John K. Jenkins Sr - The Principle, Power and Promise of Unity

Open your Bibles with me today to Psalm 133, the 133rd Psalm. Now, I’m going to need y’all to help me preach this. Thank all five of you for that rousing affirmation! Let me tell you what I’m going to talk аbout: I’m going to discuss the power of unity. I want to talk about that as we walk through these three verses in Psalm 133. There are three verses, and I will walk through them with you, so take note as we go along. It 's a small verse, just these three verses, but it reveals one of the most powerful principles in Scripture. It’s so impactful that whenever it is exercised, extraordinary things happen. God does the spectacular when He sees unity; it causes God to bless those who practice it, even when there are challenges in your life.

David is the writer of this Psalm, and it is believed he wrote it after the Kingdom of Israel had been divided but later came back together. It is thought that David penned this at that time because he recognized that the lack of unity would be the downfall of many organizations. It is the Achilles heel of our culture and the church at large. For a long time, many people have not functioned properly. People ask me this all the time: What do you attribute the success of First Baptist Church of Glenarden to? There are many things I could say, but here’s one thing I know to be true: God favors First Baptist Church of Glenarden because we operate in unity. I am grateful for our elders, deacons, deaconesses, and leaders. We are all headed in the same direction, walking down the same road, and we will not allow anyone to come in and create disunity.

This is such an amazing principle that if you implement it in your life, your business, or your marriage, God can do the spectacular. He will do the spectacular! Throughout Scripture, we see God performing spectacular acts. As a matter of fact, let me just start walking through this passage for a moment. Hold up! Some years ago, when I first became the pastor, we had Bible study with about ten people attending on Tuesday nights. I told the deacons that you can’t expect the people to do what the leaders don’t do. [Music] One of the deacons responded in the meeting, saying, " I don’t believe the Bible like you do.» He did not accept the Bible, and, as a matter of fact, he claimed the chemistry book he wrote was just as inspired as the Bible. He is no longer a deacon at First Baptist Church of Glenarden, and by the way, I didn’t have to do anything. The great thing about our deacons at that time was that they heard him say that, and all of them challenged him in his thoughts and words. He soon thereafter resigned from his position as a deacon at First Baptist Church.

The collapse is coming from this side over here. Let me walk over here because I see where my help is coming from already. I’m not sure about that side over there; they don 't seem supportive. The deacons confronted him, saying, «You can’t be a deacon here with that belief and philosophy!» So, he resigned, and I thank the Lord for that. I didn’t have to confront him directly. They had the same attitude as the children of Israel expressed in Joshua chapter one. If you get a chance, read this: In Joshua chapter one, after Moses had died, God said to Joshua, «As I was with Moses, so shall I be with you.» The leaders of Israel responded, «We will follow you just as we followed Moses.» Then they said something amazing: «Anyone who won’t do what you say, we will kill.» I appreciate those kinds of leaders!

As a matter of fact, I tell people all over the country when I travel, «We are a unified church.» I say, «If you come to First Baptist Church and speak ill of Pastor John K. Jenkins, Sr., the mothers of the church will take you out back and beat you with their canes in Jesus' name!» If you can’t get on board with where we’re going and the vision of this house, there are plenty of other churches down the street because we operate in unity.

Now, I want you to understand this: Many marriages fail, as do many businesses, churches, and organizations, because they cannot and will not operate in unity. This is a crucial point. Marriages fail because husbands and wives can’t get on the same page; they are headed in opposite directions. It 's problematic, it’s challenging, it’s an issue, and it is our prayer that today I can help you find some order and structure .