Go with me back to Psalm 133. I haven't been able to stop thinking
about our conference. I've been thinking about it ever
since. I got to the study on Monday
and went to Axe like we do for Wednesday. I just kept thinking about how
good and how pleasant that conference was. It was good and it was pleasant. And this scripture is what has
been just rolling through my heart. Psalm 133 verse 1 says, Behold. Behold. Last weekend we got to
behold something with our own two eyes. We got to see something with
our own two eyes. This place was packed. This place is not used to being
packed. I mean, this place was packed.
You couldn't hardly turn around in the aisle. You could not get
through the foyer. Absolutely packed. It was packed
with people who love God. It was packed with people who
love God. People who have a heart for the
Lord Jesus Christ, the true God. I got to stand up here at the
pulpit and look out at everybody. And it's a different perspective
from up there. You know, you remember Bruce,
he got up there and all of a sudden, wow, there's a lot of people
here. You remember he said that? It's a different perspective, looking
out at all those people. You get to see everybody's faces. You get to see the joy and the
purpose of heart for why we're all here. We were all here for
one very good reason, and it was a wonderful weekend, so wonderful. We got to, as verse 1 says, behold
how good and how pleasant it is for brethren. Brethren. Brothers and sisters. Brothers and sisters. That's
who we had last weekend. I was hoping we would just be
full of visitors, but we weren't. We were full of brothers and
sisters. We didn't host acquaintances.
A lot of people met certain people for the first time. How you doing? Where you live? But we didn't host acquaintances. Those were our brethren. They
were truly our brethren. I mean, our brethren. Those who
have been adopted into the family of God, made to be brethren. Verse 1 says, Behold how good
and how pleasant it is for brethren to dwell together in unity. Unity. This world is not in unity
with each other. It is not in unity. They're too
focused on self to be in unity with each other. There's no unity
when all the focus is on self. But that was not the focus last
weekend, was it? It wasn't the focus. Behold how good and how pleasant
it is for brethren. Ephesians 1 says chosen, doesn't
it? Chosen to be adopted by Jesus
Christ to himself. to be adopted. Brethren to dwell
together in unity. Do you know what the word unity
means? One. That's what it means. One. Behold how good and how
pleasant it is for brethren to dwell together in one. You know what that means, don't
you? In one. As one, we were all here. As
one? No. In one. In one. Is that not good and pleasant?
For brethren to all sit here and pack this place out in one? Go with me to Ephesians chapter
four. Ephesians 4 verse 1 says, I therefore,
the prisoner of the Lord, beseech you that you walk worthy of the
vocation wherewith you are called, with all lowliness and meekness,
with long-suffering, forbearing one another in love, endeavoring
to keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace. This unity comes from God's Holy
Spirit. That's where the unity comes
from. It's the unity of the Spirit. Verse 4 says, there is one body. There's one body. Now, I jokingly
said last weekend, why don't we just have one congregation?
That would have been fine with me last weekend. I could have
done that every weekend. Why don't we just do one congregation?
How about that? But you know what? We are one
congregation. We're God's congregation. We
really are just one congregation made up of many local assemblies. And some might say, you know,
you come to a conference like that, and I just mentioned that
you meet people you've never met before, and some might say,
well, I'm of Tom. Oh, okay. And some might say,
well, I'm of Frank. Gotcha. Well, I'm of Todd. Oh, yeah, it's great to have
you here. But you know what? We're all of Christ. Aren't we? We're all of Christ. And is Christ
divided? The family assembled last weekend. The family. We're going to be
in glory with each other. Living in the same house. We're
all going to have the same name. We're going to have one father.
One husband. The family gathered last weekend
in one. in one. There is one body. Whose body is it? There's one
body. Whose body is it? I have a reference
right here in my Bible in chapter or verse 4 next to one body. It says chapter 2 verse 16. Look at Ephesians 2 verse 16.
It says, and that he might reconcile both unto God in one body. by the cross, having slain the
enmity thereby. We have been made to be the body
of the Lord Jesus Christ. That's who gathered together.
Behold how good and how pleasant it is for brethren to dwell together
in one, in Christ. It's so good and it's so pleasant.
Ephesians 4, back here in Ephesians chapter 4, verse 4 says, there
is one body And one spirit. God's people dwell in unity because
He sends each and every one of them one spirit. His spirit. He sends it to every single child
of His. Verse 4 says, There is one body
and one spirit, even as you are called in one hope of your calling. Who does all the calling? God
does. God decides who's a member of
His family. Verse 5 says, there is one Lord. There's only one Christ. There's
one Messiah. One mediator between God and
man. One. The Lord asked Peter, He said,
whom do you say that I am? Before that, he said, who do
others say that I am? Well, some say this, right? Some
say that. He said, Peter, who do you say
that I am? Peter said, thou art the Christ,
the only Christ. We say the same thing, don't
we? We say the exact same thing. Verse 5 says, there's one Lord, one faith in that Lord. Last weekend we dwelt in unity
because we were all looking to one Christ. Everybody here was
looking to and worshiping one Christ. One faith in one Lord. Verse 5 says there's one baptism. It's not the water we put in
this box. That's a confession of the one true baptism, which
is God's Holy Spirit lay in hold of a sinner and plunge in that
sinner in the blood of Jesus Christ. There's one baptism. Verse 6 says there's one God. One God. The God that the saints
in Orlando, Florida are worshiping. It's the same God that the saints
in Kingsport, Tennessee are worshiping. And it's the same God that the
saints out in Rescue, California are worshipping. It's the same
God that the saints in Medina, Mexico are worshipping. There's
one God. One God. His name is Jesus Christ. Verse 6, One God and Father of
all, who is above all, and through all, and in you all. This God
is above all. He's through all and He's in
you all. And you know what that causes?
Unity. Unity. Verse 7, But unto every
one of us is given grace according to the measure of the gift of
Christ. Wherefore He saith when He ascended up on high, He led
captivity, and I have a margin in my Bible next to captivity. It says a multitude of captives, a number that God chose, a number
no man can number. But He led captivity, captive,
and gave gifts unto men. Now that He ascended, what is
it but that He also descended first into the lower parts of
the earth? If we worship Him for His ascension,
We must first worship Him for His descension, for the fact
that He would come all the way down to the lowest part of the
earth, the womb. Born of a virgin, He made Himself
to be a man. God became a man. And then He went under the earth,
the grave. And when He did that, you know
what He did? He made us His brethren. That's
what He did. When He did that, He made us
His brethren. He made us acceptable to God.
Verse 10 says, He that descended is the same also that ascended
up far above all heavens that He might fill all things. That
word means fulfill all things. And He gave some apostles and
some prophets and some evangelists and some pastors and teachers
for the perfecting of the saints, and for the work of the ministry. That's what happened last weekend. That's what happened. We had
some people in our homes. We cooked. We cleaned. You know what we were doing?
The work of the ministry. That's what we were doing. Look
at verse 13, for the edifying of the body of Christ, I hope
our brothers and sisters left here edified. Edified. Verse 13, till we all come in
the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God
unto a perfect man unto the measure of the stature of the fullness
of Christ. It's all about Christ. Behold how good and how pleasant
it is for brethren to dwell together in Christ. It's so good, it's
so pleasant. Now go with me back to 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. That's exactly what brethren
dwelling together in unity is like. That's what brethren dwelling
together in the unity of Christ is like. It's like that precious
ointment. Now the Lord gave Moses a recipe with particular ingredients for
a holy oil that he wanted Moses to make. And that recipe is in
Exodus 30. Go with me over to Exodus chapter
30. Exodus 30 verse 22 says, 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, 500 shekels,
after the shekel of the sanctuary, and of oil, olive, and hen. And thou shalt make it an oil
of holy ointment, an ointment compound after the art of the
apothecary, or the perfumer. It's going to be like a perfume.
It shall be an 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, and the candlestick,
and 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. Whatsoever toucheth them shall
be holy. And thou shalt anoint Aaron,
Now watch this part right here. 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
children of Israel, saying, This shall be an 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. Everything about this oil was
sweet-smelling. It was a perfume. It was a sweet-smelling
savor to God. But here's what the ingredients
mean, okay? Here's the definition of the
ingredients. Myrrh means to be made bitter. To be made bitter. Cinnamon means
to rise up. Anybody already know what all
this means? Calamus means a reed, a rod, a branch. And Cassia means to bow the head
in respect and obedience. Is that not the work of our Lord? The righteous, sinless branch. He willingly in obedience. took
our bitter sin upon himself, and then he rose up from the
grave in victory. Our Lord said that work is not
going to be mixed with man's flesh. It is not going to be
mixed with man's flesh, but he said you can pour it all over
Aaron. Why? He's your high priest. He's the
one that I've chosen to make the atonement for your soul. Does he not represent the Lord
Jesus Christ? Christ our head. Pour my anointing. Pour holiness and righteousness
and perfection and satisfaction. You pour it all over him. Your
head. There's one body. And there's
one head. And when all of God's anointing
and when all of His blessing was poured on Christ, our head,
it ran down His beard and it ran all the way down to His body.
It flowed all the way down to the skirts of His garment. It
went all the way. Brethren, if we dwell together
in unity with Christ, if we dwell in Him, in one, Every blessing
that God gives to him, God gives to us. Every one of them. Every soul in this room last
weekend that was lit up with joy and worship of the Lord Jesus
Christ, every blessing God the Father gives to Christ flowed
down to them. As satisfied as God is with Christ,
that's how satisfied he is with us. That's good and pleasant,
isn't it? Go with me one more time back
to Psalm 133. Verse 1, 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. Brethren that dwell together
in the unity of Christ are, as verse 3 says, the dew of Hermon. And as the dew that descended
upon the mountains of Zion. That's what it's like to dwell
together in one. It's like the dew of Hermon.
Mount Hermon is the highest peak in Israel. 9,200 feet above the Mediterranean
Sea. And I would have never thought
this, but all winter long it is covered in snow. I just wouldn't
think of snow in Israel. I don't know why. But all winter,
it's covered in snow. And when spring comes, that snow
starts to melt. And it waters all the plains
and all the fields that are right there at the base of Mount Hermon. Everything below it is a very
lush green pasture. I looked it up on the internet.
Very interesting. I saw a picture of it in the
winter. Everything's dead, covered in snow. I saw a picture of it
in the spring. It is so lush. It is so green. It all flowed down from the highest. And everything that dwelt right
there, everything that was right there was blessed. It was full
of fatness. It was full of life. 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. life. It is so good and it is
so pleasant to dwell together in Christ, in the unity of Christ. Every ounce of that, Charles
Spurgeon pointed out in his Treasury of David, he pointed out there's
not one bad thing in this. It's all good. It's just all
good. It's all good and it's all pleasant
and that's our Lord. He's so good So good. Lord, our prayer is that he might
enable us to just dwell in him, dwell in the unity of Christ.
All right, let's stand together.