Jesus’ Desire for His Followers - John 17:17-20

Copyright September 19, 2020 by Rev. Bruce Goettsche

Every time a child is born, parents have dreams of what that child can be. You see dads walking into hospitals with footballs and a baseball glove. Little girls are decked out in frilly dresses. We may dream of our children taking over the family farm or being the head of a business. We might even hope they one day become President of the United States. Perhaps these are unrealistic dreams. However, we also dream they will grow strong, healthy, and faithful. We dream they will be happy and will be a blessing to the society around us.

In John 17:20-26 we are told Jesus prayed for those who would come to faith because of the disciples. In other words, this is the prayer Jesus prays for us. It is His blessing and dream for the church that was to come.

This morning we will look at some of the same requests from the first part of the prayer Rick looked at last week. I hope to build on the foundation Rick built last week. We will look at what it means to be made holy and look at some more ideas on what it means to be “one as we are one.”

THAT WE BE MADE HOLY

Let’s go backwards to verse 17 we read,

17 Make them holy by your truth; teach them your word, which is truth. 18 Just as you sent me into the world, I am sending them into the world. 19 And I give myself as a holy sacrifice for them so they can be made holy by your truth.

I want to give you a little theology lesson by explaining two rich theological terms and the differences between them. You may not (perhaps should not) use these words, but you need to understand the differences in what they mean for us as believers.

The first is “justification.” It is a concept that is important to understand. To be justified means to be made right with God. It is a judicial term. The opposite of “justified” would be “condemned.” The Bible teaches we all deserve to be condemned but we are justified because of the work of Christ on behalf of all who trust Him. Paul said,

“Therefore, my friends, I want you to know that through Jesus the forgiveness of sins is proclaimed to you. 39 Through him everyone who believes is set free from every sin, a justification you were not able to obtain under the law of Moses. (Acts 13:38-39)

We are set free from the condemnation of every sin we have committed because of the death of Jesus in our place . . . a payment for our sin. The Law was satisfied. We are declared “not guilty” by the Judge who rules overall.

The second word is the word “sanctification.” It means to be made holy or set apart for God’s service. If you stick with the court analogy, sanctification is what happens to us after we have been declared “Not Guilty.” It is the process of growing into the new life that is ours because of the sacrifice of Jesus and the Holy Spirit working inside of us. It is our rehabilitation.

Sanctification, or the process of becoming more holy, (or set apart for Christ), is not a one-time thing like Justification. It is an ongoing work inside of us. Let me change the analogy to help you see the difference between justification and sanctification. Let’s move out of the courtroom to the delivery room. When a baby is born it is solely because of the work of the parents. The baby did not choose to be born. Likewise, we are not justified because of anything we have done. We are justified because of the work of Christ who died to satisfy the just judgment of God.

Sanctification, however, is like the development of a child. The child learns to participate with the parents in learning how to eat, walk, talk and think for themselves. We are justified by grace alone. We are sanctified as we work with God to grow and deepen in our relationship with Him. The process of becoming holy (or more Christlike) will go on for the rest of our lives and will only be complete when we stand before the Lord. We must keep working with the Lord to be more holy.

A true believer is justified AND sanctified! We are brought to Christ and then we learn to walk with Him. You won’t have one without the other. If you only have a “conversion experience”, you may be viewing justification as “fire insurance;” a “get out of jail free” card. There are some who are convinced they are going to Heaven because they have checked off certain boxes. However, these people show little change. There is little to no evidence of the work of God’s Spirit in their lives. These folks need to question whether they are truly justified.

Jesus says we are sanctified by the truth. Rick pointed out this is the truth of the Scriptures. The Word of God is our guidebook for the path of sanctification. What specific truth’s do we need to be instructed in?

1. The truth about God. People think they know God. They say they believe in God. However, they don’t know Him deeply. The person who is growing in Holiness is beginning to understand the attributes of God. They see how big He is. They learn about His grace, His mercy, and His overarching sovereignty (rule) over all that is. For most of us it is true that “Our God is too small.” We learn about God is by listening to what He tells us about Himself. This will lead us to true awe and provoke a worship that is deep and often leaves us in stunned silence and humility.

2. The truth about Ourselves. As we grow in Christ it is like gaining education. The more you learn, the more you realize you don’t know. As we grow in Christ, we see our sin and weakness much more clearly. This leads us to cling to Him more tenaciously.

3. The Depth of God’s Grace. As I just said, as we see and begin to understand how great the gift of God really is, we become softer. We are humbled and much less judgmental. We come to see that we are not saved because we were better than others. We are saved because for some unknown reason, God, in His staggering grace, drew us to Himself through the sacrifice of Christ.

4. We need to see the truth about Christian growth. The chance to grow in holiness sometimes feels like a great burden. However, as we learn more about the truth, we see that growing in holiness is really a tremendous privilege. The call of Christ is not easy, but it does lead to a life more wonderful than we could have imagined.

THAT WE BE ONE

The Lord has a second desire for His people. Let’s read on,

20 “I am praying not only for these disciples but also for all who will ever believe in me through their message. 21 I pray that they will all be one, just as you and I are one—as you are in me, Father, and I am in you. And may they be in us so that the world will believe you sent me.

22 “I have given them the glory you gave me, so they may be one as we are one. 23 I am in them and you are in me. May they experience such perfect unity that the world will know that you sent me and that you love them as much as you love me. 24 Father, I want these whom you have given me to be with me where I am. Then they can see all the glory you gave me because you loved me even before the world began!

25 “O righteous Father, the world doesn’t know you, but I do; and these disciples know you sent me. 26 I have revealed you to them, and I will continue to do so. Then your love for me will be in them, and I will be in them.”

Jesus prays we become one in verse 21, 22, and 23! Rick gave us a good look at unity last week. Again, let me build on the foundation that was laid last week. Let’s look again at unity.

One of the justifiable criticisms of the church is its lack of oneness. We are divided over all kinds of things. Churches often see each other as competitors rather than allies or co-workers. There are many people who have left churches because of division in the church.

What it us not. The first petition is: “I pray that they will all be one, just as you and I are one—as you are in me, Father, and I am in you. And may they be in us so that the world will believe you sent me.”

However, the command to unity is not as simple or as easy as it sounds. The oneness Jesus talks about is a oneness that comes from intimacy with the Father. Jesus prayed we might have the same kind of oneness He has with the Father. It is a oneness of heart and purpose.

There are those who call for a oneness that waters down distinctive beliefs. You hear this sometimes in the media or from some people who don’t seem to understand the message of the gospel. They say, “Let’s recognize we are all after the same thing; we are all climbing the same spiritual mountain.” In many Prayer Breakfasts they will have representatives from various religions on the same platform (Christian, Muslim, Jewish etc.). The message is: we are all together, even though we are different. But we are notall together we are heading in different directions!

I was very fortunate to have a denominational organization underwrite my graduate school education. One of the conditions of that funding was a trip (paid for by the association) to Boston to study together the Pilgrims and the early days of Congregationalism. This is a loose association of churches that all believed in local church autonomy (each church could and should govern itself. Many churches say they have a congregational in government.)

Part of the assignment was to go to the Congregational Library in Boston, listen to lectures on congregationalism and then write a paper on some aspect of the congregational form of government. My paper was titled “The Covenant in Congregationalism. The thesis I tried to defend in the paper was: for Congregational Christian people to work together they had to, by definition as Christians, adhere to core Christian beliefs.

It is possible to be externally unified without behind unified with God. Unity apart from doctrine is to water down the faith, not glorify it. However, when I received my paper after it had been graded, the Professor wrote on my paper: “If you really believe this, you should consider joining another denomination.”

In 2 Corinthians 6 we read,

Don’t team up with those who are unbelievers. How can righteousness be a partner with wickedness? How can light live with darkness? 15 What harmony can there be between Christ and the devil? How can a believer be a partner with an unbeliever? 16 And what union can there be between God’s temple and idols? For we are the temple of the living God. (2 Cor. 6:14-16)

We often point to this regarding marriage or business, but it certainly also applies to churches. We cannot have unity with those who do not share core Christian beliefs. This begs the question: What are “core Christian beliefs?” (We’ll look at that in a few minutes). The point is uniting with people who do not share basic Christian beliefs would require watering down or ignoring central truths of the Gospel.

There is another kind of oneness which misses the point of Jesus’ prayer. This is where everyone is required to believe exactly the same thing. That is not unity, it is uniformity. Welch preacher Martyn Lloyd-Jones wrote:

Christ’s prayer for unity does not mean we all should be the same, though many Christians mistakenly assume that. Too many think other believers should be just like them—carry the same Bible, read the same books, promote the same styles, educate their children in the same way, have the same likes and dislikes. We are not called to be Christian clones. In fact, the insistence that others be just like us is one of the most disunifying forces in the church of Jesus Christ. It engenders a judgmental inflexibility that hurls people away from the church with deadly force. One of the gospel’s glories is that it hallows our individuality even while bringing us into unity.[1]

It is not a coincidence that the Bible often uses analogies such as family or marriage, or the human body, as illustrations of the oneness of the church. Family members are diverse. They may have different political convictions, root for different teams, have different interests, and vary widely on numerous preferences but they are still one family. And when one family member is in need they rally to their aid. We are God’s family REGARDLESS of what church we attend.

The Foundation of Christian Unity. What are these “core Christian beliefs?” If you talk with different believers, you will likely come up with a wide variety of beliefs which they contend must be held as essentialbeliefs. I believe we are best to take the list of “top importance” as written by Paul in 1 Corinthians 15,

I passed on to you what was most important and what had also been passed on to me. Christ died for our sins, just as the Scriptures said. 4 He was buried, and he was raised from the dead on the third day, just as the Scriptures said. 5 He was seen by Peter and then by the Twelve. 6 After that, he was seen by more than 500 of his followers at one time, most of whom are still alive, though some have died. 7 Then he was seen by James and later by all the apostles. 8 Last of all, as though I had been born at the wrong time, I also saw him. (1 Corinthians 15:3-7 italics mine)

I believe, from this list, we can list several basic Christian beliefs that are essential for Christian unity.

1. We are sinful people, helpless to save ourselves.

2. Jesus was sent by God as our rescuer.

3. Christ died in our place to pay for our sin.

4. He really did die (He didn’t just pass out) and was buried.

5. He rose again from the dead appearing to hundreds of eyewitnesses over a period of 40 days.

6. The Bible is our sole authority and arbitrator of what is “True.”

That is the end of the list! Are you surprised? One commentator wrote,

Doctrines other than these core teachings are not essential to Christian unity, however important and beloved they are. Among these is our view of baptism, eschatological positions, and precise details of church governance. Lloyd-Jones writes, “There are certain great doctrines about which there never has been unity in the Christian church, and I take it there never will be, but I would not separate from any brother or sister on matters like that.”[2]

THE IMPORTANCE OF UNITY Don’t miss the reason Jesus gives for wanting us to be unified: “that the world will believe Christ was sent into the world.” In this world that is so deeply divided into so many different interest groups, when a group of people who make up the Christian community truly love each other and show consideration for each other (in spite of their differences), the world will see that something extraordinary is happening. When they see believers in various churches showing affection, respect, and honor to each other, despite their differences in style and preference, it shows that something supernatural is happening. People will be drawn to us to find out what has made such a profound difference.

So, how do we cultivate unity? Here are some suggestions I modified from one commentator

1. Focus on the nature, attributes, splendor, and holiness of God. Filling our minds with God will keep us from being preoccupied with ourselves.

2. Keep your mind, heart, and ears open -- and listen. Remember not all believers use the same terms, nor speak the same “language.” Drawing premature conclusions may cause us to divide from true brothers and sisters. The other advantage of listening is . . . you might learn something!

3. Steer clear of those who measure everyone else by their standards. You may be the next person to be dissected and judged. They are always finding fault in people. These are folks who often jump from church to church because people will not believe or do things the way they think you should.

4. Remind yourself that Jesus died for persons, not principles or systems.

5. Stay out of endless arguments over secondary issues. Remember, Satan tries to use these arguments as a wedge to weaken us and to embarrass the Kingdom. We can talk about these issues (for understanding) but we should not argue![3]

They are good suggestions. Our unity can speak powerfully to a world that is divided. It can demonstrate what civility and respect looks like.

Is it an unrealistic dream that our Savior had for His people? I don’t think so. However, it will not happen until His prayer for us becomes OUR desire and prayer for us. This won’t just happen. It takes work, a diligent pursuit of the Lord’s heart in our lives. But if we embrace it, we can see the church not simply grow . . . but grow up. We can learn to walk, and to run, and if God should so choose, we can see lives change eternally, and we can see it begin right now.

[1] R. Kent Hughes, John: That You May Believe, Preaching the Word (Wheaton, IL: Crossway Books, 1999), 409. [2] Richard D. Phillips, John, ed. Richard D. Phillips, Philip Graham Ryken, and Daniel M. Doriani, 1st ed., vol. 2, Reformed Expository Commentary (Phillipsburg, NJ: P&R Publishing, 2014), 462. [3]Life Application Commentary John 17:17-20