SPIRITUAL DIARY FOR 3/21/2017
8:54 AM
My Worship Time Focus:
Intro to John 17:20-23
Bible Reading & Meditation Reference: John
17:20-23
Message of the
verses: “20 "I do not ask on
behalf of these alone, but for those also who believe in Me through their word;
21 that they may all be
one; even 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 sent Me. 22 "The glory which You have given Me I
have given to them, that they may be one, just
as We are one;
23 I in them and You in Me, that they may be perfected in unity, so that the
world may know that You sent Me, and loved them, even as You have loved Me.”
John MacArthur entitles this section in his
commentary “Jesus Prays for All Believers—Part 1: That They Would Be Presently United in Truth.” Now we will be talking about unity in the
days ahead as they pertain to these verses, but as we talk about unity it will
be perhaps different than what you may understand it to be. MacArthur writes “the unity Christ prayed for
is not an outward, organizational unity, but the inward, spiritual unity based
on believer’s life in Christ.” True
believers are one with Christ and also one with each other. “There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is
neither slave nor free man, there is neither male nor female; for you are all
one in Christ Jesus (Gal. 3:28).” “But
the one who joins himself to the Lord is one spirit with Him (1 Cor. 6:17).” The following quote is from the Westminster
Confession of Faith as recorded in MacArthur’s commentary: “The catholic or universal Church, which is
invisible, consists of the whole number of the elect, that have been, are, or
shall be gathered intone, under Christ the head thereof; and is the spouse, the
body, the fullness of him that filleth all in all” (25:1).
We will now look at four marks of the unity that
characterizes the true church that Paul writes of in Philippians 2:2 “make my
joy complete by being of the same
mind, maintaining the same
love, united in
spirit, intent on
one purpose.”
1.
Being in the
same mind. We do not consist in the body
of Christ like clones, all doing the same thing, think the same thoughts,
having the same likes and dislikes, nor do we all always in complete agreement
on the secondary doctrinal issues that godly men differ over. MacArthur adds that “rather, it signifies
that true believers are controlled by a deep knowledge of the Word of Christ
that is energized in them by the power of the Spirit (cf. Col. 3:16) ‘Let the
word of Christ richly dwell within you, with all wisdom teaching and
admonishing one another with psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing with
thankfulness in your hearts to God.’
Because they walk in the Spirit, they maintain the same spiritual
attitude.”
2.
“Maintain the
same love” is our second thing that results in unity. This love is not the emotional love, but is agape love, the love that is not of
emotional attraction, however it is of the will and choice. An example of this is found in Romans 12:10 “Be
devoted to one another in brotherly love; give preference to one another in
honor.” This kind of love comes from
being “poured out within our hearts through the Holy Spirit who was given to us”
(Rom. 5:5).
3.
Our third
characteristic Paul speaks of is that unity results in believers being “united
in spirit.” The word “united” as seen in
my English/Greek dictionary says “This word is made up of two words
"sun" (together with) and psuchos (soul, self, inner life, or the
seat of the feelings, desires, affections). So the word
refers to being united in spirit or harmonious (A&G). Paul desired the Philippians to be united in
their affections-one in Christ in all desires!
Used only here in the NT. (Wayne Steury)” MacArthur states that this
means “one-souled.” “It refers to a
passionate, common commitment to the same spiritual goals. By definition it excludes such divisive
attitudes as personal ambition, selfishness, hatred, envy, jealousy, and the
countless other manifestations of the evil fruit of self-love.”
4.
Or last
character of unity that Paul writes of is being “intent on one purpose.” This is a result of having the same mind,
same love for each other, and also united in spirit, as this results in being united
in the same goal or purpose. This goal
is advancing the kingdom of God.
MacArthur cautions “But believers can interrupt their spiritual unity by
fleshly behavior and need to be exhorted to have ‘one mind striving together
for the faith for the gospel’ (Phil. 1:27).”
While attending the Moody Bible Institute’s “Founders
Week” in Chicago many years ago I listened to Josh McDowell speak on something that
at the time was new and that was tolerance, stating or predicting it would
become a large problem in our country. I
remember that McDowell had come in from speaking in Russia after the Soviet
Union fell, but broke up his trip by coming to speak at this “Founder’s Week.” He returned soon after speaking on the new
tolerance. As believers in Jesus Christ
and being a part of His body the church, and belonging to local churches there
are some things that we must never compromise on, the truths of the faith
cannot be compromised because of tolerance, which unfortunately is happening
today in the churches across our land and around the world. We as believers must stand up for the truth
of the Word of God, and as stated earlier we must know what this is by studying
the Word of God in a systematic way, and be committed to its truth.
MacArthur concludes his introduction to this section
by writing “As He concluded His magnificent High Priestly Prayer, the unity of
His followers was very much on the heart of the Lord Jesus Christ. Having prayed for His glory (vv. 1-5) and for
His disciples (vv. 6-19), the Savior expanded His prayer to include all future
believers—those who would come to Him through the power of the Word (v. 17),
the witness of the disciples (v. 18), and the sacrifice of the cross (v.
19). The Lord made two requests on their
behalf; that they would be united in the truth, and that they would be reunited
with Him in eternal glory. The first of
those requests in the subject of this chapter.
“The Lord’s first request may be examined under four
headings: the root of the true unity,
the request for true unity, the representation of true unity, and the result of
true unity.”
Answer to yesterday’s Bible
question: “Jericho” (Mark 10:46).
Today’s Bible
question: “Who wrote out the words of
God and had his writings burned up by the king?”
Answer in our next SD.
3/21/2017 9:57 AM
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