Pentecost and Unity

Six thousand years. That's a long time. Six thousand years of a human family walking this earth. Six thousand years, and it seems that so much has been outside of and beyond the reach of human beings. From the very beginning of the human family, we find that there has been a quest. Many quests, but one in particular, a quest to discover how human beings can get along with each other. To this date, this quest has not been fully successful. In fact, many, many times, tremendously a failure. Humans continue to seek, and we continue to dream, but man on his own, apart from God, is incapable of finding the key to getting along with each other. We are a part of a great country. I think we all love our country. We have developed a rich American culture over the last 500-plus years. It is, in my biased opinion, the best that man has ever made or found, devised. The more I go back and study the founding of this country, I believe God's hand was there. God fearing men and women. God was leading to put pen to paper, so to speak, to put down some founding documents. And yet, we live in a country that doesn't get along with itself. We have this particular type of government as a representative republic. It's not a true democracy. There are some who seem to think it is, that, you know, just majority rule, but it's not set up that way. We have in our court systems, we have an adversarial type of an approach. We have, as I used to say, up in northeast Tennessee, the US-ons against them-ins. We have the defendant and their legal counsel, and then we have the other side. And it's us against them. We have a three-part federal government, and there were checks and balances woven into the fabric of the country, because the founding fathers recognized this weakness within human beings, that we will break down into party factions. We will strike and strive to get our own way, that somehow, some way, that human nature has to be controlled. We look at the religions of our country and of this world. We have religions which profess to speak in the name of God, and yet these religions do not have unity among themselves. We gather here on the day of Pentecost. What a marvelous day. We gather here on the Feast of Weeks, the day of the Feast of the First Fruits. And there are many wonderful lessons of this day. But we look back today, in part, to an event nearly 2,000 years ago, an event whereby God began to form His government on this earth once again. He had sent the government here once upon a time, long before human beings came along, and that one ended in disaster. We know that story. The individual's name, he is known as Satan, the adversary, as it means now. A polyon, a badan, the destroyer. Once upon a time, God sent angelic sons here. And the frightening thing is, as you look back and assess that, and you read the attitudes that Lucifer had in Ezekiel 28, that he was perfect till iniquity was found in him. And he walked the path of sin. You add to that the attitude, the insight into his thinking, that we find in Isaiah 14, that I will lift up my throne. I will be like the Most High. And then you add the statements there in Revelation 12 about how this dragon's tail drew one-third of the stars of heaven. Stars being a term in Revelation that's identified, interpreted for us as being the angels. And what frightens me is that it seems that they were looking to Lucifer so much so that every last single one followed him in that rebellion.

Well, if we would back up to the beginning of the story of the human family, Genesis is a book of beginnings. And in the book of Genesis, we find the roots described of our own society. And we've debated back and forth different times. Well, here's Adam and Eve. They're the only ones in the garden. Here are these two very symbolic trees, the tree of life, the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. He made the wrong choice. We know that. We can puzzle over what it would have meant. What would have happened had he taken from the correct tree? But no, they took of the wrong tree, and the rest is history. Two symbolic trees, the tree of life, on the one hand. And I remember a lot of those at Pasinine at the time, back in the 1980s, early 80s, speculating about it and likening the tree of life, the tree of life, the very trunk of it, being likened to the Holy Spirit. And then the trunk went up and it divided into two main branches, the one then subdivided into four smaller branches, and those represented the first four commandments as far as the knowledge necessary to worship God, to have a relationship with God. But then another main branch, going the other direction and dividing into six smaller ones, and those represent the other six commandments. The knowledge of the ability to, if we would just try it. You know, I've heard it said on talk radio shows that, you know, that God's law works every time it's tried. It's just that human beings don't try it very often.

But the Ten Commandments, especially when you consider all of the meaning behind every word of those commandments, we would have the necessary knowledge to impart an ability to get along. Well, there was that other tree. You know, we know what happened. Adam and Eve took of that other tree. And that tree, the knowledge, the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. And it apparently was a very beautiful tree, a very desirous tree, and the root system came from Satan himself. And the fruit born was vanity, envy, jealousy, lust, greed, resentment. And we could go on and on with that.

Two thousand years ago, a festival was kept in a most dramatic way. It followed on the heels weeks after the events of Jesus Christ being, well, betrayed, beaten, beyond recognition, ultimately crucified as life was taken. Three days and three nights in the grave, resurrected during Unleavened Bread that time. What a serious and sober and somber days of Unleavened Bread that must have been for the early church. That there they all forsook their Savior. They all had to have gathered together, frightened, trembling, wondering what in the world is going on. And yet, at least in the sermon yesterday in Murfreesboro and down in Huntsville, I talked about how he began appearing to them after he was resurrected. He appeared to them quite a number of times, sometimes just two walking on a road, sometimes even 500 gathered together, sometimes meeting behind closed doors, and he would just appear. And at one point he reminded them, in fact, let's go to Acts chapter 1, he reminded them that there would be that time when this extra power, this help, would come upon them. And then that very thing happened that next holy day, the day of Pentecost.

Acts 1 verse 3 speaks of how Jesus presented himself alive after his suffering. By many infallible proofs being seen by them during 40 days. You know, that's a major portion of the 50 days from the time of his resurrection until the time of the Feast of Pentecost. And speaking of the things pertaining to the kingdom of God, in verse 4 he tells them to wait there in Jerusalem for the promise of the Father. Verse 5, you will be baptized with the Holy Spirit not many days from now. And verse 8, but you shall receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you, and you should be witnesses to me in Jerusalem and in all Judea and Samaria and to the end of the earth.

Six thousand years.

It started out that human beings hitting the ruts of the road. Adam and Eve took of the wrong tree.

As we follow the story of their family life, what a mess that was. What a dysfunctional family that turned out to be. There are a lot of those families that we can read of in the scriptures.

We find that 1600 years plus later, God decided to just wipe humanity off the slate and start all over through one man with his family.

So much evil. So much violence. The world was filled with violence, we read, that God wanted to just or God decided to start all over with one man and his family and start a whole new world. But we follow the story there after the flood, Noah and his family, and we don't get far till we find here our human beings unifying themselves in rebellion against God. It seems that's one thing human beings can unify themselves.

God told them, be fruitful, multiply, fill the earth. He told Noah and family, spread out across the earth. And we find human beings kind of staying there around that Mesopotamian area. We read of how Babel was built. We find that the ones there wanted to build a tower and kind of reading between the lines there. I somehow think that the thinking was, in case there's another flood, some of us are going to get up top and we're going to survive. But they did unify in rebellion to God. And God confused the languages and we see that there was no unity. We see there was warfare and fighting. And the world could only agree upon rebellion. We go to the end of the Bible, the other end of the Bible, to Revelation. And we see at the very end that that's once again something human beings will do. They're fighting each other, but when they have the sign of the Son of Man, they're going to gather, rally their forces together to fight the returning Christ.

Let's go to Matthew 16.

Matthew 16.

And here we read in verses 16 through 18.

Jesus came for a number of purposes. He came as a Lamb of God to bear away the sins of the world, but He also came to found a church. There had been a church in the wilderness, but this was a different church. Spirit led, Spirit filled. He came to call and train foundational stones for that church. Matthew 16, verse 16, Simon Peter answered and said, You are the Christ, the Son of the living God. Jesus answered and said to Him, Bless her to you, Simon Barjona. For flesh and blood has not revealed this to you, but my Father who is in heaven. And I say to you that you are Peter. Again, you have to know the setting there at Caesarea Philippi. This huge rock cliff that's outside that town, all these little stones at the base.

You are Peter. You are Petros. You are these little foundational stones, but on this rock, on this Petra, on this massive stone, which was in reference to Himself, I will build my church and the gates of Hades or the grave will not prevail against it. And then it speaks of giving the keys of the kingdom. The church of God was built. It was established. It was founded. And Jesus gave the promise that it would never cease from existence upon the earth. And He began calling certain ones. As Christ's ministry began, Peter and Andrew, James and John, others, there obviously were others beyond the 12 who followed along. At one point, He sent out 70. But there were at times thousands who came to His ministry. It's obvious from the story that they were there more so to be fed than they had bought into His teaching. But He did have a few that He trained, and He founded a church by calling certain ones. And on this day, nearly 2,000 years ago, the seed was planted that is to beget unity on the earth that would begin with the church, and that would grow and thrive and spread until the time when Christ returns. And unity then in the kingdom spreads around the world. Let's go to Romans 8.

Through the Spirit of God, one of those fruits of the Spirit is peace.

And that seems to be something that is so elusive to human beings. And in the end, unity cannot exist as a byproduct of the human mind because the human mind is founded on the wrong tree from back in Genesis. The human mind followed along the impulses, the broadcasts of the Prince of the Power of the Air, the God of this world, the God of this age. Romans 8, verse 7, we read because the carnal mind is enmity against God. There's something wired within us that just resists whatever God says. And yes, God's Word works anytime it's applied. But the human mind doesn't want to apply that. For it is not subject to the law of God, nor indeed can be. The carnal mind is the antithesis of Godly unity. The carnal mind tends to see differences and build up these differences and drive wedges between peoples. At times, we find that our unity quotient even in the body of Jesus, Christ suffers. And when that happens, it means the Spirit of God has been waning. The Spirit of God sometimes is lacking even within the people God has called. The Spirit of God can provide the glue that binds many into one. Different, unique, distinct individuals. And yet, it can bring unity.

We're introduced to God and the Word there in John 1, those early verses. In the beginning was the Word. The Word is with God. The Word was God. There was a remarkable unity. We find in the Gospel accounts how at that height of His agony, Jesus prayed out, that, Father, if there's any way this cup can pass from me, let's do it another way. And He said, to me, that speaks of distinct wills. But then He prayed, nevertheless, not my will, but your will be done.

And it was obvious that there was not a change in plans, and He went along and, perfectly in a unified manner, submitted Himself to the sufferings of that next, well, the next many hours.

1 Corinthians 1.

It seems that human beings, though, can't seem to have that type of a oneness, a unity, that God and the Word have. They are one. 1 Corinthians 1. Apostle Paul writing those at Corinth, they had a lot of challenges. One of the most glaring problems was all these divisions. In verse 10, he said, Now I plead with you, brethren, by the name of our Lord Jesus Christ. He invokes the name of the one who said, If there's any other way, let this cup pass from me.

But even though Christ was essentially told no, He went on with the plan. He gave up Himself. He gave up everything. He gave up His life. 1 Corinthians 1. By the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that you all speak the same thing, and that there be no divisions among you, marginal note, no schisms or dissensions among you, but that you be perfectly joined together in the same mind and in the same judgment. Yes, even in the church of God, it seems that we continue to move on that quest to be able to find how can we get along with each other. And the answer is the Spirit of God. It is a Spirit of peace. That is what it begets. It can. It will provide the adhesive to glue us together. And I believe that unity must be a hallmark of the church of God. And unity comes from the presence of the Spirit of God, not the Spirit of man, not the Spirit of Satan. So today, we come to step number three in the Holy Day plan. We liken it to seven steps of a ladder. And we began. You can't go to the third or fourth or fifth step. You have to go from the ground to the first step to the second to the third. And we celebrated. And we remembered the body and blood of Jesus Christ and the sacrifice that He made. And then we kept the days of Unleavened Bread. And we reminded ourselves of how difficult it is to get all of that leaven out of our homes. And hence, it's difficult to get sin out of our lives. But we're to walk an unloving life. We're to walk in a different path.

We come to the day of Pentecost. And on this day, God poured out His Spirit. Let's go back to Acts 1.

Acts 1.

We read verse 3, part of verse 4, 5, 8.

Then it goes to the story of His ascension back to heaven. The angels telling them He'll come in like manner.

The names of the 11 are given in verse 13. And then notice verse 14. These all continued in one accord. One accord. marginal note, one purpose, one mind. And supplication. With the women and Mary, the mother of Jesus, and with His brothers. And verse 15 tells us that the number was about 120 who were gathered. But here we have the 11. And we have this group. There were always a number of ladies who followed Christ, saw to His needs. They were the ones oftentimes who were not afraid. We have Mary specifically mentioned His own mother, and then it mentions His brothers. That would be His physical brothers. There's one place in the Gospels where it mentions the names of four brothers and His sisters, which tells us two or more. But His siblings, at least His brothers, were there. One accord, though. And they had been told, Wait, stay here. You're going to receive a promise. You're going to receive power. And that power will allow you to go out into the world. You start here. You go to Samaria, Galilee, to the end of the earth.

Well, chapter 2.

We have the story of the day of Pentecost. Couldn't have been, but days later, even, well, His ascension would have been day 40 if He was there 40 days, showing to them these proofs. So just another few days later, we have the day of Pentecost. When the day of Pentecost had fully come, they were all with one accord in one place. Repeatedly, we have this concept of one. One in mind, one in purpose, one in judgment. Yes, it would have been a very challenging time for them. Their Lord and Master had just weeks earlier been brutally killed. And then He appeared to them. Some of them felt of Him. They ate with Him. They listened to Him.

I think we would have tended to do the same thing. We would have, like a scared flock of sheep. Run together, huddled together, quivered together, for fear of that which we don't fully understand. So they were obeying. And there came a sound from heaven as of a rushing, mighty wind, and it filled the whole house where they were sitting. And it speaks of the divided tongues of fire. Verse 4, They were all filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak with other languages as the Spirit gave them utterance. I said, languages. It's the Greek word glossa. That's what it means. It's obvious as the story goes on, there are devout Jews from every nation under heaven. All types of languages. And yet, the miracle of that day was, as Peter or others spoke, each one heard what he said as if it were in his own language. So a miracle of the speaking, and maybe even more so, the hearing.

We have a lengthy sermon that Peter gives. Let's go toward the end of the chapter.

We have a different man here. This is not the Peter who turned and fled. This is not the Peter who denied that he knew Christ three times that night. In verse 36, he said, Let all the house of Israel know assuredly that God has made this Jesus whom you crucified both Lord and Christ. There was no backing up in Peter now. There was no turning tail and running now. A different man. As the Scripture of Paul wrote to Timothy, he said, God hasn't given us a spirit of fear, but of power and of love and of a sound mind. Here we have a different man. Well, down to verse.

41. Then those who gladly received his word were baptized and that they were three thousand souls added to them.

And they continued steadfastly in the apostles' doctrine and fellowship in the breaking of bread and in prayers. Verse 43. Fear came upon every soul, and many wonders and signs were done through the apostles. Verse 46. So continuing daily with one accord in the temple and breaking bread from house to house, they ate their food with gladness and simplicity apart.

One accord. One purpose.

A unity.

This holy day, I think, can aptly be called the Feast of Unity. Unity can only come through the gift of the Holy Spirit, the guidance, the leadership of the Holy Spirit, which imparts the mind of God as it combines with the human mind. Unity, in fact, must be a hallmark of the Church of God, the work of God. The puzzling thing is, why do we seem to be so unable to get along with each other? If you know the answer to that, I wish you'd tell me. I don't know of anybody out here in the real world of the Church, anybody out here in the trenches, I don't know anybody who likes it. But you know, back quite a number of years ago now, 1994-95, we saw things that pulled our body apart. Well, it had happened before. It's always happened. And in our years in the United Church of God, we've seen different occasions, different ones choosing that there's no other option but to separate.

I would contend that's never the answer. It doesn't solve one thing. It only postpones the fact that somewhere down the line, we have to walk by the Spirit of God and not just talk the talk, but really walk it, live it, breathe it from the heart.

And so from time to time, we have those who separate. And then we're left here, fewer in numbers. But what else do we do but just pick it up with what we have, get up. The world and Satan run over us sometimes. We get up, dust off, lock arms, and go forward once again with what God has preserved for us. But I do believe the hallmark somehow, some way, must be unity must be a hallmark of the Church of God and that unity should be that which sets us apart from the world as being unique and noticeable in a good way.

The law of God. We don't have all the pieces of the puzzle back in Exodus 19, you know, those chapters before it as Israel moves from Egypt. We have little events that happen on the way. It seems to fit closely. It does tell us there in Exodus 19, it was the third month. So that narrows it down quite a bit as far as how long. Jewish tradition says the Ten Commandments were given on the Day of Pentecost, which would make sense that there were these laws given to Israel. And you don't put any other God before me. You don't form or fashion anything out of the materials of the earth that will be a symbol of God. You use great care in how you use the name of God. You honor time that God says is holy. It's holy because He says it is. No human being can make holy time. And then there are commandments as far as love and consideration toward other people, properties, faithfulness to one's own spouse. And again, it's tradition that those were given on this festival day. And so we could follow through with that, that when God poured out His Spirit, that God wrote those laws, the intention of those laws on our hearts beginning on that day. And those laws, certainly with the intention behind every word, provides the knowledge of how to get along. But will we do it? Will we do it? That's still the question that we have.

The Day of Pentecost, at least in part, celebrates the unity that was offered to the Church of God by God imparting His mind through the gift of the Holy Spirit. The laws written on hearts should enable us to get along so that we can pool resources and fulfill the commission to go to the end of the earth with the message that He gave us. And this should unify us as we seek to bring in an early harvest, because it's always a byproduct of going out and sowing seeds far and wide. It always has been a byproduct that there are those where seed falls in their mind, and it's a fertile soil, and it takes root and germinates, and God begins calling and drawing that person. And we take care of, and we preach the gospel, but we prepare a people. We care for those people that God brings along. A member of the body of Jesus Christ is to be different. He or she is to be recognizable. The common bond, the tie that binds many into one, is the Spirit of God. And I think one of the very greatest gifts is that of unity. How is it that we, the church, can find the unity quotient that God has intended for 6,000 years? How can we succeed in a midst of a world that has a long and storied bad record as far as being able to get along with each other?

The Spirit of God is the answer. Has to be the answer. There is no other answer.

What's each of us evaluate the unity quotient of our own life? We would have to start at home, and of course that involves us as an individual, and in many cases as a spouse we live with, or maybe it's a family with children at home, or different generations at home. Let's evaluate our own unity quotient, because unity begins in the home. As far as taking the Spirit of God and letting it lead our lives, it is in those most intimate relationships, human relationships, where we come face to face, every day, many times a day, with these little decisions and choices, as to whether I will deny myself for the greater good of the family, or whether I will strike for my own way, come what may. Let's go back to Psalm 127. Psalm 127. You see, unity begins with the individual heart and soul. Unity is individual, it is personal.

And the kingdom of God, the focus on the kingdom of God is to become such a ruling factor in our lives that it bursts forth in unity in the lives of those around us. Psalm 127 speaks about the family, the blessing of children, the happiness that can come. It also can be a source of tremendous hurt. Psalm 127 verse 1, unless the Lord builds the house, they labor in vain who build it. Unless the Lord guards the city, the watchman stays awake in vain. It is vain for you to rise up early, to sit up late, to eat the bread of sorrows, for so he gives his beloved sleep. Behold, children are a heritage from the Lord. The fruit of the womb is a reward. Like arrows in the hand of a warrior, so are the children of one's youth. Happy is the man who has his quiver full of them. They shall not be ashamed, but shall speak with their enemies in the gate. From the very beginning, Adam and Eve, God worked through a marriage, a marital unit that became then a family. The absence of unity in Adam's life made it abundantly clear that the Spirit of God was not reigning in their lives. The civilization that followed could not get along, still doesn't get along, because the Spirit of God is not leading in far too many lives. God must be the one upon whom a marriage or a family is built, if there is to be unity. So, each of us, as an individual, we can start there, and we can consider, am I a part of the problem or the solution? How is the unity quotient in my own home? If there is bickering and arguing, that is not a good sign. If there are individuals who see things differently and yet are able to work their differences out and come to some kind of a resolution, then that's fantastic. We obviously are going to see things differently. You might ask, well, tonight, let's go out and eat. Where are we going to eat? We might have five different answers. But surely there's a way to work it out. Sometimes, oftentimes, we give up a part of ourselves and what we may want. Psalm 128. Let's look at the next one. Blessed is everyone who fears the Lord who walks in His ways. When you eat the labor of your hands, you shall be happy and it shall be well with you. Your wife shall be like a fruitful vine in the very heart of your house. Your children, like olive plants all around your table. Behold, thus shall the man be blessed who fears the Lord. The Lord bless you out of Zion. And you may see the good of Jerusalem all the days of your life. Yes, may you see your children's children, peace, be upon Israel. These two Psalms are among the Psalms of ascents, Psalms of degrees that were apparently read by the pilgrims, the Israelite pilgrims, going up to keep the Feast of Tabernacles, that looks to a time when there will be a beautiful knowledge of God that spreads over all the earth, and also a time when there will be a unity beyond anything humanity has seen. But the first family that came, the first family, was a disjointed wreck as we follow the story of Cain and Abel. And what happened? We can look at others. The family of David was certainly dysfunctional. I lost track once I tried to count how many children he had by how many women. And no wonder he had this son competing against that son, and this one trying to kill him. I mean, it was a disaster.

Satan knows where to hit us where it can do the most damage. There have been many times the niece and I have felt that Satan has tried the door to our marriage. He has not succeeded. There are times he's tried to drive a wedge between us. If he cannot touch your marriage, he'll try to get to you through your children.

And there are surely a lot of us in this room that know the depth of that pain when things that you have no control over take place. And if Satan can't get to your family, he'll try another window or door because he's the God of disunity and he wants to spread it far and wide. God on this day provided the spiritual salve that can enable husbands and wives and families to begin to get along with each other, to take steps in the right direction as far as having harmony at home. The calling of God involves learning the way to unity and taking it to all the world. We've all heard the old saying that charity begins at home. I think unity begins at home, too. So we start by looking at our own home. Pentecost is a harvest festival, a celebration of the early harvest, the grain harvest. I loved yesterday and today to see the combines beginning to roll through the wheat fields.

It just resonates deeply down in there with me. It reminds me of some good times. It's interesting how you look back. I remember back when we were bringing in the harvest on the farm there in Oklahoma. As I think about it, a lot of times I remembered how I didn't like wheat shaft down the back of my neck and how filthy dirty we'd get and how you'd blow your nose and all this dirt would come out. But we forget about those things and kind of glamorize our memories. But this is a harvest, a time to rejoice for the harvest. And the harvest of God is in bringing in the minds and the hearts of other human beings. Bringing others in as a part of the early crew. And hopefully, I think it's always interesting that sometimes we go through some rough places in our Christian walk as the people of God. Sometimes we get stuck on the ruts of the road and then we get through certain hurdles. And we look our wounds and we look around and we realize, oh, we're fewer in numbers, but we have peace. And I think we'd all take fewer numbers with peace any day. Although, I still contend, it shouldn't have to be that way. When are we going to reach the point when we have peace and the numbers grow and grow? And God continues to add people because those who are there as a part of the body of Christ, people look and they realize because of their love, one for another.

But there's something unique and special.

What about our local congregations? Let's ponder that for a while. And as I reflect on that, I think of, like I mentioned before, many of you probably remember, one of the routines that Andy Griffith had early on in his career, one of his early routines was, and I forget the setting, how he ended up, but he saw this snack bar, concession bar, and he went over there and thought, well, I'm going to get, I think he said, a hot dog and an orange drink. And he went over and ordered those, paid for them, and he got them, well, here's this whole swarm of people coming, and he's in the midst of them, and they're going in over this through this gate, and he had no choice but to go through with them, and the man there at the gate is saying he wanted this ticket, and he says, I don't have a ticket. In fact, I don't even know where I'm going. Well, as it turns out, he ends up in a stadium, and he's describing this game he's never seen, and he describes this one big outhouse, and out of one end of that big outhouse, run all these guys in red, and out of the other end of that outhouse, ran all these guys in white or whatever other color, and they came out in the middle of that field, and a couple of convicts, he called them, with striped shirts, set this pumpkin, he called it, this pumpkin right down the middle, and he says, I witnessed the most horrible fight I've ever seen in all my days. He says, they kicked that thing, they picked it up, they ran into, they ran over each other, and you wouldn't have wanted to try to eat that pumpkin by the time they were through with it. Well, the routine is called something like what it was, was football, and he was seeing a football game, he didn't know what it was.

I think of that sometimes, because sometimes it does seem like there are similarities, even in the body of Christ, that we can come out of opposite ends of this, well, our house doesn't seem quite right, we can come out on opposite sides of an issue, and we can run into, and we can run over each other, and it's so unnecessary. And carnal, and simply wrong. Romans 12. I believe we, this morning, saw a portion of this. There are some phrases I want to highlight a little later in this chapter, midway through the chapter. Romans 12. I do want to see verse 4. Romans 12. This is one of the chapters that talk about spiritual gifts, but he does say verse 4, for as we have many members in one body, that word one that keeps coming up, but all members do not have the same function. Then he goes on talking about these different spiritual gifts. Some have a gift of service, and some can teach, and some can encourage, and some give, and some have a remarkable gift of wisdom, and it's not, I think differences are to be understood, but we need all of the above.

Let's go down to Romans 12 verse 10. He said, Be kindly affectionate to one another with brotherly love, in honor giving preference to one another. A little later here in verse 13, distributing to the needs of the saints given the hospitality. Verse 15, Rejoice with those who rejoice. Weep with those who weep. 16. Be of the same mind toward one another. 17. Repay no one evil for evil. 18. If possible, as much as depends on you, live peaceably with all men. You see, I have found that others aren't as normal as I am, and you can only do your part. I think that's an important point from this verse. You can do your part as much as lies within you, as much as depends on you, live peaceably. And then a reminder, God's in charge. If there's any taking of vengeance, it's God's. God's realm, God's job. We're not to be in the punishment business.

In these four congregations, we have our ups and our downs, but I think we're blessed with wonderful groups of people. Wonderful people who love the truth of God, love the way that God has outlined here in His Word, love each other. Oh, we hit some of the ruts of the road sometimes. We let little things get under our skin sometimes, but I think we have a lot to be thankful for a good foundation to build upon, but we can always improve. Proverbs 6.

Proverbs 6, beginning in verse 12.

A worthless person, a wicked man, walks with a perverse mouth. He winks with his eyes, he shuffles his feet, he points with his fingers, perversity is in his heart. He devises evil continually. He sows discord. Therefore, his calamity shall come suddenly, suddenly, he shall be broken without remedy. These six things the Lord hates, yes, seven, are an abomination to Him. A proud look, a lying tongue, hands that shed innocent blood, a heart that devises wicked plans, feet that are swift in running to evil, a false witness who speaks lies, and one who sows discord among brethren. You know, nothing damages a unity quotient more than an unbridled tongue that comes from a mind that is not led from the Spirit of God. Human nature must be checked by the Spirit of God. It must be reigned in by the Spirit of God, rather than by the selfishness that is natural from the carnal mind. But here, God says He hates the sowing of discord, and yet that has done tremendous damage in the body of Christ. And once again, I wonder when and where do we, the people of God, dig in our heels and say, no more! We will not be divided. We will stay together and grow closer to one another so that Satan cannot drive a wedge between us. Satan has had too much success doing that within the body of Christ. The home, the local congregation, and we should also consider the greater body of Christ.

Mr. Gary Beam recently reminded us of some words that Bob Dick spoke. I think most of us here know Mr. Dick from their years serving down in Birmingham, cherished memories of when the Dicks were here. But he at one conference in recent years made a statement. He said that we must first be a work before we can do a work. And that speaks of the change that has to take place within our heart. We have to become godly individuals if we're ever going to be able to be used of God in the way that He wants to be able to preach the gospel far and wide and live in such a way that others will look at our lives and say, you know, these must be the disciples of God. Let's go over to 1 Corinthians 12. 1 Corinthians 12. Yes, there are different gifts. There are different jobs, different personalities.

And differences does not mean right or wrong. It just means different people for different roles. And every one, every person is necessary. And God uses us as it pleases Him, as it fits in with His plan. 1 Corinthians 12, verse 4.

There are diversities of gifts but the same spirit.

There are differences of ministries but the same Lord. There are diversities of activities, but it is the same God who works all in all.

Goes on speaking of one, being given the word of wisdom and other knowledge and other faith, healings, miracles, prophecy, discerning of spirits, tongues, interpretation of tongues. But verse 11. But one of the same spirit works all these things, distributing to each one individually as He wills. We all look at our own lives and hopefully we can identify a number of strengths that God can use and magnify. But we all realize that we have many limitations. We have many limitations. All of us do. I certainly do. Verse 12. For as the body is one and has many members, but all the members of that one body, being many, are one body, so also is Christ. For by one spirit we were all baptized into one body, whether Jews or Greeks, whether slaves or free, and have all been made to drink into one spirit. For in fact, the body is not one member but many, and then it goes on into the analogy of the body. The hand, the eye, the foot, different parts of the body. Most of us probably have had afflictions. It's amazing if you have something that's injured, if you hit the wrong nail with your hammer, and get the thumb nail, look at Gary Beams' thumbs sometimes. If you have an eye injury, and once upon a time I had a torn retina, and I tell you what, after that surgery you go home, it's all patched up, and it starts talking to you. I mean, it starts telling you big time, it hurts. And whatever they gave me, I woke up 11 hours later, and then it started hurting again. But that stuff was so powerful, I didn't want much of that.

But whether it's a knee, whether it's, well, Bobby's son, fractured skull.

When one is hurt, we find out it affects the whole body. God help us to view the body of Jesus Christ that way, to realize that every part is necessary, that God called that person for a distinct reason. It is our job to accept them, to love them, respect them for the work God's doing in them, and to be unified with them for the purpose of God. Verse 18, but now God has set members, every one of them, each one of them in the body, just as He pleased.

Verse 25, that there should be no schism in the body, but that the members should have the same care for one another. 27, you are the body of Christ and members individually.

Ephesians 2, the unity of the Spirit should lead us to order, unity, harmony, as individuals far and wide in the body of Christ yield to the lead of God in their lives. Ephesians 2, verse 19, verse 19, now therefore you are no longer strangers and foreigners, but fellow citizens with the saints and members of the household of God.

We are being woven into the same fabric. We are being called into the same family. Having been built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Jesus Christ Himself being the chief cornerstone, in whom the whole building being fitted together grows into a holy temple in the Lord, in whom you also are being built together for a dwelling place of God in the Spirit.

Chapter 4, Ephesians 4, verse 3, verse 3, endeavoring to keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace. There is one body and one Spirit, just as you were 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 you all. But to each one of us, grace was given according to the measure of Christ's gift. And so on Pentecost, as we read of it in Acts chapter 2, on Pentecost God imparted His Spirit, first of all to about 120, and then 3,000 were added. In different places in the book of Acts, you see how the numbers of the disciples were multiplied. In one place it says the numbers of the men was about 5,000. And for approaching 2,000 years, God has been calling. God has been sowing seeds. God has been blessing the efforts of individuals whom He calls. He's called a team. He's called us to sow the seeds of the kingdom of God. He's called us to bring in a harvest. He's called us to bring in the early crew to welcome them, provide for them. Matthew 16. Matthew 16. And we read here in verses 24 and 25.

Matthew 16 verse 24. Then Jesus said to His disciples, If anyone desires to come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow Me. And whoever desires to save his life will lose it. But whoever loses his life for My sake will find it. I wanted to read those in the context of a message on unity.

Cooperation. I think a lot of times it just gets down to the ability to give up something we want for the good of the greater body. I could go into a Star Wars movie quote, but I won't. I'll resist the urge. Half the audience won't know what I'm talking about. But Mr. Spock, the needs of the many outweigh the needs of the few. And when's the last time you gave up something for the greater good of the family, of the congregation, or of the overall church? We have, as one of our mentors, the patriarch Abraham. And you remember that time back in Genesis, I think it's chapter 13, but the time when he and Lot, they had grown. They had so much in herds and flocks, and they needed to separate. And Abraham said, there's well-watered plains down below, or we have Judean hills up here. And he said to nephew Lot, you pick. I still puzzle. To me, it's just bad taste. That Lot didn't defer back to the patriarch. But as it worked out, Lot chose what would have been more valuable. It turns out, it says a little later, he knew what was there in the men of Sodom. The father Abraham gave up the better land for the sake of unity. They separated.

One of the great keys to growing in unity is to give. For the needs of others. But giving is contrary to human nature. Only by giving up of our own wants, within God's law, can we move toward unity. Giving up one's own rights is a higher level of sacrifice.

Isaiah 11.

There is a time coming when there will be a remarkable unity beyond anything we can probably even imagine.

Isaiah 11 verse 9, the millennial chapter here. They shall not hurt nor destroy in all my holy mountain, for the earth shall be full of the knowledge of the Lord as the waters cover the sea. And it goes through this prophecy and others, the time coming when God is known. The time comes when a voice is heard, this is the way, walk in it. The time comes when the bride of Christ will have made herself ready for the marriage to the Lamb, and there will be unity and harmony and oneness that spreads across the earth. On the day of Pentecost, the Spirit of God was given. We celebrate that today.

That very nature enables unity to develop and grow within us. Let's go to Psalm 133.

One passage here, and then we'll close with one passage in Acts.

Psalm 133, another one of the Psalms of degrees or Psalms of essence.

Behold how good and how pleasant it is for brethren to dwell together in unity.

It is like the precious oil upon the head running down on the beard of Aaron. Oil, as we know, is one of those beautiful biblical emblems for the Spirit of God. And as Aaron was set apart, as he was anointed with that holy anointing oil to be the first high priest, the oil ran down his head, covered running down to the edge of his garments.

Another emblem of the Holy Spirit is due. Water in general, but due oftentimes, is specifically used. First, it is like the dew of Herman, Mount Herman, around 10,000 elevation, way up in the far reaches of ancient Israel.

Up above the Sea of Galilee, the dew of Herman descending down upon the mountains of Zion. Those mountains down Zion and down south of there, you have the hills of Judea. So, from the far northern part of ancient Israel down to the southern part, you have, in a uniform manner, this dew that appears. It's invisible. It cannot be seen, but it just appears. For there, the Lord commanded the blessing, life forevermore. This is a day that celebrates, maybe I should say anticipates, a greater unity within the body of Christ. But as the church of God, we were called, and we were chosen, to defy history in many, many ways.

Human beings for 6,000 years have proven that they cannot get along, that they'd rather fight and squabble and argue. God has called us to do different. But only God in us can impart the mind, the nature, that can bear the fruit called unity. Acts 4. Acts 4. That early church began with a boom. 3,000 added. Great miracles. Tremendous sermons. And yet, the church began to get into trouble. It so often times is, kind of like the ancient Druids went into battle, and on one of their battle banners, they had the words, the truth against the world.

And the early church began going forth with the truth of God, as they were empowered by the Spirit of God. And here in Acts 4, let's just pick it up over in verse 23. Peter and John have been in prison, and verse 23, being let go, they went to their own companions and reported all that the chief priests and elders had said to them.

So when they heard that, they raised their voice to God with one accord. What a beautiful pictures painted here. The early church must have been distraught. Peter and John are in prison. They had no idea how it would end or what would be done to these men. But now they return to them. They're together again. They meet together in one accord. And they said, Lord, you are God who made heaven and earth and the sea and all that is in them. Who by the mouth of your servant David have said, and then he quotes from back in Psalm 2, why did the nations rage and the people plot vain things?

The kings of the earth stood their stand. The rulers were gathered together against the Lord and against his Christ. And that's an end-time prophecy of a time when Satan will build his ultimate house. One final time, it will rear its ugly head. And the forces of human beings from this European block will lock horns with those of an Eastern block. And then with the sign of the returning Christ, they turn together to fight against the Lord and his Christ. Verse 27, for truly against your holy servant Jesus, whom you anointed, both Herod and Pontius Pilate, with the Gentiles and the people of Israel, were gathered together to do whatever your hand and your purpose determined before to be done.

Now, Lord, look on their threats and grant your servants that with all boldness they may speak your word, by stretching out your hand to heal, and that signs and wonders may be done through the name of your holy servant Jesus. And when they had prayed, the place where they were assembled together was shaken, and they were all filled with the Holy Spirit, and they spoke the word of God with boldness. Now, the multitude of those who believed were of one heart and one soul, neither did anyone say that any of the things he possessed was his own, but they had all things in common.

And with great power, the apostles gave witness to the resurrection of the Lord Jesus, and great grace was upon them. Here in part, we read a prayer of the early church. Nearly 2,000 years ago now, the early church yielded to the lead of the Spirit of God at this time. It changed their lives. It motivated them to be together, to be of one mind and one judgment and one purpose.

And by the unity of the Spirit, they went forth preaching the gospel of the kingdom of God. The Spirit of God, as it worked in their lives on those wonderful occasions, allowed them to get along together as each person yielded to the lead of God. The key, as always, is the Spirit of God, and one of the beautiful fruits of the Spirit of God is peace. Pentecost is a feast of unity. May God grant us unity in every sense of the word. May God grant us the strength to bring in the early harvest in greater and greater scope. And may God grant us peace, harmony, and unity as the people of God. And may God lead us to be a unified work so that we may do His work.