Go with me again, if you would,
to Psalm 133. Psalm 133. Verse 1 says, 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." I love this song. I truly do. I love this Psalm. This is a Psalm that, kind of
like Psalm 123. We're just gonna go here a lot
through the course of this ministry. We're gonna constantly find ourself
here. This is precious. It's just precious. It's something
that I love. I just love the thought of brethren
dwelling together in unity. It just strengthens me. It encourages me. It makes me
happy. And the Lord willing, this is
what we're going to do for our message tonight. We're going
to read through these three verses again, and I'm going to give
you the definitions of these words as we go through it. And then after I do that, we're
going to see why Psalm 133 says what it says, why it is, how
it is that that can take place. And then I just want us to enjoy
the happy truth of Psalm 133. And then we'll be done. All right. Now, just follow along with me
here as I read this again, and it'll take just a brief minute,
okay? I don't want us to get lost in this, but just let me
give you these definitions. I'm gonna give you a word, and
then I'm gonna expound the definition to you, and then give you a word
and expound the definition to you. And I'm gonna do this so
we can see the heart of what this is saying, all right? Verse
one says, Behold. Look at this. Be amazed by this. That's what behold means. Be
amazed by this. How good. That means when you look the
word good up, this is what it means. How beautiful. Just put that word right in there.
How beautiful. How cheerful. How at ease. That's what the word good means.
How at ease. And it is. At ease. How joyful. How loving. How precious. How valuable. That's what the word means. Behold
how valuable. How becoming. How happy, that's
what the word good means. Behold, how happy. How right. He goes on to say, and how pleasant. That word means delightful, lovely,
sweet sounding. It is for brethren, those who
are of the same, Of the same what? Lord, God, faith, family,
hope, salvation. Of the same. Of the same. Behold how good and how pleasant
it is for brethren to dwell. That means to remain. That means to abide. It means to stay. together in unity. Unitedness, togetherness, oneness,
just behold the value of it. Behold the happiness of it. Behold the beauty of brethren
staying together in unity. Verse 2 says, it is like, it's
a picture of, it's a representation of the precious ointment, the
costly, the rare, the special, the sanctified, that set-aside
ointment. That means the oil of gladness,
the oil of joy, You know, whenever they would anoint a priest, they
would pour oil on his head. And that's what our Lord says
He's poured on us. The oil of gladness, the oil
of joy. And verse 2 says, it's like the
precious ointment, now read between the lines on this, upon the head. That means the highest, the crown. that ran down, that came down,
that descended upon the beard, upon the face, even Aaron's beard. That's the
high priest's face. Aaron was the high priest. Aaron's name means the bringer
of light. That's what his name means. Who
is he a picture of? Christ, our great high priest. What this has said so far is
this loving union that God has given to his people is like this
glorious oil of joy, this balm of Gilead,
this grace and mercy that has shined to us in the face of our
great high priest, the Lord Jesus Christ. Verse two says, it's like the
precious ointment upon the head that ran down upon the beard,
even Aaron's beard that went down, continued down. It kept
on flowing down. To the skirts, that word didn't
mean what I thought it would mean. It means the word, the
speech, the two-edged sound. That's the gospel. That glory from the highest crown
of God descended to Christ, the Messiah, the man, and descended
down to His gospel, His word, His speech, His skirts. Verse
2 ends by saying, the skirts of His garments, that means His
train, His measure, His portion, which is His people. Verse 3 says, as the dew, that
means the mist, the water, the washing, the refreshing of Hermon. That's a mountain. And it's true
that Hermon was higher and snow collected on it. And in the springtime,
that snow would melt and water would flow down. That is true.
But the name means the sanctuary. This unity of love that God has
given to His people, it's a picture of, it's because of, it's the
result of the ointment of grace and mercy that God has flowed
down through the gospel of Christ to His people, His sanctuary. Verse 3 says, "...as the dew
of Hermon, and as the dew that descended upon the mountains
of Zion." The name Zion means the parched place, the thirsty
place. That's me and you. It goes on to say, "...for there,
right there at the thirsty dry place, the Lord Jehovah the self-existent,
eternal One, the true and living God, the absolute Sovereign, commanded, that means He demanded, He appointed,
He ordered the blessing. The prosperity, that's what that
means. The prosperity, the gift, it means the treaty of peace.
That's where He commanded the treaty of peace. It ends by saying, even life
forevermore. Eternal, never-ending, everlasting
life. That's what Psalm 133 is saying.
That's what it's saying. Now, this is why it's saying
this. This right here is the reason
for this unity. It's saying this glorious unity,
this is what it's like and this is what it came from. This is
how it came. Here's the reason. Verse one says, behold, how good
and how pleasant it is for brethren to dwell together in unity. Oh, how good it is and how pleasant
it is. And it is, isn't it? It is, it
is so wonderful. It is so joyful, so pleasant. There is no greater joy that
we have in this life than the unity of brotherhood and fellowship
in the Lord Jesus Christ. This is our happiness. All right, here's why. Here's
why. And this is where I want to go
with this. Do you know, we're going to point
out the fact that God's people are truly united together. They know it. They recognize
it as opposed to acquaintances with people who have no heart
for Christ or God's people are joined together. Here's why.
Go with me to Hebrews chapter two. Hebrews 2 verse 9 says, But we
see Jesus, who was made a little lower than the angels for the
suffering of death, crowned with glory and honor, that He, by
the grace of God, should taste death for every man. And somebody's going to see that
and say, well, there it is, every man. Amen. That ought to be our response. If somebody says, well, it says
right there, every man, our response needs to be, amen. Amen. All that the Father gave to Him,
all of them, every single soul that the Father gave to Him,
none of His elect are going to be left outside the blood of
His sacrifice, none. In John 17, He said, not the
world, but all that you've given to me, every soul that you've
given to me. And right here in this chapter,
just to point it out, he goes on down. If you look at the end
of verse 13, he said, I and the children which God hath given
me, that's who he's talking about. So amen to verse 9, which says,
We see Jesus, who is made a little lower than the angels, for the
suffering of death, crowned with glory and honor, that He, by
the grace of God, should taste death for every man. For it became
Him for whom are all things, and by whom are all things, in
bringing many sons unto glory, to make the captain of their
salvation perfect through sufferings, his own sufferings, the sufferings
of the cross. For both he that sanctifieth
and they who are sanctified are all of one, And this last line
right here ought to just amaze us. The end of verse 11 says,
for which cause he is not ashamed to call them brethren. He's not ashamed to call them
brethren. Verse 12, saying, I will declare thy name unto my brethren. In the midst of the church will
I sing praise unto thee. He was not ashamed to call us
brethren. I thank the Lord for that. How
merciful, oh, how merciful. When I was lost in sin and shame,
how you let me take the blame. He was not ashamed to call us
brethren. He himself said, he said, behold
how good and how pleasant it is for brethren to dwell together
in unity. He is the one who said that.
Unity in His life. Unity in our death. He joined
Himself to us in our death. Unity in His resurrection. Oneness. He was not ashamed to be our
brother. Our elder brother. Even though
Ephesians 1 and 2 both say that we were at enmity against Him.
An enemy of Him. He of His own mercy and grace,
Ephesians 1 says, adopted us. By Himself, to Himself, He adopted
us into the household of God. Glory is the house of God. It's
the household of God. The family of God. He adopted
us with the payment of His own blood. And if you look at verse
14 right here in Hebrews 2, it says, For as much then as the
children are partakers of flesh and blood, He also Himself likewise
took part of the same, that through death He might destroy him that
had the power of death, that is the devil, and deliver them
who through fear of death were all their lifetime subject to
bondage. For verily he took not on him
the nature of angels, but he took on him the seed of Abraham."
You know, those angels, a third of the host of heaven fell. And he did not unite himself
with them. He did not take on the nature
of angels, but He did that for us. He took on Him the seed of
Abraham. Verse 17 says, Wherefore in all
things it behooved Him to be made like unto His brethren. that he might be a merciful and
faithful high priest in things pertaining to God, to make reconciliation
for the sins of the people. For in that he himself hath suffered
being tempted, he is able to succor them that are tempted."
And that's what he does at all times for his brethren. He comforts
their hearts by reminding them of their unity with him. He comforts
them. Look with me at Romans 8. Romans 8 verse 14, it says, For
as many as are led by the Spirit of God, they are the sons of
God. For you have not received the
spirit of bondage again to fear, but you have received the spirit
of adoption, whereby we cry, Abba, Father. The Spirit itself
beareth witness with our spirit that we are the children of God,
and if children, then heirs, heirs of God and joint heirs
with Christ. If so be that we suffer with
him, that we may be also glorified together. For I reckon that the
sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared
with the glory which shall be revealed in us." And what is
that glory? Verse 29 right here said, Whom
He did foreknow, He also did predestinate to be conformed
to the image of His Son, that He might be the firstborn among
many brethren. We're going to look like our
elder brother. We're going to be just like our
elder brother, the one that we've been joined together with in
unity, Jesus Christ our Lord. Again, amazing. Just try to get
your mind around that. You're going to be like Him. His unity with us in not being
ashamed to be a brother to us, that is the reason for the joy
of the unity that we have with each other because He made Himself
to be our brother. That's what we have in common.
That is what unites us. Because of His love and His unity
with us, He has created a love and a unity among us. And it's
beautiful. It's wonderful. It is precious.
It is sweet. It is honestly what makes life
on this earth worth living. It really is. Behold, he said,
let's just look at this and take note of this and enjoy this and
acknowledge this, how good and how pleasant it is for brethren
to dwell together in unity, loving, hugging, embracing unity. Paul said, I love in Philippians
1 verse 3, he said, I thank my God upon every remembrance of
you. He said, because of Christ, you're
in my heart, and I long after you all. Peter said, finally,
be of one mind, have compassion on one another, be pitiful, be
courteous, love each other as brethren. John said, We know
that we have passed from death to life because we love the brethren. Our Lord said, By this shall
all men know that you are my disciples, if you have love one
for another. And we do. I love you. It's the whole reason
I showed up. because of our Lord. We love Him because He first
loved us. And we love each other because
He first loved us. And that's probably what I ought
to title this. I love you. I truly do. I thank the Lord. I want, you know, all of these
exhortations in the Scripture for love. I want them. I want them. I desire them. I
pray the Lord would give them. Again, I can't help but think
about what we looked at recently. Ask. Lord, put a love in me for my
brethren. Put a love in my brethren for
me. Let us do this. Let us enjoy
this. Let us love each other as brethren. Go with me back to Psalm 133. I'll be brief here. Verse 1 says, 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, for evermore." The eternal blessing
of life. If we want to know what the blessing
of heaven is, it's dwelling together in unity with the Lord Jesus
Christ. That's the blessing of heaven. He is the blessing. Unity with
Him. That's the blessing. That's the
prize. That's the reward. A loving,
engaging unity with Him. And the blessing of temporary
life, the life that we're passing through, we're just passing through
here on this earth, waiting for this eternal life to come. The
blessing of this life that we're living here on this earth is
dwelling together in unity with the brethren of Christ, worshiping
Christ, gathering around the word of Christ, the gospel of
Christ, the thing that unites us, which is Him. We don't have
Him tangibly yet. Soon, you know, we all come in
and we are a hugging bunch. and we're all gonna go out and
we're gonna be a huggin' bunch. Soon, we're gonna have Him and
we're gonna hug Him. We're gonna embrace Him. But we don't have Him tangibly
yet. We don't have Him physically
in His flesh yet, but this is what He's given to us. As Ephesians
talks about the earnest of our inheritance, this down payment,
He has given us each other. and with Him living in His people,
His Spirit dwelling in His people, that provides for them a true
bond. They know it. They know it. And it's Christ. In Christ, there
is a bond. We are connected. Outside of
Christ, there's no bond. Not really. It's a oneness that God's people
can't even put into words. Cannot put it into words. It's
a love like we'll never experience anywhere else on this earth.
It's a comfort and a peace and a joy like no other on this earth. It's real. We're not in religion,
that's fake. This is real. This is the family
of God Almighty. And it is wonderful. It is so
wonderful that He has included us in it. Does our sinful flesh
ever get in the way and ruin the peace and the joy from time
to time? Sure it does. But His Spirit in us will remind
us that nothing is worth losing this precious unity that He's
given to us. And our hearts will say, Amen.
That's right. That's what I want. And that
remembrance will not only bring the unity back, it'll make it
stronger. It really will. So I want to close this message
by just acknowledging some things that we can do to strengthen
and keep our unity. Don't turn to any of this, but
Ephesians 4 verse 3 says, endeavor to keep the unity of the spirit
in the bond of peace. Endeavor to keep it. Strive to
protect it and strengthen it. How can we do that? Again, don't
turn to these, but Philippians 2 verse 3, the apostle Paul said,
in lowliness of mind, let us esteem each other better than
ourselves. I would like to have that. It's
not possible for me in my flesh. If the Lord does not in mercy,
give it to me. I acknowledge my downfall on
that. I acknowledge what I am. But
I ask Him on my own behalf, and I'll ask on all of our behalf,
Lord, would you please allow me the privilege of esteeming
my brethren more highly than myself? If He will do that, you
know what that'll do for us? It will squash all pride. You're
proud because you think, I'm proud because I think I'm better.
And if the Lord would remove that from me, He'd remove that pride from me. And it would allow me to not
ruin this wonderful thing He's given to me. I beg Him, Lord,
please let me esteem my brother or my sister more highly than
I esteem myself. Don't let my pride be a hindrance
to the unity You've given us. Let's esteem each other consciously. Consciously, Lord,
give me a conscience ability to esteem my brethren. Let's remember that we're about
to spend eternity together, all right? We're gonna be here just
a few more minutes. It's all right, I love you. Few
more minutes, okay? We'll be here, it's okay, I love
you. We're going to be here a few
more minutes. We're just going to be here a few more minutes.
Time is ticking away. It's going fast, fast, fast,
fast, fast. It's going to be over. Some who
are older are going to go on to be with the Lord. Some who
are younger are going to go on to be with the Lord. We're all
going to end up there very shortly. This will all be over. We're
going to spend eternity together. We're going to spend eternity
together. There'll be no frailties. There'll be no... We're going
to spend eternity together. Once one of us goes, one by one,
they're not lost. They're not gone. They're just
there. And we'll see them in just a
minute. Let's remember. Let's remember. In just a minute,
every molecule of our sinful flesh is going to be stripped
away from us. It's going to be removed. And
right around the corner, we're going to be in the very image
of Christ Himself. We spend all this time saying,
I just don't see it in me. I just don't see it in me. Because
of Him, for all eternity, every time we look at this, we're going
to say, I see it. I see what He's done for me. When He comes back for us, it
does not yet appear what we shall be, but we're gonna be like Him.
We're gonna be just like Him. So, Lord, let me drop all pride
and esteem my brethren as Christ. You talk about better than yourself. And let's remember that we're
about to spend a sinless eternity together. And therefore, as Christ has
done for us in thankfulness to Him, He said, you do the same
for each other. He has been a brother to us.
He will be a brother to us for all eternity. He is going to
be a brother to us. What will heaven be like? Every need we have in every relationship
way will be provided to us by the Lord Jesus Christ. And as
a brother, even as a friend who sticks closer than a brother,
He has seen to our needs. He has provided for us. He has
done for us. That's what we're going to do
for each other. You know, Isaiah 65 says we're going to long enjoy
the work of our hand. I believe it won't be for ourselves.
I believe it'll be for each other. It's better to give than to receive. Let's strive to be that for each
other right now. Let's strive to be the kind of
brother or sister that we would love to have. I want to be the
kind of brother and sister that I'd love to have. Our Lord said,
I've done that for you. You do that for each other. Let's
call each other. I'm the worst about this. I'm
the worst about this. And I'm picking these on purpose. I'll show you why in just a second.
But let's call each other. We have no idea what a call or
a text could mean to a brother or a sister who's in a moment
of need. I have had moments where I was much lower than I
realized. And a text will come through, And a beautiful scripture will
be attached to it. And just a word that says, I
love you, I'm with you. You just have no idea what that
can do for a brother or a sister who is in a moment of true need.
It changes everything. It can change everything. Loving
communication for a brother or sister who needs it can change
everything. Let's call each other. Let's
invite each other in our homes. Let's be a congregation that
invites each other into our homes. Not every place does this. Let's
be one of those places. Let's welcome and nurture the
fellowship He's given to us. We will grow. I'm telling you,
our love will grow. Our unity will grow. Our relationships
will grow if we will spend time together and invite each other
into our homes. Let's think on each other. Take a minute, sometime when
you get a minute, get the church directory if you need it. Look
down through there and you think about every person in this congregation.
Pray for them. Every person from the oldest
to the youngest, pray for them. Thank God for them. Thank the Lord for them. Whatever
their needs may be, there's always a need. Let's find one and see
to it. Let's remember each other's feelings. Let's try to make each other's
day better. How can I make your day better, not worse? I don't
want it to be worse when I enter into your presence. How can I
make it better? Here's why I say all these things.
For Christ, our elder brother's sake, he called us. Thank God
he called us. There could have been no communication
from Him, but He called us. He invited us into His home. He thought on us. We just had
a brother read, I know my thoughts toward you. If I count them,
they're more than the sand. He prayed for us. He prays for
us. He thanked His Father for us.
He saw to our need. He remembered our frame. He remembered
our feelings. And oh, did He make our great
day better. That's what Hebrews is all about. He's just better. He just makes
everything better. So may God let us behold. May
He let us look at and acknowledge and thank Him for how good and
how pleasant it is for brethren to dwell together in unity. Lord, give us that privilege.
Please give us that privilege. Keep it with us. Strengthen us
in it. Let love and unity in Christ
abound here. That's our prayer. Lord, let
it be here as long as you are here. Amen. All right, let's all stand together.