A STEP TOWARD REVIVAL AND UNITY IN THE BODY
What is this Gospel that Messianic
believers in Yeshua are commanded to proclaim?
We can be clear about what it is not.
It is not a set of ethical rules.
It is not a religious system. It
is not a philosophy or theological system.
To be sure, it embraces all of these elements to a greater or lesser
degree, but it is not to be confused with any one of them.
The
Gospel is not primarily a belief. It is an invitation—an
invitation to meet and become an intimate friend with a Person who is both
truly God and truly human and who gave his life so that we may live in the
presence of God forever.
But
Yeshua is not just an historical figure; not even a unique Figure who performed
something that nobody could (i.e. his atoning death and resurrection). He is full of these, but he is also a very
contemporary Person who stands before us now as a living figure. Beyond the Yeshua of ancient history is the
Yeshua of the present moment; the Yeshua
who waits to come and dwell within our spirits and through his Holy Spirit
transform us increasingly into his own image.
The Gospel is the good news that this miracle has been made possible by
the atoning death and victorious resurrection of Yeshua haMeshiach. It is also the good news that this same
Yeshua now waits for us to turn away from a self-centered life and toward him,
by inviting him to come into our spirits in a real and vital way.
True Messianic Judaism is not a religion. It is a relationship. A relationship between a man or woman and God in Yeshua. A Messianic believer is one who has Yeshua spiritually within. But this relationship with God is not something simply to be enjoyed by ourselves. We are saved and transformed, not simply that we may become holy people and go to Heaven when we die, but so that we may become parts of a community of people who are similarly being transformed inwardly and who, collectively, maintain the presence of Messiah in the flesh within today’s world. This company of genuine Messianic believers and Christians, the church (not to be confused with any denomination, or even with the institutionalized church per se) is the Body of Messiah today. In a very real sense, it is the continuation of the incarnation of Yeshua down through history. Yeshua haMeshiach is the Head and the church is his Body; his corporate Body in the world. Through the church, God is involved in human society, just as Yeshua was involved in human society. Society is influenced by God to the degree that each of these church members is surrendered to the will of God. The healing of society and its transformation toward a holy and just community is, I believe, a consequence of the sanctification of the individual and the sanctifying influence of many sanctified individuals upon the broader world. [i.e. we are both the light and salt of the earth, holding evil in check and preserving the good in society as long as we dwell within society.]
The church must spiritually
unite, not necessarily by merging into a single denomination, but by awakening
to a single vision…the vision of itself as it ought to be; a vision of the
church in all its sundry and diverse manifestations united in a higher unity as
the Body of Messiah, indwelt by the same Holy Spirit, with Messiah alone as its
Lord and Head.
Nevertheless,
the church can only be a unifying and transforming factor if it does not
succumb to the divisions of human society itself. Alas, this is just what has happened. The church as a whole and the people who are
its members have lost sight of the unifying vision of being in the Body of
Messiah and have allowed the false gods of human society to usurp the place
that belongs to Messiah alone. Messianic believers and Christians alike, have
become divided along line of race, politics, class (and sundry other “secular”
divisions) as well as the peculiarly “religious” divisions of denomination,
worship style, theological doctrine and so forth.
These
(divisions) become “gods” when they assume a greater influence than the simple
but profound fact of belonging to Messiah, being in him as part of his
corporate Body and being indwelt by his Spirit.
For
example, one’s theology may become so critical to one’s definition of a
Messianic believer that anyone having a different theological position is
regarded either as a non-believer or as a “sub-standard Messianic believer”. (I
am not talking about essential theological doctrines, i.e. the Deity of
Messiah, but such things as predestination, eschatological [end-time prophetic]
doctrines, apostolic succession, and the differences between Torah-observant
and non-Torah observant groups). A
Calvinist (say) may so highly regard the doctrine of Predestination that it
effectively becomes his Gospel, such that anyone rejecting it is thereby not
considered a true believer in Messiah, even though he or she may be truly
committed to following Yeshua.
Similarly, a Pentecostal may place speaking in tongues so highly as to
believe that anyone not speaking in tongues is unsaved. Or, from the other perspective, an Arminian
may reject the Calvinist position as heresy and a strongly anti-charismatic may
dismiss Pentecostals as being inspired by the devil [or demons]. Yet, if all of these people have truly given
themselves to Yeshua [having asked Yeshua to come into their respective lives],
in reality they are all members of the Body of Messiah.
Surely, this fact is more important than their differences, important
though these may well be.
Of
course, they [all these various belief stances] will not all be correct and I
am certainly not arguing that we take a position of theological
relativism. I am only saying that we
should recognize that it is relationship with
God in Yeshua that determines whether or not a person is a fellow member of the
Body of Messiah, not whether they speak in tongues (or reject speaking in tongues) or
whether they believe in Predestination (or reject belief in
Predestination). Similarly, there are
some who prefer a highly formal style of worship, while others like free
expression. But if both have experienced
the saving grace of God in Messiah, are they not equally believers in Yeshua
haMeshiach?
It is probably even worse when believers are divided over secular matters such as race or politics. It is a terrible thing when believers fight believers because their countries are at war. In past ages, wars were even fought over theological differences (although these were always bound up with politics [and I might add, secular nations and apostate churches]) and many believers in Yeshua have been persecuted and put to death at the hands of other equally committed believers in Yeshua. Think of the persecution of early Separatists by the Church of England, to name just one example. If only they could have seen Messiah in each other…if only!
All
of these false gods must go. The
church must spiritually unite, not necessarily by merging into a single
denomination, but by awakening to a single vision…the vision of itself as it
ought to be; a vision of the church in all its sundry and diverse
manifestations united in a higher unity as the Body of Messiah, indwelt by the
same Holy Spirit, with Yeshua haMeshiach alone as its Lord and Head. The church must awaken to the vision of
itself as the New Jerusalem into which stream all the diverse strands of human
society, merging there as the single citizenry of the Holy City. It must have the vision of this citizenry
going forth into the world again, still being members of whatever race or
faction they previously were, but now with this one great difference; that from
henceforth they carry first and foremost the badge of a citizen of the
This
is, unfortunately, not what we have today.
But how do we get from today’s church to the ideal? How can this great renewal—unifying
revival—occur? Is it just a dream?
Although
many Messianic believers may disagree with me, I do not believe that it is just
an unrealizable ideal. After all, Yeshua
taught his disciples to pray that the Father’s will be done on earth as in
Heaven. God’s will is followed in Heaven
totally, otherwise it would not be Heaven.
And in praying what we have come to call the “Lord’s Prayer”, we are
praying for the same to apply on earth as well.
[And I might add, we’re praying for God’s will to be done within the
Body of Messiah on earth, as it is in Heaven.
We cannot possibly enforce God’s will on earth as it is in Heaven until
after the 2nd coming of Yeshua haMeshiach. We are talking about a unity of Spirit within
all or a majority of believers--bringing the Body of Messiah into the will of
God in Heaven.] And in praying what we
have come to call the “Lord’s Prayer”, we are praying for the same to apply on
earth as well. Surely Yeshua would not
have taught us to pray for something that would not come to pass!
However,
even if you don’t agree that the church will one day be “without wrinkle or
spot” in this present age, you would surely agree that we push toward it as an
ideal. Did not William Law (though
speaking of the individual believer in Yeshua rather than the church as a
whole) advise that we should strive toward perfection, for by so doing we might
at least arrive at something a little better than mediocrity?
In
my opinion, the present-day church must recapture the vision of holiness; both
the absolute holiness of God and the thirst for purity that is an inevitable
consequence of true conversion. [see http://www.unityinchrist.com/whatisgrace/holiness.htm and http://www.unityinchrist.com/whatisgrace/GoandSInnomore.htm .]
A. W. Tozer lamented that there were too many “half converted” people in
the church. Of course, we cannot really
be “half converted”. We either are or we
are not, as Tozer himself well knew. But
what he meant was that too many church members are satisfied with settling down
at a point below full commitment to Yeshua.
They believe, they go to services and they live relatively moral lives,
but true spiritual transformation is simply not there. Or if it is there, it is too weak to have any
real impact either on their lives or upon the life of the church and world.
There
are, alas, many within the visible church who seem only to have been converted
in the mind. They believe truly enough,
but their belief bears little fruit in their lives. The real impact of the Gospel does not
penetrate into the deeper recesses of their being. Some of these people become those of whom
Yeshua spoke in the Parable of the Sower as the seeds that fell on shallow
ground. Because the ground is shallow,
the seeds germinate quickly in the warmth, but their roots are so close to the
surface that the plant soon dies. It
takes little for such people to lose their faith, because theirs was never a
saving faith in the first place [i.e. it was a mental conversion, but not of
the heart via the indwelling Holy Spirit taking genuine root in that person’s
life—i.e. false conversion]. It was
simply an interesting belief that they held until something more appealing came
along, or an emotional response to an energetic preacher that evaporated once
the emotion cooled. Nothing penetrated
into their deeper spirits.
Not
all people with a merely “surface faith” fall away however. Some go through life with the sort of faith
that James spoke about; a faith that has no spiritual impact whatsoever and
which, as James said, is a faith that is shared even by the devils
[demons]. At least, the devils have
enough appreciation of the holiness of God to tremble. Unfortunately, the holiness of God has become
such a taboo subject in so many pulpits today that the nominal believers in
Yeshua with their surface-only religion do not even do that. If they did, presumably they would take their
relationship with God more seriously!
[Some age-old Christian churches are filled with people like this,
although many are empty now.]
So
the first step is to become truly aware of the holiness of God … and not just
“aware” as an intellectual assent, but as a deep spiritual experience. [again, see http://www.unityinchrist.com/whatisgrace/holiness.htm
.] Watchman Nee used the term “the
shining” to indicate a type of inward spiritual illumination, brought about by
the Holy Spirit, that made the truth of a spiritual fact experientially real to
the individual. Genuine conversion is a “shining” on the fact that salvation
lies in surrender to Yeshua. Simply
believing this in the head, however, saves no-one. But when the Holy Spirit illuminates its
truth and applies it to the individual, a true spiritual conversion takes place
and the person is saved.
What
the church, and its members, needs is a “shining” on the fact of God’s
holiness. But the fact must be heard
before it can be “shone”!
Once
the holiness of God is truly revealed to us, the full force of sin begins to be
correctly appreciated. We read about
people falling to the ground during the revivals under Wesley and Edwards,
often in a state of great terror as they experienced the double-edged “shining”
of God’s holiness and their own sinfulness.
Even someone as holy as John [the apostle] told, in the first chapter of
the Book of Revelation, how he fell at the feet of the glorified Messiah like
one who was dead. Such is the effect on
people of the holiness of God when truly revealed to their spirits.
A
genuinely converted person will feel inwardly drawn toward personal
holiness. If one claims to have been
converted and yet delights in some deliberate sin, something is seriously
wrong. It is true that even a converted
person will, at times, commit sin and it is true that Messianic believers
continue to struggle with sin, but it is not true that a genuine believer in
Yeshua can continue to wallow in deliberate sin. Unless true holiness becomes increasingly
attractive and sin increasingly distasteful following conversion, the validity
of that conversion must be seriously questioned, irrespective of the intensity
of sobs and fervour of promises at the penitent form.
The church and all those within it must also be clear that Jesus is their personal Lord and that allegiance to Him must come before allegiance to anything or anyone else. Messianic believers in Yeshua must see themselves as individual members of the corporate Body of Messiah and must be submitted to the Head and work together in the unity of the Spirit so that the will of the Head (Yeshua) is carried out through the corporate Body. We must realize that in trying to put in motion our own plans for the way in which we think the church should operate, we are treating the Body as our own bodies would be treated if the limbs and organs acquired wills of their own and started operating independently of the brain. Our own bodies would tear themselves apart; so why should we expect any less disastrous result for the Body of Messiah?
All
of this must, I believe, be “shone” into the innermost spirits of Messianic
believers and into the corporate spirit of the church. Like everything else in the Messianic walk,
intellectual understanding is not enough.
The truth of it must go deep down into the spirit; be “shone” as Nee
would say and “engrafted” into our spiritual nature, as Selwyn Hughes expressed
it. Then, and only then, will the
spiritual unity of the Body (which the church has been given already … it is
not something to be acquired) be realized in fact and the church made ready to be
the instrument of the Holy Spirit in driving back the gates of Hell.
We will now look at a practical
suggestion. This is in the form of a
“spiritual exercise” that can either be followed alone or with a small group of
up to six or so people. You can either
chose to be part of groups forming up in affiliation with this website,
UNITYINCHRIST.COM, or you can, if you choose, form an independent group of your
own. It is, however, strictly for
committed Messianic believers in Yeshua haMeshiach who have made a personal
commitment to Yeshua as their personal Saviour, Lord and God and who hold the
Bible to be the revealed word of God and that everything necessary for
salvation is contained therein or provable from what is written therein. It is important to be sure about this, as the
belief in spiritual illumination of truth already revealed in the Bible can
easily slide over into a belief in revelation beyond what the Bible actually
says. We need to be very clear about this
from the very start and remain firm in our resolve to test every illumination
and word of prophecy against the revelation recorded in the pages of the Bible.
We
must also be clear that this “exercise” is a form of quiet time intended to
open our spirits to the gracious work of the Holy Spirit. It is not a form of spiritual relaxation and
is not intended to produce “warm fuzzy glows”.
Indeed, it should constantly present us with challenges and there may be
times when we are made to feel decidedly uneasy. But this is how it should be, for only
through challenge and confrontation (under the guidance of God) with those
aspects of our lives that are still not surrendered to the Lordship of Jesus,
can we expect to grow spiritually.
Although
following a set form [described below] may be challenged by some as
incompatible with freedom in the Spirit, we nevertheless feel that it is
essential for the initial times of spiritual exercise. We therefore strongly urge all those
participating in these times of quiet (whether as individuals or as small
groups) to follow the format at least for the first four times, i.e. while the
meditations listed below are being used.
One of the following four meditations is to be used each time, in the
order in which they are given below, and included in the form of the exercise
which we will soon present. These
sessions may or may not be weekly, but after these four are completed, we ask
that you prayerfully consider what the further meditations will be and whether
the session will continue in the same format or whether this will be
changed. We do advise that, if you feel
led to change, that the change be gradual unless you feel especially called by
God to proceed differently.
We
therefore urge that, at least initially, the personal or group time of
meditation and reflection follow this form.
We suggest the following opening prayer for each session, or one very similar. Please pray it slowly and reflectively:
“Loving Heavenly Father, we pray
that by your Holy Spirit, we your people may be moved to take hold of the deep
unity that you have so graciously given us already in your Son Yeshua
haMeshiach our Lord.
Mould
your church into a living unity transcending race, class, denomination and all
else that divides us and continues to tear apart the Body of Messiah in this
age.
We
thank you for that immeasurable love through which, in the Cross of your dear
Son, you made possible our unity in his Body, the church, and we stand in awe
as we contemplate both the joy of the privilege of being a part of his Body and
the responsibility of being the arms, legs and mouth of Messiah in today’s
world.
Forgive
us the sin of forgetting this great fact. Forgive us the blasphemy of so often
treading underfoot your mighty gift as we allow worldly divisions and
prejudices to set us against our fellow Christians, and thereby tear asunder
Messiah’s body and frustrate your work of reconciling the world to yourself and
its people to each other in your family.
Forgive us for continually going our own way and following our own plans
and desires.
Remove
from us all worldliness and pride, from which strife and division proceed. Lead us always to put your will before our
own plans and desires. Mercifully grant
us true repentance and so lead us to experience that glorious fellowship and
profound unity of spirit, mind and will enjoyed by our brothers and sisters in
Messiah long ago in the early days of the first church. In Yeshua’s name we earnestly pray. Amen.”
Reflect on the past week, asking ourselves whether there have been times of spiritual growth or of stumbling. What has assisted our growth? What has been a cause of stumbling? Have we been faithful witnesses of Yeshua? Commit this to the Lord quietly in personal prayer.
Move
then to silent meditation on a short passage of the Bible. Please follow the four meditations listed
below (one for each session) for the first four sessions. It is also advisable to periodically keep
returning to them, as they are very important.
Simply
dwell upon the passage in complete silence, placing all in God’s hands. Ask him to deepen your understanding of the
passage and to engraft it into your spirit.
Waiting in silence, you may receive an illumination from God or hear the
“still small voice” speaking to you.
Try
to remain in meditation for at least ten minutes, longer if possible. You may wish to remain in meditation for half
an hour or more. In the beginning,
meditating for ten minutes or a little less may only be possible, until the
group gets used to this spiritual exercise.
Reflect on what you have experienced in the time of meditation. Have you been granted some insight that you can put into practice in your church, family, place of work, etc.?
In
a group, this will be a time of mutual sharing and maybe of shared plans for
the practical application of experiences.
Individually, not in any
particular order, but as inspiration moves you, bring what you have shared to
the Lord in open prayer, the doors that need opening that would bring greater
unity to the Body of Messiah, or help you fulfill some step in that process in
your local area and congregation or synagogue.
Why prayer? Because we can do nothing on our own. Whatever the Lord reveals to us during our
time of meditation needs to be brought to him in prayer. And praying as a group is extremely powerful. He told his disciples “that when two or three
of you are gathered in my name, whatsoever you ask, it shall be done.” Each of you, perhaps coming from different
denominations, knows of prejudices either your congregation or Messianic group
has, some tied to doctrines or religious preferences, that divide and build a
wall of prejudice against accepting Messianic believers, and yes, even
Christians of other Holy Spirit led and inspired denominations. Bringing these revelations to the Lord in
group prayer will be a powerful step to bridging the gaps and divides in the Body. Personally, I know of how three men walked
around the campus of the college of one denomination, praying for them to come
to an understanding that there were other genuine Christian denominations that
truly were indwelt by the Holy Spirit.
Miraculously, without any outward actions being taken by these three
men, over a period of ten years, their prayers were powerfully answered. So this is a time to bring what the Lord has
revealed to you in your meditation to prayer.
A suitable closing prayer, for a group, may be:
“We thank you Lord Yeshua for our
time of fellowship this day and we ask that you will remain with us as we
pursue our separate lives, that we be ever mindful of remaining in you and you
in us and that through our mutual union with you in the Holy Spirit. And let us remain one Family of the Father,
one Body of the Son, one Temple of the Holy Spirit, and one unified church
through all three. Amen. The grace
of the Lord Yeshua haMeshiach, and the love of God, and the fellowship of the
Holy Spirit, be with us all evermore.
Amen” (2 Cor. 13:14).
During the first meeting, chose out a member of the group that would be willing to facilitate the meetings. Understand, God is in charge of the meetings. The facilitator would read the main Scripture passage for that meeting at the beginning of the meeting, just prior to the meditative portion of the meeting. Understand, this facilitator is merely ensuring proper order of events, moving the group from one part of the meeting to the next, gently learning to judge when the meditative section has concluded (perhaps quietly asking for a show of hands after ten, fifteen minutes, and later, half an hour as people get used to meditating, when people have finish meditating on the subject of that particular session. Then the facilitator will move the group into the sharing portion of the meeting, and then into the group-prayer portion, where each individual will bring his thoughts and whatever the Lord has revealed to him or her about how he, the Lord, can best do something to enhance unity in the Body (in line with the particular main topic of that particular session, i.e. session 1, “holiness”, 2, “Jesus is Lord”, 3, “you are the body of Christ…”, and 4, “…there is neither Greek or Jew, circumcised or uncircumcised [Torah observant or non-Torah observant], barbarian, Scythian, slave or free, but Messiah is all, and is in all…” He may also choose out opening Scriptures for the group to meditate on as it moves through the various meditations, week by week, month by month. The facilitator should also maintain a prayer-journal for the group, recording what each basically prayed during each meeting. Then when the session is near the end, try to include elements of each prayer request in the closing prayer. The group’s prayer-journal will prove to be a huge encouragement, as the Lord answers the prayers of the group.
"Two
short prayer requests should always be included with the closing prayer: "Please
Lord, add to the numbers of this group, blessing the growth of this unity
meditative prayer-group, and others as they form up around the world. Also,
please bless UNITYINCHRIST.COM so that it may increase in its ability to provide
nourishment through the written Word of God." Also when a group reaches
15 in number, the last five to join should then become a group of their own,
a facilitator being chosen and prayed over. This way, group size will never
become unmanageable."
Meditation
1
“Our God is a consuming fire.” (Hebrews 12:29)
This meditation holds before us the awe and holiness of God. It brings us to meditate upon that which Rudolph Otto called the “numinous”, the sense of the divine and the awe-full to which our only proper response is one of holy fear.
Holy
fear has somewhat fallen out of fashion these days, and believers in Yeshua are
all the poorer for that. Certainly, we
have the immense privilege of being able to approach God through Messiah, but
we must remember that this privilege is one that has been won for us by the blood
of Yeshua and that the God whom we approach is a God of holiness and
might. We tremble at the power of atomic
energy or of an exploding star. How much
more should we tremble before the Creator of these things. [Printed resources: http://www.unityinchrist.com/whatisgrace/holiness.htm
and http://www.unityinchrist.com/whatisgrace/GoandSInnomore.htm
.]
“Yeshua is Lord”
The first part of this meditation shows us the way to the God who is a consuming fire, and the Way is Yeshua. In Yeshua, the Fire wears a human body. Through Yeshua and only through Yeshua can we approach the Unapproachable and through Yeshua alone, Almighty God comes down to us, not in fire and wrath, but in the Person of a divine Human Being inviting us to come into a personal loving relationship with Him!
Yeshua
is the Way … the way through whom each individual human being can reach up to
God and through whom God reaches down to each of us.
He
is truth … the truth about what God is and what man ought to be and can be
through the transforming power of the Holy Spirit.
And
he is the life … the Life of Deity manifested in human form so that human life
may be transformed and partake of the Divine Nature in and through Him.
The second part of this meditation is, or ought to be, our response to this revelation of Yeshua. It focuses upon the central core of Messianic spirituality. It is the absolutely essential step that we all must take to become a true Messianic believer in Yeshua. But what does it mean—really—to accept Yeshua as Lord? It means that we accept him as the central authority of our lives. We make a definite commitment to live the kind of life which he desires of us and we both accept this and welcome the indwelling power of his Spirit who enables us to live in this way. Acceptance of Yeshua as Lord also implies belief in his divine and human natures; that he is truly God and truly Man. If he is Lord, he is also Saviour, but only as both Man and God can he be Saviour. As Man he lifts humanity up to God and as God he brings divinity down to Man.
We likewise note that Paul also says that no one can call Yeshua “Lord” except he or she be moved by the Holy Spirit (1 Cor. 12:3). Of course, this does not mean that no one can simply say “Yeshua is Lord” without inspiration (a parrot could be taught to do this!) but, rather, no one can assert this with conviction unless he or she is moved by the Holy Spirit. Asserting and truly believing that Yeshua is Lord (which means being a Messianic believer) is not something that one can do “naturally”. It is, in a sense, a “mystical experience”—indeed, a divine miracle—dependent entirely upon the grace of God!
Once
we accept him as Saviour and worship him as our God, his image becomes—as it
were—stamped on a sensitized heart.
Something inexpressible begins to happen in our lives; our existence has
a new “feel” about it which (though very real) is not easy to pin down with
words. A new hunger begins to appear; a
new desire to really surrender more and more to Yeshua and, paradoxically, the
more we rise to this desire, the stronger it becomes. If this inner change truly appears and grows,
we can say that we have truly accepted Yeshua as Lord and our life as a
Messianic believer in Yeshua has begun.
As
we meditate on the Lordship of Messiah, keeping these thoughts in mind, we
allow ourselves to experience an attitude of total and complete helplessness in
the hands of Almighty God. We allow
ourselves to feel the weight of our sin and how we are as filthy rags before
the absolute purity of God. And yet, as
we surrender to Him through our acceptance of the Lordship of Messiah, He
washes our sins away and looks upon us as pure with Messiah’s own purity!
We
see Yeshua as our life, our everything.
We depend totally upon God to bring us to the point of acceptance of
him. We abandon ourselves completely to
God and to the moving of the Holy Spirit.
“you are the body of Messiah, and each one of you is a part of it” (1 Corinthians 12:27).
Comment
As the previous meditation concentrated upon the individual’s relationship with God through Messiah, so this concentrates upon the life of the believer as a part of the corporate Body of Messiah. All who are members of the church are “organs” in the Body by and through which Messiah has chosen to be active in the world today.
In our meditation, we remember that the one divine life—the Holy Spirit—inspires and guides each member of the Body and that, through each being united with the Holy Spirit, we are also united with one another.
We seek this deepest life within us—a life manifested through all desires to surrender to Messiah and to follow him. We dwell upon these spiritual desires and let all other desires fall away from us. We allow ourselves to be drawn increasingly into the life of the group and, through the group, into the life of the Body of Messiah. As each of us allows himself/herself to be drawn into a deepening experience of the Body and increasingly live for the Body through his/her role within it, so the Body itself increasingly functions as the Body of Messiah. It comes under the control of the Head as each of its members more fully yields to the Divine Mind within the Body … the Holy Spirit.
This
deeper inner commitment will show itself in practical terms as increasing
involvement, increasing interest and increasing desire for involvement in
church life and witness. It will also manifest as a growing love for
other Messianic believers, and yes
Christians too… including those of different persuasions, temperament or
background.
Meditation 4
“[you] … have put on the new
self, which is being renewed in knowledge in the image of its Creator. There is no Greek or Jew, circumcised or
uncircumcised, barbarian, Scythian, slave or free, but Messiah is all, and is
in all” (Colossians 3:10-11).
“You are all sons of God
through faith in Yeshua haMeshiach, for all of you who were baptized into Messiah
have clothed yourselves with Messiah.
There is neither Jew nor Greek, slave nor free, male nor female, for you
are all one in Yeshua haMeshiach” (Galatians 3:26-28).
Comment
In this meditation, we are
shown three classes of division between people and we are assured that they are
overcome amongst Christians and Messianic believers through mutual unity within
the Body.
The first division is social: Paul exemplifies this by “slave and free”,
but today we could also add “employer and employee”, “politically conservative
and politically liberal”, “professional person and manual labourer” and so
forth. Think about this. The differences that cause so much division
both within society at large and, all too frequently, at a personal level, melt
away as we become increasingly aware of the “Body unity”. In other words, as we experience fellowship
at this deep level, we increasingly see one another as Christians first and
primarily. The tags which society may
place upon us become decreasingly important.
The second division: The second division might be called divinely instituted if we bear in mind that it was actually the sin of humanity that made it necessary in the first place. It is the division of Jew (the chosen of God) and Gentile or heathen (Paul exemplifies this as “Greek”). What Paul is saying is that both Jew and Gentile must leave behind their former position … the Gentile “comes in from the cold”, from beyond the people of God, and is brought into union within the Body, but the Jew also must renounce any though that he is right with God simply by virtue of birth within the Jewish nation. You Messianic Jewish believers in Yeshua haMeshiach understand this point, that it is your belief in Yeshua and Him alone that makes you a member of the Body of Yeshua haMeshiach, not the fact that were born Jewish. Both groups are now united in being equally in need of Messiah and individuals from each group can find fellowship together if they turn away from their past condition and become united in the Body. [And this being in spite of the fact that the body of Messiah does appear to have two distinct branches, Jewish and Gentile. It’s ok not to drop this distinction, for it is the Lord himself who has through the Holy Spirit raised up and revived the Messianic Jewish branch of Yeshua haMeshiach. It has not been through the work of any man, as you well know. editor]
Thirdly, membership of the Body transcends natural divisions, i.e. sexual (male and female) and racial (Greek, barbarian, Scythian). Such natural differences include Asian and Caucasian, Black, White and all of the many innate differences between people and groups of people that can so often be exaggerated into matters of real significance. But these differences too melt away into the unity that exists between true Christians and Messianic believers in Yeshua.
We meditate on this fact and allow the true enormity of it to become realized in our minds. With this meditation we touch the very heart of the unity that alone is adequate to bring Christians and Messianic believers of different theological and denominational differences into true unity of spirit. We meditate on this fact.
But the impact of these passages goes beyond church unity in the usual sense. We imagine the world as it would be if all its people fulfilled the potential for which they were created and truly become parts of the Body. Imagine the ideal; all divisions transcended by the unity of Spirit knitting all parts of the Body together as all people reflected in their lives the Glory of God. We meditate on this and pray that God will inspire more and more people with this magnificent vision.
These four meditations focus attention upon the four important themes of unity in the Body of Messiah; the majesty of God, the Lordship of Yeshua haMeshiach, and the implications of membership in his corporate Body, and the church defined. It is suggested that these meditations be repeated frequently in order to keep focus.
The Bible is a deep well of passages for meditation. As we read the Bible, passages will frequently impress themselves upon us as subjects for meditation. The Holy Spirit will lead us in this way and I’m certain that many deep meditations will soon start flowing. This is God talking to us!
It is my hope and prayer that many Christians and Messianic believers in Yeshua will take seriously these words and both practice this spiritual exercise themselves and start small groups that will follow the practice. I believe that this really is a way to true revival and a way to bring about a God-inspired, God-powered unity within the Body of Messiah.
David A. J. Seargent
If you are interested in becoming a part of one of these UNITY MEDITATIVE PRAYER-GROUPS go to the next page.
If you are interested in becoming a part of one of these UNITY MEDITATIVE PRAYER-GROUPS affiliated with this website, simply fill in the blanks below in this hyperactive section, listing first name, city or town, state, country and/or zip code (in the USA), and email address. A central coordinator will collate the information and if a group has not yet formed in your area he will forward to you all the email addresses of everyone within easy driving distance of you. Then you can get in touch with each other and form up a group. If a group already exists, the coordinator will merely forward the facilitator’s email address to you, so you can contact him or her and find out where the UNITY MEDITATIVE PRAYER-GROUP in your area is meeting, with dates and times of each planned meeting.
First name:___________
Email address:_______________
Town/City:_________________
State/Province:_________________
Zip code (if in USA):____________
Country:_______________________
This website, and these meetings,
promote unity within the Body of Messiah.
As you have seen, group prayer can and will be a powerful tool, when
used properly, to help bring unity to the Body of Messiah. But those participating in these groups—who are also readers of this website—should
also realize that unified support of the three major international evangelistic
organizations is another way of powerfully unifying the Body of Messiah, by
enabling major evangelism on an international scale to function in a unified
manner. We can do that by putting our
money where our collective mouth’s are.
If you are truly committed to unity in the Body, it is asked that you
participate in the “$5.00 a week plan”.
(Consider this a sort of UMPG dues if you like.) This is totally voluntary, and nobody is keeping
records. On alternate weeks, send $5.00
to either http://www.jewsforjesus.org or http://www.messianicbible.com
.
Should you merely wish to use this
information to independently start up your own group, maybe one associated
with your local congregation, feel free to do so.