The Sheep You Gave Me

We've been on this now for four or five months, these last hour or two of the life of Jesus and certainly his thoughts are towards the cross. So I would like to turn your attention again towards the Gospel of John and we're going to continue looking at the High Priestly Prayer of the Lord Jesus. It's called His High Priestly Prayer here in John 17, starting in verse number 6. And I know that we don't, perhaps, and really some here don't value the blood of Jesus, don't value the cross, as was mentioned.

And it would be nice if everyone had an opportunity to stand on the brink of death. I was reading an article of some of these frontline workers as they work with those who are in ICU with this COVID thing. And the word that comes out oftentimes is there's so much fear, fear in these ICU units.

People are dying, and they're dying quickly, and they're without hope. And these nurses, as they observe all that's going on, it's just a place of a lot of fear and agony. And I guarantee you, you know, if you're in the process of leaving this world and you've got all your sin on your heart and your conscience, and your family can't help you, your friends can't help you, there's nobody that can help you, they can't hold on to you any longer.

And you're slipping down, and you feel the weight of sin, and you even feel that you're slipping into hell. And not only are you slipping into hell, but you realize that this is going to go forever. I mean, this is not some visit for an hour or two, but this is an eternity.

Separated from God in a devil's hell, in the blackness of darkness forever. And ever and ever. And these people are terrified.

Do you realize how valuable the cross is at that moment? Do you realize how valuable it is to find your forgiveness and salvation in Jesus Christ at that moment? I tell you, people that find it there, they never let go of it. They never let go of it. And when you come in here and you sing about the cross, I mean, there, praise be to God.

You know, people sit here and just wait until they get on their deathbed. Just wait until they're on the brink of standing before God with all their sin. Then you'll find it's important to you.

You see, wisdom is living your life every day as if today is your last. Wisdom is living life today as if you are going to die and stand before God. Or you're going to die and descend into hell.

You want to be a wise person, live that way. And if you're not ready to meet God today, you ought to be wise. Because as Brother John said, you can go out here today and get hit by a car.

And be smashed up against a windshield in your last two or three breaths, you know, and you're facing the Lord. And so I value the Lord and His gospel because I've felt the fear of God. Just a small part of it.

And I don't want to go there. The Bible says, knowing the terror of the Lord, we persuade men. You don't want to face God without Jesus.

You don't want to do it. And you don't want to take your chances. And so let's remember that.

This, what we remember today, is going to be the most valuable thing in your existence. So be wise and understand what we're talking about. All right, John chapter 17.

This is the high priestly prayer of the Lord. I know we're running a little late, but I want to share it with you here. And I'm going to ask you to stand here in just a minute.

We'll do a little stretching. But in John chapter 17, Jesus is lifting up His voice. He is now praying after He has communicated with His disciples.

Those first five verses, He is talking about restoring the glory that He had with His Father from the foundation of the world, and He's returning back to that glory. And now, starting in verse number 6 all the way to the end of this chapter, He is going to turn His attention toward interceding for the sheep. Interceding for His disciples.

Intercession. He is praying for them. Verse 9 says, I pray for them.

Verse 20, neither pray I for these alone, the twelve, but for them also which shall believe on Me through their word. And so you and I would be included in that list there. Those who are His sheep.

Those who believe the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ. And so this is His interceding. He is praying for His disciples and for those also that will believe on Him.

There's a good analogy of this. If you were here when we talked through the book of Mark about five or six years ago, I shared on this analogy how that Jesus sent His disciples out into this sea of Galilee. The winds were contrary and there were storms arising and they were rowing hard.

It's a picture of the church and the tribulation and the trials that we face in this life. And Jesus went off to a mountaintop. And way up on the mountaintop, it says, He was praying.

Looking over His disciples as they were trying to go across to the other side. He was interceding for them from this high, exalted place. His disciples there on the water, rowing.

And that's a picture of us. You know, we are here in this world. In this world, you have a shell of tribulation.

He's going to go on and talk about the world here next Sunday. We'll get into that. But the Lord is at the right hand of God.

He is exalted on the mountain. And He is interceding. He is praying for us.

And I want to talk about that today. And what I'm going to look at is a lot of theology. And as I read down through it first this Monday, it's pretty... You know, for someone who's teaching, it's kind of hard to latch on to anything.

And so it's a pretty deep subject. Jesus could come and explain it wonderfully, what He is praying here. But much of what we've been looking at in John is theology.

Theology is the study of God. And the study of God is important. It's good to know theology.

There's a lot of people that say, Just tell me some practical things. What am I supposed to do? Well, the Bible does have practical things. There are commandments.

But there's a lot of theology in the Bible. The study of who God is. His person.

His character. And His nature. And that is important.

Because back in verse number 3, the very beginning of this prayer, He says, And this is life eternal, that they might know Thee, the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom Thou hast sent. It is important for you to know who God is. Know His character.

Know His nature. Know His will. Yes, He asks you to do certain practical things.

And those things are important. But it's very important to know who He is. And I've given this illustration before, but it's a very good one in this regard.

If you, young lady, marry a man, and that man, all he wants you to do is just know what he commands you to do. Do this. Do that.

Do this. Do that. You young ladies would say, I don't think I'd like to marry that guy.

I want to marry someone who wants me to find out about Him. Who wants me to know Him. And Him know me.

And that we have a relationship. I can understand His heart. His will.

His purpose. His dreams. His goals.

I want to have a relationship with someone. Not just have someone tell me to do this. Do that.

Do this. Do that. As a matter of fact, the doing actually comes out of the knowing.

The Bible says, if you love Him, that's a relationship, keep His commandments. And so, the law of the Bible is theological. It's getting to know the heart of God.

Nothing practical. But just getting to know who He is. And who His Son is.

The Lord Jesus Christ. So why don't we stand here, and I'm going to read down through verses 6 down to 12. And there's some theology here.

And you follow along with me as I read. And I want you to pay attention to a phrase that appears often times here as we read. And the phrase is this, Thou gavest them me.

Or, Thou hast given me. Jesus talks about the Father giving Him certain disciples. So I'm going to read down through here and let's just pick that up as we read these six or seven verses.

Starting in verse 6. I have manifested Thy name unto the men which Thou gavest me. There's the first mention of it. The men which Thou gavest me out of the world, Thine they were, and Thou gavest them me.

And they have kept Thy word. Now they have known that all things whatsoever Thou hast given me are of Thee. For I have given unto them the words which Thou gavest me, and they have received them and have known surely that I came out from Thee, and they have believed that Thou didst send me.

I pray for them. I pray not for the world, but for them which Thou hast given me. For they are Thine, and all mine are Thine, and Thine are mine, and I am glorified in them.

And now I am no more in the world, but these are in the world. And I come to Thee, Holy Father, keep through Thine own name those whom Thou hast given me, that they may be one as we are. While I was with them in the world, I kept them in Thy name, those that Thou gavest me.

I have kept. And none of them is lost, but the son of perdition that the Scripture might be fulfilled. Do you notice all these? Thou hast given me.

Jesus is saying, Father, You've given me these men. And I want to talk a little bit about that. We'll go down through this passage.

Let's pray, and then we can be seated. Heavenly Father, we acknowledge You in all of our ways, Lord. I pray that the Word of God would have a free course today into each one of our hearts.

May it be a reality and truth. May we truly believe it and receive it and know of assurity that Thou art the Christ, the Son of the living God. Lord, may that testimony arise in our own hearts.

Help us, Lord. Bless us. Open our eyes that we might see wonderful things out of Thy law.

In Jesus' name, amen. Alright, you can be seated. I want to start out with this phrase that Jesus is praying here to the Father that the Father has given Him certain men.

And not only these disciples, but also those that will believe on Him throughout the ages. And you can put yourself in this group. It's called the sheep.

The Bible talks about the sheep. The Lord has sheep. And Jesus acknowledges here that God the Father gave Him these individuals.

And His prayer, His intercession is for these individuals. Verse 9 again. I pray for them.

And a shocking statement. We'll get to it here in a little bit. I pray not for the world, but I am praying for these whom You have given Me.

Hold your finger if you could and just look back to John chapter 10. There's another statement here about the Father giving the Son certain sheep here in John chapter 10. Verse number 24.

Then came the Jews round about Him and said unto Him, How long dost Thou make us to doubt? These are doubters. If Thou be the Christ, tell us plainly. And Jesus answered them, I told you.

And you believe not. The works that I do in My Father's name they bear witness of Me. Not only did I tell you, but I'm doing things before you that ought to show you who I am.

But you believe not because you are not of My sheep as I said unto you. My sheep hear My voice and I know them and they follow Me. And I give unto them eternal life and they shall never perish.

Neither shall any man pluck them out of My hand. Now notice verse 29. My Father which gave them Me is greater than all and no man is able to pluck them out of My Father's hand.

My Father gave them to Me and My Father is greater than all. Now I want to give you an analogy and this is an analogy that those in Israel would understand very well. We don't understand that as well here because we are not a people or a nation where sheep and shepherds are something that is common.

But there's a very simple analogy and you see it throughout the Scriptures that God is the householder in this sense. God the Father is the householder. He is the owner of the sheep and Jesus is the shepherd.

He mentions often times, I am the good shepherd. The shepherd is not the owner of the sheep. The shepherd is the one who is to guide the sheep.

He is the one to protect the sheep. But someone else generally was the owner of the sheep. The shepherd's responsibility was to lead the sheep and to guide the sheep.

So you can picture, maybe you've seen this picture. I've shared this before in the past. Maybe in Israel you see this mountainside of grass and you see many shepherds out there and you see thousands of sheep along the hillside and all of a sudden a shepherd will go out and he'll call and his voice will go forth into these 10,000 sheep on the hillside and he'll start to walk off this way and different sheep out of this whole group will hear his voice and begin to go in a direction and follow him.

And that's a beautiful picture here of how humanity is on the hillside and the Lord Jesus is the shepherd and Jesus by the Gospel he calls out his people, his sheep. And we go out and we preach the Gospel all over the world and most of the goats and those who appear to be sheep their head is down and they're grazing but every once in a while you'll go out and preach and you'll give the voice of the Lord Jesus and a sheep will lift his head and he'll hear the voice and he'll follow. And I believe most of you here this morning are his sheep and you have heard his voice and those sheep when they hear the voice of the shepherd they begin to follow the shepherd.

Look at chapter 10 here excuse me chapter 10 here verse number 1 John chapter 10 verse number 1 verily verily I say unto you he that entereth not by the door into the sheepfold but climbeth up some other way the same as a thief and a robber but he that entereth in by the door is the shepherd of the sheep to him the porter openeth and the sheep hear his voice and he calls his own sheep by name and leads them out and when he puteth forth his own sheep he goes before them and the sheep follow him for they know his voice and a stranger they will not follow but will flee from him for they know not the voice of a stranger and so you picture the Lord Jesus he came into this world he was a shepherd God the Father was the owner of the sheep and Jesus was calling out his sheep back in 1978 on July 15th I heard the voice of the chief shepherd I heard the voice in my heart I knew as we were hearing this morning that I was a sinner that I was on my way to hell and it bothered me it concerned me that if I died this night I would spend an eternity in hell and I was under conviction of my sin but that night I heard the voice of the Son of God I heard the shepherd say I loved you and I died for you and I have redeemed you by the blood of my cross and I heard the voice and I began to follow the shepherd and all over the world people are hearing the voice of the Son of God and they're coming out from the goats they're coming out from those who appear to be sheep, false sheep and they're following Jesus and I trust most of you have heard the voice of the Son of God and you're a part of his sheep I read a story and I just heard a little bit about it here but I read of a tourist in Israel and the tourist was observing the sheep all over the hillside there and he asked the guide you know he saw all these shepherds intermingled with all these sheep and asked the guide how did they get them all figured out at the end of the day you know where one sheep goes with one shepherd and the guide said well just wait a minute here and you'll find out it wasn't long before the shepherds started to call each shepherd had a different call and as one shepherd would call a hundred or two hundred sheep would go this way another shepherd would call and they would divide there and they'd go this way and this picture of the shepherd knew his sheep and the sheep knew the voice of the shepherd and even though they would intermingle and get all mixed together all the shepherd would have to do was lift up his voice and his sheep would follow him and that's the picture here what the Lord is giving us are you truly his sheep if you are his sheep then you hear his voice and when you hear his voice you follow him you love the voice of your shepherd well let's look here at John 17 verse number 6 it says I have manifested thy name unto the men which thou gavest me out of this world thine they were and thou gavest them me and they have kept thy word when Jesus came into the world he was given certain sheep and asked to call them out of the world that they might follow him you know the Bible says and I won't read it for the sake of time but in 2 Thessalonians it says that we are called to the Lord by the gospel the gospel is the call that people hear and they believe the gospel it is the voice of the Son of God and that's what happens when a child of God is converted he is able to hear the voice of the Son of God well who are these sheep that the Father gave to the Son I want to read to you 1 Peter you don't have to turn there 1 Peter chapter 1 verse 1 says Peter an apostle of Jesus Christ to the strangers scattered throughout Pontus and Galatia Cappadocia Asia and Bithynia elect according to the foreknowledge of God the Father through sanctification of the Spirit unto obedience and sprinkling of the blood of Jesus Christ grace unto you and peace be multiplied now I've shared this before I even mentioned some of it last week but God has this thing called foreknowledge and you and I are elect we are chosen based upon the foreknowledge of God Peter says you're elect according to the foreknowledge of God foreknowledge is simply knowing something ahead of time having knowledge before it happens God knows everything did you know that we call that the omniscience of God God knows what's going to happen tomorrow in your life God knows what's going to happen in a hundred years God knows everything as a matter of fact the scripture says I am Alpha and I am Omega notice it didn't say I was Alpha and I will be Omega Alpha is the first letter of the alphabet the Greek alphabet Omega is the last letter I am A and I am Z not I was A and I will be Z you see God fits over time and he lives in the past as well as he lives in the future at the same time he is outside of the realm of time that's why when the Jews asked Jesus how do you know Abraham now Abraham is 2000 years before Jesus you know what the Lord says to them before Abraham was what I am not I was I am I sit in the past as well as I sit in the future I am that I am and so God is one who knows the future and I shared this with you last week how that Revelation 17 verse 8 says that the names of his sheep he had them written down in a book from the foundation of the world and so this is called the lands book of life God gave to the Lamb here is the sheep I have foreknowledge I understand who is going to believe and who is going to hearken to your voice and I have written their names down wouldn't you love to look at that book today if we could bring boy if I brought the lands book of life and set it right down here and had all these names I'm sure all of you would say I'd like to make sure mine's in there and look in that book and so God has this thing called foreknowledge and so when Jesus came into the world he knew who were his sheep because of the foreknowledge of God and the Father gave them to him and he was to come into this world to call them out to follow him so you have that picture of a shepherd calling his sheep from the hillside now this is given to us throughout the book of John you don't have to turn it let me read another passage to you that shows how the Lord knew and we studied this a few months ago a number of months ago in John chapter 6 verse 64 he says this but there are some of you that believe not for Jesus knew from the beginning who they were that believed not and who should betray him and he said therefore said I unto you that no man can come unto me except it were given unto him of my father from that time many of his disciples went back and walked no more with him so you can see that some of these sheep that came for a while are now going and hearing the voice of another shepherd then said Jesus unto the twelve will you also go away are you my sheep do you want to head another direction then Simon Peter answered him Lord to whom shall we go thou hast the words of eternal life and we believe and are sure that thou art the Christ the son of the living God and Jesus answered them have not I chosen you twelve elect chosen because of the foreknowledge of God and one of you is a devil he spake of Judas Iscariot the son of Simon so even amongst these sheep of the Lord there was one who was a goat that was coming along and we'll see a little bit later he had another motive his motive was not to hear the voice of the son of God but rather to take money from the bag he was a covetous man he had a covetous heart so the sheep are those who are who hear his voice and Jesus knows them you know when the Lord came into the world he knew his sheep you can picture humanity on the hillside the Lord came here there's one of my sheep over there there's another one right there as a matter of fact I know them and they know me my sheep know me and I know them and when I start and I give them my voice and I call to them they're gonna follow me let me ask you this question because this is the obvious question to ask are you in your heart do you hear the voice of the son of God the shepherd and is your heart saying Lord I want to follow you I want to follow you even if it's hard Lord because as Peter said you're the only one that's got the words of eternal life who else are we gonna follow what other shepherd are we gonna follow you're gonna take us into eternal everlasting life there is no reason to follow anybody else listen if you think there's something some other shepherd to follow go follow that other shepherd I'm here to tell you there's one who has eternal life for you there's one who loves you and dies for you and is offering you forgiveness of your sins and an eternity with him in a place of heaven and he is calling by his voice to the gospel for you to come and follow him so the bible says today if you'll hear his voice harden not your heart the shepherd so the shepherd knows his sheep and the sheep know him and I trust that you know him you know many will come to me in that day and say Lord Lord have we not done this and this and this and he'll say I never knew you so are you one of his sheep well let's look here at John 17 here's how you know you're one of his sheep in verse number 8 Jesus is praying here he says for I have given unto them the words which thou gavest me that's this book right here the gospel I have given unto them the words which thou gavest me and they have received them number one they received my word and number two they have known surely remember what Peter said I am sure they have known surely that I came out from thee I am sent from God they know that and they have believed that thou didst sent me let me ask you this here's how Jesus defines his sheep listen my sheep are they who receive my word they hear my voice they're sure that I'm Messiah come from God and they believe that you sent me I trust everyone within the sound of my voice fits in that category those three things that's how Jesus describes his sheep and that is what the sheep do when the shepherd calls they receive his words if I'm sharing the word of God or maybe you're teaching the word of God and someone says ah I don't want to follow that I'm going to go my own way wait a minute here are you a sheep are you receiving the words of the Lord do you receive what the Lord has from his word are you listening to his voice you know surely you're not back and forth I'm not sure whether or not this stuff is true I mean I'm going to go out and live my life in this world and enjoy the pleasures of life because I'm just not sure that God's word is true I can't receive them as truth I'm not sure about this thing that may be the case and that's fine I'm not saying that maybe down the road in 5 or 6 years some of you might say whoa I'm hearing it again and I'm pretty sure now it is the word of God hey I heard I shouldn't say that I mean obviously the Lord was trying to call me but at age 19 I tell people this at revivals tell them if you've heard the gospel hundreds of times you've never responded the first time I heard it I responded the voice I heard this now I didn't grow up in a Christian home some of you have grown up in a Christian home you hear the voice of the Son of God all the time not only do you hear it in church every Sunday but you hear it in your homes and so you've heard the voice of the Son of God God is trying to get something to you to call you to follow Him I didn't hear that I've told you before we never opened the Bible in our house we never had a prayer by the time I was 19 I'm at the golf shop that night and I hear the voice of the Son of God first time in my life I think I ever heard the voice of the Son of God God said you're a sinner I knew that He said I'm going to save you if you'll trust in me and I died for you and I said whoa I've never seen this before I heard the voice of the Son of God I said I'll take it and that began a journey of following Jesus and for the past 41 years I've been trying to follow the shepherd and hear His voice and so if you're a sheep you're going to receive His words you're going to have a firmness of your faith surely and you're going to believe God's Word and there's some analogies here the Old Testament has a good analogy just take Noah's Ark for a minute you know here's Noah God knew beforehand how many of you think God knew beforehand how many people would respond to the message of the call of the Gospel you know that boat was built for a certain amount of people when God came to Noah and said build a boat that boat couldn't house if you've been down to this boat down in Kentucky that they built Noah's Ark that boat couldn't house all the people that lived in the world in Noah's day and put the animals in there too you see when God came to Noah and said build me a boat here's how big I want it Noah could have said well God you expect the whole world to be saved we can't fit in that boat but see God knew already ahead of time here's the size of the boat you know why because I know who's going to respond to your message Noah and unfortunately nobody's going to hear your voice except for the eight in your family they're going to get into that boat and I'm going to save them and so God had that foreknowledge he understood and he had Noah build an Ark the size of which could get all the animals in two by two and eight human souls and they fit perfectly in the Ark and even though Noah was called to go out and preach the Gospel and stand on the boat and preach and encourage people to get into the boat God knew ahead of time that ten thousand aren't going to come there's only eight so you know here we are we go out and we preach the Gospel but God's already built the Ark the Church already knows who they are and what the size of it is that doesn't mean we shouldn't go out and preach Noah was a faithful man he was a preacher of righteousness and sometimes people are going to come in they're going to hear the voice and the sheep are going to come in and that's why it's important I think for us to go into all the world and preach the Gospel because there are fields all over the place where sheep are that need to hear the voice of the Son of God you know there's sheep way back in the back pasture somebody needs to go back there and say hey hey there's a salvation for you God is calling you to himself and oh there's sheep way back in the back corner of the field did you hear that? you know most of us there where everybody else is congregating there in the middle of the field there's shepherds all over the place calling out but there are some way out there Jesus went out into the mountains to find that lost one sheep remember? so in Noah's day the voice went out to the people and it went out I think daily but God knew and there was 8 people and I think if you walk into the ark it's a good question you know when Noah finished the ark hey Noah wait a minute here you've only got 8 bedrooms what's the deal? God told you to build this thing I thought he wanted to save everybody he did well then why is there only 8? because he knew for new and even though Noah preached and was obedient God already knew or he had foreknowledge so my question to you here today before we go on here is are you his sheep? look into your heart don't deceive yourself why would you why would you go through life giving the impression that you're a sheep on the outside and yet you know deep down in your heart you don't receive his word you're not sure of your faith you don't believe on the Lord Jesus Christ in sincerity why put on a show and then someday realize just like Judas that I'm an imposter and be cast out eternally why do that? why not be honest with yourself? you know honesty is light we need some light just be honest well I'm sure as I'm even standing up here today and as brother John shared beautiful things this morning that God is speaking again voice is going out and there's probably some here that are still not in the sheep fold and you may hear today and get in the sheep fold you may hear in 5 years if God gives you 5 years but I want to encourage you if you hear the voice of the Son of God you come so here in John 17 the Lord is interceding for the sheep look at verse number 9 I pray for them I pray not for the world but for them which thou hast given me for they are thine and all mine are thine and thine are mine and I am glorified in them so here the Lord is interceding for the sheep He's not interceding for the world now I don't understand all of this I mean I have some ideas here I believe that the Lord wants to pray for the world but I also understand that the Lord knows who are His sheep who will respond but you know we don't know that we go out and we preach the gospel we don't know who are His sheep and who's going to respond so the Bible says go and preach the gospel to how many of those creatures out there every creature let every creature hear the voice but we don't know 1st Timothy 2.1 says this I exhort therefore that first of all supplications prayers and intercessions be made for how many men all men Lord and one of the reasons why we pray for all men is because we don't know who the sheep are we don't know even in this group right here truly who the sheep are and when the voice of the Son of God is going to come to a heart and that individual is going to come forward and say I want to be a sheep I believe on the Lord Jesus but one thing I didn't realize until I was looking at the intercession idea here in the Bible is that intercession is in large part for the sheep you know when Moses interceded he's a picture of Jesus in the Old Testament he was not interceding for the Canaanites he was not interceding for the Philistines he was interceding for the people of God and those great prayers of intercession were for God's people and so Jesus is interceding at the right hand of God for the people of God and I just want to read a couple of verses here about intercession listen as I read them in Hebrews chapter 7 verse 24 says this but this man because he continueth ever has an unchangeable priesthood talking about the Lord wherefore he is able also to save them to the uttermost that come unto God by him seeing he ever liveth to make intercession for them he is going to save them and make intercession for them it's talking about the people of God Hebrews 9 verse 24 says this for Christ is not entered into the holy places made with hands which are the figures of the true but into heaven itself now to appear in the presence of God for us that's the people of God he is there at the right hand of God for us he makes intercession and here's a beautiful verse here in Romans chapter 8 talking about the Holy Spirit but that's Christ in us it says this verse 26 likewise the Spirit also helps our infirmities for we know not what we should pray for as we ought but the Spirit itself maketh intercession for us with groanings which cannot be uttered and he that searches the hearts knoweth what is the mind of the Spirit because he maketh intercession for the saints according to the will of God and so the Lord is at the right hand of God he is an interceder and he was even interceding when he was here as he's praying he is making intercession for us and I'm sure that the Lord is desirous the Bible says he's not willing that any should perish but I also understand even as it was in Noah's day he knows the end from the beginning Moses an interceder a type of Christ a high priest in the Old Testament that's what Jesus is he's our high priest the high priest's responsibility was to the people of God he was not to be responsible for the Canaanites and the Perizzites and the Philistines but his responsibility was to be in the house of God and to intercede and minister to the people of God now here's something that's important and I didn't see this until recently as I was looking in this passage here in John chapter number 17 and here's something that I think answers our question does Jesus care for the world and why does he only pray or intercede for the church I want you to look here in verse number 20 of John 17 and it gets to the end of his prayer he says this neither pray I for these alone but for them also which shall believe on me do their word and so his prayer is for the saints now notice what it says in verse 21 that they all may be one as thou father art in me and I in thee that they also may be one in us now here's why that the world now we have the world here that the world may believe that thou has sent me now think about it this way the Lord is interceding for us so that we would get our act together so that we would be in unity we would be one so that we then could affect the world and the world would believe let's keep reading verse 22 in the glory which thou gavest me I have given them that they may be one even as we are one I in them and thou in me that they may be perfect and one and that the world may know that thou has sent me and has loved me as thou or loved them as thou has loved me notice this that his prayer was intercession intercession for us so that we would be the right kind of people to actually reach the world if my people will dwell together in unity then we can reach the world if my people will be one as we are one the world will believe and so he intercedes for the people and in doing so he's able to then reach the world or that's his heart now here his intercession is primarily for unity unity and love for each other is one of the great testimonies to the world well that's why the church is such a bad testimony to the world today and the people say listen that's what Christianity is I don't want to even do it so we have all these churches going all these different directions all this division all this fighting and squabbling and all these things and the Lord is praying that they all might be one so that we can reach the world maybe one of the reasons why we're not able to reach the world in the way that the Lord would have is because we can't get together and put our squabbles down and start to work together for that purpose and so his prayer is for one brother David and I were down in Columbus yesterday meeting with some of the Congos there have a desire for help in their church down there that they're doing and we opened up our meeting they were leading it out and they asked me to turn to Psalm 133 and they started the meeting out this way just three verses in Psalm 133 behold how good and how pleasant it is for brethren to dwell together in unity exclamation mark it is like the precious ointment upon the head that ran down upon the beard even Aaron's beard that went down to the skirts of his garments as the dew of Hermon and as the dew descended upon the mountains of Zion now listen to this for there the Lord commanded the blessing even life forever more kind of like this is a good place of blessing when my people can dwell together in unity I can command a blessing there and life so I believe even today the Lord is at the right hand of God and His heart is interceding for unity unity and I think we ought to be a part of that trying to be a peacemaker trying to promote unity and so as we demonstrate love one toward another and unity we're able to not only have the blessing of God and life but also to be a ministry or to be a testimony to the world so let's continue here in John 17 in verse number 11 and now I am no more in the world but these are in the world and I come to thee Holy Father keep through thine own name those whom thou has given me that they may be one as we are while I was with them in the world I kept them in thy name those that thou gavest me I have kept and none of them is lost but the son of perdition that the scripture might be fulfilled now the Lord's heart is this He closes this section with keep them Father you sent me to this world you gave me sheep I've kept them in thy name except for this Judas this one who's the scripture already foretold he would depart I have kept them now he says he prays to the Father Father keep them in thy name keep them this is something that God's heart here in his intercessory prayer is that we would be kept in the faith kept and that's the heart of God and that's ought to be our heart for each other that we keep each other in the faith you know Paul said it this way I like this passage he said you know I have fought a good fight I have finished my course I have kept the faith that's his last statement I have kept the faith do you know it's your faith in Jesus that keeps you connected to eternal life and the burden that the Lord has is that he says I was here with these men I've kept them in the faith now father I'm coming back to you keep them and that is his prayer that is his heart that we be kept in the faith Hebrews says let us hold fast the profession of our faith without wavering let us hold fast let none of us perish you know there are people who are walking away from the faith hear them all the time so and so left they're going out to the world they're done they're giving up on Christianity they're going out and living for themselves they've left the faith well Jesus did some of that interceding about keeping the faith when he was on the earth remember in Luke 22 verse 31 he says Simon Simon behold Satan hath desired to have you that he may shift you as wheat but I have prayed for thee I am interceding for thee Peter that thy what faith fail not Peter I am praying Satan wants you what's happening Peter I know you're going to deny me three times and I'll tell you what when you deny me three times Peter the devil is going to be there just to pound you he's going to pound you with guilt and condemnation he's going to drive you try to drive you like Judas to commit suicide he's going to drive you from the faith but Peter I'm praying for you that your faith in me does not fail you know a lot of Christians they get very despondent when they fail and maybe they've sinned and they've done something horrendously wrong like Peter and instead of turning to Jesus and just praying and seeking forgiveness and trusting the Lord to give them forgiveness they get despondent and as 1st Corinthians or 2nd Corinthians says the man who committed adultery there in 1st Corinthians 5 become over much filled with sorrow he goes on to say watch out let Satan get advantage here and so we ought not to go that direction there is always mercy with the God of Heaven and so Peter I'm praying for you you're going to go through some difficult times you're going to make a mess of things you're going to deny me 3 times and your faith is going to be challenged because the devil is going to come to you and he's going to pound you for your unbelief but I'm praying that your faith would not fail and you know let's encourage one another let's not let our faith fail I don't know what's going to happen these next few years maybe some of us are going to be tried some of us are going to face some difficult times persecution but let's not let our faith fail our faith in the Gospel and that's a responsibility that we have Paul said I have kept the faith Hebrews says let us hold fast the profession of our faith Paul says Jesus said to Peter thy faith fail not now someone says doesn't God get all the glory yes He does and my faith is in Him Brother Chris let me ask you a question I'm on a boat and you're in the sea you're drowning so I get my life preserved and I throw it out to you you lay hold of it I pull you in the boat and save you do you praise me for saving you or do you praise you for holding on to the life preserved ok good he's going to praise me for saving you so here you are lost and heading to hell and the Lord threw out a lifeline to you you held on to Jesus and the cross and the Gospel and then you get taken in to heaven are you going to stand there and say praise me no you're going to say praise me to God but you have a responsibility to hold on to that life rest and let Him take you in and so there's an encouragement here to hold fast to the faith I'm going to ask you to turn one more place I'm almost done here let's turn to 1 Peter chapter 1 and this is described here in 1 Peter chapter 1 I'm going to read down through verse number 9 some of these things are brought out here Peter an apostle of Jesus Christ to the strangers scattered throughout Galatia, Cappadocia, Asia and Bithynia these are sheep scattered all over the place elect or chosen according to the foreknowledge of God the Father through sanctification of the Spirit unto obedience and sprinkling of the blood of Jesus Christ by the way your Christianity ought to lead you to an obedient life Amen? Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ which according to His abundant mercy hath begotten us again unto a lively hope by the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead to an inheritance incorruptible and undefiled that fate is not a way reserved in heaven for you who are kept who are kept by the power of God that's who pulled Christ in it wasn't him it was the power of God but through faith through faith you know if you have faith in Jesus you can have power wherein you greatly rejoice though now for a season if need be you be in heaviness through manifold temptations you're going to go through difficulties that the trial of your faith your faith will be tested being much more precious than of gold that perishes though it be tried with fire don't think it's strange that your faith is tried with fire that you have things come into your life to try to test you to see if you have a sure faith like Peter or like Peter said tried with fire it might be found unto praise and honor and glory at the appearing of Jesus Christ now notice verse 8 whom having not seen you love in whom though now you see him and not yet believing you rejoice with joy and speak well and full of glory receiving the end of your faith even the salvation of your soul you know it's fine to have a start to your faith right but you need to have an end to your faith many people in Jesus day followed him for a while though in tribulation and persecutions they were offended and they left there was no end to their faith and so it's important that you receive the end of your faith even the salvation of your soul and so you're kept by faith but it's the power of God it's like this when Peter got out on the water to walk to Jesus there was the power of God there wasn't there he was walking on water that's the power of God but he did have to do something to walk on water does anybody know what he had to do and look at Jesus look at me as long as he looked at Jesus he had the power to walk on water but as soon as he looked away he sunk and so we are kept so brother Chris is going to be rescued by the power of those people pulling him up but he has the responsibility of holding on for his rescue the end of his faith alright I just want to comment here on Judas and then we'll close here in John 17 Jesus mentions Judas in verse number 12 that Judas was the one that was not kept he was the son of perdition he was the one that was lost Judas was not a true believer in John 6 Jesus knew from the beginning who they were that believed not and who should betray him his motive for being amongst the disciples was because he got to filter some money out of the bag that's why he was there and he endured the fellowship he heard the voice but his heart was wrapped up in his covetousness Jesus knew that Judas was not a believer but his disciples did not know that Jesus knows his sheep today but we don't know them matter of fact there are probably some here that are not sheep maybe surprise some of us who they are I'm sure they were shocked that it was Judas but the Lord knows but I think Judas had a purpose and we see here that the scriptures might be fulfilled Judas had a purpose in being there and I believe just like with Judas there are people here maybe who are unbelievers at heart and they have a purpose here and God will even use them for his purposes and he'll use them for our sanctification to teach us to be like Jesus every once in a while we need to learn what it feels like to have Judas come to you and say I'm going to deliver you up to death and you and I I need to learn how to say friend betray us thou the son of man with a kiss and to be able to say he loved them unto the end if we're going to be like Christ sometimes we need to respond to people in the very same way who come to us and betray us Matthew 24 some of you are studying on Saturday morning we're told that in the end many will betray one another and shall hate one another and so when things get difficult you might have someone betray you and you might be able to say you know Jesus I know exactly how you felt when Judas came and betrayed you and I'm going to use this time this betrayal to sanctify me to make me more like you and we need that sometimes we need someone to just betray us and then learn how to respond to that in a Christ like way I'm going to just close with this verse and then we'll pray Colossians chapter 3 let me read to you put on therefore as the elective God holy and beloved bowels of mercies kindness, humbleness of mind meekness, long suffering forbearing one another and forgiving one another we might have Judas's we might have goats amongst the sheep forbearing one another and forgiving one another if any man have a quarrel against any even as Christ forgave you so also do ye remember that crowd out there that was laughing and mocking what did Jesus do? Father forgive them and above all these things put on charity which is the bond of perfectness and let the peace of God rule in your hearts to which also you are called in one body and be ye thankful amen peace of God and when we get down to the end of this prayer that's the heart of God that we could dwell together in unity and in peace well we'll look again here next week at the next section here the Lord is going to talk about going out into the world and his prayer for his disciples and for us so let's close