uses the word sect to describe the group who held to the teaching without circumcision one cannot be saved!

The word sect here is the Greek word (hi-re-sis) where we get the word heresy from meaning to separate.

It was considered heresy, a separating of the church to teach anything that disrupted the unity the Holy Spirit already began in the church!

So the apostle under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit tells the church to endeavor (make every effort, to exert oneself and be diligent about) keeping/guarding the state God placed the church in from the beginning!

May we work more diligently to keep together what God has united, His glorious church!

“Moving Forward” is the Theme in 2011 for Christian Faith Fellowship Church Zion and all who embrace us!

Movement is a divine aspect of creation not everything God created has the ability of locomotion.

Locomotion is the ability to move from one place to another, man not only has the ability to move he can change the very course of his life, his purpose and destiny.

No other creature on earth has this ability! As Christians we learn though scripture the way to truly move forward because all movement is not good movement.

It has been said that before a person can know where to go they must first learn where they have come from.

Just after the creation of man God plants a gardeneastward in Eden!

God has finished recreating the heavens and the earth which God said was all good. Then God proceeds to create a place on the good/perfect earth called Eden.

Eden means “pleasure or place of pleasure” it has been called the garden of God (Ezekiel 28:13) and the garden of The LORD (Isaiah 51:3).

Garden means “enclosure” it is a plot of ground protected by a wall or hedge. So God placed man whom He formed and created in a place of pleasure surrounded by walls or a beautiful protected place.

But now let’s not forget the bible describes Eden as the garden of God not the garden of Adam! It seems to be a place God created especially for Himself and Adam was as much a part of the beauty of Eden as any other beautiful thing in the garden.

Gardens are planted on purpose by those who have them! They place the most beautiful living things they can find in their gardens to enjoy whenever they choose. This is exactly what the LORD did in Eden.

We must understand that Adam in his perfect state was a thing of beauty, a total master piece, there was nothing on earth that compared to him. Adam was the crown of creation, the apex of all life on earth; having a garden without him in it would be pointless!

So after God planted (established on purpose)! There were certain life forms in Eden that God picked specifically to be in the garden. In other words every plant on earth wasn’t in the Garden of Eden.

God planted this garden eastward! Why eastward? What is the significance? In the bible ancient cultures oriented themselves (faced) the east. Even ancient maps up to the middle ages placed the east, not the north at the top.

Israel’s tabernacle and Solomon’s temple face the east; even Muslims pray facing east! The belief is that blessings and rest come from the east.

The direction one faces points to origin not destination, a fact confirmed by the meaning of the words past and future. Which are related and originate from east and west?

The past (east) are the days in front or before, while the future are the days behind or afterward! We walk by faith backwards facing the east (our past) moving west into our future toward our destiny in God!

What is the significance of all this? Ecclesiastes 1:9 The thing that hath been, it is that which shall be; and that which is done is that which shall be done: and there is no new thing under the sun.

Understanding there was a garden in our past causes me to know there is a garden in my future!

Because the very thing God did in the past is the very thing He will do in the future! This is why Paul says in Phil 3:13forgetting those things which are behind, and reaching forth unto those things which are before.

What are we to forget? Everything the devil did to steal, kill and destroy us! Not the things God has done in our lives—not that He saved us, healed us and delivered us. Not that He parted the Red Sea, not that He planted a garden, not that we were created in His image.

Your real past is not a broken home, divorce, poverty and or prison! Your real past is a beautiful garden where God gave you personal attention!

This is what the devil wants us to forget! He wants us to remember how poorly we’ve been treated, how we were abused, rejected and neglected!

Our minds must be renewed so we can walk backwards (by faith) blindly into our future destiny in Christ Jesus!

What did God tell Moses when Moses asked to see His glory?Exodus 33:20 And he said, Thou canst not see my face: for there shall no man see me, and live.

Remember the face is the origin, the past or the beginning! God says no one can see my origin, past or beginning—since God has no beginning we would die or finite minds could not grasp it!

So God tells Moses in Exodus 33:23 …thou shalt see my back parts: but my face shall not be seen.What is coming—the future glory of the kingdom of God in Christ Jesus!

Mine eyes have seen the glory of the coming of The LORD a song by William Steffe written in 1856 in camp meeting style revivals that eventually became known as the “Battle Hymn of the Republic” and also quoted by Dr. Martin Luther King during his famous “I have a dream” speech.

NIV Jeremiah 29:11 For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the LORD, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.