THE IMPORTANCE OF UNITY
(March 2010 – Beausejour Church – Pastor Chris Jordan)
INTRO TO TOPIC: What would you think if I told you that the whole world could be saved in a day? Would you believe me? And secondly, would you be willing to do whatever it took to make that become a reality? Jesus gave us the key in His high priestly prayer in John 17:
KEY TEXT:
“My prayer for all of them is that they will be one, just as you and I are one, Father – that just as you are in me and I am in you, so they will be in us, and the world will believe you sent me. I have given them the glory you gave me, so that they may be one, as we are – I in them and you in me, all being perfected into one. Then the world will know that you sent me and will understand that you love them as much as you love me.” (John 17:21-23).
• Jesus said IF we could become one in unity, the world would be saved!
“Arise, shine; For your light has come! And the glory of the Lord is risen upon you. For behold, the darkness shall cover the earth, And deep darkness the people; But the Lord will arise over you, And His glory will be seen upon you.” (Isaiah 60:1-2).
• It’s time for the church to arise in peace and unity and reflect the glory of God!
THE BIG IDEA: Peace and unity are absolutely essential to a church that wants to see God’s salvation, anointing, blessing and abundant life. Therefore, we must have zero tolerance for grumbling, complaining, gossip and strife.
• We’re living in a world today where complaining has become a virtue. People complain about everything: the weather, the government, traffic, more!
• It’s interesting that after I had prayed about the message for today, that one of our intercessors contacted me and told me she sensed that there was a spirit of gossip and division coming against the church. This is a timely message!
1. GOD HATES GRUMBLING AND COMPLAINING.
Grumble: an expression of discontent; complaint; unhappy murmur; growl.
Complain: to express dissatisfaction, pain, resentment, or grief; to find fault. Antonym: rejoice.
COMPLAINING ILLUSTRATION:
A monk joined a monastery and took a vow of silence. After the first 10 years his superior called him in and gave him an opportunity to speak two words, "Do you have anything to say?" The monk replied, "Food bad." After another 10 years the monk again had opportunity to voice his thoughts. He said, "Bed hard." Another 10 years went by and again he was called in before his superior. When asked if he had anything to say, he responded, "I quit." His superior said, "It doesn’t surprise me a bit. You’ve done nothing but complain ever since you got here."
“When the LORD heard your complaining, he became very angry.” (Deuteronomy 1:34, NLT).
“Do all things without complaining and disputing (arguing).” (Philippians 2:14).
“Don’t grumble about each other, my brothers and sisters, or God will judge you. For look! The great Judge is coming. He is standing at the door!” (James 5:9, NLT).
STORIES OF COMPLAINING IN THE BIBLE:
Numbers 11-14:
11:1 - the people complained, it displeased the Lord; and His anger was aroused
- the fire of the Lord burned among them, and consumed some of the people
v.10 - the people were crying, the Lord became angry, and Moses got aggravated
v.20 - God gave them what they were complaining about – meat – for a whole month
v.33 - they ate it and God’s anger blazed against them and destroyed the complainers
12:1-2 - Aaron and Miriam criticized Moses and his leadership
v.8 - God said, “Should you not have been afraid to criticize him?”
v.9-10 - God was furious and punished Miriam with leprosy
v.11 - Aaron confessed their sin and admitted his foolishness
13:1 - God sent the 12 leaders into the promised land to spy it out
v.30 - Caleb encouraged the people, supporting Moses’ call to enter the promised land
v.32 - 10 of the leaders gave a discouraging report, whined and complained
14:1-2 - the people cried, whined and complained again, against Moses
v.4 - they plotted to get a new leader to take them back to Egypt
v.11 - the Lord said the people weren’t just complaining about the leader, they rejected him
v.26-30 - God said the complainers would die in the wilderness and not enter the promised land
16:1-2 - Korah conspired and incited rebellion against Moses
v.3 - they complained against his leadership
v.11 - they were actually revolting against the Lord who had appointed that leadership
v.19 - Korah stirred up the whole community against Moses and Aaron
v.20-26 - God was going to destroy the whole community, but Moses prayed for them
- Moses told the people to get away from Korah so they wouldn’t be killed, too
v.31-34 - God opened up the earth and destroyed all of the rebellious complainers
“Yet after all this, God was not pleased with most of them, and he destroyed them in the wilderness. These events happened as a warning to us, so that we would not crave evil things as they did… And don’t grumble as some of them did, for that is why God sent his angel of death to destroy them.” (1 Corinthians 10:5-6, 10, NLT).
2. GOD HATES GOSSIP AND STRIFE.
(WE WILL TALK ABOUT THIS ONE NEXT TIME!)
3. GOD BLESSES LOVE, PEACE AND UNITY.
Peace: a state of mutual harmony between people; freedom from any strife or dissension
Unity: oneness of mind; harmony or agreement
• Unity is not dressing the same or listening to the same music.
• Unity speaks of having one heart, one mind, striving together for the Gospel!
“Behold, how good and how pleasant it is For brethren to dwell together in unity! It is like the precious anointing oil… For there the Lord commanded the blessing - Life forevermore.” (Psalm 133).
“Can two people walk together without agreeing on the direction?” (Amos 3:3, NLT).
“Make me truly happy by agreeing wholeheartedly with each other, loving one another, and working together with one heart and purpose.” (Philippians 2:2, NLT).
“Be humble and gentle. Be patient with each other, making allowance for each other’s faults because of your love. Always keep yourselves united in the Holy Spirit, and bind yourselves together with peace.” (Ephesians 4:2-3, NLT).
Jesus said, “Every kingdom divided against itself is brought to desolation, and a house divided against a house falls… Anyone who isn’t helping me opposes me, and anyone who isn’t working with me is actually working against me.” (LUKE 11:17 NKJV, 23 NLT).
• If you don’t feel like helping build the church, then find a new one!
APPLICATION: Our church is going to be:
• A grumbling and complaining free zone – no tolerance! A place of peace and unity!
Beausejour Community Church Website: www.beausejourchurch.ca
Pastor Chris Jordan’s Blog: http://thelandofpromise.blogspot.com/
