Would you open your Bibles with
me to John 17. The Book of John. Chapter 17. This morning. I'm going to bring to you. What
I believe to be the final message out of John 17 beginning at verse
20. Which I've entitled these messages,
the Lord's Prayer. Whenever. Most people think of
the Lord's Prayer, they always go to the prayer that is recorded
in the Sermon on the Mount in Matthew chapter six, which says,
Our Father which art in heaven, hallowed be thy name. And they
repeat that prayer as the Lord's Prayer. But I call that the model
prayer. That's when the Lord is teaching
his disciples how to pray. And I'm going to bring some messages
on that prayer, Lord willing, beginning next week. Our Father
which art in heaven. But the Lord himself prayed. Christ prayed to the Father for
his people. And that's recorded in John chapter
17. And so I call this the Lord's
Prayer. He had prayed for himself. in the exercise of his great
work to redeem his people from their sins. That's how it started.
The Son of God incarnate, God in human flesh without sin, showing
his dependence upon the Father as the second person of the Trinity
and as the mediator of God's people. And he said, glorify
thy son. that thy son also may glorify
thee. And how did Christ glorify the
Father? He brought in as the surety,
the substitute and the redeemer of his people, those whom the
Father gave him, of which Brother Tim just read, all that the Father
giveth me. He brought in the complete payment
of the debt of our sins by the price of his blood. He died for
the sins of his people. our sins charged to his account.
And in so doing, he brought forth an everlasting righteousness
of infinite value, whereby God could be a righteous God and
a Savior, a just God and a Savior. And in the section that we're
going to read here in John 17, he addresses the Father as righteous
Father. That's a just God. God must be
just when He saves sinners. He's a merciful God. He's a loving
God. He's a gracious God, but not
at the expense of His justice. And that's His glory. That's
the revelation of the essence of God to His people. His sovereignty,
His justice, and His mercy all coming together in this one person,
Jesus Christ. The bulk of this prayer was taken
up as Christ prayed for the apostles, his disciples who were on the
earth at that time, because he knew what they would be going
through. They would be opposed on every count, from every direction,
both from religious people and irreligious people. He told them
back in John chapter 15, he said, don't be amazed if the world
hates you. Because he had hated me before
he hated you. If you follow him whom the world
hates, the world will hate you. And the reason they hate you
is because your message exposes them and their false refuge for
what they are. So don't be amazed. And he knew
they'd be gone. And he prays to the Father. He says, keep
them, O Father. And he did. And that's his prayer. Now to close out this prayer,
he not only prays for his disciples on earth at that time, the apostles
and other disciples, he prays for all of God's people. And this is two things he makes
clear at the end of this prayer. For whom he's praying, that's
one thing he makes clear. Who he's praying for. And then
secondly, he makes clear what he's praying for them. In other words, what do you want
for these for whom you're praying? And he makes that clear. He says
in verse 20, listen to this. He says, neither pray I for these
alone, these disciples here on earth. With him at that time,
Peter, James, John, Matthew, The 11 disciples at that time,
Judas was the son of perdition. He was a false apostle. And later
on, the apostle Paul, he's the 12th apostle. He's praying for
them. Praying for his disciples who
would witness for him in that area at that time. He says, but
I'm not only praying for them. Neither pray I for these alone,
but for them also. Now here's who Christ is praying
for. Now listen to it. I'm praying for them also which
shall believe on me through their word. As he prayed for the apostles,
he prays for us who believe. He's praying here for the whole
family of God. They're identified in the scripture
under many titles. They're called the elect of God. In fact, they're called the election
of grace. Who are the elect? Those whom
God chose before the foundation of the world and gave to His
Son. He chose them and He said, I
give them to you. I put the responsibility of their
salvation upon you. I put all the conditions required
to save those people according to His glory My glory, the Lord
would say, upon Christ. It's on your shoulders. You're
their surety. They're sinners. Not because
He just looked down through a telescope of time and saw that they were
going to be. This is all the work of God for His glory. And He said they're sinners.
And the penalty of sin is death. Eternal death. Perishing. Condemnation. But I've chosen
to save people. And I'm putting all of the responsibility
of their salvation squarely on your shoulders, not on theirs.
They're too weak. They're too sinful. If it's left
to themselves, they'll die in their sins. But I put it on you. The complete payment for all
their sins is upon Christ. And what was that payment? He
had to die. That's why He died on the cross,
to save His people from their sins. And in order to die, He
had to assume human nature. He had to take into union with
Himself a humanity, a human body and soul, without sin. He couldn't
be a sinner. He couldn't be corrupt. He couldn't
be made to be a sinner. If He was, He'd be disqualified. He's the Lamb slain, the spotless
Lamb, without blemish and without spot. who was made a curse for
his people who were cursed under the law. So they're called the election
of grace. As Brother Tim read in John chapter 6 verse 37, they're
all whom the Father had given him. He makes that statement
here in John 17 too. Listen to this. As thou hast
given him power over all flesh, given Christ the Son of God power
over all flesh, that he should give eternal life to as many
as thou hast given him. That's who he came to save. They are called all who have
been justified before God. What is it to be justified? It
means to be righteous. It means to be forgiven of all
my sins on a just ground. Not just forgiveness, let's just
forget it guys. No, it's forgiveness based upon
a just ground. The payment has been made. It's
forgiveness based upon what Christ accomplished on the cross to
satisfy justice. That's why his death is called
a propitiation. We don't use that word much anymore
in our English language. But it means a sin-bearing sacrifice
that brings satisfaction. He paid it all. And to be justified
is to be counted righteous in God's sight, based upon the righteousness
of another. His righteousness charged to
us. So they are the just ones, the
justified, the righteous ones. Not because they're perfect in
themselves, they're not. They're just sinners saved by
grace. They're called the redeemed of the Lord. Let the redeemed
of the Lord say so. What it means to be redeemed?
We're bought and paid for. We belong to Him. He bought us
off of the slave block of sin and brought us into His kingdom
and gave us the liberty of sons. Isn't that something? The liberty
of God's grace, the liberty to serve Him, brought us out from
under the darkness and the deception of sin and unbelief, and brought
us to see the glory of God revealed in the person and work of Christ. They are those who are born again
by the Spirit. They're believers. God sends
his spirit to give them new birth. And that's what he's going to
be praying for here in just a moment. He says, he says, I don't just
pray for these disciples here with me, but for those who shall
believe on me through their word. If you believe on him, in his
word, and your testimony is him based on his word, you know what
that means? That means you've been born again
by the spirit. Faith is the result of being
born again. You must be born again or you
cannot see the kingdom of God. You must be born again or you
cannot. Listen, the new birth does not come by the means of
faith. Faith comes by means of new birth.
That's when the Lord gives us spiritual life, a new heart,
new mind, new spirit. By nature, we're born dead, spiritually
speaking. You who do not believe the true
gospel, you are spiritually dead. You say, well, I'm not dead.
I'm sitting here. I'm breathing. Physically, you are. Even mentally,
you are, but not spiritually. If you're born again spiritually,
you'll look to Christ. You'll believe in Christ. This
is the work of God. You've read that. What can I
do to work the works of God? This is the work of God, that
you believe on him whom God has sent. That's God's work. The
Bible says, for by grace are you saved through faith. That's
not of yourselves, it's the gift of God. Not of works, lest any
man should boast. And in verse 10 of that same
passage, Ephesians 2, it says, for we are his workmanship. Created in Christ Jesus. Unto. Not because of, but unto
good works which God hath before ordained that we should walk
in them. A sinner saved by grace, believing
in the Lord Jesus Christ, is not his or her own work. It didn't come by virtue of your
choice. Your choice of Christ came by
virtue of his work and power and his grace. And so if you
believe in the Lord Jesus Christ, those who shall believe on me,
he said, you're a walking, talking miracle, friend, a miracle of
his grace. They're called his church, the
true church of God. The word church means called
out, called out of the world and into the family of God. That's
who they are. These are all sinners whom God
will bring to hear and receive and believe the Gospel. God has
a people. Christ died for those people. And He'll send His Spirit
to call them out and draw them. All whom God will draw to Himself.
In that John 6 passage, no man can come to me except the Father
which has sent me draw him. God has to do the drawing. And this means they'll be born
again by the Spirit. And this means they'll hear the
Gospel. If you come to faith in Christ, what does the Bible
say? Faith's the gift of God, and faith comes by hearing, and
hearing by the Word of God. If you can hear the Word of God, not just hear the words, you can hear what I'm saying
and walk out in unbelief. But if you hear it, which means
you obey it, you believe it, you see the value of it, you
accept it and receive it, you know what that means? That means
he's given you a hearing ear. He told the disciples, blessed
are your eyes for they see, blessed are your ears for they hear.
Those unbelieving Pharisees over there, he said hearing, they
hear not. They hear what I'm saying, but they don't really
hear it. They don't believe it. He gives the hearing ear. And
Christ prays for those who would believe through their word, he
says. That's the gospel. The word. And this is why it's vital that
we seek to know the true gospel from all counterfeits. Listen,
one of Satan's greatest deceptions in the world today is false gospels,
false Christianity. Paul had to deal with it back
in his day. He told the Galatians, if they
come preaching another gospel, let them be anathema. So the word that he's speaking
of here is the word of God, the word of truth in the Bible, who
Jesus Christ is. what he's accomplished on Calvary.
It's not just that he died, we all die, but how did he die? Who is he? He's God manifest
in the flesh. What did he accomplish? The salvation
of all whom the Father had given him. How do you know who they
are? They become born again and they believe the gospel. Do you
believe the gospel? Somebody said, well, what if
I'm not one of the elect? That's not your business. You're
not God. Your business is to seek the
Lord. Every one of you, me included. Your business is to believe what
God says. He'll take care of the rest.
He'll do it all. And then secondly, for what is
the Lord praying? Now look at how he puts this,
too. It's really interesting. He prays, number one, for our
unity in Him. that we all are brought together
in unity. Look at verse 21. He says, I
pray that they all may be one, united in Christ, united under
the gospel, united in the word. He says, I pray 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. One of the greatest truths that
comes through in our Lord's prayer here is our separation from the
world and our unity in Christ, our oneness in Christ. Look back
up at John 17, 16. Here's our separation from the
world. All who believe the gospel, he says, they are not of the
world, even as I am not of the world. Christ told his disciples,
we're in this world, we're put here for a purpose, we have to
deal with it, we have to live in it, we suffer along with all
other people, but we're not of the world. We don't believe and
think and act like the world does. That's what he's saying.
We're citizens of a heavenly kingdom. Sometimes even the word
is translated in other places as being aliens. pilgrims walking
in this world for whatever time the Lord has given us, but not
blending in with the world. He says don't be conformed to
the world. And listen, let me tell you something. Now you young
people, especially in school and when you go off to college,
don't get involved and in fellowship with people who are into drugs
and alcohol and all of this debauchery. Don't do that. And we as Christians
shouldn't do that. But when he says we're not of
the world and to be separate from the world, he's also talking
about the world's false religion. Understand that. You say, well all these churches
around here, are they all preaching the same thing? No, they're not.
Are they all preaching the same God? No, they're not. You need to be where they're
preaching the book, the scriptures. What does the scriptures say?
What does the word of Isaiah in chapter eight, verse 20? He
said, to the law and to the testimony, that's the word of God. If they
speak not according to this word, there's no light in them. What does this book here from
Genesis to Revelation say about Jesus Christ? Does it say God loves everybody
and Christ died for everybody, now the rest is up to you? Is
that what it says? I haven't found it yet and I've
read the whole thing more than once. That's not in the Bible. Does it say that God hates anybody?
Yes, he hates all workers of iniquity. Well, aren't we all
workers of iniquity? We are in ourselves, but if we're
in Christ, he does not impute our iniquities to us. That's
the only hope we have. Blessed are they to whom the
Lord imputes not iniquity. Blessed are they to whom the
Lord imputes righteousness without works. That's those who are in
Christ. What did he do? He accomplished
salvation for his people. And when he talks about this
oneness, that they may be one in us, you know there's a representative
union with Christ. In Christ, in Christ, there's
a legal forensic union in Christ. We were chosen in Christ before
the foundation of the world and given to him. Having our debt
of sin charged to him as our surety, justified in him. We're
adopted in Christ, we're redeemed by Christ, and all of that leads
to what he's praying for here, that spiritual union in our experience
in the new birth where God, the Holy Spirit, gives us life from
the dead, a new heart, and gives us the gift of faith and brings
us to Christ, united to him by faith. Now again, by nature,
as we are naturally born, we were in ourselves in union with
the world in sin and unbelief. The Bible says, by nature, the
children of wrath. No different. But God, by His
grace and power, He brings us out. It's what He does. He brings
His people out. He doesn't stand there and say,
do you choose to come out? No, because if He did, none of
us would come out. He brings us out. And that's
our experience of being separated from the world and united to
Christ, brought out of the kingdom of darkness and brought into
the light, the heavenly light of His dear Son. There's a union
and oneness between the Father and the Son in nature, essence
and power and affection, purpose, which infinitely transcends any
kind of union among men. Yet the oneness of all believers
reflects that oneness between the Father and the Son. We have
a common faith. We believe the same thing, or
we're not in union. See, this thing about being a
Christian, being saved, is not, well, you believe what you want
to believe and I'll believe what I want to believe. It's a union of believing
what God says. We have a common faith, which
all experience and agree in the main point of the gospel, salvation,
conditioned on Christ, who fulfilled those conditions and brought
in everlasting righteousness, and that's my only righteousness
before God. We have a common ground. It's
His righteousness imputed. We have a common love, being
knit together in love with each other, and love for Christ. We have a common goal. What is
that goal? What are we here for this morning?
to worship God, to glorify Him, to exalt Him. That's why we're
here. And we're all one in Christ,
in God, by His grace. Not only will God's grace in
Christ be manifested to future believers, but it eventually
will be manifested to the whole universe because in the end,
even unbelievers are gonna bow the knee. Every knee will bow. Every tongue will confess that
Jesus is Lord. Some, it will be a forced bowing,
which will be prelude to their eternal damnation. But to the
people of God, who have been made willing in the day of his
power, that's what we wanna do. Right now, that's what we wanna
do. And then look at verse 22, he says, and the glory which
thou hast gave us me, I have given them that they may be one,
even as we are one. This glory is eternal life. If
we believe in the Lord Jesus Christ, we have eternal life.
Look back up in verse 3 of John 17. He said, this is life eternal,
that they might know Thee, the only true God, and Jesus Christ
whom Thou hast sent. Do you know God? Well, if you
know God, you know His Son. Look over in Matthew chapter
11. Let me show you something here. Matthew chapter 11, verse 27.
Listen to what Christ tells his disciples. Now this is the passage
where he says, come unto me, all ye that labor and are heavy
laden, and I'll give you rest. Now who's he talking about? All
ye that labor and are heavy laden. But look what he says in verse
27 before that. He says, all things are delivered
unto me of my Father. And no man knoweth the Son, but
the Father. Now what does that mean? If you're
going to know the Son of God, if you're going to know Jesus
Christ, you must know Him as the Father reveals Him. Not as
you think Him to be, but as the Father reveals Him. And how does
the Father reveal Him? Through His Word. What does this
book say about Jesus? He's God, manifest in the flesh. His name shall be called Jesus,
for he shall save his people from their sins. His name shall
be called Emmanuel, for which being interpreted as God with
us. But go on, he says, no man knoweth the son but the father,
neither knoweth any man the father save the son. And he to whomsoever
the son will reveal him. Now what does that mean? You
cannot know God as a loving, gracious, merciful father except
through Jesus Christ, who He is and what He has accomplished. That's the only way you're going
to have a relationship as a child of God to a loving Father. Christ
said, I'm the way, the truth, and the life. No man cometh unto
the Father but by Me. And then over in, remember what
Brother Tim read in John chapter 6 there. where it says that no
man can come to me except the Father which hath sent me draw
him, and I will raise him up at the last day. And verse 45
says, it's written in the prophets, they shall all be taught of God.
God's gonna teach them, now how's he gonna do it? Through his word.
Not through a dream or a vision. Through his word. Every man therefore
that hath heard, heard what? and learned of the Father. What
does that mean? How God can be both a just God and a Savior. A righteous judge as well as
a loving, merciful, gracious Father through Christ. And everyone
who's learned that by the Father teaching him in the preaching
of the Gospel through divine revelation cometh unto Christ. That's what he's talking about.
And that oneness is in fellowship with the Father and the Son having
a common faith, a common ground, a common love, a common goal,
all of that, we've seen the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ. You know, the glory of God is
the highest revelation of God in who He is and what He does
that can be seen in the salvation of a sinner. Glory of the one
who has successfully completed the work of redemption for his
people. And you know what? If one person for whom Christ
died could perish, which they cannot, God would lose all of
his glory. Look at verse 23. He says, I
and them, thou and me, that they may be perfect or complete in
one. I'm not, that word perfect means
complete there. I am not perfect in myself as
far as what we count perfection, sinlessly perfect. I'm a sinner
saved by grace. But I want to tell you something,
I'm perfect in Christ. I'm complete in Him. For in Him dwelleth all
the fullness of the Godhead bodily and you are complete in Him.
Colossians 2, 9 and 10. You know what that means? That
means that my whole salvation and right relationship with God
is totally complete and I can't add anything to it. Don't need
to add anything to it to make it complete now. Those who believe
salvation is that God saves you and then you must add to it to
complete it, that's a false gospel. Salvation's not conditioned on
me, it's conditioned on Christ and he fulfilled all conditions.
He finished the work. My righteousness is his. It's
the righteousness of God. I can't add anything to that.
Don't want to, don't need to. Oh, that I may know him and be
found in him, not having mine own righteousness, which is of
the law, but that which is through the faith or the faithfulness
of Christ. And he goes on, he says, he says,
and that the world may know that thou has sent me and has loved
them as thou has loved me. Now the unbelieving world, they don't know God. They don't
know us. But our testimony in the world
is that we believe in the one and only Savior whom God has
sent. And one day, as I said, the whole
universe will acknowledge that fact. That's what he's praying
for. Verse 24, Father, I will that
they also, whom thou hast given me, be with me where I am. I
love that. I will. I will, he says. His will. His will overrides all other
wills. God said in the covenant of grace,
he said, I'll give them a new heart. I will. He said, I'll
give them a new spirit. I'll give them, I'll put my law
in their hearts and they'll walk with me. That's his sovereignty. His will is mediator on behalf
of his people. We're brought into union with
him and we see his glory in his sovereign purpose and will, working
all things after the counsel of his own will. It's not out
of control. He's not begging for people to
believe in him. He's bringing His people to believe
in Him. That's what He's doing. He conquers
them. That's what I am. I'm a conquered
person. Thank God. He overruled my will
because if left to my own will, what they call their free will,
we would never choose Him. And this brings us to glory in
Him. I boast in Him. He's my bragging
rights. God forbid that I should glory,
boast, except in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ. We are
the circumcision, which means born again, which worship God
in the spirit and rejoice, boast in Christ Jesus and have no confidence
in the flesh. When we die and go to be with
Him, we'll see Him like we have never seen Him before, with perfect
eyes, unhindered eyes, no distractions. Isn't that something? And then
look here, He prays in light of the ground upon which all
salvation rests. Look at verse 25. Well, let's look at verse 24
one more time. Father, I will that they also, whom thou hast
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. We behold his glory now, but
we see through a glass darkly. But then we'll see him as he
is with our perfect eyes, glorified eyes. And then these last two
verses, he prays in light of the ground. He says, O righteous
Father, O just Father, You say, well why didn't he say merciful
father? Well he did. Why didn't he say loving father? He did, but he's emphasizing
a point here. The ground upon which all this
takes place and is assured is the righteousness of God. The
gospel is the revelation of the righteousness of God. Now what
is that righteousness of God? It's the entire worth, value,
merit of the work of Christ on the cross for his people. It's
his righteousness imputed. And he says, the world hath not
known thee, the unbelieving world, but I've known thee, and these
have known that thou hast sent me, those who believe the gospel.
He's sent of God. He's not a charlatan. He's not
a fake. He's not an imposter. He's the
son of God incarnate. And verse 26, and I have declared
unto them that he's declared it. Now how did he declare the
name of God unto me? Through the preaching of the
gospel, in the power of the Spirit. And he said, I will declare it.
He's gonna continue to declare it till he comes again. That
the love wherewith thou hast loved me may be in them, and
I in them. And that's what happens when
the Lord brings a sinner to believe the gospel. power of the Spirit. He works within that sinner's
heart to shed abroad the love of God in Christ. Love based
upon the revelation of God's truth. And that's what binds
us together in love based on the truth.