Togetherness

TOGETHERNESS

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Ours is a day of togetherness. Whether of nations, denominations, age groups, genders, families, the desirability of unity, mutual respect, love, peace, can be seen. The destruction and pain caused by the eras of war are urging us to try to find ways of promoting harmony and cooperation. The need for unity and the potential good are obvious. But how do the Scriptures view the move toward the global village?

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The Scriptures speak of the desirability of unity among the people of God. Psalms tells us unity among the brothers is like “precious oil poured on the head, running down on the beard, running down on Aaron’s beard, down upon the collar of his robes.” There the Lord bestows the blessing of eternal life.

The Lord Jesus prayed we may be one as He and the Father are One. The apostle Paul spoke of “one Lord, one faith, one baptism.” The writer of Hebrews warns us of the possibility of a root of bitterness springing up causing trouble and defiling many.

There is no question that the Church without spot or wrinkle eventually will be perfect in the unity that exists only in the Godhead, and also that the nations will stop fighting one another as the law proceeds from Zion and the word of the Lord from Jerusalem.

The current apologies for past wrongs and the efforts to make peace among previously warring groups proceed from good motives, we believe, although no human efforts are without their unworthy blemishes — people striving for preeminence, graft, political corruption, and so forth.

It has been reported by some that there are two or three powerful groups of people, very wealthy, who have been and yet are plotting to gain financial control of the entire world. They are so wealthy they can control the politics of the largest nations. Some are involved in thesis-and-antithesis schemes to force a synthesis of nations.

It is said these manipulators of society control the newspapers to such an extent that what we read is so superficial (in terms of what actually is taking place) that our emotions rise and fall without basis in fact. The Middle East and the Western nations alike are dupes of the master planners. The citizens of the affected nations and races are used and thrown aside like pieces of wood from a carpenter’s workbench. The death of twenty million men and women, boys and girls, is of little significance if it accomplishes the global designs of these masters of the world.

I have little doubt that this is a true picture of the actual source of world history, although I recognize also that God regards such self-directed billionaires as fools who, without realizing it, are accomplishing His eternal purposes in Jesus Christ. God laughs at their attempts to cast aside His laws and ways.

With all of this, I believe the motivations of the wealthy, powerful schemers are not totally corrupt. No doubt they truly believe their efforts will bring about a better life for everyone, certainly better than what has been true of the impoverished millions of world history and even of today. Of course, the planners see themselves as rulers over all of this — even over the rulers whom they set up and depose at their will.

Many American Christians do not trust the United Nations or the move toward a one-world government. This is because of their fear of losing their liberty. Yet they may realize somewhere back in their mind that it is nationalism that causes war and poverty.

Christianity was not born in a democracy but in an empire. True Christianity can flourish under a dictator and an economic system other than capitalism.

But won’t the Christians be persecuted when there are dictators? Yes, they will, and we need to be keenly aware that such persecution is being carried on today in many parts of the world, and do what we can to help our brothers and sisters in the Lord. When one Christian suffers, the whole Body suffers.

However it is in the democratic-capitalistic systems that Christians suffer the most. Yet they do not realize it because their suffering is spiritual and invisible. Their spiritual vigor has been destroyed and they sleep on in complacency.

The Christians of America are not setting enough of a moral example to really change their government or their society. Christian doctrine overemphasizes grace to the point that Christian people are not concerned about righteousness and holiness of personality. Therefore, the light of the witness is not coming forth.

Also God is not hearing their prayers for their country because the believers are not keeping His commandments, the commandments issued by Jesus Christ and His apostles. They are not lifting up holy hands before Him in many instances. Our nation is sliding into a moral nightmare, an age of horrors, due largely to the fact that the Christian churches are not bearing a witness of righteous, holy behavior.

The Christians are jumping up and down next to their pews practicing for an unscriptural “rapture” instead of forgiving those who have offended them; instead of behaving righteously and keeping the words of Christ. Many believers seem to be ready for any kind of emotional excesses but do not want to hear about discipleship; about patiently carrying their cross behind the Lord Jesus; about presenting their body a living sacrifice to God.

It is not out of Russia or the Muslim countries that the pornography and vile are are flowing but from America, Germany, France, England, and Scandinavia.

Which do we love, freedom or righteousness? These are not the same thing. Which do we love, freedom or righteousness? These are not the same thing. Would we cry, “Give me righteousness or give me death”?

Let us not be confused on this issue.

It is the unrighteous behavior of believers in the so-called free world that is part of the reason why Christianity is despised by the Muslims and some of the Eastern countries. They claim with reason that America is a decadent nation. To deny this is to live with our head in the sand. The Muslims refer to us as “the great Satan.” They are not led to glorify God when they see how we behave.

It may be true that we Christians do not fear a one-world government because we will lose our righteousness but because we will lose our liberty. We need to think about this.

Are we, in this article, advocating a one-world government? Not at all. We merely are pointing out that the fears of the Christian community need to be analyzed.

We are aghast at the torture and murder of dissidents in the totalitarian regimes, and well we should be. But it is out from America, not the totalitarian regimes, that the moral filth is pouring and polluting the world. Is this what we are afraid of losing? Are we terrified we will lose our “right” to abort children, practice sexual perversion, amass money, and meditate on pornography? Is this the freedom we are so anxious to preserve?

Just what is it we Christians fear about the move toward the global village? Are we truly afraid we no longer will be able to serve God in righteousness or is it our comfort that is at issue? It is rumored that some saints who had left Russia moved back there again because of the lukewarmness in the churches of Europe.

Now let’s turn to the Scriptures and see what God has to say about togetherness. Let’s see what really is to be feared from a global village, not just our loss of comfort and political freedom.

We all know the story of the building of the Tower of Babel, but maybe we need to take a closer look at it.

Now the whole earth had one language and one speech.
And it came to pass, as they journeyed from the east, that they found a plain in the land of Shinar, and they dwelt there. (Genesis 11:1,2)

Stop to think about this. Everyone on earth lived as one family, a truly global village. They all spoke the same language. There were no dialects. There were no wars here, just peace, love, and contentment apparently. It is toward this end that the world planners are seeking to move.

Then they said to one another, “Come, let us make bricks and bake them thoroughly.” They had brick for stone, and they had asphalt for mortar.
And they said, “Come, let us build ourselves a city, and a tower whose top is in the heavens; let us make a name for ourselves, lest we be scattered abroad over the face of the whole earth.” (Genesis 11:3,4)

The one family of people journeyed eastward until they came to the plain in the land of Shinar, that is, in present-day Iraq.

Notice their comment: “Come, let us build for ourselves a city, and a tower whose top will reach into heaven, and let us make for ourselves a name; lest we be scattered abroad over the face of the whole earth.”

They had two goals: one was to reach into heaven by their own efforts. The other was to decide on a name so that everyone knew where he or she belonged. This suggests that they were all in love with each other in a state of togetherness.

How idyllic! Peace, harmony, and love. There was no need for God to do anything but come down and join the family of mankind, thus averting subsequent millennia of war, famine, and other miseries caused by suspicion and hatred.

Why didn’t God do this? It is important for us to know the answer to this question. Then we will understand that the problem in the world is not the United Nations and the loss of our freedom and nationalism but our personal relationship with God.

What was God’s response to the marvelous oneness that existed on the earth in those early days?

But the LORD came down to see the city and the tower which the sons of men had built.
And the LORD said, “Indeed the people are one and they all have one language, and this is what they begin to do; now nothing that they propose to do will be withheld from them.
“Come, let Us go down and there confuse their language, that they may not understand one another’s speech.”
So the LORD scattered them abroad from there over the face of all the earth, and they ceased building the city. (Genesis 11:5-8)

God recognized that because the people were one family, all speaking the same language, they soon would develop a marvelous, sophisticated civilization.

But isn’t it desirable that all people work as one to develop a marvelous, sophisticated civilization?

Is it? What do you think?

No! This is not what God desires. This is why He acted as He did. God deliberately broke up the one family into nations that would war against each other throughout history. God did not want one human family living together in “love,” being able to accomplish whatever the members desired.

This is evident from the account, but why this attitude on God’s part?

The reason is, God wants each person to have a personal experience with Himself. God deals with people one at a time. When an individual gets too wrapped up in another person, God may move in and break up the relationship.

God’s name is Jealous. He must have our heart. No person, thing, or situation can come between God and us. God will not have it. God must be first.

The first of the eternal laws of God is that we will love Him with all of our heart, all of our soul, all of our mind, and all of our strength.

There is no other commandment that approaches in importance this greatest of all commandments.

This was not true of the builders of the Tower of Babel. They knew little or nothing of the God of Heaven. They were in love with themselves.

There are two powerful desires in the human personality. One is to get to Heaven by one’s own ability. The other is to join ranks with other people so there is a common name, a group that is able to accomplish the desires of the members.

In the last days Antichrist, the spirit of man making himself god, will be permitted by the Lord to reach up into the heavens and attack the host of God. At that time the host will be tested as to their obedience to God, as we understand the Scriptures.

And it grew up to the host of heaven; and it cast down some of the host and some of the stars to the ground, and trampled them.
He even exalted himself as high as the Prince of the host; and by him the daily sacrifices were taken away, and the place of His sanctuary was cast down [profaned].
Because of transgression [rebellion], an army was given over to the horn to oppose the daily sacrifices; and he cast truth down to the ground. He did all this and prospered. (Daniel 8:10-12)

“Because of rebellion”!

It is not God’s will that people climb up to Heaven by their own ability. It is not God’s will that people join together so they can accomplish their goals, even religious or humanitarian goals.

God’s way is to select an individual, call him to Himself, deal with him endlessly night and day, perfect every aspect of his personality until he is in the moral image of Christ, and bring the individual believer into untroubled union with Himself through Jesus Christ.

Society will never understand such people, but these are the true saints and prophets.

We notice in the churches of today that very few Christians are eager to give themselves to God in total surrender. They are not anxious for God to bring them into the divine fires of judgment and examine every aspect of their personality. They are not seeking to develop iron righteousness, fiery holiness, and stern obedience to the Father.

They will prattle about grace and an any-moment rapture, not understanding what they are talking about. They speak of giving their heart to Jesus but they have no intention of doing so. They will receive Him as Savior so they won’t go to Hell. But as Lord of every aspect of their life? Never!

If you don’t believe me, ask your Christian friends if they go to the Lord Jesus for every decision they make throughout the day. Every true Christian does this, so you can see how many true Christians there are.

Because the Christian people have refused to give themselves without reservation to the Lord Jesus they are being deceived. They will seek to climb to Heaven by their soulish love for one another (love that does not last when it is tested). They will join group activities hoping that by all getting together in “love” they can accomplish something in the Kingdom of God.

They do not understand God at all!

The cry of the hour is for “togetherness.” But this is the spirit of Antichrist, not of Jesus Christ.

The cry of the hour ought to be to love God more, to be brought into His fiery judgment and holiness, to be sternly obedient to the Father in all He requires, to be completely, totally reconciled to God in every aspect of our personality.

The first commandment is to love God with all of our heart. The second commandment is to love our neighbor as ourselves.

The order here is of the utmost importance.

We cannot accomplish total love for God by loving our neighbor. But we can accomplish love for our neighbor by loving God.

It is absolutely true that we cannot love God and hate our neighbor. If we truly love God He will help us love our neighbor as ourselves.

No, we cannot climb to Heaven by all getting together. God will frustrate these attempts every time. We ascend Jacob’s ladder, Jesus Christ, as an individual. We come to know God, Person to person. We cannot bring any other person, any experience, any thing with us.

Every person, experience, or thing that we love, but do not love through God, can easily become an idol. All we value must be given to God so He can give it back to us. If there is someone or something God does not give back to us, then it is harmful to us. Any person or thing we do not give to God is an idol and must be dealt with as such. Nothing is to be held back from the Lord. He will be Lord of all or He will not be Lord at all!

Do you have all on the altar — every person, every circumstance, every thing? If not you will be experiencing the fire of God on that idol. Better to give all to Christ right now.

We Christians do not have to fear what takes place in the political arena. We should pray for all in authority that we may serve God in peace. But whether we have political freedom or are harassed by the authorities, God will use the situation to bring us into His image and into union with Himself.

All things work together for good to those whom God has called to Himself.

The only fear a Christian is to have is that he is not serving God perfectly in every area; that in some aspect he is deceived and not following the Lord.

God created nationalism by dividing the one language into many languages and dialects. He did this deliberately in order to prevent cooperation among people.

Then on the Day of Pentecost He restored communication temporarily. But note that the Holy Spirit did not fall as a dove, as on Jesus, but as tongues of fire. The tongues of fire show that God is ready to judge mankind by the preaching of the Word, beginning with His Church.

But will the Church ever become one? Will mankind ever be free from war? The answer is yes on both counts. However the unity of the Church and peace among the nations will come in God’s way, not as man attempts to build a tower into Heaven or seeks to organize large numbers of people so great things can be accomplished.

In the seventeenth chapter of the Gospel of John the Lord Jesus prayed that the members of the Church would be one. We may think of this oneness as singleness of purpose or agreement on doctrinal issues. Such is not the case.

The unity of the Church will be of the Unity of the Godhead. In fact, it will be part of that majestic Oneness.

Notice carefully:

I in them, and you in Me; that they may be made perfect in one, and that the world may know that you have sent Me, and have loved them as you have loved Me. (John 17:23)

Christ is in us. God is in Christ. This means God is in us through Christ.
We are in Christ. Christ is in God. This means that we are in God through Christ.

God is in Christ who is in us who are in Christ who is in God. This is the total unity of the Church in God through Jesus Christ. This is a unity that can never be achieved by flesh and blood people. Only that which is born of Jesus Christ, His own body and blood, can be brought into such oneness in the Godhead.

Every member of the divine Union has an intensely personal relationship with God and is totally free from idols. It is one fiery, eternal, incorruptible, indissoluble whole. The whole comprises Christ, Head and Body, the servant of the Lord, the one “like the Son of Man” who, in Daniel, was brought before the Ancient of Days.

You can see now why God acted at Babel the way He did. God is not interested in people getting together according to their human notions, because they ultimately will rebel against Him. God has His own plan for achieving unity.

One instructive picture we can look at and think about is the building of Solomon’s Temple. The great stones were carefully cut at the quarry. Then when they were brought to the building site at Jerusalem no forcing or cutting was needed.

And the temple, when it was being built, was built with stone finished at the quarry, so that no hammer or chisel or any iron tool was heard in the temple while it was being built. (I Kings 6:7)

Every stone used in building the Temple of Solomon was cut to size at the quarry. It was then marked and brought to the building site.

So it is that efforts to bring all denominations into one huge denomination are premature attempts to achieve the oneness prayed for by the Lord Jesus. God is not pressing us to become a huge denomination so we will have a name and not be scattered abroad. Rather the Lord is cutting the stones at the quarry. Have you been cut lately? Probably so.

The leaders of denominations could no more fit us into our place in the Body of Christ than they could assemble the very dry bones seen in vision by Ezekiel. Can you imagine what would come forth if someone tried to put the bones together into people and then cover them with skin? So it is true that Christian “togetherness” efforts will always produce a monster.

The emphasis now is on becoming one with God through Christ. It is a day of reconciliation to God. After that, in God’s time, will come reconciliation with each other.

This is not to say we should not do all in our power today to strive for harmony and peace in whatever situation we find ourselves.

When the hour arrived for the animals to enter the Ark they came up over the horizon, being moved by the Spirit of God. Noah’s job was to build the Ark. God brought the inhabitants.

God did not tell Ezekiel to put the bones together, just to prophesy to them.

Today is a day of prophesying to the dead bones of the churches, announcing to them the Word of the Lord. The Spirit of God will do the rest.

Whenever we put our hand on the Ark, so to speak, the result will be chaos.

Will there be nations in the future ages or is God going to make an end of the nations of the earth? Yes, there shall be nations in the future even though they all are part of the one Kingdom of Christ. God desires that people be grouped in families and nations just as we enjoy various kinds of flowers and trees. What if there were only one kind of flower, only one type of bush, only one type of tree?

Now it shall come to pass in the latter days that the mountain of the LORD’s house shall be established on the top of the mountains, and shall be exalted above the hills; and all nations shall flow to it. (Isaiah 2:2)
And the nations of those who are saved shall walk in its light, and the kings of the earth bring their glory and honor into it. (Revelation 21:24)

At the end of the thousand-year Kingdom Age Satan will gather together the peoples of the earth in one last attempt to overcome the saints. But God will soon put an end to that!

Now when the thousand years have expired, Satan will be released from his prison
and will go out to deceive the nations which are in the four corners of the earth, Gog and Magog, to gather them together to battle, whose number is as the sand of the sea.
They went up on the breadth of the earth and surrounded the camp [fortress] of the saints and the beloved city. And fire came down from God out of heaven and devoured them. (Revelation 20:7-9)

Satan was having his way in the building of the Tower of Babel. Satan is having his way as wealthy, powerful people of our time are seeking a one-world government. Satan will once more have his way at the end of the thousand-year Kingdom Age. In every instance God will use Satan’s attempts to further God’s purposes with His elect. Then God finally shall destroy all efforts to achieve a one-world government, because God wants each individual on earth to be known to Himself and to have a portion of Christ in him or her.

This is why Revelation states there will be no more sea, that is, no more mass of people who can be swayed back and forth by the spirit of rebellion and self-seeking.

Antichrist, man making himself god, always comes from the sea of mankind.

There are many notable efforts being made today by groups of people that had been at war with each other, such as in racial conflict or generation gaps. These attempts are praiseworthy and I believe pleasing to the Lord.

Such efforts can be productive as long as we understand they are of necessity superficial. True, lasting, deep unity among people can be experienced only when each individual has his or her own unblemished, undistracted relationship with God through the Lord Jesus Christ.

Do you have a one-on-one, undistracted relationship with Jesus Christ as yet? Is your all on the altar of sacrifice laid? If so, then you have nothing to fear from the efforts of the mighty to achieve a one-world government. God’s power is greater than all and He protects every individual who is truly abiding in Christ. You already are one with every such person, bound to him or her by ties stronger than those of flesh and blood, without regard to race, age, gender, or any other human classification.

But if you, Christian or not, have someone or something that you love more than you do God, then you have everything to fear whether you live in a democracy or under a dictator. You can never, while you embrace your idol, be really together with any other individual. You are locked up in your grasping self-love, a wandering star, and thus you will be for eternity.

I am the LORD your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage.
You shall have no other gods before Me. (Exodus 20:2,3)

(“Togetherness”, 3806-1)