SECURING THE SUCCESS OF JESUS’ MISSION-III—John 17:1-26
Attention:
The husband & wife were offered a ‘free airplane ride’ if they never opened their mouths during the stunt flyer’s bi-plane flight.
The pilot took them on a harrowing flight of 90 degree climbs, dives, twists & turns.
Upon landing the pilot said, “I tried my best but I never heard a peep out of you!”
The man responds, ‘Man I sure felt like hollerin’ when my wife fell out!’
He had found a way to secure a free flight(the success of his mission).
Jesus’ prayer in the Upper Room reflected the means to securing the success of His mission.
The success of Jesus’ mission is secured.
How is the success of Jesus’ mission secured?
What secures the success of Jesus’ mission?
20 measures for securing the success of Jesus’ mission.
This morning we discovered that,
Securing the Success of Jesus’ mission involves...
1. The Ultimate CONTACT(:1)
2. The Ultimate HOUR(:1)
3. The Ultimate GLORY(:1, 5)
4. The Ultimate AUTHORITY(:1-2)
5. The Ultimate LIFE(:2-3)
6—Securing the Success of Jesus’ mission involves...
The Ultimate ANOINTING(:3)
Explanation:(:3)
:3—“And this is eternal life, that they may know You, the only true God, & Jesus Christ whom You have sent.”
The two cannot be separated, the Father cannot be known apart from knowing Christ. Importantly, the Father can & must be known as well as His Son. Jesus being sent from the Father demands understanding Jesus in more than the context of a simple prophet. He was not only sent by the Father but from the Father as well.
Lk. 4:18-19, 21—““The Spirit of the LORD is upon Me, Because He has anointed Me To preach the gospel to the poor; He has sent Me to heal the brokenhearted, To proclaim liberty to the captives And recovery of sight to the blind, To set at liberty those who are oppressed; To proclaim the acceptable year of the LORD.””.....“And He began to say to them, “Today this Scripture is fulfilled in your hearing.””
Argumentation:
*Jn. 1:1-2;14—“In the beginning was the Word, & the Word was with God, & the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God.”.....And the Word became flesh, & dwelt among us, & we beheld His glory, glory as of the only begotten from the Father, full of grace & truth.
*Jn. 6:45—““It is written in the prophets, ‘And they shall all be taught by God.’ Therefore everyone who has heard & learned from the Father comes to Me.”
Jn. 6:65—And He was saying, “For this reason I have said to you, that no one can come to Me, unless it has been granted him from the Father.”
Jn. 10:32—Jesus answered them, “I showed you many good works from the Father; for which of them are you stoning Me?”
Jn. 16:27-28—““for the Father Himself loves you, because you have loved Me, & have believed that I came forth from God. I came forth from the Father & have come into the world. Again, I leave the world & go to the Father.””
Jn. 14:6-11—“Jesus said to him, “I am the way, the truth, & the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me. If you had known Me, you would have known My Father also; & from now on you know Him & have seen Him.” Philip said to Him, “Lord, show us the Father, & it is sufficient for us.” Jesus said to him, “Have I been with you so long, & yet you have not known Me, Philip? He who has seen Me has seen the Father; so how can you say, ‘Show us the Father’? “Do you not believe that I am in the Father, & the Father in Me? The words that I speak to you I do not speak on My own authority; but the Father who dwells in Me does the works. Believe Me that I am in the Father & the Father in Me, or else believe Me for the sake of the works themselves.”
Illustration:
When I worked for Flowers baking Co., I had a uniform/I was never to operate the truck without the uniform/The Ultimate ANOINTING
UPS deliverymen always drive trucks specific to UPS & wear a uniform clearly identified with their company & thus their purpose—Delivering parcels/They have an ‘anointing’ from the company to accomplish certain work/The Ultimate ANOINTING
Application:
?You employed The Ultimate ANOINTING of Jesus’ mission?
?You Secured the Success of Jesus’ Mission?
7—Securing the Success of Jesus’ mission involves...
The Ultimate ACCOMPLISHMENT(:4)
Explanation:(:4)
:4—“I have glorified You on the earth. I have finished the work which You have given Me to do.”
The extent of Jesus’ “glorifying” His Father is reiterated & expanded to include Jesus’ having personally “finished/accomplished the work” which had been assigned to Him by the Father.
?What was the work assigned to Jesus?...Minimally & generally it was to seek & to save that which was lost(Lk. 19:10), & all that is associated with that task....giving the glory to God. Jesus had completed this phase of His task, having lived out a life which honored His Father in the specific manner as was called for by the Son & Savior.
Jesus is revealing to the Father, that He is fully aware that His task on earth has been completed, at least for the present time, aside the near future work of The Cross.
“Finished/Accomplished/Completing”—teleiow (See :23—“Made perfect”)—1) To make perfect, complete—1a) To carry through completely, to accomplish, finish, bring to an end; 2) To complete (perfect)—2a) Add what is yet wanting in order to render a thing full, 2b) To be found perfect; 3) To bring to the end (goal) proposed; 4) To accomplish—4a) Bring to a close or fulfillment by event—4a1) Of the prophecies of the scriptures. Strong—To complete, i.e. literally--Accomplish, or figuratively--Consummate(in character).
“Work”—ergon—1) Business, employment, that which any one is occupied—1a) That which one undertakes to do, enterprise, undertaking; 2) Any product whatever, any thing accomplished by hand, art, industry, or mind; 3) An act, deed, thing done: the idea of working is emphasized in opp. to that which is less than work. Strong—Toil(as an effort or occupation); by implication--An act.
Argumentation:
Jn. 6:28-29—“Then they said to Him[Jesus], “What shall we do, that we may work the works of God?” Jesus answered & said to them, “This is the work of God, that you believe in Him whom He sent.””
Jn. 4:27-34—“And at this point His disciples came, & they marveled that He talked with a woman[the woman at the well]; yet no one said, “What do You seek?” or, “Why are You talking with her?” The woman then left her waterpot, went her way into the city, & said to the men, “Come, see a Man who told me all things that I ever did. Could this be the Christ?” Then they went out of the city & came to Him. In the meantime His disciples urged Him, saying, “Rabbi, eat.” But He said to them, “I have food to eat of which you do not know.” Therefore the disciples said to one another, “Has anyone brought Him anything to eat?” Jesus said to them, “My food is to do the will of Him who sent Me, & to finish His work.”
Jn. 19:28-30—“After this, Jesus, knowing that all things were now accomplished, that the Scripture might be fulfilled, said, “I thirst!” Now a vessel full of sour wine was sitting there; & they filled a sponge with sour wine, put it on hyssop, & put it to His mouth. So when Jesus had received the sour wine, He said, “It is finished!” And bowing His head, He gave up His spirit.”
Acts 20:22-24—““And see, now I go bound in the spirit to Jerusalem, not knowing the things that will happen to me there, except that the Holy Spirit testifies in every city, saying that chains & tribulations await me. But none of these things move me; nor do I count my life dear to myself, so that I may finish my race with joy, & the ministry which I received from the Lord Jesus, to testify to the gospel of the grace of God.”
2Tim. 4:7—“I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith.”
1Cor. 9:24-27—“Do you not know that those who run in a race all run, but one receives the prize? Run in such a way that you may obtain it. And everyone who competes for the prize is temperate in all things. Now they do it to obtain a perishable crown, but we for an imperishable crown. Therefore I run thus: not with uncertainty. Thus I fight: not as one who beats the air. But I discipline my body & bring it into subjection, lest, when I have preached to others, I myself should become disqualified.”
Mat. 25:14-23—““For the kingdom of heaven is like a man traveling to a far country, who called his own servants & delivered his goods to them. And to one he gave five talents, to another two, & to another one, to each according to his own ability; & immediately he went on a journey. Then he who had received the five talents went & traded with them, & made another five talents. And likewise he who had received two gained two more also. But he who had received one went & dug in the ground, & hid his lord’s money. After a long time the lord of those servants came & settled accounts with them. So he who had received five talents came & brought five other talents, saying, ‘Lord, you delivered to me five talents; look, I have gained five more talents besides them.’ “His lord said to him, ‘Well done, good & faithful servant; you were faithful over a few things, I will make you ruler over many things. Enter into the joy of your lord.’ “He also who had received two talents came & said, ‘Lord, you delivered to me two talents; look, I have gained two more talents besides them.’ “His lord said to him, ‘Well done, good & faithful servant; you have been faithful over a few things, I will make you ruler over many things. Enter into the joy of your lord.’”
Illustration:
My graduating College/At that time, I did not know of a future further accomplishment of graduating Seminary/My entering pastoral ministry—To pastor a church where I am sent to bear witness to encouragement & growth in Christ/The Ultimate ACCOMPLISHMENT
Unlike Jesus, not many have a singular purpose for their life of which they are aware & which overshadows everything else/Most operate thru a set of events or accomplishments to which they fully dedicate their energies/one at a time—Education-Apprenticeship-Job-Career-Marriage-Children-Church—To do all in the power of the Holy Spirit/The Ultimate ACCOMPLISHMENT
Application:
?You attained The Ultimate ACCOMPLISHMENT of Jesus’ mission?
?You Secured the Success of Jesus’ Mission?
8—Securing the Success of Jesus’ mission involves...
The Ultimate TEAM(:6)
Explanation:(:6)
:6—“I have manifested Your name to the men whom You have given Me out of the world. They were Yours, You gave them to Me, & they have kept Your word.”
“Manifested Thy name”—Jesus so fully represented the “name” of His Father to His disciples that He thus became visible/known to them. The “name” thus entails every aspect of God’s revelation to mankind as pertains to Jesus the Christ.
Jesus’ disciples were “given” of the Father to the Son. These disciples were in “the world” yet chose not to be of “the world.” At the time of this prayer, Judas Iscariot had already left the company of the other eleven(13:21-31). Those who had chosen Jesus had first belonged to the Father as “they were Yours[His].” The Father had then granted them to Jesus—per their trust in Jesus as the Messiah of God.
Argumentation:
Jn. 14:1—““Let not your heart be troubled; you believe in God, believe also in Me.”
Ps. 71:17-18—“O God, You have taught me from my youth; And to this day I declare Your wondrous works. Now also when I am old & grayheaded, O God, do not forsake me, Until I declare Your strength to this generation, Your power to everyone who is to come.”
The writer(David?) was a Team player.
Lk. 10:22—““All things have been delivered to Me by My Father, & no one knows who the Son is except the Father, & who the Father is except the Son, & the one to whom the Son wills to reveal Him.””
Rom. 8:28-39—“And we know that all things work together for good to those who love God, to those who are the called according to His purpose. For whom He foreknew, He also predestined to be conformed to the image of His Son, that He might be the firstborn among many brethren. Moreover whom He predestined, these He also called; whom He called, these He also justified; & whom He justified, these He also glorified. What then shall we say to these things? If God is for us, who can be against us? He who did not spare His own Son, but delivered Him up for us all, how shall He not with Him also freely give us all things? Who shall bring a charge against God’s elect? It is God who justifies. Who is he who condemns? It is Christ who died, & furthermore is also risen, who is even at the right hand of God, who also makes intercession for us. Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword? As it is written: “For Your sake we are killed all day long; We are accounted as sheep for the slaughter.” Yet in all these things we are more than conquerors through Him who loved us. For I am persuaded that neither death nor life, nor angels nor principalities nor powers, nor things present nor things to come, nor height nor depth, nor any other created thing, shall be able to separate us from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.”
These statements apply to all who are on the Team!
Eph. 1:3-6—“Blessed be the God & Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places in Christ, just as He chose us in Him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy & without blame before Him in love, having predestined us to adoption as sons by Jesus Christ to Himself, according to the good pleasure of His will, to the praise of the glory of His grace, by which He has made us accepted in the Beloved.”
2Thess. 2:13-17—“But we are bound to give thanks to God always for you, brethren beloved by the Lord, because God from the beginning chose you for salvation through sanctification by the Spirit & belief in the truth, to which He called you by our gospel, for the obtaining of the glory of our Lord Jesus Christ. Therefore, brethren, stand fast & hold the traditions which you were taught, whether by word or our epistle. Now may our Lord Jesus Christ Himself, & our God & Father, who has loved us & given us everlasting consolation & good hope by grace, comfort your hearts & establish you in every good word & work.”
Jn. 15:16—““You[the 11] did not choose Me, but I chose you & appointed you that you should go & bear fruit, & that your fruit should remain, that whatever you ask the Father in My name He may give you.”
Illustration:
Some guys who are sold out to sports in general, build virtual ‘dream teams’ for their favorite sport/There is ‘Fantasy’ Football-Basketball-Baseball-Nascar-Hockey-Rugby-Soccer-etc./They themselves are the coaches/They see how far their virtual teams progress against the ‘dream teams’ of others online/They receive press releases about their team standings/The Ultimate TEAM
Application:
?You employed with The Ultimate TEAM of Jesus’ mission?
?You Secured the Success of Jesus’ Mission?
9—Securing the Success of Jesus’ mission involves...
The Ultimate COMMITMENT(:6)
Explanation:(:6)
:6—“I have manifested Your name to the men whom You have given Me out of the world. They were Yours, You gave them to Me, & they have kept Your word.”
These who were Christ’s were those who “had kept” the Father’s “word”(during Jesus’ fleshy ministry). His word had not been handled haphazardly as that of someone other than God the Father.
Keeping God’s word entails heeding Jesus. Rejecting Jesus is rejecting God’s word as Jesus is ‘the Word’ of God.
Argumentation:
Jn. 13:33-38—““Little children, I shall be with you a little while longer. You will seek Me; & as I said to the Jews, ‘Where I am going, you cannot come,’ so now I say to you. A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another; as I have loved you, that you also love one another. By this all will know that you are My disciples, if you have love for one another.” Simon Peter said to Him, “Lord, where are You going?” Jesus answered him, “Where I am going you cannot follow Me now, but you shall follow Me afterward.” Peter said to Him, “Lord, why can I not follow You now? I will lay down my life for Your sake.” Jesus answered him, “Will you lay down your life for My sake? Most assuredly, I say to you, the rooster shall not crow till you have denied Me three times.”
At times our Great Commitments can be uninformed & short-sighted.
Jn. 14:21—““He who has My commandments & keeps them, it is he who loves Me. And he who loves Me will be loved by My Father, & I will love him & manifest Myself to him.””
Jn. 15:4-7—““Abide in Me, & I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself, unless it abides in the vine, neither can you, unless you abide in Me. “I am the vine, you are the branches. He who abides in Me, & I in him, bears much fruit; for without Me you can do nothing. If anyone does not abide in Me, he is cast out as a branch & is withered; & they gather them & throw them into the fire, & they are burned. If you abide in Me, & My words abide in you, you will ask what you desire, & it shall be done for you.”
Prov. 16:3—“Commit your works to the LORD, And your thoughts will be established.”
Ps. 37:3-9—“Trust in the LORD, & do good; Dwell in the land, & feed on His faithfulness. Delight yourself also in the LORD, And He shall give you the desires of your heart. Commit your way to the LORD, Trust also in Him, And He shall bring it to pass. He shall bring forth your righteousness as the light, And your justice as the noonday. Rest in the LORD, & wait patiently for Him; Do not fret because of him who prospers in his way, Because of the man who brings wicked schemes to pass. Cease from anger, & forsake wrath; Do not fret--it only causes harm. For evildoers shall be cut off; But those who wait on the LORD, They shall inherit the earth.”
1Tim. 4:12-16—“Let no one despise your youth, but be an example to the believers in word, in conduct, in love, in spirit, in faith, in purity. Till I come, give attention to reading, to exhortation, to doctrine. Do not neglect the gift that is in you, which was given to you by prophecy with the laying on of the hands of the eldership. Meditate on these things; give yourself entirely to them, that your progress may be evident to all. Take heed to yourself & to the doctrine. Continue in them, for in doing this you will save both yourself & those who hear you.”
Illustration:
Boss says ‘I want you to represent the company in ‘Timbuktu’/Is the company worth your uprooting the family?—Wife’s commitment strong enough?—Can you release friendships?—The Ultimate COMMITMENT
Ask anyone who hires minimum-wage employees/There is a shortage of commitment/They just don’t show up, leaving the business in the lurch/A Christian worker, on-the-other-hand, should be more dependable as he-she Recognizes both personal as well as business needs/The Ultimate RECOGNITION
Marriage in Christ/A Commitment to your spouse for the remainder of your days on this earth/Our society generally doesn’t want to agree to such commitment with its legal trappings so they choose to live together/Keep this in mind as you consider Mr. or Mrs ‘right’/The Ultimate COMMITMENT
Application:
?You employed The Ultimate COMMITMENT of Jesus’ mission?
?You Secured the Success of Jesus’ Mission?
10—Securing the Success of Jesus’ mission involves...
The Ultimate RECOGNITION(:7-8)
Explanation:(:7-8)
:7—“Now they have known that all things which You have given Me are from You.”
Through keeping the Father’s word, Jesus’ disciples had come to “know”(from personal experience) that everything which Jesus had—His Mercies, Miracles, Mission, Boldness, Steadfastness, Knowledge, Holiness, Redemptive power, etc.— was from the Father. Thru keeping the Father’s word, one recognizes the same character & qualities in certain others, seeing that the two are intimately & inseparably intertwined/sealed.
:8—“For I have given to them the words which You have given Me; & they have received them, & have known surely that I came forth from You; & they have believed that You sent Me.””
The Father’s words were given to the disciples & “they received them”. They went beyond reception to appropriation in that they accepted that which was true regarding Jesus—that He had “come forth from” the Father as the One sent from God, the Messiah. It became a matter of faith(they “believed”) on the part of the disciples to trust in Jesus’ “words.”
Words are indeed very powerful transformational tools regarding man. They can either save or condemn or both, depending upon the pronouncer of them & the reception or refusal of them.
Getting a person to the point of Recognizing Jesus as Lord is the most rewarding thing a person can do.
My personal spiritual giftedness is to be put to use with the giftedness of other brothers & sisters in Christ, for helping those without Christ to Recognize that God indeed works thru His Christ alone as the agent of salvation.
“Sent”(See :3, 18, 21, 23, 25)—apostellw— To send out(properly, on a mission).
Argumentation:
Jn. 1:29-34—“The next day John saw Jesus coming toward him, & said, “Behold! The Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world! This is He of whom I said, ‘After me comes a Man who is preferred before me, for He was before me.’ “I did not know Him; but that He should be revealed to Israel, therefore I came baptizing with water.” And John bore witness, saying, “I saw the Spirit descending from heaven like a dove, & He remained upon Him. I did not know Him, but He who sent me to baptize with water said to me, ‘Upon whom you see the Spirit descending, & remaining on Him, this is He who baptizes with the Holy Spirit.’ “And I have seen & testified that this is the Son of God.””
Mat. 3:1-2—“In those days John the Baptist came preaching in the wilderness of Judea, & saying, “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand!””
Mat. 4:17—“From that time Jesus began to preach & to say, “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.””
Lk. 19:41-44—“Now as He drew near, He saw the city & wept over it, saying, “If you had known, even you, especially in this your day, the things that make for your peace! But now they are hidden from your eyes. “For days will come upon you when your enemies will build an embankment around you, surround you & close you in on every side, “& level you, & your children within you, to the ground; & they will not leave in you one stone upon another, because you did not know the time of your visitation.””
Jn. 3:3, 5—“Jesus answered & said to him, “Most assuredly, I say to you, unless one is born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God.”.....Jesus answered, “Most assuredly, I say to you, unless one is born of water & the Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God.”
Illustration:
Our Car to ‘Sifford’s’/The latest was my driver’s side power window—It quit working(in the ‘up’ position(halleuiah!)/Derek &/or Phillip(Mechanics) look for & discover the problem & thus the solution/The Ultimate RECOGNITION
Application:
?You employed The Ultimate RECOGNITION of Jesus’ mission?
?You Secured the Success of Jesus’ Mission?
CONCLUSION:
Visualization:
Man close to losing his free airplane ride—‘Man I sure felt like hollerin’ when my wife fell out!’
Action:
Securing the Success of Jesus’ mission involves...
6. The Ultimate ANOINTING(:3)
7. The Ultimate ACCOMPLISHMENT(:4)
8. The Ultimate TEAM(:6)
9. The Ultimate COMMITMENT(:6)
10. The Ultimate RECOGNITION(:7-8)
1. The Ultimate CONTACT(:1)
2. The Ultimate HOUR(:1)
3. The Ultimate GLORY(:1, 5)
4. The Ultimate AUTHORITY(:1-2)
5. The Ultimate LIFE(:2-3)
Presented 05/19/2013pm to:
FBC Carrabelle
206 Storrs Ave. SW
Carrabelle, FL 32322
