October 29, 2003
Title: The Time Has Come...To Pray #4
Text: John 17:6
Introduction
1. As we look on, with those early disciples, we have a wonderful opportunity to observe Jesus as He is praying to His Father.
We have seen how He approaches His Father with such ease...
which only comes through regular, habitual time spent with the Father.
Him pray for Himself...
not selfishly, but so that He might give glory to God...
and as we watch and listen to Jesus as He is praying...
it encourages us to have that same type of relationship with God OUR Father.
And that relationship...just like it did for Jesus...only comes through regular, daily time spent with our Father.
2. In this next section in our study of the Lord’s Prayer...
we see that Jesus turns His attention to praying for His disciples.
and I would like to draw your attention to just the first verse in this section for tonight’s study.
Read Text: John 17:6
Body
1. In verse 6, Jesus said, "I have revealed You"
A. Jesus has revealed God the Father to His disciples.
Other versions say
I have shown them what you are like. CEV
I spelled out your character in detail MSG
I have made Your Name known" ALT
I have manifested Your Name" KJV
The word for "revealed" or "manifested" means "to make known by word of mouth".
Jesus revealed God to the disciples with His words...and His teachings.
Through His miracles
through His life...
B. In the Jewish religion, God’s Name is so important and holy, that they wouldn’t even pronounce the word "Yahweh" or "God" in their worship.
In fact, in Jewish writings even today, you will see the word "God" spelled out G-d.
But when Jesus came, He revealed God...
He made God known to those early disciples in a much more intimate way...
In the process, God didn’t lose any of His holiness...
The disciples still retain their awe and humility before All Powerful God...
But it adds a new dimension to the relationship...
An intimacy...
an approachableness...
a familiarity...
Yes, God is still God...and that commands our deepest respect...
But God is also Father...which means we still have great respect for Him...
but we also can draw near to Him...
we can call Him "Abba Father"...
We can call Him "Daddy"
Yes, God can still discipline us...
He may need to "take us to the woodshed" to use a phrase from earlier days...
but we can also run and jump into His arms...
and receive His love and fellowship in an intimate way.
All of this occurred because Jesus came and revealed God to the disciples.
C. This is important to us on several levels...
1. First of all, Jesus not only revealed God to those early disciples...
But He reveals God to us in the same way...
through His teachings...
through His words...
through His miracles...
all recorded right here in our Bible...
This contains everything we need in order to know God...
It contains everything we need to find salvation...
and to come to that intimate relationship with Holy God.
2. On another level, Jesus is an example for us to follow.
We too, need to reveal God to others...
How do we do that?
Through our words...
through our example...
they way we live...
a couple weeks ago, we talked about that "ease of access"...
how we could tell that Jesus was close to His Father, just by hearing this prayer...
In the same way, people can tell when WE are close to God...
there is something special about that person...
a countenance...
a glow...
and you can just tell that they love the Lord.
3. I remember when Kay and I were dating...
not everyone in her family approved of me...
and it was stressful sometimes...
because we really loved each other...
and were planning to get married.
I will never forget Kay’s Grandmother...
she was always so supportive...
not only to us...
but to the other family members on our behalf...
and the reason she was so supportive was she said that I "had a nice countenance".
And I have never forgotten that compliment...
nor her support.
It means so much to me even today...
perhaps even more, since she passed away 8 years ago.
4. Through our time spent with God...
we can reveal God to others...
We can do it through our countenance...
through our deeds, our "acts of righteousness"
As St. Francis of Assisi put it eight centuries ago: "Preach the Gospel all the time; if necessary, use words"
And you can certainly preach the gospel through your actions...
and your countenance...
but sometimes, we need to use the words...
sometimes we need to share the story...
the story of what God has done for us...
and the difference that God has made for our lives.
2. Jesus said, "I have revealed you to those WHOM YOU GAVE ME"
A. In this phrase, I see the divine initiative...
We don’t come to God on our own...
under our own initiative...
by a decision of the mind.
We only come to Christ because of God’s initiative...
the doctrinal word for that is "prevenient grace"
"grace that goes before"
before we are aware of God’s activity in our lives...
He is reaching out for us...
speaking to our hearts...
and we don’t even realize it.
In John 6:44, Jesus says, "No one can come to me unless the Father who sent me draws him"
B. I also see God’s plan in action...
and the divinity of Christ...
God isn’t going to entrust His worshipers to some crazy nut who claims to be God’s Son...
He is going to give them to His Son...
And His Son is going to take them...
and teach them...
and disciple them...
and those early disciples are going to be the catalyst of the Christian Church.
3. Jesus also said, "I have revealed those whom you gave me OUT OF THE WORLD"
A. We cannot embrace the world and Christ at the same time...
This is perhaps the biggest problem in Christianity today...
we have become too much like the world...
A Christian should be different...
a Christian should be better...
When we come to Christ, we can’t always be looking back over our shoulder at the world with a longing in our heart...
B. that’s what Lot’s wife did...
she looked back to Sodom and Gomorrah, in contradiction to God’s command...
and she was turned in to a pillar of salt.
Scripture says, "remember Lot’s wife"
Don’t look back...
Embrace Christ...not the world...
you cannot try to hold on to both...
if you do, you will fail.
It’s like the guy who is standing on the pier...
he’s got one foot on the pier...
and one foot in the boat...
he better chose one or the other pretty quick...
or he’s going to be taking an unwanted bath!
C. But, this doesn’t mean that we move out of the world into a monastery...
the disciples came out of the world to follow Christ...
but they still interacted with the world...
they went to town...
they preached the gospel...
they ministered to the hurting.
4. Jesus said, "I have revealed you to those whom you gave me out of the word. They were yours; you gave them to me AND THEY HAVE OBEYED YOUR WORD"
A. Obedience is the key!
Christ showed us this by personal example...
we studied last week, John 17:4, where Jesus said, "I have brought you glory on earth BY COMPLETING THE WORK YOU GAVE ME TO DO"
Christ did what God wanted Him to do.
And now that Christ has revealed God to us...
we too need to be obedient...
we need to complete the work that God gives us to do.
We need to obey the word of the Lord.
B. Have you ever seen a highly trained dog?
perhaps one of those that have been trained to lead someone who is blind?
We are amazed at the level of obedience of a highly trained animal.
I guess the thing that amazes us is that we know that it isn’t in the animal’s nature to be obedient.
Now, I’m not trying to say that we are all dogs!!
but the application is the same...
it is not in our nature to be obedient...
we are more likely to do what WE want...
instead of what GOD wants.
I don’t know if you have ever seen someone that you knew was totally sold out to God...
and they would always obey God...
and do whatever God called on them to do...
even if it meant placing them in an uncomfortable situation.
The reason that we see obedience (in dogs OR in Christians) as amazing...
is because we don’t often see it.
We don’t often see dogs being highly obedient...
in fact, we usually see them acting completely opposite...
very DISOBEDIENT...
and my fear is that the same problem exists for the Christian.
The reason that we are so moved by a highly obedient Christian ...
is because we see so few Christians who will do whatever God wants them to do,
irregardless of the cost to them personally.
Conclusion
1. Here in the Lord’s prayer...
we see Jesus begin to pray for His disciples...
He indicates that He has revealed God to His followers...
just as we are to reveal God to others...
He indicates that we are unable to come to God on our own...
but it is only through that prevenient grace...
God reaching out for us...
that we come to know Him...
And He calls us to turn from the world and embrace Christ...
For the true Christian, there is no looking back once we get saved.
And we need to follow in complete obedience.
