The Spirit Against Unity
God commissioned Saul of Tarsus to pray on behalf of three groups: the children of Israel, the Gentiles, and the kings of the earth. We add a fourth, which is in the heart of God, and it is the church. We pray that the church may be a healthy church, that the spirit that was manifested in the book of Acts may be in the church today. First, we pray for the spirit of unity, that there be no division, and that God free His people from the spirit of partisanship, of division. The devil came to steal and kill and destroy, but Jesus came to give life (John 10:10). Jesus’ plea was: “Holy Father, keep in Your name those whom You have given Me, that they may be one, even as We are” (John 17:11 R60). God made us one, which is why we are the body of Christ. The greatest miracle worked at Pentecost was that the church became one.
The church must be one, no matter that the devil has sown tares in it, no matter that the devil has filled it with intrigue, gossip, and separation; no matter that the devil has locked us into competition, we know that He who is with us is greater than he who is in the world. God is one, and the great truth revealed in the Bible is that God is one: “one body and one Spirit, just as you were also called in one hope of your calling; one Lord, one faith, one baptism, one God and Father of all, who is above all, and through all, and in all” (Ephesians 4:4-6).
We see pastors who are weighed down, because they find themselves troubled, because they struggle and struggle and strive, but cannot fulfill the purpose, because they are wrestling with divisions. A divided kingdom does not stand. We rebuke the spirit of division, the spirit of Satan who divided heaven, when he wanted to be like God. The Bible reveals that every time there was division, there was a desire for exaltation. Everyone who rebels is looking for a position. Just as Korah, Dathan, and Abiram sought a pretext, and said to Moses: “Enough of you! For all the congregation, all of them, are holy, and Jehovah is in their midst; why, then, do you lift yourselves up above the congregation of Jehovah?” (Num 16:3). Apparently they were defending the holiness of the people, but what they meant was that Moses was taking possession of God’s people, for what they were seeking was leadership. Moses was able to identify the intention and said to those who were Levites: “Hear now, sons of Levi: Is it a small thing to you that the God of Israel has separated you from the congregation of Israel, bringing you near to Himself to minister in the service of the tabernacle of Jehovah, and to stand before the congregation to minister to them, and that He has brought you near, you and all your brothers the sons of Levi with you? Do you seek the priesthood also?” (Num 16:9-10). They craved leadership, they longed to be priests, but they could not exercise it, because they were not of the house of Aaron.
The Spirit reveals that wherever there is rebellion there is a desire for leadership, a desire to usurp the place of authority. The same thing happened with Aaron and Miriam, who murmured against Moses: “Has Jehovah spoken only by Moses? Has He not spoken also by us? And Jehovah heard it” (Num 12:2). But that was simply the pretext; inwardly they were coveting Moses’ place, which is why God put Miriam, leprous, outside the camp for ten days. Those who rebel always look for a secondary cause to hide the true motive, and the Spirit reveals that every time someone rebels in the church it is because he is looking for leadership, he is envious, he wants to usurp someone’s place. Every time there is rebellion there is a desire to replace the leadership.
My brother, my sister, if you are in rebellion, if hostility toward your pastor, toward your leader, has been born in your heart, the Spirit of the Lord speaks to you at this moment and says to you: “Renounce that! Do not let Satan deceive you. The spirit of the Kingdom of heaven is that we prefer one another in honor.” Preferring one another in honor means that if they are going to give me a tribute, an honor, I renounce that deference and say: “No, let it go to so-and-so, or such-and-such, or to my companion so-and-so.” That is the spirit of the Kingdom, where we do not seek our own glory, but God’s; we do not want honors for ourselves, but for God, and we want others to be honored and not ourselves. Possibly you yourself have not perceived that there is a spirit of competition in you; that you are longing, desiring, envying another’s place, like Lucifer, who wanted God’s place, the ancient serpent who said to Eve “you shall be like God”; it is the same spirit every time there is rebellion. It is the spirit of partisanship of the church of Corinth: “I indeed am of Paul; and another: I am of Apollos…” (1 Cor 3:4 R60). The spirit that divides the body.
And God says to the rebellious: “Do not be naïve! How can you think that I am going to back a rebellion? Do not let Satan deceive you into thinking that I am going to back that division. Woe to whoever divides My body -says the Lord-, because not even on the cross of Calvary was any one of My bones broken.” The Father allowed the body of Christ to be lacerated on the cross until He died, but after He died, John said: “But one of the soldiers opened His side with a lance, and immediately blood and water came out. (…) For these things happened that the Scripture should be fulfilled: Not a bone of Him shall be broken” (John 19:34, 36). God did not allow Jesus, even dead, to be broken, because He represented the body of Christ. Paul speaks of watching out for the dogs and the mutilators of the body. Woe to those who mutilate the body, who divide the body, who harm the body of Christ!
“There are a multitude of ministries and churches that are plants that My Father did not plant -says Jesus-, and every plant that My Father did not plant will be uprooted.” In these environments they are functioning with the gifts, like that 75% of the fruit, or of the result of the germination of the seed, in the parable of the sower. In three soils the plant germinated, and even put out branches, but never bore fruit. And Jesus says that they are those who hear the word of God who “having heard, receive the word with joy; but these have no roots; they believe for a time, and in time of testing fall away. (…)… those who hear, but going on their way, are choked by the cares and riches and pleasures of life, and bring no fruit” (Luke 8:13-14). That percentage that did not bear fruit is because they did not have a good heart, says the parable, since only in one soil did it bear fruit, and Luke says: “But that which fell on good ground, these are the ones who with a good and right heart hold fast the word they heard, and bear fruit with perseverance” (Luke 8:15). Those three groups that grew but did not bear fruit, that received the word with joy, and were functioning with the effect of the word, because the word, which is the seed, sprouted, germinated, and made them grow. Because the word has power, but if there is no fruit, God is not there. Jesus said that by its fruit the tree is known.
There are people, groups, churches that have divided, that have left other churches, and apparently are growing. But it is only the effect of the gifts and the Word; one day God will judge. As Jesus said: “Many will say to Me in that day: Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in Your name, and in Your name cast out demons, and in Your name do many miracles? And then I will declare to them: I never knew you; depart from Me, you workers of wickedness” (Matt 7:22-23). The Word says: “The Lord knows those who are His” (2 Tim 2:19). God only knows those who are His. When the angels, on the last day, go out to the vintage, to the harvest, they will separate the wheat from the tares. The wheat and the tares are so similar that they are confused, which is why the master of the house told his servants who wanted to pull up the tares in the wheat field, in that parable: “No, lest in pulling up the tares you also pull up the wheat with them” (Matt 13:29). Only when they reach maturity, the time of harvest, when the wheat turns more yellow and the tares turn black, is it easy to separate them.
There are many things that look like they are of God, but are not of God; there are many things that apparently were born in God, but are not of God. Any church or ministry that began with a spirit of division or rebellion will never be accepted by the Father. Let no one be deceived! God is a God of truth; in God there is no lie, in God there is no deceit. May God open the eyes of all those sheep who are being seduced by rebels. God is a God who loves authority, and He commands us to submit to all authority, and to the order of God. And rebellion is not justified in any way. That is why the man who had the heart of God, like David, when Saul rebelled against him and wanted to kill him and pursued him, said: “I will not stretch out my hand against my lord, for he is the anointed of Jehovah” (1 Sam 24:10 R60).
It seems incredible that from such an exalted worship and intercession on behalf of the unity of the church, this strong an exhortation should come forth, but the Holy Spirit has guided this prayer for the unity of the church, because He wants to reach the spirits of the rebellious so that they may be converted to the Lord and return once again to the harmony of the body and desist from that hidden feeling they have, which at times not even they themselves know hides greed and desires for position. And they are trying to usurp the position or function of the leader. But today I say to you what the angel said to Hagar: “Return to your mistress, and submit yourself under her hand” (Gen 16:9). You are a servant and she is the mistress; she is the one who is in authority. Notice that it was Sarah who originated this situation and caused everything that happened, yet even so God said to Abraham, when Sarah asked him to cast out the slave woman and her son: “Do not let it be grievous in your sight because of the boy and because of your maidservant; in all that Sarah tells you, listen to her voice, for in Isaac your descendants shall be called” (Gen 21:12). And the fact is that they had a bad attitude against Sarah, and Ishmael mocked Isaac.
Listen well, my brother, my sister, God does not justify rebellion in any way, no matter how we justify it. Some even know how to spiritualize rebellion and know how to hide it in sophistries and arguments, but the Spirit of God now unmasks the spirit of rebellion and reveals, throughout the whole Bible, that wherever there was a spirit of rebellion, a desire to usurp the leader’s authority was hidden. And there are many kiosks that call themselves churches, established by rebels, born of rebellion. Be very careful, my sister and my brother, for this is something alarming. It is incredible how someone can believe that God is going to back something like that. And worse still, the naïve sheep who follow the voice of these rebels who tell them: “We are going to have a ministry this way or that way… We are going to triumph.” A lie of the devil! Never! Never! You may see growth, but it will be like that of the seed in those three soils. The gifts manifest themselves. It is like when you see someone who comes to the front, crying, and you think it is conversion, and it is not. It was only the effect of the Word on them, but there is no fruit. The word may germinate, the stalk may come up, there may be branches, and even ears of grain, but if there is no fruit, God is not there. The fruits are not the gifts. The gifts may manifest and there may be miracles, and good preaching, revelation from God, but if there is no fruit it is not of God. And what is the fruit? Love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faith, gentleness, self-control. That is the fruit, the mind of God.
God is authority, God is honor. In the Kingdom of God there is honor: “in honor, preferring one another” (Rom 12:10). The great truth of the Kingdom of God is: “Hear, O Israel: Jehovah our God, Jehovah is one” (Deut 6:4). God is not divided; wherever there is division, God is not there. It may be that God makes use of some circumstance, as when Paul and Barnabas parted because of a conflict between them over John Mark, but they went on loving and respecting each other. We see afterward how Paul speaks with honor of Barnabas, and of Mark he says: “Take Mark and bring him with you, for he is useful to me for the ministry” (2 Tim 4:11). Separated in ministry, but united in purpose, united in the body. There may be circumstances where God separates us, and makes use of something, like the persecution that He sent to Jerusalem so that they would go out into the whole world. The Lord can do that, to separate us, but it is seen that it is God who is acting, and not out of envy, jealousy, rebellion, intrigue, competition, and resentment; no, no, no, no, God is not there, God is not there!
We ask God that whoever has the Spirit of God may understand. If at this moment someone wants to seduce you and drag you away, so that you leave the ministry, your church, your pastor, your leader, and follow him, be careful! Careful! Do not be deceived, because sometimes so many subtleties are used; be very careful… be very careful. God’s warning has come in time. Do not say later that God did not tell you, because He has taken the mouth of Pastor Radhamés, who does not usually speak about this, but who in the midst of an intercession on behalf of the unity of the church, to cast out of the body of Christ that spirit of disunion, of disharmony, so that the spirit of honor and love may reign.
We have to forgive one another, love one another, and honor one another; to know that we are serving the same Lord and defending the same cause, no matter what function, as servants, we perform in the house. Perhaps you have to serve the food, like the faithful and wise servant, and others are tending the animals in the field, and others are cleaning the estate, and others are administering the Lord’s goods. But we are all working in the big house, and when the Lord comes He will demand an account. And if you believe that some servant is being unfaithful, apply the word that Paul said: “Who are you to judge another’s servant? (Rom 14:4 R60). The servant is not yours, he is another’s. If you believe he is doing wrong and the Lord approves of him, who are you to disapprove of him, if he is not yours? The one who has to be pleased with his service is the master to whom the slave or servant belongs, not you, for you are not his master. If the Lord approves of him and is the owner of the slave, who are you to judge him; and if he is in the wrong, God is able to raise him up again and restore him (Rom 14:4). Who are you who judge another’s servant?
I ask God to enlighten us on this day. I pray for the spirit of unity and I proclaim it over the whole body of Christ. One day the Lord is going to give us a second Pentecost, and they will see Baptists, Methodists, Pentecostals, all together, weeping on one another’s necks, asking forgiveness, because we have divided the body of Christ, and forgetting theology and emphases, going to the Holy Spirit of God, as those 120 forgot their opinions and united, because Christ was put at the center. Thus, on that day, Jesus will put Himself at the center like a magnet, and we will all be drawn and will be united again and will become one body, and the world will see that God sent Christ. And they will see one church with one name, the name of Jesus. He who is of God hears the word of God. May God bless you and give you the victory in Christ Jesus. Amen.
Excerpt taken from the intercessory ministration (final part) of Pastor Juan Radhamés Fernández, on his radio program “Time to Worship,” Thursdays from 8:00 a.m. to 9:30 a.m. on RCN-1430AM. To listen to it in its original version, visit us at: The Spirit Against Unity
