THE IMPORTANCE OF ONENESS 

JOHN 17:9-11, 20-23  

          I know that we normally call Matthew 6:9-13 the Lord’s Prayer, but in actuality it should be called The Disciples Prayer and John 17 should be viewed as the Lord’s Prayer.  Jesus makes it clear in verse 9 that he is not praying for the entire world but specifically for the disciples who have followed him in his ministry.  Those, He says, that God has given to him.  He prays not that God would take them out of the world, but rather that God would keep them from evil while they are in the world.  He prays that God would sanctify or set them apart for His use and that God would make them one or united in a common goal, even as he and Jesus are united in a common goal.  But then in verse 20 He begins to pray for us.  For he says “Neither pray I for these alone, but for them also which shall believe on me through their word” (John 17:20).  That would be us.  And like his earlier prayer, he also prays for us that we would be one even as he and the father are one.  I want to speak today on “The Importance of Oneness.”   

ACTS 1:12-14

          After Jesus ascended the Disciples, Mary the Lord’s mother, some of the women who were believer and the Lord’s brothers all gathered in the Upper Room.  Whatever problems the Lord’s brothers had with him prior to his death were all gone now.  The scriptures say that they were all on one accord.  The Greek word used here for ‘one accord’ is  Homothumadon.  This is  a unique Greek word, used 11 times in the New Testament with 10 of the11 occurrences being in the Book of Acts, a book about Church growth. Homothumadon is a compound of two words meaning to “rush along” and “in unison.” The image is almost musical; a number of notes are sounded which, while different, harmonize in pitch and tone. As the instruments of a great orchestra blend under the direction of a concertmaster, so the Holy Spirit blends together the lives of members of Christ’s church.  So here in Acts 1:14 the Holy Spirit was blending the lives and character of this few believers together in unison as they awaited Spirit’s coming. 

ACTS 2:1

          Here we see 120 believers gathered, focusing together on the Lord as they sensed the Spirit’s first dynamic touch.  Again the scriptures say that they were on one accord.  We can’t say for sure, but do you think that they would have been able to experience the presence of the Spirit in the way that they did if they were in the midst of bickering and arguing? 

ACTS 2:41-47

          Here we again see the believers gather together and on one accord.  By now the number has grown to over 3,000.  There is so much harmony between them that they are even sharing their possessions with one another so that everyone’s needs were being met., and eating together and at one another’s homes.  Can you imagine 3000 people eating with gladness and singleness of heart, or having one common motive, to glorify God.  The end of verse 47 says “And the Lord added to the church daily such as should be saved.”  Now do you think that people would have been flocking to get saved if the believers were bickering and arguing among themselves?   I do not believe that God would bless such behavior among his people.   

ACTS 4:24

          After healing a lame man, Peter and John were brought before the Jewish council who threatened them and then let them go.    In verse 23 they return to the other believers and tell them what happened.  Here in verse 24 we see the believers again on one accord, but this time for prayer and look in verse 29 at what they prayed.  They prayed that God would stay the enemy so that they could with boldness preach the word.  When they finished praying verse 31 says the power of God fell again and they spoke the Word of God with boldness. 

            Sometimes we look at the church in Acts as though that church can no longer exist. Let’s not make this mistake. God’s Spirit is still a present reality. Homothumadon is still possible in today’s shattered and impersonal world.  Jesus prayed that we might be one.  To think that we cannot be one and on one accord is to say that Jesus prayed a futile prayer, one that cannot be answered.   

            I believe that we believers sometimes do not understand the power of oneness and therefore we are easily drawn away from unity to discord.  But God himself demonstrated the power of unity in creation but also let’s us know the power in unity of mankind. 

GENESIS 11:1-9 

          Why they were building this tower and why God did not want them to build it is not a topic for the message today.  What is important is the statement that God made in verse 6.  He said “Behold, the people is one, and they have all one language; and this they begin to do: and now nothing will be restrained from them, which they have imagined to do.”  Because the people were of a unified mind and they were able to communicate with one another, God said nothing would be able to hold them back.  It is amazing how mankind can come together and complete a task that is completely wrong and having the wrong motive yet we can not come together to build the kingdom of God.  Wonder why that is?  Well the answer to that is simple. Satan, he heard God’s statement too.  He knows that if we can come together as a unified power he would never be able to hinder us from completing the work God desires for us to do.  So one of the enemy’s greatest attacks against the Church is to sow discord among believers.  He knows that if he can keep us from working together than he will be able to disrupt our power.  The sad part is that we often feed right into his attack.  By listening to his deceitful lies and sowing discord within the church. 

PROVERBS 6:16-19

          Sowing discord is one of the 6 things that David says God hates.  Why because the root of discord is the enemies attempt to destroy unity among the believers.  Our enemy knows the importance of oneness within the body of Christ.

          Because unity among the believers is so important the Bible of course gives us instructions relating to having unity or oneness within the body. 

I PETER 3:8

          This is a command to be one, having compassion and concern for one another.  Normally when discord is being sown within the body it is because someone has become more concerned with themselves than they are with the Church.  You see discord is normally fueled by self-centeredness and spread through gossip.  But if we would all keep our focus on Christ and not on ourselves then we would find unity in the spirit.  Like Peter, Paul in his farewell speech found in 2Cor. 13:11 encourages us again to be of one mind saying, “Be perfect, be of good comfort, be of one mind, live in peace; and the God of love and peace shall be with you.” 

I CORINTHIANS 1:10

          Paul says that we are to have no divisions among us.  Though we are individual people we are asked, encouraged and even expected to come together in unity, having one common goal, building the Kingdom of God.  But saying we should be of one mind and making it happen is two different things.  You see unity will not just happen.  It is not apart of the nature of sinful man.  However we must believe that we can have unity among the believers. 

EPHESIANS 4:3

          Endeavor means labor or work, to be diligent at.  In other words we must work at having unity within the church.  How do you work at developing unity?  You learn to spot when the enemy is trying to breed discord and you resist his efforts to involve you in his schemes.  Rather than receiving every lying and deceitful thought that the enemy sends your way and then repeating it so that it can spread like wildfire, we should choose to resist him and do as II Corinthians 10:5 says, “Cast down imaginations, and every high thing that exalts itself against the knowledge of God, and bring into captivity every thought to the obedience of Christ”.  In other words, get control of your mind and then get control of your tongue.  And if you find that you cannot control your mind, make sure you control your tongue.  Everyone is entitled to their opinions, but your opinion does not always need to come out of your mouth.  If your opinion is not promoting and advancing the Kingdom of God then more than likely it is a hindrance to the advancement of the Kingdom. 

ROMANS 14:19

          Follow after or chase that which leads of peace and edification of others.  Some rather than chasing peace, run to be a tale bearer, one who spreads gossip and a person who gossips will eventually be the cause of discord because gossip breeds discord.   

PHILIPPIANS 1:27

          The goal for the church has been set.  We are to with one mind work to spread the gospel.  If what you are saying or doing is not in an effort to spread the gospel and thus glorify God, then maybe you should keep it to yourself.  Unity among the believers is essential for the growth of the church and discord for sure will stunt the growth of the church. 

PHILIPPIANS 2:1-4

          What Paul is saying in verse 3 is never oppose each other by acting for personal gain or from vanity.  We are to consider one another.  Consider the body of Christ.  Don’t help the enemy to tear down the church, rather we must work together to build it up.  We must be on one accord.  We must with one mind set as our goal advancing the Kingdom of God.  It must be our primary goal and the ultimate focus of the church as a whole and of each individual in the body of Christ. 

 

In the Book of Acts, when the disciples were on one accord God grew the church from 11, to 120, then to 3000.   I believe that unity is one of the keys to growth and I believe that the enemy makes a special effort to bring dissention within the body of believers to hinder the growth of God’s Kingdom.  Let’s strive for oneness because oneness is very important.