WEBVTT 00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:08.160 Please have a seat, and if you can turn with me to John's Gospel, page 1085. We're thinking about 00:00:08.160 --> 00:00:17.920 this wonderful moment when Jesus prays for His church. Prayer, of course, is something that is 00:00:17.920 --> 00:00:24.839 vital for the Christian life. Martin Luther, hundreds of years ago, said to be a Christian 00:00:24.839 --> 00:00:36.640 without prayer is no more possible than to be alive without breathing. Simply put, prayer is vital 00:00:36.640 --> 00:00:44.439 for your survival if you're a Christian. So, why does it matter so much? Think about what prayer is. 00:00:44.439 --> 00:00:51.659 Prayer is most certainly an invitation to a personal living relationship with God. So, 00:00:51.659 --> 00:00:58.019 we think about prayer as conversation. God speaks in His Word. We speak in prayer. But it's also 00:00:58.019 --> 00:01:07.900 encounter that we're brought into the presence of God. Prayer is knowing God. But prayer is also 00:01:07.900 --> 00:01:13.539 something that matters so much because it treats God as God. So, think about that. So, we've been 00:01:13.539 --> 00:01:19.479 reading and thinking about how great and glorious God is, and so our instinct then is to praise Him. 00:01:19.480 --> 00:01:29.680 We think about how holy and perfect God is, and that leads us to confess our sin. We understand and 00:01:29.680 --> 00:01:36.159 believe that God is both powerful and He is present, and so we give thanks for those things that we 00:01:36.159 --> 00:01:44.180 receive in His world, and we ask for those things that we need. And we also discover in the Bible, 00:01:44.180 --> 00:01:49.480 and especially in the Gospels, maybe especially in Luke's Gospel, that prayer was vital to Jesus. 00:01:50.980 --> 00:01:56.560 Jesus was the one who taught His disciples to pray. You will discover Jesus at so many of the major 00:01:56.560 --> 00:02:02.300 moments of His life, taking time to stop something and spend a whole night in prayer to His Father. 00:02:04.100 --> 00:02:11.420 This, John chapter 17, comes the night before Jesus will die on the cross. 24 hours before His death, 00:02:11.419 --> 00:02:19.239 Jesus knows it. We find Him praying. And I want to suggest as we get into this prayer that we don't just 00:02:19.239 --> 00:02:26.259 think about prayer being vital to Jesus. I want us to recognize that this prayer of Jesus is vital for 00:02:26.259 --> 00:02:37.759 our lives. Because this is going to show us Jesus' heart for the world, but especially for the church, 00:02:37.759 --> 00:02:47.679 as He faces death, here are His priorities. And now as Jesus sits in heaven, and as the Bible tells us, 00:02:47.939 --> 00:02:53.599 He ever lives to pray for us, we understand that His heart is unchanged, and so Jesus is still praying 00:02:53.599 --> 00:02:58.840 with these same priorities today, and they're vital for the ongoing life of the church. 00:02:58.840 --> 00:03:05.780 So we've got three really simple questions to ask. The first question is this, who is praying? 00:03:06.960 --> 00:03:12.980 Maybe you've had this experience, you're going through a hard time, maybe hospital appointments, 00:03:13.240 --> 00:03:18.379 and somebody says to you, our message is you, says, I'm praying for you. And if you have had that 00:03:18.379 --> 00:03:22.860 experience, maybe from a minister or an elder or just a friend, you will know, I suspect, that it 00:03:22.860 --> 00:03:28.180 brings a measure of comfort and encouragement. There's a goodness in praying for one another. 00:03:28.500 --> 00:03:36.200 But think about what matters, what happens when Jesus says, I'm praying for you. Because He does. 00:03:37.120 --> 00:03:41.960 That means everything for us as a church. So we're going to think about, who is this Jesus who is 00:03:41.960 --> 00:03:46.580 praying? We're going to think about His honor and His hour. We're going to be in the first five verses 00:03:46.580 --> 00:03:52.700 just for a few moments, just to think about, what does this tell us about the honor of Jesus? We 00:03:52.700 --> 00:04:01.000 thought about that with the boys and girls. Well, look at verse 1, and we discover Jesus is the Son of 00:04:01.000 --> 00:04:10.520 God. He speaks to God as His Father, and He describes Himself as God's Son. We also discover this. Jesus 00:04:10.520 --> 00:04:18.199 prays, glorify your Son, that your Son may glorify you. So He recognizes in Himself and in His Father 00:04:18.199 --> 00:04:26.600 that they are glorious and deserve glory. In verse 2, we discover that Jesus has all authority. You 00:04:26.600 --> 00:04:33.400 granted Him authority over all people. We also discover that Jesus is the one with the authority 00:04:33.400 --> 00:04:40.500 and the honor to give the gift of eternal life, which isn't just a quantity of life, it's also a 00:04:40.519 --> 00:04:46.620 quality of life being brought into relationship with God. Here is more of the honor of Jesus. 00:04:47.479 --> 00:04:55.359 Verse 4, He brings the Father glory by finishing the work you gave me to do. Jesus has got this work of 00:04:55.359 --> 00:05:02.180 going to the cross in order to save people, then to rise again, and He can pray even before it happens, 00:05:02.180 --> 00:05:09.219 and He knows He's going to complete that work. And He deserves honor because we discover in verse 5, 00:05:10.519 --> 00:05:16.959 that He's about to return to heaven to receive the glory that He's had from all eternity. 00:05:18.120 --> 00:05:24.180 So when Jesus comes into the world, He already is the eternal Son of God. And so we speak about the 00:05:24.180 --> 00:05:30.639 honor of Jesus. And think about this, this is the Jesus who prays for His church, 00:05:30.639 --> 00:05:36.060 the eternal Son of God, the eternal Son of God, who has brought salvation, who sits on the throne, 00:05:36.399 --> 00:05:44.120 the one whose prayer is always heard and is always answered, the one who always cares. 00:05:45.159 --> 00:05:52.240 This is the Jesus who prays. But I also want to notice, help us to notice the context for this 00:05:52.240 --> 00:06:00.120 prayer. So in verse 1, Jesus prays, Father, the hour has come. So we thought about Jesus' honor. 00:06:00.199 --> 00:06:04.939 Now we need to think about Jesus' hour. This is like one of these major themes that runs through 00:06:04.939 --> 00:06:12.540 John's gospel. Jesus lives under the shadow of this hour. His whole mission, His whole coming 00:06:12.540 --> 00:06:18.480 connects to this hour. So what is this hour He's talking about? Well, He's thinking about the hour 00:06:18.480 --> 00:06:26.300 of His suffering and His death, followed by His rising again and then returning to heaven. 00:06:27.300 --> 00:06:35.080 So He is facing the hour of the cross, and then what comes after it, and He prays to His Father, 00:06:35.879 --> 00:06:41.500 Your will be done. We encounter Jesus, the willing, obedient, loving Savior, 00:06:41.500 --> 00:06:48.180 who knows He is about to suffer and die, but He prays for His followers, 00:06:48.480 --> 00:06:54.939 in that setting. And I just want us at the beginning to think about that. When you and I face trials, 00:06:55.939 --> 00:07:04.879 when you and I go through suffering, it is this Jesus who has walked that same path and more 00:07:04.879 --> 00:07:13.600 ahead of us. He has walked in our shoes, and He is the same Jesus who says, I walk with you. 00:07:13.600 --> 00:07:18.140 And it's this Jesus who in heaven prays for you. 00:07:21.680 --> 00:07:25.879 I said to the boys and girls, we would think about what's Jesus doing now. It's a really interesting 00:07:25.879 --> 00:07:30.800 thing to think about for boys, for girls, for everybody. Some of the things that we know about 00:07:30.800 --> 00:07:33.960 what Jesus is doing now, we know that He is keeping this world spinning. 00:07:33.959 --> 00:07:43.099 This whole world is sustained by Jesus' powerful word. Jesus is keeping us alive at this moment. 00:07:44.180 --> 00:07:49.620 All across the world, as the message of the Bible goes out, Jesus is building His church. He's saving 00:07:49.620 --> 00:07:58.679 people. He's working out God's plans in the world. So Jesus is really active today, and Jesus prays for 00:07:58.680 --> 00:08:06.759 His church. The King on the throne of the universe, the one who died for you, is the one who prays for you, 00:08:07.139 --> 00:08:14.019 for the church around the world. So that's who is praying. The second question is this, 00:08:14.360 --> 00:08:22.759 who is Jesus praying for? That's a really important question. I don't know if you've ever had to scan 00:08:22.759 --> 00:08:31.219 a list of names to see if you were on the list. Maybe in a sports team, did I make it onto the team, 00:08:31.219 --> 00:08:37.899 or am I on the substitute list? And maybe for a particular event, you have to scan the guest list, 00:08:38.019 --> 00:08:45.960 did I get on? We all know situations where in order to get the benefits, you have to be on the list. 00:08:45.960 --> 00:08:51.500 And that's a really important principle for us to recognize as we come to this prayer. 00:08:52.160 --> 00:08:56.519 Because I imagine, as I was reading it, you would have heard verse 9, 00:08:57.540 --> 00:09:06.400 that Jesus is praying for a specific group of people. Verse 9, I pray for them. So we need to 00:09:06.400 --> 00:09:11.480 think about who's the them. I am not praying for the world, but for those you have given me, 00:09:11.480 --> 00:09:17.379 for they are yours. So there's a particular group that's benefiting from this prayer. 00:09:18.800 --> 00:09:23.240 Now just before we get into that, we know that God loves the world that He has made. 00:09:23.980 --> 00:09:30.080 We know that Jesus loves the world that He came into. John 3, 16, for God so loved the world 00:09:30.080 --> 00:09:35.800 that He gave His one and only Son, that whoever believes in Him might not perish, but have eternal 00:09:35.799 --> 00:09:43.159 life. God absolutely loves the world and sent Jesus. But there is a particular group in view here. 00:09:44.359 --> 00:09:52.179 There is a special saving love and a special relationship that Jesus has with His people, 00:09:52.359 --> 00:10:00.319 with His church. And so He takes some time to pray particularly for the Christian church. 00:10:00.320 --> 00:10:06.340 So we need to ask ourselves, how can I know if Jesus prays this prayer for me? How can I enter into 00:10:06.340 --> 00:10:12.620 these benefits? How can I make sure I'm on the list? And there are two descriptions that run through 00:10:12.620 --> 00:10:19.960 the passage, two words beginning with B. It's to do with belonging and believing, and we'll see they're 00:10:19.960 --> 00:10:27.560 very much related. So if you look at verse 6, Jesus prays for those who belong to me, belong to Him. 00:10:27.559 --> 00:10:35.939 I have revealed you to those whom you gave me out of the world. They were yours, you gave them to me, 00:10:36.399 --> 00:10:43.159 and they have obeyed your word. Verse 10, we heard it, I'm not praying for the world, but for those you 00:10:43.159 --> 00:10:50.739 have given me. All I have is yours and all you have is mine. So there's this idea that there is a people, 00:10:50.740 --> 00:10:59.460 the church, who belong to the Father and who belong to the Son. We might think of the idea of there 00:10:59.460 --> 00:11:04.799 having been a transfer taking place. We've just come out of a transfer window if you're into football. 00:11:05.700 --> 00:11:12.200 There are some people who've been transferred from one kingdom, the world, to another, the kingdom of 00:11:12.200 --> 00:11:19.200 God. And in that transfer, there's now a belonging, in fact a joint belonging. There's joint ownership. 00:11:19.980 --> 00:11:24.280 They're all of God's people. Every Christian belongs to God the Father and God the Son. 00:11:26.040 --> 00:11:32.740 And those who belong to Jesus, they know certain things. Verse 7, they know that everything you have 00:11:32.740 --> 00:11:39.560 given me comes from you. So we're given the ability to understand Jesus has come from God the Father. 00:11:39.559 --> 00:11:44.479 That when we look at Jesus, we recognize that he reveals God's glory to the world. 00:11:45.759 --> 00:11:50.699 When we come to read about Jesus, we come to understand and to believe that he is the Son of God. 00:11:51.379 --> 00:11:55.779 When we read the whole message of the Bible, we recognize he is the promised King, the one who's 00:11:55.779 --> 00:12:02.039 come to save. So Jesus prays for those who belong to him, and he also prays for those, and they're the 00:12:02.039 --> 00:12:09.539 same group, who believe in him. Verse 8, in the middle of verse 8, they knew what 00:12:09.559 --> 00:12:18.379 certainty that I came from you, and they believed that you sent me. So here he's speaking about his 00:12:18.379 --> 00:12:24.779 first disciples. They accepted Jesus' words, and they believed. Now we know this as a fact. They 00:12:24.779 --> 00:12:32.639 didn't believe perfectly. They still had questions. They still had confusions. They still had doubts and 00:12:32.639 --> 00:12:40.559 struggles, but they had real faith that Jesus was God's gift to them, that he was the Savior, and they 00:12:40.559 --> 00:12:49.539 were trusting him as their Lord. Now look at verse 20. He's not just praying for the disciples. My prayer 00:12:49.539 --> 00:12:57.220 is not for them alone. I pray also for those who will believe in me through their message. 00:12:57.220 --> 00:13:05.700 So Jesus is praying somewhere around 30 AD, about 2,000 years ago, but this is a prayer of Jesus 00:13:05.700 --> 00:13:15.420 that spans space and time and history, because he prays for every single person who will believe that 00:13:15.420 --> 00:13:22.899 Jesus is the Savior as they come to hear and believe the message delivered by the followers of Jesus. 00:13:22.899 --> 00:13:29.759 Jesus. So whenever somebody reads the Bible, hears it preached, hears it taught, and they believe it, 00:13:30.220 --> 00:13:36.600 Jesus' prayer is answered. That's an amazing thing, isn't it? So it's all who belong to him, 00:13:36.899 --> 00:13:43.259 and they're all who believe in him. And to just think about that for us as Christians, just for a moment, 00:13:44.120 --> 00:13:51.000 that we would recognize God's grace and kindness to us. It wasn't because of anything within us that we 00:13:51.000 --> 00:13:58.480 were able to see and believe in Jesus. It's a gift of God's grace. And part of that wonderful gift is 00:13:58.480 --> 00:14:05.919 that we get to enjoy life with God, and part of that is we get to enjoy prayer. It's vital to us. 00:14:06.299 --> 00:14:11.740 Think too about this double security that Jesus talks about. He talks about it throughout John's 00:14:11.740 --> 00:14:19.620 gospel. We belong to the gospel. We belong to the Son, and we belong to the Father. And Jesus promises 00:14:19.620 --> 00:14:25.820 that those who belong to him, he'll never drive away, and he will never lose. 00:14:28.139 --> 00:14:31.860 Remember in the book of Revelation, if you've been around for the last few months, we've been in the book 00:14:31.860 --> 00:14:37.080 of Revelation. The picture is very honest from Jesus that life is hard. Life as a Christian is hard. 00:14:37.080 --> 00:14:42.600 That spiritual battle is real. Maybe you're here today, and you're the only Christian in your place 00:14:42.600 --> 00:14:47.840 of work. The only Christian in your classroom. Maybe the only Christian in your family, and you know 00:14:47.840 --> 00:14:55.620 this. But we also know this too. That Jesus is with us, and he is for us, and he prays. 00:14:58.300 --> 00:15:03.440 Maybe you're here today, and you're not a Christian yet. You can't look at the list and say, 00:15:03.440 --> 00:15:10.540 I'm one of those who belong and believe. Recognize today Jesus is inviting you into a real, living, 00:15:10.880 --> 00:15:16.160 personal relationship with God. That you could accept his word, his word of promise. 00:15:17.000 --> 00:15:22.120 That trusting in him brings forgiveness. That trusting in him begins a whole new life 00:15:22.120 --> 00:15:27.900 with God. It means being adopted into the family of God. It means the promise of 00:15:27.899 --> 00:15:38.039 eternal home and eternal security. And so there's an invitation to pray. To pray for that gift of faith. 00:15:38.799 --> 00:15:45.240 And to pray that you would come to him. So that's who prays and who Jesus prays for. 00:15:45.699 --> 00:15:52.480 Now we want to think thirdly about what does Jesus pray for. But just before we get into that, 00:15:52.480 --> 00:15:58.300 I came across, I don't know who likes poetry here. I'm not a great fan of poetry. But I like this line 00:15:58.300 --> 00:16:03.700 at least from George Herbert. If you know George Herbert, he was writing poetry a long time ago. He 00:16:03.700 --> 00:16:07.820 has a poem called Prayer. And there's one line which I really like. It's called, it says, 00:16:07.940 --> 00:16:16.899 Prayer is God's breath in man returning to his birth. It's a great idea to think about. I think the basic 00:16:16.899 --> 00:16:21.959 idea, basically as much as I got anyway. I think he's making the point that we are made as people 00:16:21.959 --> 00:16:30.259 to know God and to talk with God. I think we probably all have that instinct at some point 00:16:30.259 --> 00:16:38.279 that makes us realize we are not alone in the universe. And we are not made to go alone in the 00:16:38.279 --> 00:16:44.960 universe. Rather, we were made for God. And it's really interesting. I came across some statistics 00:16:44.960 --> 00:16:51.540 this week that show a surprising number of people, including people who identify themselves as 00:16:51.540 --> 00:16:59.200 atheists or non-believers, who pray, sometimes regularly, sometimes often, find themselves praying. 00:16:59.320 --> 00:17:04.660 But maybe we shouldn't be surprised. Because we're all made in the image of God, and we're all made to 00:17:04.660 --> 00:17:09.819 know God and for life with God. And so there's that instinct that draws us at different times 00:17:09.819 --> 00:17:14.779 to want to connect with God. And one of the vital ways we do that is through prayer. 00:17:16.480 --> 00:17:21.259 And here we have Jesus. And Jesus, of course, is the perfect image of God. 00:17:22.539 --> 00:17:30.779 And he perfectly wants to enjoy life with his Father. And he teaches us as well how to pray. 00:17:31.279 --> 00:17:38.220 He prays out loud so his disciples can hear. This is prayer, but it's also instruction for us, 00:17:38.220 --> 00:17:46.279 showing us from Jesus' own heart, what should we pray for. So three things to recognize for our 00:17:46.279 --> 00:17:54.660 prayers. First of all, that Jesus prays for his glory. Verse 1 again, glorify your Son, 00:17:55.620 --> 00:18:02.880 that your Son may glorify you. Now, if anyone else prayed this, make me seem glorious, that'd be 00:18:02.880 --> 00:18:10.440 really proud and boastful. But if Jesus is who he says he is, if he is the Son of God, 00:18:11.240 --> 00:18:17.540 if he is the creator and sustainer of the universe, then there is no one higher and there is no one 00:18:17.540 --> 00:18:24.260 greater than him, then it's wonderful that he chooses to reveal God's glory to us. And that's 00:18:24.259 --> 00:18:33.299 what we need more than anything else. And he prays something remarkable, because he prays about the 00:18:33.299 --> 00:18:42.379 hour. So he's praying that we would see glory in the cross. Jesus has this wonderful understanding 00:18:42.379 --> 00:18:49.379 that the cross is at the same time something profoundly painful and shameful in his death, 00:18:49.380 --> 00:18:58.220 and something glorious. It's a demonstration of loving sacrifice with saving effect. 00:18:59.340 --> 00:19:06.540 It's the means by which eternal life is given. It's the means by which Jesus will accomplish the 00:19:06.540 --> 00:19:15.500 Father's plan of salvation. And so he prays that his glory would be seen through the message of the cross. 00:19:15.500 --> 00:19:26.200 And he also prays that we would see his glory as he sits on his throne. Verse 5, 00:19:27.039 --> 00:19:35.059 glorify me in your presence with the glory I had with you before the world began. So the second part 00:19:35.059 --> 00:19:40.259 of Jesus, our beyond his death, there is resurrection and there is the return to heaven. We've been in the 00:19:40.259 --> 00:19:44.960 book of Revelation and we've seen this picture of Jesus, the lamb on the throne, and everybody 00:19:44.960 --> 00:19:55.579 worshiping him. King of kings, king of the ages, working out God's plan from the throne. And Jesus teaches us 00:19:55.579 --> 00:20:09.019 to pray that we would see his glory as king. There is this great need for people everywhere to discover this, 00:20:09.019 --> 00:20:19.200 that we would glory in the good news, that God loved me and gave his son for me. That we would glory in this 00:20:19.200 --> 00:20:26.119 truth that Jesus died so that I can live, that by his wounds I can be healed, that he went under God's 00:20:26.119 --> 00:20:32.700 curse so I can receive God's blessing. That's our boast as Christians. All our boast is in Jesus. 00:20:32.700 --> 00:20:40.700 So we need to pray that we would see and that people would see God's glory. That we would pray like 00:20:40.700 --> 00:20:46.380 Moses. Moses in the Old Testament prayed, show me your glory. And he discovered wonderful things about 00:20:46.380 --> 00:20:53.140 God's character. That we would discover more of the glory of Jesus' loving sacrifice. That we would 00:20:53.140 --> 00:20:58.460 discover more of the glory of his royal rule so that we ourselves would give him glory, 00:20:58.460 --> 00:21:04.840 that loyalty would go to him, that loyalty would go to him, love would go to him, obedience would go to 00:21:04.840 --> 00:21:13.400 him, trust would go to him, and we would pray and work so the people around us would also give him glory 00:21:13.400 --> 00:21:20.259 as we recognize that nothing matters more than this. And we are never more truly human than when we are 00:21:20.259 --> 00:21:29.759 connecting in fellowship with our God and our Savior. So Jesus prays for his own glory and invites us to do 00:21:29.759 --> 00:21:39.740 the same. Secondly, Jesus prays for protection for his followers. So again, just to take us back to the 00:21:39.740 --> 00:21:46.079 book of Revelation, Revelation reads in many ways like a graphic novel, a really vivid picture of spiritual 00:21:46.079 --> 00:21:54.960 battle between good and evil, spiritual battle between good and evil, and spiritual battle rages, 00:21:54.960 --> 00:22:01.679 and it doesn't just rage out there, it also rages in here in our hearts. And one of the reasons why we 00:22:01.679 --> 00:22:09.199 need to see the glory of Jesus is that we would appreciate in the midst of battle, who is it who is 00:22:09.200 --> 00:22:20.660 on our side? And also Jesus invites us to remember who is at war against us. And also, we need protection in what 00:22:20.660 --> 00:22:30.880 Jesus calls the church to do. So look with me at verses 11 and 12. Jesus prays, first of all, for protection by God's 00:22:30.880 --> 00:22:38.980 powerful name. He says, I will remain in the world no longer, but they are still in the world, and I am coming to you 00:22:38.980 --> 00:22:48.680 Holy Father, protect them by the power of your name, the name you gave me, so that they may be one as we are one. 00:22:48.860 --> 00:22:57.099 There is something about God's name, something about God's character that serves and stands to protect his 00:22:57.099 --> 00:23:03.259 church. God's name reflects what is true about him, what's true about Jesus. 00:23:03.259 --> 00:23:13.200 Jesus came to reveal the truth about God and God's name and God's character to us, that he is supreme, 00:23:13.879 --> 00:23:20.180 that he is the life giver, that he is the one who is able to save from sin and death, that he has such 00:23:20.180 --> 00:23:27.119 a firm grip on his people that he loses none who truly belong and believe, so that as a Christian we are 00:23:27.119 --> 00:23:36.079 kept always by the Lord's powerful name, by the Lord who is with us and for us, and that matters because 00:23:36.079 --> 00:23:44.859 we are protected from a powerful enemy. Verse 15 says, my prayer is not that you take them out of the world, 00:23:45.539 --> 00:23:53.979 but that you protect them from the evil one. Now he's already in verse 14 told, spoken to God of the fact 00:23:53.980 --> 00:24:01.620 that the world will hate his followers just as they hated Jesus. So there's this group of people who 00:24:01.620 --> 00:24:07.079 follow Jesus and they're now living by a very different value system, a very different form of 00:24:07.079 --> 00:24:14.400 worship, and they're coming under intense persecution and opposition. And then Jesus prays recognizing that 00:24:14.400 --> 00:24:21.980 there is the devil, the evil one, and he is also warring against the people of God. And so Jesus prays 00:24:21.980 --> 00:24:32.539 for protection. But did you notice, verse 15, he doesn't pray, Father, remove them from the heat of 00:24:32.539 --> 00:24:41.839 battle. No, he prays, protect them in the heat of the battle. So we should expect, and Revelation tells us 00:24:41.839 --> 00:24:48.420 this, we should expect suffering and trouble and challenge and opposition, and we should expect, 00:24:48.420 --> 00:24:59.440 and we will receive help and protection from Jesus. He will protect us in verse 13, so that we have the full 00:24:59.440 --> 00:25:12.259 measure of his joy. He will keep us in joy as we look to him as he gives us strength. And the third thing about 00:25:12.259 --> 00:25:20.220 this protection that Jesus prays for is that we are, he is praying that we be protected for the mission of the church. 00:25:21.379 --> 00:25:30.000 In verse 17, we come across a holiness word. Sanctify them by the truth. Your word is truth. The idea of sanctifying 00:25:30.000 --> 00:25:37.839 means setting apart for God's purpose. And there's a logic in these verses. Jesus was set apart by his Father for a 00:25:37.839 --> 00:25:44.759 particular purpose, sent into the world to be the only Savior for sinners. And then Jesus says, just as you 00:25:44.759 --> 00:25:50.740 sent me into the world, I have sent them into the world. So the Father sends the Son, now Jesus sends 00:25:50.740 --> 00:25:57.519 the church. And the church's job, our job, is to continue the mission of Jesus by proclaiming Jesus as Lord 00:25:57.519 --> 00:26:05.059 in the face of opposition. And then we come back to the sanctifying word. Verse 19, Jesus says, 00:26:05.059 --> 00:26:10.220 for them I sanctify myself, that they too may be truly sanctified. 00:26:13.319 --> 00:26:19.299 And Jesus is telling us that the effect of his coming, he has set himself apart in order to 00:26:19.299 --> 00:26:26.599 complete his mission. And one effect of that is that he transforms his people so that they are set 00:26:26.599 --> 00:26:34.799 apart to serve him. Those who belong to the world, to the Lord, are brought into him and then sent out 00:26:34.799 --> 00:26:42.079 for him into the world, to bring good news, to invite people like Andrew the disciple, come and see 00:26:42.079 --> 00:26:49.500 Jesus. Or like the man who was released from all those demons, go and tell what the Lord has done 00:26:49.500 --> 00:26:56.740 for you. And so Jesus sets himself apart, completes his mission, sets us apart as belonging to the Lord, 00:26:56.740 --> 00:27:03.640 and sends us on mission, and he promises his protection. And so it says to us as a church, 00:27:03.740 --> 00:27:08.700 we must stay close to Jesus, to live under his protection, 00:27:09.579 --> 00:27:18.000 to make a priority of worshiping him, of hearing from him in his word, the Bible, of speaking to him 00:27:18.000 --> 00:27:26.359 in prayer. And we must come under the protection of Jesus. There is the reality of spiritual battle, 00:27:26.660 --> 00:27:32.740 there is a winning side, that's Jesus. To be on the winning side, we need to trust in him. 00:27:34.599 --> 00:27:41.000 So Jesus prays for his glory, he prays for protection for his church, and then he also prays for unity 00:27:41.000 --> 00:27:49.500 in his church. Verse 20, notice he says, I pray also for those who believe in me through their message, 00:27:49.880 --> 00:27:57.200 that all of them may be one, Father, just as you are in me and I am in you. The church must always 00:27:57.200 --> 00:28:07.019 be united in the truth. It's the message that is central. It's not a unity based on shared culture, 00:28:07.019 --> 00:28:12.200 or because there's a group of people who happen to get along with one another. No, our unity is based on 00:28:12.200 --> 00:28:17.639 belief in God's message that we find in the Bible, and in the message about Jesus. 00:28:18.819 --> 00:28:26.079 That Jesus truly is the Son of God. That he is the only Savior. That he came in order to make a 00:28:26.079 --> 00:28:31.259 perfect sacrifice for sin and for sinners. That he rose again, and will return one day, 00:28:31.259 --> 00:28:37.660 as King of Kings. And so the church in every place, and in every generation, in every culture, 00:28:37.779 --> 00:28:44.500 and country, and language, must have the Lord Jesus Christ as the foundation upon which the church is 00:28:44.500 --> 00:28:51.160 built. We have no other foundation. It's Jesus and his Word. He is the head of the body. We need to be 00:28:51.160 --> 00:28:57.379 vitally connected to him to have any life, and to be able to be effective for him. So we must always 00:28:57.380 --> 00:29:04.500 have that unity that's rooted in truth, and so we pray for the message to be guarded in here, and as we 00:29:04.500 --> 00:29:17.720 take it out. We're also to be united in love. Verse 21 continues, may they also be in us, so that the world 00:29:17.720 --> 00:29:27.140 may believe that you have sent me. Verse 26 concludes, I have made you known to them, and will continue 00:29:27.140 --> 00:29:36.520 to make you known in order that the love you have for me may be in them, and that I myself may be in 00:29:36.520 --> 00:29:44.220 them. So there's this wonderful truth that to be a Christian is to share in the overflow of God's love. 00:29:45.420 --> 00:29:50.460 The love that God has within himself, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, he pours out on us as people. 00:29:50.460 --> 00:29:58.500 That's amazing. And that love that he gives to us individually, he also gives to the people of God 00:29:58.500 --> 00:30:05.279 together as a group. And Jesus is making this point that for our mission to be effective 00:30:05.279 --> 00:30:15.220 as a church, we must be a united church, united in truth and united in love. It has been said that 00:30:15.220 --> 00:30:22.420 the local church is the greatest apologetic for the gospel. Because when a group of people get together 00:30:22.420 --> 00:30:28.920 and they love one another for no other reason apart from God has loved them and given them Jesus, 00:30:29.600 --> 00:30:37.180 then that says that God's love is powerful and transforms. And so within a local church, God's love 00:30:37.180 --> 00:30:46.200 should be both heard in what we read and sing and pray and preach, but it should also be seen 00:30:46.200 --> 00:30:53.440 in the way that we love one another. There should be, in other words, a consistency between the words 00:30:53.440 --> 00:31:01.380 that we use and the way of life that we practice. All those one another's that we read about in the Bible, 00:31:02.240 --> 00:31:06.279 love one another, serve one another, encourage one another, bear one another's burdens, 00:31:06.279 --> 00:31:14.519 that should be part of the life of a local church to make the love of God known to a watching world. 00:31:15.059 --> 00:31:20.619 Because imagine the flip side, imagine walking into this kind of church where you see members 00:31:20.619 --> 00:31:26.779 not talking with one another, or you see little cliques and factions forming in different corners, 00:31:27.099 --> 00:31:32.339 where you get that sense that people are fighting for power and status and everybody wants the microphone. 00:31:32.339 --> 00:31:40.019 Nobody bothers paying attention to those who are new. If you walk into that kind of church, 00:31:40.199 --> 00:31:45.939 I imagine we'd be tempted to think, why would I want anything to do with those people and their message? 00:31:46.839 --> 00:31:55.039 It would be profoundly off-putting. And so Jesus prays for a unity that's rooted in love to make the 00:31:55.039 --> 00:32:05.039 gospel visible. The kind of genuine love that becomes compelling. I want what they've got. 00:32:06.779 --> 00:32:14.359 The kind of love that is counter-cultural. When we recognize so much of life is focused on, 00:32:14.819 --> 00:32:19.519 what can I do for me and for myself? To come into a place where everyone's focused on the other, 00:32:19.519 --> 00:32:26.579 I don't see this kind of love anywhere else. And it's good and I want it. 00:32:27.879 --> 00:32:35.680 We need also to recognize that Jesus prays for unity within his church because unity is a fragile thing. 00:32:36.839 --> 00:32:44.079 Unity is a precious thing. Some of you maybe have sort of fine crystal at home that only comes out for 00:32:44.079 --> 00:32:49.119 the honored guests. And maybe you've got some wedding china that comes out for special occasions. 00:32:49.119 --> 00:32:57.419 There are things that we handle with care. There are things that we value greatly. Church unity is 00:32:57.419 --> 00:33:02.859 to be one of those. And so we pray for it for our sake and for God's mission to the watching world. 00:33:03.519 --> 00:33:10.279 But there's one last thing to notice about unity. It's there in verse 24 that the goal 00:33:10.279 --> 00:33:13.000 is to be united with Jesus. 00:33:13.000 --> 00:33:22.160 Father, I want those you have given me to be with me where I am and to see my glory. 00:33:23.099 --> 00:33:27.920 The glory you have given me because you love me before the creation of the world. 00:33:28.779 --> 00:33:33.680 That's Jesus' heart. I want my friends, those who I've died for, to see my glory 00:33:33.680 --> 00:33:43.519 and to share my glory. And here he's taken us all the way to eternity. He's taking us to his return. 00:33:43.980 --> 00:33:49.400 He's taking us to when we have resurrection life and resurrected bodies and we get to see his face 00:33:49.400 --> 00:33:57.220 and we get to be made like him. Jesus prays for our eternal joy, which is also his eternal joy. 00:33:57.220 --> 00:34:05.259 Jesus and his church together forever. This is what one day everyone who believes and belongs in Jesus 00:34:05.259 --> 00:34:12.840 will experience. Perfect friendship, fellowship, communion with the Lord Jesus, where we live in 00:34:12.840 --> 00:34:18.559 a society of perfect love between our brothers and sisters in Christ, where we share in the overflow of 00:34:18.559 --> 00:34:26.980 God's love forever. Jesus prays it. Jesus prays it. And that means it's a guarantee. 00:34:27.219 --> 00:34:39.219 So Jesus' prayer truly is vital for his church and for his people. As we leave here, let me encourage 00:34:39.219 --> 00:34:48.219 three things. First, that we would enjoy prayer. Prayer as a way to deepen our relationship with 00:34:48.219 --> 00:34:55.759 our God and our Savior. Prayer as conversation, something that's real. It's meeting with our Father, 00:34:55.760 --> 00:35:05.860 just like Jesus did. To recognize prayer as an experience and as an opportunity for more. 00:35:07.440 --> 00:35:17.180 More of his glory. More of that protection that he promises. More of that love and that unity that he 00:35:17.179 --> 00:35:28.500 promises to bring. And let me encourage us to echo this prayer for our church. That we would want one 00:35:28.500 --> 00:35:34.739 another and the people outside of these walls to see the glory of Jesus. That we would want to be protected 00:35:34.739 --> 00:35:43.380 in his love. And that we would want to be united in a mission to make Jesus and his glory known.