"18Timothy, my son, I give you this instruction in keeping with the prophecies once made about you, so that by following them you may fight the good fight, 19holding on to faith and a good conscience. Some have rejected these and so have shipwrecked their faith." -- 1 Timothy 1:18-19
What if the armies of the Lord picked up and dusted off their swords....What if the Church for Heaven's Sake finally stepped up to the plate....what if his people PRAYED??? (Casting Crowns, "What if His People Prayed"). What if? The question has been pondered by philosophers for centuries. What if? The question has been used to create all sorts of unique doctrines in our church. What if? The question has been used by many to persecute brothers and sisters instead of edify Christ's people. Conservatives and liberals alike love to use 'what if?' to keep their people in line. Today, I would like to use 'what if' to try and get you to think.
There is no doubt that our family is divided. There is no doubt that the longer we stay divided, the longer the enemy will prosper. The longer we fight each other, the longer the enemy will conquer. So what do we do? Let's take a look at what would happen if Christ's people would do things together.
What If We Stood Together?
The college I attended was not your normal frat/sorority house, start class at 11 AM party every weekend type college. The U.S. Merchant Marine academy is essentially a smaller version of the Naval Academy, but with the same strict regimental discipline. Part of our training was to learn how to do things as a class, instead of individuals. Only by working together as a class could accomplish the required tasks to earn 'recognition'.
Being 'recognized' by the upper classes was a big deal. It meant that the strict rules we had to follow as plebes (such as always running outside, six inches from the curb, "squaring" all corners) no longer applied, and we were one step closer to being human beings.
Admittedly, my class had a hard time accomplishing this. We all wanted to do things our own way. We separated into different groups, each following its own path to get the class recognized. Needless to say, we were not very successful. It was only when we put aside our differences and truly worked together as a class, stood together as a class, did we get recognized and graduate from being 'plebes' to forth classmen.
Christianity is in much the same state today. Different groups have segregated themselves, and each one is seeking to do things their own way. The results are just as poor as when I was in school. Instead of winning souls, we are chasing them way. Instead of furthering Christ's Kingdom, we are retreating and letting the enemy take over. Can you imagine what would happen if we joined together? Can you imagine what the Body of Christ could accomplish if we stood together?
In ancient times, as well as in Jesus' day, great things were accomplished when people worked together. Soon after the great flood, mankind gathered in the plains of Shinar and built a great city. In this city, they started working on a tower that would reach Heaven itself. These people were of one mind and one purpose, to build "a tower that reaches to the heavens" (Genesis 11:4). They would have been successful too, but God saw this and put a stop to it:
5 But the LORD came down to see the city and the tower that the men were building. 6 The LORD said, "If as one people speaking the same language they have begun to do this, then nothing they plan to do will be impossible for them. 7 Come, let us go down and confuse their language so they will not understand each other." -- Genesis 11:5-7
In this particular instance, the people were working against the Lord. God told Noah and his family to, "Be fruitful and increase in number and fill the earth" (Genesis 9:1), but the people instead decided they would "not be scattered over the face of the whole earth" (Genesis 11:4). These people were working together against God and they accomplished a great deal. Just imagine what we can accomplish if we work together for our Lord!
That is exactly what the Israelites did under Zerubbabel. Working together, they worked for the Lord and rebuilt His Temple. In the first year after King Cyrus came to power, he issued a decree that the Lord's temple should be rebuilt. Zerubbabel was the grandson of King Jehoiachin, the king of Judah who had been captured by Nebuchadnezzar. As such, he was the spiritual and political leader of the Jewish remnant when Cyrus issued the decree.
Under that decree, Zerubbabel led the first of three groups of exiles back to Jerusalem. It was this group of returning exiles who rebuilt the Lord's Temple:
1When the seventh month came and the Israelites had settled in their towns, the people assembled as one man in Jerusalem. 2 Then Jeshua son of Jozadak and his fellow priests and Zerubbabel son of Shealtiel and his associates began to build the altar of the God of Israel to sacrifice burnt offerings on it, in accordance with what is written in the Law of Moses the man of God. 3 Despite their fear of the peoples around them, they built the altar on its foundation and sacrificed burnt offerings on it to the LORD , both the morning and evening sacrifices. -- Ezra 3:1-3
The Jews had come together "as one man" and worked together to rebuild the Alter of the Lord, and they did it in spite of "the peoples around them." The people around them tried to stop them from rebuilding the temple at every turn. They "hired counselors to work against them and frustrate their plans during the entire reign of Cyrus king of Persia and down to the reign of Darius king of Persia" (Ezra 4:5).
The Jews succeeded in rebuilding the altar and laying foundations for the temple. However, when Xerxes, and later, Artaxerxes came to power, their enemies lodged formal complaints against them, and under Artaxerxes, they were forced to stop the rebuilding.
After about fifteen years, under the encouragement of Haggai and Zechariah, Zerubbabel and the Jews starting working on the temple again. This was during the second year of the reign of King Darius. King Darius supported the Jews. When accusations were brought to him against the Jews, as they had his two predecessors, he ordered a search of the royal records and saw that they were, in fact, working under a royal decree. Darius issued another decree which, not only let the Jews continue the work, but subsidized their efforts.
The Jews worked together. They stood together. As a result, even though they were surrounded by enemies, even though their enemies tried to intimidate them, even though their enemies launched false accusations against them, and even though their enemies succeeding in having the work stopped for fifteen years, they overcame and rebuilt the temple of the Most High God.
Zerubbabel could not have done that by himself. The Jews could not have done that if they were working on their own, or worse against each other. No, only by working together and standing together could they overcome those who sought to hinder their efforts.
When I first started college, I did not get home at all. It was three month before I got to see my family and even after that, trips home were few and far between. On those occasions I did get home, my mother would usually cook a meal that I liked, and that meal was typically pasta. Specifically, spaghetti.
I love spaghetti. When I got married, my lovely wife showed me how to make spaghetti and sauce the right way, especially the sauce (from scratch, mmmm). For those of you who like spaghetti as much as I do, you know that one piece of spaghetti is very weak, even uncooked. You can break easily it with one hand. If you take the whole package of it, however, it is next to impossible to break. Even if you use both hands. Where one individual strand is easily snapped by itself, when all the stands are together, they cannot be broken.
The Jews were one. They were the whole package, and while construction of the temple was put on hold, it was not stopped. Working as one, standing as one, the Jews succeeded in carrying out God's will.
If Christians of today can work as one, if we can stand together, we cannot be broken. Right now we are bunch of individual strands of spaghetti, and we are being broken. One only needs to read the news to see that. It is important for us to stop fighting each other and start standing together. It is only by standing together can resist the "peoples around us", the "peoples" who seek to thwart us, and who seek to destroy us.
What if we stood together? We would successfully stop our enemy in their tracks, and we would carry out God's Will and further the Kingdom of Christ. We would win souls and increase the size of our family at an exponential rate!
What If We Prayed Together?
Prayer is powerful. Prayer is important. Entire sermons have been preached on prayer and all its different aspects. We even went over prayer ourselves not too long ago. Right now, I would like to focus on one part of prayer: praying together.
On one occasion when Jesus was teaching his disciples, he told them, "Again, I tell you that if two of you on earth agree about anything you ask for, it will be done for you by my Father in heaven. For where two or three come together in my name, there am I with them" (Matthew 18:19-20). When two people are in agreement, our Father will do what we ask. Just two people praying together offer prayers powerful enough that our Father will do what they ask. Can you imagine if two hundred prayed? Two thousand???
Praying together in agreement brings Christians a tremendous advantage. We can and should use this to the advantage of the Kingdom, to further the cause of Christ's Kingdom. That is why we are directed to pray all throughout the Bible:
26 Surely then you will find delight in the Almighty
and will lift up your face to God.
27 You will pray to him, and he will hear you,
and you will fulfill your vows.
-- Job 22:26-27
11Never be lacking in zeal, but keep your spiritual fervor, serving the Lord. 12Be joyful in hope, patient in affliction, faithful in prayer. 13Share with God's people who are in need. Practice hospitality. -- Romans 12:11-13
10He has delivered us from such a deadly peril, and he will deliver us. On him we have set our hope that he will continue to deliver us, 11as you help us by your prayers. Then many will give thanks on our behalf for the gracious favor granted us in answer to the prayers of many. -- 2 Corinthians 1:10-11
2Devote yourselves to prayer, being watchful and thankful. 3And pray for us, too, that God may open a door for our message, so that we may proclaim the mystery of Christ, for which I am in chains. 4Pray that I may proclaim it clearly, as I should. -- Colossians 4:2-4
Not only are we called to prayer in the Bible, but we are also shown how effective prayer can be. We are shown what it can accomplish:
26The spirit shrieked, convulsed him violently and came out. The boy looked so much like a corpse that many said, "He's dead." 27But Jesus took him by the hand and lifted him to his feet, and he stood up.
28After Jesus had gone indoors, his disciples asked him privately, "Why couldn't we drive it out?"
29He replied, "This kind can come out only by prayer." -- Mark 9:26-29
5So Peter was kept in prison, but the church was earnestly praying to God for him.
6The night before Herod was to bring him to trial, Peter was sleeping between two soldiers, bound with two chains, and sentries stood guard at the entrance. 7Suddenly an angel of the Lord appeared and a light shone in the cell. He struck Peter on the side and woke him up. "Quick, get up!" he said, and the chains fell off Peter's wrists.
8Then the angel said to him, "Put on your clothes and sandals." And Peter did so. "Wrap your cloak around you and follow me," the angel told him. 9Peter followed him out of the prison, but he had no idea that what the angel was doing was really happening; he thought he was seeing a vision. 10They passed the first and second guards and came to the iron gate leading to the city. It opened for them by itself, and they went through it. When they had walked the length of one street, suddenly the angel left him. -- Acts 12:5-10
13Is any one of you in trouble? He should pray. Is anyone happy? Let him sing songs of praise. 14Is any one of you sick? He should call the elders of the church to pray over him and anoint him with oil in the name of the Lord. 15And the prayer offered in faith will make the sick person well; the Lord will raise him up. If he has sinned, he will be forgiven. -- James 5:13-15
Prayer is extremely effective, in all things, and when two of us pray in agreement, its effectiveness is a hundredfold. Great things can be accomplished by prayer and greater things when two or more pray together. Therefore we (that is, all Christians) need to be in agreement about prayer. We need to pray together. What should we pray for, you ask? Let's look to our savior and see what He prayed for:
20My prayer is not for them alone. I pray also for those who will believe in me through their message, 21that all of them may be one, Father, just as you are in me and I am in you. May they also be in us so that the world may believe that you have sent me. 22I have given them the glory that you gave me, that they may be one as we are one: 23I in them and you in me. May they be brought to complete unity to let the world know that you sent me and have loved them even as you have loved me. -- John 17:20-23
Jesus prayed that we would be one. And this was not just any ordinary prayer. This was the prayer before Jesus' torturous death. This was the prayer where he sweat drops of blood (Luke 22:43). This was the prayer where is was overwhelmed with sorrow, to the point of death (Matthew 26:38). This was the prayer Jesus made knowing he was facing his last few hours on earth, knowing the torture and humiliation he was going to face. This was the prayer where Jesus prayed that we would be one.
God considers unity so important, that even though he was facing torture, beatings and a horrible death, he took pause to pray that we would all be one. Through Christ, we are one, but looking at the Church today, you would never know it. That's why we need to pray the prayer Jesus prayed.
If Christians would echo Jesus' prayer, from their hearts, God would listen. If Christians would pray this in agreement, God would answer. We need to pray that we would be one. Not one doctrine, not one style, not one type of worship, but one in Christ. This is not your typical prayer. It was not a typical prayer for Jesus and it should not be a typical prayer for us. The prayer for unity is as powerful as it is important.
I am sure you have all heard teaching about "praying in agreement". I am sure many of you have done it and seen glorious results. It is a tried and true promise from our Lord and Savior. We need to take this promise one step further now and use it to bring about that which God desires: unity for His people.
The time is nigh. One only needs to read the news to see the state of the world and the state of Christainity require action on our part. We cannot do what needs to be done on our own. We cannot even be one, on our own. We need Christ. We need to focus on Christ. We need to be one, one with our Lord and one with each other. We need to stand together, we need to pray together.
The musical group, Casting Crowns, ask the question "What if His people prayed?" I want to take that one step further by asking, "What if His people prayed together?" We could and would accomplish so much just through prayer! If we will pray together, in agreement, to make His people one, our Father will give us what we ask for. Granted, there is more to unity than prayer. However it starts with prayer. If Christians can agree to pray together, it will be much easier for us to be able to stand together.
CONCLUSION:
In his second letter to the church, Peter tells us, "you must understand that in the last days scoffers will come...since our fathers died, everything goes on as it has since the beginning of creation" (2 Peter 3:3-4). He is talking about those who scoff at God, but that can also be applied to Christians. Many Christians are of the same mind, thinking we have plenty of time. People have been saying 'the end is near' for centuries. While nobody knows the day or the hour, I am fairly confident in saying that time is running out. We must act TODAY. We must stop fighting each other TODAY. We must get on our knees TODAY. We cannot afford to wait one more day. This isn't the 11th hour, the clock is about to strike. Time is up. The game is over. There needs to be a sense of urgency. We must start working together to promote the Kingdom of God and win souls into our family. We cannot afford put it off any longer. We have to stand together. We have to pray together. We have to work together! After Peter confessed Jesus was the Son of God, Jesus told him, “And I also say to you that you are Peter, and on this rock I will build My church, and the gates of Hades shall not prevail against it” (Matthew 18:18, NKJV). The church will act like a battering ram to the gates of Hades and those gates will have no chance against it!
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