#1531 John 17 Part 2 A Praying Lord

 

6 “I have manifested Your name to the men whom You gave Me out of the world; they were Yours and You gave them to Me, and they have kept Your word. 7 Now they have come to know that everything You have given Me is from You; 8 for the words which You gave Me I have given to them; and they received them and truly understood that I came forth from You, and they believed that You sent Me. 9 I ask on their behalf; I do not ask on behalf of the world but of those whom You have given Me; for they are Yours; 10 and all things that are Mine are Yours, and Yours are Mine; and I have been glorified in them. 11 And I am no longer in the world; and yet they themselves are in the world, and I come to You. Holy Father, keep them in Your name, the name which You have given Me, that they may be one even as We are. 12 While I was with them, I was keeping them in Your name which You have given Me; and I guarded them and not one of them perished but the son of perdition, so that the Scripture would be fulfilled. 13 But now I come to You; and these things I speak in the world so that they may have My joy made full in themselves. 14 I have given them Your word; and the world has hated them, because they are not of the world, even as I am not of the world. 15 I do not ask You to take them out of the world, but to keep them from the evil one. 16 They are not of the world, even as I am not of the world. 17 Sanctify them by the truth; Your word is truth. 18 As You sent Me into the world, I also sent them into the world. 19 For their sake I sanctify Myself, that they themselves also may be sanctified in truth.

20 “I do not ask on behalf of these alone, but for those also who believe in Me through their word; 21 that they may all be one; even 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 sent Me. 22 The glory which You have given Me I have given to them, that they may be one, just as We are one; 23 I in them and You in Me, that they may be perfected in unity, so that the world may know that You sent Me, and loved them, even as You have loved Me. 24 Father, I desire that they also, whom You have given Me, be with Me where I am, so that they may see My glory which You have given Me, for You loved Me before the foundation of the world.

25 “O righteous Father, although the world has not known You, yet I have known You; and these have known that You sent Me; 26 and I have made Your name known to them, and will make it known, so that the love with which You loved Me may be in them, and I in them.” John 17: 6-26 LSB

John 17: 6-26

V. 6 You gave Me out of the world - Just like God came and made Himself known to a man named Abram, a man in the land of the Chaldeans, which became Babylon, and took him from there to a place he had not known. He changed his name to Abraham, from a pagan culture to becoming the father of many nations. He told him that in Isaac his seed would be called, and he did things for Abraham that increased the man's faith. Abram didn't go looking for God, he only knew of gods, idols made with the hands, the gods of his fathers. He probably had the flood story and that of Babel, possibly knew that some of the prior patriarchs believed in a Creator God, the God of Noah, but then everyone in the world became quickly lost once again. God has to make Himself known to us because we will only get more lost on our own, the Father has to call these to the Son, and by the power of the Holy Spirit open their eyes. 

27 This is the account of Terah’s family line.

Terah became the father of Abram, Nahor and Haran. And Haran became the father of Lot. 28 While his father Terah was still alive, Haran died in Ur of the Chaldeans, in the land of his birth. 29 Abram and Nahor both married. The name of Abram’s wife was Sarai, and the name of Nahor’s wife was Milkah; she was the daughter of Haran, the father of both Milkah and Iskah. 30 Now Sarai was childless because she was not able to conceive.

31 Terah took his son Abram, his grandson Lot son of Haran, and his daughter-in-law Sarai, the wife of his son Abram, and together they set out from Ur of the Chaldeans to go to Canaan. But when they came to Harran, they settled there.

32 Terah lived 205 years, and he died in Harran. Genesis 11: 27-32

…5And the LORD took him outside and said, “Now look to the heavens and count the stars, if you are able.” Then He told him, “So shall your offspring be.” 6Abram believed the LORD, and it was credited to him as righteousness. 7The LORD also told him, “I am the LORD, who brought you out of Ur of the Chaldeans to give you this land to possess.”… Genesis 15: 5-7

V.8 Truly understood that I came forth from You - Many heard Jesus preach, but few came to saving faith. Who are the ones that truly believed, truly understood? They are the ones that v. 9 speaks of, "those whom You have given Me; for they are Yours." 

…43“Stop grumbling among yourselves,” Jesus replied. 44“No one can come to Me unless the Father who sent Me draws him, and I will raise him up at the last day. 45It is written in the Prophets: ‘And they will all be taught by God.’ Everyone who has heard the Father and learned from Him comes to Me—… John 6: 43-45

…26But because you are not My sheep, you refuse to believe. 27 My sheep listen to My voice; I know them, and they follow Me. 28I give them eternal life, and they will never perish. No one can snatch them out of My hand.… John 10: 26-28

V. 9 I do not ask on behalf of the world - Don't lose the context hear, Jesus is praying to the Father, this is His priestly work, His intercession, and a good model for us. It is salvatory, and yet not broad as some have come to believe, that Christ came to make salvation merely possible. He speaks efficaciously, asking the Father for those that belong to Him, those that He has called, set apart. There is nothing indicative of potential, but a prayer inside the will of the Father, applying the actual atonement of the Son's obedience, specifically to His elect. Paul and other apostles will continue to explain these doctrines throughout the NT.

…10Not only that, but Rebecca’s children were conceived by one man, our father Isaac. 11Yet before the twins were born or had done anything good or bad, in order that God’s plan of election might stand, 12not by works but by Him who calls, she was told, “The older will serve the younger.”… Romans 9: 10-12

V. 10 And all things that are Mine are Yours - Jesus was glorified by those who believed and professed that He was the Son of God, this glorifying the Father as well by those He had given to the Son.

…23They only heard the account: “The man who formerly persecuted us is now preaching the faith he once tried to destroy.” 24And they glorified God because of me. Galatians 1: 23-24

…19because I know that through your prayers and the provision of the Spirit of Jesus Christ, my distress will turn out for my deliverance. 20 I eagerly expect and hope that I will in no way be ashamed, but will have complete boldness so that now as always Christ will be exalted in my body, whether by life or by death. 21For to me, to live is Christ, and to die is gain.… Philippians 1: 19-21

…8and, “A stone of stumbling and a rock of offense.” They stumble because they disobey the word—and to this they were appointed. 9But you are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for God’s own possession, to proclaim the virtues of Him who called you out of darkness into His marvelous light. 10Once you were not a people, but now you are the people of God; once you had not received mercy, but now you have received mercy.… 1 Peter 2: 8-10

V. 11 Holy Father, keep them in Your name - He continues to intercede for His people, knowing that He will soon be no longer present with them physically, but He ask for the Father to hold them to the day, through the struggles of living here, of being sojourners, of telling the truth to a lying world. He ask that they be made one with Them, that sinful man be reconciled, basically given life as partakers in the eternal. This is a prayer for the regeneration of those called by the Father and given to the Son. 

…5Now may the God who gives endurance and encouragement grant you harmony with one another in Christ Jesus, 6so that with one mind and one voice you may glorify the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. 7Accept one another, then, just as Christ accepted you, in order to bring glory to God.… Romans 15: 5-7

V. 12 And not one of them perished but the son of perdition - Christ protected them along the way, the one's that God the Father had given Him did not fall away, but there was one destined for destruction. 

The one destined to destruction refers to Judas. Clearly in John’s Gospel Judas is portrayed as a tool of Satan. He is described as “the devil” in 6:70. In 13:2 Satan put into Judas’ heart the idea of betraying Jesus, and 13:27 Satan himself entered Judas. Immediately after this Judas left the company of Jesus and the other disciples and went out into the realm of darkness (13:30). Cf. 2 Thess 2:3, where this same Greek phrase (“the son of destruction”; see tn above) is used to describe the man through whom Satan acts to rebel against God in the last days. - Precept Austin

V. 14 The world has hated them - Men are born at enmity with God. We like to pretend at autonomy, that we don't have to answer to a Creator, that He should have to answer to us, and it is all foolishness on our part, thinking that we are not speaking above what we know. When God gives them His word, He tells them to guard it, to study it, and to correct each other by it. Today men want to take the practical applications, only what they agree with, and loosely at that. When you say, "God says here in Scripture", and you challenge the sin they want to hold onto, then they accuse you of making an argument from authority, that you are placing God's word above human understanding, feeling, and want, and this assaults their self love. They say, "worship yourself and the world will follow, have your best life now, manifest things with your thoughts, envision yourself as the little god you think you are", and then we say, "Jesus says, deny yourself, take up your cross and follow Him." We tell them that the praise of men is inferior, and that they should fear God above all. They hated Christ when He said it, so they will hate His true disciples when they refuse to alter His word. 

…24A disciple is not above his teacher, nor a servant above his master. 25It is enough for a disciple to be like his teacher, and a servant like his master. If the head of the house has been called Beelzebul, how much more the members of his household! 26So do not be afraid of them. For there is nothing concealed that will not be disclosed, and nothing hidden that will not be made known.… Matthew 10: 24-26

16In the same way, let your light shine before men, that they may see your good deeds and glorify your Father in heaven. 17Do not think that I have come to abolish the Law or the Prophets. I have not come to abolish them, but to fulfill them. 18For I tell you truly, until heaven and earth pass away, not a single jot, not a stroke of a pen, will disappear from the Law until everything is accomplished.… Matthew 5: 16-18

…34Truly I tell you, this generation will not pass away until all these things have happened. 35 Heaven and earth will pass away, but My words will never pass away. 36No one knows about that day or hour, not even the angels in heaven, nor the Son, but only the Father.… Matthew 24: 34-36

V. 15 I do not ask You to take them out of the world, but to keep them from the evil one - We are on a mission; we are not here without purpose, we are the light. It's easy to become obsessed with the wrong and injustices here, to want to hide in the mountains, remove oneself from the world to what ever degree you can here, but that's not the Great Commission.

…38The man whom the demons had left begged to go with Jesus. But He sent him away, saying, 39“Return home and describe how much God has done for you.” So the man went away and proclaimed all over the town how much Jesus had done for him. 40When Jesus returned, the crowd welcomed Him, for they had all been waiting for Him.… Luke 8: 38-40

V. 17 Sanctify them by the truth, Your word is truth - Naturally they won't want to hear this, but faith itself comes by hearing and hearing by the word of God, not someone saying, "God told me", but what He actually says in His word. God always operates through His word, that is where we grow in knowledge and sanctification, that is why the Word of God is always under attack, why in China the government wants to print their own version of the Bible, because it comes from a higher power than themselves, and One they would like to deny. 

14Remind the believers of these things, charging them before God to avoid quarreling over words, which succeeds only in leading the listeners to ruin. 15Make every effort to present yourself approved to God, an unashamed workman who accurately handles the word of truth. 16But avoid irreverent, empty chatter, which will only lead to more ungodliness,… 2 Timothy 2: 14-16

“Sanctify (hagiazo) them in the truth Hagiazo in the pagan world meant “to set apart for the gods,” and for Christians clearly means “set apart for God.” And just as the worshipper of the pagan god acquired the character of that pagan god and the religious ceremonies connected with its worship, so too the follower of Christ is to be gradually "transformed into the same image (OF CHRIST) from glory to glory, just as from the Lord, the Spirit." (2Cor 3:18). The Spirit uses the written Word to transform us into conformity with the Living Word (Jn 1:1)! Note that in the Truth is locative of sphere which simply describes the "atmosphere" in which a disciple is to live and breathe and have his or her being. A fish in the "atmosphere" of water functions as a fish should function, but a fish in the (literal) atmosphere is dysfunctional and eventually will expire.

THOUGHT - Can you see how vital it is that you be in the Word of Truth daily, that the Spirit might be progressively sanctifying you daily to be more and more like Jesus? This question is clearly rhetorical, but the next one is not! Are you in the Word daily, so the Word might be in you? - Precept Austin

V. 18-20 As You sent Me into the world - Silence is the worst thing we can do as Christians, being shut down for fear of the mob, the culturally so called "enlightened ones". They may call you a bigot, but remember, He already told you to be prepared for that. Do your job anyway. 

…19that God was reconciling the world to Himself in Christ, not counting men’s trespasses against them. And He has committed to us the message of reconciliation. 20Therefore we are ambassadors for Christ, as though God were making His appeal through us. We implore you on behalf of Christ: Be reconciled to God. 21God made Him who knew no sin to be sin on our behalf, so that in Him we might become the righteousness of God.… 2 Corinthians 5: 19-21

…13for, “Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.” 14How then can they call on the One in whom they have not believed? And how can they believe in the One of whom they have not heard? And how can they hear without someone to preach? 15And how can they preach unless they are sent? As it is written: “How beautiful are the feet of those who bring good news!”… Romans 10: 13-15

V. 24 Be with Me where I am - Gathered to Him in eternity.

…16For the Lord Himself will descend from heaven with a loud command, with the voice of an archangel, and with the trumpet of God, and the dead in Christ will be the first to rise. 17After that, we who are alive and remain will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. And so we will always be with the Lord. 18Therefore encourage one another with these words.… 1 Thessalonians 4: 16-18