Pt 4 Perfectly Joined Together
Perfectly Joined Together
Introduction
Now I beseech you, brethren, by the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that ye all speak the same thing, and that there be no divisions among you; but that ye be perfectly joined together in the same mind and in the same judgment.
For it hath been declared unto me of you, my brethren, by them which are of the house of Chloe, that there are contentions among you.
Now this I say, that every one of you saith, I am of Paul; and I of Apollos; and I of Cephas; and I of Christ. Is Christ divided? was Paul crucified for you? or were ye baptized in the name of Paul? I thank God that I baptized none of you, but Crispus and Gaius; Lest any should say that I had baptized in mine own name. And I baptized also the household of Stephanas: besides, I know not whether I baptized any other.
There is no disunity in the Godhead, the Father, Son, Holy Spirit, now and all eternity joined in perfect unity and perfect agreement, perfect harmony and therein perfect joy.
So too we see the Word of God. It consists of 66 books in perfect harmony. There is no disagreement in any part and nothing contradictory. This miraculous book was composed over 1500 years. It was written in three distinct languages, on three separate continents, by some 40 penmen. These penmen differed in class, language, and profession. Yet it is ONE book. It is one in agreement and one in unity. It is in accord with its infinite and eternal Holy author.
So ought them saved and sealed by that same “holy Spirit of promise” Eph 1:13. That is, all who are saved into “…ONE BODY and one Spirit, even as ye are called in one hope of your calling; One Lord, one faith, one baptism, One God and Father of all, who is above all, and through all, and in you all.” Eph 4:4–6.
These all ought to be of the SAME MIND, “Perfectly Joined Together”.
In the passage that is before us brethren there is no room for negotiation.
Though we all have our OWN minds, each mind OUGHT to be “perfeclty joined together”,united in the TRUTH. So Paul gives no place in any level whatever of any difference or discord in this passage.
Let us set aside the reality of what we see around us for a moment. Let us think only of what Paul is here expecting to see among those born of the same Spirit.
He is expecting logically to see perfect unity, he is NOT expecting to see “DIVISION”. Especially among those with that same Spirit of Truth abiding in them (Jn 16:13). These ought to be trusting in the same WORD of Truth among them!
He is NOT expecting them to be disjointed in their opinions of the truth in any way. But toe be “perfectly joined together“.
Paul is certainly not expecting to see them squabbling over whose teachings and doctrines each pridefully hold in subjective variance. One of Paul, another of Apollos, yet another of Cephus and another of Christ!
Christ is NOT so divided. Paul was certainly not crucified for them, nor was he to have any baptized in his name.
The evident expectation presented in this passage by Paul is that brethren OUGHT to be “Perfectly Joined Together”.
Sadly however, this is not the case.
There were divisions among the brethren of the Churches of Corinth. Divisions that would see them even follow in the names of men: Arianists, Montanists, Pelagianists and Mennonites, Waldensians, Armninians, Calvinists and Lutherans, Hussites and Wycliffites.
There were Baptists among them, Prespitarians, Anglicans, Roman Catholics, Pentacostals, Charismatics, Emergents and Episcopalians. Unitarians and Orthodox, Methodists and Moravians.
It would not be long before each, dividing to themselves their own Doctrine and Denomination, would move them have their own PREFERRED version of what God said.
One a King James Version, another a NEW King James Version, another an NIV, another Todays NIV, a Standard Version, then a REVISED Standard Version, until preference would have them create a New Revised Standard Version and we go on ad-infinitum to the cacophony we find today, and then WONDER why Christians are so divided.
At this rate it would not be long before such divisions turn against anything even resembling Christianity;
False Religions and Secular ideologies are replete with followers of men. Buddhists following the teaching of Buddha, Confucianists following the teachings of Confucius, Zoroastrians of Zoroaster, Platonists of Plato, and Aristolelians of Aristotle, there are the Jacobites, Leninists and Marxists; Thatcherites and Fabians, Machiavelists and McCarthyists.
Rising in our own times are the Bidonites and the Trumpers, God help us if we ever devolve to raise up Kamilarites.
To me the greatest sadness I see today is that so FEW MEN SEEMS TO HAVE ANY AUTHORITY BUT HIS OWN.
How different are we today from the time of the end of the Judges?;
“In these days, there is no FINAL AUTHORITY in Australia, EVERY MAN DOES THAT WHICH IS RIGHT IN HIS OWN EYES” Thats the Pastor Edi version of Judges 21:25
The important thing to understand is that the NAMES IDENTIFIED THE difference in DOCTRINES.
It is the same reason we have so many denominations in Christianity, each distinct denomination identifies a distinction in doctrine.
What is shown by the multiplicity of denominations and the Multiplicity of Versions of what God said today, is the natural end of where the Corinthian churches began.
Paul charged them to be of “the same mind” and “perfectly joined together”, but whatever effort was made to this end, was not enough.
And we will speak to this, and how the scriptures teach we are able to be “perfectly joined together” as we move on.
An Earnest Plea To be “Perfectly Joined Together”
Now I beseech you, brethren, by the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that ye all speak the same thing, and that there be no divisions among you; but that ye be perfectly joined together in the same mind and in the same judgment.
“Now I beseech you, brethren…”
It is not possible to consider that Paul thinks this matter to be anything but of vital importance as he introduces his letter to this Church.
As stated in an earlier sermon, Paul is addressing the contemporary Church. It is the church of the modern times. This church has been filled regularly with ideas, notions, and perversions from all over the known world.
Idolatry was the norm, which he addresses with the Church specifically in chapters 8 & 10.
So too was diverse forms of sex outside of the confines of marriage, which Paul addresses directly a form of fornication that he says “is not so much as named among the gentiles, that one should have his father’s wife” in Chapter 5:1.
In 12 to 14 Paul needs to address about the exaggerated employment of one gift above all others, namely the extravagant use of the gift of tongues, often referred to historically as “Ecstatic Utterances” .
And so we see that the Church of Corinth is not unlike the churches of today.
The primary difference however is that the Corinthian Churches at this time did not yet have the New Testament as a complete volume. That which is perfect (1 Cor 13:10), had not yet come to them, and so it is natural for Paul to exhort them, plead with them to be “perfectly joined together“.
Indeed it is a ‘Plea’, an earnest plea;
Now I beseech you, brethren
It is difficult to obtain a more earnest request.
It was there when Moses besought Pharaoh for the liberty of the people. (Exo 3:18)
It was there when Moses besought earnestly to see the glory of the Lord. (Exo 33:18)
It was there when he besought GOD to pardon the people for the gravity of their sins when God threatened to disinherit them completely in Numbers 14:11-19.
When David sinned against the Lord in numbering the people, this was the earnestness of his plea (2 Sam 24:10 & 1 Chron 21:8)
When Hezekiah wept before God to lengthen his days (Isa 38:3)
When Jeremiah virtually begged the disobedient people to believe God (Jer 38:20).
70 Times does the word “beseech” appear in the 31,102 verses of the Bible. Each time it is an earnest plea, one of both great sincerity, value and importance.
Now imagine beloved if from the first century church to the last century church, Christian brethren were continually and earnestly ensuring all effort was being made to speak the same thing, and that there be no divisions among you; but that ye be perfectly joined together in the same mind and in the same judgment.
Imagine how different this world would be.
Imagine a world so naturally divided, witnesses a people who are “perfectly joined together“, not in a superficial way, not in an “agree to disagree” way, but “of the same mind and the same judgement“!
The ONLY KEY for this is that such a witness must have a source that is without disagreement, without contradiction and without division in doctrine or desire.
Such a witness must be both in the heart of the people of GOD, and ALSO the very creator of THAT SOURCE.
If the Spirit of God abides in YOU, it is that SAME Spirit that is the AUTHOR of the Book of books, and you must trust that God has given that book to you that you may KNOW it.
First trusting that God cannot CONTRADICT himself, he CANNOT LIE, and he holds us accountable to KNOW the words.
48 He that rejecteth me, and receiveth not my words, hath one that judgeth him: the word that I have spoken, the same shall judge him in the last day.
An Appeal To Exemplar to be Perfectly joined Together”
Now I beseech you, brethren, by the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that ye all speak the same thing, and that there be no divisions among you; but that ye be perfectly joined together in the same mind and in the same judgment.
It is not with the authority or example of Paul by which he makes his plea to the Church, it is ‘by the name of our Lord Jesus Christ” that he exhorts them to “speak the same thing” and to “be perfectly joined together“.
There is no division in Christ, no distinction between him and the father; In fact, Paul asks the rhetorical question three verses later; “is Christ divided?” (v13),
Jesus makes it clear that he is “perfectly joined” to the Father, that he is not even worthy of any mans faith if he does not do the works of his father: “If I do not the works of my father, believe me not” (Jn 10:37)
So united is Jesus to the father than he says plainly “I and my father are one” In Jn 10:30.
To Phillip he stated the same when Phillip asked the Lord saying, … unto him, Lord, shew us the Father, and it sufficeth us. John 14:8
To which Jesus responded with incredulity and added “…he that has seen me has seen the father…” in the next verse Jn 14:9. Even though Jesus said in that same chapter “my father is greater than I” in John 14:28
In this Christ identifies both distinction AND unity. I don’t pretend to understand it.
As for doctrine, it is as if Jesus answers the very charge that Paul makes of men who follow men and the doctrines of men, men who seek not the glory of God, but their own glory.
16 Jesus answered them, and said, My doctrine is not mine, but his that sent me. 17 If any man will do his will, he shall know of the doctrine, whether it be of God, or whether I speak of myself. 18 He that speaketh of himself seeketh his own glory: but he that seeketh his glory that sent him, the same is true, and no unrighteousness is in him.
There is in Christ, perfect agreement with the Father and with the doctrines of the father, and so too it is with the Holy Ghost.
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. 14 He shall glorify me: for he shall receive of mine, and shall shew it unto you.
John warned that not all spirits are of the spirit of God, but some of the spirit of antichrist.
In doing so John gives an example of divisive doctrines and challenges the people to TEST them and to TRY them, to be sure that they are “perfectly joined together” and of “the same mind and …judgement“.
1 Beloved, believe not every spirit, but try the spirits whether they are of God: because many false prophets are gone out into the world. 2 Hereby know ye the Spirit of God: Every spirit that confesseth that Jesus Christ is come in the flesh is of God: 3 And every spirit that confesseth not that Jesus Christ is come in the flesh is not of God: and this is that spirit of antichrist, whereof ye have heard that it should come; and even now already is it in the world.
So we see the fundamental example of unity is seen in Jesus Christ, he is the exemplar, and the spirit of those who are his confesses God’s testimony of him.
But, and this is most important of all, if the Godhead is perfectly joined together in every way; in moral perfection, holiness and truth, SO TOO MUST HIS WORD BE.
It is at this point that the MODEL becomes PRACTICAL.
It is at this point where the metaphysical and intangible and spiritual reality of GOD now becomes PHYSICAL AND PRACTICAL, and gives to you and I the PRACTICAL basis by which we can be “Perfectly Joined Together, in the same mind and in the same judgement“.
“holy men of God spake as they were moved by the Holy Ghost” (2 Peter 1:21), this is the Scriptures;
16 All scripture is given [not ‘was’ given] is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness: 17 That the man of God may be perfect, throughly furnished unto all good works.
You know beloved, people are going to condemn this sermon as UNREALISTIC.
They look at the mess the church is in these days and they would think this is so OBVIOUSLY not possible.
BUT my responsibility is to tell you what GOD said, not what we feel, think or believe.
I PERSONALLY DO NOT BELIEVE it is impossible if God both commands it, AND MOST IMPORTANTLY, he hold us accountable to it.
Jesus condemned the Pharisees time and again telling them;
Ye do err, not knowing the scriptures, (Mt 22:29)
Do ye not therefore err, because ye know not the scriptures(Mrk 12:24)
The rich man in hell was told that, if his brethren would “hear NOT Moses and the Prophets, neither will they be persuaded, though one rose from the dead” (Lk 16:31)
In other words, if you will not believe the testimony God gave of himself, neither will the most impossible thing in the world be possible, ETERNAL LIFE!
Jesus said to the lawyers, John 5:39
39 Search the scriptures; for in them ye think ye have eternal life: and they are they which testify of me.
ETERNAL LIFE is IMPOSSIBLE unless you believe the testimony the Bible makes of itself. Where does being “perfectly joined together” rank as far as “POSSIBILITY” is concerned relative to eternal life?
No beloved, I don’t believe for a single second that brethren cant be perfectly joined together in both the same mind and in the same judgement” if they have beleived that OTHER miracle and gained the GIFT of eternal life. And I say this in spite of ALL I SEE AROUND ME TO THE CONTRARY.
It is the scriptures that are able to bring a man from damnation and hell to eternal life in heaven. It is the word of God that brings life, that can perfect all who believe in them, it is this book that Jesus said;
18 For verily I say unto you, Till heaven and earth pass, one jot or one tittle shall in no wise pass from the law, till all be fulfilled. Matthew 5:18
The Bible therefore beloved, is that single source that MUST plainly teach the doctrines of God to the point at which we are held accountable to be “perfectly joined together” and of “the same mind and judgement“.
Therefore, as SURE AS THIS is TRUE, if you will not read this book and pray God open the eyes of your understanding, we can never hope to be “perfectly joined together in the same mind and in the same judgement“.
An Antonym Explaining being “Perfectly Joined Together”
10 Now I beseech you, brethren, by the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that ye all speak the same thing, and that there be no divisions among you; but that ye be perfectly joined together in the same mind and in the same judgment.
Paul now in this verse gives to us the antonym to explain exactly what he means by ‘Speaking the same thing” and by being “perfectly joined together“.
Both of those phrases act in parenthesis to “that there be no divisions among you“.
In other words, Paul is teaching the difference between being divided and being joined together.
The Bible employs this same method of teaching time and time again so we are able to learn what it is teaching precisely.
Sometimes God uses SYNONYMS, things that are SIMILAR to explain words and ideas, and sometimes he uses antonyms (opposites);
When David chose stones for his sling, the Bible says
40 And he took his staff in his hand, and chose him five smooth stones out of the brook, and put them in a shepherd’s bag which he had, even in a scrip; …”.
So, in 1 Sam 17:40, we learn that a ‘Shepherds Bag‘ is also called a ‘Scrip‘.
It is the only place in the Old Testament that the word “Scrip” is found, and most importantly, it is the ONLY place where it is explained as a “shepherds bag”. But it helps us understand the six places in the New Testament that the word is given WITHOUT a synonymous explanation;
Now we can understand better passages such as;
3 And he said unto them, Take nothing for your journey, neither staves, nor scrip, neither bread, neither money; neither have two coats apiece.
The Bibles “built in dictionary” uses synonyms to define words and phrases.
Sometimes it is in the same verse, sometimes it can be separated by a chapter OR MORE.
The book of Proverbs however is FILLED with ANTONYMS, (opposites) to help us learn. Similar to our verse in 1 Cor 1:10
Just as Paul places the OPPOSITE meaning respecting “divisions” in the middle of “speak the same things” and “be perfectly joined together“, so does the antonym follow most of the proverbs from chapters 10 to 29;
4 He becometh poor that dealeth with a slack hand: but the hand of the diligent maketh rich.
5 He that gathereth in summer is a wise son: but he that sleepeth in harvest is a son that causeth shame.
6 Blessings are upon the head of the just: but violence covereth the mouth of the wicked.
7 The memory of the just is blessed: but the name of the wicked shall rot.
And so it is in this text in 1 Corinthians.
God is teaching us exactly what he means by being “perfectly joined together” by teaching us that the ONLY distinction is that of “Division”, “that there be no divisions among you“.
Because today many seem content either to ‘agree to disagree’, or to COMPROMISE for the sake of “Unity”.
But just as “the man convinced against his will is of the same opinion still“, this is NOT “in the same mind and in the same judgement”
When there is NO desire for any Iron sharpening Iron (Prov 27:17), when there is no desire to learn the TRUTH of a matter, there is never going to be any hope of being “perfectly joined together in the same mind and in the same judgement”
So Paul goes on to show where it inevitably leads;
11 For it hath been declared unto me of you, my brethren, by them which are of the house of Chloe, that there are contentions among you. 12 Now this I say, that every one of you saith, I am of Paul; and I of Apollos; and I of Cephas; and I of Christ. 13 Is Christ divided? was Paul crucified for you? or were ye baptized in the name of Paul?
I mentioned in the introduction that such divisions are divisions of DOCTRINES.
Its as if we should believe that somehow the Bible is a book that teaches multiple ideas on the same subject, rather than accept any possibility that we may be in error.
The Bible CANNOT TEACH opposing and contradictory doctrines! Someone is WRONG.
The following after men in this passage is telling you that stubborn and proud people make a choice to be ‘wise in their own conceits‘ (Prov 26:5) rather than humbly “search the scriptures“.
The brethren of Berea were said to be
11 … more noble than those in Thessalonica, in that they received the word with all readiness of mind, and searched the scriptures daily, whether those things were so. Acts 17:11
Of whom did they “receive the word with all readiness of mind“? PAUL.
But they would not affirm it UNTIL they searched the OLD TESTAMENT SCRIPTURES, to check that what he was teaching is true.
What we have here in the Bereans is an earnest desire to be “perfectly joined together in the same mind and in the same judgement“.
This is why they are eternally referred to as “noble“.
This level of HUMILITY teaches us that the Bereans DID NOT EVER MALIGN THE SCRIPTURES by inferring it can teach multiple contradictory ideas.
They do not BLASPHEME God by inferring HIS WORDS are filled with contradiction. RATHER, they placed NO TRUST in themselves UNTIL they searched the scriptures, and would do so “daily” until convinced of either the truth or the falsehood of what they received.
Denominationalism; the multitude of denominations of Christianity in the world today testify to differences in doctrines, and NOT ALL ARE PLEASING TO GOD.
Remember Jesus spoke of the “Doctrines of the Nicolaitans” in Revelation 2-3!
Certain persons in the early church were following the doctrines of a man, doctrines the Lord himself “hated” (Rev 2:15).
Men shall indeed attempt to have you follow after them. All the more in the perilous times we live (2 Tim 3:1), where “grievous wolves enter in among you. These will not spare the flock” (Acts 20:29). Such men shall, “cause divisions and offences contrary to the doctrine”, and “with good words and fair speeches deceive the hearts of the simple”. Paul writes of this in his letter to the Romans (Rom 16:17-18).
Such men do not “serve our Lord Jesus Christ but their own belly”.
Sadly Peter writes to tell us there are “many who follow their pernicious ways; by reason of whom the way of truth shall be evil spoken of” (2 Pet 2:2), the word of God, and what it teaches, will be cast behind their backs.
Matthew Henry, on this verse in 1 Corinthians wrote;
“ ministers, however instrumental they are of good to us, are not to be put in Christ’s stead. They are not to usurp Christ’s authority, nor encourage any thing in the people that looks like transferring his authority to them.”[1]
The Bible is a perfect unity of doctrine, but men are not.
The multitude of denominations testify to there being “divisions among them“, and through their arrogant pride, they blaspheme God effectively telling the world that the Bible cannot be trusted to “speak the same thing“.
Denominations testify to anything BUT being “perfectly joined together in the same mind and in the same judgment“.
The BIBLE DOES NOT STUTTER BELOVED.
The problem is not The Book, the problem is what it always has been, the PROBLEM IS PRIDE!
The Same Mind And Judgement “
Now I beseech you, brethren, by the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that ye all speak the same thing, and that there be no divisions among you; but that ye be perfectly joined together in the same mind and in the same judgment.
Something must occur in the hearts of men and women respecting this.
The passage is not one that speaks of a superficial agreement, it states plainly that we ought to be “perfectly joined together” and then it immediately tells us what that means, “in the same MIND and in the same JUDGMENT“.
All our discerning qualities OUGHT to be united with God’s own judgment.
For example; We need to see sin as GOD SEES SIN.
We need to see evil as GOD SEES EVIL.
We need to hold to the truth as GOD PRESENTS TRUTH.
We must CONSCIOUSLY determine to desire the TRUTH OF A MATTER, not just desire to “be right”.
We need to take careful and humble care not simply to have our own “feelings justified“, but to logically consider that it is of NO BENEFIT WHATEVER to work all diligence to justify ourselves… IF WE ARE IN ERROR!
Fear of God ought to move us, not pride.
If we have done wrong, we MUST be willing to humble ourselves before our mighty and holy God and seek from him and HIS WORDS, where we have erred. He is so wonderfully faithful in forgiving our sins.
The Lord is so gracious, BUT ONLY if we are willing to seek him.
They say “you cant teach an old dog new tricks“. Indeed, many men who have had long held presumptive beliefs are difficult to sway from error. Especially those who have spent many years teaching what the Bible DOES NOT TEACH.
The answer is the opposite of what caused the division to begin with.
The late Dr Frank Logsdon went around the United States promoting the development of the New American Standard Bible. He was the Co Founder of the translation. He interviewed the translators, he wrote the format and he wrote the preface.
Speaking of its founder Dewey Lockman, he said;
“I’m afraid I’m in trouble with the Lord, because I encouraged him to go ahead with it. We laid the groundwork; I wrote the format; I helped to interview some of the translators; I sat with the translators; I wrote the preface. When you see the preface to the New American Standard, those are my words.”
When it was finally released to the world, his loving friends pointed out the many problems associated with the text. The typical PRIDE of preachers could have overwhelmed him, but he had a great fear of God than he did of pride in himself.
He confessed of his dilemma saying, “I went through some real soul searching for about four months, and I sat down and wrote one of the most difficult letters of my life,”
“I can no longer ignore these criticisms I am hearing and I can’t refute them.”
“I must under God renounce every attachment to the New American Standard.”
He traveled around the United States of America. He told people everywhere about what he believed was an error. He encouraged them to return to what he considered the only perfect English Translation of the Bible. This was the Authorised Version, or King James Version.
He said “If we could hear His voice we would have no trouble learning His Word from the Authorized Version….And besides this, we’ve had the AV for 362 years. It’s been tested as no other piece of literature has ever been tested. Word by word; syllable by syllable.”
As he concluded this sermon he said;
“Well, time’s up. Let’s be people of the Book. It took my mother to heaven; and my dad, my grandfather, my grandmother. It was Moody’s Book; it was Livingstone’s Book. J.C. Studd gave up his fortune to take this Book to Africa. And I don’t feel ashamed to carry it the rest of my journey. It’s God’s Book.”
Beloved, this is not a sermon about Bible versions, but about being “Perfectly joined together” BUT, if the Bible is our source of Unity, then it cannot be ignored that Every other version of the Bible is a promotor of Division.
Just as none of us are going to sound good singing from a different hymn book, none can be perfectly joined together reading a different version of what God said.
BEING “perfectly joined together” STARTS THERE!
If you believe the Bible is true, READ IT.
If you believe it brings life to you, BELIEVE IT.
If you believe it can help you have its same mind and judgment, TRUST IT.
[1] Matthew Henry, Matthew Henry’s Commentary on the Whole Bible: Complete and Unabridged in One Volume, (Peabody: Hendrickson, 1994), 2245.
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