John 17. I did a little thinking this
week on just how difficult this life really is. Every piece of it is difficult. Every piece is so, so difficult. Sorrow and sadness, and I don't
know if there's any difference in those two words, but there's
so much of it, I want to use both of them. Sorrow and sadness. They have a way of reaching in
and touching every part of our lives. And that's sorrowful and sad
because they do. They reach in and they touch
every single part of our lives. The sorrow and the sadness and
the heartbreak and the pain that sin has brought to us is felt. We feel it. It's felt in every way, shape
and form. It has made everything that we
are connected to fragile, breakable, everything. Our lives are fragile. They are so fragile. We're constantly
worried that we're about to lose them and we're going to go out and meet God. Our fleshly relationships, our
fleshly in the flesh relationships are so fragile and it's because
of the sin that we know we are and the sin that we know we're
capable of. Because of that, something deep
inside of us is constantly saying, are we still okay? You know what
I'm talking about? Do we still have happy communication
between us? Our jobs are difficult. Your
job is difficult. And mine is too. Mine is too. Your job is difficult. As I say mine is too, I want
to remember your job is difficult. And mine is too. Not having a job is difficult. Having a job is difficult. And not having a job is difficult. There are so many afflictions
and there's so much worry over the afflictions that are here
and over the afflictions that are not here but maybe, could
be, We sorrow and have so much pain
and heartache over potential sorrow and pain and heartache. We do. And here's the thing about it.
I was dwelling on this and this is what I came to realize. There is no getting away from
it. Sometimes we wonder when is it going to end? until this
body of sin is laid down in death, we are never going to get away
from it. We are never going to get away
from it. In this life here on earth, the
sorrow and the sadness and the pain and the heartache is here
to stay. That's the conclusion I came
to after honestly dwelling on this for quite a while. That's
the conclusion I came to. I believe I worked up a nice
little depression for myself in the process. I really do. I'm very good at doing that.
All I have to do is just like Peter, start looking around at
all the boisterous wind and waves, and I start to sink. This heart
right here starts to sink. But four words from the Lord
Jesus Christ spoke to my heart and pulled me back up. And I pray with all my might,
I truly do, I pray these four words will speak to your heart
and pull you back up from any and every sorrow that may bring
you down. If you are hurting, and if you're
down, Then ask the Lord right now to open your heart to these
four words. Ask Him, Lord, would you please
comfort my heart with these four words? Look at the first four words
of verse nine, John 17, verse nine. Our Lord Jesus Christ said,
I pray for them. Now the only way that will sink
in is if the Spirit of God causes that to sink in. And I pray,
I sincerely in prayer ask the Lord to let it sink in. He said, I pray for them. I pray for them. Sometimes we say, or we hear
someone else say to us, I'll be praying for you. That is always a nice thing to
hear, always. But sometimes it really means
something to you. See if this really means something
to you. Can you, with your eyes of faith,
and this is just so holy, this is so, I say this with fear and
reverence, but can you, with your eyes of faith, see the Lord
Jesus Christ And you think about the fact that we're talking about
the king of all creation, the spotless lamb of God, the
glorified one, the one that everything is looking to, the one that all of time and
eternity revolves around. Can you see the One who was and
is and is to come? Can you see the Lord Jesus Christ
bowing His head and closing His eyes and saying,
Father, I bring before You, and then He says Your name? Oh, you
talk about holy, holy, holy. Father, I bring to you, I bring
before your throne for help and for mercy and for strength and
for comfort. And then he says your name. If we're his people, I hope we
can see this. I hope we can enter into this.
And the reason is because that is exactly what he does. That
is exactly what he does. First, John two, verse one says,
my little children, these things, right? I unto you that you sin
not. And if any man sin, we have an
advocate with the father, Jesus Christ, the righteous. Hebrews
7.25 says, he ever liveth to make intercession for those that
have come to God by him. Romans 8.26 says, his spirit
groans those intercessions with groanings which cannot be uttered. Just see if this picks you up
at all. Just see if this lifts you up at all. If you belong
to him, If you belong to Him, He is effectually, fervently
praying for you right now. The effectual, fervent prayer
of the righteous man. He didn't say, I have prayed for them. And he didn't say, I will pray
for them. He said, I pray. I pray currently, continually,
right now. I pray for them. Now I've always loved this verse
of Scripture right here. Turn with me over to 2 Timothy
chapter 2. 2 Timothy chapter 2. 2 Timothy 2 verse 13, it says, if we believe not, if we are
so full of doubts and fears and completely empty of trust and
faith, just like Peter was when he started looking at the boisterous
wind and waves. Verse 13 says, if we believe
not, yet he abideth faithful." He cannot deny himself. He cannot. Christ and His Father are one. They are one. And when Christ
comes pleading to His Father on our behalf, for the Father
to deny Christ, would be for him to deny his own self. And he cannot deny himself. He cannot. The song says, Lord
willing, we're gonna close this service with it. The song says,
the father hears him pray, his dear anointed one. He cannot
turn away the presence of His Son. Whatever He asks, He receives. Every time the Son cries, Father,
I pray for them, the Father cries, Son, I hear you, and I'll answer
you. I'll answer your prayer every
time. Now let's go back to John 17,
and let's see who our Lord is praying for. and what He prays
for them. Who does the Lord Jesus Christ
pray for? John 17, verse 9, He said, I pray for them. I pray not for
the world, but for them which thou hast given Me, for they
are Thine. He said, Father, I'm praying
for every soul that you gave to me. That's who I'm praying
for. Every soul you gave to me. Look
at verse one. It says, these words spake Jesus
and lifted up his eyes to heaven and said, Father, the hour has
come. Glorify thy son that thy son
also may glorify thee as thou has given him power over all
flesh that he should give eternal life to as many as thou has given
him, to as many as thou has given him. He said, father, you gave
them to me so that I might give them eternal life. You gave them
to me so that I could take their sin from them. You gave them to me so that I
could wash them and cleanse them in the purity of my own blood.
You gave them to me so that I could bear their judgment for them
and remove the penalty from them. You gave them to me so that I
could set them free. That's why the Father gave them
to the Son, so He could totally set them free. You gave them to me so that I
could earn a righteousness for them, a perfection, and give
that righteousness to them. You gave them to me so that I
could reveal the true and living God to them and reveal the only
hope of salvation to them." And he said, Father, everything that
you gave me to do for them, I have done it. I've done it. While our brother was reading
that for us a minute ago, I was sitting there thinking, this
is the most glorious announcement that has ever been announced.
He said, everything you gave me to do, I've done it. Verse
3, He said, This is life eternal, that they might know Thee, the
only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom Thou hast sent. I have glorified
Thee on the earth. I have finished the work which
Thou gavest Me to do. Finished. And now, O Father,
glorify Thou Me with Thine own self, with the glory which I
had with Thee before the world was. I have manifested thy name
unto the men which thou gavest me out of the world. Thine they
were, and thou gavest them me, and they have kept thy word.
Now they have known that all things whatsoever thou hast given
me are of thee. For I've given unto them the
words which thou gavest me, and they have received them and have
known surely that I came out from thee, and they have believed
that thou didst send me. I pray for them. I pray not for
the world. but for them which thou hast
given me, for they are thine, and all mine are thine, and thine
are mine, and I am glorified in them." That's who Christ prays
for, the sinners. That's who he prays for, the
sinners that he came into this world to save. Every sinner that
God his Father gave to him. That's who he prays for. And
this is what he prays for them. Here's the first thing, verse
11. He said, and now I am no more in the world, but these
are in the world and I come to thee. Holy Father, keep through
thine own name those whom thou has given me. He said, Father,
this is my prayer. Keep them. Keep them. You ever get to a place sometimes
where you don't just know it, but you're convinced of it. If
He doesn't keep me, I'm not going to be kept. You ever enter into
what you are, all of your lack, all of your deadness, all of
your flesh, You ever enter into that? I can't worship. That man said I can't pray but
I sin. I can't preach but I sin. I can't
do anything but I sin. If He doesn't keep me, I'm not
going to be kept. Doesn't matter what I know right
here. If He doesn't keep me, I'm not going to be kept. Well, if the Father gave you
to the Son, no matter what, you're going to be kept. If the father gave you to the
son, no matter what, no matter what, come what may, you're going
to be kept. Even if your faith and your hope
and your trust is all but gone, he still abideth faithful and
you're going to be kept. in the blood of the Lord Jesus
Christ. He said, I've never lost one. And I'm not going to, you're
going to be kept. That's what he is constantly
continuing, continually praying to the father for keep them,
keep them. Here's the second thing he prays
for verse 13. He said, and now come I to thee
father, I'm coming to you in prayer. And he said, these things
I speak in the world that they might have my joy fulfilled in
themselves. He said, I'm asking that my joy
might be fulfilled in them. I'm asking Father that they might
share my joy with me. What is his joy? He said, my joy is to do thy
will. I delight, this is what he said,
I delight to do thy will. He said, my joy is to show mercy
to my people. He said, I delight to show mercy. He said, I endured the cross
for the joy set before me. I endured the cross for the joy
of its redemption and for the joy of the victory of it. He
said, in this world, you're gonna have nothing but tribulation.
Let me repeat that a hundred times. In this world, you're
gonna have nothing but tribulation. In this world, you're gonna have
nothing but tribulation. But He said, have my joy. Be of good cheer. I have overcome
everything that this world will ever bring to you. And he said, soon I'm going to
put it all away and it will never touch you and it will never bring
sorrow to you or pain to you ever again. He said, that's my
joy. And he said, I pray that my joy might be in them and that
that might be their joy too. If you belong to Christ, no matter
what sorrow may come to you, if you belong to Him, you're
never going to be without that joy. Never. And let me stress this. It may
be the only joy you have. I really want to stress that.
This thing in the world may have collapsed your joy, and that
thing in the world, you may say, I just can't find any joy. I
can't find any joy. It may be the only joy you have,
but if you belong to Christ, you'll have it. You will always
be able to say, He won the victory of the cross for me, for this
joy that's set before us. Here's the next thing he prays
for. Verse 15, he said, I pray not that thou shouldest take
them out of the world, but that thou shouldest keep them from
the evil. He said, Father, my prayer is
that they might be protected and kept from the evil one. He taught us to pray in Matthew
6. And he said, this is what you
pray. You pray, lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from
evil. He said, you pray that lead us
not into temptation, but deliver us from evil. Aren't you so glad that that does not depend on
your prayer. He's praying that for us. That's his prayer for us. He says, father, protect them
from the lies and the blasphemy of the evil one. Don't let them
fall. to the lies of all that false
religion." Thank God, that's the very prayer that the Father
will answer. Just like the Lord said concerning
Job, He said, I put a hedge around him. That's what the Father will
say. Son, all of them have a hedge around them. They're going to
be kept. Here's the fourth thing He prays
for. Verse 17, He said, Sanctify them through thy truth. Thy word
is truth. Sanctify them through this word
that you've given. Sanctify means set them apart. It means wash them, cleanse them,
purify them, and then set them apart from the rest for our use. That's what sanctify means. Years
ago, I gave you the illustration of a potato. When you look inside a sack of
potatoes, it may happen in a split second,
but you choose a potato to pull out. That's your election of
that potato. You chose a particular potato. Just like the father elected
a people. And then you wash that potato
and you peel it and you cut all the spots out of it. That's your
purging of that potato. Just like the Lord Jesus Christ
by Himself purged our sins. Now after you've done all that,
are you going to set it back in the sack you got it out of? No. It'll only become defiled
again. You set it apart for your own
use. Well, our Lord prays, Father,
by Your Spirit, through Your Word, would You sanctify Your people?
Would You set them apart? Cleansed and made holy and made
pure, would You set them apart? And He does. Where does the Father
do that? Where does He set them? Where does He place them? In
Christ. in the Lord Jesus Christ. He
said, sanctify them in your word. Christ, the word himself in the
beginning was the word. We're set apart in him. And if we belong to him, that's
where we're going to stay. Here's the next thing, verse 20. He
said, neither pray I for these alone, but for them also, which
shall believe on me through their word. He said, I'm praying for
every soul who will believe on me through the witness of the
gospel. Verse 21, that they all may be one as thou father art
in me and I in thee, that they also may be one in us, that the
world may believe that thou hast sent me. This world may bring
us down, and it will, but see if this truth brings you back
up. In Christ, you are one with God. I know we can't see that right
now. I know we can't feel that right now, but in the Lord Jesus
Christ, we are vitally joined to God Himself. If the world persecutes us, it's
only because it persecuted Him first. If this world brings sorrow
to us, it only brought sorrow to Him first. Every infirmity
that this world brings to us because of our union with Him,
every infirmity that we're touched with, He was touched with, every
single one of them. He in all points, on purpose,
vitally joined Himself to all of our trials, all of our troubles,
all of our griefs. You know, when you think about
that, we see somebody else going through something and we say,
I'll be praying for you, but we wouldn't dare want to vitally
join ourselves to the very grief they're going through. He did. Something in us fleshly and sinfully
is thinking, I'm glad you're going through that, not me. Oh,
he did. He vitally joined everything
in his being. All our griefs, all our pain,
all our infirmities. He knows our frame. He felt our frame, He bore our
frame, He wore our frame. And that's why He's able to comfort
us so greatly in our time of need. It's all because He prays,
Father, I'm asking that we might be vitally joined with them,
and they might be vitally joined, one with us. Verse 22, he said,
in the glory which thou gavest me, I have given them that they
may be one even as we are one. I in them and thou in me, that
they may be made perfect in one and that the world may know that
thou has sent me and has loved them as thou has loved me. He
said, I pray that they might have my glory. and that they might be made perfect
in me. We won't be able to enter into
that. I pray they might have my glory and be made perfect
in me. If that's what he has prayed,
that's what we shall be. We love how David said, I shall
be satisfied. David was a man who knew something
of pain. and sorrow and heartache. And he said, I shall be satisfied
when I awake with thy likeness. I may not be satisfied here,
but I'll be satisfied there. John said, Beloved, it doth not
yet appear what we shall be, but we know that when he shall
appear, we shall be like him. For we shall see him as he is. It's amazing that the Lord prays
for us and prays, number one, for our being spared judgment. And number two, that He would
pray for our being made pure. But He prays that everything
that He is might be given to us. Verse 24, he said, father, I
will that they also whom thou has given me be with me where
I am. He said, this is my continual
prayer. I want them to be right here with us. We can't imagine
what that's going to be like. But oh, what glory it's gonna
be. He said, I want them to be right here with us. I want them
to dwell with me where I am. Remember this, just remember
this. We are passing through this place. We are passing through this place. Faster than a town that you go
through while you're traveling somewhere. Don't worry about
putting roots down. We are passing through. This
is not our continuing city. I thank God for the city of Kingsport. I love this city. I'm pretty
sure this is my favorite city on earth, but this is not our
continuing city. We are passing through so fast.
Christ is our continuing city. Christ is our home, Christ is
our goal, Christ is our prize. We are marching to Zion. That's what we're doing. We are
marching to Zion to dwell with Him in a place where nothing
is there but righteousness. and sinlessness. In verse 25,
he said, O righteous Father, the world hath not known thee,
but I have known thee, and these have known that thou hast sent
me, and I have declared unto them thy name, and will declare
it, that the love wherewith thou hast loved me may be in them,
and I in them. He said, this is my prayer. It's
that your love, that same love that you love me with. He said,
I pray that that same love might be in them and that I might be
in them. Christ in us, we're just saying
Christ liveth in me. Christ in us is our hope of glory. And he said, Father, I pray that
I might be in them. Don't we pray the same thing?
Oh, may Christ be in us and may we be in him. Father, I pray that they might
be in us and that we might be in them. There is only one thing
in this life that is stable, and joyful, and easy, and pleasurable,
and settled. There's only one thing, and that
is the secure, eternal salvation that we have. in the loving,
cleansing, purchasing blood of our Lord Jesus Christ. That's
the only thing. When everything in this life
gets you down, just remember the intercession that He has
made and He is still right now making and will forever make
for us. In your heart, hear Him say,
and this helped me so much this week, It helped me so much. In your heart, when you get down,
you hear Him say, Father, I pray for them. I pray for them. I am joined to them. I know them. I am near to them. This is what they're going through.
And my desire is to help them. If the Spirit by faith will let
us hear Him pray, Like the father hears him pray, it'll lift us
back up every time. It really will. It will raise
us back up every time we need it. So let's sing that song. Arise,
my soul, arise. Let's all stand together.