God's Pentecost Answer to Christ's Passover Prayer

On a final night of Jesus Christ's life, just mere hours before his crucifixion, he prayed a very heartfelt and sincere prayer to his Father. And the primary focus of that prayer was obviously he's coming up to his crucifixion, and he knew what was set right before him. But it also was primarily directed towards his disciples, those whom would remain after his death and, frankly, even after his final departure. In the Garden of Gethsemane, Jesus prayed not only for those who were assembled with him on that night, but also those who would follow, those who would believe through their preaching the word of the gospel.

And as you can imagine, Jesus' focus on that night was specific. You know, it had come down to this moment. So his focus now was zeroed in with pinpoint precision on just what it was he was about to do, the purpose of his coming, and the plan that had been, frankly, laid out before the foundation of the world. It was the Passover Day, and the Lamb of God would die for the sins of the world. But as I said, this had been established from the beginning. Let's begin today by taking a look at a portion of the Prayer of Jesus Christ. Again, the portion that focuses specifically on us, his disciples, because not only does it relate to his Passover sacrifice, but it points directly to the fulfillment and events that took place on this day of Pentecost as well.

John 17 is where we'll begin today in verse 20. John 17, in verse 20, again, hours before this prayer. And you can imagine everything that he is conveying to his Father and to the disciples is of the utmost importance to him. John 17, in verse 20, Jesus said, I do not pray for these alone, but also those who will believe in me through their word, that they may be one, as you, Father, are in me and I in you, that they may also be one in us, and that the world may believe that you sent me. Brethren, there's a divine unity. There's a divine oneness that exists between God the Father and his Son Jesus Christ. It's always been there. It always will be there. And it's a oneness that goes beyond anything that you and I can experience in the flesh on our own, apart from their presence in our life, because again, it is spiritual in origin, and it is of God. It is divine.

Jesus Christ's prayer was that you and I would experience the same oneness with God the Father and Jesus Christ and one another that those two beings experience with each other. And that's a profound prayer. And in my mind, actually, that's a very uplifting prayer. That's an encouraging prayer. That is a very hope-filled prayer. And again, it's profound in its implications because it's a oneness that's not based on mere agreement. You know, I like blue and you like blue, so we can be part of the blue club. You know, I mean, that's maybe a loose affiliation, but this is based on a divine spiritual relationship that literally takes many individual members, binds them together as one into a spiritual union that involves the presence of God the Father and Jesus Christ.

In verse 22, Jesus says, This is a oneness that's intended to stand as living proof to the world that would see the disciples of Jesus Christ, that yes, indeed, He did come. He was the Messiah, and we are recipients of the love of God. Mankind alone cannot achieve this level of oneness. It's why the disciples of Jesus would stand out as different when others saw them, because it's a divine unity that cannot exist apart from their active presence. Again, Jesus said, I in them, you, Father, in me, that they may be perfect, made perfect in one. And so we might wonder, how can this be fully accomplished? You know, this is Jesus Christ essentially dying Passover prayer to His Father regarding us. How would this be accomplished? And how would this divine spiritual oneness come to exist among the disciples of Jesus Christ?

The title for today's message is God's Pentecost Answer to Christ's Passover Prayer. God's Pentecost Answer to Christ's Passover Prayer. Jesus prayed that we would be one as He and His Father are one. In today's message, we're going to see the part that the Holy Spirit plays in this binding together of the people of God with one another and their elder brother and their Father in Heaven.

The book of Acts begins with the lead-up to this incredible day, the happenings of Pentecost, 31 A.D. Let's go to Acts, chapter 1. Here Jesus Christ, He had been crucified. He was resurrected. He spent 40 days with the disciples, giving them final instructions, preaching to them things pertaining to the kingdom of God. In Acts, chapter 1, verse 4, we find He gives instructions for them to wait for the gift of God. Acts, chapter 1, beginning in verse 4, says, Jesus was preparing them for what would come in just 10 short days. He had 40 days with them. He was now departing. 10 days, terri in Jerusalem, until this gift of the Father. It was a gift that would profoundly change their lives and it would create something in their midst that, frankly, they had never experienced before. Acts, chapter 2, verse 1, familiar passage, we've read it every year on Pentecost, yet it never loses its thrill. Acts, chapter 2, verse 1, when the day of Pentecost had fully come, just like we count 50 days, we look forward, we're anticipating, now it's here. They were waiting and it had fully come. They were all with one accord in one place. And suddenly there came a sound from heaven as of a rushing, mighty wind, and it filled the whole house where they were sitting. Then there appeared to them divided tongues as of fire, and one sat on each of them, and they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak with other tongues, languages, as the Spirit gave them utterance. So the Holy Spirit here filled them in a very open, dramatic way. You weren't going to miss it. And the results that sprung forth were suddenly profound. This was the presence of God and Christ coming to dwell in them, and immediately it began to affect their lives. Again, in very open and dramatic ways. Verse 5, it says, It's like these guys are from that backwater fishing village, the uneducated region of Judea. And what is this we see? What do we hear? These fishermen, they're speaking in tongues. It was a miracle, not only of the language that was spoken, but it was a miracle of the hearing that each heard in their own particular language. Verse 8, and how is it? We hear each one in our own language in which we were born. And it didn't really matter where they were from. The message came through. And the message would be spread beyond this point. Dropping down to verse 11, Cretans and Arabs, we all hear them speaking in our own tongues, the wonderful works of God. So they were all amazed and perplexed, saying to one another, whatever could this mean? Others mocking, said they are full of new wine.

You know, they're drunk. You know, unbeknownst to them, brethren, at this moment, the miracle that was taking place by God's Holy Spirit was for the purpose of not only spreading the gospel, they would all hear the message, the crucifixion, the resurrection of Jesus Christ. And again, this was a pilgrimage feast, right? People had come up from all around Judea, and they would spread out from this point, take the message with them. So the message would go out, but even beyond that, this miracle was a bringing people together into a spiritual assembly that had never existed in this way before. This was the foundation of the church. This was the gathering together by God's Spirit. And what we find is that the effective workings of God's Holy Spirit leads to unification, bringing people together, binding them together in a special relationship.

Not separation. Where the presence of God's Spirit is, dramatic things begin to happen, which bind people together in a spiritual relationship of oneness with God the Father and Jesus Christ and one another. And so here on the day of Pentecost, it was profound because, consider this, the language barrier was removed. You might think, well, okay, the language barrier was removed. Why? Well, for the purpose of bringing people together, for assembling them together, for spreading a common message that brought even more people together, bound together in one.

The purpose was for unifying them and creating the special assembly of individuals that we call the church. Church Eclaecia called out ones, but called into assembly by God. It's interesting to consider that this is a miracle and that the miracle of tongues in the hearing was a reversal of the division of languages that took place at the Tower of Babel. And maybe we don't always put those two together.

The Tower of Babel, Genesis, and now Acts chapter 2, the day of Pentecost. But what occurred was a reversal of what God had done at the Tower of Babel. Let's remind ourselves of that account and why it was God did what He did. Let's go to Genesis chapter 11. You can keep your finger in Acts 2. We'll be back.

Again, let's remember why, what the circumstances were surrounding the division of the languages to begin with. Genesis chapter 11 verse 1 says, Now the whole earth had one language and one speech. We're shortly after the flood. And now they're gathering together. Mankind is actually starting to feel pretty good, building a little might, having some leaders that are rising up among them. And it says, you're going to notice this word, one.

And you're going to notice it all over the place where we go today. And I believe, one, personally, my opinion, is the most important word in the Bible in terms of numbers. Look at seven. Look at 50. I believe one is the most important number in the Bible. So the whole earth was one in terms of their ability to communicate, to collaborate on this earth, to bring their collective energies together for a purpose. Verse 2, And it came to pass as they journeyed from the east, that they found a plain in the land of Shinar, and there they dwelt.

And they said to one another, Come, let us make bricks and bake them thoroughly. They had brick for stone, and they had asphalt for mortar. And they said, Come, let us build ourselves a city and a tower whose top is in the heavens. Let us make a name for ourselves, lest we be scattered abroad over the face of the whole earth. There was a oneness that brought them together, brought them together in a collaborative effort. They had, again, one language. They had the ability to communicate, the ability to combine resources, energy, talents. Yet it was in opposition to God.

Right? What did they say? Let us make a name for ourselves. Let us build a tower into the heavens, because, you know, this God just might flood the earth again. Let's get up above the clouds. We can build a tower of survival for ourselves, but again, it is in our name. Self-motivated. Opposition to God. Verse 5 says, But the Lord came down to see the city, and the tower which the sons of men built.

And the Lord said, Indeed, the people are, notice, one. And they have one language, and this is what they begin to do. Now nothing that they purpose to do will be withheld from them. It's an incredible concept to consider, really. Again, when oneness exists, even on a limited human level, apart from God's Spirit, and you bring in your energies and your talents, God says nothing that they purpose to do would be withheld from them. Yet what's the Spirit? What was the attitude?

Again, it was self-motivation and opposition of God. Verse 7, Come, God said, let us go down, and there confuse their language that they may not understand one another's speech. So the Lord scattered them abroad from there over the face of all the earth, and they ceased building the city. Therefore its name is called Babel because there the Lord confused the language of all the earth, and from there the Lord scattered them abroad over the face of all the earth.

God impeded mankind's ability to work together as one, right, by confounding the language, and it just simply, you know, just blew them apart across the face of the earth. On the day of Pentecost, God, by the Holy Spirit, was removing the language barrier. He was removing, at least in part, the separation that he had put in place for the purpose of bringing people back together into a collaborative assembly for a purpose that was not self-motivated, but God-motivated in His purpose, in His Spirit. It was according to godliness.

Again, this shows the effects of the presence of God's Spirit, that it is the great unifier, that it is what takes people and brings them together and assembles them into a spiritual oneness that goes beyond anything that can be accomplished by mere flesh. Because, you see, men can build a tower. They can dig the mud and the clay and the straw, and they can make brick, and they can pull asphalt out of the pit, and they can build a tower, but what God is building is a temple. And it takes bricks to construct that structure, and it takes a spiritual oneness of binding it together, again, that goes beyond anything that can be accomplished by mere flesh. This is a divine union. It is a divine Spirit.

The result of this is now the creation of the Church, right? The spiritual assembly of the people of God. Individuals, again, not building this tower, but they were building a dwelling place for God in the Spirit. God said, I will be there. I'll be there, God. They will be my people. I will dwell among them. So what we find, again, throughout the Scriptures is that wherever God purposes His people to go, whatever He purposes for them to do, nothing would be withheld.

Because they are one. And they're one not just by a, say, a common language. They are one by the Spirit of God that binds them together in a way that is unique. God and Christ in their midst.

Again, back to Acts chapter 2, we see exactly where the Holy Spirit comes from, how it is given.

Acts chapter 2 and verse 32. This is where the unity comes from. This is where the oneness comes from. This is, brethren, the source. Acts chapter 2 and verse 32. This is breaking now into the middle of Peter's Pentecost sermon. He's expressing what it is actually that they are seeing and hearing. And he says, this Jesus, God has raised up, in which we are all witnesses, therefore being exalted to the right hand of God and having received from the Father the promise of the Holy Spirit, he has poured out this which you now see and hear. The Holy Spirit, brethren, proceeds from the Father through Jesus Christ unto us. And there's multiple other scriptures that reinforce that point. That's not my purpose today. We've covered those before. But the point is, it's for the purpose that they both may dwell in us. Again, I in them, Jesus said. You in me, that they may all be made perfect in one. Again, it's by the indwelling of the Holy Spirit, the presence that actually bound God and Christ together as one. So let's notice the effects then that came from this. The language barriers removed, the Spirit is pouring out, the message is going out, and people are convicted. Verse 38, Acts 2, says, Then Peter said to them, Repent, let every one of you be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins, and you shall receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. For the promise is to you and to your children, and to all who are far off as many as the Lord our God will call. And with many other words, he testified and exhorted them, saying, Be saved from this perverse generation.

Good advice for our day, brethren. Then those who gladly received his word were baptized.

In that day about three thousand souls were added to them, and they continued steadfastly in the apostles' doctrine and fellowship in the breaking of bread and in prayers. And fear came upon every soul, and many wonders and signs were done through the apostles. Now all who believed were together, assembled, brought together, bound together as one, and they had all things in common.

This is describing a spiritual binding together taking place among the people of God.

It's not just an intellectual agreement over a compact set of teachings. It goes beyond that.

It's a spiritual and a divine unity that man cannot accomplish on their own. Verse 45, And they sold their possessions and goods, divided them among themselves, as anyone had need. So continuing daily with one accord in the temple, and breaking bread from house to house, they ate their food with gladness and simplicity of heart, praising God, and having favor with all the people. And the Lord added to the church daily those who were being saved.

It's an incredible process that began on 31 A.D., the collective unifying, binding together of the people of God by His Spirit into a divine collective oneness of unity and assembly.

Bullet point, brethren, you can just jot this in your notes, but I underline it and highlight it. That's what I did in mine. Spiritual oneness is a manifestation of God and Jesus Christ in us.

Spiritual oneness is a manifestation of God and Jesus Christ in us. It's the evidence.

It's the proof. It's by which the world would say, yes, the Messiah has come and died, and you are the recipients of the Father's love. That would be the proof that would be seen by all of mankind, bound together, unified in the Spirit. God the Father and Jesus Christ are the hub that connect us all together in this divine unity and oneness that Jesus prayed for on Passover night. And as we read earlier, it's the Father who pours out the Spirit through Jesus Christ upon us.

It involves them both. Indeed, the Bible shows that they both dwell in us by that Spirit. They are the hub. So if you think of, in my mind, I think of a wagon wheel. You have all the spokes that come off the hub of the wagon wheel, and we're spokes, but we're bound together by that hub, by that common point of joining, which is brought to us by the Spirit of God and Christ. And through that, they both dwell in us by that same Spirit. Shortly before His crucifixion, Jesus declared to His disciples that this would be the case when the Helper came. John 14, verse 15.

John 14 and verse 15, Jesus says, If you love me, keep my commandments.

And I will pray to the Father, and He will give you another Helper. I commented on this yesterday, Jesus Christ, as He walked and talked and ate and slept, and was intimately involved with His disciples and teaching them, He was their Helper. But He said, I'm going away, and I'll pray to the Father, and He will send another. Okay, He'll give you another Helper. Verse 16, that He may abide with you forever. We understand the Spirit of God is not a separate person. It is the power of God, the actual presence of God dwelling in us. God is holy, and God is Spirit, and who and what He is dwells within us. Verse 17, the Spirit of truth, which the world cannot receive because it neither sees Him nor knows Him, but you know Him, for He will dwell with you and will be in you. Jesus said, I will not leave you orphans. I will come to you. A little while longer, and the world will see me no more, but you will see me because I live. You will live also, and at that day you will know that I am in my Father, and you in me, and I in you. Again, He's describing this level of divine oneness and spiritual unity that cannot take place apart from their active presence, the presence of God in our life by the Spirit. Verse 21, He who has my commandments and keeps them, it is He who loves me, and He who loves me will be loved by my Father, and I will love Him and manifest myself to Him.

Judas not ascarit said to Him, Lord, how is it that You will manifest Yourself to us, and not to the world? Again, it's going to be the presence that comes, that sets you apart, that the world would say, oh, there is something different about them in the unity and the oneness that they share. Verse 23, Jesus answered and said to Him, if anyone loves me, He will keep my word, and my Father will love Him, and we will come to Him. We will make our home with Him. He who does not love me does not keep my words, and the word which you hear is not mine, but the Father's who sent me. Jesus always did the will of His Father. He always spoke the words of His Father. And as we've already heard today, He was the perfect reflection of the glory of God in physical form.

Verse 25, these things I have spoken to you while being present with you, He says, but the Helper, the Holy Spirit, which the Father will send in my name, will teach you all things and bring your remembrance, all things that I have said to you. Peace I leave with you, my peace I give to you.

Not as the world gives do I give to you, let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid.

Jesus is telling them that He and the Father will dwell with them and be in them. They will make their home within the disciples of God in the church, and they will be in spiritual oneness with them. Brethren, again, it's a relationship that goes beyond what can be accomplished through fear-musical, that too. Mere physical collaboration, right?

Man can do incredible things. Our language as a globe is coming close to oneness again, right? Through technology and what man can do is incredible. We're approaching that point that whatever they purposed to do wouldn't be withheld from them. God's oneness and unity and purpose is beyond scale compared to man's. It is a relationship of the Spirit.

Romans chapter 8 and verse 7, the apostle Paul writing, in bringing to life the unity, the oneness that takes place through the sacrifice by the Spirit, all those that can be bound together as one. Romans chapter 8 and verse 7 says, but the carnal mind is enmity against God, for it's not subject to the law of God, nor indeed can be. So then those who are in the flesh cannot please God. The flesh is where we start, it's not where we want to stay. Those who are in the flesh cannot please God. Verse 9, but you are not in the flesh, but in the Spirit. If indeed the Spirit of God dwells in you. Now if anyone does not have the Spirit of Christ, he is not his. He says, and if Christ is in you, the body is dead because of sin, but the Spirit is life because of righteousness.

But if the Spirit of him who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, he who raised Christ from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through his Spirit which dwells in you. The same Spirit that is in God the Father is in Jesus Christ and is in us, and they dwell in us and have made their home in us by the Spirit. And brethren, if you have the Spirit and I have the Spirit, it is that which binds us together as one. There is only one Spirit.

Our fundamental belief, number one, makes a short statement regarding the Holy Spirit. It says, we believe in the Holy Spirit as the Spirit of God and of Christ. The Holy Spirit is the power of God and the Spirit of life eternal. So again, by that Spirit they dwell in us, and we have a relationship with them, and they with us, and we with one another. And that is the most incredible blessing. It is the Pentecost answer to Christ's Passover Prayer.

Going on in verse 12, Paul says, therefore, brethren, we are debtors, not to the flesh to live according to the flesh, for if you live according to the flesh, you will die. But if by the Spirit you put to death the deeds of the body, you will live. For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, these are the sons of God. These are the sons of God. We're talking a family relationship by which spiritual begettle takes place. This isn't adoption as it often could be translated. It is sonship. By spiritual begettle, we're being born into the likeness of God, the fullness that will take place upon return of Jesus Christ and our change. Verse 15, he says, for you do not receive the Spirit of bondage again to fear, but you receive the Spirit of adoption or sonship by whom we cry out, Abba, Father! The Spirit itself bears witness with our spirit that we are the children of God, and if children then heirs, heirs of God and joint heirs with Christ, if indeed we suffer with Him that we may also be glorified together. What God is doing, He is only doing through the firstfruits at this time. We're talking about family. We're talking about binding together by the Spirit. It is a small group of the firstfruits at this time, brethren, and the uniqueness of that, the blessing of that, should never be lost on us. This isn't, you know, pride lifted up, I'm a firstfruit and you're not. This is a humbling calling from God, and the unity and the opportunity He's given to us is incredible. And Jesus said that this oneness is intended to stand again as living proof to the world of His messiahship in the love of the Father. God the Father and Jesus Christ are the hub that connects us all together in this divine unity in oneness that Jesus prayed for on Passover night. And we must be connected to them if we're to be connected with one another.

Wagon wheel, spokes, hub, we're all connected to that hub because you see if you have the Spirit of God and I have the Spirit of God, we have that common point of connection that makes us brethren.

And as long as you and I are connected to that hub, it goes beyond simple agreement that mankind can achieve. This is what we call the unity of the Spirit, and it stems from the active presence of God.

Ephesians chapter 2 and verse 11.

Ephesians 2, 11. You can go all throughout the New Testament scriptures and you can find the effects of this oneness in God and Christ taking place. Ephesians chapter 2 verse 11. It says, Therefore, remember that you once Gentiles in the flesh, other nations outside of Israel, who are called uncircumcision by what is called the circumcision made in the flesh by hands, that at that time you were without Christ, being aliens from God, the commonwealth of Israel, and strangers from the covenants of promise, having no hope and without God in the world.

You know, as Gentiles, they were apart and separated from the promises of God as a people, that the covenant people of Abraham were the ones who were the recipients of that covenant promise. But what God is doing through Jesus Christ is something different which binds people together from all backgrounds, from all ethnicities of all, maybe religious upbringings.

Once they come into the realization of Jesus Christ and accept that covenant, there's something different that binds them together. Verse 13 says, It says, As I was preparing this message, I just kind of went through my Bible and I underlined a word one whenever I came across it. And again, it's everywhere.

You see, this is by the sacrifice of Christ, and it's by oneness that peace comes, by unity in this sense that peace comes. And I want to highlight for you the word create in verse 15. It says, God is taking many. He is creating oneness, one spiritual family that will dwell with him for eternity. That is his goal. That is his purpose. Oneness in Christ through the Spirit.

Verse 16 says, In whom you also are being built together for a dwelling place of God in the Spirit. Brethren, God is creating. God is building. And what he is doing by his Spirit is creating oneness in us, or a common sacrifice, a common truth, a common spirit, and he's binding us together as one. We're not just living stones scattered out in the field somewhere. We've been brought in, the foundation has been laid, and you and I, by God's grace, are being laid side by side by side and are mortared together. Not from the tar of the pits of the plain of Shinar, but by God's Spirit. We're being bound together as one for holy habitation of God.

That's an incredible process, and that's a divine process, and that's one that cannot take place by a mere man. So just like the Jews and Gentiles of Paul's day, we are all of different backgrounds, you know, different experiences, different callings, but we're all bound together in that one sacrifice, that one Spirit, and the one truth of God. The Apostle John also wrote about this common fellowship that we all share in, and he clearly understood that it includes so much more than simply us. First John chapter 1, I appreciate Mr. Nelson's sermonette, the fact that, you know what, oven by ourselves, we are lacking. We are incomplete, and even our attempt to fellowship and come together and bind together would be incomplete without the added element about the Father and Jesus Christ. First John chapter 1 and verse 3, John says, that which we have seen and heard we declare to you, that you also may have fellowship with us.

It's coming together, it's unity, it's sharing in fellowship, and truly our fellowship is with the Father and with His Son, Jesus Christ. So he's describing a relationship in the Church of God that must include not only one another, but it must include God and Christ in the fellowship as well, if we're going to be in that common bond. Verse 4, these things we write to you, that your joy may be filled. And this is the message which we have heard from Him and declare to you that God is light, and in Him is no darkness at all. If we say that we have fellowship with Him and we walk in darkness, we lie and we do not practice the truth. But if we walk in the light as He is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus Christ, His Son, cleanses us from all sins. It comes back to the fact that when our minds are directed towards God and His ways, and our fellowship is with Him, then our fellowship will be with one another as well. And to the degree that it's not, it won't be. As in, if you're right with God and I'm not, how in the world can we be right with each other? So this is a binding, and we all have our part to play, that we build our relationship with our Father in Heaven, and that we bring it into our relationship with one another. Indeed, that is the fellowship that binds us as one. The Apostle Paul called it being like-minded, because we share the mind. We share the mind of God and Christ through the Spirit. It's like-mindedness. Philippians chapter 2 and verse 1. Philippians 2 verse 1, therefore, if there's any consolation in Christ, if any comfort of love, if any fellowship of the Spirit, that's an important term. If any affection and mercy, Paul says, fulfill my joy by being like-minded, having the same love being of, notice, one accord and one mind. Again, we're back to the word one. The complete word study of the New Testament says this about the term one accord.

It says it comes from a Greek word, which means one mind with unanimous consent and all together. And it's how God and Christ function in one accord with a shared spiritual unity. It doesn't mean that they're a blob. Okay, it's not a vanity. These are two individual beings, but they share a spiritual connection that Christ prayed we would have as well. And that's the incredible Pentecost answer to Christ's Passover prayer. But it's tough sometimes, isn't it? And we might wonder why. You know, because we try to be one as God and Christ are one, and there's never a division or a contention between them. And sometimes we struggle. Well, that's because self does often get in the way. God may be there in the Spirit. Jesus Christ may be there in the Spirit, but we're there as well. Right? And self has a way at times of impeding the process, but this is a growth process. And what will we do with the Spirit that God gives? Verse 3, Paul says, "...let nothing be done through selfish ambition where it can see, but in lowliness of mind let each esteem others better than himself." This is the solution to things that may rise up even amongst the spiritual oneness. "...let each of you look out not only for his own interests, but also for the interests of others." Again, the answer is, get rid of self. Humble self. It's not all about self. That doesn't mean we can't be ourself. God wants us to be ourself. This isn't Star Trek, the Borg. I've seen if you're awake out there.

The Borg, right? Maybe a few people have watched Star Trek, the arch enemy of the Federation.

Half flesh, half cyborg come and assimilate everyone and everything in their path. We are the Borg. We're to add your biological and technological distinctiveness to our own. Your culture will adapt to serve as us, right? Resistance is futile.

That's not what God's doing. By the Spirit, he is bringing us into a collective relationship with one another with our own individuality intact. And we bring our experiences, our strengths, our talents, our gifts of many members bound into one body. But you see, I need what you have to offer. And I hope I can offer something that is helpful to you as well. But God brings us together in this way. Again, he doesn't erase our sense of individual Audi in the process, but we have to control self and recognize what we do for the greater good. And so again, the answer to that is found in verse five. Let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus, a mind of humility, of service, of laying one's life down and sacrifice for others. Remember, Jesus said, I in them, and you, Father, in me, is how this perfect oneness would take place. By yielding to the work of God's Holy Spirit, His attitude, His mind, His character can dwell in us. We can be partakers of the divine nature, but as Paul said, let it happen. Let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus.

And he said, let, because it doesn't come naturally. Our carnal nature resists the process.

And self oftentimes rises above the process. But this unity in this oneness takes work, and we have to do our part. But God's given us the tools that we need. It takes work in our marriages, where two have been brought together as one in a divine union instituted by God. It takes work in our families, where we have parents and children, and we're working together to have a unity. And you know what? Unity in oneness takes work in the Church of God as well. And we're admonished by the Apostle Paul to never give up on that work. To always remember the blessing of the Spirit God has given us that binds us together, and to continue in the work tirelessly and relentlessly.

Ephesians chapter 4. Let's wrap up here today. Ephesians chapter 4 and verse 1.

Again, Paul says, always continue in the work. Ephesians chapter 4 verse 1, I therefore, a prisoner of the Lord, beseech you to walk worthy of the calling with which you were called, with all lowliness and gentleness, with long suffering, bearing with one another in love, endeavoring to keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace. As we've already seen, brethren, it's the Spirit of God that brings unity. It's the Spirit of God that brings oneness. And Paul here is talking about the unity of the Spirit. That's where the unity comes from, from the Spirit of God. But we yield ourselves to it, and we do our part to maintain it as well.

Endeavoring means we make every effort, and we're earnest about it, because it is important to us, and we take all diligence towards that end. As the world around us continues to divide and fracture and has cause after cause after cause that is continually polarizing mankind, brethren, the Church of God needs to endeavor with all our being to maintain its unity and its oneness. And if we look at each other through the lens of our differences, that will never happen.

We'll never be one. Not if that's what we see when we look at each other, our difference is what separates us. But what's unique here with the Apostle Paul is he points us to what binds us together, and what our commonality is. And this is what we must focus on if we're to be one. Verse 4, there is one body and one spirit, just as you were called in one hope of your calling, one Lord, one faith, one baptism, one God and Father of all who is above all and through all and in you all. These are the things, brethren, which bind us together as the people of God. And that's where our focus must be continually as we recognize others with the Spirit, because the body of Christ is not a corporate entity. It is a spiritual body that extends out beyond corporate boundaries. There is coming a day that the corporation goes away.

You know, if the world can get upset at the President of the United States, the most powerful man in the world, and just shut down his Twitter account, we don't want to hear from you.

Can you just imagine? They won't want to hear from the Church of God at the end of the age.

And, you know, bank accounts are gone. Corporate licensing is gone. It's simply the people of God and the Spirit of God. And we have to focus on what binds us together in this divine unity in oneness. Again, it is one body, one Spirit, one hope of your calling. We look for that kingdom. That's our faith, our hope. One Lord, one faith, one baptism, one God and Father of all.

Brethren, what binds us together as the spiritual people of God is so much greater than anything that could ever divide us. Just look at this list. What could ever come between us that's greater than any of these things? On the last night of his physical life, Jesus prayed that they may all be one, as you, Father, are in me and I in you, that they may be one also in us and that the world may believe that you sent me. We all have our part to play, brethren, in the fulfillment of that prayer. And again, God has given us the tools that we need. He's poured out his Holy Spirit and the question then becomes, what will we do with it? Will we take what he has given and how he has intended it to be used and use it for good? The Holy Spirit is of God and it is the great unifier and it binds us together with God, the Father, Jesus Christ, and one another in a seamless unity. As we observe the remainder of this day of Pentecost, let's rejoice in the love by which Jesus asked this prayer on our behalf. I mean, that's an incredible prayer when you think about it. And what he shared intimately with the Father, he desired you and I to share as well. Let's remember the love by which he asked that prayer. Let us also rejoice in the love by which the Father responded on this day, answering Christ's Passover prayer with this Pentecost miracle.