Part 10 Understanding Unity Part 2

Part 10 Understanding Unity Part 2

John 17:11

And now I am no more in the world, but these are in the world, and I come to thee. Holy Father, keep through thine own name those whom thou hast given me, that they may be one, as we are.

Jesus prayed that we would be one (with the Lord) as He was one with the Father.

Jesus was one with the Father and His desire is that we would be one with the Father just as He was.

The Greek word for ONE in John 17:11 simply means one, the numeric 1.  It is not the combination of two elements. This is important for us to understand and is fundamental to our understanding of unity. If you mix the colour red with the colour blue you end up with a different colour, the two are not unified they both have become different. You see, God will not become one with us we have to become one with Him.

God showed His abhorrence for mixture in various ways.

Deuteronomy 22:9	Thou shalt not sow thy vineyard with divers seeds: lest the fruit of thy seed which thou hast sown, and the fruit of thy vineyard, be defiled.
10	Thou shalt not plow with an ox and an ass together.
11	Thou shalt not wear a garment of divers sorts, as of woollen and linen together.
Leviticus 19:19	Ye shall keep my statutes. Thou shalt not let thy cattle gender with a diverse kind: thou shalt not sow thy field with mingled seed: neither shall a garment mingled of linen and woollen come upon thee.

You are predestined to became like Jesus

Romans 8:29

For whom he did foreknow, he also did predestinate to be conformed to the image of his Son, that he might be the firstborn among many brethren.

We are to become like Him: I hear many of you say; “oh well when I get to heaven I will be changed”  Yes you will but you will have missed out on your destiny and purpose of becoming like Him while we are still here on planet earth in the flesh.

Jesus is coming for a perfect bride

The Apostle Paul prayed this:  Gal 4:19  My little children, of whom I travail in birth again until Christ be formed in you, ( Paul was talking about here and now not in eternity)

Jesus said:

Matthew 5:48	Be ye therefore perfect, even as your Father which is in heaven is perfect.
John 17:21	That they all may be one; as thou, Father, art in me, and I in thee, that they also may be one in us: that the world may believe that thou hast sent me.
John 17:23	I in them, and thou in me, that they may be made perfect in one; and that the world may know that thou hast sent me, and hast loved them, as thou hast loved me.

 You say well I will never attain to that kind of perfection it must mean something else! Isn’t it funny when we see something in God’s word that seems impossible we draw the conclusion’ it must mean something else.

You cannot change yourself

No matter how hard we try we cannot become like Jesus. However you can strongly desire to be like Him and make choices that will put you into a position where you can be changed.

Jesus said this

Matthew 11:28	Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.
29	Take my yoke upon you, and learn of me; for I am meek and lowly in heart: and ye shall find rest unto your souls.
30	For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.

Are you sick of trying, finding it is just too hard? Jesus said COME TO ME and I will give you rest.

Stop trying, stop doing and just surrender to the Lord

Jesus said take His yoke upon you; what is this yoke? Well a yoke is something that binds you to something else. When you yoke two oxen together they are joined and cant get away from each other they are yoked. Jesus wants you to come to Him and stay close to Him and let Him change you, only then can you find rest to your soul.

This is a choice

You must choose to come to the Lord and stay close to Him; how do you do that?

Jesus said in verse 29 Learn of me ; what are we to learn from Him?  for I am meek and lowly in heart. You see only those who know, really know that they cannot make it without Him will actual make it.  Meekness implies no resistance, Lowliness or humility implies that you cannot do it on your own.

The secret key

You are not changed by your own efforts; you are change by exposure to the presence of the Lord. It is not in doing that change comes it is in being, being in His presence. Bookstores are full of self improvement courses that teach how to change yourself. This new age humanism is not new at all Cain found that out to his demise.

Humanism has a powerful hold in the church, it infiltrates many of the major doctrines of the bible such as; Faith, Sanctification, Holiness, etc. We need to have it drilled into us that, only Jesus can change you, and this requires just being close to him and as He makes His will known to us we obey and go on keeping close to Him.

The Pharisees could not get this at all; Jesus said this to them.

John 5:39	Search the scriptures; for in them ye think ye have eternal life: and they are they which testify of me.
40	And ye will not come to me, that ye might have life.

The Pharisees studied the scriptures were experts in the Law but were dead spiritually. Jesus said to them there is no real life outside of you coming to me.

If you are going to become like Him you must spend quality time with Him

It’s not enough to have a quick time of prayer in the morning and maybe a quick time at night. You must spend time with him.

Jesus said COME TO ME TAKE MY YOKE UPON YOU.  The yoke is being with Him and obeying Him, the rest is up to the Lord.  It takes time to be with Jesus, quality time, if you are not prepared to spend quality time with Him you will not change.

Jesus made it easy:  but will you do it?  It takes time to be alone with the Lord waiting for His conscious presence to come and then staying in the aura of His presence. It is when you are in the conscious presence of the Lord that cleansing, renewing, healing, and change begins to happen. You cannot be with Jesus and remain the same

2 Corinthians 3:18

But we all, with open face beholding as in a glass the glory of the Lord, are changed into the same image from glory to glory, even as by the Spirit of the Lord.

This union with the Lord brings us more and more into unity with Him, as we begin to change the unity we have with Him increases until our heart and mind become one united in the Lord. As we are exposed to the light that emanates from the Lord deep changes begin to take place almost unnoticeable at first, but something is happening deep within you as your spirit takes on more light and begins to direct that light and power through you.  You begin to change from the inside out.

2 Corinthians 4:6

For God, who commanded the light to shine out of darkness, hath shined in our hearts, to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ.

God Bless youN Johnson © January 18th 2007