Scripture reading this evening hour is again from verses up to John. We turn one last time to the 17th chapter and read the verses that will help you to consider this evening, John 17, verses 20-26. Jesus continued and concludes this prayer. Neither pray I for these alone, but for them also which shall believe on me through their word, that they all may be one, as thou, Father, art in me, and I in thee, that they also may be one in us, that the world may believe that thou hast sent me. And the glory which thou gavest me, I have given them, that they may be one even as we are one, I in them, and thou in me. That they may be made perfect in one, and that the world may know that thou hast sent me, and has loved them as thou hast loved me. Father, I will that they also, whom thou hast given me, be with me where I am, that they may behold my glory, which thou hast given me, for thou lovest me before the foundation of the world. O righteous Father, the world has not known thee, but I have known thee, and these have known that thou hast sent me. I have declared unto them my name, and I will declare again that the love wherewith thou hast loved me may be in them, and I in them." Dear congregation, as we've also heard at this morning hour, prayer for the Church of God is very, very Prayer is important for many, many reasons. Prayer is important because it's the way that we connect to God. Oftentimes the old phrase goes that when we read the Bible, God speaks to us, but when we pray to God, we speak back to Him. So in a certain sense, when we prayerfully read the scripture, It's like a two-way communication between two parties. And then within that communication, in prayer, as we pray sincerely to the Lord, it's one way that we can express our praise to God, isn't it? And we can also, in prayer, thank Him for all His mercies and all His benefits shown We can petition Him for blessings, for guidance, for help, for strength, for comfort. We can petition Him to be kept, to be guided, to be taught more of His ways. And oftentimes we may do that for ourselves and indeed the scripture is very clear that there are many examples and exhortations for ourselves as we call to God. We're called to pray to God for us. But then we are also given many exhortations and many examples that we do that on behalf of others, don't we? And when we do that, we call those intercessory prayers. We pray on behalf, for example, of unborn children. that God would remember them. We pray on behalf of young-born children that God would bless them and save them and remember them and keep them as well. We may pray on behalf of a spouse and for them or for a friend or for a child that's turned away from God. We may pray for our co-worker. We may pray for those in our community. And when we do that, we are interceding to heaven on their behalf. We are expressing an intercessory prayer. Well, in this great and this wonderful prayer that we've been considering over the last few weeks, what is often referred to as an intercessory prayer. And all but the first few verses, that's exactly what we find the Lord Jesus Christ doing. Praying on behalf of others, but particularly just as a Jesus Christ praying for and interceding for his spiritual children whom he purchases with his own blood. And so this evening hour as we conclude this intercessory prayer of the Lord Jesus Christ we're going to see something of that and what that teaches us You recall, dear congregation, in the first five verses of this great Lord's Prayer, this great intercessory prayer, for the most part, the Lord Jesus Christ was praying regarding Himself and the glory that He had with the Father. He reflects upon that somewhat, and we pray that the Church would share again in that glory. But then the tone changes in prayer from verses 6 through 19 where Christ intercedes for believers who believe on him at that particular time and point in history. Those who were his followers. at that time. But now from verse 20 through to verse 26, through to the end of the chapter, he begins to pray for those who, at that particular vantage point in history, would become believers in the future. And so he continues his prayer in verse 20, rather seamlessly, and he says, neither do I pray for these alone, So he's referring, obviously, in that phrase, back to that which he had been doing. Neither do I pray for these alone, not just for those, but for them also, also for them which shall believe on me through their word. Also for them which shall believe on me through their word. Now there's just a few things I'd like to point out as we continue this wonderful prayer. We have to notice immediately as we find this change in verse 20, from verse 19 through to verse 20, that there is not a disconnect between that which he had been doing and that which he now begins to do, or, better said, that he expresses that he also does. What do I mean by that? Well, he had been praying, of course, for believers. He had been praying for his children, those who believed on him through his word, as he put it, and received his word in verse 8. those who are walking in his footsteps, those who loved him. But now he says, I don't just pray for those all alone, just by themselves, not just them, but also for them which shall believe on me through their word. It's not like that Christ was praying for current believers at that time. And then he comes to a point in his intercessory work where he stops praying for them and begins praying for those in the future. It's not like that at all. Rather he is saying, let me put it in my own words here, I want you to know that current believers are not the only people that I am praying for. But I am also, at the same point, and much in the same manner, also praying for future believers. And so in terms of application, this prayer was not only for current believers, but also for future believers. It's somewhat hard to get our minds to grasp. But Jesus is saying very simply this. I am praying at the same time for people that are right in front of me. And I am praying at the same time and in the same manner for those whom I know are my children that may not even be believers yet. And how can Jesus do this? Well, he can do this because we are children of time. The Bible says to him that one day is a thousand years and a thousand years as one day. You see, in his divinity, he is eternal. He can pray for current things and future things from our perspective, as we put it. We see things at this point and we say, well that's going to be in the future. But He can pray for those things simultaneously, at the same time, because of who He is. Because He is eternal. And He always has been eternal. When he lived on Earth, he was eternal. And now he sits at the Father's right hand and continues to be eternal. See, that's part of his very core character. He's not only the God of here and now, for lack of a better way to say it, but he's also a God who abides in the future, at least from our vantage point. His being, it spans our time. But for Him, you see, He dwells in the eternal present. And even now, as we sit here this evening hour, and as we read at our time and our point in history, this wonderful prayer that came from the lips at one point in time's history of the Lord Jesus Christ, Jesus is praying for current believers, and at the same time, and in the same way, praying for future believers as well. Now you see, to even begin to grasp that's hard, because you and I are not eternal. You and I are children of time. We have a beginning point, we have a middle life, and then we have an end point. We think of everything in terms of beginning, middle, and conclusion. You see Christ is eternal He is forever. He's outside the constraints of time He can pray for things current and things future All at the same time and this demonstrates for us something about the eternal nature of God Maybe Think of it this way. Think of a vast, vast, vast, vast ocean. A huge, huge ocean. The ocean is so blue, and it is so big, and it is so large, and it is so, so wide. Sometimes we can stand on the shore of a body of water, Lake Michigan, but we know that The state of Michigan is just on the other side. You can't see the shore. But you feel even more the vastness when you know what a map looks like when you stand at the edge of an ocean. But just imagine now, if you could, an ocean that has no borders. A vast, vast, vast, endless, endless ocean. And then imagine one little tiny island. Somewhere in that ocean, just a tiny little island. And sometimes maybe we see that image, and we see that, and the camera, as it were, it zooms in, and it comes in closer and closer and closer and closer and closer and closer and closer and closer to the island. And suddenly you realize, that's actually a pretty big island. It's way bigger than it may look from way up there. And it looks like just a little dot down there. Well, that's kind of the way it is with time. The island is like time. It's so big. It's so big when you're standing on it. It's like our lives. It's so long. It took time for the children to grow up. 70, 80 years. The Bible says, well, that's so long. It's like this island is so big. You see, compared to eternity, compared to everything else around it, it's actually pretty tiny. Very, very small, in fact. You see while that island exists, while time exists, eternity doesn't cease to exist. Sometimes we think in a wrong way. Eternity passed, and then somehow eternity stops, and then time is, and then eternity future. We think it in linear, in a linear picture, as if during this time span there's no eternity. There was just eternity past, eternity future. That's not it at all, dear congregation. Eternity, for God, is present right now. And He dwells in the eternal present. We just live on this little island of time. And so you see, Christ, to say it in lack of better terms or our limited understanding, He's praying for everything. His grace and His wisdom can pray for everything that happens on that island. In terms of time, we just live on a one little sliver of time. We take a one little sliver, just a little air breath, the Bible says, that is our time. In that little time down there. But Jesus can just pray for it all. Because he's eternal, he's so much greater and grander and bigger than us. He is eternal. Neither do I pray for these alone, but also for those which shall believe on me. And I say to you this evening hour, this ought to be not only something that causes us to stand in awe and wonder, but this truth ought to cause us great, great comfort. Because Jesus is telling us here in this prayer, He's expressing it to His Father, yes, we are privileged to read these very words that remind us that Jesus is praying not only for believers, you are a believer in the Lord Jesus Christ, he's praying for you now, but he's going to, he's also praying for those who in the future will become believers. Have a later time. And this ought to be a comfort because what we're often concerned about, isn't it? Also in terms of when we have children and grandchildren, I trust that, that's one thing, I think that's probably one of our greatest burdens as parents and grandparents. We say, well, we have this now, but what about the future? What about the future? And oftentimes it hurts when we think, especially in terms of morality and sinfulness, These things concern us. They burden us. But here we have the Lord Jesus Christ saying that I'm praying about things that will transpire in the future. Those will become believers in me. He prays not only for the church now, but also Should not make us be sluggish in prayer say well he's praying for the future for believers therefore He's taking care of that I don't have to I say to us that this ought to encourage us greatly, because this is one thing that we desire, don't we? That all of our children, all of our grandchildren, will be saved. And you see, if they may be believers sometime in the future, Jesus is already praying for them. That's profound. That's incredibly, incredibly profound. But you see, who does the comfort go to in such thoughts? It is only, you see, for believers, isn't it? The comfort that is associated with that is not for those who are not believers yet. There is no comfort. someone who is currently an unbeliever. And so, you see, for unbelievers, there's no comfort in this. And therefore, this very truth ought to not make us just presumptive but to turn to the Lord and to believe in Him and to rest in Him so that we may know the comfort. But when we are a believer, when we think of the very character of the Savior, praying for those also which shall believe on me through their word, this is a wonderful promise that Jesus says here that he is doing, he was doing at that time, and since he's the same yesterday and today and forever, he's still doing it right now, right now, as we speak. He hasn't changed what he's doing. He's still praying for those who will become believers. And so, we should be praying to Him as believers. Lord, do as thou hast said. Do as thou hast promised to do. Pray for them and save them. Save them. Save our children. Save our grandchildren. You see, this speaks to we read in the law. I think some of that very character of God, showing the Son of God, is shown here in this verse. Neither do I pray for these alone, these good believers at that time, but also for those which shall believe on me through their word. That's something that encouraged David greatly. David, in his dying, In his dying words, on his very deathbed, 2 Samuel 23 and verse 5, he expressed this and he says, although my house be not so with God, David realized that in his own household, in his own very own household, it wasn't a perfect picture. Yet, he says, he has made with me an everlasting covenant, ordered in all things and sure, realize that at that particular time, at that particular point in history, while he was ready to close his eyes in death, that they were not growing spiritually. There was not a lot of fresh believers in David's family at that time. But he still rested in the covenant character of God, that after he would close his eyes in death, that God's work would continue. And we find some of that shining through here. interceding, you see, for current believers, but also those which shall believe. They shall become believers. Why shall they become believers? Because they will be preserved and they will be kept, and God will change their hearts. Now, we don't know who they are, And this ought to be a tremendous, a tremendous comfort. That God's work is not done. Christ's work is not done. Also in terms of his intercessory work. Now he says about them, they shall believe on me through their word. Maybe we look at that phrase and we say, well is that a typo? Is that a scribal error? Shouldn't that say, they will believe on me through my word? Through Jesus' word, through God's word, through the Lord's word. Now it says that they will believe on me through their word. How are we to understand that little pronoun, their? Their word. They believe on me through their word? How can that be? Probably we can understand that phrase in these two ways. And that is that this, first of all, God's word becomes our word through relative ownership. We have the Bible. We have God's word. But when we pick up that Bible, and we have a copy of that Bible, we say, don't we, that's my Bible. That's my Bible. Well, technically, it's God's Word, but it's our copy of the Word. We have it, we own it. We're in relative ownership of the Word of God. And so in that sense, the disciples also in verse eight, they were given They were given the word. For I have given unto them the words which thou gavest me. Verse 8. And so in that sense, they believe, believers, current ones as well, but also future believers, believe on Jesus through their word. Now it's not a new word that they make up, it's God's word, but it's His word that becomes their word through relative ownership. more importantly is the application that spins from that truth. And that is this. You see, when we believe, when we believe on the Lord, when we believe on Christ, by the grace of God, we are doing that through our own confession, aren't we? We are doing that through our own confession, our word. But we make confession of faith in truth before God and before His church. We make confession of faith. We call it public confession of faith. Well, that's not our neighbor's confession. That's not our spouse's confession. That's not our children's confession. That's our word. That's their own confession And so in this sense we believe In Christ Through our work through Jesus through their work You see our parents don't believe for us Our grandparents don't believe for us God doesn't believe for us We believe, personally, with the confession of our malice. Doesn't Paul write that in Romans chapter 10? If you believe, if you confess with your mouth, and you believe with your heart, O the Lord Jesus Christ, you shall be saved. Well, it's something of the same thing that Jesus is saying here. They will believe on me, he said, on Jesus, through their word. You see, our confession of him is a personal thing. It's a personal thing. In other words, we can't slip into glory. We can't slip into the state of salvation. on the coattails of our wife, our husband, our godly uncle, our grandparent, a good godly friend, that must be our own confession. We stand personally before the judgment seat of Christ. And we all will one day. And therefore, you see, as parents, grandparents, we pray for these things personally, but we also encourage one another personally Personally you personally no matter what age you are You personally must make personal confession of faith in your heart before the Lord you must that's the exhortation Don't go on mass into Gloria is that a group of Even though it will be a multitude that no man can number, but it is a personal confession of our own word. They shall believe on me through their word. That's what Jesus is saying. And so as he continues, And the reason is because there is a common theme that binds all these three verses together. And that common theme is unitedness, is unity. Verse 21, that they, that is, believers, may be one as thou, Father, art in me, and I in thee. That they may be one in us, that the world The glory which thou gavest me, I have given to them, that they may be one, even as we are one. I in them, and thou in me, that they may be made perfect, or complete, that word being, in one, that the world may know that thou hast sent me, and have loved me as thou hast loved me. Christ here again is praying for unity. He prayed for that before and now he's praying for it again. He's praying for unity. He prayed for it in verse 11 and he prays for it here again in verses 21 through 23. The word one obviously is an operative, an operative term. It comes up again and again. Four times he repeats the phrase. That thing may be one. Now how are we to understand this word one? Well, obviously, we are not to understand the word one in terms of being first and foremost. Sometimes people say, well, I'm number one, or this team, or this thing, this business is number one. First and foremost, this is the best. That's not the way we understand this term one. Or, we are not to understand the term one in terms of all believers being photocopies exact photocopies and replicas of one another. You put a paper in a photocopier, and you hit the button, and you hit the button, and you hit the button, and you hit the button, and it's page one. You keep getting copies and copies and copies and copies of the same one page. Well, that's not what he's saying here. But there may be one in that sense. in terms of unity, that they may be united and one. Christ and his father, he said, are one. And Christ prays that his church, present and future, may also know that spiritual unity of being one. And a family. You have a father, a mother, a male, or a female. You have all different types of children, sometimes with all different personalities, with characters, with different faces, sometimes different hair colors. All these different characters around the table, and they're all individuals. But yet they're one family, aren't they? They're one family. And sometimes we pray, keep us all together. Keep us all together on the same page. in a far greater way. Jesus is praying that. That they may be all one. And not only the current ones, but also the future ones. That they may be all one together. 1 Corinthians 6 and verse 17 tells us that we are united to the Lord. And when we are united to Him, we are united with the same Spirit. And why is that? Well, because the Holy Spirit joins together the Father and the Son. And that same Holy Spirit, Paul says in the book of Corinthians, is in the heart of a believer. He says we're united by the Spirit of God, with the Triune Being of God. That's profound, isn't it? We may be united, yes, to the Son of God, union with the Son of God, that's profound, and then union with the Father through the Son of God, and then since the Holy Spirit and the Father are united with the Spirit, and Jesus says the Spirit is in believers, that the Holy Trinity is united together, and united together not only among themselves in their own unique way, but also in the bond of all believers. United together with the trine God Indeed these things are too wonderful for us to even begin to comprehend And therefore there are places in scripture that seek to sit down as it were to our left and illustrate these things Paul in 1 Corinthians chapter 12 he speaks in very very picturesque language and he speaks in terms of Of a body and he said Jesus is the head of the body And then he said there are arms of that body. There's a face in that body. There is a nose on that body There are hands on that body there are feet on that body And all the parts they all work together They don't say to each other. Well, I don't have need of you They don't need each other and they all work together That's the way it is spiritually we work together for the sake of the head the Lord Jesus Christ And so it's very safe to say That for Paul unity was very important for Christ unity was very important praying about it again and again in the prayer and Therefore unity you see For us, spiritual unity ought to be tremendously important for the believer as well today. That's the application of this truth. We have to pray for unity. We have to endeavor to keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace. We have to do that within our own household. You have to do that within our own church family. You have to do that within our denominational family. And we have to do that also in the broader church of the Lord Jesus Christ at large. And your congregation We have to work on this unity. And many times, when it really comes down to it, we talk about it probably a whole lot more than we do about it. And you see, in these particular times, we are not in line with the character of the Savior, who prayed for this unity, who longed for this unity, They may be one about father army and I indeed One in us the world they believe that was sent me They may be one as we are one. They may be made complete in one this was this was Burdened on the heart of the Savior the night before he laid down his life This was a tremendously Christians who are called to follow in the footsteps of the Lord Jesus Christ this ought to be tremendously important for us There are four thoughts First of all, unity is for the purpose of evangelism, which is 21 and 23, most say. They pray for the unity that the world may know, believe, and know that thou hast sent me. It is sad that far too many times that people don't Well, I'm not going to join that group of individuals because they're always bickering. They're always bickering. They always have divisions. They're always fragmented. And that turns people off. That turns them off from organized church and religion. And sometimes you become God. And that's wrong. One of the reasons why the church and believers are to be united with one another is for the purpose of evangelism. And finally, this is true. A child heard their Christian parents It said, if that is what it is to be saved, I'd rather go to hell. Now that is extreme, but that simply illustrates this truth. That unity is for the purpose of evangelism. You see, fragmentation and disunity destroys evangelism. praying for them that they may be one, so that the world may know and believe. Let us continue to pray that God will keep us united as we evangelize others. But secondly, unity is related to maturation, spiritual maturation. that they may be made perfect or mature in their unity. See, Christ is praying for our spiritual maturation which results in more unity. When we grow and grow and grow in grace we become more and more desires for unity. And sometimes we may see that illustrated as people get older and older and older and older in grace. Older in age, but also mature in grace. They become more inclusive and more desires for unity. And I've heard it said, and maybe you've heard it said as well, well, they're just getting old, they're getting mellow. They're tired, they're tired of all the bickering. Well, it can very well be, congregation, that this is a mark of spiritual maturation. As they get older, that they are made more perfect, more mature, of that unity. As they mature, they long and pray for more unity. And when that happens, you see, part of Jesus' prayer here is being fulfilled. And, let's remember too, we don't have to be physically old to be spiritually mature. Seek to be more spiritually mature, that we may more sincerely Secondly, then, unity is related to maturation, spiritual maturation. Thirdly, we are told in verse 22, there is a glory to this unity. It says in verse 22, and the glory which thou gavest me, I have given them, that they may be one. You see, God's glory is given believers in the Lord Jesus Christ and through the Lord Jesus Christ. And God's glory is a weighty, is a deep, is a beautiful, is a powerful, is a glorious golden thing. That's what the glory of God is. It's like a bar of gold. If we could picture it that way. It's rich and it's glorious and it's glowing and it's wonderful. And that glory is given also into the heart of a believer. To, as it were, weigh us down. To slow us down. So that we would pursue more unity. And the glory, Jesus says, which thou hast given me, he says to his father, I have given to them, that they may be one. Father's glory and the son's glory becomes the believers glory And they receive it in their heart faith And they have it as God's gift in them and they are given that glory so that they may pursue more unity with one another and It's a beautiful thing when you see that happen. And the glory of God in Jesus Christ is realized, experienced in the heart and life of a believer. And they feel something of the weight of that glory. And the wondrous beauty of that glory. And religion is not just a shallow thing. It's a glorious, glorious thing. And we can talk to believers, yes, in our own church, but we can talk to believers that attend another church. And we can be united to them in spirit. We can feel that spiritual unity and that bond. Why? Because they have been given the glory of God. We have been given the glory of God from your believer. And Christ's prayer here is being fulfilled. Glory which thou hast given me, I have given to them, that they may be one. The experience in the heart and mind of believers when we may experience these things. There's glory in this little thing. And there is glory for the purpose of the little thing. Just think in heaven. It will be all glorious. But it also will be all united. There will be absolutely no differences there anymore. And here on earth, those whom Christ is praying for, those who still remain here on earth, they are given tastes of that glory, which are four shadows of glory hereafter, that they may be united in one more and more. And then finally, verse 23, I in them, and thou in me, that they may be made perfect, and may mature in one, that the world may know that thou hast sent me, and hast loved them as thou hast loved me. This unity displays the love of Jesus Christ. It is a beautiful thing When people can look at a family, and look at a church family, and can say, behold how they love one another. That displays the love that God not only has on them, but also the love that they express back to Him. But you see the flip side of that is, When we don't show unity to one another, whether that's in the family, whether that's in the church family, or whether it's in the broader church of the Lord Jesus Christ family, when we don't show that love to one another, it holds true logically that we are obscuring, you see, the love of Jesus Christ. We are putting a cloud over the love And I say to you, that is not what Jesus wants. Jesus says, I'm praying that they would love one another. That the world may see the love of God. The love of God displayed through unity. This is very, very important, this unity. But then Christ concludes this prayer in verses 24 through 26. And he's not only now praying for future, but he's praying, if I may say it like this, he's praying for the future future. He's praying for the glory in heaven. He's praying, or rather, he's praying about the glory in heaven. Father, he says in verse 24, I will that they also whom thou hast given me may be with me where I am. Remember what he said before? Christ is as it were. He's still physically on earth while he's praying these words, but he's praying in a certain sense, like he was already at the Father's right hand in heaven. And so sure he was of the cross, of salvation, of rising from the grave, of being 50, 40 days on earth, and then being at the Father's right hand. And so sure he was of all that transpiring. And so he says here, I will, but they also shall be with me where I am. Was he saying where I am right now at this point in history? No, he's talking about where I am in glory. You see Jesus Christ came to seek and save the lost to put it in just a little different words And the ultimate plan for the grander plan of redemption was not only to save his people, but to save his people so that he can sanctify his people. But there's something more to it than that. That he could save his people so that he can sanctify his people and that so one day he will bring his people back with him up to glory. That they may be with Him where He is. And that they would be able to behold, to gaze upon His glory. The glory which the Father has given Him. For thou hast loved me for the foundation of the world. The glorious character of a loving Christ. Being eternally loved by the Father. Say it in just a little different words you see the reason why God put in motion the plan of redemption Was not just so we could have purpose-driven lives people of some great well-read book widely read book said or not just Pastor of the largest church in America says again and again that the ultimate purpose of God's glory is to be with Christ forever where he is in glory. That's where it all leads to. And this is the will of Christ. Father, I will. That's the only phrase he says in this entire prayer. I will. This is God's will. Christ's will for his church, that they may be with me where I am. Don't wonder why Scrooge, he coined that phrase, oh how I love God's shall and will, firm in the everlasting hills. It gave him tremendous comfort. It's absolutely certain that all Christ's children will be with him in glory. This is his will. That is his will, we may be certain of it. And you can almost hear, can't you, the longing of the Lord Jesus Christ as he prays about this. Father, I will that they also, which thou hast given me, may be with me where I am. It's like he's longing for the day. And he said that also in John 14, didn't he, when he said to his troubled disciples, don't be troubled, Don't you just make where I'm going there you may be also where I'm going maybe also It's in glory that's in heaven Sometimes we we think of heaven and we think of glory only in terms of How much we are going to enjoy it when we may be a believer in the Lord Jesus Christ what we think so much in in In selfish terms, sometimes. But the Bible also alludes to the very joy of a Savior. And here, you can hear the heartbeat, as it were, of a Savior. I will, that they may be with me where I am. Longs for the day. whatever wall comes to completion. And the children, they have children at home, and the children, they get their real mother then, and they're out for the night, in the door. There's something in a parent's heart that gives them the sense of we're all safe now at home. We're all safe. And I say to you reverentially speaking, in a far, far, far greater way, that is going to be the heart of Christ. That all his children are with him home in glory one day. Safe. In this world, they're going through tribulation. They're going through trial. They're going through difficulty. Satan's trying to trip them up. And they stumble far too often. But He wills. Father, I will that they also, which Thou has given me, all believers, past, present, that they may behold my glory. He wants them to gaze upon his glory. The glory that thou hast given me, that thou hast loved me, to form the foundation of the world. And that's the last thought that flows from that verse. You see, the ultimate reason why every believer will be in glory, gazing on the face of the Lord Jesus Christ, is because of the initiatory work, the initiating taste God's eternal love. That's only one reason why we may be And then he concludes, verse 25, O righteous father, the world has not known thee, but I have known thee, and these have known thou hast sent me. These, he's talking about these believers that he's been praying for, that they're the present and future believers. These have known thou hast sent me. And so, in his most tender way, he's making a contrast, isn't he, between the world that has not known him. And you can almost sense the sorrow in the voice of the Lord Jesus Christ, that there's some who he is not praying for, he makes it very clear in his prayer as well, but there are some in the world, that the ungodly in the world, they just don't know God. They don't know him in a saving way. The world has not known him as a righteous father. These are truths that the Father knew already. But Jesus is over-expressing this great, great divide between the unbeliever and the believer, the world. But I know me and these the believers see one of the marks of the true believer confess that God the father sent the son into the world And then there's believers. And that brings us again full circle to that, you see. There are about two classes of people in this entire world. There is the world. Even obedient, outward, Bible-reading people. And then there is believers. There's followers of we belong? Are we believers in the Lord Jesus Christ? Are we followers of the Lord Jesus Christ? Or are we of the world? You see, we are one of the other. And then Christ concludes in verse 46. And I have declared unto them. He concludes with a word about believers. I have declared unto them, believers, Thy name, and I will continuously declare it. I will continuously declare it. The word continuously isn't in there, but it is to be understood. That the love wherewithal has loved me may be in them, and I in them. You see, one of the reasons once again that we know Jesus Christ because He has chosen to declare and reveal Himself to us. That's what the psalmist said also in Psalm 98 in verse 2. The Lord has made known unto us His salvation. And for believers, wherever they may be in the world, Christ says, I will continue to do this. This is not just a one-time event. Yes, they are saved. They are saved. They are justified. That's a one-time act. But he continues. He will continue to reveal himself. He will continue to reveal himself through his word to his people. I have declared unto them my name. And I will. I will continuously, that is. That's the tense of the verb, the active verb here. I will continuously declare it. It will be an ongoing and ongoing thing. And I say to you again, how what a comfort this is to we who are still living. Because you see, when we finally must meet the Lord, and we have to breathe our last in this world, Jesus is saying here, He will continue to do this. He will continue to do this for us. He will just continue and continue because He doesn't change. You see, salvation of sinners doesn't depend on you and me. He simply, He uses us to pray for others. He uses us to bring the Word to others. But He, it doesn't depend on us. He just uses us in a little time frame. He will use somebody else or maybe your loved ones in the future. Because ultimately it's all His work. I've declared, I've revealed, I've declared my name in the Father's name, and He will continue to do it. That's His work. He does that as Redeemer, He does that as Savior. And then He says that the love, where that was love meaning in them and by them, You see the same love that the Father loved the Son with. That is the love that every believer may experience in their heart. That's why sometimes when we are reading the Word of God, when we are prayerfully reading the Word of God, when we are embracing the Word of God, we sometimes experience with God we're more Not a copy of that love, but the exact same love. Not the full measure of it, but part of that love. I give to them. I put that in their hearts. And I myself, he says, am in their hearts. You see, that is why we may know the love of God that passes all understanding, all sin. Psalm said it this way in psalm 139 such knowledge is too wonderful for me if I cannot attain to it. How can we grasp the love of God the Father, the love of God the Son, and the being of God the Son being in us? Being in our hearts. That's why the poet, he penned those words that we still sing today. Amazing love. How can it be that that my God should die for me? Our Savior. He prays. He prayed for sinners.