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Jesus Prayed For Unity!
by Tony Edwards
In John 17:20-21, after praying for the apostles, Jesus stated "I do not pray for these alone, but also for
those who will believe in Me through their word. That they all may be one, as You, Father, are in Me, and I in
You; that they also may be one in Us, that the world may believe that You sent Me."
religion as long as they claim to be serving God. Sad to say that won’t work.
religion as long as they claim to be serving God. Sad to say that won’t work.
In Luke 6:46 our Lord asked, "But why do you call Me Lord, Lord, and not do the things which I say?" Believe
it or not, there are many religious people calling on the name of the Lord and Jesus is just ignoring them.
There are many sincere people in religion who are doing good things. They are rescuing the poor, teaching
people the Bible, and many other spectacular works, but these things do not impress Jesus if other areas of
our Christian lives are not in line with His Word. Christ again stated in Matthew 7:22-23, "Many will say to Me
in that day, Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in Your name, cast out demons in Your name, and done
many wonders in Your name? And then I will declare to them, I never knew you; depart from Me, you who
practice lawlessness?"
Just in case someone tries to assume that the word lawlessness has to do with personal sins, like fornication,
stealing, cursing, notice that it is located in the same context where Jesus warns about false prophets (7:15).
After mentioning false prophets, he then mentions people not doing the will of God (7:21). Well, why wouldn't
someone be doing the Will of God? The obvious answer is because the message of the false prophets would
lead them astray.
False prophets lead people astray, not by getting them to lie, steal, and cheat (though I don't rule these out)
but by contaminating the doctrine of the Lord. And people, instead of checking behind these men (Acts 17:
11), accept everything that is said and never know that the message was not from God. Jesus described
these individuals by saying, "These people draw near to Me with their mouth, and honor Me with their lips, but
their heart is far from Me, teaching for doctrines the commandments of men."
Let me give one example of a commandment of men: Jesus said "He who believes and is baptized will be
saved" (Mark 16:16) but men say you can be saved by faith only. When this happens, sincerity and the fact
that a person claims they are serving the same God doesn't matter.
Paul prayed for Israel to be saved and acknowledge that they had great zeal (Romans 10:1-2). Their zeal
however was not guided by the Word of God but by their ignorance. Consequently, Paul went on to say,
"They being ignorant of God's righteousness, and seeking to establish their own righteousness, have not
submitted to the righteousness of God" (Romans 10:3).
The fact that religion is not one can be attributed to a departure from the simple truths of God's Word.
Regardless to what the norm of the religious world maybe, God still instructed the apostle Paul to write, "To
the church of God which is at Corinth, to those who are sanctified in Christ Jesus, called to be saints, with all
who in every place call on the name of Jesus Christ our Lord" to "speak the same thing, and that there be no
divisions among you, but that you be perfectly joined together in the same mind and in the same judgment"
(1 Corinthians 1:2, 10).
We can accomplish this task of oneness if people would only stop adding to and taking away from God's
Word (Deuteronomy 4:2; Proverbs 30:6; Revelation 22:18-19)
May The Lord Bless You Richly!
by Tony Edwards
In John 17:20-21, after praying for the apostles, Jesus stated "I do not pray for these alone, but also for
those who will believe in Me through their word. That they all may be one, as You, Father, are in Me, and I in
You; that they also may be one in Us, that the world may believe that You sent Me."
religion as long as they claim to be serving God. Sad to say that won’t work.
religion as long as they claim to be serving God. Sad to say that won’t work.
In Luke 6:46 our Lord asked, "But why do you call Me Lord, Lord, and not do the things which I say?" Believe
it or not, there are many religious people calling on the name of the Lord and Jesus is just ignoring them.
There are many sincere people in religion who are doing good things. They are rescuing the poor, teaching
people the Bible, and many other spectacular works, but these things do not impress Jesus if other areas of
our Christian lives are not in line with His Word. Christ again stated in Matthew 7:22-23, "Many will say to Me
in that day, Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in Your name, cast out demons in Your name, and done
many wonders in Your name? And then I will declare to them, I never knew you; depart from Me, you who
practice lawlessness?"
Just in case someone tries to assume that the word lawlessness has to do with personal sins, like fornication,
stealing, cursing, notice that it is located in the same context where Jesus warns about false prophets (7:15).
After mentioning false prophets, he then mentions people not doing the will of God (7:21). Well, why wouldn't
someone be doing the Will of God? The obvious answer is because the message of the false prophets would
lead them astray.
False prophets lead people astray, not by getting them to lie, steal, and cheat (though I don't rule these out)
but by contaminating the doctrine of the Lord. And people, instead of checking behind these men (Acts 17:
11), accept everything that is said and never know that the message was not from God. Jesus described
these individuals by saying, "These people draw near to Me with their mouth, and honor Me with their lips, but
their heart is far from Me, teaching for doctrines the commandments of men."
Let me give one example of a commandment of men: Jesus said "He who believes and is baptized will be
saved" (Mark 16:16) but men say you can be saved by faith only. When this happens, sincerity and the fact
that a person claims they are serving the same God doesn't matter.
Paul prayed for Israel to be saved and acknowledge that they had great zeal (Romans 10:1-2). Their zeal
however was not guided by the Word of God but by their ignorance. Consequently, Paul went on to say,
"They being ignorant of God's righteousness, and seeking to establish their own righteousness, have not
submitted to the righteousness of God" (Romans 10:3).
The fact that religion is not one can be attributed to a departure from the simple truths of God's Word.
Regardless to what the norm of the religious world maybe, God still instructed the apostle Paul to write, "To
the church of God which is at Corinth, to those who are sanctified in Christ Jesus, called to be saints, with all
who in every place call on the name of Jesus Christ our Lord" to "speak the same thing, and that there be no
divisions among you, but that you be perfectly joined together in the same mind and in the same judgment"
(1 Corinthians 1:2, 10).
We can accomplish this task of oneness if people would only stop adding to and taking away from God's
Word (Deuteronomy 4:2; Proverbs 30:6; Revelation 22:18-19)
May The Lord Bless You Richly!
