• Introduction (1) (2)
• Part One: True Unity has a Focused Nature
• Part Two:  True Unity has a Heavenly Nature
• Part Three:  True Unity has a Spiritual Nature
• Part Four: True Unity has a Visible Nature
• Part Five:  True Unity has a Missional Nature
• Part Six: True Unity has a Progressive Nature
• Conclusion

“Then I looked, and I heard around the throne and the living creatures and the elders and the vice of many angels, numbering myriads and myriads and thousands and thousands, saying with a loud voice, ‘Worthy is the Lamb who was slain, to receive power and wealth and wisdom and might and honor and glory and blessing!’  And I heard every creature in heaven and on the earth and under the earth and in the sea, and all that is in them, saying, ‘To Him who sits on the throne and to the Lamb be blessing and honor and glory and might forever and ever!’  And the four living creatures said, ‘Amen!’ and the elders fell down and worshiped” (Revelation 5:11-14).

“ransomed for God from every tribe and language and people and nation, and you have made them a kingdom and priests to our God, and they shall reign on the earth” (v. 9).

“True and meaningful unity must of necessity begin with God and not with men – even those who are redeemed.  So much fragmentation has been caused and so many attempts at reunion have floundered because that order has been reversed.  The unity of the church, as much as any other aspect of its life, comes under the sovereign lordship of the Triune God. 

"The ultimate purpose of God the Father, the ultimate achievement of God the Son and the end-point of God the Holy Spirit’s sanctifying work is that in the corporate life of God’s people they shall be perfectly one. 

"Despite all the failures, frustrations and disappointments we experience in this world and in this present age, the future oneness of the church is guaranteed by divine decree and accomplishment.  But insofar as the church is comprised of those who ‘have tasted…the powers of the age to come’ (Heb. 6:4-5), that future certainty only becomes present possibility and reality the more we look to God. 

By making God, as opposed to unity, our focus, we are not only encouraged in the face of what appears to be the impossible, we are also impelled, in dependence upon Christ and his Spirit and obedience to God and his command, to pursue this enriching fellowship of the saints which is bound up with the very essence of salvation.  The God to whom we look and upon whom e depend will then lead us by the means he has provided to make that union and communion an experimental reality in the life of the church.” 

“Too many disputes and differences have been left unresolved on the pretext of there being ‘nothing we can do about it’.  Such excuses simply do not hold water in the sight of God and he will hold us accountable for our unwillingness – as opposed to inability – to do what he expects of us.” 

“The eye of Jesus scans the centuries, and presses to His loving heart all his true followers, as if they had all been saved even at this very moment…[T]he standpoint of the prayer is ideal, viewing future events as if they had already happened.” [2]   

“And I have other sheep that are not of this fold.  I must bring them also, and they will listen to my voice.  So there will be ONE flock, ONE shepherd” (emphasis mine).  

“[Jesus] is speaking, in part, about the oneness that is further perfected as the "other sheep" (10:16) and the "scattered children of God" (11:52) are gathered in.”  [3]

"While evangelicals are great at making discipleship and evangelism a priority they seem unconcerned about the damage they cause in the larger church when they refuse to make visible unity a much higher priority" (http://johnharmstrong.typepad.com/john_h_armstrong_/2011/07/a-global-survey-of-evangelical-leaders-unity-not-a-major-concern.html).  

"A divided Church has no message for a divided world. Our failure to live in reconciled unity is a major obstacle to authenticity and effectiveness in mission. 

"A)    We lament the dividedness and divisiveness of our churches and organizations. We deeply and urgently long for Christians to cultivate a spirit of grace and to be obedient to Paul’s command to ‘make every 

"B)    While we recognize that our deepest unity is spiritual, we long for greater recognition of the missional power of visible, practical, earthly unity. So we urge Christian sisters and brothers worldwide, for the sake of our common witness and mission, to resist the temptation to split the body of Christ, and to seek the paths of reconciliation and restored unity wherever possible" (pp. 65-66).

• The first word in the purpose/result clause is “world.”  It is the same word used way back in John 3:16, and it’s the Greek word kosmos.  God loved the world so much He sent Jesus to save those in it who believe in Him.  
• It would appear then that if God loved the kosmos and saved people in it who believed in Him, according to John 3:16, then God’s plan for bringing people to believe in Him in the future after He’s gone, according to John 17:21 and 23, is the unity of those who already belong to Him.  
• This much Jesus makes crystal clear when He prayed, “As you sent me into the world, so I have sent them into the world” (v. 18).  This means that the very function and purpose of their lives as a unified group of people is to bear witness to the Father and the Son.
• And the most critical means of bearing witness to the Father and the Son is by living in such a way as to be a living-color answer to the prayer Jesus prays for us, about us, in us, and through us.  The means of bearing witness is true, spiritual, visible, missional unity.

“In other words, the amazing transcendent love evident between the Father and the Son is not an exclusive glory that humans must be content only to admire from afar. The love the Father has for Jesus is the same love he has for believers, indeed for the whole world (3:16). For "God is love" (1 Jn 4:8, 16), and "there is only one love of God" (Brown 1970:772).  The believers are to embody this love and thereby provide living proof of God's gracious character, which is his mercy, love and truth. They will be an advertisement, inviting people to join in this union with God. The love of God evident in the church is a revelation that there is a welcome awaiting those who will quit the rebellion and return home. Here is the missionary strategy of this Gospel--the community of disciples, indwelt with God's life and light and love, witnessing to the Father in the Son by the Spirit by word and deed, continuing to bear witness as the Son has done" (Whitacre, Rodney A.  John, The IVP New Testament Commentary Series at http://www.biblegateway.com/resources/commentaries/IVP-NT/John/Jesus-Concludes-Time-Alone).

'Three times Jesus repeated, ‘A new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another.’ Three times Jesus prayed ‘that all of them may be one, Father.’ Both the command and the prayer are missional. ‘By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another.’ ‘May they be brought to complete unity so that the world may know that you sent me.’ Jesus could not have made his point more emphatically. The evangelization of the world and the recognition of Christ’s deity are helped or hindered by whether or not we obey him in practice. The call of Christ and his apostles comes to us afresh: ‘Love one another’; ‘Make every effort to keep the unity of the Spirit through the bond of peace.’ It is for the sake of God’s mission that we renew our commitment to obey this ‘message we heard from the beginning.’ When Christians live in the reconciled unity of love by the power of the Holy Spirit, the world will come to know Jesus, whose disciples we are, and come to know the Father who sent him."

“…walk in a manner worthy of the calling to which you have been called, with all humility and gentleness, with patience, bearing with one another in love, eager to maintain the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace” (vv. 1-3).

“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…” (vv. 4-5).

“The main points in the text seem to be that this oneness is a spiritual reality, derived from sharing in the divine life of the Father and the Son and embodied in a particular community of human beings such that it can be evident to unbelievers. In other words, it is a sacrament, a reality in the human sphere participating in the divine sphere. So this is not simply some invisible church…”  (Whitacre, Rodney A.  John, The IVP New Testament Commentary Series at http://www.biblegateway.com/resources/commentaries/IVP-NT/John/Jesus-Concludes-Time-Alone)

“I do not cease to give thanks for you, remembering you in my prayers, that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give you a spirit of wisdom and of revelation in the knowledge of him…” (vv. 16-17).