The Real Lord’s Prayer — #3

Text: John 17:6-19

Theme: The Father is the ultimate relationship in the disciples’ lives just as He was in the life of His Son.

Date: 03/06/2022 File: RealLordsPrayer-03.wpd

Some of the most profound times of blessings I’ve experienced in my life as a believer were those moments when another believer explicitly prayed for me in my presence. To hear a brother or a sister specifically lift your name up to God and pray His blessings down upon your life is an awesome thing.

Now, imagine if it Jesus, himself, standing there before you, and praying for you! This is what is happening in John 17:6-19. In verses 1-5 Jesus prays for himself. He prays that the Father will glorify him just as he has glorified the Father. In verses 20-26 he will pray specifically for his church yet to come, which means you and I are the recipients of his prayer in those verses. Now, however, in tonight’s passage he is praying for those men he has just eaten the Passover meal with — his last supper with them. These are the men who will carry on his legacy. What they do, and how they do it, will guide the Church from here on out. And so, Jesus prays specifically for that inner circle of disciples, now less one, that we know as The Twelve.

I. JESUS PRAYED FOR THEIR ENLIGHTENMENT

vv. 6-8

1. for 3 ½ years, Jesus has communicated the words of the Father to His disciples

a. everything he has said or done has been at the behest of his Father in Heaven

1) he has only done what he sees the Father doing in heaven

“So Jesus said to them, “Truly, truly, I say to you, the Son can do nothing of his own accord, but only what he sees the Father doing. For whatever the Father does, that the Son does likewise.” (John 5:19, ESV)

2) he has only said what he hears the Father in heaven saying

“And I know that his commandment is eternal life. What I say, therefore, I say as the Father has told me.” (John 12:50, ESV)

A. HIS MISSION WAS TO MANIFEST THE FATHER

““I have manifested your name to the people whom you gave me out of the world. ... .” (John 17:6, ESV)

1. the word manifest means to reveal or to make clear

a. back in John 14, which stands at the beginning of this lengthy passage we call the Farewell Discourse of Jesus, our Lord has just told the disciples that he is going away to prepare a place in heaven for his disciple

b. in the middle of that conversation we have the amazing dialogue between Jesus and the disciples Thomas and Philip ...

“And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and will take you to myself, that where I am you may be also. 4 And you know the way to where I am going.” 5 Thomas said to him, “Lord, we do not know where you are going. How can we know the way?” 6 Jesus said to him, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me. 7 If you had known me, you would have known my Father also. From now on you do know him and have seen him.” 8 Philip said to him, “Lord, show us the Father, and it is enough for us.” 9 Jesus said to him, “Have I been with you so long, and you still do not know me, Philip? Whoever has seen me has seen the Father. How can you say, ‘Show us the Father’? 10 Do you not believe that I am in the Father and the Father is in me? The words that I say to you I do not speak on my own authority, but the Father who dwells in me does his works. 11 Believe me that I am in the Father and the Father is in me, or else believe on account of the works themselves.” (John 14:3–11, ESV)

2. Jesus is just hours away from his arrest and a series of trials that will end in his crucifixion

a. it is, as we say in our culture, “crunch time” — these disciples ought to be understanding some of these things by now, after all it’s been right at a year since Peter confessed, “You are the Christ, the Son of the living God”

1) they ought to understand by now that Jesus, in his life, has manifested the character and true nature of the Father

2) they ought to understand by now that Jesus, in his life, has manifested the will of the Father

3) they ought to understand by now that Jesus, in his life, has manifested the grace, and love, and mercy, but most importantly, the holiness of the Father

4) they ought to understand by now that Jesus, in his life, has manifested the sovereignty and power of the Father

5) they ought to understand by now that Jesus, in his life, has manifested the very thoughts of the Father

b. everything the disciples want to know about the God of Israel is revealed in the person and work of Christ

1) in the Book of Colossians, Paul refers to Jesus as “ ... the image of the invisible God” (Col. 1:15)

2) in the Book of Hebrews, the author writes of Jesus, He is the radiance of the glory of God and the exact imprint of his nature (Heb. 1:3)

c. it’s no wonder that we hear Jesus saying still do not know me, Philip?

1) thankfully, some of them are coming to an amazing realization of who Jesus is

“Now we know that you know all things and do not need anyone to question you; this is why we believe that you came from God.”” (John 16:30, ESV)

“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.” (John 17:7–8, ESV)

d. apart from him no one ever gets to know anything about God — only conjectures

3. the resurrection will provide the ultimate enlightenment of who Jesus is in the days to come

B. THEY WERE GOD’S BEFORE THEY WERE CHRIST’S

““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.” (John 17:6, ESV)

1. here is an astounding statement — God the Father had already decided on who His son’s disciples would be

a. a few weeks ago, when we I was preaching on the prayer life of Jesus, recall that there were times when we see Jesus praying all night over important decisions

1) one of those times was in the choosing of The Twelve

b. now we have a peek into the result of that prayer — these men are true Israelites who are longing for Messiah to come, praying for Messiah to come

1) in His providence God has decreed, “Peter and Andrew, James and John, Phillip, Bartholomew, Thomas, Matthew, James (called the ‘Lesser’ to distinguish him from the other James), Thaddaeus, Simon (the Zealot), and Judas, will be my son’s inner circle. They will hear what my son says about me, they will come to know the truth, and will believe that I have sent him.”

2) Jesus spends all night in prayer, asking, “Father, what about so-and-so?” until finally the Father reveals all twelve names

3) with the choice made Jesus can say, “All mine are yours, and yours are mine, and I am glorified in them.” (John 17:10, ESV)

II. JESUS PRAYED FOR THEIR PRESERVATION vv. 9-12

“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.” (John 17:9–12, ESV)

1. Jesus is mere hours away from his crucifixion, and in that time he is not praying for multitudes of lost sinner to come to him by faith

a. he is praying for twelve men, minus one, to hang tough

ILLUS. This is one of those places in the New Testament where we catch a glimpse of how God the Father divides humanity. As human beings, we divide up humanity in all kinds of arbitrary ways. We divide according to social standing (“our kind of people” vs, “those kind of people”) We divide according to ethnicity, and skin color. We divide by economic status — the haves and the have-nots. We divide by educational status — do you have it or not, and where did you get it? The list goes on and on. God divides humanity by those who are in Christ, and those who are not in Christ. I would submit to you that’s how we ought to look at humanity as well.

2. Jesus prays that His disciples be kept and protected

a. Jesus was leaving the world to go back to the Father in Heaven and resume His rightful place of glory

b. the disciples, however, must remain in the world

c. the world, the flesh and the devil will be a constant threat to their spiritual maturity, their unity, and their mission to ‘go into all the world’

3. Jesus entrusts His disciples to the safekeeping of the Father Himself

a. He asks God to keep them by the power of you name

4. it's nice to know that God is on our side!

ILLUS. Robert McCheyen, a Scottish pastor of the early 19th century, once wrote, “If I could hear Christ praying for me in the next room, I would not fear a million enemies. Yet [we discover in this passage], that distance and time make no difference. He is praying for me.”

III. JESUS PRAYED FOR THEIR JOY v. 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.” (John 17:13, ESV)

1. the joy He has experienced by being perfectly obedient to the will of the Father is the same kind of joy He wants his followers to experience

2. for the next three days, the disciples will be as low and despondent as they will every be

a. but joy is coming on Sunday morning

“Though you have not seen him, you love him. Though you do not now see him, you believe in him and rejoice with joy that is inexpressible and filled with glory,” (1 Peter 1:8, ESV)

IV. JESUS PRAYED FOR THEIR SANCTIFICATION vv. 16-19

“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.” (John 17:16–19, ESV)

1. sanctification is a big theological word

a. it’s one of the most mis-understood doctrines in the Bible

1) many tend to regard sanctification as a sort of spiritual de-sinning process, or some kind of religious sin-dip, necessary to make us super-saints

b. the word simply means to put to the proper use

ILLUS. You are sanctifying those pews at this moment as you sit on them. You sanctified your car as you drove here this morning. (It did not make it run better but it was put to the proper use!) I sanctify my comb when I comb my hair — I use it for its intended purpose.

2. and what are we intended for — what purpose did God have in mind by bringing us into His Kingdom?

a. that He might use each of us as an instrument of His working and to manifest His character, and to expand His Kingdom

3. our Lord is praying that these men be personally, willingly, and thoroughly committed to the work of being used of God

a. sanctification is not about living a super-clean or perfect life, but an obedient life

b. the attraction of the world, the weakness of the flesh, and the onslaught of the devil are daily battles for the twelve men as they seek to fulfill Christ’s Great Commission

c. sanctification is the on-going purifying of our whole life to the service of God

4. because He is willing to offer Himself up on their behalf, they will be able to offer themselves up on the behalf of Christ and others

V. SOME LESSONS

1. the verses we’ve looked at this evening are part of Jesus’ prayer that is specifically about the disciples, but the truths are applicable to us

A. Jesus Prayed for the Disciples’ Unity vs. 10-11

1. Jesus wants these men to have the same kind of unity that exists within the Godhead itself

a. he prays for their oneness, and as we will see next week, he prays for our oneness

B. Jesus Prayed For Our Safety From the Evil One vs. 14-15

1. Satan thought he’d won when Jesus was crucified

a. he wasn’t ready for the resurrection, and I’m sure it enraged him

ILLUS. Harry Potter scene. Valdamort believes Harry Potter to be dead. He had, after all, hit Harry with the “killing curse.” But just when he and everyone else least expects it, Harry comes to life, and Valdamort is absolutely enraged. But in the final, climatic battle, Harry prevails and Valdamort dies.

2. there are no illusions that the disciples will be able to avoid hardship and persecution

a. Jesus doesn’t pray that they’ll be taken out of the world and removed from these struggles

b. instead, He prays that they would be protected from the evil that would tear down or undermine their gospel ministry

C. Jesus Prayed That We Would Be Sanctified in the Truth vs. 16-19

1. again, Jesus doesn’t pray for their immediate well-being

a. he prays that they would be sanctified or made holy — that they would be kept pure and set apart for God’s use

2. where evil promotes itself through error and deception, Jesus prays that the disciples will be purified by the truth