Let's open our Bibles tonight
once again to John chapter 17. This is our third Sunday evening
looking at this prayer. It is called Our Lord's High
Priestly Prayer. And I'm following an outline
that other men have given. And that is the first five verses,
our Lord makes requests, especially in reference to himself. And
then the second part, verses six through 19, he prays especially
making requests for those 11 disciples who were with him in
the room this night. and then the remainder beginning
with verse 20 to the church or for the church universal. So
last Sunday evening we began the second part. We looked at
verses six through 11 and I want to just read through those verses
again and then we'll begin in verse 12. I told you last week I like to
preach with an outline. But I don't have one. I just
don't have one, so we'll just go verse by verse. Verse six. I have manifested thy name unto
the men, which thou gavest me out of the world. Thine they
were, and thou gavest them me, and they have kept thy word.
Now they have known that all things whatsoever thou hast given
me are of thee. For I have given unto them the
words which thou gavest me, and they have received them, and
have known surely that I came out from thee, and they have
believed that thou didst send me. I pray for them, I pray not
for the world, but for them which thou hast given me, for they
are thine, and all mine are thine, and thine are mine, and I am
glorified in them. And now I am no more in the world. He speaks as if he had already
died upon the cross and ascended to the Father's right hand. And
we know that he did this quite often at this time. And everything
was sure, even though this hadn't taken place, had not taken place,
his death on the cross and his ascension when he prayed this
prayer, but he says he prays as if he were already out of
the world. And there was no question, there
was no doubt. The scripture says known unto God are all his works
from the beginning of the world. The reason God Knows, foreknows
everything is because He has foreordained everything that
comes to pass. This is His world. We are His
creatures. And everything is right on time.
That's comforting to know, isn't it? Everything, every day, every
hour, as God has determined from before the foundation of the
world that should happen. Everything is right on time. God's never late, and he's never
early. Everything is as he has purposed
and planned. And now I'm no more in the world,
but these are in the world, and I come to thee, Holy Father,
keep through thine own name those whom thou hast given me, that
they may be one as we are. And I mentioned we ended with
the last words there, verse 11, and I mentioned to us that the
modernists in the last couple of centuries, they've taken that
request, that petition of our Lord, and they've tried to teach
that the Lord would have all of the various Christian denominations
come together as one great force against evil. But we know that
Denominations, they don't all believe the same. Some believe
that baptism is essential to salvation. Some believe that
man can lose his salvation. Some believe God's election is
based upon his foreknowledge of what man would do. Some believe
all kinds of things, right, and still go under the umbrella of
Christianity. That would not be unity. They
would not be one, they'd be one in name, but it would be, it would not be unity. But we saw how that on the day
of Pentecost, this prayer was answered of our Lord because
Peter with the 11, the scripture says, they all stood up and they
all gave the same testimony, the same message. And really,
until tonight and until the Lord comes again, God's church has
continued always to be one, there are things that we are one in. There's no doubt about it. And
all of God's people believe the same on certain issues. Verse
12, let's begin with verse 12. While I was with them in the
world, I kept them in thy name. The Lord Jesus Christ, as a good
shepherd, he keeps his sheep. And he confesses here concerning
these 11 that while he was with them, now he was still with them
when he prayed these words, but as I said, he's praying as if
he were already in heaven. While I was with them in the
world, I kept them in thy name. How had he kept these 11 disciples. He had kept them in the name
of the Father, that is, continually giving them God's Word, teaching
them, instructing them in the Father's name, who God is and
God's purpose and grace. And then he says, none of them
is lost. Not one of them is lost. but
the son of perdition that the scripture might be fulfilled.
And you know some people read that and they say, well, he did
his best to keep all of them, but one is lost. That's not what
he's saying at all. He knew from the beginning that
one of them would betray him and he knew who that one was,
the son of perdition, Judas. Now I don't know if the disciples
that evening who heard these words, who were with him in the
room as he was praying, If they knew and recognized at this time
that Judas was the betrayer, that he was the one, because
you remember when our Lord had said, one of you will betray
me, that they all asked, is it I? Is it I? In fact, the only
one who didn't, as far as we know, the only one who did not
ask, Lord, is it I, was Judas. He's the only one. But the others,
they all asked, Lord, is it I? So I don't know if they knew,
but I do know that the Lord knew who would betray him. And it
wasn't as if he couldn't keep him. It was that the scripture
might be fulfilled. In other words, there was prophecies
in the Old Testament concerning one, his familiar friend. Have
you ever had a friend I know you've had a friend probably
disappoint you. It's easy, you know, to think
bad about that. But when you experience things
like that, think about the Lord Jesus Christ. He's allowing you,
He's letting you experience some of what He experienced. His own
familiar friend, and that has to be referring to Judas, who
ate bread with Him, turned out to be the one who destroyed him,
or betrayed him rather. This happened that the scripture
might be fulfilled. It wasn't as if the Lord could
not have kept Judas, but Judas was never converted. He was never
a child of God. How it must have impressed the
disciples, if you think about it, you put yourself in their
position And we know there was a lot that they were still ignorant
of. God, the Lord promised them that
when the Holy Spirit came, He would lead them and teach them.
But at this particular time, how it must have encouraged them
as they heard the Lord Jesus Christ speak these words, that
nothing to hear the fact that nothing defeats God's purpose. Nothing. There's no hand, there's
nothing that can speak to God and stay God's hand. I told you this morning in the
message about Nebuchadnezzar, he learned that, didn't he? That
he rules in the armies of heaven and among the inhabitants of
the earth and none can stay his hand or say unto him, what doest
thou? Man doesn't have that right.
Romans chapter 9, that's what Paul asked. Who art thou, O man? That replies and asks God to
tell you, to inform you about his purposes. Who are you? No one can stay His hand. How
it must have encouraged these disciples to hear and to understand
that nothing, nothing defeats God's purpose. And remember,
they are part of God's purpose in going out and preaching the
gospel. How this must have encouraged
them. What God has purposed is going to come to pass. There's
just no doubt about that. And now, verse 13, now come I
to thee, and these things I speak in the world, that they might
have my joy fulfilled in them. He's leaving these 11 in the
world, but he has spoken these things to them, and them hearing
these things could only produce joy in their hearts. And what
were these words in particular? that the Father would keep them. I am in my Father's keeping. This is what would be impressed
upon the hearts of the 11 disciples and upon all of our hearts tonight.
We can't keep ourselves. If it depended upon us to keep
ourselves, we'd be lost 100 times every day. that the Father will
keep us. One writer said that these words
here in verse 13, that they might have my joy fulfilled in them,
were the equivalent to these precious words that we sing.
Our firm foundation, ye saints of the Lord, is laid for your
faith in His excellent Word. That soul, though all hell should
endeavor to shake, I'll never, no never, no never forsake. Kept by God, kept in the hand
of God Almighty, in Christ's hand and in His Father's hand. I've given them thy word, and
the world hath hated them, because they are not of the world, even
as I am not of the world. He had given them the message,
that is, God's Word, the gospel. And for this reason, they were
hated by the world. You know, what could be a greater
gift than the gospel? The gospel of the grace of God. But it results in the world's
hatred. When God gives a person the gospel,
then It just assures anything that the world will hate that
person. When that person is not so much
them, but their attitudes and their words and their deeds,
they recognize you're not of the world. You're not of this
world, just like His disciples, He said. I have given them thy
word, and the world hath hated them, because they are not of
the world." They were of the world. We all were of the world. But when He gives us His gospel,
when He saves us, we're no longer of the world. And our attitudes
are different. Our words are different. Our
aspirations are different. If any man be in Christ, he is
a new creation. Old things are passed away, and
the world recognizes that there's something different. And almost
always, they say, you think you're better than me. Have you ever
had anyone tell you that? You think you're better than
me. Oh no, no, not at all, if you only knew. But that's the
way the world thinks. And they do so because you have
the gospel, because he's given you God's word, the gospel. Verse 15, now you would think
when He said, the world hates them, you might think, well now
He's going to pray and ask the Father to take them out of the
world. The world hates them? Now He's
going to ask the Father to take them out of the world. Out of
this world where they are hated. But oh, He doesn't do that, does
He? In fact, He does just the opposite. I pray not that thou
shouldest take them out of the world. Now, they have a task,
these 11 disciples. We're looking at petitions that
especially pertain to the 11 apostles, but not exclusively
to them. We know that there are some things
in these verses that pertain to all believers, but they have
a task. They have a task, and that task
is the word, the message which Christ has given them that they
are to proclaim in this world. Turn back to verse 27 of chapter
15, just a moment. The last verse of chapter 15. He said to them, and you also
shall bear witness because you have been with me from the beginning. I pray not that thou shouldest
take them out of the world. When we think tonight about the
kingdom of God, the kingdom of God, at this particular
time, when the Lord spoke these words, we're looking at on the
day of Pentecost, 120 people in the upper room. 120. Now, the Lord had promised
that there would be a stone cut out of the mountain without hands. And that stone, we know in the
scriptures, that stone is Christ. In Isaiah chapter 28 and verse
16, Behold, I lay in Zion a stone." That stone is the Lord Jesus
Christ. In the prophecy in Daniel chapter
2, where Nebuchadnezzar had that dream and Daniel interpreted
it for him, we read that first of all there was a great kingdom
which was Babylon. Then there was a second kingdom,
which was Persia. There was a third kingdom, which
was Greece. And there was a fourth kingdom,
which was Rome, the Roman kingdom. And in the days of those kings,
that stone which was cut out of the mountain without hands,
it refers to Christ. There's no question about that.
It would break the feet of that idol, that image rather, that
Nebuchadnezzar saw, and those kingdoms would all pass away. But God would set up a kingdom
which is an everlasting kingdom. And this kingdom is the kingdom
of the Lord Jesus Christ. Now, He always had a kingdom. Every believer from Adam, from
Abel, from The very beginning was in the kingdom of God, but
it became more visible. This kingdom became more visible
with these 11 disciples as they are out preaching the gospel,
beginning on the day of Pentecost. And I thought about that some,
and you know, they were in what we would call today, I believe,
Northern Africa. And then the gospel went into
to Asia Minor, it went into Europe, and then after the record is
closed, the gospel has gone all around the world, all over this
world, every continent. There are believers in Australia,
there are believers in Africa, in Asia, in Europe, In Greenland,
in the United States, in Central America, in South America, this
kingdom, you can't, as he said, his kingdom comes not with observation. It's not like those kingdoms
that, of the Babylon, and Greek, and Persian, and Roman. They
always had a king at the top, at the head, and it was a visible
kingdom. It was something that you could
see, a place, a ruling place. But his kingdom is all over this
world, and it's still increasing. You know, when you think about
it, it seemed like a long time, 2,000 years, a little over 2,000
years. since the day of Pentecost. But
think of what has been accomplished. Think of how the gospel has permeated
and gone around the world. Now, at the beginning, there's
no question, at the beginning, God blessed the word, the gospel
emptied those pagan temples, from what history tells us. And
sometimes over the years, more and sometimes less. I believe
we live in a day of of lesser believers in this world, but
still he has his kingdom in this world, and it's all over the
world. It's an everlasting kingdom,
and it will never be destroyed like those kingdoms that were
in the image that Nebuchadnezzar had. I pray not that thou shouldest
take them out of the world. They have a work, they have a
task, and that work It's still here, isn't it? It's still the
work of His church when He told His disciples to go into all
the world and preach the gospel to every creature. What's the
purpose of a church? What's the purpose of a church?
Well, it is, first of all, to honor God, isn't it? It's to
equip the saints. It is to preach the gospel. And
that's what we attempt to do and try to do over the years. And it's always encouraging to
me to see some people I haven't seen in a while, some people
that were faithful members here. And we just look back and thank
God for what he has done. And all the glory belongs unto
him. He didn't take us out of the world, but He left us here
in this world that we might be a witness for Him. He said, you're
the light of the world. And then, notice at the end,
He said, but that thou shouldest keep them from the evil, the
evil one. It can be, according to what
I've read, it can be considered Satan or evil, either one. But most prefer Satan, that thou
shouldest keep them from the evil one. And we know that God
is equal to the task. He's equal to the task to keep
each and every one of his children from Satan from the evil one. Then in verse 16, the thought
is just repeated, they are not of the world, even as I am not
of the world. Now comes the positive. Verse
17, sanctify them through thy truth, thy word is truth. This
is the positive side of his request to keep them from the evil one.
keep them from the evil one, consecrate them in the truth,
keep them from the one and confirm them in the other, that is in
the truth. Christ is the truth and the word
which he has given them is the source of all truth. And he prays
that the father will give them an ever increasing love for his
word and to live according to the truth. of God revealed in
the message. As thou hast sent me into the
world, even so have I also sent them into the world. The Father sent Christ into the
world with the message of redemption, so Christ sends these, his apostles,
into the world with the same message. Message hasn't changed. The apostles, they were not sent
to reform the world. You know, sometimes over the
years, people have asked me to join in marches and crusades
and boycotts of different stores and things like that. And I've
told all of them, that's not what God's called me to do. That's
not what God's called me to preach the gospel. Those things will
be changed as the gospel is declared and as God saves sinners. Those
things will be taken care of. But it's never God's way to coerce
by force and make people do certain things. God works from the inside
out, always. And then verse 19, and for their
sakes I sanctify myself. In other words, sanctify is a
word that many people misuse. The Lord Jesus Christ, when he
says here I sanctify myself, we know that he's not saying
I'm making myself more holy. He is the Holy One of God. He
could not be more holy. The word means set apart, doesn't
it? set apart. There were objects in the tabernacle
that were sanctified. That is, they were set apart
for a particular service, a particular work, and they were not to be
used for anything else. The Lord Jesus Christ, now He
sets Himself apart. He sanctifies Himself for the
work that He came into this world to do. I sanctify myself, I set
myself apart. And what was it he set himself
apart to do? It was to do the work of the
cross. Now he would have them set apart
through the truth to do what? To do the work that he gave them
to do, to preach the message. He sanctified himself that he
might do the work that the father had given him to do, the work
of the cross. And he prays now that these 11
apostles, that they would be sanctified, set apart, fully
consecrated to the preaching of the gospel of redemption. And as far as we are told in
the scriptures, they all finished, all accomplished that purpose.
Tradition tells us about various ones of them, and we don't like
to rely upon tradition, but sometimes it's interesting to read at least
where these various apostles went preaching the gospel and
how the Lord blessed their ministries and many were saved and churches
were raised up all over the world, the known world at that time.
And every one, every one of the apostles died a violent death. every one of them as far as we
know. They were all persecuted and died the martyr's death. Well, I pray the Lord would bless
this word to us here this evening. I know there's so much in this
prayer. And the main thing for us as
we read it, to meditate and think about it, that he prayed this
prayer for you and he prayed it for me. And it is a picture,
it's a picture of his ongoing work for us even now at the Father's
right hand as he intercedes with the Father. David, if you will,
lead us in a hymn.