Jesus Prayed For One 5-17-26 AM

I.            Unity is created by the apostolic word.

a.      Jesus prayed for those who would believe on Him through “their” – the apostles – word.

b.      Jesus is praying for the apostles in this prayer (John 17:6-19).

c.      But Jesus is not just praying for the apostles in this prayer.

          i.      Jesus also prays for future believers, including us.

          ii.      But notice how the future believers would become believers: “through their word.”

d.      This is extremely important.

e.      The unity Jesus prayed for is not created by ignoring doctrine.

          i.      It is not created by lowering biblical conviction until everyone can stand together on only one or two issues.

          ii.      *It is created when people believe the apostolic message.

f.       It is vital to note where the apostles got their word.

          i.      It was not from their own minds.

          ii.      It was not developed at an apostolic meeting.

          iii.      It came from God and we read that in this very prayer (John 17:8, 14).

          iv.      When apostles taught through preaching or writing, it came from God.

          v.      What comes from God will always be truth.

g.     This is why the church in Acts 2 “continued stedfastly in the apostles’ doctrine” (Acts 2:42).

          i.      The first Christians were not united by a denominational headquarters, a human creed, a cultural preference, or a popular preacher.

          ii.      They were united by the gospel preached by and through the apostles.

h.     This is where denominationalism becomes a problem.

          i.      A denomination, by definition, is a named religious division.

          ii.      It is larger than a local congregation, smaller than the whole body of Christ, and usually bound together by human systems, creeds, traditions, or governing structures.

i.       The New Testament describes the church in two basic ways:

          i.      The universal body of the saved – all who belong to Christ.

          ii.      Local congregations – Christians worshiping and serving together in a particular place.

j.       What we don’t find in the New Testament is a third category: organized religious parties, each with its own doctrine, name, organizational structure, and identity, all treated as equally approved branches of Christianity.

k.      Think about an orchestra that is preparing to play together.

          i.      If every musician tunes to himself, each one may believe they are properly tuned, but the result won’t be harmony.

          ii.      The solution is not for everyone to just play loudly with great passion.

          iii.      The solution is for every instrument to be tuned to the same standard.

l.       This is what scripture allows in the lives of those who truly want to follow God.

          i.      God does not ask every believer to tune to a favorite preacher, pet doctrine, family heritage, or denominational creed.

          ii.      God calls us to tune our faith and practice to His word delivered through His apostles.

m.    When someone asks, “What denomination are you?” we shouldn’t answer as though we are simply defending our preferred religious brand.

n.      We can say “I am not trying to be a denomination. I am trying to simply be a Christian and follow the teaching of Christ He gave through His apostles.”

o.      That is a humble answer because it doesn’t boast in us.

           i.      It is clear because it points to scripture.

           ii.      It is loving because it invites people to examine the Bible for themselves.

p.      Unity begins when every voice bows to Jesus’ word.

II.            Unity reflects the Father and the Son.

a.      Jesus did not pray for union.

          i.      It was not “Father, let them all have different doctrines, different names, different worship styles, and different authorities, but help them get along.

          ii.      He prayed that His people would be one as the Father and Son are one.

b.     This doesn’t mean we become divine – it means our unity must reflect shared truth, purpose, love, and submission to the Father’s will.

c.     Paul applies the same principle in 1 Cor. 1:11-13.

d.     Paul’s question is still relevant today.

          i.      If Christ is not divided, why should His people be divided?

          ii.      If Paul did not want the Corinthians to wear the names of men, why would Christ approve of His people wearing human names, defending human creations, and making human division normal?

e.     Ephesians 4:4-6 – If there is one body, and Eph. 1:22-23 says that body is the church, then Christ only has one church and Christ does not have a collection of competing churches.

f.      Here is where we need to be careful.

         i.      We are not saying that everyone meeting in a building with the name church of Christ on it is automatically right.

         ii.      We are not saying that everyone meeting in a denomination is dishonest.

         iii.      We are not saying that sincere people do not love God.

         iv.      We are saying that sincerity does not create authority.

g.    A person can be sincere and still be mistaken – Paul was (Acts 23:1).

         i.      A tradition can be old and still be unauthorized.

         ii.      A religious practice can be popular and still not be found in the New Testament.

h.    The issue is not whether people are good, kind, sincere or religious – the issue is whether Christ has the right to define His own church.

i.      When a builder is handed the architect’s blueprint, his job is not to improve the design according to his person taste – it is to build whatever the architect drew.

         i.      If the blueprint calls for a vaulted ceiling but he puts a normal, flat ceiling because he likes that better, he has stopped submitting to the architect.

         ii.      If the builder decides to use ship-lap instead of drywall because his family has always used ship-lap, he has made tradition the authority.

j.      Jesus is not a consultant, He is the builder, owner, head, and Savior of the church (Matt. 16:18; Acts 20:28).

k.    Since Jesus built the church and bought the church, He gets to define it.

l.      This ought to move us to examine everything – name, worship, organization, doctrine, plan of salvation, attitude toward others, our loyalty to scripture.

m.   A church can wear a biblical name while acting with an unbiblical spirit.

         i.      A church can have “Christ” on the sign but fail to submit to Christ in practice.

         ii.      This sermon is not a call to pride in a name, but for repentance and restoration.

n.     Christ’s unity is deeper than a label and stronger than preference.

III.            Unity rejects man-made religious division.

a.     Some common defenses of denominationalism sound reasonable at first, but they do not hold up under scripture.

b.     “Aren’t denominations just branches of the vine?”

          i.      In John 15:5, Jesus says “I am the vine and you are the branches.”

          ii.      Some believe that Jesus is saying He is the vine and different denominations are the branches.

          iii.      Jesus, though, is referencing individual people (the rest of John 15:5).

          iv.      Jesus is talking about individual disciples abiding in Him, not separate religious organizations teaching conflicting doctrines.

          v.      If John 15 authorizes denominationalism, the vine would produce contradictory fruit.

          vi.      Jesus has never authorized contradictory fruit from the same vine.

c.      “Aren’t denominations just different roads to heaven?”

          i.      Jesus did not say I am one way among many.

          ii.      John 14:6.

          iii.      If Jesus is the way, it is not our job to create alternate routes.

          iv.      Our task is to walk in His way.

d.     “All denominations teach some truth.”

          i.      Many groups teach some truth.

          ii.      But some truth is not the same as the whole counsel of God.

          iii.      Paul warned in Galatians 1 that a distorted gospel is not harmless – it is spiritually deadly.

          iv.      The question is not “Can I find a true statement here?”

          v.      The question is, “Is this the doctrine of Christ?”

e.      “Aren’t there good people everywhere?”

          i.      Absolutely.

          ii.      There are kind, moral, sincere people in many places.

          iii.      Human goodness cannot replace obedience to Christ.

          iv.      Saul of Tarsus was as sincere as anyone has ever been.

          v.      He had zeal and a clean conscience.

          vi.      But he was still wrong until he submitted to the Lord.

f.       If a doctor gives a prescription with clear instructions, taking part of it while ignoring the rest can be dangerous.

          i.      The issue isn’t whether the patient is sincere.

          ii.      The issue is whether the patient follows the doctors orders.

          iii.      God’s word is not buffet of helpful religious ideas – it is the revealed will of God.

g.     We should reject denominationalism for the same reason we reject any human addition to God’s will – we love Jesus and trust His wisdom.

          i.      But, we must reject it in a Christ-like way.

          ii.      We don’t mock people, assume motives, or act as though we discovered the Bible by our own brilliance.

h.     We must speak the truth with love and humility.

          i.      Invite honest study.

          ii.      Open the Bible.

          iii.      Ask, “What did the first Christians believe, obey, practice, and call themselves?”

i.       The world should see Christ and not our party lines.

IV.            Unity is restored when we become simply Christians.

a.     Acts 2:36-47 shows us what happened when the apostolic word was first preached after the resurrection and ascension of Jesus.

         i.      Peter preached Christ, crucified, resurrected, and exalted and the people were cut to the heart, crying out “What shall we do?”

         ii.      Peter did not tell them to attend the church of their choice or join after a religious party named after a preacher.

b.    Acts 2:38.

         i.      Those who received the word were baptized – about 3,000 were added.

         ii.      Added to what?

         iii.      The church, the body of the saved (Acts 2:47).

c.     Then they continued in some things (Acts 2:42).

d.     That is New Testament Christianity in its beginning form.

          i.      No denominational name, creed, headquarters – no man-made religious party.

          ii.      Just saved people belonging to Christ, worshiping according to apostolic teaching, and living as the church of the Lord.

e.      Some people love old cars and there are many antique car shows.

           i.      There are some cars that are known for their modifications.

           ii.      However, the winners of the awards at the shows are those that have been restored to their original condition.

           iii.      The same engine parts, headlights, interior cloth, everything like it was when it came off the showroom floor years ago.

           iv.      That is restoration not innovation.

           v.      Restoration is returning to the original pattern.

f.        This is the pleas of churches of Christ at their best: not to start something new, but to return to the church revealed in the New Testament.

g.      This means our plea should be simple.

           i.      Let’s call Bible things by Bible names.

           ii.      Let’s do Bible things in Bible ways.

           iii.      Let’s be Christians only.

           iv.      Let’s belong to Christ completely.

h.      This has to begin with us.

           i.      We can’t trust a sign more than the Savior.

           ii.      We can’t defend tradition more than truth.

           iii.      We can’t speak truth with arrogance instead of love.

           iv.      We can’t treat the church like our inherited group instead of Christ’s blood-bought body.

i.        If we do any of these things we must repent and change ourselves before we ask those outside of Christ to repent and change.

j.        Restoration means returning to Christ, not defending ourselves.