A Prayer For "All" Who Will Believe

Last time we looked at John 17 we saw that just after the last supper and after Christ Jesus' teaching and just a few hours before His death, Christ Jesus prayed. This chapter is the Lord's Prayer, it is Christ Jesus' prayer. As I said last week many normally call the prayer in Matthew 6:9-13 “The Lord's Prayer,” but that prayer was really a practical exercise in how we should pray. Now in this, His prayer; Christ Jesus was offering Himself to His Father along with all His people, the disciples and those to come, so that His Father might be glorified.

Now as we start in verse 13 Christ Jesus is praying for His disciples. He did not pray for them to be rich and great in the world, but instead that they might be kept from sin, strengthened for their duty, and brought safe to heaven. He did not pray for His disciples to be removed out of the world, or that they might escape the anger of the world, they had a great work to do for the glory of God, and the benefit of mankind. Christ Jesus prayed that the Father would keep the disciples from the evil, from being corrupted by the world, the remains of sin in their hearts, and from the power and craft of Satan. The disciples are not left here to pursue the things of this world like those around them, but to glorify God, and to serve their generation and generations to come.

The Israelites were not new to the concept of separation from the world. Old Testament and Jewish tradition emphasized Israel's separation from an often hostile world. After all it was God, Himself who sanctified or set Israel apart for Himself as holy nation, by giving them His commandments. 

John 17:13-26
13 "I am coming to you now, but I say these things while I am still in the world, so that they may have the full measure of my joy within them. 14 I have given them your word and the world has hated them, for they are not of the world any more than I am of the world. 15 My prayer is not that you take them out of the world but that you protect them from the evil one. 16 They are not of the world, even as I am not of it. 17 Sanctify them by the truth; your word is truth. 18 As you sent me into the world, I have sent them into the world. 19 For them I sanctify myself, that they too may be truly sanctified.
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.
24 "Father, I want those you have given me to be with me where I am, and to see my glory, the glory you have given me because you loved me before the creation of the world.
25 "Righteous Father, though the world does not know you, I know you, and they know that you have sent me. 26 I have made you known to them, and will continue to make you known in order that the love you have for me may be in them and that I myself may be in them."
 

1. In This World, But Not Of It (vs. 13-16)

Monasticism, the cloistering of people into private compounds where they have no contact with outside society, is a human invention, not a godly design. Christ Jesus had been in the world, and now His disciples would remain in the world. They were learning about the Father so that they could handle being in the world and still enjoy the full measure of Christ Jesus' joy within them. 

Just because Christ Jesus asked that the disciples be full of His joy (v. 13-14) did not mean that they would escape tribulation and hostility. That would have meant taking them out of the world. No, they would remain and be hated, just as Christ Jesus had been, because they are “not of this world.” To bear the name, to be with Christ Jesus, marks all Christians as aliens in this world. And this raises trouble; when you are faithful to the word Christ Jesus has given you, the world reacts with hostility.

How is it possible to be “in the world” and yet not of the world? Well verses 14-16 address this very question. Again this doctrine of separation does not mean isolation. Christ Jesus did not pray for removal of His followers from this world, but for an awareness of its evils so they could be avoided. 

Brothers and sisters let me remind you the New Testament tells us that the world is in the ultimate control of the prince of the power of the air. And this prince of the air, Satan, the evil one; does battle with the living God by affecting the lives of you and me, and all other Christians. This is why Christ Jesus asked that the disciples be kept from the evil one (v. 15). The evil one would break in as a thief and destroy this small band, stealing them one by one, unless they continued to be on guard by the word of Christ Jesus. 

Brothers and sisters in Christ you must hold fast to the word of Christ Jesus so that you can overcome the evil one, instead of being overcome by him.

The antidote for all that the evil one will throw at you – to be sanctified in the truth.

2. Sanctified In The Truth (vs. 17-19)

The Greek word for sanctify is hagiazo (hag-ee-ad'-zo), which means “to set apart for God's use.” Christ Jesus asks that the disciples be sanctified, set apart, and consecrated for their special task (v. 17). It is the truth of Christ Jesus’ word, which would equipped them to be in the world, but not of it. They had already been called and made clean by that word. Now they were sanctified by it; they belong to Christ Jesus. Union with Him gave them authority and power and it does the same you. 

Christ Jesus Himself is sanctified for the disciple's sake. He offered Himself to the Father as a lamb for the sacrifice. By this will we have been sanctified through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once for all. Heb. 10:10. 

He is the perfect Lamb, the only One who can take away the sin of the world (John 1:29). So He offered Himself for those whom God has given Him. And in case you haven't realized it yet He offered Himself up for you. The sanctification of the disciples for their mission rested in the completion of Christ Jesus’ work on the Cross. The power of Christ Jesus’ words to His disciples in sanctifying them is grounded in the power of His own death and resurrection.

From the very first days of Christianity, true believers have practiced separation by infiltration. The Father sent the Son into the world and now the Son was sending the believers into the world. In effect, he said, “Lead these disciples to an act of dedication as I have dedicated myself to your work. Then as they live their lives for you, Father, they will ultimately enjoy the fixed and final dedication you bestow upon them.” - Kenneth O. Gangel 

In this day and age of modern conveniences and sophisticated technology, it is harder and harder to live in the world without being of the world. It is increasingly tricky to escape the snares of the evil one and the captivating attraction of our own flesh and the world around us. Do not love the world nor the things in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him. 1 John 2:15 

Sure the things of this world look good right now, but they are temporary. Why choose the way of Christ Jesus? His way is ultimately better and it is eternal. “And I heard a loud voice from the throne, saying, "Behold, the tabernacle of God is among men, and He will dwell among them, and they shall be His people, and God Himself will be among them, and He will wipe away every tear from their eyes; and there will no longer be any death; there will no longer be any mourning, or crying, or pain; the first things have passed away."” Rev 21:3-4

Christian brothers and sisters if you have any doubts that this prayer does not apply to you then vs. 20 should erase them. Christ Jesus’ prayer is not only for those who were gathered with Him. He reaches out and includes all those who will come to believe in Him through “their word,” that they may know the glory and love of the Father and the Son. This is His prayer for the church that is to come.

3. The Relationship of Believers to God (vs. 20-26)

Christ Jesus especially prayed, that all believers might be one body under one head, alive by one soul, through our union with Him, the Father in him, and through the Holy Spirit dwelling in them.

The union of the church isn't patterned after some earthly organization or any well-meaning intentions of humanity. God joins our spirits through the Holy Spirit because Christ Jesus' blood is thicker than any human bonds. This unity goes far beyond that of any of mankind, this is a spiritual unity. Christ Jesus showed us this when He said, "I and the Father are one." John 10:30.

As a Christ follower you should endeavor to keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace, praying that all believers will be more and more united in one mind and one judgment. By this we will convince the world of the truth and excellence of our Saviour, and find a more sweet communion with God and His saints. This unity is not simply some mystical, new age kind of thing, it is revealed in this company of forgiven sinners, the disciples. 

As the love of Christ Jesus is perfected among God’s people in a deepening unity; which is visible, the world is challenged. The church then becomes God’s call to the world. All people will come to know Christ Jesus through those He has sent. Starting with that company of forgiven sinners who loved one another as the Father loves the Son and as He loves His people. This is Christ’s body in the world. And “what the Incarnate Son of God had once been to the Jewish people, the church is now to the world—the incarnate love and glory of God.” This unity of Christ Jesus’ people is a gift, a living place, into which believing disciples are called.

As Christ Jesus prayed for His original disciples (v. 6) and then for those who would come to believe through their word (v. 20) now He anticipates the coming of those who will be with Him forever in glory (v. 26). Christ Jesus “desires” that the church may be with Him in glory. In this final place, this eternal abode, all Christ Jesus' disciples will behold in all its fullness the glory the relationship He has had with the Father before “the foundation of the world” (v. 24). The faithful disciples will be united with Him in the love of the Father because they have been united with Him on earth. The church on mission will become the church eternal.

Conclusion: I guess all there is left to look at this morning is your life. Christ Jesus said a prayer. He asked the Father to keep His followers from the evil one who for right now rules over this world. He prayed for the unity of all believers and then He stated His desire for us to be with Him in heaven. But here is thing this offer is only for a select few – it is only for anyone who will call on the name of the Lord. It is only for who-so-ever will confess that Christ Jesus is the Son of God, who died, rose again, and now reigns with the Father in heaven. It is only for all who will give their life to Him. Why not become a follower of Christ Jesus today and be a part of the church eternal?