CHRIST’S prayer was for a special people. He declared that he did not offer an universal intercession. "I pray for them," said he. "My prayer is not for the world, but for those you have given me, because they belong to you." (v. 9) In reading this beautiful prayer through, one big question comes to minds; Who are the people that are described as "them," or as "they?" Who are these favored individuals, who share a Savior’s prayers, are recognized by a Savior’s love, have their names written on the stones of his precious breastplate, and have their characters and their circumstances mentioned by the lips of the High Priest before the throne on high? The answer to that question is supplied by the words of our text. The people for whom Christ prays are an “unearthly people.” They are a people somewhat, above the world. "They are not of the world, even as I am not of the world."
Today we are here to celebrate a special event: confirmation and also to remember those who are graduating. So with that in mind I want this message to be one that is focused on Christ prayer for each of us. There are five things that Jesus prayed for Christians that I will share with you this morning. So let’s get into the text.
Jesus Prayed:
A Prayer for Security - (v. 11-13)
A Prayer for Deliverance (14-16)
A Prayer for Sanctification (17-19).
A Prayer for Unity (20-23).
I. A Prayer for Security - (v. 11-13)
11 Now I am departing the world; I am leaving them behind and coming to you. Holy Father, keep them and care for them – all those you have given me – so that they will be united just as we are. 12 During my time here, I have kept them safe. I guarded them so that not one was lost, except the one headed for destruction, as the Scriptures foretold.13 "And now I am coming to you. I have told them many things while I was with them so they would be filled with my joy.
This section of the prayer is very unique because it is the only place in the John where we find Jesus using the term “Holy Father.” One Bible scholar Darby suggests that Jesus uses this term because he want God to watch over us like a Father would.
• I like that image of God with all his power and might watching over each us with the affection of a Father.
We have the guarantee that God will keep the saints from the evil of the world the way a Father tries to protect his family.
There are two different forms of the word “keep” used in verse 12. One meaning more “I preserve” the other meaning more “I guarded” Jesus is simply reminding the Father
• “While I was in the world, I guarded them as a means to their preservation. Now I am no more in the world, and I come to you, Father to preserve them in your name.”
You almost see this from a parents perspective. You have raised your children kept them safe now they are about to go off to college leave the safety of your house and your care and you are simply asking God the Father to protect them now because you can’t do it any more. That is what this prayer is. Lord watch over the ones you have placed in my care, because I can’t. What a heart we see here from Jesus to pray a prayer like that for us. We truly see the Savior’s heart, the Savior’s love for us.
A Prayer for Security - (v. 11-13)
II. A prayer for deliverance. (14-16)
14 I have given them your word. And the world hates them because they do not belong to the world, just as I do not. 15 I’m not asking you to take them out of the world, but to keep them safe from the evil one. 16 They are not part of this world any more than I am.
Twice in this section Jesus reminds the Father, “They are not of the world, even as I am not of the world.” Jesus prayer here is one of deliverance to God saying,
• “God keep them from the evil man (Satan).”
The idea here is Jesus is asking God for protect us from Satan who is the prince of this world. We know as parents one of the fears we deal with is what kinds of temptations we have been protecting our kids from will they fall into. We try and watch what they see, and know about. We don’t want our kids to be exposed to the sickness that is lurking out there in the world. But we know once they have left our side Satan will try and expose them to all the trappings the world has to offer. So Jesus simply prays lord protect them form the Father of lies, Satan. Jesus prays Father help them because,
• “They are not part of this world any more than I am.”
A Prayer for Security - (v. 11-13)
A Prayer for Deliverance (14-16)
III. A Prayer for Sanctification (17-19).
17 Make them pure and holy by teaching them your words of truth. 18 As you sent me into the world, I am sending them into the world. 19 And I give myself entirely to you so they also might be entirely yours.
An old deacon used to pray every Wednesday night at prayer meeting for his wrongdoing and concluded his prayer the same way: “And, Lord, clean all the cobwebs out of my life ?the things that are gathered there that ought not to have been there. O Lord, clean all the cobwebs out of my life. It got too much for one fellow in the prayer meeting after hearing the deacon one too often; so when the old deacon said the same prayer the next time, the fellow jumped to his feet and shouted: “Lord, Lord, don’t clan the cobwebs. Kill the spider, kill the spider.
While conversion is a one-time act and decision, sanctification is a lifetime process and determination. E. Stanley Jones, the renowned Methodist missionary to India, said,
“Conversion is the act of a moment and the work of a lifetime.”
Sanctification is not about living a clean or perfect life, but an obedient life. The attraction of the world, the weakness of the flesh, and the onslaught of the devil are daily battles. It involves a purifying of the whole life of that person or thing to the service of God. In the Old Testament it usually conveyed the idea of making something sacred, usually by the burning of the sacrifice. It does not mean to purify as to purify from sin. Jesus purified Himself even though He had no sin by setting Himself apart as the sacrificial offering to God so that we His followers might also be pure and holy.
Sanctification is not about avoiding or escaping the world but yielding and surrendering to God. The word “world is very prominent in Jesus’ prayer, it occurs an astonishing 20 times in John 17.
Our weapons against the world’s beliefs, values, or attitudes are prayer to God (v 9), and obedience to the word of God (vv 6, 8, 14), and the power of His name (v 11).
Being set apart does not mean we are stored away. God will allow you to be scraped and to be sore but not to be stabbed; to be hated and hurt but not harmed. The key word is the word “overcome, which is a word from the last verse of the previous chapter John 16:33. Jesus said, “I have overcome the world.” The word overcome in John 16:33 comes from the root word nike. Nike is Greek for the noun victory (1 Jn 5:4), nika is the verb he has overcome (1 Jn 5:4), and hupernikomen (Rom 8:37) is more than conquerors.
In Christ we are overcomers, we are conquerors, and we are victorious.
So with that in mind we look at our believers role in the world in John 17:
The believers and the world in John 17.
Given to Christ out of the world (v. 6)
Left in the world (vv. 11-15)
Not of the world (v. 14)
Hated by the world (v. 14)
Kept from the world (v. 15)
Sent into the world (v. 18)
To preach Christ in the world (v. 20)
A Prayer for Security - (v. 11-13)
A Prayer for Deliverance. (14-16)
A Prayer for Sanctification (17-19).
IV. A Prayer for Unity (20-23).
20 "My prayer is not for them alone. I pray also for those who will believe in me through their message, 21 that all of them may be one, Father, just as you are in me and I am in you. May they also be in us so that the world may believe that you have sent me. 22 I have given them the glory that you gave me, that they may be one as we are one: 23 I in them and you in me. May they be brought to complete unity to let the world know that you sent me and have loved them even as you have loved me.
There was a story of some rescuers who found a man alone on a deserted island. But his rescuers were confused by something they saw. They saw three huts. So they asked the man about the three huts. He explained, “One was for me to live in. And I’m a religious man, so I built a church.
The rescuers, who were still confused why there should be a third hut, then asked, “Well, what about the third hut? Who lives there? The man replied, “Oh, nobody in particular there was a church spilt.
Thomas Jefferson said, “An association of men who will not quarrel with one another is a thing which has never existed.”
William Wallace, the leading character in the Academy-award winning move “Braveheart” chastised his fellow Scots for allowing minor issues, internal strife, and power struggles to stand in the way of their fight for independence from the English: “We have beaten the English but they’re back because you won’t stand together.”
The word one is another key word in John 17. It appears in verses 11, twice in 21 and 22, and 23. The unity of God’s church should reflect the unity of the Father and the Son. Verse 23 reveals to us the nature of this unity. The Son is obedient to the Father and the Father loves the Son (v 23). We are many members, but one body (Rom 12:4-5, Col 3:15).
”Again, to be one is not the absence of opinions, but the absence of divisions. The church’s greatest damage is the open sore that festers and swells and spreads after a disagreement or a misunderstanding. Disunity weakens, scatter, and muffles the church.”
A pastor told me how much hurt the church had to overcome when two prominent members of the church left over whether to relocate the church. No bandage or tape or glue can piece together a divided church. Some churches are split into two, some members form little cliques, and many members withdraw into their shell. People from both sides of an argument or an issue claim that they are in the right, that God is on their side, and that the other group started it first. It’s been said that the many churches were planted not by design but by default through church divisions, church splits and church fights.
Let us not be divided but united to grow the church into what God would have it be. I will always remember the world of Bill Hybles who said there is nothing on earth like the local church when it is working right. It has the power to transform and changes lives. Graduates and believers in Christ remember Jesus is praying for you.
Jesus wants us to live as children of God and promises to give us the strength to face whatever comes. Remember to pray for those around you, and those far away. Pray that we will be protected in our faith and that we will “sanctified” even if that means that we will need the courage to appear weird. Remember that we are to be salt and light to a bland and dark world. Remember that Jesus is praying for us and that all the power of God is with us. Remember that there is nothing that has power beyond the power of God. Remember that God is truth. Then we will be like the tree of Psalm 1, “their delight is in the law of the Lord . . . They are like trees planted by streams of water, which yield their fruit in due season.”
