Set Apart and Sent

You guys may have seen this book kind of making a circuit in your news feeds or wherever you get your media.

But Rod Dreher, senior editor of The American Conservative, recently published a book called The Benedict Option.

Any of you guys heard of that?

Maybe I didn't.

This is not a good.

Steve's heard of it.

You will hear about it if you haven't yet because it's making a pretty big splash.

Even though he's a conservative writer, David Brooks, a New York Times columnist, said this is the most important religious book of the last decade.

And the reason why is that he argues in a provocative and compelling way that Christian belief and practice has begun to crumble in the U.S. and much the Western world.

And that's not really a new observation.

But he proves that in a way that and calls for action.

So what he's saying is that the attempt to preserve Christian faith through politics has failed.

Through popular culture, it has failed.

And that he predicts that if we stay on this trajectory, Christianity as we know it will not exist anymore in a generation.

And he says that in order to respond to that and also in anticipation of the increasing hostility that he predicts with legal restrictions or however the ability for Christians to practice openly their faith in public forums,

he believes that Christians need to strategically withdraw from the world in order to basically shore up their faith in order to strengthen Christian discipleship.

Because as Christianity as it stands now is totally useless to the world is what he's saying.

You need to strengthen the church in order for the church to do any good to the world.

So that's his argument.

So he's not calling for literal physical removal like Benedict who started the monastic movement.

But he's calling for some kind of strategic withdrawal so that we're not so inculcated in the culture in the popular world and the way the society is run.

And they're able to strengthen discipleship and then from there go out to the world.

So this is making a big splash.

And however, whether it's true or not, whether his prescription is accurate or not, we won't know until maybe another two decades to see what people do, how the church responds.

But some of the fundamental principles that he lays out are not new, right?

It's, he's not the first one to come up with it.

Benedict was not the first one to come up with it.

It's in John 17.

And he talks about in this passage how Jesus, and Jesus prays for us in this passage, but in his prayer he sets apart and sends his followers to bring all those who would believe into union with God.

This is what Jesus does in his prayer.

He sets apart and then sends into the world his followers in order to bring all those who would believe into union with God.

And Jesus' prayer is divided into three sections.

And the first is prayer for himself, prayer for the Son, and he prays for his glory.

And then secondly, he prays for the apostles, his immediate disciples, the 12, and he prays for their sanctity.

And then finally, he prays for the church that will come to faith on account of the apostles' witness, and he prays for their unity.

So the prayer for the Son, the apostles of the church, for glory, sanctity, and unity.

And Jesus begins by praying for himself because the fact that he is set apart and sent by the Father to glorify him is the reason why he's able to set apart and send his disciples to glorify him.

And so verses 1 to 2, read it with me.

Father, the hour has come.

Glorify your Son that the Son may glorify you, since you have given him authority over all flesh to give eternal life to all whom you have given him.

So the hour of his glorification, which the whole book has been talking about, of his life, death, resurrection, and ascension, that hour, climactic hour has come.

And that awareness doesn't lead Jesus to resignation, to faith.

It's like, well, it's here, so here I go.

But no, he prays for it.

He prays that God will do what he has intended to do.

So glorify your Son that the Son may glorify you.

And then verse 2 explains how exactly Jesus intends to do this because he explains,

Since you have given him authority over all flesh to give eternal life to all whom you have given him.

So the word since there is kind of an over-translation because it literally, the word is just, just as.

That's the word.

That's what it means.

And that's how the NASB renders it.

It says,

Glorify your Son that the Son may glorify you, even as you gave him authority over all flesh, that to all whom you have given him he may give eternal life.

So verse 2 is given there to clarify the relationship of the prayer in verse 1.

That means the way Jesus prays for his glory is patterned after how the Father gave him authority in eternity past to impart eternal life to those who would believe in him.

And it's only because the Father in eternity past gave the Son authority to do this that he could impart eternal life.

And in the same way that Jesus is now asking, just as, in that way,

Now glorify me, he said to the Father, so that I can glorify you.

Because Jesus needs to be glorified, set apart, and display God's glory in order for the Father to be glorified.

And so the Son asks for his glory, but it's not self-serving.

The end of it is not his own glory, but the glory of the Father.

The Son is glorified in order to glorify the Father.

And then verse 3 explains what this eternal life that he gives is.

And this is eternal life that they know you, the only true God and Jesus Christ whom you have sent.

Eternal life consists in knowing God, right?

Because God alone has life in himself.

All other life we see around us is derivative life, right?

Only God has life in himself.

And so it's in knowing God, not just knowing about him, but knowing him personally, that we receive eternal life.

And when we receive that life from him, when we know him, we see his glory.

Because you can't know him without seeing his glory.

That's why Habakkuk 2.14 had prophesied,

The earth will be filled with the knowledge of the glory of the Lord as the waters cover the sea.

And because the Father sent Jesus as the ultimate revelation of himself,

Only through Jesus can we see the Father's glory.

And that's why he said, not only do we have to believe in the Father,

But we need to believe in Jesus Christ whom he has sent.

And so it's by imparting eternal life that Jesus glorified the Father.

And having faithfully done his work, he continues his prayer in verses 4 to 5.

I glorified you on earth, having accomplished the work that you gave me to do.

And now, Father, glorify me in your own presence with the glory that I had with you before the world existed.

And Jesus is, obviously, this is before his death.

But he has his death and resurrection in mind as he's already talking about the work that he's accomplished.

And we know that because later he says, you know, I'm no longer in the world,

Which is not entirely true because he's still in the world.

So he's speaking kind of in anticipation of all that will happen, what's about to happen.

And so he's saying he accomplished the work that the Father gave him to do.

And that includes his death, resurrection, the culmination of all that he's been doing.

And so Jesus has glorified the Father.

And now he's asking him to restore him to the glory that he had with the Father before the world began.

And so that reveals to us what this glory that he's referring to is.

Because in a real way, even though Jesus was the Son of God and Son of Man in his incarnation,

when he took on human flesh and became man,

he in a real way divested himself of divine glory.

And because of that, he prays now that he would be returned to the eternal glory he had with the Father before the incarnation.

So that's really what Paul talks about in Philippians 2, right?

Christ Jesus, even though he was in very nature God,

he emptied himself, taking on the nature of a servant.

Being made an appearance as a man, being found in human appearance,

he humbled himself and became obedient to death, even death on the cross.

And then it says,

Therefore, for that reason, God exalted him to the highest place.

Bestowed on him the name that is above every name.

And then the end of all of that is to the glory of God the Father, Philippians 2.11.

So we see that the exact prayer answered precisely in Paul's writing in Philippians 2.

But this leads us to ask, what is glory?

Because we talk about glory quite a bit.

And we always say as Christians, we need to glorify God.

But we rarely talk about what it actually means.

And because in one sense, of course, to glorify something just simply means to praise or honor something.

And that is true.

So Isaiah 42.8, God says,

So glory and praise are in parallel construction.

So there is a sense in which to glorify someone means to praise and honor that person.

But I think the word is used that way throughout the Bible because praising and honoring someone is an entailment.

It's an implication of glory.

Not because it's in the core idea of glory itself.

Because Jesus clearly says, you know, that he would praise that he would be returned to the glory he had with the Father before the world was created.

But if glory is simply the praise or honor that someone else bestows on someone, then he could not possibly have had glory before the world began.

Because there's nothing to praise him and honor him.

And so that's the glory.

So the idea of honoring and praising is an entailment of glory.

But that's not in the definition of glory itself.

Rather, I think we need to define glory in this way.

And I think some other passages in Scripture give us a clue.

Psalm 19, 1 says that the heavens declare the glory of God.

And we might ask, how do the heavens declare the glory of God?

Paul says in Romans 1, 19 to 20,

What can be known about God is plain to them because God has shown it to them.

For his invisible attributes, namely his eternal power and divine nature,

have been clearly perceived ever since the creation of the world in the things that have been made.

That's how the heavens declare the glory of God.

They display his invisible attributes, his divine qualities, his power, his infinite perfections.

So the glory of God really is the manifestation of his godness.

It's deity on display.

That's what glory is.

And so if that's the case, glory is unique to God.

Only he is glorious in an intrinsic way, in a true way.

Everything else in the world, everyone else in the world only possess glory in a derivative way,

insofar as they point and display God's glory.

So when we look at a sunset and say, wow, that's a glorious sunset,

we mean that it displays God's beauty.

So when we look at a mountain range and say that, wow, that's a glorious mountain range,

that means we're saying, no, that displays God's magnificence, his bigness, his largeness.

When we say, you know, that a friend who lays down his life for a friend to save that person is a glorious man or a glorious woman,

we say that because that person reflects God's sacrificial love.

When we say that a king is glorious, we're saying that he reflects and displays God's authority.

Glory.

So glory is always about God.

And so he is really the only person that deserves glory from us and to be recognized.

So when we glorify him, then we're not really giving him anything he doesn't have.

Rather, we're simply recognizing, acknowledging the glory that has always been his.

That's what we do when we glorify him.

And so Jesus is asking for something that's staggering when he says,

Father, glorify me in your own presence with the glory that I had with you before the world existed.

That means he's saying that glory that the Father has is rightly his and has been his.

He's saying, now return me to that glory.

Now, this understanding of glory is confirmed in the following verse when Jesus transitions from praying for himself,

for his glory, to praying for his followers and for their sanctity.

So that's the second point, verse 6.

He says, 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 and they have kept your word.

So he says he manifested his name to the people.

That's the same thing as glorifying the Father.

Because the name in Hebrew conception represents the entire character of the person.

So to manifest God's name is to reveal his attributes, who he is, his glory.

So that's what Jesus did for his followers.

We see this idea further in verses 11 and 12, if you want to read with me.

And I am no longer in the world, but they are in the world, and I am coming to you.

Holy Father, keep them in your name, which you have given me, that they may be one, even as we are one.

While I was with them, I kept them in your name, which you have given me.

I have guarded them, and not one of them has been lost, except the son of destruction, that the scripture might be fulfilled.

So this is how we know that he's praying here immediately for his 12 disciples.

Because he mentions that he kept them all except for one, which is Judas Iscariot, who betrayed him.

And he kept them in God's name, he says, while he was with them.

And because he knows he's leaving, he prays that the Father would continue to keep them in his name.

And what does it mean to keep the word?

Because Jesus says that his disciples kept the Father's word.

And the word, it's kind of a, that might be confusing to us, because the disciples don't even know what Jesus is going to do, right?

They don't even fully understand the significance of the cross, his death, and the resurrection.

So what do you mean he kept your word?

And then later he uses words, right?

The plural in verse 8.

And those are actually two different words.

So word in the singular is a different Greek word than the words in the plural in this passage.

And so the singular word throughout the Gospel of John refers to really the news, the person and work of Jesus Christ.

The gospel, the good news of Jesus Christ.

Jesus is himself the word, the incarnate, right?

John 1, 1 said the word was with God, right?

And the word was God.

And, but words, plural here, just refers to his sayings, his teachings, his commands, right?

And so they kept the word, and that means they stayed with the Father.

They stayed with Jesus.

They aligned themselves unreservedly with Jesus.

That's what that means.

Even though they were kind of, they're portrayed in this gospel as a bumbling set of disciples.

They're making mistakes.

They, you know, don't understand everything.

But they did one thing right, and that's very commendable of them.

It's that when everyone else deserted Jesus, even after his controversial teachings, these disciples stayed with him.

They aligned themselves with him.

And that's what it means.

They kept his word.

And I hope that's encouraging to all of you, because for those who have not publicly aligned themselves with Jesus, this is an encouragement.

And then, because it doesn't mean that you're ready to, you know everything about Jesus or everything he teaches.

It doesn't mean that you're really going to get everything right right when you start to follow Jesus.

No, it means that, you know, you're going to stumble.

You're going to make mistakes.

And you might even have doubts.

And you might even have fears.

But you are committing unreservedly to follow him on that journey and saying that, you know what, no matter what happens, I'm going to stay with him, even though I know I'm going to fail, even though there are going to be difficulties.

And if you're ready to take that step, then you're ready to follow Jesus.

And that's an encouragement for those who have not made that public profession to do so.

And if you are a believer, this is an encouragement also, right?

Because as we grow closer to the Lord, we are more keenly aware of our weaknesses and failures, because we see God's perfect holiness in brighter light.

And as that happens, we can be discouraged.

But we see, as Jesus says here of his disciples, they kept my word.

If you're with Jesus and continue to go into him with all your struggles and sins, then he will say of you in the same way he said of his disciples, they kept my word.

Now, this doesn't mean that Christian discipleship is easy, right?

Or the expectations are not very high.

It's very high, right?

In fact, there's a world of difference, literally, between the rest of the world and believers.

In verses 6 to 7, Jesus says,

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, and they have kept your word, right?

So, as I mentioned, this refers immediately to the 12 disciples.

But they are the representatives of the church.

And you will see later, he's also praying this for those who believe on account of them.

So, this applies to us as well.

And Jesus is saying that in a real way, even before Jesus' ministry, these people belonged to the Father to begin with.

And so he gave them, the Father gave them to him.

And because they were his, Jesus pursued them and saved them out of the world.

Verses 9 to 10 make this contrast even sharper.

Jesus says,

I am praying for them.

I am not praying for the world, but for those whom you have given me, for they are yours.

All mine are yours, and yours are mine, and I am glorified in them.

The syntax in the word and language is even more emphatic.

It's just like,

Not for the world, I pray, but for those you have given me.

Right?

And the reason for this is that they are the fathers.

Right?

So, it's not that in John's construction, in John's theological framework,

that his view of God's sovereign choice is so high,

that praying for the world is really, you know, blasphemous.

Because the world is condemned.

There's no hope for the world.

There's only hope for those whom God gives out of the world.

And he prays for those people.

Right?

So, that's the,

And this is actually something that informs and stirs our evangelism,

and our outreach toward people.

And the reason for that is that,

because if you walk around the streets,

and sometimes I see missing signs,

maybe it's for a dog,

or sometimes even worse,

it's for your child.

Right?

Now, if it's not your child,

if it's not your dog that's missing,

right,

then you might, you know,

just pass by,

not do anything about it.

But imagine if that was your child,

your dog on that thing,

you would do everything in your power.

You would use,

exhaust all your resources,

expend all your time and energy

to find the missing child.

Because that's your child.

So, that's Jesus' passion,

his zeal for the lost,

is that,

you know,

they belong to my Father,

so I'm going to go and get them.

Because He has given them to me,

and they are my responsibility.

So, this doesn't prevent us from going out.

Rather, it forces,

it pushes us to go

and to grab those people

whom God has chosen and given.

And for us,

of course,

Jesus had,

He knew whom God had called.

We don't know that.

So, for us,

we go to everyone,

and we pray,

and follow the Spirit's leading.

Who are the people

whom you have given?

And we minister to those people.

Right?

And this,

and how do we know

who's in the world,

and whom the Father gave out of the world?

And that's,

the dividing line will be drawn

by the proclamation

of the good news of Jesus.

It says in verse 14,

I have given them your word,

and the world has hated them,

because they are not of the world.

Just as I am not of the world.

Right?

The difference in the response

will be so stark

that you can,

the Scripture says

that they will hate

those who follow Jesus.

And you don't have to understand

this primarily

in an emotional way.

They're going to hate you

with an anger,

or just that kind of hatred.

Because the language of love and hate

through our Scripture

is covenantal language.

It refers to

a settled opposition

to God's will

when it says

that they will hate believers.

And every unbeliever,

everyone who is not given

out of the world,

do this.

They oppose the Lord,

and in some way or another,

they are minimizing God

and marginalizing Him.

And that is the hatred

that He speaks of.

And so,

having distinguished,

right,

those whom the Father gave

out of the world,

and then,

from the world itself,

Jesus now proceeds

to the crux of His petition

for His followers,

His apostles.

Verses 15 to 18.

I do not ask

that you take them out of the world,

but that you keep them

from the evil one.

They are not of the world,

just as I am not of the world.

Sanctify them in the truth.

Your word is truth.

As you sent me into the world,

so I have sent them into the world.

And for their sake,

I consecrate myself,

that they also may be sanctified

in truth.

And so,

He prayed for His glory.

Now,

He prays for His disciples' sanctity.

And so,

it's not by mistake

that He addresses His Father

as Holy Father,

because He's asking

for His disciples' holiness.

And that holiness

is enjoined to us

precisely because

God is holy.

He's the one

that is set apart

or sanctified,

which is really

the literal definition

of holy.

And this holiness

is kind of similar to glory.

We think of holy

as, you know,

kind of doing the right things,

doing God's will.

But really,

at the basic level,

holiness means that

this person is set apart,

distinct,

different.

So when the Bible describes

God as holy,

it's referring to

His transcendence,

that He is completely different

from the rest of the world,

the rest of creation.

He's set apart.

He's God.

And that's really similar to,

holiness is in the

entailment of God's glory

we talked about,

because that's why

in Isaiah 6, 3,

the angels cry,

Holy, holy is the Lord.

Holy, holy, holy is the

Lord of hosts.

And then it doesn't say

the whole earth

is full of His holiness.

It says the whole earth

is full of His glory.

Now holiness,

because God set apart

His transcendence,

His divinity,

reveals His glory.

Holy, holy.

And by extension then,

because God is set apart,

people and things

that are set apart for God

are also called holy

because they're set apart

and sacred,

sanctified.

And so the Old Testament

priests were sanctified

or consecrated.

The temple was called holy,

set apart,

sanctified.

And so Jesus' prayer

for them,

sanctify them in the truth.

Your word is truth.

Then is in substance

the same as His prayer

in verse 10,

which said,

keep them in your name

which you have given me

that they may be one

even as we are one.

Because Jesus is the word,

right,

the word of God incarnate.

He's the one that displays

the Father,

reveals the Father,

His name.

And so He says,

keep them in your name.

Now sanctify them in the truth.

Your word is truth.

Jesus is the way,

the truth,

and the life.

Right?

So He prays for sanctity

for His believers.

And this is a really

important point,

I think,

for us to get,

especially in this day and age.

And I just,

and I think this is

the part of our calling

that generally speaking,

the younger generation,

maybe people who were born

in the early,

you know,

1980s and later

have a harder time

adhering to,

adhering to,

that is being set apart

and being distinct

from the world.

But if we're Christians,

then we are not

of the world.

We have to be set apart

for God.

And everything we do

and say and think

has to give evidence

to the fact

that we're not

given to anyone else.

We belong to God.

We're set apart for Him.

Right?

And maybe a few things

that just examples

that maybe we have

a harder time

reconciling this command

with is your speech

set apart for God.

Right?

Because Ephesians 4, 29 says,

Let no corrupting talk

come out of your mouths,

but only such as is good

for building up

as fits the occasion

it may give grace

to those who hear.

Is your speech

always building people up?

Always.

Everything you say.

giving grace

to those who hear.

Or is it characterized

by corrupting talk,

vulgarity, profanity,

gossip, slander,

thoughtless words

that tear down people

rather than building them up.

We'll have to give an account

for every careless word

we speak.

Matthew 12, 36 says that.

So if our speech,

the way we speak,

is indistinguishable

from the way the world speaks,

then there is a problem.

We're not set apart.

How about the way

we use our money?

Jesus taught in Matthew 6, 21

that where your treasure is,

there your heart will be also.

Where is your heart?

Where do you put

your treasure and money?

What portion of it

goes to God's causes?

To the church?

To the poor?

Does it go primarily

to yourself?

Your house,

your car,

your clothes,

your food,

your gadgets,

your entertainment?

If you're spending habits,

as you look around

your friends,

unbelieving neighbors

and friends,

if you're spending habits

are not distinguishable

from your neighbors,

the world,

then there's something

wrong with that.

It's not set apart

for God.

Your work and leisure.

2 Thessalonians 3, 11

warns of those

who walk in idleness,

not busy at work,

but busy bodies.

Are you diligent

in your workplaces?

Do you work heartily

as for the Lord

and not for men?

And how do you rest?

Is it characterized

by idle surfing

and indiscriminate

media consumption?

I'm not calling us

to be legalistic,

right?

But

if

the way we rest

and the way we work

is indistinguishable

from the world,

then we are not

set apart for Him.

And your attitudes,

right,

are they set apart

for God?

1 Thessalonians 5, 16-18

says,

Rejoice,

always pray without ceasing,

give thanks in all circumstances,

for this is the will of God

in Christ Jesus for you.

Is your attitude

and posture

at all times

characterized

by constant rejoicing,

prayerful dependence

on the Lord,

and thanksgiving

no matter the circumstance?

or is it characterized

by bitterness,

cynicism,

self-centered independence?

If our attitudes

are indistinguishable

from the world's,

then we are not

set apart,

friend.

So let's be honest

with ourselves

and I'm doing the same thing

as I'm preaching this

to you guys

with myself.

Are we sanctified?

Are we set apart

for God

from the world,

out of the world?

And we'd be fools

to think

that we're impervious

to the world's influence.

That's certainly

not the case.

And especially nowadays

in the sense of,

I don't know if

you guys have seen

Daniel Kahneman's book

Thinking Fast and Slow.

That's another one

that's made of experience.

It talks about

how with the rise

of behavioral sciences,

people are able

to predict

not just our rational decisions

but also our irrational decisions

because irrational decisions

are based on a predictable

set of biases.

And so nowadays

companies,

governments,

Amazon, Facebook,

they all use

these subconscious nudges

to direct us

in a certain way

to buy us certain things.

In fact,

in a letter

to shareholders,

the Amazon CEO,

Jeff Bezos,

wrote that,

boasted

that they have

70 million

of these subconscious nudges

a week

to get people

to buy stuff.

and how,

that's why he says,

that's why this is the best place

to sell your stuff

because no one else has this.

So we are fools

if we think

that we're not going

to be influenced

by the world.

We need to constantly

be set ourselves,

consecrate ourselves

and be set apart

to pursue him

and to honor him

and all that we do,

be conformed

not to the world,

patterns of this world,

but be transformed

by the renewing

of our minds.

That's the call

to be set apart.

And we can do this

because Jesus

is the one

that consecrated himself.

It's the same word

as sanctify.

He consecrated himself

for us

so we can be sanctified

in truth.

Now,

having emphasized

that part,

the set apart,

you would think

that Jesus would pray,

take them out

of the world,

keep them safe

over here,

but that's not

what he prays.

So he says

in verse 18,

as you sent me

into the world,

so I have sent them

into the world.

He says in verse 15,

I do not ask

that you take them

out of the world,

but that you keep them

from the evil one.

Right?

So Jesus decisively

disarms the evil one,

Satan,

right?

And he defeats him

so that he has

no dominion over us.

Right?

But he's not powerless.

He's still the ruler

of this world.

He's not the ruler

over those

who are in the kingdom

of God.

Right?

But he still has

influence in this world.

And God prays

that he doesn't try to,

he doesn't pray

that we'd be extracted

from the world,

but that rather

in the world

we'd be protected

from this evil influence.

And what's remarkable

is that we're sent

in the same way

that Jesus is sent.

Right?

Jesus describes himself

in chapter 10,

verse 36,

as the one

whom the Father

consecrated,

same word,

and sent into the world.

And why was Jesus

set apart

and sent into the world?

You guys,

all of you guys

know the answer

to this question.

John 3, 16, right?

For God so loved the world

that he gave his only son.

And the later verse

John 3, 17,

said God did not send

his son into the world

to condemn the world,

but to save the world

through him.

That's the reason why

Jesus was set apart

and sent.

And in the same way,

that's why we are set apart

and sent into the world

to be agents

of this good news,

to bring salvation,

to bear witness

to Christ.

And those two things,

we have to hold

those two things together.

Set apart,

then sent, right?

Because if you forfeit

any of those things,

neither one works.

Because if we're not

set apart from the world,

then we're no good

for the world.

And that's exactly

what Jesus talks about

in Matthew 5

when he talks about

the salt of the earth.

What good is it

if the salt loses its taste?

It's useless

except to be trampled on

by men.

If we don't look

any different

from the rest of the world,

if we don't carry

the scent of Christ

in our daily living,

then the world

will look at us

and judge

that we have nothing

to offer

and they will be right.

We need to be set apart.

But it's also no good

for the world

if we remain safely

in the salt shaker, right?

Nice, set apart salt

in the salt shaker.

No, like that popular

evangelism book,

out of the salt shaker

and into the world.

We need to go.

We need to be applied

to the world.

So,

and this part,

I think,

is the part

of our Christian call

that the older generation,

so people born

before the 1980s

have harder time with.

It's not enough

to be set apart.

Generally speaking,

I'm generalized.

It's not enough

to be set apart.

We need to be sent

into the world.

So,

if you think

you have a great

personal relationship

with Jesus

but you're not actively

engaging with unbelievers,

if you're not

bearing witness

to the world,

then that's

an anemic Christianity.

We have to be set apart

to be sent in.

So,

let's not be a church

that's satisfied

with this little Christianity

for you and me.

Let's pray

for the conversion

of our friends

and neighbors.

Let's pray

that we'll have baptisms

for Easter Sunday

coming up.

pray for revival

in East Cambridge.

Every single

great revival

in the United States

started here

in Boston.

Let's pray

for a third

great awakening

because Jesus said

that we will do

greater works

than he did.

so we are set apart

from the world

so that we can be sent

into the world

to bear witness.

And that's why

Jesus also prays

in his final phase

of his prayer

for those who will

come to believe

because he expects

that people will

come to believe

on account of our witness,

on account of the

church's witness.

so verses 20

to 21.

It says,

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.

so he prays

for his glory

now he prays

for his disciples

sanctity

and now he prays

for the future

church's unity

and they're all

kind of

integrally related

right?

It's different words

but they're all

really pointing

to the same realities

and the reason

the purpose

for this unity

once again

is so that

the world

may believe

that God

sent Jesus.

The unity

much like

the love

for one another

that Jesus said

that by that

people will know

that you are

my disciples

John 13 35

in a similar way

our unity

is going to

it's going to be

so otherworldly

so different

from anything

you see out

in the world

our unity

will attest

to the fact

that Christ

is the one

that God

sent

and that we

are his disciples.

Now this

doesn't mean

that we

have to make

you know

doctrinal

compromises

in order

to preserve

a semblance

of unity.

At times

in history

the church

has done

exactly this

they sought

unity

at the expense

of theological

integrity

and in doing

so they

undermined

the very

missional

purpose

of unity

of bearing

witness

to Jesus.

So this

is what

happened

in the 20th

century

with the

ecumenical

movement

it had a

great start

ecumenism

refers to

a movement

that tries

to bring

together

churches

from

different

traditions

and denominations

and saying

let's be

united together

in serving

God

and that's

wonderful

right

it's a

great idea

but it

went awry

when people

started saying

things like

love unites

but doctrine

divides

it went awry

when they

started

trying to

find the

lowest

possible

common

denominator

that

in fact

they

lost

so

much

of

the

truth

that

they

forfeited

what

the

gospel

itself

and

forgot

what

love

itself

is

right

because

love

according

to

1 John

3

16

is

by

this

we

know

love

that

Christ

laid

down

his

life

for

us

that's

how

we

know

what

love

is

and

they

couldn't

even

agree

that

Christ

laid

down

his

life

for

us

but

we

are

to

seek

unity

among

those

who

abide

in

the

word

of

Christ

as

this

passage

is

talking

about

that's

why

as

a

church

we

take

time

every

Sunday

to

pray

for

other

local

churches

that

are

centered

around

the

gospel

around

Jesus

and

his

word

and

as

much

as

we

and

our

unity

among

believers

is

so

real

it's

not

just

an

abstract

thing

it's

so

concrete

so

substantial

that

it's

analogous

to

the

very

unity

within

the

triune

Godhead

he

says

I

do

not

ask

for

these

only

but

also

for

those

who

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

so

this

is

Jesus

said

that

he

only

did

whatever

he

saw

the

father

do

that's

how

close

the

union

was

Jesus

only

spoke

and

did

the

things

that

he

heard

the

father

say

and

do

so

he

is

saying

that

his

prayer

is

that

our

union

would

also

be

perfected

in

such

a way

that

we

are

one

we

have

the

same

purpose

to

serve

and

to

bear

witness

to

Jesus

and

how

do

we

attain

this

unity

it's

not

by

seeking

to

become

more

like

each

other

it's

by

seeking

to

become

more

like

Jesus

and

that's

why

Jesus

continues

in

verses

22

to

23

read

that

with

me

the

glory

that

you

have

given

me

I

have

given

to

them

that

they

may

be

one

even

as

we

are

one

I

when

you

go

to

symphony

hall

to

watch

or hear

an orchestra

play

before

they

start

there's

always

the

oboe

they're

tuning

but

they're

not

trying to

tune

to

each

other

that

would

be

chaotic

and

it

would

take

forever

but

instead

they have

the

oboe

play

a

single

key

concert

A

and

every

other

instrument

tunes

to

that

and

the

reason

they

do

that

is

because

the

oboe

becomes

factory

tuned

doesn't

go

out

of

tune

it's

that's

and so

it's

unchanging

and that's

the best

way to

attain

unity

in the

same

way

we

don't

try to

conform

to

each

other

try to

accommodate

everyone's

you know

different

opinions

and whims

no we

all seek

to

conform

to

Jesus

and

what

he

proclaims

and

what

he

embodies

and

as

we're

united

around

him

that's

the

unity

that

we

have

that's

the

unity

that

Jesus

speaks

and

Jesus

is such

a

wonderful

intercessor

right

like

whenever

you ask

someone

to pray

for you

right

you want

them to

you know

pray for

the best

right

the possible

thing

you want

them to

pray

with

faith

and

you know

you don't

want

them to

you know

just

pray

like

oh

just

help

them

a little

bit

and

you know

like

that's

Jesus

is the

best

intercessors

because

what he

prays

for here

is

incredible

24 to

26

and he's

praying

for us

because

we're

the church

that came

to faith

on account

of the

apostles

witness

so

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

oh

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

so

Jesus

says

the

father

loved

him

from

eternity

past

perfect

eternal

love

with

which

the

father

loved

the

son

he

prays

that

that

love

would

be

in

us

he's

praying

that

we'd

be

taken

up

into

that

very

trying

eternal

love

that's

incredible

love

he's

saying

that

the

eternal

glory

that

sets

creator

apart

from

creation

would

be

imparted

to

us

his

creatures

God

intends

to

make

princes

and

princesses

out

of

beasts

he

intends

to

make

saints

out

of

sinners

he

intends

to

make

beloveds

out

of

unlovable

people

he

intends

to

turn

the

shamed

ones

into

glorious

ones

and so

the

bible

commentator

D.A.

Carson

writes

about

this

passage

he says

the thought

is

breathtakingly

extravagant

it is

hard

to

imagine

a more

compelling

evangelistic

appeal

brothers

and sisters

this

is the

glorious

mission

to which

we are

called

to

bring

all

who

believe

into

union

with

God

his

eternal

love

offered

to

them

so

that's

why

Jesus

sets

us

apart

and

then

sends

us

into

the

world

to

bring

them

in

and

if

you

have

not

yet

made

a

decision

to

believe

in

Jesus

and

follow

him

unreservedly

never

has

there

been

a

greater

offer

and

a

surer

promise

than

what

we

see

here

so

hesitate

no

longer

be

set

apart

for

him

so

that

you

may

be

sent

in

to

join

this

mission

with

Jesus

let's

pray

together

God

we

desire

more

than

anything

to

see

your

glory

fill

the

earth

the

knowledge

of

the

glory

of

the

Lord

to

fill

the

earth

as

the

waters

cover

the

sea

that

is

our

desire

and

to

that

end

we

pray

Lord