WEBVTT

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For just a few minutes, I want to speak on something

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that I feel is most important. And I'm going

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to use as my scripture the third verse of the

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fourth chapter of Ephesians. Beloved, no nation

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is stronger than her spiritual forces. Spiritual

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forces are no stronger than their unity in the

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spirit here on earth. And I believe that with

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every atom of my being. Let me read the third

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verse in this fourth chapter of Ephesians. of

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peace. Note the exact wording of this statement.

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It is not the unity of the body which we are

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to keep. The Holy Spirit keeps that. For we have

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nothing to do with the keeping of the unity of

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the body. Always remember that. It's the Holy

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Spirit that keeps the unity of the body. in you

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and Christ in me, in all regenerated people,

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is the secret of the unity of the body. And this

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is beautifully set forth in the Old Testament

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tabernacle, a symbol of the church here on earth.

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Those of you who've been following me in my previous

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messages will remember that I taught you that

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the Old Testament tabernacle was a symbol of

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the church, Christ's church here on earth. The

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tabernacle consisted of 48 boards built on 96

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sockets of silver, which were made of redemption

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money. We did it in the 30th and 38th chapters

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of Exodus. Every man was redeemed. with half

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a shekel of silver. And if 685 ,000 people gave

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one half shekel of silver, the amount of silver

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must have weighed about one half ton. Think of

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it. Now, this mass of silver was cast into sockets

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and formed the foundation of the tabernacle,

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upon which the boards of the tabernacle See something

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here that's very marvelous. The boards represented

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believers being formed into one body. And the

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silver foundation is typical of redemption. The

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foundation of the church. Now, let's go a step

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further. These boards were held together, unified,

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by an invisible rod which passed through the

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heart of each board. You see what it means? The

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invisible rod represents the invisible Christ

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dwelling within every believer. That's what that

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scripture means. Christ in you. The hope of glory.

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That's it. Now the unity of believers began on

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the day of Pentecost when the Holy Spirit came

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to indwell and empower. And from that day to

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the present day, every believer has been united

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in the body of Christ. The unity being preserved

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by the indwelling Holy Spirit in every redeemed

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heart. And so that's the reason Paul tells us

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to keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of

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peace. Now, how do we keep the unity of the Spirit?

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We do so when we meet a believer in the Lord

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and recognize him as our brother, regardless

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of race. regardless of nationality or social

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position. For remember something, if he trusts

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Christ as his Savior, if his sins are covered

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with the blood, if the blood of Jesus Christ,

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God's Son, has cleansed him from all sin, regardless

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of his nationality, regardless of his race, Regardless

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of his position in life, he is a member of the

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body of Christ. He has been born into his church.

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And he is your brother. He is my brother. And

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we need to preserve that unity in the spirit

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right here on earth. And when we do, the world

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will feel our influence as Christians and not

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until. And it's just like that. An incident in

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the life of a great saint of God, a minister

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who was holding a campaign in Chicago near the

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close of World War I. He gave this testimony

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that made a profound impression. as he told it

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years later. He said, I attended a dinner. It

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was nearing the close of World War I. And he

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said, at the dinner, there was present representatives

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from every nation in the world. Religious leaders,

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spiritual leaders, presiding over the meeting

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was a Christian. Hebrew. Next to him sat a German.

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The minister to whom I refer was an Englishman.

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And he sat next to an Irishman. Think of that.

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An Englishman. Seated between an Irishman and

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a German at a time like that. At the close of

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World War I. Then there was an Italian, an Austrian,

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a Russian, a Japanese, a Chinese, and so on.

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Clear around the table. People from every country

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were there. Canada, Spain, the United States,

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Mexico. Were they scrapping? Were they fighting?

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Not at all. They were having the most blessed

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fellowship that believers could possibly have

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here on earth. Why? They were united in one spirit

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in Christ. That's why. He said the German turned

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to him and said, Just think of it, brother. And

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he said, he turned to the Irishman and said,

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Mike, aren't we having a grand time? And to think

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that a Christian Hebrew presided at that dinner.

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At the close of the dinner, he said they stood

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with linked hands. For he said our hearts had

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already been linked together as one. And instead

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we sang, blessed be the tide that binds our hearts

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in Christian love. Do you want to know what we

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need in Christendom today, that very same spirit?

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We've gotten so narrow. We've gotten so bigotent.

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We've gotten so far away from Christ's teaching.

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We've gotten so far. Off of the track, we've

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gotten so far away from brotherly love. We've

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gotten to hate instead of love. It seems to me

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there's so little unity, so little oneness in

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the spirit among God's children. That's the reason

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we have very little influence. over the unsaved

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man, the unregenerated man today. He doesn't

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see unity among us. He doesn't see the oneness

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in the Spirit among us. He cannot feel our influence.

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He cannot see Christ in our lives. And sometimes

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we're doing more damage to the cause of Christ

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than we're doing good. endeavoring to keep the

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unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace. Oh,

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that's wonderful. That's thrilling. We, members

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of the body of Christ, by the baptism of the

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Spirit, you will never walk worthy of the vocation

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wherewith ye are called unless... you'll recognize

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the unity of the Spirit and endeavor to keep

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that unity. Don't let's stop there. Go on to

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the next verse. Verse 4. I read, There is one

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body and one Spirit, even as ye are called in

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one hope. of your calling. The ground for this

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unity about which we've been thinking is set

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forth in this verse. One Lord, one faith, one

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baptism, one God, and Father of all, who is above

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all and through all and in you all. Let's take

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it. There is one body. Only one. Not two. Not

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three. One. There is one body. We're not told

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to make one body. No. Sometimes we try to. Sometimes

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we work so hard. trying to make one body. No.

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There is, the Scripture says, one body now. The

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body of Christ. We're not told to make one body.

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The Spirit of God has done that. There is one

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body. You were born... into that body. Regardless

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of who you are, if you've had that new birth

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experience, you had been born into that body

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which now exists. And that body is the church

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of Jesus Christ. The body is composed of individuals

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who have been washed in the blood of Jesus Christ

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and regenerated by the Holy Spirit. Every believer

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in Christ regardless of nationality is a member

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of the church which is his body. There is one

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Endeavoring to keep the unity of the Spirit in

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the bond of peace. Why? Oh, here's something

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very thrilling that we give to you in just a

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second, and I pray that the Holy Spirit shall

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make it so plain to you. For these are the things

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of the Spirit. and are only spiritually revealed.

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And I pray that the Holy Spirit shall give you

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the capacity to see and recognize the things

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of the Spirit. Go back to that first verse. I

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therefore, it's Paul speaking, the prisoner of

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the Lord, beseech you that ye walk worthy of

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the vocation wherewith ye are called. Walk worthy,

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beloved, of being an heir of God and a joint

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heir with Christ Jesus. Walk worthy of your vocation

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in the Lord Jesus Christ. Walk worthy of being

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a member of his body. What worthy of your vocation

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as a member of his church. I shall never forget

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an expression Mama used to use when I was a little

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girl. She would say, Catherine, you know, that's

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not very becoming to a young lady. That old -fashioned

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word, becoming. Some of our actions are very

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much unbecoming to a member of the body of Christ.

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Some of the little petty things we do. Our smugness

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sometimes is very unbecoming to a member of his

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church. Larry, unbecoming to our vocation. Remember

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to whom you belong. I pray that there shall be

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a unity among the members of his body. A unity,

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a oneness among those of us who are members of

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his church, born into his church. that we shall

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strive to endeavor to keep the unity of the Spirit

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in the bond of peace, that we might walk worthy

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of the vocation wherewith we are called. Yes,

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beloved. No nation is stronger than her spiritual

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forces. And the spiritual forces... are no stronger

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than their unity in the spirit here on earth.

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God bless you. Amen.