The Longest Prayer

W. Carl Ketcherside

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     I am sure you will think the poorest way in the world to begin a new year of writing is with a confession. So I am starting 1975 in the poorest way in the world. I confess I had no intention of writing this article. Mentally I had decided on my theme for the year, One in Christ, and had developed a vague idea of the format. This article was not part of it. But every time I prepared to write, the prayer of Jesus which John recorded intruded on my thoughts. Finally I gave in and here I am writing on the longest prayer recorded in the new testament scriptures.

     It seemed to me, as I meditated, that John 17 was the proper launching pad from which to get my thought capsule on unity into orbit. With the shadow of the cross falling over his pathway, Jesus prayed for the oneness of all who believed in him. He conditioned the acceptance of his divine mission by the world upon the unity of those who had accepted him. The frightful cost of our division is a lost world. We must decide whether we can continue the luxury of disunity and pay the price of a lost world which he loved.

     There was another thing which prompted me to write. For years I put that glorious prayer through our partisan meat-grinder, pulverizing and molding it to suit our own trivial factional ends. I mistakenly equated the oneness which comes from the belief of apostolic testimony about Jesus with conformity to our opinions, interpretations and theological hangups. Looking back I can see that I actually promoted strife while proclaiming peace, and severed the bond created through his blood, by debating brethren who were as belligerent as myself. The fact that I am ashamed of the kind of ignorance which made variant views in Christ more important than the relationship created by Christ needs to be told lest others fall into the same condemnation.

     John did not divide his record of the Word who became flesh into chapters and verses. But the chapter which we call seventeen begins with these words:

     When Jesus had spoken these words, he lifted up his eyes to heaven and said, "Father, the hour is come; glorify thy Son that the Son may glorify thee, since thou hast given him power over all mesh, to give eternal life to all whom thou hast given him. And this is eternal life, that they might know thee the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom thou hast sent. I glorified thee on earth, having accomplished the work which thou gavest me to do; and now, Father, glorify thou me in thy own presence with the glory which I had with thee before the world was made."

     This beautiful petition was not isolated from life. It followed naturally after other words which Jesus had spoken. He had conversed witch his disciples about his coming death and assured them, "I

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have said this to you, that in me you may have peace." To the Jewish mind the word shalam, peace, meant oneness, wholeness, completeness. It was the result of harmonious relationship. The purpose of Jesus in speaking to those who loved him was to convince them that wholeness of personality is achieved only in him. The man outside of Jesus is like a jig-saw puzzle with the parts missing. His moral conduct may be excellent. His filial associations may be commendatory. But there will always be a flaw which will not permit the picture of life to be perfected until that which is lacking is supplied. No one who is not conscious of God's forgiveness and declaration of guiltlessness ever knows true peace. "Therefore, being justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ." By faith! Through Christ!

     Jesus said, "In the world you have tribulation; but be of good cheer, I have overcome the world." Tribulation is from the Latin tribulum, a threshing instrument. It is the flail which separates the chaff from the wheat. Jesus did not promise the faithful they would not undergo tribulation. He promised them they would. Every apostle of his, except the writer of this record, suffered cruel death for his faith. The writer was subjected to brutal punishment and eventual exile. Our good cheer comes not from our ability to escape persecution, but from consciousness that we are in one who is triumphant over the alienated world which inflicts it. We shall overcome because he has overcome. If you believe that, be of good cheer!

     It is in this frame of reference Jesus utters this remarkable prayer in which he says so much about the relationship of his followers to the world, and then petitions so earnestly for their relationship to one another in him. Our unity is important not as an end in itself, but because we are in the world. The world hates the disciples of Christ because they are not of it, even as Jesus Christ is not of it (verse 14). If the disciples exhibit lovelessness toward one another, the world accepts them as being of it. The world will never believe until we exhibit before it a oneness in spite of our human propensities and predicament, which transcends all frailties, weaknesses and differences.

     Jesus has handed the world a measuring-rod and said, "Take this and use it to judge those who claim to be my disciples." The world has a right to wield that yardstick. The criterion is not one of superior knowledge or of doctrinal correctness. It is simply love for one another. If we love only those who love us we are no better off than publicans or social outcasts.

     For years I read this majestic chapter without noticing the emphasis upon glory. The word "glorify" appears five times. The word "glory" appears three times. The glory which God gave Christ he gave to the disciples so that they could become perfectly one. There is a relationship between glory and oneness. I did not know that. It was not part of my sermon outline. I am glad I know it now. There wasn't a lot of glory in the way I taught it.

     The hour has come! It had not come when he did the first of his signs at Cana in Galilee (John 2:4). It had not come when they sought to arrest him personally and prematurely (7:30). It had not come when he openly taught in the temple treasury (8:20). But when certain Greeks came and said to Philip, "Sir, we wish to see Jesus," he knew it was near and spoke of a grain of wheat dying that it might produce much fruit (12:23). Now he begins this prayer to the Father with this simple announcement.

     It would have been incongruous for anyone else to speak of glorification in connection with a cross. To the Jew crucifixion represented a curse. To the Greeks it was a frightful scandal. Only Jesus could be glorified by this instrument of torture, the most degrading one man has ever invented. He turned a badge of shame into an emblem of honor. Every nation awards to its heroes a cross as a symbol of valor. Institutions of

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mercy emblazon it upon their banners. Religious groups crown the spires and turrets of their cathedrals with it. Men and women wear it as an ornament. Constantine declared that he saw the words "In hoc signo vinces" (In this sign conquer) flashing in the skies, and the Roman eagle gave way to the cross.

     The hour had came to turn apparent defeat into victory, disaster into triumph, and shame into glory. Jesus asked to be glorified, not for himself, but that he might glorify the Father. He did not seek justification or vindication. He had already been given power over all flesh. Man, in his frailty, weakness, and fear, had been placed under the authority of the Son. And the Son would glorify, exalt and magnify the Father who was the source of all authority by giving eternal life to all who had been given unto him.

     There follows the divine definition of eternal life. In my childish ignorance I thought of eternal life like an old-line insurance policy which one had to die to collect. I know better now. Eternal life is not so much a quantity as a quality of existence. It is trust rather than time, dedication rather than duration, and consecration rather than mere continuance. It is life more abundant, not life simply extended. It is not measured by years but by yielding. What is eternal life? Listen to Jesus! "This is eternal life, that they might know thee the only true God and Jesus Christ whom thou hast sent."

     To know in the Bible sense is more than intellectual perception by familiarity with facts. It is to enter into an intimate relationship in which personalities merge or blend. "And Adam knew Eve, his wife, and she conceived and bore a son, and called his name Cain." This knowledge was more than recognition. It was a union which made them one flesh and resulted in a new life. "He who is united to the Lord becomes one spirit with him" (1 Cor. 6:17). A new creature results from this union.

     Eternal life is experiencing God through spiritual union. Just as one can read books and even lecture about marriage all of his life and never become one flesh with another, so he can read the Bible all of his life and never become one Spirit with the Lord. Eternal life is the life of God, and fellowship in Christ is sharing that life. It is not sharing the life of the only true God to the exclusion of the Son, but it must include Jesus Christ whom the Father sent. "He that hath the Son hath life, and he that hath not the Son hath not life."

     It is a matter to cause us to think seriously that Jesus voiced his prayer for oneness of believers against a background of divine glory and eternal life. How tragic it is that we have dragged that plea from such majestic heights and wallowed it in the dust of partisan debates over trivia. It is a commentary upon our plight as creatures of the dust that we would ignore the beauty of the setting in which it was planted, to use it as the ground for wrangling over matters of opinion, speculation and fallible interpretation. Perhaps we should abandon our worm's eye view just once and seek to look at the unity of the believers in the Son as the angels must see it.

     Jesus glorified the Father upon earth. He did it by accomplishing the work the Father gave him to do. Is this not the way we glorify the Father also? In view of the fact that it is peacemakers who are to now the bliss of being called the children of God, should we not glorify him by making peace among the fragmented, strife-torn, ripped-off segments of our brethren? Can we accomplish the work we were given to do by slighting, ignoring, or manifesting unconcern for God's other children? Do we glorify God by division when Jesus prayed for oneness? Do we glorify him by forming hostile parties or separating into warring tribes, and acting worse than aliens?

     Because Jesus glorified the Father by completion of this mission on earth, he asked to share in the glory he enjoyed with the Father before the world was made. One cannot accept this statement and deny the pre-existence of our Lord. He cannot accept it and doubt the Deity of the Word. "In the beginning was the

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Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God." In the old covenant scriptures the glory of God signified the presence of God. It was God making himself known, entering into the sphere of human knowledge and experience. It is significant that Jesus asked the Father to "glorify me in thy own presence." This does not mean "in thy sight" or "before thy face." The word is from para, with, and it means to share with God all the glory that is involved in the Eternal. That we also shall share in that splendor after our suffering is over is a thought of such magnitude as to stagger human imagination. Think what such a contemplation will do for a cancer victim. "Our very suffering works for us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory."

     The apostles were chosen, called and commissioned as ambassadors to an alien world. Their position in the rule of heaven is unique and unchallenged. The arrangement which would result in their sitting upon twelve thrones in the period of regeneration was of the Father. While Jesus summoned them directly they were God's men and were given to the Son by the Father's disposition. To manifest God's name was to exemplify his nature, attributes and characteristics. The word name in scriptural usage means much more than a designation or title. It includes all that is involved in the personality of the one named. Thus "to believe into the name of Christ" is to be identified with him, literally, to pledge allegiance unto him.

     The response of the apostles to the divine manifestation was fidelity to the word of God as it related to Jesus. They accepted the words of God about the Word of God. What the Living Word exhibited in the flesh was from God. They knew it was bestowed from above and they accepted the truth about its heavenly origin without doubt. The purpose of the testimony was to convince men that Jesus came from God. He came only because he was sent. This fact the apostles knew in truth, that is, in verity. This was essential if the world was to be led to believe through their testimony. Jesus said, "They have believed."

     There is a great gulf fixed between the world and those who belong to Jesus. The world is composed of that great body of mankind which refuses to recognize the right of God to govern in their lives. It is the whole cosmic arrangement under the domination of evil , and in rebellion against God, living only for the Now and pampering every desire of the flesh. The world is creation adrift from its Creator, facing the storm of death without a compass, too drunk to steer by the stars, and too giddy to avoid stumbling into the abyss of darkness and misery and despair. It is the domain of false gods, perverted passions and wicked walks. Jesus did not here pray for the world, not because he was disinterested or unconcerned. He declares in this same prayer that he will send the apostles into that world. But his immediate concern

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is for the representatives whom God gave him out of the world. All depends upon them. If they fail or prove unworthy the cause is lost. "If the salt ever loses its strength, then how can the world be salted?"

     The closeness between the Father and the Son is exhibited in the declaration that "All mine are thine, and thine are mine." W. E. Vine points out that many of us might declare that all we have is God's, but only one person ever lived who could say, while in the flesh, "All thine is mine." If Jesus was glorified in those given him out of the world, who received the words of God, believed implicitly in the testimony related to him, and showed unquestioned fidelity, will he not be glorified in us under the same circumstances? I trust you will not ascribe it to unworthy ambition or fleshly pride when I say that more than anything else in this whole vast universe I want Jesus to be glorified in me. I want to live to his glory and I want to die to his glory. I eagerly hope that I will not be drugged into insensibility when the Great Adventure comes and my spirit strains and tugs to loose itself from this envelope of clay cells in which it has been housed. I want to be conscious of the magnificent confrontation. I want to sense the victory at some "disputed barricade." Of course, we cannot choose how we shall die, but I can choose how I will live.

     It has been a good many years since I read that large book written by A. B. Bruce, and first published in 1871 under the title The Training of the Twelve. I have just taken it from the shelf and opened it to note how I underlined many passages which struck home to me. In the lengthy chapter entitled "The Intercessory Prayer" I must have been deeply impressed. Bruce points out that the prayer begins with the word "Father" and this term of address is repeated six times. He observes, "He speaks to God as if he were already in heaven, as indeed he expressly says he is a little further on, 'Now I am no more in the world.'"

     That statement begins this section. Jesus knew what it was like to be in the world. He knew the trials and the testing, the turbulence and the temptation. He knew the suffering and the sadness, the sorrow and the shaking. For him all that was soon to be over, but the apostles were to remain. He places them in the hand of the Father, pleading with him to keep them. The word "keep" means to guard, protect and sustain. To keep them in the name of the Father was to hold them to his person as if the very reputation of Deity was at stake in their preservation.

     When one leaves on a journey he wants to be certain that his valuables are put in trust. It is an indication of the regard Jesus had for his disciples that he would not leave without assuring their protection. It is likewise significant that he was anxious for them to be one as he and the Father were one. I shall later show that this had nothing to do with opinions or concepts. It would be absurd to expect fallible minds to be like infallible minds. Imperfect beings cannot exhibit the same degree of knowledge as perfect beings. The oneness here has to do with unity of purpose and effort.

     Disunity among the disciples would frustrate the ultimate plan of God as much as a loss of faith. That Jesus would pray for the disciples to be one upon the eve of his cruel betrayal and tragic death is indicative of the value heaven attaches to that oneness. That it has meant so little to us is proof of our

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carnality and childishness. You can tell how much unity is valued by the saints when you consider the things for which they are willing to forfeit or discard it. The depth of one's love for his wife can be determined by the thing which prompts him to break up his marital union. Love is sometimes very shallow indeed!

     In the flesh, Jesus guarded the disciples. He kept them in the Father's name, providing protection and supplying their needs. The only one lost was the son of perdition. This probably does not so much refer to the destiny of Judas as to his manner of life and course of conduct. He was not chosen to make him this kind of person, but because he was this kind of person he was chosen. I am interested in the regard of Jesus for the scripture and the fulfillment of prophecy. I cannot understand how one who professes to be a follower of Jesus can make light of the scriptures.

     I have no intention to belabor the point and I cheerfully grant that what I am here saying is secondary to my real purpose. But I want to make it clear that no one can parade as a follower of Jesus while undermining the sacred scriptures. The approach of Jesus to questions of controversy was, "What saith the scripture?" Men may question interpretations placed on the sacred volume and a lot of them need to be questioned, but the legitimacy and authenticity of the scriptures must not be subjected to erosion. I want to make it clear that the scriptures are holy in my sight and they must be fulfilled.

     The things Jesus spoke while in the world were to convey the fullness of this joy to those who heard them. There is no real joy obtainable except through him. His first advent was announced with tidings of great joy, and his second advent will bring joy to those who await that magnificent triumph. Jesus spoke in the world filled with sin, despondency and depression, but his speaking was to bring fullness of joy and happiness unbounded. Knowing Jesus is knowing joy!

     I have given them thy word! Jesus is talking here about the message concerning himself and his identity. This is made clear in verse 8. Jesus had given them the words of God, they had received them, and because of their reception the disciples knew two things. They knew that Jesus came from God, and they knew that God had sent him. It is this which makes the difference, and which calls one out of the world and separates him from it.

     If Jesus came from God, this is the visited planet. Someone from outside the human predicament created by sin has come to share our human lot. Not being touched or tainted by sin, he can point us back to reality. Sin is abnormal and it has made us all unreal. If God actually sent Jesus, then God is interested, concerned, and willing to be involved, not philosophically, but personally. No one can believe these sublime truths--really believe them--and ever be the same again.

     How does one arrive at these two great scintillating facts until he "knows truly" as Jesus puts it, or experiences reality? The answer is simple. He receives the words of God. He believes the testimony. Our transformation from the state of abnormality created by sin to the reality of righteousness in Christ Jesus is predicated upon faith, and that faith is the natural result of an honest heart receiving the words of God. I think there is a great difference between hearing words and receiving them. I know people who have repeated words for years which they never received in the sense in which Jesus used the term.

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     It is this reception of the words of God, driving us to the side of the Word of God, which separates us from the world. Jesus is the "Great Divide." The world hates those who are not of it, for the world is the realm of the flesh, and that is the realm of selfishness, bitterness, hostility and wrath. The world hates them because their love condemns its lovelessness, their unity condemns its disorder, and their purpose condemns its aimlessness. Jesus did not pray that the disciples be removed from the world. Light is needed in darkness. Purity is needed in impurity. Love is needed where hate abounds. The leaven is needed in the lump.

     Jesus prayed that his disciples should be kept from the evil one. It would have been strange for him to talk to the Father about the evil one, if there was no evil one. Jesus was not bogged down in theories about the origin of evil. He had no hangups about the malignant spirit, active and intelligent, who opposed all the works of righteousness. He knew that if he did not snatch his disciples out of the world they were in danger, and he knew that behind that danger was one who was a malicious and diabolical schemer. I do not buy the sophisticated explanations of the intrusion of evil, which are cooked up to explain away the existence of the devil. In fact, I think the cleverest trick he ever pulled was to convince a lot of folk that he doesn't exist. Many who think there is no hell spend a lifetime raising it, and most of those who doubt the existence of the devil prove the mistake of their theory by acting like him most of the time.

     The way we are preserved from the evil one is by sanctification. Men who get out in the bush in their thinking and become all tangled up in the theological thicket talk about this as "a second work of grace." They have an idea that divine lightning strikes once and regenerates you, then zaps you again and sanctifies you. I am afraid you'll have to excuse me from such nicely-timed computerized distinctions which have been dreamed up to bolster a well-planned set of opinions which, in the final analysis, are filmy fantasies.

     The apostles were to be set apart from the world in which they lived by being in the truth. To be in the truth while in the world is to be different. That is what holiness or sanctification is all about. A sanctified person is one who is different. The thing that makes him different is that he belongs to God. He is consecrated. The table of shewbread in the tabernacle was sanctified, not because of its construction, material or design, but because it was God's table. It was consecrated to God's service. Sanctified people are not holy because they are in the world, but because they are not of it.

     Of course, every word that God has spoken is true. God never uttered a falsehood. It is impossible for him to lie. But when Jesus talks in this prayer about the word which is truth, he is not talking about the thirty-nine books of old covenant scripture, nor the twenty-seven books of new covenant scripture. The latter had not been written, and he was asking the Father to sanctify the envoys then, so that when he was no longer with them to keep them, they would be safe against the evil one.

     The word about which he spoke, which would set them apart, was the word he had given them (verse 14). It was the truth about himself, his divine origin and commission. It was this which severed them from the world. It was this in which they must be kept. The term good news, or gospel, is applied to this word. It is the good news about Jesus and what God has done for us through him. The gospel can never be separated from the person of Jesus. He is the good news just as he is the truth. To receive the gospel is to receive Jesus. To be committed unto the truth is to commit one's life and being to him.

     This was not an admonition to men on earth but a prayer to the Father in heaven. It is an indication that heaven is deeply concerned about our oneness. In view of the magnitude of that concern we should analyze carefully what Jesus said and determine our responsibility in helping to answer the prayer.

     The desire of our Lord is that all who believe in him be one. This precludes any attempt at creating a coalition of so-called "world religions." Wild ecumenical dreamers who think of uniting all men under an umbrella of fellowship, allowing them to maintain their speculative philosophies in denial of the uniqueness of Christ have no right to quote this prayer as if it gave any credence to their fantastic theories. Belief in Jesus Christ as the Son of God is the dividing line across which men must come to be a part of this prayer.

     Belief in Jesus is the response of the honest heart to the apostolic proclamation. That proclamation is the gospel, the good news, the announcement of the historical facts about the Word who was made flesh. As Paul said in the synagogue at Pisidian Antioch, "And we bring you the good news that what God had promised to the fathers, this he has fulfilled to us their children by raising Jesus." The apostolic word which led men to believe was that God had fulfilled his promises in the person of Jesus.

     In view of the fact that the apostles wrote some of the letters addressed to communities of saints and individuals, I once thought in my partisan heart, that Jesus had in mind the whole scriptural canon which later evolved through God's grace, when he spoke of believing in him "through their word." As a result, I considered those who did not see everything in those letters as we did, as being unbelievers. Regardless of how firmly one believed in the Sonship and Messiahship of Jesus, if he did not denounce as sinful such things as instrumental music or orphan home institutions, he was not a believer, and there was no way in which we could express oneness with him.

     As I regard this childish and immature rationalization from more sober heights attained by intense prayer and study, it seems incredible that I ever entertained such ideas, much less mouthing them publicly. The apostolic doctrine was not written to make believers. It was written to those who were believers. Not one apostolic letter was ever written to those out of Christ, although, as Dr. James Macknight points out, the Roman letter was apparently to be read to and shared with some of the citizens of the capital of the great Empire. We do not believe in Jesus because we read the apostolic letters. We read the apostolic letters and apply them to our lives because we believe in Jesus.

     We are one in Christ, and it is the word which brings us into Christ which makes us one. That word is the gospel. When we come into him who is the truth we obligate ourselves to accept all truth as it becomes known unto us. But we are not made one by the amount of truth to which we are exposed or which we can assimilate. Unity can never be achieved by conformity to or knowledge of a certain level of doctrine, for no two people on earth possess the same degree of knowledge. We become one by faith predicated upon historical facts and not by doctrinal attainment. Jesus is our peace. He has made us one. He raised us up together and made us sit together in heavenly places.

     One is not an unbeliever because he disagrees with me about music or the millennium. He is an unbeliever when he denies Christ. A believer may disagree with me about many things, but his inability to share my deductions, opinions or interpretations does not negate his faith in Jesus. The prayer of Jesus is not for the oneness of those who share the same doctrinal insights but for those who believe in him. Faith in the testimony concerning Jesus brings us together. I refuse to destroy that togetherness by setting up another creed. Jesus

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Christ is my only creed. I am in Christ with every other person on this earth who is in him. I am in Christ with some who eat meats and some who will not. I am in Christ with some who esteem one day above another and with some who esteem every day, alike. I am in Christ with some who hold that Jesus will come before the millennium, with some who think the millennium will come before Jesus, and with others who couldn't even spell millennium without looking it up in the dictionary.

     We must face up to the fact that oneness must be viewed from two different aspects. There is the unity derived from God and a demonstration of it arrived at by us. The first is unity impressed upon us by the Spirit, the second is unity expressed by us through the Spirit. The first is invisible, the second is visible. It is this for which Jesus prayed, because it is something that can be seen by the world and which will lead the world to believe that God sent Jesus. Here is where we have miserably failed. We have allowed our views of things to become more important than belief in the Son. The world has seen this and formed a very shallow view of the importance of faith. A faith which will not cause men to adhere to one another when differences of opinion arise is wholly unsuited to men in the flesh.

     I must confess another error of which I was once guilty. If you think I am doing a lot of confessing, please remember I was wrong about a lot of things. I still am, of course, but I will change as I learn better. Jesus prayed for believers to be one "even as thou, Father, art in me, and I in thee." When I was factional and equated as faithful and loyal only those who saw partisan issues as we did, I construed this to mean absolute doctrinal conformity. I reasoned that Jesus did not disagree with God about any matter. God and Jesus were both amillennial, and both lined up unequivocally against the missionary society and instrumental music, while favoring multiple cups in the Lord's Supper and classes for teaching the Bible.

     I would feel even more humiliated with my former ignorance if I did not now realize that this is a necessary fruit of the party spirit, whether the party is political or religious in nature. I knew an old man down home who thought that God was a Republican and only allowed Democrats to get in office like he sent the Assyrians to punish Israel for their sins. In our faction I suspect we thought that Indianapolis occupied the same status under the new covenant as Jerusalem did under the old. I shall never forget the shock I felt when I learned of those who thought of Nashville or Abilene the same way. I thought the kingdom had been captured by aliens.

     Of course, I still believe there are no differences of "opinion" between the Father and Son, because they do not operate on the basis of either faith or opinion, seeing they both possess perfect knowledge. It is absurd to make a comparison between finite and infinite minds and expect the first to conform in knowledge because the latter is able to do so. We show our finiteness by contriving such irrational ideas. There is no difference of opinion between God and Christ simply because they are omniscient. Although it may come as a surprise to some, our brethren in the flesh are not all-seeing, all-wise and all-knowing. If you think they are, ask their wives!

     As human beings apply their minds to God's revelation there will be differences in their deductions and they will never see everything alike! Never! God has made us with diverse mental powers and characteristics as varied as our facial features. We can no more all think alike than we can all look alike. Any person who postulates unity in Christ upon uniformity of opinion, interpretation or doctrinal understanding is disseminating division and sowing schism. The only unity possible for men on earth is unity in diversity! There never was any other kind! There never will be any other kind! It is sheer demagoguery to hold out a hope that your faction will some day line up every believer in the Lord Jesus Christ, and that men and angels

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will cast their crowns down and surrender to the party chieftains.

     Jesus and the Father are individuals. The unity for which Jesus prayed was that of individuals. Every believer should be joined to every other believer in this whole wide world as the Father and Son are joined to each other. Ours is not an organizational unity at all. We are not joined to Jesus because we are in the church. We are in the church because we are joined to Jesus. To condition our fellowship upon partisan alliance is to be guilty of a work of the flesh Jesus did not die to establish a faction to promote a certain millennial view. He did not suffer on the cross to create an anti-instrument party, or an instrument party either. He is not head of a Sunday-school faction or of an opposing huddle. He is the head of the whole body, the called-out ones, and every saved person on this earth is in that body. I am one with all of them. In spite of their hostility, antagonism and divergent views, I am joined to them by the love shed abroad in my heart by the Holy Spirit. I want the world to judge me on the basis of my love for the brethren. I want to use this as the criterion of my discipleship.

     Jesus and the Father are one because they possess a divine nature. I do not think men can ever be one as the Father and Son are one until they become partakers of the divine nature. So long as they are under the influence of the lower nature they will gratify the desires of the flesh. They will follow "enmity, strife, jealousy, anger, selfishness, dissension, party spirit and envy." It is only when they have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires that they will know "love, joy, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control." But cheer up! Do not be discouraged!

     The divine power has granted to us all things that pertain to life and godliness. All of this is through knowledge of Christ who has called us to his own glory and excellence. By knowing Christ we have life. By experiencing him we have godliness. All of this is the result of a divine power grant. Every contingency is covered. Nothing is lacking. There is no fine print. We are called to share in his splendor. We are called to share in his excellence. But there is more, much more.

     The divine grant is even broader in scope. Listen! "By which he has granted to us his precious and very great promises, that through these you may escape from the corruption that is in the world because of passion, and become partakers of the divine nature." The fellowship of the divine nature! Sharing the common life of the divine nature! What a mind-boggling thought. But that is the way those who believe in Jesus through the apostolic testimony can become one as the Father and Son are one!

     That they also may be one in us! I praise God for this revelation! The only place we can ever be one is in Christ. We will never be one politically, economically, or philosophically. We will never be one racially, socially, or nationally. The only way we can be one is to be in a state which transcends all of these, that is, to be in a realm where all of these exist but where none of them make any difference. Every political, economical or philosophical scheme to produce unity is doomed to failure. Every racial, social, national or international program to achieve equality in the flesh will come to naught. Only when men put on Christ, only when they are in him, are they one. "For as many of you as have been baptized into Christ have put on Christ. There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free, there is neither male nor female; for you are all one in Christ Jesus" (Galatians 3:27,28).

     This does not mean there are no Jews in Jesus. There are many such. The writer of the letter to the Galatians was one of them. It does not mean there were no Greeks in Jesus. Certainly there were both slaves and free men in Jesus. There were males and females in Jesus. But such distinctions had no relevance. No one was accepted because he was a Jew, no one was rejected because he was a Greek. Racial, social and sexual differences amounted to nothing. There is

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unity in Christ because here every person in the flesh meets on a common level. All have sinned and come short of the glory of God. The master and the slave are sinners. The man and the woman are sinners. The Jew and the Greek are sinners. All of them must be baptized into Christ. All must put on Christ. The only real oneness there is on this earth is in Christ. One in Christ! What a theme!

     Such unity is wonderful. Its overt expression is glorious. But it is not an end in itself. Unity of believers is a means to an end. It must never become the ultimate goal. The purpose of oneness in Christ is to lead the world to believe in him. Back about 1860, John Harris, an Anglican, wrote in The Divided Church Made One, these words, "Having implored the unity of his disciples as essential to the final success of his Gospel, we cannot expect the end independent of the means, without impugning his wisdom, and hope that his prayer may be forgotten." We must find a way to express our unity or settle for a lost world. The world will be won to believe in Christ, when those in the world who believe in Christ are one! It is just that simple!

     We can do something about the divisions inherited from our fathers who lived in days more crude and cruel than these. We need not perpetuate strife. We need not keep old feuds aflame by heaping new fuel upon them. Let us cross back and forth over the artificial barriers men have thrown up. Let us ignore the walls created by fear and cemented with hostility. There are no obstructions for you except those which you allow to grow in your own heart.

     Do not be a pawn for a party, to be moved and manipulated by men for selfish gain and unwarranted pride. Let love be your arbiter. Let the indwelling Spirit be your strength. This is no time for craven cowardice. Be a bold adventurer for the freedom for which Christ set us free. Do not change your allegiance from one party to another party. Do not confuse association with endorsement. Think for yourself! Speak for yourself! Act for yourself! But think, speak and act under his lordship to whom you must give an account. Allow no other person to be the lord of your life and do not seek to become a lord over the life of any other person.

     There is a crying need for peacemakers. Do not expect others to do what you are unwilling to attempt. Peace is not an accident. It has to be made. Match your prayers with your effort. Do not just read the prayer of Jesus for oneness. Start to answer and implement it. Regardless of what it costs you to labor for peace, it will cost you infinitely more not to work for it!