Unity & Truth Go Together

Endeavoring to keep the unity of the Spirit. When we talk about unity in the church, when we talk about unity among Christians, it's always unity with the Spirit. Unity with truth.

It's never unity for the sake of unity. Can't we all just get along? No, we can't all just get along if we're rejecting the truth. When you deny the inerrancy of the truth, when you say there might be other ways, I don't know, Jesus was a good teacher, I don't know, all these things.

When you deny the truth, I can't fellowship with you because I've got to be in fellowship with God. So when I'm in fellowship with God, one Spirit, one truth, one baptism, one faith, I must reject other groups that don't embrace that. It's not arrogance, it's not narrow-minded, it's biblical.

Anytime you study unity in the Bible, it's unity of truth, unity of faith, unity of love for Christ, unity of the Word of God. It bears repeating because it's going to bring this point home in what's going on in our culture. And many of you have heard it's about that battleship that was doing exercises off the coast of Alaska.

You remember this? Deep water exercises off the coast of Alaska. It was dense fog, it was midnight, and the battleship is out there doing whatever battleships do. And the captain was on the bow of the ship and he could see a light approaching.

He could see that there was something, there was a vessel there. And he woke the signal man up and he said, listen, signal to that vessel to turn 20 degrees or he's going to run into us. So they signaled to the vessel and the vessel signaled back, no, you turn 20 degrees starboard.

Captain said, who does this guy think he is? Signal back, turn your vessel 20 degrees. I am the highest ranking officer in the United States Navy. And the message came back, Captain, with all due respect, I'm a seaman, first class.

Change your course immediately. And this infuriated the captain. He threw down his coffee.

He said, give me that signal. Let me signal. I am a battleship.

I'm going to blow you out of the water if you do not change your course immediately. The signal came back. Captain, with all due respect, change your course.

I'm a lighthouse. Isn't that what our culture does though? It says get out of the way. Get out of the way.

The Bible says I can't. I can't get out of the way. I'm a lighthouse given to guide, given to direct, given to save man from himself.

I cannot hide. I cannot move no matter how hard you try. I am given to save you.

But in our pride and in our arrogance, we have told it to move and get out of the way. Truth, we don't want to see you. We don't want that protection.

Would you move? Would you get off course? But it says no. I stand as a lighthouse. I cannot move.

I cannot be removed. You cannot quench me. You cannot quench me.

You cannot do. I will stand the test of time. And the church must be reminded of that on a continual basis.

The next point is there. The pulpits are responsible. The pulpits of America are responsible because when you proclaim the truth, the church will repent and receive it.

Paul told Timothy right there in your notes, Timothy, I beseech you, I charge you, which is a command. I command you in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ who will judge the living and the dead. Timothy, preach the word.

Be ready in and out of season for the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine. So convince the people, rebuke the people, exhort the people so that they will turn and turn back to me. That's the job of the pulpit.

It's not here to coddle and comfort all the time and never challenge and never convict. If we would just preach the truth of God's word, the church would break. The church would repent.

That's what we're seeing today. And you guys know I've quoted Jeremiah 23 often. It reminds me of that time though when God said, I have not even sent these pastors, I have not even sent these teachers.

What they do is they strengthen the hand of evildoers. How, Jeremiah? By not confronting them. They say, peace, peace.

When God says there's no peace, there is judgment coming upon your land. And these guys cry, peace, peace and safety, the Lord is with you. So God says, I have not even sent them.

I didn't even send them. But they ran. I have not spoken to them, but they prophesied.

But had they truly stood in my counsel, they would have turned the people from the error of their way. Is not my word like a hammer that breaks a rock in pieces? The Bible says it's a hammer, it's a rod, it's iron. It is a fire that devours the word of God.

He sends his word and it heals them and it restores them and it breaks them. That's the whole point of preaching is to go forth through the power of the Holy Spirit and change and convict the heart.