Christ Prays for His Disciples John 17:6-19 Preached by Rev. Keith Davis October 21, 2018

Christ Prays for His Disciples John 17:6-19 Preached by Rev. Keith Davis October 21, 2018 Beloved congregation of our Lord Jesus Christ, last week when we began this mini sermon series on Christ s High Priestly Prayer, I emphasized the point that it is quite remarkable that Jesus prayed. After all Jesus is true and eternal God. And as God he is a totally independent and selfsufficient being who has no need for anything outside of Himself! And yet, as a miracle of his incarnation, Jesus was also true man, having a truly human nature, made like us in every way, with the exception of sin. So in that regard, Jesus had needs just as any of us do; and Jesus prayed to the Father just like we do Jesus prayed for help, for strength, for submissiveness and obedience, and Jesus prayed just to have fellowship and communion with His loving heavenly Father. And last week we considered the first part of Christ s high priestly prayer where Jesus asked the father to glorify him, now that his hour had come. As strange and ironic as it sounds, Christ s glory would come by means of the shameful cross of Calvary, where the Father would call all men to himself and reconcile the world to himself through His Son s atoning sacrifice. This morning we consider the second part of this prayer where Jesus turns his attention to his disciples. Here we see the Lord s great love on display as he prays for the ones who are so near and dear to his heart. The Lord prays for His Dear Disciples. Notice: 1) The Basis/Grounds for His Prayer 2) Jesus Prays for their Protection 3) Jesus Prays for their Sanctification 1) The Basis/Grounds for His Prayer 1

I think it s significant that Jesus begins his prayer for his disciples by reminding His heavenly Father about who these disciples are. Jesus is vouching for them, as it were. Here s the Son telling the Father all the reasons that He should help the disciples -- why He should protect them and sanctify them. (It s not unlike one of our own children coming to us as a parent and asking us to have a friend over. Our child will tell us all the reasons: he or she is my friend. We get along really well. We have so much fun together. We like to do our home-work together, etc). What strike me here is that obviously the Father knows all this. The Father know the disciples. The Father doesn t need reminding. But Jesus, nonetheless, lays it all out before the Father as to why He is making intercession for His disciples, and why the Father should grant what he asks. Recall how I said last week that this prayer of Jesus is recorded for us in God s Holy Word for our own instruction and encouragement. Jesus wants us to not only hear his prayer before the Father but he wants us to learn how and why the Son intercedes for us the way He does. I m reminded of an interesting exchange which took place between Jesus and the crowds who had gathered in Bethany following the death of Lazarus. In John 12:27-30 we read where Jesus cries out in a prayer to His Father: Now my soul is troubled, and what shall I say? Father, save me from this hour? No, it was for this very reason I came to this hour. Father, glorify your name! Then a voice came from heaven, I have glorified it, and will glorify it again. The crowd that was there and heard it said it had thundered; others said an angel had spoken to him. And then notice what Jesus said in verse 30: This voice was for your benefit, not mine. In other words, there were moments in the ministry of our Lord where he said things in public, or in the hearing of his disciples even intimate and personal conversations and prayers between himself and His Father that were spoken for the benefit, the blessing, the teaching and instruction and edification and encouragement of those who were there listening. 2

I believe the same principle is at work in this passage. Jesus praying this prayer in the hearing of His Father, in the company and hearing of His disciples (and in our hearing today) so that the Father can answer His prayer but also so that you and I can read these words and learn from them; so we can know why it is that Jesus is praying for them with such passion and care. The answer is one that would no doubt comfort and encourage the disciples as much as it does anyone of us here today. What is the answer? Why does Jesus pray for His Father to protect and sanctify them? Look with me at verse 6: It s because the disciples belong to the Father. It s because they were the ones to whom Jesus had revealed the Father and made Him known. And as Jesus said in verse 7 I gave them the words that you gave me and they accepted them! I love the way one commentator put it: he said Jesus exegeted the Father. That s what a pastor does with the text of Scripture. He exegetes the passage. He opens up the text and reveals its meaning. And, he makes the passage clear and simple and as accessible as possible. That s what Jesus did for the Father. He made him known/accessible. (See John 1:18 No one has ever seen God, but God the one and only Son, who is at the Father s side, has made him known.) This is why Jesus said what he said in John 14:7 If you really know me, you will know my Father as well. From now on, you do know him and have seen him. So here in John 17, Jesus prays for the disciples on the grounds, on the basis, that they now know the Father through Jesus the Son. Granted, their knowledge was not yet what it would be. They would know much more after Christ s death and resurrection, but Jesus prayer is taking all that into consideration. He prays for them not only because he has made the Father known to them, but closely tied to that idea is the fact that they belong to the Father. Jesus says this repeatedly and in different ways. Verse 6 I have revealed you to those whim you have given me. Later in the same verse they were yours, you gave them to me. Verse 9 I pray for them. I am not praying for the world, but for those you have given me. For they are yours. 3

What Jesus is really getting at here is the fact that these disciples belong to the Father and to Christ by virtue of God s eternal counsel and decree of election. I just wanted to take a moment to read what the Canons of Dort says about this in Head of Doctrine #1 (Unconditional Election). I want you to listen closely to how this article reflects Christ s teaching from John 17. In article 7 we read: Election is God s unchangeable purpose by which he did the following: Before the foundation of the world, by sheer grace, according to the free good pleasure of his will, God chose in Christ to salvation a definite number of particular people out of the entire human race, which had fallen by its own fault from its original innocence into sin and ruin. Those chosen were neither better nor more deserving than the others, but lay with them in the common misery. God did this in Christ, whom he also appointed from eternity to be the mediator, the head of all those chosen, and the foundation of their salvation. And so God decreed to give to Christ (there s the language of John 17) those chosen for salvation, and to call and draw them effectively into Christ s fellowship through the Word and Spirit. In other words, God decreed to grant them true faith in Christ, to justify them, to sanctify them, and finally, after powerfully preserving them in the fellowship of the Son, to glorify them. And it should go without saying that our Lord has in mind here not just his 11 disciples who are with Him at the moment, but all of his elect! He is praying for Mary and Martha and Lazarus and all his faithful followers in that day and for all his elect over all ages. By virtue of God s decree they have been given to Jesus because Jesus had been given for them! And as Jesus said -- all that belongs to the Father belongs also to the Son because the Father and Son are one and share all things. 4

So beloved that is the basis, the rationale, the grounds for Jesus praying this petition to the Father on behalf of His disciples, and it should thrill our hearts to read this, to know this, to hear this! They belonged to Jesus. We belong to Jesus! We are His and He is ours. That s God s decree. And this is not some cold and impersonal but well formulated doctrine or decree. No. the decree of election is as personal as it gets. It is written, it is signed and sealed in the blood of the Lamb! Christ made this possible for us. We are His. Christ vouches for us, he speaks up for us before the Father! And because of who Christ is and what He has done for us, the Father listens and loves us as well! 2) Jesus Prays for their Protection So, having established the basis and the reason for the Father to hear the supplications of the Son on behalf of these disciples, as we just heard: by virtue of God s electing love, shown to them in and through the sacrifice of Jesus Christ on the cross, Jesus now Prays for their Protection. Look at verses 11-12. There Jesus prays: I will remain in the world no longer, but they are still in the world, and I am coming to you. Holy Father, protect them by the power of your name, the name you gave me, so that they may be one as we are one. While I was with them, I protected them and kept them safe by that name you gave me. None has been lost except the one doomed to destruction so that Scripture would be fulfilled. Jesus asked for the Father s protection for two reasons: first: because he was not going to be with them any longer. Second: because they are going to remain in the world. Which is to say, the disciples are going to remain in the battle field. They are going to remain the target of the world hatred and rejection. Just as Christ told them back in chapter 15, the same world that hated him, their Master, that persecuted him and is about to crucify him, will hate them as well, and will persecute them and throw them out of the synagogues and kill them. 5

And part of the way the Father would protect and defend the disciples was by sending the Holy Spirit to guide the disciples into all truth; the Holy Spirit would encourage them and comfort them. Another level of protection would be spelled out by the Apostle Paul as God s people are called to put on the full armor of God, and to pray in the Spirit on all occasions with all kinds of prayers and requests, so the Father would protect them from the schemes of the evil one. But the Father will also protect them the same way he protected His Son. He will let nothing befall them by chance; he will keep them from all evil or turn it to their profit. He would hem them in behind and before; and of course, when times of persecution and suffering and even death are unavoidable, then powerful words of Romans 8 would be their last and greatest defense: that not even death can separate them from the love which the Father has for them in Christ Jesus. But now, notice for what purpose, to what end Jesus asks the Father to protect them: (end of verse 11) Jesus says protect them so that they may be one as we are one. Jesus is asking the Father to protect them so that they would remain unified in the One truth; that they would remain unified in their task and calling in their stance against the sinful world, but also in their witness to the sinful world to the Gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ! In Ephesians 4: 3-6 Paul speaks of the importance of the saints to maintain the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace. And he highlights that unity as a unity in truth: For there is one body, and one Spirit, even as ye are called in one hope of your calling. One Lord, one faith, one baptism, One God and Father of all, who is above all, and through all, and in you all. And I m reminded of what Paul wrote to Timothy in I Timothy 3:15, saying: if I am delayed, you will know how people ought to conduct themselves in God's household, which is the church of the living God, the pillar and foundation of the truth. 6

That pillar, that foundation, that truth is the Gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ. It is the infallible and inspired Word of God. It is the preached Word of God. It is the truth that proclaims Jesus Christ as the Way and the Truth and the Life. It is the truth that calls a dark and dying world to repent and believe on the Lord Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of sins! The disciples must remain unified in their defense of the truth and in their proclamation of the truth in the face of those who would distort that truth, twist that truth and deny that truth. And we know very well from the world in which we live just how quickly the church comes under assault by those who reject and pervert this truth and would prevent us from proclaiming it. But as Psalm11:3 warns us: When the foundations are destroyed, what can the righteous do? If the truth is lost or compromised especially by those in the church who ve been entrusted with the truth, then there is no hope for anyone. Then there is no hope for the church or the world. And so this is just another timely reminder to us (in our generation) about the need to maintain unity in the truth, and to continue to pray to this same petition to the Father each day that He would protect us - His church in this world - from all the devil s schemes and devices, and from the schemes and devices of sinful men, and even from ourselves as sinful members of the church where our own lives, our own sinful actions threaten to compromise the witness of the church, and the truth of the Gospel. 3) Jesus Prays for their Sanctification Thirdly and finally, Jesus prays for their sanctification. Verse 17 Sanctify them by the truth; your word is truth. We usually use the word sanctify in terms of the process of sanctification in the life of the Christian; to make us more holy each day. That s a process whereby we more and more die unto our sinful desires, and more and more come to love and do that which is holy. 7

Certainly Christ is praying for that also in the hearts and lives of his disciples/church. But here the meaning of sanctify is really more along the lines of consecrate them for service; set them apart for holy service. It s getting at this idea of separation: as the disciples are in the world but not of the world! The idea is that just as the Son was set part by the Father to come into the world and to accomplish his mission and task to save the lost; so too, Christ prayer is that the Father would set these disciples apart for himself and send them out; and use them to preach the truth; to shine the light of the Gospel upon this dark world so that all those who have been chosen by the Father unto salvation can hear the message, and come to Christ, and be saved! And although Jesus is praying these petitions on behalf of his disciples, these petitions apply to us today as well as a church; as a body of believers here in Calgary that are trying to be faithful to our Lord s calling. We too have been consecrated and sanctified as God s people. We too have been set apart from the world for a specific task, and purpose, mission and calling. If all God had in mind was to simply consecrate us and set apart for eternal life in heaven with God in glory then we d all be there right now. Then it would be mission accomplished: God finds his elect; God saves His elect; God takes them up to heaven. But that s not what happens. We re not with God in heaven right now. We re still here on earth. We re still living in the war zone; we re still battling it out every day with the devil, the world, and our sinful flesh. Why is that? It s because our mission in this world is not yet accomplished. God has work for us to do. There are more souls to be saved; more witnessing for Christ; more preaching in season and out of season. We need to recognize that and be about the work that God has given us to do with a renewed sense of urgency! 8

And so part of our daily prayers and petitions to the Father should be for God to bring about His will, His mission, his plan and purposes through us. Father, use me. Father, send me. Father let me be your light; your salt; your agent of love, mercy, compassion, help and hope for my neighbors on my street; for my lost friends; for my co-workers who seem to have no need for God; or for a friend who is searching for direction, but is always looking for God in all the wrong places. You know who these people are. You have to realize, you have to be convinced that God brought every one of those people into your life for a purpose. And that purpose is for you to come alongside them; to show love to them, and when the opportunity presents itself, to share the hope of the Gospel with them. See, if we re not busy doing that, if we re not busy thinking about that, if we don t realize that the world is lost and we re the only ones who have a message of hope and salvation, then we have lost all sense of purpose and direction in life. Then we ve forgotten that we ve been set apart for this. Again, why else are we here? Why else do we live on earth? Yes, we have jobs, and homes, and families, and school, and times of recreation and fun -- all that is necessary and an important part of this life. But as we do all that, as we live out our earthly existence we must realize that we have a highly calling and commission. We ve been set apart to be Christ s ambassadors, to tell the world the Good news of Jesus Christ. But we can be encouraged as we go about this work knowing, without a doubt; that just as Jesus prayed for his disciples here in John 17, so he continues his prayers, his intercession for us now at the right hand of God in heaven. Even now, Jesus is praying for us. And the Father is listening; He is working for us -- to bring Christ s prayers to fruition! So let s be faithful in our tasks, and let us join our Lord in praying for this work. Let us pray that God s mission, God s work, God s task for us in this world might be accomplished for His glory and honor! Amen. 9