Sheryl Brady - Unity Matters

I want to talk about the spirit of unity that this journey demanded. The journey that the disciples were on required unity; it was not an option. There had to be unity before the sound from heaven could come, before the Day of Pentecost could fully arrive, before the mighty rushing wind would fill the house, and before the cloven tongues of fire would descend upon all the believers in the upper room. Before Peter could declare the words, «These are not drunk as you suppose; they are filled with the Holy Ghost,» before he could say, «This is that which was spoken of by the prophet Joel, that it will come to pass that in the last days I will pour out my Spirit upon all flesh; your sons and your daughters shall prophesy; your young men shall see visions, and your old men shall dream dreams,» before he said, «On my servants and handmaidens I will pour out in those days of my Spirit, and they shall prophesy,» before all of that could ever happen, the Bible said they were in one place and in one accord. Before all those things I just mentioned, before the prophetic unction could occur, they had to be together in one place and in one accord. They were united. Unity was the prerequisite for what they were experiencing, and the one thing that God has always desired is a united family; that is the heartbeat of God.

The night before Jesus died on the cross, he took his twelve disciples, the men he had been training throughout his entire ministry, and those he had been mentoring. He took them to a place where he could share with them the Passover meal. He brought them to what was called the upper room, named so because it was on the second floor of a building. During that meal, which we now refer to as the Last Supper, Judas was one of the disciples present that day. However, Judas left because he went on his own assignment, so to speak. He was going to do his own thing; there’s always someone bent on doing their own thing. Judas left the supper to betray Jesus, intending to inform others of Jesus’ whereabouts so they could arrest him. There was money involved; Judas sold Jesus out for money. I say again: Judas sold Jesus out for money.

Now, we all might say, «I can’t believe that one of his own disciples would ever sell him out for money.» But before we come down too harshly on Judas, we ought to examine ourselves. How many times have we sold Jesus out for money? How many times have we looked at the portion that belonged to the Lord and thought, «I don’t have to give it this time»? How many times has God moved on our hearts to help someone in need, yet we held back? That is a Judas spirit, and we must be careful. Be cautious how you handle your money. Remember, every time you handle money, remember that it was money that got Jesus crucified. So, before you point your finger at Judas, ask yourself, «Lord, are there any ways in me that mirror Judas? I don’t want to put money above you in my life.»

Now, I believe that Judas continued to believe in Jesus, but I also believe that he somehow didn’t love him like he did at one time. That’s why we must ensure that we keep our love for God in its rightful place, because if we don’t, we may end up selling him out for just a little bit of money. Now, Jesus is in the upper room with his disciples, and he knows exactly what Judas is doing. He knows that he himself will be crucified, die, and be buried within 24 hours. He also knows that the words he is speaking at this dinner will be the last words he speaks before going to the cross.

The last words of a dying person have always been extremely significant. Again, I’ll say it: the last words of a dying person have always been extremely important. In this gathering, during the meal they shared, Jesus begins imparting his final words of inspiration and instruction to those who are his own. He shares his most intimate thoughts in this particular setting, and you can read them for yourself. You can go to the book of John and read from chapter 13 all the way through chapter 17. Those five chapters are referred to as the Upper Room Discourse and are filled with powerful truths we need to hear today. I read those chapters again this week because I knew I would discuss them with you. I began to realize that there are two themes from those five chapters that Jesus spoke about most. You should take that and make it your own.