THRU THE BIBLE EXPOSITION

Psalms: Living By Faith In God

CXXXIII. Biblically True, Fulfilling Unity

(Psalm 133:1-3)

Introduction: (To show the need . . .)

In John 17:20-21, Jesus prayed for the unity of all who believed in Him, but such unity is often hard to find:

(1) Our pew Bible is the New International Version, but some evangelicals believe that all versions except the 1611 King James Version are perversions of the truth (James R. White, The King James Only Controversy, 1995, p. iii). However, Acts 19:2 in the KJV “has Paul asking the disciples in Ephesus if they received the Holy (Spirit) since they believed, that is, subsequently to the act of believing,” and “entire (Charismatic) theologies of a second reception of the Holy Spirit have been based upon this one rendering by the King James Version.” (Ibid., p. 230)

(2) As for Charismatic Christians, the historic Christian faith holds that Jesus’ death on the cross atoned for our sins, but “Agnes Sanford, who has probably influenced . . . Charismatics as much as any woman” in the twentieth century “explained her doctrinal view of sin and redemption” as follows: “‘ . . (O)ur Lord in the Garden of Gethsemane undertook the great work we call the Atonement . . . He literally lowered His thought-vibrations to the thought-vibrations of humanity and received into Himself man’s thoughts of sin and sickness, pain and death . . . So He cleansed the thought-vibrations that surround the globe . . . His blood, that mysterious life-essence . . . remains upon the earth, in plasma form, blown by the winds of heaven to every land beneath the sun, exploding in a chain reaction’” (Dave Hunt and T. A. McMahon, The Seduction of Christianity, 1985, p. 124-125, citing Agnes Sanford, The Healing Light, 1947, pp. 125-126, 165; Agnes Sanford, The Healing Gifts of the Spirit, 1982, pp. 140-141).

(3) The 1994 Evangelicals and Catholics Together accord stated that “Catholics are Christians” and “hold the same faith as evangelicals and are ‘brothers and sisters in Christ.’” (Brannon Howse, The Coming Religious Reich, 2015, p. 173, citing Dave Hunt, “The Gospel Betrayed,” April 30, 1994; thebereancall.org) However, (a) the Catholic Church teaches that salvation is by faith plus the works of its sacraments where evangelicals hold that salvation is by faith alone as Ephesians 2:8-9 states (Loraine Boettner, Roman Catholicism, 1978, p. 188-189, 259)! (b) Evangelicals hold to sola Scriptura, believing “the church should not preach, teach, command, or practice anything contrary to the written Scriptures of the biblical canon” (John H. Armstrong, “Introduction: Two Vital Truths,” p. 19 in Armstrong, gen. ed., The Coming Evangelical Crisis, 1996), but Pope Innocent III (1198-1216) declared, “Every cleric must obey the Pope, even if he commands what is evil; for no one may judge the pope” (Dave Hunt, A Woman Rides the Beast, 1994, p. 86). This conflict between evangelicals and Catholics on authority looms even larger if we note that “(s)ome popes were put in office by their mistresses – six by a mother-and-daughter pair of prostitutes . . . !” (Ibid., p. 103)

(4) In 1990, Robert Brow’s article, “Evangelical Megashift” (Christianity Today, February 19, 1990, p. 12-14) told of a “shift” from historic evangelical theology to “a wrathless deity and an unnecessary cross . . . God’s wrath, newly defined, ‘never means sending people to an eternal hell.’” (R. Albert Mohler, Jr., “‘Evangelical’: What’s In a Name?”, p. 34 in Armstrong, op. cit.) These views are errant Arminian reactions to strict Calvinism (Ibid., p. 32-33).

(5) However, “Neo-Calvinist” leaders are also shifting into errant beliefs or practices, men like “John Piper . . . Mark Driscoll and Albert Mohler” with “Tim Keller, Matt Chandler and David Platt” who have either tolerated or supported Marxist ideals of social justice, amnesty for illegal immigrants, Black Lives Matter, wealth redistribution and globalism (Brannon S. Howse, Marxianity, 2018, p. 22, 97, 123, 137, 160, 162-163, 169, 252, 268, 280, 291).

(6) A believer recently told me that his former pastor who ministered here in Connecticut and who retired and moved to Florida now regrets that move, for he is unable to find a Biblical church where he has settled in Florida!

Need: So we ask, “How can we believers experience the Biblically true, fulfilling unity that Jesus intends for us?”

I. Psalm 133 is a pilgrim psalm by David that extolled the great goodness of unity in Israel, Psalm 133:1.

II. David then used two similes to describe the basis and rich blessing of the unity of his countrymen, v. 2-3:

A. First, David used a simile to teach that the basis of true unity is holiness, namely, separation from sin, v. 2:

1. David claimed that true unity in Israel was “like the precious ointment” on the High Priest Aaron’s head that “ran down upon the beard” and “down to the skirts of his garments,” Psalm 133:2 KJV.

2. This “ointment” was the highly perfumed holy olive oil that was used only for the biblical consecrations of the tabernacle, its furnishings and the priests (Ryrie Study Bible, KVJ, 1978, ftn. to Exodus 30:22-33).

3. The Hebrew word for “garments” (KJV) is middah, what does not actually mean “garments” but rather “extents, measures” (op. cit., B. D. B., p. 551; H. A. W., The. Wrdbk. of the O. T., 1980, v. I, p. 490).

4. The Hebrew word for “skirts” (KJV) is peh, what often means “mouth, opening” but in relation to middah here, it means “end” (Kittel, Bib. Heb., p. 1092; B. D. B., A Heb.-Eng. Lex. of the O. T., p. 804-805).

5. Thus, the highly perfumed, holy olive oil with which the High Priest Aaron was anointed on his head, is described in Psalm 133:2 as running down his head, dripping on down onto his beard and then falling from his beard down onto his apparel and running down the full length of his clothes!

6. Since Aaron was anointed with this holy oil only when he was dressed in his High Priestly attire, he wore the breastplate directly under his beard, so the holy oil dripped from his beard onto the twelve precious stones on the breastplate where each stone represented a tribe in Israel, Exodus 28:15-21. The descending holy oil that then flowed over the breastplate signified the unity of Israel’s twelve tribes in holiness!

B. Second, David used another simile to teach that true unity is very fulfilling as it is richly blessed by God, v. 3:

1. David’s second simile likened Israel’s unity to the dew of Mount Hermon in Israel’s far north falling down upon Mount Zion in Jerusalem where Israel’s pilgrims gathered from around the land to worship the Lord.

2. Mount Hermon has “heavy” dews (Bible Know. Com., O. T., p. 888), and since Israel’s main source of income was her agriculture, and during the summer growing season her crops often lacked sufficient rainfall, dew became essential for the nation’s economic welfare (Zon. Pict. Ency. Bib., v. Two, p. 118)!

3. Thus, David’s likening the abundant, constant and thus secured livelihood provisions of Israel’s people as the heavy dews of Mount Hermon when they gathered at the Temple to worship the Lord in holiness taught that separation from sin not only produced unity, but God’s added rich livelihood blessings!

Lesson: True, fulfilling unity among God’s people is the product of separation from sin!

Application: (1) May we trust in Christ Who died as our Atoning Sacrifice for sin that we might receive God's gift of eternal life, John 3:16; 1 Corinthians 15:1-11. (2) May we live separate from sin for true, fulfilling unity.

Conclusion: (To illustrate the message and/or provide additional guidance . . .)

(1) First, we need to explain how to attain separation from sin that produces real unity: (a) As noted in our “Application” section above, one must believe in Christ for salvation from sin to receive forgiveness of sins from God (Colossians 1:13-14). (b) If we sin as believers after salvation, we must confess it to God and He promises to cleanse us from all unrighteousness, 1 John 1:9. (c) To avoid sinning in the future, we must rely by faith on the Holy Spirit (Galatians 5:16) for the power to obey Scripture, what 1 John 1:7 means by walking in the Light (of God’s Word).

(2) Second, we view Biblical corrections to the errors mentioned in our introduction to know how to sustain unity in those issues: (a) On which Bible version to use, no translation can perfectly represent the Hebrew, Aramaic and Greek autograph writings of Scripture’s authors due to the imperfections of human languages, so we must gain access to the Bible’s original manuscripts. In doing so, we note in Acts 19:2 that the word “after” does not appear in the Greek text, only the aorist participle pisteusantes, better rendered, “when you believed” as in the NIV and ESV (loc. cit., White). This translation gives no basis for teaching a later post-justification Charismatic reception of the Holy Spirit for today! (b) As for Agnes Sanford’s view that Christ’s atonement involved His having a mystical, mental exercise in Gethsemane, 1 Peter 2:24 states that Jesus bore our sins in His body on the cross, not in His thought-vibrations in Gethsemane! (c) On the Evangelicals and Catholics Together accord, Galatians 1:8-9 orders that we excommunicate those who teach a false gospel of faith plus works as occurred in Galatians 3:1-5. We cannot fellowship with those who adhere to Catholicism’s errant gospel of faith plus works! (d) On our ultimate authority for faith and practice in contrast to Catholic teaching, 2 Timothy 3:16-17 with Acts 5:29 directs that we put written Scripture above the words of man as our final authority. (e) As for the “megashift” of Arminians to depart from historic evangelical theology in its reaction to Calvinism, we must again heed Scripture as our sole authority for faith and practice as 2 Timothy 3:16-17 with Acts 5:29 teach. (f) Regarding the “megashift” of Calvinists who depart from historic evangelical theology to go into “neo-Calvinism” with its compromise with Marxist ideology, we must again apply 2 Timothy 3:16-17 with Acts 5:29 to keep Scripture as our final source of authority. Indeed, we need to correct both standard Arminian and standard Calvinist theologies by practicing sola Scriptura! (g) As for the pastor who retired and moved to Florida only to regret doing so now that he is unable to find a Biblical Church where he now lives, Scripture calls us to stay where God has directed us to serve Him and to keep at His assignment to complete His calling there for us (Colossians 4:17; 1 Timothy 1:3-4; 2 Timothy 4:5 NIV). The Lord will move us when and where He wills, but that decision is for Him – not us – Biblically to initiate and direct!

May we trust in Christ Who died as our Atoning Sacrifice for sin that we might receive God’s gift of eternal life. May we all live separate from sin in alignment with Scripture for true, fulfilling unity.