THE CHURCH IN THIS CITY

         Chapter 4                         AFTER THE NOISE

         Two Stages

             The embarrassing question is sometimes asked, “If it’s really the

         Holy Spirit who inspires all these groups around the city, why is there

         so little unity? So little concern for each other? So few kind words?”

         If it is the one Holy Spirit of God at work in us, are we not going to

         be drawn together in his love? Isn’t he going to bring us into harmony

         within our fellowships and across the town?

             The power of the Holy Spirit was obviously moving in the church

         at Corinth. People were getting healed. Miracles were almost common-

         place. Supernatural utterance was breaking out in their meetings with

         great force. Yet this very church was divided into factions, torn

         apart by strife, polluted by believers living immoral lives. The re-

         sult was that, while the power of the Spirit of God was indeed there,

         the ministry which the Spirit gave that church was not getting done.

         The energy of God pouring into that fellowship was being dissipated by

         the uncrucified human ego. They were making a lot of noise, but they

         weren’t bearing much fruit.

             In his letter to the Corinthians, Paul doesn’t deny that the

         Spirit is moving among them. In fact he thanks God for the gifts of

         the Spirit they have. But Paul makes clear that for all these things

         the Corinthian church is in a carnal state.

                     “For while there is jealousy and strife among

                     you, are you not of the flesh and behaving

                     like ordinary men?”

             Until that church in Corinth comes into genuine unity with divisions

         healed and strife brought to an end, the redemptive work that church was

         created to accomplish will not be done. The believers at Corinth have

         to be brought from the stage where they are noisy spiritual children to

         the point where they are solid, steadfast, unified, Spirit—led men and

         women of God.

             Contrast with this the picture that emerges when you read Paul’s

         epistle to the Ephesians. In this letter are no references to miracles

         or prophetic utterances or gifts of discernment. Yet this letter is

         obviously addressed, not to children but to men.

                     “For this reason, because I have heard of your

                     faith in the Lord Jesus and your love toward

                     all the saints, I do not cease to give thanks

                     for you.... “     

            The walls of division have come down. The childish ways have been

         put aside. Here is a Body of saints which has come into the unity of

         Jesus Christ so that the power of God in their midst is able to bear

         fruit and get things done.

             When we read Corinthians and then Ephesians, it is like looking

         at two stages. The first is childhood, noisy and weak. The second

         is adulthood, much stronger, but considerably more quiet. These two

         stages appear many times in scripture. When Peter first meets Jesus

         and until Calvary, he makes lots of noise but shows very little real

         strength. After the resurrection Peter begins to quiet down, but

         displays a strength he never had before.

             When the dry bones of Ezekiel’s vision came together there was a

         noise, a rattling. They formed bodies but still had no life. Ezekiel

         prophesied a second time, this time to the wind. Now the only sound

         that could be heard, if any, was the rushing of the Spirit into these

         lifeless bodies. And they lived, stood upon their feet, a great army.

         Or when Elijah fled to Mount Horeb to escape Jezebel and have things

         out with God, there was noise that was doubtless an echo of the noise

         within his own soul. A tremendous wind tore the mountains and broke

         rocks to pieces. But God was not in the wind. There was an earth-

         quake. But God was not in the earthquake. There was a roaring fire.

         But God was not in the fire. Then came the voice of a gentle stillness.

         And when Elijah heard it, he wrapped his face in his mantle, for he

         knew that this was God.

             We have in our fellowships these days a certain amount of noise.

         Praise God for it! Praise God when a newborn infant begins to cry.

         Praise God for the shouts of joy that rise from the lips of a man who

         has been healed or from a woman who has found the Lord or been filled

         with the Holy Spirit. Praise God even when the joyful noise of his

         children becomes a bit excessive or disorderly. How much better this

         than the death that was there before! But the power that is needed for

         the work God has given us to do is not in the noise we make. It is in

         the unity that comes over the Body when we really begin to submit to

         the Holy Spirit, And it is that unity that the Spirit is calling for

         at this hour.

                    “...until we all attain to the unity of the

                        faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God,

                        to mature manhood to the measure of the

                       stature of the fullness of Christ; so that we

                       may no longer be children tossed to and fro

                       and carried about with every wind of doctrine,

                       by the cunning of men, by the craftiness in

                       deceitful wiles. Rather speaking the truth in

                       love we are to grow up in every way into him

                       who is the head, into Christ, from whom the

                       whole body, joined and knit together by every

                       joint with which it is supplied, when each part

                       is working properly, makes bodily growth and

                       upbuilds itself in love.”

         Unity

             Each of us needs to understand that unity in the Body begins with

         himself. Not with that brother over there or this sister over here or

         those slobs who never fit in, but with me. Am I an agent of unity in

         the Body of Christ or am I an agent of division? Where is my heart when

         it comes to unity in the Body? Where is my tongue? Do I bring peace to

         brothers and sisters, or does my raging, disquieted, glory—hungry spirit

         leave a trail of strife everywhere I go? Do I draw near to brothers and

         sisters in love, or do I remain aloof from all except those from whom I

         want something?

             The Spirit of the Lord is calling us to practice unity in the local

         Assembly.  These people with whom we are in closest contact are the most

         likely to annoy us, irritate us, disappoint, slight, hurt or misunderstand

         us. But now we are to have the mind of Christ toward them. Every

         one of them. We are to do nothing from selfishness or conceit, but in

         humility count others better than ourselves. If my brother doesn’t live

         this way, before I murmur against him in my heart, or talk about him or

         rebuke him to his face; what about me? What about my attitude toward

         him? Is he really in my prayers? God set us in the family of the local

         congregation to teach us to forgive. How can we tell the world with

         any authority about the forgiveness of Jesus Christ on the cross if we

         are loaded with hard thoughts toward brothers and sisters? What healing

         will flood our fellowships when we yield to the urging of the Spirit to

         forgive our brothers and really be one!

             We are being called to practice unity with brothers and sisters

         across the city. The church, praise God, does not begin and end with

         our fellowship. If our only concern is with our own fellowship and

         perhaps a few others that belong to our chain, then it is very likely

         that we are caught up in a religious kingdom of our own rather than

         the kingdom of God. Do I see believers on the other side of town as                            

         brothers, or as “half-brothers?” Do I really weep when they weep and

         rejoice when they rejoice, or is there a secret tinge of envy in my

         heart toward them? The Spirit is becoming exacting with us when he

         finds attitudes in our hearts toward other fellowships. Or when he

         finds us raising walls, and sowing seeds of mistrust. Or when he un-

         covers jealousy or sees us despising them in our hearts. If there is

         a problem with brothers on the south side of town, let’s solve it.

         If there is a misunderstanding, let’s get it right. If there is a

         need to be reconciled, let’s do it. There is only one Body in our

         city and it extends far beyond our own little circle.

             We are to practice unity with brothers and sisters across the earth.

         Believers in Macedonia sent help to believers in Judea. When we hear

         about needs in Cleveland or Nairobi or Santiago our natural tendency is

         to ignore them. “Nan, we have enough problems around here!” But if

         we’re listening to the Spirit, he wipes away the miles and tells us,

         “Send them help; they are your brothers.” This is going to be happening

         more and more as the age draws to a close. Brothers and sisters in

         China need our prayers; and we need theirs. Brothers and sisters in

         Bolivia may need some material help. And we, for our own good as well

         as theirs, need to fit in with them.

             There has not been a time since the Day of Pentecost when the power

         of the Spirit was more evident in the church than it is now. But for

         that power to accomplish what it is being sent to do, the saints of God

         must be in unity. If we want him to, the Spirit of the Lord will show

         us what this means for each of us.