Well, good morning each and every one of you, and welcome this morning to our Sunday school. This is our last meeting together in the past few weeks. For those who were there, we went through the meditation on prayer, and we were looking at the example of the high priestly prayer of Jesus in John 17. And in connection with that, we saw how John Owen's little book on Communion with God helps us to frame that. To just have a little recap of our journey in these past weeks. We saw, first of all, in our first meeting, we saw that the Master was praying for the glory of the Son. You remember from verses one through five of John 17 that the prayer needed to have this Trinitarian foundation for us as well as for Christ. And that Christ is the only mediator between us and the Father and keeping him as mediator in our prayer for eternal life and salvation. And we saw also that the prayers can be received only on the basis of the obedience of Christ. that makes those prayers acceptable to the Father. And then the second week we saw that the Master was praying for the Word of God received by the disciple, and then for the Word of God sanctifying the disciples. And in that regard, verses 6-10 and then 11-19, we see that the prayer itself is connected to the Word of God. It is a two-way street communication. When we pray, but we also hear His voice in the Word. We saw that prayer must take away every distraction from the world, and how worldliness is a problem in our communion with God. And last week, as we look at the Word of God sanctifying the disciples, in verses 11 to 19, we saw that, again, He was praying to keep the disciples and sanctify them, so that work continues in sanctification. and prayer and the Word of God as the mean of sanctification. Remember the analogy that we used. It's like having those cabinets bought at Ikea, but if I don't look at the instruction, then it will be pointless. And so sanctification is pointless unless we abide in the Word of God. And then we saw that Christ was praying sanctify, I sanctify myself, right? And we saw that that means that he's transferring his holiness to us. Not that he needed to sanctify himself, but he transferred that holiness and so he's the agent of holiness and through the Word of God again. And the Word of God sanctify us, the world hate us and despise us. And so, We saw in connection of this, now we come to the climax of all this prayer, from verses 20 to 26, where the focus of today will be the Christian unity, and unity among Christians. John Owen, we saw, speaks about this communion that consisted of giving and receiving, mutual indwelling, rooted in the Trinity, and therefore the burden of Christ today leads us to the outcome of this communion with God, which is oneness with God. God, as there is oneness in the Trinity, and oneness with one another as Christians. He wants us to, again, be one body, and Christ consecrates himself, and he says, if you want to be my disciple, and if we want to achieve anything at all in our Christian life, then we must be giving ourselves willingly to his work, and to one another in the church. This is our testimony, which then, as Christ will say to us, will draw people to Himself, will be the instrument and the tool that will bring people to conviction of sin and salvation, as we love one another in the Church, not just individuals. but also as being part of the universal Church of God, the mystical body of the Church, which is more than our local church. But remember that this unity is not just a physical and outward unity, institutional unity, a label that you put upon an association or whatever. No, this is a unity that is rooted in the character of God, the Trinity, and it is a spiritual unity. Therefore, Christ is not just the model of this unity, But by him being the second person of the Trinity, makes him the foundation of unity, so that in order to have unity among Christian, we need to have Christ as our foundation. And so that we can bear fruits, and then Christ's mission is accomplished. Can anyone read to us, therefore, verses 20 to 26? Any volunteer? Okay. By this point, I hope that as we walk through this passage through the past weeks, I hope that it's clear this overall picture that Christ is painting in this passage. Can anyone tell me what was the main focus of Christ's prayer and the desire of Christ through the whole chapter? Ten points for the one who has the right answer. That they may be one, that's the focus of today, yes. But what is the overall arching, like throughout, you know, like we talk about the glory of Christ, we talk about the word received by the disciple, the word sanctifying, and now the unity, right? And what is the common thread? Anybody knows? Communion? Yeah, it is. I mean, there is the communion, but what is the burden behind that communion? He's definitely having communion with the Father, but he's praying for something. Yes, you're getting close to it. All the aspects of communion with the Father, the dishonest with the Father, He's praying that they may be extended to the disciples and then by extension even today to all of us as Christians. And so whether it's love, knowledge, being one, sanctified, as you saw last week, sent ones, being outside of the world, being kept, I in me and me in you, what is mine is yours, glorify, and that the glory that they see and they witness. So you see all these aspects, He's praying that they may be extended to the believers. And verse 20 to 23 today tells us that the only way that our prayer can be received is through unity. It's the fact that as Christians and in our witness in the world, our prayer can be received if we have unity. You know what Jesus said in Matthew. Remember the passage where he says, if you are offering your offer to the altar, but you remember that your brother has something against you, go and reconcile with him and then come back to the altar. And I think that is a key point, that many of our prayers and much of our Christian service cannot properly function unless we live in a unity. And so verse 20 starts and says, I do not pray for these alone, but also for those who will believe me through their words. Christ has not only these sheep, the Israel, but is thinking about the Gentiles from all nations that will come to faith, and they will become, and they will be under one shepherd, and they will become part of this universal church of believers. And that implies that the mission will be successful, that the disciples will face persecution in the world, and hate, and as we saw last week, but they will still be effective because Again, they bring this word of God, and through that word, people will believe, and they will be the elect from all nations, and they will prove to be members of this church, of which Unity is praying, not an institutional church, not, again, a label, but those who put their trust in Christ for their salvation, and those who obey and submit to the word of God. And for those, he is praying that they may be one. So whatever opposition that even us find in the work of mission in a dark time as the present for the church, we have the assurance that our work will be not in vain if we abide in Christ as divine. He intercedes, but we must show with our lives this union. The communion that we have with the Father, the loving God with all of our heart, soul and mind and strength should show itself and reveal itself in loving others. as ourself, having one heart in the church especially, a new heart. We were all sanctified, as we saw last week, and that sanctification now flows into, again, unity. We are adopted, we are part of the family of God, and this communion needs to flow into our testimony, actions, attitudes, actions that speak louder than our words, if we are united with one another. But again, they point to the fact that Christ is the only source of this unity. And you remember that analogy that we used of a musical instrument tuning with Christ and not with one another, trying to find some connection there. And verse 21 says, that they all may be one as you, Father, are in me and I in you, that they also may be one in us, that the world may believe that you sent me. This is the fifth request and petition of our Lord. The purpose of all this process is that they may be one. It is true that Satan is about to bring division in the church. He's about to scatter the disciples and bring a lot of tests. But Christ is praying not as, oh, I wish that they would be one. No, He is sure that they are already one because the Holy Spirit will come and He will guide them into the truth, He will unify them. And that's what John Owen says, Attempts for communion with God without the supply of the spirit of supplication is of no value. Which means prayer and the work of the Holy Spirit are uniting us into one flock under one shepherd. That's what he said in John chapter 10 verse 6. like I am with you, O Father, so that they may be one, one and only. That's verse 30 of chapter 10. So this is a purpose that was already in the gospel. And the disciple must follow this analogy. And it's not some sort of unity of ecumenism. or unity of organizations that are working sometimes in friction with the spiritual union and unity. How many sermons look at this passage and they just stop in the surface as if this is an enthusiastic abasement to the minus common denominator that will unite us to the threat of all the truths and theological truths that we hold. Because, again, how many people say themselves are convert Christians, and they purposely, again, take away the truth. This being one is not outward. It is, again, the mystical union that between the Father and the Son is described in this passage. Christ is praying that this union will be extended to all true believers. That unity is founded in Christ and the Father being one, and the Holy Spirit being one. And so we belong to the revelation of the Father, as it was displayed to the first disciples. It is now with all those who will believe through them. We both, all of us, are believing in the same gospel. All of us have come through the new birth of salvation. All of us prove with faith and love to be a part of the world and set apart for Him, and not just some denomination and not others, not those who follow a certain preacher and not another, or those who belong to a specific age rather than another. I mean, from the beginning of the first centuries, those who knew the apostles thought Guys who came after and believed after were second-class Christians. And how many times we do the same today. I follow this specific preacher. I follow Peter. I follow this. I follow Apollos. And this spirit, it's all over the place. And again, this grieves. and gives a bad testimony to, again, the intense desire and burden of Christ, that they may be one. Like branches on a vine are united. They only make sense in union with the vine. So unity among Christians comes only by union with Christ. And only then, The purpose for which He sent us into the world is accomplished only then, which is that the world may believe that you sent me. Verse 23 repeats this, that they may know that you have sent me. As believers dwell in the Father and in His Son, and they witness to the world that the Son is the only way to the Father. that this genuine love among believers not only attests that we are disciples of Jesus, that we have been with Jesus, but it will bring actually to conviction of sin and people will come to Christ. The unity of the church convicts that Christ is indeed the supreme revelation of God, that this is indeed the only way to the Father. the only way to salvation. And it must be tangible, observable in our action, how we treat each other. Not just a spiritual and invisible part of a union, which is indeed part of it, but it's a love that is to be shared abroad. I mean, in a world that is divided, in a world from which we have been taken off and called, however, to be united. as we reflect, again, this mystical oneness. In the same way in the Trinity, there is no division. And this, again, is the unity, the mystical unity, so in the Church. And therefore, when we are divided, when we are quarreling, when we are in disharmony in the body of Christ, our prayers toward God is ineffective. And the world looks at the church and is not attesting that the Father has sent Christ and this is really the only way to heaven, but they're attesting of our sin. And then we become unfortunately insensitive after, you know, centuries of just getting along with this division. But these separations among Christians grieve the Father, the heart of the Father. In the body, we have different members, Paul says in Corinthians. And a finger should not say, I am not the foot, and therefore I don't need the foot. Or just because I split and cut myself off from the body, which is a tendency that among Christians is very strong today. I mean, you watch, you know, YouTube channels or whatever, and people who have never go to church, never know anything, and they have no love for the body of Christ. And yet, again, they have this pride of saying, I'm going to cut a finger and they still think that they have life in themselves. How does that work? Received an email months ago from a guy who was from Canada. I don't know how he got my contact. And he started saying, you know, I used to be Reformed. I used to be Reformed Baptist. I used to be this. I used to be that. But you know what? I just decided that I'm not going to go to church anymore. I'm just going to be in my living room, and we're going to just have our family stuff. But I don't believe in the church anymore. And you know, it's like, get over it. Come to the same conclusion. And I'm like, don't you understand what Christ, you who claim to follow Christ, you who claim to really wanting to follow Him, and you're so upset with all of the depravity of man. Well, what is His prayer here? What is His heart here for Christ? That they may be one. And it's not just the ethical unity, moral unity. It's not just a political unity or a cultural unity. I am Baptist or I am just part of this and that's the way it is. No, that's the Father's love who first loved us, and He shared His love in our hearts, and He wants us to love one another, and that brings about that unity. And for that reason, verse 22 reminds us of the sandwich principle that we saw. We started with the glory of Christ, and now He says, Then the glory which you gave Me, I have given them, that they may be one. The purpose of this glory that we behold in Christ as we started this cycle of meditations on prayer is that the Master is revealing the glory of Christ that from the Father and they share this glory and that He has a glory in and of Himself as well, and He shares it to us. The mystical union, Father and Son, the union between the Son and the believers is now shown in our unity. Perfect unity, that they may be completed. Verse 23, a perfect union, not just a halfway union. And secondly, verse 24 to 26, not only unity among us must be present in order for our prayers to be received, but also prayer must lead toward a loving, loving communion with one another and with the Master. as he's almost going to Gethsemane, and he is going to pray, not my will, but yours, O Father. The desire of Christ is, again, loving desire toward his disciples. He desires that he's leaving like a bridegroom, and he wants his bride to be prepared So that where I am, they too may be. That's his prayer. That we may see and be in front of the glory of God. And he wants us close to himself. We are dear to him. As disciples, but also as believers, for extension, that this prayer is that we will be where he is. And this is the last, the sixth petition, the sixth prayer that the Master has. He wants that we will behold the fullness of this glory. That it isn't such a beautiful thing that the Master will pray that we will behold the glory and the fullness of this glory that is already foretaste in us. And that, again, close the whole prayer. It's all about the glory of God. And so that we will be like Christ. We will see him as he is. We will behold his glory. And this glory, again, is not by virtue only of his deity, but because of this love. He loved me before the foundation of the world of Father. And do you realize that we We have the privilege of receiving the same love by which the Father loves Christ from the foundation of the world because of His death, because of His sacrifice, because of His perfect obedience. Now Christ, the same way He loves Christ, He loves you. What mystery, what measure of the love of Christ that we have the privilege of having not only the perfect glory of heaven before us, but now we have this love of God to the point that Christ's desire is not satisfied until He sees us united with Him in heaven to behold His Glory, to enjoy the full brightness of heaven, all the communion with God, both the reception of His love for us, but also the giving and return of this love to Him through the hands of Christ. None other but the hands of Christ, that our union with Christ makes this divine communion possible. So we walk through seven petitions and requests of our masters. Let me summarize them for you. In past weeks, we saw, first of all, the first petition was, glorify, glorify your son. Right? The second and third petition were united and we saw them keep them, Father, keep them, protect them, guard them, remember? And what aspects of this keeping? Keep them faithful and keep them from evil. And then he goes, as we saw last week, to the fourth petition, sanctify them. Sanctify them in your truth, your word is truth. And now we're coming to unify them, make them one. And lastly, beatify them, which means let them see the beatitude of my glory in heaven. And all these prayers for the believer are answered, are yours now. And verse 25, let's look at verse 25. On the basis of this request of the previous verse, verse 24, they may be where I am, that they may behold your glory. The Father has shown himself to be righteous in all that he has done in condemning the world for their sin and their hatred of Christ and all of the believers, but also in accepting in Christ all of his followers who prove now to know him. Remember that knowledge we started in the first week, this intimate knowledge, which is made possible in our case, verse 26, because the sun has known your name, because darkness have not received the mission of the sun. It doesn't mean that the sun's mission is failed. But the disciples prove and we prove that his mission has not failed. Not only the past, but even in his coming death and resurrection, Christ will make known, will continue to make known. And it's in direct reference here to the third person of the Trinity, the Holy Spirit, which will reveal what is of Christ. Take from Christ and apply it to the disciples. He's the Counselor, the Holy Spirit, and with this overarching purpose, again, that the love which you loved me may be in them. That same love, I invite you to dwell in this thought, that the same love from which, from the foundation of, before the foundation of the world, he loves the son, he now is pouring out the same measure of love in your heart, believer. Finally, the ancient hope that God will dwell among His people is made possible through the complete work of Christ and is already at work in them, in us. Verse 23, that you love them as you have loved me. In the same measure. And John Owen emphasized that love It is a distinct aspect by way of eminence of the communion we have with other. Each person of the Trinity we saw in past weeks has a specific aspect of communion, and the Father is love. Some see God only as wrath. Some see as only a wrathful God, but they see wrongly, says Martin Luther. now is peculiarly revealed to us as love. Unfortunately, even among God's flock, that's what the frustration of John Owen was, even among Christians, too many people fix their thoughts only on God's terrible majesty. And they're in terror, and they're under guilt, and they're under shame. And to this type of people, Owen laments in his books, and he sees the results of this in spewing the spirit of many that really are not living the fullness of their Christian life. God sees us as precious. Not only followers of Christ are promised to become the object of God's love, through the merits of Christ, but they will be so transformed in unity with Christ, that the love, the privileged love of the Father for the Son will become ours. It begins with the love of God. God so loved the world that He gave His Son, that it ends now with our love to Him and to one another. So what is the greatest, if we can summarize and think through, ways of application. What is the greatest misconceptions of today when we come to the love of God? You remember last, for those who were there last Sunday evening, we were looking at some of those misconceptions that are current in our days. There is a whole spectrum of this. Ruben. Absolutely. And in that case, that is why, again, some people need a certain type of, you know, vision of God's love because they're struggling as believers. They're struggling to really see the loving hand of God. Others, instead, think to be worthy enough. And any bounce of God's love to them doesn't touch them until, again, their pride is destroyed, right? And what else? What are other misconceptions? I mean, we live in Virginia, the state of love. You see it everywhere, right? Indistinguishably. Remember last week we were watching the difference between a parent's love and just general love. You know, God in one sense shows common grace to all righteous and unrighteous. But when it comes to the love of God as a parental type of love, a special love and as precious love, which is distinct. And somehow the misconception is it would be unfair for God to show distinctions in His love. And yet we cannot live with that principle. Another misconception is that somehow the idea of unconditional love applied to our sin. and the fact that it means somehow that God does not care whether I do something right or wrong, right? And many more, many more misconceptions. But how does this passage, therefore, help us to frame the true understanding of love and unity as well? Because this is a big topic, and there's many, many views on this. I mean, I come from Italy, With this new Pope, the ecumenism is coming. My mom and all people that I knew, it's just they try to force unity, right? And to the expense of truth, right? And this is a big, big obstacle. But I think through this. Again, unity is not, what this passage is saying, organizational unity is not just a physical unity, is not, we're talking here about spiritual unity. And our responsibility as Christians to have that mystical Trinitarian unity. You know, there's one God and three persons, and yet one, not divided, not somehow mixed and confounded. And then we go to the church and we say, we want to be in the image of God and we want to reflect that. Yes? You have to love me, as I said, because we're Christians, and we have to, and they're animals, they're animals, so their ending is based on these two cries, I believe. They say, I believe in Jesus, but they don't believe in me. They believe in God, and they don't believe in Jesus. It's just a name. And our challenge, and I think we saw it last week, is how the Word of God, I mean, the climax of this unity comes after all the discussion on the Word of God. And that's what we need to bring them back. Are you really united? Do you really know the Lord? And that's the problem with Nicodemus, right? In chapter 3 of this gospel, this man says, we know that you come from God. We know. Because nobody can do the miracles you're doing. But we know that you are from God. We. And he's talking about the Pharisees and himself. And how does he answer Jesus? He says, unless you're born again, you cannot see the kingdom of God. And you don't really know me. And so, we need to challenge that understanding. And yet, again, just meditate upon this kindness of God and love that God sent His Son and declares Christ openly in the Gospel for your benefit. the greatest kindness of God, but our greatest unkindness will be, therefore, to just listen to this and just reject Him. The greatest unkindness, to fail to believe in such a Christ. But those who believe in Him, says John Owen, the Father will love them, and as He loves Christ, so we love, we are loved. There is this continuous intercourse, you could say. And it's a privilege for us to be accepted into this mystical and experience this mystical love, Trinitarian love, forever. Because of the character of this Trinitarian God, which is eternal. And so, for all eternity. When we will come in Heaven to the fullness of things, we, but even here now, we receive this love, which is among the persons of the Trinity, so that the Holy Spirit is lavished in our hearts, so that the Father's love is in us, so that Christ's benefits are imputed to us, And not only as we abide in the Lord, but as we also contemplate His glory again. So let us say amen. May it be so that this grand prayer of our Lord and the whole purpose of His work may be fulfilled in us as we are one, as we become one more and more. Because the more we are sanctified, the more we should be united. And we will do this for eternity. As we contemplate this triune God, in this sense, we will be incorporated to Him in blessing. And He prays that we may be one as He and the Father are one. So that we must pray that the Father may remove any obstacle that is on the way. So that the world may believe that you are the Christ. So that salvations and that's what was going on in Acts of the Apostle. They observed the great works of Christ. They see that God is present with them and they were of one heart and God was adding every day those who believed. And so even in trials as we face even judgment from the world, accusations, death. The apostles all died because of this Christ, but since He gave Himself through the Spirit, so we must give ourselves to each other and to God in sacrifice. There's a higher reality, and with this we end. that Christ's praise may sink in with us the eternity, and it's not just a momentary again prayer. It is all looking to the last eschatology, the end of it all, as we are. in Christ forever. John 17, again, I hope that I was able to show you that John 17 is indeed a model for us, but most of all, it's just the heart desire of Christ, that this aspect of communion with God may be transferred to us. John Calvin said, let the world condemn us a thousand times, This alone is sufficient that Christ knows us as His own and commands us to His Father. We are included in that mutual indwelling of love between the Son and the Father through Christ indwelling within us and the Holy Spirit dwelling within us. What could be better? Is there any further questions or points that brought you to some reflection you want to share? Please do so. Yes. Can you comment on what she said a little bit more? I think the one major thing that we're dealing with is a push for the world's unity, that all lives are one. And we really need to show the government the truth about it. There is no power without it. And again, this is a very interesting connection to what Jesus is saying, because you are the only true God, and not only this, but again, truth goes hand in hand with unity, right? So, absolutely. Any other points of reflection, questions? Yes. And that's the point of the analogy of Corinthians, right? A body is diverse, diverse gifts, and we should never because I have a specific gift, look down on somebody that doesn't or have a different gift. And sometimes, you know, Paul says the lower parts, those that we consider worthy, we give farther more attention, the weakest part. And which means that in God's perspective, it's only a difference in degree of, you know, those who are little, those who are maybe not visible, those who are not many, you know, on God's perspective are far more important in this process of unity. Anyway, I'm very thankful for your patience with me in this past four weeks. And unfortunately, tomorrow I'm leaving, but it has been a great journey just looking at this passage. And again, if you have any further thoughts, feel free to ask. And let's now pray for this communion. Oh God, we thank you for leading us through this passage in this past four weeks. We thank you, Heavenly Father, for your love, especially today, that you have poured out in our hearts. Unworthy as we were, and As stony as our heart was, You have removed it and gave us a heart of flesh. And we thank You, Lord, because for all of our life, and even through eternity, we will experience this love the same way You look to Christ. And you look to us and you love us as believers. And your Holy Spirit now dwells within us. And so we pray, Lord, that with this same unity, you will create a church at Grace Baptist Chapel and throughout Virginia and throughout the world, Lord, a church that is united, And it's, first of all, set apart from the world and the schemes of the world and the system of the world that, unfortunately, is even among those who call your name, Lord. But yet, help us to be one in Your truth. Help us to behold Your glory. Help us to grow in, as we meditate, even this morning in the sermon, in prayer and the power of prayer. And how prayer, Lord, is everything. And it brings us closer to You. I pray, Lord, that you will grow us, help us to be kind to one another. And even when we have different views, Lord, I pray that we will be gracious to one another and that we will display Christ in actions which speak often louder than our words. I pray that You will be with us for the rest of this day that we consecrate to You, and we pray that You will be favorable to us, that You will show, that You will help us to grow. Please, I pray for all these brothers and sisters, Lord, that You will help them for the months ahead and years ahead, that they will grow more to the stature of Christ. In Jesus' name we pray. Amen. Thank you, everyone.