Becoming More Like Christ — John 16-17

0:00 Let's open with a word of prayer. Dear heavenly Father, we come to you this morning in thanks and in praise, thanking you for your son and his sacrifice for us and what we have now as a result of that sacrifice and our redemption. Lord, we thank you for this time we have to open your word to study your scriptures that we might become more like Christ every day. We ask that you bless this time, that you bless the words that are spoken that it may be imparted to our hearts. We pray these things in the lord Jesus name, amen.

0:39 In becoming more like Christ since I've already mentioned that, I'm here today to share with you that I have found the number one easiest and most practical way we can all become more like Christ. Wear more sandals. Wear more sandals. It's the easiest way to become more like Christ. So, you'll see me wearing these if you haven't all winter long.

1:09 It's the little things. If you get a few extra brownie points, it's it's a small sacrifice to pay. Turning your Bibles to John 17. Gospel of John chapter 17. We're actually not specifically talking about becoming more like Christ today.

1:30 This is the high priestly prayer that is commonly called and we're looking at this today really because I had a few messages in recent past about prayer and the importance of prayer in our lives. We studied some Greek. We looked at a lot of examples throughout the New Testament on prayer and I wanted to sort of dovetail off of that and end my mini series on prayer, studying Christ's prayer. This chapter in John 17 gives us the most extensive and profound prayer of the Lord Jesus Christ that we have. Jesus's whole life has been about a revelation of the Father.

2:25 It's been about revealing the Father and it's based on Christ's union with him. And so, it's appropriate that Jesus' teaching concludes in the form of prayer. This is really teaching for us to learn from. And prayer being the genre of teaching most closely associated with union with God. Right?

2:52 We are never closer to God than when we are on our knees in prayer. As born again believers, we have access into the holiest of holies. We have direct access to God. And that is the closest we can get on this side of eternity. This chapter talks a lot about Jesus's intercession for the disciples and this anticipates his role after the Ascension.

3:24 This is commonly be been called the high priestly prayer because of this role that he alludes to and because this intercession role corresponds to other instances in the New Testament, such as Romans eight thirty four and Hebrews seven twenty five-twenty six, where the Lord Jesus Christ is called our intercessor. But Jesus also uses sacrificial language in this chapter when he refers to sanctifying himself in the nineteenth verse. So, that's why it is normally called the high priestly prayer. This passage concentrates on the relationship between the Father and the Son and the glory that they share. The Father is seen as the one who gives.

4:15 It is used 13 times of the Father in this chapter. The Father gives. And this highlights his grace and his role as the source of all things. Jesus focuses also specifically on the Father's gift of the disciples to the Son. Jesus continues to show Himself as the revealer who was sent from the Father, but He is also seen as a giver because He gives to His disciples the Father's Word, the Father's glory, and the Father's eternal life.

5:34 First, he describes their situation. And also then praying for them to be protected and sanctified. This is the bulk of it from verse six through 19. And then Jesus prays for all who will become believers through the witness of the 11, that they may share in the divine oneness, verses 20 through 24. And Jesus then concludes with a summary of His past and future work in 2526.

6:07 So let's read this together. I'll be reading out of the New American Standard. These things Jesus spoke and lifting up his eyes to heaven, he said, Father, the hour has come. Glorify thy son that the son may glorify thee, even as thou gavest him authority over all mankind, that to all whom thou hast given him, he may give eternal life. And this is eternal life, that they may know thee, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom thou hast sent.

6:39 I glorified thee on the earth, having accomplished the work which thou hast given me to do. And now, glorify thou me together with thyself, Father, with the glory which I had with thee before the world was. I manifested thy name to the men whom thou gavest me out of the world. Thine they were, and thou gavest them to me, and they have kept thy word. Now they have come to know that everything thou hast given me is from thee, for the words which thou gavest me I have given to them.

7:10 And they received them and truly understood that I came forth from thee and they also believed that thou did send me. I ask on their behalf. I do not ask on behalf of the world, but of those whom thou has given me for they are thine. And all things that are mine are thine, and thine are mine, and I have been glorified in them. And I am no more in the world, and yet they themselves are in the world, and I come to thee.

7:39 Holy Father, keep them in thy name, the name which thou hast given me, that they may be one even as we are. While I was with them, I was keeping them in thy name which thou has given me and I guarded them and not one of them perished, but the son of perdition that the scripture might be fulfilled. But now I come to thee and these things I speak in the world that they may have my joy made full in themselves. I have given them thy word and the world has hated them because they are not of the world even as I am not of the world. I do not ask thee to take them out of the world but to keep them from the evil one.

8:20 They are not of the world even as I am not of the world. Sanctify them in the truth, thy word is truth. As thou did send me into the world, I have also sent them into the world. And for their sakes, I sanctify Myself and they themselves also may be sanctified in truth. I do not ask in behalf of those alone, but for those also who believe in Me through their word, that they may all be one, even as Thou, Father, art in Me, and I in Thee, that they also may be in Us, that the world may believe that Thou didst send Me.

8:59 And the glory which thou has given me, I have given to them, that they may be one just as we are one. I in them and thou in me, that they may be perfected in unity, that the world may know that Thou didst send Me and didst love them, even as Thou didst love Me. Father, I desire that they also, whom Thou has given Me, be with Me where I am, in order that they may behold My glory, which thou has given me, for thou didst loved me before the foundation of the world. O righteous Father, although the world has not known thee, yet I have known thee, and these have known that thou did send me, and I have made thy name known to them, and will make it known that the love wherewith thou didst love me may be in them, and I in them. I need to take a minute.

10:38 And in that passage, Jesus also starts with a focus on the glorification of the Father and the Son. And the relationship between the Father and the Son, the concept of the distinctness yet oneness. It continues where lifting his eyes up to heaven. He's lifting his eyes up to heaven to the father who is distinct from him and to whom he is obedient. Do we think Jesus looked upon his suffering as his glory?

11:17 He does not merely pray, sustain your son. But he says, glorify your son. In actuality, the Lord's lowest stoop was his highest glory. He was never more resplendent than when he hung on the cross. That was his true spiritual throne.

11:45 So he prayed, glorify your son. And why? That the son may also glorify you. Enable him to bear the agony and to pass through it to glory. The death of Christ was a tremendous glorifying of God.

12:10 We see God's love and His justice rendered more glorious in Jesus Christ's death than there would have been in any other method. And that is why God designed it that way. We were designed with free will knowing we would sin. And Christ sacrifice was the thing that would give God the most glory. Glorify thy son that the son may glorify thee.

12:52 Even as thou hast given him authority over all mankind, that to all whom thou hast given him, he may give eternal life. In this verse, we get a little bit of the doctrines of general and particular redemption blended a little bit. I talked a lot about predestination when we covered Ephesians chapter one last year. So I won't go too in-depth on it here. But by his death, Christ obtained power over all flesh.

13:27 His death had some relation to every person but the special object of it was the salvation of the elect. And maybe to, at the risk of oversimplifying it, think about this. Have you ever walked into the kitchen and there's a spoon in the bottom of the sink and you're going to wash that spoon? And of course the spoon is facing upright. And of course it's directly under the faucet but you failed to process this.

14:11 You're staring right at it and I know it's like looking up at me and turn the faucet and I don't... So, the purpose of turning on the faucet is to wash the spoon. But you've now covered everything in water and have now washed it. There's enough water now everywhere to take care of everything. Okay?

14:27 So, this is kind of the bounty of god. Maybe, we can put it this way. The object of of Christ sacrifice and atonement was to purchase eternal life for those who were given to him by the father but he obtained power over all flesh and his sacrifice redeemed and covered every sin of every person from past, present, and future. To know god is eternal life. This is eternal life that they may know thee, the only true God and Jesus Christ who now is sent.

15:05 Verse three. If you know God personally, if you have accepted Christ as your savior, if you know Jesus Christ whom he has sent personally, this is eternal life. You are spiritually enlightened. And this is in itself part of the new life. This is eternal life that they may know me.

15:30 Not life for a few years here, but life eternal. Jesus prayed that he might glorify God in the future. But now he speaks of the glorification of the Father that has yet to be accomplished that has already been accomplished in his ministry. His work is not complete before his death. He mentions this in chapter 10 verse 18, and also verse, chapter 19 in twenty eight and thirty.

16:01 But he says, I glorified you on earth having completed the work. The glorification of the Father has been the distinguishing feature of his work and his life throughout the gospel. And this is a glory that's been characterized by grace and truth. First chapter of this epistle, chapter verse 14, right? The work was given to him by the Father.

16:33 So the character of the works revealed the character of Him who gave them to Jesus Christ to do. And so in this way, the words and the deeds of Jesus revealed the Father's glory. But also in the Son's obedience to the Father is seeing the glory of God since His humility, his obedience, and his sacrifice reflect the love that is laying down of one's life. And not laying down one's life for a righteous man as we heard in the first meeting. Maybe someone would dare to die for a righteous man.

17:20 But while we were at enmity with God, while we were enemies of God, we see the love that is laying down of one's life. This is the glory of God. Jesus laid aside his glory for our sakes. And so now he asks that, verse four, His work being regarded as done, His glory may be given to Him again. Glory now seems to refer here specifically to that shining splendor of the divine presence, right?

17:58 That unapproachable light that Paul talks about in one Timothy six sixteen. The son is asking that through the glorification of the cross, the resurrection, and the ascension, he may return to where he was before, at the Father's side in glory. After having prayed for the glorification of the Father and the Son in these first five verses, in verse six, he begins his prayer for the disciples. He comments on his work among them, their response, and the relationship that they now have with the Father and the Son in contrast to their relationship with the world. He mentions his name in this section.

19:33 Revealing the name could point specifically to Jesus's use of the I am. But in any case, it certainly means to make manifest the character and the glory of God. Also, revealing the name is similar, in this case, to revealing the glory. And like the glorification, it will not be complete before His death. The manifestation through the teaching has been completed at this point, but the climactic revelation of God's glory through death and resurrection yet remains here.

20:14 What does it mean that the disciples were gods? So, back to verse six, I manifested thy name to the men whom thou gavest me out of the world. Thine they were and thou gavest them to me and they have kept thy word. We might see a reference to predestination here that they were the fathers through election but Paul develops this theme more specifically in Ephesians one. And in Ephesians, Paul says that he refers to the before the creation of the world.

20:54 They were his before the creation, before the foundation of the world. And so if the text here referred to the elect, it would sort of drive a wedge between the father and the pre existent son. And so since we don't really like the way that sounds, I don't think it's a right inference from this text. So maybe what we can look at is Jesus is speaking about the relation to salvation history. Meaning the relationship that the disciples had with God through the covenant of Israel.

21:26 Now, the Israelites who had a true affinity for God, who were already gods and were awaiting the Messiah to bring to fulfillment that relationship. The Father gave them to the Son for this purpose. And through their faith and their obedience, as they were drawn by God to the Son and to His teaching, they demonstrated that they were gods. Flipping back to John six forty four and forty five, No one can come to Me unless the Father who sent Me draws him, and I will raise him up on the last day. And it is written in the prophets, and they shall all be taught of God.

22:15 Everyone who has heard and learned from the Father comes to Me. And so the disciples have demonstrated that they were gods and they were drawn by God to the Son. And in verse seven and eight, Jesus now addresses the disciples response to himself. The disciples who are of God and are given by the Father to the Son have been able to recognize and receive as from the Father all that Jesus has received from the Father and passed on to them. The specific reference here is to Jesus' teaching, which they have received.

23:54 Jesus picks up the affirmation spoken by the disciples, just a page back in 16 verse 30. And they said, Now we know that you know all things and have no need for anyone to question you. By this, we believe that you came from God. So, this just minutes before he began his prayer their knowledge, the disciples knowledge and faith are not as complete as they think it is. And Jesus affirms as much.

24:39 Jesus acknowledges that they've reached a decisive point. They believed in him and stuck with him when the other followers abandoned him. Chapter six from 60 to 69, there's still an enormous amount that they don't know. And Jesus promises the Holy Spirit to teach them in chapter fourteen twenty six. And also he refers to it again in chapter 16 verse 13, But when he, the spirit of truth comes, he will guide you into all the truth for he will not speak on his own initiative, but whatever he hears, he will speak and he will disclose to you what is to come.

25:24 There's an enormous amount they do not know, but he promised the Holy Spirit to instruct them. The foundation has been laid and it's secure. They have been receptive which is the fundamental attitude, the fundamental aspect of a true disciple that we should all be striving for. To be receptive. And so now they've grasped the true crux of the revelation.

25:59 The identity of the son in relation to the father. They've managed to grasp that. The grace of this revelation has been met with humble openness and with faith and with obedience. And Jesus's affirmation of the disciples here should be so encouraging to us. Because we see God's acceptance of believers despite the great ignorance and weakness that is still there.

26:46 The disciples relationship to God has enabled them to recognize the Son and believe in Him. And it is for these believers and not the world which has rejected him, that Jesus now turns to pray in verse nine. I ask on their behalf. I do not ask on behalf of the world, but of those whom thou hast given me, for they are thine. They were the fathers before he gave them to the Son, and they remain the fathers after he gives them to the Son.

28:17 But also, since it is through the witness of the disciples that the world will continue to be challenged with God's love and call, God's prayer for the disciples is actually an indirect prayer for the world, if you think about it. In verse 10, Jesus repeats an earlier description of the disciples but changes it a little before he gave them to the son and they remain the fathers after he gives them to the son. And in verse 10, we see how this is. All things that are mine are thine and thine are mine. So here is a fundamental truth of the gospel, the oneness of the father and the son being expressed in terms of possession.

29:32 The disciples very relationship of the father and the son show this. They have been given to the son yet remain the fathers because of the oneness. And here as through the rest of Jesus' teaching, this doesn't make any sense unless one realizes that he is God. We should all be able to claim that all things that are mine are yours. We should all be able to say that but the reverse, all you have is mine.

30:25 Is something no created thing can say. The glory that Jesus says has come to him through them comes from both the Father and the disciples. When the Father gave the disciples to Jesus, the Father bore witness to this relationship of oneness. They were from the father, they recognized him, and believed him. Verse 11, and I am no more in the world and yet they themselves are in the world and I come to thee.

31:09 Holy Father, keep them in thy name, the name which thou hast given me, that they may be one even as we are one. So Jesus now looks to, He looks ahead. He looks to the time when they are left in the world. The relationship that has been started must now be maintained in the new situation, in their new phase. The glory that has been started must come to completion in divine oneness.

32:37 The father has given to me and no one shall snatch the mound of my hand. We can rest in that hope. We are God's. We belong to God. And we cannot be separated.

32:57 The Father never loses any who are entrusted to Him. What an amazing comforting thought. Jesus never seems to really think about His own suffering. His thoughts are occupied with his people, with disciples. His prayers are for them that they might be made holy.

33:29 And in that, God may be glorified through them. This is what it's all about. It's all about bringing glory to God. And now having spoken about what he has done for the disciples while he was with them, Jesus returns to his request that the father would keep them. And he specifies this in two ways.

34:02 The first of which is very interesting. He says that their protection is to be in the world. Protection in the midst of the world, not by removal of it. If he was a loving God and wanted to protect them, he would remove them from it. He would remove us from it.

34:26 But that doesn't bring God glory. It brings God more glory that we remain here and we proclaim the gospel and show God's love to the world. We are to be the witness. We are to be the followers of Christ and we are where we are to be the light in the world. So, doesn't pray that the disciples are removed but that they're protected while they're in it.

34:59 Be in the world but not of it. Thinking about what Nathan Loudon was talking about just a couple weeks ago. In their identification with Jesus, they now draw upon themselves. We draw upon ourselves the world hatred of him. But we also share the mission, which is spelled out shortly in verse 18.

35:29 And thou did send me into the world and I have also sent them into the world. But this protection, so it's first in the midst of the world, not by a removal of it. But then he specifies protection from the evil one. For the whole world is under the control of the evil one, which John says in chapter five nineteen, first John five nineteen. The warfare motif runs throughout scripture and it is fundamental to our own understanding of reality.

36:06 Right? There is a spiritual war. It is real and we are fighting it. And we're hopeless, losing it without Him. The Holy Spirit that is within us is what gives us the ability to fight the battle.

36:25 To fight the fight. And to stand for Christ. And to walk for Christ. And to live for Christ. Jesus' prayer here is before he has completed his work of salvation.

36:52 But God's warfare with the world will continue. Neither the Father nor the Son is going to abandon the world and so neither can we. This is our challenge. God will continue to engage the world to confront it and to call it to repentance. He desires that all would come to Him and be saved.

37:21 This is what He is what He wants. This is why He's tarrying. This is why He delays because He does not want any to be lost. The disciples place in the world, now our place in the world, is not something we can give up because it is not something that God will give up. Today we have a sense of antagonism between the world and the people of God.

37:54 There's an antagonism there. But a challenge for us is that we need to bring to this antagonism more of God's love for the world. To bring glory to Him. Because that is why we are here, to bring glory to God. Let's close with some prayer.

38:19 Dear heavenly Father, once again, we kneel before your throne of grace. We thank you for the Lord Jesus Christ, who he is, what he has done for us, what he is continuing to do for us. We thank you for the plan of salvation which has brought you so much glory than if we were responsible for our own. We thank you for the relationship between the Father and the Son. We thank you for the oneness of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit and how we benefit from the Lord Jesus Christ as our intercessor and the Holy Spirit teaching us and helping us and strengthening us and showing us the way.

39:16 Father, we thank you for all you have given us. We thank you for this time. May we remember that our life is to glorify you through all things. This is a challenge that is hard to work out, we admit, in our daily lives and we ask that You will be with us and strengthen us and help us and remind us about what it is all about, who it is all about. May we live our lives in honor and glory to you.