Love That Motivates Our Mission

But we are glad that you're here.

And so good morning.

If you would turn with me and your copy of God's Word to the 17th chapter of John.

And for the past three weeks, we have looked deeply into what is known as the High Priestly Prayer.

And in this prayer, Jesus gives us a remarkable glimpse into the heart of the triune God.

We see the Father and the Son united in their pursuit of divine glory, and we witness the depth of God's steadfast love for his people.

We look intently into this prayer, or as we look intently into this prayer, you will realize real quickly that Jesus does not pray for one certain, uncertain outcome, but he prays with confidence of the Father's purpose.

There's a confidence behind how he prays.

He asks that his people be kept.

He asks that they be sanctified, that they be unified, and that ultimately they are brought into his glorious presence.

And this prayer reminds us that God's mission flows from his love, his sustained power, and is directed towards his glory.

Now, before we turn to this final portion of Jesus' prayer, let us pause and consider in for a moment in which we pray, or how we pray, or how Jesus prayed these words.

Jesus stands on the threshold, right?

This is right before his betrayal, right before they come to arrest him, right before the cross.

Jesus stands here.

He's on the threshold of this and he knows what awaits him.

Yet his attention is not consumed by fear.

It's not consumed by this self-preservation of, like, oh, I don't know what's to come.

I'm fearful.

Instead, we see he lifts his eyes to his father and he prays for the glory of the Father and the faithfulness of his disciples.

And not only that, he pushes further into the future of the church.

He's praying for the church.

And I believe understanding this setting gives us a greater weight to every in um to every request he makes.

And so as we think through the requests that Jesus will make in this prayer, it gives weight.

It also teaches us something important about our own prayers.

Prayer is not merely a way to escape difficult circumstances.

Sometimes we feel that way.

Sometimes we feel we need to escape this circumstance.

Why does God have me here?

And we pray for those things.

It's not merely that, but it's a mean of entrusting ourselves to a sovereign God who is in control of all things, aligning our hearts with his purpose, seeking his glory in seasons of suffering and uncertainty.

And so, with that setting in mind, let us briefly review for a moment the movement of Jesus' prayer before examining the concluding words.

And so if you would bear with me, starting in verse one, we'll move fast.

I know you're like, hey, we were only going to preach on the last part, but we're gonna we're gonna move through this to give you a full picture of Jesus' prayer.

And so there's three major sections in this prayer.

Chapter 17, starting in verse 1 through verse 5, is the first part, and Jesus prays for himself.

He prays for endurance.

We see this in verse 1.

He says, Father, the hour has come, right?

He knows that it's coming.

It has come.

And he's he needs the endurance.

And so he prays, Lord, give me the endurance, Father.

And then we see he continues in the Father, the hour has come.

He says, Glorify your son, that your son may be glorified in you.

He prays for the glory of God, that his mission will bring glory to God.

And then we see in verse two and three that he prays for belief in the mission, that those who will see him will believe and trust in him.

It says, This is eternal life in verse three, that they may know you, the only true God and Jesus Christ whom you sent.

So he prays for belief in the mission.

He also prays again for the endurance to complete the work now.

We see this in verse four.

He says, Having completed the work, you have given me.

He's praying, Father, give me the endurance.

And then we see in verse five that he prays for the endorsement.

The endorsement.

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

And so you have this beautiful picture of Jesus' heart for himself, for the glory of God.

Have you ever thought about that?

Have you ever thought, how can I pray for myself?

That seems selfish, right?

Like, how can I pray for myself?

Well, look what Jesus did.

Pray.

Pray that you will endure this mission that He's given you.

Pray that when persecution comes, when surfering comes, you will faithfully obey and pursue God's glory, that they will believe in him and not what you are doing, but what Christ has done in you, and that you may complete the work and you will endorse him and his glory and not your own.

And then the second thing we see here as we move into the second part of the prayer, Jesus prays for his disciples.

So we see he prays for himself, then he prays for his disciples, those to whom God has given him.

And he prays that the Father gives them salvation in verse 6 through 10.

And then we look at verse 11 through 12, and he prays that the Father will preserve their salvation.

And then in verse 13, he gives them joy.

And then in verse 14 through 16, he prays for their protection on their mission.

Then we get to 17 and he says, Set them apart, Father.

I pray that they are set apart from this world.

And then we get to verse 18, and he says, Father, lead the disciples on the mission.

Father, lead them.

And then last he says, Father, extend the mission in verse 19 to the disciples.

So don't only lead them, but use them to extend the mission.

Extend it.

Extend it.

This is Jesus' prayer.

Like Jesus, we need to pray for those whom God has given to us to disciple.

This is our heartbeat behind the prayer as well.

Who are you discipling?

Here's the question: Who are you discipling?

Who has God given you in your life?

Who are you discipling?

Well, listen carefully to how Jesus did it.

Look what he did.

He prayed for their salvation, he prayed for their perseverance, he prayed for their protection, he prayed for their joy, he prayed for them to be set apart, and he prayed that they will lead and extend the mission as well, that disciples will continue to make disciples.

This is the model.

This is the model that Jesus has given us.

And we see him praying this to the Father right before he goes to the cross.

And so, who are we discipling?

Who are we praying for?

And how are we praying for them?

And in this third and final section of this prayer, Jesus prays for his church.

He prays for his church.

And as we read these concluding verses, I want you to listen carefully for the love shared between the Father and the Son, and He extends it to all who call who are called by faith.

This is the love that motivates.

I hope this is the love that motivates our mission, our mission to know God, to love his people, and to make him known.

And so if you would follow along with me as we continue to move through the last section of this prayer, starting in verse 20, chapter 17.

Reads like this 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 word, 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 love them even as you love me.

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' prayer reveals really four expressions here of the sovereign love that motivates the church on mission.

Four things we see here.

Christ gathers his church through the gospel.

And so the first thing we see as we move through is that Christ gathers his church through the gospel.

Through the gospel.

Now in verse 20, we see Jesus transition his prayer from the 11 disciples, those who God entrusted to him.

He's transitioning to all who will believe.

If you notice this in verse 20, it says, To all who will believe, it says, I do not ask only, but also for those who believe in me through their word.

Whose word?

Right?

What is he talking about here?

What word?

The disciples' word.

What is their word?

Well, what does it mean that when Jesus says through their word, through their word is the gospel, it's the gospel account, it's their witness, their eyewitness account and testimony that Jesus is who he says he is.

And so we see this.

We see that the gospel is that which sanctified the disciples.

It's that which sanctified them, that they started to have true belief, and now they have this privilege to proclaim it.

And when they proclaim it, Jesus is asking here.

He's asking that when they proclaim it, that all will believe.

That's what we see here in verse 21.

It says, through which sinners would believe and be saved.

I love that, right?

God is using us, he's extending the mission to his disciples, and he's pushing it even further into the church.

It's not just for them, though it was for a time, as they as they came to believe and trusted God, and then they extended it to us through the power of the Spirit.

And so I want you to understand this.

It's worth noting here.

This is something to note, because if you remember the story, right?

The eleven, all of a sudden they get fearful and they run, right?

They get fearful.

They're not like, they're not, they're not on mission right now.

But in God's sovereignty, he knew that the Father would answer his prayers.

You see how he's praying?

He's praying with the intent knowing that though the disciples may be fearful, though that they'll flee and run for their lives, the Father, Jesus knows that the Father will answer his prayers because it's according to his will.

It's according to his glory.

And so he knows this and he's praying for them to be sanctity, that they would continue to be sanctified and restore them before sending them out, right?

He even tells him, wait, the Spirit is coming.

It's to your benefit.

Wait.

But when he comes, you will do greater things than I have done.

And so this is a beautiful picture of God praying, Jesus praying to the Father that he would sanctify them, restore them, and send them out in the power of the Spirit and turn this world upside down.

They turned the world upside down.

The Jewish world and all that they believed got turned upside down by the truth of the gospel that Jesus is the Son of God.

And so, Christians, we can influence the world in many meaningful ways by serving our neighbors, by caring for those in need, by pursuing justice, and by living with integrity.

Yet in this prayer, Jesus points, in this prayer right here, he points to the witness of a unique spiritual power.

And I think oftentimes we overlook this, but it's the unity of the redeemed people.

It's the unity of us, those who confess with our mouth that we believe that Jesus is the Son of God.

There is a unique power in our unity together.

There's a unique power, and that's what he's saying, or that's what he's praying for.

When believers are joined together in truth, in holiness, and love, that the church gives this visible testimony of the Father and His love for the Son and His love for us.

It's visible, it's visible by the way we love one another.

What an awesome privilege we have that we can gather as the saints, as the people of God, as the church, into communion with the Father and with the Son.

What a beautiful picture.

And so this is not unity at the expense of truth, though.

This is where we got to be cautious.

We stand on God's truth.

It's not unity just to build a large base of friendships, right?

To get more likes, to get more followers, to get more church participation.

That's not what we're doing here.

We're standing on the truth.

We're holding to it because we believe that the Spirit creates a unity that's grounded in the gospel, has been purchased by Christ, and becomes visible by those who believe it.

This is why we hold to the truth.

This is why we worship together.

This is why we bear one another's burdens.

This is why we forgive one another.

This is why we love one another sacrificially.

And through this gospel-shaped community, the local church displays reconciliation, the reconciliating, the reconciliating love of God to the lost people of this world.

They see it in us.

They see it in us.

Because we can't do it in ourselves.

We can't reconcile things.

Not in of ourselves.

We need the gift of Christ.

And so this is our greatest form of witnessing to the world.

How do I know this?

Well, tons of reasons.

We don't have the time.

But let me give you a few.

Well, first of all, in this prayer, if you notice, three times Jesus speaks it, right?

Three times Jesus in this short prayer prays for unity.

He prays for unity in his high priesthood prayer.

But apart from that, in the upper room, and so what we remember about the upper room, this is one night, this is night, this is the discourse as he's teaching his disciples within the upper room.

I'll give you a few examples.

So in John 13, 34, 35, Jesus says this A new command I give to you that you love one another just as I have loved you.

You also are to love one another.

By this, by what?

By our love for one another within the church.

He's not speaking of those outside the church.

God loves those outside the church.

He has a general love for all people.

But right here, he's pushing into his disciples and he's saying, It's how I loved you.

You need to love one another.

And so he says, By this, all people, all people will know that you are my disciples if you have a love for one another.

So he says in John chapter 13.

John 13 · chapter mention

John chapter 15, he says, This is my command, that you love one another as I have loved you.

John 15 · chapter mention

And then again in chapter 15, continue on, verse 16, he said, You did not choose me, but I chose you and appointed you that you should go and bear fruit, that your fruit should abide, so that, conclusion, right?

Whatever you ask in the Father's name, we know this, whatever you ask according to his will, not just whatever you ask, but according to his will, he may give it to you.

And these things I command you so that you will love one another.

One another.

If we had the time, we don't.

There are so many scriptures in the epistles and in the gospels that point to loving one another.

Why is that?

Because we are the greatest witness to God's glory.

We are the visible evidence of Him and the way that we love one another.

And so let me illustrate this with you, right?

Because you're like, well, help me understand.

Let me illustrate this with one question.

What most undermines the church's witness before an unbelieving world?

Ask yourself that.

What most undermines it?

Hypocrisy.

Hypocrisy of the church.

Our disunity.

The way we're at each other, the way we don't forgive each other, the way we put our own agendas into the service or into the program or whatever it may be, whatever ministry.

This is what undermines the gospel.

This is the greatest obstacle to the church or to the unbelieving world, sorry.

And so when the unbelieving world looks, what are they looking at?

How we as a community represent the one we confess to have lordship, right?

This is what he's doing.

And so, let me be clear though, our disunity, our disunity doesn't make the gospel untrue.

Let me be clear about that.

There's a lot of churches that there's disunity in God's working.

Hopefully, we're praying that God works through those things.

But it can be an obstacle to the gospel that we proclaim.

And so when the church refuses to forgive or love as Christ command, the world sees this contradiction between our message and the way we live.

But the opposite is also true, right?

The opposite is true.

If they're looking at us, they're looking for hypocrisy.

They're looking at it anyway, but they're also looking at us, and if they see unity, they see the glory of God.

They see the goodness of who God is by the way we love, the way we forgive, the way we act, our integrity, our characters.

All these things, do they represent Christ?

And so when we as believers, when we pursue unity and truth and love for one another as Christ has loved us, our life together gives credibility to the gospel we proclaim.

That's what gives credibility.

And Jesus knows this.

And he's praying for this.

He's praying that the church will be marked with forgiveness, with humility, with reconciliation, with sacrificial love.

Knowing the world is watching, knowing the world is looking for the visible picture of the power of Christ.

And this visible picture will bring them to faith.

And so what do we do?

We proclaim the gospel confidently.

We must proclaim it confidently.

We must pray for those who do not yet believe.

And we must remember that God gathers his elect through the faithful witness of his people.

This is what Jesus begins his prayer with, the end of this section.

The second thing we see this is Christ unites his church in communion with God.

Christ unites his church in communion with God.

So what is the difference between Christ gathering his church and Christ uniting his church?

Christ gathers his church through the gospel by calling sinners out of the world and into bringing them into a saving faith in him.

So he's calling them out, he's gathering the people, the saints, those who will believe.

Christ unites his church by joining those believers to himself and in him to one another.

So we can only have unity in Christ.

Apart from Christ, we have our own agendas.

And unity is very tough, it's very difficult.

And so gathering emphasizes how people are brought into the church.

Unity emphasizes the communion they now share as one redeemed people.

Listen, the gospel doesn't merely save isolated individuals.

There's this there's this wrong thought out there that I can be saved and not go to church.

I can just do my own thing.

I just do what I want.

I don't need the church.

And if we had time once again, or if you want to talk to me after, there's plenty of evidence within scripture that that is not true.

That is not true.

First, the first one, the easiest one is we're writing, there's epistles written to the church, right?

It's written to the local bodies to help them correct them, to love them so they can support and be a witness to God and his glory.

And we can go on and on.

But just trust me, or come talk with me after.

God doesn't save you to be alone, is what we're getting at.

God has called you into a people.

He's called you into unity, into a new family, to share one Lord, one faith, one spirit, one mission.

Therefore, those whom Christ gathers, he also calls to live together in truth, holiness, humility, and sacrificial love.

This is called the body of Christ.

It's the body of Christ.

Christ is the head.

This is why Paul says to the church in Ephesians, as he's writing to them, he's talking about in relationship to unity with God and one another.

He says, I therefore, in Ephesians chapter 4, verse 4, he says, I therefore, a prisoner of 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 spirit in the bond of peace.

Ephesians 4:4

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

We are called to be a people joined together.

We're a body, we function, we have different parts, and we function in a unique way that brings glory to God.

And then Jesus in verse 22, in verse 22, prays that the church is being gathered by the proclamation of the gospel, and that those who would receive the glory which he received from the Father, right?

So, what's going on?

What is the glory, right?

You ever stop and listen to like what is the glory we receive?

Like, what is what is he talking about?

What's going on here?

What's the glory Jesus is praying for?

What praying about?

Well, here, glory refers to the revelation of God's character and saving presence in Christ.

The Son received this glory from the Father and made it known to his disciples first.

Through words, work, death, resurrection, we see this.

They see the deeds he's done, and also his continued presence among them.

So he revealed this to them first.

And then through their gospel witness, which we saw in verse 20, that same glory is being revealed to all who will believe.

Not because believers become divine.

It's not that we have some divine power, but it's because they come to know Christ, trust in Christ, believe in Christ.

They share in his saving life and in his increasing, they increase in reflecting his character, his attributes, his love, right?

This is how they become not divine.

And so therefore the glory Christ gives his people is both a gracious revelation and a transforming gift that draws them in communion with God and with one another, right?

This is Romans 12.

We're being transformed, we're being conformed into a community that worships together, that loves one another.

And then at the end of verse 22, Jesus says this.

He's done all this in verse 22 that they may be one as we are one.

And then look, Jesus doesn't stop there.

If you notice in 20, he doesn't stop there.

He continues to build on this unity that exists between God and his people.

Listen to verse 23.

He says, and I in them, and you in me, that they may become perfectly one, so that the world may know that you sent me and love them as you have loved me.

Did you hear it?

Did you hear it in his prayer?

Not only does Jesus pray for the church to be united in purpose, but in love, in love.

Look at the movement of Jesus' prayer, that they may become perfectly one, that that means that they will be complete in unity, right?

That they'll be perfect or complete, not lacking anything in Christ, not in ourselves.

So that we're being mature, like we're on a mission and we're it's a journey that we're on.

And guess what?

God loves us on that journey.

He pulls us into the family, he directs and moves us in a way that we are being matured.

James chapter 1, verse 4.

James 1:4

Remember the verse?

That we may come into this perfect union with God.

It doesn't mean we're perfect, it means that we're continuing to move towards perfection.

We're maturing as believers, we're bearing fruit.

And so James 1 speaks of this.

And I love what Carson talks about this.

He has this quote, he says, This like sanctification, this oneness is simultaneously something that already achieved and something that needs perfecting.

It's already been achieved, but yet it still needs to be perfected.

This is the same thing with justification.

In a moment, in a true moment of faith, when you surrender to Christ, you were made perfect, yet somehow you still need to be made perfect, right?

We still need to be sanctified.

We still need to be conformed to the image of Christ, but yet our salvation is secure in God.

We are justified, we are made right before God.

And so that's what's going on here.

That Jesus is saying, look, I love them, but they they still need to be perfected.

And Father, perfect them because you love me.

And you love them as you have loved me.

And then he says this in verse 23.

It says, so that, this is a term of purpose, right?

So that, and then Jesus gives us two purposes here.

There's two reasons, two purposes for the church to be complete in unity.

Purpose one, he says this that the world may know that Jesus is the Son of God.

What's the purpose?

First purpose, that the world may know that Jesus is the Son of God, that He is the true Messiah who came, who paid our debt, the one that we could never pay, and he restores us back to God.

Second purpose is this that the world may know that true believers, the church, is loved by the Father just as Jesus Himself is loved by the Father.

Wow.

Do you hear that?

Do you understand what he's saying?

I mean, look at verse 23.

It says, even as in your translation, it should say maybe something like that, but it says, even as this term of comparison.

So he's comparing what the unbeliever, I mean, what is unbelievable, this unbelievable comparison that Jesus makes, he's placing the Father's love.

Okay, he's taking the Father's love in this verse when he says, even as, he's taking the father's love of the believer, and he's putting it on the same plane as Jesus Himself.

You ever thought about that?

I thought about how much he loves you, the church, the people of God.

I mean, it just blows my mind.

If it doesn't blow yours, I'm not sure what will.

I mean, we just sang it, right?

We just sang amazing love.

How how sweet, how can it be that you, my king, would die for me?

It's unexplainable that we as wretched sinners can be on the same plane as Jesus Christ in his love, the Father's love for us, not in his divinity.

And in John's first epistle, he defines this love for us.

It's just an amazing love that God has for the saints.

He says this in 1 John chapter 4, starting in verse 7.

1 John 4 · chapter mention

He says, Beloved, let us love one another.

There's that one another again.

Let us love one another, for love is from God.

And whoever loves has been born of God and knows God.

Whoever does not love does not know God, because God is love.

And in this love of God was made manifest among us.

It was made manifest among us.

Jesus was the one who manifested himself to show us how great this love is.

And so in this love, in 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 love, not that we have loved God, but that he loved us and sent his son to be the propitiation for our sins.

Beloved, if God so loved us, we also ought to love one another.

No one has ever seen God.

No one has ever seen God.

If we love one another, God abides in us and his love is perfected in us.

That's how they see the love of God.

It's in us.

It's in us.

And so, in summary, God does not just merely gather isolate, I mean, save isolated people.

He gathers them.

He gathers the saints together, he unites them to himself and to one another in the Spirit, empowered by the Spirit, and we have this beautiful communion with the Father and the Son through the power of his spirit.

So, church, we are to pursue holiness, humility, reconciliation, and God's truth within this local body.

Why?

Why?

Why do we do that?

Because gospel shape unity, displays the Father's love, and proclaims Christ as King to this world.

That's why we do it.

That's why we do it.

We don't necessarily have to have everything in common, but the one thread, the one thing that ties us all together is the gospel and the love that God has for us.

And in that, we should be able to forgive.

How Christ forgives.

Love how Christ has loved.

And that love will be put on display for God's glory.

The third thing we see is this: Christ brings his church to glory.

Verse 24.

It says, 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 love me before the foundations of the world.

Jesus expresses his desire that all whom the Father has given to him would be finally, would finally be with him and behold his glory.

Isn't that a wonderful prayer?

Isn't that a wonderful promise?

Think about Jesus.

Jesus is praying to the Father and He's saying, Hey, look, all that you've entrusted me to, I want them with me.

And I know that you've secured them.

I want them to come and be in glory with me.

And so this includes both his his first disciples.

He's not just speaking that.

Some have translated that way.

He's not saying just his disciples, he's saying all those.

All those, all those.

Everyone who would come to faith through the gospel witness, the whole company of the elect will be with me.

So Christ is not merely praying for his people to endure the end.

He's praying for their final glorification.

That's what he's praying for.

That they will be in the presence of the Almighty with Him, that their glory will behold the glory of the Father, given the Son in love before the foundation of the world.

And their salvation therefore reaches its appointed goal when they are brought safely home to see, enjoy, and worship the glory of Christ forever.

Let me illustrate this point with God's word.

First John 3, 2 through 3 says this.

Beloved, we are God's children now, and what we will be has yet appeared.

But we know that when he appears, we shall be like him.

Who's him?

Jesus, we shall be like him, because we shall see him as he is.

We will see him as he is.

Even the disciples here on this side of heaven, even in when Jesus walked as fully man, they didn't see him in his full glory.

They didn't really see him in his full glory, in his glorified state at the right hand of the Father.

They didn't see him there.

But here it says that we will be able to see him, and everyone who whose hope is in him purifies himself as he is pure.

And then Philippians 1 6 says, I am sure of this, that he who began a good work in you will bring it to completion in the day of Jesus Christ.

He will complete it.

And then continuing in Romans 8 29, he says this for those whom he foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the image of the Son, in order that he might be the firstborn among many brothers, and those whom he predestined, he also called, and those whom he called, he also justified, and those whom he justified, he also glorifies.

He wants you there.

He wants the people of God to be with him in heaven.

He wants to give you your perfect body, your spiritual body, that you may join in the worship of God Himself.

So believe the promise, endure the suffering with hope, pursue the presence of holiness, and comfort one another with the certainty that Christ will preserve them.

The last thing we see is this.

Verse 25.

This is the only place in Scripture where God is directly addressed as righteous father.

He says, Oh righteous father, oh righteous father.

This title tells us that the Father is perfectly just and he always acts according to his holy character.

This is what Jesus is praying.

I know that you're just, and I know that everything that you have done and that you will ever do, that you have done, is for your glory.

It's for your holy character and your purpose, according to your will for your glory.

Although the fallen world does not know him, and they stand in unrighteousness since the fall in Genesis chapter 3, the Son knows him perfectly.

Genesis 3 · chapter mention

So, in context of this prayer, Jesus is expressing confidence that the Father will faithfully answer his request and accomplish his saving purpose for the church.

Verse 25 and 26 shows how Christ sustains the church in knowing and proclaiming the Father's name.

The world does not know the righteous father, but the Son knows him perfectly, and he has made it known to his disciples.

He's made it known to them and all those who will come.

And so in verse 26, Jesus promises that he will continue making the Father known.

We see this in verse 26.

He sustains his people, right?

He's continued through what?

Through his word and through the Holy Spirit.

He will continue to sustain his people, bringing them to the knowledge of God and who he is and what he wants, so that we can be obedient to him and that we can grow deeper into our faith and love for him.

This knowledge is more than mere information.

It's more than just information.

To those, the true church, this is our life.

This is our our our entrance into the presence of God and how he speaks to us and how he directs us.

And so it's more than just knowledge, but it's the Father's love for us.

This is verse 26.

Look at the end of verse 26.

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

Because Christ lives in his people and fills them with the Father's love.

The church is empowered by or is empowered to display God's character and proclaim his name to the world.

I love what 2 Corinthians is Paul writes to the church, 2 Corinthians chapter 4, verse 6, it says, for this, for what we proclaim is not ourselves, right?

2 Corinthians 4:6

We're not here to proclaim ourselves.

It says we're not here to proclaim ourselves, but Jesus Christ as Lord with ourselves as your servants for Jesus' sake.

For God who said, Let light shine out of darkness, has shone in the hearts to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ.

We are called to be a city on a hill.

We're called to be a light.

And so Christ will sustain that.

He will sustain the mission.

He will continually reveal the Father to his church through his word, through his spirit, so that we will learn how to love one another in a way that displays God's love.

I love this to Paul, to which Paul says this in Colossians 1, verse 27.

Colossians 1:27

He says, To them God chose to make him known how great among the Gentiles are the riches of his glory of this mystery, which is Christ in you.

Christ in you, the hope of glory.

Him we proclaim, warning everyone and teaching everyone with all wisdom that we may present everyone mature in Christ.

For this I toil.

This is what Paul says, for this I toll, struggling with all his energy, that he powerfully works within me.

This is why we toil.

This is why we continue the mission, because we know that God has chosen us to make it known among the Gentiles, make it known amongst the lost world, that we are the church, we are the people, we are the witness of God's goodness and God's love.

And so, church, grow, I beg you, grow in the knowledge of who God is.

Through his word, abide in his love, remain in his love, make the Father known in your home first, within the church, within your community, and at your job until Christ returns.

Let me give you the main idea.

Main idea is this.

Christ's sovereign love, his sovereign love for his church, it gathers, unites, preserves, and sends his church for God's glory.

So it does.

Christ came in a way that loved that love was displayed, so much so that it gathers those who will believe by faith to unite together in a way that they love one another, so that the gospel will be a visible and clear representation of how much Christ truly loves us.

The world may see this.

And so then He sends us, He sends us into the world.

As the band comes back up, Church Jesus, let me just remind you, Jesus prays, His reminds us that his mission is sustained.

It's sustained not by human strength.

Like you and I, our mission, it's not sustained by our own strength, but it's by his sovereign love.

It's by the Father's faithfulness, faithfulness to his promises, faithfulness to his character.

Christ gathers his church through the gospel, he unites them in love and truth, he preserves them in glory, and he makes the Father known through them.

And so because Jesus prayed for his church, we should learn to pray for the church within with the same priorities.

Just like Jesus did.

Pray for yourself and the mission.

Then pray for those that God has sent you, and then what?

Pray for them as their own mission, for their protection, for their guidance, for their knowledge.

And so this week, today and this week, I'm gonna ask you to pray daily.

Pray daily for the church.

Not just our church.

Our church, yes, for sure, that we as a local body are united in love.

But pray for all churches, all fellowships, true churches, that their love will be united because it's the greatest witness that we have.

How do we love one another?

This is so important.

This is so important.

If you know a local church that you trust and you believe that they are pursuing Christ and Him to be glorified, then I ask that you pray for them.

But pray for these people right here on how we love one another.

Look, we're not perfect people.

I'd be lying to you if we said there'll never be some conflict within this church.

But it's how do we handle it?

How do we display God's love?

And so pray for that now.

That doesn't mean there's conflict now, but we're praying that when it comes, we are people of love and forgiveness and we seek reconciliation for the glory of God, that our witness, that we will bear a witness to the goodness of God in our communities, in our workplaces, wherever we may be.

And so pray for that.

Pray for that and then and then act upon it, right?

Encourage.

I'm asking that you pray right now that God will send someone that you can disciple.

Pray.

If you're not, if you are, praise God and continue.

Then your prayer is, God, show me, continue to strengthen me on how I can disciple someone.

We're called to make disciples.

Jesus was our perfect model, He made disciples.

And so I pray that you say, God, send someone, or God, help me continue to be faithful to the ones you have sent me.

And so pray for that.

Act upon it.

And so if you would, bow your heads as we as the as the band begins to pray over you.

And I just want you to think about that.

Think of someone, think of a church, think of this church, think of a disciple, and pray for them right now that God will send someone to you, that God will shape this church to be a loving gospel-centered community to bear witness to this world.

And so pray with me, Father.

May you do a work in our lives.

Some of us have never even probably asked that you would send a disciple.

Father, I'm praying.

I'm praying that you would bring someone into my life and into the life of our people.

Not to grow this church, but to grow your kingdom.

That through the gospel presentation of our life together, we will bear witness of your goodness and love in this lost and dying community.

One that is self-centered, self-righteous.

We pray, God, that through the power of your spirit, through the knowledge of your word, that we will be a gospel-shaped community that reflects your glory.

Everywhere we go.

Father, we pray for this community.

That the churches here, that the churches that are centered on Christ, Father, that if there are problems within their church, God, we pray that you unite them in the gospel, that they too may bear witness of your goodness and your glory.

God, there is something super unique that you have done in the life of the local church.

And we are thankful that even though we can't understand or comprehend that we have been loved on the same plane as your Son Jesus Christ.

Father, show us how to display that to one another.

For your glory, for our good.