WEBVTT 00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:06.280 Father, I ask that you would gently but deeply pour the Holy Spirit upon us at this time, 00:00:07.179 --> 00:00:13.439 pour the Holy Spirit upon us, deep within us. We ask, Father, that you would pour the Holy 00:00:13.439 --> 00:00:19.460 Spirit out upon us so that as we hear these words of Jesus, you would bring these words, 00:00:19.719 --> 00:00:26.160 Father, deep into the very center of who we are, the very center of our mind, our intellect, 00:00:26.160 --> 00:00:32.420 our imagination, our emotions, our memories, our will, our affections. May you bring your word to 00:00:32.420 --> 00:00:38.840 bear in the very center of who we are, Father, that we might know the truth and be free in the truth 00:00:38.840 --> 00:00:45.379 and live to your glory. And all this we ask in the name of Jesus, your Son and our Savior. Amen. 00:00:46.000 --> 00:00:46.960 Please be seated. 00:00:46.960 --> 00:00:57.679 I'm not quite like a baseball batter who has to move things around the way they like, but 00:00:57.679 --> 00:01:05.140 anyway, I'm not making any type of political point right now. I really, really, really, really am not. 00:01:05.280 --> 00:01:11.180 But this has been a shocking week, hasn't it? With the testimony of the former Attorney General. 00:01:11.180 --> 00:01:20.560 There was a columnist that I don't always agree with him, but I like to read him. He's an interesting 00:01:20.560 --> 00:01:29.440 writer. And he said that he hadn't expected much from the testimony of the former Attorney General. 00:01:30.260 --> 00:01:36.700 And then he was completely shocked. And the longer the thing went on, the more shocked he got. And that, 00:01:36.700 --> 00:01:43.540 I think, captured not only myself, but probably 95% of Canadians. I'm not being cynical. This is not a 00:01:43.540 --> 00:01:48.320 political comment. It would be the exact same thing if the NDP were in power, the Green Party were in 00:01:48.320 --> 00:01:54.320 power, or the Conservatives were in power. And it's not an overly cynical view. You know, people act 00:01:54.320 --> 00:02:02.439 towards their self-interest. And they sort of pull ranks around the party and stuff like that. And I think 00:02:02.439 --> 00:02:08.699 most of us were just expecting a few general comments. Maybe she was a bit pissed off at Justin 00:02:08.699 --> 00:02:13.919 and a little bit of a dig. But I don't think anybody, maybe her best friend or her dad or 00:02:13.919 --> 00:02:17.560 something like that, but I don't think anybody was expecting what happened this week. It caught 00:02:17.560 --> 00:02:23.219 everybody by, I think it caught everybody in Canada by surprise. And I'm sure it caught the poor liberals 00:02:23.219 --> 00:02:30.939 in front of her completely and utterly by surprise. And just thinking about this is going to help us to 00:02:30.939 --> 00:02:37.759 handle something in the scripture text today. And I don't know if you picked up on it. Sometimes 00:02:37.759 --> 00:02:44.979 John is hard to understand. It's very, very interesting. I should ask a couple of people 00:02:44.979 --> 00:02:51.560 about if it's still the case. But when I was attempting to learn Greek, the place they teach you, 00:02:51.680 --> 00:02:57.000 they begin to teach you Greek is John's gospel because the Greek is the simplest. Some of you have 00:02:57.000 --> 00:03:04.039 heard me say before, it's almost of the level of see, spot, run. Run, spot, run. You know, 00:03:04.419 --> 00:03:09.500 see Jane. You know, like it's almost of that level. Yet somehow or another, when you read it, 00:03:09.599 --> 00:03:13.860 and with the language, it's just sort of hard to understand. And I don't know if you grabbed you, 00:03:13.939 --> 00:03:19.139 but there's a text there which is perennially and very difficult for Christians to understand. 00:03:19.139 --> 00:03:26.000 And so if you get your Bibles and turn to John chapter 17, we're going to look at this prayer 00:03:26.000 --> 00:03:32.259 together. John, and I didn't turn my stopwatch on, which is bad news. No, it's not bad news. There we go. 00:03:33.459 --> 00:03:38.259 And so we're going to look at this text together. And just as you're hitting in your Bibles to John 00:03:38.259 --> 00:03:45.139 chapter 17, verse 6, just to remember, John has written this eyewitness story of Jesus. 00:03:45.139 --> 00:03:51.059 Out of all of the eyewitness stories of Jesus, and we have four eyewitness stories of Jesus, 00:03:51.699 --> 00:03:57.459 John has spent the most time on what has happened the night before Jesus dies. 00:03:58.159 --> 00:04:03.060 So roughly from around sundown to whether it's midnight or one or two in the morning, 00:04:03.259 --> 00:04:09.979 no other eyewitness account has spent as long going through what Jesus actually did that night. 00:04:09.979 --> 00:04:19.519 And so where we are right now is that Judas has left. And as Jesus is praying, as he's been speaking, 00:04:19.699 --> 00:04:26.180 Jesus knows that Judas has gone to find the people, the guards and the soldiers and the police that are 00:04:26.180 --> 00:04:33.039 going to go to another place where they will be able to capture Jesus. And Jesus knows this is going 00:04:33.039 --> 00:04:39.139 to happen. He knows that he's going to be the next day falsely accused. He knows he's going to be 00:04:39.139 --> 00:04:44.779 browbeaten by the authorities. He knows the Romans won't protect him. He knows he will be found guilty. 00:04:44.919 --> 00:04:50.300 He knows that Herod won't protect him. Nobody will protect him. And he knows he's going to die on 00:04:50.300 --> 00:04:56.479 the cross. And he knows that within less than 24 hours, after he's been mocked on the cross, a spear 00:04:56.479 --> 00:05:03.199 will be put in his side. And out of the spear, out of the wound, blood and water will flow to show that 00:05:03.199 --> 00:05:09.000 he really is completely and utterly dead. And Jesus knows all of these things. And he has told 00:05:09.000 --> 00:05:15.560 the apostles, he has told that the 11 people, that one of them is going to betray him. He's told them 00:05:15.560 --> 00:05:22.180 that he's leaving. He can't go and they can't come where he's going. He's told them that all of them 00:05:22.180 --> 00:05:27.099 are going to be scattered from him and that they're not going to hang around. He's told them that Peter 00:05:27.100 --> 00:05:34.520 will deny him. And then he's comforted them and he's exhorted them and encouraged them. And now 00:05:34.520 --> 00:05:41.560 we are hearing the second part of Jesus praying over them. So this is what we're hearing. It's very 00:05:41.560 --> 00:05:48.200 precious. This is Jesus praying over the 11 men who are right in front of him. And if you listen to 00:05:48.200 --> 00:05:52.260 the whole prayer, if you go back and read all of John 17 in your own time later on, you'll see that 00:05:52.259 --> 00:05:58.599 Jesus weaves in and out of three types of themes. He goes in and out of talking about praying about 00:05:58.599 --> 00:06:05.180 himself, what he's about to do. He's praying over the 11 men specifically in front of him. And at the 00:06:05.180 --> 00:06:12.680 same time, he's praying over all of us here in Ottawa today. And he's praying over the Christians who 00:06:12.680 --> 00:06:22.099 met in Nairobi earlier today and in Singapore and in Uganda and in England and in France and Germany 00:06:22.100 --> 00:06:29.700 in Russia and in Washington. He's praying over us all. That's what we're hearing. So last week we 00:06:29.700 --> 00:06:32.900 looked at the first part of the prayer. This week we're looking at the middle part of the prayer. Next 00:06:32.900 --> 00:06:36.560 week we'll look at the rest. And here's how it begins. And it gets right to the problem area 00:06:36.560 --> 00:06:41.460 for a lot of Christians. So we're going to camp there. Verse 6, John 17 verse 6, 00:06:41.600 --> 00:06:47.180 I have manifested your name to the people whom you gave me out of the world. Yours they were and you 00:06:47.180 --> 00:06:52.400 gave them to me. And they have kept your word. Now I said that fairly quickly and you might not have seen 00:06:52.400 --> 00:06:58.720 the problem. I'm going to read it more slowly and listen as I read it. I have manifested your name to the 00:06:58.720 --> 00:07:09.699 people whom you gave me out of the world. Yours they were and you gave them to me and they have kept your word. 00:07:09.699 --> 00:07:17.740 Here this idea that how is it that, like, this is a very troubling thing to a lot of us if we're honest. 00:07:19.120 --> 00:07:34.279 How is it that the reason that I am a Christian or that you're a Christian is because the Father gave me to Jesus. 00:07:34.279 --> 00:07:43.559 Jesus. The Father gave you to Jesus. And it's very troublesome. We think to ourselves, how can that 00:07:43.559 --> 00:07:50.979 possibly be? Where on earth could free will be if the Father gives a person to Jesus? 00:07:53.000 --> 00:07:59.359 So this is where the Jody, the Attorney General thing comes in. Just to pause for a second. 00:07:59.360 --> 00:08:07.939 You see, often when we get troubled with texts like this, we think we know what we don't know. 00:08:09.240 --> 00:08:13.939 We think we know what we don't know. And Andrew, could you put up the 1A for me, please? 00:08:14.500 --> 00:08:21.379 This is a famous quote that Winston Churchill made about Russia. And I don't know if it was true about 00:08:21.379 --> 00:08:27.480 Russia, but it's really true about human beings. Every human being is a riddle wrapped in a mystery 00:08:27.480 --> 00:08:37.920 inside an enigma. I've been married to Louise for 37 years. And I knew her for about four years or five 00:08:37.920 --> 00:08:42.000 years before that. And I bet there's not a week that goes by that she does not say, 00:08:42.920 --> 00:08:51.720 George, how on earth did you do that? Like, why did you do that? You'd think that after 37 years of 00:08:51.720 --> 00:08:58.519 knowledge, she'd say, oh, here comes the situation and George is going to do this. But no, it's still 00:08:58.519 --> 00:09:08.300 a surprise. Why is it that you could go to a party this afternoon and you could meet a person you've 00:09:08.300 --> 00:09:14.000 never met before and you can talk to them for 10 minutes and you feel after just 10 minutes of 00:09:14.000 --> 00:09:19.720 conversation, you've got them all figured out. But you haven't figured yourself out and you've been 00:09:19.720 --> 00:09:25.040 with yourself all your life. Like, why is it that that's true of human beings? Or why is it that 00:09:25.040 --> 00:09:30.139 you feel that you can figure somebody out after 10 minutes and yet your wife or your best friend or 00:09:30.139 --> 00:09:37.600 your mom or dad still surprises you? Like, why is that about human beings? Like, one of the cousins 00:09:37.600 --> 00:09:43.879 that I was closest to growing up, so I knew him all very well. I'm two years older than him. 00:09:44.500 --> 00:09:48.720 And I knew him all the way growing up. And all of a sudden, it comes time to go into university. 00:09:48.720 --> 00:09:56.620 And he chooses to study Greek mythology. And I say to myself, where on earth did that come from? 00:09:57.420 --> 00:10:05.100 Like, who on earth? Like, where? It just comes, right? And I'm sure Trudeau was saying, 00:10:05.620 --> 00:10:12.259 what happened with Jody? Like, where did that come from? You see, the fact of the matter is, 00:10:12.259 --> 00:10:18.740 when we hear this language of the Father giving us to Jesus, it bothers us. But on one level, 00:10:18.819 --> 00:10:23.259 why does it bother us? It should bother us if we've actually perfectly figured out how human beings 00:10:23.259 --> 00:10:28.519 worked. And then we know it's not true. But the fact of the matter is, is that a human being 00:10:28.519 --> 00:10:36.659 is a riddle wrapped in a mystery inside an enigma. We're always figuring out new things about people 00:10:36.659 --> 00:10:40.519 that we know. And we're still figuring out things about ourselves, what drives us. In fact, 00:10:41.139 --> 00:10:46.579 for those of us after a certain age, I mean, one of the things, here's a thing for you who are 20 00:10:46.579 --> 00:10:52.980 or 30 to look forward to when you get older, is that all of a sudden, you start to realize that 00:10:52.980 --> 00:10:57.360 something about your past actually has been really powerful throughout your entire life. 00:10:57.679 --> 00:11:03.139 Or you say something, and you feel, even at my advanced age, that's exactly what my dad used to 00:11:03.139 --> 00:11:07.559 say to me. You know, it's just, it's amazing. Human beings are complicated. We really are. 00:11:10.000 --> 00:11:16.039 And so what Jesus is pointing to, if you could put up the next point, Andrew, it's all part of the 00:11:16.039 --> 00:11:22.259 first point, but it's in sort of three stages, is that without any, without any, 00:11:24.259 --> 00:11:32.500 without in any way diminishing his real sovereignty over all things, God gives you real freedom. 00:11:33.139 --> 00:11:46.639 I mean, in fact, it's a very, very, it's a very common problem in philosophy. It's a very common 00:11:46.639 --> 00:11:53.740 problem in religious, in religion. If Allah brings all things to be, how is it that human beings have 00:11:53.740 --> 00:11:59.059 freedom? And ultimately, in Islam, you deny that human beings really have freedom because Allah does 00:11:59.059 --> 00:12:05.699 all things. In most science, you have, because you believe in cause and effect, at the end of the day, 00:12:05.759 --> 00:12:09.859 the fact that there's free will is very, very problematic. How can there be free will when 00:12:09.859 --> 00:12:15.439 there's cause and effect? And what the, only the Bible actually really gives a good account of this. 00:12:15.539 --> 00:12:23.799 Only the Bible. Because there is a free God who is from all eternity, in a sense that the true God that 00:12:23.799 --> 00:12:28.419 does exist, the Father who's always loved the Son, and the Son has always loved the Father, 00:12:28.899 --> 00:12:34.339 and the Holy Spirit is, in a sense, the love that goes from the Father to the Son, and the Son to the 00:12:34.339 --> 00:12:40.120 Father, but the Spirit is himself a person. And out of this, from all eternity, this God who's created 00:12:40.120 --> 00:12:45.839 all things and sustains all things, and he creates human beings in his image, he creates us to live as 00:12:45.839 --> 00:12:51.279 a social beings, and he creates us to be in a relationship with himself. And so this God who is 00:12:51.279 --> 00:12:56.240 completely and utterly free and is sovereign over all things, he gives you and me freedom. 00:12:57.079 --> 00:13:02.759 And because he is sovereign over all things, that freedom is maintained. But because he is 00:13:02.759 --> 00:13:08.220 sovereign over all things, at the end of the day, things that he wants to be done will be done 00:13:08.220 --> 00:13:16.379 in the midst of complete and utter human freedom. And it is a mystery, but it's wisdom. 00:13:16.379 --> 00:13:23.500 It makes a sense of our experience of living in a world of cause and effect, yet also living in a 00:13:23.500 --> 00:13:29.559 world where we know that there are things that we do that are free. We do things that are free. 00:13:29.700 --> 00:13:36.019 There's times we're not. It's not that we have perfect, God-like freedom, but we have real and 00:13:36.019 --> 00:13:36.919 significant freedom. 00:13:36.919 --> 00:13:42.599 So, Andrew, if you could put up the next point, because this will help us to understand what's 00:13:42.599 --> 00:13:48.019 going on here in this word from Jesus. And by the way, my four main points today, they're all in 00:13:48.019 --> 00:13:51.599 the word of a prayer. They're all in the form of a prayer. And if you don't have time to write them 00:13:51.599 --> 00:13:56.259 down, I mean, you can take a screenshot. You can go onto the web page later on, tomorrow, or whenever 00:13:56.259 --> 00:14:02.099 it is that Jenny uploads the points, if these are helpful. But, you know, here's the thing. If we're 00:14:02.100 --> 00:14:10.800 hearing Jesus pray, I'm a slow learner, but if we're hearing Jesus pray, maybe we should pray the 00:14:10.800 --> 00:14:18.779 same way. Maybe that's a prayer in keeping with Jesus as well. And so here, the first thing out of 00:14:18.779 --> 00:14:25.279 this truth, Father, help me to live in the world with a deepening confidence that you gave me to 00:14:25.279 --> 00:14:31.980 Jesus, and that you are still giving people to Jesus in this city and in every city throughout 00:14:31.980 --> 00:14:37.620 the world. Father, help me to live in the world with a deepening confidence that you gave me to 00:14:37.620 --> 00:14:44.019 Jesus, and that you are still giving people to Jesus in this city and in every city throughout the 00:14:44.019 --> 00:14:50.799 world. Now, some might say, George, the problem with this text is, isn't that going to make you feel 00:14:50.799 --> 00:14:57.439 really proud? Actually, the wonderful thing about this text is it completely and utterly removes all 00:14:57.439 --> 00:15:06.240 human pride. You see, if it was up to me, I could be pretty proud. I might say to myself, 00:15:06.740 --> 00:15:13.919 I'm like Neo in The Matrix. I'm not like all these other sheep and cattle, blah, blah, all they're 00:15:13.919 --> 00:15:19.579 interested in is eating. I'm concerned with meaning. I'm concerned with significance. I have a 00:15:19.580 --> 00:15:29.139 questioning mind. I search. I, I, I. And this text undercuts, knocks your feet out of any sense of 00:15:29.139 --> 00:15:33.580 pride. And in fact, if you read the rest of the Bible, if you read the Old Testament, if you read 00:15:33.580 --> 00:15:39.940 1 Corinthians, God chooses the weak and the foolish of the world to shame the wise. And at the same time 00:15:39.940 --> 00:15:47.620 that it undercuts any sense of pride, it is a profound encouragement. It is a profound encouragement 00:15:47.620 --> 00:15:54.139 to when we feel down, to when we feel like we are a failure, to when we feel like we don't 00:15:54.139 --> 00:16:00.120 understand or we don't know. The fact of the matter is, is that God the Father looked upon 00:16:00.120 --> 00:16:06.740 you with eyes of love and he gave you to Jesus that you might be made right with the Father. 00:16:07.120 --> 00:16:09.560 God the Father gave you to Jesus. 00:16:09.559 --> 00:16:20.759 And he will not take you back and throw you away. And it's a profound encouragement for evangelism. 00:16:20.919 --> 00:16:25.359 That's what I've been meditating upon the most this week. See, here's the wonderful thing about 00:16:25.359 --> 00:16:34.619 evangelism. If it's all up to me, well, I'm hopeless. You know, if I was to go to AA or like an AA for 00:16:34.620 --> 00:16:40.600 Christian evangelist, I would get up and say, my name is George. I'm hopeless. I'm not very good 00:16:40.600 --> 00:16:44.519 at it. I mean, like from a human point of view, I'm not very good at it. But you know what? This 00:16:44.519 --> 00:16:50.580 text is profoundly encouraging. The fact of the matter is, is all I have to do, all my job requirement 00:16:50.580 --> 00:16:57.700 is, is to just share who Jesus is. But you know what? I know that the Father is giving people to Jesus. 00:16:57.919 --> 00:17:03.320 And I can share the gospel with the most unlikely person because I have no idea who God is giving to 00:17:03.320 --> 00:17:09.460 Jesus. But I know that the Father is giving people to Jesus. And so it's not as if I'm just sharing the 00:17:09.460 --> 00:17:13.160 gospel and nothing's going to happen. I don't know what's going to happen. And I can share with the 00:17:13.160 --> 00:17:18.880 most unlikely person because the Father is giving people to Jesus. And it also means that I can pray. 00:17:18.880 --> 00:17:26.640 I can pray for the most unlikely people I possibly meet because I know that the Father is giving people 00:17:26.640 --> 00:17:38.880 to Jesus. Now, I'm going to say something which might sound like it's not a very Canadian thing to say. 00:17:39.380 --> 00:17:44.759 And some of you are going to think I need therapy after it. But I'm going to tell you that I'm a 00:17:44.759 --> 00:17:57.559 second-rate pastor. And I'm a second-rate Christian. And that's not what pastors are supposed to say in 00:17:57.559 --> 00:18:04.640 public. And it's not what Christians are supposed to say. But the fact of the matter is, is that most 00:18:04.640 --> 00:18:09.000 of the time, I'm probably at best a second-rate Christian. If you knew what went on in my mind at 00:18:09.000 --> 00:18:13.559 different times, if you knew other types of things about me, you would say I'm probably a second-rate 00:18:13.559 --> 00:18:18.000 Christian. And some of you, now that I've opened up the topic of conversation, said, George, 00:18:18.519 --> 00:18:26.599 you're boasting. I wish I was a second-rate Christian. If you knew what my week was like, 00:18:27.079 --> 00:18:34.779 I'm a fifth-rate Christian. Second-rate is when I'm on my A-plus game. But what Jesus is about to say 00:18:34.779 --> 00:18:40.919 is of profound encouragement to us. If you would continue on reading with verse 7. 00:18:40.920 --> 00:18:47.940 Now they know, that's the people in front of them and us, now they know that everything that you have 00:18:47.940 --> 00:18:53.800 given me is from you. For I have given them the words that you gave me. And they have received them 00:18:53.800 --> 00:18:58.940 and have come to know in truth that I came from you. And they have believed that you sent me. 00:18:59.800 --> 00:19:06.380 I am praying for them. Here's that, right? I am praying for them. I am not praying for the world, 00:19:06.380 --> 00:19:12.300 but for those whom you gave me. For they are yours. And by the way, it doesn't mean here that 00:19:12.300 --> 00:19:18.180 Jesus has nothing to do with people who aren't Christians. All he's saying is, I'm not going to 00:19:18.180 --> 00:19:23.700 reveal to you what goes on between me and the Father in that case. I just want you to know what 00:19:23.700 --> 00:19:29.560 goes on between me and the Father for you. It's all he's saying. We're getting to listen in 00:19:29.559 --> 00:19:36.019 to how he prays for us. I'll say that again, verse 9. I am praying for them. I am not praying 00:19:36.019 --> 00:19:41.639 for the world, but for those whom you have given me. Notice that again. For they are yours. Now here's 00:19:41.639 --> 00:19:54.740 the thing. All mine are yours, and yours are mine, and I am glorified in them. I am glorified in them. 00:19:54.740 --> 00:20:04.640 Now, Jesus is speaking to 11 men who spent three years with him, have been constantly clueless, 00:20:05.420 --> 00:20:09.480 have had just a couple of days earlier, if you read one of the other gospel accounts, 00:20:09.599 --> 00:20:13.839 they've gotten into a big argument about who's going to sit on the right of Jesus's throne and 00:20:13.839 --> 00:20:20.339 who's going to sit on the left. And they've gotten into a big fight about it. He's told them repeatedly 00:20:20.339 --> 00:20:25.000 that he's going to die on the cross, and none of them believe it. He's told them repeatedly that 00:20:25.000 --> 00:20:29.579 he's going to rise from the dead, and none of them believe it. And they're all going to be scattered, 00:20:30.059 --> 00:20:36.079 and Peter's going to deny them. And they're all going to live frightened, terrified, hidden lives 00:20:36.079 --> 00:20:44.859 after Good Friday. And none of them expect Easter Sunday. And Jesus says to these second-rate men, 00:20:44.859 --> 00:20:51.959 I am glorified in you. 00:20:58.859 --> 00:21:00.959 This is not pop psychology. 00:21:05.319 --> 00:21:09.879 A little while ago, one of my children has obviously, actually probably all of them have 00:21:09.880 --> 00:21:15.960 inherited my twisted way of looking at things or skeptical way of looking at things. 00:21:16.100 --> 00:21:19.260 They'd been at a... She goes to a very, very, very, very good church. 00:21:19.700 --> 00:21:24.280 They were doing an infant dedication. That's for churches that don't practice infant baptism, 00:21:24.440 --> 00:21:29.220 but, you know, you dedicate the child or the baby to Jesus. But the big sign throughout the 00:21:29.220 --> 00:21:36.060 dedication service is you are the perfect parent for that child. It's a room of four or five hundred 00:21:36.059 --> 00:21:40.399 people. And my daughter said, Dad, that's wrong. Do you trouble with that? And I said, 00:21:40.799 --> 00:21:43.960 yeah, the first thing that goes through my mind is in a room of four or five hundred people, 00:21:44.039 --> 00:21:49.879 there's a couple of child abusers. And you've just told the child abuser that you're the perfect 00:21:49.879 --> 00:22:00.759 parent for your child. That's pop psychology. It's romanticism. It's not the Bible. 00:22:00.759 --> 00:22:09.839 And my daughter was very encouraged that I also was troubled with it. And it's just a momentary 00:22:09.839 --> 00:22:15.799 lapse. It's a good church. They just made a mistake. But listen to this again. I confess before you that 00:22:15.799 --> 00:22:22.599 I am a second-rate pastor. And most of the time, if not all of the time, I go from second-rate to 00:22:22.599 --> 00:22:30.119 third-rate or whatever as a disciple. But here is how Jesus prays about you and me. 00:22:30.759 --> 00:22:38.519 To the Father. He prays about you and me that he is glorified in us. 00:22:42.279 --> 00:22:47.119 That is not pop psychology. That is listening to Jesus talk about you. 00:22:49.059 --> 00:22:49.619 Today. 00:22:56.160 --> 00:22:58.220 I find it very moving. 00:23:00.759 --> 00:23:10.119 Now, some of you might be wondering, George, this is actually, there's things in this prayer 00:23:10.119 --> 00:23:16.359 that it never dawned on me. But is it just all, you know, some people say, some Christians say, 00:23:16.480 --> 00:23:22.500 and that the real highest prayer, the deepest prayer is where you never ask anything of God. 00:23:22.500 --> 00:23:29.359 All you do is have this experience of God. And that's well-meaning Christian advice, but that's 00:23:29.359 --> 00:23:34.940 not true. The Bible never says that the highest prayer doesn't ask for anything. We're now going 00:23:34.940 --> 00:23:40.720 to see in this prayer, before it's over, Jesus is going to make four asks of the Father. Four 00:23:40.720 --> 00:23:45.059 asks. And we're going to look at two of them this week and two of them next week. And we're about to 00:23:45.059 --> 00:23:52.059 look at the first ask. It's taken in sort of two bits with a bit of commentary. And it begins in verse 00:23:52.059 --> 00:23:59.359 11. The first ask that Jesus makes for us to the Father. And it begins verse 11. 00:24:00.359 --> 00:24:05.679 And I am no longer in the world. And just sort of pause. I am no longer in the world, but they are in the 00:24:05.679 --> 00:24:11.759 world. This is a common thing in the Bible where Jesus, obviously, he knows he's in front of them. 00:24:11.759 --> 00:24:19.099 So what this is, is that sometimes the Bible talks about the future as being so certain that the right 00:24:19.099 --> 00:24:25.420 way to talk about it is the past tense. And that's what's happening here. He knows they're going to be 00:24:25.420 --> 00:24:30.299 blown out of their mind in an hour or so when he's captured. They're going to be shocked beyond belief 00:24:30.299 --> 00:24:37.339 when people beat him and whip him. And they're going to be shocked beyond belief that he's nailed to the 00:24:37.339 --> 00:24:41.740 cross. They're going to be shocked beyond belief that he dies. But he is already talking about 00:24:41.759 --> 00:24:49.059 his resurrection as being so certain that he can use the past tense. So read that again. Verse 11. 00:24:49.819 --> 00:24:53.819 It's not the ask. It comes right after this. And I am no longer in the world, but they are in the world. 00:24:54.200 --> 00:25:01.539 And I am coming to you. Holy Father, keep them in your name, which you have given me. I'll explain 00:25:01.539 --> 00:25:07.259 this in a moment. Keep them in your name, which you have given me, that they may be one, even as we are 00:25:07.259 --> 00:25:13.920 one. While I was with them, I kept them in your name, which you have given me. I have guarded them. 00:25:13.960 --> 00:25:18.240 And not one of them has been lost except the son of destruction or the son of perdition. 00:25:18.779 --> 00:25:23.640 Depends on your Bible passages that the scripture might be fulfilled. But now I am going to you. 00:25:24.059 --> 00:25:28.180 And these things I speak in the world that they may have my joy fulfilled in themselves. 00:25:28.900 --> 00:25:33.180 I have given them your word and the world has hated them because they are not of the world, 00:25:33.180 --> 00:25:39.960 just as I am not of the world. I do not ask that you take them out of the world, but that 00:25:39.960 --> 00:25:46.960 you keep them from the evil one. And you'll see in your notes there, maybe some of your 00:25:46.960 --> 00:25:52.460 Bibles in the original language, it can be, the original language can have two meanings. 00:25:53.180 --> 00:25:58.380 And in English, you have to translate one or the other. But John, Jesus is obviously intending 00:25:58.380 --> 00:26:05.020 to use both senses at the same time. It can either mean keep them from demons or keep them 00:26:05.020 --> 00:26:11.040 from evil. And it means both equally. It can be translated either way. And you can only take 00:26:11.040 --> 00:26:18.120 one sense in English. Now, here's the thing. If you look back at this, the first ask, the first ask 00:26:18.119 --> 00:26:29.219 is saying, keep them. I have to find that again. Keep them in your name. And the word here, keep, 00:26:29.819 --> 00:26:38.639 means some of your Bible versions have different words. It can mean keep, keep safe, protect, guard, 00:26:39.359 --> 00:26:44.879 keep original or preserve. And all of these are senses about what Jesus is saying. 00:26:44.880 --> 00:26:53.060 And in the Old Testament, in the New Testament, when it uses the phrase name for God, it's 00:26:53.060 --> 00:26:59.660 a little bit like if I wanted to talk about capitalism, I might say Wall Street. And if I 00:26:59.660 --> 00:27:05.780 talk about Wall Street, I'm talking about banks, investment firms, money lending, capitalism. 00:27:06.420 --> 00:27:10.740 In Canada, I might say Bay Street. If I want to talk about the entertainment industry, I might 00:27:10.740 --> 00:27:16.640 say Hollywood. I want to talk about country music. I talk about Nashville. Right? And so when it says 00:27:16.640 --> 00:27:24.160 here in your name, it's a short form that encompasses, it's a short way of talking about in who you really 00:27:24.160 --> 00:27:33.279 are. The name of God refers to who God really is. It refers to what God really has done, is doing, 00:27:33.279 --> 00:27:39.859 and will do. It refers to why he does what he does, and will do what he will do, and is doing, 00:27:40.000 --> 00:27:45.579 why he does all those things. It includes being clear about what's not going on in God's mind or 00:27:45.579 --> 00:27:52.700 heart, not in his plans. It's his plans, his character, his personality, his nature. It's him. 00:27:53.299 --> 00:27:59.339 And that's all kept in this word name. And so Jesus is praying for us that we would be 00:27:59.339 --> 00:28:09.599 protected, kept, guarded, kept safe in the knowledge of the true God, and who he is, and what he's doing, 00:28:09.720 --> 00:28:15.079 and what his plans are for us, and what his plans are for you, and the fact that he gave you to Jesus, 00:28:15.240 --> 00:28:21.000 and he's redeemed you. And Jesus is praying that we would be kept in this, and be kept in this knowledge 00:28:21.000 --> 00:28:28.920 in such a way that human, that we Christians are kept as one. That just as the Father and the Son are 00:28:28.920 --> 00:28:34.859 one, that we also are kept in sort of a unity of purpose, and unity of will, and unity of plans, 00:28:34.960 --> 00:28:40.779 and affections for each other. And he's praying that that would be true of us. And he's also praying 00:28:40.779 --> 00:28:47.279 that we would be protected from evil. Not only the evil that can befall us, but the evil that we do, 00:28:47.279 --> 00:28:51.559 the evil that can start to infiltrate how we think, and how we feel, and how we remember. 00:28:51.920 --> 00:28:54.720 And he's also praying that we would be protected from demons. 00:28:57.180 --> 00:29:02.220 Now, just to be clear, if you think about what's just been said by Jesus earlier, 00:29:03.500 --> 00:29:07.740 if I am a Christian because the Father took me, 00:29:10.079 --> 00:29:14.839 you know, there's this beautiful Anne, I don't know how to pronounce her last name, G-E-D-D-E-S. 00:29:14.839 --> 00:29:19.959 I used to have it in my office. She found a man with exceptionally large hands that were very, 00:29:20.059 --> 00:29:24.819 very hairy, and she found a little tiny, very, very, like, I think the baby was born prematurely, 00:29:24.859 --> 00:29:31.099 about three pounds. And there's this wonderful picture of these huge, hairy hands, and this tiny, 00:29:31.240 --> 00:29:35.899 tiny little baby in the hands. And if you want to help to think about what it means for the Father 00:29:35.899 --> 00:29:42.539 giving you to Jesus, that's how you think about it. In those hands, he gives you to Jesus. 00:29:42.539 --> 00:29:48.299 And if the Father has so given you to Jesus, no demon, after you have come to Jesus, 00:29:48.440 --> 00:29:51.779 can ever enter you and possess you. It can't happen. 00:29:54.480 --> 00:29:56.759 How could a demon get through those hands? 00:29:59.099 --> 00:30:02.480 But demons can harass us. They can tempt us. 00:30:03.659 --> 00:30:05.039 They can oppress us. 00:30:05.039 --> 00:30:09.259 And Jesus is praying over you and me that we would be kept 00:30:09.259 --> 00:30:12.659 from such demonic powers and influences. 00:30:14.180 --> 00:30:17.099 But more and more and more, what would characterize us 00:30:17.099 --> 00:30:20.019 is that you and I are in 00:30:20.019 --> 00:30:22.839 knowledge and fellowship 00:30:22.839 --> 00:30:25.440 in a growing, humble 00:30:25.440 --> 00:30:27.099 way of God. 00:30:27.099 --> 00:30:32.699 Now, Andrew, if you could just put up, it's not a sermon point, but it's four 00:30:32.699 --> 00:30:36.980 simple things. I know many people when they, oh, you found that, boy, you are good. 00:30:41.240 --> 00:30:44.579 Here I thought people were nodding because they remembered the picture. That's what happens 00:30:44.579 --> 00:30:46.199 when the screen's behind me. If you could put up, 00:30:46.699 --> 00:30:49.719 if you could put up the four words, five words, actually. 00:30:50.259 --> 00:30:51.000 Did you find that? Yeah. 00:30:51.000 --> 00:30:53.359 Many people, when they come to the church, 00:30:53.619 --> 00:30:55.160 they're really troubled by this. 00:30:55.279 --> 00:30:56.839 But if you want to think about it, 00:30:56.920 --> 00:30:58.059 these words, 00:30:58.599 --> 00:31:01.400 one, holy, catholic, and apostolic church, 00:31:01.740 --> 00:31:04.059 that's what Jesus is talking about here 00:31:04.059 --> 00:31:06.279 in John 17. 00:31:08.240 --> 00:31:09.220 He's praying 00:31:09.220 --> 00:31:10.319 that we would be one. 00:31:11.599 --> 00:31:13.299 And he's not talking about 00:31:13.299 --> 00:31:15.319 one in an institutional way. He's talking about 00:31:15.319 --> 00:31:16.980 the invisible church. 00:31:17.039 --> 00:31:18.839 He's not talking about institutions, 00:31:18.839 --> 00:31:20.519 invisible churches that you can see. 00:31:20.519 --> 00:31:21.500 He's talking about 00:31:21.500 --> 00:31:23.500 the church that is, 00:31:23.720 --> 00:31:25.639 and it's one church, 00:31:25.740 --> 00:31:27.460 that to be a real Christian means 00:31:27.460 --> 00:31:28.900 that you belong to Jesus, 00:31:29.079 --> 00:31:30.279 and you are in Jesus. 00:31:30.799 --> 00:31:32.200 And that's something that the world 00:31:32.200 --> 00:31:33.460 might not be able to see, 00:31:33.539 --> 00:31:35.680 that a church membership can't necessarily see, 00:31:35.740 --> 00:31:37.059 but it means you're in Jesus. 00:31:37.799 --> 00:31:40.119 And so we are to understand 00:31:40.119 --> 00:31:42.119 that because there's only one Savior, 00:31:42.299 --> 00:31:43.319 there's only one God, 00:31:43.420 --> 00:31:44.740 there's only one conversion, 00:31:45.319 --> 00:31:46.519 that when we enter Jesus, 00:31:46.700 --> 00:31:48.079 that there's just to be one church. 00:31:48.079 --> 00:31:49.259 And we're to pray that the church, 00:31:49.379 --> 00:31:50.480 the bonds of affection are 00:31:50.519 --> 00:31:52.000 between Christians. 00:31:52.420 --> 00:31:53.720 And we are to try to fight 00:31:53.720 --> 00:31:54.700 against the suspicion 00:31:54.700 --> 00:31:55.900 we have against Christians 00:31:55.900 --> 00:31:57.460 who worship in different ways. 00:31:58.099 --> 00:31:59.180 And at the same time, 00:31:59.220 --> 00:31:59.960 we are to be holy. 00:32:00.079 --> 00:32:01.180 It means that we are to be understood, 00:32:01.339 --> 00:32:02.200 that we are to understand 00:32:02.200 --> 00:32:03.839 that we are set apart for God. 00:32:04.180 --> 00:32:05.819 We are set apart for his purposes, 00:32:06.019 --> 00:32:06.680 his plans, 00:32:07.000 --> 00:32:08.299 and his purpose and plans 00:32:08.299 --> 00:32:09.440 are that we will be free, 00:32:09.819 --> 00:32:10.759 that we will be delivered, 00:32:10.920 --> 00:32:12.180 that we will bring him glory, 00:32:12.379 --> 00:32:13.379 that we will be a blessing 00:32:13.379 --> 00:32:14.119 to this city, 00:32:14.619 --> 00:32:16.019 that we will bring him glory, 00:32:16.019 --> 00:32:18.019 even in the valley of the shadow of death, 00:32:18.059 --> 00:32:18.519 and in very, 00:32:18.639 --> 00:32:19.720 very difficult times. 00:32:20.039 --> 00:32:21.480 And we are to be Catholic. 00:32:23.279 --> 00:32:25.139 And Catholic means here universal. 00:32:25.279 --> 00:32:26.460 It has two important meanings. 00:32:26.579 --> 00:32:29.440 It means that it is Catholic over time 00:32:29.440 --> 00:32:30.859 and Catholic over geography. 00:32:30.859 --> 00:32:33.399 It means that there is one church 00:32:33.399 --> 00:32:35.939 that extends back in time. 00:32:36.639 --> 00:32:39.240 Peter and John are in that one church, 00:32:39.299 --> 00:32:40.379 just like you and me. 00:32:40.559 --> 00:32:42.659 And that's what I mean by historic. 00:32:43.059 --> 00:32:44.079 And it's all over the world. 00:32:44.219 --> 00:32:47.279 Uganda and Singapore and China and Rwanda 00:32:47.279 --> 00:32:49.479 are all also part of, 00:32:49.519 --> 00:32:51.379 there's ultimately only this one church 00:32:51.379 --> 00:32:52.819 that goes all around the world. 00:32:53.139 --> 00:32:55.539 And Catholic also has another important sense 00:32:55.539 --> 00:32:56.399 which people forget, 00:32:56.539 --> 00:32:57.319 which means varied. 00:32:57.319 --> 00:33:00.960 It used to be that people would talk about 00:33:00.960 --> 00:33:03.159 somebody having a Catholic taste in literature. 00:33:04.000 --> 00:33:04.839 And if they said that, 00:33:04.879 --> 00:33:06.799 it didn't mean that they liked reading 00:33:06.799 --> 00:33:09.879 Graham Greene and Evelyn Waugh, 00:33:10.480 --> 00:33:11.399 Catholic writers, 00:33:11.519 --> 00:33:12.659 for those of you who know writers. 00:33:13.299 --> 00:33:15.200 What it means is that they could read 00:33:15.200 --> 00:33:15.960 Graham Greene, 00:33:16.559 --> 00:33:18.159 and then they could read Tom Clancy, 00:33:18.960 --> 00:33:21.480 and then they could read Jane Austen, 00:33:22.039 --> 00:33:25.200 and then they could read a Greek myth, 00:33:25.200 --> 00:33:28.480 and then they could read some post-punk, 00:33:28.840 --> 00:33:30.759 post-gay novel, 00:33:31.559 --> 00:33:33.799 and it means widely varied. 00:33:34.980 --> 00:33:36.120 And so this is really important. 00:33:36.259 --> 00:33:36.759 Remember, because... 00:33:37.779 --> 00:33:42.720 You see, it's so easy for us to slip into thinking 00:33:42.720 --> 00:33:45.480 of the father and the son. 00:33:45.759 --> 00:33:47.720 I don't know how many of you have seen the movie Venom. 00:33:48.120 --> 00:33:49.440 I'm not recommending you see it. 00:33:49.840 --> 00:33:51.680 But Venom, if you've seen the movie, 00:33:51.840 --> 00:33:54.420 it's a lot like a lot of science fiction movies nowadays 00:33:54.420 --> 00:33:57.519 where there's this idea that there's this sort of host, 00:33:58.160 --> 00:33:59.720 and you wear different bodies. 00:34:00.420 --> 00:34:01.940 And this isn't a spoiler alert, 00:34:02.060 --> 00:34:03.680 but if you end up seeing the movie Venom, 00:34:04.060 --> 00:34:07.060 there's this spaceship that crashes, 00:34:07.340 --> 00:34:10.000 and there's these extraterrestrial life forms, 00:34:10.200 --> 00:34:11.539 and they enter a person. 00:34:12.059 --> 00:34:13.240 And whenever they enter a person, 00:34:13.300 --> 00:34:15.820 it doesn't matter if it's a little tiny Chinese lady, 00:34:15.960 --> 00:34:17.780 it doesn't matter if it's a young girl, 00:34:17.860 --> 00:34:20.300 it doesn't matter if it's a huge, big, hulking guy. 00:34:20.300 --> 00:34:23.640 The host completely and utterly takes over the person. 00:34:23.980 --> 00:34:25.539 They all have the same personality. 00:34:25.900 --> 00:34:28.360 It's really just one person with different sleeves. 00:34:28.760 --> 00:34:29.800 And that's what's going on. 00:34:30.180 --> 00:34:33.360 But you see, what we see in Jesus and the father 00:34:33.360 --> 00:34:34.380 and the way they're talking, 00:34:34.460 --> 00:34:35.420 I could have talked about this, 00:34:35.480 --> 00:34:36.560 but I haven't talked about it very much. 00:34:36.600 --> 00:34:38.420 What we're seeing here is we're seeing the mystery 00:34:38.420 --> 00:34:39.860 and the dynamics of the Trinity, 00:34:40.320 --> 00:34:42.960 how Jesus is God, the son of God made flesh, 00:34:43.000 --> 00:34:44.220 and the father is the father. 00:34:44.460 --> 00:34:45.980 And they have real conversation, 00:34:46.260 --> 00:34:47.160 and they're different. 00:34:47.159 --> 00:34:51.079 And what we see about God is God is not like a single pure note 00:34:51.079 --> 00:34:52.259 that goes out for all eternity, 00:34:52.440 --> 00:34:54.279 but God is more like a symphony 00:34:54.279 --> 00:34:56.559 with lots of different instruments, 00:34:56.839 --> 00:34:58.539 all playing the same tune, 00:34:58.659 --> 00:34:59.839 going in the same direction, 00:34:59.980 --> 00:35:01.539 at the same rhythm. 00:35:01.940 --> 00:35:03.000 And God is like that. 00:35:03.159 --> 00:35:05.679 God is the father, is not the son, 00:35:05.739 --> 00:35:06.920 and the son is not the father. 00:35:07.059 --> 00:35:07.759 They're both God. 00:35:07.839 --> 00:35:08.799 There's only one God, 00:35:08.899 --> 00:35:10.480 but the father and the son are different. 00:35:10.599 --> 00:35:11.440 They love each other. 00:35:11.519 --> 00:35:12.899 They give worth to each other. 00:35:13.139 --> 00:35:14.379 And it goes on for all eternity, 00:35:14.379 --> 00:35:15.359 and they're different. 00:35:15.360 --> 00:35:20.180 And so it is that it is part of Jesus' plan 00:35:20.180 --> 00:35:23.340 that this morning there were churches 00:35:23.340 --> 00:35:25.180 where people, when it came to sing, 00:35:25.260 --> 00:35:28.360 were dancing and jumping up and down and doing this. 00:35:28.980 --> 00:35:30.420 And there were other churches 00:35:30.420 --> 00:35:34.539 that they would think that they had gone psychologically crazy 00:35:34.539 --> 00:35:36.180 if they did something like that, 00:35:36.240 --> 00:35:38.860 because real worship is sitting quiet. 00:35:40.260 --> 00:35:42.500 And those of us who like to sit quiet, 00:35:42.500 --> 00:35:44.360 yet you can't look down your nose 00:35:44.360 --> 00:35:46.079 at those who like to jump up and down 00:35:46.079 --> 00:35:47.400 and dance and wave their arms. 00:35:47.500 --> 00:35:48.960 And those who like to jump up and down 00:35:48.960 --> 00:35:50.199 and dance and wave their arms 00:35:50.199 --> 00:35:52.420 can't look down at those who like to sit quiet. 00:35:52.519 --> 00:35:52.820 Why? 00:35:55.559 --> 00:35:58.719 Because God delights in his people 00:35:58.719 --> 00:36:01.760 being one but being different. 00:36:04.380 --> 00:36:06.239 And apostolic, which is in the creed, 00:36:06.239 --> 00:36:08.939 is just the old way that they referred 00:36:08.939 --> 00:36:10.699 to the fact that everything in the Bible 00:36:10.699 --> 00:36:12.239 ultimately comes from Jesus 00:36:12.239 --> 00:36:13.719 by the witness of the apostles 00:36:13.719 --> 00:36:15.959 and that we are to be rooted in the Bible. 00:36:16.239 --> 00:36:18.879 That's what apostolic means in this particular case. 00:36:20.639 --> 00:36:21.819 So this is how Jesus, 00:36:21.939 --> 00:36:23.339 if you could put up the point, Andrew, 00:36:24.119 --> 00:36:25.279 I have to wrap this up. 00:36:25.280 --> 00:36:27.680 Here's the point. 00:36:27.780 --> 00:36:28.300 It's a prayer. 00:36:28.519 --> 00:36:30.720 Holy Father, keep me safe in your name 00:36:30.720 --> 00:36:34.140 so that I will seek to be one with other Christians 00:36:34.140 --> 00:36:35.980 as you are one with Jesus 00:36:35.980 --> 00:36:38.400 and keep me safe from the devil 00:36:38.400 --> 00:36:40.120 and from all evil. 00:36:41.180 --> 00:36:42.980 Holy Father, keep me safe in your name 00:36:42.980 --> 00:36:46.019 so that I will seek to be one with other Christians 00:36:46.700 --> 00:36:48.160 as you are one with Jesus 00:36:48.160 --> 00:36:50.280 and keep me safe from the devil 00:36:50.280 --> 00:36:52.880 and from all evil. 00:36:55.280 --> 00:37:01.420 One of the perennial problems with Christians is that we don't like how we're different, 00:37:01.580 --> 00:37:05.640 and one of the ways that we don't like how we're different is that we have different politics. 00:37:07.540 --> 00:37:13.580 We're all very, very familiar with a big problem in the States, at least in the media, 00:37:14.340 --> 00:37:18.200 of evangelical churches being very tied to one political party. 00:37:20.260 --> 00:37:23.480 I'm part of the Dig and Delve apologetics team, 00:37:23.480 --> 00:37:29.639 and one of the suggestions that we had was that we were going to study the Christian response to the environmental thing, 00:37:29.719 --> 00:37:32.320 and I said to them, we have to be very careful about that, 00:37:32.400 --> 00:37:35.280 because there really isn't a Christian response to the environmental thing. 00:37:36.699 --> 00:37:40.840 Most environmental issues are a code word for talking about economic systems, 00:37:41.659 --> 00:37:46.740 and I know this is a shock, but the Bible doesn't back one economic system. 00:37:48.260 --> 00:37:51.079 We think it does, but we're wrong. 00:37:51.079 --> 00:37:53.059 It's an idol. 00:37:54.480 --> 00:37:58.259 It doesn't mean you shouldn't have opinions about it, but it just means you have to be careful. 00:37:59.039 --> 00:38:00.840 A Christian in good conscience can disagree. 00:38:02.159 --> 00:38:06.099 The U.S. get a lot of press, but let me tell you, when I was part of the Anglican Church of Canada, 00:38:06.819 --> 00:38:11.219 they had the same problem as evangelicals, only on the other side of the political spectrum. 00:38:11.219 --> 00:38:15.599 I cannot tell you the number of times where I would spend time with other clergy, 00:38:15.679 --> 00:38:19.119 and they would go on for an hour promoting the most... 00:38:19.119 --> 00:38:23.099 They would complain that whatever the NDP was doing wasn't left-wing enough, 00:38:23.279 --> 00:38:26.419 and they saw no type of embarrassment between it. 00:38:26.439 --> 00:38:29.119 It's a type of an idol and a trap that we can fall into, 00:38:29.339 --> 00:38:33.379 and often what we do is we create silos and ghettos around these things, 00:38:33.659 --> 00:38:38.039 which Christians should, in truth, be able to disagree about. 00:38:38.039 --> 00:38:42.039 And this next thing, which is a bridge between... 00:38:43.159 --> 00:38:44.320 If we just look at the next few... 00:38:44.320 --> 00:38:44.900 It's a bridge. 00:38:45.000 --> 00:38:48.019 It's very important for us to see and understand this. 00:38:48.219 --> 00:38:51.119 Look what Jesus says in verse 16 and 17. 00:38:52.420 --> 00:38:54.500 There we go. 00:38:54.880 --> 00:38:57.360 They are not of the world, just as I am not of the world. 00:38:58.239 --> 00:38:59.639 Sanctify them in the truth. 00:39:00.579 --> 00:39:02.340 Your word is truth. 00:39:02.699 --> 00:39:03.779 I got this out of order. 00:39:04.860 --> 00:39:06.559 That's what happens when you do your notes. 00:39:06.559 --> 00:39:10.559 Okay, here's the point. 00:39:10.779 --> 00:39:11.559 I'm going to read down... 00:39:12.460 --> 00:39:15.519 Poor Andrew's followed my instructions perfectly to the letter. 00:39:16.299 --> 00:39:18.400 Let's read verse 16 and 17 again. 00:39:18.480 --> 00:39:19.639 I'm going to jump down to 18. 00:39:19.779 --> 00:39:21.860 They are not of the world, just as I am not of the world. 00:39:22.099 --> 00:39:23.239 Sanctify them in the truth. 00:39:23.299 --> 00:39:24.039 Your word is truth. 00:39:24.539 --> 00:39:28.480 As you sent me into the world, so I have sent them into the world. 00:39:28.799 --> 00:39:33.639 And the point here is that Jesus has not created a ghetto. 00:39:33.639 --> 00:39:36.920 He's not created a ghetto around worship styles. 00:39:37.119 --> 00:39:39.559 He's not created a ghetto about being afraid of the world. 00:39:39.779 --> 00:39:44.279 He's not created a ghetto centered around politics or economic systems. 00:39:44.599 --> 00:39:50.799 He's given us a commission to go into the world, to be as one as we can and to go into the world. 00:39:51.279 --> 00:39:54.940 And here we see Jesus' second ask in verse 17. 00:39:55.039 --> 00:39:56.960 Verse 17, it says, 00:39:57.319 --> 00:39:58.480 Sanctify them in the truth. 00:39:58.759 --> 00:39:59.799 Your word is truth. 00:39:59.800 --> 00:40:06.080 If you could put up the point, Andrew, because I have to be careful of the time here. 00:40:06.700 --> 00:40:12.860 What Jesus is asking here is he's asking the Father to set me aside in the truth and for the truth. 00:40:13.420 --> 00:40:15.240 And all for the truth. 00:40:15.880 --> 00:40:17.800 He's asking me to... 00:40:18.660 --> 00:40:21.360 Father, set me aside in the truth and for the truth. 00:40:21.780 --> 00:40:24.519 Make me holy in the truth and for the truth. 00:40:24.940 --> 00:40:27.740 May all I do be in the truth and for the truth. 00:40:27.740 --> 00:40:29.180 And your word is true. 00:40:29.800 --> 00:40:32.320 That's what Jesus is praying here. 00:40:32.440 --> 00:40:41.360 Sanctify means that we're set apart by God for his purposes and his use. 00:40:42.220 --> 00:40:46.500 And he doesn't just ask that we're set apart for God, for his purposes and his use. 00:40:46.539 --> 00:40:52.220 But we're sanctified for God and his purposes, for truth and in truth. 00:40:52.219 --> 00:40:58.879 And in here, Jesus refers to all the breadth and height and depth and length of truth. 00:40:59.119 --> 00:41:04.959 He's referring to historical truth, scientific truth, economic truth, accounting truth, 00:41:05.500 --> 00:41:14.339 truth about morals, truth about beauty, truth that's personal, truth about religion, truth about spirituality. 00:41:14.340 --> 00:41:18.500 It is truth that we are set aside for. 00:41:18.559 --> 00:41:20.480 That we are to be people of the truth. 00:41:21.559 --> 00:41:26.440 That we are to be people who seek to know the truth and to understand that at the end of the day, 00:41:26.440 --> 00:41:32.000 because your word is true, that there is no barrier between these things. 00:41:32.079 --> 00:41:38.159 We don't have to worry about the truth of science undermining the truth of love or of beauty or of meaning. 00:41:38.240 --> 00:41:40.960 And we don't have to worry about the truth of meaning or beauty, 00:41:40.960 --> 00:41:44.780 meaning that we can't have truth about who God is. 00:41:44.780 --> 00:41:50.480 And we don't have to worry about the truth about who God is getting in the way about having true knowledge of how people work. 00:41:50.560 --> 00:41:51.740 There's just one truth. 00:41:52.220 --> 00:42:02.840 And in this one truth, which encompasses science and morals and history and all intellectuals and aesthetic and moral and religious and spiritual and political endeavors, 00:42:03.240 --> 00:42:09.040 this one realm of truth is completely and utterly consistent with the fact that the Bible is true. 00:42:09.039 --> 00:42:23.219 That we can read it without having to worry that we're going to have to choose between this and science or this and history or this and morality or this and beauty. 00:42:23.599 --> 00:42:24.400 It's just true. 00:42:27.000 --> 00:42:31.619 Very, very briefly, look at verse 18 and 19, the end part of this prayer. 00:42:32.559 --> 00:42:35.159 As you sent me into the world, so I have sent them into the world. 00:42:35.279 --> 00:42:36.759 This is Jesus commissioning us. 00:42:36.760 --> 00:42:42.760 And for their sake, I consecrate myself that they also may be sanctified in truth. 00:42:43.280 --> 00:42:48.140 And for their sake, I consecrate myself that they also may be sanctified in truth. 00:42:48.900 --> 00:42:52.700 And what Jesus is doing here is he's doing a little bit of a play on words. 00:42:52.800 --> 00:43:02.320 It's really interesting that even at this very, very, very solemn moment when he's praying, 00:43:02.320 --> 00:43:07.600 and it's been a very emotional prayer. 00:43:08.300 --> 00:43:13.260 But in this particular case, he probably has a bit of a smile on him when he prays because he's playing with language. 00:43:14.260 --> 00:43:18.720 You see, all the way through this prayer, when he's talking about us and he uses the word sanctify, 00:43:18.719 --> 00:43:29.839 sanctify, it's a sense of all of the Old Testament passages where a prophet or a priest is set apart for God to proclaim God's word 00:43:29.839 --> 00:43:34.299 or do what God has called them to do in leadership and in worship. 00:43:34.300 --> 00:43:41.960 But when he uses the word sanctify for himself, which is the same word in Greek, he uses it in a different sense. 00:43:42.060 --> 00:43:43.120 He's playing on words. 00:43:43.620 --> 00:43:52.320 And here, it's the word that's used in the Old Testament when an animal is being set aside to be the sacrifice that makes humans right. 00:43:52.320 --> 00:43:56.100 So if you could put up the last point, Andrew. 00:43:57.880 --> 00:44:03.860 Father, help me to live in the world with a deepening confidence that God, the Son of God, 00:44:04.480 --> 00:44:14.780 dedicated himself to your will and died on the cross on my behalf that I might be wholly, truly yours. 00:44:15.340 --> 00:44:21.200 Father, help me to live in the world with a deepening confidence that God, the Son of God, 00:44:21.199 --> 00:44:33.579 dedicated himself to do your will and die on the cross on my behalf that I might be wholly, truly yours. 00:44:34.799 --> 00:44:35.779 Let's stand. 00:44:35.780 --> 00:44:54.000 Father, we continue to ask that you would pour out the Holy Spirit upon us. 00:44:55.120 --> 00:44:59.920 Father, you know those of us who are specially harassed by the demonic. 00:44:59.920 --> 00:45:06.680 You know those of us who know that we are, and you know those of us who don't realize who we are, but we are. 00:45:07.700 --> 00:45:12.680 And Father, we take such great comfort from the prayer of Jesus, and we echo that prayer over each other, 00:45:12.760 --> 00:45:18.500 that you would keep us, Father, from those demons that are harassing. 00:45:19.320 --> 00:45:23.579 And Father, you know the grip that evil has on each of our hearts. 00:45:23.579 --> 00:45:31.500 And we ask, Father, as in the words of Jesus, I ask, Father, for myself and for all who are here, 00:45:31.579 --> 00:45:33.739 that you would keep us from evil, from all evil. 00:45:36.519 --> 00:45:44.119 And Father, you know how easy it is for me to forget, to get worried about how second-rate I am 00:45:44.119 --> 00:45:46.920 and forget that you, Father, have given me to Jesus. 00:45:46.920 --> 00:45:52.280 I ask, Father, that you would grant by your Holy Spirit a deepening, humbling confidence, 00:45:52.840 --> 00:45:59.280 Father, that you gave me to Jesus, that you gave each one here who is in Jesus to Jesus. 00:46:00.119 --> 00:46:04.680 And Father, if there is any here this morning who has not yet given themselves to Jesus, 00:46:04.840 --> 00:46:08.380 and they can feel the pressure of your word to surrender, 00:46:08.579 --> 00:46:11.400 Father, we ask that your Holy Spirit would move in their lives, 00:46:11.400 --> 00:46:15.619 and they would lay down their arms and stop running from you, 00:46:15.700 --> 00:46:19.880 and they would just say, Father, thank you that you have given me to Jesus. 00:46:20.099 --> 00:46:23.280 Jesus, you are my Savior. I am yours. 00:46:23.519 --> 00:46:27.180 Thank you for what you have done for me out of your love for me. 00:46:29.619 --> 00:46:33.099 And Father, we ask that you would bring all of these prayers of Jesus, 00:46:33.320 --> 00:46:35.180 all of this prayer deep into our hearts. 00:46:35.180 --> 00:46:39.940 And we ask this in the name of Jesus and all of God's people said, Amen.