“They Were All With One Accord”

Acts 5:12-16

12) And by the hands of the apostles were many signs and wonders wrought among the people; (and they were all with one accord in Solomon's porch

13) And of the rest durst no man join himself to them: but the people magnified them.

14) And believers were the more added to the Lord, multitudes both of men and women.)

15) Insomuch that they brought forth the sick into the streets, and laid them on beds and couches, that at the least the shadow of Peter passing by might overshadow some of them.

16) There came also a multitude out of the cities round about unto Jerusalem, bringing sick folks, and them which were vexed with unclean spirits: and they were healed every one.

I

t would seem that the Lord manifests His power so greatly among those who will come together because this state is so hard to achieve. This is to be expected in that the plan of the adversary is to “divide and conquer.” In the Church, he accomplishes this by sending strong delusions. That is, he tricks all those looking for problems by sending them situations which, on the surface, appear very real and problematic. It is only by looking at any situation through the Spirit, however, that gives us the truth of that situation.

The issue of our lack of unity is perhaps that which is the most disheartening to those with a passion to see the people of God excel. So why is it so hard to teach those who believe? Because man is loathe to give up what he thinks he knows.

Accomplishing a state where all are “with one accord” will undoubtedly remain one of our greatest challenges because of the issue of accomplishment. You see, the devil realizes that if we could ever come together on common ground, we would be virtually unstoppable, spiritually.

You might think that after all these years, mankind would be a little wiser to the ways of Satan, but he still manages to use the same tired, divisive weapon: hatred. He has deceived us into believing that all sorts of inconsequential things are important. Man squabbles over skin color, texture of hair, size of noses and all sorts of foolishness, when we are united in several facts: we all must die and the blood flowing through our veins up to that point is the same color for all—red!

Though we have been conditioned to see hatred as a “color” issue, the coming together of races is not what the force of the World truly fears. After all, we can all recognize that hatred occurs within ranks and encompasses state vs. state hatred, school vs. school hatred, and neighborhood vs. neighborhood hated. What the devil wants to protect is an economic concern, for does not scripture state that “… the love of money is the root of all evil …?” So, you see, he resorts to getting poor people of all types to hate one another, but deceives them into believing that being poor is fine, as long as your skin is the correct color. In this way, he keeps the money where he wants it.

“Unity,” by definition, indicates that the parties involved work from common ground. This means that that body will think and act together. Nothing which operates independent of its members can be even thought to be unified. This is why Jesus, as head of the body must be consulted before the body makes one move.

We have gotten so used to exercising our “right” to make decisions and have opinions that we fail to recognize an important fact: despite what we think, feel or want to believe, there is only one principle of salvation and we have no choice but to make this what we preach.

We must accept our “blame” for what is not accomplished in the kingdom of God. We cannot escape the fact that if we would cooperate with each other more as the body of Christ, people would get more help. Because of the divisions amongst many churches, people run between them until they find what appeases the flesh.

Whenever one speaks of cooperation, prevailing opinion usually holds that “if you do not agree with me, then you are causing division and that makes you automatically wrong.” What makes one “wrong?” Not agreeing with what God says. Therefore, if I differ with you because you refuse to accept what God says, it is you who are wrong. This goes back to there being only one principle of salvation and, therefore, true doctrine of Christ.

Man has entered an era of struggle against God’s Spirit. No one can do this without grieving Him, and since struggle denotes that one has another thought, or mind, one in this state can never remain here and do the will of God at the same time. The only way to fulfill one’s place in the Lord is to draw souls. This can only be done through unification. And make no mistake—we will be held responsible for those we hinder.

The sooner we learn to eliminate our individual thoughts and feelings, the happier we will be. It is futile to try to get God to honor what we think and what we feel, when He is required to honor only His Word. For whatever God says must be done, and done His way!

Finally, the Lord has a special message to those who would be a part of this ministry. We must understand that because of the importance of the message which must be put forth, there is no room for those who will be a “drag” on this ministry. We must all be “with one accord” with God’s Spirit. For, only those willing to adopt the thoughts and mind of Christ as their own will be able to remain. A sobering thought.