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So once again, we have an amazing opportunity to peer into the very heart of our beloved Savior as we meditate upon his high priestly prayer on the night of his betrayal found in John chapter 17. So if you will turn there with me this morning, we're going to be looking at verses 20 through 26. Here we behold the burdens of our Savior and Lord, the great preoccupations and priorities that were so heavy on his heart; priorities that we should all share.

May I remind you that Jesus is speaking audibly. He's praying audibly with his 11 disciples gathered around him. He wants them to hear what he has to say so that he can encourage them, so that he can strengthen them. He knows that he's about to leave them all alone in a very hostile world that hates them because they hate their master, because they simply do not know God; a reality that we are all experiencing in our own culture.

Earlier on that night, you will recall that he began his discourse to them by encouraging them in chapter 14, verse one, where he says, "'Let not your heart be troubled; believe in God, believe also in Me.'" And from there he went on to instruct them and to encourage them. But now there's a great shift as he comes into the presence of his Father in prayer, like the high priest of the Old Testament, who had the names of the people of Israel on the shoulders of his ephod and who bore their names engraved upon the breast, piece of judgment upon his chest. Here we see Jesus bearing our burdens, having the names of all that the Father had given him on the breastplate of his heart, if you will, engraved upon his heart as he takes his people - takes all of us - behind the veil into the very presence of God, having first prayed to be restored to his former glory and then to bring glory to His Father by granting eternal life to all that the Father had given him. He now prays for his living disciples, and ultimately for all of us, those who were the Father's possession by creation and by election, as we have studied before, all of us who were betrothed to him in eternity past, as his bride, the elect of God's grace, the very ones that the son would ransom with his very blood.

So here we have a sample, dear friends of our ascended High Priest's ongoing intercession for all believers. This is a pattern that is being manifested even today in the throne room of heaven. Beloved, don't miss this; this is so important to realize that the Savior's priorities and preoccupations of his heart that we will be looking at here this morning are the same today as they were then, because he ever lives to make intercession for us at the right hand of the Father. So the question before us is this: what is the most pressing priority upon our Savior's heart at the end of his prayer? What is the great burden of his soul and why? What is the chief concern that Jesus has for us, that he brings into the presence of his Father? Well, the answer, in short, is spiritual unity, not merely an outward unity, but a oneness of heart and mind and will and purpose. One unity that every believer shares with the Triune Godhead, oneness with life in Christ; a spiritual unity that resembles that which exists eternally between the Father and the Son.

So with this in mind, we come to the text in verse 20, Jesus says,

"'I do not ask on behalf of these alone, but for those also who believe in Me through their word; 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. The glory which You have given Me, I have given to them, that they may be one, just as We are one; 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. Father, I desire that they also, whom You have given Me, be with Me where I am, so that they may see My glory which You have given Me for you have loved Me before the foundation of the world. O righteous Father, although the world has not known You, yet, I have known You; and these have known that You sent Me; and I have made Your name known to them, and will make it known so that the love with which you loved Me may be in them, and I in them.'"

In order for us to better understand this spiritual unity that so burdens the Savior's heart, I would invite you to examine them with me under four headings that hopefully will prove helpful and beneficial to you. Number one, we will examine the essence of spiritual unity. What is the nature of it? How is it defined? How is it measured? And then secondly, we will look at the example of spiritual unity. Where can we see it most vividly in Scripture? Where is it manifested most dramatically? And then thirdly, we will see the energy of spiritual unity. In other words, what is the fuel that produces it? What is the means by which it is accomplished? And then finally, we will look at the effect of spiritual unity. How does God use it to accomplish his purposes? And I pray that this will not only bring conviction to our hearts, but encouragement to our souls.

So let's look more closely what the Lord says in verse 20, "'I do not ask on behalf of these alone," in other words, the disciples that were with him, all of the disciples that were alive at that time, "but for those who believe in Me through their word; that they may all be one." So he's praying once again for all whom the Father had given him in eternity past, as he has previously mentioned seven times in the preceding 19 verses. He's praying with a proleptic eye for future believers down through the ages. He's literally representing us before we even existed. It's an amazing thought. And will you notice we have something in common? He says we believe in Him "through their word." That is the word of the 11 apostles, who would soon be illumined by the power of the Holy Spirit, who would be inspired to write the final revelation of God to man that is recorded in the New Testament canon.

So here we come to the first central truth pertaining to number one: the essence of spiritual unity. What really is this? Well, it is a unity, as we're going to see, that is built upon the bedrock foundation of the apostolic writings in the New Testament. That is what the Spirit of God uses to lead us to faith in Christ and cause us to be born again. Verse 20, he says, "'I do not ask on behalf of these alone, but for those also who believe in Me through their word; that they may all be one, even as You, Father, are in Me and I in You, that they also may be in Us.'" Now, practically speaking, what Jesus is praying for here is for future believers, which obviously includes us to be united to the Apostles in spiritual life; united in heart and mind, will and purpose, with the Triune Godhead; believing the same truth, sharing the same life and intimacy of relationship that we see manifested in the unity experienced within the Triune Godhead.

Now notice closely in verse eight, Jesus says that "...the words which Thou gavest Me, I have given to them; and they received them...'" You will remember when we studied this, that Jesus is the incarnate Word of God, and he came and received the very words from the Father; presented those words, gave them to the apostles, and then he describes the final link in the chain. Here we see that the apostles passed that word of God on to all who will believe. It's an amazing thought, isn't it? To be sure, we would have never believed in the Lord Jesus Christ, apart from the apostles, whom the Spirit of God used; the apostles who bore witness of him and who were inspired to write the final revelation of God. Faith comes from hearing and hearing by the word of Christ. Paul tells us literally, the word of Christ is a speech about Christ which refers to the apostolic message of salvation by grace alone, through faith alone, in Christ alone. So the essence of spiritual unity that Jesus is so concerned about is utterly dependent upon our unity of belief pertaining to the apostolic gospel. Only then can a man be born again. Only then can we share in the oneness of spiritual life as the members of the Triune Godhead.

Again, verse 21 he prays that that we all, "...may be one, even as You, Father, are in Me and I in You, that they also may be in Us.'" Now you will recall that this kind of spiritual unity was manifested in the early church. Remember, at Pentecost, every believer received the baptism of the Holy Spirit, by which they were placed into the Body of Christ, of which Christ is the head; and by the power of the Spirit, there existed, and there exists today, a spiritual, supernatural unity within the body of Christ. In fact, the apostle Paul, in his epistles, lists at least seven features of this unity. He says that we are one body, one spirit, one hope, one Lord who is Jesus Christ, the head of the body, one faith, one baptism, one God and Father of all, who is over all and through all and in all. And Luke even describes how this oneness manifested itself in the early church that was formed at Pentecost in Acts 2:42, he says, "They were continually devoting themselves to the apostles' teaching and to fellowship, to the breaking of bread and prayer." And of course, all of this symbolized the basis of our unity; the truth of God revealed to the apostles, recorded by the inspired apostles. Paul speaks of this in Ephesians, chapter two and verse 19, he says, We are of "God's household, having been built upon the foundation of the apostles and prophets,  Christ Jesus Himself being the cornerstone, in whom the whole building, being fitted together, is growing into a temple, a holy temple in the Lord, in whom you also are being built together into a dwelling of God in the Spirit." And so, as a result of the saving truth that God gave the apostles, and then to us, we are united to Christ. Christ is in us. We are in Him. We are part of this amazing body. Paul describes the spiritual unity in Philippians, chapter two and verse two, he says, "make my joy complete." And I can say this is a pastor to you, make my joy complete. Here's how, by being of the same mind, maintaining the same love, united in spirit, intent on one purpose. In other words, unity is a result of believers being controlled by the word of God, by loving one another equally by having a passionate common commitment to the same spiritual goals which all lead ultimately to the same end, and that is the advancement of the kingdom of God.

But friends, we must understand we cannot manufacture this kind of unity. The Spirit of God must create it. This is a unity derived from our relationship with the Lord Jesus Christ, and built upon the teaching of the apostles, whom the Spirit of God inspired. Practically speaking, if a person claims to be a Christian, but he believes a distorted gospel, or he's not committed to the absolute authority of Scripture, he will bring great disunity and division into the body of Christ. The body of Christ can really be compared to the physical body in so many ways. Think about it, our body's immune system protects us from substances that may be harmful to us, such as germs or poisons, and sometimes from other cells, foreign cells, like cancer cells and these harmful substances have a protein called antigens coating their surfaces, and as soon as these antigens enter the body, our immune system recognizes them and realizes that this is foreign, and it attacks those cells. And when a person receives an organ, for example, in a transplant surgery, that person's immune system, many times, will recognize that this is something foreign. It detects the antigens on the cells of the organ and says, "Oh, this doesn't match." And those mismatched organs can trigger what's called an an organ transplant rejection. You've heard of that before. Well, folks, even as the immune system of the physical body will protect itself from foreign substances. It's amazing how the spiritual body of Christ will protect itself from foreign beliefs held by individuals that seek to be a part of it. It's always amazing to me to watch the reaction of mature believers when some poor soul comes into the church with some aberrant, heretical belief. It doesn't take long until the cells of the body come together and say, "Whoa, time out. Where did you come up with that? That's not biblical."

Recently, I was asked, "Are you a member of the local ministerial organization?" And I said "No." And the person asked me, "Really, why not?" And I said, "Well, frankly, it's because I cannot fellowship with those who do not believe the apostolic gospel, people who are not committed to the absolute authority of Scripture." You've heard me say before this, these are the two things over which we will break fellowship with other people that call themselves Christian. If you're wrong on the gospel and you don't believe in the authority of Scripture, we can be friends, but we can't fellowship. I look around at the ministerial association, even in our area and you have people that believe that salvation is by grace plus works. You have people that have some bizarre ideas about the Holy Spirit. They're consumed by these empty promises of a prosperity gospel. They promote Christianity without Christ. They promote the Holy Spirit without holiness; many believe in a social gospel. You've got women as pastors and elders, which is clearly a violation of Scripture; those who believe homosexuality is a legitimate lifestyle. You've got those who deny a six-day creation in favor of a deistic evolution. You've got people that deny hell, that deny the sovereignty of God. Some will say, "Well, why are those things such a big deal to you?" Well, I will tell you why. It's because, by God's grace, the Holy Spirit has come upon me, as I'm sure he has you, and he's done this supernatural work called regeneration, which unites every fiber of my being to the Lordship of Christ and to the authority of his word that is recorded in Scripture. You might put it this way, the Father has answered the prayer of his son. His son prayed for this kind of unity. He's prayed that those who believe in me through the word of the apostles, may all be one, even as You, Father, are in Me and I in you, that they also may be in Us. So this is what happens when we come to a saving knowledge of Christ.

Now you might recognize that Jesus is not, in this case, praying for some grand, all-encompassing ecumenism, as some people would say when they come to this passage. He's not praying for something like the World Council of Churches that is all over the place, on the gospel, on who Christ is, on New Testament doctrine and so forth. And may I say that while the goal of visible unity seems very noble, if that unity is not based upon apostolic truth, there will be no shared oneness of spiritual life. Paul warns us about this in Second Corinthians six, he warns us of the danger of entering into some kind of spiritual enterprise with those who do not share the unity of our new nature, and who do not believe in the apostolic truth, he says there in verse 14 of chapter six, "Do not be bound together with unbelievers. For what partnership have righteousness and lawlessness, or what fellowship has light with darkness?" So folks, very practically speaking, we must be very careful here. There is such a thing as being united but not enjoying unity. I mean, look at the United States of America. We are all under one government, under one constitution. Supposedly we are all united under one flag, but we are certainly not unified. We're not unified in mind, heart, will and purpose. We are a divided country, perhaps more divided than any time in the history of our country. And therefore, I might add, we are a doomed nation. Many churches and denominations reflect the same kind of dynamic. They are united as an organization, but they are not unified. You know, we can tie those of two cats together, and they will be united, but they will not be unified. And many times, that's what we see in churches and in denominations. As Christians, we are all united under the banner of Christianity, but sometimes we do not, in fact most of the times, people within the ranks of Christendom do not experience unity. Well, why is that beloved? It goes back to what we're talking about here, the burden of Jesus' heart. You see, the great scandal of widespread discord and disunity in the Christian church reaches far beyond just differences in doctrine. As important as that is the great scandal of widespread discord and disunity in the Christian church is rooted primarily in two things. Number one, we do not exalt the same Christ. And number two, we do not preach the same gospel that's at the heart of all of it. And you see, a counterfeit gospel will produce a counterfeit Christian that will never be able to function within the spiritual organism of the Body of Christ. You might say it will be rejected. Counterfeit Christians are foreign, and they are therefore harmful to the body of Christ. And when they come into a body, when they come into a fellowship, they will wreak havoc within that body and make it sick and weak and useless and if it metastasizes to other people, it will kill that body and no longer will that church even remotely resemble a New Testament church.

Beloved, this is what causes Jesus’ heart to break. This is his great burden. This is why this is such a priority for him in his prayer for all becoming believers. Should this not also be a priority in each of our prayers, when we ask for prayer requests? Wouldn't this be at least in the top five? Oh, let's pray that God would make us united with Christ in oneness of will and purpose and mind and likewise, therefore, one with each other. So the essence of spiritual unity that so burdens the heart of Jesus is this very thing that will, that we will be united. With that apostolic truth, united with the very spiritual life that the apostles enjoyed, united in heart, mind, will and purpose, believing the same truth, sharing the same life, enjoying the same intimates, intimacy of relationship that can be seen in the Triune Godhead.

And this leads us to our second point. Where do we have an example of spiritual unity? Well, I've just said it, haven't I? We see it manifested most vividly within the Triune Godhead, within the triunity of the Trinity. Again, in verse 21 he says he prays, "...that they may all be one; even as You, Father, are in Me, and I in You, that they also may be in Us.'" And then notice the first phrase in verse 23, "'I in them and you in Me, that they may be perfected in unity.'" So our unity is likened to the relationship between the Father and the Son. It's patterned after the unity of the Godhead. You see, we're not joined together under some man-made system, some man-made rules or organization, we're joined to the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, each of us sharing the same spiritual life. Peter says we've been made partakers of the divine nature. I like to think of that as the DNA divine nature. Hopefully you can see that a little bit there, we share the DNA of God, and therefore we are not only made in his image, but we're being conformed into his image. We resemble him. John MacArthur has summarized this so well. He says, "The Father and the Son are united, number one, in motive, they are equally committed to the glory of God." He went on to say, "They are united in mission." In other words, they share the common goal of redeeming lost sinners and granting them eternal life. They are also, number three, "United in truth." Jesus told the disciples, "The words that I say to you, I do not speak on My own initiative, but the Father, abiding in Me, does His works." Then he says they are also "united in holiness," referring to their absolute separation from sin. And finally, they are "united in love." Jesus affirmed that the Father had loved Him before the foundation of the world. So what he's saying is a summary of Scripture, true spiritual unity that is created and maintained by the power of the Holy Spirit, through regeneration and sanctification, is going to be united in motive. In other words, we're going to be equally committed to the glory of God. Paul says, "Whether then you eat or drink or whatever you do, do all to the glory of God." We are going to be united in mission. In other words, we're going to each share a zeal for evangelism. We're going to be united in truth, consumed with proclaiming and protecting the inspired, infallible, inerrant, authoritative, all sufficient Word of the living God; we're going to be united in holiness, intolerant of our own sin that brings such misery into our life that causes us to forfeit blessing and even eternal reward, and ultimately, that obscures the glory of Christ, that we are to radiate to a dark and dying world. And finally, we will be united in love, the same kind of inter-trinitarian love that binds the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit together. That's the kind of love that binds us together in the body of Christ.

Well, this leads us to the third point concerning the spiritual unity that so burdens our Savior's heart, and that is the energy of spiritual unity. What is the fuel that produces this, the means by which it is accomplished? Well, Jesus answers this in verse 22 and this is such a remarkable thing. He says, "'The glory which You have given me, I have given to them that they may be one, just as We are one.'" We must ask, what is this glory which the Father gave the Son, and the Son now gives to every believer, so that we can manifest this unity? Beloved. It is simply this: it is the likeness of Christ in the believer. It is the glory of Christ within us, that glory that should emanate the perfections of his character through our lives by the power of the indwelling Spirit. The Word of God says that we are in Christ, and Christ is in us. This is what Jesus is speaking about. In fact, in verse 10 of chapter 17, he says this, "'All things that are Mine are Thine, and Thine are Mine, and I have been glorified in them.'" You see, this is the spiritual unity that is a result of the miracle of the new birth. We become a new creation. In Christ, the old things pass away, the new things come Christ is within us. We are united to him like a branch to a vine that can therefore bear glorious fruit for the Father.

Well, this is that great work of regeneration and sanctification that Paul speaks about in Second Corinthians three and verse 18, he says, "We are being transformed." There's a metamorphosis that's occurring here. We are being transformed into the same image, in other words, the likeness of Christ. And here's how it's happening, from glory to glory. There's a process here, just as from the Lord, the Spirit. In other words, the Spirit is doing this. And notice how the indwelling Christ promotes this unity. In verse 23 again, he says, "'I in them, and You in Me that they may be perfected in unity.'" You see, because of Christ, the very life that exists within the Trinity now exists within every believer. It never ceases to amaze me when I think that God has redeemed us that he might inhabit us, and he inhabits us so that the glory of his indwelling presence might radiate from us. You see, our fellowship with the Father and the Son creates this kind of fellowship even with one another, as we radiate the glory of Christ and his love amongst the saints. And it's so important to remember this, to think of this very practically unity within a fellowship of believers. In other words, within a local church is one of the surest measures of its spiritual condition. Whenever the glory of the Godhead is not active within a believer's heart, it will not shine forth in his relationship with other believers and how sad it is to see churches with a reputation of conflict, of constant bickering and turmoil, bitter gossip, the jealousy and strife that that characterize, for example, the Corinthian believers in First Corinthians three. Remember, they were fleshy believers. They couldn't handle any of the deep things of the meat of the word. He had to keep giving them milk. They were still babes, and what characterized them, he said, was jealousy and strife. One of the ways we see this manifested so clearly in our culture is that immature, worldly Christians aren't able to keep a pastor. It's really a fascinating phenomenon. According to a LifeWay Christian research study, the average pastor's tenure in an evangelical church is 3.6 years. I remember when I first went into the pastorate, I was told by so many other pastors, just make sure you keep your resume updated. How sad. And why is this? Because too few people within that church enjoy the kind of oneness that Jesus is praying for. There's no oneness of fellowship with the Triune Godhead. Therefore, there's no spiritual unity with one another. Over the course of my ministry, I've had the joy and the privilege of counseling and mentoring many pastors. I'm currently mentoring a half dozen or so right now at varying levels, and it's tragic to hear the stories that they tell of these churches that are family owned and operated, people that have some oligarchy of immature, many times ignorant, theologically illiterate people running the church. They have two or three, what I call Diotrephes. Remember Diotrephes in Third John? The guy who loved to be first among them who did not accept what the apostles said, keepers of the gate. I feel so sorry for those guys. You see friends this kind of disunity is a matter of the heart. It betrays a serious breach in their relationship with God. Because wherever a rich, genuine private fellowship with God is absent, a genuine, rich public fellowship with others will be nonexistent. It begins in the heart, and this is what Jesus is praying for.

The great Puritan Thomas Manton once said, "The union of the saints when they are together depends upon their communion with God when they are alone." Writing for the Gospel Coalition, one author stated this, "Many ministers begin in small, rural churches. Many of these churches are run by prominent families or a deacon board with strong community and family ties. Often, these churches do not want to be pastored. They want someone to come and preach and perform ministerial rites. They do not want to be challenged or led into deeper Christianity. A pastor who preaches a gospel that confronts complacency, apathy and other sins may find he is not welcome in that church. A minister might wind up in two or three of these types of churches within a 10-year period." How sad. That's very true. I could tell you stories of what some pastors are enduring right now that you probably wouldn't believe. One that comes to mind that I'll tell you very briefly. A pastor was telling me how there is an older woman that's kind of the matriarch of a number of the families. She runs the church, and every time she gets mad, she's been known to literally throw hymn books at people in meetings and chase people throwing magazines at them and trying to hit them with an umbrella. And he's asking me, "Dave, what should I do?" And I said, "Confront her. Bring the leaders together. Love her enough to say, 'This is wrong.'" Well, you know, probably the rest of the story. He did that, and the church blew up and got rid of the pastor. What does that tell you? I think you know.

You see folks, the energy of spiritual unity, the means by which this unity is accomplished is the glory of Christ in his people. This is what must be cultivated, because where a people are most like Christ, they will be most united with him and with one another. This was the great burden of Jesus. This is what was the priority of his heart on the night before he came to the cross.

Number four, what is the effect of spiritual unity? Well, we see it in the end of verse 21, "'...so that the world may believe that You sent Me.'" We see it in the middle of verse 23, "'...so that the world may know that You sent Me.'" Folks, please understand the reason why we were created is so that we could be redeemed. The reason why we were redeemed is so that we could be indwelt. The Triune Godhead takes up residence within those who know him to reveal himself to those who don't. The outshining of the Godhead within us is the great means God uses to manifest the light of His glory in the face of Christ to a world that is groping in darkness, the darkness of sin and unbelief. In fact, Jesus said in Matthew 5:16 "Let your light shine before men in such a way that they may see your good works and glorify your Father, who is in heaven."

And here, as well, dear friends, we see the Savior's deep burden for the world to believe in Him. He goes on to say, in verse 25, "'O righteous Father...'" notice the end there, he says, "'...the world has not known You.'" We look around at the moral free fall in our country and in our world, we see the mounting hatred of Biblical Christianity; the utter disdain for the word and the will of God, and our heart breaks for those who walk in spiritual darkness. And we say, what is happening? And the answer is here; the people do not know God. This is what breaks Jesus' heart. I hope it breaks yours as well. We see the proud intellectuals in our universities, the sophisticated elites in our government. We see the arrogant politicians and political pundits in our media. They're all telling us how to think and how to live, and as Paul said, "Professing to be wise, they have become fools." Why? Because they do not know God. They have no fear of God. They tell us that God is not our creator; the evolutionary process and random selection is. They tell us that God is not our moral authority, that man is we will vote on it. They tell us that God is not holy, that he will not judge sin. Because they believe that God, if he or she exists at all, is a God of love. They say God has not provided a Savior and His Son, the Lord Jesus, because there's no such thing as sin, and therefore we don't need a Savior. They say Jesus will not come again, because that whole thing is a myth from the Bible. Oh, how tragic, dear friends. People simply do not know God. When we hear all of this stuff, I hope that you will not react in a fit of anger, but rather your heart will break for these people. We need to be like Paul in Acts chapter 17. Remember when he went into Athens, which was kind of like the New York City of the ancient world? He suddenly experienced a great paroxysm, in other words, a great sudden, violent emotional reaction. He looked around and we read that his spirit was provoked within him as he was beholding the city full of idols. Then later, as he moves through the city, he sees this altar, and it's an altar to an unknown God. And what was his reaction? He was burdened for them. And he said, "What therefore you worship in ignorance, this, I proclaim to you." Folks, this needs to be our heart. This needs to be our reaction. These people are incarcerated in the kingdom of darkness. They are spiritually dead. The Word of God is foolishness to them. I hope that your heart aches for them. And what is one of the primary means of evangelism that God uses to bring sinners into himself. It's what Jesus prays for here. It is the likeness of Christ in his people that manifests this spiritual unity with the Triune Godhead that therefore emanates the glory of God to a lost and dying world; a unity that is therefore manifested in the body of Christ.

Folks, this is all foundational to evangelism. This is the effect of spiritual unity. I ask you, why would anyone want to believe our gospel, that it is a saving gospel that transforms sinners, when we are at each other's throats? How silly is that? The world must see God in and through us. You want to ask yourself, "Is this what others see in me?"

Then Jesus prays that we might see the visible manifestation of His glory in heaven. He's so concerned with this. Notice verse 24, "Father, I desire that they also, whom You have given Me, be with Me where I am, so that they may see My glory which You have given Me.'" O child of God, please hear this. There is a glory that we all share with Christ because we have been hidden in him; but there is a glory of Christ far beyond anything that we will share, far beyond anything that we have ever seen, certainly a glory so magnificent, so ineffable, so inexpressibly beautiful that Jesus, here in his state of humiliation, longs for us to see it one day; a secret glory that none but his own can even contemplate, much less behold; a glory that he possessed before the universe was created. He says, "For You,'" referring to the Father, "'have loved Me before the foundation of the world.'" Beloved, this is on our Savior's heart. Don't you know this was of deep encouragement to his disciples. He's praying that those Father, that you have given me in eternity past, will one day see the fullness of my glory, and ultimately of your glory. Dear Christian, please remember that the supreme blessing of heaven will be to exalt in the glory of God, as Paul tells us, "to stand in the presence of His glory, blameless with great joy." To be able to know God. Jesus said earlier in verse three, "'This is eternal life, that they may know You.'" As I have said before, eternal life is therefore the everlasting and euphoric state of intimate fellowship with God, delighting in him forever, knowing him. It's having an intimate knowledge of him in all of his glory and being able to enjoy him and worship Him forever.

Well, this was and remains the preoccupation of our ascended high priest. And then finally, to summarize, the passion of his heart, he says in verse 25, "'O righteous Father, although the world has not known You, yet I have known You; and these have known that You sent Me; and I have made Your name known to them, and will make it known, so that the love with which you loved Me may be in them, and I in them.'" Beloved, to be sure, the church's visible unity authenticates the Father's love for his own, and what a tangible expression of his love that I experience in the unity of this body. And it's for this reason that, by God's grace, I've been here almost 20 years, and I have not updated my resume, by the way.

Well, dear friends, here we can see as we close, the burden of our Lord's heart. Disharmony and disunity within the church of God was the source of great eternal concern for him, of infinite grief, because he knew how important it would be for us to cultivate this oneness with God and with each other. He knew how this would bring him and bring us such exceeding joy, and he knew the impact that this would have on a lost and dying world. And I pray that each of us will be distinguished by a life that radiates the glory of Christ within us.

May I leave you with one great challenge. Will you pray that God will give you a greater burden for the lost? There is so much that we can glean from this text, but certainly this is one of the priorities. Folks, this will not happen unless your heart first burns white hot for God, unless you are pursuing him with all of your heart in private worship. You see, the Spirit induced fires of revival will never be ignited amongst the people who have no burden for the lost. This is my great burden for you and for me, because there will be no real work of grace in evangelism until our hearts break, as Jesus' heart broke, for the lost. Only when we share our Savior's burden will we share his joy, and only then will we radiate his glory as we should. Let's pray together.

Father, we give you praise for these eternal truths, but we pray that they will be something more than that which remains in our minds, but Lord, would that they translate into our hearts and therefore into our wills, that we might live out your glory, that this lost and dying world will see Christ in us, the only hope of glory. To this end, we pray in Jesus' name, amen.