Unity in the Community

Intro

There was once a group of brothers who argued and fought continually. They would pick on each ether and tear one another with no regarded for the other. One day when they were really going at it. Their father brought them together and gave them a project. He handed the oldest brother a bundle of sticks and told him to break the bundle. He tried to break them over his knee but only hurt himself. The second oldest put them on the ground and stomped on them and that didn’t work earthier. The next brother tried to hit them with a bat as if he had an ax. The youngest bother took the bundle and untied it then broke each stick individually. The father looked and smiled then told them. Do you see how impossible it was to break the sticks when they were together? It wasn’t until the sticks were separated that they were able to break. The same with you if you stick together, you will be unbreakable.

How true this is with the church. If we stick together in unity we won’t break individually.

HP: Rejoice in the unity found in Christ.

First, I think that we have to understand what is uniting us. How are we living in unity? Because There is no unity there is no community. We are to dwell in unity we must be united by a common factor. The common factor is a new heart. The common factor is those who are included in the covenant of grace. The Unity we have is the unity of the Christian fellowship. This Christian fellowship is unlike any other. This is a fellowship that cannot be comprehended by those outsides. And it should be evident to those outside of the Christian fellowship exactly who is inside the Christian fellowship. They are to understand us by the love that we have for one another. Yes, we have a unity in Mount Olive Baptist Church for we are gathered and united by a common location. But we are united beyond these walls. We are united to people who are in Christ throughout this world. And regardless of the denomination of a believer if they are a believer, we are united to them.

Rejoice in the Unity Found in Christ!

In order to truly rejoice in the Unity, found in Christ you must:

Pursue the Feeling of Unity. Ponder the Fullness of Unity. and Proclaim the Fulfillment of Unity.

1. Pursue the Feeling of Unity. (133:1)

Explain:

This psalm which is attributed to David call the song of ascents. And the definition can be taking a few ways it can be either the praises of the people of Israel going up to God, the praises are ascending to the heavens. Or takin in a way that I think is more likely, that the song of ascents is being sung as they ascended to Jerusalem to the Holy City that would sing this in unison. If you think about it actually makes sense that as the people were gathered on their way to the Holy City to have celebrations and praise God and to offer sacrifices the repeat these words “Behold, how good and pleasant it is when brothers dwell in unity”.

Behold- behold, is a word captivating, driving your attention to behold there is something to be held onto. Hear something that could be gained, hear something to be experienced through what is about to be said. Behold how good and pleasant it is. It is not only good, but it is pleasant the double emphasis on the feeling. When brothers are dwelling together it is not only good and not only pleasant but good and pleasant. The feeling of unity in Christ is not necessarily a feeling that can be distinguished by your five senses. You cannot taste it, or truly see it, it cannot physically be touched, you do not smell it, you cannot hear it. But it is a good pleasant feeling that you get it in your heart - a peace.

Some things that are good for you aren’t always pleasant and some things that are pleasant or not always good for you. Going to the dentist to get a toothremoved it’s not pleasant. But it is good for you because you may die if your tooth is not taking care of. And lounging around at home, eating brownies and cookies and watching Netflix may be pleasant, but is not good for you, spiritually or physically.

But it is good and pleasant for brothers to dwell in unity. This can be taken as spiritual brothers or actual physical brothers. The Hebrew’s would travel to Jerusalem to worship God and are all gathering together as brothers, brothers, and sisters of one faith. I’m sure that amongst those brothers of one faith that there were, in fact, physical brothers and sisters. Yes, it is good, and it is pleasant whenever we dwell in unity with one another spiritual level as well as dwell in community with one another on a physical level.

But that may not be how you feel. You might not feel as if it is good and pleasant to dwell and unity. You may think it is hard to put up with each other. You may think that it is not easy to accomplish this unity. And it is not. That is why it has to be pursued. You have to fight for unity. Fight sin, fight your unbiblical understandings, fight against tradition, fight against a wrong understanding of what the mission of the church is. We have to fight to be united because it is natural for us to want to accomplish individual goals and not a unified goal.

The Bible does not hesitate to provide example after example of brothers who do not live in unity. The first brothers ever recorded in history, Cain and Able, - one killed the other. The sons of Noah, Isaac, and Ishmael, Jacob and Esau, they do not dwell together in unity. Think about Joseph and his brothers, Josephs brothers sold him into slavery. David himself knows very well about the hatred brothers can have for one another. Not only is very own brother but most of his children were terrible.

That’s why you must pursue the feeling of unity the feeling. That good and pleasant feeling does not come naturally. There must be a pursuit of this. This is not given, but something that is pursued, and we must all constantly be pursuing to live in unity and community within the church.

Illustrate:

Whenever a police officer is in pursuit of the suspect is not walking behind in a nonchalant manner. Never please officers in pursuit of a suspect please take his time not take note of what suspect is going. Whenever a police officer isn’t pursuit the suspect, he tries his best for the suspect to remain in his sight. And He’s pursuing with an intention Capture. He’s pursuing aggressively. In his pursuit to capture the criminal police officer does not allow obstacles in front of him to hinder the apprehension of the suspect.

Whenever a predator is in pursuit of his prey he does not stop because it is too hard. The predator understands if he wants to live and thrive, he has to Pursue his preay with the utmost strategy and diligence.

Church same with you, you have to pursue the feeling of unity. You have to strive after the feeling of unity as if your life depends on it. You have to chase and capture the good and pleasant feeling that accompanies the body of believers when they dwell together in unity. You cannot let the obstacles of your sin. The obstacles of other personalities, of past church hurt, of others intellectual capacity, the other’s amount of time walking with God hinder you from dwelling in unity. And you cannot expect to feel this good and pleasant feeling unless at first there is unity. In the pursuit of unity, you will Capture the feeling of unity.

Apply:

In the pursuit of unity, you have to meet one another in your sins. Just as Jesus has met you in your sin. There is no condemnation for those who are united with Christ. Christ is the one who condemns not you. So, show grace to one another. We do not want to live in our sin, but in love with patients lead each other to repentance. As you dwell in unity and community that has to be through the good times and the bad. We should all be trying to live God-glorifying lives, not self-glorifying lives. Remember we are all ignorant in some way, just of different things. And that is why we need each other so much. To help each other become more like Christ. So, let u all as we pursue the good and pleasant feeling of dwelling with one another keep our hearts and minds fixed on the one who unifies.

And lets now Ponder the Fullness of Unity.

2. Ponder the Fullness of Unity. (133:2-3a)

Explain:

These few verses may seem a little obscure. The precious oil which is placed on the head is the priestly anointing oil. This is a fragrant oil that was placed on those individuals who were called by God to be members of the Priesthood. Those people who would be called to live lives dedicated to the Lord in continuous service. This precious oil was only used for the consecration of the priests. Yet, the high priest is the only one who would get oil on his head. Arron was the first ceremonial high priest. The oil goes down on the beard of Aaron, running down the colors of his robe. This emphasizes the overabundance how good and pleasant it is to dwell in unity with brothers. Not only does it run down as head, but it manages to run down his beard, not only does it manage to go down his beard, but it managed to run down the colors of his robe. Covering the from the top all the way to the bottom. The significance of the running down shows that the good and pleasant feeling that occurs when brothers dwell together in unity does not only affect the most important people but flows down to all the members of the body.

And then psalmist goes on to say it is like the due of Hermon which falls on the mountains of Zion. Mount Hermonwas the tallest mountain in the region of Jerusalem. It is a snow-covered mountain. Whenever the snow would melt the water from the snow would evaporate into the sky and then be carried to the lower mountains and rain down. This blessing of the good and pleasant rain would help water the crops. The mountains of Zion are the area where the city of David is. And the term Mount Zion is used to signify the people of Israel. Again, with this, we see the blessings coming down coming down from the highest mountain, Mount Hermon and being brought down to the lower amount Mount Zion, we see that the blessings of unity cover all areas.

James says, "All good and pleasing things come down from heaven."Christian, do you understand that all things in this world are created to bring God glory? The blessings from God create the fullness of unity that covers us from the head to the toes. The fullness of unity in Christ covers the whole body of Christ. Not only can we rejoice in the fact that those in Christ are united in one body, the church, with Christ being the head. But we can rejoice in the fact that in this one body, the church, each member also has an obligation to have an occupation and carry out the will of God.

When everyone is working in unison within the church and the church is able to accomplish something greater than what we can immediately comprehend and conceive with our minds. Ponder what can happen with true unity. Unity not only locally but universally. Form the biggest congregation to the smallest group gathered together. For the most power and known preacher to the newly converted. When Christians live in a community and in unity everyone experiences how good and pleasant it is.

With partial unity, we may be used to accomplish some things for God’s kingdom. But blessings have to reach and be felt by all. And that blessing is growing in Christ's likeness. But, if you try to live your life as an individual apart from God’s community, the local church, you will end up spiritually dead. You may feel free, not bound by the constraints of the church or other members but in your seclusion, you will fall into sin. You will be living outside of the unity found in Christ. You may feel free, but as you wander away you will be lost. We need each other. And we all need to be vulnerable. We need to be able to express our cares and concerns to one another so that we will see the health and growth of unity and in the community.

Illustrate:

There were two porcupines caught in a blizzard and as the porcupines were traveling along and they noticed one another and that they were both shivering, freezing cold. They understood that they needed to come together, snuggle up, get close and start producing heat. If they were able to produce some heat it wouldn’t keep them alive through this blizzard. But, as they came together, being porcupines, they naturally pricked each other because of their quails. This caused discomfort so they separated. Then as they began to go their separate ways they shiver again and soon realized how necessary it was joined together. They had to do it in order to survive. The needed each other even though they needled each other. As you ponder living in unity and how good and pleasant it is, remember to try not to push or hurt one another with your points, even though they may be good ones. You are not only to look after your good put the good of others.

Apply:

Individuals in and of themselves have very little impact in the kingdom of God. Whatever a group of individuals is gathered with one purpose to worship the one God united with one Mission. They have a great impact on the Kingdom of God and that is good and pleasing. The church will break whenever it is not united with other churches and whenever the members of the church or not united with one another. God never intended for the Christian believer to be apart from the body. Whenever a member of the body is broken and not able to hold him or herself together, they need other members of the body around to supporting them and given structure and stability so that they to go on to remain part of the body. Just as if the stick in the bundle was broken there or many sticks around that individual broken sticks to hold it together. It is our job as a church to hold the broken people together, to build them up in love and good works. To give them the support they need. But know this, even if you are the broken stick you still give the support that is needed as you fill the gaps in our lives and in the church to help us remain as a united bundle. There’s also those who are broken in this body, this body of believers and should not be ashamed to announce it and to ask for support. Those who are broken should not be in fear, in fear of judgment or ridicule but should be able to express their brokenness because of the support they know that they will receive.

Just as our physical bodies have many members and many parts some for honorable use and some for less honorable use, so the church itself has members some seem to hold more honorable positions than others but in fact, each individual member and each individual part of the body functions as a unit. Pounder the Fullness, the grace, the love that is shown, the support giving, from the top to the bottom This is what it means to see how good and pleasant it is to dwell in unity. And be enthused to tell others!

3. Proclaim the Fulfillment of Unity. (133:3b)

Explain:

From there the Lord has commanded the blessing—the Lord God is the one who is controlling the blessings. All blessings come from above as illustrated with the anointing oil as it is poured on the head and then runs down the beard. And also, the dew as it produced by the clouds from Mount Hermon that then waters the fields. So, to God’s blessing comes down from above. But it is from the unity of believers where the Lord commands the blessing to flow from. There is a special blessing that is distributed whenever believers are united.And that blessing is “life forevermore”, eternal life. And it is in community when the people of God are united that the blessing is commanded. Gods blessings go to the ends of the earth, yet there are certain blessings that only those who can be called brothers are commanded to have. Eternal Life.

Eternal life is offered to all. All people are commanded by God to believe the gospel. To become a unified global community. To become a citizen in the Kingdom of God. And it is only in the belief that God the Son, the second person of the Trinity came down to earth was born the virgin Mary. He then grew and He then lived a sinless life in perfect obedience, in perfect unity with God the Father. Was then crucified, died and, placed into a tomb but then rose again physically three days later. He then walked on the earth ate and drink with his disciples who shows himself to at least 500 eyewitnesses. And was then taken up to the right hand of the Father and will come again. But God did not leave us alone. The Prince of Peace sent down the Spirit of Peace, the Holy Spirit to indwell all those who through faith believe in their heats the Gospel. All that confess their sins to God and who turned from a life of rebellion towards God to be united to Him. Brothers who dwell in unity are united to Christ who is our eldest brother.

The ultimate blessing, the greatest good and the most pleasant thing that anyone could ask for are to be in the presence of a Holy Loving God in perfect unity for the rest of eternity. That is what unites us and brings us here today the faith that the Bible teaches from cover to cover. To Proclaim the Fulfillment of Unity --- is to preach the Gospel.

There is no greater unity than what is given to us as an example in the Holy Trinity. In perfect unison the Father, Son and Spirit have been accomplishing one will, one purpose and one mission for all of eternity. From before time began, they have been working seamlessly in unison as three persons and one God. How mysterious and glorious.

Illustrate:

You work and when you work for companies, they want to accomplish a goal. Everyone might not believe in the goal. Everyone might not be giving it all of their efforts. And everyone might not be united behind the visionary of this goal. Yet you’re still required to show up you were still required given effort in order to fulfill the company’s mission. The only thing that is uniting the people in the company is in the fact that everyone should receive a paycheck. Everyone in the company does not have to be working for the corporate goals, but they are working for a paycheck. -----That should not be the church. Because those two are united in Christ have received their paycheck, they have their checks in their hands waiting to punch the clock so they can go cash it in the presence of God forever. Those in the church have one goal, one mission to proclaim fulfillment of dwelling in unity with one another, everlasting life. And this everlasting life is only accessible for those who are in unity with Christ.

Apply:

How good and pleasant it is when brothers dwell in unity. How good and pleasant it is to see so many families and strangers here together in unity. How good and pleasant it is to see the mission and vision of this small church strive to proclaim of the fulfillment of unity in Christ. The mission and goal which we all are pursuing is the salvation of more people for the glory of God. So, it is your mission, it is your calling to fulfill the vision of our founder, our corporate head, Jesus Christ. It is your job to proclaim the fulfillment of unity in Christ. It is your job as an individual and as a corporate body to in love, proclaim the Gospel to every creature and nation every man woman and child. It is your job to proclaim the fulfillment of the forgiveness of sins of the fulfillment of dwelling in unity with God the Father, God the Son and God the Spirit for all of eternity.

If you are united with Christ you’re united with believers throughout this whole world. You’re united with all who are members of the covenant of grace, from Adam and Eve to the last saint that is saved. From everyone in the Old Testament who put their Faith in the One to come. To all those who after Jesus Christ death burial and resurrection can look back on what Christ has done in faith be united with one another. If you are in Unity with Christ you have one central mission proclaim the Kingdom of God, to proclaim the unity in the goodness and the pleasure that could be found whenever brothers dwell in a community and in unity.

The Messiah, The Great and High Priest who has been anointed in oil from his head to his toes form eternity past. Is in prayer continually directly in the presence of the Father making our Unity with God possible. Church I beg you to please pursue the Good and pleasing feeling of unity. To ponder the fulfillment of unity and continue to preach the gospel to yourself and to others every day. Remember who you once were outside of Christ that you were dead in your sins did you, we’re living as an enemy of God. Yet He came down from above in order to fulfill the unity that he has with all those who have been joined to him before the foundations of the world. So that we who are leaving in rebellion towards him can be living in unity with him and we can receive the ultimate blessing life forevermore.

There was a man who once visited an insane asylum. He asked the doctor: “Why are there only three guards watching over a couple hundred patients? Are you not afraid that they will overtake the guards and escape”? The doctor said: “No, lunatics never unite”.

Don’t be crazy, let us live and grow together. Do not live in separation from one another but strive to live together in unity to create a community that brings God the most glory possible.