That They May Be One — Stephen Kaung

Christ’s Prayer for the Oneness of His People

Will you please turn to the gospel according to john chapter seventeen. John chapter seventeen verse eleven. This is the prayer of our lord to his father. John seventeen verse eleven. And i'm no longer in the world.

But these are in the world and i come to thee holy father keep them in thy name which thou hast given me. That they may be one as we. Verse twenty one that they may be all one as thou father art in me and i in thee.

That they also may be one in us. That the world may believe that thou hast sent me and the glory which thou hast given me i have given them that they may be one as we are one i in them and thou in me.

That they may be perfected into one and that the world may know that thou hast sent me and that thou hast loved them as thou hast loved me. Lord jesus was going to leave his disciples. And as we find in john chapter thirteen he did the last act for his own, his garment water in the basin.

He washed the disciples feet. That was his last act for his own. John chapter fourteen to sixteen his last word with his own promising them the holy spirit that the holy spirit will come and dwell not only with them but in them and will never leave them nor forsake them.

And after his last word with his people then he turned his heart towards his father. In john chapter seventeen we find it is recorded how he prayed to his father. And in that prayer you'll find from verse one to verse five he was praying for himself.

He prayed and said father the hour is come glorify thy son. That thy son may glorify thee. Prayer for himself is centered upon this matter of glory and glorify. He asked the father to glorify the son.

Why did he ask his father to glorify him. Not because he want to get the glory but because he was glorified. The father will be glorified. He said glorify thy son. What does he mean of glory or glorify.

We always think in terms of getting something gain something for ourselves. For jesus when he said glorify thy son accept my sacrifice thou will accept my death. Thou will demonstrate thy acceptance by raising me from the dead to show that thou art fully satisfied.

And that is glorify thy son. The lord is not thinking of himself not to have any personal gain. He is to satisfy his father of his father to finish the work that his father has sent him to do. And when the father is satisfied he is glorified.

That is why the lord said glorify thy son that thy son may glorify thee. Glory means satisfaction. When the father is fully satisfied then the father is glorified. When the son is satisfied the son is glorified.

Now what is it that our lord jesus will be satisfied. He is satisfied only with this that the work that the father has sent him to do is fully done. And he knows that the father is happy about it. That is the glory that he as thou has given him authority over all flesh the son must equal with god.

He emptied himself of the slavishness the likeness of a man. In other words the son laid aside that where his rights his due. He lay all these things aside. To become a man has given all flesh for over all.

And what does he do with the authority that the father has given to him all that he has given to him. He should give them life eternal. The authority that the father has given to the son he uses that authority to give life eternal life to those whom the father has given to him is not to take away but to give to destroy but to build.

And where the author has given to the son he has given to all who believe in him eternal life. I have glorified thee on the earth completed the work which thou giveth me that i should do it. In chapter twelve some greeks wanted to see the lord an entry into jerusalem.

And now some greeks wanted to see him. The lord said verily, verily i say unto you except the grain of wheat fall into the ground and die. It abides alone. But if it dies it bears. To be glorified means to lay down his life that the father, all he has finished the work with the glory which i have along with thee before the world.

Christ’s Glory and the Finished Work

In other words our lord jesus left his glory the glory of god after he has finished the work that he was sent to do he asked the father to glorify him with the glory that he and the father had before time began in eternity.

He was returning to his father. Now after he prayed for himself those who were with him verse six through verse nineteen that were with him that evening. And then from verse twenty through verse twenty six he prayed for those who believed in him by the word of those who were with him at that time.

You will discover that in his prayer for the eleven who were with him is the same as his prayer for those who were believing him by their word. In other words you'll find the prayer of our lord jesus for his own people.

Both those who were with him at that moment and those who were believing him now even though some were with him that night and many many more were not with him even though we came to the lord at different times and in different places.

And yet you'll find when our lord jesus prayed for his own people he put all of us together as one. And he prayed for his own people. They were those eleven that were with him that night. Those who believed in him through their words through the centuries his prayer for us is one.

Because he came to this world to seek for one body one bride one family one house came to seek his prayer for his own burden that he had in his heart at that time to his father was simply this. They may be one.

So he longed and desired that all who are his will be one. Now who are those that he prayed for whom he has manifested the name of the father. They are those out of the world. They are those who belong to god.

They are those who have kept, received him. They are those who have known him. They are those who are kept by him. They are those who are sanctified by his word. They are those who are not of the world.

Those whom he prayed for who have believed when he was born. Today our lord jesus is the greatest by the father's side. He is interceding for us sisters, do you know what is his burden? Do you know what is the prayer?

What is the intercession? That he intercedes for us on earth throughout the centuries it is no different than what he prayed. Still praying that prayer for his people. He is praying that we who are his may be one.

That is his one burden. To the end of this age more and more god's people began to feel the need of being one. That is the reason why you have on this earth the ecumenical movement. But of course we know this is what the lord is praying for.

He prays for something much more than just an outward union part of every believer a consciousness. We are one. The background. We have many distinctions we have in this world. We who are the lord. There is a built in consciousness within us that we are one.

We know we are one. We know we should be one. And not only we have this inward consciousness but we have the teaching of the word. The word teaches us that we are one. We are one body even though we are many yet we are one body and we are members one of another.

This we know. We cannot teach people telling them that they can be divided or divided. They know it is not right. They have to defend themselves with some reasons to justify their divisions down within their hearts.

They know that no matter what reason they give it is not sufficient. We all know deep down within our heart that we are one and we should be one. But what is the oneness. The unity that the lord jesus is looking for among his people.

Not the outward thing. Trying to join people together outwardly through compromise through negotiation through give and take. By such union such union can deceive some of God's people. God's people are divided.

The lord jesus said that they may be one as we may be one as we verse twenty two. They may be one as we are one. The oneness after the oneness of the Godhead that they may be one as we are one as the father and the son are one.

We know that in the Godhead there are the father the son and the holy spirit. There are three persons and yet one three in one and one in three. It is a mystery. We do not understand. It has been revealed to us and we believe by faith.

We cannot explain it. But we know that God is three in one and one in three. In essence one in function. Three. The oneness in the Godhead is a perfect oneness. The father and the son are one in the spirit.

There is no need to have discussion no need to negotiate no need to compromise no need to argue. But you find that in the Godhead there is that perfect harmony. There is a perfect agreement. There is a perfect oneness.

There is no shadow no shade no darkness no doubt. And the Lord said that they as we the oneness. What is the oneness of the Godhead. I am in thee. In other words the oneness of the Godhead is based on the inness.

It is not that the father is alongside the son or the son is alongside the father. It is the father is in the son and the son is in the father. And because there is such inness so you find such oneness.

You remember even towards the very last Philip asked the Lord Jesus oh Lord if you only will show us the father and we will be satisfied. And how he grieved our Lord Jesus. The Lord said Philip you have been with me for so long and you are still asking me to show you the father.

Do you not know that the father is in me. And I am in the father. If you see me you see the father. I who is speaking is the father who speaks in me. Don't you know that the father is in the son and the son.

There is an inness. So the oneness is perfect. It is just a matter of being alongside no matter how how united they are. The oneness is not perfect but the inness makes the oneness. Lord Jesus said that they may be one as we are one.

Oneness in Christ and the Life of Believers

Dear brothers and sisters how can we be one. What make us truly one unless it is. You cannot be in me be a reality. Hear you hear the Lord Jesus said verse 22. And the glory which thou has given me I have given them that they may be one as we are one I in them and thou in me.

That they may be perfectly into one and that the world may know that thou has sent me. We are in him and he is in us. It is said ye are in Christ Jesus. Wisdom righteousness. Lord Jesus something happened.

I think this is the most glorious thing. This is the mystery of the gospel. Something marvelous he puts us in Christ. Christ is such a mystery. Every spiritual blessing in the heavenlies in Christ Jesus.

He has accepted us in Christ. He has forgiven us in Christ. He has adopted us. Everything is in Christ and God has put us in Christ. So brothers and sisters we who believe in the Lord Jesus we are in him.

We are in Christ. We are in God. Every one of us is in him and he is in us. And because we are in him and he is in us therefore there is an inness among us. It is now possible for us to be truly one. So our oneness is also based upon this inness.

It never changes no matter how you change you are in Christ. Once God has put you in nobody can take you out. Not yourself nor anybody else. That is our position secure for us by the finished work of Christ we are in Christ.

But dear brothers and sisters so far as our condition is concerned our condition may change. Sometimes we may abide in Christ. Sometimes we may be away somewhere else abide in Christ. Our oneness is in our daily life.

Then you'll find this oneness is broken. We abide in him and he in us. That is to say he lives in us. As our brother mentioned last night I am crucified with Christ. It is no longer I. It is Christ who lives in us.

It is Christ who lives. And if Christ lives in us then we are one. If Christ lives in you and Christ lives in me it is Christ who is living then we are one. But if it is you who live it is I who live.

Then we finally clash. The oneness seems to be broken. Oneness is in Christ and he in us. That is oneness is maintained. O Lord Jesus you find a very strange thing because we know that his burden for his people is that we may be one.

Believers’ Separation from the World

And yet you find in his prayer he mentions a great deal about the world. The relationship of believers with the world. Now why is it? What is the world? The world is a cosmos. The world is an organization.

Now who organized it? The archenemy of God he organizes the world into a system. To find the world is one organization is one system. There is a oneness there whether it is social whether it is economical whether it is political whether it is educational whether it is cultural or whether it is religious.

You find the world is one system. It is one organization against God. Of course we know even that unity is a heterogeneous unity not a homogeneous unity together by force not by love. But at least you find the world is a unity appears to be a unity.

That is the reason why the Lord Jesus as he is desiring his people to be one we have to have our relationship with the world. Relationship with the world is a negative aspect unity among God's people.

In other words unless our relationship with the world is proper our unity with one another will not be corrected. We do not belong to this world. We do not belong to this system. We do not belong to this unity we are out of this world.

We are still in the world. It is true that in this physical body we are still in the world. We still have to eat we still have to drink we still have to do things we still have to work we are in the world we are still in the world and yet we are not of the world we are here, spiritually we are somewhere else we are in that another world we are not of the world as he is not of the world brothers and sisters we are not of the world as he is not of the world just as he is not of the world not of the world.

He lived upon this earth for thirty-three years, a normal person, he met people, he had relationships, he was a person who fled into the mountains to be a monk, he was in the world. And yet we know he was not of the world.

Whatever he said, he brought with him, he belonged to another world. He was not of the world. That's the reason why people could not understand him. He was so different. Dear brothers and sisters, this is what the Lord said, we are not of the world as he is not of the world.

He gives us in the world, but we are not of the world just as he is not of the world. And because of that, we are witness and testimony for him. Just like he was sent by the Father into the world to bear witness.

And these are our relationships with the world. Brothers and sisters, one reason why we find the oneness among God's people is not manifested, it is because our relationship with the world is not correct.

Worldliness and the Failure of Superficial Unity

...of the world, like the people of the world, that oneness of the body of Christ. ...is trying to outwardly maintain a kind of organization, to institutionalize something, systematize something, to put up a kind of front as if we are one, and yet we know, everyone knows that this is not true.

There is one verse in 2 Corinthians 6, it said, be not unequally yoked with unbelievers. Now, of course, it means do not be unequally yoked with unbelievers. But I think the principle can be applied to believers.

If believers act like unbelievers, live in the world like the worldly people, if believers act like the men of the world, how can we be yoked together? How can we be yoked together with Christ and yoked together with one another if our relationship with the world is what the Lord ordains it to be?

There is much of the world in us. And that's the reason why the oneness of the believers cannot be manifested. Oh, how we need to ask the Lord to open our eyes, to see how much of the world is still in us, how much we still belong to this world.

And this is something that stands in the way of the unity of the believers. If the Lord can get the world out of you and you out of the world, then, dear brothers and sisters in Christ, we are one. And that oneness can be manifested gloriously, that the world may see what true unity really is.

Into the unity of believers we have to deal with this matter of the world. As far as the world is concerned, I'm crucified. So far as I'm concerned, the world is crucified. And it is only under that kind of attitude you'll find it is possible for God's people to be really one.

The negative. Now we move to the positive side of it. And there you'll find how can we be one? In verse 11, the Lord Jesus said, I'm no longer in the world, and these are in the world, and I come to Thee, Holy Father.

Keep them in Thy name, which Thou hast given me, that they may be one as we. Keep them in Thy name, which Thou hast given me, that they may be one as we. How can we be one? We can be one if we are kept by the name that God has given.

He doesn't say, keep them in my name. He said, keep them in Thy name, that Thou hast given me. Now what is the name that God has given to Christ? I think it is very simple. It is the name of the Father.

The Fatherhood of God and the Family of Believers

In the Old Testament time, you'll find there are such expressions as God said to the children of Israel in Jeremiah 31, I will be a father to you. Or in Malachi, you'll find God said, If I be a father, where is mine honor?

But you know, in the Old Testament time, even though the fatherhood of God was known, but the fatherhood of God was more in the sense of He was the creator of mankind. Or He was the protector, the guardian of those who belong to Him.

It was never taken in a personal way. People in the Old Testament time never knew God as a personal father. Why? Because He is not. Our Jesus is the only begotten Son of the Father. In other words, in the intimate personal sense, He is only real to our Lord Jesus and nobody else.

He is the only begotten of the Father. This is the name that the God has given to His Son. In other words, only His Son has the right to call Him up a father. And this name, this name we are kept. After our Lord Jesus was raised from the dead, He told the woman to tell His disciples, Go to the bridegroom.

Tell them that I send to my Father and your Father, my God and your God. Oh, brothers and sisters, the only begotten Son shared His Father with many sons. He is now the firstborn among many brethren. And as we believe in Him, the Holy Spirit there witnessing our spirit, that we are children of God and we cry out, Alpha Father, Alpha Father.

I cry out, Alpha Father. And it is this name that keeps us one. You have the same Father. We belong to the same family. One day some children were playing. And suddenly a man walked by. And when that man passed by, one of the children cried, Alpha, Alpha.

And you know the children like to imitate. So all the children began to cry Alpha, Alpha. And this child turned to the other children and said, No, He is my Father, not yours. Dear brothers and sisters, the world has no right to call God their Alpha Father.

The fatherhood of God is only real with those who believe in the Lord Jesus. It is the name of the Father that joins us together into one. And then secondly, you find in verse 22,. And the glory which thou hast given me, I have given them, that they may be one as we are one.

The glory which thou hast given me, I have given them, that they may be one as we are one. Now what is this glory that God has given to him? Our Lord Jesus had a glory that He shared with His Father in eternity, the past.

Unity Through Shared Life in Christ

The glory of the Godhead that He had with His Father, it was not something given to Him. He had that even before time began. But our Lord Jesus had another glory. And that glory is a glory that the Father has given to Him.

He had one that was His, by right, in eternity, because He is God. And He had another one that was given to Him by the Father. And what is the glory that God has given to Him? We have already mentioned, it is the glory that He has fulfilled the will of the Father, He has finished the work, He has satisfied the Father.

And that is the glory. And on the basis of that, He has authority to give life to those who believe in Him. So the glory here, we may say, is the life that He gives to us on the basis of His finished work.

Our unity is based on life. There is life in you and there is life in me. You have the same life as I have. We share the same life. And because we share the same life, we are one. Not only we can call our God Alpha Father, we belong to the same family, but we share the same life.

Therefore, it is not based upon any teaching, any doctrine, any creed, any form, any organization. Our oneness is based upon life. If you have the life of Christ in you, I have the life of Christ in me.

We are one in life. No matter how we are on this ground of life. The life of Christ. That makes, and if we allow that life to live through us, then we will be perfected into one. What will be the result of such oneness?

First, that the world may know that Thou hast sent me. O brothers and sisters, what a testimony that will be. You know, even though the world seems to be a united front against God, but we know it is a heterogeneous union.

You find in the world all kinds of discriminations, all kinds of differences, all kinds of turmoil, all kinds of conflicts. Oneness is divine, is heavenly. Oneness is something the world never knows, and the world cannot have.

You put two people together, and you will find they cannot be one. Because no two flesh can really agree. But when God's people are really one, the world will know that God has sent Christ into this world.

In other words, this is something that no one can accomplish. People will try to put people together by force, but that's not oneness. But here you will find God's people are joined together as one in the Spirit.

The world has never seen such things before. Like in the first century, people were said, look at these people, how they love one another. Brothers and sisters, how can it be unless God has sent His Son into this world?

So it is a testimony. How important it is that there is such a testimony today. Oh, that we may be one, and the world may know that God has sent Christ into this world. Secondly, and that thou hast loved them as thou hast loved me.

Not only by being one we can give a good testimony to the world concerning Christ, but if we are one, we will be testified to by God, that He has loved us as He has loved Christ. The Lord Jesus in John chapter 15 said, Have kept my Father's commandment, and abide in His love.

Keep my commandment, and abide in my love. Oh, if we can be one, it shows the Father has loved us. And because the Father has loved us, we will be one. It is a cycle. You'll find that we are one, and the Father loves us, and because the Father loves us, we are more one.

It is just the love of the Father will be upon us. The love of the Father is upon our Lord Jesus. So, dear brothers and sisters, this is the prayer of our Lord Jesus. Oh, He prays that we may be one. He has made it possible for us to be one.

Closing Prayer for Unity

And if we are not one, there is no reason, no excuse. May the Lord help us. Our Heavenly Father, how we praise and thank Thee that our Lord Jesus accomplished the work that Thou has sent Him. And on the basis of the finished work of Christ, Thou has given that oneness to us.

We praise and thank Thee that Thou has given us the name that we can call The Upper Father. We praise and thank Thee that Thou has given us glory, even Thy life in us. And Lord, if we are not one, oh, how do we hurt Thee?

How do we disgrace Thy name? We ask Thee, O Lord, forgive us. Take away everything in us that make us divide and separate. We pray that Thou will keep us one in Thee, that the Father may be glorified.

We ask in the name of our Lord Jesus. Amen.