"Father, I want those you have given me to be with me where I am, and to see my glory, the glory you have given me because you loved me before the creation of the world. John 17:24
The best news of the Christian gospel is that the supremely glorious Creator of the universe has acted in Jesus Christ’s death and resurrection to remove every obstacle between us and himself so that we may find everlasting joy in seeing and savoring his infinite beauty. The saving love of God is his doing whatever must be done, at great cost to himself, and for the least deserving, so that he might enthrall them with what will make them supremely happy forever, namely himself. Therefore, the gospel of God and the love of God are expressed finally and fully in God’s gift of himself for our everlasting pleasure. [John Piper- God is the Gospel, p.147]
Lord God and Father, I call upon Thee to enter all the avenues of my life today, and to share every detail of it with me, even as Thou hast called me go share with Thee Thy life, and all the wonders of it. As I am to share the destiny, glory and future affairs of Thy Son, so would I now have Him share this small destiny on earth which is mine, the joys of it, and all its matters, that we should be one, Thou and I, even as we are in Christ. Jim Elliot
Father, just as you are in me and I am in you. May they also be in us so that the world may believe that you have sent me. I have given them the glory that you gave me, that they may be one as we are one: I in them and you in me. May they be brought to complete unity to let the world know that you sent me and have loved them even as you have loved me. John 17:21-23
Separated and Sent
They are not of the world, even as I am not of it. Sanctify them by the truth; your word is truth. As you sent me into the world, I have sent them into the world. For them I sanctify myself, that they too may be truly sanctified. [John 17:16-19]
"The decline of the knowledge of the holy has brought on our troubles. A rediscovery of the majesty of God will go a long way toward curing them. It is impossible to keep our moral practices sound and our inward attitudes right while our idea of God is erroneous or inadequate. If we would bring back our spiritual power to our lives, we must begin to think of God more nearly as he is." A. W. Tozer
I remember attending my first movie as if it were yesterday. I remember who I went with, the theater I went to, the movie that was showing and even the jacket I was wearing. I was around nine years old. I was invited to go to a circus by my boyhood friend, Tom Bauer, and his aunt. What I did not know was that it was not a circus but a movie, the “Greatest Show on Earth.” Now, what you need to know is that I was raised in what is called a “holiness” environment. That is the kind of religion where what you “don’t do” gives the best evidence of the sincerity of your faith. Lists are drawn up so that you and the members of your church can keep track of how you are doing. “Don’t smoke, don’t chew and don’t go with the girls that do,” sums up the spirit of this religion. The list may include make-up, bowling, dancing and movies!
The Necessity of Prayer
They are not of the world, even as I am not of it. Sanctify them by the truth; your word is truth. [John 17:16-17]
"We see that nothing is set before us as an object of expectation from the Lord which we are not enjoined to ask of Him in prayer, so true it is that prayer digs up those treasures which the Gospel of our Lord discovers to the eye of faith. The necessity and utility of this exercise of prayer no words can sufficiently express." John Calvin
John Wesley once remarked that “God does nothing but by prayer, and everything with it.” If Wesley is right, that is an incredible statement. Think of it. All of the blessings God would pour out in our lives, our families and our world come only as we pray. If we don’t pray, things that God would do he doesn’t because we don’t pray. Billy Graham said it like this: “Heaven is full of answers to prayers for which no one ever bothered to ask.”
"We must not become, as John Stott puts it, “a rabbit hole Christian,” the kind who pops his head out of a hole, leaves his Christian roommate in the morning and scurries to class, only to frantically search for a Christian to sit by [an odd way to approach a mission field]. Thus he proceeds from class to class. When dinner comes, he sits with the Christians in his dorm at one huge table and thinks, “What a witness!” From there he goes to his all-Christian Bible study, and he might even catch a prayer meeting where the Christians pray for non-believers on his floor. [By what luck that he was able to live on the only floor with seventeen Christians!] Then at night he scurries back to his Christian roommate. Safe! He made it through the day and his only contacts with the world were those mad, brave dashes to and from Christian activities." Rebecca Manley Pippert
"My prayer is not that you take them out of the world but that you protect them from the evil one. They are not of the world, even as I am not of it." John 17:15-16
Ray Stedman used to quip, “There are two kinds of people in the world: Those that divide the world into two kinds of people and those who don’t.” I fall into the former. There are two kinds of people: Believers and non-believers, and the difference between the two could not be more profound. Believers are called by God. Believers are children of God. Believers know God. Believers hear God, serve God, please God and love God. Jesus said it like this: “They are not of the world, even as I am not of it.” Although our feet are on the earth, our hearts are in heaven.
“Keep company with the more cheerful sort of the godly; there is no mirth like the mirth of believers.” Richard Baxter.
"I am coming to you now, but I say these things while I am still in the world, so that they may have the full measure of my joy within them. I have given them your word and the world has hated them, for they are not of the world any more than I am of the world.” John 17:13-14
I have always known I was different. [No comments necessary, please.] First, I grew up in a Pentecostal Preachers home. Preachers were different. They represented GOD-ah! I was a preacher’s son, so was expected to be different, a little more pious than the rest of my friends, which my Mom never let me forget. We lived in a fish bowl of sorts for my Dad’s profession was our life! If my father got voted out, I lost my home, my church family and all my friends. Our church was Pentecostal, considered a little bit on the fringe- loud at times, strange at times, but always interesting. I was also a Christian, which meant I could not “drink, dance or chew or go with the girls that do.” It was something my fellow jocks loved to make fun of in the locker room.
Revelation does not mean man finding God, but God finding man, God sharing his secrets with us, God showing us himself. In revelation, God is the agent as well as the object. It is not that men speak about God, or for God; God speaks for Himself, and talks to us in person. The New Testament message is that in Christ God has spoken a word for the world, a word to which all men in all ages are summoned to listen and respond. J. I. Packer
“We have seen his glory, the glory of the One and Only, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth.” [John 1:14] The word “seen” is a strong word. It means “to be engaged in careful and deliberate vision which seeks to understand and interpret its object.” Scrutiny is a good word to characterize what John was saying. That is what I am committed to do this year. I am scrutinizing the Word of God so that I may more perfectly know him, love him and rejoice in him. So, I have hunkered down in the gospel of John. The great hope that I have in my study is that he wants to be seen and rejoiced in. That is why he gave us the written Word. God has spoken through the Word and we see him through the Scriptures.
"I have revealed you to those whom you gave me out of the world. They were yours; you gave them to me and they have obeyed your word. Now they know that everything you have given me comes from you. For I gave them the words you gave me and they accepted them. They knew with certainty that I came from you, and they believed that you sent me. John 17:6-8
We have called this a battle prayer because of the urgency and intensity of the requests. First, Jesus prays that the Father would enable him to complete the mission he had been given. To finish, he would have to go through intense pain and suffering unlike any other man has ever endured. Like their Master, his disciples will face the same kind of troubles, so they will need the strength of the Father too. In verse 6, Jesus moves from praying for himself to interceding for his disciples.
I have divided the passage into three movements: 1] The Son’s mission; 2] the Father’s decision; 3] and, the disciples’ volition. What Jesus prayed then has direct application to our lives now. Listen to him.
LOOKING BEYOND
“Three things I thank God for every day of my life: thanks that he has vouchsafed me knowledge of his works; deep thanks that he has set in my darkness the lamp of faith; deep, deepest thanks that I have another life to look forward to- a life joyous with light and flowers and heavenly song.” Helen Keller
I have brought you glory on earth by completing the work you gave me to do. And now, Father, glorify me in your presence with the glory I had with you before the world began. [John 17:4-5]
It is said that “familiarity breeds contempt.” That is probably true, but it is also true that familiarity can uncover great treasure. When we come to a passage of scripture like John 17, a passage that is very familiar to us, we can pass over it and fail to give it the devotion it demands and deserves. This is part of the “living word” that Hebrews describes for us. That does not mean it is changing or growing in any way. It means it has power and life that can thrill our hearts and throttle our hopes every time we thrust ourselves into its truth. The scriptures have riches hidden in them that are uncovered only by determined digging. If you come to this passage expecting to rake leaves, you will go away with a basketful of dead kindling. If you come to the passage with a shovel, pick and faith in God’s desire to speak, you will leave with precious pearls of truth and wisdom.
JOHN 17 #2 Eternally Safe
“The real qualities of leadership are to be found in those who are willing to suffer for the sake of objectives great enough to demand their wholehearted obedience.” J. Oswald Sanders
For you granted him authority over all people that he might give eternal life to all those you have given him. Now this is eternal life: that they may know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom you have sent. John 17:1-3
Most of us probably woke up this morning with no thoughts of being at war. We have a shopping list to make out, a lawn to mow, kids to cart to school, prospects to call and a house that needs serious attention. A challenging day perhaps, but no real danger lurks. Fighting the traffic, feeding the troops, finding the time- it is just another day of dealing with the normal challenges of living in the USA.
