Unity Of The Faith: The Christain Church Order Of Business

By Elijah Richards

Our modern- day Christian Church is POWERLESS! Dissension and division among the ranks have served as ballistic missiles which have all but destroyed the moral fabric of our faith. The enemy has divided Christians. Agents of Satan are poised to go forth to conquer. The Church is being rendered void and desolate in this world. The marginalization of the Church's presence and significance in this world are not acceptable with the Almighty God. The Holy Spirit of God is urgently demanding that Christians (the true believers of Jesus Christ of Nazareth) be spiritually unified as one holy body. There is one Lord, one Faith, and one Baptism. The call is for the Christian Church to demonstrate the Love of Jesus by faith in Spirit and in Truth. It is time for Christians to unite and serve in the power and spiritual might of Jesus. Unity of the faith is indeed the Christian Church order of business. There is strength in unity. There is no other alternative to victory in Jesus the Messiah except by this mandate. In this book we shall discuss the vitality of church unity as it relates to God's eternal plan for man. A unified Church will usher in a new and holy millennium... a world redeemed from sin and death. God's Kingdom of Righteousness shall reign and rule forever by Christ Jesus; for whom we give thanks and praise without end to the Most High God of Heaven...the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Lantern Light Communications
• Release date: Feb 19, 2024
• ISBN: 9798985827804

Book preview

UNITY OF THE FAITH

(The Christian Church Order of Business)

By

ELIJAH RICHARDS

P.O. Box 2922 Richmond Hill, GA 31324 U.S.A.

A Division of Faithway Ministries, Inc.

UNITY OF THE FAITH

(The Christian Church Order of Business)

By

ELIJAH RICHARDS

Unity Of The Faith

The Christian Church Order Of Business

Copyright © 2021 by Elijah Richards

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system for republish, resale and /or profit, without permission in writing from the publisher.

ISBN 9798985827880

Library of Congress number 84-090403

Unless otherwise indicated, all Scripture quotations in this publication are from THE NEW KING JAMES VERSION of the Bible. Copyright 1979, 1980, 1982, Thomas Nelson, Inc., Publishers. Used with expressed permission.

Published by

Lantern Light Communications

P.O. Box 2922

Richmond Hill, Georgia 31324, U.S.A.

(A Division of Faithway Ministries, Inc.)

Email: [e-mail]

Website: TRGALLC.com

Cover photo and art design by Jordan Smith Website: Jordansmith12.com

This book is dedicated to all the wise virgins of the Bridegroom whose lamps are burning and are shining more and more unto that perfect day. It is my earnest desire that this message be helpful

in presenting every believing reader perfect in Christ Jesus.

Table Of Contents

Daniel’s Prayer and Supplication 1

Introduction 7

Part 1

*Unity Of The Faith 15

*Manifestation In Salvation 17

*What Is Unity Of The Faith 18

*A Unified Body Of Christ 24

*United In Spirit And In Truth 25

*Being Of One Word 34

Part 2

*Love - The Basis For Unity 47

*Faith Works Through Love 55

*To Have Whatever You Say 64

*Abraham - The Godfather Of Our Faith 74

*Unity - Having All Things In Common 75

*Unity - The Love of Money And Other Things 78

*Unity - Believing In God The Faithful 92

*The Rightful Place Of The Unified Church…………………….. 104

Part 3

*Giving And Sharing - Signs of Unity And Love 121

*Unity - How Forceful Are Right WORDS! 124

*United In A Child-Like Faith 132

*Unity - Exalting One Another By The Word Of God 136

*Holding Fast To Things Hoped For 147

*Unity - Let God’s Will Be Done 150

Part 4

*What Manner Of Love That Unites 157

*Love In Action 162

*Unity Through The Eyes Of Love 169

Part 5

*You Can Be Perfect 177

*Perfect Unity Of Our Faith Shall Come 190

Daniel’s Prayer and Supplication

Before we begin to discuss the state of our Christian church and her relationship with God, I have determined it is amply appropriate that we concur wholeheartedly with our brother and fellow servant, the Prophet Daniel. Daniel's prayer and supplication are a true summation of the current spiritual condition, generally speaking, in our modern day worldwide Christian Church communities.

We do realize however, that the God of our father Abraham does rule in the kingdom of men. And God gives the kingdom to whomever He wills; even to the basest of men.

As for the members of our church, shamefulness of face is where we belong. As for our Righteous and Holy God, though He is longsuffering in our rebellious state, mercy and forgiveness belong to Him by Jesus Christ; our Savior and Lord.

Together with God's beloved Daniel we make our confessions and our petitions known before our Father who is in Heaven. God will perfect that which concerns

His own: "O Lord, great and awesome God, who keeps His covenant and mercy with those who love Him, and with those who keep His commandments, we have sinned and committed iniquity, we have done wickedly and rebelled, even by departing from Your precepts and Your judgments. Neither have we heeded Your servants the prophets, who spoke in Your name to our kings and our princes, to our fathers and all the people of the land. O Lord, righteousness belongs to You, but to us shame of face, as it is this day - to the men of Judah, to the inhabitants of Jerusalem and all Israel, those near and those far off in all the countries to which You have driven them, because of the unfaithfulness which they have committed against You. O Lord, to us belongs shame of face, to our kings, our princes, and our fathers, because we have sinned against You. To the Lord our God belong mercy and forgiveness, though we have rebelled against Him. We have not obeyed the voice of the Lord our God, to walk in His laws, which He set before us by His servants the prophets. Yes, all Israel has transgressed Your law, and has departed so as not to obey Your voice; therefore the curse and the oath written in the law of Moses the servant of God have been poured out on us, because we have sinned against Him. And He has confirmed His words which He spoke against us and against our judges who judged us, by bringing upon us a great disaster; for under the whole heaven such never has been done as what has been done to Jerusalem. As it is written in the Law of Moses, all this disaster has come upon us; yet we have not made our prayer before the LORD our God, that we might turn from our iniquities and understand Your truth. Therefore the LORD has kept the disaster in mind, and brought it upon us; for the LORD our God is righteous in all the works which He does, though we have not obeyed His voice. And now, O Lord our God, who brought Your people out of the land of Egypt with

a mighty hand, and made Yourself a name, as it is this day - we have sinned, we have done wickedly! O Lord, according to all Your righteousness, I pray, let Your anger and Your fury be turned away from Your city Jerusalem, Your holy mountain; because for our sins, and for the iniquities of our fathers, Jerusalem and Your people have become a reproach to all who are around us. Now therefore, our God, hear the prayer of Your servant, and his supplications, and for the Lord’s sake cause Your face to shine on Your sanctuary, which is desolate. O my God, incline Your ear and hear; open Your eyes and see our desolations, and the city which is called by Your name; for we do not present our supplications before You because of our righteous deeds, but because of Your great mercies. O Lord, hear! O Lord, forgive! O Lord, listen and act! Do not delay for Your own sake, my God, for Your city and Your people are called by Your name", Daniel 9:4-19.

Thank You Heavenly Father... in the precious name of Jesus. Hallowed be the name of JESUS!

INTRODUCTION

UNITED WE STAND... DIVIDED WE FALL. This is a phrase that has truly withstood the test of time. It has been estimated that these words were articulated as early as 2600 years ago or perhaps from the 6th Century before the birth of our Lord Jesus Christ; or maybe even before that period. It is uncertain. However, we do know throughout these many years, mottos after mottos have included United we stand... divided we fall. Socio-political activists, unions, coalitions, confederations, alliances, associations, and many other groups have rallied and paraded under the banner of unity (all for one and one for all) as opposed to being divided. United we stand, or divided we fall... Truer words have never been spoken. Its sentiment is woven throughout our ancient biblical text. On countless occasions the House of Israel has ridden the crest of God’s grace and mercy as they persisted in a spiritual state of unity with God and a sense of oneness with each other. Our Lord Jesus also said, ...Every kingdom divided against itself is brought to desolation, and every city or house divided against itself will not stand, Matthew 12:25. Even in more modern times of American history, particular at the advent of the Civil War, Abraham Lincoln, the 16th president of the United States, would realize at

a point during his tenure that a house (or nation) divided against itself was (and is) destined for failure.

Historically, many a men, (some with evil intent) justifiably or not, serving in leadership positions, had come to know the beneficial results of the tactic where divide and conquer, as an ultimate objective over their foe, would define victory and/or success.

I am reminded of that old adage which says, the more things change, the more they remain the same. In fact, in the book of Ecclesiastes, we read where it says, there is absolutely nothing new under the sun (Ecclesiastes 1:9). Men and women, as evil doers, driven and controlled by the influence of Satan, are all about sowing discord and confusion at any cost. Lies and misinformation (a reckless disregard of the truth) and the love of such are significant reasons for the multiplicity of problems that plague this world. Sadly, our modern-day Christian Church has long been taken hostage and has remained captive and in

bondage to the waywardness of this world. The Church’s defiance and/or willful ignorance of the Word of God (the Word of Truth) has kept a vail over our spiritual eyes whereas we have merely groped about for centuries in spiritual darkness; displaying only a form of righteousness; while denying the real power of the Almighty God. The Body of Christ, as a whole, is hardly skillful in the use of doctrine; we are not rightly interpreting holy scripture; and we are not believing the whole truth with one mind and as one voice before God. Being composed of so many different factions (denominations if you will), when it comes down to serving God, we simply have been about doing our own individual thing. So much so, that to many believers, the Church’s ways and practices in such a divisive environment seemingly have long become the new religious norm. Our questionable doctrine, together with imageries that resemble the world, are widely gazed upon as right; and we somehow consider this as being acceptable in the sight of the Most High God of Heaven. It is imperative... true Christians must beware of those who propagate meaningless philosophy and vain deceit. These come in the tradition of men; according to the pervasive principles of the world and not according to the Gospel of Jesus Christ (Colossians 2:8). Our ways of sin and iniquity are not acceptable with God. Our Father God is not pleased with division in our faith. God knows

that only unity of the faith shall prevail in His Kingdom of righteous and holy living. A unified Body in Spirit and Truth in the Power of Christ Jesus is the one and only remedy that will have the Church be transformed from inside the prison wall of sin and degradation into that marvelous light of which the Christian Church is so desperately in need. Then may we serve with Jesus' power and might and have our every being engulfed in the Spirit of Our Heavenly Father's peace and freedom; having the ability to love one another in the manner of which we have been commanded by our Father God to do so. Our God indeed demands obedience of His Word rather than man-made superficial sacrifices. More succinctly, the church's practices of performance based and self-aggrandizement driven religious programs, which tend to pacify one's ego and blind ambition, particularly without a genuine love of God and void of the leadership of the Holy Spirit of God, simply do not cut it with God. In fact, God said He requires mercy instead of sacrifice; and to be more knowledgeable of Him than burnt offerings (Hosea 6:6).

By God's Holy Spirit, this message will guide us to a place of heartfelt repentance for our collective rolls of misguidance, distrust, unbelief, self-pride, jealousy and divers idolatry; which have served to beset us for so many years. This message is designed to admonish, exhort, edify, and more importantly give wisdom with understanding in our endeavor to learn of God's goodness, which always rises to the forefront, in a united spirit of love among us. The Holy Spirit's intention is to have true believers become one in His Spirit; just as Our Father in Heaven and Jesus His Son are one; who are divinely united with the bond of that agape kind of love. Unity of the faith is urgently the Christian Church's order of business to be carried out. Church unity, where true believers dwell together with God as one, is where God's glorious blessings by faith are appropriated. How good, how marvelous, and how victorious it is for brethren to live together as one (Psalm 133).

May the true Church of our living God become

wholeheartedly united and began to serve, praise and

worship; giving thanks to Our Father in His Holy Presence

by the unadulterated power of Christ Jesus our Savior and

Lord. Jesus is alive and resides by His Spirit within our

believing hearts. With the baptism of His indwelling Holy

Spirit and the cleansing of our souls by God's Word, the

Christian Church will overwhelmingly prevail! To this

end, we give all the glory, honor and praise to Our Father,

the Most High God of heaven and earth, in the precious

name of Jesus our High Priest. JESUS is the author and

finisher of our faith!

UNITY OF THE FAITH

Part 1

Elijah Richards

UNITY OF THE FAITH

EPHESIANS 4:13

13 Till we all come to the unity of the faith and the knowledge of the Son of God, to a perfect man, to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ.

Unity of the faith has become quite a