John 17:11-24

Introduction and Review of Christ's Intercession

0:02 The following message was delivered on Sunday evening, November 27, 1994, at the Trinity Baptist Church in Montville, New Jersey. Now may we unite our hearts in doing precisely what we have just sung, that is, with confidence to draw nigh to the throne of grace, to cry, Abba, Father, and in particular to call upon our God for this, our special time of need for the illuminating ministry of God the Holy Spirit upon all of our hearts. Let us pray together.

0:42 Father, we thank you for all of the great realities that have impinged upon our ears and entered the chambers of our minds this night. From the opening...

1:00 From the opening scripture in which we beheld our Lord Jesus coming forth upon that white horse of triumph and victory and power to crush all of his and his people's enemies, his vesture dipped in blood. O Lord, we tremble when we think of what it will be when the Lord Jesus, who for these many centuries has been the Lord of all, has been the Lord of all, has sent forth the overtures of his mercy, has stood by the door inviting men to come.

1:41 O God, to think of the terror when his wrath shall be unleashed and he will come as we have seen him in the word, with his vestures dipped in the blood of his enemies. O God, these are sobering realities and we pray...

2:01 We pray that your Holy Spirit will help us as we come to your word. May we be those described by your servant Isaiah the prophet who come with poor and contrite spirit and who tremble at your word. We ask the help of the Holy Spirit for preacher and for listener alike that together we may all be conscious that we are being caught up in your presence as you by the Spirit bring the word to our hearts. Hear us, bind the powers of darkness that the word may run and have free course

2:45 and be glorified amongst us. We ask through our Lord Jesus Christ. Amen.

2:58 Now I'm approaching the ministry of the word tonight in the assumption that most of you were here for the ministry of the word. This morning. And for the sake of the few who may not fit into that category, let me introduce our study by giving a very contracted review of the central issues addressed in the ministry of the word this morning. In the course of opening up a number of texts which I believe Bill has entitled Texts for Tried and Proven Saints or something like that.

3:37 I'm not very good at these titles but they are texts that I have deliberately chosen that I trust will be a means of encouragement and comfort and the strengthening of the faith of those who having come through this period of intense self-examination through the summer months have on biblical grounds come to renewed convictions that they are indeed the true children of God having entered the narrowing of the world. And I'm not very good at these titles, but they are texts that I have deliberately chosen that I trust will be a means of encouragement that they are indeed the true children of God and are presently walking upon the restricted way that leads to life. And in the course of opening up such texts we came to Hebrews 7 and verse 25

4:21 where the writer to the Hebrews declares wherefore he that is the Lord Jesus in his office and function as a high priest he is able to save to the uttermost those that are in the midst of the world and those that are in the midst of the world and those that are in the midst of the world and those that are in the midst of the world and those that draw near unto God through him seeing he ever lives to make intercession for them. And after expounding that text with its assuring affirmation he is able to save to the uttermost them that draw near unto God through him and its satisfying explanation

5:03 seeing he ever lives to make intercession for them. The response of many of you was such that I believed it would be helpful to expand this biblical doctrine of the intercessory work of the Lord Jesus on behalf of his people. And so in doing that we considered the place in which he intercedes at the right hand of God before the face of God Romans 8.34 and Hebrews 9.3

5:37 and Hebrews 9.24 the ground of his intercession namely his once for all sacrifice for sin and we establish that again on Romans 8.34 and the context of Hebrews 7.25 and Hebrews 9 and the Old Testament typology of the priesthood in which the priest activity was carried on at the brazen altar and at the golden altar before the veil in sacrifice through the veil in the immediate presence of God in intercession.

Specific Concerns of Christ's Intercession: Luke 22 and John 17

6:16 Then this morning we began to address what I call the specific concerns or the content of his intercession. Do the scriptures give us any data to help us to have some clear understanding of what it is for which our Lord Jesus Christ is present? Our Lord intercedes at the right hand of the Father and in response to that question we examine together Luke 22 verses 31 and 32 the incident in which our Lord speaks to Peter saying Simon, Simon Satan has desired all of you to sift you as wheat

7:01 but I have prayed for you Simon prayed for thee that thy faith fail not and when you have turned again strengthen your brethren. Now tonight we shall consider two more passages which give us some insights into the specific concerns of the intercession of the Lord Jesus. And I want to state for the sake of any who wonder why I have not turned to Hebrews 2 or Hebrews 4 that I have not turned to Hebrews 2 that Christ's ministry at the right hand of the Father as our High Priest is not exclusively a ministry of intercession.

7:46 It is also a ministry of succoring His people and that's the emphasis of Hebrews chapter 2. It is also the ministry of mediating our approaches to God the emphasis of Hebrews chapter 4. But I'm concerned with the more limited dimensions of His present priestly work of intercession and this is why I have not addressed those passages because they enter into a broader sphere of the more glorious aspects or further glorious aspects of the continuous

8:30 high priestly ministry of the Lord Jesus Christ. Now having concerned the Luke 22 passage I would be very surprised if many of you have not already anticipated that we would be considering tonight John chapter 17 as the second major passage that gives us some indication of the contours of the basic patterns and concerns of the present intercessory ministry of the Lord Jesus Christ. This passage has often been designated as our Lord's high priestly prayer

9:15 and it is obvious from verse 13 that our Lord Jesus prayed this prayer in the hearing of at least some of His disciples that it might be recorded for our instruction. Look at verse 13 in the midst of the prayer He says, but now I come to thee and these things I speak in the world that they may have my joy made full in themselves so that our Lord was conscious that this prayer was not only addressed to His Father

9:59 for that it was according to verse 1 these things spake Jesus and lifting up His eyes to heaven He said Father the hour has come but He was also conscious that His prayer was not only the genuine engagement of His own heart in prayer with the Father but that it was also to be instructive to His disciples these things I speak in the world that they may have my joy made full in themselves now generally speaking it is not appropriate

10:42 to preach in our prayers however there are times when it is proper to consider our prayers not only as real addresses to God our Father in heaven but a source of instruction to those who hear us pray and if that is wrong then Christ's sin because He consciously did that in this prayer now the basic outline of this prayer is clear to anyone who reads it with any degree of thoughtfulness in the first five verses Christ is praying primarily for Himself

11:26 or with respect to Himself then in verses 6 through 19 He is praying for the eleven disciples disciples and then beginning with verse 20 to the end He is praying for all of His people at all times and in all places however as in many parts of the upper room discourse John chapters 13, 14 and 15 there are some things that are said of the apostles that are true of them not because they were apostles but because of them and not because

12:05 but because they were believers and therefore those things are applicable to us in a one-to-one way for example in John 15 when he says abide in me and I in you as the branch cannot bear fruit of itself so neither can you except you abide in me that is not spoken to them because they are apostles but those truths are spoken to them as believers and therefore when preaching that part of John 15 we need make no qualification in its one-to-one application to us however there

12:45 are other parts in which our Lord says that when the Spirit is come he will guide you into all the truth well that has a unique fulfillment in the apostles who were the founders of the world and they were the founders of the world and they were the founders of the world and they were the founders of the world and they were the foundation stones in the doctrine delivered to them by the Lord Jesus Christ. And we cannot apply that in a one-to-one way as we can other parts. Well, in the same way, when we come to this prayer, there are things in the section where the apostles particularly are in our

13:23 Lord's perspective and within the scope of his vision, verses 6-19, that are said of them and prayed for them, not primarily as apostles, but because they were believers in himself. They were designated, for example, in verse 8, the words which you gave me I have given unto them. They received them and knew of the truth that I came forth from thee, and they believed that you sent me. Well, you see, that's the very essence of saving faith in all ages, to receive the words of Christ, and by the illuminating ministry

14:08 of the Holy Spirit, to believe that Christ is the one sent of God to be the Savior of sinners. Now, with that broad introduction, let us together consider the four main major concerns of the intercessory ministry of the Lord Jesus Christ as found in John 17. And I believe you will see and be convinced that these four central concerns of his intercession are the central concerns applicable to all of his people in all ages and in all circumstances,

First Concern: The Preservation of His Own

14:51 and therefore, we have warrant to believe that at the right hand of the Father, whatever the peculiar mode of his intercessory labor and work may be, whether verbal or nonverbal, that these four strands of concern are the burden of the intercessory ministry of our Lord Jesus Christ. And the first is what I'm calling the preservation of the intercessory ministry of our Lord Jesus Christ. And the first is what I'm calling the preservation of the intercessory ministry of our Lord Jesus Christ. And the second is what I'm calling the preservation of the intercessory ministry of our Lord Jesus Christ. And the

15:25 third is what I'm calling the preservation of the intercessory ministry of our Lord Jesus Christ. And the fourth is what I'm calling the preservation of the intercessory ministry of our Lord Jesus Christ. And the fifth is what I'm calling the preservation of the intercessory ministry of our Lord Jesus Christ. And the sixth is what I'm calling the preservation of the intercessory ministry of our Lord Jesus Christ. And the sixth is what I'm calling the preservation of the intercessory

15:30 ministry of our Lord Jesus Christ. And the seventh is what I'm calling the preservation of the intercessory ministry of our Lord Jesus Christ. And the eighth is what I'm calling the preservation of the intercessory am no more in the world, and these are in the world, and I come to thee. You see, our Lord is already envisioning himself as leaving the world. He was in the world when he prayed this, but he

15:50 praised it from the perspective of having already left the world and then about to leave the world. I am no more in the world, and these are in the world, and I come to thee. So you see, there is a strong suggestion that the burden of this prayer goes into the estate of our Lord's exaltation when he would go back to the Father. And then he prays, Holy Father, keep them

16:27 in thy name which thou hast given me, that they may be one even as we are. While I was with them, I kept them in thy name which thou hast given me, and I guarded them, and not one of them is perished, but the son of perdition. That is, not one of those whom you gave to me has perished, but the son of perdition. The son of perdition has perished and will perish in order that the scriptures might be fulfilled.

17:03 The son of perdition was never of the number of those whom you gave to me. Those who were given to me I have kept, but now, he says, I am coming to you, and therefore, Father, and notice, the Lord Jesus calls him Holy Father. He who knew the Father. The Father, as none of us knows him, in a relationship in which sin never disrupted the

17:38 communion, was not flipped in the presence of his Father. Flippancy and lightness is not a mark of faith and of piety, but of low views of God and of an unsanctified heart. But his burden for them is that they are not of the Lord. The Father would keep them.

18:03 Verse 15, I pray not that you should take them from the world, but that you should keep them from the evil or from the evil one. So do you see the burden now of these verses? Verse 11, I am coming to you. I have kept them. Now, Holy Father, keep them.

18:31 In your name, which you have given me. While I was with them, I kept them. I guarded them. Not one of them perished. I pray not that you should take them out of the world, the theater of their spiritual

18:49 danger, the theater of spiritual opposition, the place where there will be struggles with remaining sin and with the world and with the evil one. that you should keep them from the evil or from the evil one. Now it is clear from the scriptures that you and I are commanded to keep ourselves in the love of God. Jude in verse 20.

19:19 In 1 John 5.21 we are commanded to guard ourselves from idols. And in 1 John 5.18 we are told that the true believer keeps himself.

19:32 And though we are active in this whole process of being kept and preserved, ultimately our confidence that we will be preserved in the way that is consistent with persevering faith and holiness is not in our endeavors, is not in our efforts, it is not in our prayers, not in our mortification, but ultimately our confidence is in our Lord Jesus Christ who died that we might be preserved to His everlasting kingdom and who intercedes at the right hand of the Father

Second Concern: The Sanctification of His Own

20:14 with one of the focal points of His intercession being the preservation of His own. But then secondly, He prays not only for the preservation of His own, but for the sanctification of His own. Verses 17 through 19. Sanctify them in the truth.

20:40 Thy word is truth. As you did send me into the world, even so sent I them into the world, and for their sakes, I sanctify myself. That is, I set myself apart unto you, my God, for the remaining redemptive activity that must be accomplished here upon the earth. I must yet go through the ordeal of the cross, the forsakenness and the abandonment of Golgotha, and for their sakes I set myself apart that they themselves,

21:24 also may be sanctified in truth. Sanctify them. Verse 17. This sanctifying work is to be done in the realm of truth, and that truth is to be identified with the very word of the living God.

21:47 And this sanctification that is to be effected by the influence of the truth the word of God upon his people is a sanctification that flows out of the sacrifice of the Lord Jesus. I set myself apart to die that they may be a sanctified people. And so he prays for the sanctification of his own, that there may be a moral and ethical transformation by the power, which was one of the great ends for which he died.

22:29 He prays make them holy in the truth. And as Hendrickson comments, that they may be set apart from the world by actual sanctification of life so that in thought, words and deeds, they may live more and more in accordance with the will of God. Now, again, our Lord knows the enemies that will face his people in this process. He knows that by saying, I pray not that you should take them out of the world, that he's leaving them in the theater where there are all kinds of things

23:12 that are in no way sympathetic to or productive of their sanctification. And yet it is for this that he intercedes, that in this world where sin is active and seducing, where error is present and often exerts its subtle influence upon the minds of men, he is praying, O Father, sanctify them in the truth. Thy word is truth. So his intercessory work has as its focus not only our preservation in the way of our life, but also in the way of our life.

23:53 In the way of persevering faith and holiness guarded from the powers of sin and of evil, but that we should also, in a positive way, be a sanctified people. It is one thing to be preserved from the things which, if they had their way, would destroy us and damn us. It is quite another thing to know the dynamics of grace that are conforming us, more and more to the likeness and image of the Lord Jesus. And so at the right hand of the Father, even this hour, He prays for His own that they shall not only be preserved,

24:38 but He prays for their sanctification. He is praying that what you hear of the word of truth tonight will not go in one ear and out the other ear, but that it will, by the influence of the Spirit, sink down into your heart and have an impact upon your life and enable you by the grace and power of God to be a more sanctified man, woman, boy or girl. But then notice thirdly that the burden of this prayer is not only the preservation of His own, the sanctification of His own, but He prays for the unification of His own. Verses 20-23

Third Concern: The Unification of His Own

25:22 Neither for these only do I pray. Notice the transition now from praying for the eleven. Neither for these only do I pray, but for them also that believe on me through their word. And it's very interesting in the original, it's a present tense of the word believe.

25:46 He envisions them as already coming to faith through the apostolic word. Word or message. Not only do I pray for the eleven, but for them also that are believing on me through their word or message. So certain is it that that message preached by the apostles will accomplish its divine intention and design that our Lord can envision them as already coming to faith.

26:19 And He says, Neither for these only do I pray, but for them also that believe on me through their word, that they may all be one, even as thou, Father, art in me and I in thee, that they may also be in us, that the world may believe that thou didst send me. And the glory which thou hast given me I have given unto them, that they may be one, even as we are one. I in them and thou in me, that they may be perfected into one, that the world may know that thou didst send me and lovest them.

27:04 You see how I emphasize the word one, one, one. Here our Lord is praying for the unification of His own. Now I must pause and say that many of us have a negative knee-jerk reaction to these verses. And for a very good reason There has been over the past several decades A worldwide movement called the Ecumenical Movement And it is a movement that would seek to take now Not even just Christian religions But even non-Christian religions And make them all one massive religion All having their own ways to God

27:46 But back before that became part of the Ecumenical Movement The spearhead of that movement Was people who denied almost every fundamental doctrine in the Bible The doctrine of God The doctrine of sin The doctrine of creation The doctrine of substitutionary atonement Justification by faith Regeneration by the supernatural agency of the Holy Spirit There was no portion No sacred truth of the Word of God That they did not treat with disdain And outrage And about the only verses they treated As though they had any worth whatsoever Were these verses that they may be won That was their great watchword

28:31 That's the banner of the Ecumenical Movement Surely if Christ said anything Worthy of being listened to It's these words That they may be won And so all the religious leaders With all of their stupid garb And their big gobby crosses Hanging around their necks And miters on their necks And their heads And all kinds of things That make them look like grown-up kids Going trick-or-treating Gathering their counsels And plot how we're going to all become one Well that's as far removed from the prayer of Jesus As heaven is from hell Remember for whom Christ is praying in this prayer

29:13 He's praying for His own They are described seven times in this prayer In this prayer As those whom the Father had given Him In other words He's praying for the elect Four times He makes it clear That He's praying for those Whom the Father had given Him Four times in this prayer He describes them As those who are not of the world They have undergone such a radical Transforming work of God the Holy Ghost That they are no longer of the world But part of this world system

29:57 He describes them as those Who have received the words of Christ Verse 8 The words which thou gavest me I have given unto them And they have received them And they knew of the truth That I came forth from thee And they believe that you sent me Who is He praying for? He's praying for those Who do not sit as judges Over the Bible But who sit under the judgment Of the Bible He's praying for a people Who have been humbled To embrace Christ as their prophet And they receive His words Not only His words About oneness

30:40 And His words about love one another But His words about a place Where the worm dies not And the fire is never quenched Words about a place Where there's weeping and wailing And nothing is left to be done And nothing is left to be done And nothing is left to be done And nothing is left to be done His words about cutting off right hands And plucking out right eyes His words about taking up a cross And denying self His words about needing to love Him More than father, mother, brother, sister Yea, and we owe our own lives also Or we cannot be His disciples And those whom He envisions As coming into the orbit of His prayers Are described further on

31:24 As we've already known As we've already noted in verse 20 Those that believe on Him Through the apostolic message That's what the phrase Their word means When you find their word singular It means their message And what was the apostolic message? Christ died for our sins According to the scriptures And He was buried And He was raised again From the dead on the third day According to the scriptures To the scriptures And He was seen And He was seen And He was seen No, these words For the unification of His own Are not words

32:08 That can be taken And held up as a banner For an ecumenical movement That has no respect For the words of Christ For the uniqueness Of the person of Christ For the finality Of the apostolic message Of the apostolic testimony To Christ They have no right To these words None whatsoever Having sought to blast them away from them So that we can rightly lay hold of them He nonetheless prays For the unification of His own Doesn't He? Whatever abuse Ecumenists may make of the passage Surely we cannot avoid That Jesus is praying

32:52 In His intercessory work For the unification of His own I am praying Verse 21 That they may all be one And this thought staggers me Even as you, Father Are in me And I in you That they may be in us That the world may believe That you did send me Verse 23 Verse 22 The latter part That they may be one Even as we are one I in them And thou in me That they may be perfected Into one He's praying for the unification Of His own

33:37 And what is that unification For which He prays? Well, at least on the surface of it It involves these two things It is first of all The vital spiritual union Of believers With the Father And with the Son The vital spiritual union Of believers With the Father And the Son He is praying That those who already believe on Him And those who shall believe Through the apostolic word That they may all be one As you, Father, are in me And I in thee That they may be in us That the world may believe

34:21 That you sent me In other words The validation of the mission of Christ Is the validation of the mission of Christ Is predicated Upon the effect Of a vital union With Christ And with the Father For if any man be in Christ As we heard from this pulpit a few weeks ago A new creation The old is past Definitively Finality The new has come And remains And it is that union For which our Lord is praying And then The vital spiritual union Of believers With each other Verse 23 I in them

35:06 Thou in me That they may be perfected Into one That the world may know That you did send me And lovest them Even as you loved me This is not an organizational union It is a vital spiritual union Of believers With each other As they come To drink of the same spirit As they are brought To a saving faith response To the same gospel So our Lord is praying For that unification Of his own Which is spiritual In its nature Which is predicated upon

35:49 His own sovereign electing grace Of his people The word of the gospel Coming to them And being received Upon the authority Of apostolic testimony And declaration And embracing Christ For who he is revealed to be The one sent of the Father And that prayer Has not been frustrated For indeed there always has been This vital spiritual union Of believers With the Father And with the Son And a vital spiritual union Of believers One with another For the scripture says

36:32 There is one body Not there ought to be But there is one body Even as there is one faith One Lord One baptism One God and Father Of us all Who is over all And in us all And so our Lord is praying At the right hand of the Father Even tonight Not only for the preservation Of his own The sanctification of his own But the unification of his own And every time God by the Spirit Through the word

37:15 Brings a sinner to own His state as a sinner And perceive the glory of God In the face of Christ Crucified and risen And that sinner is regenerated By the Spirit And repents and believes On the Lord Jesus Christ And is given the gift Of the ascended Christ Even the gift of the indwelling Spirit That prayer is answered That sinner enters Into vital life union With the Father And with the Son And into a vital spiritual life union With all of the true people of God And then there is a

Fourth Concern: The Glorification of His Own

38:00 Fourth thing for which our Lord prays In his high priestly prayer And it's the apex of the prayer And the apex of the hope and longing Of every true believer And that is the glorification Of his own Verse 24 Father I desire A use of the verb fellow Which often is translated I will I will I desire That they also Who have Have given me Be with me I am

38:39 That they have given me For you loved me Before the foundation of the world Do you see how the Lord is In his own spirit in this prayer Already at the right hand of the Father Do you see that in the prayer? Father I desire That they whom you have given me Be with me where I am Is he praying that we forever be here on earth? No He's envisioning himself As back At the right hand of the Father The days of his humiliation over Having entered into his exaltation Now the object of the adoring wonder

39:24 Of angels and seraphim and cherubim And the spirits of just men made perfect And he says Father I desire That they whom you have given me Be with me Where I am Where I am Where I am Where I am Where I am Where I am Where I am Where I am Where I am Where I am Where I am Where I am Where I am Where I am Where I am Where I am Where I am Where I am Where I am Where I am Where I am Where I am Where I am What is heaven? With Christ Wherever he is That's it Wherever he is And isn't that the picture of the redeemed in heaven Given to us in the book of the revelation It says And they follow the Lamb Whithersoever He goeth It's very interesting After church this morning As I was making my way back up

40:08 Through those who mingled Sitting in the various places After everyone had made their exodus Out the back doors As I was making my way back up As I often do I saw a young man Sitting next to his dad And his dad talking to another adult I said to the little fellow I said how come you're not out with the other kids No kids your own age Or is it because you just want to be with your dad He said I just want to be with my dad And I sat down Put my arm around him and I said I'm so glad you just want to be with your dad Well take that And augment it I don't know how many times The deepest yearning Of every true Christian

40:51 Is expressed in the language of the psalmist I shall be satisfied When I await Beholding Thy full Psalm 17 and verse 50 Or in the language of Psalm 73 Whom have I in heaven but thee And there is none that I desire upon earth Besides thee Or the language of Paul I am in a strait Betwixt two things I have a desire To depart And to be Which is far better A desire to depart And to be with Christ And the Lord Jesus said My desire

41:35 My prayer My will For all you father have given to me Is that their deepest desire Will be met By the desire Of my own intercession That they may be With me Where I am To what end That they may run up and down Literal streets of gold With a penknife Whacking off hunks of gold And till their pockets burst And eating grapes The size of baseballs No, no, no Look at the language That they may be with me Where I am To my glory

42:19 That they may behold My glory Why does he say Pray That they may be glorified With a glorification That will mean That they'll be with him Where he is To behold his glory Because he knows That in all those In whom he has worked his grace That is the heaven of heavens To every one of them To be with him To behold him In his glory You see through the gospel What have they come to see 2 Corinthians 4 6 Once they were blinded

43:03 By the God of this world They could hear of Christ As some of you sitting here And when people get excited about Christ They couldn't get excited Why? The God of this world Blinds the minds of the unbelieving Lest the light of the gospel Of the glory of Christ Should dawn upon them But Paul says in verse 6 Of 2 Corinthians 4 Look at the text 2 Corinthians 4 in verse 6 What does he say Is the very essence Of God's work In converting grace Here it is 2 Corinthians 4 in verse 6 Seeing it is God that said Light shall shine out of darkness A reference to the original creation And God said

43:47 Let there be light And light was not created Outside of the darkness And then forced into the darkness But God spoke Into the darkness And out of the darkness Light shall shine out of darkness And out of the darkness Light shall shine out of darkness Shown by his creative word Seeing it is God that said Light shall shine out of darkness Who shined in our hearts He spoke a redemptive Saving Creative word Of power And in our darkened hearts The light went on And the first thing That the light illuminated Was the face of Jesus And what we saw in it Was not someone

44:31 Who was trying To cut in on our turf And make life miserable We did not see Some anemic Half a feminine Pitiable Jesus Drooping while he knocks At a door Waiting for people To let him in What did we see? Look at the text We saw the light Of the glory In the face of Jesus Christ Something of the very outshining Of all The perfections of God As a God of holiness And justice And power And love And mercy We saw something

45:15 Of the mingled rays Of all the outshining Of the beauty Reflected in the face of Christ And when we so saw him We couldn't do anything other Than throw the whole weight Of our guilty helpless souls Upon him And in the process Throw ourselves away At his feet And from that point on A true Christian has As his greatest yearning If I have seen Just his glory Reflected in the gospel What will it be To see him Face to face Face to face With Christ my Savior Face to face

45:59 What will it be When with rapture I behold him Jesus Christ Who is the Lord Who died For me Face to face I shall behold him Far beyond the starry sky Face to face I shall behold Glorification And what will that involve Well it means We must be kept In the way of faith And holiness Until the hour of our death Until the moment of his return We must be kept In the way of faith And of holiness As we saw In the way of faith In the prayer of Jesus

46:44 For Peter this morning Satan has desired To sift you as wheat He is accusing That you are nothing but chaff And wishes to demonstrate it So I'm allowing you To get into his sieve And I'm allowing him To agitate and to shake But Peter The root of the matter is in you And I'm praying That the real faith That has already been implanted In your heart Will not fail And be totally eclipsed And when that faith Has caused you to fall And caused you to turn again Strengthen your brethren It means we must be preserved Through death itself The thought of dying Is not a pleasant thought And you're not unspiritual If you fear

47:28 The experience of dying Because you've never had it before And it's an unnatural experience You've not known Apart from your dreams And apart from The thoughts that you have When your eyes are closed And your mind is ruminating That's the closest you can come To even thinking of existence Apart from bodily reality All you've ever known Is an existence In which all that you are As a thinking, feeling, rational, loving creature Is connected with fingers And feet and hands And tongue and eyes The thought of this unnatural

48:11 Wrenching apart of soul and spirit Is a frightening While the Christian May be a Christian May have a sense of dread At the thought Of dying as an experience He does not fear death In terms of what it can do For he knows that to be absent From the body Is to be present With the Lord He knows that the moment That violent unnatural wrenching Of soul and spirit Is effected That that very moment That spirit Will be made Utterly perfect in holiness

48:55 And join the company Of the spirits of just men Made perfect And if you see this prayer of our Lord Is to be answered It means that our remains That have gone into the earth And may lie there for a year A decade, a hundred years A millennium It matters not If Christ is praying That we may be with him Where he is To behold He has bought us Where he is And with us I shall behold Not a disembodied spirit alone But in a glorified

49:38 Resurrected body Like unto his own That's what he's praying for Child of God Because that's what he died to effect When he groaned upon the tree When he poured out his soul Unto death He was a man He was procuring a redemption Of your whole being Body and soul Your non-material Essence and entity Along with your physical existence And entity He died That he might redeem The whole of you And by his intercession He will secure the end Of his death

Encouragement and Assurance for Believers

50:22 In all whom the Father Has given to him What an encouragement It should be for us As the years pass And for many of us The realization That should the Lord Delay his coming We're going down The other side of the hill And we're going At breakneck speed All of you over fifty Know what I'm talking about That right now As we anticipate That our days To live and serve And love and laugh And weep and sorrow and grieve Are going to pass away fast, swifter than a weaver's shovel, that at the right hand of the Father right now, my Savior is praying for me.

51:07 Father, I will that that one and this one and that one and this one and this one and that one and the other one whom you have given me be with me where I am, that they may behold my glory.

51:27 And remember, this is the Christ who said, But I know that thou hearest me always. May I say it reverently? I'm as good as there.

51:39 I'm as good as there. And by faith, there's a sense in which I can be there. We are saved in hope of the Spirit. And upon the great reality of the efficacy of the intercession of Christ, we rest the whole weight of our present souls in all of their weakness and the rest of their life.

52:09 The reality that the outward man is indeed decaying as the aches and the pains and the awareness of that decay increase with the passing of the years. What a wonderful thing to know we have an interceding high priest who will not be satisfied until we are with him where he is beholding his glory.

52:38 Oh, dear child of God, isn't this enough? Make you dance with joy in the prospect of what is yours because Christ is an ever-living, effective high priest. He is able to say to the uttermost all that come unto God by him, seeing he ever lives, to make intercession for them. And as surely as we give thanks to our Lord Jesus for death, for dying in our room instead, let us in new measures continue to thank him

53:22 that he lives and appears in the presence of God for us. Hebrews 9, 14 not only to succor us and to make our prayers and praises and worship acceptable to the Father as a whole other dimension of his high priestly work, but he's there interceding for us. Interceding for us as he did for Peter and those great principles that we focused upon this morning. They're controlling the measure of Satan's access to us, anticipating our need,

Challenge to Unbelievers: Flee to Christ

54:04 praying that our faith fail not, securing our restoration to the way of spiritual life and vigor. And then for all of his people, praying, praying for their preservation, sanctification, praying for their unification and their glorification. Blessed be God for such a savior. And if you're here tonight and you're not a Christian, do you see why?

54:37 Do you see why? Can you at least begin to grasp a little bit of why we Christians are a funny bunch in your eyes? Are we relatively indifferent to the things that the world gets all excited about? Can you see why we can't quite share the level of your enthusiasm about politics and about your favorite basketball or football team or these other things?

55:04 Yes, we're in this world and we want to be aware of what's going on in this world, but do you see with such prospects before us why we can't be like Bunyan's muckraker? Do you remember him? Had his eyes downward and his rake was always there raking over the muck of this world? Because we know we have a savior praying that we will be with him where he is to behold his glory.

55:37 And that keeps our hearts in another world and causes us to sit loosely with the things of this life. In the language of the apostle Paul, we look not on the things that are seen but the things that are not seen. The things that are seen are temporal, but the things that are not seen are eternal. My friend, if these things are not realities to you, if they don't excite and thrill your own heart, it's because you're a muckraker.

56:05 You're of this world and with this world you'll perish unless you flee to Christ, unless you are united to Christ, unless you are brought to the place where you are described in this prayer, that you have received his words and you have known that the Father has sent him and Christ has become to you the pearl of great price. You've entrusted the weight of your soul to him. You've seen him in beauty that captures you and you have joyfully said, Here, Lord, I give myself away. Tis all that I can do.

Conclusion and Prayer

56:42 The third passage will have to lead to another time. We've spent our time on John 17 and I hope at least this brief overview of this priestly prayer of our Lord will be the beginning of much meditation and reflection on that portion of the word of God in the days to come. Let us pray. Our Father, we thank you this night for the wonderful reality of our Lord Jesus ever living to intercede for us.

57:23 How we thank you that his intercession even now secures to all your people the fruit of his sacrifice upon the cross and that by his virtue, by his constant labor in intercession for us and all the supplies of grace that come to us by the Holy Spirit that we shall be preserved, that we shall be sanctified, that we shall be unified, and glorified. For we know that our Lord Jesus does not intercede in vain.

58:06 We pray for those who know nothing of these realities in their own experience. Make them jealous, O God, as they face death and the grave and the endless ages of eternity that stretch out before them. O God, may the thought of a Christless eternity, never seeing the face of Christ, the company of the devil and the damned, O may it strike terror to their hearts and give them no rest until they flee to Christ as he invites them to himself in the gospel. Seal your word, O God, we plead through our Lord Jesus Christ.

58:50 Amen.