Jesus Prays for All Believers

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Introduction (17:20a)

Have you ever seen yourself in scripture? A close look into is like looking into a mirror - your reflection is all over it! This prayer that Jesus did the night before His arrest, is one which Jesus interceded for you and me. Jesus went to His Father knowing our needs before our needs knew us.
This beautiful prayer in begins with Jesus praying for Himself. He then prays for the 11 remaining disciples that are going to go out and change the world. Then Jesus, chooses to pray for all believers that would be brought into the kingdom of God because of the work of the disciples and the lives they touched. It is a Holy Domino Effect. If you have not studied these prayers in I urge you to do so. Our emphasis today will be .
John 17:20–26 NIV84
“My prayer is not for them alone. I pray also for those who will believe in me through their message, that all of them may be one, Father, just as you are in me and I am in you. May they also be in us so that the world may believe that you have sent me. I have given them the glory that you gave me, that they may be one as we are one: I in them and you in me. May they be brought to complete unity to let the world know that you sent me and have loved them even as you have loved me. “Father, I want those you have given me to be with me where I am, and to see my glory, the glory you have given me because you loved me before the creation of the world. “Righteous Father, though the world does not know you, I know you, and they know that you have sent me. I have made you known to them, and will continue to make you known in order that the love you have for me may be in them and that I myself may be in them.”
John 17:20–26 NIV84
“My prayer is not for them alone. I pray also for those who will believe in me through their message, that all of them may be one, Father, just as you are in me and I am in you. May they also be in us so that the world may believe that you have sent me. I have given them the glory that you gave me, that they may be one as we are one: I in them and you in me. May they be brought to complete unity to let the world know that you sent me and have loved them even as you have loved me. “Father, I want those you have given me to be with me where I am, and to see my glory, the glory you have given me because you loved me before the creation of the world. “Righteous Father, though the world does not know you, I know you, and they know that you have sent me. I have made you known to them, and will continue to make you known in order that the love you have for me may be in them and that I myself may be in them.”
John 17:
Jesus prays for unity among the believers. He gives a heavenly request. Then, He concludes with a declaration of love.
Jesus prays for unity among the believers. He gives a heavenly request. Then, He concludes a declaration of love
Notice the importance of what Jesus is saying in verse 20. We see that Jesus is providing a change in whom He is praying for in this part of His prayer. “Not for them alone,” of course in context, is Jesus saying this prayer is not for the just the disciples, but “for those” who will hear the message. If you like to write in your Bible as you study it like I do, then you would want to mark out the word “those” and write in your name. If you are a believer in the Lord Jesus Christ and have accepted Him as your personal Lord and Savior, your name is included in the “for those.” Jesus is speaking to the Father about all the future generations that would come to faith directly or indirectly because of the work of the disciples. It would be incredible to be able to do a spiritual ancestry profile profile. Jesus believes that the mission of the disciples was going to be effective, and we are evidence that it was!
Accordding the
You have the eleven, the scripture tells us later of the 70 that went out, then others generation after generation proclaimed the love of Jesus ultimately coming to you and me, who by the way are also commissioned to share the the love of Christ.
Jesus is praying for those who have believed then by seeing as well as those who believed later without seeing.
Psalm 22:31 NIV84
They will proclaim his righteousness to a people yet unborn— for he has done it.
Psalm
Jeremiah 1:5 NIV84
“Before I formed you in the womb I knew you, before you were born I set you apart; I appointed you as a prophet to the nations.”
Jeremiah 15:1 NIV84
Then the Lord said to me: “Even if Moses and Samuel were to stand before me, my heart would not go out to this people. Send them away from my presence! Let them go!
Jesus declares in this verse that the Word of God was given and made the word of Christ which was given and became the word of the disciples because they received it. You and I have also received that word and have been given the Holy Spirit to help us be light bearers and continuing to the word!
Jesus then prays for unity among the believers.

Unity Among the Believers (17:20b-23)

Jesus asks the Father for “all of them to be ONE.” The Gospels show the humanity of the disciples. They argued, fussed and had some differing beliefs. This must have broken the Savior’s heart. What do you think He feels about the church today where so many Christians are devouring each other?
Puritan Pastor Thomas Brooks who died in 1680 wrote, “Discord and division become no Christian. For wolves to worry the lambs is no wonder, but for one lamb to worry another, this is unnatural and monstrous.”
We would do well to remember that any dissension or attempt to disrupt the fellowship of the church is not the desire of Christ! We ought to be so full of love for the Lord and for each other that we don’t have any room for such. I would encourage you if you are not in unity you need to examine why and start by looking in the mirror. Unity comes from life within not from pressure without.
Jesus is highlighting three types of faith in these verses. First, in verses 20b and 21, we see unity in faith. Unity is oneness in heart and Spirit. Uniformity is everybody exactly alike. Jesus never prayed that His people would belong to one church. We have several flavors churches within walking distance. They may worship different than we do, but they are brothers and sisters in Christ. There is One God, there is One Son, and there is One Holy Spirit. How we love the good folks from these other churches and how they love us will convince the world of the truth of the Gospel!
The second part of this prayer of unity is that there will be unity in glory. Verse 22 tells that we have been given the glory that God gave Jesus. This is the same context as the glory described in verses 4-5.
John 17:4–5 NIV84
I have brought you glory on earth by completing the work you gave me to do. And now, Father, glorify me in your presence with the glory I had with you before the world began.
The glory of the revelation of the Father through the Son, completed by the cross and resurrection.
John 1:14 NIV84
The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us. We have seen his glory, the glory of the One and Only, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth.
John 14:20 NIV84
On that day you will realize that I am in my Father, and you are in me, and I am in you.
Jesus says in
John 14:20 NIV84
On that day you will realize that I am in my Father, and you are in me, and I am in you.
This helps us see more clearly that there is unity in glory. There is also unity in obedience.
In verse 23, we see that our Lord during this prayer was thinking of all the needs of all believers throughout all time.
As He was thinking of us, He was asking His Father for unity among all of them. What that amounts to is you and I being obedient in love and action. When we are obedient, we get along and do the work of the Lord. Self is out of the picture. But as soon as we start putting self first, what happens? We become exactly the lambs devouring other lambs that was mentioned earlier.
The prayer of Jesus for unity leads to a heavenly request.

Heavenly Request

What do you think about heaven?
In the 1990’s, there was a Contemporary Christian Group called Audio Adrenaline who had a song called Big House.
I don't know where you lay your head Or where you call your home I don't know where you eat your meals Or where you talk on the phone I don't know if you got a cook A butler or a maid I don't know if you got a yard With a hammock in the shade
I don't know if you got some shelter Say a place to hide I don't know if you live with friends In whom you can confide I don't know if you got a family Say a mom or dad I don't know if you feel love at all But I bet you wish you had
Come and go with me To my Father's house Come and go with me To my Father's house
It's a big big house With lots and lots a room A big big table With lots and lots of food A big big yard Where we can play football A big big house Its my Father's house
In , Jesus speaks to the Father of His desire for you and me to be in the most magnificent place ever created.
John 17:24 NIV84
“Father, I want those you have given me to be with me where I am, and to see my glory, the glory you have given me because you loved me before the creation of the world.
Philippians 1:23 NIV84
I am torn between the two: I desire to depart and be with Christ, which is better by far;
Hebrews 10:10 NIV84
And by that will, we have been made holy through the sacrifice of the body of Jesus Christ once for all.
Philippians
Don’t you want to be with Jesus for eternity?
It’s a big, big house!
Revelation 21:22–24 NIV84
I did not see a temple in the city, because the Lord God Almighty and the Lamb are its temple. The city does not need the sun or the moon to shine on it, for the glory of God gives it light, and the Lamb is its lamp. The nations will walk by its light, and the kings of the earth will bring their splendor into it.
Revelation 21:22-24
Philippians 1:23 NIV84
I am torn between the two: I desire to depart and be with Christ, which is better by far;
We see there will be no room for darkness because the glory of God gives it light.
John 1 NIV84
In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was with God in the beginning. Through him all things were made; without him nothing was made that has been made. In him was life, and that life was the light of men. The light shines in the darkness, but the darkness has not understood it. There came a man who was sent from God; his name was John. He came as a witness to testify concerning that light, so that through him all men might believe. He himself was not the light; he came only as a witness to the light. The true light that gives light to every man was coming into the world. He was in the world, and though the world was made through him, the world did not recognize him. He came to that which was his own, but his own did not receive him. Yet to all who received him, to those who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God— children born not of natural descent, nor of human decision or a husband’s will, but born of God. The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us. We have seen his glory, the glory of the One and Only, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth. John testifies concerning him. He cries out, saying, “This was he of whom I said, ‘He who comes after me has surpassed me because he was before me.’ ” From the fullness of his grace we have all received one blessing after another. For the law was given through Moses; grace and truth came through Jesus Christ. No one has ever seen God, but God the One and Only, who is at the Father’s side, has made him known. Now this was John’s testimony when the Jews of Jerusalem sent priests and Levites to ask him who he was. He did not fail to confess, but confessed freely, “I am not the Christ.” They asked him, “Then who are you? Are you Elijah?” He said, “I am not.” “Are you the Prophet?” He answered, “No.” Finally they said, “Who are you? Give us an answer to take back to those who sent us. What do you say about yourself?” John replied in the words of Isaiah the prophet, “I am the voice of one calling in the desert, ‘Make straight the way for the Lord.’ ” Now some Pharisees who had been sent questioned him, “Why then do you baptize if you are not the Christ, nor Elijah, nor the Prophet?” “I baptize with water,” John replied, “but among you stands one you do not know. He is the one who comes after me, the thongs of whose sandals I am not worthy to untie.” This all happened at Bethany on the other side of the Jordan, where John was baptizing. The next day John saw Jesus coming toward him and said, “Look, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world! This is the one I meant when I said, ‘A man who comes after me has surpassed me because he was before me.’ I myself did not know him, but the reason I came baptizing with water was that he might be revealed to Israel.” Then John gave this testimony: “I saw the Spirit come down from heaven as a dove and remain on him. I would not have known him, except that the one who sent me to baptize with water told me, ‘The man on whom you see the Spirit come down and remain is he who will baptize with the Holy Spirit.’ I have seen and I testify that this is the Son of God.” The next day John was there again with two of his disciples. When he saw Jesus passing by, he said, “Look, the Lamb of God!” When the two disciples heard him say this, they followed Jesus. Turning around, Jesus saw them following and asked, “What do you want?” They said, “Rabbi” (which means Teacher), “where are you staying?” “Come,” he replied, “and you will see.” So they went and saw where he was staying, and spent that day with him. It was about the tenth hour. Andrew, Simon Peter’s brother, was one of the two who heard what John had said and who had followed Jesus. The first thing Andrew did was to find his brother Simon and tell him, “We have found the Messiah” (that is, the Christ). And he brought him to Jesus. Jesus looked at him and said, “You are Simon son of John. You will be called Cephas” (which, when translated, is Peter). The next day Jesus decided to leave for Galilee. Finding Philip, he said to him, “Follow me.” Philip, like Andrew and Peter, was from the town of Bethsaida. Philip found Nathanael and told him, “We have found the one Moses wrote about in the Law, and about whom the prophets also wrote—Jesus of Nazareth, the son of Joseph.” “Nazareth! Can anything good come from there?” Nathanael asked. “Come and see,” said Philip. When Jesus saw Nathanael approaching, he said of him, “Here is a true Israelite, in whom there is nothing false.” “How do you know me?” Nathanael asked. Jesus answered, “I saw you while you were still under the fig tree before Philip called you.” Then Nathanael declared, “Rabbi, you are the Son of God; you are the King of Israel.” Jesus said, “You believe because I told you I saw you under the fig tree. You shall see greater things than that.” He then added, “I tell you the truth, you shall see heaven open, and the angels of God ascending and descending on the Son of Man.”
John 1:5 NIV84
The light shines in the darkness, but the darkness has not understood it.
1 John 1:5 NIV84
This is the message we have heard from him and declare to you: God is light; in him there is no darkness at all.
Jesus longed for and requested that He could return to the the state of glory past. But He didn’t want to go back alone. He wanted all believers to be there with Him. Being a believer now and sharing a spiritual union with Jesus means that we will be blessed to share in that eternal presence with Him.
1 John 1:5 NIV84
This is the message we have heard from him and declare to you: God is light; in him there is no darkness at all.
This prayer of unity leading to a heavenly request, culminates in a declaration of love.

Declaration of Love (17:25-26)

In this declaration of love, Jesus declares His respect for His Father. He calls Him Righteous Father. When Jesus prayed that they might be sanctified He called Him Holy Father. When He prayed that the believers be glorified He called Him Righteous Father.
2 Timothy 4:8 NIV84
Now there is in store for me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous Judge, will award to me on that day—and not only to me, but also to all who have longed for his appearing.
1 Timothy 4:8 NIV84
For physical training is of some value, but godliness has value for all things, holding promise for both the present life and the life to come.
God’s righteousness was made to give out all the good that God the Father had promised but God the Son had purchased.
Also in this declaration of love, we see the character of Christ. Jesus says the world doesn’t know you and He asks for a special privilege, to help spread the gospel. David Jeremiah wrote, “The objective of discipleship is to become better witnesses for Christ.” Dr. Jeremiah goes on to quote Henry Martyn saying, “The Spirit of Christ is the spirit of missions. The nearer we get to Him, the more intensely missionary we become.” In other words, Jesus is saying to His Father “allow the believers to get more of me in them, which gives them more of You.”
The end result we see in this declaration of love is a plea from Jesus. You see, there is nothing in us to recommend us to God’s favor, but everything we can have to be joined in Him comes from all that is in Christ! We are unworthy, but Christ is worthy and He makes us worthy!
To know and believe in Jesus in the middle of a world that does not believe, is highly pleasing to God. Jesus has respect for His disciples as He declares the Father to them.
John 1:18 NIV84
No one has ever seen God, but God the One and Only, who is at the Father’s side, has made him known.
We are greatly indebted to Christ for giving us knowledge of the Father’s name. He declares it to us and opens it up for us to receive. He gives us knowledge then gives us access! Not only do get communion with Him, we get the love of God through Christ!
In closing this prayer, there are three beautiful applications. First, to grow in unity means we have to give in. We need to be flexible and open. We need to be accommodating. We need to be gracious. We don’t need to be so relaxed and flexible that we give up Biblical truth, but we need to be flexible in style but firm on truth!
Secondly, in order to reach heaven, we need to give up. We can’t get to heaven on our own merit and own way. We have to go God’s way. We get to heaven by believing in the Lord Jesus Christ and receiving His gift of eternal life through His gift of grace.
Lastly, to show the love of the Lord we must give out. If you have true Christian love, you will express it to others. We are to demonstrate kindness and compassion to those in the church and to those outside of the church. “They will know we are Christians by our love.”
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