ONENESS IN THE TRIUNE GOD
In 17:21 the Lord Jesus prayed, “That they all may be one; even as You, Father, are in Me and I in You, that they also may be in Us.” Here we have the oneness in the Triune God. Simply to be in the Father’s name is not sufficient for our oneness. We also need to be one in the Triune God, one in the Father, the Son, and the Spirit. In order to understand what it means to be one in the Triune God, we need to study all the points we have covered in the foregoing messages concerning the Triune God. We must be kept in the Triune God in order to be safeguarded in the oneness. John 17:21 is a crucial verse. Here the Lord Jesus prayed that His disciples would be one in the Triune God.
Oneness in the Triune God is more than unity or union. The unity of believers is greater than the union of believers, but oneness is better than unity. Our oneness in the Triune God is not a matter of union or unity. Our oneness is a matter of being blended into one.
When some hear of this kind of oneness, they may ask how it is possible for believers to be blended into one. To be sure, in ourselves we cannot be blended into one. Only in the Triune God can we be blended into one. When the Triune God dispenses Himself into all the inward parts of our being, we are mingled with Him. The more we are mingled with the Triune God through His dispensing, the more we are mingled, blended, together in the Triune God. All those who are mingled with the Triune God can easily be one with others who experience this mingling. However, a brother who is in the self cannot participate in this oneness.
Those believers who claim to be united may stay together for a period of time. But should something happen to shake their unity, they may easily fall apart. Their unity can be compared to bricks that are attached in some way, whereas the oneness in the Triune God can be compared to solid rock. When times are peaceful, those who have only unity may seem to have real oneness. But when the shaking comes, their unity will collapse. But those who are saturated with the Triune God and mingled with Him remain in the oneness no matter what happens. Nothing can separate them; nothing can divide them. They cannot be separated or divided, because their oneness is the oneness in the Triune God.
ONENESS IN THE GLORY OF THE TRIUNE GOD
John 17:22 and 23 say, “And the glory which 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 be perfected into one, that the world may know that You have sent Me and have loved them even as You have loved Me.” Here we have the oneness of the believers in the Father’s glory given to the Son and given to the believers by the Son. This glory is for the expression of God through His life and nature. In the prayer in this chapter, the Lord Jesus seems to be saying, “Father, I have been enjoying glory with You from eternity. I have given this glory to My disciples. O Father, keep them one in this glory.” This is not merely the Triune God; this is the glory, the expression, of the Triune God. Therefore, our oneness is in the Father’s name, in the Triune God, and in the glory of the Triune God.
If we have the oneness in the Father’s glory, the oneness in His expression, we shall not express ourselves. Among today’s Christians, it is common for believers to express themselves. But in the recovery our desire is to express the Triune God.
The oneness among us has a threefold protection or safeguard. We are safeguarded by the Father’s Person, by the Triune God, and by the glorious expression of the Triune God. How marvelous to have the oneness in the Father’s name, in the Triune God, and in the glory given by the Father to the Son and by the Son to us!
The oneness revealed in chapter seventeen is for the Father’s glorification in the Son. This is the reason the Lord prayed in verse 1, “Father, the hour has come; glorify Your Son that the Son may glorify You.” This oneness is actually the divine glorification. The Son is glorified in the church, and the Father is glorified in the Son. This glorification is the mingling and also the oneness. As we have seen, the glorification in John 17 is the new man, the vine, and the Father’s house.
In chapters fourteen through seventeen we see five main things: the Father’s house, the vine, the new man, the divine glorification, and the oneness. Actually, all these five things are one. This is the unique subject of the Lord’s message in chapters fourteen through sixteen, and it is the main point of His prayer in chapter seventeen. The Father’s house in chapter fourteen is the vine in chapter fifteen, and the vine is the new man in chapter sixteen. After speaking concerning these things, the Lord prayed for glorification and oneness. Tracing these matters backwards, we may say that the oneness is the glorification, the glorification is the new man, the new man is the vine, and the vine is the Father’s house.
I am very thankful to the Lord for opening these chapters to us. We have seen the vision concerning the Father’s house. In particular, we have seen that the Father’s house is not a heavenly mansion. The Lord has enlightened us to see that the Father’s house, the vine, the new man, the glorification, and the oneness are all one thing. The glorification for which the Lord prayed is actually the divine mingling with humanity, and this mingling is the marvelous oneness revealed in chapter seventeen. This oneness is safeguarded in the name of the Father, in the Triune God, and in the glorious expression of the Triune God. This is the central point of the revelation in the New Testament.
(The Fulfillment of the Tabernacle and the Offerings in the Writings of John, Chapter 54, by Witness Lee)
