UNITY (PSALM 133:1-3)
Unity is a rare quality in the Church but vitally important if we are to experience God's blessing.
Unity is not something we can manufacture by human effort but something that comes from above by the agency of the Holy Spirit, when we yield to His authority.
Paul, the Apostle, exhorts the believers in his Epistles to be of one mind, a thing that shows the disunity in the early Christian Churches. No wonder most of those Churches fell apart and disappeared from the face of the earth.
Not only Paul but also the Psalmist, in the Psalm above, praises Unity among believers-'How good and how pleasant' . This does not mean we cannot have questions and differences of opinion
in the Church. We are not a robotic or mindless group of people! The Psalmist sees Unity as something very precious, saying that it is 'Good' and 'Pleasant' .
Disunity creates a bitter taste in the Church and people are not slow to see this, especially unbelievers. The example the Psalmist gives of Unity is like the Anointing Oil upon Aaron's head. How did the Psalmist know this a long time after the event? Verbal Tradition.
The Anointing Oil was very costly to prepare and of a beautiful fragrance (Exodus 30:34-38) and so is Unity in the Church. It is a pleasant quality. Not only pleasant but also costly. To have Unity we need to lay down our own will with its own petty self-important ideas, likes and preferences. Jesus said, 'whoever wants to be chief among you let him be servant of all' - a voluntary act. We need to say 'Not my will but yours be done' . Self wants to have its own way. Self demands. We need to crucify self-a painful, costly business.
The Ointment ran down to the hem of Aaron's garment. It was not a smear but a liberal application. We often worry that we shall spoil our clothes or hairdos whenever there is a need for anointing. How do we measure the cost of Unity in the Body of Christ?
The Anointing was applied at the top, not at the bottom. Unity comes from above, when we allow the Holy Spirit to have His way in the Church, first with the leadership and then with the members. The Anointing Oil ran down to the hem of Aaron's garment where the bells and pomegranates were. If we have Unity people we hear about it, we do not need to broadcast it. Unity goes together with love, something people desperately need - the product of God's Salvation.
The Psalmist not only likens Unity to the Anointing Oil but also to the dew of Hermon that descended upon the parched land of Jerusalem to refresh and moisten the earth. Unity refreshes and moistens the Church. It moistens the parched ground of discord and bitterness. It sustains the life of the Church. A disunited Church is like dry bones that have an appearance of life but no breath. It is the move of the Holy Spirit that gives vitality and warmth in a united Body.
What are the reasons for disunity in a Church?
Paul the Apostle, in 1 Cor.1:10-11, speaks about the problems in the Corinthian Church, a bed of disunity and divisions. Self was prevalent in this Church. Believers laid emphasis on their opinions of what the preachers said but did not sort it out with the preachers. It all indicated one thing-Carnality in the Church. Paul wrote to this Church repeatedly to admonish the believers and correct them. The Church finally disappeared from the face of the earth. Where Disunity prevails in any Church the same fate awaits that Church.
Christ warned the Ephesian Church about the error of their ways. If they did not Repent He would remove their Lamp-stand from their midst (Rev.2:5). The Church of Ephesus also disappeared from the face of the earth. When God removes the Lamp-stand from a Church there is no more light from His Word. Our own light of errors and disunity will eventually prevail. The Lamp-stand
disappears first and then the believers.
Unity is a rare quality in the Church but vitally important if we are to experience God's blessing.
Unity is not something we can manufacture by human effort but something that comes from above by the agency of the Holy Spirit, when we yield to His authority.
Paul, the Apostle, exhorts the believers in his Epistles to be of one mind, a thing that shows the disunity in the early Christian Churches. No wonder most of those Churches fell apart and disappeared from the face of the earth.
Not only Paul but also the Psalmist, in the Psalm above, praises Unity among believers-'How good and how pleasant' . This does not mean we cannot have questions and differences of opinion
in the Church. We are not a robotic or mindless group of people! The Psalmist sees Unity as something very precious, saying that it is 'Good' and 'Pleasant' .
Disunity creates a bitter taste in the Church and people are not slow to see this, especially unbelievers. The example the Psalmist gives of Unity is like the Anointing Oil upon Aaron's head. How did the Psalmist know this a long time after the event? Verbal Tradition.
The Anointing Oil was very costly to prepare and of a beautiful fragrance (Exodus 30:34-38) and so is Unity in the Church. It is a pleasant quality. Not only pleasant but also costly. To have Unity we need to lay down our own will with its own petty self-important ideas, likes and preferences. Jesus said, 'whoever wants to be chief among you let him be servant of all' - a voluntary act. We need to say 'Not my will but yours be done' . Self wants to have its own way. Self demands. We need to crucify self-a painful, costly business.
The Ointment ran down to the hem of Aaron's garment. It was not a smear but a liberal application. We often worry that we shall spoil our clothes or hairdos whenever there is a need for anointing. How do we measure the cost of Unity in the Body of Christ?
The Anointing was applied at the top, not at the bottom. Unity comes from above, when we allow the Holy Spirit to have His way in the Church, first with the leadership and then with the members. The Anointing Oil ran down to the hem of Aaron's garment where the bells and pomegranates were. If we have Unity people we hear about it, we do not need to broadcast it. Unity goes together with love, something people desperately need - the product of God's Salvation.
The Psalmist not only likens Unity to the Anointing Oil but also to the dew of Hermon that descended upon the parched land of Jerusalem to refresh and moisten the earth. Unity refreshes and moistens the Church. It moistens the parched ground of discord and bitterness. It sustains the life of the Church. A disunited Church is like dry bones that have an appearance of life but no breath. It is the move of the Holy Spirit that gives vitality and warmth in a united Body.
What are the reasons for disunity in a Church?
Paul the Apostle, in 1 Cor.1:10-11, speaks about the problems in the Corinthian Church, a bed of disunity and divisions. Self was prevalent in this Church. Believers laid emphasis on their opinions of what the preachers said but did not sort it out with the preachers. It all indicated one thing-Carnality in the Church. Paul wrote to this Church repeatedly to admonish the believers and correct them. The Church finally disappeared from the face of the earth. Where Disunity prevails in any Church the same fate awaits that Church.
Christ warned the Ephesian Church about the error of their ways. If they did not Repent He would remove their Lamp-stand from their midst (Rev.2:5). The Church of Ephesus also disappeared from the face of the earth. When God removes the Lamp-stand from a Church there is no more light from His Word. Our own light of errors and disunity will eventually prevail. The Lamp-stand
disappears first and then the believers.
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