«　WEEK 5　DAY 3　»

　　Matt. 18:19 Again, truly I say to you that if two of you are in harmony on earth concerning any matter for which they ask, it will be done for them from My Father who is in the heavens.

　　Acts 1:14 These all continued steadfastly with one accord in prayer, together with the women and Mary the mother of Jesus, and with His brothers.

　　In Matthew 18:19 the Greek word sumphoneo is used to signify the one accord. It means “to be in harmony, or accord” and refers to the harmonious sound of musical instruments or voices…. The one accord, or the harmony of inward feeling among the believers, becomes like a melody, like music…. When we have the one accord, in the eyes of God we become a melody to Him. We become a poem not merely in writing but in sound, in voice, in melody…. Such a one accord is the nucleus of the oneness. In other words, oneness is like a nut, and the one accord is like the kernel of that nut. In Acts 1:14 another Greek word, homothumadon, is used to signify the one accord. This word is from homo, “same,” and thumos, “mind, will, purpose (soul, heart).” The word denotes a harmony of inward feeling in one’s entire being. (CWWL, 1991-1992, vol. 3, “Fellowship concerning the Urgent Need of the Vital Groups,” p. 430)

　　In the three and a half years of His earthly ministry, the Lord passed on many teachings to the disciples. Then He went away through His death and came back within three days to stay with them as the life-giving Spirit. After breathing Himself into His disciples, He stayed with them for forty days to train them to experience His invisible presence. He then ascended to the heavens, leaving the disciples on this earth…. The one hundred twenty… did nothing except to pray, and the key of their prayer was the one accord (Acts 1:14).

　　In Matthew 18:19 the Lord spoke concerning two or three being in harmony on something in prayer. The word harmony in this verse is not as strong as the phrase one accord. The word in Greek for one accord, homothumadon, is strong and all-inclusive…. The Chinese version of the Bible translates this word into a Chinese word meaning “the same mind and the same will.” In Romans 15:6 the King James Version translates this word into “one mind.”

　　In the book of Acts the one hundred twenty prayed together in one mind, in the same mind, in the same will with the same purpose around and within the soul and the heart. Whenever we pray, we surely should exercise our spirit, but we also should be in the same mind and the same will with the same purpose around and within our soul and heart. This means that our entire being is involved. After the Lord’s ascension the one hundred twenty became the kind of persons who were in one mind, in one will, with one purpose around their soul and heart. For them to be in one accord meant that their entire beings were one. No other book of the Bible uses the word for one accord as much as Acts.

　　The one accord is the key and the life pulse of prayer, the Spirit, and the Word. You may pray much, seek the baptism of the Holy Spirit, and acquire a lot of knowledge from the Word, yet if you are short of the one accord, you cannot see the blessing.

　　In Acts there are three items—prayer, the Spirit, and the Word—with one key—the one accord. After Acts 15, however, this word for one accord is not used again in the book of Acts. This somewhat implies that even during this period of time described in Acts, the one accord was lost. Acts 15 describes a conference of the apostles and elders held in Jerusalem to settle the trouble concerning circumcision (vv. 1-33). At the end of Acts 15 there was a dissenting between Barnabas and Paul. After this incident I believe that the one accord to some extent was lost. (CWWL, 1986, vol. 1, “Elders’ Training, Book 7: One Accord for the Lord’s Move,” pp. 75-78)

　　Further Reading: Life-study of Acts, msgs. 5, 12