Sharing in God's Glory (John 17:20-26, Isaiah 48:1-11)
Rev. William L. Barron, May 26, 2024Part of the Morning Worship at North Greenville Church series, preached at a Sunday Morning service
God gives glory to his church. We are all to have unity in Christ. Uniformity can, however, be destructive, as it was in the Middle Ages. True union in the church is supernatural. It. breaks down all other barriers. It breaks down human distinctions. Love brings together the purpose of the church. We are united to one another in love. Love marks the church. Isaiah in his call was told by God that the people that the people would not listen to the prophecy God gave him. Nevertheless, God promised that He would take care of them, as He did throughout the time of the judges. In the bigger picture, unity identifies us, as unity characterizes the Trinity. We are brought into communion with God and each other by means of a mystical, transcendent, all understanding, supernatural unity. Unity is also organic. It is the body of Christ, the family of God. By means of unity, we are joint heirs with Christ. Our body is the temple of God. In the new heaven, we will be fully united with God. Jesus prays that we will know the father. Unity takes place in the church and with Him. There is a lost focus in evangelism. Over the last two centuries, evangelism has focused on crusades and programs. Yet evangelism is not about us at all. The key is that the lost will see the union that we have with God and within the church. Verse 23 shows God's plan for evangelism. First is Trinitarian unity. Second is the body of Christ unity. Finally, all unity is to the glory of God. God wants to return his glory to us. We are to see the glory of God in us.
| Earlier: | Same day: | Later: |
|---|---|---|
| « Jesus: Back to the Future | None | A Gospel Greeting » |
John 17:20–26 (Listen)
20 “I do not ask for these only, but also for those who will believe in me through their word, 21 that they may all be one, just as you, Father, are in me, and I in you, that they also may be in us, so that the world may believe that you have sent me. 22 The glory that you have given me I have given to them, that they may be one even as we are one, 23 I in them and you in me, that they may become perfectly one, so that the world may know that you sent me and loved them even as you loved me. 24 Father, I desire that they also, whom you have given me, may be with me where I am, to see my glory that you have given me because you loved me before the foundation of the world. 25 O righteous Father, even though the world does not know you, I know you, and these know that you have sent me. 26 I made known to them your name, and I will continue to make it known, that the love with which you have loved me may be in them, and I in them.”
(ESV)
Isaiah 48:1–11 (Listen)
48:1 Hear this, O house of Jacob,
who are called by the name of Israel,
and who came from the waters of Judah,
who swear by the name of the LORD
and confess the God of Israel,
but not in truth or right.
2 For they call themselves after the holy city,
and stay themselves on the God of Israel;
the LORD of hosts is his name.
3 “The former things I declared of old;
they went out from my mouth, and I announced them;
then suddenly I did them, and they came to pass.
4 Because I know that you are obstinate,
and your neck is an iron sinew
and your forehead brass,
5 I declared them to you from of old,
before they came to pass I announced them to you,
lest you should say, ‘My idol did them,
my carved image and my metal image commanded them.’
6 “You have heard; now see all this;
and will you not declare it?
From this time forth I announce to you new things,
hidden things that you have not known.
7 They are created now, not long ago;
before today you have never heard of them,
lest you should say, ‘Behold, I knew them.’
8 You have never heard, you have never known,
from of old your ear has not been opened.
For I knew that you would surely deal treacherously,
and that from before birth you were called a rebel.
9 “For my name’s sake I defer my anger;
for the sake of my praise I restrain it for you,
that I may not cut you off.
10 Behold, I have refined you, but not as silver;
I have tried you in the furnace of affliction.
11 For my own sake, for my own sake, I do it,
for how should my name be profaned?
My glory I will not give to another.
(ESV)