Gospel of John [17:17-18]. The Lord's priestly prayer; part 23. 2Ti 2.

Title: Gospel of John [17:15-16]. The Lord's priestly prayer; part 23. 2Ti 2.

 

Announcements/opening prayer: 

 

JOH 17:1 These things Jesus spoke; and lifting up His eyes to heaven, He said, "Father, the hour has come; glorify Thy Son, that the Son may glorify Thee,

 

JOH 17:2 even as Thou gavest Him authority over all mankind, that to all whom Thou hast given Him, He may give eternal life.

 

JOH 17:3 "And this is eternal life, that they may know Thee, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom Thou hast sent.

 

JOH 17:4 "I glorified Thee on the earth, having accomplished the work which Thou hast given Me to do.

 

JOH 17:5 "And now, glorify Thou Me together with Thyself, Father, with the glory which I had with Thee before the world was.

 

JOH 17:6 "I manifested Thy name to the men whom Thou gavest Me out of the world; Thine they were, and Thou gavest them to Me, and they have kept Thy word.

 

JOH 17:7 "Now they have come to know that everything Thou hast given Me is from Thee;

 

JOH 17:8 for the words which Thou gavest Me I have given to them; and they received them, and truly understood that I came forth from Thee, and they believed that Thou didst send Me.

 

JOH 17:9 "I ask on their behalf; I do not ask on behalf of the world, but of those whom Thou hast given Me; for they are Thine;

 

JOH 17:10 and all things that are Mine are Thine, and Thine are Mine; and I have been glorified in them.

 

JOH 17:11 "And I am no more in the world; and yet they themselves are in the world, and I come to Thee. Holy Father, keep them in Thy name, the name which Thou hast given Me, that they may be one, even as We are.

 

JOH 17:12 "While I was with them, I was keeping them in Thy name which Thou hast given Me; and I guarded them, and not one of them perished but the son of perdition, that the Scripture might be fulfilled.

 

JOH 17:13 "But now I come to Thee; and these things I speak in the world, that they may have My joy made full in themselves.

 

JOH 17:14 "I have given them Thy word; and the world has hated them, because they are not of the world, even as I am not of the world.

 

JOH 17:15 "I do not ask Thee to take them out of the world, but to keep them from the evil one.

 

JOH 17:16 "They are not of the world, even as I am not of the world.

 

Last night we talked about evil that tempts a believer to lay aside his calling as a servant of Christ in order to fulfill selfish, arrogant, cosmic desires.

 

In what capacity are you called to serve as unto the Lord? Evil tempts us with substituting other desires in the place of this calling.

 

The most frustrating thing for Satan and the KOD is not when their schemes don't pan out, but when they do pan out and the believer doesn't succumb to the evil attack and holds his ground and stands against the scheme or stumbling block.

 

GAL 5:13

For you were called to freedom, brethren; only do not turn your freedom into an opportunity for the flesh, but through love serve one another.

 

Every believer has been set free from the cosmos, from sin, from death, from slavery to the KOD. He can use that freedom to continue to walk in those things. Rather use your freedom to love as Christ loves and serve one another.

 

The help I receive to live sanctified or separated from the cosmos, the sin nature, the walking death, as I have been delivered in position, is the truth.

 

JOH 17:17 "Sanctify them in the truth; Thy word is truth.

 

JOH 17:18 "As Thou didst send Me into the world, I also have sent them into the world.

 

Since they are being sent into hostile territory, to reclaim it for its rightful Owner, they must be given spiritual protection - practical sanctification in the truth.

 

They are not claiming nations or lands for the Lord, but people; fallen people who are called to be sons to glory.

 

On the negative side they must be protected from the prince of the cosmos, whose occupied domain they are invading. On the positive side they must be sanctified in the truth. The Spirit and the word are the means of accomplishing both.

 

2TI 1:14 Guard [phroureo - a military term; to keep by guarding, to keep under guard], through the Holy Spirit who dwells in us, the treasure which has been entrusted to you.

 

For the task at hand they must be much more purified within than they are now. By purified we mean power over fear, power over the attraction of personal comforts, power over tendencies and trends of the OSN, power over temptation - not sinlessness but power.

 

Practical sanctification is the work of the Spirit and His instrument is the truth. The words that the Father gave to Christ to give to us, vv. 8, 14.

 

He will not send them defenseless; hence, His prayer for them and for us. Through Christ, the Father is going to give them something greater than the god of this world. But they must see this something and understand it and its application just as all believers must. This is the work of God the Holy Spirit and the entire realm of doctrine. Through knowing the Son and the Father and His plan for our lives we walk in the eternal life given and that life is far greater than the god of this world.

 

The very message which they are to proclaim in His name will exercise its sanctifying effect on them.

 

It is a weak witness who attempts to testify to what he does not know, and know very well. 2Co 1 states that we can only comfort others after we ourselves have experienced the comfort of the Father. Our witness unto the world grows more effective as we come to know Him more personally and understand His mission and plans for time and eternity. Christians who have only memorized a script are easily cornered with questions that they cannot answer about a Lord that they don't know well enough to clearly witness for. We are to be able to gently give an account for the hope that is within us.

 

Practical sanctification - to set apart from the world system and the OSN unto God for His work in this world.

 

We are to fully trust God the Holy Spirit within us to teach us the word of God, to lead us in making right decisions with the word of God, and to empower us to stand firm in the word of God despite tribulation or persecution. Through this power we are to serve under the will of God and overcome cosmic and sin nature temptations so that we are vessels useful to the Master.

 

If He is going to teach us the word of God we must listen to it on a consistent basis. If He is going to guide us in making decisions we must be more than academics and desire to act upon the word. If He is going to empower us to remain in it we must love Him more than our sin natures and the world system by which love we will admit or acknowledge sin immediately and cast it away from ourselves.

 

"To see things as they are is to see God to be infinitely lovely and pure; His commands to be reasonable and just; heaven to be holy and desirable; His service to be easy, and religion pleasant, and sin odious; to see that life is short, that death is near; that the pride, pomp, pleasures, wealth, and honors of this world are of little value, and that it is of infinite importance to be prepared to enter on the eternal state of being. He that sees all this, or that looks on things as they are, will desire to be holy. He will make it his great object to live near to God and to glorify His name." [Barnes' Notes]

 

All things and events upon the earth are all fitted to teach us the goodness and power of God. Ironically, people find a reason not to believe in God through these things, like natural disasters. The loss of a loved one teaches us the shortness and frailty of life. A devastating natural disaster shows the instability of all earthly comforts and implants in us a desire to seek more. Those who reject God are confused enough to blame Him for these things while giving Him no credit for the good things in their lives. These are nothing more than hypocrites. To the positive believer there is a truth behind every situation and event and that has God's fingerprints all over them and through his understanding of these truths he becomes an expert witness for the Son and the Father.