LET US BE OPENED FOR UNITY

HOUSES FROM: FEBUARY 9 @ 15, 2016

Topic: "LET US BE OPENED FOR UNITY" Philippians 4: 2 We can only obtain unity as long as we love. If we love and we are united, then we are the Church. The only way we can be united is when each one loves. Brothers, we cannot struggle separately; we cannot work for the Lord if we’re not united. Do you think we can do things well if we are not united? Can we do anything without unity? When a family is not united there are quarrels and gossiping in the house. When there is no union you don’t even know who the enemy is. Because when there is union, those who are united are able to perceive the enemy and who he is, but when there is no union you don’t know who the enemy is, because they all act in the same way against each other. My brothers, the Gospel is an absolute truth so that we can all enter equally. The church of the Lord will not move according to the criteria of each person. In this verse of Philippians 4: 2 we see two disciples of the Lord, Euodia and Syntyche, separated; we see them in disunity. There is no way they could be divided arguing over doctrine because they did not implement the doctrine but rather they acknowledged it by the Master. It is believed that Euodia and Syntyche were deaconesses and were united in Paul’s ministry. They were two women who were surely perfectionists; Paul had a good sense towards them, a good memory. My brothers, when the love is within us, the heart beats, no matter the distance. The heart can feel that something is happening, something is going to move. Our heart feels this when there is LOVE AND UNITY in us. The unity and the love is the only thing that sustains us as a church. These were two pious sisters devoted to God’s work. They were not impious, but instead of uniting they did the opposite. Disagreements began to rise among them! Watch out for that! When you stop battling to save the love and unity it is because the unity did not reach your heart. The unity falls apart if the love is not what stuns you. Love stuns because it is strong, love seizes you, in the morning, at night, the 24 hours. Love is something that gets inside of you and cannot leave. Hence love never fails (1 Corinthians 13: 8 "Love never fails ..."). When you leave the battle that provokes that love, when you turn your back, the shot comes directly towards you to kill you. Take care! "Above all else, guard your heart for it is the wellspring of life." Proverbs 4:23 My brothers, disagreements come when we think that one knows how to do things better than the others. The ego, our extravagances, always make us see that we are the best and that we do things better than anyone else. Because we all believe to know how things should be, and so we’re ready to say and do a lot of talking. When we do not have unity, when we don’t have the mind of Christ, then we strengthen the Enemy. Yes, the arm of the Enemy is strengthened. Church, we cannot stop struggling for unity and love. We have to be united to fight against the Malignant and against all his machinations. (2 Corinthians 2:10 "If you forgive anyone, I also forgive him. And what I have forgiven, if there was anything to forgive, I have forgiven in the sight of Christ for your sake...") 1 Peter 5: 8, 9

Paul tells Euodia and Syntyche to fix things so that there can be union between them. We should preserve unity among us. Even if we feel proud with what we do, when we refer to the Lord Jesus Christ, we should be completely united. There is also a terrible case of disunity among the brothers in Corinth for the Lord's Supper in 1 Corinthians 11:18, 22. The brothers broke every communion; the Lord’s Supper could not be eaten in the same way it had been established by the Master. Among them, a very sacred and important communion for God was broken. There were no tears at that dinner, there were no healings, and the Lord's presence was no longer felt. It seems something small, but there are things that stop God's work. My brother’s, our goal should be to have the same feeling. TO BE ARROGANT, HAUGHTY, TO KNOW MORE THAN ANYONE, IS SOMETHING THAT HARMS THE CHURCH VERY MUCH. Let us not allow this evilness enter our lives because one day we will each need from one another. To be this way, arrogant, and to feel greater is to think that we don’t need from others. It is something wrong because the bad day comes for all of us. Our brother Paul was a good example of unity and love. He was humble and meek. He went through many prisons and the brothers didn’t stop going to him because Paul was not an arrogant man. His loneliness in prison was horrible, but he knew what it was to maintain unity with the brothers, he knew to love them. That is why they went and stayed with him, even when Paul aged, his letters were written by those who maintained the unity. There are people who think: "I do not need from anybody, I am going to live my life and no one can interfere." They do not say it with their mouth but they say it with their actions. Paul counseled these two sisters to maintain the unity, to remain as partners because their divisions were causing great discomfort to the work. Paul admonished them out of love for the work. Let us work out of love for God’s work. We must understand that this is what God’s work is about and that we cannot feed the arm of the enemy, but rather we must fight and not become idle, but obtain what is ours. We can see that when there is no love anger will begin to flourish and instead of uniting what we’ll do is separate thus feeding the arm of the Enemy. Therefore, my brothers, it is best to break ourselves before the Lord and humbly accept what is wrong, no matter what it is. We need to watch the heart from the things that come to destroy us and live in an attitude of humiliation, because if not, when affliction comes we will not be able to resist. That is why I'm a companion of those who fear God (Psalm 119: 63). A church is to love and to care for. For this reason, we learn from Philippians 4:8, 9. My brother, do not allow anyone to comfort you on the day you have to humiliate. Do not allow evilness to enter your life or into the Church of the Lord. May God deliver us from the haughtiness and may we be meek, because only the meek can listen to someone’s advice (James 1:21). Remember that we are not "stars" who underestimate others, but rather we are brothers in Christ, for the stars are in Heaven. It corresponds to us to love the church (the brothers) on this earth as the Lord Jesus Christ loves her. AMEN.