Eastern Bible Conference 2019 - Study 5: Prayer and Prospect of Unity

What this episode covers

Answered prayer: what heaven looks like John 17:9-11 The first request in the Lord’s prayer is for unity unity of the disciples who followed Him “that they may be one as We are,” He Himself with the Father How are the Son and the Father one? John 14, “if you have seen Me you have seen the Father;” the same character in the bosom of the Father always; does what He sees the Father do (1:18; 5:19) Hebrews 1, the exact representation of God’s character one in substance, and one in operation We have been made one: “He who sanctifies and those who are sanctified are one” (Heb. 2:11) seeing Jesus in each other will produce unity This is by the Holy Spirit, who first formed the believers into this united body at Pentecost without the Spirit, we are not Christians, Romans 8; with Him, we are united and note that all are still distinct Persons of the Godhead Unity develops also from the “apostles’ doctrine,” Acts 2:42 the apostles were indeed unified in word and action, though also had distinctives Jude 3, 17, the faith once delivered to the saints; the body of truth through the teaching of the apostles John 17:20-23 All generations of believers since then, including ours, have come to faith because of the apostles’ word. But again, it’s so “they may be one” the result is fellowship together, 1 John 1 the goal is so the world may believe that the Father sent the Son, John 1:21 it’s noticed that we have been with Jesus (4:13) and care about each other (4:32-35) …this is not Christian socialism (people still had property rights) …but a historical reality of the depth of relationship and unity that now existed …this is because of the power of His resurrection, 4:33 the standard again is “that they may be one as We are”; cp. Col. 3:4, with Christ in God …and notice all the intricacies of that unity: Christ in us, the Father in Christ, etc. …and here a special glory is connected with it, John 17:22 “so the world will know You have sent Me,” 17:21 and so the world knows that we are loved by the Father, 17:23 …operating from a position of being loved changes how we talk about each other …and the world sees the difference; it doesn’t affect only ourselves Distinctions of the Godhead are again seen. Notice that Christ is in us but it doesn’t say the Father is in us in that same way. This agrees with other Scriptures (e.g. Christ dwelling in our hearts by faith, Eph. 3:17; Christ in you, the hope of glory, Col. 1:27). We don’t lose our individuality as believers. Goals of Eastern religions include a loss of desire and identity as one tries to become one with a universal divine consciousness. Christianity makes us one while encouraging us to express unity as uniquely ourselves. John 5 describes witnesses that the Father sent the Son including the Lord’s own works, the Father’s testimony, and the Scriptures yet now we are added to those witnesses when we display unity Romans 15:5-7, Colossians 2:1-4 Not just the Lord Jesus prayed this way; Paul prayed this way too. We should all join in the prayer for unity. Every generation has to recapture these truths and practice them. Revelation 5:9-10 --Every tribe, tongue, people, and nation will be represented, and all can still be identified. --The prayer of the Lord for unity was in a way answered at Pentecost; and in another way, it will fina…

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