May 24, 2020 - High Priestly Prayer
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Last week, we broke into chapter 17 of the Gospel of John...
This chapter, as we mentioned last week - consist entirely of what’s known as - The High Priestly Prayer
In context - Jesus is about to be arrested…about to be crucified...
And so BEFORE He walks down that road...
He lifts us this prayer to the Father...
In the first 5 verses of this chapter - those we walked through last week...
We saw Jesus ELEVATE the Glory of God~
And we saw that the Glory of God is found...
On the Cross of Christ…AND
In Pursuit of Christ...
That God is MADE MUCH of - on the cross...
That THRU the cross - Jesus Christ would be GLORIFIED!
And FROM THERE - we saw the Glory of God found in the Pursuit of Christ....
We saw that Jesus HIMSELF glorified the Father by ACCOMPLISHING the works that He gave Him to do on this earth!
And BY IMPLICATION - we can do the same.
WE - glorify God when we pursue OBEDIENCE in this world!
And lastly, we saw that WE OURSELVES will be GLORIFIED in the end...
In Romans 8 Paul tells us that - the present sufferings aren’t worth comparing to the glory that is to be revealed to us!!
This FUTURE Glory is a SUSTAINING glory!
We can’t comprehend it - and because that’s true - We wait EAGERLY!
And so as you can see - God’s GLORY was on display last week...
If we were to step back and look at Chapter 17 as a whole...
We’d see that this prayer by Jesus gives us glimpse of what Jesus does for us as the Interceding High Priest...
In MOVING US from Justification to Glorification...
And today we’re going to focus in on the reality that EVEN though Jesus was DEPARTING the disciples...
EVEN though Jesus would walk with them no more...
God was still the ASSURANCE of their HOPE...
6 “I have manifested your name to the people whom you gave me out of the world. Yours they were, and you gave them to me, and they have kept your word.
7 Now they know that everything that you have given me is from you.
8 For I have given them the words that you gave me, and they have received them and have come to know in truth that I came from you; and they have believed that you sent me.
9 I am praying for them. I am not praying for the world but for those whom you have given me, for they are yours.
10 All mine are yours, and yours are mine, and I am glorified in them.
11 And I am no longer in the world, but they are in the world, and I am coming to you. Holy Father, keep them in your name, which you have given me, that they may be one, even as we are one.
12 While I was with them, I kept them in your name, which you have given me. I have guarded them, and not one of them has been lost except the son of destruction, that the Scripture might be fulfilled.
13 But now I am coming 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 ask that you take them out of the world, but that you keep them from the evil one.
So let’s walk back through this text - and see what we can LEARN about the God we love!
SLIDE: The Father Gives Us to Jesus: We Believe
The Father Gives Us to Jesus
The Father Gives Us to Jesus
Let’s look at our text...
6 “I have manifested your name to the people whom you gave me out of the world. Yours they were, and you gave them to me, and they have kept your word.
First thing that jumps out at us is that Jesus Christ - is the MANIFESTATION of God...
Like a FEVER is a manifestation of an illness...
Jesus is the manifestation of God...
God in the flesh...
And Jesus says here that he - MANIFESTED God to the people (men - lit.) whom you (Father) gave Me OUT of the world!
And so - EVERYTHING that God is…Jesus DISPLAYED
The Love of God - Manifested by Christ
The MERCY of God - manifested by Christ...
The patience of God - manifested...
The mind of God...
The peace of God…
And the point of this verse - is that Jesus MANIFESTED God - to A CERTAIN group of people...
Who was it?
Those (men) people whom the Father gave Jesus - out of the world!!
Jesus says - YOURS they were…and You gave them to ME...
They BELONGED to the Father…They were HIS!
And so we might think - what is this referring to? - What does this mean?
It means - there are 2 types of people in this world....
there are THOSE who BELONG to God…and there are THOSE who Belong to the devil...
Jesus speaks of this… (are of = belong to)
44 You are of your father the devil, and your will is to do your father’s desires. He was a murderer from the beginning, and does not stand in the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he lies, he speaks out of his own character, for he is a liar and the father of lies.
Here Jesus is speaking to men in ONE of these groups...
THESE men - they BELONGED to - the devil
The devil is their FATHER...
and the desire HIS will....to be done...
And this makes sense with what we read in 2 Timothy
26 and they may come to their senses and escape from the snare of the devil, after being captured by him to do his will.
The Unbeliever is one who is SEEKING to do the will of the devil....
BUT NOT only that....
19 We know that we are from God, and the whole world lies in the power of the evil one.
Under the POWER of the evil one...
The world is POWERLESS to please God...
The world CANNOT please God - CANNOT obey God...
7 For the mind that is set on the flesh is hostile to God, for it does not submit to God’s law; indeed, it cannot.
8 Those who are in the flesh cannot please God.
This is due to being UNDER the power of the evil one...
FOLLOWING [his] lead…not God’s lead!
THAT’s THE ONE SIDE...
Those who BELONG to the devil...
But what did Jesus say today?
6 “I have manifested your name to the people whom you gave me out of the world. Yours they were, and you gave them to me, and they have kept your word.
Jesus says - THESE (men) - these people - THEY BELONGED to YOU Father...
You HAD them…and you gave them to Me!!
NOW - some people might say - OH, well Jesus is teaching us that God the Father HAS ALL people - and those who choose to believe in Jesus - well THEN God gives those people to Jesus...
Let’s look at our text...
9 I am praying for them. I am not praying for the world but for those whom you have given me, for they are yours.
Do you see?
There is a SUBGROUP of people in this world - WHO BELONG to GOD!!
THIS is who Jesus is praying for…here.
This group who BELONG to God is the SAME group who is mentioned in the Golden Chain of Redemption found in Romans 8
28 And we know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose.
29 For those whom he foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son, in order that he might be the firstborn among many brothers.
30 And those whom he predestined he also called, and those whom he called he also justified, and those whom he justified he also glorified.
Not ALL people end up GLORIFIED in the end...
ONLY those whom God had JUSTIFIED...
And those whom end up Justified...
are ONLY those whom God had CALLED...
And those whom end up CALLED...
Are ONLY those whom God had PREDESTINED...
And those whom God Predestined...
are ONLY those whom God foreknew (chose)
THESE PEOPLE (this verse) - BELONG to God...
And yet - we’re CALLED to be USED by God to bring them to God...
16 And I have other sheep that are not of this fold. I must bring them also, and they will listen to my voice. So there will be one flock, one shepherd.
We preach the message of Jesus - and WHEN WE DO - His sheep - Hear HIS voice!
The RESULT of which is - BELIEF!!
See - we DON’T SEE God give us to Jesus!
We EXPERIENCE that by what?
by NOW - trusting in Jesus!
Where we once did NOT believe....we NOW - BELIEVE!
What else do we see in our text...
Not only does God Give Us to Jesus with the result being - Belief in Him...
BUT...
SLIDE: God Awakens Us to His Word: We Receive It
God Awakens Us to His Word
God Awakens Us to His Word
6 “I have manifested your name to the people whom you gave me out of the world. Yours they were, and you gave them to me, and they have kept your word.
7 Now they know that everything that you have given me is from you.
8 For I have given them the words that you gave me, and they have received them and have come to know in truth that I came from you; and they have believed that you sent me.
Jesus here tells us that He GAVE the people…the SAME people that the Father GAVE to Him...
Jesus GAVE THEM - the WORDS that the Father had given to Jesus...
So Jesus - GAVE them the WORDS of the Father…the WORDS of God!
And a PART of GIVING them the WORDS of God...
…was Jesus DISPLAYING the WORDS of God as well!!
14 And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we have seen his glory, glory as of the only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth.
Jesus BEING the word of God - MANIFESTED to us
And GIVING THIS CERTAIN GROUP - the Word of God - the MESSAGE of God...
See - Jesus was always tying Himself to the Father
44 And Jesus cried out and said, “Whoever believes in me, believes not in me but in him who sent me.
The 1st century Jew was MONOTHEISTIC...
BUT - they didn’t believe Jesus was the MESSIAH...
And so Jesus...
…was always saying - “If you REJECT ME - then you REJECT the Father”
And so it makes sense then why Jesus was TYING His message - to the message of the Father!!
They were the same message!
49 For I have not spoken on my own authority, but the Father who sent me has himself given me a commandment—what to say and what to speak.
50 And I know that his commandment is eternal life. What I say, therefore, I say as the Father has told me.”
And so when Jesus in our text today says - I GAVE them the words You GAVE ME...
8 For I have given them the words that you gave me, and they have received them and have come to know in truth that I came from you; and they have believed that you sent me.
So on the ONE HAND - these men - the disciples..
they RECEIVED the words of God...
they BELIEVED them to be true...
But it’s BECAUSE - those WORDS - that truth - was REVEALED to them...
was GIVEN to them by Jesus!!
27 All things have been handed over to me by my Father, and no one knows the Son except the Father, and no one knows the Father except the Son and anyone to whom the Son chooses to reveal him.
We can’t KNOW the truth - we can’t RECEIVE those words...
WITHOUT the GIVING of Jesus...
ONLY those who have been GIVEN the words of God - BY JESUS -
Only THEY can RECEIVE those words…RECEIVE that truth and - BELIEVE!!
And we NEED this GIVING by Jesus because...
4 In their case the god of this world has blinded the minds of the unbelievers, to keep them from seeing the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God.
PRAYER of THANKS!!
This GIVING of Jesus - is what SAVES us...
BUT - that’s not the end of the STORY...
Like a mother who GIVES birth to a son or daughter...
that’s NOT THE END of the story...
*TREY - birth - Brought Trey home from the hospital… (this is just getting started!)
The mother who GIVES birth must now - KEEP that baby ALIVE...
And so we see....
SLIDE: God Keeps Us As His Own: We Joyfully Pursue Him
God Keeps Us As His Own
God Keeps Us As His Own
So think through the context of this prayer by Jesus...
He’s been with these guys…day and night…for 3 years and has been THEIR EVERYTHING...
But now - He’s departing!
Jesus CARES for these men…He CARES for those who have BELIEVED in Him...
and He’s PRAYING NOW for THOSE PEOPLE>...
NOT for the world - but for THOSE WHO BELIEVE - who have FAITH...
11 And I am no longer in the world, but they are in the world, and I am coming to you. Holy Father, keep them in your name, which you have given me, that they may be one, even as we are one.
12 While I was with them, I kept them in your name, which you have given me. I have guarded them, and not one of them has been lost except the son of destruction, that the Scripture might be fulfilled.
**Ever drop your kid off at a babysitter and think = Oh man…i hope they keep an eye on my kid...
i hope they PAY ATTENTION enough to keep them safe…!
How comforted WOULD you feel to drop them OFF at Jesus’ house??
His POWER to KEEP us is UNMATCHED!!
Unbreakable!!
HOW unbreakable??
28 I give them eternal life, and they will never perish, and no one will snatch them out of my hand.
29 My Father, who has given them to me, is greater than all, and no one is able to snatch them out of the Father’s hand.
30 I and the Father are one.”
We've heard the phrase..."once saved ALWAYS saved"...
This is a biblical truth!
14 For we have come to share in Christ, if indeed we hold our original confidence firm to the end.
Now some may point to this text and say - See, it shows that we need to hold on until the end if we want to be saved...That we can LOSE our salvation...
But this text teaches exactly the opposite...
For we HAVE COME (in the past) to share in Christ, IF we (in the future) hold our original confidence firm until the end!
MEANING...If we DON'T hold our confidence firm until the end...
then that means we HAD NOT (in the past) come to share in Christ...
It means we never GOT saved!
BUT - when we surrender to Christ...When we come to share in Christ THROUGH faith...
it's a done deal!
6 And I am sure of this, that he who began a good work in you will bring it to completion at the day of Jesus Christ.
20 But you, beloved, building yourselves up in your most holy faith and praying in the Holy Spirit,
21 keep yourselves in the love of God, waiting for the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ that leads to eternal life.
So he says here - YES - Keep YOURSELVES in the love of GOD...but just 3 verses later he says this...
24 Now to him who is able to keep you from stumbling and to present you blameless before the presence of his glory with great joy,
Not enough for you?
37 Behold, I will gather them from all the countries to which I drove them in my anger and my wrath and in great indignation. I will bring them back to this place, and I will make them dwell in safety.
38 And they shall be my people, and I will be their God.
39 I will give them one heart and one way, that they may fear me forever, for their own good and the good of their children after them.
40 I will make with them an everlasting covenant, that I will not turn away from doing good to them. And I will put the fear of me in their hearts, that they may not turn from me.
If you're a believer in here....and you ask yourself - Why will I wake up a Christian tomorrow morning...?
The answer is NOT in you!
God will make me a believer tomorrow morning...
My assurance doesn't rest in ME!
It rests in the promises of GOD...
It rests in a covenant keeping God...God KEEPS His own...
NEVER to let them go...
THAT’s on GOD’s side.... - On OUR side...
13 But now I am coming 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 ask that you take them out of the world, but that you keep them from the evil one.
16 They are not of the world, just as I am not of the world.
17 Sanctify them in the truth; your word is truth.
18 As you sent me into the world, so I have sent them into the world.
19 And for their sake I consecrate myself, that they also may be sanctified in truth.
God KEEPS US…
He KEEPS those who have faith in Him...
AND - He - as v13 said...
GIVES us HIS joy...
13 But now I am coming to you, and these things I speak in the world, that they may have my joy fulfilled in themselves.
SUMMARY:
The Father Gives Us to Jesus: We Believe
The Father Gives Us to Jesus
The Father Gives Us to Jesus
God Awakens Us to His Word: We Receive It
God Awakens Us to His Word
God Awakens Us to His Word
God Keeps Us as His Own: We Joyfully Pursue Him
God Keeps Us As His Own
God Keeps Us As His Own