Functioning as the Body of Christ

And this place really raves in here. That's awesome. Let's bow our heads for prayer.

! Thank you, Lord.

All that you have in store for us today and the rest of our lives, Lord. Thank you for loving us and caring for us the way you do. Thank you for this privilege to just be in your house and look into your word again.

And I pray, Father, you would just help me to share. Again, Father, not just my heart, but your heart, your truth, your word of truth.

And help me, Lord, to rightly divide your word of truth. And I just pray that you would minister to each heart here tonight according to your will. Let's pray it in the name of Jesus.

Amen. Okay, I want to turn to John 17 tonight. Last night we looked at pressing on to a higher plane and focus more on our personal lives.

Tonight I want to look at just a further place that I just really believe is on the heart of God to bring us as the body of Christ on this earth, being the body of Christ.

I mean, think of that. We can call ourselves a church and we are the church, but we are the body of Christ. And men are going to judge what Christ is like by how we that call ourselves the body of Christ live and how we function and how we, yeah, how we get along, how we love each other and all those things.

And so I just know that there's a higher plane I know that we can find in functioning together as the body of Christ.

And I want to, I want to just look at just a, there's many practical things we could look at tonight, but I want to just look at the prayer of Jesus tonight and hopefully draw from that just some things that can help us to be one with each other, to function together, to appreciate each other and to love each other.

And that's just a, to be one with each other.

Father, the hour is come, glorify thy son and thy son also should may go that thy son also may glorify thee as thou has given him power over all flesh that he should give eternal life to as many as thou has given him.

And this is eternal life, that they may know thee, the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom thou hast sent. Wow, that is, let me read that again.

And this is eternal life. In the Amplifies, it says, it means to know. Again, here's that thought of knowing that we touched on last night.

To perceive, to recognize, to be acquainted with, and understand you. Jesus is saying this to the Father.

This is what eternal life is. If we perceive, recognize, become acquainted with, and understand the Father, the only true and real God, and likewise to know him, Jesus, as the Christ, the anointed one, the Messiah, whom you have sent.

I have glorified thee on the earth. In verse 4, I have finished the work which thou gavest me to do. And now, O Father, glorify thou me with thine own self, with the glory which I had with thee before the world was.

And then verse 6, I have manifested thy name unto the men which thou gavest me out of the world. Thine they were, and thou gavest them me, and they have kept thy word.

Now they have known that all things whatsoever thou hast given me are of thee. For I have given unto them the words which thou gavest me, and they have received them, and have known surely that I come out from thee, and they have believed that thou didst send me.

Maybe I'll read on here a couple more. I pray for them. I just love that thought of Jesus. Jesus is like he knows he's about to leave.

And the disciples, these men are going to be there, left there. And just his heart. I just love that phrase. I pray for them.

You know, Jesus, he still is the intercessor, and he still prays for us. I just, I believe tonight, Jesus is praying to the Father for us.

Just the, I don't know, that just impacts me. I pray for them. Do we need the prayer of Jesus?

Absolutely. How much we need his prayer, his intercession. I pray not for the world, but for them which thou hast given me, for they are thine.

And all mine are thine, and thine are mine, and I am glorified in them. Just a few thoughts here with this.

Look at, look at, look what, look how Jesus saw his disciples who in a few hours were going to, one was going to betray him.

One was going to deny that he never, he never ever knew Jesus. And the rest of the ten were going to completely forsake him. And Jesus knew that.

Jesus told them that they're all going to forsake him. And this is now a few hours before this is going to happen.

And Jesus, look how he saw his disciples. And look how he's telling his, the Father what he thinks of his disciples.

That, to me, this is so, this is so precious. He said, they believe in you, they believe my words.

I mean, if I look at, if we evaluate how we've seen the disciples right then, I don't know how good of impression we would have.

And yet Jesus is just, in one sense, he's just bragging up this lot of men that were just about ready to completely turn their back on him.

And yet Jesus seen something in them that many times we do not see. And I, the reason I, this speaks to me, I, I believe there's some keys in here.

About how we see each other. Like these, we look at them as just being unfaithful and unbelieving and, you know, just being contrary so many times or whatever.

But Jesus doesn't say anything like that to the Father. He's seen something else in these men. And I, I just, the, the heart of Jesus for his people is, I think, like there's no way we can comprehend that.

And this, this prayer brings that out in such an incredible way that I just trust tonight that somehow the Holy Spirit can help us get somewhat of a glimpse of the heart of Jesus for his people.

And, again, I believe if we can get, if we can somehow get the glimpse of the heart of Jesus to his people.

And then realize how Jesus sees maybe someone in the church or whatever that we struggle with. I, I, I, I just believe if we can somehow see how Jesus sees us collectively, it can help us to see each other in the light of Jesus instead of in the light of how we just judge each other so many times.

When we were, when we were, when we were back east there the other Sunday with the, at the tent meetings, after the minister's meeting, Raynald stayed for the weekend.

And he shared a little bit Sunday morning before I preached. And I want to just share just something that he shared because it convicted me so, so much.

In Psalms 100, and it just, I thought of this in connection with what Jesus is praying to the Father. In Psalms 139. He read out of, he was just talking about how great God is.

Out of Psalms 139. And in verse 17 and 18. How precious also are thy thoughts unto me, O God.

How great is the sum of them. If I should count them, they are more in number than the sand. When I awake, I'm still with thee. And he, he, he had some kind of statistics of how many grains of sand are in.

And, and he had all, and yeah, it was just, it was just mind-blowing what he was talking about. If you really think, the psalmist, and he, he emphasized that God cannot lie.

So this is true. He, he has more good thoughts. More precious thoughts. And, and the point that Rayna made out of this is, like, you know, this says towards me.

This is, God is thinking these precious thoughts toward me. And the comment he made then is, God is also thinking those precious thoughts toward you.

And our brothers and sisters. And how terrible it is if we have these evil thoughts toward a brother.

When at the same time, God is thinking precious thoughts toward my brother. I was like, wow. That was like, you know, critical thoughts and thinking bad of someone or whatever.

And just let that, let that hit you the way it hit me. Because since, I, I sometimes lose track of that. But I think of that over and over when I want to speak something maybe or whatever against someone.

Or just criticize or whatever. Think about that what God is thinking toward that person is precious thoughts. And then here we puff ourselves.

He didn't say all this. But here we lift ourselves up and are critical and judge a person. And think evil thoughts when God is thinking precious thoughts. So, and that's what I, when I read this the other morning.

In, just in my reading, I read this. And I was just like, look at the precious thoughts that Jesus is praying to the Father about these men.

And how he's lifting them up and affirming them to the Father. And confirming their faith in him and their belief in him.

And in a few hours they're going to turn his back on him. And yet it didn't, it didn't change anything in the thoughts of Jesus towards these men, his disciples. Oh, a higher plane than I have found.

I want to take a step, a higher step in how I think and how I speak about my brothers. And how I think toward them.

Because with the realization that God is thinking precious thoughts toward them. And how would it be, how would it be in body life. If we would start thinking about each other the way God is thinking about us.

We, we love that thought that he's thinking precious thoughts about me. And I, I think he is. So, but he's also thinking precious thoughts about you.

And so, if we can, if we can have the mind of Christ and think the same thoughts that he's thinking toward each other. Wouldn't that, wouldn't that take a lot of conflict out of body life?

If our only thoughts toward each other were just precious thoughts. We'd see each other in the light that Jesus sees us. And I could just, I could just see how that would, that would make church such a breath of fresh air.

And that would be so powerful. That would show the world Jesus in such an incredible way. The world would see Jesus.

And so, yeah, that, that, oh, that, that just so challenged me. Thank you. Okay. Okay.

Verse, let me go back to John 17. And Jesus, oh, the love.

I just, I just trust that the, the spirit of truth can just somehow reveal to our hearts the love of Jesus.

For his church, for his people. Verse 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. And again, we have Jesus, forget how many times in this chapter he talks about being one.

And so, again, notice the burden of Jesus Christ. One of his last prayers to the Father before he went to the cross. His last prayer, I think before he went into the garden of Gethsemane and was agonizing there under the weight of the sins of the world being laid on him.

Again, his concern was not for himself. His concern was for his people. His disciples. Again, it's not for his people. That God would keep them through thine own name those whom thou hast given me, that they may be one as we are.

Again, it's not our standard, but it's his standard, the standard of the oneness that the Father and the Son had.

Verse 12. While I was with them in the world, I kept them in thy name. Those thou hast given me, I have kept.

And none of them is lost, but the son of perdition, that the scripture might be fulfilled. So, just in my notes here, I wrote, one aspect of unity is the knowledge and the worship of God that we together collectively do.

We are together. We together are the fathers. Look how Jesus tells the Father that you've given them to me and you've put your name on them.

And I have kept them in your name. I've kept them as yours. And again, he says twice there, he's kept them.

And none of them is lost, but the son of perdition, which was Judas. Our focus as the body of Christ is being pleasing to the Father. Each part is of the Father.

We are the fathers. Jesus has given us his name and the Father has put his name on us.

And we belong to the Father. The Father sees each one of us as we are his. And again, the reason I emphasize that is because do we see each other as the fathers?

We're all the fathers together. We are all in the Father. We are all in the Son. If Jesus lives in our hearts, we are Christ and we are the fathers.

And we're all one in the Father. And again, you know, maybe someone does something that crosses us a little bit or we don't understand or whatever.

Do we see them outside of the Father or do we see them as one with us in the Father and in the Son? And in that way, we love each other and we help each other.

And we don't criticize each other even though at times we fail each other. Do you understand what I mean? Knowing that this brother and sister, they are as much a part of the Father and the Son as I am.

So we're one in this. We're one together in this. And if one fails, our love needs to cover that. Our love needs to, you know, try to correct and see each other and continue to work together and function together as one.

The Father sees each one of us as his. As we worship him, we are one. We are all in his name. We're all called by his name.

And we've been given his surname, so to speak, that identifies us all with his. We know with our last name, our surname that identifies us in a family.

We have been given God's name, the Father's name. He's given us his name. And in that reality, we are the Fathers. We're all children of the Father.

We all belong to the Father. We're sons and daughters of the Father through the Lord Jesus Christ. Verse 13.

And now come I to thee, and these things I speak in the world, that they may have my joy fulfilled in themselves. I love this thought, too. The Amplified says, now I'm coming to you.

I say these things while I'm still in the world, so that my joy may be full and complete and perfect in them. That they may experience my delight fulfilled in them.

That my enjoyment may be perfected in their souls. That they may have my gladness within them filling their hearts. And I'm not sure what all Jesus meant by that.

But it almost, I think one aspect of the enjoyment and the delight that Jesus is talking about is for his disciples.

He enjoyed his disciples. He was delighted in these men that God had given him as his own to be his disciples. And I know, you know, I know Jesus had to tell Peter, get thee behind me, Satan.

And, you know, I know there must have been times of frustration if Jesus ever got frustrated. I don't know if he did or not. But he had to correct them and so on. And yet it seems like what he's telling the Father is, I so enjoy these men that you've given me.

I have so much delight in my heart. For them. And I want them to know that. I want them to experience the joy that I have in my own heart.

Toward them when I'm gone. That they also would have. I think one thing we can maybe say is that they could enjoy each other. The way I have enjoyed them.

That they could delight in each other's fellowship and company. And working together the way I have found joy and delight in working with them. Again, what a way to look at body life.

Working together as a body instead of frustration with each other. And why did he think that? And why did she say that? I don't know.

Maybe you guys don't do any of that. Or none of that goes through your minds or whatever. But after all, I think we all are kind of, we're all people.

And I think we all do have some of the same tendencies. So. Jesus, I believe, is imparting here.

He's asking the Father to impart his joy and delight that he had in his disciples. And I just love that thought. Verse 14.

I have given them thy word and the world has hated them. Because they are not of the world, even as I am not of the world. Wow.

That's one aspect of being the body of Christ. One thing we must keep clear, that we are not of the world. And because of that, the world is not going to necessarily respect and honor us.

I pray not that thou shouldest take them out of the world, but that thou shouldest keep them from the evil. They are not of the world, even as I am not of the world.

Sanctify them through thy truth. Thy word is truth. As thou hast sent me into the world, even so have I also sent them into the world.

And for their sakes, I sanctify myself that they also might be sanctified through the truth. And then verse 20.

Neither pray I for these alone, but for them also, which shall believe on me through their name. So not only has Christ prayed for them, but he's prayed for us.

That they may, 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. And I want to just say tonight that our personal testimony and witness is important.

But I believe there's a far greater testimony and a witness that goes out to the world that proves the reality of Jesus Christ.

And that is when the body of Christ functions together as one. Jesus said when that happens, then the world will know that God has sent Jesus into the world.

Our unity is based on the fact that we are one in the Father and the Son. We all share his glory and his honor.

I think maybe in the Amplified it said something about his, I'm not seeing that now. Maybe that's on down yet, Father.

Father. But anyhow. Jesus literally brings us into the intimate relationship that the Father and the Son have.

Have towards each other. And Jesus is bringing us into that intimate relationship with them. That we can be one with them.

And then that we can be one with each other. He has opened himself and brought each of us into this union, this eternal bond.

And he has included us as being one with him. And this is almost an unfathomable thought here.

If you really think about it. That they may be one in us. Oh yeah, verse 22 there. He says, and the glory which thou hast given me, I have given them.

So Jesus, the glory that he has. That they may be one even as we are one. And so Jesus is willing to share the glory that he had with us.

And somehow that sharing that glory and honor with us. He's telling the Father, I'm sharing the glory you gave me. I'm sharing that with them so that they can be one.

Just, there's somehow, there is to be this deep spiritual bond and unity that happens.

With brothers and sisters as we are together in the body of Christ. And I just trust that God could help us just go deeper in that.

Verse 23. Well, let me, let me catch my notes up here with this. The Father now sees us one with Christ.

Do we understand that? God sees you as one with Christ. He doesn't see you separate from Christ. You are one with Christ.

Because Jesus has opened himself up and brought us into the unity that him and the Father had together. And he's saying, he's saying, those that his disciples them and those that would believe that they could be brought into this eternal unity together.

So God doesn't see us separate from Christ. We are completely counted in him. This is how much Christ has opened himself up to us.

How is it that it's so difficult to see others as one in him? We are not only one in Christ, but he is in us and the Father in the Son.

So we can be one as God and Jesus are one. We are to be perfectly united so the world may know that Jesus.

Well, in verse 23 then. I in them and thou in me, that they may be made perfect in one, that the world may know that thou hast sent me and hast loved them as thou hast loved me.

So Jesus, Jesus is telling the Father that I love them as you love me.

And do we, do we understand how that can be a foundation for how we love each other? Jesus loves me the way the Father loved Jesus.

And Jesus loves you the way the Father loved Jesus. And I need to see that. I need to believe that. We need to see in each other how much Jesus loves not only me, but each of us together.

I think that is so much the foundation for being able to love each other as the body. And function together and work together as the body of Christ.

When we don't get along with each other, we're in essence telling the world that Jesus doesn't love my brother the way that he loved the Father.

That the Father loved him. Because we're not able to get along with each other. And that's, that makes the world think that Jesus maybe just had favorites or just loves a few.

Or I don't know what it makes them think. But Jesus clearly says here twice that the world may know that he is the one that was sent into the world. By our oneness and by the way that we love each other.

And again, I just see this as such a incredible foundation here for unity and oneness and love.

The world needs to see that Jesus loves his people. The same way that the Father loved Christ.

That there's no difference between the way the love the Father had to Christ and the love that Christ has for us. There's no difference in that. And wow, if you struggle tonight with condemnation or wondering where the Lord is at, just get a hold of this truth.

Jesus loves you with the exact same love that he was loved with, that the Father loved him with. And that is, wow, that is incredible.

So, in 1 Corinthians 12, 18. Maybe I'll read verse 13 too.

For by one spirit are we all baptized into one body, whether we be Jews or Gentiles, whether we be bond or free, and have all made to drink into one spirit.

Down in verse 19. But now hath God set the members, every one of them, in the body as it hath pleased him. So, one aspect of being one and this foundation of unity, I believe it has to be based on who each of us is in Christ.

We need to see that I need to be one with my brother because God has included him in the body just as well as me.

And so, I need to see that I'm no better than him and that we're together as one.

And also that, again, the foundation of unity is based on who each of us is in Christ and how God has placed us in Christ for a specific purpose and function.

It is not that we learn to agree in everything and see eye to eye in everything. That's not the oneness, the unity that he's talking about because we're going to see things different.

But if I can see that whether even though there's a difference, my brother was placed in the body of Christ by the Father and sat there by the will of the Father as well as I am.

And so, our unity is based on that God has put both of us in the body of Christ. And if we think of that way and if we believe that, we can see that there is a way that we can be one.

There's a way that we can work things out and we can work through things because my brother and my sister have been placed in the body as well as I have by God.

I want to just, I don't know why I put this in my notes, but the leadership here didn't put themselves into position or the church didn't.

I believe the leadership here that God set, the leadership in place has pleased him. And each one of you that are part of this, I mean, one thing I think we fail to see is the context of the whole body of Christ.

I mean, we are part of our brothers and sisters that Reggie and them are bringing to the Lord in India.

We are part of a family, a body that is, that we've been placed into by God through Jesus Christ of believers around the world.

And we practice things different, we see things different or whatever, but the thing that makes us one is we have all been placed into that body by the plan and the will and the purpose of God.

For us, a specific purpose. And, you know, how important that is in just like the local expression here of the body of Christ, that God has put you in the body for a, the leadership has their purpose, but every one of us has a specific purpose that you're here for.

And if, if any one of us does not fulfill that purpose, then there's something lacking, not just that something maybe didn't get done. There's actually something lacking of the ministry of Jesus that could be included in the body that is not if we don't take our place.

If we don't function in the reason, the purpose that God placed us in the body. The things that we, the gifts and the callings that we have in the body are not something we choose, it's something that God chose for us.

And it is all a measure of life and ministry that worked in Jesus Christ. And Jesus has divided that out to his body.

And all of us that are born again have some actual ministry of Jesus that we are called to fulfill together in the body.

And when the body functions like it should, when we're in unity and when we love each other, when that love is flowing, when we're just one in heart, one in spirit, one knowing that, yes, my brother and sister, they're not perfect, but they are a part of the body of Christ by the work of Jesus Christ and by the work of the spirit.

The spirit has baptized. The spirit has baptized. I mean, you've been baptized into the body of Christ. And when we can see each other in the light of the way Jesus sees us, like he's saying this about these disciples that just a couple hours before this, we're arguing about who's going to be the greatest.

And who's going to have the highest seat and who's going to sit on one side and the other and the kingdom and all of that. I mean, right before they got into this meeting, they're arguing about that.

And yet what Jesus seen in them, and somehow this just impacted me in a way that I don't think I've ever seen. What Jesus seen in them is not what they weren't, but he's seen what they were by his work and by his grace and that they believed in him.

And in spite of who they were outside and the work of sanctification, the things that needed to happen, Jesus didn't talk about any of that to the father. What he talked to the father about is, in essence, how one they could be and how much the love that he's telling the father, the love that you and I have shared with each other.

In essence, he's saying they're going to share that now with each other. The same love that the father and the son enjoy, they're going to enjoy with each other.

And I tell you, if we could lay down some of the things that trip us up and really just ask the Lord, Lord, help me to see my brother and sister through your eyes.

Help me to see what you were seeing in them when you prayed for them before you died. He prayed for us here before he died. And he's seen something.

He's seen the potential that being one together spiritually and the love that would flow through that, how that would impact the world, that they would believe in Jesus.

Wow, it's so amazing. Again, God placed you in the body of Christ as pleased him.

You and your gifting are unique. Each of you have a God-ordained place to fill. Again, the prayer is for us that we would be one.

Just think of that. The prayer of Jesus tonight for us is that we, we look at each other, look around at each other.

We could be one and would be one. We that are here tonight would be one. The impact for the kingdom of God, when that happens, is just amazing.

One so the world can see Jesus. And that the world can see how God has loved each of us as he has loved Jesus.

Can we see how our disunity and wrong attitudes towards each other and our struggling with each other, it shows the world that God doesn't love us equally.

And it also brings a disjointed, handicapped, unattractive, it reveals almost a handicapped, unattractive body of Christ to the world.

In Ephesians 5.30, Paul said, We are his flesh and his bones.

We are his flesh and his bones. We are his flesh and his bones. Yeah, I read verse 22.

The glory God gave to the Son, Jesus is now willing to share with us that we may become one. What was that glory?

Possibly, I don't know for sure, but I think one aspect of that glory was absolutely the abiding presence of the Father that Jesus enjoyed as a man.

Jesus, everywhere he was and everywhere he went, he had this presence of the Father was with him.

He stayed in the presence of the Father. And Jesus, I believe, is sharing that and praying to the Father that give to these, give to them that sense of your presence, that sense of your glory that I have enjoyed here on the earth as a man.

When his presence comes down, when his glory comes down in a manifested way in the body of Christ, I know by experience over and over, I've seen this.

I know this for a fact, and many of you know this for a fact. When the presence and the glory of God comes down on a people, one of the greatest results of that is that we become one.

We start loving each other. We see each other in a different light. Instead of seeing our weaknesses and our failures, we start seeing each other the way Jesus sees us.

When we're in his presence, when it's just so clear that the presence of Jesus is here. And it just somehow, somehow, the glory and the presence of God in the midst of a people melts the hearts of God's people together in such a beautiful, powerful way.

And oh, I just encourage us. Let's just seek that. Let's seek to have hearts that are pure, that seek to love each other and get beyond our differences, and just seek God to come down in our midst and let his glory just make us one.

We're drawn to him when his glory and his presence come down. And our focus changes to him instead of our differences and so on.

Many times that trip us up. Okay. I will close here shortly.

Verse 23. I in them and thou in me. Again, the foundation of unity. The foundation of being one. If Jesus lives in all of us.

If Jesus lives in all of us, how can we not be one? How can we not see each other as one? I mean, if Jesus doesn't live in someone and that isn't real, then there's a basis for realizing that you can't be one with that.

But if it's evident that Jesus, even though we have things that we need to work on and deal with, I'm not talking about just not dealing with things, but we can deal with things in light of who we are in Christ and that Christ Jesus is in each one of us.

If Jesus lives in each one of us here tonight, and we really see that and believe that, then it should be very easy to feel like, you know what, we are one.

We are one. Jesus lives in you. Jesus lives in me. Jesus lives in us together. You belong to Jesus. I belong to Jesus.

This church belongs to Jesus. And it's, it should be so, it shouldn't be hard to say that.

You know what? We're one. We're one together. God has made us one. I in them and thou in me.

Look again. Jesus, like this is his cry right up until the end of this prayer. That they may be made perfect in one.

That the world may know that thou hast sent me. Thou hast loved them as thou hast loved me. Maybe I read that. Father, I just, I just want to end with this, these last few verses.

This is so precious. Father, I will. That they also whom thou hast given me, be with me where I am.

That they may behold my glory, which thou hast given me. For thou hast loved me before the foundation of the world. The, the, the Amplified says, Father, I desire that they also whom you have entrusted to me as your gift to me.

May be with me where I am so that they may see my glory, which you have given me. Your love gift to me. For you have loved me before the foundation of the world.

I mean, just think about, think about how Jesus sees us tonight. Jesus sees us as the Father's gift to him.

He sees us as a gift. And I know we, many times I do, we beat ourselves up. We, we, we wish we were different.

We, whatever. We don't see ourselves the way Jesus sees us. Jesus seen these men and all that would believe on him as a gift from the Father.

Again, these men that were going to forsake him in a few hours. Jesus told the Father, these men are your gift to me. I mean, wow.

That, that Jesus, the heart of Jesus is just so, it's just so amazing how he sees us. And we don't, we don't see ourselves like he sees us.

It's part of our problem. And then we don't see each other the way Jesus sees each other. And that, yeah, it just makes us struggle.

It makes us struggle with ourselves. It makes us struggle with each other. I mean, Peter said publicly that I don't know who Jesus Christ is.

I don't know this. He did not want to be identified with Jesus whatsoever at that moment. And Jesus tells the Father that thank you basically for your gift to me.

These men are your gift to me. And I want to show them in eternity, I want to show them your love for me throughout eternity.

It's amazing. It's amazing that Jesus would see us that way. when it says here in the Amplified, so that they may see my glory, which you have given me, your love gift to me.

I'm not sure if maybe even he's saying that these men, Father, are your love gift to me. That's how much he, that's how much he valued.

He values us here tonight. And he valued these hard-headed disciples that seemed like they just couldn't get it. He's basically, I think in one aspect of what he's saying is here, I receive these men as fathers, your love gift to me.

I think, it reminds me, I think some preacher somewhere said one time that, or pastoring wouldn't be bad if it wasn't for the people.

Something like that. There's some kind of a saying like that. I don't know if that's the exact words. You know, that's how frustrated sometimes we get with people that God has put us with.

And look how Jesus, look at the heart of Jesus here. He looked at these people as God's gift to him. And he was so thankful with him.

And I think he, somehow, somehow, somehow the church of Jesus Christ is bound up in his glory. And I don't need, I don't understand that.

Jesus is glorified through the church. Maybe he said something like, I could be a good pastor if it wasn't for the people or something.

I forget. I'm sure you heard something like that. Oh, righteous Father, the world had not known thee, but I have known thee. And these have known that thou hast sent me.

I have declared unto them thy name and will declare it. And this is, this is just the clincher. This is the clincher on this prayer.

That the love wherewith thou hast loved me may be in them and I in them. Jesus, this is my notes here when I read this, I just felt that Jesus is sharing the very love that he experienced from the Father with us.

Jesus is willing willing to open up his heart and this intense, intimate love that he had between him and the Father.

He opened up his heart and he's brought us into that, that we together with him could share the intimate love of the Father together. He, he wants us to know and experience the same love that he experienced from the Father.

And he's opening up himself and counting us in him that we can share that love together. This is so amazing.

Oh, the unselfishness of this glorious person. The most intimate, unfathomable love that the Father has for the Son.

Jesus is asking the Father to share that same love with us here tonight, with you. I just wrote, oh, this is holy ground.

This is such a sacred truth. If we could see this and believe this and experience this, we are breathing the pure air of heaven. If we can, by faith, get a hold of these truths, we will have an intense desire also that others may also know and experience this awesome Christ.

As Christ has brought us in and shared himself with us, and that's what, that's what, to me, that's one of the great things of this prayer is how Jesus is pleading and opening himself up and bringing the church, bringing his people in to share in his inheritance and in his love and in his oneness and in his unity.

as Christ has brought us in and shared himself with us, we will also seek that others might know him and his incredible love.

is there a higher and if other place to come together in unity and love and to function together as the true body of Christ?

I think tonight we all know the answer. There is a higher plane. There is a higher place that we can come to. And I just thank God. I believe without a doubt he is calling us to that place to a more intimate first of all fellowship and union with him and experiencing his love personally and how that affects our hearts to where we start seeing each other and loving each other with the same love that we feel and that we know that we are being loved by.

I think one of the aspects church of some of the relationship struggles that happen in a body and they happen in every there is no church exempt.

It happens in every part of the body of Christ. I think one of the aspects is that we don't believe how deeply God loves us and we we don't see how Jesus has opened his heart to share the intimate love between him and the father with each one of us personally and when we don't sense that we're loved we struggle with loving each other.

Isn't that isn't that I mean isn't that true a lot isn't that sometimes the foundation of our we're a little bit insecure because we don't grasp how much the heart of Jesus is for us and how he's opened himself he's just opened himself up and he's just drawing every part of the body of Christ into himself that again that we have no separate identity from Jesus Christ the father does not look at Christ and then the church he does not look at Christ and then us he looks at Christ and he sees all of us included completely totally in him it it's hard to fathom that but that is the word of God that is the truth and when we struggle in our own security in the love of

Jesus then we start struggling with loving each other because I just believe the more we just know without a doubt that Jesus loves me and that he has made me he's sharing the intimate love between him and the father he's sharing that with us now he's telling the father father the way you love me you love these men you love these women you love these people I want them to experience the exact intimate love that I experienced with you I want them to experience that and when when we can somehow get a grasp of that it helps us to see others in the same light that Jesus seen others Jesus didn't have to be frustrated or criticized he corrected his disciples and all of that and yet the way he seen them was completely in the love of the father because he was so secure in the love of the father himself so anyhow let's is there a higher plane for me to come to in this whole thing absolutely and as we come there as a body the result is that the world sees something very miraculous and they know that men cannot just agree to get along that good men that that that kind of love and oneness that comes out of that love and the love that comes out of the oneness

I don't know which which does what but they all go together that that is totally supernatural because men cannot work together that way and cannot function together that way long term that's something supernatural and that is the love and the oneness of Jesus and so let's I just encourage you strive for that when things come up and you know whatever just think about that brother that sister are in Christ just as well as I am and God Christ is wanting to share just as much love with that person as with me and so why should I why should I see him in any other light than that amen you guys are pretty quiet sitting there do you think there's a higher place to come to the body here why don't we just stand and ask the

Lord to I think what I'll do tonight is I just I just want a few of you men to if you have a burden for this a cry in your heart whether you're youth or men whoever just pray out and ask God to do a work in our hearts together and and then maybe I'll close so just just take your liberty let's let's allow God to let's cry out to God to help us as the body of Christ to to come to this place that to see each other as he sees us who