Twice in His great high priestly prayer, our Lord prayed that His people might be one (verses 21 and 22, 23). This prayer for unity has been seized as Scriptural support for the ecumenical movement - a great organizational union of all professing Christian churches. Unfortunately this ecumenical unity is achieved through abandoning or reinterpreting fundamental Christian doctrines. As Malcolm Muggeridge wrote, "By one of our time's larger ironies, ecumenicalism is triumphant just when there is nothing to be ecumenical about; the various religious bodies are likely to find it easy to join together only because, believing little, they correspondingly differ about little."Is this the kind of unity that the Lord Jesus was praying for in John 17:1-26? We think not. He said that the unity He had in mind would result in the world's believing that God had sent Him. It is extremely doubtful that any external federation would have this effect.The Lord defined the unity He had in mind when He said, "…as thou Father art in me, and I in thee, that they also may be one in us." He also said, "… even as we are one, I in them, and thou in me, that they may be made perfect in one." What unity does the Father and Son share which we can also have a part in? Not the fact of their common deity; we can never share in that. I would suggest that the Lord Jesus was referring to a unity based on common moral likeness. He was praying that believers might be one in exhibiting the character of God and of Christ to the world. This would mean lives of righteousness, holiness, grace, love, purity, longsuffering, self-control, meekness, joy and generosity. Ronald Sider suggests in Rich Christians in an Age of Hunger that the unity for which Christ prayed was manifested when the early Christians shared freely with one another whenever there was need. They had a true spirit of koinonia or community. "Jesus' prayer that the loving unity of His followers would be so striking that it would convince the world that He had come from the Father has been answered - at least once! It happened in the Jerusalem church. The unusual quality of their life together gave power to the apostolic preaching" (see Acts 2:45-47<a href="javascript:%7B%7D" style="text-decoration:underline ;">; </a>Acts 4:32-35).Such unity today would have a profound impression on the world. As Christians presented a united testimony in radiating the life of the Lord Jesus, unbelievers would be convicted of their own sinfulness and would thirst for the living water. Today's tragedy is that many Christians are scarcely distinguishable from their worldly neighbors. Under such circumstances, there is little inducement for unbelievers to be converted.

With reverence, humor and skill, William MacDonald wove a daily devotional tapestry that challenges the reader to think deeply and Biblically, and apply God's Word to their lives.

Truths to Live By - One Day at a Time

"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." (John 17:21)

All the believers were one in heart and soul. (Acts 4:32 ISV)










The Lord must have a company in the earth who, in every respect, are a 
heavenly people. Their spiritual resources of life, power, wisdom, knowledge, 
and purpose must be heavenly and by mediation of the Holy Spirit alone. Their means 
and methods must be Divinely supplied and dictated. Their energy must be 
directly Divine energy; which means that they must have been separated from 
their own. The spiritual relationships and associations must be heavenly. It was 
the resolving into an earthly institution and system which cost the Church its 
Throne power at the beginning, and there can be no recovery without a clear 
position as to traditional relationships. There will need to be a purely 
heavenly position as to the really heavenly nature of the Body of Christ – the 
Church, without any contradictions in earthly orders. We have heard it said that 
at a certain gathering of servants of the Lord "it was like a touch of heaven; 
everyone dropped – for the time being – their differences of denomination and 
earthly divisions." This speaks for itself. But why go back to them?
"They were of one mind and one soul." We can never arrange 
this, or decide to do this heavenly business to any consequence (except failure) 
unless each one concerned is in it by revelation of the Holy Spirit, and is born into 
it through spiritual travail. We shall be wasting our time if we expect, try, or 
even pray for anything really effective apart from this essentially heavenly and 
therefore anointed ground. There is no royal road or short cut to the Throne or 
to Throne power; it will cost us everything here. We have known more than one to 
be faced with this issue, and – in trying to keep something here – miss the 
Lord's highest and best, and later in life to know that it was so. Will you go 
to the Lord and ask Him to do that deep work by His Cross in the hands of the 
Holy Spirit which will result in your being brought into the place where His 
authority is exercised through you, and His rule is registered in the realm 
where things matter most, through your heavenly union with Him?

This devotional contains short daily portions from a selection of Mr. Austin-Sparks' messages. In his own words, “Perhaps this is just like a window opened into heaven. If you get the right window you can see quite a lot. You can see great things and you can see far things. But the best that I can hope is that this has just opened a window, and that as you look through it you are seeing one thing - how superior is Jesus Christ to all else, and how superior is the dispensation into which we have come, and how superior are all the resources at our disposal to all that ever was before!” Open Windows messages have been selected and compiled by Austin-Sparks.Net from the works of T. Austin-Sparks. In some cases they appear in abridged form. The introductory verse and its associated Bible version have been selected by the editor and did not always appear within the original message.

Open Windows

"For Such a Time as This"

 Heavenly Union 

<h3>The Believers Share Their Possessions</h3> 32 All the believers were one in heart and mind. No one claimed that any of their possessions was their own, but they shared everything they had.

Acts 4:32

All the believers were one in heart and mind. No one claimed that any of their possessions was their own, but they shared everything they had.<cr>1</cr>

 32 All the believers were one in heart and mind. No one claimed that any of their possessions was their own, but they shared everything they had.  

From Wikipedia: 

The New International Version (NIV) is an English translation of the Bible first published in 1978 by Biblica (formerly the International Bible Society). The NIV was published to meet the need for a modern translation done by Bible scholars using the earliest, highest quality manuscripts available. Of equal importance was that the Bible be expressed in broadly understood modern English.

The NIV is published by Zondervan in the United States and Hodder & Stoughton in the UK. The NIV was updated in 1984 and 2011 and has become one of the most popular and best-selling modern translations.

OT: Biblia Hebraica Stuttgartensia; additional sources;
NT: UBS Greek New Testament; Novum Testamentum Graece; additional sources;

New International Version

 All the believers were one in heart and mind. No one claimed that any of their possessions was their own, but they shared everything they had.

All the believers were one in heart and mind. No one claimed that any of their possessions was their own, but they shared everything they had.

 All the believers were one in heart and mind. No one claimed that any of their possessions was their own, but they shared everything they had.  

Bible Verse of the Day

July 20, 1889

Acts 4:32 NIV

Verse by Verse Bible Study

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