Unity: The Place of God’s Blessings (Psalm 133)

Unity: God’s Place of Blessing
Psalm 133

INTRODUCTION:
The Restoration Movement originally began as a unity movement among all those who claimed to be Christians. Alexander Campbell was in the Presbyterian Church which practiced a narrow fellowship which bothered Campbell. As he continued to study the Scriptures, he realized that baptism was for adults and he left the Presbyterian Church. Then he associated with the Baptists but when he learned and started teaching that baptism is for the forgiveness of sins he left the Baptists as well. Campbell wanted unity, but he insisted that unity should be based on what the Bible teaches. He believed - naively - that if denominations would leave behind all their names which were not found in the Bible, and their creeds and manuals and Confessions of faith, and just unite on what the Bible teaches, the Christian world would be united.

Unity based on Truth.

Of course, Campbell eventually learned that allegiances die hard and most people did not want to leave their denominational affiliations and just practice what the Bible teaches.

In the 1900s, a group of people within the churches of Christ decided that unity was more important than truth. Eventually, they would form the Disciples of Christ denomination. What really led to their origin was a desire to please all men in every way. So they decided that you did not have to believe in the virgin birth of Christ or His resurrection in order to be a Christian. And you did not have to believe that baptism was for the forgiveness of sins in order to become a Christian.

Unity over Truth.

Which is it? Unity based on Truth or Unity over Truth?

Before we get to Psalm 133, what does Jesus say about unity and / or Truth?

In Luke 9:23-26, Jesus teaches that Truth has to come before our own lives:

“And He was saying to them all, “If anyone wishes to come after Me, he must deny himself, and take up his cross daily and follow Me. “For whoever wishes to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for My sake, he is the one who will save it. “For what is a man profited if he gains the whole world, and loses or forfeits himself? “For whoever is ashamed of Me and My words, the Son of Man will be ashamed of him when He comes in His glory, and the glory of the Father and of the holy angels.”

In Luke 12:51-53, Jesus teaches that Truth has to come before unity, even within the family:

“Do you suppose that I came to grant peace on earth? I tell you, no, but rather division; for from now on five members in one household will be divided, three against two and two against three. “They will be divided, father against son and son against father, mother against daughter and daughter against mother, mother-in-law against daughter-in-law and daughter-in-law against mother-in-law.”

In Luke 14:25-27, Jesus shows that He is more interested in Truth than He is large crowds of followers. To those large crowds, Jesus taught a very narrow, many today would say legalistic view, of Truth:

“Now large crowds were going along with Him; and He turned and said to them, “If anyone comes to Me, and does not hate his own father and mother and wife and children and brothers and sisters, yes, and even his own life, he cannot be My disciple. “Whoever does not carry his own cross and come after Me cannot be My disciple.”

So in the question of “Unity” and / or “Truth,” Jesus would say, “Yes, it is unity based on Truth.” Having said that, let’s focus on “unity” from Psalm 133, a psalm of King David:

UNITY IS BEAUTIFUL:
“Behold, how good and how pleasant it is For brothers to dwell together in unity! It is like the precious oil upon the head, Coming down upon the beard, Even Aaron’s beard, Coming down upon the edge of his robes. It is like the dew of Hermon Coming down upon the mountains of Zion; For there the Lord commanded the blessing—life forever.”

Here, David says that unity among brothers is like oil that has been poured on the head of the priest, like Aaron. What happens when you pour oil on the head? It saturates and it covers everything. With the priest, it even poured down over the edge of the priest’s robe.

The imagery is similar with the dew coming down from Mount Hermon, which was north of the Sea of Galilee. Dew covers everything. It was on Mount Zion, where Jerusalem was located, that was the center of the Lord’s blessings which could be summarized in the expression “life forever.”

Of course the city of Jerusalem is no longer a part of God’s plan to save man. But the church stands in a similar position as Mount Zion or Jerusalem, but in a spiritual sense. Unity among brothers is good and it is pleasant and it covers everything and saturates everything.

When we are hurting, unity with fellow Christians makes things good and pleasant. The prayers. The calls. The cards. The gifts. The flowers. The transportation for someone who needs it. When Christians step up and, in a spirit of unity, helps fellow Christians, it makes the hurt a little easier to bear.

When we are enjoying life, unity with fellow Christians again makes things good and pleasant. It is nice to spend time with fellow Christians, not just in worship, but doing other things that are enjoyable. Going on short trips. Or playing games. Or watching a football or basketball game or baseball game together. Fellowship with other Christians makes the good times more pleasant and more enjoyable.

In Genesis 13, Abram and Lot were needing a place to pasture their very large flocks. Both of them were wealthy and they both had large flocks. In 13:8, Abram gave Lot the opportunity to choose which place he wanted for his own flocks. Abram said, “Please let there be no strife between you and me, nor between my herdsmen and your herdsmen, for we are brothers.” In Abram’s mind, the fact that they were family should dictate that they not have strife between them. Now sometimes, that is not possible. But to the extent that it lies within our power, we should have unity because we are brothers.

Solomon will chastise those who do not appreciate unity as God teaches us. In some very chilling words, Solomon writes in Proverbs 6: “There are six things which the Lord hates, … A false witness who utters lies, And one who spreads strife among brothers” (6:19). Do you get that? God abhors, God hates those who “spreads strife among brothers,” those who cause division in the church of Christ. Solomon says, “God hates that.” To rupture relationships if it is not based on Truth is to put someone on the wrong side of God.

HOW TO HAVE UNITY:
1. We need to have humility. The church of Christ in Philippi was having some problems with two sisters in Christ in the church who had some type of spat or fuss between them: Eudia and Syntache (Phil. 4:2-3):

“I urge Euodia and I urge Syntyche to live in harmony in the Lord. Indeed, true companion, I ask you also to help these women who have shared my struggle in the cause of the gospel, together with Clement also and the rest of my fellow workers, whose names are in the book of life.”

In order to help them have unity, Paul writes in chapter 2:1-5…

"Therefore if there is any encouragement in Christ, if there is any consolation of love, if there is any fellowship of the Spirit, if any affection and compassion, make my joy complete by being of the same mind, maintaining the same love, united in spirit, intent on one purpose. Do nothing from selfishness or empty conceit, but with humility of mind regard one another as more important than yourselves; do not merely look out for your own personal interests, but also for the interests of others. Have this attitude in yourselves which was also in Christ Jesus.”

To have unity, here Paul says:

Be of the same mind
Maintain the same love
Be united in spirit
Be intent on one purpose
Do nothing from selfishness or empty conceit
Regard one another as more important than yourselves
Do not merely look out for your own personal interests
Look out for the interests of others
Have the attitude of Christ

2. Agree on what the Bible clearly and explicitly teaches.

Again in Ephesians 4, Paul is talking about the subject of unity and he puts the burden for maintaining unity on our shoulders. What does the Bible actually teach? Ephesians 4:1-6:

“Therefore I, the prisoner of the Lord, implore you to walk in a manner worthy of the calling with which you have been called, with all humility and gentleness, with patience, showing tolerance for one another in love, being diligent to preserve the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace. There is one body and one Spirit, just as also you were called in one hope of your calling; one Lord, one faith, one baptism, one God and Father of all who is over all and through all and in all.”

Notice what Paul says about unity:

We need humility
We need gentleness
We need patience
We need tolerance for one another
We need love
We need to be diligent to preserve the unity of the Spirit. The word “diligent” means to “make every effort.” The French translation says, “Force yourselves to maintain unity…” That means that I cannot force my opinion on you until it ruptures unity. I cannot necessarily force my application of the Scriptures on you until it ruptures unity. I may need to keep my opinion to myself but I surely do not need to teach my opinion so strongly that you think that my opinion is God’s word. Not only does that rupture unity but it is also blasphemous.
Preserve the unity of the Spirit in peace

Jesus will say in John 17:20-21 that unity will bring more believers into Jesus Christ and His church: “I do not ask on behalf of these alone, but for those also who believe in Me through their word; that they may all be one; even as You, Father, are in Me and I in You, that they also may be in Us, so that the world may believe that You sent Me.” If unity brings more people to Christ, what does division cause? What has division in the Protestant world caused? It has caused people to reject Christianity or to leave it alone. People have come to believe that Truth / Christianity is too complicated and there’s no way to know the truth. And that is a direct result of the plethora of denominational churches in the world today.

So what is the cure? It is unity based on Truth. Those are the 7 “Ones” Paul gives next in the text:

One body
one Spirit
One hope
One Lord
One faith
One baptism
One God and Father

In other words, go back to the Scriptures, see what the Scriptures teach, unite on what the Scriptures teach. And if the Scriptures do not teach something, regardless of how we feel about something or how strongly we feel about ou own opinion, we have to leave it in the realm of opinion and not allow it to cause a tear in our unity.

3. Work together to encourage each other. When Nehemiah had the task of rebuilding the walls of Jerusalem, we learn that they accomplished that noble goal in record time because “the people had a mind to work” (4:6). The Hebrew word for “mind” in that text is the word for “heart.” The people had the heart to work. The people had a common goal and they worked together in the spirit of unity.

When Jesus sent out the apostles, He went them out in twos. When He sent out the 72 in Luke 10, he sent them out in twos. The apostle Paul almost always had a coworker - Silas, Timothy, Barnabas, and others. Rarely was Paul ever alone.

4. We have to love one other sincerely, fervently, from the heart. That means practically that we consider and do for others what we would want them to do for us.

Unity is just that important to our Savior.

Take home message: Embrace the beauty of humility and watch as unity flourishes among the family at Swartz Creek!