1 00:00:09,880 --> 00:00:12,880 Welcome to the podcast of the White Church in Adelaide, South 2 00:00:12,880 --> 00:00:16,760 Australia. I've got to change what I what I 3 00:00:16,760 --> 00:00:19,520 wanted to do because, and I want to give you context for it 4 00:00:19,520 --> 00:00:22,760 because it doesn't happen often. I'm very much a person who comes 5 00:00:22,760 --> 00:00:26,240 and kind of like I've prayed. I know what I want to share, but 6 00:00:26,360 --> 00:00:28,960 the Bible is very clear that we see in part, we don't 7 00:00:28,960 --> 00:00:32,840 necessarily see the whole thing. And I feel this morning there 8 00:00:32,840 --> 00:00:35,960 has been this theme we gathered to gathered this morning to pray 9 00:00:36,480 --> 00:00:39,640 and Hillary came in and said, Hey, I've really feel the unity. 10 00:00:40,320 --> 00:00:42,160 I really feel unity over this morning. 11 00:00:43,400 --> 00:00:46,040 And then Anne's coming up with a word that says, Hey, you know, 12 00:00:46,040 --> 00:00:48,800 David and Jonathan in, in unified covenant with each 13 00:00:48,800 --> 00:00:53,240 other. Like, thank God I, I had 14 00:00:53,240 --> 00:00:57,160 something ages ago on unity and like, I had something different. 15 00:00:57,160 --> 00:00:58,920 I wanted to preach. But I feel maybe this morning, 16 00:00:58,920 --> 00:01:02,000 let's just actually, let's talk about this idea of unity 17 00:01:02,400 --> 00:01:05,640 because, well, actually, why don't you open your Bibles to 18 00:01:05,640 --> 00:01:08,760 Psalm 133? This is whenever we talk about 19 00:01:08,760 --> 00:01:11,880 unity, this is kind of where we we sit as a Psalm. 20 00:01:13,000 --> 00:01:16,040 It's one of the great chapters in the Bible that speaks of 21 00:01:16,040 --> 00:01:20,120 unity. And to me, it's just an 22 00:01:20,120 --> 00:01:24,800 incredible picture of what happens when God's people live 23 00:01:25,520 --> 00:01:27,960 in unity. And if you remember a couple of 24 00:01:27,960 --> 00:01:31,600 months ago, we talked about our eight building blocks to build 25 00:01:31,600 --> 00:01:35,440 God's house. And the first one that we see 26 00:01:35,440 --> 00:01:38,400 when these people gathered together to build God's house 27 00:01:38,840 --> 00:01:40,600 was that they came together in unity. 28 00:01:40,840 --> 00:01:44,240 They came together side by side that had one purpose, one mind. 29 00:01:44,480 --> 00:01:46,400 We're going to build God's house together. 30 00:01:47,040 --> 00:01:50,360 And so it is essential, you see, even at the beginning of the 31 00:01:50,400 --> 00:01:54,520 early church, it says they all gathered together in one place. 32 00:01:54,920 --> 00:01:57,720 They all gathered together with one mind, with one purpose, with 33 00:01:57,720 --> 00:02:01,360 one heart. So this idea of unity is central 34 00:02:01,360 --> 00:02:04,920 to what God wants to do. And we'll look at that text as 35 00:02:04,920 --> 00:02:06,920 well. We'll look at where Jesus prays. 36 00:02:06,920 --> 00:02:09,240 A similar prayer, but I want to start here. 37 00:02:09,240 --> 00:02:16,360 In Psalm 133, it says, behold, how good and how pleasant it is 38 00:02:17,120 --> 00:02:19,080 when brothers dwell together in unity. 39 00:02:20,320 --> 00:02:26,360 It is like the precious oil upon the head running down on the 40 00:02:26,360 --> 00:02:29,760 beard, on the beard of Aaron, running down on the collar of 41 00:02:29,760 --> 00:02:31,040 his robes. We'll stop there. 42 00:02:31,680 --> 00:02:38,760 That is a, that is a lot of oil. That's like, if you, if you 43 00:02:38,760 --> 00:02:41,920 think about this context here, this is so when the scriptures 44 00:02:41,920 --> 00:02:45,520 talk of oil, it speaks of the anointing of God, It speaks of 45 00:02:45,520 --> 00:02:48,600 the Spirit of God, right? When we see that throughout the 46 00:02:48,600 --> 00:02:51,440 Scriptures, one of the pictures used to describe the anointing 47 00:02:51,440 --> 00:02:54,640 of God, right? We're not talking about a little 48 00:02:54,640 --> 00:02:59,520 bit of anointing here. For the oil to run down over 49 00:02:59,520 --> 00:03:04,080 somebody's beard, to run down his head, run down the collar of 50 00:03:04,080 --> 00:03:06,480 his robes. That's a lot of oil. 51 00:03:06,880 --> 00:03:12,040 That's a lot of anointing. Like when we walk together in 52 00:03:12,040 --> 00:03:15,840 unity, there's not just a little bit of what God wants to do. 53 00:03:16,320 --> 00:03:19,720 Like God can do incredible amounts of stuff when these 54 00:03:19,720 --> 00:03:24,520 people walk together in unity. When we walk in in division, God 55 00:03:24,520 --> 00:03:27,760 could do maybe a little bit. But when we come together in 56 00:03:27,760 --> 00:03:31,360 unity, when we come together with this is what we can expect 57 00:03:31,360 --> 00:03:33,920 God to do. We can expect there to be such 58 00:03:33,920 --> 00:03:38,160 an anointing in the place that it just runs down and, and out 59 00:03:38,160 --> 00:03:40,000 and over the beard and just runs out. 60 00:03:42,840 --> 00:03:45,160 Man, this is the pursuit. This is why we pursue unity. 61 00:03:45,160 --> 00:03:47,360 Because I'm sure all of us, we'd be like, man, I just want more 62 00:03:47,360 --> 00:03:50,440 of the anointing of God. I want more of the life of God 63 00:03:50,440 --> 00:03:52,720 in our meetings. I want more of the life of God 64 00:03:52,720 --> 00:03:55,600 in my family, man, for me to get there. 65 00:03:55,800 --> 00:03:59,640 Pursue unity at all costs. Pursue unity at all costs 66 00:03:59,880 --> 00:04:03,480 because this is a lot of oil. This is a lot of anointing oil. 67 00:04:04,080 --> 00:04:06,440 And that's what they used to do in the old, old covenant. 68 00:04:06,440 --> 00:04:09,040 We, we talk about anointing with oil and we might put a little 69 00:04:09,400 --> 00:04:13,120 dab or something, but when they anointed, they poured heaps of 70 00:04:13,120 --> 00:04:15,240 oil and it just ran down over the beard. 71 00:04:15,240 --> 00:04:18,839 It was dripping with anointing unity. 72 00:04:18,839 --> 00:04:22,720 When we walk in godly unity, it drips with the anointing of God. 73 00:04:23,360 --> 00:04:27,280 It just drips with it like it it causes like people look at it 74 00:04:27,280 --> 00:04:29,760 and they're going how does that even work because it's dripping 75 00:04:29,760 --> 00:04:33,440 with the anointing of God. So important. 76 00:04:34,480 --> 00:04:37,480 Next verse. It's like the Jew of Herman 77 00:04:37,480 --> 00:04:41,880 descending upon the mountains of Zion for there the Lord has 78 00:04:41,880 --> 00:04:46,200 commanded the blessing life forevermore. 79 00:04:46,200 --> 00:04:49,560 It is one of those things that God that brings the command of 80 00:04:49,560 --> 00:04:52,720 God like this is this to me is amazing, right? 81 00:04:53,440 --> 00:04:57,120 Like when we live in unity, it's not just like, you know, God 82 00:04:57,120 --> 00:05:02,240 might bless it if he wants to. It says where there is unity, 83 00:05:02,240 --> 00:05:06,320 God commands his blessing. Like it's a definitive from God. 84 00:05:06,960 --> 00:05:11,000 Like when there is godly unity, God speaks and doesn't just 85 00:05:11,000 --> 00:05:14,520 suggest that there might be might be blessing or anything 86 00:05:14,520 --> 00:05:16,600 like that. It's like God he commands his 87 00:05:16,600 --> 00:05:19,720 blessing to be present where there is unity, where there's 88 00:05:19,720 --> 00:05:22,280 godly unity. I think we do we need do need to 89 00:05:22,960 --> 00:05:25,880 make sure we kind of align this here that like sometimes what we 90 00:05:25,880 --> 00:05:29,840 think unity is and what God thinks unity is can be very 91 00:05:29,840 --> 00:05:32,680 different. Just because we are all seated 92 00:05:32,680 --> 00:05:36,640 in this room here together in one place does not necessarily 93 00:05:36,640 --> 00:05:42,120 mean we are in unity. We need to be in godly unity. 94 00:05:44,120 --> 00:05:47,080 Amen. God, godly unity is what what we 95 00:05:47,080 --> 00:06:05,370 need to be in so godly unity. Let me why don't we turn to one 96 00:06:05,370 --> 00:06:10,970 Samuel chapter 18, which is we this was talked about this 97 00:06:10,970 --> 00:06:18,890 morning and just speaks of unity and shared this this morning 98 00:06:19,690 --> 00:06:22,810 just around David and Jonathan. And I just wanted to see this 99 00:06:22,810 --> 00:06:26,320 because this is this is significant. 100 00:06:26,320 --> 00:06:29,120 The way that these guys walked in godly unity. 101 00:06:30,120 --> 00:06:33,680 Like this just wasn't just another friendship. 102 00:06:34,680 --> 00:06:37,800 Like I can say that I'm again, I can say that I'm in unity, but 103 00:06:37,800 --> 00:06:40,640 it doesn't necessarily mean that I'm in godly unity and I'm in 104 00:06:40,640 --> 00:06:42,760 covenantal unity with somebody else. 105 00:06:43,520 --> 00:06:46,040 Just because we're all in the same room, just because we're 106 00:06:46,040 --> 00:06:50,000 sitting next to each other does not mean necessarily that we are 107 00:06:50,000 --> 00:06:58,600 in unity. It says here in one Samuel 108 00:06:59,320 --> 00:07:01,400 chapter 18. It says now when he had finished 109 00:07:01,400 --> 00:07:06,880 speaking to Saul, this is David. The soul of Jonathan was a knit 110 00:07:07,160 --> 00:07:12,640 to the soul of David. The soul of Jonathan was a knit 111 00:07:12,880 --> 00:07:19,280 to the soul of David on that, that to sinking that that there 112 00:07:19,280 --> 00:07:23,960 is is biblical unity. If if I've knitted something 113 00:07:23,960 --> 00:07:28,640 together, it is very difficult for me to separate it apart. 114 00:07:30,000 --> 00:07:34,320 When my soul is knit to Colin, it is very difficult because 115 00:07:34,320 --> 00:07:36,960 what happens to Colin? I feel that I'm connected to 116 00:07:36,960 --> 00:07:40,240 Colin more than just that I've I've given him a hug or a 117 00:07:40,240 --> 00:07:43,360 handshake. Like my soul is knitted with 118 00:07:43,560 --> 00:07:44,880 Colin. What happens to Colin? 119 00:07:44,880 --> 00:07:46,480 I'm affected by what happens to me. 120 00:07:46,480 --> 00:07:50,920 Colin's affected by that's unity talks here. 121 00:07:50,920 --> 00:07:55,520 This the soul of Jonathan was knit to the soul of David and 122 00:07:55,520 --> 00:08:00,160 Jonathan loved him as his own soul. 123 00:08:01,960 --> 00:08:06,320 Jonathan loved him as his own soul. 124 00:08:08,040 --> 00:08:13,080 Biblical unity looks out for each other as if it was my own. 125 00:08:13,800 --> 00:08:17,040 So when I'm, when I'm here and I'm, I'm sorry, Colin, I'm 126 00:08:17,040 --> 00:08:20,480 picking on this morning just because you're there, I know 127 00:08:20,480 --> 00:08:22,720 you, you'll be fine with this. I know you're fine with this, 128 00:08:22,720 --> 00:08:25,000 right. But by the way, that we, we 129 00:08:25,000 --> 00:08:28,920 don't have disunity, as far as I know, we don't have division as 130 00:08:28,920 --> 00:08:33,679 far as we know. But like Jonathan loved him as 131 00:08:33,679 --> 00:08:37,400 his own soul. Like when I think about biblical 132 00:08:37,400 --> 00:08:40,280 unity, that's, that's the heart posture that I need to have that 133 00:08:40,280 --> 00:08:45,080 my soul is knit with Colin and that Colin's soul is knit with 134 00:08:45,080 --> 00:08:48,800 me. And that when I love Colin as 135 00:08:48,800 --> 00:08:52,640 much as I love myself, the Bible is the Bible is very clear that 136 00:08:52,640 --> 00:08:56,120 I need to do that. And so here's Jonathan. 137 00:08:56,120 --> 00:08:58,640 He's he's connected himself with David. 138 00:08:59,080 --> 00:09:01,720 He's going, we're not just going to be friends, we're going to be 139 00:09:01,720 --> 00:09:04,560 in covenant. And there's a big difference 140 00:09:04,560 --> 00:09:07,960 between again, earth, the unity, which we probably term more 141 00:09:07,960 --> 00:09:11,120 friendship and biblical unity, which is covenant. 142 00:09:11,600 --> 00:09:16,920 We walk in covenant with each other, like all of us and, and 143 00:09:17,040 --> 00:09:19,000 us as a church and other churches as well. 144 00:09:19,000 --> 00:09:22,640 We're called to walk in covenant, not just in 145 00:09:22,640 --> 00:09:25,120 friendship. And there's a big difference. 146 00:09:25,600 --> 00:09:30,320 There's a huge difference. And so we, we look at this and I 147 00:09:30,320 --> 00:09:34,360 just want to pick out three, three things. 148 00:09:34,360 --> 00:09:36,920 That covenant, kind of what covenant looks like. 149 00:09:38,640 --> 00:09:42,440 We go on here and it says in verse 3, it actually uses the 150 00:09:42,440 --> 00:09:44,880 word covenant. It said, then Jonathan and David 151 00:09:45,120 --> 00:09:48,680 made a covenant. They made a covenant. 152 00:09:48,680 --> 00:09:50,640 So they're kind of going, this is this steps beyond our normal 153 00:09:50,640 --> 00:09:53,400 friendship, this steps beyond earthly unity. 154 00:09:53,400 --> 00:09:57,760 We're making a covenant here. It says this because he loved 155 00:09:57,760 --> 00:10:00,640 him as his own soul. Verse 4 And Jonathan took off 156 00:10:00,640 --> 00:10:05,240 the robe that was on him and gave it to David with his armor, 157 00:10:05,320 --> 00:10:09,480 or some of your Bibles might say his breastplate and even his 158 00:10:09,480 --> 00:10:16,600 sword, his bow and his belt. Jonathan took off his robe, he 159 00:10:16,600 --> 00:10:20,480 took off his armour and he took off his sword, his bow, and his 160 00:10:20,480 --> 00:10:23,040 belt. So I want to kind of group those 161 00:10:23,040 --> 00:10:28,320 into three his robe, his armour, and his sword, bow and belt. 162 00:10:30,840 --> 00:10:35,360 So firstly, Jonathan in Covenant, he gives David his 163 00:10:35,360 --> 00:10:38,640 robe and this is an incredible picture of honor. 164 00:10:39,720 --> 00:10:43,560 When we walk in biblical unity, there's an honor that takes 165 00:10:43,560 --> 00:10:47,560 place, right? It's just it's not just that I 166 00:10:47,560 --> 00:10:53,720 like Colin, but I honor Colin and godly with godly honor. 167 00:10:54,160 --> 00:10:56,360 It's not that just I have to submit to my leaders. 168 00:10:56,400 --> 00:10:58,880 I honor my leaders, I honor each other. 169 00:10:58,880 --> 00:11:01,840 I honor the gifts that all everyone brings into the church. 170 00:11:02,960 --> 00:11:07,480 It says here, like this is this is Jonathan not just kind of say 171 00:11:07,480 --> 00:11:10,160 he's giving, I'm not sure how much. 172 00:11:10,160 --> 00:11:11,920 You know, Jonathan's the son of the king. 173 00:11:13,240 --> 00:11:16,680 So this isn't just any old, any old bathrobe that he's offering 174 00:11:16,680 --> 00:11:20,360 him, right? This is his kingly robe. 175 00:11:21,040 --> 00:11:25,320 This is this is a robe that carries significant position 176 00:11:25,320 --> 00:11:28,080 with it. And Jonathan's giving it over to 177 00:11:28,080 --> 00:11:31,920 David and saying, hey, you're going to now be recognized like 178 00:11:31,920 --> 00:11:35,640 me. Like this is a huge piece that 179 00:11:35,640 --> 00:11:40,600 happens here. Jonathan gives David a kingly 180 00:11:40,600 --> 00:11:43,000 robe. Now, when every anybody comes 181 00:11:43,000 --> 00:11:44,680 from behind, what are they going to see? 182 00:11:45,560 --> 00:11:47,880 They're going to see the robe. They're going to see Jonathan's 183 00:11:47,880 --> 00:11:48,840 robe. They're not going to see that 184 00:11:48,840 --> 00:11:52,520 it's David wearing it. So people are going to honor and 185 00:11:52,520 --> 00:11:56,800 he, Jonathan's honoring David in such a significant way here. 186 00:11:58,720 --> 00:12:04,120 And so when we come and we knit together in biblical unity, we 187 00:12:04,120 --> 00:12:08,440 come and we honor each other. We honor the gifts, we honor 188 00:12:08,440 --> 00:12:11,280 what each person contributes to the body of Christ. 189 00:12:12,080 --> 00:12:16,320 We honor other churches like we're we're called to walk, 190 00:12:16,480 --> 00:12:21,200 honoring each other and lifting each other up. 191 00:12:21,880 --> 00:12:24,440 And the other thing here, which is quite interesting is Jonathan 192 00:12:24,440 --> 00:12:30,440 takes off his rope. I want like he didn't go and go 193 00:12:30,440 --> 00:12:33,280 to his bag and pick up another robe and say, here you have a 194 00:12:33,280 --> 00:12:36,400 robe, right? I've, I've got a spare. 195 00:12:36,600 --> 00:12:38,800 You can have my spare robe. It's OK. 196 00:12:38,800 --> 00:12:45,600 I've got the actual robe, right? He took the robe off himself and 197 00:12:45,600 --> 00:12:49,160 he gave it to David. That is an incredible act of 198 00:12:49,160 --> 00:12:53,320 humility. This is an incredible act of 199 00:12:53,320 --> 00:12:57,000 humility. Biblical unity requires 200 00:12:57,000 --> 00:13:00,240 humility. Because it's not enough for me 201 00:13:00,240 --> 00:13:04,480 to say, hey, you know, I, I honour Alan, but I still think 202 00:13:04,480 --> 00:13:10,760 I'm pretty good. But I honour Alan, but not quite 203 00:13:10,760 --> 00:13:14,040 as much as I honour myself, because I give him my spare 204 00:13:14,040 --> 00:13:15,880 robe. I give him the honour that's 205 00:13:15,880 --> 00:13:17,280 leftover. But you know, you still need to 206 00:13:17,280 --> 00:13:20,600 honour me. Jonathan's not doing that. 207 00:13:20,600 --> 00:13:22,520 Jonathan's kind of Jonathan is giving. 208 00:13:22,880 --> 00:13:25,800 He's taking off his robe and saying, actually, I'm going to 209 00:13:25,800 --> 00:13:28,160 walk in humility here. You're going to get all the 210 00:13:28,160 --> 00:13:31,240 honour. You're going to get the honor 211 00:13:31,240 --> 00:13:33,960 that I should actually get, but you're going to get it because 212 00:13:33,960 --> 00:13:37,120 I'm giving you my robe. I think for us, we need to 213 00:13:37,120 --> 00:13:40,360 understand here the great picture of this is Jesus, right? 214 00:13:42,280 --> 00:13:45,520 The great picture of this is Jesus, who the Bible says in 215 00:13:45,520 --> 00:13:48,120 Philippians chapter 2 that who made himself nothing. 216 00:13:48,120 --> 00:13:51,240 He was God. He is in the very image of God, 217 00:13:52,480 --> 00:13:57,720 but he made himself nothing, taking on the very nature of a 218 00:13:57,720 --> 00:14:02,520 servant. He takes off any kingly robe 219 00:14:03,400 --> 00:14:07,040 that he had any, any right of claim to that. 220 00:14:08,480 --> 00:14:10,560 And then the Bible speaks that he then gives us a robe of 221 00:14:10,560 --> 00:14:18,520 righteousness like he came in such humility, in such humility. 222 00:14:19,080 --> 00:14:21,560 And that's the attitude that God calls us to walk in with each 223 00:14:21,560 --> 00:14:25,560 other, to walk in such humility, honoring one another above 224 00:14:25,560 --> 00:14:28,440 yourself. And that's that's what we see 225 00:14:28,440 --> 00:14:32,240 here with Jonathan and David. Jonathan Carnes, he says, I'm 226 00:14:32,240 --> 00:14:34,480 going to honor you above my myself. 227 00:14:35,680 --> 00:14:38,080 I've nipped my soul to you and I'm going to honor you above 228 00:14:38,080 --> 00:14:42,160 myself. The next thing we see with 229 00:14:42,640 --> 00:14:47,040 Jonathan and David is he takes off his armor. 230 00:14:47,760 --> 00:14:52,840 He gives David his armor. And this here is obviously 231 00:14:52,840 --> 00:14:59,960 Jonathan's protection. Biblical unity looks out for 232 00:14:59,960 --> 00:15:04,960 each other. Like if if somebody is coming 233 00:15:04,960 --> 00:15:09,840 under attack, if somebody's being attacked by the enemy or 234 00:15:09,840 --> 00:15:12,760 being attacked by people. I remember when I was young, 235 00:15:13,520 --> 00:15:20,600 younger, when I was when I was at primary school, Let's go 236 00:15:20,600 --> 00:15:22,600 there. When I was at primary school, I 237 00:15:22,600 --> 00:15:27,160 got in trouble quite a bit, but the common thread of the reason 238 00:15:27,160 --> 00:15:28,960 I got in trouble was because people were picking on my 239 00:15:28,960 --> 00:15:33,880 brothers. People were picking on my 240 00:15:33,880 --> 00:15:36,280 younger brothers who were new to the school. 241 00:15:36,800 --> 00:15:38,760 And I'm like, hang on, I'm, I'm the older brother here. 242 00:15:38,760 --> 00:15:42,080 I've got to, I have to go and protect these guys with 243 00:15:42,120 --> 00:15:47,040 everything that I have. Why we were, we were blood 244 00:15:47,040 --> 00:15:50,760 related. That is kind of the, the unity 245 00:15:50,760 --> 00:15:54,080 that the, the Bible speaks of, right? 246 00:15:54,080 --> 00:15:56,760 It isn't just yeah, oh, you're getting attacked. 247 00:15:56,840 --> 00:15:58,400 OK, you stand up. Come on, you fight. 248 00:15:58,400 --> 00:16:01,320 No, no, no. Like I'm coming alongside of you 249 00:16:01,320 --> 00:16:03,760 and I'm protecting you with everything that I have. 250 00:16:04,080 --> 00:16:05,880 It's not like I give up out of the battle. 251 00:16:05,880 --> 00:16:07,760 And I say, you know what? It's getting a bit hard for me 252 00:16:07,760 --> 00:16:09,000 now. You're on your own. 253 00:16:09,400 --> 00:16:11,840 You've got to fight for me. No, I'm fighting in the secret 254 00:16:11,840 --> 00:16:14,080 place for you. I'm fighting for you to see the 255 00:16:14,080 --> 00:16:16,720 breakthrough. I'm fighting for you to come 256 00:16:16,720 --> 00:16:20,680 into the fullness of God. Biblical unity is about 257 00:16:20,680 --> 00:16:22,440 protecting each other. And it's not just even 258 00:16:22,440 --> 00:16:25,400 protecting each other just from spiritual stuff. 259 00:16:26,280 --> 00:16:28,440 Like this is protecting each other with our words. 260 00:16:29,000 --> 00:16:31,200 It's protecting each other from the words of others. 261 00:16:31,840 --> 00:16:35,920 Like Jonathan is giving all of his armor his breastplate. 262 00:16:35,920 --> 00:16:37,720 It's it's protecting their heart. 263 00:16:37,720 --> 00:16:41,720 It's it's helping, helping them be protected in here and 264 00:16:41,720 --> 00:16:44,200 protected in their mind. It's it's us coming alongside 265 00:16:44,200 --> 00:16:48,000 and encouraging, But that also means that nothing out of here 266 00:16:48,000 --> 00:16:50,720 comes down to put you down, right? 267 00:16:50,720 --> 00:16:55,000 When I walk in biblical unity, you should not see anything 268 00:16:55,000 --> 00:16:58,800 coming out of my mouth that's going to bring you down because 269 00:16:59,120 --> 00:17:01,760 like that's not biblical unity because I'm out to protect you 270 00:17:01,880 --> 00:17:05,920 at all costs. Like Jonathan gives his armor to 271 00:17:05,920 --> 00:17:08,720 David. He says, not only am I giving 272 00:17:08,720 --> 00:17:11,440 you honor and position, but I'm also protecting you. 273 00:17:13,560 --> 00:17:17,680 I'm also going to do everything in my power to protect you from 274 00:17:17,680 --> 00:17:20,680 the enemy, to protect you from what's coming. 275 00:17:21,000 --> 00:17:24,160 And it's quite interesting, even down the tracks, Saul, King Saul 276 00:17:24,160 --> 00:17:27,480 is out to try and kill David. So that's Jonathan's dad. 277 00:17:29,000 --> 00:17:31,000 So Jonathan's dad is out to kill David. 278 00:17:31,000 --> 00:17:33,400 And so you can imagine Jonathan's now in this quandary. 279 00:17:33,400 --> 00:17:36,240 He's like, well, I've got my dad's and I've got this guy I'm 280 00:17:36,240 --> 00:17:39,400 in covenant relationship with. It's quite interesting. 281 00:17:39,400 --> 00:17:42,560 Do you know who he sides with? The majority of it, his eyes 282 00:17:42,560 --> 00:17:44,800 with David, he goes, well, let me go find out the truth. 283 00:17:45,080 --> 00:17:47,880 And if it's true, I will do everything I can to get you out 284 00:17:47,880 --> 00:17:51,920 of the city and to protect you. And he finds out it's true. 285 00:17:51,920 --> 00:17:53,120 He's going OK. I'm going to look. 286 00:17:53,120 --> 00:17:54,960 I have to stay with my dad. I'm kind of the son of the king. 287 00:17:54,960 --> 00:17:56,520 But I'm going to get you out safely. 288 00:17:56,760 --> 00:17:57,960 I'm going to send you on your way. 289 00:18:01,080 --> 00:18:05,360 Covenant unity, biblical unity looks out for each other. 290 00:18:06,400 --> 00:18:09,320 It means when somebody's missing, like today, becoming a 291 00:18:09,320 --> 00:18:12,800 man, are they OK, man? Do they need anything? 292 00:18:13,080 --> 00:18:14,400 Is there anything I could do to help them? 293 00:18:14,400 --> 00:18:17,160 Can I pray, can I visit? Can I prepare something for 294 00:18:17,160 --> 00:18:18,720 them? How can I protect them? 295 00:18:21,560 --> 00:18:29,560 Biblical unity seeks to protect. And the third thing here, it 296 00:18:29,560 --> 00:18:34,760 says that Jonathan gave David his sword, his bow and his belt. 297 00:18:37,920 --> 00:18:44,320 It speaks of purpose. Biblical unity has a unified 298 00:18:44,320 --> 00:18:49,280 purpose. When there's like, if there's, 299 00:18:49,760 --> 00:18:53,320 it's a funny statement like when there's two visions, call it 300 00:18:53,520 --> 00:18:59,120 division. Biblical unity has a single 301 00:18:59,160 --> 00:19:03,000 singular purpose. But I can't come and I can't 302 00:19:03,000 --> 00:19:05,880 say, hey, Colin, we're a unity. But you're going to go that way. 303 00:19:05,880 --> 00:19:09,160 I'm going to go this way. And by the way, we're not, we're 304 00:19:09,160 --> 00:19:12,480 not going to be doing the same thing, right? 305 00:19:14,040 --> 00:19:18,320 I think there's a couple of ways we can, we can kind of slice 306 00:19:18,320 --> 00:19:20,840 this like we could, we could still be doing the same thing in 307 00:19:20,840 --> 00:19:24,000 God, like, and I think when we're talking about doing 308 00:19:24,000 --> 00:19:28,360 different things, right, it still comes back to God's 309 00:19:28,360 --> 00:19:32,520 purpose, right? What we're talking about here, 310 00:19:32,520 --> 00:19:34,720 we're not talking about the fact that, you know, Colin might be 311 00:19:34,720 --> 00:19:36,800 ministering over here to these people. 312 00:19:36,800 --> 00:19:39,720 I'm ministering to these people. That's not division because, 313 00:19:39,800 --> 00:19:42,680 well, hopefully it's not division like because we're 314 00:19:42,680 --> 00:19:46,200 still serving the purposes of God, right? 315 00:19:46,200 --> 00:19:49,000 It's when I'm going off and I'm trying to make a name for myself 316 00:19:49,000 --> 00:19:52,360 over here and I'm trying to do this thing and I don't care what 317 00:19:52,360 --> 00:19:58,600 Colin is doing Jonathan here is kind of going we're going to 318 00:19:58,600 --> 00:19:59,720 we're going to be on the same purpose. 319 00:19:59,720 --> 00:20:01,240 We're going to be on the same team. 320 00:20:02,280 --> 00:20:06,120 Biblical unity is about being on the same team when we're talking 321 00:20:06,120 --> 00:20:08,840 about unified purpose. Ephesians when it talks about 322 00:20:08,840 --> 00:20:11,600 this is going I pray you're going to be of 1 heart and one 323 00:20:11,600 --> 00:20:15,800 mind under 1 Lord you're going to be really going after all, 324 00:20:15,920 --> 00:20:18,920 contending for the gospel as one man. 325 00:20:20,960 --> 00:20:23,800 In other words, when people. When people look at us, they 326 00:20:23,800 --> 00:20:27,160 don't see two different individuals trying to fight for 327 00:20:27,160 --> 00:20:31,080 their own thing. They see us together standing 328 00:20:31,080 --> 00:20:33,600 for the same thing. And I think there's there's a 329 00:20:33,600 --> 00:20:38,680 great unfortunate reality that's happening around us where 330 00:20:39,160 --> 00:20:41,760 different Christians, different churches, different groups of 331 00:20:41,760 --> 00:20:45,520 people, they're kind of running after their own thing. 332 00:20:47,600 --> 00:20:51,680 And it's not about running after our thing, right? 333 00:20:51,680 --> 00:20:53,320 This is not about running after our thing. 334 00:20:53,320 --> 00:20:55,720 This is about running after his thing. 335 00:20:57,720 --> 00:21:01,640 And when Jonathan comes and he says, here, have my sword and 336 00:21:01,640 --> 00:21:05,760 have my bow, have my belt, you're coming into me with one 337 00:21:05,760 --> 00:21:07,400 purpose. We're going to be on the same 338 00:21:07,400 --> 00:21:09,400 team here. And we're going to do the same 339 00:21:09,400 --> 00:21:12,400 thing. And that's not about Jonathan 340 00:21:12,400 --> 00:21:14,640 saying, hey, now you're going to take on my purpose. 341 00:21:14,640 --> 00:21:18,240 He's going to go, no, no, we're, we're, we're on the same team 342 00:21:18,560 --> 00:21:20,040 and we're fulfilling the same purpose. 343 00:21:21,320 --> 00:21:23,240 And that's, that's ultimately making much of him. 344 00:21:25,280 --> 00:21:28,240 But here Jonathan and David, as we, we read earlier, like 345 00:21:28,240 --> 00:21:31,720 they're knitted together in Seoul, which means if one of 346 00:21:31,720 --> 00:21:34,480 them starts going the other way, like they're, they're together 347 00:21:34,480 --> 00:21:38,320 on this, right? We're, we're in unity with each 348 00:21:38,320 --> 00:21:42,040 other. I think when we come together in 349 00:21:42,040 --> 00:21:44,840 unity and pursue godly unity, we need to make sure that we are 350 00:21:44,840 --> 00:21:47,720 honoring each other. We're honoring God, we're 351 00:21:47,720 --> 00:21:51,200 honoring each other, we're looking out and protecting each 352 00:21:51,200 --> 00:21:54,640 other and we're encouraging each other in the same purpose, the 353 00:21:54,640 --> 00:21:57,880 purposes of God. We're coming together in one 354 00:21:57,880 --> 00:22:01,720 purpose with one mind, one heart, contending for one 355 00:22:01,720 --> 00:22:04,480 gospel, contending as one man for the gospel and the purposes 356 00:22:04,480 --> 00:22:07,600 of God. I think we can, we can get so 357 00:22:07,600 --> 00:22:10,800 sidetracked when we start going after our purposes and our 358 00:22:10,800 --> 00:22:16,000 plans. And sometimes I know I have been 359 00:22:16,000 --> 00:22:19,040 in this place where we kind of disguise our purposes and our 360 00:22:19,040 --> 00:22:22,520 plans as God's plans, but they're not really God's plans. 361 00:22:22,960 --> 00:22:25,160 Like if we, if we really searched our hearts, we're like, 362 00:22:25,480 --> 00:22:26,960 this is this is what God is saying. 363 00:22:26,960 --> 00:22:28,880 This is God's plans. But if we really searched in our 364 00:22:28,880 --> 00:22:30,040 heart, it's not really God's plan. 365 00:22:32,480 --> 00:22:35,480 I think #1 we need to make sure that we're on the purposes of 366 00:22:35,480 --> 00:22:37,960 God. But they're then together, we're 367 00:22:37,960 --> 00:22:40,200 encouraging each other and saying, hey, this isn't about 368 00:22:40,200 --> 00:22:42,640 getting on my team. It's about getting on his team. 369 00:22:43,080 --> 00:22:46,040 And us sharing one purpose, contending as one man for the 370 00:22:46,040 --> 00:22:48,280 gospel. And when we come together, it's 371 00:22:48,280 --> 00:22:51,320 not necessarily about who's leading a meeting or whose 372 00:22:51,320 --> 00:22:54,120 church do we go to Paul, Paul has a God that says, hey, you 373 00:22:54,120 --> 00:22:56,960 guys are like chasing after this leader in that church. 374 00:22:56,960 --> 00:22:59,920 And this thing in that church is going, hey, Christ isn't divided 375 00:23:00,760 --> 00:23:03,920 like Christ is not divided. Guys like we remember, come 376 00:23:03,920 --> 00:23:09,760 together on one purpose as one parent, as one man contending as 377 00:23:09,760 --> 00:23:14,160 one man for the gospel. And so we speak of godly unity. 378 00:23:16,720 --> 00:23:22,240 We need to make sure that our hearts are needed, that we come 379 00:23:22,240 --> 00:23:26,040 with honor for each other. We're looking out for each 380 00:23:26,040 --> 00:23:31,200 other, and we're contending as one man for the gospel side by 381 00:23:31,200 --> 00:23:32,640 side. It's again, it's not about me 382 00:23:32,640 --> 00:23:34,280 doing my thing, you doing your thing. 383 00:23:34,840 --> 00:23:37,760 It's about us doing his thing together. 384 00:23:38,880 --> 00:23:45,360 While you turn with me. We'll move across into John, the 385 00:23:45,360 --> 00:24:07,480 Gospel of John. John chapter 17, it's the the 386 00:24:07,480 --> 00:24:09,840 chapter, it could be the great high priestly prayer. 387 00:24:09,840 --> 00:24:13,680 It's it's where we get a glimpse into what Jesus potentially 388 00:24:13,680 --> 00:24:15,040 prayed in the gun in the Gethsemane. 389 00:24:18,520 --> 00:24:24,040 This is this is what he prays in verse 20 and this is he doesn't 390 00:24:24,040 --> 00:24:26,680 pray this just he says, I do not pray for these alone. 391 00:24:28,080 --> 00:24:29,600 So he's kind of he's prayed for himself. 392 00:24:29,600 --> 00:24:31,720 He's prayed for his disciples. He's going, I do not pray for 393 00:24:31,720 --> 00:24:35,960 these alone, but also for all those who will believe in me 394 00:24:36,280 --> 00:24:38,640 through their word that's referring to us. 395 00:24:39,240 --> 00:24:42,520 So Jesus directly now saying I'm praying for them, praying for 396 00:24:42,520 --> 00:24:51,920 us, that they may all be one as you Father are in me and I in 397 00:24:51,920 --> 00:24:55,160 you. We speak of the Trinity, the 398 00:24:55,640 --> 00:24:58,560 three persons. God is 3 persons in one, 399 00:24:58,600 --> 00:25:01,920 indistinguishable. You can't separate one from the 400 00:25:01,920 --> 00:25:04,080 other. You can't say we got Jesus, the 401 00:25:04,080 --> 00:25:06,520 Holy Spirit of Father like you. You can't do that. 402 00:25:06,520 --> 00:25:10,160 They are so one person that you cannot separate them. 403 00:25:11,440 --> 00:25:13,240 And that's the picture that Jesus is praying for. 404 00:25:13,240 --> 00:25:17,040 Now is unity. He's saying like again, that 405 00:25:17,040 --> 00:25:21,040 knitting of your soul. So I pray that they're going to 406 00:25:21,040 --> 00:25:27,320 be as one, just as you, Father, are in me and we are one that 407 00:25:27,320 --> 00:25:30,680 the world may believe that you sent me. 408 00:25:32,720 --> 00:25:37,000 This to me is remarkable. When we walk in biblical unity, 409 00:25:37,000 --> 00:25:43,280 it is one of the biggest displays to the world that Jesus 410 00:25:43,800 --> 00:25:47,200 is here and he is present and he's in our midst. 411 00:25:47,200 --> 00:25:51,240 It is one of the biggest displays when his people walk in 412 00:25:51,240 --> 00:25:53,200 unity. I think we can. 413 00:25:53,200 --> 00:25:55,480 So often we can say, man, we can preach the gospel and that's 414 00:25:55,480 --> 00:25:56,800 great. We should be preaching the 415 00:25:56,800 --> 00:25:58,440 gospel. We can go pray for the sick. 416 00:25:58,760 --> 00:26:02,360 Yes, we can. But when people stand to unity, 417 00:26:02,360 --> 00:26:06,240 it is something that Jesus said. This is how the world will know 418 00:26:07,080 --> 00:26:10,960 that you've sent me. When the Church lives together 419 00:26:10,960 --> 00:26:17,440 in unity, that's when people will know we move on. 420 00:26:18,360 --> 00:26:21,400 The glory which you gave me, I have given them that they may be 421 00:26:21,400 --> 00:26:30,440 one, just as we are one, I in them, you in me, that they may 422 00:26:30,440 --> 00:26:36,200 be made perfect in one. And again, that the world may 423 00:26:36,200 --> 00:26:43,040 know that you have sent me and have loved them as you have 424 00:26:43,040 --> 00:26:47,080 loved me. This is phenomenal. 425 00:26:48,040 --> 00:26:55,600 Again, I'm just when we speak of unity, it isn't just for our 426 00:26:55,600 --> 00:26:57,360 sake. Hey, I want to I want to relate 427 00:26:57,360 --> 00:26:59,720 better to Colin. This is one of those things that 428 00:27:00,360 --> 00:27:04,200 God commands his blessing on. But he also says this is one of 429 00:27:04,200 --> 00:27:07,440 the great witnesses to the world around us. 430 00:27:08,120 --> 00:27:13,160 When the church lives together in unity, not only does God 431 00:27:13,160 --> 00:27:17,960 command his blessing, not only is there incredible honor and 432 00:27:17,960 --> 00:27:22,840 protection and unity of purpose, but it is one of the great 433 00:27:22,920 --> 00:27:28,200 evangelism tools of the church. It's one of the great evangelism 434 00:27:28,200 --> 00:27:31,200 tools. Jesus said, And I think we we 435 00:27:31,280 --> 00:27:33,280 always need to my Bible's got it in red letters. 436 00:27:33,280 --> 00:27:39,200 It's like, pay attention to what Jesus says and he says that the 437 00:27:39,200 --> 00:27:44,000 world may know that you have sent me the purpose. 438 00:27:44,000 --> 00:27:48,960 We walk in unity ultimately it's not just so that we have a good 439 00:27:48,960 --> 00:27:52,920 relationship with each other and that we receive the blessing of 440 00:27:52,920 --> 00:27:59,760 God, but the reason we pursue unity ultimately is to show the 441 00:27:59,760 --> 00:28:05,000 world, hey, God exists. Jesus exists and there to show 442 00:28:05,000 --> 00:28:11,080 them that Jesus has been sent by God as a great witness that when 443 00:28:11,080 --> 00:28:15,800 people look in and go, I want that again. 444 00:28:15,840 --> 00:28:21,040 Jesus says they may be made perfect in one and that the 445 00:28:21,040 --> 00:28:26,360 world may know that you have sent me and have loved them as 446 00:28:26,360 --> 00:28:30,120 you loved me. I want to encourage us like we 447 00:28:30,120 --> 00:28:32,680 spoke again a few weeks ago, what one of the building, core 448 00:28:32,680 --> 00:28:35,000 building blocks of building God's church was coming together 449 00:28:35,000 --> 00:28:40,360 in unity. And it is hard sometimes to 450 00:28:40,360 --> 00:28:43,960 build in unity because anything that the enemy is trying to do 451 00:28:43,960 --> 00:28:46,640 is bring division. He sow seeds of division. 452 00:28:46,640 --> 00:28:52,040 He sow seeds of of deception and just ideas in our head that is 453 00:28:52,040 --> 00:28:55,080 simply not true. He's trying to bring division at 454 00:28:55,080 --> 00:28:58,960 all costs. But let's be people who who 455 00:28:58,960 --> 00:29:03,080 pursue unity at all costs, who deal with things in our heart 456 00:29:03,080 --> 00:29:06,800 quickly, who seek to honor and seek to protect when things come 457 00:29:06,800 --> 00:29:11,760 in that they try and tell me that Colin has done such and 458 00:29:11,760 --> 00:29:19,080 such like, sorry, Colin, we have a good relationship. 459 00:29:19,640 --> 00:29:23,080 But like when think when the enemy comes in, he's sowing 460 00:29:23,360 --> 00:29:26,920 cords, seeds of kind of deception and disunity. 461 00:29:26,920 --> 00:29:28,920 I'm very quick to say, no, I'm going to protect this 462 00:29:28,920 --> 00:29:31,320 relationship at all costs, at all costs. 463 00:29:31,320 --> 00:29:34,240 I'm going into my prayer room and I'm going to be praying for 464 00:29:34,240 --> 00:29:37,880 this relationship because the Bible tells me like this is 465 00:29:37,880 --> 00:29:40,880 important. Biblical unity is important and 466 00:29:41,560 --> 00:29:44,040 as much as it is a physical thing that we have to work 467 00:29:44,040 --> 00:29:46,040 towards, it is a spiritual thing. 468 00:29:46,040 --> 00:29:49,200 We are up against a real spiritual enemy that's trying to 469 00:29:49,200 --> 00:29:51,640 bring division because he knows that when he brings division, 470 00:29:52,000 --> 00:29:54,000 the world will ignore the church. 471 00:29:54,800 --> 00:29:59,640 He knows that Jesus said where there is unity, then the world 472 00:29:59,640 --> 00:30:05,720 will know that you have sent me. Where there is unity, the world 473 00:30:05,720 --> 00:30:10,280 will know that you have sent me. Let's be a people that in every 474 00:30:10,280 --> 00:30:15,280 way pursue unity. Pursue biblical unity at all 475 00:30:15,280 --> 00:30:17,320 costs. Amen. 476 00:30:21,720 --> 00:30:23,600 Thank you for joining us for today's message. 477 00:30:23,920 --> 00:30:26,480 For more information about The Way Church, please visit 478 00:30:26,480 --> 00:30:29,440 ourwebsite@thewaychurch.com dot AU. 479 00:30:29,960 --> 00:30:30,760 Have a blessed day.