Kept To Keep

July 10, 2023 — Craig T. Owens

Listen to the podcast of this post by clicking on the player below, and you can also subscribe on Apple, Spotify, or Audible. 

Last week I reminded you that the main point in Hebrew literature is usually found in the middle. In Psalm 121 that would be the first phrase of verse 5: The Lord watches over you. 

But I notice something that seems contradictory in the New Testament. Whereas the message here is, “God watches over you,” the message in some New Testament verses seems to be, “You watch over yourself” (see for example Matthew 26:41; 1 Thessalonians 5:6; 1 Timothy 4:16). Paul even said to the Christians at Corinth, “I worked harder than all of them” (1 Corinthians 15:10). 

So which is it: Is God watching over us or are we to watch over ourselves? It’s actually both, but something important has to come first. We cannot watch over ourselves unless we are assured that the Lord is watching over us to sustain us. 

Okay, I was being a bit sarcastic when I said those verses seemed contradictory, as I clearly quoted them out of their context. For instance, in that statement from Paul in 1 Corinthians, check out the full verse, “But by the grace of God I am what I am, and His grace to me was not without effect. No, I worked harder than all of them—yet not I, but the grace of God that was with me.” Paul is clearly saying that he could only work hard because he was empowered by God’s grace. Notice that it is decidedly not the other way around: Paul doesn’t say, “I worked hard to earn the grace of God.” 

Remember that these psalms of ascent remind us of our upward look and our upward journey. We need to keep our eyes on the prize, which is God Himself (Psalm 121:1-2). Using the apostle Paul’s life as an example again, he said something very similar—

Not that I have already obtained all this, or have already arrived at my goal, but I press on to take hold of that for which Christ Jesus took hold of me. Brothers and sisters, I do not consider myself yet to have taken hold of it. But one thing I do: Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead, I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus. (Philippians 3:12-14) 

The middle verse of Psalm 121 foretells what appears six times in just eight verses: the Hebrew word samar. Depending on the translation of the Bible, this word is either “watch over” or “kept.” In either case, the meaning is a concentrated focus, not turning aside to the left or the right, not distracted, eyes on the ultimate prize. And all six of these instances are God’s unwavering, loving focus on us. In this song, we are told: 

  • God never slumbers or is even momentarily distracted (vv. 3-4) as opposed to other deities that were thought to sometimes be unavailable to their worshippers (see 1 Kings 18:27). Instead, our God watches us so closely that He notices if even a single hair falls from our head (Matthew 10:30-31). 
  • God stands beside us to protect our places of vulnerability (vv. 5-6). The Amplified Bible says, “The Lord is your shade on your right hand—the side not carrying a shield.”
  • God keeps us from the entrapment of evil (v. 7). Jesus told us that He was praying this way for us so we can have confidence to pray this for ourselves (Luke 22:32; Matthew 6:13).  
  • God protects us as His most precious treasure. David uses this same word samar in Psalm 17:8, “Keep me as the apple of Your eye; hide me in the shadow of Your wings.” 
  • God is our eternal Protector. The last phrase of this psalm says He watches over us “both now and forevermore” (v. 8).  

The other places the word samar is used in the Bible is a call for us to keep God’s commands. But just as we saw with Paul that he was committed to running his race well because he was assured of the prize Jesus had secured for him, so for us, we can only keep God’s commands because we are kept secure by God. 

Because we are kept by God we can keep His commands. In Deuteronomy 4, Moses applies the word samar to God’s people. We are to..

  • keep the commands of the Lord (v. 4) 
  • watch ourselves closely so we don’t forget what God has done for us (v. 9) 
  • be careful not to forget the covenant God paid for us (v. 23)
  • keep God’s decrees and commands as way a way to pass on God’s blessing to future generations (v. 40)

If God is not the One keeping and preserving me, it will be impossible for me to keep His commands on my own. The promise of His watchful keeping and preserving should fuel our prayer to watch over ourselves with all diligence. Read His promises, pray His promises, be assured of His ever-present help so that you can use His help to look out for yourself. 

If you’ve missed any of the others messages in our look at the Psalms of Ascent, you can find them all here.

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A Leader’s Commitment To Lifelong Learning

June 28, 2023 — Craig T. Owens

Listen to the podcast of this post by clicking on the player below, and you can also subscribe on Apple, Spotify, or Audible. 

Bruce Barton said, “When you’re through changing, you’re through!” I think the same thing could be said about a leader’s learning—when you think you’ve learned it all, your leadership is beginning to crumble. 

I never want to get to the place where I think I have “arrived” as a leader, but I want to be humble enough to admit that there are so many things I have yet to learn. Jesus reminded us, “Every student of the Scriptures who becomes a disciple in the kingdom of heaven is like someone who brings out new and old treasures from the storeroom” (Matthew 13:52 CEV). 

“New and old treasures” tells me that there’s some good stuff we need to protect, and also some good stuff we haven’t yet learned. 

A mark of a godly leader is his commitment to being a lifelong learner. 

Here are three new things the Holy Spirit has recently taught me: 

Acts 6:3 says, “Choose seven men from among you who are known to be full of the Spirit and wisdom. We will turn this responsibility over to them.” 

My lesson: The résumé for those that are to be placed in ministry leadership positions should include servant-heartedness, Christlike character, wise experience for the task, and reliance on the Holy Spirit.

“This Moses whom they disowned…is the one God sent to be both a ruler and a deliverer” (Acts 7:35). 

My lesson: When God calls someone His leader, it doesn’t matter if the world calls them disowned. It’s not about popularity with men, but faithfulness to God.

Notice the plural pronoun “they” in 1 Kings 11:33. 

My lesson: When King Solomon sinned, he then gave license to the people to follow his example. As the leader goes, so go the people.

I hope you are learning new things every day. In fact, feel free to share in the comments something new you’ve learned. 

This is part 73 in my series on godly leadership. You can check out all of my posts in this series by clicking here.

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Unafraid Of End Times Events

June 26, 2023 — Craig T. Owens

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When people ask me about end times events, it is usually from a posture of hand-wringing worry. But when Jesus told His followers about what is to come, He repeatedly told them not to be afraid.

Some resources from this video:

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An Unimpressive But Praiseworthy Resume

June 20, 2023 — Craig T. Owens

Listen to the podcast of this post by clicking on the player below, and you can also subscribe on Apple, Spotify, or Audible. 

In my book Shepherd Leadership, I have a chapter entitled ‘The Wrong Ladder.’ Let me share two short paragraphs with you to set the stage—

Maybe, like many people, you’ve been working on a plan to climb your own ladder of success. You’ve been careful to get the best education, meet the right people, and put in the right amount of time on each level, all while keeping your eyes and ears open for the next “rung” of the ladder. 

Perhaps this is successful in the corporate world, but I wonder how this idea has crept into the ministry world. Make no mistake: this mindset is prominent in our churches and nonprofit organizations. We may dress it up in churchy language, but the attitude is still there. 

On the pages of Luke’s Gospel, we read a very unimpressive but praiseworthy resume of a vital ministry leader: John the Baptizer. 

His first ministry job begins when “the word of the Lord came to John son of Zechariah in the wilderness” (Luke 3:2). 

A word from God had already been spoken about John’s life that was pretty impressive (Luke 1:13-17, 76-77). From birth, John knew that he was to be the forerunner of the long-awaited Messiah. John could have walked around with quite an ego, but instead, we read, “And [John] grew and became strong in spirit; and he lived in the wilderness until he appeared publicly to Israel” (1:80).

No special education, no ladder-climbing positions, no getting to know all the right people who could open doors for him. He was simply alone with God in the wilderness for nearly 30 years! 

Then just as quickly as he burst on the scene, God took John off the scene (Luke 3:20; Matthew 14:3-11). John knew this would happen—that he was merely a herald, and that his ministry would decrease as Christ’s increased. John shows us that it’s not about how many people are in your church, how big of a budget you’ve raised, or how long you’ve been in a particular position. It’s about faithful obedience. 

It’s about being comfortable with anonymity, if that’s what God chooses. It’s about allowing God to place and remove him when and how He chooses. 

Listen to this observation from Dr. Henry Halley—

Assuming that John began his ministry shortly before he baptized Jesus, it lasted about a year and a half. Thirty years in seclusion, one and a half years of public preaching, a year and four months in prison—and then the final curtain. 

This is the resume of the man who ushered in the Savior of the world, and of whom Jesus said there had not been born anyone greater (Matthew 11:11). 

In ‘The Wrong Ladder’ chapter, I concluded with this—

God frequently picks people we would consider the least qualified. He sometimes has one in an unglamorous position for years, and sometimes He catapults somebody immediately to the top. Sometimes God will keep His hand-selected individual in a prominent leadership position until death, and sometimes He will remove that person to a place of obscurity after only a short time. 

God’s ladder of success is nothing like ours! 

May all of us in leadership positions make this our prayer: Father, this is for Your glory, not my advancement. I’m not here to build my following, my resume, my fame. I only want to live and lead and minister for Your glory and for Your fame. Holy Spirit, help me keep this example of John at the forefront of my mind anytime I think about building my own resume. In the name of Jesus I ask. Amen.

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In, On, And Through

June 12, 2023 — Craig T. Owens

Listen to the podcast of this post by clicking on the player below, and you can also subscribe on Apple, Spotify, or Audible. 

I’ve talked before about the benefits of calling the Old and New Testaments the First and Second Testaments. This helps me not to subconsciously slip into the thought that “old” means outdated or that “new” means a replacement of what came before it. When I say First and Second I remember that there cannot be a Second without a First, that the First anticipates the Second and the Second fulfills the First. 

The people of the First Testament experienced the Spirit of God in an often-repeated phrase: “the Spirit of the Lord came on” someone. It usually came on them for a specific task or season. For instance…

  • 70 leaders to help Moses (Numbers 11:25)
  • the judges that delivered Israel from their enemies (Judges 3:10, 6:34, 11:29, 14:6, 15:14)
  • the anointing for Israel’s king (1 Samuel 16:13)
  • empowerment for prophets to prophesy (Ezekiel 11:5)

(Check out all of the above references by clicking here.)

When the Holy Spirit came on these men, there was a noticeable supernatural anointing and empowerment, but more times than not these men also had visible and sometimes crippling stumbles. 

What happens on the outside often stays on the outside. Sort of like the little boy whose mom brought him to church one Sunday. The little boy was constantly standing up on his chair and disturbing everyone around him. Finally, the exasperated mother whispered, “If you don’t sit down I’m going to take you to the restroom and spank you.” The little boy immediately sat down with his arms tightly crossed. He looked at his mom and said, “Outside I may be sitting down but inside I’m standing up!” 

God looks at the heart. He told the Israelites that their inward defiance didn’t outweigh their outward religious practices. And Jesus said that people who prophesied, cast out demons, and performed miracles, but still had an unrepentant heart, would hear Him say, “I never knew you” (Isaiah 1:12-13; Matthew 7:21-23). 

In the First Testament, we see a desire for the Holy Spirit to be more than on—a desire for Him to come in. David prayed, “Create in me a pure heart, O God, and renew a steadfast spirit within me” (Psalm 51:10). And God promised His people, “I will give them an undivided heart and put a new spirit in them … And I will put My Spirit in you and move you to follow my decrees and be careful to keep My laws” (Ezekiel 11:19, 36:27). 

That is exactly what happened on that Pentecost Sunday immediately following Christ’s resurrection and ascension. The Christians were baptized in the Holy Spirit. He came in them and brought them into the Godhead (John 14:20). 

Jesus described this “in-ness” in the picturesque language of a branch joined to the vine. The branch cannot produce any fruit on its own, but it abides in the vine so that the fruit-producing power can flow into the branch (see John 15:1-5). 

Paul identified this fruit of the Spirit as “love, joy, peace, forbearance, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control,” and he concluded with the phrase, “against such things there is no law” (Galatians 5:22-23). The law always sets limits, but when the Holy Spirit abides in us, the production of fruit is limitless! 

Being baptized in the Holy Spirit means that we allow Him to come in us and then to work on us. It’s only when the Holy Spirit has worked in us that can He flow through us to others. Jesus said that we would receive the Spirit’s empowerment to be witnesses—that’s an inward change that produces an outward fruit.

The Holy Spirit works in us to work on us so that He can work through us. So don’t stop at just salvation, but be baptized in the Holy Spirit! 

If you’ve missed any of the messages in our series on the Pentecostal experience, you can find all of those messages by clicking here. 

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Check Your Inputs

June 5, 2023 — Craig T. Owens

Listen to the podcast of this post by clicking on the player below, and you can also subscribe on Apple, Spotify, or Audible.

Jesus was the healthiest Person to ever walk planet Earth. When Luke, a physician, tells us about the growth of Jesus, he says first that “Jesus grew in wisdom.” (Luke 2:52). That is our indication that a healthy mind is at the foundation for every other aspect of health. 

But mental health doesn’t stay in your mind—it affects every other part of your life. Likewise, all of the other parts of your life can enhance or drain your mental health. We are created as interconnected beings. For instance, it’s hard to think correctly when you’re physically tired, spiritually drained, or involved in an unhealthy relationship. It’s also true that it’s hard to make good decisions about your physical health, stay focused on God, or handle your relationships successfully if you aren’t thinking correctly. 

We see the apostles writing about our wholly healthiness—

Dear friend, I pray that you may enjoy good health and that all may go well with you, even as your soul is getting along well. (3 John 2) 

Now may the God of peace make you holy in every way, and may your whole spirit and soul and body be kept blameless until our Lord Jesus Christ comes again. (1 Thessalonians 5:23 NLT) 

When my laptop is disconnected from the monitors I use at our church building, the message on the screen tells me to “check your inputs.” That’s not just for inanimate technology, but for us too: To maintain good overall health, we need to check our physical, spiritual, mental, and emotional inputs. 

Let’s start with the physical inputs. When we are active during the day our bodies release a stress hormone called cortisol. Stress is not a bad thing—it’s a normal thing. A body that isn’t stressed will atrophy and become susceptible to disease. Balanced, healthy stress is called eustress, and unbalanced, unhealthy stress is called distress. 

Cortisol is naturally flushed from the body in two ways: exercise and sleep. Exercise is important to keep our bodies moving effectively, and sleep helps us recover and helps our brains catalogue our memories (see 1 Timothy 4:8; Psalm 3:5). To fuel our exercise and our sleep requires the energy which we get from a healthy diet. 

So if you’re not thinking healthy thoughts, check your physical inputs: Am I getting the proper amount of sleep? Am I exercising regularly? Am I eating properly? Do I see a doctor for a checkup? 

How about spiritual inputs? Somewhat surprisingly, our spirits are kept healthy very much along the same lines as our physical bodies—proper food, appropriate exercise, and a time of rest. Our spiritual food is God’s Word, our exercise is working out what we’ve studied in the Bible, and our rest is called sabbathing (Jeremiah 15:16; Matthew 7:24-27; James 2:17). Jesus demonstrated all of these in His life and we, too, should follow His example. 

If you’re not thinking healthy thoughts, check your spiritual inputs: Am I reading the Bible regularly? Am I putting what I learn into practice? Am I sabbathing properly?  

Then there our emotional inputs, or the relationships that build us and relationships that drain us. You are always going to encounter people in need, and ministering to those needs is draining (Luke 8:45-46). We also need to be alert to those antagonistic people who purposely drain us (2 Timothy 4:14-15). We can make decisions to place people in our lives who build us up and be cautious of those who drain us (Proverbs 27:3, 5-6, 9, 17). 

Once again, if you’re not thinking healthy thoughts, check your emotional inputs: Do I have healthy people investing in my life? Am I sharpening the iron of others? 

Finally, let’s not forget the mental inputs. Computer programmers are well aware of the acronym GIGO: garbage in, garbage out. If you don’t like the results that are coming out, check what is going in. The apostle Paul gives us an outstanding checklist in Philippians 4:8. 

If your mental health isn’t as healthy as you would like it to be, perhaps you need to talk to your doctor about your physical health, or a mature spiritual friend about your spiritual health, or a Christian counselor about your emotional health. As you consult with these wise people, continue to pray for God’s help. As your Creator, He knows you better than anyone else could and He can give you the wisdom you need as you check your inputs. 

This is part 5 in our series on a Christian’s mental health. If you’ve missed any of the other messages I’ve shared, you can find them all by clicking here. 

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Intimacy Expands Our Influence

May 29, 2023 — Craig T. Owens

Listen to the podcast of this post by clicking on the player below, and you can also subscribe on Apple, Spotify, or Audible. 

Let’s say you are thinking about buying a particular book. Are you more likely to buy that book because the author says it’s good, because a book reviewer says it’s good, or because a close friend says it’s good? I think all of us give more weight to the suggestions from our friends, especially because they have nothing to gain from making that suggestion.  

In the same way, when someone close to us says, “I know from personal experience that following Jesus is the best decision that I have ever made. Making Jesus my Lord and Savior has completely changed everything for me,” it’s easier for us to make that same decision for ourselves. 

The deeper the level of our intimacy with someone usually means we have more influence with them. 

The Holy Spirit is as much a Person as Jesus. As much as Jesus dominates the pages of the Gospels, the Holy Spirit dominates the pages of The Book of Acts. 

Jesus told us all about the Holy Spirit when He was discussing His ascension. He wasn’t going to leave us as orphans, but told us of the intimate connection the Spirit would make for us. For instance, Jesus said, “And I will ask the Father, and He will give you another Counselor to be with you for ever—the Spirit of Truth” (John 14:16-17). 

Notice that Jesus considers the Holy Spirit an irreplaceable and coequal part of the Godhead—I will ask the Father, and He will give you another Counselor (see also Matthew 3:16-17; Luke 10:21; Matthew 28:19).  

The word Jesus uses for Counselor is parakletos. This means One who comes alongside to help us. I like all the words the Amplified Bible uses: “Comforter—Counselor, Helper, Intercessor, Advocate, Strengthener, and Standby.” Indeed, Luke records numerous instances where the Holy Spirit is alongside Christians to strengthen and encourage them (for instance: Acts 4:8, 6:10, 9:31).

Notice as well that Jesus tells us that as a part of the Trinity the Holy Spirit is eternal: “to be with you for ever.” Because the Holy Spirit is fully God, He knows the end from before the beginning. His perspective is infinite, so He can guide us in ways that only One who can see everything could guide us. For example, He leads us to places we might not have chosen on our own (Luke 4:1; Acts 8:29), or stops us from going somewhere at the wrong time (Acts 16:7), or talking with people we might have overlooked (Acts 10:19, 11:12). 

Jesus also calls the Him the Spirit of Truth. He reveals things that we could not have perceived with our natural minds (see Acts 5:1-9). 

And Jesus calls the Holy Spirit a great Teacher, “The Counselor, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in My name, will teach you all things and will remind you of everything I have said to you” (John 14:26). So we see the Holy Spirit helping us apply Scripture to our prayers (Acts 4:25-26) and to incredibly complex and delicate situations (Acts 11:15-18, 15:1-21). 

The Holy Spirit is not a force to fear but a Person to know ever more intimately. 

When our lives are transformed and expanding because of an intimate, ongoing, vibrate relationship with the Holy Spirit, we are witness (Acts 1:8). You cannot exhaust all that the Spirit has for you, so keep abiding and growing in that intimate relationship. Let it be said of you as it was said of Peter and John: “We can tell you have been with Jesus!” (Acts 4:13). 

I’ve said this before, but I’m going to keep on saying it—Don’t stop at salvation, but press on to be baptized in the Holy Spirit. Then allow Him to transform the way you think, love, and live! 

If you’ve missed any of the messages in our series called We Are: Pentecostal, you can find them all by clicking here. 

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Jesus In The Seven Feasts

May 22, 2023 — Craig T. Owens

Listen to the podcast of this post by clicking on the player below, and you can also subscribe on Apple, Spotify, or Audible. 

Douglas Carmel from Rock Of Israel ministries shared an amazing overview of the seven Jewish feasts that are listed in the Book of Leviticus, and how Jesus is the fulfillment of all of these feasts. Doug was born into a Jewish family and became a Christian in his late teens, so he has firsthand knowledge of both the traditional celebrations and the Christian understanding of these feasts. 

One of the things I appreciated was Doug’s explanation that the feasts were merely a shadow of the reality—Jesus is the Reality! 

Please check out the message he shared at Calvary Assembly of God. I encourage you to visit his website to get more information on all of the ministries Rock Of Israel. 

Passover—celebrated on the 14th day of the first month 

  • Leviticus 23:4-5
  • Matthew 26:17-29; Mark 14:12-26; Luke 22:7-20
  • Jesus was crucified on the same day that the Passover lamb was being sacrificed 

Unleavened Bread—celebrated on the 15th day of the first month

  • Leviticus 23:6
  • 1 Corinthians 5:6-9

Firstfruits—celebrated on the 16th day of the first month (or the day after the Sabbath) 

  • Leviticus 23:9-14 
  • 1 Corinthians 15:12-26 

Seven Weeks—celebrated 50 days after Firstfruits 

  • Leviticus 23:15-21 
  • Also known as Pentecost 
  • Acts 2:1-41

Doug called our attention to the calendar on which these feasts appeared. Passover, Unleavened Bread, Firstfruits, and Seven Weeks all happen in the spring. All four of these feasts have already been fulfilled in the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus. 

There are no feasts in the summer months, as these are the months of field work (Leviticus 23:22). This is where we are now, which is why Jesus told us, “Ask the Lord of the harvest, therefore, to send out workers into His harvest field” (Matthew 9:38). This is the time for us to tell others about Jesus the Messiah! 

The final three feasts appear in the autumn—Trumpets, Atonement, and Tabernacles. These are feasts that are still to be fulfilled at Christ’s Second Advent. 

Trumpets—celebrated on the 1st day of the seventh month

  • Leviticus 23:23-25 
  • This is also known as Rosh Hashanah when the shofar is blown 
  • 1 Corinthians 15:51-53; 1 Thessalonians 4:15-18

Atonement—celebrated on the 10th day of the seventh month

  • Leviticus 23:26-32 
  • This is also known as Yom Kippur—the one day of the year the high priest goes into the Holy of Holies 
  • Romans 11:25-32; Matthew 23:39 

Tabernacles—celebrated on the 15th through the 21st days of the seventh month

Jesus said of Himself, “I am the Alpha and the Omega, who is, and who was, and who is to come, the Almighty” (Revelation 1:8). Jesus is THE Reality and THE Fulfillment of all of these celebrations! 

(Check out all of the Scripture verses I listed above by clicking here.) 

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Whose Words Have Weight?

May 9, 2023 — Craig T. Owens

Listen to the podcast of this post by clicking on the player below, and you can also subscribe on Apple, Spotify, or Audible. 

A teacher of the law asked Jesus an important question. In essence, he asks, “There are a lot of commandments in the Scripture. If I have to give a student the most basic of instruction, which of the commandments is the most vital?” 

The response from Jesus is especially important for two reasons: 

  1. Which commandments He listed
  2. The relatively few words He spoke 

Check out His short reply—

The most important one, is this: “Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one. Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength.” The second is this: “Love your neighbor as yourself.” There is no commandment greater than these. (Mark 12:29-31)

In this sermon from Jesus, He speaks a total of 57 words. Notice the breakdown of the words He spoke:

  • Words from Scripture: 40 words 
  • His own words: 17 words

I wonder how many times we get this reversed? How many times do we share a short passage from the Bible and then use a whole bunch of our own words to try to explain the Scripture? Do we think the Holy Spirit needs our help to illuminate the inspired Word? 

Solomon warned twice of the dangers of “many words” (Ecclesiastes 5:3, 7), and Jesus said that if we think a lot of words spoken in prayer makes that prayer effective, we are really just babbling (Matthew 6:7). 

The teacher of the law is astounded at this sermon Jesus delivered. He speaks almost as many words as Jesus (52 words), but nearly all of his words are simply repeating what Jesus had said. Jesus said this man’s synopsis of His message was “wise” and indicated that he was “not far from the kingdom of God” (Mark 12:32-34). 

When we are asked questions about the Bible, let’s let the Bible do most of the talking. Let’s be careful that our attitude is not one of trying to “help” the Holy Spirit, but let’s rely on the Holy Spirit to help us know what Scripture to quote, what limited commentary to share, and when to be silent to allow the Word to do its irresistible work. 

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Unity Enhances Our Witness

May 1, 2023 — Craig T. Owens

Listen to the podcast of this post by clicking on the player below, and you can also subscribe on Apple, Spotify, or Audible. 

Last week we mentioned that one of the things the Holy Spirit did after the Day of Pentecost was to unite individual Christians into the Church. In a world divided by religious and political factions, the unity of the Christians set them apart. Is our culture any different? Of course not! So the unity that the Holy Spirit brings is just as vital today. 

In Psalm 133, David longs for this unity among believers. This psalm is in the collection of “Songs of Ascent.” That means that pilgrims to Jerusalem sang these songs as they literally went up the hill to Jerusalem. Psalm 133 opens with David singing, “How good and pleasant it is when brothers and sisters live together in unity” (v. 1). 

Maybe David thought back to the time when people were joining him to give him support as king—David went out to meet them and said to them, “If you have come peaceably to me to help me, my heart shall be knit to you…” (1 Chronicles 12:17 AMP). In the next two verses of Psalm 133, David explains how this unity from being knit together is seen as a blessing. 

Last week, we talked about the blessing of peace the priests pronounced on the people. That word for “peace” is shalom which could be defined as “nothing missing.” But couldn’t we also say that shalom is “no one missing”? Yes, because each and every part of the Body of Christ is vital and indispensable! 

We see this same unity when the followers of Jesus were baptized in the Holy Spirit on the Day of Pentecost. Acts 2:1 says these Christians were “all together” (or some translations say “one accord”). This is one word in Greek (homothumadon) which describes the beauty of unity. One Greek dictionary defines this word,  “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 concert under the direction of a concert master, so the Holy Spirit blends together the lives of members of Christ’s church.”

This picture of a majestic musical is further amplified in the next verses of Acts 2 where people from all over the world heard these Christians praising God in their own native tongues. Luke goes on to use homothumadon again and again throughout Acts to show what a powerful testimony their unity was to the watching world.  

Paul emphasized the need for unity in the Church when he wrote—

As a prisoner for the Lord, then, I urge you to live a life worthy of the calling you have received. Be completely humble and gentle; be patient, bearing with one another in love. Make every effort to keep the unity of the Spirit through the bond of peace. There is one body and one Spirit, just as you were called to one hope when you were called; one Lord, one faith, one baptism; one God and Father of all, who is over all and through all and in all. (Ephesians 4:1-6) 

How does the Holy Spirit help us handle our differences and keep this unity? We first need the Spirit’s help to distinguish whether it’s a biblical, unbiblical, or non-biblical issue. 

  • Biblical issues must send us back to the Bible to find the truth (2 Timothy 3:16-17). 
  • Unbiblical issues—where a brother or sister is living in a way contrary to Scripture—call on us to speak the truth in love and correct in love only after allowing the Holy Spirit to examine our own lives (Ephesians 4:15; Matthew 7:1-5; James 5:19-20). Notice that we are to do this with fellow brothers and sisters, not with those outside the Church.  
  • Non-biblical issues are the trickiest. These are issues over which we should immediately stop fighting as we defer to the weakest brother or sister (Romans 12:10, 14:19-21).  

(I wrote much more about biblical, unbiblical, and non-biblical issues here, and how to correctly apply the principle of confrontation here.)

The Church needs this unity today. We need to be in “one accord.” In a world divided by religious and political factions, our unity enhances our witness.

If you’ve missed any of the messages in our series We Are: Pentecostal, you can check them all out by clicking here. 

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