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Well, I wish to greet each one
of you in the worthy name of the Lord Jesus and the. Want to welcome our visitors
today and hope that you are. Blessed to be here with us as
we remember the Lord and indeed I. I was blessed to be here this
morning as we remembered the Lord and. cast our mind to Calvary,
as the song says. Well, I want to go back to the
Gospel of John, and we want to finish what I consider maybe
to be one of the most unique parts of Scripture. It's a very, very unique portion
in John 17, and I'm not sure that there's anything like it
anywhere in this prayer, what is sometimes called the high
priestly prayer of the Lord Jesus. And if we remember that this
prayer was offered, I believe here in the presence
of his disciples, the 11, Judas having already departed, but
this prayer was offered just hours before his crucifixion. And if you think about, if you
just contemplate the thought of this prayer, is that we have
the Trinity, we have two members of the Trinity communicating,
we could even say all three, because the Spirit was given
to him without measure, it says, and so you have, This would almost
seem to me like a communication, this prayer, like a communication
of the Trinity. And so it is the gospel according
to God's perspective. If you just see what the Lord
is praying for here. And you consider the amazing,
nowhere else do we have this type of literature that I know
of. Because, for instance, the prayer
recorded in Matthew chapter six is pray in this manner. It wasn't so much a prayer as
it was a pattern to pray, where this is literally the prayer
of the Lord Jesus Christ. And when you notice and look
at the content of this prayer, and then you stand back and you
marvel at the blessings that are ours by simply what Jesus
prayed for. And it is just a beautiful, it
should be, and it is, I think, some of the most comforting Scriptures
in all of the Bible. And of course, it is in the context
of Christ teaching the disciples in preparation for His departure.
And as He speaks to the disciples there from chapter 13, 14, 15,
and 16, and then we come to this prayer. And it is indeed, it
is a preparatory, if we might say, word to the disciples And
then He beseeches His Heavenly Father in this prayer. So I want
to read, we've looked at this prayer twice now, and we've moved
through the end of verse 19, I believe. Let's read from verse
20, John 17, verse 20 through 26, if you would follow along
here. as we read this portion of God's
Word. John 17, 20. I do not pray for these alone,
but also for those who will believe in me through their word, that
they all may be one as you, Father, are in me and I in you, that
they also may be one in us, that the world may believe that you
sent me and the glory which you gave me I have given them, that
they may be one just as we are one, I in them and you in me,
that they may be made perfect in one, and that the world may
know that you have sent me, and have loved them as you have loved
me. Father, I desire that they also
whom you gave me may be with me where I am, that they may
behold my glory which you have given me, For you loved me before
the foundation of the world. O righteous Father, the world
has not known you, but I have known you, and these have known
that you sent me. And I have declared to them your
name, and will declare it, that the love with which you love
me may be in them, and I in them." Full extent here of this passage,
but this prayer I have simply titled, The Lord's
Prayer Concluded. We titled the first one, The
Lord's Prayer, The Lord's Concluded. But I want to think a little
bit about this here, this idea of the Lord praying for us. It
says here, I do not pray for these alone, but also for those
who will believe in me through their word. You know, this prayer
that the Lord prayed is an example of His current ministry. I don't
know if you've ever considered that, but this is an example
of His current ministry in heaven. And I would like to take you
to Romans 8 and show you a passage in Romans 8 that has to do with
this idea of intercession. of where the Lord is literally
engaging the Father on behalf of us, those who believe in Christ,
those who believe in the Son of God. This intercession is,
He is beseeching the Father or He is coming to the Father on
our behalf. Currently, this is the current
ministry of the Lord in heaven. Now notice Romans 8, 31 through
35. What then shall we say to these
things? Let's stop just right there.
What is he referring back to? What then shall we say to these
things? So he's referring back to verse
30. Moreover whom he predestined, these he also called. whom he
called, these he also justified, and whom he justified, these
he also glorified." You see, that last sentence, that last
phrase, these he also glorified, is a future work. But it's listed
here as if it's already done. You see, and now when Paul, the
great apostle, concludes that, well, what shall we say to these
things if God is for us in this manner? where He predestined
us, He called us to, in time He called us, and in that calling He justified
us, and now the future work is to glorify us. What then shall we say to these
things? If God is for us in this manner,
we could say, if God is for us, who can be against us? He who
did not spare his own son, but delivered him up for us all,
how shall he not with him also freely give us all things? Who
shall bring a charge against God's elect? That's a good question. Who is able to bring a charge
against God's elect? It is God who does the work. It is God who justifies. Who is he who condemns? Is somebody
condemning us? Paul's argument is how can there
be grounds for condemnation if you are in this position of verse
30? There is no grounds for condemnation. And so He says, who is He who
condemns? And I want you to notice this.
Four aspects of the Lord's ministry are found in verse 34. Who is
He who condemns? It is Christ who died, number
one. And furthermore, is also risen. That's the second one. Who is
even at the right hand of God. That's His exaltation. who also
makes intercession for us. You see, the Lord, the one who died for us
and who rose again. who is in the accepted place
of authority and judgment. All authority has been given
to him in heaven and on earth. He is seated at the right hand
of the majesty on high and now this one who is seated in this
place of intimacy is interceding for you and I. Now that's an amazing thought. That our Lord currently, this
is the current ministry of Jesus Christ. this high priestly ministry
of bringing us to God, who also makes intercession for us. If
you go back to verse 27, we see that the Holy Spirit is likewise
making intercession for us. According to, it says, He makes
intercession for the saints according to the will of God. And so, verse
34 reminds me of John 1 verse 18. You remember what that says. It says there, that no man has
seen the Father, but he who dwells in the bosom of the Father, he
has declared Him. Jesus Christ came and declared
God to us, right? He revealed God in special revelation
to us, but now Verse 34 is kind of like turned around. Think
about it. His incarnation was a declaration
of God to man. His intercession is an appeal
for man to God. You see, the same one who came,
who was in the bosom of the Father, came and declared God to us that
we might know God. Then he turned around after winning
the victory and redeeming and reconciling us back to God. Then
he is exalted back to the right hand of God. And there he now
appeals for man to God. Just a beautiful picture of the
bosom of the Father, on the one hand, he came from the bosom
of the Father, and then he goes back to the right hand of God. And there, from that place, he
is making this intercession for us. He is praying, as it were,
for us there. And so this prayer is an example
of this current ministry of Christ, our Lord, speaking for us. He is now exalted. This Christ,
who mediated the conflict between God and man, between God and
the sinner, by His death and resurrection, is now exalted,
and from that place of exaltation is speaking for us. You also
have it, this same idea of intercession, as we see in John 17, this intercessory
high priestly prayer. I want to show you Hebrews 7. Hebrews 7, as we think about
that this is the ongoing work of our Savior, Hebrews 7 in verses
23 through 25. Now this is making the argument
that we have a better system. we have a better program in place
than what the Old Testament or the Jewish people had. And the
priesthood that is represented by Aaron and the Levitical priesthood,
but in verse 23 it says, also there were many priests. Very
practical, there were many high priests because of the fact that
people die. Isn't that just an interesting
concept, isn't it? The high priest died. Why? Because they were man. Also,
there were many priests, verse 23 of Hebrews 7, because they
were prevented by death from continuing. But He, because He continues
forever, you see, has an unchangeable priesthood. We have an eternal,
unchangeable priesthood, Jesus Christ, yesterday, today, and
forever. He's unchangeable. He's immutable. He has this unchangeable priesthood. Verse 25, "...therefore He is
also able to save, to the uttermost, those who come to God through
Him." So He is able to save completely or to its fullest comprehension,
to the uttermost, to its furthest extent, our salvation is complete
in Christ because He is always living to make, what does it
say? Since He always lives to make
intercession for them. This is a comfort to our hearts
that the One who died for me." The One who loved us so much
to give His life for us, to give His life for us to reconcile.
He is the mediator between God and man, and He's the ransom
that He Himself paid, that One. is even now demonstrating His
love for you in that He is interceding with His Father on your behalf. That is His current work. He
always lives to intercede for us, to make intercession for
us. We also have it in 1 John 2, 1 and 2. A very interesting little passage
in 1 John 2, Verse 1 and 2, "...My little
children, these things I write to you, so that you may not sin."
And if anyone sins, we have an advocate with the Father Jesus
Christ, the Righteous, and He Himself is the propitiation or
the satisfaction for our sins, and not for ours only, but also
for the whole world. So we notice here that My little
children, these things I write to you so that we may not sin,
so that we would move from this place of sin. But, the reality
is, and just think about it, the fact of this intercession. Okay, there's a current ministry
of intercession. The fact of that intercession
indicates, it shows to us that we are in a place of need. Wouldn't
you agree? If somebody is pleading on your
behalf, that indicates that you're in a place of need. You need
something. And so, this intercessor is asking
for you. That the wealth of God's grace
would be extended to us. And so, the need here is the
remaining sin in our lives. Now, it's not always sin that
is causing this intercession to be made. Maybe we need strength. Maybe we need hope. Maybe we
need courage. Whatever that it is that you
need, when we come to Christ, He intercedes for us. And He
reaches out to, and He Himself, you know, I don't fully understand
this intercessory work, but because in Christ, all of the wealth
is there. He is complete. But it does teach
us that He intercedes the Father for us. And here, is in John 1 and John 2, 1 and
2, is the issue of sin. What I am teaching you, John
says, my little children, these things I write to you so that
you sin not. Do not make any excuse for sin. The goal is to
be free from sin. But if anyone, and if anyone
sins, He says we have an advocate. This word advocate is the same
word that is used for comforter in John 14-16 where it teaches and is used
of the ministry of the Holy Spirit. So not only do we have an indwelling
advocate, an indwelling comforter, but we have one who is seated
at the right hand of God, who is our comforter, who is our
advocate, who is the one who is consoling us, it says. That's
the idea of consoling or comforting. But this advocate here that we
see is as if he were a defense attorney. We have the prosecution
that's saying, hey, here's someone who's sinned. And the law says
you sinned. Well, then Christ comes along
and He says, I am advocating for this man, for this woman. Put that to my account. I have taken care of that. because
notice what he says, that he himself is the propitiation for
our sins. He is the one who made the satisfaction
for our sins, not for ours only, but also for the whole world. And so we see this concept of
what was happening in John 17, as he was praying for us, He
is still doing that today. He is currently in the ministry
of interceding for you, for me. John 17. Notice that this prayer here
in John 17, verse 20, he says, I do not pray for these alone,
but for those who will believe, who will believe in me. All the
benefits of this prayer, friends, all of them are accessed by faith. They are not, if you're not believing,
then you will not find yourself in this prayer. It is through
faith in, it is you believing in Him that this prayer is prayed
for you. If you believe in Jesus Christ,
If you believe, then this prayer is for you. All of the benefits
named here are for you. All of them. This is how benefit
is obtained from this prayer. Notice that specifically those
who will believe in me through the apostolic word. those who
will believe in me through their word." I think these people that
he's referring to, these alone are the 11 disciples. He says that they who believe
in me through their word. This includes every believer
not present. Think about it. Every believer
not present here when Christ was praying, He said, I do not
pray for these alone. Whoever those are, it may have
been, it probably was the 11. But it includes, this prayer
includes every believer not present. That includes us. Down through
the centuries, it includes all those who, from all backgrounds,
from all walks of life, from all tribes and tongues, from
every age since this prayer was prayed, it includes us. If you are believing in Christ
Jesus, then you've been prayed for. You have been prayed for
by none other than the Son of God Himself. I do not pray for
these alone, but every believer not present, all the way through
the intervening centuries. You see, this unity, even before
we get to the concept of unity, we already see the unity, don't
we? We already see what He is, that there's a unity that for
all those, all of those, not a few of those, not certain ones
of them, but all of them. And it struck me as we were,
as Brother David was leading out this morning, and he made
some comments about open communion. And I was just like, This is
a direct connection to why we practice open communion. This very truth, that He prayed
for all of those that who believe in Him. Not some from this background,
some from this background, or because you comb your hair different,
or wear a different shirt, or whatever. No, that's all garbage. It's truly garbage. It is actually a distraction
from the gospel of Jesus Christ. And actually, in Galatians it
says that those who preach a different gospel, let them be accursed.
We are called to hold forth this standard. And this is the gospel
according to God. Here in John 17, all of those We are to receive the engrafted
Word which is able to save our soul. You know the apostolic
message here? This who will believe in me through
their Word. This apostolic message is authoritative
and effectual. And it has a singular message. It has a oneness about it. These alone are the ones who
will be speaking, but it is those who believe who are hearing their
word. Now let me ask you this question,
to what purpose or to what end, for what reason did Christ pray
this prayer here in our text? To what end? That they all may
be one. that there might be a unity,
a unity in the body of Christ, that they all may be one. You
know, this is a thrilling concept because
too many times the church is fussing about peripheral things
and it detracts from this oneness Whereas we should be focusing
on the oneness and then the peripheral things become quite meaningless,
don't they? But it is the point being here
is that Jesus is praying this prayer that He is asking these
things so that they all may be one as you Father are in me and
I in you, that they also may be one in us. that the world
may believe that you sent me. All who experienced his earthly
ministry, along with all who hear and believe their word,
they are to be united in us. Who is the us? Well, it is obviously
a reference to the Trinity. Jesus says in praying, He mentions
the Father, But he uses this plural term and he calls it,
he calls that there'll be one in us. That if you go back to
John 11, we had this interesting account
where the Sanhedrin come together, the chief priests and Pharisees
gather a council and they were trying to deal with this Jesus.
And one of them, Cephas, being high priest that year, said to
them, You know nothing at all, nor do you consider that it is
expedient for us that one man should die for the people, and
not that the whole nation should perish. Now this he did not say
on his own authority. But being high priest that year,
he prophesied that Jesus would die for the nation. Isn't it
wonderful that the Lord can draw a straight line with a crooked
stick? Indeed he can. He used none other than this
crooked high priest. But just a few weeks later would
endeavor to condemn the Christ. But God prophesied through him
and said that it is better for one man to die than the whole
nation perish. Which was exactly what happened. The Lord died for the nation,
and not for that nation only in verse 52, but also that He
would gather together in one the children of God who are scattered
abroad. This was the work of the Lord
Jesus, that He would gather together, have this in-gathering of God's
children who were scattered universally. And we, or those who would subvert
the gospel by bringing in legislative standards or whatever it is,
we divide one another. We do not endeavor to embrace
this oneness of the body of Christ. But this was the very work of
Christ that He would gather together in one, the children of God who
were scattered abroad. And I wasn't even going to mention
John 10, where other sheep I have who are not of this fold. But
brother you did it for me. Other sheep I have who were not
of the Jewish fold, but they were of the Gentile fold who
would be brought in. And so, in John 17, Jesus is
praying for the church as it is in the New Covenant. Remember
the labor of the apostles in uniting Jew and Gentile. What
a time of... They had to work at this. They
had to come together. The whole Jerusalem Council in
Acts 15 is about this. that the Jew is not superior
to the Gentile, that the Gentile is not inferior to the Jew, but
by faith there's a unity in the body of Christ, in this new covenant,
this new society that we call the Church of Jesus Christ. And
by the way, If you are a part of the Church of Jesus Christ
by faith today, you are a part of the most significant society
in all of history. That it is for us to be named
among the saints of God, to be a part of the body of Christ,
is to be part of the most significant organization, organism, if you
would, in all of human history. all of human history. So this
oneness that the Lord is praying for, I want to emphasize this
point. Your faith is personal, but the expression of it is corporate. Do you get a hold of that? Your
faith is personal, but as we live it out and we express it,
we do it in a corporate environment. Because otherwise, a lot of these
things, these concepts of loving one another, and of being, of
one anothering each other, is pointless. Yes, you are a part
personally, but you express that personal connection to Jesus
Christ in a corporate environment, in a corporate setting, where
we come together, and we submit ourselves one to another, and
we love one another, and we minister to one another, and we give one
another grace. We give one another the truth. I want to point this out in Galatians
3. Galatians 3 and verse 26. through 29. After teaching all of these things
about the faith and how the law relates to faith and how the
Mosaic, the Old Covenant, the Old Testament,
how that relates. He says here in verse 26, For
you are all sons of God, through faith in Christ Jesus. For as
many of you as were baptized into Christ have put on Christ.
There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free,
there is neither male nor female, for you are all one in Christ
Jesus. And if you are Christ, then you
are Abraham's seed, and the promises that were made to the seed of
Abraham are yours. And if you are Christ, then you
are Abraham's seed and heirs according to the promise." There is neither Jew nor Greek
in this new economy, in this new society. There's neither
male nor female. We are all one in Christ Jesus. This was the prayer of John 17,
that we would be one, that Jew and Gentile would be united,
and that we would have this oneness about us. And this unity of the
church is found in its one head. All of this oneness is meant
for us to, and we are, we are united Those who are in Christ
have universally, we preach the same message, we have the same
goals, we have the same desires, we have the same nature, we have
the same inheritance, right? We're joint heirs with Christ.
There's this unity that if you find someone in Christ, On the
street, it doesn't matter where he is from, if you find him,
there's that oneness of spirit that you experience with him
or her. This oneness, the unity of the
church is found in its one head. It's found in its emphasis of
Christ. It is found in its emphasis of
apostolic doctrine. It is found in the proper observance
of the ordinances as we heard this morning that it is a remembrance
for 2,000 years the church has been remembering what we observed
this morning. Praise God for that. So in Ephesians 1 And I just want to point out
these various, it's all over the New Testament, this concept
of the unity of the body of Christ. But in Ephesians 1, he says it
this way, and I'll just have to break in here for the sake
of time. In verse 19, Ephesians 1.19,
in this prayer that Paul is offering for the benefit of the Ephesians,
he says in verse 19, And what is the exceeding greatness of
his power toward us who believe, according to the working of his
mighty power, which he worked in Christ when he raised him
from the dead, and seated him at his right hand in the heavenly
places? far above all principality, and
power, and might, and dominion, and every name that is named,
not only in this age, but also in that which is to come. And
He put all things under His feet, and gave Him to be head over
all things to the church." You see, He gave Christ to the church
as the church's head. The church is His body. Which
is His body? The fullness of Him who fills
all in all. In other words, the church is
now universally, the church is the fullness of Christ. The church
is His body, the fullness of Him who fills all in all. That now it is through the body
of Jesus Christ, which we call the church, that Christ is displayed. Christ is glorified and exalted
and demonstrated. The church is the fullness of
Christ in His absence. Then in chapter 2 and verse 16, Again, we break in here as he
is talking about the uncircumcision versus the circumcision, which
is the Gentile versus the Jew, that he might, verse 16, that he might reconcile
them both to God. That is, these two characterizations
of all of humanity. On the one hand, you have those
who are the people of God, called by God, chosen by God as they came out of Egypt. When
He called Abraham, the followers of Abraham, the lineage of Abraham,
those who had the oracles of God. They were religious. They
knew these things about God. They were the circumcised. And
then it was those who were uncircumcised. They were all of the Gentiles.
It doesn't matter whether you were a Hindu or whatever. All of the others. Now he says
that he might reconcile those two groups both to God in one
body through the cross, having put to death the enmity. Indeed. Because we can't work
for it, but God had to do it for us. That puts us all on this level playing
field. And we are all brought in, reconciled through the work
of His cross. you are no longer strangers.
You're no longer foreigners, but fellow citizens with the
saints and members of the household of God. Another way of calling
it, the church, is the household of God. Having been built on
the foundation of the apostles and prophets, which we see there
in John 17 and verse 20, built on the foundation of the apostles
and prophets, Jesus Christ himself being the chief cornerstone in
whom the whole building, or again, the church, being fitted together
grows into a holy temple in the Lord, in whom you also are being
built together for a dwelling place of God in the Spirit."
So we have this beautiful picture of being built together by none
other than the Lord Jesus. And this is what He prayed for
in John 17. I read this passage in Galatians
3.27, for as many as you were baptized into Christ have put
on Christ. Well that is not water baptism.
That's not what that's referring to. It is when you are immersed
or baptized into Christ by the work of the Holy Spirit. So,
all who are a part of this body are united by birth. We share a common birth. As we think about the oneness
that we enjoy, one of the ways that we have a oneness is how
we got here, right? It is by being baptized into
Christ. Well, how does that happen? It
happens through none other than the ministry of the Holy Spirit. Notice what he says in 1 Corinthians
12 and verse 12, for the body is one and has many members,
but all the members of that one body being many are one body,
so also is Christ. Just as I have two arms and four
fingers on each hand and a thumb, Those are many members, right? But it's all part of one body.
So also is Christ. He has His many different members
who are joined here together. Notice verse 13, "...for by one
Spirit we were all baptized into one body." whether Jew or Greek,
whether slave or free, have all been made to drink into one Spirit."
Where does this leave you or me to claim any exclusive rights
to Christ? It doesn't at all. It is that through the work of
the Holy Spirit that we are joined to the body. And everyone who
is joined in this manner, we have an obligation to receive
them. The ministry of the Holy Spirit
makes us one, as Jesus prayed, united in us. They may be one
in us. This oneness, now, what is it
typified or what is it used, what is the argument of the standard
of this oneness? Notice it is none other than
the oneness of Father and Son. What an amazing What an amazing
concept that it says here that they may all be one as you, Father,
are in me and I in you. That it is that level of oneness
that is called for here. Is there any division between
Father and Son? None. None whatsoever. Jesus over and
over argued for His equality with the Father. Again and again
He did. He is equal in power and essence. They have one mission and one agenda. They share in this glory. Indeed, when it comes to us in
2 Peter 1, it states that we are partakers of the divine nature. And so, this oneness that is
prayed for, that they may also be one in us. And so we see, according to verse
21, that this oneness of the church is a witness to the world.
Notice what he's saying here, that the world may believe that
you sent me. That the world may believe. He
prays for us that we might be this way, this united, that the
world may see indeed all of their differences they bring in, all
of their different backgrounds and perspectives, they are all
glorifying the same Lord, the same Head. We have one goal,
that is the glory of Jesus Christ. So this is a witness to the world.
What does he say in John 13? By this shall all men know that
ye are my disciples, if ye have love one for another." It is a witness to the world
of the head of the church, so that the world may believe. So
that the world may believe. So, I'm not going to be able
to finish this portion of scripture. Let's look at verse 22. and the glory which you gave
me I have given them, that they may be one just as we are." Just
as we are one. Wow. The glory that the Father
has given to the Son, the Son has turned around and given it
to us. How do we understand that? The oneness of verse 21 is illustrated
by this sharing in His glory. There is a uniqueness and glory
about the church. that comes from none other than
from Christ Himself because He gave it to us. Some commentators
believe this to be the eternal state. Notice, "...and the glory
which you gave me I have given them, that they may be one just
as we are one, that we will share in the glory of Christ." That's true, but that is addressed
in verse 24. Father, I desire that they also
whom you gave me may be with me, may be where I am, that they
may behold my glory. That is the eternal state in
verse 24. I do believe that verse 22 is present tense. That there
is a glory given to the body of Christ that they share in
the glory of Christ. The glory which you gave me I
have given them. So, this I believe, verse 22, is current. Verse 24,
I believe, is that future state, when we are with Him, where He
is. Which is, by the way, a desire
of Christ. He says, I desire, or as the
old King James says, I will. Like, He's praying to Sovereign
God, but He is Sovereign God Himself. So, He can pray, I will,
that they may be also where I am, you see. So, what is this glory which
you gave me, I have given them? Well, I had to think of John
1.14. John 1.14 where it says, The Word became flesh and dwelt
among us, and we beheld His glory, the glory as the only begotten
of the Father, full of grace and truth. If you would have
seen Christ, He had a glory about Him that
had to do with the fact that He was full of grace and full
of truth. If you think about this, isn't that a beautiful thing? Full of grace, full of truth. That was the Lord Jesus Christ.
That was a glory about Him. That was His glory. The glory
of Christ was His fullness of grace and His fullness of truth.
So it wasn't that His grace was licentious. No, His grace was
what enabled us to follow the truth. And the truth was Him
maintaining the justice that needed to be maintained. He was
full of grace when you did not align with the truth right but when you wanted to claim
grace to live according to an untruth he said no we have truth
over here you must align yourself with the truth but sadly we sometimes
see somebody condemning those, we have this condemnation brought
against us because someone is not walking in truth. And it
needs to be corrected. I'm not saying that, but there's
grace for that. God gives grace. And I am saying
that He is, this glory was as the only begotten of the Father
full of grace and truth. And we now, as we think about
the church, in sharing this glory, this current glory that we have. I want to point to you to Ephesians
3 in verse 10. It says this way. I should read verse 9. It makes more sense if I back
up to verse 8. Let me read verse 8 through 10. To me, who am less
than the least of all the saints, this grace was given, that I
should preach among the Gentiles the unsearchable richness of
Christ, and to make all see what is the fellowship of the mystery,
which from the beginning of the ages has been hidden in God,
who created all things through Jesus Christ. Verse 10, "...to
the intent that now the manifold wisdom of God might be made known
by the church, to the principalities and powers in the heavenly places,
according to the eternal purpose which ye accomplished in Christ
Jesus our Lord." Why do I read this? Because with the ascension
of the Lord Jesus Christ, the church is the fullness of Christ
on earth. We here are called to demonstrate
the glory of Christ because we share in His glory. Jesus prayed
here, I have given them of the glory that you gave me, Father.
Now He's saying that the manifold wisdom of God might be demonstrated
by the church. It might be revealed by the church. What was the work of Christ when
He was here? Was it not that He was revealing the manifold
wisdom of God? Indeed it was. He declared Him. He who was in the bosom of the
Father, He declared Him. Now to the intent that the manifold
wisdom of God might be made known by the church to the principalities
and powers in the heavenly places. See, it's not even talking necessarily
here about the witness to the world. The church is astounding. The heavenly principalities.
The spiritual realities that are in the heavenly places. Isn't
that amazing? It is indeed. 14 and 15. Ephesians 3, "...for this reason
I bow my knees to the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, from
whom the whole family in heaven and on earth is named, that He
would grant you according to the riches of His glory to be
strengthened with might through His Spirit in the inner man."
And then in verse 21, "...to Him be glory in the church by
Christ Jesus to all generations, forever and ever. Amen. So, how do you want your children
and your grandchildren to live? Well, embrace the gospel in all
its fullness. Embrace the gospel and call your children to come along
and glorify Jesus Christ in the church. Notice here that to Him
be glory in the church. Again, we think a lot of the
idea of this individualistic approach to bringing glory to
God, but here he's saying that to Him be glory in the church
by Christ Jesus to all generations forever and ever. Amen. So let's,
as we consider this prayer, and I'll have to come back and finish this work, but I want to just
remind you of what the emphasis was here, and how He prayed for
us, and how He called for our unity, and He prayed for our
unity, and how He gave us the glory that we needed to do this
work. that they may be one just as
we are one. And I want to comment on this
yet. I in them and you in me. It doesn't necessarily say they in you. Have you ever noticed
that? It is simply making the point
that our only union with God is through Jesus Christ. We are
in Him, He is in God. You see that? I in them and you
in me. And it's again a picture of the
mediation, of that work of reconciliation. that Christ has done for us,
I in them, and you in me." Well, we'll come back to finish this
prayer. Maybe my title is not accurate.
I thought we were doing a conclusion. But there are other things here
that I want to focus on. For instance, this prayer of
the Lord, that they may be where I am. Think about that. This is a prayer. This is what
Jesus is praying for our future state, that they may be where
I am. And that in being there, they
would behold my glory. Think about it. Glory, what is
going to be glorious about heaven? None other than the glory of
Jesus Christ. And so it stands to reason that
we should make that our priority here. Because if He doesn't get
you going here, then you won't be there. And so I'm just so blessed by
this prayer. May the principles of this prayer
be applied to our lives. I thank you for your kind attention,
and may the Lord be blessed.
The Lords Prayer Continued 2
Series John's Gospel of Jesus Christ
| Sermon ID | 323251712504709 |
| Duration | 55:35 |
| Date | |
| Category | Sunday Service |
| Bible Text | John 17:20-22 |
| Language | English |
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