I'm gonna be in John chapter
17 this morning. Beginning in verse one. 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 hast given him power
over all flesh, that he should give eternal life to as many
as thou hast given him. And 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. 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 have 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. 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 hast given me. that
they may be one as we are. While I was with them in the
world, I kept them in thy name. Those that thou gavest me, I
have kept, and none of them is lost but the son of perdition
that the scripture might be fulfilled. And now come I to thee. and these
things I speak in the world that they might have my joy fulfilled
in themselves. I have given them thy word and
the world hath hated them because they are not of the world even
as I am not of the world. I pray not that thou shouldest
take them out of the world but thou shouldest keep them from
the evil. They are not of the world even
as I am not of the world. Sanctify them through thy truth. Thy word is truth. As thou hast
sent me into the world, even so have I also sent them into
the world. And for their sakes I sanctify
myself that they also might be sanctified through the truth. Neither pray I for these alone,
but for them also which shall believe on me through their word. 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. And 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 and one and that the world may know
that thou has sent me and has loved them as thou hath loved
me. Father, I will that they also
whom thou has given me be with me where I am. that they may
behold my glory, which thou hast given me, for thou lovest me
before the foundation of the world. 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. Now, I could stop right now. I could
stop right now. I threatened to do that to Earl
one time. And you know what he told me?
Well, I'd be okay. Because I can tell you something
here. In reading this chapter, the 17th chapter, of the gospel
of Christ as recorded by John, you just heard the best sermon
ever been preached, just in reading this prayer. This prayer by Jesus Christ is
to the Father, and they are the truest words that have ever been
spoken. Well, everything Christ said is the truest words that's
ever been spoken. because his word is truth, is
truth. This is a prayer, but I'm gonna
tell you something. This prayer is full of the gospel
of Jesus Christ. It's full of good news. It's
full of good news. There's nothing but good news,
and I'm gonna tell you, I've got four things written down
here in particular. These are the words of Jesus
Christ, and these words were spoken to the Father in prayer. They call this the high priestly
prayer, because Jesus Christ is the high priest, the true
high priest. One of the Old Testament were
all types pointing toward him. And this is his prayer to the
Father. And secondly, I wanna point out,
these words are true, they are righteous, and they are wise. Jesus Christ is wisdom, is wisdom,
personally. Therefore, everything he says
is both true and wise. And thirdly, I wanna specifically
point out that these words were not spoken to us. or to his disciples. This was a prayer to the Father. That's the first word he starts
out with. This is a prayer to the Father. Now, that being said,
what does this prayer contain? Well, guess what? This prayer
is not to us, but it is about us. And, even better, this prayer
is for us. for his people. Fourthly, these words that were
spoken about us and most importantly, oh that was my fourth point,
and most importantly from our point of view, they were spoken
for us. They were spoken for us. The love of Jesus Christ
for his people. For his people. Even the ones
not born yet. shines forth in this prayer to
the Father. Why? He cares. He cares for you. He cares for
his people. He cares for those that the Father
gave to him. Now, what I'm gonna do today
is a little different than what I normally do. I'm just gonna
do basically an overview of chapter 17 of John, and this wonderful
prayer The first word he spoke in it,
I said it just a second ago, father, father. Jesus Christ, God manifest in
the flesh, came to perform the will of his father. That's what
he said. I've come to do thy will, oh
God. And the only begotten, well beloved
son of God, what? Called him father. Called him
father. And also remember, he told us
to pray in like manner. What did he tell us to pray?
Started off, our father. Our father. He included us believers
with himself. And he prayed here, father. The
next part of it is this. The hour has come, what? Glorify
thy son. Glorify thy son that thy son
also may glorify thee. The son of God was committed
to and concerned with the glory of God. He came to do the Father's
will, what? Unto the glory of God. Unto the
glory of God. Because here's the thing, glory
only belongs to God. Jesus Christ is called the Holy
One of Israel. And here's the thing, both Father
and Son are glorified, are glorified. And I'm gonna tell you this,
they always have been, they always have been. And here's the question,
this is my title, Paul, Who is Jesus Christ? Well, this is Jesus
Christ. My title's Who is Jesus Christ?
This is Jesus Christ. Only God has the glory. And it
says, you can read it in the Old Testament, I will not share
my glory. Oh, but the Father and the Son
have the glory. The Father and the Son have the
glory. Now, very quickly, Like I said, I'm not going to spend
a lot of time on this. I'm going to go through it just as quick
as I can and make a few points because I do actually have a
point. Verse two, as thou hast given
him power over all flesh that he should give eternal life to
as many as thou hast given him. The next word I want to point
out here is this word power, because this is a wonderful thing. I did not know this. You know,
it talks about the gospel is the power of God, and it's the
word dunamis, which came, you know, we get the word dynamite
from, explosive power. That's not the word used here.
It's another Greek word, and I can't pronounce it, so I'm
not gonna try. But I did wanna point this out. The word power
here, okay, is this. It is power, but it's also the
liberty, the liberty. What? Of choice. That's the definition. Thou has
given him the liberty, the power of choice. What? Over all flesh. Over all flesh. Isn't that glorious? The power, the ability, the capacity,
the authority, and the jurisdiction over all flesh. And I'm gonna
tell you something, I rejoice in that. That makes me happy. It makes a lot of other people
mad. But that's what that word means, and that's what he says.
Thou hast given him the liberty of choice over all flesh. What? That he should give eternal life
to as many as thou hast given him. What are you saying? I'm not saying anything, Jesus
Christ is saying it. Eternal life is given to those
whom he chooses. That's what it says. And I'm
gonna tell you something, that's exactly what it means. Jesus Christ has the right to
control, to govern over all flesh. And this is Jesus Christ. Our
God is in the heavens, it says in the Old Testament. He hath
done whatsoever he hath pleased. You know why? He has the power
of choice. It's according to his will that
things are done. Jesus Christ is God. Yes, he took upon the form of
a servant, and even as a man, the God-man. has the power of
choice. He has the power to give, that
he should give. And here's the word, perpetual
life, eternal life. And what's his choice? He gives
this life to those that the Father gave to him. You got a problem with that?
You got a problem. These are the words of Christ.
This is Christ talking to the Father. Excuse me. Eternal life, perpetual
life, what does it say? This is life eternal. That they
might know thee, the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom thou
hast sent. Without eternal life, you cannot
know God. Without his life, without his
voice, raising the dead, even though they're walking around,
you will not know Christ. You will not know God. What does
it say? Matthew 11, 27, he said this. All things are delivered unto
me of my father. And no man knoweth the son but
the father. Neither knoweth any man the father
save the son. Ah, here it is. And he to whomsoever
the son will reveal him. What's it say? This is life eternal,
that they might know thee the only true God and Jesus Christ
whom thou hast sent. And how do we, how do we receive eternal life?
He gives it. He gives it. Understand? Eternal life is a gift of God.
What am I saying? I'm saying salvation is the gift
of God. Eternal life is the gift of God.
and he gives it to those whom the Father gave to him. That's what he said, and that's
what he meant. Understand, no man knows Yahweh,
no man knows Jehovah without Jesus Christ. You can say whatever
you want, you can play whatever you want, you can preach whatever
you want, but without Christ, it's impossible to know God. Jesus Christ has power over all
flesh to give life eternal You understand just just think
about this I'm just barely three verses into John 17 And we have
election we have irresistible grace and we have the perseverance
of the Saints And I'm just hitting the highlights. I Love this chapter
I do, I love this chapter, I love this prayer. Jesus Christ said it, and oh,
it is true, it is true. Now look at verse nine for just
a minute, because in verse nine we have a positive and a negative
about this prayer of Jesus Christ. Verse nine says this, I pray
for them, I pray not for the world. Have you ever heard anybody
say that there are some people Jesus Christ doesn't pray for?
Well, I have, but I've been in places like this. I don't know anybody, I've never
heard a preacher on TV quote this other than Henry Mahan.
I pray for them. I pray not for the world, but
for them which thou hast given me, for they are thine. See, this is the first. There's
a positive and a negative here. The positive is this, I pray
for them. I pray for them. Who's them? He tells us, those
that the Father gave to him. When? From the beginning, from
before the foundation of the world. Those that the Father gave him
out of the world. That's what it says in verse
six. 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. Then he gets down here and says,
I pray for them. I pray not for the world. Guess
what, folks? That's the negative part. That's
the negative part. I, Jesus Christ, pray not for
the world. And that's the truth. Understand,
this is what he said and this is what he meant. I know what the world says, but
I can tell you this. It really doesn't matter what
the world says. Smile, God loves you. Smile, Jesus loves you. Jesus didn't pray for the world.
And he's talking about people. That's what he's talking about.
Understand, it is true. There are people for whom the
Lord Jesus Christ does not pray. Understand, the Bible is full
to the brim talking about God's people. And it's always, every
time you read Old Testament and New, when you read about the
people of God, when you read about the children of God, it's
always a particular people. Always. It always has been, it
still is, and it always will be. I pray for them, I pray not
for the world. Oh my. But here, verse 12. While I was with them in the
world, I kept them. What? In thy name. Those that
thou gavest me, I have kept, and none of them is lost but
the son of perdition that the scripture might be fulfilled.
Jesus Christ keeps his people. Period. Period. Period. You understand? If you think you can be saved
and then you can be lost and then you can be saved and then
you can be lost, you're wrong. Somebody's lied to you because
Jesus Christ kept his people and none of them are lost. None
of them are lost. And who are these people? What? Those that thou gavest me. The same exact ones he gives
eternal life to. My and by eternal life. He means eternal life and he
keeps us He keeps us oh my We are kept
by the power of God Who has power over all flesh, right? What does
it say? through faith through faith Verse 16 They are not of the world even
as I am not of the world. The people of God, believers,
are not of the world. They've been called out of the
world. Come ye out from among them,
oh ye, my people, my people, my people. You understand, they
were his people before they came out. They were the ones the Father
gave him before they came out. They were my people before they
came out. Then they came out when he calls them by name, when
he gives them eternal life, when he gives them faith and they
hear his gospel and they believe it, and they're still my people. And guess what, folks? They always
will be my people. I like that. They are not of
the world. Why? Even as I am not of the
world. The people of God, believers,
ones given eternal life, are not of the world. We are in the
world, but we are not of it. And you, the world may not see
it. The world won't understand it,
even if they do get a glimpse of it. But here's the thing.
You are the only ones, we are the only ones, who know what
it means to be not of the world. Because we were in it once, and
now we're not. We know what it's like to be
dead in trespasses and sins, because we were. But oh. We know what it means to be given
life from God, to believe Jesus Christ, to trust Christ, to wanna
follow Christ, to maybe not be very good at it, but to want
to walk in his footsteps, to walk in the spirit. We are not
of the world. Verse 20. This is one of my favorites also.
Neither pray I for these alone, speaking of the disciples that
are around him, but for them also which shall believe on me
through their word. Through their word. What word?
Right here, folks. Right here. This is their word.
And you know what? Their word is his word. It's his word. He gave it to
them. Oh my, I like that. You'll believe. You'll believe. His people, whom he gives eternal
life to all those that the Father gave him, will believe. They will. Oh, and how shall
they believe unless they've heard? How can they believe unless they've
heard? Well, you're gonna hear. He'll
see to it. He did it for me. He'll do it
for you. And I think he has. And he's
doing it now. What? I pray for those who shall
believe through the words of those that believe now. Who's
that? One was John the Apostle. Ah,
you understand. Right here, I believe Jesus Christ
prayed for Saul of Tarsus. You know? I believe he prayed
for Martin Luther. for John Newton, for Isaac Watts,
for George Whitfield, for Henry Mahan, and for Earl
Cochran. I believe that Christ prayed for me right here, right
at this moment, and it's recorded. Because I believe because of
the words that have been written down that he has put in my heart
my Along with everyone here right
now whom he has given life and faith Christ was praying for
you right this This is Jesus Christ and you know, here's the
truth of it Christ's prayers were always right always perfect
and always answered. Yes, I Do you understand? If Christ prayed for you, God's for you. God is for you. And if God's for you, it doesn't
matter who's against you. They will be against you, but
it doesn't matter. Folks, that's good news. That's
good news. Verses 22 and verse 23, it says,
we all believers are going to be One. One. He is going to gather us all
together in himself in one. Oh, I like that. I like that. 22 says this, and the glory which
thou gavest me I have given them that they may be one even as
the father and son are 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 hast sent me and hast loved them, that the Father has loved them,
meaning us, as thou hast loved me. Man, that's grace. That's grace. God loves me like
he's son. God loves you like he's son.
Jesus Christ is not ashamed to call us brethren. He has made
us part of the family of God. Oh, I like that, I do. Oh. I in them and thou, Father, in
me, that they may be made perfect in one. Ooh, that's good stuff. and hast loved them as thou hast
loved me. Verse 25, O righteous Father,
here we go. The world hath not known thee,
but I have known thee, and these have known that thou hast sent
me. The world has not known the Father, Now, isn't that exactly the opposite
of everything other people preach? Understand? Everybody knows Jesus. Everybody knows God. You just
gotta bow. You gotta pray. You gotta accept
Jesus in your heart, because you know he's there. You gotta
give Jesus your heart. I can tell you this, folks. Jesus
don't want your rotten, nasty heart. You need a new heart. Oh my, no, the world has not
known thee. But 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. There are people in this world
who know God. I can tell you who they are.
They are as many as the Father has given him. That's what it says. And that's
what it means. In John six, verse 37, all that
the Father giveth me shall come to me. and him that cometh to
me, I will in no wise, in no way, no shape, no how, cast out. Now if you got a problem with
that, it's your problem, not the Bible's. And it's not my
problem, because I believe this. I believe that whatever God does,
it's forever. And nothing can be put to it,
nothing can be taken from it. God does it that somebody might
fear. Men should fear him. Him that
cometh to me I will in no wise cast out, for I came down from
heaven not to do my own will, but the will of him that sent
me. The will of the Father. John
6, 39. And this is the Father's will,
which hath sent me, that of all which he hath given me, I should
lose nothing. But, and not even, stop there. It's not that he's, it's not
enough that he's not gonna lose you. What's it say? But I should
raise it up again at the last day. Oh my. And this is the will of him that
sent me, that everyone which seeth the sun and believeth on
him may have everlasting life and I will, what? Raise him up
at the last day. That's the perseverance of the
saints. This is who Jesus Christ is.
The glorious Son of God, the glorious Holy One of Israel,
the Redeemer. The Redeemer, the King of glory,
the wisdom of God, the power of God, the King of kings and
Lord of lords, the Lamb of God slain from before the foundation
of the world. God manifest in the flesh, justified
in the spirit, seen of angels, preached unto the Gentiles. And here it is, folks, believed
on in the world. Believed on in the world. What? By those that the Father gave
to him. And received up into glory. You
know, we say it because it's true. We have an advocate seated
on the right hand of God, whoever liveth to make intercession for
us, right? That's very, very true and very,
very glorious. But here's the thing, right here
in John 17, Jesus Christ was advocating for us. He was our
advocate while he was here. Understand, if he's our advocate
now at the right hand of God, here's the thing, Jesus Christ
is the same yesterday and today and forever. He was our advocate
while he was here. He was our advocate before he
got here. He's always been the advocate
for those that the Father has given him. The 17th chapter of
John is chock full of the doctrines that this religious world hates.
And I'm gonna tell you this, the secular world's not very
fond of them either. But we are surrounded on every
side, and I said it a few weeks ago, by those who will not have
this man, this man, this Jesus Christ reign over them. And this
is who Jesus Christ is. Who is Christ? This is Christ.
He has the power over all flesh to give eternal life. Give eternal
life to as many as the father gave to him. And you know what
he does? He gives eternal life to as many as the father gave
him. And he keeps them. And he prays for them. And he
intercedes for them. You understand. All things do work together for
good to them that love God, to them that are the called according
to his purpose. Because it's his purpose here. What? He should give eternal
life to as many as thou hast given him. Our Heavenly Father, We're thankful
again for this time and this place. Lord, thank you so much
for your son, our Lord Jesus Christ, who interceded on our
behalf, for us, with you, in this prayer, and in his life,
and in his death, and in his resurrection, his ascension,
and his reigning sitting at your right hand. He is our advocate
with the Father, you. Thank you, Lord, for all of the
blessings in Christ Jesus. Be with Walter and Paul as they
come and try to preach your gospel. Give us ears to hear and to believe
and to rejoice in your word. In Christ's name we pray, amen.