I greet you again this afternoon in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ. Again, I'm thankful to be here with you all. This weekend we've been focusing on a theme that I've entitled relational apologetics, and it's been something of a burden of mine for many years. when it comes to the subject of the defense of the faith, when it comes to how we are to give an answer to those who ask us about the hope that is within us. And my burden has been that too often we have tried to teach the church that what you need to do is you need to study philosophy, or you need to become a logician and be able to argue well when actually the Scriptures point us in a different direction. And there's a burden I've had when it comes to Christian apologetics, and tried to put those before the young people this weekend. The three preceding lectures were along the lines of three basic relationships that you have to understand to be able to give a good defense for the faith, to be able to actually be persuasive. The first is, very simply, your relationship with God. You have to know God before you could ever defend the faith. You have to have drunk deep at the wells of salvation. You have to love Him. And this has to be a solid relationship before you could ever defend the faith because we're not defending mere abstract truth claims. When the Christian faith is attacked, the most fundamental relationship in your life is being attacked. And so your apologetic needs to flow out of that relationship. Another relationship you have to understand to be able to give a good defense of the faith and to be able to interact with the world is you have to understand their relationship with God. Their problem, which they will try to convince you is true, their problem is not intellectual, their problem is moral. They love their sin, and so the knowledge of God is a very inconvenient truth for them, and so they'll try to suppress that in unrighteousness. And they'll try to get as many other people involved in sin as they can, because they think there's strength in numbers, and somehow we can all band together as unbelievers and overthrow our Creator. So you have to understand where the unbeliever is really coming from. They do have a relationship with God, but they suppress that truth. The third matter we looked at is you have to understand what your relationship with the unbeliever is supposed to look like. We're supposed to give a defense. to everyone who asks about the hope that is in us, and always be ready to do so, but never in an offensive way. We're supposed to give a defense without offending. But also, turning it around, we're also to come to believe that the best defense of the faith is actually living offensively. Living out the Christian life is the greatest argument for the world. Just showing the love that you have for Christ, the joy that we have in Him, and that commitment and that confidence and that relationship, if you live it, it's better than anything you could probably say. It's how you live. Your life will provoke the questions. What's different about you? And your life proves the truth that Jesus can actually change you. Well, this evening, and finally, we're going to look at a third relationship that you have to come to understand is absolutely vital in the defense of the faith. And it's one that we don't tend to think about very often. And that relationship is our relationship with one another. I'd like you to open your Bibles to John chapter 13. John chapter 13, just two passages there, or two verses there I should say. Verses 34 and 35. John chapter 13, verses 34 and 35. And then we're going to turn forward to John chapter 17 as well. John chapter 13, again, just two verses there, verses 34 and 35. Jesus says, a new commandment I give to you, that you love one another. Just as I have loved you, you also are to love one another. By this, all people will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another. I'd like you to turn forward to John 17, now to the 20th verse. John 17, verse 20 through verse 23. Jesus is in the midst of what we often call his high priestly prayer. He's praying for his people. We pick up in the midst of his prayer in verse 20. Jesus says, I do not ask for these only, but also for those who will believe in me through their word. that they may all be one, just as You, Father, are in me, and I in You, that they also may be in us, so that the world may believe that You have sent me. The glory that You have given me, I have given to them, that they may be one, even as we are one. I in them, and You in me, that they may become perfectly one, so that the world may know that You sent Me and loved them even as You loved Me." Please bow with me briefly in prayer. Father, we seek the illuminating work of Your Holy Spirit now as we consider this theme, these few verses from Your Holy Word. Father, we pray that Christ would be glorified in our midst this evening as we consider His words and His prayer. And Lord, that You might change us and convict us and bring us into a more faithful walk with You. We pray You would humble us and truly bring us to repentance tonight. For we pray these things in Jesus' name, Amen. The way that we, and the we is the way that we, the church, actually live with one another and the way that we love one another affects our witness in the world. It's an inescapable correlation between how we live together as Christians and how we love one another. That affects our witness in the world. In other words, the church collective, not just the individual Christian, But the church collective is a major part of God's plan for bringing salvation to the lost. And that truth, just simply stated that way, should be both a comfort and a challenge to us, to the way that we normally think, And particularly the way that we normally think about doing apologetics. It's a comfort because it is wonderful to know that it all does not rest on my shoulders alone. That the weight of defending the faith is not a burden that I carry as an individual Christian, thinking that somehow, if I can't come up with the right arguments or the right words to say, that God is going to be mocked in the world and it all rests on my shoulders alone. So it's a great comfort to know that the church collective is part of God's apologetic endeavor in the world. It's a challenge though, because many devalue the church today. Many think that the church is very optional as Christians, and optional to the Christian life, that it's unimportant to the Christian faith. But if you isolate yourself from the body of Christ, and if you live an overly individualistic life, then you are actually not able to participate in one of the major and most important aspects of the apologetic endeavor of the Christian church. If you are not part of a body, if you are not living within the church, then you're not even able to participate in arguably the most important aspect of Christian apologetics. And that aspect being the collective proof that the church is to give that God sent Christ into the world. Now, as we begin to consider this final aspect of apologetics, this kind of final relationship, our relationship with one another, I want to note that there are multiple ways that our relationships with each other in the church actually bear witness to the truth. I'm going to focus on one, but there's more than just this one. This could be an entire conference in itself. There is the powerful witness. that the church renders collectively when people see us gather here every single Lord's Day. And as one writer calls it, we engage in a royal waste of time. We come before our God and King and worship Him. And so the world sees us, in a sense, give our precious time. That's one way that the church collective actually witnesses to the truth of the Gospel. Those people are willing to give up that precious time, which in a culture like ours, which is so harried, is a powerful witness. There is the point that we actually put our money where our mouth is as Christians. We actually tie it. People work hard for their money, and here are a group of people who would be willing to put their money where their mouth is. They're actually giving to the church. Those people give their time, they actually give their hard-earned money. Beyond those kinds of things, there's the great reality that when we gather together, indeed, when we're together even now, God has promised His special, powerful presence He dwells among the praises of his people. This is a special meeting. There's a divine intrusion that's going on. The Spirit of God works among us. That is a glorious witness to those outside and those who come among us. And there's the fact that the church is the only divinely ordained entity for the proclamation of the truth on earth. The church is the pillar and the ground of the truth. So we have that special calling. The church is to be the pillar and ground, the ones that proclaim the truth. But there's one particular aspect of the church's involvement in apologetics that Jesus teaches here in John that I want us to focus upon this evening. specifically because it involves our relationships with each other. But first here, I think we need to begin by understanding, first of all, the truths that are at stake. The truths that are at stake. It's important to that we see the truths that are at stake as the world considers the claims of the Christian faith. And we need to recognize that they are not basic things that often get the apologetic attention, such as just the mere existence of God. or the fact that miracles can actually happen, or even the question of origins. Those are not actually the matters that are really at stake. The Bible actually just assumes the existence of the one living and true God. The scriptures basically assume that there is, and they don't even seek to argue that God exists, that they assume that there is one living and true God, and if that is the case, then all of the other basic questions that come up actually flow from that major premise. I mean, if God exists, then we have the answer to our origins. He created us. If God exists, then there is no more issue about miracles. Gods do miracles. That's what He does. So all these basic things simply follow from that. Another way of saying this is that the Christian story or the Christian faith makes sense and it's internally coherent. If you start with the true God, then everything else follows. But Jesus says here, notice in verse 23 of John 17, He says in verse 23 that there are two essential matters that the world needs to come to believe. And the first being that the Father sent the Son. The world needs to believe, they need to come to believe the truth that's at stake is that the Father sent the Son. Notice though, and I think that this is a very loaded type of a truth that they need to come to see, notice that this is not what we might call generic theism. In other words, the issue is not that a God exists, that some God out there exists, but this is actually implied Trinitarianism. There is a Father who has sent His Son into the world. Now, if we would have read all the way through from what's called the farewell discourse of Jesus, if we would have started in John 13 and read all the way through John 17 together, we would have also seen that this includes and it involves the person of the Holy Spirit. The Son will ascend back to heaven and He and the Father will send the Holy Spirit. And so this is clearly something unique here in that Jesus is concerned to convince the world not merely that God exists, but that the Father has sent the Son. Now, what's involved in this? Why is that so important that we understand that the Father actually sent Jesus, sent the Son? Simply put, validates the entire person and work of Jesus Christ. If the Father sent the Son, then that entirely validates Christ's person and work. Jesus came for a very specific purpose. He came to seek and to save the lost. His whole ministry was a mission to glorify God by saving sinners, and thus the world must come to know that the Father sent Him to do that work. This becomes vital. This is critical because to be saved, we must know that Jesus was not some self-appointed person. He wasn't acting on his own. He wasn't a religious nut with a messianic complex. His entire mission was to reconcile lost mankind to God. The Father sent Him specifically for that purpose. This then, actually involved in this understanding that the Father sent the Son, that actually then defines the Gospel. Jesus didn't come to be an example for us. Jesus didn't come and say, you can be saved if you can follow Me and live like I do. No, He came to reconcile estranged parties, God and man. God sent Him to be the mediator that we need so that we can be brought back into relationship with God. And this then implies the second major truth that is at stake as the world considers the Christian faith, and that is that Jesus is concerned that the world comes to believe that the Father loves His people as much as He loves His Son. That the Father loves His own people as much as He loves His own Son, Jesus Christ. Part of the thrust of this theme of relational apologetics is that it doesn't major in abstract philosophy. It doesn't just look at propositional statements, but rather it gets down to the nitty-gritty stuff of relationship and fellowship and love. And the glorious, awe-striking fact behind the truth of the Father sending the Son into the world, as Jesus says in His prayer here in verse 23, is that He sent the Son and loved them even as you loved Me. That is, the whole thing, the whole Christian faith is about deep, biblical love relationships. The primary and the most important relationship is that the God who created all things loved us and sent his Son into the world to be the sacrifice for our sins. If I were to ask you what the most famous verse in the entire New Testament is, most of you could answer that if you've ever watched a football game. It's usually in every football game. It's painted on some guy's chest. John 3.16. For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever believes in Him should not perish, but will have everlasting life." Congregation, that is everything that is being said here in John 17.23. that the world would know that you sent Me and loved them even as you loved Me." The gospel is, the good news is that God loves sinners so much that He willingly gave His only Son to redeem them back to Himself. And so, that is the truth that is at stake. That is what the world needs to know. We are not trying to defend the intellectual superiority of a philosophical system. We are trying to convince people of the glory of the gospel of Jesus Christ. We don't want people to just come to an assent to a set of propositional truth claims in some kind of an abstract and a dry and a detached way. We want people to come into a loving relationship with the living God. And therefore, we must come to know that the Father sent the Son and that He loves His people even as He loves His Son Jesus. Because He sees us now in union with His Son Jesus Christ. This then brings us really to consider finally This second major point here, and that is the way that the world will know these things. Those are the truths that are at stake. But how will the world come to know these things? What is the argument that Jesus says will convince people of these truths? Is it that Jesus says, well, you would be able to prove the resurrection in a court of law, given the evidence? If it was an impartial jury and they weighed the evidence, you'd be able to prove the resurrection of Jesus Christ. Does Jesus say, well, it's really in the probability, the statistical chances of just like seven Old Testament prophecies being true about me. I mean, that renders the Christian faith statistically true. One must look at the claims of Christ, and if you very fairly look at the teachings of Jesus, you would have to either conclude that He is a liar, He is a lunatic, or He is the Lord. Or is it that if you don't presuppose the truth of the Christian faith, you actually can't prove anything? Now, although all of those are true, and I would even say that all of those are valid arguments and they have their place, that is not what Jesus says will convince the world. Again, Jesus goes back to the relationship and He says that the world will know the truth, first of all, when we love each other. when we love each other. Love in the biblical sense, not at all in the way that the world defines it. We're not talking about love in the way that pop songs define it. Love in the biblical sense is nothing that can be found in this world naturally. And therefore, love, biblical love, is a convincing proof of the truth of the Christian faith. Christian love. And Christian love is so radical. It is so out of this world. Christian love is so supernatural that it is how the world will know that we truly are in a relationship with God. It's how the world will know that divine love actually does exist. Jesus says there, if you flip back, notice to chapter 13. He says right at the end of chapter 13, a new commandment I give to you, that you love one another. Just as I have loved you, you also are to love one another by this. All people will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another. You see, the love that Jesus is calling for is the same kind of love that He brought into this world. That is, it's a divine love. It doesn't originate here. He loved us. We love only because He first loved us. And Jesus is saying that when we have this love for each other as believers, When we have the kind of love that Jesus showed us, that self-giving, self-sacrificial, unconditional love, everyone will see it and know that we are truly disciples of Christ. In other words, they hear of the kind of love that God has for sinners. They hear of the way that Jesus loved His own, even unto death. They hear that. When they see us as His people, when they see us do the same, when they see us love one another with that divine, supernatural, otherworldly love that Jesus brought into this world, when they see us love each other that way, that brings credibility to the gospel. It brings proof to what we say is true. That is how they will know. Secondly, then, they also come to know the truth when we are united to each other. When we are united to each other, the gospel proclaims union with Christ. The gospel proclaims a restored relationship with God. reconciliation with Him, and when the world sees the church dwelling in love and in unity, they see proof that there really is a way to be united to God in a loving relationship. Maybe I can put it negatively. If we say that we have been reconciled to God, and that we now dwell with him in a new loving relationship, being now united to God through the Lord Jesus Christ. If we say that, but then we cannot get along with and we have no unity with other Christians, we subtly or maybe not so subtly say that the gospel claim is a lie. How can we say that love has covered our sin before God? How can we say that Jesus Christ has bore our sins in Himself on the cross? How can we say that we have come into this new relationship of union and communion with God through Jesus Christ, and yet then say that because these other Christians over there are different than us, we cannot have fellowship with them. This is not at all a call to not care about the truth. Real issues. There are real and important differences between Christians. And sometimes those differences have caused splits. Those differences have caused divisions among us. But every time, and this is the conviction we have to get back to, every time a split happens in the Christian church, we send a mixed message to the world. And sin is involved. Every time. One of the greatest hindrances to unbelievers becoming Christians is simply that they don't know what church to go to. You guys all say you believe the same thing, but which one is the right one? How can the Gospel be true if you all seem to be believing different things? If the Gospel was true, wouldn't there just be one church? Jesus says that the gospel is the truth. He says it is the truth. And therefore, he prays that we might be one so that the world will know that the gospel is the truth. That's what he's praying for. And therefore, a major focus of the church in the apologetic endeavor, how we defend the faith, must be part of the apologetic effort of the church, must be efforts towards reconciliation and church unity. In other words, we do not need better arguments for the faith. We need better relationships within the faith. The way that the world will know the truth of the gospel is when they see us loving each other and united to each other, and hear me correctly here, loving each other and united to each other in the bonds of gospel truth and biblical love. I'm not calling for a compromise of truth. I'm calling for efforts to heal the breaches to heal the divisions. And I realize as I call for that, that's easier said than done. How are we going to begin? What could we do? What can we do as young people? What can we do as an individual? What can we do as little churches? What about an individual believer inside of a little church? Small churches. What can we actually do for the cause of the kingdom? What can we actually do in this regard for the defense of the faith? How can we really take up this kind of matter for love and church unity and actually make a difference in the world? leave you with just one major way and one step toward application and beginning to live this way as we walk away this afternoon. And that simple answer to those questions, the simple application, is that you have to love each other. You must let love cover a multitude of sin. You must get over yourself. You have to get over your own selfishness. And you've got to begin to self-sacrificially love your brothers and sisters in Christ. And I'm saying it starts in your own individual congregation and within your own of relationships. I don't normally do this, but here's an exercise for you to do right now. I'd like you to think for a moment of the most difficult person in your church. Maybe the person that you try to avoid, that you have the hardest time getting along with in your church. And once you have that person in mind, I want you to take just a very brief moment and I'd like you to ask God to forgive you of your sin against them. Ask Him to forgive you for thinking of yourself as higher than them. Ask God to grant you repentance and give you the grace to not only mortify the ugly sin of not loving them, but more than that, positively though, to give you the grace to now bear the fruits of repentance and seeking them out and actively loving them. You see, that person, or maybe it's more than one, if they are truly A brother or sister in Christ, they are your blood-bought brother and sister. And you have no right to think less of them. You have no right to ignore them, or avoid them, or to be unkind to them, or to be critical of them, or to speak ill of them. A clear witness from the church, a clear witness from the church to the truth of the gospel depends upon you loving them. God's grace and the Spirit of Christ will enable you to love them. What is the fruit of the Spirit? It is love. It is joy. It is peace. It is patience. And on and on. There is forgiveness and there is empowering in Christ to begin walking in new obedience. We do not. I think there is a place for it, and I think it is vitally helpful for the church, and many do have this, or I should say some have the calling. But when it comes to apologetics, I think we need to recognize that we do not need, actually we do not need to study philosophy to be good apologists. You need to study the love of Christ for sinners to be a good apologist. You need to seek to have His mind in you. that did not consider Himself something, but rather He humbled Himself. He gave Himself for us. You study the love of Christ for sinners. In other words, you study the Gospel. That will make you a powerful apologist for the faith. Let's pray together. Father, we pray that He would so root us and ground us in the Gospel, that we might meditate deeply upon the love of Christ for sinners, the love that you had for the world, that you would so love the world, that you would give your only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him will not perish, but have everlasting life. Father, bring us back to the deep wells of Your love and Your grace. And we pray that You would change us. That we might become a beacon and a light to those who look on. That divine love really does exist. That there really is a God who loves sinners. That the world might know that You sent the Son and that you have loved us even as you loved your own son. And so, Father, draw us together in love and in unity. May we be of one mind, one heart, saying the same things. Father, give us a conviction to seek out restoration of where there's been breaches. May we not quickly divide from one another, but recognize that every time we split, we send a contradictory message to the world. And so begin to restore us on the foundation of the truth. Bring us back to Christ. Humble us before your word. But we pray with Christ, make us one again, even as you and your Son are one. We long to be used as you prove to the world that you have sent your Son, that you love us even as you have loved Him. May it start with my heart. Father, forgive me. Enable me to get over myself and to love my brethren. I pray that for this church. I pray that for the congregations represented here and these young people. May they go and realize that they have much to do in the apologetic endeavor, that they can love one another and seek unity in the truth and be part of the proof to the world that you have loved us. I pray these things in Christ's name. Amen.