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The Lord’s Prayer – 2

Sermon by  Thomas Thornhill Jr

Passage: John 17:6-19

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TEACHINGS OF Jesus (65)

In our last lesson on the life of Jesus, we began examining what I refer to as “The Lord’s Prayer”, for truly this was His prayer.  This prayer consists of 3 parts: 1) Jesus prayed for Himself; 2) He prayed for His apostles; 3) Jesus prayed for all who believe.  In our last lesson, we noted the prayer of Jesus concerning Himself (which in itself was selfless) – as He glorified the Father and had finished the work He had given Him to do.  Now, we want to examine His prayer on behalf of His apostles.

 

1. Be with My apostles
   1. He had manifested God’s name to these men… (6-7)
      1. The word manifested is a word that means to reveal, clearly and in detail. Recall that in our last lesson we addressed knowing the Father.  That is not something that occurs casually.  It requires effort.  In this, I see Jesus declaring that He has trained these men the best He could to prepare them for what was ahead.
      2. They have kept God’s word – these men have been obedient and demonstrated their ability to serve in their designated capacity.
         1. We know that we have a need to keep His word. It is not enough to simply profess knowledge.  It is something to be possessed – John 8:31, If you abide in My words, you are My disciples indeed. Provers 23:23 – buy the truth and sell it not; also wisdom, instruction and understanding.    1 Thessalonians 5:21 speaks of testing all things and holding fast to what is good.
         2. Consider leaders in scripture – they need to be of a quality that shows they can keep His word – holding fast faithful word – Titus 1:9 (of elders); 1 Timothy 4:16 (of preachers), etc.
      3. They know all things given Me are from You (7-8) – they knew who Jesus was (cf. Matthew 16:16-17, John 6:68-69) and they had received Him and His words.
      4. What are we doing to manifest God’s name to others?
2. Jesus prays for their protection (9-19) – that they overcome the world
   1. I pray for them (9-10) – Jesus prayed for His apostles.
      1. We need to pray for one another – James 5:16. We need to pray for our spiritual leaders.
      2. I do not pray for the world – Jesus’ prayer for His disciples is different than the world – clearly Jesus prayed for all mankind, and so should we (1 Timothy 2:1-3)
      3. But, those who belong to God have special standing and relationship – we are His citizens.
      4. Worthy of note, the word “world” is found 19 times in this prayer, showing the concern of Jesus for His disciples in this world. We know that this world is hostile to our faith, even in societies that are not antagonistic to truth.  For therein, Satan is still at work trying to tempt us and turn us away from God, and he uses every worldly means he can – cf. 1 John 2:15-17.
   2. Jesus was and would be glorified in them (10)
      1. Jesus notes that all He has belongs to God and all God has belongs to Him (equality).
      2. There is discussion about whether Jesus is here speaking of His disciples (NKJV, contextually) or everything in the world (CEV, NASB). Both are true statements.  (John 6:39, 10:29 – the Father had given them His apostles (and disciples); Colossians 1:18 – in all things He has preeminence, 1:15-16 – He is the firstborn over all creation…)
      3. He is glorified in them. As we have been noting, both this world and His disciples glorify Him.
   3. They remain in the world (11)
      1. Jesus declares that He is about to leave this world (and He has tried to prepare his apostles and disciples for this).
      2. Jesus realizes they will stay behind in a world that is often hostile to them. NOTE the concern Jesus has, for them and for us.  We are again reminded that He is our advocate and intercessor (1 John 2:1-2).
      3. He prayed that the Father keep them through His name –
         1. Obviously, the idea of keeping them is preservation. It is to cause to remain.  It is always the desire of our Lord that we remain faithful (Revelation 2:10, Hebrews 4:14-we hold our confidence fast to the end.
         2. All but one had remained (12) – Judas Iscariot being the exception (Psalm 41:9).
         3. Jesus prays for their joy when He is gone (13). He had addressed that in John 15:11.   We are to have joy in Christ – Philippians 4:4
            1. That joy is found when we consider the blessings we have in Him.
            2. That joy is found as we anticipate being in His presence – John 16:20-22 – when Jesus promised they would see Him again, their sorrow would be turned to joy.
            3. We rejoice that we are found worthy to suffer with/for Him – Acts 5:41, 1 Peter 4:12 -13
            4. We rejoice because our names are written in heaven – Luke 10:20
            5. We rejoice because we will be with our brethren at that time, regardless of what happens in this life – 1 Thessalonians 2:19
         4. They are not of the world (14) and hated by the world –
            1. Here is our stark reminder that we are living in a world that often acts contrary to God’s truth. And those who follow Him may experience that hatred.
            2. In Jesus saying this we are again reminded that here we are but pilgrims and sojourners – Hebrews 11:13, Philippians 3:20 – our citizenship is in heaven.
            3. Furthermore, this is the reminder of how the life of a Christian is different. We have to be different in every way.
            4. Jesus would continue this in the next verse.
      4. Keep them from the evil one (15)
         1. I do not pray that you should take them out of the world – this is a clear reminder to us that we are not called upon to live in isolation. Instead, we are to work to make the world around us better by winning others to Him – this is what letting our lights shine is about.  Philippians 2:15. The world does NOT need us out of the world!  (NOTE: Think about that considering what premillennialism teaches).
         2. Keep them from the evil one – we NEED the strength of God to help us overcome Satan.
            1. Matthew 6:13 – something we are to be praying for. This is not dismissing our part.
            2. 1 John 5:18 – we keep ourselves and thus the wicked one does not touch us.
         3. Sanctify them by Your truth (17)
            1. Sanctification- means to be holy or set apart. Obviously, our ultimate goal is to be set apart BY God.  That is the prayer of Jesus.   1 Corinthians 6:11, such were some of you, but you were sanctified…
            2. But being sanctified by Him calls for us to sanctify ourselves TO God – 1 Peter 3:15. 1 John 3:3 – everyone who has this hope purifies Himself.
            3. Hebrews 2:11 – when He sanctifies us and we sanctify Him, He is not ashamed to call us brethren.
            4. Word is truth – the word of God is that which can set us apart. Ephesians 1:13 speaks of “the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation.”  Acts 20:32 Paul commended them to the word of His grace which is able to build you up.
               Hebrews 4:12, the word of God is living and active…
         4. I have sent them into the world (18) – they had a mission that they were about to embark on (Mark 16:15, Matthew 28:19-20).
         5. Jesus sanctified Himself that they also would be sanctified by the truth (19) – Jesus sanctified Himself by completing God’s plan. He died for us.  Hebrews 10:10, “By that will we have been sanctified through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once for all.”

And thus we see the prayer of Jesus for His apostles, AND some lessons we can glean from it.  We have their word as our guide.  Will we let that word, sanctify us and preserve us in this hostile world?  AND will we use His word to lead others to Him?  May that be our goal.  Think about it.