WEBVTT 00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:05.679 If you're a Bible, turn to John 17. 00:00:05.679 --> 00:00:08.800 John 17. 00:00:12.439 --> 00:00:19.080 I don't know if you've seen the film Master and Commander, with Russell Crowe in it. 00:00:19.080 --> 00:00:22.440 ! It's set in the Napoleonic Wars. 00:00:22.440 --> 00:00:30.440 Russell Crowe is the captain of a small British frigate called HMS Surprise. 00:00:30.440 --> 00:00:31.440 It's a good film. 00:00:31.440 --> 00:00:39.439 And HMS Surprise's task was to try and intercept the much larger and more powerful French vessel. 00:00:39.439 --> 00:00:48.439 And the whole film is about this incredible chase between two ships around the coast of South America. 00:00:48.439 --> 00:00:51.439 I don't know if you've seen the film. 00:00:51.439 --> 00:00:59.439 But life at sea is kind of portrayed as a grim struggle for survival. 00:00:59.439 --> 00:01:03.439 And sometimes life feels like that, doesn't it? 00:01:03.439 --> 00:01:05.439 A grim struggle for survival. 00:01:05.439 --> 00:01:09.439 And certainly the Christian life sometimes feels like that. 00:01:09.439 --> 00:01:13.439 Crew members are lost overboard. 00:01:13.439 --> 00:01:15.439 They're all at me this morning, aren't they? 00:01:15.439 --> 00:01:18.439 We love noisy children. It's a joy, honestly. 00:01:18.439 --> 00:01:20.439 All right? 00:01:20.439 --> 00:01:22.439 So there is a room out there. 00:01:22.439 --> 00:01:24.439 You can hear me. 00:01:24.439 --> 00:01:26.439 You can see me and hear me if you want to go out there. 00:01:26.439 --> 00:01:28.439 But that's great. 00:01:28.439 --> 00:01:30.439 Don't feel bad now that I've embarrassed you. 00:01:30.439 --> 00:01:32.439 All right? 00:01:32.439 --> 00:01:34.439 It's good. 00:01:34.439 --> 00:01:36.439 So where am I? 00:01:36.439 --> 00:01:46.439 So HMS Frigate, the film is basically about how it's difficult on board a ship. 00:01:46.439 --> 00:01:48.439 It's a grim struggle for survival. 00:01:48.439 --> 00:01:50.439 And often, as Christians, we can feel like that. 00:01:52.439 --> 00:01:56.439 There are times out there where it seems like everything will be lost. 00:01:56.439 --> 00:02:04.439 All along, the question which the crew and audience are asking themselves are, will this ship make it to the end of its mission? 00:02:04.439 --> 00:02:09.439 Will she keep going despite the huge odds against her? 00:02:09.439 --> 00:02:13.439 And there's got to be times, isn't there, when I think as Christians, we're tempted to think the same. 00:02:13.439 --> 00:02:15.439 How can I keep going? 00:02:15.439 --> 00:02:21.439 There are times when you look at the church in this country and think, is it on the brink of oblivion? 00:02:21.439 --> 00:02:30.439 Often the Christian life, it feels like, doesn't it, a voyage at sea where there's huge waves and we're just about to be swamped. 00:02:30.439 --> 00:02:37.439 And if we put ourselves into the shoes of the disciples in John 17, I think that's where they are. 00:02:37.439 --> 00:02:39.439 There's only 11 of them now. 00:02:40.439 --> 00:02:42.439 One of them has betrayed them, hasn't he? 00:02:42.439 --> 00:02:43.439 There were 12. 00:02:44.439 --> 00:02:46.439 But one of them has gone overboard. 00:02:46.439 --> 00:02:51.439 Judas has already defected, just as the scriptures prophesied. 00:02:51.439 --> 00:02:53.439 And so you can imagine how they felt. 00:02:53.439 --> 00:02:59.439 It's Thursday evening, and Jesus is preparing to hand over the ship to these 11 disciples. 00:02:59.439 --> 00:03:03.439 You can imagine what they felt like. 00:03:03.439 --> 00:03:05.439 He's warned them, I'm going to be crucified. 00:03:05.439 --> 00:03:07.439 They don't want to hear that, but he's told them that. 00:03:09.439 --> 00:03:11.439 And in a few hours' time, it's going to happen. 00:03:11.439 --> 00:03:20.439 And the little ship of the disciples' faith is going to be plunged into the most dark and severe storm that they'll ever have to face. 00:03:21.439 --> 00:03:25.439 And so these 11 men are asking themselves, will we survive? 00:03:25.439 --> 00:03:26.439 How will we keep going? 00:03:26.439 --> 00:03:32.439 I think it's one of the great unused arguments for the Christian faith. 00:03:32.439 --> 00:03:35.439 We don't use this argument very much. 00:03:35.439 --> 00:03:46.439 But the sheer fact that the Christian church exists all around the world today, that there are billions of followers of the Lord Jesus, but then there were just 11. 00:03:46.439 --> 00:03:51.439 And the survival of the church and the growth of the church is a massive phenomenon. 00:03:52.439 --> 00:03:53.439 How is it possible? 00:03:53.439 --> 00:03:54.439 How did it all survive? 00:03:54.439 --> 00:03:56.439 How has it spread to healing? 00:03:56.439 --> 00:04:00.439 And the answer really is this prayer in John 17. 00:04:00.439 --> 00:04:03.439 We began to look at last week. 00:04:03.439 --> 00:04:06.439 And you'll notice, first of all, we saw that Jesus prays for himself. 00:04:06.439 --> 00:04:11.439 And he's just got one petition, and he prays for glory. 00:04:11.439 --> 00:04:14.439 But now he's going to pray for the 11 in this middle section. 00:04:15.439 --> 00:04:18.439 Verse 12, Judas is referred to. 00:04:18.439 --> 00:04:19.439 He's defected. 00:04:19.439 --> 00:04:20.439 And so there's just 11. 00:04:20.439 --> 00:04:22.439 They are facing incredible odds. 00:04:22.439 --> 00:04:27.439 I think it was Erasmus, the Renaissance scholar. 00:04:27.439 --> 00:04:31.439 He told this parable about Jesus returning to heaven, going back to heaven. 00:04:31.439 --> 00:04:41.439 And as he returns to heaven, the angels gather around Jesus, and he tells them what has happened, all about his miracles and his teaching, his death on the cross, and his resurrection. 00:04:41.439 --> 00:04:46.439 And when he finishes the story, Michael the archangel asks, but what happens now? 00:04:48.439 --> 00:04:52.439 And Jesus says, well, I've left behind 11 faithful disciples. 00:04:53.439 --> 00:04:56.439 And these people will build my church. 00:04:56.439 --> 00:04:59.439 And Michael says, but what if they fail? 00:04:59.439 --> 00:05:04.439 And according to the story, Jesus says, I have no other plan. 00:05:04.439 --> 00:05:06.439 There is no plan B. 00:05:06.439 --> 00:05:08.439 What if they fail? 00:05:09.439 --> 00:05:12.439 I have no plan B, Jesus says. 00:05:12.439 --> 00:05:13.439 There's a story. 00:05:13.439 --> 00:05:14.439 It's an illustration. 00:05:14.439 --> 00:05:15.439 It's a parable. 00:05:15.439 --> 00:05:16.439 But it's based on fact. 00:05:16.439 --> 00:05:17.439 There are just 11. 00:05:17.439 --> 00:05:23.439 And Jesus puts the whole weight of his enterprise onto the shoulders of the 11 men. 00:05:24.439 --> 00:05:28.439 And before we start finding things for us, before we start applying this directly to us, 00:05:28.439 --> 00:05:31.439 I want you to put yourself in the shoes of these 11 men. 00:05:31.439 --> 00:05:36.439 And so there's three things we're told about the 11 in this chapter. 00:05:36.439 --> 00:05:39.439 We're told, number one, that they are saved out of the world. 00:05:40.439 --> 00:05:43.439 Number two, that they are safe in the world. 00:05:44.439 --> 00:05:46.439 And number three, that they are sent into the world. 00:05:46.439 --> 00:05:47.439 Saved out of the world. 00:05:47.439 --> 00:05:48.439 Safe in the world. 00:05:48.439 --> 00:05:50.439 And then sent into the world. 00:05:50.439 --> 00:05:52.439 And they're kept. 00:05:52.439 --> 00:05:57.439 And to each of these things belongs our rescue, our protection. 00:05:59.439 --> 00:06:02.439 And so it's through the word of God that we are saved. 00:06:04.439 --> 00:06:07.439 And it's by the word of God that we are protected. 00:06:07.439 --> 00:06:10.439 And it is with the word of God that we are sent. 00:06:10.439 --> 00:06:12.439 So let's look at the three things. 00:06:12.439 --> 00:06:14.439 First of all, these 11, they're saved out of the world. 00:06:15.439 --> 00:06:18.439 We need to be really clear of what we're talking about. 00:06:18.439 --> 00:06:20.439 And when we talk about the world. 00:06:21.439 --> 00:06:24.439 And we're not talking about the kind of planet Earth. 00:06:26.439 --> 00:06:28.439 It comes up really clearly, doesn't it? 00:06:28.439 --> 00:06:29.439 The most famous verse in the Bible. 00:06:29.439 --> 00:06:36.439 It says in the Bible, for God so loved the world that he gave his one and only son that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life. 00:06:36.439 --> 00:06:43.439 And when John says God so loved the world, it's not the world in its bigness. 00:06:45.439 --> 00:06:46.439 It's the world in its badness. 00:06:48.439 --> 00:06:53.439 God so loved the world in its rebellion against him. 00:06:53.439 --> 00:06:55.439 In its anger against him. 00:06:55.439 --> 00:06:56.439 In its anger against him. 00:06:56.439 --> 00:07:00.439 God so loved the world, not so much in its bigness but in its badness. 00:07:01.439 --> 00:07:02.439 What kind of people does he love? 00:07:03.439 --> 00:07:07.439 That's what the word world means in John's Gospel. 00:07:07.439 --> 00:07:08.439 It's not the planet. 00:07:09.439 --> 00:07:12.439 It is human beings organized in rebellion against God. 00:07:13.439 --> 00:07:18.439 That's what the word world means in John's Gospel. 00:07:18.439 --> 00:07:21.439 And God loved that world so much. 00:07:21.439 --> 00:07:24.439 A world that is in rebellion against him. 00:07:25.439 --> 00:07:28.439 A human race that organizes itself in rebellion against him. 00:07:29.439 --> 00:07:32.439 God so loved that world that he gave his one and only son. 00:07:35.439 --> 00:07:37.439 But you notice something that you don't often hear. 00:07:38.439 --> 00:07:39.439 But it's clearly here in these verses. 00:07:40.439 --> 00:07:41.439 God gave us Jesus. 00:07:41.439 --> 00:07:43.439 But just look what it says in verse 6. 00:07:43.439 --> 00:07:46.439 God gave us Jesus. 00:07:49.439 --> 00:07:50.439 But in verse 6 Jesus says, 00:07:51.439 --> 00:07:54.439 I have manifest, I've shown your name to the people whom you gave me. 00:07:56.439 --> 00:07:57.439 Out of the world. 00:08:01.439 --> 00:08:03.439 How are we saved as Christians? 00:08:05.439 --> 00:08:06.439 Obviously we're saved aren't we? 00:08:06.439 --> 00:08:07.439 Because God gave us Jesus. 00:08:07.439 --> 00:08:12.439 But there's another truth here in John 17 that's often tucked away. 00:08:12.439 --> 00:08:13.439 And you don't hear very often. 00:08:14.439 --> 00:08:17.439 We are saved not only because God gave us Jesus. 00:08:18.439 --> 00:08:21.439 But we're saved because God gave Jesus us. 00:08:24.439 --> 00:08:25.439 Can you see what it says? 00:08:26.439 --> 00:08:28.439 I've revealed you to those you gave me. 00:08:29.439 --> 00:08:30.439 Out of the world. 00:08:32.440 --> 00:08:33.440 They were yours. 00:08:33.440 --> 00:08:34.440 You gave them to me. 00:08:34.440 --> 00:08:35.440 And they've obeyed your word. 00:08:35.440 --> 00:08:36.440 So look again in verse 9. 00:08:36.440 --> 00:08:37.440 I am praying for them. 00:08:37.440 --> 00:08:42.440 I am praying, not praying for the world, but for those whom you have given me. 00:08:43.440 --> 00:08:44.440 For they are yours. 00:08:44.440 --> 00:08:45.440 Now I think that's staggering. 00:08:46.440 --> 00:08:51.440 We are used to thinking of Jesus as God's gift to the world. 00:08:51.440 --> 00:08:53.440 There'll be lots of sermons on that at Christmas time. 00:08:53.440 --> 00:08:57.440 But do you ever think of yourself as God's gift to Jesus? 00:08:59.440 --> 00:09:00.440 Because that is what you are. 00:09:00.440 --> 00:09:02.440 If you are a believer this morning. 00:09:02.440 --> 00:09:04.440 If you've trusted in the Lord Jesus Christ. 00:09:04.440 --> 00:09:06.440 You are God's gift. 00:09:06.440 --> 00:09:11.440 Have you ever thought of yourself in those terms? 00:09:13.440 --> 00:09:15.440 There's massive mystery here, isn't there? 00:09:16.440 --> 00:09:18.440 Let me try and explain the inexplicable. 00:09:18.440 --> 00:09:24.440 If you come to my study, you'll find there is a really tattered old book. 00:09:24.440 --> 00:09:27.440 Which is a little bit battered in my library. 00:09:27.440 --> 00:09:30.440 It's called Young's Concordance. 00:09:30.440 --> 00:09:32.440 I don't need it. 00:09:32.440 --> 00:09:34.440 I never use it anymore. 00:09:34.440 --> 00:09:37.440 Because you can find all that you need on that kind of stuff online. 00:09:38.440 --> 00:09:41.440 But it was given to me by my dad. 00:09:41.440 --> 00:09:46.440 And my dad used it loads when he became a Christian in the 1950s. 00:09:46.440 --> 00:09:48.440 That's why it's so battered. 00:09:48.440 --> 00:09:53.440 It was a gift from him to me. 00:09:53.440 --> 00:09:56.440 And there's no reason for me to keep it. 00:09:56.440 --> 00:09:57.440 I should throw it out, really. 00:09:57.440 --> 00:09:59.440 But it's got great sentimental value. 00:09:59.440 --> 00:10:01.440 Because when I see that book, I think of him. 00:10:01.440 --> 00:10:06.440 And what Jesus is reminding us here is something that we don't think about a lot. 00:10:06.440 --> 00:10:10.440 But you and I, as believers, you are God's gift. 00:10:10.440 --> 00:10:12.440 You are the gift of the Father to the Son. 00:10:12.440 --> 00:10:14.440 And that is why you are saved. 00:10:16.440 --> 00:10:19.440 And God has given you to Jesus for safekeeping. 00:10:19.440 --> 00:10:21.440 Now, of course, any illustration falls down. 00:10:22.440 --> 00:10:27.440 It's not just that we are objects passed from hand to hand. 00:10:29.440 --> 00:10:35.440 Think of the gift of an orphan child to adopted parents. 00:10:35.440 --> 00:10:36.440 It's maybe better. 00:10:36.440 --> 00:10:44.440 Now, that is much more, isn't it, for the good of the gift as it is for the glory of the giver or the blessing of the receiver. 00:10:44.440 --> 00:10:47.440 That's different from giving someone a book. 00:10:47.440 --> 00:10:55.440 When you give an orphaned child to adopted parents, everyone is blessed. 00:10:56.440 --> 00:10:58.440 The giver is glorified. 00:10:58.440 --> 00:10:59.440 The receiver is blessed. 00:10:59.440 --> 00:11:01.440 And it's for the good of the child. 00:11:01.440 --> 00:11:06.440 And it's that sense, in that sense, that God has given us to Jesus. 00:11:06.440 --> 00:11:11.440 The Father has given us to his Son to be loved by him and prized by him. 00:11:11.440 --> 00:11:24.440 And so, when you and I go through great difficulties, like some of you are, and when it seems the little ship of faith is going to be swamped by many pressures all around us, remember who you are. 00:11:24.440 --> 00:11:27.440 You are God's gift to his Son. 00:11:27.440 --> 00:11:28.440 You are God's gift to his Son. 00:11:28.440 --> 00:11:34.440 And that means, doesn't it, that you are indescribably precious to Jesus. 00:11:34.440 --> 00:11:37.440 He values you. 00:11:37.440 --> 00:11:47.440 We are like that book of mine, which is tattered and not well kept and falling apart and in many ways worthless. 00:11:47.440 --> 00:11:50.440 We have no intrinsic worth. 00:11:50.440 --> 00:11:53.440 We are sinners through and through. 00:11:53.440 --> 00:11:55.440 But God loves us in Christ. 00:11:56.440 --> 00:12:00.440 And our value and our worth and Jesus prizes us. 00:12:01.440 --> 00:12:03.440 So it doesn't matter what your background is. 00:12:04.440 --> 00:12:10.440 And it doesn't matter however broken and however flawed you feel this morning. 00:12:10.440 --> 00:12:16.440 You are treasured from all eternity for all eternity. 00:12:17.440 --> 00:12:19.440 So look with me at verse 24. 00:12:21.440 --> 00:12:34.440 Father, I desire that they also whom you have given me may be with me where I am to see my glory that you have given me because you loved me before the foundation of the world. 00:12:34.440 --> 00:12:38.440 Do you see, look how much Jesus prizes those he's died for. 00:12:38.440 --> 00:12:41.440 He says, I cannot wait to spend eternity with you. 00:12:44.440 --> 00:12:46.440 And we need to think like that, don't we? 00:12:46.440 --> 00:12:47.440 Particularly when it's discouraging. 00:12:49.440 --> 00:12:53.440 When we're swamped by difficulties and problems, remember who you are. 00:12:53.440 --> 00:12:58.440 The Father has given you to his Son, not because of anything in you. 00:12:58.440 --> 00:13:02.440 It's just an act of sovereign love and grace. 00:13:02.440 --> 00:13:05.440 And God has given you to his Son for safekeeping. 00:13:05.440 --> 00:13:09.440 And the Son cannot wait to spend eternity with you. 00:13:09.440 --> 00:13:17.440 For those you have given me, I want them to be where I am. 00:13:18.440 --> 00:13:23.440 I want them to see the glory that I have, Jesus says, and for them to share in it. 00:13:23.440 --> 00:13:27.440 Can't you see that? 00:13:27.440 --> 00:13:30.440 In verse 24. 00:13:30.440 --> 00:13:38.440 You see from a human perspective, what happened to those 11, I don't know if you know the story. 00:13:38.440 --> 00:13:41.440 Ten of them died as martyrs death. 00:13:41.440 --> 00:13:42.440 They were killed. 00:13:42.440 --> 00:13:44.440 Violent deaths. 00:13:44.440 --> 00:13:49.440 John, the apostle, he lived to a ripe old age, but he suffered imprisonment and exile. 00:13:50.440 --> 00:13:54.440 But all the others, the other ten, they died untimely deaths. 00:13:54.440 --> 00:14:01.440 But do you see from Jesus' perspective, there's no such thing as an untimely death. 00:14:05.440 --> 00:14:09.440 You and I are loved with an everlasting love. 00:14:09.440 --> 00:14:15.440 And if I can put it like this, you are going to get to hang out with Jesus for all eternity. 00:14:15.440 --> 00:14:18.440 And so there is no such thing as an untimely death. 00:14:21.440 --> 00:14:28.440 And that's why as Christians, when our brothers and sisters die, we cannot grieve like those who are in the world. 00:14:30.440 --> 00:14:33.440 Sometimes Christians talk like that isn't true. 00:14:33.440 --> 00:14:39.440 We do not believe that this world is the only world that there is. 00:14:40.440 --> 00:14:44.440 And if you think that, you will grieve hopelessly. 00:14:45.440 --> 00:14:52.440 But if you know that you've been given by the Father to the Son for safekeeping for all eternity, 00:14:53.440 --> 00:14:55.440 you will have a totally different perspective on things. 00:14:55.440 --> 00:15:03.440 The ship of the church in John 17 is to go into very deep and stormy weather. 00:15:04.440 --> 00:15:07.440 And these eleven will face severe persecution and martyrdom. 00:15:07.440 --> 00:15:10.440 And Jesus wants them to know who they are and how much he delights in them. 00:15:11.440 --> 00:15:12.440 And how much he prizes them. 00:15:13.440 --> 00:15:18.440 That God has set his special love upon you in Christ from all eternity you've been loved. 00:15:19.440 --> 00:15:21.440 For all eternity you will be loved. 00:15:21.440 --> 00:15:29.440 Carlos Voss talks about, doesn't he, that verse where you have been loved with an everlasting love. 00:15:29.440 --> 00:15:33.440 And he says, how do you know that God will never stop loving you? 00:15:34.440 --> 00:15:36.440 You've been loved with an everlasting love. 00:15:36.440 --> 00:15:38.440 How do you know that God will never stop loving you? 00:15:38.440 --> 00:15:39.440 Because he never began loving you. 00:15:40.440 --> 00:15:42.440 It is an everlasting love. 00:15:42.440 --> 00:15:43.440 It is beyond our comprehension. 00:15:44.440 --> 00:15:49.440 And we have been given by God to Jesus to be rescued. 00:15:49.440 --> 00:15:53.440 And so by God's sovereign initiative we are called out of the world. 00:15:54.440 --> 00:15:56.440 And God has given us to Jesus for safekeeping. 00:15:58.440 --> 00:16:00.440 And we are saved by the electing love of God. 00:16:00.440 --> 00:16:02.440 And I don't want to labour this point because we looked at it last week. 00:16:02.440 --> 00:16:08.440 But at the back of your response to the gospel is the sovereign electing love of the Father. 00:16:09.440 --> 00:16:12.440 And we need to hold those two truths together. 00:16:12.440 --> 00:16:13.440 Two truths together. 00:16:13.440 --> 00:16:15.440 Salvation is not a human lottery. 00:16:15.440 --> 00:16:17.440 Congratulations, your numbers come up. 00:16:17.440 --> 00:16:20.440 No, it is divine choice. 00:16:20.440 --> 00:16:24.440 And if you have chosen Jesus, it was because God chose you first. 00:16:25.440 --> 00:16:29.440 You love him today because he first loved you. 00:16:30.440 --> 00:16:32.440 Before the foundation of the world. 00:16:32.440 --> 00:16:38.440 He chose you to give you to Jesus to be saved. 00:16:38.440 --> 00:16:39.440 It is not a lottery. 00:16:39.440 --> 00:16:40.440 It is not down to chance. 00:16:40.440 --> 00:16:43.440 It is the sovereign electing special love of God for his people. 00:16:43.440 --> 00:16:45.440 Saved out of the world. 00:16:45.440 --> 00:16:48.440 But then safe in the world, verses 11 to 16. 00:16:48.440 --> 00:16:51.440 Jesus prays for our protection. 00:16:52.440 --> 00:16:54.440 And the world is a dangerous place for Christians. 00:16:54.440 --> 00:16:56.440 And Jesus prays in verse 11. 00:16:56.440 --> 00:16:59.440 He says, I am no longer in the world. 00:16:59.440 --> 00:17:01.440 But they are in the world. 00:17:01.440 --> 00:17:02.440 Remember what the world is? 00:17:02.440 --> 00:17:04.440 In rebellion against God. 00:17:05.440 --> 00:17:07.440 But they are in the world. 00:17:07.440 --> 00:17:08.440 And I am coming to you, Holy Father. 00:17:08.440 --> 00:17:09.440 Keep them. 00:17:09.440 --> 00:17:11.440 Keep them in your name. 00:17:11.440 --> 00:17:12.440 Which you have given me. 00:17:12.440 --> 00:17:14.440 That they may be one, even as we are one. 00:17:14.440 --> 00:17:15.440 Keep them in your name. 00:17:15.440 --> 00:17:16.440 What does that mean? 00:17:17.440 --> 00:17:18.440 How does that work? 00:17:18.440 --> 00:17:20.440 Is it some kind of mantra? 00:17:20.440 --> 00:17:22.440 Is it some kind of incantation? 00:17:22.440 --> 00:17:23.440 You know, a bit like abracadabra. 00:17:23.440 --> 00:17:24.440 In your name. 00:17:24.440 --> 00:17:28.440 How does the name of God protect us? 00:17:30.440 --> 00:17:34.440 In our culture, our name is just a handle, isn't it? 00:17:35.440 --> 00:17:39.440 But in the Bible, it's much more serious than that. 00:17:39.440 --> 00:17:44.440 In the Bible, the name expresses the character of the person. 00:17:45.440 --> 00:17:47.440 And so God changes people's names. 00:17:49.440 --> 00:17:50.440 When he meets with them. 00:17:50.440 --> 00:17:53.440 So, some people know the story of Jacob in the Old Testament. 00:17:53.440 --> 00:17:55.440 And Jacob is a pretty horrible bloke, really. 00:17:55.440 --> 00:17:56.440 He's a twister. 00:17:56.440 --> 00:17:57.440 He's a deceiver. 00:17:57.440 --> 00:17:58.440 He's a manipulator. 00:17:58.440 --> 00:18:02.440 There's nothing going for Jacob in all the Bible. 00:18:02.440 --> 00:18:04.440 And then Jacob met with God. 00:18:04.440 --> 00:18:05.440 And God changed his name. 00:18:05.440 --> 00:18:08.440 And says, from now on, you will be called Israel. 00:18:10.440 --> 00:18:15.440 You will be called a prince who has found power and peace with God. 00:18:15.440 --> 00:18:16.440 He met with God. 00:18:16.440 --> 00:18:19.440 He met with God and Jacob was changed. 00:18:20.440 --> 00:18:22.440 Or think of Simon. 00:18:23.440 --> 00:18:26.440 In the Gospels, Jesus says, from now on, you will be called Peter. 00:18:26.440 --> 00:18:30.440 Simon is a pretty unstable, up and down person. 00:18:30.440 --> 00:18:34.440 But Jesus says, from now on, you will be called the rock, Peter. 00:18:36.440 --> 00:18:39.440 Because you've met with me, you are now a rock or soul of Tarsus. 00:18:39.440 --> 00:18:41.440 His name was changed to Paul. 00:18:41.440 --> 00:18:48.440 Because in the Bible, when people meet with God, God changes their name to show he's changed their character. 00:18:48.440 --> 00:18:52.440 And that's what the Gospel does. 00:18:53.440 --> 00:18:54.440 That's what a name is. 00:18:54.440 --> 00:18:57.440 A name stands for the character of that person. 00:18:57.440 --> 00:19:00.440 And so, God's name is God's character. 00:19:01.440 --> 00:19:03.440 And that's where our protection is found. 00:19:03.440 --> 00:19:10.440 Our protection is found, not in ourselves, not in how clever we are, but in the character of God, in the name of God. 00:19:11.440 --> 00:19:13.440 How do we know what God is like? 00:19:13.440 --> 00:19:14.440 Well, Jesus has revealed himself to us. 00:19:14.440 --> 00:19:15.440 Look at verse 6. 00:19:15.440 --> 00:19:16.440 Verse 6. 00:19:18.440 --> 00:19:23.440 I have manifest, I have shown your name to the people. 00:19:23.440 --> 00:19:25.440 I've revealed your name to these guys. 00:19:26.440 --> 00:19:29.440 Whom you've given to me out of the world. 00:19:32.440 --> 00:19:34.440 Yours they were, and yours you gave them to me. 00:19:34.440 --> 00:19:37.440 And they have been kept by your word. 00:19:37.440 --> 00:19:46.440 And so, he says, protect them by the power of your name, by all the force of your character. 00:19:48.440 --> 00:19:49.440 By who you are. 00:19:50.440 --> 00:19:55.440 One of the great, kind of, finance institutions is JPMorgan Chase. 00:19:56.440 --> 00:20:02.440 JPMorgan, the founder of the bank, was once asked, what is the best collateral someone can give for a loan? 00:20:02.440 --> 00:20:05.440 And his answer was, character. 00:20:05.440 --> 00:20:06.440 Character. 00:20:08.440 --> 00:20:13.440 I guess, like me, if you've got an email address, you get spam email, don't you? 00:20:14.440 --> 00:20:17.440 I got one this week. 00:20:17.440 --> 00:20:24.440 It offered me hundreds of thousands of dollars in the spam email. 00:20:25.440 --> 00:20:31.440 It was from a widow in southern Nigeria, whose husband was a multi-millionaire. 00:20:32.440 --> 00:20:38.440 And in his will, like unbelievably, he left me a considerable sum. 00:20:38.440 --> 00:20:39.440 It's absolutely astonishing. 00:20:40.440 --> 00:20:42.440 It's an extraordinary thing, isn't it? 00:20:42.440 --> 00:20:45.440 And all I had to do was give him my bank wallet. 00:20:46.440 --> 00:20:47.440 I thought, this is just incredible, isn't it? 00:20:47.440 --> 00:20:49.440 Do you know what is astonishing? 00:20:50.440 --> 00:20:51.440 You know what is absolutely astonishing? 00:20:51.440 --> 00:20:56.440 I had the same email from someone in Nigeria two weeks ago. 00:20:57.440 --> 00:20:58.440 It's absolutely remarkable. 00:20:59.440 --> 00:21:01.440 And so, what do you do when you get an email like that? 00:21:01.440 --> 00:21:04.440 Do you ring up your wife and say, darling, it's just remarkable. 00:21:04.440 --> 00:21:05.440 We can pay off the mortgage. 00:21:05.440 --> 00:21:06.440 No, you don't, do you? 00:21:06.440 --> 00:21:08.440 You think, what a con. 00:21:09.440 --> 00:21:12.440 You're not taken in by that sort of spam. 00:21:13.440 --> 00:21:14.440 Why? 00:21:14.440 --> 00:21:15.440 Because of the name. 00:21:16.440 --> 00:21:18.440 You don't know the person. 00:21:19.440 --> 00:21:22.440 You've got no reason to trust that person, have you? 00:21:23.440 --> 00:21:30.440 You've got no reason to trust that person, but you've got every reason to trust the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. 00:21:30.440 --> 00:21:32.440 And that's the point, isn't it? 00:21:32.440 --> 00:21:35.440 Here are the eleven and Jesus is about to leave them and they're on their own in the world. 00:21:35.440 --> 00:21:36.440 And where is their protection? 00:21:36.440 --> 00:21:39.440 It is in this God who has revealed himself through Jesus Christ. 00:21:42.440 --> 00:21:46.440 And I say this often, don't I, that there is nothing un-Jesus-like in God. 00:21:46.440 --> 00:21:48.440 I find that hugely comforting. 00:21:49.440 --> 00:21:51.440 How do you know what Allah is like? 00:21:52.440 --> 00:21:53.440 How do you know what Allah is like? 00:21:53.440 --> 00:21:56.440 You can't know actually because Allah is fickle, isn't he? 00:21:56.440 --> 00:21:57.440 Very fickle. 00:21:59.440 --> 00:22:01.440 But how do you know what the real God is like? 00:22:01.440 --> 00:22:02.440 He's like Jesus. 00:22:02.440 --> 00:22:03.440 So you read the Gospels. 00:22:05.440 --> 00:22:08.440 And you see in the Gospels that there is nothing un-Jesus-like in God. 00:22:10.440 --> 00:22:14.440 And so it's okay then, isn't it, in this scary, hostile world to trust a God like that. 00:22:14.440 --> 00:22:21.440 That is where your protection lies, in the name, in the character of God. 00:22:22.440 --> 00:22:26.440 And we are saved out of the world and we are safe in the world. 00:22:26.440 --> 00:22:27.440 Just how safe are we? 00:22:27.440 --> 00:22:29.440 Turn back with me to John chapter 10 and verse 27. 00:22:30.440 --> 00:22:33.440 And Jesus there talks about laying down his life for the sheep. 00:22:33.440 --> 00:22:36.440 And he says, 00:22:36.440 --> 00:22:37.440 And he says, 00:22:37.440 --> 00:22:56.440 And do you see what he's saying? 00:22:56.440 --> 00:22:58.440 He's saying there are two hands out there. 00:22:58.440 --> 00:23:00.440 And no one will be able to snatch them out of my hand. 00:23:00.440 --> 00:23:03.440 And no one is able to snatch them out of my Father's hand. 00:23:05.440 --> 00:23:07.440 And I and the Father are one. 00:23:07.440 --> 00:23:08.440 So do you see what that means? 00:23:08.440 --> 00:23:09.440 It means this. 00:23:09.440 --> 00:23:13.440 If you have trusted in the Lord Jesus Christ, you are in the palm of Christ's hand. 00:23:14.440 --> 00:23:17.440 And you are in the hand of God the Father. 00:23:17.440 --> 00:23:18.440 And I and the Father are one. 00:23:20.440 --> 00:23:21.440 You can't jump out of it. 00:23:21.440 --> 00:23:22.440 You can't be snatched out of it. 00:23:22.440 --> 00:23:23.440 You can't be taken out of it. 00:23:23.440 --> 00:23:25.440 You are in the grasp of omnipotence. 00:23:25.440 --> 00:23:30.440 And if you have trusted in the Lord Jesus, that is how safe you are. 00:23:30.440 --> 00:23:33.440 Saved out of this world. 00:23:33.440 --> 00:23:35.440 But this world is scary. 00:23:35.440 --> 00:23:40.440 But you are protected and safe in the world by the power of his name. 00:23:42.440 --> 00:23:44.440 Look at verse 11. 00:23:47.440 --> 00:23:48.440 Do you see what it says? 00:23:48.440 --> 00:23:49.440 It says, 00:23:49.440 --> 00:23:51.440 I am coming to you, Holy Father. 00:23:51.440 --> 00:23:56.440 Keep them in your name, which you have given me, that they may be one, even as we are one. 00:23:56.440 --> 00:23:58.440 So that is the focus of Jesus' prayer. 00:23:58.440 --> 00:24:08.440 And as Jesus prepares to leave the 11 in this world on his own, as he looks down the years ahead, the first danger he sees is what? 00:24:08.440 --> 00:24:10.440 The first danger there is disunity. 00:24:10.440 --> 00:24:14.440 We will look at a little bit more of that next time. 00:24:14.440 --> 00:24:22.440 And before we go on, like why aren't we involved in all sorts of things, don't go there yet. 00:24:22.440 --> 00:24:25.440 But think about the 11 that he is speaking to. 00:24:25.440 --> 00:24:28.440 Because the 11 he is speaking to are a pretty disparate lot. 00:24:29.440 --> 00:24:33.440 There is Simon the Zealot, who is a Jewish terrorist. 00:24:35.440 --> 00:24:40.440 And then you have got Matthew the tax collector, who is a collaborator with the Romans. 00:24:41.440 --> 00:24:44.440 He is a traitor to Judaism, both in the same church. 00:24:45.440 --> 00:24:48.440 And you take Jesus out of that, and what is going to happen? 00:24:48.440 --> 00:24:52.440 They are going to be at each other's throats. 00:24:52.440 --> 00:24:58.440 And so think of this church here, this morning, all the different temperaments, all the different personalities. 00:24:58.440 --> 00:25:01.440 And just think, without Jesus, what would we be? 00:25:01.440 --> 00:25:11.440 Inflated egos, misdirected zeal, relational tensions, left to ourselves, we fragment, we scatter, wouldn't we? 00:25:11.440 --> 00:25:13.440 That is what churches do. 00:25:13.440 --> 00:25:18.440 And Jesus prays, and he says, protect them by your name. 00:25:19.440 --> 00:25:21.440 That they may be one, as we are one. 00:25:23.440 --> 00:25:29.440 He is not praying that they will all be really happy in each other's company, and like each other. 00:25:30.440 --> 00:25:32.440 It would be lovely if church was like that. 00:25:33.440 --> 00:25:35.440 But most churches aren't like that. 00:25:36.440 --> 00:25:38.440 That is not what it means. 00:25:38.440 --> 00:25:44.440 He is not praying that we would all be arm in arm together, and all get along together wonderfully, and all agree on every decision. 00:25:44.440 --> 00:25:47.440 It would be lovely if church was like that, but it isn't. 00:25:48.440 --> 00:25:50.440 It is more profound than that. 00:25:51.440 --> 00:25:56.440 He is saying, I am leaving you in the world, and I want you to keep together on the same page, on the same mission. 00:25:56.440 --> 00:26:06.440 They know that I have come from you, that you sent me. 00:26:06.440 --> 00:26:08.440 And they know what the mission is. 00:26:09.440 --> 00:26:12.440 Don't let them forget that, Father. 00:26:13.440 --> 00:26:15.440 That is what the Lord's Supper is all about, isn't it? 00:26:15.440 --> 00:26:17.440 Proclaiming Christ until he comes. 00:26:17.440 --> 00:26:18.440 It keeps us on mission. 00:26:18.440 --> 00:26:25.440 And I think if you look at the scene in the UK, what do you see about the church? 00:26:25.440 --> 00:26:29.440 You see that the church has forgotten who they are, and why it exists. 00:26:31.440 --> 00:26:34.440 And Jesus says, Father, protect them from that. 00:26:35.440 --> 00:26:40.440 In verse 15, I am not praying that you take them out of the world, because there is a job to be done in this world. 00:26:40.440 --> 00:26:43.440 And it would be lovely, wouldn't it, if we could all just go up to heaven. 00:26:43.440 --> 00:26:44.440 I would love that. 00:26:44.440 --> 00:26:47.440 And we long for that. 00:26:49.440 --> 00:26:53.440 But we shouldn't long for that in a kind of escapist way, because there is a job to be done. 00:26:53.440 --> 00:26:55.440 To proclaim Christ until he comes. 00:26:56.440 --> 00:26:58.440 He says in verse 15, 00:26:59.440 --> 00:27:03.440 He says, I do not ask that you take them out of the world, but that you keep them from the evil one. 00:27:05.440 --> 00:27:08.440 Do you remember what Jesus said to Simon Peter? 00:27:08.440 --> 00:27:17.440 Jesus always calls Peter Simon by his old name when he is behaving like how he used to. 00:27:19.440 --> 00:27:23.440 And he says, Simon, Satan, the devil has desired to have you. 00:27:23.440 --> 00:27:25.440 But do you remember what Peter says? 00:27:26.440 --> 00:27:33.440 When he writes his letter, he says, the devil is like a roaring lion prowling around, seeking whom he may devour. 00:27:33.440 --> 00:27:38.440 And Satan wants to get into churches like ours and scatter people. 00:27:40.440 --> 00:27:42.440 To bring the cause of Christ to nothing. 00:27:43.440 --> 00:27:44.440 That's his strategy. 00:27:44.440 --> 00:27:46.440 And Jesus says, but I've prayed for you. 00:27:47.440 --> 00:27:50.440 I've prayed for you that your faith will not fail. 00:27:50.440 --> 00:27:59.440 That brings me to my last point. 00:28:00.440 --> 00:28:02.440 We are sent into the world. 00:28:04.440 --> 00:28:05.440 What are we here for? 00:28:06.440 --> 00:28:09.440 What is this being one as we are one? 00:28:09.440 --> 00:28:11.440 What is the mission of God to the world? 00:28:11.440 --> 00:28:13.440 Why did the Father send the Son into the world? 00:28:13.440 --> 00:28:17.440 Why does he want the disciples to be on the same page? 00:28:18.440 --> 00:28:21.440 And not sort of confused and bewildered and scattered. 00:28:21.440 --> 00:28:23.440 Well, look at verses 17 and 18. 00:28:25.440 --> 00:28:27.440 Sanctify them in the truth. 00:28:27.440 --> 00:28:29.440 Your word is truth. 00:28:30.440 --> 00:28:33.440 As you sent me into the world, so I have sent them into the world. 00:28:34.440 --> 00:28:36.440 You see, there's a job to be done. 00:28:36.440 --> 00:28:38.440 There's a task for Jesus' disciples. 00:28:38.440 --> 00:28:41.440 And that makes it important for them to be in the world. 00:28:43.440 --> 00:28:46.440 But they're in the world, not of the world. 00:28:48.440 --> 00:28:49.440 And I think that's a knife edge. 00:28:51.440 --> 00:28:52.440 There are two extremes, aren't there? 00:28:52.440 --> 00:28:55.440 There is isolation from the world. 00:28:56.440 --> 00:28:59.440 And there's, on the other side, imitation of the world. 00:29:01.440 --> 00:29:04.440 And you and I can fall down on either side of that. 00:29:04.440 --> 00:29:06.440 Jesus doesn't want us to be kind of holier than thou. 00:29:06.440 --> 00:29:09.440 But neither does he want us to be worldlier than thou. 00:29:11.440 --> 00:29:16.440 We are to be like the Lord Jesus, who came into the world to save the world. 00:29:18.440 --> 00:29:22.440 And that demands, doesn't it, an attitude of separation from the world and sin. 00:29:24.440 --> 00:29:27.440 And yet, identification with the world and its need. 00:29:28.440 --> 00:29:29.440 And that's how we're to position ourselves. 00:29:29.440 --> 00:29:33.440 Separation from the world and its sin, but identification with the world and its need. 00:29:33.440 --> 00:29:41.440 Without separating ourselves from the world, we will have an audience, but we'll have nothing to say. 00:29:42.440 --> 00:29:47.440 And without identifying with the world, we may have something to say, but nobody will be listening to us. 00:29:49.440 --> 00:29:50.440 We are in the world. 00:29:50.440 --> 00:29:52.440 Jesus has left us in the world. 00:29:52.440 --> 00:29:58.440 So let's not withdraw into kind of false pietism, longing to be in heaven, kind of running away. 00:29:58.440 --> 00:30:01.440 No, we're in the world, and Jesus wants us in the world. 00:30:03.440 --> 00:30:07.440 Literally, you are immortal until your job is done, and Jesus has got a job for us to do. 00:30:07.440 --> 00:30:13.440 And he's left you here in this world to get on with it. 00:30:14.440 --> 00:30:21.440 But we're not to be caught up in that way of living that is hostile to God. 00:30:22.440 --> 00:30:24.440 We're not of the world, aren't we? 00:30:24.440 --> 00:30:26.440 So it's a bit like a ship in the sea. 00:30:28.440 --> 00:30:30.440 A ship is meant to be in the sea. 00:30:30.440 --> 00:30:31.440 That's where it's meant to be. 00:30:31.440 --> 00:30:34.440 But if the sea gets into the ship, well, then you're in all sorts of trouble. 00:30:36.440 --> 00:30:38.440 And that's what Jesus is praying for his church, isn't he? 00:30:38.440 --> 00:30:43.440 That we would be in the world, but the church shouldn't be like the world. 00:30:43.440 --> 00:30:52.440 I was told the other day that Christians have neither the luxury of compromise nor the safety of disengagement. 00:30:56.440 --> 00:30:58.440 And that's the challenge for every church at the moment. 00:31:00.440 --> 00:31:04.440 And so God, in his sovereign providence, has placed you here. 00:31:04.440 --> 00:31:13.440 You as families and individuals, you are in the calling that you are because God has placed you in them. 00:31:14.440 --> 00:31:18.440 And the question that all of us have to ask is, well, why has God put me here? 00:31:19.440 --> 00:31:27.440 So that I can actually bring the message of Jesus and live out what it means to honor Jesus in this world. 00:31:27.440 --> 00:31:36.440 I have a story about a taxi driver who picked up a minister from the airport and they got into a bit of an argument on the way into town. 00:31:37.440 --> 00:31:41.440 And the taxi driver was boasting that he had a more effective ministry than the preacher. 00:31:42.440 --> 00:31:44.440 And he said, you preach and everyone falls asleep. 00:31:45.440 --> 00:31:46.440 I drive and they pray like crazy. 00:31:49.440 --> 00:31:51.440 And that's true of many of you here today, isn't it? 00:31:51.440 --> 00:31:57.440 If you're a doctor or a surgeon or a nurse and you're wheeling the patient into the operating theater, they are praying. 00:31:58.440 --> 00:32:00.440 And you can get people to pray more effectively than I can. 00:32:01.440 --> 00:32:06.440 Do you see where God has placed you in his sovereign providence? 00:32:07.440 --> 00:32:08.440 That's the question, isn't it? 00:32:10.440 --> 00:32:12.440 It's not my career, really. 00:32:13.440 --> 00:32:19.440 If God has called you to be a doctor or an engineer or a housewife, whatever it is, you've got to ask the question, why has God put me here? 00:32:19.440 --> 00:32:23.440 And that is what sanctification means. 00:32:23.440 --> 00:32:25.440 I've not got time to kind of go into that. 00:32:25.440 --> 00:32:28.440 But sanctification really means that we are set apart by God. 00:32:28.440 --> 00:32:29.440 We're made different. 00:32:29.440 --> 00:32:30.440 We are saints. 00:32:30.440 --> 00:32:35.440 And there is a growing process where we become more set apart for God. 00:32:38.440 --> 00:32:44.440 And so what does that sanctification, that growing more to be like the Lord Jesus, look like here in Ealing? 00:32:44.440 --> 00:32:45.440 We've been washed. 00:32:45.440 --> 00:32:46.440 We've been justified. 00:32:46.440 --> 00:32:48.440 And we've been set apart for his use. 00:32:48.440 --> 00:32:54.440 But you're not going to be any use at all, are you? 00:32:54.440 --> 00:32:58.440 Unless you're progressively being changed more into the likeness of the Lord Jesus. 00:33:00.440 --> 00:33:04.440 It is a massive mistake to think that to reach the world, we've got to be like the world. 00:33:04.440 --> 00:33:10.440 The more different we are from the world, the more effectively we will reach the world. 00:33:10.440 --> 00:33:17.440 And so as you've sent me, Jesus said, holy, harmless, undefiled, separate from sinners. 00:33:17.440 --> 00:33:20.440 And as you've sent me, so I send them into the world. 00:33:20.440 --> 00:33:22.440 We are saved out of the world. 00:33:22.440 --> 00:33:24.440 We are saved out of the world. 00:33:24.440 --> 00:33:28.440 And then kept safe in the world. 00:33:28.440 --> 00:33:30.440 And then we are sent back into the world. 00:33:30.440 --> 00:33:36.440 And so Jesus says, when I'm sending them into this work, keep them and protect them. 00:33:36.440 --> 00:33:44.440 Protect them from a thousand spiritual dangers, but set them apart for this one purpose. 00:33:44.440 --> 00:33:48.440 What do we pray for our children? 00:33:48.440 --> 00:33:54.440 We'd really like them to do well in exams. 00:33:54.440 --> 00:33:57.440 We'd like them to work their hard, to do their hardest, do their best. 00:33:57.440 --> 00:34:00.440 But it's not the end of the world if they don't get great results. 00:34:00.440 --> 00:34:02.440 We'd like them to go to university, maybe. 00:34:02.440 --> 00:34:04.440 But it's no biggie. 00:34:04.440 --> 00:34:07.440 We'd love them to have their own home. 00:34:07.440 --> 00:34:12.440 We'd love them to get married and have children and those sorts of things. 00:34:12.440 --> 00:34:14.440 All those things would be nice, wouldn't they? 00:34:14.440 --> 00:34:16.440 But they're not the main thing. 00:34:16.440 --> 00:34:18.440 They are not the main thing. 00:34:18.440 --> 00:34:25.440 We'd like them to have a satisfying career, to have joy in their work and a lovely career path. 00:34:25.440 --> 00:34:26.440 They're good things. 00:34:26.440 --> 00:34:28.440 All that would be great. 00:34:28.440 --> 00:34:31.440 But actually our prayer is this, isn't it? 00:34:31.440 --> 00:34:36.440 Save them from a thousand spiritual temptations and dangers. 00:34:36.440 --> 00:34:39.440 Protect them and set them apart. 00:34:39.440 --> 00:34:41.440 For one purpose, to make you known. 00:34:44.440 --> 00:34:46.440 They know, Lord, I've told them I've been sent by you. 00:34:46.440 --> 00:34:49.440 They're certain about that, that you've sent me into the world. 00:34:49.440 --> 00:34:51.440 Father, protect them and keep them. 00:34:52.440 --> 00:34:54.440 So they might go into the world with that same message. 00:34:54.440 --> 00:34:59.440 In verse 13, this place that Jesus is preaching, it is the maximum joy. 00:34:59.440 --> 00:35:07.440 And so verse 13, but now I am coming to you and these things I speak in the world that they may have my joy fulfilled in themselves. 00:35:07.440 --> 00:35:09.440 That's where real joy comes from. 00:35:09.440 --> 00:35:17.440 And so for our young people and for our children, where does maximum joy come from? 00:35:17.440 --> 00:35:18.440 Do you hear me, children? 00:35:18.440 --> 00:35:19.440 Do you hear me? 00:35:19.440 --> 00:35:20.440 Where does maximum joy come from? 00:35:20.440 --> 00:35:22.440 It comes not from living for yourself. 00:35:22.440 --> 00:35:24.440 Do not believe that. 00:35:24.440 --> 00:35:31.440 It doesn't come from having the best phone, the best technology, making loads of money. 00:35:32.440 --> 00:35:36.440 You can run down that route and you will not find joy. 00:35:37.440 --> 00:35:38.440 You'll find emptiness. 00:35:38.440 --> 00:35:51.440 You see, maximum joy is living in line with what you were made for, to make Jesus known. 00:35:51.440 --> 00:35:54.440 The pathway to joy is not self-indulgence, is it? 00:35:54.440 --> 00:35:58.440 It's not self-fulfillment. 00:35:58.440 --> 00:36:04.440 For so many of us, our prayers for our children, we want them to be happy and healthy and joyful. 00:36:04.440 --> 00:36:07.440 And yet we follow the propaganda of the world. 00:36:10.440 --> 00:36:13.440 No, for the joy that was set before him, what did Jesus do? 00:36:13.440 --> 00:36:17.440 For the joy set before him, what did Jesus do? 00:36:17.440 --> 00:36:18.440 Did he please himself? 00:36:18.440 --> 00:36:21.440 No, he endured the cross, despising the shame. 00:36:21.440 --> 00:36:23.440 That's what he means in verse 19. 00:36:23.440 --> 00:36:28.440 And for their sake, I consecrate myself that they also may be sanctified in truth. 00:36:28.440 --> 00:36:29.440 He sets himself apart. 00:36:31.440 --> 00:36:35.440 For the joy that was set before him, for the joy in bringing many sons to glory, 00:36:35.440 --> 00:36:41.440 for the joy of seeing people from every culture and every nation of the world being added to his church and coming to the Father. 00:36:43.440 --> 00:36:47.440 And he says, Father, I'm leaving them in the world and I want them to know that joy. 00:36:47.440 --> 00:36:49.440 I want them to share in that joy of the Godhead. 00:36:49.440 --> 00:36:56.440 It comes from making Christ known wherever he has placed you, 00:36:57.440 --> 00:37:00.440 in whatever circumstances you find yourself in life. 00:37:03.440 --> 00:37:04.440 Let's pray together.