Sshhh! The Master is praying….
John 17:14 NASB
14 I have given them Your word; and the world has hated them because they are not of the world, just as I am not of the world.
Saved misfits. That’s what we’ve become. We are spiritually unrecognizable to the world. Square pegs in round holes. Accused of turning the world upside down. Strangers in a strange land. We can no longer be identified with… the World. We are new creations in Christ. Our identity is now firmly and eternally rooted in Heaven.
John 17:15 NASB
15 I am not asking You to take them out of the world, but to keep them away from [a]the evil one.
But Jesus understands that there is still work here on earth that is, yet undone. So, stop practicing those Rapture drills. Roll up your sleeves and let’s go to work. Since the Master would only pray according to the will of the Father, we have the assurance that what He prays for us, we receive. We have all the help we need to overcome the wiles of the enemy. We have, is we ask, the Divine assistance of the Father to resist… temptation. Isn’t that Good News?!
John 17:16 NASB
16 They are not of the world, just as I am not of the world.
Here’s more Good News. Whether we realize it or not, Jesus identifies with us. What do I mean by that? Simple, as Christians, we are continuously encouraged to ‘be like Christ. To put aside our old nature and take on the new nature of eternal life in Christ. However, how much of a relief is it to discover that once we are born again, Christ identifies ‘with’ us. He no longer sees our sin ravaged brokenness, but rather, He sees us as those who are born of eternity. The fact of the matter is that He identified with us while we were yet sinners. I’m not even sure we can ever understand the full implications of that fact in this temporal lifetime. I would even go so far as to argue that, even in Eternity, we will continue to worship and praise God in sheer awe of the inexpressible love He has shone on us through this wonderful gift of Salvation, paid for by the blood of His only begotten Son. Halleluiah!
John 17:17 NASB
17 Sanctify them in the truth; Your word is truth.
Sanctification implies separation to God. Separation to God implies Holiness. Holiness implies Godliness. So Jesus is literally asking God to immerse us in the truth in such a way that by that immersion we ‘become’ something other than what we are…Holy. Full stop. Holiness imbued, not earned. Holiness that sets us apart just because. Holiness that so fully transforms our nature, that our nature can no longer be identified in the humus of earth, but in the dust of the Eternity. Holy!
Additionally, we have confidence in knowing that the Word that spoke all of creation into existence has immersed you in ... Holiness. I have a friend who always reminds me that the truth doesn’t change. By its very nature, it can’t. Absolute truth cannot be relative. There is only, at the end of everything, the truth. Therefore, we have the assurance that that which God has done in us is as... unchangeable as He is. Isn’t that Good news!
John 17:18 NASB
18 Just as You sent Me into the world, I also sent them into the world.
And now, having been equipped for Eternity, you have been sent. Sent into a World that...no longer identifies with you…
John 1:5 NASB
5 And the Light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not [c]grasp it.
In fact, the World cannot identify with you, in that, they cannot fully comprehend what you are. You can take it by faith, come to realize and appreciate it over time as you see the glory of God manifest itself around your life. The World does not have the benefit of experiencing the manifested glory of God because it is not in them. it is as though you, who are saved, are living in the same space, but in a different dimension. Fear not Beloved. Jesus left you here for a reason: to be a contact point for Heaven, an emissary of Eternity.
John 17:19 NASB
19 And for their sakes I sanctify Myself, so that they themselves also may be sanctified in truth.
And now, so as to see His work in us to completion, the Master purposes, in His heart, to finish His work here in the earth at the cross.
Hebrews 12:2 NASB
2 looking only at Jesus, the [a]originator and perfecter of the faith, who for the joy set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.
Luke 22:41-42 NASB
41 And He withdrew from them about a stone’s throw, and He knelt down and began to pray, 42 saying, “Father, if You are willing, remove this cup from Me; yet not My will, but Yours be done.”
Is sanctification the right word to use here? Beloved, in that the cross would be the instrument that would severe Jesus’ from Eternity for the only time in Time or Eternity, yes, sanctification applies here for two reasons: 1. Jesus was uniquely qualified for this purpose. He is the only begotten Son of God. There was no other who could redeem. He had to make this journey alone. 2. In completing this final task, he fulfilled His purpose in the earth, and in doing so, He was found ‘perfect’ in the eyes of His Father, God.
Hebrews 5:7-9 NASB
7 In the days of [a]His humanity, [b]He offered up both prayers and pleas with loud crying and tears to the One able to save Him [c]from death, and He [d]was heard because of His devout behavior. 8 Although He was a Son, He learned obedience from the things which He suffered. 9 And having been perfected, He became the source of eternal salvation for all those who obey Him,
The completed work of Jesus at the cross cemented our destiny in Eternity. It had to be done. There was no other way.
John 17:20 NASB
20 “I am not asking on behalf of these alone, but also for those who believe in Me through their word,
Again, with the assurance that Jesus' prayers were always answered, we can see, in retrospect, the effectiveness of answered prayer in the effectiveness of the preaching of the Gospel and the enormous growth and fortitude of the Church grown out of that preached Word. Beloved, Jesus did not pray only for the eleven, but for you and I. In the same way that light has never stopped being since God spoke it into existence, the Church, powered by the prayers of the Master can never stop being the effectual representation of Heaven in the earth. Yes, Beloved, that same purposed prayer empowers us to continue this good, good work of spreading the news of redemption through the shed blood of Jesus.
John 17:21 NASB
21 that they may all be one; just as You, Father, are in Me and I in You, that they also may be in Us, so that the world may [b]believe that You sent Me.
Note the corporate, all-encompassing scope of Jesus’ prayer. He’s not praying for one particular church or group of churches, but He is praying for oneness in the Church. The World we are reaching out to will only believe our message when they can see Jesus in us. And the only way they can see Jesus in us is if we see Jesus in one another.
John 17:22 NASB
22 The glory which You have given Me I also have given to them, so that they may be one, just as We are one;
Ephesians 4:4 NASB
4 There is one body and one Spirit, just as you also were called in one hope of your calling;
Beloved, though the members of the Body of Christ are many, there is only one Body of Christ, the Church, and only one Holy Spirit that animates this Body of Christ in the earth. Literally, there is just one ‘Glory of God’, one ‘Shikanah’, but it is most easily made manifest when, in unity, we allow the Holy Ghost to operate through us as one.
John 17:23 NASB
23 I in them and You in Me, that they may be perfected [c]in unity, so that the world may [d]know that You sent Me, and You loved them, just as You loved Me.
Ephesians 4:1-3 NASB
1 Therefore I, the prisoner of the Lord, urge you to walk in a manner worthy of the calling with which you have been called, 2 with all humility and gentleness, with patience, bearing with one another in love, 3 being diligent to keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace.
Beloved, we can reach perfection alone. We need one another. For as long as we remain, our greatest witness will be our humility and love towards one another. By our witness of unity, we invite the lost into a place of safety from a life filled with despair. Beloved, all eyes are on us.
Hebrews 12 1-2a NASB
1 Therefore, since we also have such a great cloud of witnesses surrounding us, let’s rid ourselves of every obstacle and the sin which so easily entangles us, and let’s run with endurance the race that is set before us, 2a looking only at Jesus, the [a]originator and perfecter of the faith,...
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John 17:24 NASB
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.
1 John 1:1-3 NASB
1 What was from the beginning, what we have heard, what we have seen with our eyes, what we have looked at and touched with our hands, concerning the Word of Life— 2 and the life was revealed, and we have seen and testify and proclaim to you the eternal life, which was with the Father and was revealed to us— 3 what we have seen and heard we proclaim to you also, so that you too may have fellowship with us; and indeed our fellowship is with the Father, and with His Son Jesus Christ.
Once again Beloved, we see Jesus’ prayers for us answered in this age of Grace, this age of the Church. As believers, we have seen and will see His Glory. That is His prayer for us. That, as we walk toward eternity, we more clearly behold His Glory, His very Awesomeness because, as we walk toward eternity, we become more like Him.
I John 3:2 NASB
2 Beloved, now we are children of God, and it has not appeared as yet what we will be. We know that when He appears, we will be like Him, because we will see Him just as He is.
In closing, my prayer for you is the prayer of Paul, the Emissary of Christ…
Ephesians 16b-23 NASB
16b ..making mention of you in my prayers; 17 that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give you a spirit of wisdom and of revelation in the [t]knowledge of Him. 18 I pray that the eyes of your heart [u]may be enlightened, so that you will know what is the hope of His calling, what are the riches of the glory of His inheritance in the [v]saints, 19 and what is the [w]boundless greatness of His power toward us who believe. These are in accordance with the working of the strength of His might 20 which He brought about in Christ, when He raised Him from the dead and seated Him at His right hand in the heavenly places, 21 far above all rule and authority and power and dominion, and every name that is named, not only in this age but also in the one to come. 22 And He put all things in subjection under His feet, and made Him head over all things to the church, 23 which is His body, the fullness of Him who fills all in all.
Selah,
wb
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