UNITY
Pastor Ian Johnson ~Papatoetoe Elim Church :2003.
This may be the most important message ever preached at Papatoetoe Elim. The message of unity!
By this shall all men know that you are my disciples!
When we walk in unity we can accomplish supernatural achievements. We can walk on Water together. We can see Papatoetoe won for Jesus.
Just like Nehemiah was able to complete the temple wall against overwhelming odds
Explain:
Hatred of Jews,
Foreign ruler ship,
Half Jews (Sambalat & co)
The scripture makes it quite clear that the Father wants the same unity here on earth that there is in Heaven! (“As it is in Heaven”)
The Father ~ The Son ~ The Holy Spirit. Are one in unity So must we be in unity with Him & with each other.
Martin Luther King summed it up in his famous speech with passion!
"I have a dream that one day on the red hills of Georgia the sons of former slaves and the sons of former slave owners will be able to sit down together at the table of brotherhood.. ...I have a dream that my four little children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin but by the content of their character; I have a dream that one day every valley shall be exalted, every hill and mountain shall be made low,the rough places will be made plain and the crooked places will be made straight and the glory of the Lord shall be revealed and all flesh shall see it together....When we let Unity ring when we let it ring from every village and every hamlet, from every state and every city, we will be able to speed up that day when all of God’s children, black men and white men., black sisters and white sisters, Jews and Gentiles. Protestants and Catholics will be able to join hands and sing in the words of the old Negro spiritual, ’Free at last’! Free at last.!’.!’ Thank God almighty we are free at last."’ Martin Luther King...
When we see unity we will see the Glory of God manifest. …….The bible says “The whole earth shall be covered with the knowledge of the glory of God” Man has the capacity for great things through unity, He also has the capacity for evil….The tower of Babel…
How we see things depends on our unity with the Holy Spirit…or our unity together in the Spirit….
Example:
The English poet William Blake stood looking at a sunrise with a London merchant. The poet asked the shopkeeper, "What do you see?" The merchant replied, ’"I see a yellow disk which looks to me like a golden coin. What do you see?" The poet replied, "I see a host of angels, and they are crying, ’Holy, Holy, Lord God almighty, heaven and earth are filled with Thy glory. Glory be to Thee, O God, Most High."...
The anointing & unity.
Psalm 23:5
You prepare a feast for me
in the presence of my enemies.
You welcome me as a guest,
Anointing my head with oil.
My cup overflows with blessings.
Every great move of God has one hallmark….Unity
“The anointing brings unity & unity brings the Anointing”
If we want a richer anointing in our lives, God is requiring of us that we walk in His heart on this issue. His family is important to him!
There can be no flow of anointing if there is no flow of unity. Exaple:
There were two brothers. They had not spoken for many years.
The Father had given them adjoining land, they had built houses and farmed their land and raised their families
together.
BUT! There had been hurt and pain and disappointment and misunderstanding between the two brothers.
They had not spoken to each other in many years.
When they were out on the front porch they could look across the creek bed and see each other, but they would
not look toward the other one.
One day the one brother won the lottery. It was not the big lottery, but enough for the brother to take his wife to
Hawaii and then he had a plan for the rest of the money.
He talked to the local carpenter and told him to build a big fence between his property and his brother’s.
The brothers had not talked since their mother died.
The local carpenter was also the pastor at the little country church down the road.
The pastor carpenter knew the old man and the old woman and knew they would want them to be friends and family.
The angry brother ordered the wood and then flew off to Hawaii for a vacation.
For many days the pastor, carpenter built. He started building a bridge across the creek.
Slowly, each board went together and soon the bridge was finished.
The angry brother pulled in his drive way from their vacation in Hawaii, and his other brother walked across the bridge
and greeted him on his return.
They hugged and cried. They talked and remembered their old gray haired Momma and Daddy.
The brother started back across the bridge and said, COME on over, eat with us tonight.
The brothers lived several more years, brothers, yes, FRIENDS --- yes!
If the old pastor had built a wall, they would still not be talking to each other.
By this shall men know --- LOVE!
Today we must seek unity:
Sometimes there are things in our hearts that we don’t even realize have affected us!
A dark cloud passes over and we don’t even realise it
Attitudes ~ Prejudices ~ mindsets”
We may not have even dwelt on the matter at all but a shadow has darkened a corner of our soul and the Father wants to free us from it!
Song of Solomon 2:17 Before the dawn comes and the shadows flee away, come back to me, my love. Run like a gazelle or a young stag on the rugged mountains.”
When we come together to worship do we come in one accord to worship the king? Or are we more concerned with the songs or the worship leader or the building or whatever.
There is a power and an anointing that brings His presence in corporate worship…If we want to see His glory we have to come together in unity!
THE IMPORTANCE OF UNITY
The last major prayer prayed by Jesus is found in John 17 & the theme is Unity!
John 17:20-23
“I am praying not only for these disciples but also for all who will ever believe in me because of their testimony. 21 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.
22 “I have given them the glory you gave me, so that they may be one, as we are—23 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.
This is the key: Jesus & the Father are One.
You & Jesus are one
We are of the same Family ~ The same Father ~ He is OUR FATHER
“I have given them the glory you gave me so that they may be one, as we are
The body of Christ is made up of many ethnic groups ~ Many cultures~ But if we want to see the Glory of God we must walk in our diversity and accept our difference and be in unity!
There is a beauty in the wildflowers they have sown on the southern motorway verges. On there own they seem like weeds but together they paint a symphony of colour
The thing about wild flowers is that they just pop up
In these last days of Harvest and glory we will see many new brothers and sisters just pop up! They will be different to you but they are of you. As you are of Him!
We can choose to see our brothers and sisters as Dads kids or we can walk in dis-unity and grumble all day long and wonder why we never see and anointing in the house.
If its going to be its up to me!
Once there was a man named Horner.
Who use to live on Grumble Corner.
Grumble Corner in Cross Patch Town,
And he never was seen without a frown.
He grumbled at this, he grumbled at that.
He growled at the dog, he growled at the cat.
He grumbled at morning, he grumbled at night,
And to grumble and grow was his chief delight.
Your real treasures are not to be found in a bank or in a safety deposit box or in bricks and mortar. Your real treasure is beside you your brother or your sister.
WE ARE WALKING TREASURS ….
Psalm 133:1-31 A song for the ascent to Jerusalem. A psalm of David.
How wonderful it is, how pleasant,
when brothers live together in unity!
2 For unity is as precious as the fragrant anointing oil
that was poured over Aaron’s head,
that ran down his beard
and onto the border of his robe.
3 Unity is as refreshing as the dew from Mount Hermon
that falls on the mountains of Zion.
And the LORD has pronounced his blessing,
even life forevermore.
Ephesians 4:2-3 Be humble and gentle. Be patient with each other, making allowance for each other’s faults because of your love. 3 Always keep yourselves united in the Holy Spirit, and bind yourselves together with peace.
PAPATOETOE ELIM CHURCH
Po Box 76-540 MANUKAU CITY
NEW ZEALAND 1730.
http://www.vision-nz.co.nz/papmidcity
