Turn with me to John chapter
17, verse 21. Every time we sing that song
we just sang, I think that's an honest song
for a believer. John chapter 17, verses 21 to 23. Our Lord, praying, says that
they all may be one, as Thou, Father, art in me, and I in Thee. That they also may be one in
us, that the world may believe that Thou hast sent me. And the
glory which Thou gavest me, I have given them. that they may be
one, even as we are one. I in them, 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 them as thou hast loved me." There is in this blessed prayer
Some things that are so wonderful, so mysterious, so true, but our flesh is so weak that there's so much that we
just cannot perceive. But I do know this. that which the Lord Jesus Christ
has prayed and continues to intercede for us, these things are so. And having prayed not only for
the disciples that then believed, but also for those that would
believe through the preaching of the gospel, Our Lord now reveals
the end or the purpose of His intercession for His own. In verse 21, He says that they
all may be one. Now, let's just be honest about something. except he pray on our behalf, except he as the
mediator pray, these things are not going to be. Nothing is going to be established
as far as peace between us and God on our behalf. You know that. We just dealt with that. but
except the Lord Jesus Christ satisfy God, establish righteousness
for us, intercede for us, except there be a mediator, right here,
except there be an intercessor, except there be one that Almighty
God accepts in His own merit on our behalf, None of this is
going to be. But here's what he prays, that
they all may be one. His prayer on our behalf, that
we may be one, one in mind, one in doctrine, one in heart, One
in union as His body, Jew, Gentile, all His people, that they all
may be one. One in faith. One in Him. One in love. Do you know why we have fellowship
this morning? Because He asked the Father for
it. He's asked God Almighty on our
behalf, having lived for us, going to the cross here, just
a little bit, put away the Father's eternally seen, that blood. And
here's what He asked. And whatever He asked, He asked
always according to God's will. And the Father who ever hears
Him, going to give him exactly what he asked for because he's
asking again according to God's will and purpose, covenant, that
they all may be one. And the Father's blessing of
His petition that they may be one, and the Father's answering
it, blessing it, is made evident by the heart and the love that
God's people have for each other. that we can be here this morning
and fellowship in the gospel, fellowship with one another,
love one another. I'm so thankful that we can be
here this morning and love each other. This is God's blessing. God has blessed what He's asked.
This was ever the desire set forth by those who under the
inspiration of God's Spirit penned these scriptures. Here was the
Lord asking, asking, I pray that they might be one. That He would ask the Father
to give us some unity, some fellowship, companionship in Him. Listen
to this, as the Spirit of God moved upon. Ephesians 4, just
hold your hand in John, we'll be right back. Ephesians chapter
4. Verse 1 to 3, now here's the
Spirit of God moving upon men that penned these scriptures. The blessing of it speaking,
God speaking through His Word. I therefore the prisoner of the
Lord beseech you that you walk worthy of the vocation wherewith
you're called with all lowliness and meekness. That word meekness,
I want to be sure, it's not weakness. Meekness is submission unto God's
will, God's purpose. Meekness. With all lowliness
and meekness, with long-suffering, forbearing one another in love,
endeavoring to keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of
peace. Endeavoring to do that, striving to do that. Oh, if there's
something that is trying to cause some contentions, just squelch
it. Put it down. Esteem another better
than yourself. Is the peace and the harmony
of the gospel in the blessed body, is it worth your pride
and your arrogance? No, not mine either. Endeavoring,
endeavoring to keep the unity of the spirit of the bond of
peace Look at Colossians 2, verse 1
and 2. For I would that you knew what
great conflict I have for you and for them at Laodicea. And
for as many as have not seen my face in the flesh, that their
hearts might be comforted, being knit together in love unto all
riches, the full assurance of understanding, to the acknowledgement
of the mystery of God and of the Father and of Christ. hearts
knit together. It's just such a precious sound. Their hearts would be knit together
in love. I tell you about going down to
Mexico here, Lord willing here, and going down there and going
into those villages in the outlying areas. I know Cody and Walter and Winna
and Betty. I know them. I've been knowing
them and I can speak. They can speak. They're from Texas. They understand
me. But I get down there and here's
some people down there. They're trying to talk to you
and I don't understand what you're saying until Cody or Winna or
one of the others tells me what they're saying and I'm listening
to what they're saying and what they're saying is consistent,
scripturally. They're relating to me, maybe
something was said in the message or something and I'm listening
to that and I think my heart just... I'm thinking, you know
what? God Almighty has knit our hearts together. I don't even
know who you are. I don't even know your name.
But there's a bond there, peace. Father, that they all may be
one. One. That they all may be one,
the Lord Jesus Christ says, as Thou, Father, art in me. and
I in thee, that they also may be one in us." Now obviously
there's a unity between the Father and the Son concerning their
deity that we as believers will never obtain, obviously. But our Lord's meaning seems
to be that as the Father and the Son are one in themselves
as to their purpose, to show mercy and compassion to the elect. They won. Won in agreement, the
Father being the electing God, at the word Jesus Christ, the
submissive servant of Jehovah as the Redeemer, the one who's
eternally stood for his people, And the blessed Holy Spirit,
the quickening God, the sealer. Remember, that word seal means
like a stamp. It means an impression. You know,
you emboss something, a notary. That's the seal of it. And they're
sealed. The Spirit of God has sealed
them, you know. God sees them. God knows. teaches
them, guides them, directs them. They're one. That they all may
be one as Thou, Father, art in me, and I in Thee, that they
also may be one as in us. We as believers are one in Them. In the Father and in the Son,
and the Father and the Son, because of their love for one another,
their union, they're one. Their love for us. I tell you
this, if we're one in Christ, chosen in Him by the Father, Christ is one with the Father
as the mediator between God and man. Then being found in Christ,
having union with Him, we have union with the Father. Totally
based upon being joined to the Lord Jesus Christ. And the evidence
of our union to Christ is that we believe Him. This is how we
know that we're one with Him and one with the Father being
found in Him. We believe the report. We believe
God. Abraham believed God. And this, our Lord prays, He
says in that latter part of that 21st verse, that the world may
believe that Thou hast sent Me. And that they all may be one,
as Thou, Father, art in Me, and I in Thee, that they also may
be one in Us, that the world may believe that Thou hast sent
Me. I want you to notice that He
doesn't say that the world may believe on Him. He didn't say
that. but that the world may believe that thou hast sent me."
That's what he said. Now this belief that the Father
has sent the Son, that the world may believe that the Father has
sent the Son, it may not occur in this life. That may not. But you can bet this, it's going
to occur. that the world, the ones that he doesn't pray for.
Verse 9, he said, I pray for them, I pray not for the world.
But now he's saying right here, he said, I pray that the world
may believe that thou hast sent me. In that day, there's coming a
day, I know when all mankind is going to stand before the
judge and the books are going to be opened. and the book. And then shall the sheep be divided
between the goats. And the sheep are going to be
told to enter in to all that's been prepared for them from the
foundation of the world. And the scripture bears out that
the goats are going to be cast out. And in that day, for sure,
the world is going to believe that the Father has sent him.
They're going to believe not unto life. You remember, devils
believe. I mean, they believe. There's
an acknowledgment. The world's going to acknowledge
that you've sent me. Verse 22, And the glory which
thou gavest me, I have given them, that they may be one, even
as we are one. That passage of scripture, right
there, when we first read it, you think, how can that be? The
glory which thou gavest me, I have given them. Here's what he's
saying. The glory that was given him
as the Messiah. Look in verse 2. as Thou hast given Him power
over all flesh, that He should give eternal life to as many
as Thou hast given Him." Now, here's the glory. Here's the
glory that was given the Lord Jesus Christ as the God-man. As God, no glory is given Him. You know that. What is given
unto Him as He is God? but as the submissive servant
of Jehovah, the One who is eternally stood as the surety, the One
who was made flesh, the One who humbled Himself, made Himself
of no reputation. He as the intercessor, He as
the Redeemer, the God-Man, the Man, the Son of Man. The glory that was given Him
was this, all power. Now how much is left? None. All power. As thou hast given
Him power over all flesh. That glory belongs to the Lord
Jesus Christ. We have none. He has all. He has all. The glory that was given to the
Lord Jesus Christ was that all power is given to the Son. For this reason, verse 2 says,
17-2, that He should give eternal life to as many as thou hast
given Him. Do you know who's running everything?
He is. Do you know who orders all things?
He does. Do you know who moves everything?
He does. Do you want to know who's in
control? He is. Do you want to know why? That
He should give eternal life to as many as thou hast given Him. Almighty God, we've talked about
this before, He put your parents together. Their parents and their parents
and their parents and all the way back to Adam. Everything that was ordered,
he put them where he put them in the state. He did. And he did it for this purpose.
That all of his elect should be brought to him. I had to be born, you did too.
You know him, you had to be born. And you had to be born to the
parents that you were born to. This thing wasn't out of control. All power was given him. The
glory which thou gavest me, I've given them. What does he mean? Eternal life. That's what's been
given them. Not all power that was given
Him. All power was given Him that He should give eternal life.
And the glory that He possessed as all power being given to Him,
He's ordered all things. He's done all things well. He's
done all things according to God's will, God's purpose. When
God said, I'm going to have mercy on whom I'm going to have mercy,
and I'll have compassion on whom I'll have compassion, everything
that was needful for that was given to the Son. And when you
were born and I was born, He saw fit, when He pleased Him,
He called you out of darkness and crossed paths with you. He
put you here. It always amazes me when I look
around, I see a group of people, so many And God been pleased to call
out of darkness and they were in one place. Just in this community. And you can go down the road
and there's nobody. Why did he put you right here?
Because this is where we're going to raise up a body? All power
established a little old community in the backside of nowhere. Katy,
West Virginia. That's always amazed me. Katy,
West Virginia. Oh, what a spot of God's glory. And put some people in this spot
and this spot right around here and raise the glory which thou
gavest me. I've given them. You gave me
power over all flesh that I should give eternal life to as many
as you gave me and I did it. And I'm doing it. And I shall
do it. All that the Father giveth me
shall come to me. Verse 23, 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 them as
thou hast loved me. We come to the end of this particular
message by stating the glorious mystery of our unity to the Father
and to the Son by repeating the words of our Lord. I in them. In regenerating grace, the Lord
Jesus Christ actually takes up residency in His people. What a miracle. Christ in you. Now that means one thing. Christ in you. Your hope, my hope of glory. I in them. In regeneration. Here's a miracle. Almighty God
gives a new heart. There's a new man there, created
in righteousness. And it's the life of Christ. I in them, partakers with Him being in us,
There's times that I try, as I've told you before, try to
read, try to pray, try to walk with consistency, and I think
there's just, there's nothing there. Oh, I beg my pardon. Yeah, there is something there.
It's Him. I in them. And listen to this,
and thou in me. I think of the fullness of the
Godhead bodily in His people. You know the truth of our Lord
saying, I will never leave you. I'll never forsake you. God's
people are not alone. I in them, and Thou in me. And here's the reason, that they
may be made perfect in one. Now I know this, there is the
truth of that new creation being In regenerating grace being imparted,
there's a new man, which is born of God, sinneth not. That's true,
that's true. But this is not what he's talking
about. That they may be made perfect in one. What it is, it's
talking about that they may be made complete in one body. All of God's elect are going
to be saved. We know that. John 6.37, All
that the Father giveth me. that shall come to me." The word
perfect there is complete. That they may be made complete
in one. All that the Father ever gave
the Son are going to be with Him in Heaven. And Almighty God
has set forth in the Scriptures that Christ in them the Father
in Him, that we might be all together with Him, where He is. And then He closes with this
truth that He just said, and that the world may know that
Thou hast sent Me, and hast loved them as Thou hast loved Me. I pray that they might be one. I pray they might be one, as
you Father are in me and I in thee, that they might be one
in us, that the world might believe that you sent me. They're going
to be a divine witness of the grace of God that the Lord Jesus
Christ prays for and it shall be brought to pass. And when
this is made open, when it's manifest, completely evident
that all God's sheep have been saved, gathered, enter into glory,
the world is going to know that the Father has loved the
Son as the mediator. And the world is going to know
that the Son, as the Redeemer, has redeemed everyone that the
Father has given Him, and that they're all going to enter in.
And that He, as the surety, has eternally stood for them, and
God's counsel has eternally stood. And that nothing was left to
chance. Nothing was left loose-ended
that all things came about because of the power that was given to
the Son to save whomsoever the Father
gave Him. Every knee is going to bow that
day. Every knee is going to bow. And every tongue is going to
confess that you're sovereign. You're
the Lord. You're the Lord. The Lord Jesus
Christ has prayed that. And I'm telling you, may we write
this down according to his word, it's going to be so. Lord, bless
our hearts by these words. Seal us unto the day of redemption
for Christ's sake.