-
John 17.
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I'm going to be guided by
my notes this morning.
-
I'm going somewhere with this -
-
three messages, the Lord willing,
-
on the subject of Christian unity.
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I want to do some clarifying
hopefully this morning,
-
laying some foundation,
-
and then we'll get into some
more practical things
-
tonight and tomorrow.
-
And this is another one of those subjects
-
that can be difficult.
-
I don't claim to have all the answers.
-
I imagine that if you're like me,
-
if you have any age on you at all,
-
you've had to work through
some of these things
-
and try to come to conclusions.
-
And some of the conclusions you've come to
-
may not be exactly right.
-
You may continue to grow
-
and maybe shift some in your understanding
-
and the outworking of this.
-
That's kind of where I see myself.
-
I'm 59 and I still haven't arrived.
-
I'm still a work in progress.
-
(incomplete thought)
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I don't think
fundamentally I've changed
-
from my younger years.
-
Fundamentally, I mean, the truths,
-
the doctrines of Scripture -
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I'm fundamentally now where I was
-
twenty or thirty years ago.
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But the working out of that doctrine
-
has definitely changed in my own life.
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So I say all that at the outset.
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I want this to be a help to you.
-
I'm going to John 17.
Did I tell you that already?
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We're starting there.
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Let me just read a couple of verses here
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that we're going to be hopefully gleaning
-
our thoughts from.
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I honestly feel when I
come to this chapter
-
that we're sort of
approaching holy ground.
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And I know all of Scripture is holy.
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It's the holy Scriptures, but there's
something about John 17.
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We are actually being given the privilege
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of listening in on a prayer of our Savior.
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And that's an amazing thought.
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And it's one of those
passages of Scripture
-
that you don't want to read quickly,
-
and I don't want to read quickly
-
the words that I'm going to read.
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And I'm not going to
read all of the prayer.
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I would encourage you to
take time to do that,
-
perhaps even later today.
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But I'm just going to read verse 11,
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and then 20 through 23.
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We can speculate about
what all is going on
-
in the mind of Christ.
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He's the Son of God. He's the Son of Man.
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He is speaking as the Son of God.
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This is a high priestly prayer,
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but He's speaking also in the context
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of His being as a man.
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So He has thoughts going through His mind.
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It wouldn't be exactly like
your thoughts or mine,
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but they certainly are thoughts
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of a man as He prays,
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even as they are thoughts
of the very Son of God.
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He's reflecting on the glory
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that He had with the Father
before the world began.
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He's reflecting on all that He left.
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And all of that is in Him.
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There's more in Him than any of us know.
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There's great mystery in this prayer.
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There's depths in this prayer
-
that I still am seeking to enter into.
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I would encourage you that
you need the Holy Spirit
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to enter into the depths of God.
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Your own spirit is not capable.
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That's what Paul says in 1 Corinthians 2.
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It's the Spirit of God that
teaches us who God is
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and leads us - I would encourage you
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to ask God to lead you.
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Ask the Spirit of God to teach you,
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to show you more fully, more clearly
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the things pertaining to God.
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Jesus says, verse 11,
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"And now, I am no more in the world."
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Speaking prophetically -
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it's speaking as if it is,
-
but this is what is coming.
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And in His prayer, He's thinking of this.
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(incomplete thought)
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He's coming to the cross.
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But He's seeing beyond that,
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but He can't go beyond that
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without going through the cross.
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So that's where He is as He's praying.
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"And now I am no more in the world,
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but these are in the world."
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His disciples.
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"And I come to Thee, Holy Father.
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Keep through Thine own name
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those whom Thou has given Me,
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that they may be one as We are."
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That they may be one as We are.
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Verse 20.
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"Neither pray I for these alone..." -
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the disciples, the apostles -
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"...But for them also which
shall believe on Me
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through their word,
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that they all may be one,
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as Thou Father art in Me,
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and I in Thee,
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that they also may be one in Us,
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that the world may believe
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that Thou hast sent Me,
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and the glory which Thou hast given Me,
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I have given them,
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that they may be one,
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even as We are one,
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I in them, and Thou in Me,
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that they may be made perfect in one
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and that the world may know
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that Thou hast sent Me and hast loved them
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as Thou hast loved Me."
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Amazing words.
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Unity.
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Unity among the saints
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is an ultimate concern of the Triune God.
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An ultimate - ultimate concern.
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Jesus uses language in this portion
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of His high priestly prayer
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that I'm still seeking
to fully appreciate.
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What is He saying?
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I in them, and Thou in Me.
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There's something about the relationship
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with the Father and Son
-
that Jesus is praying that
we may experience,
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we may enter into that unity.
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It's the pattern of the unity
-
for which Jesus prays.
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There is an expression called
"the community of properties."
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I don't want to get too complicated here,
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partly because I can't,
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but I want to introduce this idea to you.
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The community of properties.
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And I think it's important to see
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that when Jesus says,
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as the Father is in Me -
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"I in Thee, Thou in Me,"
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what is He saying?
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There is something about the Being of God
-
in the Person of the Father,
the Son, and the Holy Spirit,
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that is essentially one.
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Essentially, there is a sameness,
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so that Jesus could say,
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"if you've seen Me,
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you have seen the Father."
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There is something about Jesus Christ,
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something about the Father,
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something about the Holy Spirit
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that is one.
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There is something
that is distinct as well
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so that the Son can be
praying to the Father,
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so that the Father is not the Son.
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Amazing - there are people who teach that,
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that the Father is the Son,
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and the Son is the Father.
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The Father is not the Son.
The Son is not the Father.
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But there is a community of properties
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in the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit
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so that They are one.
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There's something that is the same,
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and there is something that is distinct
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so that They are three Persons
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that function in three
different capacities
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in absolute, total unity.
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That's what we call the Trinity.
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He says that they -
talking about the disciples
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or those who will believe
the words of the apostles -
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"they all may be one..." in Us.
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That's what He says.
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That's the prayer
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that they all may be one in Us.
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Every believer is brought
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into a mystical, spiritual union
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with the Triune God
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as Jesus baptizes us with the Holy Spirit.
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Did I just step onto some
controversial thought there?
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I hope not.
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Regardless of all of our fleshing out
-
of the baptism with the Holy Spirit,
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we know that Jesus said He would do it.
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He would baptize.
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In fact, in Acts 1:5, He says not
many days from then,
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He would baptize.
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Then 1 Corinthians 12:13,
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it's a past reference there -
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something that has happened
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that we participate in.
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We drink of the same Spirit.
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There is a sameness that exists
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in every single believer.
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Every believer possesses
the same Holy Spirit.
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There is one body.
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There is no longer Jew or Gentile.
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There is no longer a division.
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Ephesians 1-3 speak of this significantly.
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Paul makes this point.
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In Christ, we are one.
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In Christ.
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We have one Shepherd.
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There is one fold.
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Jesus does not view us -
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and as He prays here,
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there is a sense in which Jesus,
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He told Peter, "I have prayed for you."
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So there is a sense in which we can say
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Christ prays for me,
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but here Jesus is praying for us.
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He's not viewing us as autonomous,
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isolated believers.
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But joined together by the Father and Son
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through the Spirit as a spiritual temple,
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living stones as Peter calls it,
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who are joined together with all
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who are believers in Heaven and in earth.
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I think of this as the
eschatological church -
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that glorious church
without spot or wrinkle,
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which is the hope,
the ultimate culmination
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of Jesus' prayer here, I believe.
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In fact, He says in v. 24,
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"Father, I will that they also
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whom You have given Me
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be with Me where I am
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that they may behold My glory
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which You've given Me, for Thou lovest Me
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before the foundation of the world."
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That's where it's all headed.
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Ultimately, the glorious church.
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But every New Testament church
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is supposed to reflect
that glorious church
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now in this age.
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And that's really what I want
to ultimately focus on
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as we proceed through our thoughts
-
this morning, tonight, and tomorrow.
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But today, right now,
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I want to establish this foundation
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because the unity that we experience
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doesn't happen in the energy of our flesh;
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it doesn't come out of thin air -
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it comes from a foundation,
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and that foundation is
who we are in Christ.
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In verse 22, Jesus says,
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"And the glory which You gave Me,
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I have given them,
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that..." in order that -
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and you'll see a number of those
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in verses 20-23 - the word "that"
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or "in order that" -
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I don't know what your translation says.
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It may say "in order that,"
but that's the idea.
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In order that "they may be one,
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even as We are one."
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So here's another basis for
unity among His people.
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A shared glory.
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Jesus says, "And the
glory which You gave Me,
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I have given them."
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What's He talking about?
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What is the glory that His Father
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has given Him?
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Because that's what Jesus says
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has been given to believers,
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which then results in essential unity
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comparable to the Father and the Son.
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So there's something about the Father -
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the glory that the Father gave to the Son
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that is comparable to the glory
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that we are receiving
that then is the basis -
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one of the bases for
our experience of unity.
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So what is that?
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What glory did the Father give to the Son
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in His humiliation?
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He honored His Son.
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And He honored His Son as His Son.
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He pronounced that.
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He pronounced it at His baptism.
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He pronounced it at the Transfiguration.
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He pronounced it in the resurrection:
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This is My beloved Son.
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2 Peter 1:17,
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Peter alludes to this
-
as he's referring to the Transfiguration.
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And he says,
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"For He received from God the Father
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honor and glory."
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The glory which the Father has given -
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Father, the glory You've given to Me.
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"For He received from God the Father
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honor and glory when there came
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such a voice to Him
from the excellent glory,
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'This is My beloved Son
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in whom I am well pleased.'"
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You see, the Son did not glorify Himself.
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And this was a major point that Jesus made
-
while He was upon the earth.
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In John 8:54, Jesus answered,
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"If I honor Myself, My honor is nothing.
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It is My Father that honors Me,
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of whom you say that He is your God."
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It is My Father that honors Me.
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The writer of Hebrews in Hebrews 5:5 says
-
that Christ did not bring the glory
-
of this high priestly
appointment upon Himself.
-
He didn't glorify Himself.
He didn't appoint Himself.
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This came from His Father.
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And then, in His resurrection,
-
what does Paul say in Romans 1:4?
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"...And declared to be the Son of God
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with power according
to the Spirit of holiness
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by the resurrection from the dead."
-
And then in Acts 13:33,
-
that same concept -
-
in the resurrection of Jesus Christ
-
there is that declaration: This is My Son.
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In Acts 13:33,
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"God hath fulfilled the same
unto us their children
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in that He hath raised up Jesus.
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Again, as it is also written
in the second Psalm
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"Thou art My Son. This day
have I begotten Thee.'"
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You see, this is the glory
-
the Father gave to the Son.
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He pronounced Him His Son.
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He announced this relationship
-
with Jesus Christ His Son.
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See, the point is that this glory
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has been given to every believer.
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This glory, this honor of sonship.
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We are called the children of God.
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We're adopted into His family.
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"But as many as received Him,
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to them gave He power (authority)
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to become the sons of God,
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even to them that believe on His name
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which were born not of blood
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nor of the will of the flesh
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nor of the will of men, but of God."
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We have been given the right to
be called the children of God.
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He has pronounced us His children.
-
He has adopted us.
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He's given us the Spirit of adoption.
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I love Romans 8 - the whole chapter.
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But Romans 8, the description that's given
-
here in verses 14-17.
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We're thinking here of this glory.
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Jesus prays, "Father, the glory
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that You have given Me may be in them."
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What is that glory?
-
We've been called sons - every believer.
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We have a common bond here in this.
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Romans 8:14, "For as many as are led
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by the Spirit of God,
they are the sons of God,
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for you have not received the
spirit of bondage again to fear,
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but you have received
the Spirit of adoption
-
whereby we cry, 'Abba, Father.'"
-
We do.
-
Every child of God has
the same relationship.
-
The greatest saint in this room
-
has no greater privilege
-
than the least saint in this room.
-
We'll talk about that Saturday morning,
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about what it is to be great.
-
It's a level playing field, we might say.
-
This is the glory that
has been placed upon us.
-
We're children. We're sons.
We have access.
-
"The Spirit Himself bears
witness with our spirit
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that we are the children of God,
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and if children, then heirs, heirs of God
-
and joint heirs with Christ."
-
This is what He's praying.
-
And then we share in the
resurrection glory don't we?
-
"That we may be also glorified together.
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For I reckon that the sufferings
of this present time
-
are not worthy to be compared to the glory
-
which shall be revealed in us,
-
for the earnest expectation
of the creature
-
waits for the manifestation
of the sons of God."
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That's us
-
who have been joined to Christ;
-
who are possessors
of the Spirit of Christ.
-
So we are now one with God.
-
Now. Right now. We are one with God.
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And also one with every other believer
-
as the children of God
in the family of God
-
which does extend beyond
our own local churches.
-
It's every believer - we are
one with every believer -
-
whether we agree on everything or not.
-
And Jesus prays for this.
-
And then He died for it.
-
Then He rose again,
-
and then He ascended,
-
and then the Spirit came.
-
The Spirit was sent to unite us
-
in order to accomplish what He prays for.
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So believer, I say, be
overwhelmed by this.
-
Be overwhelmed by what God has done.
-
Be overwhelmed as you
read Jesus' prayer here.
-
He's praying for you, not in isolation
-
from your brothers and sisters in Christ,
-
but as part of an incredibly
large family really.
-
Although sometimes it seems that
we're so small and isolated.
-
We're really not in the big picture.
-
The blessings that are
yours now and forever.
-
You are one.
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You're one in God.
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You are in God and God is in you.
-
Isn't that an amazing thought!
-
Eternal life is in you.
-
This is why you have the desires you have.
-
This is why you have the
longings that you have.
-
This is why you have relationships
-
that are not of this world;
-
relationships that go beyond this life.
-
You're part of a family that transcends
-
genealogical relationships.
-
One in Christ.
-
I dare say some of you have
-
closer relationships with
fellow blood-bought believers
-
than you do your own biological family.
-
Thankfully, some of us have
-
biological family members
who are in Christ as well,
-
so the bond is double.
-
The relationship is enhanced,
-
but it's a struggle having
biological family
-
that you must relate to.
-
Sometimes it's a spouse.
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Sometimes it's children.
You must relate to them.
-
It's a godly thing, biblical thing.
-
You must relate to them,
-
but it comes with its difficulties.
-
Though when Christ comes
-
and you're made one in Christ,
-
everything changes.
-
But this is the essential unity
-
that Jesus has in view as He prays.
-
The essential unity.
-
This is really a unity that
doesn't depend on you.
-
This is a unity that depends upon Him.
-
He has established this unity.
-
It's the foundation
-
from which we are to experience unity
-
in this world with other believers.
-
And it's most clearly witnessed
-
in relationships formed in churches,
-
which is really what is unfolded
-
in the rest of the New Testament,
-
how this all fleshes out,
works out in our lives.
-
I was talking to a brother
this morning about this,
-
and as we can talk about our unity
-
with our brothers all over the world,
-
but the reality is it's where we live
-
that we experience this unity.
-
So it's one thing to talk
about the idea of unity;
-
it's another thing to work it out,
-
and that's where we need to be -
-
working out this unity,
-
in particular, those that we
are in relationship with
-
on a regular basis.
-
Now, let me give some
points of clarification here.
-
I think it's necessary.
-
This portion of Jesus' prayer
-
has been very misunderstood
and abused by many.
-
Unity for some has displaced truth
-
and the distinctives of
biblical Christianity
-
so that unity becomes -
-
or at least their concept of unity,
-
and oftentimes I think it's
more of a unity of humanity
-
than it is a unity in Christ.
-
And while I know it's
possible to ignore unity
-
as we fight and divide with everyone
-
who holds a different
point of view or practice -
-
maybe that's where we are.
-
Maybe that's where we need
to most guard ourselves,
-
but the greater danger I believe,
-
at least, on a larger scale
is to become all-inclusive.
-
All religions lead to God.
-
So that we're even coming to the table
-
to try to find out where
at least do we agree
-
with let's say Muslims,
-
so that we can at least live together
-
and work together, because after all,
-
there is only one God and they
believe there's only one God,
-
and so we're moving together
toward this one God.
-
They have a different path -
we have our path,
-
but you know, Christ
prayed that we'd be one.
-
So there is that ecumenical spirit
-
and movement that exists,
-
and sometimes we can be
pulled over into that
-
more than we should.
-
And I'll comment on this a little more
-
probably in the next message.
-
We cannot promote or participate
-
in a unity that is not based upon
-
the truth of the Gospel of Jesus Christ.
-
We just can't. Flat out can't.
-
Now there are other areas we have to
-
flesh out, work out, how far can we go,
-
how much can we join, etc.
-
I get that.
-
I still struggle with that.
-
But I know this for sure,
-
we cannot join together in fellowship
-
with those who are not agreed upon us
-
in the basic doctrine of
the Lord Jesus Christ;
-
the grace of God in the Lord Jesus Christ.
-
An attempt to experience unity
-
that ignores the essential unity
-
expressed by Jesus in this prayer
-
is dangerous and actually works against
-
the unity for which He prays.
-
So let's think for just a few moments
-
about what Jesus prays here.
-
In v. 20 in particular,
-
"...Neither pray I for these alone,
-
but for them also which shall
believe on Me through their word."
-
You see who He's praying for.
-
He's not praying for everybody.
-
He's already said earlier,
-
"I pray not for the world,
I pray for these,"
-
at that point focusing
in on His disciples.
-
Here, He expands it to those
-
who believe the words of the apostles.
-
It's a unity based upon
apostolic doctrine then.
-
It's a unity based upon the word
-
that comes to us through the apostles.
-
The Scriptures.
-
This is the Word that Jesus said in v. 6,
-
"they had kept."
-
He said to His father,
"They have kept Thy Word."
-
In v. 8, He says,
-
"They believed that You sent Me."
-
Others didn't, but these did.
-
Essential doctrine.
-
You see, Jesus spoke
that which was given to Him.
-
In John 12:49, He said, "I've spoken that
-
which the Father has given to Me."
-
I am speaking that which is in agreement
-
with My Father.
-
And the Jews of that day rejected Him.
-
They called Him a blasphemer,
-
but these believed that He came down.
-
These believed that He was sent.
-
They believed that He was the Son of God.
-
You remember, the Apostle Peter,
-
when Jesus says, "Will you also go away?"
-
said, "To whom shall we go?
-
You have the words of eternal life."
-
And though I understand that the apostles
-
were lacking in a full understanding
-
of Gospel truth,
-
they had the Gospel truth they had
-
and believed what Jesus said.
-
More was revealed and it's written to us
-
in the completed record of Scripture.
-
But what I am saying
here is that godly unity
-
cannot disregard the faith
-
once delivered to the saints.
-
You cannot lay the Scriptures aside
-
in favor of an experience called unity.
-
I like to get along with everybody.
-
I don't like to feel
that spirit of division,
-
that unwelcomed, unwelcoming spirit.
-
I don't like that.
-
But we can't be gullible.
-
The Bereans were not charged
-
with being disrupters of unity
-
when they searced the Scriptures
-
to see if the things that Paul
was preaching were so.
-
So don't think that you're fighting
against the prayer of Jesus
-
when you are seriously
searching the Scriptures
-
to see if what you're hearing - even
what you're hearing this morning -
-
is it really true? Is it really so?
-
Search it out.
-
I'm not going to call
you a disrupter of unity
-
if you're honestly searching
out the truth of God's Word.
-
And if you're asking honest questions,
-
I'm not going to say to you,
-
well, you're a disrupter of the unity.
-
You need to keep those
questions to yourself.
-
Why would I say that?
-
If I perceive that your spirit is right?
-
Teaching on the experience
of unity in Ephesians 4,
-
Paul pressed the church
toward unity of the faith
-
which would protect against
every wind of doctrine.
-
So it's important that
we grow in the faith.
-
It's important that this
unity is established
-
upon the truth that is
found in these Scriptures
-
properly understood.
-
As you know, the devils
know this book very well.
-
Godly unity in Christ is expressed
-
by mutual submission
to the authority of God
-
through His Word.
-
As I speak every week at the prison,
-
that's the one thing I tell those guys.
-
By the time I leave them -
-
they have a six month
rotation in that room -
-
by the time I leave them, I want them
-
to know that this is the authority.
-
And then I recently had
one of the prison guards
-
meet me out and he's interacting with me,
-
and he's challenging me on that.
-
And he's saying this can't
be the final authority.
-
I mean, don't you know
-
that when these words were given,
-
they had to carry them around
-
and they couldn't carry the whole binding
-
of these words.
-
So only a little bit was given then.
-
So over time, since the
book of Revelation,
-
over time, there's been more given.
-
Of course, he was Roman Catholic
-
and he was giving me the
Roman Catholic dogma
-
that the church has authority.
-
What the church says is authoritative.
-
And the Word of God is
not the final authority.
-
This is the final authority.
-
And so the unity must be based upon
-
the final authority.
-
And then, I want you to see that Christ -
-
what He says in v. 20, He says,
-
"For them also which
shall believe on Me..."
-
not only through their word,
-
but "believe on Me."
-
So He's talking about believers.
-
It's a unity of saints.
-
True believers.
-
It's a unity of eternal life believers.
-
Those who, as He prays in the beginning,
-
that You've given Him - Jesus has power,
-
authority over all flesh,
-
that He should give eternal life
-
to as many as You've given Him.
-
And this is life eternal,
that they might know
-
You, the only true God,
-
and Jesus Christ whom You've sent.
-
Eternal life believers.
-
Not those who simply believe the fact
-
that He's the Son of God,
-
like the demons in Luke 4,
-
being cast out, they cried out,
-
"We know who You are!
-
You are the Christ, the Son of God."
-
So just knowing that Jesus is the Messiah;
-
knowing that He's the Son of God
-
doesn't mean you have eternal life.
-
Jesus is not praying for unity
-
of a cultural or political nature;
-
those who just are
professing to be Christians.
-
We're a "Christian culture."
-
We're Christians. They're Jews.
-
They're Muslims. That sort of thing.
-
Or family - you know,
my family's Christian.
-
They've always been Christian.
-
I was born a Christian.
-
Well, that's just simply untrue.
-
That's a lie.
-
It's not possible to be born a Christian.
-
The eternal life believers are those
-
who have experienced union with God.
-
Have you experienced union with God?
-
Have you been a receiver
-
of the law of the Spirit
of life in Christ Jesus?
-
Is that the Spirit that's living in you?
-
That's working in you?
-
Jesus is not praying for unity
-
among those who believe
-
in a Jesus of their own making.
-
I don't want to spend
much time on that one
-
because I think you understand
what I'm saying there.
-
There is another Jesus.
-
Paul warned about that.
-
He was concerned about that
-
even with the Corinthians
-
and the Corinthian church
among the saints.
-
He was concerned about them
-
getting their eyes off of the true Jesus.
-
There are a lot of folks today
-
who are using the name Jesus
-
and it's another spirit.
-
Try the spirits whether they are of God.
-
He's not praying for unity among those
-
who are believing a message that is not
-
the apostolic Gospel of the Son of God.
-
Like Paul says in Galatians 1:6-9 -
-
is it another gospel?
-
Are you hearing another gospel?
-
As you listen to those who are saying
-
they believe in Jesus;
-
saying that they believe in salvation -
-
as you listen to them,
-
what are they really saying?
-
And you need to listen to them.
-
You don't just seek for unity
-
with those who say "Jesus"
-
or even use the word "gospel."
-
Is it truly a Gospel of grace?
-
Are you hearing additions?
-
Maybe even subtly or slightly.
-
Be careful.
-
We don't want to lay burdens on people
-
that God hasn't laid.
-
God has laid burdens upon His people
-
to seek to be justified
by their own works.
-
Why would we lay that burden on people?
-
We believe that we will all be justified
-
by grace through faith in Jesus Christ.
-
Jew and Gentile - it makes no difference.
-
So we must stay clear of that spirit
-
which embraces everyone who simply says
-
they believe in God or believe in Jesus
-
or believes in a gospel.
-
Tim Challies said this,
-
"Ecumenism is not true unity.
-
It is a lie.
-
It is a lie agreed upon."
-
It is a lie agreed upon.
-
"One that inoculates lost souls
-
to the life-transforming
truth of the Gospel."
-
One that inoculates lost souls.
-
They're deceived.
-
"To the life-transforming
truth of the Gospel."
-
Thinking they are something they're not.
-
Thinking they have something they don't.
-
No, Jesus is praying for those
-
to whom He gives eternal life.
-
Eternal life believers.
-
These are the ones who believe on Him
-
because they know Him,
-
and because they want to know Him.
-
Christ is everything.
-
Take what you will from my life -
-
possessions, relationships,
-
whatever it may be, but Jesus Christ -
-
I must have You! I must have You!
-
These are the kinds of
believers Jesus is praying for.
-
These are the ones who possess
-
the transforming life of
God in their souls.
-
I'm not what I was,
-
and I'm still seeing things in my life
-
that disturb me because I see that they
-
disturb a holy God that I love and worship
-
and want to serve.
-
I'm mortifying, I'm putting to death.
-
This is an active thing in my life.
-
These are the kinds of believers
-
that Jesus is praying for.
-
These are the ones that
not only come to Christ
-
to meet their desperate
need of forgiveness of sins
-
to be one with God,
-
but ones who follow Him
-
because they are truly united with Him.
-
Forgiveness of our sins -
oh, don't underestimate that.
-
Don't belittle that.
-
Sometimes I hear people say,
-
oh, you just believe in the
forgiveness of sins.
-
Don't talk like that.
-
Are you kidding me?
-
Do you know what Jesus did
-
that our sins would be forgiven?
-
Huge! That's huge!
-
But the life of the believer doesn't stop
-
with that reality.
-
The life of the believer
goes on with Christ.
-
Follows Him.
-
Pursues Him.
-
Not in order to become more justified,
-
but in order to be more like Him.
-
That's our desire.
-
These are the ones for whom Jesus prays.
-
This is the unity that He's praying for.
-
These are the kinds of people
-
that we want to be with.
-
These are the kinds of people
-
that we want to join together with.
-
These are the kinds of people we want
-
to have fellowship with.
-
Eternal life believers
-
who are in the family of God.
-
We need to willingly and continually
-
confess Him in practical
ways in our lives.
-
We need to confess this
unity in practical ways,
-
like this weekend - these
few days right here.
-
Hey listen, if you and
I sat down long enough,
-
you know, we'd disagree somewhere, right?
-
Right? So, we could focus on that.
-
And it may be something serious enough
-
that needs to be focused upon.
-
But that's not where our
unity is grounded.
-
Our unity is not grounded
-
in our agreement or disagreement.
-
Our unity is grounded in
who we are in Christ
-
and do we have the same Spirit
-
working in us.
-
So we want to experience godly unity
-
on a true Gospel foundation.
-
I'm going to stop here.
-
I'm going to pick this
up in the next message
-
and kind of explore
this a little bit more -
-
the experience of unity
-
in the context of regular church life
-
in particular.
-
We confess our eternal union
-
with God in Christ by our experience.
-
It's kind of like
everything else we confess.
-
We confess to believe in Christ.
-
But do we really?
-
We confess to be one with Christ,
-
one in Christ, but are we really?
-
And one way we know that
-
is by it being worked out
in our lives experientially.
-
See, we are the visible
manifestation of Christ
-
now in this world. We are.
-
We're going to see that in that prayer,
-
"that the world may believe,"
-
"that the world may know..."
-
We are His manifestation.
-
So we must not underestimate
-
the significance of living out this unity
-
that we have together in Christ.
-
Sadly, there are a lot of folks
-
who have been steered away
-
from anything to do with the Gospel
-
because they've seen too much
-
within particular churches of people
-
who are hating on one another,
-
and they run from that
-
as if that's the true
representation of Christ.
-
We need to be careful.
-
May God help us.
-
Father, I pray that You would give us
-
eyes to see, understanding,
-
to be able to work these
truths out in our lives.
-
Oh, that we would contemplate more fully,
-
Lord Jesus, what You have done,
-
and hear the words of Your prayer
-
and how our Father, unity delights You.
-
We are one in You, with You,
-
and You with us.
-
I pray that You would bless us
-
in the meditations upon this truth
-
that is deeper than we
can fully comprehend.
-
Please help us.
-
Grant to us the ministry
of the Holy Spirit
-
as we not only think
through these matters.
-
We're not interested in simply having
-
a deeper academic understanding;
-
we want to know the reality
-
of what You have prayed.
-
Help us.
-
In Christ's name I pray, Amen.