Unity Guarded | Elder Peng Hoe

You're listening to a message to.

Go from Acts Church. We hope this message will light

up your day. Unity guarded, which is the ninth value.

And how many of you all know that unity is

such an important value for the church to have?

Very, very, very, very important. And I've always wanted to.

Spend a little bit of time and teach on this

beautiful prayer that Jesus prayed.

In John chapter 17.

John 17 · chapter mention

Never really had the full opportunity to do it, but

today I'll do it. I'll do it and I'll teach

from John 17 and I hope we can catch some

things because this is actually a very, very powerful prayer.

It's called the prayer of Jesus. Some people call it

the high priestly prayer of Jesus. It's in John chapter 17.

John 17 · chapter mention

It's the whole chapter. So I'm going to read the

whole John chapter 17. Of course, you'll be like, is

John 17 · chapter mention

the whole thing relevant to unity? I believe it is.

Even though the starting part will be like scratching our

heads a little bit. But let me read it because

I think it's good to read God's Word. And then

we'll try to break it down. And I pray I'll

help you all see the Scriptures in a different light today, okay?

The prayer of Jesus.

Verse 1 of chapter 17 of the Gospel of John says,

After saying all these things, Jesus looked up to heaven

and said, Father, the hour has come. Glorify your Son

so He can give glory back to you. For you

have given Him authority over everyone. He gives eternal life

to each one you have given Him. And this is

the way to have eternal life, to know you, the

only true God. And Jesus Christ, the one you sent

to earth, I brought glory to you here on earth

by completing the work you gave me to do. Now, Father,

bring me into the glory we shared before the world began.

Okay, that's the first part. Now is the second part.

I have revealed you to the ones you gave me

from this world. They were always yours. You gave them

to me and they have kept your word. Now they

know that everything I have is a gift from you

for I have passed on to them the message you

gave me. They accepted it and know that I came

from you and they believe you sent me. My prayer

is not for the world, but for those you have

given me, because they belong to you. All who are

mine belong to you, and you have given them to me,

so they bring me glory. Now I am departing from

the world. They are staying in this world, but I

am coming to you. Holy Father, you have given me

your name. Now protect them by the power of your name,

so that they will be united just as we are.

During my time here, I protected them by the power

of the name you gave me. I guarded them so

that not one was lost except the one hated for destruction,

as the scripture foretold.

Now I am coming to you.

I told them many things while I was with them

in this world so they would be filled with my joy.

I have given them your word, and the world hates

them because they do not belong to the world, just

as I do not belong to the world. I am

not asking you to take them out of the world,

but to keep them safe from the evil one. They

do not belong to this world any more than I do.

Make them holy by your truth. Teach them your word,

which is truth. Just as you send me into the world,

I am sending them into the world and I give

myself as a holy sacrifice for them so they can

be made holy by your truth.

Second part. Now is the third part. I am praying

not only.

For these disciples but also for all who will ever

believe in me through their message. I pray that they

will all be one just as you and I are one.

As you are in me, Father, and I am in

you and may they be in you in us so

that the world will believe you sent me. I've given

them the glory you gave me so they may be

one as we are one. I'm in them and you

are in me. May they experience such perfect unity that

the world will know that you sent me and that

you love them as much as you love me.

Father, I want.

These whom you have given me to be with me

where I am. Then you can see all the glory

you gave me because you love me even before the

world began. O righteous Father, The world doesn't know you,

but I do. And these disciples know you sent me.

I have revealed you to them and I will continue

to do so. Then your love for me will be

in them and I will be in them. The Lord

bless the reading of his word. I know it's a

lot of words, but it's powerful. This is the prayer

that only Jesus could pray. And he asked for three

things actually. That's why I said there were three parts.

The first thing is, He actually asked for Himself to

be glorified.

You realise that? The first five verses.

Then, He asked for His apostles, His followers, His disciples

to be sanctified, to be made holy. And then, He

asked for all believers to be unified.

Three parts. Before we look at these three.

Petitions that Jesus gave, presented before God, His Father, let's

consider the setting. And the setting is such, it's probably

just after midnight on the day when Jesus Christ will

meet His death, okay?

The day that He will die.

And every year on the day of atonement, And you

can read this account in Leviticus 16 if you ever

get through to Leviticus.

There are different accounts. Day of Atonement, one of it

is in there.

What happens on the Day of Atonement is the high

priest of Israel goes into the temple, okay? Goes into

the temple, offers three prayers. For himself, for his fellow priests,

and for the people of God.

Read it.

And you will also see it in Jewish culture. That's

what they also do. The high priest goes in on

the Day of Atonement, offers three prayers for himself, for

his fellow priests and for the people of God. And

then he would come out and then he would sacrifice

an animal on the Day of Atonement. That's what usually happens.

Atonement to atone for all the wrongs and the sins.

And so a sacrifice was needed. It seems as if

Jesus is almost deliberately taking over the position of the

high priest. What he was doing here. Because as he

was passing through the temple, he offered three prayers. For himself,

for his immediate followers and for all of God's people.

Do you see that?

See, the difference is that instead of going from that

prayer to therefore, thereafter to kill an animal and to

present it as a sacrifice unto God, Jesus presented Himself

as the sacrifice. And that's why this chapter is sometimes

called Jesus' High Priestly Prayer. It's a powerful, powerful prayer

that sometimes we miss. And sometimes we're like, is this

thing on unity? I don't see no unity happening in

the church today.

So, ignore.

Never came to pass. Let's break it down, okay? Let's

look at the first part. First part.

Jesus glorified is the first part. This is His prayer.

And this request is a bit surprising one because no

man will ever pray this kind of prayer.

How many of you all pray prayers like this? Lord,

glorify me. You'll be like, okay.

I think you will laugh if you pray in that

kind of prayer as well. But this is something that

only the Son of God could do. Because none of

us would have said, God, give me glory, unless you

are so proud and so full of yourself, which maybe

some of us are. Because it's a very, very selfish

thing to say, honour me, may everybody look up to me,

give glory to me. But Jesus shows that He has

no selfish motives. When He says, give glory to me

and then I can give more to you, Lord. That

is the kind of prayers that God loves to answer.

How many of us ever prayed, God, give me more

money so that I can give it all away?

Very, very rare we do that.

But if you are able to do that, wow, that's Jesus. Basically,

He's saying, God, give glory to me so that I

can give your glory all to the people.

And so Jesus was right to pray, give glory.

To me because for 33 years of his life, the

glory was hidden.

Do you know that?

You see, when Jesus came to earth, he left his

glory behind. You see the entire account in Philippians chapter 2.

Philippians 2 · chapter mention

He had to empty himself of his divinity. All people

could see was a village carpenter. All people could see

on the day of his birth was someone born in

a manger, in a little stye. His glory was hidden.

As he was growing up, he was just a wandering preacher.

His glory was not there. The only one time that

his glory ever appeared is something that we see in

the scriptures called the Transfiguration.

If you ever read.

The Transfiguration, it's when suddenly he was so bright.

Boom! And Peter was like blinded.

I think Peter hoped that he had, I don't know,

sunglasses or something like that because he says, Jesus was

brighter than the midday sun of the afternoon.

Can you go out? Now this is pretty hot, right?

At 12 o'clock in the afternoon, go and stare at

the sun and see how bright that is.

That's crazy bright.

And that was how Jesus was in that transfigured state

only once in His lifetime. Other than that, when He

was walking 33 years, the glory was hidden. And so

now Jesus says, Lord, give me the glory I used

to have. The glory we had before the world began.

You know Jesus was there right from the very beginning.

When we bring people through the Scriptures, even in Genesis 1, Father, Son,

Holy Spirit were there. They are in the Scriptures. Not

hidden in the Scriptures for me, revealed in the Scriptures.

And so Jesus says, Lord, give me the glory I

used to have. And God answered that prayer. Because when

you see a picture of Jesus Christ hanging on.

The cross, are you ashamed of it? No.

Because what we see is His glorified state. But this is,

the world views it as that is a shameful act.

That is a criminal. That's how criminals are executed. But yet, today,

we are not humiliated. We are not disgraced. We are

not ashamed of Jesus. Because God's glory is in Him.

It is here that God's glory is seen. Not only

was Jesus asking to be glorified by death, but He

was also asking to be glorified to life so that

His death would bring life. And that's exactly what Jesus

has done for us. Not only has the cross led

to the resurrection and Jesus' life, It's by the cross

that eternal life has been given to many people today.

It was not a tragedy. The cross is not a tragedy.

The cross is a triumph. Because Christ won over death.

And he overcome death. What could have brought him right

down forever has lifted him up and drawn all people

to him. And so Jesus goes on from his death

to the light that will come to all humanity.

Do you see that? That is why Jesus prayed, Lord,

glorify me.

Because he was going to go through the most humiliating

death anyone could ever imagine. But yet he says, Father,

you have given me all authority over people so that

I can give eternal life to those you have given me. Therefore,

glorify me. That was Jesus' first prayer, that he be glorified.

He didn't stop there. He now turns to his 11 disciples,

part 2 of his prayer.

Who are God's gift to him.

He acknowledges that each and every one of these disciples, Lord,

you have gifted them to me. And if you think

about it, every church we have today came from them.

One of them started something. Can you imagine that? Eleven. Eleven.

Not even twelve, because the scriptures actually clearly say, one,

when awry, did his own thing.

As the Scriptures predicted.

But Christ thinks of them right now, His followers, and

He tells His Father two things about them. First, He

is speaking to God the Father as He is praying.

He says, Look, this is what I have done for them.

I have introduced them to you. They now know you, Father.

I have given them your word, so they know you.

And only Jesus, can do this for you and I.

No one else can do it. That's why it is

through Jesus Christ that God is able to identify us

as His followers. If we put our faith in Christ Jesus,

Jesus' righteousness becomes our identification mark.

So that's why Jesus says, Lord, I have introduced them

to you. First thing.

Then the second thing is this. What he's telling Jesus,

what have they done with him? And Jesus says, they

have received the word. So Jesus is telling God, not

only have I introduced them to you, they have also

received the word because they have believed it, they have

obeyed it, they know it.

And that is how knowledge comes, right?

Not just through hearing God's word through Jesus, but through receiving,

which is an act, through believing, which is also an act.

Because you cannot say that I only believe if there's

no behavior. Because the behavior then comes in the obedience.

And so he's saying that not only do they know

it as knowledge, but this knowledge has been received, this

knowledge has been believed in, and now this knowledge is

being obeyed. And then he says, then you will know

God and His will. And so Jesus is saying, Lord,

I've done this, I've introduced you to them. And now

they also are taking on whatever that they know and

they are doing their best. And then Jesus makes another

couple of statements. First, He says, I'm not praying for

the world, but I'm praying for my disciples. You see,

the world doesn't belong to God. Again, Jesus doesn't own

everyone in that sense because many say, I don't want

to come under your covering. And so the best thing

that you can do and the best thing that Jesus

can do is to pray to those who belong to Him.

And so He's not saying, I pray for every single person. No,

He says, I pray for my followers. And so although

Jesus had compassion for everyone, He concentrated His prayer on

those with Him who were going to win the world.

There's a big difference.

And that's the first amazing statement that you find as

Jesus is praying that prayer. The second amazing thing is

Jesus says this, all I have is yours and all

you have is mine. And only the Son of God

can actually pray that. But Christians can begin to say

these two things as well. if you are in Christ

and if you are in the Lord, if you want

to give a blessing to others, give everything to the

Lord and then realise that everything that is His is yours.

And then you know that you can share whatever that

He has shared with you.

That's why we sometimes remind.

Believers that you have the authority in your life to

pray a blessing over one another. You have the authority

to speak salvation. into different people's lives. You have the

authority because all that God has is with us as well.

And we know that God's purpose is to seek and

save those who are lost. I'm not saying that we

are the ones that do the saving, but we have

the words of salvation that can be released, that can

be spoken.

Don't always go all doom and gloom. Everyone is doomed.

There is no point of me sharing the good news

of Jesus Christ because no one wants good news. Everyone

wants sensational news but not the good news. And therefore,

sometimes we keep our lips pursed and we are silent.

Don't.

Realise this, that in us is God because we know

who God is. And if in us is God, therefore

all that God has is in us as well. Therefore,

we can.

Share.

Therefore, we can speak And Jesus prayed like this. Why

do you think Jesus prayed like this? And here is

the reason. He actually says and explains why He prays

it this way. Because He is going out of the world.

And He is going to leave all of them in

the world.

And His concern is, and He knows that this world

is a dangerous place to be in. Because 24 hours later,

Jesus would be set free from the world's pressures. All

the temptations. which he experienced. But those 11 will still

be there. He's going back to his glory, but they

won't go to glory until years later. And so this

is Jesus' concern. And he prays, Lord, I've kept them all,

except one, who was not meant to be. I'm going

to have to leave them. So Father, you keep them now.

I've kept them through the power of your name. The

name in which you gave me. And what is that name?

That name is Abba Father. That Jesus kept them. He

taught them how to pray. How did He teach them

to pray? Start by saying, Abba Father. Our Father. Daddy God.

That's the name Jesus gives God. And so Jesus says,

now you keep them through your name. That's why we

are people who worship the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob.

He is our Abba Father. Those are the early forefathers

of the Jewish culture. But all, even God the Father

identified Himself with the patriarchs. But He's trying to help

us see, you know, just that term, Abba. It's a

Malay word as well. Of course, it's Arabic, it's Abba

as well. It just means daddy. It's not even the

formal fatherer. If your kid calls you father, you'll be like,

your kid calls you daddy, you're like, wow. And this

is how God wants us to address. And we are saying,

in my daddy's name, rise up. In my daddy's name,

be saved. In my daddy's name, speak it and you

will come to pass. And so, it is through that name.

And he wants them. How does Jesus want them kept?

It's in his prayer.

He said, first, keep them from evil. That was the

first prayer. And the second, keep them for good. So,

it's two parts. Keep them from evil. Keep them for good.

Because Jesus said, I don't want them out of the world.

I want them right in it. I'm praying that they

should be right in it, in full contact with all

of the devil's subjects, but not subject to the devil.

Big prayer.

Because everywhere we go, the devil has got all his

agents around us. Because this world, scriptures tell us, belong

to the prince of darkness. And that's why evil runs rampant.

But yet Jesus is not saying, Lord, take them out.

No, He's saying, I need to keep them in.

So I'm praying that they will be free from evil,

but they will live for your good. And so we

are always to be involved in human society. We are

to continuously rub shoulders with everyone, except the evil one.

Don't have to go and buddy-buddy with the evil one.

But we are still called to be in this world.

even though we are not of this world. So, not

only keep them from evil, but also keep them for good.

And the truth is, no other religion says God sent

His only Son into our world. There's no other religion

that says that. He came, He faced temptations. He was misunderstood.

People slander Him, people criticise Him. Look what kind of

people He mixed with. He had come to face... all

of them. And so, as a Christian goes into the world,

you will face the exact same people that Jesus faced.

Don't ever think that Jesus, that's your calling, ain't mine. No.

If we are followers of Christ, then be ready and

be prepared to do all that Jesus did because He

faced everyone and yet He was kept from evil and

He was continuously used for the goodness of God and

His kingdom. And so Jesus prayed, Lord, I am sending

them as You sent Me. And they have got a

job to do in the world. So I'm praying for

their sanctification, that they may be set apart from the

evil one and set apart for the good of one another.

That is what is meant by this prayer. That is

why God is saying, Lord, You sanctify them. The word

sanctify just means set apart for God's use. Another word

is actually holiness. When you are called to live a

holy life, we are called to set ourselves apart. And

so if you are sanctified, if you are holy, God

can use all of you because you are set apart

from evil and therefore set apart for good. And so

this was Jesus' prayer. Lord, sanctify the followers.

And we know... They were not perfect. We know they

all had their flaws.

We know right up to the very end, Jesus could

still find no one who would follow Him and be

obedient to Him all the way through and through. And

so He still had to go to the cross. The

great exchange still had to take place. But that was

when His grace flowed upon their lives and when they

came to realisation of the glory of God on earth,

The cross through the crucifixion and the glory of God

made evident through the resurrection. Those disciples hung on to

their faith all the way until they died for it.

That's one of the reasons why Christianity is so real.

Because you think about it, you think anyone would die

for a lie. Which crazy person dies for a lie?

unless they really experienced the glory of God. Those early

disciples all died pretty tragically actually.

But they died hanging on to their faith.

And that is one of the evidence that is so

clear because no one in their right frame of mind

will go to their deaths and go to their brutal

deaths hanging on to a lie of what they didn't

see happen or what they didn't experience happen.

It took place. Amen?

And then finally, the final part is for believers to unite.

Notice, Jesus had faith.

He never said, I wonder if this 11 will be

able to win everybody. I hope they will be successful. No,

He's not praying like that. Instead, what did Jesus say?

Jesus says, Father, I pray for those who are going

to come. It's like Jesus sort of knew this 11

will go out set apart from evil, set apart for good,

and they're going to win the world. And so he

just goes on praying. I pray for those who are

going to come. Thank you for those who are going

to be converted and come to Christ.

Thank you, Lord. He was already giving thanks. You see

Jesus speaking forth. Faith.

What do you think is our Lord's concern for all

the believers through the ages?

There's only one word. His concern was their unity. Unity.

And so what is unity? Because this was something that

the Lord prayed. Is it uniformity? Sometimes we think unity

is uniformity. That means we all dress the same. We

all have the same haircut. We all look the same.

Is that unity? I don't think so. Is it a union?

No one ever heard of a union? Everyone come together.

Let's fight for some rights. Workers' rights. Set up a

trade union. No, I want more pay. Malaysia is not

very big. This kind of thing. You go to places

in Europe and UK, they can go on strike one.

Suddenly doctors all don't want to come to work because

I want more pay. Suddenly tube workers, today I think

I will stay home because I don't want to do anything.

The trade unions are quite strong. But I don't think

that's the unity that God has in mind as well.

So it's not really uniformity. It's not really a union.

It is what I love to call unanimity. Ever heard

of a unanimous vote? That means everyone.

Hearts, minds and wills that act alike. Spontaneously. Together.

We decide together. Whether we like the decision or not,

this is our decision. Whether the outcomes are great or

not so great, it is still our decisions. Whether we

have to face the consequence together, we will face it together.

If we have to reap the rewards together, we will

reap the rewards together. That is what unanimity means. And

that's how Jesus was with the Father. He prayed, I

want them to be one as you and I are one.

And that was not a visible unity and nobody organised

it outside these two persons. But yet you realise it's

a harmony of mind, a harmony of heart, a harmony

of the will, a harmony of the intention. So that

whether they were together or separate, they acted the same.

That whatever one said was what the other would say

as well. You realise you can actually do that for

what the Father says, what the Son says, what the

Holy Spirit says. I believe one day there will be

unanimity among all of God's people. So that it doesn't

matter what church you go to, it doesn't matter what

denomination you are, you will hear the same thing, you

will feel the same love. Because at the deepest level,

this is what Jesus had.

With the Father.

It's not something that's visible. We can't see it. Because

no one could see the unity between the Father and Son.

Can't see it per se. Although you could feel the results.

How many of you all ever feel like, I think

Father and Son constantly fighting with each other. That one

maybe sound like my Father and Son relationship with my

own father. Uh... But you don't get that with God

the Father and God the Son. You don't get that

they are in constant conflict. In Jesus' words, in Jesus' deeds,

the Father was present. He may even sound like he's complaining,

but yet he is subject to his Father. And he's

in agreement with his Father. And that is what unanimity

is about. And that is the kind of unanimity that

the world needs to see.

So the question is this. Was Jesus' prayer answered?

Because a lot of people, when they read John 17,

can't fully reconcile. But I know this for a fact.

Jesus was glorified. Isn't that true? That's why today when

we look at the cross of Calvary, whether it's the

crucifix with Jesus on it or Jesus not on it,

For me, that is still the glory of God magnified.

The empty tomb is the glory of God magnified. And

so we know Jesus was glorified. And you know what?

I believe the apostles were sanctified. But are the believers unified?

Because some people talk as if we must answer this prayer.

But Jesus was not praying to us to do it.

Jesus told us one commandment. You Just love one another.

And he is praying that God would do the unifying work.

Amen? I believe that through the ages, it has been done.

It is being done.

Because I find that wherever there are people who have

come through the first part of this prayer and the

second part of this prayer, they will eventually enjoy unity

at the end of it. Wherever there are those who

allow Jesus' glory to shine in their life, wherever there

are those who are set apart from the devil for good,

you find that God creates a unity of spirit regardless

of the denomination that you hang on to.

Do you realise that? If we all come together and.

We acknowledge the glory of God and we praise Him

and we sing of His goodness, when we ourselves allow

our lives to be sanctified by God so that we

can serve Him wholeheartedly, you will see unity at work.

So the third prayer is actually conditional on the first

and the second. Because if you are able to show

me a group of Christians in which Jesus' glory is shown,

a group of Christians who have severed themselves from the

devil and are usable in God's service, a group of

Christians who accept the Word of God as truth and

I will show you a group of Christians who are thinking,

feeling and acting alike.

Unity. I believe the prayer is being answered.

And we must stop trying to answer it, but allow

God to answer it by letting Jesus' glory, God's Word,

and the Spirit's sanctification to take place in our lives.

Then you find it happen. Then you will experience this unity.

That is how Jesus' prayer, the final part of the prayer,

will be answered fully. That is the unity of God's people.

The principle of unity is very, very clear. It will

never be lost. Because I believe the principle of unity

is in each and every one of us. We worship

the one true and living God.

It's innate.

Those who are chosen by God to represent Him and

His Word on earth, it is in us. But the

practice of unity is not always shown. Principle I think

we will all agree on. And we'll stand on it

and say, that's right, hear, hear, I agree. So how

can unity be practical? Isn't that the question that we

all want to know? And let's turn now to Ephesians.

Ephesians 4 · chapter mention

Chapter 4 of Ephesians. Verses 2 to 6 is what

I'm going to read. I'm just going to read a portion.

I'm not going to teach the whole of Ephesians. But

2 to 6 of the letter to the Ephesus church

says this.

Always be humble and gentle. Be patient with each other.

Making allowance for each other's fault because of your love.

Make every effort to keep yourselves united in the Spirit,

binding yourselves together with peace. For there is one body

and one Spirit, just as you have been called to

one glorious hope for the future. There is one Lord,

one faith, one baptism, one God and Father of all, who.

Is over all, in all and living through all. Huh?

What is this about? Well, Paul.

here is essentially prescribing the ingredients needed to practice unity.

So it's practical.

Because if we lose any one of these ingredients, we

are at risk of losing unity altogether. What are these ingredients?

Ingredient number one is called humility. This means to see

yourself as God sees you.

Can you imagine that?

It is when you see yourself as God sees you,

you can be nothing else but humble.

Do you know how God looks at you?

Even though if we compare ourselves to God, we are

not even in any state to say that God actually,

me and you, we're on par.

We're on par. We're not on par. He's creator. We

are creation.

Sometimes we want to be creator and we want to

be God. But that is not ever going to happen

in this lifetime. Sometimes we talk as though there is

no fear and no reverence for God in our lives.

The truth is, God loves us so much. Yet we

are nothing but His mere creation. But yet He loves

us so much. If you see God the way He

sees you, you will be nothing but humble. But yet

some of us are so proud. Some of us are like,

why God like that? Wow, show off, God. You can

choose whoever you want. We always talk about.

Free will. What? I need to have free will. But

we never talk about God's free will. You realise?

Everything is about our free will. Why can't I choose this?

Why can't I do that? Yes, and God has given

us free will. But there's also God's will. that sometimes

we completely miss out. And so, I want you to

know that God's will is for every single one of

us to be called His children.

That's His will.

And so, if you see yourself as God sees you,

because God sees us as His amazing creation, the Creator

who views His creation with so much adoration, it's mind-blowing.

It leaves you nothing but humble. And humble people always

bring with them unity. as opposed to those who are

proud and arrogant, you realise pride and arrogance destroys unity.

So humility is the first ingredient. The second ingredient is

meekness or gentleness. I'm not saying we must be soft

and demure.

It's not that.

This just means a person must not be concerned about

their own reputation, for their own rights or their own revenge.

A person whom you can.

Do anything to and still they stay the same. That

is what meekness and gentleness is. It's basically someone who

does not take offence easily. Because you realise this, any

fellowship is broken when a single party takes offence.

And you know what? We are daily being offended. Daily.

So every day we can find, we can take offence

in everything. Why the flirt say that to me? Why

the flirt never wish me? Why the flirt never smile

at me? You know, sometimes we are like that, right?

On the road, like, every day we are taking offence.

But the ingredient that is reminded here is gentleness, is meekness.

It's an important ingredient because you don't want the fellowship

to be so easily broken. You need meekness because a

gentle person, it's harder to offend a gentle person. Ever

met a gentle person? You do everything you want to

the flirt like, it's not bodo. Sometimes we look at

that and it's bodo. People take advantage of it. No,

I really have met gentle giants, sometimes we call them.

In them, the spirit is just so meek and so mild.

But that doesn't mean that you can step all over them.

Third ingredient that is needed is patience. The translated in

English word is called long-tempered. I've taught this before. Doesn't

exist in the English language anymore. Short-tempered is still in existence. Long-tempered?

What's long-tempered? You're a very long-tempered person.

We don't use it.

But that's what it means. We all know what short-tempered is.

We don't know what long-tempered is.

Well, patience. That means, you can take it. I can.

It's alright. Sabar.

Bawa bersabar. Be patient. This is so needed to maintain

the bond of peace. And the fourth and final ingredient

is one called forbearance. Forbearance is the NKJV word that

is used always. The NLT simply just says this. Making

allowance for each other's fault. Do you find yourself doing that?

I make allowance for each other's fault. Okay, that person

said something to me. Maybe that person had a rough

day as well. The person raised their voice.

Oh man.

Maybe the person's voice is just naturally very loud and so...

We want to make allowance. We want to not straight

away take offence, but make allowance first. And then you

realise if you have these four ingredients, we can have P,

that will hold the church together. Makes unity present in fellowship.

Because what? No matter how diverse the church is, and

the church is diverse because there is not, God's creation

is beautiful, wonderful, unique. Not a single blade of grass

is the same. Not a single human being is made similar.

We are not robots. We are all given specific identities.

We all have specific fingerprints. We are all unique in

that sense. But if you have all these four ingredients,

no matter how diverse the church is, unity will not

just be maintained, it will be perfectly guarded. And therefore,

the church will thrive. I believe it with all my heart.

I've seen it happen before. But I've also seen the

opposite happen many times when we forget to apply all

these ingredients. We can lose unity if we do not

practice it. So it's not good enough if we understand

the principle of unity. The first part that I just

talked to, all those are wonderful principles of unity. But

what is needed is for us to practice it because

practice makes perfect. So these four ingredients makes unity. And

unity is always rooted and grounded in the kind of

unity God has. You see, this is why Paul exhorts

us to make every effort to keep ourselves united in

the Spirit, binding yourselves together with peace. For there is

one body, one Spirit, just as you have been called

to one glorious hope for the future. There is one Lord,

one faith, one baptism, one God and Father of all,

who is over all, in all and living through all.

That's what he meant when he used all those one words.

And sometimes we're like, What's he talking about? But he's

essentially saying three persons in perfect harmony. You don't hear

the father scolding the son, the son saying, the father,

why are you like that one?

Why are you so evil? You don't hear the.

Spirit saying, hey, two of you keep bickering and then

you leave me here on earth with this bunch of jokers.

What's all this about? No, you don't hear that. In fact,

Jesus' prayer has always been that they be one as

we are one. And so it is about cooperation rather

than competition. We are not here competing against one another.

Sometimes that's how we live our lives. Sometimes that's how

we live our Christian lives. Why that person get acknowledged?

Why is he the executive pastor and not me?

Right?

Why is he the leader and not me? What has

he done that is so great? Why does he get

the acknowledgement that, no, sometimes we can do that. I

can also fall into that trap. Why does the flood

earn so much money? I just want more money. No,

it can. But it's about cooperation rather than competition. It's

about togetherness rather than aloneness. If we are all going

to live together in heaven, let us live together on

earth first.

Do you realise that?

Because the day we all die, I pray we will

all be at the same place. It's not like you

hang out at the Methodist corner, you chill at the

Baptist side, you Pentecostals that side, put you all further

because you're all very noisy.

I don't think that's how we live our lives.

Because the day we breathe our last, I believe we

will all be together in heaven because we all worship

the one true and living God. We are all children

of God living together Remember this. Mark chapter 3 verse

Mark 3:25

25 tells us that if a house is divided against itself,

that house cannot stand. How can a house, how can

a family stand when we are divided? And be careful

of division. Division simply just means we have dual vision.

Two visions.

I see, you know, if I'm the father of the house,

And I say, okay, I want my family to be

like this. And then the mother says, eh, I think

I want the others. If we are not united in

our vision, we're going to lead the family into division,

into two.

Visions, which will never lead to unity.

And that is why it's so important, even in the

church setting, for us to realize that we cannot be divided.

But I know the principle of unity is like, I

understand it. But it's not enough that you know it

in your head. We got to practice it. And how

do you practice it? Well, we got to turn our

cheek sometimes the other way around. There are days when

we just have to not take offense. Do you realize

how many people have left churches because someone said something

to me which I thought was very offensive? And before

you know it, I'm out. But people are going to

offend each other all the time. Are we ever going

to be gentle and meek enough, long-tempered enough to say, Lord,

I choose to believe that that is not the person's intention.

If not, I will clarify with the person.

If the person really outrightly intends harm against me, then

actually that person is quite evil. Then we need to pray. God,

keep them from evil. so that they can be used

for good. We all need to practice unity. It's not easy.

I'm not saying it's easy. Because we are all so diverse.

I look around this also, I'm like, all shapes and sizes,

all ages, all kinds of hairlines.

Everyone is different.

I can say something that can offend all the not-so-much-hair people.

And you can, like, useless preacher.

Laugh at me. It's not.

We are all unique. Wonderfully and perfectly made in God's image.

So remember this. Remember this. If Jesus is going to

do anything in this world, He has got to have

a body to do it.

Do you realise that? The head of the church is

Jesus Christ.

The reality is Jesus Christ ain't right here, right.

Now with us.

He is seated at the right hand of God the Father.

Rightfully so. Because He has done all that God has

planned and purposed for Him. But this world is not

devoid of the presence of Christ. Because the presence of

Christ is actually felt through the body of Christ, which

is at work in this world. We are the body

of Christ. We are the body of believers. And it's

the Holy Spirit that holds us all together.

Amen?

Let's stand. And we're going to declare this song. Because

this song is a declaration of our faith.

I believe.

Do we really believe? If you really believe, that's the

first step. Because that's essentially the principle of unity. But

I pray today from that belief will translate into behavior.

From the doctrine, we will start doing. From the principle,

we will start practicing.

We hope you've been blessed by this message. For more

information on our church, please visit xchurch.org. We are also

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We're believing that this week is going to be a

good week ahead for you.

God bless.