PDF file - Seventh Day Adventist Reform Movement

December 18 Edification, Unity, Perfection!
Being Made Perfect in One
“That they all may be one; as thou, Father, art in me, and I in thee,
that they also may be one in us: that the world may believe that thou
hast sent me. . . . I in them, and thou in me, that they may be made perfect
in one” (John 17:21, 23).
[In the prayer of John 17, Jesus Christ] is speaking of the oneness
and that unity that shall exist with Christ and His disciples. In that
unity, in that oneness, Christ is glorified in us. Now I would have you
consider how very light a matter many of us make of seeking to preserve
this unity. Why, this unity with believers in and through Christ
is the great strength of the church! The oneness, the love which
through their faith and unity exists with God’s people through faith
in Christ, is a power.
How earnest, how decided, how determined should be our efforts
to answer the prayer of Christ that we may have that harmony one
with another for which Christ died to perfect; that we may be one
with Christ; for, unless we are constantly laboring for this harmony
and this unity, we shall certainly fail of answering the prayer of being
one with Christ as He was one with the Father. 45
When as individual members of the church, you love God
supremely and your neighbor as yourself, there will be no need of
labored efforts to be in unity, for there will be oneness in Christ as a
natural result. The ears will no longer be open to reports that will
injure your neighbor, and no one will take up a reproach against his
neighbor. The members of the church will cherish love and unity, and
be as one great family. Then we shall bear the divine credentials to the
world, that will testify that God has sent His Son into the world.
Christ has said, “By this shall all men know that ye are My disciples,
if ye have love one to another” (John 13:35). The divinity of Christ is
acknowledged in the unity of the children of God. . . .
What can Christ who is so forgiving, so patient with all our mistakes,
so rich in mercy and love, think of our hardhearted criticism
and faultfinding? Love for your erring brethren will produce far
greater effect in reforming them than all your harsh criticisms. 46
360