The High Priestly Prayer (Part Three)
Text: John 17:20-26
We’re finishing up John 17 this morning, and we’ll be looking at the last section of Jesus’ High Priestly Prayer. And just to re-cap… in verses 1 – 5, Jesus prayed for Himself… He prayed that the Father would glorify Him, so that He could in turn, glorify the Father. And if you remember – in those verses, Jesus tells us that eternal life is knowing God. If a person doesn’t know God in this relational way, they can’t claim eternal life.
The Jesus prayed for the 11 Disciples, and for us by extension… He talked about how He had given them the Word, and as a result of that, they came to know the truth and believe. And He prayed specifically for their perseverance in the faith, that they would have joy in knowing Him and knowing the Father, and for their protection from the evil one, and finally that they would be sanctified in the truth.
And that brings us to our text this morning. John 17:20-26. If you would, please take your Bibles and follow along as I read to you the Word of the Lord. (READ TEXT).
So when Jesus says in verse 20, “I do not ask for these only, but also for those who will believe in Me through their Word…”. He’s talking about us… so what He has prayed for the 11 disciples He is also praying for us. So perseverance, joy, protection, and sanctification are all things that Jesus want’s for His Church. He has included us in this request. But then He goes on… look at verse 21 again (READ)
So, He wants us to persevere, He wants us to have joy, He wants us protected and sanctified, SO THAT we can be ONE – Just as He and the Father are ONE.
Now a lot of folks talk about “unity”, but we need to ask the question, “What kind of unity does Jesus have in mind here?” Well, He actually tells us in that verse we just read. The Father and Son are One… They are of one mind, one accord, one goal, one ministry, one purpose, everything they do works together for a shared, common, purpose and goal. They are not opposed to one another, they are not at odds with each other. Think about it for a second…
Salvation was planned in eternity past, before God ever created man in His image, He had a plan to redeem fallen man. I once heard an old time preacher say it like this, God the Father “thought it”, God the Son “bought it”, and God the Holy Spirit “brought it”. All working in unison, doing what needed to be done in order to accomplish their one goal.
To be one means we think about things the way God thinks about them, not the way the world does. To love the way God loves, not the way the world loves. To live our lives the way Jesus lived while on earth, not the way the world does. To pursue the things God desires for us, not the things our flesh desires. It means to love truth. To hate sin. To love one another as He has loved us. To desire what He desires. I could go on and on, but I think you get the picture.
And in order for that to happen, we need to persevere in the faith… if you go out from us, you show that you are not of us – that’s what the Bible says… A person who goes out from Christ, is not part of Christ – is not ONE with Christ, or God the Father. We need joy, because again, without the joy the Lord, this world will drive you into suicidal depression. It will drive you to despair. It will drive you to selfish hedonism. To a point of hopeless apathy, where all you’re concerned about is getting whatever you can – as much as you can, in the time you’ve got. This is the mindset behind that bumper sticker that says, “He who dies with the most toys – wins!” Well… not according to the Bible I’m reading.
Now let me take this a little further if I can… 1 Corinthians 12:12-13 says, “For just as the Body is one and has many members, and all the members of the Body, though many, are ONE BODY. So it is with Christ. For in one Spirit we were all baptized into one Body – Jews or Greeks, slaves or free – and all were made to drink of one Spirit.”
Now you all have heard me talk about this when we’ve done water baptism… Water baptism is an outward picture of this reality. It’s the Holy Spirit who baptizes us into Christ, the minute we get saved. He takes us and unites us to Jesus! Immerses us into Jesus. And since we are in Christ… You’re in Christ, I’m in Christ, the person sitting next to you is in Christ… Every believer… since we are in Christ, we are also joined to one another.
You are joined to me, and I am joined to you – IN CHRIST!
We all share the same life – BECAUSE we have been raised up to newness of life in Him!
Now I’ll be honest with you. When I was a younger Christian, this bothered me some… because there were some in the Body of Christ who are easy to get along with, and then are some who aren’t as easy to get along with. I mean, there are some folks who will say to you, “I’m a Christian.” And you want to reply back to them, “Well tell that to your attitude.” Right?!! But the thing is, if that person has truly been saved by the grace of God, through faith in Jesus Christ, they are your brother or sister in Christ. Now of course I’m not talking about just some person who makes a profession and claims to be a Christian… We know them by their fruit right? But the person who gives evidence to having genuine saving faith, and yet at the same time, they are contrary, or had to deal with. We gotta’ love them. But here’s what gets them… they gotta love you too. That’s one of the many ways that Jesus transforms us.
Now we actually see this displayed in the Book of Acts. Acts tells us that these early believers had all things in common. They were all of one accord. They were all on the same page as far as their mission, their goals, their purpose. They gathered faithfully to hear the teaching and preaching of the Apostles. They gave out of love for God and love for their brothers and sisters in Christ. They served God and the Church willingly and happily. And as they went, they made disciples, and the Lord added to their numbers day by day.
So, what do you do if you’re the devil and you’re seeing this?
You go, “Man, I’ve got to get these Christians to start disagreeing. I’ve got to get them to major on the minors and focus on other things. I’ve got to get them to be more concerned with their own comfort and ease than the souls of all the lost around them.” And how does he do those things? He lies and he persecutes. He distracts us with worldly things, and condemns us when we fail to try to get us so inwardly focused, we forget that it was never about our performance in the first place. Jesus did it all! He gets us so busy that we stop gathering with the Body of Christ, that we stop hearing and reading the Word of God. And he sends in false teachers, who say things like, “It’s not about ‘knowing’ God. It’s not about ‘knowing’ Jesus and living as He lived. It’s not about being on the same page, hating sin, loving the truth, denying yourself and making disciples… Oh, no, no, no… It’s about you! It’s about your wants, and desires, and comforts, and living your best life now.”
No… Let me just tell you church – IT’S ALL ABOUT JESUS!
Now look at what Jesus says in the last part of verse 23… He wants us to be One… The Father in Him, and He in us – SO THAT – the world may know that God sent Jesus and loves us, even as He loves Jesus. Now that sounds an awful lot like what John said all the way back in Chapter 13 verse 35… John 13:35, “By this all people will know that you are My disciples if you have love for one another.”
And again, we have to take all that the Bible teaches on this as our context. This isn’t blanket tolerance that claims to be love. This is sacrificial love that calls sinners to repent. It’s not just spiritual unity, but a unity that can be seen by the world. So this is a genuine love for God and Jesus and for one another, and it’s unity in the faith and in the truth.
The Bible is very, very clear on this. For what fellowship has light with darkness? How can two walk together if they are not agreed? Don’t be unequally yoked. That’s not just talking about marriage.
Now that’s not saying that as followers of Jesus we can only buy Christian products, and listen to Christian music, and only watch Christian movies. What IT IS SAYING is that those outside of the Christian faith are not given the same benefits as those inside. There were those inside the ark, and those outside. There were those in the Covenant community, and those outside of the camp. There’s the way you love your spouse, and the way you love everyone else… and we are the Bride of Christ.
Now Jesus goes on and says, “But I also desire that they be with Me, where I am, and that we would see His glory.” That’s the eternal state of the believer.
I love what R.C. Sproul says about this. He says, “Jesus does not request temporal prosperity for either the disciples or the Church; rather He prays for holiness and unity on earth, and for the gathering of His saints in heaven. To be with Christ is the supreme yearning of the Christian.”
So, let’s bring this to the practical application. There’s a lot here.
We are to be unified in Christ. Meaning we who are saved and who are in Christ. There is no call for unity with the world. We are to be unified in the truth. Which presupposes that we know the truth. That we see and understand the truth. And we are to have a Christ-like love for one another.
And as those things exhibit themselves in us more and more, the world around us takes notice of that… even though they don’t have those things – because they don’t know Christ, they don’t know the truth, and they don’t have the love of Christ shed abroad in their hearts, they still take notice and realize that whatever it is that we have is real! It’s genuine! They look at you and say, “There is something about this person.” “There’s something about that church.” “Fair View Fellowship… Oh they’re legit! They’re genuine! They’re the real deal. They aren’t just playing at ‘Church’… they ARE the Church. They aren’t going through the motions, doing what every other local church in the area does… Because when they leave that building on Sunday, they still actually care about following Jesus, and living for Jesus, and showing Jesus to a lost and dying world. That’s a church that actually believes Jesus’ words and teachings. That’s a church that says, “Hey the way is open, but it is narrow – and broad is the way that leads to destruction.”
So if you’re hearing me this morning, sitting in your pew, or watching online. And you’re thinking “Boy I want to go to a church that is run like a small business, and where the pastor is like a CEO… I want to go to a church where they don’t get to theologically deep or challenge my presuppositions… one that lets me feel like I’m ok with God, even though I’ve never repent of my sin. One that lets me check some religious box and say, ‘I’ve done my religious duty for the week.’ One that really just wants me filling a pew and sending in a check.” This is not the place for you. Because here at Fair View, we are striving to be Biblical. A Biblical, Christ following, Christ honoring church.
Why? Because we love Jesus! And because we understand that Jesus says, “when you do it My way, it makes a real impact on the culture around you.” You do it the world’s way, and then you’ve got to pull in a lot of money so you can provide quality entertainment to match the level of the expenditure that the world does… otherwise, you’re not going to draw the crowds.”
And so, let me just break all of this down into one simple, yet profound truth. Jesus loves me – this I know… for the Bible (right here in John 17) tells me so. If you are in Christ, you are loved, and you are to love. You are loved by the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit, and the Church. And you are to love those back, with the same love, with which you are loved by them.
Hope that makes sense…
Let’s Close.
