Why Jesus Prayed For Unity (A Sermon on John 17)
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- čas přidán 7. 07. 2024
- This video is a sermon on John 17, where Jesus prays for unity in the church.
Truth Unites exists to promote gospel assurance through theological depth.
Gavin Ortlund (PhD, Fuller Theological Seminary) serves as senior pastor of First Baptist Church of Ojai.
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00:00 - Book Recommendation
01:47 - Introduction
07:06 - 1) Unity is Based on Truth
17:28 - 2) Unity is Rooted in the Trinity
27:40 - 3) Unity is Essential for our Mission
33:33 - Conclusion - Zábava
There is one thing that we can certainly band together in no matter what tradition we reside in: prayer
Let us pray that God would guide us closer to Him while giving us hearts of humility 🙏
As long as we are praying to the same God!
That’s true but I’d say Jesus Christ, but like with prayer, it depends on who you’re praying too! 🙏✝️🙏
If Gavin ever wrote a book called Protestant radio replies I would buy multiple copies for my self and my friends. He is giving us good Protestant apologetics.
I recently watched a debate between a Catholic and a Protestant from the 90s. It wasn't very civil, but recent similar debates are noticeably more friendly and emphasized areas of agreement. "When a madman is at the door, feuding brothers reconcile."
If you’re referring to the debate uploaded by Grace Family Baptist, I was thinking the same thing.
Peter Kreeft!
Wonderful video Dr Ortlund. I too have a strong heart for unity.
A short comment on Jesus' prayer for unity which should give us hope. God always answers the prayers of Jesus and Jesus is continually interceding for His body. Unity will come. That is something to thank God for. Unity in the truest sense shall be realised, whether it be in this century or 500 years from now. That is something to cling to. Even though we haven't seen the full answer to that prayer, we shall see it when we enter God's kingdom.
A word on unity at a practical level. A majority of us (myself included) are laypersons. We are not in church leadership. Lamenting about the need of church unity will not help. Take those laments to the Head of the Church.
Three practical things we can do as the Church (whether Protestant, Catholic, Orthodox, etc.) are as follows. 1) Build relationships with people in your church. There a saying "Charity begins at home." Build friendships with people in your local church. Pray with your fellow believers. Participate in fellowship and breaking of bread. Participate in the mission of Christ. Brothers and sisters, heed that. Don't think of the outside when you there is nothing well in inside.
2) See Christians of other traditions as brothers and sisters. Perception of the other individual determines how you relate to them. To use an extreme example, back in the 1700s in the plantations of the Americas, if a white were to see me, they would see me as inferior, no matter how smart I am. Why? Because they perceive as less of a human being. Thank God things have changed (I was just using an example). The reason unity is hard at a practical level is that many of us see the person outside our tradition as less of a Christian, a heretic or unbeliever when they are in fact not. Catholics, read some the sermons and articles your brothers and sisters in the Protestant and Orthodox tradition have written. Read their prayers. Look at their lives. Pay attention to their devotional to God. Same goes to Orthodox and my fellow Protestants. Does it look as though these people don't have a genuine love for Jesus and fruit?
3) Befriend people from other traditions. Caricatures cease when friendships are made. If we are to look at our circles, most of the people we know hold to our on theological points of view. Befriend those of other traditions. Visit them. Pray for them. Talk and debate with them. Encourage them from scripture. Observe their life. Seek to help them grow in their Christian faith. As someone who has a lot friends outside my Charismatic circle who love God and encourage my faith (some of whom are Catholics who also appreciate me and thank God for my encouragement in their lives), I see such an endeavour as helping in unity.
I conclude by saying this, to all sides: Pray and do your best to pursue unity. God will, in His own time, bring perfect unity in the church.
Well said, brother. I will be keeping this to heart and share this viewpoint as well. May God bless you always. :)
Mm encouraging to see others with a similar mindset! It's interesting in my journey as im learning church history, visiting different churches, and making friends both physically and online. It's been eye-opening that the spirit is working through different branches/denominations. Though we have our differences between doctrines and dogmas. I do believe we need to unify on the essentials, be humble/open to talk with each other, and help accomplish the mission of God. Making earth like heaven will be, showing the true God. God bless yall 🙏
Saw the redwoods and sequoias for the first time two years ago. You are right-they are awe-inspiring! One of them is the largest living thing on planet earth! Imagine! How one doesn’t believe in God after being up close a personal with those magnificent trees is beyond me!
Your channel Gavin plays a significant role in accomplishing the goal of this sermon - greater unity in the church.
Thank you Dr. Ortlund. Your calm and polite spirit has been a great example for the rest of us.
I appreciate your call to unity. After coming to faith in Jesus I began researching church history and various denominations to try and find out where I should go to worship. This was a very difficult and faith testing process. I was called a defilement of the Church, told I was going to burn in Hell for my conviction in salvation by faith alone. I read the Anathema pronunciations against the Protestants by the RCC… I read the history of war, torture and burnings. On the surface I saw a false face of love buried under a tribal mentality that didn’t have any semblance of Christ love I believed in. Many are abandoning traditional Church and seeing it as unnecessary and even dangerous. It’s sad and disheartening for someone coming from no religious upbringing or experience. This is the daily struggle of my faith. I can only overcome by walking in faith that Jesus is with me. Even though those that claim to be the true Churches tell me I’m cursed and a defilement unless I join them. I hope they are wrong. Otherwise I will burn in Hell for all eternity. How can you have any peace unless you totally dismiss that possibility. On the flip side how do you have any peace if you cave to fear.
I love John 17.
I am so thankful for you and for each one of my Christian brothers and sisters!
But I’m especially thankful that we can stand firmly rooted because we are in Christ-not because our brothers and sisters are holding us upright. (Ps 1:3)
A rich, supportive Christian community is a great blessing, but it’s not a given.
Thank you for encouraging and convicting God's people. Help us to press in Lord and pray like never before for Your Kingdom's cause.
Great sermon, and a topic truly unspoken by the Christian apologist community.
Excellent message! I was really convicted to think about the way I talk about Christian groups and leaders whom I don't like.
Sober-minded and mystical at the same time! From perichoresis to being a team player for the gospel! 💯 "We know that we have passed from death to life, because we love each other. Anyone who does not love remains in death." 1 John 3:14
Really reasoned with the asking God to give me a more sincere affection towards other christians or believers from denominations in general.
Also, Dr. Ortlund, I would love for you to study the story of the Restoration Movement, specially the heart of it, which was unity of all christians into one Body. There’s a lot of documenta from the leaders of the Movement, specially Alexander Campbell and they are very beneficial when discussing and seeking that unity you’re preaching about in this video.
God bless you, Gav.
I admit that I used this passage against other denominations and I tried to show that they do not fulfill this prayer of Jesus. I did not think about an answer how this prayer of Jesus could be fulfilled in this day and age.
Thank you for this video.
This one is getting saved to my favorites. What a great word and just met me right in my struggle today. Thank you!
I live in the redwoods! Crescent City, ca! Come visit sometime! Got redwoods in my yard and you’re right they have shallow roots and also they found out they get a lot of there water through the fog! So they absorb water through their needles and because it doesn’t have to work against gravity, it’s much more efficient for the trees.
Amen
The exception clause…”if you are a true Christian…” this in itself begs the question, “What is a true Christian?”
A true Christian is one who has God's Spirit in them, they follow Christ's example, and they believe what He teaches in the Bible. Traditional Christianity says a person just has to believe in His sacrifice, but Satan knows all about that. In fact, he constructed many false gospels that are all centered around it.
@@theeternalsbeliever1779 perhaps you are presenting another good example of a gospel that is incomplete. There is no salvation apart from what Christ accomplished at the cross through His shed blood and His resurrection. Just believing these truths in itself apart from the conviction of the Holy Spirit and is born of the Spirit resulting in a changed life that is an ongoing spiritual formation of being like Christ; ie; growing in grace and expressed in love will demonstrate the effect of the gospel in one’s life when they accept it by faith; that is the first step of repentance.
Thanks for such a beautiful reminder! I'm so blessed.
I appreciate this video regarding church unity. I went from being an atheist to being a Christian because the New Testament made predictions about the Church that Christ would build.
The way I looked at the evidence is that Christ predicted that he would build a church and 1) The gates of hades would not prevail against it. 2) He said the Church would be persecuted. 3) He said the Church would go to all nations. 4) He the church would be unified in the passages that this video is all about. And when I looked at history … All of those things happened!! Atheists had always told me that there were so many Christian sects it was impossible to see which one is true. But that is not the case in the early church. In Early Christianity there really was just one church - - just like Jesus predicted. His prediction came true. I read Christian apologist who used the unity and growth of the early church as proof of the resurrection of Christ.
But this is what I just don’t understand. When I look at that early church that faced persecution, that grew to all nations and that stayed unified. It was the "Catholic Church." When I read the writings of all of these church fathers:
Clement 95 AD - - Ignatius 107 AD - - Paipas 130 AD- - Polycarp from Smyrna in 150 AD - - Justin Martyr of Rome (150 AD) - - Hegesippus 170 AD - - Irenaeus of Lyon (France) in 180 AD - - Origen (215 AD), - - Cyprian (250 AD) -- Hilary 315 to 367 AD - - Athanasius 298 to 374 AD - - Eusebius 260 to 339 AD - - Gregory of Nyssa 335 to 395 AD - - Gregory of Nazianzus 329 to 390 AD - - Ambrose 339 to 397 AD - - Jerome 347 to 407 AD - - Augustine the Great 354 to 430 AD
And all of these guys see themselves as bishops (with a few being priests and deacons) in one single church that they call in the Greek “Katholicos Ekklysia.” These early Christian Fathers insist on there being only one Catholic Church. There are not many different “sects” or “churches” with contradicting beliefs. These Fathers all call themselves part of an “episcopate” and they insist that there is only one true Christian church. When I read all of these Fathers, they seem to be relatively unanimous regarding that fact that they are part of one “Catholic Church.” This is the church the held the great councils at Nicaea in 325 AD, Constantinople in 381 AD, Ephesus in 431 AD and Chalcedon in 451 AD. In those Councils they define the fairly complex doctrines of the Trinity and the Doctrine of the Incarnation. Those are highly nuanced doctrines that took the church hundreds of years to define. And why do we trust them? It is only because Jesus said we could trust his church because he would be with his church until the end of time. And he said he would send the Holy Spirit to guide the Church forever in all truth.
So the bottom line is when I look at that early church it was the “Catholic Church” and so one thing I do not get is the Protestant claims of the 1500’s. In the 1500’s men called “Protestants” came along and claimed that some of things that the early church was unified about were false or bad doctrines. But I just don’t see how it is not absurd to claim that the early church unity and explosive growth is proof of the resurrection of Christ. Christian apologists of all stripes point to Christ predicting a unified church that went to all nations. And that happened. There was one unified church that went to all nations. But that church that did all those things was certain not "Protestant."
In the 1500's a bunch of different men come along and claimed that some of things that the early church was united on are completely wrong. That is just a disconnect to me. And when Protestants came along to claim that the early Catholic Church was wrong in some of their beliefs; all of those Protestants could not agree on what the Catholic Church got wrong and what they got right. Luther started one church, Zwingli started another and Zwingli and Luther hated each other. John Calvin started a 3rd Church. Three of Luther’s original followers split from him and started their own churches. John Smith looked at all the churches in existence and believed that none of them had a legitimate baptism so he baptized himself!! If the Catholic Church that existed in the first 600 years of Christianity was wrong about some of its doctrines how could I ever decide which "Protestant" got it right. If Jesus said he would build one church that would be united how does it make sense that so many of the things that church was united about are wrong or false doctrines? It seems absurd to me to claim that early church unity proves that Christ was resurrected and guiding his church but then turn around 1500 years later and say that many of the things the church was united about are wrong. Can anyone explain why that is not an absurd contradiction?
Amen! The Catholic Church is the One True Church founded by Christ! All Christians should be within it.
I think you raise some legitimate points and your questions are very fair. However, I think somewhere along the way, the church morphed from an organic institution composed of believers into a top-down imperialistic system where truth became of secondary importance. One reason why many Protestants cherish the Bible to the degree we do is that it stands alone as an unchanging lighthouse of truth. Yes, I do not deny that Protestants do not always agree on what Scripture says. However, the reality is that the churches that identify as apostolic (Roman Catholic and the Orthodox) do not agree, either. In fact, if you look into Roman Catholicism, you will find an incredible diversity of opinion and belief.
The bottom line for me is that the Gospel of Christ is always under attack, and there is an urgent necessity to protect and uphold it. I believe that the Roman Catholic church failed to safeguard the Gospel, and it became one where works was mingled with grace. The Reformers saw this dire situation and desired to rescue the purity of the Gospel from muddled confusion. Were their efforts perfect? No, by no means. But, God DOES preserve His church. The church is not merely an organization; it is a universal brotherhood and sisterhood of followers of Christ. Its members can be found in every denomination, including the Roman Catholic Church and Protestant denominations. When unity seems to falter, look deeper and remember that what holds us together is Christ Jesus Himself.
Very timely. Thank you
God bless you, Gavin. Hope you’re having a great break. That reference to “Sister” was not lost on me! I got chills when I recognized the lyrics.
I read John 17 yesterday from the ESV study bible and was looking for a sermon or another commentary on it. Thank you
Really appreciated this! Love the posture and delivery.
Gavin, you would probably enjoy The Intersection of the Cross podcast. 🙏 God bless your ministry
I agree with Gavin that unity is very important. I wonder when all protestants will be united on whether babies should be baptized?
Or literally any other doctrine besides the agreement that Jesus is God.
For this Catholic, unity does not feel difficult at all. It's like being married. My wife and I don't always get along perfectly, but I would never leave her. The Church also wrestles with truth and must acquiesce to the Holy Spirit, and not in a democratic process, but in the mechanisms established by Christ without which we have no 'living' arbiter - just opinions.
Why not leave the Church? Well because I believe Jesus. Not only does He desire unity for us, as His prayer request details, he later tells us where it can be found. He founded the Church and He promised to lead it to all truth - not simply truth of the 'main things'. He is the head of the body. The Church is the Mystical Body (undivided) of Christ. The Church is the Bride and He is the groom. Overcomplicating this matter is a confusion and an attempt to divide - this is the work of Satan.
Now I am NOT saying any non-Catholic knowingly works to advance Satan's agenda, I am simply saying that dividing the Church is Satan's favorite game. Don't confuse or complicate 'Church' as some abstract or vague collection of (mostly) likeminded individuals. This makes Christ look wishy-washy and hard to find - when we all know Christ was crystal clear.
A sincere Christian owes it to themselves to study Catholicism. Most non-Catholics I know only look to tear down what little they know or what they have heard, and not the true Catholic faith. The Catechism in a Year youtube project with Fr. Mike Schmitz would be a great place to start. I am positive it would surprise my Protestant friends (Including Gavin) - but ONLY if they complete the work. How else would one see if all biblical time from the Old Testament, to the New Testament, to today coheres into all truth.
Just by the way. I believe that there is an opportunity built into church life for very real and very palpable unity. The Sunday morning worship service. A group of Believers worshipping their God with one voice, as one body. The Body of Christ.
In physics this is called a "moment". It is something very real, very powerful and, as I said before, palpable.
Here's the kicker. We have lost that opportunity due to the current worship format used in the vast majority of Christian churches today. The so called "Praise and Worship Team" has very effectively drowned out the voice of the congregation - the Body of Christ. In fact these groups have taught the congregation, precisely, not to sing.
I have been visiting churches lately due to a ministry I am involved in and I've seen it over and over and over again. And that "moment" is lost, every Sunday in hundreds of thousands of churches.
I believe I know what I'm talking about. In the church where I first knew the Lord, we, the congregation, the Body of Christ, were quite literally the "Worship and Praise Team". Wow!!!
As the Protestantism movement was established in protest against Catholicism, but created confusion, division & scandal with 000’s of sects, the onus is on them to establish unity amongst themselves, which is probably impossible as they can’t agree on infant baptism or whether to use grape juice or wine.
No reasonable and unbiased human can possibly read Jesus's words (in their full context, not skipping from verse 11 to verse 20) and come to the conclusion that a Christian should be protestant, with it's hundreds of denominations. All Christians should be part of the One Holy Apostolic Catholic Church that Jesus founded.
it's so easy to be unified....just be in the Church Christ gave to us!
The one Holy and Apostolic Church is the invisible Church composed only of those with true faith in their hearts. The true Church isn't an external organisation, and much less one under the control of the heretical popes. I left Roman Catholicism when I saw that it wasn't teaching the true Gospel of salvation through faith alone in Christ, and when I became aware that Luther was correct in identifying the Papacy as the Antichrist.
@@Edward-ng8oo That's an incredibly stupid thing to say. The Bible clearly speaks of the Church as having real, exercisable, human authority. How then can it be invisible? It was far from invisible in the Bible, it was made up of a hierarchy of men with real authority. Sad that you allowed low IQ, heretical, rebellious protestants to brainwash you. The Gospels are literally preached at every Mass. If the Catholic Church isn't preaching the Gospel, then what is it the Priest is reading when he reads Matthew, Mark, Luke and John????
I find it interesting that protestants like Gavin will say things like "we as the church" and clearly mean not church, but the entire Christian religion. But then will also use the same word "church" to mean just all protestants, or just all Catholics, or just all Baptists, or just their specific Baptist convention, or even just the First Baptist Church of Ojai. Given this, we need to know exactly what Gavin means when he says "church" and also what Jesus meant when he said "church."
David and Jonathan
I appreciate your heart for this.
Dr. Ortlund, you have a good heart and attitude - but my mind cannot overcome the massive doctrinal differences we have with Roman Catholics and EO.
However, it was the Roman Catholic Church at the Council of Trent (1545-1563) that anathematized us on several points (all Protestants on about 8-10 points (?- I am going by memory) at that time - Justification, Transubstantiation, Apocrypha, Purgatory, Indulgences, praying to dead saints, Sola Scriptura, tradition, etc.)
Then later, they have 1854 (Immaculate Conception), 1870 (infallibility of the Pope), and 1950 (Bodily Assumption of Mary) - they anathematize us for not accepting those dogmas.
Striving for unity with Roman Catholics and Eastern Orthodox, how does that work ? (they are the ones who anathematize us and would require us to renounce our Biblical convictions, etc. The EO also anathematized us in the Synod of Jerusalem, 1672 / Creed of Dositheus
Vatican 2 did not revoke or change any of the Anathemas, although many think or assume that they did.
They claim that Jesus' prayer was for "Visible unity" in order to show the world that the Father sent Jesus. they use those same verses, especially verses 20-23) - they claim submission to the Pope is the only way for visible unity to be possible.
It seems to me that this passage along with Ephesians 4:1-6 is about striving for local church unity around the truth of Scripture; not a call for unity with all other groups that claim the name of Christ around the world.
But there are definitely things we can agree on with them, especially moral issues - on marriage (against homosexuality, etc.), family, against abortion, against LGBTQ agenda.
In the world's largest English-speaking country the Protestants realised that their missionary efforts were going nowhere unless they united, which they did. Why hasn't that happened elsewhere?
What about the gift of “prophecy”? This seems to be a gift that has the high potentiality of creating division…. who decides when “division” is absolutely needed to preserve genuine unity? (eg 2 John 6-11)?
Gavin, would love to see you build a strong case for why Protestantism is true and reflects what the first Christians believed. Not a subjective testimony about why you like being Baptist or a reason why a Catholic belief should be rejected. Take us through, century by century, and cite evidence about why Protestant convictions were established by Christ and the 12 and how they were carried down to us today. Show us how sola scriptura was understood and practiced when we had no canon and no printing press and explain why things like worship were Protestant in nature. This would strengthen the faith of your viewers.
talk about an impossible task
@@megrose711agreed lol
Off topic question for Protestants: I’m Orthodox Christian and we baptise full-immersion three times, not once; in the name of the Holy Trinity. It must be done in the name of the Father, Son, and the Holy Spirit. I’m curious if there are any Protestant denominations that do this. Thus far, I have not come across any that did this. They only seem to do once. My wife is a former American Baptist and she had only single immersion. I guess it surprises me a bit. Would have thought they would baptise thrice, since Baptists are still trinitarian.
If you come into most Orthodox jurisdictions but had previously received a triple immersion from your former tradition, then we usually only have you do chrismation, which is the second part of the baptising process. The catechumen gets immersed thrice, then has the seal of the Holy Spirit applied with chrism (specially blessed holy oil) on all the major parts of the body. This is done in the sign of the cross, a tradition that began with the early church. Only thing is, to my knowledge, I have never come across a single church denomination that did this. The Roman Catholics don’t even do it (then again, sadly, they don’t even do full immersion).
We don't do that at my church. However, we do recognise Orthodox baptism as valid.
I have been to an Anglican baptism of adults. They baptized by pouring, but there were three pours.
Schwarzenau Brethren (German Baptist Brethren, sometimes called “Dunkers” or “Dunkards”) practice face first triple immersion and some of them believe in baptismal regeneration (see Wikipedia). I have this group in my distant heritage.
My dilemma with finding a church is most are female preachers. The male ones support the lgb+q..how do I do this?
Pray and ask Jesus to lead you. Then be patient while continuing to seek Him. If you truly desire His will rather than your own will for your life, He will lead you. For God places us in the church according to his will. The challenge is to wait on Him.
@@heather602 I have been. And I'm not seeking my own will. If I was is be going to the lady preacher.
go to a Catholic Mass and see if it speaks to you. Men preachers and no gay stuff allowed.
The Orthodox doesn’t agree with the Roman. The Roman church doesn’t agree with the Protestant and Protestants argue over Arminianism and Calvinism..etc etc etc. We’re all brothers in Christ or I believe you’re my brother in Christ if you believe in the the Trinity, Christs blood being shed for our sins and he rose again to redeem us to eternal life with God.
Let’s just get over the fact there are certain nuances we will never agree to or know until we are with Christ. But if we are with Christ then our differences didn’t matter.
Have faith in the Lord Jesus.
Repent of our sins. Share the gospel. Love God with all your heart and all your mind. Love your neighbor. And continually give thanks to and seek the Lord Jesus in all ways in all things to be closer to him everyday.
This a great reminder. If you look into who defined the trinity and how the Bible came together, however, you may find that there is more truth out there than you realize 👀.
“If we are with Christ”, how can you be with Christ if you don’t understand what he says? Everyone claims their interpretation is correct, how can you “follow Jesus” if you don’t understand what he’s teaching first? How do we resolve who has the correct interpretation of His teachings in various scenarios?
@@dreistheman7797 the Bible and Christ words teachings and parables are not too hard to understand. But it does help to find a good solid biblical church where you find like minded people who want get closer to God, to know more want to get into the Bible more and who might have a little more knowledge that could help you if you’re having trouble understanding certain scripture.
But I will always go back to the beatitudes, Matt 22:35-40, and like verses in Luke. All of Matt 23.
All of Paul’s epistles to the gentiles (us unless you’re following the law, good luck with that) especially Romans. Not to say all other books are not important just think when you understand those it gets to the bottom of everything else IMO.
And after you’ve read the whole Bible you’ll see that the New Testament completely follows the Old Testament and Christ is the fulfillment of OT scripture and prophets. It all follows.
@@1SigloUno I like that you're pointing to a good, solid biblical church to interpret scripture, the problem is just different churches or different Protestant denominations precisely, interpret scripture differently. There are some protestant churches that teach transgenderism and polyamory is not sinful, and they justify it through their interpretation of the Bible as well, and some of them logical. That is why we go back to the apostles and Peter who are given the "keys to loose and bind", and their successors whom they passed down this authority that continued to guide the church the past 2 millennia.
@@dreistheman7797 the problem with all churches and all man regardless of church or denomination. One can even look at the Roman church and all of its complete failures throughout history even unto this day.
The problem with the term Protestant is all “evangelical” churches can all be lumped into that generalized term. Just because you’re not part of the Roman or orthodox doesn’t mean all Protestant are biblical. I can like wise look at my “Roman” Catholic family members who are all progressive and I see the same failures you see in that Protestant generalization. Or even simply the Bidens or Catholics for Choice and countless Roman clergy who leaned heavily Marxist or socialist in Latin America and throughout.
In the end it’s our own personal right standing relationship we seek with Christ and his atonement for our sinfulness. I heard a Pastor once say we are all looking for that crutch to be in a perfect church . But once we truly find it , we won’t be good enough to be part of it. Instead keep praying keep seeking and find like minded individuals who will not degrade or erode the words of the Bible and Christ to lessen the hard truth’s of it that we all don’t want to accept. Rightly dividing the word.
Point is my original you believe the Bible wholly , and agree we’re all broken innately sinful people who needed Christ to die for all our wretchedness the good news , you believe in the Trinity, and seek him above all things. Then I will consider you my brother in Christ.
PS our church it’s history is rooted in the martyrs and the early Christians who were persecuted and showed true faith in Christ. Enough faith that brought down the biggest civilizations and unbelievers to their knees, and continues to be persecuted to this day which by our faith shines all glory to God. And may it bring more people to peace through what we know to be be true.
Does not John 17 manifest the truth that Jesus and his Father are separate divine Beings? "And the glory which thou gavest me I have given them; that they may be one, EVEN AS we are ONE: " --John 17:22 EVEN AS means in the same way. Are the disciples to become one infinite, immaterial Essence? Of course not. So neither are Jesus and his Father and the Holy Ghost an immaterial Essence. They are divine Beings. They are the Godhead of this earth, and are members of the infinite, eternal unchangeable UNION of divine Beings that speak as "Us" in Genesis 1.
A boy loves a girl, and that doesn't mean all boys love the same girl.
Amen to all you said here, Gavin.
But. How is it possible that in 35 minutes of preaching about the unity of Christians in the body of Christ, you never mentioned the word Eucharist once?
The most perfect way of partaking in the body of Christ is to literally receive the body of Christ in us.
If we don’t partake in the Holy Eucharist, there is no way we can be one with Christ (if you do not eat my flesh and drink my blood you don’t have eternal life in you).
Gavin, we need you thoughtful Protestants to sparkle and spread a Eucharist revival in this country.
With no Eucharist (or with a shallow understanding of it) there is no Christianity, let alone any unity within Christianity.
I'm a Protestant and my church takes Communion weekly? Most Protestant churches partake in the Lord's Supper on a regular basis.
@@toddthacker8258 what denomination are you?
@@toddthacker8258 yes but are you following what the church has always taught since the age of the apostles? That there is only one version of communion; the Eucharist that truly becomes Jesus’ body and his blood. This is what all Christians believed for 1500 years.
@@thegoatofyoutube1787 If you want to believe that my communion doesn't count, go ahead, I guess?
@@thejerichoconnection3473 I'm non-denominational
Or, unity isn’t some spiritual, vague idea, but a physical reality.
Catholic Church is the best chance at unity.
Dr. Gavin Ortlund is so entertaining! Dr. Ortlund clsims "SO MANY Church Fathers have no problem attributing many flaws and faults to Mary". Yet didn’t name them. In reality, Many Church Fathers taught Mary was free from sin, such as Augustine, Jerome, Ambrose, Athanasius, Ephraem, Cyril,etc. John Chrysostom is the inly Church Father whose views on Mary are two sided! The false teachings of Gavin Ortlund, have made me a stronger Catholic Christian! Peace always in Jesus Christ our Great and Kind God and Savior, He whose Flesh is true food and Blood true drink
Gavin is a false teacher. But Catholicism is a false gospel. Don't base your convictions on people. Seek the kingdom of God and his righteousness. Seek the Lord Jesus and don't be afraid to go to Him directly in prayer. It's one of the enormous benefits Jesus purchased for us: he tore the veil, meaning we can approach God on Jesus's righteousness, not our own.
Have you been spiritually born again? (Not water baptism)
Come home Gavin to the one holy Catholic apostolic church
These verses mean to be Catholic.
A wishful thinking, American sectas will never be united. Evangelicalism is a conglomeration of man made denominations. To each its own .