John 17:1-16

[0:00] Okay, so John chapter 17. Would you find in your Bibles John chapter 17? The Gospel of John.! I am so glad. Something like that, right? Jesus loves me. Jesus loves even me.

[0:24] Okay, let's start in verse number one. We're just, I have to remind you, we're on our way with Christ and his disciples to the garden, where he'll spend some time in prayer, where he'll find his disciples sleeping, and then where eventually Judas will come with those others and arrest and betray him.

[0:49] And so, he's praying. This is what we often call the Lord's Prayer. And I'll have to contrast that with what's typically called the Lord's Prayer, coming from Matthew chapter 6, the super famous, Our Father which art in heaven, hallowed be thy name, and so forth.

[1:12] If you want to see where Jesus himself is praying, these are words recorded where he lifts up his eyes to heaven and says, Father, and begins talking to his Father throughout the entirety of the chapter.

[1:25] And there's some things in this chapter that are worth noting that the Lord Jesus prays for. I'll give you a few of those thoughts. Now, as far as a breakdown, I'll give you this.

[1:37] It's nothing that's too crucial to know, but it's in the very first five verses, he's praying for God's glory and brings that theme up about the glory several times. And then from chapter, from verse 6 to 19, he's talking about his apostles, those disciples that are with him.

[1:55] And then from verse 20 on, he opens it up to somebody that will believe on him, future, through their ministry, where he says in verse 20, Neither pray I for these alone, but for them also which shall believe on me through their word.

[2:12] And so I find that I kind of fit into that verse 20 and on, because I have believed on him through the word of his people down through the centuries, through the ages. And so there's a little bit of a breakdown of how the prayer goes.

[2:26] But a little more specifically, I want to point out some things that Christ prays for. And in this case, he prays in verse 13, he prays for his joy to be fulfilled in them, in his disciples.

[2:42] He prays for his joy to be fulfilled in them. In verse 15, he prays that the Lord, that God the Father would keep them from the evil in this world. That's a prayer of Jesus Christ for his servants, his disciples, that he's going to send out into the world.

[2:59] And he prays that the Father will keep them from the evil. He wants them to be protected, for them to be able to minister. You see in verse number 17, he prays for them to be sanctified. He prays for their sanctification.

[3:12] And there in verse 18, he mentions sending them out into the world. And another prayer of his is in verse 21, for unification. That they all may be one, as thou Father art in me, and so forth.

[3:27] Kind of from verse 18 to 23, the prayer in just a nutshell is that God would use them. That there would be others that believe on him through their word.

[3:38] That God would send them forth, and keep them safe, and sanctify them, and help them, and enable them to preach, and to minister for Jesus Christ. He prays toward the end of this, from I'd say kind of 21 to 24, for this, not just a unification on earth, but a union eventually culminating in heaven.

[3:59] Where they'll be able to behold his glory. He says that in verse 24. I will that they also, whom thou hast given me, be with me where I am, that they may behold my glory.

[4:10] And so that's on the other side. And so there's his prayer in several different points. One more thought at the very end has to do with his love. That the love wherewith thou hast loved me, verse 26, may be in them.

[4:23] That's another part of the prayers for their love. Remember, he commanded them to love one another. And now he's praying the Father that that would actually be manifest and take place in their lives and their ministries going forward.

[4:36] So you can kind of see the bulk of this. He's praying for these men. And I pointed this out before and I have to bring it up again. Is this not just beyond anything that you and I would ever imagine or think when we're about to face our own death?

[4:51] And we're going to face cruel treatment and punishment and scourging and mocking and be rejected and be murdered, hung on a cross. And while he's going to that, he's facing that hour.

[5:03] He's praying for these men and for the ministries they'll have and for God to protect them. And just it blows my mind the care of the Savior over his own. And it's convicting in a sense too.

[5:16] Because you know what your prayer life is like. It's about me, myself, and I, the Trinity, the Holy Trinity. It's about all your needs that you have and how pressing when something's in your face.

[5:31] And that's all you're praying about all day long is for the Lord to fix that. The Lord to take that away. The Lord to take this away. And Christ has got something more pressing than any one of you have ever, ever even imagined.

[5:41] Right in front of his face, it's going to fall apart in a few hours. And here he is just point by point seeking the Father over his own. So he's a remarkable Savior.

[5:54] And in that light, he's one that's high above us in the way we think. So we'll start in verse 1. These words spake Jesus and lifted up his eyes to heaven and said, Father, the hour is come.

[6:08] Glorify thy son that thy son also may glorify thee, as thou hast given him power over all flesh, that he should give eternal life to as many as thou hast given him.

[6:20] So there's a lot to unpack here, and I'll try not to belabor too much of this. One point to bring out right away, because it's going to come up in a little bit, is where he lifts up his eyes and he speaks to God, the Father.

[6:32] He calls him Father. Father. A little bit later, in verse number 11, he calls him Holy Father. Verse 5, O Father.

[6:43] Verse 11, Holy Father. Verse 25, O righteous Father. Father. And a point to be made to understand in the Bible is that earlier, this prayer that the disciples said, teach us to pray, as John taught his disciples to pray, and he says, when you pray, pray like this, our Father which art in heaven.

[7:03] And something you need to understand about that thing earlier in Matthew, way earlier, by the way, at the beginning of his ministry, it's a Jewish prayer, it's a national prayer, our Father which art in heaven.

[7:15] And he prays for the kingdom to come, and for his will to be done on earth as it is in heaven. In this case here, he's not praying for a kingdom to come. He's not praying for that at all.

[7:26] Not even a glimpse of that. This is a complete different thing, and it has to do with his hour that has come. It has to do with what's about to take place. Eternal life, in verse 2, is attached to this hour that has come.

[7:41] And we already studied the word hour to know that it's not talking about 60 minutes. It's talking about this time frame of Calvary and what's about all that encompasses Calvary.

[7:52] All the way back in John chapter 2, we saw that when he told his mother, mine hour has not yet come. And a reference to what's about here. Okay, so the point here with him saying, Father, it's a personal relationship.

[8:09] It's not a national thing. He's not praying on behalf of a nation. And if you are a son of God or a daughter of God, you can talk to God the Father the same way. The Bible says that he's given us access.

[8:21] We have access by him. Through him, by his spirit, I guess. Or by him through the spirit to the Father. And so you don't pray, our Father, our Father, nothing. You pray directly to your Father if you're a child of God.

[8:35] So he said, Father, the hour has come. Glorify thy son, that thy son may also glorify thee as thou hast given him power over all flesh, that he should give eternal life to as many as thou hast given him.

[8:50] So he's praying for eternal life to be given. And it's connected to the hour that's about to transpire, to the hour of Calvary. Verse 3 says, And this is life eternal, that they may know thee, the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom thou hast sent.

[9:07] So eternal life, according to Christ in his prayer, is a relationship with the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom thou hast sent.

[9:21] The one sent by the only true God. If somebody tries to get eternal life, and they don't go through the one that God has sent to give them eternal life, they're not going to get eternal life.

[9:35] Eternal life comes through this hour, of Calvary. It comes through the glorification of the Father, and the obedience of the Son, by laying down his life.

[9:46] And it comes by entering into a personal relationship, with the only true God, where he becomes your Father. Now let me take you somewhere on this one. Go to 1 John chapter 5.

[9:58] This is pretty solid of a place to go. 1 John chapter 5. Speaking of knowing thee, the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom thou hast sent.

[10:18] 1 John chapter 5. And let's take a look at... I'll start at the end, and then I'll backtrack a little. So look at verse number 20. 1 John 5.

[10:31] 20. And we know that the Son of God is come. Isn't that what John said? That thou hast sent. The Son, Jesus Christ, sent by the Father. We know that the Son of God has come, and hath given us an understanding, that we may know Him that is true.

[10:47] That's the Father. So you know the Father, because He gave His Son. If you don't have the Son, you don't have access to the Father, or knowledge of the Father, or a relationship with the Father.

[10:58] You can't get to the Father, but through the Son. John 14.6. No man cometh unto the Father, but by me. So He hath given us an understanding, that we may know Him that is true, and we are in Him that is true, even in His Son, Jesus Christ.

[11:16] This is the true God. And, look at that, eternal life. Now let me back up, and see how John kind of brings this to, or explains this.

[11:29] Look at chapter 5, and verse number 9. If we receive the witness of man, the witness of God is greater, for this is the witness of God, which He hath testified of His Son.

[11:40] He that believeth on the Son of God, hath the witness in himself. He that believeth not God, hath made him a liar, because he believeth not the record, that God gave of His Son. And this is the record, that God hath given to us, eternal life.

[11:55] And this life, is in His Son. He that hath the Son, hath life. And he that hath not the Son of God, hath not life.

[12:06] These things, have I, that's John, have I written unto you, that believe on the name of the Son of God, that ye may know that ye have, eternal life, and that ye may believe, on the name of the Son of God.

[12:19] Eternal life comes, from God the Father. Father. It comes through the channel, if I could use that word, of His Son. He sent His Son, into the world, to give eternal life, to as many as, who would believe on Him.

[12:34] The gift of God, is eternal life, through Jesus Christ, our Lord. This is the record. Verse 11 said, God hath given to us, eternal life, and this life is through His Son.

[12:45] If you attempt to earn, or find, or obtain eternal life, through any other means, you're going to run into a dead end. Or you're going to run into deceit.

[12:57] Or does somebody lie into your face? The Bible plainly tells you, number one, you can have eternal life, if you have Jesus Christ. And then secondly, in verse 13, you can know it.

[13:10] You can know you have it, if you believe on the Lord Jesus Christ. That's pretty good stuff. I mean, I know this is foundational stuff, to most of you here. But, does it get any better than that?

[13:23] I mean, does the Christian life, just get so much better, than knowing that you have, eternal life? It starts pretty high, and it's pretty good. And so, come back to John chapter 17.

[13:38] And it says in verse 3, this is life eternal, that they might know thee, the only true God. He's the only true God. If you don't mind, take a look at 1 Corinthians chapter 8.

[13:59] There's a couple verses here, I want to turn to. 1 Corinthians chapter 8. And Christ made the comment, He said it very clearly, and purposely, the only true God.

[14:22] He could have said, the only God, but He didn't say it that way, the only true God. In 1 Corinthians chapter 8, Paul is writing a letter back, to a group of people, that were raised, in idolatry, raised worshipping, who knows what, many gods.

[14:41] And, He preaches the gospel to them, and He preaches to them, that the true God, remember in Acts chapter 17, He preaches about a true God, the one that, the unknown God, and He preaches that, that God gave His Son, to die for their sins, and they believed on the Lord Jesus Christ, and were saved.

[15:00] And, He writes back to them, concerning some issues, they had with their upbringing, whether this is acceptable, or whether it's wrong, or it has to do with idolatry, and sacrifices to idols.

[15:11] And, He starts, in verse 4, I'll begin here, it says, as concerning thereof, the eating of those things, which are offered in sacrifice, unto idols, we know that an idol, is nothing in the world.

[15:22] And that there is none other God, but one. For though there be, that are called gods, whether in heaven, or in earth, as there be gods many, and lords many, but to us, there is but one God, the Father, of whom are all things, and we in Him.

[15:41] And one Lord Jesus Christ, by whom are all things, and we by Him. Howbeit there is not in every man, that knowledge. And so, some people don't know, the true God, or His Son, Jesus Christ.

[15:56] You can, turn back to John, but while you're going there, I'm going to read from, 1 Thessalonians chapter 1, and verse 9. He says, For they themselves, show of us, what manner of entering in, we had unto you, and how that ye turned, to God from idols, to serve the living, and true, God.

[16:14] They turned, from idols, which they called gods, which would match that other passage, with a small g, to serve the living God, the true God. So, back in chapter 17, Christ is praying that, that they might know thee, the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom thou hast sent.

[16:38] In verse number 4, you know what, I might mention this. when Christ is, is identifying, eternal life, and, and a relationship, with the only true God, and through, through his son, through Jesus Christ, and we understand, the connection, as to what he's about, to go accomplish, on the cross of Calvary, this is eternal life, where's the, where's the waters, of baptism?

[17:07] Did he forget that? Because I, when we were in Exodus, I taught you that, the Catholic Church, teaches, that, in that baptismal pool, or in that holy water, is eternal life.

[17:21] And that by taking, such and such candle, and whatever the name, they give to that, they come and extinguish that, within the water, and this pool becomes, the fountain of life. And if you'll get dunked, into this, you can have eternal life.

[17:35] Where's the, where is that in the Bible? I know, I know where it's not. It's, it's not in the Bible. Where's, where's joining a church, and giving your tithes, and, and becoming a, a good person, or where's any of that?

[17:50] There's none of that in eternal life. Eternal life is a relationship with God, through the Lord Jesus Christ. It has nothing to do with what you do, and what you work to do, and how, what kind of life you live, and what religion you pick up.

[18:06] You can't find eternal life, and religion. You find it in a relationship with Christ. Verse number four, I have glorified thee on the earth. I have finished the work, which thou gavest me to do.

[18:19] Now, the question comes up, well, you didn't die yet. and when he died, he cried out, it is finished. And so, someone says, well, did he finish the work? Well, he's either just speaking, all encompassing of this hour is, is upon me, and this is, this is it, or that is, his heart is fixed upon it, or he's just referring back to, the preaching that he did, the ministry that he did, the men that he called, and all of the traveling around, that was the will of God.

[18:47] He does always those things that please the Father, and, um, you could look at it either way. Verse number five, and now, O Father, glorify thou me with thine own self, I believe he means together, when he says with thine own self, as in alongside of, glorify thou me with thine own self, with the glory which I had with thee before the world was.

[19:13] So, Jesus Christ was around before the world was, and he had glory before the world was, look back at John chapter number one. In Genesis chapter one, in the beginning, God created the heaven and the earth, but before the world was, Jesus Christ had glory with the Father, in John chapter one, verse one, in the beginning was the word, and the word was with God, and the word was God.

[19:58] The same was in the beginning with God. All things were made by him, and without him was not anything made, that was made, in him was life, and the life was the light of men.

[20:13] In verse number nine, that was the true light, which lighteth every man that cometh into the world. In verse 11, he came unto his own, and his own received him not.

[20:25] But as many as received him, to them gave he power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on his name. And there's a birth that takes place, when you believe on his name.

[20:37] Now back in 17, the Son had glory with the Father before creation. Before the world was, the Son existed in the Father.

[20:48] And you notice that in verse 8 of John 17, I have given unto them the words which thou gavest me, and they received them, and have known, surely I came out from thee.

[21:05] And so the Son dwelling in and with the Father, comes out of the Father, and is begotten, and comes into the world. And the story's history there.

[21:16] Verse 5 says, O Father, glorify thou me with thine own self, with the glory which I had with thee before the world was. I have manifested thy name unto the men, which thou gavest me out of the world.

[21:29] 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.

[21:41] And it seems to correspond with what he said back in chapter 16 in verse 30, where they finally seem to come around and say, Now we are sure that thou knowest all things, and needest not that any man should ask thee.

[21:53] By this we believe that thou camest forth from God. And now he's saying, They have known that all things whatsoever thou hast given me are of thee. Verse 8, For I have given unto them the words, Amen, 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.

[22:14] I pray for them. I pray for them. 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.

[22:31] And so there's complete union with the Son and the Father, with what belongs to one belongs to the other. And we saw that earlier, and I'm not going to rehash all these things, but a lot of these verses are a bit repetitive.

[22:44] But I want to note something about Jesus Christ's prayer here. He says, I pray for them. I pray not for the world. But here the prayer is for those men that are going to embark upon a calling, and a ministry, that they're not going to have Christ there to teach them along the way.

[23:07] The Holy Ghost is going to come upon them, and the Holy Ghost is going to guide them, and He's going to glorify Christ, and show them things to come, and bring things to their remembrance, and we've covered that. But they're about to go, and they're going to need help, and Christ is praying for them.

[23:23] Now when He says, I pray not for the world, It seems to me that that doesn't quite set well with some denominations, or some religious teachings of not praying for the world.

[23:41] Let's make some notes about this, or understand something. What Christ is not doing is praying for the peace of the world. He's not praying for world peace. He's not praying for the world to have their joy fulfilled and satisfied, or for God to protect them, like He's praying for these.

[23:57] I mentioned this at the beginning. He's not praying for their unification of the world. We are the world. We are one. That's not His prayer. I'm praying for these men. I'm praying for their unification.

[24:09] I'm praying for their sanctification. But I pray not for the world. Now, I've got to temper this with the Apostle Paul. So look at 1 Timothy chapter 2, so that we don't just go off and say, well then, I should never pray for anybody that's lost.

[24:26] Well, that would probably be a foolish assumption, or pretending that that's what Jesus Christ is saying. That's not what He's saying. As a matter of fact, what He did say is He's praying for them that will believe.

[24:39] So they are lost in the moment. How about that? 1 Timothy chapter 2. And let's just put these two thoughts together about the prayer and praying for the world, whether we should be praying for the world, or for the lost, if you want to think of it that way.

[24:59] 1 Timothy chapter 2, verse 1. And I exhort, therefore, that first of all, supplications, prayers, intercessions, and giving of thanks be made for all men, for kings, for all that are in authority, that we may lead a quiet and peaceable life in all godliness and honesty.

[25:17] For this is good and acceptable in the sight of God our Savior, who will have all men to be saved. Now, He said that prayers be made for all men, who will have all men to be saved, and to come to the knowledge of the truth.

[25:30] For there is one God, and one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus, who gave Himself a ransom for all, to be testified in due time.

[25:41] Whereunto I am ordained a preacher and an apostle. I speak the truth in Christ, and lie not a teacher of the Gentiles, and faith and verity. I will, therefore, that men pray everywhere, lifting up holy hands without wrath and doubting.

[25:55] So the prayer, I'm going to point two things out. The prayer that Paul says that he's exhorting is that prayer be made for all men in the context of God would have all men to be saved, and come to the knowledge of the truth.

[26:12] So in praying for anybody in this world, not for the world as a whole, but for individuals in this world, you're praying for them to come to the knowledge of the truth, that there is one God, and one mediator between God and man, the man Christ Jesus, and that that Christ Jesus gave Himself a ransom for them, and that they can be saved and brought into a relationship with God the Father through the Son, Jesus Christ.

[26:37] That's a good prayer to pray. So it's not Christ saying, I'm only praying for Christians, and I don't pray for anybody else. We are to pray for the lost. You've got a mom, a dad, a family member, a friend, a neighbor that's unsaved, that's lost, that's deceived.

[26:55] You want to pray for them. You want to pray that God will open their eyes and show them what His Son did for them, that they can be saved. And then on top of that, the other prayer that's mentioned here is for those in authority, for kings and for those in authority.

[27:08] And that point is that we may lead, in verse 2, a quiet and peaceable life in all godliness and honesty. So he prays for the lost to be saved, and he prays for the government to leave us alone so that we can serve God quietly, in the sense of with peace, and not with torture, and not with persecutions.

[27:31] And I think that's a pretty good prayer too. So if you want to pray for your government, then pray that they leave us alone or don't pass laws that will constrict or restrict the furtherance of the gospel and the liberty that we have in Jesus Christ to work the ministry.

[27:50] Anyway, I won't say any more about that, but come back to John 17. Christ doesn't pray for the safety of the world or the peace of the world or the prosperity of the world.

[28:05] He prays for those things for his own. But Paul instructs us we should be praying for the lost in this world and for governments in this world that they keep their hands off of interfering with the ministry, the gospel ministry.

[28:21] There's a difference between the kingdom of God and the kingdom of heaven. And we are in the kingdom of God, a spiritual kingdom. We don't want the kingdom of heaven that is fought over by force, taken by force.

[28:34] We don't want the kingdom of heaven to conflict with the kingdom of God. I know that's a little bit over some of your heads, but for those of you who get it, you get it. All right, John 17. And verse, where do we stop?

[28:46] Verse 10. All right, verse 11. And now I am no more in the world. Okay, what do you mean? So that word now, I've already showed you that.

[28:59] It's in verse 7, and it's in a few spots, and we've covered it in a previous chapter, the hour, and he says, now is this, now is that. This has to do with the prince of this world. God cometh now.

[29:10] It's all, I think, in one event, in one open-ended span time. It's not a point in time where he's like, I'm not here, but I'm walking.

[29:22] My feet are on the dirt. That's not what he's saying, that I'm not here, present. It's in connection to what's transpiring in this hour. Verse 11. Now here's where I have to pause and make this point for those who need to hear it, is that the Lord Jesus Christ addresses the Father in heaven as Holy Father.

[29:59] He called him Father in verse 1, Father in verse 5, and now he calls him Holy Father. Later he calls him Righteous Father. That is a term that Jesus Christ used in prayer to the Father.

[30:13] It is a title that he is giving to the true God, the Holy Father. How in the world did a religion on this planet take that term and apply it to men that die and then to another man that dies and to another man and they say he is the Holy Father.

[30:38] How did that happen? I'd looked it up. I wanted to say where did this come in? Because it didn't start here. And I never found a satisfying answer.

[30:50] But I looked up a Catholic website and it says, and it gave like answers to popular questions. Here's one popular question.

[31:01] Why is the Pope called the Holy Father instead of just Father? The answer is this. Catholics call the Pope Holy Father not in his acknowledgement of his personal state of soul, but as an expression of respect for his office as successor to Peter and the head of the church on earth.

[31:20] His is a holy office. Huh. So we call him Holy Father, a title that is in the Bible to the Holy Father, God, and we've given it to a man to express respect for his office?

[31:40] Well then why don't you call him Everlasting God? Does that make sense or not? Am I off base? Why don't you take every other title for God and show respect to that office?

[31:52] Why Holy Father? Here's another one. Oh, I got, I don't have the question on here, but it's along the same idea why they call him Holy Father. And here's their, a little bit more detailed explanation.

[32:06] Only God is holy by his very essence. However, a person, place, or things association with God, it too can be called Holy. To be called Holy is to express the idea of consecration, that someone or something belongs to God.

[32:20] This is why the Bible can call many persons, places, or things holy. For instance, it says that the place that God appears is holy, meaning where God places his name.

[32:31] When Moses, oh no, he tells the Israelites that they're going to be a holy nation. And so God dwells in a tabernacle called Holy. The city of Jerusalem in Isaiah is called Holy.

[32:43] And some of the sacrifices are called Holy. There's saints that are called Holy. He says, Be ye holy, for I am holy.

[32:55] And so they're just extracting the word holy from the Bible and saying, see, it's in the Bible, so we can use it too. Since we are his holy people, and his people of the church, it is fitting that the head of the holy people be called Holy Father, with a capital H and a capital F.

[33:12] Not because of his own merit, but because Christ died for him and for the church that he leads on earth. That still doesn't satisfy my asking of how you can take a title for God the Father and put it on a sinful man when he is not holy.

[33:27] And my goodness, he's far from it, as are you and I. I won't put any man above myself in the sense of holiness. I can't do that. Only Jesus Christ. I couldn't put you and I don't belong to be above you.

[33:41] But calling a man holy father, I think that's profanity. I think it's blasphemy. And they want to stand behind it and argue that, oh no, he is the leader.

[33:53] It's respectful. No, it's not. You think it's respectful to him? Is it respectful to the Holy Father? To God the Father? That's disrespectful to him. To bring his holy title down to earth and plug it on top of a man.

[34:09] A man that doesn't even, never mind. But I think I'm making the point clear enough. Shame on them for doing that. Come back to Matthew. Let's get a little bit of this.

[34:21] Um. Yeah. Matthew 23.

[34:38] And let's just see what the Bible does have to say about it. Matthew 23. And the Lord is speaking about certain elevated positions in this nation, this religion.

[34:55] in verse 2. He says that the scribes and Pharisees sit in Moses' seat. And so they sit in that seat of judgment and tell people, you need to do this, you need to do that, you need to do this, you need to do that.

[35:08] And they're supposed to do that based upon the word of God, the law. Tell them what the law says. And he tells them to do what they say when it comes to the law, but don't follow their example.

[35:19] In verse 3, all therefore whatsoever they bid you observe, that observe and do, but do ye not after their works, for they say and do not.

[35:31] And he goes on to describe how they're hypocrites. These religious men that love to be worshipped are hypocrites. In verse number 7, and they love this, they love greetings in the markets and to be called of men, Rabbi, Rabbi.

[35:46] Rabbi, but be ye not called, be not ye called Rabbi, for one is your master, even Christ, and all ye are brethren.

[35:58] All ye are brethren, he said. You're on the same level. And call no man your father upon the earth, for one is your father, which is in heaven.

[36:10] Neither be ye called masters, for one is your master, even Christ. But he that is greatest among you shall be your servant, and whosoever shall exalt himself shall be abased, and he that shall humble himself shall be exalted.

[36:29] Now there's a plain teaching about the title, Father, and about calling somebody Father, or Master, or Teacher, or getting behind somebody. In the Apostle Paul's ministry, he had a problem with some of them, saying, well, I'm of Apollos, and I'm of Paul, or I'm of Cephas, and one of them says, well, I'm of Christ.

[36:50] And he says, no, this isn't how it works. You're not plugging yourself behind a man. We're all laborers together with God. Now, coming back to, we're getting off course here, but come back to John chapter 17.

[37:05] And when Jesus Christ addressed the Father in heaven, he called him Holy Father. There is only one being worthy of that designation and title.

[37:19] Only one. And he's not a man that sits on a throne in the Vatican. Absolutely not. So he says, Holy Father, keep through thine own name those whom thou hast given me, that they may be one as we are.

[37:35] While I was with them in the world, I kept them in thy name. Those that thou gavest me, I have kept. And none of them is lost, but the son of perdition, that the scripture might be fulfilled.

[37:48] And so we recognize he's speaking of Judas Iscariot, Judas, who earlier, Satan entered into him and he sought an opportunity to betray him. And it's just a few minutes there.

[37:58] Actually, chapter 18 and verse 2, Judas is going to arrive on the scene and betray him. And so he says that that one's lost. I've kept them, all of them, I've kept them, like safekeeping, I've kept them safe, I've kept them with me, protected.

[38:16] None of them is lost, but the son of perdition, that the scripture might be fulfilled. And we're running out of time, I'm not going to take you to the places, but several spots in the Psalms are prophecies, are scriptures saying that somebody's going to lift up this heel against me.

[38:32] And he's saying that he's going to be betrayed and it's going to be his own familiar friend. And it's references to what's fulfilled in Judas Iscariot betraying the Lord Jesus Christ, someone who supped with him, who spent time with him, who ministered with him, who cast out devils and healed the sick and preached the gospel of the kingdom.

[38:50] And then he turns on him and betrays him for 30 pieces of silver. But the scripture predicted that. And so the scripture must be fulfilled and Judas is the one that fulfills it.

[39:04] And woe be to him. Verse number 13, And now come I to thee, and these things I speak in the world, that they might have my joy fulfilled in themselves.

[39:16] I've given them thy word. Right after he says that they might have his joy fulfilled in themselves, he gives them his word. We saw back in chapter 15 that he said, If my words abide in you, and these things have I spoken, that my joy might remain in you, the word of God and joy come hand in hand as so many other things do as well.

[39:42] Verse 14, I have 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. I pray not that thou shouldest take them out of the world, but thou shouldest keep them from the evil.

[39:56] They are not of the world, even as I am not of the world. So we'll close with this, just this thought. It's such a, it's a permeating truth in the Gospels.

[40:08] It was back in chapter 16 and it comes up again in chapter 17 about a division, a separation between the world and those who are Jesus Christ's. And he's not praying for the world, he's praying for those who are his.

[40:21] And now he's identifying them as not being of the world and saying earlier that the world will hate you. It hates me, it's going to hate you. The way it treated me, it's going to treat you. And if it treated me this way, it's not going to treat you any better.

[40:34] And now he tells them, I've given you my word. And they don't like that. They hate you because you follow a book. Because you follow the word of God. And they say, that's not, that's not how we operate.

[40:47] We, we, we evolved from a big bang. We don't follow a book. We are our own judges.

[40:57] And you can't tell, you can't judge me. You can't tell me that I'm different than you and therefore I'm wrong. And the world has their own religion, their own belief system. It's all contrived of their own human, humanitarian or humanistic philosophies and ideology.

[41:16] And Christ let his men know that I've given you the word. The world's going to hate you. They're not going to agree with you, but you're not of them. And I hope you see, I hope you know this, I hope you experience this already, that it is a liberating and a beautiful thing to feel yourself freed from the world.

[41:35] And to not feel any obligations or attachments to it. To know that you are of the Lord, that God is your Father, He's given you His word, you can fellowship with Him through the word of God.

[41:47] There are other believers that are family to you on this planet. And to have a, just a separation from the world and what it believes and what it stands for and what it practices. It's a wonderful thing God has given to us.

[42:01] And shame on us if we can't take advantage of that. And if we keep sliding back into the world, have a little fun and then come back over here and slide back into the world and partake in its adventures and its pleasures and then come back over here and enjoy eternal life.

[42:20] God help you and I to live like we are different from the world and to remain separate from this world and to be this person that God is praying for you to be.

[42:31] Let the world hate you. Let them mock you. The more they mock you, the more you feel like I don't belong with you. I'm not of this world. In that song we sing, this world is not my home.

[42:45] I'm a pilgrim. I'm a stranger to it. I'm heading home. I'm heading to see my Father where it's good, where it's holy, where things are pure and right the way He wants them to be and this filth is just going to be gone forever.

[43:02] And the heartache and the sorrows and the tears be no more and no more night and we'll have to stop with this but know that that's part of what God is calling you to when He wants to separate you from that world.

[43:17] So we'll stop there at verse 17 and pick it up next week. Lord willing, right there.