Look at what it says. John seventeen,
nine. I pray for them. I pray not for
the world, but for them which Thou hast given Me, for they
are Thine. Our Lord said, I pray for them.
Not for the world, but for them. Who is them? that our Lord is
praying for. Who is them? Well, verse 9 tells us this,
that those that were given to Him, given to Him by His Father,
He says, for them which thou hast given Me, for they are Thine.
He's praying for those that were given to Him by His Father. Look
back up in verse 2. as thou hast given him power
over all flesh, that he should give eternal life to as many
as thou hast given him." Verse six, that's part of the verse,
or the whole verse, "...I have manifested thy name unto the
men which thou gavest me out of the world. They were thine,
thou gavest them me." So that's them he's praying for, those
that were given to him. And our Lord refers here six
times. Seven times, excuse me, to those
that were given to him in John chapter 7. Seven times he refers
to the people given to him. But the thing is, is that they
were the fathers before they were his. And to them, not only
to them, who is them? Those that were given to him.
And it was to them that he gave the words. Look in verse 8. This
is who he's praying for, the them that he prayed for. For
I have given unto them the words which thou gavest me." You gave
me. He said, I give him the words
that you gave me. You see, our Lord Jesus only
spoke what the Father gave him to say. He said, the words that
I speak, they're not mine, but the Father's which sent me. And
if he was true to God's word, who is God's word? If he was
true to it, then only speak what the Father gave him to say. Oh,
how we should be true to the Word of God. If our Master was
true to what God said, how we should be true to what God said,
how we should be true to what the Scripture says. And then
it says, not only did they give them the words, but here's another
thing it says there in verse 8, and they received them. They
received them. They received them. They took them as they actually
came from you. They received them. They received
Him. Now you keep this and look in
John 10 with me just a moment. John 10, 24. You keep John 17. And in receiving His Word, what
it means is that they were convinced that He'd come from the Father.
In John 10, 24, what's what it said? Then came the Jews round about
Him and said unto Him, How long dost thou make us to doubt? If
thou be the Christ, the one Son of God, The anointed, the one
promised, just come out and tell us. Our Lord answered, I told
you, and you believe not. The works that I do in my Father's
name, they bear witness of me, but listen, you believe not,
because you are not of my sheep, as I said unto you. My sheep
hear my voice. He said, I gave them the words,
and they received them. 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 Father's hands." So back over here to John 17. Again,
there in verse 8. John 17, there in verse 8, he
says, they knew. He received. I gave them the
words that you gave me, and they received them. And how did they
know that they received them? They were convinced. There it
says, they have known surely that I came out from thee. They've
known surely. Lord, to whom shall we go? Not
to Christ, the Son of the living God. How do you know that, Simon
Peter? Flesh and blood didn't make you know that. But my Father
which is in heaven made you know that. And so you see, beloved,
they've known surely that I come out from thee. I know, just as
sure as God himself is on his throne, that Jesus Christ came
from the Father. Came into this world. And oh,
beloved, back up there in verse 5, it says, they know. Not only
do they know that he came from the Father, but they know that
he existed before the world ever began. He said, And now, O Father,
glorify thou me with thine own self with the glory which I had
with thee before the world was. They knew that the Lord Jesus
Christ existed before the world ever began. They knew that he
was eternal. They knew that he was God. They
knew that he was the only one that could save them. They knew
that he had, because they received his words, that he had glory,
that he had union, that he had delight with the Father, that
he came out from God. That he became incarnate. No
wonder, you know, they believe what our Lord said. He says,
you know, But he said he was the only begotten of the Father,
and they heard the Father's voice from heaven. The Scripture said,
under us a child is born. Under us, though,
a child's born. He comes born a virgin. But a
son is given. God so loved the world that He
gave His only begotten Son. How many times has He called
the Son? The father loveth the son, and hath given all things
into his hand. And he says, Thou shalt call
his name Wonderful, Counselor, the Mighty God, the Everlasting
Father, and the Prince of Peace. And it says, you know, that you
believe, they believe that you sent me. They believe that you
sent me to make you known to them. They believed, Lord, beloved,
I tell you, that you would experience your love through me, through
me, only through me. And I tell you, beloved, all
the things that I said, by this we see. When our Lord said, I
pray for them, them, those that were given to Him, those that
received His Word, those that believed His Word, those that
were convinced, those that knew He came out from the Father,
knew that the Father sent Him, knew that He was eternal, that
He was God. By this we see first and foremost
that faith comes by hearing. Faith comes by hearing. He said,
I pray for them, pray not for the world, because I give unto
them the word and they receive them. I've given unto them by
words. And they received them and know
and believed. Now let me tell you something
about this business of faith. Faith comes by hearing. Ain't
nobody going to get no faith sitting on a stump out in the
middle of the woods. That's not going to happen. You're not going
to be walking down the street one of these days, and light
comes down from heaven, and all of a sudden you're going to become
a believer. That's not the way it works. God gave us a book
to believe, and Christ gave us His Word. He said, I gave them
the Word that you gave me. First of all, He says there's
knowledge that comes, spiritual knowledge, spiritual understanding.
They know. They receive the word they know,
and the first thing that happens is that God comes and gives us
some knowledge and enlightens our understanding, spiritual
understanding, and this knowledge and spiritual understanding is
the fruit of receiving God's words. And I'll tell you something,
here in this particular verse and throughout the Scriptures,
believing comes last. Faith is intelligent. Faith,
there's no such thing as blind faith. There's no such thing
as faith being ignorant. No, no, no, no. Whosoever shall
call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved. But how shall
they call on Him in whom they have not believed, and how shall
they believe in Him of whom they have not heard? And this idea,
you know, that the people could come into a service and immediately,
immediately be converted and accept Jesus just like that,
that's not the way God's ever done anything. No, no, people
stood in too big a hurry. Me and Mary got this stupid song,
this morning, I wish I'd never even said it, but you know, years
ago, and I don't ever remember saying this, but, if you're saved
and you know it, say amen. If you're saved and you know it,
say amen. If you're saved and you know
it, then your life will surely show it. If you're saved and
you know it, say amen. Listen. This business of faith. God instructs a man's mind. And
I'll tell you something, once He starts instructing your mind
and your spiritual understanding, He's always instructing your
mind and your spiritual understanding. And you know because of your
spiritual understanding and the flesh that's left within you,
you know that God's got to continually deal with you and teach you and
instruct you from His Word. You know that. So He comes and
He says, I gave them your words, they received them. They know,
they do, that I've come from you. And they believe that. That's
what I'm preaching to you. We tell you the Word of God about
Christ. And if you know this, that Christ
came out from God, and you believe that, faith is the last thing
that happens. The knowledge, the understanding,
the enlightenment, the faith is the fruit of these things.
And now look what he says there in verse 9. I come out from you, and you
believe." Oh, beloved, I pray for them. I pray not for the
world, but for them which thou hast given me. And I want you
to notice the first thing here, that them he prays for, they're
not of the world. He says, you gave them me out
of the world. You gave them me out of the world.
You see, the believer's not of the world. That's why he doesn't
pray for the world. He said, I pray. I pray. If God says, you pray, say, I
pray. And He prays for His people, these people. That's not of the
world. He don't pray for the world.
But He prays for these people as their mediator. He prays for
them as a perfect man sitting at the right end of God. You
know, and not only does our Lord Jesus Christ pray for His own
people, but our Lord taught us to even pray for our enemies,
and He prayed for His enemies. He holds no revenge in His heart.
He says, love your neighbor. When our Lord Jesus hung on the
cross, He said, Father, forgive them, for they know not what
they do. And beloved, just as sure as
God's on His throne, there were people standing there ridiculing
Christ that was converted on the day of Pentecost, 40 days
later, or 50 days later. And our Lord taught us to love
them that pray for them that hate you. Do good to them that
despise you, and pray for them which curse you. Bless them that
curse you, and pray for them which despisefully use you."
And if our Lord Jesus Christ did that, that's what He tells
us to do. And as our great high priest, He intercedes only for
His own. It's like Aaron. When Aaron went
before God, he had only the names of the children of Israel on
him. And he only offered sacrifices for the children of Israel. He
only interceded for the children of Israel. Christ only intercedes
for his Israel, for his elect, for his people. And oh, beloved,
here he says that his people are separated, are separated
out of the world. He said, You gave them me out
of the world. So that means to tell, he tells
us that we're in a different category than anybody else in
this world. We're different, you know, and
we're in a separate category. We're not ashamed of it. We're
not ashamed of it. We're not ashamed of being one
of God's elect and talking about election predestination. And
the question, the only question that, and all the questions that
only you can answer is this. Am I of the world? Christ said,
you know, you gave Him me out of the world. And I pray for
them because they're not of the world. I pray not for the world. So what in the world is He talking
about here? And I tell you, let me tell you, let me just give
you a little of this here. James gives me these all the
time where he's around the county and finds them on church signs.
Here's one of the things that was found on a church sign. Looking
for a sign from God? This might be it. Come on in.
So on another one, let us examine our moral imagination. Meet me at my house Sunday before
the game, God. That makes you sick just to think
about it, don't it? Be friends with Jesus. Use faith
book. I'm telling you, beloved, hell
ain't half full. I mean, it ain't half full. And
that's the question. That's the question I ask you.
Am I of the world? There's two groups of people
here. The world and those that God gave Christ out of the world,
those that Christ prayed for, who are not of the world. Now
see, let me tell you something about the world. The world has
a fashion. The world has a fashion. Has the fashion of this world.
He says there are those who who abuse this world as the fashion
of this world. The world has a fashion. When
it talks about the fashion of it, it's not talking about the
way you dress. It's talking about the customs of it, the way of
it. After this fashion or that fashion,
whatever's going on, whatever to be the tenor of it. And Paul
said and told the Ephesians, he says, you know, you once walked
according to the course of this world, according to the prince
of the power of the air. And when he talks about the course
of this world, this world has a course. And you know there's
race courses, there's study courses, and a course means a pattern
that all follow. They all go the same course.
They're governed by the prince or the power of this world. And
let me tell you something about it, of what the world is that
he's talking about here, is a life lived apart from God. The life
lived apart of God, thought of and lived apart from God. It's
not what we do in particular. It's an attitude. It's a fundamental
attitude, and it's an attitude towards God, towards everything,
towards ourselves, towards life in this world. When God don't
enter your thoughts, you're worldly. These people right here are just
as worldly as they can be. And so you see, it's a fundamental
attitude. It's towards everything that
we look at. It's towards God, towards ourselves,
towards life. And that's why Paul said, I beseech
you, brethren, be not conformed to this world. There's a conformity
to the world. You know, I want to show you
this. And this is the classic. Over in 1 John 2.15. You know, and then there's a
lot of conformity to the world, a fashion of the world, and a
course of this world. It's a life lived apart from
the world, governed by the prince of the power of this world. And
there's a love of this world, there's a love for it. And that's
why, you know, when our Lord, that's what he meant by don't
cast your pearls before swine, feed that's holy to the dogs.
I mean, there's a people that's so engrossed in this world, you
ain't no sense talking about what state they're in until God
starts doing something for them. They don't hear a word you say.
But look what he said here, John 2, 15. Love not the world. Love the world. Now, is he talking
about the earth? Talking about big cities? Talking about mountains? What's
he talking about here? Love not the world, neither the
things that are in the world. I heard a fellow say that you
could use that word, things, and preach against anything that
you want to preach against. Just preach against things. Well,
we're not to preach against things, we're to preach Christ. But look
what he goes on to say here. The things that are in the world,
if any man loved the world, watch this, the love of the Father
is not in him. And that's why he said, I pray for them, not
for the world. But for them which thou gavest
me out of the world. For all that's in the world is the lust
of the flesh. All that's in the world is the pride of life, and
the lust of the eyes. It's not of the Father, but is
of the world. And the world passes away, and
the lust thereof, but he that doeth the will of God abideth
forever." Now, what is he talking about here? Worldliness just
doesn't mean just not giving or going or doing. People think
worldliness has to do with going, doing, and that worldliness doesn't
have to do with anything with the hand. It really doesn't.
You know, there's a multitude that came to the Lord Jesus Christ
at the judgment. And our Lord, they said, Lord,
He said, we've cast out devils in your name. We've done many
wonderful works in your name. We've preached in your name.
We have done all kinds of things in your name. They was as religious
as all get out. And our Lord said, depart from
me, you workers of iniquity. I never knew you. Now those were
religious people that were doing that, talking about all the things
that they had done. So what is he talking about?
Paul, let me tell you what I'm talking about. Paul was a man
who was worldly until he was converted. He was worldly until
he was converted. When he talks about the lust
of the flesh, The lust of the flesh means, beloved, that you
just have a desire. Paul was desirous after recognition. He was desirous after, just like
the Pharisees who stood and prayed dust with himself and said, Oh,
I thank you that I'm not like this man and that other man.
They paid tithes of all they possessed. They loved to make
long prayers standing on the street corner in their robes.
That's worldliness. People think you've got to go
get drunk and cuss and spit and spew. Listen, those people, that's
just nature. But here, he said, Paul was a
worldly man. He had the lust of the flesh
and the lust of the eyes. You know what lust of the eyes
means? It's not your eyes looking out of your design after something.
Lust of the eyes means that you're worried about how you appear
to other people. How do you appear to others?
Paul says, you know, that's the rightness of the law. I was blameless.
You're talking about after the flesh. And some people can glory
in it. I can glory in it more than anybody
else. That's what worldliness is, glory, and anything besides
God, anything besides Christ, anything besides salvation by
grace. You start talking about yourself,
you automatically put God out of the equation. And all worldliness,
and Paul says, you know, that's in the flesh, I can glory more
than anybody else. As a Hebrew of Hebrews, there's
his pride of life. My mama's a Jew, my daddy's a
Jew, and I'm of the tribe of Benjamin. I mean, I come from
some good stock. That's what folks do. They're just so interested in
genealogy. When you come said and done,
I mean, beloved, you better not go back too far, because you'll
end up finding out you're related to Adam. Oh, beloved, that's what people,
that's what a Pharisee wants to do. They want everybody to
say, how do I appear to other people? And you're more interested
in what people think about you than what God thinks about you? How God looks at you? When the
Scriptures tell us we're open and naked before Him with whom
we have to do? Oh, listen, and pride of life,
things we boast of. Oh, we're proud of our birth,
our family, our religious tradition, our schooling. I don't know why
I decided to do this the other day. It happens all the time
on the internet. If you want to go to school and
get a degree, you can do this so easy on the internet. I'm
going to show you how easy it is to get a doctor's degree.
I'm going to get me a doctor's degree. If I get two or three
of them that way, I get enough of them by going in a 360, going
in a full circle. Get enough degrees to have 360
of them. But that's how simple it is.
But people glory in these things. And oh, and oh, I graduated from
this school, and I graduated from that school, and I got this
degree, got that degree. I've seen a resume of a preacher
the other day, and I'm telling you, you've never seen such credentials
in your life, but he never stayed anyplace more than one or two
years at a time. He was always using his degrees
to go higher and higher and higher and higher and higher. And what
did Brother Henry say in the bulletin today? He said, will
we ever be weak enough, empty enough, ignorant enough for God
to use us and get glory to Himself from us? Our problem is not what
we know. Our problem is that we know too
much and we need to know less and need to know more about Him.
And oh, I've been loving how Paul said, I'm a Hebrew of Hebrews,
touching the law blameless. And what will it all matter?
What will it all matter? What will all the education,
what will all the genealogy, what will all the traditions,
what will all the righteousness, what will all our worth, what
will all our schooling, what will all our glory then, what
will it all amount to when it's all said and done? All that'll matter. All that'll
matter. is did I know, or did Christ
pray for me, and would Christ save me out of the world? Did
He save me from this boasting, from this self-glory, from this
self-righteousness, from this self-confidence, from this prediction,
from all my self-righteousness and pride and ambition and wanting
to impress other people? I said, God, that's what he's
talking about, saving from the world. Huh? Saving from the world. Does the world ever manifest
itself in us? I'd be a fool to say it don't. I'd be a fool to say it don't.
But that's why I said I prayed for him. I prayed for him. Oh, he prays
for them back over here in our text. He said, I pray for them,
I pray not for the world. So, you know, are you of the
world or are you one of them? He said, I pray for them which
thou hast given me. Billions upon billions upon billions
of people, generation after generation, have passed by in this world,
unprayed for, unprayed for by anybody. But here, the Lord Jesus
Christ prays for His own. Mary and I watched a thing yesterday
evening in India. They've got this huge, huge temple.
And people line up. They line up just as far as you
can see. And people go in there and shave their heads and offer
all their hair to their God for good luck. Just for good luck. They had little bitty babies
in there shaving their head. Little babies standing there
screaming and crying, they're shaving their head. They ain't got sense enough to
pray for themselves. That's how ridiculous religion
is in this world. It always said, I pray for them
which thou hast given me. You know, I tell you what, there's
how many Esau's I wonder what, that are born into this world
and Christ never says a prayer for them. And all beloved, you know, over
here in John 14, 22, let me show you this real quick. You know, without which thou
hast given me, thou hast given me, he said down here in John
14, 22. Wait a minute. Judas saith unto him, Not as
scariot, Lord, how is it that thou wilt manifest thyself unto
the world, and not unto us, and not unto the world? That's a
good question. How are you going to manifest
yourself to us and not to the world? And that's why he said,
I pray for them which thou hast given me. How are you going to
do that? How will you pray for us and
not the world? I'll tell you why. Because we
were given to them. How are you going to manifest
yourself to us? The same way you're going to
pray for us. And now you know this as well as I do. As far
as this world's concerned, many put us to shame in many, many
ways. Yet they're left out. They're left out. And we're taken
in. Prayed for. Why? What's the answer? free, sovereign grace. That can be the only answer.
And the very word grace in and of itself, by definition, means
that not everyone's going to get it. Grace, by its very definition,
means that everyone won't receive it. By its very definition. The world, they look at us and
they say, well, that's selfishness. You all think you're the only
ones. You think you're superior. You think you're elitist. Well,
let them say what they will. That don't change one thing.
We will, from our hearts, express our profound praise and thanksgiving
to God for His free and sovereign grace that Christ prays for us
and not for the world. You notice, every one of us,
at one time or another, beloved, we did not have God at all in
our thoughts, and now, beloved, we grieve because God's not always
in our thoughts. And he says, not only did he
praise for them which thou hast given me, and he goes here and
says, for they are thine. Here's the first reason he praised
for. For them. He praised for them. He says,
for they are thine. How was they his? By election. by legend, thine by eternal,
effectual, sovereign love and power before the world was."
He said, I loved you before you ever was. With an everlasting
love, I've loved you. He said, Jeremiah, before you
was formed in his brother's belly, I knew you. Huh? Jacob! But children not being
yet born, neither having done good or evil, that the purpose
of God according to election might stand, he said, Jacob have
I loved. Now that's good enough if he
said that, but he turned around and said this, he said, but he
thought, have I hated. That don't mean he liked him
less. So they were his, he said, I pray for them you gave them
to me, thine they were by election. By election. And the second motive
that he prayed for was this. Verse 10, All mine are thine,
and thine are mine. You know, when you've got the
Father and the Son, their interests cannot be separated. What belonged
to one belonged to the other. What he purposed to do for one,
the other purposed to do it. He says, You know, they were
yours, and now they're mine. And what's yours is mine, and
what's mine is yours. It's like me and Mary. What's mine is yours. What's
mine is yours. And that's the truth. That's
what he said here. What belonged to me belongs to the other. That's
why he says, I give unto thee of eternal life. They shall never
perish. Why won't they perish? Because
my Father which gave them me is greater than all, and no man
is able to pluck them out of his hand, and no man is able
to pluck them out of my hand. So what did Tim James say? A
two-fifth of salvation in the hands of Christ, in the hands
of God? What belongs to one belongs to
the other. If you belong to the Father, you belong to Christ.
If you belong to Christ, it's because you belong to the Father.
If Christ died for you, it's because the Father gave you to
Christ. If Christ redeemed you, it's
because God loved you from the foundation of the world. If Christ
is praying for you right now, it's because God called you according
to the election of His grace, and He did it on purpose. I mean,
there's no... Listen. Ain't you so thankful? That God, the God of the Bibles,
a God that does things on purpose, no accidents, no chance, no luck, no blind fate, no destiny that you don't know
what you know, what are destinies going to be out there? You make
your own destiny. Lord, well, if that's the only
part in the world where the Bible says He predestinated, We use predestination every day
in our lives. You got up this morning, you're
predestinated to come here. You said, I'm going to get up,
I'm going to shave, I'm going to clean up, I'm going to park my
car, I'm going to go down such and such a road, I'm going to
end up in Lantana Grace Church, I'm going to be there. It was
your will, your purpose to come here. You predestinated, you
had it all predetermined where you was going to go. Now, there's
a lot of things that can happen. That would have hindered you
getting here. Got in your car, wouldn't start. Got in your car,
had a flat tire. Slid off the road, somebody could
have called and you had to go to the hospital immediately.
A lot of things could have kept you from fulfilling your predestinated
purpose, where you wanted to go this morning. But can anything
stop God's predestinated purpose? He has no flat tires. He has
no contingency plans. We know we put things in the
trunk of our car in case of emergency. God don't need no emergency equipment. God don't need nothing to figure
out what to do next. Oh my, can you just imagine somebody
saying, you know, I heard a preacher say, if we can get 300,000 people
to give so much money, we all bombard heaven at the same time,
God said He'd change His will. God's will has never changed
from eternity to eternity. We talk about decrees, there's
one decree, one will, one purpose. And then the third motive that
He prayed for them, not only because they're elect, they are
thine, Because the interests of the Father and the Son are
the same, what belongs to one belongs to the other. But now
listen to this. He said, I am glorified in them. Oh, I am glorified in them. Oh my, how could that be? He
said, I manifested Your name, they received Him, they've known
that I come out from You, and they believe that I come out
from You, and I am glorified in them. I'm glorified in them. My, my. How in the world can
that be? That's a statement of fact. How
can it be? How can it be? How can it be? that I'm glorified in them. That's
a statement of fact. Do you feel like Christ is glorified
in you? We sung that hymn this morning.
O Father, hold over my being, absolute sway. May Christ be seen in me forever
and always. Do you feel like Christ is glorified
in you? Do you feel like He's glorified
in you? Huh? In what way was He glorified
in you? Well, first of all, they received
the Word. I received the Word, every single
word of it, even the words that I don't know and don't understand
now. I believe it. All my soul, I believe it. The
world didn't know Him. Israel received Him not. But,
O Beloved, we knew, we know, we know that He came out from
God. We know that God sent Him. We
know that He existed before the world began. We know that He
was the Child given. We know that He was the Son that
came. And this is the kicker right
here. In the last part of verse six, and they have kept thy word.
Kept your word? What does that mean? They've kept it. They've guarded
it. They've treasured it. Keep it just like they keep a
treasure. It's mine. It's mine. Every one of y'all got your own
Bibles. You mark it certain places. You have verses that mean more
to you than others do. When you read certain verses,
it brings things to your mind. Refreshes your memory. And we keep that Word. And I
tell you what, not only do we keep the Word, but the Word keeps
us. The Word keeps us, don't it? He said, Father, I've kept
them through thy Word. Thy Word is truth. Sanctify them
through thy truth. Thy Word is truth. What does
that mean? Take my Word and just keep separating them. Keep separating
them. And He does keep separating them, don't He? Our Father, the blessed name
of Your Son, our Redeemer, our Savior, our blessed Savior, our
Lord Jesus Christ. Fathers, thank You for Your truth
today. Lord, it's in our heart, it's
in our will, it's in our desire to keep Your Word, to never be ashamed of it, to
never be ashamed of the electing grace, to never be ashamed that
you loved us before the world began, never be ashamed that
there's a multitude in this world that you never, ever considered. And why is it that way? Because
it seemed good in thy sight, O Father, because it pleased
you, and that you work all things after the counsel of your own
will. And we'll bow to that, we'll submit to that. And we'll
find rest for our souls in that. And, Father, save Your people
in this place. If there are those who have received Your Word,
know that You came out through the Father, and believe. Grant them, O Lord God, that
faith to believe. Trust the Lord Jesus Christ,
who asked in His name. Amen. Amen. Jesus Christ is made to live.