God's Glory Displayed in our Unity

This is something of a “one-off” message; not part of a sequence or series

Must set the context

It’s called the “high-priestly prayer” all of John, chapter 17

Between the last supper and the arrest of Jesus

He is praying passionately for His disciples…and by extension…the church that would form—in the months to follow His crucifixion and in the years to follow…right down to today

Admittedly, there is much more to unpack within this chapter—we often use it as a text on Maundy Thursday, as it is seasonally fitting

This morning, the first Sunday of Advent, may seem like something of an odd time to use this passage, but that’s hardly true

We begin the celebration of the King of Glory leaving His home to come to the humble earth, to step into human form and offer himself as the perfect sacrifice to save sinful man

We’re going to track the glory; then track the unity, through the chapter; then, as application, we’re going to track our actions in bringing Glory to God through our unity here in the local church

Tracking the Glory

Some form of the word shows up about a half-dozen times in chapter 17

The word is somewhat difficult to define

It’s not an attribute of God, though it does describe Him

It may be the “superlative honor” that surrounds God or the “created brightness that surrounds God’s revelation of himself,” or an expression of His magnificence

Jesus asks the Father to glorify Him, so that He may glorify the Father

Hebrews 1:3 (ESV)

He is the radiance of the glory of God and the exact imprint of his nature...

He recounts that He had glorified the Father while on earth—the superlative honor, and asks that He soon be glorified in the presence of the Father—that could be that brightness surrounding God’s self-revelation (all in vv. 1-4)

Jumping to v. 10, Jesus says that He is glorified in his apostles, and asks that the Father keep them as one—we’ll follow that in a bit

In v. 22, we see that Jesus has passed His glory on to the apostles

So, by way of watching the apostles, people could get a sense of God’s greatness, by what they could see in these men—and by extension, believers today should be displaying that glory as well

Tracking the Unity

We see much to link the Father and Son in vv. 1-3, just as we see the glory, we see the unified purpose of Father and Son

We acknowledge the one perfect God who, though one, is known in three persons: Father, Son and Holy Spirit

Though this passage does not deal with the Spirit by name, we can understand His role as the facilitator of the process of glorification

Jesus has made the Father known

All of the Father’s are the Son’s and all the Son’s are the Father’s in v. 10

This is where we put ourselves on the hot-seat with a look a John 17 23

John 17:23 (ESV)

...that they may become perfectly one, so that the world may know that you sent me and loved them even as you loved me.

That is what it looks like when our unity displays God’s Glory

Now for a reality check!

Tracking our Actions

We could look at this from the perspective of the Church at large—all believers of all time; but not our focus this morning

We could look at unity in interpersonal relationships…that would take some digging; but again, not for this morning

We will look at our actions as they relate to unity within the local church

There are many facets and nuances, but we’ll try to pull it together in just a few sub points

Are we unified in purpose?

A recent article from Church Answers discusses this shift in priorities—not wanting or willing to project the Gospel outward, thus failing to give God glory

We must be unified as to the Great Commission

Matthew 28:19–20 “Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age.””

What are we doing about the Gospel?

Are we unified in love?

We must me unified as to the Great Commandment

Matthew 22:36–40 “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. This is the great and first commandment. And a second is like it: You shall love your neighbor as yourself.

We could add the new commandment of John 13, to love one another as Christ had loved them—really an enhancement of the Great Commandment

How are we displaying love…to God…to our neighbors…to others within the church??

Are we unified in worship?

Maybe this is where our unity is shown corporately

We must ask the question, “what is worship?”

This morning, speaking of corporate worship—the saints gathered

My working-man’s definition is this: a combination of actions designed to assign worth/value to God

First, since we’re talking corporate worship, we have to be in attendance!

Stealing 5 points from Charles Ryrie

Not going to make sermons out of them, but if you want the quotation, I’ll send it to you

First the The Word

This is the core around which our time of worship should be built

It should be clear to any who enter that the the Word is the most important thing in our worship

Next up is Prayer

Prayers of praise, thanks and supplication may all be wrapped up here; we may be joyfully in what he has done or devastated by things happening around us…all may be part of the bulk of the prayer in a time of worship

Singing is next—a great thing is to lift our communal voice in praise and honor to our Lord, Savior and King

Here’s a tough one—Giving--

I’ve said it before: giving should be joyful, it should be regular, proportional to your means, occasionally, it may need to be sacrificial

If we look at the OT pattern we see that obedient Jews gave A LOT, tithes, offerings and other gifts/sacrifices…35-40%

The one that we Baptists figure we have down right—fellowship

I tried to chase the morphology of the Greek word, koinonia and find a link to pasta, soup, crackers and cheese—maybe I need a better lexicon

But it’s not just about food—it’s about the interpersonal connections between believers

We cannot be fully united as a body unless we are first united to Christ, having become part of His body…the Church—all who have repented and made Him our Savior and Lord

Maybe you need to do that this morning