We have been discussing four keys that unlock the presence of God in the church. So far we have discussed:
HOLINESS
AND PRAYER
Today we are moving on to discuss the third key which is UNITY.
Psalm 133 SAYS
1 How good and pleasant it is
when God’s people live together in unity!
2 It is like precious oil poured on the head,
running down on the beard,
running down on Aaron’s beard,
down on the collar of his robe.
3 It is as if the dew of Hermon
were falling on Mount Zion.
For there the Lord bestows his blessing,
even life forevermore.
This thing called unity is like the anointing. The anointing brings the authority and according to verse three of this powerful little psalm it brings the blessing of God. Unity is needed in the body in order to walk in the anointing, blessing and presence of God. In short the church MUST HAVE UNITY IN ORDER TO BE EFFECTIVE!
So what is unity?
Well the adverb used in verse one is “Yachad”. It means together. It means united.
The verse could be translated “How good and pleasant it is when God’s people stand together.”
Unity does not require perfect agreement. It requires a common cause. I may not see eye to eye with everyone in the church all the time but when we get together on Sunday mornings to worship God all our differences go out the window so that I can focus on the One I came to worship with my brothers and sisters. I can push all my disagreement aside because worship is not about me or them. It is about God.
One of Satan’s biggest weapons is in making us think that we can only be united with people who think just like we do. If we really think that way we might as well stop going to church altogether.
Unity comes at a price. That price is to stop thinking your ideas of the way the world works are the best ones and that only people who think exactly like you can be part of your club.
While that is true unity does require a solid foundation and that foundation is Christ and Him crucified, risen from the dead, coming to reign in eternal power and glory. That frankly should be enough ground for us to stand together and see the power of God ushered into our midst powerfully. Requiring anything else is just pride.
Listen, I am not saying that we cannot disagree. Every family has its disagreements but at the end of the day family puts its disagreements aside to work towards a common goal. That goal in our case is building the Kingdom of our Heavenly Father. Once we stand together to accomplish that, the presence of God will not be able to be held back.