The Power Of Agreement Series

The Power of Agreement Part 1

Scriptures: Genesis 11:1-9; Amos 3:3; Matthew 18:19-20

Introduction

There is a law in place within the universe that cannot be changed. It is the Law of Cause and Effect. The Law of Cause and Effect says; "Every Cause has its Effect; every Effect has its Cause; everything happens according to Law; Chance is but a name for Law not recognized; there are many planes of causation, but nothing escapes the Law." What this law says that everything that happens has a cause. I want you to keep this in mind as we go through this series on the Power of Agreement.

Have you ever considered what can be done when people come into agreement? There are several areas where there should be agreement: agreement with ourselves (meaning I know who I am and am settled with that); agreement with God; agreement with our family and friends; employers; and agreement with our Church. In this series, I want to focus only on coming into agreement with God leading to our agreement with each other (New Light). I want to start with a very familiar story found in Genesis the eleventh chapter.

I. The Tower of Babel

“Now the whole earth used the same language and the same words. And it came about as they journeyed east, that they found a plain in the land of Shinar and settled there. And they said to one another, ‘Come, let us make bricks and burn them thoroughly.’ And they used brick for stone and they used tar for mortar. And they said, ‘Come, let us build for ourselves a city, and a tower whose top will reach into heaven, and let us make for ourselves a name, lest we be scattered abroad over the face of the whole earth.’ And the Lord came down to see the city and the tower which the sons of men had built. And the Lord said, ‘Behold, they are one people, and they all have the same language. And this is what they began to do, and now nothing which they purpose to do will be impossible for them. Come, let Us go down and there confuse their language, that they may not understand one another’s speech.’ So the Lord scattered them abroad from there over the face of the whole earth; and they stopped building the city. Therefore its name was called Babel, because there the Lord confused the language of the whole earth; and from there the Lord scattered them abroad over the face of the whole earth.” Genesis 11:1-9 (NASB)

The first example we will examine is the story of the Tower of Babel. At this time, Noah’s family had “repopulated” the earth after everything was killed by the flood. All of mankind had come from Noah’s family and they all spoke the same language and could understand each other. This event (building of the Tower of Babel) happened approximately 175 years after Noah came out of the Ark. Noah was still alive (he lived 350 years after exiting the Ark) when this event happened and was recorded.

The record opens by stating that the whole earth used the same language and words. Everyone understood what the other person was saying, there was agreement. As the people continue to increase in number, they began to spread out, moving east. They came upon a land where they decided to settle down and make a name for themselves. In their decision making process, they decided that they would build a tower to reach heaven and would use brick and tar to do it. Verse 4 says that they wanted to build the tower to “reach into heaven and let us make for ourselves a name, lest we be scattered abroad over the face of the whole earth.” There are a couple of key points in this verse that we need to understand. The first point is they had a goal. They wanted to build a tower to reach heaven and they laid out a plan in which to do it. All of the brick layers knew what they were supposed to do, as did the carpenters, mortar workers and designers. Everyone was working together with one goal and one mind. They were in total agreement. The next part of the verse speaks to the why, they wanted to make a name for themselves so that they would not be scattered all over the earth.

What is in a name? What does a name give you? Why do you think it was important for them to establish a name for themselves? Let me answer all three questions with this example. Every city and town has a history, a beginning. Every person has a birthplace and a family name. When you think about their situation, the name that they shared was the common name of their ancestor Noah. So there was not much differentiation between them. Those that decided to build this tower desired to set themselves apart while establishing a new family connection. Establishing a name would give them a place of reference, a place to call home. For example, my name is Rodney Johnson and I am from Columbia, Tennessee. This tells you who I am by birth (my name) and it gives you the place to start your search on my background (my hometown). This is what it gives you, but let me tell you what it gives me. It gives me a family (not only in name, but in physical connection, as well as a childhood hometown. It gives me a place where I had a beginning, a place to belong. This is what they were seeking; the establishment of a place where they could be known (separately from the other family members) and it would also be a home for them. To accomplish this goal, they had to be in agreement which they were.