Psalm 133, behold how good and
how pleasant it is for brethren to dwell together in unity. It is like the precious ointment
upon the head that ran down upon the beard, even Aaron's beard
that went down to the skirts of his garments. as the dew of
Hermon and as the dew that descended upon the mountains of Zion. For
there, the Lord commanded the blessing, even life forevermore. Only brethren can dwell together
in unity. We have no unity with those who
hate our Lord Jesus Christ. and they usually don't with each
other. Not any real unity, they don't
have any. They agree against Christ, but
churches in name only have been a member of a few of them in
my lifetime. They're full of turmoil and unrest
and ill will, division all the time. And even brethren cannot always
dwell together in unity. It's contrary to our nature. It's a miracle of the Lord that
there ever is unity. But when we do, the Lord says
it's good. It's good. How good, how good. This is God's estimation of the
matter. And only God is qualified to
make an assessment like that. We don't proclaim things good. We don't know good from bad unless
the Lord teaches us. If I pronounce something good
and the Lord hasn't, my word on it is nothing. If you want
to know what is good, look in the word of God and see what
God says is good. God made the universe and saw
that it was good. It was said of the Lord Jesus
Christ, he doeth all things well. And he does, everything he does
is good. In Acts 10.38, it says that Simon
Peter preached concerning how God anointed Jesus of Nazareth
with the Holy Ghost and with power who went about doing good. Everything he does is good. So
we know that when brethren dwell together
in unity, it's the Lord's doing, isn't it? Good because Christ is glorified
in it. He said, by this shall all men
know that you're my disciples. that you love one another. Good
because God's saints are strengthened and encouraged by the unity of
the brethren. I can testify to that to you
personally. It's a great blessing. Good because the work of the
ministry of the gospel is made effective. Through this means,
the gospel doesn't need creativity or innovation like businesses
might. It doesn't even need man's wisdom
or intelligence to make it prosper. I want you to think about this
now. Worldly business is promoted
through all of those things. But not the heavenly. All that
is necessary for the gospel to prosper it's just for me and
you to stay out of the way. The one great hindrance to the
gospel is discord in God's church. Paul said, now I beseech you
brethren, mark them which cause divisions and offenses contrary
to the doctrine which you have learned and avoid them for they
that are such serve not our Lord Jesus Christ but their own belly,
their own flesh. So how good, how good for all
those reasons and how pleasant. God says it's good. And we say, How pleasant. Don't you find that to be so?
It's good in the very nature of it and pleasant in the experience
of it. Usually for us to know just how
good and pleasant something is, we have to do without it for
a while. What's the basis of the unity
of the brethren? What are we unified over? What
is it that makes us one? Likely the greatest prejudice
and enmity between men that has ever existed was that between
Jew and Gentile. But listen to the language describing
what our unity is and why it is that we have it. In Ephesians
2.13, if you want to turn over there, let's look at that together,
Ephesians chapter two. Probably never been two groups
of people that thought they had more reasons to hate each other.
than the Jews and Gentiles in the day that this was written.
But listen to it, Ephesians 2.13. But now in Christ Jesus, ye who
were at one time far off or made nigh by the blood of Christ,
for he is our peace. It doesn't say he brings peace,
he offers peace, he teaches peace. He is our peace. who hath made both one and hath
broken down the middle wall of partition between us, having
abolished in his flesh the enmity, even the law of commandments
contained in ordinances, for to make in himself of twain one
new man, so making peace, and that he might reconcile both
unto God in one body by the cross, having slain the enmity thereby.
So enmity between believers is slain and enmity between us and
God. And came and preached peace to
you, which were far off and to them that were nigh, for through
him we both have access by one spirit unto the Father. Now therefore you are no more
strangers and foreigners, but fellow citizens with the saints. and of the household of God,
and are built upon the foundation of the apostles and prophets,
Jesus Christ himself being the chief cornerstone, in whom all
the building fitly framed together groweth unto an holy temple in
the Lord, in whom ye also are builted together for inhabitation
of God through the Spirit. We are one because of Christ
and what he did for us. on the cross, we actually are
one family in him. Ephesians four, if you want to
turn there just a few pages over. Verse one, I therefore, the prisoner
of the Lord, beseech you that you walk worthy of the vocation
wherewith you were called with all lowliness. and meekness with
long-suffering, forbearing one another in love, to walk worthy
of the vocation, not meritoriously worthy, not earning righteousness
before God by this, but the way a family in Christ, the way God's
family should walk, should be, should interact with one another. First of all, with lowliness,
Nobodies don't have problems with anybody. You got to be somebody to have
a problem with somebody, don't you? And meekness with long-suffering
for bearing one another in love, endeavoring You know what that
word tells me, endeavoring? It don't just happen naturally. To keep the unity of the spirit
and the bond of peace, there's one body and one spirit, even
as you were called in one hope of your calling, one Lord, one
faith, one baptism, one God and father of all, who is above all
and through all and in you all. Not only is he the cause of our
unity, but he's our motivation to be unified. We forgive because
he forgave us. We're long-suffering with others
because he was long-suffering with us. We love because he first
loved us. We forgive because he first forgave
us. We give time and money to support
one another because he gave himself for us. The unity of the church
is described in 1st Corinthians 12. Let's turn over there, please
1st Corinthians chapter 12 verse 4 And this is a long passage, we
won't read all of it, but jot this down if you would, maybe,
and read all of it later, 1 Corinthians 12, four through 31. From verse
four there, it talks about the different gifts that the Lord
gives and different offices, different ways that the Lord
uses us in the church, but all one spirit, one Lord, one purpose. Verse 8 there, one is given the
spirit, by the spirit the word of wisdom, to another the word
of knowledge, by the same spirit to another faith. And we all
may have all of these things, but certain people are gifted more
in other ways than others. And then it goes into, look at
verse 13, for by one spirit we are all baptized into one body,
whether we be Jews or Gentiles, whether we be bond or free. and
have been all made to drink into one spirit, for the body is not
one member, but many." You see how he moves right into the unity
of diversities of gifts, but one spirit, one purpose, one
Lord that we worship. And then look at what he's talking
about in verse 14. For the body is not one member,
but many. If the foot shall say, because
I am not the hand, I am not of the body, is it therefore not
of the body? And if the ear shall say, because
I am not the eye, I am not of the body, is it therefore not
of the body? If the whole body were an eye, where were the hearing? The Lord makes us different and
gives different gifts for a reason, and in the worship of him and
the using of those gifts in his worship, we're to be unified,
we're not to despise one or the other because of the differences. But now hath God said, verse
18, the members, every one of them in the body as it hath pleased
him. He uses the physical body again
as a illustration of that. And then he continues that from
verse 25 there, that there should be no schism in the body, but
that the members should have the same care one for another. You see how this is a different,
this is looking at the whole thing from a different perspective.
The unity of the church is integral to the functioning of the church. And that's our point in this.
We're one because of Christ. He's our motivation. And there's
a purpose, his purpose in it. There's a purpose of God in that.
Now look back at our text or think about this. You said it's
like the precious ointment. Well, right off the bat, you
see that the unity of the brethren is precious. It's compared to
something else that's precious. Well, in what ways is it like
that unity? Well, let's talk about what the
ointment was, and then we'll see what the Lord is teaching
us here by His grace, if He's pleased to teach us by His Holy Spirit. Now, let
me return, if you want to, to Exodus 30. I want to read about
this. Exodus 30 verse 22. Exodus 30, 22. Moreover, the Lord spake unto
Moses saying, take thou also unto thee principal spices. of
pure myrrh five hundred shekels, and of sweet cinnamon half so
much, even two hundred and fifty shekels, and of sweet calamus
two hundred and fifty shekels, and of cassia five hundred shekels,
after the shekel of the sanctuary, and of olive oil and hen. And
thou shalt make it an oil of holy ointment, an ointment compound after the
art of the apothecary, it shall be a holy anointing oil. And
thou shalt anoint the tabernacle of the congregation therewith,
and the ark of the testimony, and the table, and all his vessels. The candlestick in his vessels
and the altar of incense and the altar of burnt offering with
all his vessels and the laver and his foot And thou shalt sanctify
them that they may be most holy who whatsoever toucheth them
shall be holy And thou shalt anoint Aaron and his sons and
consecrate them That they may minister unto me in the priest's
office and thou shalt speak unto the The children of Israel say,
this shall be in holy anointing oil unto me throughout your generations. Upon man's flesh shall it not
be poured, neither shall you make any other like it. After
the composition of it, it is holy, and it shall be holy unto
you. Whosoever compoundeth any like
it, or whosoever putteth any of it upon a stranger, shall
even be cut off from his people. So let's consider these things
about that oil and why it's compared, why the unity of God's people
is compared to this ointment. First of all, it was precious. David describes it that way in,
we see that, we saw that in Exodus 30, but David in our text describes
it that way, it's precious. And this is how we, by God's
grace, view the fellowship that he's given us with one another
in Christ. We should place high value on
it. It's holy, it's precious, there's
nothing like it. And our nature is to consider petty things important
and precious things, take them for granted. and our Lord is
teaching us better in this. You notice that that holy anointing
oil, it was for all of the vessels of the temple to be anointed
with, all of which picture Christ. That's what's holy about it.
Anything that's holy has to do with Christ. This was for his
worship, for his service, for his glory. That's why it's so
important. That's why it's so precious.
It's not just precious to us, it's precious to God. We, like I say, we place high value on
the wrong things so often, and we always will, without the grace
of God. How easy it is for us to throw
away a lifetime of friendship and fellowship that we have with
one another in Christ, how easily our sinful nature becomes offended. We get upset with somebody over
some little something and turn on them in an instant when it
took decades to build the friendship that we're so quick to abandon. This unity of the brethren cannot
be so easily severed. We counted a precious thing,
more precious than our greatest possessions. Something that it
is precious to you, though you be offered a great price for
it, you will not part with it. And though unity might cost me
some things, It might cost me some pride,
I've got plenty of that. I should be ready to give some
of it up. The second thing about that oil
is it smelled wonderful. It smelled wonderful. This goes to the words in our
text, how pleasant. Have any of you ever paid $8
for a bottle of soap that you could get for a buck at the dollar
store? Some soap that works just as good. Why? Because it smells
so good. Cinnamon is one of my favorite
smells. When they have those brooms,
you know, at Kroger, you walk in there, you can smell it all
over the store. When brethren dwell together in unity, the
smell of it permeates the entire place of worship. It's noticeable,
it's pleasant, it's enjoyable. The oil was a sanctifying oil. It set that which was anointed
with it apart from everything else like it. to set apart unto the Lord, unto
His worship and His glory, separate from everything else. And that's
how the Lord told us we could be identified, seen as separate,
seen as His, belonging to Him, separated unto His glory. How? Love. unity, fellowship. The oil also is a carefully prescribed
recipe. The Lord gave specific ingredients
that made this oil what it was. And there are things that make
for this unity and make it what it is. Romans 14, 19, let us
therefore follow after the things which make for peace. And things
wherewith one may edify another. Let's pursue those things. There's
a recipe for it. This oil took careful preparation. The measurements had to be precise.
And this unity does not happen without that word endeavoring. It's a blessing of God, but it
will come, he said, by endeavoring, by striving. We looked at Ephesians
four. Let me turn back over there and
read you verses one through six again. What are the ingredients? Ephesians 4, one through six. What's the recipe for this unity? I therefore, the prisoner of
the Lord, beseech you that you walk worthy of the vocation wherewith
you are called with all loneliness and meekness with longsuffering. Lowliness, of course, humility,
just knowing what we are, It's just good sense, isn't it? And
meekness has to do with obedience, humble obedience. With long-suffering, forbearing
one another in love. Endeavoring to keep the unity
of the spirit in the bond of peace. There's one body and one
spirit. Understanding that. and thanking
God for that, treasuring that. Even as you're called in one
hope of your calling, one Lord, one faith, one baptism, everything
that matters, we're one in those things. One God and Father of
all. So there is a recipe for it.
It's a special holy recipe. And then our text says also that
it's like the dew. It's like the dew on the grass. Proverbs 19.12 says this, the
king's wrath is as the roaring of a lion, but his favor is as
dew upon the grass. Our king is terrible and holy
and not to be trifled with, Though his wrath is violent and frightening,
his favor is like the dew upon the grass. The grass can't live
without moisture from heaven. So this unity is necessary. There's no church, there's no
living church without it. This unity is a manifestation
of God's favor and it's like the dew, refreshing, reviving,
satisfying, necessary. God give us grace to thank God
for one another. Imagine being alone as a believer
like Elijah thought he was. You remember when he said, I'm
the only one and they seek my life also? Do you remember what
he also said in that context? When he thought he was the only
one left that honored God, you know what he said? God, take
me, take me out of this world. It is enough now, oh Lord, take
away my life, 1 Kings 19.4. I don't blame him, do you? If I was the only one, I'd be
praying that every day. Lord, take me, take me. You remember that list of things
that God hates in Proverbs chapter six. He that soweth discord among
brethren. If somebody or something tries
to come between brethren, I pray that we'll fight for that
which is precious. There's no question that we're
gonna be angry with one another at times. We spend enough time
together that that's gonna happen. Disappointed with one another. But we're brothers and sisters
in Christ. There's more to this than just
us. There's no earthly bond that can compare. It's like that precious
ointment poured upon Aaron's head, flowed down his beard,
and trickled all the way down to the skirt of his garment.
It's like the refreshing dew that comes down from heaven.
This unity comes down from heaven, doesn't it? It's evident that
it does. It does not dwell naturally in
the hearts of men. We see that, we experience that,
but we can pray for it. We can ask God for it. Every good and perfect gift is
from above. and cometh down from the father
of lights with whom is no variable, let's see the shadow of turning.
And so we cry to him for like we, like we need his reign. Due is life and refreshment.
If God does not send down the due upon us, we will die. Unity is that way, the unity
of the brethren. We will die without it as a church. It comes down from him and refreshes the weary soul. And notice this is where God
has commanded the blessing, where that ointment is and where
that dew is. God has commanded the blessing
right there. And those are evidences, that's
an evidence of his blessing upon this church. And that we dwell
together, one Lord, one faith, one spirit, one God and father
of us all. So may God give us grace to honor him in this very thing.