LifeLink Devotional

Wednesday, November 18, 2020

There is something seriously lacking in the current church of Jesus Christ. Jesus declared it to be one of the most significant identifying traits of His church. When Jesus prayed for all of us in John 17 He asked that we be one in Him. The church is to be identified by its unity. Unfortunately today, the Body of Christ is not in unison. We have become critically critical.

When King David died, and Solomon became King of Israel, he was tasked with the building of the Temple as the central place for worship of God. When the temple was finished, it was time to bring the Ark of the Covenant, representing the Presence of God, from its temporary place in Zion, the City of David just outside of Jerusalem, to the inner sanctuary of the new Temple. We read about the move in 2 Chronicles 5.

2 Chronicles 5:2  “Then Solomon assembled the elders of Israel and all the heads of the tribes, the leaders of the fathers’ houses of the people of Israel, in Jerusalem, to bring up the ark of the covenant of the LORD out of the city of David, which is Zion.”

Following the example of his father David, Solomon made the moving of the Ark into a national day of worship. Verse six says, ^“And King Solomon and all the congregation of Israel, who had assembled before him, were before the ark, sacrificing so many sheep and oxen that they could not be counted or numbered.” When the Ark was in the Temple, the Levites led in a time of worship. Verse 13 describes it.  “It was the duty of the trumpeters and singers to make themselves heard in unison in praise and thanksgiving to the LORD), and when the song was raised, with trumpets and cymbals and other musical instruments, in praise to the LORD.”

Please notice the word UNISON. The worship of God is to be a display of unity. That’s what is missing in the modern church. We are no longer identified by our willingness to work in unison but rather by our segregation into groups that are critical of those who don’t agree with us. I believe the cause of such disunity is this – we choose to exaggerate the insignificant. We prioritize principles and preferences that are non-essential at the expense of the eternal. We choose to defend rights rather than righteousness. We love self competitively rather than loving others compassionately. The church of Jesus Christ is off track.

Notice in our text today that the reason the worship of God was conducted in unison was that they all had the same song to sing in praise to the Lord.

“For he is good, for his steadfast love endures forever.”

Then also notice that the result of their unified worship of God, the glory of the Lord was revealed.

“the house of the LORD was filled with a cloud, so that the priests could not stand to minister because of the cloud, for the glory of the LORD filled the house of God.”

My friends, the glory of the church is NOT to be found in its political position. The glory of the church is NOT in its response to COVID. The glory of the church is NOT on display in its mission statement or worship style or building. THE GLORY OF THE CHURCH IS ON DISPLAY WHEN THE PRESENCE OF GOD IS VISIBLE THROUGH PEOPLE WHO WORSHIP HIM IN UNITY.

Let’s seriously chew on that today.

Pastor John