Unity Acording To Paul. Galatians 1 8 to 9 says: But though we, or an angel from heaven, preach any other gospel unto you, than that which we have preached unto you, let him be accursed. As we said before, so say I now again, If any man preach any other gospel unto you, than that yee have received, let him be accursed. -------- This verse needs to be interpreted in the light of other scriptures that Paul wrote, such as 1 Corinthians 16 22, and Galatians 1 8 to 9. In those verses, Paul placed a terrible curse on those who didn’t love the Lord, and those who were perverting the true Gospel. So, which is it? Do we curse others or don’t we? The answer is yes to both. We don’t retaliate with curses to those who persecute us. The Lord told us in Matthew 5 39, to turn the other cheek, and in Matthew 5 44, to bless those who curse us, and do good to those who despitefully use us and persecute us. All of these warnings are about Romans 12 19, which tells us, not to avenge ourselves when we are persecuted. However, it’s a totally different thing when it comes to a minister defending his flock and the true faith. The Lord told the pastor of the church at Pergamos, in Revelation 2, 12 to 15, that he had failed to rebuke the people in his church who held the doctrine of Balaam, and the doctrine of the Nicolaitans. He said in Revelation 2 16, that if he didn’t take his authority and rebuke these people, the Lord would fight against them. In Revelation 2, 18 to 23, a similar rebuke was given to the pastor of the church of Thyatira. In 1 Timothy 1 20, Paul also turned people over to Satan, for the destruction of their flesh, which is the last step in church discipline. Delivering people unto Satan, does not mean we are damning them to hell, nor does it mean they are going to die physically. As Paul said in 1 Corinthians 5:12 to13, God judges the lost, but He committed the judgment of the members of His church to the church. This is a withdrawal of our intercession on the behalf of others, and a retaining of their sins to themselves. This means they start reaping what they’ve sown, because we are not canceling Satan’s activities, through our prayers. This is done in the hope that these “hard knocks” will bring them to their senses. So, if it is just a matter of persecution, we bear it and bless those who persecute us. According to Acts 7 58, our persecutor could be the next Apostle Paul. But, if it is a matter of someone perverting the Truth, and leading others into error, we must take a stand against that, even to the point of bringing judgment on them, as Paul did in Galatians 1, 8 to 9, or 1 Corinthians 16 22. This should not be done lightly, or by someone who is not in a position of authority to do so. In Acts 16, 17 to 18, Paul suffered a demon-possessed girl, who mocked his message for many days, before he turned and rebuked the devil in her. In Acts 13, 9 to 12, Paul placed a curse on Elymas the sorcerer, because Elymas was withstanding the preaching of the Gospel. This is not an excuse for immature Christians to bring a curse on someone they don’t like, or someone who has hurt them. One test we can place on this is to examine our motives. Are we coming out against someone because of personal hurt or motives? Then that’s wrong. But if we are taking a stand for the Truth, then there may be times when we have to do as Paul did, and even as Jesus did, in Matthew 23, when He rebuked and cursed the Pharisees, scribes, and lawyers. Many people think of a curse only in relation to witchcraft. It should go without saying, that Christians should not practice witchcraft against those who have done them harm. However, that is not the type of curse that is being spoken of here. The Greek word used for “curse” here is “KATARAOMAI,” and it means “to execrate; by analogy, to doom” (Strong’s Concordance). The word “execrate” means “to protest vehemently against; denounce” (American Heritage Dictionary). Vine’s Expository Dictionary says KATARAOMAI means “to pray against, to wish evil against a person or thing.” Therefore, vicious talk about others is actually a curse. Without realizing it, many Christians curse others and thereby allow the devil access to the lives of those they are denouncing. Proverbs 18 21 says, “Death and life are in the power of the tongue: and they that love it shall eat the fruit thereof.” Every word we speak releases either life or death. Our negative talk releases death. When we speak against others, we are actually releasing Satan against them. Once we understand this, it should make us pray this prayer with David, Psalms 141 3, “Set a watch, O LORD, before my mouth; keep the door of my lips”. ---- Paul’s curse in Galatians 1 8 to 9, comprised the strongest statements he made in Scripture, against those who opposed his Gospel. Some points of doctrine were negotiable, that is nonessential for salvation, but the grace of God could not be compromised. Paul said that even if an angel appeared, preaching any other gospel, than what Paul preached, he should be accursed. This left no room for anyone to preach something different. Here, Paul was stressing the importance of preaching the true message of the Gospel of Christ. If anyone tampers with the true message of the Gospel of grace, Paul stated, “Let him be accursed.” The Greek word for “accursed” here is “ANATHEMA,” and it means “a person or thing doomed to destruction”. Today’s English Version translates this as “May he be condemned to hell!” This statement will certainly be true of those who have turned away from the good news of Jesus unto another way of salvation. The counterparts for this word in the Hebrew, mean to be appointed to utter destruction and to be completely destroyed. These words were used in Numbers 21 3, to describe the children of Israel, utterly destroying the Canaanites, and also in Joshua 6 16 to 17, concerning the city of Jericho and its inhabitants, being an accursed thing unto the Lord and appointed to utter destruction. ----- Paul’s curse in the previous verse, was so strong and so startling, that some of the Galatians could have thought, “Surely he couldn’t mean what it looks like he means.” To leave no doubt, Paul was, in a sense, saying, “I said it once and I will say it again in verse 9, if anyone preaches a gospel to you that is different, let him be accursed, eternally condemned!” No one could misunderstand that. Today it is not politically correct to be absolute about anything. Instead, phrases like, “I believe,” “it’s possible,” “probably,” “most likely,” etc., are used. But the Gospel is absolute. Acts 4 12 says: “Neither is there salvation in any other: for there is none other name under heaven given among men, whereby we must be saved”. John 14 6 says: “I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me”. We need to be as sure that we are preaching the true Gospel as Paul was. Then once we have no doubts, we need to be as bold in defending the Gospel as Paul was. 1 Peter 4 11 says: “If any man speak, let him speak as the oracles of God”. 1 Corinthians 1 10 says: Now I beseech you, brethren, by the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that ye all speak the same thing, and that there be no divisions among you; but that yee be perfectly joined together in the same mind and in the same judgment. The degree of unity that Paul described here is awesome. He said that “all”, (that means every believer), should speak the same thing, and be perfectly joined together in the same mind and the same judgment. Note the use of the word “same.” This rules out mere tolerance of others’ beliefs. In Ephesians 4 13, Paul was stressing unity of belief. In Romans 14 to 15, Paul made allowances for differences of belief on nonessential points, such as the observance of certain holy days and dietary laws. Therefore, Paul’s instructions must be interpreted to mean that there is some room for differences on minor points. ----- Paul was saying, that we shouldn’t be critical of, or discriminate against, those who are weak in their convictions. This has been interpreted by some as inconsistent with some of Paul’s actions. In Paul's epistle of Romans 2 5, Paul had called the legalistic Jewish Christians unrepentant, and hardhearted. In dealing with the same subject in the letter to the Galatians in Galatians 3 1, Paul was very uncompromising, saying that they had been bewitched, and that they were fallen from grace, if they trusted in circumcision. He also said, in Galatians 2 5, that he did not give any place to the legalistic Jews who were advocating circumcision for salvation. How do Paul’s actions harmonize with what he was teaching in Romans 14? There are some doctrinal points that are non-negotiable, and others that are not. When it comes to the doctrine of grace for salvation, Paul did not compromise. He even said in Galatians 1 8, “But though we, or an angel from heaven, preach any other gospel unto you, than that which we have preached unto you, let him be accursed”. If these Jewish believers had taught that abstinence from meats, and observance of special days are essential for salvation, Paul would not have tolerated it. However, if these Jewish Christians were professing righteousness with God, solely based on the work of Christ, yet had a personal conviction about these other things, that was okay. The thought or the motive behind the action is what must be judged. Paul didn’t object to circumcision; Paul objected to faith in circumcision instead of faith in Christ. He even circumcised Timothy in Acts 16 3, to keep from offending the Jews. Yet, when the legalistic Jews in Galatians 2, 3 to 5, tried to pressure Paul about the circumcision of Titus, Paul would not bend. Likewise, according to Ephesians 2 8, we cannot compromise on the matter of salvation by grace through faith. But there should be room for Christians to dwell together, yet have different ways of conduct. ----- However, from the contents of Paul's letter in 1 Corinthians 15, we can see some of the doctrinal issues on which Paul expected the believers to come into agreement. Church discipline, legal disputes, divorce and remarriage, not offending a weaker brother, communion, spiritual gifts, and the resurrection from the dead are issues that Paul considered non-negotiable. So, Paul’s teaching in Romans 14 shows us that there is some room for differences, but Paul’s teaching in 1 Corinthians 5, 6, 7, 8, 11, 12 to 14, and 15 reveals that, many doctrines that are considered nonessential to us today, were essential to Paul. The Apostle Paul’s instructions in this verse, are very contrary to the situation in the body of Christ today. Divisions are so commonplace, that very few, have the unity of the body of Christ as a goal. The vast majority of Christians, have become accustomed to, denominational divisions among Christians. Most Christians, don’t even take heed to divisions within denominations. In fact, more often than not, churches of the same denominational affiliation, within the same city, have no real fellowship with each other. That is percise-ly what we are trying to come against here. That is not the type of unity that Paul was advocating. Paul was not promoting a mere tolerance of others, with different doctrines within the body of Christ. He made it very clear that we were to resolve our doctrinal differences so that we are “perfectly joined together in the same mind and in the same judgment.” The unity that Paul was preaching was a real unity of mind and heart. Anything less would have received Paul’s rebuke. If this is so, which it is, then that means God is not the one who has started all the denominations. The Lord is not the one who has divided His church into separate groups. This is the working of Satan, to limit the effectiveness of the church in the earth. This does not mean that all denominations are of the devil, nor are all those who attend denominational churches. God loves all of those who are true members of His church, and He uses them to the degree that they allow Him to, regardless of what group they may be associated with. However, the denominational walls that people have built are a hindrance to the cause of Christ. Denominations are simply monuments to man’s inability to reconcile their differences according to God’s commands. In 1 Corinthians 1, 12 to 13, and 3, 4 to 7, Paul did not instruct his “followers”, to love those, that were of Apollos and Cephas. He instructed them to get along with them. He commanded them to, drop their affiliation with certain people. He commanded them to unite with, one mind and judgment in Christ. ******* This looks so impossible today, that many very sincere people feel, that it is totally impractical, to advocate true unity among believers. Statements are made like, “We won’t agree doctrinally until the Lord comes.” However, although we cannot be dogmatic about this, it is closer to Scripture to say, “The Lord won’t come until we do agree doctrinally.” Paul made it very clear that as long as there is strife and division among us, we are still carnal. The Lord isn’t coming for a carnal church. Scriptures such as 1 Corinthians 15 24 to 28 and Ephesians 5 17 reveal that the body of Christ will be walking in victory at His return. According to Romans 8 6, a carnal church cannot walk in victory; therefore, we can conclude that the church will not be carnal or divided. There is tremendous power in unity. The negative side of this can be seen at Genesis 11 to 3, at the tower of Babel. God divided the people of the earth to limit their power to do evil. But unity has great potential for good also according to Psalms 133; and other scriptures The church of Jesus Christ was meant to use this power to release God’s power in the earth. With the division in the church, there is nothing that is being accomplished now that could not be accomplished better with true unity among believers. From a logistical standpoint, division greatly hampers communication, isolating individual groups and making them easier prey for the Enemy. The body of Christ has been divided into little groups fighting independent wars. This was not God’s plan. On the positive side, we have seen a mighty miracle in this area during the last generation. Starting in the 1960s, with the Jesus movement, and continuing through the Charismatic movement, one of the central themes shared by the majority of these people was unity of the believers, people of every possible religious background united in their common faith in Christ. Today, for a large portion of believers, religious affiliation is much less important than union with Christ and other believers. While this is still short of the unity Paul was preaching here, it is a step in the right direction and a cause for hope. The answer to this problem is not to condemn everyone in a denomination and start a new denomination called “non-denominational.” The only way a godly type of unity can happen is by one heart at a time being moved by the grace of God, “till we all come in the unity of the faith, and of the knowledge of the Son of God, unto a perfect man, unto the measure of the stature of the fulness of Christ”. The first three chapters of Paul’s first letter to the Corinthians should forever end debate on whether or not true unity among believers is the will of the Lord. That has and always will be God’s best. The renewal of our minds is an important part in the process of unity. We can coexist with others, but we cannot truly be in unity with them until we begin to be of the same mind. Christian love is not bound by doctrine, but true unity is. Love is the bond of perfection that holds us together, but there must be a shared foundation of doctrine in order to have real unity. Thus far I have talked about unity among the saints. That is I pray that they might be one. Now, I would like to take a turn, and talk about as you and I are one. How is Jesus and God one? Jesus and God are one in essence. We are invited into that essence, oneness or unity relationship between God and Jesus. This necessitates the need to talk about the difference between, an essence, a person, and a substance. The essence is, what "makes something what it is". This implies that the something is something. That is, a particular kind of thing. For example, a dog, a radio, a planet, a number, and etc. Yet, unlike essence, substance is not necessarily about kinds of things. Since what is durable, separable, and identifiable, may be an individual. Where as such, what it is is irrelevant. Thus, Aristotle distinguished "primary substances," for example individuals, from "secondary substances," for example a kind. A kind of thing, is then to be associated with an essence. An essence can always specify more than one individual. Here we see, that an essence, is a kind of thing, such as a dog, a radio, a plant, a number, a man, or a god are kinds of things. On the other hand, a substance is not necessarily about kinds of things. Rather a substance has more to do with an individual, or a subcategory of the kind of thing. Such as a poodle is a subcategory of a dog, or a person is a subcategory of a man. Just as all dogs are of the same essence, all men are of the same essence. All subcategories of poodles are not the same. Some are Standard Poodles, Miniature Poodles, and even Toy Poodles. Likewise, all sub-categories of persons are not the same. Some are refered as individuals. Which happens to be a singular noun of a person. While others are referred to, in law, as the 1st person and the 2nd person. Which happens to be a plural noun of a person. Now a subcategory of a person, the 1st person, is an individual, or a substance. Now, here is the heart of the issue. One God in three persons. A man is an escence. A man beget a man. An angel is an essence. An angel begets angels. A God is an essence. Gods beget Gods. Gods are a kind of a thing. Nature reveals this to us in Romans 1 20 it says. "For the invisible things of him from the creation of the world are clearly seen, being understood by the thinngs that are made, even his eternal power and Godhead; so that they are without excuse”. If Jesus is God's son, and he is. Therefore, nature reveals that the essence of the father is always in the son. Because the essence of God is that he is infinite, then it is unthinkable that God could have a son that has a different essence than his own. It is unthinkable that an infinite God could have a son with a finite essence. That is like saying that a man could have a son who has a litteral essence of a dog. That is the heart of calling Jesus God's son. If a person cannot look at nature and see that this is true, then you are without excuse. If you believe that an infinite God, could have a finite son, then you are without excuse. 1st Timothy, chapter 3, verse 15 says: that the Godhead is a mystery by design. It reads: -Without controversy, great is the mystery of godliness. God was manifested in the flesh, justified in the Spirit, seen of angels, preached unto the Gentiles, believed on in the world, and then received up into glory. Who was? God was! Hear Oh Isreal the Lord our God is one God. There was no God created before him, along side him, nor after him. Yet, we say that there are many gods in heaven and in earth. God said that on the day that you eat you will surely die. Yet, Satan said you will not die. The explicit takes precedence over the implicit. We are invited into that oneness, or unity relationship, between God and Jesus. I pray that they might be one, as we are one. The bible has an abundant number of scriptures that speak of Jehovah as God. All others who are not a part of, nor associated with the one true God, are not gods at all. The scripture makes it clear in Isaiah 44 24, that God created the universe by himself, with no help from anyone else. Isaiah 44 24 says, "Thus saith the LORD, thy redeemer, and he that formed thee from the womb, I am the LORD that maketh all things; that stretcheth forth the heavens alone; that spreadeth abroad the earth by myself". The scripture goes on, in Genesis 1 26 to say, let us make man. How can these things be? How can God say that He created the universe, by himself, and then turn around and say, let us, make man? The scripture goes on to explain, that if you are not that true God, or affiliated with him in some way, then you are a false god. Which is by definition not a god at all. On the other hand, righteous men are in association with the one and true God. Thus, making them gods acording to Jesus and God. For Jesus said, in John 10 34, "Jesus answered them, Is it not written in your law, I said, Yee are gods?" Furthermore, God himself declaired, that those who were in association with him, were in fact gods. Psalms 82 6 says, "I have said, Yee are gods; and all of you are children of the most High". But, yee shall die like men, and fall like one of the princes. Question. How do gods die like men? The form of authority that gods have is conditional authority. Angels' authority, is upon condition, that they obey God's will. Satan was an angel. With all the authority, and godliness, of angels. His job was to minister to Adam. While ministering to Adam, Satan realized that Adam had a form of authority, that he himself, as an angel, did not have. That was, unconditional authority. Unconditional authority, was authority, that was not contingent, upon doing God's will. That was the type of authority, that men associated, with the tower of babel had. Men could come against God, and still maintain some symblance of their authority. That is when iniquity was found in Satan. Satan devised a plan, to get Adam, to give him his authority. This was so that he could come against God, and not loose all of his authority. The bible went on to say, in Psalms 8 5, that men were created a little lower then Elohîm, and that men would judge the angels (1 Corinthians 6 3). We are invited into that oneness or Unity relationship between God and Jesus. For the bible goes on to say in Romans 3 23, that the righteousness of God comes by the faith of Jesus Christ. Not by our faith, but by his faith. For, our faith was as dirty rags. So, Jesus gave, or made available to, every man the measure of his faith. Everything that Jesus did he did using his faith. Therefore, if we have his faith, then surely we can do the things that he did. We had the imputation of sin, the imputation of righteousness, and now we have the imputation of faith, his faith. This is the next great awakening. Just as in the last great awakening, we came to the acknowledgement of salvation by grace, instead of by works. The idea was always there in the scripture, but we were not always aware of it. We resisted it. Even now we still resist the fact that we have access to Jesus's faith. When we truly are awakened, by this realization, and stop saying that Jesus had the full anointing of the holy spirit, because Jesus was God. Yet, we are not God. Therefore, we only have a partial access to his faith. We can only do some of the things that Jesus did. No! Jesus had the full anointing of the Holy Spirit, as a man. Jesus was fully God and fully man. As he is so are we in this world. Our understanding, that we have access to, the faith of Jesus Christ, will be the next great awakening. It is our ability to do the things that Jesus did, that makes us gods now. Not necessarily in the world to come, as the Mormon, the new age, and others preach. An awakening, such that men, when speaking of us, would say as they said of Jesus, "what manner of man is this. Even the winds respond to his will, because our will would be aligned with God’s will. An awakening, such that the devil himself will say, Jesus I know, and Paul, I know, and now, Herman I know. An awakening such that, we can with confidence say, we are gods. For, as he is so are we in this world. An awakening, so that we can with confidence say, that the things that Jesus did, we can do also. An awakening, so that we can with confidence say, what Jesus said. "Is it not written in your law. I said. Yee are gods." An awakening, so that we can say with caonfidence, that we understand the menaing of the scripture, which sayeth. God standeth in the congregation of the mighty; he judgeth among the gods, and God himself have said, Yee are gods; But yee shall die like men. An awakening, such that we might understand, the difference, between the unconditional authority, which Adam had, and Satan stole from him; and the conditional authority, which angels and gods have. This authority, is contingent upon us being obedient to God's word. Thus God said, although yee are Gods, you will die like men. An awakening, such that, we can without shame, talk about those things that are not, as though they were. Devar, and expect, that they will come to pass, before we get to heaven at an age of 120 years. An awakening, such that we can begin to comprehend that because with God there is no difference between a day and a thousand years. An awakening, such that we are not the victims of impatience. An awakening, that would cause us to realize, that the thing that could take a thousand years to come to pass, may very well happen overnight. Thus, we can look forward to, eternity invading time, where we don't have to wait a thousand years, to enter into that Shekinah Glory. So that your will is done on earth, as it is in heaven, in our lives. We are invited, into that oneness, or Unity relationship, between God and Jesus now. So let it be. In Jesus name I declare these and all things. Amen. Thank you for listening. Statistics indicate that most people only retain 10% or less of the messages that they hear. Therefore, the available written transscript largely supplements this learning curve. Thus, a video and audio transcript is availale at battlefieldnews dot net. Then click on You Hearde You Saw, then click on Revivals