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[0:00] Good morning. Well, open up your copies of God's Word to John 17.! For those of you who have been praying for me this morning, I'm really grateful.

[0:10] ! The two hours of sleep are slowly being overtaken by pre-workout and Jesus, to which all pre-workout would be worthless.

[0:22] So I drank the most potent stuff I could find this morning, so here I am. We're ready. But usually when I'm tired, one of the first things to go are my reading out loud ability for some reason.

[0:35] So show me a lot of grace today if you can find it in your heart. So for those of you who are new on the scene, last week we began a three-week series on John 17, which is known as the true Lord's Prayer or the high priestly prayer of Jesus.

[0:59] And it is a passage that I've been enthralled by for many years. Truly, I don't just say that like I really mean that. It's one that just kind of stands out and tucked away in the pages of Scripture.

[1:14] And so for a long time I've been wanting to hopefully encourage other people with how my soul has been blessed by this prayer.

[1:25] We know that our Lord was in constant prayer. We know that He was completely devoted to prayer and communing with the Father. But the content of Jesus' prayers are not really out there for the most part.

[1:41] But John 17, we get a peek, we get a glimpse of what it looked like for Jesus to talk to the Father.

[1:52] And you feel almost like you're eavesdropping on a very, very intimate conversation. And many people throughout the history of the church, many people have been awed by John 17.

[2:12] 19th century preacher Charles Spurgeon, not a stranger to this crowd. He said, And so what's been commonly again referred to as the Lord's Prayer.

[2:41] It has about 650 words in it. It just takes a couple minutes to read, but there's enough depth in this prayer for you to spend eternity just diving into.

[2:54] So what I'm able to preach in three weeks won't even come close to tapping in to what's really here. So I encourage you to seek this passage out in your own study and ask the Lord to teach you from it.

[3:08] So Martin Luther, the reformer, he said about this prayer, It sounds so honest, so simple, yet it is so deep and so rich and so wide that no one can fathom it.

[3:24] This prayer does stand out as preeminent in God's Word. Philip Melanchthon, who was a friend of Luther's, another hero, if you would, of the Reformation.

[3:38] Before he passed away, before he died, he gave a final lecture to his students. And this was the passage that he preached on, John 17. And he stated this, And again, I feel very inadequate to explain or to reveal or try to expound on all that is in this.

[4:15] So please go and allow God just to work in your heart as you read it. But before we turn to the passage, I think it would be really important to understand one of the roles that our Lord Jesus plays in our life, a role that he fulfills, particularly exemplified in John 17, is that of the high priest, the great high priest.

[4:41] See, as sinners who are wretched, unclean, broken, and guilty before God, we are like in desperate, dire need of someone to come and intercede on our behalf before a holy God.

[4:57] So, praise be to God, that role is being fulfilled by our Lord Jesus. Scripture has much to say about Christ being our eternal, perfect high priest.

[5:10] The writer of Hebrews particularly goes at length to talk about how all the ministries of the Old Covenant, the tabernacle, the temple, the priesthood, the sacrifices, all these things were imperfect representations pointing toward a greater fulfillment.

[5:28] And we all know that all those things were brought to completion in Christ. Turn, if you would, just to Hebrews 7. But hold your hand, John 17, Hebrews 7.

[5:44] You see, all the animal sacrifices, all the high priests that were appointed in the Old Covenant, were imperfect in many, many ways.

[5:55] No animal sacrifice was good enough, because it couldn't suffer for human sins ultimately. It had no moral life. It couldn't bear the guilt of man.

[6:08] And sinful priests who served in the temple had to first make atonement for their own sins before they atoned for the other people's sins.

[6:19] So, they were imperfect, and they couldn't remain either because they were mortal. They died. And so, all these things, this imperfect system, was pointing toward a greater fulfillment in Christ.

[6:33] So, if you look at Hebrews 7, look at verse 23. It says, For it was indeed fitting that we should have such a high priest, holy, innocent, unstained, separated from sinners, and exalted above the heavens.

[7:17] He has no need, like those high priests, to offer sacrifices daily, first for his own sins, and then for the sins of those of the people, since he did not once for all, excuse me, for he did this once for all when he offered up himself.

[7:34] For the law appoints men in their weakness as high priests, but the word of the oath, which came later than the law, appoints a son, whom has been made perfect forever.

[7:47] So, Jesus fulfilled all these things. He was sinless, so he had no need to offer a sacrifice for himself. This is what our passage teaches.

[7:59] So, he became the final sacrifice. Furthermore, he was immortal. He never had to be replaced. So, he is the one eternal mediator between man and God.

[8:12] And lastly, he became human, so he could bear the sins of humans. And so, the writer goes on to say, in chapter 8, verses 1 and 2, Now, the point that we are trying to make is this.

[8:26] We're trying to tell you this. Do we have such a high priest, one who is seated at the right hand of the throne of the majesty in heaven, a minister in the holy places, in the true tent that the Lord set up, and not man.

[8:43] So, Christ is interceding on our behalf. Can you imagine going to a courtroom of God, being utterly guilty before him, and having no one to plead your cause?

[8:58] Jesus is doing this. For those of us who are found in him, he is our high priest. Paul echoes this sentiment, this idea, this truth in Romans 8.

[9:10] Something that most of us might look over, because Romans 8 is so familiar, we're always trying to get to the end of Romans 8, which is like the big, you know, huge punch at the end.

[9:22] But have you ever noticed, in Romans 8, 33, it says, Who shall bring a charge against God's elect? It is God who justifies. Who is to condemn? Christ Jesus, the one who died.

[9:35] And here it is. More than that. Who was raised at the right hand of God? Who indeed is interceding for us? Who shall separate us from the love of Christ?

[9:47] So Christ is our great, eternal, sympathetic high priest. And that's why John 17 is such a huge glimpse of his intercessory work.

[9:59] Think about this. He's only moments from being betrayed, arrested, beaten, treated so unjustly, and crucified.

[10:11] All that's right in front of him. So if you were praying, what would you mainly be praying for in that time? God help me. God help me. God help me. Probably. But isn't it amazing that the bulk of this prayer, probably three quarters of it, is him interceding for his disciples and for us?

[10:30] It's not for his own. He's not trying to pray for his own sake. He understands what is coming. So we see a glimpse of the heart of Jesus for his people as he's interceding for them in John 17.

[10:45] So what a Savior, an intercessor, we have on our behalf. John wrote in his letter, Little children, I'm writing these things to you so that you may not sin.

[10:58] But then he throws in there, but if anyone does sin, don't panic. It's okay. Because you have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous.

[11:13] So Jesus is standing in that gap praying for us. And as I said last week, the magnitude of this, and next week we'll look at the final section of this where Jesus is actually praying for us today.

[11:29] All those who would come to believe in him. That is astounding to me. Robert Murray McShane, a young Scottish pastor in the 1800s, he died at a young age of tuberculosis, so lung problem, so I have a lot in common with him, because I probably would have died about the same age that he did from lung issues had I not had a transplant.

[11:59] But something that he said, he preached a sermon on John 17, and I'll repeat this next week because this is such a powerful statement to me. He says, If I could hear Christ praying for me in the next room, I would not fear a million enemies.

[12:18] Yet distance makes no difference. He is praying for me. I pray that that just resonates in us. So, today we'll look at the second section of John 17.

[12:35] Just because it's just a few verses, I'll read 1-5, and this is the outline of the prayers in 1-5, Jesus is praying for himself and talking about the Father's glory and his own glory.

[12:49] That's what we looked at last week. We did a huge introduction to this last week, so you can go back and listen to that. And then the second part of his prayer, which we'll look at today, is 6-19, and he's praying for his disciples.

[13:02] And the key word in this is this idea of preservation. And then next week, the idea of future believers. verse 1 says, when Jesus has spoken these words, he lifted up his eyes to heaven and said, Father, the hour has come.

[13:27] Glorify your Son, that the Son may glorify you, since you have given him authority over all flesh, to give eternal life to all whom you have given him.

[13:38] And this is eternal life, that they know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom you have sent. I glorified you on the earth, having accomplished the work that you gave me to do.

[13:50] And now, Father, glorify me in your own presence with the glory that I had with you before the world existed. I have manifested your name to the people whom you gave me out of the world.

[14:05] Yours they were, and you gave them to me, and they have kept your word. Now they know that everything that you have given me is from you. For I have given them the words that you gave me, and they received them, and have come to know in truth that I have came from you, and they have believed that you sent me.

[14:26] I am praying for them. I am not praying for the world, but for those that you have given me, for they are yours. All mine are yours, and yours are mine, and I am glorified in them.

[14:42] And I am no longer in the world, but they are in the world, and I am coming to you. Holy Father, keep them in your name, which you have given me, that they may be one, as we are one.

[14:58] While I was with them, I kept them in your name, which you have given me. I guarded them, and not one of them has been lost, except the son of destruction, that the scripture might be fulfilled.

[15:11] But now I am coming to you, and these things I speak in the world, that they may have my joy fulfilled in themselves. 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.

[15:30] I do not ask that you would take them out of the world, but that you would keep them from the evil one. They are not of the world, just as I am not of the world.

[15:40] Lord, sanctify them in the truth. Your word is truth. As you sent me into the world, so I sent them into the world. And for their sake, I consecrate myself, that they may also be sanctified in truth.

[15:59] Pray with me, please. Lord, we, upon looking at these words, and just are amazed at how much you care about your people.

[16:12] And Lord, I just ask that you would teach us in this time that we wouldn't walk away from this hour the same, that you would renew our hearts, our minds, refresh our souls to go out and to live for you with the confidence of knowing that you pray for us.

[16:33] In Jesus' name, amen. So, a few things we're going to look at. We're going to break them down into the two statements, and then underneath those two statements, a couple of things.

[16:47] I'll give them to you first, though. The first one is, Jesus affirms them as genuine apostles. Jesus affirms them as genuine apostles.

[17:01] That's the first thing that we see. And then secondly, Jesus prayed that they be kept by His Father. Okay, so those are the two main points. And underneath those two, we're going to have a couple others.

[17:14] But to the first point, Jesus affirms them as genuine apostles. So, underneath that, we see in verses 7 and 8, if you'll look at 7 and 8, we see that it's because because of their faith in Him as the Son.

[17:32] Because of their faith in Him as the Son, He affirms them as genuine apostles. So, though they had been with Jesus for several years, they had followed Him, they had seen Him work miracles, they had heard Him preach, they saw how He lived, He walked with them on a daily basis.

[17:49] They had some understanding of who He was and the mission He was on. But, and then there were occasions where they kind of revealed that, that they knew who He was.

[18:01] But the full measuring of who He was had not yet been revealed to them. But in this case, as we see in verse 7, He's like, now they know that everything you have given Me is from you.

[18:17] So they were beginning to really clearly understand who He was. and they believed, they believed in Him as the Messiah. And they believed that He came down from the Father to be the Savior.

[18:33] And Jesus, while He was with them, He says, I manifested who you were, Father, to them. One, because He was the Son of God incarnate. He was walking among them. He was the visual representation of the Father.

[18:47] Jesus said in John earlier, if you have seen Me, you have seen the Father. And putting Himself pretty much on the level of God. So He walked among them.

[18:59] He manifested His name to them. And they believed. And they obeyed. And they kept His Word. They followed Him. So that's the first reason they are affirmed to genuine apostles, because of their faith in Him.

[19:14] But, one that we will spend some more time on underneath this, so part B, if you would. Because they were given to Him by the Father.

[19:27] Alright? They were affirmed as real, genuine apostles because they were given to Him by the Father. So look at verse 6.

[19:38] He says, I've manifested Your name to the people who You gave Me out of the world. Yours they were, and You gave them to Me. And they have kept Your Word. And if you jump down to verse 9, I am praying for them.

[19:52] I am not praying for the world, but those whom You have given Me, for they are Yours. All Mine are Yours, and Yours are Mine, and I am glorified in them.

[20:04] So, there's another reason this idea that being genuine disciples is affirmed. In fact, it's really the source of the first reason. So, notice really carefully here that these words that are used, the disciples receiving, knowing, and believing in Jesus that you see in verses 7 and 8.

[20:27] Notice how 7 and 8 is kind of sandwiched in between verses 2 and 6, 9 and 10, which revealed that the Father has chosen, elected a people out of the world and has given them to the Son to manifest Himself to.

[20:47] Now, I know that now that some of the hair is standing up on some of your necks, things, I want to just go ahead and throw out there that though I believe that in this passage elsewhere in Scripture that the doctrines of election and particular atonement are here before us today, that's not the only point of this message.

[21:10] And I'm not going to just make that a soapbox, but it is here, so we are going to deal with it, but my calendar is open for if you'd like to hang out and just talk about this stuff and look at God's Word.

[21:24] But what Jesus is saying here, in other words, is that their faith in Him is the result of, evidenced of, the Father's choosing them and giving them to the Son.

[21:39] This is what we see in our text. It's repeated three times in this whole prayer. This idea of the Father giving a people to the Son.

[21:51] So earlier in John 15, Jesus said to His disciples, You did not choose Me, but I chose you and appointed you to go and bear fruit.

[22:03] And remember, their faith in Him, again, a result of the Father's electing them. Earlier in Matthew 16, this is very clearly shown.

[22:17] Simon Peter, Jesus is asking people, Who do people say that I am? And He threw out some things and then He asked, Who do you say I am?

[22:29] And Simon Peter said to Him, You are the Christ, the Son of the living God. And Jesus answered him and said, Blessed are you, Simon Barjona, for flesh and blood has not revealed this to you.

[22:46] You didn't figure this out, in other words. But my Father, who is in heaven, has revealed this to you. So, the truth that God has graciously, emphasized that word, graciously, mercifully, chosen a people to give to the Son to save, is repeated three times in John 17.

[23:06] And again, it's not the focal point of this whole prayer, but it's a big part of this prayer. So, you may think, wait a minute, these verses have to do with the disciples being chosen and given to the Son.

[23:22] So, surely that doesn't mean that all believers come to faith in the same way. that's not true for all Christians. I used to argue that way until I read the rest of the prayer in verse 20, where Jesus turns His attention to all believers, like you and I, and He says in verse 24, Father, I desire that they also whom You have given Me.

[23:50] So, this is all of us. It was God's eternal plan to mercifully call out a people for salvation, to give them eternal life through the ministry of His Son.

[24:05] So, remember that as you read the Scripture, think of the idea that redemption is a Trinitarian effort. It wasn't just the Father, it wasn't just the Son, and it wasn't just the Spirit.

[24:18] It was all three of them playing a unique role in our redemption. And the Father's role in this was that He planned, ordained, the plan of redemption.

[24:30] He chose those whom He would give to the Son. The Son came and He died on behalf of those people. And the Spirit now regenerates those people.

[24:45] It is, He applies the work of the Trinity, the Holy Spirit. So, you may again say, wait a minute, doesn't Jesus love the world.

[24:57] Right? John 3, 16. Very, very clever. So, I've heard many people say, Jesus loves the entire world.

[25:09] He loves all people, even from Adolf Hitler to Mother Teresa. Jesus, their love is no different. So, I would just argue with you humbly, like no, no, Jesus did not come to save every single person in the world.

[25:31] And though God does have a certain care, a certain love for the world in general, He has a very specific, very unique care for His people.

[25:44] right? The special fellowship that exists between the Savior and those He came to save. So, what I'm trying to tell you is that Jesus' atonement was an exact atonement, not a potential atonement.

[26:01] Can you imagine the Father sending His Son to the earth to die a terrible, wretched death, shedding His precious blood, and then just saying to Jesus, I hope some people make the most of this sacrifice you made.

[26:23] I really hope they do. No. No. The blood of the Son is far too precious to be wasted. And so, we all believe that the atonement of Jesus is limited in some way.

[26:40] we know according to the Scripture, and indeed just looking at our own lives, that not all people will have eternal life. We know that some will be separated from God because of their willful sin and rebellion.

[26:55] We know that. We know that some people are going to perish. So, if you believe that Christ's atonement was for the entire world, for every single person ever to walk, then it was limited in its power.

[27:10] because it's not going to save everybody. But I believe the Scripture teaches, not as here in John 17, but everywhere, that the atonement was limited not in its power, but its extension.

[27:27] It was given to save those exactly who it was meant to save. The blood of Christ made an exact purchase. It wasn't wasted on some and then made much of by others.

[27:41] I believe that the Father honored the sacrifice of His Son and gave Him a people to become His bride to save. And again, if you look at Romans 9, read Romans 9, there's an argument, this idea of that's not fair.

[28:02] God is being unjust. He's being not right in doing that. if He's going to save people, He needs to save us all. Well, first of all, know that sinful man is in no position to accuse God of being unjust.

[28:20] I am not. I wouldn't. I can't imagine me pointing a finger at God and saying, you are unjust and I am right. And that's an argument that Paul makes.

[28:31] Who are you, oh man, to talk to God that way. But I want to paint the picture for you this way. In our Western democratic minds, we have a skewed view in some ways of what justice means.

[28:46] But in the ancient and the medieval world, this was very clearly seen. But we know that a king or an emperor would also serve as a judge over his people.

[28:59] And many, many times, like there are examples of the Bible of this. I could give you a lot of examples of history, but you would all fall asleep. But there are examples when a king or an emperor would be presented with a whole band of rebels or criminals.

[29:17] All guilty. All have come against the king. And sometimes this is what would happen. The king would say something along the lines of, all of you have rebelled against me.

[29:31] All of you are guilty. None of you deserve to live. True, right? They're all guilty. But then he would say something like this, but because I am a merciful king, because I desire to show my people that I am merciful, I will pardon you and you, but the rest of you get the sword.

[29:55] Because I also need to show my people that I am not a pushover and that I take this sin very seriously. And so at that same time, that king would have demonstrated his justice and his mercy with one act.

[30:10] And can you imagine the ones who were spared just standing there trembling, saying, why me? Like, why was I spared and not this other? And that is the position that we are in.

[30:22] If you think that you could walk up to God and be like, I deserve mercy. This person deserves mercy. None of you would stand.

[30:33] None of us would make it. The king is merciful. So we are not in the position of an innocent, sweet, deserving child of God's mercy. We are all rebels, criminals, all deserving justice.

[30:48] But, because he is merciful, he has showed us justice, or showed us mercy. So, a lot in all of that. But what I am trying to say is that Jesus came here to die for those that the Father had given him.

[31:05] Right? It is all in John 17 and other places in the Gospel of John. So, that is the first part. Jesus affirms them as genuine disciples.

[31:17] And he does it because of their faith in him, but even underneath that, because the Father had given them to him as a gift. This brings us to our second point.

[31:30] We see this in verses 11 through 16, that Jesus prays that they be kept by his Father. So, underneath this, this idea of being kept by the Father, he prays for a couple of things.

[31:47] First, spiritual protection. Spiritual protection. 11 through 16, he identifies two enemies, two things that are going to come against them.

[32:01] The first, he says, is the world, the cosmos, the established order. It's not speaking of like the beauty of creation or the order that God has created in the universe.

[32:14] It's not what it's saying. The world in this way is being used in a way of displaying ungodly ideology, things that have alienated itself from its creator.

[32:27] It's a way of fallen, sinful, organized system of human civilization that sets itself against God. And that's all around us.

[32:38] We just got to open our eyes and see how the world is against God, against everything we stand for. That's the cosmos, is this idea of everything, being against God, a world hostile to its creator.

[32:53] So, he prays for their protection from the world. Something I might not have mentioned a second ago was, do you notice that Jesus says in this prayer, I am not praying for the world?

[33:09] He said twice. I'm not praying for every single individual, but I'm praying for those that you gave me out of the world. So, he's not praying for the cosmos. And then secondly, we see he talks about protecting them from the evil one.

[33:29] Satan, the adversary who prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour. The devil, which means the slanderer, the accuser, who hurls up accusations at us and at God.

[33:45] But one name that kind of stands out of Satan's that I think is really important, at least according to John 17, is that he is called in Revelation the accuser of the brethren who brings up charges against us day and night.

[34:05] That's Revelation 12, 10. And so, though we know, if you keep reading in that chapter, that Satan no longer has access to God's presence, we do get a picture of who he is.

[34:17] It betrays Satan as the anti-intercessor. So if Jesus is interceding for us, Satan was accusing us, saying he has done this, she has done this, right?

[34:30] So he's like the anti-intercessor in this way. So, but again, Christ is pleading our cause and the Father listens to his Son.

[34:42] Awesome. And so, it talks about the world and the devil hating, hating them. That is this idea of like someone pursuing another with great, intense hatred.

[34:56] Like so hateful that you're going to like go after them, hatred. A detest to detest. And Jesus knows that their love and their obedience to him is going to collide with the world that hates God.

[35:11] He knows that. Hold your hand, John 17, and flip back two chapters to John 15. So Jesus has been telling them this. He's been doing a lot to prepare them.

[35:25] John 15, verse 18. He says, if the world hates you, know that it hated me before it hated you.

[35:36] If you were of the world, the world would love you as its own, but because you are not of the world, but I chose you out of the world. Therefore, the world hates you.

[35:48] Remember the word that I said to you, a servant is not greater than his master. If they persecute me, they will also persecute you.

[35:59] If they kept my word, they would also keep yours. But all these things they do, do to you on the account of my name because they do not know him who sent me.

[36:12] So, Jesus had been warning them, this is going to come. So he was telling them that, you know, horizontally, and now he's praying about it vertically. This is going to come.

[36:22] So, Lord, Father, protect them against the persecution that is coming. So, but what does this mean? Jesus isn't praying.

[36:33] He says right there that, I'm not praying that they will be taken out of the world. So he's not in a position of an overindulgent parent trying to protect their child from any kind of trouble in the world.

[36:47] That's not how he's approaching. He knows that persecution will come. Rather, he's praying that they would persevere, remain steadfast in him, and then triumph in him.

[37:02] So real genuine love for Christ will incur opposition from the world. Paul wrote, indeed, all those who wish to live a godly life in Christ Jesus will be persecuted.

[37:15] persecuted. So it's not an overindulgent protective parent. It should be more seen as a general who loves and cares about his soldiers, but he sends them out on a really dangerous mission because that mission is so important.

[37:36] But yet he equips them for that mission, gives them all they need, and then promises them that they will have victory in the end, that this is not a losing battle that they are fighting.

[37:47] And in fact, he's not an armchair general either. He's actually leading the way by going himself first to the cross. So he's prepared that way, going before them, showing them that example.

[38:03] So that's the prayer he's making, that they will persevere, they will remain steadfast, and that he prays that his father would keep them. He says the only person that was lost was Judas Iscariot, if you see that in our passage.

[38:20] So on several occasions though, so know this, I heard a preacher on radio many years ago talk about how we could lose our salvation, and he was using Judas as an example.

[38:32] And that is, it's like, have you read the rest of John where Jesus repeatedly says, this one does not belong to me? Like it's very clear that Judas never belonged to Jesus.

[38:44] Though salvation is secure for true believers, scripture warns that faith that many people have in Christ is not genuine, and that it won't persevere, especially under a trial.

[39:00] And so Jesus says that Judas did this in fulfillment of scripture. Psalm 41, 9 and others talk about how the Messiah would be betrayed.

[39:11] But Jesus is saying he never belonged to me in the first place. So he didn't have it, and then lost it, he never had it in the first place. So Jesus told them earlier, if you continue in my word, then you're truly my disciples.

[39:27] Judas did not persevere. And so, again, understand that God's electing and choosing is so key to us keeping our salvation.

[39:44] All right? I want you to, I want to unpack this for you a little bit. Their spiritual protection, the disciples and ours, is not based on our resolve, our willpower, but fully on God's redemptive work.

[40:02] Jesus repeats that twice in our text. He says, keep them, guard them in your name. So there are two things in this. He says, by the power of your name.

[40:15] In the ancient world, a person's name stood for who they were and what they represented. And so, someone like Caesar, his name would be powerful and would provide a ton of protection for those under that name.

[40:31] So, but there's no more powerful name in the universe or in existence in God's name. Proverbs 18.10 says, the name of the Lord is a strong tower.

[40:44] The righteous man runs to it and is safe. So he says, keep them safe by the power of your name. And then secondly, and I think this is so cool, that Jesus says that they will be protected by their being one, spiritually unified in him.

[41:03] we see in various ways throughout this prayer, the indwelling of believers by the Father and the Son. So, if you can, just look at John 17 and try to follow this.

[41:17] 21 and 23 indicate that the Father is in the Son. And then you add to that verse 21, where it says the Son is in the Father.

[41:30] And also in verse 21, believers are in the Father and the Son. And then you add, 23 and 26, the Son is in all believers.

[41:42] You see that? It's just like this indwelling, this unity, us being united to the Father and the Son. If that is true, that is a safe, secure, impenetrable place to be.

[41:55] That is our unity to Christ. The faith that we have that unifies us to Christ. So, all being kept by God's power.

[42:07] And this is what I was getting at a second ago. If salvation is synergistic, meaning that we cooperate with God, he comes to the table, presents his deal, and says, look, you're in trouble.

[42:22] And here's my deal. So, if you take my son, I'll save you. But you probably have to be, you're going to have to be humble and wise to probably take my son.

[42:33] So, but that's the deal I'm presenting you. Take it or leave it. If you take it, I reward you with salvation. The problem, though, is that though God would keep his end of the bargain, man can surely violate his.

[42:51] His end of the contract. Might not be upheld. So, therefore, this idea of us discussing the ultimate security of the believer, it lies in the Father.

[43:04] Do you see that? If salvation really is a cooperation with God, at some point, we can screw that up. If it was up to me to cooperate with God for being saved, I think I would lose it every day.

[43:16] God's faith in the Thankfully, again, our eternal security rests in the unconditional election of the Father. All right, look at John 10.

[43:28] This is the last place I think you have to flip, but John 10. Trying to keep you in John all I can. So, but I want you to see this. John 10, verse 24.

[43:44] And that is a consistent theology that many have held, a consistent theology that says if you have the ability and the right to choose Jesus, you also possess that same ability and right to walk away from Jesus.

[43:59] That's a correct thinking, but unbiblical. Right logic, I should say. Look at John 10, verse 24. So the Jews gathered around him and said to him, how long will you keep us in suspense?

[44:17] If you are the Christ, tell us plainly. Listen to this. Jesus answered them, I told you and you don't believe. The works that I do in my Father's name bear witness about me.

[44:30] Now listen to this, verse 26. But you do not believe because you are not among my sheep. He doesn't say you are not my sheep because you don't believe.

[44:42] He says you don't believe in the first place because you don't belong to me. But read on. Then he says, my sheep, those the Father has given me.

[44:55] My sheep hear my voice. I know them and they follow me. I give them eternal life and they will never perish and no one will snatch them out of my Father's hand.

[45:08] My Father who has given them to me is greater than all and no one is able to snatch them out of my Father's hand. I and the Father are one. You see that?

[45:19] This idea of like belonging to the Father and how that secures us for eternity that no one can take them from my Father's hand. So obviously if you really do believe that your salvation is eternally secure, that should disrupt, like erupt into joy.

[45:41] As we see in verse 15, he's praying for their joy, praying that their joy will be fulfilled in themselves. It points back to John 15, 11 where he's talking about joy.

[45:53] There, they may have his joy in all its fullness. So, believe me, words like joy and peace would not exist in the New Testament if we could lose what the Father has given us.

[46:09] Those are the outflow, the overflow of our eternal security with the Father. So, that's A, praise for their spiritual protection.

[46:22] And then lastly, lastly, and in closing, he prays for their sanctification. See that in verses 17 through 19. So, he says, sanctify them in your truth.

[46:35] Your word is truth. And this is in terms of being set apart from sin, being set apart from evil in the world for a holy purpose.

[46:46] sin. So, that's why he's praying this. Jesus is saying, you sent me into the world, Father, I'm about to send them into the world.

[46:57] And so, holiness is key to mission here. He understands that them living holy lives will be very important to them going out into the world to live before a broken world.

[47:10] So, think about our mission that we have. Are we living holy lives before people? That doesn't mean too good, snotty, legalistic people.

[47:20] It just means free people that have been liberated by Jesus and living for Jesus. So, without holy living, our mission will be hindered.

[47:32] So, Christians are not of the world, right? It says here in our text. So then, but Jesus makes us point of him sanctifying himself.

[47:44] What does that mean? Well, it doesn't mean that he's trying to become more holy because we've already established that he was the perfect, sinless son of God.

[47:55] Rather, it does mean that Jesus has set himself apart to do the Father's will and his will alone. And that includes going to the cross, however repulsive that might be to him.

[48:09] He does this for the sake of his disciples and really for us as well. He goes before us to be secure. So, so Paul says in 1 Thessalonians 5, 23, talking about sanctification and also us persevering.

[48:28] Now, may the God of peace himself sanctify you completely and may your whole spirit and soul and body be kept blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ.

[48:40] He calls you, he who calls you is faithful and he will surely do it. So, I pray that your hearts are rejoicing that Christ does stand on our behalf interceding for us before the throne of God.

[48:57] I, I'm just blessed, overwhelmed to know that a sinful man like me, and I don't say that with any false humility, I'm a wicked man.

[49:09] I mean, I feel a verse that just comes to my mind a lot is Peter when he tells Jesus, go away from me, I'm a sinful man. I feel that, but to know that he has accepted me, saved me, and is now changing me for some reason, I don't know why, but he's doing that for all of us, and he's standing before the Father saying, I died for them.

[49:34] My life belongs to them, my death belongs to them. So they are right before, or we are right before the Father. Look at I'm a part of this in our text where he calls him, Jesus calls him Holy Father.

[49:52] That's echoing this assertion of God's awesome purity, his otherness that's described in the Old Testament. But listen, this is the only time in the New Testament this title is used for God.

[50:04] And I just sort of think that's worth pointing out that Jesus has this unique relationship, very unique with the Father, where he can say Holy Father, I'm praying on behalf of these people, listen to me.

[50:17] And as we know, the Father honors what his Son says. So, let's pray together. A lot to chew on, but I pray that your soul is rejoicing in the fact that he has showed us mercy and that we have an advocate before the Father.