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THE CONCORD OF KINDRED SOULS Psalm 133:1-3 T. L. Lewis This morning I want to preach on the matter, THE CONCORD OF KINDRED SOULS. Science has taught us that the best way to find a cure for something is to isolate it and try to determine it cause. When a scientist goes to work in his laboratory to try and find a cure for a disease he has to first find out what were the contributing factors that cause the disease, and once he determines that he then sets about to try and find a cure. And that's what we want to do today. We want to isolate this disease called disunity, discord, and disruption. And then try to determine what causes it. What causes brethren not to dwell together in unity? Well according to the Bible it all started in a place called the Garden of Eden. You have heard of Eden haven't you? That earthly paradise that once functioned only on godly principles. The land in Eden was so pure that God could even take the dust from off it's ground and make man. Eden was a kind of heaven on earth. It was the garden spot of the universe. There was so much unity in Eden that even the animals could get along together. The lamb could lay down with the lion. The bears and the bees had a kindred spirit. There was no contention between the species. Eden was Jehovah's prize possession. He thought so much of Eden that he even made it a wedding gift for his hand made couple. It was here in Eden that humanity first contracted the disease call disunity. The story is a familiar one. You remember how it all happened. One day the creature with a little persuasion from that old serpent decided that he would take the place of the creator. The Creator had designed them to function as humanity but, they wanted to take the place of Divinity. Seeing this proclivity for reckless abandonment of Jehovah's Divine mandate; the devil whispered in the ear of the woman. "Surely God knows that if you eat of this tree that your eyes would be opened and you would be as God." She took the advice of the devil and she stepped out of pocket. And when she did that she contracted the disease of disunity. And you know that's always the case. Any time you step out of pocket and try to function in any capacity other than that which God has ordained for you, you cause disunity. If you don't think that stepping out of pocket causes disunity just imagine if ... The firemen did the work of policemen and The policemen did the work of the sanitation worker. The truck driver operated on you and The doctor drove the truck. What you will end up with chaotic disunity. When Eve caught this disease of disunity. She did the next tragic thing. She brought it home. And it spread to her husband. Now since humanity's first sin of independence from his Creator sin has manifested itself in many forms, envy, jealousy, strife, bickering, backbiting, selfishness, and pride. And the amazing thing is that all or any one of them causes disunity among the brethren, and sisters. Jealousy for example ruins and wrecks the fellowship among many believers. Uncontrolled jealousy is one of the main causes for disunity. For there are so many believers that have that crab in the bucket mentality. You know about that, don't you? I am told that if you put a bunch a crab in a bucket none of them will escape because the minute one of them almost makes it to the top the rest of them will reach up and pull him down. That happens in the church. Somebody decides that he or she is going to try to live a better life for the Lord and be a more committed Christian. And when the others see that you are about to make it to the top and experience a new level of living, they get to pulling you back down into the same old rut. They are miserable and uncommitted and they want everybody else to be just like them. If you don't believe that jealousy will cause disunity and disrupt the concord of kindred souls just watch how folk act when they think somebody else is getting a little bit more attention than they are. Jealousy, envy, lust for power, prestige, and selfishness are all sins of the spirit. And they create disunity among believers. However, the most destructive force in the church is the sin that God hates most of all. And that is the sin of pride. Solomon says that pride is that sin comes just before the fall. There are some folk sitting here right now whose lives could be a tremendous blessing for the cause of the kingdom but, they are too proud to humble themselves and ask God to forgive them. They are too proud to say I am sorry. Pride is what made the difference between Peter and Judas. Peter denied the Lord three times. But he went out and wept and came back and said "Lord I am sorry." But Judas was too proud to say I am sorry so he went out and hung himself. Pride is the master sin of the devil. And according to the Bible God resisted the proud and giveth grace to the humble. Brethren cannot dwell together in unity where folk are too proud. Pride breeds meanness. Proud folk are just downright mean. Have you ever seen anybody that was too proud that wasn't mean. They are too proud and too mean to admit that they have been wrong or even that they need help. In Numbers chapter 21 the children of Israel were complaining about their wilderness experience. They spoke a word against God and against Moses and as a result a bunch of them were bitten by snakes. So a group went to Moses and asked Moses to pray for them. Moses went to the Lord and said Lord what do you want me to tell your people. So God told Moses to take a fiery serpent and put it on a pole and stand it up in the midst of Israel. And everyone who has been bitten could just look up and they'll be healed. They didn't have to get up. They didn't have to go up. They didn't have to speak up. All they had to do was just look up. And yet some of them were too proud and too mean to just look up. Brethren cannot dwell together in unity where folk are too proud. Now that's just some of he causes of disunity among believers. Jealousy, independence, and pride. I could list more but, you get the picture. Now let's look at some practical ways and some practical cures that will rebuild the walls of unity. Well the first step is to begin by rebuilding the walls of friendship. And that's almost a forgotten art in the church. We for the most part have forgotten how to be a friend to one another. Most folk want people to be their friend but, yet they themselves are not willing to be friendly. They are devoid of duty. They are barren of benevolence. They are indifferent and insensitive to the pain and pang of others. They are not disturbed by the disaster in the lives of others. But when it comes knocking on their door. They want everybody to be their friend. Solomon put it this way. If a man wants to have friends he must first of all show himself as a friend. Yet we wrap ourselves up in selfish little packages and just absolutely refuse to even try to understand anybody else's needs but, our own. Now somebody here might say, "Well pastor, you know I have tried to show myself friendly but, I have been misused and betrayed. You can do one or two things you can stay down for the count and whaler in self pity which will ultimately lead to a life of frustration and despair, or you can either do this. Take the lessons that you have learned and use them in the constructing new friendships and rebuilding old ones. "How good and how pleasant it is for brethren to dwell together in unity. It is like the precious ointment upon the head that ran down upon the beard, even Aaron's beard. That went down to skirts of his garments." Let me put a footnote here and explain the illustration that the psalmist uses to express the significance and the gravity of unity and harmony in the midst of believers. First, he says, "how good and how pleasant it is for brethren to dwell together in unity . . . " he uses the two words good and pleasant. Because he knows that the two don't necessarily mean the same thing. There is a difference between good and pleasant. To say that something is good is to say that it is kind, honest, just, moral, and pure. You can be each of these and not necessarily be pleasing. To say that something is pleasant is to say that it is pleasing, relaxing, refreshing, enjoyable, fun and amusing. And you can be each one of these and not be good. Everything that is good is not necessarily pleasant. And everything that is pleasant is not necessarily good. For example if you have a cold. Three sixes and cod liver oil is good for you, isn't it? But, it would take a mighty strange person to say that it is pleasant. And then there are some things that in this life that is sho nuff pleasant but, it ain't no good. Ain't that right brethren. Out on the golf course at the sixteenth hole that certainly is pleasant and relaxing but, if you are playing hooky from work to do it sho nuff ain't no good. But, according to the psalmist, brethren dwelling together in unity is both good and pleasant. The second thing he says about brotherhood and unity is that it is like the precious ointment upon the head that ran down upon the beard, even Aaron's beard, that went down to the skirts of his garments. Here the psalmist is using an ordination service to illustrate how precious unity and concord among kindred souls is. Aaron was the first priest of Israel and during his ordination service they took precious ointment that symbolizes the anointment and spirit of God. And they would pour this precious ointment on the head of the priest that was up for ordination and this ointment would run down his face and his beard all the way down to the skirts of his garment. The oil was considered Holy and sacred, so the psalmist says this is what brethren dwelling together in unity is like. It is sacred and saintly, hallowed and Holy. That's the theory on building bridges of brotherhood and maintaining concord among kindred souls. But here is the practice. In order to establish true Christian friendship we must appropriate a little Golden Rule living. According to the Golden Rule, Luke 6:31, "As ye would that men should do to you do ye also to them likewise." In other words do unto others as you would have others do unto you. Now some folk have re-translated the Golden Rule to read, "do it to others before they do it to you." But if we would appropriate the Golden Rule into our personal and corporate lives brethren could dwell together in unity. Here is how you do it. The next time you get ready to speak with a sharp tongue, ask yourself the question would I want to someone to speak to me that way. The next time you get ready to ignore somebody, ask yourself the question would I want somebody to treat me that way. The next time you get ready to set a trap for somebody, ask yourself the question would I want somebody to set a trap for me. The next time you get ready to lie on somebody, ask yourself the question would I want to be lied on that way. Golden Rule living will bring about unity. Golden Rule living will secure concord among kindred souls. And where there is unity there is power. Now let me qualify that by saying where there is Christian unity there is godly power. For you see you can have a bunch of folk on one accord who have power but, they are up to no good. You would call that partners in crime. But the kind o unity I am talking about is godly unity. And where there is godly unity there is godly power. Where there is concord and unity among kindred souls you can always count on God to do great and mighty things. I remember reading one day about 120 brethren dwelling together in a place called the upper room. Luke says that they were all with one accord in one place. And God got excited about his people dwelling together in unity. As a matter of fact he was so happy and there was much rejoicing in heaven that you could hear it all the way down on planet earth. The Bible even tells us what it sounds like when God is rejoicing. It sounds like a rushing mighty wind. And it filled all the house where they were sitting. Then cloven tongues like fire sat upon each of them . . . and they were all filled with the Holy Ghost. And that same day 3000 thousand souls were added to the church. All because God's people were on one accord. All because God's people were in harmony one with the other. All because God's people were at peace with one another. All because God's people were in fellowship with one another. How good and how pleasant it is for their to be concord between kindred souls. How good and how pleasant it is for brethren to dwell together in unity.