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February 21, 2010Don’t Forget:•Devotional/Fellowship tonight

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Hebron

The Call for Spiritual Unity

Body

Spirit

Hope

Lord

Faith

Baptism

God1—Ephesians 4:4-6

The One SpiritThe Spirit is the Agent of

Unity:

• He Exemplifies the Principle

• He Provides the Message• He Reveals the Sin

—Ephesians 4:4b

He Exemplifies the Principle

• Authority is respected– John 16:13 Howbeit when he, the Spirit

of truth, is come, he will guide you into all truth: for he shall not speak of himself; but whatsoever he shall hear, that shall he speak: and he will shew you things to come

– Romans 8:27 And he that searcheth the hearts knoweth what is the mind of the Spirit, because he maketh intercession for the saints according to the will of God.

He Exemplifies the Principle

• Roles are assumed properly– 1 John 5:4-6 For whatsoever is born of

God overcometh the world: and this is the victory that overcometh the world, even our faith. Who is he that overcometh the world, but he that believeth that Jesus is the Son of God? This is he that came by water and blood, even Jesus Christ; not by water only, but by water and blood. And it is the Spirit that beareth witness, because the Spirit is truth.

He Exemplifies the Principle

– I Corinthians 12:4-6 Now there are diversities of gifts, but the same Spirit. And there are differences of administrations, but the same Lord. And there are diversities of operations, but it is the same God which worketh all in all.

We Must Follow His Example

• We must be unified by a respect for God’s authority– Colossians 3:17 And whatsoever ye do in

word or deed, do all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God and the Father by him.

– Matthew 28:18-19 And Jesus came and spake unto them, saying, All power is given unto Me in heaven and in earth. Go ye therefore…

We Must Follow His Example

• We must be unified by an acceptance of our roles– I Corinthians 12:29-31 Are all apostles?

are all prophets? are all teachers? are all workers of miracles? Have all the gifts of healing? do all speak with tongues? do all interpret? But covet earnestly the best gifts: and yet shew I unto you a more excellent way.

He Provides the Message

• The Spirit provided the 1st Century message– John 16:13 Howbeit when he, the Spirit

of truth, is come, he will guide you into all truth…

– Luke 4:18 The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he hath anointed me to preach the gospel to the poor; he hath sent me to heal the brokenhearted, to preach deliverance to the captives, and recovering of sight to the blind, to set at liberty them that are bruised,

He Provides the Message

– II Peter 1:20-21 Knowing this first, that no prophecy of the scripture is of any private interpretation. For the prophecy came not in old time by the will of man: but holy men of God spake as they were moved by the Holy Ghost

– I Peter 1:22 Seeing ye have purified your souls in obeying the truth through the Spirit unto unfeigned love of the brethren…

– John 3:3-6 …born of water and of the Spirit…

He Provides the Message

• The Spirit provides the message today– Ephesians 6:17 And take the helmet

of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God

– Acts 1:1-2 The former treatise have I made, O Theophilus, of all that Jesus began both to do and teach, Until the day in which he was taken up, after that he through the Holy Ghost had given commandments unto the apostles whom he had chosen

He Provides the Message

– Hebrews 1:1-2 God, who at sundry times and in divers manners spake in time past unto the fathers by the prophets, Hath in these last days spoken unto us by his Son…

– II Peter 3:16 As also in all his [Paul’s] epistles, speaking in them of these things; in which are some things hard to be understood, which they that are unlearned and unstable wrest, as they do also the other scriptures, unto their own destruction ( I Cor.14:37)

He Reveals the Sin

• The Spirit revealed sin in the 1st Century church– Acts 5:3 But Peter said, Ananias, why hath

Satan filled thine heart to lie to the Holy Ghost, and to keep back part of the price of the land?

– Acts 5:9 Then Peter said unto her, How is it that ye have agreed together to tempt the Spirit of the Lord…

– Revelation 2:7 He that hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit saith unto the churches…

He Reveals the Sin

• The Spirit reveals sin today– James 1:21-25 But whoso looketh into

the perfect law of liberty, and continueth therein, he being not a forgetful hearer, but a doer of the work, this man shall be blessed in his deed

– Hebrews 4:12 …and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart

– The main difference: we must take recognize it ourselves

The way to unity through the Spirit:

• Follow His example

• Heed His Message

• Recognize what He reveals

Consider During the Lord’s Supper:

Matthew 26:26-29 And as they were eating, Jesus took bread, and blessed it, and brake it, and gave it to the disciples, and said, Take, eat; this is my body. And he took the cup, and gave thanks, and gave it to them, saying, Drink ye all of it; For this is my blood of the new testament, which is shed for many for the remission of sins. But I say unto you, I will not drink henceforth of this fruit of the vine, until that day when I drink it new with you in my Father's kingdom.