John 17:20-26: Jesus Prays for Unity

You might say the gospel… that Jesus died on the cross for our sins and rose again three days later and we are saved by grace alone through faith alone in Christ alone.

Amen.

Its essential. In fact we aren’t a church without it.

Sound Doctrine

You might say Sound Doctrine… A robust true biblical theology (Titus 2:1).

The word sound means healthy, so you can’t have a healthy church and not have sound doctrine.

But the Gospel and Sound Doctrine are not enough to make a healthy church.

Essential!… but not enough.

If I speak in the tongues of men and of angels, but have not love, I am a noisy gong or a clanging cymbal.

And if I have prophetic powers, and understand all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have all faith, so as to remove mountains, but have not love, I am nothing.

If I give away all I have, and if I deliver up my body to be burned, but have not love, I gain nothing (1 Corinthians 13:1).

We could have the gospel and the soundest doctrine in the world, but if we don’t have love… we have nothing.

We are nothing.

And if we have not love we don’t actually have the gospel and sound doctrine at all.

Unity

Unity is essential for a healthy and vibrant church.

A love and fellowship and commitment to one another that testifies to the love and grace we have in Christ.

In John 17:20-26 Jesus prays for our Unity.

John 17:20–23 I do not ask for these only, but also for those who will believe in me through their word, that they may all be one… that they may be one even as we are one… that they may become perfectly one, so that the world may know that you sent me and loved them even as you loved me.

With the close of the High Priestly prayer Christ not only prays for His Disciples but for all generations of the church… those who will believe in me through their word.

This is Jesus prayer for you… for us… the thing most on His heart as He goes to the cross.

The very next chapter is the betrayal and arrest of Jesus.

And with one of His last works of ministry… Jesus prays for the unity of the church… the unity of every church in every age.

From this prayer we see that Unity is essential for a biblical and healthy church and we as a church must do everything we can to fight for it.

And that’s the Big Idea for today.

The Church must fight for Unity.

It is Jesus’s prayer for us.

So what I want to do today… to give you a little road map is look at Christ’s prayer in John 17:20-26 and then zoom out to the broader New Testament Teaching on Division and the need for us to fight for unity…

And then I want to look at How we actually do that.

We’re going to have three points today:

Number 1… Jesus Prays for Our Unity.

Number 2… Division is a Community Destroying Work of the Flesh.

And Number 3… We Fight for Unity by Loving One Another as Christ Has Loved Us.

Point 1…

I. The Anchor of Our Unity

Jesus Prays for Our Unity as a Church

John 17:20–23 I do not ask for these only, but also for those who will believe in me through their word, that they may all be one, just as you, Father, are in me, and I in you, that they also may be in us, so that the world may believe that you have sent me. The glory that you have given me I have given to them, that they may be one even as we are one, I in them and you in me, that they may become perfectly one, so that the world may know that you sent me and loved them even as you loved me.

For ease of teaching perhaps it would be best to work through these verses topically.

First… what is the ground or anchor point of our unity.

What unifies us?

What are we unified about?

And what are we to fight for Unity in?

And Second… What is the purpose of our unity?

Why does Jesus pray that we would all be one?

First…

I. The Anchor of Our Unity

Jesus gives three anchor points for the unity of the church.

Three anchors for what unifies us and what we are to fight for unity in.

1. Christ and the Gospel

Number 1… Christ and the Gospel.

Jesus prayed I do not ask for these only, but for those who will believe in me through their word.

What unites us… what unites all those Christ prays for… is Christ and the Gospel.

Who believe in me… Christ… through their word… gospel.

The kind of unity that Christ prays for is not just happy feelings and good vibes.

Its not the unity and love and fellowship you can have in some kind of social club.

Its a unity that is built on and centered around Christ and the good news of salvation.

What unites us is that we all believe Jesus is the Messiah and the Son of God and He alone has the words of eternal life (John 6:68).

All the petty differences that divide the world melt away under Christ in the church.

Our fellowship is greater than all our differences.

Nationality.

Skin color.

Age.

Generation.

Intelligence.

Education.

Economic status or social Background.

All of these take a backseat under the banner of Christ.

That’s why Paul says in Galatians 3:27–28 For as many of you as were baptized into Christ have put on Christ. There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free, there is no male and female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus.

Its not that these differences go away… they’re still there.

You’re still a man or a woman.

You’re still White, Black, or Asian.

Rich or poor.

But these differences don’t divide us.

Rather… they highlight the beauty of the unity we share in Christ.

They highlight His love, mercy, and grace and say… in our fellowship… Christ is greater than all and our ultimate loyalty… our ultimate identity is found in Him.

We are one in Christ.

2. Our Spiritual Union with God in Christ

The second anchor… closely related to the first… is our Spiritual Union with God in Christ and thus our Spiritual Union with one another.

Jesus prayed John 17:21 …that they may all be one, just as you, Father, are in me, and I in you, that they also may be in us…

That language of in me, and I in you, that they also may be in us all speaks to our spiritual union with God in Christ.

The Fellowship, Love, and Communion we get to enjoy with God Himself in Christ through the Spirit.

That we are all children of God and as Children of God brothers and sisters in Jesus Christ (John 1:12-13).

We are all born again… born of God… born from above… (John 3:3).

We are a new spiritual family… God’s own spiritual family.

The idea is that if we all share fellowship with God then we should all also share fellowship with one another.

In…

Ephesians 4:1–6 I therefore, a prisoner for the Lord, urge you to walk in a manner worthy of the calling to which you have been called, with all humility and gentleness, with patience, bearing with one another in love, eager to maintain the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace.

So Paul says walk in a manner worthy of the gospel… eager to maintain the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace.

Doing all that you can to strive for… fight for unity.

And then Paul gives the reason why.

There is one body and one Spirit—just as you were called to the one hope that belongs to your call— one Lord, one faith, one baptism, one God and Father of all, who is over all and through all and in all.

You can hear Paul’s emphasis… this drumbeat of one.

One body.

One Spirit.

One Hope.

One Lord.

One Faith.

One Baptism.

One God and Father of all.

We all worship the same God.

We all serve the same Lord.

We all share in one baptism proclaiming the one faith we have in the gospel of Jesus Christ.

Think of it like this.

Paul says there is one body and one Spirit… The Holy Spirit.

The same Holy Spirit Jesus said in John 14:17 dwells with you and will be in you.

The Holy Spirit indwells every individual believer.

Well how many Holy Spirits are there?… Hundreds?… Thousands?… Millions?

Its a ridiculous question… there’s only One.

So how can that One Spirit be divided?

He can’t… divisions are grievous to Him (Ephesians 4:30).

In fact, when Paul says do not grieve the Spirit, He immediately follows that up with Let all bitterness and wrath and anger and clamor and slander be put away from you, along with all malice. Be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, as God in Christ forgave you… walk in love, as Christ loved us and gave Himself up for us (Ephesians 4:31-32, 5:2).

In other words… fight for Unity.

We share fellowship with Christ through the indwelling Holy Spirit and that same Holy Spirit indwells all of us.

If we share fellowship with God in Christ… we also share fellowship with one another.

This fellowship is specifically said to be a ministry of the Holy Spirit.

2 Corinthians 13:14 The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ and the love of God and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with you all.

And what God has joined together let no man separate (Matthew 19:6).

3. The True Knowledge of God and the Worship of Him

Number 3… the third anchor that unites us as one body in Christ is a True Knowledge of God and the Worship of Him.

Verse 22: The glory that you have given me I have given to them, that they may be one even as we are one, I in them and you in me, that they may become perfectly one…

The glory that Christ talks about in this verse is the knowledge of the One, True God.

Earlier Jesus prayed I have manifested your name to the people whom you gave me out of the world. Yours they were, and you gave them to me… (John 17:6).

God’s Name and God’s Glory are the excellence and majesty of God’s nature and Character revealed in Jesus Christ.

He is the radiance of the glory of God (Hebrews 1:3).

No one has ever seen God; the only God, who is at the Father’s side, he has made him known (John 1:18).

That’s what it means that Jesus has given us the glory of God.

He has revealed The Lord, the Lord, a God merciful and gracious, slow to anger, and abounding in steadfast love… (Exodus 34:5-7).

That they may be one even as we are one, I in them and you in me, that they may become perfectly one.

One in what?

Well Glory comes with worship so One in the Knowledge and the true worship of the One True God.

We are united in the knowledge of the True God and in worshiping Him.

Truth and Unity

Now its important that we recognize that this unity is in true knowledge.

We don’t sacrifice truth for the sake of unity.

Unity not centered on the truth is not unity at all.

We should divide from heretics and false teachers.

We should divide with false doctrine.

That kind of division is not a sin.

Paul said There must be factions… there must be divisions… among you in order that those who are genuine among you may be recognized (1 Corinthians 11:19).

You can’t water down the gospel for the sake of unity because then you lose the very thing that unifies us… the Truth revealed in Jesus Christ.

So we don’t deny the truth or water down God’s Word for the sake of unity.

Rather we stand on the truth and contend for the faith that was once for all delivered to the saints (Jude 3).

If we are to be one body united in a true knowledge and worship of the One True God we must worship God rightly… and those who worship him must worship in spirit and truth… (John 4:24).

Spiritually from the heart and in accordance with God’s Word as God has revealed Himself to be in Jesus Christ.

The glory you have given to me I have given to them.

Summary

So we are united around Christ and the Gospel.

Our Spiritual Union with God in Christ and thus our spiritual union with one another in Him.

And around the True Knowledge of the One True God and the True Worship of Him.

And then Jesus prays about the purpose of that Unity.

Why does Jesus pray that we would be one and become perfectly one?

II. The Purpose of Our Unity

Verses 21 and 23…

John 17:21–23 …that the world may believe that you have sent me… so that the world may know that you sent me and loved them even as you loved me.

So there’s two things our Unity centered around Christ and the Gospel and the worship of the One True God is meant to display… manifest… and testify to the world.

That the world may believe that you have sent me… and loved them even as you loved me.

Our unity with one another is meant to be a witness to the person and work of Christ and a testimony of God’s glory and grace.

Witness

First… as a witness… our unity around Christ is to say to the World Jesus really is the Messiah and the Son of God.

We worship Him as our Prophet, Priest, and King and the Eternal Son of God made flesh (John 1:14).

Our love and fellowship is meant to be so heavenly… so other worldly… that the only explanation is that Jesus was who He said He was.

What else can take all these people with so many differences that divide those in the world and make them one?

Jesus Christ.

By this all people will know that you are my disciples… if you have love for one another (John 13:34-35).

Glory/Grace

And often missed, our unity is meant to testify to God’s glory and grace.

So that the world may know that you sent me and loved them even as you loved me.

What kind of Gospel does our love and fellowship preach?

Our unity together as a church is meant testify to God’s glory and grace in Christ to save a people for Himself and to reconcile them both to God and one another.

Do we love each other?

Do we forgive each other knowing that in Christ God has loved and forgiven us?

That God really does have the power to save and change sinners?

To free them from sin and the works of the flesh which we are going to see are so connected to rivalries and dissensions… and make them new creations in Christ?

New Creatures who know how to love, give grace, and forgive?

So our unity is meant to be evangelistic… so heavenly and other worldly that the world has no answer for the love and fellowship that we share…

And testify to God’s glory and grace… Bring God glory!

That God loves… God forgives… that God takes sinners and reconciles them to Himself and to one another.

When we don’t fight for unity as a Church we hurt our witness and preach a deficient view of God’s glory and grace.

Our unity is a litmus test for how much do we truly understand God’s glory and grace for us in Jesus Christ.

III. The Blessings We Enjoy Together United in Christ

Then we come to verses 24-26… the final words of Jesus’ prayer where Jesus shifts focus just a little bit.

Where before He prayed for the church’s unity… here He prays for what He wants for the church from that unity.

Its not totally disconnected from what’s come before because the unity is the fertile ground that allows the last words of Jesus’ prayer to grow and bear fruit.

A Church can’t see Christ’s glory, know God’s love and enjoy all the blessings of Christ in the Covenant of Grace if all their time and energy is spent infighting with one another.

Jesus prays…

John 17:24–26 Father, I desire that they also, whom you have given me, may be with me where I am, to see my glory that you have given me because you loved me before the foundation of the world. O righteous Father, even though the world does not know you, I know you, and these know that you have sent me. I made known to them your name, and I will continue to make it known, that the love with which you have loved me may be in them, and I in them.

Jesus here prays for the ultimate aim and purpose of salvation and the ultimate aim and purpose of the church.

To see know and enjoy the glory and grace of Christ and the love God has for us in Him.

Glory/Grace/Heaven

Jesus prayed Father, I desire that they also, whom you have given me, may be with me where I am, to see my glory that you have given me because you loved me before the foundation of the world.

Jesus prays for Heaven.

The Eternal State when every trace and stain of sin will be washed away and we will be with Christ forever where He is… in the glory and presence of God the Father.

This speaks to our Assurance and the Eternal Security of our salvation.

Jesus prays that we would surely persevere and see… behold… the glory He had before the foundation of the world.

That we would see His glory in fullness where now we see in a mirror dimly but then face to face (1 Corinthians 13:12).

But in the mean time… Jesus makes a wonderful promise: I made known to them your name, and I will continue to make it known.

That even while He’s away, Jesus will not abandon the Church… He will not leave them or forget about Him.

He revealed the Name of God and would continue to make it known.

He would continue to reveal God and His glory and His grace.

Cross

Obviously in the immediate future, Jesus would continue to make God’s name known in His Death and Resurrection.

Where else do we more clearly see The Lord, the Lord, a God merciful and gracious, slow to anger, and abounding in steadfast love and faithfulness, keeping steadfast love for thousands, forgiving iniquity and transgression and sin, but who will by no means clear the guilty if not the cross! (Exodus 34:5-7).

The cross is where love and justice meet.

Jesus died in our place for our sins.

All the wrath of God our sins deserved were poured out on Him.

Justice for our transgression and breaking of the Law was satisfied in Jesus’ substitutionary and sacrificial death.

He is the propitiation for our sins (1 John 2:2).

A propitiation is a sacrifice that satisfies and turns away wrath and Jesus satisfied the wrath of God for us.

He paid the full weight and penalty our sins deserved.

For the wages of sin is death (Romans 6:23).

But at the cross we also see God’s love and mercy and grace.

We don’t just see God’s holiness, wrath, and justice.

The Lord, The Lord, a God merciful and gracious, slow to anger, and abounding in steadfast love.

In this the love of God was made manifest among us, that God sent his only Son into the world, so that we might live through him. In this is love, not that we have loved God but that he loved us and sent his Son to be the propitiation for our sins (1 John 4:9-10).

For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life (John 3:16).

Through the cross… God forgave us of all our sins.

He removed them as far from as as east is from the west (Psalm 103:12).

He laid them all on Christ.

He was pierced for our transgressions; he was crushed for our iniquities; upon him was the chastisement that brought us peace, and with his wounds we are healed. All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned—every one—to his own way; and the Lord has laid on him the iniquity of us all (Isaiah 53:5–6).

We are justified in Christ.

Forgiven of our sins and declared righteous in Him.

On the cross Jesus manifested God’s Name as the Just and Justifier of the one who has faith in Jesus (Romans 3:26).

Ministry of the Word and Spirit

But beyond the cross… Jesus would continue to make known the Name of God through the Ministry of the Word and the Spirit.

I tie those together because they cannot be disconnected.

The Bible is called the Sword of the Spirit (Ephesians 6:17).

Men wrote the Bible under the inspiration of the Spirit as they were carried along by Spirit (1 Peter 1:21).

Earlier in the Upper Room Jesus promised the Apostles that the Holy Spirit would teach them all things and bring to their remembrance everything Jesus had said to them… pre-authenticating their Doctrine and the Scripture they would be inspired to write (John 14:26).

So Jesus continues to teach the Church today through the Holy Spirit and the Ministry of the Word.

And its through that ministry that we grow in our knowledge of the love and glory of God… and in growing in our knowledge grow in our love and worship for Him.

Again… this is where the unity of the church is so important.

The Ministry of the Word happens in the context of the Local Church where the Holy Spirit appoints Overseers… Pastors… who are called to rightly handle the Word of Truth… to feed and teach you God’s Word (Acts 20:28).

The Preaching and Ministry of the Word is Christ’s own ministry to you through the illumination of the Holy Spirit… the Holy Spirit taking the Word illuminating it and bringing it to bear on your life.

Purpose

And here’s the point… here’s the purpose of Christ making known the Name of God and continuing to make it known through the cross and through the ministry of the Spirit and the Word.

John 17:26 I made known to them your name, and I will continue to make it known, that the love with which you have loved me may be in them, and I in them.

This is where we come to the blessings we enjoy together as a community of faith united together in Christ.

What blessings Christ prays that we would enjoy as His Church.

And there are two.

The Love of God… that the love with which you have loved me may be in them…

And all the Blessings and Promises we have in Christ… I in them.

Love of God

The first thing Jesus says is that the love with which you have loved me may be in them.

Now don’t get lost in what Jesus is saying here.

He is praying that the Love with which the Father has loved the Son… so His Eternal, Infinite, Unbreakable, Perfect, Never-ending love… That love!… would be in us.

He is praying that we would know God’s love… not just in a theological download kind of way… but in a way that we actually experience God’s love… delight in His love… share in His love.

And by having God’s love in us… sharing that love with one another.

Blessings and Promises

The second thing Jesus prays for is not just that we would know and enjoy God’s Love… the very love He has for the Son… you have loved them even as you have loved me (John 17:23)…

But that we would also know and enjoy all the blessings and promises we have in Christ.

That’s where Jesus says and I in them.

This again hits at our Spiritual Union with Christ.

Christ is in us and we are in Him.

And in this mutual indwelling we share in all His blessings and benefits.

So we are Righteous in Christ.

Forgiven in Christ.

Beloved in Christ.

Adopted in Christ.

Protected in Christ.

Free in Christ.

Hidden in Christ with the promise that nothing will separate us from the Love of God in Christ Jesus and God will work all things together for His glory and our good for those that love Him (Romans 8:39, 28).

All the Promises of God are yes and amen in Him (2 Corinthians 1:20).

Summary

So Jesus prays that we as a Church in the context of our unity with one another would know and grow in…

The Love God has for us in Christ.

And all the blessings and benefits we have in Him.

And both of these come together in Ephesians 3:14-19.

Keep in mind… this is Paul writing to a Church and this is Paul’s prayer for that Church.

The same prayer Christ has for us.

Ephesians 3:14–19 For this reason I bow my knees before the Father, from whom every family in heaven and on earth is named, that according to the riches of his glory he may grant you to be strengthened with power through his Spirit in your inner being, …

So this inner work… this inner transformation.

That the love with which you have loved me may be in them, and I in them.

For what purpose?

so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith— …

I in them.

that you, being rooted and grounded in love, may have strength to comprehend with all the saints what is the breadth and length and height and depth, and to know the love of Christ that surpasses knowledge, that you may be filled with all the fullness of God.

What does that mean?

Essentially that we would grow in the fullness of Christlike Maturity.

That is God’s goal for the Church and that is God’s goal for you.

Paul goes on to say in the very next chapter…

Ephesians 4:11–13 And he gave the apostles, the prophets, the evangelists, the shepherds and teachers, [so Pastors] to equip the saints for the work of ministry, for building up the body of Christ, [So the church… until what?] until we all attain to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to mature manhood, to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ…

That you may be filled with all the fullness of God… Christ Himself.

Verse 14…

Ephesians 4:14–16 …so that we may no longer be children, tossed to and fro by the waves and carried about by every wind of doctrine, by human cunning, by craftiness in deceitful schemes. Rather, speaking the truth in love, we are to grow up in every way into him who is the head, into Christ, from whom the whole body, joined and held together by every joint with which it is equipped, when each part is working properly, makes the body grow so that it builds itself up in love.

Conclusion

Must fight for unity

Ephesians 3:20–21 “Now to him who is able to do far more abundantly than all that we ask or think, according to the power at work within us, to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, forever and ever. Amen.”

Let’s Pray

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