TRUE CHRISTIAN UNITY

Pastor James J. Barker

Text: JOHN 17:11-21




INTRODUCTION:


  1. We are being relentlessly bombarded by religious propaganda from the ecumenicists – telling us that we are to put aside all of our doctrinal differences and "come together."
  2. Great strides are being made along these lines and we are seeing many religions uniting – Roman Catholics, Episcopalians, Jews, Mormons, Seventh-Day Adventists, and unfortunately even some Baptists.
  3. They call this religious hodgepodge "Christian unity," but it is not true Christian unity.
  4. I heard a preacher say that you can take two tomcats and tie their tails together – you have union but you do not have unity!
  5. You may have union, but not communion.
  6. Let me stop here for a moment and make a rather obvious statement – there can be no true Christian fellowship with those who are not true Christians. "Can two walk together, except they be agreed?" (Amos 3:3).
  7. Years ago, they had a big memorial service for Princess Diana in Central Park that included Anglicans, Roman Catholics, Jews, Moslems, you name it! And of course, our deeply religious pro-homosexual, pro-abortion RC former mayor, Rudolph Guiliani was there as well.
  8. What are we to think of this? Is there any Scriptural basis for this strange meeting? NO – THERE IS NOT!
  9. The religious apostates will object to what I am saying on the basis of John 17:11b,21. But do these verses teach ecumenicalism? Do these Scriptures teach that we are to put aside basic Christian doctrines, such as the deity of Christ, for the sake of some worldly, unscriptural unity?
  10. The answer is no (cf. II Cor.6:14-17).
  1. TRUE CHRISTIAN UNITY MUST BE BASED UPON BIBLE SALVATION
    1. Notice I said "Bible salvation." There are many people today who talk about salvation but it is not Scriptural (e.g. booklet from RC priest).
    2. Those that are truly saved have been given "eternal life" (John 17:2,3). Have you received this "eternal life"?
    3. Here, in this prayer to God the Father, our Lord identifies Himself as "Jesus Christ," i.e. the Messiah (17:3).
    4. True Christian unity must be based upon salvation. The people our Lord is praying for were given to Him "out of the world" (17:6).
    5. True Christians are those who "have kept" God’s word (17:6b). Just stop for a moment and think about the ecumenical movement today: cults and liberal groups that deny the deity of Christ, churches which worship statues and religious icons, and none of them which obey God’s Word.
    6. John 17:6-9 restricts this group for whom Jesus praying to those who are truly saved – they have "received" the Word of God (17:8, cf. 17:20).
    7. They are not to be confused with "the world" (17:9).
    8. One of the teenagers in our Academy asked me if we could take the teens down to Washington DC for a field trip. I said that I would like to do that. One of the places I want to go to is George Washington’s house overlooking the Potomac River. President Washington and his wife Martha are both buried there. On his tombstone it says simply: GEORGE WASHINGTON, and then below his name it says: "I am the resurrection, and the life: he that believeth in me, though he were dead, yet shall he live: And whosoever liveth and believeth in me shall never die" (John 11:25,26).
    9. George Washington had Bible salvation. By the way, he was baptized in the river by the pastor of the First Baptist Church of NYC.
  1. CHRISTIAN UNITY MUST BE BASED UPON SEPARATION FROM THE WORLD
    1. I could never worship with Christians who are not separated from the world. As fundamental Baptists, we cannot unite with other Baptists if they are worldly.
    2. Our Lord warned His disciples about the world at the end of His long discourse (16:33). And then in His prayer in John 17, He refers to the "world" 19 times.
    3. And He makes it very plain that He was not praying for the world, "but for them which thou hast given me" (17:9).
    4. I heard a preacher compare the church to a boat out on the sea. The boat is out on the water – that is good. But once water starts getting into the boat you are in trouble. Today, many churches are drowning in sin and compromise and sinking fast because they let the world in.
    5. Oftentimes it is gradual – like the camel who put his nose in the man’s tent.
    6. We are "in the world" (17:11), but we are "not of the world" (17:14,16).
    7. According to the Bible it is impossible to love God and love the world at the same time (cf. John 15:18-20; 17:14-16; James 4:4; I John 2:15-17).
    8. Be honest with yourself. Do you love the things of this world? Do worldly things crowd out God in your life?
    9. CH Spurgeon said: "Ah! Beloved, it would puzzle the angel Gabriel himself, to tell whether some of you are Christians or not, if he were sent down to the world to pick out the religious from the wicked. None but God could do it, for in these days of worldly religion they are so much alike." He preached that on Nov.22, 1855. If it was bad then, what would he think today?
    10. Some Christians try to live as close to the world as they possibly can.
    11. Too many Christians ask: "Can I do this?" or "Can I go here?" It is better to ask: "Does this bring honor and glory to the Lord?" (cf. I Cor.10:31).
    12. One major difference between true Christianity and false Christianity is their relationship towards the world. That is why some churches have BINGO games and Las Vegas nights, and drinking parties and dances, and so on – they are worldly because they are lost and spiritually blind (cf. I Peter 2:11).
    13. I will never forget what the dean of my Bible college said: "Any dead fish can swim downstream, we want men who can swim against the stream.
    14. Many years ago in England they had an old custom that if a preacher stayed at an inn, he did not have to pay anything for his room and board. But on one occasion a certain minister stopped at an inn and went to bed. The owner of the inn listened and heard no prayer; so when he came down in the morning, he presented the preacher with his bill. "I’m not going to pay that, because I am a minister," he said to the owner. "Ah!" said the owner, "you went to bed last night like a sinner, and you shall pay this morning like a sinner."
    15. Before moving on, let me remind you that separation is always unto God, as well as from the world.
    16. And separation is not isolation (17:15,16). Some religions have members locking themselves as monks and hermits. These people eventually discover that they still have the sin nature with them no matter where they go.
    17. There was a man who tried living alone as a hermit up on a mountain all by himself. He thought this would bring peace. But he accidentally kicked over his pitcher of water and got all upset. He realized his folly and went back to town.
  1. TRUE CHRISTIAN UNITY MUST BE BASED UPON SANCTIFICATION THROUGH THE WORD (17:17)
    1. "Sanctification" means to be "set apart."
    2. The Word of God has a sanctifying influence on people, even on the unsaved (17:17).
    3. As we read God’s Word, and study God’s Word, and meditate upon God’s Word, and memorize God’s Word, God begins to work in us, and He sets us apart for His use.
    4. Let me emphasize this point: the Bible does not contain the Word of God – the Bible is the Word of God. There is a big difference
    5. The Bible does not merely contain truth – it is truth (17:17). Many books contain truth, but they are not the inspired Word of God.
    6. Sanctification means "set apart," and the Lord Jesus Christ set Himself apart for the work God sent Him here to do – die on the cross for our sins (17:19).
    7. And we are sanctified, set apart, through God’s Word (17:17; cf. Ps.138:2;Matt.24:35; John 15:3; II Tim.3:16).
    8. Read the Bible and God will set you apart for a great ministry. Neglect the Bible and you will backslide! D.L. Moody wrote in the flyleaf of his son’s Bible: "This book will keep you from sin or sin will keep you from this book."
    9. Years ago there was a great preacher named J.C. Ryle who wrote these words: "The Word is the great instrument by which the Holy Spirit carried forward the work of inward sanctification. By bringing that Word to bear more forcibly on mind and will, and conscience, and affection, we make the character grow more holy. Sanctification from without by bodily austerities and asceticism, and a round of forms, ceremonies, and outward means, is a delusion., True sanctification begins from within. Here lies the immense importance of regularly reading the written Word, and hearing the preached Word. It surely, though insensibly, promotes our sanctification. Believers who neglect the Word will not grow in holiness and victory over sin."

CONCLUSION:

THE BIBLE – THERE IT STANDS!

Century follows century – there it stands,

Empires rise and fall and are forgotten – there it stands,

Dynasty succeeds dynasty – there it stands,

Kings are crowned and uncrowned – there it stands,

Emperors decree its extermination – there it stands,

Atheists rail against it – there it stands,

Agnostics smile cynically – there it stands,

Profane, prayerless punsters caricature it – there it stands,

Unbelief abandons it – there it stands,

Higher critics deny its claim to any inspiration – there it stands,

The flames are kindled about it – there it stands,

The tooth of time gnaws but makes no dent in it – there it stands,

Infidels predict its abandonment – there it stands,

Modernism tries to explain it away – but there it stands!



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