Paul wrote to the Corinthians: I do not speak to condemn you; for I have said before that you are in our hearts to die together and to live together. II Corinthians 7:3. This message will be one of the most important that I have ever given in my whole life. It is not a truth that springs forth as some new, startling discovery, for I think I have known it and practiced it the greater part of my life.
This message will explain a great deal about our oneness and what it really means, but it will also give us some of the most practical instruction on how to attain that oneness. It will also deal with the problems of the shepherds and the sheep in their shepherding. It will show us also why position had to end with this new level of the Kingdom that we have approached, and it should do a great deal to end forever that dominating factor which has been so much a restraining force within the Body.
If we would try to understand the basic truth of this message, before we read the related Scriptures, it could be voiced thus: We know that Christ was born the Son of the living God, incarnate in one flesh—Jesus Christ the Nazarene, the Son of God. And in the course of time, He showed that “in Him dwells all the fullness of the Godhead bodily” (Colossians 2:9). What is not understood, and yet is clearly understood by even a little child, is that when Christ accomplished our redemption and ascended to the Father, He universalized Himself until He dwells now, not in the flesh of one person, Jesus the Nazarene, but He dwells in your flesh and in mine. Even a little child understands what it means to be told, “Let Jesus come into your heart.” Jesus thus dwells in all of us who have opened our hearts to Him, and that opens the door for our salvation and for our identity, too, as sons of God.
What we have failed to understand is that Christ’s teaching is saying, “Just as I am universalized and able to dwell and abide in each of you, so I want you to open your hearts to abide in each other—to be thus one with each other.”
“In that day you shall know that I am in My Father, and you in Me, and I in you.”
Jesus answered and said to him, “If anyone loves Me, he will keep My word; and My Father will love him, and We will come to him, and make Our abode with him.”
“That they may all be one; even as Thou, Father, art in Me, and I in Thee, that they also may be in Us; that the world may believe that Thou didst send Me. And the glory which Thou hast given Me I have given to them; that they may be one, just as We are one; I in them, and Thou in Me, that they may be perfected in unity, that the world may know that Thou didst send Me, and didst love them, even as Thou didst love Me.” John 14:20, 23; 17:21–23.
When we talk about oneness, we are still thinking of togetherness. When we say “oneness,” we mean that we are all going to strive to get together and be in unity. But unity precludes the depth of oneness that God really wants in our hearts. We are to be one; even as He and you and I are one, so we are to be one together. Before we plumb the Scriptures about this, we should face the fact that we withdraw from this oneness; and yet this oneness must come. It must remove domination from the shepherding. It must remove “place and position” which war against this oneness. We have to come to the place where we are one in Christ and one with each other.
Just before the crucifixion Jesus told the disciples, “I will not leave you as orphans; I will come to you. After a little while the world will behold Me no more; but you will behold Me; because I live, you shall live also. In that day you shall know that I am in My Father, and you in Me, and I in you.” John 14:18–20.
We are talking about a dwelling within each other. That is why Paul told the Corinthians, “I have you in my heart.” That is what this message is all about:
“You are in my heart, and I am in your heart.” This is the mystical, spiritual basis of the oneness that God really wants. Our oneness is not an organizational thing. We are one organism, one living thing before God.
Jesus went on to say in John 14:21: “He who has My commandments and keeps them, he it is who loves Me; and he who loves Me shall be loved by My Father, and I will love him, and will disclose Myself to him.” Verse 23: Jesus answered and said to him, “If anyone loves Me, he will keep My word; and My Father will love him, and We will come to him, and make Our abode with him.”
This unfolding thread of thought continues in John 16:1–4: “These things I have spoken to you, that you may be kept from stumbling. They will make you outcasts from the synagogue; but an hour is coming for everyone who kills you to think that he is offering service to God. And these things they will do, because they have not known the Father, or Me. But these things I have spoken to you, that when their hour comes, you may remember that I told you of them. And these things I did not say to you at the beginning, because I was with you.”
Persecution will come with this oneness that we are breaking into. I believe that is why the persecution has come forth at this particular time. As the Words came forth these past few years on relate and communicate—that we must be one, that we cannot be lords over God’s heritage, and that we cannot have ecclesiastical position and still really please God in the Kingdom—then almost immediately there was a withdrawal from the Body by a certain element of people. These people withdrew, not because anyone had really offended them, but because in their hearts they do not want to be one; they want to dominate. They want to be the one that dominates others. And this domination is a spirit of antichrist. They go out from us because they are not of us, nor do they want to be one with us (I John 2:19). This is a very serious explanation of why we see division and persecution coming up. They will not cease to persecute. In fact, the Word says that they will think they are doing God a favor if they kill you (John 16:2). And this is exactly what the defectors have set about to do—to kill, to destroy.
Continuing on into the seventeenth chapter of John, we see what Christ was really saying about all of these things. He prayed to the Father: “I do not ask in behalf of these alone, but for those also who believe in Me through their word; that they may all be one; even as Thou, Father, art in Me, and I in Thee, that they also may be in Us; that the world may believe that Thou didst send Me.” John 17:20–21.
This means that the same oneness which exists in the holy, triune nature of God must exist in the nature of the Body of Christ. We do not argue about the separate persons—Father, Son, and Holy Spirit—so much as we contend for the oneness of their being. And if you cannot understand that the Father and the Son are one, how are you going to understand that they want us to be one in the Father and the Son? It is the same kind of oneness.
This oneness is not something on earth which says, “You get together and form a good united organization. You get into some ecumenical movement in which everyone comes together and tries to hash out their problems, and promises that they will not fight each other.” That is not the oneness Christ was talking about, and it never can be. We have to understand this.
We reject the tyranny of position and organization, and we are coming into the pure oneness and love in the Spirit of God, oneness with the Father.
Jesus continued: “And the glory which Thou hast given Me I have given to them; that they may be one, just as We are one.” Just as the Father and the Son are one, so we are to be one with that same oneness. “I in them, and Thou in Me, that they may be perfected in unity, that the world may know that Thou didst send Me, and didst love them, even as Thou didst love Me.” John 17:22–23.
What a fantastic thing this oneness is! We will never reach maturity or perfection as long as we are independent from this oneness. We will be perfected in one. Do we understand what that means—to be perfected in one?
No conflict has ever come against what we called “the walk” which was not based upon the war against this oneness. “Place and position” as it existed in old order became the issue in this time of walking with God. What do we do about all of this? It will be very clear as we go on to read the rest of these verses.
“Father, I desire that they also, whom Thou hast given Me, be with Me where I am, in order that they may behold My glory, which Thou hast given Me; for Thou didst love Me before the foundation of the world. O righteous Father, although the world has not known Thee, yet I have known Thee; and these have known that Thou didst send Me; and I have made Thy name known to them, and will make it known; that the love wherewith Thou didst love Me may be in them, and I in them.” John 17:24–26.
We must comprehend this oneness. It is a spiritual, mystical thing. You might say, “That all sounds good in theory, but how do we really bring it to pass?” We have the answer to that question in II Corinthians chapters 6 and 7.
In these Scriptures we find the most beautiful and simple picture we have of oneness.
Our mouth has spoken freely to you, O Corinthians, our heart is opened wide. Out of the things Paul had said came the openness of his heart to them. Then he made a very startling statement: You are not restrained by us, but you are restrained in your own affections. Now in a like exchange (he was saying, “Now fair is fair; let’s do this thing both ways”)—I speak as to children—open wide to us also. II Corinthians 6:11–13.
Paul was speaking for the apostolic company when he said, “We open wide to you. Our hearts are open. Now you open wide to us also, in a like exchange.” Then he went on to speak about the separation from any wrong bonds that they might have.
Do not be bound together with unbelievers; for what partnership have righteousness and lawlessness, or what fellowship has light with darkness? Or what harmony has Christ with Belial, or what has a believer in common with an unbeliever? Or what agreement has the temple of God with idols? For we are the temple of the living God; just as God said, “I will dwell in them and walk among them; and I will be their God, and they shall be My people. Therefore, come out from their midst and be separate,” says the Lord. “And do not touch what is unclean; and I will welcome you. And I will be a father to you, and you shall be sons and daughters to Me,” says the Lord Almighty. II Corinthians 6:14–18.
In plain words, Paul was saying, “Come on, let’s open our hearts to each other, and let’s not have any bonds with unbelievers. Let’s not be yoked together with those who are not going to believe the Word of God. Let’s be one together before the Lord.”
In chapter 7, verse 1, he continued: Therefore, having these promises, beloved, let us cleanse ourselves from all defilement of flesh and spirit, perfecting holiness in the fear of God. Then here is the bottom line in verses 2–3: Make room for us in your hearts; we wronged no one, we corrupted no one, we took advantage of no one. I do not speak to condemn you; for I have said before that you are in our hearts to die together and to live together.
I think we are afraid sometimes to cross this threshold and really be one. We are afraid that we will relinquish some individuality, some distinctiveness of personality or quality that makes us who we are; and we do not realize that we will never be the wonderful thing that God wants us to be until we attain to this marvelous oneness. Paul said, “You are not restrained by us. You have restrained yourselves. You have put up walls. We are open in our hearts to you; now you open up too. You take us into your hearts as we take you into our hearts.”
I think the reason the ministries sometimes suffer a great deal of spiritual battle is that they are carrying the people in their hearts; but the people have not always opened their hearts to the leaders whom God has appointed to speak the Word of the Lord to them. The sheep must carry the shepherds in their hearts, too.
We are not going to be bonded with unbelievers, because there is no fellowship, there is no harmony, there is nothing but a draining of life from us when we are one with unbelief. But when we become one together, we make room in our hearts for each other. This is what Paul was saying: “We have wronged no one. Make room in your heart for us. Open up your heart. Take us into your heart today.” This is what oneness really is all about, and it is so simple.
Are you thinking, “I can’t believe it is that simple”?
When the Word comes, “Listen, little children, open your hearts to Jesus,” and they open their hearts to Him, do you believe that Jesus does come into their hearts? Then don’t you believe that we can reach this place where, as sons of God, one son can say to another, “Open your heart to me”? And you say, “Yes, come into my heart, brother; and let me come into your heart, too.” Just as Jesus comes into your heart, so He says, “I just want to be one with you, and I want you all to be one with each other and one with Me and one with the Father.” Doesn’t that make a lot of sense?
Does this mean that we could have a oneness service where everyone would say, “Come into my heart, brother,” and it would work? Absolutely. We have never reduced it down to that simple faith and action which God could bless. We have been afraid to cross this threshold to be one. But now we have crossed it more than we know. Even now, aren’t you touched with the feeling of one another’s infirmities, even as Christ, our High Priest, is touched by your infirmities? (Hebrews 4:15.) Don’t you find that principle working in you already?
We are in a great warfare, but we had better understand what this warfare is all about. We had better know that behind it is the warfare of deception against our being one.
Being one does not mean that you cease to be an individual person. Jesus Christ does not cease to be a Person just because He is one with the Father. And so, neither will you cease to be a person when you become one with Christ. This is a great mystery. It is a mystery as great as the triune being of God Himself. Can there be distinct persons—the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit—yet each of them doing nothing apart from each other? Yes.
It is just as Jesus said, “I am the vine, you are the branches, My Father is the husbandman, and He begins to prune and trim” (John 15:1–6). It is all one operation. We are many members but one Body (I Corinthians 12:12). And that is not an organization; it is one organism, one Body. Oh, I pray to God that we can see this.
Most of the time the enemy is entrenched in the Christian world, because they have come to the place where they are defeated by their own division; if they are divided against themselves, of course they are not going to stand (Matthew 12:25). If they war against even the smallest remnant of God who are one in spirit, they will still be defeated. There can be millions of people in the Christian churches; yet if they are divided against one another, they will not stand.
But if we all come into this oneness—and it is so simple to do—it means that the Father’s love and His will are going to be fulfilled. It means that we will possess, in that oneness, the Father’s love, clothing us, giving us immunity and protection. It can mean that Christ’s victory and Christ’s authority are ours. All these are ours as we are one with Him and we are open to that oneness together. That is why we can ask anything we want in His name and it will be done. What a tremendous truth this is!
“And whatever you ask in My name, that will I do, that the Father may be glorified in the Son. If you ask Me anything in My name, I will do it.”
“In that day you shall know that I am in My Father, and you in Me, and I in you.”
“Abide in Me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself, unless it abides in the vine, so neither can you, unless you abide in Me. I am the vine, you are the branches; he who abides in Me, and I in him, he bears much fruit; for apart from Me you can do nothing. If anyone does not abide in Me, he is thrown away as a branch, and dries up; and they gather them, and cast them into the fire, and they are burned. If you abide in Me, and My words abide in you, ask whatever you wish, and it shall be done for you.” John 14:13–14, 20; 15:4–7.
One of the first things we learned many years ago in the Bless-in services was to take down our walls to God and take down our walls to each other. We were saying, just as Paul said in II Corinthians, “Open up to us. We entreat you, open your heart. Our heart is open to you, and you are in our hearts to live and to die together.”
The warfare that we know is going to be changed. We are going to be less vulnerable in these spiritual assaults that come in an age-end.
This oneness is a step toward the immunity that God wants to give the Body of Christ, His remnant in the end time. One target is harder to hit than many targets. And when we become one in Christ, the devil has to go through Jesus Christ to get to us, because we are all one together. It is when we are divided that we are sitting ducks; we are open to assault.
The more independent you are, the more the enemy can detract you and set you aside from a place of effectiveness—or from a place of doing what the will of God is, although you may think in your mind that you are very effective. This brings us back to John 17, which tells us, “We are going to be made perfect in one.”
Our maturity and our immunity are all tied together with our becoming one in the Lord Jesus Christ.
Do we really perceive how much this is a scriptural picture of what God wants for us? It would help us to see the way Paul voiced this to the Philippians. We have read what Paul said to the Corinthian church; now let’s read almost the same thing, but phrased in different words to the Philippian church.
Only conduct yourselves in a manner worthy of the gospel of Christ; so that whether I come and see you or remain absent, I may hear of you that you are standing firm in one spirit, with one mind striving together for the faith of the gospel. Philippians 1:27.
That is the oneness we want—one mind, one spirit, not united with many spirits in unity but becoming one spirit. We shrink from that loss of individuality; and we should not, because we will never lose our limitations until we lose this measure of independence that we are maintaining. We must truly become one in God.
Paul went on to say what this would entail: … standing firm in one spirit, with one mind striving together for the faith of the gospel; in no way alarmed by your opponents—which is a sign of destruction for them, but of salvation for you, and that too, from God. For to you it has been granted for Christ’s sake, not only to believe in Him, but also to suffer for His sake, experiencing the same conflict which you saw in me, and now hear to be in me. Philippians 1:27–30.
In the second chapter of Philippians Paul went on to talk about the consolation, the fellowship, the oneness, the joy, the love that was to come. This is one of the most fantastic chapters in the Word of God. It tells us how Christ emptied Himself of His own individuality in order that He could become our Savior and our Lord and the Head of the great universal Body of Christ. Paul was saying, “Have the same mind in you which was in Christ. Refuse any longer to be independent, but empty yourself of the independent individuality and become an individual who is one with Christ and one with the brothers, one with those whom God has raised up for you to walk with” (Philippians 2:5–11). “Just open your hearts. You are in our hearts; you open your hearts to us” (II Corinthians 6:11–13).
Could we send a new Kingdom greeting card to one another and say, “I open my heart to you. You open your heart to me. Come in and be one in me, and I will be one in you.”
One more passage that we must consider, because it reveals the negative side of this picture, is I John 2:18–19. Children, it is the last hour; and just as you heard that antichrist is coming, even now many antichrists have arisen; from this we know that it is the last hour. If this Scripture means what it says, then already there are antichrists coming up out of the Body. John wrote of these antichrists, They went out from us, but they were not really of us; for if they had been of us, they would have remained with us … It was their divisiveness which caused them to leave. It was the deceptive device of Satan to divide, but he could do that only with those who refused to be one. They went out from us, because if they had been of us, they would have remained with us; but they went out, in order that it might be shown that they all are not of us. That is a difficult but important passage for us.
This divisive and deceptive spirit which has come against us in this end time is inevitable. It is inevitable that we go through this, because we could not have hit this level, which demands the oneness of the Kingdom, without those who refused to be one defecting and rebelling against it.
The antichrist spirit comes from those who may profess to be Christians, but who refuse to be one in Christ. Did you get that? The antichrist and the antichrist spirit are those who may profess to be Christians and who may have had experiences which were very significant spiritually, and yet the bottom line is that they refuse to be one in Christ.
This Word on oneness has been coming for some time.
Those of you who have been listening to the Living Word and to the Living Word tapes know that “Relate and Communicate” was a whole series of messages continuing over the past few years. The messages on position, and how detrimental it is to our oneness, have come for several years. And every time we preached those Words, we were waving a red flag at the beast and the whore who rides on the beast (Revelation 17:3–6). The enemy was infuriated because behind all of this teaching was the oneness God wanted: “… that the world may believe that Thou didst send Me.” John 17:21. Oh, that seventeenth chapter of John should come alive! Let’s move into this oneness. Open your heart to each other. If the doors seem shut, find the key and open them.
The last cry to the churches is recorded in the third chapter of Revelation: Behold, I stand at the door, and knock: if any man hear my voice, and open the door, I will come in to him, and will sup with him, and he with me. Revelation 3:20, KJV.
There will be mutual communion if we learn that Christ wants to come into a fellowship and a oneness with us that is greater than we have ever seen.
This is the message which ends the messages to the seven churches, and I wonder if it is not really the end-time message which opens the door to the Kingdom. “Open your heart to Me.”
It becomes so important that we strive to be open to the Christ in each other. We must end forever the building of walls against each other or closing the door on one another. Offenses will come, but let me tell you again as I have told you many times: If you are going to love and you want to be one, it is better that you should be wounded while trying to attain that oneness than to build walls and sit behind them and say, “I am not wounded anymore by my brother. I am not offended by him anymore because I have shut him out.” Don’t do that. Tune into each other, and tune out that division and deception which the enemy tries to bring.
This is the most important message on oneness I have ever brought. It is of value to the shepherds in their shepherding the sheep, because it means that they are going to be living in the sheep’s hearts and that the sheep are going to be living in the shepherds’ hearts. That is a lot different than the shepherd having some authority and laying his restraint on the sheep only. Where position has ended, this oneness is greatly possible. And with this new level that is coming to us, we are going to see more and more why God had to destroy position.
Those who had their positions destroyed feel that they were very much offended and sinned against. That is not true! They were the ones who were sinning against the oneness in Christ by maintaining the position in the first place. They say, “Well, we didn’t know.” Maybe they didn’t know, but now they do (John 15:22). There remains no more cloak for your sin if you maintain that you are going to continue on in that dominating position and restraint over the house of God, and that you are going to possess its assets and rule its people. That is certainly the hireling spirit.
“The thief comes only to steal, and kill, and destroy; I came that they might have life, and might have it abundantly. I am the good shepherd; the good shepherd lays down His life for the sheep. He who is a hireling, and not a shepherd, who is not the owner of the sheep, beholds the wolf coming, and leaves the sheep, and flees, and the wolf snatches them, and scatters them. He flees because he is a hireling, and is not concerned about the sheep.” John 10:10–13.
Let’s review by asking ourselves: Are we afraid yet of this oneness? Do we actually understand what those passages in John 17 really teach us? Do we picture what Jesus was saying when He asked of the Father, “that they may all be one; even as Thou, Father, art in Me, and I in Thee, that they also may be in Us; that the world may believe that Thou didst send Me.” John 17:21. The world is not going to believe until it sees this oneness.
Verse 22: “And the glory which Thou hast given Me I have given to them; that they may be one, just as We are one.”
The real power, the glory, the wonder of Christ, His authority, His victory, our immunity in warfare, our overcoming—all are based upon our being one in Him and one with His victory that He has won for us. Lord, help us to see what You have done for us! In these Scriptures Jesus is saying, “I want above everything else this oneness.” And we will have to want this just exactly as much as He does.
Why are we still afraid of this oneness? Is there something in the Adamic nature that wants self-preservation? By that we mean self-preservation—the preservation of the self-life, the preservation of its ambitions, its distinctness, the fact that it can stand high in the world or excel. Is the spirit of competition so great that we cannot overcome it? Or can we become so one that each one seeks not his own welfare but his brother’s? Can we put our brother ahead of ourselves?
Do nothing from selfishness or empty conceit, but with humility of mind let each of you regard one another as more important than himself; do not merely look out for your own personal interests, but also for the interests of others. Philippians 2:3–4.
What are we afraid of? Even if we gained everything in maintaining distinctions and separateness between us, we would still have this preeminent thing: we would have become a fantastic, successful, independent Christian who is not worth anything in the Kingdom of God.
The removing of domination and ambition can take place when we are not afraid to cross this threshold and throw away the key and say, “The door is open.” In fact, do more than just open the door; take the door off the hinges and say, “From now on my heart is really open.”
You say, “I can get hurt that way.”
Maybe, but you will be hurt a lot more if you sit there as an individual under the assault of Satan with the warfare knocking you out until you are ineffective. Our effectiveness is based on the fact that the quicker we are swallowed up in the oneness in Christ Jesus, the better and the more effective we will be. Let’s not be afraid of this oneness.
There is such a warfare against you. And the greatest lie Satan can tell you is this: “You are going to lose out; you’re going to waste your whole life.” If you lose your life for His sake you will really find it.
“He who has found his life shall lose it, and he who has lost his life, for My sake shall find it. He who receives you receives Me, and he who receives Me receives Him who sent Me.” Matthew 10:39–40.
Everything Christ taught comes right back to this principle. Forget about being an individual, distinct from God, who is just saying, “Lord, rain a few blessings on me.” Instead, get right into His heart. Crawl into His heart. Crawl into one another’s hearts and say, “Here I’m going to live.”
Once again let’s read the verses that are so effective in II Corinthians: Therefore, having these promises, beloved, let us cleanse ourselves from all defilement of flesh and spirit, perfecting holiness in the fear of God. Make room for us in your hearts; we wronged no one, we corrupted no one, we took advantage of no one. I do not speak to condemn you; for I have said before that you are in our hearts to die together and to live together. II Corinthians 7:1–3.
Let’s pray, “All right, Lord, it is not my personal survival that is important. I am going to live in the Body and the Body is going to live in me. I am going to live in Christ and Christ is going to live in me. The prayer of John 17 will have its first fulfillment in my life, starting today. I am going to open my heart completely to it. I don’t have to be distinct from anyone else. I open my heart to be one with the Body. That oneness is going to mean the Father’s will and His love fulfilled in my life. It is going to mean that Christ’s victory and authority will be loosed in my life as never before.”
It is all ours as we are one with Him and we are open to this oneness together, to each other. Our walls must be down to each other.
What Paul said to those Corinthians was so significant: “You are not restrained in us; you are restrained in yourselves. Let’s open up to each other. Don’t limit yourself.” You can get this message if you will open your heart not only to the Word, but open your heart to me and say, “I know that you are speaking this Word from God to me. I love you. I open my heart to you and to the Word and to the Christ who speaks this Word to me through you. I open my heart to you, and I know that your heart is open to me.”
Immediately there will not be any awareness of distance, time, or distinctness of personality between us. We are going to flow as one before God, and, as John 17:23 says, we are going to be made perfect in one, perfected in that oneness. That is the way we will reach maturity and become the sons of God; and that is what Romans 8 is all about.
The Kingdom is not going to be a manifestation of many sons in the world; it is going to be a manifestation of many sons who are one in the Son of God, Jesus Christ the Lord. This oneness in Him means that it will be a manifestation of the Christ, the Son of the living God, through a many-membered Body, through a great host of sons who have lost all their personal identity, and they are one in the Lord and nothing can separate them.
This message is like waving a red flag at the beast and the whore who rides it, because it has identified the spirit of antichrist which is behind the division and the deception and the warfare and the persecutions. So let it be. The Word has been spoken and we are going to contend earnestly to believe it and to walk in it and to experience it together in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ. We strive to be openhearted. We strive to be in tune with each other and to tune out this divisive deception so that we can be touched with one another’s infirmities, but more than that, so that we all have an awareness of victory for one another through the perfect victory of Jesus Christ.
As startling and as challenging as this message is, I think one of the most difficult things for us to accept in it is the fact that it is really identifying the spirit of antichrist. Let’s read very carefully the first four verses of I John chapter 4.
Beloved, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits to see whether they are from God; because many false prophets have gone out into the world. By this you know the Spirit of God: every spirit that confesses that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is from God; and every spirit that does not confess Jesus is not from God; and this is the spirit of the antichrist, of which you have heard that it is coming, and now it is already in the world. You are from God, little children, and have overcome them; because greater is He who is in you than he who is in the world. I John 4:1–4.
For us to see the full meaning of this passage of Scripture we must understand that a person could call devils up all the time and they would confess that Jesus is the Son of God come in the flesh. They would confess that freely, and they would laugh at that person because he does not understand the Scriptures. There were many devils who came and confessed to Jesus, saying, “We know who Thou art.”
And just then there was in their synagogue a man with an unclean spirit; and he cried out, saying, “What do we have to do with You, Jesus of Nazareth? Have You come to destroy us? I know who You are—the Holy One of God!” And Jesus rebuked him, saying, “Be quiet, and come out of him!” And throwing him into convulsions, the unclean spirit cried out with a loud voice, and came out of him. Mark 1:23–26.
If those devils had followed some people’s interpretation of the Scripture, they would have said, “We deny that you are the Son of God.” But they did not; they confessed it. The devils will confess that Jesus Christ came in flesh, but the devils will not confess that Jesus Christ is coming in your flesh. It is the oneness of Christ coming in you that they fight because that dooms them. When we believe and we are one in Christ and Christ is one in us and we say, “Yes, Christ is come in our flesh,” then we have opened the door to the oneness and the victory through which Christ is going to judge the world and establish His Kingdom. John said, “You are from God, little children, because He who is in you is greater than he who is in the world” (I John 4:4). And we believe that with all of our heart.
This, of course, is in keeping with the teaching that Christ gave in the parable in Matthew 25 about how He is identified with His brethren. When He gathered the people in, He said to the goats, “… ‘Depart from Me, accursed ones, into the eternal fire which has been prepared for the devil and his angels.’ ” Matthew 25:41. That is how much the refusing to recognize the Christ was identified with the antichrist spirit and the judgments at that time. We know when this is to happen; the parable begins by saying, “But when the Son of Man comes in His glory …” Matthew 25:31. This is to happen when the Kingdom is to be established in all nations.
Matthew 25:41–45: “Then He will also say to those on His left, ‘Depart from Me, accursed ones, into the eternal fire which has been prepared for the devil and his angels; for I was hungry, and you gave Me nothing to eat; I was thirsty, and you gave Me nothing to drink; I was a stranger, and you did not invite Me in; naked, and you did not clothe Me; sick, and in prison, and you did not visit Me.’ Then they themselves also will answer, saying, ‘Lord, when did we see You hungry, or thirsty, or a stranger, or naked, or sick, or in prison, and did not take care of You?’ Then He will answer them, saying, ‘Truly I say to you, to the extent that you did not do it to one of the least of these, you did not do it to Me.’ ”
We must understand that judgment will be based upon the attitude of the so-called Christian world in their total rejection and division from those in whom Christ is one. Jesus finished this parable by saying, “And these will go away into eternal punishment, but the righteous into eternal life.” Matthew 25:46.
We should begin to search the Word to see how drastic, how definite are the decisions and the judgments of God against this division and refusal of oneness. There is no other plan of God except that we will all be made one in Christ Jesus the Lord. God was in Christ redeeming the world unto Himself (II Corinthians 5:18–20), and we must see that God’s whole purpose is to bring all of us back into one Spirit with Himself. God does not want one religion or a dozen religions trying to get along together; rather, He wants one Spirit before the Lord. And this is what God says is the overcoming of the spirit of antichrist. We refuse to be divided. Those who refused to be one with us went out from us that they might be manifested that they were not all of us. This is so important for us to know.
I would like to continue this discussion about I John chapter 4, because the spirit of antichrist and the spirit of the false prophets should be identified so that we understand the real scriptural basis of it.
Verse 1: Beloved, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits to see whether they are from God; because many false prophets have gone out into the world.
This is talking not so much about the people out in the world, some demonic religion that comes up; but rather it is talking about the false prophets that come out of the Body.
By this you know the Spirit of God: every spirit that confesses that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is from God. Verse 2.
The issue is not that He came in the flesh the first time, but that He is coming forth in the flesh of His many-membered Body now.
And every spirit that does not confess Jesus is not from God; and this is the spirit of the antichrist, of which you have heard that it is coming, and now it is already in the world. You are from God, little children, and have overcome them. Verses 3–4a.
“You have overcome them” is an important statement, because the first verse speaks about the false prophets and then the third verse speaks about the spirit of antichrist and says, “You have overcome them.” Whom have you overcome? Those who went out from us because they were not all of us. Thus we see that the spirit of antichrist had to originate within the Body.
Verse 5: They are from the world; therefore they speak as from the world, and the world listens to them.
This is true of the people who have drawn away from this walk with God. You will find that the world can understand what they are saying, although the world will not accept the Word.
But verse 6 says, We are from God; he who knows God listens to us; he who is not from God does not listen to us. By this we know the spirit of truth and the spirit of error.
And so, the spirit of truth is almost always identified by the fact that the world will not listen to it, and that it does not sound right to the world. This is why the things in the media and the persecutions and what the defectors say all seem very logical to the world; and they wonder, “What kind of people are they?” But we who hear from God know that we have had a Living Word from the Lord, and those who are from the Lord hear us. That is true.
Once we identify this spirit of antichrist and get in our mind the truth that this spirit is going to be in those who have withdrawn from the Body, then we can go on to understand verse 13.
By this we know that we abide in Him and He in us, because He has given us of His Spirit.
That is so important—to know that we are abiding in Him because He has given us of His Spirit. We know the difference between the spirit of truth and the spirit of error: first, by the fact that the spirit of truth is not received by the world or understood by the world, while the spirit of error is received; and second, we know because we abide in Him as identified by the Spirit that we have. And we know, of course, that the spirit of those of error is wrong.
Verse 15: Whoever confesses that Jesus is the Son of God, God abides in him, and he in God.
This chapter brings us right back to this thing of oneness. Several verses, including verses 13, 15, and 16, keep using the word “abide,” speaking about living in God, and God in us. Tracing that word “abide” in the Greek, we see that it is the word meno, which means “to remain” or “to continue in.” The Lord is saying, “Stay in Me in that oneness; live in Me; continue in Me; let Me be your permanent residing place.” It comes back to the Word that has been coming: We open our heart and we live in each other. Jesus is saying, “Open the door and we will abide together. We will live together. We will remain always in this oneness that we are going to attain together.”
Verses 15–16: Whoever confesses that Jesus is the Son of God, God abides in him, and he in God. And we have come to know and have believed the love which God has for us. God is love, and the one who abides in love abides in God, and God abides in him.
John talks so much about this word “abiding,” living in God, remaining, continuing. More than living, it is a remaining in Him. And that word is repeated in John 15 a great deal where Jesus spoke about abiding in the vine (John 15:4–6).
We read also in I John 4:17: By this, love is perfected with us, that we may have confidence in the day of judgment; because as He is, so also are we in this world.
We manifest Christ in the earth. He is in us. As He is, so are we in this world. There is no difference. This is the identification of the spirit that is in the false prophets—the spirit of error—as opposed to the spirit that is in us, which is the spirit of oneness with God. We cannot get away from the fact that the most important thing we can do is to learn how to relate, communicate, and be one and open the door to live in one another.
Of course, this is no new revelation. Psalm 91 reveals one of the highest planes of living we could know: He that dwelleth in the secret place of the most High shall abide under the shadow of the Almighty. Psalm 91:1, KJV. All the blessings and immunities of Psalm 91 came because the people were living in God. Psalm 90 begins, Lord, thou hast been our dwelling place in all generations. Verse 1, KJV. The great saints of God have learned to live in God, and that is exactly what the end-time saints must learn. This oneness is going to come forth because that is the whole plan of God. God is opening the door to us for this.
Oh, that we could all see this and hear it, that we could say to the Lord, “Lord, You are in my heart.” And the Lord would say to us, “You are in My heart, son.” And we could say to our brother, “Brother, you are in my heart.” And our brother would say to us, “You are in my heart, too.” It is dwelling in one another, abiding in one another, continuing to see that there shall be no division. And this is the difference between the spirit of truth and the spirit of error. It boils down to something very simple.
We have said that the war is over the Word, but it includes one very important aspect of the Word: The war is over the oneness that the Word describes. We are going to enter into the Kingdom as one; we will not make it as individuals who are divided from each other. All that happens when people withdraw and refuse to walk as one is that they seal their own rejection from the Kingdom. We will not make it into the Kingdom without this oneness. To be divided from the Body is to be excluded from the Kingdom level that is coming now.
This has to be understood. Don’t do anything but pity those who had so much of that false-prophet, antichrist spirit that they did not see that the greatest truth of all time is the truth that Jesus Christ is coming forth in our flesh. And when they refused to see that and to embrace the Christ in us, they also embraced the spirit of error, the spirit of antichrist that excludes them from the Kingdom of God.
Satan has had a heyday with those who refuse to be one in Christ.
Just as our Lord can abide in each of His believers, so He wants us to open our hearts to abide in each other.
God wants the same oneness in His people as exists in the oneness of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.
We must reject the divisions of organizations and accept the organism of the Body of Christ.
No one of us can attain the wonderful thing God wants us to be as long as we restrain ourselves by our individuality and division.
Christ’s victory and authority is manifested in us when we are one with Him and one with each other.
Immunity and victorious warfare is attained in our oneness with the Lord. It is harder for our enemy to hit one, than many.
We will lose our limitations when we lose our independence. In our oneness, we create and complete one another.
The successful, independent Christian will not be worth much in the Kingdom; he will have no defense against the antichrist spirit.
The manifestation of the sons of God will come as those sons are one in Christ Jesus the Son of God.
Satan has a heyday with those who refuse to be one in Christ.