“I Ask On Their Behalf …” Text: Jn. 17

1. “I Ask On Their Behalf…”Text: Jn. 17

2. Intro • John 17: The Lord’s Prayer • Jesus prayed for Himself (17:1-5) • Jesus prayed for His disciples (17:6-19) • Jesus prayed for His later disciples (17:20-26) Jn. 17:9, 20 9. "I ask on their behalf; I do not ask on behalf of the world, but of those whom You have given Me; for they are Yours; 20. "I do not ask on behalf of these alone, but for those also who believe in Me through their word; That doesn't mean he's not interested in the world! (Lk. 19:10; Mt. 28:18-20; Mk. 16:15) • This is the great interceding High Priest of the N.T. • I Tim. 2:5: "One mediator... between God and men.” • Heb. 7:25: "Ever lives to make intercession.” Six things Jesus prays for us to have… “I Ask On Their Behalf…”

3. He Wants Us To Be Kept (In His Name) Jn. 17:11-12 11. "I am no longer in the world; and yet they themselves are in the world, and I come to You. Holy Father, keep them in Your name, the name which You have given Me, that they may be one even as We are. 12. "While I was with them, I was keeping them in Your name which You have given Me; and I guarded them and not one of them perished but the son of perdition, so that the Scripture would be fulfilled. • This is not the idea of “eternal security” as some teach it: • Satan would “claim” Judas (Lk. 22:3-4) • Satan would “sift” Peter like wheat (Lk. 22:31) • Satan would make Thomas “doubt” (Jn. 20:25-29) This is speaking of separation from evil! God's part: I Cor. 10:13 – Man's part: II Tim. 2:22 It takes initiative on the part of man to keep one’s self in His name! “I Ask On Their Behalf…”

4. He Wants Us To Have Full Joy Jn. 17:13 13. "But now I come to You; and these things I speak in the world so that they may have My joy made full in themselves. • Why do we have so much trouble finding this? • His joy was not affected by the things of the surrounding world. • Think of what would and did happen to Him this very night! (Jn. 18:1-13) • Heb. 5:8-9; 12:1-3: He had learned joy in doing the Father's will. • Our joy is often based on circumstances/our own will! • Heb. 12:1-2: His joy was He was going home; After saving man from sins • When we truly seek the Father's will for our lives, we will • have His joy • Phil. 4:4: "Rejoice in the Lord" — not in things of the world. • Js. 1:2-4: Trials should bring about perfection in our characters & faith. Through obedience, we too will go home to be with the Lord! (Rev. 2:10) True joy comes from obedience to God’s word! “I Ask On Their Behalf…”

5. He Wants Us To Be Sanctified Jn. 17:17, 19 17. "Sanctify them in the truth; Your word is truth. 19. "For their sakes I sanctify Myself, that they themselves also may be sanctified in truth. • “Set apart” for service to God: • Eph. 1:7: His blood cleanses. • Jn. 8:31-32: The truth purifies & sets free! • II Cor. 6:17-18: This also demands a separation: • What God demanded of Israel: to be a nation set apart; holy. • What God expected of Levi — the priests: to be separate, holy. • What is required of us — N.T. priests (I Pet. 1:14-16, 2:9-10). We must be holy because God is holy! (I Pet. 1:14-16) “I Ask On Their Behalf…”

6. He Wants Us To Be One Jn. 17:20-23 20. "I do not ask on behalf of these alone, but for those also who believe in Me through their word; 21. that they may all be one; even as You, Father, are in Me and I in You, that they also may be in Us, so that the world may believe that You sent Me. 22. "The glory which You have given Me I have given to them, that they may be one, just as We are one; 23. I in them and You in Me, that they may be perfected in unity, so that the world may know that You sent Me, and loved them, even as You have loved Me. • The Savior stated two reasons why He wants us to be • one • That the world might believe Christ was sent by God (vs. 21) • That the world might believe that God loves us (vs. 23) Many speak of this unity as though it never has been found (A mythical religious beast!) This prayer was answered in the days of the early church! (Acts 2:42, 46) “I Ask On Their Behalf…”

7. He Wants Us To Be One • It is fulfilled today when we are what God wants us to be: • Rom. 12:4-5: One body in Christ. • I Cor. 1:10: One mind and one judgment. • Eph. 5:23: One body with One Head: Christ. • Phil. 2:2: One mind, one love, united in spirit, and one purpose. Many churches claim to have unity in Jesus but can agree to disagree in doctrine! Unity is not when everyone agrees (can all agree to be wrong), it is when everyone conforms to the truth! Eph. 4:3 3. being diligent to preserve the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace. Unity can only be achieved when we seek out the truth and accept nothing less! “I Ask On Their Behalf…”

8. He Wants Us To Be With Him Jn. 17:24 24. "Father, I desire that they also, whom You have given Me, be with Me where I am, so that they may see My glory which You have given Me, for You loved Me before the foundation of the world. • True Spiritually: • Eph. 2:6: Seated with Him in the heavenly places. • Col. 3:1-3: Why we seek the things that are above. • Phil. 3:20: Our citizenship is in heaven. • True Literally: • Jn. 14:1-3: "Where I am, there you may be also." (Jn. 17:24) • I Pet. 1:3-4: An inheritance... reserved in heaven. Heaven awaits those who remain faithful till death! (Rev. 2:10) “I Ask On Their Behalf…”

9. He Wants Us To Have God's Love Jn. 17:26 26. and I have made Your name known to them, and will make it known, so that the love with which You loved Me may be in them, and I in them." • Jesus prayed that God would love us... with the love He • gave His Son! • I Jn. 3:1-2: God loved us enough to adopt us as His children. He loves us! How much does God love us? Enough to “give” us His Son as sacrifice for sin! (Jn. 3:16) God loves us as His children (Full Adoption – Rom. 8:14-17) and wants us to inherit Heaven! “I Ask On Their Behalf…”

10. Conclusion You can have these things! – Think what it cost the Lord to give them to you! (Phil. 2:7-8) In this life it is easy to get caught up in the things we want to have – we need to think about the things Jesus wants us to have, and paid the price for us to have them! In order to take these freely given blessings, we must want them too! Obey the gospel; live your life for Christ; inherit all that God wants to give His children! “I Ask On Their Behalf…”

11. “What Must I Do To Be Saved?” Hear The Gospel (Jn. 5:24; Rom. 10:17) Believe In Christ (Jn. 3:16-18; Jn. 8:24) Repent Of Sins (Lk. 13:35; Acts 2:38) Confess Christ (Mt. 10:32; Rom. 10:10) Be Baptized (Mk. 16:16; Acts 22:16) Remain Faithful (Jn. 8:31; Rev. 2:10) For The Erring Child: Repent (Acts 8:22), Confess (I Jn. 1:9), Pray (Acts 8:22)