Proverbs: The Fear of the Lord and Wisdom: Can We All Just Get Along?

Let there be Unity

Transcript: AI Transcript

Professor: John Weaver

Subject: Old Testament Studies

Genre: Sermon

Dictation Name:

Date: 2026-05-10

Synopsis: John Weaver preaches from Psalm 133 on the goodness and pleasantness of brethren dwelling in unity. He distinguishes union from unity, illustrates historical examples of unified pastors during the American wars, and teaches that unity does not require agreement on every detail but on core doctrines. He explains that understanding varies according to four stages of Christian growth, that God alone gives illumination, and that believers must be patient and teach one another. Biblical rebuke, based on love and doctrine, is necessary for unity. The sermon concludes with a call to endeavor to keep the unity of the Spirit.

[John Weaver] Let me just tell you that the Lord has been very gracious to me in the last number of weeks. In fact, I've gotten several messages each week. And I thought, well, how in the world I'm going to preach all of these messages. And so I guess it was just yesterday I the Lord just put into my mind how we are to relate these. And so I'm going to start today with a message which I've entitled Let There Be Unity. from Psalm 133. This will be the first part of this message, and the second part, Lord willing, will be next week, and then we'll be adding there too. It's not a series as such, but I think several of these are very related. So, Psalm 133, and I think you can find it very easily, and it's not a long psalm. It happens to be just three verses. This will be laying the groundwork and the introduction for what I want to bring next week, Lord willing. So look in Psalm 133 in verse 1, David writes, Behold, how good and how pleasant it is for brethren to dwell together in unity.

[John Weaver] It is like the precious ointment upon the head that ran down upon the beard, even Aaron's beard that went down the skirts of his garment. As the dew of Hermon and as the dew that descended upon the mountains of Zion, For there the Lord commended the blessing, even life, or evermore." I have some friends, or had some friends, that both of them are now dead. They have been real workers and fighters for liberty, as well as for Christian principles.

[John Weaver] And the wife always said this, and this was her little motto, he who gets organized first wins, because oftentimes they were fighting the government. And the truth of the matter is this, I think it's not just who gets organized first, I think it's who gets unified first as well. So it's impossible to have, it is possible to have union without unity. And although we may have union, that which is really missing is that which is known as unity.

[John Weaver] So I thought of an illustration that I would explain exactly where we are today and the difference between the two. So if you happen to take two tomcats, two full-grown tomcats, and you tied their tails together, and then you hung them over a clothesline, guess what those two tomcats would do? They would fight and claw and bite each other until they were just both dead, is what it amounts to. So when you have them tied together and hanging over the clothesline, you have union, but you did not have unity. And so that's basically, I think, where the church is today. That's where Christendom is today. We have union, but we don't have unity. Unity requires not only union, but oneness of mind, thought, objectives, and goals as well. And here's the thing about unity. Most of the time, we do not really comprehend or understand real unity.

[John Weaver] May I say that unity does not require us to agree on every little detail. So there are differences in Christians. There are differences in Christian growth and maturity. There are differences in understanding. There are differences in personality. There's always been differences and there always will be differences. But differences do not negate unity. Now our forefathers understood unity. In fact, if you were to study the American War for Independence, actually the war began prior to 1776, but normally we give 1776 to 1783, you'll find many of those pastors worked together and they needed to work together And so unity there was a necessity. You'll also find the same truth in the Second War for Independence, which sometimes is called the War of Northern Aggression, and erroneously oftentimes referred to as the Civil War. I want to give you a couple of illustrations. One of my favorite illustrations actually showed how the pastors in the Second War for Independence actually stood together and they were unified, although there were Baptists, there were Presbyterians, there were Episcopalians, there were Methodists.

[John Weaver] And the truth of the matter is, these pastors, these chaplains that worked together, were always happy and glad to see others prospering, even when they were not prospering. So today you try to get a bunch of preachers together and the very first question that is going to be asked usually is, what am I going to get out of it? Or what is my church going to benefit from it? In other words, they're not interested in just helping for the kingdom's sake or for the honor and glory of Christ's sake or for helping for the sake of others.

[John Weaver] They want something out of it themselves. Well, that was not necessarily the way it was in those chaplains because that which held them together not only was the Word of God, but also the doctrines of grace as well. So here's my illustration. Dr. William J. Hogue, who happened to be a Presbyterian, wrote of his visit to Fredericksburg in the spring of 1863 during the revival in the Barksdale, Mississippi, Brigade.

[John Weaver] And he says this, the Reverend Dr. Burrus of the First Baptist Church, Richmond, was to have preached that night But as he would remain some days, and I can only say one day, he courteously insisted upon my preaching. And so we had a Presbyterian sermon introduced by Baptist services under the direction of a Methodist chaplain in an Episcopal church. So now you've heard about something strange, but all of these men believed the Word of God. There was a vast difference between the Episcopal Church back then and the Episcopal Church today.

[John Weaver] In fact, General William J. Pendleton happened to be the head man over Lee's artillery. He was also an Episcopalian pastor. And then, of course, you have General Enon S. Polk, who started the School of the South in Suwannee, Tennessee. He was also an Episcopalian pastor. And these men simply worked together. Such camaraderie that existed back then is almost impossible today, not only because of the fractured nature of the church, but also because of the invisible ignorance of most preachers and most Christians as well. So, it's astounding how we have actually depreciated in our understanding of biblical truths as well. So today, pastors, as well as Christians, will divide over eschatology, they'll divide over baptism, they'll divide over minor doctrinal issues, they will even divide over feelings and over emotions, or, I just don't like that, and I'm just not going to help it, I'm just not going to participate. It's astounding. So most of today, most of the pastors do not understand biblical charity, neither do they understand illumination or enlightenment from the Word of God.

[John Weaver] They certainly do not understand education in the Word of God, neither do they understand what I'm going to share with you later, the stages in the Christian life as well. So here's another illustration that I want to give you from the War of Northern Aggression. This one deals with a Presbyterian pastor who happened to be Dr. Beverly Tucker Lacy, who was also chaplain to Stonewall Jackson, Robert L. Dabney was as well, who was a Presbyterian pastor as well, but Stonewall himself happened to be Presbyterian. But Dr. Beverly Tucker Lacy had preached, and there were some men who were converted to Jesus Christ under his preaching. Well, these men happened to be raised differently, and they believed that immersion was the proper way to be baptized. And so when it came time for their baptism, then Dr. Beverly Tucker Lacy contacted a Baptist chaplain, Brother Webb, who eagerly and readily baptized those converts. I want to read to you what Brother Webb said to Dr. Beverly Tucker Lacy and the Presbyterian's response. Here it is. So as he brought those converts to Brother Webb, As Brother Webb finished baptizing the converts, he said to Dr. Lacey, he said, Brother Lacey, you remind me of a hen setting on duck eggs.

[John Weaver] She carefully nurses the eggs until the little ducks appear and diligently watches over them and cares for them. But one day she goes near the water and the whole brood of little ducks plunge in while she has to stand clucking on the bank. And Dr. Lacey replied, Yes, Brother Webb. I cannot follow them in, but I go with them to the water's edge. I receive them with open arms when they come out, and I'm ever ready to hail them as my spiritual children and to do all in my power to help them serve our common master and to reach the home of our common father above. Isn't that amazing? Isn't that gracious and kind? I mean, Brother Webb was teasing the Presbyterian And the Presbyterian said, you're right. I don't believe in immersion, but I count them my children and I'm going to do everything I can to help them and get them to our Heavenly Father above.

[John Weaver] So let me repeat this truth that I made earlier. And that's this. Unity does not require agreement on every detail.

[John Weaver] Now, it is true we must agree on core doctrines. We cannot deny the inspiration of the Bible. We cannot deny the deity of Jesus Christ. We cannot deny the work of the Holy Spirit. We have to agree on these main and basic issues. But I previously pointed out, and I'm going to do so again, that according to the Word of God, there are actually four stages in the Christian's life. And when you stop and think about this, in these four stages, our understanding is different So, first of all, there is the understanding of what you and I would call a little babe. The Bible says in 1 Peter chapter 2 and verse 1, as newborn babes desire the sincere milk of the word that you may grow thereby. So when an individual is first converted, he is nothing more than a babe in Christ. So how much understanding does a baby have? Well, a newborn babe in Christ, he may understand that he's a sinner. He certainly understands that Jesus Christ is God in the flesh, and that Jesus Christ is the only Savior, but that's about the extent of it.

[John Weaver] But now when you get to verse John chapter 2, the Apostle John says, I write unto you little children. Then he says, I write unto you young men. Then he says, I write unto you fathers. So you not only have little babes, you have little children, you have young men and you have the fathers.

[John Weaver] Now, you have to understand that a little child has a much better understanding than little baby. Because obviously that little child now is learning to listen and to obey. And he knows what's going to happen when he disobeys. And by the time you get to be a young man, you have more discretion, you have more knowledge, you have more understanding. And when you get to be a father, then you're wise and you're full of wisdom as well.

[John Weaver] So it's important to grasp this simple fact. that the understanding of a Christian is different in each one of these stages. And therefore, you respond to that Christian according to the stage where you have him in life.

[John Weaver] Now, the problem is this. We want everyone to see exactly what we see. We want everyone to understand exactly what we understand, and we want everyone to agree with us And if they do not see what we see, if they do not understand what we understand, immediately we want to call them ignorant or just absolutely lost.

[John Weaver] Now, Christians may disagree on certain subjects and still be Christians. We may have unity, we may have union without unity, but we want to have union with unity as well. So let me give you several truths that I hope will help us. Number one, number one, listen carefully. You are not the standard by which spirituality and truth is judged. Just because you happen to know something from the Word of God, and maybe more than someone else, does not mean that you are the standard of truth. No, the Word of God itself is our standard.

[John Weaver] So we have no right then to demand that everyone agree with us and see what we see instantly and immediately. And I can assure you that this is the cause of many conflicts between Christians and divisions and loss of friendship as well. We just simply think that everyone should agree with us. We're right and everyone should agree with us. No, you are not the standard of truth. The Word of God is the standard of truth.

[John Weaver] It never dawns on us that we possibly could be wrong ourselves. No, we think that we're right, and therefore we demand that other people agree with us. Well, we're not the standard. Here's the second truth. If God does not give illumination, if God doesn't enlighten us, no one will ever understand anything. So I want you to remember these passages. I want you to turn with me, if you would, first of all, to Proverbs chapter 2 and verse 6. If you look in Proverbs chapter 2 and verse 6, I want you to know what the Word of God says. It's a very, very plain verse and very interesting. So notice if you would, Proverbs two and verse six, the word of God says, For the Lord giveth wisdom out of his mouth, cometh knowledge and understanding. Wow. The Lord giveth wisdom out of his mouth, cometh knowledge and understanding. So the Lord has to give wisdom. Now, if you turn back to Job 39, Job 39, And look, if you would please, at verse 13 through 17, Job 39, beginning there with verse 13.

[John Weaver] Look at this. Here's the question that is asked of Job. God is asking a question. Look what he says. Gave us now the goodly wings of the peacocks or wings and feathers into the ostrich, which leaveth her eggs in the earth and warmeth them in the dust. Now that's the ostrich. Watch. and forget that the foot may crush them or that the wild beast may break them.

[John Weaver] She is hardened against her young, her young ones, as though they were not hers. Her labor is in vain without fear. Why? Why would an ostrich leave her eggs in the dust, not knowing that someone may crush them or a wild beast may break them? Here's why. Look, if you would, in verse 17, because God hath deprived her of wisdom. neither hath he imparted to her understanding.

[John Weaver] What time she lifted up herself on high, she scorned at the horse and his rider." So notice the ostrich has been deprived of wisdom and understanding. If you'll go back to Job chapter 17 and look, if you would please, at verse 4, here's the question that Job asked as well. Job 17, verse 4. God says, he said, For thou hast hid their heart from understanding, therefore shalt thou not exalt them. What has God done? God has hidden their heart from understanding. So the truth of the matter is this, unless God gives us understanding, we're never going to see.

[John Weaver] Now, let me show you how crucial this is. If you will turn now to the book of Luke, chapter 24, and let's begin reading verse 44. And in this passage, Jesus Christ is speaking to his own disciples. So look at this Luke chapter 24 verse 44. Look what he says. And he spake unto them. These are the words that I spake unto you while I was yet among you.

[John Weaver] That is, while he was alive, that all things must be fulfilled which were written in the law of Moses and in the prophets and in the Psalms concerning me. Then opened he their understanding that they might understand the scriptures. Even the disciples who walked with our Lord for three years, who saw His miracles, who heard His teaching, had to have their understanding open so they might understand the Scriptures. Many times our Lord, in talking to His own disciples, would ask, are you also yet without understanding? Now, if the disciples of Jesus Christ had to have their understanding open that they might understand the Scriptures, who lived and walked and talked with Christ, How much more do you and I need our understanding open, our eyes open, so that we can see truth? So unless God opens our eyes, we're not going to see truth.

[John Weaver] Let me give you an illustration. I've told you that when God saved me and called me to preach, I had a real hunger to know the Word of God. So I put myself on a reading schedule. And I read through the Old Testament every month and the New Testament every week. And I just did that over and over and over. So, I remember reading one day and I saw something. And it just blessed me immeasurably.

[John Weaver] And so I could not wait to show our pastor, who at that time had been preaching about 30 years. And so when I got to our pastor, I said, brother, I said, let me show you something. Let me show you something. I'd opened the Bible and I read the scripture and I was expecting, oh, wow, you know, and I read the scripture and he looked at me and he said, so. Oh, what?

[John Weaver] So I said, yeah, you don't see the implication here. You don't see the, well, I've read the scripture before. And it boggled my mind. Here I saw this truth that just blessed my heart and it was nothing to him. And I didn't understand later. It was the illumination of the Holy Spirit that enabled me to see it and not him to see it. But then he understood things that I didn't understand. But, you know, we have to be enlightened by the Holy Spirit of God. It's just that simple. Here's the third thing. It is impossible for all of our understanding to be alike and to be equal, not only because of the sovereignty of God in giving understanding and knowledge, but also some make better use of the means that God has ordained to learn truth. So some use the means more than others, and consequently they're going to know more than others.

[John Weaver] So if you look in your Bibles to the book of Mark chapter 4, look if you would please at verses 23 through 25. Look at this, Mark chapter 4 and verse 23. Our Lord said, if any man have ears to hear, let him hear. So if God gives us hearing ears, we must hear. Now, what does he want us to hear? Look in verse 24, and he said, take heed what you hear. Now notice if you would take heed what you hear. That means you're responsible to make sure that you are hearing the Word of God. Okay? In Luke 8 in verse 18, he said, take heed how you hear. In other words, you cannot hear God's Word in a sleepy, clumsy, indolent way and expect to receive anything from it. No, you better take heed how you hear. You better pay close attention to it. But now he says, take heed what you hear.

[John Weaver] And then he makes this statement with what measure you meet. It shall be measured to you. So here's the principle to whatever measure you give in learning the word of God to that degree or to that measure, it's going to be measured right back to you. So don't expect to read the Bible for 10 minutes and get four hours worth of understanding. It doesn't work like that. You're not going to study the Bible for four hours and get eight hours of understanding. Whatever you measure in learning the truth, it's going to be measured to you.

[John Weaver] Now look what else he said. And to you that hear shall more be given. If you have hearing ears, if you understand that truth, if you apply that truth, God's going to give you more truth. For he said in verse 25, for he that hath to him shall more be given and he that hath not from him shall be taken even that which he hath. So if you really don't understand, you don't have it and you're going to lose it anyhow. So notice, if you would, you have to understand. You have to hear there's a truth. So in Second Timothy, chapter two and verse seven, the Apostle Paul told Timothy this. Consider what I say and the Lord give the understanding in all things. So notice the word understanding comes from God. and the Lord give the understanding in all things. But God is not going to give understanding apart from consideration. Consider what I say. God holds us accountable and responsible to read, to study, to grasp, and to apply. So it does not just simply come flying into our ears from nowhere.

[John Weaver] Consider what I say. and the Lord give the understanding of all things.

[John Weaver] Now it's only common sense that the individual who gives a greater amount of time to reading and studying and meditating and thinking and praying is going to end up with more understanding than someone who doesn't. So this is what I'm trying to say. So listen to me very carefully on this. If you know more than a Christian brother, if you know more than a Christian brother, then first and foremost it is your duty to be patient with him.

[John Weaver] You did not grasp and understand everything that you now understand in a 24-hour period. You didn't go to bed dumb and wake up smart. You didn't go to bed ignorant and wake up a PhD. It didn't work like that. It took you time to get to where you are. So you have to be patient with him. And the second thing is it would be your duty and your responsibility and your obligation to teach the one who is less knowledgeable than you are. OK, so two things. Number one, you have to be patient. Number two, it's your duty and responsibility to teach the weaker brother. Also. It is not your duty. It is not your duty.

[John Weaver] to ridicule, mock, insult, or ignore him. If you do, that's your sin. It's your duty to be patient. It's your duty to teach him.

[John Weaver] Now, let me give you something else. The younger immature Christian also has a duty, and that duty is to listen to the Word of God and to listen to the teacher who's teaching him. Think of it like this. All of us who have had children And especially when the children get older, we try to save them from a lot of hurt and a lot of anxiety in life. And we try to give them counsel. Sometimes they listen, sometimes they don't.

[John Weaver] And then they just have to learn the hard way. And once they learn the hard way and they start hurting, they come back. And we can say, well, I tried to tell you, but you wouldn't listen. And so, it's the same thing. The younger Christian has that duty and responsibility to hear the Word of God and to listen to that which is being taught. So, look in your Bibles to 2 Timothy chapter 2, if you would, at verses 24 and 25. 2 Timothy chapter 2, and notice if you would, verses 24 and 25. 2nd Timothy chapter 2, look if you would please at verse 24. Our Lord says, and the servant of the Lord, now we're talking about preachers because 1st and 2nd Timothy and Titus are pastoral epistles. So this would be preachers, but if you are a Christian you're also a servant of the Lord, so it's still the same truth. So watch this. And the servant of the Lord must not strive but be gentle unto all men, apt to teach, here it is, patient.

[John Weaver] Not only patient, but look at this, in meekness, not with a high, haughty, arrogant attitude, well, I know more than you, you better listen to me. No, no. In meekness, instructing those that oppose themselves.

[John Weaver] Now watch this, an unsaved man and or a Christian who will not listen to truth is someone who opposes himself. So why should we be patient? Why should we in meekness instruct those? Here it is, if God for adventure will give them repentance to the acknowledging of the truth. In other words, God must give repentance. God must open their understanding. God must give them grace and God must give them mercy. And until he does, we have to be patient and we have to be meek, continuing to instruct them.

[John Weaver] Now, so please understand, this is our duty, our responsibility. Look back, if you would, to 2nd Timothy chapter 2 and verse 2. Look this, 2nd Timothy chapter 2 and verse 2. Look what the Apostle Paul says there. 2nd Timothy chapter 2 verse 2. He says, And the things that thou hast heard of me among many witnesses, the same commit thou also to faithful men who shall be able to teach others also. So he told Timothy that which you heard from me, among many witnesses, Paul's preaching and teaching, the same commit thou to faithful men who shall be able to teach others also."

[John Weaver] So I've said this before, but let me emphasize it again. It's not my responsibility to chase you down and cram truth down your throat. My responsibility is to teach. But your responsibility is to be faithful to attend the preaching and teaching so that you may learn. Faithful men. And then those faithful men, once they learn, will be able to teach others also.

[John Weaver] Now I'm going to tell you, one of the hardest things for you and I to learn in all of this is patience. Because we want folks to see what we see instantly. And many times we have to repeat the same truth over and over. You have heard that old adage, repetition aids learning. And that's true. The more you hear something, the easier it is to grasp. I remember as a young preacher, by the way, this coming week, I would preach 61 years. So I remember as a young preacher, I would kind of get upset if folks did not grasp everything that I preached in an hour. And then it dawned on me one day, well, you know, you spent 40 hours preparing that message and you want them to grasp it in one hour? Well, you know, I have the advantage. I'm the one that did all the studying. I grasped it. I understood it. And then I expected them to get it in one hour. So, you know, sometimes we have to repeat the same truth over and over.

[John Weaver] It's kind of like that basic defensive handgun class. You know, I begin that class by asking, how many can count to five? Everybody raises their hand. How many can count to three? Everybody raises their hand. And then when we get to it, they find out they can't because it's all muscle memory. And you just mess up. It's just that simple. And it's the same thing with this truth. Sometimes it just has to be repeated over and over and over.

[John Weaver] So when we have a brother that does not grasp what we're trying to teach, we're oftentimes impatient. We want to throw up our head and throw up our hands and we want to call him an ignoramus and stupid and and hard-headed, all kinds of things. Because he just doesn't see what we see, instead of being patient. So this is what I'm saying, when we're teaching other people, you just have to be patient.

[John Weaver] Now, I'm going to tell you, that is the hardest part of it. You heard me say a few weeks ago that I have taught everything from fourth grade all the way through college. I remember the very first time I ever taught fourth graders. I'd been used to teaching college students and high school students, but now I had to teach a fourth grade class. My little history book for that year was about an inch thick. And I looked at that history book and I thought, oh, Lord, have mercy. What's going to happen? I'm going to teach this thing in a month and I'm not going to have anything left for the rest of the year. And so the first week I probably covered three chapters.

[John Weaver] And so I gave a quiz. And guess what? Every one of my students failed the quiz. And I had some very brilliant students. I really did. This was a Christian school. And it dawned on me it was not the students. It was the teacher. Because I was expecting fourth graders to be able to grasp what high schoolers and college students could grasp, and they couldn't do it.

[John Weaver] So I had to stop, go back to the first chapter, and patiently, methodically, say the same thing over and over and over until those little kids got it. And yeah, that little book did last me all year because it was such a slow pace. But the truth of the matter is that's the way it is sometimes, even with adults as well.

[John Weaver] Now, with this background in mind, I want you to go back to Psalm 133. OK, go back to Psalm 133. Because. I'm going to give you two quotes and we're going to go from there, but I want you to watch this Psalm 133. David writes. Behold 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, watch this, that went down to the skirts of his garments, as the dew of Hermon, as the dew that descended upon the mountains of Zion, for there the Lord commended the blessing, even life evermore. Now, let me tell you, when he said Behold how good and how pleasant it is for brethren to dwell together in unity.

[John Weaver] The Hebrew word is Chod and it means unity, altogether, alike, unitedness. Basically, the word means to join, to unite, to be joined together, to be united. So it does talk about unity.

[John Weaver] Now here are two quotes I want you to listen. The first one is from John Trapp. of the old Puritan, it's a brief quote. The second one is from Charles Adams Spurgeon. It's a much longer quote, but listen to both of them. Here's John Trapp. This ointment, that is the one that went on the high priest, this ointment was most rich, as made up of the cheapest spices, which you will find in Exodus 30, and very fragrant, refreshing the senses, not of Aaron only, but all of them about him. so does Christian unity and enmity, that fruit of the Spirit mentioned in Galatians 5.22, far beyond that common friendship so highly extolled by Cicero and other heathens, and is therefore here fitly compared to that no such or non such odoriferous ointment," he's talking about the ointment that was put on the high priest. In other words, the heathen have no idea of what he's talking about. It's what he's saying. Now here is a quote by Spurgeon. Listen, this is a lengthy one, but listen.

[John Weaver] He said, In order that we may better behold brotherly unity, David gives us a resemblance, so that as in a glass we may perceive its blessedness. It has a sweet perfume about it, comparable to the precious ointment with which the first high priest was anointed at his ordination. It is a holy thing and so again is like the oil of consecration which was to be used only in the Lord's service. What a sacred thing must brotherly love be when it can be likened to an oil which must never be poured on any man but on the Lord's high priest alone. It is a diffusive thing, being poured on the head of the fragrant oil that flowed down upon Aaron's head and thence dropped upon his garments to the uttermost hymn was anointed therewith, and even so doth brotherly love extend its benign power and bless all who are beneath its influence.

[John Weaver] Hearty concord brings a benediction upon all concerned, its goodness and pleasure are shared in and by the lowliest members of the household. Even the servants are better and happier because of the lovely unity among the members of the family. It has a special use about it. for as by the anointing oil Aaron was set apart for the special service of Jehovah, even so those who dwelled in love are the better fitted to glorify God in his church. The Lord is not likely to use for his glory those who are devoid of love. They lack the anointing needful to make them priests unto the Lord." Now he talks about that which ran down upon the beard, even Aaron's beard.

[John Weaver] He said this is a chief point of comparison. Now listen carefully. that is, the oil did not remain confined to the place where it first fell, but flowed down the high priest's hair and bedewed his beard, even so brotherly love, descending from the head, distills and descends, anointing as it runs, and perfuming all it lights upon. That went down to the skirts of his garments. Once set in motion, it would not cease from flowing, It might seem as if it were better not to smear his garments with oil, but the sacred ungin could not be restrained. It flowed over his holy robes. Even thus does brotherly love not only flow over the hearts upon that which it was first poured out, and descend to those who are of inferior part of the body of Christ, but it runs where it is not sought for, asking neither leave nor license to make its way.

[John Weaver] Hang on, Christian affection knows no limits of parish, nation, sect, or age. Is the man a believer in Christ? Then he is in the one body, and I must yield to him an abiding love. Is he one of the poorest, one of the least spiritual, one of the least lovable? Then he is as the skirts of the garment, and my heart's love must even fall upon him. Brotherly love comes from the head and falls to the feet. Its way is downward. It ran down. It went down. Love for the brethren condescends to men of low estate.

[John Weaver] It is not puffed up, but is lowly and meek. This is no small part of the excellence. Oil would not adorn if it did not flow down. Neither would brotherly love diffuse its blessing if it did not descend." Wow! I think just about every church ought to hear what Spurgeon said on that. But we must take note of what the scripture says about the blessings of the anointing.

[John Weaver] Most of us can quote Psalm 23. When you get to verse 5, David said it like this, Thou preparest a table before me in the presence of mine enemies. Thou anointest my head with oil, my cup runneth over. So the anointing of unity has to be and needs to be even in the presence of our enemies. I'm going to say it must be in the presence of our enemies.

[John Weaver] If we are divided, we are easily defeated. It is much easier to deal with one than it is with a thousand. So if I had 15 men out there and I was the only one who opposed them, I'm sure the 15 men could probably take care of me, because I'm only one. But if I had a thousand standing behind me, or a million behind me, the 15 would soon dissipate.

[John Weaver] Everyone knows the old strategy of divide and conquer, and this is basically where we are in the church today. Our enemies not only foster divisions, they take advantage of divisions, and thus we are easily defeated. I want you to turn, since we're in the book of Psalms, to Psalm 141. I want you to hold this passage because we will come back, or at least I will refer back to it. I'll quote it again if you want to see it again.

[John Weaver] You need to mark it. So look in Psalm 141 and notice if you would there, verse 5, Psalm 141, verse 5. Look what David said. Let the righteous smite me. it shall be a kindness. And let him reprove me, it shall be an excellent oil, which shall not break my head. For yet my prayer also shall be in their calamities. So he says those who smite me, those who reprove me, it's going to be an excellent oil. And when they are in trouble, I'm going to be praying for them as well.

[John Weaver] Now, I want you to listen to this point. because it's very important, and that is this. Rebuke, admonitions, and confrontations are not disruptive to unity. They're absolutely necessary for unity. That which breaks unity is sin and rebellion. Those are the destroyers of unity. So we do not rebuke, confront, reprove, or admonish. based upon something that we dislike, or something that we just happen not to agree with, or something that we do not understand.

[John Weaver] And I'm not talking about heresy. I'm just simply talking about stuff that most folks divide over. We have to remember again that we are not the standard. The Word of God is the standard. And all rebuke and all confrontation, all reproof, all exhortation, has to be based upon biblical doctrine. Now, we are commanded to rebuke each other. I'll show you. If you look in your Bibles to the book of Luke chapter 17 and verse 3, look at what our Lord says. Luke 17 and verse 3. Watch this. Luke 17 verse 3. Our Lord says, take heed to yourselves if thy brother trespass against thee rebuke him and if he repent forgive him so notice if our brother trespasses against us what are we to do we're to rebuke him if he repents then we are to forgive him now the word rebuke is an interesting word

[John Weaver] when we use the word rebuke We normally think of cussing somebody out, or telling someone off, or giving them a piece of our mind. That's like someone said, that's why we don't have much left, we've given it all away. Well, the word rebuke is a very interesting word. It's the Greek word epitomao. Epi is a preposition which means upon. Tomao means to honor, to reverence, to value.

[John Weaver] So here's what he's saying. It means to revere and to venerate. So if I have to come to Steve and rebuke him, and I'll explain that even further. If I have to come to Steve and rebuke him, then what the Word of God is saying is I'm actually honoring him. I'm venerating him. I'm loving him because I believe he's worthy and worth something to be corrected and to be rebuked. In other words, I'm placing a value upon him. I'm not tearing him down. I'm not trying to destroy him. I'm trying to build him up. I'm trying to show him some things in his life are wrong.

[John Weaver] They need to be changed. And here's the way to change them. Here's what the word of God says. So the word temao actually means to place value upon while we are rebuking or censoring.

[John Weaver] Now, this is the word and this is the verse I wanted to reconnect with Psalm 144 and Psalm 141 in verse 5, when David said, Let the righteous smite me and it shall be a kindness. Let him reprove me and it shall be an excellent oil that shall not break my head. So this is why it would be an excellent oil. This is why it would not break his head, because it's done in honor, it's done in love, it's done the way it should be done. So when rebuke then is accomplished in love and in the biblical framework, it demonstrates that we value our brother enough, we honor him enough to want to see him be right with the Lord and walk pleasing unto the Lord, and we count him worthy of that correction. Now, here's another statement. I want you to listen to this one.

[John Weaver] God will never use you to give out rebukes unless you're willing to receive them yourselves. Now, you see, I just talked about rebuking Steve. No one said anything. But what if Steve has to rebuke me? Uh-huh.

[John Weaver] Now, you see, the Bible does say rebuked not an elder, but in treating him as a father. But I'm still a sinner. And I sin, I mess up from time to time. And if I happen to do so in the presence of Steve, Steve would have every right in the world to say, now pastor, listen to me. That's not the right attitude or you should not have said that or you should not act that way. He would have the right to do that because I may be a pastor, but I'm also a brother in Christ.

[John Weaver] And if he's going to value me, He's going to confront me and rebuke me. Now, like I say, you would not shake your finger in your father's face and cuss him out. Neither would he shake his finger in my face, and I certainly would not shake my finger in his face. But I'm just simply saying this is what rebuke is all about. If you're not willing to take rebukes, if you're not willing to be admonished, if you're not willing to be reproved, God's never going to use you to give out any. because you're unwilling yourself.

[John Weaver] Now, I want you to follow me with some scriptures. I want you to turn to 2 Timothy chapter 2. 2 Timothy chapter 4. Let's go to 2 Timothy chapter 4 verse. 2 Timothy chapter 4. And I want you to look at verse 2. So, remember this is a pastoral epistle. And Paul is writing to Timothy. Who's the pastor? So now in 2nd Timothy chapter 4 verse 2, look what the Apostle Paul tells Timothy.

[John Weaver] Preach the word, be instant in season, out of season, hang on, reprove, rebuke, exhort with all longsuffering and doctrine. So let me stop right there. He says preach the word, be instant in season, out of season, reprove, rebuke, exhort with all longsuffering. What is longsuffering? It's extended patience. his extended patience. Then he said, with all long-suffering in doctrine. So that means if I go to confront Steve, if I go to rebuke Steve, I don't say, well, I don't like the way you comb your hair.

[John Weaver] You ought to part it on the other side. That's not a biblical rebuke. That's stupid. Or I could say, I know you ought not to wear that black sweater. You ought to wear a blue sweater. I don't have any authority to tell you what color sweater to wear and you wear whatever color you like. But the point I'm trying to make, if I come to straighten you out or come to straighten Steve out, I better come with doctrine.

[John Weaver] Here's what the Word of God says. Here's where you're wrong. Here's where the Word of God says that you're to act and how to act and how to change your life. So we can't just come up to somebody and say, well, I don't like what you're doing. That's neither here nor there, whether you like it or not. It's none of your business, maybe, what I'm doing. But I'm just saying if we're going to confront each other, it needs to be with doctrine.

[John Weaver] Now, look, if you would, in the book of Titus, turn over just a page or two to Titus chapter two, and look, if you would, at verse 15, Titus two and verse 15. Notice what the word of God says here. Titus two, verse 15. These things speak, exhort, and rebuke with all authority. Let no man despise thee. That's how it is as a preacher. He said, rebuke with all authority. Let no man despise thee.

[John Weaver] Now, if you go back to First Timothy, chapter five. And look, if you would please, at verse 20. First Timothy, chapter five, verse 20. He says them that sin rebuke before all that others may that others also may fear. Them that sin rebuke before all that others also may fear. Now, there is a difference between a private sin and a public sin. So, to you, Steve, again, if Steve said something to me privately and it was a slam and a slander, I could look at him and say, Steve, why would you say that?

[John Weaver] Why would you do that? It's private, it's between Steve and myself. But if Steve stood up in a congregation and publicly charged me with something which I'm not guilty of, and he had no proof, it was just his own, I could rebuke him publicly. Why? Because that'd be a public sin. So, if it's a private sin, according to Matthew chapter 5, if your brother sins against you in Matthew chapter 18, you're to go to him privately. But if it's a public sin, then there's a public rebuke. Now, let me just show you something.

[John Weaver] To demonstrate the fact that confronting each other, rebuking each other, reproving each other, admonishing each other, is not putting each other down. It's not a demonstration of hatred or anger. No, no, no, no. Our Lord said it like this in Revelation chapter 3 and verse 19. Are you listening? He said, as many as I love, I rebuke and chasten. Be zealous therefore and repent. So, rebuking and being chastened is evidence of love.

[John Weaver] Now, I want you to turn in your Bibles, if you would, to Romans chapter 15, and I want you to see what is needed and what is necessary for us to be able to confront each other. to rebuke each other so you're going to find this Romans chapter 15 and let's begin reading there with verse 13 Romans 15 and verse 13 Paul says now the God of hope filled you with all joy and peace and believing that you may abound in hope through the power of the Holy Ghost

[John Weaver] now look and I myself also am persuaded of you my brethren that you are also full of goodness, filled with all knowledge, able also to admonish one another. What makes us able to admonish one another? Well. We are. Full of goodness, that is a heart of love. And he says, what next? Filled with all knowledge, that is a mind that knows the word of God. So he says, if you really have a heart that is loving, And if you have a mind that is knowing, then you're able also to admonish one another.

[John Weaver] Now, just turn now, if you would, to the book of Colossians chapter one. I want to show you the three things that are necessary to be mature in the Christian life. You will never be mature without these three things. And that's exactly what the Apostle Paul said. So look if you would in Colossians 1 and verse 28. The Apostle Paul says, whom we preach, warning every man and teaching every man in all wisdom, look that we may present every man perfect or mature in Christ Jesus. So what is it going to take to make a mature Christian?

[John Weaver] Well, first of all, preaching. Secondly, teaching. Hmm. Well, I'd say thirdly, teaching. I skipped the one that I wanted to really mention. That's warning. So it's going to take preaching, it's going to take warning, and it's going to take teaching. Now, what in the world is the word warning? That happens to be the Greek word nithiteo, and it literally means to warn, to admonish, to rebuke and to exhort. So literally what he says is this, whom we preach exhorting, rebuking, reproving, warning every man and teaching every man in old wisdom that we may present every man perfect or mature in Christ Jesus. So we cannot be a mature Christian without being confronted when we are wrong or when we are sinful or when we're just not right with our Lord. It's just that simple.

[John Weaver] Now, so What it boils down to is this. Christian rebuke, biblical rebuke, is nothing more than a loving, kind, biblical rebuke, which is followed by biblical counsel and direction. I don't just come to Steve and say, Steve, you are wrong. You are so wicked. You are so ungodly. I don't come to Steve and say that. I might come to say, Steve, you're wrong and what you're doing is wicked.

[John Weaver] But here's how to correct that. Here's how to bring your life into conformity with Jesus Christ. Here's the direction that you should be going. Here's what you should be doing. So, in other words, it's not I'm jumping on someone. I'm trying to lovingly, kindly say, Kindly say, this is what you need to stop doing. This is what you need to start doing. Now, here's another scripture. Proverbs 27, verse nine.

[John Weaver] The word of God says this, ointment and perfume rejoice the heart so that the sweetness of a man's friend by hearty counsel. So just like ointment and perfume rejoice the heart, so the hearty counsel of a man's friend rejoices the heart as well. Let me try to tie this together by making some applications. The first one is this. Each of us who have had children, we understand something. We do not rebuke, correct, reprove, and chasten our children because we hate them.

[John Weaver] We do so because we love them. Biblical rebuke Biblical reproof, Biblical exhortation, Biblical confrontation is based out of a heart of love and understanding.

[John Weaver] Now, here's the second one. It is possible to have union without unity. However, unity in union is the blessing of being in Jesus Christ, which, Lord willing, we're going to see next Sunday. We must take into consideration the four stages of the Christian life in rebuking, in reproving, in confronting each other. So what good would it do for a mother or even a grandmother to look at that month old baby that's lying in the crib and start yelling and screaming at that baby? Number one, the baby wouldn't understand a word that's being said. Number two, the baby was probably frightened to no end. You don't scream at a baby. All that's going to do is upset the child. I'm just saying it's insane if people think that's how you're going to get through to a brother in Christ. When you look at the little child, and that little child can be spoken to a little more directly, and he can be told the consequences of his disobedience. But still, you don't holler and scream at a little child because he's not going to understand and it's going to frighten him.

[John Weaver] You can deal with a young man with a little more discretion, a little more straightforwardness. And when you get to an old man, to a father in the faith or to a mother in Israel, you can speak directly and you can speak plainly because they know and they hear and they understand. I'm just simply saying you have to deal with people according to the stage that they're in in their Christian life.

[John Weaver] And I cannot, I cannot take my college courses and teach them to my fourth graders. I have to take a fourth grade course to teach to my fourth graders. So we just have to learn to deal with each other where we are in our Christian life. And one last one. In Ephesians 4 and verse 3, we're commanded Endeavoring to keep the unity of the spirit and the bond of peace. Now the Greek word for endeavoring is one of my favorite words. It is the word Spounadzo and it literally means to endeavor, to be diligent in, to exert yourself in, to give all effort and diligence unto. So he says endeavoring, you are to work at keeping Christian unity.

[John Weaver] fear not to let anything disrupt it or destroy it. Now, he said also endeavoring to keep, and the word keep is the Greek word terao, and it literally means to attend to carefully, to guard, to keep, and to protect. So he says endeavoring to keep the unity of the spirit in the bond of peace. In other words, we should be ready and willing to fight against anything and everything that's going to corrupt and or destroy Christian unity. So God tells us if we want unity, we're really going to have to fight to keep it. Because our flesh is contrary to God and contrary to his word, we have to fight to bring our lives and the lives of others to the best of our ability into the conformity to the word of God. So you can have union with unity. But we need unity. If we're ever going to conquer for the Lord Jesus Christ, look at where the church is today. Look at how divided we are, how fractured we are. It's astounding to me.

[John Weaver] That we're able to even exists only by the grace of God. So we need biblical unity based upon biblical union, which I'm going to share with you next week. Father, in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ, we bow to thee and we ask, Father, that you would teach us about unity, give us unity, help us to fight for it, to keep it, Lord, and Lord, help us to be one in thee. and press forward in the kingdom of God for your honor and your glory. In the name of Jesus Christ, we ask and pray. Amen.

Let there be Unity

John Weaver | SermonAudio

Lecture Metadata	Details
Speaker	John Weaver
Source	SermonAudio
Media ID	51326209497532
Subject	Old Testament Studies
Course	Proverbs: The Fear of the Lord and Wisdom: Can We All Just Get Along?
Genre	Sermon
Date	2026-05-10
Dictation Name
Book	Book 082: Proverbs: The Fear of the Lord and Wisdom - Volume 2 — Chapter 45
Source Timed Segments	89

Formatted Transcript

Introduction: The Need for Unity

Weaver introduces Psalm 133 and states that being unified is as important as being organized. He distinguishes union from unity using the illustration of two tomcats tied together.

Let me just tell you that the Lord has been very gracious to me in the last number of weeks. In fact, I've gotten several messages each week. And I thought, well, how in the world am I going to preach all of these messages? And so I guess it was just yesterday the Lord just put into my mind how we are to relate these. And so I'm going to start today with a message which I've entitled "Let There Be Unity" from Psalm 133. This will be the first part of this message, and the second part, Lord willing, will be next week, and then we'll be adding there too. It's not a series as such, but I think several of these are very related. So, Psalm 133, and I think you can find it very easily, and it's not a long psalm. It happens to be just three verses. This will be laying the groundwork and the introduction for what I want to bring next week, Lord willing. So look in Psalm 133 in verse 1, David writes,

Scripture Reading — Psalm 133:1-3

"Behold, 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 the skirts of his garment. As the dew of Hermon and as the dew that descended upon the mountains of Zion, for there the Lord commended the blessing, even life for evermore." I have some friends, or had some friends, that both of them are now dead. They have been real workers and fighters for liberty, as well as for Christian principles. And the wife always said this, and this was her little motto, "He who gets organized first wins," because oftentimes they were fighting the government. And the truth of the matter is this, I think it's not just who gets organized first, I think it's who gets unified first as well. So it's impossible to have—it is possible to have union without unity. And although we may have union, that which is really missing is that which is known as unity.

So I thought of an illustration that I would explain exactly where we are today and the difference between the two. So if you happen to take two tomcats, two full-grown tomcats, and you tied their tails together, and then you hung them over a clothesline, guess what those two tomcats would do? They would fight and claw and bite each other until they were just both dead, is what it amounts to. So when you have them tied together and hanging over the clothesline, you have union, but you did not have unity. And so that's basically, I think, where the church is today. That's where Christendom is today. We have union, but we don't have unity. Unity requires not only union, but oneness of mind, thought, objectives, and goals as well. And here's the thing about unity. Most of the time, we do not really comprehend or understand real unity.

Historical Examples of Unity Among Pastors

Weaver recounts how pastors during the American War for Independence and the Second War for Independence worked together across denominations, citing Dr. William J. Hogue's account of a Presbyterian sermon in an Episcopal church with Baptist and Methodist participation.

May I say that unity does not require us to agree on every little detail. So there are differences in Christians. There are differences in Christian growth and maturity. There are differences in understanding. There are differences in personality. There's always been differences and there always will be differences. But differences do not negate unity. Now our forefathers understood unity. In fact, if you were to study the American War for Independence, actually the war began prior to 1776, but normally we give 1776 to 1783, you'll find many of those pastors worked together and they needed to work together. And so unity there was a necessity. You'll also find the same truth in the Second War for Independence, which sometimes is called the War of Northern Aggression, and erroneously oftentimes referred to as the Civil War. I want to give you a couple of illustrations. One of my favorite illustrations actually showed how the pastors in the Second War for Independence actually stood together and they were unified, although there were Baptists, there were Presbyterians, there were Episcopalians, there were Methodists.

And the truth of the matter is, these pastors, these chaplains that worked together, were always happy and glad to see others prospering, even when they were not prospering. So today you try to get a bunch of preachers together and the very first question that is going to be asked usually is, "What am I going to get out of it?" Or "What is my church going to benefit from it?" In other words, they're not interested in just helping for the kingdom's sake or for the honor and glory of Christ's sake or for helping for the sake of others. They want something out of it themselves. Well, that was not necessarily the way it was in those chaplains because that which held them together not only was the Word of God, but also the doctrines of grace as well. So here's my illustration. Dr. William J. Hogue, who happened to be a Presbyterian, wrote of his visit to Fredericksburg in the spring of 1863 during the revival in the Barksdale, Mississippi, Brigade.

And he says this, "The Reverend Dr. Burrus of the First Baptist Church, Richmond, was to have preached that night. But as he would remain some days, and I can only stay one day, he courteously insisted upon my preaching. And so we had a Presbyterian sermon introduced by Baptist services under the direction of a Methodist chaplain in an Episcopal church." So now you've heard about something strange, but all of these men believed the Word of God. There was a vast difference between the Episcopal Church back then and the Episcopal Church today. In fact, General William J. Pendleton happened to be the head man over Lee's artillery. He was also an Episcopalian pastor. And then, of course, you have General Leonidas Polk, who started the School of the South in Sewanee, Tennessee. He was also an Episcopalian pastor. And these men simply worked together. Such camaraderie that existed back then is almost impossible today, not only because of the fractured nature of the church, but also because of the invincible ignorance of most preachers and most Christians as well. So, it's astounding how we have actually depreciated in our understanding of biblical truths as well. So today, pastors, as well as Christians, will divide over eschatology, they'll divide over baptism, they'll divide over minor doctrinal issues, they will even divide over feelings and over emotions, or, "I just don't like that, and I'm just not going to help it, I'm just not going to participate." It's astounding. So most of today, most of the pastors do not understand biblical charity, neither do they understand illumination or enlightenment from the Word of God.

Unity Does Not Require Agreement on Every Detail

Weaver emphasizes that Christians can disagree on minor issues but must agree on core doctrines. He introduces the four stages of Christian life: babes, little children, young men, and fathers.

They certainly do not understand education in the Word of God, neither do they understand what I'm going to share with you later, the stages in the Christian life as well. So here's another illustration that I want to give you from the War of Northern Aggression. This one deals with a Presbyterian pastor who happened to be Dr. Beverly Tucker Lacy, who was also chaplain to Stonewall Jackson. Robert L. Dabney was as well, who was a Presbyterian pastor as well, but Stonewall himself happened to be Presbyterian. But Dr. Beverly Tucker Lacy had preached, and there were some men who were converted to Jesus Christ under his preaching. Well, these men happened to be raised differently, and they believed that immersion was the proper way to be baptized. And so when it came time for their baptism, then Dr. Beverly Tucker Lacy contacted a Baptist chaplain, Brother Webb, who eagerly and readily baptized those converts. I want to read to you what Brother Webb said to Dr. Beverly Tucker Lacy and the Presbyterian's response. Here it is. So as he brought those converts to Brother Webb, as Brother Webb finished baptizing the converts, he said to Dr. Lacy, he said, "Brother Lacy, you remind me of a hen setting on duck eggs."

"She carefully nurses the eggs until the little ducks appear and diligently watches over them and cares for them. But one day she goes near the water and the whole brood of little ducks plunge in while she has to stand clucking on the bank." And Dr. Lacy replied, "Yes, Brother Webb. I cannot follow them in, but I go with them to the water's edge. I receive them with open arms when they come out, and I'm ever ready to hail them as my spiritual children and to do all in my power to help them serve our common Master and to reach the home of our common Father above." Isn't that amazing? Isn't that gracious and kind? I mean, Brother Webb was teasing the Presbyterian, and the Presbyterian said, "You're right. I don't believe in immersion, but I count them my children and I'm going to do everything I can to help them and get them to our Heavenly Father above."

Scripture Reading — 1 Peter 2:1

So let me repeat this truth that I made earlier. And that's this: Unity does not require agreement on every detail. Now, it is true we must agree on core doctrines. We cannot deny the inspiration of the Bible. We cannot deny the deity of Jesus Christ. We cannot deny the work of the Holy Spirit. We have to agree on these main and basic issues. But I previously pointed out, and I'm going to do so again, that according to the Word of God, there are actually four stages in the Christian's life. And when you stop and think about this, in these four stages, our understanding is different. So, first of all, there is the understanding of what you and I would call a little babe. The Bible says in 1 Peter chapter 2 and verse 1, "As newborn babes, desire the sincere milk of the word that ye may grow thereby." So when an individual is first converted, he is nothing more than a babe in Christ. So how much understanding does a baby have? Well, a newborn babe in Christ, he may understand that he's a sinner. He certainly understands that Jesus Christ is God in the flesh, and that Jesus Christ is the only Savior, but that's about the extent of it.

But now when you get to 1 John chapter 2, the Apostle John says, "I write unto you, little children." Then he says, "I write unto you, young men." Then he says, "I write unto you, fathers." So you not only have little babes, you have little children, you have young men and you have the fathers. Now, you have to understand that a little child has a much better understanding than a little baby. Because obviously that little child now is learning to listen and to obey. And he knows what's going to happen when he disobeys. And by the time you get to be a young man, you have more discretion, you have more knowledge, you have more understanding. And when you get to be a father, then you're wise and you're full of wisdom as well.

So it's important to grasp this simple fact: that the understanding of a Christian is different in each one of these stages. And therefore, you respond to that Christian according to the stage where you have him in life.

You Are Not the Standard of Truth

Weaver teaches that the Word of God, not personal understanding, is the standard. Demanding immediate agreement causes conflicts.

Now, Christians may disagree on certain subjects and still be Christians. We may have unity—we may have union without unity, but we want to have union with unity as well. So let me give you several truths that I hope will help us. Number one, number one, listen carefully. You are not the standard by which spirituality and truth is judged. Just because you happen to know something from the Word of God, and maybe more than someone else, does not mean that you are the standard of truth. No, the Word of God itself is our standard.

So we have no right then to demand that everyone agree with us and see what we see instantly and immediately. And I can assure you that this is the cause of many conflicts between Christians and divisions and loss of friendship as well. We just simply think that everyone should agree with us. We're right and everyone should agree with us. No, you are not the standard of truth. The Word of God is the standard of truth.

God Must Give Illumination

Using Proverbs 2:6, Job 39:13-17, Job 17:4, and Luke 24:44-45, Weaver argues that understanding comes only from God. He shares a personal illustration of seeing a truth that his pastor did not see.

It never dawns on us that we possibly could be wrong ourselves. No, we think that we're right, and therefore we demand that other people agree with us. Well, we're not the standard. Here's the second truth. If God does not give illumination, if God doesn't enlighten us, no one will ever understand anything. So I want you to remember these passages. I want you to turn with me, if you would, first of all, to Proverbs chapter 2 and verse 6. If you look in Proverbs chapter 2 and verse 6, I want you to know what the Word of God says. It's a very, very plain verse and very interesting. So notice if you would, Proverbs 2 and verse 6, the Word of God says,

Scripture Reading — Proverbs 2:6

"For the Lord giveth wisdom: out of his mouth cometh knowledge and understanding."

Wow. The Lord giveth wisdom: out of his mouth cometh knowledge and understanding. So the Lord has to give wisdom. Now, if you turn back to Job 39, Job 39, and look, if you would please, at verse 13 through 17, Job 39, beginning there with verse 13.

Look at this. Here's the question that is asked of Job. God is asking a question. Look what he says:

Scripture Reading — Job 39:13-17

"Gavest thou the goodly wings unto the peacocks? or wings and feathers unto the ostrich? Which leaveth her eggs in the earth, and warmeth them in the dust."

Now that's the ostrich. Watch.

Scripture Reading — Job 39:13-17

"And forgetteth that the foot may crush them, or that the wild beast may break them."

"She is hardened against her young ones, as though they were not hers: her labour is in vain without fear." Why? Why would an ostrich leave her eggs in the dust, not knowing that someone may crush them or a wild beast may break them? Here's why. Look, if you would, in verse 17, "Because God hath deprived her of wisdom, neither hath he imparted to her understanding." "What time she lifteth up herself on high, she scorneth the horse and his rider." So notice the ostrich has been deprived of wisdom and understanding. If you'll go back to Job chapter 17 and look, if you would please, at verse 4, here's the question that Job asked as well. Job 17, verse 4. He said,

Scripture Reading — Job 17:4

"For thou hast hid their heart from understanding: therefore shalt thou not exalt them."

What has God done? God has hidden their heart from understanding. So the truth of the matter is this, unless God gives us understanding, we're never going to see.

Now, let me show you how crucial this is. If you will turn now to the book of Luke, chapter 24, and let's begin reading verse 44. And in this passage, Jesus Christ is speaking to his own disciples. So look at this Luke chapter 24 verse 44. Look what he says.

Scripture Reading — Luke 24:44-45

"And he said unto them, These are the words which I spake unto you, while I was yet with you."

That is, while he was alive,

Scripture Reading — Luke 24:44-45

"that all things must be fulfilled, which were written in the law of Moses, and in the prophets, and in the psalms, concerning me. Then opened he their understanding, that they might understand the scriptures."

Even the disciples who walked with our Lord for three years, who saw His miracles, who heard His teaching, had to have their understanding open so they might understand the Scriptures. Many times our Lord, in talking to His own disciples, would ask, "Are ye also yet without understanding?" Now, if the disciples of Jesus Christ had to have their understanding open that they might understand the Scriptures, who lived and walked and talked with Christ, how much more do you and I need our understanding open, our eyes open, so that we can see truth? So unless God opens our eyes, we're not going to see truth.

Let me give you an illustration. I've told you that when God saved me and called me to preach, I had a real hunger to know the Word of God. So I put myself on a reading schedule. And I read through the Old Testament every month and the New Testament every week. And I just did that over and over and over. So, I remember reading one day and I saw something. And it just blessed me immeasurably.

And so I could not wait to show our pastor, who at that time had been preaching about 30 years. And so when I got to our pastor, I said, "Brother, I said, let me show you something. Let me show you something." I opened the Bible and I read the scripture and I was expecting, "Oh, wow," you know, and I read the scripture and he looked at me and he said, "So." Oh, what? So I said, "Yeah, you don't see the implication here. You don't see the—" Well, I've read the scripture before. And it boggled my mind. Here I saw this truth that just blessed my heart and it was nothing to him. And I didn't understand later. It was the illumination of the Holy Spirit that enabled me to see it and not him to see it. But then he understood things that I didn't understand. But, you know, we have to be enlightened by the Holy Spirit of God. It's just that simple. Here's the third thing. It is impossible for all of our understanding to be alike and to be equal, not only because of the sovereignty of God in giving understanding and knowledge, but also some make better use of the means that God has ordained to learn truth. So some use the means more than others, and consequently they're going to know more than others.

Diligence in Learning Affects Understanding

Weaver explains from Mark 4:23-25 and 2 Timothy 2:7 that the measure of study determines the measure of understanding, and that God gives more to those who have.

So if you look in your Bibles to the book of Mark chapter 4, look if you would please at verses 23 through 25. Look at this, Mark chapter 4 and verse 23. Our Lord said,

Scripture Reading — Mark 4:23-25

"If any man have ears to hear, let him hear."

So if God gives us hearing ears, we must hear. Now, what does he want us to hear? Look in verse 24, and he said,

Scripture Reading — Mark 4:23-25

"Take heed what ye hear."

Now notice if you would,

Scripture Reading — Mark 4:23-25

"Take heed what ye hear."

That means you're responsible to make sure that you are hearing the Word of God. Okay? In Luke 8 in verse 18, he said, "Take heed how ye hear." In other words, you cannot hear God's Word in a sleepy, clumsy, indolent way and expect to receive anything from it. No, you better take heed how you hear. You better pay close attention to it. But now he says,

Scripture Reading — Mark 4:23-25

"Take heed what ye hear."

And then he makes this statement: "With what measure ye mete, it shall be measured to you." So here's the principle: to whatever measure you give in learning the word of God, to that degree or to that measure, it's going to be measured right back to you. So don't expect to read the Bible for 10 minutes and get four hours worth of understanding. It doesn't work like that. You're not going to study the Bible for four hours and get eight hours of understanding. Whatever you measure in learning the truth, it's going to be measured to you.

Now look what else he said. "And unto you that hear shall more be given." If you have hearing ears, if you understand that truth, if you apply that truth, God's going to give you more truth. For he said in verse 25, "For he that hath, to him shall more be given: and he that hath not, from him shall be taken even that which he hath." So if you really don't understand, you don't have it and you're going to lose it anyhow. So notice, if you would, you have to understand. You have to hear there's a truth. So in 2 Timothy, chapter 2 and verse 7, the Apostle Paul told Timothy this: "Consider what I say; and the Lord give thee understanding in all things." So notice the word understanding comes from God. "And the Lord give thee understanding in all things." But God is not going to give understanding apart from consideration. "Consider what I say." God holds us accountable and responsible to read, to study, to grasp, and to apply. So it does not just simply come flying into our ears from nowhere.

"Consider what I say; and the Lord give thee understanding in all things." Now it's only common sense that the individual who gives a greater amount of time to reading and studying and meditating and thinking and praying is going to end up with more understanding than someone who doesn't. So this is what I'm trying to say. So listen to me very carefully on this. If you know more than a Christian brother, if you know more than a Christian brother, then first and foremost it is your duty to be patient with him.

Duties of the Mature and Immature Christian

The mature must be patient and teach the weaker brother; the immature must listen. Weaver cites 2 Timothy 2:24-25 and 2:2, emphasizing meekness and the need for God to grant repentance.

You did not grasp and understand everything that you now understand in a 24-hour period. You didn't go to bed dumb and wake up smart. You didn't go to bed ignorant and wake up a PhD. It didn't work like that. It took you time to get to where you are. So you have to be patient with him. And the second thing is it would be your duty and your responsibility and your obligation to teach the one who is less knowledgeable than you are. OK, so two things. Number one, you have to be patient. Number two, it's your duty and responsibility to teach the weaker brother. Also. It is not your duty. It is not your duty.

to ridicule, mock, insult, or ignore him. If you do, that's your sin. It's your duty to be patient. It's your duty to teach him.

Now, let me give you something else. The younger immature Christian also has a duty, and that duty is to listen to the Word of God and to listen to the teacher who's teaching him. Think of it like this. All of us who have had children, and especially when the children get older, we try to save them from a lot of hurt and a lot of anxiety in life. And we try to give them counsel. Sometimes they listen, sometimes they don't. And then they just have to learn the hard way. And once they learn the hard way and they start hurting, they come back. And we can say, "Well, I tried to tell you, but you wouldn't listen." And so, it's the same thing. The younger Christian has that duty and responsibility to hear the Word of God and to listen to that which is being taught. So, look in your Bibles to 2 Timothy chapter 2, if you would, at verses 24 and 25. 2 Timothy chapter 2, and notice if you would, verses 24 and 25. 2 Timothy chapter 2, look if you would please at verse 24. Our Lord says, "And the servant of the Lord"—now we're talking about preachers because 1st and 2nd Timothy and Titus are pastoral epistles. So this would be preachers, but if you are a Christian you're also a servant of the Lord, so it's still the same truth. So watch this. "And the servant of the Lord must not strive; but be gentle unto all men, apt to teach, patient." Here it is, patient.

Not only patient, but look at this, "in meekness," not with a high, haughty, arrogant attitude, "Well, I know more than you, you better listen to me." No, no. "In meekness instructing those that oppose themselves." Now watch this, an unsaved man and or a Christian who will not listen to truth is someone who opposes himself. So why should we be patient? Why should we in meekness instruct those? Here it is, "If God peradventure will give them repentance to the acknowledging of the truth." In other words, God must give repentance. God must open their understanding. God must give them grace and God must give them mercy. And until he does, we have to be patient and we have to be meek, continuing to instruct them.

Now, so please understand, this is our duty, our responsibility. Look back, if you would, to 2 Timothy chapter 2 and verse 2. Look this, 2 Timothy chapter 2 and verse 2. Look what the Apostle Paul says there. 2 Timothy chapter 2 verse 2. He says, "And the things that thou hast heard of me among many witnesses, the same commit thou to faithful men, who shall be able to teach others also." So he told Timothy, "That which you heard from me, among many witnesses"—Paul's preaching and teaching—"the same commit thou to faithful men, who shall be able to teach others also."

So I've said this before, but let me emphasize it again. It's not my responsibility to chase you down and cram truth down your throat. My responsibility is to teach. But your responsibility is to be faithful to attend the preaching and teaching so that you may learn. Faithful men. And then those faithful men, once they learn, will be able to teach others also.

The Challenge of Patience in Teaching

Weaver shares personal experiences as a young preacher and a teacher of fourth graders to illustrate the need for patience and repetition when teaching truth.

Now I'm going to tell you, one of the hardest things for you and I to learn in all of this is patience. Because we want folks to see what we see instantly. And many times we have to repeat the same truth over and over. You have heard that old adage, "Repetition aids learning." And that's true. The more you hear something, the easier it is to grasp. I remember as a young preacher—by the way, this coming week, I would preach 61 years. So I remember as a young preacher, I would kind of get upset if folks did not grasp everything that I preached in an hour. And then it dawned on me one day, "Well, you know, you spent 40 hours preparing that message and you want them to grasp it in one hour?" Well, you know, I have the advantage. I'm the one that did all the studying. I grasped it. I understood it. And then I expected them to get it in one hour. So, you know, sometimes we have to repeat the same truth over and over.

It's kind of like that basic defensive handgun class. You know, I begin that class by asking, "How many can count to five?" Everybody raises their hand. "How many can count to three?" Everybody raises their hand. And then when we get to it, they find out they can't because it's all muscle memory. And you just mess up. It's just that simple. And it's the same thing with this truth. Sometimes it just has to be repeated over and over and over.

So when we have a brother that does not grasp what we're trying to teach, we're oftentimes impatient. We want to throw up our head and throw up our hands and we want to call him an ignoramus and stupid and hard-headed, all kinds of things. Because he just doesn't see what we see, instead of being patient. So this is what I'm saying, when we're teaching other people, you just have to be patient.

Now, I'm going to tell you, that is the hardest part of it. You heard me say a few weeks ago that I have taught everything from fourth grade all the way through college. I remember the very first time I ever taught fourth graders. I'd been used to teaching college students and high school students, but now I had to teach a fourth grade class. My little history book for that year was about an inch thick. And I looked at that history book and I thought, "Oh, Lord, have mercy. What's going to happen? I'm going to teach this thing in a month and I'm not going to have anything left for the rest of the year." And so the first week I probably covered three chapters.

And so I gave a quiz. And guess what? Every one of my students failed the quiz. And I had some very brilliant students. I really did. This was a Christian school. And it dawned on me it was not the students. It was the teacher. Because I was expecting fourth graders to be able to grasp what high schoolers and college students could grasp, and they couldn't do it.

So I had to stop, go back to the first chapter, and patiently, methodically, say the same thing over and over and over until those little kids got it. And yeah, that little book did last me all year because it was such a slow pace. But the truth of the matter is that's the way it is sometimes, even with adults as well. Now, with this background in mind, I want you to go back to Psalm 133. OK, go back to Psalm 133. Because I'm going to give you two quotes and we're going to go from there, but I want you to watch this Psalm 133. David writes, "Behold, 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 the skirts of his garments; as the dew of Hermon, and as the dew that descended upon the mountains of Zion: for there the Lord commanded the blessing, even life for evermore." Now, let me tell you, when he said, "Behold, how good and how pleasant it is for brethren to dwell together in unity,"

The Anointing of Unity from Psalm 133

Weaver reads Psalm 133 and quotes John Trapp and Charles Spurgeon on the fragrant, diffusive nature of brotherly love compared to the anointing oil on Aaron.

The Hebrew word is yachad and it means unity, altogether, alike, unitedness. Basically, the word means to join, to unite, to be joined together, to be united. So it does talk about unity. Now here are two quotes I want you to listen. The first one is from John Trapp, of the old Puritan, it's a brief quote. The second one is from Charles Haddon Spurgeon. It's a much longer quote, but listen to both of them. Here's John Trapp: "This ointment"—that is the one that went on the high priest—"this ointment was most rich, as made up of the choicest spices, which you will find in Exodus 30, and very fragrant, refreshing the senses, not of Aaron only, but all of them about him. So does Christian unity and amity, that fruit of the Spirit mentioned in Galatians 5:22, far beyond that common friendship so highly extolled by Cicero and other heathens, and is therefore here fitly compared to that no such or non such odoriferous ointment." He's talking about the ointment that was put on the high priest. In other words, the heathen have no idea of what he's talking about. It's what he's saying. Now here is a quote by Spurgeon. Listen, this is a lengthy one, but listen.

He said, "In order that we may better behold brotherly unity, David gives us a resemblance, so that as in a glass we may perceive its blessedness. It has a sweet perfume about it, comparable to the precious ointment with which the first high priest was anointed at his ordination. It is a holy thing and so again is like the oil of consecration which was to be used only in the Lord's service. What a sacred thing must brotherly love be when it can be likened to an oil which must never be poured on any man but on the Lord's high priest alone. It is a diffusive thing, being poured on the head the fragrant oil that flowed down upon Aaron's head and thence dropped upon his garments to the uttermost hem was anointed therewith, and even so doth brotherly love extend its benign power and bless all who are beneath its influence."

"Hearty concord brings a benediction upon all concerned; its goodness and pleasure are shared in and by the lowliest members of the household. Even the servants are better and happier because of the lovely unity among the members of the family. It has a special use about it. For as by the anointing oil Aaron was set apart for the special service of Jehovah, even so those who dwell in love are the better fitted to glorify God in his church. The Lord is not likely to use for his glory those who are devoid of love. They lack the anointing needful to make them priests unto the Lord." Now he talks about that which ran down upon the beard, even Aaron's beard. He said this is a chief point of comparison. Now listen carefully. "That is, the oil did not remain confined to the place where it first fell, but flowed down the high priest's hair and bedewed his beard, even so brotherly love, descending from the head, distills and descends, anointing as it runs, and perfuming all it lights upon. That went down to the skirts of his garments. Once set in motion, it would not cease from flowing. It might seem as if it were better not to smear his garments with oil, but the sacred unction could not be restrained. It flowed over his holy robes. Even thus does brotherly love not only flow over the hearts upon that which it was first poured out, and descend to those who are of inferior part of the body of Christ, but it runs where it is not sought for, asking neither leave nor license to make its way."

"Hang on, Christian affection knows no limits of parish, nation, sect, or age. Is the man a believer in Christ? Then he is in the one body, and I must yield to him an abiding love. Is he one of the poorest, one of the least spiritual, one of the least lovable? Then he is as the skirts of the garment, and my heart's love must even fall upon him. Brotherly love comes from the head and falls to the feet. Its way is downward. It ran down. It went down. Love for the brethren condescends to men of low estate."

"It is not puffed up, but is lowly and meek. This is no small part of the excellence. Oil would not adorn if it did not flow down. Neither would brotherly love diffuse its blessing if it did not descend." Wow! I think just about every church ought to hear what Spurgeon said on that. But we must take note of what the scripture says about the blessings of the anointing.

Rebuke and Confrontation Are Necessary for Unity

Weaver teaches that biblical rebuke, based on love and doctrine, is not disruptive but essential. He explains the Greek word epitimao and cites Luke 17:3, Psalm 141:5, and Revelation 3:19.

Most of us can quote Psalm 23. When you get to verse 5, David said it like this,

Scripture Reading — Psalm 23:5

"Thou preparest a table before me in the presence of mine enemies: thou anointest my head with oil; my cup runneth over."

So the anointing of unity has to be and needs to be even in the presence of our enemies. I'm going to say it must be in the presence of our enemies. If we are divided, we are easily defeated. It is much easier to deal with one than it is with a thousand. So if I had 15 men out there and I was the only one who opposed them, I'm sure the 15 men could probably take care of me, because I'm only one. But if I had a thousand standing behind me, or a million behind me, the 15 would soon dissipate.

Everyone knows the old strategy of divide and conquer, and this is basically where we are in the church today. Our enemies not only foster divisions, they take advantage of divisions, and thus we are easily defeated. I want you to turn, since we're in the book of Psalms, to Psalm 141. I want you to hold this passage because we will come back, or at least I will refer back to it. I'll quote it again if you want to see it again. You need to mark it. So look in Psalm 141 and notice if you would there, verse 5, Psalm 141, verse 5. Look what David said.

Scripture Reading — Psalm 141:5

"Let the righteous smite me; it shall be a kindness: and let him reprove me; it shall be an excellent oil, which shall not break my head: for yet my prayer also shall be in their calamities."

So he says those who smite me, those who reprove me, it's going to be an excellent oil. And when they are in trouble, I'm going to be praying for them as well.

Now, I want you to listen to this point, because it's very important, and that is this. Rebuke, admonitions, and confrontations are not disruptive to unity. They're absolutely necessary for unity. That which breaks unity is sin and rebellion. Those are the destroyers of unity. So we do not rebuke, confront, reprove, or admonish based upon something that we dislike, or something that we just happen not to agree with, or something that we do not understand. And I'm not talking about heresy. I'm just simply talking about stuff that most folks divide over. We have to remember again that we are not the standard. The Word of God is the standard. And all rebuke and all confrontation, all reproof, all exhortation, has to be based upon biblical doctrine. Now, we are commanded to rebuke each other. I'll show you. If you look in your Bibles to the book of Luke chapter 17 and verse 3, look at what our Lord says. Luke 17 and verse 3. Watch this. Luke 17 verse 3. Our Lord says, "Take heed to yourselves: If thy brother trespass against thee, rebuke him; and if he repent, forgive him." So notice if our brother trespasses against us, what are we to do? We're to rebuke him. If he repents, then we are to forgive him. Now the word rebuke is an interesting word.

When we use the word rebuke, we normally think of cussing somebody out, or telling someone off, or giving them a piece of our mind. That's like someone said, that's why we don't have much left, we've given it all away. Well, the word rebuke is a very interesting word. It's the Greek word epitimao. Epi is a preposition which means upon. Timao means to honor, to reverence, to value.

So here's what he's saying. It means to revere and to venerate. So if I have to come to Steve and rebuke him, and I'll explain that even further. If I have to come to Steve and rebuke him, then what the Word of God is saying is I'm actually honoring him. I'm venerating him. I'm loving him because I believe he's worthy and worth something to be corrected and to be rebuked. In other words, I'm placing a value upon him. I'm not tearing him down. I'm not trying to destroy him. I'm trying to build him up. I'm trying to show him some things in his life are wrong.

They need to be changed. And here's the way to change them. Here's what the word of God says. So the word timao actually means to place value upon while we are rebuking or censoring.

Now, this is the word and this is the verse I wanted to reconnect with Psalm 141 in verse 5, when David said, "Let the righteous smite me and it shall be a kindness. Let him reprove me and it shall be an excellent oil that shall not break my head." So this is why it would be an excellent oil. This is why it would not break his head, because it's done in honor, it's done in love, it's done the way it should be done. So when rebuke then is accomplished in love and in the biblical framework, it demonstrates that we value our brother enough, we honor him enough to want to see him be right with the Lord and walk pleasing unto the Lord, and we count him worthy of that correction. Now, here's another statement. I want you to listen to this one.

God will never use you to give out rebukes unless you're willing to receive them yourselves. Now, you see, I just talked about rebuking Steve. No one said anything. But what if Steve has to rebuke me? Uh-huh.

Now, you see, the Bible does say, "Rebuke not an elder," but in treating him as a father. But I'm still a sinner. And I sin, I mess up from time to time. And if I happen to do so in the presence of Steve, Steve would have every right in the world to say, "Now pastor, listen to me. That's not the right attitude or you should not have said that or you should not act that way." He would have the right to do that because I may be a pastor, but I'm also a brother in Christ. And if he's going to value me, he's going to confront me and rebuke me. Now, like I say, you would not shake your finger in your father's face and cuss him out. Neither would he shake his finger in my face, and I certainly would not shake my finger in his face. But I'm just simply saying this is what rebuke is all about. If you're not willing to take rebukes, if you're not willing to be admonished, if you're not willing to be reproved, God's never going to use you to give out any. Because you're unwilling yourself.

Now, I want you to follow me with some scriptures. I want you to turn to 2 Timothy chapter 4. Let's go to 2 Timothy chapter 4 verse 2. So, remember this is a pastoral epistle. And Paul is writing to Timothy, who's the pastor. So now in 2 Timothy chapter 4 verse 2, look what the Apostle Paul tells Timothy.

Scripture Reading — 2 Timothy 4:2

"Preach the word; be instant in season, out of season; reprove, rebuke, exhort with all longsuffering and doctrine."

So let me stop right there. He says,

Scripture Reading — 2 Timothy 4:2

"Preach the word, be instant in season, out of season, reprove, rebuke, exhort with all longsuffering."

What is longsuffering? It's extended patience. Extended patience. Then he said,

Scripture Reading — 2 Timothy 4:2

"with all longsuffering and doctrine."

So that means if I go to confront Steve, if I go to rebuke Steve, I don't say, "Well, I don't like the way you comb your hair."

"You ought to part it on the other side." That's not a biblical rebuke. That's stupid. Or I could say, "I know you ought not to wear that black sweater. You ought to wear a blue sweater." I don't have any authority to tell you what color sweater to wear and you wear whatever color you like. But the point I'm trying to make, if I come to straighten you out or come to straighten Steve out, I better come with doctrine. Here's what the Word of God says. Here's where you're wrong. Here's where the Word of God says that you're to act and how to act and how to change your life. So we can't just come up to somebody and say, "Well, I don't like what you're doing." That's neither here nor there, whether you like it or not. It's none of your business, maybe, what I'm doing. But I'm just saying if we're going to confront each other, it needs to be with doctrine.

Now, look, if you would, in the book of Titus, turn over just a page or two to Titus chapter 2, and look, if you would, at verse 15. Titus 2 and verse 15. Notice what the word of God says here. Titus 2, verse 15. "These things speak, and exhort, and rebuke with all authority. Let no man despise thee." That's how it is as a preacher. He said, "Rebuke with all authority. Let no man despise thee."

Now, if you go back to 1 Timothy, chapter 5, and look, if you would please, at verse 20. 1 Timothy, chapter 5, verse 20. He says, "Them that sin rebuke before all, that others also may fear." "Them that sin rebuke before all, that others also may fear." Now, there is a difference between a private sin and a public sin. So, to you, Steve, again, if Steve said something to me privately and it was a slam and a slander, I could look at him and say, "Steve, why would you say that?" "Why would you do that?" It's private, it's between Steve and myself. But if Steve stood up in a congregation and publicly charged me with something which I'm not guilty of, and he had no proof, it was just his own, I could rebuke him publicly. Why? Because that'd be a public sin. So, if it's a private sin, according to Matthew chapter 18, if your brother sins against you, you're to go to him privately. But if it's a public sin, then there's a public rebuke. Now, let me just show you something.

To demonstrate the fact that confronting each other, rebuking each other, reproving each other, admonishing each other, is not putting each other down. It's not a demonstration of hatred or anger. No, no, no, no. Our Lord said it like this in Revelation chapter 3 and verse 19. Are you listening? He said,

Scripture Reading — Revelation 3:19

"As many as I love, I rebuke and chasten: be zealous therefore, and repent."

So, rebuking and being chastened is evidence of love.

Now, I want you to turn in your Bibles, if you would, to Romans chapter 15, and I want you to see what is needed and what is necessary for us to be able to confront each other, to rebuke each other. So you're going to find this Romans chapter 15 and let's begin reading there with verse 13. Romans 15 and verse 13. Paul says, "Now the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, that ye may abound in hope, through the power of the Holy Ghost."

Requirements for Admonishing One Another

From Romans 15:13-14 and Colossians 1:28, Weaver shows that goodness, knowledge, preaching, warning, and teaching are needed to admonish and present every man perfect in Christ.

Now look, "And I myself also am persuaded of you, my brethren, that ye also are full of goodness, filled with all knowledge, able also to admonish one another." What makes us able to admonish one another? Well, we are full of goodness, that is a heart of love. And he says, what next? Filled with all knowledge, that is a mind that knows the word of God. So he says, if you really have a heart that is loving, and if you have a mind that is knowing, then you're able also to admonish one another.

Now, just turn now, if you would, to the book of Colossians chapter 1. I want to show you the three things that are necessary to be mature in the Christian life. You will never be mature without these three things. And that's exactly what the Apostle Paul said. So look if you would in Colossians 1 and verse 28. The Apostle Paul says,

Scripture Reading — Colossians 1:28

"Whom we preach, warning every man, and teaching every man in all wisdom; that we may present every man perfect in Christ Jesus."

So what is it going to take to make a mature Christian? Well, first of all, preaching. Secondly, teaching. Hmm. Well, I'd say thirdly, teaching. I skipped the one that I wanted to really mention. That's warning. So it's going to take preaching, it's going to take warning, and it's going to take teaching. Now, what in the world is the word warning? That happens to be the Greek word noutheteo, and it literally means to warn, to admonish, to rebuke and to exhort. So literally what he says is this:

Scripture Reading — Colossians 1:28

"Whom we preach, exhorting, rebuking, reproving, warning every man, and teaching every man in all wisdom; that we may present every man perfect in Christ Jesus."

So we cannot be a mature Christian without being confronted when we are wrong or when we are sinful or when we're just not right with our Lord. It's just that simple.

Now, so what it boils down to is this. Christian rebuke, biblical rebuke, is nothing more than a loving, kind, biblical rebuke, which is followed by biblical counsel and direction. I don't just come to Steve and say, "Steve, you are wrong. You are so wicked. You are so ungodly." I don't come to Steve and say that. I might come to say, "Steve, you're wrong and what you're doing is wicked."

Applications and Call to Endeavor for Unity

Weaver applies the message: rebuke out of love, consider the stages of Christian life, and endeavor to keep the unity of the Spirit (Ephesians 4:3). He concludes with a prayer for unity.

"But here's how to correct that. Here's how to bring your life into conformity with Jesus Christ. Here's the direction that you should be going. Here's what you should be doing." So, in other words, it's not I'm jumping on someone. I'm trying to lovingly, kindly say, "This is what you need to stop doing. This is what you need to start doing." Now, here's another scripture. Proverbs 27, verse 9.

The word of God says this, "Ointment and perfume rejoice the heart: so doth the sweetness of a man's friend by hearty counsel." So just like ointment and perfume rejoice the heart, so the hearty counsel of a man's friend rejoices the heart as well. Let me try to tie this together by making some applications. The first one is this. Each of us who have had children, we understand something. We do not rebuke, correct, reprove, and chasten our children because we hate them. We do so because we love them. Biblical rebuke, biblical reproof, biblical exhortation, biblical confrontation is based out of a heart of love and understanding.

Now, here's the second one. It is possible to have union without unity. However, unity in union is the blessing of being in Jesus Christ, which, Lord willing, we're going to see next Sunday. We must take into consideration the four stages of the Christian life in rebuking, in reproving, in confronting each other. So what good would it do for a mother or even a grandmother to look at that month-old baby that's lying in the crib and start yelling and screaming at that baby? Number one, the baby wouldn't understand a word that's being said. Number two, the baby would probably be frightened to no end. You don't scream at a baby. All that's going to do is upset the child. I'm just saying it's insane if people think that's how you're going to get through to a brother in Christ. When you look at the little child, and that little child can be spoken to a little more directly, and he can be told the consequences of his disobedience. But still, you don't holler and scream at a little child because he's not going to understand and it's going to frighten him.

You can deal with a young man with a little more discretion, a little more straightforwardness. And when you get to an old man, to a father in the faith or to a mother in Israel, you can speak directly and you can speak plainly because they know and they hear and they understand. I'm just simply saying you have to deal with people according to the stage that they're in in their Christian life. And I cannot, I cannot take my college courses and teach them to my fourth graders. I have to take a fourth grade course to teach to my fourth graders. So we just have to learn to deal with each other where we are in our Christian life. And one last one. In Ephesians 4 and verse 3, we're commanded, "Endeavouring to keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace." Now the Greek word for endeavouring is one of my favorite words. It is the word spoudazo and it literally means to endeavor, to be diligent in, to exert yourself in, to give all effort and diligence unto. So he says, "Endeavouring," you are to work at keeping Christian unity.

Fear not to let anything disrupt it or destroy it. Now, he said also, "Endeavouring to keep," and the word keep is the Greek word tēreō, and it literally means to attend to carefully, to guard, to keep, and to protect. So he says, "Endeavouring to keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace." In other words, we should be ready and willing to fight against anything and everything that's going to corrupt and or destroy Christian unity. So God tells us if we want unity, we're really going to have to fight to keep it. Because our flesh is contrary to God and contrary to his word, we have to fight to bring our lives and the lives of others to the best of our ability into the conformity to the word of God. So you can have union with unity. But we need unity. If we're ever going to conquer for the Lord Jesus Christ, look at where the church is today. Look at how divided we are, how fractured we are. It's astounding to me.

That we're able to even exist only by the grace of God. So we need biblical unity based upon biblical union, which I'm going to share with you next week. Father, in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ, we bow to thee and we ask, Father, that you would teach us about unity, give us unity, help us to fight for it, to keep it, Lord, and Lord, help us to be one in thee and press forward in the kingdom of God for your honor and your glory. In the name of Jesus Christ, we ask and pray. Amen.

Study Guide

Major Themes

Union vs. Unity

Summary: Union is external association; unity requires oneness of mind, thought, objectives, and goals. The church often has union without unity.

Evidence: Weaver says, 'It is possible to have union without unity... Unity requires not only union, but oneness of mind, thought, objectives, and goals as well.'

Unity Does Not Require Uniformity

Summary: Christians can disagree on minor details while maintaining unity on core doctrines. Differences in growth, understanding, and personality do not negate unity.

Evidence: Weaver states, 'Unity does not require us to agree on every little detail... differences do not negate unity.'

God as the Source of Understanding

Summary: Illumination and understanding come only from God. Believers must depend on Him to open their eyes to truth.

Evidence: Weaver cites Proverbs 2:6, Job 39:17, and Luke 24:45, and says, 'Unless God opens our eyes, we're not going to see truth.'

Patience and Teaching in the Body

Summary: Mature Christians must be patient with the less knowledgeable and have a duty to teach them, not ridicule or ignore them.

Evidence: Weaver says, 'If you know more than a Christian brother, then first and foremost it is your duty to be patient with him... it would be your duty and your responsibility and your obligation to teach the one who is less knowledgeable.'

Biblical Rebuke as an Expression of Love

Summary: Rebuke, when done in love and based on doctrine, is necessary for unity and demonstrates value for the brother.

Evidence: Weaver explains the Greek word epitimao and says, 'Rebuking and being chastened is evidence of love.'

Endeavoring to Keep Unity

Summary: Believers are commanded to diligently work at guarding and protecting the unity of the Spirit.

Evidence: Weaver expounds Ephesians 4:3, emphasizing the Greek words spoudazo and tēreō.

Key Arguments

Union without unity is like two tomcats tied together—they fight, not cooperate.

Summary: Weaver uses a vivid illustration to argue that external union without internal unity leads to conflict, not harmony.

Evidence: Weaver says, 'So when you have them tied together and hanging over the clothesline, you have union, but you did not have unity.'

Historical pastors demonstrated unity across denominations by prioritizing the gospel and the doctrines of grace.

Summary: Weaver argues that 19th-century chaplains worked together selflessly, unlike many modern pastors who seek personal benefit.

Evidence: Weaver recounts Dr. Hogue's experience: 'we had a Presbyterian sermon introduced by Baptist services under the direction of a Methodist chaplain in an Episcopal church.'

Christians are at different stages of spiritual growth, so understanding varies and must be considered in relationships.

Summary: Weaver argues that babes, little children, young men, and fathers have different capacities, and we must respond accordingly.

Evidence: Weaver says, 'the understanding of a Christian is different in each one of these stages. And therefore, you respond to that Christian according to the stage where you have him in life.'

Personal knowledge does not make one the standard of truth; the Word of God is the standard.

Summary: Weaver argues that demanding others agree with us instantly causes division and is arrogant.

Evidence: Weaver says, 'You are not the standard by which spirituality and truth is judged... the Word of God itself is our standard.'

God sovereignly gives understanding, and believers must use the means of grace diligently to grow.

Summary: Weaver argues from Mark 4:24-25 that the measure of study determines the measure of understanding, and God gives more to those who have.

Evidence: Weaver says, 'With what measure ye mete, it shall be measured to you... Whatever you measure in learning the truth, it's going to be measured to you.'

Rebuke must be based on biblical doctrine, not personal preference, and is an act of love that builds up.

Summary: Weaver argues that confrontation is necessary for unity when done with longsuffering and doctrine, not over trivial matters.

Evidence: Weaver says, 'all rebuke and all confrontation, all reproof, all exhortation, has to be based upon biblical doctrine.'

Mature Christians must be willing to receive rebuke themselves if they are to be used by God to give it.

Summary: Weaver argues that a refusal to be admonished disqualifies one from admonishing others.

Evidence: Weaver says, 'God will never use you to give out rebukes unless you're willing to receive them yourselves.'

Unity must be actively pursued and protected because the flesh and the enemy work against it.

Summary: Weaver argues from Ephesians 4:3 that believers must exert diligent effort to guard the unity of the Spirit.

Evidence: Weaver says, 'we should be ready and willing to fight against anything and everything that's going to corrupt and or destroy Christian unity.'

Scripture References

Psalm 133:1-3

Context: The main text of the sermon, describing the goodness and pleasantness of brethren dwelling in unity, compared to anointing oil and dew.

1 Peter 2:1

Context: Used to illustrate the first stage of Christian life as newborn babes desiring the sincere milk of the word.

1 John 2:12-14

Context: Referenced to show the stages of little children, young men, and fathers in the Christian life.

Proverbs 2:6

Context: Quoted to prove that the Lord gives wisdom, knowledge, and understanding.

Job 39:13-17

Context: Used to show that God deprived the ostrich of wisdom and understanding, illustrating that understanding comes from God.

Job 17:4

Context: Quoted to show that God hides understanding from some.

Luke 24:44-45

Context: Used to demonstrate that even the disciples needed their understanding opened by Christ to understand the Scriptures.

Mark 4:23-25

Context: Quoted to teach that the measure of hearing and heeding determines the measure of understanding given.

2 Timothy 2:7

Context: Cited to show that understanding comes from the Lord but requires consideration of what is said.

2 Timothy 2:24-25

Context: Used to instruct that the Lord's servant must be gentle, patient, and in meekness instruct those who oppose themselves, hoping God will grant repentance.

2 Timothy 2:2

Context: Quoted to emphasize the duty of committing truth to faithful men who will teach others.

Psalm 23:5

Context: Referenced to connect the anointing of unity with the anointing in the presence of enemies.

Psalm 141:5

Context: Quoted to show that the righteous smiting and reproving is a kindness and an excellent oil.

Luke 17:3

Context: Quoted to command rebuke of a brother who trespasses, with forgiveness upon repentance.

2 Timothy 4:2

Context: Quoted to command preaching, reproving, rebuking, and exhorting with all longsuffering and doctrine.

Titus 2:15

Context: Quoted to command speaking, exhorting, and rebuking with all authority.

1 Timothy 5:20

Context: Quoted to command public rebuke of those who sin, so others may fear.

Revelation 3:19

Context: Quoted to show that the Lord rebukes and chastens those He loves.

Romans 15:13-14

Context: Quoted to show that being full of goodness and knowledge enables believers to admonish one another.

Colossians 1:28

Context: Quoted to show that preaching, warning, and teaching are necessary to present every man perfect in Christ.

Historical References

American War for Independence (1776-1783)

Context: Weaver mentions that pastors worked together in unity during this war.

Second War for Independence / War of Northern Aggression (American Civil War)

Context: Weaver refers to this war and notes that pastors from different denominations stood together in unity.

Dr. William J. Hogue (Presbyterian) and revival in Barksdale, Mississippi Brigade (1863)

Context: Weaver recounts Hogue's visit to Fredericksburg and the cooperative service involving Baptist, Methodist, and Episcopal ministers.

General William J. Pendleton (Episcopalian pastor and head of Lee's artillery)

Context: Mentioned as an example of an Episcopalian pastor who worked with others.

General Leonidas Polk (Episcopalian pastor and founder of School of the South)

Context: Mentioned as another example of a pastor-general who worked in unity.

Dr. Beverly Tucker Lacy (Presbyterian chaplain to Stonewall Jackson)

Context: Weaver tells the story of Lacy bringing converts to a Baptist chaplain for immersion and his gracious response.

Robert L. Dabney (Presbyterian pastor and chaplain to Stonewall Jackson)

Context: Mentioned alongside Lacy as a Presbyterian chaplain.

John Trapp (Puritan commentator)

Context: Weaver quotes Trapp's commentary on the ointment in Psalm 133.

Charles Haddon Spurgeon

Context: Weaver reads a lengthy quote from Spurgeon on the anointing oil and brotherly love.

Important Quotes

It is possible to have union without unity. And although we may have union, that which is really missing is that which is known as unity.

Significance: Establishes the central distinction between mere external association and true spiritual oneness.

Unity does not require us to agree on every little detail. So there are differences in Christians. There are differences in Christian growth and maturity. There are differences in understanding. There are differences in personality. There's always been differences and there always will be differences. But differences do not negate unity.

Significance: Clarifies that unity is compatible with diversity in non-essential matters.

You are not the standard by which spirituality and truth is judged. Just because you happen to know something from the Word of God, and maybe more than someone else, does not mean that you are the standard of truth. No, the Word of God itself is our standard.

Significance: Warns against spiritual pride and sets the objective standard for truth.

Unless God opens our eyes, we're not going to see truth.

Significance: Emphasizes the necessity of divine illumination for understanding.

If you know more than a Christian brother, then first and foremost it is your duty to be patient with him.

Significance: States the primary responsibility of the more mature toward the less mature.

God will never use you to give out rebukes unless you're willing to receive them yourselves.

Significance: Highlights the requirement of humility and reciprocity in correction.

Rebuke, admonitions, and confrontations are not disruptive to unity. They're absolutely necessary for unity. That which breaks unity is sin and rebellion.

Significance: Redefines rebuke as a tool for preserving, not destroying, unity.

Discussion Questions

What is the difference between union and unity, and why is unity essential for the church?

Context: Weaver opens with the tomcat illustration and defines unity as oneness of mind and purpose.

How can we maintain unity with believers who hold different views on non-essential doctrines?

Context: Weaver states that unity does not require agreement on every detail but on core doctrines.

In what ways does recognizing the four stages of Christian life affect how we relate to and teach others?

Context: Weaver explains the stages of babe, little child, young man, and father, and how understanding differs.

Why is it dangerous to make our own understanding the standard of truth?

Context: Weaver warns that we are not the standard; the Word of God is.

How does the truth that God must give illumination affect our patience with those who do not yet see what we see?

Context: Weaver uses Luke 24 and personal testimony to show that understanding is a gift from God.

What does it mean to rebuke someone in a way that honors and values them?

Context: Weaver explains the Greek word epitimao and the concept of placing value upon the person being rebuked.

Why is it necessary to be willing to receive rebuke before we can effectively give it?

Context: Weaver states that God will not use us to give rebukes if we are unwilling to receive them.

What practical steps can we take to 'endeavor to keep the unity of the Spirit' in our local church?

Context: Weaver expounds Ephesians 4:3 and calls for diligent effort to guard unity.

Applications

Be patient with less mature believers

Summary: Recognize that spiritual growth takes time and that others may not grasp truths as quickly as you did. Patiently repeat and teach rather than ridicule.

Evidence: Weaver says, 'If you know more than a Christian brother, then first and foremost it is your duty to be patient with him.'

Base all correction on Scripture, not personal preference

Summary: When confronting a brother, use biblical doctrine as the standard, not your own likes or dislikes.

Evidence: Weaver says, 'all rebuke and all confrontation, all reproof, all exhortation, has to be based upon biblical doctrine.'

Receive rebuke with humility

Summary: Be willing to be admonished by others, recognizing that it is an expression of love and a means of growth.

Evidence: Weaver says, 'God will never use you to give out rebukes unless you're willing to receive them yourselves.'

Actively guard the unity of the church

Summary: Diligently work to protect unity by fighting against sin, rebellion, and divisive attitudes.

Evidence: Weaver says, 'we should be ready and willing to fight against anything and everything that's going to corrupt and or destroy Christian unity.'

Consider the spiritual stage of others when teaching or correcting

Summary: Adapt your approach to the maturity level of the person, just as you would with children of different ages.

Evidence: Weaver says, 'you have to deal with people according to the stage that they're in in their Christian life.'

Diligently study Scripture to grow in understanding

Summary: Use the means of grace—reading, studying, meditating—knowing that the measure you give determines the measure you receive.

Evidence: Weaver says, 'With what measure ye mete, it shall be measured to you.'

deepseek | deepseek-v4-pro | clean_readable_transcript | 2026-06-06T01:59:30Z

deepseek | deepseek-v4-pro | weaver_study | 2026-06-06T15:40:14Z

Clean Transcript

Let there be Unity

Clean readable transcript. This view follows the Commentary.net cleaned segment text while preserving timestamps for audio follow-along.

Let me just tell you that the Lord has been very gracious to me in the last number of weeks. In fact, I've gotten several messages each week. And I thought, well, how in the world am I going to preach all of these messages? And so I guess it was just yesterday the Lord just put into my mind how we are to relate these. And so I'm going to start today with a message which I've entitled "Let There Be Unity" from Psalm 133. This will be the first part of this message, and the second part, Lord willing, will be next week, and then we'll be adding there too. It's not a series as such, but I think several of these are very related. So, Psalm 133, and I think you can find it very easily, and it's not a long psalm. It happens to be just three verses. This will be laying the groundwork and the introduction for what I want to bring next week, Lord willing. So look in Psalm 133 in verse 1, David writes, "Behold, how good and how pleasant it is for brethren to dwell together in unity."
#1 | 0:01 to 1:13 | cleaned
"It is like the precious ointment upon the head that ran down upon the beard, even Aaron's beard that went down the skirts of his garment. As the dew of Hermon and as the dew that descended upon the mountains of Zion, for there the Lord commended the blessing, even life for evermore." I have some friends, or had some friends, that both of them are now dead. They have been real workers and fighters for liberty, as well as for Christian principles.
#2 | 1:14 to 1:42 | cleaned
And the wife always said this, and this was her little motto, "He who gets organized first wins," because oftentimes they were fighting the government. And the truth of the matter is this, I think it's not just who gets organized first, I think it's who gets unified first as well. So it's impossible to have—it is possible to have union without unity. And although we may have union, that which is really missing is that which is known as unity.
#3 | 1:43 to 2:15 | cleaned
So I thought of an illustration that I would explain exactly where we are today and the difference between the two. So if you happen to take two tomcats, two full-grown tomcats, and you tied their tails together, and then you hung them over a clothesline, guess what those two tomcats would do? They would fight and claw and bite each other until they were just both dead, is what it amounts to. So when you have them tied together and hanging over the clothesline, you have union, but you did not have unity. And so that's basically, I think, where the church is today. That's where Christendom is today. We have union, but we don't have unity. Unity requires not only union, but oneness of mind, thought, objectives, and goals as well. And here's the thing about unity. Most of the time, we do not really comprehend or understand real unity.
#4 | 2:15 to 3:18 | cleaned
May I say that unity does not require us to agree on every little detail. So there are differences in Christians. There are differences in Christian growth and maturity. There are differences in understanding. There are differences in personality. There's always been differences and there always will be differences. But differences do not negate unity. Now our forefathers understood unity. In fact, if you were to study the American War for Independence, actually the war began prior to 1776, but normally we give 1776 to 1783, you'll find many of those pastors worked together and they needed to work together. And so unity there was a necessity. You'll also find the same truth in the Second War for Independence, which sometimes is called the War of Northern Aggression, and erroneously oftentimes referred to as the Civil War. I want to give you a couple of illustrations. One of my favorite illustrations actually showed how the pastors in the Second War for Independence actually stood together and they were unified, although there were Baptists, there were Presbyterians, there were Episcopalians, there were Methodists.
#5 | 3:19 to 4:53 | cleaned
And the truth of the matter is, these pastors, these chaplains that worked together, were always happy and glad to see others prospering, even when they were not prospering. So today you try to get a bunch of preachers together and the very first question that is going to be asked usually is, "What am I going to get out of it?" Or "What is my church going to benefit from it?" In other words, they're not interested in just helping for the kingdom's sake or for the honor and glory of Christ's sake or for helping for the sake of others.
#6 | 4:54 to 5:27 | cleaned
They want something out of it themselves. Well, that was not necessarily the way it was in those chaplains because that which held them together not only was the Word of God, but also the doctrines of grace as well. So here's my illustration. Dr. William J. Hogue, who happened to be a Presbyterian, wrote of his visit to Fredericksburg in the spring of 1863 during the revival in the Barksdale, Mississippi, Brigade.
#7 | 5:27 to 5:54 | cleaned
And he says this, "The Reverend Dr. Burrus of the First Baptist Church, Richmond, was to have preached that night. But as he would remain some days, and I can only stay one day, he courteously insisted upon my preaching. And so we had a Presbyterian sermon introduced by Baptist services under the direction of a Methodist chaplain in an Episcopal church." So now you've heard about something strange, but all of these men believed the Word of God. There was a vast difference between the Episcopal Church back then and the Episcopal Church today.
#8 | 5:55 to 6:38 | cleaned
In fact, General William J. Pendleton happened to be the head man over Lee's artillery. He was also an Episcopalian pastor. And then, of course, you have General Leonidas Polk, who started the School of the South in Sewanee, Tennessee. He was also an Episcopalian pastor. And these men simply worked together. Such camaraderie that existed back then is almost impossible today, not only because of the fractured nature of the church, but also because of the invincible ignorance of most preachers and most Christians as well. So, it's astounding how we have actually depreciated in our understanding of biblical truths as well. So today, pastors, as well as Christians, will divide over eschatology, they'll divide over baptism, they'll divide over minor doctrinal issues, they will even divide over feelings and over emotions, or, "I just don't like that, and I'm just not going to help it, I'm just not going to participate." It's astounding. So most of today, most of the pastors do not understand biblical charity, neither do they understand illumination or enlightenment from the Word of God.
#9 | 6:39 to 8:02 | cleaned
They certainly do not understand education in the Word of God, neither do they understand what I'm going to share with you later, the stages in the Christian life as well. So here's another illustration that I want to give you from the War of Northern Aggression. This one deals with a Presbyterian pastor who happened to be Dr. Beverly Tucker Lacy, who was also chaplain to Stonewall Jackson. Robert L. Dabney was as well, who was a Presbyterian pastor as well, but Stonewall himself happened to be Presbyterian. But Dr. Beverly Tucker Lacy had preached, and there were some men who were converted to Jesus Christ under his preaching. Well, these men happened to be raised differently, and they believed that immersion was the proper way to be baptized. And so when it came time for their baptism, then Dr. Beverly Tucker Lacy contacted a Baptist chaplain, Brother Webb, who eagerly and readily baptized those converts. I want to read to you what Brother Webb said to Dr. Beverly Tucker Lacy and the Presbyterian's response. Here it is. So as he brought those converts to Brother Webb, as Brother Webb finished baptizing the converts, he said to Dr. Lacy, he said, "Brother Lacy, you remind me of a hen setting on duck eggs."
#10 | 8:03 to 9:37 | cleaned
"She carefully nurses the eggs until the little ducks appear and diligently watches over them and cares for them. But one day she goes near the water and the whole brood of little ducks plunge in while she has to stand clucking on the bank." And Dr. Lacy replied, "Yes, Brother Webb. I cannot follow them in, but I go with them to the water's edge. I receive them with open arms when they come out, and I'm ever ready to hail them as my spiritual children and to do all in my power to help them serve our common Master and to reach the home of our common Father above." Isn't that amazing? Isn't that gracious and kind? I mean, Brother Webb was teasing the Presbyterian, and the Presbyterian said, "You're right. I don't believe in immersion, but I count them my children and I'm going to do everything I can to help them and get them to our Heavenly Father above."
#11 | 9:38 to 10:41 | cleaned
So let me repeat this truth that I made earlier. And that's this: Unity does not require agreement on every detail.
#12 | 10:42 to 10:51 | cleaned
Now, it is true we must agree on core doctrines. We cannot deny the inspiration of the Bible. We cannot deny the deity of Jesus Christ. We cannot deny the work of the Holy Spirit. We have to agree on these main and basic issues. But I previously pointed out, and I'm going to do so again, that according to the Word of God, there are actually four stages in the Christian's life. And when you stop and think about this, in these four stages, our understanding is different. So, first of all, there is the understanding of what you and I would call a little babe. The Bible says in 1 Peter chapter 2 and verse 1, "As newborn babes, desire the sincere milk of the word that ye may grow thereby." So when an individual is first converted, he is nothing more than a babe in Christ. So how much understanding does a baby have? Well, a newborn babe in Christ, he may understand that he's a sinner. He certainly understands that Jesus Christ is God in the flesh, and that Jesus Christ is the only Savior, but that's about the extent of it.
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But now when you get to 1 John chapter 2, the Apostle John says, "I write unto you, little children." Then he says, "I write unto you, young men." Then he says, "I write unto you, fathers." So you not only have little babes, you have little children, you have young men and you have the fathers.
#14 | 12:02 to 12:19 | cleaned
Now, you have to understand that a little child has a much better understanding than a little baby. Because obviously that little child now is learning to listen and to obey. And he knows what's going to happen when he disobeys. And by the time you get to be a young man, you have more discretion, you have more knowledge, you have more understanding. And when you get to be a father, then you're wise and you're full of wisdom as well.
#15 | 12:20 to 12:46 | cleaned
So it's important to grasp this simple fact: that the understanding of a Christian is different in each one of these stages. And therefore, you respond to that Christian according to the stage where you have him in life.
#16 | 12:46 to 13:03 | cleaned
Now, the problem is this. We want everyone to see exactly what we see. We want everyone to understand exactly what we understand, and we want everyone to agree with us. And if they do not see what we see, if they do not understand what we understand, immediately we want to call them ignorant or just absolutely lost.
#17 | 13:03 to 13:27 | cleaned
Now, Christians may disagree on certain subjects and still be Christians. We may have unity—we may have union without unity, but we want to have union with unity as well. So let me give you several truths that I hope will help us. Number one, number one, listen carefully. You are not the standard by which spirituality and truth is judged. Just because you happen to know something from the Word of God, and maybe more than someone else, does not mean that you are the standard of truth. No, the Word of God itself is our standard.
#18 | 13:27 to 14:14 | cleaned
So we have no right then to demand that everyone agree with us and see what we see instantly and immediately. And I can assure you that this is the cause of many conflicts between Christians and divisions and loss of friendship as well. We just simply think that everyone should agree with us. We're right and everyone should agree with us. No, you are not the standard of truth. The Word of God is the standard of truth.
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It never dawns on us that we possibly could be wrong ourselves. No, we think that we're right, and therefore we demand that other people agree with us. Well, we're not the standard. Here's the second truth. If God does not give illumination, if God doesn't enlighten us, no one will ever understand anything. So I want you to remember these passages. I want you to turn with me, if you would, first of all, to Proverbs chapter 2 and verse 6. If you look in Proverbs chapter 2 and verse 6, I want you to know what the Word of God says. It's a very, very plain verse and very interesting. So notice if you would, Proverbs 2 and verse 6, the Word of God says, "For the Lord giveth wisdom: out of his mouth cometh knowledge and understanding." Wow. The Lord giveth wisdom: out of his mouth cometh knowledge and understanding. So the Lord has to give wisdom. Now, if you turn back to Job 39, Job 39, and look, if you would please, at verse 13 through 17, Job 39, beginning there with verse 13.
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Look at this. Here's the question that is asked of Job. God is asking a question. Look what he says: "Gavest thou the goodly wings unto the peacocks? or wings and feathers unto the ostrich? Which leaveth her eggs in the earth, and warmeth them in the dust." Now that's the ostrich. Watch. "And forgetteth that the foot may crush them, or that the wild beast may break them."
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"She is hardened against her young ones, as though they were not hers: her labour is in vain without fear." Why? Why would an ostrich leave her eggs in the dust, not knowing that someone may crush them or a wild beast may break them? Here's why. Look, if you would, in verse 17, "Because God hath deprived her of wisdom, neither hath he imparted to her understanding."
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"What time she lifteth up herself on high, she scorneth the horse and his rider." So notice the ostrich has been deprived of wisdom and understanding. If you'll go back to Job chapter 17 and look, if you would please, at verse 4, here's the question that Job asked as well. Job 17, verse 4. He said, "For thou hast hid their heart from understanding: therefore shalt thou not exalt them." What has God done? God has hidden their heart from understanding. So the truth of the matter is this, unless God gives us understanding, we're never going to see.
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Now, let me show you how crucial this is. If you will turn now to the book of Luke, chapter 24, and let's begin reading verse 44. And in this passage, Jesus Christ is speaking to his own disciples. So look at this Luke chapter 24 verse 44. Look what he says. "And he said unto them, These are the words which I spake unto you, while I was yet with you."
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That is, while he was alive, "that all things must be fulfilled, which were written in the law of Moses, and in the prophets, and in the psalms, concerning me. Then opened he their understanding, that they might understand the scriptures." Even the disciples who walked with our Lord for three years, who saw His miracles, who heard His teaching, had to have their understanding open so they might understand the Scriptures. Many times our Lord, in talking to His own disciples, would ask, "Are ye also yet without understanding?" Now, if the disciples of Jesus Christ had to have their understanding open that they might understand the Scriptures, who lived and walked and talked with Christ, how much more do you and I need our understanding open, our eyes open, so that we can see truth? So unless God opens our eyes, we're not going to see truth.
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Let me give you an illustration. I've told you that when God saved me and called me to preach, I had a real hunger to know the Word of God. So I put myself on a reading schedule. And I read through the Old Testament every month and the New Testament every week. And I just did that over and over and over. So, I remember reading one day and I saw something. And it just blessed me immeasurably.
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And so I could not wait to show our pastor, who at that time had been preaching about 30 years. And so when I got to our pastor, I said, "Brother, I said, let me show you something. Let me show you something." I opened the Bible and I read the scripture and I was expecting, "Oh, wow," you know, and I read the scripture and he looked at me and he said, "So." Oh, what?
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So I said, "Yeah, you don't see the implication here. You don't see the—" Well, I've read the scripture before. And it boggled my mind. Here I saw this truth that just blessed my heart and it was nothing to him. And I didn't understand later. It was the illumination of the Holy Spirit that enabled me to see it and not him to see it. But then he understood things that I didn't understand. But, you know, we have to be enlightened by the Holy Spirit of God. It's just that simple. Here's the third thing. It is impossible for all of our understanding to be alike and to be equal, not only because of the sovereignty of God in giving understanding and knowledge, but also some make better use of the means that God has ordained to learn truth. So some use the means more than others, and consequently they're going to know more than others.
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So if you look in your Bibles to the book of Mark chapter 4, look if you would please at verses 23 through 25. Look at this, Mark chapter 4 and verse 23. Our Lord said, "If any man have ears to hear, let him hear." So if God gives us hearing ears, we must hear. Now, what does he want us to hear? Look in verse 24, and he said, "Take heed what ye hear." Now notice if you would, "Take heed what ye hear." That means you're responsible to make sure that you are hearing the Word of God. Okay? In Luke 8 in verse 18, he said, "Take heed how ye hear." In other words, you cannot hear God's Word in a sleepy, clumsy, indolent way and expect to receive anything from it. No, you better take heed how you hear. You better pay close attention to it. But now he says, "Take heed what ye hear."
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And then he makes this statement: "With what measure ye mete, it shall be measured to you." So here's the principle: to whatever measure you give in learning the word of God, to that degree or to that measure, it's going to be measured right back to you. So don't expect to read the Bible for 10 minutes and get four hours worth of understanding. It doesn't work like that. You're not going to study the Bible for four hours and get eight hours of understanding. Whatever you measure in learning the truth, it's going to be measured to you.
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Now look what else he said. "And unto you that hear shall more be given." If you have hearing ears, if you understand that truth, if you apply that truth, God's going to give you more truth. For he said in verse 25, "For he that hath, to him shall more be given: and he that hath not, from him shall be taken even that which he hath." So if you really don't understand, you don't have it and you're going to lose it anyhow. So notice, if you would, you have to understand. You have to hear there's a truth. So in 2 Timothy, chapter 2 and verse 7, the Apostle Paul told Timothy this: "Consider what I say; and the Lord give thee understanding in all things." So notice the word understanding comes from God. "And the Lord give thee understanding in all things." But God is not going to give understanding apart from consideration. "Consider what I say." God holds us accountable and responsible to read, to study, to grasp, and to apply. So it does not just simply come flying into our ears from nowhere.
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"Consider what I say; and the Lord give thee understanding in all things."
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Now it's only common sense that the individual who gives a greater amount of time to reading and studying and meditating and thinking and praying is going to end up with more understanding than someone who doesn't. So this is what I'm trying to say. So listen to me very carefully on this. If you know more than a Christian brother, if you know more than a Christian brother, then first and foremost it is your duty to be patient with him.
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You did not grasp and understand everything that you now understand in a 24-hour period. You didn't go to bed dumb and wake up smart. You didn't go to bed ignorant and wake up a PhD. It didn't work like that. It took you time to get to where you are. So you have to be patient with him. And the second thing is it would be your duty and your responsibility and your obligation to teach the one who is less knowledgeable than you are. OK, so two things. Number one, you have to be patient. Number two, it's your duty and responsibility to teach the weaker brother. Also. It is not your duty. It is not your duty.
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to ridicule, mock, insult, or ignore him. If you do, that's your sin. It's your duty to be patient. It's your duty to teach him.
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Now, let me give you something else. The younger immature Christian also has a duty, and that duty is to listen to the Word of God and to listen to the teacher who's teaching him. Think of it like this. All of us who have had children, and especially when the children get older, we try to save them from a lot of hurt and a lot of anxiety in life. And we try to give them counsel. Sometimes they listen, sometimes they don't.
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And then they just have to learn the hard way. And once they learn the hard way and they start hurting, they come back. And we can say, "Well, I tried to tell you, but you wouldn't listen." And so, it's the same thing. The younger Christian has that duty and responsibility to hear the Word of God and to listen to that which is being taught. So, look in your Bibles to 2 Timothy chapter 2, if you would, at verses 24 and 25. 2 Timothy chapter 2, and notice if you would, verses 24 and 25. 2 Timothy chapter 2, look if you would please at verse 24. Our Lord says, "And the servant of the Lord"—now we're talking about preachers because 1st and 2nd Timothy and Titus are pastoral epistles. So this would be preachers, but if you are a Christian you're also a servant of the Lord, so it's still the same truth. So watch this. "And the servant of the Lord must not strive; but be gentle unto all men, apt to teach, patient." Here it is, patient.
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Not only patient, but look at this, "in meekness," not with a high, haughty, arrogant attitude, "Well, I know more than you, you better listen to me." No, no. "In meekness instructing those that oppose themselves."
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Now watch this, an unsaved man and or a Christian who will not listen to truth is someone who opposes himself. So why should we be patient? Why should we in meekness instruct those? Here it is, "If God peradventure will give them repentance to the acknowledging of the truth." In other words, God must give repentance. God must open their understanding. God must give them grace and God must give them mercy. And until he does, we have to be patient and we have to be meek, continuing to instruct them.
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Now, so please understand, this is our duty, our responsibility. Look back, if you would, to 2 Timothy chapter 2 and verse 2. Look this, 2 Timothy chapter 2 and verse 2. Look what the Apostle Paul says there. 2 Timothy chapter 2 verse 2. He says, "And the things that thou hast heard of me among many witnesses, the same commit thou to faithful men, who shall be able to teach others also." So he told Timothy, "That which you heard from me, among many witnesses"—Paul's preaching and teaching—"the same commit thou to faithful men, who shall be able to teach others also."
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So I've said this before, but let me emphasize it again. It's not my responsibility to chase you down and cram truth down your throat. My responsibility is to teach. But your responsibility is to be faithful to attend the preaching and teaching so that you may learn. Faithful men. And then those faithful men, once they learn, will be able to teach others also.
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Now I'm going to tell you, one of the hardest things for you and I to learn in all of this is patience. Because we want folks to see what we see instantly. And many times we have to repeat the same truth over and over. You have heard that old adage, "Repetition aids learning." And that's true. The more you hear something, the easier it is to grasp. I remember as a young preacher—by the way, this coming week, I would preach 61 years. So I remember as a young preacher, I would kind of get upset if folks did not grasp everything that I preached in an hour. And then it dawned on me one day, "Well, you know, you spent 40 hours preparing that message and you want them to grasp it in one hour?" Well, you know, I have the advantage. I'm the one that did all the studying. I grasped it. I understood it. And then I expected them to get it in one hour. So, you know, sometimes we have to repeat the same truth over and over.
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It's kind of like that basic defensive handgun class. You know, I begin that class by asking, "How many can count to five?" Everybody raises their hand. "How many can count to three?" Everybody raises their hand. And then when we get to it, they find out they can't because it's all muscle memory. And you just mess up. It's just that simple. And it's the same thing with this truth. Sometimes it just has to be repeated over and over and over.
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So when we have a brother that does not grasp what we're trying to teach, we're oftentimes impatient. We want to throw up our head and throw up our hands and we want to call him an ignoramus and stupid and hard-headed, all kinds of things. Because he just doesn't see what we see, instead of being patient. So this is what I'm saying, when we're teaching other people, you just have to be patient.
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Now, I'm going to tell you, that is the hardest part of it. You heard me say a few weeks ago that I have taught everything from fourth grade all the way through college. I remember the very first time I ever taught fourth graders. I'd been used to teaching college students and high school students, but now I had to teach a fourth grade class. My little history book for that year was about an inch thick. And I looked at that history book and I thought, "Oh, Lord, have mercy. What's going to happen? I'm going to teach this thing in a month and I'm not going to have anything left for the rest of the year." And so the first week I probably covered three chapters.
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And so I gave a quiz. And guess what? Every one of my students failed the quiz. And I had some very brilliant students. I really did. This was a Christian school. And it dawned on me it was not the students. It was the teacher. Because I was expecting fourth graders to be able to grasp what high schoolers and college students could grasp, and they couldn't do it.
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So I had to stop, go back to the first chapter, and patiently, methodically, say the same thing over and over and over until those little kids got it. And yeah, that little book did last me all year because it was such a slow pace. But the truth of the matter is that's the way it is sometimes, even with adults as well.
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Now, with this background in mind, I want you to go back to Psalm 133. OK, go back to Psalm 133. Because I'm going to give you two quotes and we're going to go from there, but I want you to watch this Psalm 133. David writes, "Behold, 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 the skirts of his garments; as the dew of Hermon, and as the dew that descended upon the mountains of Zion: for there the Lord commanded the blessing, even life for evermore." Now, let me tell you, when he said, "Behold, how good and how pleasant it is for brethren to dwell together in unity,"
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The Hebrew word is yachad and it means unity, altogether, alike, unitedness. Basically, the word means to join, to unite, to be joined together, to be united. So it does talk about unity.
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Now here are two quotes I want you to listen. The first one is from John Trapp, of the old Puritan, it's a brief quote. The second one is from Charles Haddon Spurgeon. It's a much longer quote, but listen to both of them. Here's John Trapp: "This ointment"—that is the one that went on the high priest—"this ointment was most rich, as made up of the choicest spices, which you will find in Exodus 30, and very fragrant, refreshing the senses, not of Aaron only, but all of them about him. So does Christian unity and amity, that fruit of the Spirit mentioned in Galatians 5:22, far beyond that common friendship so highly extolled by Cicero and other heathens, and is therefore here fitly compared to that no such or non such odoriferous ointment." He's talking about the ointment that was put on the high priest. In other words, the heathen have no idea of what he's talking about. It's what he's saying. Now here is a quote by Spurgeon. Listen, this is a lengthy one, but listen.
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He said, "In order that we may better behold brotherly unity, David gives us a resemblance, so that as in a glass we may perceive its blessedness. It has a sweet perfume about it, comparable to the precious ointment with which the first high priest was anointed at his ordination. It is a holy thing and so again is like the oil of consecration which was to be used only in the Lord's service. What a sacred thing must brotherly love be when it can be likened to an oil which must never be poured on any man but on the Lord's high priest alone. It is a diffusive thing, being poured on the head the fragrant oil that flowed down upon Aaron's head and thence dropped upon his garments to the uttermost hem was anointed therewith, and even so doth brotherly love extend its benign power and bless all who are beneath its influence."
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"Hearty concord brings a benediction upon all concerned; its goodness and pleasure are shared in and by the lowliest members of the household. Even the servants are better and happier because of the lovely unity among the members of the family. It has a special use about it. For as by the anointing oil Aaron was set apart for the special service of Jehovah, even so those who dwell in love are the better fitted to glorify God in his church. The Lord is not likely to use for his glory those who are devoid of love. They lack the anointing needful to make them priests unto the Lord." Now he talks about that which ran down upon the beard, even Aaron's beard.
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He said this is a chief point of comparison. Now listen carefully. "That is, the oil did not remain confined to the place where it first fell, but flowed down the high priest's hair and bedewed his beard, even so brotherly love, descending from the head, distills and descends, anointing as it runs, and perfuming all it lights upon. That went down to the skirts of his garments. Once set in motion, it would not cease from flowing. It might seem as if it were better not to smear his garments with oil, but the sacred unction could not be restrained. It flowed over his holy robes. Even thus does brotherly love not only flow over the hearts upon that which it was first poured out, and descend to those who are of inferior part of the body of Christ, but it runs where it is not sought for, asking neither leave nor license to make its way."
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"Hang on, Christian affection knows no limits of parish, nation, sect, or age. Is the man a believer in Christ? Then he is in the one body, and I must yield to him an abiding love. Is he one of the poorest, one of the least spiritual, one of the least lovable? Then he is as the skirts of the garment, and my heart's love must even fall upon him. Brotherly love comes from the head and falls to the feet. Its way is downward. It ran down. It went down. Love for the brethren condescends to men of low estate."
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"It is not puffed up, but is lowly and meek. This is no small part of the excellence. Oil would not adorn if it did not flow down. Neither would brotherly love diffuse its blessing if it did not descend." Wow! I think just about every church ought to hear what Spurgeon said on that. But we must take note of what the scripture says about the blessings of the anointing.
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Most of us can quote Psalm 23. When you get to verse 5, David said it like this, "Thou preparest a table before me in the presence of mine enemies: thou anointest my head with oil; my cup runneth over." So the anointing of unity has to be and needs to be even in the presence of our enemies. I'm going to say it must be in the presence of our enemies.
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If we are divided, we are easily defeated. It is much easier to deal with one than it is with a thousand. So if I had 15 men out there and I was the only one who opposed them, I'm sure the 15 men could probably take care of me, because I'm only one. But if I had a thousand standing behind me, or a million behind me, the 15 would soon dissipate.
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Everyone knows the old strategy of divide and conquer, and this is basically where we are in the church today. Our enemies not only foster divisions, they take advantage of divisions, and thus we are easily defeated. I want you to turn, since we're in the book of Psalms, to Psalm 141. I want you to hold this passage because we will come back, or at least I will refer back to it. I'll quote it again if you want to see it again.
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You need to mark it. So look in Psalm 141 and notice if you would there, verse 5, Psalm 141, verse 5. Look what David said. "Let the righteous smite me; it shall be a kindness: and let him reprove me; it shall be an excellent oil, which shall not break my head: for yet my prayer also shall be in their calamities." So he says those who smite me, those who reprove me, it's going to be an excellent oil. And when they are in trouble, I'm going to be praying for them as well.
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Now, I want you to listen to this point, because it's very important, and that is this. Rebuke, admonitions, and confrontations are not disruptive to unity. They're absolutely necessary for unity. That which breaks unity is sin and rebellion. Those are the destroyers of unity. So we do not rebuke, confront, reprove, or admonish based upon something that we dislike, or something that we just happen not to agree with, or something that we do not understand.
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And I'm not talking about heresy. I'm just simply talking about stuff that most folks divide over. We have to remember again that we are not the standard. The Word of God is the standard. And all rebuke and all confrontation, all reproof, all exhortation, has to be based upon biblical doctrine. Now, we are commanded to rebuke each other. I'll show you. If you look in your Bibles to the book of Luke chapter 17 and verse 3, look at what our Lord says. Luke 17 and verse 3. Watch this. Luke 17 verse 3. Our Lord says, "Take heed to yourselves: If thy brother trespass against thee, rebuke him; and if he repent, forgive him." So notice if our brother trespasses against us, what are we to do? We're to rebuke him. If he repents, then we are to forgive him. Now the word rebuke is an interesting word.
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When we use the word rebuke, we normally think of cussing somebody out, or telling someone off, or giving them a piece of our mind. That's like someone said, that's why we don't have much left, we've given it all away. Well, the word rebuke is a very interesting word. It's the Greek word epitimao. Epi is a preposition which means upon. Timao means to honor, to reverence, to value.
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So here's what he's saying. It means to revere and to venerate. So if I have to come to Steve and rebuke him, and I'll explain that even further. If I have to come to Steve and rebuke him, then what the Word of God is saying is I'm actually honoring him. I'm venerating him. I'm loving him because I believe he's worthy and worth something to be corrected and to be rebuked. In other words, I'm placing a value upon him. I'm not tearing him down. I'm not trying to destroy him. I'm trying to build him up. I'm trying to show him some things in his life are wrong.
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They need to be changed. And here's the way to change them. Here's what the word of God says. So the word timao actually means to place value upon while we are rebuking or censoring.
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Now, this is the word and this is the verse I wanted to reconnect with Psalm 141 in verse 5, when David said, "Let the righteous smite me and it shall be a kindness. Let him reprove me and it shall be an excellent oil that shall not break my head." So this is why it would be an excellent oil. This is why it would not break his head, because it's done in honor, it's done in love, it's done the way it should be done. So when rebuke then is accomplished in love and in the biblical framework, it demonstrates that we value our brother enough, we honor him enough to want to see him be right with the Lord and walk pleasing unto the Lord, and we count him worthy of that correction. Now, here's another statement. I want you to listen to this one.
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God will never use you to give out rebukes unless you're willing to receive them yourselves. Now, you see, I just talked about rebuking Steve. No one said anything. But what if Steve has to rebuke me? Uh-huh.
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Now, you see, the Bible does say, "Rebuke not an elder," but in treating him as a father. But I'm still a sinner. And I sin, I mess up from time to time. And if I happen to do so in the presence of Steve, Steve would have every right in the world to say, "Now pastor, listen to me. That's not the right attitude or you should not have said that or you should not act that way." He would have the right to do that because I may be a pastor, but I'm also a brother in Christ.
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And if he's going to value me, he's going to confront me and rebuke me. Now, like I say, you would not shake your finger in your father's face and cuss him out. Neither would he shake his finger in my face, and I certainly would not shake my finger in his face. But I'm just simply saying this is what rebuke is all about. If you're not willing to take rebukes, if you're not willing to be admonished, if you're not willing to be reproved, God's never going to use you to give out any. Because you're unwilling yourself.
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Now, I want you to follow me with some scriptures. I want you to turn to 2 Timothy chapter 4. Let's go to 2 Timothy chapter 4 verse 2. So, remember this is a pastoral epistle. And Paul is writing to Timothy, who's the pastor. So now in 2 Timothy chapter 4 verse 2, look what the Apostle Paul tells Timothy.
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"Preach the word; be instant in season, out of season; reprove, rebuke, exhort with all longsuffering and doctrine." So let me stop right there. He says, "Preach the word, be instant in season, out of season, reprove, rebuke, exhort with all longsuffering." What is longsuffering? It's extended patience. Extended patience. Then he said, "with all longsuffering and doctrine." So that means if I go to confront Steve, if I go to rebuke Steve, I don't say, "Well, I don't like the way you comb your hair."
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"You ought to part it on the other side." That's not a biblical rebuke. That's stupid. Or I could say, "I know you ought not to wear that black sweater. You ought to wear a blue sweater." I don't have any authority to tell you what color sweater to wear and you wear whatever color you like. But the point I'm trying to make, if I come to straighten you out or come to straighten Steve out, I better come with doctrine.
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Here's what the Word of God says. Here's where you're wrong. Here's where the Word of God says that you're to act and how to act and how to change your life. So we can't just come up to somebody and say, "Well, I don't like what you're doing." That's neither here nor there, whether you like it or not. It's none of your business, maybe, what I'm doing. But I'm just saying if we're going to confront each other, it needs to be with doctrine.
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Now, look, if you would, in the book of Titus, turn over just a page or two to Titus chapter 2, and look, if you would, at verse 15. Titus 2 and verse 15. Notice what the word of God says here. Titus 2, verse 15. "These things speak, and exhort, and rebuke with all authority. Let no man despise thee." That's how it is as a preacher. He said, "Rebuke with all authority. Let no man despise thee."
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Now, if you go back to 1 Timothy, chapter 5, and look, if you would please, at verse 20. 1 Timothy, chapter 5, verse 20. He says, "Them that sin rebuke before all, that others also may fear." "Them that sin rebuke before all, that others also may fear." Now, there is a difference between a private sin and a public sin. So, to you, Steve, again, if Steve said something to me privately and it was a slam and a slander, I could look at him and say, "Steve, why would you say that?"
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"Why would you do that?" It's private, it's between Steve and myself. But if Steve stood up in a congregation and publicly charged me with something which I'm not guilty of, and he had no proof, it was just his own, I could rebuke him publicly. Why? Because that'd be a public sin. So, if it's a private sin, according to Matthew chapter 18, if your brother sins against you, you're to go to him privately. But if it's a public sin, then there's a public rebuke. Now, let me just show you something.
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To demonstrate the fact that confronting each other, rebuking each other, reproving each other, admonishing each other, is not putting each other down. It's not a demonstration of hatred or anger. No, no, no, no. Our Lord said it like this in Revelation chapter 3 and verse 19. Are you listening? He said, "As many as I love, I rebuke and chasten: be zealous therefore, and repent." So, rebuking and being chastened is evidence of love.
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Now, I want you to turn in your Bibles, if you would, to Romans chapter 15, and I want you to see what is needed and what is necessary for us to be able to confront each other, to rebuke each other. So you're going to find this Romans chapter 15 and let's begin reading there with verse 13. Romans 15 and verse 13. Paul says, "Now the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, that ye may abound in hope, through the power of the Holy Ghost."
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Now look, "And I myself also am persuaded of you, my brethren, that ye also are full of goodness, filled with all knowledge, able also to admonish one another." What makes us able to admonish one another? Well, we are full of goodness, that is a heart of love. And he says, what next? Filled with all knowledge, that is a mind that knows the word of God. So he says, if you really have a heart that is loving, and if you have a mind that is knowing, then you're able also to admonish one another.
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Now, just turn now, if you would, to the book of Colossians chapter 1. I want to show you the three things that are necessary to be mature in the Christian life. You will never be mature without these three things. And that's exactly what the Apostle Paul said. So look if you would in Colossians 1 and verse 28. The Apostle Paul says, "Whom we preach, warning every man, and teaching every man in all wisdom; that we may present every man perfect in Christ Jesus." So what is it going to take to make a mature Christian?
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Well, first of all, preaching. Secondly, teaching. Hmm. Well, I'd say thirdly, teaching. I skipped the one that I wanted to really mention. That's warning. So it's going to take preaching, it's going to take warning, and it's going to take teaching. Now, what in the world is the word warning? That happens to be the Greek word noutheteo, and it literally means to warn, to admonish, to rebuke and to exhort. So literally what he says is this: "Whom we preach, exhorting, rebuking, reproving, warning every man, and teaching every man in all wisdom; that we may present every man perfect in Christ Jesus." So we cannot be a mature Christian without being confronted when we are wrong or when we are sinful or when we're just not right with our Lord. It's just that simple.
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Now, so what it boils down to is this. Christian rebuke, biblical rebuke, is nothing more than a loving, kind, biblical rebuke, which is followed by biblical counsel and direction. I don't just come to Steve and say, "Steve, you are wrong. You are so wicked. You are so ungodly." I don't come to Steve and say that. I might come to say, "Steve, you're wrong and what you're doing is wicked."
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"But here's how to correct that. Here's how to bring your life into conformity with Jesus Christ. Here's the direction that you should be going. Here's what you should be doing." So, in other words, it's not I'm jumping on someone. I'm trying to lovingly, kindly say, "This is what you need to stop doing. This is what you need to start doing." Now, here's another scripture. Proverbs 27, verse 9.
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The word of God says this, "Ointment and perfume rejoice the heart: so doth the sweetness of a man's friend by hearty counsel." So just like ointment and perfume rejoice the heart, so the hearty counsel of a man's friend rejoices the heart as well. Let me try to tie this together by making some applications. The first one is this. Each of us who have had children, we understand something. We do not rebuke, correct, reprove, and chasten our children because we hate them.
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We do so because we love them. Biblical rebuke, biblical reproof, biblical exhortation, biblical confrontation is based out of a heart of love and understanding.
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Now, here's the second one. It is possible to have union without unity. However, unity in union is the blessing of being in Jesus Christ, which, Lord willing, we're going to see next Sunday. We must take into consideration the four stages of the Christian life in rebuking, in reproving, in confronting each other. So what good would it do for a mother or even a grandmother to look at that month-old baby that's lying in the crib and start yelling and screaming at that baby? Number one, the baby wouldn't understand a word that's being said. Number two, the baby would probably be frightened to no end. You don't scream at a baby. All that's going to do is upset the child. I'm just saying it's insane if people think that's how you're going to get through to a brother in Christ. When you look at the little child, and that little child can be spoken to a little more directly, and he can be told the consequences of his disobedience. But still, you don't holler and scream at a little child because he's not going to understand and it's going to frighten him.
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You can deal with a young man with a little more discretion, a little more straightforwardness. And when you get to an old man, to a father in the faith or to a mother in Israel, you can speak directly and you can speak plainly because they know and they hear and they understand. I'm just simply saying you have to deal with people according to the stage that they're in in their Christian life.
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And I cannot, I cannot take my college courses and teach them to my fourth graders. I have to take a fourth grade course to teach to my fourth graders. So we just have to learn to deal with each other where we are in our Christian life. And one last one. In Ephesians 4 and verse 3, we're commanded, "Endeavouring to keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace." Now the Greek word for endeavouring is one of my favorite words. It is the word spoudazo and it literally means to endeavor, to be diligent in, to exert yourself in, to give all effort and diligence unto. So he says, "Endeavouring," you are to work at keeping Christian unity.
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Fear not to let anything disrupt it or destroy it. Now, he said also, "Endeavouring to keep," and the word keep is the Greek word tēreō, and it literally means to attend to carefully, to guard, to keep, and to protect. So he says, "Endeavouring to keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace." In other words, we should be ready and willing to fight against anything and everything that's going to corrupt and or destroy Christian unity. So God tells us if we want unity, we're really going to have to fight to keep it. Because our flesh is contrary to God and contrary to his word, we have to fight to bring our lives and the lives of others to the best of our ability into the conformity to the word of God. So you can have union with unity. But we need unity. If we're ever going to conquer for the Lord Jesus Christ, look at where the church is today. Look at how divided we are, how fractured we are. It's astounding to me.
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That we're able to even exist only by the grace of God. So we need biblical unity based upon biblical union, which I'm going to share with you next week. Father, in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ, we bow to thee and we ask, Father, that you would teach us about unity, give us unity, help us to fight for it, to keep it, Lord, and Lord, help us to be one in thee and press forward in the kingdom of God for your honor and your glory. In the name of Jesus Christ, we ask and pray. Amen.
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deepseek | deepseek-v4-pro | clean_readable_transcript | 2026-06-06T01:59:30Z

Let there be Unity

John Weaver | Freedom Ministries

John Weaver preaches from Psalm 133 on the goodness and pleasantness of brethren dwelling in unity. He distinguishes union from unity, illustrates historical examples of unified pastors during the American wars, and teaches that unity does not require agreement on every detail but on core doctrines. He explains that understanding varies according to four stages of Christian growth, that God alone gives illumination, and that believers must be patient and teach one another. Biblical rebuke, based on love and doctrine, is necessary for unity. The sermon concludes with a call to endeavor to keep the unity of the Spirit.

Introduction: The Need for Unity

Weaver introduces Psalm 133 and states that being unified is as important as being organized. He distinguishes union from unity using the illustration of two tomcats tied together.

Scripture Reading — Psalm 133:1-3

"Behold, how good and how pleasant it is for brethren to dwell together in unity."

Historical Examples of Unity Among Pastors

Unity Does Not Require Agreement on Every Detail

Weaver emphasizes that Christians can disagree on minor issues but must agree on core doctrines. He introduces the four stages of Christian life: babes, little children, young men, and fathers.

Scripture Reading — 1 Peter 2:1

So let me repeat this truth that I made earlier. And that's this: Unity does not require agreement on every detail. Now, it is true we must agree on core doctrines. We cannot deny the inspiration of the Bible. We cannot deny the deity of Jesus Christ. We cannot deny the work of the Holy Spirit. We have to agree on these main and basic issues. But I previously pointed out, and I'm going to do so again, that according to the Word of God, there are actually four stages in the Christian's life. And when you stop and think about this, in these four stages, our understanding is different. So, first of all, there is the understanding of what you and I would call a little babe. The Bible says in 1 Peter chapter 2 and verse 1, "As newborn babes, desire the sincere milk of the word that ye may grow thereby." So when an individual is first converted, he is nothing more than a babe in Christ. So how much understanding does a baby have? Well, a newborn babe in Christ, he may understand that he's a sinner. He certainly understands that Jesus Christ is God in the flesh, and that Jesus Christ is the only Savior, but that's about the extent of it.

You Are Not the Standard of Truth

Weaver teaches that the Word of God, not personal understanding, is the standard. Demanding immediate agreement causes conflicts.

God Must Give Illumination

Using Proverbs 2:6, Job 39:13-17, Job 17:4, and Luke 24:44-45, Weaver argues that understanding comes only from God. He shares a personal illustration of seeing a truth that his pastor did not see.

Scripture Reading — Proverbs 2:6

"For the Lord giveth wisdom: out of his mouth cometh knowledge and understanding."

Look at this. Here's the question that is asked of Job. God is asking a question. Look what he says:

Scripture Reading — Job 39:13-17

"Gavest thou the goodly wings unto the peacocks? or wings and feathers unto the ostrich? Which leaveth her eggs in the earth, and warmeth them in the dust."

Now that's the ostrich. Watch.

Scripture Reading — Job 39:13-17

"And forgetteth that the foot may crush them, or that the wild beast may break them."

Scripture Reading — Job 17:4

"For thou hast hid their heart from understanding: therefore shalt thou not exalt them."

What has God done? God has hidden their heart from understanding. So the truth of the matter is this, unless God gives us understanding, we're never going to see.

Scripture Reading — Luke 24:44-45

"And he said unto them, These are the words which I spake unto you, while I was yet with you."

That is, while he was alive,

Scripture Reading — Luke 24:44-45

"that all things must be fulfilled, which were written in the law of Moses, and in the prophets, and in the psalms, concerning me. Then opened he their understanding, that they might understand the scriptures."

Diligence in Learning Affects Understanding

Weaver explains from Mark 4:23-25 and 2 Timothy 2:7 that the measure of study determines the measure of understanding, and that God gives more to those who have.

So if you look in your Bibles to the book of Mark chapter 4, look if you would please at verses 23 through 25. Look at this, Mark chapter 4 and verse 23. Our Lord said,

Scripture Reading — Mark 4:23-25

"If any man have ears to hear, let him hear."

So if God gives us hearing ears, we must hear. Now, what does he want us to hear? Look in verse 24, and he said,

Scripture Reading — Mark 4:23-25

"Take heed what ye hear."

Now notice if you would,

Scripture Reading — Mark 4:23-25

"Take heed what ye hear."

Scripture Reading — Mark 4:23-25

"Take heed what ye hear."

Duties of the Mature and Immature Christian

The mature must be patient and teach the weaker brother; the immature must listen. Weaver cites 2 Timothy 2:24-25 and 2:2, emphasizing meekness and the need for God to grant repentance.

to ridicule, mock, insult, or ignore him. If you do, that's your sin. It's your duty to be patient. It's your duty to teach him.

The Challenge of Patience in Teaching

Weaver shares personal experiences as a young preacher and a teacher of fourth graders to illustrate the need for patience and repetition when teaching truth.

The Anointing of Unity from Psalm 133

Weaver reads Psalm 133 and quotes John Trapp and Charles Spurgeon on the fragrant, diffusive nature of brotherly love compared to the anointing oil on Aaron.

Rebuke and Confrontation Are Necessary for Unity

Weaver teaches that biblical rebuke, based on love and doctrine, is not disruptive but essential. He explains the Greek word epitimao and cites Luke 17:3, Psalm 141:5, and Revelation 3:19.

Most of us can quote Psalm 23. When you get to verse 5, David said it like this,

Scripture Reading — Psalm 23:5

"Thou preparest a table before me in the presence of mine enemies: thou anointest my head with oil; my cup runneth over."

Scripture Reading — Psalm 141:5

"Let the righteous smite me; it shall be a kindness: and let him reprove me; it shall be an excellent oil, which shall not break my head: for yet my prayer also shall be in their calamities."

So he says those who smite me, those who reprove me, it's going to be an excellent oil. And when they are in trouble, I'm going to be praying for them as well.

They need to be changed. And here's the way to change them. Here's what the word of God says. So the word timao actually means to place value upon while we are rebuking or censoring.

Scripture Reading — 2 Timothy 4:2

"Preach the word; be instant in season, out of season; reprove, rebuke, exhort with all longsuffering and doctrine."

So let me stop right there. He says,

Scripture Reading — 2 Timothy 4:2

"Preach the word, be instant in season, out of season, reprove, rebuke, exhort with all longsuffering."

What is longsuffering? It's extended patience. Extended patience. Then he said,

Scripture Reading — 2 Timothy 4:2

"with all longsuffering and doctrine."

So that means if I go to confront Steve, if I go to rebuke Steve, I don't say, "Well, I don't like the way you comb your hair."

Scripture Reading — Revelation 3:19

"As many as I love, I rebuke and chasten: be zealous therefore, and repent."

So, rebuking and being chastened is evidence of love.

Requirements for Admonishing One Another

From Romans 15:13-14 and Colossians 1:28, Weaver shows that goodness, knowledge, preaching, warning, and teaching are needed to admonish and present every man perfect in Christ.

Scripture Reading — Colossians 1:28

"Whom we preach, warning every man, and teaching every man in all wisdom; that we may present every man perfect in Christ Jesus."

Scripture Reading — Colossians 1:28

"Whom we preach, exhorting, rebuking, reproving, warning every man, and teaching every man in all wisdom; that we may present every man perfect in Christ Jesus."

So we cannot be a mature Christian without being confronted when we are wrong or when we are sinful or when we're just not right with our Lord. It's just that simple.

Applications and Call to Endeavor for Unity

Weaver applies the message: rebuke out of love, consider the stages of Christian life, and endeavor to keep the unity of the Spirit (Ephesians 4:3). He concludes with a prayer for unity.

Let there be Unity

John Weaver | SermonAudio

Lecture Metadata	Details
Speaker	John Weaver
Source	SermonAudio
Media ID	51326209497532
Subject	Old Testament Studies
Course	Proverbs: The Fear of the Lord and Wisdom: Can We All Just Get Along?
Genre	Sermon
Date	2026-05-10
Dictation Name
Book	Book 082: Proverbs: The Fear of the Lord and Wisdom - Volume 2 — Chapter 45
Source Timed Segments	89

Lecture Guide

Outline

Introduction: The Need for Unity: Weaver introduces Psalm 133 and states that being unified is as important as being organized. He distinguishes union from unity using the illustration of two tomcats tied together.
Historical Examples of Unity Among Pastors: Weaver recounts how pastors during the American War for Independence and the Second War for Independence worked together across denominations, citing Dr. William J. Hogue's account of a Presbyterian sermon in an Episcopal church with Baptist and Methodist participation.
Unity Does Not Require Agreement on Every Detail: Weaver emphasizes that Christians can disagree on minor issues but must agree on core doctrines. He introduces the four stages of Christian life: babes, little children, young men, and fathers.
You Are Not the Standard of Truth: Weaver teaches that the Word of God, not personal understanding, is the standard. Demanding immediate agreement causes conflicts.
God Must Give Illumination: Using Proverbs 2:6, Job 39:13-17, Job 17:4, and Luke 24:44-45, Weaver argues that understanding comes only from God. He shares a personal illustration of seeing a truth that his pastor did not see.
Diligence in Learning Affects Understanding: Weaver explains from Mark 4:23-25 and 2 Timothy 2:7 that the measure of study determines the measure of understanding, and that God gives more to those who have.
Duties of the Mature and Immature Christian: The mature must be patient and teach the weaker brother; the immature must listen. Weaver cites 2 Timothy 2:24-25 and 2:2, emphasizing meekness and the need for God to grant repentance.
The Challenge of Patience in Teaching: Weaver shares personal experiences as a young preacher and a teacher of fourth graders to illustrate the need for patience and repetition when teaching truth.
The Anointing of Unity from Psalm 133: Weaver reads Psalm 133 and quotes John Trapp and Charles Spurgeon on the fragrant, diffusive nature of brotherly love compared to the anointing oil on Aaron.
Rebuke and Confrontation Are Necessary for Unity: Weaver teaches that biblical rebuke, based on love and doctrine, is not disruptive but essential. He explains the Greek word epitimao and cites Luke 17:3, Psalm 141:5, and Revelation 3:19.
Requirements for Admonishing One Another: From Romans 15:13-14 and Colossians 1:28, Weaver shows that goodness, knowledge, preaching, warning, and teaching are needed to admonish and present every man perfect in Christ.
Applications and Call to Endeavor for Unity: Weaver applies the message: rebuke out of love, consider the stages of Christian life, and endeavor to keep the unity of the Spirit (Ephesians 4:3). He concludes with a prayer for unity.

Major Themes

Key Arguments

Union without unity is like two tomcats tied together—they fight, not cooperate.

Weaver uses a vivid illustration to argue that external union without internal unity leads to conflict, not harmony.

Weaver says, 'So when you have them tied together and hanging over the clothesline, you have union, but you did not have unity.'

Historical pastors demonstrated unity across denominations by prioritizing the gospel and the doctrines of grace.

Weaver argues that 19th-century chaplains worked together selflessly, unlike many modern pastors who seek personal benefit.

Weaver recounts Dr. Hogue's experience: 'we had a Presbyterian sermon introduced by Baptist services under the direction of a Methodist chaplain in an Episcopal church.'

Christians are at different stages of spiritual growth, so understanding varies and must be considered in relationships.

Weaver argues that babes, little children, young men, and fathers have different capacities, and we must respond accordingly.

Weaver says, 'the understanding of a Christian is different in each one of these stages. And therefore, you respond to that Christian according to the stage where you have him in life.'

Personal knowledge does not make one the standard of truth; the Word of God is the standard.

Weaver argues that demanding others agree with us instantly causes division and is arrogant.

Weaver says, 'You are not the standard by which spirituality and truth is judged... the Word of God itself is our standard.'

God sovereignly gives understanding, and believers must use the means of grace diligently to grow.

Weaver argues from Mark 4:24-25 that the measure of study determines the measure of understanding, and God gives more to those who have.

Weaver says, 'With what measure ye mete, it shall be measured to you... Whatever you measure in learning the truth, it's going to be measured to you.'

Rebuke must be based on biblical doctrine, not personal preference, and is an act of love that builds up.

Weaver argues that confrontation is necessary for unity when done with longsuffering and doctrine, not over trivial matters.

Weaver says, 'all rebuke and all confrontation, all reproof, all exhortation, has to be based upon biblical doctrine.'

Mature Christians must be willing to receive rebuke themselves if they are to be used by God to give it.

Weaver argues that a refusal to be admonished disqualifies one from admonishing others.

Weaver says, 'God will never use you to give out rebukes unless you're willing to receive them yourselves.'

Unity must be actively pursued and protected because the flesh and the enemy work against it.

Weaver argues from Ephesians 4:3 that believers must exert diligent effort to guard the unity of the Spirit.

Weaver says, 'we should be ready and willing to fight against anything and everything that's going to corrupt and or destroy Christian unity.'

Scripture References

Psalm 133:1-3: The main text of the sermon, describing the goodness and pleasantness of brethren dwelling in unity, compared to anointing oil and dew.
1 Peter 2:1: Used to illustrate the first stage of Christian life as newborn babes desiring the sincere milk of the word.
1 John 2:12-14: Referenced to show the stages of little children, young men, and fathers in the Christian life.
Proverbs 2:6: Quoted to prove that the Lord gives wisdom, knowledge, and understanding.
Job 39:13-17: Used to show that God deprived the ostrich of wisdom and understanding, illustrating that understanding comes from God.
Job 17:4: Quoted to show that God hides understanding from some.
Luke 24:44-45: Used to demonstrate that even the disciples needed their understanding opened by Christ to understand the Scriptures.
Mark 4:23-25: Quoted to teach that the measure of hearing and heeding determines the measure of understanding given.
2 Timothy 2:7: Cited to show that understanding comes from the Lord but requires consideration of what is said.
2 Timothy 2:24-25: Used to instruct that the Lord's servant must be gentle, patient, and in meekness instruct those who oppose themselves, hoping God will grant repentance.
2 Timothy 2:2: Quoted to emphasize the duty of committing truth to faithful men who will teach others.
Psalm 23:5: Referenced to connect the anointing of unity with the anointing in the presence of enemies.
Psalm 141:5: Quoted to show that the righteous smiting and reproving is a kindness and an excellent oil.
Luke 17:3: Quoted to command rebuke of a brother who trespasses, with forgiveness upon repentance.
2 Timothy 4:2: Quoted to command preaching, reproving, rebuking, and exhorting with all longsuffering and doctrine.
Titus 2:15: Quoted to command speaking, exhorting, and rebuking with all authority.
1 Timothy 5:20: Quoted to command public rebuke of those who sin, so others may fear.
Revelation 3:19: Quoted to show that the Lord rebukes and chastens those He loves.
Romans 15:13-14: Quoted to show that being full of goodness and knowledge enables believers to admonish one another.
Colossians 1:28: Quoted to show that preaching, warning, and teaching are necessary to present every man perfect in Christ.

Historical References

American War for Independence (1776-1783): Weaver mentions that pastors worked together in unity during this war.
Second War for Independence / War of Northern Aggression (American Civil War): Weaver refers to this war and notes that pastors from different denominations stood together in unity.
Dr. William J. Hogue (Presbyterian) and revival in Barksdale, Mississippi Brigade (1863): Weaver recounts Hogue's visit to Fredericksburg and the cooperative service involving Baptist, Methodist, and Episcopal ministers.
General William J. Pendleton (Episcopalian pastor and head of Lee's artillery): Mentioned as an example of an Episcopalian pastor who worked with others.
General Leonidas Polk (Episcopalian pastor and founder of School of the South): Mentioned as another example of a pastor-general who worked in unity.
Dr. Beverly Tucker Lacy (Presbyterian chaplain to Stonewall Jackson): Weaver tells the story of Lacy bringing converts to a Baptist chaplain for immersion and his gracious response.
Robert L. Dabney (Presbyterian pastor and chaplain to Stonewall Jackson): Mentioned alongside Lacy as a Presbyterian chaplain.
John Trapp (Puritan commentator): Weaver quotes Trapp's commentary on the ointment in Psalm 133.
Charles Haddon Spurgeon: Weaver reads a lengthy quote from Spurgeon on the anointing oil and brotherly love.

Important Quotes

It is possible to have union without unity. And although we may have union, that which is really missing is that which is known as unity.

Establishes the central distinction between mere external association and true spiritual oneness.

Unity does not require us to agree on every little detail. So there are differences in Christians. There are differences in Christian growth and maturity. There are differences in understanding. There are differences in personality. There's always been differences and there always will be differences. But differences do not negate unity.

Clarifies that unity is compatible with diversity in non-essential matters.

You are not the standard by which spirituality and truth is judged. Just because you happen to know something from the Word of God, and maybe more than someone else, does not mean that you are the standard of truth. No, the Word of God itself is our standard.

Warns against spiritual pride and sets the objective standard for truth.

Unless God opens our eyes, we're not going to see truth.

Emphasizes the necessity of divine illumination for understanding.

If you know more than a Christian brother, then first and foremost it is your duty to be patient with him.

States the primary responsibility of the more mature toward the less mature.

God will never use you to give out rebukes unless you're willing to receive them yourselves.

Highlights the requirement of humility and reciprocity in correction.

Rebuke, admonitions, and confrontations are not disruptive to unity. They're absolutely necessary for unity. That which breaks unity is sin and rebellion.

Redefines rebuke as a tool for preserving, not destroying, unity.

Discussion Questions

[Question]

What is the difference between union and unity, and why is unity essential for the church?

[Context]

Weaver opens with the tomcat illustration and defines unity as oneness of mind and purpose.

[Question]

How can we maintain unity with believers who hold different views on non-essential doctrines?

[Context]

Weaver states that unity does not require agreement on every detail but on core doctrines.

[Question]

In what ways does recognizing the four stages of Christian life affect how we relate to and teach others?

[Context]

Weaver explains the stages of babe, little child, young man, and father, and how understanding differs.

[Question]

Why is it dangerous to make our own understanding the standard of truth?

[Context]

Weaver warns that we are not the standard; the Word of God is.

[Question]

How does the truth that God must give illumination affect our patience with those who do not yet see what we see?

[Context]

Weaver uses Luke 24 and personal testimony to show that understanding is a gift from God.

[Question]

What does it mean to rebuke someone in a way that honors and values them?

[Context]

Weaver explains the Greek word epitimao and the concept of placing value upon the person being rebuked.

[Question]

Why is it necessary to be willing to receive rebuke before we can effectively give it?

[Context]

Weaver states that God will not use us to give rebukes if we are unwilling to receive them.

[Question]

What practical steps can we take to 'endeavor to keep the unity of the Spirit' in our local church?

[Context]

Weaver expounds Ephesians 4:3 and calls for diligent effort to guard unity.

Applications

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