All One in Christ Jesus (Galatians 3:26-29)

In this part of the sermon: Donnelly begins by acknowledging the widespread disunity in the professing church, from major segments like Roman Catholicism and Protestantism to numerous denominational…

Donnelly recounts a banner with 'All one in Christ Jesus' at an interdenominational conference in his youth. He notes that while inspiring, this unity was often superficial and didn't translate into daily life, highlighting the challenge of practical unity.

All one in Christ Jesus. All one in Christ Jesus. These were the words. These were the words inscribed on a cloth banner which was hung each year at the front of a large tent in a seaside town in Northern Ireland in my youth.

3:26 - 3:53 Read in full sermon

In this part of the sermon: Donnelly begins by acknowledging the widespread disunity in the professing church, from major segments like Roman Catholicism and Protestantism to numerous denominational…

His church history professor's story about a Baptist denomination splitting over the ethical question of lying to protect children from Indians illustrates the extreme and sometimes absurd divisions within Protestantism.

And then there are Evangelical Presbyterians, and Irish Presbyterians, and Free Presbyterians, and Non-Subscribing Presbyterians. And if we were to cross the Atlantic, there would be Bibles, and Orthodox Presbyterians, and all sorts of different brands of Presbyterians. No doubt the same is true for Baptists. My church history professor used to tell us, I don't know whether he was speaking with his tongue in his cheek or not, he told us that there used to be in America one small Baptist denomination who were known as the Lying Baptists. He told us that in the mid-1800s a theoretical question w...

6:54 - 8:17 Read in full sermon

In this part of the sermon: Donnelly begins by acknowledging the widespread disunity in the professing church, from major segments like Roman Catholicism and Protestantism to numerous denominational…

As a missionary in Cyprus, Donnelly and his colleagues decided against forming a 94th Protestant denomination in Beirut, illustrating the overwhelming and perhaps counterproductive fragmentation of the church.

At that stage Beirut was the missionary and religious capital of the Middle East. And there were Christians there who appreciated his ministry, and they asked if he would come over to Beirut and to start in Beirut a Reformed Presbyterian church. And in considering that request, we made some inquiries. And we found out, and I think I've got the figure correct, that there were already 93 Protestant denominations in the city of Beirut worshipping and witnessing.

9:01 - 9:37 Read in full sermon

Driving home: The church is not a mechanism in which the parts precede the whole but an organism in which the whole is prior to the parts.

Using Berkhoff's distinction, Donnelly explains that the church is like an embryo (an organism, whole from inception) rather than a clock (a mechanism, built from separate parts), emphasizing that unity is inherent, not constructed.

You have an idea in your head you have a blueprint in your mind of where you want to go but the clock maker has all the pieces around him and he takes the pieces and we're not constructing a mechanism. We're not taking separate bits and building them together. The church is an organism. An organism like the embryo in the mother's womb.

17:42 - 18:08 Read in full sermon

In this part of the sermon: Donnelly outlines seven dimensions of Christian unity: in the covenant of redemption before creation, throughout the Old Testament as God's one people, at Calvary through Christ's…

The hope of the 'seed of the woman' throughout the Old Testament, from Eve to Herod, illustrates the continuous, unified expectation of the Messiah and Satan's attempts to thwart God's redemptive plan.

Before the beginning of time in the council of the triune God we were all one in Christ Jesus. And secondly we were all one in Christ in the Old Testament. In the Old Testament. In Genesis 3.15 God said to the devil I will put enmity between you and the woman and between your seed and her seed he shall bruise your head. That seed is obviously Christ the Savior. But in Christ are included all his people. Right throughout the Old Testament we have the story of the seed of the woman and every Jewish mother as she held her baby son at her breast cherished the hope is this the one?

21:26 - 22:19 Read in full sermon

In this part of the sermon: Donnelly outlines seven dimensions of Christian unity: in the covenant of redemption before creation, throughout the Old Testament as God's one people, at Calvary through Christ's…

The joy of baptizing an 80-year-old man who came to Christ illustrates the diverse ways and times individuals experience salvation, yet all share the same underlying unity in Christ.

How we long for it for our children. And then many of us perhaps had the experience in our teenage years after perhaps our growing pains and our rebellion we came to Christ. And then some came later on in the middle years. Some time ago I had the joy of baptizing a man of 80.

28:43 - 29:07 Read in full sermon

In this part of the sermon: Donnelly outlines seven dimensions of Christian unity: in the covenant of redemption before creation, throughout the Old Testament as God's one people, at Calvary through Christ's…

Donnelly contrasts God's provision of one Bible for all ages and cultures with modern marketing of specialized Bibles, emphasizing that the single Bible underscores the universal unity of God's people.

We are all promised the same blessing. The very inspiration of the Bible, the production of the Bible, bears witness to our unity. I suppose some religious businessmen today would say that God missed a remarkable publishing opportunity when he gave the church only one Bible. Think of how much more skillfully it could be marketed.

32:39 - 33:15 Read in full sermon

Driving home: It is not vague. It is not ethereal. It is not otherworldly. It is not some insubstantial dream. It is not a pious hope. It is not just a little cliche that we throw out but we know isn't true. It is a monumental solid r…

His childhood memory of listening to this song on the radio illustrates the certainty that all of Christ's people will be gathered in, with 'not one missing,' fulfilling the unbroken circle of God's elect.

In Christ Jesus. When we were children, we used to listen to Radio Luxembourg, which could get programs from the United States. This was the early 50's. And my father used to listen to a program, I've forgotten the precise title of it, I think it was something like Dr. Fuller's Old Fashioned Revival Hour. And to a group of sound singing covenanters, this was exotic material indeed. And they used to sing this chorus, I don't know what you would call it, to a guitar and a five string banjo, will the circle be unbroken? Many of you will know it, I'd never heard it before.

38:43 - 39:25 Read in full sermon

The point: Realize the breadth and width of God's mercy and work in the world, recognizing brothers and sisters in unexpected places.

The inclusion of these two politically opposed disciples in Christ's inner circle illustrates how Christian unity transcends radical political and social divisions.

Simon the zealot and Matthew the tax collector. Consider that we sit down together as disciples of Christ. As politically opposed to each other as it was possible for two human beings to be. One worked for the Romans. The other killed them. And they were all one in Christ Jesus. Paul could say to the Colossians in chapter 3 verse 10 You have put on the new man where there is neither Greek nor Jew uncircumcised or uncircumcised barbarian Scythian slave nor free but Christ is all and in all old and young educated and uneducated black and white rich and poor knowledgeable and ignorant all

48:35 - 49:37 Read in full sermon

The point: Realize the breadth and width of God's mercy and work in the world, recognizing brothers and sisters in unexpected places.

Donnelly warns against an 'Elijah mentality' and encourages recognizing genuine Christians even in 'churches which aren't churches,' such as Roman Catholicism, highlighting the comprehensiveness of God's work.

We have differences with our brother Christians they're often strong differences significant differences but if that person if that man or woman is in Christ they're a brother they're a sister. Don't write off the existence of true believers in unlikely settings. Don't develop an Elijah mentality. We even we only are left God says I have seven thousand people you never even heard of and they haven't bowed the knee to be and there are far more Christians in your community and in mine than we know. Far more Christians. Christians all over the place and we've never met them and there are Christia...

49:57 - 51:09 Read in full sermon

Driving home: We do not want homogeneous churches. They are an abomination. They are social clubs. They are not churches of Christ.

He humorously imagines a church of 150 people exactly like himself, illustrating that uniformity would be monotonous and undesirable, reinforcing the value of diversity in the church.

not one member, but many if the body were all an eye if the body were all an ear where would the body be? We need the foot and the hand and the ear and the eye. And he says if they were all one member where would the body be? How often we hear pastors long for a homogeneous church. One hundred and fifty Ted Donnellys. What a congregation that would be. Never a cross word. Never a disagreement.

54:59 - 55:45 Read in full sermon

Driving home: We do not want homogeneous churches. They are an abomination. They are social clubs. They are not churches of Christ.

The story of a young man who read Robert Raymond's systematic theology in a single Lord's Day illustrates the diverse intellectual capacities and spiritual growth rates within a congregation, highlighting the beauty of variety.

Sometimes we resent the awkward person. The person who makes waves. The person who asks questions. The person who stirs things up. The person who's so slow theologically. The person who keeps falling. Or else the person who strips outstrips everyone else. Pastor Hughes was telling me that he recommended to a young man in his congregation that Robert Raymond's systematic theology was worth reading one Lord's day.

55:58 - 56:44 Read in full sermon

In this part of the sermon: The most important implication is the means to manifest unity: by drawing closer to Christ, the hub of the wheel. Unity is not achieved by seeking it directly but by seeking…

The classic illustration of spokes drawing closer to each other by drawing closer to the hub (Christ) demonstrates the means by which true unity is achieved.

How can we come closer together? Because we come closer to Christ. The old illustration heard it a dozen times but it's a good illustration. We are the spokes.

66:17 - 66:34 Read in full sermon

In this part of the sermon: The most important implication is the means to manifest unity: by drawing closer to Christ, the hub of the wheel. Unity is not achieved by seeking it directly but by seeking…

Donnelly uses his own experience of preaching to Reformed Baptists despite denominational differences to illustrate that genuine unity and love arise from seeing Christ in one another, not from ecclesiastical negotiations.

What am I doing here? Many of you may have asked that question. A Reformed Presbyterian addressing a gathering of Reformed Baptists. What am I doing here?

67:47 - 68:03 Read in full sermon

The point: Go out into your community to fellow Christians, show Christ to them, act towards them as Christ would act, and see Christ in them.

A friend's experience of hating a fellow minister during a synod debate, only for that hatred to vanish instantly upon hearing of the man's son's death, powerfully illustrates the call to see fellow believers through the lens of future glory and Christ's love.

And see Christ in them. Time is gone, but let me give one true illustration. A friend of mine some years ago was engaged in a very acrimonious debate in a church synod. And he was up against one particularly unpleasant brother.

71:44 - 72:05 Read in full sermon