In the introduction to this high
priesthood prayer, I said this. I gave many reasons why the Lord
prayed this prayer, just a few of the many. There's no way that
we could rightly explain or understand all the reasons for this prayer.
But one chief reason why the Lord uttered this prayer audibly,
He spoke this prayer out loud. One chief reason was that we
might have, I said, a copy of it. And we can have a copy of
it. If they hadn't heard him pray
this, nobody would have written it down, right? And for our benefit,
he said this out loud. He prayed out loud to the Father. And one of the disciples heard
it and recorded it for our benefit, for us to read. The most striking
example of that is over at Lazarus' tomb. You remember that, when
he was at Lazarus' tomb, when he prayed to the Father and said,
I know you hear me. You always hear me. I don't have to pray
out loud. We're one. Our minds, our hearts,
they're knit together in one, whatever I think. You hear, you
do. We're one, one and the same person.
He said, I said these things for their sake, that they might
believe. And for various reasons he prayed
this prayer for us, for us to hear it, for us to hear it. And he said, it's because of
the people which stand by, I said it, that they may believe. And
these things, he said these things that we might believe. And we've
been dwelling on this lately, this thing of simple childlike
faith, but I'm not sure I've entered into it or any of us,
and I would like to Just really enter into these things that
the Lord said here in this prayer. Just enter into them, believe
them, appropriate them, or take them as being for me. It's an
old word, but that means just believing He said this about
me. Because there's joy to be had in believing that. In believing
that He, it's as good as if we were sitting right there and
He's calling our name. Right? That's what he said back
in verse 9. He said, I pray for them, I pray
not for the world, but I pray for them that you've given me.
And he said in verse 20, I'm not just praying for these disciples
unless you think I'm praying just for the apostles. I'm praying
for them also which will believe on me through the words of the
apostles. That's me, Terry, Kinsman. I believe what all the apostles
have written concerning Christ. The Gospels and the prophets
and Moses and Psalms, I believe those things. Do you? I believe.
I know my Redeemer lives. And so it's as if I can take
this as being as much for me as it was for Peter sitting there.
Yeah, I can. As if I was sitting right there
and Christ said to me, Paul, you listen up. I'm going to pray
this prayer to the Father. I'm going to the Father. I'm
going to pray for you. You listen up. You're going to get some comfort
out there. Look at verse 13. This is where
we left off. This is where we'll pick up.
He said, Now, Father, I come to thee. I'm coming. He said, I'm leaving. I'm going
back to my glorious throne. Father, I'm coming to thee, and
these things I speak in the world that they might have my joy fulfilled
in themselves. Do you remember how many times
he said that? These things, these things. How many times it's recorded
back in verse thirty-three of chapter sixteen? These things
I've spoken unto you. And that's what I was just trying
to say. If we could just enter into these things, we could just
enter into the simple reality and simply trust him. And it's
said in verse 1 of chapter 17, these words, these words, these
things, these things I speak that you might have joy. I said
them out loud so you can hear them and have them to resort
to and that you might have my joy fulfilled in yourself and
in self. We'll turn back over to chapter
14, verse 27. Look over at chapter 14, verse
27. Do you remember looking at this?
Chapter 14, verse 27, when he said, Peace I leave with you. My peace I give unto you. You remember that? My peace. Not like the world gives you
when they say peace, peace. There's no peace. They say make
your peace with God. There's no peace. You can't make
your peace with God. You can't make peace with God.
Oh no, you're at war with God by nature, aren't you? Who alone
can make peace with God? Christ. Why? Christ is well pleased
with him. He's angry with the wicked every
day. Who's the wicked? That's me. He has a right to be angry
with me every day, right? But Christ said, no, my peace
I give you. The peace that the Father has
with me, this love and peace and communion and fellowship
and approval, that I have this oneness with God, I give that
to you. I like to will give, so clean
up your act, do right, tithe, God will bless you, this and
that, peace, peace. That's no peace, there is it. My peace,
how I make peace by the blood of my cross, by going up there
and taking the chastisement of your peace. upon me and give
my peace to you. The Father sees you and he approves
of you and there's peace between you and the Father, not because
of anything you do, but because Christ made peace. And the punishment
and the justice that we deserve was poured out on Christ. Not
like the world gives. I think they like to give. Peace,
peace. There's no peace. But my peace I leave with you.
The Lord wants you to have no trouble. It's grounds for happiness. Barbara, if it had anything to
do with us making peace with God, we'd be, we ought to be
troubled, hadn't we? Oh, now is my soul troubled,
we ought to say. If it had anything to do, Sherry,
with us, anything at all, we'd have cause to be troubled with.
But no, Christ said, my peace I give unto you. And this is
what he said about this joy. Look over chapter 15, verse 11.
Chapter 15, you remember this? When he said, now these things,
here he goes again, these things have I spoken unto you that my
joy might remain in you. What's the joy of Christ? My
joy. What's his joy? Well, the psalm says, in thy, 1611
I think it is, in thy presence is fullness of joy. Christ dwelled
with the Father in eternity past in perfect harmony, contentment,
happiness, joy, an everlasting smile between the Father and
the Son, joy, and joy in one another's presence. You know
how it is. I see it in some of you face
around your grandbaby, Mary, Joe, and Nancy, you know, just
delight to be around that child. No. Well, the joy that Christ
has, my joy, Christ said, is this joy of oneness, everlasting
communion and fellowship with the Father. And we experience
it every now and then, just a little bit, and we get joy out of it,
don't we? We rejoice in this communion
with the Father. And Christ said, now I'll give
that to you. I'll give it. Now, we can't drum it out. We
try. We try to drum up this joy. We
try to get happy. That's what the Pentecostals
like to say anyway. Let's get happy in the Lord. Everybody
happy. Say amen. Well, I've just lost my job.
It's hard for me to be happy. Yeah, but there's happiness.
There's eternal joy in knowing that you're accepted in the beloved.
That's where you're... Christ said, and it's said over
in Hebrews 12 too, for the joy that was said before. That is,
the joy that Christ had in knowing that he had secured for all time
and eternity the salvation of his sheep, that they were going
to be saved. They were going to be brought
to the Father. All the children were going to be saved because
of what he did. And he rejoiced for the joy that was set before
him. And he endured that cross and despised the shame and so
forth. And he says, now, that joy, that eternal security, that
once in Christ, always in Christ, I give that to you. I give that
joy to you. We'll turn back to the text there.
This joy he speaks of, this joy, is joy in knowing him, knowing
who he is, the person and the work of Christ, who he is and
what he's done. There's only joy to be found
there, joy in him. The joy of full and free acceptance,
sonship, a child, your children. They don't live in fear around
you, do they? Around the house? Oh, they know
they'll get what's coming to them if they don't act right.
But they don't ever fear of being kicked out of the house, do they? When they do something wrong,
do they think, oh no, they're going to kick me out of the house
and I'll never be a son. They don't do that, do they?
Daddy's going to take a belt to me. But they don't fear being
kicked out, do they? Well, there's joy to be had in
knowing that there's full, free, eternal acceptance and forgiveness
and sonship, joint heirs with the Lord Jesus Christ. That you're
as much a daughter of Abraham as Rebecca or whoever is written
in the scriptures. There's joy to be had there if
we just take him at his word. Huh? Just take him at his word.
of being an heir of Christ, the fullness of joy in his eternal
presence, joy of heart, mind, and soul, which cannot be described. What I'm trying to say right
now cannot be described. Only experienced. Only experienced. Do you have it? Do you have it? Paul said, Rejoice evermore.
What about, preacher? I have to tell you. Well, after hearing these things,
especially after hearing these things, what things? He said,
these things I speak, these things I speak, that they might have
joy. What things? Well, verse 2, Christ has all
power. This merciful, gracious, good,
kind, tender, compassionate, loving Savior. This man who delights
to show mercy, this man who receives sinners, the worst sort, he has
all power. All power! That means what do I have to
worry about, huh? All power is given unto me in
heaven and earth. I can save you or damn you. But
he delights to save. This man receives sinners. He
saves all that come unto God by him. I'm coming. Joy! I'm rejoicing that, that
Christ has all things in His power. The Father has given all.
I don't want to say this wrongly, but this holy God, this holy
God, holy and righteous God whom we can't approach unto, this
God who is a consuming fire, who dwells in light unapproachable,
has delegated it to this man we can't approach to. this man. You see what I'm saying? They
might see what I'm saying. There's joy to be had in knowing that,
that Christ, a man, that there's a man in glory. A man. At the right hand of the
Father. A man. Just like you and me. Went through the same things
we went through. And he says, I take it, believe
me, I take care of it. See, I go to the Father, and
these things I'm telling you, so you'll be, so you'll rejoice. What thing? I've got all the
power. I've got all the power. Verse 4, he said, these things,
that I finish the work, you mean, you mean to tell me
that I don't have to do anything? If God doesn't require anything
of me? You mean I don't have to be so, go through so much
repentance? I don't have to feel, you know,
like Joe Terrell. You remember that article where Joe Terrell said
some like to talk about sinners. Some of the old writers were
guilty of this. They were legalistic grace men. Like to put people
through so much bondage to repentance and to this and that and the
other? Well, you've got to repent for so long a time. You've got
to feel the law so hard upon you. If you haven't been stricken
down by the law on your knee and laying on your bed and weeping
and wailing and gnashing your teeth and going through a long
period of repentance, you haven't repented like you ought to. Old
Joe Terrell said, and if you don't feel your sinfulness enough
and all this, Joe Terrell said, he said, you know, I've failed
to even be a good sinner. I don't even feel, you know what
he's saying there? Sometimes I feel real sinful,
other times I don't feel real sinful. I know I'm a good sinner. Ah boy, it's finished. The warfare,
you should comfort my people. God said to the prophet Isaiah
in chapter 40, you comfort my people. Comfort them now, son.
You tell them the warfare is accomplished. It's all been done.
It's all been done. You just sit back and relax.
It's all been done. Tell them they're iniquitous,
pardon them. They're forgiven. Well, what about tomorrow? It's
gone. Sins past, present, and future. Gone. Remember them no more.
Now, our present sin, Henry, our present sins are past to
God. They are. God sees, and known unto God
are all his works from the beginning to the end. It's all as if it's
already taken place. So what we're going to do is already
forgotten by God. We don't know what we're about to do, do we?
But he says, I forget it. They haven't done it yet. It's
forgotten. He's finished. Tell them they've
received at the Lord's hand. Now, this ought to rejoice them.
This ought to cheer them up. Tell them they've received at
the Lord's hand double for all their iniquities. Sin abounded,
yeah, but grace did much more abound. That ought to make them happy.
These things. What does he say again? Verse
6. I've manifested thy name unto the men." Do you remember that?
The Word of God? God's been revealed to us. Not
everybody, Nancy. Everybody doesn't see Christ
in the Scripture, do they? They think in these things they
have life, don't they? They think this is a book to
tell you how to live. No, this is a book. I mean, it does tell
you how to live, yes. But principally, chiefly, this
is a book to tell you where to get life. Tell you about Him
who is life. I'll tell you how to live. We
can't do it. It's to point us to the One who
did it, who is life. The One who says, because I live,
you live. You live in me. Tell them that. Tell them that. They'll get joy
out of that. And God's been revealed, this Holy God, this God of the
Scriptures, this God of the Bible, the true and living God that
we worship in spirit and in truth. with the help of his Holy Spirit
who takes the things of Christ and shows them unto us. And truth,
the true gospel, one gospel, one Lord, has been revealed to
you. You're no longer an idolater.
You're no longer a pagan, Southern Baptist or Methodist or Presbyterian
or whatever Nazarene idolater. You're a God-worshipper, man.
Tell them that. Tell them that. And then he says
in verse 8, these things. He said, I've given them your
words. These words, just what I've been
saying. What I've been quoting from here, I've given them to
them. I've told them. This word, oh my. Oh, if it wouldn't
be idolatry, I'd think this thing was, I want to put it under glass. My, my, my, the Word of God,
what a gift. Do you prize this? Or does it
gather dust? My, my, my, the Word of God. I've given them your Word. I
get the mind, the will, oh, my, what all's in the Word of God?
You just can't even, can't even enter into it. Verse 9, these
things I'm praying for, that this man whom God always hears. who the Father is delighted in,
and always answers his prayer, and says, whatever you ask me,
I'll give you, son, because I delight in you. I'll give you the world.
Ask me, he said there in the song. Ask me, I'll give you the
heathen for your inheritance. Ask me, whatever you want, I'll
give it to you, son. The son says, OK, give me Terry Kinsley. Make him a son. My, my, my. And the father hears
it. Think about that. Give me that old rat, Henry Soward. Oh, you don't want him? Yeah.
He's one of them. Oh, and you say with me, what
is, who am I? What is our servant? Who am I? Such a dead dog. Let you do all
this for me. And he prays for us. He ever
lives to make intercession for us. Ever lives. Pray for him.
And he says this in verse 12. I've got to hurry. He says, we're
kept. We're kept. I know this. It grieves my heart
that this religious generation fights things like this tooth
and nail. Like I said a while ago, once in grace, always in
grace. They've never heard of grace,
have they? If they fight that, they've never experienced grace,
have they? They never needed grace. That old sinner who knows
that salvation is only by grace, that'll delight his soul to know
Him. He or she will rejoice in that
above all else. Do you mean to tell me that if He saved me, I'm saved
for eternity, no matter what? Yeah, that's what I mean. Whoopee. Saved. Saved. I kept them. Those you gave me, I've kept.
None will be lost. None of them. Not even old Paul Mayhem. He
thinks he will. And not a day goes by that he
doesn't think, I'm lost. Not a day goes by that I don't
think, well, this is it. He's going to be done with me
now. How about you? Not a day that goes by. I wake up in the
morning with the most... You know what goes through your
mind. Your dreams, even your dreams are wicked and perverse.
You wake up in the morning and say, it's just going to cut me
off right now. It's over. And he'd be right. He'd be right in doing so. No,
nothing lost. Nothing lost. I'm not going to
lose you. I'm not going to lose you. Sheep's a sheep. Weak, strong,
sheep's a sheep. You've got to be kept by the
Savior. Now there's joy in these things. I can't impart it. I can't even say it like it needs
to be said. I can't even bring it to your
attention like it. You're just going to have to
enter into this for yourself. Look back at it in verse 13. He said that my joy may be fulfilled
in them, and I've given them thy word. I've given them your
word, and the world hates them. You know John said over there
in 1 John chapter 4, they are of the world, this is the people
of the world, and the world, they speak of the world. And
the world hears them. Right? This generation, this
religious generation, is talking about what? They're talking about
the world. Talking about what you ought
to do, what you ought not do, this and that and the other,
aren't they? They're talking about the world
and everything in it. and us and this and that and the other.
And the world hears them. They delight in that. Give me
something to do. Give me something to do. I like it. So the preacher
and I were talking about this thing of church discipline, people
being under bondage and so forth. You know, I almost think that
people enjoy being under bondage. It's almost
like people like to be told what to do or be cowed down all the
time and all that. I like freedom myself. Not freedom
of sin. No. But I sure don't want to
be in the bondage under the curse of the law. Like old John Warburton
said, and I'm rambling a little bit here, but so be it. A fellow
accused old John Warburton of being an antinomian. He said,
you're an antinomian. He said, no I'm not. Now at first
he said, what's that? What's an antinomian? The fellow
said, well you don't believe being under the law. He said,
what law? Oh, the law. He said, John said,
you mean the law that says, cursed it? Is everyone that continueth
not in all things written in the book of the law to do? That
law? You talking about that law? He said, yeah, that law. He said,
well, yeah, I'm asking all of you. I want that law. It's cursed. Curse under that
law, Christ made a curse for me. If that's what an antinomian
is, somebody trusting Christ made a curse for them, that's
me. That's me, right? We're not trying to see how much
sin we can get by with, but we're just trusting Christ to take
care of us because we know we're so full of it. But I've given
them your word and the world hates them. The world hates them. They talk about the world, talk
about what you ought to do, what you ought not to do, and everything
in the world, and worldly religion, and what you can do with Jesus,
and this and that and the other, but not the children of God. They don't talk about the world.
No, we're talking about him who's got his feet on the world. He
who's made the world his footstool. Right? That's who we're talking
about, disciples of Christ. And all we're talking about,
really, like I said this morning, all we talk about, really, is
the Word. We're just like parrots repeating the Word. Thus saith
the Lord. Thus saith the Lord. Now, I know
it says that in the Bible, but, I know it says that, but, no,
we just, that's what it says, doesn't it? Let's stop right
there. Right? Let's not go any further. Let's
just stay with the Word, right? They speak not according to this
Word. In context, in all of the Word, the whole Council, there's
no light in them, no understanding in them, right? They're in darkness.
But men are lovers of darkness more than light, aren't they?
They love it. What you don't know won't hurt you, you know.
Oh, yes, it will. It'll damn you. Who you don't
know will damn you. What you don't know will damn
you. If you don't know Him, if you don't know the true God and
Jesus Christ whom He sent, you'll be damned. If you don't know
the right gospel, you'll be damned, right? But the world loves darkness
rather than light. But we like light, even though
it hurts, even though at times it pierces and pricks and reveals
and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart and
so forth. He says, I've given them your word and the world
hates them. Why? Why? Because you're not of the
word. Not like this. Because they're
not of the world, even as I'm not of the world. They're not
of the world. They're not of the world. Well, what does he
mean, not of the world? What does he mean by that? You're not of the world, Vicki,
you're not of the world. Well, yeah, yeah, I work a job and
I live in the world. What's he talking about? Well,
He said in one place, if any man be in Christ, he's a new
creature, a strange thing. Like they said about, like the
Holy Spirit said, or the angels said to the shepherds, this is
a holy thing. Said that to Mary, didn't they, or Joseph? This
holy thing. You're an enigma, Vicki, an enigma
to this generation, really. A true disciple of Christ, a
true believer, is a strange thing. Scripture calls it peculiar people.
You're peculiar, Barbara. You are. But to this world, they're
peculiar in many ways. Many ways. Old things passed
away. Old things. What? Traditions. But that's not the way the Baptists
believe. Oh, yeah, it is. Real Baptists. But our church doesn't believe. It doesn't matter, does it? It's
what God's Word says. Old things pass away, don't they?
This vain tradition received from the fathers. These old traditions. Your vain conversation and so
forth. Vain imagination and foolish thoughts. Old passed away. Take
that stuff on down the road, you know. Clean this next to
godliness and this and that and the other. Take that and throw
it in the garbage with the rest of those silly sayings, you know. Well, he says they're not of
the world, even as I'm not of the world. What's it to be not
of the world? Well, it is to be without worldly
desires. Now, examine yourself in the
light of this scripture here. It's to be without worldly desire.
Do you really and truly long to be a well-thought-of, well-known person? Do you long to be a notable figure
in the community and so forth, do you? You know, this is what
preachers are so guilty of, pastors and all. Like Christ said about
the Pharisees, they delight in chief seats and greetings in
the marketplace. Rabbi, reverend! Oh, I cringe
when I hear that title. Oh, reverend, oh, that's what
I think. Oh, reverend, worldly fame, do
you long to be thought of as a mighty, respectable, wonderful. They had a dinner here recently
for all the ministers in Franklin County, to honor all the ministers
in Franklin County. You reckon I went to that? Gracious
sakes. Worldly desire for fame and fortune. Do you really have your heart's
desire on this world's goods? Do you? Oh, it's sand, isn't
it? It slips through your fingers.
Some of us have maybe had about all you could There ain't much
to it, is there? Ain't much happiness to be had
there. Oh, no. Worldly pursuits. To be not of
the world is to be without worldly pursuits. Career. How many of
us are really pursuing a career-oriented? You husbands and wives. You've
got your career to think about. Do you look forward to advancing
your career in horticulture? No use potting plants, trying
to make a dime, aren't you? Oh, but you'd look forward, Joe,
to having a fleet of trucks someday. Oh, you want out of the trucking
business, don't you? Career. You want to be an oil
magnate, Henry? No. You just want to be able
to afford the oil that you have to buy, don't you, Pop? Yeah.
The pleasures, worldly pleasures. Oh, boy. It's so, so... There's nothing, there's no pleasure
in this world, really. There's no pleasure. worldly
thoughts. To be not of this world is to
be without worldly thoughts. Carnally minded, the scriptures
say. To think like the world. To be not of the world is to
be without these worldly thoughts. Selfish thoughts. Fleshly thoughts. Fleshly principles. You know. Things like that. To be not of
this world is to be without worldly ways. to be without worldly ways,
walk like the world, talk like the world, be without worldly
habits and so forth. It is to be spiritually minded,
to think on things above. Do things, do the things of Christ
come to your mind constantly? Do they? You see, it's not a
day or an instance or whatever goes by that somebody says something
or something happens or whatever that some scripture or something
with a spiritual connotation comes to my mind. How about you?
You just think of all kinds of things. Whatever somebody goes
through or whatever happens in the course of a day, you think
of something, don't you? You think, well, that's just
like something spiritual. Well, that's what it is to be
not of this world, to be spiritually minded, to be spirit-led, led
by the Spirit. And this is what he said here.
They are not of the world even as I am not of this world. What's it to be not of this world?
It's to be like Christ. Like he said over there in 1
John, as he is, so are we. It's to be like him. It's to
be like Christ. How is he? How is he? Is he talking about to be like
him in character? No, we can't even begin to imitate or emulate
our Lord. We don't bear much resemblance
at all, do we, Deborah? Not much at all. Like that old
servant of Isaac that went down to get a bride for him. He was
old. He was old. He wasn't much to
look at. And all he had was a pocket full of money and a couple of
horses or whatever. And he was going to get a bride.
He wanted to take Rebecca, Isaac's bride, back to marry Isaac. And
he wanted so much to tell her the beauty of Isaac and to convince
her to come back to marry his master. But he said, I can't. I can't show you. And don't look
at me. I'm not much of a representative, right? That says we're not much
of a representative of Christ, are we? Not talking about his
character so much, although we do bear a resemblance. We're
talking about his standing before God as he is, holy, unblameable,
unreprovable, as he is. That's how we are in this world.
So, that makes us strangers and pilgrims. You know, nobody likes,
nobody takes, in an old country saying, takes kindly to strangers.
Don't take kindly. Everybody's suspicious of strangers,
aren't they? Huh? Here you are, stranger. Who's that? What's he doing here?
Even somebody walk in the church here. No way. What if an old drunk
or somebody walked, oh, what's he, what's he think he's doing? You don't take kindly to strangers.
Thank God he takes kindly to strangers. Right? But we're strangers. We're called strangers and pilgrims
in this earth. And the world doesn't take kindly
to strangers. We're strange. They take it, they think it's
strange, John, that you don't run the same excessive ride as
they do. Come on, John, you used to be a good old boy. What's
wrong with you now? I don't think much of that anymore. I got somebody else I'm interested
in. Oh, John, you're going to get religious on us. Well, I'm
religious all right, but I met somebody who changed my life. Met somebody. Met Christ. Sons
of God. That's how Christ is. We're sons
of God. Think, act, walk, talk like Christ.
to a degree, wholly separate, peculiar. And the world, like
I said, thinks it strange if you run the same way they do,
do the same things they do. And they don't like being around
you. That's the reason they're uncomfortable in your presence.
Right? The reason you don't like to
be around them. They despise you and your religion, despise
you. But Father, Cross goes on to
say, he goes on to say, they're not of the world, even as I'm
not of the world, but Father, I pray not that thou should take
them out of the world. We pray to that end a lot. I
do. I have to admit, I'm beyond.
I pray a lot of times, Lord, take me. Please, take me home. Take me home. And most often
it's pretty selfish, get me out of my troubles, right? Most of
the time, that's what it's for. Get me out of my troubles. But,
you know, your wife or your husband and they're left with them. Double
trouble after you're gone. Don't pray to that end. That's
not what Christ didn't pray to that end, did he? Christ didn't
pray for that. Don't take them out of the world.
You think what, think about this now in the context here. You
think what the world, what the world, what, you think what might
not have been had there been no apostles. What if Christ said,
OK, boys, let's go. We're all going. Let's go up.
They'd all, yeah, let's go. See the Father. But you think what the world
would be like? We wouldn't be here. No salvation for Gentiles,
only Jews. No salvation for Gentiles, no
church for Gentiles. No epistles, right? You think
of this present world, now you think of this present world right
now without true believers in it. You think about it. Think about if you didn't have
one another right here to every now and then to call up on the
phone to go see you or whatever. This would be hell, wouldn't
it? This would be hell on earth. Well, that's what hell is, separation
from God and everybody that is without Christ is separated from
God. It's a world full of hellions, isn't it? Sons of the devil.
Every now and then you'll see an oasis, and you go running
up. I can't contain myself, or even I can't contain myself when
I see some of you people. Throw my arm around you, throw
my arm around your wife. But I can't contain myself. A brother,
a sister, somebody I can relate to, somebody I can talk to, somebody
I love, somebody I'm one with. It's the only oasis in this world,
the church is. It is, isn't it? The only oasis
you've got is fellowship with the saints. Saints is the only
sweet thing here. Only sweet thing. Nothing else
in this world is sweet but the fellowship with the saints. Fellowship
around the gospel. Sweet. And Christ said this in
all his wisdom. He said, don't take them out
of the world, Father. Not yet. Oh, there's great things that
are going to be accomplished through these men. Don't take
them out of the world yet. Don't take them out of the world.
Why? Because we're the salt of the world. We're the salt. We're put here to salt it, to
season it, to sprinkle the world with the gospel, as it be a sweet
savor of Christ. Don't take them out. The world
needs them. The world needs more of them.
It needs more just like them. Oh, what would this community
be like with a hundred Henry Soards in it? Wow. This would
be a wonderful place. But there's just one. You got to drive ten miles to
get to him. And just see him every now and
then. Ah, boy. Don't take them out of the world.
The world needs them. But look at what he says here. Just keep
them from it. Keep them from the evil. Now, many say that he's talking
about the evil one, Satan himself. Keep them from the world, though.
Keep them from the world. Don't keep them from the world,
but keep the world from them. Let the world be touched by them,
but don't let them be influenced by the world. And we're so prone
to it, aren't we? May they influence the world,
but not it them. That's what he's praying. And
he has to, because it takes the all-powerful, effectual, intercessory,
keeping power of the Son of God to keep the world out of us.
Why? We're worldlings, aren't we? We're flesh, prone like sheep
to wander back into the world, aren't we? And it takes, that's
the reason he prayed this prayer, thank God. It takes his keeping
power. I say this, and we quote this
over and over again, but Peter, Satan has desired you to sift
you like wheat. But I prayed for you. That's
your hope, Peter. I prayed for you. And I'll keep
praying for you. And it's the same thing with
every one of you Peters in here, every one of you saints in here.
Satan desires you to sift you like wheat. And every now and
then you think he's got you, don't you? But Christ said, I've
prayed for you. This is what we're reading here,
the prayer of Christ for you. Take heart. Rejoice in me. And you know, Satan, like I said
before, Satan may offer you the world. He did it to Christ. He
offered the world to Christ. And this, Satan's ministers,
that's what they're offering the world, aren't they? That's
what Satan's ministers are saying. They're clothed in sheep's clothing,
but inwardly ravening wolves. Satan's minister transformed
himself into angels of light. What are they saying? Exactly
the opposite of what Scripture says. They're saying, God will
bless you with wealth and health and riches of this world. Oh
no, I hear the voice of Satan in that. Don't you? I'll fall
down and bless me. Send me your thousand dollars
and I'll give you the riches of this world. I hear the voice
of Satan in that. Don't you? But I hear Christ
say, Woe unto them that are rich in this world. It's a snare in
riches and so forth. Cast not, set not your affection
on things below. I hear that from Christ, from
the voice of the Master. But look at verse 16. He says,
They're not of the world, even as I'm not of the world. But why does he repeat this?
He just said that. He's repeating himself? Listen to this, this is an interesting
thought. Why did he repeat this? Well, the first time, the first
time up there in verse 14, he was telling the reason why the
world hated us. For our sake. The Father knows.
You're not telling things to the Father for the Father's information.
The Father knows. Christ spoke the things that
the Father told him to speak. Right? He's not telling this
for the Father, but for our information. He says here in verse 14 that
the reason why the world hates us is because we're not of the
world. But now, here in verse 16, he's pleading with the Father.
They're standing in him. Now listen to this. This is good. He's pleading now as the high
priest, as the high priest with the names of the children of
Israel on his breastplate. He's saying, oh, Benjamin here,
he's yours. He's yours. Dan, he's yours. He's yours. Joseph, he's yours. He's yours.
That's what he's pleading here. They're not of the world. This
is one. Like standing there at the sheep
gate, the owner and the good shepherd standing there. There's
one. He's not. I know they look a lot alike.
All these sheep are roaming around and massing the world. And you,
you think about it from a bird's eye view, or any time, all of
us out there in the world, there's times when we don't look any
different. You go up to, at a certain time, and look at old Abraham
cowering before those pagan people and so forth. Oh, she's my sister.
David down in Ziklag, you remember that? David down with the Philistines
and Gath? And he was just like those idolatrous
people. They couldn't tell him apart
from anybody. What was Christ received on the throne right
then, Barbara Ross said, that's mine, he's mine. I know he doesn't
look much different than the rest of them, but he's mine.
He's not of the world. He looks like it, but he's not.
He's mine. I bought him. Look closely, there's
a brand on him. That's what he's saying here.
They're not of the world, even as I'm not of the world. Look
on the inside. Look on the inside. God doesn't see his man. He doesn't
look on the outside. Thank God he doesn't look on
the outside. But he looks on the inside. What's on the inside
of a believer? Christ in you! Your hope of glory. A new creation
in us. That make sense? Makes gospel
sense. And that's what he's pleading
here. He said, they're not of the world. They're not. I know they act
like it. I know they look like it, most
of the time. But they're not, even as I'm
not of the world. They're mine. They're yours. They're mine. They're yours.
They're not of the world, which lieth in wickedness. They lie
in acceptance, in righteousness. They're accepted in the beloved.
They're unblameable, unreprovable before God. They're holy, harmless,
and undefiled. They're separate from sinners.
by the blood of Christ. They're justified and sanctified.
They're adopted sons and daughters. They're hidden with God in Christ.
They're well-pleasing to the Father. God's not angry with
them. Therefore, now, no condemnation of these people. They're not
of the world. No, they're not worldly. They're
Christians. They're disciples. They're followers. Now, you think about it. Just
very shortly after this prayer, old Peter went out and started
cussing. Isn't it? I mean, it wasn't a
day or two that he's back like an old cussing sailor. And you,
maybe tomorrow morning on the job, you may turn into a maniac. Probably will. Probably a cow
before some maiden, like Peter. John will probably, once again,
will be cowards again, to confess, isn't he? Yeah, we're going to
do it again. even after what we heard this morning. We're
going to say it again. We're going to think the same
awful, wicked, terrible thoughts and do the same awful, wicked,
terrible things that we've been doing all along. Maybe not to
the extent, maybe not to the regularity as we grow and mature
and so forth, but we're going to do them. You can count on
it. Oh boy. And your hope, your peace,
your comfort, your joy is in hearing these things. Hearing
him say to the Father, now she's not of the world, even as I'm not of the world.
She's in me. She's with me. Remember that
illustration I gave of taking my daughter down on the railroad
one day? And now she'd have gone in there by herself. Everybody'd
go, what are you doing out here, little girl? Get out of here. You don't
belong here. Somebody get her out of here. But no, I had a
hold of her one day. I took her in there. Nobody said
a thing. Oh, isn't she cute? That's what they were saying.
Ah, she's sweet. Is that your little girl? Yeah,
that's her. She's cute. What's your name, little girl?
How old are you? Say a nice thing. It's the only way we're going to get
into God's presence, isn't it? The only way. If we try to get
there ourselves, what are you doing here? What do you think
you're doing here? Get out of here. Somebody get him and get
out of here. But when we're in Christ, when
we're with Him, What are you doing here? I'm with him. Oh,
come on in. And you know what the Father
says about us? The angels? Don't they look curious? What's
your name? Christ. Hand in hand with Christ. They're
not of the world, even as I'm not of the world. Well, is this message
sweet to you? It shouldn't be. It shouldn't be. Brother Terry's prayer touched
me back in the study, talking about our deadness and dullness
and coldness. And I'll be honest, I get angry
with not only myself, but with you. The Holy Spirit, the wind blows where it lifts
us, and you cannot tell the sound there. You don't know who's blessed
and who's not. And some that are not blessed,
apparently, well, we just can't dwell on
that. I can't dwell on that. I've got
to be thankful when the Lord blesses me. I need to be thankful
right now that this message blesses my heart. And I do see it in
some faces I look into. I see joy. I see people that
obviously rejoice in this message, and that rejoices me. I kind
of want to say with Paul, if I can say this presumptuously,
he said, You're my joy and consolation. One of our ladies wrote me a
letter one time. She said, I know that the thing
that will please you more than anything is my faithfulness. No, it couldn't have been said
any clearer, any better. All these messages and all are
prepared, I believe, God-led, with your good in mind, your
edification, your peace and comfort. And I think, oh, boy, so-and-so,
they'll enjoy this. And I hope this blesses you.
But if it doesn't, it blesses me, even if I'm the one that's
up here. I'd rather not be. I'll just
be honest with you. I'll just be honest with you now. I really,
I'll pour it out of my heart to you. I'd rather be sitting
right there and let somebody else do it. But I'm here. I've got a job
to do, and I'm doing it to the best of my ability, and if the
Lord gives freedom, liberty, His Spirit blesses, that's fine.
Sometimes He does, sometimes He doesn't. But I hope this message,
my prayer and my desire for you is that this message blesses
your heart. and that you listen and hear these things for your
own benefit, your own profit, for your soul's welfare, and
that you come out and hear it at every available opportunity. God help me. God is my witness.
I'm not just getting sermons for Sunday. I'm not just biding
my time to get something to say and get it over with. Do my job,
collect my paycheck. God is my witness. That's not
what I'm doing. Have your people in mind. Christ has us in mind. That's
the reason he prayed this. That this ought to rejoice us
because it's this very prayer. And I feel so helpless at this
task. My, you men, you know what it's like just to pray, just
to read. You feel so helpless, don't you? Oh, he feels so helpless. And it takes the power of the
Holy Spirit to do that, as much as it does pray. It just doesn't
last as long. He feels so helpless, so unworthy. And I know I'm, well, enough
of that. But it's this very prayer that
keeps our ungrateful, cold, lifeless, dull, hell-deserving souls out
of hell. Does that bring it to heart just
how serious this is? It's this very prayer that keeps
us out of hell. The things that we're looking into right now,
the things that we just studied, keeps our souls from being eternally
condemned. It's more than just a sermon,
isn't it? It's more than just 45 minutes
spent in going home. It's life. Do you remember that
verse over there in Deuteronomy 32? Oh, it's not a vain thing.
Moses said, it's not a vain thing, it's life. The words of life. So I hope, I hope the Lord will
bless you with it. I've enjoyed it. I don't know
when I've enjoyed it. And when I feel more, I felt more blessed,
personally, in studying anything, and studying from this John 13
on through 17 here, this paschal discourse and prayer. I've just
had a ball. I've had a good time. And I hope
you're enjoying it. We've got a little more to go.
I regret getting out of it. That's the reason I'm kind of
dragging my feet a little bit, just a few verses at a time.
But you can preach on each verse for, you know, Sunday after Sunday,
every verse. OK. Henry, would you come up
here and dismiss this in prayer? Lord as we bow again to give
thee thanks. Thank you for this prayer that
you give up for those you love, those you've chosen, those prayers you've prayed for
sinners like me. I'm ashamed, Father, I'm ashamed for not being more thankful.
For not praising thee more. Oh, he is so deserving. How he
deserves our prayers. How he deserves help us to talk
to thee. Help us put thee first. Help
us worship thee. Help us to see that this is more
than just going to church. Lord, that this is to worship
the King. Help us when we leave here, that our word might be bated
in our hearts, that we might continue even to worship Thee
through the Spirit. even as we drive on. Help us to never to leave, to step out in the
wilderness. We realize that we're prone to
wander. Lord, shift thou. Draw us near. If thou show us Christ, we cannot
see. We are blind sinners. We don't
know how to worship thee. Thou must show us how. We beg thee that we might learn how to worship
thee as we grow in knowledge of thy word. Thank you again
for Christ and for his prayer for us. Thank you for our servant,
Brother Paul, as he preaches thy word. Give him wisdom and
knowledge of thee. For salvation is in thee. Thy
word is truth. Help us to never part from it.
Go with us as we go our ways. Our sister, as she enters the
hospital this week, Lord touch her. people near to her. May each one of us this week,
as we go on our jobs, we might glorify the Son, the Lord Jesus,
who was willing to shed his blood for our sins, to die for sinners,
which I am chief. Lord, lead and guide whatever
is done, may we give thee honor and glory, may we rejoice in
thy name. For we ask that in Jesus' name
we are saved. Amen.