Student Study Guide
Chapter 10
The Power of Unity
Section 1 — The Power of Unity
Section One
Walking into a prayer room before a youth conference in Auckland, New Zealand, Steve was immediately turned off by leaders who kept crying "Ho!" over people as they prayed - it reminded him of unfamiliar manifestations he'd seen in England and he judged it as strange. But after several days, he noticed these young leaders carried a deep, pure passion for God. On the last night, while ministering with his arm around the main leader's shoulder, the power of God suddenly hit Steve himself - and he later realized "Ho!" was not a strange noise at all, but a direct quote of Isaiah 55:1: "Ho! Everyone who thirsts, come to the waters."
From that meeting, a godly relationship formed between Steve and these leaders. A team of five would gather before each session with no keynote speaker and no one elevated above the rest - simply asking the Holy Spirit who was supposed to speak and minister. The result was a multi-year revival: unprecedented healing, financial breakthroughs, mass salvations, and unity between formerly competing denominations.
Think It Through
Steve's first reaction to something unfamiliar was to silently judge it. What helped him move from judgment to breakthrough, and where might you be doing something similar right now?
Your Thoughts
Recall Check
Fill in these details from the story above, from memory.
The leader's cry was Isaiah 55:1: "Ho! Everyone who thirsts, come to the ."
When Steve stopped judging and opened his heart, he received a .
The five leaders would gather before each session to ask the Holy Spirit who was supposed to .
Section 2 — The Legal Right to Change the Atmosphere
Section Two
Remember From Section 1
The New Zealand revival produced unity between many formerly competing .
Most believers know Matthew 16:19's binding and loosing. But Jesus repeats the same governmental language in Matthew 18:18-20 - this time tying it directly to two or three people walking in genuine agreement, after an entire chapter about humility, restoring a fallen brother, and radical forgiveness. The Greek word behind "agree" is symphoneo - the root of our word "symphony": distinct voices tuned to the same key until the sound they produce together is something none of them could produce alone.
The word for "loose," lyo, means to untie, release, or unlock. Jesus is depositing real governmental authority inside the community of symphoneo - not volume, not religious intensity, not the reputation of the person praying. This is why Pentecost required ten days of one accord: 120 people with real differences stayed in that room until the agreement was genuine, and once it was, heaven could no longer contain what it was holding back.
Chapter 9 promised a closer look at Jesus' prayer in John 17 and the ten days the 120 spent in the Upper Room before Pentecost. Here is why it mattered: it was that ten-day pursuit of symphoneo - not perfect theology - that positioned them for the fire to fall.
Recall Check
Fill in these from what you just read above, using your own memory.
Jesus ties binding and loosing to two or three people who ___. (Matthew 18:19–20)
The Greek word behind "agree" is symphoneo, giving us the English word .
The word "loose" (lyo) means to untie, release, or .
Reflection
Why do you think Jesus ties this governing authority to agreement rather than to the volume or intensity of the prayer?
Your Thoughts
Section 3 — Even the Enemy Understands This / One Mind
Section Three
Remember From Section 2
"Where two or three are gathered together in My name, I am there in the midst of ___."
Jesus points out a principle so foundational that even the kingdom of darkness operates by it: "Every kingdom divided against itself is brought to desolation... If Satan also is divided against himself, how will his kingdom stand?" (Luke 11:17-18). The enemy is not afraid of a divided Church - he built his entire strategy around keeping it that way.
Paul's appeal to the Corinthians uses a Greek word for "united" that literally means to be perfectly mended, like a fisherman repairing a torn net (1 Cor. 1:10; compare Mark 1:19). A torn net loses the fish. A mended net keeps them. Paul isn't demanding identical opinions on every secondary question - he's calling for Gospel-centered harmony that refuses to let secondary differences tear the net apart.
Most of the things the Church has been willing to divide over will not matter in a hundred years, let alone in eternity.
Recall Check
Fill in these from what you just read above, using your own memory.
Jesus said even a divided kingdom of darkness would be brought to .
Paul's word for "united" literally means to be perfectly , like a torn net repaired.
A torn net loses the fish; a mended net them.
Reflection
The chapter says even Satan's kingdom knows division destroys power. What does it tell you that the Church sometimes forgets a principle the enemy takes for granted?
My Thoughts
Section 4 — The Bond of Peace and Humility
Section Four
Remember From Section 3
Most of what the Church fights over will not matter in a years, let alone eternity.
Unity does not happen by accident. Paul calls believers to be "endeavoring to keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace" (Eph. 4:3). The 120 in the Upper Room did not arrive unified - they had been arguing about who would be greatest - but they stayed in the room together until, after ten days, they were in one accord, and heaven opened.
Philippians 2 names the two enemies of unity as selfish ambition and conceit - both of which disguise themselves as vision and healthy confidence. The antidote is lowliness of mind: esteeming others as more important than yourself, the same posture Jesus took when He wrapped a towel around His waist to wash feet. Practically, this looks like Romans 12's call to "readily adjust yourself" - not reluctantly, not after a long argument. Early in ministry, Steve's wife chose to wear skirts at a church with strong convictions about it, saying, "I will wear skirts... because if it causes someone to stumble, my freedom is not worth that cost."
Recall Check
Fill in these from what you just read above, using your own memory.
Paul calls believers to keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of . (Eph. 4:3)
The two enemies of unity named in Philippians 2 are selfish ambition and .
Steve's wife said, "...my freedom is not worth that ."
Reflection
Selfish ambition "looks like vision" and conceit "looks like healthy self-confidence." Where might one of these be disguising itself in your own life right now?
Your Thoughts
Section 5 — The Glory, the Unity, and Herrnhut 1727
Section Five
Remember From Section 4
Romans 12 says to "readily ___ ourselves" rather than reluctantly, or only after an argument.
"The glory which You gave Me I have given them, that they may be one" (John 17:22). Jesus gave the Church His glory specifically so they would be one - and the outpouring of that glory, not better organizational effort, is what will finally bring the Church into oneness.
In 1722, Count Zinzendorf opened his estate as a refuge for persecuted believers. By 1727 the community, Herrnhut, had swelled to hundreds of people - and they were tearing each other apart over predestination, baptism, and church government. Zinzendorf went house to house pleading for repentance and love. On May 12, 1727, he preached three hours on the sin of division, and the community signed a voluntary Brotherly Agreement. On August 13, 1727, during a communion service, the presence of the Holy Spirit fell so powerfully that old divisions simply melted away. The Moravians' own summary of what happened: "We learned to love one another."
Recall Check
Fill in these from what you just read above, using your own memory.
Jesus gave the Church His so that they may be one. (John 17:22)
On August 13, 1727, the Moravians said afterward: "We learned to one another."
The Herrnhut Timeline
| What Happened | In Your Own Words |
|---|---|
| Early 1727 — Factions dividing over predestination, baptism, and church government | |
| May 12, 1727 — Zinzendorf preaches three hours on the sin of division; the Brotherly Agreement is signed | |
| July 4, 1727 — A second covenant is signed; small groups of two to four form for prayer and accountability | |
| August 5, 1727 — Zinzendorf and about fourteen others spend an entire night in prayer | |
| August 13, 1727 — The Spirit falls during communion; "We learned to love one another" | |
| The following century — A hundred-year prayer watch launches the first great Protestant missionary movement |
Reflection
Herrnhut's breakthrough came at a communion table, not a conference or a famous sermon. What does that suggest about where unity is actually forged?
My Thoughts
Section 6 — The Prophetic Roadmap and Your Choice
Section Six
Remember From Section 5
The Herrnhut prayer watch began with forty-eight believers each covenanting to one hour of ___ per day, covering all twenty-four hours.
Jesus' final days before the cross are a prophetic roadmap: He looked for a humble vessel (the colt), was carried in on prophetic worship, and the first thing He did once inside the city was cleanse the temple - after which the blind and lame were healed and children cried out in pure praise. This is still the pattern: cleansing first, then power, then pure praise. Ephesians 1:10 says the end-times is the appointed season for "the maturity of the times... to unify all things... in Christ." The glory - not better relationship management - is the unifying agent.
The chapters ahead will look even more closely at what happened inside the Upper Room during those ten days, and at the specific choices that turned quarreling refugees at Herrnhut into a hundred-year prayer movement - patterns you can apply directly to your own small group or church.
Recall Check
Fill in this from what you just read above, using your own memory.
Hebrews 12:14 says to pursue with all people, and holiness.
One More Table
| What It Looked Like | What Was Actually True |
|---|---|
| The Herrnhut breakthrough happened because the theological disputes were finally settled | It happened because the community chose covenant and love over their disputes, and the glory that fell made the remaining differences small. |
| What is one secondary difference in your own life, church, or family where you could choose unity over being right this week? |
"Choose unity. Work at it. Pay the price for it." Write a short, honest response to that challenge as it applies to your life right now.
My Response
Personal Prayer Journal
Write a prayer asking God to show you where you need to choose unity over being right, and to help you readily adjust rather than reluctantly.
Chapter 10 — Practice Test
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Part A: Multiple Choice (5 questions · 2 pts each)
1. What did Steve later realize the New Zealand leader's "Ho!" actually was?
2. According to the chapter, what does Jesus tie the governing authority of binding and loosing to in Matthew 18?
3. What does the Greek word symphoneo actually picture?
4. According to 1 Corinthians 1:10, what does Paul's word for "united" literally picture?
5. What single event is described as breaking heaven open at Herrnhut on August 13, 1727?
Part B: True or False (6 statements · 1 pt each)
1. The "Ho!" the New Zealand leader cried out over people was actually a prophetic invitation from Isaiah 55:1.
2. Jesus ties the authority of binding and loosing in Matthew 18 to the size of the crowd gathered.
3. Symphoneo means everyone must hold identical opinions on every issue.
4. Paul's word for "united" in 1 Corinthians 1:10 pictures a net being mended, not torn apart.
5. At Herrnhut, the community's theological disputes were fully resolved first, and unity followed afterward as a result.
6. The Herrnhut prayer watch is said to have continued for over a hundred years.
Part C: Fill in the Blank (5 items · 1 pt each)
1. Isaiah 55:1: "Ho! Everyone who thirsts, come to the ."
2. The Greek word behind "agree" (Matt. 18:19) is symphoneo, giving us the English word .
3. Paul's word for "united" literally means to be perfectly , like a mended net.
4. Ephesians 4:3: keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of .
5. On August 13, 1727, the Moravians said: "We learned to one another."
Part D: Short Answer (completion credit)
1. Explain what the chapter means when it says Matthew 18's binding-and-loosing authority is tied to symphoneo rather than to volume, reputation, or religious intensity.
2. Explain what happened at Herrnhut between 1722 and August 13, 1727, and why the chapter says the communion service - not a conference or famous preacher - is what "broke heaven open."
3. Explain the connection the chapter draws between the glory of God (John 17:21-22) and the unity of the Church.
Part E — Before You Leave
Is there a secondary difference in my own life or church that may be "tearing the net" more than it's worth?
Where do I need to "readily adjust" myself (Romans 12:16) rather than reluctantly, or only after a long argument?
What would a Herrnhut-style covenant of unity - focusing on agreement rather than differences - look like in my own small group, family, or church?