Reading the Bible by Itself does not bring forth unity among believers!
It is estimated that there are more than 45,000 denominations globally. Followers of Jesus span the globe. But the global body of more than 2 billion Christians is separated into thousands of denominations. Pentecostal, Presbyterian, Lutheran, Baptist, Apostolic, Methodist — the list goes on.
If they all have Bibles, why aren’t the 2 billion Christians in unity? Words written on white pages are not sufficient to bring forth unity in THE SPIRIT.
Jesus spoke in John chapter 10:
27 My sheep hear My Voice, and I know them, and they follow Me.
There are three qualifiers of true believers mentioned by Jesus:
They hear His Voice
Jesus knows, recognizes, and acknowledges them
They follow/obey Him
Jesus did not say that reading Scripture would qualify you as sheep. The Pharisees knew the Scripture but could not hear Jesus. Sheep will only respond to One Voice and no other! Understanding this Truth is vital to our future.
Jesus spoke in Matthew chapter 25:
31 “When the Son of Man comes in His glory, and all the Holy angels with Him, then He will sit on the Throne of His glory.
32 All the nations will be gathered before Him, and He will separate them one from another, as a shepherd divides his sheep from the goats.
33 And He will set the sheep on His Right Hand, but the goats on the left.
34 Then the King will say to those on His Right Hand, ‘Come, you blessed of My Father, inherit the Kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world:
35 for I was hungry and you gave Me food; I was thirsty and you gave Me drink; I was a stranger and you took Me in;
36 I was naked and you clothed Me; I was sick and you visited Me; I was in prison and you came to Me.’
Jesus gave us qualifiers that identified His true sheep. He listed some of their actions that resulted from hearing His Voice.
37 “Then the righteous will answer Him, saying, ‘Lord, when did we see You hungry and feed You, or thirsty and give You drink?
38 When did we see You a stranger and take You in, or naked and clothe You?
39 Or when did we see You sick, or in prison, and come to You?’
40 And the King will answer and say to them, ‘Assuredly, I say to you, inasmuch as you did it to one of the least of these My brethren, you did it to Me.’
We must keep our hearing sensitive to this expectation that Jesus shared.
41 “Then He will also say to those on the Left Hand, ‘Depart from Me, you cursed, into the everlasting fire prepared for the devil and his angels:
42 for I was hungry and you gave Me no food; I was thirsty and you gave Me no drink;
43 I was a stranger and you did not take Me in, naked and you did not clothe Me, sick and in prison and you did not visit Me.’
Those who are greedy and self-centered are classified as goats. Goats cannot be led by a shepherd. They are stubborn.
44 “Then they also will answer Him, saying, ‘Lord, when did we see You hungry or thirsty or a stranger or naked or sick or in prison, and did not minister to You?’ 45 Then He will answer them, saying, ‘Assuredly, I say to you, inasmuch as you did not do it to one of the least of these, you did not do it to Me.’
46 And these will go away into everlasting punishment, but the righteous into eternal life.”
Each of us must critically assess where we stand in responding to The Holy Spirit. Reading the Bible without hearing The Holy Spirit is not the answer. The prophets had to hear The Word in order to carry out their mission. We do too!
Those who develop their ability to hear what The Holy Spirit is directing, will come into unity with other believers. They will all walk in Holiness.