Weapons of Our Warfare - Unity

Now the multitude of those who believed were of one heart and one soul; neither did anyone say that any of the things he possessed was his own, but they had all things in common. ACTS 4:32

Be of the same mind toward one another. Do not set your mind on high things, but associate with the humble. Do not be wise in your own opinion. ROMANS 12:16

Behold, how good and how pleasant it is for brethren to dwell together in unity! PSALM 133:1

UNITY

The definition of unity in the dictionary is: the state or fact of being united or combined into one, as of the parts of a whole; unification. The biblical meaning is: to be of one mind, one spirit, one accord.

There is an old saying that says there is strength in numbers. Solomon said “though one may be overpowered by another but two can withstand him. And a threefold cord is not quickly broken.” Ecclesiastes 4:12 By this he meant that if two or more are together in the same mind then they cannot be quickly divided, overcome, defeated, or separated. The unity between them would help them overcome whatever obstacle they confronted together.

How many of you have seen the movie “300”? Did you notice that despite the advantage the enemy had over them, they stuck together till the end? If you haven’t seen it, the movie is about an army of 300 men from Sparta who fight to defend their country from being conquered by a Persian emperor. The camaraderie and unity between these men helped them to withstand the various attacks from the Persian army and defeat them. Most of them died but they accomplished what they set out to do together and that was to keep their country from being governed by a foreign nation.

This is the point I want to get to – just as the Spartans fought together, with one mind, with the same objective to keep their country safe from being conquered by a foreign king, so must the church be united in the fight to keep the church (and by church I don’t mean the building but the body of Christ) from being infiltrated, contaminated, or governed by any foreign entity. The 1st century church understood that this weapon was devastating to the enemy and they strived to remain in unity. In military terms it is hard to breach a united front. They understood that there was strength in unity, that if they were all in one accord, division could not breach their front. The 21st century church, sadly, has not grasped this concept, that is why it is vital that we learn the weapons we are given, how to use them, and BEGIN USING THEM.

Have you ever been in a service where everyone was in one spirit and notice how the presence of God is there in such a powerful way? On the flipside have you ever been in a service where only a handful are truly worshipping and everybody else’s mind seems to be in other places? I have experienced both and I can tell you that when the body of Christ is in one spirit and one mind, united in their worship to the King and united in their battle against the enemy, the glory of God descends among them in a mighty way; but when the body of Christ is not focused and everybody’s thoughts are scattered and there is no true desire to worship because of distraction, worry, and so many other things that can take your mind off of God then the enemy sits in church with us and brings division, gossip, contention and other things in his arsenal that hurt and poison the body. You can literally feel the struggle to come into God’s presence. On the same token, a pastor is the one with the vision, his/her fold should be united with him/her in his/her God-given vision for what the body of Christ in that particular area should be doing. The vision of the pastors of the 1st century church was to preach the gospel to the lost and help the poor and the members of the church or the fold were in one accord with that vision. The vision of the 21st century pastors should be the same! To snatch souls from the enemy’s grasp and bring them to the foot of the cross where they will meet Jesus and receive salvation, healing, restoration and eternal life! The fold of the 21st century church should be united in this vision!

Paul told the Romans to be of one mind towards one another. Don’t think yourself better than anybody else because in the end we are all sinners! We were all lost in our sins before we came to Christ so no one should think himself better than his brother but instead be humble and associate with the humble. Don’t hang out with the proud that will contaminate you with pride and take you out of harmony with your brothers. David said “how good and pleasant it is for brethren to dwell together in unity. “ He was talking about the body of Christ in worship to God as one.

The battle stance of the body of Christ should be as one mind, one spirit and in one accord. When we are united in our vision, united in our worship, united in prayer, united in our labor for the Lord, then we are mighty in our battle stance and our defenses will be hard to breach! Church let’s unite as one body, one mind, one spirit, one heart for God and be strengthened in our numbers to fight against the enemy and his wicked army because there are more with us than those against us! Unity is a mighty weapon; let us stand together having done all to stand! God bless you!