Glory and Intercession

If you have a bible or a copy of God’s word open it up to John 17. Lets pray for our time in God’s word today..

As we embark on yet another chapter of John this is quite frankly one of the most important chapters not only in John, but in all of scripture. Because this chapter is a prayer directly from Jesus to the Father, now we know prayer has been a regular part of Jesus ministry, we have seen that he has went away to pray, and praying before miracles but this prayer shows us some different, and what it shows us is the unique relationship between the Father and Son, a relationship that has existed throughout all of eternity. And Jesus prays this prayer after he got done teaching the disciples many hard things for them to understand in last few chapters.

Remember his life on earth is about to come to an end. And in this prayer Jesus is praying for himself and a prayer for his disciples. And through that prayer we see some truly iIncredible truths. This is the longest recorded prayer of Jesus in all of scripture, and today I want to read it to you as a whole so you can see just how special it truly is.. John 17 says this…

John 17 (ESV)

1 When Jesus had spoken these words, he lifted up his eyes to heaven, and said, “Father, the hour has come; glorify your Son that the Son may glorify you, 2 since you have given him authority over all flesh, to give eternal life to all whom you have given him. 3 And this is eternal life, that they know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom you have sent. 4 I glorified you on earth, having accomplished the work that you gave me to do. 5 And now, Father, glorify me in your own presence with the glory that I had with you before the world existed.

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. 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.

20 “I do not ask for these only, but also for those who will believe in me through their word, 21 that they may all be one, just 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 have sent me. 22 The glory that you have given me I have given to them, that they may be one even as we are one, 23 I in them and you in me, that they may become perfectly one, so that the world may know that you sent me and loved them even as you loved me. 24 Father, I desire that they also, whom you have given me, may be with me where I am, to see my glory that you have given me because you loved me before the foundation of the world. 25 O righteous Father, even though the world does not know you, I know you, and these know that you have sent me. 26 I made known to them your name, and I will continue to make it known, that the love with which you have loved me may be in them, and I in them.”

Though we wont cover the whole prayer in the sermon this week, what I want you to get from the sermon today as the main idea is this… Jesus prays that his work and words have glorified God and as a result those who follow him with continue in the faith…

And to help us unpack that main idea this morning I have four points for us from the text today the first is this…

Jesus prays for the hour of Glory 1-2

The time has finally come for Jesus to Die, and he lifts up his eyes to heaven and prays to God. And the first words he speaks during the prayer is the hour has come… All of Jesus ministry has been leading to this moment as I have said several times now in the gospel of John. Not only has Jesus ministry been leading to this point but all of human history has led to this moment. We base our faith on the claim that the death and resurrection actually happened.

And in this hour he is praying glorify your son. This isn’t anything new Jesus has said, remember he said it back in John chapter 13…

John 13:31–32 (ESV)

Now is the Son of Man glorified, and God is glorified in him. 32 If God is glorified in him, God will also glorify him in himself, and glorify him at once.

This is clearly seen at the Cross. The cross is this act of glory because it shows God’s full attributes, including his wrath and his love. Jesus says glorify me so I can glorify you. Let this sacrificial act that I am about to do be seen and celebrated by you, and by all those who believe in me. He is saying let this act of glory be so glorious that it in turn it glorifies you, and ill explain that a little more in the moment.

And he gives the reason why this is going to be the case, and why he must be glorified. he says since you have given me authority over all flesh to give eternal life to all whom you have given me. So you see two things that he is praying about.. One is he has authority over all flesh, and when brother trent was here preaching he referenced a few powerful verses in Phil 2 that really drives home what that looks like. The text says this.

Philippians 2:9–11 ESV

9 Therefore God has highly exalted him and bestowed on him the name that is above every name, 10 so that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, 11 and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.

Because of the glory of Jesus Christ He has authority over All flesh and all flesh must bow in heaven and on earth to the name of Jesus. So every name even those who don’t believe will recognize that Jesus has authority over all. A friend and I were having a conversation and he said another pastor said there isn’t going to be people who hell who don’t know who Jesus is. Thats because Jesus has authority over all flesh over everyone, including those who don’t believe. but secondly this text says something else, and that is Jesus will give eternal life to all whom the Father has given him. So this act of glory that Jesus is praying to the father actually accomplished something, and that was to save those who the Father had given Jesus.

Remember back in John 6:37 it said…

John 6:37 ESV

37 All that the Father gives me will come to me, and whoever comes to me I will never cast out.

The Father draws those who come to him, and in that drawing Jesus never casts them out and again in John 6:39

John 6:39 ESV

39 And this is the will of him who sent me, that I should lose nothing of all that he has given me, but raise it up on the last day.

All who the Father calls to Jesus shall remain,

Few more verses

John 10:27–29 ESV

27 My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me. 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.

God the Father has given Jesus sheep who are all those who believe in him, and no one can take them away from him, because God that Father has given them to Jesus, not based on anything they have done, but based on his glorious grace, and this ties into my second point I have for you this morning and its this…

Jesus prays for the mission he accomplished. 3-8

His mission was plain and we already saw that in just the first few verses that Jesus glorified the Father on earth accomplishing the work that the Father had given him, and this work does include the death, and resurrection of Jesus. I think often we overlook the Christian phase that even I often say, Jesus lived a perfect life. One without sin, and we throw that around not actually really understanding how hard that would be for any one of us, I bet everyone in this room has sinned even today, and yet Jesus lived without sin, and there are a-lot of sins that we can commit, and yet Jesus lived without committing one of them. Not only did he not sin by committing a sin, he didn’t commit the sins we so often over look and that is the sins of omission, and thats when someone doesn’t do what God has asked them to do. And Jesus was on mission to do the right things that God asked him to do.

The mission for Jesus was more than not sinning though he did not sin but let me do all the right things. I think Christianity has gotten a bad look, because its to often put in box of don’t do’s rather than than the do’s… Jesus did everything the Father has asked him to do. We would be more effective on our Christian walk if we cared more about doing the things God calls us to do, rather than, God what have you not called me to. Both of those things are important and the bible mentions both, but when you set your eyes on the mission, all those other things fall in right place, and Jesus accomplished the mission, because he focused on it, and did not sin in the process. And his mission accomplished great things..

The text we are in says.. Jesus manifested the Father’s name to the people whom the Father gave me out of the world, they were the Fathers and the Father gave them to Jesus.. And how did he manifest himself to the people? by doing the work the Father had given Jesus, and teaching them all the Father wanted them to know, and his mission was successful, because all the father gives to Jesus believes in him. Belief by the disciples, and believers today is proof positive that Jesus mission was successful. If Jesus mission was not successful we would not see the amazing things we saw from the disciples and believers all throughout history.

Jesus mission is accomplished because believers in Christ believe that Jesus is the Son of God, and is sent by God. The mission the Father gave Jesus is a mission that has real results, and that is all whom the Father give Jesus will believe in Jesus. Remember John 6:29

John 6:29 ESV

29 Jesus answered them, “This is the work of God, that you believe in him whom he has sent.”

And he prays that the mission is successful, and that he can return to where he belongs and that is back in the glory with the Father before the foundation of the world. We see the eternality of Jesus in this text, and that is where he desires to be once again.

Jesus came to earth to glorify God and to save those who are his, and in his glory he is returning to where he belongs winning the victory over the pangs of sin, and death and through that he accomplished the mission the Father has given him and he prays that he will once again be in glory with the Father forever more, and because he is leaving those whom the Father gives him, he prays for something else. Third point this morning…

Jesus prays for protection of those who are his… 9-16

In the text I read this morning we see Jesus is not praying for everyone, he isn’t praying for the likes of Judas, and the ones who are about to capture him, and those who don’t know him, and he says that clearly, He is not praying for the world, and we know by now that means those who don’t belong to Jesus. He is praying specifically for all those whom the Father has given him. Church there is a Triune Unity in the saving work of Jesus Christ, and Jesus is praying that when I go and come back to you keep them in your name. Because Jesus is returning to the Father after his resurrection he isn’t going to stay and make sure his disciples are safe walking side by side physically with them anymore, and because of that he knows that are going to need protection from this evil world, and the evil one.

And so he prays for unity which will be the main theme next week, but he tells God the Father I have made sure to guard them while I am here, and none of them has been lost except Judas, and this is because Judas was not a true believer, he is in his natural sinful heart was just along for the ride, and he sold out Jesus for nothing compared to what he is worth which is everything. And he in this text is called in my translation the son of Destruction, another translation may say the son of perdition one of my favorite scholars said, Perdition refers to the final eschatological damnation that comes at the hands of God in His righteous wrath, and Jesus Himself attached that term to the name of Judas. And in this text he isn’t praying for him Judas is already damned. But Judas action’s show that there is this connection between divine sovereignty and human responsibility, he wasn’t forced to betray Jesus but wanted to in his natural heart, because his heart was not changed by Jesus even though he was with him those 3 years, another warning to us that we can be with the people of God, and not really know God.

And in this text he continues to pray reminding the Father that he is coming home, but also saying hey I am praying to you on earth and I am asking you that the one’s you have given me will have joy in the mission that they will have to carry out, and that joy will be part of their protection, and they will need it because they will remain in this world the same world that hated me is going to hate them, the same world that had me killed is going to want to kill them.

SO he prays father dont take them out of the world, but keep them from the evil one. I love that language so much, keep them from the evil one. A great scriptural reminder of this is found in numbers.

Numbers 6:24 ESV

24 The Lord bless you and keep you;

What A joy it is knowing that the one who saved us is praying that God the Father will keep us. Protect us, as we read last week in Romans 8, nothing can take us away from God.

One man uses this illustration and I believe I have said this before but its so good. Imagine a father walking beside a railroad track with his three-year-old son. There is danger at hand, so the father holds the child’s hand. If the boy’s safety depends on the strength of his grasp on his father’s hand, he is in grave danger—he could lose his grip and wander into the path of a train. What keeps the child from destruction is not the boy’s grip on his father’s hand but the father’s grip on the child’s hand. That is what Jesus was asking the Father to do—to keep His grip on the disciples.

We may live in a world that is against us, but we always have God with us. And because of that faithful hour when Jesus went to the cross, and died for sinners, and accomplished the mission he had been given we can rest knowing we have protection from the world. Even when it does not seem like it.

Forth thing I want you to write down this morning is this…

Jesus prays for the sanctification of those who are his.

First and foremost what is sanctification- is the becoming of more like Christ. And Jesus in this prayer is asking the Father for that very thing, and they are going to need to be more like Christ, because they are going to be on mission just like Jesus, and they are going to go against the world just like Jesus did, and so he says to God the Father sanctify them in truth your word is truth. To sanctify means to be set apart, I believe there are great advantages to the world we live in we have access to more information than ever before, more medical breakthroughs, more ways to connect with others, more ways to learn, but in that we have more distractions that take us away from the greater things in this christian life, we are not set apart enough. We become to much like the world that Jesus prays that we are not like.

Jesus is praying to the Father that his people would be set apart in the truth… We can’t be set apart in the truth if we don’t even know the truth, and we can’t be on mission for God if we don’t know what he wants us to know. Christians as a whole are probably are more Biblically illiterate than we have ever been since we have had the written word of God. And yet we have more access to it then every before. Your phones, computers, tablets, pretty much everything has a copy of God’s word on it, and yet we use those things to be more like the world, than to be set apart from it, and we wonder why we are the way we are. Because we are not being sanctified.

Jesus says we have been sent into the world, and our best hope in it church family is that we are so sanctified in Word of the God which is truth, that we ourselves are not like the world. A powerful reminder of the importance of this very thing is found in the book of Romans. And in the book of Romans it says..

Romans 12:1–2 ESV

1 I appeal to you therefore, brothers, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship. 2 Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect.

You can only do that through the word of God, and you might say thats so hard the world and it’s desires are so desirable, but the reality is you can do that because of what verse 19 says…

John 17:19 ESV

19 And for their sake I consecrate myself, that they also may be sanctified in truth.

Want to know what looks like to be set apart you don’t have to look long because in Jesus you can see that very thing…

Jesus is the one who is truly set apart, and we see that in this prayer dont we… Jesus did everything the Father had asked him to do so he was set apart. The mission, the death on the cross, the resurrection, the accession back to glory screams I am set apart. I am different. He was the sacrifice without blemish.

We just finished Deuteronomy on Wednesday and in that book it says that a sacrifice could not have blemish, and Jesus did not have a one, and by not having one he could be that once and for all sacrifice that the people truly needed, and not only that he could be like the priests who were a mediator for the people between God and man and not only that but he could be a true prophet declaring to the people of God what they ought to believe. Jesus was truly set apart. Hebrews 9:14…

Hebrews 9:14 ESV

14 how much more will the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered himself without blemish to God, purify our conscience from dead works to serve the living God.

Jesus consecrated himself so we could live for him.. Take what he has given you learn it , live it, and lead others into this amazing grace which he has bestowed upon you knowing that no one can take you away from him.

Our mission is not just to come to church our mission is to be the church, until we breath our final breath Jesus is leaving us here on earth to do his work, so prepare yourself and do it.

I must read you some words I read this week as I was studying for this sermon.

John In the World but Not of It

Jesus prayed that the disciples would be “sanctified by the truth.” Falsehood corrupts us. The fall of the human race began with a lie, with a distortion of the truth. It began with a false doctrine that came through the message of a Serpent from hell, and since that day, every time the truth is negotiated, compromised, denied, and weakened, our corruption gets worse and worse. The only thing that rescues you from yourself or me from myself is a true understanding of God, a true understanding of Christ, a true understanding of our hopeless condition, and a true understanding of grace. The truth redeems. The truth preserves. The truth makes us free. The truth makes us holy. Jesus understood that, and in the agony of His intercession, He prayed that His disciples might be people of the truth.

So Good, don’t buy into the lies of the enemy which bound you because the truth sets you free.

I have two questions to ask you to today. The first is do you know verse 3 personally for yourself.

Just as a reminder… Let me read it to you…

John 17:3 ESV

3 And this is eternal life, that they know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom you have sent.

Do you have a personal relationship with Jesus Christ built on the truth of his word, and his work. Having a relationship with God through any other means will not save you, but if you believe in the Christ of the scriptures the true Son of God, and by repentance and faith you know him you will inherit eternal life in him,

Second question are you set apart? Are you set apart?Today if you are a believer are you being set apart for God, and his mission for you. Church we look to much like the world including myself…

I said a few weeks ago what the mission for this church is, and if you want to know it better its in the back or online, and my mission again was my mission is to help disciples of Christ become Rooted in God, Rooted in Faith, and Rooted in Love. What is yours.. dont take your mission lightly because Jesus didn’t take his lightly at all. He didn’t take it lightly at all. C.T. Studd said… Only one life, ’twill soon be past, Only what’s done for Christ will last. And when I am dying, how happy I’ll be, If the lamp of my life has been burned out for Thee.

Let us pray…