John 17:20-26

People praying for me

This prayer really can be divided into three parts.

For His glory. Everything Jesus does is for His glory.

The first portion of the prayer, Jesus is praying for His glory and Himself as he goes to the cross.

For whom is Jesus praying?

The disciples of Christ, both presently- the eleven, and future- us.

The second portion of the prayer is really for the eleven. The eleven disciples that has remained faithful to Jesus. Jesus prays for them. They would be the ones who would take the Gospel message to the world. They are the reason you and I are holding this book in our hands today.

What is He praying for?

The third portion of the prayer is where we are now.

He is praying that he would be glorified and that we would be kept by the Father while in the world.

And in this portion, Jesus is praying for the Universal church.

The Universal church is all believers across every age. It is those who by grace alone through faith alone in Christ alone have been drawn and called to Christ.

Last week we mentioned that in this portion. Jesus is praying for us. That really should overwhelm us.

That, along with the fact that this is just beginning. This prayer is the beginning of Jesus intercessory work for us.

Hebrews 7:25 NASB95

Therefore He is able also to save forever those who draw near to God through Him, since He always lives to make intercession for them.

He lives in heaven to make intercession for us.

But the question is:

What does He want for all His people? What is the content of his intercession?

We hit these verse briefly last week, but lets start here again in verse 20.

John 17:20 NASB95

“I do not ask on behalf of these alone, but for those also who believe in Me through their word;

John 17:20–21 NASB95

“I do not ask on behalf of these alone, but for those also who believe in Me through their word; that they may all be one; even 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 sent Me.

John 17:

Again Jesus is praying the universal church, not just the disciples at this point.

For His glory. Everything Jesus does is for His glory.

Jesus desire is that they all may be one!

First, oftentimes it is important to state what Jesus doesn’t say here.

For whom is Jesus praying?

Let me say from the get go what Jesus is saying and then we will talk about what he is not saying.

What Jesus is saying when he says that they may all be one.

Jesus’s desire here is for genuine believers in Christ to be united together in faithfulness to the pursuit of His glory according to His Word and because of His work in us.

Thats what he is saying.

Now, lets look at what he is not saying. .

First, oftentimes it is important to state what Jesus doesn’t say here.

Many people have taken this verse to mean that we should be tolerant of every kind of belief. That Jesus desires we be one more so than he desires us to divide over anything.

That unity is more important than doctrine.Jesus isn’t asking us to sacrifice doctrine on the altar of unity. There are some things worth dividing over. That is why we have so many denominations.

Ecumenism wants to get rid rid of denominations as a whole, and while that sounds good and right. Here is the problem.

Ecumenism would want to get rid of all denominations and all just be one church and just be accepting of EVERY type of belief. Tolerance. The problem with tolerance is that every one wants to be tolerated regardless of whether or not they are correct or not.

This is the belief known as ecumenism.

Jesus is not teaching that. Jesus is not saying that. Does Jesus want division in the church? No, But he desires that our unity be founded upon truth and not lies.

They would say that we should be United regardless of doctrinal issues.

But this is not the type of unity Christ is after. Jesus is not teaching that. Jesus is not saying that. Does Jesus want division in the church? No, But he desires that our unity be founded upon truth and not lies.

Just think about it for a moment. Did Jesus just unite with the Pharisees even though they had rejected him as truth? No he divided them. Called them Children of Satan.

The disciples of Christ, both presently- the eleven, and future- us.

When Jesus taught, he taught the truth and he made a clear distinction between that which was true and that which was false.

What is He praying for?

As a local church, we must be committed tot he truth.

Adrian Rogers once said, “It is better to be divided by truth, than united in error.”

He is praying that he would be glorified and that we would be kept by the Father while in the world.

Ecumenism is the belief that every one should just be all one church. That there shouldn’t be all these separations and divisions in the church. That we should be United regardless of doctrinal issues, but this is not the type of unity Christ is after.

in other words, We are not required to check our doctrine at the door for the sake of unity.

What is wrong theologically is wrong.

People over the years have divided, over doctrine.

What is true theologically is true.

Now there is some room for disagreement within the church on secondary and tertiary issues, but there are some things upon which our faith and religion hangs. There are some things that are non negotiable. if you don’t believe these, then you are are outside the realm of true Christian faith.

There should be common ground in believing and affirming the Trinity, the deity and humanity of Christ, His virgin birth, sinless life, substitutionary death, bodily resurrection, present enthronement, His soon return, the final judgment, eternality of heaven and hell. Justification by grace alone through faith alone in Christ alone All for the glory of God alone.. And I believe this extends even to the doctrine of the inerrancy, authority, and perfection of Scripture.

I know I have taken some time on this today, but

Jesus’s desire here is not some kind of conglomeration of everyone ideas where there is a spirit of acceptance and toleration.

No, the early church excommunicated and labeled them heretics for believing people for.

This seems like a soap box. Why are you telling me this pastor?

I tell you all of that to tell you this.

I am a Southern Baptist, but I am only that way if the SBC maintains its commitment to the authority of Scripture in ALL things. That being said, God does not expect us to unite in error. He expects us to unite in truth.

The United Methodist church just recently had a vote to uphold or not to uphold the Bible’s teaching on sexuality and marriage. Thankfully it passed but it passed narrowly.

When we start debating basic biblical truths, I’m out.

I will not be unequally yoked with those who debate what God is clear on.

Now.....

So what does he want for our unity?

John 17:22 NASB95

“The glory which You have given Me I have given to them, that they may be one, just as We are one;

The Father, the Son, and the Spirit are united in truth for the glory of God.

A few things you should understand about this unity.

The unity we have is based in the unity of the Trinity. That is the standard. The way in which the Father, Son, and Spirit are unified is the unity he desires for us to have with each other.

This informs what we should be unified on.

This unity is for the glory of God.

This unity is in truth.

This unity has already been given to us.

This isn’t something we do. The unity he is speaking of here is accomplished in the person and work of Christ.

He has given this to us. I truly believe this is apart of our salvation. Christ, the Holy Spirit, and the glory he has placed in us serves to unify us.

This is why no matter where you go in the world, and you find genuine Christians, there is an indescribable unity that exists there. (Dominican-Costa-Africa-Haiti Africa- Yohana-Samuel)

There is a kindred unifying Spirit for the glory of God to made known through the Word.

Verse 22 says he has placed His glory in us for our unity.

2 Corinthians 4:6 NASB95

For God, who said, “Light shall shine out of darkness,” is the One who has shone in our hearts to give the Light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Christ.

I have been in places where The only thing we have in common may be Christ, but if we have Christ, we can work together for the glory of God.

I’ve witness this. I’ve seen Christ in others.

Essentially, this is what he is saying when he says he has given us His glory. He has given us Himself.

We are in the Christ, and Christ is in us.

Look what he says in verse 23

John 17:23 NASB95

I in them and You in Me, that they may be perfected in unity, so that the world may know that You sent Me, and loved them, even as You have loved Me.

I in them.

Lets take a minute to appreciate that.

Christ the Son of God. In us.

This is the only way we are acceptable to a Holy God.

Christ in me. Christ in you. This is our only hope..

Colossians 1:27 NASB95

to whom God willed to make known what is the riches of the glory of this mystery among the Gentiles, which is Christ in you, the hope of glory.

But he has not entrusted Himself to people without expecting something from us.

3 purposes we see of why Christ is in us: One of which we have already mentioned.

That we would be perfected in unity.

Unified in truth by Christ and His glory.

Christ is in you So that the world will know that you sent me and loved them.

This is absolutely vital to the Christian life.

He has placed himself in you, not so that you would sit idly. He has placed Himself in you so that you (you individually) that the world would know that God the Father has sent Him and has loved sinners,

This goes completely against our idea of church.

This isn’t supposed to be a cultural thing.

This is supposed to be a heart thing.

Have you thought about this? That Jesus does not save us merely to keep us out of hell. Certainly that is a benefit. But he has saved us for a much bigger purpose. He has saved you and me and people across the globe, that we would tell people that the Father sent him.

This is why we have been going door to door. This is why we met this week with the guy from Newfoundland. This is much bigger than just what we do on Sundays.(Because we Church I really hope you grab hold to this. Its bigger than Ketchuptown and Mt. Pisgah.. It really ain’t about building this kingdom here. This is about the mission of the Creator of the world).

But thats not all he wants.

He wraps up this prayer with his final hopes for us.

That we would be with Him where I am.

John 17:24 NASB95

“Father, I desire that they also, whom You have given Me, be with Me where I am, so that they may see My glory which You have given Me, for You loved Me before the foundation of the world.

This is God’s heart. This is the end goal.

John 14:3 NASB95

“If I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and receive you to Myself, that where I am, there you may be also.

John 14:6 NASB95

Jesus said to him, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life; no one comes to the Father but through Me.

God desires to be with his people.

We see the evidence of this all throughout Scripture.

Garden of Eden.

The tabernacle.

Exodus 25:8 NASB95

“Let them construct a sanctuary for Me, that I may dwell among them.

The temple.

Jesus- Immanuel- God with us

And finally-

Revelation 21:3 NASB95

And I heard a loud voice from the throne, saying, “Behold, the tabernacle of God is among men, and He will dwell among them, and they shall be His people, and God Himself will be among them,

God’s desire is that we His people would be with him now, one day when we die (), and fully in eternity.

2 Corinthians 5:8 NASB95

we are of good courage, I say, and prefer rather to be absent from the body and to be at home with the Lord.

but even

John 17:25 NASB95

“O righteous Father, although the world has not known You, yet I have known You; and these have known that You sent Me;

John 17:25–26 NASB95

“O righteous Father, although the world has not known You, yet I have known You; and these have known that You sent Me; and I have made Your name known to them, and will make it known, so that the love with which You loved Me may be in them, and I in them.”

John 17:

Jesus once again acknowledges the world in which we live as being opposed to the things of God.

Christ has known the Father, and he has made him known.

John 17:26 NASB95

and I have made Your name known to them, and will make it known, so that the love with which You loved Me may be in them, and I in them.”

For our transformation.

He loves us.

This was the contents of his prayer.

For our transformation.

He ends his prayer.

Given them your love.

Make them like me.

This is Christ’s goal for us.

That we would know Him, His love us, and that we would be living expressions of Christ in this world.

This is why we teach, preach Christ. So that the more he is preached, the more we look like him.

Colossians 1:28 NASB95

We proclaim Him, admonishing every man and teaching every man with all wisdom, so that we may present every man complete in Christ.