When Christians Collide: a Call to Brotherly Unity

I do want to say good morning to everyone that's here this morning. And I'll repeat what has already been said. We're thankful for the presence of everyone here, especially those who are visiting. We're really glad you could be here today.

How many of you have ever taken something for granted? I think we could all raise our hands on that one. Specifically, I'd like to think of when was the last time you thought about oxygen? Okay. I really need it.

Yeah. I've just spent a lot of time thinking about oxygen.

Oxygen is one of those things which we hardly consider the value of its presence until we experience the detriment of its absence. And if you've ever been in an experience where all of a sudden you've lost, you can't breathe, you feel like you can't get that oxygen, you realize all of a sudden the desperation that comes into your heart and whatever you can do to get that oxygen if you've ever been underwater or you've been in a place where there's a chemical or something that has removed the oxygen and that desperation that comes upon us.

And there's a lot of things in life that are like that, that we just sort of take it for granted and we don't really consider the value of its presence. We just assume it's going to be here until we experience the detriment of its absence. And the thing that I'd like to talk about this morning, I felt led to take a little deviation from Isaiah.

I'd like to talk a little bit about brotherly unity or unity in the brotherhood. And I think it is one of those things that when we experience its lack, we all of a sudden realize what a great thing it is that we are the detriment of its absence. So for a springboard, I'd like you to turn to Psalm 133.

I have to admit to a little bit of trepidation about this subject because I think it's a subject we all agree we need, but it's also a subject that there's a lot of different ideas about how we get there.

And so I do not have all the answers to that, but I would just like to look into the Word of God this morning, see what Jesus had to say about it, see what the scriptures say, and then I will end with some personal observations, some of the things I feel like God has laid on my heart. And hopefully it can be a blessing this morning.

Psalm 133. Get there myself.

Behold how good and how pleasant it is for brethren to dwell together in unity. It is like the precious oil upon the head running down on the beard, the beard of Aaron, running down on the edge of his garments. It is like the dew of Hermon descending upon the mountains of Zion, for there the Lord commanded the blessing life. War.

So David is saying here, "Look, I want you to stop and pay attention." He said, "It is good and it is pleasant when brethren dwell together in unity." Now, there's a lot of things there's some things that are good, but they're not necessarily pleasant.

It's good to discipline and maybe do some exercise. Not always pleasant. Sometimes we suffer the consequences after we do the exercise of aching muscles or the discipline of just maybe getting out and doing that, but it's good. It's a good thing. And some things are pleasant, but they're not really that great good for us. And we could eat a steady diet of desserts. It's good or it's pleasant, but it's not necessarily good for us.

But David is saying unity among the brethren is one of those things that is both good and pleasant. It's something that not only is it something that is good and good to see, but it's also pleasant. So we have the culmination of the two, and that is something that I think everybody desires to have those kind of experiences. It's good and it's pleasant, and we can feel really good about it. And he gives two examples here that at first glance probably don't bless us a whole lot here as Westerners.

He talks about the oil. He said it's like the precious oil upon the head running down on the beard, the beard of Aaron.

This wasn't just any oil. This was the anointing oil that they used to anoint the high priests, and it was a special recipe. It had special herbs and spices. It had cinnamon in it. It had a particular smell that to the people of Israel would have been very, very specific. It would have conjured up very specific things.

To them, it represented the presence of God because Aaron was the first high priest, and when they poured that oil on him, that was a very special time when the presence of God came upon them and they had that connection between heaven and earth through the high priest.

And we can probably maybe identify a little better with a particular smell of something that when we smell that, it just floods our mind with memories, maybe a good memory, maybe a memory of home, something of your childhood, that when you smell that, it just all those things come back, and it has a whole meaning way beyond the smell itself. And I think that's what he's saying here. He's saying this is like a pleasant memory of sweet odor that brings back and floods back all the memories of the good times of that connection between God and man. And it's an abundance. He said it's not just a little couple of drops. We've had a couple of baptisms here recently, and we've seen what happens when you just pour it out and it runs down and it's down clear to the floor.

And he says it's this abundant anointing that it's not just a little bit, but it's I think what he's saying is it permeates. It's just an abundance. It drips. It's clear dripping off, and it's something good, and it's something precious.

He also says it's like the dew of Hermon. Now, Hermon was the highest peak in the area around Israel there. It could be seen for hundreds of miles away, and it was known for its moisture. So it would often have snow on it, maybe about 9,000 feet tall.

And it was a source of water. And where Jerusalem was located at tended to be a little more dry. And so when they thought of Hermon, they thought of the source where this water would flow down and fill the rivers and so on.

Back in 1993, on our wedding trip, we were in Yosemite National Park out in California, and we had had a very abundant rainfall season. And I remember as we looked there in that beautiful valley and looked at those beautiful mountains, and there was a tremendous amount of water. Just everywhere you looked, it was green, and there were falls, and there's Yosemite Falls and Bridal Veil Falls, and there was just water, water everywhere, and just abundant.

We revisited there. I think it was around 2015, '14 or '15 we went back out there, and they were in the middle of a drought. And the difference was almost hard to fathom. There was no water. The falls were dry. Everything was dry and brown.

And it was so bad that our children were like, "Well, what's so special about this?" I mean... And we were like, "You need to see it when it was the way it was." And he's saying here that the picture that David is drawing is like that. It's a picture of an abundant, refreshing kind of moisture that supplies the city of Zion with moisture.

And he says that on Zion, the Lord commanded the blessing life forevermore. So it comes with a blessing. It comes with a promise life forevermore. I'd like to read Ephesians 3. Thinking about we talked this morning about the church and the importance of the church in the Christian life. And so I'd like to read just a couple of verses here out of Ephesians.

Verse 20 and 21. Now to Him who is able to do exceedingly abundantly above all that we ask or think according to the power that works in us, to Him be glory in the church by Christ Jesus to all generations forever and ever. Amen.

What did David say? "For there the Lord commanded the blessing life forevermore." So that's where it's all wrapped up. It's in the church and in Zion and God's people. And part of that picture is brethren that dwell together in unity and harmony.

Unity doesn't just happen. It's not the default position that we find ourselves in. And it's always been that way since the fall of man because of selfishness that comes and enters into the picture.

And I think that's why this is held in such high esteem is because it's the opposite of the default. It's something that we have to be deliberate about and work towards. And I think now more than ever, it's always been a problem. We've seen that all throughout the Old Testament. We see it in the New Testament, this struggle for brethren to live together in harmony and unity. But I think now more than ever in our society, someone has said there's been a fundamental shift. It used to be that we felt a great responsibility for our fellow man. And the shift is that the greater our society puts a lot of stock on the greater sense and the needs and desire of ourselves.

And you don't have to listen too hard till you hear that in our society around us. How does this all this emphasis on me time and the things that I need and my needs and wants and so on?

It's a culture in which the greatest factor in any given situation is the satisfaction and fulfillment of individual desires. That's the society we live in today.

And that's the default position. That's what happens by default. The greatest factor in every given situation is the satisfaction and fulfillment of individual desires.

But what is brotherly unity, and how do we get it? And is it important, and what does Jesus have to say about it? I'd like you to turn to John chapter 17. And this is the passage that I read and really in my personal reading, I've been reading through John. And as I read this chapter, I just felt a burden to look into this whole idea because of what Jesus says.

I'm going to read the first five verses. And this is in

Jesus' prayer that He makes to the Father.

First five verses. "Jesus spake these words, lifted up His eyes to heaven and said, 'Father, the hour has come. Glorify Your Son, that Your Son also may glorify You, as You have given Him authority over all flesh, that He should give eternal life to as many as You have given Him. And this is eternal life, that they may know You, the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom You have sent. I have glorified You on the earth. I have finished the work which You have given me to do. And now, O Father, glorify me together with Yourself with the glory which I had with You before the world was." So here's Jesus. He's coming before the Father.

He's at the end of His earthly ministry, and He's saying, "I've finished the work that You've given me to do.

And glorify me together with Yourself with the glory that I had before the world was." And then He prays for His disciples, His immediate disciples, the people that the Twelve. And

then He prays for us. And I'd like to pick up reading again in verse 20. He broadens the scope. Now He's not just praying for His Twelve disciples, but He's praying for all of us, everyone who names the name of Christ, who is going to be who will believe in Me through the Word of Jesus. And He says in verse 20, "I do not pray for these alone, but also for those who will believe in Me through their word, that they all may be one as You, Father, are in Me and I in You.

That they may also be one in us, that the world may believe that You sent Me. And the glory which You gave Me, I have given them, that they may be one just as we are one, I in them and You in Me, that they be made perfect and one, and that the world may know that You have sent Me and have loved them as You have loved Me. Father, I desire that they also, whom You gave Me, may be with Me where I am, that they may behold My glory which You have given Me, for You loved Me before the foundation of the world.

O righteous Father, the world has not known You, but I have known You, and these have known You, and these have known You that You sent Me, and I have declared them to Your name, and I will declare it, that the love which You loved Me may be in them and I in them."

What does Jesus think about brotherly unity? It was His heart cry when He was facing the cross. It was utmost on His mind. "These people that are going to come after and that are going to call on My name, Father, I plead with You, can they be one with one another just like You and I, the relationship as close as the relationship that You and I have with each other, that they may be one as the Father and I are one?"

It's our calling, brothers and sisters, this morning to be one as brethren. First Peter 3:8-12.

This is Apostle Peter. "Finally, all of you be of one mind, having compassion for one another. Love as brothers. Be tenderhearted. Be courteous, not returning evil for evil or reviling for reviling, but on the contrary, blessing. Knowing that you were called to this" remember, it's our calling "that you may inherit a blessing. For he who would love life and see good days, let him refrain his tongue from evil and his lips from speaking deceit. Let him turn away from evil and do good. Let him seek peace and pursue it. For the eyes of the Lord are on the righteous, and His ears are open to their prayers, but the face of the Lord is against those who do evil."

He says, this is the thing that we're called to. Be of one mind. Love as brothers. Have compassion for each other, not returning evil for evil or reviling for reviling.

Turn to Philippians 2:1-4.

"Therefore, if there's any consolation in Christ, if any comfort of love, if any fellowship of the Spirit, if any affection and mercy, fulfill My joy by being like-minded, having the same love, being of one accord, of one mind. Let nothing be done through selfish ambition or conceit, but in lowliness of mind, let each esteem others better than himself. Let each of you look out not only for his own interest but also for the interest of others."

Romans 15:5-6.

"Now may the God of patience and comfort grant you to be like-minded toward one another according to Jesus Christ, that you may with one mind and one mouth glorify the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ."

And then turn to Ephesians chapter 4.

Verses 1-6. "I therefore, the prisoner of the Lord, beseech you to walk worthy of the calling with which you were called, with all lowliness and gentleness, with longsuffering, bearing with one another in love, endeavoring to keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace. There is one body and one Spirit, just 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."

This is our calling this morning to live it in unity and be one with one another. And He calls us here, Paul says, "I beseech you to walk worthy of the calling with which you were called, endeavoring to keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace."

Unity is a gift from God. It's something that it's His creation. It's something that is a gift from Him. In Ephesians chapter 2, if we back up just a little bit, verses 14 through 19, He says, "For He Himself is our peace, who has made both one and has broken down the middle wall of separation, have abolished in His flesh the enmity, that is, the law of commandments contained in ordinances, so as to create in Himself one new man from the two, thus making peace, and that He might reconcile them both to God in one body through the cross, thereby putting to death the enmity. And He came and preached peace to you who were afar off and to those who were near.

For through Him we both have access to one by one Spirit to the Father. Now therefore, you are no longer strangers and foreigners, but fellow citizens with the saints and members of the household of God, having been built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Jesus Christ Himself being the chief cornerstone, in whom the whole building, being fitted together, grows into a holy temple in the Lord, in whom you also are being built together for the dwelling place of God in the Spirit." So this whole thing of unity is God's creation. It's His idea, and He's the foundation, and He's the cornerstone of that.

It's not something we can create. But the sobering part is it is something that we can destroy. We can very easily destroy it.

And so we're called to grow in unity. He says, "Endeavor to keep the unity of the Spirit." And that word endeavor is is is not a light word. It means it means we strive, and we struggle, and we work. It's something that's important to us.

And the idea is that we can grow and become more and more, as He says later in the chapter here, "to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ." That's the goal. That's the goal.

And it's built we need to keep in mind that it is built on the foundation of Christ being the cornerstone. And that is a very, very important part to keep in mind. The unity of the brethren has that has to be foundational.

Unity can be destroyed by pride and self-interest. And in verse 2 here in Ephesians, He says, "With all lowliness and gentleness, with longsuffering, bearing with one another in love." That's the lowliness, gentleness, longsuffering. Pride and self-interest is the enemy of brotherly unity.

The other thing that we need to think about is unity grows when it is stretched, pressured, and threatened. And that's a little bit of a hard concept for us to get. In fact, sometimes I think we get very discouraged when we feel like that's happening.

But God never promised us that He's going to plop it down and, "Okay, now you have unity." We're going to see a little later here that there's things that we're supposed to work at. And here He says, "Endeavor to keep this unity." It's something that we strive for. And sometimes when in growth, there's growing pains. And Jesus knew this. And I think that's why He prayed what He did when He was coming to the end of His life, "Lord, make them one just as You and I are."

Because He had seen firsthand some of the challenges that His own disciples had faced. Remember? They were together, and He said, "Who's the greatest?"

Some of the one of the disciples' mother came and said, "Who's I want one of my children to sit beside you, you know, when you come into your kingdom." Jesus wasn't unaware of the struggles that and the difficulties that we face in this challenge. And so like a lot of other things, unity can become stronger and grow and grow when it's stretched and pressured and threatened. But it's also very easily destroyed. And so that's the thing that we need to think about this morning.

And it still leaves us with a lot of questions. I say Christ is the head. And I don't think there's anyone here that Christ is the foundation of unity. I don't think there's anyone here that would dispute that. That's something that we all agree on. And yet in the nitty-gritty of life, it seems like that's where we struggle to find this.

We could take we could just be oversimplistic and say, "Well, Christ is the foundation of our marriage." Does that mean that there's nothing that we do in order to cultivate those good relationships, intimate relationships in our marriage or in our families?

And part of the problem is that life is lived in the nitty-gritty, in the daily things that we face. That's where life is lived.

And so Paul gets a little more nitty-gritty in First Corinthians chapter 1. So if you can turn back there. This was a real a real situation that Paul was addressing.

First Corinthians chapter 1, starting at verse 10. "Now I plead with you, brethren, by the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that you all speak the same thing and that there be no divisions among you, but that you be perfectly joined together in the same mind and in the same judgment. For it has been declared to me concerning you, my brethren, by those of Chloe's household, that there are contentions among you. Now I say this, that each of you says, 'I am of Paul, and I am of Apollos, or I am of Cephas, or I am of Christ.'

Is Christ divided? Was Paul crucified for you, or were you baptized in the name of Paul? I thank God that I baptized none of you except Crispus and Gaius, lest anyone should say that I had baptized in my own name. Yes, I also baptized the household of Stephanus.

Besides, I did not know whether I baptized any other. For Christ did not send me to baptize, but to preach the gospel, not with wisdom of words, lest the cross of Christ be made of no effect. For the message of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to thus who are being saved, it is the power of God."

So here Paul comes into a nitty-gritty situation. It's a real-life situation. And we had a situation where he says, "I hear that there's divisions among you. Some of you are saying that I'm of Paul. Some of you are saying I'm of Apollos. Some are saying that I'm Peter. I'm a Peter man." And then there's even people that say, "Well, I'm above all that. I'm for Jesus."

But he calls them here. He says, "I plead with you, brethren, by the name of Jesus, that you all speak the same things." Now what's he talking about here?

"Speak the same things." These people were getting sidetracked by the messenger and not the message.

When we hear these phrases like "that you may speak, say the same thing, no divisions," and then add to it "to be united in the same mind and in the same judgment," some might say, "Well, that's boring." Maybe you hear people say, "Total agreement in all matters is terribly dull.

It's good to sort of disagree and to have if two people are identical, then the one's not necessary."

This person says, "God would thoroughly disagree. The Father, the Son, and the Spirit are in total agreement." And what did Jesus say? He said, "I want my brethren to be one just as I and my Father are one." And guess what? They spoke the same thing.

They lived the same thing. They were one.

He says here that there would be no schism, no division, no tearing apart, no rent, no rift in the body. And he says, "I want you to be perfectly joined together." And it was interesting to me I found this really, really interesting. That word "joined together" is the word that we find in Matthew 4:21 where the disciples are mending their nets. It's the same word. Look it up in the Strong's Concordance.

And what picture do you have there? You have a picture of people sitting down and meticulously and with time and with effort endeavoring to repair and mend and put to right those relationships that we face. It's the same Greek word when Jesus stretched out His hand and restored the man's withered hand. Same word.

It's the same Greek word that Paul says that we in Galatians 6:1 that we need to restore the one who was overtaken in a fault. And here Paul is saying, "I want you to be perfectly joined together. I want you to take the time." And it's a daily thing. If you've ever been to the coast and see nets there, it's a constant maintenance. There's a constant working to mend those nets, to put to right the tears, the mends, because they really care about the that thing is whole and it's one and it's what it needs to be.

The idea is restoration, mending, and restoring, returning it to its rightful condition. And the rightful condition of the church is that brethren dwell together in unity.

And that takes commitment this morning. It takes commitment. Just like that fisherman is committed to go out and mend his nets, if we want unity in the church and among brethren this morning, it's going to take a commitment to do that daily work that it takes to keep that where it needs to be. He says here that we're to be of the same mind and the same judgment. What's it mean to be of the same mind and the same judgment?

J. Paul Duncan said this way, "If unity is demonstrated in every day speaking the same in everyone speaking the same in our first phrase, then unity is demonstrated in everyone thinking the same in our third phrase, to be of the same mind and of the same judgment." We are to have the same mindset, the mind of Christ. What is urged here is explained in Philippians 2:5-8, "Have this mind among yourselves, which is yours in Christ Jesus, who, though He was in the form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped, but made Himself nothing, taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men and being found in human form.

He humbled Himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross." We are to share the same attitude. That's the mindset of Christ. The attitude of humble, grateful servants who love to see each other advancing.

And we are to be united in the same judgment. Sharing the same judgment means together we value the proper things. That's the same judgment. Sharing the same judgment means together we value the proper things. And this is getting into the realm of opinions. And this is exactly the area where people start to get a little antsy about having the same opinions. But we're called to value the wisdom of God over the wisdom of men. We're called to boast in the Lord, not in the ability of men. And we're called to value others over self.

Do you want to be united with the church at such a level? Do you want to be united with any church at this level? If division is illustrated by tearing apart, then unity is illustrated by knitting together. Division is the creation of two pieces out of one, while unity is the creation of one piece out of two. And this is the kind of thing that God is calling us to. But He calls us to a unity not only in what we say and how we think, but we should make judgments. We should be of the same judgments. And so that gets fairly practical.

I found a purely secular

list of things if you want to create unity. And it's related to business. And I just thought it was interesting how many of these parallel what it says in the Scriptures.

"Instill a strong belief in family and unity. Leaders avoid finger-pointing and blaming. Everyone shares in both successes and failures. This instills that belief in family and unity." So he's talking about we're in this together. And we share in our successes, and we share in the failures. "Individuals who share your core values create a common bond. Seek out individuals who put team goals first."

I think it's very important that we share core values.

"Constantly communicate the vision and mission of the organization. Individuals should be loyal to the vision and mission, not the leader." And that's why I think it's so important that we uphold and talk about the kingdom of God. That is our mission this morning.

And that is the thing that should keep us motivated and energized. And it's not about it's about our leader, who is Jesus. It's not about us.

"Create an atmosphere of working through adversity. Overcoming adversity strengthens the oneness and bond. You may learn more from your losses than from your wins." And I thought about that. What did I say? Sometimes unity is strengthened in the difficult times.

God never promised that it's all going to be just an easy thing to do. But we need to create an atmosphere that learns how to work through those times and come out on the other side stronger and closer together than what we were before.

This part is more geared to leaders. Leaders are vulnerable. They have the ability to disagree and commit. This builds loyalty. They're comfortable with their flaws. And this I thought was interesting: "Display window and mirror maturity. When things go well, a good leader points out the window and gives credit to others.

When things go wrong, the mirror is pointed towards ourselves."

"Leaders are great communicators. People in the organization know what everyone is doing. Hidden agendas disappear because organization practices transparency." So just be open and honest. Let's not have things that are hidden. And let's communicate. "Disagreements do not go unresolved. Because leaders are great communicators and because everyone knows what's going on, leaders don't allow tension and gossip to build up. Issues are addressed immediately."

This is from a purely business standpoint. But I think some of those truths that we see there apply in the kingdom of God and among the church as well. "Create shared purpose. The vision and goals of the organization are stated early and often." Again, I go back to the fact that the kingdom of God are we is that what we're excited about? Are we getting sidetracked by all this other stuff that's out there?

What about sharing the gospel with others? Is that often shared and talked about? "Unity will overcome individual talent. It's common in athletics. The most talented team doesn't always beat the most unified team." And we see that there's a tremendous power that comes through unity.

And then the last one was serve other people. When you're leading, you're serving. Help other people do their job and grow. And that's what Jesus said. Let's be a servant. If you want to be great in God's kingdom, let's be a servant.

"Unity is beautiful, and it's pleasant, and it's good." And so again, I'd just like to just have us think. And again, I don't have all the answers. I don't claim to understand it all. But there are some observations that I would like to share.

The first one I've already touched on. But Christ is the cornerstone. He's the foundation. And we can never, ever lose sight of that. I don't care what else you try. If we lose sight of that, the unity that comes out will be a false unity. It'll be a manufactured unity. And so I want to keep that very much first and foremost in our minds.

Christ has to be the head.

But like I think sometimes we tend to relegate it to such the broad picture that when it comes down to the practical outworking of what that all means, that's where we run into the problem. So we need to evaluate the second observation is we need to evaluate just how important unity of the brother is to me.

Do I really believe that it's important? Do I think it's important to be out there mending those nets and spending the time that's necessary? What guides our decisions? Our culture says the greatest factor in any given decision or situation is the satisfaction and fulfillment of individual desires. That's our culture. So I want us to think this morning: How important is it to have unity in the brotherhood? We read the verse in Philippians that says, "Let nothing be done through selfish ambition or conceit, but in lowliness of mind let each esteem others better than himself. Let each of you look out not only for his own interests but also for the interests of others." So it's the opposite, the exact opposite of what guides our culture around us that says when we're facing a decision as an individual, as a church, what is it in that decision?

What is my guiding principle? What is the mindset that I have? Is it the satisfaction and fulfillment of my individual desires? Or is it what about this decision is going to enhance and build and foster unity among the brother?

You know, a lot of times the church is compared to the relationship with Christ. Christ in the church is compared to a relationship between a husband and wife in relationships. And so the next observation I have is, are you willing to kill the spider? And I'll have to explain what I mean by that.

There's a counselor by the name of Gary Thomas. And how many of you have ever had this experience, especially you who are married? You hear a little shriek from the other room, and your wife said, "Come over here. There's a spider over here. Would you please come and kill it?"

Now, we could respond in a variety of ways. We could say, "Spiders don't hurt anybody. Why do you have this unusual, absurd fear of them?" I mean, no one has ever died of spiders. You could read statistics. You could say, "Spiders are actually good. They kill other little harmful insects or whatever."

But in a relationship, a good relationship, an intimate relationship, you're going to be willing to go kill the spider because you know it irritates your wife. And this man says, "When I see a spider, I kill it because I know it. Spiders irritate my wife."

And then he went on to share an experience that he had with his daughter. His daughter had three serious automobile accidents within a very short time. And not one of them were her fault. She was out on the freeway.

All three of those accidents were were were not her fault. And understandably, she was very, very afraid when it went to get out on the freeway and drive. And he said, "I had to gear my driving to be sensitive to her fears and legitimate things." And again, we could be hard. We could say, "Your fears are unfounded." But he was willing, in that case, to kill the spider.

And there's a lot of things in our relationships. If we want to have intimacy, we need to be open and sensitive to those things that make and create for harmony in a relationship. And you know, the trade-off is when we're willing to do that, there's a sense in which the relationship becomes closer and more intimate. But so often we willingly and willfully trade the blessing and peace of unity for the temporary satisfaction of getting my own way.

And if we've ever experienced that in our marriage, when we've done that, you feel that something yes, we get that momentary whatever. You know, "I told her," or whatever. But something we lose something. And I think it's the same in our relationships. And so we need to be sensitive to one another as we live our lives. And we talk about the issues of the day.

What are the spiders that I'm willing to kill for the sake of my brother and sister?

We need to provide fertile soil for unity to flourish. And so often I hear things like, "Well, there's nothing wrong with it." And you know, if there's they can't tell me that I can't do that because the Bible doesn't say it's wrong and things like that. And I'm simply calling us this morning: Let's provide a fertile soil for unity among the brother to flourish.

We can't artificially create unity. But there are things we can do that foster it, that give it a good atmosphere in which to grow. And I personally believe that in some ways the unity of practice fosters unity of spirit. So the more we do things together and the more we come together in oneness of spirit. And I'm not talking here about cookie-cutter uniformity. That's not what we're talking about. My idea is more like what we would experience when we sing in a piece of beautiful choral music. You know, God has a piece of music for every one of us. He has a specific piece of music that He has for us here at Chippenburg that He wants us to sing.

And every one of us has to be of one mind and of one voice, each doing their part, each person utilizing their gifts. And so we have everyone's not singing the same thing. Some are singing tenor. Some are singing alto. Some are singing bass. Some are singing the lead. And maybe there's some other parts that are but we're all singing the same song. And it's tuned to Christ's tuning fork. Remember, He's still the leader. He is the leader of it all.

Each person utilizing their gifts. And it's a beautiful picture that emerges from that, a beautiful picture.

"We have not been given the freedom to be a herd of cats howling his or her own cacophonous tune." And I think about that, you know, God may have when it comes to all the specifics and whatever, God has a different song for maybe another community in another place. And let's support that.

Let's but in our local congregation, let's make sure we're singing the same piece of music. Let's be of one mind, of one of the same judgment. And what emerges from that is a beautiful harmony that God wants for us. And what's the goal in all this? The goal is, you know, we talk about being a witness and a testimony to the world. And when the world can look on, what did Jesus say? "By this you'll know that all men are My disciples if they love one another." And we can do all the missions out there. We can reach out. We can be involved in many, many things. But if people come in and they do not experience that unity, that oneness, they're going to walk away and they're going to be disillusioned. "By this shall all men know that you are My disciples."

"In order for such unity to be achieved, each and every disciple must offer himself completely and without reservation to the pursuit of the will of God as seen in His revelation. And then we must all adopt the mentality that seeks to come to consensus and agreement upon that word. Such determination stands opposed to the stubborn and often arrogant mindset that looks only to My opinions, judgments, and preferences, even when such obstinacy results in disdain, discouragement, and division. The key to unity in the local church is having everyone in that church committed to God's will and to the ongoing effort to find agreement with others as to judgment and application of that will. Such requires continual work, repeated examination, study and discussion, and a pervasive humility which drives us to commonality.

God help us to be about the business of mending." And it goes back again to that thing that we need to do. We need to be there striving to be perfectly joined together in the same mind and in the same judgment.

It's a tremendous witness to the world around us. It's what the world is seeking. It's what the world is searching for. It's also a tremendous proclamation of the glory of God. If we want to proclaim the glory of God, what a better way to do it than to the miraculous power of supernatural power of brethren that are able to work together in unity.

I'd like to read a little bit more in Ephesians here in closing, beginning at verse 13 and verse 11. "And He Himself gave some to be apostles and some prophets, some evangelists and some pastors and teachers for the equipping of the saints for the work of the ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ, till we all come to the unity of the faith and the knowledge of the Son of God to a perfect man, to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ, that we should no longer be children tossed to and fro and carried about with every wind of doctrine by the trickery of men in cunning craftiness and deceitful plotting, but speaking the truth in love may grow up in all things into Him who is the Head, Christ, from whom the whole body, joined and knit together, by which every joint supplies according to the effect of working by which every part does it share, causes growth of the body for the edifying of itself in love."

And then switch back to chapter 3 and beginning in verse 14. "For this reason I bow my knee to the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, from whom the whole family in heaven and earth is named, that He would grant you, according to the riches of His glory, to be strengthened with might through His Spirit in the inner man, that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith, that you, being rooted and grounded in love, may be able to comprehend with all saints what is the width and length and depth and height, to know the love of Christ which passes knowledge, that you may be filled with all the fullness of God. Now to Him who is able to do exceeding abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power that works in us, to Him be glory in the church by Jesus Christ to all generations forever and ever."

And that's my desire this morning. You know, when the title of the message this morning is "When Christians Collide: A Call to Brotherly Unity." And you know, when Christians collide, we have catastrophe. But when they dwell together in unity, we have cooperation and sweet communion.

And that's my desire. And I just hope that this was a challenge to all of us. Let's be willing to put the effort that it takes to keep that relationship what it needs to be. Let's be busy restoring and mending and keeping Christ first and foremost in our hearts and our minds. And I really think the light of the gospel can really shine from our lives and from this body here this morning. Does anyone have any closing remarks before we close? I'd like to replace that word with a lot of salute.