As Father, I pray for them, I
pray for my sheep. His prayers are always heard
too. He always asks those things that
are in accordance with the Father's will, never contrary to the Father's
will. His prayers are always heard. And His praying for us shows
His love for us. eternal concern and love for
sheep. He said, I love my sheep. I know
my sheep. I love my sheep. I lay down my life for my sheep.
And here he prayed for his sheep. I prayed for them. I interceded
for them. Peter, he said, I prayed for
you. Think about that. I've prayed for you. And His
prayers not only show His love for us and concern for us, but
His prayers for us show our dangers. Think about that, our dangers
and the need for Him to pray for us. We must be faced with great and
perilous dangers for the Son of God to take upon Himself.
Pray for us. Then he says, secondly, I pray
not for the world. This intercession, like I said,
his prayers are always heard and he never prays contrary to
the will of God. He never asks anything contrary
to God's eternal purpose and will. So therefore, he says,
I don't pray for everybody. I don't pray for the world. I
don't pray for the carnal, unbelieving world which lies in sin and will
be forever lost and condemned. Only those for whom he is the
perpetuation is he the advocate. I consider that only those for
whom he is the perpetuation, the sin offering, the scapegoat,
the covering, the high priest. For those same people he's the
advocate. We have an advocate with the
Father. Who does? Those for whom he died. Those for whom he prays. The unbeliever has no advocate. And only those for whom he died
does he make intercession. Whom he foreknew. He predestinated
to be conformed to the image of His Son. And whom He predestinated,
He called. And whom He called, He justified.
And whom He justified, He glorified. And whom He glorified, He prays
for them. He intercedes for them. He represents
them. He is their forerunner. I pray for them. I pray not for
the world. But I pray for them which thou
hast given me. I pray for them which thou hast
given me in the eternal covenant. You gave them to me. You entrusted
them to my care. You made me their surety. To
be saved by my power and by my blood and by my righteousness.
To be saved with an everlasting salvation. To be brought safely
home. To be preserved and kept through
all their days. To be raised from the dead. He
says that two or three times in John 6. All that my Father
giveth me will come to me. And him that cometh to me I will
in no wise cast out. For I came down from heaven not
to do my will but the will of him that sent me. And this is
the will of him that sent me that of all which he hath given
me. I'll lose nothing, but raise it up. All which ye have given
me, I'll lose nothing, but raise it up at the last day. This is the will of Him that
sent me, that everyone that seeth the Son, and believeth on Him,
may have everlasting life, and I'll raise Him up at the last
day. Thou hast given them Me, to be
saved by my grace, to be preserved all their days, to be raised
from the dead, and to be presented holy, unblameable, unreprovable
in your presence. For these I pray." And then he says, for they are
thine. They are thine. Not merely by creation. Everything
is God's by creation. Everything that writhes or wiggles
is God's by creation. All things are His by creation,
ownership. But these are thine by eternal
election. These are thine by special grace. These are thine by special mercy. These are thine by the purchase
of my blood. These are thy jewels when thou
makest up thy crown. These are thy sons These are
thy friends, and all mine are thine. These that are thine are mine,
and mine are thine. Everything that is thine is mine. Isn't that true? All mine are thine, and all thine
are mine. Not just people, not just the
elect, but all things, all perfections of nature. that are thine or
mine. All attributes of holiness, power,
love, grace are thine or mine. All the works that you do are
my works. The words that you speak are
my words. The glory, thy glory is my glory,
thy power is my power, thy kingdom is my kingdom, and especially
Thy people. I pray for them. I don't pray
for the world. I pray for them which Thou hast
given me. They're Thine. And all mine are
Thine and all Thine are mine. And I'm glorified in them. And this morning I gave you four
reasons for a good hope He says back in verse 4, the first one
is, I have glorified thee on the earth. Christ is our representative. And as our representative, he
glorified God. Secondly, I finished the work
you gave me to do, the work of redemption. Then he said verse
6, I have manifested your name unto the men which you gave me
out of the world. And then verse 8, he says, I
have given them your words. I've literally put your words
in their hearts. Shed abroad thy love in their
hearts. I didn't just preach the word
to them. I gave them the word. And the evidence that I gave
them the word is they received the word. And they knew and know
that I came from thee. And they believed the word. They
received it. They understood it. And they
believed it. Now, at verse 12, he says, I've
kept them. Here's the fifth reason for good
hope. Our God has revealed Christ,
the Father's name, and He's given us the Father's Word, and He's
kept us. I've kept them. While I was with
them in the world, I kept them in thy name. Those that thou
gavest me, I've kept. None of them is lost but Judas.
that the scripture might be fulfilled. Let's go back to verse 11. And
now, Father, I am no more in the world. These are in the world. I come
to thee. He had been with them in person. He had been their keeper. Our
Lord had been their protector. Our Lord had taken the reproach.
Our Lord had taken the persecution upon Himself. He had been with
them, and kept them, and protected them, and shielded them. And now He is leaving, going
back to the Father. And He says, Father, Holy Father,
verse 11, Holy Father, keep through Thine own name those that Thou
hast given Me, that they may be one. Keep them. Keep them
how? Well, keep them from the evil
one. You remember he taught the disciples, he said, teach us
to pray. He said, you pray this way. And
in that prayer he said, deliver us from evil. And that's the
evil one. And my father, I pray that you
keep them from the evil one. And secondly, keep them, I believe
he's asking this, keep them from seeking. From seeking. beneath trial and affliction.
They're going to have tribulation and trials and sorrow and heartache
and persecution. Keep them from just sinking under
affliction and heartache and trial and work. Keep them. Lift their spirits.
And thirdly, keep them faithful to the gospel. Faithful to the word of God.
Don't let them out of covetousness, or fear, or to please men, or
for gain, or to avoid conflict. Keep them faithful to the gospel. Keep them faithful to the gospel.
Keep them preaching the truth. You know, the Apostle Paul said,
if I seek to please men, I'm not the servant of Christ. And
yet, what a difficult, difficult calling it is to always be at
odds with 95% of the world. It's just such a heartache. Keep
them faithful to the gospel. Keep them faithful. Paul said,
Demas hath left me. Demas hath forsaken me. being
enamored by the world. Others, Alexandria, all these
others, he said, have left me. Only Luke's with me. Lord, keep
them faithful to the gospel, and keep them by your power through
faith. Turn to 1 Peter. We have to be kept. I kept them
while I was in the world. I kept them. Now Father, I come
to Thee. You keep them. In 1 Peter 1 verse 3, Blessed
be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, which according
to His abundant mercy hath begotten us again unto a living hope by
the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead. to an inheritance
incorruptible and undefiled that fadeth not away, reserved in
heaven for you who are kept by the power of God." Not
apart from faith, not without faith, but through faith. Kept by the power of God through
faith. I prayed for you that your faith
fail not. That's what he said to Peter.
I prayed for you that your faith fail not. Don't leave. Kept by the power
of God through faith unto salvation, ready to be revealed in the last
time. He'll keep me to the river. Rolls
its waters at my feet. Then he'll bear me safely over
where my Savior I shall meet. Jeremiah 32. You know the scripture says,
you find that Jeremiah 32, we are tapped by the power of God
through faith. He that hath begun a good work
in you, this thing of salvation is God's work. It's the work
of God, salvation is of the Lord. And he that hath begun that work,
he'll continue it. He'll perfect it until the day
of Jesus Christ. And this is what he's saying
in Jeremiah 32 verse 38. And they'll be my people. I'll
be their God. I'll give them one heart, one
way. Hang on to that statement now.
I'm getting back to it in a few minutes. One heart, one way.
That they may fear me forever. Worship me. Fear and respect. Revere me. for the good of them
and of their children after them, and I'll make a covenant, an
everlasting covenant with them, that I'll not turn away from
them. I will not turn away from them. I will not turn away from
them to do them good. I'll put my fear in their hearts,
and they won't turn away from me." There's what you were talking
about Friday, Brother Ron. Preservation and perseverance. They shall continue in the faith. But I'll keep them in the faith.
I'll keep them. So that's what our Savior, that's
a reason for, that's a reason for assurance and confidence.
Father, I've kept them. Now you keep them. Verse 13, And now come I to thee. Now watch this. And these things I speak in the
world. What things? Well, the things
he said to the disciples through all those other chapters. I've
said these things to them. These things I'm saying to thee
in their hearing. I believe they were with him
when he prayed this prayer. These things I speak in the world
that they may have my joy. That's why I'm preaching this
message, that we may have joy, His joy. That they may experience
my joy, my joy. Read on little father. That they
may experience how my joy fulfilled in them. I've given them your
word and the world has hated them. Because they're not of
the world as I'm not of the world. I pray that you'd keep them Not
take them out of the world, but keep them from evil. What is
His joy? His joy. Turn to Philippians
3 a moment. Philippians chapter 3. His joy. True spiritual joy is in Christ. In Christ. That's where true
spiritual joy is, in Christ. certain and true joy. And here
in Philippians 3, verse 3, it says, we are the circumcision,
we are true Israel, which have three marks. One, we worship
God in the spirit. We don't depend upon form and
ceremony and rituals and visual aids. We worship God in spirit. In spirit. Secondly, we rejoice
in Christ Jesus. We may not have a whole lot of
other things in the world in which to rejoice, but we rejoice
in Christ because that's the main joy. That's the real joy. We rejoice in Christ. And we
have no confidence in this flesh. That's the three marks. We worship
God in spirit. We rejoice in Christ. That's what he said, my joy.
that they may have my joy fulfilled in them. And we have no confidence
in the flesh. Well, name some attributes of
Christ in which the believer rejoices. Well, number one, we
rejoice in the greatness of his person. He's God overall. Like Thomas said, my Lord, my
God. Secondly, we rejoice in the fitness
of His work. We're safe and secure in His
hands. He's able to do all that He promised. The fitness of His work, His
righteousness, His blood. We rejoice in the gifts of His
grace. He's made unto us wisdom, righteousness,
sanctification and redemption, grace and glory, mercy and truth. We rejoice in His death and resurrection,
in His exaltation and in His intercession. We rejoice in Him. We rejoice in His blessed return,
looking forward to it. And we rejoice in His eternal
glory. Father, I'm no more in the world. I come to Thee. Keep them. Keep them. Keep them. that they may have my joy fulfilled
in themselves. All right, let's go down to verse
18. Here's the sixth reason for a blessed hope. As
thou hast sent me into the world, even so have I also sent them
into the world. Now you think about that. Talk
about something that's encouraging. The Lord Jesus Christ praying
for us, talking about His people. He says, Father, You sent me
into the world. I was anointed and ordained and
sent by You into the world to redeem a people. Even so, I send
my sheep into the world. Thou hast sent me, even so have
I sent them. Now, false religion takes its
disciples out of the world and separates them from their neighbors
and even from their families many times. False religion takes
their converts and their followers and puts them in convents or
monasteries or communes or secret societies or places for Christians
only, they call them Christians, But our Lord said, I send my
sheep into the world. How does He send them into the
world? He sends them into the world as His witnesses to carry
His message. Turn to Acts chapter 1. He's
talking to these very disciples for whom He's praying, and us
for whom He's praying. Before He ascended to the Father,
He stood with them out yonder on the mountain, outside Jerusalem.
And in Acts chapter 1 verse 7, He said to them, it's not for
you to know the times or the seasons, which the Father hath
put in His own power. They were talking about the kingdom
and so forth and so on. But He said, you shall receive
power after the Holy Ghost is come upon you, and you'll be
My witnesses. You'll be witnesses unto Me. in Jerusalem, in Judea, Samaria,
to the uttermost parts of the earth. If my Father sent me,
I send you. I send you as witnesses. Now
turn to 2 Corinthians. And here's a stronger word. In
2 Corinthians chapter 5, beginning with verse 19, 18, verse 18, And all things are
of God, who hath reconciled us to himself by Jesus Christ, and
hath given to us the ministry. He's given to us, He's reconciled
us, and given us a ministry. And I'm telling you this, He
doesn't give us a ministry if He hasn't reconciled us. You
don't send somebody to be your witness, he doesn't know you.
That's what he said. He said, as my Father sent me
into the world, I know my Father. No man knows the Father but the
Son. He to whom the Son will reveal Him. And as my Father
sent me to reveal Him, I send you as my witnesses with the
ministry of reconciliation. And what is it? Verse 19, namely
that God was in Christ reconciling the world to Himself. not imputing
their trespasses unto them, and hath committed unto us the word
of reconciliation." Now then, we're ambassadors for Christ.
That's a good word, isn't it? Ambassadors. We're not just sent
to argue doctrine and sent to buttonhole folks and throw a
fast witness into. We're witnesses of Christ. We are ambassadors of the Son
of God. The fellow that the United States
sent over to India as an ambassador is representing the country.
They sent him on purpose. And I'll tell you what a blessed
hope and confidence it is when my Lord tells us, as my Father
sent me into this world, so send I you. We are ambassadors for
Christ as though God did beseech you by us. We pray you in Christ's stead,
be ye reconciled to God. You are not going to hear from
Him, except through us. That's serious, isn't it? Anybody heard the Lord speak
lately? Be honest now. I haven't been preaching 50 years,
nearly 49. Except through this, He's never
said a word to me. Except through His servants. But He said a lot to me through
this and through His servants. As my Father sent me, I send
you. First, look at John 17 verse
15. I don't pray you should take them out of the world. I don't pray you should take
them out of the world, but you should keep them from
the evil one. That man in the tombs whom our
Lord saved and clothed and in his right mind, he wanted to
go with the Lord. And anybody, I reckon, whom the
Lord saves and visits with grace would say, Lord, just take me
on with you. Take me out of this place." But what did he say to
that man? That fellow said, I'm going with
you. He said, no, you're not. You go home. You go back to your home. But,
Lord, that's a bad place I came out of. You go home. But they
don't know you in that town. But you go home. And you tell them what great
things the Lord's done for you. You're my witness. You're my
ambassador. You go tell them what great things
the Lord's done for you. So Father, I don't pray you'd
take them out of the world to glory. But I pray you'd keep
them, the evil one. I pray that you'd keep them. Verse 16, they're not of the
world. What do you mean we're not of the world? We look like
everybody around us. I know it. We dress like everybody
around us. Keep doing it. Keep dressing.
Don't start wearing some silly religious garb, you know, and
try to be different. The difference is in here, not
out here. They're not of the world as I'm
not of the world. Our Lord Jesus Christ walked
this earth and He looked in his appearance, in his dress,
in his walk and so forth like any other
man. In fact they said he's a carpenter.
We know him. He's a carpenter. We know his mother and father
and brothers and sisters. He said, how come you're saying
you're God when you're a man like we are? But they're not of the world
even as he wasn't of the world. And you go right, well, stop
and think. I read this and I stopped and thought, well, he says I'm
not of the world and they're not of the world like I am not
of the world. Well, how was he not of the world? He was born
of a mother and he didn't have too many outstanding
things. He's laid in a manger and his
friends were a bunch of fishermen and poor fellas. He didn't have
any influential friends or he didn't have any wealth, he didn't
own any property, he didn't have any formal education, but he
was different. Well, number one, he was led
by another spirit and that's how we're not of the world. We're
led by another spirit. Secondly, we are citizens of
another kingdom. This world is not our home. We
are looking for a city. And then we are of another heart
and nature, another way. Turn to Acts 9 verse 2. I want
to show you something. Back in the days of the apostles, There weren't any Baptists and
Methodists and Presbyterians and Nazarenes and Catholics and
Pentecostals and all these other things. But there was a name
by which these people were known. There was a name by which these
people were known. And in Acts 9, verse 1, Saul,
yet breathing out threatenings and slaughter against the disciples
of the Lord, went to the high priest. And he asked him for
letters to Damascus, to the synagogues, and if he found any of this way,
whether they were men or women, he might bring them bound to
Jerusalem. Of this way, the way of the cross,
the way of grace, the way of His blood and righteousness.
The way of truth. The way of redemption. This is
the way. And that's how we, right today,
are not of the world. Like Christ is not of the world.
We are of another spirit. We are of another kingdom. We
are of another family, spiritual family. And we're of another
nature and heart and another way. Our way is the way of God. The way of God. If I had my druthers, back when
this church started 45 years ago, we put Baptists out there.
But if I had my druthers, I'd light a stick of dynamite and
blow it off. Because those words just get in... I said truple, because 99 and
41 percent of the Baptists today don't believe what I believe.
They're not of the way. And all the rest of them are
not too. The way is the way of Christ. Sovereign, redeeming
grace in Christ Jesus. That's the way it was known back
then. The way. Back to the text or I'll never
finish. They're not of the world as I'm not of the world. Now
verse 17, so I've sent them. I've sent them. I've sent them. As you sent me. 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. Now that,
that's something to look at, isn't it? I sanctify myself. The Lord Jesus Christ doesn't
need any added sanctification. He is holiness personified. He is holiness. So, what he's
saying is this. Sanctification is setting something
apart. Setting it apart. It belongs
to God. God sanctified the tabernacle. That's His. God sanctified The
priesthood. God sanctified the seventh day. God sanctified the vessels in
the temple. These are holy vessels and holy
tabernacle and the holy place and the holy priesthood. These
are God's. Our Lord Jesus Christ said, I
sanctified myself. I set myself apart for a purpose,
for God's covenant. mercies, for God's purpose, for
God's redemptive glory. I set myself apart for the sake
of my people to come down here. Come down here as prophet, priest,
and king. Come down here as substitute
and sacrifice. Come down here as a representative
man. I sanctified myself for their
sake. And by my sacrifice and by my
offering and by my work and by my doings, then they are sanctified. They have a righteousness because
I set myself apart. They have a holiness because
I worked it out. They have a redemption because
I paid the price. They are your children because
I made them your children. So I sanctified myself, set myself
apart in order that they might be sanctified. Now these whom
I sent through your Word, through your truth, set them apart. They are holy in my holiness.
They are righteous in my righteousness. They are purified in my blood.
But set them apart and teach them and correct them. and discipline them, and guide
them, and give them righteousness, and a walk, and a gift, and a
message, set them apart. But that has to be done through
the Word. It has to be done through the Word.
It's like I try to tell preachers everywhere, God calls us, God
ordains us, God sends us, but we're going to have to get
into the Word and study. A fellow said to my daughter
one time, what does your dad do? She said, he's a preacher.
The man said, I mean, what does he do the other six days of the
week? Unfortunately, preachers have
left that impression. Because when you listen to them,
as they carry out their foolishness, you can tell there's been no
study. There's been no teaching. There's been no being taught
of God. So our Lord said, I sanctified
myself. I took upon myself the burdens. And I tell people, don't get
in the ministry, if you can keep from it. Because it's not just
a vocation, it is a burden from the first day to the last. It's
a heartache, it's a calling, it's a being set apart where
you bear what you bear to bear His Word. Now that's right. And it requires constant study
and meditation and prayer, seeking His will and finding it. And
he said, I set myself apart, sanctified myself that they might
be sanctified. And that's what, you're not your
own. If you entertain thoughts of
the ministry, you are not your own anymore. And nothing you
have is your own. It's God's. It's His people's. And whatever it takes of you
and out of you and from you and through you, you're willing to
give it. That's right. That goes for your
wife and children too. Everything. That's what he said
to that rich young ruler who wanted to follow him. That's
what that fellow wanted. He wanted to get in the ministry. And the
Lord said, go sell everything you have, give it to the poor
and come take up your cross and follow me. He said, I don't want
to get in the ministry that bad. I don't want to get in it that
bad. And that's one of the things
wrong with the ministry today. It's just too many ministers
got too many other things to do. Alright, I said I'm not going
to get through if I don't keep on going. So that's what that's
saying. For their sake, I gave myself. Now you sanctify them. I send
them into the world. See, this is what he's talking
about here. I'm sending them into this world. My ambassadors
are witnesses. And you've got to take this word
and whatever it takes, set them apart. Alright, verse 20, I don't
pray for these alone, these apostles. I pray for them which shall believe
on me through their word. Other sheep I have, which are
not of this foal, them I must bring, and they'll hear my voice,
and there'll be one foal and one shepherd. They'll believe
on me through the world. That they all may be one, as
thy Father art in me, and I in thee. One. What is this oneness? It's a oneness among themselves. They're one. They have a oneness,
a family. And they're one with us. They
may be one. that the world may believe thou
hast sent me." All right, here I have, here's
the seventh one, I have, and the glory which you gave me,
I've given them. I've given them the glory. This
is not the glory of his deity, that he cannot communicate to
a creature. That's not his mediatory glory,
that's his alone. He doesn't give us the glory
of His deity, or the glory of His meditatorial work, or the
glory of His sonship in peculiar, in particular. He's the Son of
God as nobody else is the Son of God. But He gave us the glory
of His gospel. It's called the gospel of His
glory. It's glorious in its doctrine. Ah, my! This gospel of the glory
of God. This gospel which gives God all
the glory and the credit. This is our gospel. It's the
gospel not of man, it's of God. It's glorious in it's doctrine,
it's glorious in it's author, it's glorious in it's promise,
it's glorious in it's hearing. It never ceases to be glorious. You've heard it a thousand times.
And it's just more exciting now than it was first time, second,
third, fourth, fifth. Glorious. He gives us grace and
glory. Grace and glory will He give.
Grace and glory. Nothing good will He withhold
from them that love Him. Grace and glory. And then He
gives us eternal glory. Verse 23, I in them and thou
in me, that they may be made perfect in one, that the world
may know thou hast sent me and love them as you love me. And
Father, I will that they also whom you've given me be with
me where I am that they may behold my glory. For thou which thou
hast given me, thou lovest me before the foundation of the
world. I asked my class the other day, I said how long has the
Lord loved his elect? How long has he loved his elect?
Well, back in verse 23, he said he loved them as he loved Christ. Thou hast lovest them as you
love me, Christ said. Well, how long has he loved Christ?
That's how long he's loved you. That's right. Eternally. Here's the last reason. O righteous
Father, The Father is righteous, the Son is righteous, the Spirit
is righteous, and we're righteous in Him. O righteous Father, the
world doesn't know You, but I have known You, and these have known
that Thou hast sent Me, and I've declared unto them Your Name. They know You. The world doesn't
know Me, Him, but they know Him. I've declared Your Name. And
I'll keep declaring it. I'll keep declaring it. That
the love wherewith thou hast loved me may be in them, and
I in them. All right. May the Lord bless
His Word, to His glory, to our profit.