John 17:1-26

Speaker 1: No. Thanks for that good special for us tonight. Thank you. Virals, if you have them. And turn to John chapter number 17. John. Chapter number 17. And before I have you stand to read and recognize just a couple of people. You know, last week the staff worked 60 plus hours to help put on vacation Bible School and. No. Nobody gets involved with ministry to get rich. At least they shouldn't, because it's a bad it's a bad financial investment if you're thinking you're going to get wealthy by being in the ministry. And so, you know, whether it's more than that myself, but the clearance for the charity, even as Leah as our children's director, all of these people, based on what they're investing and the amount of work and time that they spend here at the church, we do not compensate them. In accordance with that, they could all go and put they put the same amount of energy, effort and time into another job. They would all make a lot more money. And so I think it's good for us from time to time to recognize different ones for different special occasions. As I already confessed to you this morning, if you were here yesterday was for the Gerry's birthday and we did nothing. We actually made him show up here at the church at 530 to help us load up for the for the for the booth, for hogs and hot rods. And I know Brother Jerry hates having to come up in front of people. So, Brother Jerry, if you look in the front like Velcro flap of your Bible cover and we put a gift in there for you. And so anyways, we appreciate Brother Jerry and all that. He does a lot of things behind the scenes when a teenager who will go unnamed knocks down sound panels off the side of the church, Brother Jerry comes in to fix those things when messes are made. Brother Jerry swoops in. I told Michonne when he was gone for his daughter's wedding. It was a very difficult time for me. He's like a security blanket. I mean, he just is he's. He is reliable and hardworking and always has a good attitude. And so I really appreciate with Jerry and Spitzer. Happy birthday. Hope you can find something. To other people. I want to recognize first Ms.. I did not hide anything in your Bible, but it was about. It was springtime last year that I asked Ms.. Lee if she would consider taking on the position of children's director for our church. And of course, our children's ministry has been one of the driving forces in the growth that we've experienced here at the church. And Ms.. Leah has taken that and helped it reach a new level just with the volunteers that she's been able to recruit. The material that we're now being able to use in our children's ministry, some of the things that we've been reusing over time had gotten a little stale. And she did the research to get new programs in there. Obviously, she did a lot to help us get a want to go in again, which was a huge success last year and then this past week with Vacation Bible School just going so smoothly with with a ton of kids. When we heard that the daycare wasn't bringing the 50 to 60 kids that we thought they were going to, that they normally bring. I thought, okay, well, maybe we're going to have a little bit of a down year. Not in a bad way. Just less kids and sometimes less kids means a little bit easier time. And we ended up having over 300 kids on several days, which is more than I've had ever in a VBS that I've I've been a part of. And everything went so smoothly, seamlessly. We wanted to give you a little gift just to show our appreciation for all of your hard work with vacation Bible School. I asked Brother Matt, I said, What kind of place would Miss Leah like to go shopping at? And he said, Well, with as expensive as everything is, probably Wal Mart or maybe a gas station or something like that. But, you know, it's hopefully you can find something to spend that on. And then one other person this month, Larkspur, the Clarence, Miss Brittany has one year anniversary with us here at the Baptist Tabernacle. But Clarence and I were talking about the days leading up to camp last year, and I don't know if you remember this or not, but Brother Clarence was supposed to fly in on on Saturday at 5:00. Okay. Seems like plenty of time. You know, he's going to be here. He's going to do Sunday school with the teens, spend the afternoon with them, just, you know, kind of have a nice little get together powwow time before heading off to camp. And then one flight delay after another flight delay a flight cancelation next night. And I know Clarence is calling me at 1:00 in the morning. They are trapped in Dallas. Not a bad place to be trapped, to be trapped somewhere. But when you're trying to get to Tulsa, that's not very helpful. I can't remember. They said, maybe we can get you on a flight. 8:00, 10:00 the next morning. And we said that just isn't going to work. So we are renting a car and they drove up here all through the night. It was just a horrible, horrible time getting here. And they were here for Sunday night and went to camp the next morning. Thankfully, I think you've gotten a little bit more sleep, although I don't know, Teyonah, maybe it has kept you up just as much as the trip did. But if you guys have watched for the Clarence, you know that he does a lot of sports interaction with our teenagers. And you've seen him out there playing basketball and dodgeball and just interacting with them and not afraid to, you know, get sweaty and just really throw himself out there. And so really, Clarence, I don't know if you need new basketball shoes, but with as hard as you play, I think you might want to get some. I mean, these boys, you know, they're just getting more and more stronger. So you're going to have to keep up with them. But hopefully this will help you to get some some good new sports equipment, too, to keep up with these things. Clarence, we're glad to have you in Miss Britney here and excited to watch how God has grown your family and just the short time that you've been here and glad that you're taking our kids to camp tomorrow and excited to hear what the Lord will do in their hearts and hope that you'll be in prayer for them. Tonight, we're going to talk about prayer, and it's not specifically for camp, but I think there's some good application for us to see when it comes to praying for our kids as they go off to camp. And Brother Matt and Billy Clarence and I met this afternoon just to kind of rehearse some things and talk about the upcoming week and, you know, maybe some concerns and opportunities that we see. And it has the possibility to be a very, very good week. I asked both of the men, I said, do you foresee any kind of trouble you foresee any kind of problems with the group that's going? And they both said, no, I think we've got a really good group going. And so we're excited to see what God's going to do. The junior campers have maybe the best junior can't speaker in the country. I mean, it is going to be amazing for them. They don't even realize what a treat they're in for. And then the teens and think about every day spending time doing their devotions, they're with their counselor. These counselors are trained to to get to know these kids and help them with youth related issues. And in the services every every day, it's going to be a very special time. So this we're very excited for them to be able to go and we want to make sure that we're doing our part on this end to pray for them and support them from from home. Our brother Matt, I do believe we have a list on the welcome desk. If you would like to grab a list on your way out tonight, of all the names of the kids that are going that will be available so that you can pray for them by name as they're gone and pray for their parents as well. Right. I mean, you know, separation and all that, that can be a pretty big deal, especially the first couple of years that a kid goes to camp. All right. That's enough of me talking, John, 17, you should be there by now, I would hope. But let's all stand and we're going to read several verses together here tonight. John, Chapter 17, the Bible says. First of all, these words spake Jesus and lifted up his eyes to heaven and said, Father, the hours cup glorify thy son. That I Son also may glorify Thee. Thou hast given him power over all flesh, that he should give eternal life to as many as thou hast given him. This is life eternal. They might know the only true God and Jesus Christ who now has said, I have glorified thee on the Earth. I have finished the work which thou gave us me to do now. O Father glorified thou me with thine own self, with the glory which I had with you before the world was. I have manifested thy name unto the man. Which thou gave us me out of the world. Dying. They were. And thou gave us them. Me. And they have kept thy word. Now they have known that all things whatsoever thou has given me are of the four I have given unto them, the words which thou gave me, and they have received them and have known, surely, that I came out from the and they have believed that thou did sin me. I pray for them. I pray not for the world, but for them. Which now has given me for their thine and all minor thine and the iron ore mine. I am glorified in them now. I am no more in the world. But these are in the world. And I come to the Holy Father. Keep. Through thine own name. Those whom thou hast given me. That they may be one as we are. While I was with them in the world, I kept them in thy name. Those that thou gave us me I have kept in. None of them is lost. But the son of perdition that the Scripture might be fulfilled. And now come out to the these things I speak in the world that they might have my joy fulfilled in themselves. I've given them my word. The world has hated them because they are not of the world, even as I am not of the world. I pray not that thou should take them out of the world, but that thou should keep them from the evil. They are not of the world, even as I am not of the world. Sanctify them through thy truth. Thy word is truth as thou hast sent me into the world. Even so, have I also sent them into the world. And for their sakes, I sanctify myself that they also might be sanctified through the truth. Neither pray for these alone, for them also, which shall believe on me through their word that they all may be one as thou father art in me, and I envy that they also may be one in us, that the world may believe that now has sent me the glory which thou gave me. I have given them that they may be one, even as we are one I in them and thou in me. They may be made perfect in one, and that the world may know that Dow has sent me and has loved them as thou hast loved me, Father, I will that they also whom thou has given me, be with me where I am, that they may be hold my glory, which now has given me for thou loved me before the foundation of the world. O righteous father, the world hath not known thee. But I have known the these have known that thou hast sent me. I have declared unto them thy name and will declare it as the love wherewith thou hast loved me. May be in them and I in them. Let's pray, Lord, help us now, as you look into your word, I pray that you give me the word. You have me and say you help the folks that are here to listen and apply with you here to their lives. It's in Jesus name, I pray. Amen. Thank you very much. You may be seated. So obviously, if you're familiar with this passage, you understand that this is the high priestly prayer of Jesus. This is a really awesome scripture when you compare it to something like what we've looked at on Sunday mornings with the disciples prayer or the model prayer where Jesus tells us how we should pray. And then if you really want to say the Lord's Prayer, this would be the Lord's Prayer. These are the prayer requests that Jesus has or had moments or just, you know, a small span of time before he would leave the Earth, before he would be crucified, and his work on Earth would be done. I don't know about you, but I can't imagine being in the vicinity to hear Jesus pray these things about me. I mean, if you were listening as we were reading you, you heard Jesus many times pray for his disciples and how moving it must have been. I know it's it's it's a special thing when you're praying with someone in that person, a prayer partner starts to pray for you in particular in that kind of cool when you hear someone else going to God with your name on their lips. That's a really neat thing. It's good for our children to hear us, pray to God for them. I mean, I'm sure you had your private prayer time, but have some public prayer time with your children so that they can hear you praying to God for them. The same is true if you have a spouse to pray together and to hear, to have your spouse hear, you bring their name before the Lord to thank God for you, to pray for you. That's that's a special thing. Now, as you may have already been, you may already be thinking, this is not us listening in on on someone else's prayer for them. But Jesus actually does pray for us specifically in this prayer of his that's recorded in Scripture. You and I were on his mind when he prayed this prayer, and there's some application for us, specifically in the prayer request of Jesus here. Now, I want you to try to imagine with me that we are in the vicinity, maybe even into the place where where Jesus is going to pray these words. And I want you to look at verse number one and notice the descriptive terminology that John uses to describe Jesus posture as he begins to pray. The Bible says that Jesus lifted up his eyes to heaven. Now, all of you boys and girls that are in Sunday school, whenever your teacher leads you in prayer, what do they tell you to do? Buy your head and close your eyes. Right. Here's Jesus in the posture that he takes as his brain is lifting up his eyes to heaven. Guys in the back. I didn't even notice this till now, but I just looked up to heaven. I notice there's no light coming down, so it gives you the spotlight stakes. All right. Anyways, so Jesus loves his eyes to heaven. He's looking up to heaven, looking to the father, speaking to him not just on our behalf, but he even prays for himself. And Jesus has one request for himself that he repeats from verse one to verse number five, and that is that the father would glorify him, that the father would glorify the son. This is a direct reference, I believe, to the cross. We know this because in verse number two, the Bible states that the glory of Jesus is directly related to His ability to give eternal life. How did Jesus provide for the eternal life of all of men? Through his death on the cross and his resurrection. What does that say about Jesus when we see that his glory is tied to his death? It's a pretty interesting fact of his life that the way he was promoted, the way he was magnified, was by being abased. And if we think that we're going to be glorified or magnified any other way besides the way that Jesus was, then we're sorely mistaken. Jesus wanted to be glorified by the Father. He specifically talks about in verse number five, he says, Now of Father, glorify thou me with thine own self, with the glory which I had with the before the world was. You see, Jesus, when he came to the Earth, He set aside much of the glory He enjoyed in heaven. He set aside voluntarily some of the perks of his deity. We've talked about the limitations that Jesus accepted for himself when he became a man. He accepted the limitation of needing to eat, needing to sleep. Before this. God never needed to sleep. But Jesus got tired and needed to sleep. We see him being limited in his location. God is omnipresent, but Jesus, as He was here on the earth, he was limited to being in one place at one time. God moves from that as can move from Nazareth to Jerusalem. In a moment, Jesus chose to walk. And so He says, Lord, my work here is just about done. And as I prepare to return to you, I pray that you would give me the glory that I had with you from the beginning. You know, this week we're praying that God would be glorified in the hearts and minds of our young people. There are going to be some young people that are going to be at camp, maybe some in our group, definitely some in the other groups who need to understand the glory of Jesus Christ as it applies to his death, burial and resurrection. Would you pray this week that Jesus would be glorified in the eyes of our young people? Pray that He would be glorified and if they need to get saved, that this week they would get saved. Wouldn't it be great if 14 young people saved a vacation Bible school? If we added to that number with some of those that go to camp. Pray that Jesus would be glorified. It's what he prayed for himself. But then Jesus also prayed for His disciples in verses six through 19, in verses six through 15. He praised that his disciples would be kept alive. Some are six. The Bible says, I've manifested thy name into the men, which thou gives me out of the world. Thine they were and thou gave us their me. And they have kept thy word. The disciples were those who had kept God's word. This absolutely fits in with what we've been talking about it. The Sermon on the Mount. Jesus is talking about if you are my disciple, these are some of the marks that will be present. These are some of the things that you are going to keep in your life, because the disciples had kept the Word of God. This made them distinct from the world they had received and believed. The teachings of Jesus and the teachings of Jesus, of course, are the teachings of God. But they are contrary to the teachings of the world. You just think about the things we've been talking about the last couple of weeks, most of them. A lot of people, when they they give charitably, they're doing it so they can be seen. Okay. This is a little cynical of me, but I read an article once and maybe this will be helpful for you. Have you ever been at the register checking out? And they say, would you like to give? A dollar to such and such cause. Would you like to round up. You know what they're doing. They're getting you to pay for their charitable donations. They're going to give that money to charity no matter what. But if they can get you to pay for it, then that's less money that comes out of their bottom line. I know that's a cynical way to think, but that's the fact of it. They need the tax break and so they have to give a certain amount to charity. If they can get you to cover the cost of their charitable giving, double thumbs up for them. But what do you think about them when you see that sticker or that sign that says we're helping this group or we're helping this group? Oh, look at them. They're really doing a lot for other people. So much of the world's charity is to be seen as so much of the world's religious expression is to be seen. Disciple of Jesus Christ. Our religious expression is supposed to be different. If we're going to keep his word from me disciples, we're going to be distinct from the world. You think about the priorities that we've talked about the last two weeks when it comes to our our investments and our focus on life, laying off treasures in heaven, not on earth. That is that's totally different and foreign to what the world promotes, because the world says, get all you can while you're here. Live life to the fullest. Find pleasure. The disciples of Jesus. They no longer belong to the world. They belong to God. And so their lives should look different. God. Jesus prays for those that are His disciples. If you look at verse number 11, Jesus knows that there will be a change that will take place in His disciples when He leaves the Earth. I mean, think about this. How lucky, how fortunate, how blessed were the 12, you know, following Jesus for them meant literally following him around. You know, I mean, have you ever thought, you know, this Christian life would be a whole lot easier if Jesus was, like, right here and I could just follow him physically? And if Jesus went to church and I went to church, and if Jesus went to go visit these people, I would go visit these people. Wherever Jesus went, I went. I mean, that was their reality for much of the those three years that they were with him, following him and physically following him. What happens when he leaves? What happens when he goes back to have. Jesus knows that there is going to be a change that is coming in their relationship with him. And with Jesus gone back to heaven. His request to the Father is that God, the father would keep those who had kept his word. He says, verse over 12 While I was with them in the world, I kept them. I have kept it. None of them is lost. Version of 13. Now I come to the verse 14. They are not of the world. Verse 15. I pray that thou should just keep them from the evil. And so God or Jesus is praying that God would keep His disciples. The word keep means to send a watch on something, to guard it, make sure nobody comes and steals it or defiles the thing that is precious to you. This is it. This is what the disciples had done with Jesus's words. They had kept his words. They had observed them. They wanted to know more about them. They were trying to hold them in their hearts. So that's what Jesus prays his father would do for them. How much do you know about the futures of the disciples after Jesus left? They didn't grow old and retire. Most of the disciples died. Pretty gruesome deaths. Maybe you would look at that and say, why doesn't that mean God failed to answer Jesus request to keep them? Well, that's that's only true if Jesus was praying for God to keep them from physical harm. But that's not what Jesus prayed for. Jesus prayed that God would keep them from the evil. And if you look at verses 12 through 16, it is clear that Jesus is asking for a different kind of protection from just physical protection. While Jesus was with them, he kept them in the father's name. But once he's gone, he wants the father to keep them in his word. And in version or 15. It is clear to us, as he said, he doesn't want God to protect them from the world. Instead, he wants God to protect them from the evil. This is the evil of betraying the things he had taught them. This week. Part of our prayers that Jesus would be glorified in the eyes of our young people. This week, part of our prayer is that God's word would be further implanted in the hearts of our young people. That it would keep them from sin, that they would hide God's word in their heart, and that God would use the things that they're going to learn this week to keep them from turning their backs on the things that you as their parent, have been trying to instill in them their whole life. Pray that God would keep our young people from evil. Versus 16 to 19. Jesus also praised his disciples would be sanctified. They're not of the world, even as I am not of the world. Sanctify them through thy truth. Thy word is truth. Thou hast sent me into the world even. So have I also sent them into the world. And for their sake sakes, I sanctify myself that they also might be sanctified through the truth. If something is sanctified, it means simply that it is set apart. According to Jesus, the disciples would be set apart by the Word of God. They'd be sanctified by the Word of God. And this is why it's so important for them not to abandon the things they've been taught. The disciples were to be set apart and sent into a world that hated them. Just as Jesus had been set apart for a purpose. The disciples were also sanctified for a purpose. Jesus accomplish that purpose for which He was set apart when he died on the cross. This Act gives meaning to the disciples mission. In our Sunday school class, we're talking about the mission of God and how many distractions there are from God's mission, especially for us as Americans who are inundated with materialism and the offerings of the world that is around us. What we want, our young people I'm not going to apologize to you for saying this, but what we want as a church for the young people of this church is to see that their number one purpose in life is their relationship and devotion to God. And that relationship with God, that devotion to God is inseparable from His mission for their lives, which goes back to the cross. It is for them to experience not just at the moment of salvation, but for all of their lives. The Gospel of Jesus applied to their life and that they would then share that message with anyone that comes in their path. They all have different spheres of influence. Some of them are in band, some of them are involved with gaming. Some of them are involved in sports. Some of them are involved in a job they've got offered to and opportunity to share the gospel. And we want them to be set apart for that purpose. Finally, in verse number 20, Jesus prays for all the believers, is specific in who He has in mind for this request. It's those that he says would believe on him based on the testimony of the 11. We know Judas would take his own life and it would be the 11 who would move forward into those early days of church history. He says, I pray not for these alone or for them also, which shall believe on me through their word. John is one of the 11. John is there listening to Jesus pray. This John would then go on to write the book that we're reading right now and how many thousands and millions of people have received as their first introduction to the Bible, John and Romans. They come to know Jesus because of the words, the teaching that John recorded, and they get saved based on the testimony of one of the 11. You and I are still benefiting from the testimonies of the 11. Jesus is praying for you and me and every other Christian that has ever gotten saved since Jesus went back to Heaven. What does He want for them? Well, it's pretty clear because he reiterates it over and over again in these verses. But he wants for them to be unified. Verse 21 that they may that they all may be one as the father are in me and I in the they may also be one in us that the world may believe that thou hast sent me. Jesus's desire was that his followers would be one, just as he and his father were. What unity can occur when certain conditions are met. One is that believers would be sanctified, set apart from the world to God. Number two Unity can occur when disciples are keeping the word, when they're observing to do what God has commanded them to do. And then thirdly, unity can occur when our purpose is to glorify Jesus. We are glorifying the Son. We are keeping His Word, and we are set apart for a mission. There can be unity. I believe Jesus sees this as a request with still future fulfillment. Look in verse number 24, he says, Father, I will. They also, whom now has given me, be with me where I am, that they may be hold my glory, which now has given me for thou loved me before the Foundations of the World. Verse number 24 references an event which is still to come. Unity can still be experienced by believers on this earth. We look forward to the day when there will be true unity between all believers. By praying this prayer, Jesus reveals his desires for the disciples by openly praying for specific requests in their presence. We pray this week that our young people would be united, that they would be unified with one another. We talked a little bit about it in our meeting. We would avoid drama. You think adults are the only ones to have drama? You should hear some of the drama that takes place in youth groups. I mean is. Dramatic drama. We don't want that. We don't want kids getting invites. We don't want kids stirring up trouble, getting others into trouble. We want our youth group to be united together in their their desire to serve the Lord. Peer pressure works both ways. It can be a negative influence or it can be a positive influence. And when they're united in their desire to be sanctified, to keep God's word and to glorify Jesus Christ, then it can be a positive peer pressure on everyone. John 17, is an extremely helpful passage for us today. Believers can learn about what is important to Jesus by studying his prayer requests. It's pretty neat that God recorded this for us. People of our church don't have to wonder about what is important to Jesus, because he's made it clear in these requests that we've looked at tonight unity, sanctification, keeping his word and glorification of his son. If those things are important and precious to Jesus, shouldn't they be that to us? If those are the things that Jesus is going to pray for and record for all the history that's occurred since that moment, shouldn't it be important for us as well that we would pray some of these same things in a variety of of of situations, but specifically this week as our kids head off to camp. That Jesus would be glorified in their eyes. That His Word would be kept in their hearts. That they would be sanctified. Set apart for his purpose in their life. That they would be united. Unified together with each other, with their adult workers, men. You know, everybody be on the same page. These are some things that we can pray for this week. And if we'll do that, we'll come to the Lord as a church family, lifting up these kids, these young men, young ladies before him. Then I have no doubt that we'll be praying and we can say, Lord, if it be thy will and know full well it is His will. We can say in Jesus name, I ask these things because these are the same things that Jesus asked for. We can know that God will be at work in the lives of our young people. Will you do that for them this week? You pray for them. Commit to pray for them this week. Is there a way? There's many things that we could pray for, but I think these are a good start. And those names are sitting out there on the welcome desk for you to grab on your way out. But let's pray at this time, and maybe you would use this opportunity to pray even now for the kids that are going to camp, that God would be at work in their lives. But imagine you come as a solution. You come and let's have the time of invitation. Let's all send their family. Father, we thank you for this day. Thank you for. The opportunity we have as a church to send kids to a camp or thank you for those who have sacrificed, donated. For it to be possible for these kids to make this trip. To go and spend a week away from many of the distractions that pull up their attention on a regular basis. Or Thank you for or Matt and Clarence and their willingness to to take them and go on this trip together and to invest in their lives while they're there. Lord, I praise you, bless them. Thank you for the parents, Lord, that have made the decision to try to make this a priority in their summer schedule. Lord, I pray that the investment in the hours would not be for naught. Lord, you would give us a good return on these investments that these young people would come back glorifying you with their lives through the keeping of your word, through the sanctification being set apart for your purpose, or in the unity that you can develop within them. God, we ask for your will to be done, and it's in Jesus name. We ask these things. Amen,

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