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Christians all should dwell
together in the bonds of peace,
All the clashing of opinion, all the strife should cease;
Let divisions be forsaken, all the holy join in one,
And the will of God in all be done.
For many
years we sang this song above. If we sang it once, we sang it a
hundred times. Yet the clashing of opinion, the strife, the
divisions continued in a never ending cycle of destructive madness.
It seems that some are not satisfied until they have reached the
pinnacle of the “Pecking Order”, be that within a local
congregation, or within a “fellowship” of congregations, a
denomination or just the religious hierarchal system in general.
Carnally minded men will always strive to be at the top of the
stack.
But in
God’s church, the way up is down. The scriptures teach that if you
humble yourself you will be exalted. It is hard to argue with, strive
with, be envious of, or easily divide away from people who love God supremely, and who
demonstrate that agape love by loving each other as much as they love
themselves!
The chart
below (dated 2003) is the religious institutional system of which many of us have
recently come out from. What a mess man has made as a result of
being carnally minded! 1Corinthians 3:3 For ye are yet carnal:
for whereas there is among you envying, and strife, and divisions,
are ye not carnal, and walk as men? When heady and
high-minded religious leaders take things into their own hands,
thinking that they can “run the church” better than the Holy Spirit, they make a mess every
time.
Thank God
in the midst of all the religious confusion of our day, God is doing
a great and marvelous work of gathering His people unto Himself.
We call it the gathering of the outcasts. Contrary to the cries of their disparaging leaders, God’s people are
abandoning the religious institutionalized churches in mass numbers
and recognizing Christ only as their Head. They are taking a stand
for their freedom in Christ, despite the personal consequences
involved. In some cases, they are
“coming out” from among the “come outers” and pledging to follow the
Lamb wherever He leads. While carnal men are scattering, God is gathering
His holy elect from every nation.
Yet this
gathering of saints is not for the purpose of creating yet another
group, another pen or another box on the chart. God forbid! This
gathering is OFF the chart! No, this
gathering cannot be contained within the confines of a sectarian
box. In fact, these sheep will not be fenced in any longer as they
have declared their absolute freedom from the confines of men. They are whole heartedly following the
Good Shepherd, who is leading them in and out, from one pasture to
the next. They are well fed and well taken care of.
The day of sects and creeds for
us forever more is past.
Our brotherhood are all the saints upon this world so vast.
We reach our hands in fellowship to every blood washed one.
While love entwines about each heart in which God’s will is done.
This song is no longer just a nice song to sing, rather, it has
become a living reality. |
