Jesus' prayer, "Be One"
JESUS PRAYED THAT WE BE ONE:
In John 17:20-23a, Jesus prayed that we be one: “My prayer is not for them alone. I pray also for those who will believe in me through their message, that all of them may be one, Father, just as you are in me and I am in you. May they also be in us so that the world may believe that you have sent me. I have given them the glory that you gave me, that they may be one as we are one--I in them and you in me—so that they may be brought to complete unity". And Ephesians 4:3-6 (NIV) teaches, "Make every effort to keep the unity of the Spirit through the bond of peace. There is one body and one Spirit, just as you were called to one hope when you were called; one Lord, one faith, one baptism; one God and Father of all, who is over all and through all and in all."
BEGIN BY THE SPIRIT, CONTINUE BY THE SPIRIT:
The church began on the day of Pentecost by the Spirit (Acts 2), not by men. We are servants of the Father, Son, and Spirit and we must follow and not lead the Father, Son, and Spirit. But men have led off in every different and separate way and we have followed them, and now we must stop following men and follow the Father, Son, and Spirit back to be one. On the high mountain where the transfiguration of Jesus occurred before Peter, James, and John, the Father commanded concerning his Son, "Listen to him" (Matthew 17:5b NIV). Jesus answered, “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me" (John 14:6 NIV). We must listen to Jesus and return from our different and separate ways of men, return from our different and separate churches of men, to Jesus' way, and be one!
TEACH THEM TO OBEY EVERYTHING I HAVE COMMANDED YOU:
In Matthew 28:18-20 NIV, it is written, 'Then Jesus came to them and said, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age”' (Matthew 28:18-20 NIV).
* Notice that Jesus commands his disciples to baptize them; the Greek word “baptizo” means to “immerse.”
* Notice that Jesus commands his disciples to teach them "to obey everything I have commanded you". The disciples are not to teach them to obey some things, or other things, but everything.
64,000 DOES NOT EQUAL ONE:
Today, some have reckoned there are now 64,000 different Christian church denominations, each with their own unique teachings that separate one from another. Christ did not give the command to go into all the world and preach 64,000 different gospels to all nations. Our denominations, our divisions, and all that divides us is are not from Christ, but from man. Now, Christ wants his church back to the way it began, the way it was given, not divided, but one. We can't choose one of the 64,000 different Christian church denominations, and follow it. Through the Holy Spirit we must "Listen to Him (Jesus)" (Matthew 17:5b NIV), and follow him back to one!
KEY THINGS WE MUST STOP AND KEY THINGS WE MUST START:
We must stop the different names that divide Christ's kingdom into separate denominations.
We must stop teaching traditions by men which give the denominations their differences.
We must only teach what is in the Bible.
We must stop ignoring and avoiding Scripture that is in the Bible.
We must never call our own church the only true church that is the only exclusively correct way to heaven.
We must together come in oneness into Christ who is the only way to heaven!
WE ARE STILL WORLDLY:
Apostle Paul corrected and taught against divisions in the Corinthian church, saying, '... One of you says, "I follow Paul"; another, "I follow Apollos"; another, "I follow Apollos"; another, "I follow Cephas"; still another, "I follow Christ." Is Christ divided? Was Paul crucified for you? Were you baptized into the name of Paul?' (1 Corinthians 1:12b-13 NIV). And again Apostle Paul rebukes the Corinthian church, saying, "Brothers and sisters, I could not address you as people who live by the Spirit but as people who are still worldly—mere infants in Christ. I gave you milk, not solid food, for you were not yet ready for it. Indeed, you are still not ready. You are still worldly. For since there is jealousy and quarreling among you, are you not worldly? Are you not acting like mere humans? For when one says, “I follow Paul,” and another, “I follow Apollos,” are you not mere human beings?" (1 Corinthians 3:1-4 NIV).
UNITY IN AND THROUGH DIVERSITY IS WORLDLY:
Today, what would Apostle Paul have to say about what some have calculated to be 64,000 denominations, divisions? Would he commend or rebuke the church leaders? Paul would not commend, but rebuke. Would Paul swallow the twisting and watering down of the Scriptures by church leaders teaching unity in and through diversity? No! It is sin to rebel and disobey God, and the denominations are evidence of today's rebellion and disobedience against God, and are sin. God's season for his patience has ended, and the season for our repentance has come. It's time to repent, to grow up, to mature, to stop being worldly, to live by the Spirit, and to come back to be one. Paul corrected the Corinthians for dividing along the lines of 'I follow or am of Paul', 'I follow or am of Apollos', instead of following and being one in Christ and Christ alone.
CHRIST IN THE VALENTINE PROPHECIES CORRECTS DIVISIONS IN THE CHURCH:
Today, Christ corrects us in The Valentine Prophecies because we are divided along the lines of 'I follow or am of the Baptists', or 'I follow or am of the Catholics', or 'I follow or am of the Pentecostals', or 'I follow or am of another'. Our churches did not die for us, Christ did, and Christ is not divided, but one. We must leave the sinful way of our denominations and divisions, and return to the one way of Jesus and Jesus only, back to be one! Jesus rebuked the Pharisees and teachers of the law when he said, "You have let go of the commands of God and are holding on to human traditions” (Mark 7:8 NIV). Today, church leaders have let go of God's commands and are holding to human traditions, but now we must let go of our traditions of men, and take hold of God's commands and be one. There is only one gospel of our one Lord Jesus Christ and all we have to do is live by the Spirit, walk in his counsel, obey God and Christ, and let go of our denominations and all our teachings and traditions of men, and follow Jesus only!
ONE WHEN PERSECUTED:
Lutheran Pastor Dr Richard Wurmbrand was imprisoned and tortured for Christ in Romania for many years. His freedom was finally bought and in the USA he told the story of Christ visiting him while he was waiting to die in solitary. Christ kept Richard from dying. Prisoners were tortured not because they were a member of a denomination, but because they refused to deny Christ. In prison believers in Christ were not divided. So it was that Christians were one under persecution, but divided in freedom.
DENOMINATIONS TRY TO BIND THE SPIRIT TO FIT THEIR CHURCH:
The Spirit is free, and so are those born of the Spirit (John 3:8), but organised religion is not free, and the Father, Son, and Spirit are not a good fit in any denomination, but only fit the church that Father, Son, and Spirit began on Pentecost. Organised religion approaches and uses the Scriptures in ways that God never has nor ever will.
TRADITIONS VERSES GOD:
When we hold to traditions not in the Bible and/or refuse to heed teachings in the Bible, we put ourselves in the place of God, we have become our own God, and we are idolaters. God in The Valentine Prophecies rebukes and corrects church leaders because they have given up things of God but will not give up things of men. In The Valentine Prophecies God accuses church leaders of pleasing their churches above pleasing God, and caring more about what men think of them, than what God thinks of them.
THE COST OF BEING A DISCIPLE:
In The Valentine Prophecies, God accuses church leaders of being afraid to change and follow Jesus only, because their church may remove them from their pastoral position, rendering them unemployed, unpaid, and their good name as a Baptist, Catholic, or Pentecostal may go, and leave them with no respect, no support, and no friends. Being a disciple of men is easier and pays more than being a disciple of Christ. But Jesus said, "In the same way, those of you who do not give up everything you have cannot be my disciples" (Luke 14:33 NIV). I know a man who lost his pastoral position after reading The Valentine Prophecies and knowing he had to change, but few leaders break free.
ARE WE GOD?
If God teaches one thing and we teach another, we have to change, not God. God will not follow us, but we must follow God. When we all follow only God we will all be one.
'PROTECTING' THE FLOCK FROM GOD:
The church in Jesus' day was the temple and synagogue worship and the church leaders were the Pharisees who saw Jesus as a threat to silence. Today, church leaders can do similarly, and unwittingly in their conscientious desire to protect the flock from error, ironically become wolves 'protecting' the flock from God. The Pharisees were not listening to God and became his enemy, but when we hear God speak as Jesus did, we can know with certainty from him when he brings reformation to bless his flock! Pharisee Paul was zealous, but harmed God's church until he met, heard, knew, and followed Christ as Apostle Paul, and leaders today must hear, know, and follow Christ.
HOW CAN CHRIST BE HEAD OF HIS CHURCH WHEN LEADERS CANNOT HEAR HIM?
"For the husband is the head of the wife as Christ is the head of the church, his body, of which he is the Savior" (Ephesians 5:23 NIV).
The relationship and oneness and connection between husband and wife requires communication. Similarly, the relationship and oneness and connection between Christ and his church requires communication. As Acts records, it is imperative that church leaders hear the voice of Father, Son, and Spirit so the church is directed from heaven. As it stands today, the church is directed by church leaders and not God, and this is not the way of the New Testament church. Church leaders must repent and restore their connection to Christ, the Head of the church. Church leaders must immediately stop usurping Christ as Head, and reinstate Christ as Head of his church and obey him!
TEACH LIKE JESUS, HEARING AND SEEING WHAT THE FATHER IS SPEAKING AND DOING:
Jesus said, "Anyone who does not love me will not obey my teaching. These words you hear are not my own; they belong to the Father who sent me" (John 14:24 NIV).
* Notice that Jesus spoke his Father's words, not his own, so the teaching of the truth of heaven was the teaching of the truth on earth.
Jesus said, "For I did not speak on my own, but the Father who sent me commanded me to say all that I have spoken" (John 12:49 NIV).
* Notice that Jesus spoke only what the Father commanded him to say, which is how the truth of heaven also becomes heaven's truth on earth.
"Jesus gave them this answer: “Very truly I tell you, the Son can do nothing by himself; he can do only what he sees his Father doing, because whatever the Father does the Son also does" (John 519 NIV).
* Notice that Jesus does nothing on his own, but he only does what he first sees the Father doing, which is how the kingdom in heaven and the kingdom on earth is one.
In The Valentine Prophecies and in Christ's church reformation workshop delivered from God to me (David Dellit), God commands teachers of his lambs to teach like Jesus!
In John 17:20-23a, Jesus prayed that we be one: “My prayer is not for them alone. I pray also for those who will believe in me through their message, that all of them may be one, Father, just as you are in me and I am in you. May they also be in us so that the world may believe that you have sent me. I have given them the glory that you gave me, that they may be one as we are one--I in them and you in me—so that they may be brought to complete unity". And Ephesians 4:3-6 (NIV) teaches, "Make every effort to keep the unity of the Spirit through the bond of peace. There is one body and one Spirit, just as you were called to one hope when you were called; one Lord, one faith, one baptism; one God and Father of all, who is over all and through all and in all."
BEGIN BY THE SPIRIT, CONTINUE BY THE SPIRIT:
The church began on the day of Pentecost by the Spirit (Acts 2), not by men. We are servants of the Father, Son, and Spirit and we must follow and not lead the Father, Son, and Spirit. But men have led off in every different and separate way and we have followed them, and now we must stop following men and follow the Father, Son, and Spirit back to be one. On the high mountain where the transfiguration of Jesus occurred before Peter, James, and John, the Father commanded concerning his Son, "Listen to him" (Matthew 17:5b NIV). Jesus answered, “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me" (John 14:6 NIV). We must listen to Jesus and return from our different and separate ways of men, return from our different and separate churches of men, to Jesus' way, and be one!
TEACH THEM TO OBEY EVERYTHING I HAVE COMMANDED YOU:
In Matthew 28:18-20 NIV, it is written, 'Then Jesus came to them and said, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age”' (Matthew 28:18-20 NIV).
* Notice that Jesus commands his disciples to baptize them; the Greek word “baptizo” means to “immerse.”
* Notice that Jesus commands his disciples to teach them "to obey everything I have commanded you". The disciples are not to teach them to obey some things, or other things, but everything.
64,000 DOES NOT EQUAL ONE:
Today, some have reckoned there are now 64,000 different Christian church denominations, each with their own unique teachings that separate one from another. Christ did not give the command to go into all the world and preach 64,000 different gospels to all nations. Our denominations, our divisions, and all that divides us is are not from Christ, but from man. Now, Christ wants his church back to the way it began, the way it was given, not divided, but one. We can't choose one of the 64,000 different Christian church denominations, and follow it. Through the Holy Spirit we must "Listen to Him (Jesus)" (Matthew 17:5b NIV), and follow him back to one!
KEY THINGS WE MUST STOP AND KEY THINGS WE MUST START:
We must stop the different names that divide Christ's kingdom into separate denominations.
We must stop teaching traditions by men which give the denominations their differences.
We must only teach what is in the Bible.
We must stop ignoring and avoiding Scripture that is in the Bible.
We must never call our own church the only true church that is the only exclusively correct way to heaven.
We must together come in oneness into Christ who is the only way to heaven!
WE ARE STILL WORLDLY:
Apostle Paul corrected and taught against divisions in the Corinthian church, saying, '... One of you says, "I follow Paul"; another, "I follow Apollos"; another, "I follow Apollos"; another, "I follow Cephas"; still another, "I follow Christ." Is Christ divided? Was Paul crucified for you? Were you baptized into the name of Paul?' (1 Corinthians 1:12b-13 NIV). And again Apostle Paul rebukes the Corinthian church, saying, "Brothers and sisters, I could not address you as people who live by the Spirit but as people who are still worldly—mere infants in Christ. I gave you milk, not solid food, for you were not yet ready for it. Indeed, you are still not ready. You are still worldly. For since there is jealousy and quarreling among you, are you not worldly? Are you not acting like mere humans? For when one says, “I follow Paul,” and another, “I follow Apollos,” are you not mere human beings?" (1 Corinthians 3:1-4 NIV).
UNITY IN AND THROUGH DIVERSITY IS WORLDLY:
Today, what would Apostle Paul have to say about what some have calculated to be 64,000 denominations, divisions? Would he commend or rebuke the church leaders? Paul would not commend, but rebuke. Would Paul swallow the twisting and watering down of the Scriptures by church leaders teaching unity in and through diversity? No! It is sin to rebel and disobey God, and the denominations are evidence of today's rebellion and disobedience against God, and are sin. God's season for his patience has ended, and the season for our repentance has come. It's time to repent, to grow up, to mature, to stop being worldly, to live by the Spirit, and to come back to be one. Paul corrected the Corinthians for dividing along the lines of 'I follow or am of Paul', 'I follow or am of Apollos', instead of following and being one in Christ and Christ alone.
CHRIST IN THE VALENTINE PROPHECIES CORRECTS DIVISIONS IN THE CHURCH:
Today, Christ corrects us in The Valentine Prophecies because we are divided along the lines of 'I follow or am of the Baptists', or 'I follow or am of the Catholics', or 'I follow or am of the Pentecostals', or 'I follow or am of another'. Our churches did not die for us, Christ did, and Christ is not divided, but one. We must leave the sinful way of our denominations and divisions, and return to the one way of Jesus and Jesus only, back to be one! Jesus rebuked the Pharisees and teachers of the law when he said, "You have let go of the commands of God and are holding on to human traditions” (Mark 7:8 NIV). Today, church leaders have let go of God's commands and are holding to human traditions, but now we must let go of our traditions of men, and take hold of God's commands and be one. There is only one gospel of our one Lord Jesus Christ and all we have to do is live by the Spirit, walk in his counsel, obey God and Christ, and let go of our denominations and all our teachings and traditions of men, and follow Jesus only!
ONE WHEN PERSECUTED:
Lutheran Pastor Dr Richard Wurmbrand was imprisoned and tortured for Christ in Romania for many years. His freedom was finally bought and in the USA he told the story of Christ visiting him while he was waiting to die in solitary. Christ kept Richard from dying. Prisoners were tortured not because they were a member of a denomination, but because they refused to deny Christ. In prison believers in Christ were not divided. So it was that Christians were one under persecution, but divided in freedom.
DENOMINATIONS TRY TO BIND THE SPIRIT TO FIT THEIR CHURCH:
The Spirit is free, and so are those born of the Spirit (John 3:8), but organised religion is not free, and the Father, Son, and Spirit are not a good fit in any denomination, but only fit the church that Father, Son, and Spirit began on Pentecost. Organised religion approaches and uses the Scriptures in ways that God never has nor ever will.
TRADITIONS VERSES GOD:
When we hold to traditions not in the Bible and/or refuse to heed teachings in the Bible, we put ourselves in the place of God, we have become our own God, and we are idolaters. God in The Valentine Prophecies rebukes and corrects church leaders because they have given up things of God but will not give up things of men. In The Valentine Prophecies God accuses church leaders of pleasing their churches above pleasing God, and caring more about what men think of them, than what God thinks of them.
THE COST OF BEING A DISCIPLE:
In The Valentine Prophecies, God accuses church leaders of being afraid to change and follow Jesus only, because their church may remove them from their pastoral position, rendering them unemployed, unpaid, and their good name as a Baptist, Catholic, or Pentecostal may go, and leave them with no respect, no support, and no friends. Being a disciple of men is easier and pays more than being a disciple of Christ. But Jesus said, "In the same way, those of you who do not give up everything you have cannot be my disciples" (Luke 14:33 NIV). I know a man who lost his pastoral position after reading The Valentine Prophecies and knowing he had to change, but few leaders break free.
ARE WE GOD?
If God teaches one thing and we teach another, we have to change, not God. God will not follow us, but we must follow God. When we all follow only God we will all be one.
'PROTECTING' THE FLOCK FROM GOD:
The church in Jesus' day was the temple and synagogue worship and the church leaders were the Pharisees who saw Jesus as a threat to silence. Today, church leaders can do similarly, and unwittingly in their conscientious desire to protect the flock from error, ironically become wolves 'protecting' the flock from God. The Pharisees were not listening to God and became his enemy, but when we hear God speak as Jesus did, we can know with certainty from him when he brings reformation to bless his flock! Pharisee Paul was zealous, but harmed God's church until he met, heard, knew, and followed Christ as Apostle Paul, and leaders today must hear, know, and follow Christ.
HOW CAN CHRIST BE HEAD OF HIS CHURCH WHEN LEADERS CANNOT HEAR HIM?
"For the husband is the head of the wife as Christ is the head of the church, his body, of which he is the Savior" (Ephesians 5:23 NIV).
The relationship and oneness and connection between husband and wife requires communication. Similarly, the relationship and oneness and connection between Christ and his church requires communication. As Acts records, it is imperative that church leaders hear the voice of Father, Son, and Spirit so the church is directed from heaven. As it stands today, the church is directed by church leaders and not God, and this is not the way of the New Testament church. Church leaders must repent and restore their connection to Christ, the Head of the church. Church leaders must immediately stop usurping Christ as Head, and reinstate Christ as Head of his church and obey him!
TEACH LIKE JESUS, HEARING AND SEEING WHAT THE FATHER IS SPEAKING AND DOING:
Jesus said, "Anyone who does not love me will not obey my teaching. These words you hear are not my own; they belong to the Father who sent me" (John 14:24 NIV).
* Notice that Jesus spoke his Father's words, not his own, so the teaching of the truth of heaven was the teaching of the truth on earth.
Jesus said, "For I did not speak on my own, but the Father who sent me commanded me to say all that I have spoken" (John 12:49 NIV).
* Notice that Jesus spoke only what the Father commanded him to say, which is how the truth of heaven also becomes heaven's truth on earth.
"Jesus gave them this answer: “Very truly I tell you, the Son can do nothing by himself; he can do only what he sees his Father doing, because whatever the Father does the Son also does" (John 519 NIV).
* Notice that Jesus does nothing on his own, but he only does what he first sees the Father doing, which is how the kingdom in heaven and the kingdom on earth is one.
In The Valentine Prophecies and in Christ's church reformation workshop delivered from God to me (David Dellit), God commands teachers of his lambs to teach like Jesus!