This is Pastor Rick's Daily Hope, the Bible teaching ministry of Pastor Rick Warren.
Today we continue in a series called the Awesome Power of Vision. In
these lessons, Pastor Rick shows us how to pursue God's amazing vision for each
of our lives so that we can see our future with faith and not fear.
But first, do you ever feel like you've lost your spark your joy?
In just a few moments, We're going to tell you about an exciting
new resource that will deepen your relationship with God and restore your joy. You
can take a sneak peek right now by going to Pastororick dot com while you
listen, and if you want, you can just text the word Daily to
eight hundred six hundred five thousand and four to find out more. Right now,
here's Pastor Rick Warren with part one of a message called Christ's Vision a
Unified Family. You know, the night before Jesus died on the Cross,
he took the twelve men that he'd been training for his entire ministry to a
place where they could share the Passover meal together. Now, that place was
called the Upper Room because it was on the second floor of a building,
so it was an upper room. These twelve men had been with Jesus for
three and a half years as they trained to be the leaders of the church.
Now, during the Passover meal, Jesus redefined the passover with new meaning
to become the Lord's Supper. During the Lord's Supper, Judas left the room
to betray Jesus and to have him arrested. So Jesus knows that he's going
to be dead and buried within twenty four hours. So he knows that whatever
he's going to say now would be his last words before death. Now you
know that the last words of dying people are always extremely important, and Jesus
shared his most intimate thoughts in this passage. What Jesus said in his last
words before the cross are found in the Book of John Versus Our chapter thirteen
to chapter seventeen. Now, those five chapters in John are called the Upper
Room Discourse, And this week I want to urge you to spend the week
reading and rereading John chapter thirteen through seventeen, because it's packed with powerful spiritual
truth that we desperately need, particularly in these days. Now, in those
five chapters, the two themes that Jesus spoke the most about were a number
one how much he loves us, and number two how much we must love
each other. In the church, in fact, love is mentioned twenty one
times. Let me just show you a couple of examples. John fifteen,
verse nine. Just as the Father has loved me, so as I have
loved you. Now you must live in my love. John fifteen twelve and
thirteen. I am commanding you to love each other with the same love,
the same kind of love that I've loved you. And here's how to measure
that kind of love. He says. The greatest love you could show is
when you lay down your life for friends. And that's exactly what Jesus was
going to be doing in the next few hours. John fifteen seventeen. Again,
this is what I'm commanding you to do. You must love each other.
You get the point here, He keeps coming back to the same theme.
I love you. You got to love each other now. After Jesus
shared his final words, he prayed his final public prayer before going to the
cross, and that prayer is recorded in John chapter seventeen. And I want
to start today with it because it shows us. Christ lays out his vision
for us, his family, the church, and Jesus prays for us in
John seventeen. John seventeen, verses one and two New International, Jesus looked
up to heaven and said, Father, the time has come. In other
words, it's time for me to go to the cross. It's time for
me to die for the sins of mankind. Glorify your son, so that
You're son may glorify you. And in the first eight verses of jesus prayer
in John seventeen, he gives a ministry report to the Father of all that
he's done with his disciples in the last three and a half years. Then
in verse nine he prays for them, and then he prays for all of
us who have come to faith in Jesus because of them. Did you know
that Jesus prayed for you right before he was arrested and sent to the cross
to die for you. John seventeen nine to eleven says this, I'm not
praying for the world, but for those you've given me because they belong to
you. And now I'm departing the world that I'm leaving them behind. Father,
So protect them by the power of your name, so that so that
listen, they may be united as one, just as we are one.
And let me point out that this is the first mention of unity among Christians
in jesus prayer, but it's going to be the primary theme of the whole
prayer. And what was on Jesus's mind the most as he got ready to
go the cross was his own family, the church, and that we would
be united in love after he died and rose again. He mentions it several
times in this prayer. In John seventeen, verses twenty twenty one, Jesus
prays for you. He says this, I'm praying not only for these disciples,
but all for all who will believe in me because of their testimony.
That's you, and my prayers for all of them. That day two,
that's us will be one, unified with each other. Christians approve that we're
who we are by being one with each other. Jesus said, just as
I am as in you and you are in and just as you are in
me and I am in you, so they will be in us, and
the world will believe that you sent me. Now again, just as Jesus
is getting ready to die, he's most concerned about what his followers in the
church are going to be unified in love. It's uppermost in his mind.
This is the primary vision he has for us. It's what he prayed,
That's what he wanted. If something else had been more important than Jesus,
believe me, he would have mentioned it in this prayer. So what I
want to do in our time together today is look a little bit closer at
Christ's vision for us, a vision of unity, because it's obviously important to
him. Now. I don't have time to show you all the verses that
talk about unity in the scripture, but I will tell you this that in
the New Testament, it has more to say about protecting unity among Christians than
it has to say about either heaven or Hell. Did you know that you're
listening to Pastor Rick's Daily Hope Rip will be back in just a moment with
the rest of today's lesson. You can sign up for Pastor Rick's free email
emotional at pastorick dot com. That's pastorick dot com. How do you feel
spiritually right now? Maybe you feel spiritually dry, like you're in a desert,
or like you're just going through the motions. Maybe you've lost your spark
your joy. God knows how you feel right now. You are not alone.
He knows even David and the Bible felt like that and Jeremiah twenty nine
thirteen. God says you will seek Me and find Me when you seek Me
with all your heart. When you seek God intentionally, it leads to a
renewal of your relationship with Him. That's why Pastor Rick created a very special,
brand new resource called Going Deeper with God, a personal renewal Retreat,
and it He'll personally leave you on a spiritual journey to help you seek God.
Together, you and Pastor Rick will go through a series of audio lessons
and after each set ession, you'll take a little time to complete exercises in
the Companion workbook. You can do this at home in short sessions, or
you can get away for a day and do it in one sitting. Through
this retreat, you'll experience a renewal of life within you. God will restore
your joy. As he renews, refreshes, invigorates, and revives your spiritual
life. You'll never be the same again. Will send you Going Deeper with
God, a personal renewal retreat, as our way of saying thanks. When
you give a gift today to help daily Hope share the hope of Jesus with
a hurting world. Just call eight hundred and six hundred at five zero zero
four or go to Pastorick dot com to get your copy of this great resource.
That's eight hundred at six hundred five zero zero four or Pastorick dot com.
Once again, here's Rick. Now, I don't have time to show
you all the verses that talk about unity in the Scripture, but I will
tell you this that in the New Testament, it has more to say about
protecting unity among Christians than it has to say about either Heaven or Hell.
Did you know that the Bible in the New Testament has more to say about
Christians loving each other than it says about Heaven or Hell. In fact,
God says so much about this concept that I'm going to have to split this
message in half and teach it in two parts. So today what I'm going
to do is give you a quick survey of what the Bible says about the
importance of unity in the Church and why it matters so much. We're going
to look at what Jesus said, what Paul said, and what the First
Church did, and then in part two. We'll look at the specifics of
how we are to fulfill Christ's vision for us in the second part. So
today I want to summarize what God says about the importance of unity among believers
in about a dozen statements. And because of that, I'm going to go
pretty fast, and I'm going to cover so many verses that I'm going to
limit my commentary on many of them. We're going to just let God's word
speak to our hearts. All right, you're ready. Here twelve statements that
summarize all that the New Testament says about unity. Number one, my unity
with other believers is the proof that I'm saved. My unity with other believers
is the proof that I'm saved. John thirteen, thirty four and thirty five
says this, Jesus is talking. I'm giving you a new commandment. You
must love each other. You must love each other in the same way that
I have loved you. Your love for one another will be the proof to
the world that you really are my disciples. You prove that you're a Christian,
not with a bump sticker on your car, and not by any other
action. The Bible says, the proof that you really are a Christian is
that you love other Christians in the church. Family, all right. Number
two, write this down. The Trinity is our model for unity. The
Trinity is our model for unity. Jesus explains this in verse eleven of John
seventeen. He says this in his prayer, Holy Father, protect them by
the power of your name, the name you gave me, so that listen,
so that they may be one with each other, just as we are
one. I love God's word translation. It says it like this, so
that their unity may be just like ours. The Trinity is the model.
The Father, Son, and Holy Spirit are in harmony and unity with each
other. The three are one, and the Bible says that's the way we're
to be in the Church. We're to be unified as one. Number three.
Jesus' last prayer, very last prayer before he goes the cross, was
that we'd live in unity. John seventeen twenty one. My prayer for all
of them is that they will be one, just as you and I are
one. Father, that just as you are in me and I am in
you, so they will be in us, and the world will believe the
world will believe that you sent me. Did you notice that Jesus ties other
people coming to Christ with our unity. He says, other people will believe
when they see Christians loving each other in unity. I love it. In
the Message paraphrase translation, it says this verse twenty one. My goal for
all of them is to become one heart and mind, just as you Father
in me and I in you. They may they be one heart and mind
along with us. Then the world may believe that you sent me. This
is Jesus' vision, and this is Jesus' goal for you and for me,
for anybody who claims to the name of Christ. Now, in the next
verse of jesus prayer, we learn the fourth principle, and it's this,
God gives us his glory so that we'll be unified. God gives us his
glory so that we, as Christians will be unified. John seventeen twenty two.
He says, I've given them talking to Christians, the glory you gave
me, so that here's the so that it's a Henna clause in Greek,
so that they may be one just as we are one. Now listen what
this means. Is this the purpose of God's presence in your life? The
purpose of God's power in our lives is to make us more loving, not
more harsh, not more opinionated, not more stubborn, but more loving.
He says, I gave them your glory so that we may be one and
they may be one, just as we are. Do you want God's glory
in your life? Do you want God's power in your life? Do you
want to feel God's presence in your life? Jesus says, he gives his
glory, that's his power to those who lay aside secondary differences with other Christians,
the secondary differences, the things that don't really matter, and live in
unity with other believers. Now, the next verse gives us the fifth truth
about unity. Our unity, God says, is our greatest witness to unbelievers.
Our unity is our greatest witness to unbelievers. That's verse twenty three.
Jesus prayed, this, may they be brought into complete unity, so that
there's another, so that so that the world knows that you sent me and
that you have loved them even as you have loved me. Now, did
you notice this is the second time that Jesus connects the unity of Christians to
winning the world to Christ. He's saying that the world will not be one
w n to Christ until Christians are one in e in unity. We will
win the world when we're one in Christ. Another way of saying it is
this, if unbelievers like what they see, they will listen to what we
say. But if they don't like what they see, they don't see us
loving each other, they're not going to listen to what we say. Again,
I like the message translation of this verse John seventeen twenty three. It
says this, then they'll be mature in their oneness, giving the godless world
the evidence that you've sent me and that you've loved them in the same way
you've loved me. The evidence for atheists, the evidence for agnostics, the
evidence for other faiths is to be the love Christians have for each other.
Now, okay, there is just some of what Jesus says about the importance
of unity. But now I want us to look at how the first Church
in Jerusalem, in other words, the first Christians implemented and practiced and applied
all the verses. We just looked at what Jesus said about unity, and
to go to that, see that, we've got to go to the Book
of Acts, where we learn two more important truths about the power of unity
in a church family. Write this down. Here's the sixth truth we learn
from scripture. Unity removes fear and creates boldness. Unity removes fear and creates
boldness. What am I saying that a unified church gives everybody more power and
more courage than a divided church. Where do we find this? In Acts
Chapter four twenty four and thirty one, the apostles or the disciples, Peter
and John had actually been put in prison. They had done a miracle,
and they were preaching in the name of Jesus, and then they couldn't hold
them, so they let them out. And when they came back to the
church, it says in verse twenty four, then all the believers united together
in prayer. That brings unity. When we pray together, it unifies us.
And it says, after this prayer, this unified prayer of all the
people in the church, it says, after the prayer, the building where
they were meeting shook. That's power. That must have been a pretty powerful
prayer. The building where they were meeting shook, and they were all filled
with God's Holy Spirit, and they began to speak God's message with boldness.
Would you like to be more fearless? Does fear plague you? Insecurity?
Plague you? Anxiety plague you? Would you like to be more fearless?
Would you like to be more bold? Do you wish you were more confident
in sharing your faith? Let me give you a little secret. Focus on
your unity with other Christians. The Bible says when they were unified, they
became bold in speaking the word of God. I want you to write this
down. Division creates fear. Unity removes fear. Division creates fear. Wherever
you find a vision in a church, it's going to create fear in that
church. But unity removes fear. Division destroys vision. But there's another thing
that we learned from the first Christians in the Book of Acts, and it's
this, write this down. When a church is unified, everybody's needs are
met. When a church is truly unified, truly unified the way Christ wants
us to be, everybody's needs, all the members' needs are met. And
we find an example of this in Acts, chapter four, verse thirty two.
It says, there the entire group of believers that's the church, we're
completely united in their hearts and in their Spirit, and everybody shared their possessions
with each other. In fact, they shared everything they had, so nobody
had any need. The Bible tells us in Acts two that this was impressive
to the Christian to the non Christians in Jerusalem, that they had the favor
of people because they said, see how they love one another. Okay,
now we've looked at what Jesus said, and we looked at what the New
Testament Christians did in Jerusalem. Now let's look at what Paul has to say
about Christ's vision for unity in the church. It's Paul spends a lot of
time talking about the importance of unity in both his letters to the Corinthian Church
in corinth Home in Greece City and Greece, and to the Church at Ephesus.
He says, it's a big deal. Write this down number eight.
Here's the eighth. In the summarizing all the Bible says about unity, Baptism
and communion are the visible signs of unity. Baptism and communion are the visible
signs of unity. Both of them are symbols of our incorporation into the body
of Christ. Both of them visualize that we now don't just belong to Christ
we belong to each other. If you've been baptized, if you've taken communion,
you don't just belong to Jesus. You belong to others, everybody else
in the family of God, everybody else in your church family. Now,
first, baptism is a sign that I intend to protect the unity of the
church family, that I belong to. You say, where's that one?
Corinthians twelve, twelve and thirteen says this, For just as your body is
a unity, even though it has many different parts, it is with Christ's
body the same, he says the church. This is Pastor Rick's daily hope.
We're so happy that you've chosen to study along with us today. If
you'd like to receive ris free daily devotional, go to Pastorick dot com and
sign up right now. Rick will be right back to close out our time
today. But first, how do you feel spiritually right now? Maybe you
feel spiritually dry, like you're in a desert, or like you're just going
through the motions. Maybe you've lost your spark, your joy. God knows
how you feel right now, and you're not alone. He knows. Even
David and the Bible felt like that, and Jeremiah twenty nine thirteen. God
says, you will seek me and find me when you seek Me with all
your heart. When you seek God intentionally, it leads to a renewal of
your relationship with him. That's why Pastor Rick created a very special, brand
new resource called Going Deeper with God, a personal renewal retreat. Right now,
here's Pastor Rick to tell you more. Let me ask you a very
personal and serious question. Would you truly like to have a deeper relationship with
God? Not a superficial one, a deep one Jeremiah twenty nine thirteen.
God says this, you will seek me and find me when you seek for
Me with all your heart. When you seek God intentionally, it leads to
a renewal of your relationship with him. You're as close to God as you
want to be, and if you want to be closer, it's up to
you. That's why I created a Going Deeper with God Personal Renewal Retreat.
Yeah, Going Deeper with God Personal Renewal Retreat. It's retreat just meant for
you where you can get alone with God and you can connect with Him in
an intimate way that's going to refresh and renew and revitalize your relationship with God.
It's going to give you a deeper understanding of His love, and it
will also prepare you to be used by God God in the days ahead.
Now, as I lead you through this Going Deeper with God Retreat, my
hope is that God will use it to completely revitalize and re energize your spiritual
life. Together, we'll go through a series of audio lessons and after each
session you'll just take a little bit of time to complete the exercises in the
companion workbook that I've prepared for you. And you can do this. You
can do it at home, you can do it at school. You can
do it in short sessions, or you can get away for a whole day
and do it all in one setting. My goal is to strengthen your relationship
with God, deepen your commitment, and surrendered Him in affirm your commitment to
live for His glory. You know, maybe you've never thought about this,
but God, You're ready to go deeper with you. He's just waiting on
you. Now. I want to help you get started by sending you a
copy of Going Deeper with God today, and when you partner daily, hope
to take the word of God. These positive messages to people all around the
world. My team is going to send you this very special spiritual growth tool
just to say thanks. I hope you'll take advantage of this. Today we'll
send you Going Deeper with God, a personal renewal retreat, as our way
of saying thanks when you give a gift today to help Daily Hope share the
hope of Jesus with a hurting world. Just call eight hundred six hundred five
thousand and four or go to Pastororrick dot com to get your copy of this
great resource. That's eight hundred six hundred five thousand and four or Pastorick dot
com. Be sure to join us next time as we look into God's word
for our daily hope. This program is sponsored by Pastor Rick's Daily Hope and
your generous financial support.