What Sacrifice Must We Make for the Sake of Unity ?

I want to especially thank Mr. Dunham for his sermonette. That was an excellent sermonette. It's actually going to lead into an aspect of my sermon that I'll mention here in just a moment. But, you know, look at the world today, look at the news, and we're seeing more and more division, more and more animosity and hatred and violence. I think I can never remember in my lifetime, here at least here in the United States. I don't think we're going to have time. When you look at the world right now, especially here in the United States, what's going on, I don't think there's ever going to be a time when the world has more needed the Kingdom of God than right now, as portrayed by the upcoming piece of tabernacles. Of course, the folks on the Kingdom of God and Jesus Christ return. But the situation is so bad here in the United States, it almost, you know, you almost worry about how we're on the verge of a revolution. It does concern you. I think it concerns a lot of people. Although, in this case, I believe a lot of the violence and demonstrations we see are, to some degree, at least orchestrated. But today, I don't want to look at the situation in the world. I want to talk about our calling and what God desires from all of us. This ties into the sermon, because God does something He really desires from all of us, and it takes the power of God's Holy Spirit to bring it about. On the other hand, it cannot be achieved just by the power of God's Holy Spirit. It takes our participation as well. But I want to look on our calling and on what God desires from all of us, which ties indirectly to all of God's feasts and holy days, and especially to the Feast of Tabernacles coming up. And in fact, it's the only time you really see this, really demonstrated, in a really big and meaningful way, is at the Feast of Tabernacles. God wants to be there all the time. But God the Father and Jesus Christ, as we know, they've made great sacrifices on our behalf. As we know, God the Father sacrifices only begotten son. And Jesus Christ only gave up His glory and sacrificed His life to pay the penalty for our sins. So the world could be saved. Not just us, but the whole world would have an opportunity to be saved. But what about you and me? Is there a sacrifice we need to make? What might that be? And what would be the purpose for making that sacrifice? You know, the world today is deeply, deeply divided. And now here in the United States, it's so sad. Here in the very United States of America, we are deeply divided as a people today.

And I'll just have to look at this, just like generalizing now, but what about all the churches of God, regardless of what corporation they're a part of? What about the churches of God? Any divisions there? What about all the congregations of the churches of God? Are there any divisions within congregations of the church in various places? I'm glad I don't see much here, but in some there are, sometimes there are. But wouldn't it be great if we could all live in perfect harmony and unity with one another? That's what I want to focus on today. How can we achieve unity and what will it take in order to accomplish that? And here's another question. Is there a sacrifice that we can make to help bring that about?

One of the main definitions of the word sacrifice is this. The act of giving up something valued for the sake of something having a greater value. The act of giving up something valued for the sake of something that has greater value. What way might we want to give up that has great value to us? It would be for the sake of something that has a greater value. What might that be? See, what must we sacrifice or give up for the sake of having unity? That's what I want to focus on today. The title for my sermon here this morning is What Sacrifices Must We Make for the Sake of Unity?

I want to begin with what's in the Bible labeled as one of the songs of the sense. Following Psalm 119, the longest Psalm in the Bible, but not the longest Psalm, the longest chapter in the Bible, Psalm 119. Following Psalm 119, there's a grouping of 15 Psalms, each labeled as being a song of a sense. They're Psalm 120 through Psalm 134, and they'd be labeled that way in your Bibles, multi Bibles anyway. The Hebrew word, a sense, translated as sense, literally means going up. The Hebrew word that translated as sense there, elsewhere in Scripture, designates steps, as the word is also translated in various places, also translated as steps. So in the original Hebrew, there's a definite article there as well, so it could be properly rendered, a song of the essence, or a song of the steps. Those four 15 Psalms there could be labeled that way. Now, the original intent, if you go do a little bit of research, the original intent of that is unknown, but there are two common theories. First theory is this. The most common theory is that the ascents refer to going up to Jerusalem, going up to the mountain of the Lord, and to the temple mount to keep the feasts of God.

Jerusalem being the highest elevation in the Holy Land, and the temple of the temple mount being the highest elevation in Jerusalem.

Most feel these 15 Psalms of ascents then, or songs of the ascents, where thus song as the Israelites traveled up to Jerusalem to the mountain of the Lord to keep God's feasts and holy days. As Psalm 122, the third Psalm of ascents seems to indicate, especially in verse 4. Let's begin. Let's go to Psalm 122. Again, this is a third of these 15 Psalms of ascents. Psalm 122, and I'll begin in verse 1. A song of ascents, and this one says, of David. There are four of the Psalms of ascents that are attributed to David. Four say, the songs of ascents of David. A song of ascents of David. I was glad when they said to me, Let us go to the house of the Lord. Let us go up to God's house. Our feet have been standing within your gates, O Jerusalem. Jerusalem is built as a city that is compact together. Verse 4, Where the tribes go up, the tribes of the Lord. Where the tribes go up to worship God in His feasts and holy days.

There is also a progressive theme in these 15 songs of leaving this present evil world to join and worship at God at the temple in Zion, which is what we all do when we go to the Feast of Tabernacles. We go up to observe God's feasts and holy days. Well, that's the first theory. These songs were sung as they were going up to Jerusalem to worship God at His feasts.

Second theory is that since there were 15 steps, I should say, leading up to the main court of the temple, that these 15 songs of ascents were progressively sung on each of these 15 steps leading up to the court of the temple as they were about to enter the court of the temple. The steps, according to some, were in the shape of a long semi-circle. So you could get a group of choir singers, and they'd get on the first step, and they'd sing the first song of ascents. They'd go to the second step, and they'd sing the second song, etc., until they got the 15th step, where they were about to enter the court of the temple. So that's the second theory. They were sung on these steps, progressively. But today, as we focus on the subject of unity, I want to begin with the 14th of these 15 songs of ascents, or songs of the ascents, or these 15 songs of the steps, if you want to look at it that way, which is Psalm 133. Let's go to Psalm 133. This is the 14th of these 15 songs of ascents. This is also the fourth of the four songs of ascents that are attributed to David. This is the song of ascents of David. Psalm 133, a song of ascents of David. And this introduces us to the subject of unity. It tells us what a great it is if we could all achieve unity. Verse 1, Be old how good and how pleasant it is for brethren to dwell together in unity.

So this fourth of the four songs of ascents of David, among the 15 songs of ascents, focuses on the joy of brotherly unity among God's people. How great it is when we all fall together in unity among all the people of God's spiritual temple. They're going up to the physical temple, but we're part of the spiritual temple of God. And how great it is if all the people, but part of the spiritual temple of God, could all dwell together in unity. The one time we tend to do that is at the piece of tabernacles, isn't it? No matter what corporation we're from, what body we're from, where we attend, no matter how big or how small or isolated that congregation might be. And some people might even have a congregation, maybe. We all dwell together in unity during the piece of tabernacles.

The joy of this unity is then likened to precious oil and to the dew of hermon. Verses 2 and 3 of this song. Then it ends at the end of verse 3 by showing what this kind of unity will lead to. That it will lead to and result in life forevermore. End of verse 3.

What does that tell us? If you can achieve unity and harmony among God's people, it will lead to life forevermore. That tells me it's a matter of salvation, to learn how to live together in unity and not be divided. It shows how important it is. Because God has commanded a blessing for brethren who learn to do all together in unity. For there the Lord commanded the blessing life forevermore. Verse 3. Now there's a key word in this psalm which can easily be missed in our English translations, which appears three times in the Hebrew here in this psalm. It appears twice in verse 2 where it is rendered running down both times. And in verse 3 it is rendered descending.

A deeper meaning which this can indicate is that goodness and blessings and the gift of life forevermore, they come down or descend from God. They have to come from God. They have to come from God above. Now many feel that David may have composed this particular psalm when the tribes of Israel agreed to unite under his leadership, which is an interesting thought. Let's go back and look at that. Let's go back to 2 Samuel chapter 5. This is the time when the tribes of Israel united under David's leadership as king. We'll just look at the first five verses. 2 Samuel 5 beginning in verse 1. Then all the tribes of Israel came to David at Hebron and they spoke saying, indeed, we are your bone and your flesh. We're united with you, David. We're all going to be a part of one people standing together behind you united. We are your bone and your flesh. Also in time past, verse 2, when Saul was king over us, you were the one who let Israel out and brought them in. And the eternal said to you, you shall shepherd my people Israel and be ruler over Israel. Therefore all the elders of Israel came to the king at Hebron and King David made a covenant with them at Hebron before the Lord. And they united David king over Israel. David was 30 years old when he began to reign and he reigned for 40 years. In Hebron he reigned over Judah seven years and six months and in Jerusalem he reigned 33 years. There was a lot of part of this verse. Over all Israel and Judah, under David there was a united kingdom. The kingdom was united under David. He became a united kingdom and they greatly prospered as a result, didn't they? If you have unity, you can greatly prosper.

Behold, how good and how pleasant it is for them to dwell together in unity. Now for people in the Old Testament times, this psalm was understood in the sense of national unity, which David brought about national unity for all of Israel and Judah. But today we in God's church understand it at an even deeper level as having spiritual brotherhood through God's Holy Spirit and to bring about spiritual unity. That's more difficult. It takes it to a deeper level. But there are two similes used here in Psalm 133 verses 2 and 3. Two things that are similar, that is those two similes are precious oil, verse 2, and dew, verse 3. Oil and water, dew, both can represent God's Holy Spirit in Scripture. So it's God's Holy Spirit sent down and given to us by God from above that can transform us into His special people and bring us unity. If you give us spiritual unity, it's going to take God and God's Holy Spirit. And only by using God's Spirit can we all dwell together in unity. But I want to say, ask this then, what does dwelling together in unity really mean?

Does it mean, for example, that we all have to think alike? We all have to have the same perspective on all things?

Let me ask it this way. It is from a verse in the Bible, which we'll turn to in a moment. 2. Can two walk together unless they be agreed? That question is asked and answered by God Himself in the book of Amos. Let's turn to the book of Amos. You can find that among the minor prophets. 1. Daniel, Hosea, Amos, I think.

Amos 3. Beginning in verse 1 of Amos 3. 2. Hear this word that the Lord has spoken against you, O children of Israel, and against the whole family which are brought up from the land of Egypt, saying, verse 2, 3. You only have I known of all the families of the earth, therefore I will punish you for all your iniquities. In this context here, you only have I known means you only have I chosen. That's what it really means. You only have I chosen. As God's relationship with Israel was an exclusive relationship in the Old Testament times. God only had a special relationship with Israel. He was only Israel. He was His chosen people. God didn't ask this question in verse 3. Can two walk together unless they are agreed? Oh, God answers His own question with four follow-up questions. He answers this question here with four follow-up questions, all of which have the very same obvious answer. Can two walk together unless they are agreed? Then He answers that by asking four other questions that have obvious answers. Will a lion roar in the forest when he has no prey? Will a young lion cry out of his den if he's caught nothing? Will a bird fall into a snare on the earth where there is no trap for it? Will a snare spring up from the earth if it is caught nothing at all? No, no, no, no obvious answers. So then you have to ask the question, can two walk together unless they be agreed? And the answer here God gives is no, they can't. And yet we do know that there are no two individuals on the face of the earth who agree on all things. No husband and wife agree on all things. Evelyn and I have been married for 50 years, but there's a lot of times we haven't agreed on all things. But we dwell together in unity. So you can dwell together in unity, even though you don't agree on all things. What then is God really telling us here in Amos 3 then? We don't have to answer that question. We don't have to guess. We've already read the answer in verse 1. Just ask this question, what two parties is God referring to here in Amos 3? Well, the two parties He's referring to here, as given to us in verse 1, are the children of Israel and God.

See, to walk with God and be in harmony with God and to have unity with God, we must be in agreement with God. You can't walk with God unless you're in agreement with God.

And we must be in agreement with the Word of God. But that still begs this question, could two human beings walk together unless they be agreed? And the answer to that is, yes, they can. Married couples do that. They don't agree on all things, but they can dwell together in unity. But then there's another part of that. Two human beings can walk together in unity if they are willing to pay the price. We can. We can walk together in unity with other people if we're willing to pay the price and we're willing to make the proper sacrifice that takes a sacrifice on our part to walk together in unity with other people who may have a different view. What price must we pay? What sacrifice must we make for the sake of unity? Let's go to the bottom line and ask this question. What sacrifice must we all be willing to make to achieve unity? To achieve and maintain unity when we don't always agree on all things? When that happens, there is a cost and a sacrifice we all must be willing to make. What is that cost and what is that sacrifice? What must we be willing to give up to achieve and maintain unity? Again, you have to give up something that we value for something that's of greater value. And the thing that's of greater value is unity among God's people. That's a tremendous value to God because He's building a family. He wants that family forever to dwell together in unity and harmony. We have to learn that now. We have to learn now in this lifetime if we're going to be there in God's family. But the world is very divided in tremendous need of unity. So what does the world need to learn from all of us as future leaders when it comes to achieving peace and unity? You know, in Christ's final prayer to His Father, just before He was taken to be condemned, He prayed for unity. Interesting. You think about it. We read this every year, Passover, John 17. But you realize He prayed for unity. Why did He pray for unity? Because God can achieve unity just ad hoc by Himself. Takes our participation. It takes all of us to be willing to make some sacrifices.

But He prayed for unity in that final prayer for His disciples and for all His future followers. Let's turn there. John 17. You're very familiar with John 17. We read it every year at the Passover, like I said. John 17. There's a few verses here. Let's read verse 11. John 17 verse 11. Christ said, Now I am no longer in the world, but these are in the world, His disciples. And I come to you, Holy Father. Excuse me. I come to you. Holy Father, keep through your name those who you have given me that they may be one as we are. They may be unified as Christ was with His Father. Have that kind of unity.

Verse 21. That they all may be one and unified as you, Father, and me, and I in you, that they also may be one in us. That the world may believe that you sent me, and the glory which you gave me I have given them, that they may be one just as we are one. They may be unified just like we are. I in them and you in me, and that they may be made perfect and one. That the world may know that you have sent me, and love them as you have loved me.

Just prior to these words, Christ said this, verse 20. I do not pray for these alone. Those disciples were there with Him at that time. But also for those who will believe in me through their word, all of my disciples, future disciples down through the generations, I pray for them also. They can all somehow find a way to achieve unity, and be at one with one another. It's God the Father and Jesus Christ our one. So Christ prayed that all of His future followers would learn how to be one. Jesus, He and His Father are one. Again, we read this every year at the Passover. We emphasize that at that time we read it, that we're all part of one spiritual body. We're all part of one spiritual family. We're all part of the family of God. Which is going to eventually dwell together in unity for all eternity.

But why did Christ emphasize and pray for unity for all of His future followers? Why was that such an important part of this particular prayer? Because Christ knew that Satan would do everything within his power to disrupt and destroy unity.

And He, His disciples, would have to be strong enough spiritually so as to not be influenced by the Prince of the Power of the Air, as He's called.

His disciples would have to be kept away from the evil one. Verse 15 of John 17, I do not pray that you should take them out of the world, but that I do pray that you should keep them from the evil one. Because if He can influence them, He will, to destroy and disrupt unity. He's going to do everything He can to divide them against one another.

Satan is a source of division because he knows that could destroy people of God and separate them, scatter them.

Now, what does it take in order to be kept from the evil one? Let's go to 1 Peter 5.

1 Peter 5, last chapter in 1 Peter. 1 Peter 5, and let's begin in verse, just to read verses 8 and 9. Where Peter gives this warning, be sober, be vigilant, because you have an adversary. And your adversary, the devil, walks about like a roaring lion, seeking whom he may devour.

Then it says, verse 9, it says, resist him, remain steadfast in the faith, knowing that the same sufferings are experienced by your brotherhood in the world. But how can we resist him, and how can we then remain steadfast in the faith? Going back just a couple verses to verse 5. 1 Peter 5, verse 5, likewise, you younger people submit yourselves to your elders. Let all of you be submissive to one another, and be clothed with humility. For God resists the proud, but he gives grace and favor to the humble. Therefore, humble yourselves unto the mighty hand of God, that he may exalt you in due time. So we resist Satan, remain steadfast in the faith, by being clothed with humility, and by humbling ourselves unto the mighty hand of God.

But what does that take? So what does it take in order to be clothed with humility? And what does that really mean?

The sacrifice all of us must make for the sake of unity is to be clothed with humility. That's the sacrifice we have to make. If we don't have unity, we have to be clothed with humility. That's the sacrifice we have to make. And there can be no lasting unity without humility. God, I have humility, and I already have unity. So humility is the price we must all pay in order to achieve unity. And humility does require sacrifice. It requires giving up something that is near and dear to us. What would that be? Well, now that we know that humility is a sacrifice we have to make in order to achieve unity, let's take that to the next level by asking this.

Why is humility a sacrifice?

To answer that, let's look at the example of Jesus Christ that He gave for us. He exemplifies that for us. He answers that for us by His own example. He tells us why humility is a sacrifice. See, what did Christ give up? What did He sacrifice in order to exemplify true humility? Because He's the example. He exemplified true humility and what it takes, what sacrifices it takes to achieve that. Remember what Peter wrote in 1 Peter 2 verse 21? I'm just going to quote it. But in 1 Peter 2, 21, Peter wrote, to this you were called, Christ left us an example that you should follow in His steps. So He's the example of how to achieve unity and what sacrifice it takes in order to achieve unity. Let's go to Philippians chapter 2.

We must spend most of our time right here, the remainder of the sermon. Philippians chapter 2, he gave me verse 5, very familiar Scripture when we all know by heart. Let this mind be in you, which is in Christ Jesus. Then it goes on in verse 6, Who being in the form of God did not consider it robbery to be equal with God, because He was God, He was God in the flesh.

But He made Himself of no reputation, taking on the form of bondservant, and coming in the likeness of men, and being found in appearance as a man, He humbled Himself and became obedient to the point of death, even the death of the cross.

And what sacrifice did Christ make, and what price did He pay in order to humble Himself? What did He give up in order to exemplify true humility? So we could learn that from that and follow in His footsteps. I want to read this again. This time it's paraphrased in the Living Bible. I think the Living Bible has a good paraphrase of these verses here. Let's look into 2 verses 5 to 8. It's paraphrased in the Living Bible. Your attitude should be the kind that was shown to us by Jesus Christ, who though He was God, He did not demand and cling to His rights as God. But He laid aside His mighty power and glory, taking the disguise of a slave, and becoming like men. And He humbled Himself even further, going so far as actually to die a criminal's death on a cross. He died as a criminal. He did no sin.

So these verses clearly show us the price that Christ paid for unity and the sacrifice He made in order to humble Himself. They also then, quote, clearly show us the sacrifices we have to make in order to humble ourselves and follow in His footsteps. They show us why humility is a sacrifice.

Now, in humbling Himself, I want to focus on here the best of the sermon. In humming Himself, Christ sacrificed three things. And to achieve unity, we must also humble ourselves by making the same three sacrifices. Those three sacrifices are found right here in Philippians 2, verses 7 and 8. It's these two verses. Philippians 2, verses 7 and 8. What was the first sacrifice He made? It's listed here. Number one, He made Himself of no reputation.

Or some margins have it, He emptied Himself of His privileges. Or, as the living Bible paraphrases, as I just read, though He was God, He did not demand and cling to His rights as God.

See, in humbling Himself, the first thing Christ sacrificed was His rights as God. He had tremendous power and glory and rights as God, but He gave that up.

And He gave up His rights as God, and He gave up His privileges He had as God, and His reputation He had as God.

See, to obtain unity, we have to be willing to try to make the same sacrifices. We must be willing, first of all, and look at the first thing here, we must be willing to give up our rights or what we feel are our rights. And we all feel we have certain rights. Now, we shouldn't always have to give those rights up, but sometimes, for the sake of unity, you might want to yield and give up your rights for the sake of unity. Give us something that you feel is very valuable, something more valuable. So we must not demand or cling to everything we feel is right. And I don't understand here, we're not talking about trunk of the tree matters here. We're not talking about the Ten Commandments or things we know of the trunk of the tree, it was Sabbath or anything like that. We're talking about twigs and small branches, about things that are not matters of salvation, because that's the things that usually divide people, they're not the big things, they're little things that don't really matter one way or the other in the long run anyway, or things that may not be clearly spelled out in God's world clearly right now, about things that really don't matter in the long run, things that we can't change one way or the other anyway. That's the things that can divide people. Also, at times, we must sacrifice or not cling to how we may feel about certain things in a way whereby we insist that others understand and see things as we do. Give up that right. Don't try to make people understand things exactly the way you do, but it's not a matter of salvation, or it's not something that's really spelled out in God's word that's truly important. So we all have strong feelings, which often by itself, that's fine. Everybody, human beings, have strong feelings about certain things. But don't expect everyone else to feel the same way we do, all times, because they won't. We're all different. We're all different backgrounds. We all have different experiences. We all have different things that formed and shaped us and made us who we are, the way we think and the way we feel about things. But even when it comes to God's word, the Apostle Paul said this. He said, Now we see through a glass darkly. Now I know in part, he said. 1 Corinthians 13, 12. That applies to all of us. In some things, we see through a glass darkly. We only know in part. We don't know the whole story yet. God revealed that in His own time, in His own way. In His own time, God will clear up everything and give us full understanding of all things. But until then, our attitude must be that shown to us by Christ, who though He was God, did not demand or cling to His right as God. So that is the first sacrifice Christ made for the sake of unity. That's the first sacrifice we must also make, sometimes, for the sake of unity. What is the second sacrifice Christ had to make when He humbled Himself? It says here that Christ took on the form of a bond servant. Wow. Took on the form of a bond servant. Or as the living Bible paraphrases it, Christ laid aside His mighty power and glory, taking the disguise of a slave.

See, that's the second price that Christ paid for humility. The second sacrifice He was willing to make. He gave up His power. He gave up His glory, His majesty. And He gave up His position of authority. And though He is our Master, as we know, Christ is our Master, He came instead in the disguise of a slave.

And He died as a slave. He died, and He died a slave's death.

Now, we hopefully won't have to do that. We'll have to die as Christ did. We have to be willing to take on the form of a bond servant. There's also a price we must pay and a sacrifice we must make to obtain the kind of humility that can lead to unity.

See, now, the nath, that goes contrary to our natural minds. The natural mind wants to be the Master. Natural mind wants to be in control.

It wants to hold on to a position of power in some cases.

And then the natural, carnal mind wants to promote its own interests, its own ideas, its own understanding, rather than yielding to others. That's the way the natural mind works. You have to fight that sometimes for the sake of unity. But you think of it, He took on the disguise of a slave. What rights does a slave have? A slave doesn't have any rights. A slave has no rights and no power. What does a slave have to do? You're a slave. What if you're in a position to be a slave? Of course, this really applied back when this was written, because the Roman Empire had all kinds of slaves. A large portion of the Roman Empire were slaves, and they had masters over them to control them, and they wouldn't let them go free. They had no rights, no power. What did they have to do? The only thing they could do was cry out to God.

A slave had to cry out to God and put matters into God's hands, and then potentially wait on God for the answer, for the solution. And that's exactly what Christ did.

He took on the form of a bondservant, and laid aside his mighty power and glory, taking the skies of a slave. Then he cried out to his father. He put everything in his father's hands.

He said, Father, your will be done.

So that is the price. Christ paid for humility, and that is the price we must also pay for humility, and the sacrifice we must also make at times in order to obtain the humility that will lead to lasting unity. What was the third sacrifice that Christ had to make when he humbled himself? For the sake of unity. This is a tough one. Every single one of us here has already had to go through this many times, but it's hard. It's tough. It's very difficult.

Now, here's what it says here in New King James. It says, he humbled, he became obedient to death, it says. Or as the Living Bible prayer phrases it, he humbled himself even further, going so far as actually to die a criminal's death on a cross. Think of that. Christ is the Son of God. He had power of creation over the universe, his Father given him. He had the power of God. But he came down and did his Father's will, and not only died, he died as a criminal. He didn't go wrong, never even sinned and fought. But he died as a criminal.

And he died a criminal's death by being crucified on the stake.

Now, we hopefully will never have to die as Christ did, but there is a price we must pay and a sacrifice we must make for the sake of unity. What price is that and what sacrifice is that? In principle, you think about Christ, he died a criminal's death. That was wrong, wasn't it? He doesn't, he does no wrong. So he suffered wrongfully to go through that and to die that kind of a death.

So in principle, what sacrifice did Christ make here that does apply to each and every one of us? He was willing to suffer wrongfully. That was the third sacrifice Christ made for humility and the third price he paid. He was willing to suffer wrongfully.

Now, how about you and me? Are we willing to make that same sacrifice? In order to obtain the kind of unity that I should say, in order to obtain the kind of humility that will lead to unity, that is the price we also have to be willing to make at times. At times we must be willing to suffer wrongfully and simply put the outcome into God's hands. Take it and put it in God's hands. Sometimes we can't do anything about it. Or you can put it in God's hands like Christ did.

But that's very difficult, isn't it? It's a difficult thing to do. It's a high price to pay and a hard sacrifice to make. Yet at times it is necessary. It's one thing to suffer wrongfully when you can't do anything about it. That's one thing. That of them by itself is extremely difficult. And we go through that, and most of us have, not all of us.

But it's quite another matter to go so far as to willfully and voluntarily allow yourself to suffer wrongfully like Christ did. To willingly give up what we feel is right for the sake of the group. Can we do that? Can we give what we feel is right for the sake of the group, for the blessing and benefit of achieving and maintaining unity?

But that is a price we have to pay and a sacrifice we have to make at times in order to obtain the kind of unity that's going to lead or the kind of humility, I should say, that's going to lead to unity. It is the additional sacrifice Christ willingly and voluntarily made for the sake of unity. He humbled himself even further, as it says in the Living Bible, going so far as actually to die a criminal's death on a cross. That is the price, I should say, that Christ paid an additional sacrifice he made, which we must also be willing to make that same sacrifice at times in order for the sake of achieving unity.

We have to be willing at times to be ourself to suffer wrongfully for the sake of the group and the sake of unity. And it's interesting that even the apostle Paul, or not apostle Paul in this case, I should say the apostle Peter in this case, I should say, excuse me, he pointed and he tells us, let's go back here to 1 Peter. This time, let's go to 1 Peter chapter 2. Again, this scripture is often read a Passover.

1 Peter chapter 2, Peter plainly tells us we have to be willing to suffer wrongfully, as Christ did. 1 Peter 2, verse 18, servants, be submissive to your masters with all fear, knowledge of the ones who treat you right, but also to the harsh. Those who may not treat you right, whereby you have to suffer wrongfully, but still be submissive to them. Have that attitude. Have that kind of humility. Make that sacrifice. For this is commendable because of conscience toward God. One endures grief and suffers wrongfully.

Now, God can look down on that person and say, wow, look what that person is sacrificing to achieve humility. Look what they're doing. They're willing to allow themselves to suffer wrongfully just as Jesus Christ did. They want to become so much like Christ, they want to go through everything He went through to be like Him that they're even willing to suffer wrongfully, even as Christ did. This is commendable because of conscience toward God. One endures grief, suffering wrongfully. For what credit is it when you are beaten for your faults and you take it patiently?

That's hard. But what's really a credit to God is when you do good and suffer wrongfully for it and take it patiently. That's really something that God looks at and sees. Wow, here's my son, here's my daughter. They want to be just like Jesus Christ.

And then it says in verse 21, it says, you know, you better be prepared for this because this is a part of our calling to suffer wrongfully at times so we can become like Christ. For to this you were called because Christ also suffered for us. He suffered wrongfully for us, leaving us an example that you should follow in His steps. That's a very important part of our training to become a part of God's family because if we can learn to suffer wrongfully, we will maintain unity. If we can have that kind of humility, we will lead to permanent unity.

For this you were called because Christ also suffered for us, leaving us an example that you should follow in His steps who committed no sin, no, was the seat found in His mouth, and who, when He was reviled, did not revile and return and try to get back. And when He suffered wrongfully, He didn't threaten back. But what did He do? He committed Himself to His Father. He committed Himself to Him who judges righteously, who Himself bore our sins on His own body on the tree. See, that is the high price, it's a high price to pay and a difficult sacrifice to make for the kind of humility that will lead to unity. And it takes a great deal of faith. Think about that. It takes faith to be able to suffer wrongfully. It takes faith. It takes faith that God will work out all things for the good and the long run to those who love God. Romans 8, verse 28. So those then are the three things Christ sacrificed in humming Himself. He made Himself with no reputation. He took on the form of a bondservant, and He became obedient to death as He was willing to suffer wrongfully. So in humming ourselves, we must be willing to make those same three sacrifices for the sake of attaining lasting unity. So in conclusion then, the world that we live in now is deeply, deeply divided. It desperately needs teachers who can show them how to live in peace and harmony and unity, as portrayed by the upcoming Feast of Tabernacles when we have that. For eight days, we do live in peace and harmony and unity. And for eight days, we're going to live together in unity. It's a great thing. It's a great blessing. That's why we love to go to Feast of Tabernacles. Because it doesn't matter how big a group or how small a group. For eight days, we live together in unity. All kinds of people from all four lots of life. Different corporate groups sometimes.

But that's one of the most valuable lessons any of us can ever learn, how to live together in peace and unity in all of our relationships. But there are sacrifices we want to make to achieve that. But if we can learn that kind of unity, or I should say we can learn that kind of humility that will lead to unity, this is going to be the result. So let's not conclude where we began with a song of the essence of David. Let's conclude with Psalm 133. I'll just read it again and let's conclude there. Psalm 133. Verse 1. A song of a sense of David. 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, the beard of Aaron, running down on the edge of his garments. It is like the dew of Herman, descending from the mountains of Zion. For there the Lord commanded the blessing for achieving unity, life forevermore.