Open your Bibles, if you would, to John Chapter 17. John Chapter 17. I've been looking
forward to this study, been looking forward to this night. Starting
Wednesday night, study's up again. Always a great blessing to gather
through the midweek. As Brother Dave said, it's an
oasis. This is an oasis for us. The world's a desert. It's a
desert, and this is a place where we can come amongst brethren
and be refreshed and sit and listen to the gospel and rejoice
in the wonderful truths in the scripture that point us to the
Lord Jesus Christ. John chapter 17, the name of
the message is the High Priestly Prayer, and this will be the
first message. It'll be an introduction in a
sense to the study, but it'll be a full message about John
17. And we'll begin this study tonight
in John 17. It's a portion of scripture that's
much beloved by God's people as we get a glimpse into the
communion of Christ and the Father in prayer. And remember, Christ
always had this communion. But remember, there was a time
when he cried, my God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me? God
the Father forsook Christ so that we would never be forsaken.
What a great God. Oh, what a great and glorious
God. But we get a glimpse here into the intercession of Christ
for his people as well. And our Savior, he's about to
go to the cross. This is a few days before his
death upon Calvary's cross, just as we're going through the book
of Matthew currently in the resurrection series, and this weekend we'll
be at the crucifixion. These are days before his death,
days before he goes to the cross and dies as the Passover lamb
to save his people from their sins, to save us who have sinned
against God. And remember, he's offering himself
up to God for us in our room and place. Wonder of wonders
that God incarnate in the flesh would do that. And again, we're
gonna get a glimpse into the blessed communion between the
Son of God, Jesus Christ, God in the flesh, and God the Father. We're gonna get a glimpse into
the communion that our Lord had with the Father all through his
life. Remember, this communion was
unbroken during his life. until he died on the cross, again
when he cried, my God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me? But
now he's with the Father, isn't he? In glory. And we're going
to see that prayer answered as well in this wonderful text,
the fact that he's in glory. And it's wonderful as a pattern
of intercession. We will see Christ first praying
to the Father about himself, and then we'll see Christ praying
for the apostles, and then at the end of the chapter, we'll
see Christ praying for us, for God's elect, for those who would
believe through the preaching of the gospel. And as believers, I feel like
this is one of those chapters where we feel like Moses, take
off your shoes. You're on holy ground. Now all
scripture is holy ground, isn't it? This scripture, this is very
dear, very dear for us because we hear our Lord praying for
us. And this is him as the high priest
as well, too. Remember that he'll be talking
as the one offering himself up, but this is also the great high
priestly prayer. Again, where he's interceding
for us before the Father. My, oh my. And remember who's
speaking. Remember who's praying. This
is God incarnate in the flesh, he's praying. And he allowed
his disciples to hear this so that it could be recorded. I
was reading several commentators, and they said, don't let it slip
by the fact that Christ allowed his disciples to hear this. And
what a blessing it was for them. And we're going to find out why
it was such a blessing for them. My, oh my. God incarnate in the
flesh. And this is his high priestly
prayer, the prayer of the great high priest. And he prayed this again just
before he went to the cross and to the tomb, and now is at the
right hand of the Father. Something to take note of as
we read this chapter in a few minutes is there are 26 verses
in this chapter, 26 verses. And as we read this chapter,
we're gonna read the whole chapter to start. As we read this chapter, take note of how much our Lord
speaks of those whom the Father has given him. And when you hear
that, as a believer, remember, that's you and I. He's praying this 2,000 years
ago. And when he says, those that
you've given me, that's you and I, beloved. Just think about
that as we read this portion of scripture. Because when he
speaks of those who the Father has given him, he's speaking
of all the elect, of all the ages. And take note how many
times we're mentioned. We don't know who they are, do
we? We don't know who God's elect. We have no clue. Anyone who tells
you they know who they are, they're lying. We have no idea. But I'll tell you what, they're
going to hear the word. And they're going to believe all by the power
of God, the Holy Spirit, all according to the Father's will,
and all because of the sacrifice of Christ. They shall be saved. There won't be one of them. There
won't be one of them that's left behind. You're gonna receive
the word of God with gladness. I ask you, have you received
the word of God with gladness? Is it wonderful to you now? Is
it a balm to your soul now? One before, was it, before the
Lord saved us? No, but now, oh. So let's start
reading this. We're gonna read the whole chapter
here. John chapter 17, 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 has given him power over
all flesh, that he should give eternal life to as many as thou
has given him. And this is life eternal, that
they might know thee the only true God and Jesus Christ whom
thou has 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 manifest Thy name unto
the men which Thou hast givest 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 come 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. All,
and all are mine, 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 thou 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 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 I come to thee, and these
things I speak in the world. They might have my joy fulfilled
in themselves. I have given them thy word, and
the world hateth 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 that thou shouldest keep them
from 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 in one, and that the world may know that
thou hast sent me, and hast loved them as thou lovest me. 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.
O righteous Father, the world hath not known Thee, but I have
known Thee, and these have known Thee that Thou hast sent me,
and these have known that Thou hast sent me. And I have declared
unto them Thy name, and I will declare it, that the love wherewith
Thou hast loved me may be in them, and I in them. My, oh my,
what a portion of Scripture, beloved. What a portion. Now, in the preceding chapter,
chapter 16, before this high priestly prayer, our Lord had
preached a sermon to his people. And he was telling them that
the Comforter will soon come. He said, I must go so that the
Comforter will come. And he also told them that you're
going to face persecution, but your sorrow is going to be turned
into joy. And he comforted his disciples
by telling them also that he had overcome the world. Near
the end of John 16, he says, I've overcome the world. What
great peace that will give us as believers. All through these
things that go on in this world, our Lord's overcome them all.
Nothing catches him by surprise. Look at John 16, 31. After he's
told them about these things in chapter 16, he asks them a
very important question. Jesus answered them, do ye now
believe? That's a question for all of
us, right? We've heard the gospel, do you now believe? By God's
grace, I believe. Right? Look what he says. And then he tells us two reasons
for these words of his sermon. And let these sink deep into
our souls, we who are the redeemed of the Lord. This is honey for
our souls. Look at the last two verses.
Look at verse 32 and 33. Behold, the hour has come, yea,
is now come, that she shall be scattered. every man to his own,
and shall leave me alone. And yet I am not alone, because
the Father is with me." These things have I spoken. Look
why he spoke these things to them in John 16. And remember,
this is a preface. This happened right before John
17. So when they would hear these words of John 17, oh, what peace would flood their
souls. Because look what he says here.
These things have I spoken unto you, that ye might have peace.
In the world ye shall have tribulation. It doesn't say you might. God's
people will have tribulation in the world. Look at this. But be of good cheer, I will
come to world. He's overcome the world, beloved.
My, oh, my. So after finishing his sermon,
the Lord Jesus Christ here follows it up with prayer. the high priestly
prayer in John 17. And we see he first makes the
subject of it personal in relation to himself. This prayer is actually
split up into three sections. The three sections are a prayer
concerning himself, a prayer concerning the apostles, and
a prayer concerning the church, all the elect of all the ages.
It's broken up into three sections, and as we go through, we're gonna
do it verse by verse, I hope, or a couple verses at a time,
but we're gonna take our time going through this. Really take
our time going. There's so much packed into this
chapter. It's absolutely incredible. And
again, the communion of the Lord Jesus Christ is brought forth
before us, the communion that he had with the Father. Look
at verse one. These words spake Jesus and lifted
up his eyes to heaven and said, Father, you can just hear the
intimacy of that relationship. Father, the hour has come. Glorify thy son that thy son
also may glorify thee. So we see his first desire is
that God the Father would glorify the Son. Why? That he might glorify
God. See, he's here, he came to this
world for the glory of God. God is glorified in the salvation
of sinners through Christ. His first and foremost reason
for coming is to glorify God. and to save his people from their
sins. And in saving his people, God's
glorified, isn't he? And he's not just glorified by
Christ, he's glorified by us, by our mouths, praising his name
for what he's done. Oh my, it's incredible, beloved. It's absolutely incredible. And
no, he didn't say glorify me that I may glorify thee. No,
he says glorify thy son. So he's talking about the relationship
that they have. Is God the Father, God the Son,
we know, and God the Holy Spirit, the three are one. He's talking
about the relationship that they have. And remember, he's in submission
to the Father while he's on this earth. He's submitting to the
will of the Father, but his will is the same as the Father's.
We're going to see that later on when we go through near the
last section about us as the church. His will is the same
as the Father. My oh my. So our great savior
here is bringing forth his intimate relationship with the father
when he says, thy son, thy son. Prayer is very personal, very
personal. And he expresses a desire to maintain that sense of relationship
at the hour of his coming death. He says, the hour has come. Glorify
thy son, that the son may glorify thee. He knows the cross is right
before him. Time is closing fast. Time is
pressing fast. What did he say in the garden?
Not my will, but thy will be done. Why? Because he's here to glorify
the Father. And again, he'll be glorified.
The Father will be glorified in the salvation of sinners.
Sinners that we saw the Father gave him. My. And again, notice how personal
this is. Glorify thou me with the glory which I had with thee
before the world was. He's expressing his desire for
a return to that of which he emptied himself of. He set aside
his glory, didn't he, when he came to this world? He set aside
his glory to come to this incursed world to redeem our eternal souls. My, what love. And it's the love,
it's the eternal love that drove him here, drove him to come here
for us, to save our souls. People always talk about getting
saved from hell. Well, I need to be saved from
my sins. Hell is a result of my sins. I need to be saved from
my sins. That's what's most important.
And the scripture says he came to save his people from their
sins. That's what we need to be saved from. My. No one wants to go to hell. I've
not met anyone yet who wants to go there. Not one. My oh my. So He has a desire
to return to the glory of which He set aside when He came to
this earth. And you know what? The only way
of returning to glory, the only way is through the cross. That's the only way. Through
the cross. That's what the Fathers willed,
right? That's what He sent down here to do, to save His people
from their sins. So He must go to that cross. He must die. Remember,
He knows the end from the beginning. He knows what lies ahead. He
knows exactly what's going to happen. He's God in the flesh. My. Then from verse 6 to 19, He prayed
for the men who were Then about him, the apostles, he prays to
the Father. Look at verse 6. He prays to the Father, the work
he's already done for them. He's manifested his name to them.
Look at John 17, 6. I have manifest 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 notice this. Notice, which thou gavest me. Out of the world,
we're cut from the same rock as everybody else. We're hewn
from the great quarry of mankind, aren't we? And the only one who
made us to differ is God. Oh, look at that. And it says,
thine they were, and thou gavest them me. Again, we see the Father's
given him a people. And this is talking about the
apostles here, Lo. And they have kept thy word. Well, he has only
one name, Yahweh, Jehovah. That's his name, Jehovah. My,
oh my. I have manifest thy name. And
this first group of men are Hebrews. The apostles are all Hebrews.
And they knew that God had one name. They knew that God had
one name. God had said, this is my name,
a memorial name to all generations, Jehovah. Now they know him. Now they really
know him. They may have heard of him by
the ear, right? Which one time we heard of him by the ear. And
the Holy Spirit made that word a factual. Oh my, now we really
know him. Or, as Paul wrote, our knowing
of God. He's always known us. Isn't that
wonderful? And Jesus says, here I have manifest
thy name to them. He has interpreted the meaning of
the prophetic name. that thou took for thyself a
long time ago. He says, I've manifested thy
name unto the man thou gavest me. Now, they had by no means reached
a full understanding of who God was. No, not at all. Just as
we haven't. We only know what's being revealed
to us. But we're growing in the knowledge of Christ, aren't we?
And the more we grow in the knowledge of Christ, the more in awe we
are of who our God really is. And that's all by the power of
God, the Holy Spirit. They knew that He was the Word
of God. John, the apostle, penned, in the beginning was the Word,
and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. That's speaking
of the Word of God in all His glory in heaven, right? And then later on it says, and
the Word became flesh, He set aside His glory and dwelt among us, and we beheld
the fullness of who He was. My, oh my. He set aside His glory
to save us from our sins, beloved. My, oh my. Now he expresses three desires
for his apostles. He expresses three desires to
the father for his apostles. Number one, to keep them in thy
name. Number two, that they may be one even as we are. Or that's
number one, keep them in thy name that they may be one even
as we are. Number two, keep them from evil.
And number three, sanctify them in the truth. Look at John 17,
11. And now I am no more in the world,
but these are in the world. So Christ is going to send the
glory, and he's going to leave his apostles here. And I come
to thee, Holy Father. Keep thou thine own name, those
whom thou hast given me, that they may be as one as we are. Keep them, Lord, please. Please,
Father, keep them. And then look at verse 15, he
says, I pray not that thou shouldest take them out of the world, but
that thou shouldest keep them from evil. There's the second
desire. And then the third desire in
verse 17, sanctify them through thy truth. Thy word is truth. My, oh my. And note the first
desire of the Lord Jesus Christ. for the apostles is, keep thou
thine own name, those whom thou hast given me, that they may
be one as we are one. And then the other two desires
that Christ is praying for his people, for those who believe through his
word, when he says, neither I pray for these alone, but for them
also which shall believe on me through their word. My, oh, my. Our Lord Jesus Christ is bringing
forth that if the Father keeps them, then they shall be kept from
evil and they shall be sanctified by the word of God. Then in verse 20, we see the
Lord praying for his people. This is the third section that
this high priestly prayer is broken into. Look what he says
in verse 20. Neither pray I for these alone,
meaning the apostles, that's who he was praying for in the
second section, but for them also which shall believe on me
through their word. Now this hits us. He's speaking
of all the elect of all the ages, those who would hear from the
New Testament, those who would hear the gospel through the preaching
of the apostolic truth of the gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ,
that salvation is absolutely complete and finished in Christ. Look at that, neither pray I
for these alone, but for them also, which shall believe on
me through their word, through the preaching of the gospel.
And again, this is all the Christians. All the New Testament Christians,
all the members of the Church of God, and all who are members
of the one church are so because they've been born again by the
Holy Spirit of God. That's the only way we're in
the church. The only way we're in the body of Christ is to be
born again by the power of the Holy Spirit of God. Now we believe
because we've been born again, because we're granted faith. And then let's read all of John
17, verses 20 to 26, considering this third section, which is
the church. Neither pray I for these alone, being the apostles,
but for them also, which shall believe on me through their word,
that they 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. In the glory which thou gavest
me, I have given them. that they may be one, even as
we are one. I in them, and thou in me, that
they may be made perfect in one, and that the world may know that
thou hast sent me, and hast loved them as thou hast loved me. Look
at that. Look at that. Look at that. Just let that sit and sink in,
beloved. Meditate on this wonderful truth
here. The Lord Jesus Christ just said, just said here, 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. Now if he's loved Christ
from the foundation of the world, which he has, has he not loved
all who were chosen in him from before the foundation of the
world? Oh, don't let that pass you by, beloved. That's a nugget
of truth that'll just bless your soul. And then he says here,
O righteous father of the world, hath not known thee. We are at
enmity with God in our natural state. We do not know God in
our natural state. But I have known thee, and these
have known that thou hast sent me. He's revealed himself to
them. And he's revealed to them that
the Father sent him. Oh my. 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. Well here for
his whole church, Christ has one desire for his whole church,
and one determination. One desire in this portion, and
one determination. Here's our Lord's desire in verse
21, and just let this sink in. Oh, this is wonderful. Speaking
of us, that all, that they all, meaning all that the Father gave
him, every single believer, not one lost, right? He said, all
that the Father gave me shall come to me, right? Yeah, he won't
lose any of them, will he? Not one of them. Look at this,
look at this. This is wonderful, that they
all may be one. As thou, Father, art in me, and
I in thee, that they also may be one in us. Oh, that's a prayer of the high
priest. He desires that all believers
would be one with him and the Father. Well, he's the head,
isn't he? And we're the body. Where the
head is, the body soon falls, right? Henry Mahan said that,
I'll never forget that, that's a wonderful saying. Where the
head is, the body will soon follow. We're gonna be in glory with
him. Oh my. We're soon, very soon, in God's
timing, we don't know what it is, but we'll either be in glory
with the Lord Jesus Christ when we die, or if we're alive at
his coming, we'll be caught up. My oh my. Our lives are like
a vapor. And I'm 58 this year, and I look
back when my son was born, and my daughter was born, and it
just seems like yesterday, beloved, that I held them in my arms.
And now they're both a young lady and a young man. My goodness,
adults now go so quickly, so quickly it passes by. Now think of this too. We know
that Christ has a vital relationship with the Father, right? This
also speaks to the vital relationship he has with us. He desires us,
we his people, we his purchased people to be with him forever.
Forever. What a vital relationship that
the Father has with the Son and what a vital relationship that
we have with the Son. and that we have with the Father
through the Son. And it's all according to the
will of God. And it's all by the power of
God. We did not put ourselves in Christ.
God put us in Christ. God chose us in Christ before
the foundation of the world. My oh my, men so arrogantly think
they can put themselves in Christ. No. That's God's business. That's God's work. We're receivers
of this mercy and grace. And salvation's of the Lord,
isn't it? From start to finish, it's all Him. We see that even
here. When the Son's praying, I want
them to be with me. My, oh my. One in life, one in
light, one in love, one in unity, One in manifestation of being
born again by the Holy Spirit of God. One in love all according
to the power of the Holy Spirit of God. That's what his people
are in Christ. Now let's look at the determination.
I said there's one desire and we're gonna finish this with
the one determination. Look at this. Look at verse 24. I didn't see this until I started
studying this, and I had to put this in. I was just amazed. This
is incredible. Remember who's speaking here.
This is God in the flesh. Is anything too hard for the
Lord? Can anyone hinder His hand? So if God determines to do something,
it's going to be done, right? If the Son determines to do something,
it's going to be done. If the Father determines to do
something, it's going to be done. If the Holy Spirit determines
to do something, it's going to be done. Now look at this. Look at this determination in
John 17, verse 24. Look at this. Father, I will. That's the Son of God saying.
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. See
the word I will? The two words I will? In the Greek it's one
word. It's defined as I determine. I determine. 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. Our Lord is proclaiming his will.
He is determined that his people will be there. That's God the
Son saying that. That's no mere man. And remember,
He spoke this in the presence of the apostles so that they
would write this down. And here we are marveling at
the fact that Christ said, I'm determined that they're going
to be with me. That's no mere man saying that, is that? We
can say, I'm determined to do that. Right? Our Lord, His will,
He's determined it will happen. Nothing's too hard for Him, is
it? No one can stay His hand. No one can say, what are you
doing, Lord? No one can say that. So let this sink into our hearts.
Father, I've determined that they also, whom thou has given
me, be with me. Oh my, I get so excited when
I saw them. Where? Where I am. He's going
to glory, beloved. He's going back to glory. that
they may behold my glory." You know how Peter and James and
John got a little glimpse? We're going to see Him face to
face in His glory. We are going to see Him, beloved.
The minute we breathe our last breath, we're going to see Him
face to face because He's determined for us to be there. Oh, amen. It's wonderful. It's
absolutely wonderful. Wonderful. This is my determination. This is my decision. This is
my will. That they shall be with me in
glory, and they will behold my glory. And this is all of us. This is
the apostles, all of us, the saints before the New Testament,
everyone. We're going to behold His glory.
Remember Job said, I heard of you, but now by faith I've seen
you. And then one day when this body's
consumed, I'm going to see you face to face. That's true for
every one of us who are born again blood-washed saints of
God. Look at that, that they may behold
my glory. That's going to happen. Think
of our loved ones who passed. Right now, they are beholding
the glory of God. I think of Brother Calvin. He's
beholding the glory of God. Brother Wayne, he's beholding
the glory of God. Brother Richard and Sister Irene,
they're beholding the glory of God. Right now. My, and we'll soon be with them. In God's time, our life's nothing,
millisecond. But oh my, my, behold my glory. Where's that? Well, go back to
what he was saying about himself. He's going to the cross, and
through the cross, he's going to the cross to glorify God,
and then to what? To return to glory. And have the glory restored to
him that he lay aside. And we're going to see him. We're going to see him, beloved.
We're going to see him in the glory that he had before his
humiliation. Because he humbled himself, didn't
he? He became a man to save us from our sins. And Marv brought this. He's praying
for all his people. In this prayer we see here, he's
praying for all, this section here, he's praying for all his
blood-washed saints, that they would be in glory with him, to
behold his glory. The glory which the Father hath
given him. And he says, look what he says of the Father's
love. For thou hast lovest me before the foundation of the
world. That's eternal love. And see, God doesn't change,
right? He's the same yesterday, today, and forever. So if his
love has been set upon Christ since the foundation of the world,
his love has been set upon those who are in Christ from before
the foundation of the world. Oh my. And we say, me? Me? Yeah. My. It's God's will. It's the Lord Jesus Christ's
will. And we see here his determination that we would be with him in
glory. And the only way that's possible
is through the cross. Remember, as he's praying this,
he knows what's coming. He knows what's coming. Going
to the cross and dying in the room and place of his people,
having his nails hammered to that cross, or his hands hammered
to that cross with nails, his feet pierced They platted a crown
of thorns upon his head. He had blood pouring from his,
and they say, I know that from a head wound, it bleeds even
more than any other wound. So blood, he must have just been
covered in blood, beloved. Scripture says his visage was
so marred. Oh my, what our Lord did for
us. And then, after all that, he's
placed upon that cross, and the wrath of God's fallen on him. In three hours of darkness, we
don't know what happened there. And then at the end he cried,
it is finished. And Paul wrote, and heaven obtained
eternal redemption for us. He fully satisfied the demands
for the payment of our sins by the sacrifice of Himself. And
remember again, who's praying this prayer? I'm going to end
with this. Remember who's praying this prayer? It's God in the
flesh. It's the Word of God. It's the second person of the
Trinity. And what He determines will come
to pass. Hallelujah.