Make Straight the Way of the Lord

John 17:20-21. “I do not ask on behalf of these alone, but for those also who believe in Me through their word; that they may all be one; even as You, Father, are in Me and I in You, that they also may be in Us, so that the world may believe that You sent Me.”

When we place ourselves in a special category and we look upon others as outside of that category then we create distance between ourselves and them. For instance, as believers in Jesus who have been baptized according to the Scriptures by immersion we may feel that those who also believe in Jesus but were simply baptized as babies are lacking in obedience to the Lord. There can be no real fellowship between us and them because we have deliberately set ourselves apart. The so-called Pentecostal experience is perhaps an even more prevalent example of what may cause separation.

Everyone in whom resides the Holy Spirit of God is my brother in Christ. To live that out is to experience the true and real body life that Jesus died to bring about and maintain forever. The ultimate expression of this eternal truth is ‘the bride, the wife of the Lamb’ in whom all who love the Lord Jesus will participate. If through His death and resurrection this unity is a fact now, why should we wait to experience and enjoy it only in the life hereafter? read more

John 11:49-52. But one of them, Caiaphas, who was high priest that year, said to them, “You know nothing at all, nor do you take into account that it is expedient for you that one man die for the people, and that the whole nation not perish.” Now he did not say this on his own initiative, but being high priest that year, he prophesied that Jesus was going to die for the nation, and not for the nation only, but in order that He might also gather together into one the children of God who are scattered abroad.
Ephesians 2:19-22. So then you are no longer strangers and aliens, but you are fellow citizens with the saints, and are of God’s household, having been built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Christ Jesus Himself being the corner stone, in whom the whole building, being fitted together, is growing into a holy temple in the Lord,  in whom you also are being built together into a dwelling of God in the Spirit.
Ephesians 4:11-16. And He gave some as apostles, and some as prophets, and some as evangelists, and some as pastors and teachers, for the equipping of the saints for the work of service, to the building up of the body of Christ; until we all attain to the unity of the faith, and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to a mature man, to the measure of the stature which belongs to the fullness of Christ. As a result, we are no longer to be children, tossed here and there by waves and carried about by every wind of doctrine, by the trickery of men, by craftiness in deceitful scheming; but speaking the truth in love, we are to grow up in all aspects into Him who is the head, even Christ,  from whom the whole body, being fitted and held together by what every joint supplies, according to the proper working of each individual part, causes the growth of the body for the building up of itself in love.

Caiaphas the high priest cannot have been aware of the true significance of his prophecy, because his motive in uttering those words was murder. However, the statement added by the Holy Spirit informs us of God’s purpose in allowing this deed to be carried out, ‘and not for the nation only, but in order that He might also gather together into one the children of God who are scattered abroad’.  In these words also lies the fulfillment of the promise made to Abraham so long before, “In your seed all the nations of the earth shall be blessed, because you have obeyed My voice.” Genesis 22:18.

We cannot doubt that God’s great purpose to gather together all who believe, both Jew and Gentile into one, will indeed be fulfilled. Jesus died for this. We Gentiles, who have found faith in Jesus, ‘are no longer strangers and aliens, but….are fellow citizens with the saints, and are of God’s household’. read more

Colossians 1:18-19. He is also head of the body, the church; and He is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead, so that He Himself will come to have first place in everything. For it was the Father’s good pleasure for all the fullness to dwell in Him….
Colossians 3:16. Let the word of Christ richly dwell within you, with all wisdom teaching and admonishing one another with psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing with thankfulness in your hearts to God.1 Corinthians 14:26,31. What is the outcome then, brethren? When you assemble, each one has a psalm, has a teaching, has a revelation, has a tongue, has an interpretation. Let all things be done for edification….For you can all prophesy one by one , so that all may learn and all may be exhorted;

The Lord Jesus as the Head of His body, the church, is the sole director of its operation and coordination. Thus, every true gathering together of the saints will be orchestrated in heaven. In the mind and will of God there is no such event as a meeting of God’s people that is pre-planned as to order and content.

Within the saints, who are gathered unto Jesus, exist all the riches of divine life and wisdom available to be expressed as the Holy Spirit shall prompt utterance. Every contribution shared, under the anointing of the Holy Spirit, will blend together to glorify our Lord and Master and rejoice the heart of our Father in heaven. If all who are assembled were to speak and act perfectly and precisely in accordance with the leading of the Spirit, then their symphony of testimony, exhortation, admonition, revelation, teaching, worship and praise offered would bring such gladness to our Father’s heart as would, for all those present, be an experience never to be forgotten. Perfection of obedience to the leading of the Spirit may not be possible in this earthly sphere, yet if all those gathered will yield to the leading and direction of the Holy Spirit, then their meeting together will be in such contrast to a regulated religious meeting that those who have experienced it may never want to return to restricted conditions again. read more

1 Corinthians 14:26. Well, my brothers and sisters, let’s summarize what I am saying. When you meet, one will sing, another will teach, another will tell some special revelation God has given, one will speak in an unknown language, while another will interpret what is said. But everything that is done must be useful to all and build them up in the Lord. NLT
Colossians 3:16. Let the word of Christ richly dwell within you, with all wisdom teaching and admonishing one another with psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing with thankfulness in your hearts to God.
1 Corinthians 14:31-32. For you can all prophesy one by one, so that all may learn and all may be exhorted….

If these Scriptures don’t describe typical meetings that you or I are attending today it should come as no surprise. Central within almost all church communities today is a leader or leaders to whom others must defer and submit.  This seems to be an essential feature even of meetings conducted in private homes.

The Corinthian believers to whom Paul was writing included many who had come from very loose and unruly backgrounds; see 1 Corinthians 6:9-11. Yet Paul could describe their meetings as permitting and enjoying great freedom in the Spirit. At first sight does that not seem to have been risky? Where was the safeguard against those who were not speaking under the anointing of the Holy Spirit? read more