Our nation has just endured one of the most
heated elections in recent times. According
to the vote we are divided almost in half.
After such a heated campaign how can we ever get together?
After the recent presidential election one of the candidates was head
to say that after the election win or loose we all wake up Americans.
What is it that brings us together?
What makes us one in our country?
What makes us one in the church? What
makes us one in the family, school, job, etc.?
It is the common ground.
It is the things that we share.
Scripture Text: Psalm 133:1
How good and pleasant it is when brothers 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 upon the collar of his robes. 3 It is as if the
dew of Hermon were falling on Mount Zion. For there the LORD bestows his
blessing, even life forevermore.
1. How
good and pleasant…when
brothers live together in unity. The
oil is the Holy Spirit that is poured out on believers.
It symbolizes consecration. The
priest was consecrated with the oil and the people were consecrated with
unity.
2. We
are the priests
who are anointed today by the Lord as He pours His Spirit on each of us.
We are the priests who have been anointed by the Spirit to enjoy the
unity of the faith. The joining
together of man with God and the joining of man with others is the goodness
and pleasantness of God. God
brings us together. The oil
poured over the robes of the High Priest covered a breastplate that had a
precious stone for each of the twelve tribes of Israel.
The presence of the oil on the tribes illustrated the togetherness of
the people of God. They were
together. Remember the Lord’s prayer in John 17.
John 17:20
"My prayer is not for them alone. I pray also for those who will
believe in me through their message, 21 that all of them may be one, Father,
just as you are in me and I am in you. May they also be in us so that the
world may believe that you have sent me. 22 I have given them the glory that
you gave me, that they may be one as we are one: 23 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.
This is as refreshing as the dew on Hermon.
The refreshing dew was heavy in a dry and thirsty land. This is the refreshing love of God that calls out to all.
This is the blessing of the Lord.
It gives life forevermore.
This is heaven’s harmony.
The
people are coming together under the leading and loving of the Lord.
Their Lord is the one who brings them together and causes them to live
together in harmony. This is
heaven on earth. The oil is a
perfume that gives a fragrant and pleasing odor on all that comes close enough
to enjoy the scent. It is the
love of God that is bringing the people together in Christ.
It is attractive, good, and pleasant for the brethren to live together
in unity.
We come together in Christ
when we come to pray, to worship, to serve, to take the Lord’s Supper.
Christ is our common Savior because we all have a common need. We need a Savior.
It takes two.
1Cor
11:23 For I have received of the
Lord that which also I delivered unto you, That the Lord Jesus the same night
in which he was betrayed took bread: 24 And when he had given thanks, he brake
it, and said, Take, eat: this is my body, which is broken for you: this do in
remembrance of me. 25 After the same manner also he took the cup, when he had
supped, saying, This cup is the new testament in my blood: this do ye, as oft
as ye drink [it], in remembrance of me. 26 For as often as ye eat this bread,
and drink this cup, ye do shew the Lord's death till he come. 27 Wherefore
whosoever shall eat this bread, and drink this cup of the Lord, unworthily,
shall be guilty of the body and blood of the Lord. 28 But let a man examine
himself, and so let him eat of [that] bread, and drink of [that] cup.
Self-examination Time: He
says, “Will you come together with me and with others at the Table?”
State employment
officials in Tucson, Arizona, posted an interesting sign over a full-length
mirror. Directed to all job hunters, it read, "Would you hire this
person?" In another office a mirror and sign posed this question:
"Are you ready for a job?"
Self-evaluation was what the apostle Paul called for in 1 Corinthians
11. Believers in Christ need to judge themselves, he said, to avoid being
judged by the Lord as unfit for His service. In the Corinthian church, the
"appearance problem" was especially serious. Those Christians
"looked" awful. They were actually getting drunk and quarreling
among themselves while going through the motions of celebrating the Lord's
Supper. So Paul said, in effect, "Look at yourselves. What a mess! If you
don't get your lives straightened out, the Lord will have to do it for
you." Then the apostle added the sobering fact that God had already begun
to cleanse the church by sending some of them to an early grave. This is a
hard truth, but one the church still needs to hear today.
This warning, however, also
carries a message of hope. If we judge ourselves and repent of our sins, we
will not be judged by God. --MRDII
Self-examination
is one test from which no Christian is excused. From 1-9-94 D. Bread.
1Cor
5:7 (KJS) Purge out therefore the old leaven, that ye may be a new lump, as ye
are unleavened. For even Christ our passover is sacrificed for us: 8 Therefore let us keep the
feast, not with old leaven, neither with the leaven of malice and wickedness;
but with the unleavened bread of sincerity and
truth.
The
Bread.
·
He took it.
The Bread of Life came from God and it is that which continues
to provide what we need to live.
·
He Blessed It .
He thanked God for giving that bread.
All that we have comes from God.
·
He Broke it.
He allowed his body to be broken and bruised for our iniquities.
(At this point the whole loaf of bread is to be broken.)
·
He Gave it.
He gave himself that we may live if we believe that he has what
we need to have the life that he lived.
The
Cup.
·
He took it.
Jesus took our cup of pain suffering so that we could receive
his cup of blessing. Have you
taken his forgiveness? If you
would will you pass it on?
·
He Drank from it. Have
you truly drank from that cup? (Crush
the grapes)
·
He Gave it.
He gave himself so that we could receive him thus giving to us
the power to live like Him and with Him forever.
Even though it seems that we die, we die to that which separates us
from him and from others.
The
Cup of the New Promise.
Remember
that He gave his life that we may live. Remember
that he is coming again to receive us to be with him.
Are you ready to meet him face to face?
Blest Be The Ties That Bind
In 1765 John Fawcett was
called to pastor a very small congregation at Wainsgate, England. He labored
there diligently for 7 years, but his salary was so meager that he and his
wife could scarcely obtain the necessities of life. Though the people were
poor, they compensated for this lack by their faithfulness and warm
fellowship.
Then Dr. Fawcett received a
call from a much larger church in London, and after lengthy consideration
decided to accept the invitation. As his few possessions were being placed in
a wagon for moving, many of his parishioners came to say good-bye. Once again
they pleaded with him to reconsider.
Touched by this great
outpouring of love, he and his wife began to weep. Finally Mrs. Fawcett
exclaimed, “O John, I just can’t bear this. They need us so badly here.”
“God has spoken to my heart, too!” he said. “Tell them to unload the
wagon! We cannot break these wonderful ties of fellowship.”
This experience inspired
Fawcett to write a hymn. “Blest be the tie that binds our hearts in
Christian love! The fellowship of kindred mind is like to that above.”
—H. G. Bosch[1]