John #15

Northside Church

The Gospel of John

Dec 26th , 2021

John #15 Jn 17

Jamey Mills

Thanks for joining us online…

My name is Jamey Mills, and I am the lead pastor here at Northside.

Hope you all had a wonderful Christmas…

What do you think Jesus is known for?

If I were to ask you what Jesus is known for, what would you say?

Miracles? Caring about others? Love? Christmas? Easter? Hope?

What would you say?

Jesus was known for a lot of things…

But one thing I always found as interesting is Jesus was known to be a man of prayer.

And on one hand it makes great sense… but somehow in my head, I’ve sort of always viewed Jesus as the target of my prayer… and in that light… sort of above it and beyond it if that makes sense…

But that’s not the case at all…

Jesus was known for prayer…

Examples.

Matt 14:23 says he went up on a mountainside to pray alone after feeding 5 k.

Luke 6:12 Spent the night in prayer

Luke 23:34 prayed for those who put him on the cross while on the cross

Luke 9:28 Prayed with the 3 closest… peter, james and john

Luke 11:1 Often withdrew on his own to pray

Luke 18:1 Modeled how to pray

That’s not all of them…

Jesus developed...earned the reputation of having a powerful prayer life...

Why do you suppose that Jesus… the son of the living God… the creator of all things… committed to and made time for prayer in such a way that caused those around Him to know Him like that? And… if He thought it was worth it, how much more do you think we need it?

We see Jesus praying in scripture often… and we have of the things that Jesus prayed for… but by far the longest recorded prayer of Jesus is in Jn. 17.

John, who was one of the three that was closest to Jesus gives us this almost behind the scenes view... Just hours away from being arrested … No doubt Jesus’ mind was fixed on those things He is most passionate about.

One author I read said that one of the ways we know John wrote down what Jesus was most passionate about is because literally this long prayer of Jesus is in a way the summary of the book of John.

Let's read it…

John 17 NLT

After saying all these things, Jesus looked up to heaven and said, “Father, the hour has come. Glorify your Son so he can give glory back to you. For you have given him authority over everyone. He gives eternal life to each one you have given him. And this is the way to have eternal life—to know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ, the one you sent to earth. I brought glory to you here on earth by completing the work you gave me to do. Now, Father, bring me into the glory we shared before the world began. “I have revealed you to the ones you gave me from this world. They were always yours. You gave them to me, and they have kept your word. Now they know that everything I have is a gift from you, for I have passed on to them the message you gave me. They accepted it and know that I came from you, and they believe you sent me. “My prayer is not for the world, but for those you have given me, because they belong to you. All who are mine belong to you, and you have given them to me, so they bring me glory. Now I am departing from the world; they are staying in this world, but I am coming to you. Holy Father, you have given me your name; now protect them by the power of your name so that they will be united just as we are. During my time here, I protected them by the power of the name you gave me. I guarded them so that not one was lost, except the one headed for destruction, as the Scriptures foretold. “Now I am coming to you. I told them many things while I was with them in this world so they would be filled with my joy. I have given them your word. And the world hates them because they do not belong to the world, just as I do not belong to the world. I’m not asking you to take them out of the world, but to keep them safe from the evil one. They do not belong to this world any more than I do. Make them holy by your truth; teach them your word, which is truth. Just as you sent me into the world, I am sending them into the world. And I give myself as a holy sacrifice for them so they can be made holy by your truth. “I am praying not only for these disciples but also for all who will ever believe in me through their message. I pray that they will all be one, just as you and I are one—as you are in me, Father, and I am in you. And may they be in us so that the world will believe you sent me. “I have given them the glory you gave me, so they may be one as we are one. I am in them and you are in me. May they experience such perfect unity that the world will know that you sent me and that you love them as much as you love me. Father, I want these whom you have given me to be with me where I am. Then they can see all the glory you gave me because you loved me even before the world began! “O righteous Father, the world doesn’t know you, but I do; and these disciples know you sent me. I have revealed you to them, and I will continue to do so. Then your love for me will be in them, and I will be in them.”

After saying all these things, Jesus looked up to heaven and said, “Father, the hour has come. Glorify your Son so he can give glory back to you. 2 For you have given him authority over everyone. He gives eternal life to each one you have given him. 3 And this is the way to have eternal life—to know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ, the one you sent to earth. 4 I brought glory to you here on earth by completing the work you gave me to do. 5 Now, Father, bring me into the glory we shared before the world began.

6 “I have revealed you to the ones you gave me from this world. They were always yours. You gave them to me, and they have kept your word. 7 Now they know that everything I have is a gift from you, 8 for I have passed on to them the message you gave me. They accepted it and know that I came from you, and they believe you sent me.

9 “My prayer is not for the world, but for those you have given me, because they belong to you. 10 All who are mine belong to you, and you have given them to me, so they bring me glory. 11 Now I am departing from the world; they are staying in this world, but I am coming to you. Holy Father, you have given me your name; now protect them by the power of your name so that they will be united just as we are. 12 During my time here, I protected them by the power of the name you gave me. I guarded them so that not one was lost, except the one headed for destruction, as the Scriptures foretold.

13 “Now I am coming to you. I told them many things while I was with them in this world so they would be filled with my joy. 14 I have given them your word. And the world hates them because they do not belong to the world, just as I do not belong to the world. 15 I’m not asking you to take them out of the world, but to keep them safe from the evil one. 16 They do not belong to this world any more than I do. 17 Make them holy by your truth; teach them your word, which is truth. 18 Just as you sent me into the world, I am sending them into the world. 19 And I give myself as a holy sacrifice for them so they can be made holy by your truth.

20 “I am praying not only for these disciples but also for all who will ever believe in me through their message. 21 I pray that they will all be one, just as you and I are one—as you are in me, Father, and I am in you. And may they be in us so that the world will believe you sent me.

22 “I have given them the glory you gave me, so they may be one as we are one. 23 I am in them and you are in me. May they experience such perfect unity that the world will know that you sent me and that you love them as much as you love me. 24 Father, I want these whom you have given me to be with me where I am. Then they can see all the glory you gave me because you loved me even before the world began!

25 “O righteous Father, the world doesn’t know you, but I do; and these disciples know you sent me. 26 I have revealed you to them, and I will continue to do so. Then your love for me will be in them, and I will be in them.”

How incredible is it that Jesus, the son of the living God, the Savior of the world prayed…

He says the time is here… He will die on the cross and will be glorified… Jesus will soon be back in the actual presence of God…

And we can tell a lot based on what He prayed for.

our hearts might be a great thing. I don't think it gets any better than that.

This prayer is loaded… but I will focus on two things today.

Jesus prayed for your protection within a world in which you do not belong.

How cool is that… Jesus didn’t just pray for the 11 that were there at the moment… but for ALL who would believe…

Jesus, the son of the living God prayed for you. Hours before the cross, you were on His mind.

And He was praying for your protection within a world in which we don’t belong; though… at least not exclusively in the way we often think…

Jesus knew full well the risk of beginning a Christain… that while life really is found in Him, that sin in the hearts of humanity would rage against it… that there would be resistance… that the same world that rejected and was moments away from putting Him to death would certainly not respond to those who follow Him well…

Jesus says that He did what He came to do… He told them the truth… the reason God sent Him… because He is the way the truth and the life… and they believed it… they accepted and kept it.

Jesus prayed that we would be committed to and made holy by His word.

To be made HOLY has at least two thoughts that come with it…

What does it mean to be made holy?

This movement into taking on the image and character of Jesus.

To be set apart for godly purposes.

And it's a big part of why we “don’t belong”in this world.

If we are anchored on the God’s word of truth is is having that impact in our lives and it causes us to live and think differently… to have a different worldview

And that leads to great resistance…

Jesus prayed for your protection.

This idea of protection is not what you often think, I don’t know that Jesus is just thinking about “safety protocol” or something.

If that was all it was, He’d send us to heaven as soon as we stepped into this saving relationship with Jesus…

Instead, specifically says that he doesn't pray that God would remove us from it… but protect us within it.

We aren’t removed from it because there is still work to do, good to do, people to care about and Jesus to share about…

Protection from the evil one is a prayer for strength, courage and abiding in the face of “life”.

Not just safety… but protection from wandering… from being overwhelmed by the size of the waves…

#2

Jesus also prayed for unity.

The sort of unity that catches the attention of the world around us. The unity of the HIS Church is near to the heart of God.

God uses language like… His temple, His family, His body, and His bride to describe His Church and when I hear that I realize it’s likely that He sees His Church in a different light than we often do…

God is passionate about the unity of His Church.

It's why there are so many “One anothers” in the bible… Love, bear with, encourage…

The truth is…

What we have in common when it comes to Christ is so much greater than anything that would seek to divide us.

The more we are growing and submitting our lives to Jesus… the more we reflect that sort of unity to the world around us…

And

Sin and selfishness will ALWAYS be the biggest threats to unity within the church.

It’s crazy the kinds of things that have caused disunity… within His church in the past… and even today… and i don't know that any church is immune from its potential… it’s one of those things that we should pray for far more than we probably do.

Jesus prayed that we would be one just like He and the father are one… and that we would be one with them.

And I think

Philippians 2:3–8 NLT

Don’t be selfish; don’t try to impress others. Be humble, thinking of others as better than yourselves. Don’t look out only for your own interests, but take an interest in others, too. You must have the same attitude that Christ Jesus had. Though he was God, he did not think of equality with God as something to cling to. Instead, he gave up his divine privileges; he took the humble position of a slave and was born as a human being. When he appeared in human form, he humbled himself in obedience to God and died a criminal’s death on a cross.

(NLT) speaks into that…

3 Don’t be selfish; don’t try to impress others. Be humble, thinking of others as better than yourselves. 4 Don’t look out only for your own interests, but take an interest in others, too. 5 You must have the same attitude that Christ Jesus had.

6 Though he was God, he did not think of equality with God as something to cling to. 7 Instead, he gave up his divine privileges; he took the humble position of a slave and was born as a human being. When he appeared in human form, 8 he humbled himself in obedience to God and died a criminal’s death on a cross.

Unity comes when Jesus reigns in us… Stepping away from selfishness and pride… stepping into humility and preferring one another over ourselves… realizing it's not about “our rights”... it’s about Him… and people being saved IN HIM. and when that becomes the motivation of our lives… together… We become the Church He’s always intended for us to be.

Loving each other well…

And caring well for and sharing the love and compassion of Jesus with the world around us.

CONC.

As we step out of 2021and all of its division… and look toward 2022…

I hope you take joy in knowing that the savior of the world prayed for you…

And that we would all step back and ask…

Where am I when it comes to stepping out of selfishness and pride?

Where am I when it comes to stepping into Humility?

Is my life really about HIM… HIS truth… and the fullness and freedom that it brings?

Is it about people coming to know Him through what God is doing in you and the unity we have together?

Hannah is going to come and help us prepare to take communion…

And as she does…

I hope we can reflect on those things.

Pray