In Mark 9:38, the disciples of Jesus saw a man casting out demons in the name of Jesus which they frowned at because he did not belong to their group of disciples.
Likewise in Numbers 11:26-29, when the Spirit of God rested upon two men – Eldad and Melad – who prophesied in the Camp, Joshua asked Moses to forbid them.
Eldad and Melad were among the seventy men appointed to assist Moses in judgment and governance and were anointed for the task but the spirit of prophesy came upon them and they prophesied much longer than the others which Joshua frowned at out of jealousy. Moses rebuked Joshua’s act of jealousy rather than rebuke the two men.
Jesus also cautioned his disciples for this wrong spirit in them. He told his disciples that there is no one doing miracles in His name that can speak evil of Him (Mark 9:39) and that anyone who is not against Him is with Him.
If a person does not believe in God and the Holy Spirit as persons, and does not believe in the incarnation of God in human flesh; denies the virgin birth of Christ, His physical death, burial, bodily resurrection and ascension, such a person is not on the side of Jesus but on the side of the Devil.
This is an important lesson for the church today that is divided where many are more concerned about the name of a particular church than for God. They despise and disapprove of any Christian who does not belong to their particular church or group of disciples.
A true Christian will love other Christians from other churches and appreciate them and their work in the Vineyard of God, just as much as if they belonged to his church or group. Jesus prayed for the unity and oneness of all believers just as God and Christ are one (John 17:21).
If Christianity is one Jesus, one Gospel, one Body of Christ, one fold and one Shepherd and if the doctrines and tenets of the faith are the same, believing in the virgin birth of Christ, His physical death, burial, bodily resurrection and ascension into Heaven to the right hand of God the Father as the head of the church, why is there so much division in Christendom today?
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