Christian Unity:
A Unity of Essence
John 17:21-23 ~ Terry Phillips
July 8, 2018
Christian Unity:
I going to ask you to turn with me to John 17 again this morning as we continue our study in the Lord's prayer to the Father. We’re looking, of course, at the portion of our Lord's prayer dealing with the matter of unity among the genuine followers of Christ. We've already noted that this is a matter of great significance to the Lord Jesus. I want to read from these few verses this morning, and I want to begin with verse 20:
I do not ask in behalf of these alone, but for those also who believe in Me through their word that they may all be one, even as Thou, Father, art in Me and I in Thee, that they also may be in Us that the world may believe that thou didst send Me, and the glory which Thou hast given Me, I have given to them that they may be one, just as We are one, I in them and Thou in Me, that they may be perfected in unity that the world may know that Thou didst send Me and didst love them even as Thou didst love Me.
We notice this twice in these few statements from the Lord, His purpose, how important this matter of unity is,
that the world may believe that Thou didst send Me.
Verse 23
that the world may know that Thou did send Me and didst love them even as Thou does love Me.
Jesus puts a lot of weight on this matter of unity, the unity of God's people. Being in a position of such prominence, this is a point at which we should expect our adversary to focus perpetual attacks. And it is painfully obvious that he does and often quite successfully so. T
Today we're going to be pondering the very heart of this precious reality, and as we do so, I want to really call each of us to a special alertness, if you will, as we consider this together today. The reality of what Jesus is praying for is really quite extraordinary. You read through these verses we just read through this morning, and if you take these words literally, you think about them and contemplate them, these are extraordinary words. This is really a remarkable thing that Jesus is speaking of here. But I believe that we have not been careful to see it, much less likely to lay hold of it by faith. We have a tendency, and this is true, I think, for many if not most of the precious truth concerning our remarkable position in Christ, we have this tendency to assume that we already understand it, we have a doctrine down, we've heard this before, but also further, and far more dangerous, maybe, is to view it as a divine ideal that’s well beyond the reach of most of God's people. I think that's a tendency that we have. We look at different things that God says to us in his Word and we say yes this is good, this is what God wants us to be, but this isn’t what we’re going to be. Have you noticed that? We have this tendency. I think this is especially noteworthy when it comes to our relationship to sin. I’m get off the subject just a tad because I think it's important just to see this same principle. We’re told in first John chapter 2 verse two he says in the first verse:
My little children, I'm writing these things to you - notice these words - that you may not sin.
Now, from the context going back in the first chapter, it's obvious that we will sin. For us to act as though we have never sinned is, in itself, a very dangerous thing, a damning thing. But he then goes on and says I'm writing these things to you that you may not sin. Our expectation ought not to be that we're just going to sin, and sin, and sin and sin. Our expectation ought to be that we may not sin – we’re not to sin. That's not what we expect to do. And I see this so often in my own life and in our lives together. We have this tendency to take some of these statements lightly and to begin to make presumptions, if you will, very dangerous presumptions. This is especially true, I think, in the passage before us this morning - this matter of unity. Our expectations, many times are not what they should be. Notice what Jesus says in verse 23:
I in them and Thou in Me, that they may be perfected in unity. -
made complete in this matter of unity. Is this what our expectation is or are we in a position where our expectations are inconsistent with the Word of God? Our God is not a life coach using idealism to manipulate us into becoming better people, setting high standards and just hoping that will at least take a step in the right direction. We need to be very careful about this, and we often allow our personal experiences to override the Word of God don’t we? Well, you know, this is what God says, this is what the Lord desires for us - it's obvious this is way out of reach, and is even more obvious to me, especially because of what I've experienced in my life. I haven't seen evidence of this kind of unity - I've never seen it. Let's say somebody says that as a believer. Does that mean we should lower our expectations to our experiences? We need to be so careful. If we have not experienced the reality of what God is revealed to us, we’re prone to excuse it away. We really are. It's worth aiming for. It's a good thing to aim for good, a goal to have but with no genuine expectation of it being realized to any notable extent. So I would just say this morning. This passage, like many others, demands a special alertness on our part. We need to protect our hearts from shrinking back and allowing personal experiences to keep us, to limit us, to hinder us from biblical expectations from the Lord's expectations for us. The unity Jesus anticipates in His saints, is utterly unique and it is a very real expectation. Why would Jesus pray for something that he would know has no possibility of coming to pass? We must be very careful here that we not mock in our hearts, the words of Christ. And I will acknowledge I'm one of the first to be guilty of this, in many respects in this very area. This seems like a hard thing. We don't often experience it or notice it like we should possibly.
Now as we consider what the Lord has to say here concerning this unity, at the very heart of this, it seems to me that we need to note take notice of this one fact, and that is that the unity Jesus is praying for is patterned on the unity between the Father and the Son. Is that not accurate? Verse 21,
that they may all be one, even as thou, Father, art in Me and I in the that they also may be in Us.
Verse 23
I in them and Thou in Me, that they may be perfected in unity.
This unity that the Lord is speaking of is patterned after the unity of the holy Father and the Son of God. It is a unity that reflects the unparalleled unity within the triune Godhead. Notice what Jesus is saying here:
even as Thou, Father, art in Me and I in Thee.
That's the way you and I are to be one. That's the unity we are called to. That's the unity God provides and has ordained for us. From this very basic and obvious consideration of this observation, it seems quite plain, I trust to each of us, we can draw a very basic conclusion. This is an essential unity. This is an essential unity. Or to say it another way, it is a unity of essence. It is a unity that envelops the very essence of our being. In the eternally existing Trinity, this is a vital unity. It's an intrinsic and a primary element of the divine existence. God speaks through Moses and speaks of this fact, He says your God is one, one God, three persons, but one God. This is a closeness and a harmony that obviously it's not possible for us to fully understand this - to comprehend it entirely. And yet Jesus spoke freely of this ultimate unity. I remind you of the passage, several passages in John's gospel where Jesus spoke of this very openly. He says in John chapter 10 beginning with verse 27:
My sheep hear my voice and I know them and they follow me and I give eternal life to them and they shall never perish, and no one shall snatch them out of My hand. My Father, who has given them to Me, is greater than all and no one is able to snatch them out of the Father's hand.
And then Jesus makes this statement:
I and the Father are one.
Some of your marginal notations will say for one essence. Jesus declares Himself and the Father to be one. This is a unity that goes beyond what we can fully understand, I would agree and acknowledge that, but it's still true, and Jesus speaks of His relationship to the Father in this way, that there is a closeness of unity between Them, by which He is able to say I and the Father are one. It's a secure unity in this passage, isn't it? No one's going to snatch My sheep from My hand or from the Father's hand -we’re one. Or you go to the passage in chapter chapter 5 of John's Gospel the 17th verse and Jesus says this - he answer them:
My father is working until now, and I Myself am working.
There is not only a secure unity, there is an active unity between Father and Son. And of course, it's immediately done in the next verse says that:
For this cause the Jews were seeking all the more to kill Him because He not only was breaking the Sabbath, but was also calling God His own Father, making Himself equal with God.
The Father, My Father is working until now, and I Myself am working.
And of course, in the 14th chapter which we were in not too awfully long ago, you recall what Jesus says to Philip. Philip, in the eighth verse, after Jesus has declared Himself to be the way the truth and the life that no one comes to the Father except through Him.
And then Jesus said if you had known Me, you would have known My Father also. From now on you know Him and have seen Him. Philip said to him, Lord, show us the Father and it's enough for us. Jesus said to him, have I been so long with you and yet you have not come to know me, Philip. He who has seen Me has seen the father.
That's an essential unity isn’t it? Unity of essence. If you’ve seen me, Jesus says, who've seen the Father. That's the extent to which the Father and the Son are unified. Now our unity with one another can’t be on the same plane as this - as the unity within the Godhead, but it must, at the very least, be of the same kind. Jesus says in this 17th chapter in this prayer to the Father that they may all be one, even as Thou, Father, art in Me and I in Thee. In the same way, not to the same extent, we understand that. Jesus is not saying that we become God, but He is saying that we are to be brought together in a closeness that is just like the closeness between the Father and the Son. This means that our unity with one another permeates our very being - the very essence of who we are. It has to be because that's how it's pictured in terms of the Father and the Son. One essence, and we are called to be one people, we’re one body. For this to be an essential unity in us, it has to be a spiritual unity. This cannot be just simply a physical unity or reality. This is where we so often go wrong, we pursue this unity in a physical realm - in the material realm - even in the intellectual realm. It's not enough. It doesn't go that far, it doesn't go deep enough. Ultimately, the spiritual is the essence of reality. Think about that for a moment this morning, God himself is spirit. He is the ultimate reality. We’re told in second Corinthians 4 that the things we can see are what, they’re only temporal. It's the things that we can't see that are forever. Those are things that are real. For this to be an essential unity in us, it has to be a spiritual unity. This means that it must be a unity produced within the very core of our being by the regenerating power of the Holy Spirit of God. There is no other way. I'm reminded that Adam became a living soul there in Genesis chapter 2. We’re told that when God breathed into him the breath of life he became a living being, or soul. Not just alive physically, he became alive spiritually. When Adam and Eve sinned, they died spiritually. God warned them that that would happen. Their close relationship to God was ended. It was destroyed by their sin. We've all come into this world, everyone of us, in the same state as Adam and Eve found themselves in after they had sinned - spiritually dead, separated from God. There's no way we can experience this kind of unity apart from spiritual renewal. Apart from being made alive. God himself is the only one who can remedy this hopeless situation we are in. It’s only through the life-giving operation of the spirit of God through faith in the Lord Jesus as our personal sin bearer that we can be fully reconciled to God. For what Jesus said to Nicodemus earlier on in John's Gospel:
Unless one is born again, unless one is born from above, he cannot enter the kingdom of God.
And then He goes on to describe the fact that the Son of God would be lifted up, that whoever believes in Me may have eternal life. We saw this last time that this unity is a reality that can only be produced through the spirit of God. We cannot partake of this unity unless we have been made alive together with Christ. This is what Paul emphasizes there in Ephesians chapter 2. He reminds the saints at Ephesus. This is where you were before Christ, you were dead - children of wrath. Everyone of us. Paul includes himself there. we were dead children of wrath, even as the rest. But God, being rich in mercy, He saved us by His grace and He made us alive together with Christ. Paul refers to that unity later on in the fourth chapter. The third verse is the unity of the spirit, So our unity - this unity Jesus is speaking of - this unity with one another - that is our being one - all of us being one - it's predicated on our union with the Lord Himself. It’s only possible as we have been spiritually united with Christ. This is something that we see mentioned a number of times in the New Testament Romans chapter six speaks of this very specifically. Paul says after expounding upon the super abounding grace of God, he says:
What shall we say then, are we to continue in sin that grace might increase? May it never be. How shall we who died to sin still live in it or do you not know that all of us have been baptized into Christ Jesus have been baptized into His death. Therefore, we have been buried with Him through baptism into death, in order that as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, so we too might walk in newness of life, or if we have become united with Him in the likeness of His death, certainly we shall be also in the likeness of His resurrection.
Those who have come to faith, to saving faith in Christ, have be united with Christ -spiritually made alive together with Christ. We looked at the passage last week and I want to remind you of again in first Corinthians 12 - Such an important fundamental reality -verse 12 and 13:
For even as the body is one and yet has many members, and all the members of the body, though they are many, are one body, so also is Christ. For by one Spirit we were all baptized into one body, whether Jews or Greeks, whether slaves or free, and we were all made to drink of one Spirit.
I remind you the passage also we looked at last week, once again in Galatians chapter 3 again this very important principle:
Verse 27:
For all of you who were baptized into Christ have clothed yourselves with Christ. There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free man, there is neither male nor female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus.
So it's in this being united with Christ that this unity is possible. It’s absolutely impossible apart from that. So I want you to stop and think about this with me this morning as we contemplate what Jesus is saying here. Jesus is anticipating, He's expecting a unity that will impress the world. It will make its impression upon this world. Remember what we looked at in the 14th chapter, when Jesus, really He was rebuking Philip when He said how can you say show us the Father? If you see Me, you've seen the Father, Jesus says. Is it not true then just as Jesus claims that to have seen Him, to have known Him, was to have seen the Father? Surely it is also to be true of us that to see us, to really know us, is to confirm the claims of Christ. To see Christians, to really know God's people, is to see a likeness of the Son of God. I've been crucified with Christ, Paul says, it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me. That means when you really get to know Paul, if you really got to the point of seeing who he is, you’re going to see Christ. And in the way that you and I are joined together and united with Christ, in the way we relate to one another, the way we are bound to one another in Christ, surely the world ought to see Christ when they really see us. Now I realize many times the world is looking at us from a distance - from afar. They don't want to take the time to really get to see us and know us, just as Jesus was really emphasizing that point with Philip. If you really see me, if you really got to know me, you know that you’ve seen the Father already
It is interesting when I was thinking about this, even though the world is far more seriously divided and at enmity with one another than God's people are at times, yet they seem to be fixated on the divisiveness of Christians. Have you ever noticed that? As dysfunctional as this world is, as filled with animosity and eminent enmity that this world is, and yet at times they become fixated on the disunity of God's people. You know what those Christians are like - they are always fighting - as though the world was never fighting. Now, I’m not excusing the fact that sometimes their assessment is an accurate one, painfully so. And in some respects their fixation on disunity among the people of God is really as it should be. Disunity among saints in Christ is thoroughly unbecoming of our Lord. It openly cast doubts upon the claims of the One we hold to be our Savior and Lord. Disunity is that serious a thing and it should not really surprise us that the world at times recognizes this inconsistency - this dichotomy. You talk about this person, Jesus, who you claim to be your Savior and how He has made you all one in Him and look at the way you behave towards each other. I realize again, sometimes those accusations come from a distance. They haven't really looked very closely. Sometimes they're saying that in respect to the fact that some of the people they are looking at are really Christians and some of them are not - just pretending to be. I realize that and we recognize that, but the bottom line is this, the unity of the Spirit is a very serious matter in the church of the living God.
Notice again that our beloved Redeemer expects us to be perfected in unity. This is not just to be something we sort of have a passing interest in or we acknowledge to be a great ideal, though none of us are really going to set ourselves to it very seriously because we have no hope of reaching it. That's not what we see here. Jesus expects us to be perfected in unity. And seems to me we need to be very careful this morning that we recognize this is a call to us to take this matter seriously. I would be the first to acknowledge, I haven't. If indeed our unity is patterned after the Trinity, if it reflects the unity between the Father and the Son, if it encompasses the very essence of our being and that is our being in Christ then there are going to be significant evidences of this blessed togetherness. What are those evidences? - and that's what we want to look at and begin to look at this morning.
There are two things that I want to focus on just briefly this morning. What are some of the evidences of a biblical unity or a divinely ordained unity, or quite plainly the unity Jesus is speaking of here? How do we give evidence of being perfected in unity? I want to start with a very basic one of these evidences. In the first evidence, it seems to me, I would suggest is a high regard. A high regard for divine revelation. Now we’ve spent a good bit of time talking about the truth of God's Word, and we talked about this fact last time that this unity is grounded in the truth. But I want to maybe backup a little and just look at it from this perspective. When we consider the perfect unity between the Father and the Son as it is evidenced in God's Word to us, one of the things that we notice is the Father and the Son's high regard for divine revelation. It might be one of those things that we take for granted or pass by too quickly. You recall a verse I think is very familiar to all of us in 119th Psalm, the 89th verse, God through the psalmist says this:
Forever, oh God thy Word is settled in heaven. That's a pretty high view of Scripture. Jesus concurs with that view of Scripture, I remind you of what the Lord Jesus says in John chapter 10 verse 34 and 35:
Jesus answered them, has it not been written in your law, I said you are god's? If he called them gods, to whom the Word of God came
and then Jesus adds this statement:
and the scripture cannot be broken.
How many times have you read through that passage and skipped right over what Jesus says there? - didn't even hardly give it a thought? Jesus is making a very important declaration. He's concurring with the Father in this matter of having the highest regard for divine revelation. How God has revealed Himself to us is very important to Him - exceedingly important to Him. Jesus demonstrated the highest regard for divine revelation and He demonstrated in many ways, and He did so often. You think back on the temptation of our Lord - someone was mentioning that in one of our times of observing the Lord's supper recently. And each time Jesus overcomes the devil's temptations by rightly handling the word of God. The devil wrongly handles the word of God and Jesus rightly handles it. He goes straight to the Word of God. He holds it in the highest regard. He's facing a very real, a very imminent threat from the powers of hell in those moments. That temptation was a serious moment at the beginning of the Lord's earthly ministry. Satan saw an opportunity to compromise God's redemptive plan and purpose. And the Lord goes to the word of God. That's immediately where He goes when Satan distorts God's Word and seeks to use that distortion to undermine, to compromise the work of Christ. You recall Jesus says in the sermon on the mount, He talks about this fact that He didn't come to abolish the law but to fulfill it. In fact, he intensified it. Jesus made it clear that no matter what else may pass away, heaven and earth, My words will not pass away. That's a high regard for divine revelation - to say everything else will be gone, but this will remain. He sternly rebuked those who had distorted and disobeyed the word of God, especially the Pharisees, the religious leaders. Some of the Lord's sternest rebukes are saved forthose who had distorted, had perverted, the Word of God. You recall how often as the Lord spoke, he would say, he who has ears to hear, let him hear. What I'm saying Jesus says, is special. You'd better pay attention to this - the highest regard for divine revelation. But then I'm also reminded of the Father’s high regard for divine revelation in the flesh. What is the Father declare on the Mount of Transfiguration to the Lord’s three closest disciples?
This is my beloved Son in whom I am well pleased.
And what's the next thing the father says? Listen to Him. - the highest regard for divine revelation. If there is anything upon which our divinely ordained unity can be built upon at the most fundamental level, surely it ought to be on the unshakable foundation of the highest regard for divine revelation - The Word of God and the Word of God made flesh.
I'm reminded of the early church and the times where we are told very specifically, the unity among them was this demonstrated in a remarkable way. In Acts chapter 4 verse 31 says:
When they had prayed, the place where they had gathered together was shaken, and they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak the word of God with boldness and the congregation of those who believed were of one heart and soul.
Again, this is a unity - an essential unity. It permeates the very core of our being. The congregation in response to the Word of God being proclaimed with boldness. They were of one heart and soul. The passage we had looked and referred to last week - the Council of Jerusalem where this matter, the truth of the Gospel, the revelation of God's redemptive plan was at stake - was in question. These men, these leaders didn't run from that, they didn't hide from that, they came together to face it. They faced it head on reminded from Scripture of who God is, and that they had to be very careful to be consistent - that the gospel of Christ needed to be consistent with the Word of God. And so they could say as they penned the letter at the end of that counsel, it seemed good to us in verse 25, having become of one mind. This is the ultimate goal in the way our Lord has distributed gifts to those who have the responsibility of shepherding the saints in His church. I remind you again of the passage that we looked at last time. I want to emphasize it a little bit differently - in Ephesians chapter 4, beginning with verse 10:
He who descended is Himself also He who ascended far above all the heavens, that He might fill all things.
And, of course, this is in reference to Christ. He's talking about the measure of Christ's gift in verse seven, and then he goes on in verse 11 and we are told this.
He gave some as apostles, some as prophets, some as evangelists, some as pastors and teachers.
What do all those gifts have in common? - the handling of divine revelation. What is the purpose for the giving of those gifts? –
for the equipping of the saints, for the work of service, to the building up of the body of Christ until we all attain to the unity of the faith.
Here the words the faith are in reference to truth - the truth of the gospel. The sum total, If you will, of the gospel:
until we all attain to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the son of God, to a mature man, to the measure of the stature which belongs to the fullness of Christ.
This is the ultimate goal in the way God has given gifts, has distributed gifts to those who have the responsibility to shepherd His flock. The goal is the unity of the faith. The goal is that we all come to the point of being mature in Christ, to the measure of the stature which belongs to the very fullness of the Lord Jesus.
When I think of these truths, and I am pondering this passage that is before us this morning, and the Lord's expectations for us, I can't help but notice that the failure of God's children to exhibit this divinely ordained unity, usually - I'm tempted to say always, begins with the failure to hold divine revelation in the highest regard. We’re all quick to claim to be steadfastly committed to the inerrancy, the authority, the sufficiency, and the supremacy of God's Word. But does that actually work itself out in the way we live, and especially in the way we do or do not get along? Do we actually go back to the Word of God? Sometimes we’re just too quick to say, well, we’re just going to have to agree to disagree. I'm not saying that there isn’t a time for that - there comes a time for that sometimes. But are we too quick to do so? Look what's at stake. The unity of the Spirit by which the world will see in flesh and blood, in God's children, a reflection of the very light and life of Christ.
This leads me to one second evidence of this unity, a way that it would be seen, and that is in an intense desire to do the Father's will. And this is obviously very closely connected to this matter of having a high regard for divine revelation. You know it's possible, and I think each of us if we have walked with the Lord for any length of time - we know this from experience - it's very possible to fully convince ourselves that we are holding God's Word in the highest regard. We see God's Word as being inerrant, authoritative, fully sufficient, as having supremacy over what we do, what we believe, how we live, how we understand and come to know God - of how we know what it is that makes man right with God. We’re quick to claim that this is true, we are quick to say I will fight to the teeth on this. But there's a question of motive and goal that we sometimes lose sight of, it seems to me. What is my goal and my firm and steadfast commitment to having a high regard for divine revelation? Is my goal ultimately to prove that I'm right, or to be sure that I'm in the right faction? Do you see what I'm getting at? What is my goal? There may be other things that are bad goals as well. I just mention those that come to mind. But here's the point - Is my desire, first and foremost, to be pleasing to God? - to do the Father's will? In other the words, I hold God's Word in the highest regard because this is the way, this is the only way, that I will be able to do the Father's will. To be sure that everything I do is pleasing to Him. Remember what Jesus said? He said I always do the things that are pleasing to the Father. Jesus was, dare I use the word obsessed, with doing the Father's will. You see it constantly in His ministry. We been reminded of it not too long ago. Even Saeed was reminding us of this in John chapter 4 and the 34th verse:
My food is to do the will of Him who sent Me, and to accomplish His work.
That's what sustains me, Jesus says. John chapter 5 in verse 30:
I can do nothing on my own initiative as I hear, I judge and my judgment is just because I do not seek My own will, but the will of Him sent Me.
Here we see this essential unity worked out in the most practical way. I don't have some separate agenda of my own Jesus says, My desire is, my goal, what sustains me, what stimulates Me is to do the Father's will - to always do what is pleasing to Him. Chapter 6, verse 38:
For I have come down from heaven, not to do My own will, but the will of Him who sent Me, and this is the will of Him who sent Me, that of all that He's given me, I lose nothing, but raise it up on the last day. For this is the will of my Father, that everyone who beholds the Son and believes in Him may have eternal life, and I Myself will raise Him up on the last day.
Why? - ultimately, because it's the Father's will. Chapter 12 of John's gospel, you recall, Jesus is now coming very close to the time when He will be crucified. He says in verse 27:
Now, My soul has become troubled, and what shall I say, Father, save Me from this hour? But for this purpose I came to this hour.
That's why when Jesus prays in the Garden of Gethsemane in absolute agony, Jesus can say in the one of the lowest moments he could've ever experienced, He could say, not My will be done, but thine. An intense desire to do the Father's will.
So, here's a simple prerequisite, if you will, for unity among the people of God. Do we really want to do the Father's will? Is that really what we want? Is that really what we desire? One of things it is the Father's will is that we be unified, and I'm reminded of the thing that Jesus says in John 7:17:
If any man is willing to do His will, He shall know of the teaching whether it is of God, or whether I speak for Myself.
Do you and I really want to be discerners of the truth of God's Word? I think our problem is - my problem has often been – well, I just need to study it more carefully. I need to be more diligent, and there's no doubt that's important. I need to be more comprehensive. I need to read it more and more, and I need to have a more thorough understanding of what God's Word says. But if this ingredient is missing, it really doesn't matter how much I study. If any man is willing to do His will, then he’ll know. This is what gets us in trouble, isn’t it, when it comes to unity amongst God's people. We are not really willing to do God's will. There is not a willingness. There is not an intense desire, a yearning, to do the Father's will - to see His purpose being accomplished.
I do not ask in behalf of these alone, but for those also who believe in Me through their word that they may all be one, even as Thou, Father, art in Me and I in Thee, that they also may be in Us that the world may believe that thou didst send Me, and the glory which Thou hast given Me, I have given to them that they may be one, just as We are one, I in them and Thou in Me, that they may be perfected in unity that the world may know that Thou didst send Me and didst love them even as Thou didst love Me.
We notice this twice in these few statements from the Lord, His purpose, how important this matter of unity is,
that the world may believe that Thou didst send Me.
Verse 23
that the world may know that Thou did send Me and didst love them even as Thou does love Me.
Jesus puts a lot of weight on this matter of unity, the unity of God's people. Being in a position of such prominence, this is a point at which we should expect our adversary to focus perpetual attacks. And it is painfully obvious that he does and often quite successfully so. T
Today we're going to be pondering the very heart of this precious reality, and as we do so, I want to really call each of us to a special alertness, if you will, as we consider this together today. The reality of what Jesus is praying for is really quite extraordinary. You read through these verses we just read through this morning, and if you take these words literally, you think about them and contemplate them, these are extraordinary words. This is really a remarkable thing that Jesus is speaking of here. But I believe that we have not been careful to see it, much less likely to lay hold of it by faith. We have a tendency, and this is true, I think, for many if not most of the precious truth concerning our remarkable position in Christ, we have this tendency to assume that we already understand it, we have a doctrine down, we've heard this before, but also further, and far more dangerous, maybe, is to view it as a divine ideal that’s well beyond the reach of most of God's people. I think that's a tendency that we have. We look at different things that God says to us in his Word and we say yes this is good, this is what God wants us to be, but this isn’t what we’re going to be. Have you noticed that? We have this tendency. I think this is especially noteworthy when it comes to our relationship to sin. I’m get off the subject just a tad because I think it's important just to see this same principle. We’re told in first John chapter 2 verse two he says in the first verse:
My little children, I'm writing these things to you - notice these words - that you may not sin.
Now, from the context going back in the first chapter, it's obvious that we will sin. For us to act as though we have never sinned is, in itself, a very dangerous thing, a damning thing. But he then goes on and says I'm writing these things to you that you may not sin. Our expectation ought not to be that we're just going to sin, and sin, and sin and sin. Our expectation ought to be that we may not sin – we’re not to sin. That's not what we expect to do. And I see this so often in my own life and in our lives together. We have this tendency to take some of these statements lightly and to begin to make presumptions, if you will, very dangerous presumptions. This is especially true, I think, in the passage before us this morning - this matter of unity. Our expectations, many times are not what they should be. Notice what Jesus says in verse 23:
I in them and Thou in Me, that they may be perfected in unity. -
made complete in this matter of unity. Is this what our expectation is or are we in a position where our expectations are inconsistent with the Word of God? Our God is not a life coach using idealism to manipulate us into becoming better people, setting high standards and just hoping that will at least take a step in the right direction. We need to be very careful about this, and we often allow our personal experiences to override the Word of God don’t we? Well, you know, this is what God says, this is what the Lord desires for us - it's obvious this is way out of reach, and is even more obvious to me, especially because of what I've experienced in my life. I haven't seen evidence of this kind of unity - I've never seen it. Let's say somebody says that as a believer. Does that mean we should lower our expectations to our experiences? We need to be so careful. If we have not experienced the reality of what God is revealed to us, we’re prone to excuse it away. We really are. It's worth aiming for. It's a good thing to aim for good, a goal to have but with no genuine expectation of it being realized to any notable extent. So I would just say this morning. This passage, like many others, demands a special alertness on our part. We need to protect our hearts from shrinking back and allowing personal experiences to keep us, to limit us, to hinder us from biblical expectations from the Lord's expectations for us. The unity Jesus anticipates in His saints, is utterly unique and it is a very real expectation. Why would Jesus pray for something that he would know has no possibility of coming to pass? We must be very careful here that we not mock in our hearts, the words of Christ. And I will acknowledge I'm one of the first to be guilty of this, in many respects in this very area. This seems like a hard thing. We don't often experience it or notice it like we should possibly.
Now as we consider what the Lord has to say here concerning this unity, at the very heart of this, it seems to me that we need to note take notice of this one fact, and that is that the unity Jesus is praying for is patterned on the unity between the Father and the Son. Is that not accurate? Verse 21,
that they may all be one, even as thou, Father, art in Me and I in the that they also may be in Us.
Verse 23
I in them and Thou in Me, that they may be perfected in unity.
This unity that the Lord is speaking of is patterned after the unity of the holy Father and the Son of God. It is a unity that reflects the unparalleled unity within the triune Godhead. Notice what Jesus is saying here:
even as Thou, Father, art in Me and I in Thee.
That's the way you and I are to be one. That's the unity we are called to. That's the unity God provides and has ordained for us. From this very basic and obvious consideration of this observation, it seems quite plain, I trust to each of us, we can draw a very basic conclusion. This is an essential unity. This is an essential unity. Or to say it another way, it is a unity of essence. It is a unity that envelops the very essence of our being. In the eternally existing Trinity, this is a vital unity. It's an intrinsic and a primary element of the divine existence. God speaks through Moses and speaks of this fact, He says your God is one, one God, three persons, but one God. This is a closeness and a harmony that obviously it's not possible for us to fully understand this - to comprehend it entirely. And yet Jesus spoke freely of this ultimate unity. I remind you of the passage, several passages in John's gospel where Jesus spoke of this very openly. He says in John chapter 10 beginning with verse 27:
My sheep hear my voice and I know them and they follow me and I give eternal life to them and they shall never perish, and no one shall snatch them out of My hand. My Father, who has given them to Me, is greater than all and no one is able to snatch them out of the Father's hand.
And then Jesus makes this statement:
I and the Father are one.
Some of your marginal notations will say for one essence. Jesus declares Himself and the Father to be one. This is a unity that goes beyond what we can fully understand, I would agree and acknowledge that, but it's still true, and Jesus speaks of His relationship to the Father in this way, that there is a closeness of unity between Them, by which He is able to say I and the Father are one. It's a secure unity in this passage, isn't it? No one's going to snatch My sheep from My hand or from the Father's hand -we’re one. Or you go to the passage in chapter chapter 5 of John's Gospel the 17th verse and Jesus says this - he answer them:
My father is working until now, and I Myself am working.
There is not only a secure unity, there is an active unity between Father and Son. And of course, it's immediately done in the next verse says that:
For this cause the Jews were seeking all the more to kill Him because He not only was breaking the Sabbath, but was also calling God His own Father, making Himself equal with God.
The Father, My Father is working until now, and I Myself am working.
And of course, in the 14th chapter which we were in not too awfully long ago, you recall what Jesus says to Philip. Philip, in the eighth verse, after Jesus has declared Himself to be the way the truth and the life that no one comes to the Father except through Him.
And then Jesus said if you had known Me, you would have known My Father also. From now on you know Him and have seen Him. Philip said to him, Lord, show us the Father and it's enough for us. Jesus said to him, have I been so long with you and yet you have not come to know me, Philip. He who has seen Me has seen the father.
That's an essential unity isn’t it? Unity of essence. If you’ve seen me, Jesus says, who've seen the Father. That's the extent to which the Father and the Son are unified. Now our unity with one another can’t be on the same plane as this - as the unity within the Godhead, but it must, at the very least, be of the same kind. Jesus says in this 17th chapter in this prayer to the Father that they may all be one, even as Thou, Father, art in Me and I in Thee. In the same way, not to the same extent, we understand that. Jesus is not saying that we become God, but He is saying that we are to be brought together in a closeness that is just like the closeness between the Father and the Son. This means that our unity with one another permeates our very being - the very essence of who we are. It has to be because that's how it's pictured in terms of the Father and the Son. One essence, and we are called to be one people, we’re one body. For this to be an essential unity in us, it has to be a spiritual unity. This cannot be just simply a physical unity or reality. This is where we so often go wrong, we pursue this unity in a physical realm - in the material realm - even in the intellectual realm. It's not enough. It doesn't go that far, it doesn't go deep enough. Ultimately, the spiritual is the essence of reality. Think about that for a moment this morning, God himself is spirit. He is the ultimate reality. We’re told in second Corinthians 4 that the things we can see are what, they’re only temporal. It's the things that we can't see that are forever. Those are things that are real. For this to be an essential unity in us, it has to be a spiritual unity. This means that it must be a unity produced within the very core of our being by the regenerating power of the Holy Spirit of God. There is no other way. I'm reminded that Adam became a living soul there in Genesis chapter 2. We’re told that when God breathed into him the breath of life he became a living being, or soul. Not just alive physically, he became alive spiritually. When Adam and Eve sinned, they died spiritually. God warned them that that would happen. Their close relationship to God was ended. It was destroyed by their sin. We've all come into this world, everyone of us, in the same state as Adam and Eve found themselves in after they had sinned - spiritually dead, separated from God. There's no way we can experience this kind of unity apart from spiritual renewal. Apart from being made alive. God himself is the only one who can remedy this hopeless situation we are in. It’s only through the life-giving operation of the spirit of God through faith in the Lord Jesus as our personal sin bearer that we can be fully reconciled to God. For what Jesus said to Nicodemus earlier on in John's Gospel:
Unless one is born again, unless one is born from above, he cannot enter the kingdom of God.
And then He goes on to describe the fact that the Son of God would be lifted up, that whoever believes in Me may have eternal life. We saw this last time that this unity is a reality that can only be produced through the spirit of God. We cannot partake of this unity unless we have been made alive together with Christ. This is what Paul emphasizes there in Ephesians chapter 2. He reminds the saints at Ephesus. This is where you were before Christ, you were dead - children of wrath. Everyone of us. Paul includes himself there. we were dead children of wrath, even as the rest. But God, being rich in mercy, He saved us by His grace and He made us alive together with Christ. Paul refers to that unity later on in the fourth chapter. The third verse is the unity of the spirit, So our unity - this unity Jesus is speaking of - this unity with one another - that is our being one - all of us being one - it's predicated on our union with the Lord Himself. It’s only possible as we have been spiritually united with Christ. This is something that we see mentioned a number of times in the New Testament Romans chapter six speaks of this very specifically. Paul says after expounding upon the super abounding grace of God, he says:
What shall we say then, are we to continue in sin that grace might increase? May it never be. How shall we who died to sin still live in it or do you not know that all of us have been baptized into Christ Jesus have been baptized into His death. Therefore, we have been buried with Him through baptism into death, in order that as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, so we too might walk in newness of life, or if we have become united with Him in the likeness of His death, certainly we shall be also in the likeness of His resurrection.
Those who have come to faith, to saving faith in Christ, have be united with Christ -spiritually made alive together with Christ. We looked at the passage last week and I want to remind you of again in first Corinthians 12 - Such an important fundamental reality -verse 12 and 13:
For even as the body is one and yet has many members, and all the members of the body, though they are many, are one body, so also is Christ. For by one Spirit we were all baptized into one body, whether Jews or Greeks, whether slaves or free, and we were all made to drink of one Spirit.
I remind you the passage also we looked at last week, once again in Galatians chapter 3 again this very important principle:
Verse 27:
For all of you who were baptized into Christ have clothed yourselves with Christ. There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free man, there is neither male nor female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus.
So it's in this being united with Christ that this unity is possible. It’s absolutely impossible apart from that. So I want you to stop and think about this with me this morning as we contemplate what Jesus is saying here. Jesus is anticipating, He's expecting a unity that will impress the world. It will make its impression upon this world. Remember what we looked at in the 14th chapter, when Jesus, really He was rebuking Philip when He said how can you say show us the Father? If you see Me, you've seen the Father, Jesus says. Is it not true then just as Jesus claims that to have seen Him, to have known Him, was to have seen the Father? Surely it is also to be true of us that to see us, to really know us, is to confirm the claims of Christ. To see Christians, to really know God's people, is to see a likeness of the Son of God. I've been crucified with Christ, Paul says, it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me. That means when you really get to know Paul, if you really got to the point of seeing who he is, you’re going to see Christ. And in the way that you and I are joined together and united with Christ, in the way we relate to one another, the way we are bound to one another in Christ, surely the world ought to see Christ when they really see us. Now I realize many times the world is looking at us from a distance - from afar. They don't want to take the time to really get to see us and know us, just as Jesus was really emphasizing that point with Philip. If you really see me, if you really got to know me, you know that you’ve seen the Father already
It is interesting when I was thinking about this, even though the world is far more seriously divided and at enmity with one another than God's people are at times, yet they seem to be fixated on the divisiveness of Christians. Have you ever noticed that? As dysfunctional as this world is, as filled with animosity and eminent enmity that this world is, and yet at times they become fixated on the disunity of God's people. You know what those Christians are like - they are always fighting - as though the world was never fighting. Now, I’m not excusing the fact that sometimes their assessment is an accurate one, painfully so. And in some respects their fixation on disunity among the people of God is really as it should be. Disunity among saints in Christ is thoroughly unbecoming of our Lord. It openly cast doubts upon the claims of the One we hold to be our Savior and Lord. Disunity is that serious a thing and it should not really surprise us that the world at times recognizes this inconsistency - this dichotomy. You talk about this person, Jesus, who you claim to be your Savior and how He has made you all one in Him and look at the way you behave towards each other. I realize again, sometimes those accusations come from a distance. They haven't really looked very closely. Sometimes they're saying that in respect to the fact that some of the people they are looking at are really Christians and some of them are not - just pretending to be. I realize that and we recognize that, but the bottom line is this, the unity of the Spirit is a very serious matter in the church of the living God.
Notice again that our beloved Redeemer expects us to be perfected in unity. This is not just to be something we sort of have a passing interest in or we acknowledge to be a great ideal, though none of us are really going to set ourselves to it very seriously because we have no hope of reaching it. That's not what we see here. Jesus expects us to be perfected in unity. And seems to me we need to be very careful this morning that we recognize this is a call to us to take this matter seriously. I would be the first to acknowledge, I haven't. If indeed our unity is patterned after the Trinity, if it reflects the unity between the Father and the Son, if it encompasses the very essence of our being and that is our being in Christ then there are going to be significant evidences of this blessed togetherness. What are those evidences? - and that's what we want to look at and begin to look at this morning.
There are two things that I want to focus on just briefly this morning. What are some of the evidences of a biblical unity or a divinely ordained unity, or quite plainly the unity Jesus is speaking of here? How do we give evidence of being perfected in unity? I want to start with a very basic one of these evidences. In the first evidence, it seems to me, I would suggest is a high regard. A high regard for divine revelation. Now we’ve spent a good bit of time talking about the truth of God's Word, and we talked about this fact last time that this unity is grounded in the truth. But I want to maybe backup a little and just look at it from this perspective. When we consider the perfect unity between the Father and the Son as it is evidenced in God's Word to us, one of the things that we notice is the Father and the Son's high regard for divine revelation. It might be one of those things that we take for granted or pass by too quickly. You recall a verse I think is very familiar to all of us in 119th Psalm, the 89th verse, God through the psalmist says this:
Forever, oh God thy Word is settled in heaven. That's a pretty high view of Scripture. Jesus concurs with that view of Scripture, I remind you of what the Lord Jesus says in John chapter 10 verse 34 and 35:
Jesus answered them, has it not been written in your law, I said you are god's? If he called them gods, to whom the Word of God came
and then Jesus adds this statement:
and the scripture cannot be broken.
How many times have you read through that passage and skipped right over what Jesus says there? - didn't even hardly give it a thought? Jesus is making a very important declaration. He's concurring with the Father in this matter of having the highest regard for divine revelation. How God has revealed Himself to us is very important to Him - exceedingly important to Him. Jesus demonstrated the highest regard for divine revelation and He demonstrated in many ways, and He did so often. You think back on the temptation of our Lord - someone was mentioning that in one of our times of observing the Lord's supper recently. And each time Jesus overcomes the devil's temptations by rightly handling the word of God. The devil wrongly handles the word of God and Jesus rightly handles it. He goes straight to the Word of God. He holds it in the highest regard. He's facing a very real, a very imminent threat from the powers of hell in those moments. That temptation was a serious moment at the beginning of the Lord's earthly ministry. Satan saw an opportunity to compromise God's redemptive plan and purpose. And the Lord goes to the word of God. That's immediately where He goes when Satan distorts God's Word and seeks to use that distortion to undermine, to compromise the work of Christ. You recall Jesus says in the sermon on the mount, He talks about this fact that He didn't come to abolish the law but to fulfill it. In fact, he intensified it. Jesus made it clear that no matter what else may pass away, heaven and earth, My words will not pass away. That's a high regard for divine revelation - to say everything else will be gone, but this will remain. He sternly rebuked those who had distorted and disobeyed the word of God, especially the Pharisees, the religious leaders. Some of the Lord's sternest rebukes are saved forthose who had distorted, had perverted, the Word of God. You recall how often as the Lord spoke, he would say, he who has ears to hear, let him hear. What I'm saying Jesus says, is special. You'd better pay attention to this - the highest regard for divine revelation. But then I'm also reminded of the Father’s high regard for divine revelation in the flesh. What is the Father declare on the Mount of Transfiguration to the Lord’s three closest disciples?
This is my beloved Son in whom I am well pleased.
And what's the next thing the father says? Listen to Him. - the highest regard for divine revelation. If there is anything upon which our divinely ordained unity can be built upon at the most fundamental level, surely it ought to be on the unshakable foundation of the highest regard for divine revelation - The Word of God and the Word of God made flesh.
I'm reminded of the early church and the times where we are told very specifically, the unity among them was this demonstrated in a remarkable way. In Acts chapter 4 verse 31 says:
When they had prayed, the place where they had gathered together was shaken, and they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak the word of God with boldness and the congregation of those who believed were of one heart and soul.
Again, this is a unity - an essential unity. It permeates the very core of our being. The congregation in response to the Word of God being proclaimed with boldness. They were of one heart and soul. The passage we had looked and referred to last week - the Council of Jerusalem where this matter, the truth of the Gospel, the revelation of God's redemptive plan was at stake - was in question. These men, these leaders didn't run from that, they didn't hide from that, they came together to face it. They faced it head on reminded from Scripture of who God is, and that they had to be very careful to be consistent - that the gospel of Christ needed to be consistent with the Word of God. And so they could say as they penned the letter at the end of that counsel, it seemed good to us in verse 25, having become of one mind. This is the ultimate goal in the way our Lord has distributed gifts to those who have the responsibility of shepherding the saints in His church. I remind you again of the passage that we looked at last time. I want to emphasize it a little bit differently - in Ephesians chapter 4, beginning with verse 10:
He who descended is Himself also He who ascended far above all the heavens, that He might fill all things.
And, of course, this is in reference to Christ. He's talking about the measure of Christ's gift in verse seven, and then he goes on in verse 11 and we are told this.
He gave some as apostles, some as prophets, some as evangelists, some as pastors and teachers.
What do all those gifts have in common? - the handling of divine revelation. What is the purpose for the giving of those gifts? –
for the equipping of the saints, for the work of service, to the building up of the body of Christ until we all attain to the unity of the faith.
Here the words the faith are in reference to truth - the truth of the gospel. The sum total, If you will, of the gospel:
until we all attain to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the son of God, to a mature man, to the measure of the stature which belongs to the fullness of Christ.
This is the ultimate goal in the way God has given gifts, has distributed gifts to those who have the responsibility to shepherd His flock. The goal is the unity of the faith. The goal is that we all come to the point of being mature in Christ, to the measure of the stature which belongs to the very fullness of the Lord Jesus.
When I think of these truths, and I am pondering this passage that is before us this morning, and the Lord's expectations for us, I can't help but notice that the failure of God's children to exhibit this divinely ordained unity, usually - I'm tempted to say always, begins with the failure to hold divine revelation in the highest regard. We’re all quick to claim to be steadfastly committed to the inerrancy, the authority, the sufficiency, and the supremacy of God's Word. But does that actually work itself out in the way we live, and especially in the way we do or do not get along? Do we actually go back to the Word of God? Sometimes we’re just too quick to say, well, we’re just going to have to agree to disagree. I'm not saying that there isn’t a time for that - there comes a time for that sometimes. But are we too quick to do so? Look what's at stake. The unity of the Spirit by which the world will see in flesh and blood, in God's children, a reflection of the very light and life of Christ.
This leads me to one second evidence of this unity, a way that it would be seen, and that is in an intense desire to do the Father's will. And this is obviously very closely connected to this matter of having a high regard for divine revelation. You know it's possible, and I think each of us if we have walked with the Lord for any length of time - we know this from experience - it's very possible to fully convince ourselves that we are holding God's Word in the highest regard. We see God's Word as being inerrant, authoritative, fully sufficient, as having supremacy over what we do, what we believe, how we live, how we understand and come to know God - of how we know what it is that makes man right with God. We’re quick to claim that this is true, we are quick to say I will fight to the teeth on this. But there's a question of motive and goal that we sometimes lose sight of, it seems to me. What is my goal and my firm and steadfast commitment to having a high regard for divine revelation? Is my goal ultimately to prove that I'm right, or to be sure that I'm in the right faction? Do you see what I'm getting at? What is my goal? There may be other things that are bad goals as well. I just mention those that come to mind. But here's the point - Is my desire, first and foremost, to be pleasing to God? - to do the Father's will? In other the words, I hold God's Word in the highest regard because this is the way, this is the only way, that I will be able to do the Father's will. To be sure that everything I do is pleasing to Him. Remember what Jesus said? He said I always do the things that are pleasing to the Father. Jesus was, dare I use the word obsessed, with doing the Father's will. You see it constantly in His ministry. We been reminded of it not too long ago. Even Saeed was reminding us of this in John chapter 4 and the 34th verse:
My food is to do the will of Him who sent Me, and to accomplish His work.
That's what sustains me, Jesus says. John chapter 5 in verse 30:
I can do nothing on my own initiative as I hear, I judge and my judgment is just because I do not seek My own will, but the will of Him sent Me.
Here we see this essential unity worked out in the most practical way. I don't have some separate agenda of my own Jesus says, My desire is, my goal, what sustains me, what stimulates Me is to do the Father's will - to always do what is pleasing to Him. Chapter 6, verse 38:
For I have come down from heaven, not to do My own will, but the will of Him who sent Me, and this is the will of Him who sent Me, that of all that He's given me, I lose nothing, but raise it up on the last day. For this is the will of my Father, that everyone who beholds the Son and believes in Him may have eternal life, and I Myself will raise Him up on the last day.
Why? - ultimately, because it's the Father's will. Chapter 12 of John's gospel, you recall, Jesus is now coming very close to the time when He will be crucified. He says in verse 27:
Now, My soul has become troubled, and what shall I say, Father, save Me from this hour? But for this purpose I came to this hour.
That's why when Jesus prays in the Garden of Gethsemane in absolute agony, Jesus can say in the one of the lowest moments he could've ever experienced, He could say, not My will be done, but thine. An intense desire to do the Father's will.
So, here's a simple prerequisite, if you will, for unity among the people of God. Do we really want to do the Father's will? Is that really what we want? Is that really what we desire? One of things it is the Father's will is that we be unified, and I'm reminded of the thing that Jesus says in John 7:17:
If any man is willing to do His will, He shall know of the teaching whether it is of God, or whether I speak for Myself.
Do you and I really want to be discerners of the truth of God's Word? I think our problem is - my problem has often been – well, I just need to study it more carefully. I need to be more diligent, and there's no doubt that's important. I need to be more comprehensive. I need to read it more and more, and I need to have a more thorough understanding of what God's Word says. But if this ingredient is missing, it really doesn't matter how much I study. If any man is willing to do His will, then he’ll know. This is what gets us in trouble, isn’t it, when it comes to unity amongst God's people. We are not really willing to do God's will. There is not a willingness. There is not an intense desire, a yearning, to do the Father's will - to see His purpose being accomplished.
