Our scripture text is from John 17. Our sermon text is John 17, verses 17 through 19. For some context, we'll begin the reading of the word of God in verse 13. So John chapter 17, beginning in verse 13. But now I come to you, and these things I speak in the world, that they may have my joy fulfilled in themselves. I have given them your word, and the world has hated them because they are not of the world, just as I am not of the world. I do not pray that you should take them out of the world, but that you should keep them from the evil one. They are not of the world, just as I am not of the world. Sanctify them by your truth. Your word is truth. As you sent me into the world, I also have sent them into the world. And for their sakes, I sanctify myself that they also may be sanctified by the truth. Amen. So for the reading of the word of God, you may be seated. Brothers and sisters in the Lord Jesus Christ, John 17 is a chapter that featured prominently at the beginning and at the end of John Knox's Christian life. Many of you might know the story of as he lay on his deathbed shortly before he passed away, his wife is there with him and he asks for her to read to him from John 17, the place where he said that he cast his first anchor, so to speak, the passage that the Lord used to bring this great servant of his to faith. And some of his last recorded words are about this chapter and what it meant to him. And so, of course, John Knox, as many of you know, perhaps all of you know, he was a minister of Jesus Christ who accomplished much good in this world. God had sanctified him for his service. God had sent him as a minister and in his sermons he preached, he proclaimed the true word of Christ. And so then how fitting is it that in the conversion of such a servant as John Knox was that God would use this chapter in which the Lord Jesus prays for this very kind of thing. I believe as we approach this text today, we see that the triune God sanctifies men for their mission. The triune God sanctifies men for their mission. For some context, just what's going on in these verses, This comes at the end of the upper room discourse. So you will know in John chapter 13, this is where Jesus and the disciples celebrate the Passover. Of course, in this setting, Jesus institutes the Lord's Supper. He washes their feet. Chapters 14 through 16, you have the great upper room discourse where Jesus gives a very deep and rich discussion and where he talks a lot about the Holy Spirit, his person and work. Then we come to John 17, this chapter that we call the great high priestly prayer of intercession. And perhaps you could say that this is Jesus' prayer of application for what he just taught his disciples in chapters 14 through 16. A great prayer of intercession just before Jesus as the great high priest offers himself up in intercession for his people. And as we look through this prayer, through this entire chapter, John 17, we have three major sections. First of all, verses one through five, he prays for himself. Verses six to 19, Jesus prays for his disciples in particular. And in the rest of the passage, he prays for all of his elect. And so in this second section, where we find ourselves today in verses 6 through 8, that concerns Jesus' revelation to his disciples. Verses 9 through 16, Jesus prays a prayer for protection and for preservation, and then Related to that, and in our text today, verses 17 to 19, Jesus prays for his disciples' sanctification. So that's why we can say that Triune God sanctifies men for their mission. And as we look through this text, by the Lord's help, we will see, first of all, Jesus prays for his disciples' mission. And secondly, Jesus pleads his own mission. First of all, in verse 17, we see where Jesus prays for his disciples' mission. And what is his prayer but sanctification? We see Jesus in this verse, verse 17, prays for his disciples' mission, which is sanctification. Sanctify them by your truth. Your word is truth. So we can approach this by looking at or asking, what is the meaning of sanctification? And also, what is the means of sanctification? So as for the meaning of sanctification, many of you probably know that in common theological use, to sanctify or to be sanctified means to become progressively more holy, to become conformed more and more into the image of Christ. That is one meaning of the word sanctification. It's not the only meaning of the word, however. Scripture often uses the word sanctification to mean, which has a base meaning of to be made holy. as something that is set apart for holy use. I believe this is the message, what Jesus means here in this text. He's praying for the disciples to be set apart for the Father's holy use. And as we see later in the text, I think this will spill over into the other meaning of them becoming more like the Lord Jesus. becoming more holy, but at least here they are set apart for holy use. If you look at verse 11, we see this concept where Jesus addresses God as Holy Father. This is a concept we see as well when God calls his servants. Jeremiah 1.5, "...before I formed thee in the belly, I knew thee, and before thou camest forth out of the womb, I sanctified thee, and I ordained thee a prophet unto the nations." So Jeremiah there is sanctified for his mission. Paul says something very similar in Romans 1 verse 1. So we have the definition of sanctification. How about a description of sanctification? What is it like? Well, here we can say that sanctification can be described as two sides of a coin. In one sense, Jesus is praying that the disciples would be sanctified from something, but then positively, Jesus is praying that the disciples would be sanctified for something. So we can think of the sanctification of the disciples here in both negative and also positive terms. And so what is Jesus praying that the disciples be sanctified from? Well, as we look through the passage, we can see that the disciples are sanctified and being protected from the devil. Jesus also prays here for their protection. This is informed by our context. So in verse 11, Jesus prays that God would keep the disciples. He says, these are in the world. And he says, Holy Father, keep them through your name. Verse 11 and verse 15, Jesus prays that the disciples would be kept from the evil one. And we know from Luke's gospel at this point, around this point, the devil was coming after the disciples. What does Jesus tell Peter in Luke chapter 22? He says, Simon, Simon, behold, Satan hath desire to have you that he may sift you as wheat. But I have prayed for thee that thy faith fail not. So at this time, Jesus prays that the disciples would be sanctified and set apart from the devil. And this reminds me of what we pray for in our sixth petition as we go through the Lord's Prayer, that God would keep us from temptation. In the sixth petition, according to our Westminster Shorter Catechism, question 106, we pray that God would either keep us from being tempted to sin or support and deliver us when we are tempted. So negatively, the disciples are to be set apart, protected from the devil. But positively, they are sanctified for something. And in this case, they are set apart for proclaiming, perhaps even for embodying the Son's message. This also is informed by the context of John 17. Back in verse 6, Jesus says that they have kept the Father's word. If you look at verse 8, the disciples have received the Father's words and believed he sent the Son. In verse 12, the disciples were kept, where or how? In Jesus' name. So the context here informs us that the disciples are being sanctified for this message that Christ has given to them. Paul can write in 2 Corinthians 3 about the church in general, that she is the epistle of Christ, written with the spirit of the living God. So we have this image, so to speak, as the church being a living Bible. And if that's true for the church in general, how much more true should that be for those who are her ministers? But I want you to think about this. Think about Jesus praying for the disciples to be sanctified, to be protected from the devil in this sense. These are the men who have spent three years walking and talking with the Son of God on earth. These also are the men who would later receive the Holy Spirit being charismatically poured upon them, who would speak in tongues. In their ministry, they would perform miracles. And at this point, and it's true at this point, the disciples have not received the Holy Spirit in the full sense in which he is going to come, and that the devil is coming after the disciples. Nevertheless, Jesus prays that they would be protected from the devil. And if that's true for the disciples, How much more would it be true for you? Do you not need prayer? Do you not need protection from the devil, from his attacks? Do not forget that there is a personal devil. There is a devil who is cunning, who is active, who is destructive. Do not forget, as Peter says, that he prowls around as a lion, seeking whom he may devour. So do not underestimate the power of the devil. Do not forget, he is one of the three great enemies that we speak of when we mention the world, the flesh, and the devil. So seek God's protection, seek God's sanctification from the attacks of Satan. So we move now from the question of the meaning of sanctification. Now we look at the means of sanctification in the rest of this verse when Jesus says plainly, by your truth, sanctify them by your truth, your word is truth. So what is truth? Here we see that truth is the scriptures. At risk of being too technical, the Greek word order really emphasizes what about God is truth. It doesn't just say your word is truth, but it says the word that is yours, which emphasizes if we're going to connect God and truth, what about God is truth? How do we encounter the truth of God? It is through His word. And there is a particular reference I see here, not just to all of God's word as we have it, all of his special revelation, the inspired words of God, but in particular, there is a reference I see to Jesus' revelation that he gives personally to his disciples. And we see throughout this chapter, I mentioned several places already where Jesus references what he has told his disciples personally. So it's certainly true, and the text is making reference, the Word of God, the written Word of God, and for the disciples' case also, the spoken Word of God to them is truth. But isn't it also true that the character of God is truth? John 17, three, at the beginning of this passage, Jesus says, and this is eternal life that they may know you. And how does he characterize the father, the only true God? So the character of God is truth. And therefore the things that God will give to his people must be truth as well. And what does God give us? What is this truth that God gives to us? We can say that God gives his people two words. God gives the people his scriptures and he has given unto us his son, the Lord Jesus Christ. You can say that he's given the word of God and God the word. Of course, we know that God the Word is true. John 14, 6, I am the way, the truth, and the life. Revelation 3, 14, Jesus calls himself the faithful and true witness. So God the Word is true. We also know that the Word of God is just as true as God. the word because God has given to us his scriptures, his revelation. He cannot lie. He cannot but speak the truth unto us. And so we have the truth ourselves in the word of God. And what a precious truth that is. When we think of what truth is, that we have it here in our Bibles, very simply with ink that is printed on paper. What a blessing it is that we do not have a religion where truth is some ethereal, angelic concept, where only the brightest, most insightful, philosophical minds can seek to reach up and to grab it. But truth has been communicated to us firmly and concretely in His word. And it's a word that we can bank on. It's a word that we can rest in. Thy word is truth. And then this truth sanctifies, does it not? It's what the scripture says here. Does scripture elsewhere teach that God's word sanctifies? Think of Psalm 119. Psalm 119 asks the question, how can a young man keep his way pure? The answer, by keeping your word. Or think of verse 11. You probably have heard this verse before. So the Word of God sanctifies. Peter says, to desire the pure milk of the Word, that by it ye may grow. But then how does the Word of God sanctify? Is it simply a mechanical, physical, very mundane process where we as creatures are reading these words that are printed for us on paper, and by that rote process we become more holy? Doesn't something else need to happen? Doesn't God himself need to intervene to work in our lives in order to make us more holy? And certainly that's true. And who works in us? Is it not the Holy Spirit of God who works in us, operating with the Word in order to make us more like Christ? So Jesus has spoken about the work of the Holy Spirit. In this context, chapters 14 through 16, he speaks much about the person and work of the Holy Ghost. We have in verse 13 of John 16, 13, Jesus puts the spirit and the truth together in one verse. He says, when the spirit of truth is come, he will guide you into all the truth. So we can expect that the Spirit of God is going to work with the Word in order to sanctify. And I believe I did find a verse, another verse, in which we see both of these things working together, the Spirit and the Word working together to sanctify God's people. In Ephesians 5, 26, Paul says that Christ gave himself for the church to sanctify and cleanse her How? With the washing of water by the Word. What does the washing of water refer to? Is this not imagery of baptism, which itself symbolizes the work of the Holy Spirit? But that's not all that Paul says. Paul also says, by the Word. So the Spirit of God works with the Word of God to sanctify the people of God. I find it hard to resist at this point giving a quote from John Calvin on how the Spirit works together with the Word to sanctify God's people. And he says, by a kind of mutual bond, the Lord has joined together the certainty of His Word and of His Spirit. So that the perfect religion of the word may abide in our minds when the spirit who causes us to contemplate God's face shines. So we have this beautiful image of the word being made effectual by the Holy Spirit who causes us to contemplate God's face. So what will it look like for us to be sanctified by the word and protection from the devil? How is the devil going to come out and attack us? Is he going to jump out at us with a pitchfork? He is far more cunning and far more subtle than that. Would he much rather plant in the minds of the church destructive heresies, false teaching that will destroy it and corrode it from within and send its parishioners to the pit of hell along with him? Certainly, this is what the devil would desire. And I think as we look through history, this is the kind of attack that he gives against the church. So in Jesus' prayer for the disciples to be protected from the devil, I see that Jesus Praise that they be protected from his heresies, from his false teaching. That they be maintained sound in their doctrine for their ministry. Being both sound in doctrine and practice from the attacks of the devil. And certainly this happens by the scriptures. The scriptures which teach us sound doctrine, if we understand them correctly, are going to keep us from falling into the devil's traps of false teaching. In 1 Timothy 3, Paul talks about the holy scriptures which are able to make one wise unto salvation, which he says is profitable for all doctrine. I said 1st Timothy 3, that should be 2nd Timothy 3. And so we have seen Jesus in this passage, he is praying for his disciples to be sanctified. And of course, by extension, all of us are to be sanctified as well. So as for you, resist the devil with scripture. Think of how Christ rebukes the devil. When he is tempted, the devil comes to him. He presents his temptations. Does Christ try to resist the devil by his own, you can say, human power? Christ having a human nature? Does he simply say, go away devil, be gone? What does Christ do when the devil is coming after him and trying to get him in vain to sin? He responds with the word of God. He quotes the scripture itself back to the devil. So how much more should we, who are fallen creatures, rely on scripture as we engage in spiritual warfare? So I would urge you to read scripture plentifully, to meditate on it, to internalize it. Even memorizing scripture is a great practice for this Psalm 119 again. Thy word have I hid in my heart that I might not sin against thee. I think John Bunyan is a very good model, one that's very hard for us to attain to. You've probably heard what Charles Spurgeon said about him. He says, prick him anywhere. His blood is bableen. The very essence of the Bible flows from him. Certainly, as you read his works, you will see why he would say something like that. And seek the illumination of the Holy Spirit as you read the word, to be sound in doctrine, and also to be sound in practice. So we move on from verse 17 where Jesus is praying that his disciples would be sanctified and sanctified for their own mission to now, Jesus pleads his own mission in verses 18 and 19. And I'll admit I'm following Matthew Henry's outline at this point. In these two verses, Jesus gives two arguments, so to speak, that are the foundation, they are the reasons behind his prayer that he is giving for the disciple sanctification. And here's the first argument in verse 18. That the son's mission is the foundation of the disciple's mission. We see this plainly in verse 18, which says, as you sent me into the world, I also have sent them into the world. So first of all, we see that the father sent the son on his mission. at the beginning of this text. We see this as well in this very chapter in verse 4, Jesus says, I have glorified you on the earth. I have finished the work which you have given me to do. And in connection at this point, I have a hard time resisting John 10, 36, quoting that verse, where Jesus puts these ideas together. He says, he describes himself as the one whom the Father sanctified and sent into the world. So you have sanctification and sending there in that one verse, and that's here tied to the theme that we're talking about here. Of course, 1 John 4, the Father sent the Son. Why? To be the Savior of the world. And as we think of the mission of the Son, let's not forget, as a professor of mine has said, that God does what he does because he is who he is. So who is the Son? How can we define or describe the Son if not in distinction from the other persons of the Trinity, in distinction from the Father and the Spirit? How does the scripture describe the Son, but as the one who is eternally begotten of the Father? Think of John 3.16, the most famous verse. For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son. So we have God the Son, eternally begotten of the Father, who God is. And God does what He does because He is who He is. And God the Father sends the Son to earth on mission. Also, we see that Jesus then sends the apostles on their mission. And perhaps you know that the word apostle itself means sent, these ones who are sent. We see this at the end of the verse after he says, as you sent me into the world, Jesus says, I also have sent them into the world. I think we see here Jesus speaks of these future realities of when he will commission the disciples in chapter 20. He speaks of them in past tense as we see elsewhere in scripture from time to time. But before we move on, I don't want to miss the importance of the word world in this verse. It's a short word that we're probably tempted just to read right over, go on to the next verse and look for the important things that God is going to teach us there. But the concept of the world is an important one in John's gospel, is it not? Think about the great unthinkable mystery or wonder it would be of mercy that God would send his son to save one soul. How many of us would do that in our fallen nature? Of course, none of us would do that, probably not even in our sanctified natures. But God sent his son not just to save one sinner, not just to save one nation, the nation of Israel that had been God's covenant people who had received the oracles of God, who had had prophets that came and spoke to them. God sent his son to be the savior of the world. John 3.16 again, for God so loved the world. And John has in mind the totality of nations, all these people from these various ethnic backgrounds whom God is bringing together in his covenant people. And all of us who are here today, who are descended from various ethnic backgrounds, You are part of the fulfillment of Jesus' prayer in this case. The Father loved the world and gave the Son to the world. And the Son has sent out His ministers, His apostles, who have multiplied and gone forth even further and brought people of all kinds of backgrounds and ethnic heritages to faith. And so we can say truly, for God has so loved the world. There are a few points of theology at this point I want to bring out before we go on to verse 19. The Trinity is all over this text. It's hard to read through it and not to see the persons of the Trinity jumping out at you, so to speak. All that God does as one being, he also does as three persons. And this is one place where we see the three persons of the Trinity acting in concert, acting as one for these things, their actions in the disciples and in the Word of God. So let's think about how the Father, Son, and the Holy Ghost both work in the disciples and in the Word of God. So, the son prays to the father to sanctify his disciples through the word and the spirit. Then you have the word which the father gives the disciples about Christ is given by the inspiration of the spirit. So as we're looking at the disciples, how do the three persons relate? How do they work in them? The son prays to the father for them to be sanctified by the word and the spirit. And as for the word, this is the word that the father will give to the disciples by the spirit that concerns Christ. Christ is the message of the word. So as we step back and put these things together, I know this is a lot, but we can say this. So The spirit will both sanctify the disciples and inspire the word. Christ is both praying for their sanctification and he is the subject of this word. And then the father will both give this word of God to sanctify and guide them. And he sends God the word as their mediator. So we see here the three persons of the Trinity acting in concert in the disciples and in the word of God as God does everything as one as one as the one great being. And perhaps I could do little better than to quote the words of an early church father who said, no sooner do I conceive of the one that I'm illumined by the splendor of the three. No sooner do I distinguish them that I'm carried back to the one. When I think of any one of the three, I think of him as a whole, and my eyes are filled, and the greater part of what I am thinking escapes me. So we see how the three persons of the Trinity are working together in a text like this. I also want to bring out to you the efficacy of Jesus' prayer, the fact that it indeed was heard and accomplished. And we can ask the question, is Jesus pleading a valid argument here as he references the Father sending him? Will the Father Answer the prayer of the Son. And of course, brothers and sisters, the answer is yes. How could it be anything but yes? How could there be any question about this? And of course, we know the Father did set apart his disciples for the work of the ministry. He set them apart by the written word that he gave them that concerned the incarnate word that he sent them. And then look at what this sanctification has accomplished. Look at the very New Testament itself, this book that you are holding in your hands. Look at, if you will, the book of John, which they wrote. Look at this very text. Look at this prayer within this text that God has recorded, that he inspired and preserved for his people. So as Jesus is praying for his disciples and also for his word in this case, we can say the very fact that this prayer is recorded for us is proof that it was answered. And think as well as God the Son sent his disciples into the world. Was their mission effective? Think of all the millions of souls who have heard the word of God, who have been converted as the word of God has gone forth with power. Of course, the word of God has been effective. Of course, the prayer of the Son has been answered. How many of us would even be here if this New Testament, these books were not written and preserved for us? How many of us today could even be converted if that was the case? So we see as well the efficacy of the prayer of the Son. So we have seen, first of all, Jesus pleads his own mission. This is one reason that he is giving behind his prayer for the disciples to be sanctified. Then we see, secondly, and in verse 19, Jesus pleads his own sanctification. as the foundation for the disciples' sanctification. So Jesus' mission is the foundation of the disciples' mission. Then secondly, Jesus' sanctification, the foundation of his disciples' sanctification. And for their sakes I sanctify myself, that they also may be sanctified by the truth. Here, sanctification being set apart for holy use, and in this case, being set apart for holy use in the sense of the death of Christ. Some of your translations might say he has consecrated himself. That's another good translation. We see here, as we work through this text, specifically here in this verse, that Jesus' sanctification, or his consecration, is now the foundation for what the disciples, what's going to happen with them, that they would be sanctified and consecrated. And we can also say that this is for not simply service, that's there, but a service or a ministry that is characterized in some way by death. If we think of Jesus's consecration as one in which he is offering himself up to God, if that's the foundation for the disciples' mission, then we could probably say, and I think here we can say, that in some way that their mission is characterized by giving up of themselves. So did Christ really die to sanctify his people? Are these concepts of death and sanctification related? Certainly they are. We already mentioned Ephesians 5, 25, and also 26, in which Christ died to sanctify his church. And is the church to be like Christ in her own sanctification being characterized by giving up of herself? That's also true. The beginning of Ephesians 5, Paul says to walk in love as Christ loved us and gave himself up for us. So that also is how the church should be thinking. And perhaps there's no Christian who better explains this to us than Paul himself. What does he say in regards to his own ministry being characterized by death? In Philippians 3, he talks about knowing the fellowship of Christ's sufferings and being made conformable unto his death. 2 Corinthians 4, he mentions always bearing about in the body the dying of the Lord Jesus. Then says, we which live are always delivered unto death for Jesus' sake. So we have in this text, in this very verse, Jesus' sanctification now the foundation for the disciples to be sanctified. And if you look up in the verse before that, of course, we've seen that Jesus is sending the Father's sending of him is the foundation for the disciples who are being sent. And this text also teaches, especially in verse 17, that Jesus's word, the word which he which he is divinely producing, is now going to be the foundation for what the disciples are to embody, what they are to proclaim and believe. And so we have this threefold pattern. All of what is happening with Jesus in this text, these three things, are now being replicated in some way by Jesus' disciples. So if you like alliteration, you can say sanctification, sending, sermons. or consecration, commission, and confession. Jesus is sanctifying, or God is sanctifying or consecrating His Son, the Lord Jesus Christ. The foundation for His disciples being done the same. God sends, he commissions his son, and Jesus does that with his disciples. And you have, of course, Jesus' own word, you can say his confession, which is the foundation of what the disciples are indeed to go on to proclaim. And so we see this way in which Jesus is the model for what must happen with his disciples. And by extension, that's true for us as well. Directly, Jesus is speaking of his disciples, his apostles, but is it not also true that all of God's people are holy, that we are sanctified, and that in some way he has a mission for us and things we should witness to, things we should confess? Of course, that's true. This is very applicable for all of us. For the church in general, we already mentioned 2 Corinthians 3, where Paul calls the church the epistle of Christ, written with the spirit of the living God. And what does Jesus tell the church in the Sermon on the Mount? He says, you are a city on a hill, a city that cannot be hidden. You are like a light that is set out that should not and must not be hidden. And so there's a sense in which the church in general is to be a witness to God. It is to reflect the message and the ministry of Jesus to some capacity. And of course, this will be true within the church in general, and some to a greater degree than others. Maybe I should say it'll look different in some in regards to others. If you're a man, if you're the head of your own household and you're out in the workforce and you're rubbing shoulders with unbelievers, that's a great place, a great way for you to verbally and to vocally share the word of God with them, to give the gospel, just presenting what Christ has done and to urge them to repentance. Perhaps God hasn't called all of his people in the church to that. Suppose you're, and perhaps you're here today as a wife, you're a homemaker, and perhaps you might hear that what you're doing is not very involved in kingdom work. You're not on the front lines, you're kind of back doing support work. In this case, are you doing kingdom work? Well, if you're a faithful wife who is living at the house, and if you are instructing your children in the way of the Lord day in and day out, and you are helping them, you are encouraging them to obey the Lord, you are teaching them the basics of the faith, what you are doing is you are training young men and young women who will grow up to be Christian men and women. So you are very much involved in the work of the kingdom. That's a very important kingdom work that God has given to his Christian daughters. So it's certainly true that all of God's people in general have application from this, that we are sanctified, set apart, in some way now sent or kept by the Father, and we have our own ministry, we have our own witness in our own respective fields. But to the greatest extent, this is true about the Lord Jesus Christ. So this text has talked about how the disciples are sanctified, how they're set apart for their own holy use. As you've been going through Leviticus, you have heard about all these things that God has sanctified for their holy use. Of course, you have the priests, you have various articles and items of worship. We have the Lord's Day set apart for holy use. But what greater thing could be set apart for holy use than God himself? And that's exactly what this passage is teaching. That Jesus himself has sanctified himself. He has set himself apart for holy use in his own death. Of course, here he offers up his prayer of intercession. And this is the night where he goes to the Garden of Gethsemane. He begins to agonize in the garden as he thinks about the horrors that are to come. And the following day he gives up his life as this great fragrant sacrifice and offering to God the greatest act of worship any of us could ever imagine. So Christ sanctifies himself there. And What Christ does is not only gives himself and dies for us, he also lives for us. He rose from the dead and the one who in this passage was praying for his disciples is now living and seated at the right hand of the Father and he makes intercession for us. And if Christ will go to the cross, if he will lay down his life for you, don't you also believe that he will effectually pray for you in the sense of interceding for you? Certainly this is true. Christ makes intercession for us at the right hand of the Father. And all of us who have been called by God, who have been gathered into the arms of the Father and the Son, shall never be let go. And so it is safe within the arms of Jesus that we must rest, we must trust in Christ. And I am hopeful that many of you, most of you, have looked to Christ with saving faith, that you have cast yourselves upon Him, that you have cast the sin from off of you and are trusting on the Lord Jesus Christ alone for your salvation. And I praise the Lord for that, for His wonderful work. Perhaps you're sitting here today, though, and you have not looked to the Lord Jesus Christ with saving faith. Perhaps you're still clinging on to secret sin in the depths of your heart, which you absolutely and utterly refuse to let go of. If this is the case with you, my unbelieving friend, then please look to Christ. Turn away from your sin. Look to Christ with saving faith. Cast yourself upon Him. He is merciful. He is gracious to receive all who will come to Him, to all who will repent of their sins and look to Him sincerely in faith. He says, come to me, all you who are weary and heavy laden, and I will give you rest. You will find rest for your souls. So look indeed to the Lord Jesus Christ, to the one who here is making intercession for his people, the one also who would give himself, who would die, who would consecrate his own life for his people. And he will save all those who come to him. So we see that Jesus is pleading both his own mission and his own sanctification as he prays that the Father would sanctify and consecrate his own people. So brother and sister in the Lord, seek the word. Meditate in this word, the word by which you are sanctified. Be like those newborn babes that Peter mentions, desiring the sincere pure milk of the word that you may grow by it. Use this word in your daily Christian life as you are resisting the devil. As James says, resist the devil and he will flee from you. And do this in reliance upon the Holy Spirit who works together with the word to illuminate your minds, to teach you more about the truth of of Christianity, to learn more about Christ, to be confirmed and solidified in your sanctification, to grow up in your sanctification to an even greater degree. Be servant-minded. Do not be haughty, but emulate the Lord Jesus Christ, the one who, being so rich, made himself poor, who took to himself the likeness of a servant, and who is obedient even unto the death of the cross. And of course we know that on account of this the Lord has highly exalted him and granted him a name that is above every name. So scripture teaches us that we should humble ourselves for the Lord to exalt us. This is the pattern we see here in scripture. and also share in the vision of Jesus for the salvation of the world. Pray for this, earnestly desire this, being thankful as well that you yourselves are part of the fulfillment of Jesus' prayer that he is giving in this text. May the Lord add his blessing to the preaching of the word. Amen. Dear Lord, we thank you for how marvelous you are and gracious you are in giving to us your word. You have written it for us. It is certain. It is firm. Your word, as the psalmist says, is as if it is forever sealed and set in heaven. So dear Lord, we pray that you would teach us through this word, sanctify us, make us more like our Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ. May his name be praised. May you please conform us into his image more and more every day. In his name we pray, amen.