I invite you to take your copy of the scriptures and turn to Psalm 133. Psalm 133, and our goal and our desire this morning, and just reordering the schedule, is that our singing, and we'll sing at the end of the service today, will really flow out of what we've heard from the word of God, and really be a response to the word of God here this morning. Psalm 133. We're gonna use verse one as somewhat of a springboard here this morning. Behold, how good and how pleasant it is for brethren to dwell together in unity. Father, we are grateful for your word. It's your word, not my words. But it is your words that have authority and have power over us. And Lord, I pray this morning that we would have a submissive spirit to your truth. That we would gladly and willingly place ourselves underneath your truth. and that we would have a desire to live out the truths that we'll look at today. God, please help us to understand your truth, to apply it, may it be manifested in our lives, I pray in Jesus' name, amen. You know, there's an old adage that goes something like this. the world would be a perfect place if it wasn't for people, right? Yeah. But this is the fact of the matter. There's over seven billion of us on planet Earth today. And not a one of us is perfect, right? Not a one of us, which in human relationships, leaves room for all types of miscommunications, misunderstandings, immature attitudes, bitterness, anger, a lack of love, and a lack of grace. And when biblical truth is not applied to these maladies, there can be a splintering, a fracturing of relationships. It happens in marriages. It happens in families. It happens in friendships. It happens in employee-employer relationships. It can even happen in the church. And so, for all of these reasons, I've really just sensed the Spirit of God just moving in my heart this week, just to put a little pause on our study in the Sermon on the Mount, and Lord willing, we'll be back there next Sunday, and just look at some reminders from the Word of God. Reminders about unity in the church, how that's achieved, and how it's maintained. reminders of how we should respond and address conflict in our relationships with other people, and the importance of applying and living in accordance to biblical truth. I've got a lot I want to share with you, and so I'm gonna move fairly rapidly this morning, and so you hang on, think together, stick together, and I think this will be a profitable time this morning. I just want to start out with a definition of unity in the church. Unity in the church is a pervasive spirit of oneness, agreement, and harmony that exists within a church. Now, I want to be real clear this morning, and I think this will be clear as we go along, that that doesn't mean that we are all cookie-cutter people, that we all look at things exactly alike. But there's a sense of harmony, there's a sense of unity in the body of Christ. And so that's just a simple definition of unity in the church. I want us to notice several important passages from the word of God that I think will indicate the importance of unity to God. The importance of unity in the church. And one passage is the passage that I read at the outset. Psalm 133 and verse one. Behold, how good and how pleasant it is for brethren to dwell together in unity. You could say it like this, how excellent and what a sweet delight it is for brethren to function in a close intimate association with others in harmony. That would be just another way of stating that verse and showing the importance to God of believers working together in a harmonious way. You know, Paul writes about this in Romans 15, verses 5 through 7. Now, the God of patience and consolation grant you to be like-minded one toward another according to Christ Jesus, that ye may with one mind and one mouth glorify God. Even the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, wherefore receive or accept ye one another as Christ also received us to the glory of God." The idea of receiving there is accepting one another with love and without a critical or judgmental spirit. Paul writes again about this in 1 Corinthians 1, in verse 10. When Paul says that you speak the same things, I believe he's referring to doctrinal unity. that there be a oneness in your belief and what you're communicating about your belief from the word of God. And he says that you're to be perfectly joined together. Now the idea of this particular phrase is this. that there was something that was disjointed, there was a division, and it's put back together. So I think the indication here in this text for the Corinthian people is that there was some splintering, there was some divisions, and he's saying, look, that needs to be rectified, and you need to be perfectly or completely joined together. And he says that you be of the same mind. That's talking about each one of us thinking according to biblical truth, and that there's the same judgment. There's external decisions based on biblical truth. And not just decisions, but really actions based on biblical truth. And both the thinking and the decision-making process are guided by biblical truth. And then Ephesians 4, 1 through 6. I therefore, the prisoner of the Lord, beseech you that you walk worthy of the vocation wherewith you are called, that you live in a manner that is representative of who you are in Jesus Christ. With all lowliness and meekness, there would be a humility of spirit. With long-suffering and forbearing as patience, forbearing one another in love, endeavoring to keep the unity of the spirit and the bond of peace. There is one body and one spirit, even as ye are called in one hope of your calling, one Lord, one faith, one baptism, one God and Father of all, who is above all and through all and in you all. You know, I counted up how many times Paul uses the word one in that text. It occurs seven times. You think he's making a point? I think so. And that point is, there needs to be a oneness, there needs to be a unity in the body of Christ. And Paul follows up this thought in another text, and that'll lead to our second point here this morning, is not only the importance of unity in the church, but a plea for unity in the church. A plea for unity. And we find this in Philippians 2 and verse 2. He says, fulfill ye my joy that ye be like-minded, having the same love, being of one accord, of one mind. And so he's writing to this church in the city of Philippi, and he's saying, look, first of all, I want you to know that I would be joyful. that while I'm here in prison, while I'm penning this letter to you from prison, that I would get word, that I would hear that there is sweet unity in the body of Christ. That's what would excite Paul. He says, look, I want you to be like-minded, to think the same thing. It speaks of right thinking based on the word of God. It's a plea for unity, not uniformity. All right, this is a simple illustration, but how many of you like chocolate ice cream? That would be your favorite ice cream. All right, a lot of chocolate lovers out there, all right. How many of you would say your preference would be mint chocolate chip? Oh yeah, that's mine, okay, all right. How many of you would just like plain old vanilla? Okay, very good. There's not uniformity there, is it? You know, we all have our preferences, we all have our likes, we all have our dislikes. That's because we're people. and we have individual personalities. And so Paul is not saying within the body of Christ that there has to be a uniformity, that everybody's just a cookie cutter, and you think just alike, and you speak just alike, and you look just alike. That's not what he's saying, but there needs to be with that diversity a sweet spirit of unity within the body of Christ. So to be like-minded. Secondly, to be loving. He says that we are to love others equally and as God loves us. I've mentioned to you before, it's just the fact of the matter, as human beings, we find some people easier to love than others. But he's saying this, we've got to love each other equally as God loves us. And then thirdly, he says, be of one accord. To be united in spirit. Literally, the word united means one-souled. It's the only occurrence of this particular word in the New Testament. And it's like that we are to be linked together like a chain, that if you've ever worked with like a big log chain or something like that, that's sizable and the links are strong, they're all together, that's the picture of what Paul is saying here, that we need to be of one accord, we need to be linked together. And then he comes back to the idea of our thinking, to have one mind, and I think the, intent is on one purpose of thinking, and really, as he follows it up in this text, to have the mind of Christ. To have the mind of Christ. In Philippians 2, verses three and four, and I don't have this passage on the screen this morning, so just listen carefully. He says, let nothing be done through strife or vain glory, but in lowliness of mind, let each esteem other better than themselves. Look not every man on his own things, but every man also on the things of others. Just in the passages that we've already looked at this morning, there's a consistent theme, there's a consistent pattern. Humility, lowliness, meekness, gentleness, and that we're striving for unity in the body of Christ. And so Paul makes a plea for unity. And then he writes in 2 Corinthians chapter 12, really giving an illustration of when the above characteristics, the one we just talked about from Philippians 2.2, they're absent, they're non-existent. And he says, for I fear lest when I come I shall not find you such as I would, and that I shall be found unto you such as you would not, lest there be debates. envyings, wraths, strifes, backbitings, whisperings, swellings, and tumults. That's a picture, that's an illustration of when Philippians 2.2 is not applied. When there's not a like-mindedness, when there's an absence of love, there's an absence of being of one accord and of one mind, the mind of Jesus Christ. What are some important ingredients for unity in the church? I wanna draw our attention here for this section of the message to James chapter three, and I'll have these passages on the screen for you this morning. In James, and when we went through the book of James some time back, we parked on this for a little while, and so this is not brand new territory, but I think it merits rehearsing this morning. James chapter three, verses 14 to 16. But if you have bitter envying and strife in your hearts, glory not. and lie not against the truth. This wisdom descendeth not from above, but is earthly, it's sensual, and it's devilish. For where envying and strife is, there is confusion and every evil work." I think the first important ingredient for unity in the church is we've got to reject human wisdom. We've got to reject human wisdom. In part, human wisdom is characterized in this text by bitter envying. James writes, if ye have, and really it points to a condition that already exists and it needs to stop. And it needs to stop now, in essence, is what James is saying. And the idea of bitter envying is the idea of pointed, sharp, harsh, resentful spirits and attitudes. In verse 11, earlier in the chapter, it is used to depict salty, undrinkable water. And so really, in this verse, it's used as figurative and refers to a harsh, sharp, distasteful, resentful attitude. And of course, the idea of jealousy is the idea of envying and seeking what's best for yourself rather than seeking what's best for someone else. This bitter envying is a passionate desire to have the position or the possession or the influence that someone else possesses. And so he says, look, human wisdom is characterized by a resentful, bitter, jealous spirit. Then number two, he says that it's characterized by strife. This would be selfish ambition, division, or faction. It's a party spirit. It's really the spirit that says, I want my way. Some of you have children or grandchildren that are around that two to three age. And what do they often do? I want my way. And whether they verbalize that expressly, or they manifest it by their actions, that's what they're communicating. You know, you can have 16 toys out, and the one that's taken from them is the one they want, and you know, I want my toy. You know, sometimes as adults, we're not too far from that spirit. I want my way. I want things according to how I see it. And James says that's human wisdom. This can be a spirit which attempts to get people on your side, within a church setting or even in your home. This can be a spirit within that says, I want what I want and I'll do whatever it takes to get it. I will hurt people who love me. I will ignore godly counsel. I will ignore the truth of God's word. and it's just characteristic of human earthly wisdom. Now I wanna go back to our text and I'll show it to you here on the screen this morning from James and kind of round out this portion. It says that this is in your hearts. Attached to both bitter jealousy and strife is an inward malignant malady that manifests itself in outward attitudes and actions. You know, it starts in our heart, and then it's manifested outwardly. And James says, hey, don't glory. Don't pride yourself in this. Don't be arrogant. And lie not against the truth. God's truth is bearing over us. We can't ignore that. We can't act as though it doesn't exist. We can't say, hey, you know, I'm justified in my bitterness. I'm justified in my causing of division and strife. We can't do that because of God's Word and the authority that it has in our life. Because God says bitterness and strife And you see, he reminds us that this wisdom doesn't come from God. It doesn't descend from above, but it's earthly. It is an attitude that is earthbound, really characteristic of someone who doesn't, at least at that moment, have any consideration for what God says. It's sensual, it's natural, it's unspiritual, we might say. It's not by sensual saying this is a gross lust of the flesh, but really denotes essentially that which is human, that which is non-spiritual. And it's devilish. It's the manner in which a demon would act. That's strong language, but that's exactly what James is conveying here. It's the manner in which a demon would act. It's the proceeding from a demon or an evil spirit. The root source of this earthly sensual pseudo-wisdom is Satan himself. And what happens when we practice human wisdom? James says there is confusion. There's a state of instability. There's disarray. There's disruption of peace due to dispute or disorderly conduct. It refers to chaos within groups of believers. False wisdom, this pseudo-wisdom, does not foster harmony and fellowship among believers. It destroys it. Can I say this this morning? When this type of behavior exists in the body of Christ, it does immeasurable harm to the work of God. You know, this place, this church, is not about me, it's not about any other pastoral staff member, any staff member, it's not about any individual one of us here this morning, because what we're trying to accomplish here is a whole lot bigger than any one of us. It's about God. It's about His work. It's about His kingdom. It's about giving glory and honor to Him. It's about having a good testimony in this community. It's about reaching this community with the gospel of Jesus Christ. And when there's division, and when there's strife, man, there's just havoc that is reaped. on those efforts, it really draws our attention away from what's really, really important. He says there's confusion and there's every evil work. In other words, no good comes from these types of attitudes and behaviors. And really, all types of wrong and evil can come from it. And he says, that should not be. So if we are to reject human wisdom, the opposite of that is embracing godly wisdom. And he gives a description of that in verse 17. But the wisdom that is from above is first pure. than peaceable and gentle and easy to be entreated, full of mercy and good fruits, without partiality and without hypocrisy. There's eight characteristics here and I'll go through them very rapidly. First, it is pure. It's the same word that comes from the word holy or is descriptive of being holy. There's a holiness that goes along with God's wisdom. It's free from contamination or defilement. How do I know if I possess godly wisdom? One way would be to ask this question. Are my attitudes and actions pure before God? That's godly wisdom if we can answer in the affirmative to that. Then they're peaceable. It is a desire to avoid disputes and discord and promote peace between people and between individuals and your relationships with them. We need to address problems. As I spoke a few weeks ago on blessed are the peacemakers, I really stressed, we do not run from problems, we can't ignore problems, but we must come at it with a peaceable right. Spirit. And then James says that godly wisdom is gentle. It's equitable. It's forbearing. It's courteous. It's considerate. It conveys respect for the feelings of others. Number four is a sweet reasonableness. What James uses in the phrase he uses is easy to be entreated. What that means is there's a sweet reasonableness, a willingness to be submissive, a willingness to yield without a nasty, ugly spirit. It's one who's teachable, one who's compliant, one who's not stubborn. You know, we all appreciate somebody who, when there's a sense of conflict, that there's a sweet reasonableness. Hey, let's seek resolution. Let's seek restitution. And that should be the spirit of every one of us if we're applying godly wisdom, that there's a sweet reasonableness in our spirit. And then number five is mercy. It's a willingness to forgive, a consistent display of compassion towards others. And as we looked at some weeks ago about blessed are the merciful, that it's compassion in action. It's not just having compassion, but it's compassion in action. And then he said there's good fruits. There's all types of beneficial things that come from godly wisdom. There's a plethora of fruits, of characteristics that are born out of having this type of wisdom and practicing it. He says there's no partiality, literally no division. There's no favoritism, does not draw conclusions without hearing both sides of the story. does not treat a situation one way over here and treat it completely different over here. There's no partiality, there's no division, there's no hypocrisy, no insincerity, pretense, or duplicity. There's nothing that we're trying to keep under wraps or undercover. We're just open, we're transparent, we're honest in our spirit. And so we must We must embrace godly wisdom. And we must reject human wisdom. And I think in all of our relationships that when we are heading down a spirit of bitterness, heading down that type of road, a spirit of strife, There's got to be some alarms and bells and whistles going off in our heart and in our head that says, you know what? This is human wisdom. And God, I need by your grace godly wisdom that is pure and peaceable and gentle, et cetera. Thirdly, we must be willing to forgive. We must be willing to forgive. Paul writes about this in Ephesians chapter 4, 31 to 32, let all bitterness and wrath and anger and clamor and evil speaking be put away from you with all malice and be kind one to another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another. even as God, for Christ's sake, hath forgiven you. He's saying, look, you've got to set aside bitterness. That deep-seated resentfulness in your spirit, you have got to set that aside. Because it is wrong, it's sin, it's wicked. Gotta set it aside, the idea of bitterness. is a smoldering, deep-seated resentment, a grudge-filled attitude that keeps a score of wrongs. In years of ministry, there's been many times where I've sat down, particularly in marriage counseling, and boy, is there a score that's kept. Typically not written down, but it's right here, and it's right here. And there can be a rapid rehearsing of wrongs done by the other person. And that's not only in marriages, but there are scores that are kept in relationships. There's a tally that happens. And each time that individual does one more thing that bothers you or upsets you, you just add to the tally. And Paul is saying, look, by God's grace, that's got to be wiped away. That needs to be non-existent in our relationships. Hebrews 12 and verse 15 says, looking diligently, lest any man fail of the grace of God, lest any root of bitterness springing up trouble you, and thereby many be defiled. In the context of this particular verse, I believe Paul is addressing arrogant, defiant apostates in the church. But I think there's a broad general application about bitterness, that whenever there's a deep-seated resentful spirit that resides within our hearts, it's going to have a damaging effect on many, many, many people. He says that we're not only to put away bitterness, but also wrath, which is wild rage. It's just blowing up. It's kind of, we might say, letting it all out. Then anger, which is more of an internal, smoldering anger, keeping it all inside. Clamor is a complete loss of control. It's screaming and shouting. Evil speaking is slander, saying unkind, untrue things about someone out of a bitter heart. Malice is a general term for evil. And so he's saying, look, all of these things need to be put away from you by God's grace. And what needs to be in existence is this, that there's a kindness, There's a graciousness, there's a willingness to serve, there's a tenderheartedness, there's compassion, and there needs to be forgiveness. Forgiveness simply means letting loose. Taking the offense and letting it go. Loosing it, not holding onto it. Not holding it over someone else, but letting it go. And we are to forgive as God, for Christ's sake, hath forgiven us. How have we been forgiven by God? We've been forgiven completely. We've been forgiven everything when we are a believer in Jesus Christ. And that's how we are to forgive other people. Now, occasionally I'll have somebody say to me, you know, I can't forgive so-and-so for what they've done. And I realize there are things that are done to us by other human beings that are unspeakable and unthinkable. But by the grace of God, there must be a step. There must be a willingness to allow God to work forgiveness in our hearts. and that we take those steps, and sometimes it's a process to get there, but that we eventually get to the place where we can say, I forgive you. That's what God wants from us. And then fourthly, We need to be willing to seek resolution for personal offenses. Resolution for personal offenses. You know, we looked at this text not too many months ago. I want to rehearse it just real quickly. Matthew 18, 15 through 17. Moreover, if thy brother shall trespass against thee, go and tell him his fault between thee and him alone. And if he shall hear thee, thou hast gained thy brother. But if he will not hear thee, Then take with thee one or two more, that in the mouth of two or three witnesses every word may be established. And if he shall neglect to hear them, tell it unto the church. And if he neglect to hear the church, let him be unto thee as an heathen man and a publican." We are given a four-step process. And the first one being that if someone has offended you, that you go to him and him You know what our tendency is sometimes? Well, you know, I think I need to talk to so-and-so about this. Now, there is room and there is place to get godly counsel, but I question whether we need four or five or six godly counselors. You understand my meaning? That we don't need to just go around and yak about a personal offense to a whole bunch of other people and really never go to the one who has offended us and address it and seek resolution. That's just simply gossip when we don't do that. And gossip is harmful and hurtful to the body of Christ. And there may be times where you feel like going to that individual will do no good. It won't change anything. It won't fix anything. But you know what? It's still the biblical right thing to do. And we just sometimes have to do the hard thing. We have to look at scripture and say, look, am I gonna place myself under the Bible or not? Am I gonna submit my spirit and my heart to God's truth or not? And just simply do the right thing. And I wonder how many conflicts could be resolved if this one step was practiced on a regular basis. And you know, when we do gossip, when we choose to just yak about it to a bunch of other people, Proverbs 11, 13 says, a tale bearer revealeth secrets, but he that is of a faithful spirit concealeth the matter. Hey, I don't need to talk to 16 different people about this. Primarily, I need to talk to one person about this and get this settled. You know, there was a time where Paul publicly was trying to help two ladies get things worked out. Apparently, their dispute was public within the church at Philippi. Apparently, they just couldn't get along, and so when Paul writes in the book of Philippians, he says, I beseech, I am urging, I am begging, Iodias and Syntyche, that they may be of the same mind in the Lord. These ladies were members of the church. Their conflict was likely not a doctrinal issue, I think Paul would have addressed that, but it was likely a personal issue. And he's just urging them to be of the same mind. This is a plea for harmony. It's a plea for unity. So in this particular case, Paul addressed an issue of personal conflict in the church. I just wanna mention this this morning as we wrap this up. As pastors in our church, myself, Pastor Bishop, Pastor Aleman, we attempt to regularly and consistently and graciously and lovingly address areas of need as we know about them. And we try our best to do that. We try to not, at any point, at any time, take a stick-your-head-in-the-sand approach to things. You know what I mean by that? That we just are ignoring them, we're overlooking them. We try to biblically and patiently disciple people and help them come to a place where they can bring themselves under the truth of God's word. That's ministry to people. And certainly that's pastoral ministry, but that's ministry for all of us to be involved with. You know, sometimes in working with people, there can be an outcome that's less than desirable. And it can lead to talking, It can lead sometimes to miscommunication, misinformation, wrong assumptions. Maybe it doesn't even go to a preconceived timetable. All those things can come into play. And I just want to make this plea with you this morning. If there are things that arise in this body, that cause questions or concerns. Please, please come to myself, come to Pastor Bishop, come to Pastor Aleman. Our doors are open. We will willingly and gladly sit down and talk. We will listen. We will give answers to your questions and to your concerns, but Far better is it to do that than maybe to listen to talk where there's just wrong assumptions and misinformation. And we truly want to be a help and to be a blessing to bring clarity to any issues that arise along the way. So bring this full circle. What's the definition of unity in the church? It's a pervasive spirit of oneness. It's an agreement and harmony that exists within a body. That's what pleases and honors God. That's what pleases God in our relationships with one another. Is this an important thing? I just shared a handful of verses with you this morning. I think it's a really big deal to God. You know, we serve a God who is one. There's a unity in the Trinity. And that oneness, that desire for oneness spills right down to where we live. It's a big deal to God. And there are some important ingredients. And that we have to reject human wisdom. And we have to embrace godly wisdom. There must be a willingness to forgive other people. And there must be a willingness to seek biblical resolution to personal offenses. and apply the principles of Matthew 18. I want to read Ephesians 4, 1 through 6 as we bring the message to a close again. And this is a passage we've already looked at, but I think it bears rereading. Endeavoring to keep the unity of the spirit and the bond of peace, There is one body and one spirit, even as you are called in one hope of your calling, one Lord, one faith, one baptism, one God and Father of all who is above all and through all and in you all. By God's grace, may each one of us Seek unity in this place. Seek unity in our relationships. Seek unity in our marriages. Seek unity in our families. Seek unity in all of our relationships. Certainly here in the body of Christ, because it's a really, really big deal to God. Father, this morning, we've looked at this most important subject of unity. And Father, in the quietness of this moment, I pray that every one of us would just do some simple introspection and ask ourselves, am I an agent for peacemaking or am I an agent for peacebreaking? Is there bitterness in my spirit and in my heart? is their strife. God, help us to see that as human wisdom. Lord, I pray that there would be a wisdom that is pervasive in our hearts and our lives and manifested that is pure and peaceable and gentle and there's a sweet, sweet reasonableness and that out of it produced all kinds of good fruits. Lord, as I stated earlier in the message, That this goes way beyond, way, way beyond any one of us. But it's your kingdom, your work that is at stake. It's bringing honor and glory to you that's really important. It's, with a good testimony in this community, sending out the good message of the gospel of Jesus Christ. And Father, I pray that you would help us realize this morning that we could potentially be harming your work that you want to do in this place if there is a spirit of bitterness and strife. God, please help us to set that aside. Help us to be willing to forgive. Help us to be willing to seek resolution to personal offenses. And I pray this in Jesus' name, amen.