"How good and pleasant it is when brothers live together in unity!  It is like precious oil poured on the head, running down on the beard, running down on Aaron's beard, down upon the collar of his robes.  It is as if the dew of Hermon were falling on Mount Zion.  For there the Lord bestows His blessing, even life for evermore." (Psalm 133). What a beautiful picture the psalmist paints for us of the blessings that flow from God to His people as the result of unity within the church.  First he compares unity within the church to a beautifully sweet aroma.  But not just any sweet aroma; the psalmist has something very specific in mind. The aroma he has in mind is that of the sacred anointing oil reserved for anointing the high priest and his companions who ministered in the temple.  The richness and beauty of its perfume was legendary.  God Himself gave its ingredients and composition to Moses (see Exodus 30:22-25) .  Its aroma was literally heavenly and when it was in use, this oil was used sparingly because it was so very precious.  During the exile, however, there was no temple and from that time on no anointing oil.  So the psalmist can only imagine that heavenly perfume. As he contemplates the beauty of true unity he imagines this aromatic oil poured out, not sparingly but liberally.  The message is clear.  True unity amongst God’s people delights the heart of God and is a source of joy and comfort to mankind. And not in small or moderate measure. The picture is not of just a little of this fragrant oil poured out but of it poured out in abundance.  The delight that true unity amongst His people brings to the heart of God, is no small thing.  It is not mere satisfaction.  It is almost in-expressible in its magnitude.  If true unity brings such delight then disunity, or the mere pretence of unity, must, by implication, cause God great pain.

Unity is not merely a delight to God; it is a source of great blessing.  This is the point of the psalmist’s second picture.  Mount Zion, on which Jerusalem is built, has a very hot and dry climate – very different from the area around Mount Hermon in the east of Israel.  Hermon is a lush and fertile place and the dew is legendary.  It is consistently very copious and sustains lush vegetation in what would otherwise be a very arid region.  Now, just imagine what Jerusalem would be like if that same dew were to fall there with the same consistency and volume.  The place would be transformed from being almost wilderness to a paradise.  In place of near death there would be abundant life.  This is exactly the kind of transformation that the psalmist envisages when he says: "For there the Lord bestows His blessing, even life for evermore".  True unity, within the people of God, establishes the conditions whereby God can pour out His blessings.

Now, let me ask you a question.  Do you truly and earnestly desire to see true unity within this congregation of God’s people?  How important is it to you?  I’m not talking about people merely getting on a bit better.  I’m not talking about creating, or keeping up, the appearance of unity, whilst continuing to wrangle and criticise and fight.  I’m talking about the sort of unity that the psalmist describes: unity that delights the heart of God and brings blessing to men and women.  Is that what you want for this congregation? Are you prepared to pray for it, to strive for it, to play your part in bringing it to pass? Because if such unity truly is your earnest desire then you will be prepared to play your part in bringing it about.  I hope and pray that it is what you desire for this congregation because if true unity within the people of God is not your earnest desire then you have a serious problem.

Turn to John 17:20-21.  Jesus has been praying for his disciples, principally for the twelve whom we recognise. Now he turns His attention, and the focus of His prayer, to all believers - both present and future.  That includes us.  And what is His prayer?  "I pray also for those who will believe in me through their message, that all of them may be one, Father, just as you are in me and I am in you. May they also be in us so that the world may believe that you have sent me."  Jesus' great desire for His church is that it should be truly united.  If that is not your desire for this congregation then you are in direct opposition to Jesus Christ.  You think that I am overstating the case?  Turn to Matthew 12:30.  Jesus has just healed a man possessed by a demon and some of the Pharisees have denied any suggestion that this is a work of God, dismissing it as being the work of a devil.  Jesus doesn’t let them away with it.  He has some pertinent words to say about the results of division, and we may return to them later, but I want to draw your attention to verse 30. Now listen to what Jesus says. "He who is not with me is against me, and he who does not gather with me scatters". Jesus leaves us with absolutely no room for doubt or manoeuvre.  There is no opportunity for fence-sitting.  Jesus dismisses any hint or notion of the possibility of neutrality.  We have a stark choice, either we consciously decide to join with Him or we are in opposition to Him.  Not only that, but anyone who is not actively in some way drawing others toward God is helping to drive them away from God! Now that is a very serious charge but before you dismiss it as merely my opinion read God’s Word again.  It is not merely my opinion, it is simply and exactly what Jesus says in very straightforward and clear language. "He who is not with me is against me, and he who does not gather with me scatters".  If true unity amongst the people of God in this place is not your sincere desire then, be it consciously or unconsciously, actively or passively, you have placed yourself in direct opposition to the plans and purposes of God in this place.  That’s not my opinion, it is fact - straight from God’s Word.  I’ll tell you something - being in direct opposition to God is something that I wouldn’t wish on even my worst enemy.  Being in direct opposition to God isn’t anywhere you want to be.  If that’s where you are then it is time to repent of the actions and attitudes that have got you there and get right with God.

Now before anyone starts patting themselves on the back, thinking, "I’m all right, I’m in favour of unity" - let me ask you this: what kind of unity are you looking for?  If you have been listening then you should have noticed that I have repeatedly used the phrase "true unity" rather than just the word unity.  That is because very often that which appears as unity is merely a facade covering strife and turmoil.  Not only that, God is very specific about the unity that He desires. So I ask you again, what kind of unity are you looking for and is it the unity that God is seeking amongst His people or is it something else entirely?  Because if you are seeking some sort of unity other than that which God desires then you’re also in trouble.

What sort of unity does God desire amongst His people?  If you go to a concordance and look up the word ‘unity’ then you will discover that it appears only 4 times in the New Testament and only twice in the Old Testament.  Looking up the word ‘united’ gives us 3 more references to unity within the church.  Thompson’s chain reference identifies 5 New Testament exhortations to unity within the church.  So if we want to know what kind of unity God is looking for and how important it is then we’re not short of places to look. Turn with me in your Bibles to Ephesians 4:1-6.  Here Paul sets out the nature of the unity that God desires. "As a prisoner for the Lord, then, I urge you to live a life worthy of the calling you have received.  Be completely humble and gentle; be patient, bearing with one another in love.  Make every effort to keep the unity of the Spirit through the bond of peace.  There is one body and one Spirit- just as you were called to one hope when you were called- one Lord, one faith, one baptism; one God and Father of all, who is over all and through all and in all". Paul identifies as the marks of the unity that God desires - humility, gentleness, patience, forebearance and love.  The unity of which he speaks is not unity for its own sake but "the unity of the Spirit".  He identifies as that which preserves this "unity of the Spirit", the bond of peace. This unity is not togetherness and agreement for its own sake but rather unity that has as Jesus Christ as both its focus and its foundation.  The unity that God seeks is for each of us to be united with Him by being united with Jesus Christ through the indwelling of the Holy Spirit.  Anything else that we may call unity but which omits that basic unity with God the Father, God the Son and God the Holy Spirit is contrary to, and in direct opposition to, the will of God.

True unity within the church is characterised by humility - that is a complete acceptance of, and submission to, God’s will.  It is characterised by the gentleness exemplified by Jesus.  Often He had hard things to say and do, yet He did so in such a way as to avoid un-necessary hurt or damage.  It is characterised by patience, a willingness to wait for God to work his purposes out in His time.  It is characterised by forbearance; a willingness to forgive the weaknesses and failings of others just as God has forgiven us.   Most of all it is characterised by love.  Not the soft, slushy, sentimental love of the soap opera and the movie but rather the strong, self-sacrificing love of Jesus Christ. Yes, the Greek word that Paul uses and which we have translated as love is ‘agape’, the same word used of the love of God towards us in Jesus Christ.  These are the things, with love above all, that are to characterise true unity within the church.  And each one throws us back upon God in the person of the Holy Spirit because without the indwelling of the Holy Spirit, it is all impossible. After all, as Paul reminds us in Galatians 5, these qualities are all the fruit of the Holy Spirit - the things grown in our lives, and in our life together, by the power and presence of the Holy Spirit. They cannot be manufactured in any other way. So it is that Paul exhorts us to keep the unity of the Spirit through the bond of peace.  It is the indwelling of the Holy Spirit that is the key to unity but what is this peace of which Paul speaks?  It is peace with both God and man.  It is about maintaining right relationships with both God, in the first instance, and with our fellow believers.  It is only by believing in Jesus Christ and putting our whole trust in Him that we can know peace with God, and only through obedience and continuing to put our whole trust in Jesus that we may remain at peace with God.  It is that bond of peace with God, the New Covenant between God and man which Jesus Christ brought into effect by his death and resurrection that makes it possible for us to experience the indwelling of the Holy Spirit and the unity that is the body of Christ.  Indeed Paul asserts that true unity is one of the proofs of true, living faith.  Turn to Philippians 2:1-4.  Paul challenges the church in Phillipi to put their faith to work and to prove that it was real. "Ifyou have any encouragement from being united with Christ, if any comfort from his love, if any fellowship with the Spirit, if any tenderness and compassion, then make my joy complete by being like-minded, having the same love, being one in spirit and purpose. Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit, but in humility consider others better than yourselves. Each of you should look not only to your own interests, but also to the interests of others".  In effect he says, if your salvation is real, if you really do know the love of God in your hearts, if you have any real fellowship with the Holy Spirit and it's not mere pretence then here’s how you can prove it. What does he mean by being like-minded?  He means to agree - but with whom?  He challenges them to have the same love - but again the same love as whom?  He urges them to be one in spirit and purpose - but one with whom?  With each other, with him (Paul) and most importantly with Jesus Christ – all at the same time.  Again it is not unity for the sake of it.  It is unity with Jesus for the glory of God.  And it is unity within the body of believers.

It cannot be otherwise.  Let's be honest with ourselves. We know that in every congregation there are some - perhaps even the majority - who are not yet Christians.  They may call themselves Methodist or Protestant.  They may see themselves as Christian rather than Muslim or Hindu or whatever but they have never accepted Jesus Christ as Lord and Saviour.  They may be members of a church congregation, but they don't belong to Jesus.  That’s what the word "Christian" means - literally to be Christ’s-one.  Yet we have this crazy notion that such a congregation can, or should, be totally united.  Turn to 2 Corinthians 6:14-18.  This is a portion of scripture that has been much abused over the years.  It is often used in counselling Christian teenagers with regard to potential marriage partners. That’s fair enough even though it doesn’t explicitly mention marriage.  But to restrict it to such use is to ignore the fact that Paul was speaking to the church in Corinth about their conduct both as individuals and as a church in every area of life.  What does Paul say?  "Do not be yoked together with unbelievers.  For what do righteousness and wickedness have in common?  Or what fellowship can light have with darkness?  What harmony is there between Christ and Belial? What does a believer have in common with an unbeliever?  What agreement is there between the temple of God and idols?  For we are the temple of the living God".  It is madness to expect unity between believers and unbelievers.  It is impossible for real unity to exist in such a situation and the appearance of unity can only be achieved either by believers compromising their faith or by unbelievers pretending to have faith that they don’t have.  In either case both believers and unbelievers end up deceived and spiritually dead.  Paul is quite clear about the correct course of action - see verse 17 "Therefore come out from them and be separate, says the Lord".  He is not advocating isolation.  He is not suggesting that every believer should retreat to a monastery on a mountaintop, shunning the outside world.  He is not advocating elitism. What he is saying is that believers should know who to get involved with and to what degree; who to expect unity with and who to reach out to. We are called to be in the world but not of it; to be separate yet fully engaged. There is only one way for a believer and un-believer to be truly united and that is when the un-believer puts their faith in Jesus and changes sides!  The only kind of unity that God is seeking is the unity that has Jesus as both its focus and its foundation.  As such unity becomes a reality, blessings will begin to flow, but until it becomes a reality there will be no blessing.  The choice is ours.