Our Hope in Prayer (2)

Introduction

Today is Palm Sunday and we begin Passion Week. Palm Sunday marks the day that Jesus differing from any other earthly ruler, rides in to Jerusalem on a donkey to fulfill the prophecy of Zechariah in Zechariah 9:9. That same day would mark the final week of Jesus’ earthly ministry and fulfilling His mission as God incarnate here on earth.

The week was packed with all types of activities, He cleansed the temple, He was confronted by His enemies, the religious elitist of the day. Jesus was completing the work the Father had sent Him out to accomplish. And, at the close of the week, the Savior would be hanging o a an old splintered cross for our salvation.

His last night was spent with the disciples in the upper room enjoy the last Supper, the Passover meal. After they finished their meal and Judas had betrayed Jesus, this prayer was uttered by our Lord and Savior as He and the disciples made their way toward the Garden of Gethsemane. Jesus prayed to bring comfort to the disciples.

Last week we began message 1 of the Lord’s Prayer or the high priestly prayer recorded in John 17:1-26. Jesus prayed form Himself in the first five verses that we studied last Sunday. The portion of prayer that we study today was a prayer for the disciples and we will finish next Sunday as Jesus will ultimately pray for all future believers.

John recorded Jesus’ exact words and how precious they are to us today.

Let’s read the longest recorded prayer of Jesus and today we will read the second portion of the prayer, Jesus’ prayer for His disciples. When we accepted Christ we were called to be His disciples and this prayer is a prayer for us today.

John 17:6-19

John 17:6–19 NKJV

6 “I have manifested Your name to the men whom You have given Me out of the world. They were Yours, You gave them to Me, and they have kept Your word. 7 Now they have known that all things which You have given Me are from You. 8 For I have given to them the words which You have given Me; and they have received them, and have known surely that I came forth from You; and they have believed that You sent Me. 9 “I pray for them. I do not pray for the world but for those whom You have given Me, for they are Yours. 10 And all Mine are Yours, and Yours are Mine, and I am glorified in them. 11 Now I am no longer in the world, but these are in the world, and I come to You. Holy Father, keep through Your name those whom You have given Me, that they may be one as We are. 12 While I was with them in the world, I kept them in Your name. Those whom You gave Me I have kept; and none of them is lost except the son of perdition, that the Scripture might be fulfilled. 13 But now I come to You, and these things I speak in the world, that they may have My joy fulfilled in themselves. 14 I have given them Your word; and the world has hated them because they are not of the world, just as I am not of the world. 15 I do not pray that You should take them out of the world, but that You should keep them from the evil one. 16 They are not of the world, just as I am not of the world. 17 Sanctify them by Your truth. Your word is truth. 18 As You sent Me into the world, I also have sent them into the world. 19 And for their sakes I sanctify Myself, that they also may be sanctified by the truth.

Prayer

Message

This morning as we reflect upon this beautiful prayer of our Lord and Savior, again countless sermons have been preached due to the depth of pearls in this prayer. Jesus revealed His life’s mission here on earth and what He valued in His time here as God incarnate. He was just before completing His mission here on earth and returning to His former glory in heaven and He prayed before His departure. We are listening to God pray this morning and He prays for us today just as He did for those disciples just hours before going to the cross.

Three concepts or words I want us to reflect upon as we dive into this prayer.

Manifestation

Preservation

Sanctification

We learn some great truths as we dive in to this text.

Manifestation VV. 6-10

Jesus is a manifestation of God with us.

JOhn 17:6 “6 “I have manifested Your name to the men whom You have given Me out of the world. They were Yours, You gave them to Me, and they have kept Your word.”

Jesus loved the disciples. The Father had given them over to Him and He dearly loved them. He spent 3 1/2 years night and day and they were His friends. They had grown very close and they had experienced firsthand seeing the glory of God at work everywhere they went.

We enjoy spiritual mountaintops and they enjoyed that on sometimes an hourly or daily basis.

Jesus’ very words on that night as the disciples were walking with Him stated that His life was a revelation of the Father to them. His life declared the holiness, the goodness, the righteousness, the personal nature and the relational nature of a loving God to a lost world. These men were drawn from the world and God’s gift to Him of pouring Himself into these men was of highest importance. Jesus life revealed the full character of God the Father in His life.

What does all of that mean? When one asks what or who is God like, He is like Jesus. Jesus life is a perfect manifestation of the Father. And you would go on to say, Jesus is God and you would be exactly correct.

John 10:30 “30 I and My Father are one.””

JOhn 1:18 “18 No one has seen God at any time. The only begotten Son, who is in the bosom of the Father, He has declared Him.”

John 14:9 “9 Jesus said to him, “Have I been with you so long, and yet you have not known Me, Philip? He who has seen Me has seen the Father; so how can you say, ‘Show us the Father’?”

Colossians 1:15 “15 He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn over all creation.”

Colossians 2:9 “9 For in Him dwells all the fullness of the Godhead bodily;”

Manifested

φανερόω phaneróō, fan-er-o'-o; from G5318; to render apparent (literally or figuratively):—appear, manifestly declare, (make) manifest (forth), shew (self).

The word manifested has some stark similarities to the word glorifying that we studied last week. Last week, the word glorify means that when we represent the Father to the world we would do it with brilliance.

This morning we are challenged at a more primary level. Not that we illuminate Jesus in everything we do, but what is our life declaration period. Jesus’ life was a manifestation of the Father. Whatever Jesus chose to pour into those disciples was going to define their futures.

Character of God

God is Holy

When we say that Jesus reflects the full character of God, we mean for example that Jesus lived a holy life here on earth.

Hebrews 4:15 “15 For we do not have a High Priest who cannot sympathize with our weaknesses, but was in all points tempted as we are, yet without sin.”

Matthew 17:2 “2 and He was transfigured before them. His face shone like the sun, and His clothes became as white as the light.”

Jesus’ life reflected purity, holiness and righteousness.

God is Love

1 John 4:8 “8 He who does not love does not know God, for God is love.”

How was His love manifested to us and for us?

Self sacrificing-He went to the cross for you and me.

John 3:16 “16 For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life.”

Personal

Jesus slept, eat, and lived with the disciples for 3 1/2 years. He loved us as His own. He healed people and He changed peoples lives. We see His personal nature spelled out in no other other as the raising from the dead of Lazarus.

Psalms 139:16 “16 Your eyes saw my substance, being yet unformed. And in Your book they all were written, The days fashioned for me, When as yet there were none of them.”

We were blessed to receive the gift of our seventh grandchild last Tuesday. One of the early pictures we saw was Clay holding and looking into the eyes of his little Holly Faye. Such a precious scene to see my son mature into Fatherhood and knowing my son as I do, outside of his love for Rachel, He had never been entranced into a love so instant as that of having a baby. Jesus loves you as the Heavenly Father loves us but at such a deeper level than that love.

Faithful

No human relationship compares to the steadfastness and patience that God show us in His love for us on a daily basis.

Jesus is praying all of these words and He utters that the disciples “kept His words” even knowing the waywardness of Peter in the moments to come. Jesus will always encourage, promote, uplift, and be there for you even when we fail Him. He will not fail you.

Regardless of your waywardness, God has never once ever quit loving you or loving me.

Hebrews 13:5 “5 Let your conduct be without covetousness; be content with such things as you have. For He Himself has said, “I will never leave you nor forsake you.””

Romans 8:39 “39 nor height nor depth, nor any other created thing, shall be able to separate us from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.”

Time does not permit to discuss all of the aspects of the full character of God, but I simply ask you, does your life reveal the Father? Is your life a manifestation of those attributes in the lives you care about and those God has given you to influence?

May we manifest Jesus and His teachings in the lives of others.

Preservation VV. 11-15

John 17:11-12 “11 Now I am no longer in the world, but these are in the world, and I come to You. Holy Father, keep through Your name those whom You have given Me, that they may be one as We are. 12 While I was with them in the world, I kept them in Your name. Those whom You gave Me I have kept; and none of them is lost except the son of perdition, that the Scripture might be fulfilled.”

Can you imagine what it must have been like as a disciple to hear Jesus pray for them? You do not have to imagine, you can know based on this chapter.

Hebrews 7:25 “25 Therefore He is also able to save to the uttermost those who come to God through Him, since He always lives to make intercession for them.”

One of the great doctrines of our faith that is revealed in this text is what is referred to as the eternal security of the believer.

The Eternal Security of the Believer

“Holy Father, keep through Your name those whom You have given to me, that they may be one as We are.

John 10:28 “28 And I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish; neither shall anyone snatch them out of My hand.”

John 6:37-40 “37 All that the Father gives Me will come to Me, and the one who comes to Me I will by no means cast out. 38 For I have come down from heaven, not to do My own will, but the will of Him who sent Me. 39 This is the will of the Father who sent Me, that of all He has given Me I should lose nothing, but should raise it up at the last day. 40 And this is the will of Him who sent Me, that everyone who sees the Son and believes in Him may have everlasting life; and I will raise him up at the last day.””

Aren’t you glad that you being kept in your walk with the Lord is not up to you? He handled that once and for all when we asked Him to come into our heart and to live a life for Him. To Him be the glory. Amen.

This is a great assurance to us today dear church is that “once saved, always saved.”

Jesus prophesied what would be happening very shortly to His life here on earth. I am getting ready to leave this world and go back to reside with the Heavenly Father. Please protect these while they stay in the world. Lord, keep these, watch over these, protect these as they are in the world serving you.

Jesus never intended for the disciples to live monastic lives isolated from the world. Nor did He desire for them to be Christian Camel-ions that were so saturated into the world that they could not be distinguished from the world. No, Jesus desires that we be insulated in the wholeness and completeness of our relationship with the triune God of the universe. He wants us walking hand in hand with our Helper, our Comforter and Holy Spirit, seeking His face and bathed in the Word of God daily, as we serve on mission in the world. Jesus stated that the disciples belonged to the Heavenly Father.

“and all mine is yours and yours is mine.”

We can learn from these verses that Jesus values those that the Heavenly Father has rendered over to Him for safekeeping. Let’s consider this thought for a moment. If we understood as Jesus that everything we have was given by the Heavenly Father and understood that it belongs to Him as well, how might we treat it differently?

We are talking about preservation. How might you work to preserve differently, to protect, to keep those things the Lord has bestowed to you if you realized it is all His anyway? How would that mindset effect you in your work understanding that the people you work with are not there by happenstance? The people that are around you are there providentially. God has a plan for you in relation to the people God has placed around you. How would that mindset influence your parenting? For many of us this morning that are here, how would that influence your grand parenting? How might that affect your church service or your general stewardship of your time and talents and resources?

John 17:13 “13 But now I come to You, and these things I speak in the world, that they may have My joy fulfilled in themselves.”

While all of this that Jesus is praying for His disciples, it is not lessened in any way that Jesus wants us to live a life of joy. He wants our life to have zest for Him and for everything He has providentially placed in our lives.

As I think of the word Joy and living a life that has zest. I think about salt because salt brings both a savor for life and salt acts as a preservative. As we live a life as salt, living to offering a hope in Jesus in the lives of others, offering an eternal preservative, a protection through the blood of Jesus given to them, and to have a savor for life that draws people to Jesus, that is what He desires for us.

Matthew 5:13 “13 “You are the salt of the earth; but if the salt loses its flavor, how shall it be seasoned? It is then good for nothing but to be thrown out and trampled underfoot by men.”

God wants us to be the seasoning, enjoy the savor, and to be the preservative offered in the lives of others we come in contact with.

Sanctification VV. 17-19

JOhn 17:17-19 “17 Sanctify them by Your truth. Your word is truth. 18 As You sent Me into the world, I also have sent them into the world. 19 And for their sakes I sanctify Myself, that they also may be sanctified by the truth.”

Again, Jesus stated in a different way that He manifested the Father to the disciples to emulate the life they were to follow. Specifically here, Jesus said I am sanctifying myself such that they would follow my example is living a life sanctified in the Lord.

Sanctify

ἁγιάζω hagiázō, hag-ee-ad'-zo; from G40; to make holy, i.e. (ceremonially) purify or consecrate; (mentally) to venerate:—hallow, be holy, sanctify.

Jesus desired that those disciples would live a life set apart and living a lives of purity for the exclusive use for the Lord.

Jesus desires that we live holy lives set apart for His glory and edification. Only in the Word and the ministry of the Word can that come about.

John 17:17 “17 Sanctify them by Your truth. Your word is truth.”

Ephesians 5:26 “26 that He might sanctify and cleanse her with the washing of water by the word,”

How many of you have received an item that came in the box and on the outside of the box, the words read “assembly required?” or better yet, “read instructions for assembly.” And, raise your hands if you started a project without reading the instructions and you had some parts left over after supposed completed assembly.

Dearly beloved, listen very closely for us to enjoy complete assembly, a perfected assembly of our lives that is only found in the instruction book of God’s Word, there will be parts of our lives that are left out, that are not sanctified and living a life of purity for the Lord.

As we spend time in the Word, the Word exposes areas of our lives that are not in conformance with His desires for our lives. When we hear the Word and we are exposes to the instruction manual for life, we become cleansed spiritually and we function at full capacity as He intended for us to when we have all the parts from His operator’s manual in place.

As we close this morning’s time together.

2 Timothy 2:20-21 “20 But in a great house there are not only vessels of gold and silver, but also of wood and clay, some for honor and some for dishonor. 21 Therefore if anyone cleanses himself from the latter, he will be a vessel for honor, sanctified and useful for the Master, prepared for every good work.”

I can not imagine anyone here this morning realizing just how much Jesus loves you today. He revealed that on the night that the last words He shared were words for His disciples and words for us before He was going to be arrested and beaten and ultimately die for you and me. He left us with these encouraging words to carry us on to live life.

Dearly beloved, every time I am called to preach a funeral I remind the family and friends that a funeral is for the living. I will point down many times to the corpse and I will say that their business is handled. The question or the point is that are you are left here. You are still living. You are alive for a reason. God has a plan for you.

And so I say to you this day, did Jesus die that day at least as it relates to your life as it was all for naught? Yo have not really considered living your life under the concepts offered in this prayer this morning.

You have not considered that your life should be a manifestation of Jesus to those He has placed under your influence. You have not considered that you should live a life to offer protection and preservation to those who He has given you to influence. Maybe you haven’t considered the importance of living a life of sanctification to be all that you can be in Christ Jesus. Your life can be all of that and more by beginning this morning by surrendering to Him.

Let’s pray.