“I do not ask for these only, but also for those who will believe in me through their word, 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. The glory that you have given me I have given to them, that they may be one even as we are one, 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.” [1]
The world envies us Christians! To be sure, the world stands opposed to the Faith. Nor should this opposition be surprising since the entire world lies under the reign of the evil one. Nevertheless, those identified as being held in thrall by the world envy Christians. Primarily, the world is envious because of the unity demonstrated by us who follow Christ. I understand much is made of the fact that there are different denominations composing Christendom, differing interpretations of Scripture by the various Christian groups, differing styles of worship revealed among the churches, nevertheless we who are saved are bound together in unity of which the world is envious.
I’m not speaking about the church member or adherent of a denomination that exalts himself or exalts her denomination against all professed followers of the Christ who don’t salute his or her flag. I’m speaking of the individual who is born from above and in whom the Spirit of Christ lives. The follower of Christ is united in spirit with every other follower of the Risen Saviour because the Spirit of the Living God has taken up residence in the life of each. If you are twice born the Spirit of Christ lives in you. Thus, you are tenderly disposed to those—like you—who share in the Family of God.
In the Ephesian Encyclical, Paul writes, “There is one body and one Spirit—just as you were called to the one hope that belongs to your call—one Lord, one faith, one baptism, one God and Father of all, who is over all and through all and in all. But grace was given to each one of us according to the measure of Christ’s gift” [EPHESIANS 4:4-7]. The world, to say nothing of far too many of us Christians, focuses on the superficial rather than the essential. I’m not suggesting that how we worship, or the distinctive doctrines that we hold dear, or even that our approach to Scripture is unimportant; but, what truly matters is whether we hold to the foundations of the Faith of Christ the Lord.
It is vital that we remind ourselves of what truly matters in our practise of the Faith. We who are redeemed know that Jesus Christ is God—truly God and fully man. We recognise that He died a sacrificial death, taking upon Himself the sin of all mankind. He died and was buried, but He rose from the dead on the third day. He walked among those who knew Him in the flesh before He ascended into Heaven, where He is seated at the right hand of the Father, interceding for those whom He has redeemed. To all who believe Him, to each one who now receives Him as Master over life, He forgives all sin and adopts them into the Family of God. This same Jesus shall come again to judge the world in righteousness and He shall reign on the earth. The authority for this Faith we now hold is the Word of God, which is received as accurate and authoritative.
Therefore, we are united in sharing in our mutual relationship as children of the Living God and through our sharing in the common doctrines that define this holy Faith. It is essential that we acknowledge that there are many and sundry teachings that we each hold dear that are incidental to our Faith, and therefore not essential. We don’t depreciate these doctrines that distinguish our various sects, but we are adamant that we are united in this Holy Faith that centres around the Person of Christ Jesus our Lord. We Christians, followers of the Risen Son of God, know God and we are known by God. We look to Him and not to our membership in any earthly organisation, including our church or our denomination. We base our faith on the written Word of God as given by Christ.
THROUGH THEIR WORD — “I do not ask for these only, but also for those who will believe in me through their word” [JOHN 17:20]. I want us to focus on the phrase Jesus used, “through their word.” Before the Master ascended into Heaven, He charged His followers, and that charge which He gave continues for His disciples to this day, “As you go, disciple people in all nations, baptising them in the name of the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Spirit, teaching them to obey everything that I’ve commanded you” [MATTHEW 28:19 ISV]. It is through the message of life that followers of Christ are charged to deliver that the world hears of Him and by which all are called to believe Him.
If I speak of the fact that there are but few followers of Christ in this world, I am not making a judgement on people, I am reflecting and iterating what Jesus has taught us. Recall that in the Sermon Jesus delivered while seated on the side or a hill, He testified, “Enter by the narrow gate. For the gate is wide and the way is easy that leads to destruction, and those who enter by it are many. For the gate is narrow and the way is hard that leads to life, and those who find it are few” [MATTHEW 7:13-14]. By the Master’s own words, those who find the path leading to life are few. Thus, we are cautioned that most people do not find the path of life. I am under no illusion that everyone who is a member of a church is a follower of the Risen Saviour. I suppose that many people in our world today have a general idea that there is someone known as the Christ, but few know Him. Everyone who learns that He is and all that they learn about Him will be through the witness of those who know Him.
You have heard me cite the Apostle’s words as I conclude almost every message: “If you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. For with the heart one believes and is justified, and with the mouth one confesses and is saved” [ROMANS 10:9-10]. Paul emphasised this gracious offer of freedom from guilt and condemnation by citing what the Prophet Joel wrote, “Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved” [ROMANS 10:13]. Receiving life in the Beloved Son is not difficult, but it does demand that we give up the idea that we can make ourselves acceptable to God or that we can do something that will permit us to set aside the sin that contaminates our lives.
What I would have you see in the context of the message this day is what Paul wrote following that gracious offer. In the verses immediately following the offer of life in the Son of God, the Apostle wrote, “How then will they call on him in whom they have not believed? And how are they to believe in him of whom they have never heard? And how are they to hear without someone preaching? And how are they to preach unless they are sent? As it is written, ‘How beautiful are the feet of those who preach the good news’” [ROMANS 10:14-15]!
It is as we who believe the Christ proclaim the message of life in the Beloved Son that outsiders hear what God has done. And that is precisely what Jesus asked of the Father, saying, “I do not ask for these only, but also for those who will believe in me through their word” [JOHN 17:20]. Never allow yourself to forget that others will hear of Christ through your word, and some will believe! As we who follow the Risen Saviour obey the Master’s command, some will believe and all will hear the message of life. We who are redeemed are appointed as God’s means of conveying His message of life.
I don’t want anyone to conclude that I am saying that our testifying of what God has done, our witnessing of the grace of Christ our Saviour, our preaching the Word of the Lord, our proclaiming the grace of God promised in Christ as Lord of life will result in vast numbers of lost souls being ushered into the Faith of the Risen Son of God. To be sure, our hope is ever and always that whenever we tell others of the love of God revealed in the sacrifice of His Son, those who hear us will receive the gift of life offered in Christ Jesus. However, experience tells us that the more common situation we will encounter is that a few will believe while many others will reject the message we deliver.
Some who hear us may need time to process what we have said. It is as though we are planting the seed, praying that the seed we broadcast falls on good soil. Perhaps those to whom we speak have heard the message of life at an earlier time, and we are then watering what was already planted. What matters is that God gives the increase, and some will always be in the process or growing toward life in the Son of God, and we will always anticipate a harvest in God’s own time. We have read the words David has written, and we believe them to be true.
“The one who weeps as he walks along, carrying his bag of seed,
will certainly come in with a shout of joy, carrying his sheaves of grain.”
[PSALM 126:6 NET BIBLE 2nd]
Regardless of the response we may receive to the message we deliver, we who are saved have been appointed to declare the truth we have received, knowing that in doing so we are obedient to the charge delivered by our Master. Each of us will be planting the seed or watering seed that another planted, but ever and always the Spirit of Christ is working through us together so that a harvest is produced to the glory of Christ. And because we are obedient, we will share in the harvest when He does bring it to pass. We need to bear in mind that we are called to be faithful, not successful. If we are faithful, our God will ensure the success of our efforts according to His own time.
I could wish that we would each take to heart the view espoused by the Apostle. Remember how Paul responded when some wanted to choose who they preferred to follow? Paul wrote, “What then is Apollos? What is Paul? Servants through whom you believed, as the Lord assigned to each. I planted, Apollos watered, but God gave the growth. So neither he who plants nor he who waters is anything, but only God who gives the growth. He who plants and he who waters are one, and each will receive his wages according to his labor. For we are God’s fellow workers. You are God’s field, God’s building” [1 CORINTHIANS 3:5-9]. Our Lord’s criteria for receiving honour differs from ours. God rewards faithfulness, not success. This is a truth that needs to always be kept in mind. Don’t imagine that what you are doing is of no account. Your work is combined with the labours of others to bring glory to the Son of God.
Perhaps you recall how Jesus spoke to a notorious woman who came to the well at Sychar. She wasn’t welcomed by the other women who would come early each morning to get the water required each day by her household, so this woman was compelled to come for water by herself. Of course, the Master revealed His knowledge of who this woman was and why she was notorious in that village. As He spoke, however, the woman came to believe that He was the promised Messiah whom both Jews and Samaritans awaited.
As the disciples came near the well where Jesus rested, they saw Him talking with this woman. These men wondered why He would speak with a woman, much less a Samaritan! Leaving her vessel, the woman raced into the village, telling everyone who would listen, “Come, see a man who told me all that I ever did. Can this be the Christ” [JOHN 4:29]?
The disciples observed what had taken place in the last moments of that conversation, but they wisely kept silent. They did, however, urge Jesus to eat. That was why they had gone into the town, after all. But Jesus declined eating, responding to them, “I have food to eat that you do not know about” [JOHN 4:32].
About then, Jesus saw a crowd coming from the town, and He said to the disciples, “My food is to do the will of him who sent me and to accomplish his work. Do you not say, ‘There are yet four months, then comes the harvest?’ Look, I tell you, lift up your eyes, and see that the fields are white for harvest. Already the one who reaps is receiving wages and gathering fruit for eternal life, so that sower and reaper may rejoice together. For here the saying holds true, ‘One sows and another reaps.’ I sent you to reap that for which you did not labor. Others have labored, and you have entered into their labor” [JOHN 4:34-38].
The impact of one woman telling others of what she had learned resulted in the entire town turning out to hear Jesus. And this was not a woman of noble character! She was despised as wanton and loose! Yet, God working in her life and through her words touched a town for His glory. John deals with the aftermath of this woman’s testimony, writing, “Many Samaritans from that town believed in him because of the woman’s testimony, ‘He told me all that I ever did.’ So when the Samaritans came to him, they asked him to stay with them, and he stayed there two days. And many more believed because of his word. They said to the woman, ‘It is no longer because of what you said that we believe, for we have heard for ourselves, and we know that this is indeed the Savior of the world’” [JOHN 4:39-42]. There is a harvest waiting for us. Keep on planting the seed; keep on watering what has been planted. A rich harvest awaits us even now.
It is essential that the follower of Christ realise is that just because someone says they are a Christian does not make them a follower of Christ. When one is born from above, the Spirit of God takes up residence in the life of that individual and the process of transformation begins. God’s Spirit is working in the life of the follower of Christ, creating the image of Christ in that redeemed person. This is precisely what we witness when the Apostle writes, “We know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose. For those whom he foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son, in order that he might be the firstborn among many brothers. And those whom he predestined he also called, and those whom he called he also justified, and those whom he justified he also glorified” [ROMANS 8:28-30].
Let’s cut to the chase! There is so very much we can blather on about. We can talk about how we do church, whether we observe ordinances or sacraments, how we distribute the gifts that are entrusted to the assembly, and none of these topics will change one life. People who accept what we hold near and dear on each of these topics will still be condemned before God after we have sold them our view—and what we think means absolutely nothing in the greater scheme of things. What the lost need is a clear message of how they can be forgiven before God. We need to reveal the power of the Living God to shatter the illusion of power people hold in their mind so that they cry out, “What must I do to be saved?” And when they cry out, seeking the answer to that vital question, we must be ready with the answer, “Believe in the Lord Jesus, and you will be saved, you and your household” [ACTS 16:31].
You may have heard the story that is told of an old woman from the hills of Tennessee who had managed to take a trip to Great Britain. While in London, this old woman had taken a tour of Westminster Cathedral. As the tour group moved through the Cathedral, the guide was talking about the building. He told how it was the fiftieth largest church building in the world. He pointed out that the baldachin over the high altar is one of the largest structures of its kind in the world. He related that seventeen British monarchs are buried there, as are scientists, poets, authors, and other notable individuals, naming each one by name.
As the guide droned on, the old woman, speaking bluntly as people from the hill country are noted for doing, suddenly blurted out, “Young man, enough of your blathering about dead people! Has anyone been saved here recently?”
Well, isn’t that what is crucial? That is what we want to know! Has the message of life been declared here? Has anyone been saved? Have there been any souls newborn, precious people whose names are now written in the Lamb’s Book of Life? It is of scant moment to recite how many people attend our services, how much moneys are given for the work we do, or how much we donate for missionary causes, what is essential is how many people have come to faith in Christ Jesus our Lord. Has anyone been saved here recently?
THE UNRECOGNISED GOAL OF THE GOSPEL — “[I ask for these and for those who will believe in me through their word] 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. The glory that you have given me I have given to them, that they may be one even as we are one, 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” [JOHN 17:21-23].
I’m speaking pointedly to people who have been born from above; I’m speaking to those precious individuals—my fellow believers—who are saved. The lost cannot receive what I am now saying, nor do unsaved people have any inclination to obey God. “Saved,” now, there’s a word we don’t hear all that often in this day. When you are saved, the Word speaks of you as having been born again, or more literally as having been born from above. You received a new birth which ushered you into the Family of God. The family into which you were born again transcends race, or culture, or social status; this family is composed of people who have been born from above, people who are saved. Moreover, because you are born from above, the Spirit of God, the Spirit of your Father, lives in you and works in you ensuring that your life is directed by Him.
Jesus had promised that He would send His Spirit to guide His followers after He had gone to the Father. Preparing His followers for the changes that would shortly take place, Jesus said, “I still have many things to say to you, but you cannot bear them now. When the Spirit of truth comes, he will guide you into all the truth, for he will not speak on his own authority, but whatever he hears he will speak, and he will declare to you the things that are to come. He will glorify me, for he will take what is mine and declare it to you” [JOHN 16:12-14].
Missionaries have told me that though sent out by differing missions, those serving on foreign fields are not particularly hung up on denominational labels as we are here in North America. I don’t mean that their understanding of how they are to do church or how they are to represent their mission is different on the mission field, but the crucial point sought and relied upon is whether one is born again as evidenced through a life dedicated to service to the Master. These missionaries do not compromise the several tenets of the denomination under whose aegis they serve, but they are forced by the love of Christ to receive Christians representing other communions as fellow followers of the Risen Saviour. The issue for them is this—does the one claiming to be twice-born live as a redeemed person or is that one living a life that is indistinguishable from the world!
Doctor Luke writes of the first congregation, “The group of those who believed were of one heart and mind, and no one said that any of his possessions was his own, but everything was held in common. With great power the apostles were giving testimony to the resurrection of the Lord Jesus, and great grace was on them all” [ACTS 4:32-33 NET 2nd]. The first Christians are denoted as though many yet possessed of one heart and one mind. Judas, though one man, possessed many minds and a divided heart. What is remarkable about this first church is that they thought as one and acted as one, for they were united by the common Spirit—the Spirit of Christ reigned over them so that as the Body of Christ this church performed the work that God had assigned.
What was witnessed in that first assembly was a continuation of what had begun even before the Spirit of Christ descended upon these followers of the Risen Saviour. Remember how we are told, “[The disciples] returned to Jerusalem from the mount called Olivet, which is near Jerusalem, a Sabbath day’s journey away. And when they had entered, they went up to the upper room, where they were staying, Peter and John and James and Andrew, Philip and Thomas, Bartholomew and Matthew, James the son of Alphaeus and Simon the Zealot and Judas the son of James. All these with one accord were devoting themselves to prayer, together with the women and Mary the mother of Jesus, and his brothers” [ACTS 1:12-14].
As he prayed for the congregations whom he had served, the Apostle revealed one great request when he wrote, “I know that through your prayers and the help of the Spirit of Jesus Christ this will turn out for my deliverance, as it is my eager expectation and hope that I will not be at all ashamed, but that with full courage now as always Christ will be honored in my body, whether by life or by death. For to me to live is Christ, and to die is gain. If I am to live in the flesh, that means fruitful labor for me. Yet which I shall choose I cannot tell. I am hard pressed between the two. y desire is to depart and be with Christ, for that is far better. But to remain in the flesh is more necessary on your account. Convinced of this, I know that I will remain and continue with you all, for your progress and joy in the faith, so that in me you may have ample cause to glory in Christ Jesus, because of my coming to you again.
“Only let your manner of life be worthy of the gospel of Christ, so that whether I come and see you or am absent, I may hear of you that you are standing firm in one spirit, with one mind striving side by side for the faith of the gospel, and not frightened in anything by your opponents. This is a clear sign to them of their destruction, but of your salvation, and that from God. For it has been granted to you that for the sake of Christ you should not only believe in him but also suffer for his sake, engaged in the same conflict that you saw I had and now hear that I still have” [PHILIPPIANS 1:19-30].
As I read what is written in the opening words of this delightful missive, I wonder what does “one spirit” and “one mind” look like? When a congregation expresses the presence of the Spirit of Christ, what is witnessed? Paul reveals what will be seen as he continues writing in this missive to the saints gathered in Philippi. “If there is any encouragement in Christ, any comfort from love, any participation in the Spirit, any affection and sympathy, complete my joy by being of the same mind, having the same love, being in full accord and of one mind. Do nothing from selfish ambition or conceit, but in humility count others more significant than yourselves. Let each of you look not only to his own interests, but also to the interests of others. Have this mind among yourselves, which is yours in Christ Jesus, who, though he was in the form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped, but emptied himself, by taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men. And being found in human form, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross. Therefore God has highly exalted him and bestowed on him the name that is above every name, so that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father” [PHILIPPIANS 2:1-11].
Understand that when the unity of the Spirit is revealed in a congregation of the Lord Jesus, we will witness the saints comforting one another. They will invest their lives in one another, preferring to be with their own kind rather than looking for mere religious entertainment. The spirit-filled saints will eschew ambition in their service, being content to build others and to exalt the Saviour. Above all else, they will gather with one great purpose of honouring the Risen Lord of Glory rather than seeking to feel good about themselves.
Do not be surprised when you witnessed a unified spirit among those who are perishing in the world! You see, those under the sway of the spirit of wickedness, those identified with this dying world, united in opposition to Christ and His rightful reign. The Revelator saw this as he wrote of the last days of the late, great planet earth, “One of the seven angels who had the seven bowls came and said to me, ‘Come, I will show you the judgement of the great prostitute who is seated on many waters, with whom the kings of the earth have committed sexual immorality, and with the wine of whose sexual immorality the dwellers on earth have become drunk.’ And he carried me away in the Spirit into a wilderness, and I saw a woman sitting on a scarlet beast that was full of blasphemous names, and it had seven heads and ten horns. The woman was arrayed in purple and scarlet, and adorned with gold and jewels and pearls, holding in her hand a golden cup full of abominations and the impurities of her sexual immorality. And on her forehead was written a name of mystery: ‘Babylon the great, mother of prostitutes and of earth’s abominations.’ And I saw the woman, drunk with the blood of the saints, the blood of the martyrs of Jesus.
“When I saw her, I marveled greatly. But the angel said to me, ‘Why do you marvel? I will tell you the mystery of the woman, and of the beast with seven heads and ten horns that carries her. The beast that you saw was, and is not, and is about to rise from the bottomless pit and go to destruction. And the dwellers on earth whose names have not been written in the book of life from the foundation of the world will marvel to see the beast, because it was and is not and is to come. This calls for a mind with wisdom: the seven heads are seven mountains on which the woman is seated; they are also seven kings, five of whom have fallen, one is, the other has not yet come, and when he does come he must remain only a little while. As for the beast that was and is not, it is an eighth but it belongs to the seven, and it goes to destruction. And the ten horns that you saw are ten kings who have not yet received royal power, but they are to receive authority as kings for one hour, together with the beast. These are of one mind, and they hand over their power and authority to the beast. They will make war on the Lamb, and the Lamb will conquer them, for he is Lord of lords and King of kings, and those with him are called and chosen and faithful’” [REVELATION 17:1-14].
What I find astonishing is that the world will unite in opposition to Christ and to His reign. We witness that unity in a small measure now, but it will come to full fruition as the great tribulation comes to a cataclysmic conclusion. The angel clarified for John, “The waters that you saw, where the prostitute is seated, are peoples and multitudes and nations and languages. And the ten horns that you saw, they and the beast will hate the prostitute. They will make her desolate and naked, and devour her flesh and burn her up with fire, for God has put it into their hearts to carry out his purpose by being of one mind and handing over their royal power to the beast, until the words of God are fulfilled. And the woman that you saw is the great city that has dominion over the kings of the earth” [REVELATION 17:15-18].
The world will be united in that day, but the unity will be focused on opposing God and His reign. Here is what may be confusing to some: the world will at last have a common religion, a religion that superficially mimics Christendom, it will be a vapid imitation of the worship of Christ the Risen Lord, and that worldwide religion will be false. It will appear that Christendom will have at last prevailed and all other religions will have disappeared. I suspect we will witness an amalgamation as elements of each of those great religions are adopted into the new worldwide religion so that everyone will feel satisfied. However, especially note how this unity is at last attained! “God has put it into [the hearts of the world rulers] to carry out his purpose by being of one mind and handing over their royal power to the beast, until the words of God are fulfilled.” People don’t just suddenly see the light and embrace this religion—God puts it in their hearts!
This is not some form of religious serendipity, those of this world wanted a religion without regeneration, and God will give it to them. Paul writes, “The mystery of lawlessness is already at work. Only he who now restrains it will do so until he is out of the way. And then the lawless one will be revealed, whom the Lord Jesus will kill with the breath of his mouth and bring to nothing by the appearance of his coming. The coming of the lawless one is by the activity of Satan with all power and false signs and wonders, and with all wicked deception for those who are perishing, because they refused to love the truth and so be saved. Therefore God sends them a strong delusion, so that they may believe what is false, in order that all may be condemned who did not believe the truth but had pleasure in unrighteousness” [2 THESSALONIANS 2:7-12].
CHRISTIANS POSSESS WHAT THE WORLD WANTS AND CANNOT HAVE — “The glory that you have given me I have given to them, that they may be one even as we are one, 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” [JOHN 17:22-24]. In their hearts, those poor souls identified with and belonging to this dying world want to be accepted by God. But they want His acceptance to be on their own terms; they want to dictate to God how He must treat them. The people of this lost world have no desire to be accepted by God if it means allowing Him to exercise control over their own lives. They esteem the illusion of control as essential to them, but because they imagine they are in control of their lives they ensure that they can never know the unity enjoyed by the faithful.
The unity known and shared by those of this dying world is hatred of the righteousness of God. Those identified with the world want the benefits of righteousness without the necessity of righteousness. We come to God just as we are, sinful and condemned, and He accepts us in Christ. However, He will not leave us in the condition in which we come to Him; He will cleanse us, filling us with the desire to honour Him and to glorify the Name of His Son. And this is the sticking point for the world. The world wants to be accepted by God, remaining as they are. They love the sin that defines them more than they love God, and thus they resent the need to be changed.
I do note that it is a source of deep grief to the redeemed when we witness churches that have reduced worship to an act of entertainment. The faithful grieve because they understand that the churches have surrendered God’s glory for a dream. Churches focused on building a crowd believe that if they offer entertainment it will bring people into the church where those attending can be influenced to consider accepting God. Please note that we are not called to influence people for God, we are to call sinners to repentance toward God and faith in our Lord Jesus Christ. Truthfully, the churches will never be entertaining enough for the world, in no small measure because the prospect of thinking well of God is repugnant to the mind set at enmity with God.
We who are born from above need to hear the Word when it warns, “There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. For the law of the Spirit of life has set you free in Christ Jesus from the law of sin and death. For God has done what the law, weakened by the flesh, could not do. By sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh and for sin, he condemned sin in the flesh, in order that the righteous requirement of the law might be fulfilled in us, who walk not according to the flesh but according to the Spirit. For those who live according to the flesh set their minds on the things of the flesh, but those who live according to the Spirit set their minds on the things of the Spirit. For to set the mind on the flesh is death, but to set the mind on the Spirit is life and peace. For the mind that is set on the flesh is hostile to God, for it does not submit to God’s law; indeed, it cannot. Those who are in the flesh cannot please God” [ROMANS 8:1-8].
Take note of the last two verses just cited. The mind that is set on doing what the world does, the mind that is set on loving what the world loves, is incapable of submitting to God. The logical conclusion is that those controlled by the flesh cannot please God. Tragically, because they cannot please God, they hate the thought of being changed into the image of God’s Son. They cannot tolerate the thought that they will turn from the things of this world to love the unseen treasures of Heaven.
Those churches that have focused on influencing people to think well of God will often invite noted singers and musicians to perform, and the entertainers do know many of the choruses and hymns of the Faith, which admittedly they are able to perform well. However, the next day, or even that same evening, will find these same singers again living a life that is at variance with godliness. The great tragedy is that the church people for whom they perform are prepared to ignore their actions promoting liquor sales and gambling, so long as they toss a bone in God’s direction. Vance Havner wryly observed that churches in his day were eager to invite those identified as belonging to the world to entertain the saints; and the entertainers were notable for singing in bars and casinos, though they were ever so careful to end their sets with “I’d rather have Jesus than Silver or Gold.” Not much has changed in the ensuing decades since he made that observation.
Nevertheless, I note that there is something precious that we who believe now possess. The world cannot have that precious commodity that the righteous now possess; but we who are born from above at this moment possess the glory of the Father, the same glory that the Father gave to the Son. We are not waiting for His glory to be revealed in us—we who are twice born possess the glory of God now! We who are born from above now have the Spirit of Christ living in us and living among us, and the glory of the Risen Saviour is revealed in us as we serve the Son of God.
To all who hear me this day, though you are yet outside of the grace of God, know that you cannot make yourself acceptable to God. However, coming to Him through faith in the Risen Son of God, He will receive you. And whatever needs to be adjusted in your life to reveal the perfect work that God will do will be done for you. God is well able to care for whatever must be changed. He will set you free and work effectively in your life. You need but believe the Christ. Amen.
[1] Unless otherwise indicated, all Scripture quotations are from The Holy Bible: English Standard Version. Wheaton: Standard Bible Society, 2016. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
