Well, today we return to our study in the gospel of John. So I want you to open your Bibles with me to John chapter 17, John chapter 17. And we're going to look together today at verses 23 and following, but I'm going to begin reading verse 13. Just for our context, we've been away from this for a couple of weeks. So I want to take us back to this. John 17, beginning in verse 13, we're talking about the prayer of Christ for believers. And today specifically, we're addressing the topic of true biblical unity. John 17, verse 13, the word of God says, but now I come to you. And these things I speak in the world that they may have my joy fulfilled in themselves. I have given them your word and the world has hated them because they are not of the world, just as I am not of the world. I do not pray that you should take them out of the world, but that you should keep them from the evil one. They are not of the world, just as I am not of the world. Sanctify them by your truth. Your word is truth. As you sent me into the world, I also have sent them into the world, and for their sakes I sanctify myself, that they also may be sanctified by the truth. I do not pray for these alone, but also for those who will believe in me through their word, that they may be one as you, Father, are in me and I in you, and they also may be one in us, that the world may believe that you sent me. And the glory which you gave me, I have given to them, that they may be one just as we are one. I in them and you and me, that they may be made perfect in one and that the world may know that you have sent me and have loved them as you have loved me. Some of the most powerful words in all of the New Testament are found over in Matthew chapter seven in verse 21, which says this, not everyone who says to me, Lord, Lord shall enter into the kingdom of heaven. It's a very simple statement, but it is also abundantly clear that what Jesus is talking about there is that not everyone who says they are Christians are Christians. Not everyone who says that they believe in Christ and name the name of Christ are indeed true believers. Jesus actually talked about this a number of times in his ministry here on this earth. If you want to turn back and follow with me on a couple of these, you can look at Matthew chapter 13 and in Matthew chapter 13, we have what is called the parable of the kingdom. And in this parable of the kingdom given here in this text, he talks about some very familiar terms that you and I are acquainted with. And here we have that first parable that he gives here in this context of the sower, the seed and the soils in Matthew chapter 13, verse two and following, listen to these words. It says, and great multitudes were gathered together to him. This is verse two, Matthew 13, so that he got in a boat and sat and the whole multitude stood on the shore. Then he spoke many things to them in parables saying, behold, a solar went out to sow. And as he sowed, some seed fell by the wayside and birds came and devoured them. Some fell on the stony places where they did not have much earth and they immediately sprang up, but because they had no depth of earth. And when the sun was up, when they were scorched and because they had no root, they withered away. Verse seven now says, and some fell among the thorns and the thorns sprang up and choked them. And others fell on good ground and yielded a crop, some a hundred fold, some 60 and some 30. In the same text in verse 19, Jesus gives us the interpretation of the parable when he says this, when anyone hears the word of the kingdom, that's the gospel of Christ, and does not understand it, then the wicked one, that is the devil, comes and snatches away what is sown in his heart. This is he who received the seed by the wayside, but he received the seed by the stony places. This is he who hears the word and immediately receives it with joy. Yet he has no root in himself, but endures only for a while. And when tribulation and persecution arises because of the word immediately, he stumbles. Now verse 22, now he who received seed among the thorns is he who hears the word and the cares of the world and the deceitfulness of riches choke out the word and he becomes unfruitful. But he who received the seed on the good ground is he who hears the word and understands it. And indeed bears fruit and produces some a hundred fold, some 60 and some 30. And that parable, Jesus basically is telling us that one out of every four confessions is real. That only one out of four are genuine Christians. Another point to be made in that text is, is that two of the four are temporary converts. There's another parable in the same passage in chapter 13, verse 24. This is the parable of the wheat and the tears. Listen to this. Jesus says, Matthew 13, 24, another parable. He put forth to them saying the kingdom of heaven is like a man who sowed a good seed in his field. But while men slept, the enemy came and so tears among the wheat and went his way. And when the grain was sprouted and produced the crop, then the tears also appeared. So the servant of the owners came and said to him, sir, did you not sow good seed in your field? How then does it have tares? He said to them, an enemy has done this. The servant said to him, do you want us to go and gather them up? But he said, no, lest while you gather up the tares, you also uproot the wheat with them. Let both grow together until the harvest. And at that time of harvest, I will say to the reapers, first gather together the tares and bind them in bundles and burn them but gather the wheat into my barn. Now, tares are a plant that looks very, very similar to wheat. In fact, if you were to look at some of the pictures you can find online, you'll notice that the similarities are quite remarkable. But the difference is clear that the wheat seems somewhat orderly in its fruit on the top or the head of it, but the tare has it a little bit disorganized, it looks like to me. I found out that that tear is actually called Darnell would be the scientific name for it. It has an extensive root system and also can be poisonous if consumed in large amounts. But Jesus gives us the actual interpretation of this same parable in verse 36. Look at it with me. Then Jesus sent the multitude away into the house. and went into the house and his disciples came to him saying, explain to us the parable of the tears in the field. And he answered and said to them, he who sows the good seed is the son of man. The field is the world. The good seeds are the sons of the kingdom, but the tears are the sons of the wicked one. The enemy who sowed them is the devil. The harvest is the end of the age and the reapers are the angels. Therefore, as the tears are gathered and burned into the fire, so it will be at the end of the age, the son of man will send out his angels and they will gather out of the kingdom. All things that offend and those who practice lawlessness and will cast them into the furnace of fire. There will be wailing of net and gnashing of teeth and the righteous will shine forth as the son of the kingdom of their father. He who has ears to hear, let him hear. Now this is a familiar parable to all of us. We probably have heard of the parable of the weed and the tears. And basically it tells us that throughout the world, there are those that look like they're Christians and are not. And they are deeply rooted into the system of religion, but they in fact are poisonous to the church. They're not real genuine Christians. They're not really part of the body of Christ, but they look like they're part of the body of Christ. And they look like they should be part of true Christianity, but in fact, they are not. The point is clear. There are those who look like they're real and they're not. Externally, they can play the part so very well that sometimes you cannot even tell the difference between the two. There is a true church. You realize this, right? There is a true church and a false church. There is what some refer to as the visible church and the invisible church. The visible church is made up of all kinds of people who profess to have a relationship with God or a relationship with Christ. And they are externally religious, but they are not saved. But then there's the invisible church and the invisible church. Sometimes cannot even be distinguished from the visible church, but they are those that are real and genuinely saved and love Christ and love God and want to follow him in obedience. The problem arises, however, when the world looks at the church, they often see a mixed and muddied message given from the church of what it really is too often the church, even the true church enables this confusion by how she acts and what she says. In order for the church to be effective as God would desire her to be on this planet, God desires that her church be holy, that the church be righteous and separate from the world, that it be in the world but not of the world. In fact, it should be purging from herself all leaven of sin and false teaching so that it can appear as the chaste bride of Christ as Jesus Christ would desire so. In history, the visible church, which is made up of believers and unbelievers, has created more confusion about the true gospel than it has helped. The toleration of false teaching and false converts and division and rampant sin has led the world to believe that the message that we have is not trustworthy and is not credible. This has happened largely because the true church, the real church has joined with the false church and many ministry approaches. And we talked about that some time past, whenever I discussed the misinterpretation of John 17, when Jesus says he praised that they would be one. And many have interpreted that to mean that he desires that all religions come together as one. In fact, that is what is called the ecumenical movement or the ecumenical approach to ministry. And many of the true church, sadly have joined arms and joined hands with the false church, even the false visible church. And an accomplished to in a, in a, in a point to accomplish a moral good, but in fact have confused the gospel message. And then to add to that. That's bad enough as it is, but to add to that the cowardice of preachers and the unwillingness of them to call out false teaching and the absolute unwillingness to confront sin and the purity of the church, then add to that the fuel that the internet gives by its very presence and allowing literally wacky false teachers to be presented as the true church. In this prayer, what Jesus is praying for Is unity. Listen to this in the true church. In the one church, the one that is made up of real genuine believers, all those who have believed in all those that will believe he understands the necessity of the true genuine church being one of unity so that it can be effective. Listen to this in its evangelism and its expansion. A divided and confused church, a church that is infiltrated by unbelievers. And another way to say that a doctrinally dumb church is a weapon to be used by the world against the very message of the church. Jesus knows that. And he knows that it's essential in the plan of God that the church be one so that it can be effective in its mission on this planet. I think it's essential for us to understand that. And we're going to see that more as we move along. Now, as we looked at the last couple of studies on this, and I don't want to go back into it in detail because we don't have time, frankly, but you need to understand that what Jesus is not saying here about this unity. He's not saying that there will be no division in the church because there will be, because there are fleshly people in the church. There are people who are not yielding to the spirit of God and obedient. Sometimes there can be divisions in the church that happens because of sin. He's not talking about the lack of denominations among evangelicals. There could be Presbyterians, Methodists, Baptists, and other denominations, and he's not talking about that, that we should banish all denominations. And he's not talking about that we should not have doctrine in the church because doctrine would divide. So we need to banish all doctrine because it's too, too divisive in the church. He's not saying that. And the last point we covered in detail was, is that he's not saying that there should not be any defection in the church, meaning that there should not be lines drawn between false religion and true religion between false churches and true churches. There should be lines drawn and they should be very clear. In fact, I believe one of the reasons why we have such trouble with our witness to the world is because the lines have been blurred. The clarity, and as one has said, the perpiscuity of the church's defined doctrine and its stand on the gospel has been so corrupted and so convoluted that it's almost impossible to distinguish between the true church and the false church. And so whenever the world looks at the church, What they usually see is what's presented on TBN or what they see in the bookstore. It's not the true church that they see. And I believe this lies really at the feet of the church itself and the leadership of the churches and the lack of willingness of the churches to confront this and to set themselves apart from it. So as we come to our text here, what we find is that Jesus is praying for unity. He is praying for oneness. And we've already seen what that isn't, but now we need to find out what it is. What is it that Jesus is asking for here? Look at verse 11. This is John 17. Now we're back there. We're asking the question. What exactly does Jesus mean? Whenever he says that he prays that they may be one. The references to one or oneness or unity are mentioned a number of times. The first is found in chapter 17, verse 11, where at the end of the verse, it says that they may be one as we are. In verse 21, Jesus says that they all may be one. And then later in the verse, that they also may be one in us. And then in John 17, 22, and the glory which you gave me, I have given to them that they may be one. Verse 23 also says, I am them and you and me, that they may be made perfect in one. So these verses clearly illustrate the emphasis of Jesus Christ on the need for being one. What exactly does that mean though? Well, I think if we look at the text just explains itself, there are some deeper things we'll look at in just a moment, but just on the surface, look at what he says in verse 11, again, back up there and see this. He says that they may be one. And here's the key as we are, that they may be one as we are. And then in verse 21, you see it again that they all may be one as you father are in me and I in you that they also may be one in us. Then verse 22, Jesus says that they may be one just as we are. So we're starting to get an idea of what Jesus is saying here, that this is not some very simple external unity he's talking about. He's getting deeper than that because he's talking about a unity that has something to do with the very relationship of God, the father, with God, the son, that he wants us to be one as they are one. I believe also one of the keys is found in verse 22 and verse 23, where the word that is translated in the new King James version may be. I'm not sure how your translation may translate that, but basically that is a translation of what they call an IME verb in the Greek language. It has the idea of existence. It's a present tense verb, meaning that this is something that Jesus is desiring, not for one time, but for all time, if you will, for it to be continually this way. Verse 22, again, that they may be one. Another way of rendering that would be this, that they may exist as one. He's not asking us to listen to this. He's not asking us to become something that we're not. He's asking us to continue to exist as we are, which is unique. So this is going to move us away from that idea that so many have whenever they approach this text, that what Jesus is talking about is some superficial external unity, that we all agree, we all get together, and there may not be any divisions doctrinally, there may not be any denominational differences or whatever. He's not talking about that at all. That is not what he has in mind. Whenever he uses the word aymi here, translated maybe, In this text, that is the same exact word that is used over in John 8, 58, when Jesus said, says this before Abraham came into being, Jesus says, I am, that's the word. I mean, and what he's saying is this, I have always existed. He's talking about being in fact, lexicons referred to this actual verb as a, to be verb. It's kind of hard to explain, but basically the best way to understand it is he's talking about your permanent existence. How you exist. So whenever you begin to boil this down to what Jesus is actually referring to, he's beginning to talk about our nature, who we actually are, who we are as we exist, not something that we can become, but something that we are. And also you have the word that is translated here in the English text, just, or just as, it's the Greek word kathos, and it simply means to be compared to, or to the extent of, or to proportion of, or to be fully exactly like. And he's not saying that we're going to be one exactly like God is one in the sense that we will be God. That's not what he's talking about. But as you have the existence of God, the father in God, the son, and God, the son, and God, the father, and they have eternally existed as one God, he's telling us that we should also be one, one body. One in Christ. He's talking about character, quality, nature, as the father is in the son and the son is in the father. So you and I are to be the same as believers. We are all one because we have one nature. We're all the same. You find this illustrated over in John 14. If you'll back up there just for a moment in John 14, seven. Jesus is talking to his disciples and he says this if you had known me This is John 14 7 if you had known me you would have known my father also and from now on You know him and have seen him Well, you say okay, how'd that work out? Well Philip asked the question Lord show us the father and that will be sufficient for us good question and Jesus says to him these words in verse 9 and Have I been with you so long and yet you have not known me, Philip. He who has seen me has seen the father. So how can you say that? Show us the father. What is Jesus saying there? He's simply saying, listen, I am exactly the same. As the father and the father is the same as me. Now that gets into the Trinity, and I understand that that gets confusing to all of us, because the Bible teaches that God exists as three persons, distinct persons, yet one God, and yet Jesus says, you see me, you see the Father, you see the Father, you see me. The point is they are one in essence. They are one in essence. They may be distinct persons in the Trinity, in the Godhead, but they are one in essence. So if you see Jesus, you see the full essence of God. You don't see less than God. You don't see half of God. You see all of God in Christ. He is the full display of God's glory put forth here on this earth in the person of Jesus Christ. So many, of course, whenever they come to this text and they hear these words that Jesus is praying for oneness, they think about purpose and mission and that God wants us to be all in agreement, that we should reach the lost and that we should teach the word and that we should give to the church and all of these things like that. That is an expression of what Jesus is saying, but that is not what Jesus is talking about. He's talking about the oneness that comes with the union that you and I have with God through Christ. That's what he's talking about. Another way of saying that and simplifying that is this. He's literally praying for the future salvation of all of the body of Christ. That they all would be one. In other words, as the fulfillment of the great commission happens, and as the church continues to grow and to spread throughout the world, that all that God saves will be one in one body. That's what he's praying for. And that would happen because they would be made in verse 23, made perfect in one. They would all have the same quality, the same nature, the same essence. Why? Because all of us, listen to this, get the same spirit. We get the same spirit of God. We have the same baptism in Christ. We have all of those same things. So no matter where you come from, what background you may have, No matter what religion background you may come from, whenever you come to Christ and you are baptized into Christ through salvation, you all become one body in Christ, one essence. In other words, I am just as much the same as you are in Christ. We're all united together. That's why the Bible can say there's neither Jew nor Gentile, slave nor free, male nor female in Christ. Why? Because we're all one in Christ. We're all one in Him, united to Him. As it even said in Romans, if you remember in chapter six of Romans, it says that we were baptized into his death, burial and resurrection. All of us were placed into Christ. It says in Romans chapter five, that we were in Christ as we were once in Adam. Now we're in Christ. So how does this happen? How does this actually come to place where we're all one together? Well, I believe if you'll note that this oneness happens as a result of salvation, that's how it happens. Whenever someone is saved, they are united with Christ and they are united with the rest of the body of Christ, not just what's here, listen to this, not just what's here today, but with all of the body of Christ from the very beginning, all the way back to Adam. Adam's just as much part of the body of Christ as you are. Saved the same way. He looked forward to the cross, look forward to the Messiah coming. We look back to what Jesus has accomplished, but there's all one body, one bride, one church. And so whenever we find out how that happens, ultimately it comes through the great work of salvation, where we're all brought into the same body, the same church. Another way of looking at this is found in verse 22 and verse 23. Again, look at it with me. Jesus says, and the glory which you gave me, I have given to them. Here's the purpose that they may be one. So you get an idea of the way they become one is by getting the same glory that was given to the sun. Well, if you're like me and you read that, you can start asking questions. What exactly is he talking about here? Is he talking about getting a brilliant light? Is he talking about getting a halo? Is he talking about just having some brilliant glory surrounding you? What is he talking about when he says that God gave to his disciples and gave to us the same glory that the father gave to him? What is he referring to? Well, whenever you go back and you look at the rest of scripture and you compare all of scripture with this, you find out first of all, that the first thing he's not talking about is the essential glory of God. In other words, you're not getting the same glory that God has in the sense of his full, complete glory. God only has that. But also we're not going to have the same glory that Jesus set aside whenever he came down to this planet as a slave to be obedient to the cross as Philippians two says. But the kind of glory I believe he's talking about is the glory that God, the father gave to Jesus Christ in the perfect incarnation. Whenever he came to this planet, lived a perfect life, died a perfect death and atonement on the cross. And God is glorified in Christ and Christ is glorified in the work of redemption. And so when he says that the glory, which you gave me, which was the glory that he would experience in his incarnation, perfect life and death and burial and resurrection, he says, I have given them all to my disciples, all those that believe. So another way of saying that is this is that Jesus Christ is granted to those who believe, meaning that we get his full life. We get his full righteousness. We get his full death. We get his full barrel and resurrection. We get all of Christ. His glory. Another way of saying that in a synonym is, is that you get saved. You get saved. That's the idea. He even summarizes it in verse 23. Look at it. He explains it. You say, you want to know what it means? Whenever Jesus says that to give them the same glory that I got here, it is verse 23. I am them and you and me. What is that? That's the summation of what salvation is. As Ephesians one says repeatedly over and over again, you are in Christ. In Christ and being in Christ, you are identified with Christ. When God looks at you, God, the father looks at you. He sees Jesus Christ. You are in him. And he is in you. And so that's the way we find the beginning of this. Also another way to consider this. is John chapter one, verse 14, just back up there for a moment. As you look at the way John used this idea, John one 14, he says this and the word became flesh and dwelt among us. Now we're, we're at this time period of Christmas when we think about Jesus Christ coming and tabernacling, tabernacling among us and living among us. And that's exactly what this is talking about here in John 14, Jesus coming and becoming incarnate in the flesh. And John 1 14, it says, and the word became flesh and dwelt among us. And listen to this and we beheld his glory. What glory, the glory of the incarnate perfect son of God. That's what he's talking about. We beheld his glory, the glory as of the only begotten, only unique son of God of the father. And then he says full of what grace and truth, full of unmerited favor towards centers and truth of the gospel of Christ in John one 16, same chapter. It says, and of his fullness, we have what. received. That's exactly what Jesus is talking about. That glory that we beheld, his perfect life, his perfect death and atonement, full of grace and truth of that fullness we have received. We have received all of that in the perfect work of salvation. Now, it also needs to be noted because you cannot miss this. It must be made abundantly clear that this union, this oneness that we have with Christ cannot happen unless you believe the truth. Okay, that must be made clear. In other words, it isn't just up to your own personal discretion as to what you believe doctrinally about Christ or the atonement. It's just not up to your will. If you will, to make that decision, God has already determined all of that. What the truth of the gospel is you and I are obligated and commanded to believe what the gospel says. And so if you're going to have true unity that he's talking about here, then you must believe the truth as set forth in scripture. Not as you decided to be. And that's where I believe this unity has broken down over the years because what's happened is as we have slowly dumbed down our doctrine and we have removed certain distinctives from our doctrine, we are allowing the doors to be opened to more and more false religion. And now the true reflection of biblical unity is no longer there. What Jesus is praying for here, that oneness has been corrupted. by the false teaching and the allowance of that in the church itself. John 17, 17, you remember what he said? And again, this is the context we're looking at. John 17, 17, sanctify them by your what? Your truth, your word is truth. And then also in John 15 verse three and following, Jesus says this, you are already clean because of the word. Another way of saying the truth, you're already clean because of the truth, which I've spoken to you. And then he says in verse four of John 15, abide or remain in me and I in you. As a branch cannot bear fruit of itself unless it abides in the vine, neither can you unless you abide in me. I am the vine and you are the branches. He who continues to remain in me and I in him bears much fruit for without me, you can do nothing. That's a whole nother way of saying that oneness. If you could, if it helps you with that, think about the vine and the branches. What are you when you're in the vine, you are one with Christ. You're not this little independent, individual little branch over here doing your own thing. You can't do anything apart from the vine. You have to be in the vine to produce the fruit. So to be one with Christ in Christ is what he's talking about in oneness. The prayer that he has here for us to be one, to be United with Christ. has to depend upon the full acceptance of the truth of the gospel. Genuine salvation. You have to become a new creature in Christ. In order for us to have the same mission and the same purpose and the same direction, which would be an expression of that oneness, we have to have the same Christ. We have to have the same oneness, the same salvation. As one author said this, he said, despite their outward denominational differences, all true Christians are spiritually united by regeneration. in their belief that salvation is by grace alone, through faith alone in Christ alone, and their commitment to the absolute authority of scripture. All those who savingly believe in the Lord Jesus Christ are one body in Christ, although individually members of one another. D.A. Carson, in his commentary, notes that unity for which Christ prayed here is, and I quote, is not achieved by hunting enthusiastically for the lowest common theological denominator. but by common adherence to the apostolic gospel, by love that is joyfully and self-sacrificing, by undaunted commitment to the shared goals of the mission with which Jesus and the followers were charged. Another way of saying that is what another author said, by the power of God, believers united in spiritual life are also united in purpose, share the same mission, proclaim the same gospel, and manifest the same holiness. That comes from the very essence of us being the same. You realize that every one of us in here got saved the same way? Every one of us. We were regenerated by the same power of the same spirit. It took just as much power to save me as it did you. It took just as much as the spirit of God's work in my life to save me and transform me and make me a new creation in Christ as it does you. And you have just as much the spirit of God as I do. Nobody has more than the other guy does. You have 100% of the spirit. Whether you yield to him is a whole nother issue there. But the point is we are one, we are one body. That is what is amazing about this. You can go throughout any part of the world as we do in this church. You go to different parts of the world, you walk up to someone you've never met before. You don't know him from anybody or her and yet they know Christ and there's immediate oneness because we're all regenerated and we're all part of the same body. We're all part of the same family. And if you don't like me now, you got to spend eternity with me in heaven. We're all part of the same body. We're going to be together forever because we are one and we're one where in Christ. As the Bible teaches this in Ephesians chapter four and verse six, when it speaks about this essence of unity that we have, it says that there's one body. There's one spirit, one hope, one Lord, one faith, one baptism, and one God, the father, who's overall that's one. We all have the same one. And this produces a true singular church. Not multiple churches, not many brides, but one bride, one church, one flock, as John 10, 16 says, and other sheep I have, Jesus says, which are not of this fold, talking about Israel, them I also must bring of the Gentiles and they will hear my voice and they will be one flock with one shepherd. God takes Israel and Gentiles and brings them together into one body, one flock, one church. They also have what it says in Romans 12 5 so we being many are one body individually members of one another. First Corinthians 12 12 says for as one body for as the body is one and has many members but all the members of that one body being many are one so also is Christ. Galatians 3 28 there's neither Jew nor Greek nor slave nor free there's neither male nor female for you are all one in Christ Jesus. That's what he's talking about here. The essence of our oneness. And by the way, that essence of unity in Christ and that oneness in Christ that we all have together is what expresses our mission in unity. Let me give you an illustration of this back up to John five and John five, verse 16. It says this in verse 16 of John 5, for this reason, the Jews persecuted Jesus and sought to kill him because he had done these things on the Sabbath. He had healed a man on the Sabbath day. And so the Jews, the religious leaders, didn't think too highly of that. So they were about to address that. And in verse 17, it says, and Jesus answered them and said, my father has been working until now, and I have been working. Now what I want you to notice here is this, is that the father and the son are one essence. They're one. The father's in the son, the son's in the father. Whatever the father does, the son does. Whatever the son does, the father does. And so in this context, he says, my father has been working until now, and I have been working. In other words, we're one essence. Therefore, whatever I do, the father does. Whatever the father does, I do. Verse 18, therefore, the Jews sought all the more to kill him because he not only had broken the Sabbath, but also said that God was his father, making himself equal with God. That's just a good text to go to whenever you want to show someone that Jesus Christ is God, because that's what they understood correctly, and that's what Jesus Christ was saying. But that's not the point this morning. Look at verse 19. Then Jesus answered and said to them, most assuredly, I say to you, the son can do nothing of himself. But what he sees the father do for whatever he does, the son also does in like manner. And the father loves the son and shows him all things that he himself does and will show him greater works than these that he, that you may marvel for as the father raises the dead and gives life to them. So also the son gives life to whomever he will. The Father judges no one, but has committed all judgment to the Son, that all should honor the Son just as they honor the Father. He who does not honor the Son does not honor the Father who sent me." What in the world is he saying? He's simply saying, listen, we are one and we're one in mission because we're one in essence. Whatever the Father does, the Son does. So the mission is united because we're all one together. That's what makes the church united. That's what brings true expression of what we would call external physical unity in mission and purpose, because we are truly one in essence. We have the same Christ, the same God, the same salvation, the same regeneration, the same justification, the same on and on the list would go that we have. Now, I don't want to leave that without just putting one thought out here that there is a desire of God for true external unity. God doesn't desire that his church be divided. And even as Mark so clearly pointed last week to that text in Philippians two, and you can read Philippians for yourself, but listen to what it says. Paul said, fulfill my joy and be like-minded having the same love being of one accord and of one mind. In other words, yes, you are of one essence, but I also want you to express that. Put it in play, show it to the world. In Philippians 3.16, nevertheless, to the degree that we have already attained, let us walk by the same rule. Let us be of the same mind. And even in Philippians 4.2, he's correcting some division in the church. And he says, I implore you Uodia and I implore Syntyche to be of the same mind in the Lord. In other words, be unified. You are one already together as one body in Christ. Why not express that same unity? Listen, it is an absolute total contradiction of our very nature in essence for the church to be divided. Because that tells us that we don't really understand what our true nature is in Christ, our unity with Christ. I know that probably some of you are thinking, because we probably have had now five messages on unity, that you think there's something divided. There's nothing divided in this church. This has been one of the most unified, loving churches I've ever been in. I've been in churches that divided, and it does get pretty nasty. But I'll tell you the truth. This is a wonderful church that understands true biblical unity and love for one another. So you can set your heart and mind at ease. Everything's fine here, but apparently God wants us to hear something because he keeps giving it to us. Or maybe I'm just a long winded preacher. It's one of the two. Don't agree with that. Anyway, so the oneness here is clearly that this passage is talking about in Philippians, a manifestation of the true biblical unity that comes in essence. He's not just talking about purpose and mission. He's talking about essence that expresses itself in that. It makes all believers of all ages, all backgrounds, all nationalities one because we have the same life, the same savior, the same union with Christ. We are all baptized, placed into Christ. We all died with Christ. We were all buried with him. We all rose to newness of life. We all have been made new creations in Christ. But I also want you to notice something else. I don't want to leave this because I think this is so, so very important. Verse 20 and 21 and also 23 talk about the need for this unity, this expression of oneness. If you did note there, look at verse 21, the end of the verse, it says that the world may believe that you sent me. And then I think it's the middle of verse 23, that the world may know that you have sent me. In other words, as I pointed out last time that we came together and looked at this, is that this unity that he's talking about, this oneness of essence that he's referring to is absolutely essential to the mission of the church. It's absolutely essential, not only to the mission of the church, but it's absolutely essential to the believability of the message that we proclaim. I mean, you've all heard this. I know you have. You probably have talked to someone somewhere that says, you know what, I would be a Christian if it wasn't for those Christians down the road. Or I would have believed a long time ago about the gospel of Christ, but that church is just a bunch of hypocrites. You've heard that. I have. I've heard it many, many times. And some of it may be legit and some of it may not be necessarily legit because some have used that as a excuse. But the point is, is that this is so essential that Jesus Christ himself made it clear that without this oneness that he's talking about here, the world may not believe our message. That's an amazing thing to consider. This is not a theologian in a university saying this somewhere. This is not just a Baptist minister saying this. This is Jesus Christ saying this. Now those who are of the, what they call the hyper Calvinist persuasion would tell us that we don't need to preach or pray or evangelize or share the gospel, or it doesn't even necessarily matter how you live because God's going to save who he's going to save. And that's the way it is. And who cares? Frankly, folks, this may be a Reformed church, but we don't believe in hyper-Calvinism. We believe in the Reformed doctrines, yes, and that Reformed doctrine teaches, yes, God is sovereign in His salvation, but He's chosen the means to get people saved. And you and I have to be obedient to those means to see those people come to Christ. And I think whenever I see this in this text, it reminds me that even though God has a plan, Jesus knows the plan, right? I mean, obviously, He's part of it. He even says many times in John 17, all that the Father gives me will come to me. And he gives thanks to God the Father for giving to him those that would be saved. This is all part of the plan, but Jesus doesn't say, okay, the plan's in play. Let's all just kick back and see what happens and watch it happen. Even though the plan is definitely definitive and it will happen according to God's sovereign purposes, but I grant you that the only way God has decided that it will happen is through the means that he's chosen for it to happen. Another way of looking at it is like this. If you had a very skilled architect and builder who was building this beautiful building, And he had to hire a number of contractors and a number of skilled laborers to come in and build that building. You can sit there over on your pew, if you will, and watch him build the building, or you can get involved in it and start carrying some brick. And so it is with us as Christians. We're not to be sitting on the pews, just waiting for things to happen, hoping that God will fulfill his plan and watch it happen. We are part of the plan. We're part of it. What I'm doing this morning is not an exercise in futility, folks. It is actually part of the plan of God that this would happen. And another way of considering that is this, is not only does God choose to use what we're doing here today, such as preaching and teaching and sharing of the gospel, he's chosen to use the church. He's chosen to use prayer. He's chosen to use the communion of the saints. Even he's chosen to use the Lord's supper. And baptism as a means of doing that. Let me share with you a text. If you'll turn there with me quickly, look at a second Timothy chapter two, second Timothy chapter two. And second Timothy chapter two in verse one and following, listen to the apostle Paul's words. Second Timothy two one. He says you, therefore my son be strong in the grace that is in Christ Jesus. And the things that you have heard from me among many witnesses, commit these to faithful men who will be able to teach others also." Now, the Apostle Paul was as reformed in his theology as you possibly could get. But the Apostle Paul was not a hyper Calvinist. He actually believed that there was a means to the end, to accomplish the end. He even tells Timothy, you take what I've told you and you commit it to faithful men so that these faithful men will be able to teach other men also. And then in verse three, he says, you therefore must endure hardship as a good soldier of Christ. I mean, listen, if he's going to be the guy who abandons all means, why go through all that? Why endure like a soldier the hardship? Why not just kick back, live the easy life and let God carry out his plan? That's not the way God has designed it. Verse seven, therefore, he says, consider what I say, and may the Lord give you understanding in all things. Remember, he says in verse eight, that Jesus Christ, the seed of David, was raised from the dead according to the gospel, for which I suffer trouble as an evildoer, even to the point of chains, but the word of God is not chained. Now I want you to notice verse 10. You need to underline this verse. He says, therefore, I endure all things for the sake of the elect, that they may also obtain salvation. In other words, Paul says, I suffer, I am beaten, I'm thrown out of the cities and left for dead because for the purpose of the elect that they might get saved. Paul understands that the means God has chosen is to ordain, that the apostle Paul would preach the gospel, that he would suffer at the hands of the enemies of the gospel, that he would indeed be even put in prison multiple times at the point of death, all for the point of enduring all of that, that the elect might get saved. And this is what Jesus is talking about. Go back to John 17. He says this, Jesus had the same exact theology as the apostle Paul. Probably would be better to say it that the apostle Paul had the exact same theology as Jesus. And that's where Paul got it from. In verse 6 of John 17, here's Jesus' own ideas of this means accomplishing the end. He says, I have manifested your name to these men. Why? Because that's the means God's chosen, to make it clear to these men so that they know Christ. Verse 8, chapter 17, for I have given to them the words which you have given to me, and they have received them. Verse nine, I pray for them. Why do you pray for them, Jesus? If the plan's gonna happen, why in the world would you pray? He says in verse 13, I speak. And then at the end of verse 13, that they may have my joy fulfilled in them. Verse 15, he says, I pray that you should keep them from the evil one. Why would you pray Jesus if the plan is going to happen no matter what? He says in verse 17, sanctify them by your truth. He says in verse 19, I sanctify myself that they also may be sanctified. In other words, Jesus sees there's a means to getting to the end. The means is Him coming, dying, giving His life so that they can live, giving them the words of life, the truth, the gospel, the apostles' doctrine, so that they can live the life God's called them to live and to be sanctified in the truth. And then in this text that we're looking at, He prays that they may be one that the world may believe and that the world may know. What he's simply saying is that God has determined that the evangelistic efforts and the expansion of the church depends upon the expression of this oneness to the world. Frankly, folks, there's no way around that. We've missed this in the church. I really believe we have. We've missed this point. What I mean by that is this. We're pretty good at the preaching part. We're pretty good at the teaching part. We're really good at the fellowship part and eating. We're good at all of that, but when it comes to the prayer part, we are really weak, very weak. And if the son of God himself, Jesus, the second person of the Trinity felt the importance of praying for the believers so that they could be one so that the world would come to know Christ, what in the world are we doing when we're not doing that? What are we doing? Do we think that evangelism is going to happen? That people are going to come to Christ just because it's going to happen and God's not going to use our prayers? Frankly, folks, I think we've missed it. Our gatherings for prayer at this church are pathetic. I'm thankful for the ones who come, but it's pathetic. It really is. We have very few who participate. I know many can't come for distances, but some of you could. And I grant you, it is a discipline to pray. It is not easy to pray. It's easy. I like with me, I remember years ago, whenever I was first saved and I tried to practice some discipline of praying and I had learned my initial discipline of praying from Charles Stanley. So I practiced what he did. He got on his floor in his study and prayed for hours. Well, I got on my floor beside my bed in my bedroom and fell asleep. It's tough. It is. That's why we talk about the disciplines of the Christian life. And one of those is prayer. And listen, if we're not praying for your lost loved one to come to Christ or your friend or your coworker to come to Christ, if you're not compassionate about that and passionate about that, why do you expect them to come? Why are we not surprised that no one confesses Christ? Whenever we don't even spend enough time in prayer to even wink at must less to see any kind of effort in it. We understand that prayer is essential. We read it all the time. We read books about it. We understand what it says. Theologically, we read about it in the new Testament. We know that the new Testament prayed. We know that the apostles prayed. We know that Jesus prayed, but what happened to us? What happened? Every movement of God, without exception, every great missionary movement of God was bathed in continual, constant prayer. Every one of them. So listen, if Jesus Christ thought it was important to pray, got awfully quiet in here. If Jesus Christ thought it was important to pray and he's the author and the finisher of the faith, he's the one who started it and completes it. And yet he saw the need to give himself over to the discipline of prayer for those that are lost so that they may see the true unity of the church. Then you and I should sense that we need to give ourselves to the same thing. So in verse 21, please don't miss those. I know we've talked about them before, but don't miss the importance of that. The emphasis that Jesus places on that twice. He says that, that the world may know and that the world may believe that the father sent me. I guess we need to ask the question exactly, what is he talking about here? When he said that they may believe that you sent me, what exactly is he referring to? Well, basically he's referring to the gospel because the sending of the son by the father is the, is the, is the gospel is the good news. And another way of looking at it is the end of verse 23. Look at it with me. He says that the world may know that you have sent me and have loved them as you have loved me. In other words, this oneness expresses to the world the reality that Jesus Christ is in fact real and that he indeed did change our lives and that he indeed does love us because we show the same kind of love toward one another in our unity. This is indeed the gospel that the world may know that you have sent me. You remember what it says? In John chapter three in verse 16, for God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten son, right? God sent his son, it says into the world to save the world. Verse 17. This is the point. God did not send his son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world might believe in him. Yet more and more people do not understand that and do not see that. So we have to ask the question. Okay. We get it. The unity with Christ, the union with Christ. And frankly, folks, that's invisible. I talked about the visible church and the invisible church. Well, the union you and I have with Christ is invisible. You can't touch it. You can't see it. I mean, can any of you go back and produce a picture of you being baptized with Jesus Christ, being buried with him and raised to newness of life? Do you have a picture of you being recreated and you being spiritually dead and being risen to spiritual life? There's nothing visible there. So how is it that this world that needs to see this unity, how in the world are they going to see something that is invisible? Well, it comes simply by how we express it. If you're truly regenerated, if you're truly part of the body of Christ, then there will be a visible manifestation of that oneness with Christ. Another way of saying that is what is talked about in Romans 1 in verse 19, when it talks about how all the world can see that there is a God by the creation, right? It says that. It says in verse 19 of Romans 1, because what may be known of God is made clear to them, for God has shown it to them, for since the creation of the world, his invisible attributes or his invisible characteristics are clearly seen. So the invisible God who cannot be seen is seen by what he has made. In other words, you can understand who God is and his character by what he has done. So is the same for us. In fact, that oneness that is invisible, that unity that Jesus prayed for, that cannot be seen, can be seen by what we do and what we say. Listen to what it says in John 3 19. It says, and this is the condemnation that light is coming to the world and many love darkness rather than light because their deeds were evil for everyone practicing evil hates the light and does not come to the light. Lest as evil deeds should be exposed, but he who does the truth comes to the light that his deeds may be clearly seen that they have been wrought or perfected or done by God. You also have verses like 1 John 3, 7. Listen to this. Little children, let no one deceive you. He who practices righteousness is righteous, just as he is righteous. He who sins is of the devil, for the devil has sinned from the beginning. For this purpose, the Son of God was manifest, or made clear, that he might destroy the works of the devil. Now listen to these words. Whoever has been born of God does not continue in sin, for his seed remains in him, and he cannot sin because he has been born of God. Now listen to the next verse. In this, what I just read, the children of God and the children of the devil are made clear. Whoever does not practice righteousness is not of God. So the point is, you want to show the world the oneness? The fact that you are united with Christ? It literally fleshes out in our behavior, how we live and what we say. Matthew 5, 14, you are the light of the world. The city is a city that is set on a hill cannot be hidden, nor do they light a lamp and put it under a basket, but on a lamp stand that it gives light to all who are in the house. Let your light shine before men that they may see your good works and glorify your father in heaven. There it is. Titus 1.16, they profess, talking about those who are part of the visible church, but are not truly saved. They profess to know God, but in works, they deny him being abominable and disobedient and disqualified in every good work. The Bible also refers to it like this in Titus 2, it talks about that what we do will either adorn the gospel of God or will cause those in the world to blaspheme the gospel of God. The unified testimony, a unified testimony of the oneness of the true church is a powerful apologetic of the gospel of Christ. Listen, you can't explain a changed life. You can't explain someone who used to chase after sin and hate God and have no desire for him and to be changed and turned around and made a lover of Christ and a lover of God. You can't explain that apart from union with God through Christ. There's no way to explain that. You take a man like Saul, who was on his way to Damascus to take Christians under his hands and to eventually put them to death. And yet God shows up dramatically on the Damascus road and transforms him and changes him and regenerates him, resurrects him to spiritual life and makes him a new man in Christ. And he becomes a prophet and a pastor and a missionary to the Gentiles. radically changed. So the point is, is that the only way that we can see this true oneness and the world can notice it is by the very lives that are changed in Christ. I close with this last statement. The unified oneness that we've spent so much time discussing of millions of Christians throughout the ages, believer after believer, Christian after Christian, who were saved and forgiven and transformed by the life and death of Christ, resurrected from spiritual death and brought to new life and putting on a display of the love of God in Christ in obedience to his word is a powerful testimony to the veracity and the validity and the sufficiency of the gospel of Christ. That's what Jesus means by that. And that's why he prayed for that. He wants the world to see a true church, a genuine church, a real church, not a confused church, not a doctrinally dumb church, not one that is watered down and convoluted with sin and evil and debauchery. He wants to see a pure bride expressed to the world that shows the true union of Christ with his church. And I pray that you here today know Christ. The only way that you can come to know Jesus Christ as your Savior and Lord and be part of that one body is to confess Him as your Savior and Lord. You must be willing to believe. Do you believe the gospel? Do you believe that Jesus Christ came and died on the cross for your sin? Do you believe that He's the full satisfaction of the wrath of God for your violation of the law of God? Are you willing to confess Him as your Savior? Are you willing to give your life to Him and love Him as your Lord? Are you willing to follow Him? Because if you're not, folks, you're not part of the body of Christ. You're part of a religion that's not a true religion, part of the visible church, but not part of the invisible church. And if you're here as a Christian today, I think there's words that we've heard today that all of us could kind of work on, right? We could all repent in some place and we all could learn to do better in others and we could all say, Lord, I want to make sure that I fulfill that prayer that you prayed of oneness to the world so that they see a true expression of your unity with your church. Let's just ask God for that today. Let's pray together.