Effective Prayer of the Righteous – Pt. 2

your Bibles and turn back once
again to John 17. John chapter 17 is where we find
ourselves once again. We are dipping back into the
portion of the prayer that Jesus prayed on behalf not only of
himself, also on behalf of his apostles, and ultimately for
all who would come to faith After that, in other words, he prays
for the church, which includes you and I. We began this consideration
last week. We have already completed the
consideration of Christ’s prayer for himself, where he literally
proves himself as the son of God. He proves that he is God
in the flesh because he literally commands God to give him his
glory. glory that was due, glory that
is said to be only for God. And so we have already completed
that portion. We find ourselves in the midst
of John 17, verse six through 19, and then we’ll close out
as the Lord leads in days to come. We find ourselves in verse
six, if we could, in its entirety through verse 19. where Jesus
prayed, I have manifested your name to the men whom you gave
me out of the world. They were yours and you gave
them to me and they have kept your word. Now they have come
to know that everything you have given me is from you. For the
words which you gave me, I have given to them and they received
them. and truly understood that I came
forth from you, and they believed that you sent me. I ask on their
behalf. I do not ask on behalf of the
world, but on behalf of those whom you have given me, for they
are yours, and all things that are mine are yours, and yours
are mine, and I have been glorified in them. I am no longer in the
world. and yet they themselves are in
the world, and I come to you. Holy Father, keep them in your
name, the name which you have given me, that they may be one,
even as we are. While I was with them, I was
keeping them in your name, which you have given me, and I guarded
them, and not one of them perished, but the son of perdition. so
that the scripture would be fulfilled. But now I come to you and these
things I speak in the world so that they may have my joy made
full in themselves. I have given them your 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 you to take them
out of the world, but to keep them from the evil one. They
are not of the world even as I am not of the world. Sanctify
them in the truth. Your word is truth. As you sent
me into the world, I also have sent them into the world. For
their sakes I sanctify myself that they themselves also may
be sanctified in truth. We began last week in a consideration
utilizing that passage from the book of James, which speaks of
the prayer of the righteous one. And what James is saying there
is that for a godly man to bow on his knees and to pray for
you is an inherently good thing. It’s a great thing. Good things
come from it. prayers are answered. God listens
to the man who listens to the king. And so we were reminded
acutely of this passage that as Jesus Christ goes before the
throne of grace to his own heavenly father, who better to bear up
the needs of people than the Lord Jesus Christ. And there
are Results to these prayers there there is fruit to be born
from these prayers And that’s why I began by pointing out last
week that Jesus only requests three things But much more fruit
is born than just the three things mentioned He asks for spiritual
preservation in verse 11 keep them in your name as we saw he
asks for protection from evil in verse 15, keep them from the
evil one. He asks them for Christ-like
holiness in verse 17, sanctify them in the truth. But there
are other things that bear fruit because of this prayer. If you
look at verse 11, one of the additional results of Jesus’
prayer is that they may be one. Godly unity is a result of Jesus’
prayer, as is joy at the end of verse 13, that they may have
my joy made full in themselves. Jesus’ prayer is the prayer of
the righteous one, the most righteous individual who ever walked the
face of the earth. He’s God in the flesh. He’s communing
with his heavenly father. He’s bringing not only petitions,
but he’s even bringing the reason for those petitions. And God
begins to answer those as we began to consider last Lord’s
Day. We’ve called this the effective
prayer. of the righteous. It’s Jesus
Christ going before his heavenly father and it’s a prayer of divine
assistance for his friends, the apostles. Jesus begins by communing
with the father, agreeing with the father, dialoguing with the
father about the nature of his mission. Look at verse six. I
have manifested your name to the men. In other words, what
Jesus says there, as we saw last week, He has represented God
fully and perfectly. They have seen God in the flesh. They know exactly what the Father
is like because they have seen the Son. I have manifested your
name to the men whom you gave me out of the world. There is
a sovereignty in the mission of Christ. There is a sovereignty
in the calling of these apostles. There is a sovereignty in the
gift of this revelation, a revelation of himself. Many people saw Christ,
the same Christ, the same God in the flesh, who did not even
so much as acknowledge him. But these men, These men saw
Christ and they saw Christ for who he was and they could not
but follow. I have manifested your name to
the men whom you gave me out of the world. They were yours,
you gave them to me and they have kept your word. There was
a faithfulness in these men. There was a faith that committed
themselves to Christ and kept on with Christ. Even in the face
of grave danger, even in the face of difficulty and hardship
and heartache, And now Christ is going away, and yet they persevere. They have kept your word. They
have come to know that everything you have given me is from you. For the words which you gave
me, I have given to them. In other words, they heard Christ’s
report. They heard his testimony. They
heard his teaching about the Heavenly Father. They heard,
they believed, and they persevered. Now Jesus turns to the subject
at hand, his prayer. He turns to the subject at hand
in verse 9 when he says, I ask on their behalf. I do not ask
on behalf of the world. And we saw that it’s not that
Jesus is advocating here not ever praying for the lost. He
knows that that is good and righteous. And on many occasions, he admonished
them to pray for their enemies, to love them, to love them in
a practical way, pray for those who persecute you, forgive those
even as he was on the cross, pleading for forgiveness for
those who were persecuting him. But here on this occasion, he
isn’t praying a general prayer. He isn’t praying, God bless the
whole wide world. God, do these things for the
entirety of humanity. No, he’s praying for these. He’s
praying for the disciples. In fact, I would even suggest
to you that it’s narrower than that. He’s praying for these
11. He’s praying for these 11 apostles
who will bear the calling of essentially planting the New
Testament church. and carrying it forth and establishing
it. I ask on their behalf. I don’t ask on behalf of the
world. Not praying a general prayer, but I pray on behalf
of those whom you have given me these 11 apostles They are
yours and all things that are mine are yours and yours are
mine in other words Jesus says I agree with God’s great plan
of redemption we The father and I are on the same page. These
are your men. You gave them to me. You called
them to yourself and now Jesus utters a prayer on their behalf. And we saw last Lord’s Day that
Jesus begins to bring his request before the Father. He begins by calling out to his
heavenly Father as Holy Father. The context is simple. I am no
longer in the world, verse 11, yet they themselves are in the
world. If there was ever a need For
divine prayer, this is it. It’s a whole new point in time
in God’s plan of redemption. The church is literally now to
be established and these feeble men, men not unlike ourselves,
men with their own set of weaknesses, mere men, not divine men, not
like Christ. If there was ever a time, if
there was ever a need for divine prayer on their behalf, this
is it. And Jesus bows and begins to
request of the Father certain things on their behalf. And as
we get into this particular section, we see the results of Christ’s
prayer for his friends. First of all, we saw spiritual
preservation, spiritual preservation. Holy Father, keep them in your
name. This is the only place in John’s
gospel, and it’s one of the few places where God is called Holy
Father. He is holy, he is utterly and
completely holy without sin, but he is also an approachable,
gracious, loving Heavenly Father. And Jesus calls out to him as
such. It wouldn’t have been surprising
to the Jewish raised apostles. It wouldn’t have been surprising
to hear Christ call out to God as holy. It was surprising that
he called out to God as holy and as father. And that’s noteworthy. And he says to him, holy father,
keep them in your name. Keep them from falling. Keep
them from struggle and from stray. Preserve them is what he prays. And we were reminded that isn’t
it a blessing? Isn’t it a blessing to us to
know that it’s not us, as it were, hanging on to God, hanging
on to his hands in hope that our grip doesn’t slip. It’s God
hanging on to us. It’s God that has laid hold of
us. and He is the one preserving us. But there is also a fruit that
we saw that comes even from that. If you look at verse 11, Jesus
said, I’m no longer in the world, they are in the world, I come
to you, Holy Father, keep them in your name, grant them the
blessing of the perseverance of the saints, grant them that
they would not falter, that they would not quit. Keep them in
your name, the name which you have given to me, why? That they may be one, even as
we are one, one in purpose, one in will, one in spiritual fellowship. May they come to know the great
plan of redemption and align themselves with it, even as you
and I, Father, are on the same page. Jesus prays for unity. Jesus prays that they would be
one. We see this prayer work itself
out in the church. Paul taught in Romans 12 that
in the church there is great diversity. There’s not only male
and female. There’s young, there’s old. There’s
rich, there’s poor, there’s all manner of people in the church,
and their giftedness varies. It varies greatly. And Paul says,
even as the body is one and has many members, all the members
of the body, though they are many, are one body. We’re made up of a diverse people. And yet Jesus says, or Paul here
says, we’re one. And our giftedness differs, our
usefulness differs, our capabilities differ, and yet Paul says that
unity is being worked out. The apostles found that. Here’s
Paul the apostle, not even a hundred years yet removed, already extolling
the blessing of unity in the church. Christ’s prayer had been
answered. That they were of one heart,
that they were on the same page, they were pulling in the same
direction, they were striving together for the faith of the
gospel. Christ’s prayer was indeed already
being answered in the church. There was a third thing that
we began to notice last week. As we look at the results of
Christ’s prayer for his friends, we notice not only a spiritual
preservation that God was keeping them, and a godly unity that
God was producing in them a oneness of heart and purpose. But thirdly,
we saw an indescribable gladness. An indescribable gladness. Look
at verse 12, and this is by way of reminder. It’s an indescribable
gladness that he prays for. While I was with them, verse
12, I was keeping them in your name which you’ve given to me
and I guarded them and not one of them perished but the son
of perdition. Jesus is laying the groundwork.
He’s just reviewing, communing with the father on the facts
of the matter of all that had taken place. And he just acknowledges
before the father that he was the one preserving them. He was
the one that was going and pursuing them and drawing them back. And
that not one of them was lost except Judas, the son of perdition. Even that was a fulfillment of
the scriptures. Psalm 41.9, my close friend in
whom I trusted, who ate my bread, he has lifted up his heel against
me. Many other scriptures, Psalm 69, Psalm 109, let his days be
few, let another his office take. Judas was a fulfillment, and
Jesus just acknowledges that, but there were these 11. There
were these 11 that Jesus up to this point had kept and preserved
and sustained. Remember Peter? How many times
would Peter have faltered? How many times would Peter have
gone? Peter would have drowned had it not been for the Lord
encouraging his faith. But now things are going to be
different. Look at verse 13, but now I come
to you. They’re going to be left alone
in a sense. I am not going to be with them
anymore, Jesus says. Now I come to you and these things
I speak in the world so that they may have my joy made full
in themselves. We’ve said it on a number of
occasions, but I absolutely believe that this prayer was uttered
out loud. I believe that John may have been given this in full
through the Holy Spirit 50 years later, as Jesus reminded him
of exactly what he said in prayer. But Jesus had a point in praying
out loud, and I do believe that he prayed out loud, and I believe
that the apostles listened in on this prayer and listened with
great intent. And here’s one of the reasons
I say that. Jesus says, I come to you, these things I speak
in the world, these things I speak in their hearing, these things
I speak audibly that so that they may have my joy made full
in themselves. The prayer was spoken right out
loud. He wanted the apostles to hear
that for which he prayed. He wanted them to hear that he
desired God to preserve them. He wanted them to hear that they
were going to become one in purpose, one in approach, one in will. He wanted them to hear that God
was so going to do a work in their hearts that they were going
to have a gladness beyond happiness, a gladness that was beyond anything
that human comprehension could lay hold of. He wanted them to hear this.
And he wanted them to know this joy, not just happiness, but
joy. He wanted them to know the depth
of God’s blessing in their lives. Paul speaks of it in Romans 15,
may the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing. It’s the joy of the Lord. It’s
the joy in the Lord. It’s one of the fruits of the
Spirit, as Paul says in Galatians 5. It’s one of the clear blessings
in the church, as Paul described in Philippians 4. Rejoice in
the Lord always. Romans 4, Romans 14 rather says,
that it is a mark of the kingdom of God to be people of joy. Did
you realize that? Part of what the world sees as
they look at you is an indication that you’re part of another kingdom,
the kingdom of God, simply because you have this indescribable gladness. Romans 14 says, the kingdom of
God is not eating and drinking. but righteousness and peace and
joy in the Holy Spirit. It’s joy, it’s this indescribable
gladness, and it’s the logical result of realizing that our
sins are forgiven, that we now stand in Christ’s righteousness,
that there is a peace treaty with a holy God that has been
enacted by Him. And we stand in it. We didn’t
earn it, we didn’t deserve it, but there we are. It’s joy. What else could there be? This
was promised through Christ, Luke 10, I bring you good news
of great joy, which shall be for all the people. That’s the
very core of Jesus’ mission, to bring joy, this indescribable
gladness. It was expressed by Christ on
numerous occasions, that this is the Christian’s hope. John
15, he spoke it in this very context in the upper room. These
things I have spoken to you that my joy may be in you and your
joy may be made full. And now the apostle standing
in Jesus’ hearing, hear him pleading with the Father to produce that
joy in these very men. And so you say, was that prayer
answered? How did it go for these guys?
After all, Jesus is going to leave. Within hours now, he’s
going to be arrested. Not exactly a joyful occasion.
He’s going to be crucified. He’s going to be buried. And
you remember, there were a couple of days where there were anything
but joyful. But immediately, Their immediate
response to the resurrection, just now days later, Luke 24,
while they could not believe it because of the joy and amazement,
he said to them, have you anything to eat? Here’s Jesus standing
in front of them and they’re speechless. What they have is
exactly what Jesus prayed for, indescribable gladness. And that gladness would not abate.
In the book of Acts, It’s recorded, Acts 1352, that disciples were
continually filled with joy and the Holy Spirit was part of the
Holy Spirit’s mission and ministry in their lives to produce this
indescribable gladness. It continued into the epistles.
Let me just take a brief tour of the epistles for you. This
joy was replete. It was incessant. It was constant. It was the very mark of the New
Testament church, and still is. Romans 14. As we talked about
just a moment ago, the kingdom of God is not eating and drinking,
but righteousness and peace and joy in the Holy Spirit. 2 Corinthians
2 verse 3, that my joy would be the joy of you all. Paul prays
for this troubled New Testament church, the church of Corinth,
and he prays that God’s joy would be produced in them, and ultimately
was. Philippians 1.4, always offering
prayer with joy in my every prayer for you all. Philippians 1.25,
for your progress in joy in the faith. That was the very purpose
of his ministry. Philippians 2 to make my joy
complete Paul to would rejoice seeing God at work in the lives
of these people in Philippi James even in the midst of trials James
says consider it all joy Let that joy overflow Peter says
the exact same thing and this was the mark of the church. This
is what astounded the heathen authorities as they looked at
the church in the midst of the persecution, in the midst of
the hatred that the church was experiencing. They had to constantly acknowledge,
as Peter said, you greatly rejoice with joy, inexpressible and full
of glory. It was indescribable joy. It
was indescribable gladness. It was indescribable happiness. It was inexpressible. It was
a joy that we can almost not even define or explain, can we? When bad things happen, there
is just a settled peace in our hearts, down in our soul, that
we can’t even describe, begin to describe to those who don’t
have it. We just know that it’s God. It’s God giving us this
peace. It’s God giving us this God-given
happiness. We can’t describe it. We can’t
even grasp it, really, and hold on to it as it were. It has to
be produced in us from within, from God. But Jesus isn’t done
asking and requesting. Jesus isn’t done pleading before
his heavenly Father to move on behalf of his friends. And we
see the results of Christ’s prayer for his friends, not only in
the grace of spiritual preservation and of godly unity and of indescribable
gladness but forth. We see the results of Christ’s
prayer in the protection from the evil one. The protection
from the evil one. Now if there was ever a prayer
that needed to be prayed, this prayer needs to be prayed. Jesus
in just hours will tell Peter that the devil desires to sift
him like wheat. It’s uncanny that Peter would
go on to describe the devil as strutting about like a roaring
lion. James as well, talking about
the devil seeking those whom he may devour. Look at verse 14. And note the
solemnity of this prayer. Jesus isn’t sad, but he wants
the men to be serious-minded men. He wants them to know what’s
coming. I’ve given them your 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 you to take them
out of the world, but to keep them from the evil one. He’s praying this prayer out
loud, I’ve already said that. He’s praying it out loud on purpose. And he first of all commends
them. I have given them your word. And in the verb tense that
is here, he’s given it and he keeps on giving it because they
keep on accepting it. They keep on appropriating it.
They have received his word and they continue to receive it.
It’s this incomparable gift that keeps on giving. It’s the Father’s
own word. And it’s given only by the Lord
Jesus Christ. It’s the entire revelation of
God being given to them. And it says that they have received
this word. This has been the acknowledgement
all the way along that they have received, they have appropriated
Christ’s word to them. And because of that, The world
has hated them. Turn back just a couple of chapters
to chapter 15. Jesus had already warned them
of this. He’d already warned them. It
had already begun to come true. The world already hated them. John 15 verse 18, the world hates
you, and you could almost say when the world hates you. You
know that it has hated me before it hated you. If you were of
the world, the world would love its own. If you just didn’t speak
against their sins, if you just weren’t so perfect, if you just
weren’t so happy, so joyful all the time, if you weren’t so hopeful,
If you just commiserated with us and acted like us and turned
a blind eye to this so-called God that you have, if you just
got down and wallowed with us as we seek to soothe our pain
in all of our many vices, if you were of the world, the world
would love its own. But because you are not of the
world, I chose you out of the world, and because of this, the
world hates you. Remember the word that I said
to you, a slave is not greater than his master if they persecuted
me. And when he said that, this is
hours now before his crucifixion. If they persecuted me, they will
also persecute you. And many of the apostles met
a very similar death, martyrdom, they will persecute you, if they
kept my word, they will keep yours also.” There is hope in
that. Paul speaks of this same thing
in Romans 1, doesn’t he? Those who sin against God, those
who hate God, that not only practice the same, but give hearty approval
to those who practice those things. The world hates the disciple
of Christ because he’s so totally and utterly different from the
world. In that sense, saints, it’s a badge of honor. It’s a
badge of honor when the world hates you. It’s a badge of honor
when the world mistreats you because of Christ. Just make
sure it’s because of Christ. As I said before, if you see
the lights in your rear view mirror, the policeman probably
isn’t pulling you over to give you some kind of award for driving
so well, right? Make sure that if you’re suffering
the persecution of the world, that it really is because of
Christ and not because of you, not because of your obnoxiousness,
right? Let’s be peaceable people. And
when we know that it’s persecution, real persecution, when we know
that it’s because of the hatred of Christ, what a comfort it
is. Look at verse 14. I’ve given them your word. And
the world has hated them because they are not of the world, even
as I am not of the world. Jesus has been saying that from
the very start. You are from below, I am from
above, is what he told the Pharisees. And now they are men of the kingdom
of heaven. They are from above. They are
not of the world any longer. What an encouragement that had
to be to mere men. Can you imagine sitting around,
even given the context that Jesus has told them of the difficulty
that’s coming, and to now be told that they are in a very
elite body of people that has been called out, called out of
the world, and already is enjoying the security of that, the fact
that they’re not of the world. Already, they’re not of the world.
Already, they’re heavenly men. What an encouragement. Look at
verse 15. As we come to the actual prayer request, I do not ask
you to take them out of the world. You know what? I mean, I grew
up in the 60s, right? And this is where a lot of this
sci-fi language came from, was from that era. Right? If there
was ever an occasion for some guys, a group of 11 guys in the
midst of a hotbed of difficulty and persecution, if there was
ever an occasion for them to say, beam me up, wouldn’t this
be it? If there was ever an occasion
for somebody in that group, probably Peter, to press hyperspace, right? This is the time. If there was
ever an occasion for them to say, you know what? Look, Jesus,
let’s just take all the believers to heaven right now. That might have seemed reasonable.
And they might have even concluded such. Other men have done likewise,
given the hatred of the world, given the difficulties that they
were going to face, and they didn’t even know it all. But the disciples have a job
to do, don’t they? Jesus had already told them what
the job was, John 15, 27, you will testify because you have
been with me from the beginning. You have a job to do. You have
a job to proclaim Christ. Because the only other option
Paul speaks of in 1 Corinthians 10, you’d have to go out of the
world to get completely away from sin, to get completely away
from immoral people, to get completely away from covetous and swindlers
and idolaters. You would have to go completely
away from the world. To get completely away from the
devil, you’d have to go to heaven itself. and stand behind Christ. And I don’t doubt that, I mean,
that sounds really nice, doesn’t it? Wouldn’t that almost be preferable? Don’t we long in our own hearts
for that? You know these apostles did.
And they weren’t the only ones in history that ever did. Do
you know Moses had this same sentiment? Do you know Elijah
uttered this same sentiment? Do you know that, you know that,
well, we know Jonah uttered this same sentiment. Moses, remember at his calling,
this is much more noble than Jonah’s. If you’re going to deal
thus with me, please kill me at once. Take me right to heaven.
Get me out of this. I don’t want to do this. Elijah’s
much more noble. First Kings 19.4, he requested
for himself that he might die and said, it is enough now, oh
Lord, take my life. better than my father’s. It was
noble in the sense that he didn’t feel like he measured up. Jonah,
Jonah’s just like you and me, didn’t he? Things weren’t going
his way. He was sent on a mission that
he really didn’t want to fulfill in the first place. Remember,
he’s walking through town. It was a three days walk and
he’s doing it in one day. He’s doing that speed walking
thing. Well, Jonah, when he doesn’t
get his way, Jonah four, oh Lord, please take my life from me,
just kill me. Death is better to me than life.
Verse eight, he begged with all his soul to die. Death is better
to me than life. What a dramatic moment. As one
pastor said, there are very few Christians who would not like
to go to heaven without trouble. Doesn’t that talk about you and
I a little bit? There are very few Christians
who would not like to go to heaven without trouble, conflict, and
persecution. Yet it would not be for their
own sanctification, and it would deprive the world of the benefit
of their teaching and example. Believers would never value Christ
and heaven as much as they do if they were not kept here on
earth a good deal. and taught to know their own
hearts, and like their own master, perfected by suffering. Not one of those men had their
prayer request fulfilled. We don’t know exactly how the
book of Jonah ends. We don’t know what happens in
Jonah’s life, but it seems completely out of concert with God’s purposes
to fulfill Jonah’s request on the spot. But the apostles, the apostles,
why would Jesus grant this request? They were the very ones that
were going to establish the New Testament church, the preachers
of Christ gospel. They were in a very real way,
the light, the light of the world. And Jesus says, I’m not asking
you to take them out of the world. I will not ask you to take them
out of the world, verse 15, but to keep them from the evil one.
Two different ways of looking at that little phrase, it could
be the evil in general. Evil, as one said in the abstract,
any kind of evil, keep them from any kind of evil. And that phrase occurs in the
scriptures, deliver us from evil. I think it’s better to take this
as pointing, and it could go either way, so I don’t wanna
be too dogmatic here. I’ll give you some context as
to why I think that when he says, keep them from the evil, he’s
talking about the evil one. Protect them from the devil himself. The devil has a plan, and Peter
will be told of this plan explicitly. The devil desires to sift you
like wheat. He’s coming, Peter. That’s why
Peter knew of the nature of the devil so clearly. I think what he’s talking about
here is not evil in general, he’s talking about the devil
himself. Protect them from the devil himself. We see that phrase, the same
phrase, rendered as the evil one in other places in scripture.
Remember the parable of the soils. Remember those birds that represented
the evil one who comes and eats up the seed and snatches away,
representing the devil. The context of John’s gospel
also points to this greater use of this phrase, the evil, the
evil one. Not merely evil in general, but
evil personified in the devil himself, John 12, 31. Jesus was
teaching them about the ruler of this world. In John 13, 27,
Satan entered into him, that is Judas, And Jesus said to him, what you
do, do quickly. Jesus knew full well of Satan’s
plan, and now the others begin to see Satan’s plan working itself
out. John 14, 30, I will not speak
much more with you, for the ruler of the world is coming. Jesus
knows there’s a real devil. Jesus wants the men to know there’s
a real devil. And in 1611, he says, the ruler
of this world has been judged. He’s still active. He’s still
out there, he will still ply his trade, but I want you to
know he’s out there. And in the context of the Apostle
John’s epistles, this is the way John the Apostle wrote in
his first epistle, chapter two, verse 12, I’m writing to you
little children, because your sins have been forgiven for you
for his name’s sake. I’m writing to you fathers because
you know him who has been from the beginning, that is God. I’m
writing to you young men because you have overcome the evil one. We know that they hadn’t overcome
all sin. We know that the devil was still
plying his trade. But Jesus says, the devil is
out there. The devil is real. The devil
is coming. Father, protect them. Keep them
from the evil one. Keep them from faltering at the
hands of the devil himself. Christ is to them the sphere. When Paul talks so often about
our Christianity, he talks about us being in Christ. And I want
you to note an interesting thing about this passage. When he says
keep them from the evil one, it literally says keep us literally
out of the evil one. He speaks of the devil as a sphere
into which these apostles could have been
drafted. Keep them. from the evil one
for, fifthly, sorry, we’re looking at the results of Christ’s prayer
for his friends, and we see it in the grace of spiritual preservation,
godly unity, indescribable gladness, protection from the evil one,
and finally, in Christ-like holiness. Look at verse 17, sanctify them
in the truth, your word is truth. As you sent me into the world,
I also have sent them into the world. For their sakes, I sanctify
myself that they themselves also may be sanctified in the truth. There’s a twofold understanding
in that word sanctify. It can speak of a consecration,
of being set apart for a particular cause or a particular ministry,
and there’s no doubt that there was an element of that even in
this prayer. Set them apart. Use them in a
powerful way. They are your 11 men. Separate them out, equip them,
fit them, make them ready for this occasion. But there’s a
second reference to this little word, this word sanctify, it
is to make holy. And so what Jesus is praying
here in a very real way is for the Father to continue the work
of purging sin, of purifying these men, to make them holy,
and as such, they will continue to be different, even more different
than they already are from the world. Sanctify them in that sense.
Set them apart for a holy purpose. Continue the work of purging
sin from their lives and bringing them to purity in Christ. John Calvin said that as the
apostles were not destitute of grace, they were men in whom
Christ had already begun to work. They’re not destitute of grace,
but sanctification was not instantly and completely completed in them
on the day of their conversion. And so we continue, he says,
to make progress in it the whole course of our life. And so he
says, sanctify them in the truth. The truth is God’s revelation
as a whole, the word of God. That’s the environment. That’s
the means by which our sin is purged. As we taste of the scriptures
and learn of the scriptures that are cleansed ultimately by God
himself through the means of the word, Jesus says, for their sakes I
sanctify myself. Now let me be very clear. Jesus
had no sin to purge. Jesus had no righteousness to
attain to. He was perfectly holy, perfectly
righteous. What Jesus is saying here, he’s
using that word as we spoke about it from the beginning. He was
consecrated for a mission. He was set apart, sanctified
in that sense, so that they would be sanctified in the other sense
as well. Turn, if you would, in closing,
to the book of Titus, chapter two. Jesus is making this appeal to
his heavenly father that they would be sanctified as he is
sanctified, not exactly in the same sense. Titus 2, look at verse 11 if
you would. Where you have really in Titus,
it’s a beautiful capstone. He’s been praying for older men,
older women, younger men, younger women, even servants. He’s praying for them, why? Because
for, verse 11, the grace of God has appeared bringing salvation
to all men, instructing us to deny ungodliness and worldly
desires and to live sensibly, righteously, and godly in the
present age. He wants the church to be what
the church is supposed to be. It’s supposed to be a beacon
of light and a beacon of holiness and a beacon of hope and joy
and truth. While they are doing that, It’s
not wrong, as it says in verse 13, looking for the blessed hope
and appearing of the glory of our great God and Savior, Christ
Jesus. It’s not wrong to long for heaven.
It’s not wrong to long for that day. But having mentioned Jesus Christ,
he says in verse 14, who gave himself for us, one, to redeem
us from every lawless deed. That’s that sanctification of
which he spoke a moment ago. And to purify for himself a people
for his own possession. Jesus Christ died for his church. Jesus Christ died for us to pay
our penalty on the cross for our sin because we couldn’t do it ourselves.
He gave us righteousness that we could never attain to, that
we could never measure up to. And he calls us and begins in
us the same God that does the work of sanctification, or the
salvation, does the work of sanctification in our lives, continuing to mold
us and shape us to Christ’s image. And it’s a lifelong process,
he says. Jesus Christ prayed for his apostles. And as we have seen, those prayers
were already in the process of being answered and would begin
to blossom and flourish like never before in the days
to come. They would be preserved by God’s
gracious hand. They would be unified in God’s
glorious purpose, the plan of redemption. They would bear the
marks of this indescribable gladness. They would be preserved from
the devil himself, and that more and more they would grow in Christ-likeness. Let’s rejoice before him. Our merciful God, we thank you
that you are the God of redemption. We thank you that this plan was
yours, and we see it being worked out in full. Lord God, we thank you for your
prayer on behalf of your church. And we are the benefactors of
that now, 2000 years later. Lord, we thank you for how you
used ordinary men like these apostles to do amazing, incredible,
miraculous, extraordinary things. And the planting of this New
Testament church that we enjoy down to this day. Father, be
glorified in us. We pray, Father, that for any
who have placed their faith in you, that you would infuse them
with such grace and such a perseverance that you, having laid hold of
them, would never let go, but that you would stir our hearts
to a greater faithfulness day by day. Lord, if there are those among
us who do not know Christ, Lord, may they come to know as
we know. We did not earn our salvation,
nor can they. It is a gift of God given to
those who come to him in faith. Lord, where our sin is forgiven
in full, we are blessed with the very righteousness of Christ.
Placed into your kingdom, usable for your glory. Lord, we pray
that for them. It’s in Jesus’ name that we pray,
amen.