A father once told his quarreling sons to break a bunch of arrows. Try as they might they could not. However when they divided the arrow one by one they broke them with ease.
Look at your little fingers, individually they are have little strength. Clench your fingers tightly together into a fist – it is now a weapon of great force.
Look at the sunlight. Now get a magnifying glass. Use it to focus the rays of light on a piece of paper. In no time a fire is started. So is a tiny atom – by itself it is invisible and insignificant. But combine many small little atoms together it becomes a formidable atomic boom. Likewiise, the powerful tsunami is made of tiny drops of water in the ocean.
On the day of Pentecost the greatest power on earth was revealed to mankind. The 3rd Person of the Godhead -Holy Spirit came upon the Church with great power. In O.T. it was God for us, In Jesus(Emmanuel) we have God with us, but now we have God in us. “That they all may be one; as thou, Father, art in me,and I in thee, that they also may be one in us; that the world may believe that thou hast sent me (john 17:21)”
On the day of Pentecost the church was in ONE ACCORD IN ONE PLACE. The greek word for one accord is ‘ homothumadon’ which means same mind, or one mind. They have one intention and one united purpose – to be filled with power from on high and be winesses for Christ.
In 1977 during a time of great revival I was in a prayer meeting. On our knees were about 150 people; prayers were offered individually but the congregation sing collectively. It was a time when God came down and we prayed more than 10 hours a day. Daily we searched our hearts and confessed our sins both publicly and privately.
While I was waiting for a brother to finish his prayer there was a song was in my heart called “There’s A Fountain Filled with Blood” byWilliam Cowper. As the brother concluded his prayer “In Jesus’ Name we prayer, Amen.” Just when I was about to open my mouth to sing William Cowper’s hymn, to my glad surprise I heard someone sing, ‘There is a Fountain Filled with Blood…”
The next song that came to my mind was “I Serve A Risen Saviour He’s In The World Today, Just when the congregation finished singing I heard a sister’s voice singing “I SERVE A RISEN SAVIOUR HE’S IN THE WORLD TODAY. I KNOW THAT HE IS LIVING WHATEVER MEN MAY SAY. I SEE HIS HAND OF MERCY I HEAR HIS VOICE OF CHEER ” I started sing and say hallelujah! The next item on my mind was a particular brother in need of prayer. When the song “I Serve A Risen Saviour draw to a close as a was about to pray for bother Peter I heard a brother prayed for the same brother Peter that I intended to pray for. By then I started to shout and should I say I was estatic. And so it went on and on, day after day of united praying in the Holy Spirit. It seems to me that we sing as one pray as one and think as one and act as one! We are no longer an organisation, we are a spiritual organism – WE MOVE AS ONE IN CHRIST JESUS, AMEN!
The nearest equivalent in the OT is found in 2 Chronicles 5:13 -14. “It came to pass, as the trumpeters and singers were AS ONE, to MAKE ONE SOUND to be heard in praising and thanking the LORD, saying, For he is good; for his mercy endureth for ever; that then the house was filled with a cloud, even the house of the LORD; So that the priests could not stand to minister by reason of the cloud: for the glory of the LORD had filled the house of God.”
This is the 1st symphony of Solomon’s Temple. When Jesus promised that if two shall agree on earth as touching anything they shall ask, it shall be done for them.. The greek word agree used here is sum-phoneo (a compound of 2 words, sum means with and phone means sound} which is symphony in English. In a great orchestra all the different musical instruments blend their sound as ONE.
When the singing and music blend into ONE the glorious Presence of GOD descended uopn the Temple like a cloud so that the temple priests could not do any work but stood in awe (awesome wonder) in the Shekinah Glory!
My dear fellow brothers and sisters, Pastors or Evangelists, the secret to great power in your lives and ministry is in Christian unity- be it a home, a Church or a nation!
Just as graceful swans will not land on turbulent waterfalls, the Heavenly Dove will not land on a divided Church or people. Psalms 133 tells us that God COMMANDED HIS BLESSING on brethren that DWELL IN UNITY!
On August 13th 1727 the SPIRIT OF GOD came down upon a group of Moravians under the leadership of Count Zinzendorf. The group called themselves Unitas Fratrum or the Unity of the Brethren. A great revival started and a daily 24 hour Prayer Cycle continued for 100 years. This little Church sent forth more missionaries than all the other denominations combined. Among the converts of the Moravian movement are John and Charles Wesley. They were the founders of the Methodist Church. In turn William Booth a methodist founded the Salvation Army. Still many years later a methodist from China called John Sung, known as “The Flame of God in The Far East” brought hundred of thousands of souls to Christ Kingdom in the Fast East.
After his evangelistic campaigns in Singapore he wrote letters to his converts to stay united. He also forcast a great revival, “As I prayed, God gave clear indications that the time for great revival in China has come…The Holy Spirit will move within and stimulate the hearts of general workers so that they will integrate and WORK AS ONE…”.The Journal Once Lost pp.495, 4 paragraph.
The 2nd stanza of the hymn “The Church’s One Foundation” says,
” Elect from every nation, Yet one over all the earth, Her charter of salvation One Lord, one faith, one birth, One holy name she blesses, Partakes one holy food, And to one hope she presses, With every grace endued.” The word one is mentioned 7 times.
It was this Unity in Power that usher in the calling of more than 30 young men and women to Chiristian Service in 1977. In 1978 September God gave us tremendous power in a soul-winning evangelistic campaign. God willing we shall relate in a coming article. Meanwhile we have an extremely busy year.
Inspire To Pray 