John 17:26, commentary and pictures

Christ has made the Father's name known to those given Him, and He will continue to make it known. To declare the name is to reveal the Father's character of goodness, mercy, love, long-suffering and faithfulness. The purpose is that the very love with which the Father loved the Son before the foundation of the world may live in believers, with Christ Himself dwelling in them. That indwelling belongs to their oneness with one another as the Father is in Christ and Christ in the Father, made perfect in one body under one Head. Seen in character and in unity, that love and indwelling presence is the convincing evidence to the world that God sent Jesus and loves believers as He loved the Son.

Setting of Christ's Prayer

John 17:26 is the close of the prayer of John 17, spoken to the disciples just before trial and crucifixion. It was offered just before betrayal, Gethsemane agony, crucifixion and separation from the disciples, as His last, farewell prayer in the upper chamber after Judas left. It carried comfort, counsel and instruction for the trials ahead, lest they think they would be left as helpless orphans. In it He declared the Father's name and promised to declare it, so that the love wherewith the Father loved Him might be in His followers and He Himself might be in them.

The prayer was spoken aloud in the hearing of the disciples and is full of instruction of the highest type, showing His desire that all be saved through faith in Him. It followed His instruction in John 16 and belonged with His instruction in John 14-17, which is understood with new enlightenment when the mind is yielded to the influence of God's Spirit. It was not fully understood until after the resurrection and the coming of the Holy Spirit as at Pentecost, which opens blinded eyes. Yet its words remained in their hearts and later steadied them through disappointment and trial.

The prayer was for the first disciples and also for all who would believe through their word, including parents and children and readers in all time. Believers striving to answer it may become what it holds forth in possibility, with God's love for Christ in them and Christ in them. In it the Good Shepherd joins believing humanity to God and identifies His interests with fallen humanity, pleading to the Father on humanity's behalf.

It is His intercessory prayer and the sample on earth of His intercession carried on in heaven within the veil for all who receive Him and believe on His name, even to the ends of the earth. As High Priest in the heavenly sanctuary at His Father's right hand He continues that intercession to the end of the world, its concern being spiritual blessing that they be kept from sin and remain loyal to God, not riches or human favor. There is no intermediary between the sinner and Christ, for in His humanity He represented His people and in every part of His work He represented the Father, acting as their human Elder Brother who understands their needs. When ministers and congregations stand clothed with filthy garments humbling their hearts, fasting and praying for pardon through the atoning sacrifice, He pleads before the Father presenting His bruised hands bearing the wounds of cruel spikes, declaring that He has graven His church, the names of those who believe on Him, upon the palms of His hands.

Declaring the Father's Name

He has declared the Father's name to those given Him, to His disciples, and He will continue to declare it. That continuing declaration is so that the love with which the Father loved the Son may be in them and that He Himself may dwell in them. This indwelling love belongs together with the unity of believers and with their witness to the world that the Father sent Jesus, and it brings Christ's true disciples into close union with Him and the Father, bound together by love. The Father loves His people as He loves His Son, and Christ's presence with them is an assurance in which they may rejoice.

To declare the name is to make known the Father's character. That character is goodness, mercy, love and compassion. It is merciful, gracious, long-suffering, patient, abundant in goodness and truth, truthful, forgiving, and faithful to covenant. Believers are to gather up their forces and think upon it and plant themselves upon the Rock Christ Jesus and believe Him. His purpose is that they should know God's character and share that love, enabling them to make God known to others.

He came to correct the false picture of God as harsh and condemnatory. By coming to dwell with humanity as the Word of God made audible, He revealed God both to men and to angels. He made God known through His life: though fully human and tested as people are, He lived without sin and showed tenderness, compassion, sympathy, and care for others. His teaching to love enemies and show mercy reflects the Father's kindness even toward the unthankful and evil. In the cross and the light from Calvary it is seen that the glory shining in the face of Jesus is self-sacrificing love, that self-renouncing love which seeks not its own has its source in the heart of God and is the law of life for earth and heaven, and that in the meek and lowly Jesus is manifested the character of Him who dwells in light no man can approach.

He continues to make the Father known through the impartation of His Spirit, with Christ as the Comforter abiding in hearts and giving true disciples the glory of His character. Those who know that the Father sent Jesus can have Christ near them in every place and occupation; He draws them to Himself, and they answer with prayer and praise, finding in Him the source of everlasting life. When Christ dwells in the heart by faith and the heart is devoted to Him, He inspires words that reveal His character and testify of His grace, making the believer's speech a way to teach the family and others about God. Truth is not to be kept in the outer courts but received into the heart, producing a decided change in words, deportment, and character, with the sanctifying influence of the Holy Spirit seen in uprightness in all matters of business large and small and in obedience to the laws of the kingdom. The written Word brings the flesh and blood of the Son of God to the searcher, and as bodily blood is made by food eaten and must be renewed daily, so spiritual life is made by feeding daily on the Word for nourishment, light, renewal in the spirit of the mind, and growth up into Christ the living Head in firm union like a branch to the vine.

Jesus intended them to receive this love and pass on the knowledge of God to others. This knowledge and privilege should move believers to self-denying efforts to tell others about God's name and love and lead them to Jesus. Christians are to follow His example by making known the good news of salvation in both word and conduct, speaking of Christ and His sacrifice to people who do not know Him. They are to keep telling of God's goodness and share what they have received from Christ.

Father's Love Within Believers

The purpose of Christ's declaring the Father's name is that the very love with which the Father loved the Son may be in believers. That is the love with which the Father loved Him before the foundation of the world, away back before the world was created. The righteous Father is not known by the world, but Christ knows Him and His disciples know the Father sent Him, and to them He has made known the name and will keep making it known to this end. This completes His prayer that believers may be one as the Father is in the Son and the Son in the Father, made perfect in one by the glory Christ gives them. That oneness is to be striven for by refusing separation over differences of judgment, studying Christ's character, and working together in united effort.

That love is broad and full, beyond what human minds easily comprehend enough to act upon. It is matchless, deep and broad and full, shown in giving His life as a continual sacrifice to save men, leaving heaven to minister to suffering humanity, refusing the kingdoms of the world when offered as a bribe to bow to Satan, holding the saving of souls bound under Satan's power as His one object straight toward the cross, counting the penitent cry for forgiveness as music, and valuing time, knowledge, faculties and life itself only as means to work out salvation. The Father has made abundant provision for this love to be given as free abundant grace and as an inheritance in this life, to be spread abroad by being yoked with Christ. The tide of divine love flowing from the heart of God to the world finds its rest and channel through Christ, opening a course through which that love flows to people with unabated strength, carrying away sins and shedding cleansing streams into hearts opened to receive it to draw sinners to Christ. He transfuses this love through those who believe, diffused through every part of their nature like life-blood circulating, that it may dwell in them as it dwells in Him, conveying the circulating vitality of a pure and sanctified Christlike love through every part of human nature.

It is possible for God to love believers as He loves Christ because the believing soul is a part of Christ and a partaker of the divine nature. As soon as a person is united with Christ in heart, soul, and spirit, the Father loves that soul as part of Christ, as a member of the body of Christ with Christ Himself as the glorious Head. By this oneness believers have life more abundantly and have eternal life now, so that even if they die as Christ died the life of the Saviour is in them, their life is hid with Christ in God, and they will be raised up at the last day. They are united with Christ, their lives hidden with Christ in God, and Christ is one with God, and this union makes them God's chosen children and heirs with Christ. Through grace they share in the divine nature and are changed from sin to holiness.

The Father loves those transformed members of fallen humanity as He loves His Son, and union with Christ opens the way to lasting, eternal happiness. The Father's love for Christ is the pattern for the Father's love toward people changed from sin to holiness, and through grace they become one with Christ in God, and this enduring union brings rich, lasting happiness. The Father loves those in whom Christ abides as He loves the Son, and through Christ's grace they may be clothed with His righteousness, purified, elevated, and ennobled. God loves the human agent who has entirely surrendered to Christ and obeys His commands just as He loves His Son, revealing the immense value Christ places on such a person and the extensive privileges of close relationship with Christ. He waits to give the breadth of His mercy and love to all who walk before Him in obedience and humility, and nothing less than loving obedient ones as He loves Jesus satisfies His desire for them.

This indwelling love and Christ's spiritual life are essential to daily overcoming and to bearing good fruit, for Christ's prayer sets out what His followers must be. As they learn and live His prayer for oneness, Christ abides in their hearts, their joy is made full, and they receive strength to develop characters that honor God. This happens through the impartation of His Spirit, with Christ as the Comforter abiding in hearts, giving true disciples the glory of His character. It calls for ceasing criticism, evil speaking, discord and strife over little differences, linking up with one another and with Christ, studying the prayer and making it the rule of life, praying for union and living so God can answer, with the result of perfect oneness as close as the union between Father and Son, perfect Christian fellowship, obedience to the truth, full joy, and characters that honor God and reveal the power of grace. This indwelling love is expressed in Christlike character and conduct in loving God and keeping His commandments, revealed in believers' lives and supporting their unity in Christian fellowship, and a heart filled with this love will exercise love toward all for whom Christ died in unselfish self-denial, while alienation, discord, and strife become grievous to the Spirit of God.

Christ Dwelling Within Believers

Jesus has made the Father's name known to those given Him and will continue to make it known, so that the Father's love for the Son may be in them and He Himself may be in them. That indwelling presence is an assurance in which they may rejoice, for Christ abiding within is the soul's life and its source and pledge of joy, glory and hope. He is formed within as the hope of glory when the love expressed in the character proves to associates that God dwells inside, and faith in being loved as the Son is loved brings grace that makes light shine steadily amid moral darkness. The Father has made abundant provision for this as free, abundant grace and an inheritance in this life, to be spread abroad by being yoked with Christ and shared with others. As soon as a person is united with Christ in heart, soul and spirit, the Father loves that soul as part of Christ, as a member of His body with Christ Himself as the glorious Head, and nothing less than loving obedient ones as He loves Jesus satisfies His desire for them. Christ dwelling within as the hope of glory belongs with being sent into the world yet not of it and being sanctified through God's truth, and He is formed in believers as they receive Him by eating His flesh and drinking His blood.

This indwelling comes through the impartation of His Spirit, with Christ as the Comforter abiding in hearts and giving true disciples the glory of His character. When Christ dwells in the heart by faith and the heart is devoted to Him, He inspires words that testify of His grace and reveal His character, making speech a means to teach the family and others about God. Those who know that the Father sent Jesus may have Christ near them in every place and occupation, for He draws them to Himself and they answer with prayer and praise, finding in Him the source of everlasting life. That receiving is by feeding daily on the Word, for the written Word brings the flesh and blood of the Son of God to the searcher, and through obedience to that Word the believer becomes a partaker of the divine nature and receives Christ Himself, the bread from heaven. As bodily blood is made by food eaten, so spiritual life is made by feeding on the Word, and as bodily food must be eaten daily and blood renewed because of waste and loss, so the Word must be eaten daily for nourishment, light, renewal in the spirit of the mind and growth up into Christ the living Head, with firm union to Him fiber by fiber and vein by vein as a branch to the vine.

Knowing the Father, receiving His love and having Christ dwell within belong together. The disciples' knowledge of God distinguishes them from the world, which does not know Him, and knowing and delighting in Christ prepares them for life with Him. Being drawn to Jesus in this life, studying His character, delighting in His companionship and presence, and learning to know Him now prepares souls to be with Him in the life to come and to behold His glory where He is, for those who have no delight in Him now would find no pleasure in His presence then and would prefer to be anywhere else. Its teaching calls for sacred unity among Christ's people and is instruction for every church.

Oneness with Christ as He is one with the Father does not erase distinct personality, for Father, Son and believers remain distinct persons while perfectly united. Christ is one with the Father yet God and Christ are two distinct persons, and He prayed that disciples might be one with Him as He is one with the Father without destroying the personality of either. Believers remain distinct in identity and personality while one with Christ, as Father and Son remain distinct, and through sanctification by the truth they become heirs of God and joint heirs with Christ. Knowing God and Christ is personal understanding gained through sanctification, and those truly converted remain humble and keep learning the duties required of them. This oneness is to extend to all His followers even though scattered the world over, and God cannot work to bring them to take an elevated stand and be one with Christ in all the height and depth of His purpose unless they give up their own way for His way, because a loose, lax religion leaves the world confused and bewildered.

The great object of His mission which He kept ever before Him, and to which He first directed the thoughts of the eleven when alone with them after Judas had left and He looked upon them with divine love and tenderest sympathy before speaking of His approaching separation, was that all His humiliation and suffering would glorify the Father's name, and this was His joy. Making the Father known is part of that work of directing glory to Him, so that the Father's love for Jesus might be in them and Jesus Himself might be in them.

Unity Among Christ's Followers

John 17:26 belongs to Christ's prayer that His followers be one as He is one with the Father and the Father is in Him, made perfect in one in faith and practice, in mind and judgment, as one body under one supreme Head, one with one another through Christ and through Him one with God. That love for which He prayed is to dwell in them to melt coldness and hardness, and the indwelling love belongs with that unity and with their witness to the world that the Father sent Jesus. The prayer is not for the first disciples alone but for all who will believe through their word, and it calls believers to examine whether they have left their first love. This unity does not erase distinct personality in Christ, God, or His followers, it is to be made visible among them, and it requires giving up one's own way for God's way.

That oneness is the specified unity of the prayer and the true platform of the church, to be sought with earnest effort, constant prayer and honest endeavor in harmony with heaven, since Christ as Intercessor is ever working for the unity of His people. It exists only in proportion to illumination and sanctification, for the more fully believers receive the enlightenment of the divine Spirit the more nearly they harmonize in understanding truth and are united in judgment, with confidence in one another, peace and harmony, believing and speaking the same things with one heart and one mouth glorifying God. Believers answer the prayer by seeking sanctification through the truth, obedience to God's commands, faithful use of gifts, cherishing love for God and one another, and overcoming separation and division to reflect the oneness of Christ with the Father. The unity represented is consistent with God's work being one, presenting unity with Christ and with one another as the setting in which God's love and power flow richly into the soul.

The prayer is answered only when every sincere believer puts away all evil thinking and all evil speaking, criticism, jealousy, envy, suspicion, hatred, variance, strife, fault-finding, love of supremacy and spiritual pride, and presses together in Christian fellowship despite differences of taste, comprehension and expression of character. Anything standing between the soul and God or between brethren is to be put out of the way with sins confessed and forsaken so the blood of Jesus Christ is efficacious, self is sunk in Christ, one's own way is given up for God's way, and believers link up with one another and with Christ in tender, respectful, Christlike fellowship. This calls for ceasing discord and strife over little differences, guarding words and thoughts against jealousy and evil-speaking, studying the prayer and making it the rule of life, praying for union and living so God can answer. Then by the Spirit taking the things of Christ and showing them, the surrendered soul is brought into complete harmony with God, transformed into a new creature in Christ Jesus, given true discipleship with the glory of His character, full joy, strength to develop characters honoring God, obedience to the truth, and perfect oneness as close as the union between the Father and the Son.

The oneness is to be sought with earnest effort and is reached by being perfected through sufferings after Christ's example and by being conformed to His image. Its meaning is known better when believers are meek and lowly in heart and come close to Christ and close to one another in Christlike sympathy and love, and this tender spirit gives confidence to the weak. Those who minister and worship must draw together in even cords, respecting and loving one another, managing all parts of God's service in an orderly, becoming manner that impresses strangers as well as regular worshipers, not seeking to draw people to themselves but pointing them to God's presence among them.

Difference and disunion dishonor God, and the prayer is to serve as the church's creed showing this. Pulling apart is not pleasing to God, for the prayer governs every move and requires believers not to pull apart but to stay together in unity. If the church becomes disorganized and breaks up into separate atoms, Satan and the forces of hell triumph, leaving weakness before Satan, while binding one another's work or binding minds to men and separation between medical missionary work and ministry show that the Holy Spirit is not working upon hearts and make service a pretense. Bickering, strife and dissension dishonor God and fasten unbelievers in unbelief, destroying the oneness that is the convincing evidence to the world that God sent Jesus as Redeemer.

When the unity exists, those so united are made complete in the one body in Christ and one with the Father through Christ, preserving the unity of the faith in the bonds of love, standing as a holy, happy people who are objects of Christ's divine love. By words and actions all take knowledge of them that they have been with Jesus and learned of Him, giving evidence of truth rather than fable and of the sure word of prophecy. Bound together by the golden chain of love let down from heaven, with brotherly sympathy and shared interests without division by territory, color or caste, they encourage one another rather than discourage anyone, especially those carrying heavy burdens. With combined consecrated effort, tender respectful regard for one another, and hearts filled with love and compassion and conduct marked by Christlike tenderness and courtesy, they cherish the influence that works for the recovery of sinners and strive as good soldiers of the cross to win sinners to loyalty, so their love and unity on earth are a symbol of the family in heaven.

Witness to the World

The love of the Father dwelling in believers, with Christ Himself dwelling in them, shown in character and in unity, is the convincing evidence to the world that God sent Jesus as Redeemer to save sinners and that God loves believers as He loved the Son. The prayer is not for the first disciples alone but for all who will believe through their word, declaring the Father's name and continuing to declare it so that the love wherewith the Father loved Christ may be in them and Christ in them. That oneness means believers are to be one as the Father is in Christ and Christ in the Father, made perfect in one in faith and in practice, united in the closest bonds of Christian fellowship and love as one body under one supreme Head. Seeking this oneness is privilege and duty in answer to Christ's prayer, and harmony with heaven requires it, for as Intercessor in heaven Christ is ever working for the unity of His people. This unity exists only in proportion to illumination and sanctification, for the more fully believers receive the enlightenment of the divine Spirit the more nearly they harmonize in understanding truth and are united in judgment, with confidence in one another, peace and harmony, believing and speaking the same things with one heart and one mouth glorifying God.

That indwelling love belongs with the unity of believers and their witness that the Father sent Jesus, and it calls those who hold God's law and greater light to a higher standard, greater perfection of character, deeper devotion, and purer and holier lives sanctified by the truth. It makes every church member responsible to preserve harmony, union, and love in the church, because the oneness of believers is the convincing evidence to the world that God sent Jesus as Redeemer. Through true conversion believers are endowed with His divine nature so the love with which the Father loved Christ is in them and Christ is in them, each human being can be thoroughly identified with Christ the Son of God, and every truly converted soul shares the same love that Christ has with the Father and shares that love with one another. That love is expressed in character so plainly to the world that it stands as evidence that God sent His Son, so that the world through Him, if they receive Him and believe in Him, may be saved. That indwelling love carries eternal consequence because it is the specified unity of Christ's prayer for His disciples, and the prayer is answered only when every sincere believer puts away all evil thinking and all evil speaking, cherishes love and not hatred, and presses together in Christian fellowship despite differences of taste, comprehension, and expression of character.

That love opens the gates of Paradise, brings the surrendered soul into complete harmony with God, and by the Spirit taking the things of Christ and showing them transforms believers into new creatures in Christ Jesus. The followers' unity with Christ does not erase the distinct personality of Christ, God, or His followers, and it requires them to give up their own way for God's way. Their love and Christian unity testifies with convicting power that the Word of God is the safe rule of life, as seen when union prevailed after the resurrection and ascension and when the difference over circumcision of Gentiles was soon settled so believers were perfectly joined together through the divine illumination and sanctification of the Spirit, which is always the fruit borne under the influence of the Holy Spirit. That oneness, shown when hearts are filled with love and compassion and conduct is marked by Christlike tenderness and courtesy, gives power to convict souls and convinces the world that God sent His Son to die for sinners, to make them partakers of His perfection by changing the sinful heart and forming the character after the divine likeness, and that God has loved them as He loved Christ.

This request is fulfilled as God's people work together in harmony, come into close relation and unity with God and with one another, live in the Father's love and are loved by the Father even as He loves His own Son, so the world can see and be convinced of that love. It calls for seeking sanctification by the Holy Spirit and constant prayerful communion with God even during daily work in the home or business, and then God lets His light shine upon believers and they reflect that light to others around them. The prayer expresses His purpose to bring people into harmony with God and make them channels of light to the world through the Spirit, identifying and uniting Himself with His believing people, who in turn are joined to Him in the work of saving a lost world. It is the close of His wonderful prayer specifying His recompense for His conquests, in which He is glorified in them, with His ransomed church as the chief source of His glory through whom God's manifold wisdom is made known. That indwelling supplies all the necessities of His workers for carrying the gospel to every creature in all languages and lines of work, so that by that oneness the workers show they bear the divine credentials, laboring harmoniously and not independently, and the union for which Christ prays perfects Christian character.

The verse's prayer is answered in a life of continued union with Christ, through which believers show the world that God sent His Son to save the fallen race, for Christ works with those who work in union with Him. Bickering, strife, and dissension dishonor God and fasten unbelievers in unbelief, presenting exactly the opposite of what God desires them to present. Satan understands this prayer better than church members and heads of families do, and he does not want the people of God to understand it, lest they see the advantages God has bestowed on them and know their visitation. He works to keep them in discord and strife over little misunderstandings and little differences, which dwelt upon grow into variance and hatred. Declaring the Father's name means revealing God's character as merciful and gracious, long-suffering, patient, and abundant in goodness and truth, and by coming to dwell with humanity as the Word of God made audible, Jesus revealed God both to men and to angels, so that the love the Father has for the Son may be in His disciples and Christ Himself may be in them.

This revelation was not for earth alone, for this world is the lesson-book of the universe, and the mystery of redeeming love will be the study of angels through endless ages and the science and song of both the redeemed and the unfallen. In the cross of Christ and the light from Calvary it is seen that the glory shining in the face of Jesus is self-sacrificing love, that self-renouncing love which seeks not its own has its source in the heart of God and is the law of life for earth and heaven, and that in the meek and lowly Jesus is manifested the character of Him who dwells in light no man can approach.

Studying and Living Prayer

John 17 holds far more than is commonly realized, containing all that can be comprehended, great possibilities, rich far-reaching promises, and the very plan of redemption. It is to be studied repeatedly, every word weighed carefully, received into the treasure-house of the soul, taken deeply into the heart, and made the daily lesson and rule of life. Its lessons call habits and lives into harmony with Christ's teaching, especially unity and love, so that oneness may help the world know the Father sent Christ and loves believers.

The verse means just what it says and is to be believed. Ministers in word and doctrine who know present truth must believe every verse in John 13-17 and live them out before fellow ministers, needing conversion to grasp its philosophy of genuine missionary work. All who believe and practice God's Word answer this prayer, and it is to be answered individually by consecration to God, coming to Jesus and believing in Him, asking in faith for the outpouring of the Holy Spirit, working in harmony with Him to spread truth, and refusing to remain unconverted. Those who so answer follow on to know the Lord, finding an experience like the rising sun ever increasing in warmth and light and power rather than fading like the setting sun.

Living the prayer brings thorough identification with Christ the Son of God, endowment with His divine nature through true conversion, and sharing the same love Christ has with the Father and with one another. Sanctification through the truth means unreserved surrender with continuous progressive increase until grace is lost in glory, with believers kept from falling if obedient, living because He lives. Through grace they share the divine nature and are changed from sin to holiness, united with Jesus, sanctified through truth, and changed by the Holy Spirit into Christ's character, so obedience and example show God's power to restore people to holiness. Answering the prayer lifts souls onto a higher platform as purified, refined and sanctified, giving a sense of the worth of souls for whom Christ died, and those who live it will enter with Christ through the gates into the city.

Its fulfillment in all specifications is realized when Christ's lessons about love and oneness are brought into practical believing life. That fulfillment brings greater results than have yet been seen, filling believers with all the fullness of God and giving power to resist every device of the enemy, so there is no excuse for unbelief. It puts believers on vantage ground from which alone they can properly represent the Lord, taking the position of believing truth for truth's sake, and all are obligated to seek this knowledge of God more and more, acknowledging Him in all ways and trusting Him for help and strength through the Holy Spirit given to those who ask.

The teaching begins in the home and extends to the church, with parents and children to work out salvation at home as part of the company included in Jesus' prayer. God measures church members by what they are in the home, and when Christ's words are obeyed there the lamp burns brightly, the influence extends to the church and to those in darkness, and good works cause men to glorify the heavenly Father. It is God's plan that His people work together in church capacity with no disarrangement of His plan, loving one another so their love exerts powerful influence for truth, rather than becoming disorganized and breaking into separate atoms to the triumph of Satan. This calls ministers, teachers, parents and children to united humble service with combined consecrated effort, tender respectful regard, and striving as good soldiers to win sinners, purging selfishness, self, and speculative theories so teachers can receive power from on high.

Practicing its unity and love forms an impregnable defense against Satan's attacks, while dissension and striving for preeminence leave weakness. Living it in practical life is necessary to stand the test of the shaking time. Its words are bread of life and water of salvation for hungering souls, worthy to be written in letters of gold, dwelt upon and presented to the world by pen and voice, and spoken under the Holy Spirit they soften and subdue hearts, make deep impressions, and move hearers to tears. Its meaning is known better when believers are meek and lowly, close to Christ and to one another in Christlike sympathy and love, giving confidence to the weak and sending forth a decided influence demonstrating the sanctifying power of truth.

The prayer governs every move, requiring believers not to pull apart but to stay together in unity. It is to be presented continually to the church as a call to stand together in union and faith. It shows the high value Christ places on human beings by purchasing them with His blood at the sacrifice of His life, describing advantages purchased for humanity that may be claimed in His name when tempted and tried. Therefore His purchased people must be treated carefully, not wounded and bruised, but dealt with in forbearance, patience and Christlike love.

The prayer lays the true foundation and platform of unity for the church, and spiritual gifts are Heaven's appointed means to secure that oneness for perfecting the saints, for ministry, and for edifying the body till all come in unity of faith. It does not divide Christians into apostles who receive gifts and later believers who do not, nor confine gifts to apostles or first Christians, but includes all who believe through their word. Those who leave worldly customs for Christ and stand in His strength rather than surrender conscience to family pressure belong to God and are not to join in fellowship with the world serving a different master, and in keeping the Sabbath and following truth they may face opposition and hatred from the world. Answering the prayer, which seeks God's glory not human exaltation, calls for sanctified zeal rather than harshness that bruises and wounds.

Refusing the conditions Christ lays down leaves a person unready to belong to His people when He comes in glory, and those who refuse blessings so graciously offered will answer in the day of the Lord. Yet the prayer is the help of the truly penitent in every emergency as they offer earnest petitions in faith for fresh grace, new supplies of strength, and the promised efficiency and power of the Holy Spirit, sustaining courage, strengthening faith, and keeping the soul in God's love. Where unity and love are lacking God cannot glorify His name through His people and the sick among them are not healed, with a fitful careless indifferent spirit wounding Christ's heart. But when this unity exists among Seventh-day Adventists a tremendous influence goes forth, with reformation first in their own ranks and then transformation among those for whom they labor.

The verse calls believers to examine whether they have left first love and to turn from backslidings and heed Christ's words. That unity means no one is to bind another in his work or bind anyone to another man's mind, but everyone is to be left free to do God-appointed work under Christ as Head, all seeking counsel from God. It calls for seeking sanctification by the Holy Spirit and constant prayerful communion with God even during daily work in home or business, and then God lets His light shine upon believers so they reflect it to others.