Turn with me to the Gospel of John, chapter 17. John 17, and what great singing tonight. Not just from the teen choir, but also the congregational singing. And we're going to believe and trust that the Lord will answer the prayer that Brother Joe has prayed, and the prayer that we just sang together from our hearts, and believing the Lord's going to answer that. Let's get right to the message tonight. As most of you know by now, we have a series we started on Sunday evening, at least introduced it Sunday night, on what it means to be a partaker of the divine nature. And tonight we, prayerfully, will lift our eyes up off of ourselves as we looked at our personal holiness and our personal faithfulness. And the attribute tonight, the nature of God that I want to look at tonight can only be seen in relationship And it is the attribute of, or the nature of God in unity. In unity. The partaker of a divine nature in unity. I want to read through the entire chapter with you. This is a special chapter. It is our Lord's prayer to the Father. You'll remember that several times in our Lord's ministry, Jesus who is truth, amen, He doesn't just tell, He is truth. He is the way, the truth, the life. Everything Jesus said was true. And yet there were several times in our Lord's ministry where He said, verily, verily, which means truly, truly. Now He's not saying other things I said weren't true. He is bringing special attention to what He's saying there. And along those lines, I tend to agree with Arthur Pink when he says of our text before us tonight, it would behoove us to remove our shoes from off our feet, for the place we stand is indeed holy ground. The prayer that our Lord prayed, word for word, to the Father. Special. And so while John records three times, or at least that I'm going to give to you, the chapter two and Mary desires him to change the water into wine and help, and he says, Woman, my hour has not yet come. In chapter 7 and chapter 8, John records that men tried to lay hands on our Lord, but they could not lay hands on Him because His hour was not yet come. But now it is. The Bible tells us in verse 1 of chapter 17, these words spake Jesus and lifted up His eyes to heaven and said, Father, the hour has come. Glorify Thy Son that Thy Son also may glorify Thee. as thou hast given him power over all flesh, that he should give eternal life to as many as thou hast given him, and this is life eternal, that they might know thee, the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom thou hast sent. I have glorified thee on the earth. I have finished the work which thou gavest me to do. And now, O Father, glorify thou me with thine own self, with the glory which I had with thee before the world was. In these first five verses, Jesus prays for himself. If Jesus needed to pray for himself, beloved, we need to pray for ourselves too. Amen? But the Lord knew what was coming. This was a very serious thing. And he says here, and I want you to notice, this is very important as we go through this chapter. And I'm gonna use for my introduction, going through this chapter and then just making some comments as we go through. And then after that, we'll get to the bulk of the message. But notice verse 5, And now, O Father, glorify thou me with thine own self, with the glory which I had with thee before the world was. Jesus is God. He transitions from himself to those the Lord gave him. Verse 6, I have manifested thy name unto the men which thou gavest me out of the world. Thine they were, and thou gavest them me, and they have kept thy word. Now we read that, we might ask ourselves, what does Jesus mean there? Because we know the men he's talking about. These are men that had to be upbraided for their unbelief. These are men who struggled with pride. These are men who needed to be corrected and rebuked by the Lord. And yet the Lord says to the Father, they have kept thy word. And we know that that's true because Jesus said it. But I want to encourage you, believer, Christian, this is your advocate. This is your intercessor. And if it was the devil, no doubt he would have accused, he would have found the faults, zeroed in on them, and magnified them. But this is not the devil. This is our Lord. And the Lord speaks well of those who are His. It's not saying He didn't know that they did wrong. So how could the Lord reconcile this? How could He be telling the truth? It's because the Lord knew where He found these men, and He knew where they were now. And while they were not perfect, we remember He's not looking for perfection, He's looking for direction. And while they did fail, there was an overarching theme in their life, and it was obedience to God. How do I know that? Because Jesus says it. And Jesus never said the wrong thing. And so, to the Christians who are called to be like the Lord Jesus Christ, here's an example of how to be like the Lord Jesus Christ. In our flesh, it'll be very easy to pick people apart. but we desire to walk in the Spirit, and we remember that when we are in Christ, our perspective is different. Now, we will never be like Christ to the same degree He is, but again, we don't have to be to the same degree. We want to be making sure we're walking the same direction. And our Lord, our Advocate, our Intercessor, gives an example of how He prays for those who are His. This is encouraging. This is love. Verse 7, Now they have known that all things whatsoever thou hast given me are of thee. For I have given unto them the words which thou gavest me, and they have received them, and have known surely that I came out from thee. And they have believed that thou didst send me. I pray for them. Not him. Not her. I pray for them. He's praying for a group. He's praying for his church. These are the same men that didn't have to scratch their heads when Jesus said, tell it to the church. They didn't go, well, what's a church? You're well-taught, you know this. He's praying for them more than one. He's praying for them. And here's what he says, I pray not for the world. And he repeats it, but for them. And how does he describe them? Which thou has given me for they are thine. Husband, who's called to love your wife like Christ loved the church, and you ask yourself, I wish I had examples of how Christ loved the church. It would be easy for me. Here is one. Here is a way that Christ loved his church. He took time in his own prayer to delineate and say, I pray not for the world, but for them which thou hast given me. And there ought to be times in our lives, husbands, when we get alone and we use this as a reminder of how Christ loved his church, and where I and you get by ourselves and pray to the Father and say, I'm not praying for the world, I'm not praying for my job, I'm not praying for my career, I'm not praying for the church, I'm not praying for the deacons, I'm not praying for the pastor, I'm praying for her. I'm praying for my wife, which thou hast given me. She's a gift. Don't forget that. God's good to us to give us commandments and then give us examples to help us follow those commandments. Love your wife like Christ loved the church. And here we see him making a distinction. I'm not praying for the world, but for them, which thou hast given me, for they are thine. He continues, and all mine are thine, and thine are mine, and I am glorified in them. What a privilege that Christ would look at man and say, I have been glorified in them. What does it mean to be glorified in this verse? The word glorified here means to esteem, to magnify, to honor. You know when the psalmist says, come magnify the Lord with me. You can't make God bigger than what he already is, amen? He doesn't change, we learned that last night. But a magnifying glass doesn't make the object bigger, it makes our perception of the object bigger. Magnify the Lord isn't making God bigger, it's helping us see him in greater ways. And these men glorified, they esteemed, they magnified, they honored the Lord. What does it mean to give God glory? What does it mean to give one glory? If you've ever been driving on 78 or 22 or 309, and you're driving along the road and all of a sudden you see up in the median, up ahead, a car with what looks like maybe a ski rack, but it looks red and blue. What's the first thing most drivers do? Yeah, they check their speedometer, they slow down, they hit their brakes. What they're doing is this, and we're going to learn this tomorrow night, the Hebrew word for glory is similar to the Greek word, but it means weight, to give weight. And when you're driving down the road and all of a sudden you see that state trooper, and your life is impacted by his presence, that's what it means to give someone glory. Suddenly, the realization that someone is there, makes you check how fast you're going and adjust accordingly. It may be a simple illustration, but that's how we give God glory. We remember He's present. And how I live my life is in view of the fact that He's there and I should live my life accordingly. You see, when it's just a state trooper and all of a sudden it affects my life, I check, make sure I'm doing everything right. That's just a small example of allowing someone else to give weight to how I live my life. How much more important is it to give the Lord weight? And Jesus is presenting these men to the Father. I have been glorified in them. He continues and says in verse 11, this will be one of the verses for our text. And now I am no more in the world, but these are in the world, and I am come to thee, Holy Father. Isn't that amazing? Holy Father. This is Jesus. This is God the Son. And yet he reverences the Father. sacred, separated Father. We ought never allow our familiarity with our Heavenly Father affect how we approach our Heavenly Father. If our Lord would pray, Holy Father, may we always remember He is Holy Father. I commend this church on the Lord's Day for visibly showing the Lord reverence. I think that's wonderful. I'm not trying to butter your bread. I'm just telling you that was a blessing to be a part of. What you're doing is you're recognizing He's above us. Holy Father. There's no familiarity here causing some casual approach. Our Lord He says, Holy Father. And then, as we learned already, I pray, at least we did on Monday, the holiness of the Father leads him to pray for the holiness of these men, of his church. Holy Father, and what does he say? Keep through thine own name those whom thou hast given me, that they may be one as we are. Now I'm gonna admit to you tonight, I don't have the ability to exhaust or explain how we are to be one as the son and the father are, but we are. That's what the Lord prayed. He continues on this idea of protecting them. He says in verse 12, while I was with them in the world, I kept them in thy name. Those that thou gavest me, I have kept, and none of them is lost, but the son of perdition, that the scripture might be fulfilled. That's referencing Judas. Verse 13, and now come I to thee, and these things I speak in the world, that they might have my joy fulfilled in themselves. I have given them thy word, and the world hath hated them, because they are not of the world, even as I am not of the world. I pray not that thou shouldest take them out of the world, but that thou shouldest keep them from the evil. This is the from we're talking about on Monday night. Keep them from the world, from the evil. He's gonna describe them more than one time, they're not of the world, they're not of the world, they're out of the world. Does that describe you? Could Jesus honestly say about you? They're not of this world. They're not of the world. They've been brought out of the world. And Father, because of that, keep them from evil. Well, what could be evil? What could be dangerous for a believer? There's a lot in the world that's dangerous. I think of those around the globe, even now in 2023, who are suffering persecution, physical persecution, some even death. because of the false religions that are popular in this world. But I don't think martyrdom is what you have to worry about. But there's another thing that's dangerous, materialism. You see, from martyrdom to materialism, there are a thousand things that you need to watch out for. And how do I know this? Because Jesus would not have prayed for their protection if they didn't need it. Keep them from the evil. Let's get back to start labeling things the way our Lord does. It's evil. And then again, he says in verse 16, they are not of the world, even as I am not of the world. And now we leave the negative part of holiness, the being separated from, the consecration from, and now we get to the positive, which is the direction we go. Sanctify them. There's that verb form of holy. Sanctify them through thy truth. Thy word is truth. As thou has sent me into the world, even so have I also sent them into the world. And for their sakes I sanctify myself, that they also might be sanctified through the truth. And then he transitions again. Now he's not speaking of the church that's with him right there. He then speaks about us, beloved. Us. Neither pray I for these alone. but for them also which shall believe on me through their word. There are believers we're gonna read about in the book of Acts that Jesus is praying for right here. They won't have seen Jesus physically, but they'll have heard the apostles preaching. They'll have read the letters the apostles have written, and they'll get saved, and they'll preach it again, and again, and again, and here we are 2,000 years later still preaching the same doctrine. Still preaching the same truth. Still preaching the same Jesus. Let me encourage you, if you're not saved, to specifically look at this verse. Jesus does not pray for those that will be familiar with them. It's with those that will believe. You see, familiarity with Jesus won't save you, but faith in Jesus will. Trust, committing your life to him. Being around the apostles, being around their word is not enough, but believing on their word, that's what saves a man. That's what saves a woman. And now Jesus tells us in verse 21 why he's praying for us. Verse 21, that they all, not that the clergy, not that the apostles, not that some, that they all may be what? One, as thou, Father, art in me and I in thee, that they also may be one in us. If you're following, Our Lord has said we are out of the world. Well, if we're out of the world, where are we in? Jesus says, us. The Son and the Father. He prays that we would be one. Not just the visible church there in front of him, but the visible church here around you. This assembled group of believers. Why is this so important? That the world may believe that thou hast sent me. One of the most powerful proofs the gospel is real are lives changed by the gospel. Not the only, I said one of them. The Word of God is the most powerful. Amen? Now I want you to notice verse 22. And the glory which thou gavest me, I have given them, that they may be one, even as we are one. There it is again. That they may be one, even as we are one. But I want you to notice the beginning of verse 22, and the glory which thou gavest me. Now go back to verse 5, and remember, Jesus says, Now, O Father, glorify thou me with thine own self, with the glory which I had with thee before the world was. There is the glory that he thought not robbery to take, as Philippians teaches us. Why? Because Jesus is God. But there's another glory that the Father gave him, because Jesus is also man. And the glory he received from the Father, if I could say it in a way that is worthy of this, he earned it. Our Lord did not come down here to just go through some motions as God in the flesh. No. Our Lord came down, was tempted in every point like we are, yet He never sinned. He earned every bit of righteousness, every bit of honor. He earned it. and the Father gave it to him. There was the glory he already had before the world was, but there was the glory that he earned and the Father gave him. And those of you that understand the significance of substitution are rejoicing in your heart because it is so. Because that's the righteousness that has been imputed to us. Our sin, he who knew no sin, One might ask, well, if He didn't have sin and the wages of sin is death, how could a just God condemn a holy, perfect, sinless man to death? That's a good question. Because a just God cannot condemn a sinless man to death. The wages of sin is death. But you must understand what happened on the cross. He who knew no sin became sin. for us. I don't understand it all, but I'm so thankful for it. Why did He do that? So that you and I could have His righteousness. So that you and I could have what He earned. He's a wonderful Savior. So there's the glory the Father gave Him, and He says, I have given them. Praise the Lord. and we do something with it. We show forth something with it. and it is to be one, even as Christ and the Father are one. Jesus explains in verse 23, for our help, I in them and thou in me, that they may be made perfect in one, and that the world may know that thou hast sent me and hast loved me as thou hast loved me. Father, I will, this is his desire, that they also whom thou hast given me be with me where I am. Isn't that wonderful? The Lord's desire is that we be with Him where He is, that they may behold my glory. We want to see His dignity, His honor, which Thou hast given me, for Thou lovest me before the foundation of the world. O righteous Father, this means just, equitable, O righteous Father, the world hath not known thee, but I have known thee, and these have known that thou hast sent me. And I have declared unto them thy name, and will declare it, that the love wherewith thou hast loved me may be in them, and I in them. How does Christ end up in you? You abide in him. You make sure your branch is attached to the vine, and you stay there. Faithful. Faithful. You stay there. And as you draw from the vine, what will you draw in? Well, according to our text tonight, you will draw in unity. This is what Jesus is praying for. It says in verse 11 and 20 to 23, He desires that they be one and that we be one. Now, this cannot mean uniformity. Uniformity does not mean unity. Uniformity, everyone may look the same, but trust me, everything can look the same on the outside, but that doesn't mean there's not problems. That doesn't mean there's not heart issues. Cults can look the same. This isn't what the Lord's talking about. Do you know why we know it's not uniformity? Because Jesus says, I want them to be one as we are one. And God the Father is distinct from God the Son. And God the Son is distinct from God the Spirit. The Father is not the Son and the Son is not the Spirit, but they are all God. And so while there are three distinct persons, they are in unity. And it's like a church should be. There are different persons here. There are different people here. But you should be one. You should be in unity. This is what the Lord has prayed for. That you be one. If we could say it this way. Be holy for God is holy. Be faithful for God is faithful. And be in unity because your God is in unity. God the Father and God the Son. Jesus prays this and he uses the example of the unity between him and the Father. This is amazing. This is amazing. Question is this, was his prayer answered? Was the Lord's prayer answered that those that were around him be one as he and the Father? Well, turn your Bible to Acts chapter two, please. We're gonna go quickly. Acts chapter two. And I think I remember Pastor Roland said 825 is the cutoff tonight. Acts chapter 2, verse 1, and when the day of Pentecost was fully come, they were all, that word sound familiar to you? Jesus prayed that they may all, they were all with one accord in one place. And you know the result of this, you know what happens, we don't have to go through this. Go to verse 46, and they continuing daily, with one accord in the temple and breaking bread from house to house, did eat their meat with gladness and what? Singleness of heart. In chapter four, verse 23, chapter four, verse 23, in being let go, they went to their own company and reported all the chief priests and elders that said unto them. Just because you're in unity doesn't mean you're not gonna face problems, right? But guess what happened? They faced problems, but When they were released, I love that verse, they went to their own company. I'm really thankful that the Lord's blessed me with my own company, amen? And I'm not talking about owning a business, I'm talking about my church. Those, if I could say it this way, those are my people. The psalmist said that I am a companion of them that fear thee. I like the fact that my companions are those that fear God. Not all of them yet. I mean, I have friends in the world, but for the most part, my own company is my church, and I'm grateful for that. And there continues to be pushback and persecution. Go to chapter four and verse 32. And the multitude of them that believed were of one heart and one soul. Amen? The multitude of them that believe. This is continuing on. This is those that Jesus prayed for. And not for these alone. And here we have them in verse 32 of chapter 4. And it continues. They continue to grow. But persecution keeps happening. And how does the church, or the churches, how do they respond? We find out one in chapter 12. Acts chapter 12, verse 1. Now about that time Herod the king stretched forth his hand to vex certain of the church. Herod the what? Herod the king. This is a man that has power. This man has authority. But while he stretched forth his hand to vex the church, go down to verse five, Peter therefore was kept in prison, but prayer was made without ceasing of the church unto God for him. What did they do? Did they say, oh, what are we going to do? No. I know James just got killed, and the church responds to Peter's imprisonment. And I love how Luke records this. Herod stretched forth his hand, but prayer was made by the church. And you know what happens. God answers their prayer, and we praise the Lord for that. We could continue. For time's sake, we're not going to go. We could look at how the elders at Ephesus, and we know from what Paul wrote the Ephesians and the love that grew for them and they just wept when they knew they wouldn't see him anymore. There's relationship there. There's love there. If you look at the book of Acts, what you have is Jesus praying that they be one. And here is the main reason why unity matters. Because a body cannot function without it. A body can't function without unity. And did it work? Well, if you read the book of Acts, 28 chapters, You start with that church in Jerusalem, and by the end of the book, that spans only 33 years or so. That's not very long. But what do you have? You have a lot of churches planted. You have the gospel going everywhere. Acts 19 says all of Asia heard the word. The word of God was preached everywhere. Churches were started all over the place in just three decades. I know churches now that are older than that. Listen. the Lord knows what he's doing. And when a church can grab hold of this, that a unified body is a functioning body. A body can be alive, but not in unity. I know people who are bedridden, I know people who have disease, and I'm not here to make light of that, I'm just saying you can be alive but not have the ability to function because there's not unity. It ought not be for the Lord's church. The reality is that this unity, as I said, it's not uniformity. It's unity. Think of a symphony. Jen and I, my wife Jen and I, love going to hear concerts. We love hearing symphonies. All sorts of different instruments. But boy, when they play together, it's beautiful. That's how it ought to be in a church. Everyone has a different function. Not everyone has the same function. Not everyone has the same responsibility. Different responsibilities, different functions, same purpose. One purpose. God's glory. And so this is God's desire for you too. Lehigh Valley, I mean. For you. Unity. Back in our text, back in our text, I want us to see. I want you to go to John 17, and then I want you to plan to turn to Ephesians chapter 4, and then if you promise me to listen fast, I'm gonna talk fast, okay? John 17 verse, this is what I'm saying, this is God's plan for you, his desire for you. Neither pray I for these alone, but for them also, which shall believe on me through their word, that they all may be one, as thou, Father, art in me, and I in thee, that they also may be one in us. Verse 23, I in them, and thou in me, that they may be made perfect in one, that the world may know thou hast sent me. Are you getting the idea that the Lord desires unity, and he uses as an example him and the Father? Now I want you to notice in Ephesians chapter four, And this is very important. I want you to look closely as I read this to you. Galatians chapter, excuse me, Ephesians chapter four, Ephesians chapter four, and I want you to look closely, because this is important. I therefore, verse one, I therefore, the prisoner of the Lord, beseech you that ye walk worthy of the vocation wherewith you are called. You can't walk worthy if you're not in unity. Your body needs to function in unity in order for you to walk. That makes sense, right? So we know, if we're going to walk worthy, we need unity, with all lowliness and meekness, with long-suffering, forbearing one another in love, endeavoring to keep the spirit of unity and the bond of peace. Did I read that right? No. But listen, there is a big difference between the spirit of unity and unity of the Spirit. Big difference. The World Council of Churches might desire to have unity. Let's just all get along. That's not what Paul said. Paul didn't say, I want you to have the spirit of unity. What he said was, I want you to have the unity of the spirit. There's a big difference between a unity that comes from God and a unity we try to muster up ourselves. Well, let's just find the common ground. Let's just overlook our differences. Well, we'll look at that tomorrow night. We're gonna look at practical application of this tonight. But listen, the unity of the spirit matters and Paul drives towards doctrine. One body, one spirit, one hope, one Lord, one faith, one God and Father. That's doctrine, amen? And so, I want you to know that what we're talking about tonight is not just some sort of be friendly with each other. What we're talking about tonight is a unity of the Spirit. It's a unity prayed for from the Lord. Now, let's go to 1 Corinthians chapter 1. I want you to see a very important warning. A very important warning. 1 Corinthians chapter 1. First Corinthians chapter one. Look with me at verse four. I thank my God always on your behalf for the grace of God which is given you by Jesus Christ, that in everything ye are enriched by him in all utterance and in all knowledge, even as the testimony of Christ was confirmed in you, so that ye come behind in no gift, waiting for the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. Do you know what that means? That means the church at Corinth was a gifted church. They came behind zero other churches when it came to giftedness. If there was a spiritual gift, they had it. They had everything there gift-wise, but keep reading. Go down to verse nine. God is faithful, praise the Lord for that, amen. God is faithful by whom you were called in the fellowship of His Son, Jesus Christ our Lord. Now I beseech you, brethren, by the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that ye all speak the same thing and that there be what? No divisions among you, but that ye be perfectly joined together in the same mind, if we could say it like Acts, singleness of mind, and in the same judgment. I want you to talk the same, think the same, believe the same. For it hath been declared unto me of you, my brethren, by them which are of the house of Chloe, that there are contentions among you. And we know from the book of Proverbs that you can only have contention through pride. And then you find out what they're doing. Some of them are saying, I'm of Paul, I'm of Apollos, I'm of Cephas. Then the really spiritual ones say, well, we're of Christ. We don't follow a man, we follow Christ. But it's still under contention. Paul asks, is Christ divided? Why would he ask a church if Christ is divided? Because a church is supposed to be the body of Christ. Is Christ divided? Why would there be divisions and schisms in a church? But here's what we learn, and please get this. Giftedness is not as important as godliness. And you might say, whoa, whoa, whoa. Yeah, I mean, I think you're taking this a little bit too far. I mean, having some issues with each other, I mean, you're saying that that's not godliness. It's exactly what I'm saying, and let me prove it to you. Godliness is godlikeness. And Jesus said, He desires that you be one, even as He and the Father are one. So even as God, the Godhead, as the Bible calls them, even as the Godhead is in unity, we are to be in unity. And so that tells me that if you are not in unity, it's ungodly. Now do you understand? why God calls it an abomination to sow discord among the brethren? Do you realize now why God says, I hate that? Because to sow discord is to be ungodly. If unity is God-likeness, disunity is ungodly. It's not just personality conflict, not in a church. In a church, it's ungodly. In a church, it's ungodly because unity is to be God-likeness. And don't think that I'm making too much of this. This is not a 501c3 non-profit corporation. This is the Lord's church. You are not club members, you are church members. And because of that, you take on that responsibility seriously as ambassadors of Christ. This is not a business entity, it's not a corporation, it is the Lord's Church. You have purpose, and you have work to do, and the only way you can fulfill that purpose to the glory of God is to function in unity, and to be in unity as the Son is with the Father. Let the world be disunified. Let businesses have division, not the Lord's church. I wish I could illustrate this tonight, and you probably have enough in your own memories of examples as Paul lays out, and I'm just gonna lay it before you briefly, about the comely members and the uncomely members, right? But the point is this, we're all members. And I'm the pastor of Harvest Baptist Church in Laramore. People see my face on the live stream. People hear me when I preach. People see Brother Chad Turner when he leads music. They see the men that we have fill in the pulpit preach. But let me tell you something. Harvest Baptist Church does not function because of the guy you see on the live stream. There are dozens of people who pray daily for our church. Charles Spurgeon said, the power in the pulpit is fanned. excuse me, the flame in the pulpit is fanned by prayer from the pew. When God moves in a church, it's a body thing, not a single member thing. It'd be good for us to remember that in a church. We are members of the church, and I could give you testimony of where ladies that nobody would know if they visited for six months, they wouldn't know, yet they pray faithfully, they've invited people to church, there are families in the church, couples that are married now in the church, and it all goes back to this one lady who prayed faithfully for one family to get saved, and they got saved, and they joined the church, and from there it just kept going and going, and you know stories like that. Listen. Don't just say, well, I'm just a member. Listen, if you're a member of this body, it matters. You matter. Your spiritual life matters, your holiness matters, your faithfulness matters, and your unity matters. Let me skip the illustrations and let's just get to the last thought here, okay? I didn't say how long the last thought would be, all right? But I want to lay before you tonight that this, the importance of unity in a church, and as I shared with some men this morning, we could give you a dozen illustrations, I could take you to 20 different texts, but the burden in your heart to be unified with those sitting around you should be so strong simply because of this one truth, your Lord prayed for it. Your Lord prayed for it. And if you love Him, you'll keep His commandments, you'll keep His desires. But I want to end the message with looking at if Jesus said that we are to be in unity, we are to be one as He and the Father are one, what did Jesus' life look like with the Father while He was here on earth? Because that's where we are. And I think we can learn quickly how to stay in unity as a church. How many of you ever heard through 1 Corinthians chapter 13 where it says, charity does not do these things, and then it says charity does do these things, and it talks about love, and then they said if you put Jesus in place of charity, Jesus suffers long, and you understand that. And then those of us who are called to be like Christ, we have to put our name in there, and it's supposed to be like, Josh suffers long. And Josh, I don't know if you've ever heard that before, but I want to take that same idea, and I want you to read these verses with me, and we're going to do a quick Bible study here. I want you to read these verses with me, but I want you to remember what Jesus' prayer was. It was that you, Lehigh Valley, this church, this body, this assembly, it's that you, Lehigh Valley, be one as Jesus is with the Father. He and the Father and the Father in Him. And so if you look at what Jesus says about Himself, it ought to apply to you as a church. Does that make sense? Alright, let's look quickly at our Lord's relationship with the Father. Let's look at what it means to be one as the Son and the Father. Let's start in John chapter 5. We'll stay in the same book. John chapter 5. We're gonna go quickly. Not because it's not important, but I want you just to see the point, alright? John chapter 5 and verse 30. I can of mine own self do nothing. Is that true, Lehi? Can Lehi do nothing of its own self? John chapter five, verse 30. I can of mine own self do nothing. As I hear, I judge, and my judgment is just, because I seek not mine own will, but the will of the Father which sent me. Looks like humility. Turn the page over or maybe not. I don't know what your Bible is. Verse 41. I receive not honor from men. Now why is that? Because Jesus desired to receive honor from the Father. Let's go over one chapter to chapter 6 in verse 38. For I come down from heaven, not to do mine own will, but the will of Him that sent me." Are you beginning to see the unity? The synergy, if we could use that word? The Father's desire, the Son fulfilling it? The Father's honor, the Son desiring it? Go over to chapter 7, verse 16. Jesus answered them and said, My doctrine is not mine, but His that sent me. That's like a church. We don't believe what our church made up, we believe the doctrine that's been given to us. If we believe the Bible, amen? If any man will do his will, he shall know of the doctrine, whether it be of God or whether I speak of myself. He that speaketh of himself seeketh his own glory, but he that seeketh his glory that sent him, the same is true, and no unrighteousness is in him. Lehi, whose glory are you seeking? This is the son and the father, this is the relationship. Let's go to, stay in chapter seven, and go with me to verse 28. Then cried Jesus in the temple as he taught, you both know me and you know whence I am, I am not come of myself, but he that sent me is true whom you know not, but I know him for I am from him and he hath sent me. Go to chapter eight please, chapter eight in verse 28. Then said Jesus unto them, when ye have lifted up the Son of Man, then shall ye know that I am he, and that I do nothing of myself, but as my Father hath taught me, I speak these things. And he that sent me is with me, the Father hath not left me alone, for I do always those things that please him. Verse 42, Jesus said unto them, if God were your father, you would love me. For I proceeded forth and came from God, neither care I of myself, but he that sent me. In verse 50, chapter eight, and I seek not mine own glory, there is one that seeketh and judgeth. We could look at many, but we could also sum it up this way. You have 12-year-old Jesus who looks at his mother in Luke chapter 2 and says, why are you looking for me? I'm paraphrasing. Wish ye not that I must be what? About my father's business. I think it'd be really good if we as churches learned to say that more often. When we get distracted on the non-essential issues, the things, the frustrations, we get offended for whatever little thing, it'd be good if someone would come to us and say, hey, don't you remember we're supposed to be about our father's business? Don't you remember why we're here? Don't you remember the purpose of why we're here? And you say, well, I think you're reading into that. I don't think so. You look at Jesus' life from then and all the way through his earthly ministry, all the way up until the end. right near it when he's praying, and he understands the gravity of what he's about to face, what does he cry out to the Father? Nevertheless, not my will, but thine be done. When John the Baptist said, he must increase and I must decrease, I think we're really good at talking about Jesus increasing as Baptists. But I'm not so sure increasing Jesus is much of an issue as decreasing ourselves. It's both. He must increase, I must decrease. And if you want to sum up the unity of the Son of the Father, it is that attitude that Jesus had about the Father. Nevertheless, not my will, but thine be done. It's not that the Lord had a different will than the Father. He was showing us what His example as a man who was taking our place was to be. And God give us the grace to have the desire as churches to say our unity is not going to come from trying to find out how we can please each other. How can I find out a way to please 300 other people? Oh, your unity will come much easier and it'll last much longer. When you realize your unity comes when you stop looking around and you start looking up. No, it's not our will, it's His be done. What does God want His church to do? And we don't have time to get into it tonight and I apologize for that, but here's the reality. Jesus said, I want you to be one that the world will know that you have sent me. There is a tremendous gospel witness in a unified church. God gets glory in a unified church. And I tell you what, it is a joy to be part of a unified church. I don't understand it all, beloved, but I understand this. To be in unity is godly. To be in disunity is ungodly. And I know that the Lord prayed not for the world, but for those men. And then he prayed not for those men, but those that would believe on him through their word. And churches like the one our Lord started. And he said that he desires that you be one, even as he and the father are one. That's why it is a divine nature. So abide in the vine. Abide in the vine. Turn your eyes upon Jesus. Look full in His wonderful face. And the things of earth become strangely dim in the light of His glory and grace.