Together
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Introduction
Introduction
“Together” is an important word in the life of the Christian. We are meant to do life together not as individuals.
We are meant to love and minister to one another. We are meant to share the Gospel with the lost world, not withdraw from it and build communes. But “together” isn’t always easy.
The Hoyt’s had the love of a family relationship as their bond. But we know families who are estranged from one another. We need something stronger if we are going to have a relationship with others for eternity! And it is for this something which Jesus prays in the last section of the High Priestly prayer.
Jesus Prays For Unity
Jesus Prays For Unity
“I do not ask for these only” —
“I do not ask on behalf of these alone, but for those also who believe in Me through their word;
that they may all be one; even as You, Father, are in Me and I in You, that they also may be in Us, so that the world may believe that You sent Me.
Isn’t this an incredible thought? Jesus prayed for us and continues to pray for us today. Whatever He is praying represents His will for our life and what He prays for will happen!
“That they all be one” — Jesus prays for unity among believers in Him. Unity within the church. But this is not a unity of love or like for one another. This is not a unity based upon our common affinity for hymns, praise music, gothic cathedrals or little white country church buildings. This is a much greater, stronger and more permanent kind of unity.
“That they all be one” — That there would be unity among believers in Christ on account of their relationship with God through Christ. Our common faith and obedience to this revelation will be what unifies us.
This is not a unity based upon our love for hymns, praise music, gothic cathedrals or little white country church buildings. This is not a unity based upon our love of potlucks, movies, football, or art. This is a far greater, stronger and more permanent kind of unity.
Jesus prays we will be unified by His revelation of the Father. Our common faith and obedience to this revelation will be what unifies us.
Jesus prays we will be unified by His revelation of the Father. Our common faith and obedience to this revelation will be what unifies us.
There can be union without unity: tie two cats together by their tails and throw them over a clothesline. What Christ wants for us is actual, true unity
Too often churches have attempted to find unity based temporal or frivolous things. They unite together based on common likes and dislikes. They unite on the basis of common history or heritage.
Too often churches have attempted to find unity based temporal or frivolous things. They unite together based on common likes and dislikes. They unite on the basis of common history or heritage. Folks join a church because their friends go there, they like the music, it is located near their house and their mamma was a baptist, methodist or lutheran.
Folks join a church because their friends go there, they like the music, it is located near their house and their mamma was a baptist, methodist or lutheran.
Church unity was never meant to be based upon our love for hymns, praise music, gothic cathedrals or little white country church buildings. This is not a unity based upon our love of potlucks, movies, football, or art.
Likes and preferences will never unite a church the way Jesus prays for in this passage. While common likes and dislikes might provide for a great friendship with others, it will never provide an unbreakable, spiritual family kind of bond Christians were meant to have with one another.
Think about it — How many times have people, within the walls of the church, come to verbal blows, declaring their animosity and even hate for one another? One group storms out to form a new church across town…a church split happens. Each group grieves but is happy to be free of the other.
This is a far more significant, stronger and permanent kind of unity. Such unity requires a supernatural kind of glue
People often wonder why there are so many Baptist churches in town. Or why there are so many different Christian denominations. The answer is a simple one…too many churches have found their unity in something other than their common relationship with Christ.
Think about it — How many times have people, within the walls of the church, come to verbal blows, declaring their animosity and even hate for one another? One group storms out to form a new church across town…a church split happens. Each group grieves but is happy to be free of the other. But are they???
People often wonder why there are so many Baptist churches in town. Or why there are so many different Christian denominations. The answer is often simply for the fact that Christians too often seek unity with one another in something other than their common relationship with Jesus Christ.
Likes and preferences will never unite a church the way Jesus prays for in this passage. While common likes and dislikes might provide for a great friendship with others, it will never provide an unbreakable, spiritual family kind of bond Christians were meant to have with one another.
Likes and preferences will never unite a church the way Jesus prays for in this passage. While common likes and dislikes might provide for great friendships, it will never provide an unbreakable, spiritual bond Christians were meant to have with one another.
Do splitting churches actually believe God is going to draw a line down the center of heaven, giving each their territory so they will not have to interact with one another in eternity?
Story of the church which split over the question of whether or not Adam had a belly button — Do splitting churches actually believe God is going to draw a line down the center of heaven, giving each their territory so they will not have to interact with one another in eternity?
If both groups are actually believers in Christ they will never be truly free of one another. There is an inescapable, permanent bond which nothing can break. They are simply acting as though such a bond doesn’t exist.
If both groups are actually believers in Christ they will never be truly free of one another. There is an inescapable, permanent bond which nothing can break. They are simply acting as though such a bond doesn’t exist.
We are bound together by our relationship with Christ. The Father is in Jesus, Jesus in the Father and we are in Father and Son…We are “in” a relationship of such intimacy that Christ is actually living His life through us.
We are bound together by our relationship with Christ. The Father is in Jesus, Jesus in the Father and we are in Father and Son…We are “in” an unbreakable, eternal relationship with God and subsequently with each other.
The Power To Be Unified
The Power To Be Unified
If Christ is in me and Christ is in you…how do we think we could ever be away from each other? What could separate us?
This kind of unity is truly beyond the natural. It is a work of the Spirit of Christ within us. Jesus tells us how this comes about in verse 22...He has given His glory to us —
He has given His glory to us —
“The glory which You have given Me I have given to them, that they may be one, just as We are one;
This is what is meant in verse 22 when Jesus says He has given His glory to us — He has placed His life in us…He has placed His character and power in us and intends to live His life through us.
He has placed His character and power in each of us and lives His life through us. If Christ is in me and Christ is in you…What could possibly separate us?
“The glory which You have given Me I have given to them, that they may be one, just as We are one;
If Christ is in me and Christ is in you…how do we think we could ever be away from each other? What could separate us?
We live as distinct individuals in a relationship with God but He is living His life through us. If this be the case for each of us individually…we should be in intimate fellowship with one another as well. This is the basis for Christian unity.
He has placed His power in each of us and lives His life through us. If Christ is in me and Christ is in you…What could possibly separate us? The answer of course is rebellion and sin. If we quench the Holy Spirit we can easily be divided.
If Christ is in me and Christ is in you…What could possibly separate us?
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We live as distinct individuals in a relationship with God but He is living His life through each of us. We are united in our relationship with Christ and this is the basis of our unity.
During World War II, Hitler commanded all religious groups to unite so that he could control them. Among the Brethren assemblies, half complied and half refused. Those who went along with the order had a much easier time. Those who did not, faced harsh persecution. In almost every family of those who resisted, someone died in a concentration camp.
When the war was over, feelings of bitterness ran deep between the groups and there was much tension. Finally they decided that the situation had to be healed. Leaders from each group met at a quiet retreat. For several days, each person spent time in prayer, examining his own heart in the light of Christ's commands. Then they came together. Francis Schaeffer, who told of the incident, asked a friend who was there, "What did you do then?" "We were just one," he replied. As they confessed their hostility and bitterness to God and yielded to His control, the Holy Spirit created a spirit of unity among them. Love filled their hearts and dissolved their hatred.
When the war was over, feelings of bitterness ran deep between the groups and there was much tension. Finally they decided that the situation had to be healed. Leaders from each group met at a quiet retreat. For several days, each person spent time in prayer, examining his own heart in the light of Christ's commands. Then they came together. Francis Schaeffer, who told of the incident, asked a friend who was there, "What did you do then?" "We were just one," he replied. As they confessed their hostility and bitterness to God and yielded to His control, the Holy Spirit created a spirit of unity among them. Love filled their hearts and dissolved their hatred.
The real question now, while we live on this earth…is will we live as though this bond exists, is a good thing and love one another accordingly? Jesus prays the answer is yes!
He has placed His power in each of us and lives His life through us. If Christ is in me and Christ is in you…What could possibly separate us? The answer of course is rebellion and sin. If we quench the Holy Spirit we can easily be divided.
We live as distinct individuals in a relationship with God but He is living His life through each of us. If we have faith and are obedient to Christ, we will be united.
This unity will be a testimony to the fact God is real, has revealed Himself to us and given us the capacity to love one another in spite of our different likes and preferences.
This unity will be a testimony to the fact God is real, has revealed Himself to us and given us the capacity to love one another in spite of our different likes and preferences.
This unity will be a testimony to the fact God is real, has revealed Himself to us and given us the capacity to love one another in spite of our different likes and preferences.
Jesus desires us to live from this place of unity to such a capacity that it becomes an undeniable witness to His identity and mission.
Jesus desires us to live from this place of unity to such a capacity that it becomes an undeniable witness to His identity and mission.
Jesus desires us to live from this place of unity to such a capacity that it becomes an undeniable witness to His identity and mission.
Perfect Unity and Perfect Love
Perfect Unity and Perfect Love
Jesus prays that we will come to a place of perfect unity.
I in them and You in Me, that they may be perfected in unity, so that the world may know that You sent Me, and loved them, even as You have loved Me.
“The glory which You have given Me I have given to them, that they may be one, just as We are one;
I in them and You in Me, that they may be perfected in unity, so that the world may know that You sent Me, and loved them, even as You have loved Me.
As we move toward this perfection it convinces many in the the world of the revelation of God in Christ and demonstrates that Christians are loved by God in the same way the Father loves the Son.
We have to stop right here for a moment and consider this…God’s love is not something achieved but already experienced by all of us as believers in Christ. God loves us just as the Father loves the Son. The love within the Godhead is the love God has for us.
Chuck Swindoll is a well known author and preacher. He describes a moment of crisis in his life. He was speaking at a pastor’s conference. By any measure it was successful. Participants begged him to speak longer and were very engaged. But when he was alone in his room at the end of each day he felt an emptyness and frustration. Sensing God was wanting to do something in his life Chuck called four trusted friends. “I want you to listen to my life story and see if anything stands out to you.” And so the four friends and Chuck Swindoll gathered. Beginning with his earliest memory Chuck poured out his life story.
Sensing God was wanting to do something in his life Chuck called four trusted friends. “I want you to listen to my life story and see if anything stands out to you.” And so the four friends and Chuck Swindoll gathered. Beginning with his earliest memory Chuck poured out his life story.
When he had finished, one of the friends asked him a few questions and then said, “Chuck, I want you to put your head on the table and close your eyes.” Chuck put his head on the table and closed his eyes. “Now I want you to imagine your father is holding you in his arms. What do you feel?” Almost instantly Chuck began to cry. For thirty minutes he cried his eyes out. You see Chuck’s father had died when Chuck was seven months old. And as he closed his eyes what he felt was pure unconditional love.
When he had finished, one of the friends asked him a few questions and then said, “Chuck, I want you to put your head on the table and close your eyes.” Chuck put his head on the table and closed his eyes.
It is as our unity with one another is perfected that the evidence of God’s love for us is demonstrated to the world.
“Now I want you to imagine your father is holding you in his arms. What do you feel?”
What Chuck also realised that day was that while he had preached many times about God’s great love he had never made that personal. With his head on the table that day he really felt, for the first time, that Got loved him, that his heavenly father loved him deeply, richly and unconditionally. And by his own testimony, he was never the same again.
Almost instantly Chuck began to cry. For thirty minutes he cried his eyes out. You see Chuck’s father had died when Chuck was seven months old. And as he closed his eyes what he felt was pure unconditional love.
What Chuck also realised that day was that while he had preached many times about God’s great love he had never made that personal. With his head on the table that day he really felt, for the first time, that Got loved him, that his heavenly father loved him deeply, richly and unconditionally.
If you only grasp one thing this morning let it be this…God loves you with the love the Father has for the Son…it is big, incomprehensibly so…it is eternal…and nothing can separate us from it.
And by his own testimony, he was never the same again.
Satan does not want Christians to understand the nature of God’s love for us. Because the better we understand this love the more it changes us…personally…and the more it changes us corporately as a church…and the more we are changed by our relationship with God the greater witness we are for Him.
The Desire of Jesus For Us
The Desire of Jesus For Us
“Father, I desire” — This is something Jesus wants for us. He doesn’t hope or wish for it. Jesus is making a request of the Father and desires for it to be given. We can be assured that it will be!
“Father, I desire that they also, whom You have given Me, be with Me where I am, so that they may see My glory which You have given Me, for You loved Me before the foundation of the world.
Jesus wants us to be with Him in the future and see the fullness of His glory — We see something of the glory (character and power) of Jesus in the New Testament. We see something of His glory in our own life. But one day we will be made like Christ and on that day we will see Jesus in all of His glory…we will see His glory as God.
Beloved, now we are children of God, and it has not appeared as yet what we will be. We know that when He appears, we will be like Him, because we will see Him just as He is.
We share, with Jesus, the delight of being loved by the Father and likewise, one day, we will share in the glory to which the Son is restored at His exaltation.
We will not become God but our intimacy and unity with Him will be of such a nature that we will be as one with Him. Think about this…We share in the love the Father has for the Son now and one day we will share in the glory the Son has as well.
“O righteous Father, although the world has not known You, yet I have known You; and these have known that You sent Me;
and I have made Your name known to them, and will make it known, so that the love with which You loved Me may be in them, and I in them.”
Jesus begins to sum up His prayer in these verses...
“Jesus addresses God as Righteous Father (cf. v. 11) because God is acknowledged to be profoundly righteous in that judgment by which the ‘world’ (cf. notes on 1:9) is condemned for its ignorance, while Jesus and his followers are accepted.” Carson, D. A.
Carson, D. A. (1991). The Gospel according to John (p. 570). Leicester, England; Grand Rapids, MI: Inter-Varsity Press; W.B. Eerdmans.
God judges rightly and only those who receive the revelation of God through Jesus Christ will ever experience relationship with Him…only Christians will experience the love the Father has for the Son. Only Christians will be transformed and receive eternal life..
Christ continues to love us…continues to reveal this love to us…continues to change us by that love…so that we might enjoy to greater and greater degree our relationship with Him.
What Unifies Us?
What Unifies Us?
What Unifies Us?
Do you believe God loves you with the same ferocity and tenacity with which the Father loves the Son? Is your life defined by this? Is it defined by your relationship with Him? Defined by your relationship and calling from Him? If so…can that relationship and call be what unifies you and I with one another?
We have to ask ourselves a serious question this morning, “What unifies us?” We shouldn’t be quick to answer. Is it our common likes and preferences? Is it our common background and history? Is it simply that we live within 10 miles of each other? We are Texans, Americans? Or is it Christ?
And if Christ unifies us…how does that really happen? Is it the common relationship we have with Him and the common call on our life to go and make disciples? Or is it simply a common hope of an eternal residence in heaven?
Some believers are united in their hope of heaven but not so much in their relationship with Christ and His Great Commission. They are not growing in their walk together nor are they doing what He commanded them to do…so they just sit in church together and consider the future together.
God means for us to be united together with Him in relationship and mission. When you get down to it…this is what really matters both for now and eternity.
All that really matters at the end of the day is our relationship with Jesus and what we are doing together for Him…everything else is window dressing…everything else is expendable. Nothing else really matters much at all.
Do you believe God loves you with the same ferocity and tenacity with which the Father loves the Son? Is your life defined by this? Is it defined by your relationship with Him? Defined by your relationship and calling from Him?
We must make sure that our legacy is in relationship and calling not in anything else.
This may bring some of us today to a place of repentance. We need to repent of broken relationships with others in this room…we have allowed something that doesn’t matter to cloud what really does.
This may bring some in this room to a place of repentance. We need to let go of preferences, likes, dislikes and opinions so we might focus on Jesus and leading others to Him.