With one accord

Acts 2:46

And they, continuing daily with one accord in the temple, and breaking bread from house to house, did eat their meat with gladness and singleness of heart.

What the Lord did in the early church He was able to do because of the unity of the church. For you see, the Word of God tells us on many occasions in the great book of Acts, beginning with the upper room in the first chapter, that the disciples were in “one accord.” This means they were functioning unanimously, not with multiple opinions, directions, and ideas. But they were continuing with one heart and one mind, and they were striving together for the faith of the gospel. And oh that God would give us this again! Oh, that our churches may be unified, working and serving as one! Pride must be dispelled! Individualism must be guarded against, and divisive strife must be forever eradicated! There must be unity! We must be in one accord! Will we accomplish God’s work here in this world? It will only happen, dearly beloved, if we are operating in one accord. Those in a battle must not fight one another. They fight the enemy. And dear friends, we must fight our enemy with unified effort, and in oneness of purpose.

These disciples continued daily in the temple. Never was there a time when someone was not in the temple seeking to bring the lost to Christ. This means we must be unified in our service—our service to Christ to be His witnesses in Jerusalem, Judaea, Samaria, and the uttermost. There must be oneness in this great effort. They also continued in breaking bread from house to house, which means they had oneness of fellowship. They did not allow the frivolities, trivialities, and pettiness of life to come between them. No! Christ had risen again! Nothing was important at this time but the furtherance of the gospel and the unity of the church! Their fellowship was with the Father, and with His Son Jesus Christ. But we see also that they ate their meat with gladness and singleness of heart. They had joy, but they also had singleness and simplicity. Singleness means they had unalloyed benevolence toward one another. They did not allow strife, anger, bitterness, or pride to hinder, hamper, or hurt their relationships with one another. They had singleness of heart! May the Lord in Heaven give us singleness of heart again!

This morning, I ask all readers to meditate on this truth. Is the singleness of heart and mind in us? Is there a casting off of unimportant differences, and a desire for unity of purpose and oneness of direction? We must be in one accord! Let us, by the grace of Almighty God, and through the wonderful power of His Spirit, operate in oneness and unanimity to thwart and stop and diminish the works of our enemy. This can only be done together. And we see the Holy Spirit come upon the disciples at Pentecost only when they were in one accord. It is a necessary prerequisite for God’s power to be poured out. May God give this to us as we yield to Him!

“Dear Lord, we thank you for the Spirit of God, that has been graciously given to us. And we sincerely pray that with the help of your Spirit, we may function as a unified, cohesive, homogenous unit, giving our effort, our time, and our focus to your work in this world. May we destroy the works of the enemy as we fight him as one. This we can only do in one accord and with the help of your Spirit. Throw off all hindrances to this, and all sins that separate us, and all disharmony that weakens us. Use your church to further your Gospel and your Kingdom. This we pray in Christ’s name and for His everlasting glory, Amen.”