CHRIST’S GREAT PRAYER ANSWERED IN EVERY DETAIL
What kind of unity between churches is desired by the Saviour?
by Peter MastersFROM SWORD & TROWEL 2000 No
1
These words spake Jesus, and lifted up his eyes to heaven, and said, Father,
the hour is come; glorify thy Son, that thy Son also may glorify thee: as thou hast given him power
over all flesh, that he should give eternal life to as many as thou hast given him (John 17.1-
2).
THIS GREAT chapter (and the twenty-first verse in particular) is often thought to
teach that all churches should be united together - ‘that they all may be one’. This is the claim of
the ecumenical movement, and it is also the view of many evangelicals, who have exclusively
Bible-believing churches in mind. The latter have developed the conviction that organised unity
between Bible-believing churches is a duty commanded by the Lord in this text, and they feel a
burning responsibility to achieve this.
The reason for the oneness of believers is ‘that the world may believe that thou hast
sent me’. It would appear that the Lord gave unity a prime place so that the world would take notice
of our message. For this reason some evangelicals are all the more anxious to organise unity.
However, the truth is that Christ’s command for oneness is about something far
higher than any humanly-constructed fellowship of churches, however helpful that may be.1 The
Lord’s great prayer could not have been for literal church unity, because if this were so, then it has
so far gone unanswered, and that is impossible. The prayer of Jesus Christ was answered from the
time it was prayed. He asked blessings for all His blood-bought people after His death, and
everything that He asked was granted from that time. It is inconceivable that His prayer should wait
2,000 years for an answer. The answer dates from the very beginning of the Christian church, and
the prayer is still being answered today.
If this is so, then the unity for which the Lord prayed exists already. It is first,
spiritual unity, and secondly, a unity (or oneness) in likeness. Before
considering these, we must prove that the prayer was answered from that time forward.
1. We note the words of the Lord: ‘And now I am no more in the world, but these are in the world, and I come to thee. Holy Father, keep through thine own name those whom thou hast given me’ (verse 11). The Lord’s people will be kept from the time that He leaves the world. 2. The Lord asks - ‘And now come I to thee; and these things I speak in the world, that they might have my joy fulfilled in themselves’ (verse 13). The joy for which the Lord asked was to begin at that time and last throughout the Gospel age. 3. The Lord prays - ‘I have given them thy word; and the world hath hated them, because they are not of the world, even as I am not of the world. I pray not that thou shouldest take them out of the world, but that thou shouldest keep them from the evil’ (verses 14-15). From the very beginning of the Christian church God’s people would be a distinctive people, separate from the world. Throughout history it has been one of the great marks of true Christians (as opposed to false Christians) that they do not get drawn into the world. 4. The Lord asks - ‘Sanctify them through thy truth: thy word is truth’ (verse 17). From the very beginning of the Christian era believers have been sanctified by the Word of God. This is not a prayer still waiting to be answered. 5. The Lord prays - ‘Neither pray I for these alone, but for them also which shall believe on me through their word’ (verse 20). Everything Christ asked for the first generation of Christians He also asks for believers throughout time. Following these five petitions - all of which were for immediate fulfilment - comes
the prayer for unity (verse 21). Like the other petitions, this is a prayer answered from that time.
How, then, was the prayer answered? What form did that unity take? Was it a national or
international organisation or fellowship? There is nothing of the kind mentioned in the New
Testament. There was no denomination, national church, or organised, centralised framework
between the local churches of earliest times. Yet Christ’s prayer for unity must have been
answered. Obviously, the unity prayed for, and put in place, was of a quite different kind.
To discover what form this unity takes we must examine further verse 21 - ‘That they all may be one,’ noting carefully the words that follow - ‘AS THOU, FATHER, ART IN ME, AND I IN THEE, THAT THEY ALSO MAY BE ONE IN US.’ Our unity is seen here as a spiritual unity. First and foremost we are not joined to
one another, but to God. We are one IN CHRIST, AND IN THE FATHER. We may picture the
spokes of a wheel joined at the hub. They are not joined to each other, but all meet at the hub.
Similarly believers are chiefly united together (even though they may never have met) because they
are ‘in Christ’ and in the Father. They are sons and daughters sharing a common parentage and the
same family likeness. They carry the family name and culture. This has nothing to do with human
societies, but is about having in common wonderful spiritual riches, purposes, and distinctives.
Throughout the Gospel age every individual Christian has been joined in a sense to
every other Christian through Jesus Christ; joined in likeness, in love for Christ, in devotion to the
Word, in character, and in behaviour. They have been one in the sense that they are in the same
family, of the same ‘blood’, possess the same distinguishing features, and know the same work of
God in their lives. Anywhere in the world, wherever sincere Christian people have been found, they
have answered to the same characteristics. The Lord’s prayer was not for a oneness of organised
unity, but a oneness of family likeness and love and service to God.
Of course, Christian people also have a duty to love one another in a real and
practical way. Of course, they have a duty to recognise one another, and to fellowship where
opportunity arises. But the unity for which Christ prayed is not one of organisational ties. There is
not a word in the New Testament about the duty of setting up organised unity between churches.
There are many exhortations about unity within the local church, to which members have a
covenantal type of relationship, but beyond the local church, unity is contrastingly informal and
subject to opportunity.
The old saying is true, that the Lord Jesus Christ founded the local church, and no
other institution. He never founded a denomination. He never founded an organised church
grouping. We repeat, whatever value Christians may have found in church groupings, they are not
commanded in the Bible, and no duty or obligation rests upon believers to belong to them. (Of
course, this is an expression of historic Independency.)
The Lord’s great prayer must never be used to suggest everyone ought to associate
with everyone who names the name of Christ, come what may. Spiritual oneness means, not
material oneness, not organised oneness, but oneness in spiritual likeness, and that prayer has been
answered. All true believers everywhere in the world share a desire to please the Lord. All love the
doctrines of the faith, the doctrines of salvation. All accept the doctrines of the Fall, the incarnation,
the atonement, and justification by faith alone. All worship, and study the Word, and seek to win
the lost. This is how God’s people are one.
Christ’s prayer, not for organisational unity, but for unity of likeness, has been
magnificently answered in every age, and in every land. In fact, if one was apologetically inclined,
this is surely one of the major arguments for the truthfulness of the Christian faith - the power of
the Gospel to make people who have never even met, and come from contrasting cultures, so like
each other.
Because of this prayer of the Saviour, there are not a thousand and one brands of
Christian life among converted people. There may be a thousand and one different ideas about
peripheral things of the faith, but a true convert in one part of the world is much the same as a true
convert in another part of the world. They are conspicuous for their way of life, and their
distinctiveness from the world.
In recognising and fellowshipping with other Christians the exhortation to be of one
mind in the Lord must be remembered, and also the exhortation to separate from those who offend
against the Truth in serious ways. (It is helpful to picture the old-fashioned target used in shooting,
when establishing ‘categories’ of fellowship. These are set out in an adjoining feature.)
The ecumenical interpretation of this wonderful prayer is completely absurd,
ignoring the clear words of the text. Ecumenists say, ‘We must all get together no matter what we
believe.’ You could be a Bible believer, or a theological liberal, a Protestant, or a Catholic -
doctrine matters nothing; unity is everything. But the text does not say this. It says - ‘That they all
may be one; as thou, Father, art in me, and I in thee.’
The question is, how is Christ in the Father, and how is the Father in Christ? How
are the Father and the Son joined together? The prayer is that Christian people may be joined
together in the same way as members of the Godhead. They are joined together in
nature, sharing the same spiritual essence, and being infinitely and eternally alike.
They are joined together in Truth, without a shadow of disagreement between them.
They are joined together in holiness, and in purpose. Christ prayed that Christian people may be
joined together in this sense - a likeness of spiritual character and belief. Evangelical Christians
cannot, therefore, join with those who deny the authority of Scripture and the true way of salvation.
The Saviour’s wonderful prayer is so profound that it would take many expositions to do
justice to it, but it is certainly not about organised unity. Can we imagine that this prayer would
wait over 2,000 years to be answered? Can we imagine that an answer which is necessary for the
world to be won would be so long delayed?
But if the prayer has been answered, why has the world not believed? The answer is
that the prayer has secured for converts a likeness to Christ, and this has been used to
bring worldlings to believe. Christian character is powerful to impress, and necessary to support the
spoken word.
Christian people must fellowship and help each other in a warm but informal way,
whenever it can be done without compromise of Truth and godly practice. But they have no duty or
responsibility whatsoever to tie binding knots and weld solid couplings beyond the borders of the
local church.
Signs of Christian Character
1. They are kept
Building on the fact that every petition in this prayer was answered from the
moment it was uttered, we may trace the signs of true Christian character in every age. The first of
these signs is seen in the prayer - ‘And now I am no more in the world, but these are in the world,
and I come to thee. Holy Father, keep through thine own name those whom thou hast given me’
(verse 11). Here is a clear sign of a true convert - he is kept. He will not be swept away from Christ
by the circumstances and trials of life. It is true that believers can become backsliders, but God
brings them back, and re-establishes them, even if it takes pain and discipline. And as a backslider
the Christian is conspicuously out of his element, making a clumsy, awkward worldling, as pictured
in the biblical expression - a backsliding heifer.
Seasoned believers can usually look back and remember how many trials they have
been delivered from, especially in the early days of their profession when people tried to draw them
away from the faith. Yet they stood and were held. Was it because they were so strong or so
spiritual? No, it was the prayer of the Lord that was answered for their good. Christians are kept,
and although like Job they may react to circumstances in an unworthy way and with many
complaints, yet ultimately they do not let go of the Lord and deny Him.
2. They have spiritual joy
A second sign of true conversion is reflected in the Lord’s petition - ‘And now
come I to thee; and these things I speak in the world, that they might have my joy fulfilled in
themselves’ (verse 13). True Christians usually have joy within - joy in their salvation, joy in the
Word, joy in the Saviour’s nearness, joy in service, joy in answered prayer, and joy in their future
hope. They have happiness in themselves - as the Lord prayed - and so they do not need the world
for their happiness and satisfaction. True believers have Christian pleasures, and are
generally indifferent to worldly entertainments.
The so-called Christian who becomes immersed in worldly things may possibly be a
short-term backslider, but it is a bad sign, because as far as true Christians are concerned, the prayer
of Jesus Christ has been answered and there is spiritual joy for them. A professing Christian who
desperately needs the world has a great question mark over him, because the prayer of Christ does
not appear to have been answered in his case.
3. They are distinctive
This leads us to a third sign of true conversion, where the Lord prays - ‘I have given
them thy word; and the world hath hated them, because they are not of the world, even as I am not
of the world. I pray not that thou shouldest take them out of the world, but that thou shouldest keep
them from the evil. They are not of the world’ (verses 14-16). This prayer has also been answered,
so that all true Christian people are kept distinct from others, possessing an entirely different
nature, and outlook.
They have different standards, and are pained by many worldly things. They have
different delights, and a different source of strength, succour and help. Christian people are not of
the world; indeed, ‘the world hath hated them’. They do not chase the world’s honours, riches and
sins; and this is the mark of the Christian worldwide. He will make a better and more conscientious
citizen than a worldling, but he is nevertheless apart from the world. In this characteristic true
Christians are ‘united’ together.
As a newly converted young person I soon noticed there were two kinds of
youngster in the church I had begun to attend. There were those who were serious, and there were
others who went to many parties, films and so on. They were forever into fun. They went regularly
to big-crowd football matches, and every week did something to satisfy the craving for earthly
pleasure. There were others who did not do these things.
So far as I know, all the partying, film-going, football-watching set fell away and
went entirely into the world as the years passed. The distinguishing feature of the true Christian is -
and it is all over the world - God has set them apart from the world.
Does that mean that a Christian will never go and watch a film? No, I do not think it
means that, although in these days a film watchable by Christian people is a rarity. Certainly,
regular film-going is a very bad sign, because people are happily accommodating themselves to so
much sin. Can a true believer, who has been made distinct from the world in answer to Christ’s
prayer, willingly enjoy sin?
True believers have eternal priorities. They are concerned if their Sunday School or
Bible Class boys or girls have not been visited. Young people want to do their college work so that
they can get out to the prayer meeting. This is distinctive Christian character. This is the sense in
which Christians are to be one - one in likeness.
What about marriage? The very best course of action is to marry someone who has
the characteristics of a Christian person, in answer to Christ’s prayer. This is surely the advice of
every pastor - seek someone who is first and foremost beautiful or good-looking in conformity to
Christian character.
Young women, we hope you marry a fellow who is serious. Good-
humoured yes, but he must be serious in the things of the faith, and stand apart from the world.
What a marriage that will be! You will be in the front line of the battle for the Lord all your life.
You will do eternally worthwhile things. You will see the blessing of the Lord, and your life will
really count.
Young men, marry a young woman who is serious, not one of those party-goers; not
one that must trip off and have fun and have some kind of entertainment every week. Young
women, if you have a liking for a young man who is spiritually lightweight, pray for that young
man, but never marry him.
4. They are sanctified
A final sign of true conversion lifts us up if we have fallen at a previous one. The
Lord prayed - ‘Sanctify them through thy truth: thy word is truth’ (verse 17). This prayer is
answered daily, even hourly, as it has been ever since Pentecost. A true Christian off the track may
be restored, because he is susceptible to conscience, and therefore correctable. Suddenly, he realises
that God’s Word is not ruling him, and he is challenged and contrite. He can be challenged. He can
be affected. He can be moved to mend or to change his ways. This is a notable characteristic of a
true Christian and a most noticeable component of the family likeness for which the Lord prayed.
|
