Today, we will consider John 17, verse 9. John 17, verse 9. I pray for them. I pray not for the world, but for them which thou hast given me, for they are thine. Here we have a very comforting verse. It may be that you have very little money, financial difficulties, perhaps no job. You can't get a job. Maybe you've got trouble at your work. Perhaps you're bothered with illness. Maybe you've lost a loved one recently. It could be that you're lonely and afraid. But here's great comfort. Jesus says, I pray for them. It's wonderful to know that Christ is praying for us. The Lord Jesus Christ came into this world with a purpose. He came to seek and to save you and me. The Son of God was born. He lived in this world. He suffered and he died to save us. but he didn't remain dead. He rose the third day and he entered into heaven. His work is not complete. It's ongoing. From then on, he was in heaven interceding for us. Here he says, I pray for them. What a wonderful truth that is. I'd like us to consider it together. today. First, Jesus prays. You and I must pray. Why? Surely if God has planned everything that happens and everything that takes place in this world is according to his purpose, then what's the point of praying? Nothing happens by chance. Prayer cannot change the purpose of God. But yet we're commanded to pray. We're told, be instant in prayer. We're told, pray without ceasing. Jesus said, ask and you shall receive. You have not because you ask not. Prayer is God's way for working out his purposes. Prayer is part of God's plan too. God helps us to pray, gives us a burden to pray, but even if we're struggling in prayer, it's our duty to pray. And prayer is never a waste of time. Prayer is a way of getting to know God, enjoying fellowship with Him. In prayer, we get to know ourselves and look into our own hearts. but we also get to know God. God knows our needs before we ask Him. Indeed, He knows our thoughts before we put them into words, and yet He wants us to express our thoughts in words. We're to come with our needs, but we're to come also with praise and with worship, with confession of sin, and with thanksgiving for prayers answered. We're to pray for ourselves. We're to pray for our loved ones, to pray for the church, to pray for the world. There was an old lady in the street where I grew up in Stornoway, and she used to pray for me. She assured me that she prayed for me every day. I felt quite a sadness when she died. I felt, well, there was somebody who was praying for me, and they're no longer praying for me. It was the same, of course, with my parents. I had godly parents who prayed for me daily, and then they went to heaven. So their prayers, in that sense, ceased. But the wonderful thing about Jesus is that his prayers go on forever. Sin spoils our prayers. It comes as a barrier between us and God, but there's no sin to spoil Christ's prayers. You and I, we get tired when we're praying. but Jesus is tireless in prayer. We are easily distracted from prayer, but not Jesus. I pray for them, he says, and he keeps on praying for us. We can be busy doing good things, yes, doing the work of God, but it doesn't give us time sometimes to pray, but for Jesus, this is his work, praying for us. And Jesus especially has the ear of his Father because he is the Son of God, the only begotten of the Father. And Jesus, when he prays, he's got the merit of his blood. He came, he suffered, he died, and he prays for the sake of his sacrifice and on the basis of his finished work. He pleads his own merit. And Jesus, of course, never dies. His prayer is ongoing. So this is a wonderful truth in verse nine. I pray for them. But next, we know that Jesus doesn't pray for the world. A huge difference is drawn between the people of God and the world. I pray for them, I pray not for the world. but for them which thou hast given me. The world are the unbelievers, the careless, the thoughtless, the ungodly, those who follow false religions, those who follow no religions. They're living for themselves and they're living for their pleasures. The world is mankind in its opposition to God. Jesus says, I pray not for the world. I pray for those whom thou hast given me. Now there's a children's hymn which says, Jesus loves me, this I know, for the Bible tells me so. But does the Bible actually tell us that Jesus loves everyone? That Jesus loves everyone in the same way? It doesn't. It tells us, in fact, that God hates the wicked, the wicked who persist in their rebellion, the wicked who reject Him and will continue rejecting Him. God loves His own, and He loves a certain number of people with an infinite, eternal, and unchangeable love. a love that can never be broken, and he has loved them from all eternity, the elect, and those elect he gave to Christ, and Christ comes and he suffers and he dies for them. I pray not for the world, the non-elect, but I pray for those whom thou hast given me out of the world, how important it is to make sure that we are amongst the people of Christ. Are you an opponent of Christ? Are you somebody who loves the world and its pleasures? Or are you someone who is seeking the Lord, looking to Him and trusting in Him? It's very important to notice that Jesus prays for those whom the Father had given him. He doesn't pray for the world. So thirdly, notice he prays for those that he was given. The Father has given a certain number to Christ. They were chosen before the creation of the world, chosen before time began. God planned to create a world, he planned to create man in his own image, and he planned the fall, and he planned also the salvation of the elect. He chose some, chosen in Christ and chosen in love before the foundation of the world. Chosen not because of their good looks or their strength or their intelligence. Chosen not because of their race or their money or any particular potential that they have as over against others. In fact, there's nothing special that makes the Church of God attractive, the elect of God attractive as over against the rest. In fact, he turns by, he passes by many who are far more attractive in their lives than we are, and yet he chooses us, chooses us sometimes from the dregs of society to be his own. So here he prays, and he prays for the elect. Now, we don't know who are the elect, and we might be curious to find out. Wouldn't it be interesting if there was a book there and you could look and see if your name was amongst the elect of God, amongst those for whom Christ prays? But God hasn't done that. He hasn't written our names in the Bible or in some other book to which we have access. If he did, there would be dangers in it. For example, you could look in the book and see that your name was there and that you were going to heaven, and you might then think, well, I don't have to bother too much. I can live as I please, and I will certainly go to heaven. Or, on the other hand, you might look in the book and see that your name is not there, and then you would despair, and you would think, there's no hope for me. What the Bible says is, give diligence to make your calling and election sure. Be sure to find out that you are amongst the elect, and how can you do that? It's by seeking the Lord. Seek ye the Lord while he may be found. Call ye upon him while he is near. Seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness. Repent of your sins and believe in Jesus. Come to Christ, him that cometh unto me, I will in no wise cast out. So make sure you're a Christian. Seek the Lord. Put your trust in Jesus. Give up your sins. Commit your heart to the Lord. Receive and embrace Jesus Christ, freely offered to you in the gospel. And then you can know that you are amongst his people. So Christ prays for them that he was given. And the final point that we notice here is, they are thine. I pray for them. I pray not for the world, but for them which thou hast given me, for they are thine. Some are not thine. They are lost forever. They are apostates. They will be punished forever in hell. Punished not because they weren't elected, but punished because of their sins and their idolatry and their rebellion against God. But you, you are amongst the chosen, those who were called, effectually called, converted, God is working in you. They are thine. You are amongst them. And in you is God's Spirit. And when God's Spirit is dwelling in you, you will produce the fruit of the Spirit. Love, joy, peace, long-suffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, meekness, temperance. Once saved, always saved. That's true. But where are you saved? Have you been converted? Where God begins the good work, he will perform it until the day of Christ Jesus. But has he begun that work in you? My father that gave them me is greater than all, and no man is able to pluck them out of my father's hand. How wonderful. But are you one of them? The only way of finding out is making sure you're a Christian and seeking the Lord and serving him. The only proof of a genuine Christian is an ongoing life with Christ. Are you walking in the ways of the Lord? By their fruits he shall know them. What kind of fruit does your life produce? So friends, there's great encouragement for us here. If we trust in Jesus, if we're following him, if we are true Christians. If our hope and confidence is in the Lord, if we have given our hearts to Him, if we're seeking to serve the Lord and follow Him, Jesus says, I pray for them. I pray for you, my people. I pray for them. I pray not for the world, for the world, the general world that is in rebellion against God, but I pray for them which thou hast given me. for they are thine. How wonderful it is to be amongst God's people. Surely, for all eternity, we will be praising God, the God who elected us, the Christ who specifically died for us, and the Holy Spirit who came into our hearts, uniting us to Christ. Amen.