A Prayer for Unity

Notes
Transcript
Purpose statement. Believers should maintain the unity they already possess for the glory of God, the good of the church, and the salvation of mankind.

A Specific Purpose

Jesus desires the unity of the church for the glory of God.

Let me first draw your attention to John 17:1-2. Jesus prays, “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” (Jn 17:1–2). Jesus desired to bring glory to the Father. The Father would receive glory through Jesus accomplishing the task for which he was called – giving eternal life to all whom the Father had given him. Jesus provided salvation to mankind and through this salvation glorified the Father and was as well personally glorified.

Caution! Order of priority matters.

Some argue that the purpose of the church is evangelism, while others argue that the church should primarily focus on discipleship.[1] The church should emphasize both tasks – evangelism and discipleship. However, the church should prioritize, above all else, the glory of God. The church exists not primarily for the salvation of unbelievers or the discipleship of believers but instead exists for God’s glory. Prioritizing God’s glory ensures accuracy in both method and message amid evangelism and discipleship. If evangelism or discipleship take precedence over God’s glory, the church will become pragmatic and seeker sensitive in its evangelistic efforts and will become myopic and internally focused in its discipleship.
Glorifying God inevitably leads to discipleship and evangelism. We may stumble over an alternative problem. We may focus on the glory of God (or a misunderstanding of the glory of God) and fail to effectively disciple or evangelize. In so doing, we ultimately would be failing to glorify God. Jesus clearly states that his glorification of the Father came through his extension of salvation to unbelievers and his ongoing protection of believers.

Tying church unity to its purpose.

We have established the primary purpose of the church to be the glory of God displayed through the evangelizing of unbelievers and the discipleship of believers. How then does the unity of the church connect to the purpose of the church?
Skip down to the end of the chapter, John 17:21-23. Jesus prayed that the people of God would be united, “so that the world may believe that you have sent me” (Jn 17:21). Jesus desired that they be one so that “the world may know that you sent me and loved them even as you loved me” (Jn 17:23). The purpose for church unity correlates with Jesus’ earthly purpose, first and foremost to bring glory to God the Father through people coming to Christ in belief.

A Defined Group

Jesus clearly states for whom he prays. Jesus establishes, in verse 2, that his prayer is for those “whom you have given me.” And again in verse 9 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.” Throughout the prayer, Jesus designates this group as they, these, and them.
· This is eternal life, that they know you (3)
· You gave them to me, and they have kept your word (6)
· I have given them the words you gave me, and they have received them…they have believed (8)
· I am praying for them (9)
· I am glorified in them (10)
· They are in the world…keep them (11, 15, 18)
· The world has hated them (14)
· Sanctify them (17)
· For their sake I consecrate myself (19)
· The glory you have given me, I have given them, that they may be one (20, 22-23)
· I desire that they may be with me (24)
· I made know to them your name (26)
Who are these people? These people, this group, consists of those given by the Father to the Son, resulting in them receiving and believing a specific set of truths (ie. the Gospel).

The group consists of those given by the Father to the Son.

God desired to give to his Son a people who would serve as witnesses of His glory here on earth. Jesus uses the unity of the church as a tool for drawing unbelievers to himself. You might argue, poor choice of tools! Regardless, Jesus prays for unity of believers, “so that the world may believe” (Jn 17:21).
The choice of this ragged group of believers ultimately lies within God’s eternal intentions and design. Mark writes, in his gospel, of how Jesus “went up on the mountain and called to him those whom he desired, and they came to him” (Mk 3:13). John has already discussed this gift by the Father to the Son in chapter 6.
All that the Father gives me will come to me, and whoever comes to me I will never cast out…. And this is the will of him who sent me, that I should lose nothing of all that he has given me, but raise it up on the last day…. [following the crowds grumbling] Jesus answered them, “Do not grumble among yourselves. No one can come to me unless the Father who sent me draws him. And I will raise him up on the last day. (Jn 6:37–44).
We also note the divine hand as Luke unfolds the time of Pentecost when “the Lord added to their numbers day by day those who were being saved” (Acts 2:47). These new believers did not add themselves to the growing community.
God’s divine work in salvation ought to bring immense rest and comfort to the church. The church did not orchestrate its composition and thereby does not hold the power to sustain and maintain itself. Rather, the church is the assembly of the elect, effectually drawn to the Father by the Spirit through the work of the Son. “The Holy Spirit who has gathered her is thus the one who keeps her in the Lord's hand.”[2] The unity and ongoing sustainability of the church rests not on our ability to hold her together.

The group consists of those that have received and believed the truth of the Son.

Jesus further characterizes this group of people. This divine calling reveals itself in that all who are called, ultimately receive and believe in the Son. Jesus prays in verse 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” (Jn 17:8).
An inclusivity and exclusivity exist in this group. It includes every single one that the Father has gifted to the Son. It includes every single one that has received and believed in Jesus Christ. But the unsettling reversal as well remains true. This groups excludes all those who were not given to the Son, and it excludes all those who do not receive and believe in the Son.
Truth must not be sacrificed for unity. Jesus acknowledges a few realities connected to the truth. (1) All those that the Father has given to Jesus will accept the truth. (2) God the Father will sanctify these people with the truth. (3) The truth consists of God’s revealed Word. Ultimate unity does not exist outside of God’s revealed truth. I use the word ultimate due to the fact that people can experience a temporal unity over any number of issues, but lasting, meaningful, and eternal unity roots itself in those who have been given by the Father to the Son resulting in their reception and belief in the truths of Jesus Christ.
However, we often strive for unity at the expense of truth. Let me draw your attention to an important text on unity within the Church. Paul writes in Ephesians 4, “I urge you to walk in a manner worthy of the calling to which you have been called . . . eager to maintain the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace” (Eph 4:1-3). In these verses, Paul commands believers to “maintain the unity.” Motivated by this text, many throughout church history have genuinely pursued unity with others, hoping that their unity would lead to doctrinal agreement.
D. M. Lloyd-Jones as an example. Following the Second World War, a general spirit of optimism existed within ecumenical endeavors.
Justin Taylor quoting Dr. Atherstone. The Church of England was on the verge of reuniting with the Methodists, separated since the Evangelical Revival, and was also making friendly overtures to the Church of Rome, separated since the Reformation. Meanwhile, Presbyterians and Congregationalists were building a United Reformed Church. But these various unity schemes had little regard for evangelical doctrine.[3]
In October of 1966, surrounded by nearly 1,000 delegates from the National Assembly of Evangelicals spread across Britain, Martin Lloyd-Jones (66 years old) offered an address on the topic of unity. No one should have been surprised by Lloyd-Jones content because he had already offered his views in other context and to the commission organizing the event. However, his message caused a stir.
Lloyd-Jones offered a brief story of a preacher who had shifted his view on unity and doctrinal agreement. Lloyd-Jones quoted the preacher. “My position had always been that first of all you must have agreement about truth and your view of truth, and then, on that basis, you could have fellowship with people.” However, after studying Ephesians 4, the preacher changed his position. He determined that Paul started by encouraging fellowship which would then lead to a unity of the faith.[4] Lloyd-Jones then systematically worked through the first section of Ephesians 4 and concluded, “He does not start with unity and then proceed to doctrine; he takes up unity because he has already laid down his doctrine [referencing the first three chapters].” [5]
Lloyd-Jones. So if anyone comes to you and says, ‘It does not matter much what you believe if we call ourselves Christian, or believe in God in any sense, come, let us all work together’, you should say in reply, ‘But my dear sir, what about chapters 1–3 of the Epistle to the Ephesians? I know of no unity except with that which is the outcome of, and the offspring of, all the great doctrines which the apostle lays down in those chapters.’[6]
Lloyd-Jones desired the believers throughout Britain to experience unity, but his solution was that many of them leave their denominations that held a contrary gospel and come together in an association of evangelical churches. This conclusion boldly contradicted the conclusions and reports drawn by the National Assembly. The uproar of the moment increased as John Stott (45 years old), chairman of the lecture, rose and publicly criticized Lloyd-Jones. While Stott later apologized, a public rift occurred that would eventually include men like J. I. Packer.
These other men had chosen to remain in a denomination that espoused liberal and catholic errors. However, they refused to leave their congregations and these doctrinally mixed congregations, all the while faithfully protesting the doctrinal error.[7] Sadly and not surprisingly so, these denominations (not necessarily all these men) continued in their path toward doctrinal heresy.
Practical implication. If God chooses who is in the church, you don’t get to pick who is part of your family. You simply have the responsibility to love whoever is within that group.

An Established Reality

The Church is already united.

As Jesus prays in John 17, he mentions unity a couple of times. In verse 11, he prays “that they may be one, even as we are one.” Also, in verses 21-23, Jesus prays “that they may all be one” and further clarifies this unity as he adds in verse 23, “I in them and you in me, that they may become perfectly one” (Jn 17:21-23).
Ultimately, the church’s unity exists in that each individual believer has already been placed into the body of Christ. Paul writes in Galatians, “There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free, there is no male and female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus” (Gal 3:28). As well, in Romans Paul writes, “so we, though many, are one body in Christ” (Rom 12:5).
So then, while we will discuss shortly the importance of pursuing unity, the church already is one. [8] Our unity hinges not on our ability to manufacture it but grounds itself in our union with Christ and his union with the Father.[9]

Humanity cannot manufacture this unity.

Throughout church history, many within or loosely connected to the church have pursued unity at the expense of gospel truth. Just a moment ago, I offered one such example with Martin Lloyd-Jones. Yet, a more momentous historical period may be offered as an example. Under Constantine, the church “increasingly centralized until during the Middle Ages there was literally one united ecclesiastical body covering all Europe. But was this a great age? Was there a deep unity of faith? Did men and women find themselves increasingly drawn to this faith and come to confess Jesus Christ to be their Savior and Lord? Not at all!”[10]
While many throughout the world united in a profession, the world would have nothing to do with it[11] and much of the genuine church either abandoned the institution of the church entirely or abandoned society at large for monasteries, convents, and lone caves.

However, believers are to maintain this unity.

The church already experiences unity, but the church should also pursue unity. We are already in Christ, but we must as well pursue or maintain the practice of unity. Paul writes in 1 Corinthians, “I appeal to you, brothers, by the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that all of you agree, and that there be no divisions among you, but that you be united in the same mind and the same judgment” (1 Cor 1:10). As well, in Ephesians, Paul commands believers to ”maintain the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace” (Eph 4:3).
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The Church’s One Foundation (Verse 3)
Though with a scornful wonder Men see her sore oppressed, By schisms rent asunder, By heresies distressed: Yet saints their watch are keeping, Their cry goes up, How long? And soon the night of weeping Shall be the morn of song!
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[1] Tim Challies, “What’s the Purpose of…the Church?,” Challies, 29 September 2017, https://www.challies.com/articles/whats-the-purpose-of-the-church/, Accessed September 10, 2020.
Mel Walker, “What is the Purpose of the Church,” Christianity.com, 19 February 2020, https://www.christianity.com/wiki/church/what-is-the-purpose-of-the-church.html, Accessed September 10, 2020.
Challies offers a position like my message. Walker initially answers the question similarly to Challies but excludes the glory of God entirely. In so doing, Walker seems to reflect what so much of evangelicalism appears to do – assume the glory of God, resulting in God’s glory not being and ultimately becoming absent from the equation.
[2] Jean Cadier, “Unity of the Church,” Interpretation 11, no. 2 (April 1957): 170.
[3] Justin Taylor, Interview with Rev. Dr. Andrew Atherstone, “50 Years Ago Today: The Split Between John Stott and Martyn Lloyd-Jones,” The Gospel Coalition, 18 October 2016. Accessed September 11, 2020. https://www.thegospelcoalition.org/blogs/evangelical-history/50-years-ago-today-the-split-between-john-stott-and-martyn-lloyd-jones/
[4] D. M. Lloyd-Jones, The Basis of Christian Unity (Edinburgh: Banner of Truth, 2003), 16.
[5] Lloyd-Jones, 18.
[6] D. Martyn Lloyd-Jones, Christian Unity: An Exposition of Ephesians 4:1-16 (Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Books, 1998), 37.
[7] Dr. Atherstone offered three explanations in his interview with Justin Taylor. “(1) Historically, they argued that the constitutional basis of the Church of England was Protestant and Reformed, seen in the Reformation formularies like the Thirty-Nine Articles of Religion and the Book of Common Prayer. So evangelicals held the legal “title deeds” to the Church of England, and the liberals and catholics should get out, not them. (2) Biblically, they argued that many New Testament churches were doctrinally confused or morally compromised . . . But believers in those churches are told to hold fast to the gospel, and to fight against false teachers, not to leave the church and set up a new one. (3) Pragmatically, Stott and his friends argued that the Church of England provided many gospel opportunities for evangelicals, and that it would be a dereliction of duty to hand over their pulpits to unbelieving clergy. What then would become of their congregations?”
[8] Benjamin B Warfield, Selected Shorter Writings of Benjamin B. Warfield, ed. John E Meeter, vol. 1 (Phillipsburg, NJ: Presbyterian and Reformed Publishing Company, 1980), 306; Lloyd-Jones, The Basis of Christian Unity, 10. Kevin D. Zuber, “Martyn Lloyd-Jones on ‘Unity,’” Masters Seminary Journal 31, no. 1 (Spring 2020): 47.
Warfield. “The Church is one – not merely ought to be one, should strive to be one – but is one. The Church is one, not merely because it happens to not be more than one, but because it cannot be more than one.”
Lloyd-Jones. “Nowhere in this chapter is there an exhortation or an appeal to produce a unity. Our Lord is saying that the unity is already there, already in existence… Our Lord is not dealing with something at which we should aim. Indeed our Lord does not address His disciples at all in this chapter. It is a prayer to God to keep the unity that He, through His preaching, has already brought into existence among these people.”
Zuber. “Unity is not the result of working together but an internal principle that leads to mutual, Spirit-directed, endeavors. In fact, this unity cannot be man-made, or manufactured; indeed, it already exists and must be maintained [“keep the unity of the Spirit”].”
[9] Cadier, “Unity of the Church,” 176. “The supreme bond, the condition of all glory, the basis of unity of the church is naught else but the very presence of Christ. "That I may be in them" (John 17:26)—that is the only thing necessary. That is the sole reality that constitutes the church in its true essence and in its indestructible unity.”
[10] Boice, 4:1328.
[11] C. H. Spurgeon, “Unity in Christ,” in The Metropolitan Tabernacle Pulpit Sermons, vol. 12 (London: Passmore & Alabaster, 1866), 2. “they turned the dream into a reality, and the time was when the professed followers of Christ were all one, when looking north, south, east, west, from the centre at the Vatican, one united body covered all Europe. And what was the result? Did the world believe that God had sent Christ? The world believed the very opposite. The world was persuaded that God had nothing to do with that great crushing, tyrannous, superstitious, ignorant thing which called itself Christianity; and thinking men became infidels, and it was the hardest possible thing to find a genuine intelligent believer north, south, east, or west. All professors were one, but the world believed not; the fact being that this, was not the unity which Jesus had so much as thought of”
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