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I'll turn with me tonight in the New Testament to John chapter 17. John 17, we'll be reading verses 1 through 5. concluded his teaching to his disciples in chapters 13, 14, 15, and 16. And when he has spoken these words, he then lifts his eyes to heaven and he offers this high priestly prayer for his disciples. In many ways, all the things that Jesus has said to his disciples is brought into a burning focus here in this prayer. He takes all these things and he gathers all the strands together and he puts them into a form of petition. So things about unity of the body, things about the glorification of the son, the glorification of the father, Having been given a people and giving his life as a sacrifice for those people, the joy that comes out of that, it's all brought into one burning focus here. And this is a precious section. And I would I would encourage us to just be refreshed. here in the words of John 17. This is rightly one of the places that Christians go for comfort, for encouragement, for strength. Precious gems. So John 17, we'll read verses 1 through 5 together and spend a few minutes thinking about it. And when Jesus had spoken these words, he lifted up his eyes to heaven and said, Father, the hour has come. Glorify your son. That the son. May glorify you. Since you have given him authority over all flesh. To give eternal life to all whom you have given him. And this is eternal life. That they know you. The only true God. And Jesus Christ, whom you have sent. I glorified you on Earth. having accomplished the work that you gave me to do. And now, Father, glorify me in your own presence with the glory that I had with you before the world existed. Amen. The grass withers and the flowers fade, but the Word of our God stands forever. Jesus has just told his disciples in this world, you will face tribulation. Same thing we've been seeing on Sunday mornings now for the last couple of weeks, Jesus's discussion of the last things, the last days in Matthew 24. You will face tribulation, but take heart, I have overcome the world. And when Jesus had spoken these words, so these words about tribulation, these words about in me, you may have peace after these words with the disciples still there in the room. They've shared a meal together. They've been talking together and they're still there. Might be easy for us to think, well, this is Jesus's prayer in the garden of Gethsemane when he's off by himself praying. Well, he might have prayed some of the same sorts of things, but it's vital for it's vital for us to hear Jesus prayed these things with the disciples there in the room. And if not in the room, at least they're on the way to the garden of Gethsemane. All there together. And so this prayer, he lifted up his eyes to heaven. We don't hear a whole lot about the gestures or the facial expressions of Jesus. And so when we do see something like this, we want to take notice of it. He lifted his eyes to heaven. And so I just want to ask the question tonight, what sort of prayer is this which Jesus prays? And I just want to spend a few minutes thinking about that together. What sort of prayer is this? And I want to say, first of all, this is a personal prayer. It's deeply personal. He prays, Father. Later on in the prayer, in verse 11, address him as holy father. Later on in the prayer, in verse 25, he'll say righteous father. This is a deeply personal, relational prayer. He's praying to his father and you see here the richness. and the joy that exists within the Holy Trinity. You have one God in three Persons. Father, Son and Holy Spirit. And they are not three Gods. They are three Persons. And they're all in it together. There's a mutual indwelling where one is the other two Persons are there as well. They're not mixed up. It's not like a ball of Play-Doh. You know, you have the green mixed in with the orange, and you have some sort of a strange color that... No, that's not what this is. They're distinct persons. They keep their colors. They have very distinct properties. The Father is not the Son. The Son is not the Father. The Son is not the Spirit. The Spirit is not the Father. It's not like you have water. You know, water will turn to ice. It can turn into vapor, but it's still the same stuff. It's the same property. That's not that's not the Trinity. Three very distinct persons, and they have relationship with each other. And there is such a there's such a richness and a joy here. Father. Now, Father, glorify me in your own presence with the glory that I had with you before the world existed. This is a relational prayer, a personal prayer. And it in turn becomes a model for those who have been adopted into Christ, into the family of God. can call God Father. And that's one of the glorious truths of the gospel, that you can call this holy God, as Jesus calls Him, Holy Father. You can call this righteous God, He's a righteous Father. You can address that holy, righteous being. Who cannot look upon sin. Who is holy. His wrath and curse is poured out upon His enemies. You can look at that God. You can stand before Him and call Him Father. And it's all because you are in union as a branch. with the true vine. Jesus is the vine. You are the branches. The vine addresses the vine dresser as father. You can address your God as father. That is enormously significant for us tonight. And you go to him as a little boy or a little girl goes to their daddy, knowing that he is willing and able to hear them. So this is a It's a personal prayer. Father. And secondly, I want you to see that it's also a submissive prayer. Father, verse one, the hour has come. Well, the hour has not come for several chapters. His hour has not yet come. You read that throughout the Gospel of John. There is an hour appointed for Jesus to suffer and to die. That's one of the reasons why Jesus had to keep secret this notion that He was the Messiah, that He was the Christ. He had to keep that under wraps for a while because people had the wrong idea about Him. They had the wrong idea of what the Christ was going to be. And he knew that once the authorities, once the wrong people knew that Jesus was claiming to be the Messiah, they he knew that they would arrest him and it would be the end of his earthly ministry. But his hour had not yet come. Now, he says, the hour has come, the sovereign. God had decreed that this moment would arrive, and it's now the hour when Jesus, the son of God, would lay down his life for sinners. The hour has come. It's a submissive prayer, and it's perhaps a teaching point about the sovereignty of God. Here is an hour that's been appointed by his father. It's been decreed. And yet, what does he do? He turns to his father in prayer. So divine sovereignty and human responsibility there. It's a teaching point for us, just because God has appointed something to happen at an appointed time and in the way that it happens does not mean that we don't also seek him in prayer. The hour has come. And you notice he says, glorify your son that the son may glorify you since you have given him authority over all flesh. Jesus's kingdom has been inaugurated. It has been established and his authority. Jesus reigns wherever the sun rises and sets, and he has rightful dominion. Whether people acknowledge that or not, he has authority over all flesh. And how is he appointed to use that authority? This is a submissive prayer, remember, and he is on a mission from his father. What is he to use his authority to do? Look at verse two with me. To give eternal life. That's how he uses his authority. Old King James English, his power, you have given him power. over all flesh, same sort of idea, authority, power over all flesh. And what is this authority to be used for? It is to be used in bringing men from death to life. That's the way John would describe conversion, it is a passing from death to life. That's what true preaching is intended to do, to bring people from death to life. That's what your conversations are intended to do with non-believers, is to bring them, to pray them into the kingdom from death to life, to give eternal life to all whom you have given Him. It's a submissive prayer. We don't want to pass over this in verse two, that there are personal pronouns being used. Eternal life is being given to whom? He has authority over all flesh, but is eternal life being given to all flesh? You notice the language in verse two, to give eternal life to all whom you have given Him. We love pronouns. It's all in the pronouns. All whom you have given to Him. People are involved here. Souls are involved here. Souls have been given to Christ from the foundation of the world. All whom you have given to him, one of our potential problems with the gospel is that we think that becoming a Christian is is all up to us and that we can we can decide at will whether we will become a Christian or not. I'm putting it off for today. I might pick that up later on in life. It's a control thing. People are addicted to control. We love to control things, including our spiritual life. One thing you notice in the Bible is that salvation is not of man, that salvation is of the Lord. It is of the purpose and the grace and mercy of which you notice it in verse two, to give eternal life to all whom you have given him. And so we have just a just a little, just a little glimpse. Into this. Eternal relationship between the father and the son and the way God deals with people, the way God deals with people is through covenants. He deals with people through special, solemn, sacred bonds. And so I do want to flip back to the Psalms, and I want to take a look at just a couple of the ways in which God deals with people. He dealt with David in a covenant. We'll look back at Psalm 89. Psalm 89 and verse 28. Here is God speaking of His covenant with David, of His special promise to David. In Psalm 89 and verse 28, what does God say about David? My steadfast love I will keep for him forever, and my covenant will stand firm for him. I will establish his offspring forever, and his throne as the days of the heavens. You look on down to verse thirty four, I will not violate my covenant or alter the word that went forth from my lips. So there is a promise. There is a relationship established between God and David. OK, so we're saying that God deals with people through covenants and he does not break those covenants. We can look ahead to Isaiah chapter fifty five. And Isaiah 55, it's the same sort of thing. This is a call of the gospel. Come, everyone who thirsts, come to the waters. He who has no money, come, buy and eat. Verse 3 of Isaiah 55 says, Incline your ear and come to me, hear that your soul may live, and I will make with you an everlasting covenant. My steadfast, sure love for David. He's speaking of a solemn covenant bond. God deals with men through covenants. He makes promises. Here we have special promises being made to David. Now we can take it a step further. You say not only does God deal with people through covenants, for example, David, We can also say that God deals with his son. Through covenants. That God makes special promises to his son. Great David's greater son. Once you flip back with me at Psalm 2. And the way this unfolds, this sheds A bright light on what Jesus is saying when he says that you have given to me these people. All whom you have given to me. Those are the ones who have received eternal life. Psalm 2. As for me, this is the father speaking, I have set my king on Zion, my holy hill. I will tell of the decree. The Lord said to me, you are my son. Today I have begotten you. Ask of me. This is a promise from the father to the son. Ask of me and I will make the nations your heritage. And the ends of the earth, your possession. God deals with people through covenants. He makes promises. He deals with his son. With promises, he's made promises to his son, and what is the promise made to his son? Ask of me. And I will give you the nations as your inheritance. Jesus will have a people for Himself. The Father will give Him souls prepared for glory from the foundation of the world. Loved from all eternity. Those people are going to be given to Him. That's why Jesus praised this. Since you have given Him authority over all flesh to give eternal life to all whom you have given Him. The Father looks at the Son and says, I want you to be the representative for these people. I want you to be their Redeemer. And to that end, I want you to accept this trust and I want you to go to earth. And I want you to die for them. I want you to render an obedience that is spotless for them. They can't be saved in any other way. They can't be saved unless they have a perfect record of righteousness. They can't be saved unless the penalty is served. I want you to go to earth. And that's what I want you to do. And we flip ahead to Hebrews 10. And we hear the Son's response. And the Son responds in Hebrews chapter 10 and verse 5, Consequently, this is after it's said that it's impossible for the blood of bulls and goats to take away sins. Consequently, when Christ came into the world, He said, Sacrifices and offerings you have not desired, but a body you have prepared for me. This is the Son speaking. A body, a human nature body is being prepared for the eternal Son. In burnt offerings and sin offerings, you have taken no pleasure. Then I said, behold, I have come to do your will, O God. What is your will, O God? That souls be saved. It is the Father's will that not every soul would perish. It is the Father's purpose that sinners be saved. Jesus says, I have come to do that will. I have come as it is written of me in the scroll of the book. So here's a God who deals with people through covenants and he makes special promises to the son. And the Son willingly accepts this trust, and He lays down His life, and Jesus is turning that covenant into a prayer here on the eve of His crucifixion. Lord, this is what we've agreed on. You have given me these people to give eternal life to all whom You have given Him. And this is used, isn't it, Jesus uses this in his evangelistic appeals. In his appeals to people, he says, all whom the Father has given to me will come to me. And whoever comes to me, I will never cast out. Salvation is of the Lord. He's submitting to the will of his father. He is praying according to what they have agreed on. And this is eternal life, that they know you, the only true God. And Jesus Christ, whom you have sent. That's what heaven is. That's what salvation is. It's an intimate, personal knowledge of God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit. This is what we've agreed on. To give them eternal life. They don't know who you are. They don't know you rightly. And because they don't know you rightly, their lives are in misery. And, O Father, that they might know You as You are. That they might have eternal life. That they might know You, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom You have sent. The true knowledge of God cannot be divorced from the knowledge of Christ. Christ. It's all Christ. It all goes back to Christ. And He is praying in submission to his father. I glorified you on earth, having accomplished the work that you gave me to do." What was the work that was given to him? The work of that covenant we were just thinking about. Promises being made to the Son. A willingness on the part of the Son to go and to secure the redemption of those people. The only way people are saved is if the Son has come to earth to die for them, to bleed for them, to obey for them, to be raised for them, for us. That's the beauty of the gospel. It is Christ. It's all about the work of the mediator, all about the work of the representative, all about the work of the Son. It's all about the work that's been rendered on our behalf, having accomplished the work that you gave me to do. This is a personal prayer. It is a submissive prayer. The hour has come. And third, it's a prayer of glory. It's a prayer where Jesus asks in verse 1, glorify your Son, that the Son may glorify you. He says in verse 4, I glorified you on earth. And in verse 5, now Father, glorify me in your own presence. with the glory that I had with you before the world existed. What did Jesus give up when he stepped forward and said, Behold, I have come. In the scroll of the book, it is written of me. I delight to do your will, O Lord. What did Jesus give up? He gave up the precincts of heaven. He gave up the joy of being surrounded by angels, archangels, cherubim, seraphim, receiving their praise. He gave up the beauties of his father's courts. He left his father's throne above. so free, so infinite His grace, humbled Himself so great His love, and bled for Adam's helpless race. We sing about that. Amazing love. How can it be that Thou, my God, shouldst die for me? What did Jesus give up? He willingly laid aside His rights His honor, his prestige. He did not drain himself of his all his divine attributes. He's still. Still, God. He doesn't empty himself of all those attributes, but what he does do is he humbles himself and now what he's praying is now. Having accomplished that work. Let me be reclothed in splendor. Glorify me in your own presence with the glory that I had with you before the world existed. All the brightness, all the radiance, all the joy, all the splendor that was mine. Father, restore it. Now that this work is accomplished. And so the son, he's raised from the dead, he ascends into heaven, seated at the right hand of the Father, and he returns to heaven with a hero's welcome. And he has all the splendor and all the majesty restored. I want you to see that these members of the Trinity, Father, Son, Holy Spirit, There's a richness of fellowship there. This is a personal prayer. It's a submissive prayer. Jesus has willingly submitted to his father's will. It's a prayer for glory that God would receive all the glory. I want you to notice each of these members of the Trinity. They glorify each other. They honor each other. That's part of the richness of the fellowship within the Trinity. We were noticing in chapter 16, speaking of the Holy Spirit. What's the Holy Spirit's mission? He will glorify me, Jesus says. He will bring splendor and honor to me. What does the Son do for the Father? He glorifies the Father. The cross is going to be the scene of glory to God the Father. Why? You see infinite wisdom is poured out, infinite justice is poured out, infinite love is poured out there at the cross. The Father is glorified there at the cross. And you see that this becomes, you can see why this becomes the model for fellowship amongst God's people. If each member of the Trinity is glorifying the other. Well, let's just draw a connecting point from the fellowship within the Trinity to the fellowship between these brothers and sisters in Christ. Members of the Trinity love and glorify each other. Now granted, they don't have anything to criticize. There's no sin within the Trinity. But there's our pattern. That Christians look at each other. Jesus is going to pray for this later on in this prayer. That Christians look at each other. And rather than tear each other down, they honor and esteem one another. That's a tough thing to do. Because there's a lot of sin in the world. And we like to point it out. But this model that we have, it's an honoring and esteeming of those with whom you are in union and communion. Y'all, if you are in union with Christ, you're in union with each other. And we love despite. And we persevere despite. And we press on with one another despite. That's what Jesus is going to pray for. As he moves on through this prayer. So what sort of prayer is this? It's a personal prayer. It's a prayer of submission and a prayer for glory. May this prayer be fulfilled in us. Would you pray with me? Father, we thank you for the beauty and the wonder of the gospel. That you have made us your children and that you have enabled us to call you Father. And Lord, we pray that as we study this prayer together, that we would learn truly what it means to honor and esteem one another with whom we are in union and communion. Oh Lord, we pray that you would send out your victorious word from Redeemer and that you would give eternal life to all whom have been given to Christ. In all this we pray in Jesus' name. Amen.
High Priestly Prayer I
系列 John 13-17
讲道编号 | 113011223344 |
期间 | 32:53 |
日期 | |
类别 | 周日 - 下午 |
圣经文本 | 若翰傳福音之書 17:1-5 |
语言 | 英语 |