THE GLORY OF GOD BEING ONE WITH THE CHURCH
JOHN 17:20-23 (ENGLISH STANDARD VERSION)
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.
1) VERSE 21
Our Lord Jesus asks our heavenly Father in prayer that:
>> ALL BELIEVERS MAY BE ONE!! THE BODY OF
CHRIST IS ONE COMPLETE AND PERFECT BODY! IT'S NOT A FRAGMENTED OR
DIVIDED BODY! THIS MEANS THE CHURCH IS ONE!! AND THIS IS THE CHURCH THAT
WILL BE CAUGHT UP BY JESUS DURING THE RAPTURE! IT'S THE GLORIFIED
CHURCH OF CHRIST! JESUS HAS GIVEN ALL HIS GLORY TO THE CHURCH RIGHT HERE
ON EARTH! HE WANTS TO BE GLORIFIED THROUGH HIS SPIRITUAL BODY ON
EARTH!!
THE LORD JESUS PRAYS THAT;
1) "AS HIS FATHER IS IN HIM, AND HIM IN THE FATHER,"
2) "ALL BELIEVERS MUST BE IN THE FATHER AND THE SON, (i.e. IN THE SPIRIT AND HIS LIVING WORD!!)
3) JESUS PRAYS THAT THIS IS HOW THE WORLD WILL
BELIEVE THAT OUR LORD JESUS WAS SENT OF THE FATHER!! WHY??!! BECAUSE
THEY'LL SEE HIM (JESUS AND HIS FATHER) IN AND THROUGH THE CHURCH! THE
WORLD WILL UNDOUBTEDLY CONFIRM THAT JESUS IS ALIVE IN THE CHURCH!! THE
WORLD WILL HEAR HIM AND SEE HIM AT WORK IN AND THROUGH THE ONE BODY OF
CHRIST, THE CHURCH, IN EXACTLY SIMILAR MANNER EVERYWHERE!! THE CHURCH WILL
BE EXACTLY CHRIST-LIKE IN POWER, HOLINESS, LOVE, WISDOM, UNDERSTANDING,
COUNSEL, FEAR OF GOD, KNOWLEDGE, MIGHT, REVELATIONS, MANIFESTATIONS OF
HIS GLORY, FRUITFULNESS, ETC
2) VERSE 22
>> THE CHURCH HAS BEEN GIVEN ALL THE GLORY OF JESUS SO THAT SHE BECOMETH "ONE" EVEN AS THE FATHER AND THE SON ARE "ONE!"
- THE FATHER AND SON ARE ONE, i.e. 1+ 1 = 1
- "THAT THEY(BELIEVERS WORLDWIDE) MAY BE ONE EVEN AS WE'RE ONE," i.e. 1+2+1+5+3+so many more= 1
>> THE GLORY OF GOD ELIMINATES DIVISIONS,
FRAGMENTATION, DIFFERENCES, ETC BECAUSE GOD IS ONE, THE LORD IS ONE,
THERE'S ONE SPIRIT, ONE FAITH, ONE BAPTISM OF THE SPIRIT, AND THERE'S ONE
BODY!! WE WHO ARE MANY ARE ALL MEMBERS OF ONE BODY!!
>> THEN, THE FATHER + THE SON + THE CHURCH = 1 (THE GLORY OF GOD THROUGH ONENESS IS MANIFESTED HERE!)
>> By the church we mean you, believer in Christ Jesus our Lord and Saviour, who have become the temple of the Holy Spirit ( 1 Corinthians 3:16, 6:19, 2 Corinthians 6:16)
>> The Bible says you died in and with Christ and your life is hidden with Christ in God, and when Christ appears you will also appear with him in glory. (Colossians 3:1-4)
>> Currently, Christ is your life (Col 3:4) and you don't have or live a life of your own! AS A BELIEVER YOU LIVE THE LIFE OF CHRIST! YOU LIVE THE LIFE THAT CHRIST LIVED! CHRIST'S LIFE IS GOD'S ETERNAL LIFE IN THE HUMAN FLESH! GOD IS ONLY GLORIFIED AS YOU LIVE HIS LIFE. AND IF YOU DON'T HAVE THIS LIFE YOU REMAIN IN SPIRITUAL DEATH, WHEREBY YOU ARE CONTROLLED BY YOUR FLESHLY PASSIONS, DESIRES, LUST, AND GREED. WHEN YOU BELIEVE AND RECEIVE CHRIST AS YOUR LORD AND SAVIOUR YOU RECEIVE THIS ETERNAL LIFE! IT IS THE GOD-KIND OF LIFE WHICH ALWAYS GLORIFIES HIM ALONE THROUGH A LIVING FAITH IN CHRIST JESUS, THE RESURRECTED SAVIOUR WHO IS IN YOU IF YOU HAVE BEEN TURLY BORN AGAIN!! IT IS THE LIFE OF HOLINESS, PURITY, CONSECRATION, SANCTIFICATION, HUMILITY, LONGSUFFERING, LOVE, BROTHERLY LOVE, PRAYER, THANKSGIVING, ADORATION AND INTIMACY WITH JESUS, WISDOM, KNOWLEDGE, UNDERSTANDING, FEAR OF GOD, COUNSEL, MIGHT AND POWER, REVELATIONS, JOY, PEACE, KINDNESS, GENEROSITY, BENEVOLENCE, COMPASSION, FAITHFULNESS, HOSPITALITY, MEEKNESS, GENTLENESS, SELF-CONTROL, DIVINE MANIFESTATIONS BY THE INDWELLING HOLY SPIRIT, SELF-DENIAL, MIRACLES, SIGNS, WONDERS, EXERCISING THE GIFTS OF THE SPIRIT, AND SO MUCH MORE! No wonder Scripture says we "gods!" (Psalm 82:6 and John 10:34-36)! We, children of the Most High God, are designed to live and operate as "gods" here on earth! Anything less than this requires our deep repenting, strong praying, and crying, and yielding, yielding, and yielding to the Holy Spirit until the flesh is completely subdued and all unbelief has been dethroned in our hearts! Then the Spirit of glory will take over to manifest Christ to the world, and a wonderful revival will be the consequence!
3) VERSE 23
" 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."
>> THE LORD JESUS IN THE CHURCH
>> THE FATHER IN THE LORD JESUS
>> THEN THE CHURCH IS PERFECTLY ONE
>> THE WORLD NOW KNOWS THAT THE LORD JESUS WAS TRULY SENT OF THE FATHER,
>> AND THAT THE FATHER REALLY LOVES THE
CHURCH EVEN AS HE LOVED JESUS!! WHY? BECAUSE THEY SEE HIS LOVE IN AND
THROUGH THE CHURCH EXACTLY ACCORDING TO THE NEW COMMANDMENT OF THE NEW
TESTAMENT!!
John 13:34-35 NLT
So now I am giving you a new commandment: Love
each other. Just as I have loved you, you should love each other. Your
love for one another will prove to the world that you are my disciples.”
>> THE TESTIMONY OF THE CHURCH TO THE WORLD
WILL BE AND IT SHOULD ALWAYS BE ONE OF LOVE!! LOVE OF THE BRETHREN WHO
HAVE LAID DOWN THEIR LIVES FOR EACH OTHER AND ONE ANOTHER IN OBEDIENCE
TO SCRIPTURE:
1 JOHN 3:16
New International Version
"This is how we know what love is: Jesus Christ
laid down his life for us. And we ought to lay down our lives for our
brothers and sisters."
New Living Translation
"We know what real love is because Jesus gave up
his life for us. So we also ought to give up our lives for our brothers
and sisters."
The Lord Jesus said,
JOHN 15:13 (New Living Translation)
"There is no greater love than to lay down one’s life for one’s friends."
>> God's love isn't like ordinary human love
which natural and can easily turn into hatred anytime, given the right circumstances. God's love is
supernatural and it never fails!! (1Cor 13:8) Such a love maketh a clear
distinction between unbelievers and God's children in Christ Jesus!
INDEED, LOVE IS THE GLORY OF GOD'S HOLINESS!! WHEREAS HOLINESS IS THE
GLORY OF GOD'S LOVE!! AND THE HOLINESS OF HIS LOVE IS HIS GLORY!!
Hallelujah!
>> DO YOU HAVE THIS TESTIMONY OF GOD'S LOVE
IN YOUR LIFE AT HOME, AT WORK, AT SCHOOL/COLLEGE, AT YOUR PLACE OF
BUSINESS, AND IN ALL YOUR RELATIONSHIPS??!!
>> DO YOU OWN WHATEVER YOU OWN, OR DOES CHRIST OWN IT??!!
>> DO YOU LAY YOUR TREASURES IN HEAVEN OR ON EARTH?
>> DO YOU WORK FOR THE PERISHABLE OR IMPERISHABLE MEAT?
>> DO YOU LIVE BY BREAD ONLY OR BY EVERY WORD THAT COMETH OUT OF THE MOUTH OF GOD?
>> ARE YOU WORKING, DOING BUSINESS, OR
LABOURING ELSEWHERE FOR YOUR SELF AND YOUR FAMILY ONLY, OR FOR THE
BENEFIT OF CHRIST'S BODY, THE CHURCH, AND HIS KINGDOM??!
>> IS YOUR LIFE SELF-CENTERED OR CHRIST-CENTERED? DO YOU DO EVERYTHING FOR CHRIST OR FOR YOUR SELF!
>> DO YOU GIVE CHRIST ONLY A SMALL
PERCENTAGE OF YOUR TIME, EARNINGS, INCOME, MONEY, ENERGY, STRENGTH, AND
EFFORTS??!! Do you understand what this word means?
2 Cor 5:15 (New Living Translation)
"He died for everyone so that those who receive
his new life will no longer live for themselves. Instead, they will live
for Christ, who died and was raised for them."
Do you live your whole life for
Christ? For Christ's good? For Christ's benefit? For Christ's glory? Is
glorifying Christ your greatest and most passionate heart's desire? Are
you craving and seeking only the fulfillment of Christ's will, goals,
desires, and interests??!! Are grieving and mourning that Christ is not
yet fully glorified through his body? Are you, by any means,
spearheading oneness of the church/body of Christ with the Father and
the Son? Are you one of those who are in the churches and also who have
entered the ministries to seek only bread and their own good and glory?
Are you satisfied with that you call ministry which falls far below the
glory that we saw in Christ's ministry as PASTOR, PREACHER, PROPHET,
APOSTLE, AND TEACHER??!! Do you minister at his level of glory and
anointing? If no is your answer, then who sanctioned you to minister at
such a low level which is very much unlike Christ and therefore cannot
and can never shake the enemy, satan? Whom are you serving and
pleasing??!! Your belly??!! Satan??!! Man??!! Because Jesus our Lord
Jesus said:
John 14:12
New International Version
"Very truly I tell you, whoever believes in me will
do the works I have been doing, and they will do even greater things
than these, because I am going to the Father."
>> YOUR CLAIM OF HOLDING ONE OF THE FIVE
OFFICES OF THE LORD JESUS IN HIS CHURCH AND KINGDOM REQUIRES THAT YOU
OPERATE AT THESE TWO LEVELS OF GLORY;
1) YOU MUST DO THE WORKS THAT HE DID IN THE FOUR GOSPELS
2) YOU MUST DO GREATER WORKS THAN THOSE BECAUSE OF
THE GRACE OF TECHNOLOGICAL ADVANCEMENT REACHED THUS FAR IN THE WORD!!
Daniel 12:4 prophesied about this increase of knowledge!! For instance, you can now pray
for the healing of one million lame people at one time worldwide and get
them to throw away their crutches! You can now pray for ten million
people to receive the baptism of the Holy Ghost and they will all be
baptised, You can lead to Christ one million souls at one time through various media outlets, etc Indeed, those are greater works! GREATER WORKS AND GREATER
GLORY!! And God's plan is greater glory for these latter days! Are
in God's plan for this last minute before the rapture? Are you seeking
what he desires? Oneness Begets Glory!! Repent and throw away every
ministry, goal, rank, title, and everything that does not honour, exalt,
magnify, benefit, extol, lift up, praise, thank, celebrate, and GLORIFY
OUR LORD CHRIST JESUS ONLY, IN YOUR LIFE AND MINISTRY! Repent and denounce
all idolatry in your life and ministry! Idols like "my denomination" "my
ministry" "my church" "our church" "our denomination" "my business" my
my my....! Our our our....! IT SHOULD BE CHRIST CHRIST CHRIST FROM
BEGINNING TO THE END! Each member of the body of Christ;
1) OWNS NOTHING BUT IS OWNED BY CHRIST
2) DOES EVERYTHING FOR THE BODY OF CHRIST, THE HEAD!
3) CANNOT DO ANYTHING FOR "SELF" UNLESS HE/SHE HAS BEEN CUT OFF THE BODY!
Romans 14:7-9 NIV
"7 For none of us lives for ourselves alone, and
none of us dies for ourselves alone. 8 If we live, we live for the Lord;
and if we die, we die for the Lord. So, whether we live or die, we
belong to the Lord. 9 For this very reason, Christ died and returned to
life so that he might be the Lord of both the dead and the living."
NONE OF US BELIEVERS LIVES FOR OURSELVES ONLY; WE LIVE FOR THE LORD, WE DIE FOR THE LORD; WHETHER WE LIVE OR DIE WE BELONG TO THE LORD; CHRIST JESUS IS LORD OF BOTH THE LIVING AND THE DEAD! THERE IS NO SELFISH LIVING IN CHRIST! EACH MEMBER SEEKS THE GOOD OF THE BODY; ALL MEMBERS WORK TOGETHER FOR THE GOOD OF THE BODY; THE SHOE IS WORN IN THE FOOT BUT IT BELONGS TO THE BODY! THE WATCH IS WORN IN THE WRIST BUT IT BELONGS TO THE BODY; SPECTACLES DO NOT BELONG TO THE EYES BUT THE BODY; THE CAP DOES NOT BELONG TO THE HEAD BUT TO THE BODY! EACH MEMBER OWNS NOTHING BUT THE BODY OWNS THE MEMBERS AND ALL THE CAPS, TROUSERS, BRAS, SHOES, WALLETS, HANDBAGS, BANK ACCOUNTS, CARS, HOUSES, COMPANIES, FIRMS, NGOS, AND EVERY THING EARTHLY WHICH IS PERISHABLE! SUCH IS THE BIBLICAL GLORY OF THE CHURCH OF CHRIST WHICH MUST BE EVIDENCED IN AND THROUGH THE TRUE CHURCH WHICH IS ONE WITH THE FATHER AND THE SON; IF YOU DON'T SEE THIS KIND OF GLORIOUS ONENESS IN YOUR CHURCH, THEN YOU ARE STILL EARTHLY AND WORLDLY, AND YOU ARE NOT ONE WITH OUR LORD JESUS!! APPARENTLY YOU ARE YET TO SEE THE GLORY OF GOD! AND IF YOU DON'T REPENT AND BELIEVE GOD HOW THEN CAN YOU ENTER HIS ETERNAL GLORY?
RECEIVING THE SPIRIT THOUGH THE WORD
MATTHEW 10:40
New International Version
“Anyone who welcomes you welcomes me, and anyone who welcomes me welcomes the one who sent me."
New Living Translation
“Anyone who receives you receives me, and anyone who receives me receives the Father who sent me."
English Standard Version
“Whoever receives you receives me, and whoever receives me receives him who sent me."
>>
The Father and the Son means the Spirit and the Word! The Lord Jesus is
the living Word, and to receive him is to receive the Spirit of the
Word who is our heavenly Father of glory!!
>> The Lord Jesus said to his disciples:
1) whoever receives you receives me, and
2) whoever receives me receives the Father who sent me!
>> This is oneness! Our Lord Jesus is one with the church/his faithful servants/his sent ones!
>> Our heavenly Father is one with Jesus!!
So the Church is one with
the Father and the Son!! The Son in the Father and Father in the Son;
the Church also in the Father and the Son!! This means the true church
has the Father and the Son indwelling her in the person of the Holy
Spirit! When the Bible says the church is the temple of the Holy Spirit
it means this church is God's habitation in the spirit! So it follows
that when you see a true Christian you see Jesus! If you see Jesus it
means you see God in the flesh! That is why Jesus prayed:
20 “My prayer
is not for them alone. I pray also for those who will believe in me
through their message, 21 that all of them may be one, Father, just as
you are in me and I am in you. May they also be in us so that the world
may believe that you have sent me. 22 I HAVE GIVEN THEM THE GLORY THAT
YOU GAVE ME, that they may be one as we are one— 23 I in them and you in
me—so that they may be brought to complete unity. Then the world will
know that you sent me and have loved them even as you have loved me."
>> IN VERSE 22 IT
SAYS, THE HEAVENLY FATHER GAVE JESUS HIS GLORY ACCORDING TO THE FLESH,
AND OUR LORD JESUS TRANSFERRED THIS GLORY TO THE CHURCH, HIS SPIRITUAL
BODY ON EARTH! His plan is that the whole world should behold his glory
in and through his children, the saints! That same glory as of the Only
Begotten Son of God! The true church shines with this glory on earth!
The true Christian shines with the same kind of glory everywhere he/she
is or goes! This is why Jesus said you cannot hide a lighted city on a
hill!! The church is exalted above all others and is the light of the
world!! The light of the glory of God in the person of Jesus Christ, our
Lord!
3 And even if our gospel is veiled, it is veiled to those who are perishing. 4 The god of this age has blinded the minds of unbelievers, so that they cannot see the light of the gospel that displays the glory of Christ, who is the image of God. 5 For what we preach is not ourselves, but Jesus Christ as Lord, and ourselves as your servants for Jesus’ sake. 6 For God, who said, “Let light shine out of darkness,” a made his light shine in our hearts to give us the light of the knowledge of God’s glory displayed in the face of Christ." (2 Corinthians 4:3-6 NIV)
14 “You are the light of the world. A town built on a hill cannot be hidden.
15 Neither do people light a
lamp and put it under a bowl. Instead they put it on its stand, and it
gives light to everyone in the house. 16 In the same way, let your light
shine before others, that they may see your good deeds and glorify your
Father in heaven." (Matthew 5:14-16 NIV)
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