Chapter 17, Gospel of John, Chapter 17. You get to this particular passage, makes you feel unworthy to even preach it. It's a prayer. It's an intercessory prayer. He's interceding for the disciples, praying to the Father. And so it's a something that's wonderful, but I believe that, let me just read this, In Hebrews 7, 24, it says, But this man, because he continueth forever, hath an unchangeable priesthood. Wherefore, he is able also to save them to the uttermost that come to God by him, seeing he ever liveth and make intercession for them, you. You saved? He maketh intercession. He continues to make intercession. He ever liveth to pray for you. That's what it's saying, intercession for them that have come to him through God. And so it's a wonder of wonders that he prays not only for the disciples, but he's also praised continually for you and me. I don't know whether thoughts run through your mind as you read the Bible and different things. And I was, this is John's gospel. And I, you know, you'd think, well, John, did you listen to this prayer? How did you record this prayer? You couldn't remember all those words. You couldn't remember them exact as he said, he prayed. Well, John, how did you do that? And so it's certainly something that puzzles the mind of just how. I was wondering at the same time, the thought coming to my mind, who heard the father say to the Son and the Holy Ghost, who heard this to record this? Let us make man. That's what it says in Genesis. Let us make man. And so who heard that? How did that get in the Bible? They said Moses wrote the Pentateuch, first five books. And so Moses wasn't there. He wasn't there on Genesis whatsoever. He didn't get involved till Exodus. But the only answer I've got is this. We have also a more sure word of prophecy. Whereunto you do well that you take heed as unto a light that shineth in a dark place. Until the day dawn and the day star arise in your hearts. This is 2 Peter 1, verse 19. And the next verse says, knowing this first that we have no promise of scripture is of any private interpretation. For the prophecy came not of the old time by the will of men, but holy men of God spake as they were moved by the Holy Ghost." That's how he got it. That's how John got it. That's how John got it perfect, exactly as Jesus prayed. It's a prayer. As I say, intercessories, pleading. uh, with the father and half of these men and what has taken place and the confidence he has in him. And he thanks the father for helping him and keeping them. And I don't, I will see some wonders through this, not today, uh, of this prayer. It's a wonderful prayer. Uh, some call it a high priestly prayer, but he's concerned about him and he's praying for him. And they're hearing it. They are listening to this prayer. No doubt, it was right after the end of this prayer is where he moves into the garden, and that's where he's taken. Notice the words he says here. These words speak Jesus, lifted up his eyes. Ain't that a wonder? He lifted up his eyes to heaven. He looked up. There's another place, I believe it's in chapter 14 of John, that speaks about him. Picture Jesus looking up. He's looking up towards heaven as he prays this prayer. I don't know how to answer that. I don't know what would all be gesture or just thought. I don't know exactly why he looked up. But I guess maybe for the disciples, Try to get them involved to where they see that he's praying to the Father, he's looking up to the Father. I don't know, that's just a thought. And he said to the Father, he said, Father, the hour has come. This is setting the time period. ending his ministry, 33 1⁄2 years, it ends here. There's a lot of things that happen right here. He's done with the ministry that God gave him. If you looked at verse 4, he says, I have finished the work which thou gavest me to do. I'm done. It's a change, totally, you might say, from him deciding what he wanted to do to where he's now being taken prisoner in just a few moments after this. Well, they come in with, the Bible says, weapons and lanterns and taking prisoner. The whole thing changes his life. It's no longer him doing what he wants to do. Time has come for him to surrender himself. The Father and the Holy Ghost of God and the Lord Jesus and the counsel of God agreed that he'd do John 3, 16. God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten son. He'd obey his father. He'd volunteer to offer himself a sacrifice. There's a lot in here we can think about and talk about on this thing of him offering himself. It's a time It's a time almost that he, in a way, you could almost say he allowed the devil to begin to reign. You can't say that he desired the beating, the crown of thorns, the spittle on his face. You can't say he desired that or he ordered that. So it had to be the devil was kind of taking control. The hours come for him to be humiliated, mocked, scorned, forgotten. Even says in the verses before he's in chapter 16, He tells what they're gonna do, the disciples. They said they believed him, but he said, no. He said, is it really, do you really believe? Verse 31, do you really believe? And he knows when he hits that garden, he knows what's gonna happen. He knows that they're gonna run. In fact, I can't remember what was in Mark or was, which one it was. It was said that when they came and took him in the garden, that he said, let these go. He told those that were arresting him to let the disciples go. And of course, they run. They left him, says up here in verse 32, I said, they left him alone. They scattered every man to his own. leave me alone. I don't know, and I'm not going to go far this morning. I took too much time earlier. I don't know whether we realize just the forces of evil that come against your savior. They hated him. Can you picture You might picture, it might be easier for you to picture foreigners having no love for you, no care for you, could care less what happens to you. But the majority of the people that cried crucified were people of his own hometown, his own nationality, I can't say of the same faith, but they were supposed to be people that were looking for him. They were looking for the Messiah, and he's the Messiah. He told me he was the Messiah. He proved himself to be the Messiah. He fulfilled every prophecy for the Messiah, Matthias. He fulfilled every one of them. Still, they didn't believe in him, no matter what. They still don't believe him. People still don't believe him. Israel still doesn't believe in him. And he has helped them in wars. Israel isn't that grace. The land there is God's land and God's gonna have a throne there. Who do you think he's fighting against? Who's standing there? It's his property. His throne will be raised up there. He'll reign, he'll reign on his throne. It'll be in Israel for a thousand years. He'll reign. As the times come, He said, Father, the hour has come. It's here. And I need your help. I needed you to honor me so that I can honor you. He said, glorify thy son, that thy son also may glorify thee. I want you to do something in me, work in me. And when can that be? There's nothing left more of his life except the crucifixion from here on out. And so you'd have to search and just go through the scriptures and think about what God did to glorify his son right on through. the crucifixion. Why, even when the gang, you might say, or the military, whatever it was, I think it was just a shoddy group of men that was working for the high priest, when they came to capture the Lord Jesus, the Bible tells us, that when He spake, I believe it says, when He spake, they fell down backwards in John 18. And verse 5 says, "...they answered Him, Jesus of Nazareth. Jesus said unto them, I am He, and Judas also, which betrayed Him, stood with them." Boy, you talk about... Traitor filling the hole the whole Part of it. He's doing it as soon as he had said that this had said unto them I am he that went but they went backwards and fell to the ground That's the father honoring him That's the Father doing things to Him to show that He's there, to show that He knows what's going on, to prove to whoever. And you can follow this all the way through the crucifixion where He is. When He was put on the cross, I believe it's in Luke, and I'm not going to search these things that I must have wanted. I've got them here. He was... When they crucified him, first they put a gown on him, and then they took it off and put his own back on. And then, as they were crucifying him on the cross, they took that down, and that's the one they gambled over. So what they did, as they left the Lord Jesus Christ naked on the cross, Well, they gambled for his garment. It was a garment that was no seams. It was what he wore all the time. And so they gambled for that garment. God turned the lights out. It was darkened for three hours before he died. I mean, he brought in a darkness that just confused the people. But they knew, they realized, certainly, this had to be... Look at Luke 23. Luke 23. In verse 44. When Jesus had cried with a loud voice and said, Father, into thy hand I commend my spirit, and having said this, he gave up the ghost. And now when the centurion saw what was done, He glorified God saying, certainly this was a righteous man. All these things that are taking place, all these things that are taking place and God is working in there. He's honoring his son. He's recognizing his son. He's recognizing him as being a man that is a spiritual man also. He's a man of God. And so every one of them, here's a centurion, a soldier, knows nothing about the Bible. He knows nothing about God. And what does he say? Surely this man must be. He made it clear. He thought, sure. He said, it's gotta be, it's just got to be, it can't be anything but that. Let me go back to that again. Luke 23 and verse 44 and verse 47. When the centurion saw what was done, he glorified God saying, certainly this was a righteous man. That's honoring Jesus. Who's doing it? Who's causing it? Who's causing that man to have that effect upon him when Jesus is giving up the ghost? Nothing but the Father saying, I see you. He's watching over him. He brought the darkness in. He brought an awareness into him. I'm saying it was a time to magnify the Lord. It was a time to exalt him right on through the crucifixion. I said he, he was honored by the father. You see where, uh, when they, after he was crucified, while he was being crucified, that the earth opened up. People come out of the tombs, walking in Jerusalem. Who did that? Jesus didn't do that. Who is saying God's presence? Who is honoring the Lord Jesus? That's the Father. That's the Father honoring His Son with His presence, showing, I'm here, and I'm letting you know. I'm letting the world know. that you're my son. He says, honor me. He says, glorify thy son, that thy son also may glorify thee. That he might honor the father. He might give God the glory. And certainly he did. You know how he honored God and give God the glory? The Bible says when God raised him up from the dead in the resurrection, in the resurrection is the evidence of God raising up his son. It is the sign where, where Jesus overcome, uh, in the resurrection, Paul calls it, calls it on the book of Philippians. He said, I want to know the power of the resurrection. Certainly for a man to race from the dead such as it was with Christ It was a it was at the time where he defeated the devil and darkness and and death Death was defeated. The devil was defeated the devil's the one that held death over people's heads and he was defeated now You can say Oh death. Where's your sting? Oh great. Where's your victory? Jesus give the victory over it in a resurrection through the father the father raised him up You'll find that in the book of Romans, saying he was rewarded too. The father was rewarded by the son. He gave him something just to praise him, magnify his name. He raised him up out of a grave. And so he said, that thou has given him power over the flesh. that he should give eternal life to as many as thou hast given him. And I'm not gonna get in that this morning. I've gone, I wasted my time earlier. I don't know that I wasted it. It's a wonderful message. It's a wonderful passage of scripture of the father and the son. The son seeking the father's help. and seeking His grace and mercy, seeking for the disciples. And there's some beautiful statements in there. You start reading that, this prayer. It's a wonderful prayer. And you just see him almost pleading the side of the disciples, what happens to them. And he says, I've kept them this far. He tells the father, he asked him to watch over him, and certainly he did. Let's stand, amen. I don't know what tonight holds, the weather. I would like to see us have a regular time for specials and especially testimonies. I'd love to see that. I'd love to see people testify of the knowledge that the Holy Spirit of God has bore witness to their spirit, that they're a child of God. Everything else doesn't matter. They really don't. If the Holy Spirit of God hasn't spoke to you, no matter how much you know and quote this Bible. I remember it was, I don't remember, I don't think, it wasn't Khrushchev. It was one of them before Khrushchev that was the head of the Soviet Union and had memorized much of the Bible. I couldn't believe it. When I read that years ago, I said, Why would he do that when he's so against it and didn't believe it? And here we believe it and don't memorize it. This study, I believe, will help us all, help us to know how to pray and sense the prayer of the Lord Jesus and His concern for us now. as I showed you at the beginning of the message, that he's praying for us continually. Did you ever say thanks? Did you ever tell the Lord, thanks for praying for me, thanks for correcting me, thanks for stopping me from making bad mistakes, thanks for helping me to overcome problems issues in my life, thank you. I bless your holy name. There's never a time that we need to develop not only a closer walk, but a cleaner walk. Every man that hath this hope in him purifies himself, a cleaner walk. But also a walk that's, he brings it out in the Books of Thessalonians, real good. And that's where that statement comes, watching and waiting, looking above. That's what we need to have, an upward look, expectation, and a state of readiness. Therefore be also ready in such an hour as you think not, the Son of man cometh. And so the Christian has that in his life. Every waking hour, Jesus may come. I pray that would, I pray it would help us. to move to that closer walk with him, to a readiness. Like I said, I'd like to see us in testimony tonight, if we can, where you can stand boldly, not bragging, but boldly, sound, clear, that you know, you know, that you know, that you know, that you belong to him. Father, in Jesus' name, as we go our ways, I pray, Lord, that the Word of God, can we somehow take a little bit of that which you endured for us and roll it in our mind and may it May it speak to us as that song, if that isn't love. Certainly it helps us to understand how much you really care about the souls of a mankind. For you to bear that cross for us, I thank you for it. I pray help us in the service tonight. I pray make a way for it to be a service that would be rewarding, helpful, a service that you'd lead, a service that Lord would please you. I ask these things in Jesus' name. Amen, amen. You are dismissed.