Text: John 17:6-8, 11, 14-16, 20-23, 26
Summary: A Christian is one who is part of the Universal Church because he/she believes, receives, and keeps the Word of God.
Father, we are your children and we want to hear from You. Jesus, you’re the Head of the Church. And Lord, we ask that You shepherd us today. Holy Spirit, You’re the Counselor. We ask that You would give us counseling and comfort and direction today. We submit at this time to You. We pray that our hearts and our ears be opened. And we pray that we would catch a glimpse of You today. Thank you, Lord. In Jesus Name, Amen
Turn with me to John 17. Before I read, let me give you the conclusion. A Christian is one who is part of the Universal Church because he or she believes, receives and keeps the word of God.
John 17
6 “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. 7 Now they know that everything that you have given me is from you. 8 For I have given them the words that you gave me, and they have received them and have come to know in truth that I came from you; and they have believed that you sent me.
And here in v6, it says in the second half of the verse, “they have kept your word.” The word is “logos,” the written word. And then in v8 it says, “I have given them the words” plural. This is “rhema,” the spoken word. Also in v14, it uses the word “logos.”
John 17
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.
Again in v20, it uses the word “logos.”
John 17
20 “I do not ask for these only, but also for those who will believe in me through their word…
Logos and rhema. Logos is the written word. The context here is logos. It is something that you can remember and you keep it. It’s like a law, a commandment. A rhema is a spoken word that is tailor-made for you in that situation. We receive the logos. It is the gospel, and specifically it is Jesus, the Son of God, who is sent by God the Father. That is the logos, the gospel, the good news that we all have to receive and believe.
And this logos in v20 is something that through the preaching of the word you believe and you receive and so we need both. We need the gospel that we believe and receive. We need to have the logos that we keep. We keep the commandments and tenants that we believe in. At the same time, we also need a rhema, God’s specific word to you in any given situation. So when it says in v6, I have manifested your name to the people whom you gave me out of the world, the first step of becoming a Christian is that you come out of this world. A worldly Christian is an oxymoron. Jesus says this in multiple places. Let me read v14.
John 17
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.
We know that Jesus is not a creation of this world. We know that Jesus is eternal. He is the Son of God who came from heaven. He is not of this world. Although he had a human frame for 33.5 years, He is not of this world. And did you know that the moment that you are born again, you are no longer of this world? You are a new creation, a new creature. And you are a Heavenly citizen. You’re no longer a U.S. citizen. Fundamentally, you’re a Heavenly citizen.
So a Christian who is part of the Universal Church, you’ve come out of this world because you believed that Jesus is the Son of God and that God the Father sent Him to the world. And I think there’s a distinction there that we believe and it is not a mental exercise because some people who are culturally Christian just believe things in their head. But they never received anything from the Lord.
Salvation is a gift. You did not convert yourself because of an act of your will although your will was involved. You’re dead in your transgressions and sins and God in His mercy, opened up eyes and ears and softened hearts. And He put laws into your heart. He wrote them on your mind. All of Christian life is something we received, even the progress toward perfection, even our maturity. Everything in Christian life is something that we just opened up our hands and we received.
There’s nothing in the Christian life that is a product of our striving. If you strive in your flesh, at the end of your life, the best that you can have is an Ishmael, something that is related to God and the promise of God, but if you did it in your flesh and you never received it from God, in the end, it is something that needs to be cast out. So Christianity is something that we believe. Yes, our mind is involved. Essentially everything in the Christian life is something that we have to receive.
And if you believe and you received the gospel of Jesus Christ and you believe that Jesus is the Son of God and God the Father sent Him to the world to you specifically and you received Him and this truth, then automatically you are not of this world. You’re in this world but you’re not of this world. Meaning, you are not worldly. You cannot be worldly as a Christian.
It’s so clear in v14.
John 17
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.
Simply because you are not of this world and everybody else is of this world, there’s a clash, there’s a collision, and there’s an opposition just by definition. There’s racism that says, you’re not part of my tribe. And on a world scale to the Christian, you are on the other side. You are in the minority. You’re not anything like other people who are living in this world and of this world.
A Christian is someone who’s been taken out of the kingdom of darkness and brought into a kingdom of light. You are no longer a citizen of any nation on earth, you are a citizen of Heaven. Therefore, if you’ve abandoned all worldliness and you agree with God that you’re not of this world, then automatically as a byproduct, you’re hated. You are hated automatically.
And so if you are not hated and you love this world and you want to succeed in this world and you want to be praised by other worldly people, you have to go to the beginning. Did you ever leave? Did you ever leave? Because fundamentally, that is what a Christian is. You leave the world, you’re no longer of the world. So a Christian who struggles with worldliness, it is serious. It is serious. I don’t want you to get to the end and realize, I never came out. It is God’s warning to all of us. We need to check. Have we left this world?
When people look at us, do they say, oh, you’re just like me. You’re pursuing everything that I’m pursuing. I am of this world. I know I am of this world and you say you’re Christian but you’re just like me. Can anybody say that of you? Have you abandoned this world? Because Jesus is speaking only to those who are no longer of this world. He is praying only for those who are no longer of this world. So have you counted the cost?
If you are Christian who is part of the Universal Church, you believed, you received, and you keep the word of God. It is not enough that we just believe it in our head. We receive it. It’s a gift. Everything in Christian light is a gift that must be received. On top of that, you must keep the word.
And so can I be sure that’s somebody who says, I believe in Jesus. Yes, I received things from Jesus over the course of my lifetime, yet they do not keep the word and they are unholy in their lifestyle and in their values. They’re still worldly in every sense. They don’t keep the word at all. They’re not serious about being a keeper of the word. Can I be sure that this brother or sister is someone I can fellowship with? Can I be sure that we are indeed part of the same church, the universal church?
There is a false gospel, and the reason why I call it false is because it is a partial gospel that says God loves you, and that is undeniable. And I’m going to show you a verse that will blow you away. It is undeniable, yes, that we are loved. At the same time, our Father, He disciplines us and Jesus Himself says, be perfect. As your Father is perfect, there is a standard. There is a goal. We’re all becoming like Jesus. Isn’t that what we’re after? Isn’t that why we’re keeping the commandments and repenting and receiving the discipline of the Father?
Yes, He loves us. And because He loves us, He disciplines us. It’s a package deal. Some people have a wrong view of the Father that he is like a grandfather, that He just loves you and He spoils you. He accepts you. He lets you live your life and you can make whatever foolish choices. And He’s going to stay uninvolved. And if that’s what you want, that is not Christianity.
Our Heavenly Father loves us, but He is someone who is very attentive to your life. Very attentive. The way that it says in the book of Proverbs, a good father is diligent to discipline his children. In the same way, our Heavenly Father is diligent in disciplining us. It doesn’t mean that He slams you with 100 things that are wrong with you all at once because if He did that, we would be paralyzed. He shows you one thing at a time. He waits for you to have victory. He waits for you to achieve perfection in that area. And then this diligent Father who loves you will bring the next thing to you.
So a Christian who is part of the Universal Church, he believes the word and the content of this word is the gospel. Jesus is the Son of God. And He was sent by God. And because you believe this, you’ve been transferred to a heavenly kingdom. You are no longer of this world. And because you believe in this, the world hates you.
And you have to be ready to count the cost and say, I am ready to be hated. People are going to misunderstand me. People are going to mock me. People are going to ridicule me. All of this comes with the territory of being somebody who is on the outside looking in. You’re in this world, but you’re no longer of it.
We believe the word, but it’s not just mental, it is not mere doctrine that we understand with our mind. We have to receive the word humbly as a gift, understanding that everything is a gift. Salvation is a gift. Every revelation and wisdom that comes from above that you receive is a gift. Every verse that you finally understand because the light switch comes on and you finally see the truth of a verse is a gift. Every progress in your faith, every step that you take toward perfection is a gift.
Nothing good in our lives is a result of our talent. Or because we’re so committed. Or because we’ve worked so hard in our flesh. All that flesh is something we cast away. We have to receive everything in the Christian life as a gift.
And that’s why when we look at other people, we do not judge them. We don’t look down on them. They may not have the revelations that we have. They’re still part of the Universal Church. As long as they believe and they receive and they keep the word, we don’t judge.
Think about your own journey. Where were you a year ago? Where were you five years ago? 10 years ago? 20 years ago? How lost we were in a sense. We were found, yes. We are on our journey. But in terms of our revelation and our wisdom and our knowledge, you could say I was so lost, couldn’t you? Even a year ago.
But God, in his mercy, keeps on giving wisdom from above, keeps on disciplining and bringing areas that need to be changed and redeemed. And we’re all on our journey. And that’s why we don’t take any pride in our flesh. There’s nothing good in my flesh. And if you believe that, you look upon another brother or sister in the Universal Church who may be lagging behind, we do not judge them. We say, that’s my brother. That’s my sister, they believe and they receive, and they keep the word.
John 17
20 “I do not ask for these only, but also for those who will believe in me through their word…”
And so in this final prayer of Jesus that John records, Jesus is not addressing the world. He’s not addressing the world, but He’s addressing specific people. The first group is the 11 apostles and then, if you extend it a little bit more, the 120 who gathered in the upper room. Those in His time when Jesus walked this earth, His apostles and the first Christians. He’s addressing them. They think I’m going to leave. And now, Father, you keep them. I’ve kept them. Now, Father, You keep them.
And now, in v20 He’s addressing all of us. Every future believer who will believe based on the word of an Apostle or a Christian from a previous generation who’s passed on this word for the last 2000 years. And so now when you read v20 and on, Jesus, is praying for you and me. And what does He pray? He prays that we would be one.
John 17
21 that they may all be one, just as you, Father, are in me, and I in you, that they also may be in us, so that the world may believe that you have sent me. 22 The glory that you have given me I have given to them, that they may be one even as we are one, 23 I in them and you in me, that they may become perfectly one, so that the world may know that you sent me and loved them even as you loved me.
Jesus prays for the Church that is about to be birthed. And when Jesus prays for you and me and the churches today that are scattered across the earth, what is Jesus praying? He’s praying for us to be one. And when you look out at the world, is the Church one? What kind of witness has the Church been to a non-believing world? Have we shown that we can put our differences aside? And we can say, this is my brother and sister because they believe, they receive, And they keep the word. Nothing else. I’m a follower of Jesus. Nothing else. I believe that God my Heavenly Father sent Jesus to me. I believe in the Holy Spirit. Nothing else.
Why is the Church so fractured? I think it’s because we’ve pursued knowledge. We pursue knowledge and knowledge puffs up. We pursued the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. We pursue knowledge. We think that is the pathway to God. No, that is a pathway to division. We think, because I know more than you, I look down on you. It’s like the Pharisees. He says, look at this tax collector. That person knows nothing. Look at me with all my degrees. Knowledge puffs up, and we have all kinds of doctrinal differences.
Can anybody say that I have 100% understanding of doctrine? Can anybody say it? And yet we’re so confident in our doctrine that we draw lines and say, this is my tribe. You are outside of it. Satan has so cleverly worked in the Church, creating split after split, denomination after denomination. And Satan is working in direct opposition to the desires of Jesus who prays for the Church to be one. Satan is so active and has been so successful in dividing the church.
And I don’t know about you, but at least for me, I don’t want to participate in dividing up the Church of God. And so I would ask all of us to pray, that we don’t call ourselves a particular denomination. That’s something I would hope that we can all pray toward for 2020, that we can say I am just a Christian. I am just a Christ follower. I’m not a Baptist, Presbyterian, a Catholic. I am a Christian and I am part of the Universal Church of God.
What is Jesus praying even to this day? He’s praying for us to be one. And what type of oneness is He describing? He’s saying the same oneness that you see when you look at Jesus and the Father. Can you separate the two? It’s like when you look at Dong Yoon, I don’t see DY only. I also see Elaine. Every married couple is one. You don’t separate the two from marriage. DElaine – that is a spiritual reality. Their individual paths have merged, and you cannot separate the two. They are now one.
That’s the argument that Jesus is making. The Father in me, I in the Father. You can’t separate us. You see me, you see the Father and I am in you and you’re in me. It is inseparable. If you believe and you receive and keep the word, that brother or sister, they are yours. We’re part of the same body. You cannot separate us. That is a spiritual reality.
But man is thinking in his knowledge and in his flesh which keeps dividing. What God says is one, God says is one. Spiritually, we know that there’s a remnant from every church, every visible local church there’s a remnant and at the core, spiritually and fundamentally, we are one. But on the surface, because of Satan’s activity and man’s pride, there’s division after division after division.
John 17
23 I in them and you in me, that they may become perfectly one, so that the world may know that you sent me and loved them even as you loved me.
Think about one day, I don’t know if it’s possible on this side of eternity, but think about what kind of witness it would be if the Church actually came together as one. What kind of a witness that would be. I don’t know how it’s possible. It seems implausible, given the state of the church and how fractured it is. But think of what the world would say when it sees a church united.
Maybe in the end times we’ll see it because at that point, when we’re being rounded up and persecuted and thrown into prison and we’re just trying to survive and we’re banding together, maybe at that point we will put all of our differences aside and say we need to come together. Maybe at the end we will see the Church coming together. I hope we see it in our lifetime.
I want to close with two verses, v23 and v26.
John 17
23 I in them and you in me, that they may become perfectly one, so that the world may know that you sent me and loved them even as you loved me.
So that the world may know that you sent me and love them even as you love me. Have you ever thought about that last phrase? Jesus is saying that the Father loves all of us, all believers in the Universal Church, even as He loved Jesus. And the word for “even as” is “kathos.” And you could say, even as or according to, in the manner. To the degree that God the Father loves Jesus, that same love is yours.
How much does God the Father love Jesus? Can anybody describe it? Isn’t it infinite? And if you read this verse carefully, Jesus is saying the same way that the Father above loves Him the Son of God, that same love is available. Every believer, anybody who calls himself a Christian and is part of the Universal Church, a son or daughter, a sibling of Christ, all of us, He loves us to the same degree, in the same manner in which God the Father loves the Son of God. If you believe this, there will be no more insecurity.
It’s just a matter of believing and receiving this truth. If you believe it, it will radically change your life the same way that if you believe Hebrews 10:17 that God remembers your sin no more because you confessed your sins and the blood of Jesus has washed away the sins. And God in His omnipotence has wiped your sin from His memory. That will cure you of any condemnation.
John 17:23 will cure you of any insecurity. It will free you from chasing after some kind of validation in this world. The reason why we’re looking for love through the praise of man or looking for people to say you’re a great person because you’ve achieved all these things, we’re chasing after the world because we don’t believe what Jesus said. That to the same degree, and in the manner in which God the Father loves Jesus, the Son of God, He loves you and me exactly the same way. There is no difference.
If you believe this, it will radically change your life. It will allow you to embrace the hatred of the world and you will not crumble. You will not shrink back because you know you are so loved. And that’s what it says in v26.
John 17
26 I made known to them your name, and I will continue to make it known, that the love with which you have loved me may be in them, and I in them.
The Father’s love for Jesus and each of us, there is no difference. Yes, Jesus, you could say is special. We’re not divine. But in terms of God looking at you and loving you, it is no different than the way He looks and loves Jesus, the Son. Just meditate on that. Ask God to help you receive this into your heart. If you do this, then your parents can reject you and you will stand firm. If you do this, your boss can fire you. You will stand firm. All of your friends can turn on you. And if you believe this, you will stand firm. The hatred of the world can be poured out against you and you’ll stand firm.
Somebody who believes this can embrace the hatred of this world because that is what a Christian is, someone who is not of this world. I pray that you can not just believe it mentally and on the surface, but ask the Father to plant it into your heart, to receive it into your heart and for you to keep it there.
Keep the love of the Father there because the spirit of Christ, He’s in there. He has established God’s love in your heart. If that happens, you’ll be untouchable. You’ll be unstoppable if we believe what Jesus says in His final prayer to you and to me. If we believe it, it will radically change your life and you will find that you don’t need anybody else’s validation. I don’t need the world to say that I’m great. I don’t need praise of people. I don’t need approval of people. I don’t need my boss to say that I’m a good worker. I don’t need promotions. I don’t need money.
This truth can set you free. The truth that you are a son or a daughter of God established in God’s love. The same love that the Father has for the Son of God. If you believe this, it will radically change your life. Let’s pray.
Father, we thank you for this time and we ask that you would remind us that the true Church of God is one. When we gather on a Sunday, all we see is the opposite. We see division everywhere we look. Spiritually, we’re one. And you’re praying for us to be perfectly one. And we pray that our church will be a church that would promote the unity of the Universal Church. As long as anybody believes in Jesus and receives the truth that He was sent by God and keeps this word, that person is my brother, my sister.
I pray that this truth that the same love that Jesus received from His Heavenly Father, that we would believe and receive this same love of the Father that is available to us. We are loved by God in exactly the same way Jesus is loved. There is no difference.
Father, we need to be established in your love in order to stand firm against all of the hatred of this world that is coming our way. It’s only gonna get more difficult in the days and years to come. We ask that you establish us from this moment in the Father’s love for each of your children.
We pray that you would prepare our hearts as we come to the Table, remembering your death, and partaking in the bread symbolizing your Body broken and the cup symbolizing your Blood shed. This is a new covenant. This is a new covenant which says that once we confess our sins, our sins are remembered no more. Thank you, Lord. In Jesus Name, Amen