Sermon Tone Analysis

Sermon Scripture

John 17:

John 17:1

His last night on earth - just hours before His crucifixion.

This message holds true for all who belong to God.

Write this down:

Christianity is a revelation of what God has completely - not partially - done for us.

In this study we have been seeking to see more clearly what God has done for us.

To understand why Christ came.

“As You sent Me” - (in the same way)

In verse 18 Christ says: “As You sent Me” meaning (in the same way)

Why did God send Christ into the world?

-

Isaiah 63

Christ was sent fundamentally to do the will of God.

The fundamental purpose of that will was to provide a kinsman redeemer.

Christianity is the revelation of what God has done for His own in the person of His son.

It is not loving one another, building hospitals and good works.

hough they may be a byproduct, they are not the source, the foundation, determination or main essense of it.

We are here not to do works, but to be the embodiment of truth.

That is what the world has such a problem with and church we can’t let that make us cower.

The world sees us as arrogant - knowing truth and thus all else sits as lies.

We have been taken out of the world (system) as Christ and sent back in as the testimony of truth.

As we come to this text then and read this prayer of Christ our Lord, you must not think of the prayer of Christ as a “make a wish foundation” where Christ says and we try to do to make what Christ hopes for come true.

Christ is speaking as High Priest as He with authority to what has and must take place by the work of God and not of man.

John 17:

Everything that Christ prayed for must be true because Christ prayed it.

Christ and the Father are perfectly one.

Christ prays in perfect unity with the Father.

As such the fulfillment of such prayer is through the good and perfect will, determination and working of the Father - not mankind.

This is far to often lost through works based “motivational” preaching:

For example: it is routinely preached from or (especially in the ecumenical movement of the church) that the church strive to be one, meaning that we all get along, doctrine doesn’t matter, and Jesus just wants us to be nice to each other - that this is what Jesus prayed for and so we should do it.

The problem is that, that is not what Jesus is praying at all and shows no understanding of scripture.

If Jesus was praying that then, it would mean that the answer too Christ prayer was dependent upon us rather than determinative of God.

In other words, such a twist of the prayer, in a weird sort of way, places Christ hope in us rather than ours in Him.

The oneness being discussed here is our (believers) oneness with Father and the Son - the oneness between the incarnation and the diety.

It is the oneness mentioned in 17:11.

This is not a oneness that we are striving for that has never been.

Quite the opposite, this is a oneness that has taken place.

Don’t let teachers confuse you who loudly say that we ought to try to bring about the oneness that Christ prayed for.

The prayer is that they continue to be one as He and the Father are one.

The oneness of the incarnation and the diety and that same mystery of union is the union between us (each of us) and Him.

While I was with them: imperfect

I kept them in Thy name: Don’t be carnal in your understanding of the Christian life.

Blessings are not God’s evidence of keeping.

Being kept by God does not mean earthly blessings.

Everyone of the “kept” disciples will face imprissiment or a martyrs death.

Christ has kept them in the sphere of Thy name.

None is lost/perished except the son of perdition that the scripture might be fufilled:

Common oppinion on “that the scripture might be fufilled”

scripture might be fufilled applies only to Judas and it is not deterministic

I don’t believe that it is a possibility that either one of those is the truth of that verse.

I just don’t see how it could be fitted that way.

“That the scripture might be fufilled” applies both to Judas and to the disciple whom are kept (in God’s name)

The point is that the scriptural fifillment applies both to those who are given and to Judas.

Secondly: to suggest that it is not deterministic is to simply try to cater to human logic rather than devine truth.

You see church you have to answer your view of scritpure.

Is it really God’s word.

Do you hold to the full infallible inspiration of scripture.

I don’t know that there is a demonenation standing today that takes that stand without compromise.

Don’t get me wrong, almost every denomination was founded upon that stand, but quickly compromise and “human” logic crepes in.

I tell you your hope lies in the Word of God: plenarilly a verbally inspired.

It is not a collection of human error but divine blessing.

Wherein when we do not understand it, the fault is not in the scripture but with us.

The only way that Judas could have possibly done what he did, is for some engineer, some designer to put all of the circumstances together for it to happen.

It could not have caught God by surprise.

The principle is this: Foreknowledge presuposes forordination.

As such if you ever here a Bible teacher say that “for the scripture to be fufilled” is not deterministic, then you must know that if it is not deterministic then it can’t be foreknowledge.

It can’t be foreknowledge without forordination.

God know when He did what He did that it would do what it did and He did what He did.

In Jesus himself says that He knows that one of those whom he chose was a devil or would betray Him.

Which means, He foreknew, which means He forordained.

This isn’t fufilled prediction but it is God’s design and that same truth is true of your life.

The way that we know true peace and joy is to know a God who is Soverign and in control.

Some say that they are relieved to know that God is completley removed from all the bad stuff.

That the bad things happen somehow outside of His reach.

Thats not comforting my friends.

Comfort is in knowing that God is soverign even over tragedy and evil.

That those things, even those things which we cannot comprehend how they could be permitted to happen, we have comfort in knowing that God is the engineer and it will, it shall, it must come together in absolute beauty, glory and perfection.

Our Lord Jesus the Christ is the case and point to this divine truth and you must know that same truth is true of your life.

I’ll give you another example of the confussion within our pulpits as it relates to the deterministic position of the Word of God.

This must be clarified because it is meant to be your great comfort rather than your great effort.

You have all heard the apostles prayer in

How often is that prayer preached without the following verse.

How often is this prayer turned into you once again being the determining factor of it’s answer or fufillment.

I have prayed that you are faithful so work to be faithful.

But friends if we would just look at verse 24...

Who is faithful?

God

Who will bring these things prayed for to pass?

God!

Oh what a great truth!

God has preordained, forknown and thus fufilled to His good pleasure..and that is true as to what He is doing in you.

Christ now comes to God the Father.

Application: That they might have Christ joy completley fufilled in them in the world.

(perfect tense: something God has done) you joy in the Lord is not determined by your decisions.

The joy has been fufilled with the thought that it remains fufilled.

We are speaking of the new creation.

The world is speaking of a theological system.

In the new creation there is a settled peace and joy (that many Christians don’t realize having not realizing the determing soverignty of God)

Jesus is the basis of the hate - not your works.