Greetings. This is Pastor David Bass at New Geneva Orthodox Presbyterian Church with a moment of truth where we challenge you to think through an important issue of life and faith. And today I want to ask you, where is true unity found in these days of division? Where is true unity found in these days of division? Dear fellow listener, dear fellow American, we are going to need to be united as the church against tyranny in these days of division.

As one commentator puts it, as goes the church, so goes the nation. And therefore, we are going to need to be united because our enemy, that is the deep state, the satanic tyranny of the deep state, is trying to divide us with a variety of things. And we are going to need to be united. If we are indeed going to overcome and establish a Christian constitutional republic, we are going to need to be united because make no mistake about this, our enemies, the satanic realm set up against us is united and they are committed to overthrowing our Christian constitutional republic. So we are going to be united against tyranny.

And if so, where is true unity found in these days of division? Oh, what makes groups united? Let me ask you that first of all, dear listener. What is it that makes groups united? For example, gangs, even criminal gangs in American cities are notorious for their crime and their violence and their drugs.

But what many average Americans fail to understand is the bonds of friendship and family that is often missing in inner city youth that gangs provide. One young gang member in a Latin gang in Los Angeles spoke of that unity in this way when he was talking about the gang exploits of his friend Michi, as he called him and himself. He said, and I quote, it wasn't the money, power, women or drugs that bonded me and Michi. It was our brotherhood. The same reasons most people venture into gangs.

Unity, a sense of belonging. And in Michi, in my case, I suppose our bond fulfilled something we felt was missing at home, unquote. Oh, yes. Unity, a sense of belonging. That's what oftentimes brings people together in various groups.

And what looms very large for me as an avid student of history is the grand experiment that is the United States. We call ourselves the United States. What brings us unity, dear listener? Those elements have been delineated by historians as our shared culture, which is Western and European, our religious heritage, which is Christian, unmistakably, and most importantly, our constitution, which safeguards individual liberty and carefully hedges in government. It seems as if all of these are under attack now, aren't they?

Our shared culture is fragmented by mindless cliches like unity through diversity or the critical race theory, which is that pernicious evil Marxist strategy that is meant to divide us, the United States, along lines of race. Oh, our constitution is, for all practical purposes, ignored and violated daily as our federal government grows like a many-headed hydra. And all of this is, of course, causes me to ask, where is true unity? What brings true unity? And who brings it, more importantly?

Huh? What does that look like? Well, let me bring for you a psalm of unity that speaks of Jesus Christ, even, and that is Psalm 133, which is across Scripture, a classic understanding of what true unity is. Psalm 133, and I read it now. A song of ascents of David.

Behold, how good and pleasant it is when brothers dwell in unity. It is like the precious oil on the head, running down on the beard on the head of Aaron, running down on the collar of his robes. It is like the dew of Hermon, which falls on the mountains of Zion. For there the Lord has commanded the blessing life forevermore. What a beautiful psalm that is, dear listener.

And I want to make three points from that psalm. Number one, from verse one, unity, our fellowship in Christ brings the one blessing and joy, saturating the single band of brothers. We are a band of brothers in Christ, are we not? Verse one says, behold, how good and pleasant it is when brothers dwell in unity. Our psalm is a beautiful graphic picture of unity.

And note, first of all, the kind of the psalm. It is a song of ascents. That is a psalm that's sung by people as they made pilgrimage to Jerusalem and to the temple for festivals and worship. And that psalm, a psalm of ascents, implicitly unified the pilgrims in their fellowship and their purpose. This psalm, Psalm 133, look this up in your Bible.

Psalm 133 is also in the middle of three psalms that are grouped together as songs of Zion. Songs of Zion. For example, Psalm 132 is a psalm of Zion. It says, for the Lord has chosen Zion. He has desired it for his dwelling place in verse 13.

And then we have ours, Psalm 133, that says, the dew of Hermon is that which falls on the mountains of Zion. And then, of course, we have the third psalm, Psalm 134, that says, may the Lord bless you from Zion, he who made the heavens and the earth. Three psalms of Zion. This brace of three psalms were popular psalms that were sung by Hebrew pilgrims that were making their way to Jerusalem. One psalm spoke of the single place of God that he had chosen.

This speaks of the single people he has chosen. That is Psalm 133. And then Psalm 134 speaks of the single blessing that flows from the previous two. Oh, these three psalms hang together very well. And one of the most significant features in this psalm is its authorship.

That is a psalm of David, it says. That it is his presents us with two great ironies. Two great ironies in the life of David. Number one, the division and internecine fighting that transpired before his kingship. It's ironic that this is a psalm of David, because as you recall from Samuel, though Israel now had one king, they still fought amongst each other as 12 stubborn tribes.

As one commentator, as Calvin puts it, as a matter of fact, as John Calvin puts it, he says, indeed, so mortal was the feud which existed that nothing else than the destruction of the party and opposition seemed to hold out the prospect of peace, unquote. And this almost happened, right? In the near extinction of the tribe of Benjamin, you can read about this in the book of Judges. Nothing seems stronger than the bond between brothers, and yet nothing seems more bitter than a feud between brothers, too. Second irony that we must note in that David is the author of this psalm is the division of the kingdom into two generations.

After the death of Solomon, Rehoboam and Jeroboam rent asunder the one kingdom, fulfilling the words of the prophet who said, the sword shall therefore never leave your house, David. That was the consequence for David's adultery with Bathsheba. There would be no more unity in Israel, no further good and pleasant blessing. But during the days of the composition of this psalm, Psalm 133, we see that brief window of unity, blessing and peace. Though David was a man of blood, a warrior king, David nevertheless had defeated Israel's surrounding enemies.

He had made them vassal states and he united the splintered tribes under his one kingship. And the matter of fact is that he left to his son Solomon peace on every side, as first king says. In Samuel, we see the auspices under which this unity transpired. Indeed, all the elders gathered together and gave themselves to David with all of the tribes united under David's kingship in true shalom, that is true peace. David could exclaim, behold, he could point to this circumstance in Israel's life, excuse me, and say to the world, look at this.

David had a shining model of unity. We need unity today in America, and we only find it in God. We only find it in Scripture. David had this shining model of unity, be it ever so brief. Now, one of the things I love about this psalm, Psalm 133, and why it is one of my favorites, is its brief and succinct and abiding declaration of principle, how good and pleasant it is when brothers dwell in unity.

What a great principle, how good and pleasant it is when brothers dwell in unity. Oh, this psalm extols the virtues of unity. First of all, number one, unity is in accord with God's expressed will. We are meant to be united. That's the sense of good, how good and pleasant it is when brothers dwell in unity.

It is good when brothers dwell in unity. It's God's expressed will. When God made man, he saw that it was good. Could Cain and Abel live in such brotherly love in the will of their Creator? How about Joseph and his brothers?

On the other hand, could David and Jonathan live in accord? Of course they could, beautifully. Could the twelve tribes do so under David? They did. The notion of good here means precisely this.

Unity is God's expressed will. Unity is God's expressed will. That's true for us, for the church, and it should be so in the United States of America, too. The church should be united in America, not dispensing perhaps with all denominations, but nevertheless, even with our denominations together, we should be working together in God's will for the things that he desires. Even as we are united to our Savior in the body of Christ, we should be united.

And we are united to the Father in Christ, and we should be united to one another in Christ and express it. As Matthew Henry puts it, it is good in itself that is conformable to the will of God, the conformity of earth to heaven. Unity. This was God's desire for Israel, which was a type of the church. I will make them one nation, God says, in the land, on the mountains of Israel, and one king shall be king over them all, and they shall be no longer two nations and no longer divided into two kingdoms.

Unquote from Ezra, or from Ezekiel, excuse me, 37 and 22. So it is to be for the church, for us, dear listener. We are to be built up in the body of Christ using the gifts of the Spirit, as Ephesians says, until we all attain to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to mature manhood to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ. Unquote. We are going to be united in Christ.

We need to be united in Christ if we are going to indeed fight tyranny on behalf of liberty. It is the church that must stand united despite attempts to divide us. Well, the second point we need to make about unity is that unity is actually experienced as a delight to the brothers. Unity is experienced as a delight to the brothers. Have you experienced this in the life of your church?

That's the sense of pleasant. God wired us to be pleased in our daily interactions with one another when that interaction is indeed harmonious. It indeed is pleasant and harmonious to dwell in unity one with another, isn't it? Oh, I should certainly say that it is until we all attain to the unity of the faith, right? This is the net effect of the early church.

The early church experienced this, and I read from Acts chapter 2 verses 42 to 47. And they, that is the believers in the early church, they devoted themselves to the apostles' teaching and the fellowship to the breaking of bread and the prayers. And awe came upon every soul, and many wonders and signs were being done through the apostles. And all who believed were together and had all things in common, and they were selling their possessions and belongings and distributing the proceeds to all as any had need.

And day by day, attending the temple together and breaking bread in their homes, they received their food with glad and generous hearts, praising God and having favor with all the people. And the Lord added to their number day by day those who were being saved. Oh, yes, the fullness of Christ. Unity is experienced as a delight to the brothers. Now, dear listener, it's only now when I look back upon my childhood years with my extended family, my grandmas and grandpas, my aunts and uncles, and 48 cousins.

All of us had in one town, that is Grand Rapids, Michigan. It's reflecting on this and realizing that I too can declare how good and pleasant it is when brothers dwell together in unity. And we did so as a family, really and sincerely, for some 50 years. I know this to my toenails. All of our get-togethers were pleasant in this sense that on Sundays, all day, or at Christmas, or New Year's, or birthdays, or Easter, Memorial Day, Fourth of July, Labor Day, Thanksgiving, well, I looked forward to being with my family.

How pleasant. I do not know what it is for brothers, or I'm sorry, I do know what it is for brothers to live in unity. This unity, this oneness is deep and profound and goes to the heart of God, to the very Trinitarian relationship of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. And we should be reflecting this in the life of the church. Jesus said in John chapter 17, he said, I am no longer in the world, but they are in the world, and I am coming to you.

Holy Father, keep them in your name, which you have given me, that they may be one, even as we are one, that they may all be one, just as you, Father, are in me, and I in you, that they also may be in us, so that the world may believe that you have sent me. The glory that you have given me, I have given to them, that they may be one, even as we are one, I in them, and you in me, that they may become perfectly one, so that the world may know that you sent me and love them, even as you loved me. What a beautiful picture of unity. Here is true unity. The world will not be able to achieve this in any way, shape, or form.

All other ways of unity are counterfeit. Sex outside of Christian marriage is a vain pursuit, a personal unity between two persons. Human societies, whether they be things like Civitan or Freemasonry, even shared football teams. These are but a carnal imitation of true unity. The United Nations is a devilish charade of unity, used by tyrants to persuade naive souls that our dear leaders have the peace and prosperity of our people at heart.

Oh, I in them, and you in me, that they may become perfectly one, Jesus said. That perfect oneness is even now being brought about by the third person of the Trinity, which is pictured by our next point in verse two, unity. This fellowship in Christ is like the one oil that saturates our high priest and the breastplate in verse two, in verse two of Psalm 133, which indeed does nevertheless picture our true unity in Christ, doesn't it? Verse two of Psalm 133 reads like this. It is the precious oil on the head, running down on the beard, on the beard of Aaron, running down on the collar of his rose.

Oh, the oil is a precious image of the Holy Spirit. And this psalm is a clear enunciation of principle, followed by two expressive metaphors to illustrate, with which every Israelite on pilgrimage would resonate.

Here in verse two, we have a picture which begs to be interpreted in the light of Christ, that is, the high priest, at his christening, standing before the people in his gorgeous vesture, every garment profound with meaning, that is, for example, the breastplate, which was garnished with twelve stones, that is, the twelve tribes of Israel, or the urim and the thumim, symbolic of biblical wisdom, the application of Torah of God to life in the creation of God, or the turban with the plate that said, holy to the Lord.

All of these were symbols of Yahweh and the people united in one person, crowned with the pouring of the fragrant oil of the temple that was blended exclusively for use in the temple. This oil, the anointing oil that saturates the disparate elements of Aaron's vesture altogether in one oil. Wow, how beautifully Solomon's temple and their rituals portrayed there point to the greater work of Christ. And that includes the symbol of the fragrant oil poured out on Aaron and his progeny subsequent, which then saturated his garments literally from head to foot, to the collar, to the skirts of his robe, that is, right?

That the anointing of oil as a symbol of the Holy Spirit becomes early on established in Israel. For example, in 1 Samuel 16, then Samuel took the horn of oil and anointed him, that is, Saul, in the midst of his brothers. And the Spirit of the Lord rushed upon David from that day forward. Oil as a symbol of the Spirit. Or as in 1 John 2 and 20, you have an anointing from the Holy One and you know all things.

So, the oil thus serves as a unifying element among the disparate pieces of clothing flowing over them and on Aaron and the person of the high priest, that is, his beard and his head. When we then consider the office of this man, the high priest, how profound the metaphor. Hebrews chapter 9 tells us, into the Holy of Holies, only the high priest goes, and he but once a year, and not without taking blood, for which he offers for himself and for the unintentional sins of the people, the whole people, the one people.

The high priest did not enter the Holy of Holies for each separate individual in Israel, but rather, having been anointed to stand in for the whole of the people, the united nation. That's the true united nation, not the united nations. Well, that priest obtains forgiveness of sins for all the people. In an age of rampant individualism to a fault, how necessary this truth is to be held, to be embraced. Behold true unity.

In fact, even the Jewish Haggadah, the commentators on this text said, two drops of the holy anointing gall remain forever, hanging on the beard of Aaron like two pearls, as an emblem of atonement and of peace. Unquote. That's an apocryphal story, but nevertheless illustrates how the oil unites. As the oil saturates the garments of Aaron, uniting the symbols of Yahweh and his people on him, so the Holy Spirit, the active agent in your redemption, applying the labors of Christ, so the Holy Spirit saturates us and the Father and the Son, bringing us into mystical union, dear listener. Oh, how beautiful the image.

And David does not conclude there, but he also employs yet another familiar metaphor that pilgrims would eagerly anticipate as they approach Jerusalem, and that is the dew of Hermon. Point number three from verse three. This fellowship in Christ is like the single dew that saturates the high places of the land. Oh, yes. The unifying element here in verse three is the blessed dew of Hermon that saturates the cool high places surrounding Jerusalem and Mount Hermon.

Oh, sheep used to quaff deeply of the still waters that distill upon the green grasses of their pastures the dew of early morning. The ever-present snows on Mount Hermon to the north of Jerusalem were a rich source of this dew, and farmers and herders relied upon this dew as a source of moisture for their crops and for their livestock. Oh, such a blessing it was, the dew of Hermon. Just as the ubiquitous dew from Hermon on high descends to the lower hills, including the hills of Jerusalem and most especially Mount Zion, so the unifying ministry of the Spirit refreshes the people of God.

Oh, the Holy Spirit unites the whole topography of the church. How pleasant, indeed, in an arid and hot climate to feel the moist cooling effects of real mountain dew. Not the pop, but real mountain dew. You see it in the grass as you walk those early morning fields of Judea. Indeed, like it, the Holy Spirit unites the whole topography of the church.

That's the sense of pleasant. Unity, when it saturates the life of God's people, is so pleasant and refreshing and vivifying. This is the state to which we aspire, dear listener. It is the blessed eternal state that we will attain when Christ returns. And so, two equally seeming opposite points must be striven after with extreme zeal.

Number one, we must labor for this unity of the Spirit insofar as it is able to be achieved. Dear listener, we are equipped with the anointing of the Spirit, even now, the church, and we're going to need this in days to come. Let the Holy Spirit work within to bind us together in love and in unity. As Paul says, maintain the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace. And it is achievable to saint to saint, church to church, and denomination to denomination.

God bless the peacemakers in all denominations of the church and all individual churches. Blessed are the peacemakers. But secondly, we must not labor for a false unity based upon error or heresy. And this calls for wisdom. The ecumenical movement of the mainline denominations of the last century is exhibit A.

They display a union of denominations who no longer believe the Bible, no longer take the creeds of their churches seriously, and no longer preach the doctrines of the church that made them Christian in the first place. Evangelicals and Catholics together is another well-intentioned movement, for example, to reconcile the two sides of the Reformation and the Counter-Reformation. Little progress has been made, however, and I'm going to remain a Protestant until the Roman Catholic Church returns to the doctrines of her beginning.

Dear listener, it is important to maintain both the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace and not unite with heresy, too. Oh, dear listener, we are going to need to be united in days to come as a church. We're going to need to span denominational boundaries, doctrinal boundaries, some of the doctrinal boundaries that do not ultimately divide us, but we're going to be united against tyranny. We need to be united as the church against tyranny, because it is the church who ultimately is the only place where we will find true liberty and freedom. We will be able to establish a Christian republic.

We will be able to establish liberty in politics and in culture precisely because we first established liberty in the Spirit. We are going to be united in days to come. We're going to have to be united in days to come if we are overcoming the tyranny that is presently upon us in the United States of America. As goes the church, so goes the nation. And so we must always remember that we need to maintain the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace, even as it is expressed for us in Psalm 133.

Embrace this. Strive for it. Work for it. Work with your brother. Be found one with your brother, and work for liberty with your brother.

This has been Pastor David Bass at New Geneva Orthodox Presbyterian Church. We meet for holy worship in complete liberty and freedom, dear listener. New Geneva meets for a free and liberated worship on Sunday morning at 10 a.m. at 101 4th Street on the corner of 4th and Boulevard. And you can call us for more information and feedback at area code 208-523-0196. 208-523-0196. Thank you.