Will you please turn to the Gospel according
to John chapter 17.
John chapter 17, verse
11.
This is the prayer of our Lord to
His Father.
John 17, verse 11.
And I am no longer in the world,
but these are in the world.
And I come to Thee, Holy Father, keep
them in Thy name which Thou hast given
me, that they may be one as we.
Verse 21.
That they may be all 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 hast given me,
I have given them.
That they may be one as we are
one.
I in them and Thou in me.
That they may be perfected into one.
And that the world may know that Thou
hast sent me.
And that Thou hast loved them as Thou
hast loved me.
Our Lord Jesus was going to leave His
disciples.
And as we find in John chapter 13,
He did the last act for His own.
How He got up, took off His garment,
put on the towel, poured water in the
basin, and there He washed the disciples' feet.
That was His last act for His own.
An act of love.
And after that we find in John chapter
14 to 16, His last word with His
own.
How He comforted them by promising them the
Holy Spirit.
That the Holy Spirit will come and dwell
not only with them, but in them.
And will never leave them, nor forsake them.
And after His last word with His people,
then He turned His heart towards His Father.
In John chapter 17, we find it is
recorded how He prayed to His Father.
And in that prayer you'll find from verse
1 to verse 5, He was praying for
Himself.
He prayed and said, Father, the hour is
come.
Glorify Thy Son, that Thy Son may glorify
Thee.
His prayer for Himself is centered upon this
matter of glory and glorify.
He asked the Father to glorify the Son.
Why did He ask His Father to glorify
Him?
Not because He wants to get the glory,
but because after He was glorified, the Father
will be glorified.
When the Lord Jesus prayed and said, glorify
Thy Son.
What does He mean?
You know, when we think of glory or
glorify, we always think in terms of getting
something, gain something for ourselves.
But not so with our Lord Jesus.
When He said, glorify Thy Son, all He
means is simply this, that Thou will accept
my sacrifice.
Thou will accept my death.
And Thou will demonstrate Thy acceptance by raising
me from the dead to show that Thou
art fully satisfied.
And that is, glorify Thy Son.
The Lord is not thinking of Himself.
To Him, to be glorified is not to
have any personal gain.
For Him to be glorified is to satisfy
His Father.
To do the will of His Father, to
finish the work that His Father has sent
Him to do.
And when the Father is satisfied, the Son
is glorified.
That's the reason why the Lord said, glorify
Thy Son, that Thy Son may glorify Thee.
Glory means satisfaction.
When the Father is fully satisfied, then the
Father is glorified.
And when the Son is satisfied, the Son
is glorified.
Now what is it that our Lord Jesus
will be satisfied?
He is satisfied only with this, that the
work that the Father has sent Him to
do is fully done.
And He knows that the Father is happy
about it.
That is the glory that He sought for.
As Thou hast given Him authority over all
flesh.
The Son, who was equal with God, He
emptied Himself.
He took up Himself the form of a
slave.
Even the likeness of a man.
In other words, the Son laid aside all
authority and power and honor and glory.
That were His rights, His due.
He laid all these things aside to become
a man.
And now the Father has given all authority
back to Him.
Over all flesh.
Not only over all flesh, but over all
things.
And what does He do with the authority
that the Father has given to Him?
That all that He has given to Him,
He should give them life eternal.
The authority that the Father has given to
the Son.
The Son uses that authority to give life,
eternal life, to those whom the Father has
given to Him.
Authority is not to take away, but to
give.
Authority is not to destroy, but to build.
And with the authority that the Father has
given to the Son, He has given to
all who believe in Him, eternal life.
I have glorified Thee on the earth.
I have completed the work which Thou giveth
Me that I should do it.
You remember, in chapter 12, some Greeks
wanted to see the Lord.
The Lord had a marvelous, triumphant entry into
Jerusalem.
And now some Greeks wanted to see Him.
And the Lord said, Verily, verily, I say
unto you, Except the grain of wheat fall
into the ground and die, it abides alone.
But if it dies, it bears much fruit.
And then He said, Father, glorify Thy Son.
To our Lord Jesus, to be glorified means
to lay down His life for us.
To be glorified means to finish the work
that the Father has sent Him.
And because He has finished the work, therefore,
He said, Glorify Me, Thou Father, along with
Thyself, with the glory which I had along
with Thee before the world was.
In other words, our Lord Jesus left His
glory, the glory of God, to come into
this world.
And now after He has finished the work
that He was sent to do, He asked
the Father to glorify Him with the glory
that He and the Father had before time
began in eternity.
He was returning to His Father.
Now after He prayed for Himself, then He
turned to pray for those who were with
Him that night.
From verse 6 through verse 19, He prayed
for those disciples, the eleven that were with
Him that evening.
And then from verse 20 through verse 26,
He prayed for those who believed in Him
by the word of those who were with
Him at that time.
And you will discover that in His prayer,
for the eleven who were with Him is
the same as His prayer for those who
were believing Him by their word.
In other words, you'll find the prayer of
our Lord Jesus for His own people, both
those who were with Him at that moment
and those who were believing Him afterwards.
Now even though some were with Him that
night and many, many more were not with
Him, even though we came to the Lord
at different times and in different places, and
yet you'll find when our Lord Jesus prayed
for His own people, He put all of
us together as one and He prayed for
His own people.
Whether they were those eleven that were with
Him that night or those who believed in
Him through their words, through the centuries, His
prayer for us is one.
Because He came to this world to seek
for one body, one bride, one family, one
house.
That's what He came to seek.
And in His prayer for His own, that
includes us.
The one burden that He had in His
heart at that time, which He poured out
to His Father was simply this, that they
may be one.
How He longed and desired that all who
are His will be one.
Now who are those that He prayed for?
They are those to whom He has manifested
the name of the Father.
They are those whom the Lord, whom the
Father has given to Him out of the
world.
They are those who belong to God.
They are those who have kept the Word
of God.
They are those whom the Lord Jesus has
spoken to.
They are those who have received Him.
They are those who have known Him.
They are those who are kept by Him.
They are those who are sanctified by His
Word.
They are those who are not of the
world.
In other words, those whom He prayed for
are all those through the centuries who have
believed in Him.
The Father has given us to Him.
And He has kept us, sanctified us by
the Word.
He prayed for all of us.
And His prayer burden is just this, that
we may be one.
Dear brothers and sisters, if this is the
burden of our Lord, not only at the
time when He was leaving His disciples, but
throughout the centuries, even today, our Lord Jesus
is the great High Priest.
He is by the Father's side.
He is interceding for us.
Brothers and sisters, do you know what is
His burden at His Father's side?
Do you know what is the prayer?
What is the intercession that He intercedes for
us on earth throughout the centuries?
It is no different than what He prayed
that night.
He is still praying that prayer for His
people.
He is praying that we who are His
may be one.
That is His one burden.
Are we one?
I believe that as we are drawing to
the end of this age, more and more,
God's people begin to feel the need of
being one.
That is the reason why you have on
this earth the ecumenical movement.
But of course we know this is what
the Lord is praying for.
He prays for something much more than just
an outward union.
But He has put into the heart of
every believer a consciousness.
A consciousness that we are one.
No matter how different we are.
No matter what background we have.
No matter how many distinctions we have in
this world.
We who are the Lord, there is a
built-in consciousness within us that we are
one.
We know we are one.
We know we should be one.
And not only we have this inward consciousness,
but we have the teaching of the Word.
The Word teaches us that we are one.
We are one body.
Even though we are many, yet we are
one body.
And we are members one of another.
This we know.
We cannot teach people telling them that they
can be divided.
If people are divided, they know it is
not right.
They have to defend themselves with some reasons
to justify their divisions.
But deep down within their hearts, they know
that no matter what reason they give, it
is not sufficient.
We all know deep down within our heart
that we are one.
And we should be one.
But what is the oneness, the unity that
the Lord Jesus is looking for among His
people?
Not the outward thing.
Not trying to join people together outwardly through
compromise, through negotiation, through give and take.
The world will not be deceived by such
union.
Probably such union can deceive some of God's
people.
But they cannot deceive the world.
The world knows how God's people are divided.
They are not one.
What is the oneness, the unity that the
Lord is looking for in His people?
In verse 11, our Lord Jesus said that
they may be one as we.
They may be one as we.
Verse 22.
They may be one as we are one.
The oneness of God's people is patterned after
the oneness of the Godhead.
That they may be one as we are
one.
As the Father and the Son are one.
We know that in the Godhead there are
the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit.
There are three persons and yet one.
Three in one and one in three.
It is a mystery we do not understand.
It has been revealed to us and we
believe by faith.
We cannot explain it but we know that
God is three in one and one in
three.
In essence, one.
In function, three.
The oneness in the Godhead is a perfect
oneness.
The Father and the Son are one in
the Spirit.
There is no need to have a committee.
No need to have discussion.
No need to negotiate.
No need to compromise.
No need to argue.
But you'll find that in the Godhead there
is that perfect harmony.
There is a perfect agreement.
There is a perfect oneness.
There is no shadow, no shade, no darkness,
no doubt.
One.
Perfectly one.
And the Lord said that they may be
one as we are one.
Our oneness is to be like the oneness
of the Godhead.
Now, what is the oneness of the Godhead?
The Lord said, Thou, Father, art in me
and I am in thee.
In other words, the oneness of the Godhead
is based on the inness.
It is not that the Father is alongside
the Son, or the Son is alongside the
Father.
It is the Father is in the Son
and the Son is in the Father.
And because there is such inness, so you'll
find such oneness.
You remember even towards the very last, Philip
asked the Lord Jesus, O Lord, if you
only will show us the Father, and we
will be satisfied.
And how he grieved our Lord Jesus.
The Lord said, Philip, you have been with
me for so long, and you're still asking
me to show you the Father?
Do you not know that the Father is
in me and I am in the Father?
If you see me, you see the Father?
It is not I who is speaking, it
is the Father who speaks in me.
Don't you know that?
The Father is in the Son and the
Son is in the Father.
And because there is an inness, so the
oneness is perfect.
It is just a matter of being alongside.
No matter how united they are, the oneness
is not perfect.
But the inness makes the oneness, and the
Lord Jesus said that they may be one
as we are one.
Dear brothers and sisters, how can we be
one?
What makes us truly one?
Unless it is an inness.
But I cannot be in you, you cannot
be in me.
How can that inness be a reality?
Hear you hear, the Lord Jesus said.
Verse 22 And the glory which thou hast
given me, I have given them, that they
may be one as we are one, I
in them, and thou in me, that they
may be perfectly into one, and that the
world may know that thou hast sent me.
The inness is based upon this fact, that
we are in Him, and He is in
us.
In 1 Corinthians chapter 1 verse 30 it
is said, By God ye are in Christ
Jesus, whom God has made unto us wisdom,
righteousness, and sanctification, and redemption.
As we believe in the Lord Jesus, something
happens.
God puts us in Christ.
I think this is the most glorious thing,
this is the mystery of the Gospel.
When we believe in the Lord Jesus, God
does something marvelous.
He puts us in Christ.
And if you read Ephesians chapter 1 you'll
find all this in Christ is such a
mystery.
Thank thee unto God who has blessed us
with every spiritual blessing in the heavenlies in
Christ Jesus.
In Christ He has accepted us.
In Christ He has forgiven us.
In Christ He has adopted us.
Everything is in Christ.
And God has put us in Christ.
So brothers and sisters, we who believe in
the Lord Jesus, we are in Him.
We are in Christ.
We are in God.
Every one of us is in Him.
And He is in us.
He is in every one of us.
And because we are in Him, and He
is in us, therefore there is an inness
among us.
We are in Him.
He is in us.
And because of this inness it is now
possible for us to be truly one.
So our oneness is also based upon this
inness.
Whenever we act outside of Christ.
Now of course in Christ is our position.
It will never change.
God has put us in Christ.
Thank God for that.
It is eternal.
It never changes.
No matter how you change, you are in
Christ.
Once God has put you in, nobody can
take you out.
Not yourself, nor anybody else.
That is our position secured for us by
the finished work of Christ.
We are in Christ.
But dear brothers and sisters, so far as
our condition is concerned, our condition may change.
Sometimes we may abide in Christ, sometimes we
may be away somewhere else.
If we abide in Christ, the oneness is
there.
But when we are outside of Christ, in
our daily life, then you'll find this oneness
is broken.
If we abide in Him and He in
us, that is to say, He lives in
us.
As our brother mentioned last night, I'm crucified
with Christ, it is no longer I, it
is Christ who lives in us.
It is Christ who lives.
And if Christ lives in us, then we
are one.
If Christ lives in you and Christ lives
in me, it is Christ who is living.
Then we are one.
But if it is you who lives, it
is I who lives, then we finally clash.
The oneness seems to be broken.
Our oneness is in Christ and He in
us.
It is based upon this inness that is
oneness is maintained.
How can we be one?
In the prayer of our Lord Jesus, you'll
find a very strange thing.
Because we know that His burden for His
people is that we may be one.
And yet you'll find in His prayer He
mentions a great deal about the world.
The relationship of believers with the world.
Now why is it?
What is the world?
The world is a cosmos.
The world is a system.
The world is an organization.
Now who organizes it?
The arch enemy of God.
He organizes the world into a system to
oppose God.
He is the ruler of this world.
Outwardly you'll find the world is one organization,
is one system.
There is a oneness there.
Whether it is social, whether it is economical,
whether it is political, whether it is educational,
whether it is cultural, or whether it is
religious.
You'll find the world is one system.
It is one organization.
A united front against God.
Of course we know even that unity is
a heterogeneous unity.
It is not a homogeneous unity.
It is held together by force, not by
love.
But at least you'll find the world is
a unity.
It appears to be a unity, a system.
And that's the reason why the Lord Jesus,
as He is desiring His people to be
one, a unity, we have to have our
relationship with the world corrected.
What is our relationship with the world?
This is the negative aspect of the positive
unity among God's people.
In other words, unless our relationship with the
world is proper, our union, our unity with
one another will not be corrected.
What is our relationship with the world?
God has called us out of this world.
He has given us to Christ.
He has called us out of this world.
Brothers and sisters, we do not belong to
this world.
We do not belong to this system.
We do not belong to this unity.
We are out of this world.
But physically, we are still in the world.
It is true that in this physical body
we are still in the world.
We still have to eat, we still have
to drink, we still have to do things,
we still have to work.
We are in the world.
The Father has called us out of the
world.
We are still in the world and yet
we are not of the world.
Physically we are here.
Spiritually we are somewhere else.
We are in that another world.
We are not of the world as He
is not of the world.
Brothers and sisters, we are not of the
world as He is not of the world.
Just as He is not of the world.
How was He not of the world?
He is in the world.
He came into this world.
He lived upon this earth for thirty-three
years.
He was a normal person.
He ate, He drank, He rested, He worked,
He walked around, He met people, He had
relationships.
He was not a person who fled into
the mountain to be a monk.
He was in the world and yet we
know He was not of the world.
Wherever He was, whatever He did, whatever He
said, He brought with Him a heavenly atmosphere.
He belonged to another world.
He was not of the world.
That's the reason why people cannot understand Him.
He was so different, holy, uncommon, not like
the rest of the world.
And dear brothers and sisters, this is what
the Lord said, We are not of the
world as He is not of the world.
He does not take us out of the
world right away.
He leaves us in the world but we
are not of the world just as He
is not of the world.
And because of that, He was sent us
into the world to be a witness and
testimony for Him.
Just like He was sent by the Father
into the world to bear witness to His
Father.
And these are our relationships with the world.
Brothers and sisters, one reason why we find
the oneness among God's people is not manifested,
it is because our relationship with the world
is not correct.
If we still love the world, if we
still act like the people of the world,
how can we manifest that oneness of the
Body of Christ?
All we can do probably is try to
outwardly maintain a kind of organization, to institutionalize
something, systematize something, to put up a kind
of front as if we are one, and
yet we know, everyone knows that this is
not true.
There is one verse in 2 Corinthians chapter
6 said, Be not unequally yoked with unbelievers.
Now, of course, it means do not be
unequally yoked with unbelievers.
But I think the principle can be applied
to believers.
If believers act like unbelievers, if believers live
in the world like the worldly people, if
believers act like the men of the world,
how can we be yoked together?
We can only be yoked together with Christ
and yoked together with one another if our
relationship with the world is what the Lord
ordains it to be.
There is much of the world in us.
And that's the reason why the oneness of
the believers cannot be manifested.
Oh, how we need to ask the Lord
to open our eyes, to see how much
of the world is still in us.
How much we still belong to this world.
And this is something that stands in the
way of the unity of the believers.
If the Lord can get the world out
of you and you out of the world,
then dear brothers and sisters in Christ, we
are one.
And that oneness can be manifested gloriously.
That the world may see what true unity
really is.
To come into the unity of believers, we
have to deal with this matter of the
world.
The world has to be dealt with.
As Paul says, so far as the world
is concerned, I'm crucified.
So far as I'm concerned, the world is
crucified.
And it is only under that kind of
attitude you'll find it is possible for God's
people to be really one.
This is the negative side of it.
Now we move to the positive side of
it.
And there you'll find, how can we be
one?
In verse 11, the Lord Jesus said, I'm
no longer in the world, and these are
in the world, and I come to Thee,
Holy Father.
Keep them in Thy name, which Thou has
given me, that they may be one as
we.
Keep them in Thy name, which Thou has
given me, that they may be one as
we.
How can we be one?
We can be one if we are kept
by the name that God has given to
Christ.
You notice the Lord Jesus doesn't say, keep
them in My name.
He said, keep them in Thy name, that
Thou has given me.
Now, what is the name that God has
given to Christ?
I think it is very simple.
It is the name of the Father.
Even though in the Old Testament time, you'll
find there are such expressions as God said
to the children of Israel in Jeremiah 31,
I will be a father to you.
Or in Malachi, you'll find God said, if
I be a father, where is mine honor?
But you know, in the Old Testament time,
even though the fatherhood of God was known,
but the fatherhood of God was more in
the sense of He was the Creator of
mankind.
Or He was the Protector, the Guardian of
those who belong to Him.
He was never taken in a personal way.
People in the Old Testament time never knew
God as a personal Father.
Why?
Because He is not.
Only our Lord Jesus is the only begotten
Son of the Father.
In other words, Father in the intimate personal
sense is only real to our Lord Jesus
and nobody else.
He is the only begotten of the Father.
This is the name that God has given
to His Son.
In other words, only His Son has the
right to call Him Alpha Father.
And this name He has given to us.
And by this name we are kept.
You remember after our Lord Jesus was raised
from the dead, He told the woman to
tell His disciples go to the bridegroom.
Tell them that I send to my Father
and your Father.
My God and your God.
Oh, brothers and sisters, the only begotten Son
shared His Father with many sons.
He is now the firstborn among many brethren.
And as we believe in Him, the Holy
Spirit there witnessing our spirit, that we are
children of God and we cry out Alpha
Father.
You cry out Alpha Father.
I cry out Alpha Father.
And it is this name that keeps us
one.
You have the same Father as I have.
We belong to the same family.
One day some children were playing and suddenly
a man walked by.
And when that man passed by, one of
the children cried Alpha, Alpha.
And you know the children like to imitate.
So every, all the children began to cry
Alpha, Alpha.
And this child turned to the other children
and said No!
He is my Father not yours.
Dear brothers and sisters, the world has no
right to call God their Alpha Father.
The fatherhood of God is only real with
those who believe in the Lord Jesus.
It is the name of the Father that
joins us together into one.
And then secondly you find in verse 22
And the glory which thou hast given me,
I have given them that they may be
one as we are one.
The glory which thou hast given me, I
have given them.
That they may be one as we are
one.
Now what is this glory that God has
given to Him?
You know our Lord Jesus had a glory
that He shared with His Father in eternity
the past.
The glory of the Godhead that He had
with His Father, it was not something given
to Him.
He had that even before time began.
But our Lord Jesus had another glory.
And that glory is a glory that the
Father has given to Him.
He had one that was His.
By right in eternity because He is God.
And He had another one that was given
to Him by the Father.
And what is the glory that God has
given to Him?
We have already mentioned it is the glory
that He has fulfilled the will of the
Father.
He has finished the work.
He has satisfied the Father.
And that is the glory.
And on the basis of that, He has
authority to give life to those who believe
in Him.
So the glory here we may say is
the life that He gives to us on
the basis of His finished work on the
cross.
Brothers and sisters, our unity is based on
life.
It is His life in you and His
life in me.
You have the same life as I have.
We share the same life.
And because we share the same life, we
are one.
Not only we can call our God our
Father, we belong to the same family, but
we share the same life.
Therefore, we are one.
Our oneness is not based upon any teaching,
any doctrine, any creed, any form, any organization.
Our oneness is based upon life.
If you have the life of Christ in
you, and I have the life of Christ
in me, we are one in life.
No matter how different we are otherwise, oh,
if only we can stand on this ground
of life, the life of Christ, that makes
us one.
And if we allow that life to live
through us, then we will be perfected into
one.
What will be the result of such oneness?
First, that the world may know that Thou
hast sent me.
Oh, brothers and sisters, what a testimony that
will be.
You know, even though the world seems to
be a united front against God, but we
know it is a heterogeneous union.
You find in the world all kinds of
discriminations, all kinds of differences, all kinds of
turmoil, all kinds of conflicts.
Oneness is divine, is heavenly.
Oneness is something the world never knows, and
the world cannot have.
You put two people together, and you will
find they cannot be one.
Because no two flesh can really agree.
But when God's people are really one, the
world will know that God has sent Christ
into this world.
In other words, this is something that no
one can accomplish.
People will try to put people together by
force, but that's not oneness.
But here you'll find God's people are joined
together as one in the Spirit.
The world has never seen such things before.
Like in the first century, people were said,
look at these people, how they love one
another.
Brothers and sisters, how can it be unless
God has sent His Son into this world?
So it is a testimony to the world
how important it is that there is such
a testimony today.
Oh, that we may be one, and the
world may know that God has sent Christ
into this world.
Secondly, and that thou hast loved them as
thou hast loved me.
Not only by being one we can give
a good testimony to the world concerning Christ,
but if we are one, we will be
testified too by God that He has loved
us as He has loved Christ.
The Lord Jesus in John chapter 15 said,
As I have kept my Father's commandment and
abide in His love, keep my commandment and
abide in my love.
Oh, if we can be one, that shows
the Father has loved us.
And because the Father has loved us, we
will be one.
And it is a cycle.
You'll find that we are one, and the
Father loves us, and because the Father loves
us, we are more one.
It is just the love of the Father
will be upon us as the love of
the Father is upon our Lord Jesus.
So, dear brothers and sisters, this is the
prayer of our Lord Jesus.
Oh, He pray that we may be one.
He has made it possible for us to
be one.
And if we are not one, there is
no reason, no excuse.
May the Lord help us.
Shall we pray?
Our Heavenly Father, how we praise and thank
Thee that our Lord Jesus has accomplished the
work that Thou hast sent Him.
And on the basis of the finished work
of Christ, Thou hast given that oneness to
us.
We praise and thank Thee that Thou hast
given us the name that we can call
The Upper Father.
We praise and thank Thee that Thou hast
given us glory, even Thy life in us.
And Lord, if we are not one, oh,
how do we hurt Thee?
How do we disgrace Thy name?
We ask Thee, O Lord, forgive us.
Take away everything in us that make us
divide and separate.
We pray that Thou will keep us one
in Thee that the Father may be glorified.
We ask in the name of our Lord
Jesus.
Amen.