Our Old Testament reading comes from 1 Chronicles 17, verses 20-27.
! This is a section from David's prayer, so verses 20-27.
There is no one like you, Lord, and there is no God but you, as we have heard with our own ears.
And who is like your people Israel, the one nation on earth whose God went out to redeem a people
for himself and to make a name for yourself and to perform great and awesome wonders by driving out
nations from before your people whom you redeemed from Egypt. You made your people Israel, your very
own, forever, and you, Lord, have become their God. And now, Lord, let the promise you have made
concerning your servant and his house be established forever. Do as you promised so that it will be
established and that your name will be great forever. Then people will say, the Lord Almighty,
the God over Israel, is Israel's God, and the house of your servant David will be established before you.
You, my God, have revealed to your servant that you will build a house for him,
so your servant has found courage to pray to you. You, Lord, are God. You have promised these good
things to your servant. Now you have been pleased to bless the house of your servant,
that it may continue forever in your sight. For you, Lord, have blessed it, and it will be blessed
forever. Amen.
Well, good evening, everyone. It's good to be with you. I've been preaching away the last four weeks in a row,
and while it's a pleasure to be with other congregations to encourage them and be encouraged by them,
it's really good to be back with my own church family. So,
a pleasure to be with you this evening.
We continue our series in the Gospel of John today. We took a break last week. We were back
looking at finishing up this high priestly prayer taken from John 17, and
this evening we reached this final section in verses 20 through 26. So, if you have a Bible, you can
turn there with me. Obviously, many of us here are familiar with the Bible, and you may be
familiar with different passages which speaks of Jesus going off
in private to pray. There's times where he may, in the morning, go off to a solitary place, or when he's in a
crowded area, he retreats from the crowds in order to pray, and
very rarely do we actually get a look inside what Jesus is actually praying. I wonder if you ever thought,
what is this conversation that Jesus may be having with the Father?
Father. And that's what makes this passage this evening so unique and so important, because we're
actually given the opportunity to see and to hear what's on Jesus' heart. And here in this passage,
it really serves as kind of like a last will and testimony, because this is the last prayer that we
have recorded before Jesus is going to the cross. So, we hear what is on his heart. We hear what he is
burdened with. And the focus in this final passage of his prayer is his burden for the church.
And it may be surprising at first, if you don't know this passage, about what he would actually
be praying for. He's praying for the unity of the church. And you may be thinking, well, if Jesus
were to be praying for the church, you may think, okay, he might pray that they have deeper faith,
or that they read their Bibles more, or they have more boldness in sharing the gospel.
But Jesus is talking about unity. And so, this is what I want us to unpack this evening. Why Jesus
would make this prayer? What does it mean for us? And ultimately, how does it bring glory to God?
So, this is our passage, John 17, starting in verse 20.
My prayer is not for them alone. I pray also for those who will believe in me through their message,
that all of them may be one, Father, just as you are in me and I am in you. May they also be in us,
so that the world may believe that you have sent me. I have given them the glory that you gave me,
that they may be one as we are one, I in them and you in me, so that they may be brought to complete
unity. Then the world will know that you sent me and have loved them even as you have loved me.
Father, I want those you have given to me to be with me where I am and to see my glory,
the glory you have given me because you loved me before the creation of the world.
Righteous Father, though the world does not know you, I know you, and they know that you have sent me.
I have made you known to them and will continue to make them known in order that the love
you have for me may be in them and that I myself may be in them. This is the word of God.
Let's begin with prayer.
Lord, we do thank you for this privilege to come together again to the preaching of your word.
And so we ask, Lord, that while we may come with distractions or various burdens or heavy hearts,
we ask, Lord, that you give us clarity of mind, that we may listen to your word and may receive it,
that it may sink down deep into our hearts, that we may be encouraged and corrected by it,
that you may receive the glory from our time together. And we pray this in Jesus' name. Amen.
Well, as I mentioned, we've been going through this high priestly prayer, and I think it's,
we can kind of think about it in three parts, almost as if it's concentric circles.
Because we started by looking at verses one through five, and it's this innermost circle
where Jesus is praying for himself. He's asking God for his own glorification.
And then we kind of move out to that second ring, verses six through 19.
This is Jesus praying for his own disciples, that the Father would protect them,
that he'd fill them with this full measure of joy.
And we get to this outermost ring this evening, where Jesus is praying for those who will believe in me
through the message of the disciples. And so we need to recognize who those are in this passage.
It's not simply the contemporaries of the disciples. It's not simply the New Testament church
that is soon to come about. It's Jesus looking far into the future
to include all the believers down through the ages.
And so if you are a follower of Jesus, Jesus is praying for you in this passage.
And so of course we recognize that prayer is our means of communication with God,
but I think the beautiful thing that we see in this passage is that Jesus is also praying for us.
And this isn't simply just a one-time prayer that he prayed in the upper room before he went to the cross.
Jesus is an ongoing pattern of prayer for his people.
We have to only turn to 1 John 2, where it explains this,
that he continues to speak to the Father in our defense.
And so sometimes when you get deep into passage, you may think,
okay, how do I actually apply this passage to those who are hearing?
This is a really easy passage to apply,
because Jesus is speaking directly to us in this context.
And he's praying that we may have unity.
And he says so three times in the first three verses.
And so this is what I want us to consider tonight,
this unity that Jesus prays for.
And I really want us to consider in three points.
I want us to first consider the nature of our unity,
the means of unity,
and the goal of the unity.
The nature,
the means,
and the goal of this unity.
So let's consider this first,
the nature of this unity,
and think about what is Jesus referring to here?
What does this look like in the church?
And it actually may be better to ask this question in the negative at first.
What is he not referring to here?
Because he's not,
when he's speaking about unity,
he's not simply talking about union,
or some form of uniformity.
I think oftentimes this passage can be mistaken,
and you think about this big picture of the ecumenical church.
We just need one big church.
We need to do away with denominations altogether.
That's not what Jesus is talking about here.
He's not talking about organizational union.
He's talking about relational unity.
And so we don't have to go very far after Jesus' death, burial, and resurrection
when we get this really beautiful picture of the oneness of the church that he's praying for.
If you think about the religious landscape before Christianity,
there were certainly a number of religions across the world,
but they were largely defined by ethnic groups and cultures.
And so in this case,
we see something very different come about
when we have this New Testament church spring up,
because it's not defined by ethnicity any longer.
Christianity is truly the first multi-ethnic religion.
And so it begins,
this message is proclaimed by this New Testament church
that ethnicity is no longer a barrier.
It no longer determines covenant access to God.
There is neither Jew nor Greek,
Paul says.
There's neither Jew nor Gentile.
We are all equals under the gospel of Jesus.
And so this is what we see played out very early in the book of Acts,
that this New Testament church,
they're eating together,
they're worshiping together,
they share their possessions,
they are inviting others into this faith community.
We see it even expands,
it goes,
it spans across class.
If you think of the book of Philemon,
Paul is writing to this leader in the church,
Philemon,
and encouraging him to forgive and to receive back his former slave,
Onesimus,
not simply as a slave,
but as a beloved brother in Christ.
And so we see in the church,
the rich and the poor,
the slave and the free,
all being welcomed into this fellowship that's rooted in Christ.
And it's not just the joy of fellowship that's shared in this New Testament church,
but also the sorrow and the hardship,
the growth of the church,
it comes about through great persecution,
great suffering,
imprisonment,
executions.
Yet we see the church endure by bearing each other's burden.
And so I think we can look at this New Testament church and think,
wow,
this is such a beautiful picture of the unity that Jesus prayed for.
But I think actually when we look in this passage,
Jesus is taking this idea of unity even a step further here.
Because if you look in verse 21 again,
it says,
I pray that all of them may be one Father,
just as you are in me and I am in you.
May they also be in us.
And so Jesus is praying that the believers may be united to the same degree as the Father and the Son are united.
And so I think it's important.
Sometimes we throw around these theological terms.
We talk about Father,
Son,
and Spirit.
We talk about the Trinity.
That term Trinity is not used in the Bible.
What we see played out in the Bible here is the Bible very clearly describes three persons of the Godhead.
The Father,
Son,
and Spirit.
These three persons are one God,
the same in substance,
equal in power,
and glory.
And so when we talk about the members of the Trinity,
we see they have one essence.
This is what Jesus is praying for,
that we may have the same degree of unity as the Father and the Son.
But in actuality here,
we see the believers,
we can't literally attain,
you and I attain the same essence with one another that Jesus is praying for here.
But what he's saying is he wants this perfect unity of the Godhead to serve as a model for the intimate loving bond that you and I should share together.
And he actually goes a little bit further because not only should it be a model,
but it should actually serve as the foundation for our Christian unity.
Because look at how verse 21,
well,
verse 22 begins,
may they be one in us.
And so he's highlighting unity between the Godhead.
He's also highlighting unity with the Godhead.
And so we see this beautiful picture of oneness in this passage.
That the Father is in the Son,
the Son is in the Father,
and the Son is in us.
We are in the Son.
Is there not a better picture of relational harmony that we can see?
If we go to 1 Peter 1, verse 4,
it says this,
it says that we participate in the divine nature.
Now,
that doesn't mean when we become Christians,
we become divine in any way,
but it's speaking about how our life becomes hidden with Christ in God.
And so this is why Paul always uses this phrase,
the same phrase to describe Christians.
He always calls them as being in Christ.
The Father and the Son are united in the Godhead.
Believers,
we are united with the Godhead.
Therefore,
we can be united with one another.
And so this is the nature of the unity that Jesus is praying for here.
And so in one sense,
I hope this gives us great comfort
that the all-powerful creator of the universe
wants to be in intimate relationship with you and me.
that in an age of isolationism and loneliness,
we are encouraged to have unity and fellowship as a family of Christ in the church.
But while it gives us comfort,
it may also bring us fear because we say this is a really high bar.
If he's talking about the same unity as the essence of the Godhead,
how in the world are we supposed to attain this?
How is this supposed to be brought about?
Well,
that brings us to our second point
because we're going to be thinking about what is the means of this unity?
How is this intimate bond brought about and how is it maintained?
I've got four kids at home.
And as is common,
when you have lots of kids,
lots of things break very often.
Often toys or things that they're playing with.
And so oftentimes the fix is they come to me and say,
well,
can you fix this?
And sometimes I can.
You get out your super glue,
you get your tape and you can fix something.
But that doesn't mean that everything can be fixed every time.
And so as a child,
it's sometimes hard to determine,
well,
when can something be fixed
and when can something not be fixed?
And sometimes there's disappointment
when they come and say,
fix this toy
and there's nothing I can do.
There's no amount of super glue
that's going to fix this little piece on the transformer.
There's no amount of tape
that's going to fix this badminton racket.
It's going to break again in five minutes.
I think this is often the case
when we think about the church
because we want to think about,
what is the glue?
What's the man-made glue
that's going to unite the church?
That's going to prevent division in the church?
Ultimately,
there's not a man-made solution.
We think about many things.
We may think about structure.
Presbyterians love structure.
Right?
We've no,
have,
we have elders and deacons
with very clearly defined roles.
We have different church courts
with different jurisdictions.
We have committees
and we have boards
and we have special processes
for doing things.
We think,
well,
that's going to bring us together.
All we have to do
is think about the history
of Presbyterianism in Scotland
to see the history of divisions.
You look at those charts
and it just looks like
this massive flow chart
of all the different churches,
all Presbyterianism
that are broken away.
The Church of Scotland,
the Free Church
and the Free Church Continuing,
the Free Presbyterians,
the United Presbyterians,
the Reformed Presbyterians.
All the same structure,
but there's a lack of unity.
Sometimes we may look
to something like shared interests.
We want,
we think shared interests
are going to bring unity
in the church.
That if it's just,
I want to go to church
that people that are
the same age and stage as me,
that have the same interests
and the same hobbies,
that are,
and there may be
a similar profession
of the same socioeconomic status.
That's going to bring unity
within the church.
And while we may be
naturally gravitate
to those who are similar
to us or share
common interests,
it's really superficial,
superficial in nature.
It's not going to be,
give us the grounding
or the foundation
that we need
for true unity
within church.
Uniformity,
commonality,
those things aren't going
to be the lasting glue
that bring oneness.
I think oftentimes
we think about doctrine,
doctrine,
doctrine is going to be
the glue that we need.
And so we can spend
all our time
trying to nail down
what the Bible says
and fine tune our theology
and hone in
on the intricacies
and details
of what God
is all about.
But if we think about it,
if we go to the book of James,
James is speaking
to the church.
He says,
you believe in one God.
Well, that's good.
But even the demons
believe in God
and they shudder.
Think about it.
Demons have good theology.
In the book of Mark,
when Jesus is casting out demons,
he prevents them
from speaking
because he knows
that they know
who he is.
They recognize
his divine identity
and authority.
So even demons
have good doctrine.
And it may scare them
to death,
but it doesn't change them.
And so in the same way,
that can be true of us.
But honestly,
if you look over
church history,
some of the most
theologically minded
people in the church
have also sometimes
been some of the most
divisive
because their head knowledge
doesn't actually
transform the heart.
And so therefore,
it doesn't lead to unity.
And so the reality is
that there's nothing
that we can do
to manufacture this unity.
There's no human means
of gluing us all together.
What Jesus is talking about here,
true means of unity
comes through
the transforming work
of the gospel.
And so look at verse 20 again.
He says,
I pray also
for those who will
believe in me
through their message.
He's saying,
I'm praying for those
who will come to faith
in the gospel
through the message
of the disciples
that's going to be
transmitted down
through the generations.
And so you think about
how a telegram works.
Maybe some of you
actually were around
and actually sent a telegram
or telegraph back in the day.
But you'd actually go
to a telegraph office
to send your message
and that would be relayed
via Morse code
to another office
and that office
would receive it
and store it
and then retransmit it
until it gets
to its final destination.
And originally,
the original telegraphs,
they only had a range
of about five or six miles.
And so you think about
this message,
if it had to be sent far,
it had to be retransmitted
and resent over
and over again.
I think the spread
of the gospel,
it really occurs
in a similar fashion.
And so I wonder
if we really marvel at this.
If we think about
how the gospel
has been transmitted
and relayed to you,
who told you about the gospel?
And who told them?
Generation after generation,
person after person,
if we were to trace this back,
would it not come
from the mouths
of the apostles themselves?
This is what Jesus
is talking about,
this apostolic message.
It's this unchanging good news
preached by the apostles
down through the generations
received by you and me.
And so this message,
we need to remember,
it's not a message
of trying harder.
It's not a message
of self-improvement.
It's not a message
based on legend
or made-up story.
If it was best
on those things,
it would simply
fizzle out over time.
But Paul tells us
in Romans 1
that the gospel
is the power of God
for salvation.
Man was created
in the image of God
that we were supposed
to live in perfect union
with him,
but because of the fall,
sin separated us
from God.
And as a result,
we are justly deserving
of his wrath.
But it says that God
demonstrated his love
for us in that
while we were yet sinners,
Christ died for us.
And so this message
that Jesus wants
proclaimed by the apostles,
it's playing out
in real time
in front of him.
Because it's only days later
that he's going to be
arrested and beaten
and crucified
and buried.
He willingly
taking the punishment
for our sins.
But we know the good news
that he doesn't stay
in the grave,
that he rose from the dead
conquering sin
and death forever.
And so some of us
have been around the church
our whole lives
and we've heard this message
of the gospel
over and over
and over again.
And sometimes
we just become numb to it.
Or sometimes
we just kind of think about it
in the abstract or generalities.
We've heard,
yes, God loves the world.
But in this prayer,
Jesus is personalizing
this message.
Jesus loves you.
He's praying that we
as his people
will know
that God loves them
the same way
that God loves us
the same way
that he loves the Son.
And so this is really
an incredible reality
to get our heads around here
that God the Father
loves you
as much as he
loves his Son.
In our sin
and in our filth,
in the depth
of our rebellion,
he has chosen
you and me
to love us,
to cleanse us,
to give us
the righteousness
of his Son,
to bring us
from death
to life
that we may be called
sons of God.
God.
We go back in time
to 1572.
John Knox,
the Scottish reformer,
he became ill
with pneumonia
and his condition
began to deteriorate.
And as he lay
in his deathbed,
he turned to his wife
and he said,
Go.
Go where I cast
my first anchor.
And she immediately
knew what he was
talking about
and she went
and got his Bible
and she opened
it up to John 17
to this passage,
the high priestly prayer
and she read it
over him.
And after she was finished,
he commented,
Oh,
what a comfort
this chapter is.
See,
the truth
of God's love
for him
is what was his anchor
in his life
and ministry.
In the same way,
should God's love
not be our anchor?
that the love
of God
may move us
to relationship
with others,
move us
into deeper
relationship
with him.
The gospel,
it's not merely
good news
for us to know,
it's good news
for us to experience.
And so,
when God's love
so permeates
our hearts,
it's going to transform
the way that we live,
it's going to transform
the way that we relate
to other people.
So,
think about how Paul
talks about this again
in Philippians 2.
He says,
we have this encouragement
in the fact that
we are united to Christ.
We have this comfort
in his love.
We get to share
in his spirit.
We get to experience
the tenderness
and compassion
of the Father.
Therefore,
we need to be like-minded.
We are called
to have the same love
and be of one spirit
and one mind.
This is the means
of unity.
It's rooted in Christ.
So,
that then brings us
to our final point.
What is,
what's the purpose
of this unity?
Think about that
telegraph illustration again.
I think it's really good.
It's a comfort for us
to think about
how the gospel
has been transmitted
generation over generation
from person to person
and how it reached us.
The illustration,
it breaks down
if we think that
we're the final destination,
that we're the terminus
of that message.
The gospel message
was never meant
to end
with you and me.
It's our duty.
It's our command.
It should be our pleasure
to relay it.
And so,
look at what it says
in verse 21 again.
Why does Jesus pray
for unity?
So that the world
may believe
that you have sent me.
Verse 23,
what happens
when believers
are brought into unity?
Then the world
will know
that you sent me
and have loved them
even as you have loved me.
The purpose
of our unity
is for others
to come
to the saving faith
in the person
and work
of Jesus.
If we think back
of this past weekend,
I think we see
a beautiful example
of that.
And we have
our friends
from South Carolina
with us
from a church
that has supported
Rachel and I
for more than six years.
A church
that has given
to the renovation
of this church building.
They want to send
a group
to be able to see
what Christ
is doing in us
and through us
and they want
to be able
to participate
in that.
We see how this
played out this week.
The point
of this relationship
is not simply
so we can just
make some friends
across the ocean.
We can eat pork together.
Think about this partnership.
It's so that we may
see people
come to know Jesus.
And those of us
who were here
just yesterday
for this community
hall gross,
I hope you saw this.
I hope you saw
the unity play out
amongst us.
That people just
coming off the streets
who were just curious
about what was going on
with these people
gathered in front of the church.
People who
didn't maybe un-church,
maybe never even
stepped foot in a church,
that were experiencing
the love of Christ
maybe the first time
in their lives.
And so what a joy it is
to see this church
gather together
different ages,
different backgrounds,
different nationalities,
all for the sake
of the gospel.
And I think we need
to recognize it.
It's wonderful
to do events like this,
but something like
a hog roast
is not the beginning
and the end
of what ministry
looks like in the church.
I think it's good
to have a big picture
of the need,
but oftentimes
our mind just stays here.
We recognize,
yes,
there's darkness
in our society around us.
We see this need
for the gospel.
We long for revival,
but we often fail
to personalize this message.
Think about,
we just had the Scottish
parliament elections
just a few weeks ago.
We heard no shortage
of politicians
talking about
the change
that they want
to bring about.
They speak in big platitudes
about needing
to improve education
or eliminate,
we need to eliminate poverty
or we need to end racism.
And again,
they're speaking
on a very high level here.
They're saying,
this is what the government
needs to do.
This is the government's
responsibility.
But I wonder
if we were to ask them
individually,
you want to improve education,
when was the last time
that you tutored a student?
You want to end poverty,
when was the last time
you fed the homeless?
You want to end racism,
when was the last time
you had someone
from a different race
inside your home
for dinner?
I think oftentimes,
this is what we see.
We see,
they see the need
in society,
but they call on
government to fix it,
shirking any sense
of personal responsibility.
This is what often
plays out
when we think
about the gospel,
right?
We claim that we want
to see the gospel spread,
but really,
I'd rather someone else
go through the hassle
of having to spread it.
We talk about
the role of the church
and the responsibility
of the church
but we don't always
think about what
our role in the church is.
The clue is,
this is not meant
to be a place
where we just kind of
collect warm bodies
on a Sunday.
We need men
and we need women,
we need children,
we need married
and single,
we need students
and graduates,
young and old,
to be committed
to the spread
of the gospel.
And Jesus says
that the spread
of the gospel
is going to come
when the world
sees our unity.
It's really hard
for the world
to see our unity
when we only sit
next to each other
for two hours
on a Sunday.
The world
is going to see
our unity
when we are committed
to the gospel,
when we are willing
to sacrificially give
of our time
and our energy
and our resources
to see the love
of God
be spread in this community
so that the gospel
becomes so undeniable
and irresistible
to those around us.
Because this is
what the ultimate vision
of what Jesus
is praying for here
when we turn
to verse 24.
Father,
I want those
you have given me
to be with me
where I am
and to see my glory.
This desire,
it's not a mere wish
that Jesus has,
but it's an expression
of will
founded upon
acknowledged right.
Man was created
to live
in perfect harmony
with God
and behold
his glory.
Sin prevented
that from happening.
But Jesus
has now come.
He has,
through his completed work,
he now allows
for this unity
to be found
and possessed
once again.
And so while we can
get a glimpse
of this glory of God
in our lives now,
our longing
should be
for when we,
that day,
when that veil
has been lifted
and we can see
the full glory
of the Father,
when we may
behold the glory
of Jesus
and we do so
in perfect unity.
This is what we get
when we read
in Revelation 7.
It speaks of this
great multitude
that there's
no one can count
from every nation
and tribe
and people
and language
standing before the throne
and before the Lamb.
And they cry out
with a loud voice,
salvation belongs
to our God
who sits on the throne
and to the Lamb.
This is a picture
of the church
in perfect unity
beholding
the perfect glory
of the Son.
This is ultimately
what we should be
striving for
as a church.
That as we draw
nearer to Jesus,
we're drawing nearer
to one another
that we may behold
the glory of God.
That we may see it
and share in it.
May it be so.
Let's pray.
Lord, we do thank you
for the encouragement
from this word
that we know
that the Son
is praying for us.
That he continues
to intercede
on our behalf.
We thank you, Lord,
that in all your glory
and your might
you desire
to be an intimate
relationship with us.
and so may that
be the foundation
for our unity.
Lord, we desire
to be united
to one another
and may it not be
just based on goodwill
or much effort
but may it be rooted
in the gospel.
That the unity
that we display
may be seen
by an outside world.
That the gospel
may go forth
with power.
Lord, may it be
our deepest
and most earnest
desire
that you may be glorified.
And we thank you
for the opportunity
to share in that glory
as you are a united people.
And we pray this
in Jesus' name.
Amen.