WEBVTT NOTE Podcast: Acts 29 Vancouver Episode: That All May Be One Publishing Date: 2026-08-02T03:04:44-07:00 Podcast URL: https://acts29.ca Episode URL: https://acts29.ca/that-all-may-be-one/ 00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:15.400 Let's read this together. Psalm 133. Let‒s start with verse 1. 00:00:15.400 --> 00:00:23.640 How good and pleasant it is when God‒s people live together in unity. It is like precious 00:00:23.640 --> 00:00:31.080 oil poured on the head, running down on the beard, running down on Aaron‒s beard, down 00:00:31.080 --> 00:00:38.760 on the collar of his robe. It is as if the dew of Hermon were falling on Mount Zion, 00:00:38.760 --> 00:00:45.120 for there the Lord bestows His blessing, even life forevermore. 00:00:45.120 --> 00:00:50.040 Here in this passage we have three verses, right? Three verses. And we're going to stay 00:00:50.120 --> 00:00:57.720 here for today. It's going to be a very simple but line by line, verse by verse study that 00:00:57.720 --> 00:01:04.440 we will do. It's more like an inductive Bible study, but I want us to read together and 00:01:04.440 --> 00:01:09.640 learn together as we go through this psalm. It might not be one of the most exciting for 00:01:09.640 --> 00:01:18.080 some people, but why talk about unity? Why not talk about something like healing or something 00:01:18.120 --> 00:01:21.680 supernatural or something, the Holy Spirit or something which is more exciting? What 00:01:21.680 --> 00:01:33.400 about unity? But my hope is that at the end of the day, I hope and I pray that our understanding, 00:01:33.400 --> 00:01:43.040 our approach, our perspective on unity changes after this. That's my hope. That's my prayer. 00:01:43.040 --> 00:01:51.680 So if you go through the psalm, Psalm 133, it's one of the songs called the songs of 00:01:51.680 --> 00:01:59.760 ascent, right? And songs of ascent are from Psalm 120 to Psalm 134. Psalm 120 to Psalm 00:01:59.760 --> 00:02:06.400 134, these are pilgrim songs, okay? So the Israelites have been scattered. There are 00:02:06.400 --> 00:02:12.360 people living from different parts. And then one time they would go up the mountain of 00:02:12.360 --> 00:02:18.960 Jerusalem. And then, so people from different tribes, different cities, different ethnicities, 00:02:18.960 --> 00:02:24.000 different backgrounds, they come together on this journey, right? And it's called the 00:02:24.000 --> 00:02:28.960 journey of the ascent, right? The songs of the ascent. And so this is where they go up 00:02:28.960 --> 00:02:35.680 this mountain to encounter God. They go up this mountain to camp, to experience the festival 00:02:36.520 --> 00:02:42.920 of Passover, the festival of lights, the festival of boots, right? So this is the time. This 00:02:42.920 --> 00:02:47.880 is the season, right? And so this song was written in one of those, you know, pilgrimage 00:02:47.880 --> 00:02:54.920 songs. So people from different parts now, with their differences, with their backgrounds, 00:02:54.920 --> 00:03:00.800 are coming and then now you're seeing, you know, your annoying neighbor or your colleague 00:03:00.800 --> 00:03:06.120 that you have been struggling to work with or, you know, people that you struggle to 00:03:06.120 --> 00:03:10.760 mingle with now are on the same path, right? The Israelites are something similar, right? 00:03:10.760 --> 00:03:18.400 Where they now come together and now they're ascending the hill of the Lord and then they're 00:03:18.400 --> 00:03:26.040 singing the song. You know, someone starts singing the song about unity. That's the context. 00:03:26.040 --> 00:03:33.680 And like I said, three verses, three parts. And we're going to go verse one by one. But 00:03:33.680 --> 00:03:41.000 before we talk about unity, I want to talk about division. The ache, the pain of division. 00:03:41.000 --> 00:03:51.800 And how this division is something that is so evident and so destructive even in the 00:03:52.240 --> 00:03:59.880 Garden of Eden. Division started in the Garden of Eden, right? Unity was God's idea. And 00:03:59.880 --> 00:04:05.520 it started with marriage, actually. Division started with marriage. You know, and I want 00:04:05.520 --> 00:04:15.520 to read these verse. Can you pull out that verse? You know, Adam said, This is now bone 00:04:15.520 --> 00:04:24.680 of my bones, flesh of my flesh. She shall be called woman, for she was taken out of 00:04:24.680 --> 00:04:35.160 man. That is why a man leaves his father and mother and is united. Did you see there? United 00:04:35.160 --> 00:04:41.800 to his wife and they become one. You know, the root word for unity and the root word 00:04:41.800 --> 00:04:47.200 for one is the same in Hebrew. So when we're talking about unity, we're talking about 00:04:47.200 --> 00:04:52.600 oneness. We're not talking about uniformity. We're talking about oneness, right? So the 00:04:52.600 --> 00:05:00.840 husband and the wife, they're supposed to be one. That was God's original idea where 00:05:00.840 --> 00:05:07.720 Adam is now calling this woman bone of my bones, flesh of my flesh. And you know what? 00:05:07.720 --> 00:05:15.360 What happened? Few verses later, sin came. Yeah, sin came. And then the man said, The 00:05:15.360 --> 00:05:22.040 woman you put here with me, she gave me some fruit from the tree and I ate it. Then the 00:05:22.040 --> 00:05:27.120 Lord said to the woman, What is this you have done? The woman said, The serpent deceived 00:05:27.120 --> 00:05:35.520 me and I ate it. Here, you know, if you really begin to understand how this is unfolding, 00:05:35.920 --> 00:05:44.400 so drama here, right? I'm sure maybe the K drama or the Indian serials maybe stole some 00:05:44.400 --> 00:05:52.800 ideas from this. I don't know. Yeah. But it is so dramatic. Yeah. On one hand, the woman 00:05:52.800 --> 00:05:58.720 disobeyed because it was clearly instructed by God not to eat the tree of the good and 00:05:58.720 --> 00:06:06.120 the evil. And then she ate it. She disobeyed it. And so instead of going to her husband 00:06:06.120 --> 00:06:13.880 and said, I'm sorry, I ate something that I wasn't supposed to do it. Right. And then 00:06:13.880 --> 00:06:20.440 the husband, instead of saying, Why did you do this? Right. And so instead of correcting 00:06:20.440 --> 00:06:30.160 her, he participates it. She on the other hand, instead of, you know, being sorry, she 00:06:30.160 --> 00:06:38.040 doesn't want to disobey it alone. And now she makes her husband disobey God. And you 00:06:38.040 --> 00:06:46.560 know what? Few verses, you know, before we read this, he said, bone of my bones, flesh 00:06:46.640 --> 00:06:54.200 of my flesh. She shall be called woman Eve. Right. He's saying we're not two. You're one 00:06:54.200 --> 00:07:03.400 with me. And you know, few verses later, he said, the woman you gave me. Isn't that interesting? 00:07:03.400 --> 00:07:11.280 She won't even call her his wife. She won't even call her Eve. She calls her the woman 00:07:11.280 --> 00:07:18.800 that you gave me. And then now, you know, you know, Adam is even blaming God. Yeah, 00:07:18.800 --> 00:07:27.680 the woman you, you put me, you put up with me. The woman you, right. He's blaming even 00:07:27.680 --> 00:07:40.680 God. And then it is so interesting as as you read this part. This is the pattern of 00:07:40.680 --> 00:07:48.480 sin. Sin does not only break your relationship with God, but sin always breaks your relationship 00:07:48.480 --> 00:07:56.240 with your spouse, with people that you love. This is this is a seed, or this is the consequence 00:07:56.240 --> 00:08:04.600 of sin. Sin does not only affect you, it always affects people around you. Yeah. And so one 00:08:04.600 --> 00:08:10.400 of the one of the problems with marriages is that when no one takes the blame, when 00:08:10.400 --> 00:08:18.360 no one owns up here, we see that Eve is not owning up nor is Adam owning up. Right. There's 00:08:18.360 --> 00:08:28.200 this blame game that's happening here. Yeah, thanks. So there's this blame game that's 00:08:28.200 --> 00:08:35.240 happening. And that's where this unity, that's that's where division starts. And you know 00:08:35.240 --> 00:08:41.040 what? One of the keys of solving marriage problems is even though sometimes you may 00:08:41.040 --> 00:08:50.200 not be wrong, it's okay to own up sometimes. Yeah. When no one owns up for anything, this 00:08:50.200 --> 00:08:57.200 is a seed that we are allowing for division to grow. Yeah. And here we see this. And you 00:08:57.200 --> 00:09:03.480 know what? It started with marriage. Second, it started with siblings, you know, Cain and 00:09:03.480 --> 00:09:09.800 Abel or Joseph and his brothers. We can go on and on. Right. But see, here's the thing. 00:09:09.800 --> 00:09:14.320 It was not because the father made a coat of many colors for Joseph. It was not about 00:09:14.320 --> 00:09:20.920 the coat, nor it was about the offering. You know, God loves meat, so he accepted meat. 00:09:20.920 --> 00:09:30.760 God doesn't like veggies, so he rejected veggies. No, it's not about the offering, guys. Yeah. 00:09:30.760 --> 00:09:36.760 It is much more than the physical. It is much more than the material, guys. Yeah. It is 00:09:36.760 --> 00:09:46.680 like what I can't have, I cannot bear to see someone having it. Yeah. I am not being loved, 00:09:46.680 --> 00:09:52.000 and he is being so much loved, I cannot bear that sight. It is a hard condition. It is 00:09:52.000 --> 00:10:01.680 something that is deep inside that creates division. Right? Because what's the big deal? 00:10:01.680 --> 00:10:06.600 If Joseph has a coat, they can buy another one which is even better than the coat that 00:10:06.600 --> 00:10:15.560 the father made. So the problem is not the coat, guys, but the rivalry starts like that. 00:10:15.560 --> 00:10:21.520 So that's the second one. Division between marriage, division between siblings. The third 00:10:21.520 --> 00:10:29.520 one is division between colleagues or ministry partners. Yeah. Here, Jesus is trying to teach 00:10:29.520 --> 00:10:35.480 all that he knows. They had experienced how Jesus healed. They had experienced how Jesus 00:10:35.600 --> 00:10:43.360 taught. They had experienced how Jesus walked in humility, and then now they are trying to 00:10:43.360 --> 00:10:55.480 argue who is the greatest. Isn't that crazy, eh? Right in front of Jesus. That's disturbing, 00:10:55.480 --> 00:11:08.480 so to say. Yeah. Division among the colleagues rarely announces itself as a division. Sometimes 00:11:08.480 --> 00:11:17.660 the credit has been given to your colleague or the idea comes from your friend, and then 00:11:17.660 --> 00:11:25.820 now it begins to color the soul. Right? Division starts like that. With small, small things, 00:11:25.820 --> 00:11:37.220 the issues of the heart. That's where division starts, guys. 41. Division in the church. Paul 00:11:37.220 --> 00:11:44.820 is writing to the church in Corinth. They were arguing, I follow Paul, I follow Apollos, 00:11:44.900 --> 00:11:53.580 I follow Cephas, Peter. They're arguing, right? Who baptized who? Who belongs to who? Yeah. I 00:11:53.580 --> 00:11:59.740 follow Don, I follow Derek, I follow Evan. Yeah. And I wouldn't listen to anyone else except for 00:11:59.740 --> 00:12:09.980 Evan, you know? These things are happening. And then Paul has to write and say, is Christ divided? 00:12:10.140 --> 00:12:22.020 Is Christ divided? And then he goes on to say that this division is a lack of immaturity. We 00:12:22.020 --> 00:12:31.060 often don't see it like that. Division as a lack of immaturity. And you know what? When we are 00:12:31.060 --> 00:12:38.940 divided, the enemy knows this. Any family, any marriage, any home, any church, any city, 00:12:38.940 --> 00:12:46.180 any nation that is divided is a weak country, is a weak family, is a weak society. It's a weak 00:12:46.180 --> 00:12:57.060 nation. Yeah. And you know what? When a church is divided, it loses its power to witness. It loses 00:12:57.060 --> 00:13:05.660 its power for God to manifest through them. Now the church, when there's so much division, 00:13:05.660 --> 00:13:11.740 the church suddenly enters a survival mode. Yeah. The church is trying to survive. The church is 00:13:11.740 --> 00:13:17.540 trying to heal. The church is trying to breach parties and trying like, I've been part of a 00:13:17.540 --> 00:13:26.100 church where the church spends years and years trying to heal different groups. Yeah. The church 00:13:26.100 --> 00:13:35.420 exists. The church still functions, but it has lost its power to witness. It has lost its power 00:13:35.420 --> 00:13:44.380 for the people to see the manifestation of God in their midst. This is why division is so disastrous, 00:13:44.380 --> 00:13:52.460 guys. And you know what? When I read this, it really stirred something so deep in my heart. You 00:13:52.460 --> 00:13:59.940 know, Jesus on the night of his betrayal, he knew he's going to be betrayed. He knew he's 00:13:59.940 --> 00:14:10.300 going to die. And you know, that night he was praying and he prays for his disciples and he 00:14:10.300 --> 00:14:18.860 prays for people who will come to believe as in who are in this room. He's saying, father, I pray 00:14:18.860 --> 00:14:25.660 for the ones, not only the 12 disciples, but I pray that for others like you and I who will come 00:14:25.660 --> 00:14:37.060 to believe the message of these 12. And I'm praying that they be one. That's the prayer of Jesus, 00:14:37.060 --> 00:14:45.900 eh? Before his betrayal. That they, that all may be one. That's where I got my title. That all may 00:14:45.980 --> 00:15:01.620 be one. Unity is so critical for Christ. Paul is saying, make every effort in Ephesians 3. He's 00:15:01.620 --> 00:15:09.980 saying, make every effort to be united in Christ. Paul is pleading, right? He's saying, make every 00:15:09.980 --> 00:15:22.500 effort to be in unity. And it's so unfortunate to see so many divisions in the church too. Yeah? 00:15:22.500 --> 00:15:30.320 You know, within our families, families are divided over political parties. We're in the 00:15:30.320 --> 00:15:37.740 same room, same families. One family member supports the other person and the other another. Yeah? 00:15:37.740 --> 00:15:47.020 No. A neighborhood by ethnicity, by religion, by tradition, by culture. A nation divided by 00:15:47.020 --> 00:15:55.740 political lenses. You know, churches we divide by denomination, by doctrines. And let's be honest, 00:15:55.740 --> 00:16:01.180 guys. You know, I've been a worship pastor in churches where people don't like hymns. 00:16:01.180 --> 00:16:10.180 And so when we start singing hymns, they won't sing. And they are a part of a group where if we 00:16:10.180 --> 00:16:18.060 sing contemporary songs, these guys won't sing. Because hymns are outdated for some people. Yeah? 00:16:18.060 --> 00:16:24.340 And now what we did was we tried to have a blend. Yeah? Some contemporary songs, some hymns. And 00:16:24.820 --> 00:16:31.940 still, not enough contemporary, not enough hymns. Right? Where do we draw the line, guys? Division 00:16:31.940 --> 00:16:37.620 happens in all sizes, shapes, and forms, guys. Yeah? I don't like this style of music. This 00:16:37.620 --> 00:16:43.020 worship leader, his voice ain't good enough. Right? Let me find another church. You know? 00:16:43.020 --> 00:16:48.780 This church has better kids program. Let's go there. Right? You know, I like the style of this 00:16:48.780 --> 00:16:57.460 preacher. Let's go here. You know, some people say songs should be after the sermon. Sermons 00:16:57.460 --> 00:17:04.460 should be preached so that our worship can be a response to the sermon. You know? And I'm saying 00:17:04.460 --> 00:17:17.060 that let these styles, preferences, structures, personalities take the backseat, guys. We are 00:17:17.060 --> 00:17:28.900 already so divided. Why do we have to add more, man? Yeah? You know, I've walked in a church where 00:17:28.900 --> 00:17:35.300 it went through an actual split because there were subgroups that were formed. And now some of these 00:17:35.300 --> 00:17:43.260 groups started to rebel against the leadership of the church. And it was disastrous for the church. 00:17:43.260 --> 00:17:54.700 It took years to heal. So my question to you is, it's okay to question if the church is not in 00:17:54.700 --> 00:18:00.020 align with the scripture or if it has completely gone off the doctrine, right? It's okay to bring 00:18:00.020 --> 00:18:07.140 it up to the leaders, but it's not okay when we are sowing seeds of discord. You know, the groups 00:18:07.140 --> 00:18:13.100 that you're a part of, the circle of friends that you're a part of, are you known for bringing unity? 00:18:13.100 --> 00:18:24.660 Are you known for enriching that circle of friends? Are you known for improving the quality of 00:18:24.660 --> 00:18:30.700 friendship for that circle, for that group, for the church? Or are you known for division? Yeah? 00:18:30.700 --> 00:18:36.660 There are some people where everywhere they go, the group that was united now started to divide. 00:18:36.660 --> 00:18:44.540 Yeah. And so I think that's a good question for all of us to ask ourselves, right? And I would say, 00:18:44.540 --> 00:18:53.220 make efforts, like Paul said, make every effort, whether you are this group or this group or this 00:18:53.220 --> 00:19:00.260 group, make every effort to bring unity, unity to the group, right? And you know, I tell you, 00:19:00.260 --> 00:19:09.140 when you and I are partakers or say participants or say engaging in the unity of the body, 00:19:09.140 --> 00:19:17.740 the reward is mind-blowing, which I'll tell you a little later. So let's go to verse one. 00:19:17.740 --> 00:19:28.260 It says, how good and pleasant it is when brothers live together. Some verses say, 00:19:28.260 --> 00:19:36.340 dwell together in unity. It says how good and pleasant. The two keywords here are good and 00:19:36.340 --> 00:19:47.940 pleasant. You know, when God created everything, He said it was good. That's the same word, 00:19:47.940 --> 00:19:57.980 the same Hebrew word, tov. It was good. Meaning good is something that was designed to be. It 00:19:57.980 --> 00:20:05.260 was meant to be. It is functioning as the original intent and design, right? Things that you 00:20:05.260 --> 00:20:11.820 designed, things that it was meant to function, it is functioning exactly like that. It is good. 00:20:11.820 --> 00:20:20.580 So he's saying that if brothers and sisters are dwelling together, here you have to understand the 00:20:20.580 --> 00:20:27.660 language here. When we say here brothers or God, some version puts it brothers, but it's inclusive 00:20:27.660 --> 00:20:34.220 of men and women here. Because oftentimes the Bible writes about sons of God, but that's not 00:20:34.220 --> 00:20:38.540 just talking about sons. It's talking about both men and women because we have to understand the 00:20:38.540 --> 00:20:45.580 context where the Jewish culture uses a lot of the, because it's a patriarchal society, right? We 00:20:45.580 --> 00:20:51.500 have to keep that in mind, the language, the tone, right? So here it is saying that it is good, 00:20:51.500 --> 00:20:58.420 meaning when brothers and sisters dwell together in unity, the way God has designed, 00:20:58.420 --> 00:21:09.260 the way God has made for us to function, the way it was meant to be is happening. It is good. 00:21:09.260 --> 00:21:15.380 And you know what? The other word is pleasant. Pleasant is where it comes from the word naim, 00:21:15.460 --> 00:21:23.620 which is pleasant, this beautiful, delightful, pleasurable. That's the word. Where we get the 00:21:23.620 --> 00:21:33.420 word Naomi, naim. Naomi is like my delight, right? So here David is bringing these two words together, 00:21:33.420 --> 00:21:40.980 good and pleasant. And it is so important for us to understand this psalm, bringing these two words 00:21:40.980 --> 00:21:46.260 together, good and then pleasant, because sometimes things that are good are not pleasant, 00:21:46.260 --> 00:21:54.300 and things that are pleasant are not sometimes good. And so David knew that these two words have 00:21:54.300 --> 00:22:03.300 to be brought together, right? It is beautiful. It is like he said, behold, meaning listen, pay 00:22:03.300 --> 00:22:08.460 attention to this, right? When brothers and sisters dwell together in unity, it is good, 00:22:08.540 --> 00:22:17.460 it is pleasant. You know, we all know that reading the Bible is good for you. It's good for me. But 00:22:17.460 --> 00:22:25.980 sometimes it is not always pleasant. I hear many people say, find it so difficult to read the Bible, 00:22:25.980 --> 00:22:32.660 because it's boring. Sometimes they don't understand. It's not pleasant, but they know it's good for them, 00:22:32.660 --> 00:22:42.380 right? Exercise is one of them. Yeah? I find it very difficult to exercise. Yeah? Though I want to 00:22:42.380 --> 00:22:54.460 have the body, you know? Here David is bringing together so beautifully, good and pleasant. Isn't 00:22:54.460 --> 00:23:06.700 that amazing, guys? He's saying that to be in unity is completely moral, completely right, 00:23:06.700 --> 00:23:13.700 completely designed and functioning how it was meant to be. And then it is completely delightful. 00:23:13.700 --> 00:23:22.380 It is so fun. It is so pleasurable. It is so good. Did you notice that? Because you know why? David 00:23:22.380 --> 00:23:29.860 is not an idealist. David does not share things or say things in abstraction, because he had 00:23:29.860 --> 00:23:38.260 experienced what a true division looks like. His house was torn apart. His own son, Absalom, 00:23:38.260 --> 00:23:45.620 rebelled against him, plotted to kill him, and it split the kingdom into two. He had experienced 00:23:45.620 --> 00:23:56.500 what division is like. Yeah? He never intended harm to King Saul, but the king really wanted 00:23:56.500 --> 00:24:06.780 to kill him. He had experienced what it meant to live without unity. David knew this man, guys. 00:24:06.780 --> 00:24:15.140 That's why David is not an idealist, guys. He's not theologizing from his chair. He knew, because 00:24:15.140 --> 00:24:24.500 he had experienced brokenness and division in his own household. Yeah? So now he's saying unity is 00:24:24.500 --> 00:24:33.180 so critical. It is pleasant. It is not only pleasant, but it is good. That's the beauty about dwelling 00:24:33.180 --> 00:24:44.460 in unity. So unity, even for Paul, it's not an add-on, add-on thing to the church, right? That's 00:24:44.460 --> 00:24:52.460 why he's pleading the church. Let me read this in Ephesians 4. Make every effort, it says, do 00:24:52.460 --> 00:24:59.860 everything you can to keep the unity of the Spirit through the bond of peace. And then, which we all 00:24:59.860 --> 00:25:08.340 know that this famous verse in Ephesians 4, 11 to 13, so Christ himself gave the apostles, the prophets, 00:25:08.340 --> 00:25:14.700 and the evangelists, the pastors, and the teachers to equip his people for works of service so that 00:25:14.700 --> 00:25:24.740 the body of Christ may be built up until we all reach unity. Sometimes we forget that word, eh? 00:25:24.740 --> 00:25:34.300 Reach unity in the faith and in the knowledge of the Son of God and become mature. Sometimes, guys, 00:25:34.300 --> 00:25:45.980 not sometimes. Being unified in Christ is a sign of maturity in our midst. Yeah? It's not an add-on 00:25:45.980 --> 00:25:52.460 for Paul. Paul, you know, repeats in Philippians as well. Philippians 2.2. Like-minded, having the 00:25:52.460 --> 00:26:03.620 same love, being one in spirit and one mind. You know, this is not an add-on thing. This is not 00:26:04.300 --> 00:26:11.540 a wishful thing. It is critical for the life of a believer. Unity is so critical for every church. 00:26:11.540 --> 00:26:18.260 Yeah? So that's one. Unity is good. Unity is pleasant. And we are able to hold these two together. 00:26:18.260 --> 00:26:30.500 And then point number three is verse two. It is like precious oil poured on the head, running down 00:26:30.500 --> 00:26:37.820 on the beard and running down on Aaron's beard, down on the collar of his robe. You know, this is 00:26:37.820 --> 00:26:45.700 a very strange image, guys, for a modern-day ear. You know, if you think carefully, yeah? For someone 00:26:45.700 --> 00:26:54.020 who has no context, no idea about an anointing oil poured on the head of Aaron, it's like an oil poured 00:26:54.020 --> 00:26:58.820 out on the head and then now it is greasy, it is oily, and it is dripping. And it's not just a 00:26:58.900 --> 00:27:04.420 sprinkle but it is pouring down, right? And so it may, some people may, for modern-day guys, 00:27:04.420 --> 00:27:10.860 it may find, they may find it gross. They may find it dirty, like, ew, kind of thing, you know? Yeah? 00:27:10.860 --> 00:27:19.460 For someone who does not understand the context, it can appear that way. But for someone who 00:27:19.460 --> 00:27:31.860 understands this context, it is sacred, it is holy, it is special, it is no ordinary moment. This 00:27:31.860 --> 00:27:42.340 does not happen every day. It is so special. And this is the consecration of Aaron, Israel's first 00:27:42.820 --> 00:27:50.260 high priest. It is precious. And you know what? If you read this context, you will even understand 00:27:50.260 --> 00:27:58.820 better. From Exodus 13. Read this. Take the following fine spices, 500 shekels of liquid, 00:27:58.820 --> 00:28:06.580 mere half as much of fragrant cinnamon, 250 shekels of fragrant calamus, 500 shekels of cassia, 00:28:06.580 --> 00:28:15.860 and a hint of olive oil. Make these into a sacred anointing oil. This is to be my sacred anointing oil 00:28:16.900 --> 00:28:28.260 for the generations to come. Crazy, eh? Do not pour it on anyone else's body. It's a command. Do not, right? 00:28:28.260 --> 00:28:36.180 And do not make any other oil. Do you understand the gravity of this now? Using the same formula, 00:28:37.140 --> 00:28:48.820 one is not to make any other counterfeit product here. It is sacred. And you are to consider it sacred. 00:28:49.860 --> 00:28:53.540 Do you understand this context, guys, now? This oil is not common. 00:28:53.700 --> 00:29:00.500 This oil that was poured on the head of Aaron is no ordinary moment. It was God's instruction. 00:29:01.140 --> 00:29:08.500 It was holy. It was a holy consecration. It was set apart. Aaron is the high priest. He represents 00:29:08.500 --> 00:29:17.700 the whole community of Israel. And that man is now being anointed with God's initiation, guys. 00:29:17.700 --> 00:29:24.580 Unity is a gift. It is poured out from above. This is not manufactured, guys. 00:29:25.540 --> 00:29:31.060 And you know what? In this context, whenever this oil or whatever this oil that they would 00:29:31.620 --> 00:29:38.980 anoint at Deberneko, they would anoint places in the century, and everything this oil touches, 00:29:38.980 --> 00:29:44.260 it becomes sacred. And that's why I'm telling you, guys, that this is sacred. 00:29:44.420 --> 00:29:48.260 And everything this oil touches, it becomes holy. 00:29:51.780 --> 00:29:57.780 It's powerful, guys. Yeah? So if you are feeling depressed, 00:29:58.660 --> 00:30:02.740 if there is no life in you, if you are feeling spiritually dry, 00:30:05.860 --> 00:30:13.780 pray a simple prayer. Lord, pour it again. Pour it again. Pour your fresh oil on me. 00:30:14.740 --> 00:30:20.900 Pour it again. Yeah? God is not a minimalist, guys. It was not a trickle. 00:30:22.260 --> 00:30:29.620 It was not a sprinkle. Here we see an excessive pouring here. It was flowing from his head to 00:30:29.620 --> 00:30:40.020 his beard to his collar, every part, man. It covers Aaron from the head to the collar, 00:30:40.020 --> 00:30:41.940 not just certain parts of his body. 00:30:48.580 --> 00:30:53.460 And you know, this is so important because Aaron represents the whole community of Israel, 00:30:53.460 --> 00:31:00.500 like I said, and now he's being anointed. And so now the head, who represents the great high priest, 00:31:00.500 --> 00:31:05.700 now falls on the collar and on every part of the body, meaning if Aaron is anointed, 00:31:05.700 --> 00:31:10.100 all the Israelites are anointed because he represents the people. 00:31:11.140 --> 00:31:15.620 This is why Hebrews talks about this, Jesus as the high priest. 00:31:17.300 --> 00:31:24.660 And that is so critical for us to understand. Why? Because Jesus is the Aaron here. 00:31:25.700 --> 00:31:33.940 He is the great high priest who represents you, who represents me. And so now the anointing that 00:31:33.940 --> 00:31:43.140 is upon the great high priest now falls on you. That's why every blessing from God flows from above. 00:31:46.180 --> 00:31:51.300 It first anoints Christ, who is our great high priest, and then it flows on to the other parts 00:31:51.300 --> 00:32:00.820 of the body, which is you and I. Every blessing of God is like that. That's why Christ, in all 00:32:00.820 --> 00:32:06.740 and in all, right? Everything is possible through Christ, right? I can do all things 00:32:06.740 --> 00:32:14.580 through Christ, who strengthens me. Yeah? Everything comes through Christ. 00:32:16.660 --> 00:32:23.940 That's why I love this, like worship, how we are calling this name Jesus to the one God that we 00:32:23.940 --> 00:32:33.060 are calling and praying and worshiping, because every blessing comes from this man, Jesus. Yeah? 00:32:36.740 --> 00:32:43.540 Unity is not a human agreement. Unity is not human agreement. Here, we see this, right? Because you 00:32:43.540 --> 00:32:51.140 know what? I like my coffee black. For a say, five spoons of sugar is not enough. 00:32:57.300 --> 00:33:04.580 So it's not about preference. It's not about, you know, I like this and I don't like this. No, 00:33:04.580 --> 00:33:11.940 it's not about personal taste. But it is about being one in the Lord, desiring and pursuing God 00:33:11.940 --> 00:33:19.860 together, desiring the best for each other, wanting to see Christ form in each other. Yeah? 00:33:23.380 --> 00:33:32.020 So, you know, think of this. Here, it started with unity. Unity is good. Unity is pleasant 00:33:32.820 --> 00:33:39.300 when we dwell together in unity. And then now the second image is unity is like a precious oil. Now 00:33:39.300 --> 00:33:47.780 you understand. Holy Spirit is often symbolic or metaphorically like represents the Holy Spirit, 00:33:47.780 --> 00:33:54.100 the anointing oil, right? But here he's saying that anything that when we are united in Christ, 00:33:54.100 --> 00:34:01.540 it's like the precious oil. And we just read that this oil is no ordinary. That's how important unity 00:34:01.540 --> 00:34:10.340 is. When you are united in Christ, it is the sacred touch, the precious thing that God has 00:34:10.340 --> 00:34:17.140 flows in your life. How important that is. That's why I'm saying I hope and I pray that 00:34:17.140 --> 00:34:23.300 your understanding, my understanding about unity changes, right? And then the second image, 00:34:23.380 --> 00:34:26.820 it's even better. Let's go to the last one. 00:34:29.940 --> 00:34:39.620 Verse three. It is as if the dew of Hermon were falling on Mount Zion for there. The Lord bestows 00:34:39.620 --> 00:34:48.100 his blessing, even life forevermore. You know, David reaches this second image. The first one, 00:34:48.100 --> 00:34:53.060 he's talking about the anointing oil, which is in the tabernacle. But here it has something 00:34:53.060 --> 00:34:57.140 to do with geography now. He's talking about mountains here, right? And you know, Mount 00:34:57.140 --> 00:35:03.780 Hermon and then Mount, what's the other one again? Zion. These are two very contrasting mountains 00:35:03.780 --> 00:35:14.420 here, yeah? For Mount Hermon, it is 9,000 meters above the sea level. Let me get that right. 9,000 00:35:14.420 --> 00:35:22.900 feet high. It was up in the north. And most of the year, Mount Hermon would be snowcapped. 00:35:23.940 --> 00:35:33.060 That's why the valley or the region of Mount Hermon is always fertile because of the heavy dew, 00:35:34.020 --> 00:35:39.220 right? The heavy dew. Because most of the year it is snowcapped mountains, right? And so even 00:35:39.220 --> 00:35:46.100 in the dry seasons, this dew would help. And so vegetation and other things, you know, 00:35:46.100 --> 00:35:56.900 begins to happen. And so Mount Hermon is very fertile. Whereas Mount Zion, it's a modest hill 00:35:56.900 --> 00:36:03.860 in Jerusalem. Mount Zion is not as high as Mount Hermon. It is a modest hill in Jerusalem. And it 00:36:03.860 --> 00:36:11.460 is on the south. It is on the south. And it is miles apart. So geographically speaking, 00:36:12.260 --> 00:36:21.540 Mount Hermon has nothing to do with Mount Zion. That's why David uses this word, it is as if, 00:36:23.380 --> 00:36:30.740 right? He's saying it is as if Mount Hermon and Mount Zion, right, were falling on Mount Zion. 00:36:30.740 --> 00:36:39.540 It's like geographically or even physically speaking, or whatever term that is, it has nothing 00:36:39.540 --> 00:36:48.340 to do with, yeah? The dew of Mount Hermon is impossible to reach Mount Zion. It has nothing 00:36:48.340 --> 00:36:53.700 to do with that. That's why Paul is, sorry, David is using this as if the dew of mountain were 00:36:53.700 --> 00:37:00.500 falling on Mount Zion. And that's exactly David's point. David's point is these two are, have nothing 00:37:00.500 --> 00:37:09.540 to do with each other. What is naturally impossible, God commands and things begin to happen. 00:37:11.380 --> 00:37:18.180 Now he's bringing two unrelated mountains here. One is dry, the other one is fertile, right? What 00:37:18.180 --> 00:37:26.900 if this mountain that survives most of the year is now able to nourish a mountain that is barren, 00:37:26.900 --> 00:37:47.140 that is dry? Crazy man, yeah? That's the unity about God. 00:37:50.180 --> 00:37:51.460 You know, as I look into the room, 00:37:51.460 --> 00:37:55.780 people from different tribes and nations, even in this room sitting together, what on earth is 00:37:55.780 --> 00:38:06.500 happening here, right? What has Bashar to do with Mark? Yeah? What has Daniel to do with Andre? 00:38:06.820 --> 00:38:16.740 Or with Paul? Something completely unrelated God brings together. And this is why sometimes God 00:38:16.740 --> 00:38:25.780 uses you like Mount Hermon. And you're able to nourish Mount Zion. Someone who is dry, 00:38:25.780 --> 00:38:32.740 someone who is barren, someone who is desperately needy, someone who is desperate to reach Mount 00:38:33.220 --> 00:38:39.620 Dry, someone who is barren, someone who is desperately needing help. Sometimes you're 00:38:39.620 --> 00:38:46.580 like Mount Zion. You associate yourselves with people like Mount Hermon. You're nourished, 00:38:46.580 --> 00:38:53.780 you're fed, you're bearing fruit again. Yeah? You have overcome your barrenness again. 00:38:54.660 --> 00:38:59.860 And it's so beautiful guys. Yeah? And you know, this last part, 00:39:02.420 --> 00:39:10.180 and you know, before we do that, I would like us to do something different for people that you are 00:39:10.180 --> 00:39:16.500 sitting with, people that you're familiar in this room. Can you think of someone whom you have never 00:39:16.500 --> 00:39:22.340 sat before and then go and sit with that person? Yeah? Can we try that? 00:39:24.180 --> 00:39:27.540 You may have known each other for a while, but you have never sat with that person 00:39:28.180 --> 00:39:32.340 in this church. Can we try? 00:39:47.060 --> 00:39:54.340 Yeah. 00:40:07.860 --> 00:40:08.340 Nice. 00:40:16.500 --> 00:40:24.340 Yeah. 00:40:30.020 --> 00:40:38.340 Very cool. Nice, Evan. 00:40:38.660 --> 00:40:40.180 Nice. 00:40:42.260 --> 00:40:49.540 See guys, this is the beauty about the Spirit of God moving in our midst, which brings unity. 00:40:49.540 --> 00:40:55.620 Unity is like I said, it doesn't, it's not manufactured, but it is something Christ gives 00:40:55.620 --> 00:41:01.780 you, that you are able to love someone you don't even know, someone that is not even related to 00:41:01.780 --> 00:41:11.860 you by blood. Jesus goes the extreme and said, love your enemies. This is why it makes loving 00:41:11.860 --> 00:41:25.460 our enemies even possible guys. Crazy man. In a world where love of the self becomes the priority, 00:41:25.460 --> 00:41:32.980 if I don't love myself, who will love me? Right? We become the center of our own. Christ said, 00:41:32.980 --> 00:41:36.980 love your enemies. Pray for those who persecute you. Crazy man. 00:41:39.620 --> 00:41:45.220 This is what Christ does for you and for me, eh? People from different ethnicities, backgrounds, 00:41:45.220 --> 00:41:51.380 cultures coming together and seated together. Why? Christ unites us. And you know what? 00:41:52.100 --> 00:41:56.420 This last part, that last line, if you read it, 00:41:59.060 --> 00:42:05.700 for there, the Lord bestows his blessing, even life forevermore. For there, where? 00:42:06.740 --> 00:42:12.740 That place of unity. Let's talk about where is the address? Unity is the address. 00:42:15.060 --> 00:42:20.580 Where? Unity. When brothers dwell, when brothers and sisters dwell together in unity, 00:42:20.580 --> 00:42:28.100 it is that place. That's why David is saying, for there, when you are united, when I'm united 00:42:28.100 --> 00:42:34.820 with Christ and with each other, that when we are united, that's the place. That's the place where 00:42:34.820 --> 00:42:43.540 God bestows his blessing. What is bestow? Meaning he commands. He's not hoping for blessing. Right? 00:42:43.540 --> 00:42:52.420 It's the word, siva, where he like bestows. It's not a prayer. It's not a hope. It's not a wish. 00:42:52.980 --> 00:42:59.940 God is saying that when brothers and sisters dwell together in unity, there I command 00:43:00.900 --> 00:43:06.900 my blessings to fall. For everyone? And then what's that? What is the blessing? 00:43:07.780 --> 00:43:16.900 Life forevermore. Wow. You cannot even define that word, man. How can you even define life forevermore? 00:43:19.140 --> 00:43:26.820 This is the power of dwelling in unity, guys. And I'm saying sometimes, even football, 00:43:26.820 --> 00:43:32.260 when you're playing together as a team, unity is always emphasized. Or be it in basketball, 00:43:32.260 --> 00:43:38.340 you need to pass on to each other. Sports talk about this. What if Sheldon is playing another 00:43:38.340 --> 00:43:45.140 key? What if I'm trying to sing another pitch? We need to be united. Same thing with the body. 00:43:45.140 --> 00:43:50.180 That's why Paul is often talking about, don't think of yourself as a complete individual. 00:43:50.900 --> 00:43:56.020 You're not a complete individual. Think of yourself as an eye, as a nose, as a mouth, as a 00:43:56.660 --> 00:44:03.140 body. Right? And then because you're part of the body of Christ. And you know what? Every spiritual 00:44:03.140 --> 00:44:13.540 blessing is for the body. If you're part of the body, you may not have, some spiritual gifts may 00:44:13.540 --> 00:44:17.700 not be so evident in your life, but because you're connected to the body, you will experience it. 00:44:20.420 --> 00:44:24.580 You know, if someone is a mouth, and then if someone is a hand, and then if someone brings 00:44:24.580 --> 00:44:29.860 in food, and if you are the stomach, you'll enjoy it. Yeah, I know how funny that is, but 00:44:31.060 --> 00:44:39.380 it's like that, guys. We help each other flourish. We help each other experience this life that God 00:44:39.380 --> 00:44:48.820 gives. Hear me again. We experience this life forevermore that God gives when we are united. 00:44:49.060 --> 00:44:51.060 So just to wrap up, 00:44:55.060 --> 00:44:57.060 first is, 00:45:01.060 --> 00:45:09.460 you know, but before that, let me read this one. This unity is not just a feel bad thing. It cuts 00:45:09.460 --> 00:45:16.340 off every channel, cuts off the channel, the very channel through which the fullness of God's 00:45:17.060 --> 00:45:23.860 blessing was designed to flow in a person, in a family, in a church. Yeah, when a family is 00:45:23.860 --> 00:45:29.460 divided, when a church is divided, it cuts off the channel through which the blessing, the fullness 00:45:29.460 --> 00:45:40.420 of God flows in that family, in that person's life. That's why God hates when we sow seeds of division. 00:45:40.420 --> 00:45:48.020 It is so important, guys. You know, it is good, it is pleasant, and it is the precious oil, 00:45:48.580 --> 00:45:55.220 and we know how precious this is. Every part that this oil touches becomes sacred. It becomes holy, 00:45:55.940 --> 00:46:01.460 and you know what? It is like the Mount Hermon, the dew that falls and nourishes, 00:46:01.460 --> 00:46:04.500 meaning there's no part of your life that will be barren. 00:46:04.500 --> 00:46:06.500 There's no part of your life that will be barren. 00:46:09.300 --> 00:46:10.180 No part of your life. 00:46:12.820 --> 00:46:22.180 And if you operate from that place of unity, God is bestowing, God is commanding His blessings 00:46:22.820 --> 00:46:32.020 of life into your life for a day, no. For a month, no. Forevermore. This is the beauty, guys. 00:46:32.980 --> 00:46:39.220 So let's pray. Father, I pray that we stop treating unity as an option. 00:46:40.900 --> 00:46:46.980 It's not an option, guys. If there is unity, it is great. If there is no unity, yeah, it happens. 00:46:46.980 --> 00:46:54.180 No, Abba. We want to make it a priority, and like Paul said, to make every effort 00:46:54.180 --> 00:47:03.940 to bring unity together as a church, Abba. We don't want to be divided by denominations 00:47:03.940 --> 00:47:10.020 and doctrines, and even in Christianity, there's already so many divisions of God. 00:47:10.900 --> 00:47:15.140 We don't want to create any more division of God, because Christ, you are not divided. 00:47:15.540 --> 00:47:23.700 Help us to be true to your word and allow us to be led by your Spirit, because 00:47:25.220 --> 00:47:29.540 those who are led by the Spirit, they are sons and daughters of God. 00:47:29.540 --> 00:47:37.940 That's what your word says of God. So Lord, tonight, you are the source of every good and 00:47:37.940 --> 00:47:47.780 pleasant thing that is among your people. We confess how easily pride, old wounds, 00:47:48.420 --> 00:47:56.740 self-interest dry up what you intend to be lush and overflowing. Would you please 00:47:57.860 --> 00:48:07.620 pour out your Spirit on us the way oil was poured out on Erin? Not a sprinkle, but generously. 00:48:08.420 --> 00:48:14.980 Completely reaching the hidden places, as well as the visible ones. 00:48:16.820 --> 00:48:25.940 Send the dew of heaven, oh God. Fall on whatever in us has grown barren and dry. 00:48:29.940 --> 00:48:36.100 And where we dwell together in unity, let it be from that place, oh God, there 00:48:37.060 --> 00:48:44.820 you command your blessing. Life forevermore, beginning even right now in this place, oh God. 00:48:47.460 --> 00:48:57.220 In the name of Jesus Christ, our great high priest who prayed that we would be one. 00:48:58.660 --> 00:49:01.940 In Jesus' name, amen. Bless you guys. 00:49:06.100 --> 00:49:09.620 Das unit.