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THE POWER OF UNITY
by Tom Brown
 There
is nothing the devil fears more than Christians who are united. This means
that his number one tactic is to bring disunity in the Church. If he can
succeed, then the Church is crippled.
Jesus
spoke about the power of agreement in Matthew 18:19: "Again, I tell you that
if two of you on earth agree about anything you ask for, it will be done for
you by my Father in heaven." Don't put any limitation on this scripture.
Jesus says what He means. We can receive anything if we agree about it in
prayer.
Dr.
George Truett, pastor of the First Baptist Church in Dallas, was preaching
his first sermon in west Texas under a brush arbor. After the sermon he
asked people to come forward and kneel to pray at the altar bench. A big
rancher marched forward, looked Truett in the eyes, held his Bible high and
asked, "Do you believe in this book?" Truett was offended at that question.
Of course he did, he was a baptist after all. Then the rancher asked, "Do
you believe everything that is in the Bible?"
Now,
Truett was getting agitated, "Of course I do! What is it that you want me to
do for you?"
The
rancher opened his Bible to Matthew 18:19 and asked, "Would you agree with
me in prayer that God would save my ranch foreman and his family at tomorrow
night's service?" Well, Truett had no choice but to agree. The rancher
smiled wide, grabbed Truett's hand and shook it and exclaimed, "You're the
first preacher I've met that believed in Matthew 18:19!" Well, they prayed.
Dr.
Truett went home that night and could hardly sleep. He began to struggle
with thoughts contrary to what they had agreed for in prayer. Yet he knew he
had to stay in agreement that the entire family would be saved.
The next
night, the service began, but the rancher and the foreman were not there.
Just before Dr. Truett was about to preach, in walked the rancher and his
foreman with the entire family. Joy leaped into Truett's heart. He preached
a mighty sermon on salvation and boldly gave the altar call, confident that
the foreman and his family would respond. And they did. We need to have that
simple faith that anything is possible when we agree in prayer.
The
Greek word that Jesus used which is translated "agree" comes from the word
"symphonize". If you have ever been to a symphony, then you can appreciate
the importance of agreement. At the beginning of the symphony, the orchestra
warms up. This is when everyone plays on their own without considering
others. The noise is atrocious. But when the conductor lifts the baton, the
racket stops and all eyes are on him. Then with a gentle wave of the baton
the orchestra plays such heavenly music.
What
makes the difference? The orchestra is in one accord. No one is on their
own. And when they all do their part the music is lovely. On their own, the
music doesn't amount to much, but together they sound breathtaking. We, too,
need to harmonize together. Jesus said that when we do, the world would come
to believe in Him (see John 17:21).
The
Bible says that one can put a thousand to flight, but two could put ten
thousand to flight. Notice that together they can accomplish more than when
they work alone.
There is
a law called synergism. This law states that when the joint action of agents
are brought together they increase each other's effectiveness.
This law was first introduced to me
when I heard the story of one the top bridge builders in the country. He
built one of the biggest and strongest bridges in the world and exclaimed
that nothing could bring down this bridge. This bridge could withstand the
weight of almost innumerable cars. The only thing that the designer said
could destroy the bridge is if a few hundred men walked across it marching
in unison. So he gave the warning that if any group marched across the
bridge, whether it be soldiers marching or a band playing, that the marchers
would have to stagger their steps, or else the bridge would collapse. This
teaches us an important lesson in unity.
The
world has used the law of unity more than we believers. This is sad. We find
a story in the Bible that illustrates this fact. The people in Babylonia
began to work together, and they accomplished an enormous feat—the building
of the tower of Babel. Although their hearts were wrong, they were at least
unified. And what did God say concerning the power of their unity? He said,
"Nothing they plan to do will be impossible for them!" God knows the power
of unity. Unity will work for sinners like it will work for saints. This is
exactly why the sinners have made such advances, while the church is trying
to keep up.
It's time that we stop the division and
strive for unity in the body of Christ. And when we do, Watch out! we
will become the mightiest force on this planet. Send your
comments
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