Did people ever tell you that if you take the path of separation it will cut you off from opportunities of service and testimony? I have heard it many times. What does God say? God says if you take the path of separation, you will be prepared for every good work. Does that mean you are to be cut off from every great service? Not as He sees it. People say, “You are ruining your career. You are cutting yourself off from all your opportunities.” Did you ever stop to think there is a Lord of this harvest? “Pray ye therefore the Lord of the harvest, that He will send forth laborers into His harvest” (Matt. 9:3838Pray ye therefore the Lord of the harvest, that he will send forth laborers into his harvest. (Matthew 9:38)). Who is going to see to it that all the sheaves are safely gathered in? Who is going to see that all the wheat is in the garner? Why, the Lord of the harvest. And if He gives me some little work to do in fellowship with Him, oh, I esteem it a great honor and a great privilege, but I know He can get along fine without me. Yes, He can accomplish all the purposes of His grace without you and without me. Service is not the great thing; obedience is the great thing. “To obey is better than sacrifice, and to hearken than the fat of rams” (1 Sam. 15:22). Yes, that is the Word of God. Has the Lord as great delight in sacrifice as in obeying the voice of the Lord?
Now, in the next chapter: “All Scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness: that the man of God may be perfect, thoroughly furnished unto all good works” (2 Tim. 3:16-17). What fits the man of God for every good work? The Word of God! Will the Word of God warrant my departing from the plain exhortation, “Endeavoring to keep the unity of the Spirit” (Eph. 4:33Endeavoring to keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace. (Ephesians 4:3))? May I transgress that? May I trample upon that and go on my way thinking I am entering a larger sphere of service by ignoring that plain exhortation? Sometimes as I walk my way to the little meeting back home, I pass other dear Christians. I see them with their Bibles under their arms. That makes my heart glad, and I hope they are His; I hope they love God’s Word. It looks good to see someone with the Word of God snuggled under his arm, but as I go this way and my brother passes me going that way, I think of that verse, “Endeavoring to keep the unity of the Spirit.” “The unity of the Spirit.” Is the same Spirit who dwells in me and in him sending me one way and him the opposite way? Must we pass, almost rubbing elbows, each headed the other way? Is that the unity of the Spirit? There is only one Holy Spirit. Ephesians 4 tells us that there is one Spirit, just one. And by that one Spirit we have all been baptized into one body. If we follow His leading and His guidance by the Word of God, will we not be brought to see eye to eye?
Let me reply: “If you are a child of God and have the Spirit of God dwelling in you, the Spirit is there to show you the things of Christ, and He will lead you to the right place.” In other words, the Spirit of God cannot sanction division in the church of God. “Endeavoring to keep the unity of the Spirit.”