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Issue link: http://magazine.kcm.org/i/1293307
The day the Church comes into full unity will be the second-worst day of the devil’s existence! (His worst day was the day Jesus defeated him in hell and rose from the dead.) Satan absolutely dreads that day because when we all come together in harmony with one another, he’s totally helpless against us. He can’t do anything to stop the advancement of God’s kingdom when the Church is operating as a united force. One day, before Jesus returns, we’re going to do that. We’re going to get so tuned in to the Holy Spirit that we’ll all start walking in one accord. When that happens, even denominational differences won’t divide us anymore. We’ll all be listening to the Lord and following His directions. We’ll be in agreement to a degree that hasn’t been seen on earth since the days of the early Church. Acts 2 says that in those days, believers came together with such “singleness of heart” they were absolutely unstoppable. Their numbers grew by leaps and bounds. The gospel spread like wildfire, “And the Lord added to the church daily those who were being saved” (verse 47, "New King James Version"). The devil remembers what that was like! It was terrible for him, and he doesn’t want to go through it again. So he constantly tries to get us in disagreement with one another. He knows if he can succeed in doing that, we won’t be any threat to him. He’ll be able to run right over us because when we’re in strife, we’re on his territory. We’re operating in his lowly, hellish kind of wisdom. James 3:15-18 says: "This wisdom descendeth not from above, but is earthly, sensual, devilish. For where envying and strife is, there is confusion and every evil work. But the wisdom that is from above is first pure, then peaceable, gentle, and easy to be intreated, full of mercy and good fruits, without partiality, and without hypocrisy. And the fruit of righteousness is sown in peace of them that make peace." “But Gloria,” someone might say, “I don’t really think all strife is devilish. I don’t think it’s always such a hellish force.” Well, God says it is, and He’s always right! Whatever He tells us in the Bible is how things are and, according to these verses, you can’t live in strife and enjoy a good, peaceful life at the same time. It’s impossible. Strife Will Keep You Carnal If the devil can keep you in strife, he can wipe out all the good things that belong to you as a Christian. You may still go to heaven when you die, but you won’t have any fun getting there, because strife will keep you walking after the flesh instead of the spirit. It will cause you to remain carnal instead of spiritual. As we’ve already seen, that’s what happened to the Christians in Corinth. They got into envy and strife and got stuck being carnally minded. As a result, they stopped growing in the Lord. Their spiritual capacity became so limited that the Apostle Paul had to write them and say: “I, brethren, could not speak unto you as unto spiritual, but as unto carnal, even as unto babes in Christ. I have fed you with milk, and not with meat: for hitherto ye were not able to bear it, neither yet now are ye able. For ye are yet carnal: for whereas there is among you envying, and strife, and divisions, are ye not carnal, and walk as men?” (1 Corinthians 3:1-3). Think about what a sad situation that was! Those people had the great Apostle Paul right there wanting to impart revelation to them. They had one of the most powerful preachers of all time wanting to feed them the meat of the Word. But they couldn’t receive it. They were so busy bickering with one another, all they could handle was a little milk. It takes the meat of the Word to grow spiritually strong and be blessed. So by continuing to fuss with one another, the Corinthians closed the door to their own spiritual growth. They locked themselves into remaining immature and carnal. Carnal Christians are a miserable species of being! They’re born again, and they know enough about God to keep them from enjoying sin, but they don’t know enough to live free of it. They end up in trouble, time and again, because they keep reacting to things in the flesh. 28 : BVOV