Unity is a powerful tool and ingredient that is not the result of revival, but unity is the cause for revival, which brings life to the body of ministry, and life to the church.

Unity is:

a) a state of oneness.

b) A combination of all separate parts, but connected whole.

c) Different people with one common goal.

Let us ask ourselves these Questions;

a) Am I where I need to be in my ministry?

b) What is holding me back from reaching my purpose?

When Goliath came out asking for a man that would fight him, and the men of Israel ran and hid themselves. When a young David saw that there was not a man that would stand and answer the call, David, confused and angered at the people, cried out, “Is there not a cause?” I believe that we need to question ourselves with passion and purpose, like David, “Is there not a cause?”

We need to come together in unity, because unity is the catalyst for revival. Catalyst is a chemical change effected in one substance by the “aide” of another, which itself undergoes change. It is a substance that produces change.

The vehicles that we drive today have a special pollution-control device called a catalytic converter. This device contains a single catalytic ingredient (platinum). When the toxic gases cross through the inside grid of platinum’s, the platinum changes, or converts the chemical structure of the toxic gases into something that is non-toxic. That single ingredient is the “catalyst” needed for the process to work.

Unity works the same way. Unity will allow you to fill Gods house with His aroma of His Spirit. It will make the difference that will cause the church to rise, or fall. Unity will trigger the Lords hand to move through His ministry, but there has to be a spiritual, chemical change. As a catalytic converter, unity has a special pollution control device that will spiritually remove any unpleasant odor that will attempt to interrupt or divide its body. The enemy sends toxic gases to pass through you ministry, but unity converts toxic into non-toxic with our spiritual platinum, the Holy Ghost.

In Acts, chapter two, The birth of the church came to be as one-hundred and twenty (120) people gathered themselves together in one place, and in one accord (unity).

Acts 2:1-3

"And when the day of Pentecost was fully come, they were all with one accord in one place. {2} And suddenly there came a sound from heaven as of a rushing mighty wind, and it filled all the house where they were sitting. {3} And there appeared unto them cloven tongues like as of fire, and it sat upon each of them".

1) They were all in one accord…

2) Then suddenly there came a sound from heaven…

3) They were all filled…

This was the fulfillment of the promise in Acts 1:8, “But ye shall receive power, after that the Holy Ghost is come upon you: and ye shall be witnesses unto me both in Jerusalem, and in all Judaea, and in Samaria, and unto the uttermost part of the earth”.

The word, “power” used in Acts, 1:8, translated in the Greek, “Dunamis”, this original Greek word is our modern English word, “Dynamite”. How interesting that the dynamite of God came, when the unity of believers were present.

It is difficult for us to pray for power and receive it if we do not have the baskets to hold it. Unity is the basket, and the size of our basket will determine the volume of blessings that we can contain. The Lord will never give us more than we can handle, especially if we are not prepared.

History tells us that approximately Five-Hundred (500), people heard His historic instructions to go tarry in Jerusalem, but when the power fell, there were only One-hundred and twenty (120) present. What happened to the other Three-Hundred and Eighty (380)? I can only imagine how these Three-Hundred and Eighty (380) people must have felt when they heard what had happened in that upper-room. I imagine it to be like a father missing the birth of his child.

My question would be to you today, “Could it be that God was waiting for some people to leave before He would come…Is there such a thing as ministry subtraction?” I have often wondered, if by the time there were only One-Hundred and Twenty that remained, could it be that those who left were the ones which stopped the move of God? In the Book of Acts, the church was virtually unstoppable, as long as unity there was unity, but as soon as division set in, the church was impacted and weakened.

Remember, “Unity is not the result of revival, unity is the cause for revival”.

When you pursue unity, you create the framework necessary for God to send revival. To pursue means: to follow with the aim of over-taking; to run after; to chase; to go on. We need to chase and run after unity. It will not overtake us, but, we need to create it, and go on!

Many churches hold crusades and have many conversions, but many of these new converts never come back. They never again enter into the church doors. If we really want to see God move in our churches with the kind of magnitude that we only dream about, then we must create a container in which God can place His precious harvest.

At times, it is necessary for God to “knock the rough edges off of us”. He is more interested in the development of our character, than in the expansion of our comfort zone. Why does God knock off those rough edges? He sometimes places you in the “sack of relationship” along with all of your rough edges. He will also add more individuals before He closes up the sack and begins to shake us up and down and all around.

He will continue to shake the church until our jousting against one another has removed all of our rough edges. We will either emerge from Gods “shake and bake” sessions, cracked, or we will emerge, polished and better.

Before the Lord can flow into the streets of our cities, He must first flow in the aisles of our churches. Jerusalem has always been perceived as a type of the church. This great city had (12) Twelve gates, and each gate had a name. My question to you is, “Which gate is yours...Have you taken your place?”

“Where are the gate-keepers who will stand in the gates of the city in unity?” “What good does it do if you guard your gate, but I don’t guard mine?” The city is still vulnerable because of the lack of unity. If you lock your gate but I refuse to lock mine, then there is at least one major entrance into the city that is accessible to the enemy. The enemy has enjoyed free passage in and out of our cities, in and out of our lives, in and out of our churches because somebody wasn’t guarding their gate.

It’s time to stand shoulder-to-shoulder with the other gate keepers throughout the cities and create the containers for Gods glory. Unity is not the result of revival, unity is the cause of revival.

Daniel J. Duarte