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July 14, 2022 8:00 am
What we get the picture of you in Psalm 133 visit that physical reality is now being used as a spiritual picture of how precious unity is and how important it is to God hello and welcome back to the truth pulpit with Don Green founding pastor of truth Community Church in Cincinnati, Ohio. I go right today. Don brings us part one of a message called precious unity with a look at how the biblical practice of communion will help you to develop, cultivate, protect and deepen the unity in your local church will Don while a lack of unity in the body of Christ is detrimental to the overall health of the church. Isn't it true that disunity also hinders our ability to be an effective witness for the Lord. Let's write Bill and my friend today. It's our privilege on the truth pulpit to open up a relatively unfamiliar song it's going to be refreshing to open Psalm 133 in our program today because this text shows us the blessing of the people of God coming together in a common love for him and here in the New Testament.
It's a common love for Christ and for each other and it speaks about the importance of unity among the people of God. Unity is a rare jewel to be protected when we find it in a church. Let's see how to do that as we open Scripture today on the truth pulpit. Thanks so much Don and Fred. Let's join our teacher now as he continues teaching God's people. God's word with the message called precious.
You are text is found in Psalm 133 and I invite you to turn in your Bibles to the book of Psalms to this brief but beautiful. Psalm number 133 this beautiful song is speaking about the blessing of spiritual unity among the people of God.
David wrote this song, but it's possible by the grammar. It's possible that it was written for him and not necessarily by him. But whatever the case may be your member that the songs of Ascent Psalms 120 through 134 were sung by the Jews as they were going up to Jerusalem for their national thesis was part of their their annual tradition and the Psalm therefore is presenting an image of the tribes of Israel gathered together, gathered together around the temple gathered together for for worship the God had appointed for them and so it's it's a picture of a spiritual act of worship that is taking place by the people of God in the Old Testament and the psalmist is is rejoicing in the spiritual beauty of that. It's something that he finds great pleasure and great joy in so as you begin in verse one. Let's look at their together. He says in verse one behold, how good and how pleasant it is for brothers to dwell together in unity and that word, behold, that opens the Psalm is kind of a call to attention.
It's a trumpet call to pay attention to what the topic is in in the song, emphasizing our need to pay attention to what is said here.
The New Testament places great emphasis on the unity of believers in in the New Testament and one of the things that we've tried over the years to to develop here at truth Community Church is a sense that that as we gather together were not were not coming together just simply as individuals were not individuals coming together for what we can get out of corporate involvement in corporate worship were coming together as a body were coming together in harmony with one another as a person enters into the life of a local church.
There should be a sense of understanding that I'm coming to be a part of something that is bigger than I am and that means that we come not only to receive ministry and fellowship and teaching, but we come to give as well. We come with a responsibility to to participate in the life of the body of Christ and and nothing could be more un-biblical than the common idea of a back row Baptist that comes in five minutes late, sits in the back and then leaves five minutes early and never involves themselves in the life of the church and just deliberately conducts him or herself in a way to not be involved in you know not to have to interact with people that is not the picture of the body of Christ at all.
Some time ago we went through and listed out in the New Testament, there are there are 20 to 25 different passages that talk about our responsibilities to one another to love one another to pray for one another to serve one another and on and on it goes. And so the environment that God cultivates among his people is one of being together in one of unity and that when that happens the idea of a fractured body of of of people biting at one another over this or that issue. Nothing could be further from the way that God intends it to be.
And if you've ever been in a church that is gone through a difficult church split or you been perhaps in congregational meetings where people are yelling at each other like they were victims of road rage.
You know how that just spoils everything about the nature of of of a church and it it's just so very destructive to come in and have a sense that people are not united together.
This Psalm is presenting the positive side of these these spiritual principles, saying it is good and pleasant for the people of God to dwell together in unity. What were going to see is that God himself places a very high value on this so that to undermine the unity of his people to attack it with accusations and things like this is set is a very grave is a very very grave matter, we come together and I said these things before you've heard me. You've heard me say these things that when when we come when we come into the local church.
When we come into the body of Christ were coming into something that does not belong to us. You know the body of Christ belongs to the Lord Jesus Christ is his by right of purchase. He purchased his body with his own blood. That means that we come with a sense of reverence, a sense of respect. A sense of humility.
Every one of us as we come together were coming to something that belongs to us to Christ that belongs to someone higher than us and in the body is his. So that means we have responsibility not only to serve and to worship but to protect that body and to sacrifice ourselves for the greater good of the body of Christ. So this Psalm points us in that direction. It's interesting to note is you if you glance down at Psalm 134. It opens with the same word behold in verse one of Psalm 133 behold, how good and how pleasant it is for brothers to dwell together in unity and then in the concluding Psalm of the songs of Ascent verse one, behold, bless the Lord all servants of the Lord, you see a verbal link together between those two songs and so remembering that these songs were sung during the national feast.
We have the picture of the 12 tribes of Israel gathered together for the worship of Yahweh.
It's a serious time but it is a joyful time worship should be serious, but it should also be joyful, and that's what were getting a picture of here in Psalm 133. In the Old Testament context here. Unlike unlike had today in the New Testament church. Though the worship of the assembly was based on on national ethnic ties. They were descended from Jacob from the one also known as Israel, the children of Abraham through the line of Isaac and Jacob and so they're coming together a national ethnic ties, but here in this almost unique to the Old Testament is in there is this emphasis on the spiritual component. They are gathered together for worship in the psalmist loves the principle of worship. He loves the active worship he loves being with the people of God to be gathered together with eight with common ethnic ties gathered together in a common place all gathered together to worship the same God in the same way based on the same Revelation. By the same kind of sacrifice that God had instituted. There is this there is this profound sense of spiritual unity that is taking place.
The 12 tribes were gathered together as one gathered together united in worship around the one true God. No, listen, beloved, if that was true in the Old Testament, then how much more so for us as we gather together for New Testament worship gathered around the person of Christ, the incarnate God gathered around in remembrance of his sacrifice on the cross for our sins in his, his burial and his resurrection and his ascension on high and and knowing that that we have an elder brother in heaven who who loves us and we have all been born again by the same spirit by the same faith. You know these were realities that were not revealed yet in the Old Testament, and yet here we are benefiting from them in on we gather together and we share life together in a local body and as we gather together consistently with one another and share life together. The unity of that is something that should be even more precious to us. So as you look at verse one.
There's this there's this emphatic sense. Behold, take note of this. Look around, as it were, at at what you have in worship and appreciated for how good and how pleasant it is. So was we gather together we come in a sense of appreciation for the gift that God has given us of of common worship together in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ. I trust that every one of you has a sense that it is good and it is pleasant to be gathered together like this. The fact that you view it that way is a sense that you're entering into the spirit of of this Psalm, and what God intends worship to be its agreeable. It's lovely. I can remember. By contrast, and on and these things just kinda give us that these things just kinda give us a barometer of the spiritual state of our souls. And that's why dwell on it in and emphasize this I can remember going to church as a young child I guess you could say, eight, 10, 12 years old before I stopped doing that and I had figured out that you know by the time I was 12 or 13. I'd figured out from watching my dad that religion was for women and young children and now that I'm becoming a man I can, you know, put those childish things aside, but I remember that you know going in it was just, you know, I was just it was nothing that I enjoyed.
It was just kind of an irksome thing and you know I didn't want to get.
I didn't want to be there. The things were weird to me and and all of that and I had no appreciation for it but you know your the Lord saves you and puts a new spirit in you and make sure new creation and you see all of these things from a different from a different point of view for the true Christian.
What I'm saying is this for the true Christian. The sense of gathering together with the true people of God, and to hear the word of God taught 10 to to sing hymns together. This is this is among the sweetest things of all of life to happen and and someone who doesn't have some kind of appreciation for that some kind of enjoyment in worship really needs to step back and ask themselves whether they're Christian or not, because Scripture declares worship to be good and pleasant, agreeable something lovely to be enjoyed and to be enjoyed together are not simply as a spectator sport watch from a distant we could put it this way. I'm trying to say these things in multiple multiple ways to to impress upon your heart, with the help of the Holy Spirit. God does not intend worship to be mechanical and lifeless.
That's not worship it's good it's pleasant. Are our heart is and it is engaged in it. Now coming back to Psalm 133.
Having looked at verse one.
What we see now in the following two verses is the psalmist is going to illustrate the blessing he's giving to illustrations of the blessing of the unity that believers enjoy together. The brothers dwelling together in unity what they what they enjoy. And so what follows are now illustrations of the blessing and there's so much packed into these into these three verses it's really it's really just a beautiful beautiful song and and so he says in verse two will spend a little bit of time here.
He says it is like what is like this dwelling together in unity is what the antecedent of the it is dwelling together in unity is like something it's a simile that he is giving us. He says it's like the precious oil upon the head, coming down upon the beard. Aaron's beard coming down upon the edge of his robe.
Now the us in the 21st-century that might not sound like such an appealing figure of speech you know if if if I get if I get your like me to get anything on your head. You know you're kind of wonder brush it off, you know, fly lands on your head or something like that, you know, and we don't think in those terms. What we need to do here is we need to take a moment to understand the background of the simile so that we can appreciated for its beauty in the way that the original reader would have understood and we can find something of the background of this in the book of Exodus.
I want to take you to a couple of rather obscure passages that are going to help us understand what is being said here in Exodus chapter 29 in chapter 30 were going to you know if you've read through the Bible you know on a reading plan or something in your eyes kinda glazed over, as you got into the details of the law. In the latter part of the book of Exodus. All of a sudden this is going to have a new life in a new significance to you.
Let me just read a couple of passages and will comment on them later in Exodus chapter 29 in verse four, God told Moses, you shall bring Aaron.
That's interesting. Aaron's the guy that was mentioned in Psalm 133 you shall bring Aaron and his sons to the doorway of the tent of meeting and wash them with water.
You shall take the garments, and put on Aaron the tunic and the robe of the e-file and the E Fahd in the breast piece, and gird him with the skillfully woven band of the Fahd and you shall set the turban on his head and put the holy crown on the turban getting ready to anoint Aaron into the office of high priest and his high priestly garments are being described Aaron and they were they were exquisitely made with with beauty with detail with with fine jewels and then something happened in order to symbolize him being set apart to to his office is high priest. Verse seven you shall take the anointing oil and pour it on his head and anoint him the oil on Aaron's head signifying that Aaron was being set apart to the office of high priest set it set apart to to serve in that mediatorial role between God and the people, the appointed high priest. This is what Psalm 133 is pointing back is being precious and and lovely. This is the man who is going to to stand, as it were, between God and the people will go over.
Keep that in mind and and go over to chapter 30 verse 22 are going to read a about a dozen verses here, but I'm pretty sure I've never read from a pulpit in many years of ministry, but I'm going to today and there's a point to taking the time to do this would've been easy to just pass over this and allude to it briefly, but I want you to see if this is about the this is the formula for the anointing oil in verse 22 the Lord spoke to Moses, saying, take also for yourself the finest of spices of flowing murder 500 shekels in a fragrant cinnamon half as much. 250 in a fragrant cane 250 and of Casio 500 according to the shekel of the sanctuary and of olive oil in, you shall make of these a holy anointing oil, a perfume mixture. The work of a perfume or it shall be a holy anointing oil with it. You shall anoint the tent of meeting and the ark of the testimony in the table and all its utensils in the lampstand and its utensils, and the altar of incense and the altar of burnt offering and all its utensils in the labor and its stand. You shall also consecrate them that they may be most holy. Whatever touches them shall be holy, meaning there set apart. You shall anoint Aaron and his sons and consecrate them that they may minister as priests to me. You shall speak to the sons of Israel, saying, this shall be a holy anointing oil to me throughout your generations. It shall not be poured on anyone's body, nor shall you make any like it in the same proportions. It is holy and it shall be holy to you, whoever shall mix any like it or whoever puts any of it on a layman shall be cut off from his people.
This was an exquisite mixture made according to a very precise formula.
It was a unique fragrant oil used for the anointing ceremony and what here's what you need to see about this. This rare oil. This unique oil and the unique event which it, in which it was used represented the special presence and blessing of God. It is set apart for holy purposes. It is, it is a picture of exquisite intimacy done under the direct instructions of God that this is how it is to be then with one other passage in Leviticus chapter 8 Leviticus chapter 8 where Aaron is actually installed. This is all preparatory instruction in Exodus now in Leviticus chapter 8 will read few passages here in Leviticus chapter 8 verse one Leviticus chapter 8 the Lord spoke to Moses, saying, take Aaron and his sons with him and the garments and the anointing oil and the bull of the sin offering and the two rams in the basket of unleavened bread and assemble all the congregation at the doorway of the tent of meeting. So Moses did just as the Lord commanded him when the congregation was assembled at the doorway of the tent of meeting Moses said to the congregation. This is the thing which the Lord has commanded to do so in verse six, Moses had Aaron and his sons come near and wash them with water. He put the tunic on him and gird him with the sash and clothed him with the robe and put the e-file on him and he girded it with the artistic band of the E Fahd with which he tied it to them see the tide to those passages from Exodus that we had just read. He then placed the breast piece on amending the breast piece. He put the urine in the Thurman.
He also placed the turban on his head and on the turban. At its front. He placed the golden plate the holy crown just as the Lord had commanded Moses.
I watch this all that preliminary to this Moses then took the anointing oil and anointed the tabernacle and all that was in it and consecrated them. He sprinkled some of it on the altar seven times and anointed the altar and all its utensils in the basin and its stand to consecrate them.
Then he poured some of the anointing oil on Aaron's head and anointed him to consecrate him this this meticulous ceremony of which the anointing oil was a central part is God, set apart Aaron to his high priestly office, the wonderful aroma filling the room. The people were prepared and God had established the conditions for Old Testament worship to take place in the nation of Israel. Amazing, wonderful to to contemplate. And so what you see this allusion and Psalm 133. You can turn back there. Now with me. Psalm 133. This allusion is to something particularly unique and precious in the worship that is that is precious to God is shown by the meticulous instructions for the formula of the anointing oil and the fact that it was to be used in no other way.
This was set apart for a glorious purpose and what we get the picture of here in Psalm 133 is it that physical reality is now being used as a spiritual picture of how precious unity is and how important it is to God that anointing oil should never be violated. It should never be used for any other purpose. It had a it had a particular aspect and role to play in the worship as a high priest was set apart. Unity in the body.
Unity among brothers. Has that same kind of effect, only it's in a spiritual not a physical dimension.
It is exquisite. It is crucial to worship.
It is that which is. It is that which gives it its lovely fragrance going green with part one of a message called that precious unity you're listening to the truth pulpit and if you'd like to learn more about Don and his teaching ministry. Just go to the truth.
Pulpit.com once they are, you'll find Don's bio along with a library of his sermons that are available to you at no cost and if you'd like to support this ministry financially.
You can do that at the same web address again. It's the truth. Pulpit.com will continue in our series called the priority of unity next on my bill right. Hoping you can join us that as God continues teaching God's people