Unity

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Tonight we are looking at Psalm 133 and the subject of UNITY.

"Unity", like motherhood and apple-pie, is something everyone is for. But with "no news being good news" and all news, therefore, being bad, in public you hear a lot about disunity rather than unity - disunity in New Labour, in the Tory Party, in Europe, between the BBC and the Government and in the wider Church.

In a survey published recently by Christian Research on Church of England clergy, there was found, I quote,

"the existence side-by-side of two separate churches under the cloak of Anglicanism. One of these is essentially credally orthodox and committed to the historic faith and Apostolic mission of the Church; the other is wrapped in the garments of Christian language, but has only the most tenuous grasp of the central teachings of the faith."

That is doctrinal disunity. So what is the way to doctrinal unity? To say, "everyone is right" - as many post-modern people do? To say, "you believe that Jesus Christ was raised from the dead - fine; but I don't believe in anything supernatural"? To say, "You have 'your truth' and I've got 'my truth'"? If only life were that simple! You see, some things are just true and some things are just false. If you rush out of this building at the end of the service and vault over the railings onto the motor-way in front of a fast moving car, your chances of survival are pretty low. That is not just "my" truth. That is "your" hard fact.

And Jesus and his Resurrection is in the realm of fact. It has to be the case that either the tomb of Jesus Christ of Nazareth who was put to death on Friday afternoon was empty on that first Easter Sunday morning, or it was not empty. (If you have questions and queries about the Resurrection of Jesus, I have written a chapter on it in a book on the bookstall, Church and State in the New Millennium. Or ask Ian Garrett for other material that would be helpful.)

The evidence points so clearly to the empty tomb. That is why we are meeting here tonight. Christ is risen and he is now reigning in heaven at the right hand of the Father and he has given us his Holy Spirit.

But to return to disunity. It often comes about because not all unity is good unity. Such unity should be avoided. Should you want "unity" in a church with people who deny fundamentals of the Christian faith? If you are in business, should you want "unity" with people who are committing fraud? If you are a doctor, should you want unity in your practice if one of your partners is, like Dr Harold Shipman, quietly killing his or her patients? The Bible says:

Do not be yoked together with unbelievers. For what do righteousness and wickedness have in common? Or what fellowship can light have with darkness?" (2 Cor 6.14).

Not all unity is good unity. The title of a little book is Unity that Helps and Unity that Hinders. You say, "how do you know which is which?" Answer: you need to learn from the Bible. And this Psalm - Psalm 133 - is a good place to start.

You will see that my headings tonight are, first, THE PSALMIST'S PROMISE and secondly, JESUS' PRAYER. And Jesus' prayer - a prayer for unity - you will find in John 17. I will ask you to turn to that a little later on. This Psalm is a great description of unity; and it contains a wonderful promise. But like so much of the Old Testament it is looking forward. It only finds its fulfilment in Jesus Christ. The Psalm raises your consciousness. Jesus tells you what you then need to know and prays for you to achieve it.

First, then, THE PSALMIST'S PROMISE.

Look at verse 1 of Psalm 133:

How good and pleasant it is when brothers live together in unity!

That is true for any and every human family in the world. We had the wedding here yesterday of Ramzi and Suzie Adcock - Ramzi is our International Student Worker. Suzie is a lawyer and she told me that the day after she gets back from the honeymoon she is to be discussing "Domestic Violence". It is indeed good when "blood brothers" or others who are related by blood or marriage live together in unity. Social science is now cataloguing the effects of domestic violence and family disunity. They are dire. But the psalmist here seems to be referring to "brothers [and sisters]" not in any family but in the family of God - the family of believers. At the top of the Psalm in the Bible you will see the words:

"A song of ascents. Of David."

Psalms 120 to 134 are all "songs of ascents". Probably they were especially sung as people made there way going "up to" Jerusalem on various religious pilgrimages. Back in their home villages many had the strains and stresses caused by famine, war and enemy occupation. For many it was like living in modern Iraq. You can imagine how they felt, being with a crowd of like minded people on the way up to Jerusalem. There was not only security in numbers; it was so good being with other believers and not having to fight temptation and fight off the evil of a Godless world. So what does the Psalmist say about this unity?

First, he says that living in unity with other believers, verse 2 ...

is like precious oil poured on the head, running down on the beard, running down on Aaron's beard, down upon the collar of his robes.

That is a reference to the anointing of Aaron as High Priest. You can read about that in Exodus 29. Oil was poured in great profusion over the High Priest's head and it flowed down to his shoulders. Like that oil, this unity spreads. Where you get true unity among believers, expect to see the growth of the church. Where you get disunity, expect decline.

Secondly, living in unity with other believers is, verse 3 ...

as if the dew of Hermon were falling on Mount Zion.

Hermon was the highest mountain in Israel and proverbial for its heavy dew. If the dew of Hermon fell on little Mount Zion in Jerusalem in a hot dry summer, there would be vigorous new plant life and general refreshment. Yes, unity leads to well-being and life. Disunity leads to depression and death.

Thirdly, says the Psalmist, and - here is his great promise - when and where there is unity, verse 3 (last part) ...

there the LORD bestows his blessing, even life forevermore.

That is a promise of unity leading to eternal life. But just to say that shows you something more is needed. Humanly there never is enough unity - even in the most united of fellowships of God's people. Poor King David, from whom this psalm comes, knew all about not enough unity. He was an adulterer and his adultery was linked with murder. Unlike so many people today, however, he admitted his sin, and, of course, was forgiven by God. As the Bible says:

If we confess our sins, [God] is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness (1 John 1.9)

But the social consequences of his marital problems remained and led to violent disunity in his family and in the nation. David could articulate the promise and in part experience the blessing. But there was a big gap between the promise and the fulfilment. However, he understood the goodness of unity - how it spreads, how it refreshes and how it is linked to God's blessing. And he gives this reminder in the Psalm because he knew that unity among the people of God is not automatic. It has to be worked at. The New Testament says in Ephesians 4:3:

Make every effort to keep the unity of the Spirit through the bond of peace.

You say, "but how precisely?" Well, that brings us ...

Secondly, to JESUS' PRAYER.

So will you now turn on to Jesus' prayer in John 17. It is the Thursday before Good Friday. Jesus has washed the disciples feet in an act of great humility and service. The last supper has finished. Judas has left. And Jesus has given his apostles some of the most wonderful teaching ever given - in chapters 14-16. But here in chapter 17 he prays and he prays especially for unity. This is a way Jesus fulfils Psalm 133. Psalm 133 is great on analysis. Jesus is great on providing real help. Psalm 133 promises "life forevermore". Jesus tells you the real nature of that "life forevermore".

Look at John 17 verse 2. Jesus says that he [God the Son] has ...

... authority over all people that he might give eternal life to all those you [God the Father] have given him. Now this is eternal life: that they may know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom you have sent.

So eternal life ("life forevermore") is knowing God - not any God, but the God of the Bible - "the only true God and [and that is such a fundamental "and"] Jesus Christ, whom [he has] sent". You cannot by-pass Jesus Christ if you want eternal life. He is the only Saviour. There is no other way. He alone died on the cross. When he said these words that terrible crucifixion was only hours away. There he died for your sins and mine. No one else has died for the sins of the world. The Buddha didn't. Mohammed didn't. Marx didn't. Christ is the only Saviour from sin and the only giver of eternal life. But Jesus doesn't only teach. He also prays.

Think of it. Christ is about to die. So what does he do? He prays for all his followers of all time - "those [God has] given him." And what does he pray for? Not just for their salvation, but for their unity. He prays that being saved they may be united. Such a concern at such a time means that unity is so important to Jesus Christ. It must, therefore, be important to you and me. And Christ's concern for unity tells us that you cannot be a solitary Christian. You need to be part of the Christian family. You need to be in a church family - like this one. But unity in that family needs to be worked at. If you only come to church or go to your focus group or home group or whatever, when you feel like it - don't be surprised if you feel marginal and disunited. You need to be committed. You say, "I find it so hard." Well, be encouraged Christ has prayed for you and he is praying for you as he prayed for the unity of all believers. Look now at these prayers for unity - verse 11 (second part):

Holy Father, protect them by the power of your name--the name you gave me - so that they may be one as we are one.

Verses 20-21 (first part):

My prayer is not for them alone. I pray also for those who will believe in me through their message, that all of them may be one, Father, just as you are in me and I am in you.

Verses 22-23:

I have given them the glory that you gave me, that they may be one as we are one: I in them and you in me. May they be brought to complete unity to let the world know that you sent me and have loved them even as you have loved me.

Note two things before we look in detail at those prayers. First, Christ's prayers have already been answered. There is a wonderful existing unity among Christian believers. Go anywhere in the world. Find a Bible-believing church and immediately you experience a deep unity. Galatians 3.28 says, "you are all one in Christ Jesus." Secondly, three things are necessary as background to this unity Christ is praying for - holiness, truth and mission. Look at verse 15:

My prayer is not that you take them out of the world but that you protect them from the evil one.

Jesus prays for holiness. Yes disciples are in the world, they are to be involved, but they are not to be like the world. They are not to be socially separate but morally and spiritually separate. They are to live Godly lives. That is why our first vision goal at JPC is "Godly living". Then truth - look at verse 17:

Sanctify them by the truth; your word is truth.

That is why God's written word, the Bible, is so vital. And, then, mission. Look at verse 18:

As you sent me into the world, I have sent them into the world.

Do you believe that? If you are a follower of Jesus Christ, you are not in the world primarily to do what you want. You are to serve God, to serve others and supremely to help others discover "eternal life: that they may know ... the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom [he has] sent." So holiness, truth and mission are necessary alongside the unity for which Jesus Christ is praying.

What sort of unity, then, does he pray for?

First, Jesus prays not for uniformity - for people to be clones of each other - but for diversity in unity - verse 11:

that they may be one as we are one-

"We", there, refers to the Divine Trinity - God the Father, God the Son and God the Holy Spirit - One God in three persons. There is a diversity in unity in the Godhead. There is to be a diversity in unity among the people of God. How awful it is when you get churches where everyone looks alike, talks alike and is a carbon copy of the next person.

Secondly, Jesus prays not for institutional unity but for doctrinal unity - verses 20-21:

My prayer is not for them alone. I pray also for those who will believe in me through their message, that all of them may be one.

Do you see, what Jesus is praying for here? He is praying for the unity between two groups of disciples. He is not now only praying (he says in verse 20) for the disciples he is with at the time of this prayer (the apostles of the first century).

My prayer is not for them alone. I pray also for those who will believe in me through their message [future generations of believers down the centuries].

You see, all of us today (and all since Pentecost) have believed because of the message of those first Apostles which you now have recorded in the Bible. And what does Jesus pray for them - these Christians of the following centuries? Answer. "That all of them [these succeeding generations and the first century Apostles] may be one." Listen to John Stott's comment:

"It is first and foremost a prayer that there may be a historical continuity between the church of the first century and the church of subsequent centuries; that the church's faith may not change but remain recognizably the same; that the church of every age may merit the title "apostolic" because it is loyal to the teaching of the apostles."

So fundamental unity comes from being faithful to the Bible - the apostolic book.

Thirdly, Jesus prays not merely for unity on the human level, but for unity on the divine level as well, verse 21 (second half) - 23:

May they also be in us so that the world may believe that you have sent me. I have given them the glory that you gave me, that they may be one as we are one: I in them and you in me. May they be brought to complete unity to let the world know that you sent me and have loved them even as you have loved me.

True Biblical unity only comes when people are united spiritually by faith with God the Father, God the Son and God the Holy Spirit - (v 21) "May they also be in us". It only comes when Christ is truly united with believers and believers with him and he with his Father - (v 23) "I in them and you in me". So the unity Jesus prays for is not uniformity; it is not institutional; and it is not merely human. It is a unity in diversity; it is a doctrinal unity with the Apostles and their teaching; and it is a unity with God, through Christ himself - unity in the divine dimension.

I must conclude. You can now go back to Psalm 133.

Look at it again in the light of Jesus' prayer. Don't do that now, but do it tonight before you go to bed. And think about those words and what they mean in the light of Jesus' teaching and prayer:

How good and pleasant it is when brothers live together in unity!

And remember that promise:

For there the Lord bestows his blessing, even life forevermore.

Who tonight needs to receive that eternal life by being united with Jesus Christ, and to be united with the Apostles by believing their teaching and to work at unity with God's people in the fellowship of the church? Just pray, in faith, to receive that eternal life, if you have never done so before; and then remember that Jesus Christ has prayed for you and will pray for you.

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