I'm going to ask you to take
your Bibles and turn with me to the Gospel according to John
chapter 17 and verse 9. John 17, 9. We are in our study of God's
Word, 17th chapter. You know that this is the high
priestly prayer of the Lord Jesus Christ. without a doubt, we are
on most holy ground here. We are able, by the Spirit of
God's permission, to enter in to what God is saying to God
on the behalf of His people. And where we are today, probably
if not absolutely is one of the most despised passages of scripture
that this world holds in contempt. This scripture right here is
absolutely hated by the unregenerate. The natural man hates God's right
to be God. And in this verse of Scripture,
I started to preach out of this Scripture the first service,
and then the second service I was going to plan to preach out of
Proverbs 18.15. And I've decided I'm going to
preach the first service out of John 17.9, and then the second
service out of John 17.9. John 17, verse 9, and I pray
that when we read these words, and as I strive to confirm everything
that I'm about to say with the Word of God, and realize this,
if I say something and I can't back it up with Scripture, then
just throw it out. You don't have to believe me.
But if I can back it up with the Word of God, then we're bound
to believe it. Okay? Let God be true, let every
man a liar. The Lord Jesus Christ is praying
and the Lord Jesus Christ says in John 17 9, I pray for them,
I pray not for the world, but for
them which thou hast given me, for they are thine." Just a few words, but oh the
weight of those few words. This first service I would like
to just deal with the fact. that the Lord Jesus Christ prays
for those that the Father has chosen from before the foundation
of the world unto salvation, that that is who He prays for. And I'm going to bring up some
scriptures. that a lot of times people will
hear God's sovereignty being declared and they'll hear that
the Lord Jesus Christ specifically is doing something for His elect
and they'll flip over to a verse of scripture and they'll try
to say, no wait a minute, I'm going to bring some of those
scriptures out. I pray for them. Now here's my first question.
For whom does he pray? Well, according to the word of
the Lord, he said, I pray for them. My first question would
be, who are them? Who are them? Mike, would you
lower the temperature, please? Who are them? Who are them? Well, according to our Lord,
John 17, In verse 2, John 17, this is the Lord speaking to
the Father. As Thou hast given Him power over all flesh, that
He should give eternal life to as many as Thou hast given Him. The Lord Jesus Christ has specifically
said that He has a people given Him by the Father. Look in In verse 6, I have manifested
thy name unto the men which thou gavest me out of the world. He is speaking concerning an
elect. He's speaking of a specific group
of people. He said, I pray for them. I pray not for the world. Now let me tell you the first
objection that somebody's going to bring up. Let me go ahead
and just bring it up. They're going to say, well, what about
John 3.16? For God so loved the world. Now
what are we going to do? He said, God so loved the world,
and he said, I pray not for the world. We must understand the
meaning of the word world. If we miss that, we're going
to miss what the Lord Jesus Christ is saying. The definition of
the word world, for God so loved the world, it means the orderly
arrangement. the orderly arrangement. Almighty God has created an orderly
arrangement. And He has, out of that orderly
arrangement, there are within that orderly arrangement, a people
according to the Word of the Lord that God has given Him. There is, out of that orderly
arrangement, a people. Now, you can take Ephesians chapter
1 and verse 3 and 4 and ask yourself this, who are they? Who are these people? According
to the Word of the Lord, Ephesians chapter 1 and verse 3, And four,
the scripture says, blessed be the God and Father of our Lord
Jesus Christ who have blessed us with all spiritual blessings
in heavenly places in Christ according as He has chosen us
in Him before the foundation of the world that we should be
holy and without blame before Him in love. There is a people
that God has chosen. Who are they? They are the sheep
of God. Well, is not everybody a sheep? Well, according to the Word of
the Lord, no. You remember when the Lord Jesus
Christ turned to John 10, verse 15. John 10, 14, 15. The Lord said, I am the good
shepherd, and know my sheep, and am known of mine. As the Father knoweth me, even
so know I the Father, and I lay down my life for the sheep, and
other sheep I have. which are not of this fold, they're
not of Israel, they're not Jews, they were Gentiles too. Them
also I must bring, they shall hear my voice, there shall be
one fold and one shepherd. Now, is not everybody though
a sheep? Well, according to the word of
the Lord. No. Well, look at John 10, Verse 24, John 10, 24, Then came
the Jews, round about him, and said unto him, How long dost
thou make us to doubt? If thou be the Christ, tell us
plainly. Be plain with us. We're going to stand before God.
Be plain with us. Jesus answered them, verse 25,
John 10, 25, I told you, And you believe not. The works
that I do in my Father's name, they bear witness of me. But
now you listen to verse 26. But ye believe not, because ye
are not of my sheep. as I said unto you, My sheep
hear My voice, and I know them, and they follow Me, and I give
unto them eternal life, and they shall never perish, neither shall
any man pluck them out of My hand." According to the Word of the
Lord, not according to Marvin, But according to what Marvin
has to say concerning what God has to say. And that's the only
thing that matters. And as I've said before, if I
deny what's being said in these scriptures, they're not going
to change. I'll just be held accountable.
Almighty God has a people. that the Lord said has been chosen
out of this orderly arrangement. God loves the orderly arrangement.
That God loved the arrangement of creation. That God, from the
beginning, had a people that He chose within this orderly
arrangement. I keep doing this right here.
It's a world. I'm just talking about a world. He made a world,
He made the earth, He made the fish and the animals, He made
the birds and the heavens, and He made man. And God loved that
orderly arrangement. But man fell in the garden. And
that disorderly arrangement, might not perish. And if God
doesn't do something, Mark, this orderly arrangement is going
to perish because all have sinned and come short of the glory of
God. This orderly arrangement that God loved, God so loved,
a lot of people will say, well, it means that God loved the world.
It means that He loved every person and looked at every person
without distinction in the same way. Scripture doesn't bear that
out. And we can prove it. Jared was
scripture. So my mom asked him, he said,
they said, won't you be plain? He said, they said, you talked
about, you laid down your life for your sheep. Be plain with
us. He said, I was. I was plain with you. But you
believe not because you're not my sheep. If he'd have said,
you're not my sheep because you don't believe, that would have
been one thing. That means, just believe and you'll become a sheep.
That's not what he said. He said, you believe not. because
you're not my sheep. He said, my sheep hear my voice.
I know them, and they follow me. And I give unto them eternal
life. And my sheep are not going to
perish. Salvation is sure. Salvation is of the Lord. Now,
back in John 17, I pray for them. I pray not for
the world. That means he said, I'm not praying
for everybody without distinction. The Lord Jesus Christ made that
very plain. And then the Spirit of God moved
to record these words, I pray for them, I pray not for the
world, but for them which thou hast given me, for they are thine. This distinction is not based
upon anything that was found in the creature. It wasn't found
in me, but it was found according to God's will and God's purpose. What did the Lord say when Moses
asked Him, show me your glory? This is what the Lord said, a
quote out of Exodus, In Romans 9.15, this is what the Lord said,
I will have mercy on whom I will have mercy. What did the Spirit of God reveal
concerning this orderly arrangement? That God loved. That God loved. There's a miracle of God's grace.
That He would have mercy. What did the Spirit of God reveal
in Romans 9.21? is what Romans 9.21, hath not
the potter power over the clay, over the clay, mankind, of the
same lump to make one vessel unto honor and another unto dishonor. Now men may sit and squabble
and say I'm not going to believe that. Remember this, our beef
is with God. If you don't believe what God
has to say, then your argument is with the Lord and His Word. The Apostle John, under the inspiration
of God's Spirit, 2 Thessalonians 2.13, We're bound to give thanks
all the way to God for you, brethren, beloved of the Lord, because
God hath from the beginning chosen you to salvation through sanctification
of the Spirit and belief of the truth. So our Lord reveals in
His prayer, back in John 17 verse 9, for whom He prays. He said, He said, I pray for
them, those that the Father had given Him, I pray not for the
world, but for them which Thou hast given Me, for they are Thine. I want to read a couple of scriptures
and then I'm going to stop. We'll take this up in the next
service. When our Lord was hanging on
the cross, write this down. You can take
any scripture, well you take a scripture like this, that's
going to be hard to explain away. You take John 17, that's a hard
one to explain away. Look at this scripture here. Luke 23, 34. Luke 23, 34. Our Lord is on the
cross. Luke 23, 34. Then said Jesus,
Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do. They parted
his raiment and cast lots. based upon the words of our Lord
in John 17 verse 9. When he said, I pray for those
that you've given me. I pray not for the world, but
for those that thou has given me. I pray for them. For whom
was Christ praying? Well, you cannot say he was praying
for everybody, because if you say he's praying for everybody,
then you're going to have to refute John 17, 9. You're going
to have to just throw it out. I pray for them. The Lord who
answers every prayer of the Lord Jesus Christ in verse 39 of Luke
23 says, and here's the story of that thief, those two thieves.
Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do. And one
of the malefactors, verse 39, which was hanged, railed on him,
saying, If thou be Christ, save thyself and us. The other answered,
who had just been railing on him, rebuked him. Dost not thou fear God? Seeing
thou art in the same condemnation, then he said to the Lord, Would
you remember me? The Lord said today, you'll be
with me in paradise. Not long after the crucifixion
and the ascension of our Lord, the burial and ascension of our
Lord, the day of Pentecost came. Three thousand people were saved.
I have no way of knowing how many of them were there or if
they were there at the crucifixion, but I can
tell you this. When our Lord prayed, Father forgive them for
they know not what they do, based on John 17 9, I know this, He
was praying for everyone that the Father had given Him. I know
that for a fact. And I know this, that our Father
who hears the prayer of the Lord Jesus Christ is going to answer
that prayer. This first message the fact that
Christ prays for His own. If the Spirit of God was not
as specific in the wording, if it was just kind of an open-ended
statement, we might say, well, it doesn't mean that. But there's
no way in the world that we're going to get around it. Lord,
help us to bow to Your Word for Christ's sake.