If you'll take your Bibles now
and turn to John chapter 17. Last week I spoke a little bit
and tried to give you a little bit of an introduction into John
17. This morning I want to begin
our study, and I'm going to do this kind of in a two-part I'm
going to talk about this a little bit this morning in the Sunday
school class and again in the main message this morning. John chapter 17 is the Lord's
Prayer. I can remember all through my
youth attending church and hearing what men called the Lord's Prayer. Our Father, which art in heaven,
hallowed be Thy name, and so on. But that's not the Lord's
prayer. That's the disciples' prayer.
They said over there in Matthew chapter 6, they said to Him,
teach us to pray. And He said, well, you pray after
this manner. In other words, here's an outline
for prayer. He wasn't telling them to mimic
this prayer or to recite it before men like they do today. But he
was telling them, here's an outline for prayer. When you go before
God, structure your prayer this way. Our Father, which art in
heaven, hallowed be thy name, and so on. You can read the prayer,
Matthew chapter 6, verses 9 through 13. But John 17 is the prayer
of our great high priest unto God. And to read this prayer
is like listening in on a heavenly conversation. Now I want you
to just think about that for a minute and let that sink in.
Our Lord told His disciples when He said, now you pause here and
you watch and I'm going to go over here and pray. You listen. You don't speak. You don't do
anything. You just sit right here. I'm
going over here, and I'm going to pray, and I want you to watch."
And he went over there, and he began to pray. And he looked
over there, and they were fast asleep. And he came over, and
he woke them up. And he said, can you not watch
even for an hour? And he woke them up and he went
back and began to pray again. And they fell asleep again. And
he woke them a second time. And he went back to pray. And
their eyes were heavy with sleep. And they went off to sleep. And
he let them sleep on. But here in John 17, this is
the prayer of our great High Priest. And to consider what
he says here is to hear what God's High Priest says to the
Heavenly Father on behalf of all those which the Father has
given to Him. Wouldn't it be something to be one of God's elect and
have the privilege to listen to your high priest speak to
God on your behalf? Wouldn't that be something? That's
what's going on here. That's exactly what's going on
here. This is not a universal prayer. It offers no comfort,
no assurance to the world, that is, without distinction. But it says in verse 9, I pray
not for the world, but for them which thou hast given me. Now,
some writers try to limit this prayer only to the apostles.
These men who would be his witnesses, these men whom he set aside to
be witnesses of his life, of these miracles that God did by
his hand, of his messages, of his encounters with the sick, of his prayer, of his death,
of his transfiguration, of his resurrection. They try to limit
this prayer only to the apostles who would be His witnesses. But
it says here in verse 20, neither pray I for these alone, but for
them also which shall believe on me through their word. This
is a prayer for all God's elect, not a prayer just for His apostles.
And His intention in this prayer is to comfort those who were
with Him. and so that he prays in such
a fashion as they can hear his words. But he also means to comfort
all his disciples, and so he preserves these words and allows
us, as they did, to hear them also. We hear what he has to
say. The question is, do we hear?
Can we hear? Are we interested to hear what
he has to say? Well, here in the first few words
of this prayer, it says these words spake Jesus. Now, Jesus means Savior. He came into this world. They
said this. They said, Thou shalt call His
name Jesus. Jesus. For He shall save His
people from their sins. It means Savior. Now, to be a
Savior requires three things. It requires an office of a prophet,
of a priest, and of a king. And throughout this prayer, he
speaks of these three offices and confirms himself as the Savior
sent of the Father to accomplish His will in all of these offices. And he begins with this announcement.
These words speak Jesus. These words speak the Savior. The Savior. And in the first
three verses, He speaks of His office as King. He prays that
the Father will glorify Him in order for Him, by way of these
offices, to glorify the Father. And it begins with this statement,
here in John 17. As thou hast given him power. Without doing any damage to that
word whatsoever, you can insert the word authority. According as thou hast given
him authority. But authority is not the full
meaning of power, is it? Power also has to do with ability. Given him ability. giving Him power. Why was such
a power given? It says that He should give eternal
life to as many as thou hast given Him. Now, in order to enter
into any kind of understanding of what He's saying here, you're
going to have to separate, in your mind, the eternal deity
of Christ from the man Christ Jesus, the Mediator. I know that
He was God and that He never ceased to be God. But as God,
He always had authority over all flesh, didn't He? He had
authority over all flesh because He created them. He created them. Without Him
was nothing made that was made. As absolute God, there was never
a time that He did not have absolute power over all flesh. Now, the God of this world is
a God who's lost control. He has power over nothing, really,
that I can see. He lost his desire to have a
creation that glorified his name in the
garden. He lost control over that. That's
what he wanted to do, but he couldn't do it. He lost his will
over man because of the woman. He lost his way of redemption
through Cain, and he lost his vision for the world through
sin. It says, it repented God that he ever made man. Ain't
that what it says? And that's what this world says.
Satan took his rule, sin took his vision, and man destroyed
his glory. I invite you to listen. Turn
your radio on. Turn your TV on if you think
I'm making this up and listen to what they're saying. Try to
apply what they're saying to this God that's spoken of and
declared in this book. Just close your eyes and try
to vision what it is they're saying and what this book says
and you'll find two different people. The God of this world's never
had control over anything. He doesn't have control over
creation. He has no control over providence,
and he has no control over salvation. It's all up to you. I don't know
how many times I've heard that statement made from the pulpit. I remember out on the job one
day there was a man there, and he'd messed something up. I don't
remember what it was, and I was talking to him about it. And
he said, well, he said, I'm in good company. Even God makes
mistakes. That's the God of this world.
That's how they perceive Him. How they perceive Him. That's
the God of this world. He does whatever circumstance
dictates. He reacts to circumstance. He
does what men allow Him to do. He's a little bit more powerful
than Satan. But Satan still blindsides him
and gets his way sometimes. Just listen to him talk. But this book says that the living
God worketh all things. That's a big statement. I want
you to just pause and consider that for a minute. Because that's
what Christ is talking about here in this prayer. Giving him
power over all flesh. The Bible says that the living
God worketh all things, past, present, and future, exactly how He pleases. That's
what it says, exactly. In Isaiah chapter 45, let me
read you a few verses over here from the prophet Isaiah. In Isaiah's prophecies, chapter
45, beginning with verse 5, he said, I am the Lord, and there
is none else. There is no God beside me. I girded thee, though thou hast
not known me, that they may know from the rising of the sun and
from the west that there is none beside me. I am the Lord, and
there is none else. I form the light and create darkness. I make peace and create evil.
I, the Lord, do all these things. I'm God. And before ever there
was evil in this world, before ever there was a man, before
ever there was a sin, before ever there was any kind of a
controversy, before ever a creature walked on this earth or the lights
were put in the heavens or any of these things, He said, I was
God. I was God. Who do you think created
these things? Who do you think purposed these
things? You think these things just happened? You think these
things just evolved? You think these things just popped
up all of a sudden? Listen to what he says. He said,
I've done these things. I took you. You was the least
among the nations of the world. And I took you, and I girded
you, even though you didn't know me. men might know from the West
and from the rising of the sun that there is none beside me.
I am the Lord and there is none else. Drop down, ye heavens from
above, and let the skies pour down righteousness. Let the earth
open, and let them bring forth salvation, and let righteousness
spring up together. I, the Lord, have created it.
Woe to him that striveth with his maker. Let the potsherds
strive with the potsherds of the earth. Shall the clay say
unto him that formed it, what makest thou? Or thy work? Or that he hath no hands? Woe unto him that sayeth unto
his father, what begattest thou? Or the woman, what hast thou
brought forth? Thus saith the Lord, the Holy
One of Israel and His Maker, ask me of things to come concerning
my sons and concerning the work of my hands. Command ye me. I
have made the earth and created man upon it. I, even my hands,
have stretched out the heavens, and all their hosts have I commanded. I have raised him up in righteousness,
and I will direct all his ways. He shall build my city, and he
shall let go my captives. Not for price or reward, saith
the Lord of hosts." This is what's taking place here in this prayer.
This is what Christ is talking about. Turn with me to Ephesians
chapter 1. Ephesians chapter 1. Now, we look at this chapter
often. And I'll just glance over these
first several verses here. But in Ephesians chapter 1, God
declares His eternal purpose of grace. He said He chose us
in Christ before the foundation of the world. He chose us to
inherit the blessings of the Father, verses 3 and 4. Verse
5, predestinated those He chose unto the adoption of children, determined before to have them
as sons of God, verse 6, made us accepted in the blood. All
our acceptance, all of it, all of it is based on His relationship
with the Father, His righteousness, His atonement, His will. Verse
7, redeemed by His blood, paid all debts attached to our name. Now listen to these next several
verses. All that God has determined to
do, and all that God has predestinated, and all that God has chosen,
wherein, going back over the things that He just stated, wherein,
He hath abounded toward us in all wisdom and prudence, having
made known unto us the mystery of His will according to His
good pleasure which He purposed in Himself. that in the dispensation
of the fullness of times he might gather together in one all things
in Christ, both which are in heaven, which are on earth, even
in him, in whom also we have obtained an inheritance, being
predestinated according to the purpose of him who worketh all
things after the counsel of his own will." You see what this
authority is all about here. This is God's eternal purpose. And God's eternal purpose was
in this Mediator King to manifest all his glory in the salvation
of a people that he chose in Christ. The great Mediator of
God prays on the brink of his death to be glorified in what
he's doing, that in what he does he may glorify the God of all
purpose. And he prays this prayer not
as God to God, but as the Savior to the Father who sent him. And
he said, grant these petitions to me according to that power
which you vested in me to save your chosen sons. Grant me these
petitions. I tell you, there is no hope
in a helpless God. There's no hope. No hope. No hope in a helpless God who's
trying to save men who won't let Him. Where's the hope in
that? And no hope in a Savior who has
no power to save. No hope in a Redeemer who doesn't
have the price to pay to redeem. There's no hope in praying to
a God who has no power to grant you petitions. Actually, James said that kind
of a man in that kind of a prayer, he said, let not that man think
he's going to receive anything from God. The God who loves everybody loves
nobody as God. How can you say that, preacher?
Because nothing can defeat the love of God. God who is attempting to save
everybody can save nobody because He's got no power to keep anybody
out of hell. Actually, if God has no power
to save, He has no power to condemn either. What do you think about
that? It's what one preacher was talking
to a fellow one time. He told him, he said, if you
don't let God save you, He's going to send you to hell. And
he said, well, if I can resist God from saving me, I can resist
His condemnation. And he's got a point. He's got a point. Salvation is God's glorious work. It's His secret work He speaks
of. His glorious work. It's the reason for creation.
And it's the basis of all providence. All things, he said, work together
for your good and His glory. His glory. Praying this prayer is the God-man
mediator, the firstborn of every creature. He's the reason for
their existence. I don't know. Science says things
were created in their basics. I heard one man say that. God
created things in their basics. He controlled certain things
and then the individual things evolved. But that's not what it says.
It says that all things were made by Him and for Him. That's what it says in Colossians
1.16. He is before all things and by Him all things consist. He gives them reason, He gives
them purpose, and He gives them preservation. All flesh is under
His dominion. Turn with me over to Romans chapter
8 for just a minute. Romans chapter 8. We're talking
about this authority. Christ begins this high priestly
prayer, and He begins by Making these petitions to the Father,
he said, glorify thy son, that thy son also may glorify thee. Not as the second person of the
Godhead. As the second person of the Godhead,
he thought it not robbery to be equal with God. But as the
mediator, as the savior, as the king, priest, and prophet of
God, And He said, glorify Me. Glorify what I am doing. Glorify
My work on this earth. Glorify this body. Glorify My
dead. Glorify these things that I might
glorify you in these things. And I am saying this, that all
flesh is under His dominion. All creation is under His dominion. All providence is under His dominion.
Nothing happens. Not a sparrow can fall to the
ground. Nothing. Nothing outside His
control. Now watch this, Romans 8, 16. The Spirit Himself beareth witness
with our spirit that we are children of God. And if children, then
heirs, heirs of God and joint heirs with Christ, if so be that
we suffer with Him, that we may be also glorified together. For I reckon that the sufferings
of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the
glory which shall be revealed in us." There's some glory in
this thing. It's not a glory that has anything
to do with us. It's what God does for us through
Christ. And it's a great glory. It's
His most glorious work. And whatever sufferings and whatever
death and whatever trials might come to us in this world, it's
not even to be compared with that glory that's going to be
revealed in us in that day. Now, watch this. For the earnest
expectation of the creature. Now, I challenge you to look
that word up. That word is creation. Translate
it any way you want to. It says the same thing. For the
earnest expectation of creation waiteth for the manifestation
of the sons of God. What's he talking about? What's he talking about? All
creation is maintained, preserved, and governed waiting for this
inheritance. It's waiting for this glory.
It's waiting for this glory that's going to be revealed in us in
that day. All creation. That's the earnest expectation
of creation. For the creation, verse 20, was
made subject to vanity, not willingly, but by reason of him who hath
subjected the same in hope. Because the creation itself also
shall be delivered. from the bondage of corruption
into the glorious liberty of the children of God. We know
that the whole creation groaneth and travaileth in pain together
until now. And not only they, but ourselves
also, which have the firstfruits of the Spirit. Even we ourselves
groan within ourselves, just like creation does. We groan
within ourselves. And we wait for the adoption
to wit, the redemption of our body. It's waiting on that final
day when sin is no more. And you're perfect. Perfect. As you are in Christ, we'll know
as we are known in that day. Salvation demands the sovereign
rule of God to overrule its curse Govern it to the end for which
it was created. And that He does. And then listen
to this. Romans chapter 14 and verse 7. This is important. This will
comfort you actually. If you can enter into it, it
will give you great comfort. For none of us liveth to himself. Romans 14 verse 7. And no man
dieth to himself. No man has an existence on this
earth to his own end. He wasn't put here for that purpose. He's not here by accident. He's
not here by chance. He's here on purpose. He's a
vessel in the hand of the potter. And he can be turned with care
and precision and he can be contoured with grace and glory and be a
vessel of honor, a trophy of grace. He can be used as a common
vessel to demonstrate a common end and then be cast aside without
any glory at all. We do not live or die to ourselves. There is a higher purpose to
men than this temporary place in time. Verse 8, For whether
we live, we live unto the Lord, and whether we die, we die unto
the Lord. Whether we live, therefore, or
die, we are the Lord. Now watch this. For to this end
Christ both died and rose and revived that He might be Lord
both of the dead and the living. You see that? That's that authority
He's talking about in this prayer. Glorify Me. Glorify Me that I
might glorify You as You've given Me power over all flesh to this
end that I might give eternal life to as many as Thou hast
given me." Christ is Lord, absolute sovereign over all flesh, and
this gift of sovereign authority given to Him to save. As the
high priest of old, He carried the names of His children. You
see that there? He gave Him this power that He
might save as many as the Father had given Him. That old high
priest of old, when he went in beyond that veil, he didn't go
in for himself. He didn't go in for whosoever
will. He went in for exactly who was
listed on his breastplate and whose names were written on his
shoulder to bear them up before God. He didn't go in there for
the Canaanites and the Hittites and all the other ites. He went
in there for Israel. And even so, this power and this
glory and all these things that's given to Christ, the God-man,
His becoming flesh, everything that He did, the life He lived,
the death He died, the resurrection, God rose, raised Him up, and
then He ascended up into glory, seated at the right hand of God.
All of these things, He said, to save, to save and to give
eternal life to as many as the Father has given me. And all that the king priest
accomplishes in his life and death and rule, he reveals to
the hearts of chosen sinners that through that prophetic rule,
that child might have everlasting life. Look at verse 3. And this
is life eternal, that they might know Thee, the only true God,
and Jesus Christ whom Thou sent. That prophetic rule is the revelation
of Christ in you, the hope of glory.