Unity and Harmony

There's a person in the Bible that is called the pater, the sort of the father figure or the one who affects others. He was the originator of faithful people on earth. He was the one who stood out so much that he is going to reign right under Jesus Christ in the world tomorrow. This man Abram, who was later changed to Abraham, is called the father of the faithful, or the pater, the influencer, as it were, the role model of the faithful. Why would God call Abraham by a term like that? What is it that Abraham did? Was he just the first believer? Well, no. Noah was a believer. Noah's family was saved from the flood. He was such a strong believer. Why is it Noah, the father of the faithful? What is it about Abraham? Well, we know certain things about Abraham in that there is a statement by God that he kept his charge, he kept his commandments, his statutes, his precepts. He was a man full of faith, wasn't he? And he went up to sacrifice his son Isaac. But there's something else I would like to draw your attention to, and it's found in Genesis chapter 13 verses 7 through 9. Genesis chapter 13, let's begin in verse 7. For there is a part of God's mind, part of the family mentality, that Abraham exhibited from the beginning a man who was influenced by God. And it's something that God is going to require for everyone who is in his family to have this trait. So in Genesis chapter 13, beginning in verse 7, it says, And there was strife between the herdsmen of Abram's flocks and the herdsmen of Lot's livestock. The contention that began to grow between family and employees of family became quite strong. And strife, contention, breeds division. And God is not a god of strife. He's not a god of division, disunity. In verse 9, Abram said something unique, something unique that doesn't come out of the lips of humans. Think of what comes out of the lips of humans in a situation like this. Well, the news is full of it. But Abram says something very unique. He says, Please let there be no strife between you and me and between my herdsmen and your herdsmen, for we are brethren. But he did it in there. Here's the uniqueness. So he says, Is not the whole land before you? Now, when you and I or other humans look out and we kind of envision our future, our dreams, or our wants, or where we want to live, or where we want to retire, or what career we want to have, we sort of look out at the landscape of possibilities and we choose. And we say, Oh, this, now this would really suit me and my family well.

But this attitude of him is that, if you take the left, then I'll go to the right. Now, where's the logic in that? In other words, if you think this is better for you, I'll take what's left over and it'll be just fine with me. Not even knowing what it is, I'll be just great with it. What is he doing here? He is actually investing in a harmonious relationship. And that investment costs him something. It would cost him the whole fruitful plane there of the Jordan. He says, or if you go to the right, then I will go to the left. It's not about me. It's about peace, a lack of strife. Now, when have you heard that on the news?

You know, if you take the Gaza Strip, you know, we'll take the Golan Heights, or if you don't want the Golan Heights, we'll take the Golan Heights. It doesn't matter. Just we want there to be peace. Now, something is unique here in that Lot then lifts his eyes like the typical human being and says, hmm, well, let me see. Let's see. You have the the cliffy, high, dry country off to the left that rises up. And then you have the nice Jordan Valley with the only water source in the whole region and all of that area with, let's see, one lake, two lake, three lakes. Hmm, where would I like to live? And so verse 11, Lot chose for himself all the plain of Jordan, and he journeyed east and they separated from each other.

You know, peace and a peacemaker has a goal, and that goal is not anything to do with the self, is it? It's to do with a harmonious relationship, and that costs. Abram is the father of the faithful, and this act alone tells us there's something different about God and about those who God is leading. If we compare his attitude with one of his sons, we find in chapter 16 and verse 12 that Ishmael was prophesied in this way, he shall be a wild man and his hand shall be against every man. Now what do you think? If you're against everybody, just in general, you and your kids and all your descendants, you're just, you have a mind of being against everybody. If you're for this, great, I'm against it. If you choose over there, okay, I want that too. Or if you choose over here, I want that too. And we'll be in contention whatever you choose. What kind of relationships do you think that breeds? Well, especially considering where the guy would be living. He says his hand will be against every man and every man's hand against him, and he will dwell in the presence of all of his brethren.

So this isn't just foreign powers that are going to be against him. This is just a way of internal strife. And so it is even today that their descendants are killing themselves and everyone else they can. It's just sort of a wild man mentality. The world in which you and I live continues to fracture itself. It continues to divide itself. It continues to sharpen the desires. As James 1 says, you know, you lust for what you can't have, for what you want. You burn for it. You pine for it. You fight for it. You envy. You murder for it. And the result of that is some of the same coming back to you. There's an endless competition for the best, for wealth, for prestige, for power. And yet God tells us something else. And Jesus said in John chapter 14 and verse 27 that he was going to give you and me and the apostles a gift. Something unique in the world. Something that doesn't exist, does not exist in the minds of mortal humans, of and by themselves. In John chapter 14 and verse 27, Jesus said, peace I leave with you. Now he was going to die and go. And he was going to leave something on earth that was extraterrestrial. Literally. And that was a mindset. It was part of his spirit. He was going to return and the father, they were going to live in human beings and they were going to leave us something that he had. That's how he could leave it because he had it. He's going to leave it with you. Notice, peace I leave with you. My peace I give to you. I give to you. Not as the world gives do I give you. It's not that kind of peace that he was going to leave with us. So I'd like to examine a requirement for the developing family of God. Peace is one way that it's termed, not a very accurate way. It doesn't really mean much to you and me. But you know, love, joy, peace. It's the third ingredient or effect byproduct of having God's Holy Spirit. It's that peace, not the peace that you and I hear about or know about, but it's that peace of God. Not the world would know or give, but that peace that God has given to you. That fruit of the Holy Spirit. Let's examine that. What does it mean? How does one achieve this special peace? Do you have it as an individual? Do we have it as a congregation, as a church? How do we grow in it? I'd like to talk to you today about unity and harmony. The title of the sermon, unity and harmony. Now, the Bible says a lot about peace. If you go back to Isaiah chapter 9, beginning in verse 6, we'll find that peace describes the God we serve. It describes the Messiah who is coming to reign in rule. You'll recall that King of Salem is one of his names. Salem meaning peace. Well, here we see in Isaiah chapter 9, beginning in verse 6, for unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given, and the government will be upon his shoulder, and his name will be called wonderful counselor, mighty God, everlasting Father, prince of peace.

Peace. A special kind of thing that we think, oh, that's good, because when Jesus Christ comes back, there won't be war anymore. There'll be peace, and he'll be the prince of it. And it's easy to dismiss it at that level when, in fact, that's not even what it's talking about in that sense. We find that in verse 7, it's an attribute of his kingdom, of the increase of his government and peace, there will be no end. It's going to grow. Does that mean the absence of war is going to grow, or skirmishes or schisms, a lack of them is going to grow? Or is there that plus a whole lot more? For some reason, this prince of peace and the growth of peace without end are the hallmarks of the kingdom of God.

Let's take a look a little bit closer. The Bible says that those who are led by the Spirit of God, in Romans 8, these are the sons of God. Now that should tip us off. Those who are led by the Spirit of God, these are the sons of God. Led by the Spirit, what are the fruits of the Spirit? Love, joy, peace. There that is. If we are going to be in the family of God, if we are going to be part of the kingdom that is the kingdom of peace, as one of its major attributes, then it's something that you and I really need to be growing in, as one of the fruits that God is producing in us. What is peace? Is it the lull between wars? What is peace? What is peace?

In the Bible, the term peace comes from Hebrew and Greek words. Thayer's Greek lexicon defines it this way, harmony. Now harmony is a whole different concept than peace, isn't it? When you say, oh, I hope there's peace on earth. We're hoping of the end of war. I hope that people will be peaceful. Are we saying we hope that everybody's going to be of one mind, harmonized? No.

Though the two are related, and peace certainly can be related to harmony, they in another way, in another sense, have nothing in common. Because this country has been at peace since the end of whatever war you want to cite as far as being on this soil. Certainly, I would assume, since the Civil War in about 1865. We have had peace in this country. Now, would you say that our country is at harmony with each other?

Would you say the factions of government in Congress are harmonized? The White House is harmonized? Would you say that as you go through the land, there's harmony everywhere? People are of one mind? You wouldn't, would you? And yet, this is a peaceful nation. So, when we look at Thayer's Greek lexicon and find out that the Bible's form of peace is actually talking about harmony, and the word harmony, if you look at it, means unity.

Abraham wasn't just about not having the herdsmen war, he was about harmony of kinship. Jesus Christ isn't the prince of lack of war, he is the prince of a coming government that's going to bring a harmonized unity between human beings. And so, when he gives us peace, he is not giving us some concept that we would even know about. He's talking about a harmony unity that does not typically exist, even within marriages or family, on a human level.

In John 17 and verse 20, we see that this mentality, this trait of the family of God, is wished upon us. And not just we'll find out in a wistful way, kind of a dreamy, well, I wish it were true, kind of let's all hope. But notice how intently Jesus is praying here before his arrest. He's talking directly to the Father.

And he says in verse 20 of John 17, regarding the disciples, I do not ask on behalf of these disciples alone, but for all those who believe in me through their word. Now here we are reading the words that the disciples wrote down, some of them, the apostles, the prophets, some things from Jesus Christ himself. And here we are some 2000 years later believing through the word that was written.

Notice, I'm praying for these that they all may be one. Wow, one takes it to a whole new level, doesn't it? There's no opportunity for two. No opportunity for 10 or 20 or 300. There's just one that they may all be one. Even as you, Father, are in me and I in you, that they also may be in us.

He is wanting us to be of that unified spiritual type of peace and ultimately one with them and their family forever. Now this harmony and unity isn't just a nice thing, as I was trying to say just a moment ago. It's not something that, well, if you can achieve it, you'll be happier. You'll have less strife. In Matthew 5 and verse 9 are what men call the B attitudes. You should really be these attitudes.

And I'll bet you the B attitudes just don't flow out of most people's mouths. We kind of remember them there and kind of memorized them as kids and probably heard a nice sermon about them once. And it'd be some nice attitudes to be, right? But when we come to realize what Jesus is saying, if you don't have these particular qualities, you won't be in the kingdom of God.

So that kind of lifts it up a notch or a thousand million notches right to the top because he's talking here in Matthew chapter 5 and 6 about the foundational elements that those who will be in the family of God will have and must have and must be growing in. So one of the things he's saying here in this term, blessed, is how supremely blessed in verse 9 are the peacemakers, not the peace thinkers, the peaceful people, those who don't go to war, but those who wage peace like Abram did.

Remember Abram? He waged peace and he lost big time in the physical realm, didn't he? He really had a major setback when he lost the Jordan Valley and the Jordan River and the Sea of Gethsemane and the wonderful, rich, flat agricultural plains that had been watered by floods and enriched with nutrients. He really lost out, didn't he? In that sense. But oh, how supremely blessed are the people of God's presence. But oh, how supremely blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called sons of God.

The intonation here is the rest will not be. So this tells me, and hopefully tells you, that if you want to be considered a child of God, better be a peacemaker, because those who aren't won't be. Love, joy, peace, this unity, harmony building is what the family of God is all about. And God is going to raise up those who are harmony makers with others to assist the prince of harmony and the increase of harmony of their kingdom will grow without end. And so if we miss the harmony train, you miss the whole thing, don't you?

In Psalm chapter 133 in verse 1 are the words of a hymn that we sung as the service opened today. Psalm chapter 133, this Psalm was written by David. As you can see at the beginning, it says, a song of ascents. There were many of the Psalms in the Bible were written for people to actually sing on their way to the feast, in particular, the Feast of Tabernacles or the three festival journeys to Jerusalem. And so Jerusalem is up high on the top of the mountain. And as people would come from wherever they were in the valleys, the song of ascents as they made it up to Jerusalem, this is one of those songs you can see several here on the page or songs of ascent. He says here in Psalm 131, I'm sorry, 133, behold how good and how pleasant it is for brethren to dwell together in unity. Not in peace. He doesn't use that term, but rather in unity.

You might think, well, it sounds like a nice option if it's possible, when it's possible. A nice hymn in the hymnbook. And when it happens, ain't it great? Until you read the last two words of this three-word hymn, life forevermore. You see, it's good and it's pleasant for brethren to dwell in unity, but it really hinges on them having life forevermore. It is, in verse 3, it's like the dew of hermon descending upon the mountains of Zion, for there the Lord commanded the blessing, life forevermore. And these things are inexorably entwined. In Proverbs, just a few pages over, chapter 6, verse 16, we find some things that God hates.

Disharmony. The opposite of harmony and unity is disharmony and disunity or division. And how does God feel about that? Proverbs 6, 16, These six things the Lord hates, yea, seven are an abomination to him. These are things that are self-focused. This individual is very self-focused. It's all about me. And he ends up in verse 19, one who sows discord among brethren. Now that takes it again to a different level. It's not, well, you know what? God doesn't really like it so much.

If you sow discord and fracturing and division among the brethren, you really ought not to do that. Let's read again what it says. These six things the eternal God hates. Now, when it says that God hates something, God is a really, really, really powerful God. He's really, really big. And when he really, really hates something, you don't want to be there. What if that were you or your actions? Going on, it says, and seven are an abomination to him. This great God who has the power of everything, including your eternal life in his hands, hates something and it's abomination to him. And one who sows discord among the brethren is well in the list there. We begin to see that it would not be difficult for me to be at the very crosshairs of a very angry God and consider me to be an abomination. Do you want to be an abomination and hated? Or that what you do is hated by God? I don't want to be. And therefore, what's the alternative? What's the other thing that we can do? Pursue peace and harmony and unity. That's what God loves, is those who produce harmony. So how is that done? Well, you know, humanity, our society, reflects our human nature, sometimes unbridled. And our mentality is in direct opposite to godliness. It is all about freedom. And what is freedom? That thing that we love and we all, you know, really just talk and say and yell and say we'd rather die than, you know, not have freedom. Well, we're talking about personal independence. To do what I want. Give me the opportunity to stretch my wings, to get what I want, to have free enterprise, little restrictions. I don't want to be told by anybody. I don't want to be under some oppressive government that limits me and over taxes me or strats, you know, some how straight laces me from having an expression of what I want to be and what I want to become.

Self-determination, you see. That's human nature. The tree Jesus Christ in the god of the Old Testament form set this out for Adam and Eve. Which do you want? Do you want love and joy and harmony and humility and long suffering? Or do you want freedom? Do you want the freedom to choose and be and do all you can be for yourself? That's what those two trees really represent.

And she saw that the one for the self, that was good for the taste and good for the eyes and pleasant. As human beings are, we would tend to think the same thing. But Jesus came along and set the opposite example. One of the first things he says is, I'm not here to speak my own words. I'm not here to do my own will. I've been sent here and I am doing what I've been told. And I am in complete submission to the words, to the actions, to the desires of my Father. And he came to build relationships. He came to make a harmony. He came to bring a type of peace that was unity to mankind. I'd like to give you an example of how the Church is trying to pursue this. The Council of Elders had a meeting just a few weeks ago, maybe two weeks ago, and Chairman Roy Holiday opened the meeting. And the report says he emphasized first that we must all acknowledge who the head of the Church is, Jesus Christ, and that all of our relationships and plans are based upon Jesus as the foundation. See, right off the bat, it's not about me. It's about God. It's about beginning to pray, our Father, which art in heaven, your will be done. We began to pursue a harmony with God and then with each other. Other scriptures that established the tone of the meeting were the one we read in Psalm 133, brethren dwelling together in unity, where Paul wrote, pursue those things which make for harmony, avoid divisions and schisms. Can two walk together unless they're agreed? As Jesus said in Matthew 6, to forgive others. As James said, righteousness is sown in harmony by those who make harmony. And Chairman Holiday stated that the Council's desire for peace and harmony for the sake of the Church and to do the work that God has given us to do. He said, we all desire to build relationships. And I love to hear that right from the Council meetings. With the scriptures, that this looking beyond the self and the individual freedom to pursue, we're coming under God. We want to have the unity with God the Father with each other, to have the harmony as we all try to do the work. Let's go to Ephesians chapter 4. Ephesians 4 is about the unified body of Christ, how we all come to be in this Church and how Jesus himself has structured the Church and placed people in the body where he chooses. But notice there is a tendency in this unified body to not be at harmony.

In Ephesians chapter 4 and verse 14, after defining the structure and the ministry that's given that Christ has put here, he says that we should no longer be children tossed to and fro, carried about by every wind of doctrine, by the trickery of men in the cunning craftiness of deceitful plotting. He does not want that fracturing division of minds and ideas and different ideas of doctrine to be in his Church. That's not what's supposed to drive it.

Notice verse 15, because here's the solution. See, the first word is but.

That can be interpreted rather, instead of that being tossed to and fro and all this fracturing, rather speaking the truth in love may grow up in all things into him who is the head Christ. We are growing into what Jesus is, from whom, him, Jesus Christ, the whole body joined and knit together by what every joint supplies. Just listen to this. Joined and knit together. That's unity. That's oneness. It's the opposite of pulling apart and rock to and fro.

How? By what every joint supplies, according to the effective working by which every part does its share, causing growth of the body for the edifying of itself in love. So those who have the Spirit of God will be exercising love, joy, and harmony, and they'll be like a whole bunch of Abrahams harmonizing. And when fractures and things happen, the desire is for, as Jesus said in John 17, that they may be one as God the Father and Jesus are one. You can see how then this bride will make herself ready, and she will be an agent of harmony that can go help the Prince of Harmony bring harmony to the world. It begins with yielding to God. It begins with getting our focus off of the self. When you're in a family situation or a work situation or a church situation, it doesn't matter. If you have some concept, some ambition, some goal, some strategic idea, and to you, that has to happen. This is so important. It's just so, so, so, so, so important.

What happens if you come up against somebody else who has a different idea? That is also so, so, so, so important, and it's the most important thing, and life can't go on without it in the family, in the church, or whatever. What's going to happen? You're going to have the herdsmen of Lot and Abram, aren't you? Things aren't going to work out well. So it begins with yielding to God, getting the mind off the self and praying about our Father, about His well being done, about thinking of ourselves as less than others, about giving preference to others. In Hebrews chapter 13 and verse 17, the Apostle Paul gives an important principle.

Hebrews 13-17, he says, yield to those leading you and be submissive. Now, if we look at this from the family model, which Ephesians 5 has, we see that Jesus Christ is the head of the church. He has placed husbands and wives over children and children over dogs. The last part wasn't in there, but I'm sure it is implied. So if you take a family with a husband and wife, and as you know, wives are more intelligent than husbands, they know the household better, they know the finances a lot better, they know what's best for the kids, and every day when the husband gets home, he understands from her that she knows more about it. That's a given. Until about 3 15, when the school bus drops off the kids, and the kids come home and announce to the parents that know they know more. They actually are the smartest in the family. They know everything. They just know everything. Don't ask them how. They know everything. Then you have the dog who comes in and decides it's much better to pee on the carpet than it is out on those rocks.

Now what kind of family life do you think goes on in that household? What do you think it's like to be there? Do you think that sometimes the wife thinks it would be much better to live with somebody else than the guy she got stuck with? Or the guy would think it would be much better else to live in the corner of the house talk if he could only figure out where his house dog was and how to get there? I don't know if kids ever run away from home. I guess they do, don't they? Dogs sometimes will run away from home. You know, you're talking about a common experience among humans for families to fracture. Now let's look at the reverse of this. Look at the biblical example here. Let's say the husband comes home after work and the wife, knowing more about the household, more about the finances, more about the issues of the family. And he sees her and recognizes, appreciates that, discusses that with her, seeks counsel. Together they unify as to what needs to be done and they both go after it a little harder. And the kids come in the front door at 3 15 and they respectfully recognize their parents as being the authority, even though they don't know everything somehow, like we do as kids. But we submit to that because the Bible tells us to in Ephesians 6 1 and 2. And the dog comes in and has gone outside, not because it wants to, but it knows it needs to. Now what kind of household do you think goes on there? You know, it's going to be harmony, isn't it? And so when Paul here in Hebrews says, yield to those leading you, he's not saying because they know everything perfectly in your opinion, because they have all the answers and you have none, but yielding proceeds to yielding to those who have responsibilities and authorities, to those God is using, has set in place. And he says, yield to those leading you and be submissive. It also comes into the church as well, and all of us have individuals over us that we yield to.

And it continues into the personal family. From the top, from God the Father, through Jesus Christ, who set perfect unity, even though Jesus Christ felt that he knew something maybe the Father didn't know when it came time to be scourged and die. And he said, you know what, this doesn't sound like a really good idea right now. And from a human standpoint, it really didn't sound like a good idea. And he had a chat with the Father about it even, and he recorded in there for us.

See? But what did he do? He said, nevertheless, not my will, but your will be done. I'll tell you that if a superior, your husband or your parents, kids, your boss, whatever it is, somebody tells you to do something that's not smart. I'm not talking here about sin. I'm just saying, not smart. You know, we're going to do this. I want you to do that. And it's like, that's not so smart. I have seen many times that God will perform a miracle to make that which is not so smart work out really, really well. When a person submits to it, when other people submit and go ahead and do it, God has the power to perform miracles. But if you rebel against authority because you have the really, really wise position, God also has the ability and the power to make the wisest of positions and decisions to turn out to be the dumbest. And so God supports submission. God supports obedience. And He rejects disharmony and He rejects rebellion to authority. And when Paul says there in Hebrews 13 verse 7, yield to those, submit to those, yield to those who are in authority over you. In other places, he says, you know, servants, be submissive to your masters, wives, be submissive to your, you know, and so on and so forth. Be submissive to the government and whoever. That's just a concept that goes along towards the first step of peace.

Do you begin to see the key to unity and harmony?

Do you see the key to division? You know, just do your own will and you'll get division. Just self-advancement and you will divide, you know, your household and your workplace. You'll divide people everywhere. And we've seen it down through time, even in the church.

James 4.1, where do wars and fights come from among you? They come from concepts of self-promotion or I know more than you do and therefore I get to have it my way.

Let's go to 1 Corinthians chapter 1.

In verse 12, you know, an Achilles heel of the churches of God is that we all know the essential truth, but with that truth we have human nature and we let human nature reign the day. It rules. We take this word of God, we all know the holy days and the Sabbath and we need no clean and unclean meat. But then we say, okay, you can have the tree of life and the tree of good and evil. We'll put them together. So it's about living God's way and advancing me. And somehow, you know, these two can go together. What will that cause in the church? Well, wherever you have a personal advancement like Lot and his herdsmen, you're going to have conflict and a lack of unity. It's happened every, I don't know, year or two since I was born in this church.

Somebody gets an idea, got all the truth, but there's this aspect over here that I know more, I am more, I see it better than everybody else, or I have a little flick of some little twig that has come to me, or somebody hasn't acknowledged my intellect, my prowess, my status, or whatever, and therefore my feelings are hurt. Won't you have hurt feelings with me and support me? You see, it's me, me, me, me, me, me, me, me, me, me, and therefore you have the truth and me, and you got a new group. Happens all the time. In 1 Corinthians 11 verse 12, we see the seeds of this taking place in a situation in Corinth. 1 Corinthians 1 verse 12.

Well, verse 11.

He says, well, let's go back to verse 10, I'm sorry. It just gets better, though, the further back I read. Gotta start somewhere. Let's start in verse 10. Now I plead with you, brethren, by the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that ye shall be the same as the same as the same of our Lord Jesus Christ, that ye all speak the same thing, that there be no divisions among you, but that ye be perfectly joined together in the same mind and in the same judgment. That's what God's Church is to be about. Now, verse 11. For it has been declared to me concerning you, my brethren, that those of Chloe's household, by those of Chloe's household, that there are contentions among you, or as the margin says, quarrels among you. There's some division. There's different ways of thinking there. Now I say this, that each of you says, I am of Paul, or I am of Apollos, or I am of Cephas. Ah, what do we have going on here? We have individuals who are making this relate to them. The Bible and them forms something special. Instead of just God's Word and those who follow it are something special. No, it somehow has become me and God's Word is something special. And so you have Apollos over here and his group. And some are saying, no, I'm with Paul. And some are saying, no, I'm with Cephas. There's something special about this individual. Those things, brethren, often are fostered by the individuals themselves. I'll just tell you right out. You know, depending on what you talk about and how you say it, you can build yourself into something very, very special in the eyes of others. You can craft it that way. You know, I was studying and nobody else knows this but me. Or you can take the eyes out of the message and you can humble yourself before God. And when you start thinking about something, how special you are, you write something in your notes, you're going to say something, you say, oh, God, forgive me for that. Help me to get me out of it. I am nothing. If I die today, I have no fear, no second thought that there won't be somebody here right next Sabbath and everything goes on just the way it was. It better be that way. I know today if I left the church and try to take a following, be me and the dog. I hope I've taught you that. But here we see the seeds of fracturing within the church. People and the truth and themselves suddenly have a little special sphere going on. And so, as I said, an Achilles heel of the church is that we know the essential truth, but we let human nature rule the day. One of the big ministers a few years ago was telling me, he used these words, John, they won't let me preach. They won't write. They won't publish what I write. I wanted to tell him, are you hearing what you're saying? I have to preach. I have to write. A few months later, he started his own church.

Whenever we allow human nature to drive us and we think that there's something special or we're persuaded by somebody else that they're special and we take these little twigs, what do we do? We fracture the church. And he says, here in the next verse, is Christ divided? I talked with a council member and another minister of another religion not long ago. I shouldn't say another religion, same religion. We used to all be in the same church and now we're in similar churches, all going to the same feast, sometimes in the same countries, sometimes real close to each other, but different corporate names. And I said, you know what? The problem here is we could all be together if the heads, the leaders of all these churches, which has humbled themselves and tell the brethren, you know what? We all need to be unified. We all need to be harmonized as one body. And I thought the guy was going to jump out of his chair and he says, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, it's important that we're separate. It's important that we have different church groups because, you know, people have different mentalities and different mindsets and there's a church for whatever mindset you have, you see?

I kind of took it as a little bit of protection of his particular job or role because, you know, you wouldn't want to do that. You might lose your job. But in reality, is Christ divided? Paul asked the question right here. Is Christ divided? And what's he talking about? He's talking about people saying, I am this person, I am of that person, I am the other person, and they're being okay with it. And Paul is saying, no, that is not right. He says, was Paul crucified for you? Am I anything or anybody else? Were any of us? Did we give our lives for you?

Were you baptized in the name of Paul? I mean, when did this become about something other than our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ? I am nothing. I am only here in the name of Jesus Christ. Okay, I only baptize or speak or pray in the name of Jesus Christ. Don't you? It means it's not about you. We're doing this as a servant of somebody else for them.

Now, the rationale for self-advancement is the winds of doctrine.

You know, that very thing that the unified Church of God was not to have blowing through it, winds of doctrine, is the very thing that all the splinter groups or whatever you want to call them, have in common. We're all the same except for that little thing that blows around, that little bitty doctrine. What's your special doctrine? Well, our special doctrine is Passover on the 15th. Well, that group's so small there's hardly anybody there. Okay, but our special thing is we use a sacred name, but we don't know how to say it. But that's okay. And that group is really small, too. But what's your special doctrine? Our special doctrine is governance. Oh, really? Yes, it's a doctrine. A doctrine. That's funny. I don't read of governance in the Bible. That's okay. In our Church, it's a doctrine. Oh, yeah. But what's your form of governance? Well, our form of governance is our guys in control. And if our guy's not in control, it ain't the true Church. Well, you know, you kind of go around from little fragment here to little fragment there, and sometimes these guys have problems. There's little groups out there that they just don't have any special doctrine, so they have to make them up. And they'll flip tithing around. They'll come up with just really odd, little, curious things. They've got to be different. Something to hang on to. And Ephesians 4 says that the unity of the Church, growing up into the head of Christ, is to, through the true ministry of Christ, leading and teaching, is so that we can avoid being tossed to and fro by every wind of doctrine that comes blowing through. That's not okay. That is not okay.

The Apostle Paul says in Romans chapter 14 verse 16, Romans 14 verse 16, Therefore do not let your good be spoken of as evil.

For the kingdom of God is not eating and drinking.

This is talking about the little twig that one group had that was different, divided, fractured off from the body from the other group. We got special diet stuff in our Church. You guys eat a little bit of meat that's sold in the market, but it originated up there at the temple and got fried out in a barbecue outside of the temple, and you're eating that stuff. We're better than you. See, we don't eat that.

Somebody else might say, well, we only drink grape juice. We don't have wine at Passover. There's a good one. And there are, there's a group that does that. Paul here says the kingdom of God is not about eating and drinking. In other words, the Church, those who will be in the kingdom, it's not about these petty little things that you have that are so-called unique and special little doctrines. Notice, but it is the kingdom is righteousness and harmony and joy in the Holy Spirit. How can you say, oh, we're more righteous because, you know, we use vegemite on our bread instead of marmite. I mean, or whatever you want to come up with. When here he says the kingdom of God is about righteousness, that's love, love, peace, and joy. That's the Holy Spirit. Love, righteousness, peace, harmony, unity, and joy in the Holy Spirit. We are to be about harmony. And sometimes it's hard to pursue harmony, but those who do pursue harmony and make harmony, these will be called the sons of God. And we can see why, can't we? It's an attribute of God through the Holy Spirit. For he who serves Christ in these things, love, harmony, and joy, is acceptable to God and approved by men. Notice, therefore, let us pursue the things which make for harmony and unity, and the things by which one may edify another. One may build up one another. I hope, brethren, that if you get nothing more out of this sermon, if you get nothing more out of any of the sermons here, that you understand this is not about corporate bodies with different names, each wrangling, no, we're the chosen group, no, we're the chosen group. And one is claiming that we're going to have better insight. You know, Romans 8 says, those who are led by the Spirit of God, all of those led by the Spirit of God, these are the sons of God. And these corporate entities with a whole bunch of differing names and a whole bunch of conspiring, vain statements, often negative, one towards another, miss the mark. Because he says right here, let us pursue the things which make for harmony and the things by which one may edify another, and that the kingdom of God is righteousness, love, and harmony and joy in the Holy Spirit. Focus on those things. Worry about the corporate names and entities. Don't worry about the things that are said or the structures or the things that throw up as dust. Stick to the trunk of what God wants you to be. He wants you to be right here, righteousness, harmony, and joy. And you do those things, pursue those things which make for harmony and the things by which you edify one another. As we've seen today, it requires a submission of self, a focus on God, a considering of others better than ourselves. Submission to the roles in which God has placed above us. So the question really comes down to, do you want to build yourself up? Do you want to have the real good decision? Does it have to be your way? Does it have to be exalting you? Do you have to look good in your job, in your household? Is it about you? We know where that's going to be, and we know where that's going to lead to. Or, do you want to build up God, the family of God, your family, everybody around you, your neighbor? Do you want to edify and build them up? Well, this is a key. What do we want?

Romans 15, verse 5 says, May the God of perseverance and comfort grant you to be like-minded one toward another. This is the opposite of our society, which is, oh, don't be like-minded. Oh, no. Be an antagonist. Have a better view. Just be in your face with what you want to be. Go be all you can be.

In 1 Corinthians 1, verses 10 and 11, as we read well ago, Paul says, I plead with you, brethren, by the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that you speak the same things, and there be no divisions among you. And I'll tell you, everybody I talk to, and I talk to ministers in all the splinter groups, I can. I consider myself an ambassador, not of any corporate entity, but of the body of Christ, and we need to heal. We need to get serious about getting rid of these egotistical mindsets that divide us, or these power plays that people put onto the brethren, and encourage them to be divided to where one won't even talk to another. I don't always have very good success in getting other ministers to talk with me, but where I can, I'll invite them to a meal. Recently, I spent an afternoon with one a month ago or so here in this area. I sat down with a pastor of another church. Last year, after the feast, just a year ago, we sat down with some top leaders in another one of the churches. Wherever we go, I will try, as we did at the feast this year, to get with ministers of other groups and talk with them, and encourage them that we are brothers of the same faith, that we are led by the same spirit, and that we need to unify. I get a lot of yah but from a lot of people, and that's about mostly all I get. I did get one minister of another church, and I'm talking about, you know, we were all once together in a former organization. I'm talking about ministers that now are of the same faith, but divided by corporate names. And he told me, he says, you know what, it's nuts that we're not together. This is really something. He says, I'm going to go to my superiors in the United States and tell them that we need to be together with you. Because I brought him our literature and showed him his literature and said, look, you know, this is good stuff.

He really got excited about it. And then he came to his headquarters and they told him, you better shut up, and you better not see that John Elliott guy again.

And so the next time, next time we got together, he said, well, I'm really not supposed to be talking to you. And I was kind of given the word that whatever your church group is doing is just not right somehow. And he says, sorry, but let's have lunch anyway. Well, let's keep it really low key. You know, it's just kind of the stuff, but I'm not going to give up on it. I hope you won't either. I hope you will keep your fingers and arms extended and try to encourage people. It's not about, like Paul says, it's not about little twiggy doctrine, whatever the meat or the drink or the little thing, whatever that is. Somebody else has built that up to keep us divided. That's the winds of doctrine that blow through the church to toss it to and fro.

Now, this is about God and us, as it says here, speaking the same thing, that there be no divisions among you, but that you be perfectly joined together in the same mind and in the same judgment. Now, with that statement in mind, you see how strong that is, that by the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, speak the same things, no division, perfectly joined together, same mind. Remember what it says in Proverbs? God hates and is an abomination to him. How can anyone put that forward and say, oh, that's a good thing? That's a really good thing. We should do that. We should split up. We should all be separate. Well, how do we all do these things? You know, we can't... I'm not complaining about anybody else. It is a challenge, but God is going to have to change my heart to be better. I'm not saying I am good. I'm not saying I'm better than others.

But I think we all can be of the same mind in repentance. We can all be saying, you know what, I'm not what God needs me to be today. And I'm sorry for that. And I'm trying and I'm changing. And others should be joining in on that as well. But how do we do all these things? Well, there are two passages in the Bible that tell us how to. I'd like to turn and read them with you. One begins in Romans 12 and verse 9, and the other is in Colossians 3, beginning in verse 5. Let's start with Romans 12 and verse 9. Romans 12 and 9. Let love be without hypocrisy. That says a lot, doesn't it? We're to love brother as much as self, and yet do we love everybody as much as we do ourselves? Or do we say, no, that person or those people are not worthy? We're hypocrites, aren't we? Did Jesus Christ come and say, well, I'm only going to die for these people, this group? Let love be without hypocrisy. Of horror, what is evil? What's evil is evil. You know, like Paul told Peter, you know, rejecting Gentiles in the daytime and eating with them at night, that's hypocritical.

Of horror, what is evil? Cling to what is good, and what is good is here. There's no branding of what is godly. You can't brand the Bible, can you? You can't brand the truth. You can't brand Jesus Christ. You can't brand the kingdom of God.

He says here, cling to what is good. It's of nobody's brand, in other words. It's of God, through his Holy Spirit, to those he places it in. You cling to what is good. If you find it under a certain brand, great. Love it. Brands come and they go. That's my experience. I've been under a lot of brands. I've got a bunch of certificates by different names, you know. Do I throw the old one away? I don't know. I like that signature. Cling to what is good. Be kindly affectionate to one another with brotherly love, in honor giving preference to one another. See here how peace, how harmony is built. There's no room, in those words, for self. Kindly affectionate, loving others, giving preference to one another. My wife and I had an argument yesterday. We had this once in a while. It begins like this. This is true. Absolutely true. And we have not gotten very far in the argument as far as solving it. But it goes like this. Dear, I'll tell her, I really appreciate you and I learn from you. You are so much smarter and ahead of me in so many ways. She said, no, no, no, no, no, no, no. She said, you are the one who is smarter and you study. And I learn from you. And I'm trying to catch up with you. No, dear. I see what you do here in the house and what you do with other people and how you're serving and helping and giving. And I'm lagging behind and I'm trying to catch up. It comes up once in a while. Now, that's a good argument to have. And I'm not putting that forward as some example of stellar righteousness. I'm just saying that we are to give honor and preference to others. And if you can't do that, you are missing a really special part of life. Really special part of life. If a husband doesn't think his wife is smarter, more capable, and harder working than him, he is missing out on an observation and a respect that is priceless in the human experience. All I'm saying is that. And if you look at somebody else who may have a fleck and you may say, well, this person and I, we don't get along, then you're not looking at the right things. Because every person is talented, is creative, has so many good things about them. And you're focusing on the wrong thing. You're letting that one little nitpicky thing that really bothers you be your focus. And you can't see anything but the beam in your brother's eye. It looks like a beam, but it's really nothing. It's just one little thing. Pray about that. Leave it with God. But in honor, prefer one another. Not lagging indeligence, fervent in spirit, serving the Lord, rejoicing in hope, patient in tribulation, continuing steadfastly in prayer, distributing the needs of the saints, given to hospitality. Yes, you can be given to hospitality. The Bible says don't be given to wine. And you can't ordain a person that's given to alcohol. But it says here, you can be given to hospitality. Yes, you might have to have a 12-step program to get out of being given to hospitality. But the Bible says that's a good thing. Bless those who persecute you. How can you do that? Well, it's not about me, is it? Bless and do not curse. Rejoice with those who rejoice and weep with those who weep. Be of the same mind toward one another.

Don't set your mind on the high things. Remember, Abram? Don't set your mind on the Jordan Valley. Don't set your mind on the high things for you. But associate with the humble. Don't be wise in your own opinion. Wow, that would solve a whole lot of problems right there. We probably wouldn't have any splinter groups. If everybody followed that rule, we wouldn't have any dissension or coercion. We wouldn't have any winds of doctrines blowing through. But associate with the humble. Don't be wise in your own opinion. Have regard for good things in the sight of all men. And notice, if it is possible, as much as it depends on you, live harmoniously with all men. See, that is our calling to excel in the love of God and our fellow man, to radiate the joy of God, and to build harmony. Build harmony. Colossians chapter 3 verses 5 through 20 is the other passage that tells us how to accomplish this harmony in unity. He starts out in verse 5, put down those selfish things, those self-centered lusts and things that are inside you.

Because of these things, the wrath of God is coming. The great tribulation is coming because of the self-focus of individuals. Dropping down a few verses, therefore, as the elect of God. Now, you're a special call group. You're different. You have this peace or this special peace, not the worldly peace, but this harmony that God has given you. Not like the world gives, but God has given you this harmony. Therefore, as the elect of God, holy and beloved, put on tender mercies, kindness, humility, meekness. Meekness means, I don't know how to live. I don't know what's best. Not that, oh, I know how to live. I know what's best. I'll tell you how to do it. No, meekness means only God knows how. And therefore, I don't know. But I look to God, you see. Long suffering, bearing with one another, forgiving one another. If anyone has a complaint, but above all, these things put on love, which is the bond of perfection. It's the bond that we have of perfection. And let the harmony of God rule in your hearts, to which you are also called in one body. Wow, there's a statement. There's the statement of the day. We were called in one body that the harmony of God would rule in our hearts. Wow. And so we then will take this with Jesus Christ and build it in the world tomorrow. He says, towards the end, whatever you do in word or deed, do in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ, giving thanks to God the Father through Him, wives submit to your husbands. Husbands love your wives. Children obey your parents. It's interesting how submission to authority comes in with harmony.

You have to put all of these things together. Abase the self. Follow the rules that God has set. Love others. Appreciate and respect others. And a deep harmony results from that. In conclusion, 2 Corinthians 13, verse 11, there are two finally scriptures. I'd like to read them both.

When you're concluding a message and you can turn to a passage that begins with, finally, brethren, well, there's two such that Paul wrote. One was to the church at Corinth in his second letter. One was the church at Philippi. I'd like to conclude with what he says here. 2 Corinthians 13, 11, 1. Finally, brethren, farewell, be complete. Be of good comfort. Be of one mind. Live in harmony. And the God of love and harmony will be with you. Wow! You see how integral this mental concept is with God, the family of God, with the saints of God, with those who will rule with Christ.

He says, all the saints greet you, greet each other with a holy kiss. All the saints greet you, the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ. Today, it's kind of like the holy hug. We don't do so much kissing, but once in a while you might get a little kiss on the cheek. It's kind of an honorable thing among brethren. But he says here, the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ and the love of God and the communion of the Holy Spirit be with you all. See, it's the fellowship of the Holy Spirit with God and Jesus Christ, their fellowship in us, their love, joy, and harmony that's working in us that brings us about. In Philippians 4, verses 8 and 9, even stronger to the point. Philippians 4, verses 8. Finally, brethren, whatever things are true, whatever things are noble, whatever things are just, whatever things are pure, whatever things are lovely, whatever things are of good report, or if there's any virtue and if there's anything praiseworthy, meditate on these things. Do you notice there's nothing there about you or me? Nothing about the self to be thinking about? But going on, the things which you learned and received and heard and saw in me, these do and the God of harmony will be with you. Brethren, you and I are to be godly children. We are to be the children of harmony. We are called to be the bride, the support, the helper of the king of harmony. And we are called and ordered to be harmony makers. And if you are, you will be in the kingdom of God.