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Fulfilling Jesus’ Prayer for Unity

Fulfilling Jesus’ Prayer for Unity. Jesus’ Prayer for Our Unity. A summary of the Lord’s prayer (John 17). Jesus’ prayer is perhaps best known for His call for unity among His disciples. A Prayer for Unity (John 17). “… that they may be one, even as We are” (v. 11b).

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Fulfilling Jesus’ Prayer for Unity

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  1. Fulfilling Jesus’ Prayer for Unity

  2. Jesus’ Prayer for Our Unity. • A summary of the Lord’s prayer (John 17). • Jesus’ prayer is perhaps best known for His call for unity among His disciples.

  3. A Prayer for Unity (John 17) • “… that they may be one, even as We are” (v. 11b). • “that they may all be one; even as Thou, Father, art in Me, and I in Thee…” (v. 21). • “… that they may be one, just as We are one” (v. 22)… “that they may be perfected in unity…”(v. 23, NASB).

  4. Jesus’ Prayer for Our Unity. • A summary of the Lord’s prayer (John 17). • Jesus’ prayer is perhaps best known for His call for unity among His disciples. • Are disciples today committed to fulfilling Jesus’ prayer for unity?

  5. “Keep them in Thy name” so My Disciples will be United. • Jesus prayed for the Holy Father to “keep them in Thy name” – to keep them under His protection and guard them from division (John 17:11b-12).

  6. John 17:11 (NASB) 11 "And I am no more in the world; and yet they themselves are in the world, and I come to Thee. Holy Father, keep them in Thy name, the name which Thou hast given Me, that they may be one, even as We are.

  7. John 17:12 (NASB) 12 "While I was with them, I was keeping them in Thy name which Thou hast given Me; and I guarded them, and not one of them perished but the son of perdition, that the Scripture might be fulfilled.

  8. “Keep them in Thy name” so My Disciples will be United. • Jesus prayed for the Holy Father to “keep them in Thy name” – to keep them under His protection and guard them from division (John 17:11b-12). • How does the Holy Father “keep us in His name” today?

  9. The Father keeps us in His name today the same way He did with His disciples back then: • BY OUR FAITHFULNESS IN KEEPING HIS WORD.

  10. John 17:6-7 (NASB) • 6 "I manifested Thy name to the men whom Thou gavest Me out of the world; Thine they were, and Thou gavest them to Me, and they have kept Thy word. 7 "Now they have come to know that everything Thou hast given Me is from Thee…

  11. John 17:8 (NASB) 8 for the words which Thou gavest Me I have given to them; and they received them, and truly understood that I came forth from Thee, and they believed that Thou didst send Me.

  12. 1 Corinthians 1:10 (NASB) Now I exhort you, brethren, by the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that you all agree, and there be no divisions among you, but you be made complete in the same mind and in the same judgment.

  13. Requires our commitment to study the Scriptures together, patiently and with love toward the goal for greater and greater unity (Eph. 4:15-16).

  14. Philippians 1:27 (NKJV) 27 Only let your conduct be worthy of the gospel of Christ, so that whether I come and see you or am absent, I may hear of your affairs, that you stand fast in one spirit, with one mind striving together for the faith of the gospel…

  15. Philippians 1:28 (NKJV) and not in any way terrified by your adversaries, which is to them a proof of perdition, but to you of salvation, and that from God.

  16. “Sanctify them in the truth”so My Disciples will Remain Dedicated to God. • What sanctifies or sets apart disciples from the world is their obedience to the word Jesus gave them, God’s word.

  17. John 17:14-15 (NASB) 14 "I have given them Thy word; and the world has hated them, because they are not of the world, even as I am not of the world. 15 "I do not ask Thee to take them out of the world, but to keep them from the evil one…

  18. John 17:16-19 (NASB) 16 "They are not of the world, even as I am not of the world. 17 "Sanctify them in the truth; Thy word is truth. 18 "As Thou didst send Me into the world, I also have sent them into the world. 19 "And for their sakes I sanctify Myself, that they themselves also may be sanctified in truth.

  19. 2 Thessalonians 2:13 (NASB) But we should always give thanks to God for you, brethren beloved by the Lord, because God has chosen you from the beginning for salvation through sanctification by the Spirit and faith in the truth.

  20. When we obey the truth, the sanctifying power of God’s word makes us holy and sets us apart as His special people (1 Pet. 1:14-16, 22).

  21. To remain distinct as the disciples of Christ, we must not compromise with evil or false doctrines, lest we cease to be His servants (Gal 1:6-10).

  22. For am I now seeking the favor of men, or of God? Or am I striving to please men? If I were still trying to please men, I would not be a bond-servant of Christ.

  23. “Sanctify them in the truth”so My Disciples will Remain Dedicated to God. • What “sanctifies” (sets apart) disciples from the world is their obedience to the word Jesus gave them, God’s word. • Sanctification in the truth is essential to a unifiedservice unto God.

  24. By insisting on the moral standards of truth, we set ourselves apart from others in the way we live our lives(e.g. Eph. 4:29; 1 Tim. 2:9; Mat. 19:3-9; Heb. 13:4; Eph. 6:4).

  25. By strictly adhering to the truth of God’s word, we set ourselves apart from others in the way we worship God (e.g. Eph. 5:19; Col. 3:16; 1 Cor. 11:17-34; 16:1-2).

  26. By insisting on book, chapter, and verse for what we believe and practice, we set ourselves apartas “radicals” for God’s truth!

  27. Colossians 3:17 (NASB) And whatever you do in word or deed, do all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks through Him to God the Father.

  28. We set ourselves apart as holy when we seek not to be entertained, but to hear God’s word preached (2 Tim. 4:2-4).

  29. We are set apart as holy when we preach the whole counsel of God (Acts 20:27), when no Bible subject is off limits for study.

  30. By basing what we do as a church upon the authority of Scripture, we set ourselves apart as a unique church, a “pillar and ground of the truth”(1 Tim. 3:15; e.g. Phil. 4:15-18; Eph. 4:16; Acts 11:27-30).

  31. Romans 15:5-6 (NASB) 5 Now may the God who gives perseverance and encouragement grant you to be of the same mind with one another according to Christ Jesus; 6 that with one accord you may with one voice glorify the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ.

  32. Through the Word of God, All Disciples Can be United as One Just as the Father and Son are United as One. • Belief in Christ comes through God’s word, the Word which has the power to unite us just as the Father and the Son are united.

  33. John 17:20-21 (NASB) 20 "I do not ask in behalf of these alone, but for those also who believe in Me through their word; 21 that they may all be one;even as Thou, Father, art in Me, and I in Thee, that they also may be in Us; that the world may believe that Thou didst send Me. • Anything less than this will not result in true unity!

  34. Through the Word of God, All Disciples Can be United as One Just as the Father and Son are United as One. • Belief in Christ comes through God’s word, the Word which has the power to unite us just as the Father and the Son are united. • By obeying God’s word, how will be united as the Father and Son are united?

  35. We will be united as one in what we do: John 5:19 (NASB)Jesus therefore answered and was saying to them, "Truly, truly, I say to you, the Son can do nothing of Himself, unless it is something He sees the Father doing; for whatever the Father does, these things the Son also does in like manner. - cf. 1 John 2:6

  36. We will be united as one in what we seek: John 5:30 (NASB)"I can do nothing on My own initiative. As I hear, I judge; and My judgment is just, because I do not seek My own will, but the will of Him who sent Me. - cf. Eph. 5:17

  37. We will be united as one in what we preach and teach: John 12:49 (NASB) "For I did not speak on My own initiative, but the Father Himself who sent Me has given Me commandment, what to say, and what to speak.- cf. 1 Pet. 4:11

  38. Unity in the Truth is the Only Way to Have Fellowship with the Father and the Son. John 17:21 (NASB)that they may all be one; even as Thou, Father, art in Me, and I in Thee, that they also may be in Us; that the world may believe that Thou didst send Me.

  39. Unity in the truth is so important that our fellowship with God depends on it!!! • Churches that compromise the truth will lose His favor (Rev. 2:5).

  40. 2 John 9 (NKJV) Whoever transgresses and does not abide in the doctrine of Christ does not have God. He who abides in the doctrine of Christ has both the Father and the Son.

  41. Unity in the Truth is the Only Way to Have Fellowship with the Father and the Son. • “That they also may be in us”(i.e. abide with God; fellowship). • God’s standard for fellowship with us is the same standard we ought to have in choosing with whom we will fellowship.

  42. 1 John 1:3-6 (NASB) 3 what we have seen and heard we proclaim to you also, that you also may have fellowship with us; and indeed our fellowship is with the Father, and with His Son Jesus Christ. 4 And these things we write, so that our joy may be made complete. 5 And this is the message we have heard from Him and announce to you, that God is light, and in Him there is no darkness at all.

  43. 1 John 1:6-7 (NASB) 6 If we say that we have fellowship with Him and yet walk in the darkness, we lie and do not practice the truth; 7 but if we walk in the light as He Himself is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus His Son cleanses us from all sin.

  44. Unity is not true unity if we compromise the truth in the process; we need to be committed to following the doctrine of Christ (2 John 9-11).

  45. The Glory We Share in Christ Unites Us as One! • Jesus gives His glory to His disciples so “they may be one”

  46. John 17:22 (NASB) And the glory which Thou hast given Me I have given to them; that they may be one, just as We are one;

  47. Hebrews 2:9-10 (NASB) 9 But we do see Him who has been made for a little while lower than the angels, namely, Jesus, because of the suffering of death crowned with glory and honor, that by the grace of God He might taste death for everyone. 10 For it was fitting for Him, for whom are all things, and through whom are all things, in bringing many sons to glory, to perfect the author of their salvation through sufferings.

  48. The Glory We Share in Christ Unites Us as One! • Jesus gives His glory to His disciples so “they may be one” • The perfect unity of Father and Son achieves perfect unity with us!

  49. John 17:23 (NASB) I in them, and Thou in Me, that they may be perfected in unity, that the world may know that Thou didst send Me, and didst love them, even as Thou didst love Me.

  50. Unityfounded upon the Father, the Son, and the truth of God’s word is a powerful influence in this world, leading people to be saved by Christ.

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